The Nation Newspaper

Category: Saturday

  • Odu’a Investment and South West integration

    The prime lesson of the outcome of the Scottish independence referendum is that centrifugal pulls are as powerful as centripetal forces in multinational states. Fifty-five percent of voters opted for Scotland to remain in the United Kingdom while 45% wanted an independent Scotland. In a fundamental sense, it is a win-win situation. Yes, the UK remains intact but governance in that jurisdiction will never be the same again. As Alistair Darling, leader of the pro-union side aptly puts it, the Scottish people voted for positive change without needless separation. British Prime Minister, Donald Cameron, has spoken of specific steps to be taken to strengthen regional autonomy not only for Scotland but also for England, Wales and Ireland within a given time frame. At the end of the day these reforms can only strengthen the UK.

    This column has always been reluctant to identify with those who sentimentally seek ethno-regional autonomy or separatism simply for the sake of it. Yes, it is imperative that powers, responsibilities and resources be considerably decentralised to strengthen Nigeria’s component units, reinforce our federal constitution and enhance the quality as well as efficiency of governance. Equally vital is the need for greater economic integration of the various geographically contiguous regions as a basis for accelerated national development. But none of this is incompatible with the existence of a strong and vibrant centre. A strong federal government and states that are substantially strengthened fiscally and statutorily are not mutually exclusive. Indeed, it can be a mutually reinforcing relationship as demonstrated by the commendable cooperation between the federal and state governments in combating the Ebola virus scourge.

    It is unfortunate that the advocacy for regional integration in Nigeria has focussed more on political than the more critical economic integration. I have argued, for instance, that the call in some quarters for the creation of another layer of government at regional level is an unnecessary and wasteful duplication of bureaucracy that can only increase the cost of governance to the detriment of development. In the South-West, considerable time, energy and funds have been expended in the pursuit of regional integration. However, the ultimate futility of regional integration at the political level was demonstrated by the discordant tunes among South-West states’ delegates at the Jonathan National Conference. The focus must be on regional economic integration, which is less problematic to actualize and will be far more beneficial. Indeed, a key factor that influenced the outcome of the Scottish referendum was the strong economic ties that bind the various nations that comprise the United Kingdom together.

    The visionary Chief Obafemi Awolowo had laid the foundation for the economic integration of the South-West with the establishment of such viable mega public corporations as the Western Nigeria Development Corporation (WNDC), the Finance Corporation and the Western Nigeria Housing Corporation to facilitate the aggressive economic and commercial development of the region in the first republic. In his book on the life and times of Awolowo titled, ‘Unfinished Greatness’, Olufemi Ogunsanwo writes that “WNDC spread its tentacles to manufacturing, banking, insurance, hotels and catering, property development and real estate. It floated a large number of companies and industries wholly owned by government or held in partnership with several foreign investors…More than half of these companies are still viable today and have been consolidated in the Odu’a Group of companies, the largest conglomerate in the history of Nigeria with total assets in excess of 10 trillion Naira in 2004”.

    There is no doubt that if the quality of governance achieved by Awolowo in the region had been sustained over the years, the Odu’a Investment Company would today be a major economic force to reckon with in Africa and even globally. It would be a major catalyst of the economic growth and integration of the region. Unfortunately, the company was also a victim of the visionless and criminally corrupt years of military misrule. But there is no use crying over spilt milk. The present crop of South-West governors has a historic responsibility to help restore the glory of the company and actualize its potentials as a potent vehicle for the economic transformation and integration of the region. To his credit, the immediate past Group Managing Director of the conglomerate, Alhaji Adebayo Jimoh, at least succeeded in stabilising the company and stemming its decline.

    In May this year, Mr Adewale Raji was appointed as the new GMD/CEO of the Odu’a group. I reliably gathered that he was picked through a competitive selection process supervised by the internationally renowned KPMG advisory services. With a working experience that spans over 28 years, he rose to become Managing Director, Distribution Services, of PZ Cussons Nigeria Group in June 2005 and was appointed into the multinational’s executive board in 2006. Expectations are thus high that he has what it takes to take the Odu’a group to the next level. His predecessor had the luck of spending nine unprecedented years in office. Raji must not presume he will enjoy such luxury. He thus has no choice but to think outside the box and hit the ground running in order to make an enduring impact in the shortest possible time.

    For starters, I think the new GMD should consider such low hanging fruits as the company’s potentials in the hospitality industry. I am told that the Lagos Airport Hotel Limited is one of the financial pillars of the group. If that is true, the credit goes to a tenacious and ingenious management that is able to bring out the best in its workforce in difficult conditions. Massive investment to upgrade facilities, staff welfare and services in such subsidiaries as Lagos Airport Hotel as well as both Premier and Lafia Hotels in Ibadan can make them more competitive and turn them into veritable goldmines for the group.

    And the South-West governors should work hard towards bringing in Lagos into the Odu’a group. It is unthinkable that the region’s strongest economy is not part of Odu’a Investment Company. Governors will come and go. Power will continuously change hands among different political parties. But Odu’a group will always remain. That is the beauty of economic integration.

  • Re – Osoba, Amosun and the Lagos model

    •“We have overflogged this issue of Amosun/Osoba. I watched on a TV station when Aremo said nobody should beg him and if they beg him he will not accept Amosun. Aremo is playing God. What is his gain to destroy the house he built? Aremo does not like Amosun and he wants to destroy Amosun NOT APC.Amosun will win in 2015”, 08035313169

    •“Osoba versus Amosun. Resolution of Ogun crisis could have been better handled before the congress but now it is too late with elected executives on ground”, 07057631041

    •“Osoba is acting God by his actions and words. He wants to be the one yesterday, today and eternity. A maa n’loyunegbon si inu ti omodeammarinnile. That is, age has no corollary with wisdom. Amosun must act elderly now by allowing Osoba and his ilk to destroy all they want. Suffice to say history will remember them. Their type is not new in Yoruba history”, 08055679465

    •“What actually is the problem in Ogun that Asiwaju and others can’t find solution to? Apart from his sterling performance, civil servants in Ogun are about the best paid in Nigeria. We civil servants in other states envy them but Amosun will win in 2015″, 08035836859

    •“Read your piece this morning in The Nation. I am 54 years old, not a politician, don’t live in Ogun state but from Ogun state. I visited Abeokuta last about 10 years ago, had cause to pass through sometime last month and I missed my way. I can’t believe what I saw in terms of development at least in Abeokuta. Please tell the Osobas of this world and his likes that dot the South-West it’s time they quit politics and allow these boys to perform. They have had their time and should let those of them performing to be and stop distracting them unnecessarily with sharing of party spoils”, 08033105727

    •“As you write you also teach. Your degree of fairness is superbly high. May God continue to guide you”, 08037090389

    •“The sins of Amosun cannot be forgiven by Osoba and his supporters for his efforts at defeating him in 2003. Senator Tinubu made Amosun ticket possible. Till date Amosun and his group is still regarded as alien in the party. Why? Let them stop saying ‘Se titi la ma je ni’. For eight years of OGD what were they eating? And the hawks are waiting. If they fail, they will all be losers but Amosun will be the hero of the electorate and respected in any party”, 08026537722

    ” Greetings. Like your piece on Amosun and Osoba. It is unfortunate Nigerians do not appreciate Shakespear’s memorable words on actors. We,have our entrances and exits when on stage. Nigerian politicians like Osoba do not think so. Osoba should be off the stage now. We do forget that he caused the loss of ACN to Daniel out of his inordinate ambition. He needs to be reminded how he will be remembered when the history of Ogun is written“, 08037040688.

