The Nation Newspaper

Category: Saturday

  • Herdsmen colonies and the Ganduje panacea

    Herdsmen colonies and the Ganduje panacea

    KANO State governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, seems more bemused than bewildered by the recent furore over herdsmen/farmers clashes all over the country. During his inspection of the vaccination of over one million cattle and other small animals at the Kadawa artificial insemination centre in Garum Malam Local Government Area of Kano State last Sunday, the governor wondered why killings had persisted between farmers and herdsmen when a fitting and sensible solution stared everyone in the face. According to him, Kano State alone had more than enough grazing land and infrastructure for animal husbandry to cater to the needs of the country’s herdsmen. He, therefore, advised Nigeria’s herdsmen to take advantage of the facilities the state has provided by relocating to Kano and conducting their businesses productively and peacefully.

    Judging from Dr Ganduje’s submission last Sunday, two unsavoury facts emerge from the federal government’s own solution to the herdsmen/farmers clashes. One is that, contrary to the impression the Agriculture minister, Audu Ogbeh, gave, the establishment of cattle colonies was neither well thought out nor the only solution to the clashes. Chief Ogbeh had suggested to the media and Benue State governor, Samuel Ortom, that the colonies panacea was the federal government’s conclusive solution to the clashes, and in fact the only solution to the bloodletting laying many parts of the country waste. He even added that each state not averse to the colonies idea was expected to contribute, for a fee, about 5,000 hectares of land for that purpose.

    Two, it is all but clear that the federal government at no time really deliberated on the crisis with a view to finding a realistic and implementable solution to the crisis. What seemed evident was that a sinister group existed somewhere along government corridors who had both a jaded idea of animal husbandry and a rather expansionist, if not irredentist, agenda to benefit cattle breeders and the Fulani in particular. There was no contemplation of modern forms of animal husbandry, no ruminations about the crisis that free grazing often engendered, and no responsible and imaginative consideration of the feelings of reluctant host communities who were being press-ganged into a costly promotion of cattle breeders’ business. Instead, and sadly too, President Muhammadu Buhari and all his top security chiefs have been guilty of this dereliction of duty as a government. They have either haughtily blamed grieving host communities and their farmers or counselled them to, in the name of God, accommodate their fellow countrymen.

    It turned out that, as Dr Ganduje said, the solution was neither far-fetched nor even too costly. If there is no ulterior motive to the retention of old and now unworkable traditional methods of animal husbandry, it is perhaps time the slow-to-change federal government, the impetuous Agriculture ministry, and the president who has simply refused to advert his mind to the problem, let alone conceive a forthright and productive solution, engaged the ideas of Dr Ganduje and see whether his solution does not have integrity and practicality. For it is absolutely clear that the old methods of animal husbandry cannot work and will not conduce to peace. It is indeed selfish of the federal government to turn a blind eye to the pains of the farmers, ignore the cultural sensibilities of farming communities expected to host the cattle breeders, and demonstrate an unseemly eagerness to spend humongous amount of money to patronise and pamper cattle breeders to the detriment of those who have been at the receiving end of their thuggery and callousness.

    Though Dr Ganduje insists Kano State alone can cater to the needs of the country’s entire cattle breeders population, and had profusely demonstrated that capacity last Sunday, it is even more evident that a few states in the North, where animal husbandry is a potentially big business, can take dairy farming to the next level and make Nigeria one of the biggest in Africa. If only the federal government can eschew its slothfulness and learn from Kano State. Here is how Dr Ganduje put his case, recognising how easily his state could rake in huge revenues from the business: “…We have enough grazing land, ranches and traditional livestock routes…So, they (herdsmen) don’t have any reason to move out of the state. We take care of them and we accord them the respect and dignity they deserve…I am inviting herdsmen from all parts of Nigeria to relocate to Kano because we have enough facilities to accommodate them. We have grazing lands in Rogo, Gaya, Kura, Tudun Wada, Ungogo and other reserved places where facilities are in place to accommodate the herdsmen and their cattle…The Falgore Game Reserve can take care of millions of herdsmen and their cattle in Nigeria. The place has been designed to contain schools, human and animal clinics, markets, recreational centres, and other social amenities that can give the herdsmen enough  comfort to take care of their animals and do their business without hindrance.”

    Dr Ganduje continues: “These killings must stop. We cannot afford to continue to witness these senseless killings in the name of Fulani herdsmen and farmers’ clash over lack of grazing land while we have a place like the Falgore Game Reserve underutilised. Cattle rustling is now history because we fought the menace headlong. In Falgore right now, we have enough security there. Those rustlers have relocated elsewhere, while some of them who repented from their evil ways were given amnesty and rehabilitated…A cattle intervention centre has been established to address the challenges associated with the livelihoods of herdsmen within Kano. Just recently, we sponsored the training of over 61 Fulani herdsmen who were sent to Turkey to learn artificial insemination. They are back to Kano and I must tell you that they are doing well in the various places they have been assigned to do their jobs.”

    Going by the Ganduje panacea, three or four states in the cattle belt can sustain Nigeria’s herdsmen and provide beef and dairy products substantial enough for domestic consumption and exports. The governor in fact thinks Kano alone can do the job. If there are no other political and socio-cultural considerations by a shadowy group within the presidency, if the Buhari presidency is not being manipulated for sinister motives perhaps far beyond his own ken, and if Chief Ogbeh is not being used as a lackey by those who have little interest in the peace and unity of Nigeria, then it is time the federal government got serious about resolving the farmers/herdsmen crisis. The problem, as Kano State has shown, is essentially a state affair. States which have interest in promoting dairy farming should be encouraged to ranch as Kano has done, and develop the infrastructure required to sustain the business. If they need federal assistance, they should know how to get it.

    Federalising herdsmen colonies or even grazing reserves is foolish and inimical to peace and progress. There is too little thinking going on in the federal government. They should ship up or be shown the way out at the next polls. Reports suggest that the copycat Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, is thinking of establishing ranches in Adavi and Ajaokuta LGs. This is after first thoughtlessly embracing the colonies boondoggle. If he can persuade those two LGs to embrace the business in order to improve the state’s IGR, if he is not using the idea as a cover for his political servility, if he can set aside the money required to sustain that demanding business, perhaps he should be encouraged to get on with it. But there are doubts about his depth and about his motives.

    Nevertheless, Dr Ganduje has shown the way cattle ranching can be done, and how dairy farming can both be profitable and a promoter of peace and development. The federal government and Chief Ogbeh, assuming they do not see the herdsmen matter as a political issue, should engage the Kano model and see whether it does not dispel all their fears and answer the visionary developmental programme that animal husbandry can potentially become as a huge revenue earner for some states in the North. Too much blood has been shed for so little. It is time to put a stop to the madness, instead of holding on foolishly and tenaciously to outdated animal husbandry methods that set the society on fire.

  • Nothing to celebrate

    Nothing to celebrate

    CHAN Eagles players and coaches must have been stunned with the cold reception they got at the Muritala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos Tuesday morning. They must have been wondering if such empty halls would have greeted their arrival, if they came home with the trophy. Such is life. Nobody loves losers. Failures are orphans. If they had beaten the Moroccans to lift the trophy, the celebration would have been wild, unlike what happened Tuesday morning when a few supporters welcomed them back home.

    Of course, there was nothing to celebrate, hence soccer faithful and indeed the media didn’t think being at the Lagos airport lounge as early as 1am for a contingent slated to touch down at 3am was worth their while. Can the players explain how they played without forcing the Moroccans to concede a corner kick? We didn’t play a corner kick against the Moroccans over 90 minutes. Isn’t this strange?

    I wish our coaches and administrators could learn a few lessons from this experience to understand that with Nigeria’s population, only the trophy is good enough for us in any continental sports event, including soccer, obviously our most popular sport. Our coaches and administrators toy with our emotions and insult our sensibilities when they parade the kind of team we saw at the 2018 CHAN in Morocco. We wouldn’t have had any business in the finals, if our two goalkeepers – Ikechukwu Ezenwa (in two games) and Dele Ajiboye in the semi-finals game against Sudan – had not been at their best. It is unthinkable for goalkeepers to be Man-of-the match in games involving Nigeria and soccer minnows Libya, Sudan and Angola, with due respect to their nationals.

    Matches involving Nigeria and the aforementioned countries should be a stroll in the park, given our world rating. Therefore, our coaches and those in charge of the domestic league should begin to see the humiliation in Morocco as a wake-up call to change from their docility and develop the game to the level where it is seen as a business that attracts corporate players. Nigeria’s shambolic outing in Morocco robbed the game of its best opportunity to attract soccer-loving Nigerians to the domestic league.

