Keshi's Palava

ANOTHER ANGLE TO KESHI’S BRAZIL 2014 LIST

I want to raise a very important matter, it has been on my mind even before the much awaited list came out.

I will want to appeal to the non-politically inclined members of the planet not to get offended as we know these things seem inseparable in our nation.

Its no news that when Nigeria presents its 11 under normal conditions, 8 of them are expected to be from the south while the remaining 3 from the north.

The 8 from the south will be made up of 3 from the south-east, 3 from south-south, 2 from the south-west. You can say what is this ethnic bigot is talking about.

The best of our players have always come out from the Ibo ethnic group also including the Aniomas(ibos in the delta like Oliseh, Keshi).

The Yoruba’s has been the most regular suppliers in the goalkeeping department from the Rufai to Ike, Baruwa, Ejide et al.

The Strenght of the team has always come from the Ibos kanu, Okocha, Emenike, Uche Okechukwu, Eguavoen, Chukwu.

Also the south-south has also produced spectacular players for the eagles like Finidi George, Samson Siasia, Osaze, Amesimaka, and a host of others.

All areas of the country has contributed immensely also Yekini, Odegbami, Garba Lawal, the Babayaro brothersand a host of others

Looking at the players went to AFCON and the 23 man squad en-route to Brazil. We only had 2 notherners (Musa, Gabriel) that went to AFCON 2013.

Now we have 3 (Musa, Gabriel, Azeez) in Brazil, 2 yoruba boys in AFCON 2013 (Ejide, Oshaniwa) now 4 in Brazil (Ejide, Oshaniwa, Babatunde, Odunlami).

Out of the 23 that went to AFCON 2013, 2 hail the North, 2 from South-west other 19 from South-South/South-East. But I don’t bloody care about the ethnic composition of the national team. It has to be the assembly of the best the nation can muster at a particular period irrespective of their ethnicity or tribe.

The 23 going to Brazil has 3 from the North, 4 from South-West and the rest from South-South/South-East.

Don't be deceived by the numbers, the most of best and most successful of our local clubs are hugely concentrated in the South-East/South-South region.

Clubs like Eyimba of Aba, Inwanyawu of Owerri, Rangers of Enugu, Sharks of Port-Harcourt, Bendel Insurance of Benin. No disrespect to the likes of Kano Pillars of Kano, Shooting stars of Ibadan, Julius Berger of Lagos, Sunshine of Akure and a host of others.

I'm still gutted by the exclusion of Mba, Nosa and Uzoenyi. Thought only Keshi and his assistants can say what has informed their decision to drop these players.

AFCON 2013 BRAZIL 2014  Goalkeepers:  Goalkeepers: Vincent Enyeama  Vincent Enyeama  Austin Ejide  Austin Ejide  Chigozie Agbim  Chigozie Agbim   Defenders:  Defenders: Elderson Echiejile  Elderson Echiejile  Juwon Oshaniwa  Juwon Oshaniwa  Joseph Yobo  Joseph Yobo  Efe Ambrose  Efe Ambrose  Azubuike Egwuekwe  Azubuike Egwuekwe   Kenneth Omeruo   Kenneth Omeruo  Godfrey Oboabona  Godfrey Oboabona Kunle Odunlami   Midfielders:  Midfielders: John Mikel Obi  John Mikel Obi  Nosa Igiebor  Ramon Azeez  Ogenyi Onazi  Ogenyi Onazi  Obiorah Nwankwo  Nwafor Fegor Ogude  Uchebo Reuben Gabriel  Reuben Gabriel    Forwards:   Forwards: Ahmed Musa Ahmed Musa Emmanuel Emenike Emmanuel Emenike Brown Ideye Victor Moses Victor Moses Babatunde Ikechukwu Uche Sola Ameobi Ejike Uzoenyi Osaze  Odemwingie Sunday Mba

My questions are;

1: Has Keshi been advised or compelled to name a team that looks Nigerian in such a tumultuous period of this country?

2: Is Keshi sacrificing merit on the altar of ‘national unity’?

After all being said, i sincerely hope the selected players justify their places and make their coach, the largest black Nation and the African continent proud in Brazil.

Go Eagles.

My Soliloquy

Prior to and after the recently conducted national elections in my dear country, The Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Giant of Africa, The Pride of the Black Race on whose shoulders lies the emancipation of the black continent, I have been on the receiving end of lashings and name calling, mostly negative due to my political inclination in the last couple of months. Some have suggested that I must be on the payroll of the PDP or stand to gain directly from the government. That really caused me to worry about the political atmosphere we find ourselves, then I begin to ask myself questions; Is it an offence to have a contrary view? Is there just a way into the market? Is there a coin with only a side? What do others see that I don’t? After all, I see many people easily coming to a conclusion anchored on hearsay, sentiments, half-truths, lies, propaganda, fallacies and emotional arm-twisting, while a microscopic few arrived at their decision based on well refined, deeply logical and intricately intertwined thoughts.

I am interested in the result of a process but far more interested in the process that leads to the result. By my profession, training and passion, the process is more important than the product. As an IT professional, getting the computer to perform a task is important, more important is the logic/process/instruction behind getting the task done. How robust is the instruction, has all possible exception been well handled to avoid a possible abrupt end to the program? To a software user, he or she simply wants result, but to a designer, how he gets the result matters. In mathematics, which is a principal pillar in my profession and my father's field, emphasis is laid more on the process that births the results than the result itself. If the process be faulty or not well thought, then the result can only be the image of the former.

