The Nation Newspaper

Category: Saturday

  • Better late than never on NHIS

    After more than one year of dithering over the retention of Usman Yusuf, a professor of medicine, as executive secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), the Muhammadu Buhari presidency has finally suspended the embattled appointee and ordered that he be investigated for alleged serial infractions that prompted protests against his leadership. The suspension order, dated October 30, 2018 and coming from the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), added that a seven-man panel had been constituted to look into the allegations against him. The panel is expected to submit its report in two weeks.

    But shortly before the statement from the SGF office, Prof Yusuf, exasperated by the controversy surrounding his headship of the agency and feeling quite beleaguered, decided to seek judicial interpretation regarding the powers of the Health minister and the NHIS Governing Council to suspend him or even discipline him. The suit was registered probably a few hours before the SGF’s statement on the same issue hit the public. Even though the presidency has now stepped in, the NHIS boss is unlikely to withdraw his suit partly because in tone and logic, it seems to agree with the position of the presidency on the powers and limits of governing boards of agencies and parastatals. Prof Yusuf should have taken this judicial option much earlier, perhaps last year when he began to dispute the powers of the Health minister.

    In July 2017, acting on widespread discontent against the leadership style of Prof Yusuf, the Health minister, Isaac Adewole, a professor of medicine, had ordered the suspension of the NHIS executive secretary. The minister probably apprised the then acting president, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, with the measures he was about to take. The NHIS boss threw a tantrum at the time, but he eventually but reluctantly vacated office. In February 2018, 2018, however, the presidency summarily reinstated him without so much as seeking to carry the Health minister along. It was obvious that though the presidency was in a quandary over the weighty allegations levelled against the NHIS boss, they still believed that no one but the presidency had the power to suspend or investigate their appointee. They should have come clean and stopped pussyfooting on a matter they apparently had a clear and fixed opinion.

    The presidency could still have gone away with their hesitations and doublespeak had the NHIS boss not stoked controversy again and again after his recall. Citing serial malfeasances against him a second time, the NHIS governing council again ordered the suspension of Prof Yusuf on October 19. In a strongly worded statement, the chairperson of the council, Ifenne Enyanatu, claimed to have had the backing of the Health minister to order the suspension of Prof Yusuf for violating procurement laws and dishing out contracts without regard to extant regulations. This time, with the president around, Prof Yusuf resisted the suspension and got policemen to escort him back into his office. The situation became very messy, with insinuations flying around suggesting that the presidency’s anti-graft war was imperilled and the president himself nepotistic.

    It was partly to quieten the rage of the public that the SGF, Boss Mustapha, at a retreat late October, insisted that governing boards of federal agencies had no legal or constitutional powers to discipline erring chief executives of agencies appointed by the president. It undoubtedly sounded logical. But NHIS labour union leaders in turn argued that suspension and investigation do not amount to removal. The back and forth over who was right or wrong may explain why Prof Yusuf headed to the courts to seek judicial interpretation. However, neither the NHIS council, nor the unions, nor the Health ministry, nor yet the presidency acted fast and sensibly enough to ensure that rumours and insinuations did not muddy the waters in NHIS. In particular, until it took certain steps on October 30, 2018, the presidency also acted mala fide. It should have taken ownership of the controversy when it first broke, taken firm control of the process of finding a resolution, acknowledged the malfeasances of the NHIS boss rather than appear to defend and back him, and taken the right steps to restore sanity to the embattled agency.

    The presidency was clear where its powers started and ended, and where the authority of boards also started and ended. It did not need more than a year of confusion and hesitations to come to the point where it has now ordered Prof Yusuf’s suspension and constituted a panel to investigate the allegations against the controversial executive secretary. Prof Yusuf may be an accomplished medical practitioner with global experience, but he gave no indications whatsoever by his haughty demeanour, insensitivity to NHIS staff and matters, and insubordination and foul language, that he was a sound administrator able to command the respect and loyalty of his staff. His imperial carriage grated badly with both staff and unions, not to say with the Health ministry and NHIS governing council. Had he taken a cue from his first suspension, remedied his faults, and restored confidence in his leadership, no further controversy would have been stoked, let alone attract a second suspension. He may win his case in the courts, especially given the government’s concurring interpretation of the limited powers of presidential appointees, but it remains to be seen how he would be exculpated from the procurement breaches alleged against him, or how he could regain the confidence of the staff and unions of the NHIS.

    Regardless of the outcome of the legal action he belatedly instituted against the Health minister, Justice minister and NHIS governing council, Prof Yusuf’s reign at the NHIS has come to an inglorious and ignominious end. Neither he nor the presidency can force him on the NHIS staff and unions who view his administration scornfully. He had carried himself with pointless arrogance before the staff of the agency, and insulted his way upstairs to the Health ministry and governing council. There will be no peace in the agency should he be reinstated, for even as adamant as the Buhari presidency can sometimes be, its officials doubtless understand the futility of foisting a peevish boss on intransigent staff. They will not dare stake the battered image of the presidency on a person and on an issue that promise very little political or even economic returns.

    It was not only Prof Yusuf that mismanaged the misunderstanding; the presidency is also guilty, by its desultory response to the crisis and by its lack of surefootedness, of accentuating the disharmony in the NHIS. The presidency does not have a great track record of resolving administrative squabbles, and finds it even more difficult to put to rest lingering doubts about its capacity to handle ethnic suspicions and rivalries among Nigeria’s sometimes fiercely competing groups. Yet, in politics, an elected government must summon the adeptness to mediate group wrangling and convince a vast majority of the people that its policies and style are respectively truly altruistic and pragmatic. Nigerians did not get the impression that in tackling the NHIS controversy the presidency acted with dispatch, wisdom and fairness. They must now hope that the government’s belated step in addressing the needless NHIS crisis is sufficient to put the matter to a noble rest. The onus is always on the government to quickly right wrongs, particularly in the face of academicians in government whose administrative awkwardness puts the presidency in an embarrassing position.

  • Curbing Rohr’s excesses

    We appear to be at the crossroads with Super Eagles manager Gernot Rohr’s in-today, out-tomorrow stewardship, especially with the army of stars struggling to punish seemingly less talented soccer nations. Given our players’ exploits in European football, we should stroll through these so-called minnows in the group matches, if we hope to climb back to the top five nations in the world like we were in 1994 after our debut World Cup appearance in the United States (US). Our target after six World Cup appearances should be to win the Africa Cup of Nations’ diadem as a matter of right.

    Indeed, a country’s growth in football isn’t measured by the number of foreign-based players in its squads but by the new names thrown up from the domestic leagues. This attracts European scouts into the country in search of budding talents, who most times come cheap (no disrespect to their innate skills). Such invasions by foreign scouts to the grassroots encourages development. These visitors will be persuaded to partner with the grassroots teams in a bid to benefit fully from the pool of talents in such areas.

    The spiral effect of seeing foreign scouts at match venues is that the locals will be further encouraged to get their kids to play the game, beyond the fact that it is a form of recreation which invariably improves the people’s health. The good talents taken overseas return as icons for others to emulate, especially when such a talent returns to improve the living condition of his parents and family members as we have seen with Nwankwo Kanus, Austin Okochas, Mikel Obis et al.

    Scouting for players in Europe and in the Diaspora for the Eagles is inimical to the development of the game. Need I restate the new development of wooing young kids from Europe to play for our age-grade teams? Isn’t this the death knell for the game here? The industry can only thrive with sporting activities geared towards getting the youth to dissipate energy on the various sports, not to be indulged in social vices.

    The mistake most of the foreign coaches we have employed who don’t work in Nigeria make is that they judge the game from the achievements of the clubs and academies that they see in place, forgetting that they were founded under frivolous circumstances. How many of these academies, for instance, have trained coaches and the right logistics to do the business? Do you expect an untrained coach to transfer the right skills to the talents under his tutelage? Will such poorly trained players be able to compete with the well trained ones in Europe? No way. Hence, Gernot Rohr must live here and set up his own structures which others can key into to standardise the process. Some of the monies accruing to the country for the game’s development can be channelled towards building centres of excellence for football.

    In other countries, this process ensures that all the national teams play in the same way. Players discovered are nurtured, exposed and monitored when they eventually become big stars. The essence of having good cadet teams nurtured from these nurseries is for them to grow and garner the experience needed to graduate into the senior national team. A situation where Rohr shuts the gates against our cadet stars leaves them with one option – to play in just any country under the guise of playing overseas.

    Sadly, it is only when their exploits are reported in such obscure European leagues that they are called to the Eagles. Of course, they would have lost their sharpness due to the quality of games they play in the coun tries where they are pseudo professionals. Rohr’s argument that the domestic league players are not talented is weak. It is also an indictment on his employers whose duty it is to develop the game.

    Four years is enough time to challenge Rohr to discover, nurture and expose five domestic league players across all the national teams. Having Rohr go home with $50,000 for coaching only the Eagles, is unacceptable. He should take charge of the CHAN Eagles, which is the nursery team that should feed the Super Eagles.

