The Nation Newspaper

Category: Friday

  • The Hornet’s Nest

    Preamble

    This article is not new. It was first published in this column in 2013 as a reaction to an outburst of some Nigerian political demagogues whose aim was to strengthen the confusion in the land. It is being repeated here today due to popular demand by ardent readers because of its relevance. Here it goes:

    “Conscience is an open wound; only the truth can heal it”.  By Usman Dan Fodio

    Nest, to the hornet, is a sanctuary. Whoever wants to stir it must be ready for some painful stings. It was the words of Nigeria’s lotus eaters against those of the former American President, Bill Clinton, in Abeokuta, Ogun State, sometime in December 2013 where the latter was the guest speaker at ThisDay’s award ceremony. The theme of the lecture was something like ‘Causes and Solution to Insurgency and general insecurity in Nigeria’.

    When Bill Clinton opened up on the causes of insecurity in Nigeria, particularly concerning Boko Haram, hardly did he realise that he was stirring the hornet’s nest. As a man who knew because he was in a position to know, Clinton emphatically identified poverty as the main cause of insecurity in Nigeria. He was frank in canvassing some ways by which Nigeria could effectively deal with Boko Haram insurgency and other forms of insecurity in the country without caring about whose ox might be gored.

    Among the ideas he suggested as solution were poverty alleviation, thorough education at all levels, equitable distribution of wealth and job creation for the nation’s teeming unemployed youths. Highlighting some desired programmes urgently necessary for curbing the spate of violence and general insecurity in the country, Clinton said:  “You have to somehow bring economic opportunity to the people who don’t have it. You already have all these political problems — and now violence  — that appears to be rooted in religious differences as well as all the rhetoric of Boko Haram and others, but the truth is that poverty rate in the North is three times that of Lagos”.

    Economic Management

    Counseling on the need to re-design the country’s economic management to the delight of all and sundry while pointing out that “too much inequality” was capable of limiting growth and opportunities among the citizens of a country, Clinton stressed that only a redistribution of wealth would go a long way to address the prevalent violence and insecurity in Nigeria. He went further to say: “You have about three big challenges. First of all, like 90 per cent of the countries who have one big resource, you have a number of ways with your own money. It shows you have different ways. Now you are at least not wasting the natural gas, you are developing and selling it through the pipelines. You have to do better job of managing the natural resources…..”

    “Secondly, you have to somehow bring economic opportunities to the people who don’t have. This is not a problem peculiar to Nigeria. In almost every place in the world, prosperity is heavily concentrated in and around urban areas. So you have all these political problems for now even violence. There appears to be political and religious differences and now, the rhetoric of Boko Haram and all that. You have to build a powerful state and local governments as well as a national policy that works along. If you just keep trying to divide the power into loosening strategy, you have to figure out a way to devise a strategy that will help share the prosperity.” The President-Elect may find some of these ideas useful in his blue print on governance in Nigeria.

    Clinton then went further to advise that education should be used as a tool to tackle poverty among Nigerians, saying that if citizens were well educated  they would be economically empowered and hence have less inclination towards violence. He added that: “Nigeria, which earns billions of dollars from her oil industry and is a major supplier to the US, must not take a “divide the pie” approach towards attacking poverty”. He therefore advised that governments at all levels needed to tackle youth unemployment which, according to him, is a major source of instability across the world.

    Bill Clinton was not the first experienced international figure to make such truthful but painful comments about Nigeria and her style of governance. As far back as January 27, 2010, the former US Secretary of State, Mrs. Hilary Clinton, who incidentally is the wife of Bill Clinton had spoken in the same manner about Nigeria in Nigeria. And the reactions that followed her statement were not in any way dissimilar from those that greeted Bill Clinton’s statement of 2013. While the wife spoke in official capacity, the husband spoke in private capacity. But the coincidence in their speeches was not just in the similarity of their thoughts but also in the similarity of the reactions that greeted both speeches. Speaking in blunt terms at a “town hall” in a meeting with Nigeria’s State Department officials in Abuja Mrs. Hillary Clinton said:

    “….The most immediate source of the disconnect between Nigeria’s wealth and its poverty is a failure of governance at the federal, states and local levels … Lack of transparency and accountability has eroded the legitimacy of the government and contributed to the rise of groups that embraced violence and rejected the authority of the state.”

    Government’s Failure

    “Nigeria”, she continued: “Africa’s biggest energy producer and second-largest economy, “faces a threat from increasing radicalization that needs to be addressed. Describing corruption in Nigeria as unbelievable, she reiterated that the government’s failure to deliver basic services helped foster extremism in young people…adding that: “The failure of the Nigerian leadership over many years to respond to the legitimate needs of their own young people, to have a government that promoted a meritocracy, that really understood that democracy can’t just be given lip service, it has to be delivering services to the people, has meant there is a lot of alienation in that country and others”. She lamented poor governance and deteriorating living conditions which she said made Nigeria’s disaffected young people ripe targets for militants looking for recruits to attack the West.

    Substantiating her assertion, Mrs. Clinton said, when she met with a group of Nigerians in the capital city of Abuja, “people were … standing and shouting about what it was like to live in a country where the elite was so dominant, where corruption was so rampant and criminality was so pervasive”. And “that”, according to her, “is an opening for extremism that offers an alternative world view”. After all, poverty knows no tribe, religion, gender or age. It cuts across all strata of human life. That was the idea imbibed by one time Chinese leader, Mao Zedong, in the 1960s, which came to transform China into a formidable nation today.

    Official reaction

    However, rather than pontificating on Mrs. Clinton’s analysis some members of the then ruling party virtually told her to shut up and mind her own business by leaving Nigeria alone. The arrogant resentment particularly came through the mouth of the then Publicity Secretary of the party, Prof. Rufai Ahmed Alkali, who, in a swift statement, said Mrs. Clinton’s remarks were baseless.

    In his words: “Although the ‘ruling party’ saw Mrs Clinton’s “visit to Nigeria as a further expression of the age-long strong cordial diplomatic relations between both countries, we are at the same time concerned that some of her remarks are not only way off the mark but also based on misinformation. Her sweeping statement on what she calls a ‘failure of leadership’ does not correspond with the reality of present day Nigeria where a committed leadership operating within the realm of the rule of law holds sway”.

    Professor Alkali said the ‘ruling party’ found Mrs. Clinton’s “condescending statements against our country and leaders not contextualised,” adding that she “seems to have taken her briefs from individuals or groups and other failed politicians who have an axe to grind with the government of the Federal  Republic of Nigeria”.

    He added: “It is a fact that the present administration inherited a lot of challenges that were entrenched in the body polity for a long time since assumption of office in May 2007, President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua has demonstrated a rare but firm commitment to right the wrongs of the past, using constitutional instruments in order to strengthen democratic governance in the country”.

    Observation

    Despite leaving a bad taste in the mouth, Alkali’s statement did not bother Mrs. Clinton who knew Nigeria better than the respondent Nigerians. Her reaction was a reminder of a Yoruba adage which says ‘a dog that refuses to respond to the warning whistle of the hunter is surely destined to stray into permanent perdition’. That adage has now proved to be a prevailing destiny on the then so-called ruling party that took impunity for law.

    Were Bill or Hillary Clinton a Muslim, some fanatics especially in Nigerian media would have characteristically accused him/her of wanting to ‘Islamise’ (sic) Nigeria just for telling the naked truth. However, to the great delight of reasonable and patriotic Nigerians, the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), in a statement signed by its then President, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (SAN), said it wished “to align itself with the statement credited to the US Secretary of State the summation of which was that corruption, amongst other factors, has caused failure of governance in Nigeria”.

    Akeredolu concluded that: “We cannot agree less and note that President Yar’Adua admitted that Nigeria was facing challenges in its war against corruption and bid to reform its electoral system, which has underscored failure of governance at the federal, state and local government levels,” it said, adding: “This intervention could not have come at a better time than now when agents of the government are on the prowl, deploying viciously the weapon of blackmail against the leadership of the NBA who has long identified this and continues to clamour for change”.

    He continued: “Secretary Clinton having reiterated the position of the Bar, it would, perhaps, not be out of place for those who are quick to stand logic on its head to satisfy greed, to conclude that the top diplomat, being a lawyer, must also belong to Action Congress or any of the opportunistic organisations dubbed parties.”

    Nothing is strange

    It is not strange therefore, that the comments by Bill Clinton in 2013 drew similar parochially partisan reactions from those who are benefitting directly from the then ongoing rot in the country. It seems that politics in Nigeria is like an animal carcass on which idle vultures must feast without caring about the pollution which the odour there from would cause to the environment. Even a blind person can perceive the poverty in Nigeria or smell its odour. It is rather an added assault on the public to say that Mrs. Clinton in 2010 and Mr. Clinton in 2013 must have been briefed by certain individuals who were antagonistic to the ruling government. Such a statement could only have come from people of feeble minds who exemplified the ineptitude of Nigeria’s government of the time.

