Nigerian authors mourn Stella Oyedepo - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

The Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) said its mourning with the family of Stella Oyedepo who until her untimely death in a motor accident along Lagos-Sagamu Expressway last Monday served as General Manager and the Chief executive Officer of the National Theatre, reports ITREALMS.

Mallam Denja Abdulahi, ANA National President in a statement made available to newsmen said that Dr. Mrs. Stella Oyedepo was a thorough bred prolific playwright with serious passion for drama and a committed member of ANA.

It would be recalled that her death was announced on Monday while returning to Lagos from an official trip. Her car was said to have rammed into an articulated vehicle in Sagamu along the Benin- Ijebu-Ode Expressway.

While noting that death is an inevitable end to every mortal existence, ANA President said members of the Association were, however, consoled that late Chief Stella Oyedepo, distinguished herself as an astute and exemplary playwright while serving her country as GM and the Chief executive Officer of the National Theatre.

Mallam Denja Abdulahi prayed Almighty God to grant her eternal rest and the family, the fortitude to bear this irreparable loss.

Stella Moroundia Oyedepo (sometimes Stella Dia Oyedepo) (born c. 1954) is a Nigerian playwright. She died on Monday, 22nd April, 2019 in an autocrash along Shagamu-Benin Express way in Nigeria.

Oyedepo wrote over 300 plays over the course of her career; of these, only around 30 have been published. She takes as her subject daily life and problems, and her work often addresses such themes as marriage, corruption, politics, and family life. A typical example is her 1988 play The Greatest Gift, which contrasts the life of a family destroyed by the father's drunkenness with the life of a successful family. Her 2001 play Brain Has No Gender was written for the Kwara State Ministry of Education for Women-in-Science Programme. Her first play, Our Wife is Not a Woman, was written in 1979. Oyedepo's origins are from Ondo State. She trained as a linguist, and for some time in the 1980s she served as Senior Principal Lecturer at the Kwara State College for Education in Ilorin. She has also served as director of the Kwara State Council for Arts and Culture. Many of her plays were commissioned for specific occasions.

ANA members who attended the 1999 Convention in Ilesa and the 2000 Convention in Jos would recall the spice she added to those conventions with the performances of the Kwara State Council for Arts and Culture Troupe which she led at those periods.

*JOIN our alert's group | Share stories with us | Advert placement: WhatsApp | SMS: +2348033592762 *Twitter: @ITREALMS *Email: itrealms.dsa@gmail.com*

NDLEA uncover cartel planting illicit drugs on travellers - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has uncovered a cartel, which specialised in planting illicit drugs in travellers’ luggage, reports ITREALMS.

NDLEA Chairman, Col. Muhammad Abdallah (rtd), disclosed this in a press statement available to ITREALMS, which confirmed that the cartel was uncovered after NDLEA detectives embarked on investigation of a case involving Nigerian lady identified as Zainab Aliyu.

Zainab was accused of entering Saudi Arabia with tramadol. The implication in this discovery by NDLEA was the realisation that many Nigerians arrested and executed for drug trafficking in Saudi Arabia might be innocent.

Zainab was arrested by Saudi Arabia Police on December 26, 2018 shortly after arriving for Lesser Hajj.

Zainab, a student of Maitama Sule University, Kano, had travelled from Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA) in company with her mother, Mrs. Maryam Aliyu, and sister, Hajara Aliyu.

She was later arrested over allegations that a luggage, bearing her name tag, contained the unlawful substance.

However, while in detention, the NDLEA had received a petition from Zainab’s father, seeking a probe of his daughter’s ordeal.

Consequently, the NDLEA Commander in charge of MAKIA had launched an investigation, which culminated in the arrest and arraignment before a Federal High Court in Kano of seven staff of the airport.

The accused are Idris Umar Shehu (alias Umar Sanda), Sanni Suleiman, Nuhu Adamu, Rhoda Adetunji, Udosen Itoro Henry and Sanni Hamisu.

According to a report of the investigation, a copy of which was made available to journalists yesterday, a suspected cartel in the airport had planted the tramadol-bearing luggage on Zainab.

In the report, which has since been forwarded to the Consul-General in Jeddah for action, it was further established that Zainab who, like her mother and sister, had only a luggage, was not aware that a second bag had been labelled in her name.

