TELECOMS: A NIGERIAN STORY WITHOUT NIGERIANS? (2)

He followed his observations with a number of posers: “What has gone wrong and still going wrong? What exactly is happening? Have the majority owners of multinationals lost confidence in Nigerians? A situation where the two biggest Confectionery Companies, two biggest Breweries and two largest detergent companies are being managed by expatriates is worrisome. Are all Nigerian top managers non-performing or adjudged by expatriates to be bitten by the bug of lack of integrity?” There were more: “What future projections can we make? Has it occurred to multinational owners of large manufacturing outfits, that 99 per cent of the consumers of their products are Nigerians? Is economic nationalism dead, killed by globalisation? Is there now an artificial glass ceiling in the Corporate Boardroom for nationals? That is, a level beyond, which nationals cannot rise.

As we were saying, the Nigerian telecommunications sector has been so successful in the last eight years that many of us have had to occasionally pinch ourselves to reassure us that we are not indulging our fantasies! When I see the things that we now routinely do on phone, including “flashing” your children within the home to summon them, I wonder how we ever lived without the mobile phone. Add to the hardly calculable utility value these humongous numbers – 70 million lines from a maximum of 500,000 in 2001; foreign direct investment (FDI) of up to $12billion or N180 trillion at today’s exchange rate; hundreds of thousands of direct and indirect jobs etc and you’ll agree we have nothing short of a miracle.

Here comes the puzzle. Why is the fastest growing telecommunications sector in Africa, and one of the top 10 in the world, run largely by foreigners? IT & Telecoms Digest, the magazine which triggered this had raised the puzzle in these words: “ironically, in spite of this monumental leap forward that the country has achieved in so short a time, it remains a puzzle why there are no Nigerians occupying the chief executive officer position in any of the telecoms companies in the country…In all, the percentage of CEOs of Nigerian extraction is less than 30 percent of the country’s industry total.” It is against this background that we pose the questions: “Is a glorious chapter of Nigerian history being written without Nigerians? If so, should we be worried?”

Before we attempt to find answers to these questions, however, it is pertinent at this juncture, to recall a piece, mentioned here last week, “Omolayole and Integrity in Corporate Governance”. It was a commentary on an article by Dr Michael Omolayole, a highly respected management expert and consultant titled, “Corporate Management: More Questions Than Answers.” In that piece the erudite management scholar had raised similar questions about the dominance of foreigners in the leadership cadre of major companies, particularly multinationals in Nigeria. He recalled how during “the last quarter of the 19th Century to the early 70s of the 20th Century” conglomerates and multinationals in Nigeria “were managed by expatriate personnel especially at the top” and how “the Indigenisation Act in Nigeria in the 70s helped in no small measure to change the status quo.” As a result of that law, he said that “where there was only one Nigerian CEO of a Multinational Company quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange” in 1973, “by 1980, the picture had changed. The country had four or five Nigerians who were CEOs of multinational companies quoted on the Stock Exchange. By 1990, the country probably reached the highest number and quality in terms of progress made”.

Omolayole then noted, much like the writers of IT &Telecom Digest’s current cover story now do about the their sector: “However, between 1990 and 2000, some large multinationals somehow did not seem to find it easy to sustain an indigenous management succession or decided outright to turn back the hand of the clock. Some of these companies are Guinness Nigeria Plc, Unilever Nigeria Plc, and Nestle Nigeria Plc. We are now more than half way into the first decade of the 21st Century and the picture is more gloomy. Cadbury Nigeria Plc, Nigerian Breweries Plc, WAPCO and PZ Industries have joined the groups that are now managed at the very top by expatriates”.

He followed his observations with a number of posers: “What has gone wrong and still going wrong? What exactly is happening? Have the majority owners of multinationals lost confidence in Nigerians? A situation where the two biggest Confectionery Companies, two biggest Breweries and two largest detergent companies are being managed by expatriates is worrisome. Are all Nigerian top managers non-performing or adjudged by expatriates to be bitten by the bug of lack of integrity?” There were more: “What future projections can we make? Has it occurred to multinational owners of large manufacturing outfits, that 99 per cent of the consumers of their products are Nigerians? Is economic nationalism dead, killed by globalisation? Is there now an artificial glass ceiling in the Corporate Boardroom for nationals? That is, a level beyond, which nationals cannot rise. What answers could we possibly give to such questions from our children and grandchildren with regards to this phenomenon?”

More questions than answers, no doubt, but let’s at least attempt answers to our earlier posers on the telecoms industry and see if it illuminates our path through this valley of decision. Is a glorious chapter of Nigerian history being written without Nigerians? It is easy to respond to this in the affirmative, because for the moment, from ownership to management, the industry is dominated by foreigners.