  • Eagles’ fall guy

    Eagles’ fall guy

    In times past, it was said that Nigerian coaches exhibited inferiority complex towards our big stars from Europe such that they were not respected. Nigerian coaches who handled the Eagles were bereft of the modern day tactics to which most of our Europe-based stars were exposed. So, the trend of recruiting foreign coaches for the Eagles reigned just as it produced the results that we craved for. In fact, most Nigerian coaches who worked under foreign coaches in the Super Eagles were naïve with a few stooping to the extent of carrying the foreign coaches’ briefcases in public places such as the airport, in a bid to curry favour.

    The general belief was that the appointment of some of our retired Europe-based stars would bridge the gap, just as it would finally throw into the dust bin our penchant for hiring foreign coaches, especially journeymen in the trade.

    Indeed, many Nigerians celebrated the decision to empower ex-internationals to train the national teams.  They argued that current stars won’t dare underrate them, having watched them as kids play for the country and their European clubs. Indeed, the choice of the last two Eagles’ technical crew raised hope that Nigeria could realise the dream being among the league of countries whose coaches played and coached the national teams at the senior World Cup.

    I didn’t share in this sentiment because these ex-internationals haven’t been able to transit from being players to managers. Their coaching methods put a lie to the fact that they worked under great coaches. Most times, I’m not shocked by the flawed tactics which I reckon would haunt them while trying to instill discipline in those current stars who play under renowned coaches.

    I was therefore not shocked to read Samson Siasia’s revelation that Chelsea star John Mikel Obi hates being rebuked.  “Someone would have to talk to him. But to talk to Mikel, you have to be ready for your own beating,’’ he said.

    “From what we have seen and what people are talking about, they don’t think he is giving his best. But he should be able to criticise himself; he should do a self-critique. If he believes he is not doing well, he should to try and up his game.”

    My heart sank reading this statement for the fact that Siasia nurtured Mikel to stardom. Besides, it is common knowledge that Chelsea’s manager Jose Mourinho chastised Mikel over the flaws in his game, yet the Nigerian has not beaten the Special One. Indeed, Mikel has granted interviews where he revealed his fear of Mourinho.

    The truth is Mikel doesn’t reckon with our coaches simply because of their inability to improve on his game with their tactics and philosophy. His seemingly recalcitrant attitude rests with the fact that our coaches kowtow to him and make him feel indispensable.

    Besides, our national team’s coaches’ morbid fixation with where he played in the past has made the Chelsea star play the way he has been doing, knowing he cannot be substituted. Perhaps, if our coaches shocked him by dropping him from the list of invited players for some matches, he would sit up.

    One cannot understand how Mikel is being made to play in the offensive midfield position in the Eagles, in spite of the fact that he has been playing in the defensive midfield position for Chelsea. At Chelsea, he distinguishes himself, so why can’t our coaches do the same. Why is Siasia trying to make Mikel the fall guy of the Eagles’ recent slide when he doesn’t pick himself for the coaches? I challenge the coaches to drop Mikel for the next two games and see if he won’t improve, especially if we beat Sudan handsomely in the two-legged ties in Omdurman and Abuja, like we are being told by the National Sports Commission (NSC).

    The current Eagles’ slide can be traced to the coaches’ tin god status. Having groomed the Eagles to lift the Africa Cup of Nations diadem in South Africa last year, they ought

    to have used that squad as the pivot of their subsequent matches. Instead, they got excited and almost changed the squad members wholesale in the next game after the Africa Nations Cup conquest. I had thought that the Eagles’ disappointing 1-1 draw against Kenya in Calabar should have served as a warning to the coaches to retain the cup-winning squad. It didn’t; they continued under the guise of rebuilding. It also became impossible to correct them, since they were enjoying rave reviews from the public, following their Cup of Nations feat.

    Our reluctance to call these coaches to order is chiefly responsible for the slide in our fortunes. If we think that we can beat Sudan at home, we must be joking. The Sudanese are worried about their team’s dwindling fortunes and would want to stop the rot either by beating Nigeria or playing for a draw. Besides, the deplorable pitch and inclement weather conditions could give them the fillip to beat us since our players would be grappling with the aforementioned conditions. We can overcome the Sudanese if we storm Omdurman with our armada of fit stars most of who would be challenged to give their best.

     Emmanuel Emenike’s goal drought can be traced to the midfield formation that the Eagles play. At the Africa Cup of Nations, he enjoyed a telepathic understanding with Brown Ideye and Sunday Mba. This has been broken by the coaches’ mindless tinkering of the squad using all manner of players.

    Rather than replace the noticeable ageing players with emerging stars from our age grade national teams, our coaches invited wastepipes from novelty leagues in Europe, the Americas and the Diaspora. The coaches refused to subject their lists to scrutiny. It got so bad that we invited ineligible players such as Efe Ambrose for one of such matches. We were saved the embarrassment by one NFF chief, who checked the books and found that the Celtic of Scotland star had bagged the maximum number of yellow cards.

    Elsewhere, when players are picked for games, ardent followers of the beautiful game understand the reasons for such choices. Those coaches pick players doing well for their European and local teams. What this guarantees is the fitness of their players, their mental alertness and zeal to win matches which they would have acquired playing for their clubs.

     Our coaches must learn how to see the Eagles as our team not their property. They must change their style of dropping players that they don’t like. They must learn from managers like Mourinho, who was criticised by Eden Hazard, yet recommended a bumper wage increase for the Chelsea star for the next five years at Stamford Bridge.

    There are several ways of enforcing discipline. It should never be to the detriment of the Eagles which is what we are faced with. If the team had been doing well, no one would be advocating for their return. Our coaches can redeem themselves by picking our best always.

     Weekly, we see other national teams’ managers watch their wards in big European clubs. These technical men use the opportunity to meet with such clubs chiefs to find out how their boys are faring. Those who don’t play due to injury get consoled by their coaches just as the cause of their injuries are established. Nothing is left to chance. There are no cases of inviting injury-hit players for international assignments.

     The advantage of such visits is that they help the managers see the specific positions in which their wards perform best. Perhaps, if our coaches toed this path, they would have asked Mourinho what informed his decision to field Mikel in defensive midfield role than his traditional offensive position. Mourinho would allay their fears about the bench role to which the Nigerian has found himself. This could also be the platform to exchange numbers, and routinely rub minds with the Special One on tactics and players’ management.

    A coaching relationship with Mourinho is worth all the money and time that our coaches spend sleeping at home or being guests of television stations during European league games. Recall that the ‘White witch doctor’ Phillipe Troussier got the Nigerian job courtesy a recommendation from Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.

     Our coaches must accept that they have failed us with their choice of players. Indeed, Nigeria’s number football supporter, Dr. Raufu Ladipo, on Thursday lampooned them insisting they should forgive players who have offended them by picking them for Nigeria’s next matches. Ladipo admonished the coaches further when he said: “We in Nigeria know that football is one thing that keeps us united. It is one thing that gives us joy. So, I’m using this opportunity to tell Keshi and his technical crew that they need to open up the space for other players to come in because presently, more than 30 per cent of the players that we are parading have no business in the national team.”

    One sincerely hopes that the coaches will heed Ladipo’s warning. Only the best is good enough for Nigeria. There can’t have be a better time for this advice than now when Nigeria is rated sixth in Africa at a time we are the continental champions Oba Khato Okpere, Ise!

  • Lamentations, exhortations and emergent global order

    IN Nigeria this week the Arewa Consultative Council a leading socio – cultural caucus startled all of us when its leader, former Police Inspector General and lately a law maker, Senator Abidina Coomasie lamented that Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan had literally abandoned the Northern part of Nigeria in terms of his government’s economic development wlfare and security programme. Indeed, he literally accused our president of fuelling anarchy in the North and turning a blind eye to the atrocities of Boko Haram which he said had laid the North prostrate in terms of peace, security and the quality of human life. Indeed the former IG painted such a grim picture of the powerlessness and suffering of the North that was as laughable as it was sickening such that it was difficult to know whether to cry or to laugh.

