The Nation Newspaper

Category: Emeka Omeihe

Murder of Rev. Fr. Onunkwo

It was another sad Sunday for the Catholic community when news filtered that a Catholic priest, Rev. Fr. Cyriacus Onunkwo was kidnapped and killed by his abductors. The first inkling of the chilling and despicable development came to this writer as he was going through the major news of the day after returning from mass service penultimate Sunday.

It is usual for me to start the day browsing through the major national dailies online. But on Sundays, this habit is delayed until after early morning church service. As I went through, I stumbled on a story in one of the national dailies’ platform ‘Catholic priest killed by kidnappers in Imo”

For reasons that will soon become obvious, I was immediately attracted to the story. As I read through, I became more agitated when the name was given as Fr. Cyriacus Onunkwo from the Orlu Diocese of the Catholic Church. Immediately, my mind went to one of our brothers; a Reverend Father from the Onunkwo family. Could it be him or a mere coincidence in name since his missionary work is not anywhere around Imo state?

Moreover, I was with his elder brother – Lagos based medical practitioner, Dr. Onunkwo in the village a few days back to bury one of our illustrious sons and first professor from the community, Prof Theo. Azuka Ume. As I ruminated over this dilemma, the thought came to me to place a call to him to confirm. But on second thought, I felt it was not in consonance with our culture to do so especially should the outcome turn the opposite.

As I was still in this confusion, a call immediately came from one of my cousins: “Have you heard what happened to Fr. Onunkwo? I immediately screamed as I did not need any further proof that our brother was actually the one murdered by some demented and callous men. Tears rolled out of my eyes that such a terrible thing could happen to a man of God in a clime that highly reveres priests. How come? He has not been in the country! He has neither a parish in Imo nor is he posted around Orlu. So how come such innocent soul and promising young priest was cruelly wasted in the most dastardly manner? It was difficult to come to terms with that foreboding reality.

After a little while, I placed a call to Dr. Onunkwo: “what am I hearing, I enquired? Whatever you have heard is true, he said, apparently referring to the deaths of the priest and his father. Then, I had not even heard of his father’s death a few days after we left the burial of Prof. Ume. He then began to tell me how Fr. Onunkwo returned home from Lagos where he was posted after completing his course in Rome. He came home to see his sick father who was admitted at St Charles Boromeo Specialist Hospital, Onitsha and to pray for him. But his father unfortunately passed on the following day making it difficult for him to return to his station.

He had to wait for his bothers to return for them to see the Catholic Bishop of Orlu for funeral arrangements and also to inform his colleagues and other family members. It was in the course of this that he ran into the criminals who abducted him at gun-point in Orlu. That was the much he could recall. As he narrated these to me, I could feel how devastated he was. I took some time to console him at the double tragedy of losing his dear father and having his younger brother murdered in such a callous and inhuman manner.

It was a very sad and emotion-laden moment for both of us and I had to end the discussions at that point. Thereafter, I began to imagine what could have come over his abductors to the extent of murdering an innocent priest in such a dastardly and cruel manner. Curiously, no contact was made by the kidnappers to demand for money as they are wont to. They killed him the same day they abducted him and there was neither gunshot wound nor any serious injury on his body recovered by the police. These fuelled further suspicion they might have suffocated him in the process of extracting information.

As should be expected, the killing attracted wide condemnation from cross the divide. Imo State government described the murder as “senseless and wickedness”. The state police commissioner, Chris Ezike said it is “inhuman and aberration to human existence” and reassured that they will apprehend the murderers.

And in keeping with this promise, the police promptly arrested six people in connection with the cruel murder of the priest. The leader of the gang, a dismissed police corporal, Jude Madu was apprehended with the telephone handset of their victim and wrist watch somewhere in Owerri. He was said to have confessed to the crime.

Apparently elated by the prompt arrest of the hoodlums, Ezike said the feat was made possible due to their deployment of forensic technology, commitment, and passion for success. The police in Imo stand commended for living up to their words in the quick arrest of the bestial criminals. The feat will go a long way to reassure citizens of the capacity of security agencies to combat the rising crime wave in the state. But information on the suspects, except their names and places of origin was largely sketchy. There was no clue as to their modus operandi, what they intended to do with their victim and why they killed him except the tentative disclosure by one of them that the priest died because they covered his nose.

We are also anxious to hear where they usually kept their victims and their escapades in this devious enterprise. This is more so given the claim by one of the suspects that they did not intend to kill him and they did not know that he was a priest. Another version from the criminals had it that they covered his mouth with tape and hauled him into the booth of their car when he was shouting that he was a priest. There is the need for them to be more seriously interrogated.

This is more so as none of the suspects is from any of the 12 local government areas that make up the Orlu zone where the kidnapping and killing took place. So at what point did they cover his nose – inside the car or at someone’s residence? When and at what point did they discover that the priest had died and had to dump him on a bushy roadside? All these posers tend to indicate that the suspected criminals must have an operational base around the area they kidnapped and brutally killed the Reverend Father.

The police still have to get at the criminals’ cells and detention camps. Ezike must beam his searchlight along the Orlu axis. There is much kidnapping and sundry criminality along the axis where the priest was kidnapped and killed. Many of these are not reported. But those who killed Fr. Cyriacus must be diligently prosecuted and made to pay for their crime.

Ordained in 2003, Fr. Cyriacus who hails from Osina in the Ideato Local Government Area of Imo State is a Fidei Donum priest from the Catholic Diocese of Orlu. He served variously as associate parish priest, St Joseph’s Parish, Mgbidi and St John’s Parish Umualoma all in Imo State. While at Umualoma, he proceeded for his Masters degree at Imo State University and thereafter returned to the same parish at the end of the programme.

Fr. Cyriacus also served at St Patrick’s Parish Amagu and St Mary’s Parish Awomama before he was sent to Rome for further studies. On return to Nigeria, he was posted as associate parish priest at St Charles Parish Olodi Apapa in the Lagos Arch Diocese. It was from Lagos that he travelled to see his sick father before the worst happened.

His colleagues described him as a very hardworking, principled and intelligent priest who in the course of his work impacted positively on the lives of many especially the poor. As an ardent lover of knowledge and education, he paid school fees for many indigent students that came across him. It is sad his life has been brought to an abrupt end in the most chilling and unfortunate circumstance by evil men.

It is particularly a very trying moment for the people of Osina community. This is the third time the community is losing its young and promising sons to heartless and demented kidnappers. May the almighty God he served grant his soul and those of the two other Osina sons who died in similar circumstances eternal rest in his bosom! Amen.

September 11, 2017
Malami’s twisted logic

Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami must have shocked many last week when he rationalized the inability of the government to arrest and prosecute northern youth leaders who issued quit order to the Igbo. Apparently responding to mounting criticisms over his request for the re-arrest of leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu for allegedly flouting bail conditions while turning a blind eye to the arrest of leaders of the northern youth group, Malami said the inability to arrest the latter was because of its “security implications”

Hear him “the way the government works is that a lot of consideration naturally comes into play. One is investigation which is not time-bound; two, security considerations; three, consideration of public interest. But one thing that is certain is that the government is ever alive to its responsibilities and whoever is found wanting, regardless of the length of time, will definitely be brought to book”

On face value, it would appear all is well with Malami’s reasoning. It is hard to fault his conclusions that investigations are not time bound. Also, the place of security consideration and public interest in determining the direction of government action and policy cannot be ignored. Yet this rationalization is patently defective in addressing the issues of bias and double standards thrown up by government’s selective handling of the two groups.