Interestingly, even most Nigerian-owned companies in the sector are executive-managed by foreigners. But to answer the second question, we must contend with the question: why do the investors prefer to install expatriates in their executive suites? This is a particularly important question because even the IT& Telecoms Digest article contained this unflattering piece of information: “Many telecom companies started the communications journey but few have survived the telecom boom period. In the same market where some companies have been reaping their gains in bounties, others have faltered mid-way into the race. They have either gone extinct or are barely clutching on to floating straws on the water surface for survival. These companies have a common denominator – they were once run by Nigerians!”
Could it therefore be that a fear of losing their investments or of failing to maximise their returns is the reason Nigerians are not being considered as CEOs? Is such fear founded on empirical evidence? If it is, is it the result of paucity of technical expertise, or competence, or experience or integrity, or a combination of some or all of these? Or are there other factors? (CONTINUES)

TELECOMS: A NIGERIAN STORY WITHOUT NIGERIANS?

Now - back to the issue at hand. In the words of the IT & Telecoms Digest report, “ironically, in spite of this monumental leap forward that the country has achieved in so short a time, it remains a puzzle why there are no Nigerians occupying the chief executive officer position in any of the telecoms companies in the country…In all, the percentage of CEOs of Nigerian extraction is less than 30 percent of the country’s industry total.” Is a glorious chapter of Nigerian history being written without Nigerians? If so, should we be worried?

One of the most important items on my monthly reading fare is IT & Telecoms Digest; an all-gloss monthly magazine published by Ikeja, Lagos-based, Belmang Limited. It is a world-class publication that covers the information technology and telecommunications sector globally from an unabashedly Nigerian perspective. Proactive on issues affecting the sector and reasonably relaxed in its presentation, it manages to educate and inform me about Nigeria’s most deservedly celebrated success story. Now and again, it also sets me thinking about the Nigerian condition, our vast potentials and possibilities and our tendency to self-immolation. Its current cover choice did just that.

Headlined, “Black Versus White; Indigenous Versus Foreign, Picking CEOs for Nigerian Telecom Operations”, it highlighted the current situation in that vibrant sector as it applies to headship of the major operators. Obviously triggered by the departure of the only Nigerian CEO among the top-six companies, Mr Bayo Ligali, until September 18, CEO of Zain Nigeria, the report should at least restart a debate on an issue we had raised in a piece, “Omolayole and Integrity In Corporate Governance” (March 26, 2008).

But first a few facts and figures as gleaned from the magazine. With about 70 million telephone users, Nigeria is the undisputed leader in subscriber numbers on the continent of Africa. This is a phenomenal rise from the paltry under-500,000 lines in use before the communication revolution of 2001, which began with the introduction of the global system of mobile telecommunication (GSM) that year. The growth is such that it has changed the face and turned the fortunes of the global industry. Admitting that much recently was no less a person than the incumbent Secretary General of the International Telecommunication Union, Dr Hamadoun Toure. On a visit to Abuja, Nigeria last month, Toure, a Malian and first African to hold that office, proudly declared: “For the past five years and the first time in 144 years, Africa was recognised as one of the best carriers of the ICT sector. Nigeria is currently the continent’s largest market. This did not just happen by chance. It required good leadership by government, good regulation that is independent and committed”.

Toure’s reference to good leadership and good regulation is incidentally one of the most important single achievements of democratic governance yet. Beginning with the issuance of licenses through an auction that was universally acknowledged as one of the most transparent ever, the National Communications Communication, NCC has continued to attract commendation internationally. This might explain why current Nigerian Information and Communications Minister, Professor Dora Akunyili, in spite of the widely known frosty relationship between her and Engr Ernest Ndukwe, Executive Vice Chairman of the Commission, had to join the praise choir.

Receiving Toure in her office in Abuja, she was reported as saying: “I don’t want to miss congratulating the EVC of the NCC for the good job NCC has done in this country since 2001 – during the GSM auction which is still being celebrated in this country and the way they have ensured that growth is steady…” Interestingly, she had a cultural and statistical explanation for the unprecedented growth of telephony numbers in the country. After explaining that her motivation for wanting to “continue to work to ensure that we improve services,” was “so that we have service that Nigerians can smile and be happy about”, she noted that “the average Nigerian is ready to skip lunch to buy airtime (because) we spend a lot of time on telephone. In fact some people culturally pick up the telephone and praise God first, which is wonderful, and then ask after your family before discussing the issue. That is why 10 subscribers in the US or Britain equals one subscriber in Nigeria.”

