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Category: Saturday

The illusion and realities of political rallies

Politics can be as interesting as it can be complex. It is an interesting game to both the politicians and the people. The saying that in politics there are no permanent friends or permanent enemies but permanent interests rings true. In a developing democracy like Nigeria, the political parties are not really different on basic ideological convictions. This is why the membership of the political parties are very fluid in a way that politicians often defect from party A to party B, C or party D.

The easy movement from party to party has been seen as due to personal or immediate group expediencies. Unlike in developed democracies like the United States and United Kingdom that is identifiable on the two major political parties like the Republican and Democratic parties in the US or the Tory and Labour parties in the UK, the Nigerian environment is different. Over the years, the political party system has been very unstable. The post-independence political parties were basically regional in nature and followership was tribally coloured in a way.

The military incursions into governance in a way corrupted the political system and the politicians seem to have been struggling ever since. The attempt by former military President, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida (Rtd.) to institute two major political parties, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the National Republican Convention (NRC) ahead of the 1993 election was truncated by the annulment of the election believed to have been won by late MKO Abiola of the SDP.

The return of civilian democracy in 1999 has seen the political elite struggling with political parties like the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ,the Alliance for Democracy (AD), the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP) All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) , the Social Democratic Party (SDP), the National Conscience Party (NCP) and some others with mergers along the way. With time some other parties like Accord Party and Action Democratic Party (ADP), Young Democratic Party (YDP) etc. all came into the political space.

There is a sense in which many people believe that the Nigerian Democratic experience is still nascent. There is still so much that has to come to play for the democratic experience to be in sync with viable democracies across the world. The politicians seem as confused as the voters because political choices at the polls seem to still be based on more mundane issues like ethnicity, religion, North and South and other divisive issues that do not help development.

The Roundtable Conversation has therefore been a keen observer of the new political tool as the campaign period opened by the end of September. The organization of political rallies by supporters of the three major political parties, the APC, PDP and Labour Party is now more frequent than in past elections. The political rallies often publicized across the orthodox and social media seem to have taken the roles of the candidates talking directly about their manifestoes and reaching out to the electorate.

The organization of rallies is good but cannot replace other functional campaign methods but it does seem that there is an over reliance on rallies in ways that seem to give political parties and their candidates a false sense of support bases. Nigerian political parties do not really have defined political ideologies that have been sold to the people in very convincing ways that there is strong followership that can be identified through organized rallies which means that the same crowd can switch from one political rally to the other. This might just be an ill-wind that blows no party any good realistically.

The political parties must understand that times have changed. Elections are can no longer be won based on old rhetoric. People are more aware and more demanding of clarity of policies and strategies of political parties and their candidates. The people already know the problems they want solved. No candidate in any election either at the executive or legislative levels can claim to have an exclusive knowledge of the problems of the people.

The Nigerian electorate might file out for rallies because as all rallies are, it could be exciting to join the crowd no matter where they are headed. The issue remains, how impactful are rallies when each individual gets in to vote on each election day? Would the excitement at rallies cascade through to election cubicles? What is the magic wand that political parties can use to identify those that attended their rallies from those that attended that of their opponents?

The Roundtable Conversation has had some discussions with different rally attendees and from all indications, most attend the rallies for the adrenalin rush and the temporary elixir from the vagaries of their current socio-economic situations not totally out of the attachment to any political base.

Read Also: Women and shrinking political space

Nigeria is at the edge of the precipice at the moment. There is so much despair in the land, people are only hopeful that 2023 will open a new vista for them. The different voting blocs are yearning for new lease of life in different sectors of the economy. The economic problems seem hydra-headed and the voters are seeking for those who can confront the issues realistically .

Political rallies are good but they cannot replace the door to door campaigns, the meeting with different groups and interests across the nation in the case of presidential candidates. There is a constitutional requirement for winners at that level in terms of spread and numbers. INEC will not count the number of people that attended any rallies. The heart of the matter is how widespread the votes for a presidential candidate are across the 744 local governments across the country.

The internet must not be relied upon as the winning ground for elections. The real loyal voters are in the rural communities, they are in the creeks, in the inaccessible hinterland some of where pregnant women are taken to the hospital by donkeys or rickety vehicles kilometers away to give birth. They want to know the candidates that understand their needs. They might never attend rallies because they might never have the internet connection or data to even know of any rally. Women in such areas can only recognize the candidates that remember they exist. Their votes will count.

The farmer in Zamfara, Jukun, Ikot Abasi, Ikare Ekiti, Awgu , Asaba who have stopped going to farm because of fear of violent herdsmen or kidnappers might never be seen marching during rallies. They are too exhausted by their state of helplessness to joyously attend rallies of any sort for any political party. They need to see the candidates and understand what they can do to get them to go back to their farms to earn a living.

Women in the North East who have either withdrawn their female children from schools for fear of their being abducted would want a candidate that can reassure them that their children would be safe in school from 2023. Most parents now appreaciate the value of education so not allowing their children to go to school so that they can live want that burden ceared by a candidate who can remember that they exist and must be allowed to enjoy the freedom democracy brings.

The people living in IDP camps across the country might be too traumatized to attend any rallies at the city centers. They would want to engage candidates who can assure them they can touch the walls of their ancestral buildings or what is left of it again. They want their lives fixed back. Rallies are not for them but most of them have their PVCs.

The workers who are owed salaries or pensioners whose gratuities are trapped in unnecessary bureaucratic bottlenecks would not enthusiastically line up at rallies for political parties so serious candidates and political parties must device creative ways of reaching out to them and assuring them that truly, their welfare matters. The mistrust they have for governments either at state of federal levels must be cleared before elections. Rallies might not voice their pains so they might never be there.

The Roundtable Conversation believes that complex as electioneering period can be, it presents each country with opportunities to access, evaluate and talk about nationhood/development in an all-inclusive way. It must be a period of bonding and conversations. It is a period for patriotic candidates to reassure the people of their citizenship and what comes with it. The mistrust between the people and governments is deep.

Political parties and their candidates must begin to take the campaigns more seriously. Political rallies can be fun and energizing but it does little to convince individual voters of the promise of a political party or the candidates. Party Spokespersons must understand they have work to do. Their efforts at winning potential voters for their candidates must be dipped in the best persuasive tones. Voters must not be polarized in any way because every vote counts and must be counted according to INEC.

Political parties must be concerned about the perception of each voting bloc across the country. The African socio-cultural environment must be understood properly. What works in the Europe and America might not really work in Nigeria. The political victory as we understand it would be for those who understand that political campaigns are serious business beyond the euphoria of rallies.

The dialogue continues…

October 8, 2022
Nigeria 2023 and the Tinubu Question (3)

Haven enumerated the numerous successes of Bola Tinubu as a politician, administrator and statesman I think it is time we reflect on the many opportunities of a Tinubu presidency, this is away from the fringe journalism bogey and the rant of puny idealogy fanned away by the massive demagoguery of a candidate who’s only appeal to fame is churning false statistics and the employment of a false charm that falls readily in the face of rational and discerning thinking.

