The Nation Newspaper

Category: Lawal Ogienagbon

  • Breaching public trust

    STILL WONDERING why we are where we are? You need not look further because the weevil that destroys the beans lives in the beans. Our country is where it is today because of the avarice of our leaders. We have been saying this for long that our leaders are our greatest undoing. All they are interested in is their own welfare. As long as they and their families are comfortable, they care less about the people.

    A leader in the true sense of the word is expected to have the love of his people at heart because he did not put himself in office. Since he got into office by the votes of the people, he is expected to take care of their interests and do everything for their good. But what do we see? The people are only good to be courted for elections. That is when they promise us heaven and earth. It is the period we normally hear them promising to build bridges right into our bedrooms so that we would not walk to get home.

    These suckers of politicians are good at making promises, but not good at keeping them. This is why some say that if a politician greets you good morning, you should quickly look through the window to confirm that it is actually morning before replying him. What we have seen in the past 18 years shows that politicians are cut of the same cloth when it comes to stealing public funds. Party affiliation does not matter when it comes to that. If the party they belong to matters, we would have heard them disagreeing at their meetings when the issue at stake is money, but rather, it is then that they really bond together.

    Money, some say, is spirit. Whenever our governors gather at their forum, they are seized by the kukushi spirit to the extent that they forget about the people who voted them into power and start to play ludo with our money. They have not  learnt from what befell their predecessors some of whom have been publicly disgraced for looting our commonwealth. Their greed for money knows no bound and there is no money too big or too small for them not to steal. The bigger the cash the better for them. This has left people wondering whether they came to office just to steal.

    The little I know about money is that you can treat your personal money anyhow, but when it is others’ money, you must tread gingerly. Not so our governors who do not differentiate between their personal and public money. To them, every snake is to be consumed, no matter the consequence. In the last three years, workers have been groaning under the yoke of non-payment of salaries. When President Muhammadu Buhari mounted the saddle on May 29, 2015, he gave the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) a bail out to pay workers’ salaries.

    Many governors diverted the money to other things. Some, we heard, even spent the cash on their mistresses. Till today, some states are owing their workers up to 10 months. Worried by this development, the president gave some conditions for which  the Paris Club refund due to the states will be released to them. They are to settle workers’ salaries with the cash, he said, among other terms. The states agreed and part of the cash was released to them. Have they paid workers with the money? It is not certain that all the governors are doing that. One of them, who holds a ranking position in the governors’ forum, has diverted the cash to personal use.

    The governor, who belongs to the ruling party, was said to have diverted the N500million he collected to a mortgage bank. The N500million is his state’s share of the N19billion first tranche of the Paris Club cash released to states. What kind of governor is that, that would feed fat on the entitlements of his workers? Why are some of our governors so callous? Why are they so concerned about themselves without giving a thought to others? Is the world made for them and their children alone? Are they the only ones who should live well?

    Although the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is said to have recovered the money from him, the case should not end there. The EFCC should dig deeper into it and bring the governor and his ilk  to book after the expiration of their tenure. We must do everything to stop this audacious stealing before our corrupt governors cripple the country.

    Haba, police chief

    IN every society, the police are the custodians of law and order. They enforce the law and ensure that offenders do not go unpunished. But our policemen and women seem to act in a curious way. They take delight in harassing the people on and off the road. They act contrary to the global best practice of dealing with people in a civil manner. They are brash and feel they are law unto themselves because of their uniform. The uniform does not confer them with power to deal with people, not even a criminal suspect, anyhow.  Contrary to the law, they consider you guilty even before they hear from you. This is why they are so quick to beat up  people in public or fire at them at the slightest provocation. The gender of the person they are dealing with does not matter to them. Whether a man, woman or child, they deal with them the same way. A nursing mother, Mrs Toyin Adeyeye, is their latest victim. The woman was beaten blue and black last Friday at a checkpoint in Ado Ekiti for allegedly refusing to bribe some policemen. In their defence, the policemen claimed that they descended on her because she tore their uniform.

