By Lawal  Ogienagbon

June 12, as the late head of state, Gen Sani Abacha, noted in November 1993, is a watershed in the annals of the nation. Speaking while inaugurating the late Justice Kayode Eso panel on judiciary reform at Dodan Barracks, Lagos, he recalled the shameful role of the third arm of government in the June 12 saga. For that, he said, the institution must be cleansed to weed out bad eggs. Indeed, the judiciary contributed in large part to the complications arising from the annulled June 12, 1993 presidential election.

Courts of concurrent jurisdiction gave conflicting orders as the nation sank deeper into morass. The then military president as he styled himself, Gen Ibrahim Babangida, lapped it all up as the judiciary made a mockery of itself. People go to court for justice and if you like, salvation, but in this instance, the last hope of the common and uncommon man became the abyss of hopelessness and injustice. It was the last place they wanted to be.

Politicians took over the place, throwing money and their weight around as justice went on sale to the highest bidder. The Eso panel’s findings were damming. Many judges were indicted, but they escaped sanction as the report, which was submitted in 1994, has not seen the light of day up till today. But the ghost of June 12 has haunted some of them out of office. There is no way you will treat the fireweed (Ebolo), the Yoruba will say, that it will not wreak of faeces. A corrupt judge can only hide, he cannot run forever. Those judges thought they had escaped the long arm of justice until they were disgraced out of the bench some 26 years later.

The June 12 ghost is not in a hurry to rest. Wherever we turn as a nation, we are always confronting it. Even the annuller-in-chief has time and again hinted at why he cancelled the election won by his bosom friend, the late Bashorun M.K.O. Abiola. In bits and pieces, he tried to exonerate himself from the ill-advised action. According to him, he annulled the election because some officers threatened to kill him if he handed over to Abiola. Babangida may as well tell that to the marines! The simple truth is that he annulled the election because he never planned to leave office.

He was ready to perpetuate himself in power with the aid of some of his collaborators in the military and among the politicians of that era. But they never reckoned with the fact that Abiola would put up a stiff fight in defence of his mandate. The Abiola they knew was an establishment man. Having established that fact they concluded that there was no way such a man would challenge constituted authority. It was a miscalculation many of them would live to regret politically and socially. They underrated Abiola at their own peril. Abiola’s resolve sustained the June 12 battle.

If he had given up, that would have been the end of June 12 because, to use his own words, no one can weep more than the bereaved. The question that would have been asked those in the June 12 vanguard if Abiola had chickened out was, why are you a helper more agitated than the property owner? Whether in exile or in custody, where he spent over four years, Abiola kept faith with the struggle. Though bruised, he was unbowed and unbent. A man of means deprived of all the comfort he was used to, he taught Nigerians a lesson in steadfastness. Abiola stood up for his right to the end and today, we are beneficiaries of the gallant fight that he put up for democracy.

Can the nation ever forget Abiola and June 12? No, it cannot. Even Abiola’s kinsman and major beneficiary of his sacrifice, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who held office between 1999 and 2007, appears to be ruing why he never honoured the business mogul when he had the opportunity to do so. As president for eight years, he treated the Abiola name as anathema. Obasanjo, who became president in 1999 on the understanding that the exalted office be conceded to the Yoruba because of the June 12 debacle refused to honour the symbol of that election. Though one is not god, it is certain that the other regions would not have conceded the presidency to the Yoruba if not for Abiola’s sacrifice. He gave his life for democracy to thrive.

The nation should not lose sight of that fact. The Yoruba, especially, as an ethnic nationality should never forget what Abiola did for them. This is why today, Abiola’s children can proudly point at their father’s house with their right hands. Not to be on the wrong side of history, Obasanjo seems to be struggling with himself over the Abiola persona. But what can you do to a person chosen by God? Nothing, absolutely nothing.

Obasanjo may not have honoured Abiola when he was in office, but in his subconscious mind, he knows that was a false call. He cannot remedy that now, but the little he can do while out of office, he is in a hurry to do while there is still time.

Since Babangida is not prepared to come clean with the nation over the June 12 annulment, Obasanjo has propounded the theory on why the election was cancelled. Unfortunately, he is caught in the web of his own theory. He attributed the annulment to bad belle against the people of Abeokuta. If that is so, is it the same bad belle that prevented him as president from honouring the June 12 symbol?

This is a question Obasanjo may not like to answer. As for me, I dey laugh o!

By Lawal Ogienagbon

In the dead of night sometime early in October 2016, hundreds of security operatives stormed the homes of some judges in Abuja, Port Harcourt, Gombe, Kano, Enugu and Sokoto. It was something that had never happened before in the nation’s history. Raid a judge’s home? It was unheard of, and incredibly not only a home, but homes were raided. The operation came with much ado, with the security people going about it in their usual gragra manner.

The raid, it later emerged, was informed by the need to expose the judges, who are believed to be corrupt. Among them were two Justices of the Supreme Court (JSC), Sylvester Ngwuta, who died last month, with just three weeks left then to his retirement, and John Okoro. As a nation that loves such drama, the public lapped up the story. Immediately, people started calling for their lordships’ heads. How can such corrupt people sit in judgement over us? Many wondered. In short, the judges were convicted before they were tried.

