The Nation Newspaper

Category: Saturday

  • New political deals, security and sports

    New political deals, security and sports

    Last Thursday British PM David Cameron hosted the presidents of Pakistan and Afghanistan in London in a conference aimed at brokering a peace between the two neighbors and subsequently achieving peace with their common enemy, the Taliban, in the region. Similarly during the week the leader of Hamas, Khaled Meshaal, announced that his organization was ready to form a government of national unity with the leader of the PLO, Mamoud Abbass with whom Hamas clashed to set up its own government in Gaza sometime ago.

    Also, an assassination of a politician in Tunisia, the first since the Arab Spring Revolution began in January 2011, set the tone for the formation of a government of technocrats without political affiliation in that nation from where the Arab Street revolutions started two years ago. Thirdly, Nigeria’s qualification for the finals of the African Cup of Nations for the first time since it won it last in 1994 and the way and manner Burkina Fasso beat Ghana to get to tomorrow’s final in spite of the refereeing at that match last Wednesday, throw up issues of fairness justice and security both off and on the pitch in sports and politics.

    David Cameron’s peace broker’s role probably stems from a desire by not only Britain and the US to stop money down the drain over the war on terror in that part of the world, but also to maintain domestic peace in Britain given Britain’s large Pakistani population and the huge resources committed to the Afghan war from which the Allies are committed to withdraw from 2014 . But if David Cameron is sincere in intention, the same cannot be said of the two characters he parleyed with in London this week. This is because the two presidents from Kabul and Islamabad carry heavy luggage in terms of corruption and legitimacy to the talks and these have always dogged or sabotaged their communications with the final objective of the Cameron peace, which is the Taliban.

    President Karzai was elected to a second term recently in Afghanistan, in an election which even the US that midwifed it conceded was far from free and fair. But it was the best available option to keep the Taliban at bay while at the same time propping up a puppet government in a semblance of democracy. This has not however stopped Karzai from telling the Americans that he is free to visit any nation and receive any head of state including that of Iran, the sworn enemy of the US, the sole guarantor of the same Karzai government in Kabul.

    The government of President Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan faces a different challenge and carries a peculiar burden. The Pakistani president faces money laundering charges in Switzerland for which a warrant has been issued for his arrest and for which his incumbency as president initially provided immunity. In fact his party or indeed the party of his wife Benazir Bhutto who was assassinated on her return from exile to contest parliamentary elections, won the last general elections riding on the wave of sympathy for the wife’s assassination. That however was when the judiciary needed the politicians in Pakistani’s volatile politics to drive away the military dictatorship of Parvez Musharaff who wanted to shed military fatigues to become a civilian president.

    The CJ of Pakistan then ruled against Musharaff’s ambition as illegal and the politicians rallied round the beleaguered CJ who was reinstated after Zardari’s party came into power. Now it seems the relations between the CJ and the government in power has soured as the CJ has dismissed two PMs for contempt charges for failing to initiate criminal proceeding against Zardari for his earlier money laundering charges.

    The army is standing aloof in all these because it has lost face in Pakistan over the way the Americans came and killed Osama Bin Ladin literally in its backyard. In addition outgoing US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has always taunted the Pakistani authorities – military or politician – alike with hypocrisy and treachery in taking US dollars while hiding the where about of Bin Laden – a situation made worse and more embarrassing in the way and manner of the killing of Bin Ladin.

    So in effect, what sort of peace can Cameron broker with these leaders broken in integrity and credibility in their own socio political environment? Can such a peace be respected by the Taliban who hold the two leaders in contempt and boast that but for the Americans and their allies they would have made short work of these leaders? This is what the British should ponder about after all the fanfare and hullaballoo of the London Peace conference on Pakistan and Afghanistan.

    In the case of a truce between Hamas and the PLO in Palestine, this is a clear case of political pragmatism prevailing over deep rooted mutual resentment. The Hamas leader had left his base in Syria in a hurry after criticizing the Assad regime in the way it has been killing its people . He took refuge in one of the Gulf States but it seems life has not been cosy. This again is because one of Hamas own backers and sponsors – Iran – has been tight fisted in providing funds because of the Hamas leader’s criticism of its surrogate and ally, the Assad regime. Now the Hamas leader knows that there is no where like home and even though the Israelis are always looking for the Hamas leader to do him in, a truce of sorts with the PLO will provide some form of cover and shelter for the Hamas leader, at least in Palestine. This too should remove the bottom from the Netanyahu charge and argument that the Israelis are not ready for peace because they are divided. Which really is a wicked excuse for building on the occupied territories against UN resolutions and international law that Israel is violating with impunity. The Hamas rethink is therefore a welcome development that gives peace a new chance in the Middle East. It therefore should be encouraged.

    With regard to the assassination in Tunisia of opposition leader, anti Islamist Chokri Belaid who was shot in the neck and head by unknown people on motor bikes in front of his house this week, one can only tremble at the prospect that holds for democracy and stability in post – street revolution N Africa. I heard a lamentation on BBC that the assassination means the end of democracy and is a betrayal of the revolution in the Middle East. Which is really sad and makes one shudder that the huge human price to remove dictatorships may well end in anarchy and instability which again makes a mockery of the entire Spring Revolution that started in Tunisia two years ago.

    Most Tunisians have held the government Islamist Party in power – Ennahada – responsible but all hope is not lost that such anarchy will prevail in Tunisia. This is because the PM of Tunisia, Hamadi Jebadi has now said he will form a government ‘of competent nationals without political affiliation. Which resonates the concept of zero party politics similar to the one Museveni introduced in Uganda some time ago as well as the type practiced in Nigeria also some time ago. That also creates some fear as well that a sectarian majority may not be the goal of the Spring Revolution in N Africa even though on paper this should be a fait accompli given the census and statistics of the region as well as the fact that there is one religion prevalent.

    That was the problem the President of Egypt Mohammed Morsi was reacting to when he told the CNN – there is no Islamic Democracy but democracy. Which again shows that first Egypt and now Tunisia have become a case or battle ground for the clash between religion and democracy in the quest for freedom, stability and security in post revolution N Africa – and one can only watch and pray.

    Lastly the AFCON final tomorrow between Nigeria and Burkina Fasso promises to be a thriller and is a befitting end to a series of soccer games that have made Africa proud in terms of standard of play and discipline, except the refereeing . It was bad enough that CAF sent home the referee of the Nigeria – Zambia match for the penalty against Nigeria and for – ‘ trying to rewrite the rules at the competition‘. But the referee in the Burkina Fasso – Ghana match was the ‘twelfth player’ for the Ghana team. He was so biased against the Burkina Fasso team that it was a wonder they were able to defeat Ghana after extra time and penalty shoot out. One can only wait to see what CAF will make of such officiating as a form of deterrence.

    Let me say clearly that as a Nigerian I want Nigeria to win. But let me also, like most Nigerians say boldly, that the Nigerian team has surprised all of us in getting this far, given the way they played their first two drawn games against Burkina Fasso and the outgoing champion Zambia. But it is in the way that the Nigerian team has lifted its game since those two dismal draws that I doff my heart to the team and its coach Stephen Keshi.

    Nigerians lost confidence in the team after its first two games but the team held its own, kept its head and focus, and gave a brilliant performance against Ethiopia and Ivory Coast to win the hearts of all Nigerian who are now rooting for them to win today. It is therefore the Super Eagles and it coach that deserve kudos for believing in themselves, against the 11th hour, new found supporters of today who were yesterday‘s doubting Thomases and who now expect them to win today, as I am sure they will, all things being equal.

  • JKF at 48: The music has just begun

    JKF at 48: The music has just begun

    In a recent encounter with journalists during an inspection of projects in some parts of Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, Governor Kayode Fayemi was asked how he manages to raise funds for the numerous projects his administration is undertaking in the state. The reporter had asked the question upon realising that the Operation Renovate All Secondary Schools in Ekiti (ORASE), which led to the renovation of the 183 public secondary schools in the state and the purchase of 40,000 units of furniture for teachers and students cost the state a whopping N2.5billion.

