The Nation Newspaper

Category: Columnists

  • Why confab of local governments is dangerous

    Why confab of local governments is dangerous

    Most of the local governments in existence today are creations of military dictators

    An important confession: the title of today’s piece is partially taken from Mohammed Haruna’s title in The Nation of last Wednesday, “Why Confab of ethnic nationalities is dangerous.” The borrowing is not designed to critique Haruna’s thesis about the fluidity of ethnic identity in Nigeria and elsewhere for that matter. If there are as many ethnic groups in Nigeria as Haruna has identified in his essay, then it may be more difficult (but not necessarily any less dangerous) to use ethnic nationalities than the current local governments or federal constituencies as basis of inviting delegates to the conference.

    There are some verities that those privileged to represent Nigerians from various parts of the Nigerian territory must deal with. One of these is Haruna’s thesis that identity evolves over time for all groups: Hausa, Fulani, Igbo, Ijaw, Edo, Idoma, Yoruba, etc. For example, Ondo, Ijebu, Egba, Oyo, Ekiti, Ijesha, Igbomina, etc have been evolving and may still evolve over time into something different from what exists at present. At some point in history, those referred to as sub-Yoruba groups today considered themselves as nations and even presented themselves to British colonialists as such and to the Portuguese before then. The experience of today’s Germans and the German language is similar to that of the Yoruba. One of the many German dialects was chosen to become the standard German language, just as the Oyo dialect was, at the encouragement of Bishop Ajayi Crowther and further encouragement later by Chief Awolowo’s Universal Primary Education, chosen to serve as the language to unify and prepare the sub-Yoruba groups for Christianisation and modernisation.

    Despite the rightness of Professor Peter Eke’s observation that “an Ekiti man would have been astounded if he were called an Oyo man in 1820,” it is not true that an Ekiti man would have needed an interpreter in order to communicate with a Yoruba (Oyo) man in 1820. A cursory reading of Biodun Adetugbo’s linguistic study of Yoruba dialects and some familiarity with the most trans-ethnic Yoruba discourse, Ifa, would be enough to confirm that the Ondo, Ekiti, Ijesa, Ijebu, Oyo, Egba, Oyi, man would not have had any major trouble understanding an Oyo man in 1820, particularly as members of communities of primary orality at that time. No doubt many of the sub-ethnic groups would have had difficulty in written Oyo (now standard Yoruba). In addition, Yoruba pre-colonial historiography that recognised the Ife ancestry of all Yoruba sub-ethnic groups was and is still used to underscore the reality of diversity in unity among those that call themselves the Yoruba today after the scattering of Oduduwa princes across what is known today as the Yoruba section of Nigeria.

    Those going to the national conference need not know a lot of pre-colonial Yoruba history to make rational contributions to the dialogue on how to construct a federal system that creates affection and not fear among the ethnic groups in today’s Nigeria. In fact, such a union of affection, rather than one of sectional domination bequeathed by decades of military autocracies, is the one that is likely to aid the process of Nigeria’s version of the Melting Pot or massive acculturation that will create a truly Nigerian persona, if this is found by conference delegates to be a desirable goal. Even if Nigeria’s ethnic diversity disappears today, such disappearance does not automatically make nonsense of demands for territorial federalism, such as exists in the United States of America and in the United Arab Emirates, for example. Such demands, even after a thorough homogenisation and pasteurisation of Nigeria’s ethnicities, would still form part of the expansion and extension of the culture of freedom and liberty, namely decentralisation and devolution of power with the purpose of enhancing participation of the governed and expanding the rights of citizens in their governance at the subnational or local level.

    Let us now address why it will be dangerous to use existing local governments or federal constituencies as basis of choosing delegates to the national conference. Most of the local governments in existence today are creations of military dictators. They were created at a time when the revenue allocation formula was changed by military autocrats away from the principle of derivation in existence until 1966 to the principle of even development and national unity manufactured by military autocrats. After several decades of military rule, dominated largely by generals from what used to be the northern region up till 1966, military dictators created more local governments in the north than in the south, basing their argument on land mass and population.

    This was despite the fact that Nigerians were and are not convinced that the population figures given to the country at the end of several censuses are accurate. Those who argue that Nigeria’s population pattern is the exception that confirms the rule of population spread in West Africa may be wrong. However, to use a figure that does not enjoy the confidence of citizens to determine the number of local governments at the same time that local government is promoted by military rulers to a tier that attracts allocation other than what is given to states that encompass local governments is to create suspicion among citizens from different parts of the country who want to live together as friends and partners, rather than as overlords and underdogs.

    Just as more funds currently go to the north from the federation account on account of the number of local governments, so will more votes go to the local governments from the north at the national confab, thus making it possible for the north to use the principle of majoritarianism to prevent any changes to the status quo created by unelected soldiers. No section of the country should have the power to prevent the north from having as many local governments as it desires for its own pace of development. Correspondingly, the over 400 local governments in the north should not have the power to use their majority at the national conference to prevent any section of the country from opting for another structure that is different from the current one that gives the north over 400 local governments and makes it hard for the south to increase its number of local governments. In other words, the opportunity for each region to have the number of local governments it believes it needs for its development should not be tied to money sharing from the federation account, nor should it be tied to the fact that any region currently has the advantage of more local governments created by military autocracies.

    Similarly, using existing federal constituencies to determine number of delegates and voters on issues at the national conference is fraught with avoidable danger. Like the local governments, the current federal constituencies came out of decrees and constitutions created by military dictators and on the basis of the census figures, the veracity of which has been questioned by citizens that include former leaders of the population commission. With almost 200 in the north out of a total of 360 federal constituencies, it is understandable for delegates from the south to feel that the power of majority can also be invoked by the north to keep the status quo intact. To have a frank dialogue that can help to enhance the unity of the federation, it is important to avoid all of the fetters created by military dictatorships and allow a level playing field for all parties to the national dialogue, be they spokespersons for ethnic federalism such as exists in Ethiopia or advocates for territorial federalism such as the one in the United Arab Emirates.

  • Anambra as 2015 rehearsal

    Anambra as 2015 rehearsal

    We should expect more of such in Osun and Ekiti before the ‘Tsunami’ in the general elections

    Nigerians leapt for joy when Prof Maurice Iwu, the immediate past chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was removed in April 2010 and the incumbent, Prof Attahiru Jega, nominated by President Goodluck Jonathan to replace him on June 8, 2010. The only record we have of Iwu is that he was a bad electoral umpire. Indeed, if ever there was any election he conducted well, it must have been by mistake. Attahiru Jega, on the other hand, has (or is it now had?) a better track record. His activism and integrity as President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and also as an opponent of the Ibrahim Babangida regime stood him out as a dependable fellow for the INEC job. Most stakeholders readily supported President Jonathan when he nominated the professor of political science as INEC boss.

    So, unlike Iwu, millions of Nigerians placed much hope on the Jega-led INEC. But what happened in Anambra State last Saturday must have been making many of them wonder whether such hope is not misplaced. The Anambra governorship election has thrown up the question of whether we can ever get elections right; it is not just about whether Jega can get it right. Indeed, we would be making a big mistake if we want to narrow whatever happened that made the election inconclusive, to Jega alone. Everything was wrong with the poll. It brought out, once again, the worst in us. There was so much security presence; at least 21 INEC commissioners shifted base to the state for the election even as Prof Jega himself temporarily relocated to Anambra, to underscore the importance of the election.