    This is because if one did not know the history of Nigeria in the last 100 years one would think that he was talking of the pollution ridden Creeks of the Niger Delta from where the oil money that developed the vast North had come from. And not the North of Nigeria where most Nigerian leaders and heads of states had come from , and where the motto for grooming people like him for power had been – ‘born to rule.’ Indeed one can say wonders will never end on the Coomasie Arewa outburst.

    But then, we go on from there, in spite of the condemnation of Arewa’s lamentations by the Northern Elders Forum through its leader Alhaji Tanko Yakassai who took Coomasie and the leadership of Arewa to the Cleaners by saying that Arewa’s leadership had lost touch with ordinary Northerners and is no longer relevant. The NEL leader, an older and more polemic politician on controversies than the former IG Senator, accused the leadership of Arewa of being infiltrated by opposition politicians. But he said this in such vitriolic language that made it sound as if he had never been in opposition, when his pedigree as a well known Northern leader was that of someone perpetually anti government and anti establishment. That was until quite recently. In addition he made the work or the reaction of the opposition he lambasted so easy, in that he has killed all the birds with one stone where two would have sufficed for the opposition to respond to Arewa’s lamentations if, and, as necessary.

    All the same, the mood in the Arewa camp was not reflective of the mood elsewhere in other parts of the world this week. In the US I listened to a brilliant and vibrant President Barak Obama exhorting American troops at the US Army Central Command on the need for the air strikes against ISIS and telling them that the world respects the quality of their service, contribution and sacrifice because as Americans they are the best in the world to rescue the world from the bestiality of ISIS.

    President Obama harangued US troops this week like a Senator in the Senate of the Ancient Roman Empire with all the dignity, pomp and oratory of that ancient office, the only difference being that he was not wearing the purple toga of the senators of ancient Rome. But the spirit was there and his audience appreciated the respect and recognition of their Commander In Chief, which was the essence of his address and visit any way. In short the US president’s praise and thanks to US troops and their families, equalled that of British Second War PM Winston Churchill to the British Airforce when he famously said – Never in the history of human struggle have so many owed so much to so few.

    Yet if one was thinking that given the high sense of patriotism and sacrifice that the US pres, ident had engendered in his troops, the world was awash or pervaded mainly with such preparations and expectations to degrade or annihilate ISIS, that would be a serious mistake. This is because while the US was clearing the mess of its piece meal response to barbaric religious militancy in the Middle East and Nigeria, a new civilisation was appearing like a star from the east in terms of world economic leadership, cooperation and development. While President Obama was indulging in the braggadocio that the present world usually looked to America to solve its problems including that of Ebola in West Africa, the two most populous nations on earth were far away and unmoved by such sentiments or emotion, no matter how well meaning and how relieving it was to the rest of the world.

    On a visit to India, China’s President Xi Jinping and India’s PM Nasreda Morde signed 12 major economic agreements that would see China spending $20bn to improve India’s infrastructure over the next five years. Hitherto such agreements were a monopoly of the US, EU nations and India’s former colonial master, the UK. But this week these Western nations had other things on their mind while the Indian Tiger and Chinese Dragon forgot their traditional border wars and clinked glasses over what the Indian PM called – Borders of Peace. The agreements would cover costs of modernising India’s ageing Railways, create industrial plantations in parts of India and make India’s pharmaceutical, software, communications and Information Technology Industries have more access to China’s vast population and high demand market. Surely this rapproachment between China and India, whose combined population dwarfs that of the rest of the world, is as important as the US led Coalition against ISIS because the poverty level in the world would be greatly improved by the provision and exchange of jobs and skills between the two most populous nations on earth. Surely the balance of power is shifting east as these two huge nations seek to fend for themselves and contribute so positively to global economic equilibrium. And the US Commander in Chief has to acknowledge that, just as he faces the huge and laudable task of saving us from ourselves and Ebola, in our own little corner in the world.

     Indeed, we have to end on the situation of our tight corner over the abducted and yet to be found Chibok 200 girls as well as the performance of our armed forces in the bloody fight against Boko Haram. Of course I refuse to believe the media reports that Boko Haram has appointed two Emirs in two captured towns in our besieged North East. Also while I am a stickler for discipline I nevertheless find it horrendous that so many soldiers can be sentenced to death for mutiny in the middle of this Boko Haram war. Such sentence if carried out will diminish morale rather than deter which could have been its controversial rationale. The sentence is just too harsh and could have a polarising effect on the military. Similarly the retirement of the general involved creates a double jeorpady for someone who escaped death only to have his career truncated. Did the army wish him dead in the first instance? Surely the army leadership should temper justice with mercy and make a sense of belonging of its troops the priority policy in prosecuting this war for which it has the support and prayers of all Nigerians to bring to a victorious conclusion urgently. What Nigerians want and urgently too, is the sort of scenes in the newspapers this week in which jubilant Nigerians happily escorted Nigerian troops into towns they took back from Boko Haram in the North East. Not pictures of able bodied Nigerian soldiers bring tried for mutiny in the middle of a crippling religious insurgency. Surely something is very bothersome and worrying about such spectacles and trials and we should be spared such in this unusual war in this equally volatile election period.

  • Sanctions, war and unity

    IN his address to the American people on the 13th anniversary of 9/11, the plane bombing of the twin towers of New York and the Pentagon building by Al Quada, the US President Barak Obama sounded more like his predecessor former President George Bush when he addressed the US Congress in 2001 after that unfortunate event that changed the course of world history with the start of the US War on Terror. The context was of course different and Obama had been elected on an anti war mood and campaign in 2008 but the spirit, the target, the message and challenges were the same.

    The US will go after those who kill or threaten its citizens any where in the world and would not flinch in fighting any threat to it security in any part of the globe. How this unity of purpose and commitment came about for these two very different presidents of the US and what we can learn or glean from it in advancing our understanding of the global security challenges posed by the rising menace of Islamic Militancy, is the kernel of our discussion of today. Since the US is perhaps right now, the only nation taking on ISIS on behalf of a watching, waiting and docile world, including of course a Boko Haram ridden and ridiculed Nigeria, we shall look at events that shaped the new US policy on ISIS which explicitly states that it will degrade and destroy the capacity of ISIS to kill, behead and murder innocent people with impunity anywhere in the world.

    Along side this we shall look at the efforts of UK Prime Minster David Cameron in trying to save the unity of the Kingdom by appealing to Scots desperately not to vote for separation or independence from the UK in the forthcoming referendum on that subject. We shall also look at an issue that threatens Nigeria’s unity and stability and that is the reported reallocation of polling booths in Nigeria by INEC. The two highlighted issues – from UK and Nigeria – bother on national unity and territorial integrity of both nations, and one should note that even in the newly declared limited war on ISIL, the US president has the backing of the Opposition Republicans in the US who even feel the ISIL war should be bigger in scope, just like George Bush got his go- ahead from his Congressional Address in 2001 to show internal unity of purpose on the war.

    Going back to the US president’s declaration of war on ISIL, on the anniversary of 9/11 this week I want to teasingly say that the road to war, albeit an half hearted one, by the US, has been littered by the grit, sweat and success of sanctions, first against Iran and now Russia on which the US announced further sanctions this week. In that ISIL address the US president praised his previous efforts in maintaining world peace by stating that the much criticised US policy on Syria where he stopped the much envisaged air strikes on Syria, yielded the dividend of the destruction of Syria’s much dreaded chemical weapons. It is interesting to recall that Russia was very much a stumbling block in thwarting any UN resolution advanced by the US and EU to get UN approval for the airstrikes against the regime of President Assad who was blatantly killing his country men just to stay in power. Obviously Russian foreign policy prevailed in the UN then, as it was able to prevent the west from dislodging the Assad regime with airstrikes .

