The Nation Newspaper

Category: Saturday

  • Recognition, security and protests

    Recognition, security and protests

    By Dayo Sobowale

    The news of the arrest of Nigerians protesting against the fuel and electricity prices by  the Police is  something that should bother Nigerians as it is an anti democratic  act that  smothers the right of protest and dissent in a democracy  such  as Nigeria proudly claims  to be. This is  the kernel of our discussion today. People  have the right  to protest in a democracy and as long as they are not violent they must  be protected even as they  protest  by the Police. That  the protesters are quarrelling with the fuel price and power price  hike is to be expected. Especially in this grueling pandemic and at a time when the National  Grid  is  virtually   always down while  power failure  is the norm rather  than the exception mostly  all  over  the nation. We  shall  face  the reasons for the hike later but it needs to be put in proper  perspective   and   recognized that the right to protest over issues that  concern  the welfare of Nigerians is an inalienable right  which  even the Police   should   respect as a legitimate  right under the rule of  Law.

    Today  however we look at the nomination of US President Donald Trump for the Nobel Prize by a Norwegian  law  maker  who  thinks he deserves it for brokering peace between  the UAE  and  Israel recently. Is   the mercurial  US president worthy of such recognition ? We shall  answer  the question decisively. We  shall  also  look at the North Central  Politics in Nigeria as  a group  broke away from the sole representative, socio- political organization and weighty voice of the North , the Arewa Consultative Forum,  ACF  to  form a splinter group  on grounds of insecurity  pervading the North Central  as well as  marginalization. In  the same  vein   we   also  appraise  the killing of a repentant war  lord  called  Gana  by soldiers  in the Middle  Belt  where an amnesty  was recently  forged and the slain war  lord had publicly  announced he was laying down arms and embracing the amnesty .   Coincidentally  all  these  issues  revolve around  security and peace which  are  essential  for  political stability and that  recognition  needs to be appreciated as we proceed on our  analysis  of these events.

    First  we look at the nomination of the US President Donald Trump  for the  2021  Nobel  Peace Prize by a Norwegian MP which is the requirement for  the Nobel Prize  in  Norway. The Norwegian Gdejje  had nominated Trump for   the 2018  Nobel Prize for brokering Peace between North and  South Korea  but the nomination failed . This  time Gdejje  is nomination Trump for brokering peace between Israel  and UAE recently. I know  the Democrats in US domestic politics would be mad as hell on Trump’s  nomination  but  then  that is there  funeral. This is because in spite of the latest political  grave they have dug for Trump   to be buried alive by insisting he called military men captured or wounded in wars ‘losers ‘  Trump  has performed  very  well  in diplomacy  and foreign affairs. He  has done the unthinkable in this regard and he must  be given recognition for blazing a trail in American foreign policy  more than any     American   president in recent  times.   Aside    from calling China to  order  on  forging  copyrights  and getting away  with  it,   his tariffs    are   defining    World a   Trade as we  know it today He   has  created  détente with North Korea   and brought  that nation in  from the cold and isolation of nuclear  politics.  Now  for the first time in recent  times he has made another Middle East  nation  to sign  a peace treaty with Israel. Hitherto  only Egypt -1979   and Jordan- 1994  signed such a treaty and   in Egypt,  Anwar Sadat was assassinated for his bold  effort. it is widely  reported that more nations would sign the peace treaty with Israel , a fact  which will not go down well with Palestinians who  are out in the Cold  for insisting that Israel  should give up the land it  captured in the Six Days War  of 1967. To  me  ,Trump  has done more in international  relations than Barak Obama who was given the Nobel Prize for Peace  for his Cairo  speech on the Middle East but left that part of the world in the throes of the Arab Spring of 2011 which  brought a false sense of democracy.  Especially  in Egypt where Morsi  was elected democratically  but later decimated by the Egyptian military which  then  ensured the election of its leader as civilian  president  of Egypt  subsequently.

    We  now go to the North Central where the North  Central Peoples Forum seceded as it were from ACF and  cited as its rationale the fact that in spite of the abundant mineral and human resources of the North Central the area is’  bedeviled  by vices like banditry and other forms of criminality. The  leader of the new group is former Minister of State for Health Gabriel  Aduku. The  group expressed confidence that the people of  Benue, Kogi , Kwara, Nasarawa, Niger Plateau and the Federal  Capital  Territory  would   unite  to  ensure peace and stability  in their area.  The  fact  that NCPF  has emerged shows that regional  suspicion of Federal  might to guarantee regional security, peace and stability  is growing  nation wide. This was the motive for the emergence of Amotekun in the South West. What  this means is  that  the center is falling to pieces in  guaranteeing peace  in the regions and  a security panacea of  ‘every body for himself, God for us all‘ is slowly but surely emerging.

    It is a situation based on pragmatism as life has no duplicate especially in the  face of avoidable  but  constant  violence that  seems to  persistently override government  veto  in the NE, and  NW. That surely is the rationale for this North Central Initiative to make regional  concern on security  and protection of life and property  its main goals and objectives. It  is a way of saying that one does not put fire on the roof  and go to sleep.  I see it as step in the right direction  for the safety  of the area.

