The Nation Newspaper

Category: Saturday

  • Power, security and war

    Power, security and war

    Given  the spate of insecurity in Nigeria’s  capital Abuja , the North in general  , as well as many parts of the Nigerian nation  , there is no denying that Nigeria is in a grim state of an undeclared war . Europe ,  the origin  of colonialism on the other hand ,  is at war with Russia  over that  country’s  invasion of its  neighbor Ukraine . If  I remember my European  history correctly  , it was British Foreign  Secretary   and   later  PM ,  Lord  Palmerstone   who  reportedly  boasted in Parliament  that ‘  I have brought  a new world   into existence  , to redress  the balance of the old ‘   This  was  at  the advent of British  misadventure in piracy ,  that created colonies and mixed up  strange bedfellows and ethnic groups  into amalgamated  nations like Nigeria. You  could put such bold  words  into the mouth of Russian President Vladmir Putin  nowadays in  the way and  manner he invaded Ukraine  so unexpectedly before our eyes      and you  will  be  hitting the nail on the head ,  on the creation of a new global balance of power  and terror  ,  all rolled  into  one iron fist  that knocked  out diplomacy , and  the old  international order of East and  west ,   all   in one fell  swoop .   The  repercussion  and  consequences of Palmerstone’s  boast  ages ago  and the aggression  of  Putin’s   Russia starting  another Cold  War in our time form the kernel  of our discussion  today  .

    The  French  and British were colonial past masters of Africa but  in a clear case of the pot calling the kettle black   , the French President  Emmanuel   Macron  on  visit   this   week  to Benin  Republic and Cameroon former French colonies  ,   accused Russia of  colonial  imperialism  in the way it has invaded Ukraine .  Macron    accused  Russia  of  starting    a new Cold War   using the weapons   of information , food and energy  .This  was about the same time  that Russian Foreign Minister  Sergei  Lavrov was in Uganda alleging that  the west  was lying that the Russian invasion of Ukraine is behind  the present   global food insecurity , inflation  and rising  energy  prices. Meanwhile in  Britain  our former colonial  master  ,outgoing PM Boris Johnson    on his   way out of power ,   gave the Winston Churchill  Prize for leadership  to President Zelensky of Ukraine   and  that  really  did not surprise me and I will show why later .These  events  then ,   their  history and relevance  as they  relate to the state of undeclared war in Nigeria where opposition senators have threatened  the president   with  impeachment for non performance  and terrorists have reportedly  threatened to kidnap  our president  .will  be examined  in their various  relevance  and importance .

    We  start  with Macron’s  visit to Africa  ,   the relevance of which  is that  it is  to  beef up security against Jihadists  hitting Benin from its North like Nigeria . The Beninois president was happy with the offer especially as France has returned  some artifacts stolen from Benin during colonial  era. According to the President  of Benin  it showed that France has purged itself of its past policy  of superiority complex against its former colonies .  Now  Benin  is Nigeria’s  next door neighbor  and France’s  role  in securing Benin against Jihadists  and terrorists like Boko Haram should  interest  us either for good or bad .

    Similarly Macron visited Cameroon for the  same security  purpose . Cameroon’s president is 89 years old Paul Biya  who  has been in power for 50  years  –  since 1982 -but is  not looking senile given his afro hair style and dapper  designer’s  suit   when pictured  with Macron  . Biya  however  is concerned  with the issue  of insecurity in Cameroon  enough  to welcome the French president to help out in confronting the threat  of jihadists in his nation  without  taking that as another form of recolonisation .

    That  takes us  to the UK which  colonized Nigeria and  whose PM gave  the Winston Churchill prize for leadership  to  Ukraine’s  President Zelensky Really   I do  not think  the British give a damn  what  happens  to  Nigeria in terms of security . First  Boris  cannot do anything now . Indeed the award  to Zelensky   was more of a personal one than a national honour . I wrote  here  before  in admiration at the way Zelensky  carried himself in the wake of the Russian invasion of his nation and I said  then that Boris Johnson an  admirer of war time British PM  Winston Churchill  would  have wanted to be in Zelensky’s   shoes  . Now he  has proven that notion of mine right as he leaves office  abruptly .

    With  regard to British apathy  on the insecurity in Nigeria I think  compunction over our state of insecurity is the answer and  it is to be found in the mistake of the amalgamation  of 1914 and  our demography  and census  from colonial  times . I  think  to a great  extent  our census  figures  have not matched reality .To  use  the language  of the moment  they  are    fake  news  . Just  look  at the incessant North South migration from the beginning  and you  wonder why  the destination of such migration is always having  less population figures than the origin . It  just  does  not add  up.

    This week  the members of the new Census  Commission for this year’s census  paid a courtesy  visit to former President Olusegun  Obasanjo in his Abeokuta residence . They  reportedly  congratulated him for conducting a successful  census during his tenure of office . The shrewd High  Owu   chief  however asked the members of the census to  get at the truth and do a census that would be useful for planning , resources allocation and  boundary  adjustments . The former  president stressed the need for the truth in conducting the census  and that  is the kernel  of the census conundrum . Some  of us had expected OBJ  as president and a detribalized Nigerian  to  conduct a truthful  census then  ,  but were dis appointed at the rigmarole   of census figures results  that  did  not match what  is so very obviously on the ground

    If  the British are  to blame for teaching  their favourite wards from the North that power  in a democracy is a game of numbers and they  can always claim  more  than their southern  counterparts , then  OBJ   too  should share part of the blame for the absence of the truth in the census of his time for which the census class of 2023 is commending him  , before starting on its own journey for the truth . In  the US gerrymandering  is used to redraw voting districts  to   favour  parties but  it is based on ten- year  accurate , census  figures .  Until  Nigeria  perfects  its census figures we shall  be chasing shadows in terms of meaningful development like OBJ cautioned . Similarly  our intelligence reports on security  will  not tally ,  if we focus on wrong areas purportedly with high population ,  when  indeed such  places are uninhabitable and people  have fled them  because of the creeping Sahel  ,  in search of food and water  for survival .  That  is the root cause of the spate of insecurity  that threatens  so  brazenly to bring the present Nigerian state to its   knees .  How  census in an election year will  solve the problem  , should   be  the seventh  wonder of the world .

  • Kano: What next for Little?

    Kano: What next for Little?

    Last May, Muhammad Al-Amin Little, veteran governorship aspirant in Kano State, lost the race for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ticket. Since then, supporters of the popular politician have been waiting to be told his next plan. But mum has been the word from Little.

    Little was a soccer star in the late 70s before he ventured into politics and amassed a cult-like followership. He lost the 2003 All Peoples Party (APP) ticket to Malam Ibrahim Shekarau. He contested the governorship on the platform of Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) same year but lost to Shekarau. He oscillated between PDP and APC for many years and was touted as a possible deputy to Governor Abdullahi Ganduje when the incumbent resigned in 2019. But he was not named.

    Same year, he was shot by bandits on his farm along Birnin Gwari area of the state, and that impacted negatively on his guber aspiration. He lost the race to another aspirant. Earlier this year, he appeared at PDP headquarters in Abuja where he picked the intent form.

