The Nation Newspaper

Category: Saturday

  • Curing Doyin Okupe’s ignorance

    Curing Doyin Okupe’s ignorance

    As a trained medical doctor, Dr. DoyinOkupe, Senior Special Assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan on public affairs, ought ordinarily to be in the business of curing people of their various ailments. But the good doctor has abandoned his stethoscope for so long that he may be a potent danger to any patient who dares consult him for his professional services. But more importantly, Dr. Okupe himself is in urgent need of intensive medication for wilful ignorance in the discharge of his current public duties. When he assumed office as Senior Special Assistant to President Jonathan, Dr.Okupe was quick to assure Nigerians that his mission was not to be an attack dog for the president. In fact, he emphatically stated that he could not play such a role at his age. Okupe is over 60. Yet, he has not conducted himself in his present position with the restraint, caution and wisdom that both his high office and his advanced age demand. Dr.Okupe is clearly a loose cannon. He is a huge liability to the Goodluck Jonathan administration. His views are often jaundiced and utterly lacking in credibility. When Dr.Oby Ezekwesili recently questioned the management of the country’s foreign reserves by the Jonathan administration, Okupe along with Information Minister, Labaran Maku went for the messenger rather than address the message. Instead of simply providing the requisite statistics to the public, they insinuated, mischievously that Ezekwesile corruptly enriched herself in office as Minister of Education while steadfastly refusing her challenge to a public debate.

    Dr. Okupe was once again at his mischievous best when reacting to the recent convention of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) where the party resolved to merge into the new All Progressives Congress (APC). Of course, the good doctor must earn his pay. But he must not seek to do this at the expense of truth, fairness and the public interest. For one, Dr.Okupe ought to realise that a vibrant and virile opposition is a necessary condition for democratic sustainability. This is a necessity not only at the federal but at the state and local government levels. When he thus describes General MuhammedBuhari and Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, arrow heads of the emergent APC as ‘political liabilities’ Okupe does our political system a great disservice. Would he, therefore, want all leading political personalities to ally with the ruling party perhaps for obvious pecuniary benefits? Do those who decide to form a viable opposition against all odds not deserve some respect and encouragement even from members of the ruling party? Can Dr.Okupe not learn some appropriate lessons from Governor Babangida Aliyu, the Chief Servant of Niger State, who has hailed the on-going merger process by the opposition as healthy for Nigeria’s democracy?

    Incidentally, the Niger State Governor was the Chairman at the launch last Thursday of the new book, ‘Witness to history’ written by Alhaji Lai Mohammed, National Publicity Secretary of the ACN. The Niger State governor did not hide his commitment to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) even as he demonstrated the highest respect and regard for the opposition. Incidentally, the foreword to the book was written by no other than Chief Ebenezer Babatope, a chieftain of Okupe’s party. One would wish that Dr.Okupe learns the appropriate lesson from such political decency. Unfortunately, Okupe did not go into details to explain what he meant by describing Buhari and Tinubu as political liabilities. But can there be any greater liability to the Nigerian nation than a President, Doyin Okupe’s boss, who is the most divisive leader in Nigeria’s history; a man whose tenure has spurned sectarian violence only on a scale surpassed during the civil war?

    In his ill- advised press conference, the medical doctor/ politician turned attack dog narrowed down on the person of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu saying “The leader of the opposition, Chief Bola Tinubu, who spoke disparagingly about the Federal Government on a number of issues, was once a governor of Nigeria’s richest state for eight years all have a record of what he made of that position.” Again, Okupe does not specify details. All residents of Lagos know that the state was virtually a failed one when Tinubu assumed office in 1999. The internally generated revenue of the state was barely N900 million in 1999. Through Tinubu’s ingenious financial engineering the monthly internally generated revenue was approximately N8 billion by the time he left office in 2007.

    According to Okupe, “Bola Tinubu who spoke about poor budget implementation at the federal level never attained 60 per cent budget implementation while he presided over the affairs of Lagos State…”. Of course, the facts are there for verification if Dr.Okupe cares to check. The average percentage budgetary performance of the Lagos State government under Tinubu’s leadership was 71.5%.The expenditure performance of the administration was 81% for 1999, 61% for 2000, 66% for 2001, 71% for 2002, 63% for 2003, 81% for 2004, 75% for 2005 and 74% for 2006. This is why the state witnessed massive infrastructural modernization and expansion across diverse sectors including roads, education, health, the judiciary, the environment, public transportation and water supply among others. Most of the roads constructed by the Tinubu administration over a decade ago are still solid and motorable. They include KudiratAbiola road, Oregun; Awolowo road, Ikoyi; Akin Adesola road, Victoria Island; Adeola Odeku road, Victoria Island; Agege Motor road; Ikotun-Igando road; Yaba-Itire-Lawanson-Ojuelegba road; LASU-Iba road, Ojo; Ajah-Badore road, Eti-Osa; Oba Sekumade Road, Ikorodu; Adetokunbo Ademola Road; Victoria Island and the ongoing modernisation of the Lagos-Epe Expressway as the largest concessioneering project of its size and complexity in Africa. In any case, has the National Assembly not been perpetually at war with the Jonathan administration over abysmally poor budgetary performance?

    If Dr. Doyin Okupe cares to educate himself, he will discover that the Tinubu administration constructed over 6000 housing units. These include the Abraham Adesanya Estate, Ajah; Ibeshe low-income housing scheme; Oba Adeyinka Oyekan Estate, Lekki; Ayangburen Estate, Phase 2, Ikorodu; Gbagada Medium Housing Scheme; Amuwo-Odofin Housing Scheme; Abraham Adesanya Estate, Phase 2; Ojokoro Millenium Housing Scheme; Alaagba Low-income Housing Scheme, OkeEletu and Oko Oba Low-Income Housing Schemes. The administration built new General Hospitals at Mushin, Shomolu, Ibeju-Lekki and Isheri-Iba as well as upgrading existing health centres to full-fledged hospitals at Ijede, Ketu, Agbowa and Agege. This was in addition to upgrading the buildings and facilities at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) to international standard as well as rehabilitating and expanding old General Hospitals in Lagos, Gbagada, Epe, Isolo, Ikorodu, Badagry, Agege and the Island Maternity Hospital.

    Only recently, Okupe’s boss, President Goodluck Jonathan, was the special guest of honour at the inauguration of the Eko Atlantic City project. He heaped high praise on the venture – a brainchild of the Tinubu administration. The Bus Rapid Transit System (BRT) is another outstanding success story. It continues to convey millions of commuters from one point to the other daily. That was another conception of the Tinubu administration. Of course, we do not have sufficient space here to detail other achievements of the Tinubu administration. But I think I have said enough to cure Okupe of his wilful ignorance. If a solid foundation like that in Lagos had been laid at the federal level between 1999 and 2007, Nigeria would not be in today’s rot. On his exit in 2007, Tinubu identified a capable successor, Babatunde Raji Fashola, who has elevated Lagos to new levels of developmental excellence. What have we had at the federal level? The Ota soldier-farmer-politician handed over to a physically incapacitated successor and with his passing a former “shoeless” school boy who is completely clueless about handling the affairs of a complex polity like Nigeria. Lagos offers a sterling example of Nigeria’s transformative possibilities. A thousand Okupes cannot hide that fact.

  • Official delusions and painful realities

    Official delusions and painful realities

    The ostrich would rather bury its head in the sand than confront an ugly reality. Right? I really don’t get what the nation stands to gain from the riotous umbrage that greeted the latest report on massive corruption in Nigeria, which was recently submitted to the United States Congress by the Secretary of State, Sen. John Kerry. Outraged by what the government considers to be an exaggerated and warped verdict on the true state of moral decadence and official graft in the country, President Goodluck Jonathan was flustered that the report, tagged “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2012”, failed to acknowledge the yeoman’s efforts being made by his administration to corner the monster, inflict it with the gravest injury and finally cow it into submission. How come the compilers of the report, which was mostly made up of information supplied by foreign government officials, non-governmental and international organisations, ignored the sanity that has been injected into the processes of awarding contracts for fertilizer supply and the removal of the many corruptive cogs in the power sector? Jonathan asked.

