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Category: Nnedinso Ogaziechi

  • NASS and the scramble for development commissions

    NASS and the scramble for development commissions

    The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) is the first formally established regional development commission by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in the year 2000. Its sole mandate was to develop the oil-rich Niger Delta region of Nigeria. Late President Umaru Yar’Adua in 2008 announced the formation of the Niger Delta Ministry under which the NDDC was to operate as a parastatal for maximum efficiency.

    One of the central mandates of the NDDC was to train and educate the youths of the goose that lays the golden egg – the Niger delta region.  This was aimed at addressing the restiveness of the youth that had started impacting the production and distribution of crude oil. Beyond educating and training the youths, most of who were actually sponsored to study abroad on scholarship, the commission was also mandated to develop key infrastructure to aid productivity and make the region more self-sustaining.

    Sadly though, the NDDC is not the first development commission to be established by the federal government with its myriad of  oil-induced environmental devastation that have impact the lives of the citizens. The wild life, agriculture and marine lives of the people are some of the worst in the world amongst oil-producing nations. 

    It must be noted that NDDC idea came after an earlier commission, the Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission, OMPADEC established on June 25, 1992 by the former military President, General Ibrahim Babangida (Rtd.) . OMPADEC did not record much success as the commission went from one management failure due to alleged corruption to the other. It is safe to say that the failure of OMPADEC necessitated the establishment of a Ministry of Niger Delta under which NDDC was supposed to operate.

    However, the NDDC despite a few achievements for the region has come under national criticism as many of the successive management boards have come under serious allegations of corruption. It is public knowledge that the money that has been invested in the Commission has not been commiserate with the infrastructural development or the states under the NDDC Act. At some point, even the students sent abroad under the late  President Yar’Adua’s  Amnesty Programme were in the streets of most global capitals protesting the delay in remitting their tuition fees. The allegations were not denied even if the problems were belatedly sorted. That singular act of irresponsibility by the management of the NDDC is symptomatic of many other projects of the commission. There have been series of allegations of corruption, under-performances, probes and National Assembly Public hearings involving the successive managements of the Commission with no serious outcomes.

    Reports indicate that by 2021, more than 13,000 projects and programmes by NDDC have either been abandoned or are uncompleted. These contracts are estimated to have cost about N15 trillion or $40bn. A good percentage of the  abandoned projects are sited in Rivers State. This had necessitated former President Mohammed Buhari  to order  a forensic audit of NDDC from 2001 to 2019. The audit led to a termination of some of the unexecuted contracts.

    The core Niger Delta states of Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Delta and Ondo states remain some of the worst environmentally degraded areas in the country with the attendant poverty, intensifying insecurity, emergence of various militant groups and poor infrastructure. Given the rise in oil prices and the amount of monies being allocated to the commission, the condition of the region has become objects of films, creative arts, novels, poetry and documentaries all picturing the gaping paradox of a region so rich yet so impoverished the poignancy of the narratives are so impacting on a global scale that most writers and film producers have won awards for the power of their depictions of the environmental and infrastructural tragedy of the region.

    Read Also: One shot dead as police arrest suspected kidnappers of Ekiti pupils

    The Roundtable Conversation finds it apposite to recount a tiny bit of the NDDC story because of the rising demand and time given by the National Assembly to regional Development Commissions.  Following Boko Haram and other terrorist activities in the North East over the Years and given the continued devastation of the areas in question, there have been rising poverty, an increase in the number of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and other socio-economic fall outs. The North East Development Commission (NEDC) was established in 2017 to help mitigate the problems of the conflicts and insurgency in the region. The NEDC was supposed to almost replicate the mandate of the NDDC investing in the future of the region through environmental training programs for Northeast women and youths.  At some point during the administration of former President Mohammadu Buhari, he had instructed the World Bank and some other global agencies to direct their humanitarian programmes to the North Eastern region of the country. It remains to be seen whether the NEDC and other interventionist programmes have yielded the desired results for people.

    The Bill for the establishment of the South West and South East Development Commissions had seemingly past second reading. The Bill for the establishment of the North West development Commission passed first reading in the Senate two days ago. So as it stands today, only the North Central has no Development Commission Bill in the waiting but knowing the Nigerian system, it might not be too long in coming. But the question is, to what end?

    The 10th National Assembly is going the route of those before it. There seems to be no diligent Oversight functions on plethora of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).  Sadly too, the same Senate ‘screens’ nominees for these MDAs but somehow fail to be thorough before confirmation and to do thorough Oversight functions to keep both the appointees and the civil servants on their toes. May be the NDDC might have delivered satisfactorily on its mandate and other MDAs might be more accountable too.

    The ‘scramble for Development Commissions’ just for regional balance shows some form of  systemic failure. How have the National Assembly handled the  petitions and results of the public hearings they have organized? Are there conclusive investigations? A  thorough Oversight Function  by the two arms of the National Assembly ought to have nipped certain lack of transparency and alleged corruption cases in the bud.

    The` Roundtable Conversation spoke to Kalu Idika Kalu,  a member of the APC, former two-time finance minister,  of national planning and transportation minister, former Chairman, ECOWAS Council of Ministers, Chairman Development Committee of the World Bank with vast experiences about development paradigms  across continents. We asked him his views on the proliferation of regional Development Commissions and the value that can add to development. To him, while development Commissions are not a bad idea, the nation’s development structures are wobbly and totally ill-prepared for meaningful development. The first and crucial action is to address the structural inefficiencies first.

    The nation must apply due diligence and structural efficiency that ensures civil servants and indeed the leaderships at various levels are accountable. We must address the fundamentals, there must be structural and monetary policy efficiency for things to work well he insists. We must fix the center, monetary, fiscal, financial and management systems before things begin to work properly for development.  There must be proper cost-effectiveness and good financial analysis that have been proven functional in other jurisdictions.

    The creation of regional Development Commissions cannot function optimally if the structural defects are not sorted. Funny enough the same National assembly just passed a budget, where would the funding for the Commissions come from without good economic planning based on global models? One would have thought that the National Assembly understands the real essence of development. There are more to development plans that are far beyond setting up of development commissions. There must be a conscious effort to rejig the public service mentality.

    There must be a conscious effort to first make people understand the essence of development and the price the citizens must be ready to pay. Development Commissions do not function in a vacuum. The NDDC experience should have shown us that something is wrong with the system.  It should not really be about vague regional scramble for development commissions without a holistic national re-orientation of the human capital that will ultimately run the organizations.

    The Roundtable believes that the political immaturity being displayed by the legislators is an ill-wind that blows no one any good. The National Assembly is there for national duties being representatives of the people. While we agree that they are representing their regions and constituencies, their job is not to scramble in a wild goose chase style to establish regional development commissions just for flawed regional equity. Functionality must be the goal rather than mere optical satisfaction.

    It is just curious that the ‘race’ to sponsor bills for regional development commissions is not grounded in reality and achievable goals. The Senate has not done well in carrying out oversight functions that in the real sense would force MDAs to fill the development gaps that they seek through regional development commissions. There is no scarcity of MDAs to work to develop every region. What is lacking is the systemic efficiency of the human beings in public service. The National Assembly  has not acquitted itself satisfactorily through oversight functions on the Ministry of Niger delta Affairs,  the NDDC and many other MDAs. NDDC ought to stand as a successful model first before the wild goose chase for other regional development commissions.

    ●The dialogue Continues…

  • Chibok, Dapchi, Zamfara, Kaduna, Ekiti: Education at Crossroads

    Chibok, Dapchi, Zamfara, Kaduna, Ekiti: Education at Crossroads

    Nigeria has the highest number of out-of-school children globally at a whooping 20million and counting. This number is by far more than the population of most countries. In fact most countries in Sub-Saharan Africa are far less in population as some countries are even less than two million. A country like Israel is less than 11million. By implication, the number of out-of-school children in Nigeria can be said to make up the population of some countries.

    The sad statistics did not build up overnight, several administrations at both state and federal levels in Nigeria seem to have paid little or no attention to the value of education and the priority attention the sector deserves. The United Nations mandates countries to allocate at least 26% of their annual budgets to education. Nigeria seems to have never complied with this and education has often got less than 15% of its annual budgets.

