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Category: Saturday

Job for Peseiro’s son

Why are sports administrators so dense in their thought processes (please forgive my very harsh words, dear reader)? Why do they also think after calamitous decisions have been taken which most times belittle eminently talented sportsmen and women? Where else in the world do countries sign their coaches orally outside such a nation or are such Lilliputian coaches doing us a favour by accepting the Nigerian job? How does it feel to Nigerians that a coach whose contract hasn’t been signed asked one of us not to be part of the Super Eagles for he underwent an interview and was deemed competent to do the match analyst’s job?

Do you blame the Portuguese coach if he embarrasses a Nigerian in Dallas, USA when we can dignify him with a lot of preferences by urging him to meet the players, officials and backroom staff a few days before a game? We are in the habit of doing things unconventionally as if there aren’t structured ways of organising simply things? What would it have cost our federation’s chieftains to get the coach to meet with his support staff through zoom with their employers who may be in attendance in designated countries? A digitalised federation secretariat would organise such an interface professionally where the coach and staff listen to their boss to know what he wants to achieve with Eagles outside just winning matches.

It didn’t come as surprise when news broke from Dallas that Super Eagles Technical Adviser Jose Peseiro walked out the team’s match analyst Eboboritse Uwejamomere from Eagles’ technical meetings. Peseiro ordered Uwejamomere out of where the coaches were sitting to eat their meal. The coach escorted him out just as he pointed to the dining tables where backroom staff were munching stating clearly that was where he belonged if at all he was among his staff.

Sadly, while Uwejamomere suffered the humiliation, not one of the senior members of the technical crew who were Nigerians could walk up to Peseiro to whisper into his ears who Uwejamomere was having read in the newspapers and heard on the radio his name as seen in the federation’s newsletter written by the body’s media director, Ademola Olajire. It raised the poser of how the contingent went to America from their different domains and who the head of the delegation was? Who received the contingent in Dallas? Was it the country’s liaison officers in the Protocol department of the Nigeria Embassy in America? The Nigerian Embassy people’s job is to ensure easy passage of the contingent without hitches not to identify players different from players and backroom staff.

Peseiro knew what he was doing. He told those who cared to listen inside the hotel’s dining that he had assigned the Eagles’ match analyst job to his senior, thus rendering Uwejamomere otiose. Pity! Only in Nigeria, such shameful acts can occur. Where were the top members of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) who accompanied the delegation from Abuja when Uwejamomere was being humiliated? Or would they say that they haven’t seen him before in their midst during the Cameroon 2021 Africa Cup of Nations held in Cameroon?

Did I hear you ask how the matter was resolved? Well, a concerned Nigerian who wanted to get photoshoots with the players stood aside to watch 23-year old Uwejamomere’s encounter with an unsparing manager narrated his ordeal to the witness who then channelled the report to the NFF President Amaju Pinnick who joined them later. Miffed by the account narrated to him by his Personal Assistant Neville, Amaju went to Peseiro for his side of the story on the matter.

The NFF boss warned the Portuguese that he was employed the same way as Uwejamomere with everyone having his own briefs in the Super Eagles by the federation. Pinnick, subsequently directed Peseiro to work with Uwejamomere as Eagles match analyst, not the Portuguese manager’s son.

Please, dear readers, how did we get to this condescending level where a coach hired by Nigeria would appoint his son as the team’s match reader? It shows how the minds of our soccer chiefs work. Otherwise, they ought to have asked Peseiro to send the names of his three assistants to the NFF for facts checking. It doesn’t matter if the assistants’ wages were going to be paid by Peseiro. I hope that the NFF know that we have started a painstaking rebuilding of the Super Eagles. We, therefore, mustn’t allow any foundation built on quicksand which is what Peseiro has done by bringing his son to do a job that is too big for him. Except Peseiro is telling everyone that his son is knowledgeable about it. If so, what is his son’s pedigree in the match analyst job? We need to know.

I didn’t expect from the Eagles against Mexico considering both countries’ ranking on FIFA’s monthly. I considered the game the type of match that truly brings out the best in the players. The players were awful in the first half which was expected. The central defenders were slow on the counter, leaving gaps at the rear which exposed the goalkeeper. It was apparent that they could run making it imperative for the coaches to look inwards for younger players who were talented, fit and quick to retrieve the ball from the opposition either attacking or defensive situations.

Alex Iwobi stood out in the midfield, not surprising with the home-based introduction into the game showing they could be better with proper supervision and the belief that they don’t have to sneak into Europe before they can play for Nigeria.

Assistant coach Finidi George’s post-match comments for the game against Mexico raised hope that the right message was being passed to the boys.

“We’ve had a couple of sessions even while in Dallas, I liked it; we’re building,” George remarked on the first days of the Team’s camping.

“The building process has started and we want to see how far we can push the players, It has been good so far. Let’s see how the second game will go.”

“This is a building process, a draw will not be a bad result. If we have the victory we will take it at any time, but if we can have a draw and play a good game I think we’ll all accept it, go back home and build on that.”

Pinnick stated after the two losses to Mexico and Ecuador that: “I am happy and I can tell you that we fulfilled our objectives of restoring the spirit of the Super Eagles following the failure to qualify for the FIFA World Cup. We lost both games against Mexico and Ecuador narrowly but we were up for it and never finished on the back foot. The boys gave a good account of themselves in both games.

“Given the number of first-team players that were not available, we have to praise the boys who showed up here and gave their all. They have given us confidence going into the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers. The despondency is over and we can now march forward in a sure-footed manner.”

NFF’s president’s penchant for the positives after Eagles’ matches is legendary, He needs to understand the fact that our players’ European status affects the Super Eagles when pitched against countries whose players populate the bigger European league. What it means, therefore, is we must start to build a new team populated by hone-based players who would effectively utilise the period between now and the next World Cup get a team which would blend using their matches. We should stop this habit of running to Nigeria-born kids to fill existing lapses in all our national teams.

June 4, 2022
Buhari: Between picking successor and electing flagbearer

President Muhammadu Buhari, leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), is leading the ruling party into its much anticipated presidential primary next Monday.

No fewer than 2,322 elected delegates are expected at the Eagle Square in Abuja to elect or select, through affirmation, a standard bearer who will face the opposition candidate, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, in next year’s general election.

