The Nation Newspaper

Category: Saturday

  • Ideology and PDP’s electoral resurgence

    Its spectacular loss in the 2015 presidential election was a devastating blow to the solar plexus of the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). And despite its organizational fragility and lack of cohesion having been hurriedly cobbled together for the polls as an election-winning machine, the new APC administration moved with speed to put a seal of finality on PDP’s coffin of electoral mummification. The party found most handy in this regard the reckless looting of humongous amounts of public funds by assorted leaders of the PDP;  salacious evidence of which it regaled the public with understandable relish.

    In the titillating saga of the $2.1 billion arms procurement bazaar for which former National Security Adviser, Colonel Sambo Dasuki (rtd) has been in seemingly indefinite detention, for instance, top members of the military high command under Jonathan and chieftains of the PDP simply shared the money among themselves even as our ill-equipped and demoralized troops perished unaccountably on the Boko Haram battlefront. Many of them have refunded the loot even as their trials for corrupt enrichment proceed at snails speed through Nigeria’s ponderous judicial process.

    But that was only the tip of the iceberg. At a press conference late last year, Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ibrahim Magu, for the umpteenth time reveled how much the ravenous vultures had feasted on Nigeria’s commonwealth during the PDP years of the locusts. In his words, “Following court orders which granted our prayers for interim and final forfeiture of looted funds, the recoveries under my watch between November, 2015, and today are as follows: Over N794 billion recovered. Over $261 million recovered. The pounds sterling recovered stands at 1, 115, 930.47 pounds. The Euros recovered in the period is 8,168,871.13 Euros. There is also the sum of 86,500 CFA”. He went on to list other looted physical assets recovered both within and outside the country.

    There is no doubt that when he dared to name those PDP chieftains associated with these recovery of looted assets, Minster for Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, believed that he was permanently sealing the fate of the PDP, which seemed incapable of recovering from the seemingly fatal damage to its morale and image especially by the incurably corrupt toga foisted on it so mercilessly by the APC.

    That is exactly why the performance of the PDP in the last general elections of February 23rd and March 9th is nothing short of a miraculous resurrection from the dead. In the presidential election, the PDP candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, polled 11,262, 978 votes representing 41.2% of votes cast to victorious President Muhammadu Buhari’s 15, 191, 847 votes scored constituting a 55.6% share of total votes cast. While Buhari won in 19 states, Atiku actually carried the day in 17 states. PDP’s outing in the governorship election was even more remarkable. The PDP won 13 governorship seats to the ruling party’s 15 and with the opposition party gaining grounds in Benue, Adamawa, Bauchi, Sokoto, Oyo and Imo states while only barely losing in Kano.

    When he emerged as the presidential candidate of the PDP at the party’s Port Harcourt National Convention, his critics alleged that Atiku had procured the opposition party’s ticket through a stupefying deluge of Naira rain. This perception seems to have compounded the moral baggage of corruption, with which he had been tarred particularly by his erstwhile boss, General Olusegun Obasanjo even though no court had ever found the Turaki Adamawa guilty of any crime.

    Rather than force Obasanjo to prove the truly damaging allegations against him in court, a task which would have proven quite daunting in my view, Atiku chose to beg and grovel before the vindictive old soldier who affected to have forgiven his former deputy on behalf of Nigerians even as he has steadfastly refused to withdraw the book in which he maligned Atiku’s character and integrity from circulation. Even then, the APC certainly has cause to ponder on the opposition party’s impressive outing at the polls despite the perceived wide gap between the integrity credentials of its candidate and that of the PDP.

    Atiku most certainly brought some sharp ideological clarity to the PDP campaign in the 2019 elections. Hitherto, hardly anybody in the PDP hierarchy had ever discussed the party’s value orientation and policy agenda in any detailed, coherent or serious manner. Atiku changed that. His policy overview document running into nearly 200 carefully researched and well articulated pages touches on virtually every aspect of Nigeria’s social, political and economic problems providing detailed diagnoses of the problems and the candidate’s policy prescriptions. Of course, the document is rendered in largely technocratic terms with the ideological coloration only coming out vividly in snippets of policy prescriptions.

    One thing that is clear is that, in contrast to the current substantially state-driven infrastructure provision and social inclusion welfare policies of the APC, Atiku commits the PDP to an essentially free market-led approach to economic recovery and ultimately sustainable development. He pointedly promises to “reduce the size of government and make it leaner and more efficient in service delivery”. This appears to tally with the neo-liberal perception of the state as an essentially necessary evil that must only be tolerated and its reach continuously curtailed. In contrast, the APC’s policies indicate its belief in the inevitable imperative of the extensive developmental state that actively intervenes with the processes of the market especially when these are likely to deepen inequalities and injustices in society.

    The Atiku plan pledges a “firm commitment to the promotion of a private sector-driven, competitive and open economy supported by efficiently run public institutions”. It promises to lift at least 50 million people out of extreme poverty by 2025. Atiku intends to do this through the “provision of skill acquisition opportunities and enterprise development for job and wealth creation, rather than direct cash distribution”.  But even if people are empowered with skills, can the operations of the free market as envisaged by the PDP candidate provide them with readily accessible credit on the scale being currently undertaken by the APC? It is doubtful.

    Thus, the Atiku plan envisages “working with existing Micro Finance Banks (MFBs) in each local government area to administer a new N15.48 billion Community Micro Enterprise Fund (CMEF) to stimulate community enterprise development”. In the same vein, it promises that a PDP government will “work more closely with Non Governmental Organizations, the private sector and other developmental partners to mobilize resources for the effective implementation of our empowerment strategy”. And still with its focus on a private sector led economic recovery as well as poverty amelioration policies, the Atiku plan intends to “encourage bank expansion services to rural areas, providing easy banking with simple processes easily completed by people with low literacy”.

    True, the APC also accords robust private sector partnership with the public sector a central place in the articulation and implementation of its economic agenda. Yet, it recognizes that the private sector in Nigeria is simply incapable of mobilizing resources on the same scale that government is able to do as demonstrated in its current intervention schemes targeted at reaching millions of vulnerable Nigerians that the free market is simply not designed to care about.

    The Atiku market-led plan appears to assume that private sector actors including Non- Governmental Organizations and Micro Finance Banks are philanthropic outfits which can be persuaded to offer succor to the weak and poor segments of society. Nothing could be further from the truth. The free market model has the primary objective of enabling those individuals and groups in society capable of competing to maximize profit. It has no place for the weak and feeble as the Atiku plan assumes.

    Atiku himself is a hard- nosed capitalist. He should know. Can he afford to play the philanthropist with his investment in the American University in Yola with its reportedly state of the art facilities and high quality staff that rank among the best globally? The answer is obvious. That is why the state must lead the drive to radically modernize infrastructure and alleviate poverty in parlous economies like Nigeria.

    During the campaign, Atiku espoused neo-liberal right wing policy options such as privatizing the NNPC as the answer to its current undesirable opacity or floating the exchange rate and leaving the Naira at the mercy of market forces as advocated by some international financial institutions. But this kind of ideological dogmatism should ponder the words of the world renowned intellectual at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Professor Noam Chomsky who argues that “How did Europe and those who escaped its control succeed in developing? Part of the answer again seems clear: by radically violating free market doctrine. That conclusion holds from England to the East Asian growth area today, surely including the United States, the leader in protectionism from its origins. Standard economic history recognizes that state intervention has played a central role in economic development”.

    Whatever one thinks of Atiku’s politics, he has helped to redefine and refocus the PDP ideologically. Surely, the PDP is alive, well and kicking as an opposition party and this is certainly good for Nigerian politics.

  • ‘Chairman’ Christian Chukwu

    I’m sad. I’ve spent the last five days pondering if doing anything for Nigeria is really worth the trouble. As much as I love Nigeria, I think that our negative attitude towards those who helped shape the image of the country needs to be changed. We mustn’t wait until our heroes and heroines are laying prostrate in their caskets (God forbid) before we remember who they were.

    We must stop this morbid mentality towards honouring our past heroes and heroines (the few that we remember) only in death. Many of them carry the vestiges of their death from playing for Nigeria, in the case of football, to win honours for us while we sit in the comfort of our homes or at the stands applauding their remarkable performances. It is cruel for anyone to talk about what they earned during their active days, because the proportion of those who make it to the big stage is small.

    We should remember our heroes and heroines as other countries do. I flinch reading through some of the names being given national awards yearly, especially when I don’t find the names of our deserving sportsmen and women. I’ve been told that the names come from the states; this shouldn’t be. The Ministry of Sports should impress on President Muhammadu Buhari the need to yearly reward our sports ambassadors. We shouldn’t attach national honours to winning trophies only. Those who get honoured haven’t done anything for us that brought joy to the citizenry like our sports ambassadors.

    On reflection, I seem to have a second thought on the significance of such awards when the recipients are abandoned in their old age. I’ve lost count of the number of neglected athletes who are dead. We shouldn’t allow this bad trend to continue. We should rise in support of these athletes, lest we find it difficult to convince our younger ones to embrace sports.

