The Nation Newspaper

Category: Saturday

  • Club players, my foot

    Club players, my foot

    By Ade Ojeikere

     

    Football is an exciting game to behold. The language is the same. The technicalities and styles differ from team to team, yet the purpose remains the same – to score goals. It behooves the coaches to pick the players who suit their patterns. What stands teams out in terms of the kind of players they have is the resources available to each of them to recruit. Otherwise, the challenges remain the same – win matches and trophies as the case may be.

    Jonathan Akpoborie and Richard Owobokiri were two of the best Nigerian players scoring goals with aplomb in Europe. Both of them excelled playing for local teams before heading for Europe. Akpoborie played for Julius Berger FC of Lagos and the country’s U-17 side, Golden Eaglets which won the China 85 Cup. Owobokiri was a gazelle playing for Sharks FC of  Port-Harcourt. As stars who emerged from the domestic league, adapting to the Eagles’ pattern should have been seamless. But our national coaches cast an indulgent eye on them, preferring to use other players. Not much could have been done then to include them in the squad since the coaches were given free hand to operate. Unfortunately, the Westerhoff team did well in the case of Owobokiri – he lost out.

    Of what use would it be to discuss fully what transpired between Owobokiri and Clemens Westerhof in the battle for the Eagles top nine striker’s jersey which the late Rahidi Yekini got the nod? Yekini became the king of goals in Africa and the first Nigerian to score a goal at the World Cup in the USA in 1994. This happened because there was a Sunday Oliseh who provided the long-range passes which Yekini utilised to score the goals that brought honour and glory to both the players and the country. Had Westerhof being more dynamic in his choice of players and how the team should play, Owobokiri would have been at the World Cup. And it would have given Nigeria more attacking options, especially when the Italians had incapacitated Emmanuel Amuneke and Daniel Amokachi at the Mundial in the USA. Would Westerhorff say he didn’t take half-fit players to that Mundial because they were long-time members of the team? I challenge Westerhoff to say otherwise.

    The argument from some purists that those who play in the Eagles presently are selfish is weak. We have heard this excuse in the past. Who picks them? The coaches or the fans? The coaches ought to have evolved a pattern that would have compelled them to play according to the team’s tactics and game plans. After all, Westerhoff dropped Samson Siasia for deliberately refusing to pass the ball to a better positioned Yekini in one of the team’s qualification games in Cote d’ Ivoire. It could have been Nigeria’s equaliser, but we lost the game 2-1.

    I recall writing a stinker in my weekly columns at Thisday newspaper on Johannes Bonfrere’s preference of Babaginda ahead of Akpoborie after the Dutchman released his list for the Atlanta ‘ 96 Olympic Games. A few of my colleagues who were also in America for the Olympics offered the argument of Babangida playing for Ajax. It was laughable because Akpoborie was king in Germany scoring goals against some of the biggest clubs in Europe. The team won the tournament but it didn’t also obliterate the fact that Akpoborie was cheated after having to pull off his coat to play in an international friendly for the side inside the National Stadium, (Sportscity) in Lagos.

    Yes, Akpoborie came to the stadium to watch the game in which Togo beat Nigeria 3-1, but was persuaded by some of his big friends who accompanied him to the stadium to change from his party clothes to play for the country. Akpoborie yielded to calls from patriots like him, not minding that he had eaten a bowl of pounded yam and ogbono soup before coming t watch the game. Akpoborie was unjustly excluded when the chips were down in Atlanta. A case of the cabal at work. The paradox of the matter is that most times those invited also play in smaller leagues in Europe where Akpoborie enjoyed tremendous patronage from the Germans and pundits globally who couldn’t believe that Nigeria didn’t consider him good enough for our teams.

    Read Also: These Falcons are SUPER

    Pray, there was a time when Joseph Yobo was scoring goals for the Super Eagles while our strikers developed clay feet in front of the goalposts. At that time, we had a former Golden Eaglets captain, Wilson Oruma who was painting Europe red with goals but the coach didn’t invite him. I recall asking the coach at a press conference organised by Peak Milk courtesy of Taye Ige’s Hotsports Plc, why Oruma wasn’t included in the new list. The enraged coach lost his cool and said: ” Yes, that is all the rubbish you write in your weekly columns. I read them. Let me tell you, even if the player (Wilson Oruma) was scoring goals in the moon, he won’t be part of this team. Are you a coach?” Talk about club managers’ biases, this was a classical example.

    Well, critics then couldn’t do anything to change the tide since the teams were winning games and trophies, most times, though they were nerve-wrenching feats for the team’s lovers to watch. The coaches then yelled at those who dared to talk about Akpoborie or/and Owobokiri describing them as club players, not national team players. Efan Ekoku, Victor Ikpeba, Peter Ijeh suffered the same fate but it was Ikpeba who muscled his way into the team much to the consternation of the coaches who handled the Super Eagles and Dream Team 1 then. Take a bow, Ikpeba, Prince of Monaco. Coaches and officials didn’t like him but he was such a great talent on-and-off the ball.

    My problem with all the national team managers has been double standards, making it imperative to ask if the managers are not employees of the NFF? If they are, there is an urgent need for the federation to make sure that team lists are subjected to serious scrutiny, otherwise, we would soon start losing stars to countries eager to give them first-team shirts. Haven’t the managers told us that they base their selection processes on those who pay regularly for their clubs? Isn’t Onuachu one of those who have excelled for his team this season? If yes, why is he being dumped on the standby list? Don’t we know what this unjust act of dropping the best striker in the Belgium league would do to Onuachu’s psyche? Wait a minute, the coaches who pick Onuachu to play for his Belgian side are Europeans. Why wouldn’t our manager pick up his phone to find out how best to deploy him in the Super Eagles?

    Perhaps, this is the best time for the federation to get the Eagles manager to establish a working relationship with the body’s Technical Director, Austin Eguavoen, who incidentally is a two-time World Cup player, former coach, and captain of the team to address these discrepancies. No foreign coach would love Nigeria more than Nigerians. If one of the highest goal scorers in Europe is a Nigerian, then he should be a first choice in the Super Eagles.

    The Eagles coach should be challenged to find out how best to play Onuachu, especially as the team is lacking good goal poachers. If it means changing the playing pattern of the team to accommodate him, so be it. We are tired of excuses from the manager. We cannot forever keep rebuilding the Eagles when we keep stars such as Onuachu on the waiting list. We can allow the Eagles manager to have his way for the Republic of Benin game. But, Onuachu should be allowed to play against Lesotho, more so, if we succeed to leave Porto Novo unscathed. After all, we need a point to qualify from the two matches.