    Most stadia in the late 70s until the mid 90s were filled, largely because of what they saw from their representatives at big soccer fiestas. It was easy to predict that games involving Shooting Stars and Enugu Rangers would be a box office since their players were our stars in the national teams. Most stadia where Shooting Stars or Enugu Rangers visited for league matches had their tickets sold out because people wanted to see their favourite players in action. they wanted to have autographs and pictures with stars in both teams. Not so anymore. Those who run the domestic league are interested parties in assembling and selecting players and coaches before big competitions.

    It is not true that the Moroccans played with their national team. Only one player from their domestic league is in their World Cup bound team and he grew up in Belgium. he also didn’t play at CHAN. So, no excuses for our humbling by the Moroccans. In fact, had Kenya not lost the hosting rights, perhaps Morocco wouldn’t have taken part in the CHAN tourney. No one should tell us that our team was ill-prepared. Were most of these players not part of last year’s La Liga tour in Spain? Did they not tell us it was part of our preparation for CHAN? Why can’t the league organisers draw a programme that will ensure that our competition aligns with the European leagues? If we didn’t start our league on time, whose fault? The world cannot wait for us. If people don’t know how to run the league beyond massaging their ego, they should step aside. What does it take to run the league from August to May like it is done in other climes? All efforts must be made to end this season’s league before the World Cup begins on June 15. That way we can align our league with others. Those who run our domestic league owe Nigerians an apology.

    Salisu Yusuf is a good coach, given the way he handled some domestic league clubs. The team we saw in Morocco wasn’t Yusuf’s. It was the league cabals’ squad; many of them were taken to Spain last year. Most of the players are targeted to be sold to European clubs, but need one international competition to increase their values in the next transfer window. Yusuf simply erred on the side of caution by fielding what appears to be a permanent list of players in the office of the league organisers. The essence of CHAN is to introduce new players from the grassroots to prominence, yet our team was populated by those who had seen better days in the domestic league and those who had failed in the African and European expeditions in search of the golden fleece.

    The CHAN squad was poor and couldn’t have won the trophy. I just hope those who think the domestic league is theirs have learned the hard way. Sadly, Yusuf couldn’t beat the traps which the system set when a national team is drawn from players in the local scene. Club owners and their ilk in the domestic league should cover their faces in shame, given the shambolic outing of the CHAN Eagles in the final game.

    They have failed to establish a system where the best players emerge weekly and indeed monthly, with these best stars playing against the league leaders at the end of each month. This system would have kept the players busy and provided the platform to pick the best in the league at short notice. So, the argument by supporters of the league organisers that the team was assembled in weeks is bunkum.

    I have suggested this format to the league organisers several times. Since the idea isn’t theirs, it was put aside. I wonder what they tell sponsors and how they hope to leverage on these firms’ sponsorship packages. The league body needs to have a template to evaluate competition to pick the best. Such competitive platforms bring data, which are based on occurrences in the league, not how a coach or club owner feels. It is easy for ardent followers of the EPL to pick England’s first 11. Where there are injuries, they know who to pick because the league has a gauge of performance. The beauty of this kind of system is that nobody tells an ageing player when to quit. He already knows his successor.

    With the way Kane, Dele Alli, Rashford et al are banging in goals in Europe, veteran Wayne Rooney retired from the England side to face club assignments. Not so in Nigeria where players and coaches are recycled.

    I won’t blame the players because they didn’t pick themselves. They played according to the coaches’ instructions. The coaches are blaming injuries for last Sunday’s. shameful show, That is laughable; they ought to have picked talented players, especially the utility ones who can play in more than one position. That is why there is a 23-man squad for tournaments.

    It is sickening to note that domestic league players aren’t good enough for the country’s world Cup, largely because the regulators of the game have failed to enforce the rules. A situation where players are owed salaries won’t attract foreigners to our league. In the past, foreign players, such as Edward Ansa, Lotis Boateng, et al, played in our league. Others, such as Boateng played for Nigeria, even as a Ghanaian. Edema Fuludu went to the World Cup as a home-based player even as he combined playing soccer with his Business Administration course at the University of Benin, Benin City. Today, Edema is a Masters degree holder in that discipline. I won’t be shocked to learn that he paid his fees from playing the game. Imagine if salaries were being owed at that time?

    It is ridiculous that the league regulators couldn’t find the time to inspect the stadia where matches would be played before the season. Footages from live matches have shown disgraceful pitches that are like deserts. Lush green pitches add to the look-and-feel of the stadia on television, especially when players slide on them in celebration. Can our players slide on such bumpy and balding pitches?

    Our players won’t beat others if the quality of coaching in the league is poor. The regulators must raise the stakes for coaches in the elite class. Coaches must be trained and not just because they played the game. If it means clubs getting foreign coaches to help raise the bar of coaching, they should do so. Our coaches are contented in being recycled by indolent clubs who want to run as charity homes and not as businesses.

    Governors who own these clubs should assign competent administrators and coaches to these clubs, if they hope to recoup their investments. It is sad to watch governors who own clubs patronise foreign clubs, yet their players and coaches are unpaid.

  • Reps, order of elections and 2019

    Reps, order of elections and 2019

    IF the order of elections in Nigeria is judged to be connected with electoral outcomes, it is a subject of research that may take a few more years, perhaps even decades, to conclusively establish. What is, however, clear is that more than anything else, sitting governments in Nigeria, with the possible exception of the Goodluck Jonathan presidency, often force those outcomes, regardless of the order of elections. It is therefore a little hard to explain why the House of Representatives two Tuesdays ago chose to tinker, through an amendment of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended), with the order of elections less than three weeks after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced both the order of elections and the timetable for the 2019 general elections. The only guess probably hazardable is that the National Assembly, recognising that it had since 2015 thoroughly angered the presidency and struck a bold and fatefully independent course of action seemingly at odds with the ruling party’s interests, is seeking to protect itself from hostile pre-election measures from a government many fear has remained vindictive.

    The electoral umpire had in March last year first announced the election dates to commence from February 16, 2019. That announcement was reiterated on January 9 when INEC again indicated that the elections would commence in February with the presidential and National Assembly polls, and followed by the governorship and state Houses of Assembly polls. The new timetable and order of elections seemed a foregone conclusion until the House of Representatives began work on the amendment of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended). According to the lower legislative chamber, the order of elections will follow a different trajectory from the INEC’s arrangement. In their opinion, the 2019 elections will start with the National Assembly, progress to the governorship and state Houses of Assembly, and then end with the presidential poll. As far as the Reps are concerned, the election will be bunched into three parcels, instead of INEC’s two.

    The electoral umpire has shown its displeasure with the timing of the amendment, not necessarily the amendment itself. It however promised that it would not violate the law. So far, the presidency has kept discretely quiet on the matter. It is, of course, interested in the order of elections, and will doubtless show keener than normal interest in how the first two sets of elections play out, considering the fact that bandwagons cannot be totally ruled out in elections. If the Muhammadu Buhari government has apprehensions as to the order of elections and its possible consequences for the ruling party’s fortunes, it has been clever in disguising it. After all, there is nothing to indicate that the feared bandwagon effect can be ruled out of the amended Electoral Act which the Senate is likely to identify with. Overall, it appears the National Assembly is distrustful of the presidency, mortified by growing public disapproval of the president’s policies and appointments, and is therefore eager both to establish its own independence and to take control of its fate. Whether that gamble will pay off remains to be seen.

    The target of the amendments is obviously not INEC. The electoral umpire must, therefore, do everything in its power to navigate the treacherous rapids of the 2019 polls triggered in part by the gale ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo’s ‘special statement’ unleashed against President Muhammadu Buhari last week. The former president had denounced President Buhari for incompetence and dismissed most of his policies as clannish and nepotistic. He summed up his intervention by advising the president not to seek a second term, an advice no one is certain the laconic and aloof president will take. Though the amendment to the of Assembly elections on January 9, then moved through National Assembly polls on February 20, and then lumbered to a halt with the presidential poll on February 27. Though it was clear who the Abdulsalami Abubakar government’s preferred candidate was, there was nothing to indicate that the order of elections was engineered to bring about that outcome; or indeed, even if that was the purpose, that it could have delivered the desired outcome forcefully. There were of course allegations that the polls were fiddled with, but the courts disagreed with the public suppositions, and ruled in favour of the winner, Olusegun Obasanjo.

    By 2007, when Dr Obasanjo’s second term was coming to an end, the electoral umpire, probably profiting from experience or because it was simply determined to be more efficient, had tweaked the order of elections by scheduling the governorship and state Houses of Assembly polls to begin first, as was the case in 1999, on April 14, while the presidential and National Assembly polls were bunched together to be held the same day on April 21 contrary to what prevailed in 1999. Again, if there was a nefarious intent to the order of elections, it was not immediately discernible from the eventual outcome of the polls. What was clear, however, was that the Obasanjo presidency was unprepared to leave anything to chance. It not only forcefully and undemocratically streamlined the number of aspirants, it enthroned candidates in some states, and then eventually foisted a presidential ticket of its own choosing on the then ruling party. Worse, it blatantly subverted the principles of openness and transparency by ensuring a particular electoral outcome that shocked the country and dismayed the rest of the world.

