The Nation Newspaper

Category: ARINZE IGBOELI

Can Nigeria win its drug war

Elements of the Nigerian society have since the 80″s been besieged by the menace of hard drugs: destroying lives, families and our immediate society. A close look at the situation provides no comforting auguries, as statistics available show that 14.4 percent (14.3 million Nigerians) of persons ranging from the ages of 15 and 64 years have abused or have engaged in the abuse of drugs.

Now, despite the creation of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA in 1990, it’s funding and several reforms as an establishment designated to fight and make the nation one that is drug free has struggled in such a fight, as drug prevalence as well as the tendency for these drug barons to make our shores a ready haven for both the transiting and it’s destination seems to be growing and at a most alarming rate.

The drug war waged by the NDLEA and sister agencies against these drug barons and their cartels has seen somewhat a seesaw of acheivements and jeremiads. On one hand, the agency has managed to bust criminal gangs and cartels and has sent many to jail, however despite all these, the drug business seems to be proliferating and like the Hydra of Lernea for every head chopped, two or more would grow. Such an impugnable situation given the paucity of resources at the availability of the agency allows these drug kingpins to run circles around it that it is yet a miracle that the NDLEA can afford to carry out this war.

The NDLEA over the years has not only pitched it’s battlements against local drug barons, it has also, given the nation’s strategic location in subsaharan Africa, as well as the fact that it is a major transit nation to a number of major continents namely Europe, Latin, Asia and North America and even within the African continent has engaged global cartels who’s earnings from such an illicit trade are a hundred times bigger than the meagre budgets approved for the drug agency over the years.

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There is then the emergence of new drugs such as tramadol, methamphetamine, Colorado, codeine, Rohypnol and skunk , these drugs have helped worsen the prevalence of drugs among Nigerians, majorly it’s youths. Social media these days has been rife with videos depicting the effects of these drugs on a number of users.

With these new drugs also come a couple of sophisticated means to either manufacture or traffic such drugs with the NDLEA lacking the manpower or surveillance intelligence tools to check such proliferation.

There is also the issue of corruption within the NDLEA and the fact that there exists some form of linkage between a number of these cartels and certain powerful and influential Nigerians. My interactions with some passionate NDLEA officers led me to a story about how a raid on a methamphetamine manufacturing centre in a particular SouthEast state had been frustrated by a prominent SouthEast businessman. One report described such a situation as the “elite involvement and protection networks” and went further to suggest that it was only due to the remits of Nigeria’s oil industry that had kept Nigeria away from the control of these drug barons.

When we corelate the relationship between drug abuse, youth restiveness and insecurity only then will we understand that until we are able to arrest the nation’s drug challenges deploying effective counter-narcotic policies which will take an all round approach in which agencies like the NDLEA will not only attempt to stem the manufacturing or flow of such drugs but also trace and follow the money which fuels such a trade and stop it’s flow, only then will we reduce such challenges as well as save generations yet unborn from the clutch of drug and substance abuse.

Government should also recognize that there are also a number of key factors driving the consumption of hard drugs in Nigeria. Such factors which include poverty, unemployment, illiteracy and social inequality are often cited as underlying factors that contribute to the huge demand for drugs amongst Nigerians particularly it’s youths.

Understanding this, efforts to address the drug war in Nigeria will also much require a multifaceted approach, including strengthening the NDLEA’s enforcement capabilities, ensuring more severe punitive measures for drug pushers, promoting social and economic development, and providing effective drug demand reduction programs. International cooperation and support are also crucial in combating transnational drug trafficking networks and disrupting the supply chain of illicit drugs.

Advocacy also holds a key to helping resolve the drug problem, government and it’s agencies can deploy such using schools, churches and civil society organisations, it’s aim would be to change the mindset of the general public and assist them.form or adapt to drug free lifestyles.

A drug free Nigeria is indeed possible and this drug war can indeed be won…

May Nigeria Succeed!

December 2, 2023
For the master of constitutions

A number of Nigerians must have received the news of the demise of its foremost constitutional lawyer, academic, legal luminary and restructuring exponent, Professor Benjamin Obi Nwabueze with a bit of mixed feelings. Firstly, Nwabueze died at the very ripe age of 92, which in a country where life expectancy sits at 53 years is indeed marked as a celebration of life. Further more, the Christian outlook of which Professor Nwabueze was a devoted adherent would also greet his demise as the satisfying gift of a long life and well spent too.

However, many who knew the Atani Master of Constitutions well would agree that Professor Nwabueze may have died a bit unfulfilled owing to the refusal of a section of the Nigerian elite to restructure the Nigerian Federation and allow for a more practicable Constitution and Federalism become operational.

Like a number of Nigerian titans, Professor Nwabueze did not see the Nigeria of his dreams: A Nigeria in which there was a healthy balance of political power between the subnational groups that make up such a Federation and the power at the centre of such a federation. Professor Nwabueze hemmed and hawed, like the Prophets of Old in biblical Israel he preached restructuring at every juncture and while Nigerians tended to listen, our leaders and a number of puny idealogues disregarded such calls despite the prevailing scenarios presently witnessed by millions of Nigerian citizens.

