“Vanity of Vanities," says the preacher; "Vanity of vanities, all is Vanity." What profit has a man from all his labour in which he toils under the sun? One generation passes away, and another generation comes; But the earth abides forever. Ecclesiastes I; 2-4.

We need no dictionary to know that the meaning of vanity is emptiness and valueless of a thing, or lifestyle. Therefore given that no better meaning should explain it better, in this context, I would want to bring to the fore though not like the biblical Solomon but as me the valueless and vain life which one finds himself or herself in a place of wealth or authority, no more, no less.

A plaee where the victim if allowed would bask in the euphoria of praise singers, schemers, jesters, mud slingers etc if he or she is not focused on his mode of operation as a man or woman with vision. The valueless of riches and power, notwithstanding however my concern now is why those in authority should not be easy victims to vanity.

However having followed and watched with keen interest the trend at which Nigerians, especially politicians follow the United States of America's election, I am left with only one question: Are Nigerians only good in hearing and talking but not doing what they learnt from the First World countries and economies.
Call up any typical Nigerian politician today and he would give you a vivid analysis, even more than the Americans themselves, how both Senators Hillary Clinton, Senators Barack Obama both of the Democratic Parties and Senator John Maccain of the Republican Party would out sway each other in the party primaries and the general elections later in the year. It makes my heart bleed when most of these our politicians and so called leaders who after observing and even travelling to the already developed and advanced democracies of the world still come back to their continent, Africa and countries, yet have failed in all standards to showcase in practical terms all they have learnt.

Although these set of politicians' lack the organizational skills, yet they have watched an election where the organizational structure had grown through time by the concerted efforts of the Americans themselves but will never learn anything for the good governance of their country.

These" set of politicians lack the will to be accountable to the people yet they are watching an election where all funds accrued through donations from party supporters and members are properly utilized and accounted for. I weep for most of these leaders who had fallen victims of vanity. It is all vain, those whom you think are your supporters would be the first to scamper for safety, when the news of your death is announced. It is all vain when you think some of them should be empowered, thus empowering a few and thereby neglecting the masses who gave you the mandate. It's all vain when the leaders fail to be reasonable and considerate to superior ideas and arguments. It's vanity when pleasure becomes the watchword of the leader without recourse to the'plight of the people who he or she is governing. It's equally vanity when leaders are not accountable to those that gave them the mandate.

In the United States the records of every penny spent can be seen and verified through their different websites, therefore you neither need auditors to audit their accounts nor do you need a financial crime unit to probe the funds utilized by the individuals or their political parties during campaigns. Nevertheless most of these leaders have refused to learn and had stopped at nothing, but to just govern without proper records of the accounts. They so much so acquired public wealth, forgetting the vanity of the wealth. They forgot the fact of life, that the possessions of all those things which money can buy do not guarantee you happiness or long life. It's all vanity. It's all vanity when what you should have used in giving the common man infrastructures facilities, qualitative education, affordable health care system, etc are stashed away in foreign accounts and invested abroad.

It is all vanity, when people who governed their citizens can not walk the streets freely without fear of been booed or mobbed. When a leader is opportuned to govern his people, it would amount.to biting the finger that fed you if you fail to do what they expect of you. The people are the masters while the leaders are the servants and not vice versa. It's all vanity when leaders who had not rendered service would turn around to expect cheers from the people he had misrepresented.
Although the people are aware that leaders are not angels, therefore are not perfect but the failure to understand that someday your works would surely speak for and defend you, when you must have left power amounts to foolishness. Nobody can fool his master; the people (master) would someday hold us all (leaders) accountable for what we have done when given the mandate to serve.

The United States which had always been the socio-economic yardstick did not perfect their governance and democracy, in just forty seven years rather it had been passing through consistent learning arid improvement of ideals in a democratic system for over two hundred years. If most of our politicians who analyse the American political system more than the Americans themselves would learn from what each aspirant is saying you would no doubt deduce that they believe in the powers of the masses. The delegates and voters are not coerced; bribed or induced rather, there is a free will to support candidate of your choice, endorse any candidate, vote and even seat on the fence when you have not made up your mind whom to support or vote for.

Thus we expect nothing less but an improvement of the system, from the present leaders here in Nigeria and Africa. Let the leaders improve the level of public participation in governance. Let the people feel the notion that they are the masters and not slaves. Let the lecturers and students who for political reasons had been expelled from their citadels of learning be re-instated without conditions.

