Category: Segun Ayobolu

Nigeria’s Socio-Economic Maladministration: Any possibility of a Revolution?’ That was the topic of this year’s 8th Chief Gani Fawehinmi Annual lecture/symposium delivered at the Airport Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos, by the distinguished scientist, Marxist scholar and social activist, Professor Omotayo Olorode of the Department of Biological Sciences, University of Abuja. With his characteristic brilliance and analytic clarity, Professor Olorode clinically dissected contemporary Nigeria’s political economy and its glaring revolutionary pressures. In his contribution to the discourse on that occasion, the Chairman of the event, Osun State Governor, Ogbeni Raufu Aregbesola, stressed that the fundamental key to resolving the country’s contradictions is to deepen the emergent democratic culture. A skilled Marxian dialectician himself, Ogbeni Aregebesola has obviously tempered his revolutionary zeal with the realities of practical politics in a complex geo-cultural entity like Nigeria.

But then, I believe that the governor’s contention is being proved more and more correct by the day. Yes, the country confronts frightening realities. Insecurity is pervasive. Corruption is endemic. Infrastructure has collapsed. Structural deformities impede progress. Social services are anemic. Moral values are famished. But in the midst of this gloom, democracy remains the only feasible light out of darkness. But then, democracy is no magic wand. It can promote development only if the people understand the ‘grammar of politics’, appreciate the issues in contention and utilize the power of the vote in a rational and enlightened manner. It is only through the constant and consistent practice of democracy that the political instincts of the people can be sharpened and they become increasingly acculturated over time to utilizing the power of the vote in a way that can promote development.

It is all too easy to focus always on those myriad of things that are wrong with Nigeria. Equally tempting is the tendency to give up hope on the country and assume that things have irreversibly fallen apart. That is why last week I wrote, borrowing from Garcia Marquez, of hope in a season of national cholera. For as long as we keep striving to strengthen the structures, processes and values of democracy as well as the culture of the rule of law, we will gradually and systematically overcome the obstacles to national transformation. While Nigeria has unquestionably regressed in virtually every sphere of national life since 1999, she has in the last few years shown signs of democratic resurgence. The people are clearly becoming more aware of the power of the ballot box. It is becoming increasingly more difficult for governments to take the people for granted.

President Goodluck Jonathan’s minders understandably try to give him credit for the growing reliability and credibility of our elections. I really do not think he has a choice in the matter. Nigerians are gradually coming of age politically and there is no stopping them. In spite of his incumbency, President Jonathan himself had to campaign most vigorously to win votes in the last election. In the process, he made so many extravagant promises that are today haunting his administration. The President battles daily with the deep frustrations arising from the yawning gap between his promises of national transformation and the lack lustre performance of his administration. If things do not change, the people will surely be waiting for both he and his party at the next election. Even in Lagos, where he is universally acknowledged as having excelled, Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola had to campaign rigorously throughout the nooks and crannies of the state for his re-election. It was the same story for Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State who eventually triumphed after being given a stiff competition by the opposition despite his impressive record in office. Welcome to the age of peoples power and the gradual erosion of the arrogance of incumbency.

The latest theatre in the ongoing battle for the deepening of democracy in Nigeria is Ondo State. What is becoming obvious in the run up to the October 20 governorship election in Ondo State is that propaganda not backed by actual performance on the ground can only be of negligible electoral value. My good friend and brother, Mr. Kayode Akinmade, the Ondo State Commissioner for Information, is clearly doing a yeoman’s job. But it is only a magician that can sell a non-existent product. As I travelled extensively through Ondo State last week visiting Akure, Ikare, Ore and Ondo, the chasm between the contrived television images and the actual developmental realities in the Sunshine state was glaring.

It was no wonder that in Thursday’s debate among the candidates of the Labour Party (LP), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), a usually confident and self assured Governor Olusegun Mimiko was testy and tense. He was clearly on the defensive. For a man who had nursed the ambition to be governor for so many years, Mimiko is clearly not in an enviable position. From whom so much was expected so little has been delivered. The PDP candidate, Olusola Oke, is obviously a confident and competent debater. But he stands on the flawed platform of a party that has grossly underdeveloped the country over the last 13 years. Like Governor Fashola of Lagos State, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN), is no soaring orator. He is more legalistic and serious minded rather than populist in his approach to issues. Given his track record as a professional over the years and his brilliant tenure as President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), which has named its national head quarters in Abuja in his honour, Akeredolu has the pedigree to replicate in Ondo the transformational feats of his fellow SAN, Fashola, who Mimiko has admitted is performing excellently in Lagos.