    In retrospect

    On December 22, 2012, the Nigeria Muslim Forum,  UK, held its 22nd Annual Winter Conference at Stamford Court, University of Leicester. At that conference, retired General Abdur-Rahman Dambazau delivered a paper that electrified the Hall. The paper which was entitled ‘Poverty Alleviation, Security and Stability’ addressed the Nigerian situation from social, economic and political points of view. In the paper, he made the meaning of poverty clearer, using verified statistical indexes to buttress his arguments. The retired General also looked at the ranking of Nigeria on the poverty table which showed Nigeria as one of the 20 most poverty-stricken countries in the world; and the Northwest as the most hit and Southwest of the country as the least affected. Generally, the situation is by far worse today than it was then.

    Religious Angle

    “In his own contribution to the discussions the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto, Dr. Mathew Kukah stressed that poverty was one of the main causes of intolerance in the society, which in turn often leads to conflict and insecurity. He said people react to poverty in various manners and that they respond to conflict in ways they feel would bring them justice. He also blamed the deterioration of the situation in Nigeria on injustice and warned that injustice would continue to breed violence in the country unless something was quickly done to ensure equitable dispensation of justice. He explained that diversity should be seen as an advantage to the society as it enhances growth, “although in Northern Nigeria the reverse is the case due to the failure to manage it well in view of the crises the region now faces….”.

    Frank Talk

    In an earlier similar statement he made in January 2012 about Boko Haram and causes of insecurity, Bishop Kukah said inter alia: “We live in a state of ineffective law enforcement and tragic social conditions. Corruption has destroyed the fabric of our society. Its corrosive effect can be seen in the ruination of our lives and the decay in our society. The inability of the state to punish criminals as criminals have created the illusion that there is a conflict between Christians and Muslims. In fact, it would seem that many elements today are going to great extremes to pitch Christians against Muslims, and vice versa, so that our attention is taken away from the true source of our woes: corruption. As Nigerians, Christians and Muslims, we must stand together to ensure that our resources are well utilised for the common good. This is why, despite the hardships we must endure as a result of the strike, the Fuel Subsidy debate must be seen as the real dividend of democracy”.

    “Religious leaders across the faiths must indeed stand up together and face the challenge of the times by offering a leadership that focuses on our common humanity and common good rather than the  insignificant issues that divide us. We therefore condemn in very strong terms the tendency by some religious leaders to play politics with the issues of our collective survival….”.

    Conclusion

    With all these issues still prominent on the national table it may be interesting to ask a very vital question as the so-called National confab was put on the front burner as a matter of priority despite the overwhelming opposition to it by the well informed sectors of the society. Now, besides wasting another colossal sum of money on mere political patronage what has become of that jamboree? There is a great lesson for the incoming government to learn from all these. For things to take a proper shape, not as it is but as it ought to be, a ‘CHANGE’ for the better must be vivid and practical. The euphoria of the recent electoral victory has created such an unprecedented hope in the generality of Nigerian populace that the new government must not allow such hope to end up in another paroxysm of despair. God guide our leaders aright.

  • Lagos is not a Yoruba ‘town’

    Situating the debate Now that the 2015 elections have been won and lost, it will do us some good to give more perspective to the Lagos debate in order to achieve some logical conclusions. Last Friday, in my pre-election prognosis, I had started on the premise of that age-worn Igbo maxim: O biara be onye abiagbulaya, mgbe o ga-ala mpu-mkpu apu kwa laya. It simply means live and let live but pithier and more beautiful in its literal sense: bear no ill-will against your host lest you be afflicted by hunch back as you return home. This and several other Igbo dictums are indications that the Igbo universe has a deep culture of mutual respect and reciprocity.

    Recall that the Lagos monarch, Oba Rilwan Akiolu, had sparked off a latent ethnic controversy a few days to the April 11 governorship election when in one anxious moment, he had ‘decreed’ that Ndigbo and other non-indigenes in Lagos would have the Lagos lagoon to contend with if they failed to vote his candidate. His ‘fatwa’ was even more irksome in concluding that “what you people cannot do in Onitsha, Aba or anywhere you cannot do it here.”

    Surely this comment coming from a paramount royalty exhibits a rare form of intolerance and bigotry that should never be allowed in the 21st century. Understandably, the Oba’s bombshell is triggered by the March 28 presidential election in which APC in Lagos lost five House of Representatives’ seats with Igbo PDP candidates winning two. There was therefore apprehension among some Lagosians and in Lagos APC that the numerical strength of Igbo voters in Lagos could cause an upset in the guber race, thus the unrestrained threat: ‘vote APC or perish.’

    One is taken aback at the dissemblance of some Yoruba commentators, even highly enlightened ones, who are expected to serve as guiding lights to the illogical hoi polloi. Not a few have made excuses for the monarch, positing that he is kabiyesi – he that cannot be questioned. But we also know many obas in history have been deposed, de-throned or even put down! Well, a few issues have been thrown up by this episode:

    First, Ndigbo in Lagos have not run foul of any law of Lagos State by voting Jimi Agbaje or the PDP. It is democracy at work and as the electoral process gets better, the people will increasingly vote their conscience and their votes will continue to count. And it is unfair, if not hypocritical for anyone to seek to abuse Ndigbo as if they have broken any law by exercising their democratic rights.

    While we are at it, why are Ndigbo always singled out and made a scapegoat? There are hordes of aggrieved Yoruba in Lagos and the Southwest who got huge cash inducement and they voted for PDP. Nearly all the Southsouth people in Lagos and the Southwest would have voted for PDP as well. So it is sheer ethnic baiting to make it seem as if only the brash, ungrateful Ndigbo plotted to undo the APC in Lagos.

    Nobody, no matter how highly placed, is allowed to issue hate messages that are liable to lead the untutored mass to violence and tribal frictions. Election is not a do-or-die affair and we must refrain from making it seem as if losing is the end of life.

    This brings us to the issue of the status of Lagos. So many commentators are hinging their logic on Ndigbo doing in Lagos, what they would not accept in their place and I think that is simply asinine if not an illiterate argument only heard in motor parks. The point is that Lagos is in a class by itself – a mega city. Providence, geography, colonialism and Nigeria’s geo-political history have made it so. Lagos is willy-nilly carrying a role foisted upon it by these factors way beyond its control. Lagos is at least one hundred years removed from Onitsha, Ibadan, Kaduna or any other Nigerian city.

    Lagos is no longer a Yoruba town as some of my Yoruba friends would want to so circumscribe it. Come to think of it, Lagos is not even a Yoruba word, we seem to forget that! Lagos is a burgeoning cosmopolis which is striving to earn her pride of place among the world’s cities. One merely chuckles when some folks get provincial and seek to own Lagos. Yes, there are indigenes; yes, they may own Lagos but they cannot circumscribe Lagos.Like London or New York or even latter-day Dubai, great cities will inexorably evolve to be no-man’s land. For example Nigerians and especially Yoruba have won important council elections in England. By their growing number and importance, in less than 50 years a Nigerian of Yoruba extraction could be mayor of London, or even prime minister. When the time comes, there is nothing anyone can do about it.

    When the time came for Barak Obama, a Black American of Kenyan origin to rule America, there was nothing anyone could do about it. Not even the White Ango-Saxon Protestants (WASPs) who believe they own America. Not the inimitable Jewish clan. Who runs Dubai today? Does it matter? I think not; what matters is that they have a complex city, the mall of the world to run and they seek a throng of ‘strangers’ to come have a stake.

    A city is like a brothel which thrives by the very traffic of strangers. It is a prodigal that grows by undoing its progeny. A true city is not home to indigenes strapped in bante (loincloth) smudging the glistening sheen of modernity. A city is an open sesame, a spell for making barriers fly open and engendering massive growth and development. What is a city without the throng of ‘visitors’, paying huge taxes, laying massive investments and shooting skyscrapers into the skyline in morbid capitalist quest?

    Takeaways and what Akin Ambode can do: The incoming governor must take off where Governor Babatunde Fashola stopped; he is here to build a megacity, a global top 20 not to nurse the wound of indigenes. The best cities in the world thrive on state of the art infrastructure, unflappable security and water-tight rule of law. Apart from fast-tracking modern infrastructure, he may need to set up an agency to take charge of non-indigenes (non-Yoruba more appropriately); what really is their size, what are their grievances and special needs; why would they vote against a ruling party, etc. What are the best avenues to reach the critical mass of non-indigenes? Another election will soon be here and the thinking party will get the votes. The best cities of the world are judged by the quality of their laws, the soundness of institutions and the astuteness of minds running it.

    Finally, I sincerely think Ndigbo deserve some respect and understanding for their enormous contributions to the making of this mega city. If someone could quantify how much taxes, levies and dues derived from their work and business activities daily, it would be clear that this city needs Ndigbo as they need the city. It also must be stated that Ndigbo have nothing to be ashamed of for choosing to sink with PDP; they will have to live with the consequences anyway. It will smack of “negative triumphalism” to borrow Reuben Abati’s tautology for anyone to pillory Ndigbo for their choice.

    And Okonkwo comes to town: My cerebral colleague, Olakunle Abimbola writing in his column (Republican Ripples) The Nation last Tuesday brought Chinua Achebe’s ‘Things Fall Apart’s’ (TFA) protagonist – Okonkwo, into the fray. But his perspective is flawed because he does not quite grasp the sociology of the Igbo man. Using the TFA analogy, it is not for nothing that the book opens with a wrestling match. That signifies gamesmanship, rivalry, chivalry and strength. Again, nowhere in TFA is found any concept of monarchy or over-lordship. What is preponderant are forums of elders trading in wisdom, young men of valour, industry and free-spiritedness that border on irreverence. That is what we are; that is the constitution of our DNA and it will be unfair to expect us to change overnight because we live in Lagos or London.

