The Nation Newspaper

Category: Sunday

  • ‘Statesman’ Jonathan in last-ditch manoeuvres

    ‘Statesman’ Jonathan in last-ditch manoeuvres

    Nigeria was awash with reports a day before the governorship and Houses of Assembly polls that President Goodluck Jonathan had visited Lagos on Thursday to confer with PDP leaders on how to win the state elections. He also conferred inexplicably with Gani Adams, a factional leader of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), who has dedicated himself as an enforcement instrument in the hands of the president. After grieving for a week or more over the lost presidential poll, Dr Jonathan suddenly on Thursday bestirred himself, perhaps on advice from hawkish aides, and began to plot far-fetched schemes either to grab power in a few key states, such as Lagos and Rivers, or to engineer crisis of undetermined and far-reaching consequences.

    While it was not clear last week just how far he was willing to go — whether he would go for broke, or whether he would fail again — it is at least evident that his capitulation two Tuesdays ago was not due to any altruism on his part, as he said yesterday in Bayelsa State, or what was misconceived as his statesmanlike disposition. Given the president’s desperate and despairing manoeuvres moments before the state polls, it is believed that his capitulation was probably due more to international pressures, particularly from the United States.

    Dr Jonathan has never been truly and fully convinced about democracy or its indispensability for growth, peace and stability. In fact, in all his public discussions and speeches, he has offered nothing original on the topic. Those who ascribe to him noble deeds and democratic principles are, therefore, grossly exaggerating. He is also not a democrat by any interpretation of the concept, and had shown throughout his presidency that at bottom he was uncomfortable with the term. Given his dazed and vacant look on television moments after conceding defeat to the APC’s Muhammadu Buhari, Dr Jonathan gave the impression he wished a miracle could rejigger the result of the presidential poll, or even upturn the entire election and end his private nightmare. Until he hands over on May 29, the scorched Dr Jonathan remains unpredictable.

    At the time of writing this column, polling in some parts of Lagos was being marred by violence and irregularities. Sporadic shooting, ballot box snatching, wrong result sheets and other electoral malpractices were already reported in some parts of the state. Some of the disruptions were allegedly sponsored by uniformed security personnel, whether genuine or fake. Two days before the polls, the APC had alerted the country to alleged plans by the president’s men to subvert popular will through various forms of electoral shenanigans. The party’s spokesman had disclosed that the president met with some PDP state leaders and Mr Adams, the OPC factional leader who secured a multi-billion naira pipeline protection contract and openly swore to work for the victory of the PDP. The APC spokesman also disclosed that police, NYSC and military uniforms were being procured and distributed to thugs to engage in electoral violence.

    But Reuben Abati, presidential spokesman, suggested that there was nothing wrong with the president meeting anyone. Though he confirmed the APC spokesman’s disclosures, Dr Abati nonetheless argued that there was nothing unusual in the president’s Thursday meetings, including meeting Mr Adams. The president of course has the right to meet anyone, but it speaks volumes about Dr Jonathan’s sense of propriety and judgement that on the eve of a major election, he saw nothing wrong in meeting Mr Adams who a few weeks ago paraded the streets of Lagos with OPC militants destroying APC billboards and openly mocking the impotence of the security agencies.

    Dr Abati also tried to testify to the president’s fairness and impartiality by suggesting that because he conceded defeat, he could do nothing to jeopardise the polls. But what does the country make of the presidency’s interference in police postings? A few days before the poll, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Suleiman Abba, had shuffled the posting of some top police officers, perhaps in an effort to ensure peaceful polling. But both in Lagos and Rivers, the two states allegedly targetted by the presidency for the PDP, the IGP’s postings were overruled without notice. Obviously the presidency is engaged in desperate measures to accomplish certain goals. There is no explanation Dr Abati can offer to persuade the country of Dr Jonathan’s altruism. Clearly, the president regrets his defeat, and perhaps, too, is still shaken by his hasty concession. He is unable to reconcile himself with the political tragedy that visited him, and can’t seem to appreciate the value of what relief and reassurance that widely acclaimed concession of defeat has done to the country.

    As this column suggested last week, while Dr Jonathan did well in the particular instance of conceding defeat to Gen Buhari, that lone act does not compensate for his many malfeasances, poor judgement, bad policies, poor leadership, and considerable misdirection of the country. One act, no matter how weighty, does not make a statesman. As events are showing, including the president’s last-ditch effort to reverse or mitigate his loss and lessen the damage to his image, not to talk of his meeting with characters who do not ennoble his blighted presidency, there is nothing fundamentally statesmanlike about him.

  • Impeachment notice: farce and politics in Ekiti

    Impeachment notice: farce and politics in Ekiti

    In the continuing saga of Governor Ayo Fayose’s impeachment, it is hard to tell who enjoys the most support: the governor, House of Assembly Speaker Adewale Omirin, or the constitution. Mr Fayose was last week served impeachment notice by 19 members of the House of Assembly led by Dr Omirin. The governor has done his best to evade direct service, and has instead tried to mobilise public sympathy. He argues that the 19 lawmakers, all members of the All Progressives Congress (APC), were attempting to use the tool of impeachment to secure what they lost through the ballot box.