    We  now  take a look at the death of the warlord Gana who  had just embraced peace and amnesty  but was nevertheless gunned down by soldiers. To  me this is a clear sign of a failed peace. Obviously  the soldiers who killed  Gana knew who  they  were killing, amnesty or not. The peace of amnesty  has always seem a dubious and unsteady  peace to me. At  best it is a peace of the grave yard  with the ever  present threat of death and retaliation.  It  failed in Katsina  where the Governor  was confounded with the resumption of hostilities after the amnesty  was seen as a settled matter. Peace  should come in any  conflict once a victor  has emerged who has  subdued the  defeated by superior violence and force of arms. Granting amnesty without victory is allowing a Trojan horse  in  any  such territory. This is because there is no such thing as repentant  terrorists. Terrorists are terrorists ad infinitum  until  they are captured and punished or  decimated altogether. That  is the language of war and only victors can  impose peace and stability. Not amnesty.

    Once again – From the raging fury of this pandemic, Good Lord Deliver Nigeria.

  • Sule, Al-Makura and the tale bearers

    Sule, Al-Makura and the tale bearers

    By Sentry

    The queer drama with the above title has been on in Nasarawa State since last year. In case you missed the debut, it started with tales that Governor Abdullahi Sule and his predecessor Tanko Al-Makura, were at daggers-drawn over who should be nominated into President Muhammadu Buhari’s cabinet as minister.

    The rumour spread like wildfire while it lasted. Of course, the two political leaders denied it vehemently. The eventual emergence of Mohammed Hassan Abdullahi, former Secretary to the State Government (SSG) under Al-Makura, and a well-known ally of Sule, killed the tales.

    But long afterwards, Sule himself inadvertently sparked a new rumour of rift when he spoke of his readiness to serve one term as governor and leave for someone else.

    Trust rumour mongers, they went to town with his statement as evidence of a new face-off with the man who facilitated his first term. Again, the governor and Al-Makura dismissed talk of a rift.

    A couple of weeks ago, the two allies, while speaking when indigenes of Lafia Local Government Area visited Sule to thank him for appointing Aliyu Ubandoma as SSG, said their relationship was intact.

    But hardly had this declaration been aired than fresh claims, as usual unconfirmed, of a serious face-off between the two emerged. Findings by Sentry indicate that the new ‘disagreement’ may not be unconnected with allegations by some in the governor’s camp that Al-Makura may be grooming one of his aides as APC governorship candidate come 2023. Need I repeat that the governor and his predecessor have for the umpteenth time denied all the claims? So much ado about a governor, his predecessor and tale-bearers you will say.

  • Lion of soccer

    Lion of soccer

    By Ade Ojeikere

    Big clubs always have things going for them especially the achieving ones such as FC Barcelona. What transpired in the last three weeks between Barcelona and Lionel Messi underlines the strength of clubs over their players. It is important to state that Messi suffered the backlash of Cristiano Ronaldo’s ‘easy’ exit from Real Madrid.

    Many wondered what La Liga’s interest in the feud when Messi isn’t in its employment. La Liga lost its momentum and international focus with Ronaldo’s exit. La Liga also lost massively with Ronaldo going away with his followers and media glitz, which accompanied everything he did before, during and after matches.

    In June, President of La Liga Javier Tebas said: ‘‘The departure of Cristiano [Ronaldo], although they were upset in Madrid, had an almost zero impact because in La Liga we have been preparing for years so that the brand transcends the players.

    ‘‘But the case of Messi is different. Messi is the best player in the history of football. We have been fortunate to have always had him in our league. I believe that Messi’s departure would be noticeable. Of course, more if he left to play another League.’’

    So, when Messi’s misunderstanding with Barca broke, I told most of my friends that the former UEFA Champions League winners won’t release their gem for any fee. Barca freeing Messi would have amounted to a disservice to their marketing mechanism. I equally told them that La Liga’s support for the club at a veiled effort not to further de-market the competition with Messi’s exit. The world’s soccer followers would have dumped the La Liga had Messi joined Manchester City.

    Indeed, Spain’s economy would have been in a big crisis since Real Madrid and Barca hold the aces in terms of revenue generation. Don’t remind me of the huge taxes the players of the two teams pay yearly. If Messi had left Barcelona, the highest-ranked star on the Forbes sport rich list from Spain would be Antoine Griezmann at No. 60. Ronaldo is very rich yet Messi draws more commercial value for the club and the league, according to the aforementioned statistics.

    Messi’s exit would have commenced the gradual movement of big stars to other leagues. This star trek would have moulded the minds of players choosing any of the big clubs in Spain. Real Madrid and Barca have in the last decades produced some of the most exciting football players to watch. Both clubs go the extra mile to beef up their squads, most times anticipatory of the clashes between them every season. The world stands still whenever the teams are pitched against the other, irrespective of where the matches are played in Spain.

