The Nation Newspaper

Category: Tunji Adegboyega

  • Senators’ rice gift

    Senators’ rice gift

    Fighting Dino Melaye’s recall with ‘stomach infrastructure’?

    Kogi State has been in the news most often these days for the wrong reasons. With due respect to my friends and senior colleagues from that state, not many of us are still wondering why things are the way they are in Kogi State. As a matter of fact, we are quick to point out that it is because if the state is not being governed by a carpenter, then a tailor is in charge. So, what do you expect? Often, we laugh over this joke.

    But Kogi is not alone in this absurdity. This is a country where the more you look, the less you see. The Abdulrasheed Maina saga that is playing out is a typical example. However it ends will no doubt be interesting. It was in this same country that Nigerians elected a Grade Two teacher as president despite the availability of well educated persons that were also better exposed and cosmopolitan, even in the political party that fielded the teacher. Consider even a state like Ogun, during the first term of Otunba Gbenga Daniel as governor; I learnt there was no single university graduate in the house of assembly. Then Ekiti; which is supposed to be the bastion of learning in the country, with its numerous professors, being led by an Ayo Fayose, whose only electoral joker is ‘stomach infrastructure’ which fascinated the highly educated Ekiti people. Fayose today is dreaming of becoming president (although a usually reliable but unconfirmed source said all he wants is the country’s vice presidency)! But, who, in all honesty, can say Fayose is not entitled to this, given the shenanigans that characterise our politics?

    Beyond the national boundaries, is it not puzzling that a man like Jacob Zuma, with his innumerable harem is the one leading a country that the great Nelson Mandela once led? Or a Donald Trump leading the once- upon-a-United States of America? No one would be shocked seeing either Zuma or Trump donating bags of rice the way some of our senators last week donated 1,280 bags to civil servants in Kogi State who have been without salaries for between two and 20 months, and expecting that the people should clap for them for the milk of human kindness flowing in their veins.

    By the way, how much is a bag of rice, probably about N14,000 for the imported brands. That is about N18million in all. That is chicken change to our lawmakers in the National Assembly, reputed to be about the highest paid in the world. If this claim is true, though, it means Nigeria too has something to showcase in The Guinness Book of Records. Our country is not only about the bad and the ugly; we also have some of the highest paid legislators the world can boast of.

    Without doubt, Kogi State workers, like any other person in their circumstance, pummelled to the ground and without any self esteem whatsoever, might have appreciated the gesture by our kind-hearted senators, the point is; we keep having a repeat of such cynical gifts because of the level of deprivation that the average Nigerian has been subjected to by its rulers and their (Nigerians’) minimalist disposition to such subversive generosity. At the base of it all are ignorance and its twin brother, illiteracy.

    Indeed, when I first read the story on Thursday, I wondered the kind of reaction that would trail the donation. But the first, most surprisingly, came from Kogi State, a thing which made me so happy. The state chapter of the National Youth Council (NYC)  rightly saw it as Greek gift. The body said Thursday that it was an insult to the civil servants in particular and the state at large. Its chairman, Oladele Nihi, said: “We see these actions and reactions of the senators as unguided and a desperate move to toil with the collective sensibility of the people of Kogi State and not only the civil servants. It is being orchestrated by primordial instincts, to paint Kogi in dark light, for cheap and selfish political gains. It is an insult on us.” Nihi is not done yet: “Kogi might be feeling the brunt of the economic crisis that is currently bedeviling the whole country, but, that does not mean a group of people with inordinate ambition should sit in Abuja and paint Kogi like a Somalia of (some) sort”.

    The situation could not have been better described, especially with the rice gifts spearheaded by the controversial Dino Melaye, the senator representing Kogi West. In fact, Melaye had told journalists at a press briefing to announce the donation that: “Today, I drew the attention of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to the plight of civil servants in my native Kogi State following the recent disturbing reports of deaths by suicide and inability to pay medical bills by some workers. I’m happy to report to you that my colleagues in the Senate have immediately responded by donating bags of rice and other essential items to the workers in order to cushion the biting effects of non-payment of their salaries by the Kogi State government (emphasis mine). The donation, which amounted to 1,280 bags of rice as of today, and others that will follow later, will be handed over to the Kogi State chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress for onward distribution to the most vulnerable workers who need immediate assistance.”

    Indeed, Melaye, the one I love referring to as  the ‘Ajekun iya exponent’ since he released that evergreen album, as usual, went theatrical by kneeling down during plenary Wednesday to beg his colleagues to salvage the ‘dying’ Kogi workers.

    One needed no binoculars to see the mischief in the statement and the gesture. Without necessarily gloating over it, nonpayment of salaries is not peculiar to Kogi State.  We have had instances of workers taking their plight to God in prayers after all else had failed. We have had many other instances of people committing suicide, etc. outside Kogi State. So, how could Senator Melaye have given the impression that non-payment of salaries is peculiar to Kogi? If there is no mischief here, how come the senators have not done the same in other states with similar problems?

    Without doubt, a worker not only deserves his wages, he should be paid before his sweat dries. But we all know how we came to this sorry pass where state governments cannot pay their workers, even after collecting bailouts and Paris Club refunds from the Federal Government. Those who have been clamouring for a return to federalism (I don’t know what ‘true federalism’ means because to me, you are either practicing federalism or you are not) have a point here; we need to return to that past when every component part of the country would move at its own pace and generate its own revenue.

    Anyway, as I usually say in matters like this, Kogi workers (if that is what the senators want to hear) are for now grate… for what the senators have done. But the workers can only add the ful (to complete it –  grateful) when the Senators do the rightful with their bogus pay, free some of it to take care of Kogi workers and other Nigerians who are in dire need of succour in these perilous times.

    But nothing I have said should make Governor Yahaya Bello of the state count me as one of his admirers. I have my reservations about his style and policies. One only found it compelling today to situate our senators’ generosity in context. It may be Governor Bello’s turn sometime later.

    However, in the lighter mood, I know that His Excellency will always swear that he knew nothing about the plot to recall Melaye, but I have a feeling the matter will definitely resurface now, and with vengeance. The matter has stayed too long at the foundation stage. It is time for it to move to advanced stage. Senator Melaye has sent a rat after the governor. What is wrong in the governor sending a snake after him?  After all, as some people say, do me I do you, God no dey vex.

    All said, now that our senators have given the workers rice, where do they get the other things to go with it – groundnut oil, pepper, turkey, chicken, fish, etc? Perhaps these should form the plank of deliberations at their next plenary. These other items and many more goodies should be accommodated in the next tranche to make the 1,280 bags of rice meaningful, full and final for the ‘dying’ workers.

    Man cannot live by rice alone.

  • Justice Salami vindicated

    Justice Salami vindicated

    His appointment as chair of looters’ trial monitoring committee should shame his conspirators

    Those who conspired against Justice Ayodele Salami in the tail end of his career in the judiciary must by now realise that, really, it is not over until it is over. They must have thought it was finished for the distinguished jurist; but God has proved that He is the only one that has such prerogative. Interestingly, the leader of those who played acting God over the Salami matter has himself been swept into oblivion. So, for Justice Salami, weeping may endure for a night, light cometh in the morning.

    That light shone brightly for all to see when on September 27, the National Judicial Council (NJC) named the retired Court of Appeal President as the head of a 15-member committee to monitor courts’ handling of corruption cases. The committee, named: The Corruption and Financial Crime Cases Trial Monitoring Committee (COTRIMCO), is also expected to drive the NJC’s” new policy on anti-corruption war. NJC’s Director of Information, Soji Oye, in a statement, said the decision on the committee’s composition was taken at the NJC’s 82nd meeting in Abuja.

    Other members of the committee are Chief Judge, Borno State, Justice Kashim Zannah, Chief Judge of Imo State, Justice P.O. Nnadi, Chief Judge Delta State, Justice Marsahal Umukoro, Chief Judge of Oyo State, Justice M. L. Abimbola. Others are the President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr. A.B Mahmoud, SAN, former NBA Presidents, Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN, Mr. Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, Mr. J.B Daudu, SAN and Mr. Augustine Alegeh SAN as well as Dr. Garba Tetengi, SAN, Mrs. R.I Inga, representative of non-governmental organisations, representative from the Federal Ministry of Justice, representative from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, ICAN, as well as Secretary of the NJC, Mr. Gambo Saleh.

