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Stella Obasanjo Death; Lesson's Learned? By Sammy Adebayo Prof Aluko wrote in his Monday quater-backing segment of gamji that the late first lady was born into a privileged family, live a privileged life, and died under unfortunate yet privileged circumstances. Prof Aluko said none of that was her fault, and that she was just born lucky and blah blah blah. I personally do not know the background of Stella Obasanjo prior to and after her marriage to the President so I cannot access how affluent she really was. That aside, I do not share Prof Aluko's admiration and praise for the late first Lady. Prof. Aluko did manage to point out that Late Stella Obasanjo was not perfect. Nobody required perfection from her. I am not familiar with any work or project that the late first lady anchored as her own initiative in the ongoing effort to rebuild Nigeria and bring relief to the suffering people. Most first ladies in other societies concentrate their effort in helping reform or improve areas like education, rural community developme nt, public school library projects, etc. I have followed Nigerian News as best as I can and have never once found mention of the late first lady spearheading any such campaign. Her often grouchy husband is a major disaster to Nigeria. About 5 years ago, I was in Atlanta visiting a friend that worked at the Nigerian consulate there. Suddenly Stella Obasanjo and her circus-like groupie arrived from Nigeria on one of their numerous trips to America and everything practically seized at the consulate as staff had to be re-deployed to the services of Stella Obasanjo and her group. The entire exercise made absolutely no sense. According to consulate staff, such trips to America (Atlanta in particular) were quite frequent. Tailing the first lady was former Atlanta Mayor, Andrew Young, whose so called public relations agency gets paid boku money by the Obasanjo administration to help 'improve' Nigeria's image abroad. This by the way, is another waste of tax payer money by the clueless administration. If a government really sucks like Obasanjo's government does, how does hiring Ambassador Andrew Young's public relation's firm change that fact? In any case Andrew Young was in company of Stella Obasanjo and her group on this visit. After the usual fanfare and confusion at the consulate, they left to have lunch in a Chinese buffet, and thereafter attended Atlanta's version of New York's Club Apollo where struggling comics told boring jokes to the delight of pimp looking 'brothers' and their Hoochie mamas. Imagine a Nigerian first lady and her delegation being in such an unpresidential audience. The question was and is what were the purpose of those numerous, lavish, and flamboyant trips to America? What purpose did they serve, and did those trips benefit the Nigerian public? The irresponsibility of Nigerian leaders extends to members of their families. Initially, it was President Obasanjo that embarked on fruitless globetrotting. When the National assembly threatened impeachment he quit being a journeyman, but his late wife picked up from where he stopped. Thereafter, the State Governors suddenly discovered the joys of overseas trips, until one of their colleagues got thrown into a London penitentiary for money laundering. Suddenly those frequest overseas trips by state Governors has drastically declined. What is rather interesting however is that when challenged about their constant overseas trips, many of the Governors assume a fight to the end posture, insisting that they must and will travel. It almost sounds like lunacy. Why is it so important for 'elected' governors of states to run away from the states they were elected to govern and prefer to be in Western and American societies? If the glamour and comfort of Europe and America is so attractive and inviting, why not build the same paradise in their states with the ample resources allocated to them monthly? These shameless and irresponsible governors are so poised to fight anyone that suggest they abandon their globetrotting ways and focus on their governing jobs. There are 52 weeks or thereabouts in a year. For a state Governor serving a minimum of 4 years, to be out of the country more that 4 weeks total in a year, is clearly not doing his job. Any Governor or Federal executive in Nigeria that is away from his/her post and out of the country more than 4 weeks combined in one year ought to be kicked out of office because that is a clear indication that they are not cut out for the job. In order to perform a job effectively and satisfactorily, one has to show up for work come rain or shine, and must show up on time. Now for ones performcance on the job to be considered exceeding par, that means that employee does shows up way before the scheduled start time, accomplishes more tasks than others, takes ownership, goes above and beyond, and even works late to ma ke sure all bases are covered. State Governors are employees of the people, and in order to serve the people well, they have to put in time and effort like the model employee described above. States Governors are both employees and representatives of the people. Their number one priority is not to attend useless meetings and social events. Their priority is to make a difference right away, and to go to work on behalf of the people. Part of going to work for the people is ensuring that the people of his/her state have excellent road network for accessibility of transportation, business, inter-state commerce, etc. Part of going to work for the people means creating an excellent social service infrastructure, so that people have access to a variety of social services and in times of emergency, all agencies like the Fire Dept, law enforcement, Paramedics, and hopitals are well staffed, well trained, well equipped and well prepared to meet any challeng es. Part of going to work for the people is making sure oppotunities exist for small business ownership so that employment opportunites are created in the private sector of the state. Part of going to work for the people is in making sure that state is law enforcement agencies are funded, equipped, well staffed, and trained for effectiveness in their operations. Part of going to work for the people is protecting the habitats of the state and building state parks and recreational facilities for both young and old so that people can enjoy some form of relaxation and experience relief from the hash realities of the Nigerian life. Part of that includes building and managing natural parks and preserving the environment from harmful degradation so that the ecosystem is not destroyed and our young people and next generation will benefit from conservation, and can further their education and perhaps expertise in