The Nation Newspaper

Category: Lawal Ogienagbon

  • Chibok, Dapchi…the evil goes on

    Chibok, Dapchi…the evil goes on

    IT SOUNDED far-fetch when the news broke in the night of Monday, February 19. It cannot happen again, we chorused, looking at one another as we shared the news of the abduction of another set of school girls in the Northeast. No, not after what happened in Chibok, Borno State, about four years ago. In our subconscious minds, we silently prayed that the news would not be true. But the abduction of over 100 pupils of the Government Girls Science and Technical College (GGSTC) in Dapchi, Yobe State, was real.

    At first, the situation was confusing. The police initially denied that the girls were abducted. According to the police, they were missing. Some, they claimed, had run back home following the invasion of their school by Boko Haram. That was on Monday night. By Tuesday, things started to fall in place bit by bit. It had become clearer that something sinister happened at the school that fateful Monday. With the Chibok incident still fresh in our memory, the police were cautious in talking on the matter. They did not want to release more information than they should in order not to create panic.

    Unknown to them, with the world now a global village because of the social media, the news had  spread like wildfire. Whether or not the government was willing to release information, the public got information anyway and from diverse sources. Initially reports said 94 of the girls could not be accounted for; they were not among those who ran back home from school. No fewer than 906 of them were said to be in school that night. Some ran into the bush; some ran into nearby houses and yet others took to wherever their legs could carry them just to escape from the insurgents.

    With the 2014 Chibok experience and what happened in Bunu Yadi also in Yobe State in 2013, where some schoolboys were killed, still so fresh, a government that cares about its people, especially the future of its young ones, would have taken steps to prevent a recurrence of incidents like this. It is a big slap on the government’s  face  that Boko Haram could still storm a school and abduct pupils with ease despite its claim that it has clipped the sect’s wing. What happened in Dapchi on February 19 has turned that claim on its head. Troops may have levelled Sambisa Forest, the Boko Haram headquarters, to Ground Zairo, but it seems  they have not curtailed the sect’s power to do evil.

    It is sad that Boko Haram still has enormous power to raid schools and villages as well as  ambush exploratory research teams and troops and abduct people in the process. More still needs to be done in the battle against Boko Haram. Can we still describe it as a battle? The answer is no. It has become a war, which the nation must win at all costs if the kidnapping and killing of pupils must stop. The  insurgents must be laughing at us now wherever they are holding the girls. Our troops paved the way for them to strike on February 19 by letting their guards down.

    When fighting a sect like Boko Haram, you must be at alert every second, every minute. You must not leave your flank open. Troops were said to be stationed about 30 kilometres from the school. They were deployed there to guard the school and prevent the kind of thing that happened  on February 19. But that day, they left for another mission, without a thought for the safety of the GGSTC girls. I am a novice in the art of war, but I do not think that is how to prosecute a war, whether conventional or unconventional. You do not move all your troops from one front at a go, without making provision for the safety of those in your charge.

    Those girls were the state’s charge and those troops had no right to expose them to danger under the guise of moving to another front. What is in that front that is more important than the lives of those  vulnerable 906 schoolgirls? Shouldn’t some troops have been left behind to secure the girls? Come to think of it, are we sure that some of these troops are not working with the insurgents? How did the insurgents know that the soldiers will not be at their base 30 kilometres away from the school that night?

    Now that the government has obtained the actual number of abducted girls – 110 – everything must be done to bring them back. Unlike the Chibok case, where the nation was caught flat-footed, our troops unarguably  opened their flank for Boko Haram to abduct the Dapchi girls right under our nose. It is unfortunate that this is happening under an administration in which we pinned so much hope at the outset. Was it misplaced? The administration has a lot to do to win back the people’s trust. It can start by bringing back the Dapchi girls and all those abducted before them.