    That’s a tall story. Their commissioner, Abdullahi Chafe, who is not in Ekiti ‘’to fight Fayose’’ swallowed the story hook, line and sinker. He did not stop there. For good effect, he added : ‘’Those people slapped my policemen on duty and tore their uniform. Uniform is an authority and what those people did was against the law and it is not good for a civilian to slap a policeman. It is not good for somebody to prevent a law enforcement officer from carrying out his lawful duty. Somebody wearing uniform? It is not about his age but the authority he carries…’’. Did Chafe hear from the woman before arriving at that conclusion? How can he be the accuser, the prosecutor and the judge in a case in which he is an interested party. Since Chafe knows the law inside out, who are we to teach him the law. With due respect to him, he was hasty in his conclusion

     

  • El-Rufai and State of the Union

    El-Rufai and State of the Union

    By virtue of his relationship with President Muhammadu Buhari, Kaduna State Governor  Nasir El-Rufai has unfettered access to the seat of power in Aso Rock. So, barring any problems, he can see the president at anytime for discussion on national and other issues. Also, being a governor, there are other avenues for him to meet the president for talks. The El-Rufai we  know may have explored all these avenues at one time or the other. Did he utilise them? Did he explore these avenues beforesending a memo to the president on September 22, 2016.

    In the memo, he raised salient national issues bordering on governance, the running of their party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), and the alleged stifling of ministers by a cabal in the Presidency. What the self-styled ‘’Accidental Public Servant’’ said in his memo is not new. It is what we hear everyday from people complaining that the Buhari administration has not done anything to soothe their pains almost two years after coming into office. Since the president lives among us, he has on two or so occasions,  acknowledged that the people are not happy with his administration and appealed to them for understanding.

    Though not his first memo to the president, this has generated a lot of heat because of the believed that he leaked it.  El-Rufai may not have lived up to the pedestal he expects of the president, but then he cannot be held responsible for the country’s problems because he leads a microcosm of it. But because he is not a saint (who is?) does not mean that he should not speak out when things are going wrong.

    As a member of the same party with the president, they should join hands together to find solutions to the country’s problems. He should not heap all the blames on the president. If Buhari fails, it is APC that fails and that failure will be that of all members of the party. Through his memo, El-Rufai pointed out what he considered the problematic areas for the president to work on. His memo shows that he is pained that nearly two years after their party came to power, Nigerians have yet to feel the impact of the ‘’change’’ it promised them.

    ‘’Mr President, there is an emerging view in the media that you are neither leading the party nor the administration and those neither elected nor accountable appear to be in charge, and therefore the country is adrift. We are facing an unprecedented national economic crisis, but our administration has failed to roll out a coherent response and action plan, or even appeal to our patriotism with a rallying cry to unite and sacrifice in the face of adversity’’, he said. The governor was blunt in his critique of the Buhari administration. If you ask me, I will say that is how it should be if we wish to make a headway as a nation. We need those who are insiders in government to speak the truth to themselves  for the sake of our country.

    Really, it would not have cost El-Rufai anything to keep silent as if all is well. We all know that things are not as they should be because of the mismanagement of the past. But for how long will we continue to dwell in the past? The electorate voted the APC because of their believe that the party will wipe away their tears and return the country to the path of greatness. The Buhari administration has started well, but it needs to do more for it to continue to have the people’s trust. Blaming past administrations, as El-Rufai pointed out in his memo, will not solve the problems. What will do the trick is for the Buhari administration to pull itself up by the bootstrap and tackle the problems frontally.

    Hear El-Rufai : ‘’You have inherited serious political, economic and governance problems that you had no hand in creating, but now have a duty to solve. These inherited problems were aggravated by the continuing slide in crude oil prices and the renewed insurgency in the Niger Delta that reduced oil production by more than 50 percent! In my honest opinion, we have made this situation worse by failing to be proactive in taking some political, economic and governance decisions in a timely manner.

    ‘’In very blunt terms, Mr President, our APC administration has not only failed to manage the expectations of a populace that expected overnight ‘change’ but has failed to deliver even mundane matters of governance outside of our successes in fighting Boko Haram insurgency and corruption. Overall, the feeling even among our supporters today is that the APC government is not doing well’’.