    Enough of the double standards. Onuachu plays regularly in Europe and should be in the team, except they are saying he has disciplinary issues which happily haven’t be raised before now.

  • Leadership, Africanism and racism

    Leadership, Africanism and racism

    By  Dayo Sobowale

     

    I start today painfully with a good example of bad leadership in Nigeria before going on to the issues we want to discuss. The UK has helped Nigeria to return 4.2m pounds stolen by a former governor of Delta state James Ibori who was tried and jailed in the UK in 2012. Ibori   was governor from1999 to   2007.   Although  there  have been  arguments over how the recovered loot should   be spent but that  to me  is up  to government  to decide,  as long as the recovered loot is not  looted again  or lost entirely,  as that is not impossible in Nigeria . What  interests  me keenly  was that after he was jailed,  Ibori  appealed and was  granted  one   pound  by the English  Court  which  is a way  of telling the crooked , jailed ex-governor that that was his worth  as  a leader. This is a contemptuous award and as Nigerians we   should thank   the English for their legal perspicuity and erudition. This is because as a former colony  of the former British Empire we  are  still in many ways tied to their apron strings  even though  we got our Independence in 1960  and  became  a republic in 1963, our  ties as a member of the British Commonwealth  are still strong and we still attend CHOGM – the Commonwealth Heads of Government  Meeting –  which  the Queen normally  attends and which we have hosted in Nigeria even after Independence .

    It  is with this  in mind  that  I look at the concept of Africanism  which  as  colonial  subjects we used  to fight  the British as an African  nation as well  as  racism  which  somehow  has  raised its head in both the US and  the  European Union in a bizarre way  that  we as Africans and Nigerians cannot ignore because we are  Africans and know what it means to be discriminated  against  on account  of  our  colour,   both  by the colonialists  at  home on our soil and abroad when  we  have had occasions to travel  to study  or do business in Europe or the USA. It is difficult in this respect to ignore the attack of racism raised by a granddaughter in law   of the British monarch that I will not mention by name and her husband a grandson of the Queen against the British royal family. This revelation came to light from an interview in the US and that location matters because Americans are republicans by nature and have scant regard or respect for British royalty. It  is necessary  to point this out because unlike the Americans we as former colonial subjects know and respect  the British  monarchy in spite  of the cruelty and misgivings of colonialism and our pride as Nigerians who somehow still swoon   on   hearing ‘ God  Save Our Gracious Queen ‘ and   still   rely on the same British  to  help us recover government money looted by our elected leaders,  61 years  after Independence.

    Similarly  on the issue  of Africanism and racism there is need for some clarification to show that the two concepts may  not have the same meaning for Africans, Black Americans and whites   in the way and context they are being used nowadays. I want to separate Pan Africanism  which  groups  all  Africans including black Americans and Africans in diaspora in the same category,  from Africanism,  which is the concept of African dignity, belief and culture which  was a weapon against colonial discrimination, humiliation and abuse of power and office. Nowadays racism is being used in Europe and the US to silence anyone perceived to have used racial language or slur even though there is no clear vocabulary guidance or thesaurus on the matter. To me when whites who are unrepentant colour snobs fight for coloured people in the spirit of Black Lives Matters, I get very suspicious and uncomfortable. It is as if such whites are getting more catholic than the Pope in exposing racism and are using it as weapon against perceived enemies or unsuspecting people who  then go on to apologise   but   are still  removed from office or discriminated against in the cancel  culture mode or are  never forgiven for their unintended  and exaggerated  error anyway.

    Read Also: Who owns £4.2m repatriated loot linked to Ibori?

     

    Let  me illustrate  what I  mean with apartheid S  Africa and the way Nelson Mandela handled leadership in  that  nation after the collapse of apartheid   by  collaborating with his former oppressors and  persecutors. I will also comment on the issue of racism in the British royal family as well as the American government insistence in the new Biden presidency to cancel biological sex and to stop using words like man or woman in the pursuit of gender neutrality and logging LGBT rights in the same category as racism.

    During the apartheid  era Nigeria was at the fore front of fighting apartheid and during the late Murtala and later the Obasanjo military regimes,  Africa was the cornerstone of Nigeria’ foreign policy . When Mandela came to power he instituted the Truth   and   Reconciliation Commission to find out what went wrong. He did not    silence  his oppressors but  turned  S Africa  into a rainbow coalition of all  races and the economy  did  not  collapse as was  feared  because the black  majority  has  come to power through  the ballot  box and democracy. Although blacks in S Africa still lament high corruption and the   fact  that they  have not seen the dividends of democracy, there is real  progress  and stability after apartheid in S Africa with Africans in control well  after   Mandela .

    In the case of the accusation of racism against the British royal family by the grandson and granddaughter in law of the Queen, I believe this is an exploitation by   the unruly couple, of the Black Lives Matter induced war on racism in the EU   and the US. I believe the couple have an axe to grind with the royal family and really wanted to embarrass the family. But the British respect their royalty as it is the bedrock of their political stability. There is a saying in politics that –  ‘with the Queen in Buckingham Palace  every  Briton sleeps well in his bed ‘ The  Palace reaction that the  royal  family  will  look at the charge of  racism privately will satisfy  most  Britons and the vindictive  couple will  soon discover  that they  have just  raised a storm in a tea cup that will soon be forgotten

    I will  now use  the lumping of civil  rights with LGBT rights in the US and  EU  and now the treatment of racism  in that light,   to   show  that  this is un – African. This is because Africanism regards marriage as between a man and a woman and cannot accept gender neutrality as in the same category as racism. Africanism deals with racism and rejects it totally   as   un-civilised but   does not recognize gender neutrality. Even feminists in the US have started complaining about those who do not know their sex competing in women or girls sports as they may have undue advantage. Really it is un African    to seek to cancel biological sex identity in the pursuit of gender equality as the new US Administration is    bent   on doing. Africans who respect African dignity and beliefs should brace themselves to resist another form of sexual colonialism which is inherent clearly in the pursuit of gender neutrality which is a flagship of the Biden Administration. Once bitten twice shy. Once again from the fury of this raging pandemic, Good Lord Deliver Nigeria.

     

  • These Falcons are SUPER

    These Falcons are SUPER

    By Ade Ojeikere

    Everything is politicised in Nigeria when it comes to sports, especially the choice of coaches. Mundane parameters are advanced by different sections to justify their claims. Characters engaged in this needless exercise do so to protect interests inimical to the game. Why we refuse to adopt systems that make such an exercise simple in other climes, remain a puzzle.

    We always return to our tardy past and expect to improve. Put simply, sentiments becloud our thought processes in sports hence the jerky growth of the game here.

