The Nation Newspaper

Category: Columnists

  • Nigeria: God have mercy

    Nigeria: God have mercy

    That there is crisis of instability in Nigeria is not news. In the south, we are afflicted by the militancy in the Niger Delta which in spite of the so called amnesty and payment of bribes to criminals has continued unabated. Foreign and local oil men are still routinely kidnapped and policemen are regularly killed. In spite of the presence of solders, the creeks of the Niger Delta are still not safe for anybody. The South-eastern states seem to have perfected the practice of kidnapping which they borrowed from the Niger Delta. It has become a cottage industry in many parts of the South-east. It is so bad in the South-east that many of their important leaders are fleeing into Lagos and Abuja where there is relative security.

    Unfortunately for them and for us, these kidnappers have followed them particularly to Lagos and the South-west where they are freely operating and recruiting into their ranks the local hoi poloi. Criminal gangs are now operating in Lagos and as far north as Kaduna in this nefarious kidnapping business. We have written so much about Boko Haram that there is nothing new to write again. One only hopes that there will soon be a turnaround in the case of insecurity in the North. But once again, I must confess that I sincerely believe that the cause of insecurity in the North is the pervasive poverty there. This poverty is accentuated by the rampant corruption of political leaders in Nigeria generally and in the North in particular. The cultural practice where rich people feed poor people exposes the transparent inequality in that part of Nigeria. However with education and enlightenment, poor people are beginning to ask questions as to why their commonwealth is not common. In order to overcome the problem of Boko Haram, the federal government, state governments and the local government up North will have to embark on massive creation of jobs, massive infrastructural provision of water and electricity and massive investment in mechanized agriculture. Without this, the problem will remain intractable. What I have suggested for the North must also be done for the whole country if we are trying to prevent rebellion arising from poverty enveloping the whole country.

    The news that distressed me most in recent times is not about Boko Haram, kidnapping or militancy in the Delta while these are serious problems, the one that wins the victor ludorum is the reported baby factory in Umuaka Njaba council area of Imo State. Even though this crime does not seem new in the area, it has now assumed international dimension because it has gone globally viral. The story is that a lady built a huge compound where she harbours about 26 girls ranging from 14years to 25years of age. She locked them up in her compound and apparently lured a young man of 20years old to sleep with the 26 girls until they became pregnant. There must have been an element of coercion and force on the girls to surrender themselves. When these pregnant girls had babies, they were paid N60,000 for male child and N30,000 naira for female child. While the children were then sold by the Madam to her apparently waiting clients, the cycle of getting pregnant will begin all over again as if she was breeding dogs. The closest thing like this that I have come in contact with in my reading was what used to happen in the 17th century on the Caribbean island of Barbuda where the English will take strong black slave men and strong black slave women to breed and produce what they thought will be strong children particularly male to use as black overseers of plantation slaves. What was regarded as a crime against humanity is happening before our very own eyes in Imo state of Nigeria.

    This story dehumanizes us and reduces our humanity as far as I am concerned and makes us a laughing stock in the international community. It is as bad as when some people kill hunch backs and albinos for money rituals in some parts of Africa. This case should be taken with utmost seriousness and the leaders of the community where it happened should be asked to say something about this abomination before it spreads to other parts of Nigeria. There is evidence of official collusion by Imo state’s Ministry of Women and Child Affairs in this terrible trade.

    It is the same poverty that is the cause of Boko Haram movement that makes young girls victims of kidnapping and induction into baby factories. Obviously the Madam who is in charge of this is not poor because she runs a maternity as well as a pure water making factory in front of the house while the back of the house is the baby factory. This lady should be arrested immediately and an example of her should be made through life sentencing or execution as the case may be. If we do not do this, others will embrace this practice or learn from it in order to build their own baby factory. This should not be left in the hands of police alone. The government of Imo State must say something and do something and the government of other states where this practice may have spread should better watch out. A nation where everything goes, where nothing is too fantastic and unbelievable to happen, is not a good nation. The blood of the innocent has been shed too much on our land and we need to pray to God as a nation to forgive us and we need to cry in unison, God have mercy.

     

  • Boko Haram: Jonathan finally decides

    Boko Haram: Jonathan finally decides

    At long last, President Jonathan has decided to take the bull by the horn. Last week, he declared a state of emergency in Yobe, Adamawa, and Bornu, the three states in north eastern Nigeria in which the insurgents have been most active in recent weeks. The declaration by the President of a state of emergency in those three states was prompted by the vicious and bloody Boko Haram attack on Baga in which over 200 people were reported killed. Fearing a possible backlash from the North President Jonathan had until now been reluctant to accept the advice of his security agencies that a bolder and more decisive military action was now needed. The president had to act swiftly and decisively. He was away in South Africa. He immediately cancelled his planned visit to Namibia and returned home. Finally, the President abandoned all pretences that the insurgents could be prevailed upon to lay down their arms by treating them with kid gloves. It was always clear that more determined and sustained military action against the insurgency was imperative and urgent.

    The fact of the matter is that since it first emerged in 2009 Boko Haram has developed into a sophisticated, better organised; well-armed, and well financed insurgency that poses a grave threat to the security and future of this country. It has both external and internal links and support, and it seeks nothing less than the overthrow of the government and social order in this country. But its support in the country, including the North, is really limited. Whatever goodwill it once had has since been lost by its wanton and bloody attacks on innocent civilians. Nigeria is a multi-religious state that guarantees to its citizens freedom of worship. But the aim of Boko Haram is to Islamise Nigeria by force of arms. This is not acceptable and should be resisted firmly and squarely. It could lead to a religious war and the break up of the country.

    Until now, President Jonathan had been severely criticised for his tepid approach to the violent and dangerous insurgency. His critics say he should have acted promptly long before now by taking stronger military action against the insurgents. That criticism is justified. Now that he has acted by declaring a state of emergency in the Northeast, he deserves the nation’s full support.

    This should not be made a partisan affair. There is a consensus in the nation in favour of stronger military action against the insurgents. The measures taken by the President against the insurgents have the support of the entire country, including Northern leaders all of whom are sick and tired of the Boko Haram carnage in Northern Nigeria. Many of them are targets of the insurgents and now live in fear. As I write this article the Northern Governors are reportedly planning a meeting this week to review the state of emergency declared in the three states in the North. If they seek the return of peace to the region, then they must all support the stronger military measures being introduced by the President. Equally, the National Assembly must pass the necessary enabling bill in support of the declaration of a state of emergency in the three Northern states.