    His summation is not farther from the truth. El-Rufai may have been impolitic in his approach, but should we always reduce matters of governance to politics all because we are in the ruling party? We need jolts like this from those within the system to hasten our growth as a nation. May El-Rufai’s wake up call ginger the president and his party to greater action.

  • Oga at 90

    •Ex-principal joins nonagenarian club

    OGA MBO! Those two Yoruba words were all that is needed to nudge us back to reality. As soon as the first person among any group of pupils sights him from afar, he would bellow out : Oga mbo! In most cases, because we know that we should not be where we are gathered, we will take to our heels. Some will run back to their classrooms, if nearby, others will take off for God knows where as long as they are not caught just standing doing nothing or loitering during class hours.

    We beheld Oga, who turns 90 on Saturday, with fear borne out of respect. He did not condone indiscipline. He was ever ready to wield the cane in order to whip us into line. Oga was not your run-of-the-mill principal. He knew his job inside out and his teachers respected him for his sagacity. By the time, my set entered Ahmadiyya College Agege (ACA) in January, 1977, Oga was already a household name in the teaching world. He played a prominent role in the chain of secondary schools then ran by the Ahmadiyya Movement-in-Islam, which later became Anwar-ul Islam Movement-in-Nigeria.

    The name change prompted the change of the names of its schools to reflect the new order.

    In our revered Oga, we found not only a teacher, but a father, counsellor and guardian. Alhaji Jimoh Adisa Gbadamosi, popularly known as J.A.Gbadamosi was a teacher of teachers. Gbadamosi, who received the Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON) in 2002, was stern, loving, caring, tolerant, quick witted and considerate. But as loving as he is, he did not spare any pupil that crossed the line. Oga was strict with us because as he normally told us he wanted us to uphold the school’s motto : Aut Optimum Aut Nihil (either the best or nothing) wherever we went. He was a hands on teacher. He combined his job of administering the school with teaching with ease.

    Oga put ACA on the academic map in all ramifications. The school was not found wanting in curricula and extra-curricula activities. Under him, it was a pride to be a pupil of ‘Diyya College, the fanciful name by which we called our school. He was an all-rounder – a teacher who mixed teaching with sports. Little wonder, all the pupils were virtually footballers. For us, every available space was a pitch on which to display our talents.

    Oga encouraged the blossoming of these talents. On many occasions, he watched us, while perching on his swagger-stick,  play soccer or engage in other activities on the field and track pitch.

    Oga was our mentor. He wanted the best for his boys and he went all out to get it for us. Ahmadiyya was a boys’ only school where we (especially those of us in boarding house) all felt free to live a communal life. He taught us to believe in ourselves and he armed us for life with the kind of education he gave us. To him, Ahmadiyya’s boys and girls should not play the second fiddle wherever they found themselves.

    My mates and I are lucky to have passed through Alhaji Gbadamosi. He treated us not like his pupils, but like his children. He will resume very early when many of us will still be dressing up for school in our dormitories; come to the hostels (Fanimokun, Kenku, Allison and Oshodi Houses) to see that things are in order, before returning to his office to start working. Such principals are rare to find these days. Those were the days of the Gbadamosis, the Father Dennis Slatterys (of Finbarrs), the Rev Adegbites (of Baptist Academy) and the Olowus (of CMS). With principals like these, the nation’s secondary schools then were as good as any in other parts of the world. Sadly, today, despite the huge fees being paid in some private secondary schools, our schools are nothing to write home about. They are more or less glorified primary schools.

    I long again for the days of the Gbadamosis, et al, in our schools. It is only when we have such people in place that the standard of education can be comparable to what it was those days. J.A.Gbadamosi led a home of teachers. His wife, the late Alhaja Azeezat Adebisi, was also a teacher. She died on May 13, 2015, at 81. How splendid it would have been if mama were to be alive to celebrate with her heart throb at 90. Oga left worthy legacies in all the schools he served. In an August 27, 1968 letter titled : “To whom it may concern”, doyen of journalism, the late Alhaji Babatunde Jose, who led the Ahmadiyya Movement in the late 60s and early 70s, said of him: “He has played a very important role in the educational programme of the movement and his contribution to the development of Ahmadiyya Secondary Schools has been second to none”.

