The Nation Newspaper

Category: Saturday

  • Pa Adebanjo’s verdict on South West, Buhari

    Pa Adebanjo’s verdict on South West, Buhari

    He is a fearsome, fierce and unsparing political pugilist. The eminent Afenifere chieftain, veteran politician and enduring Awoist, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, is not one gladiator who will pull his punches or take political hostages. The octogenarian and unrepentant Yoruba nationalist still unleashes verbal fusillades against real or perceived foes with ferocious relish unhindered by his advanced years. You may disagree with his politics. You may rigorously interrogate the age and utility of his ideas as well as the efficacy of his political tactics and strategies in a rapidly changing Nigeria. But you cannot but admire his sheer doggedness and tenacity in the pursuit of whatever cause he believes in. Pa Adebanjo like many of those who belong to his ideological persuasion has never hidden his disdain for the politics and persona of President Muhammadu Buhari and, by extension, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) that dislodged the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from power at the centre in the historic 2015 elections.

    While dismissing Buhari as a dictator and regionally biased sectional leader in an interview published in last Sunday’s edition of The Punch, Pa Adebanjo was no less scathing in his criticism of a national leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, for his preeminent role in helping to actualize Buhari’s presidential aspiration. As far as the chief is concerned, “The problem that Yoruba and Nigerians have today was caused by Tinubu. If Tinubu had not gone into an alliance with Buhari, would we be in this position? Tinubu is the cause of Yoruba’s suffering now. He is the cause of Nigerians’ suffering now. He helped a dictator to come to power in the person of Buhari, knowing that he is a born dictator; an unrepentant conservative and irredeemable religious jingoist”. These are strong words indeed and quite sweeping generalizations too.

    Implied in Pa Adebanjo’s critique is the suggestion that Nigerians in general and Yorubas particularly are worse off today than they were before the advent of the Buhari administration. Indeed, the chief asserts categorically that the people of the South West today regret having voted for Buhari in 2015. It is doubtful if any scientific and credible opinion poll in the South West will confirm such a position. Yes, there is some degree of disenchantment that the performance of the APC at the centre has not matched the high expectations aroused by the party during the campaign. But I do not think that this means in any way that a significant proportion of the populace wish today that Dr. Goodluck Jonathan and the PDP had continued in office beyond 2015 no matter the shortcomings so far of the Buhari administration. The politically sophisticated and discerning people of the South West are most certainly aware that the harsh economic conditions of the country today would most likely be far worse had the scale of looting of the public till witnessed under Jonathan persisted till now.

    The central challenge confronting the architects of the broad coalition of political forces that made Buhari’s emergence as president possible was to effect a change of regime at the centre. Under Jonathan, the country faced a veritable national emergency. The colossal scale of the PDP administration’s incompetence and incomparable graft had become all too glaring. At stake was the very survival of the country. As the revelations after the forced exit of the PDP federal government confirmed, for instance, the monumental level of corruption of the military high command right under Dr. Jonathan’s nose, manifesting in the corrupt diversion of arms procurement funds, was a key factor in the escalation and sustenance of the Boko Haram insurgency.

    The truth is that restructuring was not an issue of fundamental significance in the 2015 election. Buhari’s key selling points were his asceticism, perceived frugality, personal discipline and anti-corruption credentials. And the three issues canvassed by the APC in the party’s campaigns were enhancing national security, combating corruption and salvaging the economy. APC was formed as an election winning machine to edge the PDP from power at the centre after 16 years. The goal was splendidly and brilliantly achieved. It was a feat that marked a significant step forward in the political development of Nigeria.

    No incumbent party can henceforth ever again afford the luxury of complacency or take the people for granted. Now that it has achieved power, the APC is faced with the task of forging a greater ideological cohesiveness and philosophical coherence within its ranks. This is particularly so as the PDP, following the triumph of the Senator Ahmed Markafi-led faction at the Supreme Court shows signs of gradually rediscovering, reinventing and rejuvenating itself. Of course, that would be good for the country’s relentlessly deepening democratic process.

    The Buhari administration is not perfect. No human government can be. Yet, it has really difficult to deny successes in stemming corruption. At least the wild haemorrhage of the treasury that had previously been the norm with negative developmental consequences has been largely stanched. The anti-corruption agencies have regained considerable vigour and vibrancy. Governance is characterized by greater seriousness even though the overall sense of direction and coordination could be more effective. The Boko Haram malignancy has been effectively demobilized and the administration’s economic policies, despite early tentativeness and seeming indecisiveness, are gradually taking shape.  I shudder to think that the highly respected Chief Adebanjo would even for a minute countenance the continuation of Jonathan in office as a preferable option to Buhari.

    Pa Adebanjo frowns at Buhari’s dictatorial antecedents. Yet, the once upon a time military dictator over three decades ago did not emerge in power in 2015 through the barrel of the gun. He was voted for by a majority of the electorate in free, fair and credible polls. Unlike a military or civilian dictator, Buhari does not have the latitude to continue in office indefinitely. He must submit himself to the will of the electorate on the platform of his party if wishes to continue in power for another term. Nigeria’s electoral system has developed beyond the kind of sheer banditry masquerading as polls witnessed in 2003 and 2007. With the incremental cleansing over time of the voters register, institutional strengthening of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and electronic automation of voting processes, elections can no more be foregone conclusions to be conducted in accordance with the whims and caprices of incumbents. The issue of Buhari as a dictator simply does not arise in Nigeria’s current political context.

    Does the South West have anything to regret for largely voting for Buhari in 2015 as Pa Adebanjo insinuates? I don’t see why this should be so. I am not aware of anything that the South West was enjoying in preceding PDP administrations that the Buhari administration has deprived the region of. If the grouse with Buhari is his undeniable reticence on the issue of restructuring, he is not worse in this respect than a Dr. Goodluck Jonathan who recklessly lavished humongous amounts of public resources on the 2014 National Conference but consigned the report to some obscure shelves in Aso Rock for about a year before his tenure elapsed. How is Buhari to blame if he is utterly disdainful of the outcome of the conference and allows its recommendations to continue to rest in peace as Jonathan did?

    This column does not see the appointment of public office holders from a region as an achievement that the particular area of the country will necessarily benefit from. Such a widely held view that appointments to public office will attract development to the places where the appointees originate from is utterly illusory. It is fuelled by the perception and utilization of public office as a means of primitive accumulation for the benefit of a microscopic minority purportedly ‘eating’ on behalf of their people. Even then, by the score of critical public offices held, the South West cannot claim to be worse off today under the APC than before Buhari’s emergence.

    In addition to the vice presidency, South West indigenes hold such critical portfolios as Finance, Mines and Steel Development, Telecommunications and the mega Works, Power and Housing ministries. The critical thing certainly is not the ethnic origin of those who occupy those offices but their undeniable competence and accomplishment no matter what their politics may be. It is my respectful view that experienced and distinguished elder statesmen like Pa Adebanjo, whatever their political orientation, should seek to interface productively with these individuals from the South West who are currently playing critical roles in the Buhari administration for the benefit of the region and the country.

     

    • This article was first published October 21, 2017
  • Let’s stop the league if…

    Let’s stop the league if…

    I was going to dedicate this weekend’s column to Daniel ‘Da Bull’ Amokachi over the fantastic concept he originated to keep our ‘frustrated’ domestic players busy with the President Cup at a time the domestic league officials were snoring heavily. That wasn’t the biggest joker. One marvelled over Amokachi’s thought to use the President Cup to showcase the rejuvenated Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (MKO) Abiola Stadium in Abuja. This bit of it should be good news to the NFF who have to task their sponsors to the bone to pay the bills of inviting between 24 to 29 foreign-based players for games against soccer minnows in the continent. Thank God Gernot Rohr has left.  Of course, the President Cup was a wake-up call of sort of the new CEO of the league, Davidson Owumi. I hope the cabal allows Owumi to work. If, they don’t, fight them to the finish.

    Owumi, if it is just six teams that have complied with the FIFA rule on club licensing, so be it. Amokachi’s contraption called the President Cup has come to stay. Those who watched the first edition of the President Cup would, henceforth, drag others to the stadium. I won’t also be shocked if sponsors scramble for a piece of the cake in order to identify their goods and services with the noble competition. It was quite an irony of fate watching some of them who have run the affairs of the game aground attend the President Cup with their family members. It again showed that stadia could be safe for as long as the officiating is top-notch and the spectators have full value for their money.

    It goes without saying that the home teams are the ones instigating their supporters to cause carnage anytime they don’t win games at home. The fans enjoyed what they were seeing leaving the security architecture with little to worry about.

