The Nation Newspaper

Category: Emeka Omeihe

  • Methuselah Ambassador

    It is indeed curious President Muhammadu Buhari has re-nominated for Senate screening and confirmation, 82 year old Sylvanus Adiewere Nsofor (rtd) as a non career ambassador. In a letter to that effect dated March 29, the President was silent on the reasons for Nsofor’s re-nomination.

    When the nominee appeared before the Senate on March 23, he was rejected due to his refusal to respond appropriately to questions posed to him during the screening exercise by members of the committee on foreign affairs. The committee chairman, Senator Monsurat Sunmonu had then said Nsofor was not rejected because of his age even as he walked in looking frail and was supported as he was not able to walk on his own.

    According to him, “his responses to issues raised were either not answered or devoid of details and mostly satirical. When we asked him to recite the National Anthem, he said we should have sent him a syllabus”. A member of the committee asked him if he knew about IT. He asked what is IT and I told him Information Technology and he said “it’s for your age and not mine”. Also when asked if he was not too old, he said we should go and ask Mugabe who is still working.

    For this inability to respond to questions in the appropriate manner for reasons best known to him, the Senate refused to approve his nomination for the ambassadorial position. Now that the President has re-nominated him, what assurances are there that he will not again ask to be sent a syllabus when asked to recite the National Anthem, refer them to Mugabe when issues are raised about his age and tell the committee that information technology is for their age and not his?

    Even if a new set of questions are asked him by committee members, what guarantee is there his responses will not toe the same evasive pattern? This poser has been raised to underscore the inappropriateness of his re-nomination by the President. From all indications, Nsofor is neither prepared for the job nor is his age best suited for it. At 82, and given the committees’ characterization of his appearance, it is obvious he has no business with that job. Perhaps, he knows that too well and that may have accounted for the manner he responded to questions posed to him by members. A nominee who felt so confident to tell the Senate committee members that information technology is for their age and not his has no business taking up appointment either as a career or non-career ambassador.

    But more importantly, at 82, it is ridiculous that somebody is still considering the retired judge for such appointment. There are other ways of helping him if someone is interested in his welfare rather that make a mockery of that sensitive office. The situation is even more disconcerting when it is recognized that such appointments are made on representative basis.

    Imo State which he is being appointed to represent has a surfeit of high level, energetic and well-qualified manpower for such positions. It is a slap on the collective psyche of people of that state that a retired 82 year old judge is the person found fit and proper to fill its slot at the ambassadorial level. What a shame!

    So the issue is not just about his inability or refusal to address questions posed to him in the appropriate manner. Even if he was able to answer the questions to the satisfaction of the committee members, his age cannot possibly permit his approval for that position. The Senate should not hesitate to reject him on account of old age even if he now answers questions to their satisfaction.

    President Buhari should be asked to nominate a more suitable candidate from Imo State for that position. We cannot continue recycling people who have served out their terms in their chosen fields in the face of the spiraling unemployment challenges that pose the greatest challenge to order, peace and stability in this country.

    The re-nomination of Justice Nsofor is a sad reminder to the controversy generated by the re-nomination of the acting chairman of the EFCC Ibrahim Magu who was equally rejected for non-satisfactory performance during screening in addition to the damning report on his credibility to lead the anti-graft war. Since the second rejection, we have been made to believe that a proper interpretation of the constitution shows clearly that the President does not really need the approval of the Senate to appoint the EFCC chairman.

    Yet, in the past, that tradition had been followed without any adverse consequence. We are not looking at the overall intendment of the act setting up such bodies in stipulating that their heads should be approved by the Senate. We now show scant interest in the principles of separation of powers, checks and balances and their overall capacity to check abuse of power which corrupts absolutely.

    In a bid to find escape route, we had to scrutinize the constitution to find a way out. And our researches paid off in section 171 of the constitution which they said empowers the President not to seek Senate approval for Magu’s appointment. We are now only interested in working from the answer so long that answer enables us achieve a predetermined end. That is the interpretation of the legal opinion offered by Femi Falana and copiously adopted by the Vice President Prof. Yemi Osinbajo that the EFCC chairman does not need Senate confirmation.

    But, Magu’s name had been sent to the same Senate on two consecutive times and rejected. Had he been confirmed, perhaps nobody would have cared to search the constitution to seek and explore loopholes. Given the above, it could be safely concluded that the whole idea is to have Magu on the EFCC seat by all means. But the interpretation of that part of the constitution by Falana and its adoption by Osinbajo is still not the end of it all. The final resolution of the matter lies with our courts.

    It is true that when any law clashes with the constitution, the latter takes precedence. But that is not the only issue that will be taken into account when the matter comes before the courts. The courts will also consider issues of public interest, what stood to be gained or lost by subjecting such appointments to Senate confirmation. They may also consider the dangers inherent in having the executive solely appoint heads of such sensitive bodies on the overall assignment they have to prosecute.

    Besides, it has been argued that section 60 of the 1999 constitution (as amended) empowers the Senate and the House of Representatives to make rules to guide their activities. It is further being contended that section 60 is not inferior to section 171 and that the rule of the House is subsidiary legislation deriving its powers from the grand norm, which is the 1999 constitution.

    The above point underscores the contention that the interpretation proffered by Falana and adopted by Osinbajo is still largely provisional as it cannot be the final position on the matter. The issue should be challenged in the courts for us to get to know the true position.

    But then, should we undertake all this trouble just because Magu is involved? Must he stay in that office by all means? These are the issues to ponder especially given the valuable energy dissipated on this singular appointment. Even if he does not need Senate approval to retain his job, has he cleared himself of the damaging allegations against him by the DSS?

    This poser is germane given that Babachir Lawal, former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF who was earlier cleared by the President together with Magu on the allegations made against him has now been suspended from duty and being investigated. If the government has seen reason even very belatedly to suspend Lawal, it needs to revisit the Magu saga instead of exploring loopholes in the constitution to retain him by all means.

  • Yari’s sermon on Meningitis

    Apparently troubled by negative reactions to his statement attributing the outbreak of Type C cerebrospinal Meningitis to a direct punishment from God for the sinful acts of Nigerians, Zamfara State governor, Abdulaziz Yari came out quickly to deny it.

    In what appeared a careful attempt to save the governor from the folly of his statement, his media managers claimed that at no time did he say “God is punishing Nigerians with the outbreak” and that meningitis was a divine punishment from God for fornication.

    The statement went further, “no doubt as a God-fearing man and Muslim, the governor believes in the powers of Allah to inflict whatever punishment He decides on the human race. Fornication should not spread so much in society that it becomes common place and if that happens, Allah promises to inflict on its perpetrators (people) a sickness that would have no cure”.

    In order to appreciate whether Yari successfully denied the statements earlier credited to him, it is apposite to reproduce his encounter with State House correspondents at the Villa and not with a BBC Hausa reporter as claimed.

