The Nation Newspaper

Category: Saturday

  • Olympic gold is possible

    Olympic gold is possible

    Samson Siasia is a lucky boy. He is always available to handle Nigeria’s new generation of stars and he has acquitted himself with glory, most times. Siasia’s preference for attacking football is commendable – no surprise because he was a striker and a scorer of goals for his clubs and Nigeria, not forgetting his goal against Argentina at the USA 94 World Cup. He is a good tactician only if he can turn deaf ears to promptings from European managers, scouts and influence-peddlers who always want to hijack his team’s selection. Indeed, if Siasia fails to win the gold medal at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, it will be because he didn’t pick our best players not because we don’t have them aplenty. Siasia, you can guide Nigeria to win the Olympic gold medal again. Please Siasia, jettison your personal interests.

    I have been monitoring the names being bandied in the media as prospects for the country’s Dream Team VI to the Olympics and I have asked myself if Siasia knows what he is doing. It is instructive to remind Siasia that he is going to the Olympics with a group of boys who won the trophy at the Africa U-23 tournament held in Senegal. What this feat presupposes is that we have a winning squad for the Olympics. All that Siasia needs to do is to fortify the squad with our immensely talented players in Europe, who are performing, such as Kelechi Iheanacho, Alex Iwobi and perhaps those junior internationals who may have missed the squad to Senegal.

    Besides, Siasia is free to also pick our best overage players like John Mikel Obi, Odion Ighalo and Ahmed Musa as he has proposed. These experienced players should be used to strengthen the squad, having seen the quality of players that our group opponents Sweden, Japan and Colombia have listed as theirs. It follows therefore that a wholesale change or the invitation of those who haven’t played a game for the team and are not in the class of players mentioned above is a bloody waste of time and a major distraction.

    I’m not picking his squad. I’m only asking him to emulate those major football nations, who are strengthening their squads that qualified with known names and not causing disaffection with the invitation of boys who are not as talented as those we used to earn the qualification ticket. It amounts to a waste of the tax payers’ money to invite players for trials at this stage, given the abundance of talents available to Siasia. It must be stressed here that most of the matches would be played in the wee hours in Nigeria  and there cannot be a worse nightmare to put Nigerians through than having them to stay up so late only to watch shambolic display by our team in Rio de Janerio. Nigerians deserve the best. They want to stay up late and be thrilled with our boys’ performance just as it happened when the Golden Eaglets retained the U-17 World Cup. The Eaglets were a delight to watch.

    I’m not a coach but as a journalist, I have the right to raise the alarm about sporting matters, especially those with devastating effects on the

    psyche of the fans. Many want Siasia to handle our national teams but two incidents ought to have changed his perception of how his team plays. I hope that Siasia knows that he seems incapable of telling his players what to do when defending, especially against set-pieces – I won’t blame him since he looks like Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger. No prize if you say that they learned their trade in France. In 2011, the Siasia-led Super Eagles didn’t know what to do to a 2-1 lead against Guinea inside the National Stadium, Abuja. Rather than devise means to frustrate the visitors, our boys opted to attack a team with renowned qualities of playing the counter-attack formation. And we paid dearly for it with a last-minute goal to deny Nigeria a chance to participate at the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations.

    It is said that thunder doesn’t strike twice in one spot. But with sports, if you repeat a mistake against a good opponent, you will suffer the same fate. This rings so true with Siasia and the Eagles, if one critically evaluates what happened inside the Ahmadu Bello Stadium on March 25 against the Pharaohs of Egypt. Many a Nigerian still rues the last-minute goal which the Egyptians scored.

    What beats me hollow is the fact that Siasia seems unperturbed about getting big, strong and reliable defenders who can effectively use either foot when under pressure. It is one thing for a team to have great potential of scoring goals. However, what distinguishes the average team from the excellent one is how they defend goals that they have scored.

    Besides, I think he needs a defensive minded assistant, who can talk to the players or possibly take them through the rudiments of marking the opponents whenever they lose possession of the ball.

    Good defending starts with having an articulate goalkeeper whose attention span must be unwavering and the back four men, who must listen to the goalkeeper’s instruction since he is the last man in the defence. Siasia needs at least two defenders in each of the four defensive positions. Since defenders do most of the marking, it is important that we have a couple of them per wing in the event of card offences or injuries sustained from the matches.

    It won’t cost Siasia anything to call veteran coach Adegboye Onigbinde on tips for defending. Onigbinde is renowned for setting up rugged but skilful defenders during his era in the Green Eagles and the Super Eagles. If Siasia thinks that Onigbinde’s methods won’t suit him, he can invite a knowledgeable defensive tactician to strengthen his technical crew like he did in previous competitions.

    If Nigeria wins the gold medal in the football event in Rio, it means that we have the squad to rule the world at the Russia 2018 World Cup. Beating Brazil in an exhibition match without Siasia underscores the depth of talents available to the coaches, only if they go for glory that would make Nigeria the poster team of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

    The Atlanta’96 Olympic Games’ gold medal feat for Nigeria was a watershed, coming on the heels of our senior team Super Eagles’ superlative performance, where we were ranked fifth in the world, in spite of the fact that we were eliminated in the second round.

    Nigeria became the haven for European scouts to get relatively exposed boys at the grassroots to European teams. These new boys returned to make the Eagles, drawing a large followership at the turnstiles during the country’s matches.

    With capacity filled stadia on days when the Eagles had a game, it was easy for the corporate world to key into this large audience to market their goods and services. Firms which couldn’t compete for space in the Super Eagles or indeed other national teams across gender turned to the next popular sports – athletics, basketball, table tennis and boxing.

    The sports terrain never lacked sponsor until some administrators became unaccountable, organised low quality competitions or failing to pay athletes who participated in sporting tournaments. Of course, no firm will pitch its services or goods on corrupt platforms. The exit of these traditional sponsors led to an era of problems for sports.

    Table tennis, athletics and boxing tottered in the past. New dawns beckon for boxing and table tennis, only if the authorities ensure that only credible people and competent personnel are employed to fast-track the changes.

  • Thoughts and non thoughts on ‘Fulani herdsmen’

    Thoughts and non thoughts on ‘Fulani herdsmen’

    The destructive, barbarous and utterly condemnable activities of so called ‘Fulani herdsmen’ killing, maiming, raping innocent citizens and ravaging farmlands across the country has rightly been the central focus of public discourse in recent times. Yet, much of the often rancorous ‘conversation’ has generated more heat than light. The issues have been distorted, even by enlightened commentators to absurd ethno-religious reductionism. The herdsmen – Fulani or not- are innately evil. The rest of us are inherently righteous and morally superior. This perception is superficial and analytically unhelpful.

     The clash between herdsmen, farmers and pastoralists is, first and foremost, a function of the failure or what Marxian analysts would call a ‘withering away’ of the Nigerian state. From the ‘Weberian’ perspective, the distinctive feature of the state is its legitimate monopoly or control of the instruments and mechanisms of coercion. A state that shares this essential attribute with herdsmen, cattle rustlers, ethnic militias, kidnappers, election riggers, armed robbers and oil pipeline vandals among others has its essential ‘stateness’ grossly eroded. The violent conflict of herdsmen, pastoralists and farmers is thus only a manifestation of a deeper, profounder and more widespread crisis of what Professor Eghosa Osaghae calls ‘state fragility’ in post- colonial Nigeria.

    In a lecture delivered at the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) on 9th April, 1970, the incomparable sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo argued that “The causes of our national maladies are essentially economic”. His views are still cogent and relevant. At the root of the persistent ethno-regional, religious and purely criminal fissures across the country is the pervasive  poverty in an otherwise richly endowed country grossly underdeveloped by the sheer venality and incompetence of an irresponsible ruling class whose membership transcends sectional primordial boundaries. In the words of Awolowo: “I have said it before and I want to say it again that the causes of our national maladies are essentially economic. It is important, therefore, for us to bear it in mind that if we failed to find the right solutions to our economic problems, we would not succeed in solving our political and social problems”.

    Emphasising his point further, Awolowo averred that “My case then is that, in order to keep Nigeria harmoniously united, and, at the same time, fulfil the natural, ultimate, supreme, and inalienable purpose of that unity, the present and future rulers of this country must place the most crucial emphasis on, and attach the utmost importance to, the advancement of the economic prosperity and social well-being of the entire people of Nigeria without exception or discrimination”.

    The ‘Fulani’ herdsmen, pastoralists, cattle rustlers, kidnappers, armed robbers and sundry other criminals are thus largely victims, consciously or unconsciously, of a corrupt, selfish and intellectually lazy ruling class that has, among others, underdeveloped Nigerian agriculture, pursued economic policies that have resulted in massive de-industrialization of the country as well as the consequent colossal unemployment while also failing to provide the country either a modern and efficient road and rail transportation network or modern ranches for herdsmen.

