The Nation Newspaper

Author: The Nation

  • The danger lurking ahead

    The danger lurking ahead

    By Oguntoye Opeyemi

    It is often said that if any country should have the taste of per minute troubles like Nigeria, it will collapse with a speed of light. That being said, the future of Nigeria is dangling given the dangers posed to it by the activities of uninformed lads across the length and breadth of the country. Having access to information ought to be an added advantage to people but unfortunately, that has caused a seamless trouble for people of this country.

    In 2020, when some citizens in the course of a protest demanded for the reformation of the Nigeria Police, the level of heat received by the Nigerian government was so enormous. This ranged from the rigorous physical protest to online campaign in and outside the country.

    While those campaigns were ongoing, a frontline EndSARS influencer based in UK had written on his twitter page: ‘I heard according to UN Constitution any protests that reaches 30days will make UN intervene in that country’!

    That tweet, which got nearly 20,000 retweet, contributed to the continuous and aggressive protest in Nigeria. Surprisingly, none of the so-called educated folks with access to the tweet remembered to paste the message on google to authenticate the genuineness of the post. Although that wasn’t the first time misinformation and fake news would be spread in the country, the truth is that the magnitude of attacks the nation witnessed during the EndSARS protest and yet survived was largely traceable to misinformation.

    The question therefore is – Can the nation continue to survive the numerous attacks from its citizen who are hell bent on enforcing their unfounded personal opinion on it?

    In 1932, Bonnie Elizabeth Parker and Clyde Chestnut Barrow, well-known criminal couple started terrorising the towns in the United States of America by robbing, killing and maiming. They headed the popular gang robbery, stealing money and foods from banks, restaurants, gas stations etc. They told the people a version of their story, convinced them that they robbed only from the rich and not the poor. Their activities and mayhem continued for two years and during that period, the people of America worshipped them, which made it more difficult for the government’s Special Task Force to locate them. As a matter of fact, on a particular occasion when the couple went for shopping in one of the cities, the whole town came out rejoicing and hailed them until they left the town. Eventually, when the law caught up with them and they were killed, over 50,000 American citizens attended the burial ceremony of the couple.

    Clearly, Bonnie and Clyde were able to garner pity and fame from the people by taking advantage of the fact that America was going through depression in those years. This is similar to the situation in Nigeria which went through series of economic crisis from 2019 till earlier this year. From rise in inflation, Covid-19 pandemic to EndSARS protest, the country had battled a whole lot of issues which made certain persons come out like saviours as Bonnie and Clyde did in America. One among many is the Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi who was sold as a new kid in the block.

    Although eligible to contest by any standard, however, if his background had been well researched, some of the quality ascribed to him should have been trashed. We should not forget that he was a two-term governor of Anambra State under APGA before he cross-carpeted to the Peoples Democratic Party, where he was appointed as an Economic Adviser by the Goodluck Jonathan-led administration. Also, as at the time he indicated interest in the race, his name had surfaced in the Pandora Papers. More interesting, at the one-year anniversary of the Charles Soludo administration in Anambra State, the governor would remind that the same Anambra State which Obi governed remained the erosion capital of the world as a result of the previous governments’ inability to construct perfect roads with drainages.

    Truth is; Obi appears cool and perfect on a face value whereas in reality, he is more like bad goods packaged and sold as perfect.

    Nigerians will recall how Pastor Poju Oyemade the coordinator of the yearly political discourse ‘The Platform’ provided the eventual candidate of the Labour Party a national pedestal subsequent to which his popularity soared. In fact, The Platform afforded him a great deal of image branding until the pastor made an observation on the political dynamics in Nigeria that didn’t go down well with the mob that had built up around the Labour Party candidate.

    Thereafter, Pastor Poju was verbally attacked, threatened and eventually bullied to delete those statements from his official twitter handle. Questions started to well up in the hearts of people who could think for themselves and those who aren’t swayed with the online rhetoric and biases on why people should be bullied for having diverse opinion on issues. Then, things went further with online attacks on the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Adeboye whom a section of the mob insisted must make his political stance known or risk being branded as one of those responsible for the problems of the country!

    Interestingly, it wasn’t until one fellow, Lambo actually threatened to remove the sound equipment and lighting he claimed to have donated to the church should the church fail to declare publicly its position that Nigerians began to pay attention!

    Today, things appear to have gotten worse. Imagine an elder statesman, Chief Chukwuemeka Ezeife, stating on Arise TV that the president-elect won’t be sworn in on May 29. In fact, it took the intervention of the TV host for him to retract his statement!

    Where is the nation headed? Surely, we cannot continue to live in a country where everyone can issue threats on issues they feel not satisfied with, when alternatives methods are multitudinous. Indeed, we can’t have a peaceful nation when the elders who ought to direct the young ones to a better path are already entrenched in bigotry and hate.

    The painful part is that the hate inside some Nigerians within and outside the country continues to fester. Where are the chances that Nigeria will continue to survive internal attacks from those unpatriotic citizens hell bent on seeing things only through their own prism and none other? How do we wake up the brilliance and curiosity of every Nigerian to verify fake news?

    One would think that the ‘Change Begins with Me’ campaign the introduced by the Ministry of Information in 2016 would go a long way in addressing some of these evils. However, the implementation was a bit shoddy. It therefore seems the government needs to get back to the drawing table, to enlighten citizens on how crucial their responsibilities are for a greater Nigeria.

