Department of Political Science,
Kogi State University,
Anyigba,
Kogi State.
8 January, 2018.
Mr Usman Okai Austin,
National Coordinator,
PDP Youth Frontier,
Abuja.
My dear brother Austin,
DO NOT PLAY POLITICS WITH THE SITUATION IN THE KOGI STATE UNIVERSITY, ANYIGBA; YOUR ENEMY IS NOT MY ENEMY, BUT THE ENEMY OF MY ENEMY IS MY FRIEND
I bring to you special New Year greetings. Ordinarily, as my brother and friend, I should have contacted you directly. However, the explanatory and educative contents of this open letter as a response to your needless open attacks on me necessitated my using this medium to get to you.
I want to express my feelings with the best of frankness, and with no shred of resentment. The word choice in this piece of writing is not intended to denigrate or abuse the dignity of any man, and least of all, yours. It may be of interest to you that I am not impulsive; that is, I do not hear the sound of a river from a distance and then strip myself. I have come of age, and my years in the academic world taught me how and when to respond to issues that challenge my intelligence and emotion to a duel. As you are aware, I refrained from joining issues with you not because I do not have quantum of venom to pour back at you, but because of the words of advice I received from one of my uncles sometimes ago on certain issues. He says if a man is having his bath in a river, and a mad man comes, takes the man’s cloths, and starts to run away, the wise man in his nakedness should not bother himself to run after the mad man. This is because the onlookers may take the naked, sane man as a mad man chasing after another mad man. Similarly, a mad dog whose equal a man has at home cannot bark at him, let alone bite him.
I have decided to clear your foggy doubt through this medium in the factual spirit that when you refuse an invitation for a wrestling contest from a younger person, an opportunity for a bigger contest may not come.
Obviously, I am aware that some people may be disappointed at this writing, while others may read it in jubilant mood. In all, the essence is neither to deride nor to denigrate your person. It is primarily intended to educate you on issues as they relate to my humble person and the reopening of the Kogi State University from the last strike. I am writing this so that the perpetual lies the unsuspecting members of the public are being fed with by you may not be misconstrued as statement of fact. It is about an issue that you have no sufficient knowledge about, but on which you have ignorantly maligned my person with vigor. As Aristotle said, “Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.”
My dear Austin, we became close friends during the course of our activism and subsequent demand for good governance in Kogi State. I always appreciated and valued your courage and doggedness then, and you appreciated and valued mine as well. Like Plato, 3000 BCE, said “the punishment we suffer, if refuse to take an interest in matters of government, is to live under the government of worse men.” In pursuing that interest, the obvious differences between you and me were the approaches, history of activism, our divergent levels of risk and objectives.
Going down the memory lane, I consider myself as one of those vocal voices against perceived awkward government policies particularly in Kogi State, which predates the current administration. Aside that, I have been an activist in all my life. You are unfortunately not aware of this. Strangely, your ember of activism was never fired when former Governor Idris Wada of PDP was in government. I cannot remember hearing your voice on the “percentage salaries” paid to workers particularly at the local government levels by that administration with whom you worked closely, albeit behind the scene. You did not once again know that I was among those that tackled the Wada’s government on the issue of percentage salaries then.
Interestingly, during the 2015 governorship election, I supported the same Wada against the late Audu. To me, the 2015 governorship choice was akin to a situation where one is compulsorily required to choose between “Ebola” and “HIV,” or at gunpoint, where one is requested to drink either “Gamalin 20” or “Acid”. Certainly, one will not go for the one that can kill instantly. Evidently, we had a giant household in physical and infrastructural development at the expense of workers welfare, and another, which performed fairly in terms of workers welfare, but adjudged as poorer in terms of infrastructural development. Those were the choices before us to make. My strange decision did not go well with my entire constituent unit including my wife and parents who were ardent supporters of the late Audu as their political idol. The antecedents of Governor Wada whose policy on “percentage salaries” we openly criticized was nonetheless, painfully given a chance. That was why some of you were surprised why and how Hon. Obochi Samuel who was wickedly incarcerated by some known overzealous aides of the former Governor Wada over his incessant combative criticism of that administration could turn around to vigorously campaign for his re-election. That is objective activism. In other words, objective activism encourages condemnation for correction and commendation for encouragement.
