The Nation Newspaper

Category: Emeka Omeihe

  • The monsters we create

    Those who have followed events within the nation’s polity would obviously be wondering whether there are universal standards for appraising issues that impinge on the political realm. This trend is more perceptible when such matters relate to the policies and activities of leaders while presiding over the affairs of this country.

    It is common in partisan political activity for opponents to seek to fault the policies and actions of their rivals with a view to convincing the electorate they could do things better if given the mandate. That is the nature of democracy. Its strength and attraction lie in the plurality of views and alternative paradigms it offers.

    But, the expectation is that those hitherto in the forefront of criticizing policy initiatives of incumbents, will do things differently with better results given the opportunity. It is not envisaged they will turn around to implement the same policies even with the objective conditions remaining the same.

    Similarly, activities or policies with higher prospects for deepening democracy for which a government was rated low due to its inability to allow them flourish, are expected to have a field day when those in the vanguard of their promotion have the reins of government under their control. That is the basis for the preference of one political party over and above the other. That is the fulcrum on which democratic choice and action revolves.

    In our clime, it would appear this rule is in most part, observed in its breach. You get to find to your consternation, policies and actions that drew stern criticisms and condemnation when a particular government was in power being seriously implemented and justified as soon as the mantle of leadership shifts to another even with objective conditions remaining the same.

    And one begins to wonder the type of progress a nation that applies different sets of rules to the same phenomenon; a nation that places higher premium on political expedience over objective realities can possibly make. You begin to ponder whether such positions were for public good or to satisfy self-serving ends. Such has been the contradiction elevated to the front burner by events surrounding the nation-wide protests championed by a popular Nigerian musician, Tuface Idibia against the biting policies of the current government.

    The musician had called a nation-wide protest which at once drew the sympathy of many civil society groups that found ample justification in his course. But the police authorities were not favourably disposed to the protests citing the possibility of a break-down of law and order. They also claimed that a rival group had also slated its own demonstrations on the same day around the same venue and time, citing them as evidence that things will go awry should the protests be allowed.

    So much pressure was mounted on Idibia that he had to succumb and shelve the demonstrations due to security reasons. But other civil society organizations and interest groups already committed to the protests would not budge. They made good their promise to draw the attention of the government to the plethora of problems confronting the Nigerian masses on account of its anti-human economic policies.

    The demonstrations took place very peacefully in many cities including the federal capital territory, Abuja. But one significant thing that happened in Abuja was the appearance of another set of demonstrators apparently in sympathy with the policies of the government. They came to the streets to show solidarity with the government and its policies. True to the prediction of the police, they closely trailed those protesting against government policies to their venue but luckily kept some distance.

    The real motive of this group is largely unknown. It neither advertised its intentions nor the date and venue of its outing. They are entitled to their support of the government and its policies. Why they chose the same date and time and came close to confronting the anti-government protesters is a matter of conjecture. However, their conduct fuelled suspicion that they may have been hired to give a semblance of veracity to the claim of the police authorities. It looked in all ramifications contrived, sponsored and fake. Their tactics is not new. Not with Abuja as the theatre of their outing.

    Not surprisingly, the development has further fuelled speculations that the government put in everything to frustrate and deny the people their inalienable rights to peaceful protests against its debilitating policies. Ironically, this is a government that came to power riding at the back of such popular movements. It is a government that mounted a very serious and sustained opposition against an incumbent culminating in the historic defeat of a government in power in Africa.

    That singular feat has since had its domino fall-outs, first in Ghana and then in The Gambia. Such a government is least expected to place obstacles on the road to peaceful protests and demonstrations since, it is a huge beneficiary of such popular movements. It should not be seen to be taking devious steps to foreclose the opportunity to tap the temperament of the people on critical issues that affect their lives.

    Such a government should be interested in knowing the effects of its policies on the people with a view to taking remedial actions where necessary. For, bottled up anger which does not find avenue for ventilation could result to more deleterious consequences. That is the danger we face attempting to muzzle up dissent especially in democratic setting.

    Incidentally, this government had a lot of goodwill at inception that it ought to align itself with the people. That was why it removed the so-called fuel subsidy and nobody raised eyebrows. Attempts by the previous regime to effect slight adjustments in the pump price of the product had attracted a nation-wide shut-down in 2012 by the Occupy Nigeria group. Then, leaders of the present regime were in opposition and many of them had tacit support for that action.

    If the current regime removed subsidy without any challenge, then Nigerians believed that it had good intentions and should be allowed time to put things alright. But nearly two years thereon, the lot of the common man has grown from bad to worse. The price of every essential commodity has doubled making life short, nasty and brutish. There are no jobs. And those who hitherto were in employment, lost them in large numbers on account of the economic recession into which the nation appears irretrievably mired. In the face of this, all we have been hearing are promises that things will improve for the better. But there are no signs of respite in sight.

    Of late, we have started hearing of promises that the government intends to implement measures to force down the prices of basic food items. How such a policy will address the issues that gave rise to this increase including the rising cost of diesel which now sells at around N300 per litre and the supply side of the chain is left to be seen. How it intends to force down prices at the prevailing exchange rate in a country that largely depends on imports for its basic needs including food is left for the government.

    By the protests, the demonstrators and millions of others who did not participate have shown that they are quickly losing patience in the responses of the government and its capacity to ameliorate the debilitating living conditions of the people. They are saying loud and clear and have happily been heard by the Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo that they cannot afford to continue this way as any policy lacking in human face is not for the living.

    They are saying very unequivocally the government should do what it preaches both in terms of allowing democratic freedoms and enthroning fair play in its campaign against corruption. They want a government of example that lives by the sermon it preaches.

    Else, we create monsters that may turn around and begin to haunt us. And this should be instructive. Now Osinbajo has heard them loud and clear, we expect quick responses to the seeming duplicity in some of the actions of the government and immediate succour to the suffering masses.