    If only the troops had not left their position, what happened that night would have been averted. There is no way the sect would have had the audacity to strike knowing that troops were not that far away. It could have been a pre-arranged attack for all I care because the insurgents took their time in carrying out their dastardly act. One of the girls, Aishatu Abdullahi, who escaped, said they were preparing to break their usual Monday fast when the insurgents struck. The senior school pupil told the online paper, Premiun Times: “They (insurgents) were shooting guns and everyone was confused; then we started running helter-skelter, but they were able to get some girls. We saw some people pushing some of the students to enter their vehicles. There were no soldiers at the time of the invasion.

    “They came in three trucks.  Some of the other girls ran with some of our teachers to a house near the school… we had to enter and hide inside the house; all of us that escaped, including our principal. The vice principal and some other teachers stayed in the deserted house till morning’’. So, the insurgents had all the time in the world to wreak havoc on the school because there was no superior force to stop them. How can we explain this – that the government abandoned 926 vulnerable girls at the time they needed it most? It is inexplicable. It is sad; so, so sad.

  • Baba in Otuoke

    Baba in Otuoke

    In his January 23 “special press statement”, former President Olusegun Obasanjo used endearing words for former President Goodluck Jonathan whose fall from office he masterminded. Before the 2015 elections, Baba, Obasanjo’s pet name, had written to Jonathan, urging him to change his style or face the electorate’s wrath. Titled : ‘’Before it is too late’’, Obasanjo told Jonathan that he would not back him for a second term. Reason : Jonathan, according to him, has failed.

    Referring to this letter in his statement tagged : “The way out : A clarion call for Coalition for Nigeria Movement”, Obasanjo said he took the unusual step of going against his own party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the last election to support the opposite side because “Nigeria must be good at home to be good abroad’’. The thrust of his argument was that President Muhammadu Buhari should not go for a second term, just the same homily he preached to Jonathan three years ago.

    To justify his position, he said: “Even the horse rider then, with whom I maintain very cordial, happy and social relationship today has come to realise his mistakes and regretted it publicly and I admire his courage and forthrightness in this regard… The situation that made Nigerians to vote massively to get my brother Jonathan off the horse is playing itself out again…” Expectedly, Obasanjo’s statement created a storm, which has yet to die down.

    Never one to back down from a cause, he took time out to see Jonathan in Otuoke during his visit to Bayelsa State last week. Baba was said to have arrived in the Jonathans’ countryhome without pomp. It was a private visit – after all what is bad in an ex-president calling on another ex-leader. Sources said they poured their hearts out to each other. Baba, it was said, told Jonathan not to take what he did to him while in office personal. “You know I cannot keep quiet when things are not going well in Nigeria. I fought a war to keep this country together and I cannot look the other way or keep quite when things are not working”, he was quoted as saying.

    He was not done. “I came to see you to show that I have no ill-feeling towards you; I have come as a friend to seek your hand in cooperation in order to get Nigeria working again. Things have become worse since you left office. Yes, I supported Buhari against you because I thought I knew him well and that he will deliver. I made an error of judgement, which I am willing to correct now. But I cannot do it alone; I need others in my club (ex-leaders) in this crusade. I will be reaching out to others to sound them out too. You can see that Ibrahim (Babangida) is already on the same page with me.

    “We must fight together to save Nigeria from poor leadership. We have the men (and women) who can do the job. We have to fish them out and guide them on to the right path in the interest of our country. In a country of over 180 million, people abound that can be president. If we search well, we will get them. We even know some of them; they might have worked with us while we were in office. Let us encourage them to come out and be counted on the side of their country. Nigeria needs them now and it is our duty to get them to come out. I want to be able to face my Maker and tell Him that I left Nigeria in good hands when I get over there”.

    Jonathan was said to have listened with rapt attention to Baba. Responding, he thanked Baba for coming, promising to return the visit soon. He made it clear that the leadership problem was that of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), saying the PDP is ready to wrest power back from it. ‘’I thank you Your Excellency for your visit. You know I hold you in high esteem and that I have always done what you want me to do. But on this your request I have to consult my people. I belong to the PDP which membership card you tore publicly in Abeokuta, Ogun State. We do not hold that against you as everybody is entitled to right to freedom of association. We still believe you belong to us except you say you are no longer with us.