You and I have different kilns from which we fire social and political issues. My style of engaging the government was and still is systematically constructive and issues-based, built on social benefit, and devoid of any personal and or selfish, self-service intent; yours, on the down and lamentable side, is more of aggression and “guerrilla warfare.” This is understood. It is based on your exposure to life that your social engagement tilt towards walking through debilitating route in favour of constructive engagement.
You will recall that I once advised you to be extra careful with some aggrieved and treacherous members of the current government who you said were your informants. I emphatically told you to be weary of your romance with the same people you openly maligned so that they might not use you to score political points. I also cautioned you to refrain from what might be perceived as personal attack or character assassination. I cited an example for you that instead of calling a woman a prostitute or a whore, you could politely describe her as a “woman of low virtue” in which the message would still be conveyed. Those were my sincere advice to you to master the “slippery” theory of criticism to stay afloat in the risky muddy and mucky water of activism.
On the issue of risk, you will agree with me that, among all that were and are engaging the government constructively in the quest and demand for good governance, no one was more vulnerable to have taken the highest risk like I did. First, I might probably be the only noticeable person (on the so called ‘cleared list’) that is working with the Kogi State Government while you and others were not. Secondly, I fired my online missiles directly from Anyigba in Kogi State. You know what that means! On the other hand, you and some others fired your missiles from comfortable, hidden zones in Abuja. You also know what that means!
On the objectives side, my dear brother, you have never hidden your prime position and interest in politics as the National Coordinator of the PDP Youth Frontier, which qualifies your type of activism as an opposition party activism. On my part, as a lecturer of Political Science from the university community, I choose to voice my opinion on core policy and governance issues of concern, as I said before, devoid of any personal benefits. As an opposition party activist, especially the type from Nigeria for that matter, I do not expect objectivity from you. However, as a realist with civil society content types of activism from the university community, you do not expect me to be far from objectivity or approach issues using a debasing language and approach. That is why we cannot be on the same page all the time. Deborah Stone succinctly puts it this way, “ paradoxes are nothing but trouble. They violate the most elementary principles of logic: Something cannot be two different things at once. Two contradictory interpretations cannot be true. A paradox is just such an impossible situation, and political life is full of them.”
Hidden Facts You May Not Know On The KSU Saga
My dear brother Austin, you and I became two poles apart from the day of the forceful resumption of the Kogi State University, Anyigba from over six months protracted strike. You were not happy over the role I played in particular in the resumption of the school. You called and nagged at me on phone. You thereafter took to your Facebook page to insult, malign and denigrate my person and my image, calling me a betrayer, a back-stabber and a sell-out. Unfortunately, your politically bias sentiment for which you wanted to use our situation to achieve, failed you to realize that, “bad words are like spit from the mouth that cannot be taken back” (Igala proverb). If not, you should exercise caution that, when you are angry, you should not talk, and if you must talk, do not write because written information outlives the author.
All the same, as President Roosevelt aptly captured, “it is not the critic who counts; not the man who points at how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly…..”. This is because, “He who wears shoes knows how it pinches.”
Without prejudice to the case in court, I beseech you to just be patient and read to the end the hidden issues that led to the crisis from both the remote and immediate perspectives:
- Since I joined the services of the University in 2009, we were never owed salaries up to two months at a stretch under the administration of former Governor Ibrahim Idris. The closest I had witnessed then was, salaries were paid by the 10th of the following month. We jokingly described the situation as 41 days equal to a month in KSU.
- Again, Governor Ibro paid almost about a billion Naira arrears of salaries and allowances he inherited from the administration of late Prince Abubakar Audu. The Governor Ibro’s disposition to yielding to pressures, created the impression of “more strike actions bring more money…” As a member of Exco then, I was among the ASUU team that was at the Government House when Governor Ibro angrily declared to us like a prophet. He said; “….if you think you are combatively and ceaselessly confronting my administration with incessant strikes probably because of issues beyond your sleeves, I left you to God to judge…….I can assure you that you will have every reason to appreciate me with comparism if I am no longer here as Governor….”