If any supper or statutory delegate strays into the venue, he will be a spectator. None of the aspirants will also vote. The President, APC governors, ministers, senators and party officers are not eligible to participate in the voting. Their fate has been decided by the Electoral Act.

It appears the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is ahead of the APC in the preparations for the 2023 polls. While the ruling party postponed its primary, the main opposition converted its primary into a campaign ground for the poll.

Also, a challenge was thrown to the ruling party, judging by the democratic and transparent manner the PDP conducted its shadow poll, which was transmitted live. The venue, MKO Abiola Stadium in Abuja, was not rowdy.

As at Thursday, aspirants were yet to receive the list of delegates from the ruling party’s national headquarters. Screening was conducted. Two days after, the report was not ready.

But, the hope that the primary would take place at last brightened four days ago, following the setting up of the Primary Planning Committee and other sub-committees.

It seems many presidential aspirants have winded up their mobilisation two weeks ago. In the last 15 days, the only contender visible on the field criss-crossing the nooks and crannies of the vast country is the frontline aspirant and national leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. Up to this morning, the former Lagos State governor was still holding consultations with delegates.

Many challenges are confronting the APC. The party leadership is not cohesive. In the week of presidential convention, top party officers seem to be up in arms against the national chairman. They have accused him of running a one-man show.

APC has also overcome its phobia for emergency. The invasion of three strange men – a former President, manager of apex bank and former minister – was resisted. Although the chief banker promised an inexplicable news or surprises, they never happened.

Read Also: I’ve high regard, respect for Buhari, says Tinubu

However, the party has been adamant on one important issue. It’s position on zoning or rotation is unknown. It is a core source of division in the fold.

What Nigerians expect today is the exhibition of democratic tenets by the ruling party. Any mistake made at this stage by the APC will be to the advantage of the PDP.

There is also anxiety over plans by the President to unveil his preferred candidate. As a citizen, politician and leader, he is at liberty to anoint an aspirant.

Of course, the President aptly described the party’s flag bearer he would name as “my successor,” to the consternation of PDP leaders, who pointed out that a person who fits that description can only be known after the election.

It appears President Buhari is tactful at the party level. He is seeking collaboration with party stakeholders to avoid a situation whereby his action would not be interpreted as imposition and dictatorship.

Throughout history, political leaders always had profound thoughts about who would succeed them. Monarchs even identified and groomed royal children as successors. The only exception is the military regime where the Head of State hopes to enjoy a permanent tenure.

An outgoing President, or any ruling executive for that matter, could not be expected to be indifferent to the nature, tendency, sentiment and idiosyncrasies of his would-be successor.

Political scientists have adduced two reasons for the inclination towards a guided succession plan. The first, according to them, is the need to protect the legacies of the administration, especially if it has lived up to expectation, and ensure that the successor has the capacity to build on the sound foundation.

The second motive is personal, or self-serving. It is the morbid desire for protection of vested interests, self-preservation and insulation from the long arm of the law outside power, particularly if the head of government has been reckless, unpatriotic, corrupt, dubious and dictatorial. It is thus seen as the latent desire to cover up past misdeeds.

But, a wise President would look beyond these factors in contemporary democratic setting.

In searching for a successor or trying to anoint a candidate, the leader is expected to consider three issues.

The first is the public mood. If the mood of the vast majority of voters cannot accommodate his choice, the candidate will fail. Therefore, any choice should reflect national interest and popular expectation.

The mood of the country today can only accommodate a tested and trusted leader as successor, a performer, detribalised Nigeria, bridge builder, a patriot, a man of sound intellect, a financial surgeon, a crowd puller and a father-figure.

The second is to consider the mood of the party. Since the party is the platform that will field the aspirant as its standard bearer, consensus should be built within. If the emergence of the flag bearer is not the outcome of collaboration or collective endorsement, there will be prospects of internal sabotage.

The party will be comfortable with a found ing father who understands the philosophy of the platform, a party builder who has toiled for it, a resilient actor whose blood runs in the veins of the APC.

The third issue is that the party has to be guided by the worth and weight of competing parties. Only a party that fields a candidate who can win the election has a chance of survival at the poll.

If the candidate is less popular than the candidate of the rival party, or if he is inferior, he faces a gloomy prospect at the poll.

Thus, it is imperative for the President and other party leaders to explore public perception. What are the people saying in town about competence, capability, experience, antecedents, pedigree as well as past and present achievements? Who is that aspirant who towers above other contenders?

These challenges stare President Buhari and his party in the face. Yet, the President’s choice may not be final, unless it is a product of “cohesive consensus”. The imitation is that if a candidate is to be picked based on consensus, other aspirants must support the option. Each aspirant is a critical stakeholder.

According to the electoral law, all aspirants that have been screened and cleared by the screening committee set up by the party are eligible for participation at the shadow poll. Therefore, if the President anoints an aspirant, other contenders are expected to legitimise the action by writing letters of consent to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). If a single aspirant objects by refusing to write the letter, the consensus may be a nullity. It means a lot of ground work has to be done.

President Buhari, it can be said, began the process on Tuesday.

The question is: who will the President pick that there will be no uproar or controversy against? Will the choice be acceptable to the majority of party members or delegates who are warming up for the primary? Will his choice obey zoning?

Apparently, President Buhari was conscious of the governors’ tacit rejection of consensus, which the party had adopted in choosing its National Chairman, Senator Abdullahi Adamu.

He alluded to the process when he said: “The party has successfully established internal policies that promote continuity and smooth succession plans.”

The President observed that since APC had encouraged its second term governors to nominate their successors, he is also entitled to the same privilege. Observers believe that it smacked of subtle blackmail.

But, the criteria he has laid down tend to dwarf the semblance of dictatorship. The President said the outcome of the primary candidate should reflect the changing dynamics of public expectation and the positive quality of the APC regarding democratic principles.

In particular, the President emphasised that the candidate to choose must be someone who would give the Nigerian masses a sense of victory and confidence, even before the elections.

To avoid a brick wall, President Buhari will need to keep the promise to sustain the consultation involving all aspirants and stakeholders up to the day of convention.

The President appears to have anticipated the tension likely to be generated by his course of action. Therefore, he said that consultation is critical to the diffusion of “anxiety occasioned by different factors”.