    For a state that is ranked number 35th on the federal allocation ladder and gets a little above N2billion monthly from the federation purse, the reporter’s concern seems apt, especially given the fact that the comprehensive renovation of public schools and the computer-per-child initiative of the administration are running side by side with other projects.

    When the journalist was told that the state would soon commence the comprehensive renovation of all hospitals and primary health care centres in the state beginning from January, he simply retorted: “Your Excellency must be a magician!”

    Fayemi had politely told the reporter that the passion to see poverty and sickness banished from the state and the determination to make the Ekiti the number one destination of choice for business and leisure remain the vital tonic that drives the developmental agenda in Ekiti and provides the creativity that unlocks the required funds. What perhaps is unknown to the journalist is the fact that JKF, as Dr Fayemi is popularly called, remains one of the few leaders in the country who view their call to serve as a privilege and therefore put in everything to ensure that they leave a legacy.

    Caroline Mcloughlin, Executive Director of the Washington-based Centre for Visionary Leadership, vividly captures the essence of visionary leadership in one of her works. According to her, “Visionary leaders are the builders of a new dawn, working with imagination, insight, and boldness. They present a challenge that calls from the best in people and brings them together around a shared sense of purpose. Their eyes are on the horizon, not just on the near at hand. They are social innovators and change agents, seeing the big picture and thinking strategically.”

    Mcloughlin’s definition, no doubt, encapsulates those key attributes that have marked JKF as an innovative leader with a great ability to inspire others and an insatiable appetite for setting and attaining developmental goals. Through a combination of forceful imagination, prudent spending, compassion for the led and placing much premium on the concept of doing development with the people, JKF has, in the last two and a half years, been able to launch the state on an irreversible path of development.

    In theory, JKF has espoused the concept of good governance and the concomitant empowerment of the citizens as well as the strengthening of the institutional framework at the various lectures and discussion groups he has participated locally and at the global stage. In practical terms, he demonstrates this in the running of the affairs of Ekiti State by laying emphasis on key elements of good governance, including accountability, transparency, efficiency and effectiveness, responsiveness, the rule of law and forward vision.

    JKF stated this much in his most recent publication – “Reclaiming The Trust.” He admits that what he has brought into governance in the last two years is the kind of trust that is based on and compels competence, openness, concern and reliability. “Trust is a public good; we cannot do great things collectively without trust. But trust has to be earned,” he stresses.

    Within two and half years, Fayemi has been able to place Ekiti on the centre stage by re-awakening the Omoluabi concept in government and laying a solid foundation on which a more prosperous Ekiti would be built. The Social Security Benefit Scheme which pays monthly stipends to indigent elderly citizens of the state; the computer-per-child initiative, where each student in the public secondary schools gets a solar-powered lap top computer are first of its kind in the country. The massive investments in industrial, infrastructure and tourism development in the state as well as diverse youth and women empowerment programmes in an atmosphere devoid of the brigandage and violence of yesteryears have greatly enhanced the profile of the state.

    Perhaps this explains why the rain of endorsements of his person and leadership style continues to pour in torrents since the September 18, 2012 endorsement by a former Nigerian Permanent Representative at the United Nations, Alhaji Maitama Sule, at the Leadership Awards in Abuja and that of the 26 Pan-Yoruba groups under the auspices of the Oodua Nationalist Coalition (ONAC) in Ibadan, recently.

    As JKF turns 48 today, the question is no longer about what he is capable of doing as a leader. For he has been able to demonstrate his capability as an imaginative leader. Rather, the question will be about what he would not do as a leader. Regarded in some circles as ‘an activist in government’, many believe that his past has adequately prepared him for the present and the future.

    John Kayode Fayemi was born on February 9, 1965 into the family of the late Chief and Mrs. Francis Falade Fayemi. A native of Isan-Ekiti in Oye Local Government, he had his elementary education in Ibadan before attending Christ’s School, Ado- Ekiti for his secondary education between 1975 and 1980.

    He received his first degree in History and Politics from the University of Lagos in 1985, a Master’s degree in International Relations from the University of Ife, Ile-Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), in 1987 and a doctorate in War Studies from the King’s College, University of London, England in 1993, specialising in civilian-military relations and defence planning.

    Prior to his active involvement in politics, Dr. Fayemi  was the pioneer Director of the Centre for Democracy and Development, a research and training institution dedicated to the study and promotion of democratic development, peace-building and human security in Africa.

    Dr. Fayemi was a Georgetown University Leadership Fellow in 2000 and a Senior Visiting Fellow in African Studies, Northwestern University, Evanston, USA in 2004. He is also an Associate Fellow of the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Ibadan and was on the Adjunct Faculty of the African Centre for Strategic Studies, National Defence University, USA, between 2001 and 2005.

    He was a member of the Governing Board of the Open Society Justice Institute, New York and African Security Sector Network. He was Technical Adviser to Nigeria’s Human Rights Violations Investigation Commission (known as the Oputa Panel) and also served on three Presidential Advisory Committees on Conflict Management and Security Sector Reform; NEPAD and the Millennium Development Goals under the Olusegun Obasanjo administration.

    An advocate of true federalism, Fayemi has written and lectured extensively on governance and democratisation. He is also a recipient of several awards, fellowships and grants, including the Ford Foundation grant on the Special Initiative on Africa and the Macarthur Foundation research grant. He was named Governor of the Year, 2011 by the Leadership Newspaper.

    With forty and eight fruitful years in the kitty, the music has just started for Fayemi, the one Ekiti people love to call ”Ilufemiloye “.

     

    •Oyebode is Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Ekiti State.

  • A heart to thrive

    A heart to thrive

    Everyone knows that you need more than wings to fly. More than anything else, you need a heart. To make a success of anything, you require more than tools or tutelage. You need a heart to fly, a fire to propel you.

    Only a few years ago, planes were falling off the Nigerian sky at an alarming frequency, plunging people to a most horrific death. It wasn’t that Nigerian pilots could not fly an aircraft. Nor was it that the planes were wingless or not altogether airworthy. The aircraft were crashing simply because there was no heart to ensure safety in the air. Without such a heart, therefore, no one prioritised the installation of obligatory flying aids. Nor was the right orientation in place for ground personnel. The result was the unforgettable catalogue of air tragedies of the Obasanjo years. The moment the right heart came the planes flew began to fly peacefully in the Nigerian air space.

    Hard-nosed football coaches look for this sort of heart in their players especially the strikers. A good pair of legs is not enough. Nor is ball control. Do you have enough push, an insatiable hunger to put the ball behind the opponent’s net? Attackers are rested if this fire is not in their belly.

    We need such fire to successfully tackle every challenge facing this country, including insecurity. These days of Boko Haram bloodletting, we have read that virtually every world power has lent us their security and intelligence services to help tackle terrorism. The other day, we read again that the Jonathan administration appealed to Britain for help in this regard.

    If outsiders help, it is all well and good, considering that no nation is, or can be, an island. But as a people, we need a heart of our own to confront evil. External help is welcome but it may not endure. Beyond the obligation stirred by our common humanity, the West will only help us or anyone if the gesture will benefit its people one way or another. There are interests to protect, new grounds to break and virgin frontiers to explore. Beyond that, you are essentially on your own. We need a heart to survive before the helpers come. We need a heart to survive while they are here. And we definitely need a heart to stay alive after the helpers are gone.

    Such a heart has eluded the Nigerian leadership. In spite of assorted national mantra, slogans and other forms of rhetoric, leadership has perpetually failed the nation and its people. Why? No heart to swing things. No heart to fly.

    A few examples won’t go amiss. Our leadership has consistently expended a lot of energy and cash to project a polished Nigerian brand to the world. We have been urged to dress Nigerian and to love the local fabric. But what effort has been made to revive the abandoned indigenous textile industry that should spin out the fabric?

    The Ministry of Works takes a handsome cut of statutory funds from the federal purse but has failed to build roads or repair damaged ones on which our perish every day.

