The Nation Newspaper

Category: Saturday

  • Jimenze Ego-Alowes and Achebe’s leadership thesis

    By Segun Ayobolu

     

    In his book, ‘The University-Media Complex’, published last year polyvalent author, Jimanze Ego-Alowes, sets himself, it seems, the simple task of disproving renowned novelist, the Late Professor Chinua Achebe’s, thesis that the problem with Nigeria is purely and basically a failure of leadership. Achebe avers that there is nothing fundamentally wrong with the Nigerian character or water or climate. Rather, it is dearth of leadership of the requisite quality that has rendered the country prostrate and incapable of actualizing her immense potentials. There is not an inconsiderable number of Nigerians who share Achebe’s view but Jimanze is not one of them.

    For the author, the critical problem with Nigeria is the failure of her intellectuals in their duty to produce new knowledge as well as the requisite cultural context within which the right kind of development-oriented leadership can emerge. Achebe makes his point about the country’s leadership deficiency in his slim classic, ‘The Trouble with Nigeria’, with characteristic simplicity, yet profundity. In seeking to rebut Achebe, Jimenze adopts a ponderous, laborious style and language that are none too easy to follow. He diverts into various fields of knowledge in economics, genetics, mathematics, geography, even sports that are sometimes difficult to reconcile with his main theme and will require considerable effort for the average reader to grasp his often startling views.

    But then, it appears that Jimenze Ego-Alowes does not write for the average reader and this seems to be deliberate. He apparently relishes the obscurity of his style even if this may cost him wider readership and also minimize the impact the book deserves to make. After all, he submits that “Genius does not write to be read; genius writes to establish a new truth or to be freed from the burden of bearing it alone”.  No wonder then that that this book has not evoked the expected critical debate, even outrage, at many of the unpopular and disruptive views expressed by the author with enthusiasm and boldness. Not many readers will find many parts of the book readily accessible.

    Ego-Alwes believes that the quality of the country’s intellectuals is overrated. He acknowledges that the country has produced global icons in the arts and music, for instance, such as Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka and Fela Anikulapo-Kuti in the older generation and Teju Cole or Chimmanda Ngozi Adichie in the younger. But he wonders why there are no replications of such brilliance in the sciences. He disagrees with the argument that scientists in Nigeria lack the requisite facilities, equipment, resources and the needed environment to excel. Why then, he asks, have Nigerian scientists working in advanced countries with all the resources and modern, sophisticated facilities at their disposal not made noticeable breakthroughs in mathematics, physics and other sciences?

    If this is possibly simply a question of ‘plain lack of brainpower’ as the author puts it, he does not tell us if he believes this is congenital or simply accidental. For, he evinces an undisguised contempt for “those who read soft courses” and he believes that except in the arts “Nigerians have not transited from being pupils and consumers of knowledge to being scholars or contributors and innovators of knowledge”.

    Ego-Alowes has several other axes to grind with Nigerian intellectuals. He decries what he regards as their perceived lack of originality and non-contribution of new knowledge in their disciplines. In his view, there is a difference between producing the individual intellectual’s original ideas and consuming ideas conceived by others, or worse, criminally appropriating the ideas of others. He deplores the tendency for many of even the most acclaimed among them to build their reputations not on discoveries in their areas of specialization but rather as commentators on public affairs or as social critics.’

    Jimanze decries the perceived reticence or impotence of many Nigerian intellectuals to make concrete contributions to solving critical, real life problems in their areas of expertise.  He condemns what he sees as a Nigerian penchant to equate what he calls a genius for consumption with a genius for contribution. He argues that too much is made of Nigerian students posting outstanding academic performances in Ivy League universities and beating other foreign students easily or the number of PhD holders produced in the country. Neither high flying performances in examinations nor the acquisition of PhDs, he submits, is evidence of superlative intellect or a capability of making original, path-breaking contributions to knowledge.

    The author believes that it is imperative for Nigerians to realize that we suffer a deficit in the arena of intellectual attainment as well as admit that we are not the scholastic geniuses we easily assume ourselves to be. In his words: “The education we were given is wrong, and we lack the gift and intrepidity to change it to suit us, to change it to the universal order. It is this failure of scholarship that has invariably led to other failures including those of leadership, so called”. But then, can there be any far reaching reforms or revolutionary changes in the entire gamut of the country’s education, or any other sector for that matter, without the requisite quality and visionary leadership?

    That is a nagging question that the author, in my view, fails to convincingly address in his book. Yes, he makes a valiant effort to disprove Achebe’s leadership thesis forcing the reader to think the unthinkable and open his mind to fresh perspectives and ways of perceiving and interpreting reality in the process. Arguing forcefully that the role of leadership in development is exaggerated, Jimenze says that while in Nigeria people are looking for new, big leaders, “almost everywhere else, people look for big, new ideas”. Again, I confront a dilemma here. Can big, new ideas actualize themselves for the good of society without the agency of visionary, patriotic and competent leaders?

    But, like I said, the author makes an impressive bid to demonstrate that the leadership factor is not as critical to development as the Achebe thesis would have us believe. Making a distinction between what he calls the political and the civilizational, for instance, he points out that Italy has sturdy, resilient ‘cultural-civilizational’ foundations, which has enabled it to make sustained progress during periods of political instability characterized by high leadership turnover.

    In the 1970s in particular, he explains, Italy’s unstable parliamentary democracy witnessed a rapid change of Prime Ministers – a manifestation of political instability. Yet, the country suffered no ‘cultural or civilizational instability’ and remained a viable economic proposition, indeed one of the top ten biggest global economies. He thus submits rather audaciously that “That is almost to say that the less civilized a people are, the more leaders they need, because logically we get civilized to dispense of leaders”.

    He further cites the examples of Japan, Canada, Switzerland and Austria as examples of countries where the leadership factor is de-emphasized without any negative implications for national progress and development. These countries, he argues, have relatively weak respective executive leaderships and are “hero-free, bureaucratically led countries” that have dispensed with heroes as leaders and are doing well. He contends that a country can be run bureaucratically and work by “organizing a civilization first before wanting a country. Getting a Bhudda before hunting for a Caesar is the right functional and working formula”.

    This is one theme that recurs throughout the book – a country must first of all have its Bhudda or Confucius, its founding intellectual, philosophical and spiritual pathfinders that define the civilizational and cultural contexts within which every other thing, including leadership, evolves.