    I held back when the scene was noisy over the choice of the next Super Falcons’ manager. I consider women’s football as a novelty, especially with our poor economy. I admire the girls who play the game, knowing the unscrupulous options which they would have taken if they were to behave like those who use what they have to get what they want. Not many club owners pay their women players and I don’t blame them. I rather look at these clubs as platforms for the girls to recreate and possibly use any opening to change their fortunes.

    This has been the story of the career path of many of our girls who gained international acclaim playing for Nigeria. Elsewhere, the recruitment of coaches for women’s football is hinged on growth. Countries serious about the women’s game look at the manager’s pedigree with emphasis on his feats with other teams, schools, and/or countries. So, when chieftains of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) chose Randy Waldrum as Super Falcons’ manager, I sat on my desk to interrogate his credentials. I shouted reading through his achievements. It was an exhaustive and impressive resume.

    Football countries head-hunt their coaches by listing the decisive factors which such managers must have to get the job. In headhunting coaches for the job, they have a scale of preference sheets where the potential choices are arranged according to their availabilities. If they miss their first choice, they go for their second and third candidates. If they can’t get who they want from the three, they throw the bid open knowing what they want. It is always a rigorous exercise, not guesswork. They don’t cut corners.

    For this writer, any good foreign manager is better than ours. Our coaches are static. They don’t improve on their knowledge. They are fixated on their thought processes. They err on the side of caution. They are not risk-takers during competitions. They hardly introduce new players. They blame everyone else but themselves but take all the glories when the team succeeds. The aforementioned are the reasons I vote for competent foreign managers, not the journeymen who traverse the African continent as we have in the male’s game.

    Randy’s successful outing at the Turkey Cup competition didn’t come as surprise going by his reputation. He had issues with the federation on the timeframe of his contract. He insisted on the October 2020 commencement date, not January which the federation had written in his contract. He had his way but the Turkey Cup soccer conquest has boosted his chances of a better deal with the Falcons’ remarkable performance.

    Falcons didn’t play with their most experienced player for reasons best known to the federation. Yet the team played three games, winning all of them, scored a total of 11 goals against three different teams without conceding any. By any standard, this is an excellent performance. The prize for picking a very good coach. What is left is for the federation to support Randy by implementing his plans to the letter.

    Super Falcons’ 9-0 annihilation of Equatorial Guinea laid the markers for the future. Time was when Equatorial Guinea ruled the women’s game. We need to challenge the best in the world which is what the recruitment of Randy signifies. The federation has made its point by excluding Desire Oparanozie from the Turkey party. Lessons have been learned on both sides, although the federation ought to have allowed the new manager to set the grand rules for his players.

    The federation’s chiefs didn’t need to explain why Oparanozie was dropped. I hope that Randy can rise above the federation’s intolerance and speak with Oparanozie about his plans for the national team and the women’s game at the domestic level. No soccer nation’s strength is measured by the number of foreign-based players in the squads. Growth is measured by the quality of new players groomed from the local area – in Nigeria’s case the 774 Local Government Areas (LGAs).

    New players won’t be discovered when the selectors have the mindset of recruiting from Europe. The selectors would continue to do that because they carry the can if the team fails. However, a thriving template which would regularise how the nurseries are modelled is necessary now. Those European nations where we go to get players from have nurseries that produce them. These

    Europeans are challenged by our quest to snatch their products by improving on their nurseries. The beauty above developing ours (nurseries) is that both categories of players can be invited to the camp, where only the best would be picked. The experience garnered by these home-grown players when they rub shoulders with and train with these exposed ones eventually rubs on the local leagues.

    These returnees from the national camp come to training wearing the country’s jerseys. Home-grown girls who were in Turkey spend time recounting their experiences which propel others to strive to be invited next time. The national team players’ attitude to work changes and their colleagues notice and copy those which appeal to them.

    The new girls in the team were Patricia George, Toni Payne, and Kehinde Akinwande from  FC Robo, a Lagos-based side. There were four other homegirls namely Monday Gift, Christy Ohiearkwu, Glory Obonna Nasarawa FC’s captain Maryam Ibrahim. Randy knew George and Payne from watching them play in their university days in America. Randy met the team for the first time in Istanbul. He was very accessible and easygoing. He maintained this posture until the end of the competition. The local coaches Randy met in the camp had no problem relating with him or his style of play.

    Talking about taking risks, Randy ensured that everyone in Turkey played at least a game. He threw into the trash-bin the dictum of a coach being as good as his last game. He wanted to see everyone play under match conditions, irrespective of the game’s result. The five home-based players who were in Turkey are back home to showcase their skills. They would love to introduce some of the new training methods copied from Randy. The women’s game would surely grow if the NFF emulates what the Moroccans are presently doing.

    Last week, agency reports revealed that Royal Morocco Football Federation (FRMF) gave mini-buses to all the 16 clubs campaigning in the Moroccan Women’s National League. The Morocco football governing body made this known via their verified Twitter where it wrote. “The ‎@FRMFOFFICIEL offered each club in LNFF a new minibus to ensure the transport of the women’s teams in good safety conditions.” It says a lot about the North African nation’s quest to dominate the women’s game at the turn of the century, possibly.

    “Our objective is to develop women’s football and spread its practice in all the regions of the kingdom,” said FRMF president Fouzi Lekjaa during the presentation of the convention.

    “This is an important step to allow female talents to practice this popular sport in good conditions and to give them the opportunity to start and pursue their professional career,” he added.

    Also, the new plan aims at supporting the management of clubs on the administrative and financial level through training and support provided by the Technical Directorate and the FRMF’s Department of Finance. The federation also doled out funds to support the newly registered clubs.

    “Women’s football will be entitled to funding of up to $130,000 for the top flight league clubs and $86,000 for the second division to support the remuneration of players and technical staff on a monthly basis.

    FRMF women’s football director and head coach of the national team, Kelly Lindsey, described this plan as a revolution that is meant to promote the female game.

    “We are excited to take on the biggest challenges, especially to ensure girls and women have an equal opportunity to develop and grow within the game and to take the time to educate and empower great leaders of the female game, for now and for the future,” Lindsey said.

    The convention aims to increase the number of female football practitioners to 90,000 by 2024, train 10,000 technical executives in women’s football clubs and promote the level of the National Pro Championship, Regional League Championship and Youth Championship.

    I hope our federation chiefs are taking notes of what the North Africans have started. Soon their local leagues for women would be the new Mecca for female players in the continent. Soon, the influx of foreigners into their leagues would rub off on how they play. Need I say the Moroccans’ nearness to European nations would serve as the elixir for their players in seeking greener pastures in the future? What I like about the new things happening in Morocco is that they are putting figures behind what they are doing. They have also set in place timelines. The way to go, dear NFF board.