    The 2011 elections were, however, much better. Though the order of elections was again split into three, as was the case in 1999, the arrangement was a little bizarre and did not seem designed to serve any particular purpose. It began with the parliamentary election on April 9, coursed through to the presidential poll on April 16, and then ended with the third layer of governorship and state Houses of Assembly polls on April 26. Allegations of electoral shenanigans were not as deafening as in 2007. By 2015, after a particularly contentious postponement of the polls, the order of elections was again tweaked amidst uproarious controversy and allegations of electoral chicanery designed to gift the Goodluck Jonathan presidency an unmerited ‘second term’. It began with the presidential and National Assembly polls, and ended with the governorship and state Houses of Assembly polls. Other than the usual allegation of preparing the ground for a bandwagon effect, little or no other meaning was read into the order of elections. In the end, partly because of the country’s changed political dynamics, and Dr Jonathan’s surprisingly civilised disposition to the concept of democracy, the elections were fairly credible and the outcome unquestionably a mirror of popular discontent, regardless of the grumblings of some of the losers.

    All the frenzied tweaks that took place between 1999 and 2015 were a far cry from the leisurely pace adopted for the 1979 elections which put the senatorial poll first for July 7 of that year, followed by the House of Representatives poll held on July 14, governorship poll on July 28, and presidential poll on August 11. There did not seem to be any cold electoral calculation behind that scheduling, but it was no less controversial, and the electoral outcomes were even more negatively impactful. Apart from fouling the wells of justice as evident by the enunciation and adoption of very controversial juridic principles in resolving the litigations that flowed from the 1979 presidential poll, the democratic experiment of that time was itself doomed by the irresponsible projection of many questionable measures by an undisciplined political class.

    There must be an end to the tweaking of the order of elections. The uncertainties and instability that flow from the numerous tweaks are sometimes befuddling and simply too destabilising to the polity to engender the growth of democracy so earnestly desired by a majority of Nigerians. Nigeria’s political elite, if they can act responsibly and above partisanship, must structure the country in such a disciplined and intelligent way that the order of elections will have no influence whatsoever on the outcomes of the elections. Otherwise, defeated parties will always accuse the winners and possibly the government that backs them of acting consistently mala fide.

  • Power, media and diplomacy

    Power, media and diplomacy

    Kenya’s Raula  Odinga’s  declaration of himself  as  president  of  Kenya, this week    and his inauguration in that nation,  as well as Donald  Trump’s State of the Union Address, which  was a lesson on the ideals of government, and democracy  dominate our thoughts  today. Both  events question the essence power, authority  and legitimacy in any democracy.  Along with  these  but   on   the lighter side we look at a comment by a diplomat  at a Diplomats Night organized by  Nigeria’s premier  social  club   –  The  Island  Club, Onikan  Lagos  – at which a retired Ambassador  ridiculed  journalists  as only interested in sensationalism  while diplomats carry out   foreign policy,  a dubious claim  that I intend to expose   here  as a fallacy.

    With  regard  to Kenya I  want to remind the self- declared Peoples President  Raula Odinga of an African proverb  which states  that until  one has seized  the hilt  of his sword he does  not inquire  the cause of his father’s  death. This  proverb  is applicable  to  Odinga in  terms  of his personal  history and political  life  as well as a form of saying  of the wise  to  be respected. In  declaring himself  as president  Odinga has taken the fight to the rightful president of Kenya, Uhuru  Kenyatta. It  is a  bold  fight between  legitimate authority and a stolen and illegal presidency. It  is a challenge against  constituted  authority . Really,  Odinga’ has murdered’ sleep  and   like  Shakespeare’s Macbeth,’ will  not sleep  again’.

    Perhaps Odinga  is taking the matter  personal  between  him and Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta  as their  fathers were  President  and Vice  President respectively   and  parted company over  succession when  Kenyatta  picked  Arap  Moi  as his successor  over the leftist  father of  Odinga. More than that too,  even  though  it  does not matter,  was  the  fact   that Odinga  had won election in  Kenya before in  2007  and had to be pacified after riots   and  appeased  by a new constitutional contrivance  that created a post  of Prime  Minister  for  him  for peace to reign in Kenya then.  But  now with a self declared president  in place with an elected  president,  can peace reign in Kenya? The  answer  is definitely  No. This  is because  the legitimate government must claim  and assert its authority  or else  it will  be assumed to have been usurped  effectively  and decisively, albeit  illegally  by the self declared Peoples  presidency of Raula Odinga. Unfortunately  the Kenyatta government  moved against  the media instead of its political  challenger  and closed  the media threatening them  with total  closure  if they covered  the event  only for  a court  to overrule  even  that  misguided order  by asking that the media houses be opened for the duration of the hearing of the case on  the matter.  So   who  is in control  in  Kenya? Definitely the  whole world  is watching   with  baited   breath  political  developments in  Kenya  as  a unique  event  and development  in   and  for   Africa.

    Similarly  in Nigeria  it was widely  reported in the news  media  that  the former  governor of  Kano  State  now   Senator  Rabiu  Kwankwanso  was  advised  by the state  police command  not to come to the state during the week  until  the security situation in the state was ‘ neutralized’.  I  thought  that was a new  way  of  addressing security  situations because if security is neutralized it means it  has been  compromised  and it is not adequate. Which  can  only mean or lead to insecurity. Was that  what the state  Police  Command had in mind?  I   doubt. Anyway, what  stops a former governor visiting  a state he developed  so much  and so well  and in which he handed over  to his Deputy  who is now governor?  Definitely  something  big   and  suspicious  is happening in  Kano  politically  that  needs security  to be ‘neutralized ‘before  a  governor  who  was a hero  during his tenure  as governor cannot  suddenly  be seen in broad  daylight  by the people he once governed  so popularly.

    In  the US, Donald  Trump gave his State  of the  Union Address which  to me was a very brilliant  one to bring unity  amongst  all  Americans irrespective of their  political  leanings. That  he was able to couch  and deliver such a speech in the midst of the media war he created by lambasting  part of the media as Fake News and the on going Russia  hacking and interference in the 2016 presidential elections is really  amazing. I really do not care what the American political  elites and media make of Trump’s presidency but I  want to share some of the fascinating aspects of that  speech with anyone interested good political  literature  and fine people  oriented rhetoric.

    At a ceremony  to which  were brought  ordinary  Americans who  had performed incredible but patriotic duties like the kid who mad flags for graves of dead US military  heroes, Trump  rallied   Americans in my view  like Winston Churchill  rallied  the British people  in their  darkest  hour during the Second  World War. Except  that  the Americans are  facing no war   now,  besides   that between  the Republicans and Democrats   on one   hand, and the media war  between their president and those he had labeled Fake News on the other.

    Trump  told  his people that  in America it  is faith  and family  that count, not government and bureaucracy, because America’s motto  is – In  God  we trust.

    In  a moving exhortation  he applauded  that America gave the world  the arts and music, science and other spheres  of knowledge. The  American people he said dreamed the US, the American people built  it,  and it  is the American  people  who  are  making it great again. When   leader invokes  power  and authority   as belonging   to  the electorate   in  any  democracy   he cannot but have their  admiration   and undying support  in any   clime and  in any  polity. No matter  how grudgingly, it is difficult  not to admire Donald Trump’s first State of the Union address.

    Let  me now  round  up  with  the retired Ambassador  who  mocked  journalists  at  the Diplomats Night of the  prestigious  Island  Club  this week. I   was at the event at which  the Chief  of Protocol represented the Minister of  Foreign  Affairs. I  raised a question on  what  is now the cornerstone of Nigeria’s  Foreign Policy  which was the topic of the day. The  Minister’s  representative did her best  in identifying National  Interest  as the Ministry’s  focus  of  attention before   former  Ambassador  Segun  Akinsanya  came up to patronizingly  insult  journalists by claiming that they  are  only interested  in sensationalism  and do not know anything about   foreign   policy  which  he claimed to be the  work  of diplomats. Which  to me is a comparison  that was   as unnecessary  as it was   grossly  misinformed. This  is because  the media  has a huge input in any foreign policy, including one  that is focused on National Interest  because  even that is moulded and articulated  by the media before it becomes  foreign policy. Diplomats and Ambassadors do  not  make foreign  policies, governments and politicians  do, and Ambassadors and diplomats carry out   the dictates of  the  policy. Perhaps  the pomp  and pageantry  of diplomacy, the balls and cocktails  may  put diplomats  and Ambassadors in the lime light while the journalists  bring the issues  to the public domain as foreign  policy  from the background,  but that does not  mean that Ambassadors and Diplomats make foreign  policies. In    fact   and  indeed   they  run  errands across  the globe to  implement  foreign  policy.  They  do  not make it  just   like   the saying that ‘ the hood does  not  make the monk‘. Once  again, Long live  the Federal  Republic  of  Nigeria.