    This all sounds so theoretically elegant and intellectually fascinating but what does it mean in practical terms to concentrate on founding a civilization before wanting or running a country? I am completely at sea here. Yes, EgoAlowes may have a point that the intellectual vocation is far more critical and important to a country’s progress and development than politics or holding public office, which has become an obsession in Nigeria largely for the purpose of material acquisition rather than promoting the public good. He is right to take umbrage at highly trained scholars in diverse fields, especially professors, who abandon the scholastic terrain to seek to become occupants of various state houses as governors. Yet, not even this detracts in any way from the plausibility of Achebe’s leadership thesis.

    For, the primacy of the political, including leadership and good governance, in facilitating rapid national development is indisputable. This is probably why Aristotle described man as a political animal and politics as the master science. There is certainly a good deal of truth in Nkrumah’s axiom that Africa should “seek first the political kingdom” and everything else would be added unto her. Of course, our post-colonial experience has taught us that the ‘political kingdom’ is not just achieving political independence as Nkrumah probably presumed. It also implies deepening democracy, strengthening political institutions and nurturing development-oriented servant leaders. This I think is the import of Achebe’s leadership thesis.

    When Ego-Alowes from his detours in economics, geography, mathematics and philosophy returns to actually confront Achebe’s contention that the trouble with Nigeria is, first and foremost, a failure of leadership, does he succeed in disproving this widely accepted viewpoint? I don’t think so. The author argues that since Achebe contends that Nigeria is abundantly endowed with every other vital ingredient that would make for greatness except for the vital absence of good leadership, “…so by default, the good leader who is thus a rare phenomenon is our redeemer, savior and genius”. He then submits that Achebe’s position explains what he describes as excessive leadership worship in Nigeria and the consequent “Nigerian belief that leadership is the last mile to the country’s destination…”

    Was Achebe by arguing that Nigeria’s problem is fundamentally that of leadership failure directly or indirectly calling for the deification of leadership in Nigeria and thus supporting, impliedly, the cult of the infallible big man in power? The great man would find that interpretation of his thought horrific. Nothing in Achebe’s writings, to the best of my knowledge, justifies such an interpretation. Does Achebe envision the emancipation of the country and her development as a function of charismatic, Messianic leaders who bestride society like colossi? I don’t think so. This is a fundamental misreading of Achebe. In advocating the imperative of development-oriented leadership as the primary need of Nigeria, Achebe, in my view, is not calling for heroes, despots or Messiahs. He is calling for simple, honest, decent and competent leadership – not heroism or hero-worship.

    Thus in ‘The Trouble with Nigeria’, he ruthlessly excoriates bad, arrogant, obscenely loud, corrupt and plainly irresponsible leadership. Of course, there is some tension in Achebe’s leadership thought that calls for resolution. For, if there is nothing wrong with everything else in Nigeria, including the Nigerian character,

    how come that this supposedly healthy context is still the very one that the much condemned venal and decadent leadership springs from? Even then, this inconsistency is not sufficient to throw away Achebe’s leadership thesis wholesale especially when no better alternative is on offer.

    Incidentally, implicit in Ego-alowes’s analysis is a critique of Nigeria’s errant leadership in a manner reminiscent of Achebe either indirectly in his novels or more directly in ‘The Trouble with Nigeria’. Ego-Alowes is unsparing in his trenchant condemnation of ‘thieving governors’ for instance. He gives the example of a book he once read in a public library in Nigeria at a time when libraries were well stocked in the country. Indeed, he submits that “we will be more advanced and better off as a people as well as advance civilization through the production of libraries”, which he describes as the bookshelf of the wise. But it is only visionary leadership that can value and promote the building and stocking of libraries and the cultivation of reading as well as the acquisition and promotion of knowledge.

    This is indeed a well written, closely argued book, which deserves to be more widely read and debated than its rather forbidding style and language will allow. Even then, the writer is unlikely to be impressed by views expressed in journalistic reviews such as this because in his view, “…journalism is about reportage: journalism is not about thinking. It is not that thinking is superior or that journalism is inferior, it might well be, but that is not our point here. It is just that the two are different disciplines and briefs…Hence, the journalist is to report philosophies; the journalist is not called to philosophize”. It certainly cannot get more provocative and that is part of the beauty of this book.

  • Power, politics and diplomacy

    Dayo Sobowale

     

    I  intend  today to  use ambiguities to illustrate the topic of the day,  not necessarily  because I find that convenient  and necessary   but because of  the ways that accepted norms and values in the world democracies have taken such a tumble for the worse, that  it is becoming difficult  to follow political developments and geopolitical  issues  without wondering  if we are still  in the same world that we all  live in.

    In  talking of power therefore, I  am  referring to both  electricity and political  power both locally and geopolitically . When  I turn to politics I am  taking   the meaning   of   politics being who gets what, when  and how in any political  system as well  as system- induced changes such as the ones in which   the legislature  curbs   the power of the executive or that in which the executive cuts the power of the judiciary and vice versa.  Similarly  when  I delve into diplomacy today  I am   not  only   affirming the old saying   that in diplomacy  -there are no permanent  friends  and  enemies but permanent  interests  –   but  also  the duplicitous type that  sports  the dictum   or saying that goes thus –  play  me foul  and I play  you  tricky.  Which  unfortunately  seem  to be in vogue  in world politics  and international relations  nowadays.

    Let  me now put  some meat  on the skeleton of ambiguities   that  I   have  contrived today,  before I  spice the dish   with very  glaring changes in the concepts that  I want  to  dissect  in this piece. The  first  is the news by our Minister of  Finance, Budget   and   National  Planning  Mrs  Zainab  Ahmed  that  Nigeria  wants to borrow about 3bn dollars  from the World  Bank to  carry  out  reforms  in Nigeria’s energy and electricity sector. Envision that  necessity  ,  crucial for Nigeria’s economic  sanity and compare it with   the letter  that  the  US President  Donald  Trump   sent  to Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan   not  to be a fool  and a devil but  to withdraw Turkish  troops  killing the Kurds inside Syria,  a sovereign state on its own. Lace  this with   the US President retort  to criticism of his   gut   and abrupt   decision to withdraw US troops   from   Syria and his silencing of his questioner  with the answer  that   the  Syria- Turkey  border is not an American  border,  And that he Trump  was elected on the promise  to protect American  borders   and that more importantly he has brought US  troops  home alive from  a foreign  war  and  Americans  are happy with him.