- When Governor Idris Wada took over, he inherited the prompt payment of salaries for the university and other tertiary institutions staff members from the Ibro administration. It is on record that the salaries of the university workers were paid before those in the Ministries.
- However, the then Governor Wada hardly settled down before he was inundated with numerous petitions of how the University Management was mismanaging funds from the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR). The petitioner from the university community requested him to send team of auditors to audit the university financial book. Governor Wada acted on those petitions and sent not less than three (3) different sets of external audit team to the university at different times.
- Please note that individuals and groups hiding behind unions who do not want the tenure of the former Vice Chancellor renewed, propelled those frivolous petitions. Unfortunately, it was while waiting for the reports of the audit team for action that the salaries of the university staff members started to get delayed, which was indeed the beginning of same treatment with those in the Ministries.
- The impression created by the frivolous petitioners from within that the university had a robust but mismanaged Internally Generated Revenue, might have prevented Governor Wada from offsetting the over a billion Naira of the computed and accepted Earned Academic Allowances (EAA) arrears he inherited. He though partly paid 75 million naira. The fundamental question to ask as we proceed is whether we can sincerely blame Governor Wada for the delay and eventual non-payment of three (3) months’ salaries his administration left behind, or the gimmicks of deadly internal politics by the enemies within.
- Austin, my brother, you may probably not be aware also that some desperate “Oga Professors at the top” in a bid to stop the reappointment of Prof Hassan Isah told people in government then that they could govern the university with the “huge” Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) without funding from the Government. The boomerang effects of those dastardly desperate acts targeted against an individual for their selfish reasons were majorly responsible for the dwindling funding of the university under the Wada administration. Unfortunately, when the sky eventually fell, it fell on all and not only on the targeted enemy or enemies.
- In fact, when some of you unscientifically attempted to compare the tenures of late Professor F. S. Idachaba, with that of Professor H. S. Isah and the pioneer VC, Professor Simon Okwute in the university, I laughed at your ignorance. This is because, even if a Graduate Assistant (GA) is to be appointed as a Vice Chancellor with an open and blank chequebook, he will certainly perform beyond measures than a Professor so appointed but starved of the requisite funding. However, Professor Isah was only lucky with the TETFUND projects intervention that came during his times for which there are visibly dotted all over the campus. In fact, if you remember the famous fabricated story of “goat bite” on the late Professor Idachaba, you will then realize the intense hostility he surmounted before the coming on board of Professor Isah.
- Even in the face of the dwindling funding, union’s demands were soaring including the controversial “hazard for all” allowance, which was the mobilizing tool against the administration of Professor Isah by the elitist clique. Professor Isah’s refusal to be coerced into approving the contentious “hazard for all” allowance which some “follow-follow” staff who did not even know the meaning, but were fighting for it called “azadi for hall” made him very unpopular with the spiral effects on people like us that were seen as his supporters.
- My brother Austin, towards the end of the tenure of Professor Isah, two major issues were twisted and cooked up to heighten the “azadi for hall” saga. The first was the accusation that his employment style was in favour of the Ankpa people, and the second, which is related to the first, was the “Dekina agenda” for the appointment of his successor. I do not want to discuss the petty divisive arguments by those who should have known better, the selection process of a Vice Chancellor in the university, but in a desperate manner, chose to mobilize even the “garage people” on parochial agenda to heighten the issue. Some of us tried and gave words of caution, but they were ignored. It however, reminded me of what my benefactor (Professor Amali) meant by the “local-varsity” or “community university” anytime he was referring to the activities in state universities. Needless to inform you that he did advise against my decision to leave the University of Ilorin. That is by the way.
- My brother Austin, I saw union elite who use their vintage position to bargain for employment for their wives and siblings. Indeed, the “Dekina agenda”, “Ankpa agenda” and “Idah agenda” conflicts over employment to the university was the foundation of the controversial and contentious famous “2015 employment.” This intra-conflict division was so intense in a manner that you could mistake Kogi State University as “Okura” or “Abocho” University.” The noise about the “2015 employment” was so loud with all the political gimmicks and the consequent implied financial burden, which necessitated the setting up of a committee by the new VC.
