The Nation Newspaper

Category: Saturday

  • And the beat goes on

    The best of football in Europe is played during the Yuletide in England. While the rest of the continent marks the festive period with their families, the English game lights up the atmosphere so much so that players barely have time for Christmas with families. Twenty-four hours after Christmas, the players troop onto the pitch again, vying for points to lift their clubs out of the relegation zone or zooming to the zenith like we have seen with Liverpool FC. No less than six games are played during this period, with the peak of the pack being the New Year Day fixtures, which ended on Thursday night when defending champions, Manchester City halted Liverpool’s unbeaten run at the Etihad stadium with a 2-1 victory.

    Pundits have argued that the Barclays English Premier League (EPL) matches are the ultimate to watch with their galaxy of stars drawn from across the globe. Others have ascribed the popularity of the English game to the country’s vibrant press, but many blaming the slow development of England’s Three Lions on the presence of foreigners in the EPL. They displace the English stars and the budding ones from their clubs. Let’s not talk about the mind-boggling figures paid to the stars weekly. They deserve whatever they are being paid, since the life span any athlete is 12 years, barring any career threatening injuries.

    But the gauges for measuring the best European leagues are the UEFA Champions League and the Europa League Cup. Countries which dominate these competitions earn the bragging rights for this title, especially those leagues that win the trophies. For this last season, the Spaniards can beat their chests that the LaLiga is the best, having produced the club (Real Madrid) that won the UEFA Champions League and the Club World Cup. The Spaniards can stretch their swags by saying that Atletico Madrid, another Spanish side, clinched the Europa Cup and the Super Cup, a competition meant to determine the best European club for last season. Simply put, all European club soccer trophies are in Spain.

    Will there be a paradigm shift in the teams that will win these trophies next year? It is very likely because key characters in the Real Madrid cruise are gone, leaving the Los Blancos tottering. King Cristiano Ronaldo and manager Zinedine Zidane’s exit has grossly affected the Galacticos’ playing style, although other Spanish sides, such as, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, can do better than the past winners.

    Ronaldo has joined the Italia Serie A, taking his charm and records to the league that had lost its guile. Today, “Ronaldo? He is the man of the year,” Tuttosport wrote on its front page, which was dedicated totally to CR7, who reached a remarkable tally of 49 goals during the calendar year, second to Messi with 51.

    Gazzetta dello Sport pointed out Juventus’ amazing record in Serie A. The Bianconeri have collected 101 points in the year and 53 of these in the first round of the current campaign. The numbers and form indicate that the team, led by Cristiano Ronaldo, is set to celebrate yet another title at the end of the season, perhaps even several weeks in advance.

    Is Ronaldo obsessed with individual titles and trophies to the detriment of the team’s objectives? Ronaldo informed ‘’Sports Daily Records’’ Tuesday: ‘’I’m not obsessed by individual prizes. the most important thing is to win collective trophies and help the team, the rest comes naturally.’’

    ‘’I don’t think all the time of beating records. I work above all to help the club and be at my best level. the technical, tactical and physical level of all teams is better today. It is increasingly tough to win, so I have to keep working hard to stay on top, ‘’ Ronaldo said.

    Is Lionel Messi missing Ronaldo’s exploits which pushed him to surpass CR7 in subsequent matches? How about the mind games between these incredibly great soccer players? for 10 years, Ronaldo and Messi dominated  soccer’s top prize – the Balon O’dor. This dominance was stopped this year by Lukas Modric, who also plays for Real Madrid.

    Ronaldo recognises Messi as his biggest rival. He seizes every opportunity to throw jabs at the Argentine at least to create a media blitz which the Portuguese enjoys, if the issue is Messi and not tax offences and those surrounding his association with girls.

    According to UK’s Daily Mirror, the Portuguese said: “I played in England, Spain, Italy, Portugal, in the national team while he is still in Spain. Maybe he needs me more. For me, life is a challenge, I like it and I like to make people happy. I would like him to come to Italy one day. Like me, accept the challenge.”

    Messi’s response settled matters about both players playing in the same league again. He said: “Accepting Ronaldo’s challenge to join Italian football? I don’t need any change.”

    “I’m at the best team in the world. My challenges are renewed year after year. I do not need to change teams or leagues to set new goals. I am at home and I do not need to change,” the Barcelona forward told Marca.

    The exit of Buffon from Juventus was very emotional as the goalkeeper virtually spent his fruitful years in the game with the Old Ladies. Buffon has joined the French Ligue Un alongside an armada of stars, such as Neymar, Mbappe and Cavani. The French Ligue Un has dropped its less league toga to challenge the LaLiga and Barclays English Premier League for the titles that separate the boys from the men – UEFA Champions League and the Europa Cup diadems.

    Will Neymar, Mbappe and Buffon change the course of history by lifting the UEFA Champions league and make the French league the new Mecca for soccer players next season?  Sixteen clubs have qualified for the next stage. They are Manchester United, Paris Saint Germain, Roma, FC Porto, Ajax, Real Madrid, Tottenham, Borussia Dortmund, Liverpool, Bayern Munich, Lyon, Barcelona, Atlético Madrid, Juventus, FC Schalke 04 and Manchester City.

     

     

    Mikel’s last hurrah

    Will John Mikel Obi wear the Super Eagles jersey again? Or has Mikel chosen the honourable way out of the team by keeping his coaches at arm’s length whenever Nigeria has an assignment ahead? Is there something troubling Mikel which is making it impossible for him to tell Gernot Rohr that he is through with Nigeria’s matches? Could it be that Mikel wants his injury to heal properly before playing again? Will that game be his last hurrah for the Eagles? Could it be that we have refused to see Mikel’s new initiative of wanting to give back to the system where he grew from – giving back to streets soccer through a soccer academy?

    Mikel has seen it all. He has won the Africa Cup of Nations and a bronze medal in the competition. Mikel has played in three World Cup competitions, although he returned to England, injured, shortly before the 2010 World Cup held in South Africa.

    Too many questions but those who saw Mikel struggle through the interview after Nigeria exited the Russia 2018 World Cup with the 2-1 loss to Argentina, knew that the most decorated Nigerian player want to quit the game. Mikel’s reluctance in quitting has more to do with him willing to play but his body is refusing to follow his emotions.

    Mikel virtually licked his lips in responding to this question of his imminent exit after the Mundial. His story was troubling, especially when he told everyone how he kept the secret of his father being held captive by kidnappers before the Argentine game. Mikel’s voice was barely audible; as he fought back tears, looking at the ceiling.

    Mikel still wants to be part of the new team which he described as hugely talented. He wants to be part of the new dawn in the administration of the game, having seen the worst of the system in the past.

    Mikel gave Nigeria his best. He may have shunned a few games in the past. He could be forgiven because he had to choose between club and country. Most times the conflicting tasks were such that he played for Chelsea instead of Nigeria, since the club paid his wages.

    Coach Rohr has been unable to get Mikel’s word about his future. Perhaps, Rohr needs to get the federation’s boss Amaju Pinnick to intervene, knowing the relationship between both men. With six months to the Africa Cup of Nations, Rohr needs to know if he can plot his plans devoid of Mikel. That way, he can easily find who will best play the captain’s role at the Africa Cup of Nations.

    Mikel must not be allowed to exit the Eagles without fanfare. Mikel has won the two important trophies in European club football with Chelsea FC of England. A product of FIFA’s grassroots programmes, starting with the Golden Eaglets for the U-17 cadre, Flying Eagles at the U-20 level, the Olympic Games for U-23 players and the Super Eagles. A serial captain for our national teams because of his leadership qualities, Mikel should be celebrated with pomp and ceremony.

    I look forward to Mikel’s valedictory game with President Muhammadu Buhari leading everyone to the National Stadium to give this worthy Nigerian a befitting farewell. It won’t be a bad idea if FIFA and CAF presidents witness the event. Such moving scenes encourage the younger ones to follow the skipper’s path to glory.

    Thank you John Mikel Obi. Up Nigeria!

  • Bringing out Pogba’s best

    Club tradition held sway on Sunday during the away game between Manchester United and Cardiff, with hitherto ‘big boy’ Paul Pogba the biggest casualty. Stripped of his vice-captaincy badge by the former manager, Jose Mourinho, then benched, Pogba was left licking his lips when Sunday’s game captain Ashley Young prevailed on him to step aside for Jese Lingard to take the resultant penalty kick, which he converted with aplomb.

    In the past, Pogba would have insisted on taking the kick. His jerky and uninspiring movement towards the ball would have sent many nervy fans away from their seats whilst those inside the stadium would have covered their faces, waiting for the worst – the kick missed.

    If there is indeed the anticipated new dawn for the Red Devils, it came from the decision to make Young the captain. Young’s intervention in the penalty kick situation sent the message to those unruly few that the team deserve to be among the top four in the Barclays English Premier League table, not being adrift in points like they are now.