    In another letter dated March 23, 1977, the late Jose described Oga as ‘’a man of total integrity devoted to the immense responsibilities entrusted to him for the educational, spiritual and moral development of the students and the efficient management of the schools”. Similarly, former Lagos State Commissioner for Education the late Chief Adeniran Ogunsanya, in a May 20, 1977 letter, wrote : ‘’As principal of one of our secondary schools, he was exemplary in his administration. His personal nature made him an ideal leader of men in the midst of teachers and students alike”.

    On this occasion of Oga’s 90th birthday, one can only pray that he lives the rest of his life in peace and good health and continues to enjoy the company of his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren and of course, current and old students of ACA. Happy Birthday, sir.

  • Death in the house

    Death in the house

    •Exit of ex-DTN MDs

    In its heyday, the Daily Times of Nigeria (DTN) Plc was larger than life. Its pride of the pack, Daily Times, was a newspaper which swallowed other newspapers. It had a niche, which it carved for itself through the efforts of its founding fathers and a newspaper legend, the late Alhaji Babatunde Jose, who came after them. The Daily Times’ glorious years coincided with the period that the country was finding its feet politically and in the comity of nations.

    It will be an understatement to say that the Daily Times played a vital role in the political growth of Nigeria. Though it was not the only paper in the land, it more or less determined how the others were viewed. The belief then was that once you have seen the Daily Times, you have seen all the papers. It was a paper among papers. Its portals were a place of learning for many who cut their journalism teeth in that great institution. It was a pride to work in the Daily Times then and it would have still remained a pride to work there today if the paper’s fortunes did not nosedive.

    Although there is still a paper called Daily Times on the newsstand today, but many can bear me witness that it is not the same as the Daily Times that they used to know in the days of the late Adeyemo Alakijas, one of the 10 founding fathers of the Daily Times, and the late Jose under whom the institution grew in leaps and bounds. What we have today is painfully, with due respect to its present managers,  a caricature of the Daily Times. The paper that we see today lacks the bite and authority for which the Daily Times was known those days.

    The Daily Times found itself where it is today because of the Federal Government’s undue interference in its affairs. The paper was doing well before the government wielded the big stick against the conglomerate in order to settle what could have been resolved through internal mechanism. Every organisation has its ups and downs and for the Daily Times the 1975 crisis, which led to the government’s acquisition of 60 percent of its equity  was its greatest test. It was neither a boardroom nor a management crisis but what some have called  a revolt against the late Jose’s leadership style. This is not the history of the Daily Times, but a background to my tribute to two men who were opportune to lead the conglomerate when things were no longer rosy for it.

    The Daily Times that the late Innocent Oparadike and the late Onukaba Adinoyi Ojo managed during their respective tenure was a shadow of the old Daily Times. By the time these men came on board, the law of diminishing returns had set in for the Daily Times. It could hardly meet staff and contractual obligations. The paper which set the pace for others to follow had become a giant with clay feet. It was living on its old glory, courtesy of the foundation laid by the late Jose. Despite its mouthwatering assets across the country and overseas, it was hard to believe that the Daily Times could run into hard times. But it did. What happened?

    By the time, the late Oparadike became managing director in 1995, the Daily Times had lost its preeminent position in the industry. It was trailing behind papers that came many years after it to which readers shifted loyalty. The Daily Times lost its loyal readers because they perceived it as government’s mouth organ. Every story was slanted to protect the military government, which had promised while acquiring 60 percent of its shares not to tamper with its independence. ‘’The Federal Military Government wants to state that its acquisition of the total ownership of the New Nigerian and 60 percent equity of the Daily Times of Nigeria will in no manner curtail the independence of the newspapers published by the two establishments. Government wants to underline its policy of full support for press freedom at all times’’. That was the government’s promise. But, it never kept the promise and we can all see the result today. Where is the Daily Times and the New Nigerian?