- The committee which was set up in November, 2015, comprises of virtually all the chairpersons of the respective staff unions on the campus who incidentally, were parts of the agitators against the said employment for implied “financial burden.” It was mandated to review what was termed “Recent Recruitment by the Immediate Past Administration”.
- Parts of the report of the said committee covering the period, January to October, 2015, indicated imbalance in the employment distributions in favour of Kogi East. Dekina LGA topped the list of beneficiaries with 96 candidates, followed by Ankpa with 58 candidates, while Ajaokuta and Lokoja LGAs had none. That was the highlight of the report of the committee, set up before the coming on board of the present administration in Kogi state in January, 2016. Obviously, while the intra-conflict over the employment was ravaging and tearing the Kogi East apart because of divisive false claims and target at the former VC, the other severely and truly disadvantaged senatorial districts were watching keenly until providence provided opportunity for which they struck.
- Expectedly, it was the statistical analysis of that “2015 employment” that was allegedly sneaked to the new occupants of the “Lugard House” (do not ask me by who?) with the under current crying of marginalization. That was the crux of the contentious “2015 employment” matters. I was not surprised when the Governor sincerely cautioned the operators of the university during his visit and meetings with all stakeholders not to run the university as “….Igala university…” The question is, how could the same union ringleaders who clandestinely fuelled the “2015 employment” turned around to be the protector of the same employment they had kicked against? Double edge sword indeed! Unfortunately, some of the affected “2015 employees” including you from outside did not have this information. Yet, you did not want to hear because of either brainwashed effects or political sentiments.
- My dear brother Austin, when Professor M. S. Abdulkadir took over as the VC in October, 2015 he was very aggressive at uniting everyone on the campus with clear priority on staff welfare. Evidently, when in December, 2015 salaries were not paid for about three months or thereabout, he gave every staff salary advance which we called “bailout” to be recouped in three installments. He repeated in January, 2016 even when the precious had not been paid to enable staff to pay the school fees of their children. Apart from the salary advance, he equally appointed some staff who he felt could work with him. That was when I was appointed as Dean of Students Affairs.
- My dear brother Austin, the spiral inherited army of enemies who thought that I was going to be victimized by the new management became disappointed over my appointments including as the Acting Head of Department of Political Science, which came earlier. Indeed, this provoked series of gossip and devilish strategies. The climax manifested when some of the so-called ringleaders of our union and others sneaked and informed some top members of the University Management that ASUU was not happy with them over my appointment and others’. Unfortunately, that was the core undercurrent reason why they (the ringleaders) were foot-dragging to suspend the three months old strike we earlier embarked on. Note that three months salaries arrears were already in the University’s account, along with a sum of one hundred million Naira out of the arrears of EAA waiting to be disburse. Evidently, the strike was not sustained because of the pay. Instead, because of their agenda against an individual who incidentally was a member of the same union.
- Expectedly, the failures of their internal antics further prompted a series of petitions and personal visit to those closer to the government with deceitful lies against some individuals and the University Management (both past and present). Unfortunately, majority of the petitioners were my fellow Igala kinsmen from the university. Specifically, some of the petitioners wrote and accused me as a cultist, occultist, students’ protest instigators, the mastermind of the Okada phased out policy from KSU, and above all an untouchable influential powerful figure. Some even went as far as informing people in the government of how I was the instigator of unions on the campus to strike against government among other fictitious allegations.
- Apart from the numerous petitions against the targeted individuals like some of us, the same enemies within using the instrumentality of unions had also written numerous petitions against the past Management of the University alleging mismanagement of the so-called robust sources of Internally Generated Revenue (IGR). Instead of prioritizing their demands for prompt and separate payment of salaries as obtainable under the former administration of Ibrahim Idris, they did not only clandestinely demand external auditing of the university financial book and setting up of visitation panel, but also demand the decentralization of the university as their topmost priority.
