The Politics of "Substitution by Elimination"

Early hours of Tuesday morning, the news broke that the 2007 Action Congress Ogun state gubernatorial candidate, Chief Dipo Dina has been murdered. ‘DD-Direct’, as he’s fondly called by his political admirers, was shot through the windshield of his car near Covenant University in Otta.


Just as the nation battles to wriggle its way out of the current constitutional quagmire, created by the indiscretion of an indolently selfish president, we witnessed yet another ‘political-motivated’ killing of a humble and distinguished politician.

The gruesome murder of Dipo Dina is not the first of its kind. We have an endless list of politicians that have been sacrificed on the altar of political machinations. Sadly all of these cases remain unresolved. I recall the killing of the former Justice Minister, Chief Bola Ige. Up till now, no one has been found guilty of his murder. In fact, one of the suspects, who is a serving Senator, won his Senatorial elections while undergoing investigation in Police detention.

I would say that political-motivated killing is one of the legacies of past repressive military regimes. But unfortunately, the current political leaders have claimed this legacy as an inheritance – albeit with greater zeal! Whilst past military regimes were notorious for killing people with dissenting political views in order to strengthen their grip on power, the current politicians are now engaged in what is known as do-or-die politics. But if the sole aim of public office is to serve, why does anyone need to go the extreme of killing his/her political opponent? Why the need for this sort of desperation? Why can’t we practice politics without bitterness? What is it about this ‘do or die’ politics?

The students of the ‘do or die’ school of politics can be broadly divided into two main classes. The fundamental principle of the school remains the same, however the modus operandi of the students differ. The first class is made up of students who subscribe to the theory of ‘substitution by elimination’, as seen in the case of Dipo Dina. Their target is to substitute their opponent by eliminating him from the face of the earth. The second class consists of students who believe in doing all it takes to perpetuate themselves in power. Such people see political office as a family/birth right, even if it means they need to be permanently plugged to a ‘life support machine’ to remain in office.

But can anyone plant cassava and expect to reap cocoyam? What can we expect from an electoral system that is bereft of transparency or fair play? A system designed to reward thuggery, rigging and all forms of violence. A system designed to ensure that the incumbent perpetuates himself in office. A system that ensures that the winner take all. A system designed to disenfranchise its citizens.

As usual, the vice-president has given an order to the Inspector-General of Police, Ogbonna Onovo, and other security agencies in the country to fish out those behind the hideous murder of Dipo Dina. But as my friends will say, na today? We are sick and tired of the lip service the govt pays to security of lives and properties. The govt’s record in investigating this type of cases is appalling. And it’s not just political-motivated killings. Every year, hundreds of lives are lost to religious violence. However, none of the security agencies can categorically tell us who the perpetrators of these crimes are. So how will Dipo Dina’s case be any different? How can the VP convince Nigerians that Dipo Dina will not just be another statistical figure?



Everyday, the Nigerian media is awash with bad news. The nation has now become an extension of Hollywood box office. It is suffice to say that the suffering masses are now film watchers, waiting for the next box office hit. The media, who should be at the forefront of informing and sensitising the public, have become armchair “movie critics”. We now have newspaper editors who are paid ‘script writers’ – thanks to brown envelopes. And with the likes of Ojo Maduekwe, Michael Aondoakaa, and Dora Akunyili, the movie producers can never be short of actors/actresses.

I refer to the famous biblical verse “Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:45-46). Most of my non-Christian friends may not be familiar with the quoted bible verse; however this nine-word sentence aptly describes my feeling about the current trend of political events in Nigeria.

So if I may ask, can anything good come out of Nigeria?

Crisis in Education Sector!

I recently came across a caption on a friend’s Facebook page. It was titled “Two percent passed WAEC (West African Examinations Council) Exam in Oyo State”. After reading the caption, the questions I asked the poster were, how many of supposed successful candidates ‘bought’ questions prior to sitting for the exams. How many wrote the exams by proxy? How many colluded with examiners to have their results manipulated? For me these are reasonable questions to ask considering how desperate Nigerian students have become recently. Anyway, that’s not the issue here.


From east to west, north to south, evidence of the deplorable state of our education system are very glaring. Just like other sectors, the nation’s education system has been on a steady decline in the 20 years. Both the quality of teaching and infrastructure have been severely impacted by the comatose state of the education system. As we know, incessant school closures due to strike action have been the norm of the day. In fact, it will be considered unusual not to have schools shut down in any given academic year.

Also, most of the classrooms in Nigerian schools are dilapidated, sub-standard and unfit for human habitation. There have been cases of school buildings that have collapsed killing children in some parts of Nigeria.

Whilst the performance of Oyo state candidates looks very depressing to say the least, the fact remains that no state of the federation holds the monopoly of poor education performance. Lagos state is also not left behind in the race towards educational failure.

According to recent statistics released by the Lagos Ministry of Education, there’s been a decline of about 43 per cent in the enrolment figure between public primary and senior secondary school students, while there is about 31 per cent drop in the enrolment figure of primary school pupils by the time they move to junior secondary schools. The question one will ask is, where do these pupils go when they drop out of secondary school?

Only few weeks ago, WAEC noted Nigeria's performance in the 2009 SSCE as only 25 per cent(!). However, Head of WAEC National Office, Iyi Uwadiae was quick to point out that, we can take consolation in the fact that, Nigeria’s performance is the best among member countries, which include Ghana, Sierra Leone, and The Gambia. According to Iyi Uwadiae, "In our excellence award, Nigeria dominated. Nigerian candidates are doing very well,"

With 25 percent performance, it’s very disappointing to hear the Head of WAEC saying “Nigerian candidates are doing well”. So what exactly is the benchmark for measuring examination success? Why are we so fond of celebrating mediocrity? I consider Mr Uwadiea’s statement ludicrous.

Mr Uwadiae can say whatever he likes. As one will expect, he has chosen to be ‘patriotic’ rather than been objective in his comments. His statement however does not take anything away from the fact that our education system is comatose. Can his statement be accepted as evidence that our education system is better than that of Ghana? For me, the answer is No! If we do indeed outperform our neighbours, then why are Nigerians sending their wards to Ghana for secondary school education? Why have places like Benin and Togo, all of sudden become a destination for Nigerian students?

The result is a strong indictment of our education system. It exemplifies the rot in the education system. Is it not pathetic that our standards have now fallen so low, that the nation’s foremost assessing authority now considers 25 percent performance as “success”.

With the current state of education system, it doesn’t come as a surprise that 23million Nigerian youths are unemployable. As they say, “knowledge is power”. No nation can excel without investment in quality education aimed at economic growth. The lack of investment in quality education is putting our youths at a huge disadvantage. The world is now a global village. Nigeria is not just competing with, Gambia, Ghana and Sierra Leone.

But with the continuous decline in our education system, how can Nigerian youths compete with their counterparts from other parts of the globe?