    Every government has trumpeted its iron-cast resolve to put corruption out of the Nigerian space, but the monster continues to grow in stature nevertheless. It continues to cripple everything we hold dear. Providing electricity, for instance, has since become an unsolvable puzzle essentially because of corruption.

    Some might say we lack most of the things we need to take off. No. We have everything we need. We do not lack resources, whether in human or natural form. If crude oil were for drinking, I believe we have enough of it to serve every family three times a day. But its abundance has ironically not always guaranteed its availability nor stopped us from importing fuel at a huge cost. Our human resources have also been helping to build overseas nations. But we cannot build ours. Why? We lack a heart to convert resources to assets, deployable to the common good.

    Boko Haram has set everyone’s teeth on edge. Last week our prized federal lawmakers were in an uncoordinated marathon race, beginning from their hallowed seats and terminating in the open space outside the legislative chambers where they felt safe. A security officer was later to dismiss the marathon as a needless product of an empty rumour. But you won’t blame the frightened lawmakers any more than you will chide a man who was robbed by someone wielding what he suspected was a toy gun. Who will wait to find out if a Boko Haram threat is a baseless rumour, or that a robber’s weapon is actually not made of iron?

    So bring in the British anti-terror experts, but we must bear in mind that we need much more than them to live peacefully in this country. We need a heart to protect our own, and a new order that puts premium on the human life, even that of a single individual.

     

    First published September 25, 2011

     

  • Justice, interventions and revolutions

    Justice, interventions and revolutions

    As the French Sahel Assault is on course in Mali, Nigeria, at a donors conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia told the audience it had spent $34m on deployment of Nigerian troops in Mali – while in the same newspaper that carried the report on the expenditure, there was another report that two weeks after the deployment of Nigerian troops to Mali , the troops are yet to leave Nigeria because of lack of funds. In the Middle East, Israeli planes were reported to have bombed a defence research facility in Syria, a fact that the Russians decried, while warning it could escalate the Syrian war. This is because Iran, an implacable enemy of Israel, had declared earlier that any attack on the Assad regime would be treated as an attack on Iran.

    In Egypt, youths and demonstrators waged violent demonstrations in Egyptian cities against an Islamist president they say had hijacked the revolution that overthrew the regime of Housni Mubarak two years ago – and the Egyptian army, standing on the sidelines ominously warned that the state of Egypt is under threat. Again in Nigeria the judgement in the case of a former pensions director who who stole 27 bn naira but was sentenced to just two years and fined 750,000 naira by a court caused such public outrage that the accused has been re arraigned while some groups have called for the probe of the judge that gave the initial verdict.

    In all these issues – which I admit albeit grudgingly, are enough for today- the common bonds are the quest for justice, order, security and stability. It is obvious that in some cases the socio political institutions and apparatus for achieving set goals and objectives of society have failed to live up to their billings and ad hoc or impromptu alternatives have had to come in, occasionally violently, to create some form of social, political or even regulatory equilibrium or balance.

    In some instances the law has been made an ass while in other cases or instances, regulatory or supervisory oversight has just turned a blind eye. Which really shows that interventions, if they are to be successful have to be decisive, fast and smooth like the French Intervention in Mali – he Sahel Assault – or as expected of regulators’ intervention in times of financial crisis in banks or financial institutions, to avoid panic or bank runs.

    Starting with the AU Donors Conference, President Goodluck Jonathan was reported to have told the audience at the 20th Ordinary Session of the African Union in Addis Ababa that ‘Nigeria has commenced the deployment of 900 combat soldiers and 300 Airforce personnel as part of AFISMA.

    Nigeria has so far provided about $32m for the immediate deployment and logistic support for the troops.’ Nigeria he also reportedly said would give additional $5m for helping the Malian defence forces as part of a Security Sector Reform Intervention Fund. Undoubtedly Nigeria’s intention on Mali is laudable and is good for regional stability. Nigeria is also living up to its billing as a force to be reckoned with in the West African sub region. But something seems to be wrong in the way and forum that the expenditure has been announced and the situation in Nigeria itself.

    In the report mentioned earlier which said Ni gerian soldiers are stranded at home it was also written that ‘the deployment was hurriedly done because of the deployment of French troops in Mali and the need to ensure that Nigeria does not lose face as the big brother in the sub region. Obviously the Nigerian authorities need to reconcile the Presidents lofty and ready statements of commitment in Addis Ababa with the disturbing news at home on the deployment of our troops in Mali.

    The report also went on to state that Nigeria would spend about 10bn naira on the Mali intervention noting that if half that had been spent at home Boko Haram would have been sent packing long ago. That really is making fun of Nigeria’s regional diplomacy. The consolation, if any, in that however may be found in the fact that Boko Haram was reported to have issued a statement that after a meeting with the Borno State government it has started a ceasefire. I expected the Nigerian authorities to cash in on that and say the thrust of its intervention in Mali has made Boko Haram to kow tow and see reason just as the Islamists in Mali melted into the Sahara or thin air at the approach of French troops.

    But a security spokesman in Lagos was reported again to have said that we will have to wait for a month at least to ascertain if Boko Haram would keep its ceasefire or not. That really creates a huge balancing problem for the Nigerian government not only in terms of expenditure announced in Abuja and its accounting in terms of Boko Haram and stranded troops in Nigeria, but more importantly on the international credibility of our regional diplomacy on the Mali Intervention.

    Many reasons have been proffered as the motive for Israel’s aerial intervention in Syria’s bloody civil war and the ever taciturn Israelis have not helped matters by keeping mum. But the more credible sources say the Israelis have acted to prevent arms and chemical wapons being made at the Syrian facility from getting into the wrong hands namely that of Hizbollah – the Party of God – based in Lebanon and a staunch supporter of the Assad regime just like the Russians. But the Russians and Israeli bring to these unfolding Middle East saga different types of reputation on the way and manner they have entered the fray. The Israelis are renowned for swift and efficient intervention while the Russians have a policy of docility towards their allies in the area. Two examples will suffice.

    During the Israeli premiership of Menachem Begin, the idol of the present PM of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israelis put out the nuclear facility of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein just like they did this week with the Syrian facility. The assignment was top secret in Israel such that Begin did not tell members of his cabinet he had summoned at midnight until the Israeli jets had hit their targets in Iraq and were on their way back to Israel. Such was the speed and efficiency of the assignment that even Saddam did not know what had happened till some days later.

    In the case of the Russians they promised support for Muammar Gaddafi during the presidency of Ronald Reagan when Gaddafi promised to stop US military exercise in the Mediterranean over a dispute on international waters. The Russians had their naval fleet in the Mediterranean promising support for Gaddafi like they are doing now for Assad. However on the night US fighter jets came calling and killed Gaddafi’s baby even in his underground bunker in Tripoli, the Russian navy had its full lights on in the Mediterranean so as to avoid any mistaken identity problems with the blazing US jets overhead. So much for Russian support for Gaddafi and even now for Assad – as the Russians are making plans to evacuate Russians from Syria in anticipation of retaliation for Russian prolongation of the war while blocking any outside military intervention in the Syrian crisis.

    Egypt’s situation is a sorry democratic dilemma in which there is a political situation begging for military intervention and yet the military must watch its steps in making such a move, if ever. The military boss recently appointed by President Mohammed Morsi has already issued a veiled threat but it remains to be seen how and when he will intervene . This is because the Egyptian street revolution of 2011 was supposed to have put paid to military rule or diarchy in Egypt. The army played its role in the revolution and bowed to public opinion. It supported and supervised the trial of its icon and leader -Housni Mubarak and his two sons all three of who are still in prison for corruption in Egypt while a popularly elected president was sworn in just last year.

    Now President Morsi, after demonstrators have been shot over his ploy to have even more powers than Mubarak, is as unpopular as the leader ousted by the popular uprising two years ago. Is Egypt in the throes of a second revolution so soon after the first, just two years ago? Is the Egyptian army bold or stupid enough to intervene and prevent a descent to chaos and instability inevitable if the army stands by and does nothing? Really there are no clear answers to the political situation or equations in the land of the Pharaohs as the inputs are changing so fast that it is even dangerous to hazard a guess on what defines stability or its antithesis and when or how military intervention can be the solution.