    I’m still pinching myself to ask how Nigerians allowed Christian ‘Chairman’ Chukwu’s health to deteriorate so miserably as captured in all the videos trending on the social media. If we value such icons here, someone could have taken the Enugu State governor to Chukwu’s house to physically see him instead of relying on his subordinates’ accounts. My pain worsened reading accounts of those who were privy to Chukwu’s health condition. I asked God to forgive them. Indeed, nobody asked the club to tell us how much Chukwu is being paid. Who cares if he earns N700,000 monthly. I hope they understand the meaning of this revelation in this era of kidnapping.

    Had the health challenges of the late Rashidi Yekini, the late Thompson Oliha et al been highlighted like Chukwu’s on the social media, they would still be with us here – perhaps. Yekini didn’t deserve to die the way he did.

    I salute the courage of the person who took Chukwu’s health condition to the social media. That singular action shook Nigerians’ into action. Today, we have been told how the governor released N1.5 million and N1 million based on reports of those who saw Chukwu. What these people failed to tell the governor was the need for him to visit the clinic or hospital where Chukwu was to see things for himself. The governor is very busy with state matters. But if he was told of the need to see Chukwu, the former Green Eagles captain won’t be in the hospital. Nobody is disparaging the hospital where Chukwu is being treated. Most modern hospitals are world-class. What was been highlighted was Chukwu’s health condition, which wasn’t pleasant to see.

    The point being made here is that if an icon such as Chukwu is distressed, it becomes a national issue. The flyer in the social media was explicit; it evoked emotions for everyone who saw it. It is cruel for anyone to blame the man who took Chukwu’s health to the social media because it is the language we understand. Indeed, the fellow stated clearly that he was doing that on behalf of former Enugu Rangers’ players, insisting that the unspent cash from Chukwu’s treatment funds would be kept in the account to treat others who may be ill. This man never said that Chukwu was abandoned or treated unfairly.

    There were two sets of videos. The first showed Chukwu struggling to come down from the staircase. Watching Chukwu struggle through the staircase raised the poser of how he got there in the first instance. It was a wicked experience for such a man in severe pains. The second video showed Chukwu walking out of the hospital or clinic in measured but painful steps.

    As he took the slow but painful steps through the door, an unseen bystander called his name, ‘Chairman’  Christian Chukwu Ndo. This bystander did that deliberately to show everyone that the fellow in the video was Chukwu. At that point, doubters knew it was Chukwu. Chukwu’s response threw into the gutter suggestions that the video was a scam. This writer fought back tears as Chukwu turned slowly to mutter ”hmm!” One was taken aback why they allowed Chukwu to ‘walk’ that far after exiting the hospital. It would have been tidier if a car was driven close to the door for him to just enter than to totter towards the vehicle.

    It is, however, heartening that many Nigerians have responded to Chukwu’s situation. He deserves the best because he gave his all playing and winning laurels for Nigeria as a player and as a coach. Put simply, Chukwu belongs to Nigerians as a Member of the Order of the Nigeria (MON).

    Speaking to thenff.com on Monday evening following his visit to the former defender, Chairman of the Enugu State Football Association and Member of the NFF Executive Committee, Hon. Chidi Ofo Okenwa reported that Chukwu is in a ”very stable” condition and he is being adequately taken care of in a world -class medical facility in Enugu State.

    “In all sincerity, I never knew this kind of hospital existed anywhere east of the Niger. It is a world -class facility with highly qualified medical doctors and nurses. The doctors are on top of Chukwu’s matter and I can tell you that I met ‘Chairman’ in a very stable condition. I met a Christian Chukwu that talks and eats normally and is of sound mind and spirit.

    “I want to assure Nigerians from all walks of life that their former captain, their legend, Christian Chukwu, is in good condition and in good hands. I am assured by the doctors that there is no cause for alarm, and that if there is any need to fly him abroad for further checks, they would promptly so advise.”

    Reassuring words from the NFF chief, but it should be stated here that the Chukwu scenario should jumpstart the process of taking care of our stars in the twilight of their careers. If a concerned Nigerian deems it appropriate to seek help from the ”Gofundme” platform, he is doing it for general good. Such a person should be applauded, not derided as a fraudster. If he didn’t do it, eminent Nigerians such as Femi Otedola wouldn’t have volunteered to foot the bill for Chukwu’s overseas treatment.

    Since the Chukwu story broke, I’ve been waiting to read about what the players’ union have done. Nothing has been heard from the players Chukwu nurtured to stardom as a coach for Enugu Rangers and Super Eagles. I don’t expect Chukwu’s playmates to do anything significant because they didn’t play the game for cash like we have now. The players’ union is enmeshed in needless power tussle while one of their best is in pains.

    The players’ union should have enough cash to quickly attend to an ailing player and then reach out to others. $50,000 should be chicken feed for our big boys, if they are together. I’m sure that Ahmed Musa, Obafemi Martins, Osaze Odemwingie, Mikel Obi and a few others known to be compassionate on such matters will act, if contacted. The leadership of the players’ union should bury their heads in shame.

    This writer has spearheaded a campaign of this nature here for the late Coach Willy Bazuaye and Sunday Eboigbe. I heard of their plight during visits to Benin City. I visited them and raised the alarm here. Former Lagos State Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola responded. He brought the soccer icons to Lagos, where they were treated. Sadly, Coach Bazuaye died, but Eboigbe lives on.

    Whenever I called Eboigbe, he spent much time praying for Fashola. He ends the prayers session thanking me. Our heroes and heroines are Nigeria’s project in their distress. They deserve our care.

  • Legitimacy, power and democracy

    In politics  and indeed in any  democracy, winning power  is one thing.  Securing  that power  however  is  another  matter. Ensuring  that power is won  and  won in the right  way and manner is the  main  ingredient  of  legitimacy  and the  rule  of  law. Some  world  leaders  are  locked  in a  grip  of  a fight  to protect  the power  that they  won at elections  and  are  as it were fighting for their  political  lives  as such.  Others  have such overwhelming victories at elections that  their  legitimacy  is assured  if not  already  taken  for granted. In effect  then the acquisition  of  power  in elections and the keeping or loss  of it thereafter is the crux  of our discussion  today.

    Nothing illustrates our  topic  today  more  vividly  than  two events,  first  in Osun  State  in  Nigeria  last week,  as  well as the Mueller Report in the US which  literally cleared US  President Donald  Trump  of collusion  with  Russia  in winning  the US  2016 Presidential  election.  The  two  events  are also  two sides  of the same coin. One  removed  legitimacy  from the Osun State incumbent governor  Olugboyega  Oyetola  in  Osogbo  the other in Washington affirmed  the legitimacy of the American president’s election  two  years  ago . .  We  shall  examine the two  events alongside  Brexit  Adventures  and Deals of UK PM  Theresa  May in clinging to  the legitimacy  of the Brexit Referendum at  all  costs and branding those  MPs  opposing her  as anti  democracy  and against    the  declared  interests  of the British  people.  We also  examine the challenge posed to the new  mandate of President Muhammadu  Buhari  of  the APC  by  the  court case  brought  after the election by his defeated  opponent  who  gave figures purportedly from INEC  server thereby  claiming to have won the  2019 presidential  elections in Nigeria.

    It  is well known  that the legitimacy  of an elections  flounders when  the  integrity  of  its fairness  and  legality  is successfully  assailed in a court  of  law.  Yet  it is not only in a court  of  law  that electoral  integrity  can  be  attacked  or undermined. Public  opinion  too  can drag  legitimacy  in the  mud as the CNN, Washington Post  and New  York  Times  have shown  the US President over alleged  Russian Collusion  in  the  last two  years.

    Belief  in the legal  system  or its opposite  can  also  tax  the legitimacy  of any newly  elected leader when  post  election  legal battles  begin as is the case  in both  Osun  and the last presidential  elections in  Nigeria. In  all  these  scenarios  and in any political  system,  legitimacy,  the affirmation and conclusion  that  a leader has been  elected in a free and fair election  according to the electoral  rules  is the icing on the cake in any democracy  in our  world as we know it  today.

    We  go back  to the Osun  guber  election  where  the Court ruled that the incumbent  governor  Olugboyega Oyetola  should vacate  office and his  opponent  Ademola  Adeleke  who  lost  the election earlier should  be given a fresh  mandate  certificate  by INEC  which appears  to  be a straight  forward  situation.  Until  INEC announced  that it would  not do this yet  because the displaced incumbent  governor  has 21  days to  appeal  according to the law.

    Which  he has done, meaning  the status quo remains  and the incumbent  governor remains  in  office  till  the  case is decided in the Supreme  Court  at a time no  one can  certainly  predic. That  simply  means that the incumbent  governor’s  legitimacy  is fractured  even  as he rules  as governor  in borrowed  robes. Unless of course  the  Supreme  Court  overturns  the verdict  that stripped  him  of  legitimacy  later. For  now  according to our  law,  the new  winner must brood  over what  he  thinks  is  his stolen  mandate  and legitimacy.  Certainly  he  and his supporters must  think  of  the law  as an  ass  in this  case, at  least  for now. But  if  the  Court  of  Appeal  or  Supreme  Court  affirms his  verdict  and  he assumes  his  mandate  he  can  certainly refer  gladly  to the legal  saying that says the mills  of  justice may grind  slowly  but they grind  exceedingly  fine.