    Hear his sermon “What we used to know as far as meningitis is concerned is the Type A virus. However, because people refused to stop their nefarious activities, God now decided to send Type C virus which has no vaccination. People have turned away from God and He has promised that if you do anyhow, you see anyhow, that is just the cause of this outbreak as far as I am concerned, adding there is no way fornication will be so rampant and God will not send a disease that cannot be cured”.

    Apart from denying having said specifically that God sent the Type C virus to punish Nigerians for their sinful ways, there is no substantial difference between his denial statement and the one earlier credited to him. This is evident from the similarities in his claim that where there is rampant fornication, “God will send a disease that cannot be cured”. He did not deny this. The inference from the link between the pervasiveness of fornication and God sending a disease that has no cure as a punishment is that Type C virus is part of the punishment of God to this country for rampant fornication.

    So what is there to deny when everything is put in context.

    Why is he talking of the wrath of God? What is the link between fornication and the outbreak of Type C virus if not an attempt to establish a causal relationship? The purport of the analogy cannot be any other than rationalize the seeming helplessness of the state government in responding to the debilitating challenges of the pandemic. If his comparison has nothing to do with the reason for the outbreak of the deadly disease, there would have been no reason for him to raise it when confronted with reporters’ question on the virus outbreak.

    It would appear Yari came up with this excuse in the face of strident criticisms of his government’s inability to take proactive steps to control the spread despite warnings from relevant agencies. This is more so given that Zamfara is worst hit by the rampaging effects of the scourge.

    At the last count, more than 300 people have been reported dead in the state even as several others are receiving treatment in various hospitals. The scary situation prompted the state chapter of the Nigerian Medical Association NMA to accuse the state government of negligence given copious warnings on the impending outbreak.

    It would therefore seem Yari delved into the realm of religion to get away from the obvious inaction of his government in controlling the scourge.

    Given the above, this column views his rebuttal as an afterthought.  The reason proffered by the governor for the outbreak of Type C Meningitis in this country is nothing but an alibi for not doing the needful after several warnings.

    Yet, that is not to dispute the awesome powers of God or the fact that there is much iniquity in this country. That could as well be.

    But this perspective is of very limited value in accounting for the prevalence of the disease in some countries as opposed to others. It cannot also explain why the pandemic is so acute in Zamfara and a few northern states and not in others.

    Neither can it be claimed that states that suffer more from the outbreak of the disease are more of fornicators than areas it is less prevalent. There is nothing to sustain that contention.

    There must be other reasons for the pattern of spread than what Yari wants to feed us with. There is also no evidence to show that evil life, the type fingered for the spread of incurable diseases, is more rampant either in Nigeria or Zamfara to attract the heavy casualty that has been recorded so far.

    Whereas it can be admitted that the Type C virus is relatively new on these shores, it is not true it is entirely strange to the world. Vaccines for its combat had long been developed. That we do not have them in sufficient quantity may be partly because the disease has been alien to these shores. Yes, we are conversant with the Type A strand that our people are usually vaccinated against.

    With the world becoming a global village, it is to be expected that this will come with its positive and negative sides. Practices, habits and diseases that were hitherto alien to us will find their ways into our territory as people interact and mingle together. That is why countries demand certain degree of health certification from foreigners entering into their territory. That is why inoculation is required for Yellow fever et al.

    Medical records are replete with behaviours that aid the spread of viral and bacterial meningitis which are considered contagious. Both can be transmitted through droplets of respiratory secretions during close contact such as kissing, sneezing or coughing on someone. Viral meningitis is most commonly spread through faecal contamination. The risk of infection can be decreased by changing the behaviours that lead to transmission.

    The point here is that these diseases have always been around the world. That they are not known to have infected this country does not in any way whittle down the fact of their existence. What is important is that at each point they rear up their ugly heads, relevant governments and agencies take appropriate measures to stem their spread.

    That is the minimum expected of the Zamfara State government in the instant case. And that was exactly the case with the outbreak of the Ebola virus in this country which has since been controlled. It had nothing to do with either fornication or the sinful acts of the people of this country.

    The position of Yari is not entirely surprising. Before now, we had been treated to such convoluted and ill-informed perspectives with the immunization programme. We cannot forget in a hurry the controversy that dogged that programme because of dubious interpretations given it by some governments. Hiding under religion and some other mundane suspicions, some of the governments have had cause to take actions that are at once, in contradiction with the demands of modern civilization.

    It is not surprising that people of states where such warped reasoning hold sway, have been at the lowest rung of the ladder in taking advantage of the successes of modern science. Little wonder the disparities in the development matrix between sections of this country. Yari can do better by accepting the realities of the scourge rather than seek escapism through moral and religious precepts.

    It is very refreshing the federal government has come out boldly to refute any link between the spread of the virus and punishment from God for our sinful acts.