    The state of emergency does not in any legal or constitutional sense affect the position or legitimacy of the governors. Their states have not been taken over by the Federal Government. They remain governors and will continue to perform their functions as governors. State security was never their responsibility but that of the Federal Government. This is a constitutional anomaly that will need to be addressed in future by the creation of state police. The states should have some responsibility for their own security. But for now the Federal Government is fully in charge of security throughout the country. The only real limitation on the governors is the limited curfew imposed on the three states. The governors may not like this, but it is necessary for the restoration of public order and peace in their states. The people of the states need peace to pursue their normal daily activities. The insurgency has crippled economic activities in most parts of the North. It is the responsibility of the Federal Government to ensure that all the citizens of our country enjoy peace and security to pursue their legitimate economic activities.

    There are, of course, internal and external legitimate concerns about the manner in which the security forces carry out their military operations in the three states. Specifically, there is concern that the military operations against the insurgents should comply with the appropriate rules of engagement. This is absolutely necessary if the people of the three states concerned are not to be alienated. The military have to defend themselves. They should be well equipped for this. Far too many of them are being killed by the insurgents. The military must avoid the situation in which military operations to protect the people from the insurgents lead to heavy civilian casualties and their alienation. Even in the state of emergency human rights must continue to be fully respected by the military. The military need to win the hearts and minds of the citizens of the three states. Already, the US and other Western embassies in Nigeria have expressed some concerns about this. The military must not resort to a scorched earth military strategy leading to massive civilian casualties. The military objective is to destroy Boko Haram and not the people, the victims of Boko Haram attacks.

    Despite the dire situation and his stronger military action, President Jonathan must continue to seek peace and an end to the insurgency through dialogue and consultations. Boko Haram has spurned all peace efforts but the Federal Government should not abandon its efforts in this regard. The strategy should continue to be a combination of stick and carrots. Peace will not be achieved overnight. This is going to be a protracted struggle until Boko Haram is finally defeated. The insurgents must and should not prevail. If they do, then that could be the end of Nigeria. Almost certainly, the nation will break up as the other religious and ethnic groups will take up arms to defend themselves.

    Book Haram is the inevitable product of the long period of neglect of the people of the Northern region by their own leaders. It has been spurned by widespread ignorance, poverty, and religious fanaticism. The whole region needs a combination of a political and economic programme that should aim at eliminating past social and economic injustice. Military action alone, though necessary in present circumstances, will not solve the problem of the insurgency. Direct and tangible action should be taken by the Federal Government in concert with the Northern states governors and leaders to tackle the deep seated social and economic grievances more prevalent in the North. Mass education and better job opportunities will reduce whatever attractions Boko Haram may have for the people of the region. The fact of the matter is that the governments at various levels of the country have failed woefully in tackling the mass poverty in our nation. This is breeding ground for malcontents and the source of the increasing violence in the country.

     

  • Winning the terror war

    Winning the terror war

    Since the declaration of a state of emergency in the Northeast states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe last Thursday, a lot of water, as they say, has passed under the bridge. The power equation seems to have changed with the tide turning against the perpetrators of violence. By perpetrators, I mean the Boko Haram elements, who had until the coming of emergency rule turned that part of the country to a killing field.

    The killings have not stopped though, but Boko Haram is no longer having the upper hand. The sect has met its match in the special forces deployed in those states in the wake of emergency rule. Before the declaration of emergency, Boko Haram held sway virtually everywhere in the North, killing, maiming and looting. The sect ran rings round Borno and Yobe states, especially. At the height of its madness, it appeared it was untouchable.

    That was where the sect got it all wrong. Because the government did not want to match force with force then, Boko Haram saw itself as unstoppable and those who could intervene did not help matters with their undue silence. Despite entreaties from the government and many concerned people that they should talk to the sect to let reason prevail, they failed to take up the job. The feeling many had was that they were happy with what Boko Haram was doing.

    This was the political thinking in many quarters, especially in the Southsouth, where President Goodluck Jonathan hails from. It became a we versus them thing. This was the dangerous dimension the Boko Haram insurgency was taken then. The core leadership of the North deigned from lifting a finger to stop the sect, pretending that it didn’t know those behind the group. That was a ruse. The northern leaders, at least, some of them knew the brains behind this deadly group, but for their own safety, they kept a safe distance.

    In choosing self above country, they allowed evil to thrive. Boko Haram is evil, no matter how you look at the matter. The sect never came up to tell the world its grievances it just woke up one day and unleashed terror on the country. Granted that a grave mistake was made in the killing of its leader, Yusuf Muhammed, by security agencies in 2009, but does that make its bombing of churches; invasion of prisons; kidnapping of people and robbing of banks justifiable? Two wrongs, they say, do not make a right. The sect has spoilt a good case by its resort to violence. A man, the law says, cannot be a judge in his own case.

    With what has been happening since the massive deployment of troops in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe, Boko Haram now knows that it has no monopoly of violence. The military has not given the sect a breathing space since it entered those states. It has been making things hot for the group. This emergency may turn out to be a blessing at the end of the day. If not for it, we will still be at the sect’s mercy, but now the group is on the run with its tail between its legs. Between last Wednesday and today, it has lost so many of its members and this is just the beginning of the battle. The war is yet to start.

    I am not gloating over the fate of Boko Haram; no far from it. The sect got itself into this bind and it is also the only one that can free itself from it. The best thing for it to do in the present circumstance is to lay down its arms. It is time for Boko Haram to surrender if it does not wish to continue to suffer a loss. There is no way it can take on the military and win. After over four years of being allowed to do whatever it wanted, the party, I am sorry to say, is over for Boko Haram. Let it lay down its arms now so that the nation can begin the grim task of rebuilding all the states, particularly Borno, which it destroyed in its madness.

     

    The rice cartel

    Despite all efforts to curb it, rice smuggling is still thriving. It is thriving because those in the business have devised ways of passing through our porous land borders. And then, they enjoy the support and cooperation of the border guards, that is the Customs and Immigration. Let’s face it, if these paramilitary agencies are up and doing, rice smugglers would have been run out of business by now.

    But because they benefit from this illicit trade, they have shut their eyes to what the smugglers are doing. Unfortunately, the country is at the receiving end. We are losing a lot of revenue, which could have helped in the growth of our gross domestic product (GDP), to rice smuggling. Today, the country, according to reports, is losing about N9.7billion monthly to this illegal business. The amount is the cost of 80,000 metric tonnes (MTS) or 1.6 million bags of rice smuggled into the country. This means that in a year, the country loses N116.4billion just on rice smuggled into the country through Benin Republic.