    •Oguntoye writes via <oguntoyeopeyemij@yahoo.com>

  • Ezeife’s drum of war and lessons of history

    Ezeife’s drum of war and lessons of history

    Groups are the building blocks of African societies. Europe, regarded today as an atomized society, once fought series of tribal wars until 1648 Westphalia treaty which with state formation, allowed tribes, small or big to protect their values and culture from invaders.

    Everyone should therefore be proud of his tribe. After all, for the love of his Igbo tribe, Chief Chukwuemeka Ezeife, an alumni of Harvard, Nigeria’s former permanent sectary, a former governor of Anambra State and an elder-statesman, recently staked everything when he declared without restraint that  ‘If Bola Tinubu, the president-elect is sworn in on May 29, that will be the end of Nigeria”.  In pursuit of his crusade,   he was last week also quoted as warning Yoruba in Lagos not to provoke Igbo to retaliation. To underscore his seriousness, he told us of how his Igbo tribe valiantly fought Nigeria for three years despite the backing of Nigeria by Britain and Russia. And finally, Ezeife, either because he is suffering from selective perception or blinded by his love for his tribe, claimed the Igbo, “are the only people who always vote Nigeria.”

    The truth however is that ‘you cannot be a good Nigerian except you are first a good representative of your tribe’ as Obafemi Awolowo once reminded us. And that was the central focus of Edmund Burke’s (1728-1797) philosophy. Men according to him are born constrained by the traditions of their forbears; therefore the best life begins in the “little platoons—family, church, and local community which orientate men toward virtues such as temperance and fortitude self-restraint and self-criticism”.  You can therefore not give what you don’t have.

    Unfortunately, some of our leaders who play the ostrich to exploit those who look up to them for direction insist this could be done in reverse order. For instance, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe was first enchanted with ‘renascent Africa”. But while trying to resolve his Nigerian Youth Movement local crisis in 1938, Senator Odutola had observed “During the days of our ‘old Africa’, the Ibos and Yoruba lived together as Nigerians, it seems to me therefore that the remedy for this present trouble is for Zik to return “his New Africa” either by post or by taking it there personally. “But mark it, unless this brand of ‘new Africa’ is done away with, there will be no harmony in the country” (The Autobiography of Awolowo P.145)

    But Yoruba political elite’s resistance to the takeover of Yoruba land by ‘Zik of Africa’ and his group in 1952, finally forced him, after playing the victim by labelling Yoruba ‘tribalists’ to hearken  to Edmund Burke’s advice that ‘charity begins at home’. He retraced his way back to the east where he displaced Eyo Ita, the minority leader of government.   ‘Zik of Africa’, as premier was reduced to ‘Zik of Onitsha’ by mainstream Igbo who detested the Onitshas. 

    What is apparent from our recent history is that unity of Nigeria is only evoked when Igbo leaders are in control while the country is pulled down or reduced to Lugard’s zoo when they lose grip.

    The trading of Awolowo and his AG In 1959 for Fulani controlled NPC was anchored on the need for Nigerian unity. But for their pains, Igbo political leaders controlled most of the ministerial and appointive positions in Balewa’s government. The 1979 NPN and NPN alliance also earned the Igbo political elite some juicy positions including the senate presidency and speakership. Odumegwu Ojukwu, the Igbo war hero even returned from 10 years exile to join Shagari government

    But out of government, following the disputed 1964 elections, pulling down the Balewa’s government became a mission. This was accomplished in January 1966 with the young Igbo military mutineers carrying out selective killings of military and political leaders from other regions while protecting theirs’ from the arms way. Ironsi went on to replace the federal constitution with a unitary system, a long term Igbo agenda.

    But in 1993, with MKO Abiola, despite winning only one Igbo state, cruising home to a landslide victory over Igbo, Bashir Tofa, the Igbo preferred candidate, Igbo nationalism took flight as leading light of Igbo politics joined Babangida in derailing his eight years transition programme.

    Their crusade was led by Obasanjo who declared that ‘MKO Abiola was not the messiah Nigerians were waiting for’. On June 13, 1993, Nduka Obaigbeina , the publisher of defunct Thisweek joined the crusade by appearing on CNN calling for the annulment of the election because MKO Abiola allegedly sported a dress with an SDP logo to the voting centre. Before then, there had been various dramas by Arthur Nzeribe and his government sponsored shadowy illegal Association for Better Nigeria (ABN) and Justice Bassey Ikpeme and Clement Apamgbo.

    On June 16, Okey Usoho, the NRC national publicity secretary alleged falsification of results. On June 17, Walter Ofonagoro, Tofa’s campaign director of organisation in a 14 point statement alleged the election was not free. On June 18, the Champion newspaper owned by Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu asked those who had misgivings about the election to go to court while on June 23, Nduka Irabor read an unsigned and undated statement to annul the election.

    While MKO Abiola was detained for winning an election, Walter Ofonagoro and  Uche  Chukwumerije, a veteran of Biafra propaganda during the civil war, derided Abiola as  “a fleeing Are Ona Kankanfo’ and a leader who allowed his pan-Nigerian mandate to be ethicized by his Yoruba people’. Of course, there was Ojukwu himself who served as Abacha’s envoy to Europe to de-market Abiola on account of his many wives.