The success story in this sector, however, goes beyond the number of telephone users or any ministerial mathematics. Nigerian operators have begun to think beyond that. Globacom, a wholly owned Nigerian company is leading penetration into other countries in the West African sub-region with presence in Benin Republic, roll-out imminent in Ghana and, Cote d’Ivoire a near possibility. The same company recently landed Glo-1, its submarine cable system in Nigeria, a world first by a single company; existing such systems being consortia affairs. Another submarine project Main One by another full-blooded Nigerian company, Main One Technologies is on the way. These are massive heavy data capable systems that will connect Nigeria to virtually every part of the world. Within the country itself thousands of fibre optic cable lines are being laid including MTN Nigeria’s 3,400 kilometre Y’ello Bahn launched much earlier.

Nor is Nigeria’s newfound ICT leadership in Africa only region-deep. At international ICT forums, the country provides leadership. In a preview of the ITU WORLD 2009 in the magazine, Dennis Onwuegbu recalled how the Nigerian pavilion at the ITU Africa congress in Cairo, Egypt last year drew one of the highest numbers of visitors. He wrote in part: “the green and white colours of Nigeria which was conspicuously hoisted inside the expansive Cairo International Conference Centre became a major attraction throughout the four-day event. And the presence of Nigerian government officials, operators including the country’s two leading computer manufacturers – Zinox and Omatek; industry regulator, NCC; a financial institution, Access Bank; and an overwhelming number of ICT journalists were all that the country needed to make the difference at the event.”

Now - back to the issue at hand. In the words of the IT & Telecoms Digest report, “ironically, in spite of this monumental leap forward that the country has achieved in so short a time, it remains a puzzle why there are no Nigerians occupying the chief executive officer position in any of the telecoms companies in the country…In all, the percentage of CEOs of Nigerian extraction is less than 30 percent of the country’s industry total.” Is a glorious chapter of Nigerian history being written without Nigerians? If so, should we be worried? (CONTINUES)

BETWEEN SURVIVING AND THRIVING

Now, there are many reasons why we are a surviving rather than a thriving nation. One of them is the dearth of people-loving leadership. The golden age of Nigeria was the era of Obafemi Awolowo, Nnamdi Azikiwe and Ahmadu Bello and they succeeded because they loved their people enough to want the very best for them. It is that kind of leadership that we must seek to enthrone if we will have anything to celebrate next year.

FIFTY weeks from now, Nigeria will be 50, if the Lord tarries. You can be sure that the golden milestone would be celebrated with considerable fanfare, regardless of the achievements, or lack of it, of the nation over the period. If media debates about the state of the nation at 49 offer any guide, there are probably as many people who think we definitely have reasons to celebrate as think otherwise.

I personally agree with those who say we do not have any cause to celebrate the last anniversary, particularly because, it would have been insensitivity at its worst for us to roll out the drums with our universities shut to industrial dispute, among other socio-economic challenges. But, shall we have cause to celebrate our golden jubilee in October 2010? Frankly, I think it would depend on what we do or fail to do in the brief intervening period? For those with a statistical bent, that is to say, we have one week to redeem each year of our national life yet! And that’s almost ludicrous, isn’t it? But haven’t there been famous injury time redemptions as in football before? Besides, I am a Bible-believing Christian - I believe in miracles.

But I am not going to talk about miracles today. I want to talk about authority, my authority and yours as believers to change things around us. Many of us might recall the four-part series, “Open Letter to Kingdom Persons” published here recently. In it, I tried to draw our attention or remind us, as the case might be, of the unfortunate prevalence of sons of God living the lives of servants. We pointed out that God’s Kingdom is a kingdom of sons, not servants or slaves; that everyone who you are a son of God if you are led by the Holy Spirit. If you are born again, you are open to the leading of the Holy Spirit already, because without the Holy Spirit working on your heart, you wouldn’t have accepted the lordship of Jesus Christ, in the first place. Implicit in sonship is authority; the kind that servants do not have.

It is this theme that struck me as I reflected on the potentials of our nation as we approach 50. As I write this, ours is a surviving nation. A survivor, as Pastor George Pearson of Kenneth Copeland’s Eagles Mountain Church recently said, is only one step above the dead. In other words, any deterioration in a survivor’s case automatically leads to death. Yet, given the abundant resources it has pleased God to locate within our geopolitical boundary, we should be a thriving nation. We should be that land flowing with milk and honey, far, far, far above death.

Now, there are many reasons why we are a surviving rather than a thriving nation. One of them is the dearth of people-loving leadership. The golden age of Nigeria was the era of Obafemi Awolowo, Nnamdi Azikiwe and Ahmadu Bello and they succeeded because they loved their people enough to want the very best for them. It is that kind of leadership that we must seek to enthrone if we will have anything to celebrate next year. How to do it? Let’s enforce our spiritual authority as sons of God to speak what we want into manifestation. No other strategy can beat that.