    Only exceptional players, such as Mikel, the late Stephen Keshi, Sunday Oliseh, Etim Esin, Samson Siasia, Mutiu Adepoju et al, can leapfrog the CHAN team to play for the Super Eagles. With the way Rohr is restricting himself to just the Eagles, the nursery will be filled with poorly coached players who won’t grow into stardom, using the senior team’s platform.

    Rohr won’t be the last foreign coach to be recruited. His predecessors discovered several home-based players who got lucrative contracts with European clubs, which helped the local league. These new stars encouraged the star-trek from Nigerian cities to Europe. Today, there is hardly any country where Nigerians don’t play. Players, such as Olisadebe, left the defunct Jasper United FC of Onitsha to play for Poland, when he realised he couldn’t break into Clemens Westerhof’s squad. Indeed, Westerhof dumped high scoring  professional Richard Owobokiri in the Brazilian league and John Fashanu of the famous Wimbledon FC of England for Yekini. Need I list how Yekini shook the world with his knack for goals?

    Rohr wants to succeed. He picks his best players, but where does this leave the game in the country? He promised a lot about the game here, including making all our teams to have a unique playing style.  He promised to train and retrain our coaches, but we have not seen such happen. What we saw in Russia wasn’t pleasant, except for the fact that the Nigerian side was one of the youngest at the Mundial. We salute Rohr for building the Eagles but such reforms should be anchored on the stars in the domestic game.

    Already, Rohr is losing grip of the dressing room with the jives thrown at him by Ogenyi Onazi, after his exclusion from the two matches on November 17 against South Africa in Johannesburg and Uganda in Asaba on November 20. Onazi alleged  the double standards by the manager at the World Cup, insisting that he ought to have played ahead of those fielded. Onazi, isn’t the coach. The prerogative of who plays and who shouldn’t is Rohr’s.

    Read also: Ex-Super Eagles player Cassidy to be buried tomorrow

    Ordinarily, ageing stars, such as Onazi,  should have been eased out of the squad after the Mundial. Having distinguished himself in the squad since 2013, he will be a liability in the team with his attitude to the coaches and the federation’s chieftains. Onazi’s replacement should come from the league and Rohr should find six home-based lads he can groom to pick the best two.

    It is good that Rohr has revealed why Onazi was dropped. The coach stated that he didn’t want Onazi to play using pain killing injections, which is wise. No player should be made to play with any health issue. A country with over 200 million people should have at least three teams of 20 players each, if the coach knows his onions.

     

    Mikel’s reluctance to quit

     

    I’m enjoying the mutual respect between Rohr and the country’s most decorated player John Mikel Obi in terms of when he should play for Eagles again. Mikel has become a regular customer with injuries, which means that playing for club and country is telling on him. He went to China for vacation football and for the megabucks. So, not much is expected of him in the Eagles, beyond his experience.

    After Nigeria was eliminated from the Russia 2018 World Cup, Mikel virtually held back tears when he answered the question if he was quitting the Eagles. It was understandable because prior to the last game against Argentina, he was told by kidnappers that they had his father and would kill him, if he raised the alarm of his father being held captive.

    Read also: Ex-Super Eagles player Cassidy to be buried tomorrow

    It was understandable, having being a national team member since his cadet days. The thought of quitting the game was too heavy for Mikel to bear, although he had the burden of visualising what his father was being subjected to by the kidnappers. Mikel bit his lip while talking to show the pain he was experiencing.

    Since the last game against Argentina, Mikel has not returned to the Eagles – no thanks to injuries. Even when he recovered, he pleaded for more time to allow the injury heal. One thing is sure, Mikel is reluctant to play for Nigeria, but cannot muster the courage to say so. He doesn’t want to offend people. Rohr can help Mikel by leaving him out of the qualification matches. Mikel could be listed in proper squad to Cameroon next year as a coach cum player. A passing shot preparatory to his official resignation from international football for Nigeria.

    NFF must not allow Mikel quit the game like our previous stars? A well attended ceremonial game in Nigeria against his friends, those he played with at Chelsea, will witness a box office attendance, with the proceeds sent to charity homes or whatever Mikel wants it used for. We must use Mikel to start the culture of sending off our great sportsmen and women.

  • Island Club at  75 –  The  politics of renewal, inclusion and performance

    Nigeria’s premier club, the Island Club  celebrated its 75th  anniversary  this week ending tomorrow    in great style and panache. Which  is no  surprise given the pedigree, location and history of a club that has produced in quick succession the leaders of  the  old, colonial, modern  and post independent Nigerian  society.  These were  the leaders and shakers of ideas, including  our  barons and captains of  industry. In  the long line of activities marking the event I want  to comment on two lectures given  by  the most important patrons of the Club  namely  the Grand Patron who traditionally is the incumbent president of Nigeria and its Patron, the incumbent Governor of Lagos state. The  topic of the Nigerian President’s  lecture  was –‘ Nation Building and Institutional Development, Lessons for  Nigeria From  the Island  Club at  75 ‘ and it  was delivered  by former Lagos state governor  and Minister  for  Housing Power and Works  Mr  Babatunde Raji  Fashola SAN  on behalf  of the Nigerian President Muhammadu  Buhari. The second lecture was delivered  by incumbent  and outgoing governor of Lagos state Mr  Akinwunmi  Ambode  and the title was- Nation  Building;  Communities , Inclusion and Prosperity.

    Without  mincing words  let  me say  a few  things on my  initial expectations on the two  topics  which  were anchored on the  elusive task  of  nation building which  hitherto  in my view  has  been  an elusive  mirage that  has  not taken  off  and is at  best  very slow work in progress  in  Nigeria.  This  has  been      very much to  the vexation  and chagrin of  millions  of  long  suffering Nigerians. In  the first lecture  the Minister  of PWH represented his boss very  well. He  reminded me of the former Minister of Information  in the  Babangida era  Chief  Alex  Akinyele,  who whenever  he  represented his boss  always  assured his  audience  of the weight  of his  representation  by  affirming at the start  of such lecture that  – ‘ when  you  have seen  the hand of the tiger, you  have seen the tiger’. In  Fashola’s  case,  however  not  only was the hand of the tiger on display, its    body  was totally present  and the reason  was not far fetched. The  former  Lagos governor  overlooks  three  very  important portfolios in the Buhari Administration  which  is  more than  that  assigned  any other Minister. In  taking  on the role of his Master’s  voice therefore Governor Fashola  was  actually  defending his own  performance  in office  in the context  of nation building.

    In  Governor Ambode’s case I  wondered  at  the use of the word ‘Inclusion’ in the title of a topic  given  to a governor  who  has just  been ambushed out of office by party leaders who accused  him of sidelining them in terms of Inclusion in his style  of  governance.

    I  thought  Ambode was a finished product politically  and  if  given the opportunity to ask  him any    question  at  the lecture I will simply  ask  him    to   explain    why he was closing the stable doors  after  the horses  have bolted  or  why  he  was getting wise as it  were  after  the event.

    Let  me  confess that on both  lectures  and their delivery  I  was pleasantly  surprised  and  I  ask  for  some understanding  on the reasons why.  The  Buhari  lecture  turned  out to be a campaign for re-election as president  of  Nigeria,  which  is  to  be expected as the Island  Club  is a most  potent ground  and  place  for opinion moulding and vote  catching for any  presidential  candidate  not to talk  of an incumbent  seeking reelection.  The  lecturer highlighted the success  of  the Buhari  Administration in Agriculture  and self sufficiency in food production. The  achievements of the  Buhari government in  Industry, Infrastructure, Power Generation, and Distribution, Road  Construction were highlighted  in  a  surprising way.  Which showed  that  the government  needs  to pep  up  its 2019 performance  campaign  as most  of these  projects  are  not  to the knowledge of the Nigeria electorate and 2019  is already literally here. The  lecturer  then  asked  for patience in appreciating the changes  being wrought  to improve the plight of the Nigerian  masses.

    He  gave an analogy of how the Eagle at  40  years needed a 150  day break  to renew its  vigor and energy  to live for another 30  years. But  really,  patience is what  the Nigerian  people can  ill  afford to lavish  on the Buhari  government as it    already  has the good will  and empathy to  move Nigeria forward  without  further delay.

    Especially  on the issue  of  security  and the emergence of renewed Boko  Haram onslaught in the face of claims of their  annihilation by the government.  Of  course  one can  admit that  Rome was not built in a day    but  it  should  not  take eternity  to  achieve  results given  the right  decisions that  recognize  the multiethnic  nature and wide diversity  of the Nigerian nation and people.

    The  Ambode  lecture  was  ironically  a lecture on how  to govern and achieve  prosperity  by  carrying the people from  all aspects of life along in communities  on  a band wagon  of Inclusion.  The governor highlighted the achievements of his outgoing government vividly in a way that showed what Lagos State  would miss in his absence and it  was a moving,  revealing discourse  and spectacle.

