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Nigeria and the Burden of Deformed Politics and Power

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Deformed Politics

By Jerome-Mario Utomi

At independence in October 1960, through the mid-60s, Nigeria and Nigerians witnessed an amazing period of wealth creation.

But the sudden decision by the then military administration/government to shift focus from regional to unitary system slowed down the pace of economic development in the country.

The situation has since been exacerbated in the past two decades of democratic experience and governmental-type described by analysts as a pseudo or quasi-federal system which further shifted the distribution of income/resources strongly in favour of the government at the centre and against the real owners of wealth-states and local governments

Aside from the understanding by many that such a state of affairs is attributable to the wrong application of power by politicians (the real enemies of the open society), for a better understanding of this piece, there is a greater need to take a cursory look at power from two standpoints.

First, from the Marxists perspectives; that is, those that understand politics as grasping the moment and revolves it ‘solely and squarely’ around personal interest-the ebb and flow of influence among adversaries.

The second perspective focuses on development professionals’ understanding of power.

To add context to the discourse, Grant Cardone, a human development professional, while commenting on deformed politics asserts that politicians and the media perpetuate the shortage concept by suggesting that there is not enough of certain things to go around-that if you have something, I cannot.

Many politicians believe that they need to spread these needs in order to energize their followers to take a stand for or against another or party. They make statements like; ‘I will take better care of you than the other guy’ ‘ I will make life easier for you ‘ ‘I will reduce taxes for you’ I promise better education for your kids’ or ‘I will make it more possible for you to be successful.

The underlined implication of these claims, he added, is that only I can do this-not the other guy. These politicians first emphasize the topics and initiatives that they know what followers consider important-then they create the sense that citizens are not capable of doing things for themselves. They highlight’ scarcity that exists and do their best to make people feel that their only chance of getting what they want and need is to support them. Otherwise, they imply, your chances of getting your share become even more remote.

On the other hand, power properly understood in the words of Martin Luther King Jar, is nothing but the ability to achieve a purpose. It is the strength required to bring about social, economic, political, cultural and religious changes. What is needed is a realization that power without love is reckless and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anaemic. Power at its best is love implementing the demand of justice, and justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love.

From these words, it may not be a wrong assertion to conclude that; there is nothing wrong with power; that power could be used both constructively and destructively; that for man to function well in any given position of authority, he/she must identify that power is not a complete end but looks up to something further; it cannot itself be the ultimate goal; that power is valuable according to the use to which it may be put.

With this fact highlighted, let’s move from meaning to examples of wrong use of power.

Chief among such examples of the destructive exercise of power include Pol Pot of Cambodia. It was in the news that while in power in Cambodia between 1975 and 1978, he used his position to cause the death of more than two million people in Cambodia – a small country in Southeast Asia bordered by Vietnam and Thailand. This is a verifiable fact.

The story is not different here in Africa as it is factually backed that late Robert Mugabe in his quest to hold on to power, massacred over 20,000 of his people and not animals, destroyed the nation’s economy and watched with disinterest while his wife looted millions of dollars. Fresh in our memories are the Liberia episode in the early 1990s, Gnassingbe Eyadema of Togo and Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire. Specifically in Africa, there are even more accounts of gradual and silent encroachment/abuse of power by those in positions of authority, than by violent and sudden usurpations.

Conversely, talking about constructive use of power back in Nigeria, the thought of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, then Premier of the Western region, comes to mind. He constructively used his position to better the lives of his people. Through quality and affordable education, he set the region on a hyper-modern pathway.

This feat or a combination of other people-purposed achievements, without doubt, explains why  about four decades after his reign, he is daily remembered and used in virtually all the primary schools (both public and private), as an example of a great leader

Indeed, he defined power in the image of his actions.

But today, that narrative has changed. National development is not only in trouble; rather education, power, health and infrastructure are the worst victims of present leadership ineptitudes.

And when one looks precisely at what went wrong, one thing seems to stand out. It is the shocking reality that the same qualities that created success in the past are the same qualities that undermine success today.