    Historically, Igbo abhor monarchy. Never mind the self-crowned aberration found on nearly every street of Lagos and beyond, they don’t represent Ndigbo. Again, most of the so-called paramount rulers in Igboland cannot trace their crown a hundred years back. This is in contrast to some stools in Yorubaland that may date back nearly a thousand years. So here are two peoples of vastly contrasting cultures and acculturation. What this means is that each of our peoples have strengths we can tap into and build upon. They also have their foibles, their peccadilloes which we must understand and tolerate.

    We must acknowledge and regard each other from these perspectives. But most important, we must always remember that what counts ultimately is our common humanity under one maker. And whatever else we may claim to be, whether indigene, aborigine or stranger element would not matter at the end of the day. What would matter is the quality of life we extract from this space; the smiles we are able to evoke from our neigbhours, colleagues and associates regardless of tribe or tongue. How do we improve on this space we find ourselves today and make it even better for our children? Finally, we often forget too quickly that we are but mere mortals – here today and gone tomorrow, but the city abides.

  • A new social contract

    A new social contract

    Since its debut in 2006, this column has been concerned with the fat lie that we tell ourselves regarding our democratic credentials as a country. It has invited critical attention to the failure in leadership, especially at the federal level. I have often sought an analogy between the state of affairs we champion and the Hobbesian state of nature which leads to the war of all against all because of the reign of ego in climes lacking an impartial authority in command.

    If we are honest with ourselves, we must agree that we missed the boat right from the beginning. This means that the Jonathan administration, far from being its originator, only pursued its inheritance of impunity with more zap. The Obasanjo administration mocked the rule of law in a spectacular and odious manner in the way it contemptuously ignored the judgment of the Supreme Court regarding the Lagos State Local Government fund.  Odi was the predecessor of Baga, and Ekitigate only reminded us of the perversion orchestrated by partisan election umpires and security agents in the first eight years of this republic.

    What Hobbes taught us, which we have hitherto neglected to our detriment, was simply that the state of nature is a metaphor for lawlessness. It is a condition in which the rule of law exists only in name. Therefore it can be experienced in a civil society even with a government in place.

    Hobbes’s insight is ingenuous in three respects. First, he taught us that egoism is part of human nature and therefore not necessarily bad. Second, he explains how egoism impels us to quit the state of nature and create a political community based on mutual interests. Third, Hobbes suggests to us that once out of the state of nature egoism admonishes us to do whatever we can to remain in the political community we created because it is unwise to go back to the state of nature.

    There are different ways to conceive the state of nature. In our case, we have also experienced it in various forms, in the “might makes right” mentality that characterised our previous conditions from pre-colonial societies to colonial rule, to military dictatorship. The naturalness of egoism—individual or national— was manifested in each of those moments of our national journey. When we finally confronted colonialism and initiated a new contract of association as a republic, we failed to be guided by the admonition of Hobbes to do whatever we can to remain in the political community we created because it is unwise and against our egoistic interests to go back to the state of nature. That was the reason for the fall of our former republics.

    Before I am accused of unfairness, I should clarify. It is certainly not the generality of the citizens that is included in the “we” that failed to be guided by the admonition of Hobbes and those included know themselves. They are the ones who went back to the state of nature mentality of “might is right” even when we have ideologically and constitutionally established the notion that right is not a question of might and that everyone is equal before the law. Living in the political community governed by the rule of law but operating with the mentality of the rule of might has been the narrative of our national existence in the last 16 years. How has it been possible?

    If everyone did it, it would have been utterly disastrous because it would have meant the clash of egos in a most pervasive and anarchical way. But a few to whom we granted the authority to govern on our behalf and moderate the egos of everyone for the mutual advantage of us all decided to play a fast one on the rest of us. At every turn, they acted on behalf of their ego, abusing the power that we gave them, marginalising everyone else, and in the process alienating all. They were helped by the fact that the majority still hung on the spirit of the social contract and still reined in their ego, while the few ruthlessly advanced theirs.

    What the few failed to pay attention to is the law of nature to which even the mentally unbalanced responds. Extend a piece of elastic as much as you care; when it reaches its limit of endurance, it would snap. Push a crazy man against the wall and he quickly realises that to survive he must turn back and challenge your audacity. On March 28, Nigerians realised that they had been pushed to the wall and they can’t take it anymore. That was the meaning of the defeat they handed the ruling party.

    Now that we have a new ruling party, do we also have a new social contract? There are two primary areas of concern. First from the outcry against the current ruling party in the last 16 years, our people have clearly indicated that they contracted for a republic and not a fiefdom. Therefore they would rather be governed in accordance with the rule of law which they themselves established and in accordance with the norms of human decency. Second, and along with this first point is that the people also want their government to pay undivided attention to their well-being. What they did with their votes in the just concluded elections was a rebuke of the current ruling party for failing to deliver on these two areas, and at the same time, a brand new contract with the opposition which has now become the new ruling party.

    I would like to believe that the new contract is based on the attraction to the people of the manifesto of the APC and the President-elect’s Covenant with Nigerians. If I am right, then the people have a right to expect that APC will deliver on its own side of the contract. I also think that the incoming administration has a keen understanding of its obligations to the people and the nation.

    In his Covenant statement, President-elect Muhammadu Buhari was clear about the challenges facing the country: “building a country that is fair to all of its citizens; a country in which all individuals feel and know that they are valued members of the society with constitutionally guaranteed rights; a country that respects human dignity, promote human development, foster human equality and advance human freedom.” This recognition of the basic minimum of governmental responsibility to citizens is the starting point. For many of our people, this is all they want to be assured of. They can deal with other matters themselves.

    It is reassuring therefore that Candidate Buhari pledged to “lead a government founded on values that promote and protect fundamental human rights and freedoms… promote the supremacy of the Constitution and the rule of law, affirm separation of the powers of government and support an independent judiciary.” The fulfillment of this pledge is the most important of all the tasks that the President will be faced with because it is the foundation of our democratic system from which every other matter follows. Get this right and you cannot be wrong. But it is certainly human to be distracted.

    Of all distractions that can get in the way of delivering fully on this pledge, ego is still the most destructive. It could be personal ego. It could be the collective ego of party, cabinet, National Assembly, governors, or leaders and advisors. Ego is destructive if it succumbs to irrationality. Fortunately, ego is also constructive if it submits to rationality. In the moment when ego rears its destructive head, assuring the new power brokers that they are all-in-all, it is hoped that rationality will prevail and the voice of reason will come to their rescue with a forceful reminder that it is in their egoistic interest to suppress destructive egoism and deliver on their covenant with the people.

  • Yes, let’s probe NNPC; declare assets

    While this column is in favour of a President Muhammadu Buhari drawing the line from June 1, 2015 and moving on swiftly with the enormous tasks at hand, an enquiry into the activities of our petroleum behemoth is in order. All appointees declaring their assets is also sine qua non for anyone to hold any post in the new era.

    The activities of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation as well as that of a few other strategic national agencies need to be reviewed and put into perspective as a tool for revamping the economy. Never again must such savaging of NNPC as happened under Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke be allowed to happen – ever.

  • Beware of friends

    Your Excellency,

    This is the first letter coming out of ‘The Message’ column to Your Excellency General Muhammadu Buhari (GCON) as Nigeria’s next President. At the least expected time in your life, the same ladder that had failed you several times in several years suddenly lifted you to the pinnacle of your life’s ambition. And by the time you are sworn in on May 29, 2015 as the substantive President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, by the grace of Allah, the reality of Prophet Muhammad’s Hadith will dawn on you that “the leader of a community is actually the servant of that community”.

    The first lesson to learn in this is that no human being, no matter how rich or famous, can occupy any position in life without the consent of the Almighty Allah. Thus, your ascension to that exalted seat is not because you are wiser, more pious, better informed or more experienced than others. It is rather a fulfilment of Allah’s promise thus:

    “Who are those that arrogate the duty of portioning out your Lord’s mercy (according to their whims) to fellow human beings? I (Allah) am the sole distributor of those sustaining bounties in this world (being their Creator) and I elevate some people above others in positions to enable some to be servants while others are masters. Surely the mercy of your Lord is better and more prosperous than the material wealth they amass”. Q. 43:32

    Power as a sword

    Your Excellency, power in the hands of a ruler is like a sword in the hands of a warrior. It can be used to attack (foes) or to defend (friends). It is also like destiny which can be used to demote the aristocrats or promote the hopeless downtrodden peasants. Power may serve as an instrument for dismantling hegemonies and enthroning hope in the hopeless masses. It is capable of being used to appoint or disappoint people across tribes, religions and interests. It can also be used to elongate or terminate lives depending on who wields it.