    The committee’s primary functions include; “Regular monitoring and evaluation of proceedings at designated courts for financial and economic crimes nationwide; advising the Chief Justice of Nigeria on how to eliminate delay in the trial of alleged corruption cases; giving feedback to the council on progress of cases in the designated courts, conduct background checks on judges selected for the designated courts; and evaluating the performance of the designated courts”.

    Justice Salami ordinarily does not require any elaborate introduction, especially among the politically conscious Nigerians who saw how the immediate past ruling party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) serially perverted the course of justice in the land in the better part of the 16 years that its men reigned. But because ours is a country where people forget so soon, it is pertinent to give some introduction so we can better appreciate the cruel and unjust manner in which Justice Salami was unceremoniously made to end an otherwise glorious career.

    His travails started when the Court of Appeal which he presided over upturned the 2007 gubernatorial election results of Ekiti and Osun states that had been awarded the PDP candidates, Segun Oni and Olagunsoye Oyinlola, respectively and gave judgments in favour of the then Action Congress of Nigeria’s (ACN) candidates, Dr Kayode Fayemi and Rauf Aregbesola, respectively. Justice Salami then became an enemy of the PDP. The truth of the matter was that the PDP never won the elections that brought their candidates to power in the elections as the polls were marred by fraud, massive rigging and violence.

    As we know, there are usually two kinds of thieves: the penitent ones who truly regret their actions, and the die-hard criminals that are the children of perdition. For the latter, even if you catch them with their hands in the cookie jar, they still continue to deny that they are thieves. The PDP harboured a lot of such characters, whether male or female. Even from what we have been hearing and seeing so far, the few females among them appear greedier than their male counterparts. They stole more than is enough for their third and fourth generations who have no need to use their hands to work or their heads to think over what to eat, drink and make merry.

    But nothing I have said should be taken to mean that there are no thieves in the other political parties, including the All Progressives Congress (APC). But the focus on the PDP for now is quite understandable: it was the ruling party at the centre for the first 16 years of our return to civil rule.

    Indeed, one of their own just so acknowledged the corruption among its members; so, those who might want to crucify me for merely restating what a former PDP chieftain said should think twice. Mantu, a former deputy senate president, his mantle in his hand, is asking for the forgiveness of Nigerians over the massive looting that his party big-wigs did. He claims he is born again. I do not know whether he has truly repented of the atrocities that his political party, the one that prided itself as the biggest party in Africa, which also harboured the greatest thieves on the continent, committed. That is for now in the realm of the spiritual.

    But, whatever it is, the man has further lent credence to what we already know: that PDP not only harbours a nest of killers as Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka once said, it is also a den of robbers. Or, what do you call a party that people joined as mere church rats and left as rich as dwarves? Someone some years ago said a similar thing when he told us that some people entered Government House today in bathroom slippers and left the next day in golden shoes. So, the question is: what product was the PDP selling or producing that could have brought its leaders such meteoric riches? The Yoruba race saw this aspect of the then ruling party in those elections then and was too sophisticated to be hoodwinked again after the first mistake, to vote in such a party in the politically articulate geo-political region.

    The last straw for Justice Salami however was a pending judgment in the Sokoto governorship election result that he alleged the then CJN, Justice Aloy Katsina-Alu told him to withhold for political reasons. He said Justice Dahiru Musdapher was a witness to the matter. Anyway, while neither denying nor accepting that he was, all Justice Musdapher said was that he could not remember the occasion. This was what the Goodluck Jonathan administration eventually used to nail Justice Salami. The government said he lied under oath and one thing led to the other until Justice Salami was suspended. It is a long story, a recap of which could eat up the entire column space.

    Suffice it  to say that even when the NJC  said that he be recalled from suspension, the government refused to toe this path, having made up its mind to teach him and other judges who would not dance to the tune of the government a bitter lesson. Justice Salami eventually retired.

    His appointment as chair of the looters’ trial monitoring committee vindicates Justice Salami and vitiates the position of his enemies who made him exit the judiciary almost unceremoniously, after  years of glorious service to the cause of justice and the nation.

    The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen, has recently been taking some decisions that can promote the cause of justice as well as endear him to the vast majority of Nigerians, particularly on the anti-corruption war. One of such was his designation of special courts to handle corruption cases. Knowing full well that this may not work unless there is proper monitoring to ensure that the courts handle the cases expeditiously, without giving room for legal shenanigans (that have so far been exploited by our rich thieves in cahoots with their senior lawyer friends), he set up what some commentators have described appropriately as the committee on looters’ trial. But, like many other Nigerians, I am expecting what would probably be the icing on the cake: shifting of the burden of proof to the accused instead of the prosecution. If you suddenly became stupendously rich after a stint in the public service, you should be able to tell us the source of your wealth so that other Nigerians can learn from your example. That would be a veritable way of banishing the pervasive poverty in the land. We need to get some of these big thieves jailed so that the rest of them on the streets would know that what is good for them is to stop insulting our sensibilities with their ill-gotten wealth.

    The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has however raised a germane point which Justice Onnoghen should address.  The body alleged that some members of the Salami committee are counsel to some of the looters that the committee is mandated to monitor their cases. This is serious and the membership should be reviewed, if so. Otherwise, such counsel would end up constituting a clog in the wheels of the committee’s progress.

    The point is that; our judges know themselves. Those who hawk judgments and their senior advocate customers know themselves. Even some ‘eaglet’ lawyers know which judge is corrupt and which is incorruptible. So far, Justice Onnoghen seems set to beat the reforms some of his predecessors had done. But how far deep down into the heart of the matter he is prepared to go will distinguish him from the rest.

  • Generators for police

    Generators for police

    This is good, but better if complemented with good roads and functional street lights

    Although 120 (5KVA) power generating sets donated to the Lagos State Police command by a state government, particularly a big spender like Lagos, may look insignificant if we look at it from the monetary value, but it is a lot when the totality of the value they will add to policing in the state is considered. And when I talk about policing, I am also talking about the comfort the generators would give to the officers and men at the police formations that they would be distributed to. Indeed, the state commissioner of police, Imohimi Edgal, said it all when receiving the generating sets from the Chairman of Lagos State Security Trust Fund (LSSTF), Mr Oye Hassan-Odukale, who represented Governor Akinwunmi Ambode at the presentation  of the sets to the police: “You can imagine the confidence the public will have if divisional headquarters and area commands are lit with the confidence that their matters would be earnestly addressed,” he said adding: “Power is essential. Our communication gadgets, especially phones need to be charged. You cannot function anywhere, you can’t take complaints, you can’t give directives to field officers when there is no power. These generating sets are valuable to us.”

    Although this piece is all about the Lagos State gesture, the state of the police is not better in any other part of the country, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).  If things could be this bad for the police in Lagos (the state government has done more than a Yeoman’s job for them such that it is possible to see the state police command as an extension of the state government), the situation in other places can only be imagined. One wonders what the state police command would have been like if the state government had not been as supportive as it has been through the LSSTF. Yet, it is supposed to be the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), a federal police.

    That a state government is incurring this cost on a simple tool as generators is an indictment on those who should supply electricity to Nigerians as well as the Federal Government that controls the police. But then, given that even the Presidency makes provision for generators (and diesel) every year says a lot about the government’s pessimism on the possibility or attainability of uninterrupted electricity supply in the country. One would have made a case for dedicated power supply lines to the police formations but this might be impossible now because they were not so conceived initially. Even then, many Nigerians would not be happy with this preferential treatment. All Nigerians are power-hungry; it is not the police stations/formations alone that need electricity. So, why single them out for special preference?

    One can only appeal to the police to use the generators well and for the purpose they were procured.  It would be sad if we start hearing reports of some of the items being taken to power the homes of senior police personnel in the divisions or diverted to their wives’ shops for private business. If possible, one can even suggest that the state government finds a way of ensuring regular servicing of the generating sets if it wants them to last. And this has to be handled directly  by it because it is not certain that if the state government provides money for regular maintenance of the sets, the money would not be diverted. This is not necessarily a police problem; it is a Nigerian malady.