    Those days, editors thought twice before running any story against the government. They ran it at the risk of their job. When Ken Saro-Wiwa was executed on November 10, 1995, the Daily Times lacked the courage to carry the story like other papers because there was no confirmation of the execution from the government. Tell me, who will confirm what was secretly done in order  to avoid the global uproar which the government knew will follow. The managing directors and editors walked a tight rope (which incidentally is the title of the late Jose’s book on the Daily Times crisis) in the discharge of their duties and credit must be given to them for trying to bring sanity into an otherwise chaotic situation. As managing director, the late Oparadike ran helter-skelter to keep the paper afloat because the government was not ready to come to its aid and at the same it was not allowed to function the way it should.

    The situation was more or less the same when the late Ojo came on board in 1999, three years after the late Oparadike’s exit. With the coming of the late Ojo, there was some hope that things may be better because the military was no longer in power. Moreover, many thought former President Olusegun Obasanjo may want to right the wrong of the past. The Murtala/Obasanjo administration had acquired the Daily Times shares in 1975; so, hopes were high that he may return the equity to shareholders so that the first Nigerian newspaper to be quoted on the stock exchange can bounce back. It was a misplaced hope.  As much as the late Ojo tried, Obasanjo did not return those shares. The best he could do for the company, he told the late Ojo was to privatise it.

    This  was how the Daily Times ended up in the hands of Folio Holdings Group, which acquired the conglomerate in 2004. The late Ojo may have foreseen what is today happening to the Daily Times and that perhaps, may have been why he favoured a management buy out (MBO) to the privatisation of the Daily Times. He counted on his closeness to Obasanjo to win the argument for a MBO, but the former president thought otherwise. It is painful that the Daily Times is in the doldrums today. But it is more painful that we of the Daily Times family (those who passed through its portals) have lost yet again, some of the men that made the place tick. The late Oparadike and the late Ojo were not one of the boys; they were our bosses. Oparadike died on January 23; Ojo passed away last Sunday. May they find rest in the Lord’s bosom.

  • Mauled by dogs

    ONLY a miracle could have saved her. Her bloodcurdling story first published in last Wednesday’s edition of The Punch pointed towards anything but her death.

    With her face, parts of her thigh and leg bandaged, five-year-old Aliyah Masaku was a sight to behold as she sat on her father’s laps in the accompanying picture to the story. The father sat dejectedly bemoaning his daughter’s fate. In that mood, I am sure if one could read his mind, Wasiu Masaku, a vulcaniser, would be wondering why this happened to him. His hope like that of thousands of others who read that heartrending story would be that she survives. But Aliyah did not.

    Her condition was so bad that her doctors thought she was dead when she was brought in. Said a medical officer at the Ikorodu General Hospital, where she was rushed to : ‘’When she was brought here, we thought she was dead. One of her eyes is damaged. It might take a plastic surgery for her to see again. A tooth was removed by the dogs, while the other teeth were seriously affected. She has multiple lacerations on her face, legs, arms and other parts of her body’’.  Aliyah was a victim of circumstance. She did not go out of her way to play with the dogs before they devoured her.  Is it not ironic that the same dogs she was fond of playing it with ended up killing her?

    Her father never thought she was in harm’s way when he left her at home with the dogs to get the animals’ feed on February 20.  ‘’Aliyah, my daughter, was formerly staying with her mother in Cotonou, Benin Republic, before she started living with me. Since then she has become familiar with the dogs and played with them. If any visitor is scared of coming into the house, she goes out to bring them in. She was supposed to go to school on Monday, February 20, but because I had an issue with her teacher, I asked her to stay at home till I get her a new school. I left her in the house around 3p.m., and went to buy feed for the dogs. I left two of the dogs roaming free because they were docile. I, however, put Rover in a kennel because it is ferocious and has broken free several times. Some minutes after I went to the market, I got a call that my daughter had been attacked by the dogs. I ran back home and checked the compound without seeing anything. I searched the street as well without any result. Later, somebody raised the alarm that she was at the backyard. There, I saw three dogs on my daughter, who lay still’’.