    “We see this as a problem of the ruling party which the PDP should cash on to return to power in 2019. I also believe in Nigeria. For me, it is Nigeria first. That was why I accepted defeat in the 2015 election. We will not rest on our oars until we regain power. Baba, I have heard you and I promise you that I will convey your message to my people. Thank you for coming sir and see you soon in Abeokuta”.

     

     

    Kaduna’s Mr Bulldozer

    In Nigeria, those in power do not like to be challenged. They see themselves as demi-gods to whom all must defer. You do not bow before them at your own peril. And many of us are ready to lick their ass  because  we want to curry their favour. By so doing, we have unwittingly conferred them with the power they do not have – that of life and death. As powerful as the president and governors are, there is a limit to what they can do as human beings. Yes, they can get people arrested and detained. Yes, they can give you that multi-billion naira contract. But can they give life and death? Yet, they like to play god. Or how do we explain what happened in Kaduna on Tuesday where the property of a politician was demolished all because of his differences with Governor Nasir El-Rufai? Senator Suleiman Hunkuyi and El-Rufai belong to the same party –  All Progressives Congress (APC) – but the battle for the soul of the state has pitched them against each other. That is expected in politics. The party’s  state executive committee is divided over them. A faction led by the chairman is with El-Rufai and another faction headed by the vice chairman is on Hunkuyi’s side. The other day, the El-Rufai faction suspended Hunkuyi; the Hunkuyi loyalists fired back by suspending El-Rufai. His Excellency, the governor aka the accidental public servant did not like that a bit. What did he do? Remember, he was minister in Abuja, where he took delight in demolishing people’s houses? That was the treatment he gave to Hunkuyi on Tuesday shortly after the senator was served with a contravention notice, which claimed that he has not paid ground rent for eight years. Before the senator could react to the notice, El-Rufai’s henchmen came calling in the wee hours of Tuesday and demolished the building housing his APC faction. It was the height of intolerance, which no rational being would have expected of someone like El-Rufai. Is this how professionals in politics will play the game? Even touts will not descend this low. El-Rufai has done his worse, but Hunkuyi has remedy in law, and let nobody tell me that a governor cannot be sued. A governor, who abuses the privileges of his office like El-Rufai should be ready to face the consequences of his action. Being governor does not make him an overlord. And what law was Hunkuyi said to have broken? They said he was using the building for political activities instead of residential for which he was granted approval! So, demolition is the cure for that, barely 12hours after serving the owner with a contravention notice. Haba! Mr Governor. Surely, we have not heard the last about this matter.

  • Who’s fooling who?

    Who’s fooling who?

    TO SOME, the anti-corruption crusade is a sham. But to the government, it is one of the best things to have happened to the country in its 57 years of independence. Indeed, no administration tackled corruption the way the present government is doing. From the outset, President Muhammadu Buhari made it clear that he was going to fight corruption with all he has and he has been doing just that in the past three years.

    But critics are not satisfied. They claim that the government is selective in the fight, pointing out that only those in the opposition are being arrested for corruption. Where those in government are involved, the case, they allege, is treated with kid’s glove. The critics readily cite the case of  former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Babachir Lawal, who  was said to have soiled his hands with filthy lucre.

    They alleged that it took the government too long to act on his case. The government, they added, would not have acted if the people had not spoken out on the matter. The government may also have played into the critics’ hands. The handling of the case of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) Executive Secretary Prof Usman Yusuf has again  pitted the critics against the government. Yusuf was suspended by Health Minister Prof Isaac Adewole when the President was in London receiving treatment.

    It was a tug of war before the minister suspended Yusuf, who heads an agency under his ministry. Yusuf had reportedly said he could only be suspended by the President from whom he directly takes orders. Then Acting President Yemi Osinbajo was said to have stepped into the matter and the minister had his way. Yusuf was suspended pending investigation into the allegations against him. But a few days ago, he was reinstated despite being under probe. The public was outraged, with many wondering why the hurry in recalling him when the panel has not submitted its report.

