The Nation Newspaper

Category: Sunday

  • Trending now

    Trending now

    After all, in spite of its tumultuous, literally asphyxiating existence, the PDP still managed to hold what  it  called a Family Party

    Olatunji Dare, the iconic satirist, would have titled this article MATTERS ARISING, being that which he has not only patented, but popularised in the Nigerian journalistic world. So much has happened within so short a time that concentrating on a single one, like that historic Supreme Court decision by which the PDP finally buried itself in Ekiti, no Yoruba land, grandiose as it is, would still have robbed my readers of something. After all, in spite of its tumultuous, literally asphyxiating existence, the PDP still managed to hold what it called a Family Party just as its one time Alpha and Omega did not only give its party a wide berth but managed to haul stones at the umbrella-loving party from nearby Dutse.

    Since then, Abuja has been planning a major putdown whilst Baba has himself roused his disillusioned, old reliables to Ota to try cobble together a rearguard response just in case the now famous suspension without defence lands on their laps.

    However, since the Holy writ says where thy treasure is, there also will your heart be, let us begin our raconteur with the heartwarming event of Friday, 31 May, 2013 which sent the entire Ekiti and every Omoluabi Yoruba, not to mention most democracy-loving Nigerians, into a delirium.

    I rode in company of the Deputy Governor, the First Lady, the Secretary to the State Government and the Chief of Staff from the State House into town and I could hardly believe the sea of heads, in assorted uniforms, brooms in hand and all singing panegyrics that I had thought only Osun State A C N people were capable of. I had seen them in Osogbo and was completely bowled over during the swearing in ceremony of the people’s governor, the Ogbeni, in 2010, and I can never forget: ‘inu igbo loyin ngbe (2ce) a ki nkole adete si gboro, inu igbo loyin ngbe (Bees will always be found in the bush, not amongst human beings), impliedly banishing some people from town.

    But that drive which took close to two hours from statehouse to Ojumoshe – a distance of less than 5km – was to be completely dwarfed the following day when the governor, Dr J K F -Just Keep the Faith-Fayemi, Ilufemiloye 1, of Ekiti, breezed into town to thank Ekiti people who, through thick and thin have said: A mo ti ruun ka i wa o, Ekiti kete -meaning, Ekiti has got what it wants/desires.

    His drive into town was simply awesome and for kilometres long, dancing and jubilating, grateful Ekiti citizens thronged him all the way.

    I have always said that the Yoruba know their leaders and are appreciative when, like immortal Awo, a government’s concern is the happiness of the greater majority of the citizenry.

    The lesson of those two town rides, in my view, is that aspiring PDP gubernatorial candidates should be humble enough to set their gaze, not on the 2014 election, but, may be, the one after, in 2018 or thereabout because Ekiti spoke so loud and clear on those two days. All these, not because Fayemi is such a handsome young man, which he is, rather it is because this is a non obstructive, Omoluabi governor, almost self-effacing, who knows nothing other than burying his head, a minimum of 16 hours a day, in their service.

    The evidence of his achievement is everywhere. So we need not go into the details of Engr Oni’s case which any serious lawyer should have advised would fall flat on its face as long as the legal doctrine of RES JUDICATA has not yet been annulled by some Nigerian judges. Credit for that not happening, even in this case, must go to the Nigerian Chief Justice, Hon. Justice Aloma Mariam Mukhtar, to whom Nigerians, to the last man, owe a debt of gratitude for her daring do; her no-holds barred cleaning of the Augean stable one of her recent predecessors left in the judiciary. Nigerians know all too well that the roforofo that one left is still simmering, with a faultless Mr Justice Ayo Salami still out in the cold.

    Back in Ekiti, what name did the PDP people not drop; who did they not say had the ears of the ‘oga at the top’; he who would merely dictate what he wanted for his party man? All that we in Ekiti could rely on were, first, the Almighty God, given that this is a country of anything goes; second, the fact that the case was long dead, concluded at the Ilorin circuit of the Court of Appeal, way back 2010, and thirdly, the fact that Justice Ayo Salami, who they never ceased to demonise, had been investigated by no less than three NJIC panels with him emerging from each smelling like a thousand roses. Only President Jonathan, his conscience and his advisers can answer fully as to why Justice Salami is yet to return to his post long after the NJIC has so requested of the President.

    As to reasons why Ekiti will always root for governor Kayode Fayemi, just two examples of his multi-sectoral achievements will suffice: His government’s Urban Renewal project, which took off in the state capital and is being extended to other towns this financial year and his Tourism programme, which is a critical part of his 8-Point Agenda..

    Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, will confuse a returning visitor who last visited some 3 or 4 years ago. The urban renewal programme has completely rejuvenated Ado-Ekiti. The entire town is illuminated all night and the roads, all tarred, mirror the great and beautiful work governor Fasola is doing in Lagos.

    Take a trip out of town and see a completely re-engineered Ikogosi warm spring, the linchpin of the state’s tourism programme. The Ikogosi Tourist Centre, decrepit and literally abandoned at the commencement of the Fayemi administration is today a wonder to behold with a total of 10,000 hectares of land dedicated to its wide life, golf course, apartments, conference centre etc, without any sexing up of the natural conjunction of hot and cold water which is its primary allure.

    The centre is already being developed into a destination of choice for local and international tourists, complete with good roads and internet facilities. The Ikogosi ecology richly showcases nature’s endowments in the state. As a visiting writer recently put it: ‘long stretches of green valleys, vast rain forest and mountain ranges dotting the landscape; Ikogosi Warm Spring Resort will simply take your breath away’.

    It already boasts of a well landscaped 116-hectare resort, one executive VIP chalet, three VIP villas, 12 western suites, 70-five standard rooms of various styles, and seven support staff quarters. Others include nature spa / beauty centre; gym/fitness shop; herbal shop for local medication; arts and crafts shops for souvenir items; 300-seat multi-purpose conference hall, 120-seat and 50-seat meeting and function rooms; variety/shopping mall; amphitheater; double standard rooms for students on excursion and campers and 300-car parking space. As mentioned earlier, Tourism is a critical part of the governor’s 8-Point Agenda to transform the state as it is programmed to be a major source of internally generated revenue.

    We conclude our pot pouri then with the totally ludicrous Nigerian Governors Forum brouhaha where, in our very face, they are trying to replicate another election annulment, probably as a precursor to what 2015 may portend. The most unfortunate thing here is the spectacle of Mr President, like he did when governor Gbenga Daniel inspired a legislative coup in the Ogun State House of Assembly in 2010, and the president on a visit to Abeokuta could say nothing of that illegality, he is today backing a man who was roundly trounced in a very transparent election which the entire world has watched on U.Tube. You will not but wonder whether they care a hoot about how the outside world views Nigeria.

    In all these, however, and like Snooper did not fail to mention in his column in the last edition of The Nation on Sunday, the greatest loser will most probably be governor Segun Mimiko of Ondo State, who appears to have put his integrity on the line over this so obvious a matter. Incidentally, he is, as yet, not even officially a member of the ruling party. He is yet to stop questioning the bona fides of the election, even though he has not denied that he voted, nor has he stopped lampooning the video of the event. How convenient.

    However, anybody near governor Mimiko right now should please ask him the following question: Mr Governor, will you kindly explain to the Nigerian public, the morality behind the SSS Reports, as well as the Video Record plus the Waribi Idepe incidents in Ese Odo with which you made your case at the Election Tribunal in 2007-2008?

    Or has Mr governor forgotten so soon?

  • Making the world a hungry place Making the world a hungry place

    •Hunger is the eager devourer of the poor; it is the poor man’s constant fear and closet companion

    This past week, international news networks have spent inordinate time reporting on leaks of confidential American government information concerning two massive surveillance programs operated in the alleged war against terrorism.

    First, the National Security Agency has been gathering information from one of America’s largest telephone services. The NSA basically collected information on all American calls using this service. While apparently not eavesdropping to discern the contents of the telephone calls, the program was still intrusive. It collected information concerning the identity of the parties, their locations at the time of calls, and duration of the calls. While this might seem harmless, such information can become dangerous in unscrupulous hands. It can be mined to uncover more sensitive information about people.

    The second aspect of the revelation is that the NSA gathers pervasive information from nine of America’s large internet companies, including Google, Yahoo, Facebook and Youtube. This time, the retrieved information includes the content of transmissions.

    There are two sides to this story. Both sides are ugly but in starkly different ways and measures. To the chagrin of his liberal allies, President Obama vigorously defends these programs, claiming they strike the correct balance between an individual’s right to privacy and the imperatives of national security. He claims the programs have prevented terrorist attacks. While the presidential words sound reassuring, we shall never know if they are true. Because the programs are shrouded in secrecy, we are ignorant of the scale by which their effectiveness is measured. Since there is no independent and public oversight, we know not if the programs are being abused.

    We do know the temptations of power. Whenever a large bureaucracy is given nearly unbridled power, the bureaucracy inevitably abuses its office. This has been the case since the beginning of civilization and will be an enduring feature. As long as man is mortal, some of us will be seduced by the power given to them. Where power and money are concerned, the tool often becomes the master.

    Consequently, President Obama’s assurances fall to the floor. Most likely, the program has been abused and used for things outside the already wide scope of its stated mission.

    More to the point, the intended mission of these programs troubles many Americans. The American national character values freedom and personal privacy. Americans historically have seen privacy from government interference or surveillance of their personal affairs as the main fulcrum hoisting the freedoms that constitute American constitutional democracy.