    I could have walked away from the MKO Abiola Stadium fulfilled but for the show of shame where a player held his former club’s manager and boss hostage over debts owed him when he played for them. I liked the matured way in which Emmanuel Babayaro (I have tremendous respect for him) took charge by making good sense prevail, even if the matter remains unresolved. That self-help by the player for his money has become the way to collect their money, It shouldn’t be encouraged as I may dovetail into kidnapping – that would be the day.

    How Amokachi arrived at the choice of the four teams showed that he hasn’t departed from the nursery where he was discovered as a ‘big’ in Kaduna, but who dazzled in matches around the country. It shows that the league isn’t comatose because of the absence of good players but due to the ineptitude of the organisers. What further amazed me was the befitting crowd at the stadium during the game and it underscored the need for the league under Davidson Owumi to ensure that the club licensing rule is effected before the league on December 17. Clubs should start gradual devastation of their operations if they are serious about running club soccer as a business. What Nigerian clubs are being compelled to do today is a mockery of how professional football is played in saner climes.

    A league where no Nigerian referee is good enough for CAF and FIFA matches should go off the calendar for evaluation. A league where the chairman of the Referees Committee isn’t a former top-level referee should never be allowed to run the game.

    According to FIFA’s new document, the referees’ committee shall be composed only of former match officials (preferably having operated at the top level of their respective domestic competition). They should not be affiliated with any club, any other football organisation, or another referee organisation (union, membership group, etc). Active match officials shall not be eligible to become members of any Referees Committee.

    The FIFA communiqué stated further that: ”The Chairman of the Referees Committee may be a Member of the Executive Committee (provided that the regulation of the relevant association allows it) but must be a former top-level match official. The Deputy Chairman and the other members of the Referees Committee shall be appointed by the President of the Member Association on the proposal of the Chairman of the Referees Committee.”

    It is quite astonishing to think that in the 21st Century, a country that has made six appearances at the senior World Cup wants to begin its new season without television rights-holder(s). Television coverage around the 774 Local Government Areas in the country on terrestrial platforms is what we need. Not television rights where I would have to listen to commentaries on hilltops in my area (Okpokhumi-Emai in Owan East of Edo State. No football fan would opt for tardy television coverage that would require him or her to waste data for such a misadventure. What manner of television rights coverage when viewers can have the luxury of watching playbacks of contentious instances in the cause of games almost immediately? In whose interest would rights be covered when the platform cannot fit into several ill-equipped match venues with Nigerians sitting at home to watch matches?

    The biggest money-spinner for most leagues in the world that are worth their welcome is the quality of their television coverage. If the league organisers don’t understand my point, they need to Google the details on how much the big five leagues in the world earn from television rights for enlightenment. We are tired of watching league matches that never end on the pitch but contraptions done after the competition has gone a long haul. A league without credible medical care or should I say a reliable health insurance policy for the coaches, players, officials, and now for the fans are known to everyone should not be allowed to begin. If the competition begins without providing for these basic, then such match venues would be veritable death stable. The welfare of participants at league venues is paramount.

    The Nigeria league should never be allowed to begin with the myriad of problems starting with the payment of players’ coaches’ and officials’ wages and other entitlements. It is very easy to achieve if the organisers are sincere about it. As a member of the Interim League Management Board (ILMB), I served as the chairman, the committee wrote to state commissioners to appear at our meetings to tell the body the true story.

    It never happened before. But I ensured the state commissioners came to the meetings. Coaches, players, and officials were paid. The commissioners also exposed some of the tales of the coaches and players. Committee members were shocked to witness the fact that these players and coaches don’t have any written document as a contract – absolutely.

    The Interim League Management Board under the leadership of the late Chief Oyuki Jackson Obaseki (a.k.a moving train) ensured that debtor clubs were not registered and referees were not scheduled for their games. The ILMB went further by making public in the media how much was being owed by clubs whose real owners are the state governors not those masquerading as one.

    This isn’t the first time players being owed huge owed large sums of money resorted to self-help to force out the payment from their shameless creditors. The league should never begin when the board hasn’t paid each of the 20 clubs in the league their statutory N10 m largesse each (N200,000million) running into billions if one is to tabulate also the debts owed to match referees, match commissioners, etc.

    Under the late Obaseki, clubs only get their entitlement from the competition from the board at the beginning of a new season. Clubs that don’t pay salaries or are indebted to players lose the N10 million which would be used to settle debts.

  • Chief Bisi Akande’s bomb of a book

    Chief Bisi Akande’s bomb of a book

    In his newly minted epochal autobiography, pithily titled ‘My Participations’ notable progressive politician and statesman, Chief Bisi Akande, gives a vivid account of his indelible contributions to Nigeria’s political evolution over the last five decades. His has been a near permanent presence on the country’s often treacherous political terrain for the best part of the country’s post-independence history. The title ‘My Participations’ is instructive and indicative of the Greek political thinker, Aristotle’s description of man as essentially a political animal. Man’s definition as human stems principally from his being a member of a human community. His alienation from and indifference to the activities of that community, particularly in contributing his quota to promoting and upholding the public good, would detract significantly from his human essence. In this memoir, Chief Akande comes across as a political animal par excellence.

    It is only natural that the author’s account of his life journey begins with his first participation in politics at the national level as a member of the Constituent Assembly, which in 1978 had drawn up the 1979 Constitution, which was the legal foundation on which the democratic politics of the Second Republic was predicated. At the Constituent Assembly, Chief Akande quickly showed what stern stuff he was made up of and the strength and intensity he could muster to abide by his convictions, conscience and cherished principles against all odds. What shines radiantly throughout this book is Chief Akande’s ardent love for and resolute commitment to the progressive brand of politics popularized by the legendary Chief Obafemi Awolowo.

    Although he notes that his father and mother were from prominent, well-to-do families in Ila, they were unable to breakthrough to attain success and wealth and thus died poor and in relative youth. With the help, understanding, love and support of his grandparents on both sides, Chief Akande was able to pursue his education acquiring various certificates that enabled him to embark on a teaching career and thus with his Elementary School Certificate, he began teaching as a pupil teacher in 1955, “thus becoming part of the Free Education Programme that was to transform the West and the entirety of Yoruba land”.

    How does one explain Chief Akande’s consistent and relentless courage in facing issues and responding to challenges at all times? Does this tendency lie somewhere in his genes? I think it is possible to answer this question in the affirmative. According to chief Akande’s narrative in tracing his family lineage, he was the first grandson of Pa Sangopidan, his paternal grandfather. Pa Sangopidan believed that Chief Akande was the reincarnation of his own father, Ladimeji, one of the great military commanders of the Yoruba wars from Ila.

    Even though he was not to become a warrior fighting in battles with weapons of war, Chief Akande has, nevertheless been a warrior in Nigerian politics utilizing his courage, character and conscience in ceaselessly defending the truth and fighting the cause of Justice.

    Having acquired further relevant professional qualifications, Chief Akande made a transition from teaching to the oil industry when he secured employment at the multinational oil corporation, British Petroleum. Over the next 14 years at BP, he was sent on several courses that enhanced his knowledge in diverse fields of finance and accounting, computer operations as well as organizational management.

    Even when he was eventually appointed first as Secretary to the State Government (SSG) and then Deputy Governor in the Bola Ige administration, Chief Akande never hesitated to offer to quit office rather than compromise his principles. On one such occasion as Chief Akande relates in this memoir, he wasted no time in turning in his letter of resignation. Of course , the governor turned down the resignation.

    Following the collapse of the Second republic in December, Chief Bola Ige and Chief Bisi Akande were found guilty on a two-count charge of conspiracy and unlawful enrichment of their political party, the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) after what amounted to nothing but a secret trial. They were sentenced each to 21 years of imprisonment on each count to run concurrently. However, they were exonerated by a subsequent military administration and released.

    After his ordeal with the traumatic impact particularly on his family, they remonstrated with him to quit politics and he promised never to accept elective or appointive office in future.

    Despite his promise to his family, Chief Akande had become much more valued and appreciated for his life of service to the pro-democracy movement and progressive causes that it was invariably impossible for him to simply step aside and take a ringside position on the arena of politics. At a meeting of Afenifere in Ijebu Igbo to determine the governorship candidates of the AD for the 1999 elections, all those who had governorship aspirations in the South West were requested to leave the venue and await the decisions of the meeting. While other aspirants promptly left the hall, Chief Akande remained firmly on his seat. According to him, “Uncle Bola Ige glared at me angrily. Bisi, go out! Why are you sitting down when governorship aspirants are asked to go out? Do you want to cause problems for us in Osun? Go out! Go out now!” Reluctantly, Chief Akande went out and in the course of time, much against his will, became the elected governor of Osun State in 1999. But then, Chief Akande was an unusual governor. He ran one of the most frugal, ascetic and prudent, yet productive administrations in the history of state governments in Nigeria.