    Yet, no one who wants to be honest can say that the exercise was free or fair. We are yet to know the successor to Peter Obi, the state governor, who also allegedly played a questionable role in the poll as he did in the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) election in May, which will be disappointing, if true, especially as Obi himself is a beneficiary of the rule of law and due process. It would be disappointing therefore if he sold his conscience for a pot of porridge; or, as some will say, for filthy lucre. It had long been speculated that the ruling party in the state, the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) is in some unholy alliance with the Presidency which had assured that APGA would be allowed to win the governorship in return for the governor, Mr Obi’s support for the President. And, in fairness to Mr Obi, he has remained an obedient servant to the core, and demonstrated this partly with his support for the President’s candidate in the last May Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) election, Governor Jonah Jang, who eventually lost the election to the incumbent NGF chair and Governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi, in spite of the massive backing he (Jang) had from the Presidency and the PDP. It is being projected that the south west states where some of the governorship elections would be held between now and next year are the ultimate targets. Anambra was only by the way.

    Now that INEC is saying total cancellation of the poll is beyond it despite its unpardonable defects, to the courts we must turn. We should not be slaves to laws we made supposedly in our own interest. We should refuse to be stuck with an election that was badly flawed as the governorship poll in Anambra.

    Unfortunately, failure to get it right in Anambra has grave consequences for our political process. There are governorship elections in at least two other states – Ekiti and Osun — for instance, before the next general elections in 2015. One does not need a soothsayer to know that it can only get worse in those states, given the desperation of those who think they can do and undo in the ruling party. As a matter of fact, but for their desperation, arising partly because of the crises in the party, that seem intractable, there would not have been the kind of embarrassment we had in Anambra that the national Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) wants us to pass for credible election. Nigerians may not know the colour of credible election because it has almost not happened in the country since the June 12, 1993 presidential election, but they know what flawed elections look like. It is what they see whenever we have elections here.

    But what makes the coming elections particularly frightening is that whereas Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, as president in his time declared that the 2007 elections would be a ‘do-or-die affair’, the incumbent has not said any such thing. But we do not need a body language reader to tell us that his body language points in the direction of desperation to ‘capture’ the south west states. In the Obasanjo years, the PDP was not as fractured as it is today. Yet, when Obasanjo met a brick wall in Lagos, for instance, he as a soldier knew what to do: he quickly beat a retreat because he knew the implications of pursuing such blind ambition in the state. The Jonathan administration is not likely to beat such retreat; it is not within its ken to even understand the implications. Moreover, the government has gone away with many imponderable crimes that it can safely presume that it can always get away with anything; anything, including blue murder.

    It is true that the ruling party now seems to have realised that people will easily suspect if it imposed its candidates as winners in many of the states where elections are being held or would be held, its new style is to sponsor candidates of other parties considered fairly strong in those states to contest against the party the ruling PDP does not want. That was the strategy in Anambra. And it was borne out of mischief not large heart on the part of the PDP. Many people, including the candidate of the PDP in the election, Tony Nwoye and his father could not vote because their names were missing on the voter register, yet, the party’s national working committee curiously said the election was credible and peaceful. Nwoye had barely two weeks to campaign, yet he was given the second position. The PDP, characteristically, could not even be truthful over little things as it claimed the irregularities identified by everyone else were mere ‘perceived hitches’. This was the same election that INEC which conducted it condemned as a farce.

    The summary of my piece is that the Jonathan presidency is no respecter of public opinion once it has made up its mind, and this is where I have my worst fears for this democracy. Nothing happened in Anambra that had not been predicted as the PDP game plan; is it not astonishing that this did not make the people behind the mess in the state to retrace their steps? But they were emboldened because, with the ruling party, you can commit any crime, provided it is for the sake of the party, nothing will happen; no one will call you to order. Indeed, this is why I said having credible election in the country is not something for Jega alone, Nigerians must be prepared to insist on their votes counting; they must be prepared to resist impostors. Above all, we need structures that will endure. Jega can only try; but where those who think he is the problem could be right is that he has a choice; he should know what to do if people without credibility want to tar his with mud. The way things are going, he will be demystified sooner than later.

  • Still waiting for ASUU

    Last Wednesday, I was a guest on a live interview programme on Rainbow FM. The discussion was on the over five months’ old strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). The anchor asked me the question which Nigerians want an urgent answer to.

    How do we end this strike, which, just when we thought it would be called off at the National Executive Council meeting of the union, has continued following the death of a former president of the union, Professor Festus Iyayi, while on his way to the meeting?.

    I wish I had an answer except to say that we have to await the decision of the National Executive Council meeting which from every indication should call off the strike whenever the meeting is held. The various campus branches of the union had held a referendum on the offer of the federal government and indications are that the majority want the strike called off to give the government yet another benefit of the doubt.

    For now, the crucial meeting remains suspended indefinitely and it seems we may have to wait till next year for lectures to resume on campuses of government-owned universities.

    What is really worrying is the uncertainty of when the meeting is likely to hold. Professional speculators have been having a field day raising false hopes about the meeting on the social media. Last Sunday I had to call our Kano Correspondent to check out a report about ASUU NEC meeting holding at the Bayero University, Kano, which turned out not to be true.

    I have no problem with the decision of the union to suspend its meeting to decide on the strike in honour of the late Professor Iyayi. It would have been insensitive not to do so considering the leading role he has played in the campaign of the union for better welfare of members over the years.

    He would not have died in the car accident if he was not going to attend the NEC meeting. If the government had not failed to honour the 2009 agreement there would have been no need for the ongoing strike.

    However, the ASUU cannot continue to keep the nation in suspense about when it would meet to decide on its next line of action. Nigerians need to know what ASUU decision is, to know where to apply necessary pressure.

    From the calls by listeners to the programme, there is no doubt that Nigerians sympathise with ASUU and blame the government for not discharging its responsibility when it should have. Notwithstanding, they are not pleased that there is no clear statement from ASUU on the matter.

    It is bad enough that we have found ourselves in this unfortunate situation but we cannot afford to continue to keep thousands of students of government-owned universities at home while their colleagues in private universities and the University of Ilorin are pursuing their studies.

    The ongoing strike has further done incalculable damage to the university education system in the country and should not be allowed to linger while the government and union officials work to resolve the crisis once and for all.

    I sincerely hope that the strike would be called off soon and I won’t have to keep writing about it as I promised to do until the ugly development is put behind us.

  • How elections create legitimacy

    As Nigerians go to the polls today to elect their legislators it is necessary to dwell on the issue of legitimacy again as I have done in recent past in the hope that this time around Nigerians will not vote in vain as in the last three elections of 1999, 2003 and 2007 in our great country. Legitimacy is the legal authority for power of rulers or political leaders. In a democracy, elections are the main rituals for elected leaders to obtain legitimacy. The more transparent the democratic process especially in terms of free and fair elections the better the quality of legitimacy and respect for any political system in the comity of nations and vice versa. Especially nowadays when democracy is the fashionable and ascendant ideology after the collapse of the defunct USSR under Mikhail Gorbachev’s policy of glasnost and perestroika which focused on openness and transparency in government. By the way a birthday concert was held last Wednesday for Gorbachev’s 80th birthday in London’s Albert Hall at which a prize named ‘The man who changed the world’ named after Gorbachev, who was the last head of state of the defunct Soviet Union which collapsed in massive street demonstrations similar to the on going ones in the Arab world, in 1991.

    There is no gainsaying that in Nigeria the 2011 elections and campaigns have generated more interest and excitement amongst the competing contestants and the political parties than among the electorate which is supposed to vote the contestants for power into office.The reason for the apathy and apparent suspicion of the Nigerian electorate is both historical and sociological. Elections have rarely been free and fair in Nigeria and a political culture has evolved around the pattern of a prostrate electorate acquiescing with the results of a manifestly rigged election in the hope that this time around the crumbs from the table of power of the new or renewed government will be more generous than hitherto. This has made rigged elections acceptable as a way of life, albeit a bitter pill to swallow, so that the business of governance can go on as usual in all tiers of government in the name of our unique democracy.