    Modern technology now brings traditional notions of personal privacy into question. Advances in communication technology help us interact in ways impossible two decades ago. These advances are mainly used for decent purposes. However, a minority element employs them in mean, dangerous ways. Thus, prudent law enforcement uses elements of the same technology to checkmate the possible harm.

    These leaked programs are stinging reminders that different aspects of that same technological advance may not only be used to fight crime, they may well impair old freedoms to communicate while affording us new abilities to communicate. This is the dilemma of government and modern communications. It is a dilemma neither America nor any nation that aspires to constitutional democracy and protection of human rights has resolved.

    America would not be grappling with this dilemma in such dramatic fashion but for 9/11. That tragic event altered the America mindset. Openness has diminished and safety has become the first order. Most Americans will now tolerate a level of government intrusiveness prior generations would have rebuked. Given the terrorist threat, the President and many people believe they made a pragmatic decision to tip the scales a bit more toward safety and away from unmonitored freedom. While the changed equation seems reasonable in the abstract, human experience shouts caution. Whenever too much freedom is sacrificed for the sake of safety, eventually both are lost. At this juncture, America has not sacrificed too much freedom. However, these programs signal America may be headed toward those troubled waters.

    This brings us to the second untoward aspect of this story. Why blow the whistle during Obama’s term? Ulterior motives to paint Obama as a transplanted African dictator are part of the play. Sadly, Obama may have traipsed into his opponents’ snare by being too lenient with the national security apparatus and being a bit too pliable to the demands of this vast, faceless machine. Loathe to being seen as weak on defense and not wanting to take any heat should a terrorist attack occur, the President has given the national security network all it wants which is probably more than it needs. Politically, this has served him. When the Boston Marathon attack occurred, subterranean leaks did not emerge from the national security agencies that the president had deprived them of the means to conduct their business of protecting the American public. He could not be blamed for lack of vigilance.

    Yet, the price for his political cover is being paid in the coin of the civil liberties for all. In fairness, what confronts him is one of the toughest tests a leader must face. I fear he may have placed too much trust in the national security machinery by giving them too much latitude. He may sincerely believe these people will not abuse the expansion of their surveillance domain. History speaks against depositing such trust in those who see their mission as spying on fellow citizens. Every clandestine organization is infiltrated by a dark element that enlisted in that agency not to do heaven’s work but to do hell’s labor. They join because the clandestine nature of the agency provides them a cover of legitimacy under which they may pursue otherwise criminal inclinations. Some of the mankind’s most depraved criminals have worn police uniforms. The present situation is no different. If Obama actually believes in the fidelity of his snooping machinery, he has been had.

    In a sense, the disclosures will benefit Obama in the long-run, although causing him short-term heartburn. The leaks should make him more vigilant in constraining the domestic snooping apparatus. For a period, even this vast, anonymous bureaucracy will be more circumspect. Hopefully, public scrutiny will recalibrate the balance now struck between liberty and security so that it reflects America’s traditional presumption of freedom and no longer leans toward the intrusive national security state.

    This brings us to the second part of this story. These recent disclosures of potential government overreach seem to be an installment in a larger pattern of attacks against the Obama Administration. Just weeks ago, Congressional Republicans launched broadsides at the White House, alleging scandal in the Benghazi tragedy, the Internal Revenue Service and Justice Department. That these new revelations walk so quickly in the footsteps of the prior allegations is not coincidental. A foul air wafts through the corridors.

    While right-wing critics speak of a sinister Obama conspiracy to undermine American democracy, some of these critics are chin-deep in conspiracies of their own. They seek to depict Obama as the archetypal ruthless African dictator come to trample the roots of American freedom. It is the latest version of the tale that a black man has a tail. Obama might wear a suit and bear a Harvard education; but he is nothing but Daniel Arap Moi or Idi Amin in the making. Thus, these revelations. The disclosures are made in the name of civil liberties. To the extent this is true, the leaks are condign.

    However, an ulterior motive is in play. Conservatives want to scuttle the boat. They detest the very idea of black leadership and fear what it represents for the future. Their task is to make things messy, even ungovernable, so it looks like a black man is incapable of governing the nation. Disclosure of these surveillance programs has been a surprisingly long time coming. The programs began in the Bush years but were keep secret. However, they now explode in Obama’s face as if he prepared the admixture.

    Without proof Obama directed these extant programs into a more nefarious turn, he deserves no more flak than his predecessor. Since Bush was not scathed, neither should Obama suffer. In this regard, Obama should be judged by the standard applied to Bush, no more and no less. However, Obama suffers the special infirmity of race. When they see his black face, many critics see red. They are more foe than critics. Many serve in the Administration itself as career civil servants. That they are careerists does not divorce them from racial or political bias. Many present senior civil servants came into government during the Reagan era and adhere to the ideology of that era. They tell themselves they work for the American government but Obama can never be their boss. It is an abomination to see him as their superior. Thus, they undermine him. The constant leak of sensitive information helps accomplish this task.

    For Obama, more than any other president, the civil service upon which he should rely is not always reliable or even civil toward him. In it, exist fifth columnists working to undermine him. Some of his worst enemies man offices nominally in service to him.

    While this story is salient, a more profound story has goes unreported by corporate media. Steadily, large corporate combines and hedge funds act in concert to seize vast tracts of agricultural land and control the food supply. The net result will not be more food at lower costs. The result will be more artificially modified foods; however, the total food supply will contract and the price of it all shall increase so as to profit those who now engineer this new method of imposing hunger on much of the world’s already supine populations.

    In the northwestern United States, unapproved genetically modified wheat was discovered growing on a farm. The culprit was the international corporation, Monsanto. Yes, the same company that told the world the deadly pesticide, DDT, was safe to spray around children, pregnant women and on crops.

    Discovery of genetically modified organisms (GMO) on a farm seems minor. Not so. It should scare people. It already frightened wise governments in Japan and several EU nations to halt American wheat imports for fear of contamination of their natural food crops and supplies.

    So quick to make a profit, Monsanto and other companies have introduced GMOs into the food chain without understanding the long-term effects of this experimentation. We know not what consumption of these unnatural combinations does to the human body. We equally should be concerned what the proliferation of GMOs might do to the earth.

    Evidence suggests these crops, if not monitored, could spread like weeds or wildfire. By wind, bird, human activity or odd happenstance, seeds could spread. Once spread, they might overwhelm and choke off the more natural strains of a crop. From a few accidental seedlings, a farmer could see his fields decimated, inexorably changed from a natural harvest to this man-made complexity.

    The change entails more than a different variant of a crop. GMOs require materially different types of fertilizers and care than do natural crops. Most of these fertilizers and other materials are unaffordable to most peasant farmers. They also can only be purchased from a handful of companies. Once GMOs invade, a farmer is left helpless. He must go to Monsanto or a similar company to pay their toll or risk losing all. As such, introduction of GMO is the equivalent of turning decent farm land into a cocaine addict: Unless it gets its GMO fix, it becomes useless.

    This shall be the plight of the farmer’s worldwide should this danger be let loose.

     

  • Welcome, Opon-Imo; goodbye, Igba Aimo

    Welcome, Opon-Imo; goodbye, Igba Aimo

    As Osun people take ‘Tablet of Knowledge’, they should say ‘never again’ to PDP-type ignorance

    Even Chief Jeremiah Obafemi Awolowo would have turned in his grave on June 3, when Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State presented ‘Opon-Imo’, the magic computer tablet that his administration has been working on for quite some time, to the world, at a well attended ceremony in Ilesha, Osun State. Not a few persons have acknowledged, and rightly too, that since the introduction of free education in the defunct Western Region by the late sage, Chief Awolowo in 1955, ‘Opon- Imo’ remains the second most revolutionary project in education, not just in the geo-political axis, but nationwide.

    The point is that only the mischievous will see an elephant and say it seems they just saw something; when we see an elephant, we should say so. ‘Opon-Imo’ is a milestone. That explained why Nigeria literally stood still for Aregbesola when he launched the computer tablet. The array of personalities that graced the event cut across ethnic, political and religious divides, which is something to cheer in a country where politics is being introduced into virtually everything, and in the most cynical, if not outright damaging manner. This was something that was killed in the June 12, 1993 presidential election (that would be exactly 20 years on Wednesday), but which was annulled by reactionary elements in the country.

    The Aregbesola administration has no choice but to be creative in its handling of education in the state, if it must live to its billing as a progressive government. The government inherited a situation where only about three percent of secondary school leavers in the state had the requisite pass for admission into tertiary institutions. This was an unusual situation in a south-western state which called for an unusual answer. The government quickly held a summit of education stakeholders which looked into the state of education in the state and made far-reaching recommendations. Needless to say that ‘Opon-Imo’ is one of the major responses by the government in tackling the problem.

    So, what is ‘Opon-Imo’? I do not know whether it has a parallel in the world, but I know it is novel in the country, at least no government in the federation, whether federal, state or local has done such a thing. According to Aregbesola, “It is a virtual classroom containing 63 e-books covering 17 academic subjects for examinations conducted by the West AfThe Yoruba, Sexuality Education, Civic Education, Ifa on ethics and life’. This section also contains an average of 16 chapters per subject and 823 chapters in all, with about 900 minutes or 15 hours of audio voiceovers”.

    Aregbesola added, “In the integrated test zone of the device, there are more than 40,000 JAMB and WAEC practice questions and answers dating back to about 20 years. It also contains mock tests in more than 51 subject areas, which approximates to 1,220 chapters, with roughly 29,000 questions referencing about 825 images”.