In many ways, the present administration may have a sincere desire to move the nation forward, but there are three major militating factors.

First, there is no clear definition of our problem as a nation, the goals to be achieved or the means chosen to address the problems and to achieve the goals.

Secondly, the system has virtually no consideration for connecting the poor with good means of livelihood-food, job and security.

Thirdly, though they constitutionally possess the political powers to improve the life chances of the governed, government at all levels daily manifest non-possession of political will to perform their constitutional responsibilities.

This is the only possible explanation.

Out of many other areas of concern, take the education sector as an example. Globally; it is a well-considered belief that; education is an extremely valuable strategy for solving many of society’s ills. In an age where information has more economic value than ever before, it’s obvious that education should have a higher national priority. It is also clear that democracies are more likely to succeed when there is widespread access to high-quality education.

But despite these virtues, attributes about education, here in Nigeria, the sector remains in the ‘valleys of the shadow of death’ occasioned by perennial underfunding and neglect. This failure points at FG’s unwillingness to engineer national development and signposts an administration that is not interested in using its power properly.

Among other demands, reversing this trend calls for leaders’ development of political will for using power both creatively and profitably.

The nation must come up with programmes to sustain the youths, as the future strength of the nation depends on its young people as their generation will provide the next set of leaders.

Taking this step is most important as they (youths) have recently lost all fears of punishment and yielded obedience to the power of violence. The Alamajiris in the north must be reintegrated back to school, so should the challenges of the youths in the south-south whose farmlands and other means of livelihood have been destroyed through oil prospecting and explorations.

Nigerians and of course the world is in agreement that we can achieve this goal. The nation is not as poor as politicians trumpet it.

Jerome-Mario Utomi is the Programme Coordinator (Media and Policy), Social and Economic Justice Advocacy (SEJA), Lagos. He could be reached via; jeromeutomi@yahoo.com or 08032725374.

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Bridging Theory and Practice: Integrating Measurement Education in Tertiary Curriculums

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Integrating Measurement Education

By Philip Odiakose

As a public relations measurement and evaluation expert with more than a decade of experience advocating the integration of measurement and evaluation into communications and PR engagements, I have witnessed firsthand the knowledge gaps that exist in the field.

These gaps are particularly evident in how PR professionals and agencies approach measurement and evaluation. The reality is that the acceptance and best practices of PR measurement and evaluation must start from the classroom.

This is why I strongly believe that measurement and evaluation education must be integrated into the curriculum of Mass Communications, Public Relations, and Media departments in tertiary institutions. It is only through this structured education that we can begin to produce PR professionals who are future-ready, and equipped with the technical know-how to design, measure, and evaluate campaigns effectively.

The absence of measurement and evaluation in the traditional curriculum of many institutions has created a disconnect between the theoretical knowledge taught in schools and the practical realities of the PR profession. Most PR graduates enter the field with a strong understanding of communication strategies but little to no knowledge of how to measure the success of those strategies or how to leverage data for impactful decision-making.

Measurement and evaluation are not just add-ons; they are integral to ensuring accountability, transparency, and effectiveness in PR and communication efforts. Without a foundational understanding of how to measure impact, PR practitioners are left to rely on outdated metrics or superficial indicators that do not reflect true campaign performance.

In this regard, I must commend institutions that have made deliberate efforts to bring real-life and practical measurement experiences into the classroom. One standout example is Covenant University in Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria. Over the years, I have had the privilege of working with the Communications and Media Studies Department, thanks to Dr. Kehinde Oyesomi, who has consistently provided opportunities for her students to learn the basics of measurement and evaluation. This hands-on approach equips students with the analytical mindset required to thrive in the PR and communications industry. By exposing students to real-world applications of measurement, institutions like Covenant University are raising a generation of practitioners who will be better prepared to navigate the complexities of the industry.

