Category: Emeka Omeihe

By Emeka Omeihe

Penultimate Sunday’s clash in Emene, Enugu State between security agencies and suspected members of the outlawed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra IPOB has again brought to the fore the appropriateness of the latter’s responses to perceived security threats.

As should be envisioned in matters of such grave nature, the circumstance of that escalated clash has since been mired in controversy as both the security agencies and the IPOB have treaded blames. In a statement by its spokesperson, Peter Afunanya, the DSS said its patrol team was attacked in Emene by members of IPOB. The agency which did not indicate where and how the attack occurred said it lost two of its personnel in the violent and unprovoked attack.

But the IPOB has a different story to tell. Its publicity secretary, Emma Powerful said in a statement that its members were holding a peaceful meeting when operatives of the DSS stormed the venue and started shooting sporadically. He claimed that 21 of their members were killed in the ensuing shoot-out even as 47 others were arrested.

Independent accounts had it that trouble started when IPOB members who gathered at St Patrick’s community school were infiltrated by the DSS operatives in an apparent attempt to stop the meeting. This led to arguments and some scuffles with the DSS calling for reinforcement. In a jiffy, about a dozen patrol vans loaded with well armed security operatives comprising of the police, army and the DSS stormed the venue and started shooting.

In the ensuing melee, sounds of gunshot filled the air between St Patrick’s secondary school and St Joseph’s Catholic Church that was in an early morning mass session disrupting the service as people ran for their lives to escape the flying bullets. Despite the disagreement on how the matter degenerated between the security agents and the IPOB, there are certain salient facts that stand out very distinctly.

The first is that the venue of the clash was St Patrick’s secondary school where IPOB members had gathered for a meeting for whatever purpose. It is also clear that they have been having meetings at that venue on Sundays for quite some time now. The second point is that the DSS had privileged security information that such meetings go on there every Sunday. The agency may have been there that morning to abort the meeting but unfortunately things turned awry. These are clearly established facts.

But there is a disagreement regarding the purpose of the gathering. While the DSS imputes ‘sinister’ motives to the meeting especially given that IPOB is outlawed, the latter says their meetings are peaceful as they are not known to bear arms or take to any form of violence. There were even suggestions that IPOB members were there preparing to attack only God knows who. It therefore stands to reason that misreading of the purpose of the meeting may have been largely responsible for the way the security agencies reacted to the matter such that resulted in the casualty levels that have drawn outrage across the divide.

And that is the issue to contend with. It raises issues on the propriety of the responses of the security agencies to perceived security threats. Yes, the DSS had credible information that IPOB members meet there every Sunday. And given its current status, security operatives are to liberty to monitor their activities. In the instant case, they read some sinister motive to such gatherings.

Having found out that IPOB members usually meet there, what ought to be the right responses to any security threat they seemingly posed? Did the management of the situation represent a measured response to whatever suspicions nursed by the agency? The answer is that the matter was poorly handled. And that is the crux of the issue.

If the DSS suspected sinister motives were behind them, there are more credible and effective rules of engagement options than what we were treated to on that fateful Sunday. They were at liberty to have liaised with the authorities of the school to stop such meetings from holding at that venue. Additionally and where this fails to rein in the IPOB members, they could have arrived the venue early and barricaded it before the IPOB members arrive. As they arrive individually or even in small groups, the presence of the security agents would have told them that danger was lurking around. In other words, the strategy should have focused more on prevention rather than outright confrontation. Then, also the chances of the provocation that precipitated the killings would have been perfectly averted.

But nothing of such happened. Rather, the DSS went there apparently at the peak of their meeting with insufficient personnel to stop them. And when the agency could no longer manage the situation, it had to call in reinforcement resulting in the gory events that followed. It is also possible as some have insinuated that the decoy was to provoke them into some form of mob action so as to provide the ground to deal mercilessly with them.

What appears obvious is that the situation was poorly managed by the DSS. The overall objective should have been to abort the meeting rather than simulate options that will lead to the application of maximum force. It says a lot of our security agencies especially in a democratic setting that makes unfettered allowance for freedom of assembly and expression.

Unfortunately, the Emene incident bear the imprimatur of events that led to the Oraifite killings in the Ekwusigo Local Government Area of Anambra State not long ago. In that incident, an intra communal misunderstanding over masquerades had turned bloody when the police went to the ancestral home of the IPOB lawyer, Ifeanyi Ejiofor to arrest him over allegations bordering on abduction, assault and malicious damage to property.

The police went to his house the first time and could not find him. On their second coming, they claimed they were attacked by IPOB members stationed in that compound. One event followed the other and mayhem broke out. At the end of the day, the police claimed two of their officers were killed by the IPOB members. But accounts from the community revealed the destruction of property of inestimable value even as two innocent people were also said to have been killed through the firepower of the police and a combined team of sister security agencies that came on reinforcement.

The same buck-passing and blame trading that now characterize the Emene incident was also at play during the Oraifite encounter. It is thus not surprising that suspicions are being raised that security operatives are deploying the outlawed organization as a subterfuge to carry out some agenda. A civil society group, Intersociety has chronicled 15 instances since 2015 where similar killings have taken place ostensibly under the guise that there were IPOB members confronting the security agencies.

Sadly, the feeling is festering that security agencies are now capitalizing on the outlawing of the IPOB to attack and inflict maximum harm on any gathering in areas where such sentiments hold sway. Ironically, the very manner of the coordinated attacks, the dexterity and precision with which they are carried out appear to be in contradistinction with their performances in nagging security challenges in many other parts of the country.

There is something untidy in the feeling that maximum force is all that is required to tackle issues of this nature. Our experience especially with the Boko Haram insurgency should have served a better lesson. It is fact that the mismanagement of the Boko Haram uprising at its early stages through the deployment of excessive force was largely responsible for what it is today. Having realized that very belatedly, the government has had to change strategy including de-radicalization and re-orientating repentant members.

It will serve the collective interest of this country better when we begin to identify and address the misgivings that compel groups like the IPOB to lose faith in the capacity of the government to protect their collect interests and aspirations. These are the issues to contend with rather the seeming obsession with the deployment of maximum force at the slightest provocation.

Emeka Omeihe

Disputes between governors and their predecessors are not new on this clime. This is especially the case where such successors rode to political power courtesy of the sponsorship and goodwill of their predecessors.

Since the return to civil rule, the nation has hardly been spared of devious altercations and their disruptive effects on governance as one governor or the other battles his predecessor for political relevance. In some instances, the misunderstanding is rooted in the vaulting desire of such benefactors not to allow incumbents be themselves. At some other times, beneficiaries bring about the pass through indecent haste to cut off the umbilical cord holding them to their benefactors.

Both tendencies have been at the centre of the recurring disputes between successors and their predecessors in many of the states. But the raging quarrel between Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State and Rochas Okorocha is one of a slightly different hue. Though Uzodimma (given the nullification of the victory of Emeka Ihedioha by the Supreme Court) can pass for Okorocha’s successor, he does not owe his current office to Okorocha.

As matter of fact, Uzodinma was one of the arrowheads of the vociferous opposition in the APC that made it impossible for Okorocha to foist his son-in-law as governor in the last election. Though he came fourth in that election, the highest court in the land had since declared him winner in circumstances that still puzzle not a few.

He was an adversary of Okorocha in that election. And Okorocha did all within his powers to scheme him out to pave the way for his son-in-law but to no avail. Having emerged governor in the circumstance he did, it remains somewhat foggy how Okorocha expected the issues at the centre of their current disputation to be resolved in his favour.

