The Nation Newspaper

Category: Saturday

  • As the Premier League opens

    THE noisemakers (fans from various clubs across Europe) are back. Families are poised to be ‘divided’ along different club lines for 90 minutes. Fathers pitched against sons, with the former condescending to listening to their kids and ready to accept their jokes in defeat. Wives are happy again. They prepare the delicacies the family likes. They are happy to have everybody at the table. The 90 minutes of fun filled and family bonding are out of this world, as some European commentators aptly describe incredible goals scored during matches.

    The biggest introduction to the Barclays English Premier League this season is the Video Assistant Referee (VAR), which will validate some of the decisions which the human eyes cannot capture due to the speed of the ball. With VAR in the Premier League, there will be more disallowed goals. So players should be aware that they will still receive a yellow card for an ‘’illegal’’ celebration, such as removing the shirt, even if the goal is disallowed. Dear EPL organisers, the fans need to be educated on the changes to avert fracas at match venues.

    For many soccer faithful, watching matches is akin to going to worship. It is jigsaw that was on the sidelines when the league ended last June. The faithful are the ones who throng matches and follow their clubs religiously, irrespective of where the games are held. They roar when their teams are doing well. They sulk when things go awry and sometimes offer suggestions to their clubs’ managements. Other times, some of these fans could be naughty, flying posters and raising flags suggesting the exit of certain players, coaches or even managements, who in their view are the cogs in the clubs’ wheel of progress.

    But without the fans, the game will be dead as symbolised in some of the matches played without spectators, whose clubs infringed on the laws of the game. Indeed, the fans have brought untold hardship to others, with the urchins and roughnecks among them taking the law into their hands. We have some fans whose racist chants at players, coaches, officials etc have brought the game to disrepute. Thankfully, the CCTV fished them out for punishment.

    Today’s article isn’t meant to discuss the flaws of the game. The focus will be on those things that make the game a spectacle to behold. The most glamorous European game began on Friday with one of the promoted sides from the Coca-Cola English Championships, Norwich, slugging it out against the current UEFA Champions League winners, Liverpool FC, at Anfield. Liverpool secured 97 points from 38 matches last season, losing only one game to the eventual Barclays English Premier League winner, Manchester City.

    Interestingly, both teams (Manchester City and Liverpool) met at Wembley last Sunday in the season’s opener, with the Citizens walking away with the Community Shield via the penalty shootout, after a regulation time 1-1 result. It was a befitting dress rehearsal for the game after a two  months hiatus, not forgetting the thrills, frills, joy of victory and agony of defeat that will be experienced over the next nine months.

    Will Manchester City and Liverpool continue their rat race at the top as they did  last season, where the leadership position changed for 34 times, including the last week in the 38-match format? Manchester City won the title on the last day with 98 points to show how enthralling the season was. The two teams are poised to continue the drama, although other clubs such as Wolves,  Chelsea, Manchester United, Tottenham and Arsenal, may give them a good fight for the title, if they get their acts together.

    Read Also: Salah, Mane up for Premier League player award

    Manchester City begin their title defence with an away tie in London against West Ham, a match which most pundits will give to the Citizens, given their pedigree and head-to-head encounters between both teams. But football is like biscuits. No one knows where it will crack, especially when one considers the fact that the Hammers’ tactician, Manuel Luis Pellegrini Ripamonti, once handled the Citizens, only to be replaced by Pep Guardiola. On 14 June 2013, Pellegrini was appointed manager of Manchester City. He won the Football League Cup and the Premier League in his first season as manager, becoming the first manager from outside Europe to manage an English Premier League title winner.

    Things haven’t been easy for Pellegrini with the Hammers losing to Manchester City 4-0 on November 24 last year. The Citizens hit the Hammers 4-0 at home in the return leg tie on February 27.

    Liverpool’s opening fixture at Anfield on Friday offered the right platform for Mohammed Salah and Sadio Mane to begin their goal chase, knowing that goal monger Kun Aguero will strive to convert the goal-scoring chances that will come his way today in London against West Ham. Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will be eager to score against Newcastle in one of the two Sunday games. Aubameyang, Sallah and Mane tied on 22 goals each to share the top scorer’s award for last season. Salah topped with 31 goals two seasons ago.

    Rafa Benitez’s exit leaves Newcastle lame in terms of depth, with many Magpies fans doubting the tactical savvy of their new manager placed against Benitez, who now manages Chinese side Dalian Yifang – he could return to the EPL, since that is where his colleagues operate in Europe. In fact, bookmakers have made Newcastle the first team to be relegated, based on the manager’s record in the elite class, coupled with the fact the Magpies lost their top scorer Perez to Leicester City in the transfer window, a move that would render the team’s attack impotent.

    Interestingly, the news broke on Wednesday that Arsenal rejected a £30 million offer from Everton for Nigeria international Alex Iwobi. Gunners are willing to trade off Iwobi, if they get over £40 million. Curiously, Iwobi is favourably disposed to leaving his boyhood club as he believes he may have to struggle to get regular playing time. Iwobi is home-grown and provides versatility across the frontline in a squad that will once again compete in four competitions next season.

    “I am not one to chicken out. I have had it all over the years, being told I’m not good enough. So whenever the chance comes, I always try and prove I should be starting. Obviously, my joy is to play soccer, not just sit out. If it comes to that, I would have no choice but to leave. But I would always put up a fight to play – that is what I’ve done all my life,” he said.

    A last-minute effort from Everton for Iwobi was successful  as the Nigerian underwent medicals in Liverpool, two hours after the transfer deadline lapsed at 5pm Thursday.

    But the biggest game for the first week of the Barclays English Premier League holds on Sunday at Old Trafford between Manchester United and Chelsea, two teams that have won the title in the past, although things have changed for them in terms of the quality of players and the stature of coaches. In Manchester United’s heydays, they had the King of the dugout, Sir Alex Ferguson. Chelsea had a long list of achieving coaches, with Jose Mourinho standing out as the most controversial.

    On Sunday, Ferguson’s ‘’Baby Face Assassin’’ Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has the daunting task of ensuring that Mourinho’s protégé Frank Lampard doesn’t steal the Red Devils’ thunder at Old Trafford. Incidentally, Ferguson will be sitting at the stands for the game. Solskjaer would have compared notes with his mentor armed with the tips to dislodge Chelsea with goals at dusk on Sunday.

    Lampard is handicapped, with the exit of Eden Hazard and David Luiz, two former Chelsea players who helped the Blues on such days when rivals showcase their talents to admiring fans at home and at the stands.

    Romelu Lukaku broke Red Devils’ fans’ hearts when he tumbled out of the Manchester United exit door, with Inter Milan completing a £72million deal, including £12m in bonuses, for the forward on deadline day for English clubs.