Two other homes raided in Abuja that night belonged to Justices Adeniyi Ademola, as he then was, and Nnamdi Dimgba of the Federal High Court. The homes of Justices Kabiru Auta, Muazu Pindiga and Samia as well as Chief Judge A.G.Umezulike, as he then was, were raided in Kano, Gombe, Sokoto and Enugu. In Port Harcourt, the operatives could not access the home of Justice Mohammed Liman because Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike came to his aide. Whether the raids achieved anything we can never say. What the people heard was that some incriminating pieces of evidence were recovered from the judges. These were to form the basis of their trial from which nothing has so far come out.

Unbeknownst was that the raid was the forerunner of the treatment to be given to former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Walter Onnoghen. With the 2019 elections around the corner then, the rumour mill was abuzz with his meeting with the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, in Dubai. Atiku faced President Muhammadu Buhari in that election. The implication of such meeting, if true, was not lost on the people. They wondered why the CJ would meet with a candidate in an election that may end up in the Supreme Court. Surely, if it is true, he does not deserve to remain in his exalted office a minute longer. Even, the media swallowed the story hook, line and sinker.

In discussions in newsrooms, it was a hot topic, but there was no proof. It seems there is still no proof of the allegation, as Onnoghen has come out, at last, to deny ever meeting with Atiku in Dubai or anywhere else one-on-one. Where then did the tale emanate from? Although, the government never said anything about Dubai when it suspended Onnoghen from office in January 2019, the name of that tiny, but rich country in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was never far from the surface whenever the issue was discussed. What the people were told was that Onnoghen did not declare his assets in line with the Code of Conduct for public officers before he assumed office.

The issue was raised in 2019, two years after he became CJ in 2017. Should issues like this not be raised before public officers take office? Should they be sworn in when they have not declared their assets? Who should be blamed for that lapse? Is it possible that Onnoghen became CJ without being screened? If he was given security clearance before assuming office, does that not amount to a clean bill? Questions, questions and questions. The answers should not be hard to come by, if the government is ready to take up the Onnoghen challenge. By coming out in public to speak on the rumour which many believed led to his exit from office, Onnoghen is drawing the government out to tell the world its own side of the story.

Onnoghen has given his own account, which many, who have become tired with the Buhari Presidency, may tend to believe.  They cannot be  blamed if they toe that line. Onnoghen laid his cards face up on the table, holding nothing back as he spoke, at a book launch in Abuja, on what could have amounted to his darkest hour in office. He spoke as a pained man and that is understandable. Who will be treated in that manner and not feel aggrieved? “Prior to my suspension,  I was confronted with no allegation. There were rumours that I met with Atiku in Dubai.  As I am talking here today (March 19), I have never met Atiku one-on-one in my life…”, Onnoghen said.

Hinting that his exit was politically motivated,  he said: “Let me make it clear that the office of the CJN was not for Onnoghen but for all Nigerians who have sworn to guide and protect the Constitution of the Federal Republic…judicial officers must be courageous. I want to beg all judicial officers not to be discouraged by what happened to me in the hands of the executive arm of government. Emerging brand of Nigerian judges should not go the direction of injustice because without courageous judges, Nigeria is doomed. Democracy will be dead”.

Onnoghen was tried and convicted by the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) in 2019, but the case was full of intrigues, raising doubts about its fairness. He gave vent to this at the book launch. He said he was not surprised when all of a sudden his trial at the CCT was arranged even when he had not been invited to defend the allegation (of non-declaration of asset) or any wrongdoing. If this can happen to the CJN,  who then can be sure of justice? Onnoghen has taken his case to the court of public opinion. Will the executive which he has pointedly accused of doing him in, despite “not committing any offence” take up the gauntlet?

It is even surprising that the executive, which is quick to react to anything under the sun, has not deemed it fit to respond to Onnoghen’s weighty allegation, which he made 13 days ago. He did not stop there. He left the nation with a message: “if the judiciary is not freed from political manipulation, the dispensation of justice in accordance with the rule of law would be a mirage”. This, unfortunately, has been unfolding in our eyes and in an administration that prides itself on integrity for that matter.

By Lawal Ogienagbon

It was a routine visit to his farm. Once in a while when state duties allow, Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom goes there to see things for himself. He uses the opportunity to chat up the farm workers; share a joke or two here and there and call it a day. The governor was there last Saturday and he escaped death by whiskers.

Some may even want him to spend more time with them on the farm as it is not everyday that you get to see a governor at close quarters. But that is not possible considering his hectic schedule. Soon, it was time to go. And the governor turned the way he came to head out of the farm. The first few steps were smooth. In the midst of some of his security aides, he trudged on in the marshy terrain towards his car parked a few metres away.

All the vehicles in his convoy were not driven into the farm because of its difficult terrain. They walked on, as they looked at the vehicles at a no far distance. Then, everything changed as guns boomed from nowhere. The party stopped in its track. The governor’s security aides knew what they had to do next: ferry their principal to safety, notwithstanding the deafening gunshots, which could be heard afar off because of the dense forest. In a state terrorised by herdsmen, many in far places would have run for cover even without knowing the cause of the gunshots.

After all, self preservation is the first law of nature. Some would have shouted out to others that the herders have come again, without even seeing who the gunmen were. Men, women and children would have scampered to safety to avoid being hit. There was no need to worry. The gunmen were not after them. At least,not that day. They had their target in mind and they were going all out for him. They thought they had the governor where they wanted him. It was a perfect setting for them. From their hiding place, they thought it was finished for the governor.

