The Nation Newspaper

Category: Emeka Omeihe

  • Obiano and Igbo radio

    Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State last week announced his intention to establish a radio station to transmit only in Igbo language. The move is part of his contributions to save the Igbo language from going into extinction.

    In addition, pupils in primary and secondary schools would wear Igbo traditional dresses to school on Wednesdays while folklore would be taught primary school children in the evenings of the same day. The governor harped on the capacity of folklore to build sound and good moral values with a promise to reinvigorate the law compelling everybody in the state to communicate in Igbo language every Wednesday.

    He also intends to liaise with the state House of Assembly to enact a law that would compel every resident of the state to wear Igbo traditional attire on Wednesdays. Before now, the UNESCO had listed Igbo as one of the languages that stood to go extinct unless concerted efforts are made to preserve it.

    Given these fears, the measures enunciated by Obiano especially the ones relating to the setting up of a radio station to broadcast only in Igbo language and the teaching of Igbo folklore in primary schools are right steps targeted at arresting the decline. There is no doubt Igbo language has been passing through serious challenges such that could lead to its abrupt death unless concerted and concrete action is taken to stem the decline.

    The UNESCO had identified a number of factors that could determine the vitality of a language which embodies the totality of a people’s culture, tradition and identity. Among the factors are intergenerational language transmission, absolute number of speakers, availability of materials for language education and literacy. The rest are government and institutional language attitudes and policies, community members’ attitudes to their language and the quantity of documentation available.

    Weighed along these vitality criteria, the intervention by Obiano represents positive action to address some of the factors that stand on the way to the survival of the Igbo language. The measures seek to change the negative attitude of the Igbo people to their language, avail them with materials for language education and literacy through the Igbo radio station. It is also targeted at changing community members’ attitudes such that will encourage them speak their language contrary to their current aversion to it.

    The governor seeks through the measures to reverse the dangerous trend whereby the Igbo people prefer to speak the English language to the detriment of their mother tongue. So Obiano is on the right path.

    But there are issues with his intention to reinvigorate the law to compel every resident in the state to speak Igbo language and wear Igbo attire on Wednesdays. Whereas it may not be out of order to compel employees of the state government to speak Igbo and wear Igbo attire every Wednesday, extending the same measures to every resident irrespective of their mother tongue will create serious problems of implementation.

    It is also bound to infringe on their personal rights. There will be crisis if every state toes the same line just to preserve their language. Before now, the same state government had passed a law on the same matter.

    Tagged “Igbo Language Usage Enforcement Law 2009”, it provided for the enforcement of the learning, teaching and speaking of Igbo language both at home and in the Diaspora and making the study of Igbo language one of the general studies courses in tertiary institutions in the state.

    If the 2009 law is given practical expression together with some of the new measures enunciated by Obiano, the state would have gone at lengths to redressing some of the factors at the root of the decline in the speaking, learning and teaching of the Igbo language. For, much of the problems we encounter in this direction relate to the attitudinal preference of owners of that language to what is foreign.

    This inclination is traceable to the cosmopolitan nature of the Igbo man who can be found in the remotest part of the world. For him to survive and do his business there, he quickly masters the language of his place of domicile. Such has been their experience with the English language bequeathed to us by our colonial masters. If this attitude could be tolerated outside Igbo land, the scandal of children in the remotest villages and urban centres in Igbo states shunning the speaking of the language cannot be pardoned. Parents and the schools are to be held liable for this mess.

    Besides the actions or inaction of the owners of the language that militate against its survival, there also exist external factors that work against the flourishing of the Igbo language. This has to do with the attitude of people of other ethnic groups. Following the events of the last civil war, some people for whatever reasons, have come to treat those identified with that language with some suspicion.

    That accounts for why even people from some Igbo speaking states who are by no means less Igbo than others are regularly seen denying their Igbo identity even when all their names are Igbo. Some have even gone to the extent of inventing English alternatives for their local names. That is what you find in the present Rivers State. That is why you find recent names like Godknows, Godspower etc. If you ask those who go by these names to give you their local alternatives, what you will get is Chukwuma, Ikechukwu etc. Yet, they claim they are not Igbo. And one is tempted to ask, what are they besides the names they, their fathers and grandfathers bear? What are they besides the language they speak, the local dialect notwithstanding?

    Even with this pervading situation, many are still of the view that Igbo language and culture are still very loud and need to be tailored down for its speakers to live harmoniously with their host communities. In an article published in this column at the heels of the last tension-soaked general elections titled “fleeing for their lives”, this writer had looked at the penchant for people to flee to their ancestral homes at the least perception of danger and what such portends for national integration and survival.

    A legal luminary, Adeniyi Akintola SAN had in reaction, proffered solutions to this tendency. For him, “when you assimilate and integrate into the local culture without looking back into your biological origin, you blend easily and become one of the locals. A Yoruba man living in Enugu who takes delight in celebrating the Oro festival is courting trouble. Ditto an Igbo resident who loves celebrating new yam or Ofala festival in Lagos has wittingly set himself apart as stranger for the day of trouble”.

    For him, the antidote is to assimilate with the locals. Eat their food, wear their clothes, imbibe their culture and possibly religion; assume the local names, shun tribal associations and affiliations of ancestral homes. It is difficult to fathom where these fit in within the campaign to save the Igbo language and culture. But they have been highlighted to expose other dimensions of the challenge confronting the survival of the Igbo language and culture.

    Be that as it may, the efforts to save Igbo language and culture must be sustained. The Igbo radio station coming at the heels of plans by the BBC Foreign Service to broadcast in Igbo is most welcome. The survival of the Igbo language and culture is in the hands of the governments and people of the area.

    Through the various sensitization programmes; the teaching and learning of the language in primary and secondary schools, the decline will definitely be arrested. Anambra State must be commended for taking the lead in the campaign to save Igbo language and culture.

  • A beauty queen’s travails

    A fortnight ago, a lesbian sex video involving Chidinma Okeke, winner of the 2015 edition of Miss Anambra Beauty Pageant went viral in the social media. Before then, the organizers of the event, state owned Anambra Broadcasting Service (ABS) had a few days to the expiration of her tenure, dethroned and retrieved her official car in very curious circumstances.

    The current edition of the event was also put off apparently because of the contradictions raised by the X-rated sex video for an event that is designed ostensibly to empower Anambra women, promote their culture and heritage. Rather than enhance these objectives, what has emerged from the sex video is an unbridled debasement of womanhood such that has left public sensibilities badly ruffled.

    Accounts of what transpired vary amidst allegations of threats from unknown quarters to harm the dethroned beauty queen should she go public with all that transpired. But in the midst of this silence, the ABS, organizers of the event issued a quick statement seeking to exculpate the organization from issues relating to the sex video scandal.

    The organization condemned the circulation of the video together with its contents and apologized to the government and people of the state, sponsors of the event and supporters for the embarrassment the issue would have caused them.  It would also want to dissociate Miss Anambra Beauty Pageant from any discussions on the matter.

    But the girl in the storm, Chidinma has come out with her side of the story even as she refrained from naming her traducers with a promise to expose them soon. She said when the event was advertised, she made enquiries and one of the organizers encouraged her to apply. On seeing her reluctance, the man insisted she should apply as she might win. He even promised to give her the form free if she applied which he eventually did.

