The Nation Newspaper

Category: Emeka Omeihe

  • Renaming Nigeria

    Renaming Nigeria

    What’s there in a name? That is the rhetorical question brought to the fore by a recent advocacy by the president of African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwunmi Adesina.

    He had at a lecture as the recipient of the 2024 Obafemi Awolowo Prize for Leadership, called for a change of name from the Federal Republic of Nigeria to the ‘United States of Nigeria’. This change in nomenclature in his view “would change the relational mind-set between the states and Abuja: the fulcrum would be the states, while the centre would support them, not lord over them”.

    Adesina further contended that with good governance, better accountability systems and zero tolerance for corruption, more economically stronger constituent states would emerge.

    It is hazy how a mere change in nomenclature would elicit concomitant change in relational mind-set between the states and Abuja to obviate the control and dominance of the centre over the constituent units. Equally uncertain is how good governance, more accountability and zero tolerance for corruption will ensue through renaming Nigeria.

    So what point was Adesina really driving at? What is there in the suggested new name that is lacking in the old one that has the magic wand for these envisaged fundamental relational and mind-set changes? Or, are we being fed with the notion that once we rename the Nigerian federation in the fashion of the United States of America, USA, our brand of federalism will begin to deliver public goods and services optimally? Does the hood make the monk?

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    These are the immediate posers that confront the suggestion that renaming Nigeria will bring about a change in relational mind-set between the states and the central authority.  That association or linkage is hard to fathom. So what is the hidden message of the AfDB boss?

    The thesis of his presentation appeared clearer when he said, “the achievement of economically viable entities and the viability of the national entity require constitutional changes to devolve more economic and fiscal powers to the states or regions. The stronger the states or regions, the stronger the federal units”.

    His further intervention to the effect that for Nigeria to get out of economic quagmire, there is the compelling need for restructuring driven, not by political expediency but economic and financial viability says it all.

    Herein lies the message. So it is not just a case of mere renaming of Nigeria in the mould he advocated eliciting attitudinal and relational mind-set changes between the states and the federal government. Neither does the level of economic and political development that give allure to the American federal system lie in the order in which that country’s name is arranged. No!

    The strength of that country’s federal system is in its strong institutions and processes entrenched in constitutional provisions that devolve powers between the federal authority and states such that does not give room for an omnipotent and omnipresent centre. It is hallmarked by fiscal federalism and independence that allows the constituent units control their affairs without undue interference from the centre.

    Their system operates along the principles of federalism characterised by K.C. Wheare as the “method of dividing powers so that the general and regional governments are each within a sphere coordinate and independent”.  A.V. Dicey gave further fillip to this by identifying three leading characteristics of ‘completely developed federalism’ to include the distribution of powers among governmental bodies (each with limited and coordinate powers) along with the supremacy of the constitution and the authority of the courts as interpreters of the constitution.

    These are the principles that give allure to that governance framework. They have nothing to do with the order in which that country’s name is arranged. So changing the Federal Government of Nigeria to the ‘United States of Nigeria’ as Adesina suggested is practically of no value in addressing the glaring imperfections of our federal contraption.

    It has no solution to the disproportionate control and disbursement of the national revenue by the centre. It has no remedy for the deadly political competition our convoluted federal system engenders. Neither is it a therapeutic response to our brand of politics identified by Richard Joseph as prebendalism- the bitter competition to capture political power for the benefit of one’s ethnic group and family members. 

    Renaming Nigeria is of questionable value in addressing the national questions; the aberrant form and structure of the federation and the intense competition between the centre and the constituent units for the loyalty of the citizens.

    The ‘United States of Nigeria’ as a concept, can only draw relevance as a metaphor for true federalism. It strikes as a figurative representation for power devolution, fiscal federalism and restructuring through fundamental constitutional changes. It is a call for federalism in its pristine form.

    Perhaps, that was the link Adesina sought to establish when he called for devolution of powers and restructuring that is guided by economic and fiscal considerations. But he could have gone ahead to marshal his thoughts along these lines rather than hide under a nebulous advocacy for renaming Nigeria. It is not certain why he chose to hide under the call for a change of name for such fundamental change issues.

    One’s guess however, is that he aimed at getting at the same objective through an entirely different channel. His target was to draw attention to the imperfections of our federal order by giving the impression that there is something in that name that works against the spirits and principles of true federalism.

    There is also the possibility that his proposition may have been a subtle way of avoiding controversy. This should not be surprising given the vested interests that easily get jittery each time restructuring, power devolution or fiscal federalism is mentioned.

    But then, how far can we possibly stretch the concept of a United States of Nigeria in the face of the multidimensional challenges that constantly assail the authority of the federal government? That concept would seem a misnomer given the current siege by non-state actors and the ensuing competition for the loyalty of the citizens between the central government and cleavages of primordial, religious and sectional hue?

    Despite his manner of intervention, Adesina did not disappoint in charting the path the country needed to toe, if our federal system of government will not continue to operate in its current aberrant form. He has added his weight to the necessary and sufficient constitutional changes this country must undertake to extricate itself from the debilitating challenges assailing its progress, economic development and political stability.

    But, the issues he raised are not entirely new. They have been recurring decimals on the country’s political chessboard. They were the national questions that led to the 2014 National Conference set up by the Jonathan regime, the National Political Reforms Conference of the Obasanjo regime and the Constitutional Conference of the late Abacha administration.

    Each of these conferences made far-reaching recommendations on the necessary constitutional and administrative reforms the country needed to undertake to position itself on the path to steady progress and even development. Sadly, despite the huge resources and energy injected into these conferences, their recommendations (futuristic as many of them were) have not gone beyond the papers in which they were written.

    That is why agitations have resonated with seeming ferocity. We now have the President Tinubu administration that has been taking hard and painful decisions for the overall public good. These have been evident in the removal of fuel subsidy and the floating of the Naira in the foreign exchange market among others.

    The gains from these sectors can only endure in a politically stable environment. President Tinubu should consolidate the gains of his reforms by mustering the necessary political will to get the Nigerian federalism function in its true spirits. It is time to confront and realistically address the national questions headlong.    

  • The Nnamdi Kanu matter

    The Nnamdi Kanu matter

    Last week’s court appearance by Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra IPOB, stood out in a very remarkable way.

    It is not that his arraignment that Tuesday did not witness the usual security cordon characteristic of previous ones. Neither did its allure lie in his being granted some of the prayers he had sought from the presiding judge. Nothing of such as all his prayers were refused.

    But that court outing struck as the first time since his extraordinary rendition from Kenya and subsequent trials he found himself addressing the press after the court session. It is not clear the arrangement that allowed him to speak to the media especially given previous posturing by security agencies on such matters.

    Whatever the circumstance that permitted that brief media interface provided Kanu the rare opportunity to put on record, his views on some of the contentious issues surrounding the festering insecurity in the southeast region. Before then, we had been treated to third party information on what Kanu was purported to have said or not said.

    At one point, his lawyers were the only source of information on Kanu’s views and standing on evolving matters. And at another, his family members allowed access to him dished out such information.

    And with all issues of this nature, instances arose where such representation led to dispute among his close allies. Kanu has now spoken first-hand and has been heard. He may not have prepared himself for the media interface. His choice of words, demeanour and constant interjections from his lawyers gave out all that.  Some of his claims may also lend themselves to misinterpretation.

    Nevertheless, he spoke clearly on why insecurity still festers in that region, the possible interests behind it and how to bring a final closure to the malfeasance. Not only was he unequivocal in distancing the IPOB from the sundry security infractions and criminalities in the region, he vowed to bring an end to them if he regains his freedom.

    “I swear anybody committing crime in the east cannot go free. They are doing this because I am in the DSS custody. If I were to be outside, nobody could try this. I suspect that some people in government are complicit. They are making money with insecurity.

    Anybody involved in any form of violence in the east in the name of IPOB is a goner and they know it. Let me come out of this mess, only two minutes there will be peace in the East”, Kanu vowed.

