The Nation Newspaper

Category: Segun Ayobolu

  • Between people’s Pope and prosperity pastors

    Between people’s Pope and prosperity pastors

    He is extraordinarily eloquent and oratorical. He is a master wordsmith. He is flamboyant. He is charismatic. He is a fashion freak. He can be blunt to a fault. All these make controversy, Pastor Chris Okotie of the Household of God’s middle name. Reverend Okotie became an instant national phenomenon when over three decades ago as a law student, he released his hit musical album ‘I need someone’. He was to go on to release a number of other hugely successful musical compositions. Okotie was later to stun the nation again when he announced he had become a born again Christian and was later to become pastor of his own church. In the past few years, Okotie has contested for the presidency of Nigeria on the platform of the FRESH party without success and from all indications he will make another attempt at what he perceives as a God-ordained project next year.

    Even though they must be used by now to his controversial antics, many in Okotie’s congregation must have been bewildered when he recently launched an unprovoked, most vicious and vitriolic attack against the Catholic Church. He openly and unabashedly described the Catholic Church and its leadership particularly the Pope as Satanic. In his words “It is because the church perverts the gospel of Jesus Christ and that perversion is located in the leadership. However, there are many good Christians within the Catholic Church who are not aware of the doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church that has substituted Mary for Jesus in what is known as the hyperdulia of the Virgin Mary. Salvation for them is not in Jesus alone but in accordance with what Pope Francis recently announced to the world. That in itself is a direct violation of the sanctity of the scriptures.”

    Not done with his anti-Catholic strictures, Okotie said pointedly in a follow up interview that “Catholics will go to hell because they worship Satan and are led by an Anti-Christ Pope who is a friend of the devil”. He described Catholicism as a counterfeit church set up by Satan and alleged that Catholics “bow to idols and crucify Jesus every Sunday when they eat bread claiming they are eating Jesus body”.  Of course I am no theologian. But I think during the last Supper Jesus broke bread and told his disciples this was his body and they should eat the communion and drink wine representing his blood in memory of him.

    This column is not qualified to take up Pastor Okotie on theological matters but disagrees vehemently with his acerbic views on both Catholicism and the pope.  Although born Catholic, I have over the years veered off into one form of Pentecostalism or the other. I quite agree with some of Pastor Okotie’s criticisms of the church particularly the seeming undue veneration, even deification, of Mary the mother of Jesus and the church’s doctrine on Saints. Yet, no human being, including Chris Okotie is qualified to decide who will go to heaven or hell. Are all religious adherents not praying in the final analysis for grace to triumph over evil and spend eternity with God in heaven?

    In particular, I consider Pastor Okotie’s attack against Pope Francis most unwarranted, unfair and untrue. Pope Francis is one of the most credible leaders with impeccable integrity alive in the world today. His humility is unsurpassed. He is a worthy inheritor of the shoes of the fisherman – Peter, the first Pope, was a fisherman. In any case for an institution that has gone through various vicissitudes and is still standing and going strong 2000 years after, there must be something divine about the Catholic Church that Okotie can just not dismiss with a wave of the hand.

    I concur entirely with Time magazine when it chose Pope Francis as its Man of the year. His leadership of the Church within such a period has been exemplary and near revolutionary. The very adoption of his papal name, Francis, in honour of Saint Francis of Assisi indicated that modesty, humility and compassion for the weak and the poor would be the hallmarks of the Francis papacy. At every point, Pope Francis has identified with the poor. He has given the papacy a human face. He has shunned the apostolic papal mansion for a modest guest house within the Vatican City. He has visited a hospital and washed the feet of AIDS victims. He opted for silver rather than gold as his papal ring. At every turn, Pope Francis has spoken up strongly and boldly against the unjust and ungodly global capitalism that produces one billionaire and condemns one billion human beings to a living hell of poverty on earth. This seems to me to be in perfect accord with the spirit of Christ.

    On one occasion, Pope Francis declared with characteristic pungency, “Just as the commandment thou shall not kill sets a clear limit in order to safeguard the value of human life, today we also have to say thou shall not to an economy of exclusion and inequality. Such an economy kills…A new tyranny is thus born, invisible and often virtual, which unilaterally and relentlessly imposes its own laws and rules. To all this we can add widespread corruption and self- serving tax evasion, which has taken on worldwide dimensions. The thirst for power and possessions knows no limits”.

    The Nigerian church, particularly the Pentecostal variant, has lost the moral authority to speak such truth to power. It is now so difficult to distinguish between church and state in Nigeria. A cleric becomes President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and the next thing is that he relocates to Abuja and becomes a prayer warrior for the status quo. Hardly can you hear any scriptures from church pulpits against the sheer armed robbery that is going on in the name of governance in Nigeria today. Top government functionaries are not only given preferential treatment in our churches, they are even allowed to desecrate the altar of God by being given the opportunity to spew pure falsehood from compromised pulpits. The Nigerian church is in a rat race to accumulate wealth. To buy a private jet is now the ambition of virtually every pastor. I once read the cover story of a magazine where a Pentecostal pastor boasted “I once went about in Molues. Now I am set to buy my own private jet”!

    Pastors struggle to build the most magnificent church buildings even as they care less about the material conditions of those who come to worship in these beautiful edifices.

    Our churches build ultra-expensive universities that children of their adherents who faithfully pay their tithe cannot afford to attend. In an interview, Pastor Chris Okotie spoke unabashedly about a Range Rover Autobiography which he bought for N33 million and a Rolls Royce Phantom Coupe, which he has procured for N120 million to commemorate his 30th year on the pulpit. And this is in a country where the vast majority of the people are ravaged by poverty. Human compassion – the kind Pope Francis symbolises- is not in the dictionary of most Nigerian churches. It is this kind of ostentation, exhibition of opulence and inequality that Pope Francis abhors and strongly condemns. It is what makes him so Christ-like whatever may be his human failings. Of course, one must be careful not to make undue generalisations here. The Redeemed Christian Church of God, for instance, is one of the richest Pentecostal churches in the world. Yet, Pastor Enoch Adeboye continues to remain a man of amazing simplicity, humility and modesty. Unlike most Pentecostal churches that are run like family enterprises, the Catholic Church is a well- structured institution, that is run according to stipulated rules and cannot be dominated or manipulated by one man or family. Of course, the Catholic Church has its moral failings but so do all religious organisations. No one has the right to cast the first stone.

  • A creeping ‘Judelex’ coup?

    A creeping ‘Judelex’ coup?

    It was quite an embarrassing moment in the evolution of Nigeria’s political development. The ruling triumvirate of Generals –Olusegun Obasanjo, Theophilus Danjuma and the late Shehu Musa Yar’Adua had made up their minds that after 13 years in power, the military must quit the political terrain and hand over to a democratically elected government by 1979. Yet, in doing so, it was apparent that the incumbent military junta had made up their minds on those who would succeed them. It was not surprising, therefore, when Alhaji Shehu Shagari of the NPN triumphed over more capable, experienced, and knowledgeable contestants such as Dr Nnamdi Azikwe of the NPP, Chief Obafemi Awolowo of the UPN, Alhaji Aminu Kano of the PRP and Alhaji Waziri Ibrahim of the Great Nigeria Peoples Party (GNPP) in the presidential election. Of course one must not discount such variables as ethnicity, religion and monetary inducements as factors that influence electoral outcomes in Nigeria.

