The Nation Newspaper

Category: Saturday

2023 as referendum on some governors Legislators

The first set of long awaited 2023 general elections (presidential and national assembly) in Nigeria has come and gone. The candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC) Bola Ahmed Tinubu emerged the President-elect. However, the national assembly elections seem to have changed the colour of the yet to be inaugurated tenth assembly. The hitherto dominant political parties All Progressive Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party now have two other parties, the NNPP and Labour Party to contend with.

The Roundtable Conversation had on the run up to the elections maintained that even though the center is very important and the presidency seems to be the apogee of political aspirations of the average politician, the legislative arm of government seems not to attract a commensurate attention from the people even when it is one of the important arms of a democratic government.

It is a mark of the slow development of the Nigerian democracy that the executive seems to overshadow the legislature and the judiciary and they are often treated as less important in the democratic system. This seems to be one of the effects of the long period of military interruptions of democracy in the country. It is worthy of note that the first casualty whenever the military intervenes is always the legislative arm and they are always the first to be suspended and military decrees rolled out by the coupists.

The political philosophers like Baron de Montesquieu that fashioned the arms of government in a democracy understand the human nature and how absolute power corrupts absolutely. The idea of checks and balances is very important in deepening democracy and sustaining its values. In developed democracies, the legislative arm does not kowtow to the executive unlike what obtains in a democracy like Nigeria.

A close observation of the Nigerian democracy since 1999 shows that in real terms, the legislature at both federal and state levels appear to subsume their power under the executive who in turn often assumes imperial powers. To some levels, some legislators seem ignorant of their roles in a democracy and as such often assume that they owe allegiance to the executive. In a young democracy with almost zero political ideology with no structured financial discipline, it is very easy for those who pay the piper to dictate the tune. In a country with very weak political party structures, the independence of institutions or even the arms of government is very important.

It is therefore not surprising that the senate for instance in the Nigerian political system seems to be partly peopled by the political elite who had either been governors of their states, ministers, political party chairmen or just some other highly placed political players. Since the days of the Chuba Okadigbos, the Jibrin Aminus, the David Marks and many others who came from outside the executive arm of government, the Nigerian Senate has had quite a number of ex-governors.

It is interesting to note that those ex-governors that have occupied their constituency seats at the Nigerian senate have not really been outstanding in any way. In contrast, they have been as ordinary and as unproductive as a people who do not really understand what their duties are. While the Roundtable Conversation understands that democracy takes time to mature, it is equally true that the political class seems not to fully understand the real duties of the different arms of government.

The executive arm often displays authoritarianism while the legislative arms often abdicate its duties. Sometimes there are the erroneous conclusions to that they do so to show party loyalty or to be in line with democratic norms. Nothing can be further from the truth. The practice of democracy must be on the side of the people always. This is because democracy is the government of the people by the people and for the people.

The just concluded national assembly elections in Nigeria has in a way taught most Nigerians who had hitherto feigned ignorance of the power of the people that truly, the power belongs to the people. In the past, most state governors just seamlessly transited to the senate from the government houses whether they performed well during their tenure or not. Most of them used the levers of authority to manipulate the party primaries to favour themselves. They in turn coerce the populace or use the system to manipulate election results. However, the recent election has seen the people showing their power at the ballots. As many as seven governors failed in their bid to be elected by their senatorial districts to represent them at the tenth national assembly.

Never in the history of Nigeria’s democracy since 1999 has as many as seven incumbent governors lost their bid to become senators at the expiration of their eight-year tenures. The governors of Enugu state, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of the PDP, Ben Ayade of Cross River state of the APC, the Plateau state governor Solomon Lalong of the APC, governor Darius Ishaku of Taraba state of the PDP, the Abia state Okezie Ikpeazu of the PDP, Benue state’s Samuel Ortom of the PDP and APC’s governor Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi state all lost elections.

So despite the criticisms and shortcomings of the just concluded elections, there is progress. Now Nigerians can through the polls tell candidates who they want. The rejection of these governors by the electorate makes a loud statement about the little progress of the Nigerian democracy. Before now, incumbent governors had too much powers, they more or less handpicked their successors, candidates for the legislative houses at both state and federal levels.

The introduction of of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) and the Labour (LP) also introduced new dynamics to Nigeria’s political party system. The APC and PDP that had had the field since 1999 in different forms (the APC is a product of a merger of about four other political parties, AC, ANPP, CPC, and a section of APGA). In the 2023 elections, voters in some sections of the country choose candidates of the new kids on the bloc.

The failure of the incumbent governors to win their senatorial bids seems like a referendum on their tenures as governors. If their closest constituency, their senatorial districts can deny them the opportunity to go to the hallowed chambers of the national assembly as their representatives, it means a vote of no confidence on them after having an eight year window to prove their mettle to the people. Not only did most of them fail in their senatorial bids, their ‘hand-picked’ surrogates for other elections in some cases suffered collateral damage by failing to be elected on the platform of their governors’ political parties.

Democracy is a journey and even developed democracies like the United States still experience challenges every now and then. The only difference is that they have strong institutions that remove the burden from individuals. The fact that the January 6 metaphor in the United States was quelled and is now being legally investigated is a sign that there are no fool-proof measures that are final. The Nigerian democracy is developing and the people themselves must be patient with the system.

The lessons from the failure of these governors and even some top legislators like Ndudi Elumelu, the Minority Leader at the House of Representatives, Senator Uche Ekwunife, Senator Bala Ibn Na’Allah, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha and others to retain their legislative positions in the National Assembly speaks to the fact that the people are watching and feeling the impact or lack of same of politicians.

Nigeria’s democracy is like all democracies growing with each electoral cycle, Nigerians must be patient and realize that democracy is not bought off the shelf but worked on by the people through institutional reforms. There are no perfect systems but every nation tries to build strong institutions that can outlive everyone. Democratic institutions continue to undergo growth in ways that generations would look back and credit even those that have passed with contributions to the system.

The basic fact is that Nigerians are the ones that can shape the democracy they practice. If it is a government of the people for the people and by the people, it then follows that the people have to determine, through institutions to keep learning and correcting the imperfections. The coming governorship and house of assembly elections must be handled by both the government agencies like the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the security agencies, the political parties and the people in ways that would give the best outcome.

The Kenyans recently had their elections and given what they had gone through in their past two elections during the election of their former President Uhuru Kenyatta, the system has grown and their democracy has grown as well. With a constitutional review in 2010 that made it illegal for any gender to occupy more than two third of all elective positions it was possible for seven women to be elected as governors over two election cycles. That is growth. Nigeria must grow her democracy too despite the challenges. Congratulations to all winners.

The dialogue continues…

March 4, 2023
The return of ‘Weeping Jeremiah’

In the Second Republic, the late former Imo State governor, Chief Sam Mbakwe was nicknamed the weeping Jeremiah of Imo on account of his emotional exhibition each time he felt that things were not going well for his people.