     He further asked: “Who is that bagger or idiot that will speak when I am speaking? That I will give an order in the East who is that idiot that I will give an order that will counter it?” This aspect of his speech could be misconstrued. But he spoke within the context of sundry groups claiming to be speaking for the IPOB and issuing directives especially on the sit-at-home order. It is unfathomable that he could be implying that no other authority can speak when he speaks.

    Irrespective of the limitations of his choice of words, Kanu did not leave anyone in doubt about the reasons for the unceasing insecurity, those benefiting from it and how to bring it to an end. And these are the issues to contend.  Much of his views struck a common chord with the position of leaders from the southeast on the insecurity in that region.

     Not only did he distance the IPOB from the criminalities in the east, he said sundry criminal groups were taking advantage of his detention to commit crimes. For him, the solution lies in his being set free. With his freedom, those who issue conflicting orders or engage in sundry criminalities on the guise of agitating for his release will have no further room to exploit.

    His claims distancing the IPOB from the criminal activities in the region may not go down well with the federal government that holds the group responsible for all security infractions in the zone. Sadly, such fixation came with dubious profiling which views anybody from that region especially the youths as potential IPOB recruits. The telling consequences of such sweeping generalisation on the lives of the innocent people are a story for another day.

    But the good thing there is that Kanu’s views are largely in sync with the position of southeast leaders and interests groups on how to resolve the insecurity in the region. In 2021, a strong Igbo delegation led by late elder statesman, Mbazulike Amechi met former president, Muhammadu Buhari and pleaded with him to free Kanu as a solution to the lingering insecurity in the area. Buhari’s reply was that it was a difficult task.

    Again, on the eve of his 94th birthday in 2022, Amechi asked Buhari to release Kanu to him as a birthday gift. “There is only one key solution to the killings in Igbo land now, and that is the release of Nnamdi Kanu. If that young man is released, you will see all these criminals…claiming to be agitating for the release of Nnamdi Kanu while their real intention is to rob unsuspecting people will go into hiding” he had pleaded with Buhari. 

    Amechi urged Buhari to release Kanu to him and hold him responsible (arrest him) if he (Kanu) misbehaves thereafter. In spite of this passionate plea, Buhari turned a deaf ear to him until the old man passed away only for the presidency to shower praises in a tribute to the late nationalist and first republic minister of aviation.

    It did not come as a surprise that some interest groups faulted Buhari for not acceding to Amechi’s request only to turn around to revel on platitudes and encomiums after his death. They felt if Buhari held him in such high esteem, he should have obliged him his 94th day birthday request to set Nnamdi Kanu free. All of that is now history.

    Amechi and his group of Igbo leaders were not alone in this position. The apex socio-cultural Igbo group, Ohaneze Ndigbo also made several representations to Buhari to explore the political option to the crisis by freeing Kanu to no avail.

    Buhari had a veritable window provided by the Appeal Court judgment to free Kanu and explore a political solution to the crisis. But he allowed that opportunity slip until he left office.

    Curiously, Buhari’s hard-line position on insecurity in the region contrasted sharply with his policies in the northeast where amnesty and the so-called de-radicalisation of terrorists had been the official policy. He may have his biases as one of the military officers that fought in the Nigerian civil war. But as Paul Robeson cautioned, “the answer to injustice is not to silence the critic but to end the injustice”.

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    With the emergence of the President Tinubu regime, the fate of Kanu vis-a-vis insecurity in the southeast has resonated. Around August last year, the five governors of the southeast met in Enugu to brainstorm on how to resolve the insecurity in the zone even as some of them had exploited the situation to feather their political nests.

    In a communiqué after the meeting, the governors among others stated “categorically that the perpetrators of insecurity in our region and their sponsors are criminals and should not be seen as legitimate agitators…upon arrest, they should be dealt with in accordance with the laws of the land”.

    Again, after the recent release of Yoruba nation agitator, Sunday Adeyemo (Sunday Igboho) by the president of Benin Republic, Patrice Talon through appeals by Yoruba leaders, the Ohaneze Ndigbo also appealed to President Tinubu to withdraw all charges against the IPOB leader. They said the release of Kanu would play a pivotal role in restoring peace in the southeast region and help in addressing the prevailing insecurity.

    There is a common thread running through the positions of southeast governors, Ohaneze Ndigbo and Kanu on the insecurity in the region and the way out of it. The governors are in agreement with Kanu’s view that the perpetrators of insecurity and their sponsors are criminals and should not be seen as legitimate agitators.

    Ohaneze and opinion leaders in the region are also in agreement that freedom for Kanu is key to the restoration of peace in the region and addressing the lingering insecurity. These are common denominators in the issues raised by Kanu during his brief interview. It is as well good that he was allowed to speak to the public. He made commitments to help restore peace and security and was heard.

    There are musings that his public outing through that interview may signal a new attitude to his case and possible release by the federal government. That will be in consonance with the expectation of the people of that region. The country is currently assailed by multidimensional insecurity to which the current government is battling to contain.

    If the release of Kanu will restore peace and address insecurity in the zone as attested to by the leadership of the zone, it is in the national interest that that option be fully explored. President Tinubu has a chance to make history by heeding to the prevailing feelings that Kanu’s release is pivotal to peace and security in that region.

  • Kaduna’s peculiar banditry/terrorism

    Kaduna’s peculiar banditry/terrorism

    Kaduna State made headline news last week, albeit for bad reasons. The state appeared to have taken an ignoble lead over Borno State, in the high number of children abducted from their school premises by sundry terrorists, bandits and kidnappers.

    Whereas the Boko Haram insurgents that invaded the Chibok Secondary School in Borno State in 2014 struck in the dead of the night, the terrorists that attacked Kuriga LEA Primary and Government Secondary Schools in the Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna state were bold enough to invade during the day.

    The time of the attack and high number of abductees stand out the Kuriga incident over and above other school children abduction that had taken place in that part of the country. Numbering more than 100, the well-armed bandits that struck immediately after the early morning assembly, herded the teachers and school children into the adjoining forest.

     That was the beginning of a tortuous journey that could lead to the incarceration or even death of some of the school children; many of them toddlers. Initial attempts by some local vigilante to thwart the abduction and secure the release of the children ended in some fatalities.

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    When the dust settled, a total of 287 children from both schools were found to have been ferried away by the rampaging terrorists. Some of the children, who were lucky to have escaped, spoke of their horrifying encounter as they were horsewhipped and made to trek inside the forest for hours without end.

    It has taken many days since the abduction with no traces of the children in sight. Curiously and in contrast with the Chibok incident, Kaduna State does not share any boundary with neighbouring countries that may inject some complication in the location of the children’s whereabouts. Yet, neither any trace of them has been of public knowledge nor was there any success in aborting the abduction somewhere along the terrorists route.

    Before the Kuriga mass kidnap of school children, the so-called bandits had invaded the Gonin Gora area of Kaduna metropolis twice in four days, abducting 16 residents altogether. That was not all.

    Within the same week, no fewer than 61 persons were reportedly abducted by bandits/terrorists that attacked the Buda community in the Kajuru Local Government Area of the same Kaduna State. The terrorists had invaded the community at night shooting sporadically before abducting the victims.

    Kaduna had also in 2021 witnessed a series of attacks, killings and senseless abduction of students of institutions of higher learning suggestive of a choreographed campaign to discourage education. Greenfield University and the Federal College of Forestry, Afaka fell victims that year. Baptist Bethel High School among other key establishments in that state did not equally fare better in the hands of the rampaging terrorists.

     But what stood out the Gonin Gora incident is neither the sheer number of the abductees (16) nor the two residents killed by the invaders before they fled. The incident is remarkable for the scandalous and unreasonable demands the terrorists were reported to have made as condition for the freedom of the 16 captives.

    A community leader in the area, John Yusuf shocked many when he reeled out the extravagant ransom demanded by the terrorists. Yusuf said the bandits called and demanded N40trn, 11 Hilux vans and 150 motorcycles as ransom.