    To me that lack of deterrence made Islamist extremists bolder in Syria leading to the emergence ISIL. It made Russia led by President Vladmir Putin more aggressive and that was how the invasion of Crimea came to pass and stand, till today. It also finally and inadvertently led to the to the invasion of Ukraine, which the EU and the US reacted to with sanctions but which the Russians interpreted as a lack of will to fight, but which now is biting so hard that the Russians have begun the withdrawal of their troops, as confirmed by no less a person than the Ukrainian president himself this week. Now, Russia’s joy in stopping a UN sanctioned US airstrike over Syria has boomeranged into a pyrrhic victory with the rise of ISIL which has seen the US willing to fight along its erstwhile adversary in the region, Iran which also is opposed to ISIL or Islamic State and wants it destroyed by all means – but first in Iraq. Which is where it is attacking the Iraqi government led by a Shia majority whose brand of Islam is from Iran .Hitherto Russia and Iran have been staunch allies propping up the repressive regime and bloody tyranny of President Assad in Syria.

    Now the US and Iran have a sudden convergence of interests in liquidating the Islamic State threat for their mutual security, regional control and peace. The basis for this partnership of strange bedfellows lies in the Obama ISIL war declaration this week in which he asserted that ISIL is not Islamic because Islam does not approve of killing innocent people and is definitely not a state and therefore has no locus to claim any territorial authority. So Iran, familiar with the withering power of economic sanctions over its bid for nuclear weapons has now found some measure of respect for US outlook and values, in spite of the differences of culture and politics, which have hitherto made both nations implacable enemies till now. Similarly, the Russians who have been making merry with Obama’s steady dilemma in going to war, any where, now know that sanctions can bite really hard, while invasions can be costly to enact and very expensive to maintain in the face of a determined and bold EU and US not really willing to go to a full scale war; but ready, crafty and wily enough to impose crippling sanctions which obviously have made the rampaging Russia bear of the brazen invasion fame, to respect international law and withdraw to its borders at least from Ukraine as it happened this week.

    While the US was making the Middle East secure against Islamic State, Britain was fighting a war of unity as the PM and his deputy flew to Scotland to urge the people there not to secede as it were from the UK as the opinion polls were suggesting that this was the direction of the mind of most Scots on the referendum on Scotland’s proposed Independence. David Cameron’s advice that there would be no going back on the yes vote seemed like a subtle blackmail to me as the choice is before the electorate which has had more than ample time to ruminate over this.

    Which ever way it goes, the Scots have their fate and future in their hands I wish them well in choosing either to jettison the Union Jack or not as that would not really end the sonorous singing of popular national anthem – God Save the Queen What is admirable in all these is the fight being put on by the British PM to preserve the unity of the UK even as the choice is before the electorate to decide. Which is quite the opposite in Nigeria where objections have been raised to the way INEC has re demarcated polling booths and given more to the North than the South. Eminent Southerners have cried foul and have asked the INEC Chairman to resign but he has refused but instead has said firmly that he would be around in 2015. Which to me seems he has turned the issue into a do or die affair. Which also is as bizarre as it is unfortunate.

    This is because in a nation in which the army cannot contain an insurgency similar to that the US declared war on this week, even though ISIL is not on its homeland, elections can certainly not be a priority over security and the containment and quashing of the insurgency. In addition by using whatever figures or statistics INEC used for the number of polling booths in the North and South, INEC has opened a dangerous pandoras box over Nigeria’s census figures which have always revealed that the North is more populous than the South. Which also is a fallacy in terms of the steady north- south population migration which is the demographic trend in Nigeria away from the creeping Sahel which makes habitation difficult leading to further migration away from the Sahel to find greener pastures down south.

    But in Nigeria the Sahel States have more population than the southern states to which people are running to from the harsh unsustainable vegetation of the Sahel . When I saw pictures of students being evacuated from the University and Polytechnic in Mubi because of Boko Haram I could not but recall that when I served as a youth corps in Federal School of Arts and Science Mubi, which later became the Polytechnic in Mubi the population of North Eastern state was put at 15m. The state later gave birth to six states namely, Adamawa, Borno, Bauchi, Gongola, Gombe but unfortunately the former NE is now the theatre of war in Nigeria with Boko Haram claiming territories as caliphate on a daily basis.

    Is INEC planning to conduct elections in 2015 in these states especially Borno? And are more polling booths being allocated in these war zones for the 2015 elections? Surely these questions beg for answers as the elections are less than six months away. Again I want to stress that it is bad enough having elections during an insurgency that is intractable, not to talk of adding another headache over polling booths based on questionable census figures that have always generated heated and passionate political contentions and controversies. A word I think is enough for the wise and I urge INEC to show a great sense of responsibility and restraint and rethink the basis of its new polling booths allocation nationwide, if it has any respect for the unity and stability of Nigeria as at presently constituted.

  • Lagos, debt and development

    Lagos, debt and development

    “In reality, however, the experience of most Third World states suggests that  public foreign debt has been used mainly to create or maintain fiscal deficits. More often than not, such deficits are caused not by greater public investment but by higher public current consumption or, in some cases, grandiose and unprofitable investment.” – Professor Adebayo Olukoshi

    Nigerians certainly have every reason to be wary, suspicious and contemptuous of debts purportedly acquired on their behalf by governments at all levels. Ever since the General Olusegun Obasanjo military administration obtained the first jumbo external loan of US$1 billion to finance major public sector projects, the country’s debt profile has risen steeply with negligible impact on national development. By the time of Obasanjo’s second coming as civilian President in 1999, the country’s external debt had risen to over $30 billion. In 2005, his administration celebrated what it described as Nigeria’s liberation from debt peonage. The Obasanjo administration had scandalously agreed to pay the Paris Club of creditors $12.4 billion of debt arrears upfront to have its remaining debt written off.

    Of course, the country’s external debt stock has been steadily mounting again. According to the Debt Management Office (DMO), Nigeria’s current overall external debt by both federal and state governments stands at $9.377 million. The DMO is confident that this debt is sustainable and within healthy limits within the context of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The problem is that there continues for the most part to be very little to show for this debt partly due to the factors adduced by Professor Adebayo Olukoshi in the preceding quote. Corruption, inefficiency and poor governance continue largely to make a debt a hindrance to, rather than promoter of economic growth and development.

    Yet, the mismanagement of debt by irresponsible political and administrative elite does not discredit the fact that debt can be a viable vehicle for driving development. Debt is not a sin. It is not a crime. It is its misuse and abuse that is condemnable and obstructive of development. The sensational reporting of the external indebtedness of the Lagos State government by the media during the week clearly attempts to play on the ill-informed but understandable fear of debt by the general public. According to the reports, Lagos State owes 33.8% of the country’s total sub-national external debts. The state reportedly owes $1.01 billion of the total states’ external debt of $3.01 billion.  Components of this debt include $837.91 million from multilateral bodies and $82.5 million from bilateral sources.

    The loans obtained by Lagos State are for clearly stated purposes. For instance, in addition to an initial sum of $95 million, the Board of Executive Directors of the World Bank has approved another tranche of $42 million loan deal to support the EKO secondary school project. Now, is this loan helping to achieve the objective for which it was obtained? According to the World Bank, the EKO school project has systematically benefitted over 620, 000 students a year in 667 public secondary schools in Lagos State between 2009 and 2013. More concretely, the bank reports that student scores from beneficiary schools went up from 30% to 70% in English, 31% to 41% in Mathematics and from 27% to 65% in basic sciences. And the results of the June 2013 West Africa School Certificate (WASC) external examinations showed that 41% of students from beneficiary schools passed with five credits and above as compared to just over 18% before the Lagos EKO project was implemented.