For Professor Nwabueze who was born in Atani, Onitsha Province in the then Southern Nigeria now situated in Ogbaru LGA in present day Anambra State, there could be no meaningful progress for the Nigerian people and the nation if the mistakes of 1978 which spilled over into the 1979 Constitution and its latter revivification as the 1999 Constitution were not addressed and replaced with one that took into germane cognizance the peculiarities of the Nigerian nation presently as against the overhyped emphasis on the unity of the country, which was the essence of the 1979 Constitution.

Attending the CMS Central School in both Atani and Onitsha for his primary and secondary levels of education

Professor Nwabueze was to travel to study

at the London School of Economics and Political Science, University of London, where he may have come under the influence of the left leaning but brilliant Professor Howard Lasky, who was popular with African and Asian students at the revered institution. Professor Nwabueze’s latter belief that the state wasn’t supreme and that it ought to respect allegiances by its citizens to the subnational whilst promoting pluralism and decentralisation can be traced to Laski’s works on pluralism.

A brief stint at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London from 1962 to 1963 and another brief three year career as a Senior lecturer in the Holborn College of Law before adding another five year stint at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka from 1965 to 1970.

Shortly after the end of the Nigerian Civil War Professor Nwabueze was to become the dean of the University of Zambia’s Faculty of Law. He was then drafted to help draft for Zambia a new constitution in 1973 before returning to Nigeria in 1976 where he functioned as a foremost member of the Constitutional Drafting Committee (CDC), chaired by a one time Attorney General of the Western Region and legal luminary, Rotimi Williams (SAN).

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The CDC was to midwife the 1979 constitution which brought about the Second Republic and reposed enormous powers on the government at the centre while stripping that of the components of powers that should naturally have belonged to them. A mistake, Professor Nwabueze sought to rectify in his later life. For him, the putting of too much power at the centre was an invitation for disunity. The crass struggles for power and control at the centre was fueling the nation’s disunity.

Since the 1999 Constitution was merely a redress of the 1979 Constitution, Professor Nwabueze was to continue his struggle for its repudiation, rejecting suggestions for amendments to certain areas. He consistently argued for the restructuring of the Nigerian nation that he caught the Atiku bug in 2019 as the latter had made the restructuring of the Nigerian nation a part of his cardinal campaign message. Sadly, Atiku’s claim to want to restructure Nigeria was merely a ruse as his 2023 presidential ambition suggested.

Asides from helping draft the Zambian and Nigerian Constitutions, Professor Nwabueze was also to help draft the Kenyan Constitution of 1993 transforming Daniel Arap Moi’s Kenya from a one party state to one that allowed for multiparty participation.

An astounding academic, Professor Nwabueze was to author a number of books and publications in journals showcasing intellectual grit and knowledge on Constitutionalism.

A proud Igbo man, Professor Nwabueze was to alongside a number of the Igbo elite cofound Ohanaeze NdiIgbo and midwife the socio cultural organization to becoming the Pan Igbo organization replacing the defunct Igbo State Union.

As we bid one of Africa’s finest legal luminaries fare well, we must as compatriots rekindle his drive for a better Nigeria through the demands for a viable constitution, one that frees Nigeria from the fetters of the quasi federal status we currently are joined with, one that nullifies much the progressive spirit of the Nigerian and has stultified its movement as the vanguard not only for Africa but also the black race all over the world.

November 25, 2023
On need to resuscitate industries in SouthEast

As the availability of white collar jobs/ civil service continues to shrink drastically as against the rising number of unemployed youths, there is need for leaders, thinkers, policy makers, businessmen and stakeholders from the SouthEast Region to come together, collaborate and churn out a viable road map towards the resuscitation of industries in the region.

Such an effort or set of efforts if well implemented both individually and collectively will not only check the rising tides of unemployment presently experienced within the region but also its accouterments such as crime and youth restiveness which are seriously besetting the region and its inhabitants.

The SouthEast Region which used to be the second largest industrial hub after the South West Region has somewhat seen a number of its promising industries fold up owing to challenges such as the rising level of insecurity, poor economic policies of both the Federal and State governments and poor power supply amongst many other issues. Today, these industries which used to employ youths in their numbers have either had to shut down operations or at most scale down such operations, One finds out that such industries, no matter how profitable it’s business appeared to be had little or no chance against such aforementioned odds stacked up against these industries.

Research did show that the industries established before and within the First Industrial Plan(1962-1968) enjoyed prosperity and development for say about two decades. While the civil war took its toll on the region as a number of industries were destroyed in the course of the war, by the late 70’s, a number of these industries as well as new ones had been reestablished and flourished. Sadly by the time the Babaginda administration came into power and introduced the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) which created room for a second tier foreign exchange market which resulted to the massive devaluation of the naira, the abolition of import licenses, changes to import duties intended to reduce the protection of domestic industries and the import dependence of manufacturing and the abolition of export duties all contributed to a sharp decline in the their profitability compared to imports fell significantly.

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Further more, subsequent government policies have failed to rectify these challenges:the nation’s continuous dependence on imports, a motley of unfavorable policies, multiple taxation, lack of quality infrastructure and corruption have also decimated the region’s industrial base or capacity.

Insecurity also tops as one of these challenges faced in the region’s attempt at industrialization. The fact remains that no sane human being will site an industry where there are security challenges. The SouthEast has since the return to democracy in 1999 descended into a cycle of violent agitation and crime: Kidnapping, armed robbery , assassinations and other vices have become more prominent while our security agencies even with their best efforts continue to look ordinary in the face of such criminal activities.

