The Nation Newspaper

Category: Saturday

  • Eagles need change too

    Love me, hate me, chastise me, I will always insist on doing what is right for the beautiful game to grow here. The multiplier effect of our soccer doing well globally is that other sports benefit from firms which cannot secure contracts with the biggest brand in Nigeria- the Super Eagles.

    I get irritated by the postulation that there is a Nigerian way of doing things. Such ways are fraudulent and that is the reason the country is crawling, even with her enormous human and natural resources.

    Soccer is the opium of our people. It is the best tranquilliser for the sick – if it is run properly to produce cheering results. Soccer is the best unifying index for Nigerians. It is the only reason why we recognise ourselves as one people devoid of creed, colour or/and ethnicity. Soccer and other sports are best public relations tools to change people’s perception of Nigeria.

    I recall with joy how the Europeans and Americans celebrated Chioma Ajunwa’s gold medal feat at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia, in spite of the fact that Nigeria was then a pariah nation – no thanks to the jackboot era under the late Gen. Sani Abacha.

    Nothing was more exciting than the moment everyone stood still while the Nigerian anthem was being sung and Ajunwa, all smiles – incredulous about how her world had changed from being an alleged drug cheat before the event to the crowning glory of being atop the Olympic Games’ winners’ dais.

    The newspapers splashed on their front pages Ajunwa’s picture in Nigerian colours. It was the first time something good was being written and celebrated during the draconian Abacha era. I know how we felt inside the October 3 Stadium in Georgia when Nigeria won the Olympic Games football gold medal. It was an awesome feeling. Magical. Simply indescribable. You needed to be there in Atlanta to feel it. Nigeria’s feat in Atlanta rubbed off everywhere we went in America. I recall walking into one mall in Philadelphia, only to be confronted by American security men. I was shocked but didn’t panic because I had the Olympic Games badge on my neck and a valid Nigerian passport inside my track pocket. The American security chiefs were awed to see a Nigerian with the Olympic Games badge and may have thought that I was one of the stars.

    They kept talking about Austin Okocha, Nwankwo Kanu, Celestine Babayaro, Victor Ikpeba, Tijani Babangida and Daniel Amokachi. These were players they knew because they were playing in big European clubs. Indeed I walked tall inside the mall, knowing that at last something good could come out of Nigeria in those dark days.

    So, when simple tasks, such as selecting players to represent the country, crop up, I don’t hesitate to protest in this column, knowing that bench marks exist on how to pick people for such assignments.

    Picking players for soccer teams is informed by weaknesses and strengths established through matches. Hence when new squad lists are released, probe them to see if the right changes have been made. They expect at the least that those who failed woefully should be excluded. They expect that those not playing for their clubs should be dropped. They expect that those with proven injuries (either recuperating or in PoP) are ruled out. They also want to see new players making their marks at their clubs to be listed. Most importantly, the expectation is hinged on the number of local boys from the domestic leagues who will be selected. Indeed, most countries measure the growth of the domestic game by the number of local boys in their national teams, especially the senior team.

    Interestingly, the quest for home-grown players increases when the opposition of a country is underneath such countries. The reason is that they can use such games to truly gauge theirs and see if the FIFA ranking is worth it.

    I’m not a coach but I know what to expect from any coach picking our national teams. Flipping through the list of home-grown players picked for the June 13 game against Chad in Kaduna, I was impressed because it had some of the performing players in the domestic league. However, I was livid when the release came from the NFF that our chief coach had picked 15 foreign-based players for the match.

    I reached for my calculator to do the arithmetic of multiplying $10,000 (the price for winning matches) by 15. My heart sank. Using the black market rate of the naira to the dollar, I intuitively asked myself – how much is Chad’s football worth, with due respect? I became very sad when I tried to add up the cost of tickets refund to each of the foreign players (most times $3,000 each) and I asked again – why are our coaches so wise? Why can’t they emulate the foreign coaches who painstakingly watch the domestic league to discover new players who can rejuvenate the team – not those tiring stars who send spectators to early sleep in the stadium and at home?

    Why do we need 15 foreign-based players to play against Chad? What would we do against Egypt? The talk that we don’t want to take chances is cheap, especially when many of the foreign-based players are bench warmers in Europe.

    Indeed, the coaches must tell us where they saw Kenneth Omeruo, for instance, play in the last one month? How regularly do Onazi and Oboabona play for their clubs?

    How did our coaches feel watching the Coca Cola Championships’ playoff at Wembley in England on Monday afternoon, with Omeruo not good enough to sit on Middlesbrough FC’s reserve players’ bench? If Omeruo was good, he would have been selected for the Middlesborough side in its most important game of the season. Monday’s match decided the last team to be promoted to the elite Barclays English Premier League next season. I don’t need to be a coach to know that it is undeserving for Omeruo to make the Nigerian squad ahead of others who play in his position across the globe. This is how our coaches make us the laughing stock. We are tired of this gimmick of rebuilding. Nigeria is blessed to have over six teams of very talented 23 players, only if our coaches are sincere with their selection.

    If we cannot beat Chad with home-grown players, then the NFF must look for coaches who can do the job for us. How can we spend $13,000 on each of the 15 invited foreign players because we want to beat Chad? We must cultivate the culture of challenging our home-based players. It is no news beating Chad with three-quarters of the players from Europe.

    The home-based stars can beat Chad resoundingly, if told that they would earn $10,000 (N2.1 million in 90 minutes) for the victory. For players who earn N30,000 monthly, the thought of counting $10,000 is enough motivation.

    Missing in the Eagles is the motivation to perform. The players lack the vision and cannot understand how the fans feel anytime they lose matches. Would you blame them? We lost to Uganda and a particular player opted out to Europe. That is the trend. The home-based players remain here and see how a win for the Eagles is celebrated. They know that they dare not lose at home because they would have nowhere to hide.

    History is replete with instances of uninvitedplayers paying their way to train with the Eagles, and making the team. The late Sochukwuma Samuel Okwaraji paid his way to Enugu to train with the Super Eagles. Okwaraji earned his shirt and introduced a new trend for players who knew their onions. Need I recount how Michael Emenalo broke into Nigeria’s senior team to the 1994 USA World Cup, in spite of the fact that he wasn’t part of the team that lifted the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations?

    If bench warmers, such as Omeruo, think they deserve a shirt in the Eagles, they must emulate Okwaraji and Emenalo by paying their way to camp. Playing for Nigeria shouldn’t be anchored on what players did before but on what they can contribute now. However, one is excited with the reports from the Home Eagles’ game on Tuesday in Katsina. They created chances which were fluffed. One didn’t expect them to win the game, given the short times they spent together. But they showed that they could play football. They showed passion and the willingness to learn. They were ready to compete, a trait missing in recent Eagles’ game. Sadly, we were told that a goal was disallowed. Rightly or wrongly, what this trend showed me was the future of the game, especially with the Flying Eagles and Dream Team VI stars lurking is bright.

    The Eagles need new names at the Russia 2018 World Cup. The old stock cannot take us to the new heights that we desire. We must utilise our gains in New Zealand and Rio d’ Janerio (2016 Oympic Games) next year to reshape our senior team for the good of the game. I hope the coaches are prepared for the country’s new mantra – change. The Eagles need change too. Let somebody say amen!

  • Wanted: A president of precedents

    Wanted: A president of precedents

    I start with a confession. The title of this column is not original to me. It is borrowed from the monumental fact book on every American President from George Washington to Barak Obama compiled by Roger Matuz and masterfully edited by Bill Harris. Matuz reserves the phrase for George Washington who is referred to as the father of the country and was the first of America’s 44 Presidents thus far.

    According to Matuz, “Washington was extremely careful to establish precedents for the behaviour of future presidents. In most instances, he acted with authority as the highest elected official of the land, but he did not attempt to influence Congress. Having presided over the constitutional convention, he was well aware of various opinions about the presidency. He was also conscious of different views about the relationship between the states and the federal government”. In appointing key officers to help him in running government such as Attorney General, Secretary of State, Secretary of war, Secretary of State, Secretary of the Treasury and a postmaster general, “Washington carefully chose men with varying views of government for these positions”.

    It is my view that by his emphatic triumph in the March 28 presidential election, President-elect MuhammaduBuhari stands a very good chance to become Nigeria’s president of precedents. But why should this be so? Haven’t there been other occupants of the prestigious office before the austere retired General from Daura in the 16 years of this democratic dispensation? Of course, there have been but the March 28 presidential election stands out in bold relief in Nigeria’s continuing evolution as a presidential democracy.

    October 1, 1960 marked another eventful date in Nigeria’s political evolution. It marked the termination of external colonialism but only replaced it with diverse forms of internal colonialism. But for the relatively brief periods of 1960 to 1966 and 1979 to 1983, the military as an institution was in full charge of the country’s political and socio-economic affairs for the best part of the country’s post-colonial history. The back bone of military suzerainty over Nigeria’s affairs was effectively broken with the (divinely ordained?) miscalculation of the Babangida administration in annulling the June 12, 1993, presidential election widely regarded as the freest and fairest in the country’s history up till that time.