Not a few people’s memories of the deceased former governor were rekindled on Thursday as the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Mr Peter Obi, broke down in tears during a press conference he addressed about his plan to challenge the election of his counterpart in the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu‘s election in court.

Speaking at the news conference in Abuja, an visibly devastated Obi said his party would follow all available legal and peaceful procedures to reclaim his mandate.

March 4, 2023
Now, the kingmaker is king

Nigerians have chosen wisely. A democrat and statesman has been elected to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari on May 29. It is a turning point in national history; the beginning of a new dawn.

Power, which is never served a la carte, did not land on Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu‘s palm on a platter of gold.

The election has been won and lost. For now, two things are very important. The first is the lesson of the titanic struggle for power and how the President-elect triumphed over many obstacles to breast the tape. The second is the soaring public expectation from a tested and trusted progressive leader who will be assuming political control at a most challenging time.

Tinubu’s victory underscores the audacity of hope and power of courage. He was focused. He planned well and teamed up with the right people across the six geo-political zones to realise his life-long ambition for higher service to his fatherland.

At Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, he said it was important that the kingmaker should also become king to avoid being a footnote of history that will be derided by this and future generations.

Although he was the best among the aspirants ahead of the primaries, and he had the best blueprint, he had to cross many hurdles.

In eight years, the pact on zoning was almost forgotten. The labours of the past, particularly the spade work that led to the fusion of like-minded parties, groups and individuals that gave birth to the All Progressives Congress (APC) were almost ignored. Those who hailed Tinubu’s pivotal roles at the beginning, including close associates he had mentored, ironically, turned against him.

Politics is characterised by competition, strife and antagonism. The real war started after the former Lagos State governor stormed Aso Villa to declare his ambition to President Buhari. But, he was unstoppable. Deserted by some associates, he quickly put the betrayal behind him and made more friends across the country. Many perceived his bid in a positive light; a payback time for a colossus who has groomed countless loyalists for leadership, built vast networks and spread tentacles of cooperation with progressive forces nationwide.

While other APC contenders who appeared before the John Odigie-Oyegun Committee said they would step down for a consensus candidate, Tinubu canvassed the beauty of a democratic, transparent and credible primary.

Many aspirants crashed before the shadow poll. Others later mounted the podium during the ‘Manifesto Night’ to step down for their National Leader. In a free and fair primary, Tinubu became the candidate.

After the primary came the second phase of the war. Attention focused on Tinubu more than Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), whose party was crashing; Peter Obi, a PDP defector who ran on the borrowed platform of Labour Party (LP), and Rabiu Kwankwaso, the strongman of Kano politics in post-Rimi era and candidate of the little known New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP). The choice of choosing a running mate was challenging. In a divided country, some people mounted pressure on Tinubu to make a mistake of picking a Christian from the Muslim-dominated North. But, the former governor, a realist with a deep knowledge about Nigeria, strategically chose a Muslim; a cerebral, loyal Kanuri and man of integrity from the Northeast. Self-acclaimed Christian leaders, who sought to exploit religion as a tool of divisive politics and destabilisation, cried foul against what they described as a ‘Muslim-Muslim’ gang. Lies were fabricated that Tinubu would Islamise Nigeria.

His response was logical and reassuring. He said if he, as a Muslim, could not Islamise his nuclear family where his beloved wife, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, is a Christian priest, the allegation of planning the Islamisation of the country was a figment of some people’s hyperactive imagination.

The third stage of the conflict was the electioneering campaign. Social media crooks set to work, to malign and damage reputation through malicious lies, fabrication and propaganda. No candidate endured unwarranted insults more than Tinubu, who had prepared for the worst embarrassment.

He was portrayed as being unfit for the job, terminally ill, and lacking the strength to withstand the rigour of the highest office. Derisive videos were made of him and taunting songs were composed about him to give the wrong impression that the APC candidate was unfit. Some manipulated social media portrayals conveyed the impression of a man who cannot stand alone for five minutes; someone who could not walk without being assisted; an old man of over 80 years whose first daughter is over 60 years. The mischief makers were all over town with crude jests and blatant mockery. They depicted the image of a corrupt person, although he was never indicted by any court.

The detractors knew that Tinubu would win. Therefore, they mounted numerous roadblocks. The hurdles motivated the APC team to work harder. Tinubu campaigned more than his rivals across the nooks and crannies of the country. He held more town hall and other important meet ings. There was no fatigue and diminishing strength, unlike what was noticeable among his rivals who looked gaunt and languorous by the telltales of hectic campaign engagements. While they displayed emaciated physique and croaky voices, Asiwaju appeared to have put on more weight and gained more strength with every electioneering outing. The dancing and the tireless voice clearly showed a different man from what the propagandists had portrayed to the gullible.

Also, pro-zoning APC governors were on the same page with the standard bearer, unlike their PDP colleagues who were locked in protracted rift with Atiku and the PDP National Chairman, Senator Iyorchia Ayu. While Tinubu enjoyed the active support of vocal, determined, committed, principled and resilient APC governors, G5 distanced itself from the main opposition party while LP state chairmen ditched Obi on the eve of the poll.

At Abeokuta again, Tinubu took his case to Nigerians. He was able to convince many that he had no hand in the protracted fuel scarcity and Naira crunch, which had imposed hardship on them. Rather, he explained that the ill-timed policy was meant to incite them against him on poll day.

As the twin challenges of fuel scarcity and Naira crunch bit harder, unscrupulous elements started pushing for election postponement and an interim government.

The coast was clear on February 25. Bubbling with confidence and optimism, Tinubu predicted victory for himself in the spirit of Emilokan, and through the grace of God and the will of majority of Nigerians, he made history. It underscored the power of positive thinking.

Knowing that one year of the Tinubu presidency would dwarf his eight years in office, veteran letter writer, former President and grand patron of “Obidients”, Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo, who supervised the flawed poll of 2007 which the beneficiary, President Umaru Yar’Adua, even decried, hurriedly dispatched a dubious letter that was apparently meant to incite Nigerians against the outcome of a credible poll. He improved on his record of bitterness against Yoruba icons, the late sage, Obafemi Awolowo, the best material not fit for president, and Moshood Abiola, the messiah Nigeria did not deserve.

Ask the ‘Glo’ man about his experience. The power that be ran him out of town. Let Gen. Olufemi Olutoye, now an oba, relate his premature retirement. What about Osoba’s ordeal and travails of his colleague-governors in 2003 poll?; a fallout of the political earthquake that swept across Southwest?

However, that the kingmaker has become king is not the end of the matter. Much needs to be accomplished for Nigeria by Tinubu, a democrat, bridge builder and visionary. The voting spread he achieved on February 25 is the baseline for renewal of fidelity to national unity. It is gratifying that he has waved the olive branch and promised a government of national unity. This makes him the real unifier.

The economy is on crutches. It is now Tinubu’s headache. Graduate unemployment, insecurity and epileptic power supply are among Nigeria’s major challenges. It is noteworthy that the President-elect has acknowledged that if electricity is fully resolved, the nation’s problems would be half-solved and all would start to be well.