RE: A NATION DOUBLY BEREAVED
When Nigeria’s Flying Eagles crashed out of the Under-21 World Cup last Wednesday night, my mind flashed to an article “A Nation Doubly Bereaved” (Kingdom Perspective, September 13, 2009), the conclusion of which was lost to gremlin, the printer’s devil. I think the last few paragraphs of the piece can bear repetition. So, here goes:

Interestingly, it is not often that they (football administrators) manifest ineptitude. Sometimes they even strive to get it right, throw money around, organise friendly matches etc, yet things don’t work. Take the (Super Eagles’) match against Tunisia. Do you think those boys didn’t know what was at stake? Do you think they do not want to go to the World Cup - with all that it would do for their career? Are they not experienced enough to know what to do to defend their one goal advantage five minutes to a crucial match? Think again.

Dr Adeleke Olaiya, President, Nigeria School Sports Federation (NSSF), I believe, put his finger right on it, when he said during the week “that our football problem is intricately spiritual and we must apologise to Ibrahim Galadima, former Nigeria Football Association (NFA) boss for all Nigerians wronged him by disgracing him out of office with just no cause. If he was unable to take us to the World Cup, who will? This is the bitter truth and I stand to be challenged. Nigeria must not be careless with her spiritual life by taking things for granted, we must be sensitive in our public life and ask for forgiveness from God. Then our football will wake up with genuine developmental agenda. God will be with us and give strength to our leaders.”

Save for the fact that the injustice in our football predated the Galadima episode, and has not ceased since, I am absolutely in agreement with Olaiya. The point is this. It is an inviolable moral and spiritual law that you cannot build something on nothing. One of my dear readers, Mr Akintunde Makinde once put it very powerfully on this page in a similar context. Quoting Charles Spurgeon he said “You cannot steal a goose and offer God the gosling” and added “Amalekite oxen are unacceptable as burnt offering. Might is not right but right is right. This is the way forward for the country.”

Gani (Fawehinmi) died a day before our World Cup dreams died. Gani was a source of succour and hope for the common man. So is football. While we can keep Gani’s essence alive by picking up the gauntlet against greed, which is the father of virtually all other vices, we can resuscitate our sports by exorcising the spirit of greed that has held it bound. Are we going to even try?

THE SABOTEUR AS CITIZEN

A very critical element in the mix is the place of companies and individuals with vast investments in the sole substitute to public power source. These are principally generator manufacturers’ agents and importers, diesel importers and generator maintenance and servicing outfits. This alternative industry must be worth hundreds of billions of Naira; offering employment to thousands of Nigerians and expatriates, and contributing to the tax coffers. Yet, to my knowledge, no power policy has factored them into the equation, except perhaps as saboteurs to be dealt with by the military, Nigeria Police and other paramilitary outfits.

Chief Ajibola Ige, of blessed memory, it was, who once said, “Blessed are those who do not hope, for they shall not be disappointed.” An ironic statement, if ever there was one, particularly coming from one of Nigeria’s hope-inducing politicians of his era. Bola Ige, as you probably remember him, or Uncle B to many of his younger followers, died in the service of the nation as Attorney General and Minister of Justice. He was allegedly shot in his bedroom in Ibadan by unknown assailants as his security details “went out to eat.” The assailants remain unknown to date – at least to “we the people” whom he was supposed to be serving. But like all unsolved mysteries, it is a matter of time for as Holy Writ puts it: “… there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known” (Luke 12:2).

As I sit here reflecting on Nigeria at 49, hope and the Cicero of Esa-Oke sprung into my consciousness. When in 1999, Bola Ige, who had wanted to run for the Presidency, but was denied the opportunity by his party, the Alliance for Democracy (AD), was appointed Minister of Mines and Power in Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s government of rival Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), two emotions were rife – shock and hope. Shock, because Bola Ige, deep-dyed in the old Awolowo school of party supremacy seemed to have acted out of character. But hope sprang in the hearts of pragmatists who felt that if anyone could fix the daunting electricity power problem the nation faced, Uncle B was the man. National service trumped political discipline and the man took office.

The former Oyo state governor did nothing to douse expectation; indeed with a Mr Fix-It attitude, he raised all hopes by announcing a time-table. But in the end, it was hopes dashed; expectations unfulfilled, chalking up, to my knowledge, his first and only failure in an illustrious career in public office spanning over forty years. That was why he subsequently moved to the Ministry of Justice, where the man died.