    The protracted and sustained struggle to validate the people’s truncated mandate and send the military back to the barracks yielded fruit as the men in uniform were forced to retreat from the commanding heights of the country’s political economy on May 29, 1999. Even then, it was not yet Uhuru. The military had left the political scene but the country’s political culture, values and disposition were still draped in the military’s psychological colours. Not only did the retreating military hand over to one of its own, General OlusegunObasanjo, sprung straight from SaniAbacha’s gulag, power was entrusted in the hands of a PDP fashioned psychologically and organisationally in the image of the military. It was a return to civilian rule but not to democracy in any meaningful sense.

    Thus, PDP top shots openly and brazenly boasted that the party would rule the country for 60 unbroken years. This excess of optimism was predicated neither on superior performance or higher moral values but simply on the calculus of crude power. Consequently, the more dismal the performance of the PDP at all levels, the more emphatically and mysteriously it won elections in 2003, 2007 and 2011. The saving grace was the judiciary, which helped retrieve stolen mandates in states like Edo, Ondo, Ekiti and Osun. March 28 broke the jinx. It marked the transition from mere civil rule to genuine democracy. The beneficiary of that victory, President-elect Buhari, working with his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), thus has a unique opportunity, like George Washington, to become a President of precedents.

    Obasanjo could easily have become a President of precedents as the first democratically elected leader of the nation in this dispensation. A combination of factors made this impossible, chief being his personal disposition to overweening hubris and a sense of self -righteousness. Perhaps this attitude was unavoidable given the roles history had thrust upon him at various times in the life of the nation. For instance, it was his luck to receive the instrument of surrender from the subdued Biafrans at the end of the civil war even if others had done the hard, back breaking work of winning the war. Again, he had received worldwide accolade for voluntarily handing over power back to civilians in 1979 even though the accomplishment was the collective feat of a triumvirate including General T.Y. Danjuma and the late General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua.  Furthermore, he had risen to the presidency in 1999 straight from prison in what looked like a divinely supervised ordination.

    It was thus not surprising that Obasanjo, perhaps unconsciously, perceived and conceived of himself in supernatural terms. He saw his presidential powers as flowing from his own personal qualities and moral integrity rather than the constitution and the rule of law. He regarded himself as the first among a minuscule of incorruptible Nigerians. He could easily override the constitution in the pursuit of the greater good of the nation as defined by him. Impunity culminating in the aborted humiliating Third Term Agenda was thus his main historical legacy.

    The late President UmaruYar’Adua after Obasanjo was a gentleman of the finest breed. But for ill health and untimely death, he would have made an excellent president of precedents. He admitted that the elections which brought him to power were severely flawed and set in motion a process of electoral reforms. He publicly declared his assets – the first by any elected official in Nigeria. President Goodluck Jonathan who succeeded Yar’Adua is of a naturally humble, modest and unassuming disposition. Alas, the immense, monstrous powers of the Nigerian presidency transformed his administration into one even more imperious than that of Obasanjo. His legacy is thus also one of impunity, high handedness and utter disdain for the rule of law.

    How then can President-elect, MuhammaduBuhari, turn the tide and lead Nigeria in a new direction in terms of leadership style, orientation and content? How can he, like Washington, become a President of precedents? I think he can start right away even before his formal assumption of office on May 29. For starters, I think the crowd of courtesy call tourists trooping to Daura, Kaduna and Abuja to pay him obeisance must be drastically cut down. It is simply time wasting, energy sapping and distracting. The President-elect needs all the time he can muster to get ready for the herculean challenge ahead of confronting and mending a badly broken nation.

    Secondly, the President-elect and his lieutenants must declare their assets if not publicly at least before a competent court where interested members of the public can ask for and obtain the requisite information as regards these assets. Thirdly, the President-elect must be resolute in having a truly lean Cabinet. He has set the right tone by suggesting he may do away with the office of Minister of State. The country has at least 19 key ministries. Together with the President, Vice President, Secretary to the Government, Head of Service and Chief of Staff, Nigeria does not need a Federal Executive Council of more than 25 persons. Each Minister should be capable enough to be the special adviser to the President in his or her area of jurisdiction especially as the Ministers also have Permanent Secretaries and other supportive bureaucratic technocrats to rely upon. The tradition of having a plethora of Cabinet rank Special Advisers must go.

    Thirdly, under the presidential system, the presidency can be a bully pulpit of sorts. The President-elect must, by his personal example as well as those of his lieutenants set a model of modest and reasonable remuneration that public officers at all levels will be forced to follow.  An end must be brought to the current scandalous and unsustainable salaries and allowances of appointed and elected public officers.

    Fourthly, Buhari must subordinate his presidency to the rule of law, constitutionalism, respect for the separation of powers, as well as the supremacy of the party without sacrificing or unnecessarily diluting the authority of his office. This will call for the highest degree of wisdom, restraint and dexterity in balancing interests. Buhari has a very bright chance of going down in history as a President of positive precedents. If he does not, the gains of March 28 would have been an utter waste and the quest for Uhuru will have to begin all over again.

  • Blessing indeed

    What hasn’t been written about Blessing Okagbare’s prowess on the tracks?
    Is it how she leaves them all to chase her to the tape or how a few times she has been left on the starter’s bloc only to pursue them and hit the tape in an amazing fashion?

    No doubt, Okagbare has had her highs and lows in athletics.  Her highpoints overshadow the flops. What nobody can take away from her are feats which would take some time to surpass, if we fail to establish the templates to produce many talents.

    Okagbare needs to be the star of Rio 2016 Olympic Games, having fumbled at the previous games in London. She must understand that a gold medal in the women 100 metres is the best way to say goodbye to the sport. Besides, it would be a soothing balm to all the pundits who left London with their heads bowed following her shambolic outing.

    Age is no longer on her side. And her husband would definitely want to keep her in his bosom with his kids. Today, Okagbare is one of our best athletes but a gold medal in Rio would be the biggest and the best medal. It is achievable girl; go for it.

    For now what should be uppermost in her mind is the task of annexing the gold medal at the Rio 2016 Olympics. Words from her camp suggest a target – being the fastest woman in the world. I align with this dream. It is achievable given, Okagbare’s talent.

    But it is never too early to build confidence and Okagbare-Ighoteguonor laid a fair foundation on Sunday night.

    “It does (give me confidence),” she said of her win, “but it doesn’t change anything. There’s a lot of talented people out there, like me, so I just have to keep working hard. I don’t want to be left behind. A performance like that gives me a little edge and a bit of confidence but I still have to put more work in and keep pushing forward.”

    The main thing Okagbare-Ighoteguonor has been working on is the first 40 metres of her 100m. Put that part of the race together and the rest should take care of itself.

    “There’s been a lot of work going on,” she said.

    “My coach told me ‘don’t worry about the time, just go out and execute’. I think that’s what I did and after 40 metres it felt extremely easy for me to go.”

    Are you surprised at the change in nomenclature from Okagbare to Okagbare-Ighoteguonor. That is her new name as the wife of former Super Eagles attacker Igho. Her husband played for Enugu Rangers in his heydays where he met Blessing.

    Despite last year’s 10.85/22.25 sprint double at the Commonwealth Games, Okagbare-Ighoteguonor said she still feels like a novice in the straight sprint.

    “Sometimes I get it right; sometimes I get it wrong. If I get it right – which I did today, not 100 per cent, but 70 – it feels extremely easy.”

    Perhaps not surprisingly, it tallies with the feeling you get watching her run the 100m.

    If she is up and running early, you just know Okagbare-Ighoteguonor is going to be hard to beat, because she comes home like a train.

    But has Okagbare given up on doing the long jump? Not at all as she told reporters in Shanghai last week: “I will because I just want to see how far I can jump. I feel, I think and I hope I can. I’m working towards it. I hope it happens.”

    Okagbare is truly a blessing to Nigeria athletics with, her feats which have so far not been tainted by drugs. Will Okagbare spike her system with drugs to run? Tufiakwa! God forbid.

    Super Eagles’ foreign legion

     Anytime the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) is said to be broke, I always have a good laugh. My excitement stems from the fact that we believe it is our birthright to participate in all football competitions, including international friendly matches without, looking at its aggregate costs.

    I’m sure that we have close to 16 national teams broken down into the male and female genders. Of these 15, the Super Eagles, which should be our flagship, is being treated like a pack of kindergartens.

    Rather than generate cash for the federation, the Eagles have dragged us back, such that they have earned the “sobriquet” Super Chicken”, which makes them a hard sell to organisations who do the business of sports, especially football.

    With a deplorable 45th position in FIFA, not many countries would be interested in friendlies against the Eagles. Besides, our players’ bloated egos have made it impossible for NFF chiefs to conserve the little cash  it earns to institute templates that would see Nigerian football from the prism of all our teams not Super Eagles, the pain in our necks.