    Does the governor have the people’s support? There is no doubt that his supporters, most of whom have been publicly identified as trade union members, artisans, and office holders, are very vocal and troublesome and have loudly proclaimed their support for the governor and bitterness against the 19 lawmakers and the APC. These supporters have taken to the street and are constantly in the news, presenting a facade of huge and undeniable support for the paranoid Mr Fayose. There is, however, no doubt that over the months, as the governor displayed greater imbecility, the angry crowd of supporters, though still vociferous and implacable, had thinned out.

    Dr Omirin also commands a huge and perhaps discrete following, first from a majority of lawmakers, and second from those pained by the precipitous decline of public morals and standards in this state of great learning. The Speaker’s educated supporters select and calibrate their responses, preferring the rule of law and due process. They naturally face the dilemma of seeming to be either docile in the face of Mr Fayose’s monstrous behaviour, or are in reality not too bothered whichever way the pendulum would swing.

    The third force in the saga is of course the constitution, which at the moment seems pristinely alone and isolated. No matter what support both Mr Fayose and Dr Omirin get from their partisans, the constitution is at the heart of the quarrel and controversy, and will probably be the deciding factor. Who between the governor and the Speaker has acted constitutionally? And what does the constitution say about the impeachment? In the view of Femi Falana, a lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), the impeachment notice served by the 19 lawmakers is in order and has precedence. The notice, anchored on eight constitutional breaches against the governor, appeared to have been inspired by the continuing buffoonery of the governor, including dealing with seven lawmakers as the legal and properly constituted House of Assembly under the leadership of the usurper, Dele Olugbemi.

    It does not, however, appear that too many people are paying attention to what the constitution says. Politics predominates, and decisions and actions are determined by whom the partisans support. While Ekiti and Nigerians wait to see whether the Chief Judge would set up an investigative panel as directed by the House of Assembly under Speaker Omirin, some lawyers cite a judgement of the Supreme Court, referenced in the case of the impeachment of former Oyo State governor, Rashidi Ladoja, indicating that impeachment notice could not be valid except it proceeded from a sitting in the legislative chamber. But what if the lawmakers were barred from the legislative chamber by violent groups, such as clearly happened in Ekiti last week?

    It is not certain how the impeachment matter would be resolved. But if the farcical performance of Mr Olugbemi, leader of the Group of Seven who pretends to be the Speaker, is anything to go by, Ekiti is in trouble. Mr Olugbemi speaks very bad English, could hardly read his own prepared statement disputing Dr Omirin’s impeachment notice, his brief remarks were redolent with so many shibboleths, and he obviously knew little law and legislative practices. It was thus puzzling to see the governor embrace such appalling farce rather than concoct his own farce for which he is eminently gifted.

  • 2015 election verdict and Nigeria 2

    2015 election verdict and Nigeria 2

    In the entire history of civilian rule in the country, only General Buhari had sought the highest office on his own for the past sixteen years until he finally found APC as the instrument of victory on March 28

    Since the victory of General Buhari and the APC in the presidential and federal legislative elections, the feeling in many parts of the country recalls (for those of us that were adolescents in 1960 in particular) of the excitement and hope that greeted the lowering of the Union Jack in Lagos and other regional capitals in 1960. Many people in that generation have been made by Buhari’s emergence as president-elect to feel like the youths of today that the yoke of domination has disappeared and the sky has been made to look like the limit for everyone. The cause of such feeling was the atmosphere of freedom and the character of fairness with which the election was conducted on the whole. It is too soon for today’s column to know how free and fair state elections would be. But it is already clear that should the gubernatorial and state assembly elections be inferior in any form to the presidential and federal legislative elections of March 28, citizens’ optimism about the years beyond May 29  may diminish, especially that most governance is done at the state level.

    From the announcements by the Nigeria Police Force that vehicular movement is prohibited from midnight Friday till noon on Sunday, citizens are already getting concerned about the draconian measures in respect of state elections. Voters are already grumbling out: “What makes state elections more complex than national elections?” Over 50% of the nation’s resources are under the control of the president while the most important laws in the country are the responsibility of federal legislators. Why would the IGP and other security agencies feel more worried about state elections than the presidential one that was conducted peacefully in relative terms in most states of the federation on March 28? By the time readers get to this piece, the nation would have known why the security forces put the country on red alert with respect to yesterday’s election. Let us leave comments on the April 11 election till another time.

    The purpose of the column today is to advance the theme started last week: potential impact of Buhari/APC victory on the country’s future. It may not be because of Buhari’s governance style in 1984 that a majority of the country’s voters chose him and his party over the incumbent president and ruling party. Indeed, it may be in spite of it. The PDP has in the last sixteen years run a central government of impunity while Buhari promised voters a regime of change from impunity to accountability and the rule of law. The rule of impunity since 1999 till date had become synonymous with an African variant of fascist and repressive rule, a governance model that is as uncaring as colonial domination.