APC should not leave the Eagle Square as a mortally divided and wounded party. This is a very delicate moment in the life of the party. Unity, according to the President, is very important. If the ruling party is polarised by the outcome of the primary, the ensuing post-primary crisis may lead it to doom. It will be reminiscent of the 2014/2015 when the PDP, unable to resolve its crisis, became decimated and weakened. The logjam heralded its fatal fall at the polls.

There are hurdles. Will the convention hold for the mere ratification of the presidential choice of candidate the same manner that his choice of Adamu was ratified by the governors and, later, by the April convention?

How can the primary be organised in a way and manner that it would engender unity, cohesion and transparent in the party?

Will the presidential option herald an implosion or strengthen the platform ahead of the general election?

The choice of the candidate should unify and not divide. The tools of choice should not be associated with exclusion, alienation, intimidation, discrimination and oppression.

Only a free and fair selection or primary will satisfy the yearnings of all and sundry.

June 4, 2022
Delegates, beware

If feelers reaching Sentry from the Ijebu Central Federal Constituency in Ogun State are anything to go by, then some politicians who participated in the just concluded primary election of one of the two leading political parties in the state should not sleep with two eyes closed henceforth. This is because some House of Representatives aspirants who lost at the keenly contested election for the ticket of the concerned party are said to have met and resolved to go after delegates who took their money and refused to deliver at the primary election.

Read Also: PDP delegate shares presidential primary ‘earning’ with community

“The aspirants met at a hotel in the constituency of Wednesday following realisation that they might all have been conned by a set of party leaders. These leaders took millions of naira from all of these aspirants with promises to deliver the votes of a particular group of delegates to them on Election Day, but failed to do so. It has even been discovered that rather than share the money they collected to the delegates, these party leaders pocketed the money and watched the aspirants lose at the primary election,” a source explained.

Upon realizing they had all been swindled by these party leaders who themselves were delegates at the election, the aspirants resolved to get their monies back from the politicians by hook or crook.

Consequently, they have reported the concerned party chieftains to security agencies. “The police have promised to wade into the matter soon and ensure justice is done,” the source said.

June 4, 2022
2023: Obi in shaky start

A fresh leadership crisis is rocking the Labour Party (LP) and threatening the presidential dream of Peter Obi, former governor of Anambra State. Observers say the former PDP chief’s aspiration is shaky as his faction of the LP risks being declared illegal by the court. This is because a Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered that they and some of its executives be served with a fresh suit challenging the party’s leadership.

Obi was surely not smiling the moment Inyang Ekwo, the presiding judge, gave the order while ruling on an ex parte motion filed by Calistus Okafor, a former deputy national chairman of the party. The court ordered that the service must be effected “within seven days of this order”. The matter was then adjourned till June 30 “for further mention”.

Read Also: Why I joined Labour Party, by Peter Obi

In the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1636/2021, Okafor, who is a factional leader of the party, is challenging the legality of the leadership of Julius Abure and Akingbade Oyelakin, whom he said “represents persons wrongfully and unlawfully parading themselves as members of the National Working Committee (NWC) of Labour Party”. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is joined as the fourth defendant in the suit.

The anxiety in Obi’s camp as we speak is occasioned by the fear of the unknown. What happens if his faction loses the case? Your guess is as good as mine.

June 4, 2022
Ideologies, culture and succession

After watching the Platinum   Jubilee Celebrations marking the 70th anniversary of the British monarch Queen Elizabeth 11 on the throne ,   I began to smell a rat on the legacy of democracy as an ideology that the British bequeathed Nigeria and many former colonial members of the British Commonwealth of nations , of    which Nigeria is a member . I found the Platinum Celebrations majestic in every sense and I confess to some colonial mentality   because   although I am a proud Nigerian I confess to   a      dotty   admiration    of British    royalty   which seems to    lead   me    somewhat    to see the Queen    in such admirable light that I think she can do no wrong . Which is a fallacy since she is a human being after all , in spite of the finesse and grandeur with which    she has ruled for the last 70 years . After watching the jets of the British Air Force do a formation of   the figure 70 ,    as well as a smoke color rendering of the Black Jack , the British flag   in the skies and seeing the British   PM taking his seat like anyone else at one of the ceremonies marking the Jubilee , I started   to wonder why a truly democratic nation like Britain can give such adulation to an unelected monarchy and still claim to be a democracy in every sense of the word.

Britain of course is a parliamentary   democracy and that was the ideology handed over to Nigeria at Independence in 1960   and Nigeria later became a republic and appointed a president to replace the Queen as Head OF State   . Later with the military intervention in Nigeria’s politics , Nigeria became a presidential system of government with its system of checks and balances   modeled on the American   presidential system of government .

Today , however, I am looking at succession issues in Nigeria and Britain and the role of elections and political succession in both nations .   The   objective   here is to see how the British left us a democracy that makes elections the ritual for changing governments periodically but   still maintain their monarchy while our political culture is to rig elections to retain power by all means . What is alarming in our succession evolution is the sudden emergence   of a consensus culture clearly manifested in the ruling APC anointing its chairman recently at the behest of the leader of the party , who is the nation’s president   . And    the   malignant rumour that this is to be repeated for the presidential primaries of    the party in which 25 candidates have paid the 100m naira price tag to qualify to contest for office of the president at the primaries scheduled for this month .

It is my contention   here that the British monarchy confers stability on British democracy because governments come and go at general elections in the UK but the monarchy remains on the throne . While   Parliament is supreme in making laws and elected PMs write government policies which are read from the throne by the Queen , stability and continuity of governance is assured by the well known saying that ‘ with the Queen in Buckingham Palace , every Briton sleeps well in his bed ‘. The saying was again reinforced by the massive turn out for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee this last week .

I   therefore wonder aloud , why the British destroyed the Nigerian   traditional   institutions     like Obas in Yorubaland and Emirs in the North while    securing theirs and making it the anchor of their Parliamentary democracy . In fact the British were favorable to the Emirs with Indirect Rule which they denied the Obas till much   later. Overall however, the view and legacy of the British was that our traditional monarchy was incompatible with democracy . Which happens to be hypocritical given that British democracy thrives on the British monarchy .