    Perhaps the most concrete evidence of the tacit support of the departing military regime for the NPN was the way in which the vacant position of Chief Justice of the country at the time was filled. The presidential election had held. Shagari had the highest number of votes but failed to meet the constitutional requirements of securing 25 per cent of the votes cast in each of at least two-thirds of the 19 states in the country then. Chief Obafemi Awolowo had filed a suit at the Supreme Court challenging Shagari’s election. Yet, the outgoing military allegedly consulted Shagari, who was then President-elect, and allowed him to choose who the next Chief Justice of Nigeria would be – a CJN who would preside over the presidential suit as well as determine who other judges to sit on the panel would be. Of course, the new CJN constituted a panel that upheld Shagari’s election and declared that two-thirds of each of 19 states is 12 2/3 and not 13. The only dissenting voice was that of Justice Kayode Eso. Apparently realizing the absurdity of their judgement, the revered justices said the judgement should not be cited as precedent in any future cases!

    In an address at a retreat on 28th January, 1980, Chief Awolowo reflected on the 1979 elections and congratulated the party leadership and cadres of the UPN for having campaigned gallantly and admirably. He contended that his party was the victim of a strange type of coup, which he called a Judelex coup. This is neither a military nor a civilian coup. According to Awolowo, a Judelex coup is a ‘judicial/electoral/executive coup’. He stressed that “It was these three successful kinds of coup- the judelex coup- that brought Shagari to power”.

    Well, the judelex coup may not have brought President Goodluck Jonathan to power, but it is being brazenly used in several ways to sustain his grip on power and ultimately win a second term in office at all costs. It is my view that the Jonathan presidency is the greatest danger to democracy and the rule of law in Nigeria today. The president may be oblivious of what is happening. For, there is a way that power distances those who wield it from reality and they begin to hear and see only what the sycophants and the security network want them to.

    Now how does the concept of a ‘judelex coup’ apply to the Jonathan administration today? First and foremost is the on-going judicial coup. The way President Jonathan intimidated, harassed and hounded the former President Court of Appeal (PCA), Justice Ayo Salami, constitutes a grave act of executive assault on that most hallowed arm of government. The National Judicial Council (NJC), under the leadership of former Chief Justice of the Federation, Justice Alloysius Katsina Alu, had written Jonathan requesting the suspension of Salami for what has now turned out to be baseless and utterly fictive allegations. President Jonathan acted fast and suspended Salami almost immediately.

    When the same NJC, under the leadership of the then CJN, Justice Dahiru Musdaphar, found that Justice Salami was innocent of all charges against him, it wrote the President to lift the suspension and restore the suspended PCA to his office. The President suddenly developed cold feet. He refused to act on the matter until Justice Salami statutorily retired from service. The implications of Salami’s unjust treatment by President Jonathan are far-reaching and dangerous. Can any judge henceforth have the boldness to rule without fear or favour in electoral disputes in which the President and his party have an interest? Will any judge want to go through the torment Justice Salami was subjected to? For the judiciary, is the fear of Jonathan not now the beginning of wisdom? Is justice not then the casualty of this judelex coup?

    The second leg of the ‘judelex coup’ is the electoral coup. This has to do essentially with electoral umpires like INEC who are anything but independent, transparent and objective. Dr Jonathan pulled a fast one on us when he chose Professor Attahiru Jega as INEC Chairman. We all hailed the decision because of Jega’s perceived honesty, discipline, integrity and fearlessness. With the benefit of hindsight, we were wrong. Jega is only one man. He sits up there making pious noises while his men on the field laugh at the eccentric academic who does not want money. Of course, the men on the field collude with politicians to rig elections and smile to the bank. This was evident in the travesty that the Anambra State governorship election was. At the end of the day, Jega came out to admit gross irregularities in the Anambra election and apologising to Nigerians while promising better elections in future.

    It is surprising that a political scientist of Professor Jega’s stature has not seen the need to thoroughly overhaul and cleanse the INEC he inherited while completely re-orientating the staff in a new direction of probity, transparency and efficiency. It is of utmost importance that civil society groups must begin to renew pressure on the National Assembly to implement the recommendation of the Justice Muhammed Uwais electoral reforms panel that the National Judicial Commission (NJC) should recommend three names to the President for consideration as INEC Chairman. The INEC chairmen chosen this way will certainly feel no sense of indebtedness to the President and will be able to discharge their duties without fear or favour. As it is, Professor Jega has lost the confidence of a large swathe of the political class – a reason why many alleged that the election timetable released by INEC is designed to favour Jonathan and the PDP.

    The third leg of the ‘judelex coup’ concept is the executive; the atrocities of this arm of government are so glaring. What is happening in Rivers State, for example, orchestrated from Abuja, is a most embarrassing form of executive recklessness. The constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has practically been suspended in Rivers State. Without the President declaring any state of emergency, the lawless Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Joseph Mbu carries on as if he is governor of the state. Ex-militants are left to run amok while the police look the other way. The state House of Assembly has been incapacitated from sitting just by six minority members with the support of the police. And in the face of all this, it is all mum from the presidency. Yet, the President is supposedly the Chief Security Officer of the country and the safety of lives and property across the length and breadth of this country is his responsibility.

    It appears that President Jonathan and his inner caucus are daily testing the limits of their acting with impunity without provoking anything but the proverbial ‘siddon look’ syndrome on the part of Nigerians. That is why I support the hard stance of the All Progressives congress (APC) in calling on its members in the National Assembly to block all Executive Bills until the President makes sure all acts of impunity are decisively tackled and halted particularly in Rivers State. But then this is not enough. Civil society groups must begin to organise to go back to the trenches if this presidency continues on its current self-destructive descent to fascism and tyranny.

  • Who are the enemies of Ndigbo?

    Who are the enemies of Ndigbo?

    One of the finest minds in contemporary Nigerian journalism, Ochereome Nnanna of the Vanguard Newspaper wrote in one of his recent columns that he was elated that Dr. Chris Ngige lost the last governorship election because his triumph would have meant a victory for the enemies of the Igbo. I wondered who exactly are the enemies of the Igbo? It is a question that baffles me especially coming from a mind as refined as Nana’s.

    I have always held the view that the Igbo cultural group is one of the brightest and best resources that the Nigerian nation is blessed with. It is no exaggeration to claim that the Igbo are the Jews of Africa. They are inventive. They are creative. They are innovative. They are adventurous. They are daring. In chapter twelve of his book, ‘The tragedy of Victory’, Brigadier-General Godwin Alabi-Isama, details the genius of the Igbo.

    He presents pictures of Biafra’s home-made armoured tanks. There is a particularly striking photograph of Biafra’s ‘Red Devil’ a crude but deadly home-made armoured vehicle. According to Alabi-Isama “However, the Biafrans that we thought would collapse after Port Harcourt still continued to use its two hands to crawl after losing its two legs. They deserved credit. They had proved that they were not a pushover by any standard. So, Biafra developed a new navy and fought in the Delta and riverine areas successfully. They had their own homemade bombs and armoured tanks. Though crude, they killed nevertheless. They deserved our respect”.

    The role of the Igbo in Nigerian history and politics is most intriguing. The Igbo were at the forefront of the nationalist struggle to free Nigeria from colonial bondage.  In his book ‘Radical Politics in Nigeria, 1945-1950’, Professor Ehiedu Iweriebor, meticulously documents the role and activities of the radical Zikist movement in the bid for Nigeria’s liberation from colonial bondage.

    Inspired by Dr Nnanmdi Azikwe, the Zikist movement consisted of such brilliant Igbo as Nwafor Orizu, M.C.K. Ajuluchukwu, Osita Aguwuna, Nduka Eze, Mokwogu Okoye, Marshall Kebby, I.V.C. Ebo, Ndo Eze, B.O.U. Elihwu, Othman Zarma, Don Eluwah and C.O. Mkpari and Kate Steane to name a few.

    Yet, the Igbo were also the first to attempt to break out of Nigeria and establish an independent Republic of Biafra! Of course that is now history. The question is what are the Igbo making of themselves in post war Nigeria? In his book ‘Instability and Political Order: Politics and Crisis in Nigeria’, the late Professor Billy Dudley posited his analysis of Nigerian politics on a tripod of Hausa/Fulani, Yoruba and Igbo.