The NDLEA said: “Based on the investigation activities carried out, it has been revealed that the said Zainab Habibu Aliyu is not the owner of the second luggage tagged in her name.

“On 24th of December 2018, Maryam Habibu Aliyu and her two daughters, Hajara Habibu Aliyu and Zainab Habibu Aliyu, who are students of Maitamia Sule University, Kano, were to travel to Saudi Arabia for Lesser Hajj. The three passengers had one luggage each.

“At the Departure Hall, three bags belonging to the three passengers were given to one Bako A. Salisu, who weighed the bags, tagged and gave the labels to the passengers.

“Immediately the luggage of the passengers were checked in, Rhoda Adetunji, an official of the Airport Authority (one of the accused persons) approached them, asking for their remaining luggage as the luggage checked-in by the passengers were lower than the total weight they were entitled to travel with – two of their luggage weighed 36kgs while one weighed 17kgs.

“The passengers ignored the said Rhoda Adetunji and went to the arrival hall to purchase yellow card and by the time they came back from the arrival hall to the departure hall, screening for boarding had already started and the three passengers all went for boarding. They never consented nor knew that any other luggage was tagged to the name of any of the passengers.

“On 26th of December 2018 about 12.45 midnight, the Saudi Arabia police came to the hotel room of Maryam and her daughters in Saudi Arabia to arrest one of her daughters, Zainab, on allegation that one of the luggage tagged to her name and passed has prohibited drugs, tramadol. Zainab is presently in detention in Saudi Arabi awaiting investigations and prosecutions.

“Following receipt of the complaint, seven people working at MAKIA were arrested in connection with the offence.

“In the course of the investigations, the telephones of all the suspects were seized by the agency for investigations, while going through the phones of the suspects one after other, it was discovered that the following happened between Sani Suleiman and Idris Umar, alias Umar Sanda.

“On 24th December 2018, Sani Suleiman with phone number 08036066448 was in conversation with Umar Sanda with phone number 08065499791 at 8.26a.m., 12.47a.m., 03.56p.m., and 4 p.m.

“On the same 24th December 2018, Sani Suleiman with number 08036066448 sent a WhatsApp picture of two parcels to Umar Sanda on phone number 08065499791.

“Also on the same 24th December, Suleiman sent a WhatsApp picture of two coloured luggage to phone number belonging to one Alhaji Gabari now at large.”

*JOIN our alert's group | Share stories with us | Advert placement: WhatsApp | SMS: +2348033592762 *Twitter: @ITREALMS *Email: itrealms.dsa@gmail.com*

95.7m SIMs under threat: NCC says registration data not invalid but undergoes standardized scrubbing, verification - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has refuted some media reports made rounds that 95.7 million registered Subscribers Identification Module (SIM) data were under threat and invalid, saying rather that they were undergoing standard scrubbing, reports ITREALMS.

Experts described 'Scrubbing' in telecoms parlance as screening process or verifying biometric and personal information submitted by all operators in respect of each of their subscribers.

Also, NCC said that its attention has been drawn to media reports to the effect that 95.7million subscriber registrations are invalid, alluding that "Understandably, this needs further clarification for the benefit of subscribers and other critical stakeholders who rely on subscriber registration data."
ITREALMS reports that the Commission, therefore, wished to clarify that the process of scrubbing registration data submitted by operators is an ongoing one and that so far, over 60 million records have been “scrubbed” successfully. 

"Although the figures quoted in the news reports were disclosed at a Sensitization Workshop to illustrate the quality of initial data submissions, subsequent process enhancements by the NCC and operators have led to better quality submissions. The process is ongoing, and is constantly being reviewed for higher efficiency. NCC disclosed the outcome of its initial scrubbing exercise at the Sensitization Workshop in order to underscore the need for subscriber registration agents and operators to ensure strict adherence to the Subscriber Registration Regulations of 2011 as well as the technical specifications for subscriber registration.

"NCC however wishes to use this opportunity to encourage all subscribers to ensure that their details are properly captured in order to avoid unnecessary complications which may affect their banking, educational, health, travel and other pursuits which rely on proof of personal identity.