    With his loss at the primary, observers fear Little may not run again. But now there are rumours he’s set to pick the ticket of another party. His supporters are waiting to hear from the horse’s mouth.

  • Nigeria: In search of answer to terrorism

    Nigeria: In search of answer to terrorism

    Nigeria is enmeshed in a security mess. For more than a decade, insecurity has festered from a state headache to regional predicament and now to a national burden. It has defied all solutions.

    It is a knotty problem to which respite appears to be far from sight. The Federal Government acknowledges the complexity of the security challenge, but it is in want of more effective strategies to combat the entrapment.

    Security is the most important task of government. But if the effort to make it work is still elusive, it means the government has failed in this most critical sector for the other sectors to function well and make the people to live in peace and thrive.

    This is not just pathetic, but also disgraceful for a nation that has expended huge resources into fighting the battle. More disheartening is the fact that a lot of patriotic military personnel have died on the battlefield; others have been disabled for the rest of their lives.

    Despite the huge cost of fighting terror, Nigeria has, so far, very little to show for the investment in the war. The nation looks forlorn as the aggressors spread their mission of disintegration. It is becoming more difficult as the days roll by for Nigerians to sleep comfortably in many homes and travel long journeys without fearing attacks by bandits and kidnappers.

    The government and the people are confused. Who will save the beleaguered country from terror?

    Analysts are enquiring into why terrorism has continued to flourish. During the week, a searchlight was beamed on the entire war effort. Observers have raised some pertinent questions. Is intelligence gathering in vain? Is intelligence report adequately used by those prosecuting the war? Why are military installations caught unawares? Why are correctional centres attacked and preemptive actions delayed before other correctional centres are invaded in the spate of a month?  Are our gallant officers and men now sleeping on guard?

    Also, many Nigerians fear that terrorism or banditry has become a big business; a curious racket. It has become the highest paying non-institutionalised remunerative labour and unlawful career. Observers suspect a complicity of sorts; a formidable network of collaborators and saboteurs, and inexplicable political motives.

    The heartless kidnappers are enjoying their lucrative trade at the expense of the government and the citizens, collecting bags filled with millions of naira, perhaps, on daily basis, and deriving impetus in the capacity to pay ransom.

    It is possible that many cases of kidnapping are not even reported in the media. Many families and communities are hit by tragedy of monumental proportions in the countryside that are not immediately brought into government’s attention. To secure the release of relatives in bondage, family members usually look for money in panic to prevent the death of captives.

    Any governor or leader who dissuades families of victims from paying ransom incurs the wrath of terrorists.

    It is a season of shared disaster and collective stress. Those holding the country to random are few, untrained bandits. The unscrupulous elements have set up their own country within the country in the forest where they govern. They feed their captives, sparingly, after tormenting them. The captives are at their mercy.

    Bandits supply medication, which means they may have hired some professional or auxiliary nurses to minister to the health needs of abductees. They buy clothes for their victims to change dresses.

    Some reports claim that the terrorists supervise the nurses who provide midwifery services for abducted expectant mothers when they are due for delivery.

    The captors lack the milk of human kindness for their victims. They are never in a hurry to release the victims until they milk their distressed families of millions of naira.

    The amount being raked from hapless citizens in their custody may soon dwarf the defence budget. This is how the terrorists are able to procure sophisticated weapons. It is disheartening that terror groups have acquired sophisticated weapons, including aircrafts.

    But more worrisome is the cost of emotional trauma: the stupor, the suspense and the sorrow.

    The children abducted along with their parents will bear the traumatic experience for life. They are deprived of schooling, effective parental care and general freedom for the period they are held hostage. Their loved ones are sentenced to prolonged nightmares at home. Unless there is a planned and systematic psychological intervention for tackling post-traumatic stress disorder, the victims may slide into some forms of abnormal, disordered and depressed behaviour.

    Psychological counselling should also be targeted at kidnapped children so they may not grow up into adults who will become distrustful of the beleaguered society.

    Nigeria has become a country of bloodletting. Internally displaced persons (IDPs) are multiplying. Families weep over missing kith and kin. Many have been slaughtered on farmlands, homes, streets, churches and mosques.

    Where in the country is safe? Train, sky, waterways, or roads?

    The heartless bandits appear to be visitors who have refused to return to where they came. There are some documentaries that show the terrorists comprise people from other parts of West Africa in search of greens for their herds due to dwindling pastures in parts of the Sahel.

    The porous border is also responsible for the influx of the aggressive visitors. But can’t the influx of aliens who allegedly wreak havoc be checked?

    The motivation for terrorism, at the initial stage, could not be ascertained. It was said that children and youths who were abandoned and now wallow in misery were resorting to revenge. But, the dimension of the onslaught is now overwhelming.

    Yet, reactions to the banditry differ. While the nefarious activities have elicited condemnation, almost from across the country, there is an exception in a corner of Zamfara, where kidnap kingpins are treated as celebrities.

    To the surprise of Governor Bello Mattawale, a traditional ruler even had the effrontery to confer a chieftaincy title on a suspected kidnapper who had been declared wanted by the police in neighbouring Katsina State.

    As banditry grows in leaps and bounds, what is the assurance that Boko Haram insurgents will let the nation be during the approaching general election? Can voters come out to exercise their franchise in the trouble regions in an atmosphere of fear?

    During the week, the terrorists threatened to seize President Muhammadu Buhari and Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai on the road. They also threatened to kill and sell off into slavery innocent citizens in their den, if ransom was not paid.

    Some people thought the threat was a joke taken too far. But, it was not an empty threat.

    Two days later, the insurgents attacked the Presidential Brigade of Guards. No fewer than three officers were killed. Some reports insinuated that five others were missing.

    In their first series of onslaught against soldiers, they invaded some barracks. It became more serious when they stormed the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) in Kaduna to terrorise the foremost military institution. They later invaded correctional centres where suspected Boko Haram sect members were detained. Many of them were forcefully freed.

    If these daring men of the underworld can attack the President’s convoy on the way to Katsina and ambush the Brigade of Guards in Abuja, and no single person was caught, the country is in a big security mess. The question is: who is safe?

    Ironically, as the bandits were on the prowl, the Commander-in-Chief was on his way to Liberia to deliver a lecture on security.

    No particular region is insulated from the activities of bandits, terrorists, killer herdsmen. In the Southeast, unknown gunmen are also enforcing sit-at-home, killing, maiming, burning public property and destroying public institutions, including state and local Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) offices.

    Today, the economy is on crutches. In the Southwest, unscrupulous elements are replicating the strategies for kidnapping. They are unable to cope with the adverse effects of the malevolent economy. In their maladjustment, they engage in acts of negative value. Armed robbery rate is growing in geometric proportions. Ritual killings and culpable homicide make a mockery of decent living.

    In the future, economists will have a woeful tale to tell about the impact of insurgency on the economy. The impact on agriculture is confounding. Farmers have alerted the country to the imminence of hikes in the prices of food items. How can Nigeria sustain its food sufficiency drive when farmers no longer have access to their farms?

    In the last 10 years, it has been speculated that Nigeria has lost thousands of its citizens to terrorism. The cost of destruction is unquantifiable.

