In the years of military rule, a Nigerian journalist coined the phrase Nigerian journalists have gone to Afghanistan. The term was an instant hit and became very popular especially in the mid 80s. Those were the years in which journalists regularly cooled their heels in jail (in the lingo of Nigerian journalists). Years in which newspapers considered critical of the regime in power or its policies were serially closed down.To avert the risk of a possible jail term or detention, some journalists rather than tackle the problems we were confronted with as a country, adopted the very smart approach of commenting on goings on in other countries instead. The then Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, USSR had just invaded its tiny neighbor, Afghanistan and not a few journalists spent considerable effort analyzing, critiquing, examining, re-examining and discussing this development and its implications for the free world, socialism, capitalism, the people of Afghanistan etc. At a time when you could go to jail for publishing a picture which is considered unglamorous of a First Lady, for many journalists, Afghanistan was a safe escape from reality. Afghanistan in due course, became stale news, but there were always more Afghanistans, developments abroad that these journalists could turn their attention to, in the bid to mitigate the risk of reporting developments in their home country, Nigeria.The present government or some of its operatives at least, seem to have learnt some lessons from the Afghanistan approach of old. In the last few weeks, they have been canvassing the view that telecom companies should be forced to enlist on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. In addition, using such aliases as a stock market analyst and a business analyst among others, they are aggressively selling to the public, hoping it will catch on, the dummy that the only way to rescue the Nigerian Stock Exchange is to force private sector operatives whether they like it or not, to enlist on the NSE.It is a crooked and unfortunate diversion. Nigeria is facing fundamental problems that are underscored by corruption and its progeny - underdevelopment, crime and insecurity. If anything, Nigeria should be learning from the telecom companies. Why has a country so blessed, frittered away all of its resources on the altar of corruption and poor management while private companies which were upstarts only a few years ago have become very successful, operating in the same Nigeria' Arent there lessons in prudence, transparency and purposeful management that we ought to be learning from these operators' Where is Nigerian Telecommunication Plc (Nitel) the publicly quoted telecom company which only a few years ago was the sole and dominant operator in Nigerias telecom space' Isnt the mere thought of forcing a private company to enlist on a stock exchange antithetical to the very essence of democracy itself' Shouldnt we be rewarding success rather than seeking to emasculate and control by any means possible, those who succeed' By the way, are these calls genuine or mere self-seeking arguments in the quest by some individuals for a piece of what they assume is a very generous telecom pie'Why are our current day Afghanistan champions not calling for a probe of Nitel Plc' It is, after all, supposed to be our common wealth. It was set up and funded with resources that belong to you and me and supposedly enlisted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. Why would we rather go after companies that private individuals have legitimately set up'Anyone who was sufficiently close to the foreign missions in the mid 1990s at the height of military rule would have been accustomed to the security warnings which the US and British Embassies routinely sent to their nationals, staff and associates around the country. Any part of Lagos outside of Victoria Island and Ikoyi was to be avoided. Nationals were only to travel to Abuja and Port Harcourt and only in the day time. Visiting any other part of Nigeria was ill-advised and at their own risk, it routinely warned its nationals. It was an era in which Oladipo Diya, second highest ranking official of the military government escaped being bombed because of a running stomach. Bagauda Kaltho and many others werent so lucky. They were bombed to pieces. Alfred Rewane, Abraham Adesanya, Alex Ibru, Kudirat Abiola and many others faced assassins bullets. One or two survived to tell the story, many did not.12 years into the 21st century, that disposition of the foreign missions re-emerged a few weeks ago, when the US and UK missions warned their nationals to steer clear of Abujas luxury hotels on account of security threats. Yes, so low is Nigeria gradually descending, taking one step forward with a so called democracy and several backwards with an astounding inability to manage the democratic process for the benefit of the majority of its people.Could it be that current developments in the country which mimic the era which we thought we had long-forgotten - the bombings, the needless deaths, the general state of insecurity - have also sparked off that relic of the military era' Why have our analysts suddenly realized that in a democracy, the best way to energize the Nigerian Stock Exchange is to force privately-owned telecom companies to enlist on the Nigerian Stock Exchange' After the telecom companies who will be next' Will privately owned media businesses be the next target of our analysts who believe that forcing private businesses to enlist on the stock exchange is the way to deepen the stock market'While this diversionary argument is raging, who is bearing responsibility for the crater-ridden expressways that consume the lives of our countrymen every day' Who is unraveling those behind the spate of bombings in different parts of the country' What is being done to provide meaningful jobs for the growing army of unemployed and bitter young people across our country' What about our power situation' What stage is the reform process in now' How much longer do we have to wait before we are reliably guaranteed of regular electricity' Our modern day military apologists and pseudo analysts should kindly help us seek urgent answers to these rather than take us many years back to a past, hallmarked by corrupt, self-seeking and short-sighted arbitrariness, which we would rather forget.- Osebumere Odia, 17, Akinbiyi Close, Wemabod Estate, Ikeja, Lagos.
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