"We also wish to assure all stakeholders that the Commission will continue to aggressively pursue the national interest objectives of delivering an accurate database of telephone subscribers in Nigeria. We expect all players in the subscriber registration value chain to support the national security objectives of the exercise as NCC will continue to show zero tolerance for deviations from the process," NCC submitted in a press statement equally made available to ITREALMS.

*JOIN our alert's group | Share stories with us | Advert placement: WhatsApp | SMS: +2348033592762 *Twitter: @ITREALMS *Email: itrealms.dsa@gmail.com*

AFEX decries impunity for crimes against journalists - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

The Seventh General Meeting of the African Freedom of Expression Exchange (AFEX), a network of African freedom of expression and media development organisations which are members of the global press freedom advocacy network, IFEX, arose in Berlin, Germany, recently to decry impunity over crimes against journalists, reports ITREALMS.

A 14-point communique made available to ITREALMS, the meeting which held on Sunday, April 7, 2019, ahead of the biennial IFEX Strategy Conference and General Meeting presided over by Mr Edetaen Ojo, Chairperson of AFEX's Steering Committee, condemned impunity against journalists.

Ojo who is also the Executive Director of Media Rights Agenda (MRA) based in Nigeria, said that the meeting was attended by representatives of eleven of AFEX's 12 member organisations from West, East, Central and Southern Africa. 

AFEX members present at the meeting reviewed the activities implemented by the network from November 2018 to April 2019.

The meeting also discussed challenges and developments around the freedom of expression and media freedom situations in Africa as well as lessons learnt during the past year. The meeting outlined strategies for addressing or responding to the existing and emerging threats to freedom of expression and media freedom on the continent. The meeting also provided an opportunity for members to share experiences about the safety of journalists' situation in different countries and regions in Africa and how to confront widespread impunity for crimes against journalists in the respective countries or regions.

Members of AFEX resolved to increase awareness about the need for African governments to adopt or put in place monitoring and reporting mechanisms at the national and regional levels aimed at promoting the safety of journalists' situation on the continent and the overall improvement of the freedom of expression situation in Africa.

At the end of the meeting, members of the Network unanimously resolved to:

·          DENOUNCE the attacks on and violations of the rights of journalists, media practitioners, freedom of expression activist groups and individuals across the continent, particularly in the Anglophone regions of Cameroon, as well as the increasing crackdown on the media and journalists working in Mozambique, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Nigeria in recent times. Several journalists have been arbitrarily arrested, detained, jailed or physically assaulted for exercising their fundamental right to freedom of expression and access to information in these countries.

·         CONDEMN the continued detention of Mozambican journalist, Amade Abubacar who has been in detention since January 5, 2019 without charge;

·         FURTHER CONDEMN the high level of impunity for crimes perpetrated against journalists and other media practitioners in the various countries resulting in an increase in freedom of expression violations on the continent.

·         CALL on African governments to commit to upholding freedom of expression rights at all times as well as actively engaging in the co-sponsorship of safety of journalists or freedom of expression resolutions while actively ensuring the implementation of such resolutions by monitoring, reporting, and investigating crimes against journalists and punishing perpetrators.

·         REITERATE the importance of establishing coordinated multi-stakeholder national mechanisms to guarantee the safety of journalists and other media practitioners who remain the major victims of freedom of expression violations, at both national and regional levels.

·         EXPRESS CONCERN about the increasing use of network disruptions or internet shutdowns to stifle critical voices and public debates in general in various African countries, including Chad where social media platforms have been shut down since March 28, 2018. Other countries that have recently resorted to the use of network disruptions or Internet shutdowns include the DRC, Gabon, Sudan and Zimbabwe. There have also been increased reports of attacks against internet users such as journalists, activists, bloggers and individuals for their online activities in Somalia, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Nigeria, among other countries.

·         FURTHER EXPRESS serious concern about the apparent forced disappearance of Gwanda Azory, a Tanzanian freelance journalist who has been reported missing since November 21, 2017 and the continued lack of information about his whereabouts.

·         COMMEND the government of Liberia for decriminalizing libel in the country amidst deteriorating state of freedom of expression and access to information rights on the continent and urge other governments across the continent to follow suit by putting in place urgent measures to decriminalise libel and defamation in their respective countries.