    But, sir, beyond every human power there is a Supreme Power which neither wanes nor ends. It is to that Supreme Power that all the power wielders in this world will finally surrender and render their accounts especially on how they used the power entrusted to them. As a Muslim sir, you must understand that everything in this world is ephemeral. The world has witnessed, in various countries and millennia, how men of ‘timber’ and ‘calibre’ ruled positively or negatively and what eventually became of them. History has always been an eyewitness.

    Basic attributes of governance

    Your Excellency, after security, law and justice, nothing else is held more sacrosanct in Islam than governance which can be likened to a magnificent canopy under which the people are supposed to take cover during torrential rains or burning sun.

    In a democratic environment, such canopy is owned, not by those who keep custody of it but by the citizenry who entrust its custody to them. Its custodians are just servants keeping the canopy in trust for the people. Perhaps that was one fact which most of your predecessors did not realise during their tenures.

    Sir, a similar letter was written to  former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Umar Musa Yar’Adua and Goodluck Ebele Jonathan through this column shortly after their assumption of office in 1999, 2007 and 2011 respectively. But it seems that the lotus of office was too overwhelming for each of them (except Yar’Adua) to resist. In the letter, yours sincerely reminded each of them of two important incidents in the history of Islam both of which today serve as indelible models for world rulers, especially those of the West.

    One of the incidents was a letter which the fourth Caliph in Islam, Ali Bn Abi Talib wrote to Ashtar Bn Malik whom he appointed as Governor of Egypt. The other was the practical example of good governance exemplarily demonstrated by Caliph Umar Bn Abdul Aziz who ruled the Umayyad dynasty about 85 years after the demise of Prophet Muhammad (SAW).

     Caliph Ali’s Letter

    Your Excellency, please, find below an excerpt from Caliph Ali’s letter which has since served as a code of conduct in governance for all people who aspire to rule well. You may have some benefits to derive from it. It goes thus:

    “In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful. Be it known to you Oh Malik, that I am sending you to a country which had experienced in the past both just and unjust rule. The people you are going to rule will scrutinise your actions with searching eyes just as you used to scrutinise the actions of those before you. They will speak of you just as you did speak of those before you. Note that the public speak well only of those who do well. It is they, who furnish the proof of rulers’ actions. Hence, the richest treasure that you may covet should be the treasure of good deeds.

    Keep your desire under control and deny yourself that which you have been warned against. By such abstinence alone, you will be able to distinguish between good and bad”.

    “Develop in your heart the feeling of love for your people and let it be the source of kindness and blessing to them. Do not behave to them like a barbarian in power and do not appropriate to yourself that which belongs to them. Remember that the citizens of the state are of two categories. They are either your brothers in religion or your brethren as human beings. Some of them are subjects of infirmity who are prone to making mistakes. But you must forgive them as you would like God to forgive you”.

    “Bear in mind (you Malik) that you are placed over those people as I (Caliph Ali) am placed over you. And there is God Almighty above him (Ali) who has given you the position of a Governor in order to look after those under you and be sufficient for them. You will be judged by what you do for or to them”.

    Temptation

    “Do not be tempted to use power and authority of office without exhausting investigation and facts concerning the matter at stake as that will corrupt your heart, weaken your faith in religion and create disorder in the state.”Never take counsel of a miser, for, he (or she) will vitiate your magnanimity and frighten you with poverty around. Do not seek advice from a coward, he (or she) will weaken your resolution and dampen your morale. Do not take counsel of a greedy person, he (or she) will instil greed in you and turn you into a tyrant. Miserliness, cowardice and greed deprive man of piety and push him into unbridled desperation. The worst counsellor is one who had served a tyrant before and shared his crimes. Do not appoint such a person as your adviser. He will lure you into crimes and turn you into a criminal”.

    “Great care should be exercised in revenue administration to ensure, not only the prosperity of the tax payers but also that of the masses. You should regard the proper upkeep of the land in cultivation (or economic resources of the nation) as of greater importance than the collection of revenues. He who demands revenue without helping land cultivators (or the workforce) ruins the state”.

    Plight of the Poor

    “Fear God when you are dealing with the problems of the poor who have none to patronise or protect their interest. They are forlorn, indigent, and helpless as they have become victims of the vicissitude of time. Assign for their uplift a portion of the state exchequer (Baytul Mal) wherever they may be. Let no state preoccupation slip them away from your mind for no excuse whatsoever, will be acceptable to Allah for neglecting their rights.….”

    “Finally, dear Malik, shun self-adoration. Do not indulge in self-praise nor encourage others to extol you because of all the viruses that undo good deeds of pious men, Satan relies most on praise and flattery. Breach of promise annoys God and man alike. Do not act in haste nor defer the execution of a good decision. Do not insist on wrong doing or slackness in rectifying the wrong already done”.

    “When people as a whole agree upon a thing, do not impose your own view on them just because you are in power. Note that power is transient and you will eventually exit or be forced to exit from it one day. And, remember that you will be called upon to render account to God while you remain in the negative chapter of history if your performance is abysmal….”

    Caliph Umar Bn Abdul Aziz

    Your Excellency, Caliph Umar Bn Abdul Aziz who was cited above as the second historical incident was a famous Caliph of the Umayyad dynasty. He became Caliph about 85 years after the demise of the Prophet.

    In a particular year during his reign, the state made so much money from the collection of Zakah that the problem was how to spend it. The tradition, according to Islamic injunction, was for the state to dispense Zakah to the poor among the citizenry from the much money made through the collection of zakat just as social welfare is dispensed to the jobless, the aged and weak in some sane countries today. But when this was to be done, it turned out that nobody in the entire state was so poor as to be a zakat recipient. The huge amount earmarked for zakat that year had to be returned to the state treasury. It is taken for granted here that a state without poor people is surely a state without beggars.

    Umar Bn Abdul Aziz, who became so famous in history as an ingenuous economic manager, ruled for only three years from 717 to 720 C.E. Yet, he died at the age of 37. The secret of his success was his ability to identify two major areas of economic management in governance. One was to regulate the cost of governance by ensuring that those in government were neither too many nor paid undeserved salaries even as he ascertained that the poor public employees were not enslaved (if psychologically) to the privileged political appointees or those elected to legislate for the state. And there was an independent body responsible for the determination of public workers’ remunerations.

    Second Secret

    Caliph Umar’s second secret of success was his official recognition of the middle class as the greatest employer of labour. He knew that if two million professionals or artisans in the state were able to employ three staff each, the burden of gross unemployment would be off the neck of the government because eight million people would have been effectively employed. And that would not only have ordinarily brought the rate of crime in the state to its lowest ebb it would have also enhanced the state economy tremendously.

    What he did, in emulation of Prophet Muhammad (SAW), therefore, was to use the resources of the state to encourage self-employment through professionalism and artisanship. He knew very well that whatever was spent on such a vital venture would return to the state treasury in many folds through taxation. Not only that sir, he also facilitated an education curriculum to suit that design.

    Heritage of the West

    Caliph Umar’s economic genius thus became the heritage of the Western countries and they are thriving gloriously in it today. Any government that eliminates the middle class as in the case of Nigeria automatically opens the gate of poverty and crime to the populace.

    Your Excellency, this is not the time to tell Nigerians any gory story of bad economy and a possible removal of fuel subsidy. They already know how economically ruinous the outgoing government had been in the past six years. And they do not believe in the existence any fuel subsidy which they had unwillingly accepted as an instrument of slavery.

    Oil Subsidy

    Most Nigerians are at a loss over the issue of subsidy because they are yet to know what the billions of Dollars realised annually for years from the oil sector has been used to achieve, especially when the Federal Government alone takes a lion’s share of 52 per cent of accruing oil revenue.

    To most if not all Nigerians, the year 2012 was a year of Armageddon. That was the year in which new vehicle number plates were rolled out and every vehicle owner was forced to purchase at exorbitant amount, despite the overwhelming poverty that had gone viral in the land. It was also the year in which new drivers’ licences as well as new vehicle particulars were introduced all at unaffordable prices and at a time when the removal of oil subsidy was being forced down their throat willy-nilly. Till date, the question remains unanswered about what became of the money realised from the ‘fuel subsidy’.

    Electricity

    Your Excellency, you do not need to be told much about the situation of electricity in Nigeria because you are a Nigerian living in Nigeria. Until a couple of weeks before the Presidential election that you just won, the electricity tariff had been spirally increased without the consent of the people. And that was done in anticipation of improved generation and distribution of that essential energy which was transferred to certain privileged Nigerians in the name of privatisation. All these are telling on them economically. Yet, power remains, shamelessly, a luxurious commodity today in a country where it is supposed to be a dire necessity. With stable power supply the problem of mass unemployment will be solved to a great extent and that will drastically reduce the crime rate in the country.

    Insecurity

    Your Excellency, as a retired Army General of worth, you do not need to be tutored on the issue of insecurity. It is a familiar terrain for you. But by and large sir, in steering the ship of this giant country, I pray the Almighty Allah to give you the faith of Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham), the patience of Prophet Ayub (Job), the courage of Prophet Musa (Moses), the bravery of Prophet Daud (David), the wisdom of Prophet Sulayman (Solomon), the innocence of Prophet Isa (Jesus) and the truthfulness and trustworthiness of Prophet Muhammad (SAW). Through the constant and genuine prayers of the ruled, rulers are able to measure their performance and their acceptability. Remember that the bitterest enemies are invariably found among friends. Only those who are close to you can kiss or bite you.