    In all honesty, it would have been a refreshing breath of fresh air if the country’s main opposition parties had not feasted on the damning report, to enjoy some form of bragging right in the political space. And it would have also been irresponsible of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party to remain silent in the face of the battering by an opposition which, in the words of the PDP, is as guilty as any other person in the mad race to empty the public treasury. But that is as far as illogic can be applied in tackling a deadly malaise that continues to impoverish the generality of the people. To this writer, it would have been more ennobling if the PDP had come out with facts and figures that would puncture a huge hole in the US report instead of its attempt to justify official federal sleaze and entrenched moral turpitude by pointing fingers at states being controlled by the opposition. How does this argument change the perception out there that the Nigerian nation is swarming with callous briefcase thieves?

    Besides, something tells me that the Jonathan government is merely being theatrical in its self- abnegating stance against the US report on the abysmal state of human rights abuses and corrosive corruption in Nigeria. No. It couldn’t have been that dumb not to see it coming after the US Government expressed serious reservations about what it termed a “setback for the fight against corruption” when Mr. Diepriye Alamieyeseigha was summarily granted state pardon after serving terms for financial misconduct as governor of Bayelsa State. In that diplomatic face-off, the US minced no words in telling us the likely aftershocks of the curious presidential pardon while the Department of State’s spokesperson, Victoria Nuland, warned about a setback in the “ability to play the strong role we’ve played in supporting rule of law and legal institution-building in Nigeria.”

    The government, it must be said, reserves the right to put any foreign government that unduly interferes in its private affairs to the task.

    In the same vein, we cannot expect foreign donors to continue releasing funds into a stagnating system that is eternally weak at confronting the corruption monster. It is, therefore, not enough to spit fire or get petulantly abrasive over what the report described as “massive, widespread, and pervasive corruption (which) affected all levels of government and the security forces.” Nothing can be achieved if we allow the rage, the dirty politicking and the shameless blame game to blur our vision. If only our leaders can have some measure of reflection or introspection, they will find the evident fact that the government needs to take a second look at the full report and ask some salient questions regarding the timelines and issues raised.

    For example, is it true that the government has failed in its duty to effectively implement criminal penalties for official graft as stipulated in the Nigerian law? Is the report right in stating that our public officials “frequently engaged in corrupt practices with impunity and is there a “widespread perception (that) judges were easily bribed and litigants could not rely on the courts to render impartial judgements? Are our judicial officers so corrupt that they now take “bribes to expedite cases or obtain favourable rulings? Was the report dead on point in its chronicling of the shameful timelines of corrupt practices in the fuel subsidy saga? The Nigerian leadership should pause and ponder.

    How far have we gone in unravelling the real culprits in the $620,000 “sting” operation involving Mr. Farouk Lawan and oil magnate, Femi Otedola? Could it be true that the Lawan committee on the fuel subsidy scam unravelled the “misappropriation of nearly half the subsidy funds, with poor or non-existent oversight by government agencies” between 2009 and 2011? Did the government lose an estimated N1.067 trillion ($6.8bn) to “endemic corruption and entrenched inefficiency” in the oil sector? Are some government officials currently facing trial for stealing 32.8 billion naira ($210 million) Police Pension Fund? Did the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission file criminal charges against former Governor of Bayelsa State, Timipre Sylva, for laundering close to five billion naira ($32 million) of funds belonging to the state?

    Was the report wrong in any matter particular that an anti-graft agency do have a glut of corruption cases  against the former Minister of Works and Housing, Hassan Lawal, for 24 counts of fraudulently awarding contracts, money laundering, and embezzlement of 75 billion naira ($480 million); arrest of Mr. Dimeji Bankole, former Speaker of the House of Representatives, and Deputy Speaker Usman Nafada for the alleged misappropriation of one billion naira ($6.4 million) and 40 billion naira ($256 million) respectively; arrest of former Ogun State Governor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel; former Oyo State Governor, Chief Adebayo Alao-Akala; former Nasarawa State Governor, Alhaji Aliyu Akwe Doma; and former Gombe State Governor, Muhammed Danjuma Goje? Did James Onanefe Ibori not walk out as a free man from our court until his eventual conviction in the Southwark Crown Court in London to charges of money laundering and other financial crimes totalling 12.4 billion naira ($79 million) he had committed during his eight years in office as Governor of Delta State?

    How easy is it to access information from government even with the existence of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)? How many public officials get convicted for false declaration of assets by the toothless bulldog called the Code of Conduct Bureau? And has the President acceded to the request by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project and other groups that he should disclose his assets from 2007 to 2012? Did he give a damn about what his refusal portends for the negative perception out there that we are a bunch of leeches who feed fat on the common wealth?

    To us, the picture painted above may not be that bad. After all, petty thieves still get maximum sentence at our courts. But, to others, our larceny is unequalled. Today, those who should be behind bars after surrendering their loot to the State are the ones making and implementing the laws for us. I dare say some of them are even interpreting the laws. It was so bad that a former Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Justice Mustapha Akanbi, recently lamented at a forum in Ilorin that: “Many well-meaning and responsible Nigerians have been crying foul at the turn of events and the apparent cover-up of purveyors of corruption in recent times and the lethargic manner corruption cases are being handled. More often than not, mediocre, incompetent and corrupt officials, rather than resourceful, efficient and competent hands, find their way into positions of power and authority, which they use and manipulate to their own advantage and not to the benefit of society or the public good.

    “The result is that the nation begins to drift and slide dangerously down the slippery road of economic ruination. In the process, there is the general desecration of societal and normative values, low level performance in both socio-economic and technological developments and, ultimately, a putrefying decadence, the stench of which often puts off or prevents other nations with a record of transparency and probity from wanting to interact or do business with a corrupt nation.”

    If we find it difficult to swallow the bitter pill of putrefying corruption being thrown at us by the US government, can we, at least, sift the truth from Akanbi’s Lamentations? Or is Akanbi merely gloating because he missed the opportunity to desecrate the throne of justice and become ‘madly’ rich? Could he also have overblown the issue of corruption in our country out of proportion like Jonathan suggested of the US’ damning report? Let”s pause and ponder over these things!

  • The high costs of security and diplomacy

    The high costs of security and diplomacy

    US Secretary of State John Kerry was in the Middle East and South East Asia on a diplomatic shuttle with a security background recently. He brokered peace between Turkey and Israel, both allies of the US in the area. He later went to Japan and S Korea to assure both nations, staunch allies of the US in the Pacific, of American steadfastness in the face of an unpredictable and daily dangerous N Korea – in the on- going saga of threats and counter threats by Kim Jong un, N Korea’s youthful leader to pulverize neighbor S. Korea. Kerry had barely returned to his office when a bomb went off at the prestigious Boston Marathon in Massachussets in the US shifting US security priorities from nuclear threat to Homeland Security.

    Such is the volatile nature of security and diplomacy for the world’s leading nations in their resolve and duty to protect their citizens at home and abroad, no matter the odds. But then, the circumstances can be so unbelievably different or similar for the world powers and the other nations of the world, that one finds it difficult to accept that after all said and done, security is really the bottom line as each nation invariably insists. I will illustrate with some interesting examples.

    In Iraq this week the government executed 21 people after they were found guilty of acts of terrorism in Iraqi courts. In the UK, the government deployed 40, 000 policemen and women for the funeral procession route of the late British PM Baroness Margaret Thatcher last Wednesday April 17. In Nigeria the government has set up an Amnesty Committee for Boko Haram terrorists in spite of protestations from the Christian Association of Nigeria – CAN – whose members reeled out the statistics on the number of churches destroyed [200] and Christians killed -2500 –since the insurgency started. CAN noted that Boko Haram so far has carried out every threat it has issued with impunity. The supposed rationale or offered motive for each and every one of these events therefore form the kernel of our discussion today.

    Starting with the Kelly brokered peace in the Middle East, all sides seem to be beneficiaries and one cannot help wondering why the dispute over some Turks who tried to break the Israeli siege on Gaza got killed sometime ago, lasted this long. This is because Israel needs Turkey to keep an eye on Iran, a mutual foe of both, especially now that Syria is falling apart and Iran has offered a shoulder as expected, and the besieged Syrian leader Assad has warned the West that it would pay a huge price similar to the one the Soviets paid in Afghhanistan, in intervening in Syria. In the face of such bare threats and with the rump USSR, Russia, backing Syria all the way, Kelly’s Peace is a welcome development; a realignment and consolidation of forces of sorts, for the west in the Middle East.