Tinubu will be bringing to the presidency a healthy wealth of experience as an administrator, like that Dr Dre song, he has been there and done that, he has raised a constellation of proven first class administrators, building bridges and even fostered upon Lagos a blueprint that has worked. Governing a country as divided as ours by ethnicity and religion will not be the job for classical mediocres and persons with traces of religious bigotry, at least with Tinubu we can point to leader who has managed a state that perfectly mirrors a mini version of Nigeria. This is the man who appointed Igbos and members of other ethnic groups into his cabinet, to Tinubu it did not matter where a person came from, it did not matter what religion such a person professed, for all Tinubu cared he would rather appoint a Buddhist or Sango worshipper if it would bring the much needed fillip to the administration’s policy drive, this is away from a particular candidate who has always exuded ethnic and sectarian prejudice that he had recently urged the “Church and Christians to take back its country” Can we thus imagine the enormity of the chaos if all religions felt the need to take back Nigeria?

Talking religion and taking back Nigeria, there is the question of a Muslim-Muslim ticket! There is the anger that Tinubu should have picked a Christian and not his fellow Muslim in the person of Alhaji Kasshim Shettimma . Such fears, away from the political drama that has been drawn from such a choice can be readily understood. A deeply religious country like ours corrals any message of one of the two main religions trying to undo the other like a stranded defender clearing a ball of the touch line of his goal. However why should the religion of the leadership of this country be a front burner issue? Will that tackle Boko Haram? Provide jobs, bridge the infrastructural gaps and help revamp our educational systems ? The answer is a tacky no! Besides all these, this is a man who as a Muslim has a Christian wife, I mean a pastor for that matter. This is someone who appointed more Christians than Muslims into his cabinet while he served as Governor of Lagos.

Read Also: 2023: Tinubu-Shettima ticket Nigeria’s most viable choice –group

There are those who do not question Tinubu’s achievements as a former governor of Lagos State, as well as those who do not question his contributions to the firming up of the nation’s democratic ethos. A few will however question his age and the state of his health, attempting to employ a smorgasbord of false truths and crackpot conspiracy theorizing to denigrate his candidature, they have arrogated to themselves the status of God, a trend many assumed while President Muhammadu Buhari was running for President in 2015, bandying together with a number of false prophets, President Buhari was prophesied to have died countless times even eliciting the silly conspiracy theory of a Jubrin Al Sudani highjacking the presidency while our dear Buhari was like Old Roger who had gone to his grave!

Agreed, Tinubu is old but is he too old to be our president? How old was Winston Churchill when at 76 years of age he administered Britain for another four years, that is from 1951 to 1955, while a Ronald Reagan was 73 years by the time he left the American presidency! These inchoate babbling babies who are mocking Tinubu’s age may then cling to the argument that we are in the digital age and therefore desire a younger chap, there are however spoiler alerts to such wishful thinking as the likes of Silvio Berlusconi and even Uncle Joe Biden are perfect examples that age is just a number and should not trump the age of ideas such a candidate possesses!

Those jeering Tinubu’s age have failed to remember that it was two youths that plunged the country into the civil war, something older figures within the nation may have helped avoid. The two coups of January 1966 and July 1966 were also orchestrated by young Nigerians, need I add that the 1999-2007 set of governors turned out to be the youngest ever since our return to democracy, it sadly turned out to also to become the most disastrous among the sets so far produced. Age may or can count but such a person must be endowed with ideas and not just entitled thoughts that age is all that is required to lead a country such as ours.

Had Tinubu lacked the apparent ardour for the job , then I would have been frightened but we see in Tinubu’s drive on what his presidency needs to do for Nigerians. When people mock his Agbado, Cassava and yam postulations one must readily forgive their ignorance since they obviously cannot understand the essence of food security and its importance to this nation. The 50 million youths recruitment drive may be disagreeable but then Nigeria with its huge population and its expansive borders needs more than its 223,000 strength to effectively defend the nation’s territorial sovereignty. This simply is the thrust of that message.

October 8, 2022
Wanted: An issue-based campaign

Symptoms of election fever manifest among many politicians during electioneering. It is expected.

The campaign season influences the immunology of the politicians and the polity. It raises the adrenalin among the major players. The season poses a big hurdle for the players to scale ahead of the main exercise. In Nigeria, where politics is the ultimate, the fever grows worse as the election days draw nearer.

How are the candidates grappling with the inevitable challenge?

Election is an important element of democracy. During the poll, citizens exercise the right, wisely or otherwise, to choose their leaders for a specific term in accordance with the stipulations of the constitution.

The electorate needs vital information to make informed decisions. They can secure access to a pool of information about the candidates during the electioneering campaigns. As public literacy grows, many voters rely on the mass media to take a stand, review their position and change their disposition, ahead of the exercise.

The portrayals by the mass media may add value to the quality of the electioneering or compound the challenge of information pollution.

These days, youth attachment to social media has compelled a shift of attention from mainstream radio, television and print media. But fears are rife that unregulated social media may continue to contribute to the frequency of falsehoods, distortion of facts, campaign of calumny, character assassination and misinformation that may characterise the campaigns.

Nobody has control over the activities of social media. While it is a fortress for advocacy, social media also has the potential to heighten tension, apprehension and confusion that are likely to engulf the polity through their excesses.

Campaigns play a major role in the polity, but they are only meaningful if they are issue-driven. Violent campaigns may be a prelude to violent elections.

Generally, the condition for a hitch-free and peaceful campaign is obedience to the code of conduct governing the exercise.

The 2023 campaigns are associated with some inherent challenges. Unlike the 2019 and 2015 campaigns, which lasted 90 days, the current campaign will last 150 days. It may be five months of constant engagement and labour; it will be time-consuming, energy-sapping and financially-tasking.

Also, unlike the previous electioneering, where only two dominant political parties – the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) – locked horns while others merely warmed the register of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), a picture of a pseudo-third force may be emerging. Four years ago, the symbol of the Labour Party (LP) was an integral part of the PDP.

More importantly, analysts have predicted tough, laborious and stressful campaigns because of the stature of the two leading, septuagenarian candidates, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu of APC and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of PDP. Many Nigerians believe that 2023 offers the greatest test of illustrious political careers. It will also be a defining moment in national history, particularly in the post-1999 Nigeria.

From 1999 to 2019, the military made input into civilian leadership recruitment through the activities of “retired” Generals. This is the first time two time-tested democrats are gunning for power without necessarily leaning on the influence of surviving military gerontocrats.

Observers naturally envisage partisan, intra-party squabbles and inter-party tension.

Almost all the political parties violated the code on the campaign kick-off date. Campaign has become a loose concept. Immediately an aspirant files a nomination paper, or he or she unfolds an ambition for elective office, it is assumed – quite erroneously – that campaign has started. Even, the conventions of political parties were transformed into campaign arenas, ahead of regulated timing for the lawful exercise.

Since last year, posters and banners of aspirants have adorned or littered buildings, roads, roundabouts, motor parks, among others. Many vehicles were branded. Thus, many candidates have been campaigning before the September 28 stipulated by the INEC guidelines.

The umpire has reeled out the aspects of laws for campaign regulations. Political messages and slogans must not be tainted with unruly pronouncements, hate speech and abusive language capable of injuring religious, ethnic, tribal or sectional feelings. Campaigns must be devoid of insinuations or innuendos that are likely to provoke violent reactions. Physical attacks and destruction of campaign materials are prohibited.