·         ALSO COMMEND the Parliament of Ghana for passing into law the Right to Information bill and call upon the President of the Republic of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo to sign the bill into law speedily. In this regard we also recognise the efforts of the African Union Special Rapporteur on the Revision of the Declaration on the Principles of Freedom of Expression in Africa as a commitment to uphold and promote freedom of expression on the continent;

·         DEMAND that Cameroon urgently adopts measures to end the massive crackdown on the fundamental human rights of journalists, political activists, civil society actors and the entire population of Cameroon living in the Northwest and Southwest regions of Cameroon since October 6, 2018, a day after presidential elections were held. We urge the government to ensure that the rights of citizens are upheld at all times;

·         DEMAND that the government of Mozambique immediately and unconditionally releases the detained journalist, Amade Abubacar, and allow him go about his journalistic duties freely and independently;

·         DEMAND that in fulfillment of its responsibilities under international law to protect persons within its territory, the government of Tanzania undertakes a full investigation into the disappearance of Azory and makes the report of its findings public.

·         URGE the respective institutions and organs of the African Union to strengthen the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights to ensure that it has the necessary financial, human and technical resources to effectively promote and protect the rights guaranteed by the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights;

·         ALSO URGE journalists and other media professionals working across the continent to remain steadfast in the practice of journalism while ensuring professionalism at all times.

AFEX members welcomed three new members into the AFEX network. These are: ADISI-Cameroon, the Collaboration on International ICT Policy in Eastern and Southern Africa (CIPESA) in Uganda and the Gambia Press Union (GPU). This increases the membership of AFEX to 15 organisations.

*JOIN our alert's group | Share stories with us | Advert placement: WhatsApp | SMS: +2348033592762 *Twitter: @ITREALMS *Email: itrealms.dsa@gmail.com*

ITREALMS

Global leader in customer engagement software, Freshworks, has integrated its suite with the WhatsApp Business solution to offer on-the-go conversational support via WhatsApp, reports ITREALMS.

Over 1.5 billion people from 180 countries use WhatsApp to stay in touch with friends, family and businesses, anytime and anywhere.

Freshworks now helps businesses efficiently manage and route user conversations happening on WhatsApp and other channels, via Omniroute Freshworks’ patent-pending technology within the Freshworks customer engagement suite. Omniroute provides customer service agents with a unified view of customer inquiries regardless of channel and helps them respond to those inquiries more efficiently. What results is better customer service and more efficient support through WhatsApp and the rich variety of other seamlessly integrated channels in the Freshworks platform.

WhatsApp is a simple, reliable, and private way to talk to anyone in the world. The WhatsApp Business solution helps businesses and customers connect quickly and easily. With the Freshworks integration, users can now reach out to businesses with any query, directly on WhatsApp, so businesses can immediately respond and offer support.

Freshworks recently launched Proximity a set of features for Freshchat, their modern messaging software to bring businesses closer to users. The integration with the WhatsApp Business solution further fulfills this promise while giving businesses the power to manage conversations at scale. Responses can be text, images, GIFs, attachments or even canned responses. The Freshchat dashboard provides separate insights on WhatsApp conversations, like chat volume and productivity within the WhatsApp channel. The integration is already available in four continents leveraged by support and sales functions across verticals like e-commerce, media, travel, and finance.

“Users no longer have to jump through hoops to reach out to a business - all they have to do is flip out their mobile and engaging with their favorite brand is just a message away on WhatsApp,” says Girish Mathrubootham, CEO of Freshworks. “Omnichannel customer engagement is becoming the imperative to providing great customer support. The integration with the enormously popular WhatsApp platform enables customers and prospects to get in touch with businesses instantly, offering support through this widely used medium of choice.”

Supr Daily a direct to home dairy products delivery service in India, uses the Freshchat integration with the WhatsApp Business solution to broaden its customer support opportunities. “Today’s customer wants a convenient way to reach out to brands. WhatsApp is a user-friendly way to communicate; as such, it’s also the easiest way for many of our customers to reach out to us.” says Tarkeshwar Singh, Senior Product Manager at Supr Daily. “We actively promote WhatsApp as a medium to connect with us and we now see about half of our customers use it for support queries. The Freshworks integration made it possible for us to provide great quality and quick support to our customers, which is indispensable in our business.”