    In fact, the manner in which Ole Gunnar Solskjaer set up his team for the game reduced Pogba’s seeming dominance to an all round passing of the ball, with everyone working to regain possession as soon as they lose the ball. The pattern reminded many of the Sir Alex Ferguson days, rightly so, because Ole Gunnar was his student.

    Pogba realised he had to prove his mettle, culminating in the defence splitting pass that led to Lingard’s second goal, Red Devils’ fifth against Cardiff, which was quite instructive. Pogba will roll his sleeves in subsequent matches. He is a World Cup winner and capable of turning games in Manchester United’s favour like he did last season at the Manchester Derby where United beat City in a dramatic comeback at the Etihad Stadium.

    Many have linked Mourinho’s sack to Pogba’s antics, resulting in the Portuguese losing the Red Devils’ dressing room. Mourinho encountered all the big boys, perhaps to assert his authority, which he didn’t need to, given his pedigree in the game. The players know his worth. They would have obeyed him just as Mourinho could have respected them for what they are worth. Mourinho fell because no club will sacrifice its big stars on the altar of keeping the manager, no matter highly placed. Many thought Mourinho would have learned this lesson from his previous misadventure, particularly at Chelsea.

    It appears Pogba, like all superstars, is a brat. His conduct and insinuations leading to Mourinho’s sack and after suggest he wants to be the first among equals. This may be working for him with an interim coach, but the bigger picture will emerge when Manchester united gets a permanent manager with stature. Then the conflict will begin. Among coaches, Mourinho is a brat. One only hopes he appreciates what transpired in clubs where he got sacked to plot his future in the game.

    The big question rests with the fact that Ed Woodward may have papered the cracks in the team with Mourinho’s sack. Pogba should be told bluntly to be of good conduct lest he goes in the summer for peace to reign. Otherwise, his legion will grow in the team and it won’t be the best of challenges going forward.

    Should Mourinho take time off coaching, like Pep Guardiola did after exiting Barcelona? As a workman, you cannot continue fighting with your tools and expect to produce good results. The players are the tools coaches use to deliver their job.

    Many have argued that Manchester United should not have signed big players, not for its poor finances but for the fact that they detest the Special One’s handling of top stars wherever he worked. The few big players who agreed to join the Club did so at cut throat prices- even when they were past their prime football age.

    Mourinho was wiser in handling Wayne Rooney. Perhaps because Rooney knew he had lost form. In fact, Mourinho’s sack, the third in his last four employments- Chelsea, Real Madrid, now United – explains why he should re-jig his operations. I digress!

    A club source told The Sun: ‘’Once Woodward had talked to the Glazers and told them he wanted Jose out, he needed to be certain he could get the right kind of figure in for the short term at least. That’s where Fergie came in and he helped make sure the whole thing happened with Solskjaer and Phelan.’’

    Former Red Devils defender McGrath told the Irish Independent: “I don’t like having a straight-out go at a lad who is still actually a young footballer – but Paul Pogba now owes a debt to Manchester United. He’s a world champion. And I’m sorry, but it is not as simple as saying that with France last summer he was surrounded by class acts with who it was easy to play – Kylian Mbappe, Antoine Griezmann, N’Golo Kante, Blaise Matuidi and Raphael Varane, etc.

    “It doesn’t matter who you are playing with. I saw Paul Pogba chasing back, heading balls out of his own penalty area, tackling, covering, grafting, when France were under real pressure protecting a 1-0 against Belgium in the World Cup semi-final. That was nothing to do with the quality of his team-mates. It was Pogba wanting to be the best player and team-mate he could be, to be a winner, not the player of the last two months at Manchester United.”

    Inside the newsroom at The Nation on Boxing Day, a female soccer fan said: ‘’Ehen, so Pogba dey score goals? Maybe he likes the new coach. Make we see wetin he go do now wey Mourinho don comot the club for am.’’ This woman is a Chelsea fan but was irritated with the attention Pogba got in the face-off leading to the Special One’s sack. Players’ power plays are not unique to clubs where Mourinho coached.

    Any club with players, such as Pogba should win trophies without qualms. Little wonder Ole Gunnar has made the Frenchman the pivot of a resurging Red Devils, making his goals against Huddersfield a breath of fresh air.  Pogba is happy again. He could reignite Red Devils’ campaign, with 19 weeks to the end of the 2018/2019 Barclays English Premier League season.

    And his new manager, Solskjaer provides the icing on this new dawn,  stating: ‘‘That’s the Paul I know, the one I’ve known since I had him in the reserves. He’s always been a happy boy and always had a big smile on his face.

    ‘‘When you play for United you should be happy. Of course, it’s a responsibility but it’s also an honour and a privilege. He’s a United boy through and through. He knows what it means to play for Man United. Paul created two or three last time, this time he scored two himself and I hope he’ll enjoy it.’’

    The Daily Mail’s analyst, Amital Winehouse said: ‘’Statistically, the new-manager bounce does not really exist. The idea of the shackles coming off depends on the people involved in the change, not just by sacking and appointing. But Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has had a clear impact at Manchester United where one man is concerned — Paul Pogba.

    ‘’His double against Huddersfield gave him four goal involvements in the two games under Solskjaer (two goals, two assists). That’s the same total he had registered in his last 12 games under Jose Mourinho (one goal, three assists).Whether it is motivation or instruction, Solskjaer is working for United’s crown jewel.’’

    Is this the reason Manchester United fans are celebrating? What will happen if Ed Woodward opts for a bigger and more experienced manager instead of retaining Solskajaer? What if Pogba decides to dump Manchester United, especially if the Red Devils don’t qualify for the UEFA Champions League or the Europa Cup next year? Is Woodward sure that big coaches, such as Zinedine Zidane and Mauricio Pochettino, will tolerate Pogba’s tantrums? Sadly, Mourinho is a footnote in United’s recent modest history and Pogba is back in the spotlight for the right reasons. Such is life.

     

    Stop washing dirty linen in public

     

    Honourable Sports Minister Solomon Dalung thought he dropped a bombshell by disclosing that Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) chieftains received N1.6 billion for the country’s 2018 World Cup preparations. Dalung must be shocked to read the federation’s response that N3 billion was approved for the exercise, raising the question – how much did the Federal Government release for the 2018 World Cup campaign?

    Honourable minister sir, how much did the presidential fund raiser get for the Mundial? How much did it cost the government to airlift the FG delegation to Russia? Who paid?

    The minister shouldn’t arrogate to himself functions that are not his. The country has two bodies – EFCC and ICPC – to diligently handle corruption cases. The minister’s role is purely supervisory. Giving the NFF anything short of what the government provided for is worrisome. How was he expecting the NFF to function effectively if what they asked for didn’t get to them? It is equally disturbing to read that the federation got the N1.6 billion after we had been beaten 2-0 by Croatia in our first match. If so, what was the cash meant for?

    It is about time government found a way out of this Sports ministry/ NFF wahala where either party washes its dirty linen in the public. Twenty three other countries were at the Mundial. We have not heard any bickering in the dimension of ours? Perhaps, the government should channel funds approved by it into NFF’s account without routing them through the ministry.

    Unfortunately, unspent government cash must be returned to the government’s coffers, yet the business of the game is kept on hold due to lack of cash.

     

    And this

     

    I want to wish everyone who reads this column a happy and prosperous New Year.

  • Embodiment of civility

    It is understandable that the unruly, anarchic and utterly uncouth behavior of a not insubstantial number of legislators when President Muhammadu Buhari presented the 2019 budget estimates to the National Assembly last week Wednesday has been widely condemned by several analysts. The protesting legislators not only exhibited an unwarranted contempt for the person of the President, they also sought to diminish and treat the exalted office of President with ignominy. It is absolutely indefensible. You don’t have to like the incumbent. But you are duty bound to respect the institution.

    In the Second Republic, President Shehu Shagari and his fiercest opponent and critic, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, were not necessarily the best of political pals. But Shagari was gracious enough to award Awo the National Honour of Grand Commander of the Federal Republic (GCFR) for his contributions to national development even though it is a title reserved for occupants of the office of President. That is the height of graciousness and civility.

    Now, is the legislature supposed to acquiesce to the executive’s budgetary proposals or any other legislative agenda whatsoever without asking questions? Surely, no one can rationally make such a proposition. A robust legislature that steadfastly protects its systemic boundaries as an institution from the incursion of the executive is critical to the tenets of separation of powers as well as checks and balances that constitute the defining elements of the presidential system. The opposition, in particular, is expected to robustly but constructively interrogate the budget and other legislative proposals from the executive especially where legislators belonging to the ruling party are inclined to supinely act in accordance with party solidarity.

    If we take a cue from history, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, leader of opposition in the First Republic, offers us a model of how to engage the executive’s proposals, especially budgetary estimates, in a most rigorous, yet even-handed and constructive manner. Awolowo’s party, the Action Group (AG) was diametrically opposed to the ruling coalition of the Northern People’s Congress (NPC) and National Council of Nigerian Citizens (NCNC) ideologically and philosophically. This meant, of course, that the AG had radically different ideas as to what ought to be the country’s socio-economic objectives and, by implication, what should be the budgetary mechanisms, the mix of monetary and fiscal policies, to achieve them. Yet, at no time did they vociferously seek to prevent the Minister of Finance from articulating the government’s economic programme as embodied in the budget in parliament.