  • Insecurity: Is the constitution to blame?

    Insecurity: Is the constitution to blame?

    By Segun Ayobolu

    Given the alarming deterioration of the country’s steadily deepening security crisis, it is understandable that advocates of restructuring or the adoption of a new constitution as the cure all for Nigeria’s complex national problems, have intensified their agitations in recent times. It was widely reported in the media mid-last month, that socio-cultural groups such as the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Middle Belt Forum (MBF), Ohanaeze Ndigbo and Afenifere have, once more, backed restructuring and a new constitution as panaceas to Nigeria’s security challenges even though they naturally differ on the details and specifics of their proposed constitutional and structural changes.

    As Convener of the MBF, Ibrahim Bunu, put it, “You see what we are looking at the moment is far beyond restructuring; what will salvage this country now is a brand new constitution and it might be a peoples constitution because what we are using is long overdue even our colonial masters won’t be happy with what is written in the constitution”. A respected Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Chief Wole Olanipekun, also echoed this perspective a few weeks ago in a national newspaper contending that the 1999 constitution is an imposed and incurably flawed document, which is not a product of ‘we the people’ as it claims. These views are, of course, completely misplaced, misguided and misbegotten.

    If countries were to change constitutions each time they experience political crises, there would be no enduring democratic constitutions anywhere. Indeed, a country like the United States would be on the way right now to casting aside huge chunks of their over 200-year old constitution following the traumatic four- year  tenure of President Donald Trump and the severe stresses and shocks experienced by the country’s institutional structures. No constitution can guarantee any country immunity from crises and the consequences of human frailty. Given the complex dynamics of human institutions and societies, many future socio-political crises cannot even be foreseen by drafters of new constitutions.

    Thus, rather than abandon extant constitutions wholesale, they can be continually amended, modified and adjusted to adapt to ever changing human circumstances. The 1999 constitution does not have its roots in the military authoritarian institution as erroneously inferred all too often. Rather, it traces its genealogy to the 1979 constitution, which was a product of the Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC) set up by the Murtala-Obasanjo regime on October 4, 1975.

    According to Professor Eghosa Osaghe in his magisterial ‘Crippled Giant’, the membership of the CDC, admittedly all-male, as he notes, “was drawn from the professions and academic disciplines relevant to constitution-making (political science, law, history, economics), and from the ranks of administrators with relevance experience. It was headed by Chief Rotimi Williams, the renowned constitutional lawyer who had earlier been appointed to head the constitution review committee under Ironsi”. The military never pretended that they had any competence or expertise to write a constitution for the country. The exception to this was the Abacha regime and the succeeding government of General Abdulsalami Abubakar completely ignored his predecessor’s 1995 draft constitution altogether. The current 1999 constitution is, in essence, the 1979 constitution with a few modifications.

    A nationwide debate on the draft constitutional proposals, mediated by the defunct Daily Times, was then undertaken and the various inputs deliberated on and adopted by a Constituent Assembly comprised of 190 elected state representatives based on local government areas and 20 members nominated by the federal government to represent special interests such as students and labour among others. The so-called military-imposed constitution is utterly mythical.

    Despite the severity of the current security crisis and the attendant socio-economic implications, this column still believes that it is far better and wiser to address these problems within the framework of the extant constitution. True, it is not a perfect document. It contains many flaws. But no document drafted by man can aspire to flawlessness. Surely, neither is it the absolutely irredeemable governance instrument that many of its detractors portray it as. It would be a great pity if the merits and demerits of the constitution, including the cumulative practical lessons and experiences of the past 20 years, are cast aside in a flush of excitable emotiveness while we seek to embark on a needless constitutional adventurism of indeterminate destination.

    Let us not forget that Nigeria adopted the current presidential constitution as a result of the country’s unsavoury experiences with the parliamentary constitution and four-regional structure of the first republic. Today, many commentators, even renowned academics and senior lawyers, paint the first republic as a political and constitutional paradise from which the country was derailed by the military, which then imposed the present unitary, pseudo-federal structure on us.

    But the largely prevalent conventional wisdom, after the collapse of the first republic in January 1966, was that the excessive regional autonomy of the immediate post-independence era, within a context of fierce ethno-regional contestation for control of state power and resources, as well as an overly weak centre, were responsible for the collapse of the democratic order and ultimately the descent to the tragic civil war. These factors influenced Nigerian constitutional thought in the post-1966 era even though it is true that the centralized hierarchical organizational structure under military rule had some influence on the evolution of Nigeria’s federalism.

    In his classic, ‘Class, Ethnicity and Democracy in Nigeria’, Professor Larry Diamond, writing on the collapse of the first republic, stressed that Nigerians “had become disgusted on the one hand with the ‘ten wasted years’ of corruption, incompetence, and gross abuse of office, and on the other, with the incessant political crisis and internal strife, the political violence and repression, and finally the descent into political chaos…The disillusionment with corruption and waste spread like a cancer through the body politic, steadily but gradually for many years, then with a vengeance when the 1964 General Strike thrust the gathering resentment to the centre of national politics, where it boiled over into rage at the government’s arrogance and intransigence”.

    Professor Diamond quotes an article in the influential Nigerian intellectual journal,’ Nigerian Opinion,’ published in February 1966 after the coup thus: “In short, the rulers used power that they held constitutionally to do unconstitutional things. In the process they destroyed themselves. Nigeria had censuses that were not censuses, elections that were not elections, and finally governments that were not governments”. That was five and a half decades ago.

    Unfortunately, the vices that resulted in the collapse of the first republic manifested even more virulently and destructively under subsequent ‘corrective’ military regimes, during the second republic from 1979 to 1983 and continue apace today even in the current fourth republic. It is thus obvious that without a fundamental moral re-orientation and value-rejuvenation both on the part of the leadership and the led, the country’s socio-political system will always be doomed no matter what constitutional modes or political structures we adopt.

    True, Nigeria today sits atop a veritable security time bomb. But for the commendable proactive steps of a number of governors and their deft diplomatic shuttles, recent flashes of violence in Oyo, Ogun and Ondo states, for instance, could have easily erupted in a national conflagration. The ultimately futile attempt by the Amalgamated Union of Foodstuff and Cattle Dealers of Nigeria (AUFCDN) to impose a blockade on movement of food from the north to the south shows how frayed and worn the chords of national cohesion have become. But is the 1999 constitution to blame for this state of affairs? I do not think so.

    The constitution is certainly not responsible, for example, for the perceived skewed and nepotistic appointments particularly into the ruling administration’s security high command; a factor which has undoubtedly exacerbated ethno-regional suspicions and tensions. Indeed, the constitution prescribes adherence to the federal character principle to ensure healthy all inclusiveness at all levels of governance.