    Is Nigeria not fast becoming a Banana Republic where life is short, brutish and nasty?

    Since Nigeria is in electioneering, security is now being politicised by the opposition.

    The Federal Government cannot be accused of lack of efforts, as it is being currently done by opposition senators and their aggrieved counterparts on the platform of the ruling party who lost return tickets.

    They have seen a loophole to play politics. By asking the President to resign or be impeached if he cannot restore total security that has eluded the country for a decade, they were being unrealistic. They were only playing to the gallery, inciting the public against the government and voters against the candidates of the ruling party.

    The failed anti-terror war has now strengthened the opposition to dent the image of the ruling party and government, unmindful of the genesis of the problem. They forget that the problem started under the PDP government.

    The question that unpartisan Nigerians ought to be asking is: what is the solution?

    More problems have to be dissected. It has been suggested that coordination and supervision of the Armed Forces are crucial factors. There is need for synergy among the Army, Navy, Airforce and DSS. Also, there is need for unity, unlike in the past when there were conflict, suspicion and mistrust.

    The supervision by the Commander-In-Chief should be adequate.  This is central to success. The Chief of Defence Staff is a ceremonial coordinator, who is not in charge of discipline, promotion and evaluation of service chiefs.

    Another issue is that the best brains should be drafted into the armed forces, particularly the intelligent units.

    How can government stem further recruitment into the terrorist gang? Carpet bombing has been suggested. But, what will be the fate of civilian inhabitants who may also become casualties?

    The Army is overstretched. Soldiers are not trained for the enforcement of law and order. It is the work of the police, like the ‘Mobile Police Force ‘ of old, which was used as a fighting force.

    Policing should be decentralised. Intelligence gathering is easy if policemen know and understand the geography, sociology and terrain of the area of operation.

    Security is a collective responsibility. An improper blame game may be counterproductive. Nigerians should encourage the gallant and courageous soldiers to do more.

    Increased funding and new strategies are required to bail the country out of the current bondage of banditry.

  • Democracy in Osun

    Democracy in Osun

    Last Saturday’s governorship election in Osun State was the last off-season poll to be conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) before next year’s general elections. INEC is widely perceived to have continuously improved on its technical proficiency in the conduct of elections with the successive elections in Edo, Ondo, Anambra and Ekiti states culminating in that of Osun. Not only has the commission grown increasingly more adept in the deployment of technology to aid the credibility of the process, its handling of election logistics has become more efficient even if there will always be room for improvement. The commission has come a long way from when it was no better than a parastatal under the control of the presidency with no choice but to do the bidding of the ruling party particularly during the presidency of General Olusegun Obasanjo. Thus, in the five states where governorship elections have been held since 2020, the opposition Peoples Democratic Party won in Edo and Osun, The All Progresives Grand Alliance (APGA) in Anambra and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo and Ekiti.

    Strengthened by the provisions of the new Electoral Act, especially the provision for online uploading of results once votes are cast and counted, has also made the process more substantially autonomous of the arbitrary whims of electoral officials and also less prone to such violent acts as snatching of ballot boxes, which is now of negligible consequence for the outcome. Overall, democratic practice can be said to be alive and well and systematically being improved upon in the country in spite of the prevalence of the menace of vote buying, which is a function of the pervasive poverty in the land and the low level of political education and sophistication of the electorate. These are ills that will gradually be overcome with the continued institutionalization of elections as sustained democratic practice is the key to overcoming observed shortcomings of this system of government. There can be no short cut to concrete democratic development and political maturation.

    It is of course only natural that analysts have focused on the determining factors of the outcome of the election in which Senator Ademola Adeleke of the PDP secured victory with 50.14% (403,371) of the votes cast to incumbent governor Gboyega Oyetola’s 46.2% (375,927) which represents a 3.5% margin of loss. There are those who attribute the triumph of the PDP to the sharp division in the APC between the factions led by governor Oyetola and the Interior Minister, Ogbeni Raufu Aregbesola’s group known as The Osun Progressives (TOP), respectively. It is bad enough for a party to go into any election factionalized as the APC did in Osun but this, in my view, was not necessarily a key variable in Oyetola’s loss. Aregbesola’s supporters have naturally been celebrating the loss of their party, the APC, thus suggesting that this was a function of their leader’s electoral value and popular appeal in the state. This may not necessarily be so.

    The APC’s struggle to win the 2018 Osun governorship polls, which the party won by approximately 482 votes after a tight run-off between Oyetola and Adeleke, was largely a referendum on Aregbesola’s eight years in power between 2010 and 2018. This was particularly so because many were wont to dismiss Adeleke as a political neophyte unlikely to make much electoral impact despite the popularity especially in Ede of his charismatic late elder brother, Senator Isiaka Adeleke and the prominence of the family. In any case, as my colleague, Sanya Oni, noted in his column in this newspaper on Tuesday, “In the same vein, had the party, then under the leadership of Rauf Aregesola as governor, yielded the seat to the younger Adeleke in deference to the mourning family and in recognition of the powerful interest the family represented and continues to represent in the state’s political matrix, the individual, who has now become his party’s nemesis,  would in fact have contested and most likely would have won as an APC candidate with things possibly taking a different trajectory. Unfortunately, Aregesola, the leader, would have none of it – and the rest as they say is history”.

    Despite some of his bold infrastructural strides and welfarist policy initiatives, Aregbesola failed to decisively alter the relatively even balance of political forces in the state between the PDP and APC since 2003 against the background of the immense enthusiasm and momentum that accompanied the restoration of his 2007 stolen electoral mandate by the courts after a protracted legal struggle and his assumption of office. Although he obviously meant well as governor, many of his policies were populist but clearly not well thought out for example in the education sector. His administration courted avoidable controversy and caused considerable polarization among different religious faiths for instance. Oyetola was compelled by popular demand to reverse some of these policies such as merger of schools, introduction of the same school uniforms for all public schools, and re-introduction of the 6-3-3-4 system to the chagrin of the former governor who saw his successor as trying to erode his legacies in the state. This was a major cause of the deterioration in their relationship.

    The mismatch between the quest for ambitious infrastructural provision during Aregbesola’s tenure and the resource base and fiscal capacity of the state resulted in a severe fiscal crisis, which worsened when the state’s allocation from the Federation Account dwindled considerably. Not only did the administration have to devote substantial resources to servicing debts that had accumu lated heavily in the pursuit of its projects, it was unable to meet its wage obligations to public sector workers resulting in the payment of half salaries to some categories of public workers which further alienated the latter from the government and constituted an electoral albatross for the APC.

    The loss of Oyetola in last Saturday’s election takes nothing away from the governor as a competent administrator and shrewd manager of resources. To his credit, he paid full salaries of workers and met pensions’ obligations of the state from the inception of his administration even though many workers were reportedly unhappy that he did not clear the unpaid salaries inherited from his predecessor as well as not doing enough about backlog of stagnated promotions. The governor’s constraints in this regard are understandable and his performance heroic as he was not only systematically meeting inherited debt servicing obligations of the state, he also made impressive strides in infrastructure provision and social service delivery within the limits of available resources without taking any new loans.

