The Nation Newspaper

Category: Sunday

  • Sorry, I don’t have Tinubu’s contacts

    Sorry, I don’t have Tinubu’s contacts

    In the season of political campaigns, many people want to reach the candidates or those very close to them for various reasons.

    Some claim they have suggestions that can enhance their campaigns and guarantee their victory like a sure banker in Bet Naija.

    Some want to be part of the campaign in any way possible because of their acclaimed political followership in their communities.

    No one admits he or she wants to get his or her own share of the campaign funds from especially the ‘deep pocket’ candidates.

    Having worked in The Nation Newspaper, supposedly owned by you know who as a top editor for about 14 years, some rightly think I should be somehow close to the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential candidate, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu or some of his top aides and strategists.

    What should have reinforced their expectations from me and not believe my not to have the kind of contacts they need is that my knowing Tinubu dates back to the 90’s.

    Interestingly, I knew him before he became a Senator. Guess who introduced him to a group of Political Editors, the Turaki Adamawa, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar somewhere in Lagos.

    I still remember the exact words of the former Vice President while introducing Tinubu, Iyorchia Ayu and one other candidate I can’t recall his name now.

    “Gentlemen, I want you to help these my friends, they are contesting for the Senate.”

    Atiku was that kind of person who was interested in the success of others and went out of his way to seek support.

    I remember one aide of Chief Dapo Sarumi, the Chief Primose, trying to schedule interviews for Tinubu with The Punch where I was the Group Political Editor, but only managed to have one during a ride across the city. There was also a limit to how much focus you can have on one candidate.

    After he became a Senator, I didn’t have any contact with him for years because I had left The Punch and was not involved in reporting Politics.

    Yes, I worked in The Nation for 14 years and only met him once by chance. I was in a group of editors from various media houses he addressed mainly on the justifications for backing former Governor Raji Fashola.

    “Every indication shows he is the right man for the job, trust me,” he told the editors most of whom did not really know Fashola well or those who think he doesn’t have the clout for the position.

    My employment had nothing to do with my past encounter with Tinubu. I applied for the vacant position and the management found me suitable.

    I know the MD and some select top management staff meet with Tinubu once in a while and they tell us a few things and as senior experienced editors we know the right thing to do.

    Once in a while when we are not careful enough and we allow somethings to get into print, the MD will just tell you, “you are on your own, decide what you want to publish.”

    There are times when we get feedback that some staff are over promoting some APC governors because what’s happening in their state does not match what we are reporting or their claims.

    When some top APC members complain about one particular columnist accusing him of criticising them, Oga’s response is “Efi sile. Gbogbo wa o le sun ka Kori si Ibikan na (We cannot all be thinking same way”.

    Sorry for my long digression, but it’s necessary to justify while I have not been too helpful to those who think I should know the inner workings of the political team of the Lion of Bourdilon.

    Unfortunately but as I prefer it, I am to a large extent apolitical. I just want to do my job and move on as a journalist should because I know enough how politicians operate.

    Maybe if I have exploited my past relationships with politicians, maybe if I had even accepted political positions which I was once offered, maybe.

    But that’s too late now. I just want to do my media career work in peace, I don’t want any BATIST, ATIKULATED or OBIDIENT supporter to see me as an enemy based on the acrimonious exchanges I am seeing online.

    I have not had any contact with the Presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, but I have no doubt that he is also a good candidate like Tinubu and Atiku. It’s up to the voters to decide who to vote for.

    Journalists quarrelling over politicians should realize that they have their career to face when all these campaigns are over.

    When the elections are won and lost, politicians will put it behind them and move on. Some will even join the winning side.

    When the final result is announced, some of them will do the Jonathan style. They will call winner. God bless Goodluck Jonathan.

    Let’s be moderate in how we stake our professional career in supporting politicians.

    If you are interested in working for any candidate get in and declare your stand.

    For those who still need Tinubu’s contacts, sorry I can’t help much.

    Maybe if you join the party at the local level like Doyin Okupe did when he wanted to be involved in politics long ago, and make valid contributions, somehow you may be noticed and your contributions will be passed on to the top.

    If you also write on platforms where you can be read or get interviewed on broadcast stations, someone at the political control room may get across to you.

  • 2023 Presidency: Perspectives. Processes. Policies. Pedigrees

    2023 Presidency: Perspectives. Processes. Policies. Pedigrees

    “Today, the questions you all you must ask yourselves are these: who can be trusted to accomplish all of this? The man who has done it before, or the man whose most lasting achievement as Vice President is the corrupt sale of national assets to his friends and cronies?

    “Who has the better plan? The man whose blueprint guided the emergence of Lagos State as fifth largest economy in Africa or the man whose greatest pride is the amount of money he managed to bury in sand while his state’s infrastructure decayed and its workers suffered endless hardship?

    “The choice is yours …” (sic) – Tinubu @ Town Hall Meeting with NLC and TUC, Abuja

    IT is Christmas day! Blessed be God Almighty for the Perfect Gift bequeathed to the world in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, it is not Xmas but Christmas we should celebrate in remembering the Saviour and Redeemer, Jesus Christ. Now to the matter of the day. This columnist was called upon to be a guest on a live radio programme whilst on a journey a few days ago. There was no prior information as to the time and details; the journalist’s appeal was granted because as a researcher, opinion molder and public affairs analyst, I have learnt to “be prepared” like the Boys’ Scout motto. The live interview was to commence within five minutes of his call. The car pulled up at a safe place off the road. One pointed question posted to me was: with up to two months of the Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji’s (BAO) administration in Ekiti, what is the visible achievement on ground? Instinctively, the professional civil/structural engineer in me was aroused. In responding, yours sincerely depicted an analogy. In any building construction, the foundation stage takes time and tinkering in erection. Equally, the edifice’s size, stature and structure will dictate the type and nature of the foundation. Moreover, and very vital, the nature of the soil is critical to the foundation design and construction. If the ground is marshy or swampy, and a tall building (like 20 floors) is to be erected, the foundation will likely be on piles and may take a few months to be erected. However, if it is a bungalow, in a firm and rocky ground, the foundation will be built within possibly a week, provided the men, materials, money and machinery are available and sufficient. In essence, depending on the blueprint or building plan possessed by the builder, two months or even six months may be inadequate a time span to evaluate objectively the performance of a governor or president in the saddle. In essence, building is a process involving drawing up a plan, setting it out, amassing the inputs (men, money, materials, machinery), directing the inputs accordingly to accomplish the tasks (output), tracking or monitoring the steps to ensure scheduled milestones are accomplished, etc.

    Leadership: Perspectives and Processes

    Analogically, building is a process akin to leadership. Leadership is a process; no more a personality or great person in power: this is the concurrence among scholars involved in leadership and followership studies globally.  In succinctly surmising it, the acclaimed pioneer scholar in the field of leadership studies, Professor Bennis Warren opined: “Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality.” In law, there is a term referred to as ‘caveat emptor’ meaning buyer beware. Hence, any supposed leader pussyfooting with a strategic footprint (manifesto) is seemingly taking followers for a ride. The manifesto is synonymous with the builder’s blueprint or plan. The perspectives of the leader are encapsulated in the manifesto, and for a presidential candidate that was apparently coerced into crafting a manifesto after months of foot dragging, former Governor Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP), is seemingly unprepared for the onerous task of casting a vision talk less of actualizing one! Leader looks at, analyses and processes perspectives in an inclusive context to arrive at a policy that will be a win -win for both the followers and leader. This is the ideal value laden leadership prevalent in strategic, servant and transformational leadership approaches. This is a far cry from the dominant and pervading transactional leadership style which is more of what is in it for me. As 25th February 2023 beckons, the date of the presidential poll, followers are to tinker and tune to the stand and stake of the popular leadership practitioner and mentor, John Maxwell, who rightly posited: “a leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.” This columnist is challenging the mass of followers to come out of ethnic, tribal and religious cocoons and choose a credible, cerebral and capable man to be in the saddle come 29th May 2023; imperatively, one who knows the way, goes the way and shows the way. How can followers decipher and discern these traits in the man to choose? Pedigree.

