The Nation Newspaper

Category: Saturday

  • The unending Boko Haram murders

    ON September 2, 2018, the Sunday edition of this newspaper published a piece entitled “Leah Sharibu and presidential fatalism”. Written by Barometer, the brief essay bemoaned the inscrutable approach adopted by the Muhammadu Buhari presidency in rescuing three abducted healthcare workers and a schoolgirl taken from Dapchi Government Girls’ Science and Technical College in Yobe State.

    The columnist was unhappy that the government’s approach did not seem as urgent as the situation demanded, nor as optimistic as was expected of a government on whose shoulders the fate of the four young women rested. Less than two weeks after the piece was written, one of the three healthcare workers, Saifura Hussaini Khorsa, was murdered by her abductors, a splinter Boko Haram group called the Islamic State West African Province (ISWAP). Apart from Leah Sharibu, the Yobe State schoolgirl, two other abducted women, Hauwa Liman and Alice Loksha, remained in the custody of their abductors. But on Monday, after a deadline given by ISWAP expired, Miss Liman was also murdered.

    Responding to the execution, the presidency said they tried their best to secure the ladies’ release. According to the Information minister, Lai Mohammed, “everything a responsible government should do to save the aid workers” had been done. Few believed them; even fewer still felt comforted by the government’s failure. Both Miss Liman and Miss Khorsa worked in a hospital supported by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Rann, Bala Kalge Local Government of Borno State, while Miss Loksha works in a health facility supported by UNICEF. The healthcare workers were abducted on March 1, 2018 during a raid on the town. However, the ICRC had alerted the government 24 hours earlier on October 14, 2018 of the impending execution of one of the healthcare workers if the government did not accede to the terms of the insurgents. According to a release issued by ISWAP after the October 15, 2018 execution, the healthcare workers were executed because they had converted to Christianity and the abductors had no religious obligation to ensure their safety.

    The September 2, 2018 Barometer column in reference took exception to the government’s approach to the Miss Sharibu abduction with the following arguments: “When he was asked how much longer the last abducted Dapchi schoolgirl, Leah Sharibu, would remain in captivity, presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina, offered a theological answer. ‘For how much longer?, Mr Adesina asked rhetorically, “I think that question can only be answered by God, but I believe God is interested in that young girl and will ensure that she is preserved and at least by the time that clip is verified, one will be sure that it is her actually, and once that is determined, we should all be glad that she is alive. When will she return? By the grace of God, the government is working on it and we believe she will be back.’

    “The question no one has really asked, and for which the government would be hard put to give an answer, is why Miss Sharibu was left behind. About six months ago, a faction of Boko Haram, abducted some 105 schoolgirls from Government Girls Secondary School, Dapchi. About a month later, the federal government negotiated their release from captivity, leaving Miss Sharibu behind. There was no indication the government negotiators knew a girl was left behind, presumably on account of her Christian confession, until after the dramatic return of the rest by a cavalcade of insurgents. But even if it is suggested that the government knew, it is even more inexplicable that they did not recognise the immorality of leaving, perhaps abandoning, Miss Sharibu. If the government knew but chose to accept Boko Haram terms, it was indefensible; if they didn’t know, it was indefensible still and, much more, unforgivably negligent.

    “Of course God knows everything. This is unquestionable. But for Mr Adesina to put everything about the rescue of Miss Sharibu at the doorstep of God in the typical and almost offensive religiosity of Nigerians and their leaders is to embrace the abrasive fatalism that dogs religions in these parts and is often deployed as an extenuating factor to explain poor leadership.”

    The abductors, it turns out, have shown no mercy. After executing the first healthcare worker on September 16, 2018, public outrage was insufficient to discourage the terrorists from going ahead to carry out a second execution in line with their twisted religious ideology. They swore to turn Miss Sharibu into a slave after the expiration of the deadline given the Nigerian government to come to terms with ISWAP. In their announcement of the execution of Miss Liman, the group also declared that Miss Sharibu had become a slave. No one has controverted their statements. In fact few now doubt them. They could yet come out on a portentous tomorrow to issue another deadline in connection with the freedom of the abductees. Should they give another deadline, and given their antecedents and evil reputation, there will be no reason to doubt their readiness or callousness to carry out their murderous threats.

    So far, the government has not disclosed just what their best was in fighting for the freedom of the abducted aid workers and the Dapchi schoolgirl. They met the terms for the release of over 100 abducted Dapchi schoolgirls last March, from which Miss Sharibu was left behind because of governmental carelessness, and those terms were truly cheeky and humiliating. What other terms could be so galling that the government cannot meet? Perhaps the terms are stupendously humbling, and the government is wary of meeting them. But after meeting the terms given by Boko Haram in other abductions, starting with the Chibok schoolgirls, some of whom were freed in October 2016 and May 2017, it no longer remained a question of the propriety or morality of negotiating with terrorists or of negotiating under duress; it became one of whether the terms were such that the government could meet or not meet them. In the case of the three healthcare workers and the Dapchi schoolgirl, it is inconceivable that the government could not meet the terms set by ISWAP. From all indications, there will be no end to abductions, nor, apparently, an end to setting galling terms.

    The federal government said it did its best to negotiate the freedom of the ladies. Its confessions do not exculpate it of responsibility for the death of the girls, both in constitutional terms involving its responsibility in ensuring the safety of citizens and its responsibility of taking a second chance (deadline) given the government by terrorists to free abducted citizens. Someone absolutely has to take the blame. The government cannot disclaim responsibility. The terrorists at least let it be known that they were willing to negotiate, and they even gave deadlines. So, the government cannot suggest that there were no communication channels to negotiate the freedom of the ladies. What indeed seemed to have gone wrong was that the government could either not sense the urgency of the whole matter or it felt unable to meet the terms of the terrorists. Either way, they owe Nigerians an explanation. If the terms were too severe, then what were those terms? The ladies are being executed one after the other, the government can no longer claim to be entitled to secrecy of action or negotiation. It is time the public judged whether the terrorists were being too unreasonable or the government was being too lackadaisical, contrary to claims.

    One aid worker is still with the abductors, and the schoolgirl Miss Sharibu has presumably being turned into a slave. It would be tragic in the extreme were these two ladies to be executed while the government claims to be doing its best to rescue them. Hopefully the terrorists will announce their next deadlines. When they do, Nigerians must hope their government will feel both the sense of urgency and the obligation to let the world know what the ‘unreasonable’ ISWAP terms are and why they cannot be met, thereby justifying future executions. It is hard to imagine that the presidency can satisfactorily explain another failure regarding the fate of the last two abductees. Perhaps the government never thought ISWAP could go so far. Now that they know, it may be time for them to eschew their fatalism and do more than their customary best in rescuing the last abductees.

  • Athletes bigger than administrators

    I won’t join the motley crowd pushing for Sports Minister Solomon Dalung’s exit. The Sports ministry should work with the board of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) because both groups owe it as a duty to ensure that Nigeria becomes Africa’s Mecca for soccer. We have the talents. Without the athletes there can’t be administrators. Indeed, sportsmen and women are bigger than administrators in terms of what they have to offer. What we need is the enabling environment for soccer to thrive, not an environment that is perpetually troubled by allegations of fraud, with the minister and the ministry doing the jobs of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

    Football is a money spinner because of its immense followership. Much of this claim can be understood, if we examine how the hosting of the 2018 World Cup from June 15 to July 16, boosted the Russian economy. The Mundial added more than $14 billion to the Russian economy, about one per cent of the country’s gross domestic product, the tournament organisers stated on Tuesday in Doha. Indeed, what countries, such as Russia, do is to appoint business-oriented people to run such projects, knowing that their pedigree in the business world is enormous to convince the big players that their cash won’t be wasted.

    Alexey Sorokin, the CEO of Russia’s World Cup Organising Committee said: ‘’The figure the report comes with is quite surprising.’’

    Sorokin told the football conference held in Qatar, host of the 2022 World Cup that his country calculated the impact the World Cup had on Russia’s GDP between 2013 and 2018 to be 952 billion roubles ($14.5 billion, 12.5 billion Euros), which was the equivalent of one per cent of the GDP.

    Sorokin went on: ‘’The tournament created up to 315,000 jobs per year and would still have an impact on the economy over the next five years.’’