    For instance, in a speech on the 1961 Appropriation Bill given in the House of Representatives, Lagos, on 7th April, 1960, Awolowo declared “It is common for the members of the Government Bench to speak of constructive criticism. They have accused the opposition on a number of occasions of failing to be constructive in their criticism…I think that the Government’s idea of constructive criticism is that people should come here and sing the praise of the government all the time; but our idea of constructive criticism is that we should point to those flaws and defects in the government’s policies and then proceed further, and not just stop there, to make suggestions as to how those flaws and defects could be removed and ameliorated”.

    Having laid this premise, the leader of opposition then undertook a pungent and unsparing critique of the budget proposals after which he said, “What do we then do to avoid this borrowing spree from various countries? I have eight points, which I would submit for the serious consideration of the government”. This was not just criticism for its own sake. But could the AG have given a thorough analysis of the budget and offered concrete alternative proposals to ameliorate its flaws, if its members had created a chaotic scene in parliament and strenuously sought to prevent a smooth presentation of the 1961 budget proposals?

    Would it not have served the PDP and indeed the nation better if its legislators opposed to PMB and the APC had listened attentively to the budget presentation, gone on to study its key proposals carefully and then during the session provided for its discussion at plenary, clinically dissect and thoroughly deconstruct the document? Unfortunately, by attempting at every turn to obstruct PMB’s delivery of the budget address, the opposition legislators created the impression that they had a hidden motive for not wanting millions of Nigerians watching the event live on television to hear what the President had to say. If the budget was irredeemably flawed and the government’s claims mostly false as alleged by the heckling legislators, why then were they so desperate to prevent the President from getting his message across?

    What was showcased, once again, by the indecent conduct of the opposition legislators at the budget presentation is what the late Claude Ake characterized as the ‘overvaluation’ of state power by the political class. This refers to the preoccupation of the political elite with the acquisition of power by all means and at all costs even if to the detriment of the public good. With the fixation of the PDP on reclaiming power at the centre next year after the 16 years of the locusts to which it subjected the country between 1999 and 2015, they do not mind to desecrate and devalue the high office of President, which ironically the party is desirous of occupying again. This is rather unreflective, short term thinking.

    The overvaluation of political power is, in turn, actuated mostly by the perception and utilization of state power as a means of corrupt enrichment and mindless material acquisition. It is indeed in the national legislature that this trait has been most prominent in this dispensation what with the humongous illegal allowances the legislators notoriously award themselves across party lines. It is important to stress here that the culprits in this regard are not just PDP opposition members as this is an attribute of the political class as a whole.

    After all, a number of APC legislators who lost out in the party’s primaries also joined their PDP colleagues in heckling and insulting PMB. What informs the desperate quest across party boundaries to retain or win party tickets at all costs? Again, the answer is obvious: The opportunity that control of state power provides to access and illegally ‘privatize’ collective resources.

    PMB is unquestionably the object of visceral anger on the part of large segments of the political elite because of his widely lauded aversion to mindless personal accumulation of wealth. True, he is not a Saint. But he may well be so described in contrast to many members of our notoriously rapacious political elite. The leadership he has offered in the last three and a half years has witnessed a sharp decline in the degree of venality by occupants of public office compared to the previous 16 years.

    Thus, in the run up to the 2019 elections, the opposition is seemingly investing more time and energy in trying to impugn PMB’s character and integrity than in outlining their own plans and programmes for the people. Their strategy seems to be that of proving that ‘PMB’s corruption is bigger than mine’. But that will be a herculean task for them to achieve even if the democratic context in which PMB is fighting corruption today makes him vulnerable to a degree of credible criticism. Unlike when he was military Head of State between 1983 and 1985, the President’s party has no choice now than to collaborate with electorally valuable decampees from other parties indicted for corruption but who are seeking refuge within the APC from the prehensile claws of the ubiquitous Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

    Much more importantly, the unfortunate incident of last Wednesday in the National Assembly vividly illustrates the erosion of civility as a virtue not just among the political class but in virtually every sphere of our national life. In his Y2000 book, ‘Standing for Something’, the American church leader and theologian, Gordon B. Hinckley, writes: “Civility, I submit, is what gives savor to our lives. It is the salt that speaks of good taste, good manners, good breeding…Civility is the root of the word, civilization. It carries with it the essence of courtesy, politeness and consideration of others. How very much of it we have lost in our contemporary society! All of the education and accomplishment in the world will not count for much unless they are accompanied by marks of gentility, of respect for others, of going the extra mile, of serving as a good Samaritan, of being men and women who look beyond our own selfish interests to the good of others”.

    Faced with heckling, insults and provocative taunting, PMB stood serene and unflappable only gently admonishing his traducers and appealing to their finer instincts and sense of patriotism if any. He stood tall among moral pygmies. The man of war became the embodiment of civility. What an irony!

  • 2018: The year of the tribalism, Buhari and Trump

    Xenophobia  is the fear of   strangers  and ethnocentricism is the belief  that one’s culture  is the best.  2018,  outgoing as it is,  was   the year that  these two  concepts were  stretched  to their limit amongst  nations of the world, on the  issues  of  security  and migration. The  influx  of migrants especially  from the Middle East into Europe  tested greatly  the  concepts   of  charity and love for  your neighbor,  which  is the guiding principle  of  Europe  which  boasts  of being Christian and  historically   merciful  to those fleeing war.  Italy, the   host   of the Vatican and Roman  Catholicism, literally  closed its borders   to migrants   and elected a government that campaigned   and won  on refusing  to  allow  access to migrants facing death on the Mediterranean   while   entering Europe. Italy  suddenly   realized that  Italy  is  for  Italians.  So  did Hungary, Poland, Czech  Republic and Slovakia. In  the EU   nations ,  the fear and hatred  of  migrants and strangers  reached its zenith in 2018.

    In  Nigeria, a presidential  candidate  picked an  Igbo  man to be his running mate and the entire Igbo nation in 2018  pledged  their  total  support  for the PDP  in the 2019  elections. In  similar  fashion a governor of the ruling party in Nigeria called  on  the Yoruba race to reward the  Buhari   government  with reelection  because it has given  choice positions to the Yorubas in his government that came to power in 2015. The  Vice  President backed   this up   by  asking the Yorubas  to vote  for Buhari in 2019  so as to brighten their  chances  of claiming or clinching the presidency  in 2023.

    Even  in Britain , Nigeria’s  former colonial  overseer,   the Queen , Elizabeth 11, in her Xmas  message   while extolling the benefit  of wisdom, noted that the bane of  our time,   taxing  the wise  principles of  faith, family, and friendship in a paradoxical  world of good and evil, is the emergence  of  the tribe. It  is the use of the word tribe on an issue  that Europeans  normally call Nationalism, or  Populism,  by  the   Queen  that caught  my attention in that royal speech. The  word  tribe is normally  used by the colonialists  to characterize the  different  and various  ethnic   groups  they  bandied together to  form  nation  states   in  a tension soaked existence   that  lacked trust  and  mutual  understanding  and  has led  to the political   instability  that was  the flagship  of post  independent developing nations  that  emerged from the colonial  era globally.  That  was why  the Great   Awo  was  able to  point  out that the word  Nigeria  was   ‘a mere  geographical   expression’ .  So  what  prompted  the normally benignly  quiet  British  monarch   to use  the word tribe in   a manner   deploring Nationalism  which  has reached its  peak  in   Europe   in  2018?

    It  is my view  that the confusion of Brexit,  itself  a product  of  Xenophobia,  and   doubt on how to implement it might  be a factor. But  I  think  the use of tribe to deplore resentment of strangers  inherent  in Brexit  as well  as the suffocating effect  of  US  President Donald  Trump’s  America First policy   on Europe, and reflected in the  Brexit vote,  could  have made the Queen  to  use  the  word tribe. And  that  usage,   because  of  Trump  makes  the word  tribe  perjorative   as used   by  the Queen  but  all  the same with  that same   hostile   meaning of nationalism  and fear  of strangers  in  2018, especially migrants, in the EU  and Britain.

    What  I  am  getting at  today is to  make  the choice  of   a Man  of the Year 2018   and from  my  musings  so  far   I think  it is clear  where  I am  heading.  Since  the Man  of the Year  according to Time Magazine’s   globally   accepted   benchmark   is someone who  has dominated  world events for  good  or bad,   I will  pick a global   one   and  a Nigerian  Man  of the Year and top this up with  an  Idea  that  has affected the world most, also  for good  or bad.  Consequently  my   Nigerian Man  of the year   is the Nigerian President Muhammadu  Buhari. My global  Man of the Year  is US President  Donald Trump and my  Idea of the Year  is Tribe, or  Tribalism  in Nigeria or  Nationalism in Europe as discussed  before,    as they are  both   different   sides   of the same  coin, in my  view.