    Again, the World Bank has supported Lagos State’s public sector reforms including fiscal sustainability, budget planning, budget execution and improving the investment climate with a loan of $200 million. Its aim is to help the state “sustain the strong momentum it had achieved in improving public services, facilitating inclusive growth and reducing poverty”.

    And what is the World Bank’s assessment of the state’s performance in this regard? According to its Country Director for Nigeria, Marie Francoise Marie-Nelly, “Lagos State has sustained rapid growth and achieved what many would not have believed possible and has managed to reduce its poverty headcount from 57% in 2004 to 23% in 2010”.

    The truth is that Lagos State offers a model of how debt can be utilised to drive development. In 2002, the Tinubu administration raised N15 billion from the capital market. The fund was expended on such development projects as the Global Computerisation Programme, Millennium Micro Water Works, Construction and Rehabilitation of high courts, waste management projects and massive construction of classrooms among others. The bond was fully redeemed in September 2009. The first bond taken by the administration of Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) has been redeemed while the second tranche will be due for redemption by 2016. All over Lagos, there is concrete evidence of what the funds are being used for through the various projects being implemented in diverse sectors in an unprecedented manner. This on-going radical modernisation of infrastructure will elevate the economy of the state to a higher level while enhancing its capacity both to generate wealth and to repay its debt.

    Of course, there is still a lot to be done to get Lagos to the requisite level of development. For instance, the quality of grassroots governance needs to be radically overhauled. The local government councils can certainly do much better in constructing, rehabilitating and maintaining inner city roads. Better equipped, staffed and maintained primary health care centres will reduce pressure on secondary and tertiary health institutions. The Fashola administration can also do much more to reduce waste and the cost of governance. But overall, Lagos is far ahead of most states and the federal government on service delivery and provision of infrastructure. It is not generally acknowledged, for instance, that the entire country owes Lagos a debt of gratitude that the Ebola virus has been so effectively contained. If the Liberian, Thomas Sawyer, had entered the country through a state with a less alert and effective government, you can imagine what a terrible disaster it would have been for the whole country. In the management of its finances, including debt, Lagos offers a model for the rest of the country to follow.

    Rejoicing with Professor Adigun Agbaje

    It was the best of times; it was the worst of times. It was a season of hope; it was a season of despair. I paraphrase the famous opening words of Charles Dickens great novel on the French revolution, ‘A Tale of two Cities’. These are certainly not the best of times for Nigeria when, for instance, erratic viruses and lunatic terrorists pose such dangerous threats to life. Yet, there are also, daily, life and hope-affirming events and celebrations that are also expressions of faith in the possibilities of Nigeria and humanity. One such joyous occasions comes up today at the No. 3 Staff Quarters of the Cross River University of Technology, Calabar, when the families of Chief (Rtd Col.) Moses Effiong and Professor Adigun Agbaje, celebrate the traditional wedding of their children, Irene Iquo and Ayodamope Ikeolu.

    Professor Adigun Agbaje is one of Nigeria’s most eminent political scientists and a former Deputy Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan. He was one of a unique group of distinguished scholars who taught me the rudiments of political science at Ibadan. I remember in particular his foundational course on the ‘Logic and methods of political enquiry’ that taught us not only to detect crooked thinking but also to keep our own thinking straight. I am not surprised that his son, Ayodamope, also a social scientist, travelled far from his native Iwo in Osun state to choose a bride from the Niger Delta. Professor is one of the most broad- minded and detribalised human beings you can meet. Son has simply taken after the father. Love breaks down narrow ethno-regional barriers. The church wedding comes up here in Lagos on Saturday, September 27, at the Catholic Church of Presentation, Oba  Akinjobi Street, GRA, Ikeja. I am sure that many of Professor Agbaje’s students resident in Lagos will be on hand to celebrate and rejoice with a man who so selflessly imparted knowledge to us. Congratulations sir. I wish the couple a blissful and fulfilled married life.

  • Osoba, Amosun and the Lagos model

    Osoba, Amosun and the Lagos model

    I recently did a piece in this column titled  ‘Development Democracy and its Discontents’ in which, I weighed in heavily on the side of the Ogun State governor, Senator IbikunleAmosun, in his running battle with the former governor, AremoOlusegunOsoba and some other politicians within the governing All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state. The reason for my position was simple. I had witnessed first- hand the phenomenal developmental strides achieved in diverse sectors in Ogun state under Amosun, a fact widely testified to within and outside the state. It was my view that, no matter the personal failings and weaknesses of Amosun as a mortal, he ought not to be distracted from his worthy service to the state for partisan political reasons. I argued that democracy could only promote progress and development when high achievers like Amosun are seen as assets to be supported rather than pulled down particularly by forces and tendencies within their own parties.

    I received scores of reactions to that piece. Some gave uncritical support to my rather harsh criticism of Amosun’s opponents within the Ogun APC. It is not impossible that these were hard core and, thus possibly biased supporters of the governor. Some others, however, were of the view that I ought to have been more nuanced in my analysis. They reasoned that all the blame could not be laid at the door steps of Osoba if many other key politicians in the state’s APC are equally at loggerheads with Amosun.

    Since then, the crisis in the Ogun APC has steadily deteriorated. Last weekend, Governor Amosun uncharacteristically granted extensive interviews to several national dailies. Before this he had given the impression of preferring to allow his undeniable achievements speak for him. While articulating the policy conceptualisation, implementation, challenges, projections and attainments of his administration, Amosun also spoke on his relationship with AremoOsoba. He affirmed that he would never fight Osoba whom he respects as his leader. This in itself is an indication of things not being well between the two. On his part, it is speculated strongly that AremoOsoba is set to launch a new political party, the Action Group, to thwart Amosun’s re-election for a second term.

    Of course, the conflict between ex-office holders and incumbents, godfathers and godsons has been a recurrent feature of Nigerian politics since the first republic. The face- off between Chief ObafemiAwolowo as party leader of the Action Group (AG) and LadokeAkintola as Premier of the Western region resulted in the implosion of the party and ultimately the collapse of the first republic. There are indications, that despite Akintola’s perceived perfidy, Awolowo with the benefit of hindsight wished the intra-party crisis had been handled differently. Thus, in the second republic, he insisted that the UPN governors must also double as the state chairmen and leaders of the party. He had come to realise through bitter experience that there must be a healthy balance between the desirability of party discipline and loyalty and respect for elected wielders of executive authority on the platform of the party.

    Should the crisis in the Ogun state APC have been allowed to degenerate to this level? Would this unsavoury situation have been averted through the adoption of the ‘Lagos model’? And what is this model? In 2007, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu quit office after serving two terms. He was succeeded by Mr BabatundeRajiFashola (SAN) a focussed, no-nonsense technocrat. Not being a politician, Fashola had no political structure of his own. Of course, he could have used the immense powers and resources of his office to either hijack the existing structure or create one of his own. Several governors had successfully done this obliterating the political edifice of their predecessors and benefactors. Fashola chose a different course. He refused to be distracted by politics. He focussed in an unprecedented manner on governance leaving the time and energy consuming intricacies of politics to his predecessor. There thus evolved a healthy division of labour – the governor focussing on development, Tinubu managing the politics.

    Did BRF, through this attitude, not take an undue risk making his political future vulnerable to forces beyond his control? On the contrary, his spectacular performance made him an invaluable asset to the party. The defunct ACN could not have credibly and logically denied him a second term. Yet, Tinubu could also take tremendous credit not only for laying the foundation for BRF’s attainments but also for the prescience of correctly identifying and assessing his successor’s exceptional leadership qualities. Were things always rosy and smooth-going between Tinubu and Fahola? That would have been humanly impossible. But I believe that mutual respect, wisdom, tact and the overriding party and state interest were always the balancing factors.