But the campaigns taking place on the social media glaringly violate the INEC rules. Core issues, including the national question, economy, education, health, security, employment, agriculture, electricity, fuel subsidy, housing and electoral reforms do not enjoy the benefit of debate and commentary.

Read Also: Stop campaign of columny against Tinubu – group advises ‘Obidients’

What have been catapulted to the front burner are unfounded rumours, imaginary thoughts and fabricated lies about the health status of certain candidates, age, religion and certificates.

It appears that rival candidates who feel intimidated have recruited many social media abusers to dent image, malign, assassinate character and sustain their smear campaigns, taking along with them the gullible. It has become quite easy to persuade social media users, especially the fickle-minded youths, to swallow any garbage thrown at them on various platforms as gospel truth.

The dangers that fake news pose to the polity are more widespread among the youthful population. This is because of their fragile intellect, inexperience, little knowledge of history, their sources of information (a farrago of truths, half-truths and misinformation), impatience, lack of credible sources to verify information for genuineness, among others. During electioneering, the dangers become more sinister. Some electronic and print media may have also taken sides. On the panel of some private broadcast stations are card-carrying party members, and even former candidates of parties who violate the principles of objectivity, balance and neutrality in cohorts with partisan politicians.

According to Section 92(3) of the Electoral Act, places designated for religious worship and public offices shall not be used for political campaigns or rallies, or for the promotion, propagation and attack against parties, candidates, their programmes and ideologies.

The code has been tacitly violated in some quarters by highly placed priests. While these clerics cannot be said to have directly campaigned for candidates, they have used the pulpit to creatively campaign against certain candidates, based on religious considerations.

Indisputably, INEC has also been inundated with complaints about the denial of opposition for the use of public facilities by some state governments who use the same facilities or state vehicles to their advantage and, consequently, to the disadvantage of their rivals.

Two other codes are vital. Political parties are to warn their supporters about the danger of using excess tramadol, alcohol, and other drugs during campaigns and on election days. They are not to carry arms or bear any other object that can cause injury to individuals, to a political rally or to any political function.

It is also important to remind politicians who may want to recruit and arm thugs that Section 92(5) of the Electoral Act is in force. The display of physical force or cohesion for the promotion of political objectives and interests, thereby causing reasonable apprehension, is prohibited.

Rather than indulge in willful abuse and libels, parties, candidates and supporters should maintain decorum and decency.

Nigeria is passing through hard times as it searches for a new order and leadership. What should preoccupy the minds of the stakeholders is the debate on the future of a country in despair; what can be done to correct past mistakes and leadership failure; the predictive value of political pedigree and antecedents of key candidates, and issues that can provide a lead for economic revitalisation, restoration of security, national integration and peaceful coexistence.

The media should set the agenda. It should moderate the debate and issue-based campaigns as public watchdogs, and with the utmost respect for the ethics of the profession – objectivity, originality, honesty and balance.

The electorate, for example, should be interested in the manifestos of candidates on the economy. If elected as president, how would they turn the economy around? What are the core factors militating against economic growth? What experience and credentials do they parade to convince voters that if they get to power, there will be a steady move towards economic revitalisation?

What is the position of the flag bearers on diversification, privatisation and fuel subsidy? How would they generate employment? Can they finally turn the moribund refineries around?

Also, how will the candidates ensure a steady power supply, or sustain the meagre gains recorded in the sector? Can there be an industrialisation drive without stable electricity? Can investors cope with darkness or the cost of operating a business in Nigeria? How can they genuinely attract investors when the atmosphere is not conducive for business to thrive?

It is gratifying that the anti-terror war is now yielding fruits. It should be sustained. What are the plans of the standard bearers to secure the country? What is the position of the candidates on state, community and multi-layer policing? Should Nigerians continue to be deprived by the official insistence on the unworkable, centralised police structure that has reduced governors to decorative or camouflage chief security officers of their beleaguered states?

Education is on crutches in Nigeria. For six months, academic activities have been paralysed by university teachers’ strike. How will the candidates fix education? What is their plan for improved funding? How will they tackle the challenge posed by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU)? With the Federal Government recognising two new trade unions in the universities, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has faulted the move, citing local and global labour laws. How will the incoming President handle this and restore harmony in the ivory towers?

How will the candidates reinvigorate the anti-graft war?

How will they unite the country that has become bitterly divided by ethnicity, religion and nepotism? How can they foster national integration and harmony through personal example?

Appropriate answers to these burning questions may shape the elite’s perception about the fitness of candidates for the highest office. It may also influence the citizenry to vote or reject some flag bearers on poll day.

But ahead of the polls in 2023, there is still a lot of work to do by all stakeholders to get a political system that works for the large segments of the nation. It is time to get cracking.

October 8, 2022
2023: Trouble in the backyard for Obi, Labour

AHEAD of the 2023 presidential election, the candidate of the Labour Party (LP), former Anambra State governor, Peter Obi, appears to be battling some trouble in his backyard.

Sentry gathered that the leadership and members of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) have resolved to work against his ambition. The candidate and his men were very optimistic of cornering the support of APGA, a party with sizeable followership in the Southeast, especially in Obi’s home state of Anambra.

It would be recall that his camp recently erupted in wild jubilation following reports that Anambra State Governor, Chukwuma Soludo, had endorsed the candidature of the LP presidential hopeful. The story broke after a meeting between the governor and members of APGA in the state.

Rumours had it that Soludo ordered the party faithful to work for Obi. But his Press Secretary, Christian Aburime, was quick to deny the reports, saying that Obi was never a topic of discussion during the routine gathering, claiming that only issues concerning APGA were discussed.

Sentry gathered that the denial became necessary following widespread displeasure expressed by some leading chieftains of APGA about the story. “Many of them were displeased at the thought of having to work for Obi, a man many of them claimed worked hard to destroy the party after riding on its crest to be governor for eight years. He fought the man he imposed on us as governor, fought the party, worked hard to destroy the party and then dumped APGA for the PDP unceremoniously,” an APGA chieftain said.

Such mood among APGA chieftains in Anambra spells nothing but trouble for the LP candidate.

Read Also: 2023: Obi will come distant fourth, says Fani-Kayode

The National Coordinator, APGA Media Warriors Forum, Chinedu Obigwe, confirmed the looming trouble for Obi during the week when he revealed that the party will work against Obi largely because of APGA candidates.

“We have candidates for various positions and LP has candidates too. It is in the best interest of APGA faithful to work against Obi in favour of APGA candidates. APGA remains committed to working in favour of all its candidates in the elections. So, as it is, if anybody is expecting APGA to work in favour of the former Anambra State governor such a person is dwelling in self-deceit and living in fool’s paradise,” he said.

Defending why working against Obi was in the best interest of APGA, Obigwe added: “I hate being sentimental on important issues and like saying the raw truth without minding whose ox is gored. Our self-acclaimed Saint Peter Obi as the Labour Party presidential candidate has nothing in common with APGA as a party and APGA faithful, because he is now a political enemy.”

If the positions canvassed by the APGA chieftain and his likes are anything to go by, Obi and his party will find it rough going at home in Anambra.