    Fast-forward to 2023. With the application of technology, many informed Nigerians believe the 2023 election may turn out to be the best and most credible election after the 1993 debacle. This was an election where the sitting president lost his Katsina State, the ruling APC lost 12 of the 24 states it controlled and where Peter Obi, a PDP deserter with no structure, exploited Igbo ethnic and religious sentiments to garner un-deserved over six million votes.

    As it was in 1993, on Monday, February 27, 2023, with all the results from polling booth across the country already with all contestants, showing Tinubu who had for 20 years built consensus with northern politicians was cruising to outright victory, Dino Melaye and his Labour Party counterpart stormed out of the collation centre. Their anguish: INEC’s failure to transmit results electronically from the BVAS to the iREV portal immediately after collation at Polling Units.

    This was swiftly followed by demand of Ifeanyi Okowa, and Yusuf Datti, PDP and labour VP candidate respectively, that the election be cancelled and a fresh one conducted nationwide.

     Obasanjo, Obi’s chief promoter, also swung into action. Anchored on the unsubstantiated claims, rumours and allegations of fraud by sore losers, Obasanjo also called for the cancellation of the election result.

    As it was in 1993, despite only one percent infraction in Lagos, according to Lagos State deputy governor, Obimedia and their patrons, the real ‘tribalists’ are beating drum of war, creating fear through  sponsored television  surrogates, and pushing false narratives to discredit not only the elections and the integrity of INEC  but also our judiciary.

    For the Obimedia, their tribal patrons and Obasanjo with his “fake nationalism, precarious patriotism and vaunting ambition to be at the centre of our universe”, (Bisi Akande), all we can do now is to remind them of Uthman dan Fodio’s popular saying:  “conscience is an open wound, only the truth can heal it”.

  • Global implication of Sino-Russia Entente cordiale

    Global implication of Sino-Russia Entente cordiale

    Last week, the president of the People’s Republic of China, Xi Jinping who has been in power since March 14, 2013 and who has just been sworn in for another five years made a three day state visit  to the Russian Federation. The Russian president, Vladimir Putin has been president, premier and again president since 2000-2008; premier 2008-2012, president 2012- to the present. He personally appointed Dmitry Medvedev president 2008 -2012, prime minister 2012- 2020, deputy chairman of the Security Council 2020 to the present. I state the above facts to show the kind of regimes the two leaders are heading without passing judgement. A country runs the system that best suits it and that guarantees its national interest and security.

    China has a population of 1,412,360,000 that is roughly 1.4 billion.  One would have said such a vast and populous country cannot effectively run a democratic system. But India with slightly more people runs a shambolic democracy of some kind. Russia has a population of 143,449,000 that is roughly 144 million people. China has a GDP of $17.73 trillion compared with the United States GDP of $ 23.32 trillion, whilst Japan has a GDP of $4.941 trillion and Russia has a GDP of $1.779 trillion.

    I give these figures to give the relative sizes of the economies of the major powers of the world. But the economy is not the only yardstick of measuring global power. The United States and Russia have enough nuclear weapons, mostly intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMS) each, to bury the world twice over and China is not far behind them. A cynic once commented about the craziness of having nuclear weapons to bury the world twice over by saying once the world has been buried once there is no point doing it over again. Presumably, this folly made the nuclear powers to mutually decide to reduce the number of their nuclear warheads targeted against each other.

    The coming together of China and the Russian federation does not pose an immediate challenge or danger to the world order.  The Russian federation according to Putin was ready to champion the use of the Chinese currency, the Yuan as an alternative to the use of the USA dollar as an international currency of exchange. He also said many other countries are ready to join him in his crusade without mentioning those countries. Presumably, he has in mind the BRICS country of Brazil, Russia, India China and South Africa and other countries that may wish to follow them.

    But this is such a fundamental question that it is not likely countries like India and Brazil and even  China itself would precipitately jump into the use of another currency outside the dollar. It is unlikely that India would ever agree to use the Yuan instead of the dollar simply on the grounds of national pride. Chinese trade with the USA is 10 times its current trade with Russia and Russia does not have much to offer China apart from raw materials of hydrocarbons, other minerals and wheat.

    The equally big economic bloc the European Union tried to build up the Euro as an alternative to the dollar when President Trump in 2017 unilaterally abrogated the joint nuclear treaty with Iran but it was not successful. Currently the USA economy is about 11% of the global economy and the use of the dollar has proved convenient over time that to abandon it will need to be carefully planned rather than as a result of a political rapprochement between two enemies of the United States.

    Looking at Sino-Russian friendship over a long time, one is not too sure whether the friendship of convenience between a beleaguered Russia and a China fishing in troubled waters will endure. China’s relation with Russia has no solidity in history. Today Russia and China share approximately 4,300 kilometres long border. Not so long ago Sino-Soviet and Sino-Indian borders were hotly disputed and witnessed armed conflicts and bloody clashes like the Sino-Indian military conflict of 1962 and Sino-Soviet armed  conflict of March 1969 over the Ussuri River Island, Damansky. The long border between them which are not clearly marked permits constant Chinese smugglers operating there leading to border incidents. This situation does not give much reason to predict eternal amity between the two nations.