    In fact, football is the biggest winner with Liverpool’s UEFA Champions League victory, penultimate year. Until that time, soccer was tilted towards Spain with the big actors being Messi and Ronaldo. Indeed, Roma provided the first whip which exposed Barca’s dwindling fortunes in the Champions League in the 2018/2019 edition with Liverpool winning the trophy the next year. What Bayern Munich did with the 8-2 massacre was to open Messi’s eyes to depart from a house whose roof was on the verge of collapse. Real Madrid’s treble on the trot of the most prestigious soccer competition looked like normal until Ronaldo’s exit from the Los Blancos.

    Messi trained with Barca alone as reported, which is the normal practice pending when he would have done the seasonal medical tests, especially coronavirus. The report stated further he wore a forlorn look which was expected given what went down during the period of the impasse. Would Messi give his best for Barca during matches? What would be the fans’ response when he runs out of the tunnel for the first game at Camp Nou? Would the setting that day not raise posers about Messi’s future?

    Antoine Griezmann, who many pundits say has unresolved relationship issues on and off the pitch with Messi, wants to stay at Camp Nou just telling Mundo Deportivo : ‘’We try to have news, but what happens is between the club and him. We just hope he stays. We listen to a bit of everything but we don’t know more on our part’’.

    Griezmann is one of the disturbing trends at Barca that pushed Messi to the wall to tender his letter of resignation. Have these puzzled being sorted out or have they been allowed to remain unresolved that they would be settled amicably in the course of the season? Credit should go the new manager Koeman with stoic silence during the brouhaha, preferring to face his job of improving the players’ fitness. Of course, Koeman isn’t a novice in the club, having grown through the ranks to stardom, captaining the side to win all the trophies Messi also won with the Laliga side.

    Koeman’s tactical savvy isn’t top-notch compared to managers such as Jose Mourinho. But he could hit the ground running for Barca because he understands the mentality of how the team should play. Besides, the fans won’t boo him like since he has brought them moments to celebrate in the past as a player. Ardent fans don’t abandon their stars in such critical periods and this is what Barca needs to reset its operations which have been in tatters since Messi’s pronouncement last month.

    What the Messi/Barca face-off has done for the game is that it settled the often talked about inability of the immensely talented Argentine to play for another club besides Barcelona. Such reservations wouldn’t hold any water now that Messi chose to play for Manchester City while his father and the club’s hierarchy tried to call a truce, which was achieved. Would Messi have been able to succeed at Manchester City? Yes, if you ask this right since both men have the desired working relationship in the past with Barcelona. Besides, Manchester City’s management would have given Guardiola the cash to further strengthen the squad with players of Messi’s pedigree in the game. Guardiola wouldn’t have disappointed, knowing the implications to his career, if he fails to deliver the UEFA Champions League trophy this season.

    The most prestigious trophy in Europe is what the owners of the business want Manchester City to lift, hence the choice of Guardiola as their manager in the beginning. It would have been very captivating watching Messi waltz past players in the English Premier League, especially those playing for teams tagged also-ran in the competition. Messi would have been in his comfort zone playing against the big boys, most of whom he played against at the UEFA Champions League level.

    Messi had a right to decide his destiny as a player and in his judgment, there wouldn’t have been any partiality. But he soon found out there were people he couldn’t just wish away their desires on the altar of leaving Barcelona. No set of people could have stopped Messi from one testing the tents of his contract which has a release of clause of 700 million Euros, although he later claimed that he couldn’t find himself in court with the club of his life where he achieved everything that made him who he is today.

    Messi revealed that he was startled when he told his family that he wanted to quit Barcelona. Yes, Messi knew his wife’s decisions and sentiments. But it was his kids that shocked him the most with their informed counterpoints which defied their ages.

    ‘’When I communicated my wish to leave to my wife and children, it was a brutal drama,’’ Messi told Goal.

    ‘’The whole family began crying, my children did not want to leave Barcelona, nor did they want to change schools. Mateo is still little and he doesn’t realise what it means to go somewhere else and make your life a few years elsewhere.

    ‘’Thiago, he is older. He heard something on TV and found out something and asked. I didn’t want him to know anything about being forced to leave, to have to live in a new school or make new friends.

    ‘’He cried to me and said ‘let’s not go’. I repeat that it was hard, really. It was understandable. It happened to me. It is very difficult to make a decision.’’

    Such is life, Messi. The kids have spoken. Kids’ words count seriously in decision making at the family level. Anyway, Messi has the next 12 months educating the kids on why he must quit Barcelona at the expiration of his contract. Messi would walk away from the contract a free agent by June 30, 2021. Would Messi win the next session with his kids next year or would he devise a template that would accommodate all the posers raised when he first raised the matter with them as he revealed?

  • Still on Kwara Commissioner’s resignation

    Still on Kwara Commissioner’s resignation

    Sentry

    Last week, Kwara State Commissioner for Special Duties, Hajia Aisha Ahman Pategi, resigned and said she was moving to endeavours outside government and politics.

    “Life is in process, and I am bold to say that having journeyed the political terrain, now is the time for me to leave and focus on new ideas,” she said citing personal reasons for her sudden exit from government.

    But Sentry gathered there was more to the unexpected parting of ways between Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq and Pategi, who, at the inception of the administration, served as Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs.

    She was redeployed to the Ministry of Special Duties in a minor cabinet reshuffle

    following a widely reported face-off between her and the Commissioner for Finance, Olasumbo Oyeyemi, over control of local government finances.