    The smugglers make use of different routes to bring in the commodity. In the North, they are said to come in from Niger and Cameroon through the Maradi and Zinder borders. In the Southwest, they come in through Seme, Ajilete and Shaki from the Benin axis. These routes are also used to smuggle cars. The ban on rice has been rendered meaningless by this thriving illegal trade. How can the government achieve its plan for the country to be self-sufficient in rice production by 2015 when its efforts are being thwarted by these heartless smugglers?

    These smugglers do not have the love of their country at heart. If they do, they will not engage in activities that will rob the country of revenue that can boost the GDP. They have by their actions turned themselves to economic saboteurs and they should be so treated when caught. No country folds its arms and watches when unscrupulous people come together under the guise of doing business to rob it of revenue. If we really mean to diversify our mono-economy so that we will no longer rely only on oil as a major revenue earner everything must be done to stop these smugglers before they destroy the economy.

    If they are genuine businessmen, they will not evade the payment of the 110 percent duty on the commodity. A few weeks ago, a vessel carrying 22,750 MTS of rice was said to have moved to Cotonou, Benin Republic, to offload in order to evade the payment of N2.6billion duty on the commodity. Why did the importer do that when Beninois do not consume long grain parboiled rice as we do in Nigeria? He did it to evade payment of the N2.6billion duty since he knew he could use a fraction of the sum to bribe Customs and Immigration and also pay some smugglers to get the commodity in through the borders.

    If things continue like this, Nigeria will continue to be the loser, while smugglers will be smiling to the bank. Government should move fast to stop this illicit trade before much damage is done to the economy.

     

    Let the Rhodes-Vivours go

    Mother and daughter were kidnapped on May 10 and since then, nothing has been heard about them. Nobody knows where they are being held by their abductors, who are said to have demanded a N200million or N300million ransom. I am talking about Mrs Adedoyin Rhodes-Vivour and her daughter who were kidnapped on their way to Benin, Edo State 13 days ago. They are the wife and daughter of Supreme Court Justice Bode Rhodes-Vivour. The police are on the trail of the kidnappers, who are believed to be somewhere in the thick forest between Ondo and Ekitii states. The Rhodes-Vivour family has been through a lot in the hands of kidnappers. Justice Rhodes-Vivour’s son Rotimi was said to have been kidnapped last September and was released after the payment of a ransom believed to run into millions of naira. What has the family done to be haunted by kidnappers? What do they want from this family? My appeal to the kidnappers is to let mother and child go today. Why hold the poor women hostage for this long? Let them go.

     

     

  • Issues in emergency rule in Adamawa

    I read a news story in Thisday of Thursday, May 16 credited to Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, the national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as saying that the state of emergency imposed on Adamawa State is justified. Giving reasons for the justification, Tukur posited that as a border state to Borno, there is need to create a buffer zone so as not to allow insurgents operate in Adamawa. He further claimed that border areas in Adamawa share the same ethnic and religious affinity with Borno State, hence the need for the emergency rule in the state.

    With all due respect, I disagree with the justification given by the PDP chairman. I consider the reasons given as factually false and operationally illogical. In the first place, the four local government areas of Adamawa bordering Borno State are Madagali, Michika, Shelleng and Gombi. Apart from Shelleng, all the other three LGAs, and especially the communities on the borders, are predominantly Christian, or at least non-Muslims. It is therefore false to claim they share religious affinity with the Islamic insurgents.

    Furthermore, states of Gombe, Bauchi, Kano and Plateau also share borders with Borno and Yobe, and have much closer religious affinity with the Islamic insurgents than Adamawa. Besides, there are more violent attacks and killings in these states than in Adamawa. It would have been more logical to create this so-called buffer zone in these states than in Adamawa, or at worse alongside Adamawa. But to leave such states and clamp down on Adamawa does not, in my opinion, make any sense whatsoever.

    As far as I am concerned, there is absolutely no justification for considering Adamawa as deserving of emergency rule and the other states do not. While the reasoning is incongruous to the reality on ground, the action is out of all proportions to the violence or threat of violence in the state. It only gives the impression that it is political rather than strategic considerations that informed the decision to include Adamawa among the states for emergency rule. This has the tendency to politicize the exercise and ultimately defeat its essence. This must be discouraged at all costs, if the objective is to succeed.

    In addition, one necessarily does not have to be a lawyer or a judge to see that the act conflicts with the principle of necessity and proportionality under Subsection 33(2) of the Terrorism (Prevention) Act, 2011. Worse of all, the imposition of curfew from 6pm to 6am on the entire state by the military authorities is also in conflict with the principle of reasonability as enshrined in Subsection 41(2) of the 1999 Constitution.

    At this juncture, it is important to state other reasons why I oppose emergency rule in Adamawa. We are all living witnesses to cries and accusations of extra-judicial interrogations, detentions, tortures and killings of innocent persons by the operators of emergency rule since the eruption of insurgencies in the North in 2009. We have also witnessed the morbid disruption of normal economic, social, political and religious activities in states affected. No person would wish such for their states. While we all crave for insurgencies and terror acts to be nipped in the bud, we cannot accept the violation of people’s rights or innocent persons losing their lives on account of anti-terrorism measures employed by the authorities – because we know that terrorism can be obliterated without necessarily getting society suffer all the negative effects outlined.

    A counter terrorism measure that limits or derogates from human rights, like the right to freedom of movement can only be reasonably justified in a democratic society if and only if it can be shown that the limitation or derogation do not deprive or threaten to deprive citizens of their economic, social, religious or political rights, and more so if such deprivation or threat to it can create conditions conducive for the spread of terrorism. In other words, the operators of emergency rule are duty bound to apply the principle of necessity and proportionality in their measures to proffer solution to terrorism. That is why I oppose the imposition of curfew on Adamawa from 6pm – 6am by the military authorities in the state. The order is clearly insensitive to the religious rituals of our people. Such restriction of movements as contained in the order will blight citizens’ rights to worship. For the Muslims, they cannot perform three of their obligatory [Magrib (sun set), Ishah (night) and Subha (morning)] prayers. I believe it will also hamper on some Christian denominations and faithful who undertake late evening and early morning congregations. This curfew period, therefore, certainly would be unacceptable to such believers, most especially the Muslims, and can generate cause for friction with authorities rather than the desired cooperation. To this end, I call on the military authorities in Adamawa to reconsider the curfew period while the state of emergency lasts, suggesting instead a period from 8pm – 5am. This would allow all reasonable congregational prayers over; and will help engender people’s cooperation and avert conflict with emergency rule operators.