    He incurred the wrath of another Manchester United legend, Gary Neville who described Lukaku’s last-minute exit as: ‘‘But the idea of a player being overweight for me is unforgivable. You can play badly, miss shots on goal, hit a bad cross or give goals away as they’re mistakes in football but you can’t be overweight.

    ‘‘You can’t go out on a Friday night and drink alcohol – there are things that you’re in control of. These two lads [Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs, fellow United greats who also own 10 per cent of Salford] played until they were 38 and 40 and played for 25 years at the top, winning numerous titles. There’s no excuse for not being fit. We were never overweight, not fit or not prepared. How can you be overweight!?’’

    Will Red Devils miss Lukaku? Will a distraught Paul Pogba give his all for United like he did in the past, knowing that he would have wished he was playing for Real Madrid? Will Chelsea miss Hazard and Luiz? Or will Kante and William stand up and be counted with a blockbuster performance at old Trafford on Sunday?

    This is certainly the first week, with only one game played at Anfield. Yet, Manchester United fans look poised to launch a revolt against the club’s Executive Vice Chairman Ed Woodward (remember his brush with Mourinho over players’ recruitment last year) over his poor handling of the recruitment this season. The fans have vented their anger by getting #WoodwardOut trending on Twitter.

     

  • Shiites: damned if they do, and damned if they don’t

    AFTER a few incidents of killings inspired by the federal government against members and leaders of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), from Zaria in Kaduna State to Abuja, the federal capital city, and with obviously no end in sight given the obstinacy of the Shiites and the intransigence of the government, the Muhammadu Buhari presidency has, it seems, finally found a clever and judicious way out of the impasse. It has consented to the application by the IMN leader, Ibraheem El-Zakzaky, and his wife, Zeenat, to be granted leave to undertake a medical trip to India for treatment for their ‘war’ wounds. It is not clear why they had not been treated before now, other than that IMN lawyers’ had insisted that Nigeria lacked the equipment and personnel to handle the grave injuries suffered by Sheikh El-Zakzaky and his wife.

    Seizing upon the small window of calm occasioned by the ban placed on the IMN, not to say the court ruling in Kaduna that granted the IMN leader and his wife leave to seek medical attention in India, the Department of State Service (DSS) promptly acquiesced to the court order and declared its preparedness to comply. It appeared the federal government, despite its high-handedness, was more sensitive to the security implications of further denying the IMN leaders’ bid to travel abroad for treatment. Should he die in custody, the consequences would be unpredictable. And should he be denied his medical trip, no one could tell just what texture of flare-ups to expect from the movement’s boisterous and increasingly apocalyptic members.

    Inexplicably, the Kaduna State government, which does not bear responsibility for the peace of the country, and which very often carries itself as an Island responsible to no one, not even to God, has sought to hedge the Kaduna court ruling with incendiary caveats, seven of which are as provocative as they are insensitive. It will be strange indeed if the court, to which Kaduna has returned to seek curious reliefs, were to entertain the overindulged state government. It should be in the interest of the federal and state governments to quickly allow the Shiite leader and his wife seek medical care abroad. And it is a shame that what ailed the Shiite leaders could not be handled in Nigeria, a testament to the continuing, appalling and for now deplorable state of healthcare in Nigeria. The federal government is not known to be too restrained about many things; but under Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, the Kaduna State government is even less restrained and less scrupulous.

    Sheikh El-Zakzaky and his wife will travel abroad for treatment whether under favourable conditions or under hostile Kaduna State-induced circumscriptions. Nigeria must hope that the sheikh, particularly, should survive the ordeal he has gone through in the past few years. Should he not survive it, IMN and other independent exponents of democracy and the rule of law would attribute his fate to the federal and state governments’ pussyfooting, if not deliberate orchestration. Both the federal and state governments may feign indifference, but given the many deaths they have authored against the IMN, which deaths no one or institution has been held accountable for, the general conclusions would be that the government is wholly responsible. Should he survive it, and resume his trial, the state of tension would resume in full, and with other predisposing anarchic conditions in the country, could at any time take a turn for the worse.

    The deadly Nigerian Shiite conundrum is, sadly, the making of the government. That the IMN grew into the menace the government and the sect’s Zaria neighbours have alleged is largely due to the incompetence or connivance of security and law enforcement agencies. Over the years, they had watched as the sect expanded its operations and began muscling its neighbours and other road users. In its early years, had law enforcement courageously and intelligently handled the sect’s obstreperous tendencies, the situation would not have gone out of hand. Instead, politicians and other government officials handled the sect with kid gloves, pandered to their whims, and glossed dangerously over the dichotomy and subterranean struggles between the minority Shia and majority Sunni. Even when security agents embarked on spasmodic response to the so-called IMN menace, they invariably preferred high-handed, simplistic  and short-termist approach in tackling what is evidently a complex problem.

    In addition, by killing more than 300 IMN members in December 2015 in a bid to tame them, the government simply muddied the waters and complicated the crisis thereby raising all sorts of intractable human rights and constitutional issues. The government will of course still be held accountable for the 2015 massacre. But the problems triggered by that explosive rage of December 12-14, 2015 will last far longer than the lifespan of this government. The crackdown on protesting IMN members demanding the release of Sheikh El-Zakzaky last year and early this year leading to the killing of scores of IMN members and disruption of peace in Abuja, the federal capital city, indicates quite clearly the futility of deploying force to tackle a problem that is both religious and ideological. Furthermore, it is hard to see how beliefs, whether mainstream Shia or not, can be legislated away or juridically extirpated.

    The federal government may already have begun to sense the hopelessness of the situation, and may warily be reconsidering the foolish tactics of killing more IMN members simply to pacify the revolt and restore normality. Not only that, the ban on IMN is as misplaced and simplistic as the mindless killing of its members is ineffective and counterproductive. The IMN may be a noisy and unruly neighbour, but the answer cannot definitely be extermination, as the Kaduna governor seems disturbingly enamoured of. All over Nigeria, sects, tribes and socio-economic groups have constituted themselves into unruly neighbours to one another. Stereotyping them, not to say massacring them, is as dangerous and criminal as the offence committed originally by the intransigent groups.

    What is even worse for the federal and state governments are the campaigns and propaganda they have authored against the IMN. The IMN is the largest Shia group in Nigeria. The government has tried to paint them as a minority within the minority. Furthermore, they have tried to justify the many crackdowns and massacres visited on the sect, suggesting that they could be guilty of futuristic crimes, such as their supposed capacity to replicate the debilitating insurgency practiced by Boko Haram. In addition, the government has lied against the IMN leaders, who were shot outside the epicentre of the clash in Zaria, and denied them justice based on contrived legal rigmarole. Sheikh El-Zakzaky got a judgement against the government in December 2016, a judgement disdained by the federal government. It was not until May 2018 that the Kaduna State government filed a murder charge against the IMN leader and his wife, a charge that indicates pure governmental mendacity and oppressiveness. The government then turned round to use the 2018 murder charge to justify the prolonged detention of the IMN leader and his wife since 2015.

