The Nation Newspaper

Category: Emeka Omeihe

  • Death at the synagogue

    Apart from the festering insurgency, two other recent events have combined to constantly keep the nation in the prying eyes of the international community. These are the outbreak of the Ebola disease and collapse of a five-storey building at the Synagogue church in Lagos. Though not essentially related, both have had the net effect of taking heavy tolls on human lives and will continue to dominate public discourse for quite sometime.

    This is more so as those who lost their lives in the two incidents were both Nigerians and foreigners.

    Not unexpectedly, world attention has for the greater part of the last two months been primed within our shores. And for a country that has not been rated high in managing crisis situations, it is to be imagined the avalanche of negative reportage these would have generated.

    Surprisingly however, our leaders were able to effectively and efficiently manage the first such that no less a body than the World Health Organization (WHO) came out to score us very high.

    Though the Liberian-American, Patrick Sawyer who imported the deadly virus into the country concealed information on his lethal ailment thus exposing others to mortal danger, our health professionals moved in quickly to arrest further spread. The efficiency with which they worked, posted positive results through minimal deaths such that today, the country has been adjudged free of the virus. This is something to cheer.

    But if the handling of the Ebola outbreak was an instant success, that of the collapse of a five-storey building at the premises of the Synagogue Church of All Nations in Lagos, left much to be desired. Ironically, the synagogue was the first place of worship visited by a medical team from both the Lagos State, the federal government and the WHO to solicit the cooperation of its general overseer, Prophet T.B. Joshua not to admit Ebola patients into his premises. They had then politely told him that the virus spreads very fast and is not one of such ailments that could succumb to faith healing.

    Joshua promised to work with the team to ensure that the virus does not spread by not admitting people from the affected countries and suspending some of his healing programmes. So he was part of the story that turned out as the successful management of the Ebola outbreak in this country.

    Ironically, the same church was to turn out the theatre of a monumental calamity some weeks after through the collapse of one of its buildings. Reports had it that the building collapsed while many visitors, mainly foreigners were having their lunch. Initial reports on the suspected cause of the collapse were sketchy, but there was some convergence that the building went down while construction workers were busy adding additional structures on it.

    While many were said to have been trapped at the various floors, rescue work could not commence early as the church officials and worshippers were alleged to have prevented rescuers access to the place. Even those who would have been saved had quick response arrived, lost their lives through delays arising from the inexplicable hostility of the church officials and worshippers.

    The church was to come out some days later to allege that the collapse was as a result of terror attack by the dreaded Boko Haram insurgents. In a video clip it showed to the public, Joshua claimed a plane had hovered around the building before it finally went down. Both Lagos State and the federal governments are investigating the incident. But Lagos has had to suspend action or further comments on the incident to avoid jeopardizing the inquisition of the federal authorities.

    Before now however, the state government had made it clear that the ill-fated building was originally approved as a two-storey building. It also said it had no records that approval was given for the additional three floors which were being added when the calamity occurred.

    From all indications, the Lagos State government has clear ideas of the issue at stake being the approving authority. Without prejudice to whatever the federal government panel is doing, it is certain that its job will be incomplete without the cooperation of the host government. It is not clear how that panel intends to work. But much of the information it requires to determine the cause of the collapse are with the Lagos State government.

    It would therefore have been more rewarding to build a synergy with the host government on the matter. The way things stand, the state government does not feel it should continue with its own inquisition to avoid conflict of interests. That is why it has suspended all activities on the matter. But that is where the problem arises. At what point will the state government come into the matter again? Or will it come out with its findings after the federal panel would have unveiled its results? These are some of the posers that seem to suggest there should have been collaboration between the two levels of government.

    The type of synergy that was called into action to curtail the immediate spread of the Ebola virus ought to have formed the plank for the investigations. With such collaborative efforts, all issues relating to the unfortunate incident would be fully examined and recommendations to forestall future occurrences made.

    It is still not late for the federal authorities to expand the panel to include relevant authorities of the Lagos State government. A situation in which the state government has now been forced to stall action on the matter awaiting the federal panel is not the best approach to it.

    The issue is of immense public interest and it will be counter productive if the two governments come out with different versions.  The right thing therefore is for both parties to work together, harmonize positions and come out with a common position.

    Joshua had introduced the terrorism theory. It should be investigated. But even before its outcome is known, it would appear such a theory will definitely lack in scientific validity. This writer will stand to be proved wrong.

    Beyond these, the nation must have been heavily embarrassed that as we were still giving out the casualty figure as 44, the South African President, Jacob Zuma went public to announce that 67 of their citizens had died in the incident. That really opened up public eyes that if one single country could lose 67 people, the fatality would have been much higher. And it came to pass. That country alone lost 84 citizens.

    The blame has been placed at the door steps of the church for its hostility to rescuers. The panel must get at the root of it. Those found culpable should be made to face the full weight of the law. The South African people are so piqued by this singular incident that their youths have vowed not to allow Joshua into their country until he has accounted for their dead compatriots. They also vowed to sue him. That is a measure of the outrage the incident has generated. The world is awaiting the outcome of the findings. We must demonstrate very unambiguously that the law is no respecter of persons through appropriate punishment to identifiable culprits.

  • Of lions and leopards

    The newly promoted Assistant Inspector-General of police (AIG), Joseph Mbu seemed to have opened the Pandora’s box when last week, he made allusions to his tenure as Rivers State police commissioner. In a handover speech to the new commissioner of police for the Federal Capital Territory FCT, Wilson Inalegwu, he had sought to guide him with his own experiences so as to achieve better results.  He spoke of the qualities which Inalegwu should embrace to make a success of his new assignment citing himself as the similitude of a lion who tamed the leopard.

    Hear him, “I advise you (CP) to carry the senior offices along in your administration. It is only a lion that can tame a leopard. I tamed the leopard in Port Harcourt; each time he remembers my face, he would remember how I tamed him”.

    Mbu’s statement had drawn a loud laughter from the audience as a clear affirmation that the subject of his allusion was clearly understood by those present. It was not in doubt that the allusion referred to Mbu’s controversial relationship with the Rivers State governor, Chibuike Amaechi when he held sway as the police commissioner there.

    Expectedly, the Rivers State government has reacted to Mbu’s boasting. In a statement by the governor’s media aide, Amaechi scoffed Mbu’s claim to be a lion. “Indeed it is very sad, pathetic, however ironic that Mbu called himself a lion. Which lion? This character called Mbu Joseph Mbu completely lacks the courage, steel and strength of character of a lion”, the statement contended. It further asked: “how can a man who has no strength of character to be a man and stand up to a woman, a man who willingly submits himself to serve as a puppet of a woman call himself a lion?” For them, Mbu epitomizes everything that is wrong with the Nigerian Police.