    It is yet unclear how and the location this humongous amount of money, vehicles and motorcycles will be delivered if it is possible to source them. But even as we contend with these ridiculous and outlandish ransom demands, their very nature is bound to throw up salient issues that can only be ignored at our collective peril.

    This is the first time such unreasonable ransom demand is surfacing since the bug of kidnapping crept into our social chessboard. That should ordinarily raise questions as to the purpose the terrorists intend to achieve this time around.

    Could it be a joke taken too far? Or is the intention to direct the collective conscience of our leaders to the new dimension such malfeasance has possibly assumed? There is also the issue of how the terrorists intend to deploy the humongous amount of money, vehicles and motorcycles. Where will the 11 Hilux vans and 150 motorcycles be delivered to them – within the shores of this country or outside of it? And will that not give out their location to the security agencies?

    Beyond these, the impression one gets is that banditry/terrorism is fast assuming the shape of a carefully organised enterprise perhaps, competing with the government for spheres of influence and authority. N40tn is more than the N25tn provided in the 2024 national budget by N15tn. That conveys the unmistakable impression of a government within a government- a republic of sorts. When the cost of the Hilux vans and motorcycles are summed up, the figures become even more scaring.

    Assuming it is possible to meet all the demands of these terrorists nicknamed bandits, the purpose for which these monies, vehicles and motorcycles will be deployed should be a serious concern to the federal government. The boldness and audacity of the bandits, the relative ease with which they levy mayhem and disappear into the thin air, constitute a potent challenge to the authority of the government.

    Before now, we had been told bandits were acquiring sophisticated weapons including the capacity to bring down aircrafts. There have also been suggestions that the ransom they collect is mainly deployed for the purchase of arms and ammunitions to further their murderous activities.

    The demands by the Gonin Gora terrorists evoke such prospects. The terrorists that kidnapped 287 students and teachers in Kuriga are also demanding N1billion as ransom or they kill the abductees within three weeks. With a ransom demand that rubbishes the national budget, the prospects of non-state actors metamorphosing into an alternative government competing for the loyalty of the citizens have become a frightening reality. It conjures the imprimatur of a republic of the bandits/terrorists within the federal republic of Nigeria.

    It is only in a bandits’ republic that N40trn, 11 Hilux vans and 150 motorcycles can be delivered and received as ransom by sundry criminals without severe consequences. Curiously, Kaduna is a landlocked state. It does not share any boundary with our foreign neighbours to suggest complicity in ferrying out of the children beyond our shores.

     For that to happen, the terrorists must have to collaborate with their evil counterparts in other states. Could the bandits have crossed these boundaries with large expanse of land for days and weeks with toddlers without detection?

    So, it is safer to assume the captured children are surely within our shores. And that makes the matter more troubling. It speaks of conspiracy in high and low quarters. How come these children were marched through the large expanse of the Kaduna landscape for days without any trace?

     Neither the surveillance of the Nigerian Air Force nor the new technology that aided the Nigerian Army to detect suspicious bandits’ movement that led to the unfortunate Tudun Biri killings in the Igabi Local Government Area of the same state, could be of any help. It says much about the level of progress we have made between the abduction of the Chibok girls in 2014 and nearly 10 years after.

     It speaks of parallels between the 2014 Chibok and the 2024 Kuriga abductions. Coincidentally, the current vice president, Kashim Shetima was the governor of Borno State when the Chibok girls were kidnapped. Kaduna is now bearing the brunt of organised terrorism for inexplicable reasons.

    It is difficult to forget in a hurry some of the vile issues traded then, including the allegation by former governor of Adamawa State, Muritala Nyako that Book Haram was a subterfuge by purported enemies of the north to depopulate that region. Ten years thereon, the likes of Nyako – and they are legion – should know better.

    We are being told that the solution to the metastasising insurgency lies in negotiation with the bandits whose grievances have at best, remained amorphous. We are all victims of the divisive politics of the past; the refusal by our leaders to form national consensus on potent challenges to law and order and our corporate being. The current insurgency in the country is not for nothing. It is time to resolve the nagging puzzle of differentiating between the Boko Haram terrorists, the bandits and the herdsmen.

    Only then shall the real motivation of the dark forces behind the cascading terrorism become clearer. But it is definitely getting late.

  • Adelabu’s threat to DISCOS

    Adelabu’s threat to DISCOS

    The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu is seriously worried by the sharp decline in electricity supply across the country. In an apparent bid to find lasting solutions to it, he has summoned the chief executive officers of the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC), their Ibadan counterpart and the managing director of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) to a crucial meeting.

    But even before the meeting is held, the minister could not hide his dissatisfaction with the distribution companies for allegedly failing to adequately distribute much of the power generated by the TCN. He is piqued that despite concerted efforts to improve power generation resulting to an increase of more than 4,000 megawatts, certain distribution companies have failed to live up to their statutory duties of distributing the additional output.

    “Wilful non-performance will not be tolerated, and severe consequences, including license revocation may be imposed”, he threatened. It is not clear how the minister arrived at his conclusion that non-distribution of the additional output by the distribution companies is responsible for the shortages in power supply. Neither is it public knowledge the difference in the quantity of power generated but not distributed.

    But one thing that stands out is that the threat followed persistent nationwide power outages with no respite in sight. The national grid suffered serious breakdown on February 4, throwing a greater part of the country into unmitigated darkness.

    Before then, the national grid had also collapsed on September 14, 2023. The Enugu Electricity Distribution Company EEDC had in a statement then titled, “Notice on total system collapse” informed its customers of the unfortunate incident.

    Ironically, the collapse came barely a week after the TCN rolled out its drums in celebration of a seeming 400 days of grid stability. The uncanny coincidence went at length to diminish whatever glory the TCN intended to take from the purported grid stability celebration.

    If the grid breakdown of September 2023 was not sufficient to illustrate the dire straits the country is entangled in the provision of regular electricity, that of last month vividly showed the gravity of the challenge. There is little doubt there are inefficiencies on the part of power distributors that add to the epileptic power supply across the country. The differences on the level of performance of the various power distribution companies attest to this.

    It will however, amount to scratching the surface of the matter to solely lay the blame for the dismal power supply in the country at the doorsteps of the power distributors. The issues are more fundamental than this and cannot be resolved by the revocation of the licenses of the distributors.

    The crux of the matter is the abysmal shortfall in power generation which the distributors have practically no solutions to. The Association of Electricity Distributors puts the electricity needs of the country at 33,000 megawatts. The universal rule is that you need 1,000 MW for one million people. It estimates there are 32 million households connected to electricity. So you need to generate at least 32,000 mw to ensure stability in power supply.

    The minister said the total output of the country stands at 4,000mw. How this will meet the needs of electricity users is a matter of conjecture. Even if all the 4,000mw generated are fully distributed, that can in no way make a significant change in the dismal power equation of the country.

    It would seem much of the problem lies in power generation. How to make up for the deficits between the electricity needs of the country and what is currently generated is at issue. The gravity of the challenge is further reinforced by observed trends indicating rising demands for electricity across the country.

    Estimates provided by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, have it that electricity demand will grow to 45,622 megawatts by 2030. There is a lot of work to be done especially in the sphere of power generation. We need to work very assiduously to ensure stability in power generation. Grid collapse as witnessed in the recent past cannot make for efficiency and stability in electricity supplies.

    It is not enough to isolate the inefficiencies of the power distributors or generators for blame. We need to take a holistic perspective of the deficits in the power generation, transmission and distribution chain to address all the challenges that have rendered stable power supply an unmitigated disaster.

    There are challenges of vandalism of power infrastructure across the country. There are challenges arising from the inability of the government to settle outstanding debts to power generating and gas supply companies.