    This admonition is necessary when one looks at the state of vehicles the police are using for patrols and other purposes. Most of them have suddenly become scraps on the road due to poor handling. Indeed, only the ones recently procured and handed over to them by the Lagos State Government appear to be in good condition. In those days, many of those vehicles that the police still put on the road would have been marked ‘Off the road’ due to their decrepit state. It is true that most of our roads which the vehicles ply are bad, but that alone cannot explain why those vehicles are the way they are. Some of them break down frequently and one wonders what the police in the state would have been using if the Lagos State government had not come to their rescue with those vehicles. A few bold Nigerians arrested by the police for driving poorly maintained vehicles have had cause to challenge the policemen that their vehicles that the police are complaining about are still far better than the ones used by the police who arrested them – no headlamps, no trafficators, the tyres are weather-beaten and obviously expired, broken windshields, among others are the hallmarks of many of those police patrol vans.

    Anyway, it is also important to stress that one of the things that can make the generating sets last is if they are made to serve as back-up. But if they become the main source of power supply to the police formations with public power supply as back-up, then, in no time, they would start developing faults due to over-flogging. In the long run, fixing electricity supply is key to most things we do as Nigerians. One can only imagine what would be spent on fuel to power the generators. These are unnecessary costs that could have been diverted to better uses. Lest I forget, I hope the Lagos State Government also made provision for fuelling; otherwise, it is Nigerians with issues at the police formations that would bear such cost.

    The state of the state government’s Light Up Lagos Project becomes relevant here again because the Executive Secretary of LSSTF, Abdulrazak Balogun, said during the handing over of the generating sets to the state police commissioner that the items were donated to the police in furtherance of the state’s Light Up Lagos Project. In a little over two years, the Ambode administration has left indelible footprints on certain aspects of life in Lagos that have greatly transformed the state. The snag, however, is that much as new projects are being initiated and assiduously pursued, old ones appear to be dying. One is the much-talked-about inner roads in Lagos most of which are now in terrible state. The state government has promised to address these as soon as the rains are over. Some progress seems to be ongoing in this respect; one hopes this would continue because if the vehicles donated by the state government are driven on bad roads, it is only a matter of time for them to become junks..

    Another area of concern is the street lights that have been out of order, in some cases for months. Here, I would mention the ones on Fatai Atere Way in the heart of the state that have not worked for about five months now. I did a campaign on this darkness on Fatai Atere Way for over two consecutive months but abandoned it when it appeared those who should be concerned were not. Not even an explanation about why this had to be so. The point must be made though, that the work of the police would be made much easier if the streets they are supposed to police are also well lit. If they have lights in their formations and the streets are in darkness, even the police are not safe because the idea of having street lights is to deny criminals the darkness under which they hide to perpetrate their nefarious activities. One understands the cost implications of some of these things. But it is better for the state government to slow down on new projects in order to sustain old ones that are crying for attention. The beauty of street lights where they are already provided is that they work. The pervasive darkness on Fatai Atere Way all through Ojekunle Street  at night is reminiscent of those days of the Nigerian Civil War when lights were deliberately put off to prevent the enemy from bombing  targets in Lagos.

    All said, one can only hope the commissioner of police would live to his promise that the generators will be put to optimal and judicial use. One can also hope too that Governor Ambode would live to his promise to keep Lagos safe and secure; but this cannot be achieved if we still have dark spots for criminals to operate from.  Lagos is too important a business hub to be left in darkness.

    Happy 57th independence anniversary.

     

  • Looters’ courts

    Looters’ courts

    Is it a sign the CJN is on the same page with Buhari on corruption? Then, he should see these through

    On paper, the directive to court heads by the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Walter Onnoghen, to set up what could pass for looters’ courts is an excellent idea. Indeed, for me, it appears the first bold attempt to deal with the issue of corruption in the country. True, CJNs have come and gone with different kinds of judicial reforms, especially since the return to civil rule in 1999, but this new idea is at the core of why corruption has become a monster here. The other is the burden of proof, which is on the prosecution rather than the accused. The point has always been made, that there is no country that is corruption-free. The difference between those other places and Nigeria is that they dispose of corruption cases expeditiously, unlike here where they linger for long, only to end up nowhere, that is when they end at all.

    Onnoghen unfolded the idea while speaking in Abuja at the event marking the commencement of the Supreme Court’s 2017/2018 new legal year, and the swearing-in of 29 lawyers, who were conferred with the Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN). The CJN directed court heads to compile and forward to the National Judicial Council (NJC), comprehensive lists of all corruption and financial crime cases in their various courts adding that they should also designate in their various jurisdictions, one or more courts, depending on the volume of such cases, as special courts mainly for the purpose of hearing and speedily determining corruption and financial crime cases.

    The CJN added: “Where such cases come on appeal, to either the Court of Appeal or the Supreme Court, special dates on each week shall be fixed solely for hearing and determining such appeals.” All well-meaning Nigerians would definitely support this strong policy pronouncement which perhaps could not have come at a more august occasion. First, it is a good way to begin the new legal year at the apex court. It is also good coming at the swearing-in of new SANs. Some of our senior advocates have constituted themselves into cogs in the wheel of the battle against corruption by putting all manner of unnecessary hurdles in the way of speedy dispensation of justice. Indeed, to them, a lawyer’s ability to delay trial with unnecessary adjournments and injunctions is one way to demonstrate brilliance in court, rather than the ability to argue cases learnedly, with the objective of serving the cause of justice. The new SANS will do well to continue to remember the CJN’s charge to them whenever they handle cases, especially those involving thieving very important personalities (VIPs).

    Of course, the lawyers could not have stood in the way of justice without the connivance of some equally corrupt judges. Justice Onnoghen had harsh words for such judges: “Let me be clear here; it is not going to be business as usual for the few unscrupulous elements in our midst. I am determined to redeem the unfairly battered image of the judiciary. Any judicial officer found wanting would be dealt with decisively, and shown the way out swiftly.” He also warned litigants who believe the best way they could get good judgment is by bribing judges, to desist because both the giver and taker of bribes are guilty under our laws. So, he wants members of the public to deny corrupt judges the oxygen that bribery represents.  “I encourage members of the public to cut off the supply side of corruption by stopping the offering of bribes to judicial officers. The full weight of the law will be visited on all those who are caught in this nefarious activity that is capable of eroding integrity and confidence in the judiciary.”

    A crucial element that is missing so far is monitoring. This, too, was addressed by the CJN: “In order for the NJC to monitor and effectively enforce the foregoing policy, an Anti-Corruption Cases Trial Monitoring Committee will be constituted at the next council meeting. “This committee would be saddled with, among other things, the responsibility of ensuring that both trial and appellate courts handling corruption and financial crime cases key into and abide by our renewed efforts at ridding our country of the cankerworm,” he said.

    Again, the question of who monitors the monitors would naturally arise. Perhaps the answer is in appointing people of integrity into both the looters’ courts and the monitoring teams. This is crucial because unless the process is credible, what we would end up witnessing is another era of judges whose economy would be bubbling with proceeds of crime, just as we had with some of the judges who handled election petitions. Unless the system is carefully managed, billionaire judges would emerge in the process of handling corruption cases. As the CJN himself noted, corruption would always fight back. But that would be after finding out that it cannot compromise those saddled with the responsibility of punishing it.

    What Justice Onnoghen has done is about the easiest way to have such a system in place without requiring any constitutional amendment, or recourse to the National Assembly which has demonstrated more than ample evidence of its pro-corruption tendencies.  This had been the fear since the idea of looters’ courts was first mooted a few years ago.