October 8, 2022
Values, diplomacy and conflicts

If you remember how colonialists bastardised and disgraced polygamy and traditional religions as un civilised   in colonial times , then you are on track to guess my frame of mind today in treating the above topic .’ Tempus fugit ‘ is a Latin expression that means – time flies . But really   time is never static and that reminds me of a quotation on time that I love very much . It says ‘ Time you old gypsy man, will you not stay , put up you caravan just for one day ‘ . That precisely is the issue today .

From the relative civilization of colonial times and the emergence of independent nations in Africa and Asia we have now reached a stage in which a doctor in the US can tell a Congressional   hearing in the US that a man can become   pregnant while the law maker questioning him , in correct and absolute control of his senses and sanity , told him that only a woman with her chromosomes can become pregnant and never a man . This amazing disclosure of a doctor , a specialist on gender manipulation ,is a new trend of American politics in the present Biden Administration and the fear of its polluting the civilized world given the pervasive economic , military , diplomatic might of the US is already creating tension , anxiety and deep concern in International relations and diplomacy . This   is definitely   brewing an indignant suspicion and   mistrust in global   diplomacy of this US government and its agencies   on the   seemingly     innocuous WOKE culture of diversity , inclusion and equity that they have unleashed on their polity with the attendant danger of exporting it to an unwary but far more civilized world in the guise of promoting human rights and new global values .

In the civilized world as we know it today human values and culture   remain largely the same . The laws of any society are based on its tradition and customs and it is agreed that no one culture should be deemed as inferior to another , as that would amount to ethnocentrism . Even though the morals amongst nations differ    from those amongst individuals, it is   mostly   allowed that in International Relations there are no permanent friends or enemies but permanent interests .Human values of sanity honesty ,integrity , tolerance , accommodation , loyalty and accountability are accepted mode of life in any   society in a civilized world . In most parts of the world the family is the basic unit of society and marriage is between a man and woman and that is why one should raise an alarm when those promoting gender equality in the US go far enough to say a man can get pregnant in their new civilization ,

Let me now illustrate how new American values on sex and family are creating tension , anxiety and insecurity in global economy and politics . Taiwan which has legalized same sex marriage and is supported by the US has threatened that any violation of its air space   by   China   which once limited Chinese families to one child , will be treated as first attack worthy of a retaliation . OPEC nations have decided to reduce oil production at a time when the EU and US face energy crises because of the planned   and   agreed closure of the oil industry   consequent on f global warming arising from the use of fossil fuel to power their rich economies which were developed by the same oil products in the first instance . I will deal with these Taiwan /China issues as examples of changing morals amongst nations . I will however use Nigerian   domestic politics   as examples of human   values , especially    now that we are on the eve of our 2023 presidential and general elections    . We however look at   the moral values of nations first .

Read Also: Reinventing Nollywood for cultural, national values

OPEC is led by Saudi Arabia which   is the leading Sunni Islamic   nation of the world and a nation to which pilgrims of   even the rival Shiites led by Iran make pilgrimage as demanded by the religion . Same sex marriage is an anathema in Islam and there is no doubt the Saudis and most OPEC nations resent this . Anything that would deter the EU and US from pursuing these values that violate their religion and custom is palatable to OPEC and Co led by Saudi Arabia . The OPEC nations know they all have human rights issues with the west and this is their own way of showing resentment against their constant castigation against human rights violations by nations that say   marriage is not only between a man and a woman but between same sex also . It is a good example of the saying in a favourite book of mine that says ‘play me foul and I play you tricky ‘

In 2019 Taiwan legalized same sex marriage and there is no denying US and EU pressure on this . Taiwan is beholden to these nations for its survival against China which regards Taiwan as only an unrecognized break away nation from it . Even though Taiwan is intrinsically Chinese and has values like its China’s kinsmen , it is not in Taiwan’s interest to antagonize the values of nations which protect it against China’s persistent and dangerous threats to annex Taiwan by force . The Biden Administration   has shown clearly that it would defend Taiwan against any attack by China but American governments have a   way of backing down when it comes to implementing that promise . Especially Democrats governments like Obama’s and Biden’s which fled and abandoned Afghanistan so ingloriously   recently . Taiwan should be extremely cautious in this regard .

In Nigeria’s presidential politics the issues are about the   morals of honesty , trust and loyalty , in the most important problems of the two major parties   namely the PDP and the APC and they are related to the parties ‘ primaries and other intra party matters . In the APC , the Chairman is having a credibility problem with the party’s flag bearer the Jagaban and the reason is not far fetched . There is a cliché that says once bitten quite shy . The Chairman recently complained of not having the appropriate role in getting the party’s presidential campaign off the ground as it has just done . This was the same Chairman   who falsely said that the president has endorsed a different candidate other than the Jagaban   on the eve of the primaries .The saving grace for the party’s eventual candidate was his ‘ Emi Lokan ‘ outburst in indignation and the moral courage of the president to rebuff the false claim of the same Chairman now calling for inclusion when he was disloyal and dishonest with his pre primary announcement on the president’s choice of presidential aspirant .Surely this Chairman cannot eat his cake and still have it on trust and integrity on this campaign .

In the case of the PDP the   recent overture of the party’s leaders to bring the River’s State Governor Wike back to support the elected presidential candidate Atiku who won the primaries by defeating Wike has again failed .Wike has claimed he had a raw deal with the Chairman of the party’s Board of Trustees who he claimed received bribe from the winner and should be removed . The issue is one of moral trust , and integrity as well   as loyalty . Wike feels he has been betrayed by a party he has done so much for . Even some of the party leaders he rebuffed in the last visit to him in Port Harcourt agreed that his success with infrastructure in his state will be a selling point for the party in the presidential election . How the party can pacify the River’s state governor’s sense of betrayal and injustice is going to determine how far the PDP can go in the 2023 elections, if it has not already shot itself in the leg fatally already with this Wike imbroglio .

October 8, 2022
PDP: Ayu returns to meet more headaches

National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Iyorchia Ayu, quietly retuned to Nigeria yesterday after his two weeks trip to Europe.

His absence at many functions of his party had been attributed to ill health but Sentry gathered that the Benue- born politician, aside the need to attend to his health, may have also embarked on the trip as a way of escaping some of the brickbats being hauled at him by angry PDP chieftains as calls for his resignation heightened.

Checks at the weekend revealed that the returnee PDP boss is displeased that he came back to meet the crisis rocking his party heightened rather than abating. “He is a human being. He is naturally displeased with the condition he met the party,” a close associate said.

Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State have been leading other aggrieved chieftains to prevail on presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar and other party leaders, to make Ayu vacate his seat so that someone from the southern part of the country can take his place ahead the 2023 general elections.

Read Also: Atiku vs Wike: will Ayu go?

Their argument is that the candidate and national chairman cannot come from the same zone. However, Atiku has insisted that this is not a good time to ask Ayu to leave.

The disagreement over whether he should leave or stay has been generating tension within the party, leading to the boycott of the unveiling of the party’s presidential campaign council by Wike and four governors.

Sadly, Ayu’s returned to the country amid a fresh scandal concerning alleged ‘mysterious’ money sent to some National Working Committee (NWC) members of the party. Four of them NWC returned a total sum of N122.4 million paid into their accounts. Sentry gathered that the money, which was transferred to the NWC members after the PDP primaries, was said to be part of the over N10 billion realised by the party from nomination fees paid by aspirants.