Mimiko’s handlers have effectively publicised endorsements for the governor’s re-election by such figures as Chief Ayo Adebanjo, Chief Olu Falae, Chief Reuben Fasoranti, Dr. Tunji Braithwaite, Dr Frederick Faseun and Mrs Ganiat Fawehinmi. Even though these are highly respected Nigerians, it is unlikely that their endorsements will be of any meaningful electoral value to Mimiko on October 20. In any case, none of them has come out with any detailed facts and figures on why they believe Mimiko deserves a second term. The charismatic and controversial Lagos preacher, Pastor Tunde Bakare, has also emphatically backed Mimiko. In Bakare’s words, “Mimiko will win hands down in Ondo State and nothing will happen. Thereafter, he will muster strength and there will be an alternative party as people would begin to see leadership by living right and not by material acquisition of flying jets over the people, without letting us know how you come about the jets when you have little or no money in your pocket when you became the governor of Lagos State.”

Now, it is difficult to categorise Bakare’s words here as prophesy or analysis. He merely makes assertions without attempting to demonstrate them logically or empirically. On what basis, for instance, will “Mimiko win hands down”? Is it based on performance or because Bakare has heard an authoritative voice from God on the matter? Utilising helicopters for campaigns is not new in Nigeria. The great Awo used this mode of transportation for his campaign in the run up to the 1959 elections. Awo even used sky writing mechanisms that emblazoned the name and symbol of his party in the sky! The Labour party is a hollow shell and does not pretend to be an alternative to any party. If Pastor Bakare has evidence of corrupt enrichment by anybody, he should petition the anti-corruption agencies rather than making unsubstantiated insinuations.

It is important that a person of Pastor Bakare’s stature and integrity does not make frivolous statements lacking in empirical accuracy and analytic rigour. Must the people of Ondo State vote for Mimiko because Bakare says so or because the Governor has performed? Is it true that the state has received over N600 billion in the last three and a half years including the N38 billion inherited from the Agagu administration, Federal Allocation and Internally Generated Revenue? Do the projects executed by the Mimiko administration do justice to this huge inflow of resources, which makes Ondo the second richest state in the South-West after Lagos? Is it true that the Mimiko administration has incurred a debt of N20 billion and yet has borrowed another N50 billion from the capital market?

Is it true that the following projects promised by Mimiko have either been abandoned or not even commenced at all? : the N273 million stadium at Ile-Oluji; the N1.5 billion Dome project in Akure; the Akure stadium; the Ondo-Akure dualisation project; the Arakale road dualisation project; the Owena Dam at Owo; the five kilometre road dualisation project in Owo town; the Igbokoda township road from Ugbo junction to the jetty; the N5 billion Ore sunshine Mega plaza City planned for 153 hectares of land along Ore-Sagamu road; the expansion of Oyemekun road in Akure to a six-lane Mega highway or the promised water project in Akure to name just a few? Surely, Nigeria’s democracy has grown beyond political pastors hoodwinking the people in the name of God.

I have adapted as the title of this piece the famous Latin American literature Nobel Prize winner, Garcia Marchia’s novel, ‘Love in the Time of cholera’. The reason for this is of course obvious. The last 52 years have been a season of national cholera for Nigeria. Cholera has been described as an acute intestinal disease that is often fatal. Pray, are the intestinal component units, institutions and values of the Nigerian state not severely diseased, contaminated and in grave danger of irredeemable extinction?

The causes of cholera include poor sanitation, crowding, war, famine as well as eating or drinking contaminated food or water. Do millions of our people not live in insanitary and dehumanising environments? Are millions of Nigerians across the country not forced to live in overcrowded rooms, including slums and urban shanties? Are we not already in a situation of war with the violent activities of the Boko Haram fundamentalist Islamic group, kidnappers, armed robbers and sundry criminal elements that continue to defy the authority of the Nigerian state?

Are millions of Nigerians not living today in conditions difficult to differentiate from famine? The value of the Naira continues to plummet. At the same time food prices keeps rising thus making hunger the constant companion of the vast majority of Nigerians. In any case, can the vast majority of jobless youths afford to feed in any meaningful manner? Do millions of Nigerians have access to clean drinking water despite the country being blessed so abundantly with water? Have we not seen some of our compatriots foraging in garbage dumps for something to eat? In a condition of mass poverty with the minimum wage embarrassingly far below the cost of living, can many Nigerians, already living in desperately poor conditions, really care about the quality of food they eat? Are they, therefore, not vulnerable to eating contaminated food?