    She was later told that there were certain things to be done before a winner could be declared including the sex video. After much persuasion by the organizers, she later consented. She later went for the contest and was declared winner with a car as star prize.

    But when she went for the car, they brought a contract paper urging her to sign. Chidinma said when she insisted in contacting her lawyer before signing the contract papers, the organizers threatened to release the said video. At that point she was left with no option than to sign. According to her, from that point, she became a slave to the organizers.

    Things however came to a head on October 11, when one of the organizers invited her to his office purportedly to make a presentation. While there, the man excused other people in the same room, showed her the video and asked that the beauty queen should drop the car and the crown.

    She refused the order and contacted her uncle who demanded that the official should leave the car with Chidinma in keeping with the terms of the agreement. Instead, the official forwarded the sex video to her uncle as part of the blackmail. And that was the beginning of the circulation of the sex video. It is not clear who posted the video in the social media. But if the statements of Chidinma are anything to repose confidence on, the last official she had contact with, should be able to account for how the video found itself in the social media.

    From the account of the young lady, it is obvious that the official who asked her to drop her car and crown with threat to make public the sex video if she resisted was the brain behind its eventual release. Even without naming the said official, his complicity in the matter is very obvious.

    And one asks, why has it been difficult for the Anambra State government and the police to wade into this unmitigated scandal? We raise this question given that the event is organized by a government owned broadcasting service. That being the case, the organization cannot feign ignorance of the critical details of all activities leading to the short listing, selection and eventual emergence of the winner. It cannot claim that it is not aware of some of the conditions set for the eventual emergence of the winner.

    It is not enough for that organization to just condemn the sad episode. Neither is it sufficient for its officials to wash their hands off the mess. The ABS owns the beauty pageant. It sets the rules and supervises the contest and therefore should be held accountable for whatever lapses that arise from that contest. And if there are other interests that hijack the beauty contest for some other sinister motives as we have seen from the controversial sex video, it is the duty of the organizers to call them to order.

    The contest being the franchise of the ABS, the organization has the responsibility to ensure that its overriding objectives and philosophy are strictly adhered to. Unfortunately, that has only been observed in its breach as the recent scandal vividly shows. So the ABS cannot shy away from assuming responsibility for the mess. Its attempt to dissociate Miss Anambra Beauty Pageant from any discussions on the matter cannot stand.

    The fact that the current edition has been put off is clear evidence that the show has run into credibility problems. It has lost steam and no self respecting citizen would have anything to do with an event that dehumanizes young girls in the most callous manner depicted in that sex video.

    But then, what purpose do those involved in the video recording want to achieve? Why would a lesbian sex video be a condition before the outcome of the beauty contest would be announced? And who are the brains behind such a dehumanizing and demented recording- the organizers, sponsors or some other party working outside of the knowledge of the two?

    These posers underscore the imperative of very thorough and detailed investigation into the matter. It is curious that Anambra State government has remained silent in the face of the unmitigated embarrassment into which one of its agencies has been entangled. The fact that a government agency is involved demands that the state governor, Willie Obiano rise to the occasion by ensuring detailed inquisition into the matter if anything, to save the face of his government. Chidinma has provided sufficient lead into the scandal and it will not be difficult to get at all those behind that show of shame.

    Sadly, the event bears the imprimatur of the Okija shrine saga where a former governorship candidate in the state was made to swear to an oath of allegiance by a political godfather. Events of that episode are now history. But they exposed the evil practices that went on in that evil shrine forest, eventually culminating to its destruction.

    Today, Anambra is better for it. It is not surprising that all the governments that came since that incident have been able to raise the bar of governance. The state has become a reference point in good and purposeful governance in the South-east.

    It is this excellent record that stands to be tainted by the activities of some evil and demented few in the state as we have seen in the senseless sex video recording.  If the objective is to blackmail winners to drop their crown and car before the expiration of their tenure, that is the most crude an unethical way of going about it.

    But as despicable as the entire episode is, it should serve as a hard lesson to ambitious young girls and boys. Had Chidinma realized the folly in subjecting herself to such a dehumanizing and utterly indecent exposure for whatever motivations, she would not have found herself in her current mess.

  • Oyedepo’s two cities

    Oyedepo’s two cities

    IT is not quite often statements from religious leaders are subjected to serious public scrutiny. This is especially so on these shores given the sensitive nature of issues that impinge on other peoples’ faith.
    In a clime where fanatical adherents are known to have taken laws into their hands to extract punishment for actions they consider offensive to their religion, the complexity of the matter can be better understood. Unfortunately, sundry religious leaders (both real and fake) have taken licence of this to make bogus claims or justify actions that ordinarily would not have found rational explanation.
    Somehow, we have come to live with this situation. So also the claims of miracles and associated healing shows we are regularly treated to. But if all these could be tolerated for being the private affairs of those who elect to subject themselves to them, it is a different thing altogether when ecclesiastical arguments are deployed to manipulate or justify actions that ordinarily should demand secular or rational explanation.
    Such was the scenario that played out last week when the founder of the Living Faith Church, Bishop David Oyedepo sought to justify the high school fees charged by a private university promoted by his church. He had in a telecast warned those criticizing the high school fees charged by Covenant University to desist so as to avoid incurring the wrath of God
    Oyedepo told the story of one critic who had developed a strange plague of chronic mouth odour over the act but only received spiritual solution following his confession and “my intervention before he was restored to dignity. He said the school fees has God’s approval and is in accordance with the quality of facilities provided by the university in meeting the educational needs of the nation”
    Before his latest outing, Oyedepo had been a strident defender of high school fees paid by private universities in the country. At one time, he had justified that fee regime on the ground that education is expensive and nothing of value is free. At another, he charged those complaining of exorbitant fees to get their priorities right.
    For him, people spend millions of Naira for burials but when it comes to education, they are reluctant to invest in the future of their children. According to him, it is a matter of priority. The implication of this is that if people get their priorities right, they should be able to pay the fees charged by private universities. We shall return to this shortly.
    The issues canvassed by the Bishop in terms of education being expensive and nothing of value is free are trite statements. Even those complaining about the fee regime in the private universities are not unmindful of that reality. Also, there can be found a molecule of merit in the argument that people should set their priorities right and with right prioritizing, some of them may be able to fund the education of their children either in the private or public universities.
    But that is where there is a living income to prioritize. For a greater majority of our people, there is little or nothing to save rendering the idea of prioritizing to meet the educational needs of their children an exercise in futility. For this majority, no amount of priority setting can get them close to the high fee regime charged by private universities; many of them promoted by religious organizations.
    Ironically, much of the funds with which these faith based universities were set up came from the meagre but regular contributions of the very poor members of such religious groups. Those complaining cannot forget in a hurry, their contributions to what the church and its affiliate institutions are today. They nurse with nostalgia, the feeling rightly that they have a stake in what the church is today and that their needs ought to be factored into whatever decision the church takes.
    They feel a sense of loss that their children have been serially shunted out of those universities due to the high school fees they charge. These people are justified to complain. They are right to seek accommodation of their children in schools founded by their churches if anything, to further the faith of their children in what those religious groups stand for. And where the authorities have done nothing to assuage their feelings; they are free to complain, to criticize. The right to complain that the fee regime is high and cannot accommodate their children should neither be abridged nor circumscribed by threats, the kind that emanated from Oydepo last week. It was very surprising hearing the man of God claim that a man that criticized the high fees charged by that university was struck by a strange mouth odour for daring to open his mouth too loud. But for the man’s confession and his healing by the Bishop, perhaps he would have lived with that strange affliction for the rest of his life!
    As indicated earlier, religion is a very sensitive matter on these shores. And since much of the claims canvassed do not lend themselves to empirical validation; it is safer to leave them just at that. But that is not to ignore the increasing danger this country has been mired on account of the purported miraculous prowess of sundry pastors and clergymen. The issue is too common to deserve elaboration.
    However, the recent arrest of some people hired to stage manage miraculous healings in Enugu says it all. According to reports, the people comprising of males and females confessed to the police that they had been in the business of being procured to fake miraculous healings at a fee for sundry religious organizations and pastors. That is how bad the situation is. That is why claims of miracle healings are now increasingly being received with utmost caution.
    But if Oyedepo could be excused on his claim that a man was struck by mouth odour for daring to criticize the high fee regime of that university; if he could be excused on his miraculous healing of the critic, he ran into troubled waters when he claimed the school fees were ordained by God. By that claim, he seemed to have been entangled in a serious contradiction that had engaged the energy of medieval philosophers- the inability to draw a line between the corporeal and ecclesiastical realms.
    He failed to reckon with the dividing line between the state and religion or religion and politics. That is a fatal error. By that, he completely lost sight of the allegory of the two cities as vividly captured by St. Augustine of Hippo- the city of God and the City of man. By deploying religion to justify the exorbitant school fees, he chose to operate in the two cities at the same time. That is where he got it all wrong. By the same argument, if the high school fees were ordained by God, then every action on earth would find justification on the same premise.
    The same mistake was evident in his claim that the man who purportedly contracted a strange mouth odour found himself in that condition because he criticized the high fees charge by the university. Such a claim completely veered off the boundaries of religion.
    The God we all serve is all powerful and most merciful. It is difficult to fathom how he could strike that man with such a disease just for saying that the fees are very high and not affordable. The man’s position is nothing but the truth and God cannot punish the just in a world full of iniquities.
    If the claim is to scare those who criticize the fee regime, one is afraid it is bound to meet a brick wall. It would have made better sense had Oyedepo expanded the other strand of his argument that the fees charged are commensurate with the quality of facilities provided. That could have made for better understanding.
    Even then, such standards and their accessibility must relate to the operating environment. And for a faith based organization, it is least expected to sacrifice the spiritual needs of its members on the altar of financial expediency. That is the point some members are making and in this, they are with the majority.
    Oyedepo must listen to the cries of his members who seek the accommodation of their children in that university. He can do so by way of generous bursaries and scholarships. That is the way to go rather than issuing treats of strange affliction and doom on those who dare to criticize. Such posturing runs at cross purposes with what the church stands for.