    Lawyers, civil servants and the leading opposition party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), described his reinstatement as a mockery of justice. The Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCN) said his recall could be interpreted to mean that the anti-graft crusade ‘’is selective and designed to deal with specific targets”. “How can an official being investigated for an alleged N919million fraud by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) be reinstated by a government that came to power promising to sanitise the system? This is unfortunate. We, therefore, urge President Buhari to rescind his action and allow Prof Yusuf to leave the system in peace’’, the group said.

    To the PDP, the ‘’Presidency stinks of corruption and has lost all claim of fighting graft as long as it continues to protect alleged indicted officials of the administration’’. The government’s reaction to the criticisms seems absurd and laughable. According to media reports, the President ordered Yusuf’s recall because of the belief that the allegations against him “remain largely unsubstantiated”. Quoting a source, the report said ‘’the government’s position is that the committee constituted by the minister to investigate Yusuf is neither independent nor free from bias’’.

    Twenty of the 23 allegations against him,  the source said, were not backed with evidence while others appeared concocted because of evident alterations and mix-ups in dates, adding : ‘’About N411,688,704 of the N919million alleged to have been mismanaged by the executive secretary  was paid to NHIS staff as allowances and also to seconded staff as allowances and entitlements when he resumed’’.

    From the foregoing, it is obvious that the government spoilt an otherwise good case by its handling of the matter. Why did it not  allow the panel to complete its job? With the preponderance of evidence before the government, if we are to believe the reasons said to have been given for Yusuf’s recall, the panel would have found nothing against him and would have recommended that he be reinstated? The way Yusuf was recalled is untidy and this is why NHIS workers are divided over the issue. The government is to blame for all this. Its poor handling of the matter brought us to this pass.

    If it really has information that could help Yusuf’s case at its disposal, the best it could have done was to pass such to the committee and allow the panel to do its job and arrive at its own conclusion. There would have been no fuss if the committee had recommended Yusuf’s recall. The government cannot be said to have acted properly by recalling him after it had raised a panel to probe him. Why did it set up the panel if it knew it was going to recall the executive secretary anyway? Did the government recall him because it was afraid of what the panel’s findings would be?

    Truly, what the government did is a mockery of justice and due process. What becomes of  the panel now? Can it still sit after the subject of its probe has been reinstated? What happens if it upholds the suspension of the executive secretary? If the government wishes to fight corruption, it should do so transparently and honestly without leaving room for doubts.

  • The cash snake

    IT IS likely you have heard of cash cow before. But cash snake? I am certain you have never heard about that before. In Nigeria anything can happen. A cash cow is a money-spinning venture. The owner of such venture usually smiles to the bank and he is the envy of his competitors.

    On the other hand, a cash snake is the opposite of cash cow. Instead of spinning money, it swallows money.

    It swallows money from the strongroom of banks and office vaults, going by a story told by a Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) worker in Makurdi, the Benue State capital. According to Philomina Chieshe, a sales clerk, her housemaid and another JAMB worker Joan Asen have been conspiring to steal money from the office vault “spiritually”. She said she was hitherto depositing the money in the bank, but stopped when she could no longer account for it and started keeping it in the office. Before anybody knew what was happening Joan and her accomplice had allegedly “spiritually stolen N36million through a snake that sneaks into the vault to mysteriously swallow the money”. Wetin we no go hear or see for this country. I won’t be surprised if tomorrow another person comes up with a similar bicycle story of a mysterious bird also wreaking havoc on our commonwealth.

    It seems what humans can do, reptiles will do better!

  • Piece of IBB

    Piece of IBB

    FOR President Muhammadu Buhari, these are not the best of political times. He has been the butt of attacks by two senior members of his first  constituency – the military. First to fire was former President Olusegun Obasanjo and then came former military president Ibrahim Babangida last Sunday. The thrust of their statements is similar to a certain extent. While Obasanjo is asking the President not to go for a second term, Babangida is making a case for ‘’newbreed leaders’’ starting from 2019. All of a sudden, everywhere is abuzz with the noise of 2019 because the election year is approaching.