    The difference this time around however is that those organizing the elections have promised that the electorate will not be shortchanged in terms of rigging and that the elections will be free and fair. I hold four centers of power in the electoral process responsible for this promise based on the crucial role of their antecedents predecessors in earlier elections in this nation. These centers of power or institutions are the Presidency, the Police, INEC and the judiciary. The Presidency, Police and INEC are largely credible in my estimation of their preparations but I can not honestly say the same of the judiciary and I will explain.

    The President of the Republic who is a contestant has gone out of his way to say that people should not rig, but just vote for him and I believe him for the simple reason that no incumbent seeking reelection has ever said that in this nation before. Some of his supporters say he is suffering from inexperience and naivety and that he has shot himself in the leg for disowning the time tested weapon of re -election in our unique brand of democracy. All the same I believe this incumbent president and presidential contestant.

    The Police Inspector General has moved Police State Commissioners unexpectedly out of their domain to new places for the duration of the elections and I believe these movements will stem the tide of rigging somewhat. Although the ACN has called for his removal over events in the South East I doubt if that is possible for this 2011 elections. Also the fact that the INEC Chairman has called on the SSS to help monitor INEC staff at polling booths nationwide to ensure they follow the electoral process to the letter shows that INEC will not cover up for its erring officials as has been its modus operandi in the past .

    It is with the judiciary sadly that I see the Achilles heel of our latest electoral odyssey of great expectations for a free and fair election starting today. The leadership of the Nigerian judiciary as at the start of this election is a divided house. The Chief Justice of Nigeria has a petition against him on corruption from a colleague the President of the Federal Court of Appeal who has also refused promotion to the Supreme Court. The two are the leading lights of the temple of justice in Nigeria and are expected to deploy judges to handle election petitions arising from the elections starting from today Nobody has spoken so far of their being removed or suspended for conflict of or divided interest so as not to rock the boat of the electoral process which is bound to hit a judicial rock sooner than later with such litigious captains in charge.

    Yet, the judiciary is the vehicle expected to give legitimacy to our electoral process. It is expected to adjudicate in electoral disputes and its high priests in the temples of justice at all tiers of government are to swear in elected officials according to our constitution. The law says he who comes to equity must come with clean hands but I do not think that is applicable to the Nigerian judiciary at the beginning of these 2011 elections and the consequences and prospects of that are quite grim to contemplate for now. In judicial terms one can only hope for the best and prepare for the worst in terms of justice in our electoral system this time around.

    Nevertheless , every cloud has its silver lining and our 2011 elections can not be an exception. Nigerians like all electorates globally have an opportunity that come once in four years to elect their leaders. Fortunately or otherwise we are doing this at a time when the Arabs of the Middle East have taken to the streets to throw out their leaders for corruption, dictatorship, autocracy and decades of misrule. The street demonstrators have found sympathy with the leaders of the democratic world led by the US, and EU nations namely France and Britain. Indeed at the EU and NATO Conference on Libya attended by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton this week it was resolved that Libya’s dictator Muammar Gaddafi had lost all legitimacy to rule his people and should just go. This is in spite of the UN resolution which is the mandate of the Coalition, saying explicitly that the Coalition forces are in Libya to provide a no fly zone over that country and are not there for regime change.

    Since then no less a person than US President Barak Obama has said in a state broadcast in the US that living Gaddafi in charge after Coalition intervention makes Libya a dangerous place for world peace. Obama stressed that it is the duty of the international community to protect unarmed Libyans against Gaddafi but it is the responsibility of Libyans themselves to determine the manner of his exit. Both David Cameron the UK ‘s PM and Obama have stressed that UN resolution restraint not withstanding, they will not rule out giving arms to Libyan rebels to dislodge Gaddafi. Which means the die is cast for the Libyan leader and his days are very numbered since he cannot match the fire power, experience, military skills and technology of the Coalition out to save his people whom he called rats and varmins at the start of the Libyan uprising.

    In terms of our own elections and the choice of who to vote for we can learn something from the reasons and causes of the fury of the Middle East masses against their dictators and political leaders. From Tunisia to Egypt to Saudi Arabia to Yemen to Bahrain to Libya and now to Syria the ruling elites and families have been in power for too long and have remained insensitive to the economic needs and yearnings of their people. Instead they used the police and a highly motivated quasi- military security apparatus to monitor their people; to cut them to size and jail any dissident without trial while using torture with impunity as a form of deterrence against any opposition. This was the situation in Tunisia under Ben Ali for 24 years; in Mubarak’s Egypt for 32 years; in Saleh’s Yemen for 32 years to date; for decades to date under the ruling House of Saud in Saudi Arabia; and in the 41 years of late Haffez Assad dynasty and his son who has been in office after succeeding his father 11 years ago .So the fury that drove the Arab masses into their streets and squares which the dictators built for celebrations consisted of corruption, nepotism, tyranny, high handedness, aloofness, and lack of respect for democratic values generally.

    To me then the virtues we should look for in choosing who to vote for in these 2011 elections are the opposite of what led the Arabs to revolt so massively against their leaders in the on going street revolution convulsing the Middle East as we know it today. Which means that Nigerians should from today vote for leaders who hate and do not practice corruption and nepotism ;leaders who have respect for democratic values of the rule of law ,accountability and transparency; leaders who are responsive to the wishes of those who elected them.

    We can of course add the Nigerian flavor by pointing out or reminding ourselves and our political contestants of our present needs and problems which could lead to street democracy and demonstrations like those in the Middle East if they are not attended to by the elected leaders in the elections starting today. These are rampant lack of electricity for good quality of life and for growth of industries leading to unemployment and redundancies; lack of security of life and property in our cities and villages; poor health facilities; poor and dangerous roads and infrastructure generally. Since election times are times of great promises by power seekers and great expectations by the electorate we ask Nigerians to vote wisely and pick new leaders who will be responsive to their needs as promised during campaigns. For now at least electing our leaders through the ballot box is infinitely better and less rowdy than the ongoing massive street democracy of the Arab world.

  • Professor Jega’s burden

    Professor Jega’s burden

    Last Saturday’s botched and inconclusive governorship election in Anambra State raises salient fears as regards the possibilities of democratic sustainability in Nigeria. There is indeed justifiable cause for deep despair as political actors demonstrated, once again, scant regard for legal or ethical rules in their desperate bid to control state power at all costs, and irrespective of the popular will. The supposedly impartial electoral umpire, the Independent National electoral Commission (INEC) descended to abysmal levels of partisanship and incompetence in its conduct of the election.

    And, of course, the security agencies deployed for the exercise were not left out of the stiff competition to excel in impunity. The massive show of force particularly by the Nigeria Police was apparently no more than a gimmick, not only to create an environment conducive to the perpetration of electoral fraud, but also to suppress popular expression of discontent at an incurably and inexcusably flawed exercise.

    The kind of brazen lawlessness exhibited by virtually all stakeholders in the Anambra election suggests strongly that the grave of democracy in this dispensation is already being aggressively dug and we are only grimly awaiting 2015 for the final denouement – an elaborate burial ceremony. For, if a successful and credible governorship election cannot be held in only one state, how do we hope to conduct acceptable nationwide polls in a country already substantially immersed in severe socio-economic, political and security crises?

    Yet, despite the colossal setback to our democratic evolution by the Anambra governorship election fiasco, certain aspects of the exercise offer some hope that the prospects for the survival and strengthening of responsible and accountable government in the country are quite bright. Yes, the anti-democratic elements are alive, well and active in their determination to subvert the peoples will. But the popular forces, fiercely committed to upholding and protecting the will of the people are also strong and unrelenting.