    The truth of the matter is that the Igbo have virtually disappeared as a viable power bloc in contemporary Nigerian politics. It is amazing for instance that in the 2011 election, the Igbo political elite showed absolutely no interest in the presidential election. In the run up to the 2015 election again, the Igbo political leadership is exhibiting an astonishing ineptness.

    Ravaged by ecological crisis of epochal dimensions, devastating inter-state high ways, the second Niger Bridge that successive PDP administrations have been threatening to construct since 1999, the Igbo political elite continues to throw its weight behind the PDP.  Ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo flagged off the purported construction of the second Niger Bridge both in 2003 and 2007 shortly before elections. He reaped massive votes in the East. The project remains a mirage.

    In 2011, President Jonathan suddenly realized he was an ‘Azikiwe”.  He reaped massive votes from the East. It is not unlikely that come 2015, the Azikwe name tag may go into fashion once more. And the gullible Igbo will dance to the music. Yet, it has not always been this way. The Igbo political elite have always been the most astute and strategic in Nigerian politics. Not anymore. Can you imagine the hallucination of anybody thinking that an Igbo indigene can be President in 2019 even if Dr Jonathan realizes his undisguised second term ambition?

    When I look at the pictures of the periodic South East/South-South Governors’ meeting, I am amused at the obvious timidity, tepidness, insipidity and utter callowness of the South East Governors as compared to confidence and boisterousness of their South- South counterparts particularly Seriake Dickson and Godswll Akpabio.

    Having fought and lost a long and bitter struggle to be autonomous of Nigeria, the next best option for the Igbo is not to seek to produce a President of Nigeria. It is to be at the forefront of the struggle for a truly federal Nigeria where the component parts are genuinely autonomous and the genius of the Igbo exhibited during the civil war can flower for the benefit of Nigeria and Africa.

    …Encounter with Jonathan’s aide

    No matter how acerbic or unsparing of his boss this column is, Dr Sanya Awosan, Senior Special Assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan on public relations always makes sure he remains in touch with me at least once a month. Of course, our professional relationship dates back over a decade now. During the last festive period, Dr Awosan was in Lagos and he insisted we met over drinks to brainstorm. He assured me that President Jonathan is totally misunderstood and means well for Nigeria. In any case, he argued, can Jonathan’s meteoric rise to the presidency be by chance? Could it not be an indication of a divine mission? Dr Awosan gave me a lot of insight into the President’s thinking and actions. But I also had a word for him to the President: “You have a God given opportunity to salvage Nigeria. Don’t squander it sir”.

  • Odua group, South West and regional integration

    Odua group, South West and regional integration

    This column makes a distinction between

    regional integration and regionalism. The

    former is a necessary condition for national economic revival and development. It refers to spatially contiguous states leveraging informally on their collective resources to elevate their economies and the well- being of their people. Dr Alex Ekweme has in this respect done us an invaluable service by coming up at the 2005 national conference with the six-zone concept- South-West, South-East, South-South, North-West, North-East and North-Central.

    Regionalism on the other hand is the illusory, even hallucinatory, notion that Nigeria can ever go back to the regional structure of the first republic. The present states have come to stay. In the South-West for instance the pressure for the creation of Ijebu and Ibadan states remain as intense as ever. It is the same story across the country. Anybody who believes that the current states will ever subsume their autonomy to some regional authority is utterly deluded. Rather there will be continued pressure for the creation of more states.

    In any case it makes absolutely no economic sense to seek to create an additional layer of government at the regional level with the attendant administrative and logistical costs. Nigeria is already one of the most over-administered territories in the world with much of the resources that ought to go to improving the well- being populace being gulped up by administrators at the varying levels of government.

    But geographically contiguous zones can plan and harness their resources to accelerate their development and elevate the country’s overall economic performance. It is not surprising in this respect that the governors of the South-West have been most vocal in articulating the imperative of regional economic integration. Yet it would appear to me that these governors have paid more of lip service to the concept and have not taken concrete action towards genuine regional economic integration.

    On the issue of regional integration, the South-West governors certainly do not need to re-invent the wheel. The great sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, had already laid a firm foundation for the region in this respect. For those who do not have the time or patience to read Awolowo’s major works (although it is a most worthwhile investment) I suggest Olufemi Ogunsanwo’s racy and thrilling book ‘AWO: UNFINISHED GREATNESS’.

    As this book shows, the current Odu’a group of companies is a an agglomeration of several companies formed by the Awolowo administration in the western region including the Western Nigerian Development Corporation (WNDC), the Finance Corporation, the Western Nigeria Housing Corporation and the Western Nigeria Ministry of Industries.

    It is instructive that The Economist magazine, the unrepentant and ideologically bankrupt mouth piece of neo-liberal capitalism, on June 21 and October 13, 2012, published cover stories titled ‘The rise of state capitalism’ and ‘True progressivism’ respectively. Not even this bastion of journalistic conservatism can deny that neo-liberal capitalism is in deep trouble globally and the quest for material gratification by a few must be balanced by a humane consideration for the welfare of the majority if human society is to survive.

    Yet, Awolowo, an accomplished Keynesian economist, had realized as far back as the 1950s that aggressive state investment is a necessary condition for rapid economic development especially where you have a weak indigenous capital base. The neo-liberal notion that companies perform poorly because they are publicly owned is absolute nonsense. It is not a question of ownership but one of work culture and ethics. The tragic fate of Nigeria’s privately owned failed banks amply demonstrates this.

    Let me quote extensively from Olufemi Ogunsanwo’s book to demonstrate my point: “WNDC spread its tentacles to manufacturing, banking, insurance, hotels and catering, property development and real estate. It floated a large number of companies and industries wholly owned by government or held in partnership with several foreign investors. To give a few examples, it set up the National Bank of Nigeria, Wema Bank, the Nigeria General Insurance Company, Great Nigeria Insurance Company, GravilEnthoven and Company, Lagos Airport Hotel, Vegetables oil, Cocoa Industries, Odu’a textiles, Wrought Iron Ltd, Union Beverages Ltd, Sungas Company, Wemabod Estates, Western Livestock, Fisheries Services Ltd, Caxton Press, Epe Plywood, Askar Paints, Nigerian Crafts and Bags Ltd, Nipol Plastics, Phoenix Motors and several others. More than half of these companies are still viable today and have been consolidated in the Odu’a Group of companies, the largest conglomerate in the history of Nigeria with total assets in excess of 10 trillion Naira in 2004″.

    What have succeeding generations made of this illustrious legacy? It is a tragedy that it has been largely squandered particularly during the military era and the PDP years of the locusts in the South West. Yes, the immediate past Chairman of Odu’a Group, Alhaji Sharafadeen and the Group Managing Director, Alhaji Adebayo Jimoh, deserve commendation for consolidating on the strength of the Group especially in the area of property development. However, it would appear to me that the current South West Governors are not paying sufficient attention to the Odu’a Group as a principal medium for regional economic integration and development.

    Let me take the Lagos Airport Hotel (LAHL) as just one example. Established in 1942, it is easily the oldest hotel in the country. My investigations reveal that it is one of the major revenue earners of the Odu’a Group. It occupies a space that would be the envy of any other hotel. The LAHL has the only Olympic size swimming pool in Lagos apart from the National Stadium. One of Nigeria’s leading public intellectuals, for instance, said a few years ago in an interview that “When my wife visits from England she wakes up at six o’clock and starts bothering me about going for breakfast., because she loves the indigenous food and so she will rather stay in LAHL than any other hotel”. The hotel has a peculiar brand of its own.