    Certainly  Donald  Trump  can  also echo  the  view  point on the mills  of justice  on his clearance  by the Mueller  Inquiry  on Russian  Collusion. But  one  must commend  the doughty US  President for  the fierce way  he  defended his  mandate  and legitimacy  all along.  Undoubtedly  if  he  had  been  quiet  I doubt  if  the decision  would have  favoured  him. He  fought  the  anti  Trump Press with  a huge barrage of tweets  never  seen  or  used  before by any  President in the US or  even  our entire world.  His counter  Charge of  ‘fake news’  and’ witch  hunt’  were  catch phrases  he used  to blackmail  his media  opponents  and to secure his  legitimacy  which  the Russian Collusion charge  threatened mightily. He  has my  grudging  admiration  in this  regard  as well as my  pity on what he has been  made to go through  since his election.  He  is certainly  a good  lesson  for  Political  Science and  politicians  on how  world  leaders  should  fight  for their mandates  and power, secured in a free  and fair  election in any democracy.

    Let  us  now  look  at  the Brexit  issue  and especially  the role of the British  PM, Theresa May  on her  many  deals  that Parliament never  bought till  she pitched in  her resignation as the ultimate price of approval. She  has  thus    literally    given  her head on a platter  of  gold  for  a lamentable  reason  and a  pitiable  excuse. In  a way  she has turned  legitimacy  and democracy  on their  heads by insisting on the Brexit  Result  of  a  Referendum that the British  people now no  longer want. In  insisting on that Brexit  Result  she  is  pursuing  a false  legitimacy  for  which history  would  judge  her harshly  as unduly rigid  and frigid  or even  blind  on the direction of  public  opinion and the true wishes of the British  people on  Brexit.  She  has taxed  the patience  of MPs, the  loquacious  but    brilliant  Speaker, the taciturn EU leaders  and she  has  lost  her  leadership  role cheaply  and quite deservedly  for  the  wrong  reasons  including that the British  people  must  fall  on their  sword  for  voting Brexit. Her  act  is a wonderful  and unbelievable one in  how  to be a  poor  first  amongst equal  in the Cabinet  System  that  has been the backbone  and  legitimacy of  the  British  Parliamentary Democracy  that  has  now  crashed  with  her handling of  Brexit.

    It  is not sad  at  all  in my view  to see her exit as  PM over Brexit. Good  riddance would  indeed  be an understatement. On  the  presidential  election    appeal, the  charge  by the spokesman  of  the ruling  APC  that  it was criminal  for the PDP  to access  the server of INEC    to  collate  a result  different from that  announced by INEC  as election  results for  the presidential election makes interesting  reading.  First  the APC  Spokesman  is a well  known  lawyer  and should  know that the  case  is already in  court  and commenting on it is  subjudice. But  since  he  has broached  a crucial  issue  one  must  ask if  it is wrong  to  access

    election  results on a public server  especially  in an election. The issue  at stake is the integrity  of  the figures. That  is what APC  should dispute and  INEC  should  affirm or  disprove.

    Nigerians are  watching  to  see that justice  is  done one way or the other.  That  is the mark  of  legitimacy  in any  democracy  and Nigeria is not an exception. Once  again, long live the  Federal Republic  of Nigeria.

  • Wanted: Woman Sports minister

    I’ve seen it all with the appointment of sports ministers in Nigeria. Sadly, each succeeding minister has been worse than his predecessor. No woman has been appointed sports minister; why not a woman because the men haven’t shown enough leadership qualities? They have fallen the way of others. They have been misled by influence-peddlers in the industry, most of whom have lost out in elections into various federations. Nothing improves until they are eased out.

    Most ministers vow that they won’t be football ministers, but they end up being soccer ministers, with many meddling in the activities of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF). They hide under the cloak of the NFF accounting for what it got to stoke a crisis, which embarrasses the country. What these football ministers forget is that there are mechanisms to ensure accountability for funds. These former ministers create divides in the NFF, threatens to punish Nigeria and a crisis is born. Accountability? Fine, but aren’t there bodies given the responsibility to probe corruption?

    Every former minister drags NFF to EFCC or ICPC, but won’t allow the agencies’ investigators to do their jobs. Every minister either visits FIFA’s headquarters or attempts a futile tour to report the NFF as if other sports federations don’t make infractions. Every sports minister has constituted a panel to recommend to the government what to do with our football to compete with the best. Why always football? All transactions are done in foreign currencies. It doesn’t matter if the minister condescends to the level of paying sportsmen and women their allowances under the guise that the cash would be misappropriated.

    Every minister hops onto the plane to watch all our matches with a retinue of friends and government officials, yet they talk about accountability. Who pays for these busybodies? Of course, the NFF under government delegations. Panels constituted by these ministers don’t reflect these expenditures in their reports. How can they when most of them were part of waste as friends of the ministers.

    These panels submit the same recommendations, chiefly – Nigeria should stay out of football for two years for proper restructuring. No surprises when almost the same people are chosen or their lackeys.

    The latest one recommended that Nigeria should pull out of international competitions for two years, in a year where Nigeria is expected to participate at the Africa Cup of Nations in Abuja, slated for June 21 to July 19. The Super Falcons are to participate in the FIFA Women’s World Cup in France in June, the Flying Eagles will be at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Poland and the country’s U-23 side, Olympic Eagles, will defend their title at the U-23 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt in November for a qualification ticket to the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. Nigeria finished with a bronze medal at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. It was the country’s only medal at the Olympics, in spite of the minister’s disparaging statement about the team –  he later apologised. Nigeria won the gold medal in 1996, silver in 2008 and a bronze in 2014, one of the few countries with such records at the Olympics’ soccer event. One isn’t surprised that former football chieftains who held positions at CAF and FIFA keep suggesting a break simply because it will stop those who replaced them from functioning. Do these ‘ban’ advocates not know that these players earn a living playing football? Today, Nigeria is the 42nd best football nation in the world, moving four places upwards on the chart just as the Super Falcons are the world’s 38th best; Africa’s best. These feats tell the story of Nigerians distinguishing themselves in Europe, Americas and the Diaspora. Yet, some people whose kids don’t do sports are pushing for a break of two years.

    Can there be NFF officials without the players and coaches playing the game? Are they not aware that Nigeria is bigger than anyone else? Can they not see what playing soccer has done to our boys and girls, who until their emergence as stars, couldn’t make the simple trip from their villages to Lagos, not to talk of travelling overseas? Do they not know how the money these boys and girls make have changed the fortunes of their families, friends, relations etc? Do they not know that these boys and girls could play for other countries if FIFA imposes a long ban on Nigeria?

    Surprisingly, this  latest panel has three former NFF chairmen and people who have acted in various capacities, including fighting to stay in the federations. Some of these chairmen were victims of former ministers’ suffocating interest in the federation’s activities. That they appended their signatures to such a document suggesting that Nigeria pulls out of football activities for two years underscores the recurrent problems at the Glasshouse.

    Most of the ministers start by organising seminars where serial orators in sports mount the podium to sermonise and pontificate on the industry’s problems, as if the models they authored in the past didn’t worsen the situation. After such showboating presentations, the minister embarks on fruitless visits to dilapidated sports centres, such as the National Stadium Lagos, National Stadium Abuja, Liberty Stadium Ibadan etc where many of them literarily cry like hungry kids.

    Every former minister promised to improve on the state of the National Stadium, Lagos. Yet, the facility is derelict, raising posers over how the Ministry of Sports spends the money earmarked for infrastructural repair. Sports City Surulere is Sodom and Gomorrah, where the unthinkable happens, depending on when you visit the place. It hurts to note that the only things that remind anyone of the once famous sports centre is the convergence of alcoholics in all the joints and attendant obscene things that follow.

    When these ministers leave such centres, work starts on the repairs of the swimming pools, which take another two to three years to complete only to return to its disused condition before the minister leaves. At such venues of lamentation over the rotten complexes, ministers suddenly remember the hosting of the National Sports Festival. They ignite another controversy of the hosting of the festival beginning with which state gets the hosting rights, which again dovetail into another round of politics about the number of events to be held.

    In fact, the National Sports Festival at the country’s best sports arena, usually hosted by the government, is the only competition the Sports Ministry should organise. They have shirked this responsibility to governors. The festival is no longer a biannual event. The minister covered the ministry’s shame by hosting the festival inside the shameful Abuja National Stadium. It didn’t matter if the athletes ran on torn tartan tracks. Nobody bothered to ask why the football event didn’t hold in the stadium. A festival without its burning flame lit by a renowned Nigerian sportsman or woman is a glorified secondary school inter-house sports.

    The symbolism of the lighting of the festival torch at the opening ceremony, coupled with the razzmatazz of the torch’s flame being extinguished at the closing event, is legendary. This event terminates with the handing over of the games’ flag to the next host. One wonders what our ministers see when they attend multi-sports competitions, such as the Olympic Games, after which the festival is modelled.

    Surprisingly, we find ourselves in the same chaotic setting when a new administration is to be inaugurated. Rustic facilities around the country and the refusal of the corporate world to identify with sports, largely because the ministers label the federations’ members as thieves because they didn’t do their biddings.

    I’m not a chauvinist, hence I’m inclined towards suggesting a woman as the next sports minister, with no one in mind. We have tried people knowledgeable in sports; they failed. One of such ministers with rich sports pedigree suggested that black people don’t win medals in swimming. He argued that swimming isn’t a sport meant for black people. Is anyone surprised that all the swimming pools in the stadia owned by the government are habitats for rodents and dangerous animals. Several others, including those who were former NFA chairmen, didn’t push the NFF Bill at the National Assembly.