    Pedigree: Precursor of Performance

    It is stated in Yoruba common parlance: “eniti o ma da’so fun eniyan, torun e lanwo” (meaning: he who promises to sow you a cloth, you should look well at the one he is putting on). Saliently and succinctly stated, this was the pristine perspective of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the town hall meeting in Abuja, the Federal Capital, involving the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC). He simply and squarely stated inter alia: “Today, the questions you all you must ask yourselves are these: who can be trusted to accomplish all of this? The man who has done it before, or the man whose most lasting achievement as Vice President is the corrupt sale of national assets to his friends and cronies?

    “Who has the better plan? The man whose blueprint guided the emergence of Lagos State as fifth largest economy in Africa or the man whose greatest pride is the amount of money he managed to bury in sand while his state’s infrastructure decayed and its workers suffered endless hardship?

    “The choice is yours …” (sic)

    What a challenge thrown at the opposition camps of the duo of the candidates of the Labour Party (LP), Mr. Peter Obi, and People Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar! Critically and cautiously, perusing the contents of the statements, one cannot but conclude on pedigree. Definitely, followers cannot afford to gift the presidency to a non-performer in public office, especially fixating on previous records in office of the trio of Tinubu, Obi and Atiku. Tinubu words are seemingly sacrosanct and without any gainsaying, Tinubu towers heads and shoulders above the duo of Atiku and Obi in this regard. The processing of perspectives resulting, overtime, in strategic policy formulation and execution has culminated in making Lagos, the once dirtiest state, to be the wealthiest. Albeit, Lagos being a state, is a subnational within the awkward federal government of Nigeria, it is the acclaimed 5th economy in Africa, if it was reckoned as a country, and not a state. What a way to measure development in concrete terms from 1999 to 2022! It is pertinent to mention in arriving here, that the State of Aquatic Splendour, Lagos, has been consistent in the choice of courageous, credible and capable leaders within the same political family. This columnist can attest to this having served under three helmsmen within the prestigious Lagos State Civil Service. It is on record that I served as Director, Monitoring and Evaluation under Fashola, Ambode and Sanwo-Olu tenures before meritoriously bowing out in January 2021 at the attainment of the statutory retirement age of 60. No other state has been as favourably disposed as Lagos. The credit should be given to Tinubu for spotting, attracting, pulling, nurturing and mentoring talents (followers) into capable and cerebral leaders who could hold their own in any context. Any living leader in the present-day Nigeria depicting this adroit and adept strategic skills in this fashion and mold?

    In concluding this piece, it is imperative for followers to watch out for a foresighted leader come 2023. Nigeria is in such a dire damning existential fiasco whilst seemingly tottering towards apparent economic eclipse. It is when followers collaboratively jettison puerile, pedestrian and pecuniary perspectives that Nigeria could come up, and out, of any socio-economic and political quagmire. Hence, the followers must choose right on 25th February 2023. They must not settle for a manager but a sagacious leader, tinkering in tandem with the positing of a famous leadership scholar and advisor to four United States of America (USA) presidents, Professor Warren Bennis: “the manager accepts the status quo; the leader challenges it.” The dire need of the moment as 2023 presidential poll beckons is for followers to choose a leader that could challenge the status quo ante, and not one who’s manifesto depicts a micro – managing of the country that is apparently sulking and sinking through rarified regional and religious remonstrations. Surmising it, based on tracking leadership processes, perspectives, policies and pedigrees; simultaneously taking cognizance of records whilst in public office, the APC candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is adjudged as the man suited for the job of fixing this ailing country come 29th May 2023.

    • John Ekundayo, Ph.D. – Harvard-Certified Leadership Strategist, and also a Development Consultant, can be reached via +2348030598267 (WhatsApp only) and drjmoekundayo@hotmail.com.
  • 2023: The make or break year for Nigeria

    2023: The make or break year for Nigeria

    I began “Lest Nigeria Strays Into War’, published on these pages on July 28, 2019 with the following comment from a compatriot who was reacting to the article on the column the previous week: “Re your last week article – ‘Rwandan genocide: Elementary lessons of history’, the historical account you gave on what triggered the First World War, and what culminated in the Rwandan genocide, are as scary as they are frightening. And it requires no extra-sensory perception to know how indicative they are of what may befall Nigeria if President Buhari remains undecided as to the way out of the near implosion of our country” – Emmanuel Egwu.

    Because my late friend, of blessed memory, the highly prolific Dr Anthony Akinola, forwarded the article to the USAAfrica Dialogueseries for publication, it also received many comments, especially from outside Nigeria, an example being this one from Ghana: “Sitting calmly under a coconut tree and drinking fresh and delicious coconut water at Elmina Bay Resort in Central Ghana, I very much enjoyed Femi Orebe’s “Lest Nigeria Strays Into War”. Sadly, it did remind me of another prophetic piece I read (as a Ghanaian Journalist working in Nigeria and UK, respectively), before the beginning of Nigeria’s catastrophic civil war. That published column was titled, “Before Darkness Falls.” In my legendary Baba Ijebu’s vernacular, is Orebe’s current piece, akin to “Before Darkness Falls”, a doomsayer’s prediction? I hope not”. “So, as Baba Ijebu would have counselled: Let our Nigerian brothers jaw-jaw, but not war-war!! After all, war — civil war or otherwise –is not a pretty business”. A.B. Assensoh

    “Proceeding from my last Sunday article on the Rwandan genocide, I took the opportunity of an invitation by the Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG) to give a pre – meeting talk last Sunday (21/07/19), on any topic of my choice, and I chose to canvas a peaceful resolution of our Nigeria’s challenges.

    In the article you are about to read, captioned: ‘Lest Nigeria strays into war’, I continued with the same theme. It was, therefore, a pleasant and heartwarming coincidence, to see a group of eminent Nigerians, same week, pondering over our grim situation, concluding that Nigeria is on the verge of a war and, therefore, cautioned that all hands must be on deck to avert the looming disaster. Amongst them are Dr Christopher Kolade, former Nigerian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, former Director General Nigeria Television Authority (NTA), Pastor  Shyngle Wigwe; Prof Anya Anya;  Ambassador George Obiozor, Chief Philip Asiodu, Mrs. Folake Solanke, Professor Akin Mabogunje, Mr Olumide Onabolu and Ladi Thompson.

    Their plea could not have come at a more auspicious time and it is hoped that our politicians would take this as a divine call and work towards a peaceful resolution of all our challenges”.

    It is a moot question now if fissiparous tendencies in Nigeria then were as dire as they are today with, among other things, non state actors destroying everything INEC, and working assiduosly towards rendering the election umpire hors de combat, long before the scheduled dates.

    The perpetrators of these nefarious activities, among who security agencies have fingered politicians and ethnic nationalist state agitators, deserve a learning curve, if only to know what danger they are playing with.

    This, therefore, takes me to that talk with the Afenifere Renewal Group from which I shall be quoting at some length.

    I said as follows:

    “In his article captioned ‘Egbe Omo Yoruba and the Nigerian Project’, Segun Gbadegesin, a Professor of Philosophy wrote: “In Failed State 2030: Nigeria- A Case Study – a 2011 Occasional Paper No. 67 by Colonel Christopher Kinnan and others of  the Air War College, USA, the authors noted that in a 2007 Failed State Index, “with the largest population in Africa and a top-20 economy, Nigeria ranked the 17th most likely to fail” on a list of 148 countries.

    It is a dire assessment of the state of the nation. But there are, he notes, more notable points in the study. First, the factors that the authors identify as conducive to state failure include “an uneven economic and social development; a failure to address group grievances; and a perceived lack of government legitimacy” – all three are, unfortunately, as Nigerian as our national anthem”.

    Second, in 2011, the study notes that “the youth bulge in Nigeria may swap roles from productive laborers to disaffected rebels in the next two decades.” In 2019, we are already witnessing widespread banditry, kidnapping, armed robbery, and cultism by rebellious youths.

    Third, the authors suggest that a state that fails may require up to 56 years to recover, or it may actually never recover.

    Fourth, a failed state is a threat to the survival and prosperity of ethnic-nationalities. Therefore, when a multinational state like Nigeria fails, even the quest of ethnic-nationalities for independence may not be realised. So much then for the drumbeats of war and our passion for ending it all so we could go our separate ways”.

    Gbadegesin went further: “What does this all mean for our present heightened political rhetoric? First, another civil war is not an option simply because it will not end well for any zone. 2019 is not 1967. To borrow an analogy from the study authors, our china plate is so full of many cracks now that allowing it to drop on a hard floor will lead to many broken pieces”.

    So what should we do as Nigerians to turn back from this road to Golgotha?