In other words, the conditions for the outbreak of national cholera are right here with us? And in many ways Nigeria is already exhibiting symptoms of cholera, which include watery diearrhea that starts suddenly (Boko Haram), rapid dehydration (massive corruption), rapid pulse (insecurity), nausea (Otedollar/Lawan saga), glassy or sunken eyes (collapsed education and health) as well as unusual sleepiness and tiredness (anaemic presidential leadership).

To treat cholera, health care workers replace fluid and electrolytes lost by the patient through diearrhea. But can Nigeria find the right type of visionary, courageous and selfless leadership that can cure this scourge of cholera that is slowly suffocating and insidiously bleeding the Nigerian polity to death? As I drove out of Lagos during the week, these were the questions on my mind. Can President Goodluck Jonathan be that quintessential statesman that will restore the country to socio-economic, political and moral health? There is absolutely no reason to believe he has any such capacity. And nothing demonstrates this better than his Independence Day anniversary speech to the nation. As many analysts have said, the speech was listless, insipid, colourless, utterly uninspiring and even bordering on terminological inexactitude (not falsehood), in some parts.

Even more alarmingly, the speech gave the impression of a presidency absolutely out of touch with the contemporary Nigerian reality and is thus satisfied with its performance so far. President Jonathan called on “every Nigerian to remain steadfast because our nation is making progress”. I am not sure that deep in his heart the President believes this outrageous claim that contrasts so sharply with the state of the country today.

Nothing illustrated the lack of progress in Nigeria better than the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway on which I was travelling as I reflected on our 52nd Independence Day anniversary and President Jonathan’s leadership capacity. Like several other highways across the country, this road has been abandoned by the PDP-controlled Federal government since 1999. The pot holes and veritable craters on the road are a national embarrassment. No, we have regressed rather than progressed in virtually all aspects of national life contrary to President Jonathan’s assertion. In reality, the country is far worse today than she was in 1999.

President Jonathan is most certainly right in recalling how the country “weathered the storm of the civil”, and urging Nigerians to be courageous and hopeful. But then, if the necessary radical institutional and structural reforms to make the country strong and viable are not undertaken we will inevitably end up with another conflagration much worse than the civil war. So far his administration’s Transformation Agenda remains just another slogan that simply does not resonate with the majority of the Nigerian people. The more the Jonathan administration shouts about its Transformation Agenda from the hilltop, the more the people get poorer and angrier at the inhuman conditions of their existence.

All through the speech, Mr. President gave the impression of a man who is satisfied with the performance of his administration so far. He measures economic progress not by the actual reality and deplorable living standards of Nigerians but by abstract GDP statistical growth rates. How can a country be said to have an economic growth rate of 7.1% yet the majority of her people are impoverished and her infrastructure dilapidated beyond comprehension?

The President is naturally happy about the recent marginal improvement in power supply. In reality, he ought to be very sad and angry that a country with a population of 160 million is only attaining 4,500 MW of electricity after 13 years of the return to civilian rule and over $16 billion gone down the drain. Millions of unemployed youths across the country would find the President’s claim of “creating wealth and millions of jobs for our youth and general population” most laughable.

The President claimed his administration has improved the country’s investment climate thus attracting more investment to the country. He believes that due to his administration’s efforts “there has been a significant decline in the spate of security breaches”. Yet, Mr. President addressed the nation from the safety of his Aso Rock Villa rather than preside over a presidential parade at the Eagle Square! What signal does he think that sends to foreign investors and even Nigerians about the true state of security in the country?

In spite of all that is wrong with Nigeria, there is cause for hope that this season of cholera will soon come to an end. But, then that can only happen when people are politically conscious and are prepared to make the necessary sacrifices to fight for a credible electoral system that will ensure their votes count. That way, they will be able to vote for candidates at all levels with the character, competence and vision to promote development, peace and progress of Nigeria. A credible electoral system will put public officers on their toes because they know that the electorate has the capacity to vote them out of office through free and fair elections. A credible electoral system is therefore the only hope for the liberation of Nigeria from this humiliating season of national cholera. The last test case was Edo. The people voted emphatically for change. The next port of call on October 20 is Ondo state. Yours truly was in Akure, Ikare, Ondo town and Ore during the week. I was utterly shocked at the total lack of development; the terrible deterioration of infrastructure and the palpable poverty in at least in those three key towns. Now, if the towns look like large urban slums, what would be the situation in the rule areas of Ondo state? I could thus understand the huge turn out at the ACN rallies and the yearning for change that is so obvious in the state. It is up to the people to exercise the power of their vote and vigilantly police their votes. The outcome of the Ondo polls will hopefully be another giant stride towards liberating Nigeria from the national cholera of the past 52 years.