    Over time Russia may begin to resent the cheap price it sells hydrocarbons to China and even India as exploitation of Russia during her difficult relations with its European western neighbours because of its war in Ukraine. Russia needs China today to give it conventional weapons for use against NATO armed Ukraine because of the rapid use of its own weapons and munitions by its apparently poorly trained and led army in Eastern Ukraine. This desperation on the part of Putin has also led him to announce the deployment decision of tactical nuclear weapons in neighbouring Belarus, a decision that will be against the nuclear non-proliferation treaty of which Russia is a party to.  It will be interesting to find out what China thinks about nuclear proliferation bearing in mind its possible embrace by South Korea and Japan its neighbours.

    This nuclear move by Putin may be counter-productive because it could lead to revolt in Belarus because no country wants to be held a hostage to another country and the target of possible nuclear attack if Putin were to order attack on his enemies in the west which would have to reply in the same measure. In the new accord between China and Russia, what becomes of earlier Indo-Russian treaty of friendship and China’s support for Pakistan based on an earlier Chinese treaty of friendship with Pakistan. If these treaties are no longer in effect, what then becomes of the new Sino-Russian treaty when global situation changes? In other words how much emphasis can one really place on this current treaty if earlier ones are treated with levity?

    Ordinarily there is nothing wrong in a Sino-Russian entente entered into with no ulterior motives by either side and also not directed at current enemies which by the dynamics of international politics may become allies tomorrow or a country with which a modus vivendi could be established to permit peaceful relations. There is no reason on earth why Russia cannot live in peace with the EU with which it shares a continent. The ties of trade may yet trump the expectation of military conflict between China and the USA. America may yet realise that a Hong Kong kind of deal between Taiwan and the People’s Republic of China may be in the overall interest of the United States rather than involving itself in an unwinnable war with China over Taiwan which by history is a province of one undivided China. In any case, apart from the constant bellicose slogans in Beijing, there is no apparent move on the Chinese leadership to invade a 65 million thriving democracy of Chinese people with possible dire consequences and unpredictable results. If there was protracted and destructive war between China and Taiwan leading to the destruction of its thriving economy, the Peoples Republic of China would have to spend years and humongous resources to rebuild it. In other words invasion of Taiwan is not in the overall Chinese interest.

    What has led to all these diplomatic and military moves are intricately tied up with the war in Ukraine and the need for military support for Russia to reduce the pressure on Russia by NATO. The Chinese has also been compelled to find ways to neutralise American intervention in a war of possible military acquisition of Taiwan which it considers a part of China.

    Peace in Ukraine which will guarantee national sovereignty of the country while taking into consideration the political and military interest of a proud power armed to the teeth with nuclear weapons may untie the knotty problem of peace and war driving big powers to abandon peaceful relations which is in the interest of the entire world that requires a common and joint effort to save an environmentally challenged world.

  • Salute to a great leader of our time

    Salute to a great leader of our time

    SIR: Giants strides made by man are usually relieved with pomp and pageantry .while some roll out the milestone amidst glass clinging. Some play the breakthrough low but all in praises and in anticipation of better future ahead. In this momentous instance, the success story always overshadows the nauseating hurdles and barricades accompanying such feats.

    In the lives of many, birthdays are usually periods for sober reflections .The period for stocktaking. Numerous personalities with eyes on the verdict of history use such occasions to reflect on their contributions to the betterment   of their societies.

    For Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, President-elect of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, he would have wished that the occasion of his 71st birthday anniversary be observed with an annual colloquium. But the man is not an ordinary man as he is President-in-waiting of the African giant.

    The vision of Jagaban   is to build a prosperous, highly educated, technology-driven, pace-setting Nigeria. He believes that the fastest and only way to change the populace is through education. While most Nigerian elites are busy manipulating ethno-regional differences to personal advantage, Tinubu   has always been in the vanguard of harnessing the differences to build a restructured united Nigeria.

    As a former senator and former governor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has in-depth understanding of the contemporary problems of Nigeria. His ideas can build solid bridges leading us into the future with sound economic development. He has an analytic mind that is fertile and pregnant with development ideas. He is what Nigeria needs now.

    Nobody can doubt the political sagacity and international reach of Asiwaju, who has supporters in every nooks and crannies of this country as shown by the  vast spread of his votes across the nooks and corners of this country .

    It is a fact that Asiwaju Tinubu is a champion for progress and development as it was evident with his antecedents while he was the governor of Lagos State. His policies and actions culminated into a practical development model that based on research conducted, many states in Nigeria have since adopted it in their states and this model is also being used by prestigious institutions of learning across the globe as one of the successful development and economic model from the Africa’s largest country

    Jagaban remains the most popular, charismatic and influential leader among his contemporaries. He is the leader chosen by Nigerians to solve the myriads of problems about to choke the country to imminent death. BAT has a swell of goodwill that is unparalleled in this country.

    He is an exemplary in humility; an apostle of change, a revolutionary and core disciplinarian adept in the evolution of continuity between the past, diligently reshaping today for brighter tomorrow. He is an ardent believer in the in the delegation of responsibilities among his team members for the creation of an efficient, resilient and responsive system.  

    Nigeria needs a strategic and visionary leader who can identify opportunities from challenges especially at these global economic challenges. Asiwaju has the mental capacity, resources, network and more importantly being surrounded by brains that can turn around the fortune of this country and consolidate on the developmental foundation of President Muhammadu Buhari.

