Peace not War! ( First published 05/07/2009)

The doctrine of Separation of Powers is one of the better tenets of modern democracy. This, in effect, means that the actions of the executive arm of the government are subject to checks by the legislative arm leaving the judiciary to serve as the ultimate arbiter.In light of this supposition, one can reasonably conclude that the hyped-up stand-off between the Executive and the Legislature in Ogun State is nothing but democracy in action, so why so much hulla-balloo? There cannot be an effective check and balancing if the two arms of government are too pally!It is the essential duty of the Executive to come up with huge budgetary proposals and it is equally the duty of the Legislature to check the proposals for accountability. There is absolutely no crime committed on either side, it is just a normal political process.What is not normal, and somehow disheartening, are the personal attacks and negative press being concocted by some overzealous supporters of both sides. The Executives and the Legislators are all paid employees of the State and it is exactly this sort of legitimate arguments, believe it or not, that they are paid to iron out purposefully. I would, in fact, be truly alarmed if this were not the case.The main culprits in this whole fracas then, as far as I can see, are the poison-happy writers who seem to thrive on sensationalism and apparently think to some degree that 'patriotism' is the same thing as 'activism' (Apology to Omo Omo). For the records, even though I have some admiration for the so-called G-15 and immense respect for the office of the Governor, I share none of their political beliefs and would rather see all of them replaced by a new order of morally upright individuals. However, as patriots, we are morally bound to support the government of the day no matter how undesirable we may think they are and no matter our own individual political bias. And since the government consists of not only the Executive but also the Legislature as well, then we ought to support all the parties (Pardon my pun). Meanwhile, my firm suggestion is that agents of the Governor should stop personal attacks of any kind on members of the legislature while agents of the G15 should also stop demonising the Governor. What we need in Ogun State is peace not war! God bless our motherland.

MEMOIRS OF A FILIAL SON

Exactly twenty eight years ago on Tuesday 29th September, 1981, in a private wing of the University Of Nebraska Teaching Hospital in Omaha, United States of America, my father,Chief Olanrewaju Adesina Okenla, Bsc (Econs), LLB, ARSH, SAN, Member Body of Benchers(Nigerian Bar Association), Barrister-at-Law/Solicitor, Oloja-Bara of Isoku, Otunba Moloda of Odogbolu, Balogun Agbaku-Onida-Orara of Ijebu-Imushin, Founder/Chairman, Okenla Paramount Establishments, hotelier and cinema mogul, breathed his last sigh. He was in his fifties.The report in the subsequent edition of Omaha World Herald newspaper might have been a bit exaggerated. It occupied an entire page and spoke robustly of a Paramount Chief from Africa with substantial influence among his people. The US government felt concerned enough to offer a plane to bring the patriach home. The cause of death was cancer.My father really loved children and liked to be surrounded by children always. He was always giving us sweets, biscuits, fruits and playing games with us. He would even distribute sweets around the town so that other peoples' children too can have some fun. He liked to organise large family meetings so that we could share love and have fun together with our cousins and extended family members. He even adopted an Ibo man whom he gave an apartment in our house. My father was very adventurous.On every school-break he would take us turn by turn on extensive trips to see the rest of the country and familiarise ourselves with their different cultures.By the time I was fourteen we had visited Benin City and the Ogbe Stadium, explored and photographed the hills around Jos, ridden donkeys in Zaria, shot bows and arrows in Minna, swam at the famous Hamdala Hotel swimming pool in Kaduna, visited the site of the Ogbunike pipe-bombs in Ihiala in the Eastern region, bought items at the great Onitsha market, flew over the oil-fields of Port-Harcourt in a chopper, visited numerous zoos and climbed numerous mountains throughout the country. Ilorin, Bida, Lokoja, Enugu, Kano etc were also visited by us at various times with our father taking us on these fun-trips which would typically last for weeks and sometimes involve us camping along the way like some real-life adventurers.My father was able to recognise and acknowledge talents. He encouraged us to be hardworking and to always put our best efforts in whatever we do. He used to give periodical prizes to his children for academic brilliance, politeness, neatness etc. He was also a strict disciplinarian and we had a Ten Rules of dos and donts for Okenla Children.My father was a devoted Christian and we had a church in our house complete with a piano. We used to refer to the church as the Sanctuary. Every morning the bells of the Sanctuary will ring twice. Once to wake us up and secondly to ask us to come up and worship God.We were encouraged to memorise Bible verses and study the book of Proverbs.My father enjoyed his work as a lawyer and he only worked to defend people, never to prosecute them. He would represent even clients who did not have any money for free. In fact, one grateful client was so happy that he offered his eldest daughter to my father as a wife. My father politely declined. Most of my father's academic works were never published. They included a research into the development of Yoruba as a written language and the influence of Latin/English on the Yoruba lexicon.My father was a politician. He was a founding member of the Action Group in London in the fifties.He was also an actor. He started the Yoruba Operatic Drama Club with Chief Hubert Ogunde while together in Sapele. My father trained and qualified as a nurse in England, he studied Economics at the famous London School Of Economics (LSE) before bagging a University Of London law degree and eventually getting called to the Inner Temple Bar in England as a barrister. He left England and ignored all the lure and glamour of the big cities in Nigeria preferring instead to settle down in his beloved native hometown Ijebu Ode.We miss him greatly. May his soul rest in perfect peace (IJN) Amen.