    The talk in town suggests that some influential members of the Eagles, including an unnamed coach, were responsible for the exit of sportswear manufacturing giant, Adidas as our kits supplier. Part of the advantage of being a part of such internationally recognised brand is that it could facilitate a lot of marketing initiatives with its other brands. If the Eagles were really doing well in Africa, for instance, it won’t cost Adidas anything to organise an international friendly between Germany and Nigeria and any other big football-playing country for that matter.

    Besides, a business plan between the NFF and Adidas could attract the support of big spending insurance firms, European clubs and scouts who would want to visit the country to see our grassroots talents.

    Such “invasion” would earn the local clubs sufficient cash to run their business, just as it would open new vistas for our players to seek greener pastures in Europe at their terms, not the strangulating deals that greedy agents secure for them in obscure leagues.

    We appear to have lost this platform because the Eagles can do no wrong. We treat the Eagles like kings and this dovetails into their being monsters. They do what they dare not do in their European clubs. And such lascivious conducts have left the NFF and the country’s football in dire straits.

    We have been told that it costs the federation between N90 million and N120 million to prosecute a match. Let’s take the average per game to be N100.5 million and multiply by 26 games, which represent the matches played in the last dispensation. The figure is mind-boggling and it explains why the NFF can’t be solvent.

    Sadly, the Eagles, with their sloppy performances, don’t inspire the fans. If they had been whipping teams between three to six goals per game, a box office returns at the turnstiles would have been secured. The NFF would have been cracking their heads to create more marketing and sponsorships windows for clients to identify with. We cannot be spending such figures with no returns from the gates.

    Is this what other federations spend? I don’t think so because they don’t pay match bonuses. Such things are built into sponsorship properties for such big tournaments as the Africa Cup of Nations, Confederations Cup and the World Cup.

    Such details are achievable because sponsors fall on themselves to get such deals that would lift the image of brands. With this arrangement, players and coaches know that it pays more to win the trophy than this pick-pocket style being adopted by the NFF which makes the players think they are doing us a favour by playing to win games for Nigeria.

    NFF must stop this practice of paying players and coaches allowances per game. I would rather they are paid appearance fees which will terminate with a lump sum if they hit the targets – winning the Africa Cup of Nations or reaching the semi-final stage at the next World Cup.

    This idea of paying players $10,000 for beating smaller nations in the quest for a World Cup qualification ticket should stop, since we end up sharing the World Cup largesse with them. Things got so bad that the players and coaches had the audacity to stage a protest before the second round game against France in Brazil.

    Any player not ready to play for Nigeria on appearance fees basis should remain in his/her club. The bazaar in the national teams is the reason for the poor development of the domestic game.

     Not again, Okon

     Super Falcons’ coach Okon has been the most successful coach in the female league – despite being a man. He has guided Rivers Angels to lift the league and FA Cup titles.

    These feats qualified Okon to become Nigeria’s senior side’s chief coach. But he has shown strong preference for his ladies in Rivers State. This writer isn’t angry with Okon’s preference for his ladies, if they represent the best girls in the category.

    Rather, pundits are miffed that Okon opts for his ladies than the best where they exist in quantum. Again, one is excited that chieftains of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) intervened quickly by fining the coach an undisclosed amount. The beauty of NFF’s swift reaction is that the wrong choices were dropped and those deserving of the shirts got their rewards.

    Our coaches must begin to see the national team’s job as the platform to showcase our best, not a stable to exhibit nepotism. One sincerely hopes that Okon has learned his lesson and would change for the better. Otherwise, the NFF knows what to do.

  • Taking a peep at the APC reform, relief and recovery tripod

    I  fulfill  a promise  I made  last week  today  to take  a look  at the tripod  of action and concept  namely Reform, Relief  and  Recovery  that  the  National  leader  of the APC Asiwaju  Bola Tinubu  reportedly  said  would be  strategy  the APC  would  adopt in tackling the challenge  of governance  on assuming power  on May  29  2015, the  official  handing  over date  of  government by  the outgoing incumbent   president  who  lost  power in the last presidential  election.  Since  I  have  no formal  or informal  briefing on this self – given assignment. I take liberty to allow my  imagination to  roam wide in hazarding  a guess on the choice   and  rationale  for   these three key  words.  Also since  I  am  a Nigerian living at home and conversant with the challenges  and problems  my fellow countrymen faced under  the last  government’s  yoke  I am  confident  my perceptions and, definitions and expectations on the concepts can  not be very much  off the mark. Especially for a writer who  has watched his nation led to the an abyss  by poor  leadership  before being rescued  miraculously  and unbelievably by the victory of the  opposition  APC at  the last  presidential  elections.

    I  will  start with the basic  definition  and usage  of  these words and link  them  with the socio – economic, cultural and political  problems associated with  them  in Nigeria  and hazard  some guesses  on  solutions  envisaged  to resolve  such  problems and move the  Nigerian state  forward  under the incoming government  of  the APC. This  really is easier said  than  done,  given  the myriad  of problems facing Nigeria and the  great   difficulty  in   setting of priorities  given  the mass  urgency of these problems because  of   the callous indifference  and  neglect  of successive Nigerian  governments   whether  civilian  or military.

    Reform  to me is a new  way of looking at problems  and  proffering solutions  in conformity  with  the best  standards in the field  or industry  or  comity of nations. Relief  is bringing urgent, relevant  and  lasting  succor to those in distress or  suffering such that they  can  move on to the next  level  of comfort  in their  lives  or calling. Recovery is  the retrieval  of  lost opportunities,  public goods, property and  services  not legally acquired  or  enjoyed  by individuals,  corporations  and entities  in any  nation or community  in this case  the   Nigerian  nation.

    In  Nigeria in recent times especially  during the Obasanjo  Regime  from 1999 till the end of the Jonathan Administration  next  Saturday May  29, the economic  reform we  have    to  our  collective detriment   have  been dictated  by the IMF  and  World  Bank  and have culminated  in the award  this week  of a Doctorate  Degree Honoris Causa  for our Coordinating  Minister  of the Economy  and Finance  Minister, Dr Mrs  Okonjo  Iweala by  the prestigious  University  of  Yale  in the US. The  timing of the award  and the present perilous  state of the  Nigerian  economy says  a lot about  the sense  of humor of the authorities  of  Yale  University with  regard  to the plight  of the average Nigerian at this point  in  time. As  at  now Nigerians  have no  electricity, no  kerosene, petrol  or  diesel, our youths are  jobless  and the state of security  of life  and property  is hazardous  and  yet a major university is giving   an  award  to the Minister  who led us to this dire economic strait. Obviously  the Minister  danced in office to the music played  by the IMF, World  Bank  and the US  Treasury  controlling both and is being rewarded for  running Nigeria aground according  to the dictates of these US institutrions. Which  are  speedy  privatization and marketization without regard for the laws to facilitate them or the sequence and pace of actualizing them. IMF conditionalities have no bail out for the poor,  the needy   or   retrenched to balance budget costs but can  never allow banks and financial institutions to fail.

    It  is  therefore necessary  to compare the state of our  economy with  the way the president of Chile has written  about true development of any  nation so that the APC  can  borrow  a leaf  from   her  educative  insight. Writing  on The  Politics  of Inclusion In The World  in 2015,  Chile’s President,  Michelle  Bachelet,  a lady  like  our Yale  Doctorate Awardee and  Finance  Minister  wrote that ‘true  development comes with sustainable  growth, inclusion ,social  cohesion,  governability   and  the broadening of democracy.  It  goes  hand  in hand with diversity, accountability and transparency. It  requires freedom but also  social  justice.  It is synonymous with caring for the environment and respecting human rights. It  needs markets  that prosper thanks to productive innovation and are  not  based  on speculation.  ‘The  Chilean  president went on about making the bridging of gender inequality a priority  to  make  women  contribute  more  productively to the economy and  to make every citizen have  access to opportunities  in the economy.  To  me the Chilean  initiative  on   true  development     is  akin  to  a working  agenda  on   Reform   and   is well  recommended  to  the incoming  APC  government  for adoption  especially as the  contents  were  so clearly  missing  in the  agenda  of the  Jonathan  Administration that  nevertheless got our Coordinating  Minister  her strange  and dubious  Yale  Award.

    On  Relief  it  is  not difficult to see what Nigerians  need  relief from. We  need  relief from having no  light or electricity in our homes and industry . We  need  hospitals that are well stocked with  drugs that  make  life bearable  and  endurable.  We  need industries that produce goods and services and employ Nigerians while observing common and basic industrial relations rules and regulations. We  need  courts  that  function as state institutions and  not at the whims  and caprices of lazy judges who adjourn arbitrarily  and seat only when they  have cases  that they have a stake in. We  need  fearless, upright  and just  judges  to dispense  justice and make  the common man have confidence  in our judiciary as the last  hope of the common Nigerian  for  justice that is not expensive in terms of time and money. These  as the Relief  part  of the APC tripod will make life more bearable  for  Nigerians so that they can devote their lives  and work  to improving the quality  of life for themselves and their  families.