    The level and scope of corruption in the judiciary is enough to put off anyone with conscience. Indeed, what some of our senior lawyers have done in courts either to stall trials of especially the politically-exposed persons, or get a mere slap in the wrist for them despite their heinous crimes, is worse than committing murder.  Lawyers and judges involved in some of the criminal cases involving these untouchables should bury their heads in shame. Here, one remembers the Halliburton case, among others. Nigerians implicated in it are still walking the streets free long after their foreign collaborators have since bagged various jail terms. We have the case of ex-Governor James Ibori of Delta State who has since served his jail term abroad whereas back home here, he was freed of corrupt charges because, as the court said, the evidence against him was not enough to secure his conviction in a 170-count charge! As a matter of fact, another former governor, Peter Odili, secured a perpetual injunction against arrest by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) since 2007. This has yet to be discharged!  This is a governor who served two terms of four years in Nigeria’s richest state, Rivers, whose citizens are deep in poverty. It is sad that we have only succeeded in jailing one governor in the country despite the incontrovertible evidence of humongous graft in high places. All of these could only have been possible in a country with a sick judiciary.

    As I said earlier, we also have to address the issue of burden of proof which is presently on the prosecutor rather than the accused, if really, we want result from the reform that the CJN has initiated. We should be asking ourselves how our lawyers, particularly the senior ones, can be comfortable with such jurisprudence. The argument has always been that we inherited it; but this would appear self-serving because there have been many other things that we inherited from our colonial masters that we have changed. This aspect of our law has survived thus far and is likely to continue to survive because its death would also sound the death knell for some of our influential citizens with inexplicable wealth, and by extension drying up the source of the equally inexplicable wealth that some lawyers are swimming in. Even if they were blessed by some benevolent spirits, they should be able to show evidence to that effect in court.

    All said, Justice Onnoghen has done well with this idea. However, as we have since known, the problem with the country is not about lack of good ideas on any area of our national challenge but that of enforcement or implementation. We had thought the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 would lead to expedited resolution of criminal matters in our courts but this has not been so.  So, the most important thing is for the CJN to ensure that the looters’ courts work. No matter how one looks at it, Onnoghen seems to have come with a complete package in this specific area. He has talked tough; but what would differentiate him from the others is his ability and determination to walk the talk. And this must start with the Supreme Court and the NJC. Those there, like Caesar’s wife, must be above suspicion. The present state of our judiciary  can only lead to anarchy. Miscarriage of justice is worse than justice delayed.

  • Bamu bamu la yo

    Bamu bamu la yo

    Once most of our politicians are well taken care of, they care less about the rest of us

    We cannot be tired of asking for how much exactly a senator or Member of the House of Representatives of the Federal Republic earns. First, it is our constitutional right to know. Secondly, that is what obtains all over the world; they call it best practice. What our National Assembly members earn should not be opaque. Even if the constitution supports its being opaque, the National Assembly members as true representatives of the people should on their own insist on making it public. In this instance, the constitution neither said nor implied such. Everything about what they take from the public till should be on the table, not underneath it. But what we have been having is a situation where what the law makers tell us about their pay (that is when they are magnanimous enough) is what is on the table, whereas what transpires underneath is the issue; the koko as some people would say.

    This contentious topic came to the fore once again with the claim by Prof. Itse Sagay, Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), about the stupendous and stupefying pay that our law maker pay themselves. Sagay had claimed that each senator gets N29 million monthly in a speech he delivered at the Nigerian Society of International Law public lecture in Lagos. He continued: “From the information I have gathered, a Nigerian senator earns about N29 million a month and over N3 billion a year,” the professor said.

    “Basic salary N2,484,245.50; hardship allowance, N1,242, 122.70; constituency allowance N4, 968, 509.00; furniture allowance N7, 452, 736.50; newspaper allowance N1, 242, 122.70.

    “Wardrobe allowance N621,061.37; recess allowance N248, 424.55; accommodation N4,968,509.00; utilities N828,081.83; domestic staff N1,863,184.12; entertainment N828,081.83; personal assistant N621,061.37; vehicle maintenance allowance N1,863,184.12; leave allowance N248,424.55; severance gratuity N7, 425,736.50; and motor vehicle allowance N9, 936,982.00,” Mr. Sagay added. He concluded by asking Nigerians to force the senators to cut the jumbo pay and challenged them (senators) to counter him by making public what they earn, legally and illegally.

    Even if Prof Sagay exaggerated their pay, the Senate’s response has been characteristically Nigerian. Rather than do as challenged, they launched into a tirade, calling the erudite lawyer all sorts of names. Aliyu Abdullahi, Chairman, Senate’s Committee on Media and Public Affairs wondered why senators are being endlessly harassed over their pay, adding that they cannot disclose their salaries. Indeed, he said it was rude of the presenter of the programme that asked the question to have asked that question. Hear Abdulahi, “You don’t expect me to come out on national television to say this is what I earn. It is not done. I cannot ask you as a journalist how much you earn. It is not done.

    “If anybody is interested in how much we are getting paid, you know where to get the information. The documents are available. If Nigerians won’t believe that, is it what I will say that they will believe?”

    I now believe that an organisation gets the kind of spokesman it deserves and that a country gets the kind of leader it deserves. With a Senate spokesman like Abdullahi, Nigerians must have entered ‘one chance bus’ with most of the senators in the eighth National Assembly. Once again, this Senate has shown that it is not in the mood to fight corruption. Recall how it is fighting the executive over the confirmation of the appointment of Ibrahim Magu as Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Obviously Abdullahi and his co-travellers do not know how Nigerians feel whenever this topic comes to the front-burner. Perhaps his reaction is just the ‘I don’t care’ attitude of many political rulers in Nigeria.

    But I think the media is part of the problem because I remember in the early years of this dispensation, some media houses in their editorials said anyone who felt politics was much more rewarding financially and materially should opt out of whatever he or she was doing and be a politician rather than keep complaining about what the law makers earned. Somehow, some of those media houses are dead today; the preponderance of the view in the media now is for our law makers to cut their coat according to the country’s pocket. I said pocket guardedly because it should not be about size as is generally assumed because someone may be huge while his pocket is a direct opposite of his size. How does such a person find enough money to buy a coat his size?

    It is callous and ungodly for people who collect rent (most of our politicians do not earn their pay, unlike the rest of us) of millions per month to agree to a minimum wage of N18,000 in the country. Even as at 2011 when the minimum wage was agreed on, the money could not take anybody home; not to talk of now that inflation has made a mess of our purchasing power. Even if the minimum wage is raised to N50,000 today, it is still not enough unless if we do not expect those who will get it to pay rent, feed themselves and their families, go to hospitals when sick and send their children to school.

    I have always said it; that the Nigerian worker would continue to suffer until such a time when Labour leaders know that the problem is not minimum wage per se but bad governance. There is no amount of minimum wage that will work in this country (because the leaders would never grant a minimum wage that will affect their own comfort) until corruption is frontally tackled. The Naira’s loss of value is not only the result of dwindling oil prices; it was exacerbated by corruption. What do you expect when individuals have a lot of ill-gotten foreign currency that should be in the country’s foreign reserve? Indeed, many other countries would have imploded if the staggering amounts being recovered from former public officials are uncovered in those climes.

    The fact of the matter is that there is too much idle fund in the country, especially at the centre and that is why law makers could be collecting the jumbo pay they are collecting. Indeed, if there is any reason why I support professionals – teachers, lecturers, doctors etc. whenever they declare trade dispute over salaries, it is because I also want the free funds at the centre circulating in more hands rather than among a selfish few. We do not need to look far to know that there is too much money in the hands of a few politicians in this country. This is a country where someone enters government house in bathroom slippers today and tomorrow, he is sporting golden shoes. During the Olusegun Obasanjo presidency, someone printed a complimentary card on which he described himself as ‘friend of the president’. I learnt the card opened doors for him, including even the ancient gates and ancient doors! Tears welled in my eyes when some years ago, a young and educated man from Ekiti State described himself as a ‘professional politician’. To see someone describing himself this way in a state that used to boast many professors and other brilliant scholars is enough indication of how things are hard for most Nigerians except the professional politicians!

    But our  politicians have largely been reputed for being greedy from time immemorial. I remember as a child, one of the songs that my maternal grandmother (a politician herself) used to sing for us to describe the politicians’ greed then:

     Bamu bamu la yo (2ce),

    Awa o mo pe’bi npa omo eni kankan,

    Bamu bamu layo  (we have eaten and are satisfied; we do not know if anyone else is hungry).