    Life, says a sage, is a basket of sorrows punctuated with moments of happiness. On whatever scale of measurement Bola Tinubu’s 71 years sojourn on this terrestrial divide is, the living legend and man of destiny definitely, has a credit of balance of happiness.

    By any benchmark one deploys to assess him, and in whatever clime in our firmament of the planet earth, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the former governor of Lagos and President-elect  of Nigeria, is a stunning success, a unique gift to humanity and he deserve to be celebrated by all and sundry within the Nigerian geography and beyond.

    As our beloved amiable civilian general turns 71, it is our wish and prayer that the almighty God continue to keep him in robust health, with a sound mind to carry the burden of Nigeria and Nigerians on May 29.  

    •Ahmad Muhammad Danyaro,

    Dutse, Jigawa State.

  • As PMB prepares to exit

    As PMB prepares to exit

    SIR: President Muhammadu Buhari is about to hand over power, the same way he took over eight years ago from President Goodluck Jonathan. It is obvious that May 29 cannot come any sooner for the president. He is (and could not have emphasized this enough) by all means exhausted and eager to hand-over to his elected successor, Ahmed Bola Tinubu.

    One thing is for sure though, President Buhari is human after all, if the results of his eight-year rule are anything to go by.

    Apart from the APC manifesto (and the ridiculously farfetched promises on the APC sponsored billboards prior to the 2015 general elections for instance), President Buhari consistently bordered his promises on strengthening the country’s economy, fighting insecurity and tackling corruption. You cannot doubt a person’s intention since it is a matter of the heart. Therefore, one cannot say that the president did not mean what he said (or promised). As we have seen, attempts have been made to fulfill these promises.

    But have they provided the desired outcome? In no particular order of achievement (or failure), his presidency has been made and marred by an audacious national infrastructure revival drive, the costly indecision on nationally pressing issues, degrading of Boko Haram in the North-Eastern part of the country and the metamorphosis of farmer-herder clashes and cattle rustling into banditry and kidnapping in the Northwest, and not forgetting the violent rise of secessionist agitators in the Southeast. Further to these is the failure to tackle the subsidy regime, end fuel scarcity, and the rise of the country’s debt to a record N70trillion . A very important positive highlight of this administration will no doubt be the signing of the electoral reform act in 2022. The increase in the contribution of agriculture to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) is not unconnected to the president’s palpable efforts to empower farmers for increased food production.

    I had intentionally mixed the highs and the lows of the administration so as to depict how he has succeeded in taking five steps forward, and five steps back!

    For instance, the irony of the management of the subsidy regime is that President Buhari has been the minister of petroleum all through his two tenures as president. For several chunks of the eight years, Nigerians have bought subsidized products at higher prices than the government approved prices. What is more frustrating being the seeming inability of the government to stabilize the supply of petroleum products, thereby subjecting Nigerians to long hours on queues just to buy petrol? Finding a permanent and lasting solution in the sector has proved to be more complex than solving a Rubik’s cube for the President and his team.

    However, there has arguably never been a more concerted effort at reviving and upgrading the country’s transportation infrastructure since independence, than that of the President Buhari administration. Simultaneous projects are being executed and completed in the road, rail and air transport sectors, albeit at the cost of huge debt that will be serviced (and probably rolled over) for decades. The question is whether these debts have been and are being judiciously used for purposes of their collection.

    The signing of the electoral law in 2022 introduced the voter accreditation technology, BVAS as a game changer and ensured that voter fraud is drastically reduced. This meant that although the total registered voters in the country had increased more than ever before, the total votes cast have been significantly lower than previous election cycles. Even as there is always room for improvement, the election of 2023 has been the most credible in Nigeria’s 4th republic, at least. President Buhari deserves his flowers for this.

    To draw the curtain, and as if to further highlight the several indecisions of the Buhari administration is the implementation of the naira redesign policy. It is evident that a comprehensive cost and benefit analysis was not carried out before the presidential approval to implement the policy.

    President-elect Tinubu and his team have their work cut out for them. It will not be easy and it never was meant to be. Securing and uniting the country, tackling corruption, revenue generation, debt management and strengthening of institutions are immediate concerns for the President-elect, because, as a matter of fact, the challenges met by the president in 2015 still remain. Whether he has put the nation on a pedestal for growth and development still remains to be seen, not until a historical appraisal is made in the future, at least.

    •Aliyu Sulaiman,

    Katsina.

  • Census: History, challenges, and implications

    Census: History, challenges, and implications

    SIR: In just two months, Nigeria is expected to conduct its sixth population and housing enumeration exercise. This will be the fifth since gaining independence from British colonial masters. Even before the amalgamation of the colonies that became Nigeria in 1914, the British imperialists adopted a decennial system of enumeration, conducting censuses in 1866, 1871, 1881, 1891, and 1901. This allowed them to have a good idea of population figures, projected tax revenues, and development plans.

    However, the system was disrupted by the two world wars, and Nigeria’s first census as a political entity took place in 1952/53. Since then, irregular censuses have been conducted in 1962, 1962/63, 1973, 1991, and 2006. The upcoming census will be the first in 17 years.

    Unfortunately, censuses in Nigeria have always been politicized, as population figures are a significant metric for the federal allocation of funds to federating units such as regions, states, and local government areas. As a result, federating units often make efforts to artificially inflate their figures. This tendency to politicize censuses and the failure to use them for planning purposes have almost rendered them irrelevant. Censuses have become tools for enriching the political elite who benefit overnight by being involved in politics.