Worse still, a strict interpretation of the purport of his arguments would not only expose their inherent duplicity but equally portray the attorney-general as a man who spoke from both sides of his mouth. All the issues canvassed as the basis for government’s refusal to arrest the northern youths for their incendiary and inciting statements also apply in the case of the IPOB.

In effect, security considerations and issues of public interest are also prime factors that should have instructed him against approaching the court to quash the bail granted Kanu sometime ago. Or is he making us to believe that these considerations are only relevant when it comes to dealing with northern youths? If that is the issue being canvassed, he is alone in it as it makes no sense.

Before now, the view has been copiously canvassed that it was a grave mistake on the part of the government to have arrested Kanu in the first instance for non-violent agitations for self-determination. Much of the interest and followership his campaign generated of late was a consequence of that arrest and incarceration in spite of the bail granted him by the courts. That detention made a hero of a man little or nothing was known about except perhaps, those who were privy to his pirate radio broadcast.

Thus, canvassing for his re-arrest as Malami has done would not only amount to insensitivity to the mood of the nation but also a caricature of the very reasons he adduced for government’s indifference to the devious antics of the northern youth groups including the hate song that bears their imprimatur. And if one may ask, what further investigations is Malami talking about when the very youths behind the threat have since addressed several press conferences including the most recent in which they purportedly suspended their order? Or is it surprising that a serving governor was handy during that occasion?

The issue of investigations being open ended as a potent reason for not apprehending those behind that threat and the hate song that corroborates their spurious claims, strikes as a subterfuge for evading the reality. It is unconvincing and cannot survive the rigours of serious scrutiny. It is inherently deficient in explaining the contradictions brought to the fore by the double measures.

No doubt, there is ample reason for utmost caution in handling the current agitations and restiveness in parts of the country including the ones under focus. But the way to them is not to shut our eyes to the dangerous pronouncements from some sections while others are hounded in very discriminatory manner. That is the issue that has been brought to the public domain by the current posturing of the minister. He will have to contend with subsisting allegations of bias in the manner he handles issues relating to Kanu and the northern youths.

Incidentally, many do not share the view that the northern youth group should be allowed to walk away with their quit order and threat to confiscate the properties of the Igbo in the north. Not with the domino effect of that order as we have seen in some other parts of the country.

Perhaps, the gravity of the quit notice and duplicity in government’s inaction was succinctly captured in a recent report by a United Nations human rights group when it called for the prosecution of those behind the ultimatum. The UN body which described the ultimatum as an issue of “grave concern” deplored the hate song and audio message being circulated on the internet and social media targeting the Igbo.

The human rights crusaders said though some national and local figures have denounced the hate speeches and incitement, they “are deeply concerned that some prominent local leaders and elders have not condemned the ultimatum, hate speech and the perpetrators”. While calling on the government and well-meaning people to condemn hate speeches and incitement to violence in the strongest possible terms, they also asked it to take urgent steps to address the root of the constant friction between the various ethnic groups that are at the centre of the current pass.

The position of the UN human rights crusaders underscore the issues that have been raised about the tepid manner the authorities handled the characters behind the quit order and the hate song that have put the lives of a key segment of this country in great jeopardy. They also highlighted the contradictions and limits of the arguments canvassed by Malami for treating the northern youths with kid gloves even when their offence is loaded with the frightening prospects of activating an orgy of genocide in this country.

Those who have found courage to condemn the hate song were quick to draw a parallel between events that led to the genocidal war in Rwanda and current hate song trending in the internet and social media against the Igbo. Why the government thinks the agitations of Kanu or his alleged flouting of bail conditions are of more grave concern to national survival than the quit notice and the hate song, remains largely illusory.

In all, if Malami cannot find the courage to bring the northern youths to book; if he is not acting out a script for the powers-that-be, he should tread softly in pressing for the revocation of the bail conditions granted to Kanu. He should listen to the voices of those well-meaning Nigerians who have cautioned against escalating the overheated political tempers in the country.

The solution to the current agitations and restiveness from across the country does not substantially lie on such arrests and prosecution but in proactive measures to fundamentally address the objective factors that propel and sustain them. That is the issue Buhari has to contend with. It is not enough to rehash such constructs as the unity, indivisibility and non-negotiability of Nigeria. It also makes no sense to give the impression that discussions on how the constituents can live harmoniously have been foreclosed.

Nigeria was a product of negotiations through the various constitutional conferences that presaged independence. Much of the problems that have continued to stultify nation building and meaningful development were wrought on this country through the arbitrariness of the military sojourn in politics. A government that is genuinely committed to national progress and stability cannot afford to toy with issues of fairness, equity and common sense of belonging as the minimum conditions for peace and co-habitation.

September 4, 2017
Malami’s twisted logic

Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami must have shocked many last week when he rationalized the inability of the government to arrest and prosecute northern youth leaders who issued quit order to the Igbo. Apparently responding to mounting criticisms over his request for the re-arrest of leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu for allegedly flouting bail conditions while turning a blind eye to the arrest of leaders of the northern youth group, Malami said the inability to arrest the latter was because of its “security implications”

Hear him “the way the government works is that a lot of consideration naturally comes into play. One is investigation which is not time-bound; two, security considerations; three, consideration of public interest. But one thing that is certain is that the government is ever alive to its responsibilities and whoever is found wanting, regardless of the length of time, will definitely be brought to book”

On face value, it would appear all is well with Malami’s reasoning. It is hard to fault his conclusions that investigations are not time bound. Also, the place of security consideration and public interest in determining the direction of government action and policy cannot be ignored. Yet this rationalization is patently defective in addressing the issues of bias and double standards thrown up by government’s selective handling of the two groups.

Worse still, a strict interpretation of the purport of his arguments would not only expose their inherent duplicity but equally portray the attorney-general as a man who spoke from both sides of his mouth. All the issues canvassed as the basis for government’s refusal to arrest the northern youths for their incendiary and inciting statements also apply in the case of the IPOB.

In effect, security considerations and issues of public interest are also prime factors that should have instructed him against approaching the court to quash the bail granted Kanu sometime ago. Or is he making us to believe that these considerations are only relevant when it comes to dealing with northern youths? If that is the issue being canvassed, he is alone in it as it makes no sense.

Before now, the view has been copiously canvassed that it was a grave mistake on the part of the government to have arrested Kanu in the first instance for non-violent agitations for self-determination. Much of the interest and followership his campaign generated of late was a consequence of that arrest and incarceration in spite of the bail granted him by the courts. That detention made a hero of a man little or nothing was known about except perhaps, those who were privy to his pirate radio broadcast.

Thus, canvassing for his re-arrest as Malami has done would not only amount to insensitivity to the mood of the nation but also a caricature of the very reasons he adduced for government’s indifference to the devious antics of the northern youth groups including the hate song that bears their imprimatur. And if one may ask, what further investigations is Malami talking about when the very youths behind the threat have since addressed several press conferences including the most recent in which they purportedly suspended their order? Or is it surprising that a serving governor was handy during that occasion?

The issue of investigations being open ended as a potent reason for not apprehending those behind that threat and the hate song that corroborates their spurious claims, strikes as a subterfuge for evading the reality. It is unconvincing and cannot survive the rigours of serious scrutiny. It is inherently deficient in explaining the contradictions brought to the fore by the double measures.