It was an ambush well planned, but its execution went awry at the zero hour. They had Ortom in the sight of their gun, but Providence intervened to save his life. The gunmen could not have imagined that the governor would escape. They thought they had everything sewn up. Shoot him to death in the bush and flee without leaving a trace of where they came from. From reports so far, it is obvious that the gunmen did their homework well. They had their coming and going well planned and timed. They came and left with ease because they had studied the farm well before they struck. It is possible that they worked with insider information and with someone who knows the governor’s itinerary.

The gunmen meant business. Their mission was to kill Ortom. The reason for their action may not be unconnected with the governor’s well known stance on cattle grazing, which has pitched him against herders. The anti-grazing law in his state does not sit well with the herders who prefer to move about with their cows. In the process,  the cows have destroyed many farms, leading to incessant herders/farmers clashes in which hundreds of lives have been lost. This is basically the problem in Benue, which, unfortunately, is being replicated in many parts of the country today. From Plateau to Nasarawa, Oyo to Ogun, Edo to Delta, these clashes have become a common feature, with death and destruction all over the place.

This is why the attack on Ortom should be viewed seriously. When has it become an offence for a governor to make his stand known on any issue? A governor is expected to act in the best interest of his state. So, if he feels it is in the interest of his state to ban grazing, should that be the reason to target his life? It will be difficult for many, especially Ortom and his people, not to see the hands of herders in this incident. A Yoruba adage puts it aptly: the child died today after yesterday’s cry of the witch and you are still looking for the culprit! This is the song that Ortom is already singing. Shortly after his escape, he pointedly accused the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) of being behind the attack. MACBAN has since denied the allegation.

But a faceless Fulani Nationality Movement (FUNAM) is claiming responsibility for the attack. The group may just be seeking relevance. No matter, it is worrisome that gunmen can deliberately go out of their way to attack a governor despite the retinue of his security men. It shows how daring and bold these gunmen have become. If they had succeeded in their mission, it would have given them the confidence to take on other governors. It would have marked the beginning of the assassination of governors. The Ortom attack is unique because the gunmen took the fight to him on his farm. It was a clear case of seeking him out for elimination. No governor has been attacked in such circumstance in the history of this nation.

Other governors with similar experience were attacked on the road when they ran into gunmen and not on their farms. Here, we are talking about one of Ortom’s predecessors, Senator George Akume as well as Governors Rotimi Akeredolu (Ondo) and Babagana Zulum (Borno). Akume and Akeredolu were attacked by gunmen operating on the roads they plied, while Zulum was ambushed by Boko Haram insurgents on the highway. But to go and confront a governor on his farm makes those past attacks, as serious as they are too, pale into insignificance. The police and the other security agencies must rise to the occasion in this case. They owe the nation a duty to get these gunmen.

Ortom’s security aides have a question to answer on how the gunmen escaped after the attempt on his life. They cannot plead that they were caught unawares. As security agents, they are expected to be at alert always and be prepared for any eventuality. Are they saying that if the gunmen had got the governor, they would have allowed them to vanish into thin air just as it happened in this failed mission? As protectors of this class of Nigerians, security agents must take their job seriously. The lives of governors and other public officers are in the hands of these security agents and they must never be found wanting in the discharge of this onerous responsibility.

Why did Ortom’s security agents allow all the gunmen (15, according to the governor) escape without getting one of them? Thank God Ortom was ferried to safety after, according to him, running 1.5kilometres to get back to the safety and comfort of his well secured car. Perhaps, if one of the gunmen had been caught, that would have helped in unmasking the masterminds of the mission. All the same, there should be no excuse in getting them and soon too.

By Lawal Ogienagbon

National Security Adviser (NSA) Maj Gen Babagana Monguno (rtd) stirred up the hornet’s nest when he spoke on the $1billion taken from the Excess Crude Account (ECA) to buy arms to prosecute the insurgency war. Monguno was not saying anything new. It has always been in the news that, that amount is being spent on acquiring 12 Super Tucano fighter jets. The issue has been on for over three years and in an environment where things work, it is only appropriate for the public to get an update from time to time

It was that update, unpleasant as it may seem, that the NSA provided on the Hausa Service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) last week. It is not a secret that the money is being expended on arms acquisition to enable the military, as we are told, finally ‘finish off’ Boko Haram. What is secretive about the deal is what has become of the huge sum and the weapons ordered from the United States (US)-based Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC). Before now, it was fashionable for many of those in government to bore Nigerians with how the non-acquisition of these weapons is affecting the military’s performance whenever Boko Haram made a hit in the Northeast or elsewhere.

“If only we had the right weapons, we would have finished off Boko Haram, which has been technically degraded, and is only going after soft targets,  such as women and children. Once, we get these weapons which we are expecting,  it will be game over for Boko Haram and bla, bla, bla…,” these officials will rattle on and on. In February 2019, shortly before that year’s general elections during which President Muhammadu Buhari secured a second term, the nation was told that six of the 12 Super Tucano jets would be delivered in 2021, which is the year we are now in.

Not too long after, the story changed when 43 rice farmers were killed in Zabarmari, Borno State, last year. Information Minister Lai Mohammed alleged that global powers were blocking the sale of the fighter jets to Nigeria. He stopped short of telling Nigerians why the manufacturers would dance to the tune of a third party, not involved in the deal and, breach the contract. Then, there were talks about the Leahy Law, which forbids the US from assisting militarily any country involved in human rights abuses. If the US wanted to use that law in stopping the sale of those jets to Nigeria, it should have brought it up before the deal was signed, and not after.