    Honourable minister, this isn’t rocket science, if one considers the fact that Nigeria hosted the second biggest soccer competition organised by FIFA. The reason we haven’t hosted the Mundial rests largely with the bickering between the ministry and the NFF. Whereas, other federations do their businesses with insignificant interference from the ministry, NFF appears to be the territory most ministers must conquer to show supremacy – to the detriment of other sports. Ministers must rise beyond the NFF to compete with their counterparts in other climes. There wasn’t any conflict between the Russia sports minister, the World Cup CEO or the Russian FA boss during the Mundial. They worked seamlessly. There was mutual respect, not suspicion that one was corruptly enriching himself.

    Back to Nigeria. Dalung has the right to supervise the soccer federation as part of his job, but there are limits, which must not be exceeded, so as not to destroy the collective goal of making the beautiful game the number one sport that should bring Nigerians out of their homes to match venues. Soccer is the opium of the people, ‘’a vote catcher,’’ a unifier, a phenomenon devoid of creed or race and an employment generator (a topic for another day).

    Federations have the sole right to fund their operations. But when such ventures lead to representing Nigeria in international competitions, it is the ministry’s duty to get the government to fund the athletes’ participation.

    It is Nigeria’s anthem that is sung when the sportsmen and women mount the podium to receive their medals. It is the country’s flag that is hoisted behind them during the medals’ presentation; the pictures and visuals appear in the media. On the medals’ table and such platforms of identification is Nigeria, not NFF or Musa Kida or Solomon Ogba, for instance. Our sports ambassadors go through a lot to represent us. It is only appropriate that their entitlements should be done with dispatch, not made an issue to settle scores among administrators.

    Most of them lose their places in their teams when they come home for our matches. They are forced to work harder to win back their shirts, yet the stipends which we promise are not paid simply because someone wants to show that he is the boss. We need to remind this boss that when the players come here, their relations are hopeful that some of their needs will be met. And the players will easily settle such family requirements as bread winners, if the $5,000 is paid after the games that are won, and $2,500 for drawn ones.

    Our athletes shouldn’t be made to rely on philanthropists and sports loving governors when they require funds to prepare themselves for national assignments. Other countries have several avenues to source for funds, such as the Sports Lottery Schemes and fund-raisers where the President sits at dinner with the corporate world to show the level of commitment towards such an exercise. Blue-chip firms are given tax incentives for what they pay into the projects’ coffers. The president’s speech will spur others not at the ceremony to join the queue.

    This writer isn’t happy that corrupt people are not being made to face the wrath of the law. One’s angst is hinged on the way the minister is not interested in working with the new order at the NFF, so much so that he was absent at the last game against Libya in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State. It sends the wrong message to those entrepreneurs sitting on the fence, watching if things have normalised. We can only talk of a new dawn in sports marketing when there is a synergy among the federations, not just the NFF or the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) or the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF) and the ministry headed by the minister.

    It is shameful reading media reports on Nigeria not being able to pay players’ estacodes and entitlements. It gives the impression that the government doesn’t care about sports. We know that government budgets money every fiscal year for sports. And most of the federations source for cash to run their affairs from the corporate world. The ministry should ensure the prompt release of funds for our ambassadors, even if it means informing President Muhammadu Buhari about the importance of such competitions.

    Honourable Minister sir, Aruna Quadri is a sure gold medal bet at the All Africa Games. Yet, he has not enjoyed any form of financial support from the government, even when his feats are tied to the country. Is it fair? I know that the ministry will be listing Quadri as one of her medals’ hopefuls. The minister is the first to congratulate Quadri after every achievement. What if he decides not to represent the country, when a simple task of getting him a coach has remained unattended for long.

    It is not enough to have chairmen who have the clout to convince the corporate world to fund sports. It is the government’s duty to sponsor teams representing us at major competitions. Money sourced internally by federations should be used for their operations. Our basketball girls qualified for the quarter-finals of the Women World Cup, with the minister in attendance. What that presupposes is that the government supports the sport. Is it by the minister’s presence? The men’s team are poised to attend the men’s version of the World Cup. The body’s president is expected to finance it.

    Howzat Ambode… not out!

    A friend in government is lost because his retinue changes. You can’t access him like in the past. Since Akinwunmi Ambode became the governor of Lagos State, our paths have not crossed and it is understandable. I knew it would someday and I expected him to tease me. Ambode aka Ambods, enjoys doing that. Don’t ask, please, if he takes jibes back.

    And so when former The Guardian Sports Editor Olukayode Thomas asked me to join a group at the Lagos State Government House, I planned to sneak in and out of the place. I knew there would be introductions at some point in the interactive session. I could handle it by quickly standing up for recognition but sit down faster than I got up. Deep inside me, I knew that Ambode won’t fall for the trick. He didn’t. He spotted me before the individual acknowledgement as he looked through the gathering. Good friend, Ambode will always be for me.

    The governor isn’t one who does not find a way of interacting with ‘lost’ friends. The moment Ambode walked round to greet his visitors, I knew he would throw jibes at me. All kinds of thoughts ran through my mind about what to say. Of course, the schoolboy days were gone – some 39 years ago.

    ‘’Hmmm, Ade you don dey old o; how you dey? You dey? Good to see you again,’’ Ambode whispered. I smiled. He must have been surprised I didn’t tease him. Ambode was his warm self.

    Several years ago, I saw him walking on other side of the road from his office. I remember he told me he was the Accountant-General.

    Once I recognised him, I called his cricket alias to be sure it was Ambode; he stood curious, and when he spotted me, he shouted: ‘’Ade Ojeikere!’’ He crossed over to embrace me. How did I know it was Ambode? He kept rolling the sleeves of his white shirt, typical of Ambode while walking down the street. His measured steps flashed back reminiscent of how he walked onto his crease in a cricket game in 1979.

    Thank you, Ambods and best wishes.

  • Wike, Fayose and PDP convention

    WEEKS before the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) convention was held in Port Harcourt last Saturday, few party members and analysts were sure who would win. There was talk of an Aminu Tambuwal victory, and there were also feelings victory could swing in the direction of either Rabiu Kwankwaso or Bukola Saraki. But some key party leaders and critical stakeholders who knew a thing or two about political permutations and the dynamics of presidential nominations believed former vice president Atiku Abubakar would be best placed to win and not let the victory go to waste. In the end, the former vice president took the nomination and is set to run with it. But, beyond the nomination, something else quaked through the convention and attracted the attention of party elders and members, something that had to do with the influence peddling of Nyesom Wike and Ayo Fayose, governors of Rivers and Ekiti States.

    Both governors had for some years exercised what some long-suffering members describe as overbearing influence on the party. That influence, it turned out, had not always borne good fruits, but the two governors nevertheless wielded it relentlessly and remorselessly. They backed the Sokoto State governor, Mallam Tambuwal, for the nomination, but he lost. They have not taken the loss tamely; instead they seem even set on fomenting terrible distractions in the oncoming presidential contest between their party’s candidate and the ruling party’s candidate, President Muhammadu Buhari. All the PDP contestants have congratulated the winner, but the two disconsolate governors have continued to sulk and cry more than the bereaved.

    Shortly before the convention was held, there was talk of holding it elsewhere other than Port Harcourt, the initial choice of a cash-strapped party looking for a state with enough financial muscle to underwrite the expenses. Those campaigning for a new venue were thought to be worried that Mr Wike was bent on foisting a candidate on the party, preferably Mallam Tambuwal. To that end, Mr Wike apparently secured the support of Mr Fayose, but party elders were uncomfortable with the thought of embracing an oligarchy within the party whose ideas and yokes they would find difficult to throw off. However, suspecting their agenda and describing party leaders as ungrateful, an incensed Mr Wike threatened to torpedo the party’s plans should the venue be changed.

    His statement bristled with venom. According to him, “Nobody should dare Rivers State any longer. Enough is enough. PDP should know that we are not a punching bag. We are not a people you can use and push. We are not harlots — whenever you want, you come, when you finish, you push us aside.” This was emotional bilge, but it seemed to work. Not only did party leaders frightened about fracturing the party shortly before the convention reverse themselves, they also chose to be sanguine about the whole convention. Perhaps they had a joker in their hands, a joker they intended to unleash with all elegance and indescribable sang-froid. In the end, the convention went on far better and calmer than party elders dared hope; but Mallam Tambuwal, the candidate of Governors Wike and Fayose, was beaten fair and square, by a galling margin properly described as provocative and humourless.