No doubt, there is ample reason for utmost caution in handling the current agitations and restiveness in parts of the country including the ones under focus. But the way to them is not to shut our eyes to the dangerous pronouncements from some sections while others are hounded in very discriminatory manner. That is the issue that has been brought to the public domain by the current posturing of the minister. He will have to contend with subsisting allegations of bias in the manner he handles issues relating to Kanu and the northern youths.

Incidentally, many do not share the view that the northern youth group should be allowed to walk away with their quit order and threat to confiscate the properties of the Igbo in the north. Not with the domino effect of that order as we have seen in some other parts of the country.

Perhaps, the gravity of the quit notice and duplicity in government’s inaction was succinctly captured in a recent report by a United Nations human rights group when it called for the prosecution of those behind the ultimatum. The UN body which described the ultimatum as an issue of “grave concern” deplored the hate song and audio message being circulated on the internet and social media targeting the Igbo.

The human rights crusaders said though some national and local figures have denounced the hate speeches and incitement, they “are deeply concerned that some prominent local leaders and elders have not condemned the ultimatum, hate speech and the perpetrators”. While calling on the government and well-meaning people to condemn hate speeches and incitement to violence in the strongest possible terms, they also asked it to take urgent steps to address the root of the constant friction between the various ethnic groups that are at the centre of the current pass.

The position of the UN human rights crusaders underscore the issues that have been raised about the tepid manner the authorities handled the characters behind the quit order and the hate song that have put the lives of a key segment of this country in great jeopardy. They also highlighted the contradictions and limits of the arguments canvassed by Malami for treating the northern youths with kid gloves even when their offence is loaded with the frightening prospects of activating an orgy of genocide in this country.

Those who have found courage to condemn the hate song were quick to draw a parallel between events that led to the genocidal war in Rwanda and current hate song trending in the internet and social media against the Igbo. Why the government thinks the agitations of Kanu or his alleged flouting of bail conditions are of more grave concern to national survival than the quit notice and the hate song, remains largely illusory.

In all, if Malami cannot find the courage to bring the northern youths to book; if he is not acting out a script for the powers-that-be, he should tread softly in pressing for the revocation of the bail conditions granted to Kanu. He should listen to the voices of those well-meaning Nigerians who have cautioned against escalating the overheated political tempers in the country.

The solution to the current agitations and restiveness from across the country does not substantially lie on such arrests and prosecution but in proactive measures to fundamentally address the objective factors that propel and sustain them. That is the issue Buhari has to contend with. It is not enough to rehash such constructs as the unity, indivisibility and non-negotiability of Nigeria. It also makes no sense to give the impression that discussions on how the constituents can live harmoniously have been foreclosed.

Nigeria was a product of negotiations through the various constitutional conferences that presaged independence. Much of the problems that have continued to stultify nation building and meaningful development were wrought on this country through the arbitrariness of the military sojourn in politics. A government that is genuinely committed to national progress and stability cannot afford to toy with issues of fairness, equity and common sense of belonging as the minimum conditions for peace and co-habitation.

September 4, 2017
Rivers Police and Nmezuwuba’s sorrows

If the murder of eight-year-old Chikamso Victory Nmezuwuba is callous and dastardly, the escape of the prime suspect, Maxwell Dike from Rivers State Police Command custody in cloudy circumstances, is bound to offend public sensibilities.

A 23-year old 200 level undergraduate of the University of Port Harcourt, Maxwell Dike who was arrested after he allegedly brutally murdered the little girl for ritual purposes escaped in the custody of the Rivers Police Command in very questionable situation. Dike who lived on the same street with Victory, was arrested by the local vigilante as he allegedly moved very suspiciously to dispose her remains at around 1am.

On questioning, the suspect allegedly dropped the bag he was carrying and took to his heels. He was subsequently pursued and arrested. And when the bag was examined, the vigilante group was shocked that it contained the mutilated body of the little girl who was reported missing the previous day. He was then handed over to the police where he allegedly confessed to the act and took them to where he kept parts of his victim severed in very dehumanizing circumstances after defiling the innocent little girl.

Curiously, the same police came out a day after with the devastating story of the escape of the suspect in circumstances that are bound to arouse serious suspicion of collusion. According to them, when the suspect was taken to the state CID, the investigating police officer took out the handcuffs for him to write his statement. But as he was being led to the cell, the suspect suddenly bolted into the thin air and all efforts to apprehend him proved abortive.

The father of his victim, Dr. Ernest Nmezuwuba who was witness to the ugly and confounding development was so devastated that he has cried foul. He decried the circumstances of the purported escape of the suspect even when policemen at the gate were fully armed. The officer at the centre of the mess was said to have been arrested and thrown into the cell by his bosses who are equally distressed by the scandal.

The state Commissioner of Police, Zaki Ahmed while confirming the sad episode denied suspicion of collusion and attributed it to individual negligence. For him, “it is too bad it happened, but it is one of those things. Sometimes things can happen this way”. He promised to put all within their powers to re-arrest the suspect.

Ahmed took a very simplistic view of the matter even when full investigation is yet to be conducted. Sadly, that inquiry cannot make any meaning until the escapee is re-arrested. And when this is paired against the alleged request of the said officer that Nmezuwuba should buy water for the suspect when he complained of thirst, it would appear there is more to it than ordinarily meets eyes

How come an officer in custody of such a dangerous suspect could ask a father grieving over the dastardly and incorrigible manner in which his daughter was butchered, to buy drinking water for the same animal who murdered his daughter? And when has it become a practice for those in police custody to be provided food by the same people who want them to face the raw teeth of the law? Or did it not occur to the officer that the suspects could get instant punishment if those they offended are allowed to get them something to eat or drink?

The purport of these posers is that it was too early in the day for Ahmed to have attributed the inexcusable escape to individual error. Even when full investigation leads to that conclusion, a case of gross incompetence and dereliction of duty would have been established against that officer. How come a dangerous suspect arrested through the dexterity of the local vigilante successfully escaped within the walled premises of the CID manned by armed policemen. That such a thing could happen within that premises portrays the vulnerability of that department.

So what is this noise about touted escapades and reinvigoration of the police force when those kept in their custody can escape with relative ease? Before now, we are usually treated to stories of sundry police encounter with criminals: how they gunned down many in combat while those that managed to run away, escaped with bullet wounds. The case in point would have been excusable if the police had told us that the ritual killer escaped with bullet wounds or even paid the supreme price while fleeing police custody. But in this situation, the police was helpless. What a monumental embarrassment and gross display of incompetence in the discharge of their duties. By that negligence as we are being made to believe by the commissioner of police, his men have added to the sorrows of the victims’ father who coincidentally comes from the same village with the escaped suspect.

Ahmed must do all within his powers to re-arrest the fleeing criminal. That is the only way to douse mounting suspicion that there is more to the escape than ordinarily meets the eyes. The killer suspect even confessed when confronted by the victims’ father that he is not alone in the murderous enterprise. Without arresting him, we would have lost the necessary lead into the ring that sustains this devious murderous activity.

It has become vital to get at those behind the recurring incidence of cultism and ritual killings which are two sides of the coin in the bizarre butchering of innocent souls by the young members of our society. For hardly does any day pass by without stories of ritual murders and cultic killings in different parts of this country. The practice is so pervasive among the youths that something urgent must be done before we relapse into the Hobbesian state of nature characterized by atavism and the law of the jungle.