Be that as it may. It seems we have passed that stage. This is 2021 when the government should be talking of taking delivery of six of the 12 jets for which it paid $496million (about N152billion as at 2018). Defence Minister Brig Gen Mansur Dan-Ali (rtd) was so thrilled about the payment that he said back then: “Gone are the days when our soldiers dropped their rifles and started running from the war front. Our gallant troops have successfully degraded the Boko Haram insurgents…the conversation (on the weapons) began during the previous administration; but the planes have not been fully built. They are being assembled and will be delivered from Florida before the end of 2020”. 2020 ended over three months ago, and the jets are not here.

If the people whose money is being expended on acquiring these planes really matter, the government should be updating them today on the state of things. Are the aircraft still coming? If they are not, what happened? Since there appears to be a breach of contract, will Nigeria get back its money? Will the refund be with interest considering that the value of the dollar then is not the same as today’s? These questions have arisen because of the fears Monguno expressed over the arms deal in his BBC interview. No matter his subsequent rebuttal, it is certain that something is wrong somewhere with the nation’s planned acquisition of the Super Tucano jets, which the government has been talking about with glee in the last three years.

If there is a problem, should Nigerians not know since we are talking about money taking from the public till. If 2021 is no longer feasible for the delivery of the first set of aircraft, when are we to expect them now? Although, there is still nine months to go in 2021, the omens do not bode well at all for the delivery of the jets this year. Remember, Dan-Ali said they would be delivered in 2020, but they were not.

If he, as Defence Minister, could get it wrong, whose word on the delivery date would be right then? Perhaps, this was why Monguno cried out. If as NSA to President Muhammadu Buhari, who approved the acquisition of the jets, Monguno does not know that they are expected to be delivered this year, then something is not right in the inner workings of government.

Monguno raised genuine fears about these jets on which some of his colleagues have repeatedly said  our  winning the Boko Haram war depends. “It is not that we are not working to end the security challenge in the country. The President has done his own part and allocated huge amount of money to purchase weapons, but they are yet to be here. We don’t know where they are. I am not saying that the past Service chiefs have diverted the money, but presently, we don’t know where the money is…even, the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) has started questioning where the money is…I can’t say the money was stolen, but we didn’t see anything and even the new Service chiefs said they didn’t see the weapons”, he said, adding,  sarcastically:

“It is possible the weapons are on their way coming. Maybe from America,  England and other places, but as at now, I didn’t see anything and the Service chiefs too didn’t see any weapons too”. It is sad that this is coming on the eve of when we were made to believe that the jets would be delivered. Monguno, as a general,  knows what he is saying. Even, in the so-called rebuttal issued by his office, he still maintained his position on the issue:  “…we would like to state that the NSA…did not categorically say that funds meant for arms procurement were missing under the former Service chiefs…” Of course,  he was not categorical, but he was not ambiguous either. What he said was: “…presently, we don’t know where the money is…” How should Nigerians interpret that?

Nigerians are no fools. They can read between the lines. Denying the obvious will not help us in this matter as a nation. What happened to the arms funds? Were they utilised for the purpose meant? If they were, when will the arms be delivered? Over to Dan-Ali and the immediate past Service chiefs.

By Lawal Ogienagbon

As a country, Nigeria is where it is today because of inept leadership. This has been the case with us over the years. Our successive leaders have been a disaster and our country is the worst for it. For instance, in the past 22 years of democracy,  we have had a mix of leaders that can be classified as terrible and not-so-terrible. You can fix them in the class they belong.

Nigerians invested a lot in President Muhammadu Buhari, who is now doing a second term. They believed that he would do wonders. So, they were in a hurry to see President Goodluck Jonathan go in 2015. That same Jonathan has today become the ‘beautiful bride’ who is being wooed by even the ruling All Progressives Council (APC) to return to office. The people are fed up with the APC government and many of those serving in it know this as a fact. The nation found itself in this Buhari cauldron not because of his sparkling record while in office as military head of state between 1983 and 1985, but because he is ‘Mr Clean’, who has a cult following in the north.

That cult followership and his being Mai Gaskiya (a man beyond reproach) were exploited to get him elected. In the three elections that he lost before he beat Jonathan in the 2015 contest, he reportedly scored some 12 million votes in the north on each occasion, but could not muster the same number of votes in the south. Can APC count on those 12 million or so votes in the 2023 election? Analysts do not think so as the Buhari myth has been broken because of his lacklustre leadership.

The party is on an uneven keel. Directionless and rudderless, it is going into the 2023 race with the political baggage that Buhari has become. It cannot campaign on the leadership strength of Buhari because we have not seen any in the past five years. No one seems to know this better than Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello, an ardent Buharist, who has been endorsed for the 2023 presidency by his House of Assembly.

Becoming president is not as easy as that and Bello too knows the kind of game his lawmakers are playing with him. What they are saying is music to his ears. Bello wants to be president and he is not afraid to say so. However, he knows that his lawmakers cannot make him president. They are not just relevant in the political equation that will make that happen. The most they can do is to sing his praise as they are now doing. Who is that state lawmaker that will be on the opposing side of his governor who is desirous of a thing?

Does Bello have the attributes of the president Nigeria wants in the face of its daunting challenges, many of which were brought about by his party? I will be cautious by saying that I doubt it so as not to be seen as writing off the young man. After all, this is the season of youths. But any youth with such aspiration must have the ability to discharge the responsibility of that high office. Being  ’not too young’ to run is not enough; it must be backed with the ability to run the office. This is why I like Bello’s statement in Abuja last weekend on 2023. To him, only the best is good for the job. That is how it should be. It does not matter where the president comes from as long as he is fit to do the job.