      Yet, the truth is that the J.K. Adenigba- led management team of the hotel is only striving to squeeze water out of stone or turn stone to bread. That the LAHL is able to hold its own in the face of fierce competition from foreign competition in the industry is a testimony to the acumen of its management and the dedication of its staff. But the South-West Governors must take decisive action in investing adequately to upgrade facilities in the hotel and boost staff morale. The same goes for the Premier as well as Lafia Hotels both members of the Odu’a Group based in Ibadan. Minimal investment in such ‘low hanging fruits’ will yield maximum revenue for the benefit of the region.

    The Odu’a Group in my view already provides a solid base for economic integration and development in the South-West. But the region’s governors must be more determined to revitalise the group, realize the vision of its founding fathers and transform it into a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for regional transformation. And why for God’s sake is Lagos State not part of the Odu’a Group?

    …Still on Governor Amosun

    “If all you were to say about Senator Ibikunle Amosun in your column of January 4 could be confirmed to be so, then other inept governors that are only performing on the pages of newspapers need to borrow a leaf or two from him. At this time of failed leadership all over the place in the country, Nigerians earnestly pray for the emergence of such development-driven leaders at all levels of our governance. Of course, just as you also pointed out, the pragmatic governor still has to watch it however. For, the saying that the darkest hour of the night is just before dawn is also valid in reverse”, Emmanuel Egwu, 08037921541.

  • Senator Ibikunle Amosun (GCIR)

    Senator Ibikunle Amosun (GCIR)

    Some years ago whenever I travelled to Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, I often wondered what the bold inscription‘SIA’ on huge billboards on the city’s major roads of a politician with a unique native cap on his head stood for. Was SIA some strange word in ‘Ijegba’ dialect? (apologies to our own W.S.) I later learnt that SIA is the acronym for Senator Ibikunle Amosun, the man who has charted an interesting trajectory to the governorship of the Gateway State.

    I have over the years found the politics of Senator Ibikunle Amosun quite intriguing. His dexterous politics appears wrapped in a riddle, encapsulated in a puzzle and encased in an enigma. His impossible to ignore trademark cap is fashioned after that of the late Chief MKO Abiola. His personal philosophy is said to reflect the late business mogul’s philanthropic outlook. Senator Amosun’s political philosophy can be a study in a baffling eclecticism.

    Between 2003 and 2007, he was a Senator of the Federal Republic on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). In 2007, he tried unsuccessfully to become Governor of Ogun State on the platform of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP). The failure of his ambition in 2007 turned to a phenomenal success for SIA in 2011 on the platform of the ACN. It was a story of resilience. It was a tale of tenacity. But to what purpose, the political analyst would ask?

    Was it just a case of seeking power for its own sake? Did the political platform and its ideology matter to Senator Amosun? Did he have the ideological clarity of a Dr. Kayode Fayemi or the passionate doctrinal fervour of an Engineer Rauf Aregbesola? Listening to him speak at a book launch in Lagos last year, Senator Amosun came across as a detached technocrat with a dispassionately clinical mind. Ever since his election, I have thus watched his politics and governance style carefully.

    For instance, Dr Fayemi, the highly intellectual and administratively astute governor of Ekiti State makes a strikingly insightful distinction between what he describes as the trickle down economic policies of the PDP based on the doctrinal neo-liberal mind-set of the international financial institutions that have disempowered the majority of Nigerians and the emphasis on a grassroots model of development that prioritises among others job creation, provision of social services and rapid infrastructure characteristic of progressive parties.

    In his own personal political credo, Senator Amosun though stresses his social welfarist credentials but places premium on the pivotal role of the private sector in driving development while government has “the responsibility to provide the enabling environment to achieve sustainable economic growth and social development”.

    Two and a half years after his assumption of office, anyone who visits Ogun State can readily see that Amosun’s progressive credentials and compassionate social conscience are beyond dispute. You must see to believe. Something stupendous in terms of developmental strides is happening across Ogun State under Amosun. Yes, there is an on-going developmental renaissance throughout the South West including Edo State. But Amosun’s frenetic transformation in Ogun is phenomenal. The man means business!

    Amosun has so much to show in every area of his 5-point Agenda – Mission to Rebuild Ogun State. These are Affordable and Qualitative Education, Efficient Health Care Delivery, Agricultural Production and Industrialisation, Affordable Housing and Urban Renewal as well as Rural and Infrastructural Development/Employment Generation. But it is in the sphere of infrastructure renewal and expansion, particularly what I call the roads revolution that Amosun has scored an amazing distinction thus far.

    When some months ago I visited Abeokuta, I was initially irritated at the serious traffic snarls on many roads. It was later I discovered that this was due largely to the sheer magnitude of road construction going on throughout the city. In Amosun’s first year, he had delivered the magnificent Ita-Eko-Sokori-Totoro road and flyover at Ibara Roundabout in Abeokuta, the first of its kind in the state.

    To usher in this year, the Amosun administration organised an all- night event under the newly constructed Ijebu-Ode flyover. On the occasion, the Governor assured the people of Ijebu-Ode that all the over-head bridges under construction in the area will be completed before the third anniversary of his administration.

    Some of the massive road construction works being under taken by the Amosun administration include Sagamu-Benin Express Junction – Sabo Road (8km); IloAwela – Ota township roads (10km); OGTV –Brewery Junction road in Abeokuta (9km); Moshood Abiola Way, Abeokuta (6km); Ilara-Ijoun-Eggua-Ilasse road (107km); Mowe-Ofada-Ibafo road (29km); Lafenwa-Ayetoro road (50 km); Ejinrin-Oluwalogbon junction, Ijebu Ode (9km); Magboro Estate-Magboro Underpass, Isheri (12km); Moriamo Olorombo road, Abeokuta (9km); Ojere-Asero road, Abeokuta (9km); Abiola Way Junction-Muda Lawal Stadium road (2.5km); Sango-Ijoko-Akute-OjoduAbiodun road (32km) and the Isheri-Channels road (2.2km).

    Is it any wonder then that speaking on December 24, 2013, during the Ogun State Christmas Carol at the June 12 Cultural Centre in Abeokuta former President Olusegun Obasanjo had lavish words of commendation for the Amosun administration? According to the no-nonsense former President “Things are getting better everyday, getting better every time in Ogun. When I was talking of roads in Abeokuta, they said I haven’t been to Ijebu Ode and Sagamu. On getting to Ijebu Ode, I even saw if not better bridges than that of Abeokuta being constructed. What about the ones in Ilara and Ayetoro?…When I passed through Sango-Abeokuta road, I asked who is building this factory, but it is a school being built by the government”.

    Well, that is the testimony of none other than OBJ. of course, there are serious challenges attendant on the kind of massive development being undertaken by Amosun. First is the possibility of resource over-stretch, which may lead to cash-strapped projects being abandoned midway. But then Amosun is himself a Chartered Accountant and astute financial engineer. He also has a highly competent team that should be able to get its planning right. Again, this level of roads construction and expansion will necessarily entail large scale demolition of obstructive structures with unsavoury political consequences. The Amosun administration must have the political acumen to manage this challenge with dexterity and subtlety.

     Furthermore, when an administration expends so much resources on developmental projects, it will necessarily have less to expend on the wants and needs of the political class. Yet, these are the political foot soldiers so critical to winning elections. This is perhaps why Amosun has shown personal example by reducing the salaries of political office holders. Yet, he must have the political wisdom to maintain a delicate balance between a passion for technocratic change and the sensitivities of the political class that worked for his election and are critical to his electoral future.

    On the basis of the foregoing, this column takes the liberty of conferring on SIA the honour: Grand Commander of Infrastructure Renewal (GCIR). But a word of caution is not out of place. It is not how well you start that matters, but how well you finish. Amosun’s immediate predecessor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, started brilliantly but ended with a legacy in ruins. Amosun may listen but must stubbornly refuse to dance to the seductive but destructive music of sycophants. For SIA, the GCIR, it is surely morning yet on creation day.