Curiously, our leaders have failed to respond to the potent danger which ritual killings and its twin brother cultism pose to the survival of the society. Our response to the degenerate level into which these crude practices have sunk, has been limited to apprehending culprits where possible. We have curiously serially defaulted in developing the necessary framework to dig deep into the factors that sustain these inhuman practices and belief systems.

Nobody has cared to investigate what sustains the idea that ritual killings involving the extraction of vital body organs can lead to success either in the acquisition of wealth or awesome supernatural powers.

Since research into the motivation for ritual killings has shown that the practice is thought to lead to transformation, self-deification and healing while satanic human sacrifice is done as a way of drawing down dark forces, our governments should have by now, commenced investigations into the veracity or otherwise of these claims. Working with herbalists and sundry traditional African religion practitioners, findings and conclusions reached could be of immense help in disabusing the minds of young ones against increasing resort to these mundane practices.

We are also confronted by vampirism- a belief that drinking blood and practicing cannibalism can help individuals to achieve power and immortality. These are at the heart of the festering incidence of ritual killings and cultism. But we do know that no human is immortal. Even where power is achieved through such practices, they are still of very temporal and limited value given the mortality of the human.

It is a mark of backwardness and underdevelopment that as other nations excel in science and technology; our people are preoccupied with such mundane issues as occult powers for wealth and supernatural acquisition- practices that take us nowhere except inflicting harm on the rest of the society. The government must do something serious to tackle the menace of cultism and ritual murder before they become another security challenge comparable in terms with such weird religious ideologies that propped up the Boko Haram insurgency.

But the Rivers State Police Command must do all within its powers to re-arrest the fleeing suspect. That is the only way to reassure the distraught father of the slain girl that the police did not collude with the criminal to escape. Even then, those at the centre of the huge mess must not go scot free.

August 28, 2017
Kachikwu’s traducers

In a recent British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) interview programme Hardtalk, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu said with absolute certainty his plans to get Nigeria stop the importation of petrol by 2019 would work out fine. When prodded further, he promised to quit his current appointment if by the said deadline he failed to deliver.

Kachikwu also spoke on some of his achievements in office which among others included deft negotiations with militants resulting in resumed uninterrupted oil production as well as positioning the NNPC as a profit-making organization for the first time in its history. He also told his audience that he got some of our refineries back to produce seven million litres versus zero that was hitherto the situation and signed an agreement with Agip to build a new refinery in the country.

Not long after reeling out these achievements, the petroleum minister was last week, again in the news. This time, for a different reason altogether. It was neither an update on progress on these promises nor the breaking of new grounds by the ministry. It was a battle to dissociate himself from campaign posters on the streets of Abuja faking his intention to contest the 2019 governorship election in his home state, Delta.

Apparently, worried by the development, the ministry had to issue a statement denying any link with the campaign posters. According to the statement, “the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources has not indicated any interest in running for any elective political office in Delta State. Kachikwu is focused on delivering on the reforms currently being implemented in the petroleum sector. He remains committed to effectively representing his state of origin, Delta in the federal cabinet to institutionalize transparency, accountability and productivity in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector”.

This is not the first time unknown persons have sought to disparage the integrity of the minister. Not long ago, there also arose unproven allegations especially in the social media that one of his brothers was involved in running the affairs of the NNPC and collecting monies for onward transmission to a rival political party. As if that was not enough to achieve the devious objective of its peddlers, came the flooding of campaign posters on the streets of Abuja linking Kachikwu with a political ambition whose time is yet to mature.

He has denied any link with the posters. For him, what is uppermost in his mind now is how to deliver on the reforms being implemented in the petroleum sector and as well offer very effective representation to his state – Delta – in the federal cabinet. That is the way to go. By these, he has said unequivocally that those behind the posters have objectives that are less than ennobling. They are fifth columnists rooting to achieve self-serving objectives through hook and crook.

This is one minister that has put his job on the line vowing to quit if by 2019 Nigeria does not generate its domestic consumption of petrol locally. He insists that the measures he has put in place will surely end fuel importation by that deadline. What this suggests is that he will be around to see these measures through. Could he be staking his job and at the same time, nurse the ambition to abandon this commitment for a yet to be lifted ban on politics of 2019?

But that is beside the point. Assuming he nurses a governorship ambition, will it not amount to political suicide for a serving minister to flood the streets of Abuja or any other place with campaign posters even when the ban on such activity is yet to be lifted? And what target audience would a prospective contestant for the Delta State governorship post appeal to in Abuja? The logical inference from these poses is that the campaign posters were sponsored by characters eager to get even with Kachikwu for whatever reasons.

Their motivation could vary from envy to a desperate bid to get him out of his current position so as to pave the way for those who will not let go, their thirst to milk the nation dry. Their intention is to reverse whatever achievements that have been recorded in that sector since Kachikwu came on stream. The strategy is to create a conflict of interest between the achievements of the minister and their simulated ambition for the Delta governorship post.

In their little calculations, once those posters are sighted around Abuja, it will immediately create doubts in the minds of Kachikwu’s bosses that he nurses divided interest and can no longer function effectively in his current position. Too cheap! It is nothing but sheer blackmail aimed at putting his office in jeopardy so that a preferred candidate can take over. We saw much of that intrigue while he combined the office of the Group Managing Director of the NNPC with that of the minister of state.

Having taken away the former, vested interests are at it again. They will stop at nothing to assume effective control of the oil sector especially given the ill disposition of President Buhari who is the substantive minister of petroleum resources. And given the place of oil as the main source of our revenue earnings, it is not surprising why the blackmailers are on Kachikwu. But he should not be distracted as we are not entirely new to such moribund antics.

It has become a fad for sundry hirelings to print fake posters of prominent persons in this country to smear their integrity and create disaffection between them and their bosses. Each time such posters emerge, those targeted are either politicians of considerable war chest or public functionaries of exceptional qualities. That has been the trend. So Kachikwu should neither lose sleep nor be distracted by the mischievous antics of such faceless groups. By now our leaders should have got used to their devious style.

Not long ago, campaign posters of Atiku Abubakar/Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala for the 2019 presidential campaign appeared in some states of the north. Okonjo-Iweala was so embarrassed that she had to issue a statement that she has nothing to do with them. In the said statement, her media aide denied any link with the posters. She is not alone in this embarrassment.

When recently Bukola Saraki campaign posters for the presidency surfaced, the Kwara State All Progressives Congress APC disclaimed it as “fake and photo-shopped” banner. Hear the Kwara APC: “Before this fake and photo-shopped banner becomes an object of political mischief, on behalf of Saraki and Kwara APC, we dissociate the senate president from the fake banners and whatever they represent”.

We can go on and on with instances of these fake posters and banners. So the issue is not new in this clime. What puzzles one is why the habit has festered even when it is clear most of those purportedly involved have nothing to do with them. Why splash posters of a purported governorship candidate for Delta State in Abuja instead of Asaba where the target audience is? And why posters of a serving minister when the ban on political campaigns is yet to be lifted?

There does not appear to be any plausible explanation for this except mischief of the highest order. It is not mischief just for itself but with the intent to discredit the public officer in the eyes of his bosses and the larger public. The calculation is that the posters will put the job of the minister on the line and possibly pave the way for preferred candidates of its sponsors.

It is on account of the injury such unsolicited campaign posters could inflict on the career of public officers and politicians that they make haste to dissociate themselves from them. By now, we should have got used to such phoney posters to dissipate valuable energy dignifying then with a response. But since silence in such matters could be misconstrued as acquiescence, the predicament of those who have found time to refute them could be understood.