    Characteristically, the lion is renowned for its strength, power and ferocity. Its closest relatives are other species as the tiger, the jaguar and the leopard. Lions are capable of killing other predators such as leopards, cheetahs and hyenas. The lion is euphemistically referred to as the “king of the jungle”.

    The leopard on the other hand, owes its success in the wild in part, to its opportunistic hunting behaviour, ability to run at speeds approximating 58 kilometres per hour, unequalled ability to climb trees even when carrying heavy carcasses. It is an agile and notorious predator with dexterity for stealth.

    These characterizations have been brought in focus to aid understanding of the comparison which Mbu sought to draw when he referred to himself as a lion and Amaechi, the leopard. And since the two personages do not operate in the jungle as do the lion and the leopard, these character traits will help highlight the appropriateness or lack of it of the context in which the comparison was made.

    For one, neither Mbu nor Amaechi can be classified as a predator. They do not also operate in the wild. They are humans guided by rules of engagement. More so in a democratic setting that holds the rule of law very sacrosanct. So it is not to be expected that the comparison should be viewed from the prism of the atavism of the jungle. It is a metaphorical statement.

    However, the metaphor of the lion taming the leopard negates all that is embodied in the rules guiding the conduct of a democratic government. It at once, evokes the impression of arbitrariness, show of raw strength and brute force. Those are the images the comparison throws up. The lion can only tame the leopard by subduing it through brute force. It has nothing to do with fairness, justice or the strict application of the law. If that is what Mbu did while in Port Harcourt, then there is nothing to learn from him. It is a bad example of the pristine attributes of a modern police force Inalegwu should imbibe.

    He is entitled to his views no matter how absurd they may appear. He is also very free to deploy metaphors to drive his message home.

    But this is one allegory many will find difficult to swallow. For, it not only overrates the powers that should ordinarily be at the disposal of a state police commissioner, but casts him in the mould of a behemoth. If a state police commissioner can wield such powers that will enable him bully an elected chief executive of a state, then our democracy is greatly imperilled. This is more so when it is recognized that a police commissioner is only an integral part of the entire security architecture of a state. How do we then categorize the powers of the military commanding officer and other security outfits that don the states?

    If the issue is the deployment of superior force of power, then the military is in a better stead to even tame the lion denoted by the outfit Mbu represents. That is the incongruity in such comparisons. But the issue is not just about force, power or the deployment of it. It is all about the subordination of all the coercive structures of the state to civil institutions and practices. It is this contradiction that reinforces the demand for state police.

    If Mbu was properly guided by this relationship, he would not have dabbled into ascribing such awesome powers to himself that have now given him away as one that handled his job in an unprofessional manner. The absurdity of the comparison is further underscored when it is realized that the powers of a police commissioner are highly circumscribed. Above him, are other senior police officers from whom he takes instructions. If he could tame a governor as he would make us to believe, then the president of this country could as well be at the mercy of the Inspector-General of Police. The situation would become more scaring when we thing of the awesome powers, temperament and disposition of the military.

    If the issue is all about the deployment of superior power, force and the coercive instruments of state, then we would have relapsed to the arbitrariness and despotism of military rule. Those were the years of the locust when very ambitious and adventurous soldiers took turn to sack democratically elected governments. But those days are gone for good as they have been consigned to the dust bin of history. The fad now is for the military and similar institutions to be subordinated to their statutory duties.

    Apparently, Mbu must have been lacking in the right choice of words to appropriately capture whatever challenges he faced in Port Harcourt to guide his successor. He was within his calling when he advised his successor to be firm and avoid soiling his name. He also raised an issue fundamental to the efficient running of the police institution when he advised against posting policemen to special duties at the detriment of their obligations to the public.

    Mbu definitely went beyond his mandate when he boasted he so tamed Amaechi that he should be frightened when he remembers his face. Such a statement mocks the police force which he represents and he should be made to retract it.

  • US marshal’s syringe attack

    It is difficult to ignore the widely publicized story on the alleged attack on a United States of America (US) federal air marshal at the Murtala Muhammed International airport Lagos. Not with the dangerous insinuations that have come with it especially in the foreign media.

    Reports had it that a US federal air marshal was screened and quarantined for Ebola virus in Houston, Texas US after he was injected with a syringe full of unknown substance in an insecure area of the airport. Though the assailant could not be apprehended as he was said to have vanished into the thin air, but other air marshals traveling with the victim were able to secure the needle and bring it on the flight for testing in the US.

    US law enforcement officers were said to have been alarmed by the bizarre and unprovoked attack because the assailant was able to inject the unknown substance into the back of one of the air marshals who was traveling under cover.

    The US federal air marshal service is a law enforcement agency under the supervision of the Transportation Security Administration.

    Sequel to the incident, the US Embassy in Lagos, at its request, met with the airport joint security team and viewed footages of the movements of the said marshal captured in the airports CCTV cameras.

    “Preliminary observation from the CCTV footages did not show evidence of such occurrence. Relevant security agencies have since commenced investigations into the matter”, the Federal Airport Authority said in a statement denying the alleged attack. The statement further reassured all travelers of the commitment of the authorities of the airport to their safety and security.

    The alleged attack, as worrisome as it is, raises many questions that hinge on its credibility. Good enough, the airport authorities that viewed footages of the movements of the said air marshal in the presence of the US officials have come out to say no such a thing was evident from the recordings of the CCTV. They have however promised further investigations just as the US authorities are investigating and testing the needle said to have been secured by other air marshals on the traveling team.

    Without prejudice to whatever may turn out as the final outcome of the inquiry, it is rather curious that such an attack could take place within the vicinity of the airport without the victim or any of his colleagues raising serious alarm. The overall impression that comes to mind from the way the matter has been presented, is that all the air marshals did was to secure the needle only to board their flight and report the matter on arrival at their home country.

    That does not seem to tally with the high efficiency for which US security operatives are well known. There is also no evidence that the matter was reported either to the airports’ array of security personnel or the police. Matters are not helped by the revelation of the airport police command that the duty officer in charge on the day of the alleged incident did not record any such report.

    This casts a very big slur on the entire story. This is more so with the expert knowledge, skills and training of the marshals in security matters. The least expectation from such a very knowledgeable group is that they would have raised alarm to alert the airport security and all those within that vicinity. Had they done that, there could have ensured some hot pursuit for the assailant not only from the law enforcement agencies but other sympathizers within that vicinity. Nigerians are good at showing sympathy in such circumstances.

    Beyond that, the scramble that would have ensued would have left no one in doubt in the CCTV footage that such an attack took place. It takes some time to administer an injection with a syringe. For, apart from piercing the tissue, the liquid substance will have to be administered into the body. How possible is it to accomplish these without being caught?