    Chief Akande’s disdain for opulent material acquisition as well as determination to run an administration that was transparent, accountable and rendered qualitative sevice to the people was at the root of his government’s skirmishes with the legislature, the trade unions, some eminent traditional rulers and even his Deputy, Chief Iyiola Omisore.

    When he resumed office as governor of Osun State in 1999, the indebtedness on recurrent expenditure alone, which his administration inherited from the military included: Arrears of gratuity due to retired civil servants and secondary school teachers (N20.080 million); arrears of gratuity due to retired primary school teachers (N122.8 million); arrears of pension of civil servants and secondary school teachers (N20.703 million); arrears of pension of primary school teachers (N42.120 million); arrears of 1988 leave bonus (N31 million); arrears of the implementation of the new minimum wage of N3000 per month for the months of January and February, 1999, (N185 million) and unpaid salary arrears for the months of April and May, 1999, at monthly sum of N206 million (N412 million). When external debts were added, the state’s indebtedness was over N2 billion. Yet, despite incessant Labour unrest and without taking any internal or external loan throughout his tenure, Chief Akande had entirely paid off the arrears of salaries, gratuities and pensions while also bequeathing to his successor in 2003, over 900 carefully documented projects started and completed by his administration in diverse sectors.

    In this rich and intriguing memoir, we watch with bated breath at ringside as critical instances in history unfold before us courtesy of Chief Akande. We are given insights into the behind-the-scene intrigues and politicking within the Uncle Bola Ige administration in Oyo State in the Second Republic. We are taken through the turbulent campaigns for the 1983 elections in Oyo state including the bloodshed and violence particularly in the Ife-Modakeke axis. The author reveals to us the various turf wars within the UPN in that era as well as the bitter rivalries that were later to considerably hobble both the AD as a party and Afenifere as a viable and vigorous socio-cultural organization.

    The author gives us refreshing perspectives on the gruesome murder of Chief Bola Ige as well as then President Olusegun Obasanjo’s duplicitous relationship with the AD governors and the Afenifere leadership resulting in the crushing defeat of the AD in all South West states with the exception of Lagos in the 2003 elections with Lagos as the only state standing.

    Chief Akande gives us a vivid idea of the hard, relentless, back-breaking work, including ceaseless meetings and endless criss-crossing of the length and breadth of the country at all times of the day and night in the Herculean effort to midwife the formation of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as a formidable opposition party capable of edging the then entrenched ruling PDP out of power at the centre come 2015. We are given insights into the choice of General Muhammad’s Buhari as Presidential candidate and Professor Yemi Osinbajo as Vice Presidential Candidate of the nascent APC.

    It speaks volume that the illustrious Professor Wole Soyinka penned the foreword to this book in his inimitable manner.

    Although an accountant by profession and thus a man of figures, Chief Akande deploys words with dexterity and flair like an accomplished writer. The vigor and candor of his language and style mirror his utter lack of guile and pretense making the work all the more readable and enjoyable. The uncompromising boldness of his language and his often brutal frankness reflects his unflinching commitment to the truth no matter whose Ox is gored. But then he must be prepared for not a few explosive reactions and possibly legal jousts as this bomb of a book goes on sale.

  • NFF: Reconstitute referees’ committee

    NFF: Reconstitute referees’ committee

    I’M excited. My excitement stems from the fact a new dawn beckons for the domestic league in Nigeria. I’ve been pinching myself to find out if the pronouncement of former Nigeria international and highest goal-scorer of the beautiful game here, Davidson Owumi as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the league is true. It has taken one year to do the needful on spurious grounds that the body was cash-strapped. Is the body now buoyant? Certainly not.

    Owumi, the last occupant of your office was not only brilliant, but he was also a team player. He would always call to clear grey areas concerning the league and he threw open his lines to critics like us to fire our observations at for clarity sake. The last CEO was exemplary in  the way he took decisions where there was any to be taken. He was quick to say ”Nobi so, Ade! You fire salvo at us o! To a large extent, you were okay, but how about this scenario?” He never bullied me. He was down to earth. I will miss him. He is a gem. Sir, you made your mark. Thank you for all you did to make the ugly game here beautiful.

    Owumi, your predecessor opened his doors to constructive criticisms. He was calm with everyone and adept in the rules of the game which transcends our shore. I don’t expect anything less from Owumi. What league followers of the domestic league are demanding from you, sir is an immediate recomposition of the referees’ appointment committee members to be in sync with what operates in other climes. FIFA are the owners of the game. They are the custodians of the rules. Their pronouncements are unchallenged having passed through rigorous debates. So, let nobody tell us that any country’s statues supersede FIFA’s laws.

    According to FIFA’s new document the referees’ committee shall be composed only of former match officials (preferably having operated at the top level of their respective domestic competition). They should not be affiliated with any club, any other football organisation, or another referee organisation (union, membership group, etc). Active match officials shall not be eligible to become members of any Referees Committee.

    Owumi sir, you will agree that the current chairman of the Nigeria referees Committee isn’t a retired referee. So, he could never have operated at the top level of the game. Of course, CEO, it’s common knowledge that the current chairman is the chairman of a state football association. By these submissions, the current chairman is ineligible to head the committee and all his actions are at variance with FIFA’s pronouncements, thus making his seat vacant.

    The FIFA communiqué stated further that: ”The Chairman of the Referees Committee may be a Member of the Executive Committee (provided that the regulation of the relevant association allows it) but must be a former top-level match official. The Deputy Chairman and the other members of the Referees Committee shall be appointed by the President of the Member Association on the proposal of the Chairman of the Referees Committee.”

    Owumi, you should be bold enough to effect the required changes no matter whose ox is gored. The referees are the hub of the game and they must be seen to be transparent in the conduct of their duties. Therefore, unqualified people shouldn’t be found in such vital areas of the game’s growth. Indeed, the new CEO should ensure that by the end of the first round, all debts owed referees are paid. A deliberate attempt should be made to reduce the contact hours between referees and hosting clubs, including referees of the local chapters. Clubs shouldn’t be allowed or asked to pay for referees’ match indemnities. This is the root cause of violence and shady deals in the league.

    It should worry the new CEO that only Enyimba FC of Aba is left in the two cadres of the CAF inter-club competitions. True winners of the league must emerge at the end of this season, not thieving clubs whose path to glory was littered with the sharp practices of cheats in black and the intimidating presence of beasts as home supporters. Akwa United and Rivers United didn’t crash out of the continental tournament due to poor funding. Rather, the ineptitude of the league organisers to set a kickoff date for the competition ruined the chances of two of the most funded clubs in the country to win the competition.

    The new CEO should take charge of the body’s operations by insisting on correcting the anomalies of the past. The CEO should use the next eight weeks in meeting with their sponsors to align their sponsorship with the kickoff date with the European calendar. It is laughable that Nigeria’s league has been slated to begin on December 17, without telling us when the domestic league would end. What it simply means is that a jejune fixture was drawn not based on known indices for such an exercise. Nigerians and indeed the corporate world need to have the fixtures which would guide them to make their market plans for next year. Need I say that this flaw is the beginning of sharp practices even before season takes off?

    Owumi, your appointment has come with applause from Nigerians based on your pedigree. You need to tell Nigerians next year how much the league is worth beginning from what the body earns from inter-and-intra-club transfers. This is a major revenue platform for both the clubs and the organisers asides from the massive cash accruing to them from genuine terrestrial television rights sponsorship. The kamikaze ones where Nigerians whose income per capita per head isn’t one to celebrate, are being made to purchase data for their phones before they can watch the domestic league matches. Who does that?

    It is shameful that smaller African nations (it would be disrespectful to name them) have their domestic league games shown live on DSTV. We need to return to the discussion table to seal a deal to show our matches live for everyone to watch in the comfort of their homes, viewing centres for those who may be reluctant to watch because of the nefarious activities of hooligans in most league venues.

    This writer wonders what the league organisers would be telling would-be sponsors when they cannot show clips of past matches on reliable television networks such as DSTV. Aside from showcasing our talents to the world, live matches would also help to expose those hoodlums who take the laws into their hands, especially those who brutalise referees. It would then be easier to identify them to face the wrath of the law. How such criminals escape arrests at match venues lays credence to the fact they were doing the biddings of the homes teams. Indeed, these oafs are not spirits. The clubs and their proprietors know them. These imbeciles are known faces in such cities where referees are beaten groggy with blood flowing from all parts of their bodies.