    That question rightly deserves to be the focus of today’s article.

    But then, first things first. We must leave politicians and non state actors already identified by the police to be dealt with, squarely, by the security agencies while we rather choose to concentrate on about the most dangerous, but benign, of Nigeria’s deadliest enemies; so described because they believe that because they are very rich and powerful, they are above the law of the land. They equally believe that because they have the most sophisticated airplanes in their hangars, and with which they can hop out of Nigeria at the drop of a pen or a bomb, it matters nothing, if they deploy their mostly illiterate church slaves to spread views that are worse than those which precipitated the horrible Rwandan genocide.

    I talk here of the politicians in religious garbs who use, not just their pulpits, but all means of communication, to spread extremely divisive views, forgetting that should the looming disaster eventuate, not only Nigeria, but the entire West African sub region will be completely destroyed, ran over by hordes of safety and exile seeking Nigerians, thousands, if not millions, of who could perish in the process.

    In case they are too conceited because of their stupendous wealth to see this possibility, they should watch CNN to see what is currently happening at the U.S southern border where the most powerful nation on earth is grappling, unsuccessfully, with an unprecedented surge of the ‘wretched of the earth’ from her southern neighbours. And in case they do not know this: all that anybody can know is when a war starts; certainly not how it will end.

    This is a group of dangerous, politically – motivated, indeed, satanic religionists who are encouraging their dumb followers to inundate the country with asinine, religiously motivated campaigns complete, in some cases, with cheap videos containing worse preachments than what has precipitated wars in different parts of the world.

    Commenting, this past week, on one such video which, unfortunately, found its way to a WhatsApp platform to which I belong, I wrote:

    “This is a very dangerous, politically motivated video that must have cost the maker a pretty penny. Anyway, they have funding patriarchs. So money is not their problem.This exactly is how these powerful religious zealots cause wars that completely destroy nations when they inflame, and ignite, the passion of people who are majorly half illiterates.

    The satanic man, that is, the video maker, said, among other things, that the NorthWest and the SouthWest have an alliance. And I ask: is the purpose, which is well known to be political, and resulted in the APC, intended to Islamise Nigeria?

    How will that happen?

    Didn’t they once say they would “open the gates of hell on whoever opposed President Goodluck Jonathan?”. Where did that take them or the decent man they supported only because he is of their religion? What conflagration will Nigeria not see were Muslims to behave like these gods of men?

    Still playing God, they have now gone overboard, mis-speaking, and claiming that “the number of people who vote for APC in 2023 will determine the number of mad people in Nigeria”.

    How does a so- called Man of God bring himself to utter those nauseating words?

    Happily, a respected Man of God, proudly an ArchBishop of the Anglican Communion, has asked them to just shut up; admonishing them to the effect “that religious leaders must see themselves as instruments of unity, whatever their personal political preferences”. 

    Continued the educated ArchBishop: “let candidates’ manifestoes and competence speak for them and not their religion or tribe”. “Religious leaders are part of the political problems we have in this country”.

    They, however, need to be further schooled that spreading their kind of inflammable campaign is dangerous rhetoric that can bring about consequences we least expect.

    They should rather just use their PVCs to elect their Saint and not blindly drag Nigeria into war.

    They are supporting those who claim they are not a political party, but a movement. Change agents, they even surnamed themselves, as if Nigerians have forgotten that their Saint was a part and parcel of the past which they so cavaliarly thrash; one who has not been able to respond to any of the allegations of drug dealing made against him by respected association, as well as a young lady who was arrested, tried and jailed in faraway Peru.

    That is their Saint for whose sake these powerful Church people will think nothing of edging Nigeria into war.

    I can only urge Nigerians, like the ArchBishop counselled, to vote for  the candidate with the ability, the capability and a political trajectory suffused with well known, and measurable, achievements in public office.

  • 2023, Obasanjo and Obi

    2023, Obasanjo and Obi

    He will probably deny he has unequivocally endorsed Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate Peter Obi, but after months of dithering, ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo all but let the cat out of the bag last week in Enugu. There had been rumours that Mr Obi was his preferred candidate, but every time he was confronted about his choice, he either quibbled or tried to deflect it. Nearly all the serious contenders for the stool had visited him in Abeokuta, seeking, for whatever it was worth, his endorsement. He left them guessing. When the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, visited him in company with a host of highly acknowledged Yoruba leaders, they also left his presence thinking that they had won the elections. Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, who spoke with the press after the visit, stopped just short of saying Chief Obasanjo had endorsed Asiwaju Tinubu. But the Speaker exuded so much infectious confidence that no one thought the ex-president would ever gesture in another direction.

    Nigerians underestimate Chief Obasanjo. He is capable of incredible somersaults, including making the hound and the hare think he is hunting and running with them. But the elections are just a few weeks away, and the former president is as anxious about framing the issues that should influence the presidential poll as he is about determining who wins. His remarks after he signed the condolence register opened by Ohanaeze Ndigbo in Enugu in honour of the eminent First Republic Minister of Aviation, Chief Mbazulike Amaechi, who died on November 1, were however such that it would be difficult for the former president to walk back his decision to throw in his lot with Mr Obi. The LP candidate was also there, obviously not a coincidence. So, too, was the dour factional leader of Afenifere, Ayo Adebanjo, whose open and long-standing endorsement of the LP candidate had received much flak in the Southwest.

    Chief Obasanjo had remarked on the occasion: “So, if I put my hand on someone, it means that comparing with the other, I see that there is a merit that will be of benefit to Nigeria…And I believe that Chief Adebanjo stands for the same thing…What I believe, and what I think Pa Ayo Adebanjo believes, is not ethnic, it’s not sectional, it is not religious, it is Nigeria. I believe in equity, I believe in justice, I believe in one Nigeria.” According to newspaper reports, he went on to explain that Nigeria was at a critical moment and she needed someone with the character and capacity to turn things around. Character and capacity to turn things around? And yet he endorses Mr Obi? Well, only Chief Obasanjo is capable of reconciling the irreconcilable. As far as endorsements go, the former president is also in controversial company with other power brokers in Nigeria, particularly former heads of state. The others may not have made unequivocal statements about their choices, but the media suspect that a few key northern leaders are split between supporting Mr Obi and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Atiku Abubakar.

    It is reassuring that no retired general is in the race for the 2023 presidency, else the retired generals might be forced to coalesce into one jaundiced and nightmarish pigeonhole, as they did in 1999. It is also reassuring that finally, Nigeria’s power brokers, who had for decades influenced who became president, are about to lose their deposits. After cajoling and railroading the electorate into embracing selfish choices for decades, the country had still not fared any better. In fact, Nigeria had fared much worse. Now, the country is truly at a critical juncture, with fissures manifesting openly and precariously. Whatever choice it makes this time will determine whether it survives as a nation or finally become a failed state. The electorate may not have the dispassion and education to make the right and informed choice, especially seeing that many intellectuals and educated citizens themselves yield incredibly to sentiments and prejudices, but every cloud has a silver lining and voters may this time make the right choice.

    Chief Obasanjo and other past Nigerian leaders are unlikely to be counted among those who do right on leadership selection even by mistake. They never seem to want a president who would surpass them, someone with a mind of his own, someone competent and knowledgeable about how modern economies and states should be governed and would not need their help or sanctimonious talk and input, someone who would disgrace their past puny efforts. Sinking into that sort of irrelevance is too high a price for them to pay, and so they have often been irrational in supporting candidates lacking in self-esteem, and incomprehensible in analysing the qualities a leader must possess. Chief Obasanjo demonstrated this shortcoming once again in Enugu last week when he openly pondered the character of the leader Nigeria needs at this time. He, however, did not elaborate.

    There was nothing in Chief Obasanjo’s Enugu remarks to show he appreciated the character of the leader he glibly spoke about, seeing especially that he is himself a former leader, military general in wartime, military head of state in peacetime, twice elected president also in peacetime. He was expected to have a metaphysical grasp of leadership character. But there was nothing he said last week that showed he understood the essential Mr Obi beyond the candidate’s superficialities, that he knew the substance of the man and politician, nor did he give the public any indication that whatever character the LP candidate possessed was either suitable for these times or capable of ‘turning things around’. He should have stuck to Chief Adebanjo’s rather simple ratiocination of what qualifies Mr Obi for president – his ethnicity, to which is leashed the dubious virtue of ethnic (geopolitical) fairness or equity. But in Enugu last Monday, Chief Obasanjo tried to disavow the ethnic component influencing his choice, insisting with tons of contradictions that his preference was shaped by character and capacity. Nothing he said on that occasion, however, corroborated character or capacity, nothing except that he identified with Chief Adebanjo in suggesting that since they as Yoruba men both support Mr Obi, an Igbo, then the support could not be ethnic. This is syllogistic recklessness.