    First  of all,  let  me congratulate  the Nigerian  government  for  not giving up on Nigerians  seeing light at the end of the tunnel  in terms of constant and available supply  of electricity needed for   good quality of  life, health and overall  economic development of both the Nigerian citizenry  and its polity. But  I also  sound  a note of warning.

    Just as in the fight against  corruption when  government underrated  the power of corruption to fight  back   and is ruing its  consequences,   the government   must  arm itself against   organized    opposition   to its power  reforms   strategies.  This    is because   there  are vested interests ready to  die rather than  see  successful   electricity  reforms  in  Nigeria. The     generators  sellers  have a strong lobby  in ensuring that  power reforms  do  not take off. They  had an  ally  in the Nigerian legislature   before  when a Speaker  notoriously  asked what  the generators sellers would eat  if  the   then NEPA functioned effectively. In  this  present   3bn   dollars  loan  dispensation the Finance Minister should  quickly let the public know the beneficiaries of the new loan.  Is  it the existing   power  distributing    companies   called   discos and   power  generating  companies called  gencos  or are  new ones to come on board ? If there  are to be new ones what will  happen  to the huge investment  of the old  discos and gencos  and     will  there be compensation of any kind?  More  importantly  how  will  government handle oversight function of the  Nigerian  legislature which  had in the past  frustrated tariff  increases that  go with best global practices just  to score cheap political goals  that it is more  patriotic  than those  in charge  of electricity  when indeed it is feathering its own nests at the expense of Nigerians  in dire need of electricity. On disbursing the new loans  on power reforms  the Minister should  look into  the archives  on power reforms  and  be guided by the saying – once bitten, twice shy.

    Let  us now look at  the face off between  Turkey and US both  of which  have powerful and highly  ego  centric leaders  who readily  fit the bill  for  diplomatic Rumble  in the Jungle  like the one that Mohammed Ali  faced against the powerful  puncher George Foreman in Zaire sometime ago. Only  this time the Rumble is in the deserts of Syria and not Zaire and the prey  are the Kurds who  have been betrayed by the American President who used them against  ISISS successfully  but abandoned them saying they  are not angels. This is  the second time an American President will betray  those it financed and trained to bring down   the Syrian regime of President  Assad in Syria. Former US President Barack  Obama drew a redline for Assad  when it was discovered that Assad  had used  chemical  weapons against  his people but nothing happened. And now the Kurds have swallowed their pride  and are waiting for Assad  and the Russians to save them  from the murderous Turks  whose  president reportedly  threw into the dust bin Trump’s  letter threatening to destroy Turkey’s  economy if  President  Erdogan  does not withdraw  Turkey’s  army  marching against the Kurds in Syria. Trump  might  still  be able to claim  that  his brand  of diplomacy  is good for the Middle  East  where he lamented   once  that  ‘they are always killing themselves’.  But  his brand of betrayal  diplomacy  is at best a dubious one, even though it has created the embarrassment   for  Russia  not being able to look away as Syria, a Russian  ally  and the reason  Russia intervened in Syria to save the Assad  regime,   is about   to  clash with Turkey,  a new military  business  customer  of the Russians.  Trump  could claim he has made the Middle  East combatants  to   stew in their own urine and has  made it mandatory  for the ambitious Russians  to clean the bloody  mess while he   has kept  American troops  out of harm’s way.  Unfortunately   it will be  difficult to dismiss  such  a claim with a wave of the hand. Like  the Chinese are wont to say on such occasions – we live in interesting times . Once again long live that Federal Republic of Nigeria.

     

  • Aides jostle for Obaseki’s heart in Edo

    SINCE he sacked about 250 special assistants and other aides early in the month, the siege appears not over yet for Governor Godwin Obaseki’s appointees in Edo State. Many of them are still jittery and have resorted to organising solidarity rallies in support of the governor to prove their loyalty.

    Even the local government chairmen and councillors are not left out in the race to please Governor Obaseki in words and action. They have joined the fray for solidarity rallies because the governor is said to be suspecting that many of them are loyal to his godfather turned foe, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole.

    To prove that they are loyal, they “mobilise” their supporters to sing and dance in towns and villages in their constituencies, alluding to Obaseki’s superlative performance and why he deserves to be re-elected next year. They denounce politicians within and outside the state who are against the Governor. The rally is filmed and the video sent to Government House, Benin, for the Governor to view. Woe betides any official whose loyalty is in doubt and refuses to disprove it in “such a convincing manner.”

  • Correctional Service, Justice system and restructuring

    IT took 11 years in the making before President Muhammadu Buhari finally signed the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCS) Bill. Applauded and believed to be overdue, the law is expected to address the problems that bedevilled the defunct Nigerian Prisons Service (NPS), the NCS’s predecessor. It is also expected that the president will walk his talk this time by ensuring that the crises that made the NPS inoperable are resolved quickly and comprehensively. As laudable as the bill is, however, it is not altogether clear how the president hopes to give effect to the changes that birthed the NCS, especially in the face of a defective federal structure.

    Sponsored by a former senator, Victor Ndoma-Egba, and presented in 2008 during the Umaru Yar’Adua presidency, the bill suffered several delays, including President Buhari’s withdrawal of assent when at last the bill first came to his table in April. The president had pointed out that some of the provisions of the bill, particularly its funding sources, were inconsistent with the independence of the judiciary. His objections sounded altruistic; but the devil is in the detail. Re-presented in July, the president finally assented the bill on August 14. Nearly everyone interested in prisons reform has lauded the initiative, from the sponsors of the bill, to the legislature, and to the presidency. But many experts have also expressed reservations that whereas the new NCS law is timely and relevant, there is not nearly as much hope that it would go significantly beyond spreading a veneer of change on the cadaverous NPS.

    The believers are right, but the sceptics are even more right. For the believers, some of the provisions in the new law are indeed salutary and should to a large extent address a few of the pressing problems afflicting the prisons. First the law divides the correctional service into two: Custodial Service and Non-custodial Service. This is appropriate, even though these changes could still have been done under the old prisons. Then it empowers officials of the correctional service to decline the admission of more inmates once a correctional centre had been filled to capacity. According to the law, “In the event that the prison has exceeded its maximum capacity, the State Comptroller shall notify the Chief Judge of the State or the State Criminal Justice Committee. Upon receipt of the notification the Chief Judge or the State Criminal Justice Committee shall within a period not exceeding one month take necessary steps to rectify the overcrowding. Without prejudice to Subsection 4, the State Comptroller of Prisons in consultation with the Prison Superintendent shall have the power to reject more intake of prisoners where it is apparent that the prison in question is filled to capacity.”