You must give it to Dr. Olusegun Mimiko. There must be a reason why he was given the sobriquet, Iroko. The Iroko tree is a most interesting one in Yoruba cosmogony. To some, the Iroko is the king of trees. This is probably why King Sunny Ade famously sang that “Iroko ni baba igi, olomoshikata ni baba agbado, asesere bere ni o, ijo ti ya”. But then, in another context, the same Sunny Ade sang that “Bi sango paraba bon fa Iroko ya, bi ti igi nla ko”. There is the Iroko tree. There is ‘Igi nla’, the big tree. Mimiko had every opportunity in the world to transform himself from Iroko to the invincible ‘Igi nla’ but he blew it big time. The tiny but dangerous termites constitute the most destructive elements to the most formidable trees. The tree may look formidable from the outside. But if the termite has devoured it from within, it is but a shallow plank. Of course, there is an antidote to the insidious poison of the termites. It is the powerful insecticide devised by science. Now, what insecticides would have prevented the internal devouring that has rendered a once formidable Iroko of Ondo so electorally vulnerable? First, would be a formidable party structure. And second would be outstanding performance.

It is no news that the Labour Party structure under Mimiko has fragmented badly. His party’s Chairman and Deputy Chairman are among those who have dumped both the governor and the party. Only last week, three of Mimiko’s key aides resigned. However, the governor’s highly efficient propaganda machine claims they were sacked. But does that not suggest serious internal haemorrhage within the government and the party? Would a confident governor have cause to sack three key aides barely a month to a critical election? Despite Mimiko’s immense executive powers, many of his key aides have abandoned him. The number of aspirants that sought to contest against him in the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), even if one or two of them later went back to their vomit with the emergence of the candidate, speaks volumes about his political and electoral vulnerability. Of course, no one can doubt that Mimiko is politically astute. But given his own record of serial political betrayals – Ajasin, Olumilua, Adefarati, Agagu – it is understandable that Mimiko would be unwilling to empower other individuals within the Labour Party. That has become a serious political albatross he has to contend with.

One or two readers that responded to last week’s piece, asked if every state in the South West must belong to the ACN. Most certainly not. However, there are two critical issues germane to the liberation and development both of the South West and Nigeria. First, is devolution of powers, responsibilities and resources from the centre to the component parts of the federation and second is regional economic integration to stimulate faster national development. Mimiko’s Labour party in Ondo State believes in neither. If it did, I would certainly not be wasting my time and energy writing this piece.

Now, the second insecticide that could have helped preserve Mimiko’s Iroko myth is performance. Has Mimiko performed? His die hard opponents will say he has done absolutely nothing. But his supporters sing his praises to the high heavens. I decide to take a more nuanced position. Ondo State is the only oil producing state in the South West. It therefore enjoys derivation funding from the Federal Government. Does the achievement of the Mimiko administration on the ground match the level of funding it has received? I doubt it. Its propagandists have made much of the Child and Maternal Care Centre built in Akure for instance. But then, is that enough for the health care sector of a state that receives derivation funding as an oil producing state? Fashola has built five Child and Maternal Care Centres! The Mimiko administration has not responded to criticisms that it has not completed more than two of its road construction projects. Even more disturbing is the triumphalism that has characterized the Mimiko re-election campaign. The governor seems convinced that he has performed creditably. He is satisfied with himself. Yet, even governors like Fashola, Oshiomhole, Amaechi, Lamido, Fayemi, Aregbesola, who have been lauded for good governance, have been subdued in acknowledging their performance. They know that they can do much more if we had a more equitable and just federation. The way Nigeria is structured today makes it inevitable for the country to perform at a low level of economic equilibrium no matter how brilliantly some governors try to perform. If Mimiko, therefore, is so self satisfied with his first term performance, it means he has set a low threshold of performance and can only lapse into complacency if given a second term.

As I stated last week, the outcome of the Ondo elections will have implications far beyond the Sunshine state. It will be a referendum on whether or not we want Nigeria to continue in her present condition. The electorate in Edo State in the last election, against all odds, voted for change. The outcome of the polls was an indication that the people want a new Nigeria. Neither primordial sentiments nor intimidation could sway them. The Ondo State polls offer another opportunity for Nigerians to affirm their view on the state of the nation. The election is not just about Ondo State. It is about Nigeria. It is about regional integration. May God Almighty grant the people of the Sunshine state; the state where the revolutionary Action Group was born over five decades ago, the wisdom to make the right decision. A vote for the continuity of Nigeria in her present condition, which is what Mimiko stands for, will be suicidal.