    It is the promise of change inherent in Buhari/APC’s campaign that must have given citizens the feeling that a regime of emancipation of the oppressed was born on March 28. Observers have given more attention to the making of the APC presidential candidate that had been the style in the past. Since 1959, the common perception has been that the country had not had a president who actually chose to become one. The belief in 1959 was that it was Ahmadu Bello that asked Tafawa Balewa to come to Lagos to rule Nigeria on his behalf. In 1979, Shagari averred openly that his interest was to become a senator before he was drafted by the ruling club to contest for the highest office. In 1993, MKO Abiola, who sought for the highest office and won the support of the people, was prevented from using his talent to govern Nigeria. In 1999, it was a group of military dictators that organised to draft General Olusegun Obasanjo to serve as presidential candidate of a party jointly created by former military rulers and their civilian acolytes bent on protecting the interests of promoters of military rule. UmaruYar’Adua was drafted by General Obasanjo in 2007. And Dr. Goodluck Jonathan was brought to the presidential ticket by the same forces that drafted Yar’Adua, and the rest is now history. In the entire history of civilian rule in the country, only General Buhari had sought the highest office on his own for the past sixteen years until he finally found APC as the instrument of victory on March 28.

    Those who are feeling excited as a people were in 1960 when British colonialists responded to the mild nationalist struggle and bowed out in a manner reminiscent of President Jonathan’s acceptance of the election that changed the guard from Jonathan to Buhari and from PDP to APC have good reasons to be optimistic, as is usually the case with change from one ruling party to another in most democracies. Despite claims by some pundits that Buhari’s electoral victory rested largely on votes from the core North and the Southwest, it is remarkable that Buhari’s win in four of the country’s six geopolitical regions shows more evidence of greater freely-given support from more diverse groups in the country than at any time other than at the end of the free and fair presidential election of 1993.

    With respect to those already calling for caution or guarded optimism in relation to Buhari’s campaign promises, this is an appropriate time to remind voters of the old proverb: “The taste of the pudding is in the eating.” Only those of us who claim to have special power of audition and sight to hear and see what ordinary human beings cannot see have the power to predict how fulfilling Buhari’s regime would be. But for those who feel that Nigeria now has the opportunity to make use of its political independence, more than ever before, it is in order for them to realise that in democracies, citizens are not expected to go back to bed after electing their representatives into power.

    Democracy requires that voters must remain alert and vigilant each minute of the political time and space they have delegated to their elected officials from the president to lawmakers and even civil servants. Such show of vigilance was greater during the regime of Jonathan than at any other time in the past. It was not until towards the end of Obasanjo’s rule that anti-tenure elongation warriors raised the voice of challenge against the impunity of Obasanjo’s regime. It was also at the tail end of Yar’Adua’s short regime that the forces of vigilance became strong, particularly when a clique set out to rule the country on behalf of Yar’Adua after it was clear to the international community that the gentleman had passed. Jonathan was certainly the most criticised president just as he was the most tolerant of brazen, brash, and brutal supporters within and outside the security forces. The ferocity and velocity of the impunity of Jonathan’s regime led to the preference of voters for Buhari and APC as agents of change from a regime of repression to one of liberation.

    As this column observed last Sunday, it is the citizens that can protect Buhari from any force or forces that are opposed to change from the usual governance style that celebrates power at the expense of responsibility and promotes impunity over efficiency. Correspondingly, it is the citizens that can also hold Buhari and APC down to promises given in exchange for votes. Already, poster-children of the politics of impunity are rushing in droves to the party for change. This may be an indication that many of such defectors may not comprehend the implications of a Change manifesto for the content of governance as from May 29. Jonathan has done his bit to advance peace and stability in the country by calling President-elect, Buhari, even ahead of the formal announcement of the latter’s victory and making a statesman’s concession speech before the world press. PDP members who have not left for APC need to be congratulated for staying in their own party. It is the existence of alternative political party(ies) that distinguishes a democracy from a dictatorship of a ruler or of his party.

    But by and large, it is the citizens that will ensure that the pudding promised by Buhari and APC will taste as delicious as he had promised. Citizens who are in the departing ruling party also need to urge their leaders to stay with the party, in order to prevent transformation of the country into a one-party state, on account of politicians whose vision is constrained by short-term personal gains.

  • Nigerians talking about the change we need

    Nigerians talking about the change we need

    Nigerians are already out, indicating their readiness, to partner with the incoming government in re-inventing a Nigeria already thoroughly hobbled by a succession of some unthinking PDP governments

    Nigerians must surely have gone through hell in the 16 years of PDP  rule – call it ruination – going by the reactions I have so far received  since last week’s publication of  ‘The Change Nigeria Needs’. They have come in torrents but space constraint will not allow us publish all.  Concerned with what Nigerians now know the PDP is capable of, a highly regarded, retired public servant, eager to see that Nigeria remains financially healthy, was kind enough to draw my attention to something he believes Nigerians must watch out for. This, according to him, is financial transactions between now and May 29. Not a few Nigerians have likened President Goodluck Jonathan to the Second Republic President Shehu Shagari who is highly regarded across board as a very decent statesman, but who, unfortunately, surrounded himself with all manner of characters, among them, those who should not be found in the public service of even Myanmar. Like Shagari, like Jonathan, they say, except that the former did not have the bad luck of being further weighed down by a totally misbegotten spouse who threw all caution to the wind and, with her verbal diarrhea, caused all manner of problems for the husband. Or what manner of a First Lady could have listlessly denigrated an integral part of northern culture for which the president built some special schools thereby costing him what may have run into hundreds of thousands of votes. The president is, of course, well aware of the kind of persons at his table having many times shielded some from appearing before the legislature to answer to allegations of corruption.