    Oyetola is not a charismatic or natural politician given to theatrics, frivolity and garrulousness. He has a serious minded demeanor and approach to issues. This was evident in the gubernatorial debates where he simply stated the facts as he saw them and allowed his more flamboyant opponents to get away with evident exaggerations and willful distortions.  This may not be an asset in our type of political clime and culture especially within the context of pervasive poverty. Oyetola is finance expert and an nsurance professional given to being sober and conservative. His plugging of sources of resource wastage and frugality caused disaffection even among some of his aides and party members leading to meager resources deployed for critical electoral purposes such as payment of party agents and other logistics being diverted to private pockets with negative consequences for the party’s fortunes at the polls in contrast to the reportedly free-spending disposition of his major challenger and eventual winner.

    Oyetola in many ways reminds one of the first governor of the state in this dispensation from 1999 – 2003, Papa Bisi Akande. Despite his impressive accomplishments in providing infrastructure for the state and gradually repositioning the finances of the state, Akande lost reelection for a second term largely because he was perceived as too austere by workers and members of the political class and other stakeholders who were unhappy at his stubborn refusal to frivolously spend the scarce resources of the state in dispensation of patronage.

    It is also not improbable that the harsh economic climate in the land and the perception that, unlike Oyetola, there would be free money to spend under a governor like Adeleke with an endlessly sunny outlook on life and most likely oblivious of the parlous finances of the state and the tremendous demand this will make on the intellect, seriousness and administrative dexterity of a governor and his team, contributed to the PDP victory. The honeymoon is unlikely to endure.

    Since the governor was Chief of Staff in the Aregbesola administration for eight years, does he not also bear some responsibility for the policies of that administration some of which his government reversed? It would appear that Aregbesola’s domineering style and allegedly authoritarian outlook limited the ability of members of his Executive Council to play the necessary collegial role in contributing to policy debates and initiatives with negative implications for the quality of governance during his tenure.  Could the relationship between the two have been more astutely managed especially by the governor? There are those who contend that Oyetola allowed himself to become unduly preoccupied with his tiff with his former boss and in the process being unnecessarily distracted and that he could have done more to carry key members of the Aregbesola faction along in the process of governance without necessarily compromising the imperative of carrying out necessary policy reforms demanded by the public. However, the management of relations between former governors and their successors continues to be a major problem in this dispensation and is not limited to Osun state.

    It is obvious that the outcome of the Osun governorship election was influenced essentially by local factors in the state and the PDP is grossly mistaken that this will have a defining impact on its performance in the 2023 presidential election in the state or across the South West. A video that has gone viral shows some voters who were celebrating Adeleke’s victory also affirming that they would vote for the APC presidential flag bearer, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in the presidential election. Of course, the prospects of the party’s victory will be significantly strengthened if it engages in serious conflict resolution and fence mending not just in Osun but across the board before the elections.

    Beyond the ethno-regional factor, a key selling point for Tinubu in Osun and elsewhere will be his track record in laying the foundation for the accelerated and sustained transformation of Lagos State between 1999 and 2007 and his demonstrated capacity to identify and utilize the best and brightest brains to run the country and redress the dangerous economic slide, deepening poverty and worsening insecurity that afflicts the country within and beyond Osun and the South-West. The 2023 presidential election will be less a competition between the two dominant parties with nationwide structures than a contest between the candidates and their perceived comparative ability to effectively tackle the existential challenges of contemporary Nigeria.

  • APC and the clues from Ogun Central

    APC and the clues from Ogun Central

    Feelers reaching Sentry from the rocky terrains of Ogun Central Senatorial District of Ogun State suggest that Governor Dapo Abiodun and the leadership of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) need to urgently run a feasibility check on the party’s chances in the 2023 senatorial election.

    The rumour mill is agog with tales of how the party’s candidate in the forthcoming election is daily falling out with some leading members of the party in the area.

    To start with, there were grumbling here and there when the former Chief of staff to the Governor, Shuaibu Salisu, emerged in Ogun Central as APC senatorial candidate. He polled 301 out of 370 votes defeating, Faniyi Hamzat, who scored 62; former senator, Gbenga Obadara, polled two votes; Olatorera Majekodunmi also scored two; and Biodun Sanyaolu scored zero, to emerge as flag-bearer.

    Read Also; Dapo Abiodun’s blast from the past

    Allegations of imposition trailed the exercise for weeks but eventually died down as none of the defeated aspirants made much fuss. Shuaibu is hoping to succeed the incumbent Senator Ibikunle Amosun, who is not on good terms with Abiodun and the state APC leadership.

    There are growing fears that supporters of Amosun in the district are plotting Shuaibu’s defeat as they allegedly plan to work for an opposition party’s candidate.

    Leading pro-Amosun APC members across the district have not hidden their disdain for the choice of Shuaibu as the next senator. They claim he is ‘too small’ politically for the job.

    While some frontline chieftains are complaining that the candidate is not visible among party loyalists, others are worried that he is not ‘spending’ money as required for an election as crucial as the one he is contesting.

    This is why Abiodun and the party need to quickly go and see what is happening in Abeokuta and its environs so that they will not be regaled later with political stories that touch the heart.

  • Lessons from Osun governorship poll

    Lessons from Osun governorship poll

    The Osun State governorship election has been won and lost. According to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Governor Gboyega Oyetola, candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), was defeated by his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) challenger, Senator Ademola Adeleke.

    APC will be conducting a post-mortem in distress and pain. In disunity, the Osun chapter of the ruling party fell, to the consternation of its national leadership. Its permutations ahead of next year’s poll may now be slightly altered. Party leaders have to return to the drawing board to restrategise.

    APC’s loss is PDP’S gain. The number of progressive governors will decrease in November while the PDP Governors’ Forum will admit an additional member. Though APC may continue the blame game, the PDP will be scheming to further consolidate its hold on Osun. It may take the ruling party a fairly long time to adapt to life outside power or recover from this sudden political deprivation.

    The outcome of the poll was a surprise to many people outside the state, especially those who were oblivious of the prevailing circumstances across the 30 local government areas.

    Every politics is local. But, distant armchair critics, who lacked authentic information, predicted victory and defeat in error. They were proved wrong by the reality on the ground.

    However, winning and losing are a burden. A loser licks his wounds, no doubt. The winner is also in the eye of the storm due to high public expectation because governance cannot be a tea party. The euphoria of victory has to whittle down to pave way for the reassessment of the challenges that lay ahead.

    Observers have pointed out some lessons which the political class should learn from the contest. They are very instructive. This is important to avoid a similar mistake in the future.

    Politics is dynamic in the fast-changing Nigerian society. Gone are the days of apathy when citizens were aloof, indifferent and nonchalant. There is increased awareness about government’s roles, and the duties and obligations of citizenship during the periodic electioneering.

    Rigging is gradually becoming old-fashioned. In Ekiti, residents heaved a sigh of relief because the outcome of the governorship poll reflected the wishes of voters. INEC has also received applause, following the free, fair, peaceful and credible poll in Osun. The consensus is that votes are beginning to count in Nigeria, unlike in the sordid past when elections were characterised by various forms of irregularities, like ballot hijack, poll disruption, multiple voting, disparity in figures at polling booths and collation centres, and violence.