It is thus imperative that the five state governments in Anambra in conjunction with the Federal Government must deal adequately with the security conundrum facing the region. While it must be emphasized that the governments should go hard on crime and these criminal elements, I would suggest that they also seek to arrest the few factors that make crime and its participation lucrative before our teeming youths.

This article should serve as a clarion call to the five governors of the SouthEast Region as well as our stakeholders to come together to draw up a SouthEast Roadmap for the resuscitation of these industries as well as the addition of new ones in the region. The governors must take a closer look at a number of policies such as multiple taxation, lack of qualitative infrastructure and insecurity, these factors amidst a few others have somewhat created stumbling blocks for the growth of such industries, stunted their growth options and made their sustainability a bit more tenuous. It is not rocket science!

With access to proper financing , some sort of tax rebates, the provision of quality infrastructure, power inclusive, there is no doubting that these industries will continue to function at par with their contemporaries in other climes, contributing immensely to the Gross Domestic Product(GDP) of the zone.

The time to act is now otherwise the present level of insecurity and youth restiveness presently faced will be a child’s play compared to what lies in the offing should these industries collapse totally.

November 18, 2023
You Wike me! I Fubara you!!

Nigerians were again witnesses to a political action hit, one proudly sponsored, scripted and produced by the political war horses of Rivers State. Such high powered political drama, the type that Nigerians have naturally become accustomed to- unofficial soap operas rated 18+ between godfathers and godsons. Like I stated earlier, such tragicomic did not begin with the madness in Rivers; such history can be traced to the early sixties where the likes of Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola and Chief Obafemi Awolowo engaged each other in a roforofo fight for the soul of the Action Group, the then ruling party in the Western Region and opposition party at the Federal Parliament. The Second Republic was also rife with such skirmishes: We recall the rift between Rimi and Aminu Kano on one hand and on the other, Olusola Saraki and Alhaji Adamu Atta.

The Fourth Republic is however severally littered with such examples, perhaps owing to its longevity as a democratic experiment, the longest ever witnessed since our independence and the apparent lack of democratic ethos amongst the numerous players in the nation’s democratic sojourn. Nigerians practically did stay tuned to one godfather/godson drama after another, each drama seemed to improve on what had transpired in the previous script. For example in Enugu, Chimaroke Nnamani teed off with Jim Nwobodo at the same time his counterparts in Chinwoke Mbadinuju of Anambra and Peter Odili of Rivers were up in arms against Sir Emeka Offor and Chief Marshall Harry. Down in Lagos, the incumbent president was up in arms with the likes of Ganiyu Dawodu, same thing was to occur in Kano, Kwara and Borno where Rimi, Saraki and Ali Modu Sherrif led a calvacade of disgruntled politicians against their one time protégés.

Some of these crisis were to have their own spinoffs, Chris Ngige and Chris Uba, Chimaroke vs Chime, Amaechi vs Odili , Wike vs Amaechi and now Fubara vs Wike! Kwakwanso and Ganduje, Anenih and Lucky, Oshiomole and Obaseki. Others were offbeat as seen in Lamidi Adedibu vs Rasheed Ladoja and Orji Uzor Kalu vs Theodore Orji.

The Fubara/ Wike crisis in Rivers State, took many political onlookers by surprise. Many cannot recall when the Falconer could no longer hear the falcon as there had been no mention of any kerfuffle between the duo. First, it was the bomb or explosive device that destroyed a part of the building whilst sending tremors to the neighboring environs, what followed next was the sitting by 26 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly as early as 6 A.M in the morning ( Such Diligence) in which they served their notice of impeachment on the Governor. The Governor was to respond in kind after he was restrained by a section of the police while he was visiting the venue at that time to inspect the level of damage done to the building in question. He was to later ensure the election of the suspended majority leader of the house as speaker, “sack” the Chief Judge and his chief of staff while also dissolving the 23 chairmen of the local government areas in Rivers only to beat a retreat and deny carrying out any of the last three acts as reported by certain news outlets.

Fubara who is only six months in office has alleged no wrong doing to warrant his impeachment and has challenged his traducers to bring up any known infractions done by him or agents of his government against the constitution.

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However, for Wike, Fubara had crossed the red line by hobnobbing with certain persons who Wike had dubbed as political foes. Wike alleged this whilst receiving some members of the PDP Governors Forum. He declared that he was not an ingrate and that no one could tamper with his structure in the South South

As laughable as these infractions leveled against Fubara appear to be, I am dead sure that when the likes of Bernard Crick described politics as an alternative to controlling people by force or fraud, he didn’t think of the likes of Wike. What really is wrong if Fubara courts certain enemies of Wike? Why should Fubara who has an agenda to govern a state as challenged as Rivers give his time to inheriting Wike’s enemies? Yes Wike may have been his boss and benefactor but should such transcend to how Fubara relates with such persons?

Had Wike and his supporters given a better example or reason for wanting Fubara out, yours sincerely would have examined such here but to think that all that madness that occurred was merely due to some reason as petty as having Wike’s enemies as Fubara’s enemies makes me question the state of mind of the average Nigerian politician.

Let us remind Wike of how he fell out with his former boss Rotimi Amaechi and joined Amaechi’s enemies in besieging the state while the former served as governor. It was the same Amaechi who had appointed Wike as his Chief of staff in 2008 before nominating him to become a minister in Goodluck Jonathan’s cabinet by 2011.