    President  Muhammadu Buhari has influenced Nigeria, for good or bad  more than any living Nigerian in 2018. This  is inspite of his illness  from which he has obviously  recuperated and despite  the fake news that he  has been cloned.  As President  I hold him responsible  for the insecurity nationwide especially  in the North East  where Boko  Haram  still  holds  sway  even  though he said some time that they  have been reduced to guerrilla  tactics. Yet  Boko  Haram  still  attacks barracks with impunity  according to news  reports and the  Shehu  of Borno  corroborated this by telling the President on a visit that  the  terrorists   are still  active  and  murderous  and kidnap  citizens  in his domain at will.  The  president  must  account  for why perennial  power  supply  still  persists  inspite of the best effort  of his Minister  who  is fighting tooth and nail to redress the issue.  Also  the issue  of the clashes between  the farmers  and the herdsmen remain largely  unresolved   with  the herdsmen  and their spokesmen behaving and talking  as if they  are above the law.

    On  the good side I commend  the President  for  his equanimity in the face of provocation by  his detractors on his  mortality  and the insult  of the National Assembly when  he went to present his budget.   I  note  very  warmly his persistence  on the war  against  corruption and his unwavering        support for  his two  ant corruption czars  in the EFCC    and  the Nigerian  Police especially on the refusal  of the  Senate  to have these  two  gentlemen confirmed in their   positions.  I commend his  tolerance  and unusual  understanding  on  the criticism of his wife on his appointees  and the hijack of his government by alleged two or three members of a cabal and urge him  to act on his wife’s  observations as charity begins  at home.  He  has certainly  kept  Nigeria at  optimal  capacity  in terms of  political   stability and  food  security   and  on that note alone he deserves reelection for his accommodation  and understanding  of the  diversity  and complexity  of the Nigerian nation, which  he  should  reflect  in his choice  of Service  Chiefs if not now but certainly  in his next  dispensation after  reelection.

    The  choice  of  President  Donald  Trump  as global  Man of the  Year   was an easy  one for  me perhaps  because  I am  not an American or an American  educated Nigerian, most of who don’t  want to hear anything good  about Trump. As a student of global  politics I hold  him   in  constant focus  for many reasons. In  2018 he  changed world  politics, diplomacy in a U turn  manner  that is unbelievable. He  launched  a trade  war that single  handedly brought  globalization to  a stop as without the US there is no  free  trade or such  agreements as  the established ones in Asia  or North America.  He  had  a meeting with the N Korean  leader  and made the unification of the Koreas  a possibility. He  ordered his troops out of Syria  from where  the influx of migrants is threatening the stability  of the EU and went  to visit his troops   with  his wife at  Xmas  to boost  morale in Iraq  with  his wife. He  has boldly said  he is ready  for the Democrats  who  have more seats  in the House  of  Representatives  from the November 2016 Mid  Term  elections. He  has used twitter to fight  both opponents and allies  alike  and has made Isolationism US foreign  policy in 2018. Definitely  in 2018 American President  Donald  Trump  has done more  than  any leader to influence world events for good or bad in 2018. Once again  long live the Federal  Republic  of  Nigeria.

  • Still the Special One

    The headlines capturing the Jose Mourinho’s exit from Manchester United FC in England were most unkind. Consider this: ‘’Toxic Mourinho won’t be missed at Manchester United.’’ The trend of comments was the same -unsparing adjectives were used to qualify Mourinho as if he brought no joy to the teeming fans in his 30 months stay in the club. Last season, he won the only trophy not in Manchester United’s locker, the Europa Cup. What a cruel fate for the Special One, who sadly, was driven away from the team’s training session Tuesday by his driverafter being barred from training.

    This humiliating setting gave the players the effrontery to ridicule their coach on social media and in the way they mimicked the tactician, with the worst coming from Paul Pogba. Pogba hurriedly pulled down his tweets when some concerned fans chastised his role in the manager’s sack.

    What was clear on Tuesday morning was that Mourinho had no hint that he would get the push. It was unfair. He came into the club’s training ground ready for work, only to be ‘forced to meet face-to-face’ with the club’s Managing Director, Ed Woodward, whose relationship with the coach is worse than the perceived animosity between the Special One and Paul Pogba.

    Ed Woodward, lately, has been at loggerheads with coaches who signed for the team in terms of who to recruit during the transfer window. A club with such high turnover of coaches has immense administrative bottlenecks which must be examined before good coaches reject the club’s jobs.

    Mourinho’s two-and-a-half year tenure witnessed spats with many stars including Pogba, Luke Shaw and Anthony Martial. The dressing room was in turmoil. However, the fans feel that the players will be jumping for joy that Mourinho is gone.

    Woodward and the big boys at the Red Devils have made Mourinho the reason the team is tottering, even with its sixth position and a Round of 16 ticket at the UEFA Champions League. Mourinho left the club at the worst stage of its history in the last 28 years. The Special One is history now but the club’s management has the daunting task of ensuring that the Red Devils return to the high platform where Sir Alex Ferguson left them.

    Mourinho warned about the team’s soft underbelly, especially in the defence. He listed players he wanted to strengthen the problematic areas but Ed Woodward looked the other way. The positions where Mourinho couldn’t get the players to cover haunted the team, not Pogba’s truancy or his long list of encounters with irritant players. The coach may have his shortcomings of not being able to manage big players’ ego. He needed the management’s backing to call such boys to order; he got no such support.

    Anyone expecting a parachute movement for Manchester United with the new arrangement in place is in for a shocker. Mourinho’s exit will create a void which the new man won’t be able to fill. Besides, the fear which teams have when playing against the Red Devils will diminish, given the new manager’s pedigree in the game – not much beyond the ‘’baby-face assassin’’ toga he had as a former player and patchy feats with minnow clubs.

    Mourinho’s exit threw up a load of reasons why he was fired with the biggest flaw being his dress code for an historic but sad incident in the club.

    According to The Times, senior United figures were ‘’appalled’’ by Mourinho’s casual clothing. However ‘’nobody had the gumption’’ to tell him to change.

    ‘’Mourinho attended the February memorial at Old Trafford wearing dark trainers with a white trim, and a black hooded top under his club suit. February 6, 2018 marked the 60th anniversary of the Munich air disaster, in which a plane carrying the Manchester United team crashed while trying to take off from the German airport in horrendous weather conditions.

    ‘’A total of 23 people died, including eight United players and three members of staff. Manager Matt Busby was severely injured, while Sir Bobby Charlton, now a club director, was among the survivors. ‘’

    The Times wrote on Wednesday: ‘’It is also reported that officials were angry – but powerless to intervene – when Mourinho had his son sit next to him on the bench for a match against Swansea last April.’’

    Former United forward Ole Gunner Solskjaer has taken charge on an interim basis until the end of the season. And, while much of the football world has been discussing United’s decision and what the future might hold for Mourinho, the departed manager was not entertaining questions as he appeared publicly for the first time since the news broke.

    Will the Barclays English Premier League miss Mourinho or is it good riddance to the Special One? Mourinho had his good sides, especially the jives at opponents before matches. Mourinho’s mind games raised the stakes. Not forgetting his tantrums at the sidelines when things were not going to plan.

    Many have asked if the Red Devils expected to play fanciful soccer by recruiting Mourinho? They knew he’d demand costly changes to the squad to get them competing, but they bought into it. They knew they risked alienating those fans who want more than anything to see flowing football, but they bought into it.

    Asked about his next move by The Daily Mail on Wednesday in London while on a stroll, Mourinho said: ‘’No, you know me. You know me. Let me walk. I have nothing to say. You know me, if you want to walk with me then let’s walk to Battersea. I have nothing to say.’’

    Mourinho said: ‘Manchester United has a future without me and I have a future without them. Why should I be sharing more now? Even with the supporters, any of my feelings. It’s over. That’s the way I’ve always been.

    ‘’I’ve been critical of managers that speak about details about what’s happened and who is to blame. That’s not me. I just want to finish like it happened yesterday and I’d like to say it’s game over. I just hope you media respect this way for me to be.

    ‘’Until I get back to football I think I have my right to live my life like I do now. That’s what I want to do. Manchester United is past.’’

    The media will miss Mourinho with his jabs at everyone, especially when they odds are against him. He spares no words to hit back at his enemies when the going is good; little wonder one Daily Mail reporter described him thus:  “Mourinho is the king of barbs and side-swipes, never stepping back from the opportunity to turn the spotlight on anyone – everyone – but himself when questions need answering. He actively pursued a rift with Iker Casillas while at Real Madrid, physically attacked Tito Vilanova in one memorable touchline altercation, landed himself in legal hot water when blaming Eva Carneiro for tending to Eden Hazard at Chelsea, and blasted United’s “football heritage” after their Champions League exit to Sevilla last season. “Sometimes I feel that Jose Mourinho is in the wrong trade. His theatrics defy human comprehension. He remains an unresolved puzzle, which confounds. The industry loves to hate him. He is the man for all seasons, especially during matches which involve big clubs. Why people find pleasure in taunting Mourinho in high profile games remains a mystery.