Uzodimma had at a stakeholders meeting of the All Progressives Congress APC in the state said “there were two requests Okorocha made to me when I became governor. The first was to dissolve the panels set up by Ihedioha to probe his administration. I refused to grant the request because I think the mood of the Imo people was in support of the probe. The second request was to allow Dan Nwafor to remain chairman of APC in the state”.

Uzodimma said he also declined the second request on the ground that there are party rules to guide everyone on the matter. But he went further to allege that Okorocha made the requests to pave way for his ambition to run for the presidency in 2023.

These allegations did not go down well with Okorocha. In his reaction, he claimed he has no problem with Uzodimma and accused him of inventing problems where none existed. But he curiously went ahead to list a number of actions of the governor he claimed were ruffling feathers in the state wing of the APC.

He claimed the government in the state is masquerading as APC when in reality it is PDP reincarnate. The former governor strove to justify this claim citing the composition of Uzodimma’s government which he said is almost exclusively of those who were with him in his faction of the PDP to the total exclusion of any known APC member.

On the request for the dissolution of the panels set up by Ihedioha, Okorocha said he had gone court to challenge the propriety in the EFCC probing him on account of petitions raised by the then state government only for the same government to set up about 12 panels probing him on the same issues. But he was quick to add that “real APC members in the state have been wondering why an APC government would retain panels set up by PDP government to probe APC government”.

His reply to the claim that he asked that the faction of the APC led by Daniel Nwafor should be retained was that the issue has gone beyond such pleas since Nwafor has a court order recognizing him as such. But he accused the governor of doing nothing to resolve the impasse even as he wondered how the retention of the factional chairman would advance his purported presidential ambition come 2023.

Though Okorocha set out to show he has no problem with Uzodimma, he curiously ended up proving he has serious issues to sort out with that government. These are not only evident in his submission that Uzodimma’s government is almost composed exclusively of his faction of the PDP to the total exclusion of ‘real’ APC members, but also in the listing of the names of former PDP members he claimed to be occupying key positions in the current administration.

His grouse is also self-evident in his observed incongruity in some of the actions of the governor as it affects APC members. One of such was his claim that ‘real’ APC members have been wondering why an APC government would retain panels set up by a PDP government to probe an APC government. Unless Okorocha does not fit into the tag “real APC members’ he is presumed as one of those rattled by the continuing probes. It is hard to fathom how a senator of the party cannot qualify as a ‘real member’ of that party. The fact that he is the one under probe also suggests that he should have more cause to worry about the probes and must be the arrowhead of such worries.

That is as far as the matter can be stretched. What can be discerned from Okorocha’s responses is that he has more than enough reasons to be unhappy with Uzodimma despite his seemingly futile attempt to deny it. He sees something wrong in Uzodimma carrying along his structures in the formation of the government. But he has also forgotten in a hurry how he actually enlisted into the APC as an elected governor under the platform of the APGA.

He has also wished away how he totally schemed out all the big names in the state APC including a former governor that was the arrowhead of that party right from the ACN to when the merger was actualized. He would want to obliterate the scheme of events that followed his admission into APC. That is hypocrisy in its raw form.

Did he not carry along his own faction of APGA when he was allowed entry into APC on account of his power of incumbency? So why complain now? Or is it a case of poetic justice? At any rate, what difference is there between the APC and the PDP members of that party for all the noise about Uzodimma’s government being more of the PDP than the APC? Okorocha is just piqued that his own faction of the APC or AA is being denied recognition by the state government. That is his cup of tea.

The real issue at stake is the control of the soul of the APC in Imo State. The contention about the authentic party chairman is all about the control of the structures of the party. In the events leading to the last elections, Okorocha had those structures in his pocket and ruthlessly deployed them for his self-serving political ends. Having lost out, he still wants Uzodimma to commit political suicide by ceding the structures of the party to him. That cannot possibly happen. That is all the talk about PDP members in APC government and all that thrash.

But that is not the real issue of interest to Imo people. Their concern is about good governance and the capacity of those in power to deliver quality public goods and services to the constituents. That is yet to happen. Neither can self-serving altercations over the control of the party be of any help. Uzodimma said the mood of the people of the state supports the probes. That is right. Not only do they want the probes to run their full course, they yearn for a quick resolution of the plethora of allegations against the Okorocha’s government.

Serious grounds exist for the probes. A government worth its salt especially one battling legitimacy challenges cannot afford not to align with populist and well intentioned programmes irrespective of the government that instituted them. Okorocha must not be allowed to hide under the APC government that also claims to be fighting corruption to evade those probes.

By Emeka Omeihe

Those criticizing Nigeria’s former President, Olusegun Obasanjo for his supposedly uncomplimentary condolence message on the death of Senator Buruji Kashamu do not seem to understand the wider context in which he wrote. Much of the attacks are propelled by a ‘tradition’ that seemingly abhors talking ill of the dead than the substance and heuristic value of his message. At issue also, was the perception of the messenger by his critics.

It was not surprising that emotions ran high when Obasanjo wrote of Kashamu in a manner that does not seem in conformity with this norm. Even then, he seemed to have anticipated adverse reactions when he entered a caveat to the effect that the life and history of the departed have lessons for all of us on this side of the veil. That is the context in which he wrote.

Obasanjo then proceeded among others, to write, “Buruji  Kashamu in his lifetime used the manoeuvre of law and politics to escape from facing justice on alleged criminal offence in Nigeria and outside Nigeria. But no legal, political, cultural, social or even medical manoeuvre could stop the cold hand of death when the Creator of all of us decides that the time is up”. This is the aspect of his condolence message that turned out contentious.

The issue is whether these statements (as unkind as they seem) amounted to speaking ill of the dead? Even then, what should constitute the right messages to be conveyed during such condolences? And is humanity better served by the manner Obasanjo couched his condolence message on Kashamu’s death?

Much of the grouse of those offended by Obasanjo’s condolence message is that it is against tradition to speak ill of the dead; he was on a voyage to settle old political scores when the deceased is no longer in a position to respond and that he was being vindictive even to the dead. No less a person than former Ekiti State governor, Ayo Fayose launched a verbal attack on Obasanjo accusing him of making uncomplimentary remarks against the deceased when he can no longer join issues with him. He accused Obasanjo of collaborating with Kashamu in some of the things he did politically at some point urging him to stop pretending as a saint which he is not.

Many other Nigerians have in their condolences harped on some other attributes of late Kashamu such as his generosity, philanthropy and doggedness. He was also described as a good-spirited man who placed high premium on the welfare of his community and similar kind expressions. The point of divergence between these views and what Obasanjo said is that they portrayed the deceased very charitably while the reverse seemed to be the case with the latter. They are testimonies representing two sides of the same man.

Ordinarily, they ought to counterbalance the other. They denote the good, the bad and the ugly pasts of the dead man. Conceived this way, the hullabaloo over the manner Obasanjo chose to present his message would have been unnecessary but for our attachment to not speaking ill of the dead. It is also very contentious if that tradition has anything positive for humanity-a rule that only praises and eulogizes while covering up the weaknesses and evil deeds of the dead. Is there any positive lessons for the living such a tendency stands to serve? That is the issue to contend with.

Was Obasanjo actually unkind to the dead? Did he go out of his way to invent spurious and non-existing allegations to discredit a dead man when he can no longer defend himself? Did he invade his private life at death? Were the things he wrote of Kashamu new or issues that had long been in public view? These posers are germane for us to contextualize the issues that have been traded on the seemingly controversial condolence message.