    Numbed by the rejection their candidate suffered, and perhaps unaware they were exuding unbearable arrogance, Mr Fayose, speaking the mind of Mr Wike, chafed in muted criticism at the victory of the former vice president. Said he: “We have no regret aligning with Governor (Nyesom) Wike to support Governor Tambuwal for the presidential ticket, and no apologies either. We kept the party alive and strong when most men became ladies. We never compromised. If any group feels it can do it alone, we will see how far they can go. I may renounce my membership of the party if the need arises. In the meantime, myself and others will continue with our consultations while watching the turn of events. We cannot but appreciate leaders that have intervened so far, but this release became necessary to avoid fresh crisis or misrepresentation.”

    Both Messrs Wike and Fayose could clearly not hide their disenchantment, if not resentment. By insisting the convention be held in Port Harcourt, it was obvious Mr Wike felt a sense of entitlement as he expected to be rewarded for, as he and Mr Fayose put it, saving the party in its hour of need. In any case, the Ekiti governor did not mince word. He directly indicated that he and Mr Wike ought to be rewarded for holding the party erect after the 2015 electoral loss that threatened to obliterate it and castrate its leadership. It became clear to party elders that, given the manoeuvres of the two governors, their objective was not as a matter of fact altruistic. They saved the party, it has turned out, because they wished to hold it in thrall to their political calculations and goals. But did they really save the party?

    It is true that after the 2015 electoral debacle party leaders were dispirited and inconsolable, and their anguished national chairman at the time, citing extenuating reasons, had to step aside. At a time few party elders were willing to carry the burden of the shell-shocked party, Messrs Wike and Fayose grandly but a little grossly stepped in. But rather than being saviours, some party elders alleged, the two governors acted as opportunists eager to claim a seemingly forlorn party they could remould according to their amorphous and obnoxious worldview. But in their eagerness and feistiness, instead of joining hands with others and viewing with dispassion the whole exercise of resuscitating and remaking the party scientifically, they foisted the itinerant opportunist, former Borno State governor, Ali Modu Sheriff, on the PDP. The pugnacious Mallam Sheriff wasted no time in wreaking havoc on the party and riding roughshod over its principles and traditions. The Borno politician, a redoubtable political nomad himself, is now back in the APC after crisscrossing about two or three more parties. It took many lawsuits to extricate the party from the stranglehold of the ambitious and imposing Mallam Sheriff.

    While the PDP convention was still in progress in Port Harcourt on Sunday morning, and sensing that his candidate had lost, Mr Wike abruptly left the stadium venue with his aides. His absolute lack of sportsmanship and respect for democratic values were matched in some ways only by the whining of Mr Fayose who threatened to defect from the party he claimed he and Mr Wike laboured to free from slavery and restore to life. It is evident now to the PDP that neither of the two governors who appointed themselves as saviours to the party is a democrat. Their candidate lost unequivocally, but they seem unmindful of the implications of destabilising a party they claim to love, or of openly demonstrating their lack of respect for democratic values, or of indicating to the whole world the puerility of their politics.

    Mr Wike will of course have no choice but to reconcile with his party and party leaders. He will in addition work assiduously to bring about PDP victory at the presidential poll. If that victory is procured, it will make it far easier for him to keep Rivers in the ambit of the PDP. Moreover, his future and peace of mind against persecution and investigation rest on procuring that victory. Mr Fayose throws a tantrum; but even he will come round to rekindling his faith in the PDP. He will be leaving office in a few days. He is certain to be assailed by the ruling APC who have an axe to grind with him. They have not forgotten nor forgiven his vituperations against their leaders, and they are eager to exact their pound of flesh from him. Indeed, as the handover date draws near, they revel in that vengeful thought. Mr Fayose will, therefore, need a strong party to come to his aid, to champion his cause, to keep his tribulations in the public eye, and to give him the succour he will badly need in the months ahead. No, neither Mr Wike nor Mr Fayose has anywhere to go. They will stand pat in the PDP, and in addition work and pray for the victory of their candidate in 2019.

  • Change of attitude, please

    Sometimes,  I feel that some of our players think the country owes them  debts for wearing our jerseys during matches. What one cannot understand is why those who feel too big to play for Nigeria don’t quit the stage honourably instead of reporting late for key matches. Will they change their nationalities? With many of them using the national soccer teams’ platforms to gain international acclaim, one is left with no other option but to join the school of thought canvassing for us to develop the game only.

    It is important to plead with our players for a change of attitude. They should stop insulting our sensibilities by telling us they missed their flights out of England. Asking them to report early to camp is for blending. If they had reported to camp early, they would have gained five days training session before today’s game. One can understand why China and Russia based players reported late, not those in Europe.

    Perhaps the players have forgotten that the next game is next Tuesday. In between Saturday night and Tuesday, they won’t have another opportunity to train again, except they do so on Sunday night and Monday morning before travelling. They have lost one day or two. It won’t surprise anybody if they wobble in today’s game (God forbid). Our players should be more professional.

    Nigeria needs to use sports as one of her biggest Public Relations (PR) tools to change people’s perception of our dear country. I won’t forget how Chioma Ajunwa ran towards a young American kid sitting at the stands to collect the Nigeria green-white-green flag for the traditional lap of honour after winning the women’s long jump gold medal at the Atlanta’96 Olympic Games. The next day, America’s top newspapers found space for Ajunwa’s celebration on their front pages, largely because the long jump had been their forte. Need I remind you that Nigeria was a pariah to other nations because of the better-forgotten Sani Abacha junta? I digress.

    This writer’s adrenalin pumps highest when the Super Eagles are converging in camp ahead of crucial matches. Whereas our boys saunter into the camp like kings, when most of them are second-string players in their European clubs, their club mates in other countries make a ceremony of their return to national team assignments on the internet and the social media. Hitherto, we thought our players behaved this way because the coaches were scared of talking to them. But with German Gernot Rohr in charge, nothing has changed, although most pundits feel that he spoilt it by giving concessions to Victor Moses and others to report late to camp in the past. Rohr, the ball is in your court to wield the big stick.

    What excites me is the captivating manner in which other nationals hurry back to play for their fatherland even when they depart from different countries at different times. They manage to make their passage through the immigration at the airports, one in which the media celebrate them. In fact, many of them are so excited that they start posting their movement back home, once they are boarded for the homeward trip. It is easy for the coaches and the fans to raise their hope of victory.

    The arrival halls are a beehive of activities, with everyone struggling to come up with one fashion style that would beat others’. Whilst watching these pictures online, one is forced to hiss at our players’ attitude towards Nigeria’s matches. The argument that European players’ mentality towards their countries is different is bunkum, if one considers how the Senegalese, Ghanaians, Ivoriens et al report to camp early to prepare for matches. One is awed watching others wear wristbands of their countries while playing for their clubs; this is missing among our players.

    The flipside suggestion that we use and dump our athletes as the reason for their seeming non-challance amounts to standing truth on its head because only recently, Cameroon’s football icon Samuel Eto’O Fils rescued a former Indomitable Lions’ captain Norbert Owona, who is homeless and whose plight was highlighted in a documentary. Eto O Fils promised to build a house for him. He gave 500,000 CFA francs (£686) to Owana, according to another former player, Joseph Kamga. Owona had written to some government ministers about his state of health and his appeal for help.

    He complained of “living like an animal” and said it was “unfair to receive such treatment from his country”. Owona said it was difficult to get medical help because he had no money or home, having spent all his savings to pay for the cancer care of his wife and children. The Cameroonian government and indeed the Football Association (FECAFOOT) looked the other way.

    Let me not waste space with George Opong Weah’s contributions towards  making Li beria a football nation. What did Cameroon do for Eto’O Fils that Nigeria hasn’t done better for our sportsmen and women? The Liberians rewarded Weah with their votes, rightly so, not the government.

    The Super Eagles are the biggest marketing brand to reshape sports development in this country, only if the players can emulate their colleagues when it comes to honouring assignments. Nigeria was not at the last two Africa Cup of Nations (2015, 2017), after winning the 2013 edition in South Africa. A number of factors contributed to this sad development, including reporting to camp as if they were coming for a picnic. The present NFF corrected the flaws as attested to by the players at the Russia 2018 World Cup.

    Our players should understand the damage they do to the fans’ psyche anytime they perform poorly. For instance, since Monday, commercial activities in Uyo and its environs have improved. People are making brisk business marketing various wares – sweets, ice-cream, pure water, minerals and food stuff, not forgetting the astronomical rise in prices in the town. This will go on until next week Monday, when the Libyans and the Eagles depart Akwa Ibom State. Fans are now forced to reside in neighbouring states, such as Cross River, Abia and Port Harcourt, where they will depart as early as 5am today to watch the game.