    In 2006, the census put Nigeria’s population at 140 million, but the current rough estimate puts it between 211 and 215 million, making it the seventh most populous country. However, the emphasis on political considerations make it difficult to justify this claim.

    The government has already spent N291 billion on the N869 billion required to conduct the 2023 census and is shopping for over N500 billion between now and the next two months for the exercise. However, the huge bill is something we doubt the nation can afford right now.

    Until Nigeria recalibrates its population census and management to prevent politics-driven inflation of figures, it will be wasting scarce resources on irrelevant enumeration exercises. The census must be for economic planning, not consumption, and should be shelved and rejigged for a more effective relaunch when the economy improves. All huge spending must be stopped, and scarce funds must be allocated to items that are prioritized at any given time.

    •Muhammed Bolanle Hakeemat,

    oayinde201@gmail.com>

  • Non-negotiable

    Non-negotiable

    • Trade unions must insist govts and other employers insure their members’ lives

    Under the Pensions Reform Act of 2014, group life insurance is compulsory for workers. This is an emergency savings expected to cover between three to six months’ expenses. Section four, subsection five of the Pension Reform Act (PRA) 2014, stipulates that every employer should provide a group life insurance “in favour of each employee for a minimum of three times the yearly total emolument of the employee and premium shall be paid not later than the date of commencement of the cover.”

    Laudable and beneficial as this policy is, it is disappointing that only six of the 36 states in the country and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have complied with this provision of the act. This was revealed in the quarterly document released on the National Pension Commission (PenCom) website, as reported by The Guardian on March 22. The six states are Ondo, Lagos, Kaduna, Osun, Ekiti and Edo. The implication is that over 2.5million public workers are left in the lurch; being without any insurance cover whatsoever.

    This is depressing. But it should not come as a surprise to many Nigerians. State governments’ usual culprit on matters like this is lack of funds. Yet, the real problem is the fiscal indiscipline that reigns supreme in most of the states. Many of them give all manner of excuses where monetary matters are concerned, especially when these have to do with their workforce or the general good.

    We say discerning Nigerians would not be shocked about this violation of the PRA because it is the same attitude that many state governments adopt on pension and allied matters. The Federal Givernment, in 2014 enacted the PRA 2014 which replaced the PRA 2004. By the former, the Contributory Pension Scheme was introduced and this made it mandatory for workers in both the private and public sectors to contribute towards the workers’ retirement. Largely, it is also state governments that are still the major defaulters in pension remittances.

    Yet, we see profligacy all around us daily; even in states that continue to complain that they don’t have money. We see wrong priorities all over the place. We see misapplication of funds and corruption, with many state governors prioritising payment of their own emoluments as well as their political aides’, whereas people who have served their entire lives in service are left to their own device at retirement.

    There has to be a change of orientation in many of the states. Employers, particularly those in the public service, cannot afford to ignore the provisions of the PRA 2014 despite their rising recurrent expenditure. Not even the unfavourable economic climate is good enough a reason to fail in performing these welfare schemes.

    It is the same attitude of the average Nigerian to insurance generally that the state governments are also imitating. The average Nigerian does not believe in insurance. Many are simply fatalistic; when it comes to insurance — be it life, fire, accident or what have you, they simply shrug it off and tell you evil occurrence is not their portion. Others give excuse of lack of money, forgetting that accidents don’t give notice before they occur and insurance comes handy when such unexpected things happen.

    It is in the interest of all to ensure a fair and equitable reward system for workers because workers who know that they can always have something to fall back on in times of emergency, or when they retire are likely to be more dedicated to their duties. Productivity is better enhanced in such situations. But when there is no hope of something to fall back on in either emergency situations or at retirement, the tendency is for the workers to be complacent and try to help themselves to provide for the proverbial rainy day. This is at the root of the corruption in many workplaces, particularly in the public sector. It is the reason some teachers would use official school hours to do private lesson for those children whose parents can afford it, at the expense of parents who cannot, or do not think their children require such lessons. It is the same reason a civil servant comes to work in the morning only to disappear a few hours later in pursuit of buying and selling, in order to make ends meet. It is the larger society that pays for such lack of dedication to duty in the long run.

    We urge trade unions to, as the Director of the Centre for Pension Rights Advocacy (CPRA), Ivor Takor, advised, compel employers to insure their members’ lives. This they must do simultaneously as they are fighting for increments, pension and better general condition of service.

    The point must be made that state governments cannot continue to owe salaries, pensions and other workers’ benefits generally with impunity, as some state governments do. Pensioners don’t have to get their benefits in the grave. PRA 2014, definitely an improvement on the 2004 experience, can only work when its provisions are faithfully implemented. It is bad that state actors that should be the exemplars in its implementation are the very ones flouting them.

  • Unholy rush

    Unholy rush

    • We may run into problem again on Nigeria Air the way the Federal Govt is going about it

    There is no doubt that the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, is quite passionate about the take-off of his pet project, the establishment of a national carrier for the country christened Nigeria Air, within the lifespan of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration, possibly as one of its defining legacies. This is a natural human inclination as he understandably wants to pursue the realisation of a project conceived under his leadership in the ministry to its logical conclusion before exiting.