Chuks Egbune/Editor

*JOIN our alert's group | Share stories with us | Advert placement: WhatsApp | SMS: +2348033592762 *Twitter: @ITREALMS *Email: itrealms.dsa@gmail.com*

Arrow Electronics, Close Gap Go on digital tour via Kenya - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

The Arrow Electronics and social enterprise Close the Gap launched its third DigiTruck in August 2018. The DigiTruck is a mobile, solar-powered classroom and enterprise incubator. The new unit serves the Kenyan capital of Nairobi - one of Africa’s commercial hubs and a portal for Africa’s development in the 21st Century.

Kenya is poised to be a global success story because of its motivated youth, a dynamic private sector and improving infrastructure. But it must address gaps in modern workforce skills and technology access to unlock its potential.

In Kenya, the truck is operated by local nonprofits Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) (www.WEEECentre.com) Centre and Computers for Schools Kenya (CFSK) (http://CFSK.org/).

The truck provides IT training to students aged 16 to 65 living in Nairobi’s underserved areas, including some of the continent’s largest urban slums, as well as surrounding rural communities. By the end of 2020, as many as 10,000 Kenyans will be certified in digital literacy, e-commerce skills and responsible electronic waste handling. More than half of the students are women.

“The education I have now will help me in managing my business. I will be able to write and save my information,” says Mama Halima, who at age 48 entered a classroom for the first time in her life. “I had never used a computer before, and I am so happy that now I know how to use it for my own benefit."

Already, some early DigiTruck graduates have been recruited for online marketing jobs, and entrepreneurs have learned how to market their products online.

This DigiTruck also serves as an e-waste collection site and educational hub. Students learn that old IT hardware can be brought to a center, reducing harmful environmental effects while creating new business opportunities.

After beginning its journey in Nairobi, the truck’s first stop was Mlolongo, then passing through Athi River and continuing its route south to Kitengela, a sub-county in Kajiado county, where it resides currently.

In addition to operating the new truck in Kenya, Arrow and Close the Gap continue to operate a DigiTruck on the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. That truck delivers up to 1,000 online lessons per week to orphanage students living above the town of Moshi with the help of nonprofit NEEMA International (http://NEEMAInternational.org). The prototype DigiTruck continues to operate in Brussels.

Access to technology is critical, and Arrow looks to inspire ideas led by students and educators. Arrow and Close the Gap continue to facilitate the donation of refurnished computers, tablets and phones to schools and organizations. Since 2003, more than 800,000 devices have been shared with 3.2 million people worldwide.

Chuks Egbune/Editor

*JOIN our alert's group | Share stories with us | Advert placement: WhatsApp | SMS: +2348033592762 *Twitter: @ITREALMS *Email: itrealms.dsa@gmail.com*

FRSC appoints 4 Deputy Corps Marshals, promotes 11 aCM, 16 Commanders - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

Determined for greater performance and optimal productivity, the Board of the Federal Road Safety Commission has approved the appointment of 4 Assistant Corps Marshals (ACM) to the rank of Deputy Corps Marshals (DCM), 14 Corps Commanders (CC) to Assistant Corps Marshals (ACM) and 16 Deputy Corps Commanders (DCC) to the rank of Corps Commanders (CC), reports ITREALMS.

Confirming this to ITREALMS, the Corps Public Education Officer, FRSC, Bisi Kazeem said, the Board after its sitting, considered the report of the Establishment Committee in respect of 2018 Senior Officers promotion and approved the appointment and elevation of 34 Senior Officers to the next rank.