  • Senate and Sagay’s tirade

    Senate and Sagay’s tirade

    It is getting increasingly clearer that the chairman of Presidential Advisory Committee against Corruption, Prof. Itse Sagay has a penchant for emotive outbursts. How else do we account for the recurring controversial positions ascribed to him in the matter involving the rejection of the acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCC, Ibrahim Magu by the Senate?
    When a few weeks back the Senate rejected Magu’s re-nomination by the president citing the damning report on him by the DSS and poor performance at the screening, Sagay had said “whether they like it or not, he (Magu) will be there as his chairmanship will keep on being renewed. Sagay attributed Magu’s delayed confirmation to “corruption fighting back”.
    He further said non-confirmation does not in any way impair his duties even as he described allegations against him as spurious and a distortion to give wrong impression about the EFCC boss.
    Sagay would again be in the news, when he described their action as childish and irresponsible. He said the Senate is filled with people of questionable character who place their selfish interests above that of the nation. For him, Buhari should call the Senate’s bluff and continue to run his government with people appointed in acting capacity.
    The Senate did not take kindly to these wild accusations and has therefore invited him to shed more light on them. But as usual, he stated that the Senate has no powers to invite him since the office he occupies does not classify him in the category of persons under Senate inquisition.
    Some of those who spoke on his invitation by the Senate have tended to question the powers of that body to interrogate him for exercising his fundamental rights of freedom of speech. They contend that as a public institution, the conduct of the Senate must regularly come under the prying eyes of members of the public. They therefore see the Senate action from the prism of an attempt to emasculate dissenting views on some of its activities.
    This perspective is clearly beside the point as his invitation in all fairness, cannot be ascribed to an attempt to emasculate public criticism of that key national institution. Of course, the Senate is open to public criticisms as reactions to some of its decisions have shown. In this case, we are concerned with the damaging and weighty allegations he made against the Senate as a body. He claimed that the Senate is filled with people of questionable character.
    The ordinary interpretation is that a preponderance of the senators is of shady character. That strikes as a sweeping generalization. And the senators are within their rights to feel sufficiently injured by that unguarded characterization. It may not be entirely out of place that some senators have serious credibility deficits. But to proceed beyond that to label most senators as people of questionable character is to dwell in the realm of recklessness.
    Sagay is an appointee of the president on whose behest he speaks. That makes it difficult to draw a line between his views as a private citizen and that of the office he holds. When he pointedly told the Senate that its powers is merely to confirm and that the president can afford to disregard the Senate by retaining Magu in an acting capacity, he was merely obfuscating the right relationship that should exist between the legislature and the executive in a presidential democracy.
    It was reckless for him to have averred that Senate confirmation of the relevant appointees of the government is of no consequence as the president could go ahead and retain in acting capacity people who failed the integrity test at the floor of the Senate.
    He may have relied on Section 171 of the constitution (as amended) which vests on the president, the powers to appoint and remove from office of such functionaries. But the same section made it mandatory that certain categories of public functionaries must be confirmed by the Senate. The same Section 171(4) mandates that an appointment to the office of Ambassador, High Commissioner or other Principal Representatives of Nigeria abroad shall not have effect unless the appointment is confirmed by the Senate.
    Yes, the president is vested with the powers to appoint or remove from office. But the president is still required by our laws to seek Senate approval. And as has been seen from the above, certain categories of appointments by the president shall be of no effect unless they are confirmed by the Senate.
    Democracy would have been rendered a nullity if the tiers of government stick very rigidly to the roles assigned them by the constitution without regard to that cooperative spirit only through the overall welfare of their people will be enhanced. Thus, it is not just about power tussle, as the capacity of the three arms to muster and galvanize the synergy of action that will promote the greatest good of the greatest number of people.
    The nation is currently buffeted with debilitating problems. We are contending with excruciating economic recession with no end in sight. Insecurity and fissiparous tendencies are at an all time high. They require the synergy and cooperation of all arms of government for immediate and lasting solutions. Muzzle-flexing and sticking to rigid dispositions, the kind Sagay has high preference for, will only exacerbate the situation.
    So when the Senate decided to put off the confirmation screening of the 27 REC’s, it was meant to prove that its’ confirming powers are of some serious consequence. Those who accuse the Senate of arm-twisting or blackmailing the executive by putting off the confirmation of the REC’s are missing the point.
    The blame should be laid at the door steps of Sagay whose unguarded statements brought about the unfortunate pass. Sagay can do with more caution in his current job. Else, he becomes an unmitigated liability to the Buhari administration in its new resolve to seek a mutually respecting relationship with the Senate.

  • Senate and Sagay’s tirade

    Senate and Sagay’s tirade

    It is getting increasingly clearer that the chairman of Presidential Advisory Committee against Corruption, Prof. Itse Sagay has a penchant for emotive outbursts. How else do we account for the recurring controversial positions ascribed to him in the matter involving the rejection of the Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, by the Senate?

    When a few weeks back the Senate rejected Magu’s re-nomination by the president citing the damning report on him by the DSS and poor performance at the screening, Sagay had said “whether they like it or not, he (Magu) will be there as his chairmanship will keep on being renewed.”  Sagay attributed Magu’s delayed confirmation to “corruption fighting back.”

    Apparently piqued by statements portraying the Senate as powerless in confirming such appointments, the upper chamber refused to consider the list of 27 Resident Electoral Commissioners (REC’s) nominated by President Buhari until Magu is relieved of his post. In the discussions at the floor of the Senate, contributors made copious references to statements by Sagay suggesting that their power of confirmation was of no consequence. And they resolved to put a lie to that through the refusal to confirm the REC’s until Magu is relieved of his post.

    Sagay was again in the news, this time describing their action as childish and irresponsible. He said the Senate is filled with people of questionable character who place their selfish interests above that of the nation. For him, Buhari should call the Senate’s bluff and continue to run his government with people appointed in acting capacity.

    The Senate did not take kindly to these wild accusations and has therefore invited him to shed more light on them. But as usual, he has boasted that the Senate has no powers to invite him since the office he occupies does not classify him in the category of persons under Senate inquisition. Yet, he is in public office as an appointee of the president making a caricature of the highest legislative body in this country.

    Some of those who spoke on his invitation by the Senate have tended to question the powers of that body to interrogate him for exercising his fundamental right of freedom of speech. They contend that as a public institution, the conduct of the Senate must regularly come under the prying eyes of members of the public. They therefore see the Senate action from the prism of an attempt to emasculate dissenting views on some of its activities.

    This perspective is clearly beside the point as his invitation in all fairness, cannot be ascribed to an attempt to emasculate public criticism of that key national institution. Of course, the Senate is open to public criticisms as reactions to some of its decisions have shown. In this case, we are concerned with the damaging and weighty allegations he made against the Senate as a body. He claimed that the Senate is filled with people of questionable character.

    The ordinary interpretation is that a preponderance of the Senators is of shady character. That strikes as a sweeping generalisation. And the Senators are within their rights to feel sufficiently injured by that unguarded characterisation. It may not be entirely out of place that some Senators have serious credibility deficits. But to proceed beyond that to label most Senators as people of questionable character is to dwell in the realm of recklessness.

    Thus, Sagay is being invited by the Senate not just for exercising his fundamental human rights but for statements that impugn the integrity and credibility of the Senate. If the Senate is filled with people of questionable character as he alleged, then this country is finished. His right to fundamental freedoms stops where the right of others begins.

    Sagay is an appointee of the president on whose behest he speaks. That makes it difficult to draw a line between his views as a private citizen and that of the office he holds. When he pointedly told the Senate that its powers is merely to confirm and that the president can afford to disregard the Senate by retaining Magu in an acting capacity, he was merely obfuscating the right relationship that should exist between the legislature and the executive in a presidential democracy.

    It was reckless for him to have averred that Senate confirmation of the relevant appointees of the government is of no consequence as the president could go ahead and retain in acting capacity people who failed the integrity test at the floor of the Senate.

    He may have relied on Section 171 of the Constitution (as amended) which vests on the president, the powers to appoint and remove from office such functionaries. But the same section made it mandatory that certain categories of public functionaries must be confirmed by the Senate. The same Section 171(4) mandates that an appointment to the office of Ambassador, High Commissioner or other Principal Representatives of Nigeria abroad shall not have effect unless the appointment is confirmed by the Senate.

    Yes, the president is vested with the powers to appoint or remove from office. But the president is still required by our laws to seek Senate approval. And as has been seen from the above, certain categories of appointments by the president shall be of no effect unless they are confirmed by the Senate.

    It is therefore clear Sagay did not help matters when he advised his boss to ignore the confirmation powers of the Senate. He could not have furthered the course of democracy by simulating a situation in which the presidency and the Senate will be perpetually pitched against the other. Such a situation is a recipe for anarchy.