The Deputy National Chairman (South) Taofeek Arapaja, the National Vice Chairman (South), Chief Dan Orbih; the National Vice Chairman (South-West) Olasoji Adagunodo, and National Women Leader, Prof. Stella Affah-Attoe, are among NWC members who returned the controversial money.

Officials of the party have tried explaining that the money was given to the beneficiaries as entitlements and not any form of bribe. It’s an explanation that has left many cold. It’s also been a PR disaster of the worst possible kind, with the worst possible timing.

No doubt, Ayu’s first public appearance would be widely watched within and outside his party as he tries to put the many fires threatening PDP’s 2023 campaign.

October 2, 2022
Nigeria 2023 and the Bola Tinubu Question

If we move to infrastructure, Bola Tinubu will still tower over the other candidates. Meeting an infrastructural deficit Lagos, Asiwaju immediately understand that infrastructure would be the lifeblood of a re-engineered Lagos. Now while the Labour candidate cannot point to a majority of roads constructed under his watch as all appear to have been washed away only eight years after he handed over to his successor, same

cannot be said about Tinubu who’s infrastructural drive has outlived his tenure and has seen a succession with successive administrations who have continually improved on such a plan. It is on record that Tinubu completed over 350 road projects, works which were strategic in nature and opened up the state for a heavy inflow of investment and trade.

Such road projects will include Brown Road to Thomas Animashaun Street in Surulere where I was raised as a child and young teenager. Alakuko, Ojokoro; and Aniyaloye/Edidi/Adegboyega/Fatai Bello, Ifelodun, Irede, Amuwo-Odofin; Owuto Ajaguro, Ikorodu; Ekoro, Agbado Oke; Aboru, Agbado Oke odo; Okun Alfa, Ibeju; Agunji Ajiran, Eti Osa West; Old Ota, Ifako Ijaye; Kudirat Abiola Way, Oregun, Maroko-Epe Bye-Pass, Eti Osa West; and Oterubi Ogidan, Agboju. Others did include Ijegun, Ojo; Oshifolarin, Somolu; Rhythm 93.7, Eti-Osa; Arufa Olugbemi, Ojo; Adeola Odeku, Victoria Island; Ajao/Ejigbo Road/Bridge, LASU-Iba-igbo Elerin-Agboroko-Badagry Expressway, and Isheri Osun-Isolo Housing Estate-Ago Palace Way,Agege Motor Road (Idi Oro to Ilupeju Byepass),Mushin and Ojuwoye, Eko Akete, Abaronje-Okerube, and Ikotun-Igbado.

One must not forget to mention the upgrading and renewal projects that were witnessed in the Lagos Island Central Business District. How can we forget that the Bus Rapid Transit Scheme was an initiative of the same Tinubu helping half the traffic gridlock on Lagos roads, saving travel time as well as provide affordable, safer and a much comfortable means of transportation.

Read Also: Tinubunomics and modern Lagos

There is the Lagos Railway line which was started by the Tinubu administration in 2003, another first by a state governor. Starting the project which was christened the Lagos Urban Transportation Project which was to ensure the creation of a blue and red line rail systems . The Blue Line will run 27.5 km from Marina to Okokomaiko, with 13 stations and an end-to-end journey time of 35 minutes while the Red Line will run from Agbado to Marina . the project is near its completion will also ensure that the easy flow of people, goods and services from one point in Lagos to another.

On the economic front, Bola Tinubu led an economic drive that moved the state as an economic behemoth, on assumption of office in 1999, the state’s internally generated revenue was a meager sum of 600 million before taking it to the sum of 83.62 billion Naira while he was leaving office,

Again, under Tinubu, Lagos moved from a distant eight largest economy in Lagos to becoming the fourth largest with a GDP of $76 billion, trailing Cairo with a GDP of $212 billion was the biggest city economy in Africa followed by Johannesburg ($131 billion) and Cape Town ($121 billion).

Tinubu also opened up the economy of the state that under his watch Lagos State attracted a 62.5 growth in the establishment of industries, the fastest in this part of subSaharan Africa within eight years. New industrial estates sprung up all over the state, employing thousands and putting food on the tables of such people.

Perhaps the icing of the cake was the conception and the establishment of the Lekki Free Trade Zone to promote investments and improve the State’s revenue. The project, a

multi-billion naira project in Lekki area of the state an initiative of Tinubu was launched in 2004. The free trade zone with a focus on manufacturing, industry, tourism, trade and real estate has the capacity to boost the state’s economy as well as position it as a growth hub not only for Nigeria but also the West African sub region.

Today it boasts of projects such as the Lekki Deep sea port, the Dangote fertilizer plant and the Dangote Refinery as well as a number of other related businesses.

When you place the fact that the Dangote fertilizer plant which was recently commissioned has the capacity to produce 3 million metric tonnes this halving by 50 percent the country’s dependence on imported fertilizer or the fact that the Lekki deep sea port has the capacity to handle 2.7 million twenty foot equivalent unit (teu) or 32.6 million tonnes per annum and lastly the fact that the Dangote Refinery will be churning out 650,000 barrels of crude a day, then one can only appreciate the economic wizardry of the man in question.

October 1, 2022
Atiku: What manner of a unifier?

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Wazirin Adamawa and presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), is on the prowl for the seventh time. Will he make it this time round?

It is up to voters who will decide his fate, and indeed, the fate of other 17 flag bearers in next year’s election to decide who occupies the Presidential Villa as from May 29, 2023.

The former vice president stands before the mirror of history. What does he see of himself, and what do the voters perceive about him? To many Nigerians, he is a courageous fighter, a self-acclaimed democrat; a man with a lot of resilience and, perhaps, judging by his previous serial defections, a desperate politician.

A retired Nigeria Customs officer and wealthy businessman, Atiku appears to be in a vantage position to nurture a formidable structure in furtherance of his life ambition to be president. But his structure appears to have gone through stress and strains in the course of jumping ship ahead of previous elections.

The capability of the structure to withstand intra-party threats was tested at the presidential convention in May in Abuja. By underrating those who were perceived as children when the PDP was formed, the rug was nearly pulled off Atiku’s feet until he was rescued by some principals and principalities, as well as influential Generals who asked the embattled national chairman, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu, to prevail on another aspirant, Sokoto State Governor Aminu Tambuwal, to step down during that anxious moment of inter-regional coup.

Perceived as the political heir apparent to the great organiser and mobiliser, Major-General Shehu Yar’Adua, the symbol of the now scattered, distressed, ideologically fatigued, identity crisis-ridden and imaginary Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM), Atiku was catapulted from governor-elect to vice president in 1999, a decision his former boss, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, later said he regretted.

Perhaps, Nigerians would have been in a vantage position to assess what Atiku is worth, politically, if he had served as governor of Adamawa between 1999 and 2007. He can hardly be held accountable for whatever he did in office, not as a spare tyre but as a surprisingly strong and powerful deputy under combative President Obasanjo because he was deemed to be under the shadow of the old soldier battling with maladjustment to civilian life.