It was in a bid   to   create a stable polity that   the   Nigerian   military in government evolved a presidential system of government in the hope that the US model ,in which   the winner   takes all will give the executive president   more powers than a PM in a Parliamentary democracy which   we practiced before . What has happened instead in this regard is that former military officers changed their uniforms to flowing agbadas and now dominate the Nigerian political environment and have become elected presidents , senators and key chairmen of   powerful house and senate committees . The   real    danger now to Nigeria’s elective democracy with its rampant rigging culture   is the emergence of consensus politics at   party   level created by the present president . This is because consensus is the opposite of political competition and party politics .

Unlike in Britain where the monarchy tethers parliamentary democracy , consensus in party and national politics   in Nigeria will breed a dictatorship where incumbents appoint their successors and have them elected to succeed them or their cronies and surrogates in government . This makes a mockery of participatory and competitive democracy . It reinforces my initial suspicion that the British gave us a raw deal at independence in undermining our traditional and customary   institutions of governance    in   the emergence     of democracy   .Now   we   are about   to compound our problems   by shooting our selves in the leg in     creating a culture of consensus succession.   Instead of striving to create smooth political transition and succession   through clean and fair elections which have been the elusive trait of our wobbling   , money ridden and highly oligarchic democracy .

Let me end on the note that the concensus option as a substitute for elective democracy is a product of excessive monetisation of our political culture . Participants in the political system are used to a culture of buying and selling votes with big   money and expensive functional gifts needed for every day living that only the rich and mighty can afford and   which   the poor and needy   participants   crave   for to sell their   votes and conscience   . It is an endless orgy of continuous demand and supply   and consensus politics will not stop it or minimize . Instead it will make political participation and leadership available or even affordable to the highest bidder .

Whilst the number of candidates for the presidency in the APC is certainly unwieldy at 25 ,   the high number of candidates showed that the rationale    for making the fee high at 100m naira   to discourage high number of candidates , was a failure . Really ,   ambition , as in Shakespeare’s   Julius Caesar ‘ should be made   of sterner stuff ‘   than money , no matter how high . Yet democracy is government of the people by the people and for the people . How the way we practice this in Nigeria fits that definition beats my imagination . Surely there is need for an urgent rethink on the way we practice or worship our democracy where only the rich are the beneficiaries so glaringly and with such impunity .

June 4, 2022
Is that all Mr. Presidential aspirant?

Many observers present at the venue of a stakeholders’ meeting in Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State, could not hold back loud laughter when some party delegates openly expressed their displeasure and frustration over the failure of a visiting presidential hopeful to share wads of naira notes after reeling out his plans for the country and party members if he is elected in 2023.

The aspirant, an incumbent political office holder, had visited the state to solicit for the support of delegates and party leaders in his quest to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari.

After he was received by party leaders and chieftains, it was time to address delegates of his party. Sentry learnt that the well-educated politician spoke very well to the admiration of his listeners.

“He even got applauded for speaking some big, big grammar that looks like the ones lawyers used to impress judges in the courtrooms. Noticing that the people were enjoying his speech, he kept talking and ended up spending quite a long time on the podium. But the people kept faith and waited, without much grumbling,” a source told Sentry.

But the hitherto patient party members soon turned to a grumbling and angry lot when, at the end of the very long speech, Mr. Aspirant made to leave without the ‘usual’ thank you envelopes. Upon realizing that the presidential hopeful didn’t drop money for them with the organizers of the meeting, some party members approached him and demanded to know what was happening.

“Oga wa, so ti tan naa nun? Onitibi nko? Abi o yo nkankna ni? So ti tan nuun,” meaning “Our leader, is that all? What about the usual? Or there is nothing for us? Is that all? they asked their guest who at the time was making his way to his car on his way out of the venue.

Of course, the aspirant, who was obviously not prepared to meet the yearning needs of his accusers at the moment, kept up his pace amidst jeers by the now visibly angry party members.

May 28, 2022
At the mercy of Nyesom Wike?

It is no longer news that the Supreme Court yesterday dismissed an appeal by ex-Transport Minister, Rotimi Amaechi, seeking to stop his probe over an alleged N96 billion fraud.

Justice Adamu Jauro who led the seven member panel of justices while delivering judgment, dismissed the appeal for lacking in merit. The apex court affirmed the judgment of the High Court of Rivers and that of the Court of Appeal, which had earlier dismissed same suit for want of substance and merit.

With the development, the former Rivers State governor can be brought to face a probe panel planned for him by his successor and arch rival, Governor Nyesom Wike.

And that is what friends and allies of Amaechi, who is currently seeking the presidential ticket of the ruling APC, fear as we speak. “God forbid Amechi should be at the mercy of Wike. He will go for the kill,” a former Commissioner in the state said on Friday.

The ex-minister had approached the Supreme Court praying for an order of the court to prohibit Wike from investigating his eight-year tenure as governor of Rivers.

He had argued that the probe was aimed at witch-hunting, embarrassing, humiliating; and disgracing him in view of his political differences with his successor. But Wike persisted in his determination to bring his predecessor to answer questions about his time in office. Now, he has what he wanted.

Now that he has Amaechi where he wanted him all along, what will he do with him? Only Wike and time will tell.

May 28, 2022
APC primaries and PMB’s legacy

Despite the shift in the scheduled timetable, which would have seen both the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) hold their respective presidential primaries to elect presidential candidates for the 2023 polls this weekend, the exercise when it holds will be interesting and momentous for both. For this analysis, my focus will be the intra-party polls of the APC. For one, it is the ruling party and the election, in reality, is for it to win or lose just like it was the PDP through its arrogance and recklessness that virtually gifted power to the APC on a platter of gold in 2015. Incidentally, former President Goodluck Jonathan has been pontificating on what he describes as the mess that the primaries of the APC and PDP have been, complaining about the excessive monetization of the exercises. He forgets that it was his utter disregard for the internal democratic processes of the PDP and his utilization of presidential power to clinch the Party’s ticket for the 2015 elections at all costs that led to the party’s implosion and his emphatic loss leading to the APC’s ascendancy to power. Dr Jonathan lacks the moral integrity to preach intra-party democracy to anybody.