  • Iheanacho and Owen’s whine

    Iheanacho and Owen’s whine

    England’s poster boy to the France ’98 World Cup, Michael Owen (at 18 years and 190 days), was furious on television when he analysed one of the Emirates FA Cup matches between host Peterborough and Leicester. The Foxes won the game 5-1, with Nigerian international Kelechi Iheanacho scoring a brace. Owen was miffed that Iheanacho scored his second goal when there was a better placed striker to jab the ball into an empty net. Owen, you will never walk alone. Owen hit the limelight playing for Liverpool.

    Owen’s goal against Argentina still headlines some of the greatest goals scored at the World Cup, given his age and enterprise, until England exited the competition. He waltzed past three Argentines in a dribbling run, which began from almost the centre circle, before driving the ball beyond the goalkeeper to score the wonder goal. Owen scored this audacious goal, among others, because he thought he had the dribbling skills to bang in goals. Would it be appropriate now to ask Owen why he didn’t lay the pass to a better placed teammate, Paul Scholes, to score? Owen chose to finish what he started, even at the risk of kicking Scholes’ leg.

    Owen’s pace and dribbling runs were his weapons, which he used optimally, irrespective of the fact that there were several times he had better placed mates to pass the ball to. Whenever he took on those dazzling runs, he had one thought – score a goal. And this came to him like his second nature.

    I’m a Liverpool fan. I don’t know where to start listing how many times Owen committed the mistake for which he scolded Iheanacho. I can recall that one of the top class coaches (I don’t remember his name) said the hallmark of a striker is to be selfish, insisting that he sets his sight on where the goalpost is and how well placed or otherwise the goalkeeper is for him to know where to place the ball. The top tactician argued that the striker, on seeing the player who initiates the move, dashes towards the openings in the defence to receive the ball, which he despatches into the net.

    Owen was a world class striker. His daring moves and crosses resulted in goals for Liverpool, England and every club he played for. Owen brought joy to Liverpool fans. It would be unkind to slam such a great star, especially when his comments were spot on, except that Iheanacho scored the goal. If the Nigerian hadn’t scored, he would have lost his shirt. Owen, will you blame Iheanacho for taking the chance to score the goals, considering the fact that he rarely gets to play for Leicester City?

    Iheanacho needs to score goals if he hopes to excel at the Mundial playing for Nigeria. He represents those players discovered from the grassroots competitions organised by FIFA. Playing at the Mundial, a few years after emerging the best player at the FIFA U-17 World Cup, reinforces the need for FIFA’s 210-member nations to develop the game at the grassroots.

    Four goals in less than a week is commendable, although many would wish that he left Leicester for a team where a first team shirt is guaranteed. Iheanacho has been a victim of the change of guards at the Foxes. The manager who recruited him was sacked, making it imperative for the new coach to pick his men, perhaps due to a change in tactics. Iheanacho has been given the task of marshalling the Foxes’ attacking onslaught for the English FA Cup. Good enough. But it would be nice to give the Nigerian a chance to show his stuff in the English Premier League.

    The biggest relief for Rohr would be that his strikers are scoring goals, although he would also wish that they are not injured before the June 16 opening game against Croatia. Indeed, Odion Ighalo was spectacular with his Chinese side, Changchun Yatai, scoring in the first half, with his side whipping FC Sfintuk Gheorghe 3-0. Ighalo told the international press he was excited to be back to scoring ways. He wants to concentrate on being fit for the new season, obviously with the Mundial in mind.

    I’m glad that Eagles manager Gernot Rohr followed our players’ movement during the transfer window. His warning to Iheanacho and Ahmed Musa culminated in the latter’s return to CSKA Moscow in Russia, where he excelled. Of course, CSKA didn’t hesitate to register their former player for the Europa League competition. CSKA’s fans are excited with Musa’s return, knowing that the club will benefit immensely from the Nigerian’s speed.

    The transfer market was good for Nigerians, with Eagles right wing back Shehu Abdullahi completing the move to Turkish outfit Bursaspor in the January window. Abdullahi’s move sets the stage for the biggest fight for the right wing back position, where Ola Aina has done remarkably well for Hull City, scoring goals, aside defending stoutly.

    Brown Ideye has been given a lifeline in quest for a shirt in the Eagles, with his loan move to Malaga in Spain, after his uneventful sojourn in the Chinese league. Rohr would monitor Ideye during Spanish league matches. Another Nigerian, Isaac Success, has moved on loan from Barclays English Premier League side Watford FC to Malaga.

    Malaga offers Success the biggest opportunity to revive his career, having played for another Spanish side, Granada, where he was voted the club’s best player during the 2015/16 season.

    The 22-year-old, who joined the Hornets for a record £12.5 million in the summer of 2016/17, failed to fulfil his huge potential in England, having scored just once in 20 appearances for the club.

    Eagles’ midfielders cannot afford to be bench warmers because it is any team’s engine room. Hence, the news that Nigeria forward Oghenekaro Etebo moved to struggling La Liga side UD Las Palmas, from Portuguese side CD Feirense, was refreshing. This means that he will be playing regularly since his recruitment is meant to strengthen the Spanish side. Etebo must utilise his La Liga matches with Las Palmaras to get  better deals from other clubs after the World Cup.

    I won’t join the motley crowd of those who want Elderson Echiejile out of the Eagles. Echiejile isn’t the Eagles’ weakest link. Our star players who play on the left side never fall back to mark when we lose ball possession. Sadly, most teams have identified this weakness and exploited it. I really don’t understand why Victor Moses, for instance, doesn’t like to fall back to mark when he loses the ball, yet that is his biggest ace at Chelsea. Our players must play as a unit if they hope to block this leakage. Moses’ yeoman efforts for Chelsea account for the club’s victories when he plays.

    Barcelona FC don’t have outstanding defenders because of their collective approach to their matches. As soon as they lose the ball, at least four players close up on the opponent with the ball. Most times, they gain possession within the next 12 metres. This style of play ensures that Barca dominates play and scores goals with aplomb. Moses, John Mikel Obi, Odion Ighalo et al should be taught how to mark to win the ball back, not shadow mark or escort the opponents to score against us. Oguenyi Onazi and Alex Iwobi are exemplary in marking the nearest opponents when we lose the ball.

    One player who has leaned from the transfer market is Mikel, and he showed it when he shunned entreaties from clubs, such Everton, Marseille and especially Fenerbahce, which offered a €3-million Euros per year deal till June 2020. Mikel opted to remain with Chinese side Tianjin TEDA. He is sure of a regular shirt if he is fit. He knows that it will be foolhardy to go for the cash in place of a regular shirt in a World Cup year, with a team where he is the captain.

    I hope that others can take a cue from Mikel to pick clubs where they are sure of regular shirts.

     

    Goalkeepers’ tournament

    Nigeria’s team B are in the finals of the CHAN tournament against Morocco, with the heroics of our goalkeepers highlighting our last three matches. But for the sharp reflexes of goalkeeper Ikechukwu Ezenwa, the CHAN Eagles would have lost the two games against Libya and Angola, where we came back  from a goal deficit to win both games 2-1.

    The argument by proponents of the domestic league that the goalkeepers are part of the team is laughable. Goals make matches exciting. Our CHAN Eagles’ performances have been nerve-wrenching, with many people abandoning the games in the closing stages due to tension.

    When Ezenwa got injured, most people pondered if we had a better goalkeeper. I told those who were watching the game with me that if the coaches introduced Ajiboye as Ezenwa’s replacement, he would be our saviour. ‘’Ajiboye!’’ many shouted. I reminded them of Ajiboye’s exploits at the U-17 World Cup where he was voted the best goalkeeper of the tournament, ahead of Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea of Spain. A few believed me. They feared that he was rusty.

    Ajiboye was superb. He saved two point blank shots that ensured that we qualified for the final, notwithstanding the fact we played with 10 men for close to 35 minutes. The Sudanese eventually got a red in the 85th minute.

    Aside our two goalkeepers, CHAN eagles look like a disaster waiting to happen, with they have played. Well, they could rise to the big stage on Sunday and shock the Moroccans. it is possible. Good luck CHAN Eagles. Up Nigeria!

  • Obasanjo’s verdict on PDP, APC

    Obasanjo’s verdict on PDP, APC

    This column will not concern itself with the vitriolic and virulent contents of ex President Olusegun Obasanjo’s rabidly unforgiving and unsparing public missive to President Muhammadu Buhari, his depiction of the Daura-born General as an unmitigated all-round disaster in governance and his consequent advice that the latter should perish any thoughts of a second term in 2019. After all, it is vintage Obasanjo – who takes no prisoners and fires on all cylinders when the embers of his combustible temper are stoked.