    The minister painted a sordid picture of the debt situation: “We are owing a total of N1.3tn to power generating companies, out of which 60 per cent is being owed to gas suppliers. We have a legacy debt prior to 2024 to the gas companies of $1.3bn; at today’s rate that is close to N2tn. Now if you add the N2tn legacy debt owed gas companies and the N1.3tn being owed the GENCOS, we have an inherited debt of over N3tn in this sector”.

    He must have also shocked many when he attributed the crash in power generation and the attendant poor supplies witnessed in January to the stoppage of gas supplies due to indebtedness to gas producers. That is as bad as the situation has become.

    When the minister said subsidy on electricity for 2024 will gulp N3tn, he may have been referring to this outstanding debt even as only N450bn was budgeted for that purpose. That may be a subtle argument for the total elimination of the subsidy on electricity which the International Monetary Fund IMF and the World Bank have been stridently canvassing.

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    The other dimension of this disclosure is that for the country to meet its obligations in that sector and ensure stable power supply, total deregulation of that sector is the way to go. That may as well be the argument. But it is not all there is to it as the ability of the citizenry to cope with the additional burden has to come into consideration.

    It is true that the oil sector has been deregulated with more money coming into the coffers of the government. There is also the claim that the government is still maintaining some form of subsidy in that sector and that petrol will definitely sell higher were the real dynamics of market forces allowed to play.

    There may be some element of truth in that. The government may have chosen that path in order to mitigate the dire consequences of full deregulation on the lives of the citizenry. Yes, deregulation may conform to fine economic principles. But every policy operates in a given milieu and must factor in environmental variables in order to be effective.

    Ours is still a vulnerable economy populated by the poorest of the poor. This economic reality must not be ignored by the multilateral institutions striving to impose the models of the advanced country on the rest of us. The effects of the fuel subsidy removal and liberalisation of the foreign exchange market have been telling on our citizens.

    More money has been accruing into the federal government’s coffers after the deregulation. Instead of sharing the difference with the state governments to be frittered away, much of that should be injected into capital projects. The power sector which holds the ace for the industrial development of the country should be accorded topmost priority.

    It is not just enough to always pass the burden of our inefficiencies in providing public goods and services to the ordinary citizens. There is a lot of waste in the public sector that should plugged, harnessed and injected into projects that will lead to public good. Countries all over the world subsidise goods and services. Developing ones with a large army of the unemployed and vulnerable population have even more reasons to reasonably subsidise.

    The epileptic electricity supplies in the country despite the huge resources injected into that sector has become a serious national embarrassment. It is a sad development that despite the unbundling of the power sector, no significant change in power stability appears in sight. We must be licking the wounds of the mockery by South Africa which in a nationwide television advertisement during the AFCON competition tagged us, “a generator republic”

  • Oronsaye’s report: Other matters

    Oronsaye’s report: Other matters

    Last week’s directive by President Tinubu for the full implementation of the 12-year old Oronsaye report strikes as a measure of the administration’s commitment to cost saving and efficiency in statecraft.

    The decision presents another dimension to other reforms of the government that have necessitated serious sacrifice and deprivation on the part of the citizenry. It is therefore only apposite that the government is seen taking the rightful lead in plugging wastages and pruning down the high cost of governance that have overtime, been the major source of stagnation of the national economy. That is the essence of the Oronsaye report.

    Set up in 2011 by the Jonathan administration following national concerns on the negative impacts of the alarming and unsustainable cost of running government, the committee was among others, charged to review the establishing Acts and mandates of all federal agencies, parastatals and commissions to identify areas of overlap and duplication of functions.

    It had recommended the reduction of 263 statutory agencies to 161, abolishing 38, merging 52 and reverting 14 to departments in the ministries. However, a white paper committee led by the then Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke rejected a majority of the recommendations. No further action was taken on the matter by the Jonathan regime before it wound up.

    But in 2021, the Buhari administration dusted up the report with the setting up two committees to get it implemented. The first committee was mandated to review the Oronsaye report and the white paper while the second was directed to review ministries, departments and agencies created between 2014 and 2021. A white paper was also produced after the work of the committees.

    No significant progress was seen to have been made in this direction until last week’s directive which was quickly followed up with the unveiling of the agencies and commissions affected by the exercise.

    Curiously, that list which was released by the Special Adviser to the president on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga only contains agencies, commissions and parastatals affected by the approval of the Federal Executive Council FEC meeting of February 26, 2023 which considered the recommendations of the Oronsaye report. In effect, the recommendations slated for implementation were approved by the last administration a year ago.

    But only two agencies- the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate and the National Senior Secondary Education Commission are to be scrapped contrary to the 38 recommended by the Oronsaye panel. Fifteen are to be merged as against the 52 contained in the original report while nine others are to be subsumed. 

    What seems to have emerged is that the current administration is implementing the decisions of his predecessor on the two white papers produced by the committees set up by both Jonathan and Buhari. It remains hazy if any independent review of the decision of the 2023 FEC on the report was undertaken.

    Its corollary is that whereas the decision of the FEC of February last year, may have factored in the fate of ministries and agencies created during the Buhari regime, it could not have captured those created by the current administration. That still leaves the job incomplete.

    Though an eight-man committee was charged to ensure that necessary legislative amendments and administrative restructuring for the implementation of the reforms are done in an efficient manner, its mandate did not involve a review exercise. Expectedly, there has been public apprehension on the possible fallouts of the implementation of the report. Much of these hinges on the time lag between the submission of the report and the white papers; their consideration and approval by the FEC and implementation. There is everything to expect that the recommendations would have been affected by the dynamism of our ever changing environment.

    This line of thinking was manifest in the resolution by the House of Representatives last week which dubbed the report ‘outdated’. The House was of the view that the government should thoroughly review the report before going ahead with its implementation. It set up a 23-man committee to recommend measures to cushion the effects of the exercise.

    There is also the fear that implementation of the report may led to possible retrenchment in the face of the excruciating economic circumstances in the country. This will worsen unemployment and throw more people below the poverty ladder. But government’s response to this is that the Oronsaye report is to improve efficiency in public service and not intended to retrench workers.

    That may be the underlying principle. But the two are not mutually exclusive. It is inconceivable that you can scrap agencies, merge some and subsume others without job loss. They cannot just add up.

    But all this cannot in any way detract from the pristine principles behind cost saving and efficiency in running the business of government. Should the business of government be cost effective and run in the most efficient manner? YES!  There doesn’t seem to be any disagreement about that even as the overall public good ought to be the guiding principle.

    Developing countries make concerted efforts to reduce the cost of governance to conserve funds for infrastructural development that will impact positively on the lives of the citizenry. India followed this route by introducing e-governance in administration. Ghana, Thailand, Ethiopia and Kenya resorted to drastic reductions in the number of political appointees to arrive at the same trajectory.

    Beyond the scrapping and merging of agencies, commissions and parastatals, there are other costs of running government that must be equally pruned down if the right objectives are to be realized. The expansive bureaucracy consequent of our presidential system; high number of political appointees both at the federal and state levels are real issues to worry. If there is no commensurate effort on the parts of governments to reduce the overall cost of recurrent expenditure especially as they affect political appointees, we may end up scratching the surface of a malignant tumour.

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    What level of progress can we possibly make in situations where political expedience blind the eyes of some governors to the extent of appointing more than 400 special advisers, assistants, etc. with no clearly defined roles? These are the areas to focus. We may need to amend our laws to limit the powers of the presidents and governors to make political appointments tainted by political expedience.

    But all these are spurred and encouraged by the increasing perception of politics as the quickest source of ill-gotten wealth. There must be a deliberate effort to discourage this ruinous tendency. Cost saving and efficiency in running the affairs of government must be seen to permeate all strata of the country’s public life. It must reflect in the salaries and allowances paid to legislators at all levels; it must be seen to be guiding the award of contracts and all public procurement processes.

    This writer was at a workshop organized by an international agency a couple of years ago. A white man and resource person shocked the audience when he disclosed the answer he got when he sought to know why it costs much higher to construct a kilometre of road in Nigeria than Ghana. According to him, the answer he got was that ‘Nigerian kilometre is longer than Ghanaian kilometre’.