    The El-Zakzaky case is a reflection of the complicated and difficult approach the government has adopted to rein in dissent and protests. To them, there is no midway between desirable passivity and undesirable agitation, nor a better law enforcement approach than the application of force. However, what is really at play is the lack of understanding of what modern governance entails, including how to project law enforcement tactics within constitutional ambits, and what democracy demands from leaders and the led alike. As long as the government is unable to safely navigate this treacherous terrain between war and peace, as long as they reason predominantly in terms of military rather than civil tactics, they will continue to instigate more societal conundrums, and groups like the IMN will remain damned if they do anything, and damned if they don’t do anything. Both instinct and history should remind the rulers of today the ephemerality of power and the karmic possibility of falling prey to their own tactics, policies and laws. The IMN, despite their follies and foibles, will survive long after President Buhari and Governor el-Rufai have left office. This should tell them something, if they are capable of embracing the lessons of history.

     

  • Kwara governor hits the ground running

    ALL things remaining equal, the people of Kwara State, especially the residents of Ilorin, the state capital, may have hit their best moment as far as governance in the state is concerned. The governor of the state, Abdulrazak Abdulrahman appears to have hit the ground running with respect to the provision of social amenities for which they had cried for years without an answer. So much so that a lot the residents are now wondering if life could indeed be this easy.

    For instance, in all the years that former Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki, and his successor, Abdulfatah Ahmed, held sway as governor, water was a scarce commodity in most parts of the state capital. But barely two months after the new governor assumed power, most residents of the city are now enjoying potable water. Many of the township roads that were long abandoned by previous administrations in the state are also being tarred or repaired.

    Local government workers, many of who were being paid only 30 per cent of their salaries are now receiving their full pay, causing some of the workers to profess that they were in bondage but are now free, while others say they have no regrets keying into the ‘O to ge’ movement whose force rooted out the entrenched regime of the Saraki dynasty in the state.

    Senator Bukola Saraki and other members of the opposition in the state are said to be jittery over the development, fearing that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state could be condemned into oblivion if Governor Abdulrahman continues in the same stride. To be sure, Governor Abdulrahman is a man of few words, but he appears determined to see that his works speak for him.

  • Why Governor Yahaya Bello is at daggers drawn with deputy

    THE outgoing week is one that the Deputy Governor of Kogi State, Elder Simon Achuba, would not forget in a hurry. Barely 24 hours after the Kogi State House of Assembly initiated an impeachment move against him, the ruling party in the state, the All Progressives Congress (APC), announced his suspension from the party. In both cases, anti-party activities was cited as the sin of the embattled deputy governor.

    The truth, however, is that there is more to the crisis than was professed by both the Kogi State House of Assembly and APC who seem to have taken it upon themselves to fight Governor Yahaya Bello’s battle with Achuba. Their quarrel, according to Sentry’s findings dates back to 2017 when the state government approved the sum of N500 million for an event in Kabba, the headquarters of Kabba/Bunu Local Government Area, which Achuba said was too trivial for the hundreds of millions of naira lavished on it at a time pensioners in the state were dying of hunger.

    Then came the death of former Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Buba Jibrin, in March 2018. The then Senate President, Bukola Saraki, and Senator Dino Melaye, a political rival of Governor Bello, led a delegation to pay a condolence visit to the constituency and family of the deceased Rep. Since Governor Bello was not available to receive the delegation when they arrived the state capital, the Deputy Governor thought it expedient to receive the Senate President. But his action was said to have irked the governor who felt that his deputy was making friends with his adversaries.

    Governor Bello’s failed bid to recall Senator Melaye from the Senate is also believed to have stoked the fire of discord between the governor and his deputy. Achuba was said to have described as a waste the huge sum expended on the project. He was said to have complained openly that the sum spent on Melaye’s recall should have been used to pay a part of the backlog of salaries owed workers in the state.

    The foregoing coupled with Achuba’s closeness to some members of the opposition party in the state are believed to be responsible for the persecution he has suffered, not only from the governor but also the party and the House of Assembly.

  • Second journey to armageddon (ii): Scandal rocks Libya returnees’ resettlement programme

    • Millions released for training, ID cards shrouded in controversy
    • Returnees accuse govt officials of stuffing beneficiaries’ lists with names of family members
    • Niger Delta Ministry, Senator roll out conflicting figures
    • Edo Attorney-General: returnees’ allegations unfounded

    Millions of naira meant for training young Nigerians recently repatriated from Libya and other foreign countries is enmeshed in a scandal.

    Supposed beneficiaries of the training in poultry and fishery organised for them in Edo and Oyo states are accusing government officials of hijacking the training for the benefits of their family members and other relations.

    Participants at the training programmes were meant to receive the sum of N300,000 each besides other benefits, but smart government officials replaced the names of many of the returnees with those of their relations.

    The aggrieved returnees are also accusing the Anti-Human Trafficking Taskforce officials in the state of inflating an ID card contract executed by the body to their detriment.

    The trend has compounded the apprehension of many of the returnees who are now threatening to return to the perilous journey from which they were earlier rescued.

    For instance, some of the returnees who spoke with our correspondent claimed that they had no knowledge of a training programme organised for them in Ibadan and Benin, funded by the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs.

    The lawmaker representing Edo South, Senator Mathew Uroghide, was said to have been involved in the project as part of his constituency project.

    One of the returnees, who identified himself as Fatai Yusuf, said he was not aware of the training programme despite the fact that the organisers had his telephone number

    Yusuf said: “I was not informed about any training by the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs in Ibadan. They chose people who are related to them and picked women from different places to attend the training.

    “Everybody in the government house has my number. I told them to call me anytime they have something to do.

    “I used to leave Kano to go to Benin for training. If I could do that, is it Ibadan I would not be able to go? They can send me to Lagos to be asked useless questions on television.”

    Another returnee, who gave his name simply as Sunny, alleged that the training programme was only another opportunity by government officials to enrich themselves.

    He said: “Those people are only using our group’s name to sign out money from government’s purse. We didn’t benefit from the training.

    “This is our group and we know ourselves. They should make public the names of all the beneficiaries and let us see how many returnees are on the list.

    “I can bet that most of the names you will find on the list would be those of their relations and girlfriends.

    “This is a clear case of fraud and injustice, and we will resist it.”

    Another returnee, who gave his name as Sam, said: “This is a clear case of monkey dey work, baboon dey chop.

    “We are daily agitating in the rain and in the sun on empty stomach while some people are exploiting our plight to enrich themselves, and you say we should continue to keep quiet. That will never be possible.”

    Sam also flayed the government officials for telling the public that many of them were invited for the training but they failed to turn up.