     At this juncture, I cannot but remember our embattled Senator Dina Melaye. If Melaye was smart or a truly people’s senator, his maiden album should not have been the ‘Ajekun iya ni o je” that he released; rather, he should have remixed Bamu bamu la yo (to describe the greed among his colleagues in the National Assembly who cart home jumbo pay monthly while their compatriots derisively called voters groan under the abject poverty they are conditioned to by their rulers).

    Apparently, such a pro-people’s music is beyond Melaye’s ken. Perhaps if he had given a thought to this, his recall process might have been averted because such an album could have endeared him to his people. But ‘Ajekun iya’ is capable of many interpretations. Sometimes I even ask myself if it does not qualify for ‘hate song’ and whether it should not be banned in an era that we are contemplating criminalising hate speech. Melaye’s political enemies would be glad if this album is criminalised and the senator handed what they would have considered his just deserts. At least that would save them the long and tortuous recall process.

    Interestingly, while Melaye may be referring to his political detractors in the album, others (perhaps for the mischief value) could say he is ridiculing the masses who are already reeling under the yoke imposed on them by the ruling elite. Don’t forget that Yoruba people with a thorough grasp of what the ‘gangan’ (talking drum) is saying can use it to interpret Melaye’s lyrics anyhow. But it is not late for the ‘Ajekun iya’ exponent to release an album in line with my suggestion; I mean a pro-people’s album that would put him in the same camp with his electors. Who knows? Things might just turn around for him because, as they say, “it is not yet over until it is over’.

    All said; Nigerians must not rest until they know exactly how much they pay their law makers in the National Assembly. I said as much the other day when the ‘Our mumu don do’ people protested President Muhammadu Buhari’s continued stay in London for medical treatment; that we have a thousand and one other things to demonstrate over to prove that really, our mumu don do. Our National Assembly law makers’ pay is one of such vexatious issues.

  • Rebasing or recession

    Rebasing or recession

    President Muhammadu Buhari said the right thing when he noted that Nigeria out of recession is meaningless unless it translates to better living conditions  for Nigerians. The president was reacting to the National Bureau of Statistics report of the second quarter Gross Domestic Growth, GDP, which indicated that the country is out of economic recession. Buhari spoke when he received the President of Niger, Alhaji  Mahamadou  Issoufou, at his country home in Daura,  Katsina State on September 5.  “Certainly, I should be happy for what it is worth. I am looking forward to ensuring that ordinary Nigerian feels the impact,” President Buhari said as he commended the managers of the economy for their hard work and commitment. He added: “Until coming out of recession translates into meaningful improvement in peoples’ lives, our work cannot be said to be done.”

    This is the way he ought to speak. It is instructive that the president himself realised that there is still a lot of work to do to make the Nigerian on the street understand that really, recession is over. One message my wife passes across to me every month for onward transmission to the president is that food prices remain high. Whether we talk of the staple, gari, semovita, elubo (white or brown/black), palm oil, groundnut oil, meat, fish or what have you, the prices remain astronomical. This is the view across the land. Indeed, I keep wondering how the poor are coping when even the so-called middle-class (some people will insist there is nothing like that in Nigeria anymore) are not finding things funny concerning feeding their families. I keep asking myself how anyone can be living on a dead minimum wage of N18,000 per month, which is not enough for some of our politicians to feed their dogs in one week.

    There are no two ways about it; the government must do something about the food question. I cannot remember how many monthly supplementary budgets I have had to fund in the last one year or so. All I do every month end is to threaten at home to bring in auditors to see what is happening to the upkeep allowance, despite the fact that I already know the reason it is not buying much in the market. Our accounts have hardly balanced in the last few months. Yet, one must feed the family well because it is cheaper in the long run. The consequences of doing otherwise are grave. As they say, those who say education is expensive should try ignorance.

    Still on food; because my people say when hunger is out of poverty, we can’t be talking of poverty per se again. I want to dwell so much on rice; it is a staple across the country, just like gari. And there is the equivalent of a revolution in rice cultivation in the country.  But I do not know on what basis the government is optimistic that we would become self-sufficient in rice production by the end of this year. What I can see, and which only the mischievous can deny, is that there has been a noticeable improvement in rice cultivation since the Buhari administration came on board in 2015. Give that to the government. With the collaboration between the Lagos State government and its Kebbi  State counterpart to grow rice, we have the Lake Rice that has joined the ones on ground; like ‘Abakaliki rice’, and many others, no doubt. They have had some salutary effect on the market price of the commodity as there was a time when a 50kg bag of rice sold for about N20,000; but it remains to be seen whether they are enough to make us project the self-sufficiency in rice by year-end. The same bag of imported rice sells for about N14,000 today whereas Lake Rice sells for about N12,000. If indeed morning shows the day, we should be seeing signs that we would no longer see much of imported rice in the country in the next four months or so.

    As a patriotic Nigerian, my prayer is that the government’s projection on rice comes to pass. But we cannot rest on our oars until we start eating only our local rice with a 50kg bag selling for between N5,000 and N8,000. That Lake Rice, for instance, is still being sold at designated centres only (understandably to prevent mass purchase by those who would resell it) shows that we do not have enough in the market yet. When we do, there won’t be any need for that kind of arrangement as rice would flood our markets.

    The government should ensure the same thing is done about other staples. When I read a few weeks ago how much we still spend importing wheat, it remains ridiculously high. Definitely, we can do better. Agriculture has a great role to play in taking us finally out of recession and even out of the woods. Government must fix our roads, including the ones in the rural areas through which farmers send their farm produce to the towns and cities. Moreover, storage is vital because even as we speak, most of what the farmers harvest perish due to lack of modern silos. Well, maybe I should talk of the agro-allied industry because we cannot make much money from our agricultural produce if all we do is keep sending them abroad raw. We need to add value to them to reap substantially in return. That is the lesson we ought to have learnt over the years, even with our so-called black gold, crude oil.

    We also need to go beyond rhetoric in the power sector. If we could exit recession at this time despite the epileptic electricity supply in the country, we definitely would have done better with a sustained (even if marginal) improvement in the power sector. The government must pay more attention to power supply. There are no two ways about it; it is the surest path to industrialisation which is also key in the mix to bring the economy back on track.

    Then the question of attitude. The Buhari administration has to fast track governance. It is too lackadaisical in its approach. This casual approach cannot bring superlative result which is what Nigeria needs at this point in time. These are unusual times. Yet, it does not seem the government appreciates this fact. The excuse of rodents stopping the president from working in his office; or the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting not holding because some people have ‘hangover’ after Easter or Eid-el Kabir holidays is sickening. It signifies that the government is either hiding something or it does not understand the enormity of the job at hand. It was not so in the days of General Buhari as military head of state. No public srvant would not report for work as early as the resumption time simply on account of hangovers from celebrations. Yet, those were still normal times compared with what the locusts have turned the country to today.

    All said; it is good that President Buhari  realised that there is nothing to celebrate now. At best, our being out of recession is commendable. We cannot be seen to be celebrating mediocrity; which is what the marginal 0.55 per cent growth rate announced for the second quarter by the NBS is. To want to roll out the drums because we exited recession with this low margin would be borrowing from the Jonathan administration when, in what looked like economic abracadabra, the NBS suddenly woke up on March 6, 2014 to tell Nigerians that Nigeria had overtaken South Africa as Africa’s largest economy after it overhauled its GDP data for the first time in more than two decades. Rebasing it called it. Given that things were not looking up for the government then, and with only about a year to general elections, not a few people thought the rebasing was politically motivated. The point that many people began to emphasise was how that would put food on the table of Nigerians. To the extent that it did not translate into any visible benefit to Nigerians, it was of no effect or value. While the economic experts continue to luxuriate in their highfalutin jargons – rebasing and recession – the rest of us, motor park economists (if you like) would insist that we still have a long way to go.

    We may be out of recession, but we are not yet out of the woods. Meaning what? Meaning that for now, we are grate, when finally we are out of the woods, we’ll add the ful. Meaning that then and only then can we be grateful to the government for positively impacting our lives.  But, if you feel like clapping for them now, you are permitted to do so with only one hand.