He gave the list of the Officers promoted to the rank of Deputy Corps Marshals as; Julius A Asom, mni, who is the present Special Assistant to the Corps Marshal, Kenneth Nwaegbe mni, Commandant FRSC Academy Udi , Umar Aliyu , the Zonal Commanding Officer, Zone 7 Abuja and Shehu Zaki, fsi,  Zonal Commanding Officer RS 12 Bauchi

He also gave the names of Officers promoted to the rank of Assistant Corps Marshals  as, Oluwasusi Familoni, Head of National Vehicle Identification Scheme, Gwagalada,  Edward A Zamber, Sector Commander, Rivers state sector command , Angus Ibezim fsi, Sector commander, Jigawa state sector command,  Ann Marjah, Sector Commander, Taraba state sector command, Aliyu B Datsama fsi, Commandant , Training school, Jos, Umar G Ibrahim, Sector Commander, Kaduna state sector Command,  Jonah I Etuk, Zonal Head of Operations, Zone RS4, Jos ,  Christopher O Ademoluti, Head of section , Policy, Yusuf Garba,  Sector Commander, Kano state sector command, Godwin V Ngueku, Sector Commander,  Katsina state Command, Y Gojara, Head of section, Special duties and Partnership,  Joseph K Aremu, Sector Commander, Imo state sector command , Fumibi Olawoyin, Head of Special Marshal and Pat O Emordi, Sector Commander, Plateau sector command

In addition, among the officers promoted to the rank of Corps Commanders include; Roland  Onamusi, Ali Sule  Tanimu, Hafiz T Mohammed fsi, Aliyu Baba, Abiodun Akinlade, Emmanuel G Dung among others.

With this promotion, Kazeem, quoted the Corps Marshal, Dr Boboye Oyeyemi saying that the Board Chairman, Mallam Bukhari Bello  has charged the newly promoted Officers to be dedicated to duty and ensure that they mentor the younger Officers to follow in their trail of excellence to move the Corps forward. 

He further reminded them that the  Corps will be expecting more from them, in terms of commitment, dedication and sacrifice.

Remmy Nweke/DoP

*JOIN our alert's group | Share stories with us | Advert placement: WhatsApp | SMS: +2348033592762 *Twitter: @ITREALMS *Email: itrealms.dsa@gmail.com*

LASTMA releases travel advisory on PMB visit - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

The Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) has released travel advisory on the visit of President Muhammadu Buhari to Lagos State on Wednesday, 24th April, 2019, during which a number of state projects shall be commissioned, reports ITREALMS.

According to a press statement, "As a result of the presidential visit, motorists and the general public are hereby notified of roads where traffic diversions are going to be observed in order to have a hitch free movement for Mr President, and for motorists to plan their journey in advance.

"The presidential visit shall be between the hours of 9.00 am and 3.00 pm during which traffic shall be diverted from the following roads: Mobolaji Bank-Anthony Way (coming from the Presidential Wing of Murtala Mohammed Airport to LASUTH Under Bridge), Kodesoh Road, Obafemi Awolowo Way, Kudirat Abiola Way, Ikorodu Road (between Ojota Intersection and Anthony Interchange), Oworonshoki - Apapa Expressway (between Anthony and Oshodi Transport Interchange), International Airport Road to the Local Wing of the airport to Mobolaji Bank-Anthony Way back to Obafemi Awolowo Way.

"While other roads highlighted above shall only be cordoned off once when necessary, Obafemi Awolowo Way and portion of Mobolaji Bank-Anthony shall be closed to traffic on three (3) occasions within the specified period as they are  central to the President's itinerary.

"In view of this, motorists are advised to avoid these roads where necessary and make use of alternative routes of their choice. But where it becomes inevitable for the highlighted roads to be made use of,  patience and cooperation with traffic managers should be the watchword.

"While all inconveniences as a result of these diversions are highly regretted, traffic managers (or enforcement & security agents) shall be positioned at all strategic intersections to allow for orderly vehicular movement."

Ayo Midele/Editor

*JOIN our alert's group | Share stories with us | Advert placement: WhatsApp | SMS: +2348033592762 *Twitter: @ITREALMS *Email: itrealms.dsa@gmail.com*

Arguments in the Nigerian Left - ITREALMS

Commentary@ITREALMS:

The 2019 general elections provoked undeclared and unstructured discussions and debates in the Nigerian Left. Of the various themes that can be articulated from these animated exchanges of opinions—some of which are continuing—at least three may be considered central in the history and politics of revolutionary socialist struggle in Nigeria.