    Ingenious Nigerians have made almanacs, tee-shirts, mufflers, Nigerian flags, flutes for the fans to motivate the players and other items having their favourite players’ faces. Restaurants and viewing centres have built collapsible tents, with big screens for fans who cannot enter the stadium to watch the game. This scenario is replicated in many other states across the country.  The streets will be empty from the kickoff time. Wild celebration will herald Eagles’ victory till the wee hours. That is how much Nigerians love the Eagles. Our players must beat Libya today to appease the fans.

    Eagles are the nexus for sports marketing, if they do excel in matches because sponsors will fall over themselves to fund their activities. Those firms who can’t get Eagles’ sponsorship package will gladly fund basketball, where Nigeria’s male and female teams qualified for the World Cup, although the sport is enjoying sponsorship from food beverage giant Milo. Several windows can be created for sponsorship when the big firms are available.

    I’ve refused to do any analysis on the game because Libya is a country in turmoil. They play their home matches in Tunisia, not Tripoli. If Eagles cannot beat the Libyans groggy with goals, they have themselves to blame. The Libyans are mentally unprepared for the game. They are in Uyo to fulfil all righteousness. They also don’t want to incur CAF’s wrath by pulling out of the competition. They have good reasons to do so. But they know the devastating impact pulling out of the competition will do to their game. They are honouring the Uyo fixture for the good of the game.

    I feel strongly that Gernot Rohr should deliver on this competition by winning it, like the late Stephen Keshi, to justify the huge pay.  I’m however encouraged by his pre-match talks when he said: “On Saturday, the team has to give everything, come to the fore. When we do not hesitate we become more recognisable. If we speculate we become a vulgar team.

    “If Libya are relaxed for the game, I will be happy. We cannot disappoint the fans. We go all out because we need it, and also even if we do not need it. It has nothing to do with either motivation or the sporting level, but the essence of the team. We cannot speculate. We respect them, but we want to make our presence felt,” Rohr added.

    Alex Iwobi’s comments on Thursday typifies what Nigerians expect from the Eagles. He said: “Libya played a draw against South Africa, so it shows they are a good side. I’m sure the coaches and officials are putting everything in place to ensure victory on Saturday. The team is preparing hard and they are not taking them for granted.’’

  • Atiku’s hour cometh?

    In the run up to the 2015 presidential elections, I wrote a column on this space titled ‘Buhari’s hour cometh?’ Everything just appeared to be working in the direction of a predictable victory for the taciturn and aloof General from Daura. Here was a man who had sought the country’s highest position on three previous occasions – 2003, 2007 and 2011 – with nothing to show for it. It did not matter that he was widely admired for his asceticism, frugality and simple outlook on life while enjoying a cult following among the masses of northern Nigeria. For the first time, however, Buhari had a broad based political platform in the emergent All Progressives Congress (APC) that also equipped him to win sufficient support particularly in the South West and middle Belt geo-political zones that enabled him to defeat an incumbent at the centre in the 2015 elections.

    With the emergence of Alhaji Abubakar Atiku as presidential candidate of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), however, it is pertinent to wonder if his much awaited political hour has finally come for the former Customs officer turned mega businessman and politician from Adamawa State. For one, the 12 other aspirants the Turaki defeated in the   PDP intra-party elections appear to have united in support of his candidacy at least for now. That was how other defeated presidential aspirants in the historic APC National Convention of 2014 accepted Buhari’s candidacy, refrained from quitting the party and with some even working assiduously for his victory in the general election. Incidentally, President Goodluck Jonathan who later lost the election had been returned unopposed as PDP presidential candidate at a time when Buhari had to face competitive intra-party contest within the APC.

    Of course, one cannot read too much into such coincidences because the APC, from all indications, appears to have rallied behind Buhari’s candidacy despite the seeming monarchical coronation that characterized his unanimous affirmation as presidential candidate at the APC’s non-elective national convention.  However, it is not out of place to ponder if indeed Atiku’s hour of glory may be at hand given the support he his garnering from unusual quarters. For instance, the Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, has endorsed Atiku’s presidential bid presumably because of his new found love for restructuring of the polity.  This has long been a cherished desire of the Afenifere leaders.

    In the same vein, Atiku has been aggressively courting South-East, South-South and Middle-Belt political leaders and groups.  Even then, will these zones particularly in the South want to risk electing an Atiku who will most likely have the possibility of spending two terms of eight years in office compared to Buhari, who if he wins next year, will be entitled to only one more constitutional term of four years? I ask this question in the light of the unwritten and informal zoning formula that has characterized political competition especially at the presidential level in this dispensation. Atiku has reportedly promised to spend only one term in office if he emerges as President next year. Do most people believe him? I don’t think so. Yes in picking Mr. Peter Obi from the South East as his runningmate, Atiku has shown that he means business.

    No less significant, is the endorsement that Atiku has received from his former boss and implacable foe – the unforgiving and pugnacious former President Olusegun Obasanjo. Obasanjo in characterisc exhibition of self –righteousness, claimed to have forgiven Atiku for his many sins because the latter has apologized to him and demonstrated contriteness and mortification for his alleged iniquities. If Obasanjo had all along claimed at diverse fora that his former Deputy had sinned against God and Nigeria, can he now just casually bestow the benediction of forgiveness on the PDP candidate presumably on behalf of God and the rest of us?

    Some analysts have claimed that Obasanjo has only minuscule electoral value. They miss the point.    The former President’s political influence far exceeds his electoral value. This was the pithy point made by Chief Obafemi Awolowo when Chef MKO Abiola quit the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) in the Second Republic causing seismic political tremors despite his scanty following in the South West at the time.   It is better to have Obasanjo at your ringside when engaging in electoral or political battle. But even then, it is not impossible that he may yet meet his waterloo at the hands of the tactically astute military turned political strategist from Daura.

    Again, the question: ‘Is Atiku’s hour of electoral glorification at hand?’ The eloquent and often prescient convener of the Save Nigeria Group (SNG), Pastor Tunde Bakare is seemingly non committal even though clinical in his analysis. In his words: “It is not going to be an Eaglet versus an eagle but an eagle versus eagle: an old eagle versus new eagle and probably both of them old eagles”. Continuing, the fiery cleric surmised “I can’t say Atiku will win or lose. You see, I am not advocating for him. Among all the PDP aspirants, who contested the party’s ticket with him, he is perhaps the most cosmopolitan; he is a Wazobia man… He has been a businessman with business acumen and he has exposure. But you see, that is not what qualifies you to win. A lot comes into play; so, again, I cannot say whether he will win or lose”.

    Ordinarily, in my view the next election ought to be a straight walk over for the ruling APC. No candidate on the platform of the PDP should stand even a tenth of a chance against President Muhammadu Buhari. The havoc wrought by the PDP in its 16 year-rule of the locusts that virtually brought the nation to its knees is still all too fresh in the national consciousness. Unfortunately, the ruling APC has committed too many unforced errors thus making it possible for the PDP to even dream of coming to power again so soon at the centre after the horrendous bleeding of the national treasury that took place under its watch.

    Luckily for the APC, Atiku seems to be couching his political communication in terms of Nigerians wanting the PDP back in power. Nothing could be further from the truth.  To have even a fighting chance of giving Buhari a run for his money, Atiku must, in my view, sell his personal qualities, attributes and achievements while de-emphasizing his mortally damaged party platform.  If he must refer to his party at all, Atiku’s bold message to Nigerians must be one of being committed to supporting the institution of  genuine reforms within the PDP and more meaningfully re-branding the party and enthroning a new and higher moral ethos as well as ethical standards within the party.

    But does Atiku possess the moral integrity and character to project himself as a moral change agent both within the PDP and as leader of Nigeria if elected next year? Most of his adversaries will vehemently answer this question in the negative. For some inexplicable reason, the toga of alleged corruption hung on Atiku has appeared to stick. I find this baffling because to the best of my knowledge, Atiku remains unindicted by any court of law within or outside Nigeria for any acts of corruption. There have been reports of alleged financial infractions in the United States that make it impossible for Atiku to travel to that country. The US government has, however, maintained a studied silence on the matter thus leaving it at the level of unproven and unproductive speculation.