    Lastly, let us look at the case of pension theft of a huge sum of 27bn naira from a regulatory perspective that calls for the intervention of the Central Bank of Nigeria in the matter. Surely the culprit and his accomplices must have bank accounts and must have laundered the huge sums of money in various projects or shell companies. The CBN should intervene by sending its examiners to the banks in which these culprits are customers by using its Know Your Customer –KYC- policy and CBN limits on Money Laundering Declarations.

    Surely some bank managers operated these accounts which must have brought juicy bank earnings at the expense of Police Pensioners. It is the duty of the CBN to bring such banks and bankers to book. If they had followed the KYC rules from the CBN and made requisite money laundering returns these culprits would have been found out and arrested long before they could wreak such huge financial damage. The ball in terms of intervention rests with the CBN more than our courts which can only decide on evidence brought forward from the banks . We hope the CBN lives up to its responsibilities.

  • Humongous nonsense!

    Humongous nonsense!

    It would have been a breeze of pleasant surprise had Dr. Doyin Okupe, the President’s adviser on public affairs decided to keep quiet for once. Curiously, none of those in Nigeria’s perverted corridors of power has dared to take up the challenge of squaring up with Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili in a public debate over allegations of “brazen misappropriation of public resources” levelled against the Jonathan administration. Nonetheless, it would have been shocking if Okupe had not sought to bring down the full weight of his office (no pun intended) to bear on Ezekwesili for daring to finger President Goodluck Jonathan as one of the major players in the ‘misapplication’ of $67bn foreign reserve left by the Olusegun Obasanjo administration.

    The Okupe I know is not one that would allow a Labaran Maku to take the shine off his office through a hurriedly-arranged press conference. By the way, Ezekwesili used to be a highly visible member of the economic think-tank in the Obasanjo administration. Popularly called ‘Madam Due Process’, she was appointed a minister after injecting some measure of credibility into the due process unit. From Knucklehead’s point of view, unlike her traducers, Ezekwesili’s intellectualism, passion and love for this country has never been in doubt. For a woman that enjoyed the support of Obasanjo, I had labelled her ‘crazy’ when she walked out of the ministerial appointment and accepted to serve with World Bank as Vice President for Africa. Why abdicate such ‘juicy’ post as a cabinet member for a regulated pay which could end up being a toothbrush allowance for a Nigerian minister, any minister? Yet, Ezekwesili made her choice!

    Perhaps, if she had decided to play by the rules and keep a permanent smirk on her chubby face as the transformation train wobbles on a slippery rail, Ezekwesili would not be in the eye of the storm today. But, ever since our encounter in Aso Rock when she was a senior aide to Obasanjo, I knew Oby was not one to suffer fools, especially the parasitic elite, gladly. Her mission seems quite simple: stop the looting and fix the nation for good! In our countless interactions, I never fail to remind her that she was probably the lone dreamer on that train. To her, I was just being a cynic. Today, I doubt if she is still bustling with blind optimism about people in power and their intent to raise the nation a notch higher than the derelict structure they met. There were simply too many pretenders even in the Obasanjo cabinet and they wore split images. Most of them would sacrifice an arm and a leg to belong to that group of rapacious elite that Oby so much despises because of the callous way they continue to impoverish the poor. And I guess she knew any confrontation with this clique is bound to be met with something close to a deadly, custom-built earthquake.

    And so when the retired World Bank chief kicked the Jonathan government in the groin, accusing it of wasting a large chunk of an estimated $67bn (N10.8trn) left in the nation’s foreign accounts by Obasanjo as at May 2007, she must have anticipated some sort of angry rebuttal from the President’s men. For a woman who rarely cuddles controversy, I want to assume that she was sure of the authenticity of the figures before rolling them out in a lecture delivered as part of the convocation ceremonies of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. She must have been truly troubled to have coined the fiery words used in passing on that message. She must have been convinced that something needed to be done to reverse the gradual slide into economic stagnation. This is not just about what she said but the way she couched it.

    Listen to her: “They squandered the significant sum of $45billion in foreign reserve account and another $22billion in Excess Crude Account, being direct savings from increased earnings from oil that the Obasanjo administration handed over to the successor government in 2007. Six years after the administration I served handed over such humongous national wealth to another one, most Nigerians, but especially the poor, continue to suffer the effects of failing public health and education systems as well as decrepit infrastructure and battered institutions.

    “One cannot but ask what exactly does this level of brazen misappropriation of public resources symbolise? Where did all that money go? Where is the accountability for the use of these resources and the additional several hundred million dollars realised from oil sale by the two administrations that have governed our nation in the last five years? How were these resources applied or, more appropriately, misapplied? Tragic choices.”

    For an administration with a short fuse for absorbing criticism no matter how flexibly constructive, it was not long before the dogs were let loose on this wife of a pastor. For daring to raise questions on accountability in governance in addition to having the effrontery to table humongous charges bearing on sheer waste against Jonathan and his late predecessor, Umaru Yar’Adua, Ezekwesili has come under ferocious attacks. She has been called a liar; a rabble-rouser; an unqualified interrogator; shameless peddler of incorrect figures and a grand-stander that should not be dignified with a public debate to verify the true figures. Between Maku and Okupe, picking the winner in the craze to unleash verbal expletives remains too close to call. They are sure earning their pay!

    To be candid, no one had expected them to stay on the topic without hitting Oby below the waist band. As far as they are concerned, all is fair in this verbal war. Still, it was uncharitable for Maku to insinuate that Oby mis-managed the ‘humongous’ funds released to the Ministry of Education whilst she in charge of that sector. Unless he wants to confirm our fears that files bothering on corrupt practices by people in government are kept in a special cabinet in the President’s office to be employed just they can be employed as tools for blackmail should the need arise, I really cannot figure out what Maku wants us to make of his allegation that Oby squandered over N430bn without any remarkable shift or improvement in the fallen standard of education. I just hope Minister Maku, a one-time deputy governor in Nasarawa State, was not too young then to understand the damage the term ‘policy summersault’ has inflicted on the polity. He couldn’t have forgotten so soon that after Oby resigned and joined the World Bank, that sector was put under the care of a former governor who was more concerned with the grandiose arrangement for the celebration of his marriage anniversary than fixing a sector that was in complete tatters after Oby’s reform was thrown out of the window. In spite of the fact that lecturers had been on strike for over nine months and those who could afford it had sought admission for their wards in neighbouring countries including Togo and Cameroun, didn’t the minister go ahead to have the shindig of his life? In any case, if the government thinks it has a strong case against Ezekwesili, the appropriate thing to do is to drag her before the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and not this whimsical allegation of wasting a ‘humongous’ N430bn by a regime accused of frittering away a whopping N10.6 trillion in five years.

    Yet, we return to the real issue at hand. This outlandish and utterly humongous joke must stop. Ezekwesili’s allegations are too serious to be trivialised or waved aside by the government as yet another ranting by someone who once ‘mis-applied’ money entrusted in her care as a public officer. That argument simply doesn’t wash just as the primitive tactic of name-calling begs the question. If the government truly wants to come clean on this matter and convince us beyond any reasonable doubt that Ezekwesili manipulated figures in order to give it a bloody nose, then it should gladly accept the public debate. This issue surely deserves a dignified response and not the usual bulldozing whereby the “accuser or agent provocateur”, as Okupe puts it, is shouted into silence. Nigerians deserve to know whether it is true that we are in this quagmire due to the “tragic choices” made by some people in Aso Rock. We need to know when and where the rain started beating us!