  • Transformational power of Nigeria’s presidency

    Transformational power of Nigeria’s presidency

    I have contended more than once in this column that the Nigerian presidency is one of the most powerful offices in the world. Of course, there are those who oppose this view and argue that it is no more than building a myth around whoever occupies the office at any point in time. Yes, there are many ways in which the Nigerian state is pathetically weak. It is irredeemably weak in securing the lives and property of its citizens which is the fundamental reason for the existence of any state. It is hopelessly incapable of promoting and ensuring the greatest happiness for the greatest number of its citizens – their education, health, shelter, food employment and other indicators of well- being.

    But paradoxically, the Nigerian state is also exceedingly powerful. It is practically unhindered in its ability to trample on the rights of its subjects, sorry people. It is a veritable Leviathan with no notion of right, wrong or justice. Its capacity for corruption, material and moral, is legendary. The Nigerian presidency is the most potent, visible and vicious arm of the state. In fashioning the Nigerian presidency, its architects deliberately wanted a powerful institution whose occupant would be a symbol of national unity. The personality of the president would symbolise the institutional integrity and psychic essence of the Nigerian state.

    The American presidency was clearly the model in the minds of the architects of the Nigerian presidency. The American state is by far the most powerful geo-political entity in the world – the lone global super power. On the surface, the occupant of the American presidency is the most powerful man in the world. He is the Commander-In-Chief of the most lethal military machine in history. But in reality, his immense powers are checked by vigorous, functional institutions – a virile legislature, a vibrant and independent judiciary, a vigilant media, a professional security architecture that places premium on the national interest over the whims of transient occupants of public office and a vigorous civil society. It is the absence of these institutional checks that is at once responsible both for the ‘overdevelopment’ of the Nigerian presidency and the concomitant ‘underdevelopment’ of the Nigerian state as regards its capability to effectively discharge the functions of a state.

    It is unlikely, for instance, that an American President would be able to sweep the scandalous procurement of two armoured cars at the inflated cost of N255 million the way the Jonathan presidency is so obviously doing. Such contempt for public opinion would most certainly have dragged an American president down. He would dare not contemplate any such cover-up. Of course, one of the problems of the Nigerian society is that occupants of public office can play on primordial sentiments like ethnicity, regionalism and religion to divide the people and get away with the most heinous crimes.

    In some of his recent interviews on his political travails, I find a very interesting tension between Governor Rotimi Amaechi’s views of Dr Goodluck Jonathan as a person and his role as President of Nigeria. As a person, Amaechi speaks of Dr Jonathan as humble, modest, well-meaning, decent and good natured. When he speaks off the cuff, not minding his frequent factual and logical gaffes, Dr Jonathan comes across as a man who has the best of intentions and cannot hurt a fly. How then can we reconcile this easy going, with the President who sanctions the lawlessness and outright brigandage of the Rivers State Commissioner of Police?

    How can we reconcile our gentle, mild-mannered President with a presidency that recognises the minority of the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) as the majority without batting an eyelid? How does Dr Jonathan who sermonises with so much passion and conviction on church pulpits reconcile his Christian conscience with support for minority of members of the Rivers State House of Assembly intent on impeaching the Governor with just five out of a 32 –member House? How does a President who wasted no time in removing the hard working and achievement-oriented Professor Barth Nnaji from his cabinet for alleged conflict of interest yet is inexplicably incapacitated from taking decisive action on the far more morally compromised Ms Stella Oduah?

    The problem is not in my view that of Dr Jonathan. It has to do with the transformational power of the Nigerian presidency. Dr Jonathan no doubt means well as regards his much-touted transformational agenda. Virtually every occupant of the Nigerian Presidency has sought to leave a legacy of transforming the country. They have all uniformly failed to achieve this objective. It is certainly not for want of trying. It is simply that the enormous powers of the Nigerian Presidency transforms its occupants, divorces them from reality and renders all their efforts at national transformation nugatory.

    President Shehu Shagari was a simple and well-meaning man who could not hurt a fly. The Nigerian presidency transformed him. He ended up appointing illegal Presidential Liaison Officers to undermine state governors in non-NPN-controlled states and ordered the deportation of the majority leader in the Gongola State House of Assembly, Alhaji Abdulrahman Shugaba, to Chad. In his second coming as elected President, General Olusegun Obasanjo was a born-again Christian who was always quoting Bible verses. Prison had clearly tempered the rather boisterous ex- soldier. The Nigerian presidency changed all that. Not only did he mercilessly use institutions of state to hound his political ‘enemies’, he even futilely sought a third term in office.

    President Goodluck Jonathan delivers the most moving speeches on the responsibility of power and the morality of politics. Yet, like his predecessors, he uses the immense powers of the presidency to harass his political opponents, rub justice in the mud, treat corruption with kid-gloves while pretending all the while that some national transformation is being undertaken. Nothing could be more illusory. Until we tame and transform the Nigerian presidency, there can be no realistic national transformation in Nigeria.

  • Is it not too late?

    Is it not too late?

    A letter of appeal to President Jonathan: Before it is too late’. That was the title of former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s 18-page missive to President Goodluck Jonathan, his adopted political son in whom he was once upon a time well pleased. Things seem so obviously to have fallen apart between the two that the exchange of public brickbats has become characteristic of their relationship.

    You may honour him or hate him. You may venerate him or vilify him. You may seek to canonise or demonise him. Some try to deify him. Others may wish to demystify him. But one thing is certain. You cannot afford to take General Olusegun Mathew Aremu Obasanjo for granted. Anyone conversant with this column will know I am no fan of the Owu turned politician and farmer. But when he is right, intellectual honesty demands that we acknowledge it.

    Some people have wondered what gives Obasanjo the temerity and audacity to lecture Jonathan on political morality, corruption or even good governance. They contend that Obasanjo has no moral right to pontificate to anybody given his own sordid record in office as President. Moreover, they argue, was he not the one who virtually imposed an ailing Umaru Yar’Adua and untested Goodluck Jonathan on the country in 2007? Why should he now cry over spilt milk?

    Of course, I can understand these sentiments and they are quite pertinent. However, are there any truths in the grievous allegations made against Jonathan in Obasanjo’s treatise? That for me is the crucial question. I care less about the messenger. What matters is the message. In this case the content of the message is so volatile and inflammable that the presidency cannot afford just to dismiss it casually as if it is of no significance.

    For instance, Obasanjo cites the menace of corruption that has reportedly assumed unprecedented dimensions under President Jonathan’s watch. OBJ stated bluntly that if Jonathan is not ready to “name, shame, prosecute and stoutly fight against corruption, it will be hollow; it will be a laughing matter”. The Owu farmer prayed further “May God grant you the grace for at least one effective correction against corruption, which seems to stink all over you and your government”.

    Specifically, OBJ wanted President Goodluck Jonathan to clear the air on the alleged non-remittance of about $7 billion from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to the Central Bank of Nigeria as recently detailed in a letter from the CBN to the President. Surprisingly, Obasanjo did not bring up the issue of the Minister of Aviation, Ms Stella Oduah, who approved the procurement of two bullet proof jeep vehicles for her personal use at an inflated cost of N255 million through the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority. With all the facts already in the public arena, thanks to the House of Representatives public probe, the President set up a three member administrative panel to investigate the issue. Weeks after the report was submitted to Jonathan, nothing has been heard of the matter again.

    Perhaps the most damaging allegation in OBJ’s treatise to Jonathan is that 1000 persons have been placed by the incumbent administration on political watch ahead of the 2015 election. If this is true, we can readily see how scarce human and material resources as well as time and money in the crucial security sector, are being dissipated in the wrong direction and for the wrong purposes. And this at a time when the country faces serious security challenges from diverse fronts.