Several ministers and billions of Naira later, Mr Lanre Babalola, said to be an internationally reputed specialist in the field, is still grappling with the problem. Numbers have been churned out again and again, targets set and reset. The Nigerian understandably has settled for late Bola Ige’s other maxim “siddon look,” even if he cannot help hoping against hope that someday his nation would one day achieve the uninterrupted power feat of her less-endowed neighbour, Ghana.

The power problem is however beyond the bolt and nut approach of successive governments and their technocrats. Its intractability is not the result of bad planning, design and execution of plants, transmission lines etc, even if we’ve had our fair share of those. A very critical element in the mix is the place of companies and individuals with vast investments in the sole substitute to public power source. These are principally generator manufacturers’ agents and importers, diesel importers and generator maintenance and servicing outfits. This alternative industry must be worth hundreds of billions of Naira; offering employment to thousands of Nigerians and expatriates, and contributing to the tax coffers. Yet, to my knowledge, no power policy has factored them into the equation, except perhaps as saboteurs to be dealt with by the military, Nigeria Police and other paramilitary outfits.

This is the crux of the matter. Successive governments have failed to think outside the box. Look at it this way. Government’s inept policies over time have created this burgeoning subsector into which people have invested legally and legitimately, including many youths who went to universities and polytechnics with a view to servicing that sub-sector on graduating. They have become stakeholders in the power sector. Then government wakes up from its long slumber to redress the situation, which implies wiping out the sub-sector. Yet they are ignored. The risk to their investment is not considered; their future immaterial to policy makers. In desperation, they seek to protect themselves – by instigating illegal and immoral activities to stay in business. So they get correctly labelled saboteurs and outlaws to be resisted by all the forces at the government’s disposal, which happens to be inadequate. Business Hallmark in one of its July editions carried a lead story it headlined, “Unseen hands behind power crisis,” which sought to highlight the problem. Of course, tried as the trio of Victor Bassey, Chika Nwabueze and Obinna Chima did, mum was the word from the generator marketers they approached. It’s a survival thing, man.

A new approach is needed. Has it occurred to anyone to study the extent of this sub-sector to determine the size of investments, the number of jobs and the general socio-economic impact of a successful resuscitation of the public power sector on this section of it? Can stakeholders in the subsector get a piece of the action in the emerging scenario? Are the massive iron and metal contrivances capable of being integrated into the system or are they convertible to other uses? What becomes of those scraps, when they do become so?

What applies to the power sector is equally applicable to the transportation sector. Where do the trailer and tanker vehicle owners and operators fit in the scheme of things as we seek a revitalization of the rail sector? What becomes of the massive investments in the long haul vehicles and their thousands of minders? If cries of sabotage are not yet being heard there, they will.

While not encouraging lawlessness, I commend this wisdom of the Lord Jesus to our leaders: “…If a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? (Matthew 18:12). Governments exist to take care of the interests of all its citizens, including those whose minority interests might be hurt in the process of meeting the needs of the majority. Otherwise the road to majority satisfaction will be unnecessarily elongated, as is currently the case.

OLD ENOUGH TO DIE? (2)

For those statistically inclined, who might want to know what could be considered as the scriptural long life, the following truths of the Bible should be of help. I might as well address the famous “threescore and ten years” or “fourscore” years supposed Biblical prescription oft-quoted from the Psalms. It reads: “The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away” (Psalm 90:10). Over the years I’ve heard this verse quoted as God’s idea of long life today. I am sure you’ve heard it too! But is it true?

I did not plan to return to the subject of longevity and death when I signed off the column last time. But as the last week wore on, I kept getting the feeling that I was a wee bit facetious about a serious matter or isn’t that how issues of life and death are described? I sensed that those who, upon reading the headline might have expected a deeper Scriptural perspective on the subject were probably underserved. My sincere apologies.

We concluded last week that David Livingstone, the explorer, hit bull’s eye when he said: “I am immortal until my task is accomplished.” And that is simply the truth for those who have a revelation of their true position in Christ Jesus. I might as well just explain this perspective at its most basic. The Bible says we are God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus for certain pre-assigned tasks. My favourite rendition of the relevant verse of the Bible is from the New Living Translation and it says: “…we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago” (Ephesians 2:10). The Bible also quoted God the Father as saying in Psalm 91:16: “With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.” The Hebrew root word translated “satisfy” here is sabea, and it connotes “enough”, or “suffice,” in addition to “satiate.” The combined effect of these two verses of scripture is that God has assigned each of us to certain tasks, equipped us for them and provided us enough “length of days” to accomplished them. That is the reason Livingstone could boldly make the assertion he was quoted as making. That is the reason; every child of God can make the same claim.

For those statistically inclined, who might want to know what could be considered as the scriptural long life, the following truths of the Bible should be of help. I might as well address the famous “threescore and ten years” or “fourscore” years supposed Biblical prescription oft-quoted from the Psalms. It reads: “The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away” (Psalm 90:10). Over the years I’ve heard this verse quoted as God’s idea of long life today. I am sure you’ve heard it too! But is it true?