    We burst into laughter. But he had succeeded in ridiculing us. He had succeeded in drawing attention to the phenomenon of inflated contracts and the constraints they impose on cost saving and efficiency in the delivery of public goods and services. This area must also come into focus. So also scorching corruption in public offices!

    Implementation of the Oronsaye report is just a small fraction of the fundamental reforms the government should undertake to reposition the country on the path of steady progress, growth and development.

  • Not only state police

    Not only state police

    It would amount to a significant shift in policy, if the current federal administration settles for the establishment of state police. This is especially so, given the positions of previous regimes on this important but controversial initiative in policing.

    Heightened prospects for the setting up of state police emerged after a meeting last week between President Bola Tinubu and 36 state governors on the state of the economy and lingering insecurity.

     Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris told the media after the meeting: “There is also a discussion around the issue of state police. The federal government and the state governments are mulling the possibility of setting up of state police”.

    Though discussions are still at the infancy stages and will only take shape after more deliberations with stakeholders, it is perhaps the first time the federal government will be showing positive disposition to the setting up of state police. That makes the matter intriguing.

    The initiative is bound to come up with new challenges in view of its linkage with some contentious issues of our federal order. But then, meaningful progress may be hampered if steps are not taken to equally address some structural defects in the system of government we currently operate.

    That is the first challenge. The other has to do with anticipated opposition to the proposition due largely to vested interests and the policy directions of Tinubu’s predecessors on the matter. All these will impact on the level of progress the federal and state governments make on state police.

    But these should not discourage the new initiative because it is an integral component of the federal system of government we currently operate. So, there is nothing strange about the proposition except that our lopsided and badly skewed federal system of government that operates in its most aberrant form has been its greatest obstacle. The lethargy by our leaders in embracing some of the pristine components of federalism is a consequence of this convoluted order. With such disposition, it is little surprising that discussions on state police have overtime been mired in controversy.  The situation is unlikely to be different this time around.

     Before now, former president, Obasanjo had displayed clear preference for community policing. Thus, in 2004, he launched the pilot phase in Enugu. Its objective was to establish a clear departure from traditional policing that was reactive and incident-based; to a problem-solving oriented policing that is proactive, with the community as the cornerstone of policing objectives.

    Community policing also drew the appeal of ex-president, Buhari such that in 2017, the then Inspector General of Police IGP, Ibrahim Idris launched the Community Policing Re-engagement Strategic Guidelines. The guidelines would make for proactive approach to policing and active engagement of local communities to reduce crimes and anti-social behaviours. He also inaugurated a seven-man community management committee to oversee the initiative.

    This policy got further fillip in 2020 when the then IGP, Mohammed Adamu unveiled its structure to involve local communities in crime fighting.  He said at the occasion that community policing was designed to allow communities take responsibility for the project by setting up advisory committees made up of traditional rulers, faith-based organizations, traders, women and youths.

    But even as Buhari showed preference for community policing, he did not hide his strong aversion for the setting up of state police. He had in a television interview in 2022 completely ruled out such initiative. ”State police is not an option”, he said in the wake of calls from Nigerians and some governors for state police and rising insecurity across the country.

    He did not stop there but went on to draw parallels with events at the local governments to show the dire challenges bound to be exacerbated if and when   state police is instituted.

    Hear him: “find out the relationship between the local governments and the state governors. Is the third tier of government getting what it is supposed to get constitutionally? Let the people at the local government tell you the truth; the fight between local governments and the governors”.

    By this analogy, Buhari was apparently drawing attention to the challenge of funding that will ensue when state governors are made to shoulder the responsibility of funding state police. That is not all as it further raises the question of the capacity of the states to fund such initiative without certain adjustments in the revenue allocation formula. These are some of the fundamentals that will be part of the calculations in the final decision to set up state police.

    Community policing and state police are by no means mutually exclusive as both entail some form of decentralization in policing functions. But whereas the federal government retains its unitary control over the police institution through community policing, state police will entail the devolution of some of those powers to the sub-national units.

    That can only be brought about through constitutional amendment that delists the police from the exclusive legislative list to the concurrency of both the federal and state governments. That will also entail clearly spelt out relationship that should exist between the federal and state police, source of funding and safeguards in case of conflict of functions.

    The move will invoke a wide gamut of fundamental changes in the structure and organization of our federal contraption. Because it will entail far-reaching changes, it is not an exercise that can be completed in a hurry. Sufficient time must be given to the initiative so as not to rush into recommendations that may turnout counterproductive.

    There are genuine fears on prospects by state governors to deploy the new initiative to unwholesome means. Their current abuse of the state vigilante services to hound political opponents; greed for power and do-or-die politics do not leave anyone in comfort that state police will not become another monster in the hands of the governors. Some have even predicted anarchy as most of the party thugs in the ruling parties may form the nucleus of the initial intake into state police. Such a flawed recruitment process will ultimately manifest negatively in the harassment of political opponents and non-indigenes especially during elections.

    These fears are real. But they are not sufficient to countermand the imperative of the state police institution. It is true that our politics is rancorous; deadly. But that is because our processes and institutions are weak.

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    Yes, the federal system of government we currently operate is disproportionately strong. But its weaknesses lie in the overconcentration of powers virtually controlling life and death. It is federal in principle but actually unitary in practice. Many of the functions that are performed better by sub-national units in such arrangements were appropriated by the central authority leading to glaring inefficiencies.

    The issue in focus is a case in point. The evidence is clear in the escalating insecurity across the country and the agitation for state police. So it is not just enough to fault state police on account of possible abuses to which state governors are likely to subject that institution. The federal police has not also fared any better in this regard.

    Our concerns should be why our politics is that rancorous, intolerant of opposition; why the bitter competition to capture power by hook and crook? And why is it possible for politicians to subvert the rules of electoral engagement and get away with them? These are the real issues to contend with. The way they are tackled will resolve most of the obstacles that impede economic and political development in the country.

    My take is that our national politics is that deadly and rancorous because of the lure to corner the huge resources at the centre. Prebendalism in the face of the inability of the system to discourage corruption in public offices is the greatest challenge to real progress.  Diluting and whittling down the enormous powers at the centre will reduce the viciousness of our politics.

    Devolution of powers and fiscal federalism will take care of the fears about state police. It calls for restructuring through far-reaching constitutional changes, not just one that isolates state police. The tendency by state governors to appropriate state police for self-serving objectives can be obviated though constitutional safeguards.

  • Hunters or criminals in disguise?

    Hunters or criminals in disguise?

    A number of events last week, appear to have unearthed a new dimension to the escalating insecurity in the country. They have to do with the challenge of truckloads of people who claim to be hunters but whose manner of entry into some communities in south has continued to raise serious apprehension.

    This is by no means, the first time trailer loads of people with no clearly defined mission would be intercepted in parts of the south. In such recorded suspicious situations, those arrested were profiled with the innocent ones allowed to go. But some others who had suspicious motives were made to face further interrogation.

    Ironically, the same trend is re-enacting, albeit in a very dangerous manner. Nothing bears this more eloquently than the arrest of 149 suspected criminals posing as hunters by the Ondo State Security Network Agency (Amotekun).  The suspects who were inside trucks from very far parts of the country were arrested in three local governments of the state. At the time of their arrest, they claimed to be hunters even as they were found with different weapons concealed inside their luggage kept in the trucks.

     State commander of Amotekun, Adetunji Adeleye said a majority of those people who claimed to be hunters were arrested around the black spots in the local governments with rampant robbery and kidnapping incidents. 

    Before the Ondo incident, a social crusader, Chinonso Uba (Nonso Nkwa) had in a widely circulated video, raised alarm that a truck from the north was suspiciously dropping off some people at the fringes of one local government area within the Imo State capital territory, Owerri.