  • Saraki’s made in Nigeria

    Saraki’s made in Nigeria

    Senate President, Bukola Saraki had very kind words for the Nigerian Army last week over its decision to purchase 50,000 pairs of shoes from a local manufacturer in Aba. He sees the decision as ample evidence of the crucial role a truly national institution such as the Nigeria Army could play in ending the prevailing economic recession in the country.

    For this patriotic example, Saraki urged other military and paramilitary establishments to emulate the army even as he also praised the Nigerian Air force for the cooperation it entered into with a local spare parts manufacturing company to produce some airplane parts for its use. The Senate President attributed the new direction to the amendment by the Senate of the Public Procurement Act in June this year.

    The new law compels Ministries, Agencies and Departments (MDAs) to compulsorily give preference to goods and services which can be sourced locally. Saraki believes that patronage of Nigerian made goods was the panacea for the economic problems that have overtime held this country down. In this, he spoke the minds of many.

    It is heart-warming that the Nigerian Army is now patronizing made in Nigeria shoes while the Air Force is forging some cooperation with a local company for the production of spare parts for the use of its fleet. That is the way it should be. It has long been recognized that our taste for what is foreign even when there are good alternatives locally has been the greatest disincentive to investment and development.

    Government response to this penchant for conspicuous consumption had fluctuated between outright ban on some of these goods and services and some form of restriction. Just recently, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) banned some items from being funded from the official foreign exchange market. The essence was to discourage the importation of these goods and stimulate the production and consumption of locally produced ones.

    But with the world as a global village and many African countries signatories to World Trade Organization WTO treaties, such restrictions are no longer in vogue. They run in conflict with trade liberalization which is based on the premise that each country will be able to exploit its position of comparative advantage once free and fair trade regime has been implemented.

    But as a primary producer that depends almost solely on a mono cultural economy for its foreign exchange earnings, trade liberalization has had adverse toll on the nation’s economy as our citizens depend largely on imported goods and services, thus exerting undue pressure on our foreign earnings.

    Our local manufacturers have had to contend with stiff competition from foreign manufacturers in the face of hash business environment. Faced with stiff competition and sometimes better produced goods, our people have not hidden their preferences for the foreign produced goods and services. If such a trend is allowed an unfettered reign, our nation would be worse for it. Thus, the allure of the campaign to attune the psyche of our people to patronize locally produced goods and services.

    The overriding idea is not only to conserve foreign exchange usually depleted in the importation of goods that have local alternatives, but more importantly, to enable local industries grow and offer employment to our army of job seeking youths.

    But despite years of preachment and pontification, not much gain has been made in this direction. Even the government that purports to lead the way in this re-orientation drive has come out the worst culprit for serially flouting it. Instances abound where governors have gone abroad to import school uniforms, chairs and other materials when there are a surfeit of those items in very good quality locally.

    Such governors are bad examples and therefore cannot be expected to act as armour bearers in the campaign to make our people patronize made in Nigeria goods. Needless to talk of the millions of jobs they have created for foreign companies while denying their constituents such job opportunities. The same goes for government ministries, agencies and departments.

    Perhaps, the incongruity between policy directives of the government and the actions of its officials moved the Senate to amend the Public Procurement Act, so as to compel these agencies give preference to local manufacturers where viable alternatives exist. Saraki would therefore wish to appropriate credit for the decision of the army and the air force to look inwards for some goods and services. He is entitled to his opinion though the issue predates the current Senate.

    The idea the Senate President is celebrating was the brainchild of the Yar’Adua administration. During that era, the then minister of commerce and industry, Chief Achike Udenwa had rolled out an elaborate programme for the sensitization of Nigerians for the patronage of made in Nigeria goods.

    In those sensitization meetings, stakeholders overwhelmingly embraced the idea as it would in part address some of the problems that had over time militated against industrial development. The campaign was launched with much fanfare in 2009. And at the launch, Yar’Adua who was represented by his deputy, Goodluck Jonathan had announced a number of measures to promote made in Nigeria goods and stimulate domestic production.

    He banned the serving of foreign tea and all manner beverages in government offices and functions. That was not all.  He directed that henceforth, all contractors must give priority to Nigerian made products. In addition, all uniforms and boots of the armed forces must be sourced locally. It is now seven years that directive was given.

    And if the armed forces are just aligning themselves to that order seven years on, it only illustrates most glaringly, the yawning gap between policy pronouncement and their implementation. That is perhaps why Saraki is beating his chest for the credit of strengthening the procurement law. The coincidence of the purchases by the army may well be a consequence of the Senate action.