    Against a candidate like Buhari, there is no way Atiku can dodge responding fully to the integrity question. For despite his all too obvious flaws, millions of Nigerians still admire Buhari’s obvious disdain for materialism and ostentation in a clime where the criminal plunder of public resources is the pastime of the political /business elite. However, if Buhari does not move fast to distance himself from some of his closest aides and inner kitchen cabinet who have hidden under the banner of his integrity to commit all manner of atrocities as epitomized, for instance, by the scandalous Rasheed Maina affair, the still unexplained cash haul at Ikoyi, or open defiance of court judgements and violations of the rule of law, for instance, he may unwittingly aid the fruition next year of Atiku’s hour.

    For now, it is my view that Buhari has done well enough, scoring a slightly above average performance to merit re-election next year. If that happens, someone may likely describe Atiku someday as another ‘best President Nigeria never had’! I wish both Buhari and Atiku best of luck. But the next few months will be crucial.

     

     

     

     

  • Politics, leaders and stability

    It  was US former  President Barak  Obama who  famously  said  that ‘ Africa  does not need strong leaders, but strong  institutions ‘. It is now history  how that remark  played out during the Obama Administration and the Arab Spring  of 2011 springing  from the Cairo Speech  that earned Obama a Nobel Prize  at the beginning of his presidency in 2009. The  trio of western leaders,namely Obama, Sarkozy of France and David  Cameron  of Britain literally  toppled strong Arab leaders in Egypt, Tunisia, and Muammar  Gadaffi in Libya and the  political  turbulence or  storm  has not subsided  till today. Definitely  Africa  and the developing world need  not only strong and upright  leaders but they  need strong institutions  as well.

    Political developments in Nigeria involving the primaries  of Nigeria’s many and  especially two major parties, namely APC  and PDP clearly  show that Nigeria does not need any  prompting or advice from any quarters  on the way and manner its institutions, especially the political  ones should  function. Nigerian  political  parties also have found a matured way  to organize political  representation and participation  as  the successful  primaries all over  the nation have shown.  This  is  in spite of some protests  and many hiccups.

    I say  this with all sense of  seriousness  and patriotism and I will illustrate this vividly  with political  developments in Nigeria and other parts of the world  in the last  one  week.

    This  week  the National  Assembly  resumed after a long break and the session, albeit  a closed one was peaceful  and businesslike. Which  is highly commendable considering the  hostile atmosphere  in which  the legislators went on break. Indeed I predicted that the resumption would be like what happened in the Western region House of Assembly culminating in the 1962 AG  Crisis  but  that has not happened. Instead the two parties and the legislative leadership sheathed their swords as it were in the overall  interest  of the nation and preserved the much  needed stability of the Nigerian nation and I say  again  that  I  admire such rare leadership  maturity  in the Nigerian legislature. Especially  the peaceful  manner it  has resumed  and taken on  its  legislative function  of  considering important  bills from the presidency.  It  showed  again  that the fracture in our separation of power presidential system  that  I highlighted  last  week  has  been  repaired  with  the sense of patriotism  and political  sagacity  of our  legislators  on their resumption  at  NASS  this  week  and Nigerians definitely  gave a huge sigh  of relief  at  the salutary  and peace  oriented development  in Abuja.

    Again one  must  commend the leadership  of the NASS especially the Senate President  and Speaker. Beleaguered as they were before the break, they  have shown that they  are both wily seasoned politicians who  can be compared  to the proverbial cat  with nine lives. They have my grudging  admiration  on their  good    grasp of the Nigerian political  terrain as  well  as their survival  instincts and durable tenacity  of office.

    Aside  from  the legislature  we need to  look at  the parties  and the primaries just  concluded  as well  as the good, the bad  and the ugly  sides of  the entire political  process.  Just  look at the reactions. First  the First  Lady, a lady  after  my heart for her bluntness  and outspokenness, took the APC Chairman to the cleaners for what  she called the impunity  that characterized  APC primaries  under  his Chairmanship. This was a lady that criticized her husband’s appointments  that some of the people being appointed never were around when the president was campaigning for power. The APC  must  take her  criticism  seriously. Just  as it must  deal with the request  of some governors and leaders that the APC chairman should  resign.  That  really is a major  issue  for the party  to tackle before the presidential  elections. This  is because it  is dangerous for the Chairman of a ruling party to be using belligerent language  which  is disruptive on the eve of a  major  election when what is needed to  catch votes and buy over undecided voters  is persuasion and  the  brilliant    display    and flaunting  of  a record of achievements.

    Let  me state clearly  that the endorsement  of the Nigerian political  class  here  today  is not a carte blanche  for the prevailing political  culture  of rigging  that has become a way of life in our  political  system.  We  still  have our shortcomings in our political  organization, planning  and institutions. But definitely this past week we  must  commend  our selves  and aim higher in terms of political  transparency  and observance  of loftier political  values and aspirations.  For  now  as Nigerians  are wont to say when pleased  with  themselves, I say  –  we have tried!

    To  buttress  this sovereign  self praise  let  us look at events in other parts of the world this last  week. Look  at  the US legislature after the Brett Kavanaugh  Supreme  Court confirmation success of the Republican Party  and President  Donald  Trump  who called  those who  opposed the nomination – evil  people.  One liberal  critic  of the Kavanaugh confirmation cried shrilly  that the four  horses of calumny, namely  fear, intimidation,  bigotry and  smear  are  dominating  US democracy  and politics  in the Trump era  and this must be stopped  by the Democrats in  turning out to vote in the November 6  mid term  elections into the House of Reps, some governorships  and  some senate  seats. Politics  in the Trump era  in the US  has become  a do  or die  war  situation  with the parties, leadership and legislature polarized along  values like gay rights  and  abortion as the Kavanaugh Supreme Court  debacle  has shown. Even  women  are now  at arms against past  lovers and molesters  in  way that  has  made any  discussion literally impossible just  as homophobia  and gay  rights  preceded  the Me  too sexual  assault  issue  that  almost  derailed Kavanaugh  confirmation.  Yet  in far  away Brazil the leading  presidential  candidate in the ongoing presidential election boldly said  he would prefer his son to die in an accident  instead of being a gay  man and said loudly  too  that pedophiles  and homosexuals are the same. Such intolerance ! the Americans will  say  but one man’s food is another man’s poison. Once  again  long live the Federal  Republic  of Nigeria.

     

     

  • APC and Oshiomhole’s many headaches

    On Thursday, some eight or nine All Progressives Congress (APC) governors met with President Muhammadu Buhari over the stalemated and deeply divisive governorship and legislative primaries in their states. Some of the governors complained about the omission of their loyalists from the list of screened legislative aspirants, and others bitterly resented the national APC’s role in, and even conduct of, their states’ governorship primaries. There is deep dissatisfaction in some of the states with the role being played by the party’s national chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, who is regarded as dictatorial and meddlesome. The visit to Aso Villa followed the lingering inability of the party at the national level to resolve the crises-ridden state primaries.

    But whether the presidency can placate the aggrieved governors  is anybody’s guess. For a long time, the presidency restrained itself from interfering in the affairs of the party at both the state and national levels. Inspired by the president who initially argued that it was undemocratic to meddle in the affairs of the party, just as it naively hoped the party would not meddle in the business of the presidency and the executive, the presidency put a huge gulf between itself and the party until major fissures, albeit contrived, began to appear and vested interests plotted the usurpation of offices and power in the party and particularly the national legislature. By the time the presidency experienced the epiphany of involving itself in the affairs of the party, incalculable damage had been done, and cracks had widened and ossified.

    The governors were not as squeamish about getting involved in the affairs of the party in their states as the presidency was. They not only meddled in the running of the party, in many instances, they virtually reduced the party to a department of the state government, and chairmen were turned into glorified errand boys. Unfortunately, the incongruous relationship between the party and the executive was instituted right from the beginning of the Fourth Republic when the then president, Olusegun Obasanjo, unadvisedly took strong-arm measures to subordinate the party to the executive. Observing what was being done at the federal level, the states quite eagerly took extraordinary measures to also subjugate the party in their states.

    While the presidency has not witnessed any revolt of any kind in the party at the national level, with the party still deferring by and large to Aso Villa, the states for the first time are witnessing terrible unease and stirrings in their territories. The battle for succession and the struggle for nominations have pitted powerful individuals against either their party leaders or their apparently overbearing governors. Ambitious politicians are not afraid to dare meddlesome governors determined to write the future of their states. In the past, governors largely determined who took the tickets; now, the situation appears to be morphing in ways that challenge the status quo and the conventional wisdom of monarchical governors, a dire process revolutionarily given fillip by the iconoclastic Mr Oshiomhole, himself a former governor.