The greatest task is the resolution of the national question through restructuring. Nigeria also expects reforms across the various sectors.

Predictably, the President-elect will set up a cabinet of talents; an inclusive, goal-oriented, accountable, and responsible administration.

Tinubu said his victory would make him the party leader. APC needs to be reorganised. Vital organs, including the National Caucus, should be reactivated. The Board of Trustees (BoT) should be restored. Outstanding conflicts in some state chapters should be resolved very urgently. It is not too late to think about the restoration of ideological politics. Without an ideology, a political party is either empty or incomplete.

In another four years, the incoming administration will be assessed. Nigeria will not remain the same.

March 4, 2023
Candidate, sponsor fall apart after electoral defeat

Before last Saturday’s presidential and National Assembly elections, the going was smooth between a candidate and his sponsor in one of the Northcentral states. They dreamed together, planned together and looked forward to bountiful electoral harvest.

It would seem, however, that the outcome of the February 25 polls has ruptured the hitherto smooth relationship between the godfather and the godson who is a governorship candidate of the opposition party.

Until 2019, the sponsor was in total control of the state. He was revered, feared and worshipped like a god. Then came the political tsunami that swept him and his associates off power in the state that year.

Until last Saturday, the sponsor was confident that he would bounce back. His associates and the candidate were also full of expectations. To get the ticket of his party, the candidate opened his financial tap and there was ceaseless flow of liquid cash. But with the outcome of Saturday’s polls that shattered all expectations again, the financial tap has been locked.

The godfather, SENTRY gathered, is not finding the development funny. He complained about the squeeze but the candidate would hear none of that. He told his godfather that his own contribution would highly be appreciated as, according to him, “we are in this together.”

“Nonsense!” the godfather was said to have responded, telling their associates that he had no “shishi” to contribute. If the candidate knew he was not equal to the task, he said, he should not have stepped forward.

Paucity of funds, SENTRY learnt, has slowed down preparations in the party for the governorship and House of Assembly elections. Confidence has waned and everyone is moody, hence the need for everyone to cut cost.

March 4, 2023
Leadership, the elite and Nigeria’s democracy

WE can never say enough about leadership because the lives of each nation or group of people even if they are ‘stateless’ according to UN terms, depend on the leadership in that environment. If we reference past kings and queens in all empires, even the biblical ones are today and will always be referenced for good or for bad. In essence, each leader deliberately or inadvertently writes his or her history.

However, more often than not, a people define the leadership that emerges because leaders emerge from the people and the values of a people can most often be gleaned from the leadership that emerges from them and through their actions in a democracy.

So most times when people complain about bad leadership they often forget that they have a hand either through actions or inactions about the leadership that emerges. Political philosophers like Plato succinctly described this when he posited that, “One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors”.

Very often especially in a developing nation like Nigeria, the elite often shy away from partisan engagement and involuntarily cede political leadership to the incompetent and people without the gravitas to drive productive leadership. The result of poor leadership is that like a relay race, the baton is passed from one group to the other and sometimes dropped in ways that development is delayed and everyone suffers and post failure analysis fill the air.

The RoundTable Conversation sat with Dr. Otive Igbuzor, Executive Director African Center for Leadership, Strategy and Development (LSD) a civil society veteran who has spent his life fighting under different local and international agencies for justice, gender equity and good governance, an author, researcher, lecturer and gender advocate who was appointed by the immediate past United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon into the Global Network of Men Leaders to End Violence Against Women.

Asked about each nation getting the leadership it deserves, he said that there is some element of truth therein because leadership is about influence. People can influence others in different ways. In Nigeria for instance, we talk about transactional and transformational leaderships. You notice this in the ways the people often venerate leaders that dispense material and financial favors. The electoral process and the roles money play are all indicators of what one can say are the people getting what they deserve. When a people choose instant gratifications over planned nationhood and good policy drivers, they surreptitiously choose their leaders good or bad.

When the people with questionable character use money to win elections and their religious houses organize endorsements and thanksgiving services, their communities give them titles and the people call them excellences, honourables and distinguished in very adulating ways, you find that such leaders would remain deified without being held accountable. Yes, to some extent you can say that a people get the leadership they deserve.

However, there are leaders who emerge and are able to change the followership through who they are, what they do, how they lead, their practices and soon, so it is not a one-way traffic of a people getting the leadership they deserve. However, there are transformative leaders. We have equally learnt that leadership according to Amandla, the cultural wing of ANC once said that leaders are not born but produced during the course of the struggle.

Leaders can make the difference and that is why people say that everything rises and falls with leadership. In those days there used to be discourse about the fact that the people are the makers of history. But let’s take a trip back into history for instance the fact that Gorbachev sat over the disintegration of the former USSR and a Trump emerged in the last five years. We know the outcomes so scholars know that leadership matters.

We must be concerned with the type of democracy that can deliver dividends of development. There has been a lot of discourse about the democracy that is functional. May be thirty to fifty years ago, policies were almost analogue but the dynamics have changed in ways that democracy and development are now closer than ever. Policy science has developed in ways economic policies are more exact and somewhat inclusive, each leadership in making policies can now tell what outcomes to expect in terms of the different demographics. We all can calculate which policies can increase or reduce poverty, which ones can enhance gender, minority and youth inclusiveness.

Today we know what kind of policies can improve health, deliver progressive education enhance infrastructural provisions for better productivity. So in essence, we all know what to do. We must match theory with practice because there is always a nexus. Many years ago, there were no mobile phones on a global scale, today we have it and the internet and leadership comes easier.

All Nigerians, including media people must understand that ideas rule the world today especially now that knowledge economy is so huge and there are projections into the future where artificial intelligence and robotics have will take over. We must move with the times but we must retain the core values that drive leadership and followership. The merchandizing of politics and erosion of our value system must be checked if development must come.

We must all have to patriotically own the society at all levels. But we also acknowledge that leadership has changed due to a multitude of things, our colonial history, the military interruptions that changed the ways leadership selection processes where most politicians owe allegiance to an Abuja power hierarchy is not good enough for our democratic growth.

We must remember the effects of the truncated transition periods by Ibrahim Babaginda the former military President. When he was done and Abdulsallam Abubakar came, the people were exhausted and only ‘professional’ politicians took over government when activists, socialists, patriots and intellectuals refused to participate in a post military era Nigeria in 1999. Before they realized what was happening the professional politicians had their tap roots rooted on ground and the policies over the years like Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) pauperized the people.

The most important solutions must be ‘organizing and not agonizing’ because there are enough patriotic people who are good and as Burke advised, evil triumph when good men do nothing. In Nigeria the only leadership problems are in the political field. You do not have many problems at the traditional, religious, academic or even corporate levels. It is always the political field. We have global leaders in all other sectors even at UN level.

The way forward must be for committed and patriotic and educated Nigerians to stop showing apathy for politics but go out there and get involved to run away from what Plato said about the good people and inferior leadership.