    On  Recovery the  APC government should focus on Poverty  Alleviation to close  the gap  between  the rich and the poor. Former UN  Secretary  General  Perez de Cuellar  recommended that to do this the developing world should  focus development  on labor intensive goals  and projects as labor  is the major asset of the poor. The  APC  government should adopt  this under its  Recovery  arm  of  the  tripod. Infrastructural  developments, market reforms  and development   should focus on supporting labor intensive  projects  to decrease  unemployment  and increase  productivity  and  manpower  development  and  reduce  the  rampant  income inequalities  that is the bane of our present economy  A  major  way  to start  is by  cutting down drastically   the emoluments  of our law  makers  which is said  to be the  highest  in the world.

    Education  should  be made free at all levels as well as basic heath care especially prenatal ones so that infant  mortality recedes  from its alarming rate of many of our infants dying before the age of five.  Affordable  housing should  be a priority  of government such  that schools  and working places and shops are within walking  distances   or affordable transport fare.

    One  cannot  talk  of this   Recovery  without  mentioning the recovery  of stolen goods  and embezzlement in the public  service. Independent judges  should be appointed and empowered  as in the  French  legal  system  to investigate  and  prosecute  fraudulent officials and  those found guilty  should be made  to cough up their ill gotten gains into the coffers  of the state. Of  course  there  should be in built safety valves to  prevent  witch  hunting  of political  opponents and  former  adversaries but the message should be clear  that the new government has  zero  tolerance for  bribery  and corruption.

    I recommend  my   musings  on the APC  tripod to the incoming administration of the APC and  wish  the new administration a happy and peaceful  enjoyment of its hard earned victory at the last elections. Once again as we finally approach  May 29 2015 next  week, long  live the Federal  Republic  of  Nigeria.

  • Ekiti fiasco: Who is to blame?

    Ekiti fiasco: Who is to blame?

    Even our most insightful columnists, public affairs analysts and perceptive intellectuals are utterly perplexed at the political scenario playing out in the rocky state of Ekiti especially since the re-emergence of Mr Ayodele Fayose as governor in the June 21, 2014, governorship election. It is difficult to understand or properly digest how the irascible, tempestuous and temperamental, impulsive and often self-destructively spontaneous Fayose has risen on the wave of popular acclaim back to the apex of political authority in Ekiti. It seems that neither Fayose’s sordid past on his first tour of duty as governor nor the dishonourable theatrics that have characterised his current tenure thus far are able to dissolve the holy matrimony between the proud architect of the profound philosophy of ‘stomach infrastructure’ and the people of Ekiti.

    Indeed, many analysts have, directly or indirectly, questioned the fidelity of the Ekiti people to those principles and values for which they were once so highly regarded. These include industry, discipline, an ascetic disposition, honour, dignity, courage, courteousness and an unrivalled commitment to knowledge and scholarship. It is baffling to comprehend how the people of Ekiti could have abandoned a man like Dr Kayode Fayemi, who seems to embody all the qualities of the quintessential Ekiti man and, above all is a man of high scholastic attainment and opt for a rambunctious, cynical and absolutely unreliable Fayose. It seems just like the irate Jewish mob demanding the release of the notorious thief and murderer, Barrabas, and the crucifixion of Jesus Christ in his place.

    But does the Ekiti people’s embrace of Fayose mean that they have abandoned the age old cherished values and beliefs inherited from their worthy forbears? Is it that a state fabled as having produced at least one doctorate degree holder per household now disdains education so much that an intellectually shallow Fayose would be preferred to a stochastically accomplished Fayemi? I must confess that I have thought and written along these lines in the past. This point of view is completely misplaced and misleading as well as overly simplistic.

    It should be appreciated that Fayose did not just jump down magically from the sky to hypnotise and commandeer the support of Ekiti people. In 1999, Ekiti state had voted massively for the then Alliance for Democracy (AD) just like other states in the South-West. However, by 2003, Ekiti was one of the states swept away by the General Obasanjo instigated Tsunami, which led to the loss of five South-West states to the PDP with Lagos as the only AD redoubt standing. The OBJ obliteration of the AD in the South-West has been attributed to large scale fraud on the part of the PDP-controlled Federal Government. There is a large dose of truth in this allegation. But the less palatable truth is that the complacency, sheer mediocrity and arrogance as well as underperformance of many of the AD governors facilitated the success of the wily OBJ’s scheme to overrun the South-West politically.

    Ekiti state under the urbane and unassuming leadership of Otunba Niyi Adebayo was one example of how stupendous non-performance significantly enabled the electoral triumph of Ayo Fayose in 2003. The Niyi Adebayo government was so inept that it was Fayose as a private citizen that rented private water tankers to distribute water to residents of Ado Ekiti and other towns and villages in the state. This aside from his all too natural earthiness was one of the factors that endeared Fayose to his people and ensured his meteoric political ascendancy.

    It was only after he got into office that the Ekiti people saw the other side of Fayose – his utter lack of seriousness and discipline to confront the onerous challenge of governance and the moral vacuity that characterised his politics. Even though his performance as governor in his first coming pales into insignificance compared to Fayemi’s record, Fayose completely outclassed the immediate past administration of Niyi Adebayo in terms of service delivery to the populace. But for the largely self-inflicted violence, garrulousness and infantile tantrums that distracted his administration, Fayose would have recorded a decent performance in office before his impeachment, an exercise now described as a legal nullity by the apex court of the land.

    By 2007, the Ekiti people had become completely fed up with both Fayose and his politics. They had tasted of the much touted ‘mainstream’ broth and it left a bitter after effect in the mouth. They voted massively for Fayemi on the platform of the defunct ACN.  The election was scandalously rigged by the PDP and Fayemi reclaimed his stolen mandate only after legal adjudication as well as a keenly and bitterly fought complementary election in a number of Local Governments. It is instructive that during this period Fayemi and the ACN received unequivocal support from Fayose. I can still picture in my mind Fayose sitting atop an Okada motor bike sporting a ‘Vote for Fayemi’ tee shirt. Of course Fayemi won the re-run election and was subsequently voted into office as governor. After that, was Fayose able to reach Fayemi anymore? Were the promises made to Fayose in the event of a Fayemi victory kept? The answers can only be in the negative. It would thus appear that lack of fidelity to principles and sheer opportunism are not the monopoly of any party or individual!

    When Fayose contested the Ekiti Central Senatorial District seat on the platform of the Labour Party (LP), he lost comprehensively to the APC candidate. The electorates were still very much in love with Fayemi and the progressives. Fayose is thus not a super magician who cast a spell on Ekiti with his supernatural wand. His resurgence to power after his disastrous first outing was due, as I have consistently maintained in this space, to the atrocious political incompetence and vindictiveness of Dr Fayemi.

    Yes, no one can fault Fayemi’s sterling record of performance. But for some inexplicable reason, his government was aloof and disconnected not just from the grassroots base of his party but from the general populace of Ekiti State. This was partly why damaging but unsubstantiated claims of primitive accumulation was levelled against the governor by his opponents and no doubt believed by a section of the electorate despite Fayemi’s vehement disavowals. That was why a performing incumbent governor with control of the state House of Assembly and Local Government structures in the state could have lost in all 16 Local Government councils of the state and to a despicable character like Fayose for that matter.

    The March 28 and April 12 presidential and governorship elections offered a unique opportunity for the leaders of the APC in Ekiti, particularly ex- Governor Fayemi, to prove that Fayose’s victory in the June 21 governorship election was a fluke. They should have demonstrated the APC’s electoral strength on the ground to lend credence to their allegation that Fayose’s earlier electoral triumph was rigged through a strange and seemingly fictive creature called ‘monochromic’ ballot or the meddlesomeness of Fayose, Musliu Obanikoro, the Minister of State for Defence and the Minister of Police Affairs, Jelili Adesiyun, who were heard on an audio tape that has gone viral ordering a General of the Nigerian Army to facilitate the rigging of the election in favour of Fayose. I am strongly of the view that none of these factors, including the heavy militarisation of the state before and during the election, could have swayed victory in PDP’s favour – at least not on the difficult to imagine scale witnessed in Ekiti if the party’s grassroots cadres had been effectively mobilised to support the candidate at the polls.

    The unfortunate thing is that rather than concentrate on rebuilding the party in Ekiti, its leaders particularly Dr Fayemi are engaged in a rat race to achieve dominance at the national level to the detriment of the APC in Ekiti. In the final analysis, however, all politics is local. To seek relevance in national politics on behalf of Ekiti even when Ekiti’s APC leaders lack any electoral base at home is akin to building something on nothing. It is absurd and laughable.