  • Imo’s siege of the vampire

    Imo’s siege of the vampire

    Wikipedia defined vampire, as a being from folklore who subsists by feeding on the life essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires were undead beings that often visited loved ones and caused death or mischief in the neighbourhood they inhabited when they were alive.
    So when a man styles himself vampire, he is no less expected to re-enact the attributes of that being from which his name derives. That was exactly the scenario that played out in a very dramatic manner at the premises of the Owerri High Court, Imo State a couple of days back.
    It looked like fiction. It had all the attributes of vampires portrayed in very menacing forms with dire consequences for humans. But this time, it was no fiction. It was real and live.
    The vampire really gave a good life account of its self. It did not only suck blood; it caused mischief and left in its trail sorrow and awe before disappearing very mysteriously. It did not visit loved ones but the neighbourhood where he was being detained since he is not the typical vampire that is considered to be causing trouble from its grave.
    This very vampire is known; has a name and is mortal. He is a notorious kidnapping and armed robbery suspect who has been standing trial at the Owerri High Court for related offences. Accounts had it that heavily armed gunmen penultimate Friday, stormed the high court premises shooting sporadically killing two people with many others critically wounded in a bid to free a notorious kidnap suspect, Henry Chibueze, popularly known as vampire.
    The invading gunmen numbering about six stormed the court room where the suspect and 49 others were standing trial, opened fire and successfully ferried away vampire in a waiting SUV vehicle. It was a scene to behold as judges, lawyers and some security men scampered for safety. Three judges and one magistrate were reported to have sustained serious injuries and taken to the hospital.
    Coincidentally, vampire was arrested in 2015 by the DSS while planning to kidnap some judges who were in the state for a conference and has been standing trial since then. He is said to be linked to many high profile kidnappings, killings and armed robbery cases and had evaded security until the DSS succeeded in arresting him.
    With his escape, an uneasy air now pervades the state as there is palpable fear of an upsurge in kidnapping and related criminal activities. Nobody knows what will follow next given the dexterity and brazen impunity with which his colleagues in crime ferried him to safety. As usual, security operatives are said to be on “top of the situation’ to ensure there is no breakdown of law and order.
    Expectedly, they have commenced a manhunt to apprehend the escapee and clear the huge embarrassment the incident represents. This is more so given that the Owerri High Court is so strategically located that if the gun men could operate so freely in the manner they did, whisking away such a dangerous and high profile suspect, then Imo people have genuine cause to be apprehensive of their lives.
    For, apart from the high court being located close to the Government House and the official residence of the Commander of the 34 Field Artillery Brigade, Obinze, the area is heavily manned by soldiers and policemen with armoured personnel carrier stationed close by. It was therefore curious that the armed men could operate freely in the brazen manner they did without resistance.
    The state governor, Rochas Okorocha was reported to have placed a ransom of N5 million for any person that will volunteer information that will lead to the arrest of the escaped suspect to underscore the seriousness of the matter. But the state Police Commissioner Taiwo Lakanu in his initial reaction to the monumental challenge was unfortunately reported to have said it was the headache of the Nigerian Prisons Service.
    If by that statement Lakanu was implying that the siege occurred when officials of the prison service brought the suspects to court and are therefore culpable for mismanaging the situation, he could be understood. But if the purport of that statement is that the state police command has nothing to do with the embarrassing development, then he got it entirely wrong. Could it be the reason why despite the strong security mounted around the court premises, there was no challenge to the impunity of the bandits until they had fulfilled their mission and vamoosed into the thin air?
    Such a statement raises puzzles about the security architecture erected around the area and the synergy that ought to exist between the various security agencies in such emergency situations that miserably left them all gaping. One would have wished to find out the responses of the police and the military immediately the assault was going on.
    So the matter is not just the headache of the prisons as Lakanu would make us to believe but the headache of the entire security operatives in the state including the governor who off course is the chief security officer of the state.
    Now that vampire and some other suspects are at large, the state police command and other related agencies cannot fold their hands just because the unfortunate incident was mishandled by the prison authorities. The fact that armed criminals could brazenly assault the state and escape without challenge is enough worry for the police which Lakanu leads. He may now find out that much of the responsibility for tracking down and re-arresting vampire and his colleagues in crime would still rest on the shoulders of the police.
    Though there may have been dereliction of responsibility on the part of the prison officials for not making adequate security arrangements before conveying the suspects to court, it would appear the usual rivalry between the various security agencies may have had a role in bringing about the unfortunate pass. We say so given that the prisons did admit that they got a call that some armed men were in the court premises but presumed they could be officials of the DSS since they were conveying over 50 inmates to the court.
    And if one may wish to ask, what are the usual arrangements when such a huge number of suspects are to be brought to court? Why did the prison authorities presume that the armed men sighted within the court premises are officials of the DSS? And why did it not occur to someone to cross-check given the sensitivity of the assignment they were to embark upon? These are issues that should be established through a thorough and very serious investigation involving all arms of the nation’s security agencies.
    This reality speaks volumes and only a very detailed investigation could unravel why armed men were sighted within the court premises and nobody raised eyebrows. It is also a big puzzle how such a contingent of armed men arrived the court premises without being noticed by the security agencies within the area. And when actual shootings started, why was response zero?
    Suspicion of connivance between some prison officials and the criminals has been raised. More so with reports that a prison official had in the past been caught sharing kidnapping information with some suspects and that such a plan was even executed by some suspects while in detention. These are very troubling developments that out to provide quick lead to the direction of the probe.
    Given all the issues that have been traded, the federal government should set up a high-powered investigation team involving all arms of the security agencies to get at the root of this national embarrassment. Definitely, there is more to the escape of the suspects than ordinarily meets the eyes. The impression fast gaining ground is that there is an official dimension to the escape of vampire and his accomplices.

  • Magu, Lawal’s clearance

    President Buhari’s clearance and re-nomination of acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCC, Ibrahim Magu are bound to throw up more puzzles than they intended to resolve. The inability to make public the findings that led to the clean bill of health given to the anti-corruption czar did not help matters.

    For now, we are faced with an off-hand dismissal of the weighty allegations raised in the DSS memo given that the president’s letter only said he had got ‘clarifications’ on the issues for which the Senate declined to screen him for confirmation. This casual treatment has been followed up with preachments and sanctimonies as to why the momentum of the fight against corruption has to be sustained with Magu at the steering.

    A lot has also been heard of a strong lobby to get the Senate approve the re-nomination taking into advantage, the strong majority of the ruling party in that chamber. And in the seeming desperate attempt to cajole the public to accept Magu, a weird impression is being conveyed that without him, that war cannot make any more progress.

    How consistent these are with reality is left to be conjectured. Whether the credibility deficits thrown up by the scandalous allegations would be better served by injecting a new hand into the war or retaining the man whose integrity has been put to question, (Buhari’s clearance notwithstanding) is another kettle of fish.

    In all, the unmistakable impression thrown up is that of a government fighting hard to save face; a careful attempt to cover up the seeming duplicity in the fight against corruption. Hard as the government tries in this direction, it would appear it is already caught up by the dialectics of the situation with little or no room for quick escape.

    For one, the report which the President totally faulted and had to re-nominate Magu, was issued by the DSS, an agency of the same government domiciled in the presidency. If it is really true that there was no basis for the allegations, then it speaks loud about the credibility of that critical agency.

    And for another, it could suggest one or two things. It is either it was done out of mischief and prejudice or some people in the agency had axe to grind with the EFCC helmsman’s and had to concoct all manner of subterfuge to get him out of the way. It could also be a mark of incompetence on the part of the agency for such weighty allegations to have been easily dismissed the way the president did.

    Is it possible that the issues traded by the DSS were mere concoctions? Could the agency have gone out of its way to simulate allegations that only exist in the figment of its imagination? Or does the agency stand to gain anything through a spurious report that is loaded with the frightening prospects of stultifying current efforts at stemming the tide of corruption?  These are the issues to consider. And the way they are perceived will shed more light into the complications thrown up by the President’s clearance of Magu.

    The President should have gone further to make public how the clarifications he got resolved the N40 million apartment said to have been rented and paid for Magu by one Umar Mohammed arrested sometime ago for questionable transactions. We needed evidence that he did not violate the President’s order barring public functionaries from travelling by air on first class. More specifically, evidence that he did not fly Emirate Airlines in first class when he went for the Lesser Hajj would have made the difference.