    As noted earlier Kelly proceeded to calm nerves in Japan and S Korea but the N. Korean leader has really shown his hand in asking for lifting of sanctions before any dialogue with the US and S Korea. Which reduces the so called nuclear and security threat that had the west and even N Korea’s ally China fretting so much, to an economic threat of needed bread and butter for the impoverished citizens of N Korea. I expect the west to capitulate to N Korea’s demand in the interest of global peace. But then a strong but wrong global signal would have been sent to a nation like Iran, similarly under UN sanctions, to persist in its quest for nuclear energy on the excuse of needed electricity, in the now realistic hope, that when it has nuclear capability it can call for dialogue to eliminate UN sanctions. Either way global security is boldly threatened and diplomacy is seriously challenged and stressed extravagantly.

    With regard to the Boston Marathon bomb explosion, it is the way that the US President Barak Obama reacted in assuring Americans of their safety even though his security machinery had no clue as to the perpetrators of the bombing in the immediate aftermath of the incident, that impressed me. Obama first said that the bombing could not be called a terrorist act and people should not jump to conclusions. Later, he said after briefings by his security aides, that it was terrorism because a bomb had been used on innocent people. He gave kudos to the Governor and Mayor involved and expressed unflinching confidence in the local and federal security forces on the ground and assured all Americans that the culprits would be caught and face the full weight of US justice. That assurance was worth its weight in gold and lowered the high cost of security in the way it generated a spontaneous feeling of safety and security in Americans even though the terrorists have not been apprehended. Even a man apprehended later told the police that he was not the Boston Marathon bomber no matter the suspicion leading to his arrest after the bombing.

    You may need to compare the high net worth value of Obama’s assurance in the face of apparent insecurity, with the deterrence factor in the Iraqi manner of executing tried terrorists. There is no need to scoff at the Iraqis as they have a rich tradition and history on legal matters. The Coded laws of Hammurabi came out of Mesopotamia and that was ancient Iraq. Furthermore, as the way the Iraqis executed Saddam Hussein showed, Iraqis need to see the bodies of those oppressing or terrorizing them to really believe such murderous pests are out of the way and they – Iraqis – are safe. This really is a cultural issue. Which in a manner of ‘the end justifying the means‘, has the same soothing effect on the Iraqis as the Obama safety assurance strategy had on American citizens.

    The recent successful Thatcher funeral, in spite of threats from the trade unions and miners, was a tribute to the efficiency and understanding of the British security apparatus. You can say on Britain in the context of this topic that the British public has been given value for money for whatever the government has spent on diplomacy and security over the Thatcher funeral. The head of the Police in charge in London conceded the right of protests to those wanting to, and said this was necessary in a democracy and the police were ready, and they were, and I congratulate them as I did on the last London 2012 Olympics and also the successful royal wedding. On a lighter note though, let me advise those who thought that it was in bad taste to celebrate Thatcher’s death at Trafalgar Square as some people did, to have a rethink and visit the south west of Nigeria where obituaries announce funerals as celebrations of life. If after that they still feel such celebrations are in bad taste, then I accuse them of sheer ethnocentrism, no more, no less.

    Lastly, let me round up with the Boko Haram Amnesty for which a committee has finally been set up by the Federal government of Nigeria. Since Boko Haram has reportedly said it needed no Amnesty but should give one or a pardon to Nigeria instead, I think the fact that the government still deemed it fit to form the Amnesty Committee is in bad taste and is most unfair to the victims of Boko Haram terrorism. Anyway, will the formation of the Committee lead to a reduction of our security expenditure? The answer is no. Will the setting up of the Amnesty Committee assuage the feelings of those whose loved ones were killed by Boko Haram ? No.

    To me it is the duty of government to make the nation governable and safe for its citizens. This Committee appears to be an appeasement for a section of the nation over another and a bias for one religion at the expense of the other. Muslims in this nation have shouted to the rooftops several times that Islam is a religion of peace and that they condemn the terrorism of Boko Haram. Government should listen to them and do its duty to uphold their concern and belief instead of pandering to the tastes and anxiety of those who may have lost touch with their followers both in the corridors of leadership and power, wether cultural, political or socio economic.

  • Farewell to ‘Tina’

    Farewell to ‘Tina’

    ‘There is no alternative’. That was the constant refrain of the recently deceased former Prime Minister of Great Britain, Baroness Margaret Thatcher, to vehement protests against the punitive effects for millions of her vicious brand of neo-liberal capitalism. That is why she was nicknamed TINA. In a way Thatcher has been proved right by her demise on April 8. There is indeed no alternative to death. It must sooner or later be the fate of all human beings – mere mortals who, oftentimes, play God. But Thatcher’s inflexible and insensitive policies reduced millions to a living death before their physical transition even as a microscopic minority luxuriated in obscene opulence. The lesson of Thatcher’s leadership and legacy is that there must always be alternatives to socio-economic policies that promote human misery on an industrial scale. Many analysts have commented with approbation on the late Prime Minister’s strong, charismatic, aggressive and bold leadership. Surely, that cannot be denied. She was one of the dominant figures of our contemporary era. But strong leadership should not mean the absence of compassion especially for the weak, underprivileged and infirm. Compassion was a word that could not be found in Thatcher’s iron dictionary. She was aptly called the iron lady and compassion is not one of the attributes of steel.

    Like electricity, Margaret Thatcher had no feeling. I have a feeling that if you cut her skin, acid rather than blood would come gushing out. I have no doubt that the world is a poorer, harsher more hostile place because of the policies associated with Thatcher and her ideological soul mate President Ronald Reagan of the United States for over two decades. The current global economic crisis that has plunged millions into ruination is largely a fall out of the extremist neo-liberalism aggressively pursued by Thatcher, Reagan and their policy collaborators. In his book, ‘Towards An Inclusive Democracy’, the political economist, Takis Fotopoulos gives an extensive background into the emergence and character of Thatcherism as a dominant economic paradigm. Between the 1940s and 1970s, the dominant policy paradigm in industrial capitalist states was what he calls the ‘social democratic consensus’ i.e. the Keynesian interventionist state that sought to promote full employment through state manipulation of the market. It sought to bring the market under social and political control and envisioned a compassionate society. Its primary objective was the provision of social security, including education and health, for all from the cradle to the grave. Ironically, Britain was the cradle of this extensive welfarist agenda and it was inaugurated by a conservative dominated coalition government.

    Under the ‘social democratic consensus’, the state’s central role in the management of the economy was recognised. Such state intervention kept unemployment unprecedentedly low, promoted relative job security, ensured sustained enlargement of the labour market and engendered faith in continuous economic growth and expansion of the welfare state. How then did this ‘progressive’ consensus collapse leading to the emergence and triumph of the crude conservatism of the Thatcher years? Takis Fotopoulos attributes this to the economic crisis of the 1970s, the collapse of the Bretton Woods system of international finance and the growing internationalization of the global economy among other factors. The unsustainability of the welfare state thus resulted in the wild swing from the excesses of statist welfarism to the extremes of free market fetishism as symbolized principally by Thatcher and Reagan.

    Given neo-liberalism’s disdain for what was perceived as “excess democracy” associated with the ‘social democratic consensus’, Thatcher in particular took on the trade unions with a vengeance. She broke the spine of the powerful mine workers union. She undertook an aggressive deregulation of labour and capital markets resulting in massive unemployment and underemployment. Her frenzied privatisation of public enterprises resulted in the concentration of capital in fewer hands while she waged a sustained war against the welfare state and also redistributed taxes in favour of high income groups. No wonder Professor Noam Chomsky of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) noted that under Reagan and Thatcher-type neo-liberalism, “the rich industrial societies increasingly acquired a Third World outlook with islands of extreme wealth and privilege amidst a rising sea of poverty and despair”.

    Margaret Thatcher was a social Darwinist to the core. She believed in the survival of the fittest; the poor, weak and infirm could go to blazes. Society owed them no obligation. Indeed, she starkly declared that “There is no such thing as society. There are individual men and women and there are families”. Of this terrible atomistic view of human community, Jonathan Sacks notes in his book ‘The Politics of Hope’ avers that “It has given rise to a social order – or more precisely, to a social disorder- more bleak than any within living memory. Today, many parts of Britain and America are marked by vandalism, violent crime and a loss of civility; by the breakdown of the family and the widespread neglect of children; by an erosion of trust and a general loss of faith in the power of governments to cure some of our most deep-seated problems; and by a widespread sense that matters crucial to our future welfare are slipping out of control”. That is the legacy of Thatcher’s extreme neo-liberalism.