Again the middle class must get involved at party levels. They must stop and we must think seriously about integrating women into leadership seeing that globally, continentally and sub-regionally, Nigeria is far below in gender parity in the political space. Over the past twenty years, there has been progress in the world in terms of gender inclusiveness and all the world can see the progress being made by the Scandinavian and other countries where women seem to have access in the political space.

There must be a constitutional quota for women and luckily there is an opportunity for a constitutional review in ways that there must be implementable affirmative action for women. Everyone concerned about this must reach out to their legislators to facilitate action because it has been confirmed that when women are in positions of authority, they make better policies and programmes that touch on the lives of citizens and that is why the countries on top of the human development index across the world have many women at the political field providing various levels of leadership. You see countries like Denmark, New Zealand, Finland, Estonia, Iceland, Norway etc. doing really well. To Igbuzor, women movement must prioritize women participation in politics to help the country develop.

The RoundTable Conversation has equally identified governors that have been sensitive enough to integrate more women into their cabinets and is carrying out research on their progress in comparative terms. The Nigerian global percentage of women in parliament stands at less than ten percent while countries across Africa are all at thirty percent and above with Rwanda with the global highest of 61.3%.

There are no surprises about Nigeria being the poverty capital of the world when some of her best and brightest are forced out of the country by even less brilliant and less educated men whose only qualification is their gender. An Amina Mohammed faced hostility when she was nominated for a ministerial post, today she is at the United Nations as Assistant Secretary General. Arunma Oteh is now at the World Bank but was hounded by some legislators when she was the Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Nigerians must, if they wish to face the task of development productively be more involved in the leadership evolution processes to select leaders with the necessary pedigree and qualifications that can make the democracy we all cherish more functional and development oriented. Transactional leaderships leave both the leaders and the beneficiaries of such formless transactions poorer and more disoriented in the long run.

Clutching unto some mundane and parochial socio-cultural and religious practices and views just so as to favour patriarchal longings would always hurt everyone at the end. Nigeria is too blessed to continue to fail its population. Good and functional leadership benefits everyone ultimately in ways that the future of the country remains assured. All stake holders in the media, civil society and governments must work together to birth more functional leadership that benefits everyone and chats a better path to the future.

The dialogue continues…

February 25, 2023
Democracy in Nigeria

Today marks yet another critical milestone in the democratic evolution of Nigeria. The fundamental idea of politics and democracy rests on the premise that those who have the legitimate right to allocate scarce resources and values in society as well as determine who gets what, when and how are determined through the will of the majority as expressed in free, fair and credible elections. The legitimacy of a democratic government derives from the will of the people exercised in ways stipulated in governing constitutions. A number of the crises that we have confronted since the commencement of this dispensation in 1999 have been so serious that, had they occurred in the late 1960s to early 1990s, the consequence could have been enthusiastically welcomed military overthrow of democratic systems. But one of the abiding lessons of our history has been that self-proclaimed military Messiahs tend to be nothing but fake political saviours after all who leave society far worse than they met it.

Thus, we have had nearly two and a half decades of unbroken civil rule.

Bitter experience has taught us that the worst civilian administration is far better than the best military regime. It is remarkable that a far higher number of Nigerians have registered to vote in this year’s elections than ever before. Over 87.2 million Permanent Voters Cards have been collected. This is an indication of enhanced confidence in the efficacy of the ballot box as an instrument of effecting leadership and governmental changes. While a not insignificant number especially of our youths have sought solace abroad, the ‘Japa’ phenomenon, an also not insubstantial number have chosen to stay behind and utilize their votes to empower a government capable of bringing about positive changes in the country’s fortunes and actualizing her potentials.

Elections have gradually over the last two decades acquired greater integrity, credibility and transparency. The electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has attained greater institutional autonomy. Increased use of technology has largely rendered nugatory and ineffectual previous methods of manipulating elections and perverting the will of the people.

2015 marked a watershed in the evolution of the electoral process when a government in power at the centre was displaced by the opposition through the ballot box for the first time in the country’s political history. Nigerians are becoming more and more aware that the best panacea to the problems of democracy and the existential challenges of the country lie in more, not less, democracy.

As Nigerians go to the polls to cast their votes today for which of the leading three candidates – Mr. Peter Obi, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar or Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu – deserves to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari in May, what should be some of the key determining factors on their minds?

Implicit in our discourse so far is the indispensability of democracy to fostering good governance, transcending the depredations of underdevelopment and fostering the accelerated development of Nigeria. The question then is who among the candidates contributed the most in fighting for and helping to actualize the democracy we have experienced since 1999? The track record of all the candidates is in the public domain in this regard. It is only logical that he who staked more of life, resources and livelihood to fight for, promote and defend the democracy we have today can be trusted more to strengthen the country’s democratic structures and processes under his leadership.

With the retreat of the military from the politi cal terrain and the restoration of civil rule in 1999, which of these candidates contributed most to deepening the country’s federal practice? It is axiomatic that democratic governance can have only negligible efficacy in a plural society like ours without a robust federalism that galvanizes development from the grassroots. The records of the candidates are here again in the public domain. Atiku Abubakar was Vice-President for eight years under the General Olusegun Obasanjo presidency. That administration had an essentially unitary mind set and orientation. It took no steps whatsoever to decentralize our excessively centralized constitution. For instance, it opposed the creation of new local government councils in Lagos State and even seized the federal allocations due to local governments in the state insisting on the abolition of the new councils.

Of course, Atiku can rightly claim that he was only a deputy and not in charge in the administration. Indeed, he has since leaving office professed a commitment to a fundamental restructuring of the Nigerian federation. How much of this sincere and how much vote-attracting rhetoric? Did he do as much as he could have to influence the Obasanjo administration in which he was number two man in the direction of a greater commitment to true federalism? It is for the voter to decide.

Tinubu was governor of Lagos State for eight years and Obi governor of Anambra State also for two terms of eight years. Which of them showed a greater commitment to the federal ideal? Obi’s critics maintain that he did not hold local government elections even once during his tenure in office. What is the veracity of this allegation? Do we have any concrete evidence of the measures he took to help deepen federal practice in Nigeria as governor? Answers to these questions will help voters determine his record on this score in today’s election. Tinubu as governor of Lagos State increased the number of local government councils in the state from 20 to 57. He maintained, funded and nurtured them despite punitive financial strangulation from the Obasanjo administration. Some experts contend that the increase in the number of local governments has helped accelerate the pace of development at the grassroots while creating opportunities for the emergence of new cadre of youthful leaders at the grassroots in the state.

It is also on record that as governor of Lagos State, Tinubu gave full backing to his Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, to challenge at the Supreme Court those sections of the constitution as well as practices of the federal government that negated the letter and the spirit of true federalism. Lagos State won at least 13 of such cases at the apex court thus affirming among others the rights of states over urban planning within their jurisdiction, the illegality of federal government seizure of state funds, the illegality of federal government intrusion into local government administration and that the funding of Joint Venture Contracts as well as the National Petroleum Company PLC among others should be from the federal government’s account rather than the Federation Account. It is for voters to decide if these facts are true and whether or not this should have a bearing on how they cast their votes.