    The nation is currently buffeted by debilitating problems. We are contending with excruciating economic recession with no end in sight. Insecurity and fissiparous tendencies are at an all-time high. They require the synergy and cooperation of all arms of government for immediate and lasting solutions. Muscle flexing and sticking to rigid dispositions, the kind Sagay has high preference for, will only exacerbate the situation.

    So when the Senate decided to put off the confirmation screening of the 27 REC’s, it was meant to prove that its’ confirming powers are of some serious consequence. And I think they have made that point for Sagay to appreciate the futility of his ranting. Those who accuse the Senate of arm-twisting or blackmailing the executive by putting off the confirmation of the REC’s are missing the point.

    The blame should be laid at the door steps of Sagay whose unguarded statements brought about the unfortunate pass. He accused the Senate of fighting Magu for selfish reasons. Yet, we know Magu’s credibility deficits emanated from the damning report on him by the DSS. Sagay can do with more caution in his current job. Else, he becomes an unmitigated liability to the Buhari administration in its new resolve to seek a mutually respecting relationship with the Senate.

  • Imo’s ‘autonomous’ communities

    Those conversant with the traditional setting in Imo state would have been wondering when the word ‘autonomous’ crept into the Igbo lexicon in the classification of communities. It is a vogue in that state to identify traditional communities, many of which preceded the advent of the white man, with the tag ‘autonomous’.

    Thesaurus defines autonomy as: independence, self-government and self-rule. Is it being suggested that these communities gained independence from a former master-traditional community? Or, they have been liberated from a former lord in the same fashion Africa freed its people from colonial rule?

    These were bona fide villages in their former communities with common ancestry, full rights and privileges. They had their own village chiefs and other heads with a government-recognised traditional ruler. What is then the propriety of the term ‘autonomous communities’ when they were hitherto not under any form of subjugation or oppression?

    The absurdity of the classification is further underscored given that even when a new community is carved out of an existing one, both the old and the new are still classified as autonomous communities. Which raises the question: autonomy from whom?

    The term crept in when the then Mbakwe administration carved as separate entities two or three communities that had been fighting amongst themselves as a solution to years of acrimony and bitter hostilities. These communities had a history of age-long bitterness, and the intention of the government was to put an end to it. It then created new communities out of them, which it termed autonomous.

    That singular act was, years after, to open a floodgate for intense agitations as those who envied the traditional chieftaincy institution saw it as a veritable avenue to realise their dreams. Soon, agitations qua agitations mounted. Demands ranging from the selfish and ego-boosting to the ridiculous became the order of the day. And given the very well known republican nature of the Igbo man, virtually any and every hamlet wanted an autonomous community status. Subsequent civilian governments, apparently succumbing to political pressures embarked on a bazaar of autonomous communities’ creation.  With one creation, more demands mounted on the government, and the situation became chaotic.

    With an initial number of less than 200 autonomous communities in 1979, Imo today has nearly 700 autonomous communities with demands still mounting. The last time I checked, there are well over 100 recommendations from the previous State House of Assembly. And the list of villages and hamlets that want the autonomous community status are on the increase.

    The reason generally canvassed for this mad rush for more autonomous communities is that they convey development quicker to the rural areas. It is also argued that it increases their share of the dividends of democracy from the government. You are quickly told the last time government had things to share; communities that have been split got more than those that have not.

    So the more a community is split the more it gets from the government, the argument goes. With this kind of logic, it is not surprising the avalanche of agitations that regularly mount on the government.  You are, in addition, confronted with certain policies of the government that water the logic for more autonomous communities.

    When you hear the argument that creation of autonomous communities quickens development, it is only an expression of what they stand to gain from the government. It is not an indication that people of the new communities will now pool resources in the fashion of the community development efforts that part of the country was hitherto known for- such that culminated in the construction of the Imo airport project.  Such community development efforts have since given way to dependence on the government. And in communities where these agitations are rife, you can hardly find any effort at collective development. People are reluctant to contribute to projects for fear that the agitators may eventually go with them if they secure autonomy. So it can be safely argued that the quest for autonomous communities is a disincentive to community development efforts.  Otherwise, we should have seen such efforts brought to bear in the development of the communities from which these demands are emanating.

    And if a community cannot meaningfully embark on development projects with its advantage of size and population, it remains to be imagined the magic it stands to pull through when it is now fragmented. If the issue is really about development, why will that not progress in the present communities or the sections from where such demands are emanating? Ironically, the argument about autonomous communities quickening development is based on the misconception that government has infinite resources to dispense and the more the communities, the more they get. It is a time bomb that is bound to destroy the society.

    Beyond the reasons that are publicly canvassed, these unbridled agitations have their root in envy, disrespect for constituted authority and the vaulting ambition by any and every charlatan to become a traditional ruler. It is symptomatic of the raging confusion in the so-called Ezeigbo title floated by some Igbo residents in places outside their ancestral homes. Where there is peace, acrimony and civil strife are simulated to provide the grounds for agitations.

    With nearly 700 traditional rulers, the Ezeship institution has already been bastardised, denigrated and whittled down in influence. You need to visit a public function of traditional rulers to behold the ridicule and chaos that have become the fate of that revered institution. Yet, demands for its further degradation continue to mount. Matters are not remedied by the penchant of succeeding houses of assembly for embarking on a bazaar of autonomous communities’ creation. No responsible government can afford to watch this descent into anarchy. It is incumbent on the Rochas administration working in concert with the state house of assembly to put a halt to this madness. It is the duty of government to restore sanity and order to the traditional institution by discouraging this slide into unmitigated fission.

    With stipends paid recognised traditional rulers, government increases the burden each time it creates new communities.  This gives the impression that it has limitless resources to pay. Even if it is capable of paying, there is still a limit beyond which we cannot continue replicating the so-called autonomous communities without destroying the fabric of the society. We are faced with foreboding prospects of every village, every hamlet or family becoming an autonomous community unless the government halts the madness.

    It is ironic that many of the traditional rulers who benefitted from the mindless replication are now vehemently opposed to further splitting of their communities. Perhaps they have seen the futility of uncontrolled balkanisation of communities. This underscores the point that there is a limit beyond which that exercise cannot be stretched without dire consequences.

    The government must come up with very stringent measures to discourage the fledgling market of autonomous community agitators. Imo people should be encouraged to channel their energies to more productive endeavours rather than rancour and schism. We cannot afford to destroy the society by consenting to the selfish hankering of the burgeoning tribe of agitators.