     Unfortunately, what we are currently witnessing in the country is also a function partly of the virtual collapse of our universities and the consequent devaluation of the quality of the contributions of the Nigerian intelligentsia to public discourse. Most of our best scholars have become veritable nomads that have migrated either to greener intellectual pastures outside the country or from our public universities to the essentially commercially driven private universities many of which lack genuine and creative intellectual culture.

    For instance, northern governors, senators and traditional rulers have spoken, some sensibly and rationally and others arrogantly and insensitively, on the issue of the ‘Fulani herdsmen’ and their clashes with their host communities. But where is the voice and opinion of the northern intelligentsia and academics? This has not always been the case. For instance, following the religious violence that erupted in Kaduna State on Friday, 6th March, 1987, a group of scholars at the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, published a full length article in the New Nigerian of 20th March, 1987 and The Guardian of 25th March, 1987 titled ‘The Violent Politics of Religion and the Survival of Nigeria”.

    These scholars including the late Dr Bala Usman, Kyari Tijjani, Sanusi Abubakar, George Kwanashie, Alkasum Abba, Ahmed Modibbo Mohammed, Ahmed Siddique Mohammed as well as Ayo and Grace Ajagun among others argued that “We are convinced that this campaign has reached this totally unacceptable and very dangerous level because successive federal governments have toyed with one of the foundations on which Nigeria exists, namely the secular nature of the Nigerian state and its sacred responsibility to protect the right of belief and worship of everyone. A strong impression has been created that some organisations and individuals can, with arrogance and impunity, incite and threaten people of other religious beliefs and will get away with, at most, only verbal reprimands or appeals to be tolerant”. According to them “In spite of reports and warnings from concerned individuals and organisations, three days after the start of the violence, Police and Security forces were completely absent from the scenes. This apparent abdication of responsibility by Government must be taken seriously. This type of violent campaign of Muslims against Christians is unprecedented in the history of our country. It directly threatens her continued survival as a single entity”.

    Most of those who wrote these words were northerners and Muslims. But they were men and women of intellect and integrity who transcended narrow and selfish primordial considerations. I was privileged to work closely with the late Dr Bala Usman when I served as media aide to Professor Iyorchia Ayu who was then Senate President. Dr Usman translated Chief MKO Abiola’s ‘Farewell to Poverty’ manifesto into Fulfude and was constantly on the Hausa BBC and Voice of America Service to explain pertinent political and socio-economic issues to the ordinary people of the north. On the issue of the ‘Fulani herdsmen’, the northern intelligentsia must regain its voice and reassert its leadership in moulding public opinion. And progressive Nigerian intellectuals, professionals and activists in general must begin to speak up once more against those who are vigorously manipulating religion, ethnicity or regionalism to divide and continue to exploit Nigerians. The real enemies of the herdsmen, pastoralists, peasant farmers, cattle rustlers and the millions of impoverished Nigerians are the criminal and predatory looters of our commonwealth.

    Omolayo Thomas: Exit of an unsung but consistent progressive

    My friend and brother, Dr Dapo Thomas of the Department of History and International Relations, Lagos State University (LASU), is in a mixed mood. Naturally, he is sad at the death on the 21st of last month of his brother, Mr Omolayo Thomas, at his residence in Ebute Metta, after a protracted illness. Aged 71, Mr Omolayo Thomas was born on Lagos Island and was a grandson of the famous Richards Odeniyi Thomas of 8/10, Richards Lane, Lagos Island. The late Thomas started his working career with the Lagos Municipal Transport Service in the late 1960s but later resigned and made considerable success in the foreign exchange business.

    But then, Dr Thomas is happy that his late brother was a man of character, integrity and unwavering consistency in progressive politics. In 1978, he joined Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) and during Babangida’s ‘transition without end’, he was a member of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) with Lagos Island and Mainland as his political base. In the epic political battle between Chief  Dapo Sarumi and the late Dr Femi Agbalajobi for the governorship of Lagos State, Mr Omolayo Thomas was fervently in support of the ‘Primrose’ group which included Dapo Sarumi, Senator Bola Tinubu, Oyinlomo Danmole, Rahman Owokoniran, Aro Lambo, Dr Fasegun Machado and Yomi Edu among other prominent politicians. Despite his fragile health, he was a staunch supporter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and canvassed strongly for Governor Akinwunmi Ambode’s election. Mr Thomas was an unusual politician who spent his personal funds on mobilising for elections without ever seeking reimbursement. He was an unsung but consistent progressive who surely deserves the full support of the APC at his burial. May his soul rest in peace and may God grant his loved ones the strength and grace to bear the loss.

  • Comparative politics, leadership and security

    I am  very  much  in the mood  for comparative politics today  given  the myriad  of stories I  came across both locally and abroad  during  the week. I  have tried to look at the stories  from the leadership  perspective as well as from the grass root. I  have  also found   time  to muse from the realm  of security and its implications for those in the industry not only in terms of being in uniform and the braided hat but also those in the business of procuring arms and  ammunition both locally  and abroad . So  join me in my Odyssey  today.

    Let  me start  with the sickening news  from Abbottabad in Pakistan where  15 men have been charged with the murder of a16  year  old girl who  was allegedly beaten, poisoned and tied to a cart  and dragged on the ground  till she died on the orders of the elders of the village in which she lived. Her crime was that she  helped a couple  to elope which  was against the tradition of the place and  this was supposed to be an honor killing . Even  her mother has  been arrested because she had  the information that the elders were coming for the girl  buy did nothing to  alert or help her escape.

    The  second story is the lamentation  of a  Northern    body that  wondered    how   Nigerians expect the  herdsmen  to feed their over 20million cows that  have  to graze when they had  been driven  from the North  East  by  Boko  Haram  and  from the major North West  towns  and  cities by cattle  rustlers  and   all  Nigerians eat  meat  daily.   This  was supposed  to be a  defence  of the incursion of Fulani  herdsmen into the   farmlands     of the   Southern  part  of the country where they  have raped and killed and destroyed  the crops  of the  farmers in their  wake .In  addition a state governor on behalf of  the  Northern  Governors said  it was an insult to call the herdsmen  Fulani . The  third is the news   is  that Julius  Malema  the leader of the  Economic Freedom  Fighters in S Africa is  suspected  of instigating the army to topple  the government of S Africa  headed  by President Jacob  Zuma  who  was  heckled in Parliament  he presented the budget and opposition members were bundled physically  out of  Parliament in the ensuing confusion. One  Opposition member was quoted as saying that Zuma  had  been condemned  by the courts for misuse of public funds and should  not be asking for more money to misuse.

    .   This  was supposed  to be a  defence  of the incursion of Fulani  herdsmen into the   farmlands     of the   Southern  part  of the country where they  have raped and killed and destroyed  the crops  of the  farmers in their  wake .In  addition a state governor on behalf of  the  Northern  Governors said  it was an insult to call the herdsmen  Fulani . The  third is the news   is  that Julius  Malema  the leader of the  Economic Freedom  Fighters in S Africa is  suspected  of instigating the army to topple  the government of S Africa  headed  by President Jacob  Zuma  who  was  heckled in Parliament  he presented the budget and opposition members were bundled physically  out of  Parliament in the ensuing confusion . One  Opposition member was quoted as saying that Zuma  had  been condemned  by the courts for misuse of public funds and should  not be asking for more money to misuse  .

    The  fourth event was the reported reluctance of the highest  ranking elected Republican  Party official  Paul   Ryan , Speaker  of the US House  of  Representatives    and    two   former   Republican   Party   presidents  to endorse Donald  Trump , the only remaining   Republican  presidential  candidate for the  US  presidential  elections in  November  for  various  reasons we shall  discuss  later .

    It  is  obvious  that we  have a  delicious  dish of extraordinary events for analysis  in such way  that we can  learn  lessons  to  live peacefully  not only  locally but also globally  as the world has    indeed become a global  village  as  the modern saying goes. We  therefore  start  with  the Pakistan  horror story  on  the 16 year old girl  burnt to death on the orders  of the village elders . It  is barbaric  act that  can not  be ascribed  to the stone  age or  anytime  or  place of   human  existence. It  makes  a mockery  of the concept  of ethnocentrism which  allows any culture  to be respected  and for an individual  to flatter  his or herself   in thinking that his  or her culture  is the best .Incidentally  this same   village  Abbottabad  was where US  marines called  Seals kidnaped Bin  Laden ,the architect  of  9/11  and  the master  mind  of Al Qada .Except  of course the spelling of the two places are  the same. Even  then while  the capture of Bin  Laden  was the highpoint  of the Obama administration   fight   against  terrorism,  it  was a disgrace  to the proud Pakistani Military  and  nation  which had received enormous  amount from the US government as an incentive to locate Bin Laden  whose whereabout the Pakistani  army  had insisted it could  not find.  Till  the  Americans  located  the Al  Qada  leader  in  Abbottabad, near  a   military  academy  and carted  him away  to be buried at  sea.