    It would have equally made better sense for the government to have come out with incontrovertible evidence to countermand the damning allegation that Magu maintains a flamboyant and duplicitous lifestyle- one which portrays him as an anti-corruption czar who harbors no friends but at another level hobnobs with corrupt people. It is vital to know how the President resolved the conclusions of the DSS that, Magu “failed the integrity test and will eventually constitute a liability to the anti-corruption drive of the present administration”.

    It is not a matter of bandying unsubstantiated allegations as put forward by the chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, Itse Sagay when he said Magu was ‘victimized because he was doing his job very well’ and that people were afraid that he was doing an excellent job and they felt threatened.

    Coming from such a serious mind, Sagay needed to produce further evidence of those who victimized Magu because of fear over their personal safety in the war. Does this reference apply to those whose report he said has now been found “totally untrue and unsubstantiated” or some others outside of it? Definitely, those who can wield such powers must be within the same government. And that makes the matter more confounding.

    The public deserves to know those attempting to victimize Magu and what action if any, the government has taken to punish them for derailing the momentum of the anti-corruption campaign through allegations that have now been dubbed spurious. We needed to know the critical details of such plans and those behind them to reassure the public that these are no mere attempts at cover up. The issue is already in the public domain. Sagay would be helping matters by demonstrating very unambiguously that the allegations bordered on witch-hunting.

    Then, the credibility of the DSS would have been put to question. In saner climes, the turn of events would have seen the authors of that report resigning their positions especially where the report was based on credible intelligence. All the same, the DSS will have to contend with credibility deficits of having authored a report which prima facie looked credible but the government has come out to say lacks merits. That is the purport of the clearance and re-nomination. But that is not the end of the matter.

    The Senate must come in to determine between the President and the DSS who is right in the positions they have taken in respect of the suitability of Magu for the EFCC job. In this regard, the relevant Senate committee must thoroughly conduct an independent investigation into all the issues raised in the DSS letter to it. In this assignment, it should match whatever evidence at its disposal with the reasons adduced by the president for re-nominating Magu for the sensitive job. All issues must be trashed out in the most credible and transparent manner for us to come to terms with the true picture and direction of the much dramatized war against corruption.

    In the case of allegations of misconduct against the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Babachir Lawal, the matter is much simpler given that the relevant senate committee which investigated and called on the president to relieve him of his post has all the evidence at its disposal. Already, its chairman, Shehu Sani has cried foul over what he termed the doctoring of the report of the committee.

    The senator has faulted some of the conclusions on which basis the President cleared the SGF of the allegations raised against him. The Senate has to redeem its image by demonstrating very clearly that there exists strong basis for its conclusions in the matter of the SGF and his interest in contracts pertaining to the humanitarian crisis in the north-east.

    Magu’s re-nomination and Lawal’s clearance are at the heart of the credibility test of the anti-corruption campaign. They must be handled in the most credible and transparent manner so that Nigerians can properly tap into the temperament of the anti-corruption campaign. The way they are trashed out will give inkling into whether “corruption is fighting back” through the corridors of the campaign prosecutors or outside of it. It will also address clearly, growing feelings that there exist different sets of laws for different people in this war.

  • Tales of Boko Haram defeat

    Shortly before the end of last year, we were treated to the cheering news of the final defeat of the Boko Haram insurgency. The nation’s leadership had announced with much fanfare, it had impregnated the much dreaded Sambisa forest and dislodged the last stronghold of the insurgency group.

    It said the last bastion of defence of Boko Haram had been overrun with the capture of what it termed “Camp zero”. By the calculations of the military, with the dislodgement of “Camp zero”, the war has been won.

    A highly elated President Buhari did not waste time to commend “the determination, courage and resilience of troops of Operation Lafiya Dole at finally entering and crushing the remnants of the Boko Haram insurgents which is located deep into the heart of the Sambisa forest”. He said he was told that the terrorists were on the run and had no place to hide.

    This came precisely a year after the initial deadline to smoke out the insurgents, degrade and destroy their ability for mischief. Then, President Buhari had in an interview with the BBC said Boko Haram has been “technically defeated” and that “Nigeria has technically won the war against Boko Haram”.

    When prodded further given renewed attacks by the same terror group shortly after, he said “my own description is that they can no longer mobilize to attack police and army barracks and destroy aircrafts as they used to do. But they can regroup and go after soft targets”.

    Since then however, we have seen different fierce engagements between the seemingly degraded Boko Haram group and the Nigerian military. There have been series of high scale attacks from both sides with serious casualties. The casualty figure and the high profile military officers who have unfortunately paid the supreme sacrifice on account of the resurging confrontation raised doubts about initial claims by the government on the progress of the war.

    That has been the situation until the same government at the end of last year came up to say again that it has destroyed the last remnants of the insurgents with the capture of the last bastion of their defence deep in the heart of the Sambisa forest. Before then, the government had secured the release of 21 of the abducted Chibok girls, raising hopes that an understanding which would permanently end the war had been struck. One had thought everything was going on well for the government.

    When last week, the government advertised its intention to ferry some leaders of the Bring Back Chibok Girls group and journalists to the Sambisa forest to see things for themselves, it was generally viewed as an indication of the final end of the insurgency. But behold, as the trip was about to go on, the terrorists struck within the University of Maiduguri mosque leaving in its toll sorrow and awe.

    As the nation was still contending with that loss, came the chilling incident of the bombing of a camp for Internally Displaced Persons IDP’s in Rann in the same Borno State killing more than 100 people including officials of the Red Cross and other humanitarian workers. Reports said the pilot mistook them for Boko Haram insurgents who were regrouping.

    Theatre Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole Major General Lucky Irabor said he coordinated the air component of the operation following information that Boko Haram terrorists were gathering around the Kala Balge area of Maiduguri. He said when the operation was conducted, it turned that some locals were affected including soldiers.

    The government sympathized with families affected by this colossal disaster, attributing it to what it called “regrettable operational mistake”. Condolence messages in their torrents have been coming in from far and wide with many harping on the need for thorough investigation into the matter. The House of Representatives, apparently not satisfied with the rationalization of the bombing, has resolved to probe into the matter.

    Many are unable to come to terms with the excuse adduced for this colossal disaster especially given the very casual manner the presidency and Gen. Irabor addressed the matter. Operational mistake resulting in the killing of scores of those still suffering from the pangs of displacement from their homes by the war, is too costly for this nation to bear.

    Apart from casting doubt on the conduct of the war all along, it seemed to have put to question some of the claims we have been treated to by this regime regarding the overall progress of the war. How come the same military mistook an IDP camp it set up for a gathering of the terrorist group?  How did the information come about and was there due diligence before the air force plane was cleared to roll out the lethal weapons?

    It is unclear the distance between Rann and Kala Balge where the terrorists were said to be regrouping. But even if they are very close, we are yet to hear what action the military took thereafter having discovered that they hit off target. Did those regrouping at the Kala Balge disappear thereafter or were they now allowed to fortify themselves?

    These issues underscore the fact that it was too early for the government to have swallowed the excuse that the killings emanated from operational mistake. First, if the air force could bomb an IDP camp at the dying moments of the war, what guarantee is there that the rules of engagement had all along been adhered to? What of its implications on human rights abuses?