August 21, 2017
Blood in God’s temple

Shock and awe! It was a dehumanizing spectacle to behold as worshippers were mowed down in droves by some demented gun men over suspected business deals that went sour. Elderly village men, women and children who were at St Patrick’s Catholic Church, Ozubulu in Anambra State for an early Sunday mass fell to the bullets of the attackers in an outing that had all the trappings of fairy tales.

But this was no fairy tale at all. It was real and of all places, it happened well inside God’s temple. What a sacrilege! What a desecration of a place of worship and scant regard for the sanctity of human life. It was reminiscent of the deadly attacks of the Boko Haram terrorists as they bombed churches at the onset of their devious activity. The semblance of the attack with the modus operandi of Boko Haram insurgency perhaps, accounted for initial speculation that the dastardly offensive may have been the handiwork of that group.

But this has nothing to do with Boko Haram terrorism. It is a new band of terrorism rooted in the insanity of some greedy businessmen whose unabashed love for money and material acquisition takes precedence over every other thing else. It does not matter who is involved. They care little about the consequences of their action as long as the lure of money is the propelling factor.

In that vaulting urge, they could even kill their siblings and parents so long as money is involved. Ironically, all these are happening in a clime that places high premium on the sanctity of human life; a clime that reveres and accords high respect to places of worship. It is happening in a clime where even those with ill-gotten money seek supplication through the churches.

Some of them after realizing the vanity of life and all that is material acquisition seek recompense by giving back to the church some of their ill-gotten wealth. So the church remains sacrosanct and inviolate for our people. Even in war situations, contending groups take utmost precaution not to attack churches. History is replete with accounts of people seeking refuge in churches in the face of persecution or war.

So, what could have gone wrong with our psyche that we could find in our midst people who brushed aside these time-tested values to the extent of storming a church and opening fire on innocent people who had come for supplication? What is it except dementia that could have propelled a man to spread bullets on little children, poor old men and women for who places of worship remain their last hope in a world full of miseries? Many of the people in that church that fateful morning may have come there to ask God for their daily bread.

Sadly, in place of high hopes that God will answer their prayers, what they got was the supreme price. What an uncanny irony. What a sad way to die.

These were some of the puzzles that came to mind when news filtered that some gun men stormed an early morning mass session in Ozubulu and opened fire on worshippers. At the last count, more than 13 innocent people had died while scores of others were seriously injured.

Stories had it that the gunmen invaded the church in search of their target described as a very wealthy young man from that community who built the said church and donated it to the Nnewi diocese. As they entered the church, they went straight to where the man’s elderly father was seated and shot him dead. They also shot his wife before opening fire indiscriminately on the congregation. When they finished their deadly assignment, the entire church floor had turned into a river of human bold.

It was a despicable scene of bodies of the young and old littered all over the church with human blood flowing like a river. What a sad scene to behold in the Lord’s temple. It was a scene of truckloads of the dead and the injured as they were being conveyed to the hospitals and the mortuary. And these were people who woke up from their houses, took their bath and proceeded to the church that early morning to pray to their creator and ask for one favour or the other.

Condemnations have come from various quarters against the senseless and dastardly killings. Many have also called on the law enforcement agencies to do all possible to apprehend and unmask the attackers. The police in Anambra State said they have arrested some people in connection with the shootings. But they would want their identity to remain secret for now.

There is no reason to doubt the claim of the police especially as they gave a hint of a festering business feud that is at the root of that resort to the law of the jungle. But they must act fast to unmask all those behind that heinous offence. This has become necessary because of the extant speculations which the police have been fighting hard to correct.

We expect in the days ahead, that the full identities of all those who participated in the killings as well as their sponsors will be made public. It will be quite interesting unveiling the identities of the characters that took their private quarrel into the house of God. We would be delighted to know all those who had to snuff life out of innocent and helpless people who have no idea of whatever business deal that went sour between the feuding groups.

If they are so possessed that they must take vengeance, why kill those who neither have knowledge of the issues in dispute nor party to them? As I went through the list of those killed and wounded, some surnames kept recurring suggesting that some families may have been wiped out in the process. It is very sad indeed that a sleepy village community could have such a calamity befall them. It has never happened in Igbo land.

The danger in the extant killings is that it has the prospects of sending danger signals that our churches are no longer safe. That could scare people away from worship unless adequate security measures are taken to protest worshippers. In the urban centres, churches had since the advent of the Boko Haram insurgency, put in place security measures to protest their members. But this has not been the situation in the rural areas. With what has happened, the need for some form of security within church premises especially at peak periods has become urgent.

The church leadership has been reassuring the public that the Ozubulu incident is an isolated case and worshippers have no cause to worry. That assurance could as well be the case. But it cannot substitute for some form of security within church premises. Bad habits spread fast and there is no guarantee that we have seen the last of such unconscionable and senseless killings.

But at the heart of the killings is our lust for money and material acquisition. Something has gone awry in our society. Young men and women of today, do all sorts of bad things just to make money. Ironically, when they come back home with their ill-gotten wealth, parents care less about their source. They are hailed and given front seats in public places including churches. Because of the inability of the society to condemn questionable wealth, young people have come to see nothing wrong in acquiring wealth through hook and crook.

This has had the net effect of swelling the ranks of people on the fast lane. Our public officers are not left out in this as we have seen in the looting of the public treasury by sundry characters masquerading as leaders. This country needs serious moral re-engineering for it to move forward. It is difficult to make progress in a society replete with rouges and sundry characters that are intent in cutting corners and wasting human lives on the altar of acquiring material wealth.

My heart goes for the families of those who lost their dear ones and the injured in this atrocious act. May the almighty God they serve grant their souls eternal rest in His bosom and the injured quick recovery.

August 14, 2017
Kalu and Arewa youths

A joint press conference was last week addressed by former Abia State governor, Orji Kalu and a delegation of Arewa youths led by Shettima Yerima. It was the outcome of a meeting between Kalu and the group on how to douse the tension generated by the notice issued to the Igbo to quit the north by October 1.

The meeting which was at the instance of Kalu, was part of his personal contributions to the peace-building process in the country following the tension generated by hate speeches especially since the Arewa youths came out with their threat. Kalu is within his rights to show concern to the potent danger which that unfortunate order poses to the peace and unity of the country. It is also in keeping with peace initiatives by acting President, Yemi Osinbajo and other well meaning people of this country.

As a key figure in Igboland, Kalu should be very concerned about what the order portends for his people should the Arewa youths make good their threat to quit them from the north and confiscate their properties. They had while issuing the threat, ordered commencement of inventory of all properties owned by the Igbo in the north possibly to appropriate them albeit, illegally. Should they make good their threat, the Igbo and possibly other southerners in the north are bound to suffer immeasurably. It could also come with deleterious consequences for the continued existence of this country.

So Kalu is in a good stead to engage the youths especially if they will listen to him as their meeting appeared to have shown. Who knows where the saviour will come from? But his intervention should be rightly seen as his personal contribution to the raging discussions on how to get the nation out of its current impasse. He is entitled to it more so in a democracy. That is the much credit that can be ascribed to that parley for now.

From the utterances of Yerima, it would seem the parley achieved a direct opposite result. It struck at once, as a counterproductive engagement. The erroneous impression conveyed was that the meeting centred round a plea to the so-called coalition of Arewa youths to rescind their threat to quit the Igbo by the threatened deadline. And if one may ask, is it in the place of those threatened to go cap in hand begging a faceless group not to resort to lawlessness in appropriating challenges to the Nigerian state that are clearly outside their competences? Are we not according undue recognition to that group and their resort to lawlessness in addressing perceived grievances even when they are yet to demonstrate how the subject matter solely affects them?