    But how valid is Obasanjo’s submission that the two major parties – the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have failed thus necessitating the formation of what he calls ‘a Coalition for Nigeria Movement’ to salvage the country? From insinuations in his letter, this strange ‘Movement’ is to be led and championed by the ‘Ebora Owu’ himself.  In my view, Obasanjo’s dismissive avowals on the two parties portend ominous signals for the continuous development of Nigeria’s evolving democracy.

    For one, Obasanjo shoots himself on the foot and engages in amazingly damaging self-immolation when he declares that the two major parties are failures which cannot be entrusted with Nigeria’s future and must now be replaced by his Third Force. He was president   for eight years at the inception of this dispensation in 1999. Whatever may have been his flaws, his administration had notable records of achievement as my colleague, Sanya Oni, wrote in his column in this paper on Tuesday.

    Reiterating some of the Obasanjo administration’s attainments, Oni wrote “I refer here to his pension reforms which given the mess that has been made of the old defined benefits scheme has become revolutionary, the power sector reform, the creation of anti-corruption institutions – the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission – all of which have given governance a sense of modernity”. And of course we must refer to his administration’s landmark success in getting the Paris Club to right of $18 billion of Nigeria’s debt in 2005.

    If these commendable reforms of the Obasanjo PDP administration were not sustained, the fault lies with the former president than with the country’s political system in general or the party structure in particular. In the first place, immediately he assumed office as president, Obasanjo deliberately weakened and systematically destroyed the PDP, ensuring the expulsion of influential, experienced and powerful leaders; he removed national chairmen and other officers of the party at will and completely subordinated the PDP to the presidency.

    Without a powerful party platform to hold it in check, the Obasanjo presidency was able to act with impunity committing all kinds of unconstitutional acts like removing elected governors unlawfully, seizing Lagos State government local government funds even against the ruling of the apex court in the land or completely razing communities like Odi and Zaki Biam. While destroying any effective restraining voice within the PDP, the Obasanjo presidency now turned its attention to infiltrating and destabilizing other opposition parties like the defunct Alliance for Democracy (AD) and All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) thus considerably weakening the entire political system and its inbuilt checks and balances.

    Another serious shortcoming of Obasanjo was his inability to influence the emergence of physically fit and intellectually capable successor to build on, sustain and improve on his policies. His critics say that his choice of either physically challenged successors or abysmally incapable ones was motivated by the selfish interest of wanting to remain in power even while out of office. This was a marked difference from Lagos State where the Asiwaju Tinubu administration not only laid a solid foundation for development between 1999 and 2007, but was also succeeded by competent and visionary leaders like Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) (2007 to 2015) and now the superlative Mr Akinwunmi Ambode. Obasanjo must not be allowed to get away with blaming the party system for his own personal deficiencies.

    The sad thing is that the APC, which came in amidst popular exultation as a party of change in 2015 has patterned itself organizationally and functionally in the mirror image of the dysfunctional PDP. As this column had cause to warn once, it is important for the APC to realize that the party’s complete subordination to the presidency, lack of inspirational and charismatic leadership, embarrassing immobility of its internal organs and structures and the surrender of their functions to a cabal in the presidency were some of the reasons why the PDP lost so scandalously to the new ruling party about three years ago.

    The truth is that a government’s being held in check by and responsible to the party that provided it an electoral platform enhances the chances of good, transparent and ethical governance. Perhaps if the APC had been more assertive as a party with a better hold on its government, the difficult-to-deny allegations of skewed appointments, nepotism or the unbelievable Maina-gate or Lawal-gate scandal could have been avoided and President Buhari’s solid integrity better protected.

    But the alternative to the defects of the current party structure, particularly the perception and performance of the two major parties that Obasanjo is so craftily playing upon cannot be the ex president’s ill-conceived ‘Coalition for Nigeria Movement’. In the first place, there are scores of other registered parties that Nigerians can vote for if they are irreparably dissatisfied with both the APC and PDP. Secondly, even the names that Obasanjo has coupled together to help midwife his ‘Movement’ – Former governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola of Osun State, former governor Donald Duke of Cross River State, former national chairman of the PDP, Dr. Ahmadu Alli, former national secretary of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Alhaji Buba Galadima, Bashorun Segun Runshewe, Otunba Babatunde Fasawe etc are no fresh faces on the political scene. They are not necessarily any better or different from most members of the two major parties.

    The historic election of 2015, which saw an incumbent government at the centre displaced for the first time, demonstrates that Nigeria’s democratic form of government can indeed be made to work. And whatever may be the shortcomings of the Buhari administration, no one can claim it has not provided a better moral climate and more disciplined governance  than the previous PDP administration. If the APC does not listen to popular outcry and urgently redress its own defects, deformities and excesses, nothing stops it from suffering the same fate as its predecessor at the centre. But I think the real Third Force the two major parties have to fear is not Obasanjo’s “Coalition for Nigerian Movement”. Rather, it is the very possibility of a genuine coalition of popular forces, young professionals, aggrieved, unemployed youths etc being successfully mobilized by genuine faces of integrity to lead the country in a new direction.

     

    Let the democratic process take its course 

    While Obasanjo’s identification of the nature of the succession problem currently facing Nigeria (though not its root causes) may sound quite reasonable, one is not sure about the solution he prescribes or the motives underlying it. I hope the Coalition for Nigeria masquerading as a Movement is not another subterfuge for scheming another “Interim Government for Nigeria” (ING) thing used for subverting the Abiola Claim to the Presidency in the wake of the debacle resulting from the June 12, 1993 annulment. No such debacle currently exists, nor do we have any national emergency to warrant a military-turned-political leadership being again brought in as it were like a Cincinnatus from the field to assume affairs of the republic or for that matter the abrogation of the democratic process or rule.

    Adekanye
    Prof Bayo Adekanye

    Let the democratic process define for us who should  rule. The citizenry generally and youth in particular (given the powerful means of social mobilization members now have at their disposal) should rise up to the challenge. If they find existing political party structures not good enough to use for turning the fortunes of the country around, let the youth mobiles just like their counterparts in other parts of the world to set up alternative political vehicles for taking over power and the machinery of rule. But in doing this, they must be careful not to be used by anyone. I recommend Emmanuel Macron’s strategy (France).

  • Eagles… just before the World Cup

    Eagles… just before the World Cup

    In the past, the talk about the European leagues centred on which three or five teams would win the trophy across the big leagues – Barclays English Premier League, German Bundesliga, Spanish La Liga and Italian Serie A. Other leagues, such as the Scottish League, Belgian league etc don’t attract pundits’ and fans’ attention, perhaps because their representatives in the UEFA Champions League don’t make the kind of impact made by the bigger leagues in England, Germany and Spain. Clubs use the January transfer window to strengthen their squads for the second half of the competitions. But the three big leagues have runaway winners that would only lose the trophy if something disastrous happens. And it isn’t looking like such a thing would happen because other contenders are losing to smaller teams. The big teams draw on weekends when these leaders extend their leads on the table.

    Bayern Munich has established a 16-point gap in the German Bundesliga, Manchester City has a 12-point difference to second placed Manchester United, with the Manchester return leg derby a few weeks away, and Barcelona are untouchable with 11 points difference from the second placed Atletico Madrid in the Spanish La Liga. Don’t ask me about Real Madrid, which is languishing in the 10th position, 19 points adrift of Barca.  There are at least 17 matches left in some of the leagues, but the leaders have made their homes a fortress aside the fact that they know how to beat the strugglers in their leagues. But, with football, everything is possible. We wait.

    Barring a likely upset of the seeming runaway winners, Manchester City of England, the battle for the second, third and fourth positions has become more exciting, perhaps, because of the pedigree of the teams in the race. The five teams to compete for the top four in England, assuming City are uncrowned champions, are Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, Tottenham and Arsenal. Only three of the five will join Manchester City as England’s representatives in the 2018/2019 UEFA Champions League.

    Manchester City looks like the best team in Europe, with the scintillating skills exhibited  by their players, although many pundits expected such exciting games from clubs handled by Pep Guardiola. Until Guardiola moved to England, purists didn’t think he had the tactical savvy to dominate the English game the way Manchester City is doing. And with less than four months to the end of the season, it won’t be out of place if Guardiola’s Manchester City win at least three titles, with the EPL diadem almost theirs. When last did an English team annexe the three trophies in one season?

    No team has ever won the domestic treble in England. I look forward to Manchester City breaking the jinx this season. Will Manchester City annexe the three big competitions (EPL, Caraboa Cup and the English FA Cup) in England? These three competitions produce the representatives in England for Europe next season.