“People are saying I am going to contest for president in 2023…if it is the will of God that I will be the president of this country, I will be at the right time… If a level playing field is provided, I will defeat whoever will confront me at the primary, whether direct or indirect. But that is not the issue. The issue is about Nigeria… People are afraid; leaders are afraid… There is no zoning arrangement in APC. Even, if there is, how has zoning helped us in this country?  For once, let us look for who can fix the problems… Let the best come”.

Leadership is not about cult followership. It is about a leader’s ability to do the job. Where has the fabled 12 million votes taken the country today? The popularity to win huge votes is not the same as the ability to do the job, which is key. May Nigeria not fall into such a trap again.

Who is Iskilu Wakili?

The exit of Alhaji Saliu Abdulkadir from Ibarapa in Oyo State in January was expected to bring peace to the restive community. Unfortunately, the Sarkin Fulani’s ouster has not achieved that. Igangan and environs in the Ibarapa North Local Government are still hotbeds of crises. After the Sarkin was sacked, it was discovered that he was not the one calling the shots in Igangan. He was only the leader in name; power was being wielded elsewhere. The power behind the throne has turned out to be one Iskilu Wakili. All the Sarkin was said to have done are now being heaped on Wakili, who met his Waterloo in the hands of the Odua Peoples Congress (APC) four days ago

Eventually, the truth will emerge. Wakili’s arrest last weekend, like the Sarkin’s ouster, is generating heat. Wakili was arrested in his house, which was reportedly set ablaze and a woman burnt to death. After his arrest, something beguiling happened. Those who arrested him were arrested by the police. A case of arresting the arrester! In law, any citizen is free to arrest a suspect and hand him over to the police. This is why the OPC members’ arrest appears suspicious. Did they commit any crime by arresting a suspect? If they did, the police should let the world know what the offence is so as to douse tension.

The police should be mindful of public perception in how they handle this case considering the circumstances that gave rise to it. The police cannot claim to have forgotten so soon the cases of kidnapping, rape, killing, extortion, destruction of farms,  and looting in Ibarapa for which herders are being fingered. What is Wakili’s connection to all these? This is what the police should focus on, while not overlooking any other crime committed by any other person. There is no better time than now for the police to live up to the credo of no person is above the law. But, first who is Wakili? He must be unravelled in order to get to the root of the Ibarapa conundrum.

By Lawal Ogienagbon

With the chummy relationship between Governor Bello Matawalle and bandits, his state of Zamfara should have been the last where those criminals would strike. But they struck, sending a message to the governor and all those courting them that a leopard does not change its spot. A criminal will always be a criminal unless he is rehabilitated after paying for his crime. Not to make him pay for his crime is to make him believe that crime pays. Society suffers for it when those in government treat criminals with kid gloves.

The abduction of 279 pupils of the Government Girls Secondary School (GGSS), Jangebe, should not have happened if the bandits are sincere in their ongoing negotiations with Matawalle for amnesty. How do you desire amnesty, on one hand, and on the other, continue to engage in acts contrary to being pardoned? Parties go into talks with their cards on the table. During such talks, there is what is called ceasefire. This means that no party would do anything to jeopardise the talks. Negotiations are based on trust and openness.

The bandits broke these key ingredients when they went for the Jangebe school girls nine days after the abduction of 37 school boys in Kagara, Niger State. On Tuesday, they returned to the Rafi Local Government under which Kagara falls, and abducted over 50 travellers. It was the second time in less than two weeks that they were abducting passengers. They had kidnapped some passengers returning from a wedding few days before they snatched the Kagara boys. It is now clear that banditry has become a huge industry in the northeast and northwest. Kidnapping for ransom has become a major variant of banditry.

As they are negotiating with the governor, they are busy plotting their next move because without kidnapping, there is no free money to fund their illicit trade. These bandits have become masters of the forests, where they have taken over the game reserves hitherto managed by the government. The wildlife in those reserves has been destroyed because animals cannot remain in a place where wild looking, gun wielding men hold their victims until ransom is paid. They chose to live in the forests, and so, any story to the contrary should be discountenanced. How can they justify their action on the grounds that they did not get justice after their cattle were rustled.

Were the cattle rustled by the pupils they kidnapped from their hostels in the dead of night? Those pushing this line of argument like Sheikh Abubakar Gumi and company should drop it. There is no way anybody can rationalise what these bandits are doing. They have chosen the wrong path and the earlier they are made to realise this the better for them and the society. If they do not know, they should know now that they will not always be lucky in abducting pupils from their schools. Luck will run out on them one day, and that will be it. Then, they will no longer be the people being courted today by the like of Matawalle and Gumi.

As a nation, we have gone virtually through hell in the past 11 years when talking about criminality. You name it, every form of criminality dogs the land. Insurgency. Banditry. Robbery. Kidnapping. Killing. Raping. Looting. Some would add the amputation of hand for the stealing of a cow as it happened to Buba Jangebe in 2001 under Sharia law. Twenty years after that barbaric act, Jangebe, that rustic community, has come to haunt the nation, with the unfortunate abduction of those girls.