Another commendable example is the initiative by the NIGERIAN INSTITUTE OF PUBLIC RELATIONS, LAGOS (Lagos NIPR), which integrated measurement and evaluation education into its curriculum in 2017. This forward-thinking move was driven by a partnership between P+ Measurement Services and the NIPR Lagos leadership at the time, under the chairmanship of Segun Mcmedal.

It is encouraging to see that this initiative has been sustained by the current chairperson, Madam Comfort Obot Nwankwo, reflecting a commitment to continuous learning and professional development. However, this effort must go beyond the Lagos chapter; it is my hope that the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations, under the leadership of Dr. Ike Neliaku, will recognize the importance of adopting measurement and evaluation as an integral part of the institute’s curriculum nationwide.

Education is the foundation of knowledge and practice. In the same vein, it is the starting point for the usage, integration, and acceptance of PR measurement and evaluation as a core function within the industry. Without education, we risk perpetuating the cycle of ignorance, where PR professionals fail to understand the value of data-driven insights and fall back on outdated or ineffective practices. To address this, the measurement community must actively champion education as a means to bridge the gap between theory and practice. This is why global initiatives like AMEC Measurement and Evaluation Education Hub under the leadership of Johna Burke are so vital.

As a founding member of #AMECLabInitiative, I am proud to be part of a mission that focuses on skill development, career progression, and knowledge sharing within the global measurement community. AMEC’s efforts to promote education in measurement and evaluation for public relations and communications are critical to ensuring that best practices are not only adopted but also sustained across the industry.

The value of measurement cannot be overstated. It is both the science and the art of public relations, providing a framework for accountability and a pathway to continuous improvement. However, to achieve this, we must first address the root of the problem: the lack of formal education in measurement and evaluation.

By integrating it into the curriculum of universities and professional bodies, we are not only equipping students with the skills they need to succeed but also ensuring that the industry as a whole evolves to meet the demands of a data-driven world. As I often say, “Education is the beginning, the middle, and the end of the acceptance and best practices of measurement.”

In conclusion, I call on tertiary institutions across Nigeria to embrace the integration of measurement and evaluation into their Mass Communications, PR, and Media curriculums. This is not just about equipping students with technical knowledge; it is about shaping the future of the PR profession. Measurement and evaluation are not static; they are dynamic, evolving with trends, tools, and technologies.

By embedding this education into the classroom, we are creating a pipeline of professionals who are not only skilled but also adaptable, innovative, and ready to lead. The future of PR measurement and evaluation lies in education, and it is up to us as practitioners, educators, and industry leaders to ensure that this foundation is built strong and sustained for generations to come.

Philip Odiakose is a leader and advocate of PR measurement, evaluation and media monitoring in Nigeria. He is also the Chief Media Analyst at P+ Measurement Services, a member of AMEC, NIPR and AMCRON

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How to Awaken the Conscience of the World?

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Immigration Quota World Map

By Kingsley Omose

Sharp conflicts have always indicated transformation points to the consciousness of the world and provided pivots. Pivot is a point of articulation, a point at which things balance.

Sharp conflicts, whether it is a world war or (war in) Iraq, has always indicated transformation points to the consciousness of the world and provided pivots to a new design of human actions.

Things change after the world is traumatised or the world has sharp military conflict or collision of the human will in the earth has always provided pivot points or transformation points to the world’s consciousness.

We look at these events, look at the terrible things that are taking place, but behind that we recognise the fact that things are shifting to new positions.” Dr. Noel Woodroffe on Core Imperatives for Successful Nation Development

Gandhi used the principle of embracing personal suffering from your oppressor without retaliation to wake the conscience of your oppressor and make him stop the oppression to free India from British colonial rule.

In doing this, Gandhi had pointed to Jesus Christ as showing the way to embracing the principle of embracing unjust personal suffering visited on him by those he came to save to awaken the conscience of humanity to the path of reconciliation with its Creator, God.

Gandhi set up unarmed Indian protesters to defy unjust British laws and policies and then for these Indians to resort with non-violence when the British Army made up principally of Indians visited them with violence in return.

