We Have Incompetent Leaders

We Have Incompetent Leaders
April 23, 2010 13:40, 15 views
Chairman, Republic of Ireland branch of Action Congress Mrs. Olubunmi Salako, in this interview with JAMIU YISA, speaks of her frustration over the state of Nigeria

Q: How is it like operating from a foreign country?
A: I remember at the initial stage when I got to Ireland, there were lots of problems Nigerians faced settling down into the system. Our children were not well integrated into schools. A lot of children had the tendency of dropping out of school because of the problems and I made it a point of duty to go from school to school, county to county around the country, to educate the schools, teachers and head teachers on issues of education and diversity, so that they will understand where our children are coming from and fashion a way of integrating them into the system. I started the education consultancy as a result of this. Along the line it was discovered that our qualifications from Nigeria were not recognised at all. It was difficult for even graduates to access further education and employment. I was invited by Integrating Ireland in conjunction with some University dons (an umbrella group for all immigrants' groups in Ireland) to join in a project which would give voice to immigrants in this regard. We held 7 forum meetings where we listened to people's experiences trying to access education and jobs. The finding was herrendous. The report was submitted to the National Qualification of Ireland and this eventually led to a qualification frame-work for foreign certificates. We were able to have accreditation in the sense that they now equate whatever we have as first degree here to their own ordinary degree which is equivalent to our own diploma here. But if you’re lucky to have master’s degree, that will be at par with master’s degree in Ireland.
Q: What other things have you been doing over there?A: Apart from working in the education sector, you’ve heard I am a politician as well. I’ve supported a lot of our people go into Irish politics, especially women because I believe that women are under-represented. And to the glory of God, some of them contested under different political parties in Ireland last year. I belong to the ruling party there, but I do not limit myself to the ruling party. I parley with all parties so that I could get tickets for our people in different parties. And the party that really welcomed immigrants is the Green Party. They fielded ten immigrants at the last election which was huge. And out of ten, I supported two and they did very well even though they didn’t win.I supported one five years ago and she stood at the election again last year. She’s thinking of coming to Nigeria to contest in the next election. She hopes to go to the federal house.
In addition I believe that women are the back-bone of the family, whatever affects them will reflect on the family and that will affect the nation.That was why I started the group called The Louth African Women Support Group in 2001 to discuss the problem women and children are facing in the Republic of Ireland and how we can network with other women’s group. We are affiliated to the National Women Council in Ireland. Through that, we were able to have a voice as African women in national policies. The first huge impact of the group was made with the representation made to the Minister for Justice at the wake of the citizenship referedum. At the time government was trying to change the citizenship bill, so that if you have a child in Ireland you won’t get automatic citizenship for that child which was the situation prior to this. We made a recommendation that all those who had been in the country should be given amnesty so that the bill would only affect the people who come in after that period. We discovered that some of our recommendations were accepted. You would have to wait for three years to get residency before you could now apply for your child. The bottom line of all these is that wherever we are, we must have a voice and make that voice very strong, especially those of us in the Diaspora. As part of my efforts to integrate African children in Irish schools, I wrote Tales by Moonlight: African stories for Children Volumes 1, 2, and 3. These were distributed to Irish Schools and were funded by the Irish government
Q: What is the rating of Nigeria in Ireland?A: The rating of a country is based on the character and contributions of the citizen. There are a lot of highly educated Nigerians who are doing well, based on that, I’ll say our rating is high. A lot of Nigerians are contributing positively to Irish society.
There are so many opportunities there for us, all we need to do is just step out and speak. When you speak people listen because it is a civilised community. It is a place where they appreciate every little thing you do. A lot of things I do over there wouldn’t have come to fore if I did them in Nigeria unless I belong to the right circle. We all talk of change, I think the best thing that we could do is to talk about the type of change we want and stick to it. Thank God people are talking. I was really impressed with the Enough is Enough rally because people are now coming out to say we don’t want this, we want to move forward, we’re tired.I am tired myself; a lot of people living in the Diaspora are tired. We don’t want to live abroad for ever, if not for anything, the cold is too much. We don’t want to live with it all our lives but when you look at the state of our nation, it’s appalling and so scary. No pipe borne water, everybody depends on bore-hole, the roads are in appalling conditions. Traffic is hectic because the roads are bad, the health system is not great.
The development of the nation should be systematic and constant. As the population grows, infrastructures should be developed to match the population.I came to Nigeria last year July to do a comparative study on Irish education and that of Nigeria. It took me a month to visit schools and study the educational system and standard, and what I saw was devastating. I went everywhere including Abuja, if not for the private sector, the educational system would have come to a total halt. I develop heart ache whenever I think of the state of our nation.We must kick out all these people who are no longer productive. I don’t want to mention names but I know of some people who had been in government since I was a child. The politics we practise in Nigeria is that of reuse, reduce and recycle. They recycle themselves in governance, they reduce the number of people with integrity that can serve the people and they recycle the old school ideas that are not relevant in the 21st century. Every country in the world is changing and Nigeria must change and the change would come if we sensitise the populace. Thank God another election is coming; we need to make them aware that we are tired of their leadership.