    Secondly, to accept that will throw into serious doubt, the proficiency of our military without prejudice to the enormous sacrifices and personal risks to their life in the prosecution of that war. Again, for a war that has been touted won, accepting the excuse of operational mistake coveys the miserable impression of exaggerated claims regarding its overall progress. We do not expect a war that has been won to produce complex situations that confused our military to the extent of bombing a camp it set up and privy to.

    What signals did the pilot see on ground to confirm these were terrorists? And if terrorists could still gather in such large numbers requiring an air force plane to be dispatched to bomb them, what remains of the claim of the defeat of the insurgency group?

    Overall, it would appear there is more to the circumstances leading to the disaster than ordinarily meets the eyes. In the face of recent disclosures that some soldiers sympathetic to the cause of the insurgents would face trial for cattle rustling to fund the terrorists, the presence of moles even with the progress made in the war can no longer be discounted.

    These are some of the possibilities to be looked into instead of the offhand dismissal of the fatal onslaught as a mere mistake. It could as well turn out a mistake. But that can only be determined through a thorough and unbiased investigation. Nigerian Air Force cannot investigate itself on this matter and expect an impartial report.

    It would appear the nation is not being fed the right information on the overall progress of that war. And the reason is not farfetched. It hovers around the urge to take quick credit for having defeated the insurgents in keeping with campaign promises. Having failed to meet the first deadline, the government seems in a hurry to announce a conclusion of the war a year after.

    Ironically, as it goes about this, issues arise casting serious doubt to the claim. That was the position a year ago when it announced a technical defeat of the insurgents. The same trend re-enacted last week with the fatalities recorded in the IDP camp. The problem is with the negative politics we had played with the war against Boko Haram. We seem caught up by the monsters we created.

  • Second Niger Bridge: Beyond politics

    Second Niger Bridge: Beyond politics

    Those who have followed events surrounding the construction of the Second Niger Bridge would have heaved a heavy sigh of relief at recent disclosure by the Buhari administration that it intends to commence work on the project.
    Before now, the same government through its Minister of Environment, Laurentia Mallam had told an expectant nation that work on the project had been suspended because the Environmental Impact Assessment law was not taken into account by the last administration. The announcement was not altogether surprising, as it did not depart sharply from the policy summersaults that had been the fate of that project in the hands of succeeding regimes.
    Not unexpectedly, interest groups in the south-east saw in it a further evidence of the hostility of the Buhari regime to the zone. They could not come to terms with the reasons adduced for the project’s suspension especially given the strategic importance and overall benefits it holds for this country.
    But addressing reporters after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting just before the Christmas, the Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola said the government had given a go ahead for work to continue on the bridge.
    He said the bridge was conceived as “Public-Private Partnership PPP with government financing but negotiations had not been concluded and it is important to continue to work there”. Fashola said government officials would continue discussions and see whether they could conclude a full business case and possibly concession the agreement to enable private investors come in and conclude the remaining works.
    The minister has gone ahead to visit the project site apparently to underscore the seriousness the government attached to this new commitment. He had said during the visit “I came here in pursuant of the commitment of the federal government and that of President Muhammadu Buhari to complete the bridge”.
    As a further evidence of this, the federal government last week announced the award of a N14.4 billion contract to Julius Berger for early works on the bridge. In a statement from the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, the contract award was said to be clear evidence of the Buhari regime’s resolute commitment to the completion of the project.
    For those who before now, consider the Second Niger Bridge project a pipe dream given the high-wired politics into which it had been enmeshed over the years, the renewed interest of the current regime to the project provides new hope for its eventual coming on stream. It is definitely something to cheer. This is more so, given the larger benefits to the nation the completion of the bridge that links the south-east and the south-west parts of the country will bring about.
    It is therefore a big relief that the current regime has gone beyond finding faults with the conceptualization of the bridge project to awarding a contract for early works on it. By that, the government has gone beyond words to demonstrate in very unambiguous terms that it shares the ideals for which the construction of the bridge has been a recurring decimal, the politics of past regimes notwithstanding.
    It is a good step that will go a long way to disabuse raging feelings that nothing good will go to that part of the country because the current regime did not receive huge votes from them in the last election. Be that as it may, it is also strategically and politically expedient for Buhari to complete the project since he or another member of his party will soon be seeking re-election.
    He must therefore have something very concrete and tangible to tell people of the zone to deserve their votes especially given their advantaged position in federal appointments. So it is even in the enlightened self-interest of the president to see to the completion of the project.
    But there are still issues to be resolved fast, otherwise the project could still suffer its’ characteristics fate. The government should move into quick action to commence negotiations with private investors so that they can come in and complete the project conceived under the PPP arrangement. Though the government has announced with fanfare the award of the N14.4 billion contract to Julius Berger but this is only part of the initial commitment of the government during the last regime to contribute 25 per cent amounting to about N30 billion of the total construction cost.
    With the total financial outlay for the project put at N117 billion by President Jonathan during the ground-breaking ceremony in 2014, it is left to be seen what impact N14.4 billion would make in the overall performance of the project. The larger chunk of the funding will still have to come from the private sector for reasonable progress to be recorded.
    In effect, even if the government meets its own commitment to the project, not much may come out of it until the participation of the private sector is fully finalized. There is therefore the overriding imperative to ensure that all impediments to the full realization of the project are eliminated by fast-tracking the process of negotiations with private investors.
    The other matter the government must be quick in action is compensation for those whose properties will be affected by the project. Fashola made references to this when he asked those to be affected not to disrupt the project in the overall interest of its larger benefits to the people. This may as well be. But indications by the Obi of Onitsha, Alfred Achebe that there have been no consultations with stakeholders on the matter cast some slur on the entire arrangement.
    It is pertinent that immediate discussions are commenced with stakeholders if anything, to identify all those to be affected and compute whatever compensations to come their way when the government is ready to pay. To leave matters hanging, only to rely on appeals to the sentiments of those who will lose property, is a sure way to court trouble. If and when protests crop up, the government or the contractor may turn around and hide under such to abandon the project.
    There is still ample time for all the rough edges to the project to be straightened. We say so given the fate which the project has suffered in the hands of previous administrations. Necessary steps must be taken to ensure that the latest effort marks a substantial departure from previous ones.
    With the current economic recession consequent upon the dwindling revenue accruals to the federal coffers, it is only to be expected that timely completion will save the government the huge cost it is bound to encounter due largely to spiralling inflation.
    Even now, there is everything to indicate that the N117 billion earmarked for the project in 2014 has been adversely affected by the exchange rate of the Naira. It will not be surprising if this becomes a big issue in discussions the government will hold with private investors. This point has to be underscored because in 2009, the Obasanjo regime had awarded the same contract to Gitto construction Ltd at the cost of N55 billion.
    We can see the whooping difference time has brought to bear in the value of the contract even when the exchange rate hovered around N19 per dollar in contradistinction with the current rate of about N340. That has been the prize we procured for ourselves due to tardiness in attending to strategic national projects with abundant economic benefits to the citizens. That is the bane of the kind of politics our so-called leaders play. The Second Niger Bridge project goes beyond partisan politics. The sooner we realized that, the better for this country.
    Overall, it is good a thing Buhari has shown commitment to complete the project. If he succeeds, he would have carved the niche of a leader who succeeded where others failed. Besides, he would have endeared himself to a people who have overtime, groaned under the shackles of neglect and near abandonment by successive regimes. Will he? Time will tell.