    Chief Obasanjo is of course at liberty to endorse anyone who catches his fancy, but as a former leader, he owes the country a better explanation for his endorsement than he has given. This is not to say that his more than one decade in office as a leader entitles him to that better understanding of the fundamentals of leadership and the intricate and esoteric essence of character. No, not at all. The relationship between leadership and character, as the increasingly incompetent flow of leadership all over the world demonstrates, is not always directly proportional. Chief Obasanjo, by his sheer longevity in office, has admittedly been the most astute and hard working leader Nigeria has produced to date. But even he falls far below the great standard. He knows little about leadership beyond presiding over the affairs of a country and having the smartness to survive in office, both as military head of state and elected president. In both, there were precious few occasions in which he showed the discipline and intellect required to envision the future for his country or altruistically back the right candidate for office.

    Having backed the wrong person as his successor in 2007, and refusing to allow democratic process to prevail in determining his successor, it was clear he knew little about the character he now prescribes and assigns to his choice for 2023. Writing in The Edge of the Sword, former French leader, Charles de Gaulle speaks of a man of character as someone who “finds a special attractiveness in difficulty, since it is only by coming to grips with difficulty that he can realise his potentialities.” In which year out of the eight he spent as Anambra State governor did Mr Obi demonstrate character? At a book launch, the hyperbolic Chief Adebanjo also spoke of Mr Obi glowingly as “a person that would cool me down for a better tomorrow,” adding, “your future is in your hands and your positive action will make Peter Obi the next President.” Not for once did any of the two endorsers mention Mr Obi as fulfilling the great test of character a leader must pass before he is recommended for higher responsibilities. Indeed, in that same book launch, the chairman of the occasion also spoke of “Peter Obi (as) the Moses of our time. He is blessed and anointed to change the whole vices and I assure you that he and Datti will take us to the Promised Land.” Donning Mr Obi with the messianic garb of deliverer has in fact become customary with the church, where he has been promoted to the level of transcendental leadership. How gullible can people be?

    Mr Obi, as a matter of fact, cultivates and deceptively politicises the church to augment his electoral chances. Whether this is advisable or not remains to be seen. But he was at the last Shiloh, the Winners Chapel annual retreat and spiritual conference in Ota, Ogun State, where his presence politicked for him far more than any ecclesiastical statement. There, as has become the custom in all the churches he has visited, he received deafening acclamation after David Oyedepo’s second-in-command, David Abioye, introduced him. Bishop Abioye is perhaps Mr Obi’s most frenetic supporter, and has sought openly and unapologetically to sway the church to support the candidate of his choice. It is, however, significant that the more subtle Bishop Oyedepo summed up that what Nigeria needs in 2023 is a deliverer, not a leader. It is not clear whether he spoke knowingly of the qualities the next president must possess or he chanced upon that logic and argument, but he at least prefers a deliverer, whatever that means. Whether he knows that Mr Obi is not a leader, and has so far not shown the gifts a leader must possess, is also unclear. Even then, drawing a dichotomy between a deliverer and leader is indeed problematic, for a leader must have, among other gifts, the capacity to deliver the people from their woes, and vice versa.

    Nigeria has been independent for some 62 years. Either by military coups or elections, it has nevertheless been unable to put the right leader with character and competence in office. Those who shot their way into office ineluctably became leaders without the requisite qualifications. Chief Obasanjo was one of them. Having assumed positions they did not merit, and having learnt little after they vacated office, they have struggled to identify leaders imbued with character and capacity, and had often backed the wrong horses. They are repeating the same mistake. Do not believe them when they isolate age, among other things, as a prerequisite for leadership; after all, most of them assumed leadership in their youth and made a hash of ruling Nigeria. Even the iconic Murtala Mohammed inspired policies that virtually upended Nigeria and catapulted it into the fast lane to nowhere. Chief Obasanjo, despite his two terms as elected president and about three years as military head of state, has still proved unable appreciate character and capacity, let alone see them in the men he has spent his infatuations promoting.

    Nigeria is not just 62 years old; it has also teetered badly between military dictatorship and civilian rule. Some 24 years into democratic rule in the Fourth Republic, national leaders have been unable to appreciate the urgent need to reform or even recreate the country’s democracy, either by substantial constitutional amendments or by total recreation of its constitution to produce a unique democracy anchored on leadership recruitment processes more inspiring and enduring than just elections. Given the endorsements by Chief Obasanjo, former leaders, religious groups, not to say the appalling incorporation of misbegotten factors in leadership selection, the country will be fortunate to avoid a mediocre choice in 2023. If with all their years in and out of office, Chief Obasanjo and others, including church leaders, can still not identify the salient factors to guide their preferences or appreciate what leadership character entails, how on earth would the ordinary voter, some of them poorly educated, be trusted to back the right candidates?

    The media, as the spat between ThisDay publisher Nduka Obaigbena and APC presidential candidate’s media handlers show, is sadly not immune to the mediocrity inundating the rest of the society. Media outfits can of course support and advocate for their candidates as they please. But to do it irresponsibly and arrogantly while hiding disingenuously behind the constitution reflects a corrosive whittling of media ethics at its worst. The APC candidate’s handlers may have had the upper hand in the eyes of the public, but they should brace for far more insidious, subterranean and perverse responses from their opponents in the guise of fair reporting. The denudation of public morality and professional ethic has trickled down from incompetent national leadership and snowballed into an avalanche. The corrosion will continue, for there is nothing in the horizon to arrest the drift, not from past leaders so-called, not from the larger society that can hardly tell its right from its left, and obviously not from the media which the association of newspaper owners and broadcast stations have carelessly left over the years to be hijacked by unscrupulous elements.

    In aligning themselves behind one candidate or the other, most of Nigeria’s past leaders showed a dismal capacity to even contemplate the future. The country is unraveling before their eyes; and they are fiddling with shortsighted glee. In 1993, Gen. Babangida was too self-centred to appreciate the dangers he was exposing the country to by annulling the presidential election of that year. He still defends his folly. In 1999, Gen Abdulsalami Abubakar failed to appreciate the benefit of delinking the democratic experiment of that year from any military hangover. He still smugly defends his direct and simplistic approach to returning the country to civil rule. In 2007, Chief Obasanjo cajoled his party into embracing his choice for the presidential election of that year. His party was cowed, and the former president still justifies the ensuing debacle, insisting offhandedly that his support for an aspirant did not necessarily translate into doing the job for him. Now, in the name of fairness and democracy, President Muhammadu Buhari has been standoffish about the next president, a clear indication that he is unable to summon the depth and vision to put the country in safe, courageous and competent hand.

    Yet, millenniums ago, the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar was agitated about what would come after his reign and was anxious to do the right thing to ensure his empire lasted. Julius Caesar went out of his way to identify his sickly nephew (Octavius) Augustus in order to sustain the Roman Empire’s greatness. And the Ottoman emperor Suleyman the Magnificent identified the most competent among his children as successor, with a little help from his wife of course, just like King David and Solomon. And then there is China today with its unique leadership recruitment process that enables competent administrators to assume office at various levels. Unlike Nigerian leaders, these all had the altruism and depth, of almost ethereal proportion, in appreciating leaders with character and capacity. The fear today is that Nigeria is in a frenzy of emotionalism regarding their choice of the next president. Intellectuals, political partisans, media essayists, presidency officials, and religious leaders appear to lack the ability to appreciate competent and visionary leaders. Should they get it wrong this time, especially at a time when the choice is even far easier to make than in the past, the country may be unable to survive the folly.

  • Governors grandstanding governance? (Part 2)

    Governors grandstanding governance? (Part 2)

    “This dereliction of duty from the centre is the main reason why people have been unable to engage in regular agrarian activity and commerce. Today, rural areas are insecure, markets are unsafe, travel surety is improbable … The opinion, therefore, of one minister, based on a survey of 56,000 households in a country of 200 million people can never diminish the good work that 36 pro-poor-minded governors are doing for this country.” – AbdulRazaque Bello-Barkindo, Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), Director of Media and Public Affairs.