    His exit paves the way for Pogba’s dominance in the team since he spearheaded the truancy in the dressing room where Mourinho stood firm to control to the chagrin of the big boys. Can Pogba say he has taken one over Mourinho? I don’t think so, given the whiplash he suffered in the social media when he tried to be naughty.

    According to The Sun, Pogba shouted: ‘He thought he could make a fool of me and turn the fans against me. He f***ed with the wrong baller,’ at the club’s Carrington training ground on Tuesday morning.

    It is claimed the only player who did not join in the celebrations was striker Romelu Lukaku, who was signed by Mourinho for an initial £75million in 2017.  Michael Carrick, who served on Mourinho’s coaching staff, was quick to get involved though and reminded Pogba that no player is bigger than the club.

    The report suggests Carrick reminded players that anyone who is not up to scratch would be sold and they needed to pull together to improve results on the pitch. Carrick knows better, having retired from playing for Manchester United last season. He knows that Mourinho fell to players’ power supremacy and knows those to dismiss from the squad in January or in the summer.

    Interestingly, Pogba faced a backlash led by former Manchester United defender Gary Neville after reacting to Mourinho’s sacking with a controversial Instagram post – which he then deleted 10 minutes later. Pogba put up a smiling picture of himself and wrote ‘caption this’, prompting Neville to respond on Twitter: ‘You do one as well!’ Neville’s fellow Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher also weighed in, criticising Pogba, who deleted his post.

    New manager and indeed a former Red Devil has promised the fans good tidings in his tenure, which starts today with an away fixture against Cardiff.

    And speaking to MUTV, Solskjaer admitted: ‘’It’s great. It feels like coming home. It’s been a few whirlwind days. It’s been very hectic.’’ ‘’It’s great to see everyone again,’’ he said in his first interview since being named the club’s caretaker boss.

    ‘’It’s six months, I’m going to enjoy the ride. I’m back home. It’s about seeing the players, seeing the staff and, of course, just being myself.  I know the club is in the process of finding a new manager and I’m just going to be myself in the meantime.

    ‘’With me of course is Kieran and Michael and the rest of the staff; we just want to get the players enjoying football. I’m looking forward to seeing the supporters again.’’

    Thank you Jose Mourinho, you are still the Special One.

  • APC discord and presidential vacillation

    IF peace and concord are to reign in the All Progressives Congress (APC), President Muhammadu Buhari will have to firm up his party and governmental ethics to set the moral tone for the ruling party. So far, he has not done that. In fact, increasingly, he is showing that he is less disposed to offering the party the leadership it urgently needs. The party is unquestionably in disarray, despite the enormous conciliatory work the party’s chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, has put into regulating party affairs and smothering revolt within the ranks. But hard as he has tried to paper over the cracks, his efforts appear more like putting new wine in old wineskin. The problems Mr Oshiomhole contends with, and which the president dithers over, are largely inherited. It will require the concerted efforts of the chairman and the president to restore sanity and amity in the party.

    Mr Oshiomhole’s interventions are well known, even if they have achieved only qualified success. He has returned the party to the path of discipline and rectitude, curbed the overweening influence of some party leaders, including governors, and shown daunting readiness to contend with and curb every facet of dissension in the party, whether it be ethical or organisational, or personality or philosophical. His readiness to face up to the acrimonious internal politics of his party has seemed to charm many members and officials within the party. But his methods and objectives have also contradistinctively alienated some powerful individuals in the party, some of them very close to the president.

    It is not clear which is the culprit in the party discord, whether the president’s dithering or the active and fiery opposition of powerful individuals. But it does appear as if both the president’s dithering and the powerful individual opposition to Mr Oshiomhole reinforce each other. The sword cuts both ways, with the dithering giving fillip to the opposition, and the opposition in turn giving catalyst to the president’s dithering. Mr Oshiomhole has so far stood pat, but having been unnerved by the president’s indecisive and imprecise interventions in late November, his resoluteness and panaceas appear increasingly unable to command enough amperage. More than three weeks ago, the president had summarily overruled the party chairman by admonishing aggrieved party members to litigate their grievances. This intervention came on the heels of Mr Oshiomhole’s warning to party dissidents to shape up or ship out, insisting that they must exhaust party dispute resolution mechanisms before heading to the courts.

    On Thursday, the president, in what seemed like a mild vote face, urged aggrieved party members to pursue genuine reconciliation. He embraced this new deal while receiving defecting members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from Kano State who paid him a courtesy visit in Abuja. The defection, which appears to strengthen the APC position in that Northwest state, is a fallout from the political schism between the bedraggled governor’s camp (Abdullahi Ganduje) and the former governor’s loyalists (Rabiu Kwankwaso) bivouacked in some impenetrable redoubts in the state. The president’s call for genuine reconciliation is, however ,unlikely to be heeded, for it is as futile as his earlier call for litigation. The reasons are not far to seek, and they are principally his own making. One of the reasons trumps every chairman’s competence and questions his political ethics and bona fides. The cause of the hostility is the party chairman’s refusal to endorse Mr Okorocha’s candidate, Uche Nwosu, for the 2019 Imo governorship election. The party under the firm grip of Mr Oshiomhole supports Hope Uzodinma.

    The situation in Ogun State is no less provocative and disconcerting. In that Southwest state, Mr Oshiomhole and the APC have endorsed Dapo Abiodun for the state’s 2019 governorship election while repudiating Abdulkabir Akinlade, the candidate of the governor, Ibikunle Amosun. Livid, Mr Amosun has called the party chairman unprintable names and insisted that whether the chairman and the APC like it or not, Mr Akinlade will become the governor next year. Mr Okorocha also insists that his candidate will win. It is not the presumptuousness of the governors that unsettles APC members or amuse the public; the most unsettling thing is actually the president’s hesitant approach to the matter, his dithering in the face of insurrection, his seeming lack of resolve when the ruling party is being gravely threatened.

    In a clear defiance of party discipline, both Mr Amosun and Mr Okorocha have pushed their candidates into other political parties, hijacked a significant portion of the APC machinery to back those candidates, and managed in the same pungent breath to sit pretty in the ruling party on the platform of which they are contesting senatorial seats. Under the instruction of Mr Amosun, Mr Akinlade has defected to the Allied People’s Movement (APM) and become the party’s standard-bearer for the 2019 governorship seat. On the order of the Imo governor, Mr Nwosu has defected to the Action Alliance (AA) and taken the ticket to vie for the governor’s seat. Both Messrs Amosun and Okorocha as well as their new all-purpose party vehicles have pledged their loyalty to the president, announcing boldly and widely that the two parties have endorsed President Buhari for a second term.

    So far, the president has seemed unable to distinguish between his own interests serviced and flattered by the support of political insurrectionists, and the larger interest of the party as defined and exemplified by Mr Oshiomhole. It is inconceivable that he has appeared to let his friendships get in the way of the larger and long-term interest of his party. He may not like the way the party has resolved the disagreement between the party and Messrs Amosun and Okorocha, but once a resolution had taken place and the courts are unable to reverse it, not to talk of how close the whole affair is to the next elections, the president has a duty to ensure party discipline and supremacy. Both Imo and Ogun governors have openly identified with other opposition parties, and have pledged to work against the interests of their own party in selected elections. Yet, they have not even been censured. The president ought never to countenance that kind of revolt. Indeed, encouraged by the president’s dithering, some other disgruntled party leaders, including a federal cabinet member, Bayo Shittu of Oyo State, have taken spine-chilling oath to work against the APC.

    It is likely the rebel leaders have in a manner of speaking given an undertaking to return to the APC once their alienated candidates triumph in the governorship polls next year. It is an uncalculated risk, not to say an unethical step. The president had the power to placate the disgruntlement in the party when the cancer first reared its head in the first few months of the party’s 2015 victory. He unwisely didn’t, or, as some say, perhaps because he couldn’t. Now, with the disgruntlement accentuated by lack of discipline and egregious rebellion, the president has remained perched on the horns of neutrality or indecision. If he does not urgently reconcile the party and its rebels, or take firm steps to punish the revolt in the leadership because he is indulgent of the executive rebels, there is no telling how fast or hard the cancer will spread.

    Sadly, there is no indication that the president is willing to champion any real and lasting reconciliation beyond talking the talk. Perhaps, indeed, it is already too late to even sue for peace. The aggrieved party leaders sensed the president’s lack of resolve and have exploited it. The stakes are now so high and the consequences too dire to persuade any of the rebel leaders to climb down. The conflict has in effect become a zero-sum game. Somebody will win delightfully, and somebody will lose appallingly. The winner will then take all. Both winners and losers will, however, hope that the party can survive the brutal rebellion that has exposed it to so much public ridicule.