    Nigeria is transiting slowly, imperceptibly but steadily from a pseudo democracy to a full-fledged police state. The number of security agents diverted from their normal duties to safeguard the collective safety of all but are now deployed to protect the lives of a minority of people who made it impossible for the country to have a viable security architecture in the first place is simply mind-boggling.

    Even more dangerously, Obasanjo has alleged that a squad of killers and snipers are being currently trained in preparation for the 2015 election. According to the former President, these killer squads are being trained in the same location where Abacha’s killer gangs were trained. The implication is that the most important and politically influential on the list of 1000 persons, reportedly under political watch, will most likely be the targets of the trained snipers and killer gangs.

    Now, Obasanjo is no saint. Like all great men, he has virtues and vices aplenty. But even his most inveterate critics will tell you that he does not speak frivolously. Obasanjo is a soldier. He still remains venerated in that institution even though he retired decades ago. The same thing goes for General Ibrahim Babangida, General Abdulsaam Abubakar, General T.Y. Danjuma, General Muhamadu Buhari and several others. It is thus not unlikely that these ex-military leaders will continue to receive a stream of intelligence as regards goings on within the security sector.

    It is instructive that Obasanjo’s letter dated 2nd December, 2013, was copied only to General Babangida, General Abdulslam Abubakar, General T.Y. Danjuma and Dr Alex Ekwueme. However, President Jonathan’s unrestrained speech at the memorial service in honour of Nelson Mandela at the Presidential Villa, Aso Rock, must have prompted the public release of the letter. On that occasion, Jonathan had berated those he called boastful leaders who seek to intimidate others and behave as if Nigeria is their bedroom.

    The necessity to write this letter to the President and even go ahead to make it public, shows that there is insufficient communication between the incumbent in the country’s highest political office and his predecessors. Yes, Obasanjo has his faults aplenty – one of which is foisting incompetent and unprepared leadership at his departure in 2007. Again, he introduced this whole idea of the President as being leader of the party, an initiative which greatly subordinated the party to the whims and caprices of the president – a system which he decries today.

    But in going public with the alleged misdemeanours of the Jonathan administration, Obasanjo is intelligent enough to know that he would be under intense criticism for supporting a candidate with no outstanding record of sterling performance in public office. His public letter thus suggests to me to be some sort of atonement – a subtle admission that he made a mistake in helping to prop up the career of Jonathan and that he is willing to join other forces to win power and bring about a fundamental change in the country come 2015.

    But then, only the simpleton would eat with OBJ without an extra- long set of cutlery. For he could dine with you tonight and tomorrow be quite at home joining in the electoral victory of your supposedly common opponent.

    Obasanjo says he wrote to Jonathan before it is too late. But is it not too late already? The die is cast. Whatever his current posturing, Jonathan will run. Without a credible record of performance, he will have to rely on primordial sentiments as well as the collusion of INEC and security officials to win. If the electoral outcomes announced by INEC do not reflect the will of the majority, we may well begin to sing the NUNC DIMITIS of Democracy in Nigeria.

  • What would Mandela do?

    What would Mandela do?

    The event had been expected all along.

    The icon was advanced in age. His health had deteriorated dismally. He had even been on life support for some time. But when Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela’s long and eventful journey through life reached its final terminus, the world received the news with shock and sadness. Yes, death is perhaps the most ubiquitous of human phenomena. It is the inevitable end of all sentient beings. But its occurrence never ceases to surprise. Every mortal harbours the illusion of endless longevity. But at the end of the day, the bell that tolls for one peals for all.

    But of course, Mandela had been different. He had come to terms with the ephemerality of human life decades earlier in his youth. He had thus averred his readiness to die if necessary for the cause of freedom for his people. He was sentenced to a living death; a prison sentence that wasted the best and most productive years of his life. But he emerged from captivity after 27 years triumphant and unbowed, a symbol of the resilience and amazing generosity of the human spirit.

    His jailers showed what depths of depravity and degeneracy man is capable of descending to. By repaying unspeakable wickedness with forgiveness and love, Mandela demonstrated what heights of grace and nobility man can soar to. Man can be vulture and feed on rotting flesh. Man can be Eagle and roam the skies in kingly majesty. Mandela chose the latter. Is it any wonder that mourning him has been a universal celebration; his death some sort of resurrection?

    Presidents and peasants, potentates and prisoners, saints and sinners, all were one in the canonisation of this secular puritan. Remember the words of Jesus: Unless a seed first of all dies, it cannot sprout and live. In life, Mandela died to self. In death he lives for the ages. What glory!

    Here in Nigeria, of course we have not been left out of the euphoric ‘Mandelamania’ of the moment. President Goodluck Jonathan did the right and proper thing. He organized a memorial service for Dr Nelson Mandela at the Presidential Villa chapel. Yes, in many ways Mandela was a Nigerian. This was one of the first countries he visited on his release from incarceration. This was an act of gratitude by the great man for the invaluable role Nigeria played in the struggle to liberate his country from apartheid. But, then trust Nigerians, we ended up doing the right thing in the wrong way.

    In his tribute at the Aso chapel service, President Jonathan spoke glowingly about Mandela’s humility, forgiving spirit and ability to unite people. Shouldn’t the President have stopped there? No sir. Apparently unable to forgive his critics and opponents or like Mandela offer any gesture of reconciliation on such a solemn occasion, Dr Jonathan went on the offensive. It was operation no mercy from the apostle of humility. He berated those unspecified Nigerian politicians who speak “as if Nigeria is their bedroom from where they make proclamations and intimidate others”.

    Jonathan said these Nigerian politicians (he certainly did not have Jonah Jang, Godswill Akpabio, Peter Obi or Seriake Dickson in mind) could not compare with Mandela as they threaten, boast and play little gods. It is not unlikely that his poisoned arrows were directed at a certain Owu farmer (no less vindictive himself!) when he described the still unmentioned politicians as tiny men who lack good character of leadership. The occasion was to honour Mandela. The President’s words sadly did not reflect that spirit.

    But then, Dr. Jonathan was right in a way. Our politics is tiny. Our leadership is puny. Our institutions, not least the presidency, are so terribly diminished. This was vividly demonstrated by the embarrassing anonymity of the Nigerian President at the state memorial service held for Mandela in South Africa. There is absolutely no reason on earth why Dr Jonathan should not have been listed to join the likes of President Barack Obama, President Dilma Rousseff of Brazil, Vice President Li Yuanchio of China, President Hifepune Pohamba of Namibia, President Pranab Mukherjee of India or President Raul Castro of Cuba to pay public tribute to Mandela. The South African authorities could not treat Nigeria that way if we got our acts right.

    In his book, ‘Nigeria: A Nightmare Scenario’, Professor Patrick Wilmot writes of how the Northern region government of Sir Ahmadu Bello gave Nelson Mandela a donation of 10,000 pounds to support the liberation struggle when he visited Nigeria in the first republic before his eventual arrest, trial and incarceration in South Africa. Mark you, this was in the 60s! So committed was Nigeria to the liberation struggle in the Southern Africa region that she was recognised as one of the frontline states of the region. General Murtala Mohammed’s famous ‘Africa has come of age’ speech at the OAU Heads of State Summit in Addis Ababa in January 1976 played a decisive role in shifting the balance of forces in support of the progressive movements for the emancipation of the region.

    In the conclusion of that historic oration, Murtala thundered: “Africa has come of age. It is no longer under the orbit of any extra continental power. It should no longer take orders from any country, however powerful. The fortunes of Africa are in our hands to make or mar. For too long have we been kicked around: for too long have we been treated like adolescents who cannot discern their interests and act accordingly. For too long has it been presumed that the African needs outside ‘experts’ to tell him who are his friends and who are his enemies…” Ah! Those were the days.