Again, which of the leading candidates has the best demonstrated track record of utilizing democracy as a handmaiden of concrete developmental accomplishments? As Vice –President of Nigeria under Obasanjo, Atiku was put in full charge of the economy for the first term of that administration. The privatization of key public enterprises was one of his major undertakings in that capacity. While his supporters commend his efforts in that regard, others scathingly accuse him of selling off prized public assets at rock bottom prices to his cronies and friends. This was one reason why his former principal, Obasanjo, accused him of alleged corrupt practices in unsparing language in his book, ‘My Watch’.

On his performance as governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi claims to have raised the standard of education as demonstrated by the state’s secondary schools performance in the West African School Certificate (WASC) examinations as well as meeting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). His supporters consider his record as superlative. His critics contend that his claims are largely nebulous, non-measurable and lacking in concreteness. Obi’s refrain during the campaigns has been that he wants to move Nigeria from consumption to production. Did he do anything as governor of Anambra State for eight years to indicate that he can do the same on a larger scale for Nigeria? The answer to that question will certainly sway some votes either towards or away from Obi in today’s election depending on the perception of the individual voter.

Tinubu’s supporters refer to his record in Lagos as one of his most validating claims to have the capacity to transform Nigeria and propel her to higher pedestals of development. They refer to his accomplishments in infrastructure development, qualitative social service delivery, human capital development, financial engineering ingenuity and institution building which they insist is second to none in this dispensation. His adversaries contend, however, that Lagos has always been developed and that leaders like Brigadier Mobolaji Johnson, Alhaji Lateef Jakande and General Mohammed Buba Marwa also contributed their quota to what Lagos is today. No credible supporter of Tinubu has claimed as far as I know that others before him had not played their roles in the progress of the state. Indeed, Tinubu stood on the shoulders of giants before him as governor of Lagos State. Yet, the truth is that in the 16 years between the collapse of the second republic and the democratic restoration of 1999, Lagos had degenerated to an urban jungle as Obasanjo uncharitably described her in Y2000. It was Tinubu’s challenge to turn the fortunes of the state around and set her on the path of sustained and irreversible progress. His supporters believe that he succeeded phenomenally in this regard. His adversaries argue to the contrary. It is the perception of what the facts are that will determine voter behavior to some extent today.

Tinubu’s supporters will ask if the Eko Atlantic City growing magnificently from the bowels of the Atlantic Ocean in Lagos and on which the United State’s largest embassy in the world is currently being built is fiction or reality. They will query if the Lekki Free Trade Zone which houses the Lekki Deep Sea Port and where the Dangote Refinery, one of the largest in the world, is currently under construction in Lagos is not an index of quantum developmental leaps? They will wonder if the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) network that has transformed the transportation landscape of Lagos or the revolutionary Blue and Red Line light rail mass transit schemes are real or just figments of the imagination. They will ask if it is not a demonstrable fact that the Internally Generated Revenue of Lagos State was phenomenally increased from N600 million monthly in 1999 to over N7 billion by 2007 and has risen to at least N50 billion monthly today? Did this happen by chance or as a result of rigorous thinking, diligent planning and effective implementation?

Obi’s supporters applaud him for reportedly saving huge amount of funds for the state in both foreign and local currencies. His critics contend that was completely wrong headed in the face of acute infrastructure deficit. Atiku’s traducers say he did not do enough between 1999 and 2003 to address increased revenue generation by the federal government given his critical role in running the economy. These are some issues that will be at play in voters’ minds in today’s elections. However, beyond such rational calculations, primordial factors such as religion, ethnicity and regionalism will also be critical factors at play. A transparent and credible electoral process today will be another decisive step in Nigeria’s ongoing march towards her desired democratic Eldorado.

February 25, 2023
IMC: Nigerian coaches need training

The domestic league would have achieved part of its fillip for growth if the Interim Management Committee (IMC) chieftains can organise a pre-season and also a mid-season refresher course for the coaches who handle the 20 professional league teams to keep them abreast with the modern tricks in the game, ahead of the second round of the abridged NPFL competition with Bendel Insurance FC of Benin City and Lobi Stars FC of Makurdi leading Groups A and B at the end of the first round of matches across the country.

The paradox in coaching is that when the team excels, the players take the credit with the media celebrating them to the high heavens. Wait for it, when the team loses games, the coach gets the stick with the players blaming the manager’s tactics that brought them glory in the past. Unfortunately, coaches earn far less than many of the big players, which isn’t good enough especially if such players are the big boys in the game. The tendency for management to kowtow to their views on everything almost turn such stars into monsters. So, if the coaches’ wages aren’t anything to reckon with, who then handles the critical aspect of training and retraining them to make the league matches more exciting to watch?

In fact, one club chairman informed this writer while beating his chest that he had regrets about changing the team’s coaches because the management knew how the club won the league title. This chairman also advanced the same logic to explain why the club does wholesale changes of players when scheduled to represent Nigeria in CAF’s inter-club competitions. Well, that was the locust years of the league with the IMC determined to block all the rot in the domestic game.

In fact, the immediate past NFF President Amaju Pinnick during his first tenure thought he shocked his audience when he revealed to them that most of the coaches who participated in a coaching course in which he got a firm to bankroll in England couldn’t operate a computer. They had to be taught how to operate and function with a computer. It showed how rustic their tactics would be. It also showed the quality of the telephone handsets they have. How would such coaches gain from the avalanche of knowledge available online? These days people educate themselves using relevant educational applications. Fans who throng the match venues weekly to watch games deserve to be entertained and tasked to return for the next matches based on the quality of coaching exhibited by the players.

It is important to state here that these spectators have competing interests for their hard-earned monies and would only watch other games if what they have seen in the previous matches tickled their fancies. Besides, an improvement in the number of fans who watch such clubs’ matches translates to extra revenue in their coffers. The reason most excited state governors throw open the gates of their teams to fans is because of the paltry returns from the turnstiles weekly. No state governor will allow fans to watch games for free if the club’s management realises over N1 million weekly from the gates.

State governors should use this interlude in the NPFL to structure their teams such that they can be run professionally and those in charge made to explain the profit and loss sheets to the auditors at the end of the season. I always cringe with envy when the Premier League publishes vital information on the finances of the PL teams. Most of the teams have huge losses but what they have as assets far outweigh what they may incur as debts. No wonder the deep-pocket Sheiks keep scrambling to own the Premier League clubs each time stories around them bother on change of ownership. Not so for the NPFL.

The mid-season break is usually a stocktaking period where clubs retool their operations which most times is centred on strengthening the squad with better players. The irony of most recruitments by the clubs at this period is that the coaches are left untrained with the game going uglier with every match. These largely untrained coaches infest our players at the grassroots in the 774 Local Government Areas in Nigeria, hence the urge by those who are lucky to sneak out of the country to Europe.

Part of the problem with Nigeria is that we don’t have strong structures in place across the country to discover, nurture and expose new talents. One of the nagging problems that result from this is that soon after the young talents are discovered, they begin to feel too big for the system and run their shows. And in no time, they lose steam and Nigeria is worse off for it – examples abound.