    Could this model have been adopted in Ogun with Amosun focussing on governance and Osoba managing the politics? The answer, unfortunately is no. Unlike BRF, Amosun already had a solid political structure before becoming governor. Amosun was an elected Senator between 2003 and 2007. His structure is acknowledged to have played a pivotal role in OtunbaGbenga Daniel’s emergence as governor in 2003. He made a spirited bid for the office against OGD in 2007. His formidable political structure was a major, pragmatic consideration in Amosun’sbeing chosen to fly the ACN governorship ticket in 2011. The first problem was that Amosun had to play a delicate balancing act between his own political structure coming in from the ANPP and the existing ACN structure on the ground. Neither Osoba nor Amosun could have realistically abandoned control of the political terrain entirely to the other. It could not be a win-win situation for both.

    The second complication was Amosun’s decision to adopt a technocratic approach to governance. Thus, his cabinet largely comprises technocrats rather than hard core politicians. Thus, his critics contend that at least five local government areas are not represented in his cabinet. Again, the sheer ambitious scale of the projects embarked upon by his administration has drastically reduced the funds available for political patronage. This may be good for governance but it is dangerous for politics. For, the implication is that disenchanted and demotivated politicians will readily gravitate towards Amosun’s opponents either within the APC or in other parties.

    Amosun’s media interviews indicate his confidence that he will win re-election on the basis of his impressive performance record. But then, why go into an election with a divided house? Yes, the governor is justified to be concerned and preoccupied about winning a second term to consolidate on his current efforts. But he also has a historic responsibility to do all in his power to bequeath to posterity a progressive party platform that is stronger and more cohesive than he met it. That is the best way to ensure that his legacy endures and is sustained beyond his personal tenure in office.At the end of the day, Amosun and Osoba do not have to like each other. But it is in their mutual interest to work together or self-destruct separately. Surely, it should not be impossible for Amosun to demonstrate respect for Osoba as his political leader not just in words but also in deeds. And AremoOsoba is politically mature and experienced enough to know that an incumbent governor also deserves a reasonable degree of respect and operational latitude. In the final analysis, the crises in the Ogun, Oyo and other chapters of the APC indicate the absence of an effective conflict monitoring, prevention and resolution mechanism within the party that must be addressed urgently.

  • Good luck Eagles

    Good luck Eagles

    Ordinarily, this column should have focused on Super Eagles’ game against Congo Brazzaville in Calabar today and the next tie against Bafana Bafana in Cape Town, South Africa on September 10. This column ought to have examined those picked for the two matches to find out if our coaches learnt anything from the Eagles’ World Cup outings in Brazil.

    I would also have looked at the propriety in asking Stephen Keshi to handle the team pro bono, as if we have not seen coaches renegotiate their contracts without leaving the team in limbo, like the Big Boss did until recently.

    I would have chastised goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama for choosing club over country with his laughable excuse for missing today’s game. In as much as the timing of Enyeama’s pullout was wrong, it also showed the goalkeeper as one who isn’t sure of how well the team would prosecute the two matches, given the impasse at the Glasshouse.

    I know that Enyeama must surely play for his French side next weekend, because he dares not give any flimsy excuse to his coaches. Perhaps, the Eagles coaches should shut the door against Enyeama in subsequent matches to allow other goalkeepers gain confidence by manning the goalpost in his absence. What does family issues mean? He should be stripped of the Eagles captainship. Put simply, Enyeama dodged the two games. He should be left out completely in this campaign. Enyeama must be told that he got the European contract playing for Nigeria at international competitions.

    But would you blame Enyeama when those who held us hostage in Namibia and Brazil are being treated like kings? It is a pity that this needless feud at the Glasshouse has once again stopped the move to get the Eagles’ coaches and players to sign the Code of Conduct document that would clearly spell out the team’s dos and don’t.

    One is pained that we have a rudderless NFF as it were arising from this crisis, otherwise, we ought to be talking about confronting the Congolese with a larger number of graduates from our junior national teams, not this vicious recycling of players who won’t be worth our while ahead of the 2018 World Cup.

    If we are not careful, a boy such as Kelechi Iheanacho won’t play for the Super Eagles due to his fast growth, especially with the type of coaches that we have in the team who can’t handle successful players plying their trade in bigger European clubs. It is only in a country like ours that Ihenancho isn’t in Calabar to destroy the Congolese today. The argument that the coaches should be given a freehand to pick their players is bunkum because we are seeing Iheanacho’s mates in other countries being integrated into their senior national teams. For instance, Neymar was in Lagos for the 2007 U-17 World Cup. Brazil didn’t get to the finals but Neymar was outstanding even as a substitute. Today, Neymar is a world class star while his contemporaries in the Golden Eaglets that finished as runners up haven’t been able to make the Super Eagles. Eagles’ coaches need to explain to us why Ihenanacho wasn’t considered for these two games? He has been outstanding for Manchester City. He isn’t in the first 11 because of his age. This certainly isn’t the reason why the coaches left him out of this squad. Or is it?

    What a country. A polity where we strive to stand truth on its head, yet we expect such reforms to produce the desired changes. We seek to propagate personal interests above national issues, even if it means destroying all that we have gained in the past. Little wonder, the common phrase among our leaders when they get into such positions is “we will go back to the drawing board.” Hmm! I wonder what is left of this drawing board. It must be in tatters now with our jaded reforms meant to feed the interest of those who put them there.

    Since our celebrated second round appearance at the Mundial in 1994, our football has known no peace. Rather than face the task of ensuring that the business of a flawless participation of our athletes at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, the sports minister chose to direct the affairs of NFF that had barely 40 days left in its tenure. Why the minister was in such a hurry to install his man beats one’s imagination, especially with FIFA’s insistence on government not interfering in the administration of its affiliate bodies. It is common knowledge that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) sent a strong worded letter to Nigeria over the show-of-shame kits our athletes wore. What that setting showed was a failure of leadership at the NSC, since the buck stops on his table. It was also clear that the federations acted independently instead of allowing the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) to kit them. Sadly, despite being in Scotland, the minister didn’t ask the NOC why the Nigerian athletes were so shabbily dressed. The international media feasted with our coat-of-many-colours attires but it didn’t mean anything to the minister it seems. If it had been football, heavens would fall. While the minister orchestrated the need to keep the Super Eagles technical crew for their ‘remarkable’ outing in Brazil, he chose to lampoon NFF chiefs for the Eagles shambolic performance at the Mundial. One isn’t shocked with the minister’s doublespeak because it is the hallmark of our leaders- they only think after they have spoken. Indeed, when the Eagles clinched the Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa on February 10, 2013, the coaches and players got all the applause while NFF men were treated like orphans. How come the NFF keep getting the stick, in the victories and losses of the Eagles? Shouldn’t those who got the praise in the period of triumph get the whip in defeat? Since the World Cup ended, Nigeria is the only country among the 32 nations that took part in the tournament that is in turmoil. By the ratings of FIFA, Nigeria is one of the 16 best countries at the last Mundial, so why didn’t the minister allow the NFF’s tenure to lapse instead of his tactless approach to force their exit. Curiously, rather than blame himself for failing to provide the logistics for the Nigerian contingent to the Commonwealth Games, he continued to push for the ouster for a board whose members have been commended by FIFA as being the only nation among the 208 others to qualify for all the body’s competitions. How else do you measure success than with such verdicts from credible bodies like FIFA? Facts are sacred. Indeed, the fact that one of our weightlifters tested positive for steroids was enough reason for the minister to have pursued the task of fishing out those who gave the girl the banned substances with the same enthusiasm he has shown in getting the NFF out of office. The minister’s utterances since the furore began explain why he hasn’t been able to resolve the crises. A more tactical administrator should have ensured that the President received the Eagles and the NFF men in Abuja for commendation. He could later sit with the NFF men to tell them where they erred. He would have used that platform to ask for the roadmap for the future more so when we have two Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, 25 days after the Mundial ended. During the heart-to-heart talk with the NFF men, the minister would have sounded them out on their next movement as it concerns the body’s elections. He would have known those eager to return to the NFF and plotted his next moves. The minister must redeem himself by asking those elected into the kangaroo NFF board to respect FIFA’s directives, else we are banned. We must accept the fact that FIFA didn’t invite us to participate in its competitions. We elected to do so and must therefore respect their rules. I really don’t know why government officials have refused to allow the NFF run as an independent body? Must government fund NFF? Is the domestic league being funded by government? No. If the domestic league can run on its own, what stops NFF from doing so? Government should just restrict its sponsorship to Nigeria’s participation in big tournaments (World Cup, Africa Cup of Nations, Olympic Games etc) and allow the NFF fund other things. The minister should as matter of necessity ensure that he fast tracks the process of abrogating Decree 101. He must ensure that our football is governed by the FIFA Statutes, if we hope to open the horizon for other Nigerians to aspire to run for the NFF elections. The calibre of people who can run the NFF will remains at its pedestrian level until the Statutes, as operated elsewhere is instituted. We must jettison the Nigerian version which leaves the window for government to interfere. We are tired of the bickerings at the Glasshouse, especially after every World Cup. Does it not worry the minister that FIFA have written us six letters since after the 2014 World Cup telling us what to do? Minister sir, allow NFF men run their elections the way FIFA wants it to.