    In fact, there is so much to say for this computer tablet. But I would not dwell much on that because so many people have discussed these in some details. Suffice it to say that power supply is not a problem for those who might want to look at that aspect of our national life. Already, the UN organisation has said it would adopt ‘Opon-Imo’ as one of the major tools of its West African regional harmonisation efforts in education. This, as well as how ‘Opon-Imo’ affect governance is my concern. A prophet is not without honor except in his own town and in his own home.

    But shouldn’t charity begin at home? You can be sure it won’t, at least not when the issue has to do with progress; and especially so that the charity is coming from an opposition political party. It is instructive that this all-important computer tablet was launched at a time the country’s ruling party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was busy doing nothing, or at best going after some of its leading lights, celebrating and covering its laggards with the ubiquitous ‘federal might’ that the party’s leadership and the presidency keep demystifying by the day with their actions and utterances.

    Rather than bring innovativeness into governance, the ruling party has continued business as usual. The other time we were debating how much to spend on the vice president’s lodge. At a time when the government should be busy dreaming dreams for national development, the whole machinery of government was deployed to ensure the government’s favoured candidate won the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) election. Just last Thursday, the PDP suspended another governor (in line with my prediction last Sunday that the party would deal with governors who refused to team up with it in voting for its failed candidate in the NGF election, Jonah Jang). We should expect more of such sanctions over frivolous matters, including governors being nailed over the inability of the party’s leaders to successfully perform their conjugal responsibility on bed, should that suddenly happen. And this is the attitude that the party would carry to 2015 and still expect to win the election.

    If indeed knowledge is power, then one can start imagining what the impact of ‘Opon-Imo’ would be on educational performance in Osun state in the next few years. And, for the benefit of many of our youths who mistake Obafemi Martins for Chief Awolowo due to our shambolic educational curriculum, it is important to stress that what is happening, especially in the south-western part of the country today is not novel to the region; they have their roots in the past. The former Western Region (now Ogun, Osun, Oyo, Ekiti and Ondo states) was the pace setter under Chief Awolowo’s premiership. The region has many firsts to its credit: the first skyscraper in the country (Cocoa House); the first region to implement free education; the first stadium in West Africa (Liberty Stadium, Ibadan; the first television station (WNTV) in Africa (forget the attempt by the defunct National Party of Nigeria (NPN) in the ’80s to turn history on its head by claiming that the first TV station in Africa was established in Libya). We still have such people in the country today who would want to rewrite our unfolding history in their own image rather than in the image in which it occurred.

    If indeed Victor Huho is correct that ‘He who opens a school door, closes a prison’, then we can imagine how many prisons the Aregbesola administration must have succeeded in closing with its giant strides in the educational sector in Osun State. ‘Opon-Imo’ must necessarily remind one of the years of the locust that the PDP rule in Osun was. With ‘Opon-Imo’, ‘Igba aimo’ (the time of ignorance) must have been over in Osun; it must never return. Osun people are not dogs that will always return to their vomit. This, the people will confirm when they go to the polls next year to retain their governor. Goodbye to jati jati.

  • How strong must our federal government be?

    How strong must our federal government be?

    The point at issue is that there is a need to share ruling and sovereignty between federal and state governments in a multiethnic polity

    The title of today’s piece has arisen from the view by the chairman of the Senate Committee on Review of the Constitution (SCRC) that devolution of powers from exclusive to concurrent list together must respect the need to have a strong federal government that can hold the country together. The other possible title would have been since when has the country been falling apart? What the argument about having a federal bureaucratic leviathan to keep the country together appears to be set to achieve is to justify keeping most of the provisions of a constitution that had no input from citizens in the first place and about which citizens in large numbers have complained in their call for a new or people’s constitution. Most of what has been publicised as recommended amendments to the 1999 Constitution are basically Karounwi (just having something to talk about), rather than addressing the real issues.

    We said in this column several times in the past that the amendment exercise is likely to go the way of the Obasanjo Political Reform Conference: nowhere. The reason for the lawmakers to attempt amending the constitution has been sidelined in order to privilege the irrelevant and the redundant. All the talk about not creating new states, introducing a six-year term to replace the current renewable four-year tenure, begging for a special status for Lagos, and passing the buck on revenue by derivation to Revenue Mobilisation and Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) amount largely to beating about the bush. The concerns of those who called for sovereign national conference and for constitutional conference, both of which the National Assembly tried to pre-empt by insisting that its charge or mandate includes constitutional amendment may at the end of the amendment exercise be ignored.

    Citizens who have been clear on the issue that the present structure cannot be used to create a new and more benevolent structure for democratic and efficient federal governance now have reasons, after going through the recommendations from the SCRC, to beat their chests and say “Didn’t we tell you?”

    That the lawmakers have shown a myopic understanding of devolution in a federation comes out of SCRC’s chairman’s statement that the exclusive list is congested, cumbersome, and unwieldy, and that “there is therefore the need to decongest the exclusive list by maintaining only items of utmost importance to the federation as a whole, while transferring items of concurrent interests to the concurrent list.” In the first place, the states are not begging lawmakers to shed load from the federal list to them, in order to have something to do. The point at issue is that there is a need to share ruling and sovereignty between federal and state governments in a multiethnic polity, which the authors of the 1999 Constitution had made up their minds to ignore.

    From the list of items SCRC has recommended for transfer to the concurrent list, there are three that are clearly stated: Prisons, Stamp duties, and Railways. Is this to be interpreted that all the other 65 items on the list are about the federation as a whole? If this assessment is correct, then the concurrent list will now have 32 instead of the 29 in the current constitution while the federal government will have 65 items instead of its original 68 items, until we are told in plain language how many new items are added to the exclusive list.What is ironical about the cosmetic amendments announced so far is that states can now include establishment and maintenance of prisons and prisoners on their list of functions while they have no hand in law enforcement, including enforcing laws created by state legislators and violation of which can create population for the prisons. Fingerprinting is still on the exclusive list while Prisons will go to the concurrent list, should the Senate have its way. How can such disjunction lead to efficiency?

    The complaint that the current constitution had created too many problems for smooth federal governance in terms of the sharing of powers between the national and state governments may be negligible in relation to the confusion that is likely to arise if and when the call by the Senate for autonomy to local governments is approved by all the relevant bodies. In effect, this would mean that state governments would have no supervisory function over local governments that are part and parcel of them. The highlight of giving autonomy to local governments is that civilian governments have succeeded in raising local governments to the level of federating units, a thing that successions of military dictators could not achieve.

    With respect to the Senate’s view on Fiscal Federalism/Derivation: “It is the Committee’s view that fixing the present rate to reflect prevailing reality should be an administrative responsibility vested in the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission,” there is the impression that the Senate conflates or reduces fiscal federalism to derivation. Derivation may be a part of fiscal federalism, but fiscal federalism is much larger than derivation, and there should have been some reflection of this understanding in the recommendations proposed by the SCRC.

    Wallace Oates, in his book, Fiscal Federalism, has said that the concept involves major devolution and fiscal decentralisation. This should include leaving to regions and states or provinces functions and taxation that can lead to efficient provision of goods and services to citizens, rather than keeping such powers and functions with a central government that has no direct constituents. The result of fiscal decentralisation is to increase citizens’ impact on political outcomes and political participation, and to accelerate development. Does SCRC believe that transferring three items to the concurrent list while retaining the principle of federal legislative supremacy on such items as well as avoiding entrenching the principle of derivation in the constitution would take care of the many issues that led to demands for re-structuring? Our senators need to know that we had a constitution until 1966 that clearly stated that derivation would be 50% of revenue garnered from exploitation of petroleum and other natural resources. It would have been safer to put such important information in the constitution than to leave it for a body made up of political appointees.

    It is curious that SCRC has not shown any interest in looking at the percentage of revenue that is given to the federal government and the many functions that the federal government is billed to perform, even when such functions are more efficiently performed at lower levels of government in other federations. In case our lawmakers still have time to look more closely, there are, apart from Prisons, Stamp duties, and Railways, many more items that are better left to the jurisdiction of states:a). Establishment and maintenance of machinery for continuous and universal registration of births and deaths; b). Construction, alteration, and maintenance of roads declared by the National Assembly to be federal trunk roads should be a joint responsibility of the federal government and the state such roads pass through;c). Fingerprints, identification and criminal records; d). Fishing and fisheries in general; e). Insurance;f). ports;g). Mines and minerals, including oilfields, oil mining, geological surveys and natural gas;h). Patents, trademarks, trade or business names, industrial designs, and merchandise marks;i). Police and security services;j). Professional occupations; k). Public holidays; l). Formation, annulment and dissolution of all marriages;m). Establishment of a purchasing authority with power to acquire for export or sale in world markets agricultural produce; n). Inspection of produce to be exported from Nigeria and enforcement of grades and standards of quality in respect of produce so inspected; o). Establishment of a body to prescribe and enforce standards of goods and commodities offered for sale; p). Control of the prices of goods and commodities designed by the National Assembly as essential goods or commodities; q). Registration of business names.

  • Democracy as travelling theatre:

    Democracy as travelling theatre:

    The vastly urbanised and cosmopolitan Yoruba people of Nigeria have a sub-genre embedded in their prodigious dramatic repertoire. It is known as Alarinjo or Travelling Theatre. It is mobile and instant theatre enacted to a background of music and dancing. It is an amusing and riveting spectacle, but it can also become a vehicle of savage social and political satire’

    This is the Seventh Stage of politics as drama in Nigeria. The six other stages are exclusively devoted to Farce, Burlesque, Melodrama, Pantomime, Tragicomedy and of course Ritual. Given the pantomime buffoonery of the past fortnight, it does seem as if Nigerian democracy has learnt something from Yoruba dramaturgy.