Coaching is a function of hiring and firing depending on the manager’s successes, especially for inpatient employers. In fact, when teams are fumbling their fans wave the white flag calling for the coach’s sack, if the teams’ fortunes continue to dwindle. What stands for the European clubs’ management is the fact that they have organised and tested systems which throw up the next manager when anyone is sacked or should I say released mutually. Indeed, there are two types of coaches. Those already sacked and those waiting for their sack letters.

Indeed, those struggling clubs at the lower rung of the league table won’t dare sack the fumbling coach if he was brought into the team through the state governor of his wife. The IMC can include training and retraining programmes for the NPFL coaches in their prospectus for next season. IMC can use preseason and midseason programmes to grade the coaches for the good of the game.

Nigerians are beginning to watch the beautiful game here on television even with the station’s shortcoming of not being able to allow those who watch the games at home to view replays of exciting moments of the games, especially of spectacular goals scored after 190 matches.

Spectators now have the luxury of watching live games where visiting teams have won games without any form of causalities arising from mayhems at venues. The IMC should as a matter of urgency speed up their talks with the television rights owners who have a Supreme Court judgment to see how both bodies can do the business of live broadcast matches according to acceptable conditions by all the parties.

The live telecast of matches is the opium of the league and this writer believes that the rights owners of the league should be allowed to do their job. The Supreme Court judgment must be respected to the letter.

Of course there should be zero tolerance for government ownership. The government’s contributions towards sports rest with providing the enabling environment for the industry to thrive – which includes providing infrastructure, policies, and takeoff grants, if need be. It is run through communities and individuals with sufficient funding from the corporate world over time. What our leaders also don’t take into consideration before adopting models which work elsewhere is such models are time tested and necessary changes informed from what they gathered after the introduction of such an exercise makes such models attractive and worthy of emulation.

February 25, 2023
A day of decision in Nigeria

ALL eyes are on Nigeria as the electorate goes to the polls today. The die is cast. Four major political parties – the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Labour Party (LP), and New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP) – are slugging it out to occupy the Aso Rock Villa in Abuja.

The candidates of the four parties – Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, Mr. Peter Obi and Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso – are the main contenders.

Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos State, is contesting for the first time, like Obi, a former governor of Anambra State, who has traversed the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and the PDP before finally pitching his tent with the LP.

Unlike Obi and the other major contenders, Asiwaju Tinubu has never left the progressives’ front since he joined politics. From the Action for Democracy (AD), the platform that brought him to office in 1999, he has been expanding the same progressives’ front with every alliance he led. His efforts with those of other frontline progressives birthed the Action Congress (AC) and enlarged into the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) until the erection of today’s APC, which has extensive political structures across the country and beyond.

Atiku has contested four times. In the Third Republic, he was an aspirant. In 2007, he ran on the platform of defunct ACN. Later, he retraced his steps to the PDP. Much later, he joined APC and later returned to PDP.

Kwankwaso has tried his luck once at the APC primary. He had, at various times been a member of defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the aborted Third Republic; later, he joined the PDP before joining the NNPP, his current platform.

Fourteen other candidates are running on various platforms of mushroom parties that could be said to be warming the register of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). They will lose their deposits and crash long before the more formidable “Big Four”.

Historically, Nigeria could be described as a two-party state. The strength of the parties and the patterns of alliances have shown that only two parties or coalition of parties usually competes for the presidency.

It is not clear if the LP will become the third force with the youthful bravado of “Obidients” on the social media, especially.

Today’s poll is crucial in the march of democracy. It is the seventh presidential poll since 1999. Campaigns have been hectic, tasking, time-consuming, energy-sapping and financially involving. The electioneering has been too elastic, beginning from prepara tions for primaries to the end of campaigns. Candidates have laid their blueprints before Nigerians, scrambling for endorsement. They even went abroad to campaign, although there is no room for Diaspora voting. The candidates are now on the weighing scale. Nigerians will give their verdict before the close of the day.

The parties and their candidates largely conducted campaigns that were devoid of violence. The culture of verbal attacks was sustained. But, character assassination was not rampant, except on the social media because it is not regulated. Some candidates conducted issue-based campaigns. Some are on the ballot for relevance.

The fear of postponement fizzled out during the week as INEC began the distribution of sensitive materials. The National Security Adviser (NSA), General Mohammed Babagana Monguno, also doused tension by assuring that the polls will hold.

Nigeria remains a funny country where schools have to suspend academic activities, markets have to close and movements have to be restricted because of elections. The practice has not shown Africa’s most populous nation as demonstrating sufficient political maturity.

The last few weeks have been remarkable due to the hardship caused by fuel scarcity and naira crunch. When fuel scarcity gave way, Nigerians still lacked access to the cash to buy petrol. The impact of the pain and anguish may be felt during the elections.

There are many things to watch out for. More than the previous elections, more Nigerians registered to vote this year. Yet, many also did not collect their permanent voter’s cards (PVCs). More youths registered than before. But only a few clearly know why they will vote. It is not unexpected that many youths will vote through peer pressure or companionship; others will cast their ballots for sentiment, religious, and ethnic reasons.

Voting wisely is important. It implies voting in anticipation of solutions to unresolved problems – economy, insecurity, power supply, and unemployment.

Will zoning play a role in the presidential poll? The outcome will tell. In the race are two Northerners and two Southerners: one from the Northwest, another from the Northeast; one from the Southwest, and another from the Southeast.

President Muhammadu Buhari, while supporting his party and its presidential candidate has, nonetheless, assured the nation of his commitment to credible and transparent polls This is in keeping with his profile as a man of integrity.

Threats to peaceful electioneering appeared to have manifested in the Southeast. The killings up to two days ago by unknown gunmen were worrisome.

This year’s presidential election is a departure from the previous ones. There is no retired soldier on the ballot although it appears retired officers are trying to regroup to exert some influence. The reality is that their influence is declining and fading.

Today, global attention is focusing on Nigeria. Over 200 monitors and observers have arrived to witness the exercise. They include groups sent by the African Union (AU), ECOWAS and the Commonwealth.

Electronic voting is still a tall order, despite the use of BVAS and electronic transmission of results.

Much is expected of the electoral agency, led by Prof. Mahmood Yakubu. He is not lacking in experience. But there are more hurdles for him and the commission to contend with. If the previous elections, which he conducted with progressive improvement, could be used as a yardstick, the world might expect a good outing with some human and technical errors. But, like in the previous polls, this year’s might throw up some complaints but not fundamental issues that might warrant a big damage to the outcome.

An election is a joint responsibility involving all stakeholders. But the onus is on INEC, the pilot of the elections, to live up to expectations.

Having recruited and trained its employees and ad hoc workers, the electoral umpire should still be up and doing. It should report for the electoral duty promptly.

Late arrival of personnel and materials may provide anxiety and tension. Also, INEC workers are expected to be neutral. The BVAS should not be faulty. They should not aid and abet electoral crimes.