    For instance, a vibrant civil society represented by the various election observer groups ensured the effective monitoring of the Anambra polls. This was a key factor responsible for the exposure of the grave flaws that marred the exercise. It is thus understandable that a number of the election observers were harassed and even detained by compromised police authorities while others incurred the open hostility of INEC officials. That the majority of election observers were able to play their roles against all odds inspires hope that those intent on electoral fraud in future polls will have even more formidable obstacles on their path.

    Again, the media deserves commendation for its vigilance and professionalism in the coverage of the Anambra polls. This was why telling images and stories of disenfranchised voters and compromised officials were vividly brought to millions. Impunity, criminal complicity and incompetence had no hiding place in the Anambra election thanks to the media.

    Mention must also be made of the hundreds of brave women of Anambra state who severally protested their disenfranchisement and disempowerment by INEC. They were not deterred by the intimidating police presence. Not even the fumes of tear gas could break their will. It is this kind of courage and resilience that will help to consolidate democracy in Nigeria by ensuring that every vote counts and the popular will triumphs.

    Now, what about the role of the embattled INEC Chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega? So much has been written and said about this. As a result of the huge fund of moral integrity and credibility he brought to the job, many expect the good Professor to perform miracles and move mountains of electoral fraud and impunity. The credible conduct of the 2011 election further raised the hope that, under Jega, it was only a matter of time before the country holds elections of the requisite international standard. Such hopes have been dashed. The degree of impunity has worsened with each subsequent election held under Jega’s watch. Something is certainly dreadfully wrong.

    Some have completely written off Jega and even called for his resignation over the Anambra debacle. They contend that his robe of moral integrity is irredeemably stained. As far as they are concerned, the professor cannot extricate himself from blame for the functional inefficiency, operational mediocrity and moral laxity responsible for the current electoral gridlock in Anambra State. This column begs to differ. I believe that Jega remains a decent, competent and well- meaning patriot committed to the best interest of Nigeria.

    It is as result of his essential sense of honour and intellectual honesty that Jega has admitted INEC’s responsibility for the botched polls. He has even tendered an apology to Nigerians. Can you imagine how a Maurice Iwu would have reacted in similar circumstances? He would have insisted on the sanctity of the discredited elections and even offered Nigeria’s assistance to the rest of the world on how to organise credible polls! Till date, the voluble Professor Iwu is still living in denial as regards the atrocious and utterly disgraceful 2007 elections, which he supervised. Against such irresponsible and anti-intellectual hubris, Jega’s humility is a breath of fresh air.

    The question is, having summoned the courage to be humble, decent and truthful on the Anambra poll, what is the way forward for Jega and INEC towards resolving the electoral logjam in the state? It is certainly most unhelpful, immoral and insufficient for INEC to contend that no matter how tainted, the subsisting results in the botched Anambra polls can only be upturned by a court of law. Surely, Professor Jega should know that the responsibility for conducting free and fair elections rests with INEC and not the courts.

    Holding so called supplementary elections in a minority of polling units when the credibility and integrity of the entire exercise has been called to question will simply not do. The supplementary results will not cure the grievous defects arising from mass disenfranchisement, questionable voters register, the late distribution of materials, poor logistics and general organisational inefficiency that marred the integrity of the election across the state.

    If the electoral umpire knowingly supervised the deliberate delay or complete denial of voting materials in certain areas to the detriment of some candidates while at the same time ensuring the timely arrival of manpower and materials in selected areas to favour particular candidates, the credibility of the entire exercise across the board is incurably infected. It means the whole process was strategically planned to arrive at a predetermined outcome. There is no guarantee that the choice of electoral officers down the line and other decisions were not tainted to manipulate the process.

    Just as it did in the April 2, 2011, National Assembly election, INEC can only safeguard its integrity by cancelling the entire exercise and conducting a credible and generally acceptable election in Anambra. The onus should be on those who seek to profit from an exercise acknowledged by INEC to be defective and discredited, to seek legal validation for their claim in court. As The Guardian newspaper declared in its editorial yesterday, “Having accepted responsibility for the present quagmire arising from the election, INEC has a duty to correct the identified and the hidden anomalies and sanction those responsible as appropriate. Above all, it must ensure that the election ultimately and fully reflects the genuine desire of the Anambra people”.

    Even more to the point, The Punch in its editorial of Thursday, November 21, was unequivocal. In its words “As the nation grapples with yet another shoddy election, this time the Anambra State governorship poll of last Saturday, it is incumbent upon the Independent National Electoral Commission to do the right thing: summon the courage to cancel the flawed election…Decidedly, the election failed the test of credibility, which critically determines the acceptability of an electoral contest”.

    This then is Professor Jega’s burden. Before him are enduring honour or a gradual descent to infamy. The choice is entirely his. At the end of the day, it does not matter who wins in Anambra as long as the process is transparent and credible.

  • Showers of blessings

    Showers of blessings

    It is finished. The heavens opened its up and poured down on the U.J. Esuene Stadium in Calabar, signifying our triumph over the Ethiopians on a 4-1 aggregate. We have secured the 2014 World Cup ticket and there is celebration in the land. As usual, we are partying, with praise singers angling for slots in the mass movement of Nigerians to the samba nation from June 2014. Did I hear you say another jamboree? Is that not a way of life in Nigeria when the national cake is about to be shared?

    The victory over Ethiopia didn’t come like a piece of cake. The Eagles laboured for it. The Ethiopians stuck to their entertainment football, which kept the fans on the edge of their seats for much of the game. If Saturday’s game was a boxing bout, the visitors would have nicked it via a technical knockout. But it was no boxing.

    In football, flair not directed towards scoring goals is sheer entertainment. The Ethiopians realised this when the referee blew the final whistle. Goals win matches, not the number of passes strung together by players. The visitors dominated the game, such that the fans had to embark on the Mexican waves to warm themselves, having watched in awe as the Ethiopians ran ring around our boys. That is how cruel the round leather game could be.

    And when the heavens opened up at the end of the game, it symbolised the need for everyone to critically assess the squad in order to fix the lapses noticed before the Brazil 2014 World Cup.

    Where I sat in the stadium, I told those around me before the tie started that the Eagles would not give their best because of the Italian game in London. Someone challenged me insisting that I disliked the Eagles. I listened as he scolded me over past my columns. But the fact stared him in the face when the Eagles struggled. He abused virtually everyone on the field. Yet when a goal was scored, he celebrated. But who will blame such fans who denied themselves food and the luxuries of life to pay their way to watch the game.

    As the game rolled through, I wanted to see how Stephen Keshi’s changes would improve the trend. Keshi’s changes were brilliant, culminating in the perfectly struck free-kick. Yet it was Keshi’s post-match comments that stirred the hornet’s nest. He recognised the fact that the team didn’t play well and hinged it on the players’ nerves and hunger to score goals. For professionals of our players’ stature, the argument was awful. On hindsight, it could be that Keshi didn’t want to berate them publicly. If that was the case, it was the best thing to do.

    While the fans celebrated, I listened to their songs. They spent close to 40 minutes singing Nwankwo Kanu’s praises and you wondered if Papilo actually played the game. He didn’t, but the fans wanted to show their appreciation for all he had done to thrill them. Of course, the message from the fans’ praise was lost on the players. Kanu made Nigerians smile with his sublime skills, which produced goals for himself and others. Perhaps, they nursed the dream that drafting Kanu to the field to add spark to the team’s sloppy movement against the Ethiopians was something worth contemplating. But then everything – and everyone – has his time and season. There is no way we can reenact Kanu’s season again. We just have to live with the fact that we have come to the end of Kanu’s era.

    On Tuesday, I wasn’t surprised that the Eagles stood up to the Italians. They knew that such a big stage was for any player to showcase his best. Even with the seeming depleted side paraded by Keshi, everyone fought for the ball and ensured that his position wasn’t used by the Italians to score goals. The Italians were good but must be pinching themselves back home how the Nigerians outplayed them in their defence.