    Last Wednesday, it was time once again for the annual national pilgrimage to the ritual shrine of democracy in Nigeria. Whenever democracy becomes this routinised and ritualised, you can be sure that it has been emptied of all its formal content. For in the final analysis, it is not what you say about democracy that matters but what you do about it. Democracy is a habit and not an antic. The anti-democratic panjandrums who rule Nigeria must be chuckling to themselves at this huge national swindle.

    Nevertheless on May 29, Nigerians from all walks of life and across the political divides, celebrated the fourteenth anniversary of civil rule and nascent democracy. So far, it has been the longest uninterrupted stretch of civilian administration in the history of the country. It was by all accounts a mixed celebration, reflecting the dominant mood of a nation that has entered uncharted waters in a perpetual quest for democratic self-actualisation.

    For many, it was a time for sober introspection and reflection about the fate of the country. For others, it was a time to roll out the drums of modest celebrations. To those who wore mournful looks of apprehension and unease, the tally of democratic dividends is in gross deficit. To this band of conscientious objectors, the stark realities on the ground, and the anti-democratic posturing of the upper echelons of the ruling party, is a cause for national anxiety. Darkness may be visible indeed.

    Yet for many others who trade in optimism like political stockbrokers, we have not done too badly given the circumstances. There is no ideal democratic society anywhere in the world. There has never been. Every human society must negotiate with its own dark demons on the perilous road to democratic emancipation. But where and when the demons win, not even the dead or the martyrs of democratic struggle will be safe.

    Democracy has its dark drama, its dismal dissimulation and dire dissembling. Sometimes it creeps in most often after momentous exertions by the populace. At other times, it steals out like an unwanted guest often after serious dereliction by the political elite. In a society fraught with explosive contradictions, nobody is sure of just when enough will be enough.

    But above the din of contention, a most sober assessment holds that what we should be celebrating is not the consecration and consolidation of democratic tenets and habits but the absence of formal military rule. If the soldiers remain in the barracks despite sore temptations, we may yet fumble and wobble our way out of the woods.

    It is perhaps in keeping with the aggregate mood of the country that the celebrations in Abuja have been modest and muted. A state of emergency in a democratic set up is an emergency for the state itself. In a low-keyed ceremony, the government of Goodluck Jonathan reeled out its achievements in the face of widespread question marks over its competence and capability.

    But in a development suffused with dramatic irony, while Jonathan was defending his competence and lashing out at his implacable detractors, his benefactor and political patron, the former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, was in nearby Jigawa state issuing an oblique but well judged fatwah against his former protégé. With Socratic acerbity, the former president noted that you could help a person get a job but you cannot help them do the job.

    It was a sensational vote of no confidence and a damning report card from the man who had set the exams and formulated its grading rubrics. Obasanjo had single-handedly propelled Goodluck Jonathan from the joyous obscurity of his tidal backwater state to the dizzying heights of the Nigerian presidency. If he is now publicly flinging the confidential evaluation of his own student and political apprentice at the Nigerian populace and putative electorate, it amounts to a public declaration of hostilities and an indication that 2015 will be one hell of rowdy and riotous endgame.

    But Obasanjo should be the least of Jonathan’s worries and woes. The country is unlikely to trust the judgement of the retired general again. He has been tested severally and found wanting in this department of leadership selection. When without any touch of irony, he was magisterially pronouncing on Jonathan, he was also at the same time publicly pronouncing on the soundness of his own judgement and his capacity for rational and patriotic evaluation of the nation’s leadership needs. The system of preferment he has put in place is as ruinous of true merit as it is redolent of malice and mendacity.

    The wily military strategist may be stalking some bigger game in the jungle. It may well be that General Obasanjo does not really care a hoot about who succeeds Jonathan as long as he has damaged him beyond re-election and as long as he succeeds in stripping the government he has installed of its last shred of credibility and legitimacy. This is the typical endgame and grudge match in which the general seems to excel. In that case, Sule Lamido himself must beware of a Greek gift.

    For the good people of Nigeria who have been sidelined as usual and forced to become idle spectators at this unfolding play of giants, the good news is that there is time for everything. Given the current power configuration in the nation and the dispersal of political authority within the dominant, residual and emergent hegemonic blocs, one individual, however powerful and pre-eminent, can no longer single-handedly determine who will rule Nigeria.

    Long out of power, with his political stock vastly diminished, without a political base and with virtually all the IOUs called in, the general reminds one of a political dinosaur stranded by choice. The omens are dire and he should read the handwriting on the wall. Unlike the northern power masters who often treat him with grace and civility in recognition of past services, the emergent hegemonic bloc does not seem to have the cultural grace for such niceties.

    They are prone to a feckless impudence which does not recognise past achievements or current distinctions. They are already sending ominous warning signals of impending demystification in his direction. If he does not take the cue and if the ascendant power bloc comes under intense political pressures, as it is bound to be in the coming months, it might set the House of Lugard ablaze. Long accustomed to hunting with the hounds while running with the hares, Jonathan may yet prove Obasanjo’s ultimate political nemesis just as Abacha almost turned out to be his military nemesis.

    There is a feeling of Déjà vu in the air. Something tells Snooper that we have passed this terrain before but in a military guise. The current conjuncture hauntingly reminds one of the early days of General Abacha’s reign of terror. After the freest and fairest election in the history of the nation was annulled, the opportunist miscalculations of the Nigerian dominant power bloc paved the way for a general who had no time for their posturing and pretences. The military, the caliphate and their southern power coolies paid very dearly for this.

    The goggled one strolled where angels feared to thread. He was ferociously feckless. At that point in time, two generals, Obasanjo and Yar’Adua, bestrode the political stage, huffing and puffing with hubristic self-importance. Yours sincerely in an article titled “Martyrs Arising” admonished the two military colossi, warning that in some paradoxical and inexplicable manner they may yet become martyrs of the unfolding democratic drama.

    Early in Abacha’s tenure, this writer asked the perceptive and brilliant Patrick Wilmot what he thought was the critical difference between General Babangida and General Abacha, Wilmot shot back that the difference was that Abacha was not intelligent enough to know fear. A few months later, Abacha summarily impounded both generals. Yar’Adua did not live to tell the story and Obasanjo escaped by some miraculous provenance.

    Once again, the Nigerian Theatre is travelling and the political road show is on. Like the Alarinjo, no one is sure when the joke and the fun will turn serious and morbid, or when the irreverent satire will metastasise into a vehicle for huge social commotion. Given the ongoing desecration of all known democratic norms and tenets, one can only conjecture that it will not be long. Like all dramas of human existence, it is impossible to distinguish between playing actors and acting players. Only time can tell.

  • Democracy Day Blues

    The people want life to be more possible so that the president will not enjoy his score card alone; they want to help enjoy it too.

    This is no exaggeration, but living in Nigeria has become like using your fingernails to scratch away at the sides of a mountain until it becomes flat like the ground. So you go scrape, scratch, scrape at the thing: buying endless fuel cans for your generators (if you have one), putting one cement block over another to give your loved ones shelter (when you can), battling daily on the road with unruly, unrefined and uneducated taxi-drivers and motorcycle-riders and generally having to deal with Nigerians who are nice to foreigners but grumpy to their fellow countrymen (and women). In all these, you hope against hope that as you scratch away at the mountain, the mountain will somehow give way to your puny efforts, failing which some angel with wings would give a helping hand and whisk you away onto an uninhabited island where there are no Nigerians. Well, they do say hope springs eternal.

    On democracy day, like all other Nigerians, I was therefore only too glad to observe a public holiday not because I wanted to greet democracy but because I love work-free days and use them to dream up get-away schemes. Left to me, I think all days should be democracy days so we can have an endless number of work-free days. Know what I found? Many people think like me. On May 29, many stayed at home, not really because they wanted to nurture democracy and help it to grow in their little corners, but because they welcomed a chance to rest their feet from trudging the streets in the effort to eke out an existence from the uphill living Nigeria offers most of us.

    The most absurd part about the whole democracy day business still remains the tortuous route it took to get to us. I mean, when you ponder that it came through one of the most renownedly undemocratic blusterers in history, you can only think that the poor thing arrived LOD – Lame On Delivery. I believe that is why the entire democratic enterprise in Nigeria limps to the highest heavens to this day. Just look at us. Our National Assembly has no idea what to do with either the country or itself; we the people have neither the knowledge nor the will to throw out the entire structure and build for ourselves a system that best defines our nature as Nigerians and Africans with peculiar problems; and a presidency more involved in looking in the mirror and seeing its well torsoed chests carrying very expensive name tags incidentally called ‘2015’. But we limp on.

    So, like I said, many of us stayed home on democracy day to give ourselves a break from all the scratching at life thing so that we will not have to be grumpy at other Nigerians for a nice change. Believe me, a life of perpetual grumpiness not only gets boring but is most tiring. Instead, I used the day to ponder on what there is to gain or lose from the kind of democracy we have, where we are getting it, what we can do to fix its wrongs and generally indulge in some good ol’ standard issue blues. I started by thinking about what is right with it … mmmm … Ok, the next one – what exactly have we gained from this democratic venture?

    By last count, not much. To begin with, as I sat down to think, I soon found myself perspiring for the sun was high in the sky, the icebergs were melting, global warming was going on against all my orders to be still and all that, and there was no electricity to make the fans move and provide some respite. In short, as it was in the beginning, is now, and will hopefully not be forever more. For now though, there was no electricity to help me think. I turned myself to the showers. The taps were not exactly dry. No, sir, they were past dry, they went silent a long while back. Oh, have I mentioned that now, thanks to this democracy, I can hardly travel freely in the country? I cannot even now sleep with my two eyes closed, but luckily, I use four. All these basic things are still wrong yet the country spends billions and billions of Naira each year on its democratic structures. So, exactly how would you be wanting me to reckon this democracy for me to gain the simplest thing?