The direct answer is “No”. If it were it wouldn’t have been said of Aaron: “And Aaron was an hundred and twenty and three years old when he died in mount Hor (Numbers 33:39). Nor would the Bible have recorded of Moses himself: “And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated “(Deuteronomy 34:7). And remember Miriam? She was believed to be the sister who “stood afar” watching what would happen to her baby brother, Moses as he laid helplessly in “the ark among the flags” in Exodus chapter 2. Yet, she outlived both Aaron and Moses.

More important however is the historical context of Moses’ declaration in Psalm 90. Studies have located it at shortly after God had pronounced judgement upon the rebellious children of Israel in the book of Numbers. He had told Moses pointedly: “How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me. Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the Lord, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you: Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured against me, Doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun… (Numbers 14:27-30). It was the curse of the Law foreshadowed at its deadliest, and Moses was simply echoing the status quo in his prayer recorded in this Psalm. It was a status quo limited to a season of unconscionable, mindless repudiation of God’s faithfulness and omnipotence, by a people who, above all else had tasted of both.

But the enemy had sold the lie for so long and so successfully that a vast majority of us Christians begin to wind down our activities from age 60, fully persuaded that it would take a miracle to go beyond the next 10 or 20. Yet 60 is but middle age! No, don’t laugh. It’s the truth of God’s word, if you’ll check out the sixth chapter of the book of Genesis. The Lord God, the Source of life, said in verse three: “And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.” Yes, God’s life span floor for his children is 120 years, not 70 or 80. And if you consider the circumstance against which this floor was set, you’ll see that it was a big come-down, the result of the then on-going perversion.

You see, brethren, we need to renew our minds to the truth of Scripture, reject the lies of the enemy, no matter how long entrenched; so we can come into the fullness of our inheritance in God. That is what the likes of Evangelist Otis Clark, approaching 107; unbent, medication-free, clear-sighted enough to thread a needle, certified as having the heart of a 35-year-old, prove conclusively. And all it takes, says this man who still enjoys cooking his “own breakfast of steak and eggs or bacon and eggs…and make a pot of beef stew with garlic cloves, tomatoes and potatoes” is, “get on God’s side and stay there. No matter how many times you mess up, repent and stay on the winning side.”

OLD ENOUGH TO DIE?

Incidentally, the oldest person that ever lived, according to GRG records, was another female. Jeanne-Louise Calment was aged 122 when she passed on in August 1997 in Arles, France. This is not surprising because the top ten persons on the longevity table are all women, while the oldest man alive, Walter Breuning who will be 113 tomorrow (September 21) is number 15. In fact, of the 72 persons confirmed aged 110 and above, only four are males. This raises the question: Will a man ever be confirmed the oldest person on earth? Well, current statistics suggest that this is unlikely in the nearest future. But check out the man, Otis Clark.

Dr Mrs Joe Okei-Odumakin, president, Campaign for Democracy (CD), does not need any introduction. She’s the First Lady of Civil Society in Nigeria. No less a person than Professor Wole Soyinka once described her as "a tireless fighter whose frail bearing belies an inner strength and resilience of purpose…an inspiration to men and women, old and young." Among this Amazon of democratic struggle’s many attributes is her “straight-from-the-hip” rhetoric. This was demonstrated amply in the days since the departure of the late legal icon, Gani Fawehinmi. At one of the many events preceding Gani’s burial, she said of his adversaries: they shall “die unsung”. The teeming crowd of the masses at the event must have responded with a deafening chorus of “Amen!”

But it is a phrase in her tribute on behalf of CD that indirectly triggered this piece. In a brief moving oration in which she noted that “the last 11 days have witnessed a festival of grief that has not been witnessed in recent years even for a departed Head of State”, she said among other things: “The oppressed people whose cause Gani fought for years have been thrown into the deepest mourning, not because Gani was too young to die (emphasis added) but because in him they have lost a worthy friend, a trusted defender and a selfless advocate who sacrificed all for their sake.”

That got me thinking. Was Gani, at about 71, old enough to die? When is a man too young to die or old enough to die? Let me state from the onset that my interest in the subject has nothing to do with me, as a person. By the time this is published, I shall have been three days into my 62nd year and if the Lord tarries, I have no doubts that I shall be around for a long while yet. How do I know that? My Bible assures me that with long life will God satisfy me and I am not anywhere near “long life” yet. Which brings us back to the issue: when is a person old enough to die or, to relate it to the word of God, what is long life?