    The  only silver lining,  albeit    lamentably     belated, on the cloudy horizon of the   murdered  16 year  old  Pakistani  girl  is that the assailants  have  been apprehended  together  with her mother and  they will be tried in court. The  lesson  to learn is that – Culture Matters – and  this  really  is the title  of a book which identifies progressive  cultures  that are forward looking, modern  and make  for human progress. As  well as Regressive  Cultures such  as  the one that  allowed horror in the name of honor  in  Pakistan this week . Such  cultures are backward looking, parochial and are averse  to change in their  environment and can  be quite  beastly  as  we  have  seen in this unfortunate case.

    In  the second event of  seeming indignation  by those insisting that the herdsmen must  be allowed to graze in the Southern part of  Nigerian, I think  such indignation is misplaced and  mischievous. It  is an insult  to the intelligence of  Nigerians generally to say that because we all eat  meat  we must allow cows to eat  what we plant  to  earn a living  and  feed  ourselves. Nigerians  are  not  Hindus  and Nigeria  is  not  India. This  sort  of attitude used  to defend  the actions of the herdsmen dislocates  the anger  of the governor who  said it was  and  insult to  call the herdsmen  Fulani .Such  a view  point is polemic , dangerous  and  divisive especially  on ethnic and religious lines .  We  should call a spade and  nip this problem in the bud before it consumes us. We  do  not need a Donald  Trump  in  our midst to tell us what he said  Hillary  Clinton and her boss the US president  could  not do . He  said  they  could not call IS   its  real  name of Islamic State until  it was too late . They  called it at first religious militancy  ,  then Islamic militancy  until  it started  creating borderless caliphates  and they now saw  it has  become the   beheading  monster IS. A  word  is enough  for the wise.

    In  the case  of Julius  Malema instigating a coup in S Africa, I do  not think that is going to happen even though the ruling party ANC  has accused him of treason . But  then the ANC is  sitting on a low  moral  ground and is tarnishing its own  record as a political party in terms of transparency, accountability ,and  collective  integrity . I believe  somewhere along  the line the Elders of the Party will come along to tell President Zuma  to vacate office to save  the  integrity  of the ANC. Just   like  they did to his predecessor Thabo  Mbeki who  they thought was behind  the corruption charges  against  Zuma who  was his Vice President  then . Now  the elders know  better because  the chicken  has come home to roost  for Zuma  on  corruption  charges and  the die  is  cast.

    The  fourth issue is that of  Speaker Paul Ryan refusing to endorse  his party’s  presidential  candidate Donald  Trump .  His  excuse was that the standard  bearer  of the party must respect  the standards of the  party . Which  is a  good  excuse except of course for  the simple fact  that that does not remove Donald  Trump as a presidential  nominee of the Republican  Party at  least for now or till election time . The  two  former presidents   that  have  refused  to endorse him are a father and his son, George  Bush Snr  and  George  Bush Jnr who  both fought wars in the Middle  East from  which  the US is paying a huge price in terms of credibility and integrity and  whose  policies were roundly condemned by Donald  Trump  in his recent foreign  policy speech . It  is a  clear  case  of sour  grapes and the two presidents should  be state man like  and sporting enough to admit  that the times have changed and  they should be  accommodating enough at  least to save their party  from  total  disintegration  or  disgrace if they do  not endorse its legally elected presidential nominee .Once  again  long  live  the Federal  Republic  of  Nigeria.

  • Donald Trump as America’s Nemesis and Global Democracy’s Hemlock

    This  week  the   US  Republican Party presidential party front runner Donald Trump gave a foreign policy speech  outlining his world view on  when he becomes president of the USA and the international news media reacted as if either Trump had gone mad or did not know what he was talking about . Immediately he finished  , analysts and well  known pundits all over the world  tore his speech to shreds with words like contradictions , inconsistencies , mistakes and almost called the Trump foreign policy sheer buffoonery . I was horrified at such loathsome bias as  I watched the same  speech on CNN and  could not at all hide my admiration for its contents  and delivery by Trump . This  is because   I  found what he condemned  about the Obama foreign policy tallying with my criticisms of President Barak Obama’s foreign policy on this page in the last few  weeks and the danger of that for global peace in our time . I have  since however discovered that the hatred for the Trump foreign policy runs deep even in Nigeria among my friends who are sold on the idea that the Democratic Party of the US is for  blacks   while the Republican Party is for the rich and against blacks and that is what Donald Trump represents . When however you point out to them that gay rights and marriages which are anti African culture were  endorsed by the US Supreme Court   in a Democratic   Party  government   of Barak   Obama you are met with a loud silence and a sudden body language for a change of topic. Definitely both here and abroad  , especially in the US ,  the emergence of  Donald Trump as a possible US president has been   giving many people nightmares  whether they are immigrants ,politicians , Nigerians , Americans , Asians or  even ISIS or Boko Haram .

    That really is the truth and that is why the topic of the day is couched the way it is . I have decided to toe  the line of the western media who are lambasting Donald  Trump from their  own narrow  perspective and interests –   business , parochial and national . The difference in my own bias is that l Iike the Donald Trump speech they have condemned so much with the same fervor as their hatred albeit  for the same base reason as theirs which I concede and I will illustrate   here and now .

    Let me start by highlighting some of the criticisms leveled by Trump at the Obama Administration foreign policy . Trump said there was need to replace randomness with purpose , ideology  with strategy and chaos with peace . He said his foreign policy will be based on the principle of America first in politics and diplomacy . He traced the success of US foreign policy from the Cold War to the  collapse of the former Soviet Union after which   he said arrogance and mediocrity took over from logic . It  was here according to Trump that the US decided to export democracy to nations  that had no experience or interest in it . The US according  to Trump then veered off   course . America,  he said tore off the constitutions of nations and forced them into western democracies . The results he said were civil wars , religious militancy ,loss of American lives and the creation of a vacuum filled by ISIS . I have written like this if not worse on the Obama foreign policy . To rub it in,  as if in assent with me , Donald Trump said  he would not draw a line in the sand  that he would not keep on Syria like Obama did on chemical weapons on Syria and I cannot agree more .

    It is however in the insistence inherent in Donald Trump’s speech that he would not sew democracy or nurture it abroad that catches my fancy  and seems to me like  the death knell of democracy especially the type that George Bush Jnr planted in Iraq after the Iraqi Invasion of 2003 .This destabilized both Iraq and the Middle East and has given rise to ISIS and Boko Haram  as blood brothers or birds of the same feather in global terrorism . Chaos has since replaced peace like Donald Trump rightly pointed out . So I was thoroughly and totally shocked by the vitriol rained on Donald Trump’s foreign policy speech by the western media generally . How can Donald Trump a US success story  successful author , businessman , TV personality and politician be so vilified on his world view by his native  constituency and natural allies , I asked and the answer seem obvious . Donald Trump has spoken the truth from a position of strength  and wealth and it seems the American people are with him and have left the two main political parties stranded as onlookers at their own party . Something which they find unbelievable and incomprehensible even though it is lost in plain sight as their ultimate nemesis for having led the American people by the nose for too long from Washington and Wall Street . Now Donald  Trump is like their day of judgement and  doom and that is not quite palatable   as  the   brash  New Yorker has become their Nemesis and the American business  and political establishment  is   reeling like a punch drunk heavyweight champ about losing his title to a virtually unknown but brilliant , dancing , big lip like the great Muhammed Ali . Up Donald Trump ! .

    Let me now go into the other serious business of why I am happy that America under Trump will not sponsor democracy abroad . You really don’t  need to look far to  see the rot democracy as practiced a la US supervision has gotten the world . I will  illustrate briefly  with events in Nigeria, S Africa and Brazil just this last week .

    In Nigeria the profligacy of the last Jonathan Administration is unraveling in unbelievable acts of treasury looting and embezzlement that beggar description on a daily basis . The  amounts involved said to be in individual hands and pockets are mind bogging . The trial of the Senate President and his singular and bold fight against  the judicial and legal system can never be a plus for any democracy . The  legislature has become immune to the wishes of the electorate that put it there at the ballot box in the last elections and is at daggers drawn with the executive over a budget that is the life blood  of the nation for any development or meaningful progress . Fulani herdsmen have made incursions into farm lands in the nation’s southern part and the security forces have not been able to stop them which is akin  to the prospect of a civil war the sort of which Donald Trump highlighted in his speech on the exportation of democracy to foreign lands by previous US Administrations. Nigerians have never experienced the dividends of democracy  as practiced  here except the euphoria at election time which vaporizes once elected representatives arrive in Abuja only to forget till next elections the natives or Nigerians who voted them to power in the hot sun of election and voting days .