    Again, the information we got was that the other marshals were able to secure the needle. So what happened to the syringe? Or was the assailant also able to unlock the syringe before fleeing?  If that was the case, then he must have spent some time with his victim such that the chances of his arrest were quite high.

    The point being raised by these posers is that there is more to the story than ordinarily meets the eyes. These are the issues to ponder as investigations into the matter progress. The way they are resolved will take us closer to untying the riddle presented by the incident.

    But we must get out of stereotyping and profiling if we are to get at the veracity or lack of it of the alleged attack. Two speculated motives that have featured in the matter are terrorism and the intent to spread the deadly Ebola virus. The US law enforcement officers feared the injection could contain the Ebola virus. For Jon Adler, national president of the federation law enforcement officers association, it is a “reminder that international cowards will attempt to take sneaky lethal shots at our honorable men and women abroad”.

    Even as no evidence has been adduced to show that the attack was real, such profiling will do the investigations no good because it gives the miserable impression of a people working from a predetermined end. But for the Boko Haram insurgency which is a relatively new development within the Nigerian shores, it would have been an exercise in hasty generalization to feature terrorism as a prime motive for the alleged attack.

    Perhaps, with the exception of the bomb attack at the United Nations building in Abuja, insurgency targets in the country have largely been confined to our local people. Records of attacks on foreigners especially US citizens have been rare if not completely non-existent.

    Moreover, since the air marshals were traveling under cover, it would have been nigh impossible to detect their citizenship. It would have been safer to suspect that the alleged attack was based on skin pigment. The theory that the attack was targeted at US citizens seems a remote possibility unless the assailant has a working knowledge of the activities and movements of the air marshals.

    The other scaring dimension is the suspicion that the substance injected on the air marshal contained the Ebola virus. It is true that Nigeria has in the last two months been battling to contain the spread of the Ebola virus. Before then, little or nothing was known of the scourge in the country. Could we have progressed from coming to terms with the reality of the Ebola virus to perfecting the lethal technology for exporting it to other countries through unwholesome means? Or has this profiling got to do with the recurring references to Liberian-American, Patrick Sawyer as the sole source of all identified cases of the virus in Nigeria? These are the issues to ponder.

  • Our churches, schools and Ebola

    The Ebola pandemic has inevitably come with serious challenges. Given what has been said of its mode of transmission and fatality, many people, institutions and governments have reacted to it in different ways all in a bid to halt the spread.

    Though efforts of governments especially in states where there have been an outbreak have been commended, signals emanating from the larger society do not give sufficient cause for comfort. Not unexpectedly, the rumour mill has been agog with all manner of stories some of them leading to false alarm and panic.

    Matters have been such that a sick person now stands the chance of abandonment for fear that he or she may have been infected by the deadly virus. In some pubic institutions and hospitals, people including medical doctors were reported to have scampered for safety as rumours went round that an infected patient had been brought there.

    But in most of these cases, tests conducted on the suspects proved to the contrary. The confusion has been so much so that even the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) had to come out clearly to state that it will still cater for accident victims irrespective of the Ebola virus outbreak.

    This statement highlights the problems which sick persons and their relatives are bound to face if a quick handle is not found to the deadly virus which spreads like wild fire. Stories emanating from other West African countries where the outbreak has been most rampant speak of confusion and helplessness on the part of their people. There were even reports of food shortages and all that.

    That is why all the precautionary measures taken by the government, churches and other private establishments to stem the spread must be supported by all. Regrettably, signals from the larger society seem to convey the impression that all are not on the same page on the imperative of these safety measures.

    The federal government’s directive for all private and public primary and secondary schools to remain closed till October 13, to enable them control the virus has been challenged by private school proprietors in Lagos. They drew parallels with churches and markets and contended that if these public places have remained open, it was needless closing the schools. What needed to done in their view was for the government to provide safety measures for the schools to adhere.

    Apparently succumbing to this pressure, the federal government has said it may review the directive for the schools to now reopen mid-September after the minister of education would have consulted with the state commissioners of education. Though there appears to be some point on the issues raised by the proprietors, the comparison with churches and markets as a basis for the schools to reopen is highly circumscribed. For one, the segment of the population that go the school, the activities that take place within the school environment on one hand and the markets and the churches on the other differ very remarkably. For another, the schools in question are attended by very impressionable children some of then yet unable to differentiate between their right and left. Such children will be exposed to grave danger if the schools had been allowed business as usual. They are the intended beneficiaries of the shut-down. There is also no guarantee that

    proprietors would have done the needful if the stark reality of the danger which school children face on account of the outbreak was not forced on them through the shut down.

    Even then, the churches have also taken measures within the very limited time members congregate to reduce physical contacts among members. The Catholic Church which is not known to easily depart from its tradition has suspended the usual sharing of greetings during church services. It went further to introduce the receiving of Holy Communion by hand while giving those who prefer extant practice of receiving by mouth the option to continue. The Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos which introduced these measures following the outbreak of the virus was responding to the reality of the emerging situation.

    But just as the proprietors are opposed to the continued shutting down of schools, there are Catholics who find it hard to come to terms with the new reality. Whereas the school owners may have been influenced by the profit motive in demanding the reopening of the schools, those Catholics who oppose some of these changes are propelled by religious zeal and the reluctance to part ways with subsisting practices. Their position can be understood. There was also stiff opposition when the idea of conducting masses in English and vernacular as opposed to the Latin language was mooted. That has since come to stay and all is now history.

    This writer was really touched by a recent article in a national daily by a former junior colleague of mine Ifeanyi Alia. He had in that article kicked against the changes within the Catholic Church. He saw them as succumbing to the will of the devil and would want all Catholics to repose hope in God as His will, definitely will triumph over all evil machinations. Hear him, receiving “Holy Communion by hand is sacrilegious and any serious lay Catholic that resorts to it perhaps is either an agent of the devil or doing so wittingly or unwittingly to imperil his or her salvation” He essentially sees the outbreak of the virus as the handiwork of the devil which Catholics must resist by not abandoning their observances during mass.

    Though he reckoned that those practices have been prevalent in the advanced and developed countries of the world, but he rationalized it on the ground that such countries had fallen in the faith. He would therefore want African and Nigerian Catholics to remain the epitome of pristine observances and practices of the Catholic Church.

    The pains and frustrations of my friend can be understood. As some one seriously attached to his faith, it is not difficult why he sees these interim changes in the manner he has chosen to. He is entitled to his views no matter how extreme they may seem in the present circumstance. Incidentally, those countries he now seeks to disparage for spearheading the reception of the Holy Communion by hand were the ones that brought the religion to our shores.