    Sources within and outside the government say Pategi’s resignation may not be unconnected with the report of a fact-finding panel constituted by the governor to look into the disagreement between the two commissioners. The panel, headed by Justice Mathew Adewara, is expected to turn in its report any moment from now.

    Sentry gathered that Pategi, whose claim that N300 million was diverted from the state’s local government fund, may not have been backed by the panel’s report.

    “It appears she is aware of this. I can tell you that her decision to quit the government is a move to preempt the possible decision of the governor, who is said to be very displeased with her at the moment,” a source claimed.

    In spite of her hurried resignation, Sentry learnt the panel will still go ahead and present its report to AbdulRazaq.

  • Ondo: Between Akeredolu and Abegunde

    Ondo: Between Akeredolu and Abegunde

    Sentry

    You may have heard that former Secretary to the Ondo State Government (SSG), Ifedayo Abegunde, who quit his position and joined Governor Rotimi Akeredolu’s political opponents ahead of the October gubernatorial poll, has made a u-turn. What you may not know is how the political allies made peace.

    It was learnt that following his emergence as APC candidate, Akeredolu was determined to go to the election with the party’s full complement. Sources described the truce as a product of his sportsmanship and uncommon courage by the former SSG.

    This was about the time rumours became rife that the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate Eyitayo Jegede were courting Abegunde who, incidentally, used to be a chieftain of the party before the 2012 election. Not ready to take chances, Akeredolu approached prominent APC elders to reconcile him with his former SSG.

    The elders brokered peace between the two men after a series of peace meetings where they bared their minds before agreeing to work together again. “The last of the meetings was held at Government House in Akure last Sunday,” a source claimed.

  • Politics, pandemic and bad apples

    Politics, pandemic and bad apples

    Dayo Sobowale

    In  defending the  Police in his law and order campaign strategy for  re- election,  US President Donald  Trump admitted that  that  there are ‘bad  apples‘ in the US Police who  will  be dealt with by the   system. It  may  be an un -assuring  statement   to   his   opponents but  for a president who  has lost  a lot of goodwill during this pandemic, his law and order  mantra is a  desperate effort of a sinking  man grasping  at   a  straw,  to clinch   re election in spite   of  the crushing blows of the pandemic on his re election chances. Similarly in banking in Nigeria customers tremble  to go to banks in this  pandemic  because of the discomfort of long queues   and  social  distancing, such that  some  if not many have wondered  if the banks are not conspiring to seize customers deposits  by  making  it difficult  for  customers to  access their money conveniently,  with  the banks  citing the pandemic  protocols as convenient excuse.

    In   Lagos  the   pandemic  curfew   has made  life miserable for workers to return home from work  as they  try  to  beat  the curfew of 10  pm and avoid  police  harassment in violation of  a curfew that  seem  like  an extra burden on commuters, travellers workers and traders who  are  mostly  stuck in the snaky, long  traffic jams compounded by many  road  construction works  going on simultaneously    all  over the  city during this  pandemic. Also  in Germany this week over 30000 people demonstrated against the rules and constraints of the pandemic protocols on their way of life in various endeavors  especially on freedom of  movement. The  Police eventually  dispersed  them after acknowledging that the ranks of  demonstrators  had   been  infiltrated by Nazi  groups displaying  Nazi   symbols  banned in Germany.

    The  import of these various events and observations is to admit that good intentions are  sometimes marred by  bad apples  as Trump  said  of white  policemen killing blacks  at random  under  his watch while he seem to  turn  his  eye  away in  supporting them   on the grounds that  law  and order is the basis of organized  society. Which  in a way is true.  But  good policies and laws  made  by government and  public institutions  can  be subverted by disgruntled and corrupt    public officials  who  exploit implementation  loopholes  to get quick, illicit money and gains  during this pandemic. Also  political, economic  and  police  power  can  be misused and abused  during the pandemic  as we  shall  show today with illustrations and analysis  of the  events we have  mentioned   earlier

    In  the  case  of  the citing of bad apples  to be dealt  with in American Police  Donald  Trump was  adopting a phrase in a book  that says –  play  me foul  and I  will  play you tricky –  in his campaign  to  prevent Democrat Joe  Biden from sending  him  out of power in the November presidential elections,  and  the reason  is clear. The Democrats are using the pandemic and Trump’s handling of it as an  inefficiency    political  albatross   on  his  neck  and   the  main   issue  to defeat   Trump    who was ahead in the polls  before  the pandemic. Now  Trump  is  using the breakdown of law  and order in  swing states and those controlled  by Democrats as his  campaign retort    and rhetoric that  the Democrats will  destroy  American values and security if  voted into power. Trump  is suspicious of   the       coming   but inevitable  postal  voting occasioned  by the pandemic   for  the presidential election and has gone on to ask  his supporters to send their vote by post  but  to   still  go to  vote  to make assurance doubly sure. His explanation is that during tabulation this   will  be sorted out by polling officials. But Trump  has been accused    of asking  his supporters    to vote  twice   which again is   controversial  and debatable. Actually  Trump’s desperate suggestion to his supporters can be equally  used by the Democrats  and it will   be up to the electoral and   postal  authorities  to  sort  out the ensuing duplication. Which   certainly  shows the critical  and important effect  of the election, that  Trump himself  has  admitted to his supporters at their Republican  Convention,  as ‘the  most  important  election in American   history.‘