    One can therefore understand the anguished words of Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) when he said “In a very cruel irony, history is being revised. The people who collaborated with the government that enthroned apartheid at that time are the people that are paying the greatest tribute now. But I ask myself: Is this not the time for reflection? I doubt if any African country expended as much time, as much money and as much commitment as the Nigerian government”. This is the sad truth.

    Yes, the peculiar circumstances of Nigeria may have precluded the emergence of a national leader with the towering stature of a Nelson Mandela. But Nigeria has produced great politicians of no mean intellect, vision and character. Nnamdi Azikiwe’s example inspired many African nationalists to fight for the liberation of their countries from colonial bondage. Ahmadu Bello by the force of his personal vision and charisma forged a remarkable commonality of interest among the disparate peoples of the north. Obafemi Awolowo led a government in western Nigeria which is still unrivalled in Africa in terms of its developmental attainments and administrative dexterity. Aminu Kano in terms of his ideological clarity and revolutionary fervour was surpassed in Africa perhaps only by Julius Nyerere of Tanzania. Olusegun Obasanjo in his first incarnation as military Head of State was venerated as a global statesman for voluntarily relinquishing power to a democratically elected government in 1979.  One can go on and on.

    It is true that the quality of leadership in the country has steadily deteriorated over time. We have had a succession of hopelessly corrupt and venal leaders. They have annulled elections. They have sought to perpetuate themselves in office unconstitutionally. They have been administratively inept and famished of vision. They have subverted state institutions to intimidate and harass their opponents. They have been intellectual and moral Lilliputians. But Dr Jonathan has absolutely no reason to follow in the footsteps of such leaders. After all, he has the advantage of being able to learn from and avoiding the mistakes of his predecessors.

    One test Jonathan should always give himself is simple: would Mandela do this? Would a Mandela seek a second term at all costs even if at the expense of the unity of his country? Would a Mandela manipulate state institutions to undermine a legitimate government as is currently happening in Rivers State? Would a Mandela immorally support a minority faction of the Nigerian Governors Forum to declare itself the majority? If he honestly asks himself this question and acts as Mandela would, Jonathan may yet confound his critics, snatch victory from the jaws of imminent defeat and attain greatness.

  • Ekiti 2014 : Between jkf and mob

    Ekiti 2014 : Between jkf and mob

    I believe strongly that MOB remains essentially progressive and humane at heart. However, he has embarked on a political trajectory that may force him to collaborate with the same forces of retrogressionthat he has opposed all his life 

    The die is cast. The Rubicon is crossed. The line has been drawn and there seems to be no going back. Opeyemi Bamidele, former students’ union leader, pro-democracy activist, lawyer, commissioner in Lagos State and now member of the House of Representatives has obviously taken the decisive plunge to contest for the governorship of Ekiti State next year. Would he or would he not? That had been the question in many minds for some time now. Would Michael Opeyemi Bamidele defy the collective wisdom of his party, the promptings of his political mentors and the admonition of his ideological soul mates to contest against Dr John Kayode Fayemi in the next governorship election in Ekiti? Would he jettison the political tendency and platform he has identified with all his life in pursuit of his ambition? The answer to these questions no longer lies in the realm of conjecture. Opeyemi Bamidele spoke and acted decisively last week. He dumped the APC. He declared for the Labour Party. All things being equal, he will be a major contender against Fayemi next year.

    Until he took his apparently irreversible decision last week, I was firmly of the view that Bamidele would in the final analysis subordinate his personal ambition to the strategic collective interest of the progressive movement. For one, he had consistently stressed over the years that he is a product not necessarily of individual brilliance but of collective struggle. When he clocked 45, Bamidele launched a book titled ‘Errands of Progress’. In it he reiterated the position that he was a product of collective struggle. Reading through the book once again, Opeyemi came across as one individual whose personal interests and ambitions matter far less to him than his commitment to the struggle by progressive forces to liberate Nigeria from the stranglehold of underdevelopment.

    Again, I am of the view that there is really not much of a difference between Michael Opeyemi Bamidele (MOB) and Dr. John Kayode Fayemi (JKF), the incumbent Governor of Ekiti State. Both men are cerebral. They are accomplished professionals. They have both devoted their lives and paid their dues in the struggle for progressive change in Nigeria. Either man would make outstanding governors of Ekiti or any other state in Nigeria. Yes, Bamidele is more of a populist in the likeness of an Engineer Raufu Aregbesola. Fayemi is more reticent and reflective in the mould of a Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN). But both men are invaluable assets to the progressive movement. Much more importantly either man has achieved success in their respective spheres of endeavour irrespective of whether or not they govern any state. I thus did not believe that governing Ekiti State should be a matter of life and death particularly for Bamidele since it has pleased God that Fayemi should occupy the coveted position at least for now.

    Of course there are those who have insisted all along that MOB is an active participant in a script not just to oust Fayemi from power but to undermine the progressive forces in Yoruba land and Nigeria as a whole. They contend that he is nothing but a traitorous quisling bent on collaborating with the same nefarious and venal forces he has fought all his life all because of an inordinate ambition for power. I believe strongly that MOB remains essentially progressive and humane at heart. However, he has embarked on a political trajectory that may force him to collaborate with the same forces of retrogressionthat he has opposed all his life. That would be extremely tragic. For, there are too many examples of those who have chosen this path only to become no better than the living dead- veritable living corpses.

    There are at least three issues raised by MOB in his defection to the Labour Party which are worth commenting on. First, he claimed that his move was informed by the lack of internal democracy in his former party. This perception is no doubt informed by the decision of the APC leadership to endorse Fayemi for a second term based on his record of performance. It would appear to me that by his defection, Bamidele has made it impossible to prove whether or not the APC adheres to internal democracy at least in Ekiti State. Yes, the leadership has endorsed Fayemi but they have not precluded any interested member from participating in primaries.

    We will recall, for instance, that in the second republic, the Chief Obafemi Awolowo-led leadership of the UPN endorsed all the five governors of the party for an automatic second term. Yet, the incumbent governors faced stiff challenges in the primaries particularly in the old Ondo and Oyo states. Of course, the question is: with the endorsement of Fayemi for a second term by the party leadership, could Bamidele have a chance of triumphing in the primaries? It is highly unlikely. The Ekitis are very proud, principled and stubborn people. They worship no human being and their conscience is never for sale. If they are truly supporting Bamidele’s ambition, no force on earth would stop them from voicing their opinion.

    Despite Awolowo’s personal charisma and influence, for instance, the Ekitis even within the UPN staunchly stood by Omoboriowo until his politically fatal decision to defect to the NPN. Members of the UPN at all levels including members of Chief Michael Ajasin’s cabinet openly supported Omoboriowo despite Awolowo’s preference for Ajasin. In the case of MOB, I am unaware of any declaration of support from his ambition right from the ward through the local governments to the state level of the party. Not even a single member of the Ekiti caucus of the House of Representatives which he led has expressed support for his aspiration. Bamidele’s winning the party primaries will certainly be easier than a Camel passing through the eye of a needle. But then, will we have internal democracy only if Bamidele is guaranteed to emerge as governorship candidate?

    Again, MOB claims that his ambition is driven by a desire to extricate Ekiti from the clutches of poverty. This is an indirect insinuation that Fayemi has not performed. But is that an intellectually honest position to take? I think not. From easily verifiable indications, Fayemi has fundamentally elevated the paradigm of governance in Ekiti State. Just as Aregbesola has done in Osun, no more is the horizon of aspiration in Ekiti limited by the state’s paltry allocation from the Federation Account. Fayemi has blazed a trail in social security by paying a monthly allowance to aged citizens above 65. The efforts of his administration in the provision of infrastructure are there for all to see. For me, the most eloquent evidence of his performance is the open identification of the highly respected Chief Afe Babalola with the Fayemi administration. Ideologically and politically, Chief Babalola is conservative. Despite his personal closeness to Chief Obasanjo, Afe Babalola never appeared on a political platform with the Owu chief. He has openly supported Fayemi’s second term. It is unlikely he would do that for a non-performing governor particularly of the APC.