    Aliyah was like other children. At that age, they could do anything and even play with the devil himself. To children, dogs are play things, though not like the toys and dolls they are used to. Commonly known as man’s best friend, a dog is good at keeping intruders at bay. It also keeps its owner company. Dogs are good and bad. It is because of these contrasting qualities that some people do not keep dogs at home. But because of the insecurity in the land, we have resorted to all kinds of ways, including using dogs, to secure ourselves. These dogs are put in chains or kept in kennels in daytime and set loose at night because of robbers.

    There is certainly nothing bad in keeping a dog as long as the owner will ensure that it does not stray out to harm others. Dog owners should not turn what they consider their own security measure into what can endanger other peoples’ lives. No matter how friendly a dog may be, it should always be kept at arm’s length for the safety of its owner and those in the neighbourhood. A dog will always act like a dog no matter how close it may be to its owner or the tender. Aliyah’s father believed that the dogs in their Ikorodu home would never attack his daughter and so he left two which he considered ‘’docile’’ unchained while he went for their food.

    A dog will wag its tail on seeing its owner bringing it food as long as it is in good mood. But, once it is famished, everything, including its owner, becomes food. A dog, to borrow a Yoruba adage, should know the face of its owner. But, in some cases, this is not so. It may plunge at or pounce on its owner, if it loses its head. Rover and the two other dogs lost their heads and pounced on an innocent child who used to cater for them.

    Aliyah was not in their way in anyway to warrant such a ferocious attack. She was asleep when the mad dogs came into her father’s apartment. Aliyah went to sleep probably without closing the door because she felt safe with the dogs. In a house with 15 dogs, the girl had become used to living among the carnivorous animals. She had become the courageous little girl, who could lead those afraid into the compound and also take them out if need be.

    But, can we blame her father for leaving her alone that day in a house with dogs such as Alsatians, Bullmastiff and Bulldog? As a father, Masaku would be concerned with the safety of his daughter. He could not have intentionally left his daughter for those dogs to devour. The thing is that he may have had too much trust in his girl’s ability to handle the dogs come what may. It was this trust that gave him the false sense of security that Aliyah would be safe with them. I can even envision the girl telling her daddy to quickly go and get the dogs food and not to bother too much about her.

    For the safety of everybody in society, it is high time we reviewed the laws on the keeping of animals. Should the government keep quiet in the face of the danger posed to society by some of these animals? In the case of a dog killing someone as in Aliyah’s case, what should be done to the owner or his agent, the tender? Should the owner face trial for the act done by his pet since the dog cannot be tried? Sadly, in this instant case, Aliyah’s father is the agent. Dogs are good to have at home for our security, but we should not close our eyes to the danger they pose to the larger society, if not properly kept.

  • Jonathaniana

    Since he left office on May 29, 2015, former President Goodluck Jonathan has been busy both at home and abroad. He has gone on many international missions, carrying out one assignment or the other. His almost five years in office has stood him in good stead in discharging this onerous task, especially in a world never in short supply of crises. He has intervened in some African countries at the behest of the African Union and has presented papers at some fora in the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US).

    Since his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lost power to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2015 general elections, the former president, like a true party man, has been working quietly behind the scene to see what could be done to end the wranglings within the group. The PDP became a shadow of itself after 2015 as members traded words over why it lost the presidential election which it thought was a walkover for it.

    Former Bauchi State Governor Adamu Muazu, who led the party to the elections as its national chairman was forced to throw in the towel. He paid the price as a general whose side lost the war, but his exit was the beginning of the party’s  crisis, which is now threatening to consume it. Uche Secondus took over from him as acting national chairman. Secondus ran the show for some months before handing over to Senator Modu Ali Sheriff, former Borno State governor.  Governors Ayo Fayose (Ekiti) and Nyesom Wike (Rivers), among other stalwarts,  made Sheriff’s coming easy. They wanted a rich man to lead their party and they found one in Sheriff, but they never bargained for the fact that he would be his own man.