    In Brazil the incumbent President Dilmar Rousseff is on the verge of imprisonment for corruption and her strategist at the last two elections she won  has been arraigned for taking bribes .Yet till now the world  thought of Brazil as a success story of democracy . Similarly  the world respected majority rule as practiced by the S African nation after emancipation from the clutches of a racist apartheid system especially after the great Mandela withdrew from office after one term when  he could have been president for life . Now the incumbent President Jacob Zuma has been ordered by a high court in S Africa to face over 700 charges   on  corruption and  money laundry which the nation’s National  Prosecuting Authority buried to enable him contest election in 2009 to become president . The court has ruled this week that the decision not to prosecute in 2009   was irrational . Yet Zuma is in his second term and has  a solid majority with the ruling ANC to see him through . It is as if majority rule or victory at the polls is a license to loot the treasury in African nations . Such democracy is highly dubious and unjust and if Donald  Trump is not interested in such democracies as promoted  by recent and present   US governments ,  then he has my applause and I wish him God’s speed to be elected as the next president of the US . Once again  long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria .

  • History beckons on Kachikwu

    History beckons on Kachikwu

    Minister of State (Petroleum) Ibe Kachikwu is not one of the most popular men in town at the moment.

    Just about every petrol user in one form or another has been sulking and griping.

    Many petrol stations say they have no product to sell. This drives motorists far afield searching. And when they find it, the queue is too long, service too chaotic, cost too prohibitive and, sometimes dispensing stops just before it is your turn. Non-vehicle users such as barbers, millers, vulcanisers and sundry artisans and traders also join the search armed with their plastic containers. But their fate is none better.

    This is hardly the picture envisaged when the votes were cast last year. And when Dr Kachikwu responded to media queries, he seemed to worsen the public agony. When journalists in March demanded his explanation on a crisis that seemed to have no end, he blurted out his own apparent frustrations, saying he had no magic wand to wave the conundrum away.

    That cut deeply. It took the influential voice of National Leader of the All Progressives Congress Bola Tinubu to soothe the collective nerve, although it came in a way that probably jolted Dr Kachikwu and possibly sent some opposition elements into momentary cloud nine.

    Asiwaju Tinubu told the minister he needed respect and hard work more than a magic wand. Dr Kachikwu promptly apologised, something that was rare in our recent experience with people in high office.

    There were more demons ahead, though. Following up with his apologies, Dr Kachikwu promised that the fuel crisis would abate in a week especially in Lagos and Abuja. It was not to be. Less than two weeks after this, further promises came but as the month closed out, the problem was not getting worse, but neither was there any apparent remarkable progress.

    All this certainly dampened the enthusiasm that trailed Dr Kachikwu’s appointment or, before that, his great showing on the floor of the senate, where he wowed his interrogators with not just his sparkling academic profile but his industry depth. Sector watchers called him a great fit in the change regime.

    Is he still one? Yes, a thousand times. And, more than that, history beckons on him. We must ignore his PR gaffes. No public officer is immune to them anyway. Besides, his apologies speak to his enlightenment and noble breeding, both in minimal supply among leaders in the era just gone by. I imagine also that Dr Kachikwu believes he puts in sufficient effort to crack the fuel puzzle, but is only sabotaged by people who seem too practiced in the act. Seeking to soothe sore nerves, he would rush off to address the public confident that his consignment would get to destination.

    Naivety? Perhaps, but not cluelessness or laziness.

    Everyone knows the nation’s oil sector is probably the most corrupt, a development that has for decades made the simple business of putting petrol in vehicle tanks a most difficult affair in the world. Even pricing the product has left everyone in a huff. Thus, every regime from Gowon saw the wisdom to top up the price to the pain of Nigerians. Even such short-lived administrations as those of Ernest Shonekan and Abdusalam Abubakar jacked up the fuel price. Chief Shonekan who held the reins of some kind of power for all of three months shot it up by an unparalleled 614%, from 70 Kobo to N5 a litre in 1993. Sani Abacha would reduce it to N3.25K but only to raise it to as high as N15. Of the lot, Olusegun Obasanjo increased the petrol price most frequently, going down, yes, down in history as the only elected president who would do so a record eight times.

    All of that came amid great grief and anger on the part of Nigerians. Nor did the scarcity go away with the increases.

    President Muhammadu Buhari and Dr Kachikwu have done no such thing. Yet, many have hurled the worst kind of insults at the present administration because of the challenges.

    But history beckons, still. President Buhari has found in Dr Kachikwu an ally who can help blow the stench in the oil sector away. We have heard that the national oil firm NNPC had been cornering what was supposed to be handed over to the federal government. Now, under Dr Kachikwu it will toss over what it has been keeping illegally. Also, phoney marketers with imaginary vessels on phantom high seas with cooked-up fuel imports just to get millions of subsidy money are getting to realise that they are in the wrong place at the wrong time.

    Dr Kachikwu has not tidied up the sector. He has to find a way to deal with fuel diverters so that he does not end up whining about it. He must also find a way around the vandals by reaching out to their communities. As for illegal refiners, he must decriminalise them, refine them and refine their technology since the official refineries cannot give us what we want. He must also look for that university professor who builds small refineries that work, and work with him.

    That Dr Kachikwu does not make the popularity cut is quite a shame. But I know that won’t be for too long.

  • Dalung, FIFA mustn’t ban Nigeria

    Dalung, FIFA mustn’t ban Nigeria

    These are interesting times for sports, with Minister Solomon Dalung ready to accept blames, where it concerns his ministry. Dalung is also prepared to mediate in controversies, except that he prefers political resolutions instead of outright decisions, even where the extant rules provide for them. Dalung’s mien could be deceitful, but he showed that he knew his onions as a lawyer, preferring to see NFF’s decision to inform FIFA chiefs about the crisis as an affront to constituted authority, since the Constitution is incontrovertible. For Dalung, it is the law or nothing.

    Not so, sports minister sir, especially with FIFA’s rules which state the process to follow for aggrieved people. Thankfully, the Giwa group has taken their case to the Court of Arbitration of Sports (CAS). In the eyes of FIFA, Giwa’s case is dead and should remain so, if we don’t want to get banned and become a pariah nation.

    It is easy for people to say to ‘hell with FIFA.’ But those in this school must understand that the cheapest sport to run in the country is football. Indeed, the first thing that most kids learn to do is to kick around objects in the house. Therefore, if FIFA bans Nigeria (God forbid), all forms of soccer competitions would be null and void; no referee would be allowed to handle those matches, the results will not be recognised and no country would invite us for games. We would be out of all competitions. Did I hear you say, so what? Interesting! Our players and indeed those who want to make a career out of the game would be forced to change their nationalities. They may not want to return to play for us again, knowing that our administrators don’t care about their future and have refused to respect rules which over 209 countries have accepted as the norm.

    I pity boys such as Alex Iwobi, Victor Moses and Carl Ikeme, who shunned playing for England to wear our prestigious green-white-green jersey. They won’t have anywhere to go because England would dump them. Besides, only the exceptional ones, such as Kelechi Iheanacho, would get good football nations to adopt them. Others would be marooned, yet soccer is the biggest mobiliser of our youth at the grassroots. It also has given many boys a means of livelihood. Many of players, such as Nwankwo Kanu, Austin Okocha, George Finidi et al, have changed the fortunes of their families from near squalor to opulence and fame. Why do we want to lose all these simply because one man feels aggrieved, having flunked the chance to win the Warri Congress, after his major rival, Aminu Maigari, was cajoled by the government not to contest the elections?

    Minister, sir, ask Giwa if FIFA did not annul his election. Didn’t the world body ask the NFF to set a new road map out of the impasse then? Is it not because of this road map that the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Anyim Pius Anyim, prevailed on Maigari not to contest the Warri elections? Isn’t it because of this new road map that FIFA threw out the group’s protest? Can

    the Giwa group give the minister CAS’ ruling on their case? Shouldn’t the minister be interested in reading CAS’s ruling? How many times would we opt for political resolutions to this impasse, with Giwa being the biggest beneficiary? Why didn’t Giwa et al go to Warri for the elections like some others?

    Amaju Pinnick wasn’t in the race for the elections. He ought to have been the chairman of the electoral body, but many people kicked against his nomination for the job. Amaju only benefited from the lacuna created by Giwa’s refusal to be in Warri for the elections, after the former Secretary to the Government brokered a political solution to the impasse. With due respect, the Ibrahim Galadima-led reconciliatory committee should disband itself since what the Giwa group is asking for isn’t tenable in a democracy. They want to be given four offices by government fiat, rather than to contest for those positions in an election. Are we not in a democracy?  Shouldn’t the Congress be allowed to choose those they want? I digress.