Q: What is the way out?A: It is time to start to ask questions that it’s almost four years of this present regime, what have they achieved. Have they fulfilled their campaign promises? These are what to ask them when they start to come knocking on our doors. But we also have the problem of not knowing those who represent us. Where I live, the minister will knock on doors to come and canvass for votes and people can ask him what his plans are for them. The good thing is you can hold him accountable if he didn't deliver on his promises.
These people had been able to make good their promises. Not here in Nigeria, we have stack illiterates who know nothing. A lot of them just giggle, some sleep when sessions are on in the House of Assembly. You would see the house divided when important discussions are going on. There would be factions of people giggling, laughing and doing other things while serious matters that affect the nation are being discussed.Let us ask them how many bills have they been able to pass, how many have they promoted and how have they been able to impact on the people from their constituencies? It is time for us to find a lasting solution to the problem of Nigeria and if we don’t hold these people accountable and responsible, they’re not ready to do anything.
Q: How do you hope to solve the problems in the education sector?
A: It is not something that one person can do alone. For us to be able to do anything, we need to revamp the system totally and not just one area. This would start from the teacher training colleges. You would discover that it is when students fail JAMB and couldn’t secure admission into universities or polytechnics that they now go for teachers colleges. They use it as the last resort. These are the people we’ll entrust the lives of our children to. We must give them sound education also, as they can only give what they have. The curriculum needs to be upgraded to match with international standard.The society has a major challenge in the area of reading culture. We’ll rather buy our children laptops, shoes, bags and other material things rather than buy them books. We need to encourage our children to read. When they develop this habit, they would be familiar with words, how words and sentences work. The effect is that it will help them in other subject areas. Parents must create more time to the education of their children instead of leaving everything in the hand of teachers. Government needs to adequately fund the education sector and provide the resources needed. Teachers’ condition of service should also be improved for them to do the job with joy.
Q: What do you think are the effects of the political problems between Tinubu and Fashola on the forthcoming election?
A: As far as I know, there is bound to be arguments even among siblings. So if there is any wrangling between the two people you mentioned, I don’t see any reason why it should affect anything. This is because you’re talking about two brothers who know how to handle themselves and I know they don't have problems that cannot be solved. The two of them are working together. So whatever people see on the pages of newspapers should not be seen as the actual picture of the situation between them. Like I said to a lot of people in time past, don’t take sides with politicians. Behind closed doors they know how to resolve their differences and ignorant people on the street would be killing each other. These are two people who are very close and had worked together for so long and who know where they are going. So, I don’t see any reason why whatever people are saying would affect anything in Lagos State.
Q: What do you have to say concerning the acting president and his performance?
A: I believe Acting President Jonathan Goodluck needs to step out fast and do whatever he needs to do because he has just a few months to perform. He has been there for about eight weeks now. By now I expected that he should have been able to make concrete decisions on issues that would have impact on the nation. Apart from the ministers screening, I have not seen anything yet. I think he should move fast.
Q: As a woman, wife and a leader, what do you have to say about Turai Yar’Adua?
A: I think that she is entitled to her privacy as a family woman; I am not going to deny her that. She is entitled to protect her husband especially her husband’s health. I am not going to fault her on that either. The only thing I will fault her on is that I expected that while we were not hearing from Mr. President, she should have come out through the president’s aides to assure Nigerians and may be give us little information about what is happening instead of leaving that vacuum. I heard that Mr. President was not in the state of talking but I was surprised when he came on BBC interview and he had the strength to wish our football team well. And I said to myself, there we go again using football as a uniting factor in Nigeria. If he had the strength to do that I expected that he should be able to do that on national media not BBC. We were a state without a head, we were branded as terrorists and nobody was up there to say anything. It took the senate a long time to react. I expected that they would set up a committee to look into that issue immediately instead of leaving the United States authority to it alone. In Nigeria, we don’t act promptly, we have this lackadaisical attitude towards issues. The bureaucracy in the system is so much that it is affecting us. And that is what happened in that case as well.
Q: Nigeria’s name has been battered all over, how has that affected Nigerians in Ireland?
A: If not for the community work and the national work that we are doing there, thank God we have a lot of volunteers who are doing one thing or the other to make sure that we build our image, we are known as fraudsters, 419ers, human traffickers, and prostitutes name it. We were given a lot of names but thank God for people who are doing well and known. Whenever we are asked to react to any misdeed by a Nigerian we are always to remind them that their society has criminals as well.
Q: What does it entail to be the chairman, Action Congress in the Republic of Ireland?