    Read Also: Buhari, not Oyetola, lost Osun 2022

    The sanctity of the ballot box has restored voting power to the electorate to the fullest. Therefore, any candidate who takes voters for a ride does so at a great risk.

    It is also dangerous to underrate an opponent. There are many campaign techniques being employed to reach out to voters, including town hall meetings, door-to-door and sectoral rallies targeted at various groups in the electoral constituency.

    Instructively, the outcome of Osun poll was not determined by the performance of the governor, a technocrat and shrewd administrator who has judiciously deployed the meagre resources and got some results. His major sin was that he never distributed the money to party members and townspeople. He paid dearly for lack of bravado, street smartness and populism.

    Neither was the outcome of the poll dictated by the anticipation of better performance by the governor-elect when he assumes the reins in November. Adeleke’s blueprint is not clear. But Osun people never bothered about any new direction beyond arguments for power shift, not from APC to PDP, but from Oyetola to Adeleke.

    Voters saw Adeleke as a colourful man: a dancer, big spender and, curiously, a grassroots politician. They see Oyetola as a gentleman politician who has uncritically confused and equated administration with politicking.

    In a year’s time, there will be a comparison of the Oyetola and Adeleke administrations. Then, the people may be seized by nostalgia. What is confounding in Nigeria is that the past administration could somehow be better than the present government.

    Arguably, Western Nigeria is in trouble. Performance is a factor, but it is no more a sufficient condition for winning a governorship election. The most important factor now appears to be stomach infrastructure. The assumption is that a governor cannot be investing in infrastructural development when residents of the state are hungry. In some states of the Southwest, it is called “Dibo k’oosebe” (Vote and get money to cook). It is worrisome.

    A silent worker, Oyetola has stabilised Osun. An atmosphere of peace pervades the state. Also, it was the first time an election was held in the state and the atmosphere was not charged. There was no tension. But the government may have also not taken into cognisance the strength of the coalition forces behind the governor’s main rival at the poll, someone who had derived motivation in the 2018 results, which he lost by a narrow margin.

    Election monitors have also alluded to other intervening variables. It has been pointed out that vote-trading also characterised the exercise. The big parties were said to be at the forefront. The implication is that many voters may have been swayed by momentary monetary gains, thereby refusing to vote in accordance with their conscience. This too is a disservice to democracy.

    But the most critical factor was the structure of the ruling party, which was weakened by a protracted crisis. Oyetola ran on a divided platform. The lack of a personal structure, like an independent campaign group, may have also created a deep hollow and huge gap in APC’s campaign plans.

    It is desirable that party chieftains should be in one accord during critical contests. In unity, there is strength. If aggrieved chieftains defect from a party, the candidate can realistically reassess the worth of the structure and the impact of their absence. The greatest disaster is the presence of many aggrieved stalwarts who stay on in the fold to undermine or subvert it, stand aloof and collaborate at the back with the opposition candidate on Election Day.

    A crisis-ridden party may not have any electoral value. Instead of working harmoniously, some members deliberately worked to escalate the conflict, and resolution became a tall order. Why is a crisis resolution mechanism so difficult in progressive parties? Why do their leaders indulge in “fight to the finish”?

    The unresolved crisis that was carried over the election period could have been averted or amicably resolved.

    The APC defeat has become an ill will that may not blow anybody any good.The loss of political control by Osun APC has grave implications for the arrowheads of the fighting camps – Oyetola and Rauf Aregbesola, the Minister of Interior.

    Indeed, the chapter is agonising. The progressives in the state forgot that power, which slipped from their hands last week, was not achieved in 2010, 2014 and 2018 on a platter of gold. It was the product of a war for liberation; a rescue mission. Lives were lost. People were raped. Many faced bullets. Some people lost their limbs.

    By November, Osun APC will start counting its loss when it is left in the cold. The reality that it has lost advantage of incumbent power will dawn on the party. The demoralised APC-dominated House of Assembly may become a prey, like a sheep without a shepherd. Carrots will be dangled at the lawmakers. Only the deep and highly principled will stand firm.

    Next year’s parliamentary polls will be a major hurdle for Osun APC, in its present deformed state, to cross. Currently, the chapter has two senators – Orilowo (West) and Dr. Ajibola Basiru (Central). There will be no state apparatus to lean on. It appears the victory of the opposition has provided a tonic to bounce back during the parliamentary polls. APC must put on its thinking cap.

    Osun is a poor state. It is only entitled to a meagre allocation from the federal treasury. The state’s internally generated revenue (IGR) is mere pittance. Investment drive is also low. The state was just being held back from the brink of bankruptcy by Oyetola. Its infrastructure is still weak. Many towns are begging for amenities.

    Osun is a civil servant state. The backlog of salary arrears has not been offset. Retirees are pressing for gratuities and regular pensions.

    Financial constraints pose a big headache. The first casualty may be ongoing projects, unless they are completed before November. Family resources can be deployed into electioneering to win power. They cannot be deployed into governance.

    The shrinking revenue base may provoke anger and frustration. The incoming governor may be advised by old foes in his party to beam the searchlight on his predecessors’ administrations, in the spirit of vendetta, or to justify likely ineptitude in the face of paucity of funds to run the state under the leadership of a political upstart.

    Judging by the recent experience in Ekiti, Oyo and Osun, it appears that APC and PDP may be alternating governance in the Southwest. The sense of regional entitlement by the APC in the Southwest beyond the poll-confident Lagos may be illusory.

    What is the way forward for Osun APC?

    There is need for genuine reconciliation, renewal of fidelity to the platform, political repentance and forgiveness. There is deep-seated enmity and mutual distrust and suspicion among the gladiators in the party. If the chapter packages a sort of theoretical reconciliation, it will not lead to the renewal of contact, love, friendship, camaraderie and political fellowship.

    The chapter has to be rebuilt. Who is the most competent and suitable stalwart to play the role of a leader, an arrowhead and a unifier for APC in the State of the Living Spring?

  • The media, the people and 2023 elections

    The media, the people and 2023 elections

    The 2023 general election is about seven months away. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) by now must have received the names of the candidates of all the political parties for the election. Formal campaigns have not yet started but at least the people are aware of those who would be seeking their votes for the various positions in the executive and the legislative arms of government.

    Being a developing nation with a relatively young democracy  compared to other older democracies, the role of the media cannot be overemphasized. With such a huge population  the Nigeria media has a lot to do to make sure voters get all the information they will need to perform their civic duties during elections.

    Given that Nigerian democracy is still nascent, the job of the media in trying to shape it is a very critical one and this means that even though the media has been trying to do the best job in terms of reportage and editorial analysis of political and electoral processes, more still needs to be done.

    In a country that has a deep-seated inter-ethnic, inter-religious, inter-party and mistrust of governments, there has been a repeated display of voter apathy amongst the different voting demographics. The Nigerian democracy has had its mountains and valleys but sadly, Nigeria still has the global highest number of pre and post-election litigations. This has been a challenge to the Nigerian democracy.