    The APC national leadership should ask all feuding Ekiti leaders of the party to go back home, mend fences and begin the hard and back-breaking task of re-building the party in the state. These include Kayode Fayemi, Opeyemi Bamidele and Femi Ojudu to name a few. To offer any of them Ekiti’s ministerial slot will only lead to deepening of the unhealthy rivalries among them to the detriment of the APC in Ekiti.  The state’s slot in the Federal Executive Council should go to a brilliant technocrat who is also a an astute and seasoned politician; a person who is detached from the current intra-APC politics of intrigues in Ekiti and can thus offer the requisite leadership to unite, rediscover and rejuvenate the party in Ekiti.

    Thus, my surmise is that Fayose is not really to blame in the on-going Ekiti fiasco.  He is only reaping from the unpardonable lapses of the APC in the state. Yes, he has committed impeachable offences, which make him legally liable. But then, the stunning performance of the PDP in the presidential and State Houses of Assembly affirm Fayose’s firm electoral support base and places a huge moral burden on the group of 19 APC legislators strenuously attempting to impeach him. What we have in Ekiti is a battle between morality and legality.

  • Okagbare’s blame game

    Blessing Okagbare has been a blessing to athletics- first at the grassroots in Sapele where she was discovered, a national heroine wearing Nigeria’s colours in several international athletics meets and the toast of female sprinters. Okagbare isn’t just a sprinter. She has joined the league of 100 metres sprinters who also excelled in the long jump, such as Carl Lewis, the American 100 and 200 metres sprinter who added glamour to both events when he competed.

    Until recently, Okagbare was concerned about building her career. She weathered through the lack of facilities and coaches at home and headed for the United States, when the Delta State Governor Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan bankrolled her climb to the top. Uduaghan doesn’t stop at providing cash and facilities for the sportsmen and women; He accompanies them to competitions. It is to Uduaghan’s credit that Okagbare didn’t fall victim of the use-and-dump syndrome in Nigeria.

    The Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) couldn’t manage Okagbare’s talent at the London Olympics. They allowed her to compete in her two events – 100 metres and the long jump. Okagbare finished eighth in the 100 metres despite the hype surrounding the event at the London 2012 Olympic Games. She had beaten the big girls in a major meet, weeks before the Olympic Games, making her the favourite for the gold medal in London.

    AFN chiefs, however, couldn’t also play the politics of separating the two events to allow the athlete recover from the stress of one before facing the other.

    Okagbare was left to her fate by the National Sports Commission (NSC) and the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) after an abysmal performance at the London 2012 Olympic Games. Her resurgence today was because Uduaghan intervened on the prompting of Ogba, one of the governor’s lieutenants. London Olympics was an eye opener for Okagbare. She came down from her high horse to face the reality. A crestfallen Okagbare was willing to be helped. It showed that she wasn’t a super woman. It showed also that many people helped in her development.

    It must be said that Okagbare’s meteoric rise to stardom had Ogba’s Midas touch. The sports revolution in Delta today started when Ogba was the Sole Administrator for sports. He convinced his boss then, James Ibori to build stadia in the nooks and crannies of the state. This gave budding stars at the grassroots the platform to sharpen their skills.

    Ogba, determined to ensure that Delta ruled sports, attracted big stars from other State to Delta. This star-trek to Delta afforded rookies in the hinterlands to embrace sports. Indeed, this culture of producing athletes has been sustained by the Dr. Uduaghan-led administration.

    In no time, budding stars, such as Okagbare, started beating the established ones. One of such budding stars was Okagbare. Ogba took personal interest in her. Ogba sold the idea of offering her a state government scholarship to the United States of America (USA) – one of the melting pots of athletics in the world, especially in the sprints. At some point in Okagbare’s career, many pundits accused Ogba of being her manager. They also quarreled with Ogba’s brazen acts of supporting Okagbare to the detriment of others. She had special attention from everyone and justified this seeming favouritism by churning out brilliant performances at athletics meets.

    So where did the bubble burst? Those who know informed this writer that Ogba turned his attention away from Okagbare to other younger ones, such as Efe Brume. She didn’t like it. She grumbled and whispered to media men about the rot in the system that supported her thus far.

    But would you blame Okagbare? There must be structures that make it difficult for one athlete to be bigger than the other. This animal farm setting breeds indiscipline, which is what Okagbare’s conduct portends. What our athletes cannot do in their European and American settings, they showcase to us, largely because we are proponents of quick fixes. We don’t establish workable templates that produce upcoming stars regularly such that we don’t rely solely on particular athletes – in this case Okagbare et al.

    We are fond of making monsters out of our sportsmen and women. It makes them swollen headed. They can do no wrong- they must be listened to. Any change that affects them means that the system they benefited so much from is corrupt. Yet, when they gained from it, it didn’t matter. Rather than chastise them when they misbehave, Nigerians support them and blame the administrators.

    AFN chiefs learned how to manage Okagbare by persuading her to drop the long jump event at the Commonwealth Games. That career decision helped Okagbare as she won the gold medals in the 100 metres and 200 metres. Interestingly, another Nigerian, Ese Brume, won the gold medal in the long jump. The pointer here is Okagbare’s absence wasn’t felt because Nigeria got the gold medal – one fear our officials considered in accepting Okagbare’s wish to do the 100 metres and the long jump. Our officials feared that we would lose the gold medal if Okagbare didn’t jump.

    This writer has celebrated Okagbare here. But this column frowns at her seeming descent into the politics of the sport in Nigeria – a trait most of our big sportsmen and women condescend into when they have reached the twilight of their career.

    There have been several instances in which Okagbare pilloried the AFN in the media. She had the penchant for denying the attacks on the federation’s chiefs. And so when she was reported to have attacked them again, many sighed, hoping that she would recant.

    Okagbare needs our advice to shun the politics of the sport. She needs to concentrate on winning the gold medal at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Having found support from Uduaghan, Okagbare has a good channel to discuss her observations.

    She must understand that there are two or more sides to any discourse. She must put her facts correctly if she opts for the public court by granting interviews to the media like she did last week. Not many sports administrators ignore such ranting from sportsmen and women, especially the credible ones among them and, like the saying goes, facts are sacred.

    In a nutshell, Okagbare frowned at the idea of fielding foreigners as Nigerians to the detriment of the growth of the budding stars at the grassroots. She alleged that the federation didn’t have plans to develop the sport. She went further to say that the federation doesn’t organise enough competitions.

    What Okagbare didn’t say was for the federation’s board members to quit. Her clarion call made plenty of sense until the federation’s boss, Solomon Ogba, replied her. Ogba said: “This season alone, we have had three camps for athletes that participated in the African youth and junior championships and those who went for invitational relays in Kenya. We have also organised two competitions, the All Comers in Abuja and Lagos, apart from the Olukoya championships.

    “We don’t get any support either from the government or corporate Nigeria, yet we have organised a Golden League, thanks to the great sacrifice from my board members and staff of the AFN. We give cash incentives to home-based athletes with prospect of doing well in major championships. For our home-based athletes to get the needed international exposure, we arranged for them to participate in about five international competitions alone this year.”

    The pertinent question would be who these home-grown athletes are? But like the proverbial Oliver Twist, the home athletes have an axe to grind with the federation. Did I hear say how? There is another contending gender issue confronting the AFN chiefs with World Junior Championships silver medalist Divine Oduduru accusing the federation of favouring the female athletes over the men. He alleged that this favoritism towards the female athletes is chiefly responsible for the poor outing of the men in competitions.

    Said Oduduru: “The truth of the matter is that Nigerian male athletes have not been doing well recently. Looking at a country like Nigeria, there are a lot of people who are talented. If the administrators can focus on the male athletes the way they are focusing on the female athletes, the male athletes in Nigeria will do well.”

    Oduduru confirms Ogba’s submission of the federation’s programmes which have produced new athletes. Perhaps, Ogba and his men should create equal opportunities for both sexes for us to have more stars.

    We don’t seem prepared to stop Okagbare’s indiscipline, Uduaghan is said to have intervened. What would happen is that all the noise would stop. A no victor, no vanquished situation would be established. That way, Okagbare is happy that she is back in the good books. Sadly, this sets a trend that would be sustained by the next big star. What a pity! We hardly learn from the past.

    Reading through Okagbare’s missiles to the federation objectively, it seems to me that somebody is whispering to her. Okagbare should always remember her humble beginning. She has been given all the incentives and support to blossom. She shouldn’t burn her candles on both ends on the altar of Nigeria not parading foreigners in our athletics squad. I will support her cause if these foreigners are proven drug cheats or ageing stars.

    Okagbare must apologise to the federation -not inside the governor’s office, but through the same medium she used to denounce it.

  • The politics of hand over, change and continuity

    The  legitimate  complaint  of  the President Elect and the APC  that the outgoing and incumbent president is not doing enough to hand over the reins  of government before the hand over date of May 29  gave rise to the topic  of today. This  is because  inherent  in the concept of hand over is the need  for continuity in spite of the change  that had  occurred  because the incumbent had lost power given the results  of the 2015 presidential  elections. It  is proper for the outgoing and  incumbent president to hand over to  his successor properly  to avert a lacuna or vacuum  in governance and  it is apposite  for his successor  to cry foul  if the proper  thing has not   been done.