     

  • Obumselu: Exit of a literary giant

    By a twist of events, I didn’t get to hear of the passing of erudite Professor of English Benedict Ebele Obumselu until about a week after. Given my routine of resuming daily activities after morning prayers with monitoring major news events of the day, I was thrown into a big puzzle as to how such a major news event could have escaped me. Is it possible for such an astounding intellectual and man of many parts to have passed on without attracting media attention?
    Could it be that his contributions both as an academic and literary icon, and his place in history, are not fully appreciated? Or did it not occur to someone in the family or very close to them to issue a statement announcing the death of a man who left indelible footprints in the literary field? For a country that celebrates people who managed to ascend high political offices even when they have nothing to show for it, could it be part of the collective anomie of elevating materialism and the ephemeral to the detriment of value and more enduring virtues of life? Those were some of the questions that agitated my mind on realising that Prof. Obumselu’s exit did not get the deserved media mention it ought to.
    I came into contact with him in 1984. Then, I had just been engaged as Staff Writer at the then Satellite Newspapers, Enugu, owned by former Anambra State governor Jim Nwobodo. Obumselu presided over the editorial board meetings of that newspaper as a visiting Chairman. Though I had worked in two provincial newspapers before then, it happened to be the first time I was working in a well-organised national daily whose editorial board followed the pattern of what obtains today.
    I recall very vividly how he usually drew my attention to the corrections he made on my scripts. I recall the very personable way he mentored us in the art of editorial writing and the very tremendous impact he had in improving my writing skills. Unfortunately, the period was short as he was later to take up appointment at the Imo state University.
    I was later to take up another job with the Statesman, a newspaper owned by the Imo State government. While I was at the Statesman, he sent for me for some discussions as he was living in Owerri then. He told me of plans by some well-heeled people from the eastern part of the country to set up a national newspaper to be based in Lagos. We held several meetings on this idea and compiled names of prospective editorial staff.
    Somewhere along the line, we started hearing stories that another financier was about to go it alone. Soon, news went round that a business tycoon and philanthropist, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, was about to set up a national newspaper in Lagos. And this was immediately followed up with advertisements for various editorial positions.
    Those of us desirous of moving over to Lagos, the centre of journalism practice, to face more challenges saw that as a good opportunity, given the preference accorded journalists from there over and above those of us that work in state- owned media houses. I was engaged as pioneer political editor of the Champion group in September1988 and the paper hit the newsstands a month after in October 1of the same year.
    Prof. Obumselu moved over to Lagos to consummate the newspaper we were working on prior to my taking up appointment with the Champion group. The company, the Torch publishing, acquired an office at Esmo Close in the highbrow Ikeja area, brought in modern printing press. The whole idea was to go national. But for some reason, this idea could not come to fruition. They had to go into commercial printing with some of the national dailies running to them in times of difficulty.
    While in the Torch, I maintained regular contact with him and assisted him in sourcing some of the staff that worked with him. I often visited his residence in the Ikeja area to share ideas. And visits to his flat said a lot about the simple life he lived.  In one of such visits, I came into contact with the late environmental activist, Ken Saro-Wiwa. I recall their discussions on literary matters as Ken kept making references to one of his books, On a darkling plain; and the advice Obumselu gave when Ken started passionate discussions on the plight of the Niger Delta people. It did not take long after that episode before Ken ran into the trouble that led to his unfortunate death. During the time Ken was passing through that difficulty, all that kept coming to my mind was the encounter of that very day.
    Obumselu was a friend to many people, especially the young and upcoming who he encouraged and mentored through his simplicity and modest ways of life, his intimidating credentials notwithstanding. I count myself as one of those greatly influenced by his philosophy of life and for that I owe him a lot of gratitude.
    A great scholar and literary guru, Obumselu attended the famous Dennis Memorial Grammar School (DMGS) Onitsha before proceeding to the University of Ibadan. At the University of Ibadan, he became the president of the Students’ Union from which position he eventually emerged as the first president of the National Union of Nigerian Students, NUNS, which today is known as NANS.
    As a student union activist, he was reputed to have laid the grounds for issue-oriented activism.  On graduation, he took up appointment as an Assistant Registrar with the West African Examinations Council in Accra, Ghana.  It was from there that he proceeded to the Oxford University and obtained a doctorate in English in 1958.
    On his return to Nigeria, he was appointed into the faculty of English of the University of Ibadan, thus marking him out as the first black and African to teach in the faculty of English of Nigeria’s premier university. He was there until the outbreak of the civil war.  He was very active during the war, working variously as special adviser to Ojukwu on war documentation, official war historian and recorder.
    At the end of the war, he settled to teach at the University of Nigeria. Obumselu was a key member of the Ohaneze Ndigbo which he served as both its Secretary-General and Deputy Chairman.
    A scholar of high repute, he was easily regarded as one of the major literary critics in Africa because of his philosophical, cerebral and oracular powers. He was a confidant of the late Christopher Okigbo and reputed to have had tremendous influence on the production of some of his poems. With his death, Nigeria has lost one of its best minds. Adieu Benedict Ebele Obumselu.

  • Corruption fighting restructuring

    It would appear the nexus between corruption and the dysfunctional structure of our federation is yet to be fully appreciated. Any strategic weapon designed against corruption which forecloses the systemic and institutional deficits that reinforce and sustain it, would amount to scratching the surface of the matter.

    If the government is serious about waging a successful war against corruption, it must opt for a more holistic and enduring perspective to the matter- approaches that do not just focus on its manifestations but the wider dynamics of environmental shortfalls that nurture and sustain it. Ironically, in the current fight, concerns focus more on symptoms rather than the root causes.

    Admittedly, huge sums of money looted by former public officers have been recovered by this government and those before it. We are daily regaled to our consternation with the unbridled looting that goes on within government circles, as one former public officer after the other is exposed in this looting bazaar.

    Of late, about N3 billion was recovered in a hidden safe belonging to a former Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Andrew Yakubu, while more than 17 exotic vehicles were recovered from the warehouse of a former boss of the Nigerian Customs Service, Abdullahi Dikko. The list is endless as sundry former political office holders including many former governors are currently facing corruption-related charges.

    All we have been treated to still represents a tip of the iceberg in the corruption matrix. Many of those who milked this country dry have been left to enjoy their loot.  Even now, and with all the posturing of the government, corruption is still rampant.

    Not only have some key government functionaries been accused of corrupt practices with the same government looking the other way, just last week, Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee against Corruption, Itse Sagay accused the Nigerian Customs Service and the NNDC of unbridled corruption even under the present administration. He illustrated his case against the NDDC, citing reckless vehicle purchases that are at variance with the current mood of the nation.

    If Sagay could go public with such allegations, it is to be imagined that the war against graft can succeed only to the extent those holding public offices are blocked from finding loopholes to fleece the nation. Where the opportunity to steal and escape unnoticed exists, chances are public officers will dip their hands into the public till. That is the foreboding reality.

    And it is so because the system of government we operate is patently defective. Not only are its structures not conducive for nation-building and inculcation of patriotic ideals among the disparate groups, the political recruitment process is tainted and incapable of producing quality leaders of nationalistic hue. The main qualifications for the highest political office- the presidency – have been ethnicity and religion rather than capacity and requisite training to grapple with the complex challenges of statecraft.