  • Power, decorum and focus

    The  presentation  of  Nigeria’s 2019  budget by the president  at  the National  Assembly this  week  lacked all  the decorum expected of  such an important duty of the two political institutions  of the presidency and the National  Assembly  involved in our presidential  system  based on the separation of powers. Really    have no doubt  in my mind  that the fault lies with the leadership of the NASS  especially  as the Speaker of the House of  Representatives  and the President of the Senate were not able to present the address at  the joint session  as required  by the protocol and decorum of budget  presentation in Nigeria since the return  to democratic  rule in Nigeria in 1999. Even  the normally taciturn president chided in the midst  of the cacophony  that all  present should  be above   such    a disturbing spectacle  because  the world was   watching.  That  really  is quite true  and I want  to add  that the world has seen  Nigerian  legislators  at large  and at work   and   the world  at  large is disgusted  and nauseated.

    All   the same it   is impossible to treat the misdemeanor of  our legislators in isolation in a global  village that we are in  nowadays. This is because  we  saw  in other  parts  of the world  particularly  two  places  known  for the recommended practice  and ethos of liberal  democracy   that  violent language and verbiage has become the norm  rather  than  the exception.  In  the British  Parliament,  reputedly the  Mother of All   Parliaments,  the leader  of the Opposition  was alleged to have called the PM Theresa  May  a stupid  woman during debate  on Brexit  and a vote of no confidence in the PM, and the leader of Opposition, Jeremy  Corbin   was asked  to apologise  and he refused. In  the case  of the US it  has  become common place to   call  the American President a liar and an  ignoramus  on all  issues regardless  of his authority    as   president.  Indeed     from all indications some media  houses  are  simply  waiting   for  the  conclusion of the  Muller  Inquiry  on  alleged  Russian  hacking of  US 2016 presidential   elections,  and the resumption  in January   of the  House  of Representatives, where  the  Democrats   have  a comfortable majority  from the last November Mid term elections,  before  calling for the impeachment of the American president.  Indeed  one can say  flatly  that  there is no love lost between  a section of the US press  that  President Trump  calls daily Fake  News and the office of the US President and White  House  occupied  by the US president.

    Yet  Nigeria’s  democracy  is  a hybrid  product of the two  democratic   political  systems of  Britain  and   the  UK,  both  of which  nations  are  experiencing such  democratic  stress, difficulties  and challenges  that it is no wonder  that  nowadays   they  doubt  the  results  of their elections and   referendum,  which  was  an  unthinkable  if not impossible development in the recent past. Of  course  it is such  fallouts from  the workings   or is it   failings, of democracy   in these  two nations  that  have  reverberated in the disrespectful audience  given  the Nigeria President  when  he came to present the 2019  budget in the NationaL  Assembly  last  week.   Let us now  look  at  the aborted budget presentation of the Nigerian  president  in the sedate  setting of the National  Assembly which  legislators  turned  into a   vociferous  and  truculent  market  place of political slogans, jeers  and boos of the Nigerian  president such  that  he had to leave the presentation in a hurry. We  shall  then round up with  the reluctance of the Leader of the Labor Party  to apologise  for   allegedly  calling the British  PM a  stupid  woman.

    As I  said  earlier here,  I  hold  the leadership of the National Assembly  responsible  for the lack of respect shown  the office of our  president when  he came to present the nation’s  budget.  This was a constitutional  function based on the legislative oversight   function of the NASS to  approve the budget. To  make the presentation so rowdy  such that the leadership of the NASS could  not make its presentation as required by protocol and decorum is as  if the leadership of the legislature has willingly cut its nose to spite  its face . I praised  this present  NASS  leadership  sometime at the height of the heady    party  defections  in  NASS  that rocked the   Nigerian polity  some time ago. This was at a time when the Senate and the House  of Representatives passed delayed bills dutifully in spite of differences  and disagreements with the presidency. I  hailed that as a good sign that our separation of   powers as a presidential system  was working  even  at a time that that of the US was in hiccups over  a  Supreme Court  confirmation process. I  take back  that  commendation given the shoddy  reception given  the president when  he came for budget presentation this week.  There  was so  much  confusion and bad blood  on display  even at  the beginning when the senator giving the opening Christian prayer forgot  to remove his cap  till the end of his  prayer.  The  commotion that followed  certainly  showed that God turned  a blind  eye  to the prayer and that   is   not a good omen  for the  budget and its implementation. That  too is not good for  millions of Nigerians looking forward for better  dividends of democracy from  the Nigerian  2019  budget  because when  elephants  fight, it is the ground that suffers. Again due to poor leadership  our  democracy  is on   tenterhooks even  as we head  giddily   to the 2019  general  and presidential  elections.

    With  regard  to the calling of  the British  PM stupid it would seem  that some mischief  makers  are trying to make  a mountain out  of a mole  hill. Even  if  Corbin said  stupid  it was under his breath and in frustration because the PM had the better of  him while mocking him to  look  at  his back  and see his un impressed Labor Party  members. Indeed the Opposition leader looked as if he saw  a ghost  at  the joke.  And  the PM,   even  if she heard ‘stupid’  was  nonchalant. But   she  was   gleefully   happy     that her joke  on   withering  party    support   had  riled  her very  bitter opponent on  Brexit   and would  have  let  bygones be bygones.  But    then  Theresa  May     had   a score   to settle    with   Jeremy  Corbin  on    Brexit   harassment.  So,    as said  of   the   arrogant   character in that   famous  book  ‘Pride  and  Prejudice ‘, the PM certainly   ‘possessed  enough malice to make herself  merry with the embarrassment‘ of the Opposition leader on the  Brexit   No  Confidence  vote. Once  again long live the  Federal Republic of Nigeria.

  • Political parties, discipline and change 

    It  is interesting  indeed  that the President  of the Nigerian  senate  and some senators  have reportedly  attended in  the  US,  the  inauguration of  the   Strategy  for Africa session of the American  government. It  is a commendable  step in that it shows that  outside Aso  Rock  housing the  executive arm of government in Nigeria, the legislature too is very much interested  in Nigeria’s relations  with the leading democracy  in the world led  at this momentous  period  by  the leading catalyst  for disruptive  change in the world, US President  Donald Trump.

    Britain    also  weathered     the momentum  of change  this week as  the  British  PM  Theresa May  survived a No  Confidence  vote  of her party, the  Conservative  Party after  she had   wisely   postponed,  at the last  minute,  the  promised vote on Brexit  which she would predictably  have lost roundly  thereby   effectively  removing her  from office as PM . In   Germany  too  the wind    of  change  has literally  blown Chancellor Angela Merkel   aside  as she  has  been replaced  as her Party  leader by  another  lady who  is more  conservative  than  her  at least on the issue  of   same sex marriage  which  the new leader  has  outspokenly   said, on record, should be between a man  and a woman.

    Anyway,   it   is becoming apparent  in world  politics   today  that political  parties have  become  more dynamic in reacting to  socio political  changes  than ever  before. Since  Donald  Trump  emerged  as a political  neophyte  in the 2016  US presidential  elections in spite of   a   lack   of  support of  the  political  party leadership   of his  Republican  Party,   the  world  has not been  the same again . But  since Trump  got  to the White  House  his party  has  rallied  round  him.  Indeed  both           faith   and   party   loyalty      for him have  been    tested  especially  at the Senate  not  the least  by  the rancorous  Judge Kavernaugh Supreme  court  confirmation  hearings,    where the  Republican  Party  displayed  solid  party  solidarity and unflinching party  discipline  to  get  a narrow political  verdict  that reflected Republican  values  and virtues . It  is in that  light that  one can look at    the  visit  of  the Nigerian senators to the US to  watch  the launch of the US Africa  Strategy,  especially  with  the kind  of  bag  and baggage   the Nigerian  senators carried to the US in  terms  of party  discipline  and political  changes  taking place  in the Nigerian  political  establishment  and environment.

    Let  me confess  that  I have always thought  that  the problems of the Nigerian  political  system  stemmed   from our  abandonment of   parliamentary  system  of  government  handed down  to  us  by  Britain, our colonial  master  and the adoption of the  expensive  Presidential  system of  governance  under  a  military  government. The  debate  on Brexit in the British  Parliament that  I  watched  this  week  has certainly  changed all that. While  I was impressed  by  the quality of argument  for  a hard, soft,  bitter  or  no deal  Brexit   I was appalled     by  the  way  and  manner  that the  opposition MPs  and  the dissident Tories attacked  the deal  on the  floor of the House leading to an  MP  seizing  the mace on one occasion  before   it was  returned by another MP. Of  course  the Speaker  was helpless  and speechless momentarily,  before thanking the MP who  brought the mace back  and reprimanding the  naughty   MP.  Even  the venom in the Opposition leader  Jeremy  Corbyn’s speeches at  the debate showed  a fierce opposition to  the PM’s Brexit  Deal  that  was almost  a personal  attack.  British   Parliamentary   democracy   as    I was  taught  is    based  on the majority  having its way  while  the while   the minority    must    have  its say. The   Labor  Party  at  that  debate  was   not  only contented    with  having   its  say ,   expected   of the opposition   or minority, the  party   leader   wanted to bring down  the PM on the   Brexit   Parliamentary  debate     He  confirmed  his   anarchistic    disposition  by  calling the postponement of the vote  on Brexit   as  unacceptable  as  if  it  was illegal  when  it  was just  a survival  political   strategy   cleverly   executed  by the   embattled  PM.