    My  assignment today then is to examine  why   the expected had not been done and to look at  the circumstances  of  foot dragging  on the matter. We  shall  look   at  comparative hand overs in recent times, in the past  and ongoing  types  of handing overs which in some cases might even amount to take overs of power either legitimately or otherwise. This is  because   even  small scale  enterprises organize  hand  overs from one boss or leader to  another quite successfully and this is the norm in the private sector and our civil service and one cannot but wonder why it is protracted and delayed till  a day  or two before a president of the largest state  in Africa is giving handing over  notes to his successor  to ensure  a smooth  transition as widely  expected both at home  in Nigeria  and abroad.

    We  shall  today look at the change of power in Britain where the Tories won a majority in parliament to change the mode of government from a coalition  government  to a single  party  majority parliamentary  government. We  shall  look  at  the situation in Burundi where  there  has  been an abortive  coup and the president has resumed office  on his return from a foreign  trip  and the lessons  to  be learnt  from the near truncation  of democracy  in that nation. We  shall  also   take  a look at  the information garnered   during the week  at the launch  of the book – Dynamics  of Change   written by Rivers State Governor  Rotimi  Amaechi  and edited by  my  friend  Dr.  Yemi  Ogunbiyi and  Chidi  Amuta.

    The  victory  of the Conservatives in Britain  is a romantic  story of political  transition of  power involving both  change  and continuity. The  Tories have  become  the ruling party because they have a parliamentary  majority  and they don’t need the coalition with the Liberals  which  they had before the 2015  elections  in Britain this May. Which  means that Mr  and Mrs David  Cameron vacated the official  residence of the British  Prime Minister, 10  Downing Street  for the period of the election  and have returned to it as their  continuous   residence as  David  Cameron’s  party has won the parliamentary  elections  with a majority  of votes in parliament allowing it to form government as a single victorious party now in power. That  to me is vintage transition and handing over of power that any  nation should  envy.  Certainly  one  cannot  compare that with  the  government in Israel formed  recently  by Prime  Minister Benjamin  Netanyahu which  took  months  to form a coalition of parties that are strange bedfellows  and worse still with a precarious majority  of one  that makes change  and continuity  an  endangered specie in day  to day governance  and political  stability in that nation.

    The  events  in Burundi   are  even more worrisome  and  could  have been tagged a  Comedy  of  Errors if not  for the thousands  of people displaced  and killed in the protest  over the desire  and plan of the Burundian President Pierre  Nkurunza to have  a third term against the constitutional  provision  which  allows him to have  only two terms. President Nkurunza  had  gone on to muscle  that nation’s Supreme  Court  to rule that his third term  was legitimate  and  he too added insult  to injury and infuriated  the protesters by pleading that  he should be allowed a third term as he vowed  not to seek  a fourth term. Obviously  he was playing politics with his people  and leading them by the nose to have power by all means and by clinging tenaciously to power. In effect  he had  and has  no intention of handing  over power  to anyone but  himself.  So  the army or a section of it thought the time for a  take  over  of power was ripe.

    But  the army again misjudged the mood of the nation and that of the African  Union which called the coup  a violation of democratic principles before a counter  coup restored power to the errant president. Really  the Burundi  president should  not be allowed to get away  with the impunity  of flouting the constitution  of his nation so brazenly as this is not good for democracy in  Burundi or any African  nation  for that matter. The  ball  is in the Court  of the African  Union  which  rightly  called  the bluff of the coup plotters to now  ensure that President Nkurunza  does  not have a third term and goes into voluntary retirement by handing over swiftly to the Vice President so  that a fresh  election can resolve the power tussle  and manipulation in  Burundi.

    On  the complaint  that the president elect raised on poor  handing over by the incumbent president one  can hazard a guess  or two  on the reasons  for the luke warm  hand  over. However the news  from the launching  of the book  Dynamics  of  Change provide  a great clue on the apparent reluctance  to hand over readily. At  the book launch APC  National  leader and now the acclaimed leader of the Yorubas Asiwaju  Bola  Ahmed  Tinubu  proudly proclaimed Governor  Amaechi as the General  of the unexpected APC victory who created the momentum of change by refusing to accept the recognition  given  to a minority faction of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum  by the incumbent president when  Governor Amaechi  got 19  votes and his defeated  opponent Governor Jang recognized by the incumbent president had 16  votes at the NGF  election  meeting. The  lopsided Arithmetic   according Asiwaju led to a common sense revolution which  crystallised  into the dynamics  of change that created change of  power favoring the APC at the 2015  elections and  effectively sealed  any hope of continuity in office for the incumbent  president.  It  would seem that the reality  of the change dynamics and loss  of power is now dawning on the incumbent president hence the chilling of  the dynamics  of handing over into an iceberg of reluctance    to  quickly   hand  over.  Which   then is  an unwarranted obstacle  to the march  towards the  final  handing  over  of May  29,  a date  that all Nigerians  look forward to with great  hope and great expectations.

    At  the book launch  Asiwaju  mentioned the tripod  of Change that the APC will  carry  out in government. These are Reform, Relief  and Recovery  and these  three concepts of governance  shall  form  the theme of our  discussion next week  which  shall be  the last  in  our series on the transition of power culminating in the hand over of government to the president elect on May 29, Nigeria’s  present Democracy  Day.  Again, long live the Federal  Republic  of  Nigeria.

  • Enyeama’s tantrums

    Vincent Enyeama’s demeanour doesn’t suggest that he could be an incorrigible leader even though he comes across as an obedient and religious person, especially with the way he clutches the Holy Bible in his spare time.

    As a graduate, Enyeama has been an example to many young players in the domestic game just as he has shown that footballers could combine sports with education. Perhaps his educational background provided him the impetus to challenge constituted authorities for his rights. However, aren’t there better ways to ask for your rights without destroying the platform that brought you to the limelight? Can there be a utopian setting in anything in Nigeria that is bedeviled with systemic problems?

    But have the authorities provided the players and coaches their dues to forestall protests? Do the coaches and players feel that protests are the best ways to get their dues? Why do these protesting players and coaches want to return to the fold when things don’t look like they would change? Isn’t this the best time for them to quit the team rather than remain to complain about the same issues? These posers serve as a food for thought for the coaches and players while we wait for a new dawn in the Eagles.

    Enyeama is easily the best goalkeeper in the French Lique 1 with his breathtaking saves and commanding presence in the goal post. As the Super Eagles’ first choice, Enyeama’s feats have several times saved Nigeria from imminent defeat. He has on several occasions won matches for the country with his spectacular saves, earning Man-of-the-match awards. It is not a surprise that Enyeama is the second Eagles star to hit the 100 caps appearance for Nigeria, after Joseph Yobo. Indeed, it took Enyeama fewer games than Yobo to achieve the mark.

    Enyeama’s looks turns out to be a sort of façade. Rather than serve as an example to the others since he became the Eagles captain, he has led revolts.

    When Samson Siasia was in charge of the Eagles, Enyeama was a problem, such, that Siasia shunned all entreaties to get the goalkeeper back to the team because he was a bad influence to others. Indeed, Enyeama led a subtle protest against boarding a small aircraft that was taking the Eagles out of the country for an international friendly. Siasia called his bluff and others dumped Enyeama. When Enyeama realised his folly, he met the team at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja, after the bus had left him at the Nicon Hilton Hotel.

    Several Eagles’ protests had Enyeama’s insignia, so much so that Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) officials have given him the last warning. Did I hear you ask what Enyeama did again?

    Nigeria’s international friendly against Uganda in Uyo was Enyeama’s 100th Eagles game. It was his day of glory, but he didn’t arrive in Uyo until 11pm Friday, less than 16 hours to the kickoff. Of course Nigeria lost the game 1-0. But Enyeama opted out of the second game against South Africa. Perhaps he reckoned the Eagles would be beaten. He complained of backache. Yet, he played for his French side the following weekend. How long would we continue to tolerate this kind of behavior? Shouldn’t we seek Enyeama’s replacement when he has informed us of his decision to quit the team?

    The flipside to this Enyeama tantrum is the need to find out if the NFF met all its obligations to the players. Most times the negotiations are done secretly. We get to know of problems when one side defaults. Yet, our players must learn how to bow out of the Eagles when the ovation is loudest. Rather than being impediments to the team’s progress, they should spare us the international disgrace that we saw before the 2013 Confederations Cup and before Brazil 2014 second round game against France, which we lost 2-0. NFF must shut out those with proven disciplinary problems. They must make the players and coaches fall in line because without them doing well in matches, NFF chiefs would be jobless.

     Clap for Mikel

    John Mikel Obi is arguably Nigeria’s most decorated player in Europe, having won the UEFA Champions League, Europa League Cup, the Barclays English Premier League title (twice), Carling Cup and the English FA Cup competitions. Not many Nigerians have this record.