    Some commentators credit Thatcher and Reagan for the collapse of the communist block. That would appear to me to be a simplistic reading of history. Yes, the duo may have played a role. But communism actually imploded from within when, as Marx would put it the extant social relations of production in communist states had become an obstacle to the further development of the productive forces. In any case, whatever their faults, let us never forget the supportive role of the communist states in the liberation of Africa from colonialism including racist apartheid in South Africa. On her part, Thatcher was a staunch supporter of the racist regimes in South Africa and Zimbabwe. If she had her way, Apartheid would still be alive and well in Africa today. Let us also remember that the Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAP) that virtually destroyed Africa’s economies and made the 1980s a lost decade for the continent were products of the dominant brand of global neo-liberalism championed by Thatcher and Reagan. The cerebral columnist, Professor Ayo Olukotun has rightly wondered why our policy makers remain glued to these failed neo-liberal policies even when they have been thoroughly discredited in those countries that sold them to us. As we bid Thatcher good bye, let us also say farewell to the untenable doctrine of TINA.

    Kehinde Bamigbetan: Hope Alive

    As at the time of writing this, there was still  no news of the release of the kidnapped Chairman of Ejigbo Local Council Development (LCDA), Mr Kehinde Bamigbetan. Yet, there are high hopes that his captors are set to let him go. The outpouring of emotion following the shocking incident shows how much impact ‘Korky’ as his friends call him, has made in the polity within such a short period. His house in Ejigbo has become a Mecca of sorts with people from all walks of life trooping in to empathise with his distraught wife. The house itself is a symbol of modesty and simplicity, not noticeably different from any middle class structure in the area. That is a reflection of the radical, humanistic ideology that has always informed Bamigbetan’s politics over the years as a student unionist, labour activist and now progressive politician. For those who have worked closely with him, a keen intellect and remarkable coolness under pressure are Kehinde’s key strengths. Surely, by God’s grace ‘Korky’ will soon be back on the beat doing what he knows best – offering selfless public service. But then, this is a wake- up call for Lagos. The Centre of Excellence must not be allowed to become another kidnapper’s paradise. This is another sad reminder of looming state failure in Nigeria. God have mercy.

  • War and peace

    War and peace

    Terrorism is a tricky affair. It upsets everything. It triggers war, but war of a different sort. It is unconventional, a hit-and-run kind of thing, without pitched locations, with the enemy largely unknown.

    After the shoe and crotch bombers, the United States of America is now grappling with what is turning out to be the pressure cooker bomber. Since the week, Americans have been asking questions as a popular marathon race turned bloody on the finish line. Three people, among them a child, died while about 200 were injured, some terribly so, as two bombs went off in Boston, Massachusetts. Who did this? Why?

    Security agents have been doing overtime, turning up every scrap they can find at the scene, examining every clue. So far, as this piece took shape, they would not say anyone had been arrested, only that two people were suspects. They think some progress is being made.

    But that is thousands of miles away. Here, we have been battling with terror, even more requently. We have been at war, but war at peacetime, war with ourselves. While the Americans in the latest terror attack are unsure whether foreigners built explosive devices into pressure cookers and set them off in Boston, or fellow Americans did the job, we in Nigeria are certain that fellow countrymen are behind the insurgency before us, even though we are not ignorant of the possibilities of foreign backing.

    It remains messy, tragic and hopeless. The casualties are in excess of 1,000 since the insurgency began. Even that is conservative. At this point, no one can underestimate the capacity or capabilities of Boko Haram, the fundamentalist sect that will, at the least, be happy to Islamise the North. Its fighters have reduced churches to rubble and blown worshippers to pieces. They have spilled the blood of policemen, even rattling their headquarters in a most daring fashion. They have taken the fight to the military. They have introduced fighters who blow themselves up in order to blow up many others. The world knows this set as suicide bombers.

    Containing such a group is, in all fairness, difficult. They hit and melt away, then hit again, leaving you in horror and asking questions. Yet, the most difficult challenge in tackling the group is not its facelessness. Nor its unconventional tactics. Nor even its sophisticated weapons. It is the indecision and ambivalence of the Jonathan administration.

    As a Nigerian and as President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan is deeply saddened by the blood tide occasioned by the insurgents. He wants peace. But as the commander-in-chief, how has he responded to the violence and flight of peace and unity in the country? That response has been anything but coordinated or cohesive. When the terror began, we heard the President say something that suggested his administration knew who the terrorists were. Then we started to hear that the perpetrators of violence would be fished out, and then again that the bad guys were even in government.

    The most remarkable discordance is the love-hate disposition of the President towards Boko Haram. We have heard our leader say he would not dialogue with faceless people. At some other point, we heard the administration was ready to talk even before the masks were taken off. A mediator was named, a location mentioned. On a tour last month of Borno and Yobe states, regarded as the strongholds of the sect, the President surprised many when he said again that dialogue was out of the question. Now, we have heard that the administration is ready to grant amnesty, considered to be several steps above dialogue. Dialogue is talk. Amnesty is pardon; it is forgiveness. The small worry is that Boko Haram is having none of it. It considers itself the aggrieved party, not the aggressor. Boko Haram does not want to be forgiven, arguing rather that it has the prerogative of forgiveness, if at all there should be any.

    In all of this, the voices of the victims are never heard, nor those of their relatives.

    The latest twist, we hear, has left the Jonathan administration stumped, halted in its tracks, some of his officers even wearing long faces.

    They should cheer up. Boko Haram has seized the bargaining power and the initiative. Now the government will beg its leaders to reconsider.

    It is an uncomfortable position for a president of a federal government. Even if concessions are made to insurgents, they should not be seen to be calling the shots. But guess what, the government should swallow its pride, go ahead and beg. If begging will stem the blood tide, why not? If begging will win the war and usher peace, by all means, let us beg.

  • Oshiomhole’s ‘suicide’ race

    Oshiomhole’s ‘suicide’ race

    PLEASE, permit me to disappoint you today, dear reader. No soccer. This column takes on other issues of national interest. A governor feels his Edo State counterpart, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, is set on a suicide mission with his registration for the May 4 maiden Okpekpe 10 km Marathon race.

    The Comrade is a renowned risk taker. He ventures where others quiver, largely because he weighs his options and takes the plunge with the strong conviction that he would excel.

    I have never sat down with Oshiomhole, but what I have seen during official visits is the struggle by his aides to catch up with him while walking. They virtually run to match the governor’s fast pace.

    What this shows is that Oshiomhole is fit; he is in good shape. But a marathon race transcends more than being fit. It is a function of such an athlete’s endurance level. Yet one won’t be surprised, given Oshiomhol’s background; he did odd jobs before heading for school as a kid.

    It is quite pleasing to note that Oshiomhole is training for the exercise. He is a man who takes things seriously; I want to believe that he would know when to stop because we love what he is doing in Edo State.

    One critical aspect of Oshiomhole’s participation in the race is that it will lure corporate firms to identify with the project. I won’t be surprised if the next edition becomes larger than this maiden race.

    The Olympic Games’ unique selling point rests with the fact that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is always tied to a particular city, which never remains the same after the Games.

    The Okpepke 10km Marathon would signpost development in this rustic community. The event will compel the organisers to rehabilitate the buildings leading to the finishing point of the race for look and feel. The residents will make brisk business; they will look forward to the event yearly.

    Okpepke’s hilly setting will remain etched in the minds of the athletes, officials and other visitors. They will take back pictures of the breath-taking scenes, the majestic of nature, back home and long to return.

    The neighbouring towns in Estako Local Government Area stretching towards Owan East, Owan West, Esan, not forgetting the spillover from the state capital, Benin-City, will be invaded by visitors and perception of Okpekpe and its people will change- most likely forever.

    The Okpekpe race could jumpstart a new awareness towards sports in the northern part of the state. It could also get Comrade Oshiomhole to seriously consider the rehabilitation of the Afuze College of Physical and Health Education, now known as the Pa Michael Imoudu College of Education.

    Afuze produced great athletes who won laurels for the state and Nigeria at international sporting competitions. It’s (Afuze’s) propinquity to Okpekpe will create the sports environment, where kids in those areas can assemble to do the sport of their choice. This noble activity would definitely take them out of crime and other social vices that they are prone to acquiring if they are not engaged properly.

    The college trained and re-trained the trainers, such that kids knew the rudiments of the sport that they showed proficiency in. Such early approaches to discovering talents provide the templates for all sporting bodies to plan for the bigger competitions. It also provides these bodies the data-base to collate the ages of the athletes, making it relatively difficult for them to falsify their ages.

    Need I remind the Comrade Governor who Pa Imoudu was? It is rather ironic that an edifice named after such a great labour union leader seems orphaned during Oshiomhole’s reign. I digress.