    Isn’t it a shame Owumi, that the sham associated with the last season has been swept under the carpet repeatedly, especially the cases of debts owed players, coaches, officials, and ancillary workers by clubs? Is Owumi expecting the aggrieved players to resort to self-help by holding some of the debtor clubs’ officials at different cities when they come to prosecute matches involving their former players in their new abodes? Isn’t that a subtle way of legalising kidnapping? Is it too much of an effort, Owumi for the league board to write the state governors of those clubs stating the level of indebtedness to the real proprietors, not those masquerading as club owners whereas they are salary earners?

    Thirty-one years after the formation of professional football in Nigeria, nothing significant has happened. Rather, the ills of the past have become worse with the league plagued with all manner of theories in deciding which teams would win the season’s competitions outside of what happens on the pitch as in other climes?

    The domestic game is comatose. Until we run the game in Nigeria as a business, it would remain prostrate.

  • Debts, vaccines and climate

    Debts, vaccines and climate

    The  deprivations and  plague of the Covid 19 and its new variant   , Omicron  have altered our way of life  and expectations  of governments and leadership globally .  Yet  this is an evolving situation as the virus refuses to  go away and is leading the world on a  wild goose chase with the  governments facing the dire consequences of being  charged  with the ominous irresponsibility of closing the stable doors after the horses  have bolted .  We  take a look at the world at large today to see the ravages of the pandemic in economic and political  terms to  see how or when managing  this pandemic could have been  done better . It will be foolhardy  to apportion blames as usual on mismanagement or lack of vision on the part of those governments and institutions leading the fight to contain the pandemic world wide . That is not my mission here today but  rather   to  see ways that things could  be done better now    and in the future in containing  a most  unwanted  , debilitating  and murderous visitor  to the world at large that covid 19  and Omicron  have  become  in the world we live in today

    Superficially we take a  look  at both Uganda and Nigeria where  the former is losing  a major airport to the Chinese on account of debt default and the latter  is destroying   expired  vaccines and politely asking vaccine donors  to send them well  before expiry  dates  .  We  examine the situation in the US    where the Biden Administration  is being restrained from  implementing  its vaccine mandate for  private sector and government employees  by  both  the courts and the powerful  US senate .  We  take a peep at  the  EU  where  judicial  independence and rule of law is being invoked  against Poland and Hungary  to  prevent them  from having access  to the huge funds on pandemic recovery  voted  by the EU authorities . Lastly  , but    on a lighter note  ,  and since  every  cloud ,  especially a pandemic one must have its silver lining ,   we just   wonder   aloud   on  how the British  PM  and his unmarried wife got  a second baby  in this pandemic  while a scandal  is a raging over allegations that  the PM staff  had  a  rollicking party last  December  while the government  locked down the rest  of the nation ,  under   stringent covid 19 hygiene protocols . We  now proceed to  critically    go over these  issues in terms  of the topic of the day in consonance  with our earlier resolve  to learn and not necessarily  to apportion blames .

    Uganda is to lose its widely known Entebbe  International  Airport to China because it defaulted in paying the loan    lent   it by the Chinese in 2015  on the airport.  This  is because China  has refused to alter the original  terms of the loan and   the airport   which handles 1.9m  passengers  annually   is  to be forfeited by Uganda to China which  through it famous Belt and Road Initiative is building infrastructure  globally  ostensibly  to export Chinese values and culture all over the world . China  is saying loud and clear on debt recovery  in Uganda ,  that  it is  not a father Christmas and does not  offer  free l   unch  on infrastructure construction   and   finance  in any part of the world in consonance  with its Belt and Road Initiative. Uganda’s debt  is said to be about  50 %  of its GDP and   Uganda  is expected to pay back $3bn  in the next  10 years . Uganda had borrowed  $270m  from Exim  Bank  of China in 2015 . Uganda now joins  the debt  ridden list of China debtors  like Sri Lanka , Malaysia and Maldives who  have lost  control of vital  infrastructure to the Chinese  because of blatant debt recovery  on which the Chinese have shown no mercy .  While the pandemic can  be blamed for the need to borrow nations which  borrow any time and any way  , must  prepare for rainy day . That  brings us to Nigeria where   the Chinese  presence is quite  visible  across  the Lagos Lagoon in  terms  of massive bridge construction  towards Victoria Island  and  the massive  Railway  construction  across the nation . In a mono  product  economy  based on oil  which  is being globally  discarded  in the face of a strong move towards  climate  change  , Nigeria  must  prepare  for the rainy day   and  learn   quickly  from the fate of Uganda and its   loss of face   ,    sovereignty as well as the Entebbe  International   Airport  to the Chinese on account  of debt default.

    Again  on the   pandemic    issue      I   have always  insisted that Nigeria and many African  nations are not as prone as their former  colonialists  to the ravages of the covid 19 .  The death tolls in Nigeria on a comparative basis bear this out and need no repetition here .  But  the Nigerian health  authorities are acting with the same desperation to contain the virus like their overseas  counter parts . This explains why   stored covid palliatives expected to be distributed  to  Nigerians  were looted by those brigands who hijacked the End SARS anti police protests recently . The  news that expired   vaccines were being destroyed and donors kept at bay   this    week  is not therefore  difficult to explain .  Even  though people are getting vaccinated ,  most Nigerians joke about the masks and in many parts of the nation don’t wear them  because they  see them as a huge government  joke .  The fact that not up to 3000 Nigerians have died while the death toll in US , Brazil and some EU nations are up to 700000 and daily death tolls rise on some occasions    to  a  thousand ,  showed  the shoe pinched  in terms    of       deaths  and   fatalities  more in these  places than  in  Nigeria . That  explains why vaccines that Nigerians wont take would expire in storage  and    a  vaccine beggar nation like Nigeria would have the audacity to give conditions to  vaccine donors because the figures    just   don’t  add up on how  many Nigerians  are healthy  enough not to need the vaccine . Yet we embark on lock downs and the government is planning  vaccine clearance  in government establishments and institutions   which  is quite  alarming . A  very  clear example  of the proverbial  ostrich with its head buried in the sand of pandemic  magnification ,  if not   outright   illusion  .

    I take  the issues I  mentioned earlier  on the US and EU together  because they are two  parts  of the same coin  , which  is the rule of law , which  in both instances is being mischievously   weaponised   and politicized .  In  the US the rule of law is at play because  the courts are being  used  to thwart government  objective and intention by a hostile  senate still  irked  that the pandemic  helped the Biden presidential candidacy to win the 2020  presidential election . Republicans in the senate and elsewhere  are hell  bent   on turning the tide in that 2022 US mid term elections by portraying the Biden Administration as inefficient  in the way  and manner it has handled the pandemic , in retaliation for what  it deemed was the  Democrat  ploy  that  made it impossible  for Donald Trump   to  be re elected in the 2020 presidetial  election . A simple tit for tat .

    In  the EU vs Poland /Hungary  on pandemic fund disbursement  based on  compliance with the rule of law , a ruse of a fallacy  is at work . Both  nations are sovereign states  and have rightly claimed they  are not colonies of EU , which  is a fact .  Any way what is at stake   really  is cultural  and sexual  orientation . Both nations  do not recognize gay  and LGBT   rights which  the rest of the EU regard as fundamental   for EU values and human freedom .and there is no meeting point  on that . Some  have even coined the word  Polexit   similar  to Brexit  to show that Poland may  be on the way  out of the EU ,a  prospect the Poles  firmly  denied . It  is  apparent   then   that  the rest of the EU want  to muscle both Poland and Hungary    to change their sexual orientation on marriage and gay rights   in order   to have access    to  pandemic    funds  but   I doubt if they  can succeed  on that score as the two  nations see their views on sex and marriage  as the authentic  European  values and will  not make a u turn on the matter   while  insisting on their right  on access  to EU pandemic funds as bona fide members  of the EU . The  battle line  is drawn  indeed   on pandemic driven European  values in a union  that  prides  itself  on being Christian Europe .

  • Ballon d’Or: Why not Messi?

    Ballon d’Or: Why not Messi?

    Soccer followers, we were told, voted for the Ballon d’ Or award for the men whose result threw up Argentine Lionel Messi as the best – his seventh win. It hurt many soccer followers, especially those who have a soft spot for another equally talented player Cristiano Ronaldo, who was conspicuously missing among the five shortlisted – no surprises because the Old Lady of Italy wasn’t inspiring in the year in question. Most critics have reduced the Ballon d’Or to just goal-scoring. Not exactly so. Perhaps, it is the reason the organisers introduced the Striker’s award, which Lewandoski rightly won. Those who picked Messi used the proverbial world best practices. If the voters were right in the other awards, it speaks a lot about their expertise in such an exercise, knowing that no award had gone down without reservations.