    Just some days ago, I read a report in which our president was said to have given his administration a pass score for a job well done in this their first-half assessment, and well he should. The only problem is that the rest of us do not quite understand that scoring system because I really have not met a student who has been called on to assess him/herself. That would make the work of the teacher very superfluous indeed. The president then berated the rest of us for not using a known and clear ‘marking guide’ in our assessment of his administration. Yes, but is it not an axiom that whoever sets an examination usually provides the marking guide? But this is neither here nor there. What is important is that we all should understand the concept of democracy and here is my take.

    Surely, to the known world, democracy is that means of governance by which the people get together, point out a few among them to go and govern the rest for the sake of peace and quiet. It takes for granted that whoever is elected would listen to the people, respect them and help to make life less of a grind for them. It also takes for granted that when the people perceive that the said elected officials have ceased to respect or help or listen to them, the people know exactly what to do with and about them. Boot them out.

    Alas, in all of Nigeria’s democratic republics, no single set of elected officials has shown any inkling of what it has been elected or sent to do other than to frolic. And so, from the time of the institution of democracy in Nigeria, we have been unfortunate to have one set of frolickers or the other in astonishingly ascending degrees and the people have been paying the price. So, brace up folks, for we the people obviously have a lot more paying to do.

    The experience of most sane countries is that the government constitutes no more than a small percentage of human labour, large-scale industries no more than a small percentage of the national economy, while the rest is made up of small-scale life savers. For the economy to run efficiently, therefore, every organ of the economy requires a great deal of self-determination in which it can rely on the fact that white is white, black is black, and every little decision cannot be interfered with by the president.

    Clearly, it is time to call out the democratic umpire. No democracy can thrive in a colony of ants that refuses to know and respect the positions, authorities and limits of its members. They will all soon go array and awry. Let the umpire tell us: have we got it (democracy) or have we lost it (our good sense)? I think we have not got it, and I think we have completely lost it. For one thing, the government needs to realise that the people want to be respected. Democracy requires mutual respect between the elector and the elected. For another, we the people want life to be a little more possible so that the president will stop enjoying his score card alone. Let us the people enjoy it too.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Who are the Yoruba people? (2)

    In his 2000 page book titled ‘’Ile-Ife-The Source of Yoruba Civilisation’’, Prince Adelegan Adegbola wrote the following about the Yoruba people of South-western Nigeria- ’’the Yoruba are the progeny of great kingship, efficient kingdom-builders and astute rulers. They have been enjoying for centuries a well-organized pattern of society, a pattern which persists, in spite of all the changes resulting from modern contacts with the western world. Their kings have, from very long past, worn costly beaded crowns and wielded royal scepters. No one remembers the time when the Yoruba people have not worn clothes. Their character of dignity and integrity is an ancient one. In reality, the Yoruba claim to be descendants of a great ancestor. There is no doubt at all that they have been a great race. They are, and they appear in some ways to be detrimentally over-conscious of their great ancestry and long, noble traditions…..the Yoruba are one of the most researched races in the world. According to Professor S.O. Arifalo, by 1976 the available literature on the Yoruba, despite many omissions, numbered 3,488 items. These vast amounts of works are quite substantial and unrivalled in sub-Saharan Africa. Also the artefacts showed that the Yoruba were intelligent, complex and wealthy people whose art and technological skills were unsurpassed in pre-historic Africa. Almost everything we know about the Yoruba people comes from Ile-Ife.’’

    Professor Adegbola’s research is as fascinating as it is outstanding. It is a ‘’must read’’ for all those that are interested in finding out who the yoruba are, where thy come from, what they stand for and what their contribution to religion,culture, the arts and civilisation really is. Adegbola’a research into the history of the Yoruba and the various Yoruba kingdoms is second to none. His findings certainly put a lie to the controversial assertion made by Sir Hugh Trevor-Roper, one of the best-known and most respected historians that ever lived, who once said that ‘’the history of Africa is darkness, nothing but darkness’’. Nothing could be further from the truth and it is clear to me that this englishman, despite his outstanding credentials, knew next to nothing about our rich history, heritage and culture which, in my view, was far more advanced and goes back for thousands of years more than even his own. In this essay I will make my own contributions to the debate and I will concentrate primarily on the pre-historic era of the Yoruba before the coming of Oduduwa to Ile-Ife and before the establishment of the great kingdoms and princely states. I will focus on their origins as a people and their migratorary patterns.

    The Yoruba are ancestors of the black Cushite migrants and settlers that did not go to Africa with the other descendants of Cush but that rather chose to settle in the areas and environs that were to later become the ancient cities of Mecca and Medina in what is presently known as Saudi Arabia.

    They were not Arabs but they were there as settlers for thousands of years and they constituted an industrious, prosperous, powerful, large and respected minority within the larger Middle Eastern community. However they were eventually driven out of those Arab towns and communities and forced to leave them for refusing to give up their religious faith, their deep mysticism and paganism and their idol worship after Islam was introduced to those places by the Prophet Mohammed in 600 AD. They migrated to the banks of the great River Nile in Egypt where they intermingled and inter-married with the Egyptians, the Nubians and the Sudanese of the Nile. The Egyptian roots and connections of the yoruba are deep and irrefutable and the third and final part of this essay is dedicated solely to exploring and explaining those roots. For thousands of years many of the yoruba remained on the banks of the Nile but the bulk of them eventually migrated to what was to later become known as north-eastern Nigeria and once again they settled, mingled and inter-bred with the Shuwa Arabs and the Kanuris of Borno.

    From there they eventually swept across the whole of the north and migrated down south to the forests and farm lands of what is now known as south-western Nigeria making their primary place and location of settlement and pagan worship Ile-Ife. Ile-Ife is to the Yoruba traditional worshippers what Mecca is to the Muslims and what Jerusalem is to the Jews and the Christians. The establishment of Ile-Ife as the centre and source of all that is Yoruba was confirmed by Oduduwa himself when he sent his sons out from Ile-Ife to other parts of Yorubaland to establish their own independent kingdoms, including Bini Kingdom. It was after that that we broke up into various kingdoms and communities within what later became known as the old Western Region of Nigeria. Some of those kingdoms and empires were sophisticated, powerful, large and great (like the Oyo Empire) and some were not so great and large.

    Yet each was fiercely independent and established it’s own sophisticated system of government, customs, legal codes and conventions.

    Sadly these Yoruba kingdoms spent one hundred years fighting one another in totally unnecessary civil wars before the arrival of the British but it is a historical fact that they were never defeated in any war or conquered by any foreign army. Yet the only things that they had in common amongst themselves was their language (which broke into different dialects), their historical heritage, their affinity and respect for Ile-Ife and their acknowledgement of that town as being their spiritual home and finally their acceptance of the Oonirissa of Ife as ‘’the living manifestation of Oduduwa, the quintessential icon of royalty and splendour and God’s chief representative on earth’’. This collection of different kingdom states with a common ancient root were collectively known as the ‘’Yoruba’’. Yet the fact of the matter is that the word ’’Yoruba’’ has NO meaning in our language or any other language that is known to man.

    No-one has been able to tell us with certainty the meaning of the word ‘’Yoruba’’ or indeed where it really came from. This really is very strange and is indeed a deep and unsettling mystery. For all we know it could even be a deep and ancient insult. That is why I have always preferred to be referred to as an ‘’ife’’ rather than a ‘’Yoruba’’. Another question that is often asked is why did our forefathers indulge in all the mass migrations from first Mecca and Medina, then to Egypt, then to Borno, across the vast plains and desert lands of northern Nigeria and then finally settled in the forests of the western region? Historians have ventured a number of reasons for this but the truth is that no-one knows with much certainty. My own personal theory is that the reason that our forefathers kept having to migrate until we found somewhere of our own was either because of war or because we refused to give up our pagan beliefs and practices. I believe that when Islam was eventually introduced into the areas that we once settled our forefathers suffered all manner of persecution for their tenacity to their ancient pagan faith and their refusal to convert and consequently they had to move on. I may be wrong and many historians have offered one or two other explanations for these mass migrations yet whatever the reasons for them may have been, whether they were due to war, famine or religious persecution, it is clear that the influence of the Arabs, the Egyptians, the Nubians, the Sudanese, the Kanuris, the Nupes and all the other nations that we once lived with, mingled with and mixed our blood with through breeding and marriage is very strong amongst the Yoruba people, their music, their language and their culture till today. We shall return to this theme in part three of this essay.

    For thousands of years the yoruba were pagans and ifa was their cornerstone. Their faith was polytheic in nature and they believed, like the Ancient Egyptians, not in one Supreme Deity, but in a pantheon of gods each of which had it’s own place and served it’s own purpose. As a matter of fact most of the ancient gods that the Egyptians worshipped were introduced to them by yoruba diviners, sorcerers and pagan priests. Such was the level of our influence on Egyptian culture, religion and history. The  monotheic faiths of Islam and Christianity were both espoused by the yoruba thousands of years later and were both established primarily by the strong trade links that existed between them and the Hausa/Fulani from the north, the Turkish traders of the Ottoman empire from the southern Atlantic coast, the Portuguese and European traders who plied that same southern Atlantic coast and the Christian missionaries who vigorously evangelised the whole territory. Both christianity and islam eventually took full root in the land and in the hearts and minds of the Yoruba people whilst paganism, ‘’ifa’’ and the practice of their more traditional faith was eventually pushed to the back seat. This was quite an achievement because for thousands of years both christianity and islam were fiercely resisted by the Yoruba and even till today many yoruba people still tenaciously hold on to their traditional faith. That is why it is very difficult to find a Yoruba family that does not have christians, muslims and adherents of the more traditional and ancient tribal faiths in their ranks.