    I’m scared to pick the top four in England, knowing that the beautiful game is unpredictable, with the relegation strugglers ruffling the feathers of title contenders like we saw on Monday when Swansea beat Liverpool 1-0. It was an upset for Swansea, given what Liverpool did to Manchester City at Anfield penultimate Sunday to end the Citizens’ 22-match unbeaten run. Penultimate Saturday, Bournemouth shocked Arsenal with a 2-1 win. The Gunners have added  new players, such as, Henrikh Mkhitaryan to the side to improve their chances of making the Top Four in May. Mkhitaryan swapped places with Sanchez, a move which gave him a new lease of life at Manchester United. Will Arsenal succeed in its quest for Gabonese star Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Borrussia Dortmund in the German Bundesliga?

    The European leagues appear decided over which teams would lift the diadems, although attention has now been shifted to the battles among relegation threatened clubs. But the talk in Europe is the avalanche of goals scored by World Cup players for their clubs to show that they are ready for the big stage in Russia in June.

    The European leagues are full of goal scorers from countries heading for the Russia 2018 World Cup, such as Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero of Argentina (16 goals), Brazil’s Gabriel Jesus (eight goals), England’s Raheem Sterling (14 goals), Germany’s Leroy Sane (seven goals), Spain’s David Silva (five goals) and Kevin de Bruyne (six goals).

    The other big scorers in the European leagues are England’s Harry Kane (21 goals), Argentina’s Lionel Messi (19 goals), Egypt’s Mohamed Salah (18 goals), Argentina’s Sergio Agüero (16 goals), Uruguay’s Luis Suárez (15 goals) England’s Raheem Sterling (14 goals) Argentina’s Gonzalo Higuain (nine), Argentine Angel Di Maria (five goals) and Argentina’s Paulo Dybala (14 goals). One of these goal scorers could win the Golden Boot, although one new name could pop up, except that such a striker may not be playing for the eventual World Cup winner. Most of the prominent strikers would be tightly marked.

    My worry for the Super Eagles is that the Argentines have scored 63 goals, considering what Messi, Aguero, Dybala, Higuain and Di Maria did in the Europe this season. Eagles stepped on the python’s tail by beating Argentina 4-2 in Russia last November. The Argentines have vowed to avenge the loss. Nigeria’s last group game at the Mundial is against Argentina and the Argentines will put in their all to win, especially as many of them have attributed the 4-2 loss to Messi’s absence. Will the task be too big for Messi to carry?  No way. Messi is a Trojan of such fight-back wars. In fact, he excels in such games. This is why he is easily the world’s best player, depending on the divide you are.

    I have chosen a comparison with Argentina because I know that the last game would make or mar the chance of either of the teams to qualify. The World Cup is replete with stories of fallen heroes, with the last casualties being the Spaniards, who fell like a pack of cards, despite being the defending champions at the Brazil 2014 World Cup. The Argentines have a poor record with Africans at the Mundial. Nigeria won’t be an exception, after the Eagles broke the yoke in Russia last year.

    The Argentines won’t forget Cameroon in a hurry, considering how they fell to the Indomitable Lions 1-0 at the Italia ’90 World Cup. The Argentines were defending World Cup champions. The legend Diego Armando Maradona was playing, but the Cameroonians demystified him and his men. Can the Eagles  rise to the occasion and make it count when it matters? Yes. They are younger than the Roger Milla-led side, though the Argentines have Messi, who has rightly replaced Maradona, he isn’t controversial, which makes him more devastating in front of the goalpost.

    Do the Eagles have the defenders to stop Messi? They need not have them, if they play as a unit by ensuring that everyone marks as soon as possession is lost. The Argentines are not spectacular in defending. They may have problems handling our attack, but it is in the midfield the Eagles should dominate to get the desired result. With Messi, there won’t be any comeback from goals deficit. So, the Eagles must gird their loins to survive.

    If we use goals scored by the Argentines to measure how the Eagles would fare against them, it will be no contest. But, with football, there are two kinds of players- the club player and the national team star. Nigerian players get their best playing for Nigeria – if properly motivated. With the plans made by NFF chieftains, the Sports Minister and the government, our players won’t lack anything. So, Argentina, beware.

    Kelechi Iheanacho’s sterling performance against Fleetwood Town, penultimate Tuesday, opened the floodgate of goals by other Nigerians in the European leagues. What makes soccer beautiful is the number of goals scored. The fans are excited. The fans’ post-match analyses are hinged on top performance, especially players who scored goals. Iheanacho had been written off as a non-performer at Leicester City, despite his £25 million transfer from Manchester City based on his bench role with the Foxes. His absence from the pitch raised eyebrows. Iheanacho cannot field himself in Leicester’s first 11.

    Alex Iwobi and Victor Moses also scored goals for Arsenal and Chelsea penultimate weekend, sending signals that they are ready. It is better late than never. Let’s hope that our players will keep scoring in the weeks leading to the Mundial. It is good that those of them who are not regulars want to move to clubs where they can play regularly. The Argentines know Musa, who outran them in Nigeria’s last World Cup outing against Argentina, scoring two goals with the Eagles’ counter-attack style. We lost 3-2, but Messi still found time to crack jokes with goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama each time he stopped the Argentine’s tricky shots.9

  • Poll 2019 began furiously on Tuesday

    Poll 2019 began furiously on Tuesday

    Some definite but unmistakeable fancy footwork over the 2019 general elections had been slowly evident before 2017 came to an end, but few Nigerians ever deduced that 2018 would open as frenetically as it has done this January with all manner of radical and complicated moves. Ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo triggered the chaotic footwork on Tuesday with his idiosyncratically damning summary of the failings of his chief victim, the enigmatic and taciturn Muhammadu Buhari. Chief Obasanjo, no longer a chief but now Ph.D., never shied away from damning his predecessors, but he often reserved his bitterest vitriol for his successors. President Buhari is the latest victim he has disembowelled so poignantly in a special statement released to the public and entitled “The way out: A clarion call for Coalition for Nigeria Movement”.

    Not only was Dr Obasanjo’s press statement extraordinary in pummelling the president, indicating very vividly the failings of the object of his vitriol, it also more directly suggested a way out in the form of a conclave of Nigerians he was willing to mobilize, inspire and lead ad hoc. He calls the assemblage “Coalition for Nigerians”. Some news reports already indicate that a few governors and senators are eager to climb the Obasanjo coalition bandwagon. In his statement, the former president seems to suggest that those disenchanted with President Buhari, for reasons adequately amplified in the special statement, should join untainted hands with him in salvaging a country he said was hobbled by the president’s incalculable misdeeds.

    That coalition, said Dr Obasanjo, could later, if members insist, metamorphose into a vote-seeking and vote-giving association. When that stage is reached, he counselled, he would step aside to allow a process he triggered achieve the right and salutary consummation. For now, and in the interim, he was presenting himself as the soul of the coalition designed to salvage the country from the perdition he said President Buhari sentenced it. There are already suggestions by many political commentators that the coalition referred to by Dr Obasanjo is in fact another name for the so-called political Third Force some eminent Nigerians and serving and former governors and senators have been toying with for some months. Whether Third Force or Coalition for Nigerians, it is clear Dr Obasanjo is interested in inspiring a group of politicians to take over power from the present set of failing leaders. Poll 2019 is truly and unmistakeably underway.

    Even though their response to Dr Obasanjo’s initiative leaves much to be desired, considering how President Buhari’s defeneders clumsily sidestepped some of the critical issues the former president raised, they have focused mainly on the president’s economic achievements. Whether that is sufficient or not remains to be seen. But clearly, the defenders mean these achievements on the economic front as a template to argue the president’s suitability for re-election. And whether it is coincidental or not, the presidency, or more accurately the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has hauled in the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir David Lawal, for questioning with a view to preparing charges against him for wrongdoing involving his supervision of the Presidential Initiative for Northeast (PINE) contracts.

    Nigerians had for long and repeatedly called for the former SGF’s prosecution. The presidency turned a deaf ear. Indeed, it took an inordinate amount of time before the government even accented to his investigation, suspension and sack. It also took an inordinate amount of time to consent to his arrest and prosecution. The government presumably anchored its foot-dragging on the need to observe due process as well as be consistent with the president’s famous defence of why he is slow in taking decisions. Dr Obasanjo had in his last Tuesday special statement accused the government of orchestrating corruption prosecution against only his opponents, and appearing to shield or prematurely exonerate those believed to be corrupt in his inner circle. The popular interpretation is that the move against the former SGF is an indication of the government’s sensitivity to the demands of Poll 2019. Even if this interpretation is far-fetched, the presidency did nothing before now to dispel that conspiratorial label.