    Now it has been given the force of law, it is hoped that all ministries, agencies and departments of government must give priority to it in their procurement plans. That should be the starting point for the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udo Udoma who had indicated government’s plan to embark on the campaign to encourage Nigerians buy made in Nigeria goods.

    With the government taking the lead, it will become much easier for the ordinary people to follow. Example they say, is better than precept. It had hitherto been contradictory for the government to be parroting the campaign when in all its actions it did the contrary. We also expect to see in the days ahead the arraignment in court of law, institutions that flout the new procurement law so as to serve as a deterrent to prospective offenders.

    The sentiments expressed by Saraki on patronage of locally made goods being the panacea to our underdevelopment are in order. That idea had long been shared by previous regimes. But the necessary incentives and support infrastructure that would catalyze industrial development have all been lacking. So, in this drive to get our people consume what we produce locally, the environment must be made business friendly to enable manufacturers perfect on their production and withstand the stiff competition arising from trade liberalization.

  • Ayade’s crowd of advisers

    Ayade’s crowd of advisers

    States groaning over the debilitating effects of the current economic situation may have been taken aback by recent appointment of 1,106 advisers by Cross River State governor, Ben Ayade.

    Before the latest one, the governor had engaged 28 commissioners, 65 special advisers and over 100 special assistants, personal assistants and community relations officers. With this number which is very high compared with figures emanating from other states, one had thought that Cross River has had a surfeit of such appointments. But events have proved that position wrong.

    A breakdown of the latest figure showed that 799 were appointed into various boards, commissions and agencies, while the remaining 307 were engaged as special advisers, senior special advisers, special assistants and personal assistants. Others were categorized as personal assistants to paramount rulers, liaison officers and special assistants on religious affairs among other such nomenclature.

    The governor had rationalized the humongous size of his political appointees on the grounds of expanding government as a way of reducing poverty; increase democratic participation and improve the value of service delivery. The latest appointments would also seem to find justification on the same grounds.

    If with the criticisms that trailed the initial appointments, the governor still found it auspicious to further increase the number to this level, it could perhaps be inferred that those earlier appointed lived up to their billing and the state fared better with them. Having justified their appointments, a further increase, would further deepen democratic participation, reduce poverty and enhance performance, the argument would further go. That may be the irreducible deduction from the recent appointments. We shall return to that shortly.

    The governor is within his rights to make appointments as he deems fit. He is also in a better stead to tap the temperament of his people on political matters especially given the promises he made while seeking for political office.

    If he fills existing vacancies in the various boards, commissions and agencies or creates new one in keeping with established rules, one is unlikely to have any quarrel with that. What to consider is the capacity of those establishments to add value to the provision of quality public goods and service to the constituents. If this goal is being achieved, the end would have justified the means it would seem.

    But it appears some of the commissions and agencies are avoidable duplication of existing ones as their mandate could well be accommodated within existing boards and agencies. For some others, it is difficult to fathom whether they will really find job to do or where they find one, whether the responsibilities entrusted upon them would suffice to justify their existence. Or are we going to be left with a situation where the government will have to subsidize those establishments?

    If it turns out that such establishments will not be self-financing, then the aim would have been defeated. One of the reasons for the underdevelopment and extreme poverty in the country is the high cost of running government.  This cost stands to be pushed beyond reasonable levels by the craze for bogus appointments. The net effect leaves the state worse off. That is the contradiction.

    There is something inherently untidy in appointing more than 472 people as special advisers, senior special advisers and special assistants etc. There is a limit beyond which Ayade cannot possibly go replicating political offices without throwing the entire state into a bigger mess. The recent appointments went far beyond that limit. Moreover, it tends to portray government as merely existing to dispense political patronages.

    Apart from the wastages that will result from replicating offices solely for political patronage, it is just not possible for the governor to personally relate with and effectively supervise such a high number of advisers. He may not even know who they are. Neither will any useful advice emanate from them. This should not be surprising. After all, we were recently told by no less a person than President Buhari’s wife Aisha, that the president does not even know some of his ministers. If the president does not have personal knowledge of his ministers even with the limited number, it remains to be conjectured what Ayade wants to make of 472 sundry advisers.

    It is difficult to find justification for this level of appointments given the dire economic straits the states are currently enmeshed. Cross River State is neither insulated from the current economic realities nor does it boast of a high revenue profile when compared with its contemporaries. As matter of fact, its revenue has since nosedived having lost 76 offshore oil wells to a sister state in a very protracted legal battle.

    Given the facts of the above, it would appear that the appointments were propelled in the main, by political expediency rather than the value appointees stand to add to the delivery of public goods and services. The governor appears inflicted by the stale idea that political supporters must all be accommodated into the government. And that politics has become an occupation of sorts attracting into its fold able bodied men and women who must be rewarded at the end of elections.

    This tendency can only be encouraged at a great risk. Not unexpectedly, the volatility and rancorous nature of our politics are inexorably linked to the idea that politics is the fastest means of making quick money.

    If the anti corruption mantra of the current government must succeed, there is the urgent need to discourage the lure of public offices as the fastest route to quick money. By reducing corruption in public places, political appointments will become less attractive thereby lessening the rancor associated with political competition.

    More fundamentally, if the Cross River State government is really intent in conveying democracy dividends to its constituents, it should invest in social intervention measures and infrastructures that will enable the people create jobs for themselves. That is the trend now. The state must strive to discourage the tendency for all and sundry to look up to the government for employment. This new direction does not seem to find help in the bazaar of appointments just made. Government has no business running business and the earlier the governor gets his people cue into this, the better. It is amazing the high number of youths who now depend on politics as a means of living.

    One other way the people of the state can be meaningfully empowered is by according the local governments the autonomy envisaged for them as the third tier of government. For, much of the finances and roles that would have enabled that level of government attend to the peculiar needs of the people have been appropriated by state governments.

    With virtually nothing happening at the local government levels, those they would ordinarily have taken care of through sundry activities that ought to go on there, are left with no choice than look up to state governments. Little wonder the governor had to appoint advisers to traditional rulers, an issue the local governments should have handled.

    These are some of the issues that should engage the governor rather than replicating appointments of very questionable value. Even then, reports that political appointees are not remunerated in keeping with extant terms, cast further slur on the entire idea.

  • Still on judicial invasion

    Writing under the title-Invasion of judiciary: the dialectics, I had last week, examined issues arising from the sting operation by the DSS in which it arrested some judges on allegations of corruption. Reactions came in torrents and I consider it only fair to avail the public the benefit of some of these views.

    The few highlighted below, capture in the main, the feelings of a majority of those who reacted. Now read on:

    There is need for deeper reflection if indeed you want to consider the matter from a philosophical perspective. Some of us have been wondering why our courts have been running riot in passing conflicting judgments when certain individuals are involved. A less prompt approach would have led to a loss or destruction of evidence. There is nothing extraordinary about the NJC. I shudder to think you consider a corrupt and compromised judiciary as having no internal security implications. For me the dialectics of the situation is at work. – Ambrose Abanum.