    ”Messi won his seventh Ballon d’Or, beating Lewandowski by just 33 points. The Paris Saint-Germain attacker received 613 points in total, while the Bayern Munich striker earned 580, and third-placed Jorginho claimed 460. Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema came fourth, with 239 points. Chelsea’s Kante got 186 points to place fifth while Manchester United’s Ronaldo received 178 points. Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah was seventh with 178 points, Manchester City’s De Brunye placed eighth with73 points, in ninth place was PSG’s goalkeeper Donnarumma who received 36 points to finish tenth.

    ”It should be reminded that voters award 6, 4, 3, 2, and 1 points to their top five.

    ”Cristiano Ronaldo fell just outside the top five, coming in sixth place with 186 points, while ninth-placed Kylian Mbappe picked up just 58. Pedri was the only Spaniard to receive points, with three, while Cesar Azpilicueta did not get any,” according to agency reports.

    Would it be fair to say that Messi won the award because of the commercial value he would bring into the exercise? Not with the results of the voting exercise conducted showed that the ten contenders earned amongst themselves 2,544 points with Messi chalking 613 points. Many followers may ask Lewandowski who? Kante who? Benzema? Jorginho? Do the sponsors have a say in who wins such awards? Far-fetched, if you ask me. Messi is a phenomenon. Messi isn’t a one-season wonder. Yes, Messi has global appeal. But he has come a long way in making football the spectacle that it is. True, Jorginho won the UEFA Champions League with Chelsea. Again, his country won the European Cup. Brand equity, please.

    Ronaldo stirred the hornets’ nest on Monday when he blasted Pascal Ferre’s claim that his career ambition is to finish with more wins than Messi, pointing out that: ”I win for myself and my teams. I’m never against anyone”

    No surprises that Ronaldo was absent from the Monday event for reasons best known to him, although his jibe at Ferre published by the New York Times underlined the perennial cold war between CR7 and Messi, created by both players’ fans, not themselves. Messi was adjudged the best from a pack of five shortlisted players -Robert Lewandowski, N’Golo Kante, Karim Benzema, and Jorginho. The remaining four above did well for the clubs and country, especially the French, Kante, Benzema, and Jorginho. Lewandowski was brilliant for Bayern Munich scoring more than 40 goals in a season, yet his country Poland didn’t quite achieve anything when compared to the others.

    What stands out in the scenarios captured since Messi was crowned is that winners are judged by their contributions to both club and country. Messi wasn’t quite outstanding playing for Barcelona going by the circumstances surrounding his last year at the Nou Camp – troublesome for want of a better word to describe it. Messi has been quite awesome in his contributions to Barcelona and Argentina since he first won the Ballon d’Or in 2009. Presently, Mohammed Salah is one of the most efficient goal-scorers in the world, scoring goals with aplomb. He has made scoring second nature, leaving in his wake floundering marker who watch in awe as he scores goals with relish. If Salah doesn’t reproduce his scoring form playing for the Pharaohs of Egypt or the Egyptians didn’t win the trophy at the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations slated to begin in January, he may not be adjudged the winner of the Ballon d’Or. If either of these scenarios plays out, the narrow-minded critics would yell, blue murder.

    We should learn to respect the rules of the game. Voters cast their lots based on certain criteria spelled out to them.  In fact, none of the voters is privy to what the others have voted.  What is declared is the outcome of votes cast per player, should be taken as the gospel truth.

    In 2020/2021, Messi played 49 games for his former club FC Barcelona, scoring 40 goals to emerge La Liga’s highest scorer. He had 16 assists and 103shots on target. His accurate passes amounted to 2525 while completed dribbles were 224, the highest in all Europe. He created 118 chances with nine match-winning goals and 27 Man of the Match awards. He won the Copa del Rey with the Catalan giants before winning his first trophy with the National Team-the Copa America. He was the highest goal scorer in the South American tournament as well as the player with the most assists. He went on to win the player of the tournament for Copa America.

    More importantly, however, he won the Copa America with Argentina, the Albiceleste’s first major trophy since 1993.

    ”It’s incredible to be here again. Two years ago I thought it was the last time. Winning the Copa América was key,” Messi said on Monday.

    ”It is a special year for me with this Copa América title. It meant a lot to win at the Maracanã stadium and I was so happy to celebrate with the people from Argentina.

    ”I don’t know if it’s the best year of my life, I’ve had a long career. But it was a special one with the title with Argentina after the tough times and the criticism.”

    Lewandowski’s goals propelled Bayern to a famous treble, as the Bavarian giants won the the FIFA Club World Cup, the DFB-Pokal, and an eighth consecutive Bundesliga title. Lewandowski added another Bundesliga title last season – his seventh in a row – plundering 48 goals in 40 appearances in all competitions and breaking the late Gerd Muller’s record for most goals in a single Bundesliga season with 41.

    Can Messi lift another Ballon d’Or, going by his decision to play for Paris Saint Germain (PSG)? This writer won’t rule that possibility out, especially as Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 801st goal for both club and country in Manchester United’s Thursday’s Premier League game against Arsenal at Old Trafford. The tie ended 3-2 in favour of the Red Devils with Ronaldo scoring a brace. The Messi versus Ronaldo rivalry is legendary such that both players strive to outscore the other in the vital attributes of the game.

    One thing nobody can take away from Messi is that he is a family man. He loves his wife Antonella passionately. Messi showed his remarkable love for his wife on Monday night when he insisted that she partook in the photo-shoot session with his three sons when it appeared on video that one of the organisers had beckoned on her to step aside from the photo session. But Messi was captured on film looking immediately quizzical over the idea, before signalling that he wanted Antonella back alongside him for the pictures.

    This enviable action by Messi towards his wife attracted tremendous comments from his fans as captured by Daily Mail on Thursday.

    ”This is just beautiful,” wrote one fan in response to the clip going viral on social media. ”Here’s a man who understands that family is everything.”

    Another said: ”This is seriously heart-warming, other than his footballing qualities these are the things which make us love Messi so much.”

    A different tweet said: ”Messi is a great guy. A husband first before King of Football.”

  • Controversy over #EndSARS White Paper

    Controversy over #EndSARS White Paper

    LAGOS State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has proposed an end to the #EndSARS brouhaha. But the deviants, comprising some celebrities, social media influencers, career rights activists and disenchanted politicians, are still holding on to the ugly past. They have spurned the government’s placatory gestures. They have violated one of the tenets of civil rule, which guarantees the ventilation of grievances.

    But this is the beauty of democracy, in contrast to military dictatorship with its enforced silence, ingrained repression, capitulated intimidation, “kill and go” mentality and other forms of impunity.

    The governor’s peace initiative has been rejected by few dissenting residents masquerading as trustees of the people’s liberty. They have objected to his call to walk for peace. To them, it will be inconsistent with their previous walk, which ended in violence across the state.

    The lesson of the protest that culminated in mayhem is lost on them. The protest was not unwarranted, but its “elongation” heralded doom. A Yoruba adage says: You fight strategically and leave the battle front only to return later: he who fights and runs away, lives to fight another day.

    The critics of the government have rejected the White Paper on the controversial report of the Judicial Panel of Enquiry the state set up to investigate the destruction and killings that trailed the October 20, 2020 #EndSARS protest.

    It may not be due to the fact that it fell below popular expectation but because it does not align with their agenda. Their goal may also be to adorn the government’s decision with a garment of controversy. Politicians are eager to profit from the prolonged conflicts as the country prepares for 2023 general election.

    The bone of contention in the report is one word: massacre. The word has elicited effusive grammatical scrutiny among the residents and even far beyond. At issue is the number of protesters killed, not across the state, but at Lekki Tollgate. If two, three or four persons were truly killed at Lekki Tollgate, does the number amount to a massacre? What number would amount to a massacre? This is a controversial question; it is also a big puzzle. A human soul, just one soul, is very precious. Only God can create it. No human being has the right under law to kill a fellow citizen. The human life should be protected and preserved until God, the Creator, terminates it.

    The massacre, which the Independent Judicial Panel alluded to in its report, has been rejected by the White Paper. Government said it is not convinced because of some distortions and inconsistencies in the report. Its rejection has aggravated the subsisting conflicts.

    Although the White Paper can be subjected to a judicial test in the court of law, none, despite the projected grievances in the media, is ready to engage the law on the matter.

    The critics’ demand is that whether there was enough evidence to prove the allegation of massive bloodletting by soldiers or not, government should accept that there were killings, indeed, mass murders, at the Lekki Tollgate.

    The matter has thus shifted from the panel and the State House to the media and court of public opinion. The public is in want of knowledge and ideas to dissect the technicalities. The altercation between the government and #EndSARS apostles has boxed ordinary Nigerians into confusion.