    Today, the ordinarily patriotic and gallant officers and men of the Nigerian military are overstretched as they are not only involved in defending the country’s territorial integrity against protracted and vicious insurgency, they also have task forces in virtually every state of the federation undertaking what are essentially police responsibilities. And the constitution can surely not be blamed for the pathetic state of an underfunded, undermanned, ill-equipped and poorly motivated Nigerian Police Force (NPF).

    In recent times, many governors, notably Dr Kayode Fayemi and Mallam Nasir ‘el –Rufaia of Ekiti and Kaduna states, respectively, have called for devolution of powers, responsibilities, and resources to the sub-national units of government thereby reducing the current dysfunctional overburdening of the federal government. An increasing number of governors have advocated the urgent imperative of having state-controlled police commands to enable each state more effectively secure its territory in our complex, plural polity.

    Indeed, the All Progressive Congress (APC)’s committee on the implementation of the federalist plank of its manifesto, headed by el-Rufai, has reportedly made provisions for all these proposed amendments to the constitution even with draft bills ready to be forwarded to the National Assembly. The current constitution can certainly not be blamed if these recommendations remain hidden in inexplicable obscurity rather being passed on to the legislature for necessary action long after the committee submitted its report.

    During the week, the presidency issued, curiously through a presidential spokesman, a strong directive that bandit and criminal elements carrying AK-47 rifles be shot at sight from henceforth. Surely, if this kind of tough stance had been adopted long before now, the security situation would not have degenerated this badly. We can only hope that this signals a decisive change in the Buhari administration’s attitudinal disposition to the treatment of all criminals no matter where they come from. What we confront is not a constitutional crisis. It is a leadership challenge.

  • Yahaya Bello for 2023? That’ll be the day!

    Yahaya Bello for 2023? That’ll be the day!

    UnderTow

    Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State has enjoyed animated media presence since the turn of 2021. Only indeterminists think this is a simple coincidence or the natural consequence of his assiduity. Analysts say someone is strategically promoting his image in the media. No one really knows what he is doing in Kogi State or what political philosophy reflects his entire administration, but he and a few others insist that he has transformed the state to a desirable place. Senator Dino Melaye thinks he is suffering personified, and that his cosmic destiny, as well as all of Kogi, rejects him. Others simply write him off as a comical governor posturing with the air of a statesman bursting at the seams with the most profound ideologies on national issues. Indeed, pontificating on issues within Kogi is no longer enough for the pretender ideologue; he points to phantom and ambiguous achievements he claims to have accomplished in Kogi as reference to his mettle and profoundness to address national issues.

    Last week, he went to the presidency and talked about Nigeria’s unity, COVID-19 (a subject he is least qualified to address), insecurity and food supply among other issues. Only a few hours earlier and accompanied by self-professed short-fused politician, Femi Fani-Kayode, he had met with disgruntled representatives of the Amalgamated Union of Foodstuff and Cattle Dealers of Nigeria (AUFCDN) who were upset by certain national issues and were no longer willing to supply food to the southern part of the country. It is amazing that both men believed their intervention to be of any relevance. Somehow Mr Bello magisterially believed he had solved a tricky national issue and his short-fused companion’s comments on the governor’s intervention concerning strong leadership may have coaxed him to visit the presidency to relay AUFCDN’s demands. Prior to that, he had met with former president Olusegun Obasanjo, who had extolled imperceptible virtues he thought were commendable about the governor. In all these things, his media aides, able and willing to the core, gave wind to his increasing penchant for sermonising with all the frenzy of people on a mission. But, what mission?

    Whether or not he is the architect of the comical calls for him to contest the 2023 presidency, he is actually being called to run for presidency in 2023. Though this is difficult to believe, given the governor’s unconvincing record in Kogi, one errant group, GYB2PYB, laughably laid siege to the Kogi State Liaison office in Abuja and vowed they would lay a more terrible siege to the entire country than the EndSARS protests if Mr Bello did not agree to rescue the country from the doldrums by running for presidency. This was the sort of duress the governor appeared beholden to; so he did not think to urge them against such provocative statements. He simply looked on with the imperial air of an agreeable monarch. Of his achievements, the most popular, analysts believe, is that he has done something to stymie insecurity in Kogi State. His personal account is that when he first assumed office in Kogi State, the place was a hotbed of violence, but in six months, he put an end to all that and Kogi State is now the safest as far as the country is concerned. In a word, he believes that if all the governors would simply sit up and do their jobs, then there would be no insecurity in the country. But he hardly sits in Lokoja himself, let alone sit up to do anything.

    No governor will waste any time heeding the implausible Mr Bello who, in any case, denied the presence of COVID-19 in his state for over a year, preventing treatments from going on within his state’s boundaries. They will remember how the Federal Medical Centre in Lokoja was attacked last July by armed hoodlums, probably sponsored. The medical centre was at the time the only institution treating issues related to COVID-19, while the governor had staunchly denied the existence of the virus in the state. In fact, he was of the opinion that the federal government was doing the wrong thing by ordering a lockdown as the country could have capitalised on the pandemic by exporting clothing materials for the production of facemasks. He was also entirely sure that the Chief Judge of Kogi State High Court, Justice Nasir Ajanah, died because he was isolated when he fell ill, and that he should not have been, as there was no COVID-19 in Kogi State. It meant nothing to him that a number of his aides were dying of suspected COVID-19 symptoms; there simply was no COVID-19 in Kogi State, Mr Bello insisted.

    Of his meeting with the former president, a statement from Mr Bello’s camp reads: “Former President Obasanjo noted that the fight against insecurity should have everybody on board, stressing that governors should involve everyone to ensure insecurity is curtailed in Nigeria. While appreciating the governor for his developmental effort in the state, especially in the areas of youth and women inclusion in politics and governance, infrastructure, health and education, Obasanjo charged Governor Bello to continue to be an advocate for youth involvement in governance.” It is not clear why the former president, who has himself been fingered as a contributor to the wobbly foundation Nigeria now totters on, alluded to inclusiveness and health development in the governor’s administration. Health in Kogi State remains atrociously underwhelming and inadequate, and ethnic inclusiveness could as well be the Achilles heel for laming the much touted governmental genius of Mr Bello. In fact, it would go a long way for the governor to account properly for the developments and investments he would have brought to Kogi after eight years. Will he be able to? But, spurious calls for his presidency continue to echo round the country.