While Gandhi used the principle from a majority population perspective, Martin Luther King Jr. took the same principle and applied it from a Black minority population perspective to awake the conscience of the dominant white population in the US to the evils of segregation.

He simply organised Black protesters to defy the segregation policy and not to respond with violence when the police in the South came to enforce segregation with brutality and unwarranted violence before the American media who were on hand to record it.

This was what gave birth to the Civil Rights Act in the US ending segregation and legal racial discrimination, amongst others. Hamas deviated substantially from Gandhi and Martin Lutther King Jr. in that its application of the principle was triggered through violence and killing of over 1,200 Israelis during its border invasion on October 7, 2023.

The issue before Hamas was how a minority population brings the attention of the world to Israel’s biggest open air fenced prison in the world with over 2.5 million Palestinians, and by extension, the issue of a Palestinian state.

First, without the knowledge of the 2.5 million Palestinians in Gaza, Hamas dug tens of thousands of kilometres of tunnels deep underneath Gaza.

Then, on October 7, 2023, Hamas and its allies broke through reinforced concrete walls separating Gaza from Israel, invaded some neighbouring communities, killed over 1,200 people, and forcefully took over 200 Israeli captive back with them into the tunnels underneath Gaza.

An enraged Israel with its Western allies reacting to what they regarded as a massacre swallowed the bait, and what the world has witnessed live on all media platforms in the last 13 months has been a morden defining of what constitutes genocide as the full military might of Israel and its Western allies was visited on an unarmed nonviolent Palestinian population in Gaza.

Make no mistake, implementing this strategy came at great cost to Hamas and its leaders, but what has shaken a watching world to its core has been the resulting violence and suffering visited on over 2.5 million unarmed Palestinians, mostly women and children, by the Israeli government and military with the support of its Western allies.

A peace deal has now been brokered between Israel and Hamas facilitated by Donald Trump using a 3-stage peace plan earlier put forward by the Biden administration, starting with the exchange of prisoners between both sides.

But be assured that just as happened in India gaining independence from the British with the help of Gandhi, and with the civil rights movement in the US spearheaded by Martin Luther King Jr., the Palestinian cause is now a global issue thanks to the actions of Israel and its Western allies in the last 13 months.

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Reflection on Groups’ Kindness to Alidinma Mixed Secondary and Ute Okpu Grammar Schools

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Alidinma Mixed Secondary

By Jerome-Mario Utomi

This piece was inspired by two separate but related events; the first has to do with the news report that Dr. Philomena Onoyona Foundation, in line with its vision of giving unwavering commitment to education and community development, recently made a strategic visit to Alidinma Mixed Secondary School in Agbor Alidinma in Ika South Local Government Area of Delta State, where it donated learning materials worth thousands of naira to the students.

The second and closely related to the above centres on the revelation that the Ute Okpu Community in Ika North-East Local Government Area of Delta State recently came alive as the 1990 Set of Ute Okpu Grammar School Old Students Association celebrated its annual reunion with a series of social responsibilities aimed at giving back to the society.

These activities, programmes and initiatives include but are not limited to; deworming of children aged 10 years and below, payment of tribute to the unsung heroes of Ute Okpu Grammar School, presentations of lecture series, bestowing of awards, testimonials, plaques and cash gifts on the school’s outstanding/dedicated teachers, staff, and alumni in recognition of their tireless efforts and unwavering commitment, and unrelenting passion for education.

At a glance, the above show of love by the Foundation and the Old Students Association portrays a bunch that recognizes Social Responsibility as an ethical framework in which individuals or corporations must act in the best interests of their environment and society as a whole, fulfilling their civil duty and taking actions that are beneficial to both the present and upcoming generations.

Beyond the donations, worthy of mention are their messages of hope and resolve to continually support both the present and future students within the state and beyond.

Take as an illustration, Dr. Onoyona underlined that the latest visit and donation of learning materials to the students of Alidinma Mixed Secondary School is the foundation’s way of raising from our community, academically strong and well-informed youths that will provide the future leadership needs of our nation as well as compete favourably with their counterparts abroad’’.