The Gerontology Research Group seems to consider people below 110 as not yet there! They classify this group of people as super-centenarians and they are given close attention, not just with an eye on the statistics, but more importantly as some kind of guinea pigs in the study of longevity- promoting lifestyles. That explains why in announcing the death on September 11 of the former world’s oldest person, Mrs Gertrude Baines at over 115years, the world was regaled with tales of her love for crispy bacon and fried chicken and disdain for drinking, smoking and fooling around. Her doctor, Dr. Charles Witt was quoted as telling Associated Press: "I saw her two days ago, and she was just doing fine…she was in excellent shape. She was mentally alert. She smiled frequently."

Baines, who became the world's oldest person in January when erstwhile title holder, Maria de Jesus died in Portugal at the same age of 115, however never did attribute her longevity solely to her lifestyle preferring to give the credit to God. She has since been succeeded by Japanese, Kama Chinen whose birthday is recorded as May 10, 1895 and is therefore 114.

Incidentally, the oldest person that ever lived, according to GRG records, was another female. Jeanne-Louise Calment was aged 122 when she passed on in August 1997 in Arles, France. This is not surprising because the top ten persons on the longevity table are all women, while the oldest man alive, Walter Breuning who will be 113 tomorrow (September 21) is number 15. In fact, of the 72 persons confirmed aged 110 and above, only four are males. This raises the question: Will a man ever be confirmed the oldest person on earth? Well, current statistics suggest that this is unlikely in the nearest future. But check out the man, Otis Clark.

Otis, an evangelist, was born on February 13, 1903, in Oklahoma, USA, which means that he’s already about five months shy of his 107th birthday, which in turn means he’s a mere three years to the super-centenarian club. But it is not just Otis’ age; it’s his state that marks him out. He caused a stir when he showed up at the Fort Worth Convention Centre in Texas, USA for the South West Believers’, hosted annually by Kenneth Copeland Ministries on August 5, 2009. Brother Copeland, a man not given to frivolities, interrupted what he was doing to acknowledge him. He had been warmly introduced to the crowd at the 2008 edition.

Evangelist Clark, who participated in the Azusa Street Mission, which was started by William J. Seymour in 1906, still lives independently and has his own car. He is not on any form of medication and has all but one of his teeth intact. He was quoted as saying that the dentist who pulled the missing tooth did not know what he was doing! He does not wear glasses except for reading purposes and he is not on any special diet; he eats anything and everything put before him. He recently told the Believers Voice of Victory magazine: “I enjoy cooking my own breakfast of steak and eggs or bacon and eggs. I like to make a pot of beef stew with garlic cloves, tomatoes and potatoes…I work in the yard and exercise in the pool. I take walks and always stop to smell the flowers. The doctor says I have the heart of a 35-year-old man. I can still thread a needle and mend my own clothes.”

Asked what the single most important step toward long life is, the world’s oldest travelling evangelist who was in Zimbabwe in 2006 and 2007 where he ministered at several meetings said: “Getting on God’s side! If you’re going to live long, get on God’s side and stay there. No matter how many times you mess up, repent and stay on the winning side.”

So, when is a person old enough to die? I believe the answer is: we are never old enough to die; we are ready when we have finished your God-given assignments. David Livingstone, the explorer, was famously quoted as saying: “I am immortal till my work is accomplished…” He was right and still is.

A NATION DOUBLY BEREAVED

...And to think that it all began with some top civil servant’s greed. Remember him? He was secretary to a state government in the early days of military rule. Like King David, he had time on his hands and ogled a lowly man’s wife, lusted at what he saw and decided to make her his own. Somehow, Gani got the brief and headed for the courts. But he didn’t go far. When all entreaties to hands off the matter failed, he was simply locked up and it took quite a season before they could relocate his cell key to eventually let him go! By the time he came out of detention, Gani was hardened. No, he didn’t become a hardened criminal, he was never one; he was a hardened human rights and civil liberties crusader. Over the rest of his life, he was to go in and out of detention centres and jail houses many more times than some of his colleagues entered court rooms...

That was the weekend that was. The last one, that is. Saturday morning, Gani Fawehinmi departed. And on sunday evening, Nigeria’s senior football team, the Super Eagles, all but crashed out of FIFA World Cup 2010, the very first to be hosted on the African continent. We are a nation doubly bereaved. How sad!

I know that many of us won’t see the connection. I might even be accused of trivializing the death of such a great man as Gani by daring to link it with a mere game. But look at it this way: the same reason Gani died is the reason we almost certainly won’t hoist Nigeria’ flag at football’s world cup in South Africa next year. That reason is blinding greed.