     

    THERE was a village tucked between a forest and a bit of savannah vegetation. Surrounding villages are interconnected with this hamlet with foot paths laced with undulating hills and mountains. In this particular village, snakes are not a common sight. Possibly, the dangerous reptiles are kowtowing the ancient scriptural connotation: “wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.” Albeit, they exist in numbers, particularly the green-coloured species; mostly lurking surreptitiously under the lush green grass. There have been some instances of poisonous snake bites occurring within farmlands, playing fields and precincts of houses in and around this hamlet. It is on record that while a few of these nauseating incidents have resulted in cutting short precious human lives, many have caused untold hurt, harm and losses to victims and their loved ones. On a particular day, two relatives were going to the farm – a man and woman in their early thirties. In addition, both of them were armed with cutlasses. Suddenly, a slow-moving serpent emerged a few metres away from the footpath approaching a flat rocky surface. Instinctively, the woman was nearer the slow-moving reptile, and the man thought the onus lied on her to kill the serpent. Simultaneously, the woman was of the opinion that the man, being the male and, usually the head of a household in a normal village setting, should be proactive in cutting off the head of the snake. Indecision and insensitivity led to the escape of the snake into the bush! This incidence illustrated in this short story is amplified by a Yoruba wise saying: “Ki okunrin r’ejo, ki obirin pa ejo, ki ejo sa maa ti saa lo” (meaning: “A man may first see a snake while a woman succeeds in killing it; what matters at the end of the day is that the slithering reptile does not escape”).

    Germane Governors’ Grouse

    There is a common ground of accord in the face off between the governors and federal government. The states’ helmsmen concurred that poverty pervades the rural areas in comparison with the semi and urban areas. In the words of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), through its Director of Media and Public Affairs, AbdulRazaque Bello-Barkindo, he poignantly posited: “while rightly pointing out that 72 per cent of the poverty in Nigeria is found in the rural areas, the minister said that the rural populace had been abandoned by governors,” However, the governors’ germane grouse lies in the pervading insecurity ravaging most parts of the country with its attendant negative impact on agribusiness. Virtually and relatively, all parts of this country are affected with more concomitant consequences in the regions such as the north west and north east. Pointedly, Benue State Governor, Dr Samuel Ortom, has been at daggers’ drawn with the government at the centre for upwards of two years with some indigenes of that state losing lives and limbs. In fact, some of them have lost their farmlands to rampaging killer herdsmen whilst surviving farmers have eloped to other states to ply their trade. In essence, some governors have a gory story to tell. In essence, it is high time the Federal Government squarely and saliently addressed insecurity slowing down agricultural, economic and social activities in our rural communities. Here, the government at the centre has nowhere to hide! The best of the Federal Government in taming insecurity has not been tangibly seen by Nigerians especially the farmers in the rural areas. However, of late, the security forces have doubled their efforts in stemming the tide. Much more still needs to be done for the needed respite to be achieved!

    There was the issue of the Anchor Borrowers Programme raised by the minister. He was seemingly defensive. How accommodating and accessible is the programme for the states to plug in? Similarly, for all other Federal intervention schemes and fundings, particularly with the Central Banking of Nigeria (CBN). Year in, year out, many such seemingly poverty alleviating schemes are bogged down with naughty and nauseating red tapism that clog the wheel of progress thus enhancing expansion of poverty than ameliorating it! Pointedly: Do the Federal Government agencies and the CBN employ and exploit pertinent Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) skills to gauge or track output, outcome and impact in a result-based management approach? If our country is really serious in witnessing real developmental progress that followers can feel, see, touch, embrace and enjoy, this is the route to follow.

    How right is the stand and stake of the governors in prodding the issue of insecurity as the rationale for pervading poverty in the rural areas? This columnist is not on the same page with some of the governors in this matter as they could partly address this issue by partnering with the traditional rulers and local hunters from community to community depending on the context of the states. Moreover, more of the citizens could be mobilized for intelligence gathering through meaningful exploitation of the humongous security votes possessed by the men in the saddle at the subnational levels. In actual fact, some of the states are doing well in this regard. There is room to better their best! In essence, on the part of the governors, there should not be folding of arms or throwing up arms in the air in absolute surrender to bandits, terrorists, killer herdsmen and kidnappers. They should play their own part well whilst the security forces at the command and control of the President should complement.

    Lastly, the issue of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) should be concretely addressed by both the federal and state governments for efficient and effective delivery. Here again, modern Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) tools should be engaged and employed to monitor and track the output, outcome and impact of interventions henceforth. Enough of expending resources without commensurate value delivered! MEL is deployed globally by the World Bank, European Union (EU), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Africa Development Bank (AfDB), etc. It is a truism that none of these organizations will partner with any country, subnational government or organization without the submission of a robust MEL content. However, these partners still need to follow up after granting the support to see that MEL is actually applied in executing the intervention so that there would be value for money and the projected outcome would be achieved after the intervention.

    This columnist would like to posit pointedly that the federal government should devise an incentivized method of making the states buy-in into both Agribusiness, MSME and Social Safety schemes. This may be a sort of agenda setting for the incoming government at the centre come 29th May 2023 as these three thematic developmental pillars are strongly needed to jumpstart the economy with a lot of benefits ranging from enhanced income of citizens; youth engagement or employment; promotion of foreign direct investment (FDI); increased foreign exchange earnings; food accessibility and affordability (security); low expenditure on security; boosting of economic activities, etc. The federal government should evolve a system of rating the performance of the states in crippling and checkmating poverty via exploring and exploitingMEL. The system should be simple, measurable, achievable, remarkable and timely (SMART) possessing a great knack of inherent transparency and accountability to all stakeholders. The support to be granted by the federal agencies should be commensurate with the rating and possibly done on quarterly or biannual basis. The higher the rating, the more support in subsequent interventions. In addition, access to these supports should be streamlined by cutting off undue encumbrances or red tapism associated with government business in our clime.

    In conclusion, it is crystal clear that both the national and subnational governments have distinctive roles to play in pillorying poverty among the populace. Hence, there is no room for buck-passing from the federal to states or vice versa. Each has a pivotal role to play in stemming pervading poverty within the rural, semi-urban and urban areas. In the same vein, even as the subnational governments should invest in infrastructure, as most of our states have deficits in the context of infrastructural development, equal attention should gear towards the growth of agribusiness, acquisition of vocational and digital skills, robust Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) and promotion of Social Safety schemes. All these interventions should birth people-oriented policies, programmes, and projects that are all inclusive and non-discriminatory. As this article is being concluded, it is good to recall the story line at the outset. The significance is that whether it is the national or subnational government, analogous to the man or woman in that village setting, one should ensure the serpentine nature of poverty on the populace is curtailed or checkmated in harmony with the stand and stake of the United States of America (USA) erstwhile President, Thomas Jefferson, who once posited: “the whole art of government consists in the art of being honest. Only aim to do your duty, and mankind will give you credit where you fail.”

    John Ekundayo, Ph.D. – Harvard-Certified Leadership Strategist, and also a Development Consultant, can be reached via +2348030598267 (WhatsApp only) and drjmoekundayo@hotmail.com

  • Tinubu: Chatham House and ensuing chatter by nabobs of negativism

    Tinubu: Chatham House and ensuing chatter by nabobs of negativism

    “IF I want to answer the foolish question you have just asked, let me tell you, I have a row of electric push- buttons on my desk, and by pushing the right button, I can summon to my desk, men who can answer any question I may wish to ask concerning the business to which I have devoted most of my adult life, and efforts”.

    “Now, will you tell me, why I should clutter up my mind with general knowledge, for the mere purpose of being able to answer questions when, I have around me, men who can supply whatever knowledge I require?”

    That answer floored the lawyer.

    Everybody in the courtroom realised that the answer was, not of an ignorant man, but of a man of education, intellect and, indeed of a genius.”

    That was Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7 1947), an American industrialist and business magnate, founder of the Ford Motor, being cross- examined in court.

    The Lesson in the above quote is that through the assistance of his “Master Mind” group, Henry Ford had at his fingertips, all the specialised knowledge and expertise he needed to enable him become one of the wealthiest men ever in America.

    That, for those who genuinely don’t know, or the mischievous ones who deliberately misrepresent it, was exactly what the JAGABAN demonstrated at Chatham house, showcasing his leadership and ‘team spirit’.