    Let’s not talk about those ministers appointed without any background in sports or its administration. They take us back to the stone age with their myopic approach to issues. They are hijacked and led by the nose to the detriment of the industry. One of them wrote a recommendation to President Muhammadu Buhari, that Nigeria participating in the Senior World Cup was a huge waste because we were not going to win the trophy. He argued that it was only a platform for people to make money. This minister forgot that Nigeria got close to $12 million just for qualifying for the Mundial and preparing for it. Won’t it shock you to learn that he was at the Mundial with a government entourage. Is this how to save funds, dear minister?

    Most of our ministers have brought us shame with stories of Nigerian sports contingents sometimes being walked over in competitions due to lack of funds; other times due to denial of visas. Even the few sports federations which attend competitions do so due to patronage from sports-friendly governors, who incidentally are governors where the federations’ chairmen come from.

    Is it that government doesn’t provide funds for such events, especially where we are defending champions? After all, when we excel, ministers easily ascribe the feats to the government, rushing to the Villa to present the victorious squads to the President. The governors who hosted the events or bankrolled the trips hardly get mentioned. A few brave federation chairmen mention the governors and other sponsors, if they are allowed to speak.

    As for me, I’m done with all that pretence. I vote for a woman sports minister.

  • Obasanjo and the PDP 2023 agenda

    DESPITE the fairly strong showing of the opposition at the last polls, former president Olusegun Obasanjo remains sceptical about the cohesiveness and resoluteness of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to win subsequent polls, particularly the presidential election. If the opposition is to dominate the next election cycle, he suggests in a speech last Sunday, they will have to embark on internal reforms and purges. Arguing that he knew they would lose the 2015 presidential poll, but reluctant to say whether he sensed the disconcerting outcome of February’s presidential election, the former president advocates for radical changes in the opposition if they are to make a huge impression next time. Chief Obasanjo may be right about the PDP’s dire situation, particularly their indolence in facing up to the rigours of the last election, but it is doubtful whether even he understands the many-sidedness of the problems the party is contending with and why they lost the last poll by such a significant, though not destructive or irrecoverable, margin.

    If the former president’s self-righteousness is deemphasised or ignored, it should not be too difficult to accept his diagnosis of the ailment that continues to afflict the PDP and has now twice barred the opposition party from regaining Aso Villa. “I am not a perfect person. I have my shortcomings,” said the former president with disguised self-satisfaction. “If I deny my shortcomings, it means I am not being truthful to myself.” In the very next sentence, however, Chief Obasanjo betrays his true feelings: “…My shortcomings have nothing to do with my love for Nigeria. It has nothing to do with being greedy or selfishness.” Really? Is he so optimistic as to think his shortcomings do not either indicate or betray his contempt for Nigeria? And does his conscience not smite him over what many analysts think are his principle vices of greed and selfishness, two powerful shortcomings that in combination indicate a terrible flaw in a man?

    However, despite his self-confessed limitations, Chief Obasanjo is right to warn the PDP to watch their politics if they are to make significant inroads in 2023. He recommends that the opposition should assemble a critical mass of committed leaders and followers to strengthen the party for the huge task ahead in the next election cycle. It perhaps needs to be restated for the umpteenth time that the main opposition party cannot continue with their conservative approach to the business of politics if they are not to come to grief a third time. Twice they have been put to shame, in 2015 and 2019. A third time would mark them down as both incorrigible and uneducable. The country needs them, despite the excoriating attacks on their integrity masterminded by the ruling party and a sometimes hostile electorate. Yes, the country needs them, but nevertheless in a different shape and course. They must prove capable of the changes both Chief Obasanjo and the country are asking of them.

    Before the 2019 polls, this column more than three times fiercely admonished the PDP to embark on reform and purges in order to recreate and align themselves to the changing and radical needs of the country, particularly to sate the increasingly fickle and demanding needs of a less discriminating and less inquisitive electorate. Instead, the PDP, obviously unaccustomed to opposition politics and environment, desperately turned to the former Borno State governor Ali Modu Sheriff for succour. Yes, Mr Sheriff was as hard as they come: temperamental but pertinacious, domineering but courageous and combative, and contemptuous of his opponents but rich and accommodating. Such a man, on the surface, seemed very suited to the period needs of a party that had just received a merciless drubbing at the polls. However, the PDP later found out to their eternal regret that despite all of Mr Sheriff’s enticing gifts, nothing in his attitude or disposition makes him amenable to the long term needs of the party or even make him relevant to the development of its fundamental character.

    And just as the party emerged from a bruising legal and psychological battle with their interim chairman, they launched furiously into a bitter fratricidal nomination war that left them depleted and angry. Having burnt their fingers once while romancing  the obtruding Mr Sheriff, the party was reluctant to sleepwalk its way into the fatal embrace of moneybag governors who had attempted to hijack the party’s body and soul. In the end, they had had to settle for a new defector as their presidential candidate, and needed a coterie of other defectors in order to even be in a position to record some significant milestones in the last elections. They severely left alone the fundamental things that needed to be done, such as purging their ranks of the divisive and tainted characters whom the public regarded as emblematising and stigmatising the party. They also saw nothing wrong in sustaining their amorphous ideological character simply because the ruling Al Progressives Congress (APC) is also ideologically impure and imprecise.

    Chief Obasanjo has appeared to call them to arms. They will do well to hearken to his voice and consider whether the next few years should not invite them to take the risks they have been wary of contemplating since 2015

    The PDP also had the peculiar problem of contending with, and helplessly relying on, many of their controversial leaders without whom, it seemed, they could not hope to survive. The party needed the money and standing and name recognition of those controversial figures. And given the ossification of Nigerian politics, particularly its mercantilist leanings and traditions, the PDP rank and file feared that if they were completely denied the experience and courage of the old brigade, they were courting disaster. It’s a double edged sword. Either they now summon the courage to change direction and embrace new forces and ideas, or they stay in their comfort zone and face the risk of being transfixed to death. Chief Obasanjo has appeared to call them to arms. They will do well to hearken to his voice and consider whether the next few years should not invite them to take the risks they have been wary of contemplating since 2015.

    Indeed, far more than the former president has sensitised them to the political and existential dangers they face, the PDP faces the equally major and urgent issue of fixing their fixation with the next election cycle, in this case, the 2023 polls. When Chief Obasanjo spoke in the presence of the PDP leaders that visited him last Sunday, he harped on the urgency of fixing the party ahead of the 2023 elections. But are the party’s problems not worth fixing regardless of the next elections and their hypothetical outcomes? As a matter of fact, had the party looked beyond 2019 in their pre-election politics, it is unlikely they would have performed more poorly than they did in February and March. They were desperate in 2015, and so glossed over the deep reforms they should have made in the party. They were equally desperate in 2019, and again glossed over the indispensable and fundamental reforms that should be their political elixir. Ignoring or deemphasising radical changes that would stand them in good stead in the near future in their short-term desperation to regain the presidential villa is counterproductive.

    Chief Obasanjo may be unqualified to serve as the party’s moralist and lodestar, but his counsel is not altogether worthless. If the PDP is to thrive and retain relevance now and in the future, and especially if they are to make a far more aggressive impact in the coming elections, they must look inwards, reform their methods, refine their philosophical and ideological platforms, purge their ranks of the jaded and mercantilist politicians that degrade their purpose and vision, and rediscover the altruism that ennobles their desire to reshape Nigeria and even Africa. They have shown some hunger for public office; they have however not shown nobility of purpose. They have become desperate to win elections; they must be much more desperate to be ideologically relevant. They have been more clearly conservative than the ruling party is progressive; they should stick to their conservatism and even make it sexy.

  • APC’s growing ideological clarity

    Are there any fundamental differences in ideological orientation or philosophical outlook between Nigeria’s two hegemonic parties, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)? Many Nigerians would say no. Both are essentially two sides of the same coin. Their leading members jump from one to the other with amazing ease. Many of them are more preoccupied with the acquisition of power more for material accumulation than any transcendental purpose. But is this perception of the two behemoths as organizational Siamese twins in terms of underlying motivating beliefs, values, assumptions and policy or articulations true? I don’t think so. What the just concluded elections have shown is the gradual crystallization of both parties along distinct ideological polarities.

    Vice President Professor Yemi Osinbajo (SAN), in particular has, at various forums during the campaigns and after, incisively and painstakingly enunciated details of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration’s policy initiatives that reveal the APC’s emergent progressive ideological character. Under the APC in the last four years, there has been a massive channeling of public resources not just towards public infrastructure but also to succor the most vulnerable segments of the citizenry.

    Professor Osinbajo has constantly pungently reiterated the fact that, although the PMB administration has since 2015 earned far less from oil than the preceding PDP administrations did, the APC has done more in terms of investment in infrastructure and poverty alleviation in four years than the PDP recorded in 16 years. The PDP has found this irritating, annoying and no more than a mantra of excuses for failure to deliver on the APC’s electoral promises. But Osinbajo’s facts seem incontrovertible.