    Posters campaigning for him appeared in Plateau last month, while in Adamawa, Yenagoa and Warri posters have already appeared this month. The posters, like the doltish GYB2PYB, premise his capability on his youthfulness while conveniently failing to tie him to any political party in the graphic design. The bankroller of the futile quest for a Bello presidency is not unaware that there are many people far more qualified than Mr Bello, who has been accused of grandiosity, in his current political party, the All Progressives Congress (APC). He will find it herculean to win the party’s ticket to run for presidency. The claim for a youthful leader annoys good sense and it is testament to how traumatic the glacial Buhari administration has been that a speck of grey hair is now viewed as anathema to quality leadership in Nigeria.  There is no wisdom in the claims portraying Mr Bello as a suitable candidate for presidency on account of his youthfulness.

    A youthful president could be worse than an older governor, just as badly as an older president could be disastrous. What Nigerians need to examine is the character of a person, and one such person who has given that character analysis of Mr Bello is Simon Achuba, who worked with him as deputy governor during his first term in office. Mr Achuba’s testimony of Mr Bello is not positive, and the only defence the governor’s camp could put up was that his detractor’s services had been procured by enemies of the state to drag the governor’s image in the mud.

    According to Mr Achuba, who accused the governor of mismanaging billions of naira, “When you assess the government of Yahaya Bello from day one, it has been fighting and fighting. Anyone that has a different opinion from him becomes an enemy. Anyone that says anything that is not praise to him, he goes ahead to attack the person. In governance, you must give room for criticisms whether good or bad. As a leader, you learn from criticisms and those who criticise you are not necessarily your enemies. There could be individuals who want you to do well but in his case, it is not so.”

    It is difficult to fault Mr Achuba, especially when the bread levy plot of last November remains fresh in Nigerians’ memory. The plot had been to impose taxes on every loaf of bread baked in the state. Public outcry saw the government and then the governor in quick succession distance themselves from the offensive policy. No one was really willing to take the blame for it so they scheduled the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Usman Ibrahim, to take the fall for the administrative disgrace. It is not clear what has become of him, but the story has faded away and pro-Bello agents have regained the courage to announce their unattractive proposition that he should lead the country. It is logical that a governor who cannot govern his cabinet properly cannot govern his state with any propriety. How then does anyone or any assembly of individuals think there can be any merit to suggesting that he govern the country? Even the youths he so desperately tries to identify with ignored his ingratiating and bold offer to lead the EndSARS protests of last October. As part of his proposals for leading the protest, he had suggested that the youths should saddle him with the responsibility of meeting the president to probe a missing $16bn, which he claimed had gone into the pockets of a miniscule few for the revivification of the power sector.

    There are whispers that there is no secret bankroller of the calls for his presidency but himself. No one knows the truth of such claims, and it is hoped, for his sake, that they are not true. Already the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and his old foe, Senator Melaye, want his head on a platter of gold for money laundering. They have importuned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), United States Embassy, British High Commission and others to investigate him. His former deputy governor, Mr Achuba, will not object to that position. He must therefore ensure he is innocent at all costs of being the one bankrolling the sundry misguided groups and individuals who think he is fit for presidency. He must also tone down his propensity to carry out the thankless political odd jobs he appears besotted to in company with non-state actors such as the incendiary and bellicose Mr Fani-Kayode.

  • Atunwa plots fresh guber bid in Kwara

    Atunwa plots fresh guber bid in Kwara

    Sentry

    It is no longer news that the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kwara State is working very hard to take over the government of the state from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2023. What is still shrouded in secrecy is the identity of the man they intend to push forward as their governorship candidate when the time comes.

    Expectedly, some chieftains of the party are being touted as being interested in the gubernatorial ticket. Sources say the party’s candidate in the last election – Razaq Atunwa – is one of such. According to insiders, the former Finance Commissioner has already set plans in motion to reactivate his political teams across the state in preparation for the task ahead.

    But sources within the Bukola Saraki political family told Sentry that unlike what obtained in 2019, when he enjoyed the backing of the former Senate President, Atunwa’s ambition may not have Saraki’s blessing this time.

    According to sources, “Senator Saraki is bent on fulfilling his promise to Kwara North senatorial district this time around. He will support a candidate from the north to run on the platform of the PDP in 2023.”

    Such positions notwithstanding, Sentry gathered Atunwa is determined to go all out and seek the party’s ticket once again. According to sources close to him, he believes strongly that he is still the best candidate PDP can throw into the race against the APC and the sitting governor. “Kwara people are wiser now, they will vote PDP if Atunwa, whom they know already, is presented to them in 2023,” the source claimed.

  • Enugu: Waiting on Ugwuanyi

    Enugu: Waiting on Ugwuanyi

    Sentry

    Feelers reaching Sentry from Enugu, Enugu State capital, suggest commissioners in the cabinet of Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi are anxiously waiting for the outcome of a planned massive cabinet shake-up.

    According to sources within the administration, the governor had, on a number of occasions, given indications that he planned to reconstitute his cabinet soon.

    It was gathered that owing to some recent developments within the government and the party in the state, some commissioners are uncomfortable with the planned shake-up as they fear they may not make it back. Thus, not a few are now waiting on Ugwuanyi to know what would become of them after the planned re-jig of the administration.

    Sources say some commissioners and cabinet members with political links to former governor Sylvanus Chime are most terrified by the news of a looming cabinet shake-up. This may not be unconnected with some developments between the two camps of late.

    “They fear they may be dropped on account of their political affiliations with the former governor. I don’t know how founded this fear is but some recent development have been fueling such anxiety within the ruling party in Enugu state,” a source claimed.

  • Politics, insurgency and battle fronts

    Politics, insurgency and battle fronts

    By Dayo Sobowale

    It is becoming clear nowadays that democracy and its practice of governance predicated on its ideology of mass participation and majority rule nowadays is testing and taxing both the resources and patience of both the ruler and the ruled in many parts of the world. There  are simply too many battle fronts in sorting out issues and so many frayed nerves   between  governments and those  they  rule with   elected  mandate,  such that on most occasions  looming   descent into anarchy or  the failed  state  is always  around the corner.