Again, but for the unfortunate and avoidable intra-party intrigues, rivalry and mutually destructive conflicts among its various factions and fractions that have hobbled its performance, the APC administration of President Muhammadu Buhari has generally led the country in a better direction away from the utter lack of vision, policy impoverishment and open venality of much of the PDP’S 16 years in power. In spite of earning substantially less revenue in its seven years in power so far than the PDP did in one and a half decades as a result of the sharp decline in international oil prices, the devastations of the unanticipated Coronavirus pandemic and now the implications of the Russia-Ukraine war, the APC has achieved more in terms of infrastructure provision, efforts to alleviate poverty as well as diversify the economy than the PDP did.

Rather, therefore, than completely abandon the policy direction and legacies of the Buhari administration as the PDP is naturally most likely to do if it regains power in 2023, what Nigeria needs after Buhari is a President who will appreciate and build on the successes of the administration while taking effective measures to address and ameliorate its failings particularly in the areas of national security and nurturing a new sense of inclusiveness in governance to revive the spirit of unity, nationalism and patriotism across Nigeria. It is obvious that only an APC candidate can do this. But can such a candidate emerge through a free, fair, transparent and credible intra-party process in its presidential primaries slated for Sunday?

One of the most enduring legacies of President Muhammadu Buhari, which he will bequeath to Nigeria after his tenure, is his respect for democratic principles and strict adherence to stipulated rules and regulations particularly with respect to the affairs of his party. Buhari selected a consensus National Chairman that emerged at the party’s last National Convention, Alhaji Abdullahi Adamu, at the instance of governors and some other stakeholders of the party.

It is so easy to forget now that there was a time in this dispensation when a sitting President reportedly forced the resignation of his party’s National Chairman at gun point after a delicious meal of pounded yam in the latter’s residence! The said President imposed and removed party and elective public officials at will. He once publicly said that the eligibility of one of his party’s governorship candidates had ‘k-leg’ and unilaterally disqualified him even after he had emerged through the party primaries. That, fortunately for Nigeria, is not Buhari’s. It is thus ironical that some forces within the APC, obviously not confident that their favorite aspirants can win open and transparent primaries, are surreptitiously prodding the President to interfere arbitrarily in the ongoing presidential nomination process and impose a ‘consensus’ candidate on the party. In doing so, they obviously pray and hope that they will be such a lucky one.

Others are plotting that those they believe they cannot defeat in competitive primaries be disqualified through opaque processes so that the system can be skewed to favor them. Anybody with this mindset is deficient of moral values and cannot be entrusted with the immense powers of Nigeria’s presidency. At least 25 persons have collected and returned the party’s nomination and expression of interest forms after paying the stipulated N100 million fees. Some of them have been enthusiastically crisis-crossing the country selling their qualities to the delegates and influential opinion moulders. Having done so, none should be scared to face the delegates in transparent primaries. For instance, Vice President Yemi Obasanjo, a major aspirant, has touted his loyalty to the President over the last seven years as his Deputy, the invaluable experience he has garnered in office as well as his achievements in justice sector reforms when he served as Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice in Lagos State during Tinubu’s tenure as governor between 1999 and 2007.

Those who interrogate Osinbajo’s claims point out that his achievements as Attorney General in Lagos State were those of a competent appointee who was under supervision and he cannot credibly appropriate the attainments of the leader of the team, the governor, who gave him an opportunity to serve. Given President Buhari’s style of delegating power and reposing absolute trust in those he assigns responsibilities, they insist that Osinbajo as Chairman of the National Economic Council (NEC), who had considerable role and influence in the management of the economy, a member of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) as well as Chairman of the administration’s Economic Sustainability Committee (ESC), grossly underperformed in these roles. Had he been more competent, creative and diligent in undertaking these responsibilities, the administration would have had a better economic record to parade. Furthermore, it remains curious that, after his re-election in 2019, President Buhari removed the administration of the massive Social Intervention Programmmes involving billions of Naira from Osinbajo’s office and created a substantive Ministry to handle the responsibility.

Another contestant, former Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, in wooing delegates across the states, has referred to his achievements as minister and his vast public service experience over the last two decades as Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly for eight years and then governor of the state for two terms. Amaechi’s critics admit that his performance as minister was impressive particularly in the completion of delivery of stagnated rail infrastructure projects. However, it is difficult to discern what his enduring legacies as Speaker of the House or governor in Rivers State. Furthermore, does someone who cannot offer cohesive and unifying leadership to his party in Rivers state do so for a complex polity like Nigeria? While Kogi State governor, Yahaya Bello, has engaged in entertaining media theatrics, the Ekiti State governor and Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF), Dr Kayode Fayemi, has also been projecting his academic attainment, governance experience and role in the pro-democracy struggle. The first to declare his ambition and easily the frontline aspirant, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has boldly declared himself the best candidate in his nationwide consultations with delegates making ample reference to his achievement in turning around the fortunes of Lagos State as governor of the State between 1999 and 2007 and laying the foundation for the ongoing success story that has made the state a developmental reference point across the country. He has cited his private sector experience as a trained accountant and former Treasurer of Mobil Oil with tremendous positive impact on the financial fortunes of the company. His understanding of the economy and ability to identify and utilize the most competent hands in his administration were responsible for his ability to geometrically increase the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of Lagos State from N600 million monthly in 1999 to over N8 billion monthly by 2007 and under successive administrations, it has grown to over N40 billion today.

It is obvious that no aspirant in the race has his cross-sectoral attributes and attainments including his legislative experience as a Senator in Nigeria’s Third Republic and Chairman of the Committee on Banking, Currency, Finance and Appropriations, his frontline role in the pro-democracy struggle that birthed this dispensation in 1999, his championing the cause of true federalism as governors, his critical contributions along with President Buhari in building the alliance that resulted in the emergence of the APC and his pivotal results in the 2015 and 2019 presidential elections in which Buhari and the APC emerged victorious among others. His all inclusive administration in cosmopolitan Lagos State and his incomparable pan-Nigerian personal and political network will put him in vantage position to pull together a divided country.