Yes, Obasanjo has been accused of nursing ill political feelings against Kashamu.  That is not in doubt. But it is nothing new. In 2014, he made such feeling public in a letter he wrote to the then National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur. He had then deprecated the prominence being accorded Kashamu who he alleged was “a wanted habitual criminal being installed as my zonal leader in the party”. He had also said he was considering withdrawing his membership from the party if the anomalous situation was not corrected.

But Kashumu, in his response accused him of ill agenda after using him to fight former governor of Ogun State, Gbenga Daniel from whom he wrestled the structures of the party and handed them over to his accuser. He also claimed that in the past, he dined and wined with Obasanjo who on many occasions extolled his sterling qualities and introduced him to a good number of prominent leaders of the PDP in the southwest.

Kashamu wondered why after all these, Obasanjo was now calling him names blaming the presidency for condoning him and asked: “Is it because I did not allow him to hijack the party structures and use it for his devious motives? He was later to institute a libel suit against Obasanjo.

It is thus not in doubt that Obasanjo had issues with Kashamu. They have also had some form of mutually beneficial association. But Obasanjo had while Kashamu was alive said uncomplimentary things about him.  And some of the things said in the condolence message have been in public domain for quite some years now. You may quarrel with the way he couched his message. You may pick holes with the fact that Obasanjo had also taken advantage of his association with Kashamu in the past.

The issue to determine is, were the things written factual or fabrication to paint the dead man black? If they are factual, does it serve societal good to conceal them only to present the glowing attributes of the dead? What lessons do we intend to serve humanity by the choices we make in the presentation of condolence messages. These are the searing posers. And they go far beyond Kashamu.

Obasanjo seemed to have provided answers to this tangle in his response to criticisms on his condolence message. Hear him: “When I was growing up in our community, when anyone known with bad character died, we usually only mourn him and bury him. No eulogy; no praise singing. We must learn from such a passage. There will be good lessons, there will be bad lessons. We should not cover up bad histories and conducts so that the right lesson can be learnt”.

He has said it all. He even went further to dare people to write whatever they like about him when he transits. That is a show of good faith. The issue is not whether Obasanjo is a saint after all. Neither is it a matter of nursing some differences with the deceased. We are concerned with his message and what future it holds for humanity.

His message is futuristic and ambitious given the decadence in our societal values- a degeneration that has been responsible for many of the woes that afflict the entire gamut of our national life. The message is intended to open up a new direction in the way we look at condolence messages. It is intended to correct stereotypes that have failed to serve us. And we should all rise and embrace the new direction.

The issue is not just about Kashamu. He is already dead and has no way of knowing what Obasanjo wrote of him. Therefore, he is not the target. The message is for all those alive who behave as if the inevitable end will not come. They are the people that should worry about damning testaments when they pass away. And if the fear of such unfavourable verdicts gets them to turn a new leaf, the nation would be better for it. Then also, Obasanjo would have invaluably upped the ante in national moral renaissance.

The development should serve a lesson to all who have scant regard for the consequences of their actions in public life. And they are legion. There are many of them in public places who bestrode the landscape like colossus even with putrid skeletons in their cupboards. They are the people to worry that the verdict of their life will be put the way it is when they are no more. That should be the new direction. If it gets people to part ways with their dubious and inglorious pasts that accentuate all manner of immoral conduct, we are all better for it.

By Emeka Omeihe

Those who have been grieving over the astronomical hike in the cost of Land Use Charge by the Lagos State government, now have cause to smile. The administration of Babajide Sanwo-Olu has taken another look at the land tax regime with approvals and concessions that consigned the old order to the dustbin of history. By the terms of the new regime announced by the Commissioner of Finance Dr. Rabiu Olowo, the state government cancelled the 2018 Land Use Charge Law and reverted to the pre-2018 rates. It however, upheld the 2018 method of evaluation.

Under the new order, penal fees for 2017, 2018 and 2019 which translates to N5.7 billion expected revenue earnings were waived. The law now defines pensioners to include “retirees from public and private institutions in the state or any person that has attained the age of 60 years and has ceased to be actively engaged in activity or business for remunerations”, exempting their properties from paying land use charge.

In addition to other wide range of concessions which affected even the agricultural sector, was the reintroduction of the 15 per cent early payment discount and additional COVID-19 incentive of 10 per cent to be granted on the total amount payable.

The new law is said to be product of series of consultations and meetings by the government to accommodate the agitations of residents and reduce the financial pressure on citizens as it relates to the rates. This is a heart-warming gesture that is bound to ameliorate the sufferings of residents of the state consequent upon the introduction of the suffocating land use charges by the former administration of Governor Akinwumi Ambode.

During the immediate past regime, land use charges were hiked by as much and 400 per cent. That was in addition to other forms of taxes that experienced the same increase. Following the exorbitant increases, there were widespread protests as the measure was generally viewed to be inconsistent with the prevailing economic conditions of the time.  Perhaps, the weight of public disenchantment with the increase was underscored by a public demonstration by the Nigerian Bar Association NBA and other civil society groups. The demonstrations which kicked off at the expiration of a seven day ultimatum for the government to reverse the increase, started from the NBA secretariat in Ikeja and took the protesters to the Lagos State governor’s office and the state House of Assembly.

The contention then was that the hike in taxes would spiral hyperinflation, lead to job losses and increase unemployment with deleterious effects on crime rate increase and insecurity. Despite these protests, the last administration maintained its stand arguing that the overall aim was to increase the revenue base of the state government so as to be able to provide public goods and services more efficiently.

So it was that the increase came to stay. But the reality of it all was that it neither went down well with the people nor was there demonstrable willingness on the part of the people to pay. Unofficial estimates have it the state government had barely 50 per cent compliance in the payment of the new rates.  Matters were not helped by the reality that the hike came at a time the Nigerian economy was just recovering from the last economic recession. The new rates were therefore considered high-handed and very unrealistic coming from a government that parades itself in a progressive garb.

The dust created by that policy did not quite settle till the Sanwo-Olu regime came into power. It would therefore seem the new measures are primarily targeted at tidying up the contentious aspects of that suffocating land tax regime that had been a nightmare for both property owners and tenants. It is good a thing the state government has reverted to the pre-2018 rates which are considered more realistic. This is a demonstration of the responsiveness of the government to the yearnings and feelings of its people and must be commended.

Equally very significant was the redefinition of the categories of persons that qualify as pensioners to include retirees from private institutions in the state or any person of 60 years old not actively engaged in any business for remuneration. The new order exempts properties owned by such pensioners from land use charge. This is a very welcome news for senior citizens in the state especially those that worked in private institutions.

Before now, little or no attention was accorded retirees from the private sector, many of who do not have any known pension regime. Many of such citizens have had to be exposed to untold hardship compared to their counterparts from the public sector. It is a well thought-out idea for the government to have factored this category of retirees as beneficiaries of the incentives that were hitherto available only to those who served in the public sector.

An indication that the measures were meant to align with the mood of the times was the additional introduction of a COVID-19 incentive of 10 per cent to be granted on total amounts payable by property owners. Overall, the Lagos State government has done well by giving a human face to land tax regime not only by reverting to the pre-2018 order but through the number of incentives and exemptions approved.

The new measures are populist and futuristic especially given the wider repercussions of excessive property taxes on the general economy of the state. The reality of the situation is that the burden of such tax increases is generally borne by the masses either in the form of increase in rent or as higher prices of goods and services. And for an economy that is still battling for survival; where many of our industries have had to relocate to neighbouring countries on account of the dearth of social infrastructure, high tax regime will further drive such industries to the precipice.

