"8 cleanest states in Nigeria: Akwa Ibom State, Ebonyi, Cross River, Enugu, Delta, Edo, Plateau, Abuja" - Tribune online, August 27, 2024.
Even before reading the list of eight, I knew that Akwa Ibom State would come first. Obong Victor Attah, a former Governor of AKS, as well as the Father of Modern Akwa Ibom State, made sure about that. To me, he remains the best State Governor since 1999 till today. The authors of that report would have received a stern rejoinder from me, if any other state had received the "gold medal" for this contest. Ebonyi's silver medal, ahead of Cross River, was surprising.
But, the last time I was in the state (Ebonyi) was in 2007. A lot might have happened since then. Cross River was, for decades, the national champion. Having visited, lived and worked in all the 36 states, as well as the Federal Capital Territory, Cross River - before the creation of AKS -- was the state to beat for cleanliness. I told people, during my active travelling years, 1974-2018, that if asked to pick a place in Nigeria, where to sleep on the street, I would not hesitate to pick Calabar, Ugep and Ikom.
But, like anything man-made, the CRS admirable standards have been surpassed by AKS - thanks to the most visionary of all the Governors we elected since 1999. I must confess that Attah has a rival in late Governor Audu Bako, 1924-1980, of Kano State. The Police Officer, under General Gowon, had the vision to turn mostly arid Kano State into the agricultural powerhouse it is today. Kano is the nearest thing to a self-sufficient state in Nigeria today. But, it cannot possibly rank among the cleanest.
How Attah did it
"Ugliness corrupts not only the eyes, but, also the heart and mind" - Henry van de Velde, 1863-1957.
That statement came from a book Attah recommended and lent to me about five years ago - titled "1, 000 Buildings You Must See Before You Die". The book incidentally included two Nigerian structures. The first was the Western House, owned by the WEMA Board and situated on Broad Street, Lagos Island; and the second was the Da Rocha house situated at Kakawa Street, also in Lagos Island.
The difference between the two Nigerian structures and the rest lies in the fact that while most of the rest situated in the Americas, Europe, Asia and Australia/New Zealand have become tourist attractions, by being well-maintained and kept scrupulously clean, no tourist would come to Nigeria to see our own. Ugliness is the reason. Through the eyes of architects and town planners, I saw Nigeria in a new light as a country almost totally wedded to ugliness; and where any attempt to clean it up must be resisted by those feeding on and creating the ugliness using money-making as an excuse.
The three biggest markets in Nigeria are Lagos, Onitsha and Aba. They are also the filthiest. I left Nigeria for the United States in 1964 totally blind to the problem. I returned in 1974; started a career selling several products whose successes depended on the major distributors in those three markets and became totally blind again to the ugliness. Targets had to be achieved even if from septic tanks. Like other Marketing/Sales Managers, in every generation, environmental issues were never my concern. Of all the Governors, only Attah had a head start to create the cleanest state in Nigeria. As an Architect and professional Town Planner, and former President of the Institute, he has had prior experience in contributing to the Abuja Master Plan, University of Calabar and Mubi Polytechnic before being asked to develop the Uyo Master Plan - long before he became Governor. Because only artists have eyes for beauty, he grabbed the opportunity to create a state capital - Uyo - which is a real artwork in progress. Akwa Ibom has been fortunate to have had two, out of three, successors to Attah; who are just as passionate about the beauty of the capital and the neatness of the entire state. The only exception, so far, was Akpabio. Governors Udom Emmanuel and Umo Eno had taken AKS to greater heights - after eight years of reversal from 2007 to 2015. I have been visiting what is now AKS at least three times a year from 1974 till now, except for 2020 and 2021, when I was recuperating from limb paralysis brought by cancer. My first trip, as soon as I could travel, was to Uyo in 2022. I have travelled to 13 states since then; and today, if forced to sleep on the street anywhere in Nigeria, it must be AKS.