To now want to crucify his protege for sins he Wike had also earlier committed is simply a display of haughty hypocrisy

If Wike could disagree with his benefactor then and the heavens did not fall, what crime has Fubara then committed that Wike isn’t guilty of?

Perhaps Wike has seen a pattern similar to his own experience and is bent on forestalling such, he wants what he has done to others not to be done unto him!

Wike wants to reap yams where he has sown coco yam!

November 11, 2023
Nigeria, revenue poverty and taxation atrophy

When our forefathers came up with the wise saying that ‘the earnest wish of potters is for earth to be clay’, it was not only worthy of commendation but also no mean achievement. The beauty of the adage is that, in some 1000 years to come, it will still be relevant. So, instead of concentrating on having more wealth, the wisdom in it is learning how to be frugal and maximally productive with the little that’s available.

Simple Economics: economic activities breed taxation while taxation without representation is problematic. Generally, the mission of governments is revenue generation which practically translates to poverty on the people’s part. Impliedly, there’s poverty of revenue but taxation schemes are a-plenty. Why? While taxation is multiplying itself, revenue assurances are shrinking. So, it is more or less a case of revenue nowhere and it is a problem for the state because the state is supposed to be a basket of revenue whereas it is atrophying.

Objective observers will agree with yours sincerely that most governments want more revenue, whereas governance-seeking and people-loving governments seek accountability. People have come to governments and said to themselves: ‘we are here to take our own portion of the national cake.’ Well, it is to show that Nigeria is in trouble and, until Nigerians come to terms with the fact that government exists only for itself, and that the largesse of the government will always go to certain people whether they (say that they) are in government or not, Nigeria won’t move forward. It is a very terrible statement but that’s the truth.

High crime rate! Beggars everywhere! Slave-owners thriving! We are a rich country with poor people: what a paradox? The town is tough! The people are hungry and need help! But we can’t continue this way. Something must give. We must arrest the situation before it is too late. We must not forget the invisible hands and the unknown calculations of economic fate. Besides, economic injections don’t always determine the directions of economic flow. Otherwise, all inflations of the world would have been controlled or confined ASAP.

Come to think of it, part of the reasons adduced by the Bola Tinubu-led administration for the removal of fuel subsidy was that there would be more money for the states to carry out the business of governance. So, one wonders what has become of governance in a state like Osun where Governor Ademola Adeleke has, in less than a year in office, started lamenting “cash crunch”, to the extent of suspending foreign trips for its top officials. If we may ask, what’s the total allocation to Osun from November 27, 2022 to date and how much did each beneficiary of the state government-funded foreign trips collect as estacode and associated allowances? Of course, the people deserve to know when the rain started beating them.

It is a tragedy that nobody is interested in the calculus of spending our resources, not those in government, not friends of the government. That’s why Osun wants investors but will not want to invest in research or what can generate commerce. Added to it is that the current government is running like a vehicle with no headlamp, focus or direction as to what to do. As a matter of fact, it has no policy statement or standpoint; and no coordination at all. Otherwise, aren’t there opportunities in Osun beyond gold mining, which can be developed to the level of generating income for the state? The same thing goes for other parts of the country.

Without doubt, what we need is a new thinking. It is the general thought and it is correct. God is not going to recreate the world. So, it is either we discover it or make use of it. In terms of mineral resources, it was created when the wide, wild, world of war was created, with an amount of resources maybe yet to be discovered, or will ever be discovered by man before the end of the world. Therefore, it is a question of vision on the part of the leadership. That Nigeria has been a victim of bad leadership is not only a terrible equation but also valid statement. It is our problem and it is a double-edged sword. At the national level, everybody wants to go to the East to refine crude. This terrible thing, which brought along with it wealth as well as the repudiation of wealth and other terrifying battles of life, is also a double-edged sword.

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The issue really is that Nigeria must develop; and, for Nigeria to develop, pieces of Nigeria must learn the philosophy of development. Pure and simple! Government should allow free hands to run the economy. There should be no compulsion of free flow and there should be no repression of the process. Once that is done, free economy is assured and unhindered development is guaranteed. Nigerians are shouting ‘Tinubu’, but Tinubu is just one man from Lagos. So, let a Zamfaran be thinking of developing Zamfara State and … Nigeria; and ditto for an Akwa Ibomite who must be thinking of developing, essentially Akwa Ibom State, then Nigeria. Until we are able to transform our thought processes to that frame of mind, the country will continue to be challenged.

Wait, unless there is an inflow of solutions elsewhere or a lifeline economic prosperity that flows into a country’s economy from somewhere else, Nigeria must undergo a turbulent period, one time at a time. The actual thing is to ask for a new orientation for the entire country and, this time around, it is more about orientation and purpose on the part of the leadership and expectations on the part of the followership. Leadership has to be tasked. It has to be focused and responsible. Our challenge as Nigerians is that we cannot afford to be careful because we do not even have the knowledge.

