Op-ed
AKROIMA holds training for NG-CARES beneficiaries in AKS
Akan Okon, Ntuk Udeh commend Gov. Emmanuel and task participants on diligence and seriousness
A two-day intensive training for beneficiaries of the World Bank/Nigeria COVID-19 Action Recovery Economic Stimulus (NG-CARES) programme began today, Monday, 29th March, 2021 in Akwa Ibom State. the training which was hosted by Akwa Ibom State Roads and Other Infrastructure Maintenance Agency (AKROIMA), is aimed at enlightening the staff selected to deliver on the Labour Intensive Public Workfare aspect of the NG-CARES programme.
In his opening remarks, the Chairman Akwa Ibom State COVID-19 Action Recovery Economic Stimulus steering committee, Mr. Akan Okon, while welcoming participants to the event, appreciated Governor Udom Emmanuel for his efforts in making Akwa Ibom State to be one of the benefitting states of the NG-CARES programme. He thanked the Governor for approving the training to ensure that the selected staff perform effectively, which by extension would lead to the entire State benefitting maximally from the programme.
Mr. Akan Okon who doubles as the Commissioner for Economic Development and Ibom Deep Seaport, maintained that the NG-CARES programme is a short-term response to the economic and COVID-19 crisis affecting Nigeria, and is designed to support budgeted government interventions at the State level, to restore the livelihoods and food security of poor and vulnerable households and promote recovery of MSEs in the country.
Governor Udom Emmanuel
He therefore urged the participants to listen diligently to the lectures, in order to enhance service delivery in their various jobs descriptions.
On his part, Prince Godwin Ntuk Udeh, Ph.D, who addressed the participants on behalf of AKROIMA, welcomed everyone to the event. He paid glowing tributes to Governor Udom Emmanuel for his visionary leadership and corporate ingenuity which has earned Akwa Ibom the goodwill from the World Bank as a model State to run the NG-CARES programme aimed at empowering the people as well as alleviating poverty and enhancing human capacity building.
Akparawa Ntuk Udeh appreciated Mr. Akan Okon whose capacity as Chairman of the State CARES Steering Committee, together with his committee members, have helped in the realization of the NG-CARES programme in the State.
He used the occasion to urge participants to be focused and be fully knowledgeable of the programme in order to prevent the hitches that may occur to set back or derail the programme from achieving the purpose for which it was set up.
Resource Persons presented papers on several topics as regards the World Bank/NG CARES programme.
In many African countries, it has become quite impossible for one to ascend to political success without having an influential godfather to “knight” you into politics or someone of political clout to sponsor you into politics.
The concept of Godfatherism is a guiding principle and reference to contemporary politics in Nigeria. This type of political quagmire has held the true virtues of democracy and free and fair elections hostile.
The interesting thing about Godfatherism is that it is often referenced to politics in African countries; however, this is a global phenomenon affecting most countries in the world in various degrees. And it is no surprise that Nigeria’s polity is filled with Grandfather/Godson duos.
Two groups of people are often left out of the equation and conversation when it comes to politics in Nigeria—ambitious young people and women. Nigeria is still very much considered to be a patriarchal society where a woman’s success may sometimes be relegated to that of a man/godfather, her father, or her husband.
I believe we are trying to deliberately change the tides of respecting women who are self-made, gifted, ambitious, and successful on their own accord. In addition, there is a tendency to despise young people for their age, assuming that because they are young they are naïve, ill-prepared, and “not serious.
” You often hear older politicians saying, “Politics is not a child’s play.” However, every politician started from somewhere. A true democracy or that which anchors itself in liberty, equality, and justice unifies every member of society and creates a space where all ideas, talents, and skills are nurtured and welcomed.
Any government that runs its political entity on the foundation of Godfatherism is doing itself a disservice. What ends up happening in a government that has been unable to rid itself of such, is that it often finds itself unable to resolve political, social, economic, and cultural issues over time.
No matter the leader, the problems facing the country never come to a resolution or completion period. You have generations of people facing the same issues carried over by previous generations. The sad part of it all is that every society has several individuals, groups, and civil societies that have the answers and solutions to solving pressing issues facing its nation. However, a whole segment of the population is ignored due to gender and age discrimination.
The only reason why Godfatherism still exists is because there is a need to maintain a certain status quo that only benefits a small number of people in a society in which the vast majority are not able to take part.