    It is soul-lifting that the National Assembly, specifically the House of Representatives, has stepped into the matter. We wait to see how far Okupe can go with his puerile argument that spent fund cannot be described as squandering of riches simply because it was budgeted for! Would the lawmakers accept the laughable excuse that Ezekwesili was merely ‘ playing to the gallery’ and that it was yet another calculated but ‘unsuccessful’ attempt to maliciously “incite” the public against Jonathan and bring his administration into disrepute unjustifiably? Surely the government would need more than Okupe’s gabbling and foul-mouthing Ezekwesili as a “wilfully perjured individual not worthy of any respect or recognition whatsoever.” Hmnn, maybe these attributes were parts of the things that endeared her to the World Bank where she excelled!

    Be that as it may, the dusts being raised about how the nation’s money is being managed provides Jonathan an opportunity to clear his name that, in words and deed, he has truly transformed the much promised mirage of “breeze of fresh air in governance” into a reality. All he needs to do is to avail the nation of the facts, figures and what exactly the funds were spent on. Evidently, this is not the time to gloat about imaginary enemies hiding behind the huge ghost of misgovernance to damage anyone’s reputation. Good enough, Ezekwesili’s questions are routine and should be quite easy to deal with by any self-respecting government. Was there a brazen misappropriation of public funds? If no, then why was the nation’s foreign reserve gravely depleted and what was the money used for? Can someone render accounts on how the additional billions of dollars realised from oil sale by the two administrations that have governed our nation in the last five years have been applied? How were these resources applied or more appropriately, misapplied? And did we end up wasting the resources on what Ezekwesili dubbed ‘tragic choices?’ Haha, answering these questions shouldn’t be rocket science for eggheads in the corridors of power.

    Obviously, these questions couldn’t have emanated from the warped rambling of a perjured mind. So, why are some people bent on heaping this humongous nonsense that shames a nation in historical proportions on us all? Must opaque management of public resources and crass disregard for genuine accountability forever remain a directive principle of state? Maybe while our VIPs plan a centenary to celebrate what citizens know not, it is beyond us to ask them to account for how they have spent our money. If they continue treading this wayward path, one day, the Arab spring would look like a picnic when the people rise to ask questions with one voice ringing loud and clear across the land!

     

  • It’s unbelievable

    It’s unbelievable

    It is unbelievable but it happened. There

    was panic in the land in the days leading

    to Nigeria’s last group game against Ethiopia. If we were anticipating a marathon race, it would have been right to dream of a Nigerian upset, which in any case would have been far-fetched. Expecting an Ethiopian upset for Nigeria in football was simply unacceptable.

    People nursed fears about a likely exit of the Super Eagles. Many wanted this writer’s position on the outcome before it was played. One felt insulted but retorted by asking my enquirers what the sum of two added to two is. They became furious but I cooled their angst by stating that if the Eagles couldn’t beat Ethiopia, then we had no business remaining in South Africa. Some agreed, although many hissed as they walked away.

    Beating Ethiopia should be a stroll in the park. The logic of the fear of minnows should be buried when it comes to football between two countries. The Ethiopians won’t flinch if the challenge is on marathon, because that is their forte.

    We should play against Ethiopia in such big soccer competitions celebrating the emergence of new stars and not struggling with established players. When such things happen, they only help to gauge the development of the game here.

    Stories that should gladden our hearts from matches against Ethiopia should be that goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama headed two corner kicks into the match in the closing minutes of routing.

    One laughs each time we resort to prayers before matches, especially given the injustice in the way the coaches picked the players for this assignment. The coaches would have to explain to Nigerians how they could keep injury-hit Gabriel Rueben in the squad and drop Dike, who has tremendous ability to play for the team.

    Again, the inclusion of such players as Oshinawa Juwon leaves much to be desired, especially when we have Taiye Taiwo sitting at home. The coaches would have found Taiwo very useful to fix the team’s wobbly defence. They wouldn’t have had any second thought fielding Taiwo. His inclusion would also have offered the coaches the opportunity to play him on the left side of the midfield, like Shauibu Amodu used him in some matches. Taiwo, if taught on how to direct his shots from set-pieces, would have been an asset to the Eagles, especially against Cote d’ Ivoire on Sunday.

    Where do we start to assess the Eagles? One won’t want to join the legion of buck-passing critics. What is, however, clear is that we need to tinker with our coaching crew. The composition will be determined by those who recruited these ones in South Africa.

    It is difficult to explain why the coaches pulled out a striker for a defender, with one Ethiopian out with a red card. Shouldn’t the coaches have introduced another striker and asked the players to shoot at the goalpost, knowing that the man there wasn’t the regular goalkeeper? After all, we could have scored a goal or two to top the group. Who knows, it could have been more.

    It is true that we have to build new players. But those in South Africa have limited abilities. Victor Moses showed that he plays with a thinking head. He made the difference and it looked simple despite the apprehension for 78 minutes.

    Twice he undertook to rescue the team with his audacious dribbling skills that earned us the two penalty kicks. He didn’t need anyone to ask him to take the kicks. Moses conceived what he wanted to do in his head, teasing the naïve Ethiopians to launch the bad tackle and masterfully tucking the ball into the net twice that he struck it for Nigeria’s wining goals.

    The Eagles played badly against Ethiopia. They were nervy and lacked the imagination to organise and string passes to rip the opponent’s defence apart. We didn’t see any off-the-ball runs such that when Moses surged forward in the dying minutes, he ignored his freer mates to take the team’s destiny in his hands by refusing to lay the pass for a better placed striker. Moses may have saved the day, yet it is important that the coaches correct this flaw as the Ivoirens are too experienced to fall for Moses’ trickery in the penalty box.

    We played slightly better in the defence. We were also able to plug the gap between the defence and the midfield, yet there is the urgent need for our strikers to learn how to make the decoy runs that would open the gaps in the opponent’s defence.

    Football is a very cruel game. Many may tip the Ivoirens to roast the Eagles. It could just be a mirage as our players know how to play such prestige games. I foresee the game on Sunday between Nigeria and Cote d Ivoire going into a penalty shootout.

    Our players know that the Ivoriens are better than them. The fear of avoiding a heavy defeat will push our boys beyond our expectations. My worry is that we could lose the next game after beating Cote d Ivoire because we would have given it our best shot.

    Would this scenario be worth the effort? I don’t think so. But looking at the fixtures, one was happy that if we beat the Ivoirens, we are likely to meet South Africa in the semifinals because I feel that they could upset the Malians in their quarter-finals tie. Let us not count our chicks before they are hatched. I digress.

    From what we have seen so far and from the few matches we have also watched the Eagles play at the AFCON 2013, one fact sticks out and clearly so – there has been no significant improvement on what ex-Eagles coach Shuaibu Amodu achieved for the national team.

    If anything, the performance of the national team has been on a downward spiral. The more you expect a change, the more things remain the same. We have retrogressed from a fairly average team to outright mediocre outfit bereft of ideas and initiatives.

    While we may not be shedding tears for Amodu, our hearts bleed for what has become of our once darling national tea, the Super Eagles. So sad.

     

    Where is Shuaibu Amodu?

    I have searched in vain for former Super Eagles chief coach Shuaibu Amodu’s comments on Nigeria’s matches. I also tried to reach him on the telephone. No dice.

    So, where is Amodu? No one seems to know but if I know him very well, he would be hiding in Okpella, doing his business and enjoying himself.

    Amodu is not one to condemn his mates. He would throw his salvo at the administrators. I expect him to break his silence if NFF and NSC chieftains try to make the coaches the fall guys, in the event that the Eagles don’t meet our expectations.

    It’s clear that the domestic league cannot produce the talents to seize the stage like we saw with Clement Temile at the 1984 Africa Cup of Nations. Temile was a local boy with Bendel Insurance FC of Benin when Adegboye Onigbinde picked him to give Tarila Okorowanta a fight for the right flank shirt. Temile was introduced when Tarila was fumbling. Temile went on to win the golden boot as the top scorer of the competition with three goals.

    When Amodu described our local league as dead and its products unfit for the big stage, this writer lashed him. Amodu described the Eagles as a bunch of average players and got the stick from everyone.

    Amodu remains the best Nigerian coach in terms of achievements. Need I list them for anyone to appreciate what I’m saying? Take a bow, Shuaibu Amodu.