    That, therefore, must have informed what the retired public servant, in bullet form, itemised as follows under what he titled: NEED TO STOP UNLAWFUL MOVEMENT OF CASH AND ACCOUNTS WITHIN AND OUTSIDE THE COUNTRY.

    1. The period between now and the end of May is critical and vulnerable. There is therefore, the need to put in place a machinery to monitor all financial transactions;

    2. Movement and transfer of funds, especially of unusual value, will have to be carefully watched;

    3. All financial transactions beyond Nigerian borders must equally be watched;

    4. Payments for existing contracts and the original terms of the contract agreements must be closely monitored;

    5. Banks’ Chief Executives must be warned not to be involved in unlawful transactions like emergency transfer of funds;

    6. Last minute contracts, involving advance payments, must be stopped and passed over to the incoming administration;

    7. All MDAs with ongoing financial liabilities must bring such to the notice of the Joint Transition Committee;

    8. The Central  Bank must be at its best in monitoring both internal or out offshore financial transactions;

    9. Necessary measures aimed at averting any untoward distortion of the monetary and financial situation of the country should quickly be put in place by the Joint Transition Committee.

    In anticipation of  a re-introduction of the War Against Indiscipline (WAI) first introduced by the president-elect at his first coming some three decades ago, Nigerians are already out, indicating their readiness, to partner with the incoming government in re-inventing a Nigeria already thoroughly hobbled by a succession of some unthinking PDP governments. Our next example, shared by the African Youth International Development Foundation, exemplifies this. It was sent to me shortly after Fikayo Tunde-Ojo had posted it on the Ekitipanupo web portal.

    Under the caption: IT’s TIME TO SAY, SHOUT OR SCREAM: CHANGE!

    It reads like a rhyme and I would enjoin Nigerians to internalise them and from henceforth, put it into everyday use even long before 29 May.

    CHANGE STARTS WITH US:

    When somebody in the car ahead of you throws wastes on the road, drive next to him, roll down your window and shout, “change!” ,#ChangeNigeria.

    When you are on a queue and someone tries to force his/her way in front of you, scream “change!!”. #ChangeNigeria.

    At the point of entry, either at an air or sea port, or at a border with our neighbours, a custom or immigration official shows up asking for bribe, shout Change. # Change Nigeria.

    To a landlord who habitually increases house rent, shout Change. # Change Nigeria.

    If you see any irregularities in the measurement of food items in the market or display of fake products in a supermarket or drug store or spare parts shop: shout Change. #Change Nigeria.

    To any lecturer that is hell bent on collecting bribe, in cash or in kind:  harass him with Change. # Change Nigeria.

    To any public / private servant stealing from our national heritage. Shout Change. # Change Nigeria#

    When a police officer stops your car and says “Oga, anything for the boys?”, tell him, “change!”. #ChangeNigeria

    When you walk past any Nigerian who throws paper or banana peel on the floor, stop him and tell him, “change!”. #ChangeNigeria.

    If the church opposite your house is using a loud speaker to disturb the neighbourhood, visit the pastor & say, “change sir!” #ChangeNigeria

    If you are in a bus and the driver is driving like mad, shout “change!” #ChangeNigeria.

    If the mosque opposite your house is using a loud speaker to disturb the neighbourhood, visit the Imam & say, “change sir!” #ChangeNigeria.

    When somebody is trying to jump a queue either at the bank, fuel station or at an  ATM stand: shout Change. #change Nigeria #

    When an electricity official cuts your light unjustly, trying to extract a bribe: shout Change. # Change Nigeria#.

    If you discover someone on phone lying about his location: shout change #

    If you discover a man or a woman cheating on the spouse: whisper CHANGE!

    When a fuel attendant wants to under dispense fuel into your vehicle remind him about “Change” #Change Nigeria#

    Finally, although I am not hereby authenticating the figures, Nigerians want President Buhari, working with the huge APC majority in the legislature, to maximally cut the cost of governance which is accentuated by the allowances being paid to federal legislators; which are indicated as follows:

    EMOLUMENT OF NIGERIAN SENATORS.