    We all acknowledge that the adverse effect of terrorism in our society is direct and substantial, i.e. it endangers the rights to human life, to personal dignity, to liberty, to freedom of movement, conscience and worship, to pursuit of wealth and happiness, etc. However, it is not contemplated and acceptable that measures taken to counter terrorism should have adverse impact, in the same way terrorism has, on the lives of citizens, or activities of society. If that happens, then it becomes a double jeopardy to the people. The primary duty of government to rid the society of terrorists and terrorism is not more sacrosanct than its duty of protecting the lives and property of innocent citizens, and maintain peace and harmony in the society. In carrying out this responsibility, the federal government must not only be able, but also must be seen to be able, to effectively balance the two elements.

    Finally, to attain this balance, all actions must be taken to ensure that Nigeria complies with Resolution 60/288 of the United Nations Global Counter-terrorism Strategy in which member-states are required as a matter of necessity to take measures aimed at addressing conditions conducive to the spread of terrorism. Such measures, according to the resolution, include the entrenchment of rule of law in public matters, preventing and punishing of violation of human rights, enhancing the welfare of citizens, reduction of poverty in the society and ensuring that all measures employed to counter terrorism comply with obligations of International Human Rights Law, International Humanitarian Law and International Refugee Law.

    •Dr. Ardo a PDP stakeholder, writes from Adamawa State

     

  • Constitutional amendments; a bad workman

    Constitutional amendments; a bad workman

    A bad workman, the English say, quarrels with his tools. Few people demonstrate the accuracy of this aphorism as Nigerians – certainly the politicians among them – do in their attempt, once again, to review the Constitution of their country as it clocks its 52nd year of its Independence from British colonial rule on October 1, 1960.

    First, it took them all less than six years to throw away the parliamentary constitution they had inherited from their colonial master and, in effect, adopt a unitary constitution.

    Not that ordinary Nigerians really had much choice in the matter when the soldiers overthrew the country’s unpopular civilian rulers on January 15, 1966. That first coup has since been blamed much for being the trigger of the country’s sharp decline since Independence. But this is only being wise after the fact; back then most Nigerians believed the coup was good riddance to bad rubbish.

    Naturally, when Major-General J. T. Aguiyi-Ironsi took over power as our first military ruler he and his colleagues abolished the Independence Constitution. Then in February he set up a Constitutional Study Group under Chief F.R.A. Williams, aka “Timi the Law”, to work out a new constitution. However, even before the group could settle down to work, the new head of state enacted Decree 34, the unification decree which abolished the then four regions – North, West, East and Mid-West – and replaced them with the provinces in those regions as the units of administration.

    That, as is well known, proved his nemesis; in July there was a bloody counter-coup in which the top casualty was the general himself, and following which the new kids on the block quickly abolished the decree. This was in September, barely two months after they came to power.

    The counter-coup, in turn, led eventually to a three-year civil war which ended in 1970. By then General Yakubu Gowon who had taken over from Ironsi as military, ruler, had been in power for over four years. When the war ended he promised a return to civilian rule in four years i.e. by 1974. However, as the deadline approached the man changed his mind and it became apparent that he had allowed himself to be persuaded by those around him that, like several of his counterparts elsewhere, notably Egypt, he should swap his khaki for mufti and remain in power.

    This, again as we all know, proved his undoing; he was overthrown in 1975 but unlike his hapless predecessor, he did not pay the ultimate price, reason being he was out of the country at the time of the coup.

    Apparently the new set of military rulers learnt the lessons of the demise of their predecessors, which was that in the long run no good ever came out of wanting to cling on to power; they promised to return the country to civilian rule in three years and set about their commitment with a vigour unknown in most military dictatorships, certainly those in Africa.

    Such was their commitment that even when some misguided elements in the army killed the head of state, General Murtala Mohammed, on February 13, 1976 in a failed attempt to overthrow his government, the new military rulers stuck to their transition programme to hand over to the civilians on October 1, 1979.

    The lot of implementing the programme fell on General Olusegun Obasanjo, General Muhammed’s deputy. Top of the programme was the provision of a constitution for the country. Before his assassination, General Muhammed had inaugurated a Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC) under – who else? – “Timi the Law.”

    Suspicions that there were strings attached to the CDC’s brief soon provoked a huge controversy. The suspicions were first aired by Malam Aminu Kano, the late radical politician who led the opposition to the ruling party in the North. During one of the conferences organised around the country to generate input for the CDC – this one was on the Congo Campus of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, in March 1977 – Malam Aminu claimed there was not only a “soft-subterranean influence” by the army to jettison the parliamentary democracy of the First Republic and replace it with American type of presidential democracy. He also said he had reason to believe the CDC had succumbed to the military’s influence.

    This columnist had the privilege of reporting the story for the New Nigerian as a junior reporter.

    That claim got Chief Williams’ dander up. Unless the radical malam withdrew his claim, the chief threatened in effect, he would sue him for slander. This threat got my bosses understandably worried, given the chief’s huge reputation of hardly ever losing his cases. So worried were my bosses they sent me to Kano to seek clarification on the issue from the malam.

    I did and he stuck to his gun. “I must,” he said in a short written statement he gave me, “say that I have grown old enough in the politics of Nigeria and generally of Africa to avoid equivocation or sycophancy and to know the difference between political consistency which is hard to maintain and political acrobatism, simple to operate. The first I will continue to do, but the second I condemn and reject until death, suffering and ostracisation notwithstanding.”

    The New Nigerian led with the story in its edition of April 4, 1977 under the headline, “Aminu Kano Unrepentant – stands by his words.” As far as I know, Chief Williams never sued the malam until his death.

    More significantly when the CDC submitted its report to the authorities it opted for the American type presidential democracy as if in vindication of malam’s claims. As we all know this was adopted by the Constituent Assembly (CA) of 1978 that eventually wrote the 1979 Constitution that ushered in the Second Republic and a document which has remained the country’s constitutional framework, give or take not a few amendments by the various military regimes that have ruled this country up to 1999.

    And so it was that the first opportunity Nigerians had of drafting their own constitution without supervision by any colonial master, they chose to throw away the one they had inherited, lock, stock and barrel.

    It has since become conventional wisdom to say the military imposed the presidential system on the country. The truth is much more complex than that. True, the Obasanjo regime that midwifed the constitution not only held a veto over it. It exercised the veto by inserting a few important clauses in it and deleting a few, without subjecting the document to a referendum or to even reconsideration by its CA.

    However, the fact was that the mostly elected 1978 CA agreed with the military in their choice of the presidential system over the parliamentary. It was also a fact that there was a popular support for the system. So it is simply historical revisionism to blame the soldiers alone for the country’s jettisoning of parliamentary democracy after the country had used it for less than six years.

    In truth the greater blame for this “imposition” should go to our politicians who, it seems, have a penchant for quarrelling with their tools. This much should be obvious from the fact that most, if not all, of them blame our Constitution more – much more – than their own behaviour for the problems of this country.