    The value of education cannot be over-emphasized. In a world ruled by ideas, technology and innovation, illiteracy and its attendant fallouts would continue to keep any country at a huge disadvantage.  Nigeria is not insulated from the outcomes of a largely illiterate population. The country is equally the poverty capital of the world and that has very far-reaching implications. Unemployment is on two digits and invariably productivity is equally low.

    The high insecurity in the country has impacted the socio-economic life of the citizens. The most dangerous impact of insecurity in the country can be seen in the educational and agricultural sectors. These two sectors bear the greatest impact because of the value they add to any country’s overall development and wellbeing.

    The Roundtable Conversation has since the Chibok School girls abduction been observing the proliferation of the abduction of school children from across the country.  Some of the Chibok school girls are still in captivity. Leah Sharibu of the Yobe Dapchi School Girls abduction saga is still in captivity. Some Zamfara school girls were abducted a few years ago so were many in Katsina state. There are no news about the therapy and other medical help at their disposal of the rescued ones. 136 school children were abducted in Salisu Tanko Islamic school in Niger state. In 2023, several university students were abducted from some schools in Nasarawa state just like many were abducted from some schools in Kaduna and Kebbi states.

    As at August 2023, a whopping ,1,680 school children had been abducted from Nigerian schools since 2014 and just a few days ago, some school children and their teachers were abducted from their school bus in Ekiti state. This equally comes at a period the state was mourning the killing of two of their monarchs by yet to be apprehended gun men.

    School abductions seem to have become the new target for terrorists who are obviously doing that for the financial gains as almost in all cases of the abductions, ransoms are sought and often paid. The revelation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) that some religious houses had been discovered to be laundering money for terrorists should be better handled to burst the bubble.

    Nigeria endorsed the global School Safety Declaration (SSD) on 8 March 2018. Minimum Standards14 was approved by the National Council on Education in August 2021. The Safe Schools Declaration (SSD) is a global intergovernmental political commitment that provides countries with the opportunity to express support for protecting students, teachers, schools, and universities from attack in times of armed conflict.

    The Roundtable Conversation would want to see a situation where the governments at all levels take education more serious than is presently the case.  The UNICEF initiative is targeted at keeping school children safe and comfortable enough to be nurtured in the school environment. The implication of the unsafe learning environment is huge and a country with the huge problems of development and illiteracy like Nigeria cannot afford to wring its hands as bandits terrorize innocent children whose welfare should be the priority of the different tiers of government.

    It is very disappointing that despite the existence of free basic education in some states of the federation, Nigeria still has about 10.5million out-of-school children between the ages of 5-14. What this shows is that there are disincentives beyond financial constraints on parents. The implication of the free reign of terrorists and bandits since the Boko Haram days in the North East is that many parents would rather nurture illiterate children than send them to school to be kidnapped.

    We would want to see more state governors who are the state chief security officers do more to key into the Safe Schools Programme either through improved physical infrastructure and more pervasive re-orientation that can be as reassuring as there are evidence to assure them of the security of their children in schools around them. It is heartbreaking to see how helpless children are as they seek education which is part of the rights that ought to be guaranteed by the state.

    Governments at the local, state and federal levels must work together to improve the general security situation in the country with a view to making education of children who by the way are the leaders of tomorrow a priority. Having a generation of illiterate or half-educated children in a 21st century world can only spell doom for a country almost on its knees socio-economically.

    The recent spate of kidnappings across the country is almost making it look like non-state actors are having an upper hand given that it looks like a thriving industry as desperate parents scramble around to source for the ransom money always demanded by the terrorists. The payment of ransom is a sign of helplessness and despite governments across the world claiming they cannot negotiate with terrorists or succumb to payment of ransom, the case is not always in black and white as most parents in third world countries like Nigeria often feel powerless relying on the state to protect and or rescue victims. The fact that some of the Chibok girls and Leah Sharibu are still with their abductors is a daily reminder that he who wears the shoe knows where it pinches. No parent who can would refuse to pay ransom to rescue their kids knowing that the state might not do the magic for them and their children literally.

    The I,680 school children plus the recent Ekiti school children that were abducted recently is a huge number to have been abducted since 2014. Nigerian education authorities must do more to protect every citizen and remove power from the non-state actors. The huge implications of increasing illiteracy especially in the regions of the country almost with an unacceptable number of illiterates are a ticking time bomb.

    Read Also: Chibok leaders call for security outposts

    In a country with weak border controls and poorly implemented immigration policies, surrounded by countries with increasing number of insurgents and terrorists, Nigeria might just be a supply ground for the increasing number of bandits, kidnappers and terrorists. The illiterate and dispossessed are very susceptible to mental manipulations.

    Nigerian Governors’ Forum must move from their natural inclination for self-preservation to use their power to find urgent solutions to the security of children in schools. There should be regional cooperative efforts to stem the tide. The political border creations must be blurred for regional solidarity. Sokoto, Kebbi, Kastina, Jigawa, Kano and Kaduna governors and traditional and religious leaders must collaborate to fight the scourge in ways that other regional blocs can copy too.

    The Nigerian political space must shrink its old ways to create collaborative efforts that can help secure the citizens. It is not enough to seek votes and to mouth promises during campaigns. The real leadership can only be experienced by citizens whose main need is security that seems largely absent. 

    The political elite in Nigeria must redeem themselves given that most of them all grew up in a different Nigeria which even though far from perfection  was relatively safe for children. The leaders own the children the freedom to be alive and to get education in the safest environment that would imbue them with a sense of patriotism that in turn guarantees productivity.

    The Nigerian political class should and must realize the value of investing in the future as their legacy given that they have all benefitted from the nation that protected them through school no matter their level till they acquired the political power which ought to be a position of service and giving back. It is quite ironic that most of the political leaders who were not only protected by the state but enjoyed huge educational scholarships in most stages of their education career.

    The Roundtable Conversation believes that security must be prioritized for all other things to thrive. Insecurity especially that that hits the core or a nation – its children. Every leader at any level must prioritize the welfare of the children. The value of any nation is gleaned from the nurture and security of its children. There must be a state of emergency declared for general  security as the sine qua non to development.  Non-state actors must be placed where they belong, for now, they seem to be wielding a scary power but our belief is that a change can decisively be initiated to stem the tide and secure the nation. Education is the most liberating and humanizing programme in the world.

    • The dialogue continues… 
  • That Rwandan retreat by Nigerian governors

    That Rwandan retreat by Nigerian governors

    The United Nations (UN) through its many agencies continues to play very significant roles in global development. It does seem that developing nations get the lion share of the global interventions. Whether the developing nations maximally utilize the grants, research and information from UN agencies depends on the various tiers of leadership in such countries. Every individual is a global citizen but each country through its governance structures determine what steps they must take in addition to the contributions from UN and other development agencies in the world.

    Nigeria has over the years benefitted in no small measure from UN interventions through UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF, UN Women,  UNESCO, MDGs and other agencies. These holistic interventions have great impacts on the different human demographics and institutions of state. However, the impact of the interventions depends so much on the human factor buried in the leadership and the people.

    The leaders in the various tiers of government have their constitutional roles in governance and articulation of policies and their near-perfect executions determine which countries develop and which ones would temporarily or permanently bear the ‘developing’ or third world tags. The UN agency interventions cover all strata of society from conception, childhood, school age, adolescents, youth, men and women and even immigrants and refugees. The role of the leaderships and government institutions in the success or failure of UN interventions often depends on the vision and mission of the various leaders in the society.

    The Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) recently attended a UNDP Executive Leadership three-day retreat in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda. Of the 36 governors in Nigeria, 15 and three deputy governors attended.  According to the UNDP, the purpose was to avail  them the opportunity to, “re-imagine Nigeria’s leadership to achieve transformation and nationwide sustainable development”.