    He said: “We were surprised that they said they contacted us but we refused to go. They have the names and contacts of most of us.

    “We are more than 3,000, so there is no way they would reach out to 1,000 and at least 200 would not be willing to go. You can see through their lies.

    “If you multiply the sum of N300,000 received by each beneficiary by the total number of participants, you can guess what the figure will be.

    “This excludes the monies they collected and spent on feeding, transportation and accommodation during the two-week training.”

    Two other returnees, Ngozi Nwachukwu and Blessing Gabriel, also denied getting invitation to attend the controversial training.

    “I didn’t attend the training in Ibadan. They didn’t invite me and I have been quarreling with them over this,” Ngozi said.

    Blessing on her part said: “I was not aware of it and didn’t attend the training in Ibadan.”

    Niger Delta Ministry, Senator contradict each other on number of trained returnees

    In separate interviews with our correspondent, the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs and Senator Uroghide gave conflicting figures about the sums involved and how many returnees benefitted from the programme.

    Both also declined comments on the total sum approved for the execution of the training programme.

    While the ministry said that a total of 104 returnees were trained, Uroghide said they were 200.

    Contacted, the spokesperson of the ministry, Stephen Kilebi, said he had been moved to another ministry but offered to get the necessary response for this reporter.

    He later called back and said: “The total of people trained is 104 for both Ibadan and Edo. They were trained in poultry and fishery. Each of them was given N300, 000 as starter pack. That was what the department told me.

    “The ministry would from time to time check to know if they are doing what they are meant to do with the training and the empowerment.”

    Asked what the total budget was, he said: “I would not be able to get that one because I am not even there. I am just trying to help you write your story.”

    When The Nation reached out to the Community Development Department of the ministry, using the mobile telephone number on the ministry’s website, a lady at the other end demanded to know what the reporter wanted.

    After explaining to her, she said the appropriate person to respond was not around.

    The reporter later called back but she responded angrily, saying: “You called me earlier and I told you that the person that was supposed to speak to you was not around.

    “Excuse me! I think I’m done with you. I have other things to do.”

    Contrary to the ministry’s claim that they trained 104 returnees, Uroghide said 200 returnees were trained.

    “The Libya returnees that were trained were actually 148.  The remaining 52 others were unemployed youths from Edo South, my constituency.

    “The ministry of Niger Delta Affairs was already training people in the region for one reason or the other.

    “As a member of the committee, I told them that some people came from Libya and that the government documented them.

    “Then they said the state government should submit the names of those returnees. The state submitted the list. Ninety-six names were sent but they found that some of them didn’t come.  These returnees are not in a camp. They are all around.

    “Then they had another 104, because it was not the same organization that did all the training. Fifty-two of them were Libya returnees and the other 52 were people in my constituency whose names I put together.”

    Corroborating the ministry’s remark on what the participants were paid, the lawmaker said: “The participants who were trained in fishery and poultry had got starter packs of N300,000 and had their money paid into their accounts by the government.

    “Twenty of the returnees whose names were on the submitted list didn’t report to Ibadan. When I was informed, I said I still have thousands of people who are waiting to be trained. We had to tell our youths to go and take the place of those that didn’t go.

    “Many of the returnees are not documented by the state government, so how would you know that they are returnees?

    “Even if we had taken all the returnees, we couldn’t have trained all of them because they are in thousands.

    “More trainings are coming and they must be properly coordinated.”

    Despite facilitating the training, Uroghide said he did not know how much was budgeted for it.

    “I don’t know the budget for the project. I don’t award contract. It is the Ministry of Niger Delta that will know that.

    “I don’t even know the people who facilitated it. If you ask the Director of Training in the Niger Delta Affairs Ministry, Ataya, he would be able to tell you.”

    Following the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs and Senator Uroghide’s inability to give the total budget for the controversial training, this reporter reached out to the Ministry of Finance to obtain the information. Calls to the mobile number of the spokesman of the ministry, Hassan Dodo, were neither answered nor replied. He, however, responded later via a text message after The Nation informed him about the unanswered calls and the purpose of calling him.

    “Hello Mr. Duru, I was held up in a long meeting where I went to represent my boss.

    The Permanent Secretary (PS) may likely help out on this, but he wears two big caps: that of the minister and his. These have, however, made him truly busy outside the office, but hope is not lost. Let’s see what happens tomorrow (Tuesday), please. Regards,” the text message read.

    Buoyed by the assuring tone of the  message, the reporter on Tuesday reached out to Dodo, trusting that the details of the budget would  be made available after exchanging pleasantries with him.

    But that did not happen as Dodo regaled the reporter with tales of how the two Permanent Secretaries working in that section have been very busy. One of them, according to him, is on pilgrimage. Asked if there was no other person that could provide the requested information aside from the permanent secretaries since the details of the budget must have been stored in the ministry’s computer.

    He said: “You know we have hierarchy in government. The permanent secretary, this one in particular is the accounting officer. It is even good I am discussing with you now verbally. If you had written to that effect, the letter wouldn’t have come to my office yet because he has to be there to sign and send it back to me. That is how the government runs and we cannot circumvent any of the processes.”

    When this reporter asked that it appears he would not be able to provide the information going by how he sounded, Dodo replied: “I wouldn’t know. Everybody has his or her own duties. Even the PS would most likely refer you to a particular director. I wouldn’t even know who he would be. He has to get a directive from him. Nobody would just act on his own, especially when it comes to talking with journalist. If the instruction comes from the PS or the minister, it would be immediately attended to.”

    Controversy dogs N7.4m ID card project

     

    Aside from the controversy over training, the returnees have also accused the anti-trafficking agency in the state of inflating the sum for the ID cards issued to about 3,000 members of the group.

    They claimed that the contract which gulped about N7.4 million was outrageous and another way that government officials have continued to feed fat on the group.

    Sam said: “The money they claimed to have used to produce ID cards is shocking. They claimed that one was done for N1,500 when an ID card costs between N300 and N500 here in Benin. If you now have to produce for as many as 3,000 people, the cost should even be lower.

    “I told you that our group has become their ATM card. Whenever they need money, they would use our names to get as much as they want. We need explanation on why the ID card project gulped so much.”

    Fatai also condemned the ID card, project, saying “I have the Go Getters ID card. I can print that ID card for N200 here in Aduwawa. Which useless ID card is that? Is it a military ID card or ambassadorial ID card?”

    Returnees’ allegations unfounded – Edo State Attorney General and taskforce chair 

    Edo State Attorney General and chairperson of the anti-trafficking taskforce, Prof Yinka Omoregbe, described the allegations of the returnees about the ID card project as baseless.

    Responding to our reporter’s request for the total money spent on the ID card project, Omoregbe said: “I can’t remember the exact amount, but please do your arithmetic. An ID card for N1,500 that gives you a data base is not a N100 ID card. The ID card has a data base attached to it.