    The law also provides for other laudable changes, including spelling out custodial and non-custodial measures that would aid the reformation of inmates and their reintegration into society, and lessen or altogether eliminate overcrowding. There is little doubt that if the provisions of the law are scrupulously adhered to, a crucial part of the criminal justice system would be ameliorated. Not only would the cost of sustaining inmates by significantly reduced, it should overall aid the administration of justice, redirecting it away from the needlessly punitive approach to incarceration to the more sensibly rewarding correctional and reformatory approach. Believers who point at these advantages are not exaggerating when they pontificate about the beneficial changes afoot.

    But sceptics fear that in the final analysis, and given Nigeria’s legendry sluggishness in following through laudable ideas and policies, the new development in the prisons may never exceed change of name, as other name changes in the country signify. For the name change to be fundamental and impactful, sceptics point out that the government must do the following: carry out infrastructural and equipment upgrades; adequately fund the correctional service; significantly improve on its data management and monitoring, especially in relation to non-custodial service appertaining to probation, community service and parole, among many others; build more and upgrade existing correctional centres; amend the constitution to put the correctional service under the concurrent legislative list; and review revenue allocation to enable states participate in funding and running correctional centres.

    Quite clearly, to be able to satisfy the sceptics and ensure that the reforms are fundamental and meaningful, the government would need to inspire judicial and police reforms to substantially reduce inefficiency in both sectors. Indeed, the entire criminal justice system would need to be comprehensively revamped for the Correctional Service Law to stand a chance of working. There is nothing yet to suggest that the Buhari presidency is thinking of such reforms. The police are poorly funded, are saddled with humongous responsibilities, are poorly trained and equipped, and operate archaic system of policing. Consequently, their investigative competence has often been compromised or even questioned, while they are sometimes unresponsive to crimes needing urgent investigative attention. There is, therefore, no chance of speeding up trials, leading to terrible backlogs and logjams.

    The judiciary itself, as the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Ibrahim Tanko Mohammad, indicated recently, is poorly funded and short-staffed. They are, therefore, unable to deal with cases before them with dispatch because the courts are analogue and in many instances, particularly in the states, archaic. Even the correctional service, the focus of the new law, is so heavily underfunded that sometimes they are hamstrung to transport suspects to court on adjourned dates, not to talk of feeding them and giving them adequate medical attention when the need arises. There have of course been some improvements, but progress has been very slow and amount to a drop in the ocean. In summary, the criminal justice system is in dire need of a complete makeover. Other than name change and lofty operational precepts, there is nothing in the horizon to indicate a comprehensive reform of the criminal justice system. And because the correctional service does not operate in isolation, it is hard to see how the new law would automatically produce a better and desirable incarceration system.

    Ultimately, none of the changes and reforms Nigeria desperately desires will be made without a comprehensive restructuring of the country’s political foundations. As distasteful as the word may sound, without restructuring, it is impossible for the country to enjoy the changes they seek, either in their correctional system or in any other part of the system in the country. Structural change, if it comes, is fundamental to the new Nigeria the people and, paradoxically, the government crave. It is restructuring that will make it feasible for federating units to raise the required funds needed to organise themselves adequately or profitably. It is restructuring that will afford federating units the chance to run an efficient police system, and pay living wage rather than bicker over minimum wage when they congregate over revenue allocation in Abuja every month for handouts. Federating units generally have different policing, prisons and judicial needs. They must retain the liberty and ingenuity to run at their own pace and organise themselves along their own cultures and scope. In any case, decades of centralising the police and the prisons, when it does not hurt to decentralise them, have proved inefficient, demoralising and retrogressive.

    It has been about two months since the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCS) Bill was signed into law. Other than the applause it has generated and the enthusiasm NCS staff have shown, nothing worth remarking has really been done. After 11 years of working that law, surely the reason for it cannot be that the country should ogle it, instead of implementing it. If it is to stand any chance of success, its fundamentals must be challenged and comprehensively reworked.

  • A wake-up call to our league managers

    By Ade Ojeikere

     

    Nigeria sports is a huge joke. Everything is possible. Nobody wants to quit even if the roof of the place rests on their shoulders. Our leaders are very forgetful; otherwise, why should the organisers of the domestic league still be thinking of supervising another season, with the deluge of problems in the system? They met a league with title sponsors, television rights holder and other marketing windows, which yielded revenue, but they frustrated the sponsors with vision-less policies, which turned match venues to theatres of violence.

    Nothing works in the league. The only predictable thing about the organisers is their penchant for postponing games abruptly, most times with the away teams already in town. Members are efficient in attending meetings and taking themselves to European tours to see how the game is run. Yet, nothing changes. Perhaps, they slept off when being driven in posh cars around such European countries.

    Pitches are like pigsties, sometimes; other times, they are just good enough for cattle grazing. But the organisers don’t care for as long as there are two goalposts, the two teams are ready to play and there is a referee at the centre. Of course, there won’t be anything to cheer under this setting, especially with the players playing on empty stomachs, occasioned by outstanding wages and allowances prevalent in most clubs.  Players’ welfare packages seems abnormal, with many telling the players and coaches to be happy that they earn a living in a country where millions are unemployed.

    Hitherto, no club was registered for the new season without settling outstanding salaries for the previous season. The rule was adhered to. But the organisers couldn’t effect it because there wasn’t a title sponsor; nor did they have a television rights holder, whose cash accruing to the clubs was deducted at source and used to pay all outstanding debts. A dilemma ensued.  Rather than meet with  the governors whose states own the clubs, the organisers relied on lackeys of the governors, some of whom may have fallen out of favour.

    Yearly, these state-owned teams get budgets allocated to them. But the players and coaches get mere pittance. They dare not grumble; otherwise, they get fired. Club chairmen operated like monsters, preferring to exploit the inefficiencies of the organisers to do what they like with the clubs’ funds. Today, nobody can say how much our clubs are worth. Nobody dares ask how much players earn since many cannot remember when they were last paid.