    There is a limit beyond which this argument cannot be sustained because, it is essentially judgmental. And for all Christians, only God can judge on such issues. The salvation of Catholics has very little to do with the manner in which the Holy Communion is received especially when that practice has been modified by the same Catholic Church. If we do not take instructions from our Church leadership, who then should we rely for guidance? That is the contradiction in stretching this argument far.

    The issue that has been brought to the fore by all these is the kind of resistance that now confronts efforts to stem the spread of the Ebola disease. If we pander to all these dissenting views, we may find ourselves in a situation where the Ebola virus may soon overwhelm us all. Then, the society will turn round to blame the government. Proactive preventive measures taken by governments and all places of worship to stamp out the spread of the Ebola disease must not only be reinvigorated but seriously enforced. It is only a sound and healthy mind that can meaningfully participate in religious and school activities. A dead person neither attends schools nor churches. So if the schools needed to be shut much longer for us to achieve that objective, the end would turn out to justify the means.

  • Our military in terror war

    The capacity of Nigerian armed forces to contain the Boko Haram challenge has been a recurring decimal in any assessment of the raging insurgency in the country. Before now, some reservations have been expressed on the morale and quality of armament available to the military to grapple with the complexities and sophistication of the war against terror.

    Matters were not remedied by the suspected complicity of some religious and political elite in sustaining the battle. Issues have been raised about the source of funding for the insurgents with suspicion that Boko Haram cannot thrive in its current magnitude and lethal form without local collaborators. The issue has raised so much concern that President Jonathan had to approach the National Assembly to grant him approval for US$1 billion loan to fight insurgency. The loan option has in turn, generated some criticisms especially from the opposition. But, even when the loan is secured and our soldiers provided with the best of arms and ammunitions, their efforts may still come to naught in the face of the unmitigated sabotage from local accomplices.

    Before now, Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima had raised issues on the low morale and obsolete equipment at the disposal of our soldiers. He had warned that if the battle is to be won, our soldiers must be better equipped and trained for the new challenges that go with fighting terrorism.

    Then, Kashim had come under the heavy fire of the government for what was largely regarded as unguarded utterances in such a delicate and sensitive war.

    But within the last one week or so, a number of events have taken place in very quick succession to once again elevate this matter to the bar of public opinion.

    There was the controversy on the purported defection to Cameroon of 480 soldiers fighting the insurgents in the north-east border of the country. Initial media reports had it as outright defection, ostensibly after citing such a large number of our soldiers weary and without arms within the Cameroonian territory.

    But the Defence Headquarters DHQ quickly came out to clarify the matter. It claimed the 480 soldiers “strayed” into Cameroon while making a “tactical manoeuvre”.

    If the clarification from DHQ conveyed the impression that the soldiers faced no mortal threat and that tactical manoeuvre was a normal military strategy, feelers from that country gave a contrary view. The Cameroonian radio had reported that the insurgents made two attempts to attack the soldiers where they were camped but were repelled by that country’s armed forces. It also said that our soldiers were escorted back into Nigeria by Cameroonian soldiers which provided them food, medicine and fuel on the directive of their president.

    Whatever value tactical manoeuvre holds for the military, such an exercise had the net effect of exposing the 480 soldiers to grave risk such that they had to depend on the goodwill of Cameroon to survive. Its outcome was a desperation and helplessness on the part of the soldiers. Our soldiers straying into Cameroonian territory says a lot about the on-going war against terrorism. We shall return to this later.

    If the incident in Cameroon is not enough cause for worry, recent revelations by an international negotiator on terrorism Dr. Stephen Davies have thrown gloomy insights into the nation’s capacity to tame the monster. Davies who was said to have been deeply involved in negotiating the release of the abducted Chibok schoolgirls must have shocked the world when he revealed that politicians constituted the primary source of funding to the terror group and the only way to stop kidnapping was to arrest the sponsors of Boko Haram.

    Hear him, “That makes it easier in some ways as they can be arrested, but of course the onus of proof is high and many are in the opposition, so if the president (Goodluck Jonathan) moves against them, he would be accused of trying to rig the election due next year. So I think this will run through to the election unabated. These politicians think that if they win power they can turn these terrorists off but this has mutated” he stated.

    He went further to assert that it is no longer a case of Muslim purifying by killing off Christians. “They are just killing indiscriminately and I would say it is almost beyond the control of the political sponsors now”.

    Much of the issues raised here are not really new as they tally with some of the accusations levied and suspicions traded on the Boko Haram menace. But now they are being highlighted by a foreigner whose knowledge of the Boko Haram dynamics is not in doubt, the complexity of the matter can be better appreciated. What this means is that any thought of winning the war against terrorism before the coming elections is nothing but an exercise in wishful thinking. Not with the signals typified by the tactical manoeuvre that left as much as 480 soldiers helpless within the Cameroonian territory.

    The war is now very complex and elections may have to be fought and won irrespective of whatever dimension the war assumes in the days ahead. It comes with serious implications for the states that have been the hotbed of these acts of insurgency. How such states will fare during elections in the face of their insecure environment is bound to turn out another issue of contention.

    More importantly, Davies disclosure further exposed the hypocrisy of such groups as the Northern Elders Forum NEF which had a fortnight ago, issued an ultimatum to Jonathan to end the insurgency by the end of October or forfeit his right to seek election in 2015. In this column, we had deprecated the ultimatum not only because it is unrealistic and impracticable but because of its glaring incongruity in liking Jonathan’s right to seek election with the winning of the war against terrorism. They do not and cannot go together. We also raised serious suspicion on the motive of those making the demand especially their role in the whole saga.

    Now that we have been told by a foreigner with deep knowledge of the workings of the terror cell that politicians are sponsors of the group, is it surprising that we have been receiving discordant tunes on the matter from the very section of the country worse hit by the debilitating onslaught. It also tallies with the very complex dimension which the battle has assumed in recent times such that 480 soldiers had to find themselves in Cameroonian territory helpless courtesy of tactical manoeuvre or mistake.

    There is definitely more to the insurgency than we are being made to believe. Unless we unmask these local sponsors together with their sources of funding, the fears raised by Senator George Sekibo that the nation faces “threat of disintegration” may turn out a self-fulfilling prophesy. Sekibo who is also the Senate committee chairman on defence, brought the stark reality of the war closer when he stated that our military are overstretched, under-funded and equipped with obsolete equipment.

    One other issue that holds the ace in this war is the role of the Cameroonian authorities. Davies spoke copiously of the escapades of the insurgents within that territory including the dropping off and subsequent recapture of 60 Chibok girls in a botched negotiation deal. When this is juxtaposed with the encounter of the 480 soldiers in that country, the stark reality of the challenge is brought closer home.