    Dalung met with sports editors last week Friday in Lagos. He spent close to two hours stating his side to all the issues placed on his table. One wasn’t shocked at his oration. As a lawyer, it was expected. He laced his facts with idioms and laughed off the talk of him being a guerilla. As a Comrade, he likes to fight. He gives people the long end of the rope to pull. He told us he knew when to cut the rope. We hope so, going by the dead end we have found the NFF crises.

    Dalung blamed Chris Giwa and Amaju Pinnick for not listening to his counsel on the matter. He posited that Giwa faulted Pinnick’s emergence in the Warri Congress, with a police report ordering that Shehu Dikko should be arrested during the Congress.

    It is true sir that Aminu Maigari was arrested during the Abuja Congress, leading to the Congress members walking out of the voting centre in a solidarity protest. Dikko, didn’t show up in Warri; nor was he held in any police station like Maigari. Herein lies the difference, sir, in the two scenarios that appear the same for Giwa. They aren’t. In the case of the Abuja Congress, nothing happened again after Maigari’s arrest. Majority of the voters left the hall.

    So, the first question that Dalung must ask Giwa is, who voted for him? The other one would be for the minister to ask Giwa, if it was fair to arrest one of the contestants to the NFF president’s position, who at that time was the incumbent? Would Giwa accept such a result, if he was in Maigari’s shoes? What happened at the Abuja Congress was a clear case of the government’s interference.

    Can Giwa explain why three members of his group (Felix Anyansi-Agwu, Sharif Inuwa and Otunba Sunday Dele-Ajayi) which he wants to enthrone are in the current NFF board? Did these three men not swear to an affidavit that they didn’t contest the Abuja elections? Did they not send this document to FIFA? Can Giwa say that Farouk Yarma, Felix Obuah and Obinna Ogba are with him? Is it not also true that one member of his group also contested the Warri elections and lost? Is Giwa saying that the current Senate chairman of the chamber’s Sports Committee, Obinna Ogba, still attends meetings of his group? Does Ogba’s presence at all the meetings with the current NFF board, including the body’s last Congress, not suggest otherwise?

    Dalung, sir, Nigerians would be excited to see Giwa’s members in a flawed election by FIFA, which is the body recognised to supervise its elections. Indeed, all Congresses, including the ones for elections, are recorded. Can Giwa show us the video evidence of the elections he wants us to believe he won? The Warri election was recorded and observed by FIFA chieftains, unlike the Abuja one which went ahead despite FIFA’s warning against it.

    Honourable minister, sir, the Nigerian Constitution, which is binding on everyone, frowns against illegitimate acts. What happened in Abuja was laughable. Dalung needs to ask for the voters’ register to understand how grave some of the atrocities that he would find inside are. It would, therefore, be unfair for a body unrecognised by FIFA to negotiate any arrangement to accommodate new members into a body which emerged from elections. It’s unbelievable that the group wants the position of the vice chairman without going for an election. What happens to the incumbent Barrister Seyi Akinwunmi, who earned the spot through an election? Does the minister think Akinwunmi would accept to relinquish his position for a man who didn’t contest the election in the first instance? Do FIFA rules allow for such paddy paddy arrangement? Won’t the world laugh at us?

    Dalung, sir, your argument that our Constitution is supreme isn’t in doubt. No one wants to challenge it. But with an organisation like FIFA, we reserve the right to respect its rules or quit. FIFA frowns at taking its matters to court. The reason is to forestall such occurrence like ours, where a man can seek a court’s intervention over trivial matters. This no-court rule seeks to protect football administrators from being removed from office at the whims and caprices of government officials. Perhaps if FIFA didn’t include this rule, Nigeria would have had over 40 NFF chairmen in four years – one NFF chairman after every defeat. Interestingly, on Thursday, Vanguard ran a story in which the Registrar of the Federal High Court, Jos, Chika Udenkwo, denied the claim by the Giwa group that the court sacked the Amaju Pinnick-led NFF board.

    The newspaper quoted from a video message in which Udenkwo explained that the court order brought by the Giwa group said it was in respect of a motion on notice dated January 29, 2016 and filed on February 3, 2016. Udenkwo said that the motion prayed for three orders – extension of time to re-list, order to re-list and lastly restoration of all orders made.

    According to the Vanguard report, Udenkwo said: “The court ruled for the extension of time within which to apply to re-list for hearing and determination of the suit together with all the motions pending, which were discontinued and struck out by the court on October 30, 2014.”

    “He said the court also restored all orders made by it in 2014 in the suit brought by the Giwa group, stressing that there is no place in the order where the court removed Amaju Pinnick as the President of the Nigeria Football Federation,” Vanguard newspaper wrote, quoting Udenkwo.

    “He added that the only controversy was an interim order in respect of a Motion Exparte brought by Obinna Ogba and Yahaya Adama for the Giwa group, restraining the third defendants who were Aminu Maigari, Musa Amadu as well as the executive committee of the then board and all the 36 state FAs, pending the determination of the motion on Notice,” according to the report.

    “You can see from the ruling, there is no place in the ruling where the court mentioned Amaju Pinnick,” Udenkwo said.

    So, who is fooling whom, honourable minister? We don’t need such people running our football. Controversies demean the federation and inhibit sponsorships from the private sector. We don’t need them; do we?

  • Enduring relevance of tradition

    Enduring relevance of tradition

    My recent column calling for a truce in the altercation between the Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Aremu Gbadebo and the Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba SikiruAdetona as regards the ranking of Yoruba Obas received mixed reactions. A respected, cerebral and highly principled trade unionist argued that my piece should have been more aptly titled ‘Needless institution’ rather than ‘Needless controversy’. He pointed out that the traditional institutions not only collaborated with our colonial conquerors but still constitute veritable parasites on society today. A highly respected elder statesman cautioned me against ‘intellectualizing’ an outmoded and irrelevant institution at a time when most parts of the world have moved from monarchical rule to democratic forms of governance.

    I too strongly held to this perception of traditional institutions many years ago. It is a position that in my view can no longer be credibly sustained. Did traditional rulers in pre-colonial Nigeria readily collude with the colonial intruders? The evidence does not support that position. As Dr Patrick Heinecke, formerly of the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) notes of the North, for instance, “Transition to colonial rule was a prolonged and bloody struggle which lasted in some areas until the mid-1920s. The Hausa-Fulani violently resisted invasion by the British, and several Emirs were killed or exiled before their emirates were finally forced into submission”.  We are aware of the complete and ruthless razing of the capital of the almost 500-year old Benin Kingdom in 1887 and the banishing of the reigning Oba Ewuare into exile. The same fate of forced exile befell Oba Kosoko of Lagos. The situation was similar across pre-colonial Nigeria. The colonial conquest was thus more a function of a confrontation with a superior technological military civilisation rather than the complicity of traditional rulers.

    And those countries that transited either through evolution or revolution from absolute monarchies to democracies at least did so organically within the context of the internal dynamics of their respective societies. In Africa, the modern Nation-State is an alien imposition. That is why the late historian, Basil Davidson, described the Nation-State as a curse and ‘the black man’s burden’.

    In recent times we have had the installation of new monarchs in various parts of the country including Ile-Ife, Ibadan, Warri, Iwo, Kano and Borgu to name a few. The contestation for the positions among qualified ruling houses has often been fierce and intense but once a choice is made by the king makers, the community rallies behind him. Of course, modern political science teaches us that the legitimacy and authority of government is a function largely of regular, free and fair elections. But the reality is that most monarchs across the country enjoy greater legitimacy, commitment and loyalty from their people than their elected officials. And despite the undeniable greed and grovelling of many traditional rulers, there are those like the Awujale of Ijebuland, the late Olubadan, Oba Samuel OdulanaOdugade, the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba LamidiAdeyemi, the Oba of Benin, Omon’Oba n ‘Edo Uku Akpolokpolo Erediauwa and the Alake of Egbaland to name a few who have maintained the dignity and integrity of their offices. Equally noteworthy is the fact that no matter the partisan political leaning of a reigning monarch, he enjoys the respect and loyalty of his people across party lines.

    It would amount to intellectual dishonesty not to recognize and admit the sheer resilience, durability and continuing influence of the country’s traditional authority institutions. As I said in my previous column, our forefathers must be credited for devising creative systems of governance to cope with the challenges of their peculiar political environments in the pre-colonial era. The tragedy is that the colonial intrusion interfered disastrously with the natural evolution of the pre-colonial traditional institutions into the modern era and replaced them with a strange post-colonial Nation-State contraption that remains a major obstacle on the path of Africa’s progress. Unfortunately, most of us behave as if there is no redeeming feature whatever in our political past that can add value to our current political development preferring to seek our political salvation solely in foreign models.