    With this setting, the organisers had no product to sell to investors beyond trying to use their friends in high places to broker a deal. Simply put, no arm of the league is functional, culminating in the easy exit of most of our continental representative, beaten by clubs from less prominent football nations as Nigeria. Since the league was always in abeyance, the home-based players couldn’t compete with their foreign-based counterparts whenever they are invited to fight for shirts in our national teams. They are used as training materials. Ironically, the few lucky ones that get to Europe return as kings to get shirts – just because of their change of residence.

    In the absence of a soccer calendar, domestic league players resort to heading out of the country to all manner of leagues in the name of being foreign-based to attract an invitation to the national team. Such moves are shady, as shylock agents trade them into slavery. Many of such moves have also seen our young stars lose their form or go into oblivion.

    The list of such lost stars is legendary. Where do I start? Who will I ask why such destructive moves still persists? Of course, when good players leave the country, those left are those still eager to bolt away to  Europe or the Diaspora, knowing that they have no future remaining here. And with a system that worships discovered stars, attention

  • Silent war in the Senate

    Sentry

    A quiet war with potential for deep scars is brewing in the Senate. It is over the 100 slots the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) allegedly allocated to the leadership of the upper chamber in the agency’s recruitment exercise.

    The practice before now, Sentry gathered, had been that such gestures would be spread to other members of the upper chamber in order to make them happy and retain their loyalty. This time around, however, the leaders allegedly decided to corner all the slots, leaving nothing for other members.

    For instance, a particular leader was said to have been given 26 of the 100 slots and he gave all the slots to job seekers in his own constituency, not even minding to extend the gesture to job seekers in the two other senatorial districts in his state.

    The development has generated serious anger, with many aggrieved senators cursing and threatening a showdown with the leadership. Some are said to be blaming themselves for toeing the ruling party’s line in the election that heralded the leadership.”

    Walahi (swearing by Allah’s name), we made a big, terrible mistake,” an aggrieved senator said.

    “Where is merit, fairness or competition in this, when people are employed based on the  people that they know, or who recommended them? ” another aggrieved senator queried.

  • Okada and the overwhelming of Lagos

    UnderTow

     

    One of the biggest headaches Lagos State governor Babajide Sanwoolu will have to grapple with in the years ahead will be what to do with the motorcycle mode of transportation popularly called okada.

    Lagos State is literally drenched in swarms and swarms of okada, nearly all of them undisciplined, uncontrollable, and posturing around the city-state with a sense of entitlement flowing from their perceived numerical and electoral strength.

    Since the state had failed for nearly a decade or more to deal with what has clearly become a menace to the reputation and well-being of the megacity, the problem had ballooned into a veritable nightmare requiring very drastic but less disruptive and intelligent solution.

    The Babatunde Fashola government tried in its own limited way to tackle the menace. It met with qualified success. With every okada impounded by his government, nearly four or five more replaced what was lost. Not only did his method of curbing the proliferation of okada fail to succeed as he desired, even limiting their operations to defined routes also met with about 90 percent failure rate.

    Under the Akinwunmi Ambode government, the menace simply spiralled out of control due to the state’s half-hearted and awkward attempt to curb it. Mr Sanwoolu has, therefore, inherited a nightmare. Instead of building on the successes of his predecessors, he in fact has nothing to build on but failure. He will have to start from the very beginning if he hopes to make a dent on the menace.

    The vexatious legal action brought by some 123 Jigawa indigenes who trucked themselves and dozens of their motorcycles into Lagos late August is indicative of the severity and complexity of the problem, not to say of the urgency needed to tackle it before it becomes even more intractable. The Jigawa indigenes, citing their constitutional right to free movement and the pursuit of their economic choices, sued Lagos for wrongly profiling and humiliating them and inhibiting their free movement as citizens of Nigeria.

    They gave the impression that other than the federal government, the state had no business, at a time of widespread insecurity, suspecting and questioning the movements of groups of people. The consequence of more than a decade of slack enforcement of the laws regulating transportation modes is the avalanche of okada riders recklessly menacing the city-state and complicating and jeopardising its security.

    But it makes no difference where the okada riders come from or what their political and ethnic affiliations are, even though this point seems lost on the Jigawa State-born litigants and others similarly minded. The plain point is that Lagos simply has a very urgent and overriding constitutional responsibility to regulate and control the state’s modes of transportation, including more importantly those who chose to run them as a business.

    For many years, perhaps afraid of the electoral impact of a backlash by okada operators, Lagos had failed to discharge its obligations as both a state and a megacity. The time to make amends has now come, and the state must face the task squarely and without hesitation.

    Lagos must begin the task by focusing less, in the first two years of the Sanwoolu government, on the electoral consequences of resolving to carry out its duty of regulating and controlling the state’s modes of transportation, particularly okada. It must first wield the big stick; and then three years later, think of the electoral impact of its actions.

    However, there is nothing in fact to show that the measures to be deployed by Lagos cannot be a win-win formula. It is possible that the state is already thinking of vigorously tackling the problem. If so, the following points are additional suggestions to help it refine the measures it is contemplating.

    (1) It appears that while there are graduates among the okada riders, most of the riders possess questionable education qualification and have become unresponsive to state laws and safety regulations. The state needs to first revoke and rework the licensing of okada and their operators to make success in satisfying state laws a precondition for registration.

    This task must not be left to FRSC alone. The VIO, as the law currently provides, must certify the okada and its operator educationally and mentally fit to operate within the ambits of the law. The number plate assigned a rider must also reflect only the areas where the state permits the operation of okada. Both the state and FRSC must reach an agreement to create a template in consonance with the needs of the state.

    (2) The details of the okada operator must be duly and fully captured in the state’s VIO data bank for security regulation and tax purposes. Such details, including the rider’s forwarding address, must be verified before licence is issued. A flat monthly tax rate should be imposed on the operator to widen the tax net, and non-payment should lead to flagging of his licence and interdiction.

    In addition, the state must also independently licence, for a fee, the okada operator just as it licenses commercial drivers to operate in the state. A certification must be issued and produced on demand by state regulatory and enforcement officials. If these rigorous regulatory procedures had been in place, the Jigawa 123 or any other group of riders from any part of the country would have thought twice before bringing a frivolous lawsuit. At the moment, all it takes is for an aspiring operator to procure an okada and almost immediately he could commence operation.

    (3) Okada operators must paint their machines in a distinct state colour, procure certified jackets from the relevant state agency, apply for certification through an okada cooperative society specified for defined routes, and be fully insured together with his potential clients.