    With views such as that of Emeka, Nigeria will remain in perpetual darkness and oppression. The same NJC that is clamoring to be allowed to carry out its duties is corrupt.  They attended to 232 cases out of 1800 received. And what are their outcomes –‘slap-wrist’ punishment, or compulsory retirement or refund. The outcome of the arrest proved the more how corrupt the judiciary is. A drastic situation requires a drastic solution. If such happened in China, most judges by now will have been executed and the rest will sit up –Kunle Orekoya.

    With views such as that of Kunle Orekoya, Nigeria will be in a big problem. Fighting corruption must follow the extant laws and devoid of double standards. How many of our senior army officers implicated by the same EFCC in the same dispensation were apprehended in the new found Gestapo style of the DSS? We must not start something that is not sustainable. We must fight corruption but not replace it with tyranny or reign of terror that will even make matters worse. Orekoya must note this: In China and in other climes, many of those with sordid pasts hobnobbing with the present government under the guise of fake support and solidarity would have been in jail   -Damian.

    When courts sit at nights to give injunctions, what did NJC do? When two judges give conflicting pronouncements on the same issue, NJC kept mute. If the DSS breaks roof to get at them, so be it. Anonymous.

    If the amounts as being said were actually found with them, it is then mind boggling. A drastic problem of corruption of this level needs a draconian approach such as the DSS people. Anonymous.

    Interestingly, none of these views is against the fight against corruption. But while four would tolerate unconventional strategies, only one wants that fight to follow extant laws. The latter is worried that ad hoc measures cannot be sustained and therefore of limited value in the type of systemic and sustainable change that can permanently restore the integrity and credibility of the judiciary. He wonders what value there is in kick-starting a process that cannot be sustained.

    The rest are worried by the level of corruption within the judiciary; the huge sums alleged to have been recovered from some of the judges and their effect on justice for the common man. For them, the DSS could as well break roofs, trample on peoples’ rights and become law unto itself and be justified as the end would have justified the means.

    That is where we run into serious problems. Even then, this position is largely tainted for being propelled by the faulty assumption that the receipt of gratification by judges to influence the course of justice is all there is to judicial corruption. That is not so. It is also flawed by the presumption that once judges are arrested and humiliated in crude ways or even jailed, the nation would have had a handle to judicial corruption. This is far from the truth as the ramifications of judicial corruption are more complex than what we have been made to believe.

    In its Global Corruption Report 2007, Transparency International (TI) made two classifications of judicial corruption: (a) political interference in judicial processes by either the executive or legislative branches of the government and (b) bribery.  Those who subscribe to unconventional approaches, see judicial corruption only from the narrow and circumscribed prism of judges taking bribe from the public to influence the course of justice. That is why they would even want the DSS to go outside its powers to ‘catch the thief’ and deal with him even through mob justice. Unfortunately, that approach, even with its questionable success value, does not provide solution to all there is to judicial corruption.

    We are even faced with a more dangerous and pernicious danger of judicial corruption arising from political interference in judicial processes either by the executive or the legislative arms of the government. The failure to factor this dimension into calculations while assessing the prospects of the DSS action in curing judicial corruption did incurable damage to supporters of that move.

    The issue to ponder is how does the offensive by the DSS address judicial corruption arising from the meddlesomeness of the executive? It has practically no answer to it.  And when it is considered that the same DSS is an agency of the executive, the whole contradiction become even more disconcerting.

    Are we sure what has been termed sting operation, ostensibly to sanitize the judiciary, is not a ploy for executive interference in the affairs of that arm of the government? And of what value are the arrests when some of the judges are back at the bench handling cases before them?

    Again, while one of the judges has attributed his travails to the rulings he gave against the DSS in cases before him, the other accused the AGF of vengeance for an issue years before his (AGF’s) appointment. Yet, some others have spoken of their refusal to be influenced in election cases before the Supreme Court as the real issue. We may wish to dismiss or rationalize on these allegations but they can only be ignored at a great risk to our democracy.

    If we believe the allegations the DSS made against the judges even when prima facie evidence is yet to be established, we do not have any basis to dismiss the ones coming from the judges. It has boiled down to the words of the DSS, AGF and other government officials against those of the judges. That is how hopeless the situation has become. That is the major flaw of the DSS action. And its consequences could snowball unpleasant consequences for order and good governance.

    Where does this scenario leave us? It reinforces the view that extant procedure for dealing with corruption within the judiciary can only be abridged with severe repercussions. That is why the NJC – a creation of the constitution with specific powers to discipline erring judicial officers should neither be trampled upon nor compromised. We are free to express reservations with the way that body handles issues before it. We are at liberty to criticize and lampoon the Judges and NJC for observed imperfections.  But the solution does not lie in going outside the box to invent make-shift solutions of very effervescent value.

    There is the temptation to view the development as the interplay of the social dynamics of history- involving the contradiction between thesis and anti-thesis that will give rise to synthesis (something beneficial to society). But I do not see such prospects because the action of the DSS does not command that force capable of unleashing fundamental changes of heuristic value. Again, the action is hugely flawed because it has nothing for judicial corruption arising from the interferences of the executive which ironically, the DSS works for. Incidentally, that is the worst form of judicial corruption our nation could face.

    The solution lies in fundamental judicial reforms to address observed shortcomings. But if we think multi-faceted judicial reforms cannot provide the elixir, Marxian perspective that such institutions are part of the superstructure that serve the interest of the ruling class, may be a soothing balm. Does that lead us any where?

  • Invasion of judiciary: The dialectics

    Invasion of judiciary: The dialectics

    The judiciary in Nigeria is enmeshed in serious dialectics. This is sequel to the invasion, by masked officials of the Department of Security Services DSS, of the homes of some judges across the country, arresting and detaining seven of them on allegations of corruption.

    Nigerian Bar Association NBA, civil society groups and other concerned individuals have condemned the commando-style of the abduction in utter disregard of extant regulations on the disciplining of judges- a statutory duty of the National Judicial Council NJC.

    There is palpable fear that a dangerous precedent with frightening prospects for compromising the independence of the judiciary and separation of powers was about to set in. But officials of the government including the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) have voiced support for the arrests arguing that the action was not an attack on the judiciary but against corruption within the system. They bandied such arguments as: the arrested judges have no immunity against arrests and prosecution; they are not above the law and that the procedure for the arrests was in order since it was backed by warrants of arrest.

    No doubt, there is huge corruption within the judiciary. And for that arm of the government to live up to its statutory duties, an urgent purge of the bad eggs within is inevitable. Those who have volunteered opinion on the arrests are not so much worried about judges with allegations of corruption being brought to book. Their worry is that established procedure for carrying out that assignment is being observed in its breach.

    Equally in contention is the correctness of the action of the DSS in dabbling into the arrest and detention of judges in flagrant disregard of the rules for such a sensitive assignment. Moreover, the action has all the trappings of impunity; a usurpation of the powers of the NJC and an avoidable intrusion in the affairs of the judiciary by the executive.

    It could be another subterfuge by the executive to harass, intimidate and cow the judiciary to do its bidding. This prospect is further reinforced when it is realized that the DSS is an organ of the executive domiciled in the presidency. Being an agency of the executive, its neutrality and impartiality in the matter is suspect.

    Moreover, the laws creating the DSS charged it with the responsibility for the prevention and detection within Nigeria of “any crime against internal security of Nigeria”. It remains to be seen how allegations of corruption within the judiciary could be reasonably construed as a ‘crime against internal security of Nigeria’ warranting that kind of assault, unless the term is interpreted in a very loose sense.