  • Our mumu don do

    Our mumu don do

    Really? Methinks our mumu just start!

    Charles Oputa, aka Charly Boy, must have known that one man’s meat is another man’s poison the way he and his #OurMumuDonDo compatriots were treated by traders at the Wuse Market in Abuja last month, when they took their protest against President Muhammadu Buhari’s continued stay in London for medical treatment to the market. If they had known that was the kind of treatment they would be given, may be they would have restricted themselves to the Aso Villa junction where they had been protesting that President Buhari must return to the country or resign.

    Really, I am fascinated by the name of the coalition of civil societies that makes up the #OurMumuDonDo protesters. It is original, given that it derives from Pidgin English, which has become a way of life in many places in the country. Nigeria might be Anglo-phone; a significant percentage of Nigerians speak Pidgin English. So, I won’t be surprised if many people are attracted to the group’s activities merely because of that name while others might have been interested in it because of Charly Boy’s involvement.

    I have heard of the word mumu since I was a kid. But it really did not mean much to me until my national youth service year in Yola, then Gongola State, when the soldier in charge of our platoon called one of the corps members “the greatest mumu in our platoon”. So, one can be a mumu and still be great! Really, and quite frankly, the guy was mumu through and through. He never understood anything about the military parade. When it was time for about turn, he was marching forward; when we were asked to salute, his legs were wide apart. In fact, there was hardly anything he got right at the camp. But that is just a digression.

    Charly Boy and Co should make their group a permanent one for effect because they have a lot of work to do; there are a thousand and one issues to protest about in the country. For me, any group that wants to be reckoned with has to take head-long; our legislators in the National Assembly over the obscene and insensitive pay that they cart home monthly. As a matter of fact, this is one of the places to begin sustained protests until we succeed in making them shed weight. This country can barely sustain what we pay them, not to talk of what they pay themselves.

    We had legislators in the First and even Second Republics; they did not constitute the kind of drain that the present crop of lawmakers constitutes to our treasury. We started with the furniture allowance early in this dispensation. Because they got away with that, their urge to consume unproductively has remained insatiable. They now take wardrobe allowance, and other emoluments under the table, topping the greed with constituency projects that they award to themselves.

    We also have governors who work, at best for eight years, taking the kind of pension that very senior civil servants who toiled for decades, rising through the ladder, can never have.  And, while the governors and other political appointees get their own pension without hassle and on time, other Nigerians queue endlessly for verification exercises, with many of them dying in the process. Even those who succeed in getting their pension know it cannot take them home. Our lawmakers must be insensitive and self-centred to be getting such ridiculously high emoluments in a country where the minimum wage is N18,000.

    These are some of the issues that pressure groups can engage the government on. Of course we also have the economy, stupid! We have the huge infrastructural deficit that has kept the country perpetually underdeveloped, shambolic healthcare, an educational system that is collapsing, among the plethora of challenges facing the country. We used to have vibrant civil society groups during the military era but many of them have since gone to sleep.  We are all under the illusion that we are now under civil rule, which is a big mistake. The truth is; politicians have been pulling wool over our faces by making us think that democracy is an end in itself. No, it is only supposed to be the means to an end. It is possible for civilians to mumurise us even more than soldiers. Like when rats bite, they also blow the place to give a soothing relief. That is the way the politicians have been draining our blood. Our mumu will do the day we learn to resist some of these undue privileges to a select few at the expense of the majority have-nots. Until that day, our mumu just start.

    The group’s demand that the Federal Government should bring the former Minister of Petroleum, Diezani Alison-Madueke, back home to answer charges of corruption levelled against her is welcome. I have not seen anyone that is not surprised at the greed that would make an individual to possess all the property the former minister is reputed to possess. Some people say she is sick; there is no way one can possess all those things (she is suspected to have acquired illegally) that one would not be sick. The magnitude of the loot has made not a few persons to suggest that she must have been fronting for one big untouchable in the country. Indeed, how the former minister has been coping with such stupendous wealth (in cash and kind) is baffling. And that in a country where a former chairman of our electoral umpire, the Late Justice Ovie-Whiskey, once said he would faint if he saw one million naira! I can hear you say that was when the country still had its soul intact. These days, judges literally sleep on hundreds of thousands of dollars with some of them becoming billionaires, and the onus is on the prosecutor to prove that the money is not theirs, not on the suspects to itemise how they made such fortune!

    But while Charly Boy and his team might mean well with their demand for the repatriation of Alison-Madueke, some people have said the protest was actually a way of ensuring that the former minister did not get trial because hardly is there any high profile suspect whose case goes beyond the preliminary stages in this country. Given our experience, from Halliburton to Siemens, etc, those involved in Nigeria are still walking the streets freely whereas their fellow accomplices abroad have since got their comeuppance. Here, our senior advocates would be looking for loopholes (technicalities) to shield them from trial rather than get justice for the country.

    Indeed, the judgment by Justice Abdulazeez Anka of the Federal High Court, Lagos, ordering the permanent forfeiture of N7,646,700,000 linked to Mrs Alison-Madueke to the Federal Government must have come as a surprise to many Nigerians, given the kind of legal system that we operate. Ordinarily, we were waiting to hear the court tell the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to prove that the former minister was not the owner of the money because that would appear to be the way justice has been going for our high profile suspects. How come Alison-Madueke’s case is different?

    Anyway, Charly Boy and his group must be careful because what was probably well intended could end up being a source of bashing from Nigerians who had been deceived over and again by all manner of pressure groups in the past. This is why we cannot blame those who think the group’s demand for her repatriation is a way to draw a closure to the matter because it would be the subject of numerous adjournments that would make the case an all-motion, no movement experience. At least there is a fair chance that she would get expedited trial where she is and if convicted, she would also get her deserved punishment, and expeditiously too.

     

  • Time for action

    Time for action

    President Muhammadu Buhari returned to Nigeria on August 19, exactly 103 days after he left for London on medical leave. Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo stood in for him, as transmitted to the National Assembly by the president before leaving the country on May 7. Many Nigerians were happy to see President Buhari back, looking hale and hearty, unlike the first time when he returned from London early in the year, also after receiving medical attention. Indeed, many of the supporters lined the routes from the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, to welcome him. It was time for celebration for them and perhaps a sad day for Buhari’s enemies, particularly those who had dished out all kinds of stories about his health while he was away. Interestingly, his fans and foes alike expressed the same outward feeling of joy on his arrival. This earth, my brother! (Apologies to Kofi Awoonor).

    Given the robust posture that President Buhari exuded on arrival, many Nigerians had thought that, this time, he had arrived for good and was ready to hit the ground running. Their spirits were lifted when it was announced that the president would address the nation last week Monday. He did; but, barely 48 hours after, when he was supposed to chair the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, he cancelled the meeting.

    Coming barely hours after we were informed that the president would be operating from his official residence because rodents had damaged his office, this is not only curious; it also exposes the country to ridicule in the comity of nations. Rodents sacked Nigeria’s president? If rodents can take over the office of our president, then what is the fate of the rest of us? This won’t even happen in smaller African or Third World countries. Just because the president was away for three months and two weeks, he can no longer work in the office as a result of rodents’ invasion!

    And then the weekly FEC meeting that he cancelled; ostensibly to receive the report of Osinbajo’s probe panel on the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Babachir Lawal, and the Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency, NIA, Ayo Oke.

    For me, the only thing that can make this excuse somehow tenable is for the president to do something about the report early this week, as well as make some far-reaching policy decisions. I said ‘somehow’ guardedly because he could have been studying the report while the vice-president would preside over the meeting, if this would not break any protocol. If the matter was so serious to warrant cancellation of the FEC meeting, then, there is no need wasting time before taking action on it.

    The president has to realise by now that time is of the essence. His government had lost so much ground at the beginning such that any further loss of time would not be viewed kindly by Nigerians whose future and fortune the loss of time is having a great toll on. In the next six months, we are likely to have a resurgence of political activities and focus would shift to the 2019 general elections. The Buhari government would by then become a lame duck. The government has a lot of convincing to do to rekindle hope in Nigerians that they did not make a mistake at the polls in 2015 when they sent the corrupt and inept Jonathan administration packing and chose the incumbent government in its stead. I fear for Nigeria if things continue like this for another six or 12 months.