    The public and the ruling party may be alarmed by what is happening, particularly the dissension in the APC, fearing that the confusion might affect the party’s electoral chances as indeed it affected the fortunes of the former ruling party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). But they should be grateful that the schisms are manifesting now, and they must hope that they can sort out the mess integral to their founding. The PDP came to grief over imposition of candidates and the associated confusion and rebellion that accompanied that patently undemocratic style. It is not a bequest anyone should embrace.

    The APC, particularly its governors, has not learnt any lesson from the debacle that confronted and sundered the PDP. But circumstances are now conspiring to help them confront their inbuilt and orchestrated monsters. Those circumstances are indeed quaint and unique. First is the presence in office in Aso Villa of an apathetic president who seems not fully persuaded about meddling in the day-to-day running of the party, unlike Chief Obasanjo. President Buhari is thus likely to be highly amenable in his involvement in the misunderstanding within the APC. He will genuinely seek peace once he is convinced of the course of action the party should pursue. Had President Buhari been seized by the itch to control things, he would be more interested in demonstrating power and getting his way than coaxing the combatants to reach some accommodation. Second is the election of the charismatic though somewhat flawed Mr Oshiomhole as chairman. Not only was he a governor, but having also ruled Edo State for two terms, he knows a thing or two about deploying and projecting power, and embracing every propaganda measure possible. He knows the tricks governors are capable of, and he knows just how elastic their bluff is. He will counter their bluff and also defang their blusters until he forces a rapprochement.

    But more importantly, both the president and Mr Oshiomhole are unlikely to feel apocalyptic about the dissension quaking in the APC for the simple reason that they fairly anticipated the crisis and believe sensibly that it is much better to endure that danger than the flaky peace governors and the former party chairman had tried to confect. Beginning from last year, and running through the early parts of this year, the former chairman, John Odigie-Oyegun, and the governors had attempted to circumvent what they feared was a potentially acrimonious and explosive elective convention. They voted for managed congresses, controlled convention, tenure extension and consensus candidates. Regardless of the provisions of their party constitution, they loaded these dramatic measures under the so-called doctrine of necessity, and felt absolutely certain that the foretold implosion many feared would course through the party could thereby be deflected.

    The party must indeed be thankful to naysayers who insisted that no matter how tumultuous and damaging a revalidation process might be, the party must periodically subject itself to that carnival enjoyed by its members. That process of revalidation may open up unhealed sores within the party and create fresh wounds and fissures, but, argued the critics and dissenters within the party, it was better for such problems to be ventilated, no matter how searing the molten magma flowing from its bowels, than to be repressed with the possibility of later triggering conflagrations of untold consequences. The controversy over direct or indirect primaries, or elected or consensus candidates, for instance, are all indicators of the cracks existing deep down in the party’s tectonic plates. Had these problems not manifested now, a future earthquake deep under its crust would probably have unleashed an unmanageable Tsunami.

    Party members, including recalcitrant governors, must not harbour the dangerous illusion that the refusal to endorse Mr Odigie-Oyegun’s continuation in office or their preferred  candidates and mode of primaries were the causes of the terrible dissension unsettling the party. No, these cracks were intrinsic to the party and its founding, and they were bound sooner or later to manifest. The party now has an opportunity to address these foundational issues. What will determine how successful they are, and whether the party would stabilise or not, especially going into the future, will depend on the administrative acumen of their leaders and the president, and the subtlety with which those saddled with the responsibility of reconciling the combatants and forging peace go about their onerous task.

    The APC may cast wary glances at the PDP, fearing that the opposition could take advantage of the distress in the ruling party, but the PDP is also battling its own demons, and is even more fearful of the magnitude and intractability of its existential troubles. They have now been out of office for four years; they are anxious that eight years in the wilderness could weaken the resolve of their members to summon the gumption and fortitude to stay the course and take the battle to the cantankerous ruling party. It is crucial for the PDP to regain its composure and cobble together the right and potent winning platforms and formulae. This would be good for the country’s democratic health. But it is also apposite for the ruling APC to eschew the paranoia buffeting its processes, particularly in conceiving and sustaining a durable and pragmatic democratic ethos. They can surmount their troubles if they try hard enough. But they can also fail if they give in to fear and desperation. The choice is really theirs to make.

  • Elections, manipulations and democracy

    It  is the season for primaries in Nigeria and politicians are  busy seeking  to get their champions and nominees into party, state and federal  offices in a mood that  shows that power  is sweet  and  any one who  has tasted it,  is  ready  to die to retain it. In  both the ruling and former ruling parties in  Nigeria the race is on  and charges of rigging and assault on democracies are  being thrown like brickbats.

    Especially  by those who  have lost  when what really happened is  that they have been outfoxed in a common game of election manipulation  common  at every level of the Nigerian political system.

    This  election malady or tomfoolery is  however  not peculiar  to Nigeria and is indeed  a global  phenomenon. Today  then,  we  look at some recent elections  at  various  levels  and take a position on their quality or lack of it  in promoting the cause or  the death of the prevailing  ideology  that most nations proclaim  as  their flagstaff  of  governance, namely  democracy.

    In  Lagos  State the incumbent  governor  lost  his  bid  to get the nomination of his party for  a second  term as governorship  candidate in the 2019 guber elections of the state. This was after he had accused the state party leadership of attempting to disenfranchise him  and  calling his  opponent  a fake dollar  spender  and patient of a rehab  center in the state. This  too  was preceded by a statement from the Jagaban  that the non election of the incumbent at the primaries would not prevent the party  from delivering the state to the nation’s  incumbent president as the party’s presidential candidate in the 2019 presidential  elections .  More  interestingly, the National Working Committee  of the APC sent  to midwife  the election  was reported  by  Channels TV and other media  houses of making a u turn  in announcing the results it objected to a day earlier. Most  importantly  the defeated incumbent  governor conceded defeat graciously  and  congratulated his successful  opponent  and the party  and the state reverted peacefully  to the state of politics and business  as usual in  the preparation for  the state and presidential  elections of 2019.

    In  one fell swoop  the APC  in Lagos  state weathered  a challenge to its leadership  successfully. To  me it was a victory for party supremacy more than anything. It  also threw up  the story of the flexible  reed  that bent in the direction of the storm and survived it while the Iroko that stood against the storm  was  violently uprooted. What  the party needs to do is to formalize its record and membership  register and  monitor performance of its elected officers long before the primaries to call them to order if and when they derail. Unfortunately the opposition will still make a meal of the defeat of the incumbent governor  but  the  vulture will  have less to feed on,  now that the wounded party has recuperated fast and smartly.

    At the federal  level  the absence  of  both  the Speaker  of  the House  of  Representatives and the President  of the Senate at Nigeria’s Independence  celebrations  in Abuja and the reason given for the absence, attract  our attention  in terms of today’s topic. The  senate  president through his spokesman said  that  his principal  was  busy  with the party primaries  at home in Ilorin  and could not attend  the national  celebrations. Which  really  was not  the truth or  even  a tenth  of it. The  reason as all Nigerians know  is that both  the nation’s  president and the senate president are at logger  heads over the 2019 presidential election. Indeed after defecting from the president’s party APC to the PDP, the senate president had since declared his ambition to contest against the president claiming he  would be a better president to implement the change campaign that brought both to power in the 2015 election.

    Indeed, the  absence  of the senate president at the Independence Celebrations show that all is not well  with Nigeria’s presidential system of government based on the separation of powers. It  was reported that the Chief  Justice of Nigeria was present at the ceremony in Abuja. That is still  two thirds of our tripartite separation  of powers  and is still  not healthy  as expected and the Legislature plainly is involved in a struggle  for power  with  the executive.  That  makes the legislature isolated  and vulnerable as the judiciary which should adjudicate in  any disagreement between the  executive and the  legislature  was very  much present at the October 1 Independence celebrations this year. Obviously  the role of the judiciary is as important as the two arms of government  in any presidential  system  and  that  takes us to the debacle  in  the US over  the  confirmation of Supreme  Court  judge Brett Kavanaugh  by the US  senate.