As the polity gazes at 2023, a clever Atiku is campaigning on the borrowed platform of restructuring, as if Nigerians are enveloped by collective amnesia and cannot remember the political atrocity of not resolving the critical national question germane to true federalism, peaceful coexistence and national integration by the Obasanjo/Atiku government.

The appellation given to the veteran presidential contender is a unifier. But, how has the eminent politician unified his party, in the past or now? Was leaving the platform twice in testy times a mark of unification? Does his opposition to zoning amount unification? Is the failed reconciliation, which has escalated the protracted post-presidential primary crisis, a unifying process? Since he entered politics in the Third Republic, Atiku has not looked back. He became an accidental presidential aspirant, following the ban on his mentor, benefactor and leader, Yar’Adua, by the Evil Genius, former Military President Ibrahim Babangida.

In 1999, Obasanjo picked him as running mate, owing to his political antecedents as a confidant and dependable ally of the deceased Tafidan Katsina. As the Vice President, Atiku was the de facto President and the Controlling Minister of the Economy. To get things done, politicians must curry his favour. But the Obasanjo/Atiku romance did not last; it ran into turbulence. An administrative panel inducted the vice president. He was salvaged by the court. But in those days too, the Federal Government that turned the heat on the former vice president was full of bile.

Also, the then ruling PDP was erected on a solid foundation. Among the founding fathers were core progressives. The pillar was zoning. But, the first threat to rotation came from Atiku in 2003. Buoyed up by the party’s governors who had an axe to grind with Obasanjo, the erstwhile vice president attempted to challenge the president and PDP leader to a duel. It was alleged that an anxious president prostrated to beg his deputy to secure his nod for re-nomination.

Although he had the right to contest under the constitution, Atiku jettisoned the PDP’s convention on zoning. He objected to another four years for Obasanjo beyond 2003. Those who rationalised his decision to contest for the ticket against his boss said the 1999 Constitution was superior to the PDP constitution.

After Obasanjo got a second term ticket, following the initial onslaught, the former president went for a pound of flesh and branded him a corrupt and disloyal partner. The face-off was protracted and damaging.

Read Also; Atiku: I’ll be stepping stone for Igbo president

When the PDP became hot for him, Atiku sought refuge in the defunct Action Congress (AC) and, in 2007, he was the party’s presidential flag bearer. After the close of poll, he was defeated by the PDP candidate, the late President Umaru Yar’Adua.

In 2010, Atiku went back to the PDP. That was the genesis of the suspicion between him and former Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) leaders. Following the demise of President Yar’Adua, his deputy, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, took the reins. The polity never prepared for the turn of events. But it was evident that power had shifted to the South, consistent with the PDP tradition.

Atiku disagreed. He threw his hat into the ring. Although he defeated Bababgida at the unofficial Northern regional shadow poll, he failed to get the ticket at the PDP primary. His slogan was zoning to the North.

Ahead of the 2011 poll, Atiku ran to Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, to make peace with his erstwhile boss, Obasanjo. But it was counter-productive. The journey did not lead to reconciliation and renewal of ties. When he later unfolded his plan to contest for president, Obasanjo retorted: “I dey laugh o!” Obasanjo teamed up with Dr. Jonathan to plot Atiku’s electoral failure at the primary. However, the defeat did not dampen Atiku’s spirit. He tried to review his strategy by weighing some options. Atiku braced up for the tempestuous journey to 2015. He realised that the road was laced with thorns. His supporters desperately thought about floating a new party. When the PDP crisis reached the peak, Atiku exhumed the carcass of the PDM. But, it could not fly.

The former PDP Board of Trustees (BoT) Chairman, the late Chief Tony Anenih, a founding member of the PDM, cried foul, saying Atiku could not single-handedly transform the political group into a political party without wide consultations and the collective endorsement of the surviving members.

Later, he defected from the PDP to the APC. The reason was that a zoning consensus was building up and the North was the target beneficiary.

As Atiku was gathering his armies, Obasanjo, his tormentor, dropped another bombshell. At a lecture in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, the former president said he refused to hand over to him in 2007 because he could not vouch for him.

Atiku had developed a thick skin. Predictably, he unfolded his presidential ambition on the platform of the APC. Justifying his eligibility for the highest office, he said: “I have always fought against military rule. I have also fought for internal democracy. I have always fought against one-party state because it leads to dictatorship.”

In 2015, Atiku sought to profit from zoning to the North, like other gladiators in the race, including General Buhari, former Kano State Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso and the late Leadership Newspaper Publisher Nda Isaiah. But he was demystified at the primary. He emerged a distant second runner-up, trailing Kwankwaso, the first runner-up.

Having parted ways with President Muhammadu Buhari, Obasanjo wrote a letter urging him not to run for a second term. Atiku saw a window of opportunity because zoning to the North was not tampered with.

He later called it quits with APC and retraced his steps to PDP. Obasanjo, who had used his book to wage war against his erstwhile deputy, ate his words as he drummed support for him. Despite the conspiracy, the former vice president did not make it to Aso Rock Villa.

Atiku had contested the presidency in 1993; he made a feeble attempt in 2003. A long distance runner, he ran again in 2007, 2011, 2015 and 2019. Will 2023 be different?

According to observers, there may be more desperation as next year’s race may be the last attempt by the septuagenarian politician.

Is there any hope of national restructuring if Atiku cannot courageously restructure his party through fair and equitable distribution of political or party offices between the North and South?

The presidential candidate, the National Chairman Ayu and Campaign Director Aminu Tambuwal are from the North. The Southern PDP’s cries about exclusion and marginalisation fill the air. Is Atiku’s approach a new style of “unifying?”

There are several questions begging for answers. Atiku has adopted zoning as a slogan, even as a principle. Why has he developed cold feet at a time he was expected to reiterate a principled commitment to rotation?

Is it because he cannot be the targeted beneficiary? Does his stance on zoning connote anti-zoning to the South? How will PDP resolve its self-inflicted zoning logjam?

With Atiku carrying the presidential flag of the main opposition in 2023 and given the number of defections he has recorded in his political career as well as the raging inferno ignited by his opposition to equitable zoning, the former vice president have hurdles to cross.

The next few months will show show how far he, and indeed, his rivals, can go.

October 1, 2022
Atiku’s strategy

He is a battle tested politician who is not unfamiliar with the complex intrigues and manoeuvrings of party and electoral competition. It is thus surprising that the campaign of the presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, continues to be dogged by some of the poor decision making that plagued his earlier failed attempts to be elected to the country’s apex political office of President. As a veteran in the game, one would have expected Atiku to pursue what is evidently his last bid for the coveted office with a lot more tact and wisdom. He projects himself as a ‘unifier-in-chief’ with the capacity, if elected, of forging greater cohesion in a country admittedly badly fragmented along primordial lines. Yet, Atiku has given the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) the opportunity to brand him as a ‘divider-in-chief’ given the virtual civil war that rages in his party since his emergence as its presidential flag bearer raising questions as regards his ability to unite the country if he cannot offer cohesive leadership to his party.