  • Worrying signals from Imo

    Keen observers of events in Imo State in the last couple of weeks are bound to be worried about the rising foul political atmosphere in that state. This perception is further reinforced by the fact that the ban on politics is still in force.

    If signs of political intolerance and bad blood are very palpable even with the ban on politics still in force, it remains to be surmised what the situation will be when the lid is eventually lifted. For a state that has overtime carved a niche as one of the most peaceful in the country, indications that this record is about to be thrown to the dogs do not give comfort of mind.

    Events have taken place in very quick succession to suggest that political actors and sundry personages are about to heat up the political space for their selfish goals. Otherwise how do we account for the intolerance, recurring use of intemperate language and resort to the law of the jungle that have of recent characterized some social events attended by the state governor, Rochas Okorocha and other opposition politicians in the state?

    At least in three different occasions in about a month, we have seen signals that the 2015 elections in that state, may turn out bloody if caution is not exercised by those angling for political offices. It would appear that the turn of events may ruffle the trademark peace that has characterized the politics of the state since the return of democracy in 1999.

    The rancor and bitter politics that have been the undoing of some sister states may turn out a child’s play if Imo politicians do not exercise caution and utmost restraint in their actions, conducts and language of political discourse.

    Though the incident between Okorocha and Charly boy in Oguta during the burial church ceremony of the latter’s father, Justice Chukwudifu Oputa does not aptly fit into this categorization, it however, bears mention here. This is more so because the state government had then blamed Imo politicians in Abuja for being the architects of Charly boy’s unruly conduct. Even then, Charly boy had equally explained that his action was to prevent the burial from being turned into a political campaign ground. Either way, politics was inevitably dragged into the matter by both parties.

    If people did not understand the fears alluded to by Charly boy then or agreed with action, two other social events since that encounter give a glimmer of what he may have foreseen. This conclusion is further given fillip when it is recalled that the key reason adduced by Okorocha’s image managers for linking Abuja politicians to the incident was their desire to prevent the anticipated huge ovation that was to herald the governor’s speech given his popularity with the people. So they had envisaged that the occasion may be taken advantage of to launder political image. This dimension may have been the fear of Charly boy for which he did not allow the governor to speak. Yet that does not make his action right.

    The Oguta incident may not have qualified as an act of political intolerance since Charly boy is not known to be a politician. But the 2014 edition of the Oru Owerri cultural festival held recently in Owerri was all that was needed to tap into the political temperament of the state as the 2015 general elections draw nearer.

    That event had in attendance Governor Okorocha, his deputy and the entire state executive council members. Also in attendance were a female governorship aspirant, Senator Chris Anyanwu, another governorship aspirant and former attorney general and commissioner for justice in the state, Ken Njamanze and some National Assembly members among other dignitaries.

    Okorocha who spoke immediately after he was inducted urged Imo electorate not to allow criminals and 419 people to be voted into leadership positions in the state any more.

    But he stirred the hornet’s nest when he urged the gathering not to allow “a woman who slaps her husband in public to govern the state”. “You must not allow ono na di acho di (married women still in search of husband or worse still women of easy virtue) to govern or represent you anymore”.

    His choice of words did not go down well with the audience which subsequently went rowdy. There was commotion as the governor’s supporters and those of the other politicians at the venue attempted to engage themselves.

    Those who could no longer withstand the charged environment left even as it was reported that Senator Anyanwu sobbed apparently sensing that the allusions by Okorocha were meant for her.

    Okorocha’s conduct at that event has not gone down well with decent minds. Though he did not mention any name in his statement but it was not difficult deciphering whom the allusions were directed at. Worse still, it remains to be imagined why a governor should descend from his Olympian height to embrace gutter language in such a dignified event.

    He may have spoken the minds of many when he urged the audience not to vote for criminals and 419 people any more. That is the prayer of right thinking people of the state. Yet, even as it is an open secret that the politics of that state and the country is dominated by these tainted elements, our laws have not helped the situation. Those that can be so classified refuse to admit that such references apply to them. That has been the problem.

    Again, this schism reared its ugly head last week at the Iri ji new yam festival of the Mbaise clan. This time, the actors were Okorocha and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Emeka Ihedioha. Ihedioha while welcoming the governor reportedly remarked that he was going to take over from him next year as Okorocha has run out of ideas. He also spoke of the absence of the state government’s presence in Mbaise accusing the governor of neglect.

    Okorocha who did not take kindly to this, replied that there is nobody in Imo PDP who is his match in electoral contest and that the PDP is worse than the Ebola virus. He tried to showcase his achievements with a promise to cite a campus of the state university in the area but this did not impress the audience.

    The event degenerated to a free for all between Okorocha’s supporters and those of Ihedioha but security operatives were on hand to avert any danger. The governor was said to have been whisked out of the venue even before the traditional kola nut breaking.

    Apparently dissatisfied with the outcome of events, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Viola Onwuliri who represented President Jonathan lamented that Okorocha was “not interested in the event but only came to create confusion and derail it”.

    Both Okorocha and Ihedioha have since embarked on recrimination on each other’s role that brought about the pass.

    The governor demands an apology for the way he was treated. His adversaries would rather have him apologize to the Mbaise clan for disrupting their ceremony. So the buck passing goes on with tempers highly ruffled.

    The ordinary people of the state may turn out victims if this rancor is taken to political campaigns. It is therefore vital that all those seeking the mandate of the Imo electorate abide by the rules of engagement. And to borrow the words of President Jonathan, their victory is not worth the blood of any Imo citizen.

  • Northern agenda and 2015

    Within the last one week or so, a number of actions have been initiated from so many fronts to giver a glimmer of events to follow as we approach the 2015 elections. Not unexpectedly, these have raised the stakes which the various sections attach to that election.

    Primordial and sectional coloration seem to dominate perception and attitudes towards unfolding political events. The way political persons and sundry actors react to events tend to reinforce some of the scepticisms regarding the capacity of the Nigerian state to withstand extant systemic stress beyond 2015.

    Political stakes are so high and some of the problems that have dogged this country are beginning to find explanation around events leading to that election. Whether people pose as concerned citizens on the lingering insurgency or the conscience of their zones in ensuring that the constitution is not subverted, these tendencies are easily perceptible.

    These seemingly damning assertions fit into the ultimatum issued by the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) to President Jonathan on the insecurity in the country. They also relate to the reaction of northern delegates to the national conference on what they purported to be an attempt to smuggle a draft constitution into their deliberations with a view to securing a third term agenda for Jonathan. The latter has been laid to rest after a mere change of title of volume three of the national conference deliberations.