As things stand, Nigeria is in dire need of goals-targeted and goals-delivered leadership. So, let our leaders swallow their pride and make Nigeria work. Promises of a better tomorrow for dear country are sweet words to the ears but let them push narratives and characterizations that can first and foremost help put food on the table of the masses. Let the government evaluate the people’s needs with a view to putting in place lifesaving programmes. That’s why the soon-to-be resuscitated National Homegrown School Feeding Programme by the Tinubu-led administration is a step in the right direction. According to Yetunde Adeniji, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on School Feeding, the Programme would “cater for over 10 million pupils across the country” and that it would “ensure that no child in each public school is left behind.” In her words, “the school feeding initiative under the President’s Renewed Hope Agenda is targeting pupils from primary one to three across Nigeria. It resonates with the sentiment that every child deserves the opportunity to flourish and contribute to the nation’s development.”

Lastly, congratulations to Zacch Adedeji, for the confirmation of his appointment as Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) by the Senate. It’s no doubt a call to duty, for the tasks before Nigeria’s Tax Chief and other handlers of the country’s fragile economy are enormous. From the East to the West, and from the North to the South, they deserve Nigerians’ support to succeed in that area of governance, because tax evaders will see and treat them as enemies while indulgence on government’s part will only spell deepening poverty for the populace.

May the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, grant us peace in Nigeria!

November 4, 2023
Gowon: Could History Absolve Him(2)

Truth remains that both Gowon and Ojukwu made the resolution of the crises leading to the civil war impossible, but while Ojukwu could use the July 29 coup and the pogroms that followed as a pretext for his actions, Gowon had none, save for the fact that he was merely a “Yes” man for our British overlords. Even if Ojukwu wanted a kingdom of his own, as is mooted by certain scholars, Gowon’s haughty like obstinacy gave much fuel to Ojukwu’s decisions, as he, (Ojukwu) sought to give the East cogent reasons for its secessionist attempt.

In retrospect, Gowon had accused Ironsi of wanting to force the federation into a Unitary system, a major reason for the bloodbath of July 66, but the same Gowon was a member of the Supreme Military Council, SMC which acted as the clearing house for all of the policies and decrees enacted by the Ironsi administration, matter of fact the SMC had more Northerners in its fold than Southerners, how then the likes of Gowon could glibly talk of Ironsi imposing such a policy on him and his accomplices should baffle any right thinking human being. Ironsi, perhaps might have being a bit naive but surely the likes of Gowon cannot wash their hands totally off such a decree.

Aburi offered the nation, some promise of lasting peace. Accounts of such event as illustrated by the scholars such as John de St Jorre in his book ‘The Nigerian Civil War’, describes General Gowon again as behaving like some cavalier soldier, notwithstanding the loss of innocent lives and properties had sought simply to wish away such gory occurrences. It is believed that Gowon had expected Ojukwu to simply banter away whatever real concerns the Eastern Region had as regards the previous incidents and the security of the Easterners, to him it seemed that the lives lost didn’t really matter for as long as they were all in the saddle of power and had shared some form of camaraderie, Ojukwu, who’s Region had borne the brunt of the killing spree was definitely not on the same boat with Gowon.

The decisions reached at Aburi were expected to be honoured too but Nigerians know that General Gowon did renege on such agreement. Yes, Ojukwu may have ambushed him at Aburi, yes, Ojukwu may have outsmarted Gowon and his six other counterparts by insisting on regional autonomy and getting ironclad concessions on such and other matters, such as the exclusion of the use of force and the repealing of all decrees which tended to over centralize power at the expense of the agreed regional autonomy, however, was the flat refusal to implement what was actually agreed upon at Aburi in preference for what was never discussed nor agreed upon the way for Gowon to go? If he simply felt that the end result of what was agreed upon at Aburi was detrimental to the health of the federation then he should have initiated another round of negotiations rather than attempt to browbeat Ojukwu and the Eastern Region into submission, forcing the latter to declare the Eastern Region as the sovereign state of Biafra. Had Gowon the moral courage to seek renegotiation, even using the adhoc conference to achieve this, such an example would naturally serve as a salutary lesson for the future. Intoxicated with power he rather unleashed the civil war and the legacy of the cult of violence which has pervaded the nation’s psyche till this very day.

Today, the demand for a Biafran Nation is presently in the offing bearing strong links with its past existence, perhaps had Gowon averted such a declaration, who knows what may have followed? Definitely not a senseless civil war.

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Gowon still deserves some commendation for his Lincolnesque approach after the civil war or should I say his adaptation of such. However his announcement of “No Victor, No Vanquished” remains hollow, the millions who lost their lives, properties and even savings were indeed the vanquished while Gowon and his administration in Lagos were indeed the victors.

Away from the civil war, the General Gowon administration was also to introduce corruption as an official practice in Nigeria. We first became witnesses to millionaire officers and officials in that administration. Military Governors in the various states merely enriched themselves to the consternation of the public, but then a trend had been set and successive administrations attempted to do ‘better’ than the Gowon administration.

We remember his refusal to handover power to civilians as he had initially promised the nation by 1975(Gowon naturally reneged on so many things) without even fixing a firm date for the nation’s return to democracy. The cement armada, the gross examples of government inefficiency and the famous quote while in Jamaica stating that “ Money was not our problem but how to spend it”. At that time Nigeria’s out of school children stood at 9 million children, while nearly 69 percent of the nation’s population then which stood at 68.5 million people had little or no access to quality healthcare!

The confidence in Gowon’s administration had by 1975 become so depleted that his own kinsman in the person of Colonel Joe Garba who also happened to be his Commander Brigade of Guards announced his overthrow while Gowon was attending the OAU summit in Kampala, Uganda.