    Oshiomhole’s participation in the 10 km race should serve as the pivot for him to look at sports development in the state. Sports used to be synonymous with the defunct Bendel State. It is true that there are other pressing needs that our people desire, especially after the locust years of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    But with less than three years left in Oshiomhole’s second term, he needs to sit with his commissioner to look at the report submitted by the panel he set up to fashion out a blueprint for sports.

    The panel recommended the Sports Commission format, an industry run by experts not politicians who see the platform as one for post-election rewards, a place to rake in cash.

    We have been told by the organisers of the race that they have at least eight partners cum sponsors. The governor could engage the firms’ chief executives in discussions that would make them identify with one or two sports in the state.

    Okpekpe would be a success story because it is not depending on government money. Instead, the competition is driven by an adept marketer who understands the packaging of events to attract sponsors. The governor’s presence guarantees maximum cooperation from the government officials, most of who would have been cogs in the wheel, if the state government was financing the race.

    The hilly, windy road that the race would navigate has been constructed. The buses to convey the visitors have been bought. The ambulances are waiting. The streets lamps are there. Security would be exceptional, with the governor’s presence. Yet the government stands to gain more from the exposure arising from the race. The Okpepke Marathon is Edo State’s biggest Public Relations (PR) tool – to showcase its cultural, historic, archival materials, among others at no cost to the government.

    With the event shown live on two of Nigeria’s biggest networks (Africa Independent Television and Channels television), indigenes of the area who have not been there before will do a rethink. Investors who are sitting on the fence to witness the maiden edition will fall over one another for space, having seen the mileage that other sponsors have gotten from the exposures on television stations here and in the Diaspora.

    Okpekpe will create jobs for many people during the event, just as it will open a new vista for some of the locals who will finish in credible places in the race. Indeed, the lives of Okpepkpe people will be turned around for good.

    Oshiomhole has touched almost all spheres of human endeavour in Edo State – except sports. He constituted a 13-man panel to fashion out the new direction for sports. The report was submitted almost two years ago. Perhaps, the pomp and ceremony of the Okpepke race will remind the governor to implement the committee’s report.

    Recommendations of the Edo State Sports Development Committee

    In November 2008, a 13-man Sports Development Committee was set up by the Edo State Government to:

    . Prepare a blueprint for an all round sports development in Edo State and to restore the glory of Edo State in sports;

    . Suggest ways of revamping the Michael Imoudu College of Physical Education, Afuze, and make it functional and relevant to the overall development of sports;

    .Suggest ways of re-activating other sports infrastructure;

    .Suggest ways of resuscitating Bendel Insurance Football Club to regain its lost glory as the flag-bearer of the state in football,

    .Plan strategies for the state to attain not only first position in the 2009 National Sports Festival, but also to retain such dominance in subsequent festivals;

    . Come up with strategies for talent-hunt for sports development, and

    . Suggest any other way(s) that may enhance and galvanise the overall development of sports.

    The highlights of the recommendations of this committee are:

    (1) Establishment of a Sports Commission with an Executive Chairman and core of professionals to manage sports in the state and operate its new sports policy.

    (2) Redevelopment of the sports infrastructure in the state with a stadium in each of the senatorial districts and mini-stadium or sports centres in the local government areas. A task force should be setup for this purpose.

    (3) Reinvigoration of the directorate of school sports in the Ministry of Education.

    (4) Organisation of an annual state sports festival to be pre-ceded by the local government and senatorial sports festivals.

    (5) Organisation of annual school sports festival for talent hunt.

    (6) Redevelopment of the College of Physical Education at Afuze and its Games Village Facilities as well as expansion and diversification of its programmes.

    (7) Reform of Bendel Insurance Football Club under a new management to free it from the strangulating entanglements in order to return it to its past glory.

    (8) Regular and effective maintenance of all sports facilities in the state.

    (9) Ensure appropriate welfare and incentives for athletes, coaches and administrators.

    (10) Establishment of a monitoring and evaluation committee for the implementation of this report.

    Comrade Governor sir, Edo deserves to rule sports now, as it did in the Samuel Osaigbovo Ogbemudia years. Oba khato Okpere; Ise!

  • Power without control

    Things have fallen apart in the Super Eagles. Law has broken down. Paucity of cash has compelled the NFF to cut players’ bonuses, prune the team’s backroom staff and withdraw the country’s home-based Eagles from the 2014 version of the Africa Cup of Nations meant for local groomed lads.

    Many had looked forward to the two-legged ties between Nigeria and Cote d’ Ivoire, with many memories of the historic moments in late January, when the tottering Super Eagles shocked the star-studded Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire 2-1 in a quarter-finals game.

    Coach Stephen Keshi defied his employer’s request to appear before the body’s technical committee on Tuesday to defend his 2014 World Cup programme and discuss the team’s technical report for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations held in South Africa.

    But the biggest hurdle facing the Eagles is Keshi’s refusal to participate in a fence-mending meeting with his employers, occasioned by the feuding in the team, especially the ones involving the players and the coach.

    Keshi sought permission to go on holidays in California, United States, from his employers but was told in writing to wait until he had discussed his 2014 World Cup plans.

    The NFF men also felt that it was expedient that the coach submitted a technical report of how Nigeria excelled at the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations to guide the federation in future competitions.

    Indeed, part of the fallout of Nigeria’s feat in South Africa was the angst from Emmanuel Emenike – and rightly so – that nobody, including the coach and the federation, bothered to find the state of his niggling knee injury, which he sustained while playing for the country.

    Emenike’s outbursts culminated in Joseph Yobo’s stinker that Keshi didn’t deem it necessary to inform him as the team’s captain that he won’t be invited for the March 29 World Cup qualifier in Calabar.

    In fact Yobo chose the media to condemn Keshi’s action. Sports Minister Bolaji Abdullahi was worried. He talked with Yobo on telephone to stop the bickering.

    The minister immediately directed the NFF to wade into the matter, among other issues, so that it doesn’t jeopardise the country’s quest for the Brazil 2014 World Cup ticket.

    Keshi responded to his employer’s request for his 2014 World Cup programme by releasing a 30-man squad for the exercise in which the team would play over four games June.

    The coach, however, left the country without permission, shunning all entreaties from friends that he should attend the Tuesday session with his employers.

    Keshi informed his friends that he had booked his flight and would love to see his family in California. Couldn’t Keshi have rescheduled his trip? After all, it is NFF that would provide the cash for the re-issuance. Or is it NFF’s duty to refund the money spent on the trip when he returns?

    What does Keshi’s contract say on vacation?. This writer was informed by NFF eggheads that Keshi is entitled to 14 days annual leave. But he must notify the federation with a letter. He can only proceed on such a vacation when he gets the body’s approval. Did Keshi get his employer’s permission? We are told that he didn’t. Many have asked why he left the country without permission. Could it be that he now has new bosses?

    Yet, the more fundamental issues are: Was it wrong for NFF to have invited Keshi to defend his 2014 World Cup programme? Is it not about time Keshi submitted the technical report of a competition which ended on February 10 – 62 days after AFCON held? Is it an offence for the NFF to intervene in matters concerning the Eagles, especially as it affects the coach and the players? Or was intervene in matters concerning the Eagles, especially as it affects the coach and the players? Or was Keshi expecting the NFF to watch the players use foul language on their boss in the media?

    Clearly, Keshi is superior to the NFF – if he can brazenly ignore their directive. Even though they are his employers, he is not obliged to do their mandate, if it conflicts with his personal plans. Put simply, Keshi is bigger than Nigeria, since NFF is the face of the country in the global football space. What a pity!

    What we have on our hands is a man who wants power without control. Keshi wants to sit in judgment over his players without qualms, yet does not want to subject himself to any form of supervision.

    This oddity can only happen in Nigeria because we treat serious issues with levity. When we even decide to take any action, we allow sentiments to rule our sense of judgment. We opt for political solutions to crises and everyone is a winner, instead of wielding the stick against offenders.

    Would we sweep under the carpet this disobedient act on the altar of not wanting to rock the boat like we did with the resignation saga in South Africa? Can’t we see that we are the laughing stock?

    If this were done elsewhere, the coach would have been fired. Or is a superior body granting the coach his requests and making the NFF look like Lilliputians?

    How does Keshi expect the players to respect him when he disregards his employers? Respect begets respect. He needs to know that the players are watching. Who can stop this sickening trend?

    Technical director job

    Nigerian coaches never cease to amaze me. They swallow their pride and munch their vomit with relish. In doing so, they say that their people pleaded with them to go for the job as patriots.