    But like everything Babangida, who was nicknamed Maradona (because of his slyness) after the legendary Argentine footballer, who scored a goal with what he described as the ‘’hand of God’’,  there seems to be something maradonic about the general’s statement or if you like statements. Statements in the sense that  there was another statement said to have been personally signed by him denying his earlier statement. The first statement was signed by his longtime media aide Prince Kassim Afegbua.

    The statements are causing ripples and in the maze of confusion, the public does not seem to know which to take. The one signed by Afegbua, who has vehemently maintained that he issued it on Babangida’s behalf or the one purportedly signed by Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB) himself? The heat over this matter is so intense because of the IBB persona. Over the years, especially in his days in power, he portrayed himself as a wily and cunny leader. You had to look through the window when he greeted you good morning. That is the kind of person Babangida is and this is why the controversy over his statement(s) is raging like wildfire.

    Despite his clarification, as contained in ThisDay of February 5, nobody is ready to give him the benefit of doubt. To them, IBB has come with his wily ways again. This is not a matter that we should dismiss offhandedly as just another maradonic statement. If we do so, we will be losing the import of the statement issued by Afegbua, which IBB himself has said emanated from him. What else do we want as evidence after he said that? The “original statement (that is the one issued by Afegbua) still stands”, ThisDay quoted him as saying. Babangida has yet to deny that statement.

    According to ThisDay, he dissociated himself from the second statement, saying it was issued by friends and had nothing to do with him. This is not hearsay; this is IBB talking. So, what other evidence do we need on whether or not he authorised Afegbua to issue the initial statement? We may not like the face of IBB, but we cannot deny him his right to comment on national issues. We may not agree with his position, but we cannot because of his past try to curtail his right to freedom of expression. In the same token, we cannot circumscribe the right of any Nigerian to freedom of speech.

    This is why I do not understand the noise the police are making over Afegbua, who was just a vehicle for conveying a message. If IBB has come out to say he authorised Afegbua to issue the first statement, is that not enough for the police to let him be? Must Afegbua be crucified because he issued a statement on behalf of his principal whose guts many of us do not like? Under the law of agency, Afegbua cannot be held liable for issuing what the police called a false statement since his principal, who in this case is IBB, is standing by him. We should not leave leprosy and be treating ringworm. If there is anybody to be declared wanted it is the author of the other statement, which IBB has since distanced himself from.

    In matters like this, the police should tread softly. They should not be in too much of a hurry to arrive at a conclusion. Even if Afegbua did not issue that statement on IBB’s behalf but only purported to have done so, will it amount to committing a grievous offence for which he should be hanged as the police want to do? Without questioning him, they have levelled a three-count charge of giving false statement, defamation of character and acts capable of inciting public disturbance against him. How can the statement be false when the issuing authority is standing by it? How did Afegbua defame anybody when IBB, his principal, has not accused him of such? Or is it the President he defamed? Then, there must be a new definition for defamation, which the police should tell us about.

    Inciting public disturbance? How many people have taken to the streets since the statement was issued? There is a lot for the police to do. Herdsmen/farmers clashes, armed robbery, kidnapping, vandalism et al, are all there for them to tackle. They should concentrate their energy on these and other crimes and leave political matters for politicians. I commend their swiftness on this case, how I wish they would show the same zeal in dealing with the herders/farmers skirmishes in Benue and some  other states.