A: My position as the chairman is to make sure that I have representation all over the counties like our states here. This means representation of Action Congress members all over the State and I look for people of integrity, not people who want to come and eat or those looking for Ghana must go bags. Thank God the party is blessed with committed, well educated professionals who are willing to contribute their wealth of knowledge to the development of Nigeria. These are people who are thinking of what they could give rather than what they could get. We are presently working on a project that will be beneficial to final year students in AC states. You will be informed as soon as this kicks off.
Q: What is the relationship between you and the Lagos State deputy Governor?
A: We were classmates at the university and we’ve been very close since then. Many people say we resemble each other, I think it is true that when two people move together for sometimes they tend to look and act alike.
Q: What are the chances of Action Congress in the 2011 elections? Is the party ready to win more states?
A: It is not in Lagos or Edo States alone, we are winning more states. People have seen what Lagos State’s Governor Raji Fashola has been able to do. Also that of Gov. Adams Oshiomhole and what he has been able to achieve since he got into power in Edo state. We believe people will see what we have been able to achieve as a party and make them vote for Action Congress. Our winning is not going to be limited to only Lagos and Edo States alone I can assure you. So keep your fingers crossed, as we are going to win more states and we will not lose Lagos and Edo states.
Q: How would the votes of Nigerians in the Diaspora count?
A: At the moment, we have been given voting rights. What should be put in place are the modalities to do it. About two weeks ago, I read in the newspaper that the government is going to do a pilot project in four English speaking countries. United States and United Kingdom was mentioned. This means Nigerians in the four countries would be able to vote and I am hoping that Ireland will be one of them because the representation of Nigerians in Ireland is huge. And if they are not allowed to stand in elections, these people could be fielded in as advisers so that they could make impact in the system. Also we are hoping to sensitise our relatives and friends in Nigeria to vote for our party, AC.
Q: The health of Mr. President has brought to the fore the bad state of our health sector, what do you feel about this?
A: That is why we are saying we have incompetent leaders, leaders who don’t have the love of people at heart. Leaders who don’t think they have to extend the hand of fellowship to the masses. They have the money to access whatever they want, so they say why we should care. It is the poor masses that are suffering and before they can do what we are talking about, the issue of electricity must be addressed first. How are you going to power a life support machine in the hospital if you don’t have light? Diesel is so expensive that when I visited a party chieftain last week, I was told that he powers his generator with N200, 000 naira a month. How many people can afford that? After the electricity problem is solved, we may now start to talk about other things. We have a long way to go as a nation and until people are ready to serve selflessly, our situation may become worse.

WHAT TO DO IF YOU FIND IT HARD TO SAY NO

The word NO can seem to be one of the hardest for us to voice out sometimes, yet it is such a small word. Many people avoid a misunderstanding by avoiding the word NO, and this can create a huge tension in relationships, even in marriages. A woman I know almost lost her marriage because her husband enjoyed touching her face fondly. Although she hated the action, she didn’t know how to say NO. He, in turn, felt that she enjoyed it, and always did so, at every opportunity. In fact, he had asked her a number of times if she liked it, and she said YES, not wanting to hurt his feelings. Negative emotions which built up, boiled over one day, and she voiced it out rashly, as one of her complaints. Of course, he was shocked.Many people say YES, when what they really wish to say is NO. If you are one of these people, then you are not saying what you really mean. This will always affect your feelings of self-respect. If you like something that someone has done, or is offering, you should say YES, when asked. If on the other hand, you don’t like what is on offer or what is being done to you, you must say NO. To say the least, saying YES when you mean NO is unfair to the other person, and sends confusing signals. We all struggle with this little word. We then find ourselves doing all sorts of things that we don’t really want to do. If we do not say NO when we should we will end up doing things in annoyance and develop emotions of resentment. This almost always leads to reduced self-esteem.Practising makes for perfection. If you find it hard to say NO, it is better to practise using the word as often as you would like to. Like learning a new language, you must say it to yourself over and again when there is no one around. Get used to saying it, just for the fun of it in your own time. See the person in your mind’s eye. Visualise yourself saying NO to them. Practice it over again. If it is someone you love or respect, you may follow it up with a reason starting with “because…” Keep your reason very short. Generally, people are selfish, and will think of themselves first, or only of their own benefit. If they care about you, they will take your wish on board. Once people have got used to hearing you say YES, (even if it will kill you), they will be shocked (at first) to hear you say NO. But, believe this, they will soon get used to it. The first time you say NO, it might feel a bit strange, maybe even scary. Don’t apologise after you have said it. In fact, once you have said it, it is more interesting when you add “I said” in front of it, by saying “I said NO”. Wait for the opportunity to say NO”. Then, secretly congratulate yourself. The next time, it will be easier. Whenever you feel victimised, you may feel low in self esteem. Look for the next opportunity to say NO when you really want to, and you will feel empowered and quite happy with yourself. It really is alright to say NO when you want to.