    Sir, gold and silver, this column (THE MESSAGE) has none to offer you. But a genuine piece of advice based on pure intention may be more valuable than all the ornaments of this world.

    As-Salam alaykum wa rahmatullah wa barakatuhu

  • Ambode and Ndigbo: O biara be onye abiagbula ya…

    It is one of those dictums a child picks up as he grows up in an Igbo household. O biara be onye abiagbula ya, mgbe o ga ala  mkpu mkpu apukwa la ya. Let the visitor bring no ill-will on his host so that no harm accosts him as he departs. It is a maxim that re-echoes the basic truths of life about reciprocity; mutual co-existence and social graces. Igbo society and culture pay ample attention to mutuality, to meting equal measures to all. This must have spawned the other deep saying: egbe bere, ugo bere; nke si ibeya ebela nku kwa ya: let the hawk perch and let the eagle perch and let he that will hinder the other lose his wings.

    It is from this standpoint that one reads what seems like a looming face-off between Ndigbo in Lagos and their host, the Yoruba. The 2015 election is turning out to be a watershed in the relationship between these two great ethnic groups in Nigeria. First is the scenario at the national level where Ndigbo chose to go down with the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ostensibly to spite the Yoruba dominated All Progressives Congress (APC). There is no doubt that the age-old rivalry between the three major tribes in Nigeria has been at play here.

    With the Hausa and Yoruba dominant in APC, Ndigbo naturally opted to stick with PDP. As Ndigbo and PDP took a shellacking in the presidential election, Lagos presents the next political turf. Apart from what may be considered an eternal rivalry with Yoruba, the teeming mass of Igbo in Lagos had felt injured by certain policies of the state government which must have led many to vow to vote against the APC government at this election. PDP was quick to latch on to those grievances. There was also a crowd of estranged elements in APC too. And the result was a close contest as never been seen before in Lagos during the Presidential and National Assembly polls of March 28. PDP had swept five of the 24 Federal House of Representative seats with Ndigbo getting two of those slots and one for an Edo indigene. Even Accord Party won one federal seat.

    It is indeed quite a feat surely unprecedented in Lagos if not Nigeria’s politics. It is a sure sign that Ndigbo in Lagos has numerical strength which if properly harnessed, is capable of causing a political tsunami sooner than we think.

    In fact, as soon as tomorrow when the governorship and state house elections hold: the PDP crowd (with a highly sellable candidate in Jimi Agbaje), the non-conformist Yoruba like OPC and Afenifere, all the south-south ethnic groups plus the horde of Igbo voters could spell trouble for the ruling APC in tomorrow’s governorship diadem in Lagos. And indeed, Ndigbo may have the block/swing vote that might decide tomorrow’s fate.

    This explains why this matter of Ndigbo in Lagos has gotten so very tacky in the way of most inter-tribal issues. Let’s do a cliché and say that the atmosphere in Lagos is tense and electric. For the first time, the ruling party in Lagos sweats profusely over a guber election which was hitherto taken for granted.

    Akin Ambode, the APC candidate is not only a quality proposition he has proved to be an election warrior – indefatigable and pragmatic. His academic and work records are unmatched by any of the other candidates.

    Noticing the ace held by Ndigbo after March 28, he had swiftly moved round all the Igbo groups and clusters in Lagos reaching out and showing them why they would be better off with him at the Round House, Alausa come May 29. Even when the Oba of Lagos dropped a clanger, (see box) he was quick to reassure all ethnic groups that his would be an inclusive government and Lagos would be home to all.

    Five reasons Ndigbo Lagos are better off with APC: I must add my little voice to the call from numerous quarters that Ndigbo in Lagos would be better off voting for the APC candidate, Akinwunmi Ambode. Here are just five reasons:

    First and most important in my estimation is that Ndigbo must cut their losses. Having lost at the centre with PDP, Lagos is the next most important bloc both politically and economically. By my rough estimation, there are millions Igbo living and working in Lagos. There are some third generation Igbo living in Lagos with investments deep and wide. Ndigbo could get a foot into the ruling party through Lagos by voting Ambode. Politics is another word for pragmatism – practical solutions and benefits. Though Agbaje seems a nice guy, to vote him is like entering into a cul de sac. For Ndigbo, PDP today is a road that leads to nowhere, ‘one chance’. Let Ndigbo consider for a moment that Ambode scrapes through without Igbo votes, we would have lost both Abuja and Lagos – that will be very costly!

    The second reason Ndigbo should prefer Ambode is that APC has over these years, shown a better record of performance than the PDP. In nearly every state, APC have out-performed PDP.

    Third, Agbaje has no public service experience so will require at least a year or more to understand the service environment while Ambode will touchdown running.

    Fourth, with APC government at the centre, Lagos is bound to get the requisite special status it requires to make life more bearable for us Lagos dwellers. There is a sore need for more and improved infrastructure here, especially, roads, transportation and power.

    The fifth and last reason we must vote Ambode is that Ndigbo have made their point and the lesson has been learnt. We are in a better position to consolidate in APC Lagos, bargain better as a group, and influence and shape policies. A golden moment presents itself in Lagos for Ndigbo through APC and they must show wisdom this time around.

    Going forward for APC, it is my opinion that the party is gradually coming to terms with the fact that Lagos is a multi-ethnic cosmopolitan city. That is the harsh reality. To seek to change that or circumscribe that fact will probably amount to bringing the entire place down. The party that will win and rule here will always be the thinking and most strategic one. It is almost like in the US with plural ethnic groups like the Hispanics, Blacks, Chinese, Jews, etc.; any party that must win these block votes must court and manage these groups most delicately. Our political maturation must arrive with a truckload political pragmatism in tow.

  • A gaffe of royal proportions

    Our Kabiyesi has done it again. In the beginning, before the race started, Oba Rilwan Akiolu of Lagos had ruffled not a few feathers when he hoisted Akin Ambode as his anointed guber candidate for APC Lagos. The muted tension generated by that royal statement took quite a while to be doused.

    Last Monday Kabiyesi did not only ruffle but went ahead to pluck a few feathers when he said that Ndigbo would either vote his candidate Ambode or have the entire Lagos lagoon to contend with. Reactions from the comment were of oceanic proportions, to put it nicely.

    Though the ‘royal’ comment has been retracted and APC top hierarchy has denounced it, there are still issues to be raised. First, Kabiyesi must be father to all – meaning all candidates, indigenes and non-indigenes. Two, this is a democracy and the will of the people will ultimately prevail as we improve the process. Three, we must show more restraint and tolerance; we must refrain from making election a do-or-die affair.  Four, it is not only Ndigbo who voted against APC; there are some Lagosians who have a grudge to bear against APC. There are the likes of OPC and numerous south-south people who would ordinarily vote PDP. Seeming to heap it all on Ndigbo would only provoke ire and alienate votes.

    Having said that, one appeals to Ndigbo to accept Kabiyesi’s recant and back Ambode. As I have explained in the main piece, APC and Ambode will favour Ndigbo better. O bigo anyi aka n’obi.

  • Beware of friends

    Beware of friends

    Your Excellency,

    This is the first letter coming out of ‘The Message’ column to Your Excellency General Muhammadu Buhari (GCON) as Nigeria’s next President. At the least expected time in your life, the same ladder that had failed you several times in several years suddenly lifted you to the pinnacle of your life’s ambition. And by the time you are sworn in on May 29, 2015 as the substantive President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, by the grace of Allah, the reality of Prophet Muhammad’s Hadith will dawn on you that “the leader of a community is actually the servant of that community”.

    The first lesson to learn in this is that no human being, no matter how rich or famous, can occupy any position in life without the consent of the Almighty Allah. Thus, your ascension to that exalted seat is not because you are wiser, more pious, better informed or more experienced than others. It is rather a fulfilment of Allah’s promise thus:

    “Who are those that arrogate the duty of portioning out your Lord’s mercy (according to their whims) to fellow human beings? I (Allah) am the sole distributor of those sustaining bounties in this world (being their Creator) and I elevate some people above others in positions to enable some to be servants while others are masters. Surely the mercy of your Lord is better and more prosperous than the material wealth they amass”. Q. 43:32

     

    Power as a sword

    Your Excellency, power in the hands of a ruler is like a sword in the hands of a warrior. It can be used to attack (foes) or to defend (friends). It is also like destiny which can be used to demote the aristocrats or promote the hopeless downtrodden peasants. Power may serve as an instrument for dismantling hegemonies and enthroning hope in the hopeless masses. It is capable of being used to appoint or disappoint people across tribes, religions and interests. It can also be used to elongate or terminate lives depending on who wields it.

    But, sir, beyond every human power there is a Supreme Power which neither wanes nor ends. It is to that Supreme Power that all the power wielders in this world will finally surrender and render their accounts especially on how they used the power entrusted to them. As a Muslim sir, you must understand that everything in this world is ephemeral. The world has witnessed, in various countries and millennia, how men of ‘timber’ and ‘calibre’ ruled positively or negatively and what eventually became of them. History has always been an eyewitness.

     

    Basic attributes of governance

    Your Excellency, after security, law and justice, nothing else is held more sacrosanct in Islam than governance which can be likened to a magnificent canopy under which the people are supposed to take cover during torrential rains or burning sun.