It is therefore in the overall interest of governments (state and federal) that they are more circumspect in the rash of tax hikes that have become a fad in recent times. In as much as governments derive their revenue through taxes, care must be taken not to drive the rest of us out of existence through unrealistic tax regime.

Of late, the federal government has embarked on a bazaar of tax increases without consideration to their effects on the suffering people of this country. There is a hike on Value Added Tax VAT. There is an increase in the price of fuel. We also hear of the re-introduction of tolls on our major highways. These are just a few in the list of tax hikes.

The way things are going in the petroleum industry, it will not take long before the so-called fuel subsidy is eventually yanked off. The reductions and subsequent increases we have seen in the last couple of months seem a prelude to the hiking of fuel price far beyond what we had seen the moment oil price in the world market improves substantially. In introducing and increasing this array of taxes, the ability of the payers must be a serious factor. People have to live before they pay taxes.

But much of the difficulty governments encounter in getting citizens pay taxes as at when due, hinges on mistrust in the capacity of our leaders to judiciously manage public funds. With the high level of corruption in public offices, there is lack of trust that whatever funds realized would be effectively deployed for public good. That is why the war on corruption must not only be fought with greater vigour but must be seen to be achieving the desired objective. Ironically, facts on the ground especially given recent events in that direction do not give much hope.

Overall, the Lagos State government has done well by the approvals and waivers in the land tax regime. It is incumbent on property owners to reciprocate the gesture through prompt payment of the land use charges and other forms of taxes. This will aid the government in fulfilling its obligations to the citizenry and serve as a measure of good faith.

By Emeka Omeihe

Criticisms trailing the call by Mamman Daura, nephew to President Buhari for the jettisoning of rotational presidency for merit are not as much with the validity of what he said. Before now, that view had been copiously canvassed by a number of serious-minded Nigerians with varying degrees of persuasion.

The furore over his suggestion has more to do with the quarters it is emanating from rather than the substance and weight of the issue that was raised.  Ironically, the issue is also at the heart of the contradictions of the federal contraption this country has had to operate overtime – an arrangement that has sacrificed merit for political exigency.

Thus, when Daura sought to canvass a departure from a system which his ethnic group had championed and benefitted from in the last couple of years, he was bound to be viewed with utmost suspicion. Matters are not remedied by the fact that his blood relation is currently at the helm of affairs of this country courtesy of the same arrangement he seeks to fault.

Daura had while speaking on the BBC Hausa service said: “this turn-by- turn, it was done once, it was done twice, and was done thrice…it should be for the most competent and not for someone who comes from somewhere…”

He dismissed the clamour for power shift contending that it was time for the country to unite and go for the most competent person. According to him, since Nigerians have tried rotational presidency about thrice, it would be better to go for the most qualified candidate in 2023 irrespective of whether he comes from the north or south.

Ordinarily, the logic of Daura’s presentation would seem unassailable. The place of competence and merit in guaranteeing effective and purposeful leadership has long been established. That is the concept of the philosopher king espoused by Plato. For Plato, a philosopher king is a ruler who possesses both a love of wisdom, as well as intelligence, reliability and willingness to live a simple life. If that is what Daura refers to as merit and competence which should take precedence over and above where one comes from, he is not saying anything strange. In the absence of intelligence and knowledge, what you get is incompetence in statecraft which is a recipe for leadership failure.

So if we are now being told that merit should take precedence over other mundane considerations in determining who occupies the highest political office in the country, it should ordinarily not ruffle shoulders. But the avalanche of criticisms that have trailed this singular call, would suggest there is more to it than ordinarily meets the eyes.

Those who have axe to grind with the suggestion are not as much quarrelling with the place of merit in guaranteeing the right leadership, as the timing and quarters from which it is emanating. It is a vote of no confidence on the messenger but not the message. It is a product of the pairing of events of our recent past and how the new idea conflicts with the real forces and variables that influenced the 2015 elections.

If after such gory events that featured threats of fire and brimstone; where foxes and lions were to be soaked in blood if election outcome did not go a particular way, we are now being told where the president comes from no longer matters, serious suspicion is bound to arise. That is why the suggestion has been largely interpreted as a subterfuge to have power retained in the north after Buhari would have completed his tenure.

Those who oppose the suggestion do not discountenance the place of merit and competence in guaranteeing effective and purposeful leadership. They have quarrel with inherent duplicity of the suggestion. After all, very competent persons can be found in all the geo-political divides of the country. There is nothing preventing those in the area the presidency is zoned from throwing up the best within them using the power rotation formula.

So no one is opposed to merit or competence per se. But those possessing such leadership attributes must be thrown up within the power rotation formula. Merit and competence are not at cross purposes with power rotation if vested interests allow the right things to be done. The issue to contend with is why even with rotation, the various geo-political zones have not been able to throw up leaders with the requisite capacity to effectively steer the ship of this country? It has more to do with the capturing and devious deployment of state apparatus by those privileged to have ruled this country at one time or the other. Of the three times this rotation experiment was conducted, two of those who emerged as presidents were former military leaders of this country.

Even in the case of late President Umaru Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan, they were handpicked by Obasanjo. They may not have emerged as candidates of their parties were there to be free and fair primaries. Having been so picked, every resource available to the state had to be deployed to deliver them at the polls.  Even in the case of Buhari, power shift was the propelling imperative rather than merit and competence. The proper thing is for vested interests to allow zoning to throw up competent people.

With manifest evidence of the subversion of the will of the electorate during elections, scrapping zoning will dovetail to power monopoly by the section of the country that currently occupies that high office. That will lead to domination and corruption of power. For a country that is still largely assailed by nepotism, where ascendancy to political office is determined by ethnic, religious and some other parochial considerations, rotation is still the way to go. It is not rotation that compromises competence but the vaulting ambition of those who have tested power and are bent on still clinging unto it despite the existing pool of more competent people from across the country.

If rotation failed us thrice as Daura claimed, that failure is of individuals the system threw up than the principle. Those who have led the nation in those three occasions are by no means the most competent those regions could produce. The same contradictions that propelled Daura’s new proposition could not allow the proper thing to be done. And if Buhari’s skewed deployed of the power of appointments to critical institutions and commanding heights of the military is anything to go by, then the case for power shift is further reinforced.

Let other sections take a shot at the residency in keeping with the high-minded vision of the political parties. Let them also savour the prebendal trappings of the control of power. By the time power rotation has gone round, we shall then sit down to consider the propriety or otherwise of merit and competence. But who says the fourth trial could not make the difference since one of the arms on which the foundation of the county was erected is yet to have a shot at that office.

Or is there no merit in the proposition that the forgotten stone could turn out a stabilizing force in the much elusive quest for national stability, cohesion and development? There is the need to go it the fourth time and even more using Daura’s language since we cannot change the goal post at the middle of the game.

More fundamentally, Daura stirred the hornets’ nest given that his advocacy is in sharp contrast with extant national policies to forge national inclusiveness irrespective of the incalculable injustice they have wrought on innocent citizens. Here we have in mind such policies as quota system, educationally disadvantaged states, catchment areas and similar policies that sacrifice merit for political considerations.

Such policies have been deployed to deny very qualified children from many states of the south admission into federal institutions in favour of less qualified ones. Why Daura is not concerned about the injustice of this nature is at the heart of the suspicion of duplicity that is the mortal fate of his suggestion. If one admits affirmative action as a recognized balancing process even in the United States of America US, then rotation is a desideratum for power balance, peace and stability of this unity in diversity.

Emeka Omeihe

 

Senate resolution last week asking heads of the country’s armed forces to step down following heightened insecurity strikes as a desperate response to a desperate situation.