An otherwise brilliant Osinbajo has not demonstrated a similar breadth of vision as illustrated by the alleged narrow religious insularity in making appointments to his office. In whose hands will the legacies of the Buhari administration be better protected? Osinbajo claims loyalty as one of his attributes but he has not batted an eyelid in denouncing and distancing himself from his undeniable political mentor and benefactor for personal advantage. Will he not also readily denounce and readily rubbish Buhari’s legacy if it becomes politically expedient to do so and power is firmly in his hands? It is a legitimate question.

Tinubu has stood stoutly by the administration and the president’s leadership through thick and thin over the last seven years even when it has come under intense criticism from diverse quarters. In the final analysis, it is for the delegates to make their decisions on the claims and counterclaims of the contending aspirants. But in the interest of the party’s continued cohesion, its fortunes in the 2023 elections and the stability of Nigeria’s democracy, they must be given the opportunity to make an open, free, transparent and credible choice, which will be easy to respect by all aspirants who are genuine democrats. It is my well-considered position that Asiwaju Tinubu is the best among the presidential aspirants in APC. He has the political infrastructure and intellectual capacity to lead our country to shared prosperity.

May 28, 2022
The power of television

There was a large dose of suspense, drama, scenes of the absurb, wild jubilations as goals which moved teams from distress to joy for the winning sides and apprehension for those teams that required things to happen in other venues for them to shout eureka were some of the talking points of Sunday’s dusk of the football season in all the European leagues.

Not forgetting the fans who held their radio sets underneath their armpits following the proceedings of matches which would determine their fates at other venues, especially the Premier League was astounding. It had all the trappings of the end to end stuff peculiar to the beautiful game globally. The drama, thrills and frills on Saturday in England had the battles at the top – The winner of the league, the teams to make the last Europa Cup ticket between West Ham, Manchester United and Arsenal for the last qualifier to the Europa season.

At a stage, those at home hardly watched their clubs’ matches which were tense and opted to track other games by constantly changing the channels on television sets they watched to follow all the trends. But the one which almost caused a heart attack was the game where Liverpool was leading 2-1 and Manchester City also led 3-2 at that stage. Like thieves at night, Reds fans rose together like a parade to celebrate a purported ‘equalizer’ by Aston Villa, which turned out to be fake news.

There were also some exciting moments at the bottom of the league rung in England. Leeds relied on a 94th-minute goal to seal the Premier League ticket for another year, leaving Burnley fans sulking with some elder ones weeping while trying to wipe tears off the faces of their little ones. For Manchester United’s fans, there was nothing to cheer for as they consoled themselves with the Europa League earned from West Ham’s ill-luck, not as a result of their efforts. Imagine Manchester United being beaten by Crystal Palace on the last day. Not even the presence of their new manager could motivate the players to play better than they had done during the previous 37 weeks.

All the excitement among fans inside the different stadia came courtesy of superb television coverage, giving fans a second chance to evaluate disputed calls from match referees. Qualitative commentaries brought the games nearer to the fans, especially those at home who watched the matches using television sets or Manchester City and Liverpool’s supporters. The commentators introduced interesting and well-researched analyses drawing examples of what happened in 2011/12 when City’ won the league by beating QPR 3-2, with the winning goal coming off the lethal scoring boots of Sergio Aguero. Aguero outwitted former Nigeria defender Taiye Taiwo.

Footages of that game with all its drama kept fans of Liverpool on the high with the fanatics praying for other such crazy moments. Such a reversal of fortunes never came, leaving Manchester City to cart home the Premier League diadem for the fourth time in the last five years while Liverpool left to rue missing out on winning four trophies which the English media called quadruple. It must be stated here categorically that Manchester City was the best playing side this season scoring goals with aplomb.

While the games across Europe ran their minutes out, I took time off to monitor the streets outside. I was stunned to see empty streets. Virtually everyone was inside their houses. Those who sat out of joints and viewing centres to watch the matches quaffing their choice drinks blended with steaming hot African delicacies created their own scenes by celebrating goals scored against their adversaries.

This writer chose to spoil the fun by asking if such settings can be recreated in the Nigeria League? I wanted to know if the country has unbroken electricity supply? I asked again if Nigeria’s league had a calendar which the sponsors could use to plan their budgets for the season and beyond? I challenged my listeners to name five stadia in the country with lush green pitches reminiscent of what we saw during the matches which would elicit good soccer artistry from the players? There was also the suggestion of inadequate security around the country for such scenarios to be recreated in the domestic game. Our hearts sank when I raised the issue of Nigeria’s dwindling economy and its spiral effect on the going rates in the market against other nations’ currencies?

For the domestic league here to be in sync with what operates elsewhere, our calendar must tally with theirs. We must run the game as business such that basic things around the league are done transparently. This is one of the ways to attract businessmen and indeed the corporate world to associate their brands and services with the beautiful game here.

Sometimes, I wonder what our leagues organisers showcase to sponsors when there isn’t television and broadcast rights in the game? It is also disturbing that players and coaches’ welfare packages are neither here nor there. Match officials are at the mercy of hooligans and beasts who turn them to drums who they beat to stupor. These urchins walk free on the streets because the league organisers consider security as a joke. What excuse would these organisers give for hearse which are found at league venues instead of well equipped ambulances?

Perhaps, there is the need to remind our organisers about key parametres others have set which come as good dividends to effectively make the game beautiful. I have chosen three top leagues whose marketing layouts explain why their leagues run seamlessly. They are EPL, La Liga and Bundesliga.

According to Reuters: ”La Liga have confirmed a record breaking TV rights deal worth €4.95bn from the start of the 2022/23 season. The contract lasts for five seasons, up until the end of the 2026/27 campaign, for all televised top flight games in Spain and Andorra on a co-sharing deal between Movistar and DAZN.

”As part of the agreement, as confirmed via an official statement from La Liga, the two stations will each show five of the ten games from a given match day.

”Movistar will have a slightly stronger end of the deal as they are permitted to show all ten games from three match days per season. The deal represents a significant increase in the previous deal, signed with Telefonica in 2018 for an estimated €2.9bn, according to Reuters, with president Javier Tebas indicating his confidence of continued growth for Spanish football.

”Premier League TV money jumps past £10bn as international revenues exceed domestic.For the first time the overseas broadcast rights revenues for the Premier League will be higher than the domestic broadcast deal.