    To chatter is to talk rapidly in a purposeless manner. And that is what many have been doing since the APC Presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed  Tinubu, appeared at the Chatham House, London, and dazzled in his inimitable way.  He has once again shown them that political campaigns, like democracy itself, has no DNA, and can, therefore, be calibrated by any wise individual, in his or her own way, for maximum effect.

    The opposition’s major grouse was his deployment, to their utter chagrin, of some seminal individuals, to speak to specific areas of his party’s manifesto, demonstrating, once again, his well known dexterity at mentorship, especially in matters pertaining to governance.

    He equally demonstrated that the President is not a ‘mister – know – all’, but a leader, who can expertly and effectively lead, coordinating the work of his brilliant team. I have, for instance, personally watched, U.S President Biden so deploy Dr Fauci and other experts around him to expatiate on issues.

    He did precisely that with great aplomb, and success, the entire 8 years he was Lagos state governor, and ended up, erecting the building blocks of a state that has since emerged about the 5th largest economy in Africa.

    I recently watched a WhatsApp video where Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, the State’s then Attorney – General and Commissioner for Justice, elegantly described the Tinubu template that has confounded many lazy souls.

    Opposition spokespersons, especially, have not rested since. They have been everywhere, even literally on rooftops, whining.

    One Charles Onunaiju, who Nigerians would remember as a one time animated PDP Spokesperson but who, like Peter Obi, has now  joined ‘Labour’ – has shouted the loudest, especially on TV,  probably believing that he would not be heard unless he  shouted.

    I saw him on Channels TV the other day, playing the medico, furiously posing questions about Tinubu”s health. Not even when the moderator asked if he had any documentary evidence for his outlandish claims would he be properly guided.

    But he is not alone as those other surrogates, under whose principal, Nigeria’s 100Billion dollar plus investments, dating back to the 60’s, were sold off for a  miserable 1.5Billion dollars, have also not rested, nor would they ever. Their principal has, once again, promised to take off from where he left, and sell off Nigeria’s four refineries as well as anything sell- able.

    From his own stable came the pugilist former legislator, the funny maker of cheap, third rate videos, weighing in. Nigerians must, of course, vote wisely, lest the massive railway infrastructure President Buhari built, got sold off behind their backs.

    But the truth of it all is that, were these surrogates properly organised, they should have realised that they have weightier, and much more urgent issues, to contend with for their respective principals.

    As an Igbo, Onunaiju must have heard of Igbo kwenu. That highly regarded Igbo Association once made very weighty allegations against Mr Peter Obi. That was shortly after he left APGA – long enough now for him to have reacted – but Nigerians are still waiting. Will Onanuiju please do Nigerians a favour: let us have  obi’s defence to those thoroughly ingratiating allegations part of which was his allegedly spending 12 years in the University to do a 3- year degree course in Philosophy,  graduating with a pass.

    Allegations have similarly been made against Tinubu but, not only did he competently defended himself, the U.S authorities formally wrote to the Nigerian government affirming that he was never tried for drugs in the US as some political enemies were alleging.

    Also Mr Onanuiju should please equally use the opportunity to react to the allegation by the  21year old Igbo lady, Chinenyenwa Ezewuzie, once a staff of Peter Obi’s NEXT, who was arrested and jailed for drug trafficking in Lima, Peru.  Chnenyenwa allegedly confessed that she was forced by Peter Obi to carry the suitcase which contained cocaine worth £1.5 million.  Nigerians deserve to hear from the Labour Party presidential candidate on these grievous allegations, failing which, he should honourably withdraw from the presidential race.

    Nigerians, yours truly inclusive, take H.E Mr Peter Obi, as a decent man. He, therefore, cannot afford to keep these allegations hanging. And just in case he has replied to them, all he needs do now is tell Onanuiju to let Nigerians know where to find his rebuttal.

    Regarding Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, isn’t it time the PDP presidential candidate opens up on the privatisation programme he had full control over, as VP in the Obasanjo government? Incidentally, membership of that government is Atiku’s sole qualification for wanting to be our president now and that was his biggest assignment in that government.

    I also think it is time the respected VP, the Unifier who couldn’t unite his party, talks to Nigerians about why former president Obasanjo, his boss for 8 years, said that he can never recommend him for the Nigerian Presidency.

    Since none of the issues raised in this article has been mentioned at any of the many townhall meetings – perhaps deliberately, I think both Obi and Atiku, either by themselves or through their spokespersons, should now talk to Nigerians.

    We do not deserve less. OBASANJO

    Resplendent in Igbo attire and flanked by Papa Ayo Adebanjo, former President Olusegun Obasanjo recently told his majorly Igbo audience in Enugu, this past week, that they should stop thanking him for backing the Southeast for the Presidency.

    They were in Enugu for two main reasons: to commiserate with the family of an elderstatesman who just passed, and to honour a very decent Chief John Nwodo, one time leader of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, who I have known as a University student who demonstrated great leadership qualities as President of the University of Ibadan students Union in the ’70’s when I was an Assistant Registrar in the institution.

    I sincerely believe that the two elderstatesmen missed the opportunity the occasion offered them. Rather than the self congratulation they indulged in, they should have, much more profitably, used the occasion to talk seriously on the unspeakable mayhem ravaging the entire region or what’s the point in achieving Igbo presidency while the entire place is rendered desolate?

    They should have admonished, especially Igbo elders, who obviously haven’t done enough to rein in the gangs killing Igbos, security personnel and burning INEC infrastructure in the hope that elections will not hold there.

    They should have made the point that with its rather little voting population, the Southeast has no margin of error to be able to scare away their people from voting, as happened during the Anambra state governorship elections, if, truly, they want to make Peter Obi president especially since, with all the prayers to the contrary, ethnicity will still play a significant part in the election. For instance, those who had to carry identity cards to move freely within their own country or the Hausa traders who had to relocate to Delta state, during governor Obis time as the stare governor, may not be Catholic enough to easily forget.

    If, therefore, our two highly regarded elders do not want their endorsement of Peter Obi to go to nothing, they must find time for another visit.

  • Healthy media, Healthy country

    Healthy media, Healthy country

    I wish to congratulate the CEO/Editor-In-Chief of Diamond Publications and Trustee of the Diamond Award for Media Excellence (DAME) Mr Lanre Idowu on the successful hosting of the recent 31st edition of the award ceremony.

    It is commendable that Mr Idowu, an accomplished journalist and his team initiated the award in 1991 and have sustained the prestigious initiative that has enhanced excellence in media practice in the country. Many winners of DAME have attested to the positive impact of the award on their careers.

    I join in asking for continued support for DAME by all who should, to ensure that outstanding journalists are honoured and adequately rewarded.

    In his welcome address at the recent award, Mr Idowu made some timely pleas which I think journalists need to pay attention to because as he rightly noted “it is only a healthy media that can birth a healthy country.”

    More than ever before, the media has to live up to expectations and be guided by the ethics of the profession to be regarded as the impartial fourth estate of the realm. We cannot afford to be Lapdog when were supposed to be the Watchdog of the society by not effectively holding those in government and other positions of leadership accountable to the people.

    Journalists are supposed to be dispassionate in reporting the build-up to the General elections next year and should not do anything that will make our audience doubt their neutrality as Mr Idowu noted.

    The situation where some journalists declare their support for some candidates or where some media houses and their staff engage in acts that can make the public doubt their neutrality is not good enough.

    If journalists demand accountability and transparency from government officials and politicians, they should also be willing to subject themselves and practice to a high level of probity that can make them trustworthy.

    Journalists should admit when they are wrong in accordance with the various guidelines of their profession and not carry on as if their actions cannot be questioned.

    Excerpts from Mr Idowu’s welcome address which I fully agree with are reproduced below:

    ” It is because of the desire for a healthy country that we urge our colleagues to take a more balanced view of the tremendous opportunity offered the country in the coming elections. A lot is at stake, but, sadly, the required leadership and direction that the media should offer is grossly missing.

    “Many of us are still engrossed in emotive reactions to situations. Many are ensconced in ethnic cocoons and lack the ability to tower beyond ethnic prejudices. Many have neglected the professional responsibility to set the agenda in a proactive manner; instead, they seem to relish the pathetic situation of merely reacting to situations, regurgitating unproven allegations, and generating heat instead of light.