  • Floating corpses and the police

    Floating corpses and the police

    Shortly before dozens of corpses were seen floating on a river in Anambra State on January 19, President Goodluck Jonathan paid the police college in Ikeja, Lagos an impromptu visit. The visit, which rattled the college authorities as much as it disconcerted the august visitor himself, followed a TV report detailing the rot at the police institution. The decay and lack were said to worry the president, who may have ordered a probe. Such an investigation will help to resolve the issues that puzzled the commander-in-chief. But it must be comprehensive enough to cover other police colleges and outfits in the country and its findings must also be made public while appropriate action is taken to punish the guilty in order to correct such situations.

    Such an investigation, if conscientiously undertaken, may shed enough light on the decay in the entire police force itself, whose effectiveness continues to be hindered. Our law enforcement agents are not well kitted, equipped or housed? Nor are they adequately remunerated. The force needs retooling.

    If these needs are met and the men and officers better inspired and orientated, Nigerians can count on the police to answer when they call. The country will be better for everyone. Not only will lawlessness be curtailed; even those developments that deeply mystify us will be resolved with considerable ease.

    Take the floating corpses case on a river in Amansea, Anambra. Few things can rival that incident in mystery. Residents of the community near Awka, the state capital, “woke up”, to borrow a favourite local media phrase, to discover dead bodies floating on their river. In other words, when they woke up the previous day and went to the river, they saw no such thing travelling downstream.

    And there the mystery began. For it was not just one corpse or two or three. One report said over 15, which is horrifying enough. Another took the tally to 30, yet another to 40. One even said there were over 50 bodies sighted on Amansea river. There are concerns, too, that there may be more bodies held down by underwater structures and were yet to bob up to the surface. There is another problem. The river, the villagers’ only source of water, is polluted.

    Troubled as Amansea residents are, they have no clue as to the identities of the corpses. They are not at war with any of their neighbours. Nobody is missing in their community. So whose bodies were seen on their river? Who killed those people? Why? Where? When?

    The traditional ruler is just as distressed as the state governor Peter Obi who quickly returned from his overseas trip to tackle the matter. The police authorities in Anambra are also mystified, as are their counterparts in Enugu State whose people on both sides of their common border are at peace with one another. They say they will investigate.

    That is one nasty thing about mystery. It sometimes accompanies tragedies and when it does, worsens the problem and makes it hurt more. Imagine a tragic death accompanied by the fact that the  corpse is not seen. The bereaved mourn the departed but are even more troubled by the fact that they cannot bury their dead. Such a situation leaves the bereaved with eternal questions. The mystery never ends.

    Anambra people and Nigerians in general are in a similar situation as we await the result of police investigations. We know we have lost people but we do not know who we lost yet or how many. We suspect that those people may have died in terrible circumstances but we have no assurances. We know we are not happy about the situation but we also know we are even more confused than sad. Mystery deepens a loss. The police should sort all that out.

    There is another major concern. One report initially listed the police as among those without a clue as to how to evacuate the dead. The police, local governments, ministry of health as well as the Anambra State Emergency Management Agency were said not to have facilities needed to evacuate the corpses.

    That is a big problem. Our police should be equipped for such eventualities. Their effectiveness demands it.

    Another account said when the police recovered the bodies from the water, a mass grave was quickly dug and the corpses buried there. Such a thing as autopsy was not heard, according to the report. That is even a bigger concern. Without an autopsy, that is, if it is not in their plans, how can any credible investigation be undertaken in the matter?

    Jonathan’s reported interest in probing the rot in police colleges should be extended to help the law enforcement agency perform better.

    The rot in the police, as in many other public institutions in the country, did not start during his tenure. But if he can correct the anomalies that preceded him, he will be remembered as the commander-in-chief that made history.

  • Changing times and fortunes

    Changing times and fortunes

    There is no doubt that banks and bankers have fallen on bad times and fortunes in these hard times when people find it hard to make ends meet globally. Nowhere is this more acknowledged than in usually buoyant Europe where both the people and governments earnestly believe that bankers are the architects of the misfortune of both the state and the people. A Conference of Businesses in EU and Latin American and Carribean nations took place in Santiago the capital of Chile on January 25th. . . This confab provides a unique opportunity to compare the changing fortunes of these two parts of the world since the global financial and economic meltdown started in 2008. Before this the 6th EU – Brazil Business Summit took place in Brasilia, Brazil on January 23.

    Also during the week the 44th President of the USA Barak Hussein Obama was sworn on for a second term and he made the usual brilliant and moving speech from which the experts have distilled the new challenges he is determined to address in his second and final term as the helmsman of that nation. Those priorities in themselves will shock and please Americans and Africans in turn and will show indeed that the world is moving on and all of us are no more that the six blind men who touched a part of an elephant and thought they had seen it all – when all they experienced was just a part of the whole.

    Thirdly, in Greece, which is in a bitter debt crisis and socially disruptive austerity measures, the former finance minister George Papaconstantinous who started the much hated austerity measures has been charged to court for deleting the names of his relatives from the Lagarde List. This is a list named after Christine Lagarde the MD of the IMF and former Finance Minister of France who was given the list by some HSBC bank workers and who in turn gave the list to the Greek government some time ago.

    The list contains the leading tax evaders in Greece and was the source of a Name and Shame Campaign by the Greek government to make such people pay their taxes and reduce the burden of austerity borne mainly by the poor, which has been the cause of the street anger and demonstrations in Greek cities. If you recall that towards the end of 2012 a journalist Costas Vaxevanne was brought to court by the government but later freed for publishing the list you will see how the fortune of the Minister and that of the journalist have changed indeed for good or bad.

    Let us go back to the EU-Latino /Carribean Conference – CELAC- in Santiago in Chile on January 25th and make a comparison of the economic and financial status of the two regions of the world. Europe still remains the most prosperous continent of the world contributing a third of world GDP and is the biggest foreign investor in Latin America. But the EU is in economic turmoil and debt crisis and Spain and Portugal are amongst the debtor nations of Europe stigmatized as the PIGS nations with that acronym translating into Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain. Incidentally Both Spain and Portugal were the former colonial masters of Latin America with Portugal holding sway in Brazil while Spain ran the rest of the Latino nations in the region.

    Today, the nations of Latin America have moved millions of their people away from poverty lines and millions more have joined the middle class. None of the Latino nations is facing debt crisis like Argentina did in 2001 when it defaulted and exploded in crisis, like the EU nations and zone are reeling in right now.

    Brazil is preparing to host the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Olympics and both are ecpected to generate growth and boost the Brazilian economy. Brazil is also a prominent member of the BRIC nations – namely Brazil, Russia, India and China. The BRIC nations are seen as the emergent, global economic and financial powerhouse of the 21st century and no EU nation is amongst them. Even Argentina in Latin America has struck oil and has recovered from the harsh IMF conditionalities which made its economy prostrate and caused riots in Buenos Aires, its capital similar to the new riots in, Spain and Lisbon, Portugal nowadays.

    Really, between these two regions especially between the Latinos and their former colonial masters one can recall the saying that the mills of justice may grind slowly but they grind exceedingly fine.

    The Washington Post in its report on – line on the 57th Inauguration of the US president had the headline – Obama calls for greater equality – observed that the Obama Inauguration speech highlighted three modern challenges to pursue in his second term. These are fighting climate change; welcoming immigrants and ensuring gay rights. Obviously then, it is the gay rights community that is the greatest beneficiary of the Obama second term as it has been pointed out that this is the first time any US president has referred to gay rights in a speech. Actually immigrants too all over the world should breathe a sigh of relief as Obama stressed he would lead the US towards being the land of opportunities for all immigrants, just as the founding fathers wanted it to be.

    So the good times are there in the US for both immigrants and gays. As for global warming or climate change this has become an old issue in that nature has defied the predictions of the scientists and shown them to be largely alarmist or even downright wrong. This is because glaziers have expanded when Scientists said they would thaw, and storms and tornadoes have increased in frequency and intensity in some instances they have predicted otherwise.