At a time people are still at a loss as to why Yerima is still walking the streets free despite the order to arrest him by Kaduna State governor for his incendiary statements, it is an irony of sorts that we are now playing host to such a character. No doubt, Yerima and his co-travellers committed a grave offence against the peace and unity of the country. If Kalu had met with them in private and confined their discussions as a personal affair, nobody would have bothered.

But to have organized a joint press conference whose outcome ended up massaging the ego of Yerima, amounts to an insult to the sensibility of the Igbo he unfairly disparaged in that ill-fated outing. He neither sounded conciliatory but rather displayed such arrogance that suggests the fate of the Igbo in the north is in his hands. He was neither remorseful nor did he sound sufficiently reconciliatory. And one begins to wonder if his posturing at that press conference was a true reflection of the outcome of their discussions with Kalu.

Hear him, “I do not remember specifically saying we are going to finally withdraw the quit notice. No certainly not. But you can be rest assured that those who believe in Nigeria should remain where they are and be assured of their safety. But to those who don’t believe in Nigeria, we cannot guarantee their safety”. If this was the outcome of the meeting, it is better it never held.

If Kalu acquiesced to the joint press conference with the hope that his intervention has yielded positive result, he must have been shocked by the pigheadedness and arrogance of Yerima as clearly shown above. Kalu must have felt sufficiently embarrassed by the rant of Yerima that he had to advise southerners living in the north not to entertain any fear about their safety. The advice is a clear indication that nothing was achieved and southerners needed to be reassured about their safety in the north. But that changes nothing as Yerima has said unequivocally that those dubbed non believers in Nigeria are at grave risk in the north.

One then begins to wonder what that press conference was intended to achieve. It struck as another window for Yerima to reinforce his earlier threat. If he needed to reinforce that threat, it was patently inappropriate to use a forum provided by an Igbo leader to do that. He has told everybody that his group will not guarantee the safety of those who do not believe in Nigeria. That should not be treated with levity. It is a reinforcement of the earlier threat and he may have been emboldened by the inability of the security agencies to bring him to book just as they did to Nnamdi Kanu whose activities Yerima and his group are seemingly protesting.

We have had all manner of rationalization as to why Yerima and his co-travellers have not been arrested. We have been treated to all manner of theories on how to de-escalate the tension in the land and how further arrests would not serve the best interest of this nation at the moment. That can as well be. But we are yet to be told the effect of such a standpoint in reining in purveyors of hate speeches and division. And as we have seen, such a posturing has had the net effect of emboldening the likes of Yerima to carry on as if they are above the law.

Yerima said his group will not guarantee the safety of those who do not believe in Nigeria. By interpolation, at the expiry of his deadline, Arewa youths will set the machinery in motion to sieve those who believe in Nigeria from those who do not. Perhaps, after that exercise, they will now sack the non believers from the north and confiscate their property. There could be other consequences since he talked of their inability to guarantee the safety of the latter.

The first problem with this posturing lies in the propriety of the powers they intend to exercise. On whose behalf and under whose authority does the group intend to appropriate the powers to begin the questionable voyage into sieving believers and non believers in Nigeria? What right if any do they have to dabble into such normative questions? And what are the parameters for such a nebulous engagement?

It can therefore be discerned from the inherent contradictions in these posers that the Yerima-led group is a bunch of confused people who do not need to be dignified they way Kalu did. This is Yerima who boasted soon after the ill-fated Kaduna outing that his image in the north soured after his threat order. Will he not see this as another evidence of his revved up image?

Yerima is looking for cheap popularity and if he must get it, it is not for those he threatened and abused to provide him that platform. It is not for the Igbo to dissuade the Arewa group from sacking them and taking advantage of their property. If they intend carrying out their order, it is for them to determine. You cannot threaten to take what rightly belongs to me as a citizen and I go on my knees to beg you not to do so. No! It cannot go that way.

Kalu may not have foreseen these contradictions. But, that is where the situation has now left us especially given the arrogance and non conciliatory posturing of the character that he had in audience. If he must continue in this direction, then he should open new windows of discussion with his contemporaries and other leaders in the north whom Yerima and his group are drawing strength from. But the issues are so weighty and fundamental to be handled single-handedly.

August 7, 2017
Monsters we create

Those conversant with the high wire politics surrounding emerging agitations to tinker with the structure of this country would have smelt a rat in recent calls by governors for the creation of state police. Not that the calls detracted substantially from the salient issues to restructuring. No!

Rising from a meeting with the Inspector General of Police (IGP), the governors set up a six man committee to give effect to their decision. The committee is to meet urgently with the acting President to facilitate the setting up of state police.

It is to be admitted that some of the governors including those of the ruling All Progressives Congress APC had lent their support to restructuring. But the seeming indecent haste with which they are rooting for state police in isolation of other potent issues to restructuring is bound to raise genuine suspicion.

This is more so given that some of the governors in their individual capacities had voiced out strident opposition to the entire idea. Governor Rochas Okorocha was curiously reported to have said that we do not need restructuring but ‘repackaging’. He did not come clear of what he meant by repackaging and its relevance in the wide spectrum of discussions on how to resolve the defective order of our federal contraption together with the serious threats it poses for national unity and progress.

Perhaps, snippets to what he meant could be gleaned from his reference to repackaging and selling Nigeria to the outside world. In this wise, he could be talking of image re-branding. He may have had in mind Nigeria’s image deficits outside. Through repackaging, he seeks to polish the nation’s image for marketability. He sees a new brand image for Nigeria as the issue. It remains to be conjectured how that proposition fits into discussions on true federalism, devolution of powers or the demand of the governors for state police. They do not relate in any way.

If we had no need for restructuring as he would make us believe, the governors would not have seen anything wrong in the extant structure of the Nigerian police institution. We could as well go on with business as usual. But by rooting for state police, they have ipso facto, admitted that there are issues to the organization of the Nigerian federation that needed to be addressed.

The demand for state police has been in public domain for some time now. So there is nothing new in the position of the governors. In fact, one of the recommendations of the 2014 National Conference which well meaning people have been canvassing for implementation is the issue of state police.

It was clearly addressed by that document which this government and some leaders have refused to give hearing hiding under some nebulous reasons. If the governors are now seeing reason in the state police idea, it then means there are recommendations in that document that will benefit the people of this country.

But that is beside the point. The creation of state police has been a recurring decimal in all discussions on restructuring. When former military president, Ibrahim Babangida lent his weight to the inevitability of restructuring, it was one of the issues he copiously canvassed. His views, though popular and well taken did not find favour in sections that prefer the status quo even when it has become a big baggage to the progress of this country.

Curiously some of the governors that have opposed restructuring are now in the vanguard of institutionalizing state police through the back door. They want to isolate state police from the fundamental restructuring of the polity. They would meet with the acting President to perhaps facilitate its creation through constitutional amendment.

Though a good idea, it is beginning to appear that the governors want state police for reasons that are less than ennobling. Before now, there have been suggestions that Nigeria is not ripe for state police. One of the points raised is the fear by governors to put state police to partisan advantage. That fear is real. It would appear the interest of the governors has more to do with the advantage it would confer on them especially in dealing with opponents during elections.