    “The media must moderate the process by defining the issues, and getting the candidates to respond to them. Why is it so difficult to moderate media debates or interviews if we approach the task with the detachment necessary for a professional job?

    “I recall that in the past, the NPO, comprising the Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria, the Guild of Editors and the NUJ had shown direction in this area. I know that a few attempts have been made by the Guild but a more integrated or collaborative effort may be more rewarding.

    “It is not in the interest of the democratic process if the media cannot be trusted to assess the preparedness of candidates for political office. Nor is it in the interest of candidates if they are perceived to be avoiding media scrutiny.

    “Trusting that there is sufficient time for our media to make necessary amends before the elections, let us turn to the commendable strides that have taken place in our industry.”

  • On your own

    On your own

    Electricity consumers who heed NERC’s advice not to pay for poles, transformers, wires, etc. do so at their own risk. They may be in darkness forever.

     

    From the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) came the usual piece of advice to electricity consumers on December 8: don’t pay for meters, poles, wires, transformers, etc. Some power consumers, including state governments help in providing these items for DisCos and even bear the cost of repairs because they know that is the only thing that can facilitate their getting light.

    NERC’s Commissioner-in-charge of Consumer Affairs, Aisha Mahmud, who gave the advice at a three-day NERC/Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) Customer Complaints Resolution Meeting, missed the point when she gave the impression that a lot of consumers in Nigeria are not aware of their rights concerning the power sector. Hear her: “It is not the responsibility of the consumers to buy meters, poles or any assets for the DisCos (distribution companies) because we have already provided for that in the tariff of the utilities.

    “But under any circumstance that you have to purchase these items and you cannot wait for the DisCos to make that investment, we have made provision for that under our ‘investment regulation”, Mahmud said.

    She is right to some extent, though. Nigerians feed largely on ignorance. Ours is a country where all manner of things go. But it is not in all cases that Nigerians do not know what to do when faced by some of these challenges posed by those that should be providing certain services that consumers pay for. Let’s take our airlines for example. Many of them delay flights for hours or even cancel same outright without compensating passengers. Most air passengers, true, may not know they can take up the airlines for this. After all, some of them would have missed scheduled appointments as a result of the flight delays or cancellation. There is no doubt that some occasions that are beyond the control of the airlines could warrant such decisions because it is safety first. But when flight delays or cancellations become an airline’s emblem, then something is wrong.

    I was at the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos on November 13 to catch a flight to Abuja. Suddenly, the announcement came that a particular flight had to be delayed by three-and-a-half hours! I was so downcast because l almost missed my flight as I initially thought it was my flight that was so delayed. Don’t blame me; some of those people making the announcements at the airport are Nigerians, yet they speak through their nose such that you need to strain your ears to hear them, or ask fellow intending passengers about what they have just announced. I was relieved when I confirmed a few minutes later that it was not my flight. Nonetheless, the delay was by the same airline I was to travel in. I was relieved but I still felt for the delayed passengers.

    The experience convinced me that the problem is not necessarily about many Nigerians not knowing their rights in such situation; it is more about the cumbersome and time-consuming process of seeking redress. Many of the passengers affected by the long delay complained aloud that the particular airline was notorious for such practices. Many hissed when some of us who tried to emphatise with them suggested they take up the matter officially with, say, the Consumer Protection Council (CPC). Many of them were aware of this platform but they thought of the time it would take to get justice, the hassles and all. Their conclusion is that it was not worth it. Of course, some air passengers had taken up such disappointments officially in the past and had been compensated.

    Of course too, Mahmud’s advice that electricity consumers should not pay for electrical equipment was nothing new. It was more of  a reminder because NERC and even the DisCos too usually tell their customers the same thing. But Nigerians know better. Electricity consumers know too well that if they follow such advice, they may never get light. As some of my friends say, there are some pieces of advice that are good, but they are never to be heeded, at least not in our kind of country. This advice to electricity consumers is one such good piece of advice. At any rate, the consumers themselves know that meters, wires and transformers should not be paid for because they are the property of the DisCos. So, they have to be provided, maintained and even replaced by the owners. But they also know that this holds true only in sane countries. Our country, without necessarily sounding unpatriotic, is not yet a sane country. Unfortunately, it is even doubtful if we are looking in that direction or making any conscious efforts to attain that lofty heights.

    I wish Mahmud was with us at my church where we discussed this issue last Sunday after service. The fact is, things are not as easy as she put it; that is the simple truth. Some of those who have had to pay for some of these materials, including even transformers, narrated their experiences. One spoke of a situation where they paid for their transformers twice, after discovering that the initial money they contributed had “been chopped”! Transformers don’t come cheap. You can them imagine how much the affected community would have stressed themselves to grease the palms of some unscrupulous and corrupt DisCo personnel, in order to have something they should have been provided free of charge by the DisCos.

    Yet, this is something that occurs all the time and is not peculiar to any DisCo. They are all guilty as charged. What baffles me, and I guess many electricity consumers, is whether these DisCos are not merely pretending not to know that some of their personnel collect these illegal monies. No doubt the money cannot go into their official accounts because there can’t  be an appropriate heading under which to enter such collections. Any DisCo that says it is not aware of this corrupt practice is only deceiving itself. It is too prevalent not to be known to them.

    But, how many of their officials who engage in such corrupt practices have been caught? How many of them have been tried and dismissed or even prosecuted because what they have done is not a mere offence, it is a crime? I know we cannot but have these experiences though, because, yes, the Discos have been privatised, the fact is that most of their officials were recruited from the decadent National Electric Power Authority (NEPA) and later the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN). Most of them are already too steeped in their evil ways. So, what we have is old wine in new bottles. They are like the leopard that cannot change their spot. It was not for nothing that officials of the power sector were identified some years back as the second most corrupt in the country, beaten only by the police force.

    In fact, I was amazed when I visited the DisCo serving my area a few years ago when I had a serious issue with them and I was told that one of the former PHCN officials that has now joined the DisCo (that those of us he was serving as a marketer in his days at PHCN knew was very corrupt) was adjudged their ‘Best member of Staff’! I don’t know whether it was for the month or the year” but this character could not have been the best member of the staff in any establishment for even a minute. With such a character as the best member of staff, one does not need to know there was a serious character deficit in that establishment. I remember engaging him on several occasions when he was the marketer in my area. On one of the occasions, I asked him whether he ever reported to their office that the cables on some poles had dropped so low such that one could touch them with only a little effort. His response shocked me. He told me that was not his responsibility and that his job started and ended with his marketing duties which he was not even doing well. Even some of his colleagues were wondering how he could be the best member of the staff because this was a matter of character that is like smoke. No matter how much you try to hide it, it usually finds its way out. When I got back home and broke the news to the community, they merely said the guy must have been rewarded for doing his marketing duties in reverse; forcing electricity consumers to pay for power not consumed. As a matter of fact, he usually regaled us with the target that his employer gave him and that that was his only consideration. It was immaterial  if all consumers in the area swore that their light never blinked for a whole month, a thing which was a common occurrence then.

    The long and short of it is that the ball at this juncture must revert to the NERC. As the regulator of the sector, the commission must stand firm and wield the big stick when necessary. As a beneficiary of the ruling of its NERC Forum, I cannot say the commission is not working. What I guess is that it is probably overwhelmed because even with the forum, it took more than three months for me to get justice when I had issues with my DisCo. Today, people are still reeling under unimaginable crazy bills. It is in their bid to escape such killer bills that many electricity consumers are now ready to pay for prepaid meters. But hardly can anyone get the meters at the official rate. I know what I am talking about. So, don’t let me open my mouth.

    But it was the Federal Government that allowed both its free meters and those of the DisCos that are sold to be distributed simultaneously that made such creaming off of consumers possible. Again, such policy can only succeed in a sane country, not in our kind of society where corruption is endemic. I have no doubt that accounting for those free meters would be a Herculean task, and books may have to be cooked for the account to balance.

    All said, rather than admonish electricity consumers not to pay for poles, transformers, etc., NERC can do better with some sting operations if the DisCos cannot do same; I bet the result would be confounding. The daylight robbery of power consumers by some unscrupulous DisCo officials happens daily and with such brazenness that the commission’s net would literally tear if it tries to catch some of these corrupt officials and ensure they are punished, to serve as deterrence to others. Where it is necessary for the commission to do regular enlightenment of the power consumers, let it do that on a sustainable basis. Many Nigerians know their rights where the power sector is concerned. The problem is that accessing such rights requires a lot of time, energy and perseverance. NERC  can work towards making the process less cumbersome. If it means strengthening the commission, let it be.