    The slow and massive migration of the yoruba from Arabia, Egypt, Borno, through northern Nigeria and to their own homelands in the south-west are why they, together with the other numerous tribes in ‘’mid-western’’ (the Bini, the Ishan, the Urhobo, the Itsekiri, the Isoko and all the other tribes that were once part of the old Western Region of Nigeria) and ’’northern’’ Nigeria are generally known as the ‘’Sudanese Nigerians’’. This is because they all migrated from north Africa and the Sudan to their present locations. By way of contrast the various tribes from the rest of southern Nigeria who migrated from eastern and southern Africa to their present locations comprise of the Igbo and the people of the eastern Niger-Delta area (including the ijaws, the ikweres, the kalabaris, the efiks, the ibibios, the ika igbos and all other tribes that were part of the old Eastern Region of Nigeria). These people are known as the ‘’Bantu Nigerians’’ and they are very different to the Sudanese in terms of their outlook to life and their culture and history. Permit me to explain this assertion. The history of the people that are known as the ’’Sudanese Nigerians’’ is well-docuemented, well-entrenched and well-acquainted with strong and respected hierachial structures and the administration of extreemely large and powerful, culturally-diverse, cosmopolitan and sophisticated empires that once stretched across thousands of miles of different territories and civilisations. These great empires, which were headed by powerful kings and emperors, such as the Oyo, Habe, Nok, Nupe, Tiv, Borgu and Sokoto Empires, conquered many lesser peoples in centuries past and administered many territiories when compared to the Bantus.

    The Bantu’s only experience and knowledge of ancient empire and kingship is limited to a few relatively small yet notable kingdoms and coastal states in what is presently known as Nigeria’s eastern Niger-Delta area. Examples of this are the Kalabaris who have their Amayanabo, the Efiks who have their Obong and a few others. The most populous tribe amongst the Bantu are the Igbo. They are originally of Jewish stock and they have absolutely no history of kingship, empire and organised hierarchical structures at all. They were essentially republican in nature and they were a collection of village and forest communities that were bound together only by their common language and their ancient heritage. That is why the igbo often take pleasure in saying ‘’igbo enwe eze’’, meaning ‘’the igbo have no king’’. Outside of the royal kings of Onitsha and Asaba to have kings and chiefs amongst the Igbo was a relatively new phenomenon which certainly does not pre-date the last 150 years. As a matter of fact the kngs of those two towns and communities were not even originally of igbo stock but were offshoots of the Royal House of Bini in what is presently known as Edo state. The Obi of Onitsha and the Asagba of Asaba and indeed most of their subjects were descendants of the Oba of Benin and the the people of edo respectively. The igbo did not even have chiefs up until 150 years ago. It was when the British colonialists arrived in the east that they appointed ‘’warrant chiefs’’ for them. This explains why the igbo particularly finds it exceptionally difficult to understand the complexities and subtleties of people that do not share their republican heritage or beliefs.

    Yet the truth about the Nigerian situation is that everybody and every tribe and nationality, no matter how big or small, brings something to the table. That is what makes us so special and unique as a people and that is what makes our country so great. There is indeed unity in diversity and whether you are a yoruba, an igbo, a fulani, a hausa, a tiv, an idoma, a nupe, an urhobo, an ishan, an itsekiri, an isoko, a kalabari, a kataf, a shuwa Arab, a kanuri, a berom, an igbira, a bini, an ikwere, an efik, an ibibio, a jukun, an ijaw or any other tribe or nationality it is in the greater collective and the beautiful racial and cultural melting pot that Nigeria has become that we can find our true power and greatness. The yoruba, no matter how rich our history, are only a part of a much greater family of peoples each with their own noble heritage and proud history. In the third and final part of this essay we will explore the Egyptian roots of the yoruba and we will consider the remarkable similarities between ancient Egyptian culture, religion and language and that of the yoruba people.

  • A swamp called Syria

    A swamp called Syria

    •Civil War is as a crazed lion devouring its own flesh; only the sobriety that comes from weariness shall stop it.

    War is hell. Civil war is hell gone mad. Once fighting began, Syria became a tragedy foretold. A society and government short on tolerance but fully conversant with ruthlessness and its attendant crafts of misrule were thrust into tumult by the protests many cheered as part of the “Arab Spring.” Arab it was. Spring it wasn’t. As events unfolded, what occurred proved worse than the most biting winter.

    A harsh nation in a dark neighborhood where friends are more dangerous than enemies, Syria was not well suited for the protests. Rarely do protests against a paranoid regime yield placid results. While liberty and justice might be the aim, the result tends toward the opposite initially. Dictators do not respond to democratic protests by offering the olive branch or more democracy. They respond by offering more dictatorship. Such was the case in Syria. The morally vacant Assad regime would flash the mailed fist to deal with the protests.

    A minority government with a callous reputation, the Assad regime knew the protests could roll into something challenging the regime’s very survival. The friends Assad has in the international community could be counted on fingers of one hand yet leaving at least two of those digits unencumbered in the accounting. Lurking behind the protests was the sectarian rivalry between Assad’s Alawite minority and the nation’s Sunni majority. Unless the protesters backed down after their initial forays, conflagration was inevitable. For good measure, toss in subterranean tribal fissures in both camps and a dose of international intrigue as leaven. The contrived peace that had been imposed by force was set to expire. It would do so in puffs of smoke, fusillades of bullets and the roadside heaping of the corpses of the innocent, the guilty and the indifferent.

    This is the worst type of civil war. Pitting a minority regime against a fragmented majority opposition, the eruption forecasted stalemate. The regime enjoys the preponderance of material assets but not by such numbers as to overcome its lack of faithful followers. Most in government belong to the Sunni majority. Their membership in government was a marriage of convenience. Few things are as inconvenient as civil war. When the pinch came, their loyalty also became suspect. For Assad, this is more than a pinch. It is a vise grip closing on his throat. Thus, his government has effectively shrunk to where half of those in it are suspected opposition collaborators. Assad fights the rebels while keeping his second eye on perceived enemies within. It is hard enough to quash an uprising using all a government’s assets and energy. Using half of that inventory makes the task impossible.

    The rebels have greater people power but the power is unharnessed, wild and as often directed against internecine rivals as against the ogre government. Thusly fragmented, it cannot be viewed as a unified opposition. It too is a marriage of convenience, wedding genuine democrats, opportunists, carpetbaggers, tribalists, Sunni chauvinists, and radical jihadists. Should Assad suddenly fall, these disparate elements will lunge with equal ferocity at each other as much as they will attack the hapless remnant of Assad loyalists. Because they lack unity and also have inferior arsenals and military experience, the rebels are not strong enough by themselves to topple Assad.

    Aided by Iran, Iraq and Hezbollah, Assad has tipped the extant balance in his favor. He still remains unable to exterminate the rebels. As things stand, however, he believes he can preside over a rump Syria. Given the alternative of dangling from the wrong end of a thick rope or of being hauled before the International Criminal Court, Assad would gladly rule this abbreviated tract indefinitely.

    Meanwhile the rebels are furious at the West. In Western calls for Assad’s departure, the rebels thought they heard the unmistaken language of material support. They saw Libya being repeated in their homeland. The West wanted Assad gone but did not want to entangle themselves in protracted misadventure. Libya had proven harder than envisioned. Syria would be harder still, with the outcome less certain. Te West, including America, has given clandestine support and weapons but not at a decisive magnitude. This dollop augments the war materiel provided by conservative Sunni regimes like Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Qatar; still, the total cannot tip the scales.

    Ironically, some of these weapons will fall into the possession of Al Qaeda and other jihadist elements in the opposition. That this same situation played in Libya brings into question the primacy the West, especially America, publicly gives its anti-terrorism policies. While Syria can be considered a bad card in all categories, it is hard to believe Syria has been a more active and geographically diverse terrorist threat than Al Qaeda and its jumble of franchises and affiliated groups. Apparently, the war on terror has conditional primacy for the West. If there is chance to pick off an unfriendly Middle Eastern nation, the West will cooperate with the dreaded terrorists to achieve the task, even though who might ascend to govern the downcast nation remains uncertain. This tryst with terror groups strengthens the groups by equipping them and giving them a fighting chance at influence in or even leadership of the newborn government. Apparently, the West would rather toss the future of unfriendly nations upon the wheel of blind fortune than to focus on minimizing the impact of terrorist groups. Western nations evidently believe they can stifle large-scale attacks on their territories. Thus, they can now return to the timeworn practice of picking off recalcitrant nations.

    This policy shows neo-conservative thought retains primacy even after the Bush years. President Bush designated several nations as evil. Syria was among them. While the world has moved on and danger spots have evolved, American policy seems to have remained static at its core. This is a most curious and low-minded policy. Osama bin Laden was begotten by the blowback from the West’s cynical support for jihadists in Afghanistan during the 1980s. This time it might produce a scourge more virulent. Hopefully, it will not be born in the urban battlefields of a crumbling Syria. However, if the West persists with this tack, the blowback will occur in some desolate, broken land.