    If government is not convinced by available evidence and, therefore, rejects the claim of “contextual massacre,” then, the White Paper, to the critics, is defective, in bad faith and unacceptable.

    According to some rights advocates, unless Sanwo-Olu accepts that there was a massacre, there will be no peace deal. Such a condition is contentious.

    The usual refrain is that there can be no peace without justice. There is logic in this assertion. But, is the brand of justice the campaigners are clamouring for not the type that only conforms to their egocentric definition, their set criteria and personal standard? Can they ever entertain a contrary opinion, which to them is evil, unjust and antithetical to the rule of law?

    It appears the way out is for the aggrieved and their lawyers to go to court over the White Paper. They may even attempt to take the matter to the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The option is better than resorting to fruitless media propaganda. The court, as the last arbiter, will probably bring down the curtain on the multiple controversies that have emanated from the #EndSARS protest and its attendant report as well as the government White Paper.

    Since 1999, the human rights movement in Nigeria has been swimming in identity crisis. There is a gap in role fulfilment since the restoration of civil rule. The sustenance of a career built on pro-democracy crusade in the days of military rule has its own peculiar challenges.

    Since the Lekki Tollgate saga, self-acclaimed defenders of Nigeria’s collective liberty have indulged in a battle of ego, self-importance and extreme propaganda against the state, unlike under the military rule when the state put the heat on the crusaders.

    Read Also: Row over #EndSARS White Paper lingers

    On the social media, influencers are on the prowl, toying with the minds of gullible youths who cannot distinguish between facts and falacies.

    Since governance, particularly at the centre, where the real power resides, is dull, poor and uninspiring, the Federal Government has attracted more enmity to itself.

    But the Federal Government is a distant government. It is remote to the people at the state and grassroots levels. Therefore, Nigerians vent their anger on the government that is closer to them. That was why people who were protesting the brutality by the police, a federal agency, were attacking the facilities provided for public comfort by the Lagos State government.

    Those lambasting the state government over the dispersal of protesters at the toll plaza never saw any abnormality in the hijack of protests and the destruction that followed.

    Their reactions to the hijacked demonstrations were biased from the onset. Some of them exhibit inexplicable bitterness and partisan bias. The evidences are overwhelming.

    There was a protest against police brutality. It was legitimate. But, it was a protest without an arrowhead. To that extent, the organisational structure was concealed. Proper coordination became problematic. The window of dialogue was shut. Their projection was a permanent protest.

    So, if power shifts to the youths pressing for generational shift, how far can they go with this approach?

    When the protest was hijacked, protesters refused to apply the break and engage in soul-searching. They failed to recognise that the demonstration had assumed another coloration.

    As thugs, hoodlums and other hoodlums joined the fray, much havoc was wrecked on public utilities. The real protesters never destroyed public assets. But it appeared they were indifferent to the destruction by refusing to halt their protests to enable law enforcement agencies curtail the nefarious activities of the miscreants.

    Although the original protesters tried to dissociate their legitimate protests from the mayhem unleashed by hoodlums, it was futile. The mayhem would have been curtailed, if the protest had been tactically suspended.

    Neither did the protesters decry the attacks on courts, government offices, palaces and private properties.

    There were insinuations that the protest was partly fueled by political opponents who instigated arsonists to target private concerns of political leaders they could not defeat at the poll. Indeed, unknown gunmen were instigated to attack media houses before miscreants started their orgy of looting.

    Journalists in their offices who escaped from the furnace when their places of work were set ablaze had supported the protest against police brutality. Yet, they escaped being killed by arsonists narrowly while on duty.

    There was no word of condemnation from the original demonstrators when policemen were killed and maimed and their stations attacked, vandalised and burnt. Instantly, their wives became widows and their children became fatherless. Their aged parents are still in deep agony. Their dependents were sentenced into long bereavement. Were all policemen guilty of brutality? Were all policemen members of the dreaded SARS?

    Protesters also took laws in their hands when they deliberately disobeyed the curfew imposed by government, based on the claim that they needed more time to wind up their protests.

    Is disobedience to the lawful order of a legitimate government a feature of democracy, rule of law and due process?

    Lagos State had taken the demands of protesters to President Muhammadu Buhari. Sanwo-Olu was the first governor to set up a panel. The panel made 14 recommendations which could only be implemented by the Federal Government. Instead of shifting attention to the distant Federal Government, what has preoccupied the minds of the agitators are two-fold: who requested for troop deployment? Who ordered troop deployment?

    If any one of them were the governor and his state was sliding into anarchy while the ill-equipped, ill-trained and ill-motivated police had been demobilised and scattered, what would he do? Would they allow the disaster to multiply and the state to go under?

    While not suggesting that any governor requested for soldiers to disperse the crowd, it is clear that no soldier was under any firm instruction to kill defenceless protesters.

    During the week, the Federal Government owned up to some facts. The Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), announced that the Federal Government ordered the deployment of soldiers and other security agencies to restore order during the pandemonium, to protect life and property.

    In addition, Malami assured that anybody indicted in the Lekki shooting will be prosecuted.

    Sanwo-Olu, as a burden bearer, has done what was compatible with honour. He had identified with the protesters who later turned the heat on Lagos. He took the five, later seven, and much later, nine-point demand of protesters to the President in Abuja. The demands kept increasing.

    Based on the persistent agitations and the directive of the National Economic Council, he set up the Judicial Committee.

    The governor included in the committee even those who previously had an axe to grind with the state government. It is on record that the state government never interfered with the activities of the panel. Already, N420 million has been paid to victims identified by the panel. More compensation would still be paid based on the report.

    The proposed ‘Walk for Peace’ underscores the governor’s clear disposition to peace building. War has ended. It shoukd now end in the minds of those who initiated the carnage and fueled the violence.

    Sanwo-Olu is conscious of the fact that he cannot effectively preside a state that is enveloped in tension. Hence, the reconciliation move. Harmony is desirable in the former federal capital, economic nerve cente and Centre of Excellence.

    The governor has set a table of brotherhood. Those who have turned it down have the right to do so. Those who have agreed to join him are also at liberty to be part of the walk.

    Government and protesters should not forget the lessons of the cloudy period.

    There was a protest. It has now become a precedent. If the conditions that made it happen are repeated, there will be a reoccurrence. It will then, imply that no instructive lesson has been learned.

    Protest is a constitutional right. But, while protesting, protesters should not violate the rights of other people.

    During the protests, roads were blocked by demonstrators. Vehicular movement was disrupted. Many pupils could not attend school. Many workers could not get to office on time. Even, public workers on essential services were handicapped. The sick could not catch up with medical appointments in hospitals. There was anxiety.

    Protest should have human face. It should be within the bound of civility. But, the circumstances that made the youths to gather for protest should never occur again. Prevention is better than cure.

    The solution is good governance at all levels and at all times.

  • Omicron, democracy and conspiracies

    Omicron, democracy and conspiracies

    At  the start  of this global  pandemic that has now   mutated  to  the  Omicron variant I vowed not to  call the corona virus by its name in order not to give it undue publicity in the hope that it  will  soon go away .  My  rationale then was that the virus was like a terrorist or suicide bombers   who seek  publicity for their murderous acts and should be denied such publicity .  I even started  ending my pandemic essays with  the   prayer – From the fury of this pandemic Good Lord Deliver Nigeria . The  pandemic  has not gone   but God has delivered  Nigeria  and I  thank  God  for that and end my prayer in this column from today . I  however am not as afraid of this mutation of the corona virus and will call  it by its  name  right  from the onset  because the facts  on the ground have shown  that this is  not really a disease  that  has found  location in the Nigerian  environment     With   vaccinations  still   ongoing   ,      occasional  social distancing ,masks  now and then    and crude contact tracing ,Nigerians have  weathered the storm of the corona virus comfortably  and no  one should  attempt  to create another pandemonium  over Omicron .  Like we closed our economy  like copy  cats because the advanced nations of the world indeed our  former colonial  masters  did  so  at  the start of the corona  virus . Yet  the facts were clear, if grim . At  times a thousand people died a day in Britain , Spain , the US , Holland  and  Brazil    . Yet in Nigeria the death toll overall is still  less than  3000 .Even  ECOWAS in a recent plea  for help  on   more vaccinations  from  the  US   and   the EU   , admitted that Africa accounts  for  only 4.3 per cent of Covid 19 global  fatalities

    This  then  ,  is the back ground    to   my story  today   which  revolves  around     global reaction to the  emergence  and   ravages of Covid 19  in  the  world  democracies .  First  to a   virus that an American president called a Chinese virus to the consternation of the Chinese government ,  the global  reaction to S Africa which  just  recently   announced  the emergence of Omicron as  well  as the Nigerian NCDC  frantic  effort  to join   the band wagon    to show that the Omicron  was already in Nigeria with two  people  affected  and the  consequences of  all  these ,  on the nations involved  .