  • Buhari, ASUU and wrong funding approach

    Buhari, ASUU and wrong funding approach

    EVEN though his address at the 46th Convocation of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) was read by an official of the National Universities Commission (NUC), it reflects President Muhammadu BUhari’s long-standing views on tertiary education, unionism, and, in particular, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). His audience probably winced as his remarks rolled out. On the surface, the country appears divided on the president’s handling of the recent ASUU strike, but in reality, most Nigerians support his intransigent and truculent stand. With the minority of Nigerians and ASUU left holding the short end of the stick, and with no immediate electoral consequence looming in the weeks ahead, the president has continued to bask in the euphoria of victory over the dismayed and bitter university teachers.

    Here is what the president said at the OAU convocation: “…I want other institutions of higher learning to emulate O.A.U in summarily terminating the appointment or dismissing any lecturer who uses or is using his advantageous position to harass our young, innocent, and impressionable girls. We cannot continue to entrust the lives of our promising young girls into the hands of some reckless individuals masquerading as lecturers on our campuses. I want all of us to know and note that the government alone cannot provide the resources required for funding tertiary education. In fact, in most countries, the cost of education is jointly shared between the government and the people, especially at the tertiary level. This government remains committed to the implementation of the agreement reached with staff unions within the available resources, and we are resolute that we will not sign any agreement that we cannot truthfully implement.”

    Ignore his reference to randy lecturers, a malaise that some of the universities are already handling adroitly, as the president himself confessed. What is more apposite to these times is the subject of university funding, especially the general and financial demands of the university union. Here, the president was more than candid: he would not sign agreement he could not implement. He blurted this statement out probably in reference to the serial agreements reached with ASUU by past administrations and routinely broken with gusto. In his uncomplicated rationalisation, the president sees no sense in signing an agreement that would waste everybody’s time or seed future strike. As the president put it, “We are resolute that we will not sign any agreement that we cannot truthfully implement.”

    But herein is the problem: is there indeed an agreement that cannot be truthfully implemented? This column can find none, except when a force majeure is declared. The problem, a close study of past agreements will reveal, is not that those controversial agreements with ASUU were grandiose and hard to implement; the problem is that the government has (a) no idea what tertiary education entails, (b) no idea what kind of structure, financially and administratively, should be bequeathed to universities, (c) no idea how to prioritise its developmental goals, and (d) no idea what kind of political and economic structures can best sustain tertiary education and deliver the best dividends in terms of research and development. These are some of the reasons various administrations could not run or adequately fund university education. With an expensive political system that tends towards impoverishing the people, poor institutional controls that encourage leakages and waste, and incompetent and intellectually paralysed officials, some of them appointed or elected, it is impossible to find the money to fund tertiary education.

    Not only has the administration failed woefully to appropriately conceptualise education administration and funding, it is also completely paralysed from taking steps to redress the ills of the sector. The Buhari administration says it won’t sign an impossible agreement; but what is it doing about the collapsing education sector, assuming indeed it believes it is structurally and financially distressed? It lacks the will to get parents and students to join hands, through higher tuition fees, with the government to fund education. This lack of will is predicated on the government’s inability to find a formula by which to give succor to financially distressed families to fund their children’s education. So, instead of formulating policy initiatives to resolve the mounting anomalies in the sector, similar indeed to the anomalies in the health sector, the government has been ‘resolute’ in doing little or nothing. The problem obviously is not that the administration does not have win-win choices at its disposal; the depressing fact is that it has taken a fixed and pigheaded approach to the dispute with ASUU – no money, so no deal. There is of course money, but it is frittered on the wrong things, including a swollen and profligate political system.

    ASUU is thought to be mulling another strike, perhaps couched in a different format. It should not waste its time. This administration has taken an unalterable position on the matter partly because it does not see itself as an elected administration dedicated to fostering and promoting Nigeria’s greatness in teaching, research and invention. It sees itself as a conclave of masters whose word must be law. ASUU should simply look forward to the next administration, hoping that somewhere in those eternal probabilities of life, a president would be elected above sentiments and falsehood who would be open to the best the universities can offer, someone who is so challenged on the subject of development that he would visualise Nigeria among the best nations on earth. As for this administration, it has anchored its educational responses on the wrong foundations, and will therefore not budge an inch. Nudging them in the right direction is a lost cause, a cause inflamed by emotional, uninformed and misdirected public understanding of complex educational issues.

     

    New naira controversies

    FEW months to the end of the Muhammadu Buhari administration, the now unusually fecund Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor Godwin Emefiele has suddenly been jolted into life dishing out new and remade old policies. First was the naira redesign, over which he claimed untrammeled power, subject and second only to the president’s imprimatur. The Finance minister groaned about Mr Emefiele’s unilateralist approach, but both the president and the CBN governor waved the law under her nose, and she hushed up. Inspired and still breathing radical changes, Mr Emefiele revised the over-the-counter and ATM withdrawal limits severely downward, leaving the people breathless. Consternated, Nigerians have complained about the policy overload and the sloppiness of the CBN in taking into cognisance some of the technological and banking ratio limitations. The apex bank grudgingly consented to some tweaking as the implementation goes along.

    From changing the colours of the notes to revising withdrawal limits, the point is that Mr Emefiele is in a radical and revolutionary mood, ‘small’ inconveniences be damned. Nigerians always grumbled anyway, and even when deadlines were extended, they always found tardiness an asset. And so, Nigeria is not only stuck with the politicised Mr Emefiele, they must now swallow his alibis hook, line, and sinker. He has convinced the president that redesigning the naira and revising cash withdrawal and invariably spending limits would trap money launderers and put the noses of vote buyers out of joint. The country whoops over these goals, and the president smirks in agreement. Did the president bounce these policy changes off his advisers and economic team? No one can really tell, perhaps not even the Finance minister who was initially flustered by the whole naira redesign affair.

    It is indeed remarkable that months before leaving office, President Buhari consented to these radical changes. Where were the president and Mr Emefiele years ago when the economy was slaloming downhill? They claim to be acting in defence of the value of the naira and curbing inflation rate. Noble, isn’t it? But the puzzled public and wary economists will hope that the president and his CBN governor have scrupulously worked out the costs of their policies and calculated their impact to be far more tolerable than the ‘mere inconvenience’ of startling the people into financial stupor.

  • Rumbles from the big masquerade

    Rumbles from the big masquerade

    What irks the master-masquerade, Balogun of Owu and the titan of Ota so grievously these days? It is said that a big toad does not run in the daylight for nothing, if it is not after something then something is after it. It is also noted that the King cobra does not eat yam flour, it is what eats yam flour that the cobra eats. Finally, there is a saying that if you persist hunting deeper into the jungle, you are likely to come across a hunchback albino squirrel.

    Twice, and in a matter of days, there have been some ominous emissions and apocalyptic rumblings from the old warrior and civil war veteran. First, the old man let it be known that having gone to jail and having donated blood to the Nigerian postcolonial shrine in the course of an illustrious career, he has paid his dues and he is no longer afraid of anything. This was in the course of a condolence and commemorative visit to the east.

    Second, the old man dropped the gauntlet of non-partisanship in the current presidential contest and pointedly informed his audience that nobody can query or intimidate him over his personal choice of candidate for the Nigerian presidency since he was only exercising his democratic rights.

    Oh mine, or mine. Nobody is sure of what triggered these tempestuous outbursts. Psychologists spoke about the externalization of inner conflicts or the public manifestation of private inquisition. Whatever it is, it may well be that reality is finally dawning on the ancient warrior that his current choice may not be in tandem with the public mood and current disposition of his people.

    More often than not, the Yoruba people often prove to be shrewder and more circumspect than their leaders when it comes to existential negotiations in the Nigerian postcolonial dystopia. If they are rooting for a particular candidate, it is not a blanket endorsement but the first step towards a renegotiation and redefinition of Nigeria itself.

    The strategy of randomly and whimsically picking on a particular candidate is not only faulty but arrogantly wrongheaded, more so when there is no evidence of negotiations and intricate pacting among the principal hegemonic blocs. This was the process of conciliation and compromise that threw up Obasanjo himself after the Abiola debacle. General Obasanjo might have forgotten. But we have not.