    In a democratic environment, such canopy is owned, not by those who keep custody of it but by the citizenry who entrust its custody to them. Its custodians are just servants keeping the canopy in trust for the people. Perhaps that was one fact which most of your predecessors did not realise during their tenures.

    Sir, a similar letter was written to  former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Umar Musa Yar’Adua and Goodluck Ebele Jonathan through this column shortly after their assumption of office in 1999, 2007 and 2011 respectively. But it seems that the lotus of office was too overwhelming for each of them (except Yar’Adua) to resist. In the letter, yours sincerely reminded each of them of two important incidents in the history of Islam both of which today serve as indelible models for world rulers, especially those of the West.

    One of the incidents was a letter which the fourth Caliph in Islam, Ali Bn Abi Talib wrote to Ashtar Bn Malik whom he appointed as Governor of Egypt. The other was the practical example of good governance exemplarily demonstrated by Caliph Umar Bn Abdul Aziz who ruled the Umayyad dynasty about 85 years after the demise of Prophet Muhammad (SAW).

     

    Caliph Ali’s Letter

    Your Excellency, please, find below an excerpt from Caliph Ali’s letter which has since served as a code of conduct in governance for all people who aspire to rule well. You may have some benefits to derive from it. It goes thus:

    “In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful. Be it known to you Oh Malik, that I am sending you to a country which had experienced in the past both just and unjust rule. The people you are going to rule will scrutinise your actions with searching eyes just as you used to scrutinise the actions of those before you. They will speak of you just as you did speak of those before you. Note that the public speak well only of those who do well. It is they, who furnish the proof of rulers’ actions. Hence, the richest treasure that you may covet should be the treasure of good deeds.

    Keep your desire under control and deny yourself that which you have been warned against. By such abstinence alone, you will be able to distinguish between good and bad”.

    “Develop in your heart the feeling of love for your people and let it be the source of kindness and blessing to them. Do not behave to them like a barbarian in power and do not appropriate to yourself that which belongs to them. Remember that the citizens of the state are of two categories. They are either your brothers in religion or your brethren as human beings. Some of them are subjects of infirmity who are prone to making mistakes. But you must forgive them as you would like God to forgive you”.

    “Bear in mind (you Malik) that you are placed over those people as I (Caliph Ali) am placed over you. And there is God Almighty above him (Ali) who has given you the position of a Governor in order to look after those under you and be sufficient for them. You will be judged by what you do for or to them”.

     

    Temptation

    “Do not be tempted to use power and authority of office without exhausting investigation and facts concerning the matter at stake as that will corrupt your heart, weaken your faith in religion and create disorder in the state.”Never take counsel of a miser, for, he (or she) will vitiate your magnanimity and frighten you with poverty around. Do not seek advice from a coward, he (or she) will weaken your resolution and dampen your morale. Do not take counsel of a greedy person, he (or she) will instil greed in you and turn you into a tyrant. Miserliness, cowardice and greed deprive man of piety and push him into unbridled desperation. The worst counsellor is one who had served a tyrant before and shared his crimes. Do not appoint such a person as your adviser. He will lure you into crimes and turn you into a criminal”.

    “Great care should be exercised in revenue administration to ensure, not only the prosperity of the tax payers but also that of the masses. You should regard the proper upkeep of the land in cultivation (or economic resources of the nation) as of greater importance than the collection of revenues. He who demands revenue without helping land cultivators (or the workforce) ruins the state”.

     

    Plight of the Poor

    “Fear God when you are dealing with the problems of the poor who have none to patronise or protect their interest. They are forlorn, indigent, and helpless as they have become victims of the vicissitude of time. Assign for their uplift a portion of the state exchequer (Baytul Mal) wherever they may be. Let no state preoccupation slip them away from your mind for no excuse whatsoever, will be acceptable to Allah for neglecting their rights.….”

    “Finally, dear Malik, shun self-adoration. Do not indulge in self-praise nor encourage others to extol you because of all the viruses that undo good deeds of pious men, Satan relies most on praise and flattery. Breach of promise annoys God and man alike. Do not act in haste nor defer the execution of a good decision. Do not insist on wrong doing or slackness in rectifying the wrong already done”.

    “When people as a whole agree upon a thing, do not impose your own view on them just because you are in power. Note that power is transient and you will eventually exit or be forced to exit from it one day. And, remember that you will be called upon to render account to God while you remain in the negative chapter of history if your performance is abysmal….”

     

    Caliph Umar Bn Abdul Aziz

    Your Excellency, Caliph Umar Bn Abdul Aziz who was cited above as the second historical incident was a famous Caliph of the Umayyad dynasty. He became Caliph about 85 years after the demise of the Prophet.

    In a particular year during his reign, the state made so much money from the collection of Zakah that the problem was how to spend it. The tradition, according to Islamic injunction, was for the state to dispense Zakah to the poor among the citizenry from the much money made through the collection of zakat just as social welfare is dispensed to the jobless, the aged and weak in some sane countries today. But when this was to be done, it turned out that nobody in the entire state was so poor as to be a zakat recipient. The huge amount earmarked for zakat that year had to be returned to the state treasury. It is taken for granted here that a state without poor people is surely a state without beggars.

    Umar Bn Abdul Aziz, who became so famous in history as an ingenuous economic manager, ruled for only three years from 717 to 720 C.E. Yet, he died at the age of 37. The secret of his success was his ability to identify two major areas of economic management in governance. One was to regulate the cost of governance by ensuring that those in government were neither too many nor paid undeserved salaries even as he ascertained that the poor public employees were not enslaved (if psychologically) to the privileged political appointees or those elected to legislate for the state. And there was an independent body responsible for the determination of public workers’ remunerations.

     

    Second Secret

    Caliph Umar’s second secret of success was his official recognition of the middle class as the greatest employer of labour. He knew that if two million professionals or artisans in the state were able to employ three staff each, the burden of gross unemployment would be off the neck of the government because eight million people would have been effectively employed. And that would not only have ordinarily brought the rate of crime in the state to its lowest ebb it would have also enhanced the state economy tremendously.

    What he did, in emulation of Prophet Muhammad (SAW), therefore, was to use the resources of the state to encourage self-employment through professionalism and artisanship. He knew very well that whatever was spent on such a vital venture would return to the state treasury in many folds through taxation. Not only that sir, he also facilitated an education curriculum to suit that design.

     

    Heritage of the West

    Caliph Umar’s economic genius thus became the heritage of the Western countries and they are thriving gloriously in it today. Any government that eliminates the middle class as in the case of Nigeria automatically opens the gate of poverty and crime to the populace.

    Your Excellency, this is not the time to tell Nigerians any gory story of bad economy and a possible removal of fuel subsidy. They already know how economically ruinous the outgoing government had been in the past six years. And they do not believe in the existence any fuel subsidy which they had unwillingly accepted as an instrument of slavery.

     

    Oil Subsidy

    Most Nigerians are at a loss over the issue of subsidy because they are yet to know what the billions of Dollars realised annually for years from the oil sector has been used to achieve, especially when the Federal Government alone takes a lion’s share of 52 per cent of accruing oil revenue.

    To most if not all Nigerians, the year 2012 was a year of Armageddon. That was the year in which new vehicle number plates were rolled out and every vehicle owner was forced to purchase at exorbitant amount, despite the overwhelming poverty that had gone viral in the land. It was also the year in which new drivers’ licences as well as new vehicle particulars were introduced all at unaffordable prices and at a time when the removal of oil subsidy was being forced down their throat willy-nilly. Till date, the question remains unanswered about what became of the money realised from the ‘fuel subsidy’.

     

    Electricity

    Your Excellency, you do not need to be told much about the situation of electricity in Nigeria because you are a Nigerian living in Nigeria. Until a couple of weeks before the Presidential election that you just won, the electricity tariff had been spirally increased without the consent of the people. And that was done in anticipation of improved generation and distribution of that essential energy which was transferred to certain privileged Nigerians in the name of privatisation. All these are telling on them economically. Yet, power remains, shamelessly, a luxurious commodity today in a country where it is supposed to be a dire necessity. With stable power supply the problem of mass unemployment will be solved to a great extent and that will drastically reduce the crime rate in the country.

     

    Insecurity

    Your Excellency, as a retired Army General of worth, you do not need to be tutored on the issue of insecurity. It is a familiar terrain for you. But by and large sir, in steering the ship of this giant country, I pray the Almighty Allah to give you the faith of Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham), the patience of Prophet Ayub (Job), the courage of Prophet Musa (Moses), the bravery of Prophet Daud (David), the wisdom of Prophet Sulayman (Solomon), the innocence of Prophet Isa (Jesus) and the truthfulness and trustworthiness of Prophet Muhammad (SAW). Through the constant and genuine prayers of the ruled, rulers are able to measure their performance and their acceptability. Remember that the bitterest enemies are invariably found among friends. Only those who are close to you can kiss or bite you.

    Sir, gold and silver, this column (THE MESSAGE) has none to offer you. But a genuine piece of advice based on pure intention may be more valuable than all the ornaments of this world.