    Keshi showed courage in fielding home-based boys in the defence, except for Godfrey Oboabona. The Big Boss’ foresight has instilled the confidence that the home lads need ahead of the CHAN 2014 competition in South Africa.

    Fielding Shola Ameobi raised hope that he could play alongside Emmanuel Emenike, although one has observed that Keshi has done otherwise. Keshi could consider this option (Ameobi/ Emenike) while in camp for the Mundial. Again, Bright Dike’s robust style reminds me of the Atuegbu brothers of yore. Only energetic players, such as Dike, could have scored Nigeria’s first goal. He smartly outmuscled his Italian marker to score the goal from Ameobi’s nifty cross. A half-chance goal and the assist that produced the first goal earned Ameobi my Man-of-the-Match tag, not forgetting Oguenyi Onazi’s yeoman showing during the game.

    Victor Moses showed why he is the toast of Liverpool. He troubled the Italians with his pace and tricks on the ball. Surprisingly, Mikel had an off-day. Big games bring out Mikel’s best, like we saw at the Confederations Cup in Brazil. Not so against the Azzurris. He wasn’t sharp. He didn’t stamp his authority on the game the way Moses did. Perhaps he was tired and no one will blame him. Keshi must warn Moses and, indeed, his players not to take off their shirts after scoring goals. It really sickening that players, knowing full well that there is always a reprimand for taking off your shirt in celebration, still go ahead to commit such an infringement. Such action attracts a yellow card. Such needless card could scuttle a coach’s tactical plan. Moses should learn from Dike, who hesitated in removing his short after his goal, realising the implications.

    The Italian friendly should signpost the new direction of international friendlies for Nigeria. The drawn game was the best exhibition of our game to the top ten countries in FIFA rankings to play us anywhere in the world.

    Conventionally, most European countries set up games with African teams to prepare them for the daunting task against any African opposition at the Mundial next year. I won’t be surprised if the Spaniards decide to confront Nigeria in a high profile friendly. The significance of playing such big ties is that it improves Nigeria’s rating on the FIFA log. It also opens a new vista for our football because European scouts would nurse the desire to visit the country in search of talents to expose to big clubs in Europe.

    Such Grade A games also help our coaches to develop. It helps them to gain the confidence to prosecute subsequent matches. It raises their profile and provides them with enough tactics to outwit weaker opponents. Our coaches learn new tricks thrown at them in the course of such ties. They could use such platforms to exchange notes and ideas with coaches whose system they admire.

    The talk of getting a foreign technical adviser to do recce jobs for Keshi is cheap. Rather, we should choose between seeking an arrangement where Keshi and his men can spend time with some of the big European coaches to see how they prepare their teams for matches or get them to attend regular refresher courses. Our coaches would use the opportunity to watch how these coaches handle half-time pep talks. Matches are won from the decisions taken at half time by the technical crew.

    However, it is good that the sports minister insists that only Keshi can ask for the recruitment of a technical adviser, who in any case would be the Big Boss’ subordinate. The import of this ministerial directive is that Keshi could remain as the Eagles tactician after 2014? Why? The experience from the World Cup will enhance his work ethics and make him a better coach. We must learn to encourage continuity. Let’s hope that Keshi keys into this arrangement, irrespective of our inability to pay his wages regularly.

    Our players have taken their trade to Europe and have clinched shirts from other nationals. Our coaches need to step up, starting with exposing Keshi et al to refresher courses and clinics to update their knowledge. To compete with the best, you must have the ingredients that make them tick. And they do not come by sitting at home or embarking on long holidays, eating buggers and guzzling beer.

    The World Cup is a serious business. Our fifth appearance would be appreciated if we become the first African country to qualify for the semi-finals. At that stage, anything is possible. After all, who would have thought that Nigeria would win the gold medal at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta? Senegal didn’t need a pilgrimage of World Cup appearances to hit the quarter finals in their debut outing at the Korea/Japan 2002 World Cup. The Senegalese are not as talented; neither are the Cameroonians.

    Nigeria will be a super power in soccer, if the Eagles excel in Brazil next year. We are World Cup champions at the U-17 level for a record fourth time. And it won’t be out of place, if we emerge as champions in Brazil. It is possible. We must set the template to achieve that feat.

    Good night Austin Agbare

    I don’t like being a harbinger of bad news. But this sad story concerns a friend who follows this column religiously. He is the first to praise any good column and also points out those he has issues with.

    Walking through the The Nation’s newsroom on Thursday evening, I was accosted by the Acting Business Editor, Simeon Ebulu. He wore a forlorn look and I asked what the problem was. He hissed and shook his head. I immediately knew something terrible had happened.

    Ade, I just received a text message stating that Austin Agbare died in India on November 20. I held him, mouth agape. What did you just say? I asked. Yes, his assistant just confirmed it. I wept. I knew Austin at the Government College, Ughelli. He was in Oleh House. He played badminton and was a silver medalist at the 1975 National Sports Festival.

    Austin has joined his friend Nnamdi Anazia in the bossom of the Lord. It really hurts. Good night Austin Agbare. Mehen nosen!

  • Ndubuisi Kanu at 70: An officer and an activist

    Save for a full page advert in a national newspaper signed by the Lagos State governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola on November 3rd, the exact day he turned 70, one did not notice any other sign that Rear Admiral (retired) Godwin Ndubuisi Kanu had reached that landmark age. We have increasingly become a people who do not know how to celebrate, or to put it better, we celebrate too much but with our stomach. Therefore, we celebrate the wrong things and for warped reasons. We celebrate people we ought to be stoning having lost a sense of authenticity. We have grown acutely bubble-headed, undiscerning and un-historied, living only moment by hunger-induced moment. These days, almost always, our media are filled with a celebration of all the wrong people we erroneously call leaders.

    Such was it that only a brief tribute from Governor Fashola ushered one of the finest naval officers and democrat of this age into the septuagenarian league. “Today we celebrate a preeminent elder statesman, a proponent of true federalism and a champion of democracy,” the advert speaks of Kanu. You may say that the man was once an administrator of Lagos State thus such a commemoration was not out of place but he was first a military administrator in Imo and I do not remember any such recognition from that quarter. Not from the Nigerian Navy which he served remarkably in nearly all units and of course not from Ohaneze Ndigbo where he has been a member of its ime-obi for quite sometime.

    It is not that the taciturn general is in dire need of tributes and recognitions for apart from the fact that he may have piled up enough accolades which come from personal achievements to last him a life time, he is not one to worry about or hanker after such vain-gloriousness. To think that all these years he was not bestowed with any national honours, the medals which have become as common as the fake jewelry you find hanging around the neck of every man and woman by the street corners. Twice he was in the apex military ruling body in Nigeria. First he was a member of the Supreme Military Council, (SMC), 1975 – 1978 under General Olusegun Obasanjo and the Armed Forces Ruling Council (AFRC), 1985 – 1989 under General Ibrahim Babangida.

    Other key political exposures were his tour of duties in Imo and Lagos States in the complex post-civil war years of Nigeria’s mid-70s. But in his military career in the Nigerian Navy, Kanu proved to be an intelligent and thoroughbred officer. Enlisting in 1962 after his secondary school education at Metropolitan College, Onitsha, he trained at the National Defence Academy, Kharakvasla and Naval Engineering and Electrical College both in India. He was the best all-round cadet in India in 1965. Also at the Newport War College, Rhodes Island, USA he came out top of his class as the best graduating student as well as the best midshipman (1st class). He traversed nearly all commands of the navy rising to the position of Rear-Admiral in his 28-year career before he retired in 1990.