  • New minimum wage

    Trade unions in their New Year message to workers and other Nigerians demanded good leadership from the federal government and a new National Minimum Wage to avoid a nationwide industrial unrest.

    Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC, Trade Union Congress, TUC and the National Union of Textile Garments and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria insisted that the new wage structure is the only remedy for workers to cope with the high cost of living occasioned by the current economic recession.

    They cited the “astronomical increase in the pump price of petroleum products, the massive and continuing devaluation of the Naira, the rise in inflation and the 43 per cent increase in electricity tariff” as factors that have combined to worsen the living standards of workers and teeming millions of ordinary Nigerians.

    In the absence of the wage increase, the unions have promised a nationwide industrial action that is bound to ground economic activities with deleterious consequences for an economy that is already in serious straits. That is the warning signal organized labour has left for us in the New Year.

    The issues raised by the labour unions especially as regards the debilitating living conditions of a vast majority of our people in the last one and a half years can only be ignored at a great peril. Workers in both the public and private sectors have had to contend with a mixed grill of retrenchment, salary arrears and salary cuts in the face of spiralling inflation never witnessed in this country for almost two decades now. The value of their take home pay has been drastically reduced as they now pay more for basic goods and services with many of them unable to access the basic things of life anymore.

    And in a milieu where the average worker has had to contend with the challenges of catering for his extended family, the reality of the situation becomes more glaring. There are hardly new job openings for the teeming army of our unemployed graduates and sundry school leavers.  It is therefore to be expected that the fastest way to ameliorate the debilitating living conditions of those who are lucky to still have jobs is through wage increase.

    That is the view of organized labour. And they have left nobody in doubt that they want the national minimum wage which now stands at N18, 000 to be reviewed upwards to lighten the burden of living and enable workers access the basic things of life. That sounds very plausible. But the government has not been forthcoming.

    With the dwindling revenue accruing to federal coffers on account of the drop in the price of oil in the international market resulting in the inability of most governments to pay salaries and allowances, the foot-dragging by the current regime can be understood. The government appears not to have come to terms with the rationale in wage increase when states are unable to cope with extant wage structure.

    The big puzzle is do you increase salaries when most governments are unable to meet the current wage regime?  And if such increases are made, are they not going to worsen the burden which the various governments are currently facing such that the federal government had to bail them out with some funds not long ago? That is the main issue to contend with.

    Labour unions believe the various governments should be able to pay and not hide under the drop in the price of oil to starve workers to death. They seem to be contending that given the lifestyle of some of these governments, they should be able to pay if only they make the necessary adjustments. This point cannot be discountenanced also.

    The way some of the state governors conduct themselves, the number of cars in their fleet, observed wastages and their ostentatious lifestyles do not seem to convey the impression of leaders who make judicious use of the resources available to them. If organized labour insists on wage increase, it cannot be faulted. Even with the current campaign against graft in public offices, the reality on the ground is that many public functionaries are yet to align themselves with the realities of the time. Corruption has eaten so deep into the nation’s social fabric that it would amount to wishful thinking to nurse the feeling that the malfeasance will disappear overnight. That is the sad reality on the ground and the toiling masses of this country are not under any illusion about it.

    That is why the rationalization about the dwindling revenue of the country does not seem to impress them. That is also why they have been strident in their demands for wage increase to cushion the biting effects of the economic downturn; the inability of the government to keep faith with the current wage regime notwithstanding.

    The situation therefore presents a dilemma of sorts. Workers are on the right path to route for wage increase as they have had to pay more for all goods and services. It is getting increasingly difficult, if not neigh impossible for them to survive in the face of the astronomical cost of living. Wage increase therefore appears to be the short term solution to the spiralling inflation that has made nonsense the current earnings of the working population.

    But the government is not entirely out of order in exercising utmost caution in approving a new national minimum wage that will not be implemented by state governments given their current defaulting profile in the payment of salaries and allowances.

    That is how bad the situation is. What to do? It would seem that even with the hardship encountered by workers on account of the difficult economic conditions, a wage increase may not be the soothing elixir out of it. We say so because various governments have not been up and doing in their payment of the current wage regime.

    Many of them have had to sack workers while some others had to evolve very questionable formulae to reduce the take home pay of public servants. Pensions and gratuities are in several months in arrears in many states with no respite in sight. What guarantee is there that a wage increase will not compound the already hopeless situation and precipitate a major labour crisis? That is the uncanny dilemma brought to the fore by the situation. What are the options in the circumstance?

    The way to go is for the government to embark on a comprehensive social intervention measures to cushion the effects of its debilitating economic policies. In saner climes, such policies would have been immediately followed up with social security measures that will enable the people have access to basic food items, healthcare and other social services that are now out of their reach at relatively affordable prices. We would have seen the government in conscious and concerted efforts to create jobs, accelerate investments in mass transit programmes and others that will have the net effect of reducing the cost of transportation and by the same logic that of goods and services.

    But we are yet to see much progress in that direction. All we have been treated to are promises that there will be bountiful harvest this year. We have also been treated to claims of self-sufficiency in rice production; a projected capacity to export the same commodity in a matter of months and such other political talks. Yet, the commodities have remained largely beyond the reach of the vast majority of our people. We would have seen governments subsidizing certain goods and services to cushion the effects of some of its policies. That has not happened.

    The government must take immediate steps to ensure that its current economic policies do not suffocate our people to death. Wage increase, as attractive as it is, only affects those in gainful employment. The answer lies in a multi-faceted approach that captures the demands of the workers and those of other citizens that do not have jobs but are equally exposed to the vagaries of the biting economic situation.

  • Magu, Lawal et al

    It is as well relieving that President Buhari has ordered investigation into allegations of corruption involving some top officials of his current administration. According to a statement by his media aide, Garba Shehu, the President “instructed the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) to investigate the involvement of any top official accused of any wrongdoing. If any of them is liable he will not escape prosecution”.

    The terse statement did not indicate those to be investigated. But two key officers in his regime: the acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCC, Ibrahim Magu and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation SGF Babachir Lawal have been in the storm over allegations of corruption.

    Magu penultimate week, failed the confirmation test by the Senate based on damning allegations against his suitability for that sensitive post. The Senate cited a report from the Directorate of State Security Services DSS which accused Magu of flamboyant lifestyle as portrayed by the cost of his living apartment rented at N40 million Naira- N20 million annually. The apartment was not rented by the EFCC but one Commodore Umar Mohammed who the DSS described as a questionable business man it once arrested. Mohammed was also said to have lavishly furnished the apartment at the cost of N43 million.

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

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

    In the case of Lawal, the Senate had in a resolution, asked the President to suspend and prosecute him for alleged breach of the law in handling contracts awarded by the Presidential Initiative for the North East PINE. His company which was registered for IT services was allegedly awarded a N200 million contract to clear invasive plant species in Yobe State but failed to execute it even as it was fully paid for.

    The report further indicated that at the time the contract was awarded, Lawal was still a director of the company. Till date, he is still alleged to be signatory to that company’s account. The Senate held that these contravened the Code of Conduct for public officers and called for his prosecution.