    The war has stabbed into the marrow of Syrian society. The death toll exceeds 70,000; one million people have been displaced. More are disfigured and wounded. None will forget this grisly woe. Horror is written on the face of children and lodges in the wombs of those who should be giving birth to a more optimistic generation. The mounting violence ferments sectarian tension. Senseless killing demands an answer: That answer is usually hatred. With each innocent Sunni killed, other Sunnis inch closer to blaming all Alawites for wanting to suppress them. The death of a guiltless Alawite sparks fear in that community of a bloodbath should Assad fall. Neighbor looks at long-time neighbor with new fear. In a civil war, even the initially indifferent become partisan because the ethnic or sectarian divide that shapes the battlefield comes to define the entire nation. This already harsh political system and the society underpinning are sundering, gradually but inexorably to the point that repair will be measured in decades not in years.

    Superimpose international rivalry on this picture. What emerges is the turbid portrait of a genuine catastrophe.

    Heretofore the West hoped to oust Assad by the power of positive thinking. When this failed, the spigot of clandestine aid was opened. That proved inadequate. A few months ago in an attempt to restrain Assad and pre-position the Syrian leader as being criminally responsible for potential American intervention, the American president proclaimed the use of chemical weapons would be “a game changer,” implying America would deliver militarily decisive aid to the opposition or get even more directly involved. The statement was tantamount to striding out on a narrow ledge. It would encourage renegade Syrian troops or rebels to deploy chemical weapons on a small scale to provoke a massive U.S. response. It would make little sense for Assad to order such a deployment unless he was certain the American statement was pure bluff. Assad is ruthless but not so reckless as to take the unnecessary gamble. The inhumane use of any chemical weapons was probably done by solders outside the chain-of-command or by agents provocateurs trying to elicit a muscular American response.

    When confronted by foggy evidence of deployment of the despicable weapons, President Obama wisely retreated from the precipice. Exercising prudence, he did not take the bait. His move was roundly condemned by America’s conservatives as having sacrificed the nation’s credibility. These people complain because they somehow ache for more war notwithstanding Afghanistan and Iraq. They seem to prefer America on permanent war footing. It must be good for their stock portfolios as it makes little sense from the standpoint of national interests. To his credit, Obama ignored their protestations. He realized leaping to war based on such scant evidence would not have added to America’s global credibility. It would have confirmed either American naiveté or its war lust.

    European leaders have been more hawkish than President Obama. In the face of Assad’s recently military gains, the European Union seeks to reestablish a more even balance. Consequently, it ended the arms embargo on Syria, meaning it will start openly supplying the opposition. However, given the EU’s history of half promises and given the uneven Libyan performance of key EU members, the opposition still might be disappointed by the wares it gets. The EU move will place pressure on America to openly supply the rebels. At some point, America will join the line.

    Meanwhile, Israeli takes occasional potshots at Syrian installations and Hezbollah soldiers entering Syria. Israel dislikes Assad because of his support for Hezbollah in Lebanon and because of the disputed Golan Heights. However, Israel is wary of his downfall because of the complete breakdown of order it might occasion. Israel would rather see Syria in indefinite turmoil. The uncertainty furnishes a credible reason for Israel to be skittish about peace talks with anyone, including the Palestinians. Moreover, the global attention directed at Syria deflects the overall pressure on Israel to talk peace.

    On Syria’s side stand Russia, Iran, Iraq and Hezbollah. In the shadows, hides China. Russia has too much invested in Syria, including a naval installation, to walk away from Assad. In a demonstration of support that counters the EU arms action and that will make Israel think twice about airstrikes, Russia is giving Assad new anti-air missiles. No nation makes such an expensive, obvious gift to a leader who it believes will soon be scurrying for his life. Iran has been Syria’s best friend in the region. Iran needs a friendly Syria as a conduit to Hezbollah in Lebanon. Without a cordial Syria, Hezbollah’s supply line is truncated to the extent the group will lose ground in Lebanon. Thus, Assad’s fight for survival is its own. Iraq is also a conduit of war materiel and personnel to Syria and Hezbollah. A Syria in the hands of a Sunni government with jihadist inclinations could foment Sunni resentment in Iraq, moving that already frail, febrile nation to the threshold of civil war. The Syrian crisis magnifies the Sunni/Shi’a divide throughout the region which could spark real problems in other nations.

    On balance, the western nations opposing Assad are stronger than the half-handful aligned with him. While this is serious business, it remains a bit of a lark for the West. Their existence is not threatened by the war. They have something to gain but little to lose in the contest. They will calculate how much to invest and will go no further. For them, this is a limited proxy war. For Assad’s allies, especially Iran, Iraq and Hezbollah, more is at stake. Significant interests, if not their outright existence, hold in the balance. While they have fewer assets than the West, they are willing to give more from the little they have. Much like the internal Syrian balance, the international balance of power and effort portends stalemate. However, the introduction of additional weaponry will escalate the lethality and destructiveness of the stalemate.

    In what is likely a hollow gesture at this point, the US and Russia, though on opposite sides of this matter, joined by the UN seek to sponsor peace talks. Buoyed by recent tactical military gains, Assad is eager to attend talks. With his ship currently riding high tide, any agreement achieved at the talks must memorialize his currently strong position. A few months ago, observers were talking about the regime collapsing from within and Assad escaping in the dead of night with but the shirt on his back. Today, he speaks of running for reelection next year. The opposition has no present desire for talks. Their sine qua non is Assad’s ouster; but a strong Assad will not step toward the exit let alone walk through it. Consequently, the opposition wants to continue fighting in order to change the shape of the battlefield before approaching the negotiating table.

    This problem is inherent with all wars, particularly civil wars. Rarely do both sides simultaneously see an advantage in negotiating. It may take years and concomitant war fatigue before the parties negotiate. In war, combatants rarely come to the table as a function of wisdom or reason. They usually do so because out of weariness.

    Without divine intervention or the sudden irruption of wisdom among the leaders of both sides, war shall continue for some time to come. Those who head the rival sides have little to fear personally war’s continuance. They live in padded comfort far from the daily misery and the macabre. They bear little of the physical brunt of war. They don’t experience the physical danger or the material deprivation. The anonymous, common man, woman and child whose only dream was to live a decent existence in relative peace and comfort will bear the brunt.

    Their dreams now shattered, they exist to survive. They are no longer human beings. They are objects in a dreadful game of sniper fire, indiscriminate bombing and rash executions. For them, this is not war and this war is not about them or their interests. In a situation like this, the prospective leaders who hold the interests of the people to heart are rarely those who possess enough military power to take over. Those who hold such power, on either side of the fight, are not those most interested in the people. This war is but a contest between those who want to rule but not necessarily improve the nation. For the Syrian people, this war is hell. For the rest of us, it is a hellish reminder that the best way to end a civil war is never to start one.

  • Wobbling and fumbling to 2015

    Wobbling and fumbling to 2015

    Anti-Amaechi crisis exposes the PDP for what it is even as the Presidency plays the ostrich

     

    What ordinarily should have passed as an innocuous election by governors in the country to elect their officers in a forum not known to the constitution has become a reference point for President Goodluck Jonathan’s popularity. And the reason is simple: the President himself has not done much to be detached from the forum that could easily pass for a social gathering where the governors unwind. So, if the President is feeling bad at the turn of events before and shortly after the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) election of May 24, it is self-inflicted. The humiliation, if the President sees the developments as such, is the kind of thing a leader suffers when he stoops so low to be involved in mundane things that should not have been his business, considering his exalted office.

    But President Jonathan did not seem to understand the prestige attached to that office. If he did, he would not have been an interested party in who heads the NGF or whether the organisation even exists or not. The only time the forum attracted the attention of Nigerians probably was the time it supported the Federal Government on the withdrawal of fuel subsidy in late 2011. And that was because it wanted more money for its members. Interestingly, both the Federal Government and the forum were on the same page; so, there was no quarrel then, even though subsidy removal was unpopular among the generality of Nigerians. That did not matter, either to the Presidency or the forum, once their own needs were met. But for mass resistance, fuel subsidy removal would have been rammed down the throats of Nigerians while the presidency and the governors would have been smiling to the banks, with their ‘protruding’ treasuries.

    Today, the music has changed. Governor Rotimi Amaechi, as chairman of the NGF in support of fuel subsidy removal who was then a friend to President Jonathan, is now his sworn enemy. But that is what life is all about. There are no permanent friends or permanent foes, but permanent interests. Of course, the story is well known. President Jonathan, despite a lackluster mid-term performance, is still interested in contesting the 2015 election. Apparently the man did not know how badly disappointed Nigerians are with his government because if he knew, he would not have awarded himself a pass mark in his assessment of himself on May 29. Where in the world is the student also the examiner? Or where in the world is an accused the judge in his own cause? This, unfortunately, is what the President has done and he can do that because this is Nigeria. But that is not our concern for today.

    We have been told that Amaechi has been ‘blacklisted’ because he is interested in being vice president in 2015. If this is true, isn’t this a legitimate aspiration? The point is that unless political calculations change, or unless the President changes his style, he will be resoundingly defeated in 2015. This has nothing to do with the fact that he was massively voted for in 2011. The handwriting is becoming clearer by the day. And that explains the desperation to clear all enemies, real or perceived, from the way to ensure there are no formidable challengers, and Amaechi happens to be the scapegoat. The calculation is, once you deal ‘ruthlessly’ with Amaechi, others who might be nursing similar ambition would get the message and queue behind the President, whether or not he has anything to offer.