    However the  only  silver  lining in the Brexit   debate  in  Parliament was  the persistence  and doggedness  of the British  PM in sticking to her guns  throughout  and not  losing composure  inspite of  taunts and provocative  jabs  at  her Brexit  deal  even  from   her  party  . On  that account  she  can  be tagged the’ Iron Lady ‘  like Margaret Thatcher  was once  admirably  described  and as  the German  Chancellor Angela  Merkel  was called  before  she allowed a floodgate of over a million migrants fleeing  war in the  Middle  East  into Germany in 2015. This  earned  Angela  Merkel  the eternal  enmity  of  both  conservatives in   her Christian  party  and opposition and coalition   partners  alike.  Even  though  Theresa  May  survived  the No  Confidence  vote  she  has offered not to present herself  for  any leadership role of her  party  in the next  election. But  she has shown  clearly   that  even  when party  discipline breaks  down,  a leader  must  be firm  and rally  the party  around  the decision  of  the electorate  thereby    guaranteeing  the integrity  of the electoral  process and democracy . Which  really  was   why  she has stood  so  firmly  and boldly against another    referendum  after  the British  people  have voted  to leave the EU  . In  the end  I think  history  and indeed  posterity  will  not  judge  her  very  harshly  as her opponents have  breezily   and   so  contemptuously  alleged.

    On  the visit  of the  Nigerian  Senate  President  to the US  it  is apparent  that the visit is a  window  dressing to  show  the US that  the Nigerian  senate  is up  and doing in terms of its legislative responsibilities  and  law  making. But  the senate  should be doing more  to promote a politics of principle  that  value  party  discipline  more  than habitual  defections which is the vogue nowadays.  That  is why  as at last  count it   was   difficult, according to observers  to know which  has  a majority  between  the two    leading parties in the  Nigerian  senate.  More awkwardly   the US embassy  in  Lagos    may  be asked  by  the State Department in Washington  to  confirm  the present parties  of  the visiting   senators  and  to  ensure  that  defections  did  not take place enroute  to  the Africa  Strategy  launch  of the Trump  Administration.  One   thing is very  clear   however   on the American  Africa Strategy. This   is that   US President   Donald  Trump    will  not interfere in African  affairs  like his predecessors.  This  is because     he said  at  the UN  General  Assembly  this year that if other  nations including  African  nations  put their nations first  like his America First  policy  then  there  would  be no  need to go cap in hand  begging for aid  from other  nations.  Which  is another way  of a developing nations to put their  houses in order in terms of  leadership,  morals and accountability. More  importantly   US Africa Strategy  under Trump  will  definitely  not  ask other  nations  especially  African nations like Nigeria who  have anti  gay  laws  to repeal  such laws if they want American economic aid,  like the  Obama  Administration  did,   ever   so  disrespectfully, during his  tenure.  Once  again  long live the  Federal  Republic  of  Nigeria.

  • Festival without games’ flame

    The National Sports festival is back, but not with a bang. Those expecting new things are still in shock. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the multi-sports festival meant to discover and nurture talents at the grassroots to win big laurels at big tournaments for Nigeria has lost its value – and glamour.

    The festival is a glorified inter-house sports; a mockery of the show that kept Nigerians staying up at night to watch the highlights of interesting events captured on television while they were busy at work.

    In fact, sportsmen and women looked forward to the festival, which was meant to foster unity among the participating states of the federation and Abuja. National Sports Festivals were miniature Olympic Games for Nigerians, where those things that made the global event a showpiece were recreated. All that is gone. The most shameful aspect is the absence of the burning flame inside the National Stadium in Abuja to signify that something very important was going  on there. The fans rightly have shunned the place.

    I sat through the opening ceremony of the festival in Abuja and didn’t notice any quartet of ex-internationals running into the stadium with the games’ torch ahead of a motorcade. I didn’t notice any of the big ex-internationals jogging through the terraces to light the ceremonial games’ torch. I have searched in vain for the burning torch.

    In fact, the torch’s journey starts with the President igniting it at a big ceremony. It then travels round the participating states. At the states, governors took pleasure in receiving the torch. Not anymore. Governors now send their officials. They are always busy. In the past, the governors drew applause from the crowd that are at every stadium when they held the torch  while running round on the tartan tracks inside the stadium. Pictures of such governors  were splashed on newspapers’ front pages.

    The march past was a platform to celebrate the Nigerian culture – our dressing, dance styles and those things that are unique to particular states. I laughed when I saw athletes in ‘’coats of many colours.’’ I doubt if all the states marched. From the march past you knew how many big stars (national teams’ athletes) were at the games. It informed the need to watch key events such as the 100 metres male and female finals, 4×100 metres relay men and women finals or events in which national champions were dethroned. Athletes cherished having their governors eat their meals and see the setting in which they are prepared for the competition.

    I recall watching the late Samuel Osaigbovo Ogbemudia sack one ‘’untouchable coach’’ for failing to comply with camp rules at the once famous Afuze Games Village. I wondered then how it was possible for the late Ogbemudia to be at Afuze as early as 6am to witness and sometimes participate in the morning drills. Ogbemudia drove straight from Benin City, about one hour 10 minutes, to Afuze. He ate the meals and sanctioned any caterer with poor quality meals. Athletes’ allowances were paid.

    But today, the festival is like a pain to our governors. What are their priorities? Flip through the dailies, the stories bother on the inadequacies in the games village. Contingents arrived in batches, some having to travel between six and19 hours on the road; others, who were unlucky, were victims of armed bandits; they lost their belongings, yet they were expected to win laurels for their states. Pity.

    Again, I remember how the late Ogbemudia made Midwest’s and Bendel states’ entrance into cities hosting the multi-sports event a spectacle to behold. In those days, Lagos had the tag, ‘’Eko for show’’. But Lagosians

    watched in awe as the Midwestern and Bendel states’ contingents drove in a convoy of buses. The buses driven by women. I remember coming down from one of the buses with my colleagues to take pictures of the bridges and the beautiful scenery Lagos offered from the top of those bridges. Flyovers were unique to Centre of Excellence; so we had to be part of history taking shots from the place. We used Polaroid cameras those days. Sports was good. Rock in your casket Ogbemudia, an officer and gentleman, frontline sports lover and exemplary administrator.

    The festival will be closing this weekend. I wonder how the administrators will hand over the flag to the next host when there isn’t any torch in the stadium. What will be the highpoint of the games if we can’t sit back and watch how the torch flame will be extinguished. What a country! I left Nigeria for London in 2012 to carry the Olympic Games’ torch with other world sports greats such as the late Mohammed Ali. I was invited by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in collaboration with soft drinks giant Coca-Cola. It was an unforgettable experience.

     

    Truly Africa’s best

     

    The African Footballer of the Year Award is one diadem soccer stars cherish. Winning it makes the answer the continent. A few choices have ruffled feathers, but the truth is that the voting patterns are released to authenticate what was done. Most winners have had unblemished records, but a few have been bad representatives of the award, such as the ‘spitting cobra’ El Hadji Diouf of Senegal.

    George Opong Weah has given the award a presidential fillip with his new assignment as Liberia’s president. Weah also won the 1995 FIFA World Player of the Year award. He is the first African player to win the award and the only one till date. It isn’t surprising the ex-internationals are angling to hold positions, which were hitherto held by politicians. A few have started running organisations which address some humanitarian activities.

    The reigning winner, Mohammed Salah, politely rejected the Most Valuable Player (MVP), which he earned for being the best player against Bournemouth on Saturday after scoring a hat-trick. Rather than accept the MVP plaque, Salah presented it to his mate James Milner, who scored the game’s first goal, but who was remarkably playing his 500th Barclays English Premier League game. Salah’s rare gesture left Milner blushing, unable to believe what he was seeing.

    Salah’s 10 goals silenced doubters who felt that he was a one-season wonder star, especially as he struggled through Reds’s matches, losing goal-scoring chances unlike last season. The Egyptian was the poster boy for Liverpool with his goals. Not a few pundits tipped him to win the World Footballer of the Year award. It didn’t happen.

    Salah’s injury almost cost him his appearance at the Russia 2018 World Cup, where Egypt crashed out of the first round. On 19 June, Salah scored a penalty in Egypt’s 3–1 defeat to hosts Russia at the Krestovsky Stadium, Saint Petersburg. In Egypt’s final group game on June 25, Salah scored his second goal of the World Cup with a chip over the goalkeeper in Egypt’s 2–1 defeat to Saudi Arabia at Volgograd Arena.