    According to Punch (September 29), there are at the moment 264 proposals before our National Assembly for amendments in our Constitution which is barely 12 years old. Among these, the newspaper said, are 61 demands for the creation of states before the Senate and 27 for same before the House of Representatives, making a total of 88.

    Neither the parliamentary constitution of the First Republic, nor the presidential one we have since replaced it with are perfect, being documents written by imperfect human beings.

    It is also true that it makes no difference what type of tool a country chooses to solve its problems with. In the end, however, what is more important than the right choice is how a tool is used. Only a bad workman, which your typical Nigerian politician is, will contemplate amending a constitution he has used for barely 12 years in no less than 264 places.

    Worse, only such a bad workman would demand for the creation of 88 more states in a country where we all agree, the existing 36 have proved too unwieldy and too costly.

     

  • The colour of desperation

    For quite some time, the particular ethnic group in Nasarawa State, north-west of Nigeria – the Eggon – which lays claim to be the majority tribe in the state, has been clamouring for political leadership of the state. Perhaps, to actualize its desire, the leadership now came up with a novel idea of initiating any person that comes from the ethnic stock to come together to make sure that come 2015 elections, no Eggon person would vote any candidate from any other ethnic group besides theirs. It was this that led to the birth of the group which goes by the name Ombatse, meaning “the time has come” or “it is time”.

    Although the mission of the Ombatse group is to recruit the Eggon, who are from the Nasarawa Eggon Local Government Area of Nasarawa State, the search for farmlands has made most of them to spread to other local government areas of the state. The group is headed by a traditionalist called Baba Alakyo, a stark illiterate, who is known to have been selling traditional medicine in Lafia and its environs in the past. Ombatse, a socio-cultural organization, assumed notoriety after the 2011 general elections, which brought in Umaru Tanko Al-Makura, candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) who is from the Gwandara ethnic group, as the governor of the state.

    Alakyo is said to concentrate on recruiting mainly youths into the fold. He gives them native charms and/or amulets “that would ward off bullets” under the guise that it is the culture of the people. Initially, the government did not bother about this particular tradition, but majority of the people of the state cried out, appealing to government to stop the activities of this group, which they felt was becoming a threat to the security of the state. Now put under intense pressure, the governor met several times with the leadership of this ethnic group such as Senator Solomon Ewuga and Hon. Haruna Dauda Kigbu, a member of the House of Representatives, among other stakeholders. This group, at any point in time, claims that its activities are to bring unity of purpose to the ethnic group.

    Things took a dramatic turn, recently, precisely between March 31, and April 7, , when the group started going to churches and mosques, disrupting their services and forcing worshippers to drink herbs and take an oath to the effect that come 2015 election, they will only vote for an Eggon ethnic group candidate that contests on any party platform. This drew the attention of the state government which ordered the security agencies to nip the activities of the Ombatse who had gradually started bearing sophisticated weapons in the bud.

    This rather came pretty too late as it turned out to be a bloody outing for the security agents. It is said that 115 policemen, including operatives from the Department of State Security Service, SSS, were involved in the Alakyo operation, out of which, 75 policemen and 10 SSS officials were massacred. Two were seriously wounded and are currently receiving treatment in Lafia while 30 returned unharmed or with minor injuries. In addition, out of 12 vehicles used in the operation, eight were burnt while only four managed to return to base.

    The latest killings in Alakyo have some precedence. In 2007, there was a clash between the Alagos and Eggons in Assakio. Not long after this, the same group also attacked Agyaragu town inhabited by the Koro (Migili) ethnic group, killing so many people and burning down all structures belonging to the elites of this ethnic group, including the palace of their paramount ruler, a second class chief. This same group also engaged the Fulanis, killing most of them and their cattle – the reprisal attacks from the Fulanis are now history.

    They also attacked Kwandare, the hometown of the governor, killing and razing houses. Other places affected by the activities of Ombatse group are Rutu, Burum-burum in Doma Local Government, where the village head lost his life in the process, and Kokona Local Government. From April 30, 2012 to May 1, 2012, this group invaded Assakio, a town established by the Alago ethnic group which is part of Lafia Local Government. During that invasion, more than 40 people were reported to have lost their lives, while properties, both residential and business interests, worth millions of naira, went up in flames.

    However, the recent wholesale massacre of security agents sent to restore peace in the troubled area hit the nation like a thunderbolt, because of the high number of casualties involved. It is widely believed that the security agents must have committed some operational errors to warrant such a heavy death toll. Insiders or moles within the police who passed all the information from planning to execution to this group might have caused the failure of the operation. These insiders may belong to this Eggon ethnic group or its sympathisers. Two of them, Enugu Audu, a corporal, and Joseph Haruna, an inspector, have been fingered and are among those currently helping the security agents in their investigation of the dastardly act.

    In Nasarawa State, there are 25 different groups. The major ones are Migili (Koro), Alago, Gwandara, Kanuri, Hausa Fulani, Mada, Gwari, Rindre, Afo, Eggon and Ebira. The Eggons are largely farmers with a lot of educated people cutting across all educational disciplines. They migrated to Nasarawa State in 1951 while the Alagos, Mada, Gwandara, Koro and others migrated from Kwararafa and settled where they are now in 1232 AD. They practice Islam and Christianity. Only a very negligible and inconsequential proportion practice the traditional religion.

    The Afo, where Abdullahi Adamu, the first civilian governor of the state hails from, ruled the state from 1999-2007. The Alago took over with Aliyu Akwe Doma as governor from 2007 to 2011. Al-Makura, the incumbent, who is from Gwandara ethnic group, took over from Doma in 2007. The governor might have tolerated the Ombatse group for such a long time purely on political grounds because they played an important role in the 2011 election. But since their activities had become a threat to the security of the state, he had no other option than to move against them.

    Since 1999, Ewuga has been the arrowhead of the clamour for the leadership of the state. However, he could not succeed despite the fact that he moved from Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP in 2003. Although prominent leaders of the community may not readily agree with this, the Eggon people listen to and obey all directives by Ewuga. In 2007, he single-handedly made Patricia Akwushiki a senator representing Nasarawa North Senatorial District, where he hails from. And when he contested against Akwushiki in 2011, on the ticket of the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, after their relationship turned sour, he defeated her hands down with a very wide margin.

    It is noteworthy to know that Ewuga, Maku, Alhaji Halilu Envulanza, the Secretary of the National Judicial Council, NJC – all Eggons – are in the forefront of those contesting the governorship election in the state in 2015. So also is Dauda Haruna Kigbu, a member of the House of Representatives, who will also want to retain his seat in the House in 2015.