    Magu has remained mute on the allegations since they filtered into public domain. But third parties and masked undertakers have been making spirited efforts to save him from imminent danger into which he is seemingly irretrievably entangled. We have been inundated with veiled image laundering campaigns possibly as damage control to the damning DSS report.

    The public has been treated to the seeming indispensability of Magu in the anti-corruption fight; the wrong signals it will send to the international community should he be relieved of his post now and all that thrash. Suggestions have also been proffered that the allegations may have been orchestrated by fifth columnists or those opposed to Buhari’s anti-corruption campaign to derail its success. For this lobby group, it is yet a case of corruption fighting back.

    We have also heard that the apartment was rented by the Federal Capital Development Authority and Magu never benefitted from the N43 million with which it was furnished. The unidentified sources also said that at no time did Magu travel with the managing director of the said bank. These are all within the realm of speculation since nobody not even Magu, has been identified with the views. So they can be conveniently ignored.

    But their objective is certain: to clear Magu and make him retain his job. If he is innocent of the allegations, he should by all means continue with his job. But that clean bill can only be established after the allegations have been fully investigated. Happily, the President has directed the AGF to do the needful.

    Before then, it bears stating that some of the issues bandied to discredit the report of the DSS are not only very uncharitable but a great disservice to the overall fight against corruption. The impression of indispensability of one man in the fight and without whom the campaign will eventually derail is patently infantile. If the issue is that he is doing a good job, fine. But to extrapolate that without him the anti-corruption war will lose relevance is arrant nonsense.

    Moreover, which one is more dangerous: easing him out if the allegations are proven or retaining him with his moral and integrity baggage because he purports to be performing well? And how credible is such assessment in the face of the heavy indictment by the DSS that he wears double personality in the corruption fight? Those are issues to determine.

    There is also the further ridiculous suggestion that his travails are being orchestrated by those who do not want the anti- corruption campaign to succeed. Are the apologists talking of the Senate or the DSS? For all that one may wish to know, the Senate has no hand in Magu’s current predicament but only responded to an advice by the DSS. This leaves us with the inescapable conclusion that the reference is to the DSS on whose recommendation the Senate acted.

    Incidentally, the DSS is any agency of the federal government domiciled in the presidency. It is unfathomable that the same agency can wake up one day to concoct damning and damaging report against the helmsman of the EFCC or contrive spurious allegations just to derail the anti-corruption campaign. Of course, the credibility of the DSS is at stake in this matter. And what the government makes of the reports, will determine between the DSS and the EFCC leadership which one should be shown the way out.

    Curiously, it is the same agency that was used a couple of weeks back to hound judges for alleged corruption and it was applauded in many quarters because “a desperate situation required a desperate solution”. Why are we in a hurry to impute motives into their judgment in the instant case? Does it have to do with its prospects of exposing the duplicity in the anti-corruption campaign? Or is it being suggested that officials of this government are immune from corruption?

    Lawal has come open describing the conclusions of the Senate as balderdash; an attempt to bring down our best for no just cause. He said he resigned from the company in August 18, 2015 and slammed the Senate committee for not hearing his own side.

    Even with these explanations, he still has issues to explain given that the contract was awarded from his office to a company he has interest in contrary to public service rules. There are also allegations that he is still signatory to the company’s accounts even as the company had in an advertorial shown that his son bears some of his names. These are weighty allegations the SGF will have to contend with. The way they are handled will mirror the direction of the government in this crucial but herculean task.

    Before now, issues have been raised about the selectiveness of the anti-corruption war. The campaign has been criticized for its seeming partisanship since corruption knows neither political party nor ethnic or religious boundaries.

    It is hoped the probe will not take the pattern of the kid glove treatment given to corruption allegations against the Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen Tukur Buratai. Whatever the outcome, the damage has already been done as the two officials contend with credibility deficits.

  • Rivers re-run: matters arising

    It is no longer in doubt that last week’s re-run legislative elections in Rivers state detracted substantially from a standard free, fair and credible poll. This should be a disappointment given the heavy deployment of men and materials for that singular poll.

    Figures reeled out before the election showed 28,000 policemen, 18 gunboats, three helicopters, dogs and horses were handy for the exercise. This was in addition to the Army, Naval, Air force and DSS personnel mobilized to ensure that violence and all manner of malpractices were reduced to their barest minimum.

    Given these, the expectation was that security agencies would provide a level playing ground for INEC officials to do their job so that the outcome of the elections would approximate the collective will of the electorate as expressed at the ballot box. Curiously, accounts from independent observers, election monitors and politicians from across the divide speak of infractions that cast slur on the impartiality of security agencies and credibility of the elections.

    A coalition of about 70 civil society organizations under the aegis of Nigerian Civil Society Situation Room; observed late commencement of the elections with 10.30am as the earliest time while in some, it started later than 2pm. It reported that delays were so severe in parts of Khana and Eleme rendering them unable to confirm if voting started at all even as materials and staff never arrived in Lleuku and Nyokoro.

    If these were not enough, their further report that a team of policemen and military personnel arrived in a commando style and removed election materials and staff from their locations when counting was about to start in two wards in the Gokana local government gives serious cause to worry. In Bomu, presiding officers were waiting to count; the situation was calm when a team of police and military personnel arrived in Toyota Hilux vehicles with an armored personnel carrier, chased voters away and carried materials and ad hoc staff, the coalition reported. They further observed the same curious manifestations in Etche, Andoni and Eleme local governments. The coalition summed up its observations thus: “the conducts observed called into question the neutrality of security forces and election officials”

    Apparently piqued by this damaging report, the Nigerian Army was quick to deny involvement in alleged “killings, ballot snatching and mass arrests during the election”. The General Officer Commanding 6, Division, Major General Kasimu Abdulkarim said they only acted swiftly in response to security breaches to enforce the law, provide aid to the police and other security agencies.

    On its part, the Nigerian Police found itself issuing two statements on the issue. In the first, its spokesman Don Awunah faulted reports by a non-governmental organization CLEEN Foundation which said the election was “marred by irregularities, large scale violence, professional misconduct and open bias by security operatives and electoral personnel” He admitted there were infractions of law in the course of the elections but the police and other security agencies rose to the occasion and ensured the election prevailed.

    But in the second statement, apparently succumbing to the weight of evidence on the matter, he now said “some security personnel were arrested for professional misconduct, actions, inactions, omission and commission that were detrimental to the electoral process”. For this, he said a high powered investigation panel is currently looking into this unacceptable professional misconduct.

    Before this, video clips had made the rounds in the media showing some of the INEC officials complaining bitterly of having been manhandled by the police for inexplicable reasons. INEC returning officer for Rivers East Senatorial district, Prof. Orji Onu Ekumankama gave account of how a contingent of the police and the army arrested and took them away from their location together with the results just before collation was to start. He said there was no threat to law and order before their arrival.

    It is evident from these accounts that the conduct of some security operatives was a negation of the impartial role they ought to play in providing a level playing ground for a free and fair election to take place. And if one may ask, what was the rationale for carting away election materials and officials in many areas when voting had been concluded and collation just about to commence? What sort of challenge at the collation centers would prove so daunting for the security agencies that would warrant the confiscation of result sheets, chasing away accredited party agents and hauling INEC officials into waiting vans? And on whose instance were the security agencies acting?