    But Nigeria ought to have passed the stage where any elected official would breathe down the neck of another. The governor was elected just as the President. But for our warped federalism, nothing should make it possible for either to breathe down the neck of the other. It is obvious the architects of this anti-Amaechi crisis either overrated their own capacity or underestimated that of their opponents. That is why they have found it impossible to beat a retreat despite the fact that they have been fumbling serially and so embarrassingly; unfortunately dragging the Presidency along with them, notwithstanding that the presidency has said it is not a party to the crisis. They should go tell that to the marines!

    Those who are saying that the NGF crisis is between Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State and Governor Amaechi of Rivers State either deliberately chose to amend the truth or simply want to make President Jonathan feel good; a thing that can never be because the president himself knows that the contest is this fierce because he (President) is leading the anti-Amaechi fray. And this explains the desperation on the part of the President’s goons to win by foul means since it is impossible for them to win fairly. The PDP, their party, also badly handled the crisis that should have been nipped in the bud before it festered. Rather than approach the issue maturely, the party’s leaders behaved like a village headmaster with a horsewhip to whip non-conformists into line.

    And when this failed, they contrived all kinds of shenanigans, from the formation of a parallel forum which they called the PDP Governors Forum, to reduce Amaechi’s influence as NGF chair. That failed. They then thought it was better to pull the rug off his feet by slugging it out with him at the forum’s polls. They were sold a dummy which they sheepishly bought; forgetting that there is a difference between dreams and deeds. At the NGF polls, again, they were roundly defeated. And, rather than graciously accept defeat, they have contrived all kinds of things to give the impression that Jonah Jang, Plateau State Governor, their defeated candidate at the NGF poll, won the election. Not surprisingly, from the formation of the PDP Governors Forum to the NGF polls, they always found ready tools for the dirty games. Nigeria is never in short supply of such characters. One of their favourites has God as part of his name but it is doubtful if he is allowing God’s will in this matter. Then the other had a namesake in the Bible who was the problem to other passengers in a troubled ship on the sea; the ship remained troubled until he was thrown into the sea and swallowed by a fish in whose belly he was for three days and three nights before he repented. Now, this second tool in the hands of the PDP went to church to celebrate the victory he knew he never had. If anyone was in doubt that he never had that victory, that doubt must have evaporated with the number of governors (whose votes he purportedly had during the NGF election) that honoured his invitation to their so-called new NGF Secretariat on Thursday. But this must be a different kind of Jonah because the biblical Jonah repented three days after. It is over seven days and seven nights and this Jonah of our time is still swimming in the mud of iniquities.

    Mark my words, the PDP rather than beat a retreat, will want to ‘deal’ with those governors that were absent at Jang’s event, their event. That is the way of Pharaohs. They don’t beat a retreat until they sink. We will start hearing the kind of things we never heard about those governors now that they have made themselves known. Their courage is however soul-lifting. However, those playing God today should know that this is the kind of crisis no one can tell the end. They should go ask those who played God yesterday. But the fact is that this crisis has exposed the PDP for what it is and it is a foretaste of what to come in 2015.

     

  • NGF Chair: Nigeria becomes the butt of jokes as presidency settles for weakest link

    NGF Chair: Nigeria becomes the butt of jokes as presidency settles for weakest link

    That those who wanted governor Amaechi out by all means could settle for governor Jang must be eloquent testimony to their desperation,

     

    Those who get to power by false or fraudulent means curse themselves and are cursed by the people. Those who collaborate with evil systems and tyranny cursed themselves, and are cursed by the people’ -Uncle Bola Ige in IS NIGERIA CURSED? 21 April, 1996.

    I can no longer remember how many times I have had this feeling that Plateau State has no governor, properly so called. Governor Jang’s tenure has proved so lacklustre that hardly does a week pass by without reports of ethno-religious killings; you are bound to think it is only in that state you have Hausa/Fulani living alongside indigenous peoples in the country. At first I thought he was the victim and that people like my good friend, Antony Sanni, the A C F Publicity Secretary, who thoroughly understands the terrain, were being unkind when they accused him of always complicating simple issues and turning them to the leitmotif for horrendous bloodletting. I actually pointedly accused Tony of tormenting the governor until he assured me that on the contrary, he has every reason to wish for a peaceful Plateau State to which he is related by marriage. It was at that point that I decided to pay closer attention to the Jang persona and I have come to the conclusion that by his election as governor, it would appear he has been promoted over and above his ken. The only thing I can unreservedly credit Mr. Jang with is his unremitting stubbornness which, for instance, led him to neglect warnings from the federal authorities not to conduct the ruinous local government election which subsequently resulted in the death of many.

    That those who wanted Governor Amaechi out by all means could settle for governor Jang must be eloquent testimony to their desperation, especially after they were reported to have earlier-on zero-ed in on the Bauchi State governor. The Katsina State governor is alleged to have said on a BBC Hausa radio programme that the President personally told him to go and replace Governor Amaechi as chairman so all these denials will not sell as Nigerians are no fools. Increasingly, presidential spokespersons are presenting the President as being totally in the dark, all in the ridiculous attempt to present him as innocent. Yuguda, one must say, has never hidden his presidential ambition since the Yar ‘Adua era on whose demise he most probably considered himself the prime northern candidate to step in to complete the late President’s two terms. If Governor Akpabio is as smart as he is often regarded, he should have stood by Yuguda who would do just about anything to become the NGF Chairman, hoping that by that mere fact he could edge out the incumbent Vice President come 2015.

    The ways of the PDP is truly bewildering. But what led them to Jang this time around? I can hazard only two reasons: first, Mr President apparently cannot stand a powerful northern governor as chairman of the forum. As Nigerians know only too well, both he and the coordinating minister need unfettered freedom to operate both the Excess Crude Account and the Sovereign Wealth Fund, among other things. Second, they know that being isolated, Governor Jang will need the elixir, even though as chairman, the President will consult him the least amongst northern PDP governors.

    The video recording of an election which some governors claimed did not hold has since gone viral on the internet and Nigerians are now waiting for the nay-sayers to also claim that the recording is fake. Apparently these governors are least concerned about the embarrassment to the country and I was not in the least surprised to learn that Nigeria was the butt of jokes at the 50th anniversary celebrations of the African Union. That is what happens when a resource-rich country, the size of Nigeria, demonstrates puny leadership traits and prefers to play, not in the big league, but at the peripheries of civilisation.

    Why has the NGF suddenly become this important, a beautiful bride of sorts? In my opinion, that flows directly from the president’s new ambition to be master of all he surveys. Every segment of society and any person, or institution against that single-minded determination must be crushed or subsumed one way or the other. But this is not new in our clime.

    IBB did not stop until he had run literally every institution out of town: labour unions, the Nigerian Medical Association inclusive, and for the really tough ones like the Nigerian Bar Association, he merely plucked from their leadership by recruiting almost every succeeding president to his cabinet thereby giving the association enough problem to occupy a life time. What appears to be trending now is that for President Jonathan’s 2015 ambition, just about anybody or anything is dispensable. And that is why today’s cheer- leaders must beware because revolutions do consume its own children: a mis- spoken word, an unintended act there etc, could spell doom. So if today, the President’s ‘soldiers’ are coming for the Russians, the Poles and the Jews do not remonstrate, there may be nobody to talk tomorrow when it is the turn of the Jews to be herded into the ‘Auchwitz concentration camp gas chambers.’

    People of very short memories that we Nigerians are, I have heard and read many blaming the pro-Amaechi governors of edging him on in confronting his party. But nothing can be further from the truth as they have so easily forgotten that President Jonathan road was smoothened by these very persons, acting in unison with the National Assembly. Or can anybody show Nigerians the PDP membership cards of the likes of Professor Wole Soyinka, Pastor Tunde Bakare, Femi Falana, Festus Keyamo, to mention only a few of those who risked limbs and lives so Jonathan could become acting President?

    It is in this regard that I feel rather uncomfortable with the views of my very good friend, Sen. Seye Ogunlewe when, on television, he alleged that Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is behind the crisis. Without a doubt, I know that the Southwest PDP people see Tinubu in their dreams. Also, having been brutally maginalised in a PDP they did the most to bring about, and nurtured, albeit, through outright chicanery, they are eager to be in the good books of Abuja. For this reason, they must make ‘politically correct’ statements lest Abuja forgets them. Add to that, the fact that Seye has just recently been begged to return fully to the party. He therefore has a duty to prove that he is still a loyal party man. Otherwise, what is Tinubu’s own in PDP’s all-year-round hallucinations and dirty politics in which might is right; where you can suspend a whole governor without as much as allowing him a right of hearing and where, having participated fully in an election, you can, after losing miserably, turn round like school children to say elections were not held or were rigged? I must, however, not forget to congratulate the Jagaban for having the power and the influence to make PDP governors disobey, if not disregard, their party leader, Mr. President. What remains for these people who are forever afraid of Tinubu is to lift their nemesis into the pantheon of the gods.

    Finally, the role of the Akwa Ibom governor, Godswill Akpabio, especially his no-holds barred exuberance in carrying out his instructions, is very analogous to that of Senator Ibrahim Mantu’s in the aborted Third Term Project of former President Obasanjo. Mantu was the generalissimo and threw his entire weight (no puns intended) into it. But he was smart. Once they were routed, he calmly returned to base, and ate the humble pie. I think rather than all these sabre rattling in which Governor Jang is being paraded on television, Governor Akpabio and his pro-Jang governors should take the only decent option here. The video of that election, with gubernatorial banters here and there and which, by now, must have been watched by millions in every corner of the world, has done them in irretrievably. If they love Nigeria as they never cease to claim from the roof tops, they should stop their bellicosity, quietly apologise to Amaechi and his supporters, embrace their returned chairman and try their damn best to restore Nigeria’s integrity.