    “If I want to look for anything for my family, it is not all this. I come from one of the most educated families in Edo State. My father was the first Benin graduate and lawyer. He had an unblemished reputation. I will not be the child to bring it down for anything.

    “My mother as well is a medical doctor. I was also in NNPC as secretary to the corporation and legal adviser. I left there with my name intact.

    “I am an energy lawyer, and in energy law, it is not naira they pay. I don’t have money but my reputation is intact.

    “It is a non-issue, and how it is generating all the noise, I sincerely don’t know. It is absolutely a non-issue. ”

    Also responding to the returnees’ allegation about the controversial training, she said: “I have known Senator Uroghide since, and he is a childhood friend of my husband. He is a PDP senator. If I was not there, would a PDP person call an APC person to bring people for training?

    “They called the returnees, but if what you are calling them for is not next door to their house, they wouldn’t go.

    “For example, Junior’s Hub, one of our trainers, has rented a place where people are supposed to go and set up their business in the GRA, but because they don’t live around there, they didn’t go.

    “I have been telling them that they have to move to their market because that is where they would make their money.

    “When they called the returnees for the training, they said they didn’t have money to go because it was taking place in Ibadan. About 12 of them who were smart went there.

    “The organisers gave money for transportation, money for feeding every day while they were there for two weeks, and at end of the day,  they gave each of them N300,000.

    “When the ones that didn’t go heard this, they all went very crazy, saying that task force people must have put their relations there. When I heard it, I went mad.

    “I don’t know how many people’s names were sent for the training. Once I get something, I pass it to the secretariat.

    “I didn’t even add a human being to the list.  I would only add if I see a traumatised person and I may have done this once or twice.

    “If they want to investigate the names of people that attended the training, let them do that. It is curses that come on the head of the person who bites the hand that has fed him.

    “That is just what they are putting upon themselves by abusing the state government and the task force.”

    A Lagos printer, Ken  Ikpowonsa, who was shown a soft copy of the  controversial ID cards, said it does not have any features of a database card.

    “This is just an ordinary plastic card. A database card would ordinarily have microchip that can be used to get information about the owner when  slotted into a computer. This particular one should not cost more than #300 if the number to be produced is much.”

  • The Ottoman Empire, Nigeria and Turkey

    I delve into history today to  illustrate what I foresee as the possible future of Nigeria as we know it now. I  look at  an ancient  empire that crumbled at the end of the first World  War  [1914  – 1918] to be replaced by a nation state just  as the British colonialists were creating Nigeria by merging the North and  South  of   their  vast and  populous colony  in 1914  and  named  it  Nigeria. The old  Empire was the Ottoman Empire – [1299 – 1923]  which conquered parts of Europe and allowed the conquered  nations citizens to practice their  religion while  conscripting some of the citizens into the army  and using them as slaves and soldiers in the Empire’s  army.

    The Ottoman Empire today is replicated by Turkey whose president is Tayyip Erdogan , a very  successful  democrat who lives in the capital  Istanbul  in a 1000 room presidential  palace  befitting a modern Emperor  or Sultan of  Turkey. In  my view  there is  lot that  Nigeria  today  has in common  with the emergence  of the Ottoman  Empire and the history  of  Turkey when the  Empire  collapsed  and  Kemal  Ataturk  became  the ruler  of  Modern  Turkey    and  left  a legacy  of  a secular  state to be run under  the supervision  of the military  in  Turkey. Although   Turkey’s  present president  has  changed all that,  it  is  the relevance  of this short story  to the present  political  and  socio  economic  circumstances in Nigeria  that  drives  our thinking today.

    In  Nigeria  today  the  major   security   issues  driving  the political  climate and  the issues, revolve  around  the terror  of Boko  Haram, the  charge  of  Fulanisation and  Islamisation, the threat  and  protests  of  the  Shiites.  All  of which  are about  the groups  involved   trying to  impose  their  will  or faith  and way  of life on other  parts  of the nation. Of  course Myetti  Allah  too falls  under this category. Take  it or leave it  they  resemble  invading forces and  they  are  armed  and the  Nigerian  military  apparatus  is being stretched to  its  limit  to contain  them. These  forces are    however being treated  with  kid  gloves while  the rest  of the nation  watch  with dismay  and  great  anxiety.

    This  is where   the  analogy  with  the  Ottoman Empire  comes in.  At  the rate  of aggression and  challenge  to the Nigerian  state  it  is pragmatic and realistic  to envisage a future  of  an  Islamic  Nigerian state  run  on the platform  of  Administration of the  Ottoman  Empire  which  was  an  Islamic  state. Indeed  the  role  of the Turks  in the leadership  of the  caliphate  made  interesting  reading to me. I  read  that as the   caliphate  became militarised  and the   Turks got  promoted in the military  the leadership  of the caliphate became  Turkish. If  you substitute Fulani  for Turks and  you  look at  the groups   or  some  of the aggressors against the authority of the Nigerian state  you  have  an idea  of  what  I  am  talking  about.

    In   addition  when  Kemal  Ataturk  founded Turkey  in 1923, he  made  Turks to  abandon Islamic  dressing  and wear  suits and  he banned  Muslim parties and  made  the army  a watch  dog  to throw  out fundamentalist  parties in several  coups  until  Erdogan  who  had  won three  elections in a  row  became  president.  Erdogan  became so powerful  that  he  stopped  military  intervention  and  consolidated democratic  power  when  his  supporters  foiled  a military  coup  by standing in the way of armoured vehicles on my birthday  July  15,   sometime  ago.

    Yet  Turkey  has  a  serious  problem  that  it finds  humiliating  and  embarrassing.  Just  as Nigeria and  Nigerians find  the slide  into terrorism, kidnapping  and insecurity   so  embarrassing  in the face of the government that   seems   complacent with the unfortunate status quo. Turkey  wants  to join  the European  Union.  But  Turkey  is Muslim  and the Europe  is  Christian and  the EU  has  stalled on granting full  membership to Turkey  even  though   Turkey  is a full member  of the NATO,  the military arm  of the    EU.  Even  that  military  connection is under threat with  Turkey  buying  some military  hardware from Russia   recently, against  the provisions and protocols  of  NATO  members  of the military  alliance.

    Tukey’s  non  admission into the EU  also  sheds  some light  on the political  structure of  the  EU  and  the  role  of migration and   multiculturalism  that  has changed  the European  land scape  and split  the EU. Since German Chancellor Angela  Merkel  allowed  1m  immigrants  fleeing war  in the Middle  East, into  Europe  in 2016   the  EU   has  not  been  the  same.  Indeed  key  nations like Italy, Hungary, Czech and  Slovak  republics  have refused  immigrant quotas  from the EU  and  have  tightened  their  borders . This  is  similar  to the current policy  of the Trump  Administration  which is  even  trying  to  build a wall  to  keep  out illegal  immigrants  coming into the US through  Mexico.