    I was excited when Mikel was introduced into the game against Crystal Palace on Sunday in the 45th minute. It meant that he played the game that crowned Chelsea as the Barclays English Premier league champion for the fourth time. Mikel has been in-and-out of Chelsea’s squad this season. Playing in such a game underscores his importance in Jose Mourinho’s tactics.

    The good news is that Real Madrid wants Mikel. Real is a bigger club than Chelsea in terms of achievements and pedigree.

    This writer only hopes that Mikel takes the chance by joining Real Madrid, where his former manager Carlos Ancelotti wants him. Mikel played regularly for Chelsea under Ancelotti. It means that the coach knows Mikel’s worth. There can’t be a better option to Chelsea than Real Madrid. I hope fervently that Mikel takes the plunge because real Madrid looks like the side to play in the UEFA Champions League final.

    Playing for Madrid offers Mikel the best platform to become a Gallaticos, playing along with Cristano Ronaldo and the armada of European stars. Will Mikel take the risk? His manager John Ola Shittu has told everyone to wait until the end of the European season. Hmmm! Let us pray that Mikel joins the league of players who have played for easily the most successful European team.

    C’mon Mikel, you have nothing else to prove at Chelsea. You need to conquer the world with the Super Eagles, given your talent. But that change can’t happen when you seldom play for Chelsea.

     Pray for Amokachi

    Daniel Amokachi is losing his job – except something dramatic happens. Amokachi used to be Super Eagles assistant coach and we were told that his contract was tied to that of the team’s chief coach. If the chief coach is sacked or he quits, his assistants follow him.

    Not so anymore – from what we are seeing – with the chief coach back in the saddle. It has been reported that Amokachi and nine other coaches have applied for Da Bull’s job. Bizarre, some have said, and that is because the former Eagles striker ought to have opted out of the job the moment he was asked to apply.

    Asking Amokachi to apply for a job that he once had is a subtle way of passing a vote of no confidence in his first performance.  If the chief coach can return to the team, who is Amokachi to wave a final bye? But, the buck stops on the chief coach’s table, except of course if he doesn’t want to work with Amokachi. Then Amokachi shouldn’t have re-applied for his job. Let’s see how this plays out. But why hasn’t the chief coach solved this puzzle by insisting on having his former men back?

    Okagbare’s warning

    Blessing Okagbare is Nigeria’s female jewel in athletics. Discovered in the back streets of Sapele, Delta State, Okagbare has grown from being the village girl to the star that has ruled the sprints in many major competitions.

    Okagbare is not a known commentator of the game beyond her post-race interviews. But, she has thrown in the gauntlet by insisting that the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) shouldn’t engage in wholesale recruitment of foreigners (Non Nigerians) into the industry to the detriment of grooming home-based athletes from the grassroots.

    Okagbare’s fears aren’t unfounded. But this trend appears to be the vogue even in countries with better facilities, mouth-watering welfare packages and programmes for their athletes to develop. Perhaps, the only difference between other countries and Nigeria is that those defecting do so because they cannot get into the country’s teams due to the large pool of quality athletes. So, to make their mark, they must defect to those countries such as Nigeria with fewer athletes in such sports.

    On this score, Okagbare is right. But grassroots development won’t be taken seriously without competitions at the local level. Most athletes discovered at the grassroots abandon the sport for greener pastures when they leave the country knowing that the lifespan of the athlete is short. We don’t have a system that accommodates sports men and women.

    Again, we don’t get to discover athletes until when they are too old. Many athletes come with fake ages that catch up with them soon. The few competitions organised locally don’t attract enough sponsors. Organisers love to run to state governors for financial support. When such sports-loving governors leave office, the sport dies prematurely.

    The biggest hindrance for growth in sports is our dwindling economy which doesn’t give companies the impetus to support the industry. The companies interested in sports pullout because they spend what should be ploughed into the industry on their companies’ operations – generating sets etc.

    Other countries do well in sports because other sectors of their economy thrive. These sectors still deem it fit to support sports as part of Corporate Social Responsibility to the communities where they are. Little wonder sport in most climes is driven by the communities not government.

  • Tinubu, Yoruba leadership and power in Nigeria

    Elections  make and  unmake leaders in any democracy  and  Nigeria is not an exception.  So  also  is Britain where the Conservatives  during  the week  coasted to  what pundits called a shock  victory  with a majority  of ten enabling them to form a government as winner  of the election instead of the last parliament where  they ruled  from a hung parliament in which they   led a Coalition   with  the  Liberal  Party which  got only  eight  seats  in the new parliament sending  it into  a political  oblivion. Of  course,  being Britain, the leaders of  Labor and the other two  parties  have resigned  for leading their  parties  to dismal  failure  at the election meaning that they were conscious of  their failure of leadership at  the elections and knew instinctively without being prompted, the right thing to do to enable their parties  to move  on after an unexpected defeat. That is the right thing for leaders in any democracy to do as in leadership,  failure is an orphan while  success  has many  fathers.

    In  Nigeria’s  2015  elections  won  decisively by former  opposition party the APC it  is not difficult  to  see the brain  behind  the deft political strategies  and moves that gave the unexpected victory to the party to effectively maul  an incumbent president out of office  in a presidential  election, the first of its kind in Nigeria. But  in this instance the statement that failure is an orphan  and success  has many fathers is  not being applied  correctly and in good faith and  that is not fair and  that is  my bone of contention today   and  the root cause  of the choice of topic   of  today  as well.

    Of  course  the brain or chief  strategist  of the APC   success in the last election was  former Lagos  state governor Asiwaju  Bola  Ahmed Tinubu and  he paid a steep  price  for it in sacrificing his  own  ambition  to be  running mate to the President  elect  on the altar of the  party   pragmatism  of having a Muslim /Christian ticket which the party adopted and which proved so successful  now  with  the benefit  of hindsight. That  success  has thrown up a debate  on the leadership  of the Yorubas  with some  disgruntled and disappointed PDP  leaders saying in the media that Tinubu  cannot be  taken as  the leader of the Yorubas  in spite of the fact that he plotted  successfully the campaign  and election that saw a Yoruba  man emerging as the Vice  President for  the first  time after the eight year presidency of former  President  Olusegun  Obasanjo who used  the Yoruba  and South West slot as president  after  the June 12  as  appeasement  for the region.

    But  unfortunately OBJ   regarded himself as a Nigerian first  and foremost and had great contempt for his Yoruba  origin;  a fact  which   dogged  his style  of administration  and  earned him the hatred  and disregard of his well  educated and highly  vocal  kinsmen  for ever.  OBJ thought and  acted throughout  his tenure both civilian and military as if it was a crime  to acknowledge your tribe in  office, a spill over from his military  training. Which sadly  too did  not inculcate in him the basic cultural  reality  that it is the love of the tribe which at  birth precedes  that of a nation, a  geographical  expression, that  one  must  learn and transfer  to  that nation  to make it meaningful  and realistic. Indeed  that is the normal  way  for cultural  and national  values  to evolve and eventually fuse  into a political culture or social  values.

    Today  however  the former senator  and governor  of  Lagos  state has brought the Yorubas  back  to the centre  of power in an election that no one gave the opposition  a  chance and one in which the incumbent is still  reeling from the impact of the defeat  after a swift  concession of that  defeat. This  has   manifested  as  a situation  in which  the incumbent has put the fear  of God  in those working or close  to him for the last five years through the threat of sack or dismissal in case  of  any  contact with  the incoming winner party  of the election that his party lost.  Yet  willy  nilly   he must  hand over on  May 29 whether  he likes  the face or faces of the people  in the incoming administration or not.  Certainly  what  OBJ  said  of IBB on the June  12 saga  that the military  dictator  has to  be treated carefully  like  a bull  in a China  shop  to make him  relinquish  power is playing itself out   before our eyes  on the road  to the hand  over date  of  May  29, the  Democracy Day selected  by the Obasanjo  Administration in utter  contempt  of the June  12  struggle.

    Ironically  the Champions  of June 12  will  be back in the saddle  of power come May  29  and  most  of the credit  for that will  go to Bola  Ahmed Tinubu whether  one  likes  him or not.  At  the very least  he deserves  the recognition  as the leader of the Yorubas in their  return to power and political relevance arising from  the success  of the  APC in the 2015  elections in which  his vision and unusual political  precocity  played  a major part.

    This  is  no time  to say success  has many fathers as some  are unfairly  alluding in denying this shrewd and far sighted political warrior and strategist  his due honor  and accolade on what I dare  to call a famous victory in the annals of  our  nation and  our turbulent  political  history.  Especially  with   the Yorubas  since the 1962  Action Group  Crisis that ballooned  into  a national  crisis leading to the Civil War from which the Yoruba Leader  the immortal Awo     emerged    from  Calabar  prison  to manage  the war  and the  Nigerian economy  very  successfully  on  both counts.