    I’ve been pinching myself to find out if any of the five coaches who attended the technical director’s job session would deny the story.

    Instead, we are being told that Shauibu Amodu has nicked the job with Kashimawo Laloko and James Peters playing other key roles in the technical department.

    These three coaches (Amodu, Laloko and Peters) are eminently qualified for the job. But it is the acrimonious manner in which they left previous jobs with the NFF that has set me thinking. Would they have any moral right to complain about anything when it isn’t forthcoming?

    I hope they are ready to weather through the body’s shortcomings and face the job of getting the country a template that will see our national teams play in a distinct Nigeria way, like we see with the Dutch, the Brazilians, the Germans, the Spaniards, the English etc.

    Laloko is not a new man with grassroots soccer development. He knows his onions. But what happens to his Soccer Academy? Will he leave the kids with his lieutenants? We will wait and see.

    For Amodu, his running battles with our sports administrators are legendary. An achiever, Amodu, like Laloko, dislikes being dictated to. Again, what will become of the youth soccer academy, which he started in Edo State?

    Perhaps, both men have seen that they need to be at the NFF to integrate their programmes into the national sphere. One hopes that they can use this platform to unify all the soccer academies in the country.

    They should insist on the true ages of the talents discovered at the grassroots. We need to see age-grade competitions as developmental programmes and not one on which we must win.

    Age grade tournaments should be the platform to expose talents discovered at the grassroots. Each time Nigeria fields over-aged men as school boys they inadvertently release these kids into the world of crime.

    Clap for Yobo, Mikel, Moses

    Nigerians have something to look out for in the semi-finals of the 2012/2013 Europa Cup competition.

    We may also watch Joseph Yobo, John Mikel Obi and Victor Moses play against each other, if Chelsea overcomes Basel and Fenerbache beats Benfica in the tow semi-final matches.

    Moses and Mikel play for Chelsea while Yobo plays for Fenerbache. It is good to know that our stars are playing in the big competitions in Europe. We hope that they can play for the Eagles with the same spirit and commitment they exhibit for their clubs.

    One only hopes that Eagles chief coach Stephen Keshi attends both semi-final matches which would be played on different dates. He would have four opportunities to watch at least two of his key players. He could also do a re-think, when he watches Yobo, especially now that he is fully fit.

    A Chelsea versus Fenerbache final is my take although this prediction could go awry. As a consolation, I want one of the teams where Nigerians play for to qualify for the finals and lift the trophy.

  • Boko Haram: The problem with amnesty

    Boko Haram: The problem with amnesty

    Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown. At moments like this I do not envy President Goodluck Jonathan. Leadership demands tough decisions and choices. And the buck stops on his table particularly in our presidential system of government. There have been persistent calls in recent times across partisan and sectional divides that the Boko Haram insurgents that have killed thousands, maimed thousands more and spread blood, tears and sorrow across the North and beyond over the last two years be pardoned or granted amnesty. Many of those making the case for amnesty mean well. They contend that the military offensive against the terrorist group is not working. Rather, the Joint Task Force is alienating host communities by killing and molesting innocent civilians whenever soldiers are killed. Advocates of amnesty want peace and restoration of normalcy at all costs. It is difficult to blame them. The economy of the North has virtually been paralysed. Poverty has deepened. Fear reigns supreme. Furthermore, the precedence of the Niger Delta is cited. There, militant insurgents that waged war against oil installations and almost crippled the Nigerian economy were granted a general amnesty by the late President Umaru Yar’Adua. If peace could be bought in the Niger Delta, why not in the North?

    Unfortunately, President Jonathan seems unable to make up his mind on how to handle the Boko Haram challenge. He angered many Nigerians, especially Christians, when he suggested last year that Boko Haram members are our fellow brothers and dialogue with the sect should not be ruled out. Many people felt they could do without such murderous brothers. During his last visit to Borno and Yobe states, the President talked tough by declaring that his government could not negotiate with ghosts. Yet, so shortly after, it has been reported that the same President has now set up a committee to consider the possibility and modality of granting a general amnesty to the Boko Haram sect. President Jonathan does not appear to be showing leadership on this matter. He is simply bowing to whatever is the latest conventional wisdom. The President ought to be aware that the primary constitutional responsibility of the state is to maintain the security and promote the welfare of its citizens. People must first be alive before they can work, worship, pursue leisure or do any other thing.

    Those who predicate amnesty for Boko Haram on the Niger Delta precedent make a serious error. The so-called Niger Delta amnesty has not solved the fundamental problems of the region. It has only postponed the evil day. Yes, a few ex-militants have become emergency billionaires. Thousands of ex-militants are practically being bribed to maintain peace in the region so that the country can continue to exploit and export the crude oil without which she cannot survive. The Niger Delta amnesty has become a huge scam spawning the political economy of primitive accumulation – massive corruption. The arrangement is clearly unsustainable. Recurrent violent demonstrations by other militants left out of the deal make this so clear. The problems of environmental despoliation and desperate poverty remain as glaring as ever in the Niger Delta even if certain Ijaw elite that form part of Jonathan’s inner circle are enjoying the time of their lives.

    In any case, as many analysts have rightly pointed out, the Niger Delta insurgency was qualitatively different from the ongoing Boko Haram carnage. The Niger Delta struggle was about the damage done to the environment due to oil exploration as well as the unacceptable level of poverty in the region. Oil facilities and workers in oil companies were the prime targets of attack. There were no generalized, indiscriminate massacres like that being perpetrated by Boko Haram. This then is the basic problem with any proposition of amnesty for Boko Haram. What exactly is the fundamental grievance of the group? To the best of my knowledge, their objective is the Islamisation of northern Nigeria. Now, Nigeria is a multi-religious society. The constitutionally guaranteed secularity of the state is a necessary condition for peaceful co-existence in any such society. Nigeria’s secularity is thus non-negotiable. How then do you even begin to negotiate with a group whose primary objective is the erosion of that very secularity?

    Beyond this, members of Boko Haram have shown no remorse for the thousands of innocent lives they have wasted. A splinter group that hinted that it was prepared to negotiate some time ago gave no intimations of regret at the mindless killings perpetrated by the group. Is it thus any wonder that the leader of the group, AbubakarShekau, has been quoted in an audio recording as pointedly saying that “Surprisingly, the Nigerian government is talking about granting us amnesty? What wrong have we done? On the contrary, it is we that should grant you a pardon.” Really, can you fault his logic? Boko Haram has not conceded to doing any wrong. In fact its misguided members believe they are fighting a righteous cause. How then can you pardon a group that believes it is the wronged party?

    There is no doubt that the Niger Delta amnesty emboldened Boko Haram to believe that it could forcefully wrest concessions from the Nigerian state through terror. Let us not forget that the defining essence of any state is its legitimate monopoly of the techniques and instruments of violence within a given jurisdiction. Once this monopoly can be successfully challenged by rival groups the “stateness” of the state is irreparably devalued. Many of those who make the case for amnesty contend that the military option is not working. This implies that the Nigerian state must negotiate with Boko Haram from a position of weakness because of a perceived imminent military defeat. What this will do is only to encourage other groups to adopt violent methods in dealing with a Nigerian state perceived as lacking in efficacy to secure its territory.

    Of course, I agree that individual members of Boko Haram who overcome their delusions and voluntarily give up their ways of terror should be pardoned. This could encourage more members of the group to come out of the shadows and live decently among civilized communities. However, the entire Boko Haram tragedy only illustrates the urgency for more drastically addressing the fundamental problems of the Nigerian state. For instance, the need to convene a national conference has become imperative. If at such a conference, for instance, the majority of the people in any state or region opt for sharia law, they should be allowed to have their way. Those whose religious beliefs are incompatible with such a law should simply relocate to areas where they can practice their faiths without hindrance. Again, it is obvious that the present over centralized, unitary security structure is ill-suited to a federal society like ours. It is time to decentralize the Nigerian police force through the creation of state police. If states have their own police outfits comprising officers and men from the local communities, they will be in a better position to detect and prevent criminal activities including terrorism. For, contrary to President Jonathan’s claims, Boko Haram members are not ghosts. They live among human communities. Ghosts do not detonate bombs and crush innocent lives.