    Unlike  the  US  which is  a nation  and a federation, the EU  is a confederation  of 28  states struggling to  become   a federation. The  tension over  migrants  fleeing  wars and invading  Europe  has raised fears amongst  Nationalists in  Europe  giving rise to Islamophobia  and  xenophobia.  Nigeria  is  having similar  problems  and there  is no running   away   from  that grim  situation.  But  Nigeria  unlike  the  EU which  is  confederation is a federal  nation state  of 36  states  and  fears  similar to  those threatening the unity  of the EU are  manifest on the Nigerian  political scene.  This is what  has led    to  calls  by  leading  Nigerian  leaders  for  restructuring. This,  however,   in my view, is  a veiled  call for  a con – federal  Nigerian  state  which  I do  not see any  sitting  Nigerian  government  acceding to.

    In  reaction to  the huge presence of  illegal migrants  and the attendant relation  to massive insecurity in  Nigeria, there  has  been  calls  for government to stop  the tide or invasion. It  is  however  amazing the   Immigration Service  is  compiling  a list  of these  illegal  migrants with  a view of  declaring those after  them  illegal. That  will surely  compound  the security  situation as well as terrorism  and crime  rate  which  the government  has blamed on influx of miscreants  fleeing the war in Libya  through the Sahara  desert.  Government  should sift the list  of illegal  immigrants  and deport those of questionable  disposition  and not grant automatic  citizenship  to  people of dubious character. That  is  the only  way  to  protect  innocent  and bona fide Nigerians in their nation. Once again, long live the Federal Republic of  Nigeria.

  • PMB, statesmanship and national security

    One of the most thorny security challenges that has confronted Nigeria in this democratic dispensation has been the incessant clashes between Fulani herdsmen moving their cattle southward in search of grazing land and water and sedentary farming communities particularly in the middle belt states of Benue, Plateau, Nassarawa and Taraba as well as parts of the Southeast and South-south. The violent confrontations have resulted in large scale destruction of farms and crops, wholesale razing and displacement of entire communities and the loss of thousands of innocent lives.
    While the menace of herdsmen-farmers clashes appears to have abated significantly in the North-central zone, there has been a sharp rise in cases of kidnapping, rape, armed robbery and other crimes perpetrated in the Southwest allegedly by Fulani herdsmen or bandits who have reportedly invaded and occupied many of the forests in the region. Indeed, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi and the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, have publicly drawn the Federal Government’s attention to the prevailing combustible situation in Yoruba land.
    While the Ooni personally visited President Muhammadu Buhari at the presidential Villa, Abuja, to formally complain about the invasion of forests in Yoruba land by ‘strangers’ as well as request the Federal Government’s support in enabling affected communities in the region defend themselves, the Alaafin wrote an open letter to the President urging him to arrest the country’s slide to anarchy as well as warning of the readiness of the Yoruba to protect their lives and property if the present situation is allowed to continue.

    Read Also: Leave Buhari, Tinubu, Osoba out of my cabinet list delay — Dapo Abiodun

    The Ooni again led a formidable 12- man delegation of prominent traditional rulers from Yorubaland to deliberate with the President on the precarious situation in the South West and proffer solutions. A positive fallout of these initiatives was the promise by President Mhuhammadu Buhari that drones and Closed Circuit television (CCTV) will be deployed in the Southwest to monitor and guarantee the safety of lives on the highways as well as in the region’s numerous forests. Suffice it to say that this commendable move should not be limited to the Southwest but rather must be part of a wholistic plan encompassing the entire country, where citizens are daily victims of assorted acts of criminality.
    The murder on the Ondo-Benin-Ore highway of Mrs. Funke Olakunri, daughter of the leader of Afenifere, Pa Reuben Fasoranti, brought to the forefront of national consciousness, once again, the gravity of the security challenge in the Southwest. Yet, it also drew attention to the danger of reflexively ascribing every crime of kidnapping or armed robbery on highways in the region to Fulani herdsmen without thorough investigation. Some sources, for instance, quoted eyewitnesses as saying that the murder of Mrs Olakunrin was perpetrated by Fulani herdsmen even before the police authorities had made any statement on the matter.
    On his part, the Ondo state police commissioner, Mr. Udie Adie, blamed bandits for the murder with armed robbery as the probable motive. Pa Fasoranti’s son and the deceased’s junior brother, Mr. Kehinde Fasoranti, sharply disagreed with the police commissioner insisting that officers at the Ore police station had told him the act was the handiwork of Fulani herdsmen. In any case, if it was a case of armed robbery, how come that none of the deceased’s valuables were touched by the assailants he asked?
    Neither party, in my view, should jump to a premature conclusion. Only a thorough and unbiased investigation can unravel the truth. It is immaterial whether Mrs Olakunrin died at the hands of herdsmen or bandits. What matters is that a crime has been committed and those responsible must be brought to book and urgently too. There have been too many cases of unresolved murders since the commencement of this political dispensation in 1999. A not insignificant number of Nigerians believe that only half-hearted efforts were made by the relevant security agencies to get to the root of these homicidal acts as well as apprehend and bring their perpetrators to justice.
    However, a serious danger of instinctively blaming Fulani herdsmen for kidnapping and armed robbery on many of the highways in the Southwest without prior investigation by security agencies is that it gives ample room for other individuals and groups to violate the law with impunity with the very high possibility of getting away with such lawlessness. This is because once there is the mindset that it is only one group responsible for crimes, there will be the tendency for investigations to be flawed from the onset as the real criminals will not even be on the radar of the security agencies at all. It certainly cannot be the case that the violent crimes of armed robbery, kidnapping and rape in vulnerable areas of the South West are the brainchild only of Fulani herdsmen.
    In any case, is it not possible that forces bent on destabilizing the country and sabotaging her unity can perpetrate heinous crimes in the Southwest and attribute it to the Fulani herdsmen? That would instigate bad blood, bitterness and hostility between the two parts of the country and give those with a separatist and secessionist agenda more ammunition for their divisive weapons. There is also the danger of unfairly profiling one ethnic group as criminal and making them the target of vindictiveness and possibly misdirected retaliatory, even genocidal, violence by other ethnic groups.
    These are delicate times in Nigeria that requires wise, restrained and mature leadership. In the highly inflammable situation in which we find ourselves, a careless or unthinking word by irrational leaders or opinion moulders can set the whole country ablaze. And the sad thing is that, it is only possible to know how a bloody crisis that can consume millions of lives starts, it is always difficult to say how or when it will end and at what cost to human lives and property as well as a national cohesion that has taken a great deal of sacrifice to forge even as it remains a work in progress.
    Of course, none of this is to peremptorily absolve herdsmen of blame for this or any other alleged crime in the Southwest or any part of the country. This would be as criminal and unjust as instinctively blaming the group for acts of kidnapping, rape or arson without proof. I think the standard requirement should be: Focus on the crime and not on the ethnic origin of the criminal. Don’t stigmatize any ethno-regional group. Stigmatize, apprehend, prosecute and punish the individual criminal.
    It is the seeming inexplicable paralysis of the will on the part of the security agencies to do this with a sense of purpose, professionalism and decisiveness that have spawned assorted and damaging conspiracy theories. A situation in which the President is Fulani and virtually all his security chiefs are from the north and are also Muslims does not help matters in terms of trust and confidence between the government and governed in a complex country like ours.
    It is, of course, easier for partisans on different sides of the political divide to make emotive statements in the kind of situation in which Nigeria finds herself today in order to play to the gallery and win cheap popularity. The path of statesmanship is a far harder one to chart. It is that of pursuing the middle course and appealing to reason and restraint in the interest of peace, stability and unity without which the pursuit of justice such as bringing to book the killers of Mrs. Olakunri cannot be meaningfully undertaken. It is this narrow path that I see Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu striving delicately to tread. Pa Fasoranti himself has struck a remarkably restrained note in the face of this grave tragedy that has befallen his family. He has said that what he desires most is the restoration of peace and security to all parts of the country.
    The greatest challenge of statesmanship, however, rests today on the shoulders of President Muhammadu Buhari who has been given an emphatic renewed mandate for a second term in the February, 23, 2019, presidential election. A necessary but admittedly not sufficient imperative for enhancing national security and halting what is widely perceived as a gradual slide to anarchy, is for the President to urgently reconstitute his military/security high command both to more accurately reflect the country’s ethno-regional balance as well as bring on board no less qualified officers with fresh ideas and strategies to build as well as improve on what the current team of service chiefs have achieved in the last four years.

