Ladies and gentlemen, I wish to thank you all for the honour of inviting me to speak at this year’s Founders Day celebration of the Eko Boys High School and in particular for inaugurating this Memorial lecture in honour of the visionary Reverend William Benjamin Euba now of very blessed memory, who founded this school.

I know that in 1955 when the Premier of the Western Region inaugurated the free primary education program across the western region, the prevailing condition was one of mass illiteracy.

While many of our people are now literate in numeracy and letters, and they can now operate a telephone, this literacy that we have come to take for granted, was unthinkable on any scale in the western region in 1955. Large numbers of people simply could not put meaning to numbers and letters talk less of reading or writing.

One of the permanent businesses of that time, was that of a professional letter writer. Yes, in case you did not know or you have forgotten that was a business that once thrived in Nigeria and which happily by the vision and execution of Awolowo, is now history, because the monopoly of knowledge by a few has been democratised by the leadership provided by one man and his team.

But my intervention is not about Obafemi Awolowo but rather about William Euba.

But it is important to put matters in context by emphasising how difficult things were in 1955 when Awolowo intervened, which is just 68 years ago.

You can therefore imagine perhaps how much more difficult the Euba era was, back in January 1913 when he opened the doors of Eko Boys High School to the public to get Educated.

That was 110 years ago today and approximately 42 years before free education started; and interestingly, both events occurred in January.

On a lighter note, and for those who have recently been involved in the debate over who is the greatest of all time between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, I do not intend such a debate between Euba and Awolowo.

Rather, I seek to celebrate the farsightedness of their vision about the importance of education and knowledge to nation building, peaceful coexistence and information management for rational choices.

This school, founded by Reverend Euba, and the many more that have come after it have in my view been the glue that has bound our people together in more ways than we have either acknowledged or appreciated.

This is the background to my discussion of the topic of this lecture: Religious and Tribal Tolerance: Panacea to Peaceful Coexistence in Nigeria – The Reverend Euba Example.

The example of Rev. Euba remains iconic because he set up a school that opened its doors to people from all walks of life, in our diverse country.

The importance of this educational tolerance to peaceful coexistence is easy to miss, if we do not understand how strong identities are, and how even more strongly people cling to their tribal, ethnic, and religious identities.

For those who want to delve into the matter of identity more deeply, I recommend, “IDENTITY: The Demand for Dignity and the Politics of Resentment” by Francis Fukuyama.

But for the purpose of today, it is simply important to stress how strongly those identities magnify our suspicions about one another, inflame myths about others in our minds and expand fault lines that overshadows the common bonds of humanity that we all share.

It is the very early work and initiative of men like Reverend Euba and other missionaries of the time to open access to formal education for African and Nigerian children on a non-discriminatory basis that has helped in no small way to bridge those gaps that are being widened by manipulation of our ethnic and religious diversity.

As I have had cause to argue on occasion, if our creator has demonstrated the capacity to create diversity, certainly nothing could have prevented him from making us all the same other than his infinite wisdom that our diversity would better enrich us and make our planet a more exciting place.

Regrettably this is what a few people (and I insist that they are few) choose to weaponize and deny us of the richness and excitement that the creator intended for us.

Clearly, Reverend Euba saw through their chicanery many years before it matured. He chose education as his weapon to put those few people in their place.

A place of irrelevance and ignominy, supplanted by the training of a large army of young people who have the understanding of both religions, who accept the minor differences between them and who decide to embrace the fundamentals of a common good and a common humanity.

Those young people, by virtue of the opportunity they got to attend the same school, sit in the same classrooms, eat together and participate in sporting activities together have learned that we are not different from one another even if we speak different languages.

Afterall, as Bishop Desmond Tutu of blessed memory argues in his book “God is not a Christian,” that the languages we speak and the faith we profess are not divine; on the contrary they are products of where we were born and to whom we were born.

Those accidental circumstances should not define our essence. They should not be points of discord or discontent. Rather they should serve as sources of strength and richness which in fact they are.

It is to the eternal credit of Reverend William Benjamin Euba and others like him that they saw these sources of strength and richness and exposed young men and women to them through education.

This has turned a generation of young men and women into a large army of adults who have overcome religious and ethnic differences to contribute to national good and development.

Permit me to illustrate this phenomenon, by telling you a story that is only one example of many uncountable stories, which keeps the very few peddlers of division in check in our country.

On the 16th day of December 2022, I was invited to the Church Missionary Society (CMS) Grammar School premises to open an e-learning centre at the school premises in Bariga area of Lagos.

The centre had 300 computers, high speed broadband internet, fully equipped IT lab, for students and many other facilities for librarians and teachers. It was not built by the Anglican mission nor was it built by a Christian.

It was built by a Muslim, Senator Olugbenga Bareehu Ashafa, a two-term senator and now the Managing Director of the Federal Housing Authority.