    Assuming there was threat to law and order at the end of those elections at the collation centers, what is the standard conduct expected of security operatives in such circumstances: provide adequate security for the collation to progress unhindered or cart away the materials and arrest INEC officials in very questionable circumstances?

    These posers have been raised to underscore the point that the conduct of security forces contributed largely to the credibility deficits that was the outcome of the elections in Rivers state. It is therefore not enough for the army to assert that the role of its members was limited to providing aid to the police and other security agencies where there were security breaches. Neither was the attempt to exculpate them from events that compromised the credibility of that election successful.

    Such excuses cannot stand in the face of several reports of the police and the army carting away results sheets and bundling electoral officers into waiting vehicles when collation was about to commence. There does not seem to be any reasonable explanation for that except the lure to put such results to partisan advantage. But for the doggedness and determination of the Rivers electorate, the outcome of those elections would have been different from the results that have been announced.

    The matter is damn serious and should neither be covered up nor wished away given its frightening prospects for the success of democracy. We say so because allegations of security men aiding politicians to manipulate elections had been traded during the governorship election in Edo and the senatorial re-run in Imo.

    If it was convenient to dismiss those ones, the case of Rivers has shown that we can continue to ignore them at a great peril to our democracy. During Obasanjo’s regime, election results were so manipulated that Nigerians almost lost hope in the credibility of that process. It took copious assurances and measures by Yar’Adua and his successor Jonathan to bequeath the nation an electoral process that showed substantial improvement for public confidence to be restored.

    Jonathan strove relentlessly to give the nation an electoral process that was a remarkable improvement on the charade of the Obasanjo era. The true test of this was evident in the success recorded by President Buhari in the last general election.

    As a beneficiary of free and fair elections, the open partisanship of security operatives in the Rivers contest should be a serious embarrassment to Buhari. And he cannot afford to sit by while the gains recorded in the democratic process are being quickly reversed through the embarrassing conduct of security operatives in conjunction with some politicians.

    At a time the example set by Jonathan is having a domino effect in the West African Sub-region; it is a sad commentary that our security agencies are found neck deep in actions and inactions that compromise the credibility of the electoral process. Buhari must order a high powered investigation that will include independent actors into why in so many areas, security operatives had officials and election materials removed as collation was about to commence. That is the surest way of reassuring that we have not relapsed to the era when election results were falsified, altered and written in hotel rooms in favor of preferred candidates.

  • When python and David danced

    Despite explanations by the Nigerian Army, the controversy generated by its launch of Operation Python Dance in the South-east appears not abating. In its response to the flurry of criticisms trailing the decision to deploy the army to the zone between November 27 and December 27, the army said the aim was neither to kill secessionist agitators nor cause untold hardship to people of the region.

    Army Deputy Director, public relations, 82 Division, Col. Sagir Musa said the measure is to ensure crime-free yuletide and free flow of traffic within the region during the festivities. According to him, it is a command post and field training exercise to enhance troops’ preparedness across a spectrum of contemporary security challenges peculiar to the South-east.

    “It is only a field training exercise that is designed to, where necessary, dovetail into real time activities such as anti-kidnapping drills, patrol, raids, cordon and search, checkpoints roadblock and show of force. The aim is to checkmate anticipated rising wave of crimes usually prevalent during the period”.

    To further disabuse the minds of those who read other motives to the exercise, the army reeled out similar exercises it had conducted in other zones given their peculiar security challenges. These included operation Shirin Harbi to take care of insurgency, cattle rustling and other sundry crimes in the North-east, Harbin Kunama against banditry, insurgency, cattle rustling and other crimes in the North-west and Crocodile Smile in the Niger Delta against illegal bunkering, oil theft and piracy among others.

    For them, operation Python Dance is targeted against armed robbery, banditry, kidnapping, herdsmen-farmers clash, communal clashes and violent secessionist attacks. As if these were not enough, Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State has taken a step further to reassure people of the zone that Exercise Python Dance was not an army of occupation but targeted at wiping out crime in the region.

    But unknown to him, he raised issues germane to raging scepticisms on the deployment of soldiers to the zone during this season when he said two and a half years ago, the state government raised “operation Kpochapu which cleared the state of crime such that today, Anambra is the safest state in Nigeria and that the army have always assisted the Joint Task Force we set up and they have not disappointed us”, Obiano disclosed this as the Chief of Army staff, Lt. Gen Tukur Buratai visited the headquarters of Operation Python Dance in Awka and reassured that soldiers will respect the freedom of the people while the exercise lasted.

    Evident from the governor’s disclosure is that the fight against armed robbery and the sundry criminal tendencies on which basis the army is now deploying its men and officers to the South-east has been an ongoing thing. As a matter of fact, the army had always been part and parcel of the Joint Task Forces that have been combating crimes in the zone.

    If this is so, what point is there in another campaign requiring the deployment of an armada of troops and ammunitions to duplicate checkpoints and ‘show force’ in the zone during this season? Before now, especially since agitations from the pro-Biafra groups seeking to break away from the Nigerian state gained momentum, the army has maintained checkpoints and roadblocks at some designated areas within the zone including the Asaba end of the Niger Bridge in Delta State.

    Their handling of peaceful protests by those agitating for self-determination was the subject of a recent report by Amnesty International in which it accused the military of shooting peaceful pro-Biafra protesters and bystanders among other human rights violations. The army has since denied the accusations. But despite the denial, the fact remains that its handling of peaceful demonstrations by secessionist groups is the main source of the suspicion on the motive of Operation Python Dance.

    Since that encounter, military checkpoints have permanently been stationed in strategic locations in parts of the South-east. During the same period last year, people travelling through the Niger Bridge saw hell as the checkpoints and roadblocks contributed heavily to the traffic gridlock that kept travellers at one spot for several hours. The situation is bound to worsen this time with the cordon and search, checkpoint roadblocks and show of force which operation python dance entails. So fears of the exercise creating serious incontinences for travellers during the festive period are well founded.

    Though there is usually a general rise in crimes in the weeks preceding the Christmas and New Year celebrations, these are by no means peculiar or limited to the South-east. Armed robbery, kidnapping, communal clashes and herdsmen-farmers’ clashes constitute serious security challenges to other zones. The only security issue that seemingly stands out the zone for this operation is what the army has termed “violent secessionist attacks”.

    Even then, we do know as a matter of fact that the pro-Biafra groups are not violent and they have stated this for the umpteenth time. They neither carry arms nor have they engaged the military in any armed confrontation- the kind typified by the insurgency in the North-east and North-west that gave rise to operation Shirin Harbi and Harbin Kunama respectively. We have not seen them in the kind of mindless killings that have become the hallmark of the activities of Fulani herdsmen in the North-central. Neither have they taken up arms as was the case in the militancy in the Niger Delta.

    So the operations cited to justify the dancing of the python in the South-east at a time the people are usually in their best of mood do not add up. And if one may ask, why should the python dance in the zone at a time of mass return if it has no intention of preying on the returnees? If anything, the timing of such a scarring engagement is bound to send fears into the spine of all those who plan to return to their ancestral homes from far and wide.

    So those who smell a rat over the exercise have ample grounds for it. Mounting military checkpoints and roadblocks here and there, cordoning and searching indiscriminately during the period will add to the suffering people usually encounter at the period. Moreover, the crimes for which the exercise is being justified are usually at their lowest ebb once the festivities have commenced.