  • Battlefronts of elections and insurgency

    TO declare that the greatest threat to world peace today is Islamic militancy will be an understatement given the new way Islamic State or IS, is decapitating captured human beings before a live global TV audience nowadays. I know the use of the term Islamic can be upsetting given that we know Islam is a religion of peace and love but the facts of violence, murder and mayhem by those who claim to be acting on behalf of that great religion cannot be ignored.

    In Britain, during Tony Blair’s as PM the use of the policy of Multiculturalism to contain the spread of terrorism amongst British Muslims who are largely from the former colonial territories of Asia, Africa and the Middle East the term Religious Militancy was the vogue. This week while speaking before the summit of NATO and US leaders in Wales, in the UK, Prime Minister David Cameron said it was time to deal decisively with what he called Islamist Extremists. It is instructive to know that David Cameron had condemned Multiculturalism as a failed policy before and after being elected into office as PM in the present Coalition government with the Liberals. Cameron also asked members of NATO not to pay ransoms for their captured citizens in the hands of such terrorists as earlier agreed at NATO Summits no matter how painful this was for the families of such captives.

    This according to Cameron was because such money will be used to fund more terrorism to purchase weapons and provide ammunition for more violent activities of these extremists. That piece of advice sets the tone for our analysis of today on how elections and global insurgency have become modern battle fields in a world awash with Islamist Extremism which needs to be curbed fast before igniting a battle of religions or ideologies; or a clash of civilisations that has been in denial for some time, but which is bound to be cataclysmic enough, if it does happen, to consume our world as we know it today, if care is not taken. We start our analysis today by looking at the work schedule of three world leaders this week aside from David Cameron who hosted NATO leaders and US President Barak Obama to a summit in Wales at which sanctions against Russia were expanded to punish it for invading Ukraine again while denying what NATO affirms is really the case. These three leaders are Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan, Pakistan’s PM Nawaz Sharif and US President Barak Obama.

    We start with the Nigerian president who is seeking re – election without declaring that ‘open secret ‘ yet, but who is also facing the fiercest insurgency and rebellion in the North East of the nation from Boko Haram which wants to establish Sharia law in Nigeria. Without mincing words one can say that the Nigerian President is involved in a costly war in two battlefronts which he must win to stay in power in 2015.

    The Boko Haram war is one and his re election is the other. He is campaigning furiously for his re election which was what prompted him to declare that he has given more jobs to Igbos than any previous president. Which really is an understatement as the Igbos dominate the commanding heights of the economy in terms of appointments and which also is to be expected as he too bears an Igbo name – Azikiwe. In addition the president is making sure that some states having elections are supervised militarily so that there is no rigging. Which some how must account for why the army is having a rough time containing the Boko Haram menace in the North East of the country.

    It took a US Assistant Secretary of State to tell a Bi Nation Security Meeting of Nigeria and the US that Boko Haram is operating freely in the North East of Nigeria where it has proclaimed a Caliphate in Gwoza and has announced it has captured Bama not far from the state capital Maiduguri, in Borno State. Undoubtedly the President must be happy with the support he is gathering over his reelection nation wide. That too is to be expected because Nigerians love people in power and today’s incumbents who have money, favours, offices, appointments and patronages to give out, in the rags to riches way governance and political appointments have transformed public servants into overnight millionaires and emergency billionaires in Nigeria today.

    But then the Boko Haram menace must not be allowed to be the Achilles heel of our 2015 elections or the soft underbelly of our political stability. This is because it is becoming daily disturbing that the Nigerian Army is losing face and legitimacy in the way it has found it difficult to contain the Boko Haram menace. The army should not be disgraced over this Boko Haram insurgency as it is the last hope of Nigerians for peace, security and the territorial integrity of this nation. Elections must go on in democracy as they are the life line and vital ritual expected of the electorate to give and take power, but, there must be peace for elections to take place in this Nigeria.

    Nigeria is not Iraq or Agfhanistan where people trooped bravely out to vote while terrorists bombed polling booths. Certainly this government must be told to crush the Boko Haram menace before the 2015 elections. This is the only way it can avoid the odious tag of Nero, the Emperor in the Ancient Roman Empire who fiddled while Rome burnt and put his name in infamy and opprobrium, with posterity and history forever.

    In Pakistan which is a bubbling democracy like Nigeria the PM Nawaz Sharif faces a battle of wills with his political opponents over charges that he came to power in a rigged elections and should resign for fresh elections to take place. There are fears that the army headed by his namesake General Raheel Sharif may stage a coup and take over power. The PM has however had some reprieve constitutionally in that the Pakistani Parliament has voted in his support to stay in office as he was democratically elected.

    The US also, as it did in the US/Nigeria Bi Nation confab on Security in Abuja has waded in through its Ambassador in Pakistan to say that it recognises Nawaz Sharif as the duly elected PM of Pakistan in spite of the huge demonstrations on flawed 2013 elections. So what then are the demonstrators up to except to goad the army to stage a coup? Anyway again as in Nigeria, the Pakistani Army is fighting Islamic Exteremists in that nation and this week killed hundreds of them in a battle which has characterised Pakistan, a Muslim nation and a democracy where secular Muslims have never voted to have any fanatic as PM and where politicians are brave enough to confront and deal effectively with Islamist Extremists regardless of which party has been in power. Also the Pakistani Army is well respected as being capable of defending the peace and security of the Pakistani nation, the only snag being when Bin Laden was taken away from Pakistan by the Americans right under the nose of the Pakistani military.

    Also the fear of a coup may not be that deep as the Pakistani Army has it hands full fighting insurgency in the nation without the added and avoidable burden of taking over the government and incurring the wrath of Pakistan’s very active and boisterous politicians. Let me round up by giving my grudging respect to US President Barak Obama over the way he has responded to the threat of ISIS or IS and its disturbing trend of beheading captives, taking ransoms by sending airstrikes to chase the terrorists away in Iraq and saving lives. He was in Wales this week for NATO meeting obviously to give assent to NATO’s decision for more sanctions against Russia on Ukraine.

    In a way I suspect the US president looked battle or crisis weary in this second half of his second term . You must however give it to him the way he has handled the capture of US citizens and the crazy killing or shooting incidents in the US in recent times. He has always been there on site to assuage feelings and give succour to affected US citizens and families. Which is an anathema to the way the Nigerian President has handled Boko Haram and the issue of the missing 200 Chibok girls as the President is yet to visit any part of the North East including Chibok to show the strength of the Commander in Chief of the Nigerian Army.