    As-Salam alaykum wa rahmatullah wa barakatuhu

  • Closing argument

    As the curtain falls on the 2015 elections, we are at a place where closing argument is in order. The analogy is telling. In the last five months, political parties and candidates have conducted their affairs as if they were on trial. In a sense, they were; albeit in the court of public opinion. Each party or candidate put on its best case with witnesses of various shades, some credible, some lacking integrity. Character witnesses have not been missing even when a good number of them are character-deficient. There have been merchants of death and purveyors of evil.

    When all is said and done, 2015 will go down in the history of Nigeria as a most exciting election year, not only because of the outcome of the most coveted of all the prizes, but because in 2015 the voter is in charge and, despite some hiccups, and obvious sabotage by a few bad eggs, INEC as an institution discharged itself commendably. One hopes that the country will not go back to the days of the locust!

    Not so fast, some would interject. There is one more Rubicon to cross before we can reasonably crow. With the governorship elections set for tomorrow, and a lot at stake for the ruling party that is not prepared to be dumped in the dustbin of history, and a new change agent prowling the nation’s landscape triumphantly, what can we expect at dawn?

    While PDP is still a force to reckon with, I think one can reasonably predict that the momentum is in favor of APC. The new reality is not lost on the leadership of PDP who have in the last few days lamented the rate of defection from its fold, not just among the rank and file, but tragically for the party, among party leaders and political office holders, including deputy governors, gubernatorial aspirants, local government chairs, etc. plus their supporters. It is as if these decampees just woke up to the realization that the APC tsunami is unstoppable, that the PDP umbrella is too fragile to protect them from angry killer waves, and that the PDP ship is sinking fast.

    In the states with such mass defections, one doesn’t need the talent of sooth-saying to predict the results for tomorrow’s election. All politics is local and almost all of the defections have been triggered by dissatisfaction with state or local politics. It is therefore predictable that APC governorship and state assembly candidates are in good shape in those states which have witnessed mass absconding from PDP.

    The southwest, as volatile as ever, is still considered the proverbial battleground, thanks to the sophistication of the voters. This is where they take your money and betray you. This is where they promise you six million votes and are not able to deliver six thousand. This is a zone where so-called followers allow their self-appointed leaders as much time as they want in vain-glorious trumpet-blowing at arranged press conferences only to vote their conscience behind the curtain. It is a zone where haters abound and envy takes residence. This is a zone where unforgiving spirits thrive but where in the end, the one who sits on the Throne of Grace pardons sinners and permits them a second chance.

    The southwest typifies the place where God works in mysterious ways, His wonders to perform. When the likes of Doyin Okupe pontificated about the “fatal mistake” committed by Bola Tinubu, and predicted that APC will not last till October 2014 and that if it did he (Okupe) must be called a bastard, was he playing God or what?

    Chief Awolowo was right after all and Okupe and his like, including many of those closest to the avatar failed to understand what Awo knew so well about the Yoruba. According to the sage, the “truth about the people of the Western Region is that they are sufficiently enlightened and bold to refuse to be led by the nose by any person or group however sophisticated such a person or group may appear. They are slow to anger, robust in contentions, alert to their rights, and will fearlessly resist and combat evil whenever they discern it, with all their might and resources.” That was what they did on March 28.

    What then will the Southwest do on Saturday? How will they as rational egoists calculate their interests in light of known relevant facts so as to ensure their maximisation? Politics requires the wearing of our thinking caps to benefit ourselves to the maximum extent. The textbook definition of politics as the study and practice of who gets what, where and when is apt. Since at least 1999 and indeed some would rightly say since 1959, the Southwest has been derided for not having a good pragmatic understanding of politics in this sense. This is because we have stuck to the progressive ideal and would rather not have it polluted even if it means suffering in silence while others without conscience or principle rig the system to our disadvantage. It turned out that we have been right all along.

    This time around, due to the disciplined and principled strategy of a new generation of progressive leaders, progressivism is embraced nationwide, and an alignment of progressives in the north and south which Awolowo struggled for and predicted is being achieved in our time. And it is not only embraced, it has won the presidency! The meaning of this is that the Southwest not only retains its principled position on progressive agenda, it has won allies across the nation and this alliance of progressive forces has won the centre: the presidency and the national assembly. Baa se fe ko ri, bee naa lo rii, emi la o ni yo fun? (Our desire has been satisfied, why won’t we be happy?)

    So, progressives won the presidency and the national assembly. Does it even make much sense to now ask: which way will the Southwest go in the governorship and state assembly elections? Shouldn’t it be obvious that the matter has been simplified and settled by divine intervention on March 28? I would think so.

    But if you must ask anyway, my humble answer is that barring any unforeseen negative occurrence, including sabotage by corrupted INEC officials colluding with the locusts, the stars appear well aligned and the coast appears clear for the change train to ride through the Southwest and there is not a few rational egoists ready and willing to board.

    The acceptance of progressivism across the nation doesn’t come as a miracle. It is because of two main reasons. First, as mentioned above, the doggedness and disciplined tenacity of a new generation of progressives led by Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been an indispensable catalyst for the movement and the coalition of forces that eventually succeeded.

    Second, and I think, equally important was the fact that there was a sellable product in the performance of all the state governors and state assemblies under progressive governance. If Tinubu launched the campaign for a larger political movement but he was unable to point to the successes of his governors, it would amount to naught. What the eyes see cannot be denied. And those who have eyes clearly see the performance of Babatunde Fashola, Abiola Ajimobi, Ibikunle Amosun, Rauf Aregbesola, and Kayode Fayemi, to limit ourselves to Tinubu’s immediate constituency. It was because others saw the extraordinary achievements of these hardworking Chief Executive Officers of Southwest states despite limited resources and obvious neglect by the federal government that they were persuaded to join the progressive train.

    Now that a progressive government has taken over the center, an idea which originated in the Southwest has become a national idea. Would it make sense now for the zone that initiated the idea to abandon it? Would it be rational for the Southwest to vote out the leadership that successfully confronted and defeated the retrogressive government that squandered the national resources on frivolities? I don’t think so. Therefore I predict that the southwest will do well and will vote APC on Saturday. This is the counsel of commonsense. This is the closing argument

  • Anti-aging tips for Buhari in change era (1)

    All things being equal, as economists say, former Military Head of State Gen. Mohammadu Buhari (rtd) should succeed President GoodLuck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan on May 29. The choice of this date as a political succession day for Nigeria’s president, governors and parliaments may have petty origins on the surface, but, deep down, plugs into an important date in the universe. Traditionally since independent on October 1,  1960, this October day in which British colonialists transferred sovereignty to Nigerians has been Nigeria’s political transition day until the switch to May 1 now described as Democracy Day. In some spiritual circles world-wide, may 29 regarded as the peak of Pentecost, the outpouring of power from the Holy Spirit for the maintenance of creation.

    Christians recognise Pentecost as a one-off event when disciples of the Lord Jesus received power from on High after his earthly departure. But, say the spiritual circle aforementioned, Pentecost happens every year.

    From the highest planes of the spiritual realms, power surges downwards into creation like blood pumped out by the heart, for the maintenance and strengthening of everything which absorbs it. The regeneration observed in the spring season has been linked to the outpouring. So has the energising of human character and deeds, for good or ill. For this power, like electricity or atomic energy, is neutral, pliable into any form for which the “potter” bears personal responsibility.

    Commenting on this subject a few years ago, this column suggested many riots which have occurred in Nigeria’s history in this season, including the onset of Nigeria’s Biafra civil war (1967-70) on May 27, may have been due to the forging of this power into negative ends.

    For it merely helps to actualise inherent volition. Ideally, the inherent volition of man should be the transformation of earth-life into paradise-like beauty. But since his soul filled with poison, his use of this power can only be for ignoble ends.

    As we stand in the era of change, which president-elect Buhari promised in his election campaigns, our prayer is that he be clarified about these matters, see himself as an upbuilding tool in the hands of his creator, connect and attach to Him, act only under His guidance, open himself to the helping rays of the power of Pentecost which transcend religious frontiers and, as Nigeria’s leader of the moment lead us to loftier heights.

    If he does this, change would have meaning, significance and impact in our lives.

    Road to change

    The journey will be rough, we shouldn’t deceive ourselves. For the last thing many people desire and resist is change. And is because the spirit, tenant in the physical body we all legs about in, is in deep slumber.

    When I was 40, in 1990, I took one day off work and traveled to Abeokuta, Ogun State to re-connect with the radiations of the town in which I grew up. I found, to my shock that if I was blindfolded, I would on my own find my way from the high on which I parked my car, to St. Andrews Primary School, Ileara, where, thanks to Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s free Primary School education project, I began school in January 1956, the year Chief Awolowo began free education in Western Region. My father was a colonial policeman and may have been unable to afford the bill. Nothing has changed in the environment between 1950 and 1990. The neighborhood was blighted.

    Even the once lushful lawn of the parade ground of Ibarra police barracks where a reception was held for Queen Elizabeth II in 1956 had become patched and blighted.

    Since the spirit forms the physical environment where it exists, it can be assumed that the state of the environment is the state of the spirit. Nigeria is replete with stories of successful people hesitant to build houses or make other investments in their villages out of fear that they may be killed.