    Even the highly enlightened and accomplished Chief ObafemiAwolowo wrote in 1947 that “only an insignificant minority of Nigerians have any political awareness”. Basil Davidson described this as an astonishing statement “given Yoruba political history over the previous several centuries”. In the 1969/70 session, Professor James O’Connell, Head of Department of Government and Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at ABU delivered a public lecture in which he defined government as a small group of people who coordinate the affairs of the larger community with its members “usually divided into three branches: those who make rules (the legislature), adjudicate rules (judiciary) and implement rules (the executive)”.

    In a trenchant review of the lecture, the late Dr BalaUsman described this definition as “insulting in its colossal arrogance”. According to him, “The division of government into legislature, judiciary and executive evolved in some states in the northern part of Western Europe from the 17th and 18th centuries. It cannot by any stretch of imagination be described as ‘usual’ for the overwhelming majority of the world’s political systems…The governments of Bornu, Benin, the Bachama or any other Nigerian peoples one cares to name, have never been divided in this way either in theory or in practice”. Whether one agrees with Dr Usman or not, the valid point he is making is that our theory and practice of politics and governance must be informed not just by received doctrines but also our own historical experience.

    This is why it is commendable that in their 2005 edited book, ‘Beyond The State: Nigeria’s Search For Positive Leadership’, Professors Adebayo Olukoshi, Adigun Agbaje, Hussainah Abdullah and Cyril Obi, devote the first part to locating the country’s leadership challenges in historical perspective. The chapters in this section critically examine traditional leadership in the Sokoto caliphate as well as among the Idoma, Igbo and Yoruba in pre-colonial Nigeria. Contending that it has not always been the case that good leadership has eluded the country, the authors submit that “going by the rich pre-colonial experience of the various communities in Nigeria, there is every reason to find some encouragement in history and in contemporary reality for the identification and nurturing of a culture of positive leadership and the institutionalisation of such a cadre in the country”.

    In a seminal essay in which he examines what he calls the co-existence of ‘dual authorities’ – republican and traditional – in African states, Professor Richard Sklar makes the same point: “The African national governments are fragile, and there is great need for authority based on consent of the governed. In this circumstance, a separate source of authority, embedded in tradition, could powerfully reinforce social discipline without abandonment of democratic forms of government. The rejuvenation of traditional authority would not, then, imply a resurgence of either “feudalism” or political oligarchy”. The simple point is that we can tap into the strong legitimacy, loyalty and commitment that the traditional institution enjoys among millions of our people to reinforce democracy and good governance.This would, however, be a function of ensuring that only men of the highest character and integrity ascend to these traditional positions.

    Development lessons from Cuba

    The restoration of diplomatic ties with Cuba by the almighty United States under the Obama presidency represents a major triumph for the tiny Island. For over five decades, America had not only imposed an economic blockade on Cuba but several American Presidents had even tried to eliminate the iconic Fidel Castro. Cuba boasts no great wealth or mineral resources. She is not your model of global prosperity. Yet, she has achieved near 100% literacy for decades and its health statistics continue to marvel more developed countries. According to an analyst, “In Cuba, the extremes of opulence and misery are banished in favour of a generalized level of wealth, best described as “enough to get by”.  Cuba has offered more than 460 doctors and nurses to help combat Ebola in West Africa and more than 50,000 Cuban health workers are working in 66 countries around the world. Former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide of Haiti obviously had Cuba in mind when he said his country was not seeking grandeur but the more limited ambition of moving out of poverty with dignity. I have never really understood why Nigeria aims to be among the top 20 largest economies by 2020. Will that necessarily reduce poverty and inequality or promote general wellbeing of the vast majority? I think we have a lot of developmental lessons to learn from Cuba.

  • Security, Democracy and the Law

    I thought that Nigeria has created a record as the best nation to illustrate the perfidy   of making an ass of the law given the way CCT trial of the Senate President has been  stalled by restarting it and making claims against claims to stop the tribunal even after the trajectory of  unbelievable legal gymnastics and procrastination    had reached the Supreme Court and fallen back to earth,    only to be picked  for further assault on the judicial system and justice. I  was  roundly woken from my slumber in this regard by the news from Norway that a murderer Anders Breivik, who killed 77 people and was jailed for 25 years  had won a case in the European Court in Oslo  insisting  that he was denied his  rights in solitary confinement while  a picture of his room in jail looked like a normal room in any five star hotel here in Nigeria.

    These two incidents compare in terms of international  law or relations with the news  of the US President Barak Obama being given a cold shoulder by the Saudis when he came  visiting this week as the Saudi monarch was not at the Airport to receive him as has been done for all US presidents including himself in the past. I   also want to compare these three incidents with the news from Ethiopia that the Ethiopian Army has crossed into South Sudan to surround a location where 100  abducted Ethiopian  children are being kept by their captors who seized them on Ethiopian territory. Lastly I bring in the bloody stories making the rounds in Nigeria of frequent and incessant Fulani herdsmen raids  on farm settlements in the south of the nation resulting in assault, rape and the loss of lives; as well as the statement credited to a witness at the  Kaduna State Tribunal trying Shiite Muslims who  waylaid  the convoy of our Army Chief and the belief of that witness that the Shiites are more dangerous to Nigeria than even Boko Haram.

    These stories form the kernel of our discussion today on security, democracy and the law both national and international. Given space  constraints, it is difficult to do  justice  fully  to the issues and strip them to the bones but I will do my best to highlight my deep concern and interest in each one of them in terms of the topic of the day.

    Finally it is true that the trial of the Senate President has  started but that has not stopped attempts at making an ass of the law all the way. In spite of the Administration  of Justice Act of 2015 which says clearly that the court must sit daily once the trial has started the defence lawyer ,a SAN still asked for adjournment to allow the Senate President to attend to his official duties ,  whereon the judge ruled that the trial must go on as the accused was not on trial in his capacity as Senate President. The judge too was given some embarrassment as a lawyer who sued him in another court  for  taking   bribe simply showed up in his court on the Senate President’s defence team to accuse the judge of bias . The judge was up to the task and showed proof of his clearance by EFCC  on the allegation of bribery  before asking for the locus of the lawyer in his court and threatening to send him to jail for contempt. These two incidents show clearly the prosecution and defence at that trial are at daggers drawn  and even though they are professionals there is no love lost in their presentations and legal positions on the case. Such bitterness and divergent views do not obscure the fact that the prosecution and the judge are the best  hope of the nation to see that justice is done on the case and that the security and good of all is superior to that of the array of  legal luminaries bent on making an ass of the law in this highly volatile case  with serious political consequences for our democracy and national  security.

    In the case of the murderer in Norway we see the capricious difference between deterrence and tolerance . Extremes of both are bad .In Saudi Arabia this murderer would  have been beheaded years ago. Now a court has ruled according to their laws in Europe on human  rights that even human rights must be extended   to even terrorists. That to me is baloney because essentially it has   not shown any respect for the sanctity of human lives , 77 of which this murderous terrorist took in one day and was being kept in  a room   in a jail that many people living in Africa cannot afford to live in . The  sort of democracy that throws up such judgment and type of justice can certainly not cope  with an environment such as ours where we must cope and punish Boko Haram , Pipeline vandals , Kidnappers , Shiites and now Fulani herdsmen . It shows clearly that we must evolve  our own brand of democracy to guarantee the security and law to protect the lives and property of our people and quickly too before we kill off each  other while listening to human rights tale from the moonlight or European Human Rights Courts where murderers get away  with murder and live in luxury after killing fellow human beings.

    On the perceived slight given the US president in Saudi Arabia I really think that is to be expected. Indeed but for their deep dependence on the US for their security and oil  business the Saudi monarchy would not be seen dead with the present US president if only on the Iran nuclear deal which he brokered to lift sanctions on Iran .This   brought more oil afloat  in international waters , lowered the price of oil globally and Saudi revenues and resources drastically . In addition there is the issue of the Shia ,and Sunni divide in which the Sunni  Saudis are the implacable enemies  of Iran, the Shia champions. In addition given the cultural values both represent the US and Saudi Arabia  are indeed strange bedfellows in diplomacy . On human rights the Saudis still behead people on some  crimes such as drug lifting and have scant regard for feminine rights while Obama ‘s US amply represents human rights as well as gay rights and marriage , an anathema to the ruling House of Saud and the good people of  Saudi Arabia. Which  really is a great difference  in world outlook that the niceties of diplomacy cannot paper, over no matter the huge effort put into making it work.

    Next,  let me take the issues of Ethiopia’s  incursion into South Sudan, the evidence against the Shiite Nigerians at the Kaduna State Tribunal and the armed Fulani  herdsmen incursion to southern farms and villages together in that they are birds of the same feathers. The three are acts of terror and hostility against the state. In the case of Ethiopia  , the Ethiopian government  asked for the approval of the South Sudan government and S Sudan responded positively to that and speedily too. This was said to be from  past experience on border clashes between communities on the two sprawling borderers between the two nations. Even if S Sudan had not given approval I have no doubt that the Ethiopian Army would have moved in to save the Ethiopian boys any way. You can compare that with the case of the missing 200 Chibok girls  not  seen for two years now and say confidently that Ethiopia would not have allowed that to happen. We therefore have a lot to learn from the Ethiopian government ‘s attitude and policy on  protecting its own citizens especially the youths who are the future of any nation including our great Nigeria.