    The governor of Anambra state, Prof. Charles Soludo in a TV interview after the retreat was asked how much his government spent on the trip given the paucity of funds affecting the country. He claimed that he only travelled with one aide and that he just walked into the aircraft and went to Rwanda and came back. He did not overtly say that the trip was an all-expenses paid trip by UNDP but he went ahead to say that the only possibility of any money spent by some of the attendees might have been at the Rwandan Genocide Memorial where the management urged any of their visitors that wanted to drop any token as they depend on the goodwill of visitors to run the memorial building to run the project.

    From investigations, the choice of Rwanda was deliberate. The country has become an investment and tourism hub in Africa. It has started attracting the attention of a world that appreciates order and progress. The second reason even if laughable was the fact that the country is far from home and would enable the governors to be focused and face the process with possibly zero distractions. Really?

     It would offer them a sample of how far Rwanda seems to have come since the 1994 genocide that claimed the lives of close to a million Rwandans from a senseless war sparked off  by the instigated tribal bigotry that possibly had its origin from the colonial era. The physiological ‘differences’ between the Hutus and the Tutsis were allegedly highlighted by the colonialists in their divide-and-rule game and taken up by subsequent political elite.

    The Roundtable Conversation finds the retreat and the venue very apt. Even if the governments of each state picked the bill, it is still worth every dime. Nigerian leaders need to be in Rwanda. It is a joy of every African to notice how the world has been gravitating towards Rwanda simply because the leadership has worked for the people using the best development input in the world – the people of Rwanda. There was a deliberate effort by the President Paul Kagame-led leadership to reposition the country using the best of its citizens.

    He banished the tribal bigotry that led to the devastating war in the first place. He made the citizens realize that no one or country can make Rwanda functional except the citizens. He closed down many churches that had hitherto distracted the people with false narratives. He mandated everyone who desired to open a church to go get a theology degree and apply for license. That was a masterstroke in a continent where  some shady individuals have been validating the words of the iconic Karl Marx that, “Religion is the Opium of the Masses”. Africa has more religious houses than industries and the people are some of the poorest and least developed of all continents.

    In Nigeria, politicians are notorious for profiting from the exaggerated religiosity of the people.  Most of the governors at the retreat and those that  were absent use religion as a divisive tool. It is good they went to see Rwanda after President Paul Kagame tried to streamline issues about religion. Most of those governors during the electioneering campaigns tried to influence the choice of the people with even intra-religious sects/enominations and it did not matter if they are Christians or Muslims. In states where the population is almost 99% Christians, politicians often exploit denominations and set the people against each other.

    The Nigerian governors are part of the political class that exploits tribal differences to set the people against each other.  The last elections in Nigeria had most of the violence instigated by tribal bigotry on all sides but it was quite bloody in some states and lives were even lost. This form of bigotry has set the country on edge and even after the elections, the wounds are yet to heal. The citizens seem to be remarkably polarized along ethnic/religious lines due to political intrigues and horse-trading. The Rwandan Genocide Memorial should be imprinted in the psyche of those governors that attended.

    The Nigerian political class revels in exclusion at all levels, women, youth, rural communities etc. do not often get full representation.

    Rwanda has the highest number of women parliamentarians in the world at more than 61%. Understandable as the circumstances are, Nigerian political space in contrast has one of the world’s least gender/youth inclusion. There is no female governor in Nigeria. Even though women like late Margaret Ekpo, Gambo Sawaba and Funmilayo Ransom Kuti and other remarkable women are known for their roles in the fight for the country’s independence, there is only reference to Nigeria’s ‘Founding Fathers’.

    The gender exclusion in Nigerian political space has dire consequences on the development of the country. Most governors have fewer than three women in their cabinet. Some states have no women in the Houses of Assembly, the legislative houses that make laws that affect women and others.  The country has 133million people living in multi-dimensional poverty and 4million was added in the first quarter of 2023. More than half of the poor and disposed are women.

    Read Also: JUST IN: Senate denies receiving rice worth N200m as palliatives

    The governors might attempt some puerile defense of the gender inequity as not being wholly their fault but we also know that they all belong to different political parties and in Nigeria, governors through their Governors’ Forum, regional governors’ forum and other self-preservation associations wield tremendous influences in their political parties so they all have the capacity to change the narrative but might never due to selfish interests. It is good they saw the difference women in leadership can bring to a country.

    The governors met President Paul Kagame, they interacted with him and the hope is that they might have been humbled by his stellar achievements in leadership. Say what anyone will, he might not be perfect being human but he is today the global leadership icon coming from Africa. The Rwandan economy speaks to a global investment/tourism  community. He is not one to bend to neo-imperialism that most African leaders at all levels have seen to be suffering from.

    The sense of leadership of the president is as productive as it is admirable. For a country with fewer natural resources than some states in Nigeria, it is amazing how much he has invested and developed human capital.  While most educated and talented young people are leaving Nigeria in their millions for greener pastures even in some other African countries in the now infamous ‘jakpa’ syndrome, graduates and skilled Rwandan youths eagerly return to Rwanda after their education from anywhere in the world.

    Did the governors find out why the young people are so eager to work for their country? The leadership of Rwanda understands the value of human capital to development. Nigeria has more than 20million out-of-school children, in a global environment where ideas and technology uplift countries, how many of the governors understand the value of education? How many are investing in the children of their states through basic education programmes?

    Rwandan Air is helping Rwanda tell the world of the viable economy through aviation. Did the Akwa Ibom state governor attend to tap from this idea so as to grow Ibom Air that seems to be doing well locally? Aviation is a global business and given the place of Akwa Ibom in the Nigerian oil sector, investing in aviation by learning from Rwanda won’t be a bad idea.

    Nigerian political class love summits, conference, talk-shops and retreats. The problem is that the time and money invested in such verbal jamborees often have nothing to show in practical terms. It seems that many people in the Nigerian political sphere care less about patriotism and leadership excellence rooted in well-thought out policies that are achievable through better planning.  The Roundtable Conversation is waiting to document the achievements of the governors realizing that UNDP and the world are watching.

    ●The dialogue continues…

  • Christmas: Yesterday and today

    Christmas: Yesterday and today

    Today is Christmas, a regular day but a day with global import and impact, a globally unifying day and season. Somehow the day defies creed or race and is celebrated across cultures. It comes like a sign off of each year, the time to take stock, to let heads down, to bond with families and friends, a seeming unity in the global space, if you are not consuming, you are producing for those who consume. There is colour and beauty, a somewhat synergy between nature and man.

    Each growing human across the globe grows along the celebration and ambience of unity, bonding and sharing. In a world that politicians and some religious leaders use some divisive rhetoric for non-altruistic reasons, the celebration of Christmas seemingly disarms them even if momentarily. There is even the belief that crime and criminal activities are often at their lowest during the month of December because even the criminals and social misfits join in the celebrations.

    The Roundtable Conversation tried to dig into the significance and change in the celebration in a Nigerian context and decided to have a chat with some veterans who have celebrated a couple of Christmases to find out what Christmas meant before and whether there is a difference with what they experienced and the recent Christmases they have been blessed to live through.

    Prof. Adebayo  Williams is a scholar,  author and a veteran journalist who remembers his past Christmases with absolute nostalgia. Growing up, December to generation signified hope and not just the hope of eating rice which was not a staple food then even when it was even locally produced, Christmas was one of possibly the third time of the year that rice was joyously eaten in households that could afford it.  New Year, Easter and Christmas were the golden days  rice was joyously eaten with equally locally raised animals and birds like chicken.

    To him, was also purposeful governance then and that is missing all over the country today. So there were  always things to look up to with great enthusiasm and expectations. Then December truly marked the end of the academic year and those who did well and going to the next class were always in a joyous mood as they are often rewarded with gifts no matter how small while those who did not do so well took stock and learnt their lessons and took the failure as motivation to do better in future academic sessions.

    We also had a situation of no ethnic division at all and as such Christmas was a time of bonding beyond families in spite of differences in religion and ethnicity. Families shared their food and drinks with anyone in the neighbourhood irrespective of any social  or creed differences.  There were  no ethnic or religious polarizations unlike what obtains now.

