Cleansing our rot

by Eze Eluchie

When we neglect to do the needful, we should not get upset if others who have more respect for their populations do what we should have done.

We neglected to serve justice to a notorious felon who stupendously bought his way to high political office, only for the British to go after the crook and slam him behind bars, where he rightly belonged; Today, after years of manipulating the Nigerian (in)justice system, an ex-Governor of one of Nigeria’s 36 States, James Onanefe Ibori is cooling his ass off in a British jail!

There are so many others in the mould of the above mentioned felon who continue to pollute our environment with their presence.

We are now prevaricating over the avoidable death of over 115 people of several nationalities in the collapse of a multi-storey complex which in the first instance ought not to have been erected, we should therefore not raise as much as a whimper when those involved, in any way whatsoever, have international warrants against them executed, and such people brought to justice in foreign jurisdictions.

If ever our system was under the illusion that clearing the site of the collapsed 6-storey building at the premises of the ‘Synagogue Church of All Nations’ in Lagos of its debris will sweep away the crime that was evidently committed at that site, we should have a rethink. Continuing efforts by the owners of the collapsed structure at insulting the intelligence of the discerning public by ludicrous claims of some ‘unidentified flying object’ circulating above the structure prior to its collapse, will only serve to elicit the interest of authorities external to our domestic rulership in the matter and internationalize the desire and ability to dispense justice.

Further harrowing details that officials of the Church which owns the collapsed building physically prevented first responders and official/public rescue services from entering the premises for over 48 hours after the tragedy occurred and that the proprietor of the Synagogue Church offered journalists covering the collapse some incentives to ensure ‘fair report’ of the incident, will only serve to heighten the need for justice.

Our flawed structure, composition and institutions continue to serve to consign us to where we are whilst the rest of the world keep on advancing. Restructuring and renegotiation of the Nigerian state may perhaps yet afford us an opportunity of taking our rightful place in the comity of nations.




Picture: Lagos State Government officials at site of collapsed Synagogue church building.

Qatari Women Basketball Jersey – FIBA got it very wrong!

by Eze Eluchie

Sporting events have, from time immemorial, been one area where humanity, irrespective of our various divides, can congregate in amity, equity and unison. Sporting arenas are a veritable venue where peoples who ordinarily would never have had an opportunity to interact find themselves thrust together within an enclosure in pleasurably healthy competition and friendship. From the Olympics held in ancient Greece to various present-day international sporting events, Sports has continued to serve to bridge divides against peoples, open up new channels of communication and expose to all who care to see, the commonality of our humanity.

It is in the light of the foregoing that the kill-joy efforts of some of the entities who have surreptitiously manipulated their ways to preside over the administering bodies of international sporting associations, should continue to give all interested in restoring the ideals of sports as a unifier of mankind a serious source of concern and worry.

Participation in sporting engagements, particularly international meets, often offers and represents an opportunity at exposure and enlightenment to persons who otherwise may never have such options.

The recent expulsion of the female national basketball team of Qatar from the ongoing 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, by the leadership of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) on account of the jersey of the Qatari team is most regrettable and unfortunate. The FIBA Executives had, probably in consonance with what appears to be a growing global phobia and intolerance of the Muslims on account of the vicious crimes committed by criminals in the name of the Islamic faith, incredulously ruled that the jersey of the Qatari women, which had an extension which covered the hair was in default of a FIBA rule which forbade basketball players from adorning “headgear, hair accessories, and jewelry”.

On the one hand, for the young Qatari women basketball players and the millions of their compatriots in Qatar and all over the Muslim world, most of whom are consigned to remain in the background (at home) providing a supportive role to their men-folk; participation in a sporting meet at such international levels has limitless advantages beyond the mere sporting event. It affords an experience of hope, diversity, freedom and self actualization which their unfortunate expulsion by FIBA truncated.

On the other hand, a mere scrutiny of the uniform worn by the Qatari women will reveal the folly in the FIBA reasoning and decision – what the girls are wearing neither constitutes a ‘headgear, accessory nor jewelry’. If the FIBA Executives want to see what a headgear is, they may choose to attend any of the lavish social ceremonies we have virtually every day in Nigeria – then they will know what a headgear is!

Looking at the jerseys of some of the other teams participating in the Basketball event (and some other sports) at the Asian games, and the emerging noticeable trend of near nudity in sporting attires, one begins to wonder if there is any unwritten code to encourage skimpy dressing and that the Qatari women are merely being penalized for not showing enough of their bodies? One certainly hopes this is not the case.

It is clearly late to reverse the regrettable FIBA decision on the Qatari women basketball team, but it is certainly hoped that such ill-advised mistakes do not occur, ever again. There certainly is need to use the instrumentality of sporting events and competitions to reach out and welcome those who represent change from territories where such change and understanding are greatly needed. It is also hoped that other international sporting bodies will refrain from making the error FIBA committed over the Qatari women national basketball team.




Picture: Members of the Qatari women national basketball team (wearing their jersey for which they were expelled by FIBA) at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea

The Synagogue Church building collapse.

by Eze Eluchie

The ground-zero and vicinity of the collapse of the  Synagogue Church Guest House where over 115 people were killed is to all intents and purposes a crime scene that ought to have been protected until investigations had been concluded to ascertain if the crime committed was Murder, Homicide, Willful Damage to Property or whatever other crimes.

The fact that the collapsed building was initially a 2-storey complex which was in the process of being raised to a 6-storey edifice without the requisite building permit consents being obtained, serves to make the proprietor and owner of the said Synagogue Church and collapsed building, Mr. ('prophet') T. B. Joshua, at the very least, a person of interest, if not the prime suspect, in whatsoever crime that was committed at that venue.

The continued visitation of high-ranking political office holders to ‘commiserate’ with the principal person of interest in this crime serves to shake the confidence of the population and interested observers in the international community as to the likelihood of effective investigations and inquiry into this most sordid of preventable calamity.  The non-implementation of a domestic strict liability law in Lagos State (where the building is situate) which calls for the seizure of the premises and apprehension of the owner/builder of a collapsed structure, only serve to heighten the believe that our laws are merely made for some people and totally ineffectual with politically connected persons.

Whilst President, Goodluck Jonathan, was right to have visited the venue of the building collapse during his recent visit to Lagos, there was absolutely no reason for the prime person of interest in whatsoever crime that might have been committed at that scene to have welcomed Mr. President to the premises and proceeded to conduct the President around the said crime scene.

An unfortunate development in the course of handling the Synagogue Church building collapse has been the reliance on information supplied by South African authorities (in South Africa) with regards to the number of causalities and other specifics from the unfortunate event – why for heaven’s sake could our domestic authorities and the so-called Synagogue Church not set up a transparent Crisis center where reliable information and data related to the incident could be assessed by all?

Those in charge of the various composing units of the Nigerian State should begin to realize that with advancement in technology and communication infrastructure, the world is now one community and no one can afford sloppy responses to disasters, particularly events that affect citizens from diverse countries.

Picture: Mr. T. B. Joshua and his collapsed Synagogue Church building in Lagos, Nigeria.