  • Show of terror

    IN every police division, you are likely to find the legend : ‘’Police is your friend’’ boldly written and placed conspicuosly at the front desk. It is to tell you that you do not have anything to fear when you see a police officer. Unfortunately, not many officers live up to this credo. Instead of being the people’s friend, the police have become their foe. Nigerians merely tolerate their police because they do not have any other law enforcement agency to run to in case of trouble. At the least provocation, the police will descend on those they are expected to protect, beating them black and blue. Being a kid will not even save you from their wrath. Ask the  pupils of Top-Teez Nursery and Primary School, Ojodu in Ifo Local Government Area of Ogun State. On January 26, some policemen from the Ojodu Abiodun Division stormed the school to arrest a five-year-old pupil, David. In order to get  David, they allegedly assaulted the receptionist and the Headteacher, Mrs Ayodeji Orojo, who came out to see what was happening. Nobody is saying the police should not do their job, but they must do it with decency.  What is the point in storming a school to arrest a pupil without first meeting with the headteacher, who could have facilitated the boy’s release,  if need be? Can a minor be arrested and detained as the police did to David before releasing him on bail to his mother, who allegedly coughed out N19,000 for him? Is bail no longer free? The police need to be extra careful in the discharge of their duty to avoid clashing frequently with the public. Just the other day, this same Ojodu Abiodun Police Division was attacked by angry residents. It is  high time Ogun State Police Commissioner Ahmad Iliyasu stepped in to ascertain what is happening at this division before the unthinkable happens.

  • Which way for Third Force?

    Which way for Third Force?

    In his epistle to President Muhammadu Buhari, former President Olusegun Obasanjo advocated what he called a Third Force under the auspices of the Coalition of Nigeria (CN) to take the country out of the doldrums. The movement, he submitted, ‘’must be a coalition for democracy, good governance, social and economic well-being and progress. A coalition to salvage and redeem our country”.

    Obasanjo was not done yet. ‘’The CN will be a movement that will drive Nigeria up and forward. It must have a pride of place for all Nigerians, particularly for our youths and our women. It is a coalition of hope for all Nigerians for speedy, quality and equal development, security, unity, prosperity and progress. It is a coalition to banish poverty, insecurity and despair’’. These are lofty ideals, which all who love Nigeria should key into. The question is : who will drive the process? In a country of over 180million people, we have more than enough human resources to push the Obasanjo idea. But will those already entrenched in the system allow fresh voices to have their say in this new Nigeria that Obasanjo is clamouring for?

    A Third Force, a Third Way or a Third Eye or by whatever name it may be called, should comprise those not tainted by the kind of politics we have been playing since the sixties. This may be a tall order considering the penchant of our politicians to dominate everything. Obasanjo too may not be as neutral as he is portraying himself now in the whole matter. Can he honestly say he has not been working underground with some people before he issued his statement on ways of ‘’building a united and socially cohesive country’’? If he has not been consulting people before now, then creating his so-called Third Force may not be that easy. This is not to say that it is not possible.

    One week after his call, some people close to him have picked up the gauntlet. On Tuesday, they gathered at the Abuja home of former Osun State Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola to hammer out the vision and mission of CN. Ten governors, with seven coming from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) are said to have indicated interest in joining CN. Some senators have also lined up to be part of the movement. Yesterday, the CN was launched in Abuja, but as I write this on Tuesday night, it was not yet clear who its national  leader is. For now, Oyinlola is coordinating its activities. But can anything good come from this CN considering the kind of people it is parading?

    These are people who were at the helm of affairs in the country in the past and performed poorly. Can we trust them again with the leadership of our country? Is this the Third Force Obasanjo wrote about? Will Obasanjo associate with these faces of CN?

    This CN parades Oyinlola and former Cross River State Governor Donald Duke, among others. All these people have been part of the country’s problems for years and honestly speaking they cannot be part of the solution. If they are coming out now to push the CN cause, their track record should speak for them. What were their achievements while in office? If they can show what they did in the past, they would have scaled the first hurdle in their dreams of building a new Nigeria.

    This is not the CN Obasanjo is pushing for. According to him, ‘’the CN, as a movement, will be new, green, transparent and must remain clean and always active, selflessly so’’. Does the Oyinlola-led CN have these attributes? Is the movement green? Is it new or only just new in name? Is it transparent? Will it remain clean and always be selflessly active? What Nigeria desires is new wine in new skin, not old wine in new bottle.