That is not to say that we should continue with extant structure of the Nigerian Police. No! We need to restructure the federal order. We need power devolution, fiscal federalism. We need to whittle down the omnipresence and omnipotence of the federal government in virtually any and every thing. It is a package of structural changes for efficiency which state police is just an integral part. There has to be a holistic perspective to the entire idea. That is the only way it can make sense. Sadly, the National Assembly displayed crass insensitivity to public opinion on the issue when it voted against power devolution just last week.

Though the APC manifesto captured restructuring, we have since been inundated with discordant tunes on the matter. Even when governors elected on that platform came out clearly to support structural changes, some of its leaders and governors have had to hold dissenting views. Apparently worried by the seeming lack of agreement within the ruling party, they have set up a committee to come up with their own interpretation of what restructuring connotes.

The committee which is chaired by Kaduna State governor, Nasir EL-Rufai is “mainly to define exactly what APC means by restructuring so that every member will know exactly what we mean. What we are talking about is a committee to articulate what the APC meant by restructuring”, its national publicity secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi said.

By this, the impression being conveyed is that there is some ambiguity in the position of the party as encapsulated in its manifesto. But when this is juxtaposed against the explicit wordings of that manifesto, one will be at a loss as to what there is again to define because the manifesto’s position on the issue is unambiguous.

The APC manifesto promised among others to: “initiate action to amend our constitution with a view to devolving powers, duties and responsibilities to states and local governments in order to entrench true federalism and the federal spirit. Restructure government for a leaner, more efficient and adequately compensated public service”.

It promised further to initiate policies to ensure that Nigerians are free to live and work in any part of the country by removing state of origin, tribe, ethnic and religious affiliations and replace those with state of residence.

Here, we are faced with such key concepts as devolution of powers, duties and responsibilities to states and local governments. We have a promise to entrench true federalism and the federal spirit. It says it all. It also talks of restructuring government for a leaner, more efficient and adequately compensated public service. If the party achieves these, it would have set the ground for a better nation. Nigerians are better for it. Then, it would have satisfied most of the issues thrown up by agitations for restructuring. Then also, there would be no reason to worry about definitions or constructs that are in the world of abstract.

Perhaps, the only deviation here is that the party did not explicitly state it was going to restructure the country. But, it will restructure government. The semantic defect in the latter is adequately compensated by the manifesto’s unambiguous position on devolution of powers, true federalism and the federal spirit. There is nothing more to add or delete. At any rate, that was the covenant between that party and the electorate which formed the basis for its victory at the polls.

Any attempt to subtract from them, will amount to reneging on electoral promises. What is required now is not a committee to define clearly stated objectives but concrete and concerted action to give effect to them. At any rate, definitions in social analysis are rather inconclusive. The APC cannot bring about these changes through administrative fiat. The route to them lies either in constitutional amendments or national dialogue or both where the inputs of other political parties and interest groups must count.

July 31, 2017
Season of diatribe

It would appear the spectre of incendiary attacks by sections of the country set in motion by a coalition of Arewa youths is not about to abate. Not with the recrimination that has inundated the nation’s political space despite the deft moves by acting President Yemi Osinbajo to stem the tide.

Not only have such attacks increased in momentum, they are assuming such a complex texture that could further complicate issues and rupture the fragile peace in the country. The same Arewa youth that issued the quit order to the Igbo resident in the north has had other outings as potentially explosive as their first. Masquerading under groups in the coalition, sundry persons claiming leadership positions have come up with statements that have had the net effect of heating up an already tensed polity.

One Gambo Gujungu purporting as the national president of Arewa Youths Forum, issued a stern warning to politicians in the south-west to stop any game that may rob the north of its rightful slot to the presidency in the interest of peace and unity. He said the north was aware of plans by the south-west to push out Buhari through a campaign of calumny using his health as a cover and vowed that they would resist any plan to take over power from them either now or in 2019.

“These south-west people think we don’t understand the politics they are playing, we will shock them when the time comes. Some people want to show us that they understand the game of politics more than us. But they are in for a surprise”, he averred.

Another group of northern youth led by one Abdulazeez Suleiman said in a press conference that they have written the United Nations UN to declare the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra a terrorist organization. It wrote the UN “to invoke the relevant statutes to which Nigeria is a signatory to pronounce Kanu and IPOB as terrorist outfits; proscribe their activities and initiate criminal actions against them”.

Keen watchers since a coalition of northern youth ordered the Igbo to vacate the north by October 1, may begin to construct a correlation between that order and the staccato of incendiary statements emanating from sundry northern youth groups. Due to the relative ease with which they got away with their initial provocative threats, the coalition quickly dissolved into amorphous groups issuing statements on behalf of the same north. Curiously, nobody has come out to distance that part of the country from some of these reckless and ridiculous statements. It is however, getting increasingly clearer that there is more to this cacophony of voices than ordinarily meets the eyes.

There must be an issue of interest the north is seriously committed to that has given rise to the recruitment of sundry characters to foul the political air. In this wise, the agitation for self-determination by the pro-Biafra groups may not be the real issue. It may have been deliberately raked up as a launching pad for the actualization of a very selfish and parochial agenda that is at serious straits at the moment.

The question that is yet to be answered especially in respect to the threat by the northern youth against the Igbo is, on whose behest were they issuing the warning order? If those seeking self-determination want to exit the Nigerian federation, is it in the place of the youth from a geo-political zone to appropriate that challenge on behalf of the federal government? Is there any exclusive loss they stood to encounter over and above other federating units that should warrant the indecent haste in appropriating a challenge to the Nigerian state? Or what stakes if any, do they have over and above other federating units to the point of taking up a fight on behalf of the federal government?

Perhaps, the clue to this riddle can be found in the threat issued by Gujungu against the south-west. In that statement, he spoke of plans to deny the north of their right to the presidency either now or in 2019 with a vow to resist them. As if the threat was not enough, he chided the south-west for living under the illusion that they understand politics more than the north with a promise to show them northern dexterity in the art and game of politics. Call it the usual arrogance associated with northern stranglehold on power and you will be right. Call it kite flying and you will also not be wrong.

There has been no response from the south-west even as the purport of the statement is not lost on them. The issues in contention are clearly not in doubt. They pertain to the current predicament wrought on the nation by the failing health of President Buhari. With little information on the exact state of health of the president after many weeks of medical treatment abroad, there are fears of the north possibly losing power.

This is more so given that the acting president is from the south-west. There is fear of the possibility of acting President Osinbajo taking over power in the event of the worst outcome. So what the youth are saying is that if the need arose for the constitution to be activated in this regard, that would not happen. We do not pray for the worst case scenario. All well-meaning people sympathize with President Buhari and wish him very quick recovery.

But, it offends public sensibilities for the northern youth leader to simulate calamity and on that basis prescribe situations that would amount to a subversion of the grand norms governing this country. If we show such disdain for the constitution of the country, then we are definitely in for grave danger. We have trod this dangerous path before. But for the intervention of the National Assembly, the consequences would have been very catastrophic. Nobody should again take us through that ominous path.

We say so given that a couple of weeks back, the Chief of Army Staff complained publicly of attempts by some people to drag the military into some unconstitutional action. It would appear the scenario painted by Gujungu can only come through unconstitutional action. And that is where the danger lies.

If the above portends grave danger for our democracy, the call on the UN to classify the IPOB as a terrorist outfit is not only dangerous but a great disservice to this country. It would appear the youth, in desperation to get even with the IPOB, lost sight of the dire repercussions of the UN labelling that group a terrorist outfit. By their calculations, once the UN makes such a pronouncement, our security forces will now move in their equipment to wage an asymmetric warfare in the section of the country the IPOB canvasses self-determination for.