It also signals a loss of faith in the capacity of the leadership of the military to rise to their statutory duties of protecting lives and property of citizens against all forms of aggression.

The senate is not oblivious of the reality that the appointment and removal of the leadership of the military is the responsibility of the president and commander-in chief of the armed forces.

That is certain. But the fact that it still went ahead to make such a resolution shows that insecurity which has been ravaging the country for some years now, has gotten that bad. It is not just a resolution.

It is a very bold statement on the proficiency of those entrusted with the protection of the territorial integrity of the nation.

The upper chamber does not want to be seen to be silent in the face of the resurging violence and killings in the country especially with recent reports on the relapse of the hold the military claim to have on the Boko Haram insurgents in the Northeast.

In moving the motion, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Army, Ali Ndume asked the service chiefs to leave for “new ideas” to handle the country’s security challenges.

The import of “new ideas” is very significant here as it conveys the unmistakable message that extant ideas are no longer achieving the desired results. So, they must give way to new ones in the spirit of a paradigm shift.

Ndume predicted his argument on the rising number of casualties among the Nigerian armed forces and other security agencies.

Of recent, was the report of the ambushing and subsequent killing of 20 soldiers on the Maduguri-Damboa road as they were returning from an operation by the Boko Haram insurgents.

Killing of our soldiers by the insurgents is nothing new. What appeared to have changed over time is dearth of information on the casualty level suffered by our soldiers except the much the military wishes to make public.

But perhaps, the more compelling reason cited for the resolution was the report of the resignation from the Nigerian Army of about 200 soldiers in the Northeast and other theatres of operation on grounds of “loss of interest”.

It is therefore only reasonable to view the senate resolution as just not any other resolution that should be dismissed with a wave of the hand.

Thus, the explanation by the presidency while noting the resolution; that it is the prerogative of President Buhari to appoint or change the service chiefs, is nothing novel.

Neither is it helpful in addressing the urgent national challenge thrown up by that resolution. Those who affirmed the resolution know the limits of their powers.

Even if they voted in favour of the sacking of the service chiefs, the outcome cannot be considered final because all would still depend on the disposition of the president as empowered by the constitution.

Nobody is contesting that reality. Being asked to exercise that power, suggests that he is failing in his duties.

This is especially so, in such a critical area as the maintenance of law and order that is an irreducible minimum for societal survival.

The overall essence of this singular resolution is to draw serious attention to the fact that the security of the country is degenerating to a level that we must evolve new strategies for doing old things or prepare for the worst eventuality.

Its corollary is that those entrusted with that crucial duty are not showing sufficient capacity to contend with the situation.

But more importantly, it is also to draw the message closer home that the president is not rising to the challenges of his office in this critical area.

They want him to feel the pulse of the nation through their elected representatives. Before now, such a resolution would have been perfectly blamed on the opposition.

But such excuses will not sell now. Both the leadership of the senate and the senator who moved the motion are of the same political party.

So, it is time to face the realities of the time. Everything must not be reduced to partisan politics even the lives of the ordinary man are in serious jeopardy.

If the president continues to revel in the comfort of the powers conferred on him by our laws while insecurity gets out of hands, it is left for him.

Curiously, the war against insecurity was one of the key points for which Buhari campaigned and won the election in 2015.

It was in an apparent urge to satisfy that electoral promise that the president declared in December of that year the war against the Boko Haram insurgents had been technically won and that the insurgents had been so diminished and degraded.

He also claimed that insurgents can no longer muster sufficient capacity to mount armed onslaughts against the military and military formations.

The story was also told that the insurgents were no longer occupying an inch of Nigeria’s territory and similar tales.

Those who doubted those claims were called all manner of names. But it did not take long before all those claims began to collapse like a pack of cards as facts on the ground began to put a lie to them all.

Not only were the insurgents strong on the ground, they in many occasions demonstrated amazing capacity to take on the military even in their own strongholds.

Not only have the insurgents been mounting serious attack and inflicting serious casualties on the military, the military has on its part been updating the public with the successes they have been recording in the fight including neutralizing the insurgents, capturing large cache’ of their arms and ammunitions signifying that the war is still much in progress.

Not long after, the narrative began to change again. The minister of information, Lai Mohammed in reaffirming the claim that Boko Haram had been technically defeated said what the country was now fighting was global terrorism with ISIS, ISWAP and Al Queda working together.

There was also the claim by the army that Boko Haram and ISIS were now smuggling fish into the country to sustain their criminal activities.

All this was meant to sustain the claim of the technical defeat of Boko Haram even as facts on the ground point to the contrary.

The Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai brought another dimension to the matter when he identified spiritual warfare as the most potent strategy for ending the war against insurgency.

He saw a link between insurgency and thriving weird religious ideology, with a conclusion that once you kill ideology, insurgency will naturally wither and die.

But despite all these, we are home not only to Boko Haram insurgency but all forms of criminality, some of which are entirely new to the list of criminal activities that are known to this country.

The essence of cataloguing the various explanations that have been offered by those in authority to rationalize the festering insurgency is to find support for the resolution of the senate on the need for new ideas to mount the horse of military leadership.

This is not the first time the president is being asked to change his service chiefs as their performances have not been good enough to justify their continued retention.

But each time the issue comes up, the president gives the impression that he cannot dispense with them just as was the case with the acting chairman of the EFCC, Ibrahim Magu before the bubble burst.

The nation is embroiled in crisis of confidence and integrity in the war against corruption. It is again assailed seriously in containing mounting spate of insecurity as affirmed by the senate resolution.

When you add this to the damage wrought by the omnibus corona virus disease on the economy, Buhari will be hard put to justify those promises for which he was voted into power.

Emeka OMEIHE

 

CAN it be reasonably argued that the suspension and interrogation on corruption charges of former acting chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCC, Ibrahim Magu is a credit to president Buhari’s anti-corruption war? Or, could the president afford to ignore the scandalously weighty allegations of graft the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami raised against the anti-corruption warlord?

These are the posers arising from attempts by officials of the government to take political advantage of the current trial of Magu. The inquisition followed a letter by Malami to the president asking him to sack Magu citing grave allegations ranging from diversion of looted funds to insubordination and misconduct.

Apparently worried by rising public concerns on the embarrassing arrest, detention and trial of the former EFCC boss, some aides and officials of the regime had mounted the podium to pontificate on how the development denoted a reinforcement of the commitment of the current administration to the war against corruption. And in this argument, they had insinuated that only a government intolerant of corruption could take such a bold step to interrogate the man at the head of the anti-corruption agency.

For them, the current travails of Magu should serve as a lesson to all that there are no sacred cows rather than an indication of failure of the campaign to rid the country of corruption. They are entitled to their views on this. After all, another regime may have opted to handle the issue differently to stave off criticisms. So those who view the treatment meted to Magu as a further boost to the war especially given the disgraceful manner he was accosted and brought to the probe panel may have a point. After all, there are always two sides to a coin.

But could the president afford to react differently given the weight of the allegations and the fact that they had been in public domain for some time?  What of the primacy of the war against corruption as one of the three pillars the president wants his regime to be judged? Could he have shut his eyes to the inherent contradiction that with the burden of corruption allegations hanging on the neck of the man leading the corruption battle, the overall credibility of that campaign had become seriously impaired?

One raises these posers to underscore the point that the president did not seem to have much choice than to respond to the huge embarrassment and contradiction created by the Magu debacle. The allegations are very fundamental to the credibility of the war against corruption.