    Ironically, it is the elite of the north, the region which is most negatively affected by the current malformed structure of Nigeria, that are most vehemently opposed to these necessary measures! Currently, a huge chunk of the country’s budgetary resources is being expended on security with little positive impact on effectively protecting lives and property. The prevalent insecurity across the country has obviously only become another ready source of corrupt capital accumulation by unscrupulous officials. With fundamental decentralization of powers, resources and responsibilities to the component parts of the country, there will be more money available at the grassroots to address the poverty and inequality that, in the final analysis, lies at the root of the Boko Haram menace.

  • Leaders, justice and legacies

    Leaders, justice and legacies

    I use anecdotes and personalities to dilate on the topic of today. I start with the premise that leaders in what ever walks of life must aim to be just and fair in whatever endeavour they pursue, and their legacies must be measured by that immutable yard stick, at all times and in all seasons. Let me state that the death of the Iron Lady of Britain Baroness Margaret Thatcher this week provided the prodding for a topic of this nature. Secondly an interview I read about former Commonwealth Secretary General Emeka Anyaoku who turned 80 recently provided another impetus. Thirdly a lecture I attended last Tuesday at the prestigious Island Club, given by the Governor of Oyo State, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, together with the news of the cleaning of the Augean stable of our judiciary by the helmsman of the system, the Chief Justice of Nigeria Justice Mariam Alooma Mouktar came in to complete the jigsaw puzzle on this topic. My approach to this analysis will include making passing comments and in some cases leaving hanging statements to enable readers to reach their own conclusions.

    Starting with Baroness Margaret Thatcher – 1925 – 2013 – there is no doubt that a great woman of substance has passed on. The time of her death however deserves some comments even more than her legacies, which are monumental and historical. She has died during the tenure of her party -the Conservative Party, leading a coalition government, and as such British PM David Cameron will be the best chief mourner Thatcher could have wished for. Thatcher’s main legacy economically was that her policies on privatisation, free market economy and cutting the powers of trade unions on strikes were not changed but adopted by her successor opposition Labour Party government under Tony Blair. In diplomacy her main achievement was in collaborating with Ronald Reagan in bringing down the communist rule and hegemony of the former USSR under Gorbachev. Thatcher visited the Soviet Union and declared that she could ‘do business’ with the new Soviet leader and that business was giving freedom to the 15 former Soviet States to go their separate ways .In this regard Eastern Europeans loved her just as Argentines hated her for launching an armada across the world to defeat the Argentina over the Falklands Islands . For her feat, the Argentines tried and sent to jail the military president who led them during the Falklands war – General Galtieri for taking Argentina to war unprepared . Although one could say Thatcher could not have died at a better time some, would say she couldn’t have died at a worse time. If you saw in recent times, the riots in European capitals in the euro zone, offshoots of the adoption of Thatcherism in these European nations –Portugal, Ireland. Greece and Spain – the PIGS nations of the EU- then you could say that Thatcher has died while her legacy of Thatcherism is in tatters in Europe and has led to the London riots in recent times.

    That would explain why some people were reportedly celebrating her death in Glasgow, Bristol and London and were reported to have said rather cruelly that she should be buried in private, but they would like to know her grave, so that they can go and dance on it. In addition, the Argentines may have had the last laugh as the new Pope in the Vatican is one of them and Pope Francis has already used the word Malvinas, Argentina’s name for the Falklands, to refer to the Falklands, much to the chagrin and consternation of the British who have not invited Argentina’s President Katherine Katchener to Thatcher’s elaborate burial on April 17. All the same, I think Thatcher has earned her ceremonial burial and her chequered place in British history and this is shown by the fact that the Queen will be attending the funeral, only the second of such Her Majesty will be attending, since the funeral of the great Winston Churchill, Britain’s war time PM. Personally, even though I disagree with some of Thatcher’s anti welfare policies I cannot but admire her leadership credentials of firmness, focus, guts and grit no matter how grudgingly I give that admiration or salute. May her great soul rest in peace Amen.

    As I was pondering on the Emeka Anyaoku interview, I heard the radio news that the Lagos State government of Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola has named a new housing estat, the Millenium Estate after the former Commonwealth DG. Really I do not think that has stolen my thunder on the contents of that interview. In the interview Chief Anyaoku narrated how he was able to remain the Commonwealth DG after Nigeria was suspended when the late General Sanni Abacha killed Tsaro Wiwa and co in spite of late appeals from world leaders including the great Nelson Mandela. He was also able to show how he resigned from the Nigerian diplomatic service during the civil war in protest against the pogrom during the civil war and he was still able to keep his job as a Nigerian diplomat working at the Commonwealth Secretariat. After the civil war he came over to the Nigerian side to help with the Gowon’s post war 3Rs of Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Reconciliation and again he was able when asked why he did not support the Nigeria war effort to insist that he could not do so because of the pogrom against his people.

    I state these events to show the leadership virtues of fairness, justice and respect for human dignity inherent in this distinguished diplomat’s actions while in office in spite of great constraints and challenges of his posting and office In addition Chief Anyaoku identified the present problems facing Nigeria as first the high cost of running our government involving 36 states, 36 bureaucracies and 36 legislatures leading to our spending 75% of our resources and revenue as running costs. The second he called negative politics in which people go to politics not to serve but to enrich themselves. The third problem he traced to the failure of our federal system due to military intervention and the foistering or imposition of the military’s unitary command structure and line of command on our federal constitution.

    To me what the distinguished Nigerian diplomat is saying is that we have been running a federation with weak states and a strong center which is more like a unitary state and is anything but a federal system which can not lead to growth and prosperity of the federating units. This however is in sharp contrast to the position taken by the Oyo State Governor Senator Abiola Ajimobi in his brilliant Business Lecture at the Island Club last Tuesday . The Governor held the view that the 36 states provide opportunities for development and investment at the grassroots for the three tiers of government. This to me tallied with what the Governor of Oshun State Ogbeni Aregbesola said at a different forum that the ACN states will use the needs of the people they govern to drive economic growth. Governor Ajimobi went on to say that the ACN states are driven by efficiency and effectiveness in contrast to the large and unwieldy size of the ruling party which lacked both virtues. The Oyo State governor then highlighted the challenges of state development in our federalism which included the lopsided revenue allocation formula which gives the FGN 52.8 % of revenue and the 36 states 26.72% and 774 local governments share 20%; the delineation of responsibilities in the Concurrent and Legislative Lists. According to the governor, the FGN controls 68 legislative items under the Exclusive List and shares 24 with State governments on the Concurrent List; and the issue of security being ceded to the FGN as well as agriculture and the Land Use Act which he criticized.

    However it was in the manner of the delivery of his lecture that the Oyo State governor stole the heart of his audience. He displayed great mastery of the subject and even during the Question and Answer session that I anchored, he was witty, and quite knowledgeable in the simple and disarming way he answered questions . Indeed when the question was put that Nigerian politicians are lawless he was able to react that the masses benefit more from politicians than soldiers in that politicians distribute the largesse of office, whilst soldiers in government hoard the national patrimony to their family. He blamed Military intervention for the pervading culture of corruption in the nation and noted that the politicians must keep shouting wolf when even there is none at least to keep the military at bay and avert military intervention by all means. He then went on to market the achievements of his government in Oyo State which was quite easy and effortless on his part as he was an oil Marketing Guru before he went into politics.

    Lastly the news that Nigeria’s first female Chief Justice has given the red card to fraudulent judges has shown that the Nigerian judicial system is determined to play its role as expected in our constitution. Indeed I recall that the statue of justice is that of a blindfolded woman wielding a sword to show that justice will be done blindly and without favors, no matter whose horse is gored. To me Justice Alooma Mouktar is a ‘Daniel Come to Judgement ‘as in Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice, when the young lady lawyer asked the wicked Shylock to take his pound of flesh without the loss of any pint of Blood from his hapless debtor. The Nigerian CJN has reportedly said that any judge found to have given a biased judgement will face the full wrath of the law. Already she has set up 23 Committees to investigate allegations of judicial malfeseance against as many judges. She has said that judges will be judged on their performance by the report of the Performance and Evaluation Report set up by the National Judicial Council. Especially, judges who are found guilty of selling judgements will be shown the exit, disgracefully from the judiciary.