    However, it is with regard to ensuring gay rights that I think Obama too has realized he was charting a different, new and controversial course altogether even in the US. With regard to Africa some will be distinctly shocked at his mission on gay rights. This is because here in Nigeria and at least in Uganda in East Africa the governments have passed laws banning lesbianism and homosexuality and the laws are popular in these nations, no matter what the Americans may think about gay rights. Britain has reacted violently as it were on these ant gay laws and gone on to withdraw aid to African nations like Lesotho and Malawi which depend on such aid massively.

    That to me is ethnocentrism on the part of the British although they too may think it is the anti gay community that is being ethnocentric or biased. That also must be what Obama had in mind in that part of his second Inaugural Speech when he said almost lamentably – ‘Being true to our founding documents does not require us to agree on every contour of life. It does not mean we all define liberty in exactly the same way or follow the same precise path to happiness. But it does require us to act in our time‘. Obama surely has acted and is understood by his American audience while his African admirers are stupefied and alarmed by his all – American stance on enforcing gay rights. Anyway since Africans don’t vote for a US president I think Obama does not need to lose any sleep over African horror on his fight to enforce gay rights in the US.

    Let us look at events in Greece again where the former Finance Minister Papaconstatinou is to face trial for removing the names of his relatives from the Greek State Name and Shame list of tax evaders. The former Finance Minister has alleged he is being singled out because he introduced the austerity measures. But what did he expect? What is good for the goose must be sauce for the gander and he who comes to equity must come with clean hands. That really is the measure of the accountability and transparency expected of him and that is why he must have his day in court – to explain his role and even exculpate himself if he can, for the law is no respecter of persons.

    Austerity measures involve retrenchment of bread winners, layoffs and unemployment, and these may not have been necessary in Greece if the Minister’s wealthy relatives had paid their taxes as expected, and as when due. That is what this Minister must account for, as in his former capacity as Minister of Finance driving austerity measures, he was expected, like the fabled Caesar’s wife, to be above reproach.

     

  • The permutations begin

    The permutations begin

    Here we go again. All manner of permutations are being arranged to convince ourselves that the Super Eagles will go beyond the second round matches at the Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa.

    As we propound the theories whereby our group mates must beat the others for us to qualify, we must remind ourselves that a second place finish pitches us against the Elephants of Cote D’ Ivoire. Did I hear you sigh “O Lord, have mercy on us”? That will be the day for us to truly measure the depth of the destruction of the game and how we have allowed sentiments to becloud our judgment in deciding how to change our fortune. Some may argue that the Ivoriens are not “indomitable”. But they must recognise the fact that they would want to beat Nigeria en route to lifting the trophy, if they truly want to be crowned African champions. But such intricate matches bring the best out of the Eagles, even if it means not lifting the trophy. Eagles know how to play for pride. I digress.

    We hate to be told the truth. We repeat the same mistakes and expect changes. Nigerian coaches ask for free-hand to run the team’s technical functions, yet they always inflict on us pain and anguish with every competitive game.

    The talk of our foreign legion transforming into good coaches based on their experiences with their European clubs has blown up in our faces. We really don’t know where to start after every poor outing by the Eagles. And it really hurts because we would have wasted time. We keep rebuilding the team, with many cynics asking when this house will be fully built.

    Pundits cannot understand how the Eagles with an armada of stars, can play such unimaginative football. Could it be the case of the Falcon no longer hearing the Falconer? Could it also be that the coaches didn’t give them the script to pummel the Burkinabes? What was it that the coaches were saying to the players in the dying minutes? Many would want to know, especially as we cannot fathom how the Eagles lost three valuable points with 39 seconds left on the clock. Did they see the big clock inside the stadium? The South African coach kept drawing Bafana Bafana’s attention to his wrist watch in the closing minutes of the team 2-0 victory over Angola. Did our Eagles get any instructions as the match raced to the back-breaking close?

    With the Eagles, thunder can strike on the same spot severally. Otherwise, how do you explain our coaches’ inability to fix the team’s wobbly defence after the Cape Verdeans ripped it apart in a pre-tournament friendly?

    In the game against Cape Verde, the coaches replaced Efe Ambrose with Omeruo. Why they chose to field him against Burkina Faso remains a mystery. As the team’s defence wobbled against the Cape Verdeans, the coaches made changes that stabilised it. Shouldn’t Ogenyi Onazi have started the game against Burkina Faso, given the remarkable form he showed in the friendly matches?

    Do our coaches know where our players’ best positions are? We saw how Efe Ambrose held tightly to Lionel Messi as the central defender for Celtic FC of Scotland over the two legs of the UEFA Champions League. Yet they fielded Ambrose in the right back position. Were the coaches expecting a miracle from him? Again, I was aghast when our coaches picked John Mikel Obi to take the penalty kick against Zambia. If they knew the players’ potentials, goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama would have taken it. Enyema takes such kicks for his club. Perhaps, the coaches trained the players on such kicks. The flipside is that bigger stars than Mikel have lost penalty kicks. I dey laugh o!

    I still don’t understand how an average height player, such as Godfrey Oboabona, can function in the central defence for the Eagles, when he plays at the right back for Sunshine FC of Akure.

    It is laughable that the defence is the Eagles’ worst department, yet the coaches, except Daniel Amokachi, played in the defence for Nigeria in their heydays, with Ike Shorunmu in goal.

    Our coaches blow hot air about the strength of the team. Yet it is apparent that it lacks depth, in terms of finding substitutes who will change the tide of games whenever they are introduced.

    The Eagles have left their best players in their European clubs. The home-based experiment is laughable, more so when some of them may not be fielded at all.

    Aside the wrong deployment of players, fans watched in awe as the Eagles played without direction against Bukina Faso. They were unable to string passes together to rip apart the Burkinabes’ predictable formation. Little wonder they didn’t know what to do when it was time to keep the slim 1-0 lead in the closing seconds.

    Nosa Igiebor forgot that he was a defensive midfielder and stayed far apart from the defenders, leaving a lacuna which the Burkinabes exploited. Our coaches didn’t observe this major flaw throughout the game. This explains why some people keep rooting for foreign coaches when our soccer is in dire straits.

    The Eagles were tactically inferior to the Burkinabes. Our players stood behind their markers, hence when they launched their tackles, they were quite vicious to attract yellow cards, culminating in the red card issued to Ambrose for a second bookable offence.

    Interestingly, Mikel Obi excelled in the central midfield position where he plays at Chelsea. I hope that the coaches have seen his best position. They have to look for players who can complement his effort.

    A major flaw of our domestic coaches is their inability to read matches and make changes.

    Globally, some coaches recruit match readers to help them. They limit their job to providing the templates, which other technical hands implement. It is, however, difficult to say whether it was Keshi himself who did not know the value and need for match readers or it was that he saw one in his Nigerian assistants.

    Or better still, he never wanted one. But given the way things are panning out in South Africa, for the Nigerian team, you will agree with me that the Nigerian bench is in dire need of a sound and technical match reader.

    What is clear in the Eagles’ technical crew is that Stephen Keshi’s assistants cannot give him the support he needs. They are not experts in any department of the game as seen with the disjointed game that we played against the Burkinabes.

    Looking at the Eagles’ bench during matches, tells the story of how well or badly the players exhibit their skills. The coaches only sit on the bench and watch like spectators. They only hold their heads when we miss chances, like the fans in the stands.

    Even when they stand up, of course, after a scare in our goalpost, they give signals that look like passing vehicles in a gridlock. The players don’t improve their performance. Instead, they diminish.

    Emmanuel Emenike has earned his shirt, not because of the goals that he has scored but his predatory instinct in front of the goalpost.

    It is difficult to describe how the Eagles have played in the two matches. It is also impossible to believe that we have 12 players playing in both games plying their trade in Europe. Yet they haven’t shown us the stuff that made them compete with the best in the world. They have been a complete letdown. We have been unable to deliver passes to rip open the defences of the opposition.