The president could only ignore them at the risk of compromising public confidence in that crucial campaign. Before now, the agency had been serially accused of selectivity and political witch-hunt. So, the president had to weigh in to retrieve whatever is left of the credibility of the war since corruption appeared to have commenced fighting back from official quarters. That is how bad the situation had become.

But that is not the first time such weighty allegations are being raised against Magu. In the early days of his appointment, the Directorate of State Security Services DSS had in a memo to the senate leadership detailed a number of allegations they considered damaging enough to deny Magu that sensitive office. In that letter, the DSS accused him of flamboyant lifestyle as portrayed by the cost of his living apartment rented at N40 million-N20 million annually. The apartment was not rented by the EFCC but by one Commodore (rtd.) Umar Mohammed who the DSS described as a questionable businessman it once arrested. Mohammed was said to have lavishly furnished the apartment at a cost of N43 million.

Other allegations were that he travels in private jets and on first class when on international trips. In one of the journeys, he was said to have travelled with Mohammed and the managing director of a bank being investigated by the DSS over complicity with funds lodged in the bank by a former minister of petroleum.

Magu was also profiled as wearing a double personality of no-nonsense anti-corruption czar who harbours no friends but secretly hobnobs with corrupt people. The DSS summed up its report thus: “In the light of the foregoing, Magu failed the integrity test and will eventually constitute a liability to the anti-corruption drive of the present administration”.

Based on this damning report, the immediate past senate declined confirmation of his appointment even when the president presented his name for a second time. Despite the senate refusal to confirm him, Magu had continued to act in that capacity buoyed by regime apologists’ argument that he does not require senate approval to continue with his job. So, he had trudged on before the recent turn of events which the DSS foretold years back.

I have reproduced all the DSS reported on the suitability of Magu for the EFC C job for two key reasons. The first is that doubts on the integrity and suitability of Magu for the EFCC job is nothing new. The other which is a logical corollary of the above is to diminish the potency of the theory that the arrest and trial of Magu is a plus for the anti-corruption war.  It is not. It rather confirms failure to work with credible intelligence in making sensitive appointments. Sadly, that judgmental error is what has thrown the corruption war into serious credibility crisis. Who takes the blame?

It is too bad that those entrusted with the daunting duty of prosecuting the war against corruption are now being accused of re-looting recovered loots. The emerging scenario is akin to a situation where dogs are given meat to watch over. You can guess what to expect. All this sophistry in finding defense for a very bad situation will not go far. The fact is that the credibility of the war against corruption has been greatly assailed by the current pass.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo seemed to have captured this contradiction very succinctly in a webinar by the ICPC when he said “the fight against corruption is not going to be easier by the day, as a matter of fact it will get more difficult and many will become discouraged in standing up against corruption”. That is the foreboding reality.

But the current situation could have been perfectly avoided had the president heeded the advice of the DSS and found replacement for Magu when the senate rejected his confirmation. Unfortunately, he did not. Rather, his insistence on Magu created the impression that only he could do that job to the satisfaction of all. The president may have had his reasons for that decision. But the turn of events has shown that that decision has become the greatest undoing of the war against graft. That insistence may have emboldened Magu to become larger than life. It is little surprising he saw himself above his supervisors.

Magu may have his strengths. He may also have put in his best in the prosecution of the war given its sensitivity. He may also have stepped on very sensitive toes. These are beside the issue now. He had the confidence of his boss which is a crucial element for him to excel. But he has failed his boss with the current scandal irrespective of its final outcome.

Whatever successes he may have recorded, collapsed like a pack of cards the moment he is linked with corruption in the task of fighting corruption. That is the burden of his elevated office which his current fate has put in serious jeopardy. This is a typical case of corruption fighting corruption in-house. No house can stand under such situation. That is how bad the situation is. And even if today he is cleared of the corruption allegations, the damage has already been done. For, to whom much is given, much is expected.

It is difficult to fathom how the president can be absolved of the current mess given that he failed to act on credible intelligence when it mattered most. Magu is the president’s creation. The blame for his acts of omission or commission stops at his table. It is no mere happenstance or witch-hunt that the same credibility issues the DSS raised four years ago have now resonated in the memo by Malami for which Magu is facing trial. Can we say the DSS saw the future?

Emeka OMEIHE

 

Perhaps the aphorism, facts are sacred but comments free, instructs that emerging claims on pension scam in Imo State should not escape the rigours of thorough inquiry.

Though the state government has had a running battle with pensioners over the nonpayment of pensions culminating in public demonstrations by the senior citizens, the matter appeared to have taken a new dimension last week.

This was sequel to the unveiling of eight names of pensioners Governor Hope Uzodinma alleged to be responsible for pension fraud receipts of N330 million annually.

Before now, the governor had rationalized extant challenges with the payment of pensions on ongoing verification to exorcise fictitious names from the list. But this excuse did not go down well with pensioners.

They argue that immediate past administration of Emeka Ihedioha completed a similar exercise a few months back and commenced regular payment before Uzodinma assumed the mantle of leadership.

They would rather have the new administration work with the verification documents generated during the last exercise to save them the hardship associated with delayed payments.

A new verification was seen as avoidable duplication; a subterfuge to deny pensioners their entitlements. But the government claimed it could not work with that verification exercise because it did not receive any handover document from the last regime.

Apparently to justify this, the governor had claimed in his 100 days broadcast that his regime recovered N2 billion from ghost names padded in the civil service system and pensions bill.

At a different occasion, he had claimed that eight people were defrauding the state government N330 million in pension fraud annually with a threat to publish their names.

He made good the threat in a meeting with labour leaders ostensibly to underscore the point that his administration was not merely shouting hoarse on the matter.

The governor further told his audience that findings showed that over 1,000 pensioners who retired in 1976 are still receiving pensions.

Additionally, a retired judge was said to be earning N300, 000 pension above what is due to him while a late SSG to the government was still being paid years after his death.

If it is true that eight people have been pocketing N330 million annually in fraudulent pension receipts and over 1000 others who retired in 1976 are still receiving pensions, then the rot in the state’s pension system is quite monumental.

Then also, we would be drawn to the temptation to commend the state government for seemingly getting at the root of the bloated pensions bill. The question would also arise as to why the last verification exercise did not stumble at such a huge fraud?

But signals emerging since the list was domiciled in public domain do not give cause for comfort. Some of those listed, have come public to dissociate themselves from the figures credited to them.

One of them, Ajokubi Herbert Ahanotu who was credited with N65, 685,497 as his annual fraudulent pension receipts, took to Facebook with details of his home town, local government and Grade level 15 step 9 in which he retired in the states’ school system.

He also published his current pension verification slip dated Tuesday, September 10, 2019 and bank statements of account linked to his BVN to drive home the fact that he did not receive any payment beyond that officially due to him.

Yet, another disclaimer trending in the social media came from Canice Obsisi who was credited with alleged receipt of N41, 524, 399.60 as annul pension.

He said he retired from the Secondary Education Management Board in 2013 at grade level 16, step 9 and the annual pension communicated to him by the Head of Service was N1, 524,399, 64 which translates to a monthly pension of N127, 033.3.

His gratuity as contained in the same letter was N5, 685, 596.67. He also averred that since he started receiving pension, he had never got any amount beyond his entitlement even as his due gratuity has yet to be paid since 2013 he retired.

These are startling disclaimers that cast credibility slur on the figures bandied by the government. Since the government took the bold step of going public with the allegations, the onus is on them to respond to the issues raised by the two pensioners.