    * Basic Salary (B.S) – N2,484,245.50  * Hardship Allowance (50% of B.S) – N1,242,122.70

    * Constituency Allowance (200% of B.S) – N4,968,509.00  * Newspapers Allowance (50% of B.S) – N1,242,122.70  * Wardrobe Allowance (25% of B.S) – N621,061.37  * Recess Allowance (10% of B.S) – N248,424.55  * Accommodation (200% of B.S) – N4,968,509.00  * Utilities (30% of B.S) – N828,081.83  * Domestic Staff (70% of B.S) – N1,863,184.1  * Entertainment (30% of B.S) – N828,081.83  * Personal Assistants (25% of B.S) – N621,061.12  * Vehicle Maintenance Allowance (75% of B.S) – N1,863,184.12   * Leave Allowance (10% of B.S) – N248,424.55  * Severance Gratuity (300% of B.S) – N7,452,736.50   * Car Allowance (400% of B.S) – N9,936,982.00

    * Total Monthly Salary = N29,479,749.00 ($181,974.00)

    * Total Yearly Salary = N29,479,749.00 x 12 = N353,756,988.00 ($2,183,685.00)

    COMPARABLE LEGISLATORS PAY WORLDWIDE, PER ANNUM

    * Britain – $105,400.00   * United States – $174,000.00    * France – $85,900.00

    * South Africa – $104,000.00   * Kenya – $74,500.00    * Saudi Arabia – $64,000.00

    * Brazil – $157,600.00    * Ghana – $46,500.00    * Indonesia – $65,800.00

    * Thailand – $43,800.00   * India – $11,200.00     * Italy – $182,000.00

    * Bangladesh – $4,000.00    * Israel – $114,800.00  * Hong Kong – $130,700.00  * Japan – $149,700.00     * Singapore – $154,000.00   * Canada – $154 000.00    * New Zealand – $112,500.00     * Germany – $119,500.00     * Ireland – $120,400.00    * Pakistan – $3,500.00

    * Sweden – $99 300.00     * Spain – $43,900.00     * Norway – $138,000.00

    Source: The Economist –but if the figures happen to be wrong, Senate President David Mark should please, immediately, furnish Nigerians with the correct figures.

    From the foregoing, it is easy to see that  while at a minimum N18, 000 per month (N216,000) the Nigerian earning the minimum wage  takes home an annual $1,333.00, his senator, who he never sees beyond the campaigns grosses $2,183,685 and the Nigerian university professor, even of medicine, earns no more than N6 million. It also means that it will take an average Nigerian worker 1,638 years to earn the annual salary of his Senator.

    What a country!

    Unfortunately with an eye on the 2015 elections, now gone with the wins, and the need to be in the good books of the politicians within the legislature, President Jonathan never one day talked about  reducing the ballooning cost of governance in the country. This was obviously one of the many ways he completely alienated Nigerians who roundly voted him out.

  • Fayose, for whom the bell tolls

    Fayose, for whom the bell tolls

    No matter how long it takes, the governor will pay for his illegalities

    Today, I will draw analogies from a drama by the popular Moses Olaiya alias Baba Sala, as well as two Yoruba proverbs which, in my view best describe the personality and the predicament of Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State in his current self-inflicted impasse. First Olaiya’s drama. Olaiya, in the drama in question, said he could slap a masquerade, slap a policeman and complete the madness by stoning a judge, all because of the godfather that he had in that drama. (Mo le gba eegun loju, mo le gba olopa leti; ma tun soko lu adajo), he had boasted. Really, with some godfathers, one can get away with anything, anything including blue murder! With President Goodluck Jonathan solidly behind Fayose, the Ekiti governor has gone away with many illegalities.

    Now, the proverbs. One is that of the hangman that would never want a sword dangled over his child’s head (abenilori ki fe ki a gbe ida koja lori omo oun). And the other, is that of a person who spat on the ground only to quickly rub it with his foot; it is because that person knows the evil to which spittle could be put (eni to tuto sile to f’ese raa, o mo nkan ti won nfi ito se). But before proceeding, it is better to expatiate to vividly drive home my point concerning the first proverb, for effect. In Yorubaland, masquerades are not regarded as ordinary human beings; they are seen more as heavenly beings. So, for a Yoruba man to say he would slap a masquerade is a serious matter because he is aware of the enormous powers they are supposed to carry as heavenly beings (ara orun). Add that to the fellow slapping a policeman. Mind you, it is the policeman that would be called to arrest him after slapping the masquerade. Then to want to complete the invidious act by stoning a judge! That’s the ultimate in the series of the impunities.

    These, basically, are the things Fayose has been doing since his return as Governor of Ekiti State in October last year. He had slapped a masquerade, slapped a policeman and even stoned a judge, at least metaphorically, given the many impunities he had committed since returning to the Government House in Ado-Ekiti. Governor Fayose has been uneasy since the 19 members of the state house of assembly (who fled the state due to the heat generated by their clash with the  governor) indicated their intention to return, early this month. We have witnessed all kinds of shenanigans and subterfuge to keep the legislators at bay, especially since the idea of the governor’s impeachment was mooted by the 19 lawmakers of the All Progressives Congress (APC). The governor has been doing what he knows how to do best, including issuing threats as well as organising protests to prevent the legislators from sitting.

    But, one big question in all these is whether the governor has committed impeachable offences. The answer, of course is, yes. Fayose instigated seven legislators in the state house of assembly to sit and remove the authentic speaker, Wale Omirin, whereas at least nine members were required constitutionally in the 26-member house. He reportedly brought in three unknown quantities that he alleged were members of the house. To date, the identities of the three remain unknown. Could he have been working on the theory that he could eventually get three of the APC legislators to his side to say they were the three unknown quantities in order to make the required constitutional quorum? If that was his plan, obviously, he has failed as the APC lawmakers have remained stronger, determined and united since their travails began last year. As a matter of fact, the state APC chapter had said only the seven Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lawmakers in the house sat to remove the speaker as well as confirmed the appointment of commissioner nominees. It was the same pattern when Fayose wanted the consent of the state assembly for the 2015 budget. What has happened is that rather than find legitimate ways of getting the APC lawmakers back to do business, Fayose resorted to strong-arm tactics, using soldiers and policemen sometimes to do his bidding.