    It  is necessary  to start  with S Africa  whose Health  Minister announced the discovery of Omicron  in    an  apparent display of transparency  in order to avert the confusion over the time and source of the Covid  19 which  started in a  laboratory in China and  on which  there is still some controversy  that even the WHO has not been  able to resolve in order not  to provoke China .But  the leading democracies of  the world shocked S Africa by banning  travellers from 7 Southern African nations  to their territories . The alarmed S African president has called on these European nations to lift the ban and even travelled to Nigeria on what  I will  call an  attempt at solidarity to lift the ban on S Africa . To say that Africa  has been treated     badly  here  is  an understatement . But the fact remains that even before Omicron  S Africa has one of the highest fatalities  on Covid 19 in Africa and the reason is not far fetched . S Africa  has almost the same climate like the Europeans which explains why apartheid took so  long to collapse  but  now on Omicron S Africa  is being given an apartheid treatment by the Europeans and the US because  it did  the correct  thing in announcing the outbreak of Omicron on its  territory . That surely is a lesson on double standards . And  it is in that light that one wonders why Njgeria’s NCDC  was so eager to announce the discovery  of Omicron in Nigeria . Was NCDC looking for an award or any  pat on the back on the discovery of Omicron ? Surely  discretion should  be the better part of valor and  Nigeria’s  health authorities  should  make  haste  slowly  in showing the world that they are at work even  when the low   fatalities  on Covid 19  in   Nigeria   show   clearly  that God  is not finished with Nigeria inspite of their   undue haste to get global  scientific  recognition or adulation   Omicron .

    All  the same it is better to learn from the experience of nations with high  Covid 19   fatalities  to see   that not all that glitters is gold . In  the US the nation is divided between those  who wear  masks and those who don’t . Most Republican state are not for  masks while Democrat  states are for  masks . The Biden Administration is for masks and recently  gave a directive for government employees to be vaccinated by a deadline date but a US  court has overruled that  for  now ,  and government has backtracked on the directive . In  China which  is a communist   nation  , government  has  no qualms or any opposition or protests against closing cities or areas  where the virus emerges no matter how many  millions of  people  are involved .  In  EU nations the division is between those who are vaccinated and those who  are  not  ,   with  those who have not taken the  vaccine claiming it is their fundamental right to determine  what to do with their body . Which  reminds one  of the claim by those who  support abortion  calling it a matter of  choice  on what to do with their  body .  Some  European  leaders  have resolved that the  solution should not be to turn those against vaccinations into enemies of the state but to look for other solutions .

    Essentially  European  nations  and citizens value their fundamental  human rights and many feel  that the lock downs  and freedom of movement are being used  by governments in the pandemic to erode democratic  rights on the excuse or emergency  of health and public safety .  Some  have identified past historical experience  and  mistrust  of governments as responsible  for  protests against lockdowns and reluctance  to vaccinate . People  who  have lived under communism , Nazi  rule  and fascist regimes recall  their plight and are not easily sold on government orders on their way of life even where human lives are at stake . Some observers think that some people  are so skeptical  of government intentions and  policies  and  weave  that  to their beliefs  that governments are up to  no good and use  that as motive   not    to be vaccinated  . The  fact  that even  fully vaccinated  people have died thereafter  has been  some incentive for those against  vaccination to indulge in their stand against vaccination .

    Finally  some observers have said  the emergence of Omicron  from Africa is an attempt  to please the Chinese who feel tainted that the Covid 19 emerged from the Wuhan  lab   even though  how it emerged   either  from humans or bats  has    not been proven . If  Omicron becomes popular,  it is said ,  the Covid will  be  forgotten and  China   will breathe    better   as  Omicron becomes the global virus .  But  that also  brings to mind  the  said  callous     lamentation of Bill Gates ,  and even the WHO  , that Covid  19 has  not killed as many Africans as speculated .  That  is wicked  wishful  thinking   falsely equating    gross   poverty   with  high  covid  mortality . Covid 19  has shown that the rich  also die   aplenty ,  while  the poor  live long . Omicron  cannot do otherwise and Africa will  prevail against  all  the negative  odds and  speculations .

  • Gender equity and its political value

    Gender equity and its political value

    “Any place that does not make

    gender equality a priority,

    is probably getting other

    important things wrong too”

    -Paul Kagame (President of Rwanda)

     

    THE Roundtable Conversation page is an attempt to advance the conversation on the leadership evolution processes and the platform for all voting blocs and civil society to come together to find solutions to the issues of leadership in Nigeria in ways that can foster real development. Sixty one years after independence is enough time for Nigeria to move from being described as ‘nascent’ democracy to a truly viable democracy.

    If the United Arab Emirate (UAE) can be the global hub for business and tourism and Rwanda can play out the admirable phoenix from the 1994 genocide to become almost a UAE African equivalent, then Nigeria must act with the urgency of now to develop and that implies that we must take our democracy more seriously and develop systems that work and guarantee progress and development.

    In any democracy, the transparent conduct of elections is key as it gives voice to the people.  The type of electoral processes and the transparency or lack of same determine the viability of the democracy in any given society. This is because the voice of the people must validate the mandate being sought. If the people are not allowed to speak freely, then the soul is removed from the democratic process. This of course affects the accountability process and often advances tyranny.

    The political party system was fashioned as the vehicles through which leaders emerge to drive the democratic processes. This then means that as a government of the people and by the people, the process of elections must be free and transparent at the intra-party levels. This means that all things being equal, there would be no cases of exclusion of any demographic for any reason at all. There are sociological and religious factors but we must dismantle the negative attributes of these two if they impede development.

    Sadly though, the political system in Nigeria has been skewed against women for various reasons beyond finance and brawn. If the richest woman in Nigeria were to contest for the leadership of a political party, she might still not win. The lack of gender parity in Nigerian politics is traceable to some extraneous factors. We cannot say this enough. The voice must continue to ring out until there is a level playing field. The excuses of religion and culture are so jaded that we must recalibrate to meet up with development in the twenty first century global economy and beyond.

    Nothing in recent memory demonstrates the male monopoly in the political space than the recent Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Convention where the women only got two positions, Women Leader and her deputy. This means that at the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Party, only two women would be present. Ironically, there is no equivalent of men’s leadership at that level. So in essence, there is already a psychological beat down of the women and a strategic brow beating of the women to mobilize their gender for the success of the men.

    The Roundtable Conversation sat with Barr. Aisha Galadima Gana, Chairperson, Law Reform Commission Niger state. She is the Jekadia Alkalai Nupe, translated to  mean the Ambassador of lawyers and judges. A title she earned from the Etsu Nupe for her contributions to society.  She is an active member of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC). She was a patron of the Buhari Osibanjo Campaign Organization in her state. According to her, she earned recognition for the roles she has played  in mentoring and representing her constituency as a mobilizer.

    To her, women must be actively involved in politics and bring their nurturing and productive attributes into politics through a very fair process. Asked whether as a female politicians her idea of mobilization means working for the men to win electoral victories, she unbundled the real meaning of mobilization which to her goes beyond campaigns to real political education and assisting women organize and demand for their rights. The presence of women is being felt more than before. Today the women have a voice and through that, women can push for inclusion because it is when you stand up that you can be counted. The politics she believes in is that which liberates the grassroots in the sense that they can stand up for their rights and hold politicians  accountable especially to their pre- election promises and manifestoes.

    Sensitizing the women has been a key factor in the politics she plays as a woman. To her, the value of education comes with what the educated does to liberate the illiterate in the political economy of any nation. Empowering women must not be limited to political participation.  When the women are sensitized, they get more empowered to question the politics men play, they get more economically liberated and can join politics too at their terms.

    The Roundtable wanted to find out  about the girl child education in the Northern region. According to her, the North cannot yet shout uhuru for girl child education but there is slow but steady progress from where the region was some years back. To her, education in the region has always been paramount . Even before the advent of western education, there were the Islamiyya schools which even though in Arabic was still an education system.

    There is an awakening for a balanced education. Some Northern ladies have excelled in education, recently, a lady in Gombe graduated as the best student in medicine. That is progress and she and many others stand as inspiration to many others. We have also seen the former Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi use various fora to campaign not just for girl child education but for both genders too.  She thinks gradually, progress is being made. To her, girl child marriage is not as rampant as it used to be because there is massive enlightenment and most parents are encouraging their children to get basic education so they can learn a trade or acquire skills and possibly excel even if they do not get to universities.