We will now be faced with another war with consequences more grave than what presently obtains in the north-east. Then, the northern youth group would have achieved their devious aim. But in canvassing such a position, they displayed crass ignorance of what constitutes the objective conditions for terrorism. Whatever one may wish to say about Kanu and his group, violence is not part of their agenda. They have made that clear for the umpteenth time. Those who seek to associate them with terrorism aim at settling scores by all means including the sinister.

The call is a clear and potent danger. Another terrorist group in the country would have satisfied both the necessary and sufficient conditions for Nigeria to be classified as a terrorist state. That will come with dire repercussions. Apart from being a disincentive to foreign investments, it will expose our citizens to profiling-the type the US government is currently pushing against some countries. That was why for many years, Boko Haram insurgency was not labelled terrorist outfit until their international affiliations came obvious. The menace of the Fulani herdsmen should have come first if we are looking for terrorist outfits. These are potent dangers we face settling parochial scores through unwholesome means. We can do with less of this diatribe.

July 24, 2017
Makarfi: beyond the victory

hose hitherto worried by the lingering crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) must have heaved a heavy sigh of relief at the Supreme Court’s validation of the leadership of the Ahmed Makarfi-led caretaker committee.

Before now, a dark cloud hung around the future of the main opposition party due to the crisis that erupted at its last national convention in Port Harcourt. Its outcome, pitched the former national chairman, Ali Modu Sheriff against the caretaker committee which enjoys the support of the mainstream organs of the party. Efforts to evolve a political solution proved abortive due mainly to the intransigence of Sheriff. He had insisted on certain conditions the Makarfi group and key organs of the party deemed unacceptable.

Judicial solution seemed preferable especially after the case had run through the Appeal Court, surprisingly in favour of Sheriff and his picked loyalists. Buoyed by his victory at the Appeal Court, Sheriff became something else, defied reason and wriggled to foist himself on the majority without regard to its repercussions on the unity and survival of that party.

Tempers rose so high especially after the last effort by former President Goodluck Jonathan in Abuja to evolve a political solution. Sheriff walked out of the meeting and it became obvious that court option remained the only solution even as it goes with uncertainties and certain risks. The court option offered two possibilities with different payoff – Sheriff wins and Makarfi loses and the vice versa.

But each of these possibilities goes with a different set of consequences for the party. The first option of Sheriff winning at the Supreme Court is loaded with grave danger for the survival of the party. Sheriff does not enjoy the support of any of the organs of the party. He neither has the support of the PDP governors, the Board of Trustees nor the national executive committee. Elected members of the party in the National Assembly and former ministers are against him. He could not even count on the staff of the party. Not only did these organs oppose him publicly, they swore never to work with him again accusing him of being a mole to destabilize the party for self-serving interests.

It was obvious that even if the court judgment went in favour of Sheriff, the Makarfi group, together with all the key organs of the party would leave him with carcass of the party to inherit. There were even speculations that the group already had a plan B in its kitty, should the worst case scenario play out. In fact, it was rumoured that the group had registered a new political party so as not to be taken unawares especially given the jolt they suffered by the outcome of the judgment of the Court of Appeal.

Though the Makarfi group had serially denied this, but the body language of its officials continues to point to that direction. What this underscores is that victory for Sheriff would have led to the disintegration of the party. That prospect was indeed very high. In an article in this column titled “PDP without the people”, I had ruminated on a scenario where Sheriff came victorious and the likely outcome of events. The main thesis of that presentation was that Sheriff’s victory would amount to a coup against the people and a destruction of the PDP.

He could cling on to power; commence recruitment of sundry characters to confer contrived legitimacy to his leadership but all that will lead the party only to a predictable path-destruction. That was bound to be the eventual outcome of victory for Sheriff. Yes; the Makarfi group could float another political party, strive to position it for the challenges ahead. But they would have lost much time. Sheriff, in his new position, would rave up the spoiler game making it difficult for the splinter party to have a smooth and quick sail.

Opposition would have been rendered prostrate because Sheriff’s PDP would not be able to muster enough muscle to mount a serious challenge while the splinter party would battle with organizational challenges. There would be no strong alternative platform in the coming national elections. This country’s democracy with its increasing slide to one party state would have been worse for it.

The second possibility of Makarfi emerging victorious is the outcome we now contend with. By that victory, the danger of mass exodus through an alternative platform has been clearly foreclosed. The party will continue from where it stopped since all its organs, structures and properties are intact. It enjoys the support of its governors and that will make things a lot easier. It will inherit all there is to the PDP and move fast to reposition for the challenges ahead. But the roadmap is not going to be that smooth.

Sheriff and his band of supporters are not in short supply of options. They could find accommodation in any party of their choice or float another political party entirely. But they will not be able to make any meaningful impact for lack of numbers. They will not make any difference if they pitch their tent with any of the exiting parties with the exception of the ruling party. Their strength in sustaining the fight lay solely in capturing the PDP brand in a coup fashion and deploying it to whatever end it pleased them. Once that vaulting ambition failed, all their calculations collapsed like a pack of cards.

Aligning with the ruling party is also fraught with serious danger. It will lend ample support to the accusation that Sheriff was all along working for the government. That will dent whatever is left of his credibility and cast some slur on the ruling party for attempting to muscle opposition through unwholesome means. Even the ruling party will be reluctant to admit him at this point in time. That is the credibility baggage Sheriff has to contend with at least for now. He had good opportunities for a fair bargain but blew it all.

But they still have the option of finding accommodation within the PDP. They could now seek reconciliation; an option they serially rebuffed through the obduracy of Sheriff. Good enough, the Makarfi PDP has sent an olive branch to all genuine members for reconciliation with a caveat that such will be based on fairness; equity and values. What these principles would translate to in actual terms is left to conjecture. They have also announced a policy of no victor, no vanquished. But contrary to the avowals of the new PDP leadership, there are winners and losers.

It is a verity of the two person zero sum game. There are bound to be losers and winners. Sheriff is the loser and has to contend with the outcome of his short-sightedness. For dragging his party to the precipice, it is unlikely he will find favour in that party again. Given that the strength of political parties lies in their membership, the party would definitely need many of those in Sheriff’s camp. But it is likely going to be on the terms it will dictate. It would appear group negotiation with dissenting members does not offer much prospects any longer. The party could go ahead to resolve disagreements within some state chapters but it is unlikely to supplant their executives to accommodate the Sheriff group. That is where the loss actually begins.

Beyond this victory, the PDP still has to contend with all the issues that brought about the current pass. Chief among them is impunity resulting in the imposition of candidates and inability to allow internal democracy to reign supreme. Apparently blinded by its hold on power, it had behaved as if it was above the people who at any rate remained the ultimate sovereign.

The party must also come to terms with the reality that it lost elections and things are no longer the same again. It has to contend with the campaign mounted by the ruling party against it in the fight against corruption irrespective of the selectivity of that crusade. Its current challenges (though self-inflicted) provide a good opportunity for serious introspection.

To make real progress and command the confidence of the people, it must strive to prove to Nigerians that it is no longer business as usual. The tea party is over. Nigerians are more than ever before eager to hold the government accountable. The Supreme Court verdict makes meaning only if it re-awakens the party to the primacy of the people as the fulcrum for democratic action.

July 17, 2017