    In  the situation of the massing of customers at  bank gates in Nigeria, a common sight   in this pandemic the CBN  and  banks’  management  should   do  something urgently  to show that the customer  is king in this service  industry,  especially in this crippling pandemic. Some banks don’t work on some weeks but on alternate  weeks. But  their customers don’t know until  they  get to the branches where they  are turned back by security  operatives. Which  is bad, as it is like using the pandemic to seize  customers money and earnings. It  may  mask   distress  in some banks  and bank regulators like CBN should  be alert  and on   their    toes ,  to ensure  that  some banks  do  not  use  their    financial   power of custody of customers funds to deny them access  on grounds  of    the pandemic. Banks  should protect  their  staff  by all  means but not at the expense  of customers  not having access  to their deposits, funds  and  assets on account  of the observance of the rules of the pandemic .   Customers  deposits after  all are the goose that lay the golden  eggs of skyrocketing bank profits even  in this  pandemic and banks   should find ways of eliminating the spectacle of sad and morose customers waiting to collect   their money  at the door steps   of many  bank  branches  nowadays.

    On  the situation of the continuing curfew in  Lagos  there is no doubt  that it is affecting many  businesses of both corporate and retail traders as well  as professionals too. This is because people rush to get home and driving can  be tedious and treacherous  in the ensuing traffic frenzy. The curfew should be lifted so  that people  can have space to plan their lives  and get home in one piece. The  anxiety   and rush  to get home and not be caught by the police, or  paying their way through  can  be  a debilitating and costly  health and road  hazard.The  Police are trying and can be understanding at times but  then  as Trump noted there are bad apples in the  police and no nation is immune to that fact and Nigeria is not  an exception.

    In  the demonstrations and protests in Germany the protesters were asking  government to ease  pandemic restrictions and not  curtail  their democratic rights of movement during the pandemic. According to German Police the protesters were a motley  crowd  and amalgam of  strange  bed fellows. This is because Far  Right and Leftists protesters, fierce opponents of each  other  at  most   times, flew their  banners at the rally  at which Police said anarchists  and well  known violent groups were also  marching before they were dispersed. One  of the  protesters  summed it up   ominously that they  all  were united in the acknowledgement  and knowledge that the government is their enemy on the pandemic issue  and the  curtailment of their rights and movement  consequently.  Some  of the demonstrators almost  forced  their way  into the German Parliament  which  the German President called an  attack  at the heart of German democracy.  But  the German  government  has been  quite efficient  in the way it has handled pandemic rules and testing and in reducing deaths unlike the UK and the worst of all, the US.  All  the same,   one man’s food is another man’s poison. And  in a democracy  as   buoyant   as Germany  the right of dissent is an  inalienable  one    to   be  respected at   all   times ,  even  in a pandemic.

    From  the fury  of this raging pandemic therefore Good Lord Deliver Nigeria.

  • Those 774,000 new jobs

    Those 774,000 new jobs

    Segun Ayobolu

    My instinctive reaction to the Federal Government’s new Special Works Programme (SWP), designed to create 774,000 new jobs for 1000 unemployed persons from each of the country’s 774 local government areas, who will receive N20,000 per month for three months, was to dismiss it as another grandiose scheme aimed at  corrupt material enrichment as is all too often the case with our governing elite across party divides. This perception was strengthened by the seemingly needless squabble between the members of the National Assembly and the Minister of State for Labour, Mr. Festus Keyamo (SAN), on the mode of implementation of the programme. Much more important than the method of the programme’s implementation, I thought, the legislature ought to have raised fundamental questions about the rationale for the SWP in the first place.

    It appeared to me that the PDP caucus in the House of Representatives, in a statement by Hon. Kingsley Chinda, made an important point when it said that the rationale for the programme “flies in the face of reason and common sense as this government insists on expending enormous resources for the implementation of a politically motivated transient programme dubiously shrouded as “employment” having no empowering or enduring benefit to ordinary Nigerians especially when several viable and veritable job and wealth creating alternatives exist”.

    Continuing, he said “Elementary division of the approved programme budget of N52 billion by 774 local government areas in Nigeria implies expenditure of N67.184 million (about $150,000) in each local government area, which if applied judicially and transparently will suffice for the establishment of a viable industry in each local government area that for several years to come will provide gainful, enduring and sustainable direct and indirect employment for more than 100 skilled and unskilled poor unemployed Nigerians per local government area…”.

    Well, it is only that the PDP did not set any example in this regard even though the country earned enormously more revenue during its 16 years tenancy in power than the present administration does. Yet, it is this administration that is frenetically working on the completion of scores of infrastructural projects across the country that had been abandoned by the previous ruling party. Surely, it’s better to spend public funds on this kind of SPW programme than the obscene and blatant sharing among public office holders of public funds as happened under the PDP. Further research for this article showed that the SWP has indeed been more carefully thought out and the ground laid for its meticulous implementation than supposed.