Voters should also be patriotic. They should come out to vote according to their conscience. They should turn up on time and obey all electoral guidelines and regulations. There should be no campaigns at polling units; they have ended two days ago.

Voters should shun unruly behaviours and cooperate fully with electoral officers. They should vote in a way that will make their votes count and not voided.

There is also no gain in over-voting. It can only lead to cancellation that will reduce the number of valid votes and cause the affected candidates a loss in the figures for their election.

Also, voters and electoral workers need to shun electoral fraud today. It has grave consequences. The law forbidding malpractices is in force. Culprits will face the “electoral tribunal”. This is avoidable, if everybody would play the game according to its rules.

In some cases, electoral battles often shift from the ballot box to the court. Will this year’s poll be different?

February 25, 2023
Nigeria in lean period

It is a paradox. Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, should ordinarily be a land of abundance and prosperity; a land perpetually flowing with milk and honey. But, it has become a ‘haven’ of despair, misery and pain.

For seven years, there was no acute fuel scarcity. But, the saboteurs have successfully orchestrated a monumental crisis in the petroleum sector at the peak of electioneering.

Why the irrational supply is confounding is that fuel is imported. The Federal Government, through the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), receives foreign currency from the sale of crude oil. The currency is used to pay for the imported petrol, and the distribution for consumption is heavily subsidised. The countries selling the product have not declined to sell. What is the basis for the sabotage and conspiracy?

The scarcity has taken its toll on the people. Petrol now sells for as high as N350 per litre. It has become brisk business for people who sell in jerry cans.

The high cost of fuel has triggered an inflationary trend. The masses bear the brunt.

As petrol supply was increased, another crisis was orchestrated. Nigerians are in want of cash to even buy the petrol as the dubious cashless policy, naira redesign and, currently swap, are forced down the throats of people, in violation of the extant provision for a reasonable period.

Many things have gone wrong with Nigeria, a former British colony, aptly described as a mere geographical expression. The country has become the giant of the Dark Continent in absurdity, perfidy and confusion.

Again, its bane, as current events show, is poor leadership: insensitive, arrogant, callous, self-serving, nepotistic; lacking in vision and embarrassingly clueless.

Nigeria’s democracy has become a mockery of the popular, universal brand. There is derailment. It is no more the government of the people. At least, the government of the people is expected to harken to the cries of the people. Nigeria’s democracy of today is a system of government by few people, nevertheless. Clearly, it is not a government for all, but a cabal; a faction of the power house that suffers from a messianic complex.

There is a gradual slide towards legitimacy crisis, based on public perception of certain governmental actions that hurt, as the generality of citizens are affected by a policy that has done more harm than good. Cries of despondency fill the air as evidenced by protests in some parts of the country.

When the order of our apex court is ignored with impunity, the feeling begins to grow that dictatorship is back. Judiciary, which is the acclaimed last hope of the common man, is boxed into irrelevance and the nation-state is enveloped in gloom.

Across the 774 local governments, in cities inhabited by privileged people and remotest parts where commoners are restricted, there is uniformity of agony. Money is trapped in banks and socio-economic activities are stalled. This is the bone of contention.

Hope of a respite from the confusion was dashed on Thursday after President Muhammadu Buhari’s broadcast. The naira crisis persists, courtesy of an insensitive Federal Government trying to prolonging the lean period. The topmost seat of power has ceased to be a solution centre. Its adamant position has created a deep hollow in the President’s scorecard.

Nigeria suffers from the dilemma a soldier-politician who seems to have a nostalgic feeling for sweeping powers. That relic of military disposition may have become a national albatross. In a supposedly democratic setting, this is a colossal impairment caused by adjustive difficulties, which have compounded the challenge of crossing the bridge from the absolute dictatorial past to the refined requirements of a civil rule.

The summary of the broadcast is that the country may now have to contend with increasing tyranny at the twilight of the Buhari administration.

There are three organs of government: the legislature, the executive and the judiciary. Pushed to the wall by an executive action that has brought both intended and unintended consequences, the National Assembly had advised the executive to pull the brake and listen to the people. The advice never resonated with Aso Villa, the seat of govern ment.

Then, the Supreme Court, the arbiter, gave a ruling in national interest. According to the apex temple of justice, old and new notes should co-exist as legal tenders, pending the determination of the Federal Government/Governors’ suit before it. The order of the court was disrespected. It is ironical that Buhari who always ran to the Supreme Court for redress and whose victory was affirmed by the same Court is now reluctant to obey its order.

The President’s broadcast underscores the reality of a pseudo-military rule and dictatorship in disguise. It has done an incalculable damage to the principles of separation of powers through a deliberate disobedience to the Supreme Court. The move may weaken the Judiciary, which is a critical institution of democracy. This, without mincing words, is a signal to anarchy, which makes observers to think that the eclipse of popular rule in Africa’s most populous nation-state is imminent.

Many lawyers, who evaluated the scenario from legal perspective, chided the Commander-in-Chief for executive lawlessness and rascality. It is a wide departure from public expectation about the defence of the rule of law by the number one citizen. The president is in Ethiopia for a conference. Can he beat his chest that he is an apostle of the rule of law at home?

This is the crux of the matter. The rule of law is the predominance or supremacy of the law above all the citizens of a given state; and the government, particularly a civilian administration, must obey the law of the constitution and verdict of the courts.

The interim injunction, pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice, is ‘law,’ until it is vacated. The ruling was given by the highest court in the land on February 8. Two days ago, the court adjourned the matter till February 23, which means that the ruling subsists.

But, the president, who merely noted the court order, decided to fractionalise and balkanise the ruling by choosing to give a directive to the CBN to supply N200 notes only while N1,000 and N500 denominations would remain trapped in banks. It is akin to the travesty of the justice system.

Today, there is confusion. APC governors are in court against the Federal Government, led by Buhari, the party leader. Some opposition PDP governors are backing the president. What kind of politics is this?

There is need for the president, who must bow out in less than four months, to retrace his steps to avoid a permanent dent on his administration.

There is need to refocus the implementation of the cashless policy. Implementation can only be effective if it is gradual, as it is done in sane climes.

The obstacle appears to be the political undertone. If the goal of currency redesign and swap is to render the cash stashed by a handful of politicians useless on poll day, it is misplaced. Millions of innocent Nigerians who are denied cash in the process suffer more.

The standard practice that Nigeria’s powerful CBN is trying to avoid, to the country’s peril, is that as old currencies are being withdrawn, new currencies are issued and are adequately supplied simultaneously. The policy becomes more effective because CBN declines to issue the old notes.

Within this framework of implementation, as the old notes are gradually phased out, or cease to be legal tenders, banks receive the old notes from customers who know that the swap is instant, devoid of stress and without a slight fear of artificial scarcity.

If there is no hidden agenda, the CBN would have allowed the old and new notes to co-exist as legal tenders for at least six months, in accordance with its Act.