    The latest killings may boomerang on the fate, future and fortune of the Eggon ethnic group in the coming 2015 general elections as all the other tribes in the state may shun any party that fielded an Eggon ethnic group as its candidate. If this happens, it will be a direct fall-out of the desperation exhibited by the Eggons through forceful initiation and oath-taking by the Ombatse group which has now culminated in the large-scale massacre of security agents and other people. With this, Ombatse or no Ombatse, the politics in Nasarawa State may go along the old, past pattern without the Eggon taking the leadership of the state for a very long time to come. And the relative peace hitherto enjoyed by the state may have now been truncated.

     

  • The new Mad Cow Disease- ‘Blood Cow Meat’; ‘Operation Save Our Farmers’

    It is so difficult to write about our failed governance, power supply, education system, intra and intercity roads when just around the corner the ravage of war tear populations apart where there is no war declared – only ‘emergency’. In medicine, in every other country, except in Nigeria, an ‘emergency’ is a very urgent matter. In the military ‘an emergency’ is a task that must be done with necessary force. After all, the various enemies are equipped with modern weapons of war courtesy of Nigeria’s gunrunners from the uncivil civil war, to the more current Libyans, Chadian jihadists, and Maghreb rebels among others. The weaponry is frightening.

    When two guns fire at each other we hear of superior power, ambush, outflanking, fleeing, bullet wounds, blood and death. The dead and the dying lie distorted in or near their graves. We trivialise death even of our neighbours because we are not directly killed or left with a bleeding machete or gunshot wound. Witness a fatal road crash. The main offenders, the commercial vehicles, slow down, pray for themselves, not for the victims and race away at murderous speed above the speed of sound and legal limit, all lessons of the recent dead lost on them. How many fewer lessons will be learnt at a bomb blast scene with body parts and blood and wreckage strewn for hundreds of yards? Compound this with the serial killing of farmers to force them off their land in indigene/settler disputes. Add to that the serial killing of other farmers just to allow passing cows to devour their hard labour produce on the way to the dining tables of millions of carnivorous families, many of whom claim they will ‘die’ if they do not eat meat every day.

    But why is that luxury a lethal luxury? Why should fellow Nigerians think that it is their right to kill other fellow Nigerians just to fatten cows of the North-South cattle run? Surely a cow or a herd is severely overpriced if it costs a single human life? How can any sane citizen feed himself, his wife and his children with cow meat that he can see from his daily newspaper costs the life or lives of hundreds of farmers and destruction of the family farm and other property and livelihood every year? If that is not a new form of ‘Mad Cow Disease’ then what is?

    In the entire world there is nowhere where such human sacrifice is an acceptable price for an animal’s safe passage to the dining table. It is cannibalism through the backdoor.

    We are going to have to call a halt to this mayhem with fasting and praying to reverse this Mad Cow Disease. Nigerians need to begin to ask questions about the origin of their cow meat. Was the trail safe and free of bloodshed? Are these cows ‘ethically’ or ‘fatally’ fattened? We should encourage pre fattening at point of origin and mass transit methods like trailer transport and the train as alternatives to the rampant cycle of murder and retaliation on the farmland/cow tracks borders. Anyone seeking permanent solutions should read Wale Okediran’s Tenants of the House which elegantly tackles this recurrent nightmare. Nigerians should fast from cow meat for one month in the first instance until both cattle tenders and farmers come to their senses. If we stop buying this blood meat, like blood diamonds, the trade will be forced to sanitise itself. Your and my personal greed to have cow meat on our tables must be suppressed in the over-riding national interest to curb this ugly food violence now being capitalised on by ethnic, religious, political and other divisive agenda-seeking groups. How can a cow in your pot be adequate compensation for a farmer, his wife and children being buried beside his yam heaps? Such a prayerful fast is not a boycott, but a responsible act of self-denial in response to a strange paradox –the cow being more valued than the fellow Nigerian!

    What country values its cows heading for slaughter more than the backbone of the nation, its farmers? For those who cannot fast from meat, there is always a substitute for cow meat-goat, chicken, fish, sheep, turkey and I am told lizard! All these conflicts are the ingredients put together to make the stew that is Nigeria. For how long will Nigerians extract and pay such a high price, life and death, to eat meat at the table of luxury? We may run out of farmers before we run out of cattle. At the end of the day, and the quicker the better, the Nigerian nation must decide who is more valuable –the farmer and his crops ready for harvest or the cowherd and his cow ready for slaughter -whose slaughter? They may even be socially and politically equal but my medical background tells me Nigeria can survive without cow protein but not without fruit and vegetables, rice, cassava and yam. There are substitutes for cow meat but not for a farmer’s produce? None! Farmers already are facing sufficient challenges and too many have left the job further reducing national land productivity. Should more be killed by herdsmen? We need an emergency ‘Operation Save Our Farmers From Decimation’! Let us fast from cow meat till a truce. If the cows do not die, the farmers will not either. It is new economics ‘Cow-Conomics’

     

  • Last throw of the dice

    Last throw of the dice

    No fewer than 2000 Nigerians have reportedly fled to Niger Republic from Borno State as the effect of the state of emergency and concomitant military action declared on the state and two others in the north east last week by President Goodluck Jonathan begins to bite.

    And as the people head to destination unknown in desperation, one can only hope that their flight from home would not be permanent and that the president would return peace to the troubled region very soon.

    Restoring peace and security to Borno, Adamawa, Yobe states in particular and the rest of northern Nigeria under threat of annihilation from the rest of the country by Boko Haram insurgents would be the greatest single challenge and achievement of the Jonathan presidency and could determine whether he gets another term in office in 2015.

    The fact that the man has decided to use the sledge hammer now shows how desperate he is to get the Boko Haram problem behind him and face the other dangers facing his bid to retain power post 2015 presidential election.

    Jonathan probably reckons he needs to quell the insurgency first before he could ask us for our votes again but he may have left his action too late as it is doubtful whether the latest of his military actions against the terrorists would not just end the problem but also endear him to Nigerians, especially our compatriots in the north.

    To win this war he needs time and that he doesn’t seem to have as presidential election is due in about twenty months from now. Before polling day the party primaries and other pre-election party activities to choose the presidential candidate would have taken place much earlier, say late next year or early 2015.

    To be in a good position to get his party’s ticket and win our votes at the polls, he would need to have run Boko Haram out of town by not later than this time next year and begin a physical and political building process in the affected region to restore faith and confidence in himself and his administration.

    But can he “finish” off Boko Haram in one year?