    We are trapped in this predicament because of the disproportionate powers of the central government. The federal government controls everything including life and death. That is why competition for that office has remained rancorous and volatile. It is so because the competing sections want to take control of its resources for the advantage of their ethnic groups and members of their families. And given Richard Joseph’s characterisation of our politics in the prebendal sense, one can better appreciate why corruption has remained a hydra-headed monster in our public life.

    In his theory of the two publics, Peter Ekeh gave insights into how our colonial experience gave rise to the emergence of two realms- primordial and the civic public. While the primordial realm is associated with a high level of morality, the civic public is denied of it. Thus, certain actions considered a taboo in the primordial sphere are tolerated and hailed if they concerned the civic public.

    That is why those who steal from the till of the government are sometimes hailed while stealing from the purse of the ethnic union is highly despised. It all has to do with the amorality that is the fate of the civic public. That also accounts for the serious competition between the state and primordial cleavages for the loyalty of the citizens.

    In effect, the dysfunctional federal structure and the amorality that is associated with civic structures have had the net effect of unleashing in this country the looting spree that goes on in public life. For this country to make reasonable progress in the war against graft, it must evolve models that mark a sharp departure from the current situation where the central government controls everything with unlimited access to the national wealth. Devolution of powers and fiscal federalism hold the ace.

    With that, the bitter competition and rivalry among the component units to control the center will be stymied. Corruption at that level will also reduce very substantially. It is possible for this competition to shift to the component units thereafter. But the difference will still be there because competition will be circumscribed both in scope and destructive propensity.

    Acting President Yemi Osinbajo argued along this premise last week when he said they curbed corruption in the Lagos State judiciary through institutional reforms. He attributed its success to the fact that a “system was in place and impunity was not allowed.” For him, corruption can be effectively tamed if “we put in place models that will work.”

    The model on which our federalism is erected cannot work. Nigeria is not just working. Our federal structure has been an unmitigated liability. And rather than check corruption, it has everything that aids and abets it. Those who are putatively comfortable with it, do so because they are in positions to corner its unlimited resources for self-serving predilections. Its extant structures must be tinkered with to check corruption and unleash the creative energies of the component units for rapid development.

    So when you get to hear some people tag themselves patriots, nationalists or statesmen; when you hear them parrot the non-negotiability and indivisibility of the country, beat war drums to keep Nigeria one, you are being regaled with the sing-song of those who either currently benefit unduly from the stupendous resources at the centre or owe their questionable wealth to the public offices they hitherto occupied. As soon as that advantage is under some threat, they switch positions either as religious fundamentalists, insurgents or self-determination crusaders.

    The real issue is what each gets from the central authority. And since those opposed to restructuring seem contented with what the central authority offers them or are afraid of what they stand to lose if new paradigms supplant decadent ones, it can be safely extrapolated that corruption constitutes the greatest impediment to evolving a functional model for cohabitation and rapid development. It is a case of corruption fighting restructuring for fear of a new model that will eventually kill it. The choice is ours!

  • Senior citizen Bolaji’s plight

    I want to die, 85-year old woman rejected by children cries” was a screaming headline in one of our national dailies last week. At first, I thought it was one of those headline gimmicks sometimes deployed by editors to catch attention. But on second thought, I decided to go through the text apparently with the curiosity of matching the headline with the substance of the story.
    As the old woman gave account of her predicament, I could not still come to terms with the reality that such was possible in our clime where children are known to be the surest insurance to their parents at old age. Such was my frame of mind until I got to the point where her fourth son, Samuel, a lawyer, spoke giving ample credence to all his mother had said.
    Only then did the reality dawn on me that the story of senior citizen Bolaji Isaac was true and her predicament factual. Then did I realize the reporter did a very good human-interest story by exposing what may have been going on in our society but about which not much is known.
    Here is the chilling story of 85-year-old senior citizen, Bolaji, that compelled her to lament that when she dies, she would be going to the grave with sorrow and bitterness as she has nothing again to live for. She said her five children have all rejected her and all efforts to see them have proved futile as none would have anything to do with her.
    She recounted how an apartment given to her by a church in Lagos was taken over by one of her sons who even chased her away. Since then, she had been homeless. She therefore appealed to Nigerians to prevail on her children to meet her before her death.
    According to her, her fourth son Samuel is a lawyer but anytime she calls him, he would give excuses that he was in court, and promise to call back without doing so. She has been compelled by her circumstances to move to Oshodi where an old friend, Mrs Sadatu Ahmed, took compassion on her, and  has provided her shelter for the past eight months. This is Sadatu’s account: “She was sleeping in the verandah of our compound exposing herself to cold and mosquito bites. When I could not bear it, I begged my son to allow us accommodate her. She cannot go to toilet on her own and does not sleep well. I bathe her and keep vigil over her.”
    She lamented that anytime she called Bolaji’s children, they would not pick calls; and when they did, they were quick to hang up, and that she may be forced to send the woman away for fear of what would happen if she died in her house. That is the current predicament of the woman at a time she most needed succour from her children, relations and the society.
    If the plight of the old woman is heart-rending, the account by her son, Samuel, is even more confounding. He said his mother was troublesome and that is why he kept her away from his family to avoid having issues with his marriage. According to him, when their mother was living with his brother Tope, she was fighting with his wife, and that she cannot live with any of her sons without having issues with their wives.
    Admitting he does not know where his mother lives now, he said they contributed N25, 000 for her last week, wondering where the issue of neglect is coming from. But he appeared to have come closer to reality when he disclosed that they were exploring the idea of putting her in an old peoples’ home.
    The issue is not whether the old woman is troublesome or not, or whether she fights with her son’s wives or not. The matter is beyond all that. The point is that the children have failed in their responsibility to manage their mother in her old age such that the matter is now within the public domain. I do not know the ages of her five children. It is also not intended here to exculpate their mother from the allegations against her. But the truth is that generally, people at that age, especially women, are damn difficult to manage.
    That is the experience of those who have had the fortune of seeing their parents at very old age. It is very tasking and challenging. There is also intolerance on the part of wives. Many do not want to stomach any inconvenience from their parents’ in-law. Yet, the same women do not treat their own parents with the same measure. What one finds in the entire story is failure on the part of Bolaji’s children to take responsibility. It is not enough to find fault with her and, for that reason, care less about whether she lives or dies. It is a challenge which many families face and will continue to face. There are a thousand and one parents whose conducts and conditions are worse than the picture that has been presented.
    Yet, their children manage their situations. There are parents with only one or two children whose conditions are more tasking both in finances and personal care and they never allowed the situation to degenerate into abandoning them.
    It is not a credit to admit as Samuel did that he does not know where his 85-year- old mother lives. It is also ridiculous to be sending money to a parent whose whereabouts are unknown to her children. Neither is money all that is needed at that stage of her life. As we have seen in the instant case, Bolaji wants the personal care of her children. And she is entitled to it. It will be heartless and unconscionable for her children to abandon her at this stage of her life.
    We should be careful of the measure we give our parents, especially at their old age, because young husbands and wives of today are the old, weak and troublesome parents of tomorrow. That is the uncanny reality of life. And as one proverb cautioned, when a man wants to bury his father, he should take along his son so that he (the son) can learn how his father will be buried.
    Her children ought to have risen to the challenge by renting an apartment for her and hiring a nanny if they are so ensconced in the comfort of their house that their mothers’ presence would be a distraction. And for five children, that should not be difficult. What of the apartment given to her by the church, which one of her sons took over? Is it not possible to recover it for her to live in with a nanny?  These are some of the options the sons should explore to give some succour to their ailing mother.
    Elsewhere, governments have social security plans for their aged and senior citizens. Not here! The informal social security in place on these shores is the children, and it will continue to be so for quite some time to come. They can as well find her old peoples’ home. But that cannot sufficiently compensate for the personal care of her children, which she direly needs now. Before then, they owe a lot of gratitude to Sadatu who accommodated their mother for eight months without any word of thank you. May God bless and reward her.