    Just look around you in the many states   and     nations of the world and you see issues collapsing into violence and mistrust and hostilities bursting at their seams. Many of these issues I have called or labeled Insurgency and some battle fronts. But  just as former   US President   Donald Trump earned the eternal  enmity of CNN by  calling that outfit -fake  news –  I will  show today that there  can be real  insurgencies and fake ones just as we  have real  and fake battle fronts too all  in the business of contemporary  politics and governance  of the world’s many governments and democracies

    In  the midst  of all  these rancorous politics  however,  I salute the so called dictatorships of China and Russia for maintain order and stability even  though the former US Secretary of State  Pompei recently called the Communist Party   of China  as the most  dangerous threat to world  peace. Both China and Russia have stood up to the US   in terms of diplomacy and regional power and politics   and are increasingly more authoritative on world issues. They    did   this   decisively    and     strategically  while  the US dissipated energy on sex issues like LGBT rights   and   Climate  Change under Obama for 8  years and the US withdrew into its shell of ‘ America first ‘for 4 years under Trump. Even with the pandemic both have managed their nations better than the Americans.  And  now some   have called  the   new Biden presidency,  Obama’s    third    term   and is back   to square   one   with  the   LGBT   razzmatazz,  Climate  Change  and    the unique     basement   pandemic   style   of governance   of Joe  Biden  who  has not had  a press conference  since he was sworn in since Jan20  2021.   The    Americans    have allowed   the pandemic to derail their politics and governance totally such that it seems they are starting  anew  in building their economy and government policies from scratch as if they were the only one the pandemic hit ,  although  they  got the  morbid and dubious    prize of having the highest global  deaths    from the pandemic. Unfortunately their  2020 election threw  up a 50-50  senate which means that the two  parties are on tenterhooks  in getting legislations  passed  in the next four   years and the ensuing government or democracy  is a cat and mouse game which  can both be described as both  an insurgency  for the Republicans and both a battle front and insurgency for  majority   or  dissenting Democrats who break ranks and vote against their government on issues on some occasions. Pragmatically the two parties are on collision course for the next four years and are solidly on a battle front similar to the civil war from which Abe Lincoln fought successfully to save their unity ages ago.

    In  Nigeria  too we  have our well known insurgencies  and the new ones  that have crept  up  like  the Sahel  from the desert sending herdsmen  down south to   look  for  grass  for their cattle and in the process destroying  farms which  somehow  has pitted the North against  the south in a fierce war  on several  battle fronts. Somehow  the   hostilities  crystallised into a food war  recently and there was scarcity  of meat  in the South leading to  meeting  with  government and a truce brokered by the  Kogi State  Governor   Yahaya Bello. Obviously the herdsmen organization stopped transportation of meat to the south and called off their strike after meeting the Chief of Staff to the president with the Kogi State   governor. It was reported that the group leading the herdsmen had demanded 4.75bn compensation and I wonder where the government will get such. Also what compensation will be paid to farmers whose crops were destroyed and some killed? Obviously  it seems that   cattle  people  have won a pyrrhic  victory in both the battle front  and insurgency  of food  security against  the south  and  I really  wonder where we go from here. Which really is a clear case of a successful prosecution of a war in which the North has used starvation as a potent weapon of war. You may call this a phony or fake insurgency but the facts are clear and it is clear who the winner is.

    In the real   terrorist insurgency in the North East where Boko Haram holds sway against the Nigerian Army, the Borno State Governor at the heart of both the insurgency and battle front with Boko Haram reportedly told the Governors’ Forum of the North East that it appears the Federal Government is not interested in ending the insurgency in the area.  He therefore proposed bringing in mercenaries and forming a regional security outfit to tackle the challenges of the insurgency.  This is a clear case of lack of confidence in both the Nigerian Army and the FGN.

    But  the governor Professor Babagana Zulum  certainly  knows what  he is saying because he knows  the battle  front  which  is his state and has on occasions  barely  escaped with his life on guided visits  to  the battle  fronts. He cannot be accused of shouting wolf where there is none because the insurgency of Boko Haram is literally holding his state hostage militarily and has destroyed economic activities in Borno State.   Both the army and the FGN should bail   out the Borno State governor and defeat Boko Haram with our regular Nigerian army. They  should not allow mercenaries  to defeat an insurgency  on Nigeria’s  territory as that questions  our territorial  integrity  the protection   of  which is the  constitutional duty of both the army and the FGN.

    Bringing in mercenaries will certainly escalate and internationalise  both the insurgency and the battle fronts and may  separate the NE permanently  and inadvertently   from the rest of Nigeria   That  is an avoidable   and     undesirable   prospect  that  can  be nipped in the bud  by just  defeating Boko Haram  as the governor  has been advocating incessantly    since   getting elected as governor of Borno  State. We   as  a nation and  a federation  once fought a civil war  successfully with the slogan ‘Keeping Nigeria one is a task   that  must  be done ‘ We  should  send  Boko Haram packing with  the same  slogan and end the nightmare of   both the caring governor of Borno State and his  beleaguered  and  long suffering citizens of the state.

  • FG’s illusory crusade against poverty

    FG’s illusory crusade against poverty

    UnderTow

    After six years in office, President Muhammadu Buhari has admitted that one unclear thing led to another and his presidency fell asleep.  Nevertheless, he is awake now, and he is ready to get things going, starting with changing the circumstances of the hoi polloi wallowing in misery. Although the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in May 2019 noted that some 89.2 million Nigerians (40.1%) are living in poverty, the world poverty clock suggests that about 105 million Nigerians (51%) live in poverty. The presidency seems to agree with the latter, as it has at sundry times expressed its commitment to lifting 100 million of such Nigerians out of poverty. The president’s admission of somnolence occurred last Tuesday at a meeting with the Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC). It had all the ingredients of the Muhammadu Buhari-led presidency’s controversial public outings. First, the president was not there and was represented by a media aide, this time his Senior Special Assistant (SSA) on Media and Publicity. Next, the statement shot the president in the foot. Third, the statement was vague, contained no clear-cut policies, but was replete with philosophising and recycled promises. It did not need the SSA to identify it as a Buhari administration classic.

    The statement gushed: “I was shocked hearing from you that of the vast agricultural land resources available to the nation, only two percent of it is under irrigation. We will make the best use of the land. Thank you for shaking us up. We are now awake; we will not doze off again. We didn’t just bump into this; we believe it is something we can deliver on.” Meanwhile, somewhere in the statement, the government promised that the scheme to lift that century of millions of Nigerians from poverty was not an accident but a deliberate policy that would be pursued with grit and determination, agreeing that the country required a poverty reduction strategy that would usher in a rapid, sustained, sustainable and inclusive economic growth. No one doubts that the presidency, to the best of its ability, tried to come up with what it believes is the best strategy.

    It is, however, shocking that after all these years in office the presidency still talks futuristically about its policies. A government that has less than three of eight years left in office should be talking in the present continuous. Is this a sign that public analysts were on to something when they warned Nigerians of the vacuousness of promises constantly doled out by the government? Worse is that the government’s sloganeering and social investment schemes have received one major criticism – they do not treat the disease but the symptoms. Those schemes, sceptical Nigerians say, can barely lift anyone out of poverty, let alone furnish them with the means to enjoy a decent standard of living. Nigerians struggle to understand why they are being programmed to live off government’s cash injections, but have to spend expensively in an inflation-riddled economy. Why does the government have to serially borrow money to pump into the economy for alleviating poverty through various schemes? Are those schemes, rapid as they sound, as sustainable as the government promises? Is it sustainable that the government shares N5000 to Nigerians every month in a bid to lift them out of poverty when the conditions that pushed them into poverty remain in place, including excessive and sometimes double taxation, for those who do pay, and arbitrary shutting of Nigerians’ sources of livelihood without alternatives? It remains a mystery of the current government’s glib commitment to treating poverty.