    So, it is not just a matter of whether the DSS has a search warrant as government officials are wont to argue. Neither is it the issue of whether there has been a history of the arrest of a judge in this country. It also has nothing to do with whether judges have immunity against arrests and prosecution or not. These are not the reasons for the trepidation, suspicion and fury that have trailed that onslaught.

    The point is that by arresting and detaining serving judges outside of the recommendations of the NJC, the DSS merely embarked on a voyage smacking of nothing but impunity. Not only did it dabble into an unfamiliar turf, it has by that action seemingly presumed the judges guilty of the alleged offence even when they are still to face trials. That was the position the agency must have found itself that it had to release the judges on bail without delay.

    A judge so publicly exposed and disgraced cannot in all fairness go back to his job and command respect even when the court discharges him of the alleged breach. Or are we to assume as has been speculated in sections of the media that a return of some of them to their former positions has already been foreclosed? If this is so, then they have already been convicted before their arrests. And we ask by which institution: those that arrested them, their accusers or the courts?  That is the uncanny dilemma brought to the fore by the manner of the arrests. And the government will find it hard to resolve no matter how had it tries.

    The executive should have sufficiently interfaced with the leadership of the NJC, on a seamless way of contending with allegations of corruption within the nation’s judiciary where such exist. But from the accounts of that judicial body, all allegations of corruption and professional misconduct directed to it have been duly treated. So one is amazed at the claims that the DSS acted in the way it did for lack of cooperation from that body.

    In its reaction at the weekend, the NJC did not only put a lie to the claims by the DSS and government apologists but described the arrests and detention as an attempt to humiliate, intimidate, denigrate and cow the judiciary. This is very ominous and we cannot agree any less. For, nothing prevents a government that nurses some grouse with some judge hiding under the same subterfuge to decapitate the judiciary. And when this happens, democracy will be greatly imperiled.

    The NJC said contrary to claims, all petitions sent to it have been attended to and challenged the DSS to make public the names of judicial officials with petitions against them for which no action has been taken. It therefore views the action of the DSS as an assault on the entire judiciary. It is easy to discern between the DSS and the NJC who is telling the truth. Sadly, the harm has already been done and the nation exposed to ridicule in the eyes of the world.

    The case of Ghana where 20 judges were sacked not long ago has been cited to justify the action of the DSS. But those who raise this misled the public when they deliberately refused to highlight the sequence of events leading to the sacking of those judges. The judges were first suspended by Ghana’s National Judicial Council and a panel set up to investigate alleged infractions against them. Those sacked were found guilty by that country’s judicial council.

    That is precisely the direction that should have been fully explored here. It was seamless as it complied with extant rules and Ghanaians took them in good faith. The subversion of that process by the DSS and the contradictions it has thrown up are the issues we are contending with.

    It would appear the current face-off is a product of impatience with the system of government we operate.  We need to pause for a while, take a decision as to the governmental framework we actually run. We need to satisfy ourselves that what we are running is democracy with extant rules of engagement. If we come to terms with the reality that this is a democracy and not benevolent dictatorship, then we must be patient with its nuances, some of which may appear winding and slow in action.

    That appears to be the missing link. Impatience with established ways of conduct; shortcuts and quick-fixes account in the main, for the inability of democracy to take root and flourish on these shores. The issue is not as much with the system adopted as the dispositions and attitude of those who operate it. The difference lies in the patience of Ghanaian authorities with extant rules in contradistinction with the impatience and impunity of the DSS. The difference is in the people. That is the uncanny dialectics.

    For now, there appears a standoff between the NJC and the DSS. It would also seem the DSS has stirred the hornets’ nest and it remains to be seen how it can proceed with the matter in the days ahead. But the NJC must be bold, firm and resolute insisting on strict adherence to due process in handling petitions. Else, we create a monster that will turn around and consume us in the guise of fighting corruption. In saner climes, someone will suffer for this monumental national embarrassment and act of indiscretion. But not here!

     

     

  • Buhari and rainy day savings

    Buhari and rainy day savings

    Keen observers of President Buhari’s speeches would have been taken aback by his constant recourse to apportioning blames for the current economic straits into which the nation is seemingly irretrievably entangled.

    At some point, it was convenient to blame the immediate past regime of Jonathan for squandering the nation’s resources due to its inability to save for the proverbial rainy day.  At another, he collectively held accountable the PDP governments spanning through the regimes of Obasanjo, Yar’Adua and Jonathan for this pass.

    The President’s mood was succinctly captured in one of his speeches thus “when we came in by some unfortunate coincidence, I screamed to high heavens because I had promised a lot while seeking votes. I asked where are the savings. There were no savings. There was no infrastructure, power, rails, roads, there was none. I then asked, what did we spend our money on? I was told they spent it in buying food and petrol”. So, the blame game goes.

    Apparently fighting back criticisms on his constant resource to buck-passing to exculpate his regime from the chain of events that presaged the current economic recession, he very recently said he will not stop blaming his predecessors for the economic woes. For him, buck-passing is sometimes absolutely necessary to remind people who take things for granted.

    The above thinking gained marginal support from Obasanjo when he accused former governors during his regime of frustrating his efforts to save for the rainy day when the price of oil was higher. “I remember when I was in government and I told particularly, the governors please let us save for the rainy days: they said no!”

    Before now, former minister of finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala had maintained that the inability of the Jonathan administration to save was as a result of the insistence by the governors that proceeds from the Excess Crude Account be shared outright.

    If we pair the above positions, we are likely to fall into the temptation of concluding that the 16 years of PDP rule or mismanagement was largely responsible for the current recession due largely, to the inability of that government to save.

    But the issue is not as simplistic as it has been presented. Bolaji Akinyemi, former Minister of External Affairs has a more explanatory perspective on why it is not possible to make the type of savings envisaged by Buhari. Incidentally, Obasanjo and Okonjo-Iweala scratched the surface of the matter when they accused governors of frustrating efforts to save. And one would ask how and why?

    Akinyemi seems to have much of the answer. He said the failure of the country to save is rooted in Section 162 of the 1999 constitution which made it mandatory for the largest chunk of the revenue generated by the country to be deposited into a central account to be distributed between the federal, state and local governments.

    He said, serious efforts were made by both the Obasanjo and Jonathan regimes to put in place savings through the backdoor in the form of Excess Crude Account and Commonwealth Savings Funds but they were frustrated by the governors. The irony of it all is that some of the governors very prominent in frustrating that attempt are now calling the shots in Buhari’s cabinet and at the senate.

    A number of issues have been thrown up by Akinyemi’s intervention. The first is that it is a constitutional requirement that such monies be shared among the three tiers of the governments’ of the federation. Thus, any attempt by any regime including the present one to tamper with that revenue sharing order in the name of saving for the rainy day, would amount to a breach of the constitution.

    Secondly, there was strident opposition from the governors against such savings. Even if past leaders were favorably disposed to such savings, the resistance of the governors greatly diminished such prospects. These were the two salient points made by Akinyemi.

    Even now, Buhari is unlikely to accumulate the type of savings he envisages, if he intends to generate same from the federal share of the Federation Account. The way things stand; he is more likely to face stiffer opposition should he attempt to save through the backdoor as was the case during previous regimes. So also any attempt to alter the constitution to give more financial powers to the centre.