- Need I inform you how one of the discredited ASUU ringleaders wrote petitions against others and me to the DPO, Anyigba Police Division? Not satisfied with the investigations, he furthered wrote another petition against us and included the DPO to the Commissioner of Police, Kogi State Command. Again, not satisfied with the investigation and findings of the Kogi State Police Command, he wrote another petition to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) against us, the DPO and the Commissioner of Police. You may not be aware that the Police, for giving false information in an attempt to mislead a public servant, later charged the said serial petitioner to court. There is no basis to inform you also that while in court, he also wrote another petition against the presiding Magistrate in the case that he was found guilty and convicted by another Magistrate after the former was transferred due to the petition. It may interest you to note that the said character was a member of the factionalized ASUU EXCO that the tenure expired since 15 October, 2016 and was not ready to conduct another election before the proscription saga in July, 2017. You probably may not know the legal implication of persecuting strike action with an expired Exco!
- Coincidentally, even as the then Dean of Students Affairs (DSA), I wrote the famous post on “THE MASS EXODUS OF QUALIFIED ACADEMICS FROM KSU” in June, 2016, bringing out the problems and proffering realistic solutions. I never knew that I was already playing into a set trap for me. You may not be aware that some of my colleagues and some attention-seeking political hanger-on printed the copies of the post with intuitive meaning to the government. That was why it was very easy for them to insinuate to the government and people with accusing finger pointing at me as the mastermind of the students protest on July 14, 2016 in Lokoja. Do you still need to ask further the internal and external matrix for my exit as DSA in August, 2016?
- However, it may surprise you to hear that within a week that I was dropped as DSA, not less than twenty-four colleagues of mine applied to takeover my house as it was rumored that I had been laid off from the university. You can now see why I gladly accepted and served on the Ad hoc committee on eviction.
- You probably may not be aware that while we were striking against the government, some of our colleagues and indeed the ringleaders stealthily submitted their Curriculum Vitae (CV) to the same top government officials seeking government appointment. The government did appoint some of them as members of the Governing Council of other state owned tertiary institutions. It was some of these people that clandestinely misinformed the government how Dr. Ogbo and co were the problem in the University.
- Recall also that even after my exit as DSA, I never relented on my constructive engagement with government particularly on the KSU staff welfare and, most especially on the salient issues that led to the over six months old protracted strike (the longest ever internal strike) which brought more public attention. I was also vocally engaging government on other issues of governance even as the enemies within had already made me vulnerable, waiting to be devoured.
- My brother Austin, beyond Dr Ogbo, you may not know the implication on the university governance and autonomy of the “government” induced involvement in the determination of who occupy such lowest position as the Dean of Student Affairs in the university. In fact, there was a similar conspiracy from within, prior to my predicaments through the instrumentality of government on a Principal Officer in the university. During the two strange developments that should have been rejected and protested, the beneficiaries chose to be silently satisfied without realizing its future effects on all.
- When the government proscribed the “ASUU”, it was then it became clearer to them that the seeds they planted have started germinating by shamelessly preaching the already desecrated spirit of “injury to one is injury to all.” The scenario was like a hypothetical animal kingdom where animals were not only forbidden to eat other animals, but where animals were one another’s keepers. However, because of envy and hatred that crippled in, one day, the lion was spurred and he did the abominable by waking up and eating the goat, while other animals that were supposed to protect and resist the action cheered him up. Done with the strange action without resistance, the enemies again pointed at the stubborn rat, and the lion abominably devoured it with resounding ovation. Expectedly, the lion became more aggressively uncontrollable and decided to swallow the cow with the supposedly common protective horns. It was then the conspirators of the abominable acts started crying foul by calling for the head and taming of the lion while at the same time seeking the support from the goat and the rat’s families.
- Let me sound a bit more personal here. Even as Professor Isah did not employ my wife as he did for most of the ringleaders, my firm believes about his person never changed because he has proven to be trusted and supported against all the obvious risk. In fact, not even a fraction of the avalanche of the TETFUND projects that sprang up during his time can be linked to me either directly or by proxy. That is why almost immediately after his exit from office as VC, I went as usual to take loan facilities from one of the cooperative societies on the campus. One of those brainwashed hater could not help it and spontaneously asked what the “whole Dr Ogbo” was doing in the cooperative office. He was however shocked and become a convert because of my levels of indebtedness he unbelievably saw. In other words, I “dey borrow to shine”. Nothing more!