    Despite barely passable regulations to facilitate the ease of doing business in Nigeria, ranking the country at a pitiful 131 of 190 economies, the country has become a terribly hostile place to do business in. As usual, expectations do not always meet reality. Regulations are in place, but a deep-rooted malaise of corruption and insecurity, carelessly nurtured over years of avarice unchecked by a succession of lethargic, biased and soporific governments, has taken its toll on the country’s socio-economic fabric. At almost every level of government and private practice, analysts and commentators say corruption and a base absence of ethics reign supreme. Both the government and the populace, they say, are neck deep in corrupt practices. If the presidency were altruistic about combating corruption, it would have realised that the anti-graft war is only one small part of a larger equation. It is illusory to think that making scapegoats of certain individuals will do the trick. The National Orientation Agency (NOA) has an understated but important role to play in stemming ingrained, nationwide corruption. The anti-graft war, after being initially labelled a witch-hunt, has been described as directionless and lacking steam. With the right people in the agency, adequate funding and excellent policy formulation, the agency can slowly but surely reorient the collective mindset of the country to eschew corruption. But how can a government that has been accused of selectiveness in its war against corruption combat that same corruption? This is a paradox; but corruption remains a leading factor contributing systematically to the impoverishment of Nigerians. If the government retains its perceived glacial approach to national issues, corruption will plunge more people into poverty than ambitious social investment schemes can extricate them.

    Nothing, however, that the NOA can do will cheat Nigerians into misunderstanding their reality. To lift people out of poverty, there must be enabling environment for business. The government has identified, among others, technology as a crucial component of economic diversification; but technology, as with every other business avenue in the modern world, requires uninterrupted power supply. This is another illusion. Federal Minister of Power, Saleh Mamman, displayed uncommonly low understanding of the power situation in Nigeria when he appeared on the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) last June to state that: “We have improved our services. Before this government, they gave light for less than 10 hours a day, but today I can tell you that we give light from 18 to 24 hours in a day.” He will never be able to explain that statement, as several parts of the country experience no power supply for days and sometimes even weeks. Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State, one year into his first term in office, promised 24-hr power supply in Edo State. Ekpoma residents will disagree strongly with him on that point if he so much as repeats it to their hearing. In Lagos, the economic hub of the country, power generating sets continue to drone all day and night. Even 18-hr power supply daily remains a myth in many areas.

    To combat poverty decisively, the government needs to successfully defeat the Cerberus of insecurity, abysmal low quality of education and unequal distribution of wealth. No government can crusade against poverty when businesses and food production are not safe; when bandits can kidnap wantonly in their search for money while flat-footed government and their security agencies fail to pay necessary attention, and even pamper them; when governors finger one another as terrorists; and when the sanctity of human life means less than that of cattle. A government that struggles to implement N30,000 minimum wage for the populace, where some in power earn N30,000,000 monthly, lies without compulsion when it says it will lift 100m Nigerians out of poverty in two years. The truth is not in a government that promises to combat poverty but cannot stem the trend of students getting kidnapped by the hundreds. In short, Nigerians will not be too wrong to feel that the Buhari-led administration’s symptomatic policies and empty, placebo vocalisations either toy with the national intelligence, or wage an illusory crusade against poverty. Pragmatic economic policies, such as the government’s economic teams have outlined often, will not automatically translate to reality if the right environment is not created for it. Numbers, figures and policies are good ways to formulate a plan for the economic growth and development of the country. But Nigerians are not too illiterate to understand their reality. No one, perhaps not even the government itself, expects 100m people to miraculously exit poverty in two years, especially when impoverishing factors remain in place. Fertilisers are good for growing crops, but if weeds and pests are not removed, if the weather remains harsh, and if parasites attack the plantation, the harvest will not be bountiful. It is not rocket science.

  • Buhari unserious in bandits’ eyes. Alas

    Buhari unserious in bandits’ eyes. Alas

    By UnderTow

    To many Nigerians, President Muhammadu Buhari is a phantom, taciturn Jubril from Sudan; to the president himself, and his traducers from the outlawed Republic of Biafra will agree, he has been hibernating but has only just woken up sometime last week; to Boko Haram insurgents and insurrectionists, he is a Muhammed Yusuf from Niger Republic; and to bandits and kidnappers, he is an unserious perjurer. Dynamism of this sort either makes a leader enigmatic or miasmic. This is a choice which the now awakened president must make over the next two years to counterbalance the past six somnolent years of painful governance.

    But, bandits not only think him unserious, they appear keen to emasculate him for reneging on certain nebulous promises they claim he made to them. Represented by his Chief of Staff, Ibrahim Gambari, the president has in the past week noted that criminals should be dealt with as criminals, that they will not be granted amnesty (cleverly evading the Gumi complex), and that criminals should be dealt with without ethnic profiling. These are excellent standpoints, except that the bandits have called his bluff and advised him to appear before them in person for a dialogue or they would continue apace to wreak havoc. Making judicious use of surprising media coverage, the bandits said last week: “The president should personally come and preside over the talks. When he was campaigning, he travelled all over, why would he not do it now? He does not take these peace talks seriously and everyday people are being killed. There is no day that someone is not killed between Zamfara, Niger, Kaduna, Sokoto and Katsina. There is no tribe that is spared, gunmen kill, soldiers kill, and vigilantes kill. Whoever you see with a gun today in Nigeria, he uses it to kill people. You may not know but if I were to tell you the situation of things in this country, you will cry. Even the president will cry.”

    Criminal or otherwise, the bandits make a strong case; they just may not know they are making it. They clearly do not regard the president seriously. Bandits are not usually this bold, despite their daring and callousness. But with the Buhari-led presidency, and going by the comments of several misfiring governors and hyperbolic clerics, they are emboldened enough to think that they can get away with anything. Indeed, they kidnapped students in Kaduna, right under the president’s nose and virtually in his own backyard. They carried on about their usual damning enterprise Thursday night by invading a school in Zamfara and spiriting away 300 female students. Despite the Chibok and Dapchi episodes, Nigerians are still not used to these things and the scar does not tingle like a déjà vu. No, the wound opens afresh as the country sorrows with the affected parents while the emasculated presidency continues to be all bark.