The worst are insurgency and banditry because they are crimes people have not learnt to live with like robbery and looting. This is why the school girls abduction is annoying. What point are the bandits trying to prove with it? That they are in control of the country or what? I do not envy Matawalle. In fact, I pity him. As the governor of a troubled state, it is his duty to ensure the security of life and property,  but that does not mean that he should befriend bandits to achieve that objective.

The governor says he has no apologies for adopting the carrot approach in trying to address the bandits menace in his state. This strategy, he said, helped to facilitate the girls release on Tuesday. Bravo, Mr Governor! Mutawalle is entitled to his own way of doing things. But let him pause for a moment and see whether he has achieved any result. Rather than the bandits to sheathe their swords, they are becoming emboldened by the day because those who should apply the law against them are their cheer leaders. It is strange that instead of being enraged by the bandits’ action, Matawalle still believes that he can use them for the good of the state. There is no doubt that a rehabilitated criminal can later become useful to the state. But, he must have gone through purgatory to attain that status. These criminals have not gone through rehab, yet Matawalle is talking of making them better people. That is putting the cart before the horse.

To just bring them out of the bush, clean them up and load them with money after surrendering their arms will not achieve that purpose. Sooner than later, they will return to their old ways and the society will be the worse for it. This is now happening right before our eyes. The bandits should leave the bush if they have genuine grievances in order to seek alternative means of addressing their problems. For how long will they resort to abduction of innocent pupils? For how long will they declare war against their own country for no just cause? They should not listen to disgruntled people, who do not mean well for them and the country.

Nigeria is bigger than any of us. As Nigerians, we are bound to have differences, but we do not resolve them by taking up arms to kidnap pupils, loot, rape and maim. Time is running out for the bandits, but they still have a chance to mend their ways before it is too late.

By Lawal Ogienagbon

In the past few weeks, renowned Islamic cleric, Sheikh Abubakar Gumi, has been traversing some forests in the north to meet with leaders of the bandits troubling the region.  The Sheikh is no doubt on a good mission. He desires peace in the land and he is working assiduously towards it. He is not sitting on his hands like some of our leaders who are watching, or is it fiddling?, while the country is burning.

My fear is will he achieve anything at the end of  his self-assigned mission? Like every Nigerian, this writer wants peace in every part of the country, which today is under the siege of criminals, for that is what insurgents, bandits, kidnappers, rapists, armed robbers, or by whatever name they are called, are. Let us face it, there is no plausible reason for any person to take up arms against his fellow compatriots. Criminality, under any guise, cannot be justified, otherwise, everyone will take to crime.

If care is not taking, that will happen eventually because everybody has one reason or the other to be aggrieved with the system.  The failure of the system should not be taking out on others, who are also battling with their own challenges of daily living. As a peace lover, I appreciate what the Sheikh is doing,  but I fault his premise for doing it. We will be treading a dangerous path if we buy his submissions that the bandits have a genuine reason for waging war against the society, for that is what they are doing in the actual sense of it. They are breaching the laws of the land with impunity under the guise of fighting the system for not giving them justice when they were wronged.

If that is the case, should those they kidnapped and released after collecting ransom or the families of those they killed, also take to the bush in search of justice? This Mosaic law of an eye for an eye, which they are postulating is not the best for our society and the Sheikh, or even any other person for that matter, should not give them the impression that what they are doing is right. Otherwise, as Ghandi warned decades ago, an eye for an eye would leave us all with one eye. Ghandi was right because everybody has one reason or the other to be angry and could seek to assuage their anger through self defence. Any society that allows that will be the worst for it.

The bandits are not going about their so-called worthy cause in the right way. Going by their theory, every Nigerian who has been a victim of one crime or the other, has the right to take up arms and start terrorising the people to remedy the wrong done him. This is wrong logic and we should all condemn it. Gumi means well. Other public-spirited Nigerians like him should be encouraged to take up such duty in their localities before and not after things have got out of hand. These bandits are products of some homes,  localities and communities. How were they brought up by their parents or guardians? What contributions did their teachers and religious leaders make towards their moral and religious growth?

Train a child the way he should go and when he grows up, he will not depart from it, so says the scriptures. These bandits need to be told the truth that things are not always as they look. They have the upper hand today because they have sophisticated weapons and are also masters of their terrain in the forests. Things will not always be like that. Sooner or later, the tide will change and if they do not mend their ways before then, they may live to regret their actions. This is the right time for them to drop their weapons and get reintegrated back into the society.  Living in the bush and turning themselves into terror groups that come out now and then to kidnap people on the road or in their schools for ransom is wrong, no matter the cause they are fighting.

I commend Gumi for his courage to have gone into the forests to meet with the bandits. But, he will be failing in that duty if he does not tell them the truth that they are fighting their cause in a wrong way. Regrettably, while he is talking peace, the bandits are still thinking of war. A report, which quoted the Sheikh, said the bandits were planning to acquire anti-aircraft missiles to repel military attacks. This shows that the bandits have tentacles, which even spread beyond the country. Gumi needs to watch his back, if the bandits  can be thinking of acquiring such weapons while he is talking with them.

For there to be peace, Gumi is  calling for amnesty for the bandits. Amnesty, he argued, would enable them drop their weapons. Then, why are they contemplating procuring anti-aircraft missiles if they are ready for peace? Gumi has taken the initiative, what remains is for the government to build on it. Since the bandits seem to trust Gumi, the government should ride on his back to get across to them to end these killings and kidnapping, especially of school children, in the north. We need peace to grow as a society and ending this banditry will aid the process. But, the government must not give away too much in the desire for peace or the nation will remain at the bandits’ mercy.