    According to the military high command, the ongoing military onslaught against the terrorists is beginning to yield positive results. But it is early days yet and nobody should be carried away by the initial success of the “shock and awe” tactics employed by the military. This is expected more so as helicopter gun-ships and fighter jets were being deployed for the first time against the terrorists. But we have all seen this type of tactics employed elsewhere and victory declared only for the Commander-In-Chief to eat his words. Recall that former US president George W. Bush went on a US Navy ship in the Mediterranean to declare victory prematurely in the second Iraqi war for domestic political gains, only for the Iraqi insurgents backed by Al Qaeda to storm back forcefully in a series of hit and run attacks that left the Americans and their allies gasping for breath.

    The way President Jonathan spoke and his body language during his national broadcast announcing the state of emergency showed a man desperate to win the war on terror and combat insecurity and not a man convinced and determined to do so. And in his desperation he could do a number of things including genocide and other crimes against humanity just to be seen to be tough and on top of the situation and convince his doubters (who are in their millions) that he deserves another term in office.

    This is where the danger lies. I can’t see this war ending in six months or one year, but the longer it persists the worse it would get for President Jonathan’s second term ambition. So the man would want to end it quickly, and in doing so, his military could be given the power to even commit murder within the amorphous power conferred by the provision of the state of emergency.

    We have seen how brutish our soldiers could be even when operating under normal times as in the Odi town massacre and Zaki Biam destructions and killings. We have seen a taste of it in Baga under Jonathan’s watch; even in Jos. As his desperation grows, more of such could happen, but it would be counter productive both for the nation and the president’s political agenda/ambition.

    To inflict a collective punishment on the people in Boko Haram infested areas could only end the war but not bring peace as the innocents that suffered could end up being alienated from the government and holding grudge against the Nigerian state and her institutions like the police and other security agencies. Remember injustice was at the core of Boko Haram’s grievances, albeit misplaced, against the Nigerian state.

    There is therefore, the need for the rule of engagement to be clearly spelt out for our military in this war against terror and all those involved should be told in clear terms that any breach will be punished with the full application of the law. Both the commanders and the troops should know this. And just as well, the terrorists should also know that they would account for their actions not just to God but also to Nigeria and the international community.

    The tendency is also there for Jonathan, the politician, to want to beat his chest too early to claim victory in this war; this is not just dangerous and could amount to merely postponing the evil day, but could also give a false sense of security and lure the people into complacency and into harm’s way of Boko Haram. Iraq is there as an example, even after the Americans have exited peace is still elusive.

    So, the military must be thorough and professional and remain as long as it takes to restore peace to the north east and other troubled spots in the north and should not succumb to any political pressure to declare victory prematurely.

    But it would be foolish to think this war on terror on its own would bring peace and guarantee security not just in the troubled areas alone but all over the country without a political programme. Jonathan must pursue a political solution side by side with this war and in doing this must carry along the political class, the elites, elders, opinion leaders, and religious leaders in particular and the youth. Every segment of society, every good hand must be brought on board to achieve peace and security in that region.

    Some have argued that the declaration of state of emergency is half-hearted because the democratic structures are still in place in those states and could be a hindrance to the effectiveness of the emergency rule. This is neither here nor there. But suffice to say that if everybody is sincere, we can all work together to restore peace to our land and the president must take the lead, sincerely. But I have my doubt whether he can stay above politics and do the right thing in the interest of our unity and security. But he was no other choice. This is his last chance; his last throw of the dice. So to speak. If he fails, his 2015 project would go with it.

     

  • What’s in emergency?

    What’s in emergency?

    Before the proclamation of state of emergency in the three states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa by President Goodluck Jonathan Tuesday May 14, the insurgents may have imagined that by scaling up their terror machine, the typically weak-kneed Jonathan administration would literally be on its knees begging them to come to table for discussions. Going by developments in the past week, they may have tragically misfired. Not only does it seem unlikely that things would go their way in the near term, even more unlikely is the prospect of gaining an upper hand – ever.

    Recently on this page – that is, shortly after the so-called Baga massacre of April 16, I had predicted an escalation of the crisis. My simple reason was that the insurgents would most certainly misread the outrage over what was generally perceived to be the military Joint Task Force’s excessive use of force to upscale their offensive. Of course, with the military left to rue the aftermath of the unfortunate situation, the opportunity to cash upon the condemnations provoked by that military action would seem too good a chance to miss – by the insurgents and their sympathisers – to further pin the JTF’s back to the wall. Don’t forget that the amnesty committee had also started work on the purpose-made amnesty for the mass murderers days before; for the group, the strategy became one of coming to table only on terms that they find agreeable.

    That was the premise of my prognosis of possible heightened hostilities. Well, it turned out a bull’s eye four weeks later. On May 7, the insurgents staged another high profile assault in Bama that left 55 people, mostly soldiers and policemen dead. Since then, it has been regular tales of unrelenting skirmishes.

    I have followed the various shades of the argument either to justify or declaim the emergency. I can only say that we would not be the complex people that we are said to be without the typical hair-splitting debates over nothing of substance really. So what – that the federal government is finally standing up to its duty of routing the band of savages?

    And the arguments? Some say that the emergency is unwarranted. They cite the fact that the affected states are already heavily militarised which makes the proclamation superfluous. Should that be a problem?

    Others on the other side of the continuum insist that the emergency did not go far enough, that the democratic structures should not have been left intact. So, how about drawing an iron curtain around the three states for effect?

    Admittedly, those in the category of the former are a negligible minority; however, that alone does not necessarily make them wrong. What makes their prescriptions far off the mark is the understatement of the nature of the problem, a lack of appreciation of how far deep the roots of the insurgency lies buried in the communities North-east, and, if I may add, the denial that any prospects of resolving the security challenges stands a no-hoper without a strong, deterrent force firmly on the ground.

    As for the latter group, I do not think that anyone should be in doubt about what an emergency is supposed to achieve. The main idea is to restore normalcy to the states affected by the insurgency. Aside the requirement of the need to restore law and order, hence the authority of the government, nothing in the 1999 Constitution (as amended) even remotely suggest the supplanting of the democratic order by any other arrangement. In any case, removing the elected functionaries in the circumstance would have pronounced them complicit in the crisis – and this unfortunately so in a situation where they have no control of the police and other security agencies all of which are under the direction of the federal government.

    Now, just by the carnage unleashed by the terrorists in Borno and Yobe in the last few months, Tuesday’s action by the President would appear several months late in coming. The exception would be the inclusion of Adamawa – a relatively peaceful state among the states under emergency rule. Even then, the government has since clarified that the latter’s proximity to Cameroon and the need for the military to have a wide area of coverage justified its inclusion.