It was built in part because he was an old boy of that school. The Anglican mission did not shut him out about 50 years ago when he sought admission there, on the grounds that he was a Muslim.

On the contrary, they opened their doors to him, and interestingly while still a student, the school gave him a special permission to perform the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca as his parents wished and he returned to complete his education.

As I said, at the occasion, what is a Bareehu doing amongst Anglicans? Only the farsighted vision of missionaries and men like Reverend Euba could have found a place of comfort for a Bareehu amongst Anglicans, and for me a Raji in Eko Boys High School. Yes, I passed through this school for one year.

Ladies and gentlemen, Reverend Euba’s place in Nigeria’s quest for peaceful coexistence is legendary. We cannot thank him enough. May his kind, generous and visionary soul continue to rest in peace and may his example continue to inspire our nation.

Babatunde Raji Fashola SAN , CON
Honourable Minister of Works and Housing

Friday 13th January 2023

PRESS STATEMENT
CARE CONDEMNS THE ARREST AND DETENTION OF ACTIVISTS AND COMMUNITY WOMEN FOR PEACEFULLY PROTESTING OUTRAGEOUS ESTIMATED ELECTRICITY BILLING
WE DEMAND THE IMMEDIATE AND UNCONDITIONAL RELEASE OF ALL DETAINED PERSONS AND AN END TO OUTRAGEOUS AND UNJUSTIFIABLE ELECTRICITY BILLS
The community people, mostly women and youths in the Tolu area of Ajegunle, Apapa Lagos led by socialists and rights activists trooped out in a peaceful protest against outrageous (crazy) electricity billing issued to community residents by Eko Distribution Company. Rather than attend to the demands of the protesting community people, the Nigeria Police of the Tolu Divisional Police on the orders of the management of Eko Distribution Company arrested and detained the peaceful protesters. Notable among the arrested persons are Moshood Oshunfurewa (Coordinator of the Ajegunle Peoples Movement, APM), Lateef Adams (member of the Movement for Socialist Alternative), Emeka Bosah (Coordinator of Ajeromi Ifelodun Community Movement, AICOM), Mrs Stella Edegwa (Community activist), Joseph Chukwudi, Mrs Nana Gloria, Mrs Rose, and 3 others.
The Eko Distribution Company just like the other private electricity companies is notorious for issuing unjustified and outrageous electricity bills to amass huge profits. In a country with N30,000 minimum wage, these electricity companies sometimes issue electricity bills to the poor communities for tens of thousands of Naira. This has been the root cause of huge debts hanging on the neck of many residents across the country.
Since November 2013 when the power sector was privatized, communities have been plunged into darkness while tariff has gone up steadily. The power companies have also refused to issue prepaid meters to residents in order to issue fraudulent estimated bills.
In order to sustain this exploitation, the electricity companies rely on the capitalist government and its state agents of repression, particularly the Nigerian Police whose men and women have often used brute force against peaceful and innocent protesters. Many community residents and activists are currently facing trumped-up charges in different courts. We demand an end to police arrest, detention, and attacks on innocent community people and activists.
Coalition for Affordable and Regular Electricity (CARE) demands the immediate and unconditional release of the detained protesters.
We appeal to working people, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC) and pro-people organizations in Nigeria and internationally to join the campaign for their immediate and unconditional release of the protesters.
Family members and members of different pro-labour organizations have visited the Tolu Divisional Police Station but the Divisional Police Officer, CSP Etuk Akanyene refused to release the peaceful protesters, apparently, the order from the Eko Distribution Company is to brutalize, detain and eventually charge the protesters to court on trumped-up charges.

We appeal for protest calls and messages to be sent to the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Abiodu Alabi (08033432264) and Tolu Divisional Police Officer, CSP Etuk Akanyene (08034448617) with a call to release all protesters.

SIGNED:
Chinedu Bosah Shoyombo Monsuru
National Coordinator National Secretary

Why PDP Will Sweep The Polls In Ogoniland – Dekor

As campaigns intensify ahead of the forthcoming general elections, the lawmaker representing Khana/Gokana Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Dumnamene Robinson Dekor has declared that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will sweep the polls not only in Gokana Local Government Area but in Ogoni land at large.

Rt. Hon. Dekor who made the declaration while speaking to journalists at the PDP Campaign rally in Gokana on Wednesday, said the huge turnout of Ogoni people at the Khana and Gokana PDP rallies showed that no other party but the PDP exists in Ogoniland.

Rt. Hon. Dekor who is the House Committee Chairman on Host Communities and the PDP Candidate for Khana/Gokana Federal Constituency described the Gokana rally as another huge success as according to him, the people turned out in their thousands to declare that Ogoni is PDP and PDP is Ogoni.

“I give thanks and glory to God Almighty for making it possible for us to gather in Gokana today. As usual, it’s a mammoth crowd. All I can say to the people of Gokana is to continue voting for the PDP.