    What this boils down to is that Nigeria is now about to experience real rule of law. For when judges dispense justice impartially, according to the law, the citizens feel safe and confident to seek redress from the courts as expected in an effective democracy where the courts are the final arbiter in any disputes in the polity. This has a way of stabilizing any political system and Nigeria cannot afford to be an exception. In a nation being terrorized in the North by Boko Haram for whom the Northern leaders have asked for amnesty – which the leadership of Boko Haram has rejected, saying it has done nothing wrong and that it should be asked to give pardon instead to the Nigerian state for killing its members, a just and honest judiciary is an urgent and much needed institutional relief to adjudicate on issues of amnesty and terrorism and give direction to avert the present trend and drift towards political mischief, confusion and anarchy in our governance structure. Justice Alooma Mouktar has my support and admiration and she reminds me again of the late Margaret Thatcher and I wish her all the best in the daunting and salutary goal she has set herself of purging corruption in our temple of justice as the Iron Lady of the Nigerian judiciary. For the sake of the Nigerian nation and all of us I say – Best of luck, Iron Lady , God Speed and Protection Amen.

  • Coach’s captain or players’ choice

    Coach’s captain or players’ choice

    I’m not an alarmist. Nor do I claim to be a seer. But my hunch tells me that there are problems in the Super Eagles we need to resolve, if Nigeria must hoist her flag among the football fraternity at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

    We have before us a clay-pot-and-rat setting, which we must handle with care. Two top figures in the Eagles are at daggers drawn. Hitherto, they were not telling us the truth about their deep-seated wahala.

    But Yobo broke his silence on Tuesday on 88.9 Brila FM when he said: “I’m disappointed nobody called me before the team list was announced. It’s disrespectful. I feel disrespected. I’m the captain of the Super Eagles and I thought the coach should have put a call across to me. I have no problem being left out.”

    Keshi may shrug his shoulders and say he is not obliged to do things the players’ way. But he must accept that this feud could be our albatross when the chips are down at the bumpy Kasarani stadium in Nairobi on September 5.

    Keshi needs the big boys to pull through the Kenyans in Nairobi. Dutchman Johannes Bonfrere tried the stunt of ignoring the big boys and paid dearly for it. Nigeria lost to Sierra Leone in one of the Japan/Korea 2002 World Cup qualifiers in Freetown and it marked his sack from the team. Eagles had 14 men to play with and we lost 1-0.

    The player who will be having a good laugh is the irritant Osaze Odemwingie and I won’t be surprised if he tweets again to capture the whole scenario. It would be caustic. I digress.

    There will also be the harsh weather conditions. We, therefore, need the full complement of our players who are driven by one goal- to ensure that Nigeria qualifies for the Brazil 2014 World Cup and not the divided house that we have today.

    The disturbing aspect of this time bomb is that both parties are feigning ignorance of the problem. Yet the team is broken along the lines of loyalty to either of the men.

    The players are unhappy with the Eagles’ technical crew over their ploy to deny Yobo a place for 100 international caps for Nigeria under the spurious grounds that he is “out-of-favour”. Whose favour? In this group are the regulars and their grouse is that the coach ought to have identified with this Yobo dream rather than blow him out of the team like catarrh inside the nostrils.

    The pro-Yobo group is pointing to the fact that Coach Keshi enjoyed sufficient respect from the Eagles’ coaching crew then headed by Clemens Westerhof in the twilight of his career. They are miffed that such a man could brazenly drop a player he knew was burdened by a niggling injury, which they say has healed fully, culminating in Yobo’s five-star outing for his Turkish side in their last Europa Cup competition.

    The thrust of their angst against the coach is that they have likened what is about happening to Yobo as the typical Nigerian use-and-dump attitude. They have vowed to resist it, insisting that it is about time Nigeria celebrated her big stars instead of easing them out like ice cream under the scorching sun.

    When this informant dropped his call, what struck my mind was – which do we prefer, the coach’s captain or the players’ choice? For me, we need the option that would guarantee Nigeria a place at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

    From my interaction with the chief complainant, they didn’t have any problem with Vincent Enyeama as their captain. They felt sad that Yobo was being dumped without honour. They said this had been the lot of great players in the Eagles, vowing that the trend must stop with the Yobo/Keshi saga. Is Enyeama a better captain than Yobo? Keshi had better ask his fellow former international, Samson Siasia. Enyeama knew he made the starting squad because of Austin Ejide’s injury; otherwise, he had been sidelined.

    This is what Enyeama told a radio programme and it is very instructive, lest They said this had been the lot of great players in the Eagles, vowing that the trend must stop with the Yobo/Keshi saga. Is Enyeama a better captain than Yobo? Keshi had better ask his fellow former international, Samson Siasia. Enyeama knew he made the starting squad because of Austin Ejide’s injury; otherwise, he had been sidelined.

    This is what Enyeama told a radio programme and it is very instructive, lest Keshi burns his candle on both ends. Enyeama said: “We have to be careful how we handle senior players… experience… leadership serves as motivation to younger players.”

    I know that the coach has the right to pick the captain that he can work with. Yet he needs the team to win matches; otherwise, his job is on the line. Coaches would rather keep their jobs than allow infighting to lead to their sack.

    The power of players in sacking their coaches is best captured at Chelsea, even though they argue that it is the owner, Roman Abrahamovic, that does all the sacking. No one tells the current Tottenham FC of London’s manager Andre Villas-Boas that story, having encountered Chelsea stars in his short stay at Stamford Bridge.

    Keshi must understand this fact -that no coach goes to the field to play; he relies on the players to do the job. If they are displeased, they won’t give their best. Can we see any correlation between this setting and the way our African champions tottered before a seemingly weaker Kenyan side, if we juxtapose what the Eagles exhibited in their last three games at the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations? No comparison! Keshi must, therefore, tread with caution on this matter.

    Players-versus-coach imbroglio is always expected, yet it is how the parties settle to achieve the set objective that makes the coach who he is. The salient fact as we move to scuttle this impending mutiny in the Super Eagles is that most of the players have reached their self-actualisation point. They have played at the World Cup and know that Nigeria cannot win it. They have won several bronze medals. And with the gold medal around their necks as Africa Cup of Nations champions, anything can give way. It doesn’t really matter for a country where we don’t have the culture of celebrating our heroes.

    What is currently playing out actually started with the Big Boss himself? So, it is interesting that it is all coming back to him now as a coach. Under Westerhoff, Nigerian football followers knew that the Big Boss was literally a spare tyre who was tagging along in the twilight of his career. Yet he lifted the trophy as the team’s captain. So, what is sauce for the goose should also be sauce for the gander.

    If he saw nothing wrong in being taken to the 1994 World Cup in US, as a non-playing captain, if anything, to booster his colleagues’ morale, he should be seen to be doing the right thing. And in that way, he will stave off rebellion and keep his job.

    But more seriously, when has a player become an institution to be consulted on the team’s selection? If it has ever happened elsewhere, it is not a written pact, but merely a coach’s discretion. But again, it does appear to me that a precedent may have been set where players in Nigeria feel that their opinion or input matters in the choice of their colleagues to be invited for the national team assignment.

    Last word: A potential landmine is being laid for Keshi as he tinkers with his team ahead of the Kenya encounter. Big Boss, be courageous, but be wise.

    Enugu Rangers, Kaduna Utd’s sanctions

    The only way that Nigerians can throng the stadium to watch matches will be for the place to be safe.

    No Nigerian would risk his/her life or that of their siblings to be at the stadium, if players who should be entertaining them beat up a match referee to a pulp.

    What these unruly players don’t know is that these referees are people’s fathers, uncles, brothers, in-laws and bread winners. I wonder how they would feel if their fathers, for instance, are brutalised like they do to these referees to intimidate them to do their biddings.

    Stop this supporters’ aircraft stuff, please

    Gradually, the private aircraft syndrome started by our super rich pastors is beginning to take hold on other strata of the society. How can one explain the sudden desire of the Nigeria Supporters’ Club to acquire their own aircraft?

    I thought it was a joke taken too far up the sky, when I first read of the club’s intention to buy an aircraft. I laughed when they argued that owning an aircraft would reduce the cost of travelling to root for the Super Eagles during matches.

    What struck me was to ask if the game won’t hold in their absence? I felt that they needed to be told that owning an aircraft would be more expensive as they would have to pay for parking, pay the pilots and the accompanying staff, the engineers and other logistics to keep the aircraft air worthy.

    We salute the supporters for rooting for the national teams during competitions. But the decision to own an aircraft was not well thought out. Somebody should please instruct the authorities never to consider this ambitious request.

    President Goodluck Jonathan recognised them by giving them N5 million. The President could also instruct the National Sports Commission (NSC) to include the supporters’ budget in our request because they play a pivotal role in galvanising the players during matches. Globacom boss Mike Adenuga has always supported the club. Maybe, they could consider a launch before big competitions. They need financial assistance; not an aircraft.