    But unlike most of his colleagues who march straight into oblivion after a long, regimented military life, Kanu has remained relevant in the polity in a manner not known of military officers. He has led quite fearlessly, the life of an activist and democrat. Participating most robustly in national discourses he even mounted the barricades and led protests with civil right groups in Lagos. The Ovim, Abia State indigene has shown what one may describe as an uncanny zest in the socio-political affair of the nation since the 90s. Many consider it an extreme act of courage if not fatalistic of him to have joined and become a staunch member of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) which was almost single-handedly responsible for kicking out Nigeria’s military junta from power. Most of the military brass tacks that Kanu now faced from the other side of the divide were his contemporaries. The consequences could have been dire to him, his family and businesses. Apparently, his love for Nigeria seemed a paramount and over-riding consideration.

    Way back in 1993 he had written a book: The Way Forward: Sovereign National Conference, which could be a veritable blueprint for the advocates of another national conference of today. The retired officer also wrote: The Military, Politics and Human rights and the Economy. As a mark of the people’s champion and mobiliser he is, his office on Victoria Island Lagos has served as the meeting point and secretariat of Ndigbo Lagos for nearly two decades.

    Rear Admiral Ndubuisi Kanu has turned out to be a true statesman, a patriot, a soldier and a social scientist of note. Most remarkably, he is an activist not for the limelight or the popularity most people crave from it for he is a very self-effacing man. A proof of that is that while most of his contemporaries haul bag-loads of titles and honorary degrees, he seems not to care about such inanities, such medallions of vacuous men.

    In this prime age of 70, it is hoped that the navigator will continue to give fillip and provide fuel for the firing of the ship of state. More important, many would wish he could direct some thought and attention to the issues of socio-political and rights activism in the southeast, a phenomenon that is almost as cold as yesterday’s porridge in that side of the country.

    LAST MUG: Ha ha, thinks refineries

    Is it not funny that our oil minister, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke only speaks with the foreign media these days about matters concerning us denizens of Nigeria? The other day in London, she told Bloomberg Television that Nigeria’s four refineries would be sold by the first quarter of 2014. But she knows it’s all empty talk with no iota of substance. She told us nearly two years ago that four Greenfield refineries will be built but no sod has been turned anywhere till now.

    She will never be able to get anything done even if she stays in that position for 20 years. She is a failure. She is very comfortable with a fraud-ridden system that ships out 60,000 barrels of crude daily to fictitious refining plants; a dark subsidy regime that sucks nearly N2 trillion from the treasury yearly. She has left a legacy of graft that may never be surpassed in the annals of our oil sector. No redeeming value whatsoever is in sight.

     

  • Season of interfaith dialogues

    Turmoil, in any place and at any time, has a way of calming itself down. Religious turmoil is not an exception in this case. The global frequency of interfaith dialogues these days is an evident attestation to this assertion. Yours sincerely has been participating in series of such dialogues in recent times two of which took place in Abuja last week alone. At such events, it is vividly noticeable that ignorance is, after all, the modern day bastion of religious disharmony and with meaningful dialogues it is quite possible for the world to return to the permanent habitat of peace in which it once sojourned.

    This new trend is rapidly spreading across the world and rekindling humanity’s hope for the seemingly lost harmony. Last Wednesday, a global interfaith conference began in Vienna, Austria, with over 700 religious leaders from all parts of the world. Yours sincerely is a participant. The conference sponsored by the Saudi Arabian King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz Interfaith Dialogue Foundation is the 9th in the series. And leading the Nigerian delegation to that extraordinary conference are His Eminence, Dr. Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, the Sultan of Sokoto, and His Eminence, John Cardinal Olorunfemi Onaiyekan both of whom have been jointly engaged in series of interfaith dialogues in recent times.

    Coming closely on the heels of the Vienna conference is another of its type in London. The latter which will commence on 23rd November is organised by ‘Muslim Public Affairs Centre (MPAC) a well known Muslim organisation with strong base in London. The Nigerian delegation to the London conference will also be led by His Eminence, the Sultan of Sokoto who will move to London from Vienna to further champion the course of global peace.

    These unprecedented activities of the Sultan are a sharp reminder of a historic lecture he delivered in Harvard University on October 3, 2011. Some excerpts of that famous lecture were published in this column two years ago. But because of the ever relevance of the lecture, its excerpts are hereby published again for the benefit of peace-loving readers of ‘The Message’. Here we go:

    A voice from Harvard

    On Monday, October 3, 2011), a voice echoed from the United States of America and reverberated throughout the intellectual spheres of many other countries across the world’s continents. The voice was that of His Eminence, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar the Sultan of Sokoto and President General of Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA). He was the guest lecturer at Harvard University where he delivered ‘The Samuel L. and Elizabeth Jodidi annual Lecture at Weatherhead Center for International Affairs. He was invited by the authorities of that University.

    The theme of the lecture was: “ISLAM AND PEACE BUILDING IN WEST AFRICA”.

    In the preamble to the lecture, His Eminence briefly took a look into the various indices of contemporary religious developments and analyzed the merits and demerits of such developments vis-a-vis human cultural values. He started as follows:

    “Today, more than ever before, we stand on the threshold of great opportunities. Developments in various fields of human endeavor have made it easy to accumulate vast knowledge on peoples and cultures and to communicate this knowledge in ways never imagined before, with the real promise of bringing better understanding between us all. Scientific breakthroughs have also made it possible to achieve human development at an unprecedented scale and to enhance the welfare and wellbeing of each and every one of us…”

    “But these opportunities also come with great dangers – and these dangers have already begun to manifest themselves in ways that leave us with much to worry about. Bigotry and hatred are being elevated to a new pedestal and spread with relish and impunity. Protracted conflicts, threats of war and the rise of extremism and militancy, from all sides of the socio-religious divide, have become the reality of our daily lives in many parts of the world. Regrettably, a significant portion of the world’s population still wallows in abject poverty and neglect, thereby fuelling the vicious cycles of conflict, violence and instability that we are now all too familiar with”.

    Experience

    “As a military officer and diplomatic representative, I have seen the devastation of war, not only in West Africa, but in Afghanistan, Iraq and other parts of the world. I have witnessed the desperate cries of widows and orphans and the exasperation of bewildered families desperately struggling to pick up the shattered pieces of their lives. As the Sultan of Sokoto and President-General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs; as well as the Co-Chair of the Nigerian Inter-Religious Council [NIREC], I have also seen the pain and suffering which ethnic polarization and religious misunderstanding could bring to a nation and its people; how ego and bigotry could conspire to deprive people of their rationality and good judgment and how religious leaders could set aside the teachings of their scriptures to lend a helping hand to these sectarian crises”.

     

    A world of difference

    “But during all these, I have also seen how people of goodwill could make a world of difference; how the right word at the appropriate time could heal an old wound; how a little help to those in distress could rekindle hope in our common humanity and how people of virtue, courage and determination could set aside their fears and misgivings to work together to re-establish and strengthen the bases of mutual co-existence within their diverse communities….It is in the context of these challenges and opportunities that I wish to talk to you on the issues of peace and religious harmony tonight. Since many people have talked and written about Religion and Conflict in our part of the world, it is only appropriate for me to address you on Islam and Peace-Building in West Africa, and particularly in my home country, Nigeria, with the real hope that in our individual and collective efforts, we can contribute our little quota towards the realization of the Jodidi vision of promoting “tolerance, understanding and goodwill among nations and the peace of the world…”

    Dan Fodio for instance

    Alluding to Sokoto Caliphate founded by Shaykh Uthman Dan Fodio in the early 19th century as a cultural and intellectual yardstick for measuring value in a meaningful society, His Eminence said: “The emergence of the Sokoto Caliphate in the early years of the nineteenth century, led by the erudite scholar, Shaykh Uthman Ibn Fodio, brought a drastic transformation of the Islamic scene in West Africa. The Sokoto Caliphate was a political as well as an intellectual revolution. Politically, it initiated an extensive process of state formation which spanned across several states in Western and Central Africa. Intellectually, the Caliphate also succeeded in putting scholars at the helm of public affairs. As true intellectuals, they had to argue their way through almost every major decision they took and had the time and foresight to record their thoughts, ideas and the justification of their actions for posterity. The Sokoto Triumvirate, namely Shaykh Uthman Ibn Fodio, Shaykh Abdullahi Ibn Fodio and Shaykh Muhammad Bello, authored over 300 books and pamphlets. Other Caliphate leaders were also prolific writers. Nana Asma’u alone wrote over 70 poems and tracts.