The Nigerian-born and U.S.-based social worker and advocate while calling on other well-meaning and quietly influential Nigerians to team up in her current quest to uplift less privileged and vulnerable youths out of poverty and illiteracy, added that this benevolent outreach which focuses on empowering students through provisions of essential educational materials such as school bags, relevant books, pens, and pencils, among others will continue and be extended to other schools within Delta state and beyond to equip the students with the tools needed to excel academically and inspire a brighter future.

In a related development, Speaking via a statement signed by one of the leading members, Chukwuka Justus Iwegbu and titled; The Spirit of Giving Back to Our Community and Alma Mater: A Tribute to the Unsung Heroes of Ute Okpu Grammar School 1990 Set Old Students Association, the Ute Okpu Old Students Association explained that the event which took place at Ute Okpu Unity Town Hall was a testament to the enduring spirit of the alumni association and its commitment to recognizing the contributions of its esteemed members.

“One thing that brought us together after so many years of leaving our alma mater is unity and love. We may not bother ourselves with the sung and unsung stories because we have a whole lot of members who believe in an unsung story of positive contribution and impact on the lives of others. Remembering our roots remains our major mandate and a call to duty.

“The Ute Okpu Grammar School Alumni Association, 1990 set, is committed to giving back to our alma mater and the Ute Okpu community. We believe that education is the key to unlocking the potential of individuals and communities, and we are dedicated to supporting initiatives that promote educational excellence and intergenerational change,” the statement concluded.

Without a doubt, it will be convenient for many to argue that there is nothing philanthropic to attract media coverage of such a low-profiled donation of learning material, particularly as the value of the donation in question is not measured in billions of Naira.

For me, there are lessons to learn from these groups and every reason to celebrate their actions.

First and very fundamental is the hidden truth that members of these groups are not in absolute terms wealthy, particularly going by Nigerians’ context and definition of riches but were predominantly fired by the burning desire to uplift the life chances of the poor and vulnerable in their environment through educational support.

Regardless of what others may say, this piece holds the opinion that these morally eminent men and women made donations to schools not only as a positive behavioural culture but largely in recognition of the time-honoured aphorism which considers education as the bedrock of development; that with sound educational institutions, a country is as good as made -as the institutions will turn out all rounded manpower to continue with the development of the society driven by well thought out ideas, policies, programmes, and projects.

Their action equally symbolises a bunch in consonance with the fact that it is our collective responsibility to ensure that our schools work and our children are properly educated at the right time.

With their culture of donating to the students’ welfare and comfort, the group, in my view,  amplified the notion that children enjoy the right to education as recognized by a number of international conventions, including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights which recognizes a compulsory primary education for all, an obligation to develop secondary education accessible to all, as well as the progressive introduction of free higher education/obligation to develop equitable access to higher education.

We must also not fail to remember that a few years ago, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), in line with its mandate to promote and protect human rights, established the right to education as a thematic area of focus to drive its vision of having all children enrolled in school as well as to ensure that the culture of human rights is promoted and maintained in schools.

One common fact we must not shy away from as a people is that the crushing weight arising from education funding in Nigeria and globally has become too heavy for only the government to shoulder and that is another reason why the intervention/donation by these groups is most profound.

As we celebrate these uncommon efforts, the lesson we must all draw from the example of these groups is that it is time for all to collectively find creative and sustainable solutions to educational provision for all in Nigeria, especially for the children of the poor and lowly as these children deserve the right to hold all of us accountable.

If we fail to provide this traditional but universal responsibility to these children, their future will hang in the balance as a result of such failures. And chances are that most of them will run to the streets. And, as we know, the streets are known for breeding all sorts of criminals and other social misfits who constitute the real threat such as armed robbers, thugs, drug abusers, drunkards, prostitutes and all other social ills that give a bad name to society.

Utomi, a media specialist, writes from Lagos, Nigeria. He can be reached via Jeromeutomi@yahoo.com/08032725374

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