”Club bosses were told that the value of the international TV deals will be £5.3 billion in the 2022-25 cycle. Add that to the £5.1 billion domestic TV deal and the premier league will bank more than £10 billion in broadcast revenue over its next commercial cycle.

”The international TV revenue boost comes at a time when the broadcast rights market has generally been challenged by new forms of distribution taking audience away from traditional channels.

”The scale of the international increase in broadcast deals is even more remarkable considering that the international TV revenues for the 2013-16 cycle was £2.42 billion – a more than doubling of the revenue figure over the six intervening years.

”For the 2016-19 cycle the international TV revenue grew to £3.82 billion, and for the 2019-22 cycle to £4.27 billion.”

”The value of TV rights for the Bundesliga will drop slightly over the 2021-2025 period from 1.16 billion euros to 1.1 billion euros per season, German football league CEO Christian Seifert said.

‘’With a total figure of 4.4 billion euros, it is the first decrease in the value of a newly negotiated Bundesliga rights package since 2002, and none of the expected new players such as Amazon figure in the new deal, with current broadcasters Sky and DAZN sharing the matches.”

May 28, 2022
APC, PDP: A day of decision

Two big contests should currently be taking place in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory ( FCT). Public attention is on the historic presidential primaries of the two major political parties-the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP).

Between today and tomorrow, or by Monday, the two platforms should be presenting their candidates for next year’s poll to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the electorate.

Either of the two flagbearers will succeed President Muhammadu Buhari, whose tenure expires on May 29, 2023. But, while PDP is forging ahead, there is no sign of readiness on the part of the ruling party.

If PDP produces a candidate tomorrow and the APC candidate is nowhere to be found, it would mean that the APC forced the hand of the electoral commission to amend the electoral timetable.

Many factors will shape the contests. They include the credentials of aspirants, their structures, cross-regional support, experience and may be, capability. However, delegates are not captivated by the manifestos or programmes of action reeled out by aspirants. This should have been the core issue in a nation-state of despair. But, their preoccupation is money. It may therefore, be assumed that the greatest factor is the deep purse of the aspirants.

If one of the deciding factors at the primaries will not be manifestos echoed by last minute speeches of aspirants at the nomination convention, then, Nigeria will not be witnessing primaries of quality. The state of affairs underscores the level of political culture, the level of national development and the immaturity of the political system. The delegates have no independent opinion. The distribution is as follows in PDP: Northwest 193, Southwest 143, Northcentral 130, Southsouth 129, Northeast 116 and Southeast 100. It is curious that the Southeast, which has the least number of delegates, has the highest number of aspirants.

In APC, the Southwest has the highest number of contenders. They all belong to one political family. It means the region lacks a coordinated agenda. But, of the six from the Southwest, it appears only their leader has the chance of getting the ticket, if there will be no surprises.

Specifically, zoning remains a factor, but it depends on the relative capacity of contenders to manipulate ethnicity and religion, or frontally insist on the previous tradition of rotation that is being threatened by lack of consistency, insincerity and new strategy. The annulment of zoning was tantamount to a disregard for diversity, equity and justice. The result may be a fierce competition between the North and the South.

Read Also; APC and plot to draft Jonathan into presidential race

In the ruling party, the preference of the president may be a factor that will either make or mar the rocess. President Buhari once hinted about a preferred choice. His media adviser, Femi Adesina, also confirmed it. It is a big hurdle for the Commander-In-Chief and party leader, who may directly polarise his party and ultimately become a divisive factor at the primary. It appears the mood of the majority, including governors who are controllers of delegates from their states, may not favour consensus candidacy.

Those said to be banking on presidential endorsement are about eight. This has sparked a sort of sibling rivalry. The endorsement of any of them translates into preferential treatment, and ultimate rejection of other contenders who also claim to be loyal to the president.

Today’s exercise is a wide departure from past contests. It may be the most democratic primaries. All the delegates were elected in APC and PDP. Special delegates, commonly referred to as statutory delegates, will not participate, following the President’s refusal to sign the Electoral Act. Again, it worths repeating that the commoner-delegates, though democratically elected or selected, are in the pocket of the governors. The number of delegates has decreased considerately. The exercises may be manageable. There may be no waste of time.

The alpha and omega of the parties, including the president, former president, their deputies, governors, ministers, party officers and presidential aspirants, are not eligible to vote. The beautiful brides are the adhoc delegates from 774 local governments.

What was worrisome and confusing to many APC stakeholders during the week was the insinuation that three paper-weight aspirants had entered the race again through the back door. Nomination forms were obtained for former President Goodluck Jonathan, who repudiated the activities of certain overzealous supporters, who bought the form for him; Central Bank Governor Godwin Emefiele, who despite being rated as a political neophyte, promised to shock the nation, and African Development Bank (AFDB) President Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, who ran back while gazing at the furnace from afar.

If they ever submitted the forms, it was without public knowledge, because the party had told reporters in Abuja that only 25 aspirants returned the forms. If they participate at the primary, then, the exercise will be controversial. It is a crowded race in APC. The aspirants know their own strengths and weaknesses.

No APC aspirant has campaigned more than the great leader and mobiliser,

Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, national leader of APC. He has forged ahead with courage, resilience and determination. Ordinarily, he should have an edge as an experienced stalwart and one of the founding fathers of the party.

Tinubu has been traversing the chapters, selling himself. He started early. Delegates believe their national leader. His structure is solid and formidable. He has the name and recognition, having established himself as a bridge builder. Party men have a lot of testimonies to give about Tinubu’s sense of accommodation, tolerance, forgiving spirit and generosity. Many Nigerians remember with fondness the Tinubu years in Lagos State. As governor, he was a model. Therefore, he flaunts his credentials as a tested and trusted administrator, a visionary, a financial surgeon and man of mega capabilities. The eminent politician comes from the Southwest, which is the cradle and stronghold of the ruling party he had laboured to build along with President Buhari and other compatriots across the six zones. While he is expected to win resoundingly in his zone, he is also loved in the North. Despite his labours and fidelity to the APC, Tinubu may still have to work on few powerful, vested interests, who are against him without justification. Observers contend that the choice of a standard bearer will predict how far the APC can go in next year’s election. If the cabal tries to edge out a candidate that may easily garner popular votes, what magic can they perform on poll day? It will be useless to dump a popular candidate through intra-party manipulation, only for the manipulators to turn around again to seek for an inexplicable reconciliation after the primary, for the purpose of persuading the same aspirant they ignored at the shadow poll to lead the election campaign.