    The issue of course is that the nation is at war. Those preferring to live in denial are free to choose whatever to believe. What cannot be denied is that the war is being fought on land and in the skies; and we are told that both sides have the most lethal arsenal available for modern warfare. As for the prospects of a negotiated peace, this will certainly come – but only after a decisive tilt in the scale of battle.

    Now, my sympathy goes to those dreamy-eyed Nigerians who still nurse the dream that the nation would at some point be able to tap into the inherent goodness of mass murderers. Or that the Boko Haram would one day be amenable to reason without unleashing the awesome power of the federal government as we have seen in the past week. Unlike them, I suffer no blind faith that the terrorists who freely lob bombs into places of worship, those deranged fellows who have been unrestrained in the use of weapons of mass destruction, would overnight become purveyors of peace. I have argued elsewhere, it won’t happen. It has to be made to happen.

    To me, the whole point about the emergency is to make the cost of the insurgency so unbearable to the elements of the Boko Haram as to make the option of peace desirable. Now, with the JTF boots firmly on the ground, the citizens of the communities – yes, the innocent victims – have one good chance to demonstrate good faith: to assist the JTF to rid their territory of the brigands. It seems to me the only way to shorten their own pains too. That is what citizenship demands. Any other suggestion is bunkum.

     

     Feedback

     

    Re; Madam Rufai’s other children

    Dear Mr Oni, do you know that there is a department of Business Administration in each of our tertiary educational institutions? What businesses are these army of graduates to administer? Short-term: enhance artisanship and convert the hordes of educated unemployed to artisans. If you have reliable SUREP links, there are credible trainers with fast track programmes.

    Medium to long-term: overhaul the NUC for a planning-driven platform. Femi Fadairo

    Your position on Madam Rufai’s lamentation as regards inadequate tertiary institutions to absorb candidates is timely and commendable. I am not surprised however because lamentation is the beacon of Jonathan’s administration. We should truly go back to the vocational trainings of yore. Government should ensure that discrimination against HND vis avis degree certificates should be discouraged. Let us de-emphasise paper qualification because it leads to all manners of malpractices. Agaba Okpe

  • Restoring sanity to Delta’s transportation

    Restoring sanity to Delta’s transportation

    As a resident in Delta, one development that has impressed me greatly is transport. The administration of Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan has no doubt given transportation uncanny attention deserving of some mention. Part of this transformation agenda has made Delta Line buses with its white and blue colour a common feature in towns and villages of Delta State and many cities in Nigeria. This leads me to conclude that across Nigeria, Delta state comes tops in such well organized, integrated transportation structure with public buses almost outnumbering privately operated buses.

    Because of what I observed, I decided to research further the extent and impact of Delta government transport policy. The intervention in transportation by the government of Uduaghan became prominent in 2008, with the establishment of Delta state urban mass transit scheme when Governor Uduaghan launched 168 brand new Toyota Corolla cars. Some of the Toyota set of cars were given out to interested drivers as part of government empowerment program; others were allocated to Delta Line Transport Company for commercial purposes.

    In 2009 and 2010, the state government further increased the fleet with the purchase and commissioning of 100 and 200 number brand new Hiace buses. This holistic approach in transportation should be recognized as a major infrastructure development, a critical component of the three-point agenda of Uduaghan administration. It is also a demonstration of the Delta administration’s total commitment to opening up the state to attract tourist and investors.

    By the acquisition of 800 vehicles, comprising Hiace buses, Toyota taxi cars and Marcopolo buses, the governor has stemmed the hitherto crisis that greeted the transport sector during the deregulation of the petroleum downstream sector early 2012.

    Similarly, in marine transportation, hundreds of 19U speed boats have been acquired, while several jetties have been built in the coastal communities. Over 21 of such landing jetties were provided between 2008 and 2010 fiscal year. The Delta publics, who are mainly the beneficiaries, have shown great enthusiasm and gratitude to their loving governor for this intervention, particularly, with the regulated fare. The downward review of the fares has had tremendous impact as it has put private operators in check.

    In a random poll which I conducted across Delta state over several months. I found many respondents reacting differently to the state government’s programme especially after the introduction of tricycles, popular called Keke, in addition to the buses and the regulated use of motorcycle in certain communities in Delta communities.

    For example when I spoke with a tricycle operator in Asaba, the state capital, Jonathan Ator, believes that the regime of tricycles and buses have been very beneficial to both the operators and commuters. To the operators, it has restored sanity in the sector and reduced frequent accidents occasioning limbs and leg fractures. “I feel a lot safer driving my tricycle, and the daily turnover is mouth watering”, says the unemployed Sociology graduate who prefers it to Okada for the safety it offers. Another commuter, this time a house wife and civil servant, Ruth Okuns, said, even though, it is yet to reach the door steps of many homes, it guarantees more safety for her and her little kids who daily employ the services of tricycle for school runs. She commended Uduaghan’s initiative in this direction. Jaros Jarikre, who combines work and schooling and traverses Asaba where he works and Abraka, his school location, described the revolution as God’s intervention. A ride to Abraka from Agbor, he said, is one of comfort. “All of us on this route have called the bluff of these shylock private operators, which hitherto have made travelling a nightmare. At the moment, those private buses hardly exist. I doubt if they still exist.

    Deacon Aburi Adams, said members of the public have embraced the revolution as society and government is dynamic. There is nothing wrong with the innovation; he lauded the state government for its policy directives in the transport sector, describing it as wonderful. However, he called on the government to make the roads more motorable, so that more tricycles can reach the door steps of the commuters.

    A public analyst in Warri, the commercial city of Delta State, Richards Achums described the Uduaghan revolution in the transport sector as novel. He said in Delta state, commuters feel very comfortable with government intervention. The visibility of Delta Lines buses, now popularly known as Uduaghan Buses in every part of the state has made transport fare very competitive. The masses now have alternative.

    What is not lost on me is that this revolution which the governor brought into the transport sector of the state underscores the government’s commitment to good governance. The mass transit program though remarkable a populists program has helped to ease the burden of the people greatly.

    The economic vision did not only cushion the hardship of the deregulation of the downstream sector, it also provided the jobs for youths in commercial transportation with opportunity and today it is a success story.

    The Uduaghan administration has procured 800 vehicles comprising Toyota taxi cabs, 500 Hiace buses, 60 Marcopolo buses, 10 Tata buses and 130 boats deployed to various communities in the state. This has immensely improved the transport sector and reduced the stress associated with daily movement of Deltans.

    It is my hope that the administration will build on this before it leaves office in 2015. Deltans have suffered a lot and deserves the continuation of this relief.

     

    • Ejiro Idama is a public affairs commentator, who lives in Asaba state