The only way to disrupt Godfatherism is for every woman and young person to continue to step up, stand out, and use their voice as an instrument of change. Change does not happen overnight, but I am hoping that there will be one, perhaps two out of the millions of young people and women around the world, who will rise to the highest seat in the land and change the narrative and picture of how a global leader should look.
♦ Yetunde Odugbesan-Omede, Ph.D., is currently the Director of the Office of Community and Civic Engagement and Professor of Global Affairs and Politics at Farmingdale State College (FSC), East Farmingdale, New York.
Column
Navigating the Digital Age: Lessons for Economic Development and Sustainability in Global South Nations
♦ Professor Ojo Emmanuel Ademola is a Nigerian Professor of Cyber Security and Information Technology Management, and holds a Chartered Manager Status, and by extension, Chartered Fellow (CMgr FCMI) by the highly Reputable Royal Chartered Management Institute.
“For those who casually talk of war or fantasize about forcing the Igbo to flee again, it’s crucial to understand one thing: the dynamics of conflict have changed.” —Dr. Emeaba Emeaba
Naïveté is a condition of trusting too easily, of believing the world to be simple and fair, of taking things at face value. This was the state of the Igbo people in Nigeria before the tragedy of Biafra. The Igbo were industrious traders and sojourners who engaged with the world earnestly, often assuming others shared their sincerity. But their aggressive individualism and entrepreneurial spirit irritated many, planting seeds of resentment in a fragile national fabric.
The tipping point came with a failed coup in 1966. The coup’s leaders were largely of Igbo extraction, and some prominent Hausa-Fulani politicians were killed. When the coup was suppressed by the then-Igbo army commander, Major General Aguiyi Ironsi, who assumed national leadership, suspicion turned to hostility. It didn’t matter that the Igbo were not collectively complicit; perceptions of ethnic dominance fueled violent reprisals. Across Nigeria, Igbo civilians—men, women, and children—were slaughtered, maimed, and driven from their homes. Their crime? Sharing the same ethnicity as some of the coup plotters.
Faced with relentless persecution, the Igbo fled to Eastern Nigeria, seeking refuge under the protection of their military governor, Lt. Col. Odumegwu Ojukwu. The clamor for safety and dignity led to a call for secession, birthing the short-lived Republic of Biafra. However, the Nigerian government responded with war, branding the secession as rebellion. What followed was a campaign of destruction: mass killings, starvation as a weapon of war, and the obliteration of civilian populations under the pretense of maintaining national unity.
By the war’s end in 1970, millions of lives had been lost. The Igbo were stripped of their properties, political positions, and dignity. Biafra’s failure was not due to a lack of resolve but to an underestimation of the lengths to which the Nigerian state and its foreign backers would go. The Igbo assumed they were fighting soldiers; they did not anticipate a war on civilians, where tanks and air raids rained terror upon villages.
Since then, the Igbo have returned to Nigeria, grinding their teeth but channeling their energies into rebuilding their lives through commerce and ingenuity. Yet, the scars of Biafra linger. The Igbo homeland remains heavily policed and militarized, with even minor disturbances treated as national security threats. Meanwhile, some factions in Nigeria invoke the war in their rhetoric, threatening violence and deriding the Igbo as occupying an area that is a “tiny dot” in Nigeria These are not merely words—they are provocations that ignore the lessons of history.
For those who casually talk of war or fantasize about forcing the Igbo to flee again, it’s crucial to understand one thing: the dynamics of conflict have changed. The Igbo have learned from Biafra. They are no longer confined to a “dot” but are everywhere, contributing to Nigeria’s economy and building homes far from their ancestral lands. They will not retreat to be cornered and crushed again.
And war itself has evolved. It is no longer fought with soldiers who can be dispatched to distant territories while leaders issue commands from comfortable enclaves. Drones and modern weaponry have democratized destruction. In today’s world, no region can claim immunity from the fires they set elsewhere—ask Russia, in their flirtations with Ukraine.
So, let this be a warning: watch your words and actions. The fires of Biafra burned too hot, and the ashes are still smoldering. Those who continue to stoke these embers risk starting an inferno that no one—not even the instigators—will be able to extinguish.
Let us learn from the past and choose dialogue, empathy, and unity over divisiveness. Nigeria cannot afford to repeat the mistakes of its history.
_______
♦Publisher of the Drum Magazine, Dr. Emeaba Emeaba is an author and entrepreneur based in Nigeria and the United States
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