That brings me into the process that has culminated into the product we have right now. From the electoral act amendment, voter’s registration, permanent voters card production and distribution, campaigns by political parties to introduction of the card readers and eventually the election.

It will be grave injustice for me not to recognise the tactical intelligences harnessed into the formation of the opposition which come May 29 will experience a change in fortune in becoming the party in power. The coming together of ANPP, ACN, CPC and others marked the beginning of a political revolution in the history of the country, true democrats appreciated the development. Now the APC is going to give the ruling party, PDP a run for their money. This development didn’t actually come without an aftertaste of sweetness and sourness. The migration of power bloc from the ruling party PDP which has been majorly responsible for the good, bad and ugly fate that has befell the country since our recent voyage into democracy raised a fundamental question about the gospel of Change being propagated by the latest chic in the block, the APC. The supremacy of political machination over financial gratification in the conducts of it’s the presidential primaries of the APC showed glimmers of hope for the nation but also echoed the question of many and also mine about the Change or Rebranding.

Contrasting was the case in the PDP, governors from the party wanted automatic tickets to support the president’s re-election bid in the party, soon, the senators also wanted automatic return tickets to on the platform of their beloved party PDP before they would support the president’s re-election bid. Also the sale of forms for candidates aspiring for the presidency from the party also generated some fuss as it was clear that no way was the sitting president going to lose his party sole ticket for a return trip to the Aso Villa. The process leading to the election of the APC presidential candidate made the party alongside its candidate more sellable and popular compared to the PDP rancour infested consensus process that left much to be desired.

The campaign train ran by both parties can be said to be the most expensive, dirty and personal campaigns ever seen in the history of this country. Ranging from name-callings to mudslinging to gargantuan lies been spewed as either things achieved so far by the incumbent or deliverable to expect from opposition, also downplaying and landmark achievements and politicising of every issue led to a tensed political atmosphere. This has led to high expectation from the entire citizenry. Now, the winner trying to play down this expectation, this election was actually won promises and it will be unfair for these promises to be unfulfilled. 

Seems every electoral season comes with its own song aimed at whooping up sentiments of vast voting population who are mostly parochial. In 2011, the song was ‘I had no shoes’ well chorused and propagated until it became ingrained into the hearts of the voters, fast forward into 2015, a new song is out there ‘his first daughter is married to an ibo Christian’. These songs and so many more of them had nothing to do with governance, but were propagated to hoodwink voters. I believe we won’t need any track come 2019, enough is enough.

The process of voter’s registration is yet to be perfect, record management system in Nigeria is so difficult, so getting a near perfect voter’s register is paramount in the electoral process. This process as we all know is blighted with multiple registration and underage registration which eventually gives a bloated electoral register. If the foundation be faulty, what can the righteous do? Cases of over voting, ballot stuffing, underage voting and result manufacture must be mitigated systematically to improve the credibility of the electoral process and increase voter’s confidence in the system.

The nature of the distribution of the permanent voter’s card (PVC) left much to be desired. A high level of production and distribution of PVC in a war torn North-East compared to the abysmal production and distribution of the same in the pacific and less logistically challenging terrain of South-West raised some questions about the PVC distribution. Eligible voters were illegitimately disenfranchised by INEC due to late or non-availability of PVC. As at Mar 23, 2015, average % collection of PVC around the country was 81.98. While states like Jigawa had 95.98% distributed (1,435,452 out of 1,495,717), Ogun had 61.53% leaving over 600,000 voters disenfranchised out of 1,829,534. That means before the polls, over 1/3 of the duly registered voters were technically disenfranchised. Also, Lagos, which has the highest number of registered voters 5,822,207 had 65.27% collection rate, which means over 2,000,000 of eligible voters (slightly over 1/3 of eligible voters) were disenfranchised by INEC. Kano, the next largest voter’s pool with 4,975701 voters registered with 82.64% collection rate leaving out about 800,000 voters out before the election itself. Comparing the size of the voters in Kano and Lagos, the later has almost a million extra voters than the former but was bettered in collection by the former with over 300,000 votes (source: punch, mar 23, 2015). It is important for the purpose of fairness, that this trend be corrected and eligible voters shouldn’t be disenfranchised except by their own doing.

Congratulation to all actors, Prof Jega for doing a wonderful job to organise this election, for non-cluelessness of the incumbent Dr Jonathan for allowing the process make itself irrespective of its perceived shortcomings and conceding defeat (though it is the natural thing to do in a sane clime) on time to save us from ‘gbagbolisation’ as a foremost political trader prophesied, also not forgetting the cat with nine life, the ever rugged and never relenting gallant officer, General Muhammadu Buhari, 2003, 2007, 2011 and finally 2015. There are many reasons for us to shoki our enemies and doomsayers. The propagators of Interim Govt and Islamisation agenda, I do you all shoki.

The election has come and gone, the transition period is on, it is time to everyone to sheathe his or her sword and engage in nation building, either from the inside or outside. 

For my views, I owe no one apology for them. They are simply mine, misguided or misinformed or misdirected. They remain mine, at least one of the few things man can wholly own; his opinion.

God bless Nigeria.

Ayo Oluduro

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