The nation travelled this way before when Hajia Aisha Wakil popularly known as Mama Boko Haram and a journalist tried to broker peace between the Islamic sect, which believes that education is sin, and the government. Nothing came out of that initiative and till today, we do not know why the talks failed. For peace to reign, I will support the Gumi initiative, but not at the expense of turning over our country to criminals. There are fears that negotiations with the bandits may encourage criminality. These are genuine fears that must be addressed so that another group with its own tendencies does not arise tomorrow to also hold the nation to ransom.

The government should not negotiate from the position of weakness, but that of strength, so as not to create the impression that it is there, just for the taking by any group of armed men which feels that it must make some noise to be relevant. The way to do this is to ensure that the security agencies, especially the police, are well equipped to enforce the laws. The bandits, according to Gumi, are aggrieved because “they were the first victims of cattle rustling, who lost all their cows to rustlers because then, the rustlers were having the guns. Then when they lost their cattle, they joined the rustlers and they started to kidnap people”.

Hmmm! Hiding under the failure of law enforcement to commit crime! I do not agree with the Sheikh’s proposition, but then the rule of banditry will prevail where law enforcement fails. We should not allow this as a nation, otherwise criminals will overrun society.

By Lawal Ogienagbon

These curity and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government – Section 14 (2) (b) of the Constitution.

These are times that try the souls of men. Everywhere is tense. Just a little spark and there will be fire, a huge ball of fire. This is what the trouble makers want. They are seriously working towards pushing the country off the precipice where it perches precariously now. Just like the Psalmist, many who love the country with all their hearts are for peace; but when they speak peace, the trouble makers are for war.

These times have brought out the worst in the best of men,  those that many never thought would do anything to breach the peace. These hitherto cool and calm individuals lost their heads in the heat of the moment. Let’s face it, we are walking a tightrope in this country today. In the not too distant past, Nigerians were grappling with economic hardship, but now, their trouble has been compounded with the sectional crises rocking some parts of the country.

If only the government had moved fast, things would not have got to this stage, where a fire brigade approach is being adopted

to douse tension. But, as the saying goes, better late than never.

Read Also: Nigerians should learn to live in peace

This is why every well-meaning Nigerian and group must join hands with the government to push back our country from the brink. The media, especially, must be in the vanguard of the search for peace. It must not inflame passions with its reports or set one ethnic group against the other.

The media has always been nationalistic in its outlook and there can be no other time than now for it to display this nationalistic fervour. There comes a time for an individual or an institution to rise above sectional interest and do what is right for country. We are in such a time now. The media cannot fight along with nationalists for Nigeria’s independence and also take on the military junta, only to succumb to sectional interest in a democracy because of the belief that it must support its own people. The section of the media that is doing this still has time to retrace its steps in the national interest.

If the media cannot do anything to bind the country together at a time like this, it should not do anything to balkanise it. Since the Presidency has seen the light and is now prepared to do what it should have done since, the media owes it a duty to support the government’s initiative. Igangan and Shasha, both in Oyo State, which are the latest hot spots in the country, would not have happened, if the government had stepped in when the herders’ crisis started in the Middle Belt. The issue was politicised and here we are in Igangan and Shasha, with Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde facing a baptism of fire of sorts. This piece is not to apportion blame on anybody, but to appeal to every Nigerian to let peace reign. Mistakes have been made, no doubt, but the people cannot allow these errors to continue to strain their relationship with those they have lived with for decades.

Whether Yoruba,  Igbo, Hausa, Fulani, Bini, Ibibio, Nupe, Agatu, Ebira, Tapa or whatever ethnic group, we must allow Nigeria to come first. The way things are going now, if care is not taking,  our country will go up in flames. The bloodshed must stop, the kidnapping must stop, the insurgency, banditry, killings, maiming, raping, open grazing, cattle rustling and looting must stop. Some people fought a war between 1967 and 1970 to keep this country as one. Not all of them survived the war. We will not be doing the memory of the dead any good, if we allow our country to slip into another war over these herders’ crises, which have taken a frightening dimension. Let us remember the popular saying: “no country survives two civil wars”.

The Presidency finally did what it should have done long ago when it vowed on Sunday to protect all religious and ethnic groups. It was a refreshing statement coming from the seat of government, which in the past, had shown its bias in its interventions on the herders’ problem. The Presidency is the god that people look up to in times of trouble for relief and protection. So, it cannot afford to take sides with any ethnic group so as to avoid creating the impression that the other sections of the country do not matter. The Presidency must unite and not divide the citizenry, as enunciated in the Constitution. Mercifully, it has woken up to this reality.

It is never too late to do what is right. The only problem is that a lot of harm would have been done before that initiative is taking. As we are all aware, thousands have either been killed or displaced across the country. In a country with a government,  the perpetrators would not have gone free. For the sake of peace, which the government is preaching now, there must also be justice for the aggrieved to bring about a closure. Justice and peace go hand in hand. No efforts should be spared in fostering peace across the country in the aftermath of the Igangan and Shasha crises to avoid a backlash.

The country will gain nothing from any upheaval. Such crisis will only set the nation back. Let the Presidency live up to the country’s motto of Unity and Faith, Peace and Progress as contained in Section 15 (1) of the Constitution by fostering a feeling of belonging and of involvement among the various people of the federation, to the end that loyalty to the nation shall override sectional loyalties, as stated in Section 15 (4) thereof. Keeping Nigeria as one remains a task not only for this administration, but for all of us.