    The SWP had indeed earlier started as a pilot project in five local governments each in eight states. Over 40,000 transient jobs were created in the eight states, namely Adamawa, Borno, Ebonyi, Edo, Ekiti Jigawa, Katsina and Kwara during the period. The beneficiaries were employed to carry out various tasks in traffic control, drainage digging and clearance, irrigation canals clearance, rural and feeder roads maintenance, street cleaning and cleaning of public infrastructures as well as maintenance of the Great Green Wall nurseries in Borno, Jigawa and Katsina states.

    In the wake of the coronavirus epidemic, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, announced on Monday, April 6, 2020, that presidential approval had been received to extend the scheme to the 36 states of the country and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja. This time around, its main focus will be on agriculture and its value chains. The unnecessary altercation between Keyamo and the National Assembly gave the impression that this was just another scheme for political office holders to share job slots among themselves for their cronies.

    But there is absolutely nothing abnormal or illegitimate about the 15% (116,000) slots allocated to members of the executive and legislature at the federal and state levels. The important thing is that the beneficiaries are Nigerians and it will offer some succor for them in these tough times. It is difficult to understand what the PDP means when, in its words, it “rejects the resort to political godfatherism as well as underhand measures in the allocation of the Federal Government’s 774,000 jobs to cronies of political holders instead of an open process that will accommodate every Nigerian”. The party describes the programme’s mode of implementation as “an injustice to the generality of unemployed Nigerians who do not have political office holders and are not affiliated to any political party”.

    But how is this so? To the best of my knowledge, every state in the country, irrespective of the party in power there, is to benefit from the exercise. The important thing is that 1000 unemployed Nigerians in all 774 Local Government Areas will enjoy the N20,000 stipend for an initial period of three months with the possibility, as Mr. Keyamo has said, of being extended beyond the three-month timeline or being made an annual event. This should have considerable stimulus effect on the grassroots economy.

    It appears that Mr. Keyamo has gone to quite some length to ensure that the programme is implemented as transparently as possible as well as ensure a reasonable measure of fairness in selecting the participants. This is evident in the composition of the programme’s State Selection Committees, which have 20 members each. The Chairman and Vice Chairman of the State Selection Committees must be indigenes of and ordinarily resident in the state. The state coordinator of the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) will serve as secretary to the committee, which means that the agency is a key part of the implementation process.

    Other members of the State Selection Committees include representatives of the governor, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), traditional rulers, youth organizations, Civil Society Organizations s well as special interest groups. The Minister says that this composition of the committees is “to ensure that majority of Nigerians who do not belong to any of the political divides benefit from the programme”.

    Of course, the PDP does have a point when it says that investing in programmes and initiatives that create permanent and sustainable jobs are preferable to the SWP’s focus on three-month transient jobs. But the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced several initiatives to cushion diverse sectors of the economy, particularly Small and Medium Scale businesses, to enable them tide through the pandemic, reduce job losses and possibly even employ new workers. This is in addition to the administration’s enormous investment in the last five years in diversifying the economy especially with reviving agriculture and its immense job creation potentials along its various value chains. The SWP does not negate efforts along that line but offers succor to a large number of indigent unemployment persons even as the economy gradually picks up with time and absorbs larger number of people into the workforce.

    One critical thing that the minister and all those involved in the implementation of the programme must guard against is the injection of ghost names into the list by unscrupulous officials, intent on defrauding the system. Hopefully, the payment of the stipend directly to the bank accounts of beneficiaries will aid transparency and prevent duplication of payments to accounts as a result of the Bank Verification Number. Again, the administration should also consider value re-orientation programmes for beneficiaries of the SWP. For instance, it really will not be beneficial both to the individual or the society if the stipend earned for the three months is expended on dangerous drugs or other socially harmful practices.

    The SPW programme marks another major step in the Buhari administration’s efforts over the last five years to transfer resources directly to the poor and underprivileged through its various cash conditional transfers and Social Intervention Programmes (SIP). It is no exaggeration to say that direct transfer of funds by the Buhari administration to the poor to fight poverty, boost small and micro businesses as well as stimulate job creation is unprecedented in the country’s history. At least the huge amounts so transferred to the weak and vulnerable cannot be available to be shared by the governing elite as was the norm under the PDP.

    Does that mean that corruption is not still going on right now in government at all levels? That would be a fraudulent claim. But what is indisputable is that the scale has greatly reduced. This is certainly one of the reasons why the administration has been able to spend heavily on its Social Intervention Programmes while at the same time accelerating work on major infrastructure projects nationwide even though the country’s revenue has crashed to only a minuscule proportion of what it was for most of the PDP years. Even as it spends on these poverty alleviation initiatives, however, the government must also ensure continuous scientific impact assessment of these programmes to determine how much they are actually reducing poverty levels in order to continuously streamline, modify and strengthen them for greater efficacy.