- From the above, you will agree that, even those with chronic subjective thinking cannot dispute the fact that, goats sweat under intense heat conditions, but covered by the hairy nature. My consolation in all and for the selfless services I have so far rendered for the stability and development of the university over the years, are the accolades, commendation letters and numerous awards that I have so far received from the different layers of authorities and various organizations both from within and outside. My strength in all is what Winston Churchill said, “When you‘re going through hell – keep going”, because; “whatever that makes Mr. ‘A’ to like you, is the same that makes Mr. ‘B’ to hate you”.
Why I Resumed as Others after the Proscription of the “ASUU”
Recall that ASUU (of KSU) and JAC (of all state owned tertiary institutions) were on strike for about five months over salaries and other peculiar matters. Based on the promise by the Kogi State government, JAC suspended its strike action, while that of ASUU was lingered.
The ASUU strike, which eventually entered the sixth months, was declared because of two broad reasons: 1. The reconstitution of the Governing Council; 2. The payment of all outstanding salary arrears.
The Governing Council was reconstituted and it promptly swung into negotiation with ASUU by requesting the leadership to trust them and resume with the promise to take over the pressure in a collaborative manner to the government to fast track the payment of all outstanding salaries. The ASUU leadership rejected this.
The ASUU strike was in its sixth months and was still counting when the Governor and his team paid a visit to the university with all the critical stakeholders in the education sector including the union members for amicable resolutions of the contentious issues. The Attah Igala was also present alongside other traditional rulers.
At that meeting, after all stakeholders and representatives of both staff and students unions had made their presentation, the Governor promised to pay all the outstanding salaries including those that were hitherto not agreed upon. He however exempted the contentious “2015 employment” which he said should be based on “needs assessment” to be conducted by the Governing Council.
ASUU held a congress some days after the meeting. Some “Ogas” aggressively mobilized some younger colleagues particularly those in the “2015 employment” category for the continuation of the strike. Those with different views that were calling for suspension of the strike at least for two weeks to give government benefit of the doubt as JAC did were not only booed but were also shouted down.
Few days after the meeting, precisely in the month of July, 2017, virtually most of us were paid the arrears of all the outstanding salaries owed up to June, 2017 as promised by the government, except mostly those in the “2015 employment” category. With that payment, the popular views on the campus was for the suspension of the strike whether the leadership of ASUU like it or not. After all, the payment of the salary arrears and the reconstitution of the Governing Council were the two issues that propelled the strike, and had been met. Unfortunately and for the reasons best known to the government, few days after the payment, we got the news of the proscription of ASUU and its activities on the KSU campus.
Mr Austin, if you had been conversant with the university governance structure, you would have realized that the Governor of the state who doubled as the Visitor to the University sits at the peak of its organogram. This means that by the virtue of that proscription pronouncements, the activities of the ASUU on KSU campus from that moment remain banned until it is set aside by court of competent jurisdiction.
While we expected the ASUU leadership to consult widely (with the consultation of some of our colleagues who are lawyers for legal advice), they allowed inexperience, ego and sentiments to guide them. The zonal representative who came from the Benue State University, Makurdi only added petrol to the flame of the brewing crisis when he derogatorily described the Governor as “adolescent and tout….” among others. Please note that, at the time the said zonal representative of ASUU came to inflame our crisis, his own university had just resumed from a similar strike action based on promises made by Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State.
The proscription came with resumption order via signing of Register. In the mix of the crisis, there were two conflicting directives: one from the University Management for lecturers to resume by signing the already opened Register, and the second, by the “proscribed ASUU” for members not to resume. That was the confusion faced by the over 400 academic staff then.
With my own peculiar extraordinary state of confusion as the most targeted person from all angles as highlighted above, I prayed to God for wisdom to direct me. Consequently, after wider consultations and critical review of the happenings around me, I signed and resumed like the other over 350 lecturers because of the following specific reasons:
- How my uneducated father at home got the information about the brouhaha before he called me at exactly 11.34p.m., pleading and urging me not to refuse to sign the “Register” remain a mystery to me till date. I gave signing the Register a thought after his words.
- I contacted all the former and serving Vice Chancellors that I had close contact with (about 12 of them) for their advice on the issue. They all advised me to sign the Register and resume.
- I also contacted some very principled, radical unionist and right activist from other institutions. Majority of them advised that I should sign the Register and resume with reference made to the Unilorin experience. I am equally familiar with what happened then.