biology, foresty, etc. This is where leadership, intiative, management, resourcefulness and strategic planning comes in. These are just a little of what working for the people entail. Right away, one can see that it is not light task. It requires one's time, attention, devotion, and concentration, and so one has to focus the time to meeting these objectives by being present. This is why contant travels by state Governors are indications of failure. Because they lack these vital leadership skills, all they resort to is escapism. None of these travelling Governors can for one minute justify their ridiculous and fradulent trips. None of them can measure up to their European/American counterparts in any category of leadership. But getting back to Late Stella Obasanjo, it is the first time a first lady of any country has died from complications from plastic surgery. Looking at the principles of this entire saga, and it is clear that common sense and critical thought is seriously lacking in Nigerian corridors of power. Nigeria is a country where the health care system is completely atrocious. The teaching/General hospitals are semi morgues. They practically do not function and are so outdated in terms of structure, facilities, personnel, equipments, resources, etc. The private hospitals are no different, but they charge a arm and a foot from patients. All kinds of medical malpractice occurs in these so called hospitals where there is a lack of government oversight, and so the struggling public is forced to rely on self medication and home remedy in the event of a medical crisis. This is totally unacceptable, but that is the reality. According to WHO (World Health Organization), the average life span of a Nigerian male is 37 years, and for the Female, it is 40 or thereabouts. The truth is, those figures as disturbing as they appear, are pretty accurate. The defficient Obasanjo goverment has done absolutely nothing to address these problems that plague the health care infrastructure of the country. I would not be surprised if the uncultured Obj heaps the blame on the common Nigeria for being sick in the first place. They have failed again as in everything to handle a simple challenge like the health care infrastucture from total collapse. So while the poor Nigerian suffers and dies senselessly due to lack of access to quality medical attention, Obj, his late wife, the Governors, and others in their league find it quite convenient to hop on the next flight to America or Germany for high quality medical attention when needed. So what then should the majority of the Nigerian people that have similar pressing medical needs but with no means to afford such quality care do? I guess to the Obasanjos, that is their own cup of coffee right? So I am not saddened by Stella Obasanjo's death. I would have been more sympathetic if she died after battling with Cancer or some other condition. But when one looks at the circumstance here, you just can't help but wonder. While thousands of Nigerians are dying due to lack of ordinary drugs, basic medical attention, etc, she went to Spain at tax payers expense of course, for beauty enhancing plastic surgery. Stella Obasanjo is over 60, yet the desire to look young, which strangely enough is an obsession of white women celebrities, became a priority of Stella Obasanjo and not minding the risks, she underwent the prodecure which ultimately cost her her life. The priorities are all mixed up however you look at it. She could have made herself useful by championing health care reform projects, or fought for a health care coverage system for all Nigerians, and that would have been a worthy cause. Unfortunately, Stella Obasanjo lacked the vision to take on such an important initiave. Her priority was in improving her looks. This desire to have plastic surgery for appearance enhancement is not quite a common thing with Nigerian women. Nigeria women as all other women desire to look sexy, but plastic surgery would be considered a bit extreme by most. Honestly, it is not entirely a bad thing. People have had this procedure to change certain physical defects they have or just to purely enhance their beauty and improve their over-all self esteemso they can feel good about themselves. Most women who fall under this category are younger and in many cases single and feel a need to be competitive in a society where beauty counts for everything. But, gosh! the first lady, at 60 and over, and married to always grouchy Obj, whose attention was she trying to attract? I believe her constant travels to America influenced her into making the decision that cost her her life. In this 'sinful' America, they advertise beauty to an extreme. There are even reality shows such as NipTuck and Extreme makeovers. These shows focus on surgical modification of the human face and body in an effort to achieve near perfection in terms of beauty or handsomeness. I have seen ugly people become transformed to very beautiful people and right away their confidence shoots up the roof. So yes, it can be a good thing, and I sure as hell with recommend Extreme Makeover to Lagos State Governor, Bola Tinubu because appearance does matter. I recently attended an event in Lagos where the Governor was a guest. That was the first time I saw him in person. I began wondering if the people of Lagos could not elect a real person as Governor. The Governor, Bola Tinubu looks like a damn Ghost in clothes. He does not command any kind of presence, charisma, or personality. I would not vote for him based on appearance alone. So yes, a guy like that may benefit from Extreme Makeover. For what it is worth, it may make him feel good and improve his performance. As for late Stella Obasanjo, her husband, President Obasanjo, who is a more urgent candidate for looks enhancing plastic surgery has wisely stayed away from such deadly procedure. (You can die you know?) Say what you want to say about Obasanjo or his unsexy looks, he won't try to change anything about himself. I trust Baba on that. What my problem is with all of this is the setting of priority. Plastic surgery is common in America, but then quality health care is made available to everyone, rich or poor. The government has oversight on health care and it is where it needs to be. However, with that being said, American law makers are always looking for better ways to reform health care, and to give people greater control over their choices of providers. This is not the case in Nigeria. So with our own health infrastructure being in shambles, I think it is completely irresponsible for the first lady to worry more about plastic surgery procedure rather than work with agencies and organizations within and beyond the country to fix the decay in our system.
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