    On Tuesday, the permutations will include the need for Eagles to beat Ethiopia resoundingly and pray that Zambia and Burkina Faso play a draw for Nigeria to top the group.

    We want to top the group because we know the implication of not doing so, especially if, Cote d’ Ivoire tops her group. Can these Eagles beat a resurgent Tunisia? I doubt it. Not with our lethargic displays so far.

    Did Eagles coaches see how Burkina Faso with ten men scored three goals against a complete Ethiopian side?

    Our saving grace if we do qualify will be that the Ethiopians will not confront us on Tuesday with dogged determination.

  • In defence of presidential umbrage

    In defence of presidential umbrage

    If there is any positive point to be taken away from President Goodluck Jonathan’s on-the-spot assessment of the state of infrastructural decay at the Police College, Lagos, it is the fact that it indicates that after all, our President is far from being clueless as most of his critics would want us to believe. As should be expected, most Nigerians wasted no time in joining the bandwagon of Facebook and Twitter ‘abusers’, labelling Jonathan “clueless” all because he fingered his enemies as the brains behind the Ikeja Police College rot. And there lies my problem with the Nigerian electorate. They are simply difficult to govern. They complain over every step taken in the name of governance. They complain incessantly over the hilariously unique brand of good governance that our President exemplifies. Oh, come off it! You can accuse the President of anything but definitely not a charge of inability to handle all the problems confronting this country…in his own way. Surely, a clueless person would not have answers to all questions like he has been doing lately. Please, you may wish to have another view of the interview conducted by Christiane Amanpour where the President scored himself high on power supply, saying: “Power is one area that Nigerians are pleased with this administration. I prefer you ask ordinary Nigerians on the street of Lagos or Abuja this question.” Ha! Holy Moses!

    Question is: must we heckle for heckling sake? Or are we saying that the President should keep quiet while critics run him out of Aso Rock? By the way, I am of the opinion that Jonathan’s indignation against the media and the yamheads that allowed the filming of that great institution is justified! In fact, no one worthy of being described as a patriot would have allowed such sacrilege. What exactly was the television station trying to prove by showing footages of police trainees queuing to answer the call of nature in open and dirty spaces; scrambling to be part of a sharing ratio of 50 trainees per fish head; bathing in the open; adopting the ‘shot put’ method in the disposal of human wastes; and sweating for sleeping space in overcrowded, poorly ventilated and stuffy dormitories that could pass for an utterly unkempt prison in saner climes? Didn’t it occur to these dumb heads that these processes are deliberately designed for the trainees with the aim of getting them psychologically prepared for the arduous task of policing in the country and sadistically taming citizens in the open prison called Nigeria?

    They said the environment under which the police are trained is dehumanising and lowers the integrity of trainees. And I ask: how? Has any policeman complained to the public or has that affected the “your boys dey here” mentality? Besides, if the environment under which officers are trained were to be squeaky clean, would it have been easier for trainees to, with lightning speed, adjust to the real condition of the police stations and barracks? Or have we not given a thought to what it would cost the authorities to maintain a Shock Therapy Unit whereby freshly recruited officers would be lectured on how to cope with the ghetto lifestyle of police barracks should the government succumb to the call for an upgrade of the police colleges of which the Lagos centre is described by one of the interviewed senior police officers as “the best in the country?’ How long, really, can the pig last outside its stinking sty?

    On a serious note, I am shocked that Nigerians have refused to see the business sense in this whole matter. They dissipate needless energy on the social media, faulting the Otuoke-born leader for his “un-presidential remarks” by quipping: “This is a calculated attempt to damage the image of the government, as the college is not the only training institution in the country.”  They said he missed an opportunity to show leadership and seize the moment to explain what his administration would do to the correct the rot of countless years. Haba, what else do we want him to do? Has he not reminded us that he should not be blamed if he was annoyingly slow in correcting the decay he inherited from our long inglorious past? Has he not explained that these things take time and that 2013 promises better prospects of regular electricity supply, infrastructural development, employment generation and a robust security network? So, why can’t impatient citizens exercise some patience with our leader’s ‘Papa Go-Slow’ principles of leadership so that we can all benefit from the good luck that 2013 holds?

    Still on the fish head matter, a bird whispered to Knucklehead that some smart foreign investors are already asking questions on the magical formula being used in sharing the poor thing. Even Arsene Wenger, the coach of my favourite EPL club, Arsenal, would sacrifice an eye to learn one or two economic lessons on the Almighty Theory of feeding 50 men with one fish head. Yet, here in Nigeria, we are shouting blue murder. In the first place, must trainees eat fish or even its fins? In fact, we ought to thank the police hierarchy for their magnanimity in sparing the fish head to ordinary trainees while they manage the softer parts! For this great sacrifice, all they get as rewards are visible pot bellies. Oh, what a great sacrifice!

    Predictably, the Action Congress of Nigeria joined the fray for all the wrong reasons. It lampooned Jonathan for demanding to know how a private television station’s camera “penetrated’ the walls of a 70-year-old institution, with a collateral damage of exposing its stinking innards to the world. Playing the role of an unsolicited advisor, the party went to say that:  “Mr. President, those comments were totally unnecessary, and they put a damper on what would have been a great moment for you. Terrible as the state of the Police College in Ikeja is, it represents a tip of the iceberg when compared with the pervasive rot in police barracks and police stations as well as the generally poor welfare of the police.” What gall! Why should any unremunerated citizen or political party dare to render quality advice that seems to put them above dimwit fat cats in high places? Rot ko, eyesore ni.

    I wonder why Dr. Doyin Okupe has not taken exception to this outright fallacy by the ACN. Yes, our policing system may not be the best in West Africa but it is definitely not the worst. All it takes for the government to prove this is to commission a high-powered committee to understudy policing in the sub-region; submit a report to be examined by another white-paper drafting committee; and leave the razzmatazz of the great findings to Minister Labaran Maku to handle! For a man who conveniently maintained a permanent smirk on his face while announcing a magical 80 per cent daily electricity supply in all the nooks and crannies of Nigeria in 2012, dabbing the police rot with sweet-smelling fragrance should be a piece of cake for Nigeria’s innovative Information Minister! Even if the result turns out to be negative, I doubt if that should be a veritable ground for making a “calculated attempt to damage the image of an administration’s” transformation agenda?

    And so, Mr. Jonathan was right on point for lashing out at those whose calculators only work to perfection whenever the subject was an assessment of his performance in government. His riotous outrage is not without validation. Why were those cameras not focused on the millions of jobs that have been created since Jonathan became President? Why can’t the affected television station zoom its camera on the smiling faces of in-patients at our hospitals as they receive qualitative treatment from doctors who no longer go on strike? Why, for crying out loud, can’t they run a documentary on the historically unique state of our public schools and juice it up with the stories relating to the world standard graduates that we now bake here at home? Didn’t they know that parents no longer send their children to Ghana and Togo for secondary and tertiary education? Have they not seen the high reduction in the money being wasted on medical tourism? Were they not there when the First Lady visited Iginla Hospital for medical check-up only to make a brief shuttle to Wiesbaden, Germany to collect the result? How about the transformation of Nigeria into an investors’ paradise in the face of explosive insecurity? Why are these ungrateful Nigerians courting the rage of Jonathan by directing their camera lens on the activities of a ‘local terror group’ called Boko Haram, an insignificant institution like the police college or the corruptive tendencies of some bad apples in high places?

    Why are they drawing the President’s ire needlessly? Why are these persons confusing our rulers since it is mutually agreed that they are yet to be blessed with true leaders. They make all the right noise about voters’ power but hardly make wise use of it on Election Day. They sell their votes for a pot of porridge and still have the balls to demand for accountability from the one who bought their conscience. They want to eat their cake and still have it as takeaway.  Why can’t they understand the unwritten code of the deadly game and join the bandwagon of those who applaud blind larceny. Why can’t they settle for the usual crumbs and watch as the nation slides further into egregious rot? Why?