  • Amosun wins the race in Ogun

    THOSE who had thought that President Muhammadu Buhari would nurse a grudge against former Ogun State governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun after the embarrassment the former suffered during his campaign rally in Abeokuta on February 11 would by now be having a rethink, following the emergence of Lekan Adegbite as Buhari’s preferred candidate for the ministerial list.

    Before the list was released early in the week, the radar was on two other APC members from Ogun East, one a former deputy governor, the other an immediate commissioner in the state. But it was Adegbite, Amosun’s candidate, whose name propped up like a bolt from the blue, leaving the members of other political camps in the state stupefied.

    The camp of Governor Dapo Abiodun was said to be particularly shocked at the development. So much so that some of its members were said to be pushing the governor to write a petition to the President. With the screening of the nominees already done by the National Assembly, however, the move may be too late.

    Observers of political happenings in the state believe that the triumph of Amosun in the battle for the state’s ministerial slot is more important in the sense that it symbolises that the bond between Buhari and Amosun, which dates back to their membership of the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) more than a decade ago remains intact.

    In 2015, Buhari picked Amosun’s nominee, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, as the nominee from Ogun State for minister, against all expectations. All through Buhari’s first term, Amosun was a regular visitor to the Villa.

    He posed for photographs with Buhari on the slightest occasion ostensibly to prove that the bond between them is very special and tighter than imagined.

  • AFCON 2019: A post mortem

    NIGERIA lost her best and easily the simplest opportunity to lift the Africa Cup of Nations’ title penultimate Friday in Egypt. Nigeria would have been the Mecca of European scouts and managers, if Super Eagles players didn’t think through their pockets. This shameful attribute by our players has become our banana peel because no conscious attempt has been made to either punish the culprits or shun them. I won’t be surprised if the players want to compel the country to pay them a substantial part of the $2 million meant for third-place winners at the Africa Cup of Nations. Who owns the money? Players or Nigeria?

    Getting huge winning bonuses and other camping entitlements, the players should simply shut their eyes to the $2 million, except if it is specifically stated that the team should be given a certain percentage of the prize.

    Our players don’t forget such things, most times stoked by fifth columnists seeking relevance. The argument that an athlete’s sporting life is limited seems valid, yet, athletes don’t make money representing their countries. Representing one’s country opens new horizons. It follows, therefore, that players should be excited playing for this country when invited. They should stay out, honourably, if they feel dissatisfied.

    The Algerians, winners of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, were beatable only if the Super Eagles players were willing to play the socks wet like the Senegalese did, even though they lost. The Senegalese were not so skilful; they lacked many technical players, unlike the Eagles, who had all these attributes but chose the mercantile option, only to look confused during the third-place presentation. As the players mounted the podium for pictures with the dummy prize, you could see that they were in a trance, knowing rather late that they flunked it, when they could have written their names in gold. Had the Eagles brought home the trophy, Nigeria would have been in a carnival mood, with governors and deep pockets struggling to outdo one another with gifts and cash.

    Read Also: UPDATED: AFCON 2019: Super Eagles fall to Algeria

    I delayed writing on Nigeria’s performance in Egypt because I wanted to know what the winners and runners-up would be paid for their efforts. I almost beat the gun to write the article, when I read that nobody at the Presidency was ready to celebrate another ‘’golden’’ bronze medal, like we did in the past, under governments which condoned indiscipline.

    Eagles’ refusal to attend a pre-match press conference poured odium on the country. Even if they had wanted to protest, they could still with one of them accompanying the coach to the pre-match conference. Only fools won’t ask questions seeing Rohr unaccompanied to the press session, unlike their opponents who came with their coach and one player. When such a show of shame happened in South Africa, President Olusegun Obasanjo used his native intelligence in getting the truth by pulling aside some of the girls into the inner recess of Aso Rock, where they sang like kenari bird, exposing those who instigated them to misbehave.

    The Senegalese government gave each Teranga Lion $34,000 for their runners-up performance, after losing 1-0 to eventual winners of the title, Algeria. In the seven matches leading to the finals, the Senegalese got $17,000 each for all the games. They are not entitled any part of the $2.5 million prize for finishing second in the 32nd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations. The cash belongs to the federation, not the players.

    It is true that no two countries can be same. But our players should know that after getting over $75,000 each for our seven matches, inclusive of their third-place game, they shouldn’t create any scene anywhere in the world, before and during competitions. Players who have issues with the federation from previous competitions should be asked to stay.

  • Insecurity and ruling class culpability

    LET us imagine for a moment that the Fulani were to vanish from Nigeria today, would that bring an instantaneous end to sundry acts of violence and criminality that pervade the land such as armed robbery, communal clashes, kidnapping, terrorism, rape, religious extremism, as well as drug induced gang and cult violence among others? The answer to this question can most certainly only be in the negative. Yes, atrocities by herdsmen, most of who happen to be Fulani, in desperate search of water and pasture for their cattle, constitute a major factor in the insecurity challenge in contemporary Nigeria. But this is not necessarily because the Fulani are necessarily more disposed to violence than other nationalities that comprise Nigeria. It is just that the nature of the source of economic livelihood for the herdsmen, which is rearing and trading in cattle, demands that they must ensure the nurturing and survival of their animals by all means.