    In  some ways the tussle  between the US senate and the US presidency over the confirmation of a Supreme  Court nominee of President Donald Trump has  some underlying  issues  similar to  the disagreement between the presidency  and the senate in Nigeria. Whilst  the Nigerian  senate president  gave  the excuse of his  party’s primaries as excuse for not being at Abuja  for Independence celebrations  the delay being    manipulated  by  the Democrats  in the Senate is being driven  by their eye on the November 6 Mid  term elections in the US. The  Republicans, Trump’s  party  has  a slim majority in the senate  and wants the Supreme Court’s  judge’s appointment confirmed before November in case it loses its majority and the Democrats  take control of both the House of  Representatives and the senate in the November elections. That  explains why the debate  has become both  cultural and  ideological  and so  bitter that security  arrangements are being firmed up for the Senators in the Judicial  Committee.

    What  is also interesting in the  snag between  the US president  and Congress on this matter is that the US president  has turned the debate into a gender war by saying that the future is bleak for young men in the US as they  can be accused by anybody on sexual  assault and would be deemed guilty before  any trial. Just  as the judge whose offence happened 36  years ago when he was 17  and his accuser 15.

    Whereas the law in the US and most  English speaking nations of the world says one is  presumed innocent when accused,  until proven guilty. Surprisingly  even  when  the judge  exploded in fury and indignation at his condemnation  without trial  as well  as the destruction  of his good  name and family, his opponents    derided him  and seized on that as  a  sign  of temper unbefitting of a Supreme  Court  judge.  Anyway, I  think  the Republicans will ram the nomination through and if not,  find a  substitute  before the November election. Which  also  promises to  be  an  all  American do or die affair  in terms of the  divergent cultural  values polarizing the entire US in this highly  volatile and interesting Donald  Trump  presidency. Once  again  long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

     

     

  • Going, going …

    Like him or hate him, Jose Mourinho knows his job as a soccer coach. He doesn’t fail to tell his foes what he has achieved when his teams are tottering. He believes in his tactics. He likes to win the big games to always be in reckoning. But, why does Mourinho like to fish in troubled waters? Why can’t he take his eyes off controversies and allow his tactical savvy count in his teams’ matches? Why does Mourinho insist on having his way when pitched against big stars or key personnel in his teams’ operations?

    Or is it that Mourinho talks too much? How could Mourinho be so insensitive to the players’ contributions to the team’s previous matches, irrespective of the fact that a resurging West Ham beat Manchester United at home last weekend with what he told them in Monday’s training session?

    “I see sad people. I see people who don’t look like they lost the game. I see so-so. You can be with a very sad face, and you can be a fantastic actor and inside of you, you are very happy. So sometimes what you see is not what you get,” Mourinho said.

    Nonsense. Who picked the players for the game, Mourinho? What did you do when things were going awry? Mourinho should stop passing the buck now that the team is tottering in the same way he gets all the accolades when the team shines in matches.

    What is clear in Mourinho’s coaching notebook with his European sides is the fact that his third year with them is always troublesome. Mourinho’s list of ‘enemies’ in the third year would have been long enough to consume the Special One. The question to ask is if Mourinho hasn’t noticed this third year hoodoo to cast and bind it out of his resume?

    What was Manchester United’s management expecting from Mourinho, whose sojourn is marked with controversies? Why the Old Trafford folk chose Mourinho over  Mauricio Pochettino remains a misery, especially as the Argentine had distinguished himself with Tottenham. Safe for the Special One’s pedigree and feats achieved,  Pochettino was the Red Devils’ best choice, since the team is strictly conservative in outlook, with incredible feats. The club missed it by recruiting Mourinho in 2016 to replace an achieving Louis van Gaal, 48 hours after winning the English FA Cup. Retributive justice? No way; Mourinho won the only trophy not on Manchester United’s boardroom’s shelf – the Europa Cup – two years ago.

    Mourinho spends big in the transfer market. He likes the big stars but has failed to tolerate their nuances. Mourinho latches on any opportunity to show that he is the boss. He dislikes legends in clubs like we saw when he confronted Iker Casillas at Real Madrid and Wayne Rooney at Manchester United. He went for Tito Vilanova’s jugular in one memorable touchline altercation. Of course, who has forgotten how Mounrinho’s sideline brush with Eva Carneiro for tending to Eden Hazard at Chelsea, which landed the Special One in hot water in the courts? Or is Mourinho paying the prize of lampooning Manchester United’s “football heritage”  immediately the team was beaten home and away by Sevilla last season in the UEFA Champions League?

    Mourinho likes direct football style. No flair until the game is safe with goals inside the opponents’ nets. Mourinho’s game plan isn’t fancied by those who want to be thrilled during matches, which is what Manchester United’s fans are used to. So, recruiting Mourinho meant tampering with the fan’s patience. Gone is Sir Alex Ferguson’s fascinated display, even though he could also play the Mourinho style.

    Old Trafford was the slaughter slab for teams. Today, it has lost that fear factor as teams inflict devastating defeats on the Red Devils to the consternation of the fans. Where did Mourinho get it wrong? Could it be that his counter-attacking option has caught up with him? What does he say to his players at half-time? Mourinho used to make fantastic changes he makes to correct flaws in his

    teams’ play? Where has the Midas touch that changed the tempo of games gone?

    Could this period be Manchester United’s bad patch which most teams will go through every season? Mourinho complained about the team’s recruitment pattern in the summer. He identified Liverpool FC’s recruitment as one that will keep other title contenders on their toes, even though the Anfield giants have not won the English Premier League (EPL) trophy since the competition began. Who approved the recruitment of players?

    Why didn’t Mourinho emulate his Liverpool counterpart, Jurgen Klopp, who sold more players than what he had bought to balance the books? Paul Pogba’s truancy didn’t start today. Mourinho ought to have shipped him out this season, knowing that his market value is high, having won the Russia 2018 World Cup with France. In December, Pogba would have gone for close to £250 million, enough cash to buy eight players who will give their all at £240 million. The eight new players would have improved the team’s quality of play since no one would be sure of his shirt.

    Will Pogba send Mourinho out of Manchester United or will the team’s management trade off Pogba in January for peace to reign? As a short term measure on Wednesday, the club’s directors placed a media ban on Pogba, who confirmed this after Tuesday’s pulsating barren draw against Valencia at Old Trafford. ‘‘You want me dead? I’ve been told I’m not allowed.’’ 

    With his right to speak inhibited, Pogba took to the social media to reassure fans after Tuesday night’s game. He wrote: ‘‘Let’s keep fighting United. ’’

    Mourinho admitted at Tuesday night’s pre-match press conference that: ‘‘The crest on the chest is more important than the name on the back of the shirt.’’ He also told MUTV before kick-off: ‘‘From the supporters I cannot ask any more. I cannot ask for more than they are giving at home. Away, with bad results, I cannot ask for more. I think it’s time for the people on the pitch to show them that they love the club as much as the fans.’’

    Having been accused by Scholes of being “out of control’’ with regard to his news conference quotes, Mourinho showed impressive restraint when he faced the media: ‘‘I don’t need to know what he said. He can say what he wants to say. I’m not interested. Freedom of speech. It’s a free country, he can say what he wants. Freedom of speech. Especially Manchester United fans. I respect them 100 per cent. ’’

    Will Mourinho survive this onslaught from critics? Looking very unlikely, if one visits Manchester United’s fans’ website where 70 per cent of the voters want the Special One out? Many of them wish that Newcastle upsets Manchester United at home this weekend. It wouldn’t happen because the Magpies are at the bottom of the league table. It would be tragic for the Red Devils, if Mourinho leaves now. Will the players allow Mourinho lose his job? Again, not likely as represented with some of their comments since Thursday.

    Asked whose idea it was to form a huddle before kick-off, Fellaini said: ‘Everybody. I think everybody is behind the manager. We have to do our best and do our job. We showed it today but we have to do better (against Newcastle) on Saturday.

    ‘Everyone is going in the same direction to try to improve and to do better. I think we wanted to show that we are together. I think it was a bad day against West Ham. We were all bad. Today, I think we showed improvement and we have to keep going.

    ‘It was much better than West Ham. We put in energy and effort, we ran forward, we tried to score the goal. Okay, we didn’t but we have to keep going.’

    Fellaini acknowledged the importance of United’s game with Newcastle at Old Trafford this weekend after Mourinho failed to win at home four games in a row for the first time in his career. Mourinho should get over this third year jinx.

    Thankfully, Zinedine Zidane called him to dissociate himself from the talk of replacing Mourinho at Old Trafford, stressing that the rumour was at the realm of his managers and that he had told them he wasn’t interested. Interestingly, Zindane seems to prefer a return to Juventus ahead of Manchester United or any other club.