    However, the 9th National Assembly would go down in history for passing the amended electoral bill which has now made it legal for election results to be transmitted electronically real time. The off cycle Ekiti and Osun states’ elections have shown that the use of technology is helping to improve the electoral processes.  Another subtle but profound message is that the people seem more eager to be part of the process. Clearly, the system is not yet perfect but progress is being made steadily. Both INEC and the security agencies seem to have improved.

    The Nigeria media must be willing to carry the people along. The apathy that had been displayed by the people in the past must be allayed with more information about the improvements that INEC and other government agencies have made to make elections more credible and transparent. The trust in the process must be transmitted by the media to the people in a bid to get them to actively follow the process and not assume that the flawed elections of the past would be repeated.

    However, the skewed emphasis by the media on a few presidential candidates and their political parties does not help the electorate. The elections in about thirty two states would include governors and their deputies and the members of state and federal legislature. The media must be ready to dig into the private and professional lives of those candidates  so that the people would make an informed choice.

    The bane of Nigerian democracy has been the fact that in the past, candidates emerged very close to the election period and had little or no time to campaign. A period of at least six months is an improvement to what has existed before. All candidates must be thoroughly reported in ways that the real choices by the people would be made with full knowledge of each candidate and their capacity.

    In developed democracies, standing for elections is almost like putting yourself on a media magnifying glass.  All and every information about a candidate must be put forward so that every voter would make a choice based on information about the candidates. This would to a very great extent return the power to the people. They would be better empowered to choose who to give their mandate. The flawed electoral processes of the past can be consigned to the bin of history with the media playing their roles better than ever before.

    The Roundtable Conversation spoke to Azu Ishiekwene, a veteran journalist who believes that journalists must realize that the trust level in the media in many parts of the world including Nigeria has been waning over the years whether in the larger social media space or in the main stream. Journalists of course realize that but they have an obligation in the profession that must be maintained especially at this time in the global political space.

    Section (22) of the Nigerian constitution he says clearly spells out the obligations of the media which is basically to hold governments to account on behalf of the people. Beyond the constitutional demands of the profession, there are basic tenets of the profession that the media must compulsorily uphold at all times. If journalists uphold the well thought out tenets of the profession, our democracy would gain and the country would continue to get progressively better.

    Towards the 2023 general elections, Azu believes that the media must depart from the past in terms of focusing solely on the big players in politics, the media has the responsibility of shinning the light on all candidates and political parties. The media must seek to be fair to all concerned without biases. The stakes are high but the role of the media is clearly defined and adhering to the codes of conduct and the demands of section (22) of the constitution the media would be in a good stead to play its role in the country’s democracy.

    He equally believes that the media must be well enlightened to be in a position to enlighten the electorate to make informed choices. The stakes are quite high but the media must recognize that beyond the owners of the businesses or platforms, they represent and have an obligation to the public good. The regulators in the industry must always wield the big stick. There must be a deliberate attempt to earn public confidence and trust. Ishiekwene believes the Nigerian media has been very active but they must not drop the baton as the soul of democracy is a vibrant media.

    Mustapha Isah is the President of Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) and in a conversation with The Roundtable says he believes in the dictum that without the media, democracy cannot thrive in any environment.  Journalists to him must like Caesar’s wife be above reproach. The media must act as the true watchdogs of the society and that means that their job must be done properly. Objectivity in reporting or analysis must be the watchword.

    The media has a duty to hold politicians to focus on the issues that matter. The media must not be partisan neither should anyone be a religious or ethnic jingoist. The ethics of the profession does not permit leaning towards religious, ethnic or class interests, when a journalist chooses to lean towards any of those, he strips himself of the fundamental objectivity the job requires.

    When a journalist tilts towards any of the afore-mentioned issues, the person loses the journalistic credibility, the person then inadvertently becomes a spokesman of his ethnic origin, religion or class and loses his  essence as a journalist. The person loses the principles of objectivity, balance and fairness.  There must be due diligence. There must strict fact-checking. The media must be alert and hold the government and their agencies  and candidates to account.

    The media must go beyond focusing on issues like ethnicity and religion. The politicians often manipulate those two issues to distract the people. The media must redirect their attention to core issues of governance. Each candidate must be asked clear questions concerning what they intend to do if elected at any level so that the voters will be better informed. In Nigeria for instance, what is a Presidential candidate going to do about the national economy, insecurity, education, health, electricity supply and the debt burden that the nation is carrying?

    Mr Isah believes it is not enough to go with the cliché political rhetoric. Candidates must be willing to diligently tell the people his or her strategies in clear, unambiguous terms. The how’s must be addressed comprehensively. The media must be on the side of the people at all times. The media must not be sentimental in doing their duties. Even in school, we were told, ‘don’t put yourself in a story’ and that is a way of making journalists be factually objective. Be fair to all parties concerned and that is not just about the politicians or the voters.

    On the part of the Editors’ Guild, Isah informed the Roundtable that they have mounted series of training programmes across all geopolitical zones as part of the continuous media training and a reminder of the sacred roles the media plays in democracies. The 2023 elections he insisted is a serious and very remarkable one for the nation and the role of the media has never been more critical. He believes that Nigerians must be wary of the antics of politicians in weeping up sentiments because religion or ethnicity does not determine good governance given Nigeria’s political history.

    The people must be helped by the media to get the clarity they need to make informed choices and that must be done by the media interrogating the candidates across board for the real issues that matter which is how to get the economy back on the track.

    The Roundtable Conversation agrees totally with the two journalists that the media must help midwife Nigeria into a smooth transition of power at all levels in 2023. Democracy is not a hundred meters dash, slowly but steadily, the development the people seek can come but information is critical to that. All eyes are on the media. The watchdog must not sleep!

    The dialogue continues…

  • Leadership, opportunities and performance

    Leadership, opportunities and performance

    The killing of two Catholic  priests  by their abductors after  the payment of the demanded ransom is a highly  provocative  issue for all Nigerians especially Christians .The  coincidence  of that with the announcement of the Vice President candidate of the ruling APC  on a Muslim Muslim ticket  for the 2023 presidential  elections is food for thought  today  ,   no matter how  unpalatable the sad news is .  We  take this along with the defeat of the British Nigerian Kemi  Badenoch in the race  to choose a successor to British PM Boris Johnson ,  a disgraced politician who  was nevertheless given a standing ovation by his party on his last day in parliament . We   look  at   the  implication of that for the last  two  candidates expected to succeed Johnson as  Tory leader and the UK next PM . We  examine an obvious piece  of absurdity inherent in the official visit  of the US president to the Middle East to solicit for oil  supplies increase from Saudi Arabia  and the oil cartel OPEC . However ,   the US is the largest  supplier of oil in the world but because of Climate Change the incumbent Biden Administration has decided  deliberately  to  kill  its domestic oil  industry because of a campaign  pledge and the unbelievable  revelation by the aging US president   recently   that people  of his age who grew up in Delaware  his home state  have  cancer  later in life   because  of the fumes  of fossil  fuel  .