THE SHAME OF THE WEST
"Against excellence in others, there is no way to defend ourselves; except love" - Goethe, 1749-1832, VANGUARD BOOK OF QUOTATIONS, p 51. Now online
As a Lagos State indigene and a Yoruba man, I feel thoroughly embarrassed every time I find myself in AKS, CRS, Delta, Edo and Plateau States. I have no objections to the selection of the seven states and the FCT. In fact, if I am asked to add four more states, then, Adamawa, Niger, Sokoto and Katsina would still rank higher than any state in the South-West. Lagos, the self-proclaimed Centre of Excellence, and Oyo, the Pace Setter, would give Anambra and Abia a stiff fight for the last four positions.
Go to most Lagos markets (Jankara, Daleko, Agege, Alaba etc) and popular streets in every local government; or in Oyo, Dugbe, Agbowo, Oja Oba etc; in Anambra, Head Bridge, Main Market or Nkpor etc; and Abia, Ogbor Hill, Ariara etc, and you must wonder if the people of those states are uniformly dirty and all the education acquired by them has been wasted. Alive, I will sleep at any roundabout in Jos. My dead body cannot lay on any street in the South-West - not even in Ikoyi, Lekki in Lagos, or Bodija, in Ibadan.
Forget anywhere in Ogun, Osun, Ondo or Ekiti. South-West Governors should admit the truth. The zone ranks lowest in cleanliness. One North Central, two South-East and four South-South states emerged among the top cleanest eight states in Nigeria. The South-West leads the parade of losers with no single entry. If you want to know the reason, then permit me to invite you to visit Abraham Adesanya or Jakande Housing Estates built by various Lagos State governments.
Then hop on Ibom Air, the best airline to fly in Nigeria today, go to Uyo, and see Shelter Afrique; and you will weep for Nigeria's economic capital. The obvious questions now are these: Are the people of the South-West naturally dirty? Are we lacking in artists with in-built sense of beauty? When will we stop building monstrosities called Housing Estates and messing up our surroundings?
LAST LINE: Congratulations to the Governors and people of Akwa Ibom State for honour most deserved. We go washam o!
YORUBA PLAYING WITH FIRE
"Be wise today; its madness to defer" -Edward Young, VBQ p 276.
The race for the 2027 Presidential Election has started in earnest. For hundreds of thousands of politicians, Election Day 2027 cannot come soon enough. History never repeats itself; human beings do it all the time. Nigerian politicians are often predictable - once you know what motivates them. Some decisions have been made which will place Yoruba people in jeopardy after the next election. Despite the emergence of Dangote and Rabiu as the two richest men in Nigeria today, the South has always held the lion's share of the national wealth. The northern elite had acquired wealth mostly by holding political positions - mainly presidency or its equivalent. Jonathan's presidency was the first time the South felt marginalised from power at the centre. T
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he northern-led military installed Obasanjo; and OBJ never crossed the line. In fact, he repaid the North by ensuring that he was replaced by a successor generally acceptable to the North. As is often the case, a man proposed; God disposed. GEJ inherited the presidency for five years and the North was effectively out of power. Patronage power shifted to Bayelsa State. If it is true that a week is a long time in politics, then five years in the wilderness of power must have appeared like eternity to the northern elite. By 2013, it was obvious that the only way to regain power was for Jonathan to go. Thus, for the first time in Nigerian political history, the North teamed up with their arch-opponents - the South West; providing the North had the first shot at the presidency. The scheme worked perfectly. Power was restored to the North. Now, power has returned to the South-West; mainly on account of northern votes.
Like investors in a business enterprise, they expected fair returns on investments. One of the most ardent mobilisers for northern support, Malam El-Rufai - is out in the cold. He is not alone. The contracts which routinely went to northerners from the National Security Adviser's Office, Ministry of Defence, Chief of Army Staff, Customs, NPA, Ministry of Communications, Agriculture, Water Resources etc, are going elsewhere at the worst possible time. The North is on the move again, in less than two years of the Tinubu government. The South-East and South-South have always felt better teaming up with the North. The old NPC-NCNC alliance, which left the South-West in opposition, is being recreated. The Yoruba will once again be pushed into opposition!!