  •  A tale of two generals

     A tale of two generals

    IN THE military, which is their first constituency, a lot of premium is placed on camaraderie. Soldiers bond together no matter the situation. Whether in war time or peace time, there is an unwritten rule for them to look out for one another. A  soldier can take the bullet meant for his colleague . That is how much love they have for one another. The officers are in a class of their own altogether. And if they are generals, aah, that makes the bond thicker.

    Generals enjoy the best of everything. There is virtually nothing that they require that the Service does not provide for them – even after retirement. Generals may have their differences, but hardly do they allow such issues to blow open. When such problems get to the public domain, they refrain from talking in order not to exacerbate things.

    When Gen Olusegun Obasanjo fired a ‘’special statement’’ on the state of the nation to Gen Muhammadu Buhari on January 23, not a few thought that he was breaching military tradition by taking on a fellow general. But you can always trust former President Obasanjo to say whatever he wishes to say at any time he wishes to say it no matter his relationship with his subject of attack. In the statement, he advised President Buhari not to seek a second term in office because he has so far performed below par. It was a statement which triggered a chain of reactions, but the duo, who were also once head of state moved on in the fashion of top generals.

    Five days after the release of that statement, the generals met in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It was a friendly meeting with both men, shaking hands and exchanging banters to the surprise of many. People  watched the generals, with mouths wide open. They were stunned to see Buhari and Obasanjo chatting as if the latter had not just taken the former to the cleaners. Is this real? some seemed to ask. It was real. Buhari and Obasanjo pumped hands amidst smiles by another former head of state, Gen Abdulsalami Abubakar, and Foreign Affairs Minister Geoffrey Onyeama, among others.

    Their meeting place – the Nelson Mandela Hall – was apt for the occasion. Reason: the name, Mandela, connotes peace, freedom and if you like, free speech. It is an honour that Buhari and Obasanjo met in that hall to lay the ghost of the latter’s statement to rest. The bigger lesson in it is for those who have been weeping more than the bereaved over the issue. Politics, as the generals have shown, is not a do or die. You have to agree to disagree in order to move forward, just as the generals have done. They have shown maturity and we should all learn from that and not allow divisive politics to ground our country.

  • Up Nigeria

    I KNOW I am taking a risk predicting on Tuesday night that the Super Eagles will play the African Nations Championship (CHAN) final on Sunday . Their semifinal match against Sudan was yesterday. The players have shown resilience coming from behind to beat their last two opponents before getting to the semifinals. I know that in football you cannot write off any team. So, I am in no way writing off Sudan. With the class our boys have shown,  the Sudanese cannot stop them. To avoid distractions, they have asked that they be paid  their allowances and bonuses after the competition. I doff my hat to these boys for their patriotism and commitment. Go, Eagles, go, nothing shall stop you until you win the trophy.

  • The road to 2019

    The road to 2019

    ULTIMATELY, President Muhammadu Buhari has the last say on the matter – whether to go for a second term or not. The issue has gained currency in the last few months. It was the topic of discussion before 2017 ended and it is still the issue with the coming of the new year 2018. Within 72 hours between Sunday and Tuesday,  the Presidency and one of the President’s ardent backers in 2015, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, spoke on the matter.

    Before them, other Nigerians, including some All Progressives Congress (APC) governors, had also said their bit about the issue. The governors have come under attack for carrying their support for the President too far by endorsing him for a second term at a time when the nation should be mourning the killing of 73 people in Benue State by suspected herdsmen. Led by Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai, the governors after observing the Jumaat prayer with the President at the Villa on January 12, barely 24 hours after Benue buried its dead, said they had ”no apologies” for backing Buhari for another term.

    In his element on such occasions, the loquacious El-Rufai said : ”We are politicians and those of us you see here want the President to contest the 2019 election. We have no apolgies for that…” The public did not take offence for the governors’ support for the President, but for the way they vented their position. Yes, the people know them as polticians, who will do anything to have their way when it comes to power, but they did not know them as insensitive leaders without a feeling for their fellow men. The governors did not show empathy for those mourning their loved ones, especially their brother Governor Samuel Ortom, who belongs to the same party with them.