    I  suspect  sabotage  against  the Muslim Muslim  ticket by the  abductors and killers of the Catholic  priests given its timing but  that will  not work  because as I wrote  last  week , the ticket is  a  pair  of tested capable hands that has experience in such  matters and will nip the insecurity problem  in the bud and not resort to the usual  handwringing and pathetic  admonitions of the present administration which  has been  done as usual .  Just  as the nation is turning red with  the  blood of innocent Nigerians as if our great   nation is a sprawling  endless  killing field .

    It  is  important to  note  that after receiving the VP candidate and listening to his  beautiful  speech in Abuja   the president noted  wryly  that  he would reply to that speech after the victory  of the Muslim Muslim ticket  at the polls . We  share his confidence and cannot  wait for that to happen so that we have fresh  capable  hands to get us out of our  present    incessant  bloody  insecurity conundrums . Which   really   is a   potent  threat   to    the   expected  smooth   political    transition   and change  of  hands  in 2023 . That  goal  should  not be made ‘ a bridge  too far’ because of mindless insecurity murder and mayhem .

    On  the failure of Kemi Badenoch  to reach the last  two  to contest for  the premiership  of Britain  let me first  clearly  doff  my hat  to a woman of substance and a brave,  genuine leader . That  she could  go that far is  a tribute  to her background as IT professional  and a lawyer . I  later read that she was considered a rightist  radical and   I  admire  her guts in telling people that there is no institutional  racism in Britain and gave herself as an example of someone who got  to contest to be a PM  in  the short  time she has spent on the political stage .She  went on to say that there  are problems of racial discrimination but the good example like hers should  be part of the narrative and not the bad ones which  she  accused the liberals  of exaggerating . She is definitely  anti  woke and believes that human beings are male and female . On  that score her African values are obvious  and tally with the goals  of this column at the inception of the Biden Administration in the US which  put  LGBTQ   and same sex marriage  as  the core of human rights  to be exported all  over the world .   This   column   is against   that   in all  ramifications .Kemi  reportedly  stopped the use of gender free toilets at  her campaign  and labeled them  male and female to the horror of the gender free advocates . On that score alone she is a  good daughter of her father and I wish  her better luck  next time in her political ambition  Like Jesse Jackson famously said when he lost  the US   presidential  campaign  nomination for the Democratic Party – ‘ God is not finished with me yet’ . Certainly  , Kemi  Badenoch  can beat  her chest and say that boldly   and   proudly  because  age and time are still on her side .

    Given  the standing ovation to  Boris Johnson  by his  party  on his departure  from parliament,  and his mischievous  declaration in a foreign language  that he will  be back , I want  to hazard  a guess  on the prospects  of  his two possible  successors Rishi Sunak  and  Liz  Truss . Even  though Boris  Johnson  had    said   earlier   that he would  not back any of the Tory  candidates , I think  in way it is payback  time for Johnson ,   for  those   who jettisoned him and resigned enmasse  from his cabinet . Sunak  , a former Chancellor  was one of them . Liz Truss  never resigned and that could earn her Boris’  support which is crucial and important in the Tory   leadership  succession battle . Again  ,  Sunak is of migrant  descent and will  be first of his kind if he wins . But  the UK  is not Ireland where a  gay PM of migrant origin was elected   recently .In  addition Truss is a well  known Foreign Minister  for Britain and is a very forceful  personality . She has said emphatically that she is capable and can  take tough  decisions and she sounds  believable . I do  not think Sunak  can take her on in a debate . Any way the die is cast and Boris Johnson , even though he has been  silenced for now ,   maybe  about to have his way on  the   choice   of  his successor . Now  we go to Joe Biden’s   dubious  oil trip to Saudi Arabia  in  the pursuit of Climate Change and the collapse of the American oil industry  . Biden  should borrow a leaf  from the German U turn on climate change  and the resuscitation of the  German coal  industry in the face of Russian cut off of oil  supplies to the EU  and Germany which  does not trust Russia   anymore and has not only revived alternate non green sources of energy domestically,  but is doing so with the support of the Green Party  which  is part of the ruling coalition in Germany  for now . That  to me is clear  headed political  thinking and pragmatism .

    Unlike the politically debilitating     oil   hussling of the  American  president  to Saudi  Arabia to increase global  oil supplies to relieve spiraling   domestic oil  and gas  prices in the US reeling from avoidable high  inflation  and   which  under Biden has decided to forego fossil  fuel which  it can use to bring down inflation and high  prices but which  the Biden administration has refused  to do because of   a stubborn     or should I   say  senile   approach   to  climate   change . It is a policy of economic suicide and the US  does  not deserve its present leadership in this unfortunate scenario. Then  the issue  of cancer for those living in Delaware and of Biden’s age showed that the climate change excuse to kill fossil  fuel is fake news and the reason goes deeper than that . It is a   childhood fantasy  and hatred  now being  executed  in old age and with immense political  power  . Such  an excuse  can only  be tolerated on the ground of senility and there is no doubt that that  is the lot of the US president  today . I can  only say –long live the USA .

  • Posterity and Soludo’s N100bn loan request

    Posterity and Soludo’s N100bn loan request

    I will give it to Soludo, his administration has been in the news for a number of wrong and right reasons! If it is not the news that the state’s finances are in a very poor shape then it is for the  botched teachers recruitment exercise where the commissioner described teachers who attended the interview as “stupid and filthy”. There is also the issue of the new tax regimes imposed on the ordinary Anambra citizen which has seen Soludo like the biblical Rehoboam impose stinging like levies and rates on market men and women as well as transport operators across the state in a time when the average citizen is presently battling with inflation and the rapidly rising increase in prices of goods and services. But then before they call me a trouble shooter and perennial nay sayer, the Soludo administration has also done some good, its urban renewal programmes seem to be well intended , even though for reasons best known to the administration mountainous refuse dumps which have sprung up all over the state have continued to defy such a programme, also his drive to block all leakages to the state’s internally generated revenue by attempting to digitalize payments made to the state’s  coffers deserves some commendation.

    Recently Governor Soludo had written to the Anambra State House of Assembly seeking approval to secure a N100 billion Global Limit Multiple Term Loan Facility for the construction and refurbishment of key infrastructure in the state. As I write this piece, the House of Assembly, typical of a classical example of rubber stamp legislature has granted the approval. This will obviously mean that the Soludo administration will get the money and nothing much can be done about it but for the sake of posterity, a number of us will still add our voices to the loan request because we are involved. I had expected the Dr. Uche Okafor led assembly to raise a number of questions concerning the loan request, perhaps institute public hearings on the matter and weigh the pros and cons of such a request.

    This is not to say that I am against the loan request, no, I do not belong to the ignorant tribe that sees or views any topic broaching on loans by government for development as evil. Loans taken for development or to prop up production of properly managed and utilized will naturally spur development, the challenge then lies much in the intention of such a loan and much more importantly its utilization as our history is rife with a number of debt burdens arising from the non utilization of loans earlier taken.

    How a state house of assembly can speedily grant such an approval without a clear description and roadmap for the number

    of projects the administration  seeks to deliver using the loan remains questionable. What are the specific projects targeted by the administration for such a loan? How many roads are we looking at? How many bridges? Which local governments,  towns and communities will benefit from such utilization of the loan? For accountability sake, did these factors not matter? How then do we scrutinize the utilization of the loan? How then do we monitor its deployment ?