    It will be sad if Mourinho exits Manchester United because of a players power game, having been a victim of this disturbing development in club football as Chelsea FC of London’s manager. Pundits have suggested that Mourinho lost the dressing room at Real Madrid to the players’ power, hence he was eased out.

    Of course, we haven’t read the last of likely replacements for Mourinho, going by the new story that former Chelsea manager Antonio Conte is now being pencilled down for the job. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like a deal to scale through, even though United fans will want Conte. Conte is enmeshed in a law suit with Chelsea’s management over alleged wrongful dismissal.

    Will this be Mourinho’s last encounter with controversies? Mourinho thrives in controversies. He likes being heard and enjoys tackling his foes frontally. Take controversies out of Mourinho, then you have ‘killed’ him.

  • As NFF faces the future

    The coast is clear now that there is a new order in the administration of the beautiful game in the country, with the return of Amaju Pinnick and his board to the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) following the successful elections held in Katsina, despite the dissenting views of those who believe that nothing good can come out of the Glasshouse, except they are in charge.

    Interestingly, the Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA) and the Confederation of Africa Football (CAF) sent representatives to witness the elections. This is part of the criteria to validate the election. Besides, the Congress decided those who scaled the hurdle, not faceless people like we saw in the past that led to a stalemate. What this indicates is that we followed FIFA’s statutes to decide those who won.

    Indeed, the cordial manner in which those who lost the ultimate prize – NFF President -embraced the winner suggested that they were satisfied with the process. This is the clincher, which thankfully the winner described as a no victor, no loser scenario, meaning he is ready to work with everyone. It simply means victory for the beautiful game.

    Today, we have a football federation where majority of members partook in the country’s preparations for the Russia 2018 World Cup. And the board’s biggest niche was the ability to convince the private sector to key into its programmes in a bid to be financially solvent. Today, key members of the federation have been integrated into core committees in FIFA and CAF. They have transferred what they learned to the operations in the Glasshouse, so much so they clashed with the Sports ministry. No surprises because football is a money-spinner for those who know how to utilise its marketing windows.

    It is to the credit of the past board that Nigeria prosecuted the Mundial in Russia with little funding from the government. In fact, government cash got to the federation four days after the competition began. Surprised? Don’t be since the bureaucratic bottlenecks associated with governance would have contributed to the late release of the funds. The past board’s foresight in getting the private sector to handle problematic areas of the  World Cup campaign ensured that coaches’ and officials’ wages were paid promptly; players’ entitlements were paid upfront and this created the enabling environment for the team to prepare for the competition. It didn’t come as a surprise when the players raised their hands up to accept that they didn’t live up to expectation in the games against Croatia and Argentina, even though they beat Iceland, which isn’t in Nigeria’s class in terms of World Cup pedigree, with due respect.

    Preparatory to the Mundial in Russia, Nigeria played some of the best friendly games against renowned countries, such as England (June 2), Serbia (March 27), Argentina (November 14), Poland (March 23), Czech Republic etc. These games helped sharpen the players’ skills and showed other countries that we have the players to give them a good game anywhere in the world. Such markers are the difference between serious football nations and jokers. It won’t be surprising if in 2021 Nigeria approaches England or Serbia or even Argentina for the second time to come to our country for an international friendly game. It won’t be out of place if France, Brazil, Croatia, Belgium etc accept to play the Eagles to prepare for the Mundial in 2022.

    This writer has been thrilled by the synergy existing between the federation’s president and his first and second vice chairmen. The trio have struck a bond, especially now that some all-knowing members have been replaced. The exit of these members should bring peace to the board. It will also help the board to regain the confidence of the private sector.

    It was soul-lifting to see billionaires, such as Alhaji Aliko Dangote and Femi Otedola, rubbing minds with FIFA  and CAF presidents at the FIFA The Best Awards held in England on September 24. Amaju Pinnick has opened  a new vista for the board with this noble initiative because both men are big stage players and won’t let the opportunity of doing business with global brands, such as FIFA and CAF’s slip off.

    Indeed, it will be easier for Pinnick and his members to convince Dangote and Otedola that they can be trusted, based on the cordial relationship the president and his members have with FIFA and CAF. For such wealthy and successful businessmen, what counts for them is the international platform where these football ventures play. Associating their brands with FIFA and CAF in big sporting events, such as the World Cup, across all the cadres, Confederations Cup, Olympic Games’ soccer events and the Africa Cup of Nations, is one of the biggest forms of networking which both men would happily exploit.

    A notable football lover, Dangote is reportedly worth over $15 billion. Interestingly, he has not hidden his desire to buy over Barclays English Premier League side, Arsenal FC of London. A business relationship with FIFA and CAF and their business associates would enhance his chances of convincing Gunners’ fans that he has the wherewithal to take the team to greater heights.

    Convincing Dangote and Otedola to rub minds with international soccer buffs offers NFF the opportunity to talk to the billionaires. Little wonder Pinnick told the international media in London: “Alhaji Dangote is perhaps the biggest business brand in Africa, and one of Nigeria’s leading Ambassadors. I am very happy to be in a position to invite himself and Mr. Otedola to such an event of global stature and essence.

    “As a nation, it is important that we continue to showcase our best brands in all fields. Doing this enhances the stock of our country globally. Alhaji Dangote and Mr. Otedola were happy to meet the world’s top governors of football and the football governors were also happy to meet them.

    “Our objective as a Football Federation is to attain financial autonomy so that the Government can channel resources otherwise taken up by football into other critical sectors, and we believe that if we have persons like Dangote and Otedola partnering with Nigerian Football, we will get there faster,” said Pinnick, who is also the 1st Vice President of the Confederation of African Football.

    “The NFF has invited Alhaji Dangote to a couple of matches previously, including the friendly match with England in London before the FIFA World Cup in Russia, but he was unable to attend. Now, we are discussing with him on a relationship with Nigerian Football and he is showing immense interest.”

    “Football has tremendous capacity to be self –sustaining and even contribute significantly to the national GDP. That is the station we are targeting at the moment. I also want to use this opportunity to appreciate our other sponsors and partners, Coca Cola, Zenith Bank, Nigeria Breweries PLC, NIKE, Cadbury PLC, WAPIC Insurance, Emzor Pharmaceuticals, TGI, 1XBET, Peak Milk, Payporte for making us to attain the present 65 per cent private sector –funding status,” said Pinnick.

    Good talk, Pinnick. NFF should exploit the marketing windows in the sport to get funds to run our football seamlessly. It is the government’s responsibility to create the enabling environment for sports to thrive, build facilities and fund contingents to international competitions like other countries do.

    Getting into sensitive federations, such as the NFF should not be a platform for the boys to celebrate mediocrity, knowing that Nigeria has been at the biggest football fiesta, World Cup six times (1994, 1998, 2002, 2010, 2014 and 2018). No mean feat, especially with our players’ exploits in the European game till date. NFF shouldn’t be for people who want to go to the government cap in hand for funding. We should emulate the English FA, Brazil FA, Belgium FA, France FA, Germany FA and Argentina FA, to mention a few because our players outshine some of the talents from these civilised soccer nations in their European clubs. Our players have left the administrators in terms of development, hence, Pinnick’s and his members’ new templates for growth should be embraced wholesale. It is the way forward.

    Dangote is channelling all his energy in trying to buy Arsenal. But his chances of landing the Gunners’ looks almost impossible now, especially after Stan Kroenke, owner of Kroenke Sports Enterprises, completed his buyout of the North London club and is now the sole owner of shares in the club.

    The American billionaire agreed a £600million deal with Alisher Usmanov in August that took him beyond the 90 per cent ownership threshold after which he was obliged to buy all remaining shares.

    A statement from Arsenal Holdings PLC said: “Further to the announcement made by KSE, UK, Inc. on 28 August 2018 confirming the closing of its offer for Arsenal Holdings PLC, the compulsory acquisition by KSE of all of the Arsenal shares not assented to the offer completed on September 25 2018.

    “As stated in KSE’s announcement on 28 August, the trading in Arsenal shares on the NEX Exchange Growth Market will be withdrawn with effect from close of business today.”

    However, Dangote can be convinced by the Pinnick-led administration to help raise a football empire in Nigeria by investing locally. And to have Africa’s richest man involved in Nigerian football will be the a good deal.