They should demonstrate with facts and figures how these monies were paid to the two senior citizens and over what time frame. All these detail are required to clear the thick cloud of doubt surrounding their claims.

But, that is not all. Former executive chairman, Imo State Pension Commission, Chime Aliliele has also provided insights that further contradict the claims by the state government.

Ironically also, these seem to corroborate claims by the two retirees. The main thrust of Aliliele’s submission was that no pensioner earned up to N1 million a month under the Ihedioha administration.

According to him, four out of the eight names published by the government are not verified pensioners. The total entitlements of the remaining four verified pensioners “including three names that were not ascertained amounts to a mere N5, 086,219.20 as against the N330 million claimed by the state government”.

He also said the claim that 1000 pensioners who retired in 1976 were still receiving pensions is false. Rather, what they have in their list are 14 pensioners who retired in 1977 with verified BVN, bank accounts and phone numbers which can be crosschecked unless any one of them died in the last six months.

But more seriously, he touched on the crux of the dispute when he disclosed that the verified pension payroll is domiciled in the server in the pension office at the accountant-general’s office and also hosted on Cloud accessible from any corner of the globe.

Details of other officers he personally handed over computer servers and laptops with similar information including the state chairman, Imo State wing of Nigerian Union of Pensioners were also furnished.

The fate of the verified pension payroll is very fundamental to this discussion. It comes handy not only in untying the puzzle arising from claims by the government on the N330 million alleged pension fraud, but also in determining the propriety of another verification exercise.

The Uzodinma regime had severally trumpeted claims that it did not receive handover note from the Ihedioha administration.

That claim has been the justification for the current verification exercise. It had also served as alibi for some failings on the part of the government including the inability to pay regular pensions and salaries.

But we have been availed unassailable evidence that authentic data on the verified payroll is at the disposal of the state government and can be accessed from any corner of the globe.

There is every reason to believe this. Those who did the verification are still much around and have told us where it is domiciled.

Why the government continues to live in self denial on this matter, is at the root of the controversy thrown up by alleged pension fraud discovery.

What seemed to have emerged is that the government failed to avail itself of that vital document for inexplicable reasons.

Because they failed to heed the dictates of what Charles Lindblom called ‘incremental change’ in public policy, they may have stumbled on rusty records that were expunged during the last verification exercise.

That much is evident from the cases of the two retirees, one of who published his current verification slip which bore no semblance with the details published by the government.

Is it possible that Ajokubi would have continued to be paid more than the amount reflected in his last October verification slip? It is doubtful.

The issue is not whether there was fraud in the pension system. That is not in dispute. Even the Ihedioha regime admitted saving N200 million monthly after the verification exercise.

The current diatribe would have been averted had the Uzodinma regime availed itself of the findings of the last verification exercise.

Having failed to do that, it is not surprising that some of the issues being thrown up are out of sync with the findings of the last verification exercise.

They must now go the entire hog to prove beyond reasonable doubt that they are neither on a voyage to deceive nor invent puerile excuses to cover their track.

By Emeka Omeihe

Is there some information available to Kogi State governor, Yahaya Bello on the corona virus COVID-19 pandemic that is not readily available to the larger public? Or is there anything he knows about the ravaging viral disease that is being hidden from the public by the authorities?

These are some of the posers brought to the fore by the intransigence of the Kogi State helmsman on the potent danger to human existence wrought by the pandemic. If previous events from that state did not give sufficient cause for worry, the statement credited to Bello last week on the authenticity of the viral disease can only be ignored at a huge cost to efforts to contain the killer disease.

The governor while reacting to the death of the state’s Chief Judge, Justice Nasir Ajana, was reported to have said that COVID-19 is an artificial creation aimed at causing fear and panic among the people.

Hear him: “ It is a disease that has been imported, propagated and forced on us the people for no just cause”, urging people not to accept “ cut and paste, as COVID-19 is out to create fear, panic; orchestrated to reduce and shorten the life of the people. Whether medical experts and scientists believe it or not, COVID-19 is out to shorten the lifespan of the people, it is a disease propagated by force for Nigerians to accept”.

These views are as weighty and sensitive as they are controversial. When a state governor speaks, we are wont to take him very seriously. As the chief executive of a state, whatever view he espouses has wider consequences not only for the people of his state but the entire country.

When Bello spoke the way he did on the propriety of the raging pandemic that has killed hundreds of thousands of people across the globe and reduced life to a miserable lot, we run a grave risk allowing him get away with such sweeping assertions. It is therefore only proper that such claims are subjected to serious interrogation to determine the veracity or otherwise of the issues bandied. This position is further dictated by the sensitivity of the subject matter and the dangerous repercussions to the war against the pandemic of allowing unfiltered views remain within the public realm without being contradicted.

The summation of his case is that COVID-19 is an artificial creation imported and forced on us to create panic and therefore does not exist. If the dimension of importation of COVID-19 refers to the fact that the disease emanated from outside of our shores, he may have some point. The disease originated from Wuhan City in China before spreading to other parts of the world through human transmission. It is neither original to this country nor other parts of the world that have suffered hugely from it.

That point can be admitted. But does that make the disease an artificial creation? To what extent can we stretch the contention that COVID-19 is artificial in the face of the realities of the times? How do we now explain the several thousands of people that have succumbed to the viral disease the world over, including the most advanced nations with capacities to disprove any fake scientific claims? At any rate, on what scientific pedestal is Bello resting his claims that COVID-19 is the figment of the imagination of some powers desirous to create panic amongst us and shorten our lives?

These are the nagging questions Bello ought to have addressed for his claims to attract any modicum of credibility. And in the absence of any verifiable evidence to disprove the reality of the viral disease, one is led to the inevitable conclusion that Bello’s claims are mere figments of educated guess. But we all know that educated guess is of questionable empirical value. Being an outcome of guess work, nobody should take the Kogi State governor seriously on this singular issue. It would have made better sense if he had contended that the disease is a biological creation to depopulate the world, as some have argued.

But to claim that the disease does not exist in the face of all the realities is a dangerous distraction that should be rebuffed. The reason for his intransigence remains curious. But he was in essence telling the people not observe all the protocols put in place to contain the pandemic. By further extrapolation, there was no basis for the lockdown of the country that has sent millions out of job and about to throw the country into another round of recession. We had no basis to shut our shores and put every life activity to a halt. There was absolutely no reason for shutting down our schools and all the hard measures taken by the government since the pandemic hit our shores. To admit all this, would amount to a vote of no confidence on the federal government.

Curiously, there seems a conspiracy of silence on the part of the federal government to the deliberate efforts by the Kogi State governor to run down the crucial war against the killer virus. Why this has remained so in spite of the potent danger such views portend, is baffling. Sadly, the inability of the federal government to square up to the disruptive effusions from that state government is in part, at the centre of the raging cynicism on the corona virus pandemic.

But, the same government through its relevant agencies has been waging relentless campaigns to redirect the psyche of our people to the reality of the pandemic. That many of our people have continued to breach the protocols to stem the pandemic, is the logical outcome of warped views of the tribe of leaders like the Kogi State governor. That is quite unfortunate.

If the attempt by Bello to discredit the war against the pandemic does not constitute a sufficient cause for worry, last week’s attack on the Federal Medical Centre, FMC, Lokoja, Kogi State which is linked to the raging COVID-19 controversy, left a sour taste in the mouth. The invaders struck as workers and doctors of the centre were preparing to address a press conference on COVID-19. Numbering about 50, they were said to have carted away computers and files relating to COVID-19 while injuring some of the staff and patients.