    Category of values

    But despite these impressive achievements, probably one of the Caliphate’s most enduring legacies had been in the area of values. Classifying value into five categories and justifying each by quoting relevant authorities, His Eminence ascertained as follows:

    The first category of values raised by the Sokoto Caliphate leaders was one associated with knowledge as the basis for effective leadership. Ignorance has no business with leadership and ignorant people should have no business in governance. In the emphatic words of Shaykh Uthman Ibn Fodio:

    “A man without learning is like a country without inhabitants. The finest [qualities] in a leader in particular and in people in general, are the love of learning, the desire to listen to it and holding the bearer of knowledge in great respect….. If a leader is devoid of learning, he follows his whims and leads his subjects astray, like a riding beast with no halter, wandering off the path and perhaps spoiling what it passes over…. [Bayan Wujub al-Hijra]

    “The second category of values which I wish to bring to your attention is the primacy of Justice as the basis of good governance. Shaykh Uthman Ibn Fodio, the leader of the Sokoto Caliphate, had always believed that “seeing to the welfare of the people is more effective than the use of force.” According to Shaykh Uthman, “the crown of the leader is his integrity, his strong-hold is his impartiality and his wealth is [the prosperity] of his people.” Shaykh Uthman Ibn Fodio was equally emphatic on how injustice compromises the integrity of governance and ultimately destroys the state”. He said:

    “One of the swiftest ways of destroying a state is to give preference to one particular group over another or to show favour to one group of people rather than another and draw near those who should be kept away and keep away those who should be drawn near…. Other practices destructive to sovereignty are arrogance and conceit which take away virtues. There are six qualities which cannot be tolerated in a leader: lying, envy, breach of promise, sharpness of temper, miserliness and cowardice. Another is the seclusion of the leader from his people, because when the oppressor is sure that the oppressed person will not have access to the ruler, he becomes more oppressive… A state can endure with unbelief but it cannot endure with injustice.” [Bayan Wujub al-Hijra]

    “The third category of values is that dealing with the fight against corruption especially in the management of public affairs. Shaykh Abdullahi Ibn Fodio puts the Caliphate’s position in clear and unambiguous terms:

    “A ruler is forbidden to touch property acquired unjustly, such as through bribes obtained for appointing a judge or any other officer. The use of such property is unanimously regarded as illegal. It corrupts the Religion and opens the door wide to abuses and oppression of the poor. For the officials may feel that since money was obtained from them as a reward for appointing them to office, they in turn must recover it from the common people….” [Diya’al-Hukkam]

    It is also the view of the Sokoto Caliphate leaders that those charged with authority must strive to shun corrupt practices and lead by example. In the words of Sultan Muhammad Bello:

    “Leaders are like a spring of water and officials are like water-wheels. If the spring is pure, the filth of the water-wheels cannot harm it. If, on the other hand, the spring is polluted, the purity of the water-wheel will have little effect [on the purity of the water].” [Usul al-Siyasa]

    The fourth category of values relates to the dignity of labor and indeed the responsibility of government to provide the enabling environment that would allow people to make a decent living. In the words of Sultan Muhammad Bello:

    “……Guard yourself against poverty by lawful earning, because every poor man is afflicted by three defects: religious weakness, feeble mindedness and loss of honor. Worse than this is the contempt in which he is held by people….There are two assets which, as long as you safeguard them, you will remain alright: Your earnings for your livelihood and your religion for your hereafter…..The recommendable earning is better than supererogatory worship, the benefit of which is confined to the worshipper alone, whereas the benefit of the recommended earnings extend to others.”[Ahkam al-Makasib]

    “The fifth and final category of values… is the uplifting of the status of women, especially through Education. The Sokoto Caliphate leaders, as erudite scholars, lived by the percepts they preached and ensured that their wives and daughters and all others associated with them were educated to the highest standards the society could offer. Many of these women, including Nana Asma’u, became leaders in their own right and played an active role in the political arena. Equally and importantly, Shaykh Uthman Ibn Fodio’s pronouncements, made in the very early part of the nineteenth century, could not be more categorical:

    “One of the great calamities which have afflicted Hausaland is the practice of many of its scholars in abandoning their wives, daughters and servants in a state of ignorance. They are left like animals without any effort to teach them….. This is a grave mistake and a prohibited innovation. They treat them like utensils which they put to use, but when broken, get thrown into the dustbin. What a strange behavior! How could they leave their wives, daughters and servants in the darkness of ignorance and astray, while educating their students morning and evening. This is just for their selfish interest and for show and ostentation….”

    Challenges of insecurity

    The Sultan who had earlier delivered similar lectures in Cambridge and Oxford did not stop there. He went further to trace and analyse the challenges of insecurity as well as causes of violence and terrorism in Nigeria and suggested some solutions to those societal vices. These analyses will be brought up in this column along with the report of Vienna Conference when I arrive in the country next week in sha’a Llah.

    Meanwhile, it is the pleasure of ‘The Message’ to say thank you to the numerous readers of this column who reacted positively or negatively to its seven years anniversary published last Friday. All the comments are well noted and some publishable ones among them will be published soon. God bless you all!

  • Anambra State governorship election

    Last week’s governorship election in Anambra State ended in utter confusion and chaos. According to press reports, voting did not take place in many of the voting centres. Voting materials arrived very late in many of the centres. In many places, voting registers were either not available, or displayed. Where they were available, many of the voters could not find their names in the register and could not vote. There were huge protests by those who were thus disenfranchised. The whole thing was farcical.

    Of the five political parties that presented candidates for the election, four, including the APC and the PDP, have denounced it as highly flawed and fraudulent. They have called for the outright cancellation of the results of the election. The Chairman of INEC, Professor Attahiru Jega, has admitted that the election was badly flawed and that there will have to be fresh election in Anambra State. Specifically, one senior electoral officer has been apprehended and handed over to the Police for suspected complicity in the massive electoral fraud. The whole sordid affair is being investigated by an INEC panel. The security agencies, particularly the police, have been accused of complicity in the massive electoral fraud in the state election. Many voters were allegedly denied access by the police to the voting centres. Some who were thought to be in support of the opposition parties were manhandled and not allowed to vote. This is one more reason why the creation of state police should be considered as necessary. The federal police have become increasingly partisan in support of the ruling party.

    Now, it is really a shame that after 53 years of our independence, we still cannot hold free and fair elections in this country. The result of every election in Nigeria has been hotly disputed with some justification. Elections have been successfully held in other African States with none of the rancour, bitterness and violence that mark our elections here. Only last year, Ghana successfully held its presidential elections, which were adjudged by most foreign observers to have been free and fair. Even in Kenya and Zimbabwe, the presidential elections in those countries were considered by observers to have been free and fair on the whole. There is absolutely no reason, except greed for office, why we in Nigeria cannot hold free and fair elections. In the last few years, the courts have had to over turn electoral results declared by our INEC in several states, on account of blatant fraud and electoral malpractices by INEC officials.