    Speaking during the 10th Aviation Stakeholders Forum in Abuja, last week, the minister announced that the proposed Nigeria Air would fly before the expiration of the administration’s tenure in approximately two months time, on May 29 specifically.

    Sirika enthused that the project is nearly 98 percent complete, stressing that “All of the roadmap items, except perhaps the airline, which, in my opinion is in 98 percent stage will fly within these remaining two months by the grace of God. We will also finish the concession so all those things we said we would do when we came in, we did them. Before the end of this administration, before May 29, we will fly”.

    The minister had in September last year told the press that Ethiopian Airlines had emerged as the core investor in Nigeria Air, with a 49 percent shareholding; an announcement that caused a stir within the aviation industry, with local airline operators filing a suit at the Federal High Court in Lagos to challenge and get legal sanction to stop the process. Last November, the court reportedly issued an injunction restraining the Federal Government from proceeding with the establishment of Nigeria Air until the determination of the suit before it.

    At the stakeholders forum where he revealed the imminent take-off of the national carrier, Sirika gave an insight into the emergence of Ethiopian Airlines as the core investor saying “I was very happy that we got them (Ethiopian Airlines) to come. It was not my choice but I am happy now knowing what I know. They are a household name, strong and they have been in business for 70 years unbroken and they have over 200 aircraft. So I am very glad we are partnering with them and it is a reality”.

    Even though the minister had observed that “Some airlines are in court and their grouse is that it can be any airline but not Ethiopian Airlines because, in their own way, they think the airline is a competitor”. But then in another interview the minister was quoted as claiming that he was unaware of any case in court as regards the national carrier. The grouse of the local airlines is that they can manage Nigeria Air better than a foreign airline and that the core investor would enjoy an unfair advantage over them. The nervousness of the local airlines is understandable given the fragile state of the aviation sector, especially in the light of the devastations caused by the Coronavirus pandemic which they are yet to emerge fully from, the skyrocketing cost of aviation fuel and the effects of the protracted economic crisis in which the sector is one of the worst hit.

    Curiously, Sirika claimed that he had reached out to reputable international and domestic airlines to partner with Nigeria Air but none was willing to until the deal was struck with Ethiopian Airlines. But if so, why are the domestic airlines in court on the issue? In their suit, the airlines are asking the court to determine if the deal between the Federal Government and the core investor does not violate the Infrastructure Regulatory Commission (Est) Act 2005; the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act; the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Convention; the National Policy on Public Private Partnership; and whether the entire concessionairing process is not invalid, necessitating a fresh bidding exercise.

    It is patently unwise for the minister to seek to rush the process through when the deal is still being litigated. We should also be wary of signing legal agreements with an international consortium in a hurry and without a scrutiny of the terms as the country has been known to pay heavy fines to foreign companies in the past for entering into shoddily drafted agreements with inbuilt booby traps. Furthermore, utmost care must be taken in picking a core investor in a sensitive sector like aviation, with a high risk component. Furthermore, it is important to ascertain if the necessary infrastructure, facilities and manpower are already in place. It is disturbing that when asked when exactly the national carrier would fly, the minister just said “very soon”.

    Several years after the defunct Nigeria Airways was run aground largely through large-scale corruption and monumental inefficiencies, the country should not carelessly and cavalierly rush into establishing another national carrier without sufficient safeguards to guarantee its safety and sustainability. In this regard, it is noteworthy that the national carrier was first unveiled by the minister at the Famborough Air Show in England on July 18, 2018, but was suspended two months later when aviation experts raised questions about its viability.

    The project is projected to cost $8.8 million in preliminary costs and $300 million as take-off costs. The government cannot afford to commit such humongous revenues to a project without the highest levels of diligence and meticulousness. The impression must not be created that there are surreptitious reasons for what may be perceived as an unholy rush to get Nigeria Air to begin to fly barely two months to the end of this administration’s tenure.

  • Tinubu validly elected, best for Nigeria, says Afenifere

    Tinubu validly elected, best for Nigeria, says Afenifere

    Apex Yoruba socio-cutural organisation Afenifere has declared the President-Elect Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu was validly elected. 

    The organisation said nobody other than Tinubu who was declared winner of the February 25 presidential poll won the contest. 

    It believed Tinubu would take Nigeria to higher heights, debunking claims that it pronounced Peter Obi of the Labour Party as winner of the presidential poll. 

    The Leader of Afenifere, Pa Reuben Fasoranti, in a statement he personally signed, also quashed the purported suspension of the National Publicity Secretary of the body Jare Ajayi and National Organising Secretary Comrade Kole Omololu Abagun by a ‘commnique’ of the organisation after a meeting in Isanya Ogun on Tuesday. 

    The statement reads: “My attention has been drawn to the Communique purportedly issued after a meeting that held on Tuesday, March 27, at Isanya Ogbo, Ogun State. This statement is being issued because of the content of the said document.

    “Section 2.02 of the document claims that “the results of the lawful votes at the Presidential election available to the Afenifere through credible sources confirm that Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, won the said election”.

    “Afenifere could not have asserted that someone, other than the person declared by the body duly authorized by the Constitution and other extant laws of the land, is the winner of the presidential election held on February 25, 2023 in Nigeria. 

    “The body mandated to conduct elections in Nigeria, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), after the completion of this year’s presidential election on February 25th, has declared the candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu as the winner of the said election. Our National Publicity Secretary of Afenifere, Comrade Jare Ajayi, issued a congratulatory message to the President-elect after he had been issued a Certificate of Return by INEC. 