    The days of easy entry into the okada market must end, and Lagos must begin to act scrupulously and firmly to preserve its integrity and restore sanity. The situation today is maddening.

    (4) It is known that okada riders most inclined to undermining the law regulating their operation are either military personnel or policemen moonlighting in their spare time to augment their poor pay. Despite the peculiarities of Nigeria’s hangover from military rule, a hangover complicated by a recalcitrant and still militarised federal government itself, this category of operators must be compelled to be registered according to the laws of the state, and in case of default, their details should be published for necessary legal action. Lagos must begin to think and act ambitiously like London and New York. Commuters themselves must be made aware of their liability when they patronise a rider who is not licensed to operate an okada.

    (5) Lagos must develop a comprehensive and futuristic transportation plan that gradually phases out okada. Okada mode of commercial transportation is a disgrace that has been left to blight the reputation of Lagos, notwithstanding the blackmail by unemployed people swarming into Lagos and threatening a life of crime if okada should be phased out. Apart from restricting the operations of okada to defined routes, that mode of transportation should be phased out in the next few years.

    The state plan must indicate a timeline for that exercise. It won’t be easy, especially given the lack of foresight from the federal government and the leprous implementation of federalism. But the alternative has become simply unbearable.

  • Buhari’s audit order causes panic in NDDC

    Sentry

    In a feat of cyclical history, a scenario that occurred in Oyo State during the famous Ogunpa flood disaster in the early 1980s played out at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Thursday.

    After flood from Ogunpa river rendered many homeless and swept away many souls as a result of days of heavy rains in lbadan, some elites in the sprawling ancient city had gone to the then Oyo State governor, the late Chief Bola Ige, to complain that the ugly incident was due in part to the fact that Ibadan was neglected by his government

    Trust the man called “the Cicero” on account of his oratorical prowess, lge fumed, and fired back at the delegation, naming the members one by one, and asking repeatedly: “Who neglected Ibadan?”

    In the same vein, some Niger Delta leaders visited President Muhammadu Buhari in Aso Rock on Thursday to complain that the region had been neglected by the Federal Government. Although no one knew if Buhari tongue lashed the leaders like the way lge gave it to the creme de lá creme of lbadan leaders. Could the President’s decision to carry out a forensic audit dating back to 2001 on the NDDC his own way of telling his visitors that Niger Deltans themselves are to blame for either the neglect of the region or its slow pace of development?

    The President believes that the structures on ground in the region are far from justifying the money the Federal Government has pumped into it over the years. An Ige would have asked the delegation comprising Rivers State governor Nyesom Wike, his Bayelsa State counterpart Seriake Dickson and Governor lfeanyi Okowa of Delta state, “who neglected the Niger Delta? What did your people do with the humungous amount given to the NDDC over years? “

  • Drumbeats of hope

    By Ade Ojeikere

    Sunday Dare has shown that Sports ministers can be busy doing other relevant sporting matters instead of being mascots to the Super Eagles by attending every game in Nigeria and outside. Dare spent last weekend inspecting facilities slated to host the FIFA U-20 Women’s Championship in Lagos, ahead of the inspectors’ visit. Nigeria is listed among countries bidding to get the hosting rights from the world soccer body.

    The minister wasn’t alone in the inspection exercise. the executive governor of Lagos State Babajide Olusola Sanwo-olu and his deputy Kadri Obafemi Hamzat spent close to six hours walking the length and breadth of the derelict National Stadium Lagos,  Teslim Balogun Stadium in the Centre of Excellence and the Onikan Arena in the country’s economic hub. Teslim Balogun stadium is functional, although needs facelifts. Onikan Stadium is almost complete with state-of-art facilities. Sadly, National Stadium (in ruins) typifies the shame of our nation.

    It made more sense reading that the minister chose to talk to the players on telephone from the inspection venues than a physical appearance in Singapore, wasting taxpayers’ cash. No prize for guessing that the Lagos State governor who was on the inspection tour also talked to the boys. Both men’s messages sank because Super Eagles were held to a pulsating 1-1 by Brazil’s Samba Boyz.

    Dare’s absence from Eagles’ or other soccer teams’ game has saved the country the unpleasant moments of seeing our ministers sitting alone in the state box after a defeat. Trust the European media to capture such scenes and feast on it. Dare’s busy schedules saved us from seeing the inglorious video clip of a minister sitting around where our sports women were sharing money, which they said he gave them. Interesting. Anyway, this piece isn’t about Dare or ministers.

    Sitting at work before Sunday’s game between Nigeria and Brazil in Singapore, my silent wish was for the Super Eagles to leave the pitch unscathed, with plenty of talking points. A defeat (God forbid) would have brought out the long knives of critics, eager to vent their spleen on everyone, even though their targets are the federation’s bosses. The Brazilians played a game against Senegal the Tuesday before ours and used the Eagles’ game to correct the mistakes noticed in the 1-1 draw against Senegal, their third in a row of recent friendly matches.

    Samba Boyz played their best players. They wanted to win to break the drawn games’ phobia, but the Nigerians were resolute and determined to justify why they play regularly for various clubs in Europe and the Diaspora. Playing against Brazil for many Nigerians is like attempting a suicide mission, especially when a few people suggest that the Samba Boyz are beatable. Don’t blame these Nigerians because the Brazilians are not easy meat to chew.

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    Shortly after the Russia 2018 World Cup, Eagles had issues with goalkeeping, even though Francis Uzoho manned the post for Nigeria. But on Sunday in Singapore, Uzoho showed reason why he should be the country’s number one goalkeeper until he sustained the unfortunate injury which will keep out of the club and country’s soccer for six months. One of the hazards of the game but we hope that NFF chiefs can stand by him during this trying period, knowing he sustained the injury playing for Nigeria. Did I hear you ask about Eagles’ insurance and welfare packages for such things as injuries? Don’t go there. NFF should be informed about such things. Let’s hope Uzoho doesn’t

    cry out about neglect.

    While Uzoho was being treated on the turf on Sunday afternoon, thoughts ran wild over his likely replacement. Eagles had Okoye and Ezenwa on the bench. Based on seniority in the camp, people expected  Ezenwa but Rohr opted for Germany  based Nigerian goalkeeper Okoye. Fans waited with bathed breath but the fair complexioned goalkeeper stood his grounds and raised the debate about the country’s number one, when Uzoho returns.