My interest in this article is more to help the discussions to continue—at all levels—more productively and heuristically than to take definitive positions. And I shall attempt to serve this primary interest by providing information, clarifications and reminders. I shall also recall significant insights in the earlier segments of the discussions. But I shall not attempt to moderate the discussions that had already taken place or those that are continuing.

The first theme can be called “ideological classification of politics and political formations;” the second can be titled “forms of state in the transition to socialism,” and the third is the “identification of a Marxist or a revolutionary socialist in a capitalist country like Nigeria.” The three themes, taken together, relate to the fundamental general need of the Nigerian Left to understand the society it wishes to transform and its possible directions of movement. Beyond these are the specific needs of organization-building, tactics, strategy, alliances, manifestoes and platforms.

On the transition to socialism: The name given by Karl Marx himself to the form of state in the transition to Marxian socialism (or scientific socialism) is “dictatorship of the proletariat”. Socialism itself, as we know, would have no need of state, as state. That was the classical formulation in the second half of the 19th century. Since then world history and the concrete experiences of global socialist revolution have led to several other formulations forged by revolutionary socialists in the midst of struggle: dictatorship of the proletariat and the peasantry; people’s democracy; popular democracy; state of the whole people; etc. In one of the discussions during Elections 2019 “developmental state” came up as a possible form of state for transition to socialism. Information available to me is that developmental state is “a term used by international political economy scholars to refer to the phenomenon of state-led macroeconomic planning in East Asia in the twentieth century.”

Two important points can be raised to advance this discussion. The first has to do with the functions of the state—under capitalism. These functions, following Ernest Mandel, can be summarized under three categories: “provision of those general conditions of production which cannot be assured by the private activities of the members of the dominant class; repression of any threat to the prevailing mode of production from the dominated classes or particular sections of the dominant classes; and integration of the dominated classes, to ensure that the ruling ideology of the society remains that of the ruling class ….” (Ernest Mandel: Late Capitalism). What changes would these functions undergo in the transition to socialism? The second point is that the critical question for any transition is that of class power, that is, the dominant class character of the coalition of forces in power and the direction the transition is moving and seen to be moving under this coalition.

On the identification of a Marxist: A Nigerian Marxist recently offered the following proposition: “And, if I may add, where you work, or earn a living isn’t what makes you a revolutionary. What makes you a revolutionary is your conviction and your actions, your theory and your practice, that is, your praxis. And more importantly, in a capitalist society, what makes you a socialist or a Marxist is not your place in the mode of production—that is, whether worker, academic, petty-bourgeois, etc. but essentially your convictions, your politics, your political action ….” This is an old issue in the Nigerian Socialist Movement, especially in the Marxist subgroup. That it is again being debated now simply means either that it has not been resolved or that it has assumed new forms, or both.

On the classification of politics: Since the emergence of All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2013 and, in particular, since its victory in Nigeria’s presidential election of 2015, comparison between this ruling class party and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP)—the ruling class party it defeated and supplanted—has remained on the agenda of the Nigerian Left. And, of course, the two parties have remained the dominant (capitalist) ruling class parties in Nigeria. This comparison logically and expectedly came up and remained a point of discussion throughout Elections 2019.

At a point a prominent Nigerian Marxist decided to telescope the discussion with two suggestions: one, that what the two ruling class parties—APC and PDP—have in common is more than what divides them; and two: that APC is a Centre-Right party while PDP is a Right Party. In other words, the two dominant ruling class (capitalist) parties—APC and PDP—though similar in several respects, are not the same. To miss this point, the Marxist insists, is to miss the critical difference between the Right and the Centre-Right (or Right of Centre) in politics. What follows is offered to assist the expansion of discussions of this important subject.

The term, Left, in politics is believed to have originated in the National Assembly of France during the first phase of the revolution (1789-1894) that put an end to the feudal and absolutist order in that country. The term was used in that revolutionary assembly to identify the radicals who were seated to the left of the presiding officer. Today, the Left is used, not only in France, but all over the world. And it is used not only to refer to or describe the more radically progressive or socialistic wing of a legislative assembly, but also to describe a political party, platform, movement or tendency, a political system, or a public policy (governmental or non-governmental) that is popular-democratic, radically progressive or socialist. Historically and logically what was left of the whole after the identification or designation of the Left became the Right and what I may call the “Ambivalent.”