Atiku’s emergence as the PDP’s presidential candidate was in violation of the party’s constitutional provision for rotation of presidential power between the northern and southern parts of the country although the presidential primary was ostensibly free, fair and transparent. Incidentally, his choice as Vice-Presidential candidate, Delta State governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, was an active participant in meetings of the Southern Governors Forum (SGF) at which it was resolved that the presidency shift back to the South after eight years in power of President Muhammadu Buhari from the North. Of course, the power rotation principle is neither a creation of the SGF nor is it simply an intra-party provision of the PDP constitution. It is an unwritten elite compact among dominant factions of the political class cutting across party lines since 1999 having its roots in the unjust annulment of the June 1993, presidential election won by the late Chief MKO Abiola on the platform of the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP).

Prior to Abiola’s electoral victory in 1993, widely acknowledged as the freest and fairest polls in the country’s history, apex executive power had been domiciled in the north between the beginning of the second republic in 1979 under one civilian administration and two military regimes and the historic election. It was inevitable that the annulment of the election of a Yoruba President-elect by a northern-led military regime further strained inter- ethnic relations with regard to power sharing in the country. The protracted struggle against military dictatorship spurred by the annulment led to the consequent retreat of the military from the political space and the democratic restoration of 1999. In compensation for the injustice of the annulment, the presidency was conceded to the South- West by hegemonic factions of the political class resulting in General Olusegun Obasanjo and Chief Olu Falae of the PDP and Alliance for Democracy (AD) respectively being the only contestants for the office in 1999 with Obasanjo winning an emphatic victory with the support of the dominant political elite of the North, South-South and South-East.

After eight years of the Obasanjo presidency between 1999 and 2007, presidential power rotated back to the North with the election of the late President Umaru Yar’Adua. The latter’s untimely death in 2009 led to the constitutional ascension to office of his Deputy, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan from the South, who completed his late boss’s tenure and successfully ran for his own full term and won in the 2011 election. It is instructive that, despite being from a minority ethnic group, Jonathan achieved victory in 2011 with the support of the dominant political elite of parts of the North, the South-East, South-South and even the South-West following the collapse of the working relationship between Buhari’s defunct Congress of Progressive Change (CPC) and Asiwaju Tinubu’s Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and the latter supporting Jonathan.

Read Also: Atiku promises to support Wike for president in 2027

Dr. Jonathan’s decision to contest for a second term in 2015 split the PDP down the middle with prominent northern leaders of the party including Atiku insisting that it was the turn of the North to produce the President. That crack was a key contributory factor to the victory of the then nascent APC in 2015 with the opposition party displacing an incumbent government at the centre for the first time in the country’s history. It is thus astonishing that after eight years of Buhari’s tenure, Atiku, another Fulani, sees nothing wrong in his seeking to wield presidential power for possibly another eight years until 2031! The argument that the last PDP President, Dr. Jonathan, was from the South and that this justifies an Atiku presidency is self-serving and unconvincing. The rotational presidency principle transcends party demarcations and applies to the nation as a whole. Given the current fragile state of Nigeria’s cohesion, a part of the country cannot monopolize presidential power for sixteen years without negative implications for national harmony. There must first and foremost be a stable, united and peaceful country before there can be a functional and effective political party.

Atiku’s strategists contend that his choice as the PDP presidential candidate is only a matter of pragmatic electoral strategizing as of all the contenders within the party, he has the best stature and structure to win a nationwide election. Yet, they criticize and deride the APC’s Muslim-Muslim ticket disregarding the party’ argument that the pairing provides the most tactical and strategic choice to guarantee its victory in the presidential election. Speaking at a stakeholders meeting of his party in Enugu last week, Atiku described himself as a “stepping stone” for the South-East to produce a president. He gave no rational explanation why this is so. According to him, “I’ve had a close relationship with the Igbo and this influenced my choices of Senator Ben Obi and Mr. Peter Obi as my running mates in my two previous outings as a presidential candidate…I have three children with Igbo blood flowing in them. I am saying this for the very first time in public. So, my relationship with Ndigbo did not start today”.

True, the Igbo have put all their political eggs in the PDP basket since 1999. The South-East has been the most solid and consistent electoral support base of the PDP in this dispensation. The region deserves the PDP’s presidential ticket. If he is indeed the unifier and patriot that he projects, why couldn’t Atiku support an Igbo presidential candidate and back such a person with his perceived influence and structure? Perhaps in that case, a Peter Obi would have remained in the party. As it is now, the strong possibility of Obi’s Labour Party (LP) understandably eating deeply into the PDP’s support base in the South-East is one of the reasons why The Economist Intelligence Unit has projected victory for the APC in the presidential election. Taking a dig at the APC during the Enugu meeting, Atiku stated that the second Niger Bridge about being completed by the Buhari administration is not a favour to the South-East but to Nigeria as the country as a whole will benefit from the facility. But if Atiku loves the South-East so much, why did the administration in which he served for eight years as Vice President do absolutely nothing to actualize the second Niger Bridge and other infrastructure projects in the region being implemented by the APC government?

Given his presumed political experience, it is surprising that Atiku is handling in a most cavalier manner the continued disaffection and dissension of the governor Nyesom Wike tendency in the party over the jettisoning of the zoning principle, his choice of running mate and the non-resignation of Dr. Iyorchia Ayu as National Chairman following the emergence of a northerner as presidential candidate. Atiku insists that Ayu’s continuation as party Chairman will no longer be tenable only if he wins the election and becomes President since both key positions cannot be occupied by persons from the same region. This not only negates the ordinarily principled Ayu’s promise to quit the position if a northerner became the presidential candidate before his election as Chairman, it creates the impression that Atiku is himself lacking in confidence as regards the probability of his winning the election. A National Chairman of southern extraction to succeed Ayu and achieve the regional balance being demanded can easily be actualized and necessary personnel changes effected to meet intra-party constitutional stipulations if Atiku possesses the political acumen and astuteness he is often credited with.

In any case, this is a completely avoidable crisis and a recurring pattern in Atiku’s leadership style. In 2007, he picked Senator Ben Obi as his running mate on the platform of the Action Congress (AC) without consultations with critical stakeholders of the party resulting in grievances that negatively affected the party’s performance in the election. PDP governors in the South-East were largely indifferent to Atiku’s campaign in 2019 because they were reportedly not carried along in the choice of Peter Obi as is running mate. And this time around, he could surely have handled his choice of Okowa as his running mate much better bending over backwards to carry along the diverse tendencies in the party particularly the not insubstantial Wike sympathizers.

But then, Atiku is not daft. He deliberately and consciously went all out to get the PDP presidential ticket despite the party’s zoning principle benefitting from Governor Aminu Tambuwal’s cynical skewed regional antics in the process. His support for the three critical offices/roles of National Chairman, Presidential Candidate and Director General of the Presidential Campaign to be allotted to northerners is deliberate. Asked during his last Arise TV interview how he would be affected by the choice of the APC Vice presidential candidate, Mr. Kashim Shettima, from the North-East, Atiku responded that Shettima is a minority Kanuri with presence in two states while he is Fulani with support base in more states. Atiku’s strategy is to sell himself as the candidate of the North in general and the Hausa-Fulani in particular in the hope that the South will be divided between the APC and LP. It is a divisive strategy but unlikely to fly.