    In the VP’s words, “…lack of integrity in leadership and corruption, in particular, was the reason why we were finding it difficult to make progress. I explained that that’s why we earned $383 billion in four years, 2010-2014, the highest ever in the history of our country, and yet Lagos – Ibadan Expressway was not done. Lagos-Kano railway and all that is being done today were not done then. We cannot point to a single major infrastructure project that was completed in the 10-year period despite the high earnings including power”. On the contrary he reels out verifiable facts about the accomplishments of the PMB administration in infrastructure in its first term in diverse sectors including roads, rail transportation, bridges and power across the country’s geo-political zones.

    The scale of the APC’s investment in its Social Investment Programme (SIP) in the last four years is particularly remarkable. Through the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP), for instance, loans ranging from N50,000 to N350,000 each were disbursed to more than 300,000 market women, traders, artisans and farmers across the country. This resulted in 349,000 beneficiaries opening new bank accounts/wallets thereby being drawn into the formal economy.

    Over two million petty traders gained access to micro-credit ranging from N50,000 to N150,000 through the Trader-Moni scheme administered by the Bank of Industry (BOI). Another 500, 000 traders operating through cooperatives benefitted from the Market-Moni micro credit scheme. And no less ambitious is the administration’s school feeding programme, which has provided a balanced meal for 9,300,892 pupils in 43,837 public primary schools in 26 states across Nigeria.

    Breaking this down, Osinbajo reveals that “the programme employs 95,422 cooks and over 100,000 smallholder farmers linked to the scheme” resulting in the “procurement, preparation and distribution of 594 cattle, 138,000 chickens, 6.8 million eggs and 83 metric tonnes of fish each week.” The positive implications of this kind of deliberate and unprecedented conditional cash transfer of resources towards those on the lowest rungs of society’s economic ladder cannot be overemphasized.

    It is of course obvious that with this massive infrastructure and social investment expenditure by the PMB administration, it is impossible for the grand larceny witnessed under the PDP, with a few individuals stealing humongous amounts of now recovered funds from state coffers, to take place under the APC. It is not that corruption has ceased to exist. But it cannot be practiced on a scale as injurious to the polity’s collective well being as witnessed during the GEJ administration.

    There is no doubt then that the APC is gaining in ideological clarity and organizational self definition. The party certainly does not derive intellectual inspiration from such extremist free market, neo-liberal economists such as Milton Friedman, Fredrick Hayek, W.W. Rostow  and his ‘non-communist manifesto’ or their political apostles such as Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher or Donald Trump. For these, society is made up of atomistic individuals involved in a Darwinian ‘survival of the fittest’ struggle. Free market fetishism, like electricity, permits of no feelings. Efficiency as epitomized by corporate profits is its guiding angel. State welfare to cater for the weak is not only indulgent; it breeds inefficiency, hurts business and hobbles progress. The state is an indispensable evil that must only be tolerated and its debilitating expansive proclivity curbed through aggressive privatization, deregulation, public sector downsizing and drastic curtailment of social subsidies. Rather, economically virile individuals and organizations must be given maximum opportunity to thrive and make profit so that wealth can trickle down for the benefit of the less able specie of the free market jungle.

    The APC’s Social Investment Programme would appear to draw intellectual inspiration from progressive economists like Dudley Seers or the 1998 Nobel Prize in Economics winner, Amartya Sen. It was Seer who posited the three questions: ‘What has been happening to poverty? What has been happening to unemployment? And what has been happening to inequality?’ as the most critical in determining a society’s level of development. According to Seers, “If one of two of these central problems have been growing worse, especially if all three have, it would be strange to call the result ‘development’ even if per capita income doubled”.

    Sen contends that inevitable components of any meaningful economic development must include freedom of opportunity, freedom to access credit as well as economic protection from abject poverty for the vast majority. As Professor Osinbajo never tires of pointing out, the APC’s massive social investment scheme would not even be on the cards at all but for PMB’s personal integrity and commitment to prudence, fiscal discipline and transparency in governance. That is why the resources are now available to be channeled for the benefit of the poor.

    Even then, Buhari’s inexplicable ambivalence, even indulgence, towards trusted members of his inner caucus who abuse his trust and taint his administration’s image must have been a factor in the PDP’s surprisingly impressive showing in the 2019 polls. If putting a check on such aberrant aides who constitute an albatross to his government is one of the promised ‘tough decisions’ to expect from Buhari in his second term, he may yet lay the foundation for a long stay in power by the progressives.

    The APC national chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, a veteran labour activist and leader as well as brilliant progressive polemicist is no doubt best placed to give ideological direction to the APC. The more dynamic and result-oriented of the APC progressive governors obviously take their bearing from Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s theory and praxis of governance as paradigm- setting helmsman of Lagos State between 1999 and 2007.

    It is certainly for his commitment to the best interest of the party as well as his organizational, strategic and bargaining skills that party members defer to Tinubu honorifically as ‘National Leader’. Even more important and critical, in my view, is his role as intellectual torch bearer who seeks to constantly interrogate and make explicit what should be the ideological framework within which the APC’s vision and policies as a progressive party are grounded. This he did again during his 67th birthday colloquium when he stated clearly his perception of the right ideological course for the party to chart.

    In his words, “People the world over more than ever are questioning the centre-right conservative model that has, with few exceptions, governed the world for the last half century…Our pursuit of the Next Level cannot be achieved by blindly following the economic path of other nations. That would be tantamount to racing to live in a building just as its long term occupants were frantically rushing out, screaming that the edifice was crumbling. We dare not enter”.

    Continuing, Tinubu avers, “Our economy must be redefined to be an efficient yet moral social construct with the primary goal of optimizing the long-term welfare of the people through the sustained, productive and full employment of labour, land, capital and natural resources… To pull the nation from poverty, government must play a decisive role. It must at times direct and even develop markets and opportunities. This is nothing novel. I am only restating what the established economies did when they were young and assumed their trajectories toward growth”.

    This is certainly food for thought for the APC as the party strives to achieve greater ideological clarity even as Nigerians look forward to a better deal under Buhari’s Next Level agenda. It is instructive that as military head of state between 1983 and 1985 and even now, Buhari has continued to evince an instinctual mistrust for the free market orthodoxies of the Breton Woods Institutions.

     

    • Next week: Ideology and PDP’s Electoral Resurgence

  • Rohr’s whip for Iheanacho

    I’m a big fan of competent foreign coaches handling our senior national teams. This is not to disrespect the feats achieved by many Nigerian coaches, including Adegboye Onigbinde, the late Shauibu Amodu and the late Stephen Keshi. I have avoided mentioning age-grade coaches because of certain reservations, rightly or wrongly. I love Nigeria, so I won’t talk about the reservations. Foreign coaches’ selection processes are fair and they cannot be dictated to, having laid their cards on the table during their engagement. This isn’t to say that some Nigerian coaches don’t have some of these attributes.

    The biggest advantage foreign coaches have over their indigenous counterparts is the players’ vote of confidence for them and their change of attitude during the country’s matches. This trend didn’t start today. It predates this era. In fact, the Eagles’ ‘’mafia’’ decided who coaches the team. Clemens Westerhof began the process of crushing the cabals, forcing Nigerians to change their fixations about who should play and who shouldn’t. One had thought with some of former ex-internationals transiting into coaches, things would have improved. No way! Some of the obscene ‘sins’ committed by former coaches manifested during such internationals’ reign, including the accusations by one of them that he ran away from the job, because of juju in the camp.

    This ex-international complained about his failing health, which he attributed to some of his assistants. He banned them from putting their hands inside their pockets while talking to him. Ex-internationals’ relationship with top stars in the new generation has been unthinkable; most times they were close to punches. Other times, such ex-internationals stood their ground that those new stars won’t make their squads, even if they were the best or were scoring goals in the moon, like one former Eagles coach once said.

    Foreign managers in the Eagles have brought peace and stability, improving the quality of invited players. They were respected by their employers. They got what they wanted and upped the scale in terms of achievements. They visited our players in their clubs. They spoke to coaches to find out what the problems were. They established the right synergy between European clubs and Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) chieftains pertaining to the release of our players for international competitions and friendly matches.

    Therefore, when Gernot Rohr reenergised the Eagles through their clubs, he went further to get those who didn’t have clubs new teams, which toughened them for the new challenge. Rohr ensured that Kelechi Iheanacho got fielded by Leicester City’s Claude Puel, who was eventually sacked. Puel did his friend’s bidding by increasing Iheanacho’s playing time, but the Nigerian couldn’t seize a first team, even when Jamie Vardy was injured.

    No doubt, Vardy is a good striker. He may not be flamboyant in his play nor is he a dribbler, but he uses his pace to outrun his markers just as his finishing is legendary – for his age. Rohr’s strong words to Iheanacho is coming at the right time. The Leicester star raised hopes since his Golden Eaglets days. With the new boys paraded first against Seychelles, then against the Pharaohs, pundits seem to appreciate why Rohr used the whip on Iheanacho.

    Rohr told the international media:  “I think he must be more professional. We’re not satisfied with his performances the last time he was with us.There’s a new coach at Leicester City and it will be an opportunity for Iheanacho to show during this international window that he wants to get back into the starting team of Leicester. Personally, I think it’s a good thing for him to stay back at his club to prove this.”

    Well said, Rohr. Iheanacho should accept the challenge by making the Foxes’ first team, even if it means benching the much older Vardy. Rohr has spent close to two years on the job. Nigerians will start demanding trophies and nothing will thrill the fans more than lifting the Africa Cup of Nations like the team did in 2013 in South Africa.