    Already, FIFA have cited clauses in their rule book on injuries during firnedly games in its FIFA-free windows for such an exercise. Part of it makes it mandatory on FIFA to pay Francis Uzoho’s six months wages for the period of his treatment. It also includes others packages which FIFA didn’t specify.

    The Brazil vs Nigeria friendly is recognised by FIFA as it was played on a date on the FIFA international match calendar and both teams did not field more than six substitutes each.

    Under FIFA’s Club Protection Programme, clubs whose players suffer injuries whilst on international duty are compensated and the maximum daily compensation has been set at €20,548.

    The compensation payable is based solely on the fixed salary that the club pays directly to the player as his employer and the temporary total disablement (TTD) suffered by the player has to prevent him from representing his club for more than 28 days before a claim can be processed.

    Eagles have two matches in November for the qualification ticket to the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations slated to hold in Cameroon against Republic of Benin inside the refurbished Samuel Osagbovo Ogbemudia stadium in Benin City on November 11 and an away fixture against Lesotho. Two ‘cheap’ matches considering Eagles’ pedigree and the way they played against Ukraine and Brazil. But that is where soccer is a cruel game. It is a respecter of nobody. The best team which takes its chances wins matches, not the side that plays to the gallery or wait for their big stars to conjure victories. Soccer is team work which makes it quite difficult for the coaches to pick the best 11, except after playing quality friendly games like the Eagles have done.

    Uzoho’s injury offers another window for a goalkeeper to emerge. Rohr’s assistants should help him by nominating the best domestic league star in that position to camp. Rohr opted for Okoye because Ezenwa hasn’t been busy with matches in the domestic scene. Now, Ezenwa has two hurdles to scale rather than cement his quest for the number shirt, due to inactivity in the domestic league.

    Against Republic of Benin inside the Ogbemudia stadium, Rohr will pick Okoye ahead of Ezenwa, leaving a defensive four of Chigozie Awaziem, William Troost Ekong, Semi Ajayi and Jamilu Collins, who laboured hard to stop Gabriel Jesus, the Manchester City lad who tormented him on Sunday in Singapore. Collins learned a few lessons from handling such articulate strikers. The essence of friendly games. Against Brazil, Awaziem forgot he was playing at the right wing back. This flaw was exploited by the Samba Boyz, largely because Awaziem drifted to the central defence area, where he naturally plays for his European side.

    The Brazilians are skilful dribblers of the ball but met a resilient Nigerian defence that marked them effectively such that the Samba Boyz opted for the long ball to break the Eagles defensive line. It worked a few times, except that Wilfred Ndidi wasn’t able to replicate his Leicester City form playing for Nigeria. He was slow to the ball and was easily ripped of the ball, a trait not known in his games. Perhaps, Ndidi was over confident, but not his day in Singapore on Sunday. Ndidi made some poor positional decision that exposed Super Eagles defence in the game although there weren’t costly. He also failed to track Philippe Coutinho well into the Nigerian box in the second half.

    Joe Aribo defied the fact that he recovered from 20 stitches on his head with his impressive box-to-box performance in the midfield that awed the Brazilians. Aribo, stepped forward from an overlapping run to pounce on the ball, dribbled an on rushing Brazilian before hitting the ball to right side of a dumbfounded Brazil goalkeeper. He was full of energy his intensity was a problem for the Brazilians. Nigeria had opened scoring. Brazilians were shocked, but picked up the pieces to fight back. The first half ended 1-0 in Nigeria’s favour with Aribo, a standout performer in the midfield.

    Aribo’s showmanship in the midfield dwarfed Alex Iwobi’s role more so when the Brazilians singled him out for marking before the game. It must have stunned them that Eagles had such a talent. Iwobi did well. He underlined reasons pundits have canvassed that he plays in the number 10 position for club and country.

    Samuel Chukwueze was missing in action on Sunday. He style was predictable. He managed to dribble past Renan Lodi once and held onto the ball too much. He was clueless when left in one-one situations with defenders. He managed just one shot target. Sadly, Chuwkwueze’s inability to track back and help his mates retrieve the ball when we lost it, exposed Awaziem who played as right back, even though he was always in the heart of the team’s defence.

    If Chukwueze was clueless, then Moses Simon just ran around the pitch not able to distinguish himself defensively or otherwise. Simon, however, did well to set up Aribo’s goal. He offered little going forward. It will be difficult to grade Victor Osimhen because the Brazilians cut off the supply of passes to him from the midfielders. Osimhen placed his first shot on target of the game after a fantastic turn and started the move that led to Nigeria’s goal. He was replaced by  Paul Onuachu in the 74th minute but failed to have any impact in the game. He failed to cause problems for the weary Brazilian defence.

    Nigeria has a legion of young boys in Europe to make the Eagles the toast of Africa if we stick to the high standards set. Unfortunately, the domestic league is lying prostrate – the drumbeats of hope from Europe should jumpstart a new dawn for the beautiful game here.

  • The Lagos question

    By Segun Ayobolu

    Was the Lagos State governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, being prescient when his very first act after being sworn into office was to issue two Executive Orders to decisively and speedily address the issues of indiscriminate refuse dumping, incessant traffic congestion and pot holes and crater-ridden roads across the state? The three problems are interconnected and mutually reinforcing. While giving marching orders to the Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) to deal expeditiously with the refuse menace, the Lagos State Public Works Corporation (PWC) was also mandated and mobilized by the governor to immediately commence identification and repair of bad roads throughout the state.

    On traffic management, the governor directed the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) to begin to operate in two shifts, extended the working time of LASTMA operatives till 11pm while also increasing their duty allowances for higher motivation. As the rains ceaselessly flogged the state over the last few months with the attendant heavy flooding impeding traffic flow across the state, the valiant men and women of the agency could be seen in their yellow overalls and rain boots trying hard to carry out their arduous ask in impossible conditions late into the night. The rains and bad roads were formidable obstacles to smooth traffic flow.

    For most administrations, the temptation would be strong to put the blame on the challenges and problems they inherited from their predecessor. The Sanwo-Olu administration has not, happily, taken that beaten line. The commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Gbenga Omotosho, and other spokesmen of the government have been excellent. They have not engaged in needless buck passing but focused on what the government is doing to address and transcend the problems, which is what it was elected to do.