    According to the Prof., possibly due to age or something he can’t possibly put his fingers on, it does not really feel like the Christmas they grew up anticipating and joyous to experience. He suggests it could be a result of the erosion of religious faith caused principally by enveloping materialism and the sheer brigandage of certain sections of the church as a body. They seem to have, through their actions caused people to lose hope and belief in the whole idea of Christmas.

    So the change in the idea of celebrations and Christmas is due to a combination of a lot of things most of them having great multiplier effects on the permeating tragedy and the mood of hopelessness.  Again the difference we the older generation seem to see could be tied to demographics. The younger ones seem not to miss what they never experienced.  A lot of the younger ones still look forward to Christmas. It could be that the older generation are more focused on what once were he thinks.

    In those days though, December marked the massive influx of holiday makers across the country. Then there were real unity schools and people were not afraid to send their children across states to study. There was order and there were expectations in the society of that period of bonding. It did seem that the social bonding was stronger then as even the cooking were shared experiences and sharing was seamlessly done. These days, that social bonding seems to have evaporated as fear and mutual suspicion reign supreme.

    As one who did the National Youth Service in the Eastern part of the country, coming home to Lagos for Christmas was pure joy as there was no fear of any form of insecurity at the time. It was joy to soak in the Christmassy ambience as the people trouped home from across the country creating a seeming carnival-like atmosphere  even on the roads with different banners announcing different events and social engagements.

    There was joy in observing the communities bubbling with festive spectacles with huge banners hung across the roads heralding the great funfair that comes with the season. Prof. vividly remembers his almost  exhilarating trips from Okigwe to Onitsha in the East and the joyous expressive expectations and hope seen as they journeyed to Lagos . It was awesome experiencing what looked like organic communities  in festivity.

    Even the climate had not suffered so much global warming as the harmattan weather provided the best cooling environment for some beer and palm wine as one journeyed across the land. One did not need to refrigerate beer.  It is sad but Prof believes that the change in the Christmas aura seems to be a global issue despite the unfortunate impact of covid-19. To some extent, there is a drift away from the belief in Christmas as people seem to care less about the reason for the season. To Prof., there may still be hope that the good times will be back but humanity must actively work towards that.

    Veteran actress, journalist, cosmetologist, broadcaster and the matriarch of Nigerian entertainment industry, Taiwo Ajai-Lycett believes that Christmas is now  like any other day of the year and merely signifies the end of the year. It is a joyous period to know that one has gone through the year. However, she believes a lot has changed and the camaraderie that existed during this period seems to have disappeared. The insecurity in the land has robbed people of the freedom to joyously bond and share joy. A marked difference from the past she grew up in. The social ills like kidnapping, bombings and sundry crimes were almost non-existent when she was growing up and as such, the joy, the friendliness, the freedom to bond and have a laugh within communities are all gone.

    When we were growing up, there were things associated with Christmas, the camaraderie, the new clothes and shoes that were only bought for kids at Christmas were enough to create great expectations. The street celebrations that brought forth artistic displays like singing and dancing that lifted spiritsand taught lessons are all gone. Everybody is quiet and keeping their heads down. There is paucity of funds and very few people care for their neighbor these days.

    There are too many ostentatious spenders, consumerists who just enjoy themselves without caring what happens to other people these days. In Lagos for instance, those living in highbrow areas like Banana Island and Ajah seem to mind their own comfort without knowing or caring what is happening to the masses in their neighborhoods.  So Christmas is not what it used to be but on a personal level she tries to share what  with neighbors because that is what she grew up doing and expect others to care a bit about others too. That is what Christmas is about.

    Doing what I do is my idea of carrying on with the tradition which is sharing with your neighbours. I love the old tradition of the Easterners travelling to the East to be with their communities to celebrate Christmas and New Year . It is sad that people due to the economic hardships have little for themselves this year and it does not help that Covid-19 threw spanner in the works in the past eighteen months. Many people are ill, dead or dying and some with the new Omicron virus.

    It is not a happy period in the world generally but we must not lose hope. The governments especially in Africa must help the people. We must be thankful for our lives but governments must be proactive.

    Taiwo Ajai-Lycett believes all hope is not lost. Governments to her must rebuild the hope of the people by being more deliberate in their policy formulations and executions in ways that the people would have better hope and experience more joy some of which gets to its zenith during the Christmas season. She believes that as humans we must do our best to create and nurture hope.

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    To her, security of lives and property inspires hope and would return the good old Christmas spirit that inspired family and community bonding that makes it safer to relate and bond as community. The onus is on the government to inspire hope not just through speeches but through concrete functional actions.  The people seem helpless and the government can and must stick their fingers out to fix the security situation. Declaring public holidays for festivities is good but it is better to create a functional system that can make the holidays valuable too.

    The Roundtable Conversation believes that these two veterans have shared valuable wisdom on the great changes about Christmas celebrations before and now. It behooves of the governments at all levels to help the people regain that sense of hope and joy that the season brings. It has nothing to do with creed or race. Peace and progress happen when the people joyously have look up to tomorrow. The increased cases of depression and suicide especially amongst the most productive sector of the economy are traceable to the erosion of hope and expectations of a joyous tomorrow in general. Happy Christmas dear Readers.

  • Executive/Legislative independence: Truth or farce?

    Executive/Legislative independence: Truth or farce?

    “There can be no liberty where the legislative and executive powers are united in the same person or body”.

    -James Madison (father of America’s constitution).

    Democracy seems to be admired as a system of government because ideally it is a government of the people by the people and for the people. Elections seem to be the pillar of democracy because it is the process through which the people choose their leaders and the expectations are that each elected candidate is a deliberate choice of the people who might have considered certain variables before voting. This is why voting at elections is considered a civic duty of citizens. In some countries, voting during elections is made compulsory and failure to do so punishable.

    Only two arms of government, the executive and the legislature are the elected representatives of the people and their loyalty ought to be to the people. In Nigeria sadly, the political system is different and as such there is a flawed type of democracy and with this comes a myriad of other problems. When the loyalty of the elected is not to the people, there is a dysfunction that adversely affects the people.

    Nigeria claims to practice the American brand of democracy on paper but the structural practice seems to be purely ‘homegrown’ in ways that had stunted the growth of democracy. The political party structure is so dysfunctional that it affects the whole system. The political parties are not run in ways that the administration is properly structured to deliver politically viable processes. The financing of the political parties is often left to those who have the money and because he who pays the piper dictates the tune, there are often influences that impede the democratic processes.

    The Roundtable Conversation believes that there must be a restructuring of political party administration in ways that the financing of the parties would fall on the public and members of the political parties and donation of campaign funds strictly regulated. This brings accountability because stakeholders become the gatekeepers. The idea that ‘party chieftains’ fund political parties makes the parties vulnerable in ways that affect the whole political process.

    The Nigerian post-independence military incursions into governance seem to have negatively impacted the democracy practiced in the country. The authoritarian nature of the military, the lack of accountability in governance, the command and control structure seem to have damaged the foundation of Nigerian democracy and the impact continues even after more than two decades of  civilian democracy.

    The military after every coup first suspends the legislature and rule by decrees. This process seems to have weakened the legislature even as the country has practiced uninterrupted civilian democracy since 1999. The executive in Nigeria seems to have ‘inherited’ the military style of looking down on the legislative arm of government and this has been the case since 1999. The governors seem to wield too much power that it appears they control the legislature at all levels,

    Nothing since 1999 so eloquently points to this than the description of the 9th senate led by former senate president, Ahmad Lawan as a ‘rubber stamp’ assembly. These two words define the trust deficit the people felt about the 9th assembly. There was a feeling amongst the people that the 9th senate was not as independent as they ought to have been and in being so flouted the basic democratic principle that all elected people must maintain the separation of powers for democracy to really live up to its tag as a government of the people.

    The Roundtable Conversation has always maintained that there must be a general overhaul of the system if Nigeria can make progress. The political elite must make deliberate efforts to be self-cleansing. The independence of the three arms of government is sine qua non to development. Those who fashioned the democratic system understood that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. The three arms of government are supposed to be independent and act as each other’s watchdog on behalf of the people.