     

  • Humble pie for Messi

    Humble pie for Messi

    Ade Ojeikere

     

    LIONEL Messi is indeed a gem on and off the pitch. Messi’s records on the field of play tower over others, with his only rival being Cristiano Ronaldo. Little wonder the statistics off the pitch after three hours of notifying FC Barcelona that he wants to move on indicating that the midfield maestro created mass agitation and unrest in furious Catalonia. Besides, he shook the Barcelona board and forced a mass resignation of the people running the club in the last six years.

    Isn’t Messi great? He surely is. Otherwise, what would we say to the fact that his submission of a letter to quit created a potential unprecedented financial crises with sponsors withdrawing from Barcelona partnership.

    Records don’t lie. This dictum rings so true with what Messi’s resignation threw to the world; he shook the world to trend as the number one person on Google search. He also got two million new followers on Instagram within three hours, to break the record of Hollywood superstar Jennifer Aniston.

    Again, Messi became the top discussed/searched topic on Tweeter, Instagram, Facebook and Google, just as he created a global sports concern where a lot of global sports organisations raised their voice. That includes tennis, NBA, F1, Baseball, Ice hockey, American football, Cricket, Athletics and football. What a creature Messi is? Anyway, these teasers are meant to calm nerves here while the world waits in bated breath for Messi’s next move on the chessboard in the game of wits with FC Barcelona.

    Yes, the battle lines have been drawn. No going back for the parties involved. It is time to go for easily the best FC Barcelona player in the club’s history. Without any doubt, Messi is fed up with the antics of the current board. He wants them out, including the new manager Koeman, whose offence rests with dropping Messi’s best friend in the team – Luis Suarez. Don’t wake me up from this storm until it subsides.

    In a business concern or activity, the least that is required from either party is to fulfil the tenets of the deal struck. This presupposes that there must be extant clauses for those who default before, during or after the contract’s duration, depending on what the arrangement states. In this case, Barcelona and Messi didn’t falter, making it imperative for one of the parties to ask for an exit. Messi has done what he interprets to be right by submitting a request at a convenient time. But the question being asked is if he followed what is enshrined in the contract, and/or if he understood what he was trying to do with his action.

    Barcelona President Josep Bartomeu  played the political card by saying he could step aside from the job only if that would make Messi rescind his decision. No deal; as Messi read the deft move right, preferring to keep quiet, having dropped the bombshell last week. Messi’s silence forced La Liga to issue a statement stressing to remind the player that he needed to stick with the tenets of his contract, adding that: ”The contract is currently in force and features a release clause to be applied in the event that Lionel Andrés Messi should decide to activate the early unilateral termination of the contract, pursuant to Article 16 of the Royal Decree 1006/1985 of 26 June, which regulates the specific labour status of professional athletes.”

    Indeed, the governing body submitted further: ”In line with the regulations and the procedure that apply in such instances, La Liga shall not proceed with the release required for the player to be deregistered from the Spanish Football Federation unless the aforementioned clause has been paid.”

    The tendency to ask if La Liga isn’t a meddlesome interloper in the matter is pertinent since Messi isn’t in their employment, and that the supervising body ought to have kept mute until the issue was presented to them to arbitrate. A typical Nigerian response. Nigerians are experts in fishing for excuses rather than tackling the matter headlong for posterity sake. Not so in organised climes where governing bodies don’t have to wait until things have gone awry before setting the records straight for the avoidance of doubt.

    With daggers drawn on both sides, what this indicates is that the issue would be decided at the courts unless one side decides to bury the hatchet and arrive at an amicable resolution. The court sessions would start when Messi moves to access justice from the internal mechanisms in the club if he still believes in them. It is the only way Messi can seek justice at the Court of Arbitration of Sports (CAS) in Lausanne. Messi needs Barca’s consent to achieve any dream of reuniting with Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, which appears to be the only club with the cash to effect the transfer.

    For a start, Messi is not just a player; he is easily the greatest footballer on earth. If he has to move, it has to be a record deal. In 2017, Neymar earned the world record transfer fee of 222m euro in his move to PSG from Barcelona. Even Ronaldo moved to Juventus  for 100m euro. Messi cannot move for anything less. His release clause stands at an astronomical 700m euro.  Is there really a release clause? Barca should show it to the world, except if it also has clauses which forbid such exposition.

    Messi’s entourage believes he has fulfilled his contract since La Liga finished in August because of the Coronavirus pandemic as against the June deadline on his contract. Maybe the entourage understands it may not win the case in the court of law. That could explain why Messi has emphasised he doesn’t want litigation. He wants to leave on a peaceful note. That is hard to see because we are talking about the greatest footballer of all times.

    Messi’s father told Mediaset that talks with Barcelona went “well”, except that there is still a chance that an agreement can be reached which allows everyone to remain in their current surroundings. Not with this Barca board that understands the implications of allowing Messi to leave without a cognate replacement, which would devalue the La Liga and de-market the team in the business spheres of the game. No wonder Barca’s board swallowed its pride and listed Messi among the players to preview their new jerseys, even in the heart of this controversy.

    Barca need Messi as much as the latter does the former. What is instructive here is that football wins, not Messi or Barca. Restive fans can heave a sigh of relief believing that something may give way in the course of the new arrangement which may inform a change of heart from a visibly angry Messi.