    In the case of those who gave evidence against the Shiite in Kaduna I want to salute their bravery and indeed that of the State Governor El  Rufai for setting up the inquiry which have brought a lot of  security issues begging for answers to the fore for immediate solution  in that  important  Northern state. The glaring fact is that we cannot have a state within a state and if as alleged by eminent Islamic Clerics  at the tribunal the Shiite are being funded by the Iranian State against the Nigerian state then such culprits should be brought to trial for sedition and treason against the Nigerian state and the Iranian Ambassador summoned and cautioned. That is the diplomacy of self respect and self recognition that guarantees mutual respect in the comity of nations to which Nigeria and Iran claim membership.

    In the case of the menace of armed Fulani herdsmen raiding Southern towns and settlements , I think the solution must come from Aso Rock  itself because  that is the residence of power in Nigeria and the Fulani herdsmen feel strongly, though roundly wrongly too, that power has returned to the North and they can get away with murder . The President should  let them know that he rules over the whole of Nigeria and not only the North or the Fulani, either town or herdsmen Fulanis. That really is the truth as the era of Born To rule which held sway before is an anachronism which  can  never be resurrected. We have come a long way as a people and we should be able to tell ourselves some home truths. There was a time when the same Fulani herdsmen grazed peacefully and were given food and water  in the farms  by the same communities whose women they now rape and whose property they now loot or destroy. Now the same Fulani herdsmen now carry  kwashka  rifles and  machine guns  and raid communities with  abandon and impunity. They must be called to order and the President has the reputation, the aura, respect and integrity to do that which is necessary and expedient in the interest of our collective security, our rule of law and democracy. A disavowal  of the Fulani menace  from the fount  of power will put an end to their false confidence  and new found effrontery  and reinstate  our collective confidence as a  nation in this Presidency. Once again long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

    Editor’s Note .

    Last week there was a mix up on the 41st , 43RD and 44th Presidents of the US who are namely George Bush Snr, George Bush Jnr and  Barak Obama respectively

  • Farewell to foreign policy?

    Farewell to foreign policy?

    Perhaps, the finest moment in Nigeria’s foreign policy was at the defunct Organisation of African Unity OAU) summit in Addis Ababa on 11th January 1976. The background to the crucial summit was that the United States and other key western powers were exerting considerable pressure on African leaders to recognise reactionary, retrogressive and pro-apartheid forces like the FLNA or UNITA in the battle to extricate Angola from the grip of Portuguese colonialism. However, the Movement for the Popular Liberation of Angola (MPLA) was obviously the most progressive and widely accepted groups within Angola. Many African leaders were obviously prepared to toe the US line. In a characteristically fiery speech, the tempestuous Nigerian Head of State, General Murtala Mohammed decisively changed the tide.

    In Murtala’s words on that occasion, he declared unequivocally that – “Africa has come of age. It is no longer under the orbit of any power. It should no longer take orders from any country, however powerful”. At the end of Murtala’s speech and vigorous diplomatic lobbying by Nigerian diplomats, the OAU leaders unanimously voted to recognise the MPLA as the legitimate government of Angola. In 1998, the Obasanjo military regime nationalized the assets of British Petroleum and Barclays Bank in Nigeria as retaliation against the sale of oil to the racist regime of Ian Smith in Rhodesia – a move that was said to have forced the conservative government of Margaret Thatcher to soft-pedal on its policy of constructive engagement with the racists. At last the British government acceded to demands for an all -inclusive party conference that eventually culminated in the independence of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe).

    It is obvious that there has been a significant decline in the quality and efficacy of Nigeria’s foreign policy ever since the precipitous and continuing spiralling of the country’s economic crisis. Last week, The Guardian’s perceptive columnist, Dr Reuben Abati, undertook an incisive critique of Nigeria’s foreign policy focussing particularly on the ruling APC. His principal contention was that President Muhammadu Buhari is the country’s Chief Diplomat, which makes his frequent trips abroad justifiable and inevitable. Abati cites several reasons over the years for the decline in the quality of the country’s foreign policy. These include an unhealthy politicisation of the Foreign Service, demoralisation of the professional diplomatic corps and poor funding of the External Affairs Ministry.

    There are also those who argue that Nigeria can no longer pursue the exuberant and expansive foreign policy of the Murtala/Obasanjo years because of the drastic erosion of the role of oil in the global economy. However, one factor, which Dr Abati and other commentators are silent about, is the ability and global diplomacy competency of whoever is the Foreign Affairs Minister. I have asked several persons across diverse strata, for example, who is the Foreign Minister in President Buhari’s administration. Those I asked, including highly informed persons, responded in the negative. Can you imagine majority of Americans not knowing who a Secretary of State like Hilary Clinton or John Kerry is?

    With a political science degree from Columbia University in New York and degrees in law from the London School of Economics and Cambridge University, the Foreign Affairs Minister, Geoffrey Onyeama, is quite cerebral and accomplished. But is he being utilised in his area of maximum competence? I do not think so. If he were, the President would not have to personally conduct his own global diplomacy leading to severe criticism of his frequent travels abroad.

    Nigeria’s unquestionably most able and dynamic Foreign Affairs Minister was Professor Bolaji Akinyemi who served under the Babangida administration between 1985 and 1987. This was the period of Structural Adjustment and the onset of economic stress.  A contributor to a collection of essays in honour of Professor Akinyemi writes that he was “determined that Nigeria’s foreign policy would not be suspended pending the solutions of the country’s economic problems” and that the very existence of these problems necessitated “the need for an imaginative foreign policy whose strength was weighted more in its content of ideas, as opposed to the budgetary allocation to the Ministry of External Affairs”. Thus, we had such bold initiatives as the Technical Aid Corps Scheme, Concert of Medium Powers and a strong bid to revive the Pan-African Movement as a centre-piece of Nigeria’s foreign policy under Akinyemi.

    In reality, President Buhari ought not to be the country’s Chief Diplomat if he has an effective Foreign Minister. His international travels would be limited to very strategic ones as he is a very busy man. He should stay at home more to closely monitor infrastructure renewal and expansion, restoration of security and stabilisation of power supply among others. For, in the final analysis, foreign investors are no philanthropists and foreign investment capital, like electricity, has no feeling. It will flow in the direction of locations with the clement environment for their businesses to thrive and make profit.

    Does Nigeria today have a systematically formulated and rigorously defined foreign policy? I do not think so. Phrases like ‘Economic Diplomacy’ or ‘Citizen Diplomacy’ appear to me hazy and vacuous lacking in concrete meaning. If you ask me, I will say we run a ‘street beggar’ and ‘mendicant diplomacy’ that detracts from our honour and dignity.

    Hakeem Bello’s superfluous apotheosis of Fashola

    My friend, brother and Media Adviser to Mr Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) Hakeem Bello, in his response to my last column, is of the strange view that my commendation of the Fashola administration’s handling of the Ebola crisis, somehow denies me of a right to criticise the administration in other spheres. He forgets that this column once named Fashola as its man of the year. Yet, that did not preclude me from strenuously condemning the administration’s purported wholesale sacking of striking doctors in public hospitals or the astronomical increase in school fees at the Lagos State University (LASU.

    Hakeem spends about 80% of his rejoinder reiterating Fashola’s achievements in office. That is completely unnecessary for no rational person has ever denied his accomplishments. Fashola needs no such apotheosis or deification. Largely unknown politically in 2007, Fashola had in eight years stamped his authority of competence and efficiency on the terrain. I guess Hakeem’s aim is to prove that Fashola did not concentrate solely on the elitist parts of the state. But he runs away from responding to my central contention that Fashola’s accomplishments notwithstanding, the electoral fortunes of the ACN and then APC declined steadily and substantially during his tenure. From a margin of over 500,000 votes with which Fashola defeated the PDP candidate in 2007, Ambode beat Jimi Agbaje with less than 200,000 votes in the 2015 elections.

    Much of Hakeem’s submissions are only of tangential relevance to my arguments and so of negligible analytic value. I will simply ignore them. Let me thus reiterate my position on the Ambode administration. Within his first month in office, Ambode came under vitriolic attack with even The Economist of London claiming that traffic and crime were spiralling out of control under him. As Ambode progresses towards his first year in office, however, it is obvious that Governor Ambode knows his onions and is unobtrusively delivering on his mandate. By restructuring the state’s suffocating debt exposure from 18% interest to 12.5%, he has freed N3 billion every month for other urgent challenges.