    We all know that the Jonathan administration did so much damage to this country’s economy but the Buhari government has a lot of work to do to make Nigerians continue to see the immediate past administration as the rogue government that it was. Matters are not helped by our judiciary that has now been formally decorated with the emblem of the second most corrupt institution in the country. But for this, most of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members that are now regrouping would have been doing that behind bars. I restate, to the annoyance of the PDP people who do not like to hear this; that our country, where both the police and the judiciary are thoroughly corrupt, is one of the few backward places in the world where their ilk would still be talking and moving freely on the streets.

    In a nutshell, what I am saying is that President Buhari has to re-jig his cabinet. The president’s wife, Aisha, gave hint of this after she returned from one of her trips where she had gone to see her husband recently. Trust women; when she was denied access into ‘the other room’ by a cabal that she lamented had hijacked her husband, she cried out. Now that she has regained her paradise is a good opportunity to take her pound of flesh. It would appear she has finally succeeded in elbowing out the cabal as she can now discuss vital issues with her husband in ‘the other room’, away from the prying eyes of the intrusive guests. What is interesting is that many people did not even bother to find out whether her hint of likely cabinet shake-up was the outcome of one of the things that transpired in ‘the other room’ while she visited her husband; they have simply been echoing the need for the president to shake up his cabinet.

    The truth is; some of his ministers have absolutely no clue as to what to do to lift the country out of the woods. Again, as usual, the president has, sadly, dismissed the calls for restructuring. Yet, it is becoming obvious that Nigeria can only continue to make progress in fits and starts unless we tinker with the way we do some things. Some require constitutional amendments. For instance, electricity. There is no longer any basis for it remaining in the exclusive list. The Federal Government cannot give Nigeria stable electricity. We have seen that over the decades. It is laudable that some progress is being made, with some states now seeking ways to dance round the constitutional aberration in order to make stable power supply available to their residents. But the ultimate is for the provision that puts electricity supply in federal hands to be amended to give at least state governments the power to take charge of electricity supply. The same applies to railways. There is no basis for it to continue to be under the Federal Government.

    However, If some people are jittery whenever restructuring is mentioned, we can begin to do so gradually by devolving some of these powers from federal hands to the states. It does not have to be restructuring in one fell swoop.

    Attention: Gov Ambode

    A reader’s reaction to my column of last week titled “Lagos’ 3,000 megawatts”: “At N52 per kilowatt hour, embedded power programme would be embedded exploitation. Comparing the saving with that of using generator is opportunism because we should have no business using generator in the first instance. Not everybody can afford it anyway. The common man needs affordable 24/7 electricity. Lagos State government should not form a monopolistic unholy alliance with DISCOs to exploit. Room should be created for competition. From Leinad Ayokulo.
    •Another reader expressed fears about the constitutionality of the project, fearing the same fate that befell the 37 local governments created by the state government in the early years of this dispensation could repeat itself.

  • Lagos’ 3,000 megawatts

    Lagos’ 3,000 megawatts

    Now that we are beginning to do things differently in the power sector, we may soon start having a different result

    Nigeria may be moving nearer the solution to its energy quagmire with the autonomy granted state governments by the Federal Government, to generate their own power. This had been the dream of some state governments because we do not require any prophet to tell us that we can never have steady power supply under the present arrangement. It can only continue to be as epileptic as it has always been, with all kinds of reasons or excuses for the usually uninterrupted darkness that Nigerians have been paying through their nose for in the last few decades. The Federal Government’s approval, coming barely a few days after Lagos State governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, requested for a no objection letter from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) for Lagos State Government’s Embedded Power Programme, is something to cheer.

    Ambode, who led some members of the state executive council, lawmakers and other stakeholders to a meeting at the NERC headquarters in Abuja, said the embedded power project was his administration’s flagship programme for direct intervention in the power value chain towards achieving a 24-hour power supply for Lagos. He said the proposed power programme would generate up to 3,000MW through accelerated deployment of various power plants in strategic locations across the state by private sector power providers, within three to six years.

    “Embedded power was designed as our flagship programme for direct intervention in the power value chain towards achieving a 24-hour power for Lagos. Lagos State has always demonstrated its capacity and willingness to play a leading role in resolving the power sector challenges in the state, subject to the limit of the federal authority allowed regulations”, Ambode said.

    I got wind of the embedded power project in Lagos at the Alimosho Economic Summit endorsed by this newspaper and Alimosho Mail in May, this year. It was a direct focus on Alimosho Local Government Area, the largest in Lagos and one of the largest in the country. The theme of the summit was “Exploring real investment opportunities for economic and development rebirth”. As a matter of fact, participants were told at the summit that the project would have taken off in the local government area last December but for politics associated with such projects, among other factors. What fascinated many people at the summit was that the power generated by the scheme would not have to go into the national grid; that it would go directly to consumers through the transmission network of Ikeja Electric which services the area. More importantly, the operators said they were ready to provide their customers with prepaid meters for free as soon as they hooked up to the project which, we learnt, would give uninterrupted power for 24 hours a day. We were also told the cost implications; for instance it is going to be a little costlier than what Ikeja Electric charges but is far cheaper than using generator to supply power. The way the artisans and others at the summit spoke, it was obvious they could not wait for the experience. Not many Nigerians ever witnessed uninterrupted power supply in their lives.

    For a state that has significantly succeeded in powering government facilities, there is nothing wrong in seeking to extend same to other stakeholders, particularly those that can use power to rewrite the story of the state and the country at large. This is good thinking, even if some people as usual see the embedded power programme as one of enlightened self-interest. Lagos is the commercial and manufacturing hub of the country and there is no way the country can make progress with the present power supply strategy. Power is key to development.

    It is important to stress that the embedded project will also benefit other parts of the country because, as the governor noted, “We are convinced that the offer by our government to deploy the state’s balance sheet in support of power generation, transmission, distribution, gas supply, metering, collection and enforcement in Lagos State will significantly relieve the national grid and free more energy for distribution to other parts of Nigeria.” Again, since the state government will support the distribution companies in installation of smart prepaid meters in the areas where embedded power is deployed, this means more meters will be available for other electricity consumers through the other channels. So, the project will benefit the country in many ways.

    It is on record that the Lagos State government took what was a pragmatic step early in this democratic dispensation to sort out the power problem, with the Enron project that was meant to supply electricity to the state. But the Obasanjo administration did not allow the project to see the light of day as envisioned. His argument was that power supply was under the exclusive list, meaning it is the responsibility of the Federal Government. This is true, at least as far as the constitution is concerned. But, for God’s sake, what is the sense in the Federal Government holding on to power supply exclusively? Whatever the argument for such when it was done, it has become anachronistic today. It is no longer tenable.

    We do not have to be slaves to laws since we made the laws, and not vice versa. Even now that the Federal Government has given the nod to state governments to generate power, some people might still be talking of the place of the law that puts power in the exclusive list. For God’s sake, what are the National Assembly lawmakers doing if they cannot work with alacrity to review that law that has stunted the country’s growth and development for years, if they are serious? Why are they in their fattening chambers?

    Although Enron eventually ran into stormy waters, we can only imagine how far the state and, by extension, the country would have gone if the Enron project had worked according to plan. Many other state governments that are desirous of having electricity supply would have taken advantage of such pioneer effort to do their own power projects.

    But it is gratifying that all that is about changing. Some of the other stakeholders have begun to see the need to embrace the embedded power project. Only an enemy of progress will not support this. Media reports said representatives of both Eko and Ikeja distribution companies at the meeting where Fashola met with the NERC officials declared their support for the 3,000 megawatts project, saying that it would be detrimental to the progress of Nigeria if they opposed it.