    That was why he did everything to campaign against General Muhammadu Buhari, the APC presidential candidate in the run-up to the elections. Fayose could not in his wildest imagination have thought of a situation where President Jonathan could lose the reelection, not to talk of conceding defeat even before the official announcement of the final result. Although the governor is not contesting any election now, he was one of those in my mind when I wrote a few weeks back that those waiting in the wings for President Jonathan’s crutches to scale the elections or continue in office after the sins they had committed under presidential cover would be disappointed because the president himself would need crutches to get reelected. I therefore did not see how he could be of any help to such characters who could not stand on their own. The life support that they were all banking on from Abuja has been cut off. Perhaps Fayose, even in his crudity could have been a little measured in his actions and utterances if he ever realised that this was the shape things would eventually take.

    The illegalities that he had committed can only be tolerated in a banana republic. Unfortunately, rather than call Fayose to order, President Jonathan preferred to look the other way, thus giving tacit approval to the governor’s impunities and encouraging him to commit even more. It is sad that this is the kind of thing Ekiti people in particular and Nigerians in general are subjected to in the twenty-first century. Nigerians must be grateful that President Jonathan has been stopped by being denied reelection; so we can be hopeful that never again would we see the kind of impunities committed by the likes of Fayose in the country. One could only have imagined what Nigeria would be like if people like Fayose are not denied oxygen from Abuja by voting out President Jonathan on March 28.

    Now, seeing his job is on the line, Fayose ran to the Federal High Court in Abuja to stop the APC legislators from doing their job. So, Fayose could still believe in the judiciary, the same judiciary that his thugs insulted and assaulted? Wonderful! Mercifully, the court in its wisdom has turned down this request.

    Without doubt, Ekiti people reserve the right to determine who their governor should be; but they should also understand that the state is a part of Nigeria and the country has its constitution which is the grundnorm. Whoever does anything contrary to the constitutional stipulations must be made to face the full weight of the law. That, for me, is the point we should be making. It is because Fayose himself knows the extent of the impunities he had committed that he is now afraid of the APC legislators sitting because he knows that would automatically result in his impeachment.

    We must lament a situation where the once erudite Ekiti people are now living by ‘stomach infrastructure’, a term coined by Fayose to show the limits of his knowledge at a time the rest of the civilised world is breaking new grounds in science and technology. Even our colleagues in the backbenchers’ league – Singapore, Taiwan, Malaysia –  etc. are not living by bread or ‘stomach infrastructure’ alone. They have since abandoned us as a country when they see the kind of leaders we have been entrusting our lives to. If Governor Fayose is impeached this time around, he would make history as the first governor in the country to suffer such fate twice. This, perhaps, is not what is making Fayose nervous. More importantly, he is afraid of his shadows.

    His name (I)Fayose had worked for him to become governor twice and twice has he abused the privilege. He seems to have committed too many sins even for the Ifa divinity to forgive. This time around, there appears no incantation or propitiation that can rescue him because he has literally climbed the tree beyond leaves (o ti gun igi koja ewe). In simpler terms, he has stolen too much for the owners to notice. So, I am afraid, Ifa may not be able to deliver him as things stand. Fayose must get his comeuppance. Even if it tarries, it will surely come.

     

  • Okon to accompany Bode George to exile

    Okon to accompany Bode George to exile

    Over since retired Commodore Olabode George publicly declared that he would voluntarily head for exile if General Mohammadu Buhari won the presidential election, tongues have been wagging as to whether the old sailor would make good his threat, now that the no-nonsense general has been elected president.

    But it seems as if the man famously known as Lagos boy has been stalling and stonewalling about “checking out”, like the even more famous Andrew. Why should a sailor be afraid of the open seas?

    But it appears that the ever proactive Okon is having none of that nonsense. Okon is a traditional believer in the saying that a man’s word should be his bond and can be a very nasty enforcer indeed.

    The euphoria that greeted General Buhari’s victory had hardly died down when the mad boy crashed into snooper’s bedroom dressed like somebody headed for Siberia even as he carried a colourful basket oozing the aroma of akara, ewa aganyin, sawa and other Lagosian delicacies. A hungry snooper was more interested in the contents of the bag.

    “Okon , what is that bag?” a gamey snooper inquired with a cajoling voice.

    “Oga no be for you, na small chops for dem Lagos Boy Bode George”. Okon replied.

    “But why?” snooper asked with a hint of disappointment.

    “Oga abi you don forget say the man say him go vamoose if dem mala general come win? Naim I say make I come take permission follow am  make sure say him reach dem oyinbo obodo. If he no want go again, I go get dem Eyo boys for Isale Eko make dem flog am well well”, the mad boy screeched like a man possessed. At this point, snooper could hardly resist bursting into laughter. But Okon simply pressed on with the offensive.