    Somehow, the executive over the years has acted as monarchy at different levels. The governors in Nigeria wield so much power that they often determine who gets elected to the to the state houses of assembly, local government chairmen,  the national assembly and who gets to be nominated as minister and other federal appointments in the spirit of federal character. They muscle their ways through the political space and do some undemocratic things.

    But it is curiously the norm in Nigeria that the executive often behave as though the legislators are only accountable to them. Sometimes when analysts point out the aberration, the politicians claim party loyalty or in some cases, executive/legislative harmony. The people however often see through the façade and try to call them out but more often than not nothing happens as self-interest often trumps patriotism with politicians.

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    It is against this backdrop that what is happening in Rivers state should worry Nigerians. The no-love-lost between the former governor of Rivers state, now minister of the federal capital territory, Nyesom Wike and his anointed successor governor, Sim Fubara and the factionalized legislators come to the fore. Wike was a very ‘strong’ governor and an influential politician in his own right. His two term as governor of Rivers cannot be forgotten in a hurry and no Nigerian dreamt that there would be a fallout between him and his successor so early in the day.

    The Rivers state house of assembly had a few week ago experienced a series of chaotic events, first was an alleged attempt to impeach the new governor, then an arson attack on the building, then the struggle over speakership, then decamping of about 27 members of the house of assembly from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressive Congress (APC) party. Then just yesterday, the state government allegedly  demolished  the state house of assembly building claiming it was due to a professional advise owing to the previous arson attack on the building.

    The two factional speakers of the house both claim to have a court judgment supporting their speakership, one from a federal high court and another from a state high court. There seems to be a judicial cull de sac at the moment. The governor  however present the 2024 budget to the few legislators supporting him in a venue different from where the decamped legislators sat. There seems to be total confusion in Rivers state.

    The question the Roundtable Conversation is asking however is, in this whole chaotic situation in Rivers state, how are the people being served? How does the fight between the two elephants, the former governor and his successor serve the interest of the people of Rivers? Both the legislators alleged to be loyal to the former governor and those loyal to the new governor are representatives of the people. How does the muscle-flexing fit into their legislative functions?

    These and other questions are hanging because there are fundamentals we seem to forget. This chaotic state of affairs is rooted in the type of democracy we have been practicing since 1999. How is it that we are talking of ‘legislators loyal to one personality or the other’? In other climes, elected individuals are accountable to the people and in the case of legislators ether at the state or federal levels, to their immediate constituencies with loyalty to party principles. Legislators hold regular town halls to give accounts to the people. It rarely happens in Nigeria.

    There are basic questions to ask, how is it that the executive elected by the people are not accountable to them? How do governors exercise so much power over the legislature at state and federal levels? Why do governors literally ‘install’ their successors across the nation and in most cases of incompetence goes from a predecessor to a successor and the people suffer the consequences.

    Nigerian democracy must be re-evaluated by all stakeholders if progress is to be made. The different arms of democracy must maintain their traditional roles for a cohesively functional governance to happen.  Power must not be abused by the executive and the legislators must understand that they are an independent arm meant to represent the interest of the people not themselves.

    If Nigeria has chosen the democratic system of government, they must be prepared to obey the tenets laid down for functional democracies. We could pretend  that we can ‘domesticate’ our brand of democracy by infusing our own traditional nuances but obviously they are not working. The country since 1999 has been struggling and is now the poverty capital of the world with 133million living in multi-dimensional poverty and more than 20 million out of school children with dilapidated infrastructure fueling insecurity and unemployment.

    Nigerian political class must not play the ostrich. The problem in Rivers has precedents and they were not tackled and here we are with the mess in Rivers. Each country with a functional democracy got there by working the ropes and obeying the democratic rules. The political elite must realize that destruction of the values of democracy in the name of ego and selfish interests is an ill-wind that blows anyone any good.

    There must be some efforts at returning the democracy to its original form where the people have the power to hire and fire. The era of imposition should be over and there must be a deliberate attempt to curtail the excesses of the executive and to get the legislature and judiciary to be functional. There must be an effort to restructure the political party system for positive outcomes. What the country presently practices cannot develop the country.

  • Governors vs deputies: Democracy or autocracy?

    Governors vs deputies: Democracy or autocracy?

    Nigerian democracy since 1999 has been an interesting cocktail. There have been some developments but yet there have been some serious challenges too. The political party structure in the country has not seen a very remarkable progressive change. This has made it very viable for politicians who push the rhetoric of ‘no permanent friends or permanent enemies’ as reason they oscillate from one political party to the other depending on where their interests are better served and the permissiveness shown in upholding any principles.

    The Nigerian political party system ought to be restructured to function for the democratic process in ways that the political parties are driven by ideological convictions that would encourage membership based on principles being pushed by the political parties. It is very funny how in matters that would benefit some politicians, they cite examples of United Kingdom and the United States of America with two major political parties, the Tories democratic and Labour and the Republican and Democratic parties respectively as models.

    The political party structure in these two viable democracies has made it possible for the countries to have a functional and sustainable democracy.  An adherence to the rule of law and the constitution keeps every political actor on track in ways that every politician is held accountable.

    Conversely though, the Nigerian democracy seems a bit directionless given the wobbly nature of political parties and their systemic lack of accountability with their members. As late Chuba Okadigbo, a political scientist and lecturer once said in an interview, Nigeria does not really have political parties, what they have is a gathering of people who seek their political interests. This might be a bit of an exaggeration but in it is some sense the perception of an insider-player at the time. Not much has changed years after his death.

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    The Roundtable Conversation has over the years expressed concern over the constant rift between Nigerian Presidents and their Vice Presidents and some governors and their deputies. The rift between former President Obasanjo and his former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar was so tense that OBJ at the time allegedly had to kneel to beg him. On the reverse side, Atiku Abubakar allegedly tried at some point to use the governors to upstage his boss at the time. The fight doesn’t seem to have abated. Former President Muhammadu Buhari and Prof. Yemi Osibanjo had their own differences even though most alleged crisis was credited to the infamous ‘cabal’ at Aso Rock. Nevertheless, the rift earned the nation some development  setbacks.

    The Roundtable Conversation has watched the conflicts between Nigerian governors and their deputies since the return of democracy in 1999 till date and concluded that Nigerians seem to miss the point when they focus all their attention on the presidency, important and powerful as the office is. Governors in Nigeria almost operate as imperial rulers.

    The litany of quarrels between governors and their deputies are legion. From the South East, former governor Orji Uzor Kalu was at daggers drawn with his former deputy now Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe. Rochas Okorocha quarreled with two of his deputies, Jude Agbaso and Eze Madumere. From the North West, we had former governor, now APC chairman, Abdullahi  Ganduje and his deputy Prof. Hafiz Abubakar, From South South, former governor Victor Attah and Chris Ekpenyong, From South West, Ayodele fayose and Abiodun Aluko, Olusegun Mimiko and Ali Olanusi, Again from North West, Isa Yuguda and Garba Gadi.

    Today, Edo state governor, Godwin Obaseki and his deputy Philip Shuaibu have made headlines. Ondo state governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu and his deputy, Lucky Aiyedatiwa have been in the media for long, each being projected by their supporters as the victim or villain. In all these, the people bear the brunt and development suffers. Nigeria is the poverty capital of the world for a reason. The people seem not to hold their governors to account. Governors operate with so much power and they revel in the euphoria that Nigerians only point to the presidency for the failure of leadership.

    The Roundtable Conversation sought the views of former Senator Grace Folashade Bent on ways to mitigate the perennial conflicts between governors and their deputies. To her, these aberrations further highlight the defective nature of our constitution. The constitution did not really define clearly the duties and roles of Vice Presidents and deputy governors. Then you have sycophants around the corridors of power who stoke embers of hatred. This seems to be their only way they survive as that gives them some relevance.

    Most of the political jobbers feed their principals with false narratives just so they remain relevant. On the other hand, the governors often seem very undiscerning. They often fall to the antics of political hangers on. They buy the narratives hook, line and sinker with little emotional intelligence. Again the state houses of assembly members seem not to know their roles in ensuring good governance. They often take sides and allow themselves to be used as puns on the chessboard of politics. The conspiracy theories around the corridors of power increases the chances of divisive political actors.