     He was miffed by the mission of those people as each was accompanied by a dog. He wondered what the mission of the people was in a state that does not boost of serious forests and has no reputation for hunting.

    Uba’s suspicion was further raised by the fact that the strangers and their dogs were dropped off by the truck at a shanty where some northerners’ warehouse condemned iron; wondering the type of hunting expedition they are into without any knowledge of the forests in the state.

    Not long after Uba’s alert, an independently circulated video showing a group of people with their dogs being profiled by the security agencies began to circulate in the social media space.

    Given the similarities the trending video bore with Uba’s account, the impression was created that it was the Imo scene he complained about.  But credible information indicated that it was a different but closely related situation altogether.

    It was an earlier arrest and profiling of people who arrived Delta State in a similar suspicious fashion but with assorted weapons ostensibly for the same hunting expedition. Available snapshots from the Delta State police command indicated that they were profiled, found to be genuine hunters and set free.

    That may as well be. But the Delta police command’s clearance left many searing questions unanswered. Their hurried clearance cannot really bring a closure to the puzzles raised by the manner of arrival of the suspects, the weapons found in their possession and the type of hunting they are into.

    The clearance was too simplistic and hasty when all the facts of the matter are considered. Not with the increasing multi-dimensional insecurity and the cover of the forests in complicating the situation. Not with the increasing inability of the security agencies to smoke out the rampaging criminals taking advantage of the bushes and forests to levy war on the rest of us.

    About last December, a welder very familiar with this writer had informed him that while working at a site somewhere in the outskirts of Owerri, he saw about 30 strange men of all sizes with local dogs of all descriptions combing the forests. Since he had lived in the north and speaks the Hausa language very fluently, he asked them in Hausa, my friends are these dogs for sale? They ignored him but one of them turned back, looked at him without uttering a word.

    When Uba came up with the alert in one of the popular radio stations in Owerri, the same man told me that ‘Nonso Nkwa’ has come public with that story he told me earlier. But since Uba’s account happened on February 1, it is clear that the so-called hunting has been going on without anybody raising an eyebrow.

    That is the dilemma some states in the south are currently entangled in. There are obvious questions to be resolved by this emerging brand of hunting. If the authorities in Delta did not address the pertinent questions thrown up by hunting narrative and had to release the suspects in that manner, that should be their kettle of fish. The good thing is that questions are now being raised in Ondo and Imo on the criminal motive of the touted hunters.

    There are issues with where the supposed hunters were coming from, their number and mode of arrival. There should be explanations for the weapons they carry and what manner of hunting they intend doing; the timeframe of that activity. We also needed to know how they got information about those forests before setting out for the long journey. And many more!

    And as Adeleye queried, if they are genuine hunters why not come open? Why hide the weapons they ferried from far-flung parts of the country to Ondo? And why would they have to come from the northern parts of the country or outside our shores to hunt in an Ondo village forest they have no knowledge of?

    There is also the propriety of not reporting either to the security agencies or the traditional rulers in whose domain the forests are domiciled. You just cannot invade someone’s backyard ostensibly for hunting without seeking permission. There is everything wrong with that. 

    If they were genuine hunters, they should have made consultations to know the limits of their endeavour. Certain forest reserves require permits and registration before entry. None of these conditions were met by the supposed hunters. Yet, they had the temerity to invade forests and bushes in cultures alien to them.

    It is not just about the right and freedom of movement. Neither is it about the right of any Nigerian to choose where to live and do business. Such rights have their limits. They stop where those of the owners of the forests begin.

    These forests and bushes belong to people and communities. You cannot possibly invade them without permission or consultation with the locals. Even then, the touted hunters may not even be Nigerians to speak of rights and freedom to do business anywhere.

    Read Also: How police, hunters, Amotekun rescued five pupils, teachers, kidnapped in Ekiti

    As in the case of the herdsmen, we have since been told that many of the criminal elements amongst them are foreigners. That they speak a language common to most people in the north and shared by Nigerian neighbours does not make them citizens. Nobody is there to profile this dimension. And that is the danger.

    What will the scenario look like if truckloads of southerners with arms and ammunitions are ferried and dumped in Sokoto or Yobe states ostensibly on a hunting expedition at these uncertain times? And are there no longer restrictions on arms and ammunition bearing by unauthorized persons?

    There is little doubt that the emerging development is a potent danger to lives and properties. It is a possible recruiting ground for the banditry and kidnapping that has left a greater chunk of this country at the mercy of all manner of criminals. It is surprising the authorities are treating this dimension with kid gloves even in the face of their helplessness in maintaining law and order.

    The Ondo State Amotekun commander said they have strong reasons to believe that the touted hunters are the people who turn to kidnappers and armed robbers at night especially at the bad portions of the roads. He is not far from the truth. The arrest of most of the suspects at the bad spots within the local governments of the state gives further credence to this.

    It is a matter of grave concern that the security agencies are not according priority attention to this possible dimension to the festering insecurity. That could be part of the reasons insecurity is defying solution. How the so-called hunters travelled from the far north with arms and ammunitions undetected at the litany of checkpoints remains a puzzle.

    Amotekun deserves commendation. Chinonso Uba also needs to be commended for his courage in alerting the citizenry on possible threats to lives and properties. It is incumbent on state governments working with the traditional rulers to ensure that communities monitor events in the bushes and forests around them. With events from some other parts of the country, it strikes as a mortal risk to allow forests in the south to be occupied by a band of invaders under questionable hue. This brand of hunting must stop.

  • FCT police and Al-Kadriyar sisters

    FCT police and Al-Kadriyar sisters

    Keen observers of the abduction of the Al-Kadriyar family members among others from the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), must have been pleasantly surprised at the sudden news of the successful rescue of the captives by the police and the army.

    Police authorities had in a statement said, “Following the relentless advancement of the FCT police command anti-kidnapping squad in a concerted effort with troops of the Nigerian Army, on the heels of the kidnappers that struck the Zuma 1 area in the Bwari Area Council on the 2nd of January 2024, the FCT police has rescued the victims and reunited them with their families”.

    It said the operatives successfully rescued the victims around the Kajuru forest in Kaduna State at about 11.30pm on Saturday, January 20. The command eulogized what it called the uplifted security architecture of the FCT that has brewed public confidence while assuring utmost maintenance of peace for all.

    A previous rescue attempt by the police accompanied by an uncle to the Al-Kadriyar sisters had ended fatally as he and two of the policemen involved in the rescue operation were killed in the process. The killings and events that followed the abduction had diminished hopes of any respite through security intervention.

    The risk of any further attack harming the abductees or annoying the bandits to the point of killing more of their captives, made such option less attractive. So when the FCT police command announced the rescue of the captives through coordinated efforts with the army, many wondered how they came about that feat.

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    How did they engage the murderous bandits without a single casualty? Was there any armed confrontation or the forests had been made so hot for the bandits that they had to flee and abandon their captives? What of the issue of ransom especially given the uncompromising stance of the kidnappers? Or did the abductees especially the Kadriyar sisters regain freedom without paying the N100million contentious ransom? Such were the posers thrown up when the police announced the rescue of the victims.

    As searing as these posers were, the police may not be really obliged to explain how they came about that feat. They could easily hide under the discreet nature of security operations to avoid full disclosure. But that would still leave many gaps unfilled in a matter that had attracted considerable national attention.

    But, the public is still entitled to know the circumstance of that rescue operation given the elevated national interest it had generated. Such information is vital to sustain public confidence (which the police alluded to) on the capacity of the security agencies to secure the citizenry.

    Such details never came until the uncles to the Al-Kadriyar sisters who were involved in the negotiations came up with their account of what actually transpired. Curiously, their account untied all the above posers. They turned out assigning a chance role for the army but none for the police in the whole encounter.

    Sheriff Al-Kadriyar, uncle to the girls who was privy to the negotiations and subsequent release of the girls, said the police had no role in their release. According to him, ransom was paid and the girls were dropped off in the forest for the family to go and collect them.