It was the Northern governors in the APC who insisted that the party’s presidential ticket be zoned to the South in the interest of fair play and justice. Their support was pivotal to the emergence of Tinubu as the party’s presidential flag bearer. President Buhari could have used the power and influence of his office to steer the APC presidential primaries towards a different outcome. He did not and is the Chairman of the party’s Presidential Campaign Council. Whatever anybody may say, Buhari remains a political cult figure among teeming millions in the north. Tinubu himself has cultivated and maintained enduring close relationships with prominent stakeholders in northern politics over the last three decades. It is not for nothing that he is the Jagaban of Borgu. The APC northern governors have far more to gain working for the APC to retain power after Buhari than for the victory of an Atiku who cannot be relied upon to keep promises or abide by pledges. The Waziri Adamawa’s divisive northern strategy is from all indications Dead on Arrival (DOA).

October 1, 2022
Before season 2022/23 begins

Watching England’s senior soccer side, the Three Lions struggle against the German Machine of Germany in the pulsating 3-3 draw at Wembley Stadium in England, it was obvious that the problem with the Three Lions wasn’t the absence of quality players but the refusal of the English manager Gareth Southgate to listen to superior advice. Yes, it is true that the buck stops on his table when things go awry. Yet, toying with some of the technical suggestions from some England internationals could have helped him in the choice of players to prosecute games. The English Premier League is the most competitive competition in the world. It is, therefore, a travesty for the Three Lions to be relegated from the elite class of the Nations League. It is also a paradox of sorts when the Germans who play in the Premier League scored for Germany on the night.

Coaches are the same. They have this disturbing fixation on how they want their teams to play and those who should be central to whatever formations tickle their fancies. It is, therefore, no surprise that Southgate has stuck to fumbling Manchester United defender Michael Maguire in his three-man defensive formation in spite of the fact that Maguire warms the Red Devils’ bench recently. The Three Lions have functional attacking options except for the fact that Southgate stubbornly sticks to the old order rather than field players who have distinguished themselves playing for other English Premier League sides.

For instance, Southgate had no business fielding Saka in the second half against the Germans given Saka’s spectacular performances playing for the current Premier League leaders, Arsenal FC of England. One other person who should have reinvigorated the Three Lions’ seeming counter-attacking formation given his form for Liverpool is Trent Alexander-Arnold, with theories from analysts, especially former England internationals that have ranged from the banal – “he’s great going forward, maybe not so much going backwards.” – to the bizarre – a “Championship-level defender” who should “retire from international duty” – it seems everyone has a hot take on the 23-year-old from West Derby.

Something you cannot take away from the English game are their theorists’ and experts’ records which are spot on and highly informative when it comes to justifying why a particular player deserves the nod in the Three Lions over the others.

According to records illustrated in the Liverpool Echo: ” First, some facts presented without comment: Liverpool had the best defensive record in Europe’s top five leagues the last term; Alexander-Arnold made 32 Premier League appearances in 2021/22; Jurgen Klopp’s side have conceded the fewest goals in three of the last four full top-flight campaigns and Alexander-Arnold has averaged 34 games a season during that time; since 2019, the defender has won every major honour available to an English club; he has made 235 appearances for Liverpool before his 24th birthday; he is the second-youngest player to start three Champions League finals; he was shortlisted for the 2022 Ballon d’Or in August; he has been named in the PFA Team of the Year in three of the last four seasons; he was named in the Champions League Team of the Season by UEFA’S Technical Observer Panel in May.” Well, Southgate knows best especially since he knows where the shoes pinch in his squad.

This writer has chosen to use the English template to illustrate how the problems associated with the Nigeria game which is lying prostrate in the 774 Local Government Areas in the country can be resolved, only if our soccer administrators have the political will to elevate the game. Unlike the English, the country is populated with players who were wooed to play for Nigeria by previous administrators at a time our domestic game was being suffocated by bizarre policies from mindless league organisers around the country.

Read Also: 2022/23 NPFL Season: Gombe, Plateau yet to submit Stadium for Inspection

Happily, we are been made to believe that the new dawn beckons soon with the appointment of former domestic league highest goals scorer Davidson Owumi as the league body’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Owumi isn’t a stranger in the league’s administration having guided Enugu Rangers to lift the league trophy under the tutelage of Coach Imama Amamkpabo. In fact, Owumi got so close to being the chairman of the league board until the high-wired politics around the game at the level made him quit with a promise to back at the helms of the game in the future. How prophetic were those words made years ago by visionary Davidson Owumi?

Owumi has taken some very enterprising decisions which have left the old order in the trash bins and raised hopes for a truly brighter future. He is insisting on full compliance with the club licensing policy by the participating teams by the beginning of the 2022/2023 league season. Stadium inspections are being done using members of staff of the league told to gauge pitches to be approved using the type of facilities which are found at the Nest of Champions Stadium in Uyo as the benchmark. What it simply means is that many stadia in the country won’t host matches for the 2022/2023 season except if something drastic is done to such clubs’ playing venues.

Under the club licensing policy, Owumi has vowed to ensure that no club is registered except all the players’, coaches’ and ancillary staff’s wages and allowances are paid to date. These key men of the leagues would no longer have to resort to self-help to get debtor clubs to pay their outstanding wages and allowances running into eight years and above—no hyperbole about clubs’ level of indebtedness. Owumi is also doing everything within his power to get the league to fund itself such that claims owed the clubs by the now defunct league bard running in billions are paid in instalments.

This sounds like music to the ears but would soon happen to go by Owumi’s antecedents in club administration which he hopes to bring to bear on the league. Clubs should be made to tell us their worth given the dynamic nature of the sports business when we try to compare it to what obtains in other climes.

Owumi’s big cross which he bears would be to return the Nigerian league to the television. It is laughable that the Nigerian league isn’t on television where other countries are. The new season should begin with a credible title sponsor of the domestic game to be unveiled with pomp and ceremony on the broadcast station’s network live across the globe. Soccer is a contact sport which requires quality medical policy which should easily handle emergencies such as we has in penultimate weekend.

Such medical policy should have ambulances fitted with world class amenities such that when the patient is taken to the official hospital of the league, treatment should commence immediately without the hindrance of wanting to know who would pay for the patient’s medications because he or she is a mere spectator. The issue of having insurance policy for the league shouldn’t be done by the clubs. The league management should get the official insurer of the league who should have the capacity and financial muscle to handle tricky incidents. It is most unfair watching former footballers walking with pains with of them unable to leave their houses due to injuries sustained in the course of their careers.

The league is a money spinner for those countries whose administrators know how to effectively utilise the marketing windows of the game. What would cost companies to pick up rights to a very well run league such as official water of the league instead of the unhealthy sachet o water which our players drink during and after matches. How about a company buying the rights of official beverage of the league?

Television rights is the key to fortune for any serious league to thrive. According to a report published in the Daily Mail last week, it reported that: ” While the top of the table sees some eye-watering figures paid out to City and Liverpool, the Premier League also made history at the bottom end of the table in 2021-22.

”Norwich – who won just five top-flight matches, lost 26 and who conceded 84 goals last season – became the first team in the league’s history to earn £100m in prize money despite finishing bottom of the table.

”They earned the same facility fees as the other two teams who joined them in being relegated to the Championship – Burnley and Watford – but their domestic and international merit payments were not as high due to their final position. Truth be told.

October 1, 2022