     

    Aging Buhari

    There is no doubt that, at over 70, Gen. Buhari (rtd) is aging and would require bouncing health and energy to pull through his promises of four million jobs in one year, free education at all levels of schooling, steadying  electricity all day long, curb of corruption, improvement of security and professionalism in the military, among many others. Add to these subtitle picture of voting patterns in the presidential election of March 28 which has led many people to conclude that wounds of the 1967 to 1970 Biafran war are far from healed. Thus manifested in grave ethnic divisions that need to be addressed.

    Ethic division.

    The voting pattern was the geography of the biafran war… the Eastern- Region (South- East and South- South) pitched against the North and the West. Some political observers blame it all on the  South–West. Their thesis is that nowhere in history does the victor nation in a war relinquish power to the loser.

    They site Germany and Japan as examples. Both nations lost the second world war to Britain. The United States, France and the Soviet Union (now Russian). Till this day both nations are forbidden to manufacture offensive military weapons. Besides, foreign troops from the victor nations except perhaps China are stationed in Germany and Japan to monitor them. By this logic, Dr Ebele Goodluck Jonathan should not have become Nigeria’s President after President YarA’dua’s death midterm in office.

    The North opposed his ascension. But the South–West, backing constitutionalism, literally made him President. It is instructive that the bitter struggle between the North and the South–West, Dr Ebele Jonathan, as Vice-President, kept mute, like the South-East and the South-South regions. With victory achieved for Jonathan in both the left over two years of YarA’dua’s tenure and, later, a full four years term for himself, President Jonathan would display open pathological hatred for the South-West vengeance against the North. He was to describe South-Western as a pack of “rascals”,  re-engage in puletic office known foes of former President Olusegun Obasanjo from the South-West, who set the stage for Dr Ebele Jonathan, as governor of Bayelsa State, to become Vice President of the YarA’dua Presidency.

    The South-West was diminished in key appointments as well. As for the North, President Jonathan adopted a carrot and stick approach. The carrot was key appointments, especially in the security terrain. The “stick”  came in the form of folding arms pretending to have no immediate solution for the Boko Haram insurgency, before which the well-respected Nigerian military would appear to flee. President Jonathan said he was not a “general”, in response to call that he engage the insurgents. Some critics of his Administration say the plot was to let a North –on-North war weaken the North for an easy political rout during the next Presidential election.

    This would be facilitated by a sudden and victorious military assault as Boko Haram which would position President Jonathan as a tie-President who was latter left alone for another term. But it would seem the agenda, if there was one, miscalculated politically that the North and South-West, sworn political enemies since 1959, could offer a common political front in Nigerian history, and even fracture fortresses of the ruling People Democratic Party (PDP). That the North/South-West coalition of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was able to defeat President Jonathan was not just a question of the game of numbers but more of intellectual sagacity.

    While President Jonathan and the PDP were busy trying to destroy the person and image of Gen. Buhari (rtd) and image of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a master architect of the APC, the APC was busy abroad internationalising the coming election.  They knew the APC would win the polls and the PDP would attempt  to rig them and deploy soldiers to suppress protests. They were dead right in what happened in Port Harcourt and Abia State, among other discomfitures of the elections.

    Many people have said President Jonathan played the Statesman by unconditionally accepting defeat, a feat, it is said, for an incumbent African President. Somehow I do not share this view. I believe the President merely succumbed to international pressure reigned against him and accepted a negotiated settlement for a soft landing in which he would not be probed personally.

    There is a veiled reference to this in Gen. Buhari’s reply to President Jonathan’s congratulatory message in which the President–elect promised that the President would be treated with “respect” and “understanding”.

    We must now proceed from the geography of the presidential election to the psychological war inflicted ethnic injuries which a Buhari administration should tackle, which may sap his energy and for which, in the coming series of this column, it would be shown how again people like him can make themselves biologically younger than their calendar or calendaric ages and fulfil all their tasks as if they are young people and without a scratch or dent in their health

     

    Ethnic war injuries

    The South–East  has a grouse with the (1) North (2) South–West and (3) parts of the South–South.

    The North

    Hundreds of thousands of igbos were killed genocidically in the North in 1966 which security forces, either helplessly or in full support, looked the other way. Naturally Igbos fled eastwards, to their homeland. It was a clear lesson that the generosity or warmness of a host land, not withstanding, there is no place on this earth that is a NO MAN’S LAND. It is better to invest the fruits of adventure back home and not seek to make a home of a host land.

    Even Igbo soldiers in the Nigeria army returned home after skirmishes in the barracks in which some of them were killed by Northern soldiers. The mood in the East was for a breakaway from Nigeria. Lt. Col Yakubu Gowon, Head of State of Nigeria at 32, found this a daunting challenge. Chief Obafemi Awolowo, leader of thought in the West, made the remarkable Statement: “If by commission or omission the East is allowed to go, the West will also follow.” The situation called for mediation and reconciliation. Ghana threw its doors open to Nigeria. All the regions met in Aburi, Ghana, Where Lt. Col Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, military governor of the Eastern regions, as opposed to federation, and Lt. Col. Gowon agreed. Lt. Col. Gowon rejected the agreement on his return to Nigeria, when the implications were explained to him. As was to be expected, Lt. Col. Odumegwu Ojukwu stuck to his guns, stating ON ABURI WE STAND. Chief Awolowo was to head for the East for a reconciliation meeting. It was at this meeting that the East said Chief Awolowo promised the East that, in the event of war between the East and the North, the West would fight in the side of the East.

     

    The West

    This thinking dominates the thinking of the average man and woman in the East today, and explains why the East persists in its traditional opposition to anything originating from the West, however good or beneficial to the East, and why the East would wish the West dismantled and its star city, Lagos, regarded as a no man’s land.

    Yet Chief Awolowo, in post-war speeches and in the books, have denied making  such a promise at the meeting with Lt. Col. Odumegwu Ojukwu. A tape of the meeting recovered by Federal troops in Enugu following the fall of the capital city, and reviewed by the Nigerian Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by Gen. Gowon (as he later became) found no such promise. Even Odumegwu Ojukwu after his return from exile did not insist such a promise was made.

    The gap in this Eastern thinking and reality has led scholars to conclude that a promise of support from the West for secession by the East must have been invented by pro-seccession and pro-war intelligentia in the East to galvanise the population for a war of seccession.

    Incapacitation of the West

    The bitterness in the East over the West fighting alongside the North during the Biafra War takes no account of how the co-alition Federal government of the East (NCNC) and the North (NPC) emasculated the West in the civil service and the Armed forces, excused the Mid-West region (later called Bendel State, now Edo and Delta State) from the West as a part of that emasculation, encourage break up of the Action Group (AG), government party in the West, and sent the leader of the region, Chief Awolowo, to 10 years imprisonment on charges that he plotted to overthrow the NPC/NCNC Federal government. Reasonable people should have asked: how would Chief Awolowo have done this when his Yoruba kinsmen were little present in the Army under the said emasculation? An evidence of the emasculation presents itself in the story of Brigadier Ogundipe. After the killing of Maj. Gen. J.T.U. Aguiyi Ironsi, an Igbo, who was the Head of State of Nigeria, in the counter coup of July 1966, Brig. Ogundipe was the most senior Nigerian Army officer around. But when he commanded a northern private, the latter declined to obey until the head received instruction from a northern officer. Brig. Ogundipe had no Yoruba soldiers to enforce his order. So, like Igbo officers, he took refuge… in a naval ship commanded by a fellow Yoruba, who took him to England. With this kind of scenario, how did the East expect the West to fight a war. In any case, northerners controlled all the army barracks which rank up the West.

    In Lagos, there were Myong Barracks, Abalti Barracks, Bonny Camp, Doddan Barracks, Ojoo Cantonement and Ikeja Cantonement. There were army garrisons in Ibadan, Abeokuta, Ijebu-Ode and other towns. In any case, the Yoruba are guided by the wisdom of the proverb of the elders that “ti owo omode ko ba ba ida, kii bere iku to pa baba re”, that means until he has firmly gripped the handle of the sword, a child doesn’t seek vengeance against the killers of his father.

    In the East at the time, Lt. Col. Banjo, a Yoruba, was in the custody of Lt. Col. Odumegwu Ojukwu. Lt. Col. Banjo was one of the four officers who staged the first coup in January 1966. They handed over to Gen. Ironsi when the coup failed. Banjo and Ifeajuna were released by Lt. Col. Odumegwu Ojukwu to work with him. When it would appear the West was not forth coming in striking a military blow, Lt. Col. Odumegwu Ojukwu decided on an invasion of Lagos from across the Niger through Benin. Banjo and Ifeajuna objected. He had them executed. Biafran troops from Onitsha crossed to Asaba and seized Bendel State which they renamed Republic of Benin.

    From Benin, they moved towards Lagos but were stopped at Ore by troops commanded by Maj. Gen. Muritala Muhammed. Had Biafran troops succeeded, it was possible a Republic of Oduduwa would have been declared. But many people in the West doubt this intention.

    Why, they wonder, did Lt. Col. Odumegwu Ojukwu not make the East the theatre of war by invading the North through the East-North border. Why force a war on the defenceless West? In any case, what were the justifications for the air bombings of a supposedly friendly or neutral Lagos?