    “There’s nothing like rescue on this matter; we paid ransom-even though I can’t disclose how much for security reasons” he said. Further details on the release of the girls indicated that they were dropped on a particular location in the thick of the forest by the bandits on that Saturday after each of the families involved had paid an agreed sum of ransom three days earlier. One of the girls then called the family giving details of their location.

    Then a group of family members were mobilized to proceed to the location. The area is a very thick forest that scarred the family members. They then sought assistance from a contingent of the Nigerian Army they met on their way to lead them into the forest.

    The army obliged them and successfully guided them into the thick forest where the girls were. They subsequently took them home and united them with their family. That was the account of the release of the Al-Kadriyar sisters and other abductees whose families paid the ransom

    For the Al-Kadriyar family, their account of the incident is merely to clarify issues and not to discredit the police. They were apparently reacting to the wide gaps between the claims by the police and the circumstance of the girls’ release. They may also have been reacting to possible fears of victimization.

    But their intervention filled the yawning gaps left by the claims of the police. The FCT police command should take responsibility for any image deficits from the contradictions arising from their account of the rescue encounter. The Bwari abduction was a matter of intense public interest given the circumstance of it.

    Not only were more than 27 people kidnapped from that council area in one fell swoop, some police men who tried to thwart the abduction lost their lives in the process. The Al-Kadriyar family lost two persons-one in the process of foiling the abduction and the other for failing to meet up with the deadline for the payment of the N60million ransom.

    The kidnappers also killed four of the abducted victims in a very callous manner apparently to drive the point home that they meant business. This was in addition to raising the ransom for the Al-Kadriyars to N100million with a further threat to kill the girls if they failed to meet the next deadline. All these were bound to raise public anxiety on the circumstances of the touted rescue operation by the police and the army.  

    Again, the security authorities have always told whoever cared to listen that their inability to rescue abducted victims even when the location of the kidnappers is known is to minimize collateral damage to the lives of the captives. Somehow, the public has come to appreciate that line of reasoning. So when the police gleefully announced that it had in conjunction with the army rescued the Bwari abductees, there was bound to be public curiosity as to how they came about it. Have our security agencies evolved new strategies to rescue abductees without putting their lives in harms’ way? What of the bandits? How did they neutralize the bandits before the abductees were freed?

    The way these posers are resolved has serious implications for confidence building in the capacity of our security architecture to get a perfect handle to the escalating insecurity. Ironically, public confidence in the capacity of the security agencies which the FCT police command sought to shore up through their claims, turned out in a reverse position. The FCT police should hold themselves responsible for the ensuing image deficit.

    There was neither need for the police to claim a purported feat by its anti-kidnapping squad when none existed. Nor was the public expecting them to perform miracles in the circumstance. Armed confrontation with the bandits was not a viable option as it could harm the abductees.

     We saw how that played out in the abduction of the Abuja-Kaduna train passengers. So nobody was expecting the security agencies to perform magic once the abductees had been taken into the custody of the criminal elements. The ensuing controversy is avoidable.

    What has clearly emerged from the FCT kidnap saga is that ungoverned forests are the greatest challenge to the war against insecurity in this country. Bandits, Kidnappers and all manner of terrorists take cover in the thick of the forests.

    Perhaps, our security agencies have to come to terms with how to penetrate our forests, smoke out the bad elements hibernating there and diminish their power for nuisance. For as long as these forests give them cover, so long shall we be at the mercy of all manner of criminals taking refuge there.

    It is getting increasingly clearer there are powerful individuals behind the cycle of insecurity that has put this country on edge. The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake said that much recently in relation to the banditry in that sector. He also spoke of the threats he has been getting since that statement. Who could have been threatening him except the powerful? The level of sophistication, planning and execution that go into banditry, terrorism and kidnapping is way beyond the ordinary. Our security architecture needs credible intelligence to unmask the powerful sponsors of the ravaging insecurity before they make the country ungovernable.

  • Kidnappers’ republic

    Kidnappers’ republic

    It is heart-refreshing that President Tinubu has promised not to rest until the scourge of terrorism, banditry and kidnapping that resurged in various parts of the country is stamped out. He met with service chiefs last week to find solutions to escalating and embarrassing insecurity especially in and around the Federal Capital Territory FCT.

    The Minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike also summoned an emergency Security Council meeting where he was reported to have read riots acts to area council chairmen even as he assured that the government was handling the situation and respite was in sight.

    The FCT has been in the news for bad reasons following the abduction of a man identified as Mansoor Al-Kadriyar alongside his six daughters and many others in the Bwari Area Council of the FCT. The father of the young girls had earlier been released apparently to enable him source the N60 million ransom demanded by the bandits for the release of his children.

    As the family sourced for the money, a discreet attempt by the security agencies to free the captives turned out catastrophic. An uncle to the abductees who led the security agencies to the rescue mission was gunned down by the bandits. Two of the three policemen hit by bullets during the gun exchange reportedly died.

    Apparently infuriated by the failed rescue attempt, the kidnappers were said to have been very uncompromising when the family told them they were only able to raise N30 million. After so much negotiations and pleas on the deadline for the payment of the ransom, the bandits instructed the family to come and receive a ‘message’ at a certain location in the night.

    When the family got to the location around 10 pm, they were shocked to see one of the girls Nabeeha and three other victims brutally murdered.  They had no option than to take the corpse of Nabeeha with them. One of those murdered alongside Nabeeha was a 13-year old secondary school girl Ariyo Folorunsho who was also abducted from the Bwari council area of the FCT.

    The kidnappers later called the Al-Kadriyar family that they had increased the ransom to N100 million-N20 million each for the five remaining girls. They threatened to kill the girls if the ransom was not paid on the next deadline. That was the ordeal of the Al-Kadriyar family in the hands of the demented bandit-kidnappers.

    The development caused so much national trepidation that some groups began online fund raising to save the lives of the remaining girls.

    As the fund raising was going on, a former minister of communications, Isa Pantami told an anxious nation that a friend of his had paid in N50 million into the bank account of the girls’ father to enable him make up the N100 million ransom to save his daughters from mortal harm.

    That was the kidnapping saga the country was embroiled in. The incident denoted a metaphor for the escalating kidnappings and sundry criminalities that have reduced the worth of life in this country. But worthy of note was the helplessness and hopelessness of the Kadriyar family as they took resort to self-help to secure the release of their children.

    Even when they involved the security agencies, the outcome was fatal. Nabeeha may have been killed to punish the family for involving the police to rescue the poor girls. And after that callous murder, the family was left with no other option than to source for the ransom as the consequences of further default could be very dire.

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    So those who donated money to facilitate the release of the remaining girls are not to blame. It is also beside the point whether it was Pantami or his unnamed friend that provided the N50 million. The lives of the girls were really in grave danger after their sister had been killed. And if ransom was the only way out in the circumstance so be it.

     But the experience of the Kadriyar family mirrors vividly the predicament of Nigerians in the hands of bandits and sundry kidnappers since that social malaise surface on our national chessboard. During the last regime, bandits, terrorists, herdsmen and kidnapers levied so much war on the rest of the society that questions were raised as to whether law and order had broken down irretrievably in the country.

    There was the embarrassing Abuja-Kaduna train attack that led to the killing of innocent souls and abduction of many. For months running, the bandits held the captives hostage releasing piecemeal, those who were able to pay their ransom. The government appeared helpless as the reign of the bandits held sway. But the government hid under the excuse that it was merely exercising caution so as not to harm the abductees in any eventual attack on the bandits.

    That could as well be. But such excuses are all that the bandits required to oil the wheels of their illicit business. Little wonder abduction and kidnapping for ransom by all manner of criminals have continued to be on the upward surge. The fate of the Kadriyars is a consequence of this state of anarchy.

    It exposes the helplessness of abductees in the face of the inability of the security agencies to find a handle to this national embarrassment. It conjures the image of the sovereignty of the bandits – a republic within a republic.