    To her, the constitution seems defective and we must do enough to correct this and clelearly define roles. The houses of assembly should start doing their jobs and stop taking sides for purely political gains. Their interest must be good governance and strictly playing their constitutional roles. To Senator Bent, the legislative arm is very relevant in democracy and people elected at that level must be serious enough to understand that their roles are defined and they are not mere appendages to the executive.  A constitutional review can solve this problem of Vice presidents and deputy governors and their principals. The legislature at both state and federal levels can hold presidents and governors accountable in ways they become more loyal to the constitution. This is the system that works in functional democracies she insists.

    Dr. Constance Ikokwu, a veteran journalist, political analyst and deep thinker believes that we just have to obey the law. There are no ambiguities in the law that states that when a president or governor is incapacitated, the Vice President of deputy governor should take over. On the other hand, the law also provides that if a president or a governor decides to disobey the law, the legislature at either the federal of state level should impeach him or her. However, the sad part is that somehow in Nigeria, the legislators often do not understand their duties in the constitution and that is exactly why the governors continue to operate with imperial mindset.

    It can be challenging when the legislative arm do not understand their roles ab initio. Again we have to review the constitution and clearly delineate the roles of deputy governors in our democracy. For now, the deputies almost depend on the governors to tell them what to do in a way that feels like they exist at the mercy of governors. The governors often exercise too much powers and that is possibly why their positions are coveted. They appear too tyrannical at some point. They often go above and beyond to exercise those powers and in the process, their deputies become the collateral damages of a system that created them in the first place.

    To Dr. Ikokwu, the structure of Nigerian political parties becomes very worrisome when these governor/deputy issues come up. In the first place, the two are representing a particular political party flawed as they might be. People would expect that the political parties ought to step in when the interpersonal conflicts between the governor and his deputy becomes too disruptive of governance and distracts both the two and the people. The chairmen of political parties should be more concerned.  One thinks the internal conflicts should be resolved by the party executive under the chairman of any party in question.

    Again, she feels that it might help that governors and deputies understand themselves better before collaborating and not  just to win an election. That way, the two would be in a better position to work together. In cases where the governors deviate from pre-election agreements or begin to be too tyrannical, a deputy governor can work away and not behave like they are both in a boxing ring.

    Again, Ikokwu believes that the Nigerians seem to focus on the presidency and ignore governors who often behave like emperors. The governors often have a lot of funds and powers at their disposal and as such have the tendency to be corrupted such absolute powers. She believes that the people must begin to understand that governors have roles beyond the titles. They ought to be held accountable by the people.

    Ikokwu recommends that  more attention from the people, civil society groups and all other agencies of good governance will put more pressure on governors to be more responsible. Civil Society groups must decentralize their operations from Abuja, Lagos and Port Harcourt and spread across the states to sensitize the people about the roles of governors across Nigeria. The klieg lights must be on the governors so they can shift some attention from the presidency to the states for a more functional country. A lot of the governors take the people for granted.

    The Roundtable Conversation believes that democracy cannot function optimally if elected persons continue to bring personal nuances to leadership positions. The dysfunctional system surreptitiously gives energy to governors in Nigeria not to be totally accountable. More often than not, they even hold the presidents to ransom stalling some development projects and policies.

    Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala in her book, “Fighting Corruption is Dangerous” gave a peek into the abuse of power by governors who manipulated the Governors’ Forum then chaired by Rotimi Amaechi  to subvert her efforts as the then Finance and the Coordinating minister of the economy. The effects still reverberates today with the level of poverty in Nigeria. Action must be taken to reverse this ugly trend. Governance is not a personal fiefdom.

  • When the ministers are evaluated…

    When the ministers are evaluated…

    Nigerian democracy is fashioned after that of the United states but then there are differences in the actual practice of the system owing to a variety of factors most of which are rooted in culture and other social and political nuances.  Sometimes, political analysts seem to debate whether really the Nigerian democracy is more like the American model or very different. The basic structure of the two systems seems somewhat similar. The presidential structure and the two arms of the legislature are quite structurally similar but functionally different.

    The functionality of most democratic systems is dependent on the decision of the people to adopt systems that work for the interest of everyone. The focus of democracy is the people. Every action of the elected must be to advance the welfare of the people. Failure of any system of government to work for the people breeds contempt for the leadership irrespective of the continent.  Governments exist to cater for the welfare of the people. When this one role is neglected, anarchy often sets in in different forms.

    Nigeria’s return to civilian democracy in 1999 has undergone several metamorphoses. There have been challenges in leadership at all levels but progress is being made in certain areas but the fact that there are a huge number of citizens living in multi-dimensional poverty begs the question, what dividends have the people gotten from successive administrations in the Nigeria political space?

    Sadly, there is a somewhat flawed focus on the presidency as the magic wand of development and somehow the people ignore the roles of every elected individual from the ward, state to the national assembly and even the appointees at all levels of governance especially the federal ministers. Most of the state and federal appointees are often not held accountable. Ministers and commissioners are screened by the state houses of assembly and the senate before their inauguration but more often than not, it is mere perfunctory function as some mundane considerations often overshadow need for due diligence in screening individuals nominated by either governors or the executive.  This sometimes is the beginning of the failure to deliver by teams in the executive. Competence, experience and track record of performance either as private or public operators are often taken for granted.

    In a country with much divided political sphere, there is a subtle sense of monopoly that winners seem to take it all.  So most times the winning party often tends to insist on appointing its ‘loyal’ members or even in some cases, some campaign sponsors or their cronies to positions they sometimes are not very qualified to handle effectively.  While reward for party loyalty is not a crime, functionality ought to be the deciding factor for appointments in climes where political actors are held to account.

    In the last eight years, a lot happened both positively and negatively but the bottom-line is that the country has 133million people living in multi-dimensional poverty with an additional 4million in the first quarter of 2023 in addition to more than 20million out of school children. The insecurity level in the country has never been this high. There are dilapidated infrastructure, high under-five malnutrition, high child and maternal mortality and a general  decline in the healthcare sector among other evelopment problems.

    It is pertinent to recall that there were ministers and heads of agencies and parastatals that were in charge of the ministries and they had huge allocations that they defended in the national assembly for the budget appropriation committees. What oversight functions did those ministries get? How many ministers were held to account? How many where sacked for incompetence? How many did the political party leadership call to order?

    Accountability in leadership is the foundation of good democracy dividends which ultimately adds up to development.  Development happens when there is a conscious and deliberate effort to work for it to happen. Given the history of Nigerian democracy since 1999, there was Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as the coordinating minister of the economy but this administration is the first to appoint a Special Adviser on Policy and Coordination of the ministries. Hadiza Bala Usman, the former Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) had been appointed by President Tinubu after his inauguration.

    Many watchers of the Nigerian economy welcomed the appointment of Hadiza for this role because that might help in putting all the ministers on their toes. The President himself had during a recent retreat titled, “Delivering on the Renewed Hope Agenda” organized for ministers, presidential aides, permanent secretaries and other top government functionaries  issued the warning, “…you will sign a bond (of performance) with me, if you are performing, nothing to fear, if you miss the objective, if you don’t perform, you leave us We must take 50million people out of poverty”. The President said that the bond would be reviewed periodically.

    This administration  has the highest number of ministers at 48 and as such the expectations on the administration is very high and the hope is that each one of them would perform to expectations of both the president, the people and the larger global community in a world so interlinked every action in one end of the world reverberates in another geographic setting.

    The Roundtable Conversation believes that this present circumstance is welcome as the individuals now realize that there is a gatekeeper who has been charged to take stock of their performances and report to the president. The implications of non-performance are dire. They had all signed the ‘performance bond’ and must remember that the die is cast.

    It is however very intriguing to watch the actions of a few of the ministers in the last few months. The exaggerated post-inauguration celebrations seem to have faded into the times and the people are eager to count the gains.  When a minister is performing, the people would be the recipient of the good works because the works they do can be evaluated not just by the Hadiza-led agency but by the people who can do the evaluation of both the tangibles and the intangibles all of which contribute to the welfare or lack of same for the people.