By Lawal Ogienagbon

The only surprise will be if they are not confirmed. That is what will draw a gasp from the people. “Haa, so the Senate can find the courage not to confirm them”, many will mutter. But do not bet on it. Take it from me: they will be confirmed and in record time too. The nomination of the immediate past Service Chiefs as non-career ambassadors may have surprised Nigerians, but their confirmation, which to me is a given, considering the kind of Senate we have, will not. Anybody who  thinks that the Senate will reject their nomination has another think coming.

I do not say this to disparage the ‘distinguished’ senators; I say it because I know them very well and what they can do or not do. So, ‘take a bow and go’ Gen Abayomi Olonisakin (former Chief of Defence Staff), Lt Gen Tukur Buratai (former Chief of Army Staff), Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (former Chief of Naval Staff) and Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar (former Chief of Air Staff). The Senate may not put it the way I have, that is,’take a bow ….’, that trite phrase with which certain class of ministerial nominees are allowed to pass through its hallowed chambers without being grilled, but it will not ask them probing questions to determine their suitability for the job.

If it were to be a people’s Senate, the military brass would be run through the mill before they are confirmed. Their confirmation is going to be a walk in the park and the Presidency is already working towards that. The military chiefs are a hard sell. To many Nigerians, they did not give a good account of themselves for the almost six years that they held office.  Under their watch, the insurgency war dragged and dragged. At every turn, they claimed that Boko Haram had been ‘technically defeated’, but each time, the insurgents gave a lie to those claims by invading military formations,  farms, schools and houses to wreak havoc. Then, they would say it is an asymmetry war that cannot be fought the conventional way!

It got to a point that the people became fed up with them and demanded that they be removed. In the past three years, no day passed without such demands, but President Muhammadu Buhari ignored the clamour. As if we did not know, his aides said the prerogative to retain or remove them was the President’s. Of course, if that was not the case, the people would not have called on him to remove them, they would have done so since, without recourse to him. The military chiefs were in office for that long because the President tolerated them. Under another president,  they would not have stayed in office one day longer than necessary and that would have been over four years ago.

This is why Nigerians are shocked that the military chiefs are coming back as non-career ambassadors. What qualifies them for the job? It cannot be their performance as Service Chiefs. No matter what some of them are saying now, they too know that they did not perform. So, what did the President see in them to make them ambassadors? Is he giving them the appointment, as some are saying, to shield them from prosecution by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes? If they failed as Service Chiefs, is it on the unfamiliar terrain of diplomacy that they will succeed? Are there no other Nigerians that can do the job?

What form of compensation is this? What message is the President passing across? The President has made the appointment in exercise of his executive power, but it is left to the Senate to determine their suitability for the golden parachutes given them. Can the Senate be trusted to do a thorough job of screening them? That is the problem. The Senate, which on two or so occasions, resolved that the military chiefs be removed because of their handling of the insurgency war, now has the opportunity to walk the talk. It should demand from them an account of their last mission and seek to know what they can offer on the diplomatic circuit.

The President cannot seek to make diplomatic soldiers out of the Service Chiefs despite their shortcoming while in office, without those that should ask questions like the Senate, lifting a finger. This is why in a democracy like ours,  there are checks and balances. The nation must be sure that its best are being sent out there, whether as career or non-career ambassadors, and it is the Senate’s job to ensure that this is so. Will it be diligent in its duty or just rubber-stamp the President’s request?

BUA vs CACOVID

BUSINESSMEN do things in their own way. One thing they are very good at, is shocking people by catching them unawares. Call it a business trick  and you may not be wrong. Businessmen are eternally in competition with one another. They only see eye to eye when their interests do not clash. Once, there is a clash in interests, it is war and they use everything at their disposal to fight. To help the government in the fight against COVID-19, the private sector in collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) went into partnership to provide succour for the vulnerable. The private sector-driven Coalition Against COVID-19 (CACOVID) built and equipped isolation centres across the country, bought ambulances and  Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for frontline workers. It did all these from donations by its well-heeled members.

The house that CACOVID built is developing cracks and this is unfortunate. It all has to do with the donation of vaccine for public use. Vaccine is a big deal in the treatment and prevention of Coronavirus because it is expensive and somewhat scarce for now. Only the rich can afford it and some of them have been travelling out to get the jab. What is causing the tiff in CACOVID is the purchase of one million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine by BUA Group. The firm, which is a member of CACOVID,  plans to buy additional four million doses, according to its promoter,  Samad Rabiu. The vaccine will be given free to Nigerians. For the public, this is cheery news. But it is not being celebrated within the larger CACOVID family.

CACOVID has distanced itself from the BUA vaccine, saying the firm alone could not buy it. The vaccine, CACOVID said, would be bought collectively through an arrangement with CBN and Afreximbank, which is headed by a Nigerian, Prof Benedict Oramah. BUA procured the vaccine through Afreximbank. So, why the wahala? Whether the vaccine was bought jointly or severally should not lead to quarrel. What should bother CACOVID is the genuineness of the vaccine. If the vaccine is genuine, why not take it from the donor, which in this case is BUA? Must a body like CACOVID allow extraneous matters affect the good work it is doing? Whether the vaccine is from BUA or CACOVID, as a family, it does not matter. They are supposed to work together, not at cross purposes.