    But perhaps the most direct and incriminating step the presidency has taken, in the eyes of those who watch the government and interpret its every move, is the conclusion and release of the work of the Nasir el-Rufai panel on true federalism. Though the exercise was instituted by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) last August, it is only now that its report has been submitted to the party, apparently to the satisfaction of the presidency. Governor el-Rufai had spoken out disdainfully against restructuring, which he argued was politicised, and the APC itself had all but disavowed its promise on devolution of power, feigning ignorance of its inclusion in its campaign manifesto. Well, both governor and party have now hastily made their peace with the calls for substantial political and economic changes in the country. It is not clear how they hope to do something about the report before the 2019 polls, but at least they have enunciated some changes, and those changes left unattended could become an albatross on their necks.

    Here is how Mallam el-Rufai summarised their assignment when the committee submitted its report to the party leadership: “After four months of rigorous research, we are pleased to inform the chairman we have completed our assignment and are here to present our report…The report is in four volumes with Volume One containing background information of the research and recommendations; Volume Two, Action plans from the research to implement its resolution and draft of bills; Volume 3, Media reports and the result of the online survey of the issue; and Volume Four, the appendix- summary of all memoranda received…We articulated 14 issues re-occurring in previous conferences. At the end of our rigorous research, debates and deliberations, we came up with 24 items that Nigerians have indicated interest views that balance our federation.

    “These items are; creation of states, merger of states, delegation principle, fiscal federalism, devolution of power and resources between state, federal and local governments, federating units, form of government, independent candidacy, land tenure system, local government autonomy ,power sharing and rotation, resource control, types of legislature, demand for affirmation for vulnerable groups;people with disabilities, women and youth, ministerial appointment, citizenship, state constitution, community participation, minimum wage, governance, judiciary, state re-alignment and border adjustment, circular status of the federation; and referendum.

    “We articulated only 13 issues from the various opinions expressed by Nigerians in our engagement, identified these 24 issues for which the committee deliberated and has made recommendations in the report. We went ahead to look at these recommendations to convert them into concrete actions that the party, government and the  national assembly can take to re-balance our federation.”

    Never mind that in some parts of his presentation Mallam el-Rufai could not resist using the first person singular and plural pronouns interchangeably, the important point is that the party, whose manifesto already indicated its point of view on political changes, needed all of four months to restate its belief in paradigm shifts. Even then, it is significant that the party had to be compelled to embrace a change it willingly and eagerly promised in its campaign manifesto pre-2015 elections, but later violently and intemperately disavowed when the country bristled against its retrogressive conservatism. Their biggest challenge, they will soon discover, is to get the legislature to go along with them when they (both the party and its leaders in government) are not really sold on the change they campaigned on.

    Apart from the former SGF, there are a few other public personalities in government, or perhaps associated with government, who are yet to be called to account for alleged corrupt practices. Could the government and the ruling party muster the courage to bring them to justice with the same ire and diligence it has exhibited against opponents? Could they achieve substantial progress in that direction enough to convince the public that the presidency’s conversion to fair and undiscriminating anti-corruption war is real and lasting?

    The public should expect more from the Buhari presidency in the coming weeks to countervail the heat and pressure the Obasanjo Coalition would subject it to. But their worst fear would be how to defang the new coalition dedicated to instigating a critical mass of anti-Buharists against the government. Everything in the coming months will be about politics and Poll 2019. There is, unfortunately, nothing else the government can do beyond executing remedial measures and hoping that those measures would be strong enough to arrest the momentum triggered by Dr Obasanjo’s special statement and newfangled coalition.

  • Communication – Between Obasanjo, Trump and Buhari

    Communication – Between Obasanjo, Trump and Buhari

    While  the quality  of leadership depends on the personality of any  leader, power itself thrives on political participation and communication especially in a democratic  setting. The  message of the leader is  as important  as its delivery  before it can be translated to performance which is the ultimate decider of the refusal  or renewal   of  leadership at periodic elections which  also  are  the engine  oil  of all  political systems claiming  to be democratic.  This  is the premise of our approach  to the topic  of the day, which  is a departure  from our normal  conceptual  configurations, for  the simple  reason  that the three figures   mentioned have  gotten  to such a stage  in their   leadership postures  and   challenges  that their  masquerade  of leadership  needs  to be unveiled  today.  This is   to see  their leadership in its true perspective even  as we weigh the consequences  of their past  and present  actions and its toll on the  political, geopolitical  and world  order  in which  they  have exercised  their immense  and powerful  leadership  before  our eyes, which  we assume  were wide  open  as we marvel  or recoil  at their  leadership whims and caprices.

    Former  Nigerian  president, retired  General  Olusegun  Obasanjo  set the ball  rolling  this week,  in   the rather Trump-  like and  explosive way  he shredded the Buhari government in terms of performance and bluntly   asked the Nigerian president to get off the leadership  horse, take a good rest  and  not seek reelection in the coming 2019 presidential  elections.  That  was a tall order from the former Nigerian president  to  another military  colleague  and the   horse riding example  must be a clearly understandable one to both leaders,  who coincidentally,  have  a lot in common in the way they got power both militarily  and democratically. Obasanjo  became  military  president against  his’ personal  wishes  and desires‘    as he was forced  to lead after the assassination of   late  General Murtala Muhammed.  General  Buhari  was brought to Lagos from Jos after  the coup  by the IBB led officers to be Head   of State in Lagos.  20 years  later after Obasanjo  handed power to an elected government  he was picked again  by his military  disciples  as the only man capable of leading Nigeria and he became president in 1999 and ruled   till  2007.  In the case of  General  Buhari   he  became    a democratically elected   president thirty  years    in 2015     after  he  was    removed in a  coup    as a military  president in 1965.  He   became  president in 2015 after the APC leadership  decided  he was the only one capable of winning the election because  of his integrity  and well  known   discipline as military ruler.  So  how  come that the circle of power acquisition has gone full  circle that the generals  are using their slang  on  each  other   and    for  full  effect?  The  answer  to that may  be  important  but it is not urgent for now.

    What  is important  for  now  is the  manner  the Obasanjo  tirade  was received by the Nigerian  people and nation. The  governor of Ekiti  state Ayo  Fayose hit the nail  on the head by saying that Obasanjo  contributed to the problems of  Nigeria today  and whenever   he spoke, people  hissed. Yet Fayose  asked the Nigerian  president to heed the warning in Obasanjo’s missile. Even  Northern  political  leaders  of all shades  said  Obasanjo  has a right  to say what  he has said and the government  should listen.  Of course  the government has listed its achievements  which  it  said Obasanjo never countenanced  because  of his busy travelling engagements.  But  the world is a global  village  and anyone  can monitor  events from anywhere in the world today. Similarly  the government defence that  the president is busy  running the state  and  cannot address  speculation on his reelection  in 2019 is  arrogant and unrealistic  because  the president is a product  of elections and  cannot  take the issue of his reelection as below  him or a waste of his time. That  surely is a misrepresentation of the president’s  posture on the respect  or lack of it for the Nigerian electorate, which  massively put him in  power in 2015.

    In  releasing  his letter now, Obasanjo  has  in a  way broken  political  convention of the times.   That   for now    is to praise  the government on the fight against insurgency and corruption  and pretend  all is well and Nigerians are happy. Obasanjo  has belled  the cat and like  the incumbent US President  Donald  Trump  has stood up against  political  correctness  in Nigeria  and that is commendable. The  saying   that a cat has nine lives is applicable to Obasanjo with regard to this timely warning to government which  should be heeded  especially with regard to the speedy  resolution   of  the killing of Nigerians in Benue, Taraba  and Benue  states  especially  and the call  for  Cattle  Colonies by the Minister  of  Agriculture. The  way  Nigerians have derided   and   rejected the idea  and   are asking for pig , farm  and oil  colonies, show how  the issue  of the Fulani  herdsmen  has polarized  the nation.  If  care  is not  taken this matter  would overtake  the call  for restructuring as the panacea  to Nigeria’s  political and economic problems.  The  recourse then  would be agitation  for a confederation and that  is a slippery  and contentious  way  to the fragmentation of the Nigerian nation.  Reining in the Fulani  herdsmen according to the rule of law  will  surely  give the Nigerian  nation, its stability  and well  being a lot of breathing space. That  really was all Obasanjo  was talking  about and for once Nigerians did  not ask  the messenger to be told off  even  though as Governor  Fayose observed, they hissed because  of the messenger’s  well  known leadership antecedents and  pedigree.

    The  Nigerian leader Obasanjo wrote a 13 page letter  that is sure  to be the  focus of political  attention in Nigeria  for some time .He  was  you   may say  not quite modern and innovative even if his message  was effective. The  now recognized modern political  leader in terms communication globally is US  President Donald  Trump who  has tweeted over 1000 tweets in his first year in office.