    He  mentioned his provision of infrastructure especially  street lighting, terminuses  and link roads  and bridges which  are there to see. He  talked  of  how his government has  boosted  youth employment  by investing in  tourism, entertainment, sport  and art facilities which  Nigerian  youths  are  enjoying including facilities  for  the disabled. Ambode  raised the issue of  migration into  Lagos  and  Nigeria which  is increasing on a daily  basis in Lagos   especially,  and  averred that all  Nigerians from all over the  nation are flocking into Lagos  such  that the state infrastructure  can never  cope. He  affirmed  that the influx  of migrants into  Lagos  was because other  states are  not  performing and Nigerians have Lagos to look  up  to  for sustenance  and survival. That  he said is responsible  for the perennial Lagos traffic logjam  and quagmire.  In  all  the Lagos state governor secured my admiration and empathy  with  his lecture on governance and nation building    and  I think  that was the mood  of his audience in the prestigeous  Island  Club  and that is quite significant  and important  for  him and the Nigerian  nation.

    That  mood  of  empathy  was reflected in the comments of one  of the Trustees of the Island Club who  prayed  for Ambode  like the Oba of Lagos did  recently. The Trustee, Chief  Olu  Falomo a former broadcaster and Advertising guru is undoubtedly  the  club’s philosopher,  our own  Socrates and a gifted  orator. He  said  he was meeting the Lagos state  governor for the first  time and was impressed  with  his calmness and  humility. He  said in  Yoruba that  God  is not finished  with him yet  and he –Ambode –  would see that sooner than  later. It  is  a prayer  fit for  a king, albeit  one  who  has  just  lost  his stool.  It  is  also    a sign that  God  is not finished  with Ambode yet.  Just  like Jesse Jackson said  of himself when he lost the nomination for the presidential  candidacy    of the Democratic    Party    in the US sometime ago. Once again  long live the  Federal  Republic of Nigeria.

  • Oyebode, Basorun and restructuring

    As far as he is concerned, the subsisting 1999 constitution that provides the legal framework for the country’s socio-economic, political, spiritual, secular and moral life, is utterly, irredeemably defective and should be discarded altogether for the country to make progress rather than “going round in circles in a manner reminiscent of the potter’s will – all motion, no movement”. The proponent of this revolutionary view is none other than the respected, radical scholar of international law and jurisprudence, Professor Akin Oyebode.

    Delivering a lecture titled “The Nigerian Conundrum and the way forward” at an event organized by the Oriwu Club, Ikorodu in Lagos, the distinguished scholar averred that “The necessity for what the lawyers call an autochthonous constitution goes without saying. We cannot continue living a lie by calling a military decree, which propagates an untruth against itself, the country’s constitution. More importantly, the military-imposed constitution is lopsided, inequitable and dysfunctional and it should be jettisoned and replaced with a more acceptable instrument which adheres with the tenets of true federalism”.

    Continuing the distinguished scholar argued that “The existing division of powers needs to be reworked such that the Federal Government would shed its bloated powers and the constituent units would exercise more powers in a re-configured federal system. Luckily, there is already in existence a draft constitution elaborated by the National Conference of 2014 in the event that some would argue that the country does not require yet another constitutional conference…A new constitution is a condition sine qua non for the rebirth of this country”.

    Now, is it strictly true that the extant 1999 constitution is nothing but an imposed ‘military decree’ that ‘propagates an untruth against itself’? I don’t think so. The reality is more complex than that simplification. This column has had cause in the past to trace the trajectory of the 1999 constitution to the 1979 constitution, which was drawn up by 59 of some of the country’s brightest and most accomplished lawyers, intellectuals, diplomats and public administrators albeit under the aegis of the Murtala/Obasanjo military administration’s political transition programme.

    The draft constitution was later debated and ratified by an elected Constituent Assembly before being signed into law by the Supreme Military Council (SMC), which made some insertions that could easily have been expunged had the succeeding civilian political elite summoned the will to do so. There is no significant difference between the current constitution and that of 1979 that provided the legal basis for the defunct second republic (1979-1983). It is thus not correct to create the impression that the 1999 constitution is wholly an illegitimate jurisprudential child of military arbitrariness utterly delinked from the country’s political history.

    In any case, how did the military come to play a supervening role in the country’s political and constitution making process? Was the military intervention of 1966 not a function of the virtual breakdown of the essentially regional and parliamentary constitution of 1963 just as the failure of the 1979 presidential constitution resulted in the collapse of civilian rule in the second republic? Under the now highly romanticized first republic constitution, law and order had broken down in a large swathe of the country. In the Western Region, a legitimate and very popular government had been illegally removed by the centre in collusion with bitterly detested minority elements in the region.

    The badly rigged 1965 regional elections in the West spawned a reign of anarchy and total breakdown of governmental authority with daily blood- letting across the region when the masses rose up in the famous ‘operation wetie’ revolt. The first Premier of the Western Region, Chief Obafemi Awolowo and some of his associates were unjustly incarcerated on trumped up and farcical charges of treasonable felony while it was an open secret that the NPC and its NNDP allies in control of the centre were planning a full scale military clamp down on the opposition before the preemptive majors’ bloody coup of January 1966.

    Both the federal and regional governments devised ingenious schemes through which public funds were diverted to enrich those in control of state power and their allies though not on the current industrial scale of corruption in contemporary Nigeria. In the North, a brutal military repression had been unleashed on the minorities particularly the Tiv who were demanding political autonomy from perceived Hausa-Fulani domination. Why then must anybody create the absolutely erroneous impression that the first republic was an era of idyllic governance disrupted for no reason by the military, which then went ahead to replace a thriving  and stable four-regional structure with the current centralized multi-polar state structure?

    Hadn’t leading politicians from the south including Awolowo and Nnamdi Azikwe been advocating the creation of more regions in the country because they saw the existing regional structure of the first republic as unjust and unsustainable being overly skewed in favour of Northern Nigeria? What exactly does Professor Oyebode mean by terms like ‘autochthonous constitution’ or ‘a re-configured Nigeria”? Reconfigured according to whose definition and imagination? Does he mean a return to the discredited regional structure of the first republic as advocated by some? Is it not instructive that the 2014 National Conference’s draft constitution to which the professor approvingly alludes actually recommended an increase in the number of states in the country to no less than 54?

    Yes, hardly anyone disagrees with the fact that structural adjustments to strengthen democracy, deepen federalism, accelerate socio-economic development and enhance security in Nigeria are long overdue. But this can be done within the subsisting constitutional context rather than pulling down the entire existing structure and embarking on the ultimately illusory expedition of crafting a new, supposedly perfect constitution, emerging magically from a tabula rasa.

    Perhaps the most practical, realistic and achievable suggestions for restructuring Nigeria I have come across are those articulated by Chief Olorunfunmi Basorun and popularized in Dr. Femi Orebe’s column in The Nation of Sunday, October 14, 2017. Lawyer, former Deputy Director of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Secretary to the State Government in the high achieving Alhaji Lateef Kayode Jakande administration and now leading member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos State, the highly regarded Chief Basorun certainly has the experience to speak authoritatively on the issue.

    In his memo to the APC restructuring committee, Basorun advocates that items such as electricity generation, transmission and distribution, minimum wage, labour matters and industrial relations, fingerprint identification and criminal records, tourism as well as federal roads should be moved from the exclusive to the concurrent list “to enable the states, and by extension the local governments, have more responsibilities”. He also offers concrete and detailed suggestions on a new revenue allocation formula to enable the lower levels of government meet their new responsibilities.

    Chief Basorun’s brutal frankness on the issue of going back to regionalism illustrates the formidable political and emotional obstacles to attaining that objective. Femi Orebe summarizes his views thus: “For instance, he asks: in the Northwest, will the man from Sokoto or Kebbi, or the one from Zamfara want to come and report in Kaduna, his new regional hub? We, in Lagos, he says emphatically, will never like to go to Ibadan nor would people in Ogun, Ekiti or Ondo. When you go to the East, he continues, are you saying those in Abakaliki will now go to Enugu, or Benin to go and report at Port Harcourt; states in the North East to all head to Maiduguri and those in North-central to go and report in Jos? Regionalism, he concluded, will just not work. Rather, the six geopolitical zones should be included in the constitution to serve as units of sharing preferment”.

    Again, Orebe captures the sheer originality and audacity of Chief Basorun’s thinking specifically here on enhancing the financial viability of states and local governments: “It is his considered view that with the huge amounts daily going to owners of oil blocks in the country, and with every oil block making a minimum of N4 billion daily according to a former senator of the Federal Republic, government should embark upon a complete redistribution of oil blocks such that one each goes to the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory. Specific functions, he suggested, must be set for the revenue accruing from these, just as there should be an agency, domiciled in the office of the Vice President, to monitor and oversee compliance. Also, 10 per cent of the funds must go to the local governments to energize them and rapidly increase economic activities at the local government level”.