    The way the country’s U-23 Olympic Games side destroyed Libya on Monday to qualify for the last round of the U-23 AFCON competition with a game against Sudan, many have submitted that Iheanacho’s days in the Eagles are numbered. A few people hugged themselves during the game as the U-23 lads did incredible things with the ball on a turf that Eagles complained about in the course of beating Seychelles 3-1 inside the late Stephen Keshi Stadium in Asaba, last Friday.

    Paul Onuachu offers the biggest threat to the team’s attacking options, comprising Odion Ighalo, Henry Onyekuru, Ahmed Musa and Iheanacho, who was dropped from the two games against Seychelles and Egypt. Onuachu’s height reminds fans of the late Rashidi Yekini. Yekini was muscular and could sprint with his height. Many described Yekini as ‘gangling’, but it appears Onuachu is the real ‘’gangling’’ striker whose speed gave him the space to hit that rocket-like shot, just under 20 seconds after the kickoff of Tuesday’s game against the Pharaohs. Onuachu’s goal separated both sides at dusk.

    Onuachu was quiet in the first game against Seychelles as a 72nd minute substitute, which made it difficult to judge his potential. But his early goal against the Egyptians, coupled with the way he shielded the ball in between markers and still made passes, showed that Nigerians could start celebrating the emergence of a new Yekini. In Africa, Yekini’s presence in Nigeria’s matches meant we hardly played barren draw games.

    As Onuachu bestrode the pitch on Tuesday, I searched for the right person to marshal Eagles’ attacking onslaughts. Such a person should be as clinical in front of the goal area as Nwankwo Kanu. The nearest player to that in the current setup is Alex Iwobi, only if he reduces his passes even inside the 18-metre box. Will anyone blame Iwobi for that attribute? No. Arsenal players like caressing the ball. Arsenal players are a beauty to watch when they are in their elements.  Did I hear you say Kanu played for Arsenal? Yes, Kanu did, but he started his game here in Nigeria, where shooting accurately in front of the goalpost when the chance beckons is the only way to win matches. Iwobi grew up with Gunners’ tip-tap soccer as a kid.

    I do not think Ighalo can function besides Onuachu. Ighalo is wasteful and could easily be muscled off the ball. African football is physical, with a lot of sprinting. I remember Ahmed Musa – I dreamt of goals. I played back images of Onuachu winning the ball and laying the pass for Musa. I can’t fathom how many people can outrun Musa.

    With young boys graduating from our age grade teams in the tow, it won’t be long that Nigeria will be talking about an Eagles side without John Mikel Obi, in spite of his experience. We might be looking at the Eagles playing in Egypt without recuperating Ogemyi Onazi, possibly John Ogu and a host of others who were at the 2018 World Cup in Russia. It will signpost the need for growth in the Eagles. How best can this be celebrated without products of the Golden Eaglets, Flying Eagles, CHAN Eagles and the U-23 Olympic Eagles, who shone like a million stars last week Monday, whipping Libya 4-0 inside the late Stephen Keshi Stadium in Asaba?+

    Going to the 2018 World Cup in Russia, the debate centred on the Eagles’ first choice goalkeeper. The tournament settled that debate, with Rohr saying: “Uzoho is our number one goalkeeper, and it is unlike him to make such an error. I know his worth and won’t rush to condemn him over this error.”

    Rohr has defended Uzoho, over his howler against Seychelles, asserting that he remains the number one. “Mistakes are mistakes and they are what they are and can be committed by anybody,’’ the manager said.

    The other positives from the World Cup is the retention of goalkeepers Ikechukwu Ezenwa and Akpeyi, aside Rohr’s affirmation that no new players will make the team to Egypt. With a collection of 40 players to pick from, only an unserious manager will want to add to this list. Only 24 will be picked for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations holding from June 21 to July 19.

    What stands clearly is that the average age of our players to the 2019 AFCON will be lower than the group we took to the Mundial in Russia. It shows growth which is further reinforced by the NFF’s decision to keep Rohr, despite his tantrums. Nigeria was the second youngest team to the World Cup. A few of them who were naive in their display have grown, with such improved performance rubbing off on the others.

    Interestingly, Nwankwo Kanu appraised the Olympic Eagles’ outing against Libya. He said on Thursday:  “I was very impressed with the overall performance of the team on Monday. The boys re-enacted the spirit of the Dream Team and fought till the end, showing class over their opponents. Now it’s time for them to build on it and ensure they qualify for the tournament proper.

    “Again, Kelechi Nwakali showed his worth and dominated the midfield. I believe he has come of age and should be given a chance with the senior national team. The AFCON is just three months away, so we must select our best legs in the tournament.

    “Also, Chukwueze showed he has plenty to offer and the hat-trick boy, Osimhen also showed good promise. I believe the future remains bright for Nigerian football,” Kanu concluded.

    Thank you Papilo. I hope Rohr is reading this. Up Nigeria!

  • Nigeria’s bewildering state elections

    NIGERIAN politicians must by now be shocked by the unpredictable politics their country promotes with fanfare. No, not in terms of the expensiveness of their elections, which has become the leitmotif of their competition for office, or the gargantuan remunerations elected officials receive, but in terms of their defiance of every known orthodoxy that has typified and ennobled global politics for decades. Nigerian politicians defy the odds, subvert rules, mock conventions, and now, seem to sneer at even common sense itself. The just concluded governorship elections in 29 states, the last being Adamawa — Rivers State is in a class of its own — all but indicate that while democracy is to be preferred over every other system of government, Nigerian politicians have themselves been very reluctant to let that system grow and be nourished.

    In Rivers State where votes usually didn’t count but were customarily allocated, but are now been forced to count and be counted, the trauma of conducting true balloting has knocked political leaders in that endemically violent state sideways and exposed the state to some sort of politically-induced autoimmune affliction. The governorship election in the state was expected to be a straight contest between the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), with the ruling PDP perhaps capable of piping the main opposition party candidate at the post. Unfortunately, the imperious but evidently brittle and factionalised Rivers State APC was unable to agree among themselves who should be the party’s standard-bearers despite the straightforwardness of party guidelines and the Electoral Act.

    Unwilling to be consigned to observer status, and after trying valiantly to get the courts to sanction its participation in the election, the APC quickly adopted a forlorn party which had entertained no hope of participating in that election with anything properly describable as a glimmer of chance, let alone winning. That forlorn party, the African Action Congress (AAC), enthusiastically lent its structure and soul to the grieving APC to do as it pleased. But weeks of aggravated violence and strong-arm tactics, not to talk of wholesale seduction by an anxious PDP afraid to lose the election, had created such tumult within the state that even the hitherto somnolent AAC has been left terribly flustered by the aftershocks. Days before the conclusion of the April 2, 2019 collation of the March 9 Rivers State elections, the multi-purpose AAC vehicle deployed by the APC to upend the ambition of Governor Nyesom Wike had also been convulsed by desertions and defections. Indeed, while still waiting for the final collation in an election he was supposed to have participated in, the AAC’s deputy governorship candidate, Akpo Bomba Yeeh, managed to defy conventional wisdom by defecting to the PDP, embracing Mr Wike with gusto, and denouncing his former party’s alleged gangster tactics.

    But while defections were convulsing the AAC in Rivers and complicating the state’s political equation, and while tempers were still fraying over an election in which both leading sides were claiming victory, other kinds of curious scenarios were playing out in some other notable states like Sokoto, Kano, Zamfara and Bauchi, all states where arguably needless rerun elections took place. In Sokoto, Governor Aminu Tambuwal finally won the governorship poll by whiskers, in fact by a measly, threadbare 342 votes. For all his acclaim and experience as a politician, not to say his highly lauded stint as Speaker of the House of Representatives, it shocked many analysts that Mallam Tambuwal could not secure an emphatic win. Many observers were indeed left gasping for breath at the wafer thin margin of his victory. Mallam Tambuwal had four years to build on or burnish his legislative leadership reputation. If he could only eke out a win, some argued, it implied that he had allowed many things to go horribly wrong with his administration.

    And while many were still befuddled by the closeness of the Sokoto poll, especially given their expectations of a much higher margin of victory for Mallam Tambuwal, something quaint and flabbergasting was playing out in Zamfara State. The election had been concluded in the beleaguered Zamfara, and a winner in fact emerged on the APC platform. Earlier, the factionalised APC had just managed to throw its hat in the ring in the nick of time before the deadline set by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for submission of candidates list expire. But the internal party process that produced the APC candidates was alleged to be fraught with violations of the constitution, thus requiring the repeated intervention of the courts. First, the APC candidates couldn’t participate in the governorship and legislative polls, said the courts; then they could; then they couldn’t; and finally they could. Was that the end of the yo-yo? Alas, it wasn’t. Now, after some sort of victory had been procured by the APC, it turns out, says the courts again, that they really should not have participated because the party’s candidates were not produced by a valid party primary. This, too, is on appeal; and no one seems to know how the tragedy would end, whether dramatically or melodramatically.