  • PDP without the people

    With the ruling of the Court of Appeal in favor of Ali Modu Sheriff as the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party PDP, a very dark cloud now pervades the future of the former ruling party. Even then, the appeal by the Markarfi faction at the Supreme Court against the ruling has further raised the stakes in this make or mar legal tussle.

    Arising from the turn of events is the seeming preference by the disputants for the final resolution of the case through the courts. As things stand, they have submitted themselves to the winner-takes-all scenario that is bound to be the final outcome of the Supreme Court ruling.

    For such a two party zero sum game, the options are very clear. So also, the pay-offs. One party is bound to win and maximally too while the other stands to lose completely. Ordinarily, rational calculations should instruct that such game scenarios could be very catastrophic. And a better situation would be that in which both parties seek solutions that will minimize their losses in the event of the worst outcome: a compromise position that is more likely to save the party.

    But events have shown the contending parties do not want a political solution to the crisis. And if such options had been on the table, they could have been activated to resolve the crisis while it was before the appeal court. Curiously, each party stuck to its own position awaiting the appeal court decision.

    Apparently, the Markarfi group believed it had better chances of winning the suit given that the convention in which the caretaker committee emerged was in keeping with the party’s constitution. It also had all the organs of the party: the board of trustees, the governors, its former ministers and the overwhelming majority of the party members including the state officers with it. They could not fathom how one man could impose himself on the majority.

    In the ensuing crisis, Sheriff remained essentially a general without troops supported by a band of people he appointed by himself. The source of his strength and confidence remained largely doubtful even as the other group severally accused him of being sponsored by the government in power to weaken the opposition. His conduct during the last governorship elections in both Edo and Ondo states went at lengths to give fillip to this accusation. All these may have embittered the Markarfi group to the extent of not having anything to do with him as he could no longer be trusted. The outcome of this loss of faith is the current situation in which the Supreme Court would have to resolve the legitimacy of the two groups to lead the party.

    But court verdict is unlikely to produce an outcome that will see the party regain its unity and strength so soon after, especially given that some governorship elections are around the corner. That is why political solution has been mooted in some quarters despite the intransigence and defiance of Sheriff.

    There were suggestions from some quarters especially those in Sheriff’s camp that the Markarfi group should not have appealed the judgment to allow common grounds to be evolved to move the party forward. While some of his loyalists had been bragging and arrogantly making uncomplimentary statements against key personages of the Markarfi group, Sheriff was also reported to have boasted how he will deny some PDP governors the ticket of the party in future elections.

    He was later to deny those statements emanated from him. He spoke very copiously in very reconciliatory terms of his plans to reposition the party and return it to the people. Which people? For him, the path to this lies in the organization of a national convention to elect national officers. But how can that stand in the face of the impositions that marred the congresses he earlier supervised?

    The Markarfi group is privy to his undemocratic credentials and would not trust him. Not after engaging the party in a protracted legal battle even when he does not enjoy the support of key party organs. Not with his posturing before the last convention of the party in which he contrived all manner of subterfuge to have himself returned unopposed as the party chairman with eventual eye to install himself as the presidential candidate of the party come 2019.

    The Markarfi group knows his antecedents and anti- democratic credentials and would never allow that scenario. They are unlikely to take seriously any promise coming from Sheriff. His pledge to organize the national convention of the party will be taken as a disguise to install his stooges within the party hierarchy. If he succeeds in doing this, the party would have become his personal property.

    It is not surprising the group has gone ahead to appeal the judgment, thus foreclosing all the ideas being nursed by Sheriff until the appeal runs its full course. This has added new complications to the power tussle between the two groups. And as things stand, it appears to have foreclosed any political solution to the matter irrespective of on-going consultations by some of its leaders.

    If such consultations could not produce any result while the case was at the appeal court, it is doubtful given the intransigence and arrogance of Sheriff he will be cooperative now his position has been strengthened by the court ruling. He has even had the national secretariat of the party unlocked for him by the police.

    The Supreme Court will have to determine between Sheriff and Markarfi the authentic leader of the party. If the caretaker committee is given a clean bill of health, things will bounce back to normal. That is the group that has the backing of the governors, the board of trustees, National Assembly members and almost entirely all the state executive of the party. That is the PDP.

    But the situation will turn out chaotic if the ruling is in favor of the Sheriff faction. Sheriff will inherit the party without the people. He would proceed immediately to issue orders, directing all organs of the party to fall in line as severe disciplinary measures await all those who disobey his orders. He would have become all in all, acting in any manner that pleased him.

    Then, two of the tripod on which the party’s name- Peoples Democratic Party stands- the people and democracy would have taken flight. But then, if the party loses the people that make it up, it would have ipso facto lost its claim to any democratic credentials. And when these two key elements are exorcized from the party, nothing else would have been left. He could go ahead to rebuild the party according to his own terms and dictates but he is unlikely to secure the support of those he is edging out through the instrumentality of court ruling.

    The party will not fare any better. That is one dimension that could incapacitate the party. The second plank of the calamity that will likely befall the party will result from the refusal of the other group to have anything to do with Sheriff. There is the possibility of the other group ditching the party. Already suggestions have been rife to that effect.

    That will see to the emergence of a new political party only for Sheriff to be left with the carcass of the PDP. Thus, in all the scenarios should Sheriff emerge victorious, what has emerged is that the party would be worse for it. There is the potent possibility of disintegration with deleterious repercussion for democracy.

    Given the above, will the interest of democracy be better served by the disintegration of the former ruling party? And given the tendency in this clime for people to gravitate towards the ruling party for self-serving reasons, would it not amount to a quick sail to one party state in real terms?