    If the sole aim is to conserve monies entering into the Federation Account, then we have got it all wrong because it runs contrary to extant regulations on revenue sharing.

    But the issue to consider is why state governors oppose such savings. Its answer is rooted in the revenue sharing formula and the different responsibilities which the constitution assigns different tiers of government. States need money to take care of their constituents. Some of them get higher accruals on account of the sharing formula. There is also distrust and suspicion regarding the capacity of the central authority to deploy such resources to ends that will serve the overall interests of the constituents.

    Allowing the federal government the custody of such monies would, apart from denying the states the necessary funds to develop their areas, further accord disproportionate financial advantage to the centre. Before now, the enormous financial muscle and powers at the disposal of the central authority has been an issue. Resurging agitations for fiscal federalism and restructuring are inexorably linked to this.

    There is also the suspicion that goes with the type of dangerous politics we play in this country- the type Buhari made reference to when he asserted that he should not be expected to treat on equal terms, sections that massively voted him and areas that did not. In such a circumstance, it is left to be seen how states that did not vote massively for him, would allow such a leader appropriate funds meant for them only to deploy same against their interests. That is part of the issue.

    In essence therefore, the point is missed when we talk of savings as if it is an end unto itself rather than a means to an end. A more meaningful approach would have been to look at the indices of development during those regimes but definitely not in the very dismissive sense of no infrastructure, no power, roads, rails etc as Buhari would make us believe.

    Such blanket dismissal of efforts of past regimes bears the imprimatur of all we were treated to during the cycle of military coups and counter coups that heralded the years of the locust. Ironically, Buhari had an outing during that period and like his colleagues, shares culpability for whatever that has befallen this country. After all, the oil boom predated the present democratic order.

    It could also be asked how much of the accruals from oil boom was saved by military interlopers? Claims make more sense when backed by verifiable evidence rather than the sweeping and non factual averments we were sadly treated to in the president’s independence speech: “investors from all over the world are falling over themselves to come and do business in Nigeria”

    Definitely, investors’ confidence is the least to expect in a country deep into recession. Not with the relocation of foreign airlines to other African countries and drop in foreign investment portfolio.  So, one is surprised that such claims were bandied and the president accepted them hook, line and sinker. Something must be wrong with the way the president’s speeches are processed and approved especially against the background of the plagiarism contained in his address during the launch of the Change Begins with me campaign.

  • Catholic priests and herdsmen

    It is increasingly becoming difficult to dismiss recurring attacks on Catholic priests by Fulani herdsmen as part of the evils associated with such criminal activities in parts of the country. Not with the heinous manner a 26-year old senior Seminarian, Lazarus Nwafor was murdered in his room a few weeks back at Attakwu, Enugu State.

    His assailants slaughtered him a day after he returned to his station after scaling through the roof as they could not break the metal door to his apartment. He had no issues with the herdsmen. In that encounter, other people including a pregnant woman who had her stomach ripped open fell to the dastardly onslaught of the heartless herdsmen.

    Not unexpectedly, the fate of the seminarian ruffled sensibilities as to why his killers would make that daring effort to snuff life out of him when his profession has nothing to do with their cattle rearing business. Insinuations were for good measure, rife as to whether his offence had to do with the wearing of his soutane in that village environment? Otherwise, how else could an innocent and harmless seminarian have attracted the ire of herdsmen such they had to scale through the roof to eliminate him in a place he was almost serving out his apostolic work?

    Or, was his killing part of the larger strategy by terrorists to inflict harm on critical institutions or persons so as to create maximum impact and cause disaffection as we have seen in the case of the Boko Haram insurgency and similar terrorist onslaughts? This poser is germane given that before now; we have been told by no less a person than the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar that the criminal herdsmen are foreign terrorists. The Sultan is not alone in this position which had earlier been shared by a former Inspector-General of Police, Solomon Arase.

    But he seemed to have upped the ante when he asserted that “all these so-called Fulani herdsmen moving with guns and causing violence; fighting with farmers are not Nigerians. These are foreigners coming into Nigeria to cause a breach of the peace of the nation. They are therefore terrorists and should be treated as such by the Nigerian security agencies”.

    Ironically however, we have also been told before now by various leaders of the herdsmen of the reasons they attack communities chiefly among them being cattle rustling and clashes with local farmers over gazing lands. Given the above, it is difficult to believe as the Sultan and the police would want us, that the herding business is controlled almost entirely by foreigners. The facts on the ground do not bear that conclusion out.

    And if the story as told by the Sultan and the police were to be correct, why have our law enforcement agencies found it difficult to confront the supposedly foreign terrorists in the same fashion they amassed an armada against the Boko Haram insurgents and the Niger Delta militants? Or is that a measure of the weight the government assigns to the recurring wanton destruction of lives and property by the insurgent herdsmen?

     Whatever the case, the insurgency of the herdsmen has become a serious threat to peace, unity and stability in this country. It is increasingly assuming religious, ethnic and political undertones that urgent steps must be taken by the Buhari administration to stem the dangerous tide.

    If the case of the murdered seminarian is not enough to establish an emerging trend in attacking catholic priests and other clergymen , the fate that befell three catholic priests last week along the Nkpologwu/Nimbo road in Enugu State further leaves a sour taste in the mouth.

    In a media briefing, the Catholic Archdiocese of Nnewi told the nation that suspected Fulani herdsmen armed with dangerous weapons, attacked and kidnapped the Rector of Tansi Major Seminary Onitsha, Rev Fr. Emmanuel Dim while two of his colleagues travelling in the same car, Rev. Frs. Jude Chukwuneke and Jude Ezeokana escaped with gunshot wounds. The herdsmen have since demanded a N2.5 million ransom before they can set their captive priest free.

    The diocese noted that at a separate place on the same day, Sept 26, another Catholic Vincentian priest and his brother were kidnapped along the Abuja/ Lokoja expressway. They further recalled that Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Ugwu was also kidnapped in August along Ugwuogo-Nike-Opi road among others. They therefore wondered whether these were mere happenstances or “Catholic priests have become endangered species?

    The Director of communications of the Diocese Rev. Fr. Hyginus Aghaulor was visibly piqued that in spite of these senseless attacks on their priests and those serving elsewhere, governments especially those in the South-east have been tepid in their handling of the looming danger.

    Lamenting that since the existence of this country nobody has seen the level of killing spree that is perpetrated by the Fulani herdsmen, they noted while  “innocent people are left unprotected we have seen barrage of military wares and personnel protecting the pipelines in the Niger Delta as if oil is more important than peoples’ life”.

    The lamentations of Nnewi diocese of the Catholic Church mirror very vividly the agony of the Catholic Church and indeed all Christians since the insurgency of the herdsmen assumed its current dangerous form. Before now, and given the modus operandi of the herdsmen, suspicions have been rife as to whether there are other motives to their militancy. In this wise, expansionism both territorially and religious-wise were frequently fingered. These were the basis for the strident criticisms and opposition that trailed the curious suggestion for the mapping out of grazing areas in all the states for the herdsmen.

    It is feared with justification that if the herdsmen could operate and attack their host communities in the dastardly manner they do without being apprehended, creating such reserves or routes for them in other peoples’ ancestral home will amount to an open license to conquer, despoil and uproot their hosts. That is why such ideas as grazing reserves and grazing routes must give way to the more civilized methods of animal husbandry – establishment of ranches.