    Then, also, there were the Kano and Bauchi polls, which were at first declared inconclusive. In Kano, the incumbent governor deployed every known trick in the book to retain office with less than nine thousand votes in an election that controversially saw the highest turnout in Nigeria in this election cycle. Both candidates received more than a million votes each, with the incumbent, Abdullahi Ganduje, besmirched by a financial inducement scandal. If the polls are to be believed, and notwithstanding the appalling violence that attended the rerun, Kano voters appeared to have been unfazed by the scandal actuated by the governor’s ethical challenges. If the courts deem the poll largely satisfactory, Dr Ganduje will rule Kano for another four years, though considerably hobbled by the allegations of graft against him. But if the courts should overturn the controversial victory, however, the PDP candidate, Abba Yusuf, must inevitably contend with a legislature dominated by the APC.

    In Bauchi where the former FCT minister Bala Muhammed defeated the incumbent governor, Muhammad Abubakar, by some 14,488 votes, it was an election that neither the people of Bauchi nor INEC itself could be proud of. At first, it seemed like the APC had wanted to avoid defeat at all costs. Then, again, it seemed that ethnicity had beclouded the electoral behaviour of the voters in much the same depressing and aggressive way religion had been whipped up in Kaduna to tilt the March governorship poll. But, at least finally, a winner emerged in Bauchi, and the incumbent was unhorsed. Like the Kano votes, Bauchi adds the painful reminder that both the electorate and the electoral process are really not what they are cracked up to be. It will obviously take a much longer time to get the process right, and even much longer to reform the political behaviour of the electorate and their political leaders. Nigeria should have the ambition to be Africa’s, or West Africa’s, leader and visionary. But given the unsatisfying elections of 2019, not to say the widespread violence that accompanied the entire process in many states, that leadership now seems to be gravely imperilled.

    By the time the returns of the elections in Rivers come in, especially with Adamawa eventually joining the opposition column, it should be possible to paint a more accurate picture than today’s terrifying silhouette. The picture at the moment — a picture that is unlikely to be altered significantly any time soon — is one of a high degree of chaos, some measure of incompetence by the electoral umpire, and a government unable and unwilling to administer the elixir capable of energising the system and making it function seamlessly and optimally. The voters themselves have been less than sterling in their behaviour, and most political leaders have shown a lack of patience and vision to let the poll run untrammelled by orchestrated distractions and governmental interferences. If nothing fundamental and significant is done to correct the anomalies noticed in the just concluded polls, if no attempt is made to study the 2019 polls and draw lessons, it will not automatically be better in the next election cycle. It will in fact get much worse.

    As exemplified by the aforementioned states, this year’s elections have shown very clearly that something is still fundamentally wrong with Nigeria’s wobbly and stultifying structure. If nothing is done to right the wrongs of this unsustainable structure, Nigerians should not be surprised if they encounter far worse and more atrocious electoral behaviour next time.

  • All eyes on Osun

    If morning is an indication, as it is said, of the potentials embedded in the day, the first hundred days in office of the Osun State governor, Mr. Adegboyega Oyetola, offers glimpses of the new heights of mature governance, meaningful development and sustainable prosperity to which the state of the living spring is capable of rising under the new helmsman’s guiding hand. It is certainly not for nothing that Mr. Oyetola holds a B.Sc. degree in insurance from the University of Lagos, an MBA in business administration from the prestigious institution and had a track record of successful and lucrative practice in the private sector spanning three decades before coming into government.

    Easily verifiable information from the administration’s information management team to commemorate Oyetola’s first 100 days in office on Saturday, March 9, shows a lot of solid work that has been done quietly and unobtrusively in diverse sectors including security, education, workers welfare, healthcare as well as roads rehabilitation and construction within the three months span. Feeder roads in rural areas are being graded across the various Local Government Councils to boost agriculture while 10 strategic roads are being constructed to link major urban agglomerations.

    In addition to the Osogbo and Ifetedo General Hospitals, which are being comprehensively rehabilitated, revitalized and re-equipped in the first phase of the healthcare programme, 332 Comprehensive Health Centres across the wards in the state are being rejuvenated with the procurement of HIV test kits, consumables and basic medical equipment worth N87.7 million for these grassroots facilities. To boost education, the governor on Thursday, 7th February, 2019, distributed learning aids, standard furniture, games equipment and computers to schools in each of the three senatorial districts.

    Making the most prudent use of scarce resources, the Oyetola administration resuscitated 20 Armoured Personnel Carriers to enhance the crime fighting capacity of the police in the state while also refurbishing seven fire stations and repairing 15 fire fighting vehicles to boost emergency response capacity. While his administration has been paying the full salaries of workers monthly as and at when due, the prevalent industrial harmony suggests that the workers have full confidence in Oyetola’s pledge to pay outstanding accumulated salary arrears in due course.

    Perhaps the most important initiative in Osun in Oyetola’s first 100 days is the forthcoming first State of Osun Economic Summit, which in the words of Sola Fasure, one of the governor’s aides, is “meant to generate a robust and sustainable economic development template that will launch the state into a boom. With all arrangements already in place, the stage is set to ignite what will be the most significant activity in the state since its creation in 1991. The blocks are being built as the direction the administration is going is getting clear. It is an encouraging one with the governor steadying his feet to provide quality leadership for the state”.

    Against this background of the unfolding purposeful, focused and clear-headed governance in Oyetola’s Osun, the majority judgement of the Osun State Election Petitions Tribunal, which declared the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Senator Ademola Adeleke, as the winner of last September’s governorship election in Osun is an irritating distraction. Mr. Oyetola and the All Progressives Congress (APC) have since appealed the judgement. In their majority judgement, Justice Peter Obiorah and Justice Adegboyega Gbolagunte returned Adeleke as governor elect. They declared that the rerun election of September 27 last year was unlawful and invalid as there was no basis for it.

    Furthermore, the majority judgement cancelled the results from 17 polling units due to what it described as substantial non-compliance with the Electoral Act. That non-compliance was the omission to enter the data for accreditation and ballot papers accounting in the appropriate columns of Forms EC8A in the affected polling units. Thereafter, it resorted to a complex exercise in judicial arithmetic wherein it added and subtracted figures based on what it considered valid and invalid votes enabling it to declare Adeleke as winner of the election.

    Interestingly, the Chairman of the Tribunal, Justice Muhammad Sirajo, demurred. He delivered the minority judgement but did so in a most lofty, mature and even tempered manner saying “I participated actively and contributed immensely by personally writing some portions of the judgement just delivered”. Yet, he strongly disagreed with the major pillars of the minority judgement and, in his minority judgement, ruthlessly demolished them. Was the rerun election of September 27, 2018, unlawful and invalid? Justice Sirajo disagrees completely with the minority judgement on this and compellingly states his case.

    In the process Justice Sirajo referred to the Supreme Court decision in the case of Faleke vs INEC (2016), which upheld the power of INEC to declare an election inconclusive and order a rerun in Kogi State. He quoted the Supreme Court thus in the said Faleke vs INEC judgement: “The first respondent was correct when it declared the election of 21/11/2015 inconclusive on the ground that the margin of win between the two front-runners at the election was less than the total number of registered voters in 91 affected polling units where elections were cancelled”. Can the Elections Petition Tribunal overrule the apex court on the matter? The appeal court will decide.

    Did the non entry of data for accreditation and ballot papers for 23 units in the requisite columns in form EC8A amount to substantial non-compliance weighty enough to compel the cancelation of results in the affected units? Justice Sirajo disagrees. His words, “In this petition, it is not in dispute that about 90 per cent of the processes involved in the conduct of election in a polling unit have been fully complied with.  Voters were duly accredited before they cast their votes. At the conclusion of voting, ballot papers were sorted out and counted. The presiding officers announced the votes scored by the parties, entered the figures in the result sheets and signed. The party agents counter-signed the result sheets and collected copies…I hold that the omission to record columns for accreditation and balloting accounting on the result sheets, though a non-compliance, did not amount to substantial non-compliance”.

    Indeed, Justice Sirajo, referring to the requisite sections of the Electoral Act, had earlier averred that “The degree of compliance required to validate an election is substantial compliance. For any non-compliance to have the effect of invalidating an election, such non-compliance must in itself be substantial and must have substantially affected the result of the election”. His logic seems to me crystal clear.

    Does the Election Petition Tribunal have the power to declare the winner of an election after subtracting and adding votes following the cancelling of specified results? Justice Sirajo says no. He anchors his position on Section 140(2) of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended), which provides that “Where an election or tribunal nullifies an election on the ground that the person who obtained the highest votes at the election was not qualified to contest the election, or that the election was marred by substantial irregularities or non-compliance with the provisions of this Act, the election tribunal or court should not declare the person with the second highest votes or any other person as elected, but shall order for a fresh election”. Again, this is crystal clear. But the appeal court will decide.

    Given the commendable, courageous and path-breaking foundation laid by Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola for the revolutionary transformation of Osun State particularly through massive provision of infrastructure in diverse sectors, substantial job creation and a comprehensive social welfare scheme for the poor and vulnerable, why did the APC win the 2018 election only by such a slim margin? The problem of salary payment was not peculiar to Osun. It was compounded in Osun by the sheer breathtaking scale of Aregbesola’s investment in the radical modernization of infrastructure as well as the provision of social welfare services to the poor and this is certainly laudable. Perhaps then the problem was some of Aregesola’s avoidable controversial policies particularly with regard to education and the religious sensibilities of critical segments of the citizenry.