At issue, according to experts, is the withdrawal/release ratio. In a cash economy, if, for example, N2.1 trillion is withdrawn and N400 billion is issued, it is counter-productive.

As bank customers are thrown into a nightmare due to the failure of Automated Teller Machines (ATM) to emit cash, they lose confidence and develop a sort of banking phobia. The effect will manifest beyond this period as people may now resort to keeping their cash at home to avoid a repeat of the current excruciating experience.

The push for electronic banking means that a stable network is required. But, over-emphasis on transfers, including transfer of N200 or N500 to an illiterate pepper seller or food venture in the neighbourhood will require a certain level of education, exposure and enlightenment that are still lacking. Cashless approach is still associated with elitism.

Besides, the capacity of the platforms for electronic banking may not be able to cope with the volumes of transactions simultaneously taking place across the country. They usually breakdown due to ‘overload’.

The CBN should expect surging crowds of customers thronging their state offices, in line with the guidelines it has set. Can the apex bank’s personnel cope?

Banks are now in forced recess. By the time they open, probably after the deadline, many customers will indicate a desire to withdraw all the money in their accounts.

CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele said he had directed 15 banks to start paying N200 notes to customers. They are yet to comply.

From the foregoing, the Buhari administration, in cahoots with the CBN under Emefiele, has set the worst precedent in the history of our nation’s financial system. It appears the current logjam would be difficult to break open for Nigerians to heave a sigh a relief.

Whatever agony, disillusionment, destruction, or deaths this new naira policy and its spiral effects have brought – and will bring – the President should take the credit for everything. As the Commander-in-Chief with the powers to make or break, the buck stops on his table. His actions and inactions determine his perception of the enormity of powers the nation has vested in him for the common good. How he uses those powers shows whose interest he protects.

February 18, 2023
Emefiele’s campaign vehicles provoke questions

GOVERNOR of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, sent millions of tongues wagging with his decision to purchase the N100 million presidential nomination form of the All Progressives’ Congress (APC) in the build-up to the party’s primary election in June last year. It later emerged that the CBN governor had not only acquired the party’s nomination forms but had also bought a fleet of vehicles for his campaign.

As things turned out, however, Emefiele had to give up on the idea of contesting the presidential election due mainly to the public outrage against the idea. The fact remains, however, that the dust raised by that move is yet to settle with the deluge of questions that are left unanswered.

Where are the vehicles now? Who supplied them? How true is the claim that some of the vehicles are now with the campaign organization of a presidential candidate through a governor that is very close to the CBN governor? What does that suggest? A chummy relationship between the said presidential candidate and Emefiele? How neutral is the CBN governor?

Since his foray into politics exemplified by his failed presidential bid, how much time does he have for monetary matters which constitute the core mandate of the CBN? How has he fared on this assignment? What was the rate of inflation before he assumed office and what is it now? What was the exchange rate before he assumed office and now? What was the country’s foreign reserve then and now? What has become of his rice pyramids?

Earlier in the week, he compounded failure with insensitivity, describing the millions of Nigerians on queues at ATM points around the country as miscreants who had no need for cash but were only there to sell their turns for some others in dire need of cash. Really?

Has Buhari’s soldier spirit rubbed off on Emefiele?

There is an adage to the effect that when a leaf stays too long on a bar of soap, the leaf itself would turn into soap. That seemed to be the case with the relationship between President Muhammadu Buhari and the Central Bank Governor Godwin Emefiele. The latter appears to have rubbed mind so much with the former that he has caught the spirit of a soldier.

Since the scarcity of notes and consequent agitation provoked by the naira redesigning policy, Emefiele, a finance man, has elected to speak like a soldier and issue threats on a daily basis rather than speak with facts and figures. Because he takes orders from a soldier, he now thinks and acts as one; no longer as a sober, shrewd, reflective and analytical financial expert.

Consequent on the foregoing, everything about naira redesigning, a poorly implemented policy that has shaken the nation to its foundation in recent weeks, has been opaque. In his broadcast to the nation on Thursday, Buhari had admitted that he approved the policy. But from every indication, it was a unilateral decision on the part of the President, and that much came to light when the Minister of Finance declared on national television that she had no knowledge of it.

Was the policy debated by the Federal Executive Council? No. So who did the President discuss the idea with apart from Emefiele? We may never know. Like President Buhari, Emefiele is keeping everything to himself. He would not disclose how much of the new notes have been printed or the breakdown of the total N2.1 trillion that has been returned to the banks. Buhari directed that the N200 notes already collected from the public should be re-circulated. But what is the value? Emefiele does not think we should know.

Kaduna State Governor Nasir el-Rufai, says the amount in question will not solve the problem of naira scarcity, noting that over N2 trillion was withdrawn while only N400 billion had been printed as at February. But rather than debunk the governor’s claims with facts and figures, Emefiele is asking security agents to go after POS operators. He forgot his elementary economics that this is what you get in times of scarcity.

Aides shock governor over support base for Atiku

A GOVERNOR of one of the South-South states has received the shock of his life after he was told by two of his aides that his preferred presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has no chance of winning the state in the forthcoming presidential election.

The state in question is one that pundits have penciled down as a must-win for Atiku. The governor himself had nursed no doubt in his mind that his preferred candidate would win massively in the state considering that the state has consistently voted for PDP since 1999.

At a meeting with some people he sees as his trusted allies, he had said that he was so sure Atiku would have over 70 per cent of the votes in the state, leaving the remaining 30 per cent for other candidates to share. Not so fast, an aide reportedly shot back, leaving the governor shocked that his aide could fault him on the matter.

Turning to the aide, he asked, “What are you saying?” The aide then shed light on his claim, saying, “Our people are for power shift, your Excellency. That is what the grassroots are saying.” And before the governor could speak, another aide said, “The two leading southern candidates (Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Peter Obi) should not be brushed aside sir. The grassroots are with them. “

Shocked by what he heard, the governor ended the meeting abruptly.

Fashola’s devastating blow on Jandor

In an instance of the instability of human relationships, two former political associates, namely the Minister of Works, Power and Housing and former Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola and the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos State Abdul-Azeez Olajide Adediran a.k.a. Jandor, are at daggers drawn in the build-up to the forthcoming general election.

Until he defected to the PDP in December 2021, the popular belief was that Jandor was being used as Fashola’s foot soldier to unsettle the APC government in Lagos State, following speculations that Fashola was in disagreement with some members of the party’s hierarchy in the state.

All that however changed with a devastating blow the former governor of Lagos State delivered on Jandor at the formal launch of the Eko o ni baje 10,000 Foot Soldiers on Thursday last week. Speaking at the occasion, Fashola said Jandor should not see himself as a governorship material simply because he functioned as his (Fashola’s) cameraman when he was governor.

He said: “Some people say they will take the land from us. That is too much. I did the job of governor for eight years, and part of what helped me was that I was chief of staff to the governor. Even that was not enough.

“So, just following a governor being a cameraman and then watching me for eight years, then you think you will now be a governor, you are not ready. Come to our leadership school; you are not yet ready.”

February 18, 2023