    This is obviously why his administration has been able to establish the innovative N25 billion Employment Trust Fund, rehabilitated over 500 inner roads in the city within one year, approved N11 billion to offset arrears of pensions for Lagos State government, local government and parastatals retirees since 2010, approved employment of 1,300 qualified teachers and is approving another N1 billion for renovation and supply of furniture as well as education materials across all public secondary schools.  He also procured equipment worth over N4 billion for the police with positive impact for security in the state.

    Ambode has empowered the 57 Local Government and Local Council Development Areas to construct 114 inner roads at two per local government to be delivered by June 2016, procured 26 transport ambulances for General Hospitals as well as approving the purchase of generators and x-ray machines for all General Hospitals. This is in addition to approving the construction of the first ever high-powered DNA forensic laboratory in Nigeria to take off within the next 12 months. The operation light up Lagos is on-going at a frenetic pace while work has commenced on the construction of flyover bridges for Ajah and AbuleEgba.

    More importantly, Governor Amboder is paying close attention to less elitist parts of the state with a lot of prospects for the Ikorodu/Epe axis, Alimosho and Badagry to name a few. None of these takes anything away from Fashola. Tinubu is the pathfinder, who laid the foundation for the renaissance of modern Lagos. Fashola is the actualizer who built so impressively on Tinubu’s vision. Ambode is emerging as the consolidator as well as the emancipator of less developed and long neglected parts of the state.

  • Moving with the times

    Growing up as a child, I was taught to make friends with those who excelled in subjects that I was weak in so that I could compete well during examinations. This advice rings so true with the new trends in coaching across the world. Pundits wonder why we are averse to getting a top European manager to handle our better exposed players, instead of Nigerian coaches, who struggle to achieve anything meaningful in CAF’s inter-club competitions.

    Sitting down in my office trying to see what would make for interesting reading in this column, an intriguing thought flashed through my mind as I flipped through the semi-finals pairing for the 2015/2016 UEFA Champions League. I saw that French Zinedine Zidane is the coach of Spain’s Real Madrid. I noticed that a Chilean, Manuel Pellegrini, tinkers with Manchester City. I was shocked when it dawned on me that an Argentine, Diego Simeone, handles Atletico FC of Spain. A Spaniard, Pep Guardiola, runs German club Bayern Munich. All the managers above had a spell in the Spanish La Liga. So, what is all the fuzz about hiring a foreign coach for the Super Eagles?

    Please, perish the thought that these are club managers because none of them would want to coach their country’s soccer teams, even though they are highly qualified to do so. They enjoy the heat of weekly club matches which are more challenging with better remuneration. It simply means that the managements of these clubs are looking at the business aspect of the game, which starts with employing managers who can improve the teams’ fortunes by winning games and increasing their revenues at the turnstiles as well as expanding their scope of merchandising. This is the reason I want a foreign coach for the Super Eagles. We need a renowned manager who will change the fortunes of the team, especially with the big competitions. Our presence in big tournaments will make it imperative on the business community to identify with such a winning brand.

    The images of these achieving managers rub off on the clubs. The business arms of these clubs blossom, largely because their feats speak for them. No brand would shy away from credible platforms to showcase their goods and services, knowing the multiplying effect this would bring to its merchandising.

    Let’s stretch the argument for the foreign manger to countries with stiff policies of propagating their own, like in England. It must be noted that the first eight teams in the current Barclays English Premier League are handled by foreigners.

    League leaders Leicester’s Claudio Ranieri is Italian, Tottenham’s manager Mauricio Pochettino is Argentine. Manchester City’s Pellegrini is a Chilean, and Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger is French. Dutchman Louis Van Gaal handles Manchester United. West Ham is coached by Croatian Slaven Bilic. Ronaldo Koeman is Dutch and manages Southampton. German tactician Jurgen Klopp is in charge of Liverpool. These are coaches from serious football playing countries. Yet, they have chosen the foreign market to showcase their worth and are driven by perks of the business, which is anchored on profit and loss.

    The talk that no foreign manager has won the senior World Cup is cheap. Countries that have won the trophy have a long history of playing the game, developing it at the grassroots and exposing stars that have dazzled the world with their sublime skills. Need I name those stars?

    Why are we scared of getting atop class managers? After all, Amokachi isn’t Finnish, yet he is doing well in their league and producing stars. “It is my first experience as an African manager coaching in Europe and there are not many Africans who are head coaches in Europe,” said the former Club Brugge, Everton and Besiktas star.

    “They are giving me a platform as an African to showcase what I can do and if I do well, it’s an open door for other African coaches,” Amokachi told FIFA.

    Soccer is a money spinner. The English have shunned the primordial sentiments of having their own to dominate the soccer sphere. Indeed, the ownership structures of the leading teams are foreign. Of importance is the fact that the influx of foreigners to the English game has increased its GDP and has lured foreign investment to take advantage of their thriving windows in soccer to market their products and create employment for British citizens.

    We need to move with the times if we must compete with the best. Our players leave our shores with rough edges to their game. Within weeks, their skills are horned to such levels where they bench hitherto highly rated players, including Europeans.

    The government must hands of the funding of sports. Funding of football should be left to the private sector, which will do it as a business either through sponsorship or partnership. This is what operates in climes where the game is an industry, not a hobby, like most administrators think, with the lukewarm attitude towards corporate sponsorship or even partnership in sports. The origin of most soccer teams is community based, hence the mammoth fans at the stadia to root for players who live within the neighbourhood. For this reason, local derbies can be like a battle field with serious security implications.

    Companies would easily do business with such clubs because of the target audience, who could identify with their products or services. So, any Nigerian driven by the benefits of profits and losses should emulate Daniel Amokachi, who is in Finland doing what he knows best. If Amokachi makes his mark there, we could scout him at his terms, not on bent knees like most Nigerians coaches do to get the job.

    I was amazed at Amokachi’s submission last week. He blamed our players for the country’s poor outing at the Africa Cup of Nations’ qualifiers, insisting that they refused to switch from the perfect settings in their European clubs for ours, including our climatic conditions. On reflection, Amokachi’s new stance isn’t surprising. He is now exposed to the two sides of the coin – knowing that no utopian setting exists, except in heaven.

    I’m sure if Amkoachi had this orientation as one of the Eagles’ coaches, he would have advised against the team’s refusal to board the aircraft from Nambia to South Africa, where FIFA had sent a plane to pick up the Nigerian contingent to the 2013 Confederations Cup held in Brazil. As part of the Eagles technical crew to the Brazil 2014 World Cup, the players threatened to boycott the second round game against France on grounds of getting their entitlements. They lost days to prepare for the game and spent the night before the game sharing $3.8 million sent to them by the government. No prize for telling you that France beat Nigeria 2-0. Amokachi’s new posture is a product of appreciating the essence of man-management in coaching, which is lacking among our coaches, largely because they refuse to transmute from being players to managers.

    My preference for a foreign manager isn’t because of their skin. Our coaches don’t have the mentality that their foreign counterparts have in dealing with issues surrounding the team. How could any coach have succumbed to making John Mikel Obi captain of the Eagles, as a condition for him to play the two ties against Egypt? Till date, the coach hasn’t denied this rumour. The foreigner would have politely told Mikel that he would get back to him. And that would be his last communication with Mikel. Instead, the Nigerian coach cajoled Ahmed Musa to surrender his captain’s band. Musa played along because he didn’t want to rock the boat. But his display in the two matches in Kaduna and Alexandria wasn’t vintage Musa. And I won’t blame him. He didn’t beg to be named the captain during Sunday Oliseh’s tenure.

    I don’t have anything against Mikel as the captain, but such a transition ought not to have happened before two crucial matches. But I know that if Mikel were in Musa’s shoes, the coach wouldn’t dare to do what he did. This isn’t the reason we didn’t win any of the games, please.

    A mature coach would have handled the matter differently by ensuring that both men play at the same time for three sessions. But with the last two sessions, he would make Musa play for the B team. Of course, he would shine. He would then bring him to the first team in the second half. At the pre-match discussion, he would tell Musa why he wants him to play in the second half as a matter of tactics. Mikel effectively becomes the match captain. Of course, if the team wins, he could retain the winning side and hide under the dictum that no coach changes a winning team, except where there are injuries.

    What our football needs for a rebirth isn’t the recycling of failed coaches but the employment of a world class manager, whose duties, should among others, be to identify and retrain our best six coaches drawn from the domestic leagues, not necessarily former internationals, who come to the job as first-timers in coaching. We also should stop elevating our coaches who excelled in age-grade competitions. Such coaches should be allowed to remain with their teams and become specialists in scouting for talents for the senior team. If we continue to recycle coaches, we will not develop the grassroots. We need to get coaches who can comb the hinterlands for rookies, who will graduate to the senior level. That way, our soccer will grow. That is the truth.