    In that curious statement credited to Dr. Hakeem Baba Ahmed and Solomon Dalung, the NEF tasked Jonathan to secure the release of the Chibok girls and end the insecurity in the country before the end of October or forfeit his right to contest the 2015 elections.

    They said “indeed most of the conflicts in the north are being engineered to weaken the north both economically and politically by interests who intend to exploit such weaknesses for electoral benefits”

    “In the event the president fails to do this, Nigerians will be left with only one conclusion that he has forfeited his right to ask for our mandate beyond 2015” they asserted.

    Though it was not stated in what capacities Ahmed and Dalung endorsed the contentious statement, the fact that nobody has come out from within that forum to disown them suggests they had their mandate to issue it. We are thus, at liberty to presume that the views so expressed represent those of the forum.

    No doubt, the forum is within its rights to speak out on issues affecting the running of the country. This is more so when it speaks for a large segment of the country’s population.  It views on matters affection the running of the country should therefore be taken very seriously.

    But its position on the raging insecurity in the country and the timeframe for its final resolution, are bound to attract diverse reactions.

    Their ultimatum to the President on when to end the lingering insurgency should be seen as a desperate recommendation to a desperate problem. They have a right to be worried by the larger consequences of the devastation wrought to their region by the hydra-headed insurgency.

    It is however one thing to have a right and a different kettle of fish how such a right is used. It would seem the NEF went beyond bounds when it directed Jonathan to end the insurgency by the end of this October. Not only is such an ultimatum unrealistic and unfeasible, it gives out the forum as a bunch of people nursing a hidden political agenda.

    That agenda was further reinforced when the NEF embarked on the very hazardous journey of constructing a positive linkage between the insurgency in the north and the inalienable right of Jonathan to seek political offices either in 2015 or beyond. It is rather curious that such a retrogressive demand is coming from such a body.

    Beyond that however, the ultimatum has brought to the fore some of the suspicions on the unending blood-letting and sundry atrocities of the Boko Haram insurgents. It has also brought to public domain the perceived reluctance of sections of the northern political elite to come out openly against the unmitigated madness which the insurgency represents.

    Before now, suspicions have been high that Boko Haram is nothing but political grievances seeking expression through violent and weird fundamentalist religious ideology. Not a few Nigerians hold this view. Security officials have often spoken of local and international dimensions to resurging terrorism in terms of its financing. They have also been working hard to unmask their local sponsors. It is a matter of great regret that the NEF has just lent credence to the suspicion that politics is the leitmotif for the festering insurgency and northern political and religious elite may hold the ace to it.

    So it is not enough to heap the blame on the doorsteps of Jonathan. It is not enough to issue meaningless ultimatums. Those who host this insurgency within their regions have a higher responsibility to bring it to an end. Those who finance the terrorists; wire young girls with explosives for suicide expeditions have greater stakes in bringing the madness to an end. It is curious why the NEF went silent on this category of people.

    But the hypocrisy of the forum was further reinforced when it argued shamelessly that most of the conflicts in the north are engineered by those who want to weaken the region economically and politically for electoral advantage. This is not the first time we are hearing this from the north. But the proposition is not borne out of facts especially if the impression is conveyed that the conflicts are sponsored from outside the north. The Maitatsine uprisings of the 80s, the recurring religious riots in Kano, Kaduna and Zaria that killed many southerners and destroyed their properties were all internally engineered. The dastardly beheading of Gideon Akaluka did not come from outside. It is also of note that northern religious fanatics have severally taken laws into their hands killing and maiming on the guise of a cartoon or events outside the country they considered irreverent to their faith. How these fit into the assertions of the NEF remains largely illusory. The history of Boko Haram is very well known and northerners are to blame.

    The impression one gets from the unfolding events is that the north is desperate to stop Jonathan from the 2015 election by all means and through the back door. It is also getting clearer that Boko Haram may have been turned into a tool of blackmail for the north to realize the presidency come 2015. These feelings are quite scary. If insurgency and the continued incarceration of the Chibok girls are enough to deny Jonathan his right to seek political office, then elections may as well not hold until we get a final handle to them. That is the incongruity in stretching that argument further. That is the danger which the forum has brought to bear to the coming elections, all in a bid to satisfy sectional desires. Nothing can be more self-serving and unpatriotic.

  • Faith healers and Ebola

    Perhaps, the death of a Liberian diplomat Patrick Sawyer, in Lagos shortly after he came into the country, was all that was needed to draw the consciousness of Nigerians to the mortal danger posed by the Ebola pandemic. Since then, discussions in all quarters have centred on the disease, its mode of transmission and what it portends for an illiterate, poor and undeveloped country as ours.

    Not unexpectedly, discussions have ranged from the most informed as evidenced from the welter of public enlightenment information from governments to the cynical and most absurd. The latter plank is denoted by the claim by one of the overseers of a new generation church that he has powers to cure the disease even when the reality of it is yet to be fully internalized by our people.

    Such a claim at a time the governments are striving to sensitize the public on the symptoms of the disease, it carriers and mode of transmission was no doubt, a serious set back to the efforts to ensure that our people are not annihilated by the outbreak. This is especially so as the disease is rated to have about 90 per cent mortality rate.

    With the penchant of the largely poor and illiterate population to patronize the quack, such unguarded claims were bound to render a nullity all efforts to stem the spread of the disease. This is a country were all manner of churches and sundry religious houses lay claim to divine healing. And with the ravaging poverty, illiteracy and the cost of medical attention beyond the reach of a vast majority, these faith-based organizations have come to fill in the gap. They preach prosperity; lay claims to healing powers over sundry diseases. They have harvested plentifully from the failings of the governments to make adequate medical care accessible and affordable to the generality of the people. Little wonder the high patronage these faith healing churches receive.

    Perhaps, the federal and Lagos State governments were moved by the danger which such claims pose in the efforts to contain the spread of the Ebola virus when they paid a sensitization visit to the Synagogue Church of All Nations in Lagos. They had during their interaction pleaded with its General Overseer Prophet Temitope Joshua to ensure that Ebola victims are not brought to his church for healing. Jide Idris, Lagos State commissioner for health told Joshua that the visit was in recognition that people all over the world including the West African countries affected by the disease heavily congregated in his church. Another member of the delegation and Director General, Centre for Disease Control (CDC) Prof. Abdulsalami Nasidi told Joshua: “We are here to engage you positively. We know the powers of this House and your powers and we are duty-bound to protect you and your congregation. We do not doubt the powers God has given you, but we want to help you and make it work stronger”.

    He promised government would provide technical assistance; expertise and work underground with synagogue laboratories to enable it diagnose and deal with suspected Ebola cases.