    The past few weeks have indeed been a baptism of fire of sorts for Sanwo-Olu and his team. Lagosians are impatient with stories. All they want is action from their government, even if it requires performing miracles. You cannot blame them. To whom much is given, in this case the elected government, much is expected. Thank God, Sanwo-Olu and his team have not been sleeping after all. His commissioner for the Environment, Mr. Tunji Bello, and Special Adviser, Works and Infrastructure, Engineer Aramide Adeyoye, have been continuously on the road taking charge personally to ensure the effective delivery of the mandates of their respective ministries in these tough times.

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    Apparently frustrated by the sheer hell that moving in Lagos traffic had become, someone wondered on Facebook if the governor was missing. Sanwo-Olu’s response has been resounding, through action. The governor has declared a state of emergency on Lagos roads. Eight reputable construction firms have been mandated to immediately commence work on major roads repairs and construction across the state. Lagosians will surely soon enjoy a respite from the twin evils of crazy roads and crazier traffic but I don’t see much being done before the rains are over. The kitchen has surely been very hot for Sanwo-Olu these past few months but it was even hotter for the Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration during the first one year of his tenure 20 years ago.

    Like I said earlier, Lagosians do not enjoy ‘stories’ from their governments. They would not listen to the argument that Tinubu came to office after years of neglect and ineptitude by the military; that the inherited problems would take time to overcome. Story. Lagosians were unimpressed. It was understandable. Most residents were still mesmerized by the much adulated performance of the preceding military administration of then Colonel Mohammed Buba Marwa, which had aggressively carried out sustained road patching and repairs across the state. This was in contrast to Marwa’s predecessor, whose administration had whined continuously that it could do nothing about the roads because of the non-availability of bitumen.

    Even then, Tinubu stubbornly insisted that the patching of roads, inevitable as this was, would not be the defining essence of his legacy on roads. When the Tinubu administration awarded the construction of the then absolutely collapsed Kudirat Abiola road, Oregun, Ikeja, for a little less than N1 billion in Y2000, for instance, the PDP opposition was up in arms. They alleged that the contract sum was outrageous even though the road came complete with pedestrian walkways, drainage channels, street lights and the contract included payment for displacement and re-location of PHCN, Lagos Water corporation and telecommunications facilities among other costs.

    But the important thing is that nearly 20 years after, the road stands as solid as ever with no single pot hole along its stretch. The same goes for scores of other durable and sturdy roads constructed by the Tinubu administration across Lagos State.

    The Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) and Akinwumi Ambode administrations also left admirable legacies of high quality roads, bridges and flyovers and their enduring projects dot the landscape of the state. If so, why does Lagos still grapple with the menace of so many bad roads and the attendant traffic complications, it is quite reasonable to ask? The answer is that the situation could most likely have been far worse but for the interventions by the successive administrations since 1999.

    Lagos State is located below sea level. It is so easy to forget now, for instance, that the Atlantic Ocean routinely used to overflow the Bar Beach, on Victoria Island, resulting in loss of lives and eroding the commercial viability of the entire stretch of the Ahmadu Bello Way. But for the Tinubu administration’s deployment of technology to contain incessant flooding and considerable erosion of the bar beach, Victoria Island would have been faced with the serious danger of being submerged by the ocean particularly with the recent extreme twists in global weather conditions due to climate change. Before this, the Federal Government spent at least N2 billion annually simply pouring sand into the Atlantic Ocean to stem the erosion of the bar beach. It was neither an intelligent nor a sustainable response.

    Even more, adversity in Lagos has been turned to advantage. Out of the reclaimed land of the Atlantic Ocean is springing up the breathtaking Eko Atlantic City, conceived by the Tinubu administration as possibly one of the most ambitious Public-Private-Partnership infrastructure projects in Africa and continuously nurtured by the Fashola and Ambode administrations with the support of the Federal Government. On completion, the new peninsula will accommodate 250,000 residents with an anticipated daily flow of 150,000 commuters while at the same time definitively halting the erosion of the state’s coastline.

    I have no doubt whatsoever that the Sanwo-Olu administration will improve significantly on and even far surpass the performance of its predecessors. Both the governor and his Deputy, Dr Obafemi Hamzat, are men of high intellect as well as vast administrative and managerial experience. They know the state like the back of their hands and are focused and habitually committed to excellence. Yet, even after eight years in office, the Sanwo-Olu administration will most likely have left only a small dent in the problems of Lagos State despite its best efforts unless the Lagos question is decisively and urgently addressed.

    As the governor and his deputy have stated on several occasions, the entire annual budget of Lagos State is far smaller than the budget of the New York City Fire Service for instance. Yet, this is the most populous state in Nigeria with residents from virtually every ethnic group in the country. This has serious financial implications for refuse generation and management, maintenance of security as well as provision of basic social services particularly in public healthcare and education to cite a few. Senator Oluremi Tinubu’s bill for the granting of special status recognition to Lagos was obviously shot down in the 8th Senate for political and untenable reasons. It is a matter that must be urgently revisited.

    The larger percentage of revenues from Value Added Tax (VAT), Petroleum Tax Fund (PTF) and Education Tax Fund (ETF), among others, that go into the Federation Account is generated in Lagos.  The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) generate from Lagos yearly revenues that exceed the annual budget of Lagos for which the state gets nothing in return. Yet, the activities of thousands of heavy duty trucks going to and from the ports in Lagos wreak such terrible havoc on many of the state’s roads and bridges.

    Indeed, one of the state’s most viable economic zones, the Apapa Central Business District, has been rendered prostrate and totally paralyzed over the years as a result of activities at the ports and the utter neglect by the federal government of its collapsed infrastructure in the axis until the advent of the Buhari administration.

    A former Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Honourable Jokotola Pelumi, has launched an advocacy campaign for a more just and equitable treatment of Lagos in the Nigerian federation through adequate funding of the state commensurate with its substantial contributions to the national treasury. It is an effort that deserves support. Luckily, a former governor of the state, Tinubu, is National Leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and another former governor, Fashola, is Minister of Works and Housing. Surely, there cannot be a more propitious time to ensure that the Lagos question in the Nigerian federation is concretely addressed.

    And it is time too for the Lagos State Chairman of the APC, Alhaji Tunde Balogun, to begin to address his mind to ensuring that the large number of registered voters in Lagos, the highest in the country, begins to count in elections through percentage turnout of voters that can no longer be taken for granted by those seeking to control power at the centre.