    Incidentally, radical human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), has also consistently advocated the allocation of oil blocks to the states rather than individuals in the interest of justice and equity as well as to enhance fiscal capacity at the levels of governance closest to the people. With creative thinking and the requisite political will, remarkable progress can be achieved under the present constitution without incinerating the valuable experiences – good and bad- of the last nearly two decades of slowly but steadily deepening practice of democracy and federalism in Nigeria.

  • Shehu Sani’s political scar may take longer to heal

    Despite many months of struggles and manoeuvres triggered by a determination to embrace sound political principles, the All Progressives Congress (APC) was by last week still unable to degrade the suffocating hold Governor Nasir el-Rufai exercises on Kaduna State politics.

    Shehu Sani, the senator representing Kaduna Central, exemplifies that bitter conflict between a powerful but helpless party and a cocksure and imposing and scheming governor. Conflict was inevitable. S

    en Sani fairly approximates the modern political archetype of lawmakers who can call their souls their own, while still representing their constituencies robustly, walking many tightropes, and balancing all sorts of interests. Mallam el-Rufai on the other hand represents the monarchical proclivities of Nigerian politicians, for whom power and order must flow from the top down, brutally and relentlessly. All the three Kaduna State senators have had one axe or the other to grind with the unrelenting governor. In May, the governor even described them as useless for objecting to a $350m World Bank loan request by the state. “Today,” he began dismissively, “there are no haters of the masses of Kaduna State like Shehu Sani, Suleiman Hunkuyi (APC–Kaduna North) and Danjuma Laah (PDP–Kaduna South), God will curse them. God will reward their wickedness against the masses, may God never bless them.” Well, no one ever accused Mallam el-Rufai of elegance or moderation.

    The battle for the soul of Kaduna State has been smouldering for more than a year. But the crisis came to a head in July when one of the three state senators, Suleiman Hunkuyi, defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). One of his houses, which had served as a temporary headquarters of his faction of the APC, was demolished at short notice in February on flimsy grounds. Since both the law and the party could not mediate the conflict between the governor and the APC senators in the state, it was not surprising that Sen Hunkuyi defected. But the governor had even heaped far bigger insults on Sen Sani, hoping and expecting that he would jump ship during the gale of defections that convulsed the APC countrywide between late July and early August. The Kaduna Central senator was, however, prevailed upon by party leaders to stay put in the party, with a promise, albeit unwritten, that he would be returned as APC’s senatorial candidate for his constituency.

    In the opening weeks of the primaries season, when the parties elected their standard-bearers through direct and indirect primaries, it seemed all but certain that the APC would honour its pledge to Sen Sani. Indeed, the party engaged in such inspiring subterfuges that the senator was for a few crazy and satisfying days even returned unopposed, perhaps to make doubly certain that no one undermined the ticket, either within or without. The senator did not rest on his oars, for his main detractor, the impertinent and impulsive governor himself, was up in arms against the senator against whom he whipped up such a frenzy in the state that no one thought a politician, let alone a governor, could so brazenly transcend the bounds of reason and decency. But vigilance or no vigilance, Senator Sani did not prove a match. No one is sure how Mallam el-Rufai pulled off the joker, but when the APC submitted its candidates’ list to the electoral umpire, INEC, Sen Sani’s name, the man earlier returned unopposed, was conspicuously missing.

    But on Wednesday, the APC gave a hint of what transpired in Kaduna that led to Sen Sani’s exclusion. In explaining the abracadabra that took place over the Kaduna list, the befuddled party waffled the following excuse to unravel the conundrum: “It was the outcome of the primary, properly conducted. The party tried to protect its members in the National Assembly for obvious reasons, following what has been going on at the National Assembly. We know the carrots that had been dangled before them. We have a responsibility to ensure that we have a grip on the legislative arm of government so that we can run a smooth government. So, we tried to protect our legislators. But the other people can only understand and accept that. If they say no, there is nothing the party can do, it is within their right to say we must go to the field. The initial effort of the party did not get the blessing of other people in that area who are also entitled to bid for positions. The primaries were eventually conducted, Senator Shehu Sani opted out. He relied on the earlier decision. At the end of the day, no matter what plan you have, even though you are acting on expedience, rule of law and democracy will prevail. It was democracy that prevailed in Kaduna.”

    No party worth its name should ever grovel in that fashion. The APC not only reneged on its promise to the senator, it virtually acknowledged that it fought bravely but hopelessly to establish sanity and order in Kaduna State. It explained why it tried to coax the party’s Kaduna chapter into thinking futuristically, but agreed that it had to resign to fate, having failed miserably, and having capitulated indecently. Mallam el-Rufai, who appears set to become a liability to the party in that embattled state, has been left with a carte blanche to write his will and misshapen goals. Like other governors, he sees himself as an imperial leader who must neither be questioned nor the governor perceives Kaduna as a bride adorned for him. Governor el-Rufai is grandiloquent. By his strange logic, he sees himself as a great asset for his party, particularly for the next elections, but perhaps next only to the president. He is not perturbed that many people in the state doubt his assertions and conclusions. All he sees are his own strengths, attributes, actions and capabilities. But incapable of any kind of introspection, he stubbornly refuses to see the other side of even his own coin.

    It will be strange indeed if the defecting senators and all other people who bristle at the governor’s impetuousness and arrogance have no electoral value. The national APC fears that these estranged members vexed by the governor’s style or pushed out of the party possess enough electoral strength to cause incalculable damage. This was why the party tried to mollify the governor’s rage and forge an agreement between the warring politicians. But since the governor does not take prisoners, and since he prefers a political environment where his words and laws are unquestioned, it was impossible to find common grounds between him and his opponents. They have fought, and he has triumphed, thus bequeathing a divided and probably weakened party to the next plebiscite. The next elections will, therefore, tell whether his victory is as substantial as he paints it or as pyrrhic as many fear it truly is. There does not seem now any chance that peace can be curated between the warriors. One way or the other, in the coming polls, Kaduna will say what it thinks. But it is doubtful whether what it has to say will be pleasant, regardless of the medium and language by which its decisions are couched.

    It speaks volumes of the principles, strengths and ideology of the ruling APC that some of its governors have become so powerful that the party is unable to operate in tandem with its own rules and regulations, not to say curb the predilections of its boisterous governors whose short-termism is as offensive as it is bewildering. That Governor el-Rufai was able to twist the arm of the party to get what he wanted, even if it should endanger the future and health of the party, is a sign that both President Muhammadu Buhari and party chairman Adams Oshiomhole have still been unable to build a party of their dream. Well, it is not quite known what kind of party the president has in mind, nor has he taken any deliberate step in bringing it about; but Mr Oshiomhole is widely believed to be a dreamer able to conceive a party in the grandest fashion Africa can deliver. The APC national chairman may not be as exposed as his oratory has sometimes given indication of, and certainly not as wise as his conciliatory but rather fluid politics suggest, there is, however, no doubt that he means well for the party, and has since he assumed office been fired with the zeal to cobble together a party second to none.

    Mr Oshiomhole has tried valiantly to forge a disciplined and pragmatic party anchored on rules, sometimes on expediency, but nevertheless on lofty ambitions. Unable however to match those great goals with a highly efficient set of undergirding principles, the party chairman has encountered frustrations and disappointments. Worse, he is being resisted by many governors and disaffected members, all of whom are fomenting rebellion with gusto and plotting to bring the whole edifice down. The rebels, some of them leading governors and top party members, are encouraged to dare the party because some others like Mallam el-Rufai fought their own battles against the party and, strangely, won. Ogun, Imo, Zamfara, and that most cantankerous of states, Rivers, have resolved to take the battle unflinchingly to the national leadership. They hope to prevail.

    Sen Sani is perhaps the most unexpected and accomplished victim of APC’s internecine war, save Ogun State governor, Ibikunle Amosun, who was shocked to see himself disrobed so publicly and so ingloriously after the Ogun State governorship primary. The Kaduna senator has finally defected to the People’s Redemption Party (PRP). No one is sure what fate awaits him. Sen Hunkuyi, sadly, came a cropper in his new party; Sen Sani is unlikely to be so fatally wounded, even though some of his supporters felt it would have been more honourable had he defected in late July. Mallam el-Rufai thinks the image and popularity of President Buhari and the size and money of the APC can swing any election in the North, including Kaduna’s. No one can be certain. But except the disaffected and alienated Kaduna senators can find the muscle and tactics to beat the governor in 2019, or at least divide the vote so badly that no victor can afford to gloat, they will find their political reawakening from the dead fraught with more dangers than the punishment inflicted on them by the hubristic and divisive Kaduna governor when they lived.