     In this column, I had in May 2021 under the title “A bandits’ Republic” expressed fears that the country was increasingly sliding to a verity of the sovereignty of the bandits. Then, the reign of the bandits-herdsmen and kidnappers especially in parts of the north had begun to convey the unmistakable impression that there existed a bandits’ republic within the federal republic of Nigeria.

     Then, bandits had taken control of the many ungoverned forests in the country from where they levy war on the society dictating the rules of engagement with the government of the day seemingly helpless. That is the miserable scenario re-enacted by the Bwari incident. But the bandits’ territory is not a normal republic where the rule of law and due process form the basis for political action.

    It is a republic in its most aberrant form, sharing common traits with the Hobbesian state of nature where life has at once become short, nasty and brutish. That republic is governed by the law of the jungle, bestial instincts and survivalist predilections. No singular economic or political activity goes on there. Neither are the inmates under the sovereignty of any singular dominion.

    But adjoining the jungle republic is a modern government (republic) which the bandits rebel against. Ironically non-state actors operating from jungle republic regularly mount serious attacks on the legitimate government equipped with all the paraphernalia of office with the latter unable to establish its firm authority.

    That is the paradox presented by the unmitigated reign of terror by the bandits and sundry kidnappers. Why will victims of the regular onslaughts of bandits not pay ransom if only to save their lives in the face of the inability of the government to protect them?  

    It is not just enough for the government to caution on the dangers of crowd-funding for ransom. Neither does it suffice to discourage families of victims from paying ransom. The government must show capacity and control in its statutory duty of securing lives and property. That is the basis of its authority and legitimacy.

    A situation the bandits compete with the government for the loyalty of the citizens with the latter negotiating their freedom with ransom, creates the unmistakable image of a kidnappers’ republic within a republic. It has all the trappings of state failure. The government must rise quickly and diminish the authority and seeming invincibility of these non-state actors taking refuge in our forests.

    Those hiding in the forests under the guise of whatever business are the biggest challenge to the escalating banditry and kidnapping. The inability to separate genuine herdsmen occupying the forests from their criminal counterparts provides the cannon fodder for the continued reign of the bandits and kidnappers.  What to do?

  • New Year cross over dilemma

    New Year cross over dilemma

    There are times events happen in ways that tend to interrogate the correctness of our responses to certain beliefs and practices. This is more so in our clime where all manner of leaders including the religious and traditional capitalize on some doctrines (known and invented) to command their adherents to certain ways of conduct and behaviour.

    High poverty rate, ignorance, illiteracy and disease combine to reinforce peoples’ attachment to nature, the mundane and superstition. The combined forces of all these can sometimes be very confusing even to the most discerning.

    One of such is the concept of cross over to the New Year. Cross over as applied to the New Year, is a relatively new concept. Its origin and how it became a dominant paradigm to denote the movement from an outgoing year to a new one is not very clear. But it gained popularity and traction from the yearly activities invented by sundry religious bodies to mark the end of the year and the commencement of a new one.

    The Oxford Learner’s Dictionary defined crossover as the process or result of changing from one area of activity or style of doing something to another.

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    The midnight of December 31st being the last day of every year has become the bridge through which people walk across the New Year. It is characterized by a flurry of activities-midnight church services, prayers and night vigil all in preparation for the eventual movement to the New Year. Cross over has become such a big deal attracting such significance that one begins to wonder if there is any special barriers hindering people from moving from 31st December to January 1st.

    Put differently, what is really special in moving over to the New Year? Apart from being the commencement of another year, what prospects does it offer that cannot be found in crossing over from any other day of our lives to the other? Or is the suggestion being made that all those who managed to cross over to the new year will have life in abundance bereft of all the vicissitudes of nature?

    So why the impression that the new year will bring equal opportunities, equal favours and life in abundance to all those that managed to cross over to it? There is a story of a certain pastor who raised one of his legs across a table during a cross over church service and commanded his followers to pass through it. And his flock followed one after the other in the apparent belief that doing so will see them through in the new year where perhaps, all the problems of their lives would be solved.

    That is the ridiculous extent some people can go in their dramatization and implementation of the concept of cross over and the prospects the new year holds for all those who were able to make it. But does the new year possess that magic wand to wipe out all the misfortunes of life? Apart from being the commencement of a new year, how is it different from the other 30 days in that month?

     These questions are raised because the good, the bad and the ugly events we wish away in the outgoing year still find themselves in the coming year in one form or the other. The New Year may bring some favours to some people; but the misfortunes of life will also follow it.

    Yet, everybody celebrates the cross over to the new year and looks up to it for the best life can offer. Even governments are not left out in this optimism on the prospects the new year offers. We saw President Tinubu in his New Year broadcast marshalling his programs to give Nigerians hope of a better future.

    That is at the level of the government and it is in order. Both at the corporate and individual levels, businesses and families offer prayers and make plans for the New Year. There is also the dimension of New Year resolutions. All these can be admitted.

    But it is a different thing entirely when the impression is conveyed that mere movement from an outgoing year to a new one holds the solution to all our misfortunes and challenges. It does not. As a matter of fact, it could turn out so calamitous for some very early in the New Year that you begin to wonder if the previous year was not better for those people. That is the irony in the rising tendency by some religious groups and their pastors to skew the concept of crossover to sometimes, mislead their members. That is the challenge of giving false hopes and raising expectations on the wonders of the New Year.

    This dilemma was brought closer home by the unfortunate death of four people who had gone to make some purchases in a supermarket at a suburb of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja on the second day of January 2024.

    Reports had it that the four persons were among many others who were in the supermarket located in One Man village, near Mararaba in the Karu Local Government Area of Nasarawa State when four armed gun men entered and began to shoot sporadically. The hooded men who were said to have concealed their arms in their flowing gowns opened fire immediately they entered the supermarket which saw customers scampering for safety.

    They fired indiscriminately as they made quick to ransack the supermarket apparently looking for available cash. When the confusion created by the attack settled, four men were discovered lying in a pool of their blood. One of them was said to be wearing the identity tag of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

    The state police command confirmed the death of the four customers. Their bodies have been deposited at the hospital even as the police and other security agencies have commenced investigations which they promised to make public. That is the sad end of the four people a day after the New Year. They may have gone to the supermarket to make purchases for their families who may be waiting at home for those items.

    They may have been part of the crowd that celebrated the cross over from last year to the new one. They may have been part of the people told by their religious leaders to perform some rituals as a gateway to the Eldorado the cross over offers.

    They may have been part of the night vigil church services or its cross over variant. But see where they found themselves two days after the celebrated cross over. It is none of their fault. They neither committed any known offence nor are they more sinful than many of us still alive. But they have fallen to act of wickedness by some demented persons in search for quick money. May their souls rest in peace!

    They are just victims of the inordinate ambition of some rogue elements bent on making money by all means. Why kill innocent people who came to shop? Why waste precious lives just because you want to steal? Since their intention is to steal, why not satisfy that vaulting urge and spare innocent lives?

    Elsewhere, we have also witnessed some other unfortunate incidents since crossing over to the New Year. In Oyo State, no fewer than five people were killed on the New Year day when a man was said to have deliberately rammed his car into a group of friends in a party.

    Two children died in a New Year accident that occurred along the Lagos-Ibadan expressway. These are just a few of the unfortunate events of the New Year. The intention here is not to highlight calamities as the New Year would also come with its positive sides for many. 

    The goal is to arouse our collective consciousness and redirect our minds on the way and manner we perceive the transition from an old year to a new one. That these unfortunate incidents happened the day we celebrated the magic cross over and a day after, would suggest there is nothing really special in the fanfare and drama that accompany the movement from December 31st to January 1st.

    We are free to celebrate that day – usually a public holiday in this country. But let nobody be deceived by whatever prospects cross over as a concept is touted to hold for the living. Some have successfully crossed over only to meet their untimely death. How do you explain that?