    Aisha believes that women and men must bring the same tools to leadership, honesty, empathy, diligence and patriotism. These are values that are universal and have no gender codes. In her view, men must recognize that culture and religion do not preclude women from providing leadership. Men should realize that leadership is about people who can add value. The essence of  leadership is the welfare of the people and anyone who can add value should be allowed to take part in a free and fair process.

    As a woman she believes that all women with good pedigree must step out and help, Sitting and complaining cannot help the system. Women must be patient but build bridges of understanding with each other and even the men too. To her, consistency in the push for inclusion would pay off ultimately but there must be perseverance.

    The roundtable wanted to find out what the likes of Aisha intend to do to hold politicians who have not delivered on their promises in the past . To her, experience is the best teacher and as such, the people, especially the women must be ready to hold the people to account. There must be well spelt out agreements about  the demands of the people. There is a multiplier effect of inclusiveness that has a chain effect. Every negotiation must be all inclusive and make sure development trickles down to the grassroots.

    Asked about the lack of ideological leanings amongst the major political parties, she said that should not be reason for stagnation, the democracy is growing and people given the improved transparency in the electoral processes would be ready to reject people at the polls. Integrity of candidates is going to matter more. People are going to be held accountable for their past.

    She believes that transparency in electoral processes would be an advantage for the inclusion of women. It would happen naturally because most women stay off politics in Nigeria because of unfair and unspoken rules. The Anambra and Edo state elections are signs that women can mobilize to empower candidates with their votes. The new electoral laws and technology can now ensure that votes count and are counted. The system must be made to empower women. When there is fairness the normal cause of events would change.

    The Roundtable Conversation wishes in a special way to point to the quote above by the President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame whose country is now the modern phoenix in Africa rising from the ashes of genocide to become a tourism and business hub in Africa. It is not surprising that they have the global highest number of women in parliament at more than 60%. While the unfortunate war was regrettable, to rise and make the country what it is today is all thanks to leadership at all levels and a citizenry that is alert and functional.

    Nigerian political parties must move out of the parochial monopoly based on gender. The leadership that works around the world is one that is based on merit and readiness to serve rather than the use of brawn and financial muscle. The political parties must realize that development and poverty have no political parties. Merit and capacity ought to be the watchword rather than gender. To exclude the gender that is almost half of the population is almost akin to cutting one’s nose to spite the face.

    Being the poverty capital of the world would need the best brains in all sectors to work together to make the country more prosperous and return to the giant in the real sense with complimentary leadership style between men and women.

    The dialogue continues…

  • New coach for Super Eagles

    New coach for Super Eagles

    In Nigeria, thunder strikes on one spot severally. We take delight in repeating the same mistakes. For us here, there is always a Nigerian way of doing things even if it means crashing our heads on Olumo Rock. We are experts in shortcuts. It is the reason things that work seamlessly in other climes become stumbling blocks here. We are back in the trenches as it concerns getting a replacement for Gernot Rohr. The big question is – has Nigeria truly sacked Rohr?

    Coaching is a function of hiring and firing depending on the manager’s successes, especially for impatient employers. In fact, when teams are fumbling their fans wave the white flag calling for the coach’s sack, if the teams’ fortunes continue to dwindle. What stands the European clubs’ management out is the fact that they have organised and tested systems which throw up the next manager when anyone is sacked or should I say released mutually. Indeed, there are two types of coaches. Those already sacked and those waiting for their sack letters.

    The clubs and countries which sack their coaches have a list of managers whose patterns of play fit with their football philosophy, making their transition smooth whenever the deals are struck. These entities headhunt the coaches who meet their criteria on a scale of preference starting with their first choices. By the time they get to their third candidate, a decision would have been made. Names of likely coaches to replace sacked or released ones start with speculations. Nothing is made public by the prospecting club or countries until the unveiling day. Negotiations are done by those whose duty it is to conduct that exercise and the managers’ agents.

    The rules for negotiations are clear for clubs. Countries can seek the services of coaches under employment provided they can meet the extant clause for such deals. The team would be handed over to the most senior coach on an interim status, although some enterprising coaches can end up taking the job if they steer the side back to winning ways. Can anyone say that Gernot Rohr has been sacked given our antecedents? If yes, who would handle the team? Is it Salisu? Could it be Joseph Yobo, who many people say isn’t a certificated coach? Or would we draft Austin Eguavoen to handle the team? Or would we in characteristic style cast an indulgent eye on the lacuna on grounds that the team’s next assignment is still over a month away?

    The critical question would be who to hand over the Eagles to? Former players have failed us after pyrrhic feats. They have been unable to manage the egos of our top stars. What makes this aspect of our ex-players’ relationship with the new kids on the bloc intriguing is that those things are ex-stars exhibited as players they now detest. Besides, our former stars who handled the Eagles have grown from being players to managers. These flaws create room for indiscipline in the squad and at other times groupings that disunite rather than unite the team on and off the pitch. The incumbent NFF Technical Director Austin Eguavoen is the only one who hasn’t crossed swords with the current stars. Will Eguavoen be given the latitude and support foreign coaches have to handle the Eagles in Cameroon on a short-term deal, especially now that he is back in school at the National Institute for Sports (NIS)? Difficult question, although many readers here would say never.

    Read Also: NFF reiterates commitment to training coaches

    This talks of handling the Eagles if it is true that Rohr has quit the job falls on Super Eagles assistant coach Salisu, who was caught on camera in a sting operation accepting $700. Salisu has served his term and had apologised for being naive in the handling of the sting operation. those who know Salisu say he is a very good coach. But the snag would be how the foreign media would present him during matches. I won’t be surprised if these media men, analysts, and commentators keep mentioning the bribe saga repeatedly, including showing the visuals on television during Nigeria’s international matches. Is this the type of image befitting of one of the most populous nations in the world? I feel sorry for Salisu. This would have been his best chance to prove his technical mettle at the big stage. What this unfortunate setting leaves us with is a complete overhaul of the Eagles technical crew. Why not? Recently, the Eagles have been uninspiring during matches. No urgency in their approach to games, except for Victor Osimhen who hustles for the ball which he wants inside the net for as many times as the opponent loses possession of the ball. Osimhen is out of the Eagles squad to the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations holding in January in Cameroon.

    Napoli FC’s surgeon Gianpaolo Tartaro said: “It is still too early to talk about recovery times because the surgery was really complex: the conditions of the player’s face were very bad, but I guarantee that the surgery was perfectly successful.”

    “Titanium plates and screws were used in the operation. The player is doing well and will remain under observation for the next few days. “It was not a shock trauma, but compression: the kinetic force generated by the crushing of Osimhen’s face against Skriniar created devastating damage.

    “Osimhen’s injury was not a simple cheekbone fracture but also affected several bones of the face,” the surgeon told 1 Station Radio as per Get Italian Football News.

    “On Tuesday morning, Victor Osimhen was operated on his cheekbone and eye socket by Gianpaolo Tartaro, who was assisted by Dr. Mario Santagata with Dr. Raffaele Canonico also present,” it read.

    Thank goodness the 2022 World Cup begins on November 21 in Qatar, which gives Osimhen close to one year to recover fully and get prepared for the Mundial using his club’s matches in Italy and in the UEFA inter-club competitions.

    Therefore, if Nigeria must become the first African nation to play at the semi-final stage of the World Cup, she must recruit a coach with a pedigree which means he must be underemployment, not journeymen. Nigeria must headhunt the next Super Eagles Technical Adviser who must have a bias for discovering talents from within the country. What it simply means is that the new Eagles coach should be excited to live and work here not be a visiting coach like we always have.

    Those waving the emotional flag that Rohr should be kept at the helms until after the Africa Cup of Nations should know that Nigeria has won the trophy, making it insignificant. However, playing at the semi-final stage would be an African record, one in which a properly motivated Nigerian side can qualify for the final through a deliberate policy spanning one year. Qatar 2022 holds in less than a year.  If we get the ingredients right, not under Rohr, we can play in the finals given the average Nigerian’s Spartan spirit when faced with competition. The ripple effects of qualifying for the final or even the semi-finals are massive beginning with the financial rewards and the focus of the world on Nigerian youth as future stars. The talents at the grassroots can’t find expression at the international platform with the visionless administrators running the league.

    Countries’ growth in football is measured by the number and quality of home-grown lads. For us, it is the reverse. We chase those discovered and nurtured overseas. Unfortunately, nurseries and academies whose activities are not streamlined by the federation are the ones exposing our local kids through shylock agents to Europe, Americas, and the Diaspora. What a shame. With the 2022 World Cup less than a year away, Nigeria urgently needs a foreign coach with depth to handle the Super Eagles. Nigerian coaches won’t be respected and can’t stand the test of time.