    Awo  led  the Yorubas  successfully  but he never led  them  to  Federal  power  in any election.  Awo  lost elections serially like the present president elect and  it was at his death that Ojukwu an old enemy  at  the Civil  War either  leeringly, tongue  in  cheek  or sincerely,  grudgingly labeled  him  the best president Nigeria never had. The  president elect will, God willing, take over power  on May  29 and  the architect  of that is Bola  Ahmed  Tinubu who  like  Awo  may  well  be the best president Nigeria never  had but who  certainly is the best leader the Yorubas  have at this point in time. He  has earned this honor and he deserves  the honor of being called  the leader  of his people even though he may be  too modest  to  acknowledge this but certainly  the cap fits. Not like  the NTA commercial  that sought  to turn Abacha into  a civilian  president before his death, but  the cap sits well on Tinubu’s  head  like his  familiar    shackle    braided Yoruba cap.  And  I  say  that with all seriousness  and not a  little envy  as  a Yoruba man proud  of his leader who  has emerged  as a true  leader   lost  in plain sight  to his  articulate and democratically vibrant kinsmen  and admirers.

    Let  me  end  on a news  item in the media  that the First  Lady  was away in Congo  Brazaville  on a visit to the wife  of  President Sassu  Dennis  Nguesso of that  nation for  a  scheduled  First  Ladies  outing. I  have  an interesting story on the loss  and regain  of power  involving  President  Sassu  Nguesso  who  had  been military  president before but lost a democratic presidential  election in his  bid to become a civilian president. He withdrew  into his presidential  mansion  in the capital  to brood  over his loss  of power. Just  then an  overzealous police squad  chased  one of his aides into the presidential  palace seeking to arrest him for an offence. Nguesso got furious  at the effrontery   of the intrusion into his palace  so soon after losing power and not only  chased  the policeman  out  but asked  his troops to seize power militarily  to regain what he  had lost at the democratic  elections. Ever  since   1997  Sassu  Nguesso  has  been  winning elections in Congo  Brazaville  and has not had  to withdraw into his palace to be insulted after any further  electoral  loss. The  moral of this unusual  story is clear as  we  approach May 29  and we  wish the First  Lady  safe  journey  back. Again  long  live  the Federal  Republic  of  Nigeria.

  • The new North/South West political partnership

    The new North/South West political partnership

    To emerge as President of Nigeria, a candidate must fulfil the constitutional requirement of scoring not just the highest number of total votes cast in the election but he must also score not less than 25% of the votes cast in each of at least two-thirds of the 36 states in the federation. Given the extant configuration of states in Nigeria today, a presidential candidate must score the highest number of votes as well as record 25% of votes in at least 24 states of the federation.

    This provision, particularly the requirement for geographical spread rather than mere numerical superiority, is in consonance with the deliberate design of the Nigerian presidency to be a symbol of national unity and cohesion. The President, given the spread of his electoral base is thus the custodian of a national mandate who is expected to rise above primordial sentiments and sectional fragmentation in the discharge of his onerous functions.

    It is thus impossible for anybody to emerge as President of Nigeria simply on the basis of narrow ethnic, regional or religious bloc votes. A winning candidate or party must be willing to appeal to, negotiate and build bridges of understanding with diverse ethno-regional and other interest groups across the country to forge a viable base that can ensure electoral triumph. The beauty of it is that no geo-political region or zone of the country can unilaterally lord it over others or decide who will be President of Nigeria.

    This fact was obviously lost on people like Chief Edwin Clark, Asari-Dokubo or Government Tompolo when, before the March 28, presidential election, they threatened fire and brimstone if their Ijaw kinsman, President Goodluck Jonathan, was not re-elected for a second term. Of course, Dr Jonathan suffered an emphatic defeat at the polls, conceded victory to General Muhammadu Buhari, the new President-elect, with philosophical equanimity and the rest is now history. Incidentally, this was also the same mistake made by key elements of the northern political elite when they stridently and vehemently opposed Jonathan contesting the 2011 election and called for a return of the presidency and, by implication, political power to the north in that year’s polls. This indeed elicited considerable sympathy and support for Jonathan and cost Buhari votes he badly needed in the South and predominantly Christian areas of the northern middle belt.

    The victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari, is no doubt a function of the successful handshake for the first time in the country’s history between the North and the South West. Interestingly, some commentators and analysts particularly from the South-South and South East claim that the outcome of the March 28th polls was the result of a ‘gang up’ by the North West, North East, North Central and South West against the South-South and South-East, which are veritable political strongholds of the PDP. This is a curious contention indeed.

    For one, as has been severally noted, President Jonathan won a decisive victory in 2011. He was elected President largely on the basis of votes he garnered from the South-South, South-East and North-Central states with a smattering of support from the North-West and the North-East. Could the outcome of the 2011 presidential elections be attributed then to a gang up between the Southern electorate and Christian elements of the North to deny Buhari of victory at the polls? I do not think so.

    Despite its appalling performance at the last polls, considering the party’s access to humongous resources, its longevity in power since 1999 and its brazen manipulation of institutions of state for pernicious partisan purposes, the PDP is far from being dead. Even though the PDP lost the presidency and several states hitherto under its control, the party won at least 25% of the votes cast in most of the South-West and the northern states. This was unlike the South-South and South-East where the APC could not garner 25% of votes cast except for Edo and Imo states.

    Thus, voter behaviour in the north and South-West could be attributed to a combination of factors including ethno-regional and religious considerations, merit and a desire for change. In the South-South and South-East, however, ethno-regional affiliation seems to have been the key determinant of voter behaviour. The important thing was to vote for a ‘son of the soil’ notwithstanding his record of performance in office. It is exactly this kind of one-sided ethno-regional bloc voting that can be described as a gang up against the rest of the country.

    The elections of March 28 and April 11 signify two key changes in elite alliance or coalition formation in Nigeria. For one, it marked a significant political divorce between the hegemonic factions of the South-South and northern political elite. In both the first and second republics, the South-South consistently cast their lot with the politically dominant Hausa/Fulani political class. And this was despite the fact that Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s Action Group and Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) had consistently championed pro minority political causes such as creation of more states to cater for the county’s ethnic minorities as well as revenue allocation based on derivation, which would have immensely benefitted the oil producing states of the Niger Delta.

    This is why all the strident strictures of prominent South-South indigenes against so-called northern domination in the run up to the last election sounded so hollow and hypocritical. The truth of the matter is that the South-South political elite have always been complicit since independence in the despoliation of their land and the exploitation of their people. It is instructive that after six years at the apex of political authority in Nigeria, an Ijaw man is leaving the Niger Delta as poverty-stricken and environmentally ravaged as ever.

    Beyond this, Jonathan has left intact the over-centralised and excessively bureaucratised political structure responsible for the pitiable plight of millions of Nigerians both within the Niger Delta and throughout the country. This only reinforces the fact that what matters is not necessarily the ethno-regional origins of a President but the quality of his vision, the rigour of his ideological convictions and his competence and will to transform vision into reality.

    The other key change in the Nigerian polity signified by the last general elections is the new partnership between the northern and south-west political classes. Even though he has been rightly pilloried in history because of the criminal impunity that characterised his attempt to stay put in office as Premier of the Western Region, even against the will of the people, Chief SLA Akintola must still be given the credit for being politically prescient enough to see the imperative of a north/South-West working alliance. On the basis of his superlative performance as Premier of the West, Awolowo sought to sell himself and his party’s programmes directly to the electorate of the north and the eastern regions believing that any rational voter would want him to replicate at the national level what he had done in the west to worldwide acclaim.

    Unfortunately, Awo could not have been more mistaken. Akintola had a better grasp of the political complexities of a sprawling plural society like Nigeria with its intricate mosaic of competing ethno-cultural and religious entities. He thus advocated an alliance of the South-West political elite with their northern and eastern counterparts to partake of the bounteous feast at the centre. This was what the late Chief S.M. Afolabi had in mind decades later when he chided Chief Bola Ige for not appreciating the opportunity given to him by the PDP to ‘come and eat’ as a Minister of the Federal Republic. Unfortunately, advocates of participation in ‘mainstream’ politics have, since Akintola, been actuated with a desire to share in the cake at the centre and less with the onerous challenges of crisis and underdevelopment confronting Nigeria.

    Awolowo had the intellectual depth, self -discipline and ideological clarity needed to liberate and actualize the potentials of Nigeria. However, he lacked the tactical and strategic skills to convert his regional acceptability in the west to achieve a pan-Nigerian acceptance. Akintola was endowed with astute political pragmatism and flexibility but was deficient in organisational discipline, programmatic vision or ideological coherence. In Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, national leader of the APC and a key architect of Nigeria’s emergent new order, we find a combination of Awolowo’s political idealism and Akintola’s strategic realism.

    These qualities have contributed significantly to Tinubu’s unrivalled ability to help forge the new North/South-West political consensus responsible for Buhari’s electoral triumph. But how can the new North/South West partnership help in leading Nigeria out of the darkness of underdevelopment into the liberating light of accelerated national transformation? That is the million dollar question.