    These are the issues to consider. They may not be part of the legal issues to be determined by the Supreme Court. But can the apex court afford to ignore the overall effect of its decision on the sustenance of democracy on these shores? And what role if any, should public or national interest play in the disposal of issues that have wider implications for the successful practice of democracy on these shores?

  • Between Shettima and Sheriff

    Between Shettima and Sheriff

    This year’s edition of the Murtala Mohammed memorial lectures should serve as a veritable food for thought especially given mounting security challenges stretching the nation to capacity.
    Not only is the title “Managing the Boko Haram crisis in Borno State: Experiences and lessons for a multi-party, multi-ethnic and multi-religious Nigeria” relevant to contemporary realities, it could not have had a better speaker than Kashim Shettima, governor of Borno State.
    He wears the shoes and should know where they pinch most. His take-off point was a recent statement by his predecessor, Ali Modu Sheriff in which he implied that at the time he handed power over to Shettima in 2011, Boko Haram had asserted territorial control and carried out its atrocities within Maiduguri only. Sheriff went further to assert that Boko Haram was not in control of any local government area then.
    But Shettima smelt a political shot to reverse or obliterate the true turn of events in respect of that uprising. He catalogued events that led to the birth, nurturing and maturation of the Boko Haram terror group during the period Sheriff held sway, disputing the claim that Boko Haram did not metastasize beyond Maiduguri while Sheriff was on duty.
    Here is his case: in July 2009 when Boko Haram launched its first concurrent attacks in Maiduguri, its cells also carried out similar attacks at Damasak, headquarters of Mobbar local government of the state. Cells yet to become active existed alongside visible followers in other local government. He said Boko Haram which had spread from Borno to Bauchi and Yobe states attacked targets in these states within the same July 2009 and that the terror group was by this time everywhere in Borno State. This was before he became the governor.
    He said he had restrained from blaming his predecessor for inaction that provided fertile ground for the spread of the terror group. But by failing to intervene in the crisis between some members of the armed forces and the insurgent group known then as Yusufiyya over the use of crash helmets, Sheriff cannot in all honesty, escape culpability for the turn of events that escalated the crisis.
    In 2010, a more vicious and radical Abubakar Shekau emerged on the scene as a catalyst and threatened reprisals that have left this nation in its current pass. Shettima wrapped up his narrative thus “the transformation from Yusufiyya to Boko Haram under Shekau, dispatch of outposts outside Maiduguri in Borno State to Yobe and Bauchi, all planned and coordinated from headquarters in Borno had become contrived fait accompli under governor Ali Modu Sheriff”.
    We have gone this far to put in perspective some of the issues that have been traded regarding the genesis of the Boko Haram insurgency. It is not for this writer to give an opinion between Shettima and Sheriff who is right or wrong. The issues canvassed are in public domain. If Sheriff is not done with them, the floor is still open.
    Perhaps, the import of the sequence of events highlighted will become handy after appraising the second strand of Shettima’s discourse – conspiracy theories and the praxis of inaction. In this, Shettima gave account of how emerging theories regarding the raison d’etre for the Boko Haram insurgency, its possible sponsors and overall objectives led to inaction on the part of the Jonathan administration culminating in the escalation of the conflict with dire consequences for lives and property.
    He said Boko Haram grew from strength to strength after the 2011 elections due to conspiracy theories that followed its attacks of the police headquarters and the UN building in Abuja all within the first three months of Jonathan’s swearing-in. Then, there arose a conspiracy theory that Boko Haram was set up by the ‘Muslim-majority northern leaders’ to target Christians and make Nigeria ungovernable for Jonathan.
    This theory latter changed from all northerners using Boko Haram to undermine Jonathan to a narrower theory of northerners in opposition using Boko Haram to destabilize the Jonathan administration. He said it provided an alibi for the federal government to justify its inability to take prompt measures to quell the rising insurgency.
    The same conspiracy theory was equally at play during the abduction of the Chibok girls. He said federal government’s initial response was that the abduction was a ruse. It was later reversed to the effect that the abduction was masterminded by the opposition to discredit the Jonathan regime. For Shettima, these were the issues that impeded quick response by the government and culminated to the monumental losses in human lives and damage to property of inestimable value.
    Shettima’s account of these conspiracy theories and their net effect on the overall fight against terrorism may not be in doubt. But he appeared to have skewed the theories disproportionately against the side of the Jonathan regime. That is not a proper representation of all there is to it. There were also more devious and invidious strands of similar theories from the northern elite including inaction and ambivalence that combined to produce the same situation he complained about.
    A few examples will drive this point home. The then governor of Adamawa State, Muritala Nyako had in a letter to northern governors titled “on-going full-fledged genocide in northern Nigeria” floated the theory that the so-called Boko Haram war was a subterfuge by the Jonathan regime to depopulate the north. Among other very damaging, unpatriotic and tendentious claims by Nyako was that the government was killing citizens and attributing it to the ‘so-called Boko Haram’.
    Nyako even sought his colleagues’ support for all those adversely affected by Boko Haram to ‘sue the federal government to court for full compensation for any loss of live and property’. The Northern Elders Forum also toed this line when it claimed most conflicts in the north were being engineered to weaken the north both economically and politically by interests who want to exploit them for political advantage.
    There was also the equivocation of the northern establishment in coming out clearly to condemn the murderous escapades of the insurgents. All these complicated the situation and adversely affected the prosecution of the war. How do you proceed with a war a serving governor had dubbed a subterfuge to massacre people of northern origin? That was the big question. Curiously, Shettima did not factor these in his conspiracy theories and praxis of inaction that followed.
    Even the Nigerian Army during the current regime, came out with its version of the theory when it sent a “very strong and serious final warning to some prominent individuals and political groups from Borno State in particular and North-east in general” for planning to undermine and scuttle the fight against terrorism. That was the army speaking and they were heard loud and clear. So the issues are not as plain as Shettima would make us believe.
    The point to note from Shettima and Sheriff’s narratives is that Boko Haram is a home gown radical religious ideology. It was born, nurtured and allowed full maturation due to errors of omission or commission by the Borno State government. It was neither engineered from the outside nor a contrived agenda to depopulate the north as events have shown.
    Admittedly, emerging conspiracy theories as unproven as they remain, imposed serious constraints to the overall prosecution of the war. But they cannot be entirely dismissed as the warning from the army had reinforced. More of the blame for the lethargy that followed should be laid at the shoulders of the northern elite for failing to unequivocally condemn the insurgency; and for actions and inactions that fuelled suspicion as to their tacit support for the group.
    It is gratifying Shettima came to terms with these realities when he declared “quality and affordable education is for me, the number one roadmap to addressing the Boko Haram insurgency”. That is the way to go rather than seek escapism in imaginary enemies.