  • Elections, migration  and power

    It  sounds far  fetched to link migration of people  with  the quest for power in any  democracy. This is because on the face of it migrants are like gypsies who never stay put and are not likely to be around or registered for elections if and when due. I  remember  a favorite  quotation of mine  that  I  pasted  on the wall of my room at  Unife  that  says ‘Time,  you  old gypsy man, will  you not stay, put  up your caravan, just for one day?  But  that  now is an ancient myth. Nowadays in the  global  village we live in migrants dominate  global politics  in a way  and manner  never  seen before.  In  recent times it was a phenomenon  started by the invasion of Iraq in  2003 in the Middle East but  it blossomed into the violence of the Arab Spring in 2011  and crystallised  in    a desperate  avalanche  of  migrants  heading to Europe, fleeing the war  in Syria to dislodge its president.

    That  led to the emergence of ISIS  and the massive Arab influx  into Europe through Greece and Italy as  well  as Hungary. That  has had  a massive influence on  recent  elections and distribution of power in European  nations based on those for and those against migration. We shall  see  more of that later. It  is the import of  migration on past  and coming elections in both the US  and  Nigeria  that  attract  my attention today and since elections involve  voters in a nation I  want  to discuss the  issue of census and  migration  and how both will impact the 2019 presidential  elections  in  Nigeria as well  as the 2020 presidential  elections in  the  US.  In  Nigeria President Muhammadu Buhari  came to power  in  2015  on a crest of popularity based on his reputation for discipline, integrity and  huge potential  and experience  to fight corruption  and  create  security in the face of  persistent  Boko  Haram  terrorism. In the US, President Donald  Trump  came to power on a bandwagon of anti establishment and anti  political  correctness and  the nationalist creed which  he finally agreed this week  to – Make  America Great Again. Both  leaders  and gentlemen  are to defend  their records and performance in their two nations in 2019  in Nigeria and 2020  in the US respectively. Both  of course  are confident they  have done well but they  have not become complacent about it. They  are  both looking at the population and its shifts in terms of migration and registration of voters as well as both the increased enfranchisement as well as disenfranchisement of voters,  if  possible so that they can get more votes than their contestants and  competitors  to stay in power for another term of office. That  is the crux of the matter  we shall  look at  today.

    In  Nigeria the Boko  Haram menace is still on  but  the President feels that the  terrorists have been cut to size  and are operating more like guerrillas. He  feels that the fact that they  are not involved in regular battle shows that they have been vanquished. Yet they  still  use  girls as suicide  bombers to kill innocent people in Maiduguri  near Army barracks.  Boko  Haram  still operates in the former  North  East  from where six  states  were carved out after the census of  1974 put the population at 15m. The states are Borno, Bauchi, Gombe, Adamawa, Taraba, Yobe.  The  North  East of Nigeria is a vast  area but it is very  arid and there  was great controversy  that it could sustain  the census  figure  given  for it then  and even more  so  now. Especially  now  that we  have the Fulani Herdsmen migration for  water  to the south  and the clashes between  the Fulani  herdsmen  and  farmers  who  have been killed and maimed in states like Benue and  Plateau so  much  that the governor of Benue left the ruling party because of lack of support from Abuja. Although the presidency  has attributed the Fulani herdsmen and farmers clash to the search for water  and  the influx of non Nigerians from Libya  after the collapse of the Gaddafi  regime there  is no denying that the tension between the Fulani herdsmen and farmers will affect the security and voting turn out in the affected areas in both North East  and Middle Belt of Nigeria. It  is pertinent that the Fulani  herdsmen umbrella organization  has stated clearly that it is in support of the reelection of the incumbent president which makes the organization not only a migrant welfare body  but a powerful political  organ  on its own. But  the organization should look at what it is up against in the main opponent of the president in PDP’s  Abubakar  Atiku  and his running  mate  Peter Obi  a  former governor  from the East  and  an  Igbo.

    In  terms of  migration in Nigeria, not many ethnic groups can  match the Igbos. Whilst  the Fulani  herdsmen or cattle Fulani  are looking for water down south with or without grazing rights,  the Igbos are all  over  Nigeria  looking for  business in the North especially  and mostly in Lagos. A  true census in Lagos  state  will show  the population strength of  the Igbos  and if that  is translated to voting rights, it is bound to favor any party they belong to. So  the  Atiku/ Obi  PDP ticket  is a potent one that  the

    APC must  strategise  to confront and contain and  the ruling  party needs to dust  off not only census figures on migration in Nigeria but also  sales figures of major marketing companies who  know where their consumers are all over the nation. Such  data  may  be more productive  and votes yielding than  campaign  promises this time around.

    Interestingly  the 2020  census in the US  is  already  being targeted by the Republicans so  that they  can get  rid  of migrants  so that  they  cannot  vote for  the Democrats who  are the usual party of such migrants and blacks –  that is if you believe  the Liberals or Democratic  Party of the US. This is because a new form on census form  asks  for citizenship  and the Democrats say  this is not necessary. I remember reading  an article by the Obama Administration Attorney  General  Eric  Holder  that said census is for those  living in the nation for planning and economic purposes and not for citizens.  Now  with  Trump’s ant migration war it  tallies  that  the Republicans will want to get the votes by cutting off  illegal migrants who may not want to expose themselves by  coming  to  vote. Which  really is difficult  to  understand  for a Nigerian like me who thinks that if you are not a Nigerian  you  should  not vote.

    Yet  in Nigeria all  residents turn out to vote at  our  voting centers including  mostly Okada riders and security  maigads  from Niger,  Chad    and neighboring  nations, who  at times outnumber their  Nigerian  bosses  and  other  bona fide  Nigerians  at polling stations at election time. So  really  who is doing the right thing here between the US  and Nigeria?  I  wonder  what  the professors at  INEC  have to  say  on this as we approach  the 2019 elections. That is if it is not too late. Once again long live the Federal  Republic of Nigeria.

  • Restructuring and the 2019 election

    There is no doubt a reasonable degree of consensus among informed Nigerians on the need at the very least of some measure of tinkering with the structure of the polity in order to overcome some of the persistent existential threats to the country’s peace, progress and prosperity. It is obvious, for instance, that the current unitary policing structure is grossly deficient to ensure internal security in a complex, plural society like Nigeria. Hence the glaring impotence of the Nigeria Police in the face of the prevalent high crime rate and the drafting of military task forces and specialized operational squads to perform police duties in no less than 30 states of the federation if not more. Consequently, the country’s internal security is not necessarily better guaranteed since the military is not trained for such civil assignments while the protection of her territorial integrity, which should be the sole focus of the military, is jeopardized due to the avoidable distraction of the latter.

    In the same vein, the federal government continues to be burdened with a surfeit of responsibilities including education, health, agriculture, trade and commerce, which can be more efficiently administered at the lower levels of government with the centre only setting and enforcing regulatory standards. Thus, the federal government enjoys a more than proportionate share of federal revenues while most of the states and local governments where the vast majority of Nigerians actually reside are perennially short of funds to even pay public sector workers not to talk of providing quality social services and infrastructure for their citizens.

    Most of the states are economically unviable not because they lack natural or mineral resources within their jurisdictions that could be exploited for the benefit of their people.  Rather, the extant 1999 constitution makes the ownership, control and exploitation of these resources the exclusive preserve of the federal government.  A good example is Osun State, which is reported to have considerable deposits of gold that she is constitutionally prohibited from mining. Experts contend that there is no state or local government in Nigeria that is not similarly endowed with diverse natural and mineral resources that could guarantee their viability if exploited.  Against this background, it is inevitable that the issue of restructuring will be a dominant theme in the campaign for the 2019 elections.

    One reason for this is that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has not taken any step towards effectuating, even minimally, the restoration of true federalism that is stated in its constitution. This is obviously because from the perspective of its leader, President Muhammadu Buhari, the fundamental problem with Nigeria is more behavioral than structural. Specifically, corruption will kill Nigeria if Nigeria does not kill corruption as the President is wont to say. It is, of course, logical to argue that corruption is a function more of personal moral deficiency than structural debility.

    This column has consistently maintained that structural change is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for accelerated national transformation in Nigeria. No less imperative is a thorough revamping of the country’s value system to inculcate in a critical mass of the citizenry significantly higher standards of ethical integrity. But this does not diminish the necessity to urgently eliminate the structural impediments to moral probity particularly in the country’s public life. The excessively centralized character of Nigeria’s federal structure itself provides fertile ground for corruption to thrive.

    Does this then mean that devolving greater resources to the sub-national units of government will necessarily help to check corruption? Not necessarily. It only implies that decentralization of powers, responsibilities and resources to deepen federalism in Nigeria must be accompanied by mechanisms to strengthen checks, balances and accountability at these lower levels of government.

    The failing of the APC in this regard has been smartly exploited by a wily political tactician like Alhaji Abubakar Atiku, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to place restructuring on the front burner of his campaign. Atiku signaled his intention to maximally exploit the not insignificant sentiment for restructuring in wide swathes of the country to his advantage when he took on the Vice-President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo (SAN) on the issue recently. The Turaki Adamawa vehemently contested Osinbajo’s reported submission at an event in the US that what the country needs most critically now is good governance rather than ‘geographical restructuring’.