    That is exactly why many believe that Oyetola is just the right man to succeed the pioneering visionary Ogbeni. Oyetola as Chief of Staff between 2010 and 2018 was a key actor in conceiving and implementing the Aregesola Osun transformation template. It makes for desirable continuity. He already has a good rapport with key stakeholders especially workers who hold Oyetola in high regard for his calmness, patience, understanding and maturity. Unlike Ogbeni, Oyetola is no impassioned ideologue. He is a technocrat with a subtle, suave corporate approach to governance.

    Ogbeni’s volcanic revolutionary style was necessary to chart a new path for Osun in the face of stiff opposition from entrenched, reactionary political forces in the state represented by the dislodged and very bitter PDP elements. Now is the time for Oyetola’s calm, sober approach to governance in a manner that can keep Osun on the path of accelerated progress with as little avoidable disruption as possible.

    The gift of exquisite dancing skills is certainly not a disqualification for the demanding office of governor. But an individual who cannot summon the ambition to furnish himself with the most basic education is unlikely to inspire any state to enviable heights. All eyes are certainly on Osun as we await the court of appeal verdict on Oyetola’s appeal.

  • Lagos and the O to ge meltdown

    They may as well be aptly christened the “O to ge” elections. I refer to the February 23rd and March 9th, 2019, national and state executive as well as legislative polls, which are being concluded today with supplementary elections in five states. Of course, O to ge has now become part and parcel of the ever fascinating and evolving grammar of Nigerian politics. It is the quaint Yoruba expression for ‘enough is enough’, reflective of the idiomatic phraseology of the Yoruba of Kwara state extraction, in North-Central Nigeria. From east to west and north to south, the new no-nonsense O to ge mood of the Nigerian electorate has seen bloated egos deflated mercilessly and one Lilliputian political David after the other not only felling but ruthlessly decapitating overrated electoral behemoths with pleasurable relish.

    Not surprisingly, Kwara, which gifted the nation the succinct and surgical O to ge sobriquet, has also been the most visible and prominent theatre for the manifestation of this near revolutionary phenomenon in contemporary Nigerian politics. The Saraki dynasty had for close to five decades been the dominant dynamo in the politics of Kwara. In the wake of the O to ge revolutionary gale, the imperious political tactician, who takes no prisoners, Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, not only lost his re-election bid to the Senate, his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stranglehold on the politics of the state was decisively broken.

    Ironically, the prime victim of the O to ge blitzkrieg in Kwara, Dr. Bukola Saraki, must also be credited for, even if subconsciously, sowing the seeds that have become a veritable new Iroko in the forest of Kwara politics. Ever since this writer attained enough political consciousness to serve as a teen age polling agent of Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) in the heart land of Ilorin, (Pakata), in 1979, the late Dr. Olusola Saraki, the one and only Oloye, had maintained an unbroken suzerainty over the politics of Kwara state.

    A most colourful, assured and masterly majority leader of the Senate on the platform of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) in the Second Republic, the Saraki patriarch bestrode the politics of Kwara like a colossus. He had a hand in the emergence, and sometimes untidy exit from office, of practically every elected governor in Kwara for over three and a half decades. These include Prince Adamu Attah, Chief Cornelius Adebayo, Mr. Mohammed Shaaba Lafiagi, and Col. Mohammed Lawal (rtd). Oloye’s crowning glory was the election of his ruthlessly ambition son, Bukola, as governor of Kwara between 2003 and 2011. But in that triumph were embedded the seeds of Oloye’s political demystification, a development that reportedly left him heartbroken till the end of his days.

    Apparently convinced of the political impermeability of the political dynasty he had come to personify in Kwara, Oloye most inexplicably wanted his daughter, Gbemi Saraki, to succeed her brother as governor of the state. But Bukola, through wily tactical manouvres said no – O to ge. The younger Saraki ensured that he installed in office after him a successor of his own choosing, Mr. Abdulfattah Ahmed, the outgoing governor.

    In defying and defenestrating his father, Bukola sowed the wind. If the great Oloye could be so easily dislodged and caged, many Kwarans wondered, then the seemingly invincible dynasty must have feet of clay after all. Bukola reaped the whirl wind on February 23rd and March 9th. The O to ge message in Kwara soared on the wings of the inexcusable underperformance and underdevelopment of an otherwise richly endowed state in terms of human and natural resources punching embarrassingly below her weight. The rest is history. Fast forward then, to Lagos.

    On Thursday, February 28th, 2019, a group, the Free Lagos Orange Movement surfaced in Lagos ostensibly to replicate the Kwara O to ge revolution in the Centre of Excellence. Claiming that the group had no permit to organize a protest rally, the police prevented the Free Lagos Orange Movement from staging its demonstration at the Lagos Airport Hotel. However, one of the conveners of the group, a former President of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Mr. Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), enunciated its aim to the press.

    In his words, “The Free Lagos Orange Movement is a non-political movement that is aimed at ensuring that we have good governance in Lagos State. We feel that Tinubu has had his time as the emperor of Lagos since 1998, and we are trying to mobilize Lagosians to say no to continuity of Lagos by Tinubu”. This is indeed most astonishing. So Lagos has had one emperor presiding over its affairs since 1999 and not governors democratically elected in 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015 and now 2019?

    Of course, the point that Agbakoba and the Free Lagos Orange Movement are trying to make is obvious. They seek to establish an equivalency between the Saraki and Tinubu political dominance in Kwara and Lagos, respectively, since 1999. Political influence and electoral dominance are not alien to democracy. However, every dominant political tendency will ultimately stand or fall on the basis of the verdict of the electorate on its impact on their lives, positive or native, as determined in free, fair and credible elections.

    It is thus instructive that the APC in Lagos won the March 9, 2019, governorship election by a more emphatic margin than it did in 2015 – a landslide. It was a grievous error of judgement for the Free Lagos Orange Movement to have extrapolated so carelessly from the politics of Kwara to Lagos without a more rigorous analysis. In the first place, the kind of feudal-oriented and essentially backward dynastic politics foisted on Kwara by the Sarakis over the last four decades is impossible to replicate in any South-West State least of all a cosmopolitan megalopolis like Lagos.

    Any dominant political tendency in Lagos can only sustain its relevance and enjoy continued popular support if it is perceived as utilizing its mandate to pursue the greatest good of the greatest number of the people.

    For 16 years between 1999 and 2015, Nigeria not only stagnated but even retrogressed badly on virtually all fronts – infrastructure, security, social welfare, poverty indices etc under the PDP. That fortunately has not been the fate of Lagos. With Asiwaju Bola Tinubu laying a solid foundation for the revitalization of the state and Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) as well as Akinwunmi Ambode building admirably on this inheritance, Lagos has witnessed a steadily incremental improvement in revenue capacity, modernization and expansion of infrastructure, enhancement in the quality and affordability of social services as well as better security among others.

    Equally instructive is the fact that not even the obstacles placed on the path of Lagos by a largely adversarial PDP-controlled centre between 1999 and 2015 have been able to impede the state’s progress.

    It is all too easy to assume that all this occurred through happenstance or sheer magic. In reality, it is a function of careful planning, policy focus and consistency as well as continuity in visionary governance since 1999. This in turn has been made possible partly because in June 1999, the Tinubu administration transformed the previously existing Plans, Programmes and Budget Bureau (PPBB) into a full- fledged Lagos State Ministry of Economic Planning and Budget (MEPB) as the organizational fulcrum for the long term development planning of the state. It is under the aegis of the Ministry that a Master plan has been produced and systematically implemented and fine-tuned by successive administrations with the period 1999 – 2024 as its first phase.

    Furthermore, Tinubu’s extraordinary ability to identify and develop talents as well as give them wings to fly on their own steam and become impactful leaders in their own right has been a key defining feature of governance in Lagos since 1999. This is of course contrary to the feudal ethos that has characterized governance in Kwara since 1999. Over the last 20 years, governance in Kwara has been plagued by policy adhocism, paucity of vision and an ascriptive rather than merit-driven mode of public appointments and elite recruitment with negative consequences for progress and development.

    Could Kwara have charted an alternative development course with more positive developmental outcomes than the pathetic situation in which the state finds itself today? Most certainly. Dr. Saraki has the talent and ability to have charted a transformational path for Kwara during his eight years as governor. The opportunity was unfortunately, in my view, squandered. Those who know him, say that the outgoing Kwara State governor is a man of competence and ability. But what template of governance did he inherit? What legacy of excellence in governance did he have to inspire him to rise above the mediocre? Was he bequeathed a governance ecology that would have enabled merit to thrive? Those are some of the questions that the Free Lagos Orange Movement should have carefully interrogated before jumping into the partisan fray in Lagos.

    Has Lagos then arrived at her Eldorado? Most certainly not. No polity ever does. Lagos is a work in progress. The mega city continues to experience her share of environmental, bureaucratic, ethical and several other challenges. However, Lagos remains the most successful state model of developmental democracy, economic emancipation and social progress in Nigeria over the last 20 years. That is why the O to ge movement that shook Kwara to its foundations suffered an anticlimactic meltdown in Lagos on March 9th.

    It is certainly not for nothing that Lagos remains the prime destination of choice for millions of Nigerians and even beyond who throng the state daily in search of success and prosperity. Perhaps the O to ge revolution will propel Kwara to discover and begin to actualize her immense potentials as a state.