One of Tinubu’s opponents is Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, a professor of law he nominated in 2015, and who had served under his leadership as Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice. He has continually drew attention to being in the number two position in the last seven years, thereby gaining much experience. He has also acted as president.

But, Osinbajo’s structure is not strong. His political experience is not deep. In fact, the pursuit of presidential ambition marked his foray into partisan politics. The vice president is banking on being anointed by his boss. If he gets the ticket, he will need to work very hard to win the election. One thing that cannot be taken away from Osinbajo is his verbal facility. The vice president is vocal.

Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi may not be as vocal as Osinbajo, but he is more politically experienced than the number two citizen. He has served as Speaker for eight years and governor for another eight year’s. A member of the second generation of leaders thrown up by the Fourth Republic, he is acknowledged in the APC as a rich chieftain, who made financial contributions to the 2015 campaigns.

However, Amaechi does not have base. He has failed to lead his his party to victory in Rivers. Thus, his succession plan failed in 2015 and 2019. Governor Nyesom Wike is trying to torment him by making some allegations about turbine. There is also a case in court.

Be that as it may, Amaechi can go to sleep over two ststes-Rivers and Plateau. It is risky for other aspirants to ignore him. He is too clever.

The entry of Senate President Ahmed Lawan into the race was a surprise. He is credited with a great deal of legislative experience spanning two decades. He may be relying on few who are projecting him. But, so far, Lawan has shown decorum, judging by his not-a-do-or-die style.

Some people are neck-deep in geo-political calculus. But, the underlying reason is devoid of logic. If the schemers say APC must pick a Northerner as presidential candidate because PDP may pick a Northerner, does that not mean that they are treating Southerners as fools? How can they justify the possibility of retaining the highest office in the North for 16 years?

The second Northern aspirant is Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello, who has toiled for the party during the membership registration. His style is different. The young politician is campaigning as if he is preparing for a general election. He is also very popular in the media. Bello is reaching out to youths and women, who he described as the segments with greater numerical strength. Will they deliver him at the primary? Will be garner enormous political capital?

Since Senator Ibikunle Amosu declared for president at Abuja, much has not been heard about him. He was present when Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi unfolded his plans at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Fayemi returned the visit when the former governor unfolded his ambition.

While Fayemi, war scholar and former Steel and Solid Minerals Minister, has been visiting some chapters, former House of Representatives Speaker Dimeji Bankole has not been visible on campaign ground. Is he in the race for relevance?

Also, Emeka Nwajiuba, the only minister who had the courage to resign and earned the praise of Buhari, who booted others out for failing to toe the same line, is not involved in any effective campaign or delegate targeting.

Ebonyi State Governor Dave Umahi will surely pull more votes from delegates from his state than elderstatesman Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu. But, there ends the story.

The same applies to his Cross River counterpart, Senator Prof. Ben Ayade, a reluctant contestant who appeared to have applied for the job of campaign manager for Jonathan.

Up to the time of writing this piece, APC was still dillydallying about its presidential primary. There was no sign of an impending event at Eagle Square, Abuja. The planning committee and sub-committees were not in place. All preparations paled into day dreaming, except the planning can be done within 24 hours.

In PDP, there are 15 contenders. Eyes are on about four or five-former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former Senate President Bukola Saraki, and governors of Sokoto, Bauchi and Rivers-Aminu Tambuwal, Senator Bala Mohammed and Nyesom Wike.

If the PDP governors agree to work together, it will be the end of the road for Atiku. But, their lack of agreement is to the advantage of the experienced politician and veteran presidential aspirant. At 76, it is believed that the contest may be his last chance. Therefore, the political warhorse is putting everything into it.

Atiku’s structure is not doubtful. He is a household name in Nigeria. He has networks, financial arsenal and wide connection. Majority of founding fathers and elders flock with Atiku. At a time, his former boss, Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo, devoted chapters to him in his book, calling him all sorts of name. He poured venom on his former ally. Four years later, OBJ started projecting him.

However, this time around, Atiku does not appear to be the candidate of the Generals, including Evil Genius Ibrahim Babangida, Abdulsalami Abubakar and Gusau. It appears they are tilting towards Saraki, Waziri of Ilorin.

Some analysts believe that Saraki cannot be underrated as a political warrior. He has contested twice. He had positioned himself very well in the period of crisis. As leader of the PDP reconciliation team, he used the opportunity to build structures and sell himself to the various chapters.

Will he attain the highest seat, which his illustrious father, Dr. Olusola Saraki, failed to attain? Time will tell. Ahead of the primary, Peter Obi crashed himself out. He had expected the party to stick to zoning. The neglect of rotation was infuriating to him. Therefore, he quit both the race and the party.

Obi is a man of reputation; frugal, morally clean as it were, and a wordsmith. But, he may have over-exergerrated his political worth and stature. Many expressed concern about his exit from the race, not because he can win the ticket, but because he is perceived as a good man. His absence may be a plus for Wike, who may now get the attention of Anambra delegates.

In fact, the Rivers governor has proved that he can rub shoulders with any contestant in PDP. He is very aggressive. A trend is emerging. The likelihood exists that governors of Rivers are potential presidential aspirants. Why? It is a rich state and the governors can flex muscles with the quantum of resources, to the envy of less-endowed states. Indeed, when observers paint a picture of naira and dollar war that may characterise the process, they have in mind the former vice president and governor of the oil-rich state.

In this electioneering, Wike is flaunting his score card as governor. Generally, it is believed that he has performed. He is also an experienced actor, having served as council chairman, chief of staff and minister.

Apart from his likely impressive showing in Benue, where his friend, Sam Ortom, calls the shots, Wike has tentacles in the Southwest, Southsouth and Southeast. But for his free use of words, he would have attracted more alliances. He is bold and brave. But, he is misunderstood as a political aggressor.

While Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom will cart away delegate votes from his state, aspirants like Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, former Senate President Pius Anyim, publisher Dele Momodu and Sam Ohunabunwa may end up as venerable spectators at the primary.

PDP is ready. But, APC does not appear to be ready.

May 28, 2022