    It may be convenient to ascribe the kidnap of the Rector to one of those escapades of criminal herdsmen. It could also be argued that the objective is to extract ransom since they have demanded same. But by now, they would have discovered that their captive is a man of God who lives on charity. They would have discovered that the religion and faith of millions of Nigerians are at issue. These alone would have been enough for them to set him free unconditionally. But to continue holding him, asking for ransom depicts crass insensitivity to the religious sensibilities of the people of the area. This definitely goes with dire repercussion on peoples’ perception of the herdsmen and their business.

    Given the sensitivity of religion on these shores and the proclivity of some faiths to jealously guard theirs including passing sentences and taking the lives of those suspected of one infraction or the other, it would amount to playing with fire to allow the wanton attacks on catholic clergy by the herdsmen to continue this way. Enough of that nonsense!

    But the Enugu State government cannot fold its arms and allow the herdsmen levy a verity of the Hobbesian state of nature within its domain. It must immediately come out with stringent laws to regulate the devious activities of the herdsmen, especially given the position of the state as the main gateway for them to access the south-east and south-south.

    Governor Ugwuanyi must move quam celerrime to save the people of Enugu State from imminent annihilation by the herdsmen since an end to the orgy of violence is nowhere in sight. It will amount to an abdication of responsibility waiting for federal action given the ambivalence of that level of government to the degenerating situation. After all, what is left of a government that cannot protect lives and property?

  • One feat; two claimants

    Who takes credit for the success of Ekiti State pupils at the recently released results of the 2016 National Examination Council (NECO)? That is the puzzle the Ekiti State government and its state wing of the All Progressives Congress (APC) are currently contending with.

    In the results released by the examination body, Ekiti State came first among 36 states with 96.48 per cent followed by Edo with 96.31 per cent while Abia and Kogi states came third. Apparently being the first time in a very long while Ekiti is posting such an impressive result and coupled with the volatility of its politics, contending interests have sought to take advantage of the feat to massage their egos.

    This has seen the PDP-led state government and the state chapter of the APC laying claims to the groundwork that produced the impressive result. Both have canvassed positions, ostensibly to persuade the public to their respective claims.

    Expectedly, the state government under whose administration the success was achieved did not waste time to beat its chest, ascribing the success to its immense efforts and innovations in the education sector. Its commissioner for education, Jide Egunjobi attributed the achievement to the cancellation of free WAEC and NECO registration fees for students and the introduction of moderate tuition fees for students.

    To justify this claim, he said an emergency education summit immediately after Governor Fayose took over, revealed that payment of examination fees by previous regimes was responsible for past failures as it made students unserious and noncommittal since neither they, nor their parents stood to lose anything if they failed.

    Other measures which in the calculations of the state government facilitated this successful outing, included the fortification of school with the right text books, instructional materials, strengthening of the inspectorate division and priority attention accorded to teachers’ welfare. The government has therefore promised to celebrate this feat “in grand style”

    But the APC in the state cried wolf, insisting that the deed was as a result of the sound education policy of former Governor Kayode Fayemi which provided incentives for good learning environment and educational items that enhanced learning among students. The party claimed “the foundation laid by the administration created environment for learning as never before, resulting in the latest incredible performance”.

    According to the party, the current success did not happen overnight but the result of long planning by Fayemi between 2011 and 2014. In addition, that regime also gave each child a laptop which exposed them to online learning; renovated and accorded incentives to schools.

    With these claims and counter claims, the public is being persuaded to judge, between the two administrations which takes the credit for this singular success of the state in the 2016 NECO examination results.

    It is difficult to uphold any of these contending claims to the exclusion of the other. This is because the issues that have been copiously traded cannot easily lend themselves to empirical validation. Ekiti State government attributes the feat partly to the cancellation of free WAEC and NECO examination fees and the introduction of moderate school fees. It is difficult to construct a positive correlation between both variables and the role they play in facilitating good performance among students.

    But the major plank of their arguments is that they laid sound foundation for the success that has just emerged. Ekiti APC says the changes that have taken place did not occur overnight. They are right. The government of Fayose also attributes the feat to the number of policies it has implemented in that sector since it took over. It cannot also be faulted. So the issue should really be what percentage of the credit should we ascribe to the disputants?

    Before this can be done, it is perhaps apposite to veer into some statistics on the performance of that state in both WAEC and NECO in the past few years. This approach is equally dictated by the difficulty in using a single performance indicator to arrive at statements that can be ascribed some degree of empirical validity. In effect, before the two parties can reasonably lay claims to this feat, it is important to establish whether this record is just an isolated one that will fizzle out with time or that which has come to endure.

    In the 2016 WAEC examinations, Ekiti state took 11th position with 8,954 of its 21,333 candidates getting five credits and above including English and mathematics. In that same examination, Abia, Anambra and Edo states came first, second and third in that order. The three states have also shared the first three positions in similar exams in previous examinations.

    In the NECO result under contention, Ekiti came first, Edo second while Abia and Kogi came third. In the 2015 WAEC, Ekiti came 17th and 35th in 2014. Though the 2016 result was an improvement on previous ones, none of the contenders made issues with it apparently because it was not very impressive. And that belies the hullaballoo over the recent NECO performance of that state.

    It would seem those seeking to appropriate credit for the 2016 NECO performance by Ekiti State are going about it with indecent haste. One singular performance is inherently defective for the purposes of empirical generalization. This is more so when the state’s performance in the WAEC examination results a few months back is at variance with the latest outing.

    Before the state government and the APC begin to celebrate that success, they must pause a while and ask who takes the credit in Abia, Anambra and Edo states which have been regularly posting sterling performances in those examinations for some time now. And why is it that some other states equally known to have invested heavily at that level of education have not been able to harvest handsomely in performance in comparison to their high level of investments in that sector?

    These issues have been brought to the fore to underscore the futility in the indecent haste with which both parties seek to appropriate the success of the last NECO performance- a feat that may soon after turn-out pyrrhic. And what would they tell the public if by the next outing, the state fails to maintain this record or performs below expectation? Maybe both parties will begin to invent novel reasons. Then, the incumbent regime will not be able to find escape route since it will be out of place to blame the past government. But that should equally instruct that the current regime takes much of the credit even if hastily for the recent success.

    The furore has brought to the fore the problem with governments and reasons for policy failures on these shores. It also highlights the reasons for policy discontinuities across regimes. In a bid to take credit for projects, many otherwise well-intentioned ones by previous regimes are either abandoned or discredited and in their place, new ones that may suffer the same fate are initiated. Governance is not conceived as a continuum where one leader comes in inherits and completes good projects initiated by his predecessor.

    Had it been so, the current disputation between the Ekiti State government and the APC over who takes credit for the success at the NECO examination would have been unnecessary. That has been the greatest undoing of governments and reasons for our retarded pace of development.

    Perhaps, the controversy in Ekiti would not have arisen had the contenders taken cognizance of Charles E. Lindblom’s perceptive of incrementalism in public policy. They would have realized to their dismay, there is actually no new policy since each policy is a little addition to a previous one. So we can go on and on; to catalogue the contributions of all those who have governed Ekiti at one time or the other, to what its’ education is today.