    Read Also: ‘Nigeria blessed to have Tinubu’

    “This was cited as an ‘uncouth activity’ by the Communique mentioned above which further stated that Abagun and Ajayi were ‘suspended sine die pending further decisions after their appearance before and recommendations by the Disciplinary Committee’. Meaning that the two were pronounced guilty and consequently sanctioned even before their appearance before a Disciplinary Committee. 

    “This type of position is alien to us in Afenifere which does not conduct itself as an agent of the state let alone as an electoral umpire. We accept the results of the elections at all levels as declared by INEC until otherwise decided by competent courts in the land.

    “Presently, the whole world knows that Nigeria has a President-elect in person of Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu, a true Yoruba son and nationalist. We in Afenifere not only acknowledge this, we take delight in his in-coming Presidency and are confident that he will, by the grace of God, return Nigeria to the glorious position that all of us will be proud. Which was why I also congratulated in a personal letter I sent to him.

    “The whole world is aware that I personally blessed and anointed Ahmed Bola Tinubu on October 30, 2022 in the presence of notable people from all parts of Yorubaland right here in my place in Akure. How can we then turn round and condemn the election of such a person? We never did.” 

    “I also read in the said Communique, the purported removal and suspension of the National Publicity Secretary and the National Organising Secretary of the organization in persons of Comrade Jare Ajayi and Abagun Kole Omololu. 

    “At no time was any of these officials reported to me as doing anything against what Afenifere stands for or doing anything against the interests of our race, the Yoruba. Thus, at no time was I informed that they were queried, warned or sanctioned for conducting themselves in a manner contrary to what Afenifere or the Yorubas stand for. 

    “Being an organization that believes in justice and fairness, being an organization that always maintains that those at the helms of affairs should follow the rule of law, Afenifere, our organization, cannot just wake up and pronounce some officials removed and suspended without telling them what their offences are and without giving them the opportunities to defend themselves.

    “Such a step is not only against natural justice; it is also in clear defiance of the law of the land. Afenifere believes in the rule of law and in the fundamental rights of all, including right to fair hearing. For these and other reasons, the purported removal and suspension are null and void. The two officials should be commended rather than condemned for the selfless services they are rendering to Afenifere, to the Yoruba race and to Nigeria and humanity. They are hereby so commended”.

  • Britain: In the dock of history?

    Britain: In the dock of history?

    Just as well Femi Fani-Kayode gave it back hot and steaming to Ben Llwelyn-Jones, the British deputy high commissioner in Nigeria, who left his calm diplomatic waters to play in the storm of Lagos politics, theorizing on Lagosians and Londoners, carelessly calling names and threatening the seizure of visas to Britain.

    Still, how would the British know true sentiments of native protection of ancestral rights, being the most violent grabbers of other people’s land and most reckless disruptors of other races’ culture in global history? 

    Why, on 6 August 1861, Oba Dosunmu of Lagos wailed: “Mi o fi’le Baba mi toore!” (I didn’t freely gift out my father’s land!), faced with epochal ancestral censure.  British gun boat diplomacy had just released a few terrifying shots to grab Lagos Island from its ancestral owners.

    The ultimate hypocrites in the Britishers fraudulently captured that violent land grab as the “Lagos Treaty of Cession”! — talk of a crass legalism as historic whitewash!

    Well, with such a history, you wouldn’t expect the envoy to understand the full significance of the Lagos governorship election of March 18. 

    Even if he did, he wouldn’t depart from his forebears’ hypocrisy, white-washing a most condemnable land seizure as “cession” because they could — and they could because they were monstrously armed! 

    On March 18, Lagos defended its governance, its heritage, its sanity from internal settlers lusting after its prosperous space and threatening to “take” it.  All through all that violence, maybe the envoy was in deep sleep, only to jerk awake, like some Rip Van Winkle, on the so-called election-day “violence” — typical British hypocrisy!

    Still, the Llwelyn-Jones that waxed lyrical on Lagosians and Londoners conveniently forgot the tale of Liz Truss and her tragic prime-ministerial run.  It was clear to everyone Rishi Sunak was, by miles, the most competent and suitable candidate.  Yet, the Conservative Party Brits, defending their stiff upper lip honour, tried to impose home girl Liz Truss.  It ended in tears.

    Lagos was the diametric opposite.  Babajide Sanwo-Olu epitomized the true spirit of Lagos — friendly and urbane but never stupid.  But then came these cowboys and scions of violence and disruption, laced with crude cross-ethnic threats, hiding behind a sole finger of democracy.  Lagos saw through all the crap and did the needful — just as Brits did for Truss.  No apologies to anyone on that golden and roaring choice.

    Meanwhile, after Sunak, the Indian and Hindu in London, Edinburgh, Scotland, is receiving own historical verdict.  Hamza Yousaf, Muslim, Pakistani dad and mum from Kenya, just romped into office, as Scotland’s First Minister, with 52% of the vote!

    Perhaps one day, a Lagosian and victim of the 1861 “cession” would be chief of government in Unionist Northern Ireland, if the nationalists of Republic of Ireland have not seized it for themselves! 

    It’s the verdict of history docking Britain and finding it guilty of the grave misdeeds it so glorifies in fraudulent history!