The state government was swift to attribute the attack to alleged altercation by relations of a patient whom the authorities of the centre refused to treat. But some of the placards displayed by the hoodlums, made copious references to the management of COVID-19 pandemic in the medical centre as part of the grouse of those protesting. This fact; the large number of attackers and the sensitive equipment and files carted away do not lend credence to the claim that it was a scuffle between relations of a patient and the centre.

Rather, the attack bears the imprimatur of the controversy between the centre and the state government on the management of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of the attackers were reportedly heard yelling that the centre was giving the state government a bad name by alleging that there is COVID-19 in the state contrary to the position of the state government. That is the crux of the matter.

Before now, the FMC had been at daggers drawn with the state government over the management of the pandemic. The medical facility had said it treated COVID-19 patients in the centre before transferring them to the NCDC facility in Abuja. But the state government would not have any of that as it insists there is no COVID-19 case in the state despite the NCDC announcing an index case last month. There is therefore everything pointing to a link between the controversy and the attack.

The law enforcement agents should not have any problem in unveiling the source of the attack. The hoodlums spent reasonable time in the hospital. Their placards were captured by the press. So there will be no difficulty in identifying the culprits. The federal government must get at the root of that dangerous attack. If a medical facility can be so brazenly attacked in broad daylight, then that centre has become a great danger to workers and patients.

But more than anything else, the federal government must come public on the embarrassing altercations between Bello and its agencies fighting COVID-19. It is high time the governor is put to serious test on some of the views credited to him. If the federal government fails to put a lie to the claims attributed to the Kogi State governor on the COVID-19 reality, then it stands accused of complicity on the cynicism surrounding the pandemic. Then also, it would have lost the moral right to continue the fight. Bello is giving the pandemic a bad name. The country’s leadership must come clear on the matter if it has nothing to hide.

By Emeka Omeihe

The N-Power scheme of the federal government entered another phase last week with the commencement of enrolment of third batch beneficiaries.

The new initiative is targeted at absorbing 400, 000 graduates and non-graduates into the employment program designed to create jobs for the army of unemployed youths.

The Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, said the third batch of the scheme followed wide consultations and far-reaching reforms in the program to achieve greater efficiency.

Apparently to give further fillip to these reforms, the ministry has set exit dates for batches A and B that were hitherto enrolled in the program.

The N-Power program is a federal government scheme to provide jobs for Nigerian youths. Primarily designed to expose youths to appropriate work experience and develop life-long skills in order to become solution providers in their communities, the program is targeted at reducing youth unemployment in the country.

The strategy is to provide the youths with a structure for large scale and relevant work skills acquisition and development.

At the conclusion of the program, beneficiaries are expected to have acquired necessary skills and competences in selected areas to make them gainful and useful members of the society.

By the new timeline, Batch A will now exit on June 30, while Batch B will be passing out by July 31. The exit dates for the two batches are symbolic given that one of the challenges that had stood against the efficiency of the program was the tardiness in disengaging those previously admitted to give room for new intakes.

It is instructive that the N-Power graduate scheme is billed to last for two years while the non-graduate program is for one year.

But this rule has been observed in the breach as beneficiaries overstay meant no new enrolments have been enlisted for nearly two years now.

This has been a serious challenge for a program designed to constantly respond to the dynamics of youth labour force.

This point is further illustrated when it is recognized that Batch A which commenced in 2016 with 200,000 youths and was supposed to wind up by December 2018 is still on.

We are now at the end of June. If this batch exits at the end of this month going by the timeline set by the minister, they would have overstayed their welcome by one year and a half.

That is one of the nagging issues the minister, Hajiya Sadiya Farouq intends to address by the new exit date for Batch A and having Batch B comply with the extant regulations for winding up.

Batch B which started in August 2018, with 300, 000 youths is still on course as the exit date set by the ministry is in tandem with the original terminal date for that arm of the program.

Had the minister not taken the decision to exit the two batches, it would have been nigh impossible to talk of the current enrolment.

By the measure, the ministry has underscored the point that non observance of the rules of disengagement had been a hindrance to the scheme.

Given the terms for engagement of prospective beneficiaries, it is good a thing that strict compliance with the exit dates of the batches is now being enforced.

This will translate to an increase in the number of beneficiaries of the program in the face of burgeoning youth unemployment. But the disengagement comes with its own challenges.

There are issues with what becomes of their fate after being disengaged? This poser is further reinforced by the reality that some of them may have gotten used to the stipends they are paid and may suffer subsequent dislocation and hardship if they do not have immediate alternative.

This is more so, in view of the serious unemployment problems that have emerged since the advent of the corona virus pandemic.

The prospects of the pandemic compounding the unemployment situation cannot be underestimated.

About a fortnight ago, the World Food Program of the United Nations warned that COVID-19 may lead to the loss of 13 million jobs in Nigeria.

That was before the Vice President Osinbajo-led Economic Sustainability Plan Committee came out with the chilling figure that the pandemic has caused a 33.6 percent astronomic rise in unemployment indicating that 39.4 Nigerians will be out of employment by the end of 2020 if proactive steps are not taken to arrest the situation.

There are therefore fears that the disengagement of the two previous batches will blow up the unemployment pool despite the fact that it is in keeping with the rules of their engagement.

The minister seems not unmindful of this reality. She seemed to have anticipated this challenge when she said “We have commenced the transitioning of beneficiaries from batches A and B into government entrepreneurship schemes and engaging private sector bodies to absorb some of the beneficiaries after the completion of psychometric assessment to determine competency and placement into various opportunities”.

That is the way to go and it should be pursued with greater vigour. Admittedly, it may not be easy to get immediate employment for all the beneficiaries.

But if they really acquired the necessary skills for entrepreneurship and job creation, any gaps created by way of direct employment can be compensated by their ability to create jobs for themselves.

And the success of the program will be measured more by the ability of participants to create jobs for themselves given emerging realities in the labour market.

But that is not the only challenge facing the program. There have been reports of ghost workers fleecing the scheme, abscondment of beneficiaries and outright connivance with official in their places of primary assignment.

Though some government functionaries had made spirited attempts to deny some of these infractions, the current minister is said not to be taking things for granted as steps are being taken to block all ghost enrollees in the ongoing program.

The objective is to save for the government all the monies that would have been lost in fictitious claims. This should be pursued with greater momentum.

There are also issues with regular payment of the allowances of participants as some of them have not been paid for some months.

The ministry admits this but said the federal government’s payment platform is responsible for the delays. It claims the issue is not peculiar to N-Power enrollees but equally affects all federal government employees.

Whatever the case, concerted efforts must be geared up to eliminate all obstacles to the regular payment of these allowances.

No doubt, the N-Power scheme has a lot of vision given its target to create jobs for youths through entrepreneurial and job skills acquisition.

We live in country with a plethora of institutions of higher learning churning out graduates in large numbers without commensurate job opportunities.

Ironically, as the number of the unemployed expands in geometric progression, available jobs trickle in an arithmetic order.

That portends serious repercussions for youths’ restiveness which no right thinking government can afford to ignore.

Its consequences could be very dire for any government. The N-Power scheme must therefore be seen to be addressing this challenge.

It must be seen to be staving off the larger repercussions of burgeoning youth unemployment in the country.

What we require now are proactive measures to redress extant challenges while at the same time re-jigging the program for greater efficiency.

The raging pandemic has thrown up new challenges within the employment matrix. It has also come with new ways of doing old things.

That is where the entrepreneurial skills and job creation ideals come in handy. The minister must therefore forge ahead to extricate the scheme from all suffocating hiccups.

That way, the program will be better positioned to serve the goals behind its establishment.