- In addition, I contacted a senior Professor in my department in whom I so much trusted for advice and judgment. She was and still someone with deep institutional memories of KSU. She relayed the earlier bitter experiences in KSU during the time of the late Prince Abubakar Audu. She explained how all staff members were made to write apology letters for daring to talk about strike over similar salaries related matters. Someone very close at the interaction also explained how the late Prince Abubakar Audu though in different styles banned union activities in the Kogi State Polytechnic, Lokoja for several years before Governor Ibrahim Idris lifted the ban much later. After explaining her displeasure with the happenings, she advised that we should go and sign the Register. I signed as she.
- I reviewed my experience sometimes ago when I posted how I was going into “Taxi Business” because of hardship as part of tickling strategies against the government. The post went viral and it was shared almost across the country. The responses and comments that followed were all urging me to continue with my relentless attack while a few came in form of prayers. Of all the people that responded with comments, only one showed deeper concern. No one else ever either openly or privately asked of my well-being let alone ask for my account number to send me a dime or offer me a job. It dawned on me then that “sleep is actually the younger brother of death,” meaning, “Ile akeneche” (the world can only propel a person into taking a wrong decision). I would have been abandoned in the actual period of hardship if I had eventually become jobless.
- Surprisingly, all my colleagues from the rank of Graduate Assistant (GA) to Professor in the Faculty of Law who I would have contacted for privilege legal advice all signed the Register. In fact, I got comical information how a Professor of Law was even signing the Register everyday thinking that it was a daily signing affairs. Who am I, a layman, not to sign?
- There is limit to solidarity. The “2015 employees” were not supposed to be members of any union until their appointments were confirmed (by virtue of a clause in the appointment letters which they signed and accepted).
- The already divided and corrupt ASUU leadership showed inexperience at its peak. That was in addition to the ethno-religious coloration displayed by the leadership of ASUU complicated roles against the innocent “2015 employees.” That equally made me to sign and resume.
- The role of about twenty-four colleagues of mine who applied to take over my house within the week that I was dropped as the DSA thinking that I had been laid off frightened me to sign and resume.
- Morally speaking, having been paid six months’ salaries covering the time I worked and the time I was on strike and did not work, I decided to tame my ego by recognizing the limits of the already compromised solidarity options to sign and resume.
- I signed and resumed to save my life for my children and my parents because the two times that I escaped assassination attempts on my life at Monitech Hotel and opposite UBA, Anyigba, accusing fingers were allegedly pointed at the “enemies within” who mischievously misinformed the “locals” of how I was preventing the union from suspending the strike.
- I signed and resumed because even the holy Qur’an emphasizes that if you allow whatever that is capable of killing you to take your life, you will go to hell fire.
- Fundamentally, I signed and resumed to save the future of the innocent students who had suffered so much in the course of the over six months old protracted strike, which had become the battle of the titans. As you know, where two elephants fight, the grass there suffers.
- Finally, I signed and resumed since the demands of the Union were met. The Union demanded the reconstitution of the Governing Council and the payment of salary arrears. The Governing Council was reconstituted and the salaries arrears were paid up to date. I had no basis whatsoever therefore to remain on strike when the government had fulfilled its obligations.
From the above, you will agree that Aristotle was never wrong when he said, “Excellence is never an accident. It is always the result of high intention, sincere efforts, and intelligent execution; (which) represents the wise choice of many alternatives – choice not chance, determines your destiny.”
Conclusion
My brother Austin, there is an Igbo proverb which says if a man does not remember where he was drenched in the rain, he should remember where he was made to warm himself by the fire. If you were in my position, would you have acted the way I did or differently? If only you expected me to trek in poverty just to please your expectations or take the path of those that pay your bills, would you say that I was a betrayer, a backstabber or a sellout?
You fed the public with wrong pieces of information out of crude ignorance in order to denigrate my person and besmirch my image. Established home and abroad, I want to inform you that you sold your sentiment to the world when you wrote a denigrating post about me. Those for and with whom I have worked can testify to my sterling personality that my principles do not change by the dictate of a man. I want to equally add here that I take advice from people regardless of their class and status, but I do not do their expected personal sentimental biddings.