The fractious state of the Nigerian nation and its purported challenges faced even in these very days all lie with the Gowon administration, had he sought some lasting solutions to what the Aburi Accord offered, even some amendments, perhaps the Nigerian nation would not be in this permanent state of wanting to self destruct!

October 28, 2023
General Gowon @ 89: Couldhistory absolve him? (1)

It was Fidel Castro who once used such an expression while facing trial for the July 26 attack on Moncada Barracks, Castro who defended himself at that trial declared “Condenmade, no importa, la historia mi absolveria” in English it simply means “Condemn me, it does not matter, history will absolve me”.

For General Yakubu Jack Gowon , Nigeria’s Second military leader, History as well as posterity must be hearing his ‘Closing Statements’ as he clocked 89 recently, even celebrating his birthday amidst the ugly rumors of his demise just a week ago, the man who once declared that to “ Keep Nigeria one was a task that must be done” will certainly need no soothsayers or pastors to tell him that his time with his maker will surely come.

So what verdict will history pass on General Gowon, this one time Chief of Staff of the Nigerian Army and later maximum ruler for 9 solid years ? There are a number of strands of thoughts or should I say answers to this question, each possessing a different tangent to the rest, each conceived as a result of one’s perception which has been shaped probably by a number of singular and aggregate factors.

For me as an avid student of our nation’s history and politics, I very much possess a view about Gowon’s place in our history and It is my intention to share such a view here with the admonition to those who may choose to disagree to do so or even write their own!

Yes, even though General Gowon wouldn’t naturally fit in to the description of a statesman by Mark Hatfield. Here in Africa, most especially Nigeria, by virtue of serving in some high office, even if you where thrust there and wobbled and fumbled while in office, you would naturally earn the appellation of an Elder Statesman. It is in this context that we may grudgingly confer such on the founder of the Nigerian Prayer Movement and kudos to him Nigeria recently emerged as the Second Most Prayerful country , losing the first position only to the Taliban controlled Afghanistan. I am sure the Nigerian Prayer Movement led by Gowon must have contributed its quota to such a feat!

Now asides the Nigerian prayer movement, General Gowon also has a number of enduring legacies to his name, legacies such as the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC which has sought to create avenues within the nation for national cohesion and unity.

The creation of states within Nigeria is another legacy of the Gowon administration which has much influenced the pattern and operational dynamics of the Nigerian Federation or Quasi Federation as it actually is.

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The creation of more Unity Colleges is another befitting legacy to Gowon, who in his attempt to patch through the elusive threads of unity within Nigeria established more of such schools all over the Federation.

Gowon’s biggest feat would be his prosecution of the Nigerian/ Biafran War which he presided over. Notwithstanding the resultant horrors that came with the 33 months struggle, his singular mandate to keep the Eastern Region within the Federation by force of arms could be chalked of as successful and while one may not resent a number of his actions as regarding the war, since the pervading situation at that time demanded such of him, however, the same war as well as the taxing events that led the nation to that war also remain as a tarred brush to Gowon’s statesmanship stature.

General Gowon came at a period the Nigerian nation needed a leader, even after desecrating the military tradition or dictates of military command and succession, by assuming power while Brigadier Babafemi Ogundipe his senior in the army was muscled away, Gowon despite his avuncular like mien and gentleman officer posturing behaved more like a member of the mob and engendered forever that indiscipline Nigerians witnessed in the military even to this present day.

At the time of his triumphant entrance to become the nation’s number one helmsman , the nation was much in crisis. The Head of State, General Aguiyi Ironsi and Governor of the Western Region, Adekunle Fajuyi were missing, brother officers were reportedly slaughtered in their numbers while Igbo and minority civilians who had no say nor participation in either of both the January and the July 1966 coups were also massacred in their numbers. Gowon had not only gone on to betray his Supreme Commander but also a number of moderates in the military then who were shocked at Gowon’s inveterate dawdling while these pogroms occurred.

Even his half hearted attempt at finding a solution to the crisis via the Ad Hoc Constitutional Conference of 1966 appeared to be a ruse as it only encouraged further killings in the North under Gowon’s watch. He was later to suspend the conference after tinkering with the ideas of secession, confederation and then one indivisible unitary cum quasi federation(Another legacy of his)

October 21, 2023
Independence Day: Thoughts of our fathers and we the Children (2)

Where did we miss that trajectory of growth and the chance to becoming the first black nation to emerge as a global super power? Where did the dignified and lofty thoughts of our fathers become incongruous with their actions? At what point did our nation drift of the glorious path?

Truth be told, the drifting began with the same fathers who harbored such thoughts, the lofty minds that guided the nation unto its independence largely mismanaged the goodwill that came with such. We employed the politics of bitterness that saw the Federal Government prop up Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola and his strange dancers in the Western Region House of Assembly as against the majority of legislators loyal to Chief Obafemi Awolowo. Tafawa Balewa, the then Prime Minister who was quick to use the Federal machinery to seal the Western Region House of Assembly and set up panels and commissions of inquiries during the beginning of the crisis, beat a sad retreat when he told the whole world that he had no such powers when the Western Region took a turn for the worse by virtue of the “Wetie Crisis”.

The Western Region crisis wasn’t the only misstep of our fathers, otherwise we the children as well as our history may have absolved them. The Tiv crisis, the 1964 and 1965 elections are glaring examples of the failures of our fathers, the descent began and before we knew it, the military saw reasons to replicate what other sister nations were similarly experiencing.