    Unfortunately, the northern faction of the Nigerian ruling class has utterly failed in its responsibility to modernize the livestock business in the region, provide mass education for the teeming masses of the north including herdsmen, reduce the level of poverty and establish a network of ranches that will make it unnecessary, even uneconomic, for the latter to traverse long distances tending their herdsmen. As a result, clashes between the herdsmen and farming communities in the south, where an ever bourgeoning population growth has intruded upon and blocked grazing routes that once lay fallow, become inevitable with the attendant harvest of sorrow, blood and tears.

    In a way, both the herdsmen and the farming communities who incessantly clash over land with the latter most times being the worst affected are victims of the absolute ineptitude, industrial scale corruption and incredible lack of vision of the Nigerian ruling class. The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) made this point pungently in a two-page publication in a national newspaper early this year. Unfortunately, ASUU’s brilliant analysis of the pertinent issues was not widely circulated for mass enlightenment of the people. As it were, the herdsmen are not the owners of most of the cattle under their care. They are hired hands who are paid to take care of the animals by the large scale cattle owners.

    By the same token, the AK 47 machine guns that many of them are now seen to carry without the slightest inhibition could not have been procured by the herdsmen. It is highly unlikely that ordinary herdsmen can afford the economic cost of procuring such sophisticated weapons. The well connected, wealthy and powerful cattle owners must thus have armed their hired herdsmen with these weapons, which explain the brazenness with which the latter brandish them even in the sight of security agencies, which appear inexplicably helpless to act.

    Unfortunately, however, the peasant farmers against whom these weapons are used are as much victims of ruling class exploitation and incompetence as the herdsmen. For, the failure of the ruling class to radically modernize agriculture through the maximum use of science and technology, organize farmers into a massive network of modern cooperatives so that they can enjoy the benefit of ‘self-help through mutual help’ (apologies to Awo), and ensure an effective linkage between agriculture and industry means that the peasant farmers themselves are caught in an avoidable poverty trap. The continuing de-industrialization of the country means that agriculture cannot benefit from a vibrant industrial sector.

    In the absence of modern storage facilities, much of the agricultural produce of the peasant farmers in the rural areas get spoilt before they can reach the markets leading to massive wastage. It is unlikely that the armed herdsmen will be able to launch attacks against well protected industrial scale farms owned by wealthy members of the ruling class. The critical insight I gleaned from the ASUU publication is that both the herdsmen and peasant farming communities belong essentially to the same economic class of exploited and deprived Nigerians and number among the teeming army of the poor that has made Nigeria the unenviable poverty capital of the world despite the country’s rich resource base.

    Conversely, those ethnic entrepreneurs who vociferously appear to be defenders of either side of the herdsmen-farmers divide are essentially united as largely wealthy members, to varying degrees, of the ruling class. Despite their pretensions, neither occupies a moral high ground. Their perception and utilization of state power as a means of economic empowerment and wealth accumulation, either directly by occupying public office or indirectly through contracts and other forms of patronage from the state, is what characterizes members of this class irrespective of ethnic and religious differences or partisan political colorations. This is the same class whose acts of commission or omission over the years are responsible for the stagnation of the livestock production business in the north, the underdevelopment of agriculture in the country generally and the continuing de-industrialization of Nigeria.

    To find enduring solutions to the grave security challenges confronting the country, we must first and foremost identify the root causes. Ethnic ‘scape-goating’ or stigmatization will get us nowhere. In a recent interview published on the online edition of PM News, frontline human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), blamed the current precariousness of life and property in the country on the fact that “for the past 20 years, members of the political class have failed to comply with Section 14(2) (b) of the constitution which states that the “welfare and security of the people shall be the primary purpose of government”. Unfortunately, the welfare provisions of this Section of the constitution, which mandate the state to guarantee the education, health, shelter, provision of jobs as well as access to justice for the vast majority of the Nigerian people were made non-justiciable and thus non-binding on elective office holders. Hence Mr. Falana laments that “Based on the frustration and disenchantment caused by illiteracy and unemployment, many young people have joined gangs of insurgents, bandits, armed robbers and kidnappers”.

    Over four decades ago, in the aftermath of the civil war, Chief Obafemi Awolowo had also touched on this point in a lecture at the then University of Ife on 9th April, 1970. In his words, “I have said it before and I want to say it again, that the causes of our national maladies are essentially economic. It is important, therefore, for us to bear in mind that if we failed to find the right solutions to our economic problems, we would not succeed in solving our political and social problems”. He then went on to assert that “…in order to keep Nigeria harmoniously united, and, at the same time, fulfill the natural, ultimate, supreme, and inalienable purpose of that unity, the present and future rulers of this country must place the most crucial emphasis on, and attach the utmost importance to, the advancement of the economic prosperity and social well-being of the entire people of Nigeria without exception or discrimination”.

    A decade later, specifically on 18th January, 1980, Awolowo, in an address to the Ondo State House of Assembly, Akure, noted that “Out of our 80 million population, about 70 million live in abject poverty whilst about 60 million are actually starving, and have for houses shelters unsuitable for modern poultry or piggery. As against this soul-depressing picture, we have in our midst about 1000 rich Nigerians who in the past cleverly rigged the sources of wealth of our nation, and are now tactically poised to oligopolise all the munificent avenues of riches that may supervene now and in the future”.

    The sage then went on to warn that “The rich, and the highly placed in business, public life, and government, are running a dreadful risk in their callous neglect of the poor and down-trodden We expect that the rank and file of the law-enforcement and security agencies should be devoted and dedicated in their onerous assignments of protecting our lives and property. We expect the low-income workers to be loyal in their respective occupations of drudge-of-all-work. But what they receive by way of remunerations for a whole month is much less than what is spent by each of many of us to entertain his friends every day of the week at home or in some high-class hotels. Indeed, their wage or income is unsuitable for any suitable standard of living”.

    Today, the problems Awo highlighted are much worse than when he spoke. We have sown the wind of ever deepening mass poverty and inequality as well as monumental ruling class corruption. We are reaping the whirlwinds of terrorism, armed robbery, kidnapping and other forms of violence. Over the last 20 years, democracy has not been the harbinger of development that most Nigerians expected. True, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has commendably recovered humongous amounts of stolen funds and plugged various avenues of resource leakage while aggressively plowing such monies into its poverty alleviation and social investment programmes. But Nigerians expect President Muhammadu Buhari and his new team of ministers to considerably raise the bar of performance in his second term in order to truly raise the country to the envisaged Next Level especially in tackling the prevalent unacceptable levels of unemployment, poverty and inequality.