    Lastly and most sadly, MOB claims that the Labour Party is a genuine progressive platform for national emancipation. Nothing could be further from the truth. Nigeria still awaits a truly ideologically driven Labour Party; one that will rigorously articulate the case for a new social order that will be beneficial to the working class and peasantry. The truth is that there is absolutely no difference today between the so called Labour Party and the PDP. Yes, both the PDP and the APC are essentially bourgeois parties but, with all its faults, a genuine Labour Party should be more in tune with the opposition than a self- styled largest party in Africa that has plunged Nigeria deeper into underdevelopment in the last 14 years.

    This column takes serious exception to MOB’s latest antics. But equally objectionable is the harsh language with which the Ekiti APC has denounced him. Nothing must be done to make it impossible at the end of the day for Bamidele to return to his true political family lending his considerable talents to the struggle for the liberation of Nigeria.

  • Professor Jega’s burden

    Professor Jega’s burden

    Last Saturday’s botched and inconclusive governorship election in Anambra State raises salient fears as regards the possibilities of democratic sustainability in Nigeria. There is indeed justifiable cause for deep despair as political actors demonstrated, once again, scant regard for legal or ethical rules in their desperate bid to control state power at all costs, and irrespective of the popular will. The supposedly impartial electoral umpire, the Independent National electoral Commission (INEC) descended to abysmal levels of partisanship and incompetence in its conduct of the election.

    And, of course, the security agencies deployed for the exercise were not left out of the stiff competition to excel in impunity. The massive show of force particularly by the Nigeria Police was apparently no more than a gimmick, not only to create an environment conducive to the perpetration of electoral fraud, but also to suppress popular expression of discontent at an incurably and inexcusably flawed exercise.

    The kind of brazen lawlessness exhibited by virtually all stakeholders in the Anambra election suggests strongly that the grave of democracy in this dispensation is already being aggressively dug and we are only grimly awaiting 2015 for the final denouement – an elaborate burial ceremony. For, if a successful and credible governorship election cannot be held in only one state, how do we hope to conduct acceptable nationwide polls in a country already substantially immersed in severe socio-economic, political and security crises?

    Yet, despite the colossal setback to our democratic evolution by the Anambra governorship election fiasco, certain aspects of the exercise offer some hope that the prospects for the survival and strengthening of responsible and accountable government in the country are quite bright. Yes, the anti-democratic elements are alive, well and active in their determination to subvert the peoples will. But the popular forces, fiercely committed to upholding and protecting the will of the people are also strong and unrelenting.

    For instance, a vibrant civil society represented by the various election observer groups ensured the effective monitoring of the Anambra polls. This was a key factor responsible for the exposure of the grave flaws that marred the exercise. It is thus understandable that a number of the election observers were harassed and even detained by compromised police authorities while others incurred the open hostility of INEC officials. That the majority of election observers were able to play their roles against all odds inspires hope that those intent on electoral fraud in future polls will have even more formidable obstacles on their path.

    Again, the media deserves commendation for its vigilance and professionalism in the coverage of the Anambra polls. This was why telling images and stories of disenfranchised voters and compromised officials were vividly brought to millions. Impunity, criminal complicity and incompetence had no hiding place in the Anambra election thanks to the media.

    Mention must also be made of the hundreds of brave women of Anambra state who severally protested their disenfranchisement and disempowerment by INEC. They were not deterred by the intimidating police presence. Not even the fumes of tear gas could break their will. It is this kind of courage and resilience that will help to consolidate democracy in Nigeria by ensuring that every vote counts and the popular will triumphs.

    Now, what about the role of the embattled INEC Chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega? So much has been written and said about this. As a result of the huge fund of moral integrity and credibility he brought to the job, many expect the good Professor to perform miracles and move mountains of electoral fraud and impunity. The credible conduct of the 2011 election further raised the hope that, under Jega, it was only a matter of time before the country holds elections of the requisite international standard. Such hopes have been dashed. The degree of impunity has worsened with each subsequent election held under Jega’s watch. Something is certainly dreadfully wrong.

    Some have completely written off Jega and even called for his resignation over the Anambra debacle. They contend that his robe of moral integrity is irredeemably stained. As far as they are concerned, the professor cannot extricate himself from blame for the functional inefficiency, operational mediocrity and moral laxity responsible for the current electoral gridlock in Anambra State. This column begs to differ. I believe that Jega remains a decent, competent and well- meaning patriot committed to the best interest of Nigeria.

    It is as result of his essential sense of honour and intellectual honesty that Jega has admitted INEC’s responsibility for the botched polls. He has even tendered an apology to Nigerians. Can you imagine how a Maurice Iwu would have reacted in similar circumstances? He would have insisted on the sanctity of the discredited elections and even offered Nigeria’s assistance to the rest of the world on how to organise credible polls! Till date, the voluble Professor Iwu is still living in denial as regards the atrocious and utterly disgraceful 2007 elections, which he supervised. Against such irresponsible and anti-intellectual hubris, Jega’s humility is a breath of fresh air.

    The question is, having summoned the courage to be humble, decent and truthful on the Anambra poll, what is the way forward for Jega and INEC towards resolving the electoral logjam in the state? It is certainly most unhelpful, immoral and insufficient for INEC to contend that no matter how tainted, the subsisting results in the botched Anambra polls can only be upturned by a court of law. Surely, Professor Jega should know that the responsibility for conducting free and fair elections rests with INEC and not the courts.

    Holding so called supplementary elections in a minority of polling units when the credibility and integrity of the entire exercise has been called to question will simply not do. The supplementary results will not cure the grievous defects arising from mass disenfranchisement, questionable voters register, the late distribution of materials, poor logistics and general organisational inefficiency that marred the integrity of the election across the state.

    If the electoral umpire knowingly supervised the deliberate delay or complete denial of voting materials in certain areas to the detriment of some candidates while at the same time ensuring the timely arrival of manpower and materials in selected areas to favour particular candidates, the credibility of the entire exercise across the board is incurably infected. It means the whole process was strategically planned to arrive at a predetermined outcome. There is no guarantee that the choice of electoral officers down the line and other decisions were not tainted to manipulate the process.

    Just as it did in the April 2, 2011, National Assembly election, INEC can only safeguard its integrity by cancelling the entire exercise and conducting a credible and generally acceptable election in Anambra. The onus should be on those who seek to profit from an exercise acknowledged by INEC to be defective and discredited, to seek legal validation for their claim in court. As The Guardian newspaper declared in its editorial yesterday, “Having accepted responsibility for the present quagmire arising from the election, INEC has a duty to correct the identified and the hidden anomalies and sanction those responsible as appropriate. Above all, it must ensure that the election ultimately and fully reflects the genuine desire of the Anambra people”.

    Even more to the point, The Punch in its editorial of Thursday, November 21, was unequivocal. In its words “As the nation grapples with yet another shoddy election, this time the Anambra State governorship poll of last Saturday, it is incumbent upon the Independent National Electoral Commission to do the right thing: summon the courage to cancel the flawed election…Decidedly, the election failed the test of credibility, which critically determines the acceptability of an electoral contest”.

    This then is Professor Jega’s burden. Before him are enduring honour or a gradual descent to infamy. The choice is entirely his. At the end of the day, it does not matter who wins in Anambra as long as the process is transparent and credible.