That the children plotted two coups, both bloody in their implementation and leading to a civil war is worthy of mention, while one coup sought to correct the ills of the First Republic and still went over the bar with some of those who lost their lives in that putsch, the latter was more of a grudge match, with both serving as precedents to the pogroms and the ghastly civil war, one with which its prejudices still live very much with us even till this day. Had the July 29 1966 coup removed General Aguiyi Ironsi and punished the January 15th coupists without killing brother officers and innocent civilians afterwards for the fact that they merely shared ethnic affinity with some members of the January 15 coup, while the January 15 boys had also at their show reduced the blood letting, perhaps the animosities borne by majorly the Eastern and the Northern regions may not have being enough to trigger the civil war. Thus the unity our fathers attempted to proclaim foundered on the blood of the innocent and not even the victory of the Nigerian forces over the “Biafran Rebels have remedied such.

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The leadership of the Nigerian nation is also a contributory factor to the Nigerian debacle. God knows what the Nigerian people have done to deserve the kind of leadership that we have gotten since independence. Leadership in Nigeria has merely taken the trial by error approach, and even where we seem to have gotten it right or we think we have, such cloying encomia dissipates as fast as vapor leaving even the supporters of such leaders immensely bewildered.

Obviously just as the dream for strong democratic institutions eluded us, ( The gaping failures of the Second, Third and present Fourth Republics are as clear as day) same also was our fate in our hopes of a virile economy. we swayed away from agriculture with the advent of oil money, the Nigerian economy which was showing momentum as at the 60’s, became the byword for inefficiency and lack of prudence. The balkanization of regions into states did little to help matters as each state embarked on a number of white elephant projects with so little resources owing to the lopsided nature of the Nigerian federation.

Corruption also deserves a worthy mention, while our fathers tinkered with it via the 10 percenting, the children in us elevated it into an institution adumbrating It as a way of life in Nigeria. While every Nigerian administration has declared war on corruption all have left power harvesting in its fold more harrowing tales of corruption than the past governments.

Haven lost nearly 600 billion dollars to the hydra headed monster remains a threat to the survival of the Nigerian State, affecting public funds and finances , rendering our governments ineffective and reducing the standards of our living.

At 63, it is yet indeed possible for the fathers, or what is left of them and we the children to carry out the re-vivification of these thoughts. In Nigeria’s leading playwright, Ola Rotimi’s popular line- “ To sit down and do nothing is to be crippled fast”. Professor Chinua Achebe put it in a much lively manner when he said that “A man who does not know where the rain began to beat him cannot truly say where he dried his body”

The thoughts of our fathers and we the children for a greater, stronger, prosperous and united Nigeria is much bigger than we have assumed. We may have toyed with it, we may have betrayed its sacrosanctity but if we agree that the fate of this nation lies not in the stars but in ourselves, then we can rebuild this nation and bring in our time, the Nigerian nation of our dreams and of the thoughts of our fathers and we the children.

October 14, 2023
Nigeria@63: Thoughts of our fathers and we the children (1)

Three score and three years ago, our nation’s independence resonated all over the African Continent and the world with the panjandrums getting excited over the creation of what many expected to be the first black power since the days of ancient Egypt, that even Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe perhaps in a spell of prophecy or in his natural oratorical brilliance had in a speech hankered on Nigeria becoming a force not only vital to the restoration of dignity of man in Africa but of the whole world.

Far and wide, the world heralded much from the emergence of Nigeria on the global stage. For example, then racist South Africa prepared for a continental showdown with Nigeria contributing a majority of the troops that would determine the future of white supremacy. Conversely, a number of African nationalists rallied to Nigeria for leadership and this to an extent she did exert.

To our fathers, this was the chance of the Blackman to show the white man that he was able to govern himself and chart their collective destiny within the comity of nations. It was the opportunity to develop our nation and harness our culture and resources in shaping our citizens, our economy and technological advancement.

Economically we were doing wonders, dominating the exports of oil palm and groundnuts. An agriculturally dominant nation, we were projected to be self sufficient by the 80’s and totally self reliant in the 90’s. We showed great promise, and with agriculture and Agro based industries as the linchpin of our industrial drive.

Owing to the prevailing political circumstance then, the various regions which then comprised of the sub nationalities that made up the Nigerian nation were in a form of healthy rivalry with each other. The Western Region under the guidance of its Premier, Chief Obafemi Awolowo maintained great strides in terms of infrastructure and the provision of a number of social services such as education, which was free in the region and healthcare services. His Eastern counterpart, MI Okpara had led the Eastern Region with a form of lightening speed that it was adjudged the fourth fastest growing economy in the world. Ahmadu Bello and Midwest counterpart Dennis Osadebe also served as pacesetters in their respective regions, Nigeria was truly then on the march!

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Our fathers dreamed of strong institutions; democracy, rule of law, freedom of speech, fairness and the enthronement of a value system where hard work, honesty and other virtues were instilled in our people.

Even with the numerous crises that greeted the nation in its first few years, the nation was to still show promise as a maturing democracy deploying compromise where necessary. On the global front, the nation assumed its role as the continent’s big brother, its interventions in Tanzania and Congo Kinshasa under the auspices of the United Nations were indeed deemed as remarkable. Africa as the centerpiece of our diplomatic ensemble gave us the opportunities to elevate Africa’s concerns to the world irrespective of the prevailing ideological struggles. In one event we even broke diplomatic relations with France following its nuclear weapons tests in the Sahara.