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    The Roundtable Conversation like many Nigerians across the world has been watching the ministers, aides and all the appointees of the administration as they struggle to live up to their performance bonds.  Some are quite regular in the media, some are speaking through their aides about their plans and programmes of action and it becomes very interesting to watch but a bit difficult to understand. While it is good to give the public information about their plans, narratives in the media does not replace real performance deliverables.

    The Minister of Interior, Hon. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, seems to have started on a good note but not too loquacious over his admirable first steps to revamp the ministry. There are reports that the perennial problems with international passport issuance seems to be easing off based on his intervention. A few days ago, he flagged off the Correctional Center Decongestion, a project that has been on the list of Civil rights and Justice advocates in Nigeria and outside Nigeria. He has equally flagged off the release of 4068 of the 80,804 inmates  in the 253 Correctional facilities nationwide.

    His ministry has opened the first phase of E-passport offices that will reduce processing delays in Europe. The Minister has been silently working in ways that has not been very common in the past few years. The Minister seems to have brought a youthful energy and ICT knowledge to the ministry. It might not be uhuru yet for the ministry but the morning seems to show the day.

    On the contrary, the Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Uju Kennedy- Ohanenye, has been quite in the face of the media for a cocktail of reasons, some commendable others not so amirable. She recently stirred the hornets’ nest by vowing to sue the United Nations (UN) for allegedly mismanaging funds meant for Nigeria. Her counterpart at the Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Dr. Beta Edu seems to have retracted from her many visits from one media to the other talking about the intention of her ministry to take 133million people out of poverty. Her explanations seem to be somewhat very vague on statistics of the Social Register and real plans that would be impactful in the long run. These might be very baby steps for these ministers but the people expect they should realize that no one needs a torch to see the sun.

    Many of the other minsters have been possibly behind the scene working and the people are eager to see and feel the impact of their actions. What they ought to realize is that political and economic dynamics have changed and the people are now better armed with information to monitor performances of each minister.

    The past situation where most non-performing minister escaped without being held accountable might be in the past because the president and the Hadiza-led unit might not be too patient with non-performers. Nigerian economy is dependent on the dedication and commitment of these ministers and expectations are high. The Roundtable Conversation has all eyes on all ministers.

    The dialogue continues…

  • Bayelsa, Kogi, and Imo elections:  All eyes on INEC

    Bayelsa, Kogi, and Imo elections:  All eyes on INEC

    Democracy gives the power the people. The people in this instance is not the political elite even though they are part of the people. The political process is supposed to be in the hands of the people. The political party structure is the vehicle that takes the candidates to the people. The essence of a political party is often based on ideological convictions in advanced democracies.  That seems to be a model that most developing countries like Nigeria are yet to totally adopt.

    Democratic journeys of nations are determined by the people and their readiness to follow the democratic processes and tenets. The success, not perfection as no human process is perfect of democracy is dependent on the decision of a people through their institutions to have a functional democracy where really, the power is in the hands of the people in the streets.

    The 1993 general presidential election has often been referred to as the freest and fairest election in Nigeria’s history. A late MKO Abiola made history on different fronts. He won votes across the country defeating his main opponent, late Bashir Tofa in his home state of Kano. He ran with a Vice President Babagana Kingibe, a fellow Muslim from Bornu state proving that really the people are not as ethnically and religiously polarized as politicians want to paint. His victory was definite in ways that left the people jubilant until the then military government headed by  Gen. Ibrahim Badamosi  Babangida (Rtd.) curiously annulled the election.

    The option A4 system of voting was used in what the then National Electoral Commission  (NEC) Chairman, Prof. Humphrey Nwosu said was devoid of the ‘Wuruwuru and Magaomago’ system that thwarted the will of the people in the past. True to his words, the election was substantially free and fair and has become the watershed of democratic elections in Nigeria.  No election in Nigeria has that record.

    The chaos that the country was thrown into after the annulment was a disaster foretold because the people saw the injustice. The election is now in the annals of history but it seems the nation did not learn much from that experience.  The late Gen. Sani  Abacha who took over from a late Ernest Shonekan the Interim National Government  head did not live long enough to conduct an election. The Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar transition election ushered in the former President Olusegun Obasanjo 1999 government.

    The return of civilian government since 1999 has presented the country with very chaotic party primary and general elections. Pre and post elections litigations have been some of the global highest. Sadly, the number of court-decided elections have increased over the years and the question many analysts are asking remains, “are the people, INEC or the courts now the ones that decide elections?

    The Roundtable Conversation has followed the Nigerian democracy since 1999 and feels that political actors must introspect  especially given the litany of the post-election litigations.  While no human system can be described as perfect, post-election litigations somewhat pushes verdicts of electoral contests to the judiciary and history has shown that while legal windows exist in democracies, the burden seems too much for Nigerian judiciary and judicial processes take too long and distract from governance. In essence, the people who are supposed to be beneficiaries of the judicial system are somewhat shortchanged if political parties and candidates waste time in the courts.

    The interests of the people are never in view as time is being wasted. In certain instances, losers in elections illegally sit in offices for months or even years before the court adjudicates and disqualifies them within which time they might have made policy decisions, laws or spent state funds illegally.  The preoccupation of any ‘elected’ individual in any office is self-preservation, maintaining the status quo so service to the people suffers tremendously.

    Nigerians must begin to address the fundamentals, the structure of our political parties, the electoral laws, the administrative styles, the memberships, the ideological leanings and what that portends for development. How is it that political parties often have no ideological leanings that are identifiable? What is the meeting point of members of political parties? Why is the Nigerian political parties so fluid that members oscillate effortless between political parties? Political parties in advanced democracies are all rooted in certain ideological convictions. This helps members to act within certain barricades that are ideologically constraining.

    If these fundamentals are taken care of in the political space, there might start to be a certain level of order and discipline in political party administration and by extension the electoral processes. Nigerian political parties must learn that democracy is a government of the people, by the people and for the people in real terms and not just mere definitive narrative. Democracy is about the people and not about parties or individuals. The party structure must be one that empowers the people not a personal property of either the leadership or any other groups or interests.

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    The Bayelsa, Kogi and Imo state elections would be held today and the onus is on Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to do the right things in ways that they would restore confidence in the people after the recent general elections. The security agencies must show that their jobs are not for mere optics. The political parties must play by the rules and members must realize that the states in question are their birth homes and that no matter what the outcomes are, they would all continue to be indigenes whose priority must be the development of their states.

    2023 elections have seen too many post-election litigations and some candidates losing elections they thought they had won. Some winners have had to be in courts distracted from doing the duties for which they were elected by the people in the first place. In all these, little attention is paid to the passing time in a process that is tenured. The countdown for performance starts on the day of any inauguration but election petitions tribunal, appeal court and supreme court cases often eat into a four-year tenure and in such cases t is the people that are losers.

    The three off-cycle elections have generated much attention and curiosity.  Many have been watching the body language of the political parties and their members. While political contests are no love affairs, Nigerian election have over the years been synonymous with battles as there have been reports of killings and chaotic voting areas caused by political thugs often armed by some politicians.

    The security agencies must not just be heard issuing threats because that seems not to have worked as deterrent in the past. They must be seen to walk the talk by making sure voters behave themselves during the elections and that political actors do not break the laws. The maintenance of law and order is key to better electoral outcomes. The voice of the people must be allowed to be heard because democracy is about the people.

    INEC as an umpire has a duty to regain the confidence of the people through the way they would go about this off-cycle election. INEC in the minds or the Nigerian people is suffering some trust deficit owing to the outcome of the recent electionsmany of which have been subject of litigations. INEC must show professionalism and patriotism to avoid outcomes that would be litigated against.

    INEC must as a matter of national interest make sure that these off-cycle elections are conducted without the flaws reported by various election observers from home and abroad and avoid the post-election litigations some of which indicted the organization and had the judiciary determining many of the cases. This is not how the Nigerian democracy can grow. Elections must be seen to represent the choice of the people in free and fair elections.