    For some reason, criminals also take days off to enjoy their loot at their homes during the season. That is why crimes are usually in the upsurge during the weeks preceding the festivities and drop once celebrations have commenced. So the usual joint taskforces should be able to handle whatever security challenges that may crop up during the season without the show of force denoted by operation python dance.

    The python will only dance at the sight of its prey or after feeding fat on it. The prey of the marauding python should not be the innocent and harmless people who have no issues with security agencies.

    IPOB/MASSOB has declared operation David Dance advising its members to keep away from the battle-ready soldiers during the season so that harm may not come their way. Not surprisingly, operation David Dance does not denote confrontation with the soldiers but a prayer for divine intervention over the siege in keeping with their non-violent posturing. Their fear of being the target of the exercise may not be unconnected with the fact that among the security challenges for which the operation has been rationalized, only secession is peculiar to the zone.

    In sum, the problem of marketing operation python dance in the zone is the making of the military leadership for two reasons. The first is with the choice of code name. The other hinges on timing. When next they come, their code name must reflect the challenges on the ground. But for the assurances of not interfering with peoples’ freedom as the operation lasts, time will tell.

     

  • Ebonyi and foreign rice ban

    Apparently buoyed by emerging support for its ban on the sale and consumption of foreign rice, the Ebonyi State government has to set up a task force to ensure full compliance.

    Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Audu Ogbeh had commended the state government for the decision to ban the sale and consumption of foreign rice during his assessment tour of some rice projects in the state. Ogbeh who was accompanied by the chairman, Presidential Committee on Rice Production, Abubakar Bagudu and CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele commended Governor Dave Umahi for ensuring massive rice production in the state. He said “I heard you banned the sale of foreign rice in your state, God bless you for it”.

    Chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Abdullahi Adamu had in a different forum, endorsed the ban thus: “I support the ban on sale of foreign rice in Ebonyi. We have to start somewhere. What we know is that local production is not enough but we should consume it and that is not an excuse for importing rice”.

    Umahi directed the taskforce to “confiscate foreign rice found in our markets, the person should give us the certificate of the quality of the rice and has to provide the import duties paid for it, where he bought it from and give us Standard of Organization of Nigeria certificate to prove that the rice is not poisonous”. He sought to justify these measures on the grounds that some foreign rice were poisonous having been stored for over 20 years abroad before they were smuggled into the country.

    On the face value, it would seem all is well with the decision of the Ebonyi State government to ban the sale and consumption of foreign rice. This is especially so as the seeming overall objective is to discourage the consumption of imported rice and boost the consumption and production of local variant. This thinking is further supported given that Ebonyi has great potentials for the production of local rice which is said to be of better nutritive value than the imported variety. There is also a lot of economy of scale that will follow if our people are made to consume the rice we produce. It will create jobs, enhance income per capita and catalyze a positive leap in the general well-being of our people. These benefits are not in doubt.

    There is also the compelling imperative to discourage the seeming insatiable appetite of our people for what is foreign. Thus, the inward looking approach for solutions to our developmental problems cannot be faulted.

    These may have been some of the considerations that compelled Umahi to ban the sale of foreign rice –a product the state has elastic capacity to produce. Through the ban, it is seeking to encourage the consumption of locally produced rice which will in turn lead to increased production, job creation and improvement in the general well-being of the people. Conceived along this line, the ban would seem a step worth its while.

    But its success would depend on a number of extenuating variables some of which are beyond the control of the state government. The first presumption of the policy is that Ebonyi has available, enough local rice to meet domestic demand. The veracity of this claim is clearly in doubt. For a start, it is doubtful if the state government has accurate statistics on the quantity of rice consumed in the state yearly. It is unlikely to have one since it has no way of monitoring the quantity of foreign rice that hitherto came into the state.

    Even if it is privy to the quantum of local rice produced in the state, the unavailability of reliable data on consumption could in effect, render the policy nugatory. There could be scarcity of the product which in turn, will lead to price increase. It is also doubtful Ebonyi can produce sufficient rice to feed its people when the commodity is sold and consumed beyond the shores of the state.

    If Umahi discovers that the rice produced in his state cannot go round as it is sold in other states, will he then turn around and ban its sale outside the boundaries of the state? This poser is at the heart of the contradiction brought to the fore by the sole action of that state in banning the sale of foreign rice contrary to extant policy of the federal government. The same contradictions were at play when Umahi directed the taskforce to extract from foreign rice sellers such information as certificate of quality, duties paid on the commodity and certificate from SON that the rice is not poisonous.

    These issues are beyond the mandate of the state government as we have a surfeit of regulatory agencies for such assignments. Moreover, Ebonyi State is a land locked state. It neither has a seaport or airport nor does it share borders with any foreign country. What then is the propriety in going into the markets to inundate retailers with all these details that ordinarily should be supplied by importers at the ports of entry? Why hold the poor retailers responsible for issues they know little or nothing about?

    How many of our rice importers have their head offices in Ebonyi and how many of them are from that state if any? These posers have been raised to underscore the incongruity in some of the demands the task force has been assigned to confront foreign rice seller with. They also reinforce the problems we run into when we roll out an isolated policy that ignores extant position of the federal government on the matter.

    Ebonyi State went beyond its mandate to have unilaterally banned the sale and consumption of foreign rice in the state. The action is loaded with more problems than whatever benefits it is bound to achieve.  Apart from the fact that it cannot guarantee sufficient supply of local rice, it will amount to an undue harassment of foreign rice sellers, most of whom are middlemen and retailers.

    For such a ban to have meaning, the initiative should come from the federal government. But it cannot do so because of the mismatch between domestic production and consumption. Besides, Nigeria is signatory to many treaties on trade liberalization that frown at trade restrictions or outright ban on the importation of commodities. So where does the Ebonyi case fit within this matrix and of what value will it be in the overall national calculations to increase the consumption and production of local rice?

    The federal government said it has initiated measures in several fronts to boost domestic rice production. These should be pursued with greater vigour. Audu Ogbeh has promised government’s rehabilitation of the Ettem Amagu Ikwo Dam, supply of rice harvesters, threshers and parboiling drums to the state. These are the issues to be vigorously pursued by the Ebonyi State government to ensure it gets its fair share of them.

    The overall objective now should be to substantially increase domestic production of rice that can fairly compete with the imported ones. Once this has been achieved, the lure of force as a veritable tool to secure local consumption compliance will fizzle out unilaterally. Then, Ebonyi will have no need for a task force that will confiscate imported rice within its shores.

    More importantly, with the phenomenal high price of imported rice, the availability of cheaper local variant should be a soothing relief to the people of the state. By simple economic laws, this will result in a shift of patronage to the cheaper alternative. If we still depend on force to get our people to consume our local rice despite its cheaper price, it should instruct we are yet to get our acts right.

    These are the issue to worry about. The right approach is to get more rice produced, refined in such a way that will command local patronage. Then, there would be no need to worry about foreign rice influx and use of taskforces to harass sellers of the commodity. For now, the approach of the Ebonyi State government to the matter is a verity of putting the cart before the horse; an exercise in shadow chasing.