New terms are introduced in the sciences (natural or social) either to capture the emergence of new things or phenomena, or to combine or aggregate separate things or phenomena that are now known to be similar or to have developed similarities in some vital respects, or to differentiate elements in phenomena or things that had previously been thought to be homogeneous. In other words, we have new terms when new things and phenomena emerge, through the process of combination and association and through the process of differentiation and separation. This is the situation in the particular system of classification of politics under discussion. But if the Left-Right differentiation in politics originated in revolutionary France, its further sub-differentiation has been and is still being spearheaded in the United States of America.

Generally, once in a political system we identify and designate the Left, we can easily define the Right; and from the Left-Right political spectrum, we can easily construct the Centre (the old “Ambivalent”). Having established the Left, the Right and the Centre, it is an elementary exercise to articulate “intermediate” positions between the Centre and the Left and between the Centre and the Right. These “intermediate” positions are designated Left-of-Centre and Right-of-Centre respectively. The former “leans to the left-wing, but closer to the centre than other left-wing politics,” while the latter “leans to the right but closer to the centre than other right-wing politics.” The Far-Left “is located further on the Left of the Left-Right political spectrum,” while the Far-Right is similarly located further on the Right. But speaking personally, I would confess that once we begin to further subdivide the Left-Centre-Right spectrum in Nigeria I also begin to have serious problems!

*Contributed by Edwin Madunagu, mathematician and journalist, writes from Calabar, Cross River State.
*JOIN our alert's group | Share stories with us | Advert placement: WhatsApp | SMS: +2348033592762 *Twitter: @ITREALMS *Email: itrealms.dsa@gmail.com*

Ekiti sends College of Technical Agric amendment bill to Assembly - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

The Ekiti State government’s agriculture and rural development programme has received a major boost as the government has secured the World Bank’s support for the initiative.

The State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi disclosed this on Sunday during at his Isan Ekiti country home.

According to Dr Fayemi, the initiative called Rural Access and Marketing Programme (RAMP) will connect Ekiti rural communities to the urban centres and market places as well as help in the reconstruction of farm settlements many of which were built in the fifties by the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo but were not put to good use.

The Governor explained that the initiative would help provide basic amenities at the farm settlements so as to encourage farmers in the areas to focus on their agricultural activities.

“One of my assistants is going to be focusing on agric and farmsteads because in the course of my campaigns, I went round those farmsteads. My wife also toured the farmsteads extensively. There are things that are required by the people in those farms that will make their work a lot better in terms of social amenities, social investment, in terms of ensuring that we connect the farms to the market.

“So we have another initiative that is being supported by the World Bank which is known as Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Programme (RAMP). This is meant to assist us to connect our rural communities to the urban centres and the market places in the hope that we can also reconstruct our farm settlements, provide the necessary amenities there and ensure that our people stay back in those places without missing the amenities they ought to have if they were to be in the cities”, he said.

While speaking on the College of Technical and Commercial Agriculture which was scrapped by his predecessor, Governor Fayemi said a bill for the re-enactment of the College establishment law will soon be sent back to the State House of Assembly to enable the school begin operation legally.

The governor who disclosed that the ongoing construction works in the school would be completed before September when the school would open for academic activities, said the College was designed to train and equip young people who are interested in agriculture agric value chain.

His words: “Work has resumed there and significant progress has been made on the road construction. I believe the builders are also on site. The idea is that the school will be ready for use by the opening of a new session in September- October. Some six months of intense work should get it ready. The law is going back to the Assembly for re-enactment because of what the last administration did to it and once that is done, it is legally covered to undertake the business of recruiting our young people who are interested in becoming middle -level managers and technical operators in commercial agriculture in Ekiti.

“Since we have decided that agriculture is important to us as an agrarian society and none of our young people is interested in hoe and cutlass farming. They want modernization and the tools that will enable them participate in the entire value chain right from planting to processing and marketing. As government we are prepared to give necessary support and incentives.

Ayo Midele/Editor

*JOIN our alert's group | Share stories with us | Advert placement: WhatsApp | SMS: +2348033592762 *Twitter: @ITREALMS *Email: itrealms.dsa@gmail.com*