    The very receptive Joshua promised to work with the government to ensure that the disease does not spread into the country. To this effect, he would put in place measures to bar people from affected countries from entering his church, in addition to suspending some of their healing programmes.

    This singular initiative from both the Lagos State and federal governments is worthy of commendation. This is more so given the dangers which the spread of the Ebola virus portends for our gullible, illiterate and poor population that throngs to sundry churches and healing houses for solutions to their health challenges.

    Given what we have been told about its mode of spread, there is no doubt we face unmitigated disaster in this country if these healing houses are not carried along in the campaign to halt the spread of the virus. Matters are not helped by recent disclosure by the Minister of Health Prof Onyebuchi Chukwu that a female doctor who took part in the treatment of Sawyer has been infected by the virus.

    There is therefore every reason to fear that if faith healers are not adequately sensitized on the potent dangers of undertaking to heal those with the virus, they will put the health of their congregation at grave risk. They also stand the risk of even annihilating their members. It is therefore in the collective interest of these churches to imbibe the message of the government and take adequate precautions to save the lives of their members.

    The stark reality of the challenge is underscored by disclosures that initial symptoms of the disease have semblance with common illnesses. The implication of this is that it is very difficult to determine an infected person at the early stages of the virus. We are therefore at grave risk given some of our practices.

    The sensitization programme should not end at the Synagogue. The nation plays host to many of such healing centres. Other churches and healing houses must be identified and cued in on this programme. It was quite revealing that the synagogue even has laboratories. What this means is that it combines faith healing with modern medical practices. Perhaps, that was why Joshua did not have much problem in accepting the message of his visitors. The situation may likely differ in some others that reap from claims to sundry healing powers scattered all over the country. The danger of this virus was further illustrated by the uproar generated by the two corpses that arrived Anambra and Imo states ostensibly from the west countries where the outbreak of the virus has been most rampant. The mortuaries where they were deposited had to be sealed off. Tests conducted by the federal ministry of health cleared one of virus infection while the other is still being investigated.

    With extant practices in matters relating to the burying of our dead loved ones, the stigmatization which now comes with Ebola virus is bound to pose new challenges for our people. In most parts of the country, people are buried in their ancestral homes irrespective of where they die. Now that we have been told that a dead Ebola victim’s corpse is more dangerous than a living victim, such practices will at once, come into conflict with the new reality.

    There is the problem of where to bury such people and how to convey them home since fluids from their bodies are as deadly as the dead victim. It is said that cremation is the best option in such cases. The federal authorities had to secure the consent of the family of Sawyer to cremate him.

    It not certain what will be the reaction of Nigerians to cremation given subsisting cultural practices. It is however, pertinent to note that such practices will be jolted by the plethora of challenges that are bound to come with the Ebola pandemic.

    It is therefore incumbent on the various governments to put on their thinking caps; come out with measures to cope with the new challenges that have come with the Ebola virus. The interaction with Joshua, good as it was, is just one of such positive responses to this debilitating virus.

  • Now, female suicide bombers

    From all indications, the terrorism that has for some years now held this nation to its knees appears for the worse. In spite of concerted efforts at stemming it, pleas and condemnations from all divide; respite does not appear in sight.

    Each time there are serious moves to combat the scourge, it rebounds with a new face, tactics and such lethal sophistication that dims hope on a permanent handle to it.

    Or, how else do we explain the new complication which the phenomenon of lone female suicide bombers has now added to the war against terrorism? Just last week and in Kano State alone, four lone female suicide bombers wreaked havoc on defenceless people killing and injuring many.

    In the first incident, a female suicide bomber who had queued up with local women waiting to buy kerosene at a petrol station was blown up killing and injuring some of those around the scene. The second took place at the Kano Trade Fair Complex as another was shattered while mingling with the crowd. Four people including two policemen were injured.

    Before these, another had occurred at a private university gate when a female, wired with explosives, approached the police men on duty apparently to invite them to the last Eid-el-Fitri festival in her house. Suspecting the motive of the young girl, the police men took to their heels. She pursued them and was blown up in the process. The list is endless. Reports gave the estimated age of the girls between 16 and 19 years old.

    Since then, fear and anxiety have gripped people in the state and beyond as the issue has added a new dimension to the terrorism scourge.

    The apprehension is quite understandable given the deadly challenges that have come with the new tactics. There is the difficulty in determining who a female suicide bomber is. Not unexpectedly, this will lead to the profiling and harassment of the female folk with the attendant inconveniences. Even then, it comes with the problem of screening. How do you screen them, at what point and who will do that? The dilemma in getting a quick handle to lone female suicide bombers was underscored most poignantly by the reaction of the police men who took to their heels on suspicion of the woman’s mission. Had they waited or attempted to search her, they would have been killed by the explosives when they detonated. Such is the mortal danger posed by the new tactics of the terrorists.

    Before the rise of Boko Haram, it was deemed inconceivable that terrorism would find accommodation on these shores. This view was reinforced when Nigeria was adjudged the happiest people in the world despite the debilitating poverty and squeezing challenges of development facing its people. It was therefore thought that such a happy people were less likely to take to violent activities as denoted by acts of terrorism.

    But Boko Haram has brought to naught all that optimism. Matters are not remedied by the new scourge of lone female suicide bombers. It is very curious that women, considered the most vulnerable in crisis times can undertake to bring unto themselves unmitigated harm in the name of suicide bombing.

    Just recently, the nation went sorrowful when some 200 school girls were abducted at Chibok, Borno state. The furore the abduction generated was largely on account of the sex of the victims. Vigorous campaigns have been mounted and an international coalition assembled to secure the release of the girls. Sympathy for the Chibok girls may pale into insignificance in the face of the volunteer by young girls to terminate their lives prematurely through suicide bombing.

    In effect, lone female suicide bombers may become our greatest challenge in the current war against the Boko Haram insurgency.

    The impression one gets from the resilience and changing face of terrorism is that whatever grievances that spurred its initial purveyors are still potent in the different dimensions the malfeasance has continued to find expression. Or put differently, there is yet to be a change of heart by those who sponsor these acts of terrorism. That is why everything must be done to decisively tame this monster.

    What do the Boko Haram insurgents really demand from the Nigerian state that they will not allow peace? This poser is apposite given some of the excuses and rationalization that have come from certain quarters. It is more compelling when juxtaposed against the initial reasons the sect gave for taking up arms against the Nigerian state.

    Then, they had proclaimed religious and sectional reasons as the leitmotif for action. They were against western education; they wanted a theocratic state that would see non-Muslims and southerners fleeing the north. Those were their known reasons and they did show them in their initial selection of targets and mode of operation.