     

    This was someone who  was  touted as an  IT illiterate during his presidential  campaign.  His tweets have drawn attention  to the issue of fake news which  governments all  over the world have condemned  as weakening democracies  and human  societies with  false news. Both  Britains’ Theresa May  and Hillary Clinton  have also  come out to condemn fake news on the internet as anti democratic and Germany has made a law that fines  companies like Face  Book, Google and Whats app heavily  for not removing fake news within a given time. Even  global  Media mogul Murdoch  has asked internet companies like Face Book  to pay  for –truth-  and promote genuine journalism  and publishing online. The   Vatican  too is not left  out as Pope  Francis recently claimed   that fake news originated from the garden  of  Eden in Genesis where Eve misinformed Adam  and he ate  the forbidden  fruit.

    Political Communication matters  a lot in terms of leadership. In  Nigeria, unfortunately that is not the fort of the present Nigerian  leader. He is of course well  known  for his taciturnity  and integrity. In  a democracy  however the leader must  read  correctly,    when  to say something  and when  to keep  quiet. Loud  silence in the face of pressing problems in the polity is a sign of leadership aloofness  and it  sooner than later  that   estranges such leadership to its followership. The  Nigerian  leader needs to have more rapport with the Nigerian people and their sectional  leaders  and representatives. That  is what democracy is all about  and that is how to move  the nation forward 2019 or no  2019  elections.  Once again, long live the Federal  Republic of Nigeria.

  • Our best players are in Europe

    Our best players are in Europe

    I was tempted to title this week’s column ‘’Let’s boo Claude Puel.’’ I changed my mind because he isn’t well known. I pitied Puel since he is a stop-gap coach, who is on trial and doesn’t have the technical know-how to handle an innately gifted lad such as Nigerian international Kelechi Iheanacho. I can imagine the mental torture Puel subjected Iheanacho to as if Manchester City’s former manager made a mistake in recruiting the former Golden Eaglets star. Perhaps, there is the need to remind Puel that Iheanacho was the best player at the FIFA U-17 World Cup. He beat other players, including those from Europe. Iheanacho couldn’t suddenly become a bad player. But what do you expect from a coach who was suddenly sacked by Southampton?

    I just hope that Puel isn’t just biased given the way he pulled out Iheanacho from the Fleetwood Town game in the 80th minute. With the way the game was going, only Iheanacho could have scored for Leicester on Tuesday night. More experienced coaches would have left the Nigerian on the pitch to see if he would score a hat-trick, which could have helped his confidence. Not so with Puel, who must have been under pressure to justify his preference for Japanese Shinji Okazaki.

    On a level platform, especially with what Iheanacho exhibited, Puel will do better, if he finds a role for the Nigerian. Puel is fixated about Mahrez and Vardy. But Iheanacho’s intelligence and runs off the ball give him the edge over Okazaki. If Iheanacho gets the playing time Okazaki has, he will score more goals.

    Indeed, in a post-match interview on Tuesday, Iheanacho said: “You don’t need to get frustrated. Stick together and work hard every day. If the chance comes, you take it. That slowed things down a little bit. I am happy I am getting to come back. I am feeling better, stronger and working hard in training every day to progress. I hope I will have a very successful and injury-free second part of the season.

    “I am fit now and confident. We have so many more games to come. Keep working hard, and keep playing and help the team to achieve. Fans have seen a bit of me, I hope to continue like that in the future and in the games to come.

    “The first part of the season is gone and it is the second part now. I am happy to get the two goals and now hope to progress in the future. It gives me more confidence to play well, get back in the team and help them achieve great things in the future,” said Iheanacho.

    That is the spirit, dear Iheanacho. Keep training with all the vigour required, knowing that the Russia 2018 World Cup is the platform to showcase your talent and get bigger clubs with experienced coaches to free you from the Leicester bondage. What you did against Fleetwood shows that you are not a finished product nor did you waste Leicester’s money.

    Ahmed Musa left Kano Pillars as the best in the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) to the home of beautiful football, Netherlands. His exploits took him to Russia from where he joined Leicester City after dominating the league.

    However, some players weren’t happy with the huge fee paid for his services and that led to the sack of Italian Claudio Ranieri. Today, Musa is hardly on the match-day squads for the Foxes – not because he is a bad player but because clueless Puel won’t give him a chance.

    If Iheanacho had not scored in the FA Cup third round replay against Fleetwood, perhaps, the manager would’ve justified why he left him on the bench since he arrived in October 2017.   What is the manager’s reaction to Iheanacho’s performance? Interesting.

    “Kelechi showed a good attitude, worked hard for his teammates and got between the lines. His first goal showed a lot of quality and the second was a fantastic move between him and Mahrez,” Puel told the club’s official website. Can you beat that? So, Puel, why did you not allow Iheanacho complete the game, when he was the best player on the pitch? What did Vardy and  Okazaki do better than Iheanacho when they came in? Nothing. Leicester’s game went down.

    Until Tuesday night, the argument was on the essence of inviting Iheanacho and Ahmed Musa to Nigeria’s World Cup camp if they aren’t playing for their clubs. What we have seen from Iheanacho’s case is that he is a victim of a manager’s warp selection. I always knew that but needed such feats as Iheanacho’s to stress that we need not judge our players by their club performances, especially when it comes to vying for shirts with their host country’s indigenous star. Not in a World Cup year, as such a country is also billed to participate. Our players must consider these variables in picking clubs they want to play for.

    Watching the CHAN Eagles play a draw against Rwanda was boring. Most fans hissed all through the game, making the argument that the players were unlucky not to have won the game laughable, given the pedigree of the two countries in world football. Not one player in the team showed any trait of being capable to handle World Cup matches. Those in Morocco are upstarts. Even if Nigeria wins the trophy, none of them, except the goalkeeper, Ikechukwu Ezenwa, can get a World Cup shirt.  It is clear now that our best players are in Europe, with the way borderline players such as Iheanacho played on Tuesday night.

    Advocates of having a Nigerian handler for the Super Eagles during big competitions such as the World Cup always talk about using the domestic league to judge the development of the game in Nigeria. Their submissions are laced with sentiments and patriotism, which don’t add up to growth when we are pitched against the rest of the world.

    Football isn’t as simple as kicking the round object around the field by 22 players for 90 minutes. Players’ skills and how they go about interpreting the instructions given to them by the coaches are sacrosanct. Where the coaches’ technical savvy is obtuse and dense, it reflects in how the boys play the game, which the greatest Edson Arantes do Nascimento once described as beautiful.

    Watching the Nigerian team groomed by our coaches can be boring and frustrating. Our game isn’t exciting, not because the players lack the skills. The players are as good as the coaches.  Our domestic players lack the basic rudiments of the game, such as controlling the ball and making good passes that could lead to goals. Besides, our playing pattern is laborious and lacks imagination, which make it not exciting.

    The structure of the domestic league is faulty and incapable of producing the desired results, especially where the administrators think they are the best. Our domestic league administrators, including the regulators, are self-serving and myopic. They are easily hoodwinked by what is found outside the country, without looking at our peculiarities. No deliberate effort is made to train and re-train the coaches and the auxiliary staff, in a bid to improve the quality of skills impacted on the players at all levels. This is why watching the domestic league  can be a nightmare.

    Rather than evolve a system that would enhance the growth of the game at the grassroots, our administrators prefer to roam European countries looking for templates which create more problems for the system, when the initiators leave office. Globally, clubs are encouraged to have academies where the youngsters are taught the rudiments of the game. These rookies become the future stars of such big teams, with the exceptional ones going to bigger teams, which translates to big revenues for the teams they have left.

    Unfortunately, our domestic clubs don’t think it is necessary to have youth teams. The management members have refused to see the league as a business. Rather than fashion how their teams can attract the fans to watch their matches, they are contented with taking government money.

    No investor will do the business of sports where the government holds over 70 per cent of its equity. The government, which owns most of the clubs, should encourage the team’s management to outsource their revenue. Sadly, the regulators of the domestic league like to err on the side of caution instead of enforcing the rules that encourage commercialisation of clubs’ operation, with particular reference of taking them to the Nigeria Stock Exchange.

    If it means having only five clubs which satisfy the rules of running as a professional outfit, let the league matches begin. With time, others will take it seriously and do what is required to qualify as a professional team. This idea of clubs owing their players and coaches wages of over nine months is cruel. Equally worrisome is the manner in which some governors whose states own the clubs behave towards them as if they are doing the players and coaches a favour by paying them as and when due.

    It was quite appalling to watch how a particular governor allowed his security operatives to manhandle players, especially the girls who stormed the Government House in a peaceful protest. They were beaten groggy and made to look like criminals, not sports ambassadors of the state, which is what they are. Don’t remind me that nothing is happening to the governor. Elsewhere, the ignoble act would cost him his future in politics.