We looked to a nation that was united beyond the gritty realities as presented by religion and region and tribe, despite the tribal hectoring which was a regular feature amongst the leadership and the elite, we hoped that we would soon understand that Nigerians needed each other if the nation was to progress.

Our fathers thought of mass literacy for the masses, they dreamed of improving the skill base of the nation, meeting the technical needs required to leapfrog the Nigerian economy from a rudimentary and developing one into an industrialized one. We sited universities and technical colleges to meet such needs and in turn churned out quality graduates who manned departments, offices and units in the nation’s civil services.These men and women were the nation’s future, the mandarins of the nation’s golden era.

How a nation of so much promise which at independence stood heads above a number of nations such as the People’s Republic of China in terms of its GDP( Nigeria’s GDP in 1960 stood at 1521.23 compared to China which had its real GDP at 507.03) today flounders at the other end of development should bother any right thinking Nigerian. Today, after 63 years of independence we have moved from such promise and envy to a state where we are reportedly derided by more serious nations.

September 30, 2023
On Nigeria’s infrastructural challenge

Nigeria like most third world countries has for long been immersed in an infrastructure conundrum. Successive governments since the nation’s independence have attempted through numerous policies to rectify such and remove the nation from the pedestal of infrastructural deficiency. Now, despite all these and the promises of the infrastructural Eldorado as promised by both military and civilian administrations the Nigerian infrastructural base or portfolio which includes and covers several critical sectors such as road networks, agriculture, healthcare, financial infrastructure, technology, innovation, and power remain largely unimpressive which has impacted on the growth and development of the economy.

Nigeria roughly requires three trillion dollars over the spate of thirty years to successfully lift itself from such a conundrum, bridging the gap and leapfrogging the Nigerian economy unto the paths nations like the United States, China France, Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom are presently on. Haven missed past opportunities to meet our infrastructural needs, owing to the trifecta evils of corruption and mismanagement of the economy, (that Raila Odinga story, “100 percent here” readily comes to mind) and models of infrastructural frameworks, Nigeria now grapples with the consequences of such; consequences for businesses, travelers, workers and even the government. At a point where countries like China have immensely invested in a number of infrastructural. projects, including it’s flagship global infrastructure project, known as the Belt and Road Initiative and where the likes of the United States of America under President Biden have sought to reinvent the quality of infrastructure in the US, with both enabling each nation to expand their nation’s economic influence across the world, Nigeria cannot be found wanting if it must take it’s place as the Giant of Africa.

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Nigeria, similar to a number of other infrastructural advanced nations such as Canada, France, and the United Kingdom have attempted to establish their infrastructure frameworks via their central governments which has directed and delivered on such projects, now while these countries have achieved success using such a model, the Nigerian nation has conversely experienced otherwise, with it’s infrastructure stock standing at 25% of it’s GDP.

Some readers may readily scoff at my comparison with the aforementioned, arguing that these nations have long been in existence before the Nigerian nation and thus serve as a poor benchmark for comparison! What then would these persons say when I also note that the likes of Tunisia, South Korea,, Morocco , Bostwana and Namibia, nations that are largely our peers outrank our nation in terms of infrastructure too.

What however should be of immense importance to us is how do we as a people improve on our infrastructural base? How do we as a nation fashion sustainable policies capable of providing long term finance for our infrastructural development. This is because relying alone on either the federal, state or local government levels of government to foot the $3 trillion dollar deficit is indeed a tall order as even today’s modern economies are now relying on the use of mostly private capital to support infrastructure investment

which in turn creates the much needed multiplier effect across critical sectors.

Poor economic growth, poor revenue returns have caged the government’s ability to do such

This is not to say that the three levels of government should readily shirk from their responsibilities. However, these levels of government with the increase in funds at its avail can utilize more funds for infrastructural development , getting returns on such investments via introducing user fees, tolls etc.

Asides the direct interventions by government the grafting of private sector capital as I earlier stated can also help trim such a deficit. Employing funds from this sector would speedily foster economic activities and inclusive growth.

Thus interventions such as that of InfraCO and the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Act, NSIA may be game changers .

InfraCo with a plan to attract N15 trillion in it’s kitty will surely halve the nation’s infrastructure deficit through Public Private Partnership (PPP).

InfraCO, which is the collaboration between the Federal Government through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the NSIA on one hand and the African Finance Corporation, AFC may be Nigeria’s best option at using the private sector to meet such targets.

While it is still too early to access the performance of InfraCo, it is yet important to be moderate in our expectations given the introduction of previous policies under the past administration which largely failed to address the desired targets.

Examples include the Road Trust Fund (RTF) that was signed in 2017 and the Executive Order 007 in 2019 on Road Infrastructure Development and Refurbishment Investment Tax Credit Scheme.

There are a number of reasons for such failures: for example, the RTF failed largely because the participation of the private sector was limited due to the poor percentage of cost that could be recovered by such private players.

Such, I believe will not be the fate of InfraCo which seems to have dotted it’s I’s and crossed it’s T’s.

The nation has no business being 24th of the 59 African nations in terms of infrastructure!

September 23, 2023