    Salah has been involved in 78 goals in 75 games for Liverpool. He has been directly involved in 48 goals in 38 games in all competitions for Liverpool at Anfield. Salah has scored nine goals in nine Champions League appearances at Anfield for Liverpool. Only Steven Gerrard (14) has scored more in their Champions League history. Salah has scored 34 goals for Liverpool in 2018.

    These incredible feats qualify him to join the league of African players who won the continent’s best star award back-to-back. A Nigerian, Nwankwo Kanu, achieved the feat but that isn’t the story today. With 10 goals and joint highest goal scorer with another African, Pierre Aubameyang, the Gabonese who plays for Arsenal FC of London, and both of them being past winners of the award, makes the choice of the next best African footballer of the Year a close call.

    The distinction could be the European championship where Salah plays in the elite class (UEFA Champions League) while Aubameyang stars in the Europa Cup for the Gunners. It isn’t as easy as that, if one considers the fact that Arsenal’s manager, Unai Emery, is a specialist in winning the Europa Cup, having won it several times with Sevilla FC of Spain. Emery won seven trophies in two seasons at the Parc des Princes – one Ligue 1 title (2017/18), two Coupe de France trophies (2016/17, 2017/18), two Coupe de la Ligue trophies (2016/17, 2017/18) and both Trophee des Champions that he entered. These seven titles amount to an impressive haul of 10 in the last five seasons.

    Emery left Sevilla after making history by winning the Europa League three times in succession in 2014, 2015 and 2016. His record could have been even better too, only for losing against Barcelona in the 2016 Copa del Rey final whilst Monaco snatched the league title from PSG’s grasp in 2017. However, he can still boast of being the best coach in terms of titles won across Europe’s major leagues in the last five seasons since 2013/14.

    What have the coaches got to do with determining who among the two players eventually  wins the African award? A lot. They decide if they will play weekly for 90 minutes or make cameo appearances. The best will emerge from the number of matches each one plays and how well their clubs fare in Europe this season. This is where Salah has the edge because he is literarily the soul of Liverpool’s attacking options. You cannot say so for Aubameyang, who Emery gambles on most times for the Gunners.

  • Presidency, Obasanjo: the unending 2019 wars

    STILL stunned by ex-president Olsuegun Obasanjo’s flip-flop over the Atiku Abubakar presidential bid, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and many Nigerians wait with bated breath for the other shoe to drop. They are certain that having excoriated the former vice president, Alhaji Atiku, so brutally and mercilessly in August, describing him as an incorrigible leader and a politician unsuited for the post of president, the former president would once again revoke his recent endorsement of his former deputy. Chief Obasanjo had in early October revisited his August denunciation of Alhaji Atiku, describing him this time as fit for the presidency, and indeed should be rightly addressed as president-in-waiting. For both the public and the APC, Chief Obasanjo’s volte face was too traumatic to be either true or lasting.

    What began as a battle of endorsements and good-humoured criticisms has now become an open and unremitting war. The APC is determined to press the matter and show the former president as unprincipled and hypocritical. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), for which Alhaji Atiku is standard-bearer, is also determined to show that Chief Obasanjo made a u-turn because increasingly, President Muhammadu Buhari’s unsuitability for the exalted presidential seat was becoming apparent. It is true that Chief Obasanjo’s description of his former vice president as incorrigible was harsh and shocking, but his walk-back, about two months later, in which he saw his former vice president as president-in-waiting was even more bewildering.

    As predicted by this column moments after Alhaji Atiku took the PDP nomination early October, the battle for the presidency would become most intense in January. January is around the corner. Not only will the campaigns become fiercely intense, in particular the war (sometimes of words) between Chief Obasanjo and his enemies in the APC will also become horrifyingly sanguinary. President Buhari and his aides know that a loss in 2019 would both bar them access to privilege and constitute personal tragedy to each of them, considering how they have all become accustomed to both the good life and the heady raptures of rosy future and circumstances.

    Chief Obasanjo is of course entitled to change his mind, regardless of how solidly he made it up earlier. When he first denigrated Alhaji Atiku in early August, few believed the former vice president could clinch the PDP nomination. The former president did not also think it possible, and perhaps had hoped that his throaty deprecation would catalyse his private cause of barring Alhaji Atiku from the presidency permanently. At the time, too, and since the beginning of 2018, Chief Obasanjo had preoccupied himself with the chimerical cause of enthroning a totally new leadership paradigm on the country. Between January 2018 when he indulged his damaging asseveration against President Buhari and the country’s political old guard, all of whom he dismissed as expendables, and August some eight months later, the former president was still hopeful he could help midwife a new national reality and political narrative.

    This was why on August 3, 2018 Chief Obasanjo found it supremely easy to derogatorily condemn Alahji Atiku in a manner most pernicious and unsparing. Said he: “How can I be on the same side with Atiku? To do what? If I support Atiku for anything, God will not forgive me. If I do not know, yes. But once I know, Atiku can never enjoy my support. I do not have personal grudges with anyone…If you do not do well for Nigeria, you do not do well for all of us. It is not a question of working with or not working with an individual, If you are working But about four days after Alhaji Atiku took the nomination, Chief Obasanjo dramatically and extraordinarily recanted. He was neither coherent nor persuasive, but his endorsement was enthusiastic and fulsome. Said he on October 11, 2018: “Let me start by congratulating President-to-be, Atiku Abubakar, on his success at the recent PDP primary, and I took note of his gracious remarks in his acceptance speech that it all started here. Yes, when it started, it was meant for Atiku to succeed Obasanjo.  In the presence of these distinguished leaders of goodwill today, let me say it openly that we have reviewed what went wrong on the side of Atiku. And in all honesty, my former vice-president has rediscovered and repositioned himself. As I have repeatedly said, it is not so much what you (Atiku) did against me that was the issue but what you did against the party, the government and the country. I took the stand I had taken based on the character and attributes you exhibited in the position you found yourself. I strongly believe that I was right. It was in the overall interest of everyone and everything to take such a position. From what transpired in the last couple of hours or so, you have shown remorse; you have asked for forgiveness, and you have indicated that you have learnt some good lessons, and you will mend fences and make amends as necessary and as desirable.”

    But when the former president’s zeal seemed to flag sometime last week, as apparently misreported by a section of the media, the combative president vociferously denounced those who thought he had become unprincipled so soon. In responding to the misrepresentation, Chief Obasanjo seized the opportunity, in a press statement issued by his spokesman on December 9, 2018, to again train his guns on his chief enemy, President Buhari, signalling that the 2019 presidential war would be a fight to the finish. Here is how he framed his response, dripping with venom and sarcasm: “It is disingenuous, if not malicious, for anyone to suggest that Chief Obasanjo was being neutral when he chose not to use the Owu (his hometown in Ogun State) convention as a platform for political campaign but instead adopted a communal and familial approach in talking to members of his Owu family. For the records, and as accurately reported by some media organisations, what the former President said at the convention in Owu was that while he would not impose any candidates on them, Nigerians should vote for credible candidates who would drive growth and development and make their lives better than it is now. Chief Obasanjo’s statement did not suggest his neutrality. In fact, the former President believes that only a fool will sit on the fence or be neutral when his or her country is being destroyed by incompetence, corruption, lack of focus, insecurity, nepotism, brazen impunity and denial of the obvious. Chief Obasanjo is no such fool, nor is he so unwise. The former president reassures Nigerians that he will not sit on the fence when he needs to be out and active for people to know where he stands in the best interest of Nigeria.”

    But every time he hurled his barbs at President Buhari, presidential spokesmen, including the inimitable Information minister, Lai Mohammed, and the pugnacious media assistant Garba Shehu, gave as much as they received from the former president. For instance, on December 10, Mr Mohammed snatched the bottom from the former president’s conviction. “With due respect to former President Obasanjo,” began Mr Mohammed cynically, “it is his constitutional right to support any candidate of his choice and we urge him to go out and campaign vigorously for any candidate he wants to support. He has not hidden his preference for the PDP candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, and we wish him very best of luck. However, I want to assure you that his candidate will be defeated roundly and comprehensively. It is not about endorsement; endorsement does not win election.” This confident response was nothing but a red rag to a bull.

    Chief Obasanjo is a man of many parts. He is as unrelenting against weaklings as he is merciless against his strong-willed enemies. It will not matter how President Buhari and his aides posture, whether as strongmen or weaklings. All that matters to the former president is that he has met his enemies, and he knows them, and he wants them to be subdued. He will stop at nothing to neutralise them. But, unlike former president Goodluck Jonathan who vacillated between courting Chief Obasanjo one day and denouncing him another day, President Buhari and his bad-tempered aides are eager to throw punch for punch, as often as needed. The smoke of the cannonade will only clear after February 2019, when from all indications either the president or Alhaji Atiku is electorally dead and buried. Alas, Chief Obasanjo knows that his political fate is now inextricably tied to that of Alhaji Atiku. So, in February next year, Nigerians will either witness a double coronation, at least figuratively, or a double burial in fact and in substance.