    Free and fair elections are crucial for the success of any democratic society. Where the integrity of elections is subverted, as is the case here, then this is a direct challenge to the stable and democratic society we have been trying to develop since our independence from British colonial rule in 1960. After the long period of military rule, it is time for Nigeria to fully embrace the tenets of democracy, particularly the holding of free and fair elections. A State in which elections are so blatantly rigged cannot claim to be democratic.

    Admittedly, the political stakes involved in elections in Nigeria are very high. Political offices ensure instant access to undreamt of wealth and social preferences. In a poor society, many people are only too willing on financial inducements to sabotage the electoral process. Many are driven to politics, not for public service, but by the attraction of wealth and position. This is no justification for the blatant manner in which our politicians act desperately to subvert the political process by rigging elections. This is why the so-called elected politicians are regarded in the society with disdain and scorn. Electoral rigging and fraud by our politicians alienates the electorate from participating fully in the electoral process, as it lacks any credibility. In most cases, the voters believe that the outcome of elections in Nigeria is predetermined and that there is no point wasting valuable time to exercise their civic duty and right, when they know how they vote is of no avail.

    In 2015, Nigeria will hold its presidential elections. There will also be elections in several other states. These elections will be crucial for Nigeria’s political future. From what transpired in Anambra, we can expect that the elections will be marred by violence and electoral fraud. In many cases, the results might not be conclusive, as in last week’s election in Anambra. We may be without any legitimate government for weeks, if not months.

    If there is a political vacuum, this could prove to be a fatal temptation for the security forces to again claim a greater role for themselves in Nigeria’s politics. Nigerians have never liked military rule. They fought against it for decades until the military were forced to step down by strong and unrelenting public opposition. We prefer civilian democratic rule to military rule. But many are beginning to wonder whether the badly divided political class can hold this country together. There are far too many political uncertainties. Many now fear that, as predicted by the American CIA, 2015 may indeed prove to be Nigeria’s apocalyptic year.

    Whether, or not, Nigeria survives 2015 is in the hands of the politicians. If the 2015 elections are massively rigged, or the outcome is not clear, then there will be a great danger of the country breaking up. The strains of carrying on will, in the circumstances, be too great for the people of Nigeria. They might then come to the regrettable conclusion that Nigeria can no longer be saved as it is. Many who have shown much faith in the unity of Nigeria will then be forced to join those calling for the peaceful break up of the country. This would be a pity. But it would be far better than having to go to war all over again.

  • Mike Okhai Akhigbe

    I had heard rumours that Vice-Admiral Mike Akhigbe was ill, but I didn’t know it was unto death. When I was travelling out of the country on September 30, I saw a young man and his wife and daughter in the British lounge in Lagos and this young fellow looked remarkably like Mike Akhigbe and I am one 100 percent sure that this guy must be his son. I wanted to call him and ask if he was Mike’s son, but on second thought, I didn’t ask, because young people these days are unpredictable. He could have said buzz off! Although not very likely.

    I first met Mike Akhigbe I believe in 1984 when I was Professor and Dean of Arts at the University of Maiduguri. I was a member of a committee set up by the Buhari administration to turn the Ojukwu Bunker and the surrounding buildings in Umuahia into a war museum. My former teacher and friend, the late Prof. Emmanuel Adiele Afigbo was also a member of this committee. We had a seminar in Umuahia on the history of Nigerian military in both pre-colonial and colonial Nigeria. A lot of the bright people in the Army, Navy and Air force either served on the National War Museum Committee or came to attend the conference. This was how I first met Commander Mike Akhigbe. Since then, I grew to know him more and more as a highly cerebral and intelligent man who was more at home with academics than perhaps officers in the Armed Forces. When the Babaginda administration came in, the young Mike Akhigbe was made the Governor of Ondo State. I was outside the country at that particular time in 1985, attending one conference or the other. He left words for me that I should kindly get in touch with him immediately I came back to Nigeria. He wanted me to be involved in his administration, but I was not inclined to do so, because I was afraid of local politics. Because of my sad experience with Nigerian politics in the 1960s arising from my Brother Chief Oduola Osuntokun’s equally unhappy experience, I never wanted to be involved in politics, whether military or civilian. Nevertheless, Mike Akhigbe kept in touch with me and I remember his meeting with Ondo State citizens in Lagos and Ibadan, and asking us to ask Babaginda, the then President to give us our due because at that particular time we did not have any representation in government and yet we were the ones producing the cocoa on which the economy of Nigeria rested before the advent of crude oil.

    I believe it was through the pressure led by Mike Akhigbe that a citizen of our state eventual became Secretary to Government. Mike Akhigbe became not only a champion of Ondo State rights, but also a patron of the state. He was more emotional about the state not getting its due than even those of us who came from the state. I remember him leading us to a meeting with the then Minister of Agriculture, Lt. Gen. Alani Akinrinade, Brig. Oni who is from Ekiti, was in this informal meeting in Gen. Akinrinade’s house somewhere in Ikoyi and one of the things that Mike Akhigbe wanted us to argue with the General was the abolition of the Cocoa Marketing Board. This was a carry-over from the old Western Region when the marketing board was created to stabilise price of cocoa in the local market. The marketing board usually bought cocoa from the farming community and their agents, then sold this in the world market at price usually higher than what was paid locally, and kept the excess. These excess was used to cushion the price of cocoa whenever it went down in the world market so that local farmers were not affected by any sudden deep depression of prices. The result of this process was that farmers never really got what was due to them and sometimes up to 60 percent went to the marketing board. So in order for the farmers to enjoy the fruit of their labour, we wanted the Cocoa Marketing Board abolished. The other side of the coin was that abolition could create instability of prices for the local farmers. Mike’s opinion was that the farmers should hold their destiny in their own hands. To cut a long story short, through the force of character and arguments, Mike Akhigbe led us to prevail on government to abolish the cocoa marketing board and this immediately led to increase in cocoa production because farmers got what they deserved. This was vintage Akhigbe. He was never afraid of anybody and even as a military man, he never followed orders blindly, he always spoke his mind and he surely must have gotten into trouble because of his forthright character. He was a great friend of mine. I never socialised with him, but he related with me as a gentleman and as an officer and as a great friend. When he came to Lagos as Governor, he asked me if I would want to serve in the Governing Council of Lagos State University as a member and he appointed me to that council and I remember that one great thing that council did was the appointment of the late Prof. Jadesola Akande as the second female Vice-Chancellor in the country, second to Prof. Alele Williams in the University of Benin. I believed I played a pivotal role in Prof. Jadesola Akande’s appointment and I am proud of it.

    I continued to maintain contact with Mike Akhigbe when I was Ambassador in Germany and when he rose to the pinnacle of his profession as Chief of Naval Staff. He subsequently became the Number Two man after Abacha died, and I believe he assisted Gen. Abdusalami Abubakar in transiting from Military dictatorship to democratic governance in 1999. Mike Akhigbe was a great man in many respects. Some would regard him as brash and hot-tempered but he received as much as he gave, and whenever he spoke, he spoke the truth. He did not throw his weight around as others would have done. I remember him complaining to me about a colleague who was disrespectful to his wife, who was one of our graduate students in the University of Lagos. If he had wanted, he could have used his position to make my colleague uncomfortable, but he never did, he merely complained to me. He himself at a particular time was a student of the University of Lagos and he studied Law and graduated as a lawyer while his wife graduated with a PhD in Education. This must have given him tremendous joy because I believe that if he had had the opportunity as a child, he himself would have gone into academia rather than the military and I believe he had the temperament, the ability, the grey matter to excel in any field of human endeavour. He would be surely and sorely missed both at home and in the Nigerian society. My heart goes to his wife and children and I pray that they know that anybody who lives in the hearts of others cannot die. So it is with Mike Akhigbe. Adieu.