    “Oga, no be joke at all at all. I dey hope say dem wuruwuru man no go say na Israel he wan go becos I no go take dat from am”, Okon screamed. Snooper was now alarmed.

    “And what is your problem with Israel?” snooper demanded.

    “Ha oga, no be dat place dem say when dem quench dem go wake after three days? We know dey dat kind army arrangement.” The mad boy snarled and then moved closer eyeing snooper with a knowing smile.

    “Oga, I hope say dem Lagos Boy go leave him beautiful wife behind for obodo”, Okon whispered with malignant mirth.

    “And what is your own with his wife?” snooper queried.

    “Ha  Oga, Okon dey Kampe. Like dem juju man for Uyo go say, a trial will conceive you!” At this point, snooper chased away the mad boy.

     

  • Happy birthday to Sir Olaniwun Ajayi

    And whilst we are still on the matter of coming and going, it is meet to celebrate one of the great titans of our time, Sir Olaniwun Ajayi, the urbane, courtly and supremely cultured Afenifere patriarch who recently turned ninety. There will be more on Papa Olaniwun in this column very shortly. Suffice it to say for now that in the course such a long life of productive service to the people, it is the cumulative heft of positive contribution that matters and not the odd strategic error or costly political misjudgement. God bless you sir, and keep the Isara pounded yam “piping hot.”

  • Soft landing for top officials?

    There are indications the incoming government of President-Elect Muhammadu Buhari might be willing to consider a soft landing for a few top government officials to help smoothen the transition process. All Gen Buhari has told the public is that Dr Jonathan has nothing to fear from him. Whether that meant he would not be probed for alleged wrongdoings is left to anyone’s interpretation. It is also speculated that the so-called soft landing could be extended to some other top officials of the Jonathan presidency and those who perpetrated violence and murdered opponents during the last elections. The public will wait until the Buhari government makes a categorical statement on the matter.

    But the public must anticipate the Buhari government and let officials know that in case they think of extending any soft landing to any other top official of the Jonathan presidency, that act would meet with public displeasure. There is no way a President Buhari would not inquire into many acts of the previous government, especially when it becomes quite inevitable. If what is unearthed is mindboggling, the decision to do something about it is unlikely to rest with the government. Public pressure will be the deciding factor, for after all, sovereignty resides with the people.

  • What exactly are we saying we want Buhari to do for us again?

    How can we have so many engineers in the country and you are having to drive over bridges where one set of your tires are hanging and rolling in space and you are only able to cross because you know how to recite a hundred psalms in two minutes?

    The polls have come and gone again, like bells tolling, this time for the governorship and state assembly candidates. I trust that you had a better experience this last weekend than you had two weeks ago. You were not only better prepared, you were wiser: you took your breakfast, lunch and dinner along with you as I warned you to. Oh yes I did; did you not read between the lines? Anyway, once, someone was said to have gone to commit suicide by jumping in the train track; but he took a sandwich with him because he did not want to starve to death while waiting for the trains to come since they were notorious for being late. Voting queues are notoriously long and late in coming in Nigeria, so never be caught out again – always go with your food to keep you alive, your chair to sit on, a mat to sleep on and a TV to watch yourself on.

    While we wait for the results, let’s talk about Buhari’s win. The reactions to the APC victory in the last presidential elections have been nothing if not euphoric; mainly because many see the victorious candidate as the harbinger of the longed-for utopian empire. Now, that’s a tall order because my Encarta here says utopia is unviable and impracticable, just like an ectopic pregnancy. Yet, nearly everyone has been going around snapping fingers and consoling themselves with those soothing words: ‘just wait till Buhari gets there!’

    Yes; nearly every page I flip in the papers, there are people setting agendas for the poor man. As soon as he gets there, Buhari should see about electricity. As soon as he gets there, Buhari should give us water. As soon as he gets there, Buhari should see about corruption. As soon as he gets there, Buhari should make my dog bark. People are not setting anything for themselves.

    Nigeria, we may have a bigger problem to contend with, because I think someone somewhere is not being realistic about this situation. A nation that is corrupt from the tip of its toes to the very top of its hairs – from the palm-wine tapper who dilutes his new minted kegs of palm-wine with pails of water to make unlimited profit, to the assemblymen who award themselves emoluments higher than the entire US treasury – has elected an ascetic man as its leader. That scenario is to me like one sitting on a keg of gunpowder. Something will blow up on our faces, and it won’t be dust. No, think of something worse.

    We as Nigerians have to quickly determine how much interference we can tolerate from this man. Do we want him to clean up the entire system and rid it of corruption or just confine himself to cleaning up Aso Rock? Quick, someone should tell the man o, otherwise, before you know it, he’ll be wanting to clean everyone up. He may want to begin with the civil service where nearly every contract is now self-awarded, i.e. the awarder becomes the awardee. After going through the rather frustrating system of the civil service, someone once said what we have is an uncivil service. To me, it is fast becoming a selfie-service: it sees only itself in the mirror.