    Soon, apologists began to throw up such obtuse variables as ignorance, poverty and negligence. Some others viewed it as a product of ideology built on falsehood. Yet, there were others who saw the perpetrators as not true Muslims since that religion abhors the type of senseless killings that have been associated with them.

    Others have continued to read political motive to it. The conduct of politicians has not helped this dimension. Blames have been traded, and accusing fingers pointed right, left and centre. It is likely to get more complex with the elections lurking around the corner.

    A recent security opinion poll on likely reasons for the festering malaise threw up political interests relating to election matters and poverty as the key factors.

    Poverty may have a role in breeding ready recruits for the sponsors but it is getting clearer that Boko Haram is largely propelled and influenced by the twin issues of religion and politics. We can continue to trivialize these facts at the detriment of the country. It is this equivocation, insincerity and glaring refusal to admit the obvious that has brought complications in the war against insurgency. It smacks of self deceit to contend that no true Muslim will venture into the killings associated with Boko Haram simply because Islam abhors that. Or no real Christian will commit murder as it runs contrary to its doctrines. Who a true Muslim or Christian is, is value-laden and therefore of questionable empirical appeal.  May be, we shall turn to the declining tribe of pagans and animists for all our societal ills. Ironically, the same people who refuse to accept the religious and political dimensions are angling to take advantage of their fallouts.

    The nation is sliding to the precipice and a slight error of omission or commission on the choice of targets could be the last straw. We saw it nearly coming with the bomb attacks on former military Head of State Muhammad Buhari and Sheikh Bauchi. We saw attempts to politicize the matter.

    Those who sponsor this insurgency know the fault lines of our national existence and are likely to exploit them to achieve their selfish aims. These are the issues to watch.

  • Of impeachments and dialectics

    The gale of impeachments hanging over the nation’s political space has attracted divergent reactions from a broad spectrum of the political class especially, the opposition. These reactions have brought to the fore, the dialectical relationship between theory and practice or precepts and their actual implementation.

    In contention is the proper application of the impeachment clause as a check against the excesses of elected public officers. Framers of modern constitutions, guided by the realisation that governance is a social contract between the rulers and the ruled, provided for such clauses as the recall process and impeachment as safeguards against abuse of power.

    The processes of impeachment and actions considered impeachable offences are also clearly itemized. Apart from securing a two-thirds majority of the legislature, impeachment is directed at such weighty offences as gross misconduct, mismanagement of public funds and similar serious financial infractions.

    With the impeachment of the governor of Adamawa State, Murtala Nyako and the serving of same processes on Governor Tanko Al-Makura of Nassarawa State, the opposition has cried out against what it called the abuse of the impeachment provision by the ruling party. It alleged political motive, getting even with opponents and financial inducement as the driving force for the impeachments even as it claimed three other governors have been marked for the same exercise.

    They contend that impeachments solely propelled by the expedience of settling political scores or procured through financial inducements detract essentially from the spirit guiding the impeachment clause as an integral part of modern governance.

    They warned, should this abuse continue unchecked, the ruling party should take responsibility for its negative outcome on the current democratic experiment.

    The federal government in reaction denied it has its fingers in the exercise. It says the powers of impeachment of a state governor rest squarely with the people of the affected state through their assembly-men. By this, it seems to be contending that it is the inalienable right of a state through extant legal procedures to determine what is good for them including when or not to apply the impeachment axe. Once this constitutional procedure has been adhered to, the PDP argues, it is meaningless for anybody to question or impute motives into the exercise.

    It went further to allege that the opposition also tried to financially induce some legislators to frustrate their pro-impeachment counterparts in the Adamawa case from securing the required majority. All these are allegations. No concrete evidence has so far been provided to prove their veracity.

    There are potent issues on both sides of the divide. We shall return to them shortly.

    The raging recrimination highlights the uncanny dialectics between legality and morality in the deployment of the impeachment clause.  It brings to the fore the conflict between constitutional principles and their actual application.

    The opposition’s main contention is not that due process was not followed. Neither is it exculpating those charged of the allegations. It is more concerned with issues of financial inducement and the alleged use of impeachment to settle political scores. These cannot be ruled out even as they do not suffice to invalidate the process.  Morality being essentially judgmental and value-laden cannot find serious accommodation in this matrix especially if extant legal rules have been complied. All depends on the political weight assigned to the matter by those who seek regime change through the impeachment process.

    Even then, it is no less worrisome why legislators easily give in to financial inducements to prosecute such a process if they do not believe in it. This raises questions as to whether principles play any role in the conduct of these lawmakers. So, in our assessment of the moral issues involved in these impeachments, the role of the legislators must be seriously re-examined.

    The federal government has been accused of vendetta against Nyako because he dumped the party under which he was elected. The acerbic memo he wrote to northern governors alleging sundry misdeeds against President Jonathan in the fight against terrorism is said to be another issue. They could as well be.

    As in the case of impeachments, it is hard to ignore the serious moral issues raised by the way some governors dumped the party that brought them into office. This could as well fit into the genesis of all we are now about to reap.

    This point may find further illustration from the case of Al-Makura who has been working well with a PDP majority that can impeach him if they so decide. Of a sudden, they have realized that the governor has committed impeachable offences and have moved to remove him. It is alleged that the prime motivation is to install more PDP governors and gain advantage as elections draw closer. This viewpoint cannot be ruled out.

    With the formation of the APC and the decamping of five PDP governors to it, the majority status which the PDP hitherto enjoyed was jolted. Matters were not helped by the high premium which the APC placed on attracting governors unto its fold. Then, the APC had even nursed the ambition of upstaging the house leadership. Things changed fast as the PDP moved to maintain its majority in the House of Representatives.

    It is not unlikely that the PDP may have resorted to self-help in the matter of impeachment to regain its control of more states. So if political motive is perceived in the current impeachments, the reason can be understood. Whether it is right or wrong in the circumstance will remain largely controversial.

    In this dialectical matrix, we are faced with the dissonance between our extant political culture and the culture of democracy which we purport to practice. Max Weber identified three variants – the parochial, subject and participant political cultures. For him, the political culture of democracy is the participant variant. But for a country as our, it vacillates between the parochial and the subject. What this means is that we are still lacking in the socialization processes that make for the sustenance of democracy. That is why impeachments can be deployed to settle scores. That is also why governors can easily dump their parties without hoot. It is a contradiction all parties must share responsibility.

    They highlight the incongruity in the awesome powers at the disposal of the central government such that it controls life and death. It is the disproportionate powers at the disposal of the centre that accentuates impeachments at its whims and caprices. It is for the same reason all parties seek control of it by all means. Ironically, when there are discussions on devolution of powers to dilute the overbearing influence of the central authority, some sections relapse into equivocation. These are the issues to ponder.