    The reality of the Nigerian situation where the judiciary gets burdened with election petitions means that many other cases suffer because there are too few judges to handle all the cases. What this means is that while politicians seemingly get expedited justice, the citizens have their justice delayed and sometimes totally denied due to the exigencies of time. Democracy is about the people on an equitable manner. Justice in any form must never be obstructed by any means.

    The political actors in Bayelsa, Kogi and Imo must also realize that they too have more to gain if the elections are conducted in a free and fair manner. The states belong to every indigenes and it is theirs to build. Elections are not supposed to be wars. Citizens of these states whether at home or outside the state value the progress of their ancestral homes and politicians are mere caretakers that their legacies would continue to speak for them.

    There is always life after elections and so the political actors and their supporters must not heat up the system in ways that would cause any chaos. Luckily, the governors of Imo state, Senator Hope Uzodimma  and his Bayelsa counterpart, Senator Douye Diri are both seeking re-elections so their first term report cards should do the magic.

    Kogi state’s Yahaya Bello who in the usual Nigerian governor’s style anointed who he trusts to be his successor must rely on his own nearly eight-year performance to make the people trust his choice. Really, the world is waiting for a free and fair contest that would not necessitate post- election litigations. All eyes on INEC and may the best candidates win.

    ●The dialogue continues…

  • Of ‘corrective 10th Senate’ and allegations of ‘ambush’

    Of ‘corrective 10th Senate’ and allegations of ‘ambush’

    Democracy is a government of the people by the people and for the people. Nigeria has practiced unbroken civilian democracy since 1999 even if it was somewhat midwifed by the Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar (Rtd.) administration. Coincidentally, another former military general and former Head of state, Olusegun Obasanjo became President in what many political analysts have termed a very deft strategic move to assuage the agitations of the South West Yoruba nation that was seemingly shortchanged by the annulment of the 1993 presidential election believed to have been won by the late MKO Abiola.

    Somehow, the unique characteristics of the military that has totally different professional operational mechanics continues to influence Nigerian civilian politicians and the way they do things. The incursion of the military since 1966 into the Nigerian state has left a lot of influences in the democracy practiced in Nigeria. The military after each coup immediately suspends the constitution and sacks the legislature.  They understand the dynamics and believe that not having any claim to legitimacy, brute force and intimidation are couched in the decrees they roll out. Because they have all the coercive tools of governance, the people often have no options but to obey.

    The Roundtable Conversation has been pointing out the effects of the military hang over on Nigerian democracy and why the nation must find a way of addressing the issues as quickly as possible. The country may be reeling under the yoke of economic and social challenges but if there are no fundamental changes in the structure of the brand of democracy the country has adopted, it might just be all motion and no movement. There are fundamental questions that the political elite must answer before progress can be made.

    The questions do not start from the governance structure. There has to be a structural realignment of the democratic processes. As it is at the moment, the political party structure is almost run in undemocratic styles. The basic fact is that Nigerian political parties lack basic ideological principles. There is a laughable fluidity that exists amongst the political parties that makes it possible for members to oscillate between the parties without any qualms and even though some very weak legal implications are touted to exist, there has been no effective deployment of the legal hammer in this regard.

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    Political parties in functional democracies like the United Kingdom and the United States are easily identified by their ideological stands. Even though the United Kingdom runs a Constitutional Monarchy, the Conservative and Labor Parties, the two major political parties are identified by their views. In the United States of America that runs the presidential system Nigerian adopted, the President is the central and apex power but the liberal left-wing (Democrats) and conservative right-wing (Republicans) are the two dominant political parties.

    In those two democracies, the two political parties evolved over time based on shared world views and convictions about certain values. It is often not difficult to identify where a politician is leaning because of the unambiguous expressions about national issues. However, the overriding sentiment is often the respect for the constitution and the value paced on national interests at all times.

    Conversely, the Nigerian political space seems to lack a very nationalistic fervor and as such, mundane issues of religion, tribe, region and personal interests seem to take precedence over any national interest. So for Nigerian democracy to functionally serve the people, there must be an introspection amongst the political class. National interest must be a priority. This is the only time that every action would be in the interest of the country and the political parties even in their diversity would be working towards the same goal.

    When the political parties operate with valid identifiable ideologies, the structure that produces the leadership of political parties would be different. The citizens would buy into the political parties based on their own convictions too. When the citizens have a buy in, the field would be more open and more Nigerians would show interest in nation building and the political space would be one where ideas would be at play for the good of the country.

    For now, elected officials operate with imperial mindset. The center appears too powerful and as such the other tiers of government seem to be subsumed in the aura of the presidency. This has impacted development negatively. There is a sense of ‘ownership’ of political offices that renders elected officials very ineffectual. Let’s for a second look at the amount of money spent by the country to provide security for the presidency, the governors, ministers, and other high ranking officers of any administration. This is traceable to the lack of trust on both sides, both the leaders and the led.

    Nigerian leaders seem to be some of the most ‘protected’ in the world. The trust deficit must be seen as a product of a dysfunctional political structure. Most Nigerian politicians have a flawed sense of service. The political parties seem not to have a system of keeping tab on their elected officials in ways that they understand that any failure on their part is a failure of the political party. That lack of ideological conviction seems to make political parties mere gatherings of men and some women whose passion for national development   seems very weak.

    The Roundtable Conversation noted with worry the complaints of the Senator representing Bornu South Senatorial district, Senator Ali Ndume the Senate Chief Whip who accused the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio of approving the passage of some executive bills without seeking the input of most of the other senators. He accused him of passing certain bills without formal reading and the members’ contributions.

    Another member, Senator Ogoshi Onawo, representing Nasarawa state also complained about the style of the Senate President as he said, “Very sensitive bills are brought and are expected to be passed with the speed of light, which is not good for the country”. He insisted that senators ought to be adequately informed about the bills and that they ought to make their research and contribute productively to debates for the good of the country.

    The legislative arguments might appear trivial but its significance must not escape political analysts. The legislative arm is a strong arm in a democracy. Each senator represents a constituent part of the nation. Each senator is a senator of the federal republic of Nigeria so in essence, their oath of office is to obey the constitution and work in the interest of the whole country. A senate president is a first amongst equals and must be seen as respecting every senator in the discharge of his duties.

    It is interesting to note that the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio has a rich political history. He rose steadily from the political ladder in his state until he became the governor of Akwa Ibom state, a position he held for eight years. He is a ranking senator having been part of the 8th assembly under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) before decamping to the All Progressive Congress (APC). His two terms as governor of Akwa Ibom state were as controversial as they provided some political comedy to the nation.

    He adopted the tag of ‘the uncommon governor’ during his time as governor in what many saw as a veiled form of self-adulation. He is known for his somewhat playful disposition to official duties. As Minister of the Niger Delta development Commission (NDDC) he was mired in series of controversies. At some point, he appeared along with some members of the board of NDDC before the House Committee investigating some official misconduct. He set the country laughing when he claimed that some of the legislators were beneficiaries of some contracts in the ministry.

    As Senate President, he has not deviated much from providing points of discussions for the country. At one point when the Senators were to proceed on recess, he was caught on camera telling the senators that ‘a little token’ had been deposited in their accounts for them to enjoy their break with. When there were murmurings about that in an economy that many can barely fee, he quickly changed the information to ‘prayers in their emails’.

    While Senators are human and therefore in a position to make mistakes, the roundtable Conversation equally believes that Senator Akpabio must realize that uneasy lies the head that wears the crown. He must understand that the nation is seemingly weary of an ineffectual senate coming off a 9th Assembly that was notorious for acting as a ‘rubber stamp assembly’. This 10th assembly must in truth be a “CORRECTIVE SENATE” as Senator Akpabio stated ab initio.

    His adoption of the word ‘corrective’ means he understands the status of the 9th senate. It would then be self-indictment  if his colleagues in the senate see him as authoritarian in practice. If they are complaining of often being ‘ambushed’ and seemingly sounding dissatisfied with lack of information that should precede research and contributions, lack of proper quorum and alleged wrong calculation of the two-third majority for the passage of bills, then the national interest might not be fully served. The legislature has a very paramount duty in all functional democracies.

    ● The dialogue continues…