    Closely reading the public exchange of the two men on the issue, however, there seems to be hardly much difference on their perspectives on the ideal political structure for Nigeria. They both essentially advocate a deepening of federal practice in Nigeria through some degree of decentralization of powers and resources to sub national units of government. At the rhetorical level, Atiku sounds more radical in his advocacy of restructuring and this has no doubt endeared him to such groups as Afenifere, Ohaneze and the Pan Niger Delta Forum who have publicly thrown their weight behind his candidacy. However, there will certainly be the need, during the campaign for next year’s elections, for both parties to spell out in concrete terms exactly what they mean by restructuring. What are Nigerians to expect in terms of structural re-engineering of the polity if either party wins?

    There are different contending perspectives on what constitutes restructuring. For some, it is a radical and drastic alteration of the current order to either return the country to the regional structure of the first republic and/or the restoration of the parliamentary system of government. Others advocate the merger of states across the country or the adoption of what amounts basically to a loose, confederal structure that is difficult to distinguish from disintegration. Is Atiku likely as President to embark on any of these wild, emotive and arbitrary adventures in political engineering? By temperament, ideological outlook and personal disposition, I do not see him doing so.

    If elected as President, will Atiku have the constitutional latitude in a presidential democracy characterized by countervailing checks and balances to engage in such experiments with unpredictable outcomes even if he desires to? It appears to me that built into the extant constitution are institutional road blocks to prevent such indulgences in political phantasmagoria except by revolution. This may have been a restraining influence on the APC’s federalist aspirations even though I doubt if the party in the last three and a half years summoned sufficient political will to move the country even tentatively in the direction of true federal practice.

    Ironically, from the perspective of a radical organization like the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), those seemingly radical advocates of restructuring in the form of a return to regionalism or strengthening ethnic micro nationalism are part and parcel of a backward and reactionary political class. In an insightful publication in The Punch of Thursday, July 5, 2018, ASUU avers that “The debate on restructuring goes on within the context of domination of the economic, political, educational, and all welfare institutions in Nigeria by the same group of Nigerians, from all states and all geopolitical zones, who have since 1960 used their political power as a tool for collective looting of the country’s resources. The debate about restructuring is, at the base, about how to satisfy the demand for redistribution of political and economic power among the contending ruling class groups in the country. The debate is conducted without the participation of the people of Nigeria; it is dominated by coalitions of ethno-nationalist leaders, politicians, businessmen and women (contractors) and their intellectuals”.

    There is certainly much that is true in ASUU’s submission and we will be taking a deeper look at the organization’s perspective in due course. If the APC were a radical progressive party and not just a little to the left of the PDP ideologically, that is the kind of position on restructuring that would set it apart distinctly from the former ruling party.  Paradoxically, it is the ideologically ultra –conservative but morally puritan President Muhammadu Buhari that seems to be the most notable exception to ASUU’s sweeping categorization of the Nigerian political class as largely venal, exploitative and self-serving irrespective of their ethno-regional origins or religious conviction.

    Buhari’s fierce aversion to corruption or mindless material acquisition by ruling class elements must certainly be informed to an extent by some empathy for the millions of poor and downtrodden victims of the excesses of Nigeria’s political class. Unfortunately, he apparently lacks a corps of intellectuals capable of shaping his elementary views on morality, puritanism, religion, discipline and governance into a coherent and easily assimilable body of political ideas around which a mass, pan-Nigerian movement can be mobilized.

    More damagingly, the embarrassingly nepotistic inclination of Buhari’s inner circle, the infamous cabal, casts a dark shadow over an otherwise quite luminous political figure in contemporary Nigeria. And it is largely because of the sectional and arrogant antics of this cabal, as demonstrated by the impunity exhibited at the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) during the week, that restructuring will be a key issue in the campaign. Many Nigerians are so angry and pissed off that they will be easily swayed by ethnic entrepreneurs and regional political merchants masquerading as advocates of restructuring.  It is a pity.

  • Mourinho is impossible

    Sometimes I feel that Jose Mourinho is in the wrong trade. His theatrics defy human comprehension. He remains an unresolved puzzle, which confound many. The industry love 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. But one must congratulate Chelsea FC’s manager Maurizio Sarri for not aggravating the situation on Saturday, by getting his second assistant , Marco Ianni, to apologise to the Special One.

    Mourinho raises the stakes with witty mind games, which he uses to distract gullible managers and players. In fact, he is reported to have alleged that his team list against Chelsea on Saturday was leaked by a suspected mole in his team. Mourinho, was searching for a mole after being stripped naked by the disclosure of the list even before the previous game against Newcastle. Pray, who doesn’t know how Mourinho sets up his team in big games? I digress!

    English FA chieftains gave the insolent backroom staff till Thursday to respond to his inappropriate conduct. Ianni chose the wrong moment to step on the tail of the python. Mourinho told the world that he wasn’t going to celebrate if Manchester United beat Chelsea at home. That was a pointer to the fact that he had dug deep into his bag of tricks to outwit Sarri on the pitch.

    Most followers of the game could bet their last dime on Mourinho not creating a scene at the stadium. Doubters must be shocked that the assault didn’t come from the Special One, which shows that he can be trusted to keep his word. What the backroom staff did by celebrating in front of the manager after Chelsea equalised in the 96th minute would have annoyed anyone. In fact, Mourinho was slow to act because the technical staff was doing it for the second time. This incident turned out to be the highpoint of the game instead of the six extra minutes awarded by the centre referee.

    Ianni had watched the match from the upper tier of the East Stand. He came down to the team’s bench about 15 minutes before full time – something he is entitled to do in his role as the team’s analyst. Why he chose to taunt Mourinho is one issue the English FA chiefs should investigate, knowing that there are marked zones on the sidelines, which the opposition’s technical staff shouldn’t step over. One hopes that the referee captured this aspect for punishment. Making Mourinho the fall guy of this ugly incident will be a travesty of justice.

    Indeed, England women manager Garry Neville said on NBC Sports: ‘’Whoever that staff member is of Chelsea has just been an absolute disgrace. No class, no humility. He’s gone straight into the face of Jose Mourinho, Michael Carrick and the Manchester United bench and just celebrated in their face. Absolutely disgraceful. He’s [Mourinho] the innocent one in all this. The guy on the Chelsea bench has run straight past him, celebrated in his face.

    ‘’Sarri celebrates. Then it’s this guy here who goes in front of Jose Mourinho. The first one he clenches his fist, and then as he goes back he celebrates again right in front of him. Disgraceful. If I was Maurizio Sarri I’d send that guy in and sack him from the club.’’

    Do you agree with Neville’s recommendation, especially as Chelsea’s management condemned the second assistant’s misdemeanour?

    ‘’I want to thank Sarri for his honesty,’’ Mourinho said. ‘’I want to thank Chelsea for its honesty too. But I’m not happy that it’s going too far with the young boy. I don’t think he deserves more than what he got.

    ‘’He apologised to me, I accept his apologies. I think he deserves a second chance. I don’t think he deserves to be sacked. I don’t think he deserves anything more than the fact that his club was strong with him and he went through a situation that in the end he recognises that he was wrong.

    ‘’So, I  hope everybody does the same as I did, which is not to disturb the career of a young guy, which is probably a great guy, probably is a coach with great potential. And I’m not happy at all with more than that. End of story. With me, it’s the end of the story in the minute he apologised to me.’’

    Happily, the governing body said in a statement: ‘’Chelsea coach Marco Ianni has been charged following the game against Manchester United on Saturday. It is alleged that his behaviour in the 96th minute constituted improper conduct. He has until 6pm on Thursday 25 October 2018 to respond to the charge.

    ‘’In relation to this incident, Jose Mourinho has been formally reminded of his responsibilities whilst both clubs have received similar official reminders in terms of the behaviour expected of their staff and players at all times whilst in the technical area.’’

    Mourinho isn’t one to leave any venue without throwing darts. Saturday’s game wasn’t going to be an exception, with the Special One writing after the game that; ‘’ Naturally it was disappointing and frustrating not to take three points from Saturday’s visit to Stamford Bridge.

    ‘’We played so, so well that it was hard to take that we only got a draw. The boys were brilliant, we had control of the game. I am pleased that it was a good team performance and I am also pleased with the spirit of the team after going behind. We were very unlucky not to win but that’s football and we have to accept that.’’

    Mourinho will continue to be the centre of controversies since it appears that such acts propel him to give his best. He did his best during the Saturday game until that melee. It gives pundits so much hope that Mourinho could change on the pitch. How about his conduct with the media or with match officials (post-match comments)? Mourinho’s foul-mouthed jibes haunt him like his pedigree in the game.

    The Chelsea manager’s maturity is commendable. Sarri urged his assistant to prove his maturity, adding that: ‘’Everybody has to learn from mistakes. Now as a man, I am better than when I was 35. Otherwise, I would be a stupid man if I cannot learn from mistakes. I made one hundred mistakes (when I was younger).’’