    Again, will such an infrastructural drive cater for the challenges of urbanization such as the creation of jobs, density of housing and the cost efficient transport solutions. Will such an agglomeration of projects correlate with the reduction of poverty in these areas targeted?

    There are also unanswered questions about the loan’s interest rate, will it be at single or double digit rates? What about its duration and the likely deductions that will come in the name of servicing such a debt? When will the  funds meant for repayment probably emerge from?

    Lastly, the fact that the state house of assembly speedily approved such a request in less than two weeks, when we are not at war or in some sort of emergency situation  is indeed baffling, should anything go wrong with such a loan then I believe that this state house

    of assembly should be prepared to bear full responsibility but in a democracy like ours do they understand the meaning of such.

    Come to think of it, is this not the same Soludo that confidently announced in his baritone voice  against all known logic and prisms of stark reality that “it wasn’t broken yet in Anambra” What has changed ? Why is he then seeking such a loan ? Surely the administration he made such lofty comments  about, which was that of his predecessor , Governor Willie Obiano ought to have left a humongous amount of money for Soludo to play with and not a debt profile of over N100 Bn.

    Finally, Soludo will likely have to contend with posterity. He has yet a golden opportunity to place Anambra on the pedestal of development  and I pray he does such because whether he succeeds or fails we all will be involved .

  • Tears for gallant Falcons

    Tears for gallant Falcons

    I like Nigerian women. They give their all into anything they are involved in. They know how to fight to the finish when a challenge is thrown at them.  Let me confess here, I wept when the referee sounded the whistle after the Moroccan girl converted their fifth penalty kick. It was a painful scenario on Monday night. The World Cup offers a lot for these girls only if they are groomed properly and adequately rewarded.

    The Falcon who shot her penalty kick tamely into the waiting hands of the Moroccan goalkeeper, stood transfixed unable to understand what happened to her and was inconsolable after the game. Ifeoma Onumonu’s missed penalty kick proved costly. She wept. I shared in her pains. I followed the movement of her lips when she muttered soberly inside  ‘ why me’. Again, I wept. The pain would follow her all the days of her life. May she never find herself in such a painful setting where she wouldn’t be given another chance to make amend.

    I took my gaze away from the girl (Onumonu) who lost the penalty kick, I saw patches of the Falcons sprawling on the turf. The few of them who were strong enough to persuade those who were devastated also joined in holding themselves in tears.  Then it occurred to me to search for Aisha Falode, I couldn’t spot her which meant that she too was downcast for lack of a better word to use to describe how she could have looked on Monday.

    Falode was like a mother to all of them. They all loved her as was evident in the few video recordings that I saw before the ill-fated Monday night. Falode joined the girls in their prayer sessions. You literally touch the bonding within the girls. Indeed, football is a cruel game. I accept that fact today. It would be unfair not to recognise the NFF’s President Amaju Pinnick’s involvement with the Falcons. Pinnick stood by them. They were Pinnick’s joker for another hurrah. Pity!

    Eulogising the Super Falcons team, Sports minister Sunday Dare said, “your resilience, character and management of the game must be commended. I salute your doggedness, commitment and fighting spirit. By holding the Moroccans in front of over 45,000-capacity crowd you have once again displayed the never-say-die attitude of true Nigerians.

    “Even when down to nine players after those red cards, you held your own. You are our champions. Nigeria is proud of you. It was a match I followed very keenly and I am so proud you displayed the Nigerian spirit. I am proud of this team, even in defeat”.

    “Of course, we would have been happy to be in the Final and chase a 10th title. But I am happy with the performance of the team and the way and manner they approached the game despite all sorts of setbacks and intimidation.

    “To play 50 minutes of a game with only nine players is not an easy task. The Super Falcons gave their all and were truly fabulous. They had the ‘Nigeria spirit’ in them and showed a sense of patriotism, were dogged and refused to give up. Penalties are forever a lottery, so it could have gone either way. I commend the team for the outing,” Pinnick said in a post-match comment.

    I thought I was strong enough to attend our weekly management meetings at work. My eyes were still heavy. I quickly called a colleague Dayo to explain my situation and then used the better part of Tuesday to recover fully from the pain arising from the Falcons’ dethronement. Yes, the Nigerian girls were the defending champions having won the trophy for the ninth time after 11 appearances. What an unmatched feat! Rasheedat Ajibade with Halimat Ayinde were both red carded rightly so for infringement on the Moroccans. But their colleagues soldiered on typical of the average Nigerian’s Spartan fighting spirit when pushed to the wall for 50 minutes. Take a bow, brave girls.

    Where the red cards flashed at our girls justified? Yes. The lesson would be for the coaches to school the girls on how to dispossess the ball from their opponents and how not to allow their temperament to rule their heads during matches, especially at this time when the Video Assistant Referee (VAR’s) judgement would be sought whenever a decision is debatable. Physical football is acceptable but not to the detriment of the opponents whose safety must be protected by the referee and VAR in cases of dangerous play as seen in Ajibade’s and Ayinde’s tackles. Truth be told.

    Anytime the news filters out that our sports ambassadors have protested in foreign countries over their allowances and entitlements over time, I always remember our old national anthem – Nigeria we hail thee… Need I waste space to list the instances across all the sports? For football, for instance, it would be difficult to blame the sports ministry nor would anyone completely chastise the NFF. The truth is that this problem will persist if we don’t change our method of funding sports from the fiscal pattern the country adopts to her budgeting prototype.

    It must be stated here that it takes almost forever to approve or is it pass our fiscal budgets yearly by which time a lot of sporting activities would have run its courses. The other poser would be to ask how other countries do theirs without rifts of the show of shame that has regrettably become our costume at international sporting competitions. Most truly sporting countries run their sports on Sports Lottery with the government providing the seed to show the private sector and indeed the citizenry that they are indeed serious.  The corporate world would key into our sports sponsorship when they see the level of government’s involvement and the mechanism put in place to stop sharp practices within the structures. Of course, cash from the corporate world isn’t theirs but for investors who need to be told what their contributions have been used for.

    The government can set aside huge sums of money which it hopes to persuade the big players in the corporate world that it is serious. The supervisory ministry should then organise such ceremonies as dinner with the president at least two years before the event where eminent Nigerians and the corporate world chiefs would rub minds with the President who would tell them what is in the whole arrangement for them to support sports. It is at such events that the President could announce how much the government is committing to the project. Thereafter he could invite the corporate world players to make their commitments to the project.

    Since Nigerians love sports so passionately, the federal government can speak with the state governors to launch theirs in the 36 states of the federation and Abuja. To ensure that there is transparency in the exercise, monthly pronouncements should be made on how much is in the vaults.

    A body could be inaugurated of eminent Nigerians to run the enterprise and be ready to give an account of their stewardship including regular auditing of their operations to gain the confidence of everyone to commit more cash to the project.

    Incidentally, sporting calendars are usually held annually, biannually and quarterly which gives room for proper preparations for the different contingents. It must be said that cash from these projects is meant for the athletes while in camp and during the competitions. Federations would apply to this committee for funds which must come early, be vetted and those coming for the money must give account to the last kobo else they face the wrath of the law.