“They should vote for Siminialayi Fubara for Governor; vote Barry Mpigi for the Senate, and vote for my humble self, Rt. Hon. Dumnamene Robinson Dekor for the House of Representatives.
They should also vote Hon. Dumle Maol into the Rivers State House of Assembly”, he told the people.

Rt. Hon. Dum Dekor, a one-time Deputy Speaker in the Rivers State House of Assembly, as well as former Works Commissioner in the state, said he can confidently seek block votes from Ogoni people because the PDP has done well for Ogonis.

“You find some small parties who have no trace of performance in the various offices they had occupied since 1999. They have been in public offices but have nothing to show that they have been in public office.

“So, we asked the people to vote right because this time, they are not going to bring soldiers or police to intimidate us. They cannot hire thugs and arm them against us”, he said, adding that the game is up for the “enemies of Ogoni” as they would be up against the will of the people which he asserted, would always prevail.

On the level of confidence he has for the people of Gokana and Ogoni in general, Rt. Hon. Dum Dekor enthused: ” Yes, I’ve always been confident that the people of Gokana and the rest of Ogoni will vote massively for the PDP and today’s turnout is a testament to that fact. So, we have no issues that Ogoni will vote for the PDP”.

2023 Ogoni Governorship: Facts and Fictions

It was Sean Hughes who defined a politician as ‘a person who has nothing to say but says it anyway’.

Though the definition is one parochial prism of seeing a politician, it nonetheless captures the true image of the like of Kennedy Friday, real or pseudo name of the political acolyte who displayed the depth of his ignorance of politics and by extension, democracy while responding to Rt. Hon. Dum Dekor’s innocuous statement at the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) campaign rally in Gokana Local Government Area, Wednesday, January 25, 2023.

While we will not want to join issues with anybody, it suffice to say that in a democracy you can say whatever you like as long as you do what you are told.

Politics, we know is the art of seeking legitimate power through a political party to direct public affairs or be in charge of government policies. To achieve this, one has to belong to one of the numerous political parties registered and accredited by the electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as it relates to Nigeria .

This fact is what is lost on some emergency political commentators and tribal jingoists who see any opinion that differs from theirs as a confrontation and, or assault on the sensibilities of ‘their own people’.

While Rt. Hon. Dum Dekor was speaking and canvassing for votes at the said rally, he passionately appealed to the people to keep voting for the PDP which has the largest presence in the area and Ogoni at large.

Rightly too, the PDP government has benefitted Ogoni in many ways which evidence are visible in infrastructural developments.

Besides, the zoning of governorship position is not and has never been done on ethnic basis but on the basis of senatorial districts.

Presently, the PDP governorship candidate in the person of Sir Siminalayi Fubara is a bonafide son of Rivers South-East to which Ogoni eminently belongs, thus making him our own son and should therefore be seen as such and voted for.

This is the import of Rt. Hon. Dum Dekor’s message. At no time did the honourable federal lawmaker say Ogoni is not ripe to produce a governor in 2023.

This is a true case of giving a dog a bad name to find cause to kill him. The truth is that the PDP has chosen a governorship candidate for the 2023 election and it will be foolhardy for the Ogoni not to join the moving train simply because the candidate who is from the same senatorial district as Ogoni, and the nearest community (Opobo) is the party’s flag bearer.

That, to Rt. Hon. Dekor, amounts to political suicide in the face of the fact that no other political party in the state outside the PDP as of today is well positioned to win the 2023 general elections in the state. This is just the bitter truth these political dreamers do not want to accept.

The 2023 general elections will not be the last elections in the state or Nigeria. All that is important is for the Ogonis to continue to unite and have a sense of purpose and whichever party through which the Ogoni gets what is due her, so be it.

Unfortunately, these political desperadoes would not let this be, simply because ‘if it is not we’ then it cannot be.
This is a very wrong approach to politics.

There is no gainsaying the fact that Rt. Hon. Dum Dekor is one of the finest political office holders Ogoni has produced in recent times.

He has not only demonstrated capacity at the National Assembly where he serves as the House Committee Chairman for Host Communities, he has also visibly and compassionately impacted lives of numerous Ogoni youths, women and elders indiscriminately. What else could be the essence of political representation and what else do these blackmailers and visionless agitators wish to do differently?

Notwithstanding, may we use this opportunity to advise the good people of Ogoni once again, to discountenance this antics of scoring cheap political points by those who do not mean well for Ogoniland and vote rightly for the PDP governorship candidate and for candidates of the National and State Assemblies in 2023 general elections.

God willing, at the right time, and very soon too, the great Ogoniland will produce a Governor which is our collective dream.
But to be a good leader, we must first be a good follower.

Signed:

Rt. Hon. Dum Dekor Media Team