    Jorge issued the statement on Friday that appears to quote directly from his contract stating: ‘The release clause will not apply when the unilateral resolution of the contract comes into effect after the end of the 2019-20 season.’

    The statement also slammed La Liga for wading in on the debate last week and claiming Barcelona were right to demand €700m from anyone who wanted to sign Barcelona’s captain.

    ‘We don’t know what contract they have analysed,’ it said. Also condemning their ‘obvious lack of impartiality’ in the matter.

    But the statement from Messi’s father appears to have been the last shot fired before the white flag was raised.

    A lot of water has gone under the bridge in the Messi brouhaha which leaves many with these critical questions – Barcelona have four captains and Marc-Andre ter Stegen was the favourite to join Gerard Pique, Sergio Busquets and Sergi Roberto. Will Messi want to step back into the group of leaders? Will he want to wear the armband and address his team-mates having made it clear in the last two weeks that he no longer wants to be at the club?

     

     

  • Bayelsa West: Kinsmen kick against ex-Gov Dickson’s candidature

    Bayelsa West: Kinsmen kick against ex-Gov Dickson’s candidature

    Simon Utebor, Yenagoa

    As the race for who represents Bayelsa West Senatorial District hots up, a group under the aegis of the All Progressives Congress Frontiers has kicked against the candidature of former Governor Seriake Dickson, arguing that government must not be a family affair.

    The group led by former aides to a former Governor and Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva, strongly believed that equality and fair play should be the watchword in the current political atmosphere.

    Chief Bodi Arerebo and Chief Perekeme Kpodo, who spoke in an interview in Yenagoa on Saturday, said the endorsement of Dickson by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was a violation of an earlier ‘gentlemen agreement.’

    They, therefore, pitched their tent with a former Deputy Governor of the state, Chief Peremobowei Ebebi, who recently dumped the PDP for the APC to contest for the vacant Bayelsa West Senatorial District’s seat.

    Bayelsa West district is made up of Sagbama and Ekeremor local government areas of the state.

    While Ebebi of the APC is from Ekeremor, immediate past Governor Seriake Dickson, a leader of the PDP, is from Sagbama.

    They contended the positions of Senator and member of House of Representatives in Bayelsa West Senatorial District are shared between the two LGAs.

    According to the group, Dickson had served at the House of Representatives and also served eight years as governor of the state, hence he should give other people the chance to serve since it is not a family affair.

    Particularly, Arerebo added: “You see, that is the reason why some of us have added our voice to the numerous Sagbama and Ekeremor people that Dickson should give chance to others, to be honest, and candid.

    “Dickson, when he was in the House of Representatives, his friend and in-law Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, was with him; when he became Governor, the same Ewhrudjakpo, was with him.

    READ ALSO: PDP disqualifies ex-Speaker, three other Bayelsa senatorial aspirants

    “Then he sent Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo to the Senate and he brought him back to become Deputy Governor and he now wants to go to the Senate. Is it a family affair or something? It shouldn’t be so.

    “There is a zoning formula in Bayelsa West District. He (Dickson) is the person that is breaching it. So that is why we are saying that Ekeremor should produce the next Senator.”

    However, there appears to be a misconception about the zoning arrangement in the district as deep resentment and anger have trailed the decision of Ebebi to join the contest.

    Political stakeholders recently expressed discomfort with Ebebi’s decision because according to them, his entry violates an unwritten agreement on power rotation between the two LGAs.

    Top political stakeholders reportedly held a critical meeting where it was decided that Ekeremor people should not contest the vacant position in adherence to the existing agreement on power rotation since they already have the incumbent House of Representatives member.

    Political leaders of Sagbama and Ekeremor had issued a joint statement where it was said that Sagbama should complete the tenure of Ewhrudjakpo for an Ekeremor person to start afresh tenure in the spirit of the age-long agreement on power-sharing or rotation in the area.

    The former deputy governor, who has indicated an interest in the senatorial contest, is from the same Ekeremor LGA as Mr. Fred Agbedi who represents the area in the lower chambers.

  • Awaiting the forensic probe ‘hurricane’ at NDDC

    Awaiting the forensic probe ‘hurricane’ at NDDC

    Sentry

     

    For some bigwigs at the troubled Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), the days ahead may not be too peaceful following confirmation that about 12,000 projects will face forensic auditing. Sentry gathered that palpable fear has gripped some senior officials of the agency as the date for the commencement of the exercise draw nearer.

    According to our sources, not a few people are worried that some abandoned projects already “taken care of” through the instrument of officialdom are now to be revisited.

    “No doubt, this FEC-ordered probe will throw up a lot of dust and many heads may roll within the commission. And, for sure, you better expect to see many prominent persons being fingered during the audit,” one said while explaining the reported tension in the organisation.

    Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, at the end of the 13th virtual Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, said a memorandum from the ministry for the appointment of eight firms to carry out forensic audit of the projects had been approved by the council. He said a foreign auditing firm, Ernst and Young, which was appointed in March as lead auditor is among the eight firms.

    “This is a typical example of a bad hurricane that will blow nobody any good. A forensic audit of NDDC’s long forgotten projects is an invitation to revelations,” our source added.