    Next, without any warning, the man may turn to the classroom. Normally, I am sensitive to the plight of teachers because I know how important they are. Nevertheless, I am quick to admit that many among them are not there for the job but for the pay, pittance as that may be. Oh my, wouldn’t he have a lot of cleaning up to do there. To start with, he may want to tell the teachers to go and teach instead of selling Coke and Fanta in their shops. He may tell the administrators to release the money meant for building classrooms but which they have kept locked up in their personal accounts. He may even find himself needing to tell the pupils to go to school and learn instead of hanging around the markets making money or brothels looking for money. Are we sure we want him to do all that, even if it will mean changing our lifestyles? Ok, let’s move on.

    Next, he may call together the group of people called engineers and give them a blast of dynamited air. How in the world can they look themselves in the face (via the mirror perhaps) and call themselves engineers when our roads are so terribly constructed? How can we have so many engineers in the country and you are having to drive over bridges where one set of your tyres are hanging and rolling in space and you are only able to cross because you know how to recite a hundred psalms in two minutes?

    Next, he may look at our hospitals and turn his nose up at the filth and then scour the place up. He may want to look at the patient treatment by both nurses and doctors, who is and who is not doing an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay, what machines are or are not standing in the way of work … Are we really sure we want this man Buhari to come and upset all our carefully laid and horrible national ethos?

    The more I think about this election result, the more I understand this present pope’s reaction to the news of his election. The story goes that when the report was brought to him that he had been elected by the House of Bishops, he was said to have, in a gentle, pope-like way, shaken his head and muttered, ‘what have you done?!’ And he added that they had no idea of what they had just done.

    In the same way, I do not believe the Nigerian populace has clearly understood what it has just done because it is still holding on to its old ways. The fuel attendant is still undercutting the volume of fuel that enters your tank and billing way above the official price. The road engineer is still looking the other way while only one layer of asphalt is laid on the road instead of the usual nine. The local governments continue to be drain pipes for the nation’s resources while doing little or nothing. Are we sure we can endure any sniffing into all that?

    I think we need to do a rethink. We do not need Buhari so much as we need to change our wayward ways. To make his job possible, we need to change our ways of conducting national affairs. This is about the place where we all need to ask not what the country can do for us but what we can do for the country. (That last bit is not original to me but honestly, we need it now). Anyway, Buhari cannot achieve anything if we do not begin to retune our national psyche from believing that we are entitled to the national cake without even putting in any effort towards baking it. No cake ever baked itself.

    So, in the long run, it will not be so much what we want Buhari to do for us as what we want to do for the country. In the end, should things continue as they are, someone will get frustrated, and I am guessing it will not be one person. But, I take solace in what someone has said: his thumb is itching to go to the polls again. This time, it may well be for a new electorate.

  • PDP’s fair weather members

    Considering the rate at which  members of the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP) are defecting to the All Progressives Congress ( APC), it is easy to lose count of how many have jumped ship ahead of the change at the federal level.

    Perhaps the best way to know the true situation concerning the present membership of the PDP – which has being in power since 1999, is to ask who is left in the party?

    For those who have not defected, it seems like a matter of time before they eventually join their colleagues who cannot wait till May 29 for power to change hands at the centre.

    With the victory of the APC in both the presidential and National Assembly elections on March 28 and the projected win of its candidates in majority of the governorship and state assembly contests last Saturday, many PDP members across the country have since chosen to pitch their tent with the former opposition camp.

    While many of the decampees have given various reasons for their decision, what is apparent is that for reasons one can easily guess, they prefer to join the winning side instead of remain to salvage whatever is left of the PDP.

    The mass defection that has followed the outcome of the election is a confirmation of the well known fact that membership of parties in the country is not based on any ideology.

    From all indications, most politicians in the country decide on which party to belong to depending on what political gains they can make at every point in time.

    Even before the recent gale of defections, there have been cases of aspirants who defected from the parties they belonged to when they lost nominations for positions they were interested in.

    Though this is the first time a ruling party will lose election at the federal level in the country, it is not unusual in some other countries, even in Africa. What usually happens is that while the victorious party takes over, the defeated party regroups and becomes a formidable opposition in the hope that it will regain power in future.

    But for the resilience of the leaders of the APC in the last 16 years, the defeat of the PDP in the presidential poll would not have been possible. If they had adopted the principle: f you can’t beat them, join them, Nigerians would have continued to be at the mercy of PDP’s transformation agenda that has not significantly accomplished much.

    Democracy thrives when there is a viable opposition to keep the ruling party in check. What the PDP needs to do is not to continue to mourn its loss, but to reinvent itself. It must realise its mistakes and make amends.

    While the APC should rejoice about its new fortune, it will soon have to come to terms with the challenge of harbouring all kinds of characters flocking to its fold.

    Since the Constitution guarantees citizen’s freedom to join any party of choice, APC cannot reject anyone who wants to join its group.

    However what is required to avoid an implosion is not to give the decampees undue advantage over its loyal members who have made enormous sacrifice to accomplish the recent feat.

    If the decampees waited to join APC until after the party’s victory, their main reason for decamping is to reap where they did not sow. They are opportunists who cannot be trusted to be loyal if in future the APC loses control at the centre.