In addition, I do not dance to the tune which conflicts with my personal principles. I am not a politician, and you do not expect me to join forces with your PDP spirit to fight an APC government just because I want to keep your friendship or please your expectations. As I stated earlier, you and I obviously have different interest and objectives. While my interest in criticizing government actions was and is purely for social and not personal benefits, yours was and is for political scores, the path where you and I are two worlds apart.
I am human and I betray issues as you have said. However, rather than betray emotion and trust, I admittedly betray hunger, humiliation, embarrassment, joblessness and death in my life. That is why I excel in life’s pursuits and in academics. I made a resolution not to allow my background to hold me down come what may. From childhood, I betrayed every form of backwardness and senselessness to excel in life. If that meets you as a shock, I am afraid; I have no apology, Mr Austin.
How I wish you deeply understood the fact that when the vindictive and callous hunters became the hunted, no matter your political motives, you would not blame the courageous and tactful one who retreated to the saving cave and refused to fire his only cartridge to avoid the deadly hawks from discovering his hideout. That is wisdom! Like my brother, Honorable Obochi Samuel once wrote, “The greatest injustice is for the anus to fart while the head receives the knock.”
I was shocked to my marrow when one of my “small” friends in Anyigba town who is a staunched member of the PDP like you came and jokingly confronted me with the displeasure of his party members. He said, “You of all people that have been very vocal against the government policies should not have participated in the reopening of the ‘nebasity’ (referring to the KSU) that was being used as mobilizing strategies.” I took that as a joke until, the sudden interest of the Kogi East Elders Forum, whose leadership is dominated by members of your party. Kogi East Elders Forum was silent over the KSU crisis during the protracted six months old strike and other strikes/crisis in the university but suddenly find its voice. It was then I realized that the “tadpole” that was dancing in the water had its drummers underneath the water.
Let me end this write-up with a demystifying content joke as contained in Nasir El-Rufai’s book, “The Accidental Public Servant”. It was an old joke in which a man approached a woman at a cocktail and asked her if she would sleep with him for one million pounds. When the woman shyly replied with request to discuss the terms, the man followed it with a rather ridiculous demand by asking her if she would sleep with him for one pound. At that point, the woman retorted as to what kind of woman the man thought she was. The man politely replied, “We have already established what sort of woman you are. All we are doing now is negotiating the price.”
My dear Austin, now that you have been established as opposition party activist, I have this passionate advice for you. Please, do not play politics with everything, not even the future of our younger ones. The Kogi State University, Anyigba irrespective of the phasing challenges, it is moving towards a predictable and stable academic calendar. From experiences, the University of Ilorin, which is ranked among the best in Nigeria today, passed through this type of tortuous paths.
As the Chairman of e-examination committee in KSU, let me shock you with this pitiable fact. Applicants to KSU for the 2017/2018 session were less than 6,000. This figure, which is the least ever for the past eleven years, was even only possible because of the reduction of the national cut-off point, which made KSU to peg its cut-off point at 160 against the previous 180 scores. Conversely, Unilorin had over 60,000 applicants. The disenchantment for KSU was due to the incessant strike while the interest in Unilorin is its stable and predictable academic calendar for the past twenty years. Unilorin passed through this similar phase, but came out stronger and better. Nobody should deceive you that KSU will not get to that level because I was at Unilorin and know what happened.
Let me end by saying that even as there are vehicular accidents here and there, people still use it as the most common means of transportation globally and on a daily basis. Surely, I have no reason not to work for the progress, development and collective sustenance of KSU. However, whoever that is against the progress and development of the university, I boldly say; Akpane, ane kikpa and owo kigura ejo ejo kimudu’lo. Please say amen!!!
Finally, please do not be too politically sentimental to the extent of spoiling a relationship. This is because, there is obviously no serious differences between your party PDP and APC in terms of the actors, except that, one is in and the other is out of power. That is why Aristotle said, “What is friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies”. The watchword is to play politics without bitterness and not to confuse party interest with accidental proto-nationalism.
That is why I said your enemy is not my enemy, but the enemy of my enemy is my friend.
Thank you for the painstaking reading in the hope that you will do the needful.
Yours sincerely,
Dr. Salisu Ogbo Usman