Let those whose houses were destroyed because of illegal constructions of their building be compensated without delay. Furthermore let those who had been asking for records of how funds were disbursed and utilised in public corporations like NNPC, NEPA, NITEL etc be shown these records. Let those calling for justice in the Odi town and Zaki-Biam be given a listening ear. Let the Niger-Delta youths not be attacked with arms but with well paid jobs, accommodation and a better hope of life. Let aggrieved politicians with same progressive ideologies know instead of rushing out to form new political parties, they should come together to join ranks with Progressive Peoples Alliance, PPA. The party would surely grow to be the "Democratic Party" of Nigeria and Africa. Let INEC re-organise a free and better election where it had been adjudged to be rigged by the tribunals.

As I recently told the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties, Ebonyi State who paid a solidarity visit to my residence (Camp Neya) and hometown in Igbere, Abia State that it is vanity for the former President Olusegun Obasanjo's administration to have empowered only five people to be billionaires. It is vanity for a country that of over 250 million people; only five Nigerians were empowered to be billionaires. It is unfair that expatriates made trillions of naira to yhe detriment of the indigenes in the eight year rule of the emperors.

Although emperors are known to be lovers of vanity but most of them were recorded to have been patriotic in their actions and inactions but that of "Baba" was vanity all through his administration. Thank God Gbenga Obasanjo and Theophilus Danjuma had summoned courage to confirm what I have been saying, thereby exonerating me from all I have stood and fought for all alone for seven years.
Nigerians are yet to appreciate what I did, they would understand with time when ear closing revelations would come from his honest aides who had to be victims of his vanity.

I took my visitors the (CNPP) Ebonyi State through memory lane as Governor of Abia State, my government always ensured the publication of monthly state expenditures and then (1999-2007) most states and federal establishments borrowed the leaf from Abia State Government, later but it goes a long way to show that leaders are servants who should be accountable to those (the people) they are serving. During the course of my interaction with them, I made my visitors understand that, so many people who had before now lost hope and were seen as paupers irrespective of their tribes and religions that had genuine business ideas became economically empowered and are doing well in their different businesses.

However the visitors expressed shock at the network of roads in Umuahia, which they deliberately investigated to ascertain what they have been hearing from most section of the media, that no road was constructed during my eight year administration. However they confirmed that apart from the FCT no other state has the network of roads in its city centre like Umuahia and all these were done during my administration.

Furthermore, I urged the visitors not to be discouraged by the wanton rigging and manipulations which characterized our elections which had made it impossible for the actual electoral contest to take place and for us to equate which party is big or small before the people. Strength of any party is not by the party's big names. A party's strength has to do with its membership, interest of the people, manifestoes, policies and programmes.

Today, that Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA) is the second largest party in Nigeria is no longer in doubt because it is owned, funded and supported by the masses. The masses are aware of the vanity of those who are referred to as big names. The people are eager and ready to build a political party which would stand the test of time. A political party built on the ideology that democracy should be by the whole people who have altruistically spoken through their elected representatives. The people having been deceived several times by most politicians whose interest is vanity, are beginning to realize their mistakes thus coming together to have a formidable belief on leaders who can salvage them from the shackles of slavery, deprivation, lack of health care system, education. unemployment, corruption, epileptic power supply, religious intolerance, high cost of leaving amongst others. In essence the Nigerian masses are tired of enslavement, they are fed up with those who had hitherto enslaved their psyches to vanity and therefore cannot offer the masses anything new. The people have now realised that the freedom of choice and political association as motivated by the PPA would usher in and enable all to be participants in exercising their freedom and pursuit of political happiness in their blessed country, Nigeria.

In one of the recent emails I received, of which I would in no distanttime compile and publish for the reading public, the ardent fan and readers of OUK's Column tried to ask if there was anything personal which Nigerians are yet to know about former President Olusegun Obasanjo that I and that had necessitated my still being bitter, thus my consistent write up about the former President in virtually every week of the month. However, I want you to know that this question and many others would be answered when the publishers are through with the book I wrote, "My Life". The book is going reveal to Nigerians everything they wish to know about my humble beginnings, my mentors, friends and foes.

A chapter in the book was dedicated to "the relationship between me and the animal called man" a'la (Olusegun Obasanjo. It would soon be out