    We need no one to tell us that this is the way to go. Even NERC’s commissioner in charge of legal license and compliance, Dafe Akpeneye, who stood in for the commission’s vice chairman, promised that the NERC would work with the Lagos State Government to ensure the success of the programme. “Within the ambit of the law and existing regulations, you have our unflinching support in this project. So, in response to what you said in your prayers to us, Your Excellency, I reaffirm the support of NERC towards this project. Our commitment is to create a viable electricity industry that works for Nigeria and Nigerians.” So, what are we waiting for? Stakeholders should arrange to sort out the gray areas. Things like the right of way, standards and designs, electricity theft as well as customers’ enumeration must be addressed as quickly as possible to make the dream come true. No one is saying that we can have power supply 24 hours by seven days immediately because there would sometimes be hitches; call them local faults if you like. But the situation would be far better than it is today, because the embedded power scheme, for instance, would take care of areas that they have the capacity to manage, unlike what obtains now. There would be no incentive to sort problems out in a situation where the power firms are at liberty to bill people arbitrarily as they presently do even when they have not supplied commensurate electricity.

    Some of us were privileged to know what stable power supply was like in those days when electricity consumers were usually told in advance if they would experience blackout, as well as the nature of the fault and likely duration of the blackout. We are nostalgic about seeing a return of that golden era. The truth is; we have been doing things in the power sector the same way and yet expected a different result. This cannot be; it is now that we are beginning to see the need to do things differently that we can begin to expect a different result.

    One must salute the tenacity of purpose of the Lagos State government in pursuing some of these issues to the logical conclusion in spite of many needless hurdles on its way. It has been able to secure several concessions from the Federal Government in the overall interest of the state and Nigerians in general, because many families across the country are well represented in Lagos. The Federal Government too deserves commendation for letting go some of the things that are beyond its control in spite of the enormous resources at its disposal. This is the way it should be. With this attitude, things can only continue to get better.

  • Ritualists’ dens

    Ritualists’ dens

    These should not be tolerated in Lagos 

    Whether what was discovered at the Ile-Zik area of Lagos on Thursday was a ritualists’ den or not, the fact is, it has become imperative for Lagosians to take the issue of security more seriously. Media accounts say items usually found in ritualists’ dens, including male and female shoes, were found there, even as a sharp knife was allegedly found on one of the suspects said to have been posing as a mad man in the place.

    The Ile-Zik incident came barely 48 hours after a similar one at Obadeyi Ajala Street, in the Ijaiye area of Lagos State. Indeed, residents of the area were still struggling to come to terms with the existence of such a den (aja’le) in the area because it is usually busy, especially in the early hours when people are going to work, and also in the evenings when they are returning. Obviously, the criminals usually take advantage of the people who leave their homes early or return late, to drag them into their den under the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway. It was a woman’s cry for help that attracted the attention of a female sweeper who alerted people to the unusual cry on Tuesday. Items recovered from the shrine included charms, carvings, white clothes stained with blood as well as native soap.

    Lagosians have not forgotten in a hurry the case of Clifford Orji who was arrested in 1999 under the bridge at Toyota Bus Stop, along the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway. He was allegedly found with roasted human flesh and bones, a cell phone, female underwear, and a cheque for N88,000. Orji was subsequently charged before an Ebute-Metta Magistrate’s Court on February 19, 1999, but did not go on trial till his death in August, 2012. Although the man was not tried until his death, not a few people believed that he was working for some ritualists and was only posing as a mad man to avoid suspicion or arrest.

    Several other ritualists’ dens had been uncovered in parts of the country. In June 2015, a ritualists’ den was  discovered on the outskirts of Ibadan, the Oyo State capital. The den, located at a remote village in Isase area of Ojoku in Ona-Ara Local Government Area, consisted of two bungalows, a shrine and an underground tunnel. Fake foreign currencies, three exotic cars and fetish substances were recovered from the place.

    But, Ile-Zik, lest we forget, used to be a terrible place in the 70s and 80s. Those of us who had business around the area then knew it was a den of all manner of criminals, from pick pockets to rapists and even armed robbers. As a matter of fact, there is nothing to suggest that kidnappers could not have been operating in the area far back as that time. This is why I would not blame those who have quickly linked what has just taken place there to ritualists.

    One can understand if mega crimes are being committed in a mega city. But it is difficult to explain what could be termed ritual killings in a place like Lagos. One would have thought that should be pronounced in local areas where there are still many superstitious beliefs. But then, it is difficult to dismiss with a mere wave of the hand that ritualists cannot be in Lagos. Rather, we should ask questions: Could it be that the ritualists are now finding the crime lucrative in preference to armed robbery, kidnapping, etc, because the security agencies are now on top of most of these ‘white collar’ crimes in the state? Or, could the proximity of Lagos to Ogun and some other states, where ritual killings are said to be rampant be the cause of the new development?

    Whatever it is, we should find the development worrisome because people that are reportedly disappearing from the streets cannot just melt into thin air. There have been reported cases of people who left home but never got to their destinations, even as they did not return home. They must be accident victims or victims of other incidents like kidnapping or ritual killers.

    The way things are, other security agencies like the Neighbourhood Watch, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and even local vigilante groups must see it as their duty to monitor developments or suspicious movements in their areas. Lagosians generally do not have to leave this for the police. Security is everybody’s responsibility.

    It is particularly distressing because Lagos State spends a fortune on security. Governor Akinwunmi Ambode disclosed about 10 days ago that the state government spent about N15 billion to beef up security last year. I said this much when that notorious kidnapper, Evans, was arrested in June in his mansion in Magodo, Lagos. Something must be missing in the security mix for Evans and his team to have successfully carried out their nefarious activities in Lagos undetected for years. Not only did they kidnap their prime victims in the state; they even kept them in ‘detention facilities’ within the state. That they were able to do this in the midst of other people undetected showed how carefree many of us are about happenings in our neighbourhood.

    I can understand the position of the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, who ruled out the possibility of the Ile-Zik incident as ritualists’ issue. It is probably to guard against innocent victims being mistaken for ritualists. Even when the Ijaye incident was reported two days earlier, I felt bad when I learnt that two of the suspects were set ablaze by the irate mob. One, such mob action shows us as primitive; it also denies the state the opportunity of extracting valuable information from the suspects. Worse still, it could lead to situations where innocent persons are lynched for criminals.

    I recall a particular incident in the 70s when lynching was the in-thing in Lagos whenever robbery or other suspects were apprehended. There was this man who just travelled back to Lagos from his home town somewhere in the south west. He had just gone to deliver a letter at the motor park the next morning (there was no GSM phone then, mind you) informing his people that he arrived safely in Lagos. Unfortunately, an armed robber was being pursued in the early hours as the man was returning from the motor park. He saw people running and without knowing why, he joined them. Somehow, he was mistaken for the robber and set ablaze. Meanwhile, he had just sent a letter home telling his people that he arrived Lagos safely. I have always had reservations about lynching, even though one could say it was good for the’ necklace thieves’ in the state then who, after asking the owner of the necklace to remove it and put it on their (thieves’) own necks, would go ahead to ask the victims to pray for them (bo si mi l’orun ko s’adura si). But  mob treatment should only be allowed in the jungle.

    But, condemnable as it is, those who engage in it would tell you they do so when they catch people in the act because they have had cause to take acknowledged thieves to the police stations only for the police to release them and for them to begin to terrorise the neighbourhood again. In other words, it is the result of the lack of confidence in our security agencies, particularly the police. But the police on their part too have legal constraints that forbid them from holding an accused in custody beyond 48 hours without charging him or her to court.

    All said, Lagos State government has to take a survey of the major canals and manholes that could serve as hideouts for criminals. It would appear the ritualists have opted for places that people would least suspect any shady practices could ever be carried out from. And this would be a good strategy on their part too. Perhaps it would not be out of place to suggest that the state government should intensify its Operation Light Up Lagos and ensure that the lights are on at night. Shady characters usually take advantage of darkness to perpetrate crimes. We know this imposes a lot of responsibilities on the state government, but a situation where some of these lights in entire streets go off for months, as in the case of Fatai Atere Way, is not a good advertisement for the Light Up Lagos project which Governor Ambode launched with fanfare less than two years ago.

    Moreover, closed circuit television should be installed in strategic places to provide clues whenever we have issues such as these.

    Two years since

    My father, Special Apostle Gabriel Adeshina Adegboyega died exactly two years ago on Friday. May the  soul of this dad like no other continue to rest in peace. Amen.