O, yes Gani died of lung cancer. But you don’t require much brainpower to figure out where he got it from, being a non-smoker all his life. And to think that it all began with some top civil servant’s greed. Remember him? He was secretary to a state government in the early days of military rule. Like King David, he had time on his hands and ogled a lowly man’s wife, lusted at what he saw and decided to make her his own. Somehow, Gani got the brief and headed for the courts. But he didn’t go far. When all entreaties to hands off the matter failed, he was simply locked up and it took quite a season before they could relocate his cell key to eventually let him go! By the time he came out of detention, Gani was hardened. No, he didn’t become a hardened criminal, he was never one; he was a hardened human rights and civil liberties crusader. Over the rest of his life, he was to go in and out of detention centres and jail houses many more times than some of his colleagues entered court rooms. Guess why he was gaoled each time: he was fighting somebody’s direct or indirect greed for gain.

Eventually, the irrepressible lawyer’s health began to fail. But a health sector stunted by greed-driven policies could not even diagnose his ailment correctly, until he had to go outside our shores at the behest of his family. It wasn’t until then that he became aware of the cancer that was eating up his lungs. It is a cruel irony that the very thing he spent his lifetime fighting was the root cause of his death.

It is unfortunately a similar scenario that’s playing out in our sports, particularly football. Last Sunday we all but concluded our World Cup 2010 journey – going from being a potential host to probably the best African champion which didn’t even play! You see, not many people saw it at the time, but trust me, it’s true. Nigeria had the best chance to be the one preparing to host the world next year. I know because I was involved with the Bid that never took off. I know because I was in the thick of things, working with some of the most selfless and patriotic Nigerians you never knew existed, under the leadership of one of Nigeria’s most visionary sportsmen, Segun Odegbami. That attempt floundered not, as many people thought, because it was ill-conceived. It failed because it was subjected to the most vicious, most virulent and most mindless attack by a section of the sports establishment with its media wing in tow, for no other reason than greed. This perennial wing saw a World Cup Bid as just another gravy train, which, like every other source of ill-gotten wealth, must be driven by them or be grounded. They had the fortune of having an emperor on the throne that saw his personal interests threatened by the success of the bid, and for once played along with a so-called phantom public opinion. A memoir by one of the key actors will hopefully someday reveal the selfish personal reasons the then potentate had for letting the bid die.

The sad truth is that the same wing of the sports establishment has held the sector in its stranglehold almost like forever, recycling their foot soldiers, nurturing others, journalists not excluded, by compromising them over time, and then pressing them into action as often as necessary. They ferociously protect their turf. You either play it their way or you are out. And if you are perceived to be too dangerous to be out, they do you the favour of putting you on committees where you cannot make any impact. The result is the outright failure and near-misses that have been the hallmark of our achievements in sport. The result is that it will now take a miracle for the green-white-green national flag of the largest country, with possibly the highest concentration of talents in Africa, to fly in the first World Cup on African soil.

Interestingly, it is not often that they manifest ineptitude. Sometimes they even strive to get it right, throw money around, organise friendly matches etc, yet things don’t work Take the match against Tunisia. Do you think those boys didn’t know what was at stake? Do you think they do not want to go to the World Cup with all that it would do for their career? Are they not experienced enough to know what to do to defend their one goal advantage five minutes to a crucial match? Think again.

Dr Adeleke Olaiya, President, Nigeria School Sports Federation (NSSF), I believe put his finger right on it, when he said during the week “that our football problem is intricately spiritual and we must apologise to Ibrahim Galadima, former Nigeria Football Association (NFA) boss for all Nigerians wronged him by disgracing him out of office with just no cause. If he was unable to take us to the World Cup, who will? This is the bitter truth and I stand to be challenged. Nigeria must not be careless with her spiritual life by taking things for granted, we must be sensitive in our public life and ask for forgiveness from God. Then our football will wake up with genuine developmental agenda. God will be with us and give strength to our leaders.”

Save for the fact that the injustice in our football predated the Galadima episode and has not ceased since, I am absolutely in agreement with Olaiya. The point is this. It is an inviolable moral and spiritual law that you cannot build something on nothing. One of my dear readers, Mr Akintunde Makinde once put it very powerfully on this page in a similar context. Quoting Charles Spurgeon he said “You cannot steal a goose and offer God the gosling” and added “Amalekite oxen are unacceptable as burnt offering. Might is not right but right is right. This is the way forward for the country.”

Gani died a day before our World Cup dreams died. Gani was a source of succour and hope for the common man. So is football. While we can keep Gani’s essence alive by picking up the gauntlet against greed which is the father of virtually all other vices, we can resuscitate our sports by exorcising the spirit of greed that has held it bound. Are we going to even try?

PIX: Chief Ganiyu Oyesola FAwehinmi, SAM, SAN in one of his valedictory outings