    ‘’I want to give him another opportunity. I know the man and I know very well that he was really sorry. He realised the mistake. Everyone can make a mistake but you need to learn from the mistake. He will be able to do it. As for the FA, We were wrong so we have to accept the consequences,’’ Sarri said.

    Was it out of place for Mourinho to ignore Ianni’s taunts even if he did for 100 times? Given the way in which Sarri has handled this matter, he certainly would have ignored Ianni, if he did what he did to the Chelsea manager. Mourinho should control his temper. He is the leader of the Manchester United side and much is expected of him in terms of discipline and his conduct on and off the pitch influences the players’ demeanour.

    Ianni will be punished because Chelsea’s management won’t appeal the query, knowing the assistant coach misbehaved. But it would have been applause for Mourinho if he had pretended not to have seen Ianni.

     

    Between Alex Iwobi and Mikel Obi

     

    I’m excited that we won’t wait forever to replace John Mikel Obi in the Super Eagles’ holding midfield position as it appears Alex Iwobi fits the bill perfectly. Iwobi has been awesome for Nigeria and Arsenal. The good thing is that Gernot Rohr is thinking in this direction by stating that Iwobi is faster than Mikel and equally talented. Surprised? Don’t be. Iwobi is Okocha’s nephew, so it runs in the family.

    Replacing star performers in the Eagles has been a nightmare, so much so that we still talk about the exploits of the late Rashidi Yekini anytime our national team’s strikers fritter away goal scoring chances. Football teams had special plans to stop Rashidi but he surmounted the oppositions’ traps and banged goals with aplomb. Fans stood up, hands raised to salute Yekini’s goals.

    So many players have been tried in the creative midfield position to see if they could replicate some of Austin Okocha’s enchanting dribbling skills, but they have failed. We have been through three World Cup competitions since Okocha stopped playing and we still miss him so much so that when he plays in novelty games, the talk everywhere is for him to return to the Eagles, even if it means playing as a substitute.

    Let me not waste space talking about how much we missed Nwankwo Kanu, aka Papilo. We have thrown up our hands in the search for Kanu’s replacement because Papilo’s sublime skills were out of this world. He looked frail but did incredible things with the ball.

    Our search for good replacements for our stars rests not in the outfield position. There is still the debate over who will replace Peter Dodo Mayana Rufai in the goalpost. Vincent Enyeama distinguished himself, but he has retired. Carl Ikeme did well. Unfortunately, he was diagnosed of cancer of the blood before the Russia 2018 World Cup. Uzoho did well in Russia, amid talks of having Ikechukwu Ezenwa.

    The interesting development is that Ikeme has been tasked with discovering good goalkeepers. Uzoho has done well so far, but was average against Libya in Sfax, even as his defenders were not enterprising enough to ward off the Libyans’ onslaught after leading by two goals. Nigeria eventually beat Libya 3-2.

    We hope that Iwobi’s emergence will not make Mikel feel bad, if he eventually sits on the bench. This is the NFF’s best chance to make Mikel a player cum coach. It also will excite followers of the game, if Mikel is encouraged to become a coach, with the Nigeria soccer body footing all his bills. Mikel as the Super Eagles’ chief coach will be a welcome development because he has seen it all in the game.

  • Religion, politics and impunity

    I  recently  wrote that politics is ubiquitous and you  find it in all aspects of human life. I  intend to dilate further on that  today especially with regard to  politics, religion,  the media  and diplomacy. I was prompted on this repetition of the ubiquity  of politics  by  two  incidents here in Lagos this week. The first happened when my good friend Dr Demola  Farri, a  veteran psychiatrist  called  me’ Kashoggi ‘ as I entered  the premises of the Yorubal Tennis Club this week and  I did  not  know whether to laugh or cry.  This  was  because  I had  been very  bothered  about the disappearance of  the  Washington  Post Saudi  columnist  who entered the Saudi Arabia embassy in Istanbul the Turkish  capital  and has not been seen alive since.

    The  second event  was  the  statement  by the Catholic Church  that the  role of the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Matthew  Kukah  in the reconciliation of former President  Olusegun Obasanjo  and his former Vice Abubakar Atiku, now a Presidential candidate    was’ hijacked  and politicized’. Indeed  both  events are very political  and  there  is no  doubt  that  they show  the ubiquity  of  politics.  The  Catholic  Church  should  know better than  to use  the word ‘politicize ‘  in  the defence  of its bishop  as  the Catholic  Church  historically    and  till  now has been  the  seat  of erudition, learning  and  was  once  the government  at a time when  Church  was the state. And    the Kasshogi  disappearance showed  the ubiquity  of politics  in a rather  tragic  and grim  manner that  lacked any  trace of  good humor  except  perhaps the morbid type  and being called Kashoggi greatly  upset  me and set  my mind on writing  on the subject today.

    To  appreciate  what Bishop Matthew Kukah  did as a  form  of political  intervention  in reconciling  two  Nigerian  leading politicians,  one  should take a look  at the concept  history  of Liberation theology which  the Catholic  Church used  and endorsed for  its    bishops  in Latin  America. It  was an activist theology that showed  that the Church  could not  be idle in the face of tyranny, persecution  of the poor  and the enslavement  of  the masses. Matthew Kukah  may  not mention Liberation  Theology in Nigeria but he has always spoken out against injustice and discrimination in the Nigerian  polity. If  he chose to mediate between Obasanjo  and Atiku  he was simply living up to his billing as an activist,  patriotic  Nigerian cleric.  To say  that  his role was hijacked  and politicized  was begging the issue  and apologetic and a  disservice  to his reputation as  a well known  and well meaning  Nigerian  bishop  and priest. To  say  his role as reconciliator  and peace maker  was politicized  is  absolutely uncalled  for  and in poor  taste.

    In  addition whether Kukah  intervened or  not politics  has always had  ample  room  to accommodate religion  in  Nigeria,  both  at Abuja  and  the  Federal  Level  and right  here in our  commercial capital, the beautiful  city  of Lagos the  capita  of  Lagos state.

    Religion  was what  led to the APC  fielding Ambode in the 2015  guber elections  and religion  has  led  to his being replaced  by  another Christian.  The strategy  has served  the party  well  and  has placated Christians who  were  getting restive that past governors had been more Muslims  than  Christians. It  was also  the strategy that had a Christian Vice  President of  Nigeria in the illustrious and performing Professor  Yemi  Osinbajo  in Aso  Rock  to  support President Muhammadu Buhari as President  of  Nigeria. It  is a strategy that paid off for APC in 2015  and  since  you don’t  change a winning team  it  is the ticket  of the party for 2019  presidential elections.

    The  opposition too  is not immune to the influence  of religion. That is who Peter Obi, a former governor  and Christian,  has been chosen  to be  the running mate of  Alhaji  Abubakar Atiku  a Muslim. The  PDP  believes  this is a winning ticket  mainly  because the South  East of Nigeria  is predominantly Christian. Indeed  Atiku hails  from the North  East  which  housed  the Karnem  Bornu  Empire a Kanuri  Muslim  kingdom  which  boasted  that it was never conquered  by  the Fulani Caliphate and  was a Muslim Empire  with its own Islamic  sovereignty outside  the  ambits  of the famous Sokoto  Caliphate.  So  Atiku  is throwing  two  caps into  the Nigerian  political ring for presidency. One  is the challenge of the North East to the dominance of the North West  in the competition for power in Nigeria. The  second is  the bringing in of the Christian Igbos into  the main stream  of Nigerian  politics after  the bitter civil  war. It  is a very  interesting challenge in terms of history, politics  and religion  in  Nigeria. It  is  really  going to make  the 2019  presidential  race in Nigeria very challenging and exciting  and we are watching very keenly.

    The  Kashoggi  Disappearance  provides  a great lesson in the misuse of  diplomatic immunity with impunity. That  actually  was  what has aroused Turkey’s  outrage that  a murder  has been carried out in the Saudi Embassy  on Turkish territory  and there is not much Turkey can do because the Saudi embassy  is sovereign territory. In international  law that explained  why  Britain cannot  enter  the embassy in London where  the Wiki  Leaks editor  has been  hiding  for years. In  Kashoggi’s  case  the Turks  raised  alarm  and alleged the journalist  has been killed  and his body broken into  parts but they had no proof. Turkish investigators were only able to enter the Saudi embassy  two weeks after Kashhoggi  went there to get his divorce  papers. A good  enough time for the assassins to clean up their act. It  is very  much like closing the stable doors  after the horses  have bolted. Clearly  a good journalist  has  been eliminated  because  he dared  and wrote  that  the powers that be in Saudi  Arabia  must  reform  and rule  with  compassion and understanding  of their people and make reforms to  make leadership and use of power in the kingdom  accountable  and  transparent. I pray  for  the repose  of his soul  even  though he has not been declared dead but there is no doubt that this is state murder on foreign soil.  It  is indeed  a slap  in the face for international law and diplomacy.