    Aside from President Obama’s trade mark empathy with his people I still blame him as I have always done for the state of affairs in the Middle East and especially the rise of IS in Iraq. Just as I thank him for giving the rallying call for democracy in N Africa although that has backfired in Egypt and Syria and Libya. Also Nigerians must be grateful to the Americans for alerting us on our fight against corruption, election rigging and now the fight against Boko Haram and the fact that it is seizing territories with impunity in the North East of Nigeria.

    Certainly the US again has become the Policeman of a free world as it claimed during the Cold War. The only difference this time is that its Commander in Chief has no stomach for policing other nation’s wars but its own, and it does not have any on its home front. Except perhaps the campaign and election promise to end the war in Iraq and Afghanistan which unfortunately gave confidence to jihadists to plan and fill the ensuing post war vacuum, which is now sprouting merciless and blood thirsty caliphates in the Middle East and Nigeria. Certainly the US president is struggling to live with the pragmatic dictum of – win some, lose some. I wish him the best of luck in his onerous duties as the reluctant global policeman of our time an appellation that can only infuriate leaders like Ruussia’s Vladmir Putin like mad.

  • Ikimi, Tinubu and APC

    Ikimi, Tinubu and APC

    Chief  Tom Ikimi, who is the latest mani festation of the virus of political vagrancy in Nigeria, deserves commendation for at least rigorously, meticulously and logically attempting to justify and rationalise his decision to quit the All Progressives Congress (APC). His treatise, titled ‘My Reflections’, is no doubt a valuable document for students of Nigerian politics. Of course, like all analysts and historians, he tells his story from his own perspective based on certain assumptions, facts and values that others may consider biased, selective, self-serving and jaundiced. But that is no sin. After all, others can also write their own version of history in which they are puritans, saints and principled heroes no matter the depth of their ideological and moral bankruptcy. Ikimi is a rebel with a grouse. His pain is that he was prevented from emerging as National Chairman of an APC that he believes he worked harder than any other person to bring into being.

    Chief Ikimi writes with passion about his commitment and sacrifice towards constructing an alternative political platform to challenge the PDP for power. His vision is that of a Nigeria in which power oscillates periodically between two dominant parties through the ballot box. But what would be the ideological content of such political platforms? Would power simply rotate between the two alternate parties for its own sake? Should the APC seek to replace the PDP only to continue with the same bankrupt neo-liberal and excessively centrist political and economic policies that have spelled disaster for Nigeria since 1999? Ideology hardly features in Ikimi’s lengthy treatise on party construction. He thus does not see the irony when he writes that “It is not a coincidence to me that the prominent members of APC targeted by Bola Tinubu such as Alhaji Attahiru Bafarawa, Senator Ali Modu Sherrif and myself as former NRC member are those perceived as conservatives”. Pray, what are professed conservatives doing in a supposedly progressive party? As the APC Chairman, Chief Odigie-Oyegun rightly noted as regards the on-going party defections and counter defections, “What is happening really is that the PDP and APC are being purified. All the birds that ought to flock together are beginning to fly together. That is a good thing for the country; it is good for the APC and the PDP”.

    Unfortunately, the rigour and quality of Ikimi’s analysis is blunted by his obsessive preoccupation with the person of Tinubu. As far as Ikimi is concerned, Tinubu is the alpha and omega of his woes in the APC. Adopting crude ‘bolekaja’ tactics, he employs rumour, innuendo, unproven insinuations and even gossip in an attempt to savage Tinubu’s reputation. For instance, he asserts that Tinubu boasts that he is the sole financier of the APC. He does not tell us where and to whom such claims were made. In any case, Tinubu has been known to have given strong financial support to whatever political causes he believes in right from the pro-democracy struggle that resulted in the present political dispensation. Wondering about the source of Tinubu’s wealth, Ikimi alludes to “whispers in the inner circles of the party” that “Tinubu is the recipient and dispenser of bags and bags of party funds” as well as “the beneficiary of most of the lucrative contracts in all the ACN states without exception”. The respected chief does not give a scintilla of concrete evidence to support these insinuations. In any case, Ikimi is himself a man of immense wealth and there is no evidence that his riches “derive from any stupendous inheritance, ancient or modern”.

    Utilising one’s financial resources to further set political objectives is no sin. Chief Obafemi Awolowo was able to found and run viable political parties in the first and second republics as well establish as the country’s oldest private newspaper in the country because he had the means to do so. This is why the vindictive Coker Commission of Enquiry accused him of building a political empire around himself based on financial wealth – the same kind of allegation levelled against Tinubu today. When the defunct National Concord newspaper mischievously published that Awolowo owned 360 plots of land in Maroko in 1983, the sage famously noted that “if a poor man is fighting for the poor, he is accused of being jealous of the rich and if a rich man fights for the poor, he is asked to first of all go and commit class suicide!” He wondered how he could have sustained his political struggles if did not have a solid financial base. MKO Abiola’s wealth was a key factor in enabling him to build the national political network responsible for his decisive victory in the June 12, 1993, presidential election.

    According to Ikimi, Tinubu boasts that “he has control of all the votes from South West Nigeria”. We are not told where or when such an absurd claim was or to whom. Yes, Tinubu and the tendency he symbolises has become a major force in the politics of the South West. No one familiar with the politics of the Yoruba will ever claim that he is the custodian of “all the votes” of such a proud and politically sophisticated people. Ikimi apparently underrates Tinubu’s intelligence. There is a major contradiction that runs through Ikimi’s otherwise rigorous analysis. On the one hand, he creates a superhuman image of a Tinubu who dominates the APC and can manipulate and steer the party in any direction he wants for his selfish interest. On the other hand, he brilliantly paints the picture of the APC as an emergent dynamic party with contending and countervailing interests that are simply too volatile and unpredictable for one man to dominate.

    Some of the contending forces at play within the APC, as rightly noted by Ikimi include regional caucuses, legislative caucuses, the influential governors’ forum as well as caucuses built around such powerful individual politicians like General Muhammadu Buhari and Alhaji Abubakar Atiku. Given the vitality and vibrancy of these interests, it is impossible, for instance, for one person or tendency to unilaterally determine the colouration of the party’s presidential ticket. The final decision will be the outcome of intricate and delicate negotiations, balancing, compromises and trade- offs. At the end of the day the party’s saving grace will be transparent, free and fair primaries conducted in strict fidelity to the party constitution. Going by Ikimi’s own logic, for instance, Tinubu would have wanted Chief Bisi Akande to continue as National Chairman because of his alleged preference for a “weak national leadership” that could be easily manipulated. At the end of the day, Ikimi writes, Tinubu and others had to reach a compromise that resulted in the emergence of the current APC leadership. That is the beauty of democracy. It completely makes nonsense of Ikimi’s attempt to portray the APC as a one-man party.

    Ikimi is unhappy that Tinubu “parades himself as party leader and leader of opposition”. That Tinubu is a notable leader of the APC and has been at the forefront of political opposition since 1999 is beyond dispute. It is impossible for Ikimi to re-write history. His insinuation that Chief Bisi Akande and Chief John Odigie-Oyegun are ‘weak’ leaders vulnerable to external manipulation is completely misguided. A core and unrepentant Awoist, Akande is as principled and spartanly disciplined as they come. His perceived rigidity on principles is a major reason why he lost the 2003 governorship election in Osun despite his sterling performance in office. Ace columnist, Professor Olatunji Dare, who is not flippant with praise, has attested to Oyegun’s character, competence and ability. Given his years of experience in politics and the tireless efforts he contributed to the merger that resulted in the APC, Ikimi should look beyond Tinubu for his failure to emerge as the party’s national chairman. It is not impossible that he is being haunted by the moral burden of his political past.