    Well, because they have said it does not mean that they would have their way. The Presidency knows this too. This is why it was non-committal on the matter when Buhari’s spokesman Femi Adesina chatted with reporters in Abuja on Sunday. ”Then talking of his own personal ambition or lack of it, we have to wait until he blows the whistle. You cannot start a race until the whistle is blown. So, when he blows the whistle and says ‘yes, this is my ambition’, then, the race starts. So, for now, we just say that we keep waiting on him to tell us what direction to go”, Adesina said, adding :

    ”So, those who believe in the Mandela option, it is their right. And it is also the right of the President to run or not to run. So, you do not abridge the right of anybody under a democracy…I believe that if the President wants to run, he can run. I will support him. I will support him any day. Then, has he done enough? More than enough. In fact, a second term will give him a chance to consolidate on what he has done. The things he has done are apparent : security; the economy is like a plane with its nose up; it went into recession and came out and the indices are good; anti-corruption, no friend, no foe”. On the critical issue of Buhari’s health, he said : ”Health is wealth. The President is not a frivolous person. If he thinks that his health cannot carry anything, he will not do it”.

    In what he called a ”special statement”, Obasanjo did not mince words in asking the President not to seek a second term. In the 13-page statement, he said there were blood stains everywhere because the country is full of lice. ”The lice of poor performance in government – poverty, insecurity, poor economic management, nepotism, gross dereliction of duty, condonation of misdeed, lack of progress and hope for the future, lack of national cohesion and poor management of internal political dynamics and widening inequality – are very much with us today. With such lice of general and specific poor performance and crying poverty with us, our fingers will not be dry of blood”.

    Nigerians, he said, were complaining, murmuring in anguish and anger. Obasanjo hit the nail on the head in his assessment. At the same time, he has stirred up the hornet’s nest. In the next few weeks, the former president may not know sleep. Some will take him to the cleaners; others will praise him for his stand. Obasanjo did not say anything new. He merely elucidated on what many Nigerians have been saying in bars and in the confines of their homes about the president. Buhari has let a lot of Nigerians down and it is quite unfortunate that things are turning out like this.

    What made Obasanjo, who supported him against his own party, the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)  in 2015, to turn against him  is the same reason many other Buharists  are today wondering if they made the right choice about three years ago.  Nigerians invested a lot in the Buhari Presidency because they believe in the man to take them from Egypt to the promised land. They placed their trust and faith in him and voted overwhelmingly for him at the poll. But the new dawn they voted him for seems to remain a mirage. Like all human beings, the President also has his shortcomings, but  he should have, at least, shown that he was  prepared for leadership having contested in three previous elections before the 2015 poll.

    It is one thing to have the hoi polloi running after you in the street and singing your praise as their messiah, but it is another thing for you to show the stuff of which great leaders are made when the responsibility is thrust on you. Hailing a politician at campaign rallies and public functions is not the true test of leadership. The hallmark of leadership is to meet the expectations of the people in terms of providing infrastructure, revamping the economy and ensuring security of life and property. The President may have done all he can do but it appears that is not good enough.

    Should he run again? According to Adesina, that is a question for the President to answer. That is very true. The President may decide not to listen to the noise of the market place if he wishes to run for a second term. But he should realise that the noise makers will determine his fate at the poll. Although Obasanjo has asked him not to run, he is not obliged to take that advice. At his age, the President knows what is good for him. How I wish he would take a few seconds to ponder  what has happened between 2015 and now to make his support base shrink. Election can only be a walkover for a candidate if the electorate believe that he will deliver after the contest.

    The President beat then President Goodluck Jonathan because the voters felt he would make a difference on being elected, but three years after, that feeling has given way to despair and despondency. In many places, the question is being asked: ”Is this what we voted for?” It is quite unfortunate that things have turned out this way. Many are waiting for 2019 to correct the wrong they believed they made in 2015. Buhari can run again, if he so wishes, but the electorate have the last say on who leads them. The electorate love the President, but they love their country more.