    It  is interesting  that  both Turkey  and Saudi  Arabia  have historical  grudges  that  is playing itself out in this Kashoggi saga. The  grudges are both historical and religious .At  the height of the Ottoman Empire which  was stopped in terms of expansion and rule of Europe in Vienna, the Turks  dominated the Caliphate and provided military leadership  for a Muslim Empire founded in  Saudi Arabia. A famous  historian  once wrote that as the Ottoman Empire became military in leadership and as the Turks took  over that leadership, the Empire became Turkish.  Such  historical  rivalry is still very much at play  in the way Turkey’s modern Emperor President Tayyip  Erdogan is taking on the house  of Saud, the ruling dynasty in power in modern Saudi  Arabia. Erdogan  is very  indignant in crying  foul over the Kashoggi  tragedy  on Turkey’s  soil.  It  is not a false  alarm or crying wolf where there is none. It  all  the same has its roots  not  necessarily  in this Kashoggi  matter  but in an ancient  and    historical Islamic  feud  and enmity. Once again long  live the Federal  Republic of Nigeria.

  • Behold, a new Obaro of Kabba

    Ah!  What a season of efflorescence it has been for the institution of traditional authority and rulership in post-colonial Nigeria particularly in this political dispensation since 1999. Today, a landmark book, ‘The Benin Monarchy: An Anthology of Benin History’ written under the authority and warrant of His Royal Majesty, Omo N’Oba Edo Uku Akpolokpolo, Ewuare II, Oba of Benin is being presented to the public at the Oba’s Palace in Benin City. The ancient throne of the Benin Kingdom continues to enjoy far greater prestige and reverence among the people than any democratically elected government can hope to do.

    On Monday this week, the Alaafin of Oyo, Iku baba yeye, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi III, marked his 80th birthday to wide acclaim within and far beyond his domain. The youthful Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi Ojaja II, who clocked 44 on October 17, continues to exhibit wisdom and exude a charm and quiet dignity that belies his age.  Every year the annual Ojude Oba festival through which the industrious Ijebu pay obeisance and homage to their highly revered traditional ruler, the Awujale of Ijebu land, Oba Sikiru Adetona, grows ever more glamorous and elaborate.

    From the Sultanate of Sokoto to the Emirate of Kano and right across the North, the traditional institution continues to be the object of immense awe and adoration.  In his slim classic, ‘The Trouble with Nigeria’ published about three and a half decades ago, the great Professor Chinua Achebe noted that even the republican Igbo who once prided themselves on having no king have embraced the  institution of traditional authority with remarkable gusto. The inimitable novelist estimated at the time that there could be no less than 400 traditional rulers in the old Anambra State. It will be interesting to take a census of the situation today!

    So intrigued was the noted political scientist, Professor Richard Sklar, with the persistence and resilience of the institution of traditional authority in post-colonial Africa that in 1993 he published an in depth study of what he called the phenomenon of ‘dual authority’ in postcolonial Africa. He was referring to the co-habitation in African polities of modern sovereign state structures which possess electoral mandates and/or monopoly of control over the instruments of coercion with unelected traditional authorities that retain considerable influence and legitimacy despite their denudation of all legislative, executive and judicial authority as a result of the colonial encounter.

    Yet, despite the reality that stares them in the face, some African scholars and thinkers continue to live in an illusory world as regards the continuing, even increasing, relevance of traditional political institutions in post colonial Africa. For instance, in their 1989 discourse, ‘Integrating the Past with the Present: A Futile Exercise?”, Professor A. Badejo and S.A. Ogunyemi contend that “The institution of traditional rulership is an historical relic that belongs to antiquity. These relics of bygone instruments of oppression which are a constant reminder of uneven social development and sociological disunity in Africa are irrelevant to a society currently subject to the objective laws of capitalism controlled from the Western seats of capitalism”.

    They are supported by Professor Ekong E. Ekong who, in another article in the same book, submits that “In Nigeria, if we sincerely desire to build a strong and united nation, we cannot afford to retain a traditional government at the grassroots and expect to superimpose a successfully run non-traditional government at the state and federal levels”. Mercifully these kinds of theoretical flights of fancy are effectively counteracted by a scholar like Ilufoye Sarafa Ogundiya who, in another publication in 2005 contends that “traditional rulers are vital to governance in contemporary Nigeria and equally vital to the search for national integration. These rulers continue to wield tremendous influence among their people and in their communities, despite attempts to make them irrelevant to constitutional governance and the political process over the years”.

    The veracity of Ogundiya’s submission is confirmed by the sheer excitement that has gripped the ancient Kabba community of Kogi State since the announcement by the Kogi State government of the appointment of His Royal Majesty, Oba Solomon Dele Owoniyi, Obaro Otitoleke Oweyomade 1, as the 44th Obaro of Kabba and Chairman of Okun Traditional Council. The new Obaro will be formally presented with his Staff of Office today by the Governor of Kogi State, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, at the prestigious Saint Augustine’s College field at 10am. Oba Solomon Dele Owoniyi succeeds his highly revered predecessor, Oba Michael Olobayo, who joined his ancestors in May 2016 having reigned for over three decades.

    Born on January 1, 1957, in Ile-Ife, Osun State into the family of Mr and Mrs Owoniyi, Oba Solomon Dele Owoniyi started his primary education in the ancient city in 1964 before moving to Saint Andrew’s Primary School, Egbeda, Kabba, Kogi State in 1966 where he obtained his first School Leaving Certificate in 1970. He was admitted into Ijumu Anglican Secondary School, Iyara, Kogi State in 1971 and graduated from the institution in 1975. Thereafter, in the same year, the new monarch was admitted into the Jos Campus of the University of Ibadan for his preliminary studies. In 1976, Oba Owoniyi and other undergraduates of the institution were moved to Ibadan, the mother campus, where he graduated with a degree in history in 1979. Showing a foretaste of things to come and his tremendous leadership potentials and love for his community, Oba Owoniyi served with distinction as National President of Kabba Students Union in 1978.

    After his compulsory one year participation in the National Youth Service Corp (NYSC) scheme in Niger State, the new monarch was employed as a News Editor with the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) where he served with characteristic diligence and industry until 1988 when he joined the Nigeria Custom Service (NCS). Oba Owoniyi retired from the NCS in 2015 having risen to the position of Deputy Comptroller of Customs. Married and blessed with children, Oba Owoniyi perfectly fits the bill of a noble personage described by the Yoruba as ‘Atobatele’, one who had always exuded royal bearing, carriage and responsibility ever before ascending the throne. This is particularly because of his philanthropic disposition to the downtrodden and unrivalled commitment to the development and progress of Owe land.

    Of course, given the immense prestige of the Obaro throne, there were other illustrious contenders for the office apart from Oba Owoniyi. This has always been the case not just in Owe land but across Yoruba land. Indeed, some claimants to the throne had even gone to court apparently in futility to stop the installation of the new monarch. But the overwhelming sentiment is that with the emergence of the new Obaro, all stakeholders in the peace, progress and development of Kabba and Okun land in general should sheath their swords and join hands with the new Obaro in strengthening unity and stability in the community as a basis for accelerated positive transformation.

    Given his rich administrative and managerial experience as well as his deep immersion in the mores and traditions of his people, Oba Owoniyi certainly has what it takes to forge an enhanced sense of community and harmony in Owe land while running an inclusive traditional administrative style that carries all along. It is widely acknowledged that Kabba, indeed Okun land, is endowed with tremendous natural, agricultural, touristic and other potentials that remain largely untapped. A versatile traditional ruler like Oba Owoniyi can contribute significantly to complementing the developmental efforts of the state government and also in mobilizing the people for the arduous and challenging task of self development.

    In his aforementioned thesis on the concept of ‘dual authority’ in Africa, Professor Sklar posits powerfully that “The African national governments are fragile, and there is great need for authority based on consent of the governed. In this circumstance, a separate source of authority, embedded in tradition, could powerfully reinforce social discipline without abandonment of democratic forms of government. The rejuvenation of traditional authority would not, then, imply a resurgence of either “feudalism” or political oligarchy”.

    And in his classic, ‘The Black Man’s Burden: Africa and the curse of the Nation State’, the famous late Africanist, Basil Davidson, contends, with the then Gold Coast as the specific example, that Africa’s post-colonial history and destiny could most likely have been radically different if at the end of the colonial era power had been “returned to acknowledged African chiefs and kings” who “were often persons of genuine authority and expertise who drew their status and prestige from a long pre-colonial history, in itself one of successive changes and developments”. He continues: “To reject their claims to take over from the British when Britain withdrew must be tantamount to rejecting the claims of Africa’s self-development through countless centuries. In that case the institutions of renewed African independence would have to evolve out of a void, or rather out of the utterly different history of England”.

    As the new Obaro receives his staff of office today, there is widespread expectation and hope that the king will build on the successes of his predecessor and help elevate Kabba and Okun land to a new pedestal of peace, prosperity and progress. May God Almighty help Kabiyesi in the no mean task ahead.