    After becoming tired of him, they planned to remove him at the party’s convention in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, last August 17. Meanwhile, Fayose and Wike had begun shopping for a new chairman. Under the guise that Sheriff could not preside over a convention, where he plans to run for party chair, they brought in Senator Ahmed Makarfi as caretaker chairman. Confusion set in as the party paraded two leaders and each went to court to lay claim to the post. With the conflicting orders that followed, PDP sank deeper into morass.

    The Court of Appeal settled the tussle in favour of Sheriff last Friday. As the court has spoken, Sheriff, whether anybody likes it or not, is today PDP chairman until the verdict is quashed by the Supreme Court. But, rather than obey the court, some leaders of the party who are dissatisfied with the verdict have been acting contemptuously. The way to go is not to act in contempt of court but to explore the right of appeal, which every aggrieved litigant has. The appellate courts – the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court – are there so that litigants will not resort to self help in resolving disputes.

    Since the appeal court has ruled that Sheriff is PDP  chairman, no other person can be so addressed as at today until the order is set aside. And no other person, except Sheriff, can call any meeting of PDP leaders in line with that order. To do otherwise will amount to contempt, which the courts frown at. I do not know the purpose of the meeting called by the Makarfi camp last Monday in Abuja  some 96 hours after the appeal court verdict. There was no need to convene the meeting under the name of PDP since the group is not the recognised leadership of the party. Its purpose is to exacerbate the crisis and create the impression that the group is the authentic leadership of the party, which is far from the truth.

    Jonathan spoke well on the crisis hours after the botched meeting when he received Sheriff and his entourage in Abuja. The former president, who declined the offer to be the party’s national leader shortly after he left office, said there were no factions in PDP as he kept referring to Sheriff as ‘’my chairman’’. Understandably, Jonathan will not want to admit that there is crisis in PDP as doing so may be munition in the hands of some of its elected members in the National and Houses of Assembly to jump ship. There is crisis in PDP and many of the former president’s men are stoking the fire. With the way he has spoken, may be the Wikes, Fayoses, Fani-Kayodes et al, who are his boys and die hard supporters of Makarfi,  will see the light and mend their ways.

    “We are not factionalised. We are one. There are bound to be differences in politics. We cannot run away from that. It is the way we resolve these differences that makes us human beings and that is what makes us leaders. I have met with Sheriff. And I have met with others. I will still meet with others, so that we will be able to do what is expected of us as a political party’’, Jonathan said. But those benefiting from the crisis will not want it to end soon. They want it protracted for their own selfish gain. With Jonathan’s promise to reach out to more people, the political solution to this problem now lies in his hands.

    He knows how to whip his boys into line and soon we may see them accepting Sheriff as their leader just as he did. Will they listen to him? How they react to whatever their boss tells them will show whether or not they still hold him in high esteem. Or were they just Jonathan boys because of what they could get from him when he was president?

     

    Uncle Yem @ 70

    This picture shot out of the paper as I ran through last Monday’s edition of The Punch. I took another look at the picture. Lo and behold, it was him and his name came out of my mouth : Uncle Yem. Seeing him in that picture, those who do not know him will see only the handsome face and his grey hair. Looking dashing and smiling straight at the camera, I wondered what life would have been like if he had not lost the use of his legs in that accident some decades ago. As I looked at the picture again,  I was overcome by nostalgia. Reason : I saw what many who may have read that paper day did not see. Chief Anthony Adeyemi Bamgbose (JP) is paraplegic and he has been in that condition for over 30 years. He was already in that state when our path crossed in Ikeja in the 1980s. Uncle Yem, as we call him, then lived on Unity Road, Ikeja, in one of the houses owned by his uncle, the late Christopher Daniel. In front of his home was Christopharm, a pharmacy, where he worked. We converged at the bar in front of the shop every night to while away time. It was those days when boys were boys. We the boys then looked up to people like Uncle Yem, who related well with us in everything. He told us stories of his growing up days in Isale Eko, where a vehicle rammed into him right in front of his father’s house and broke his spinal cord. That was how he ended up on a wheel chair. Those days, it was fun wheeling Uncle Yem up and down. If one us did not do it, there was someone else ever ready to do it. It was a competition of sorts to wheel him. Many years have gone by and we have gone our different ways. The boys are now scattered. Uncle Yem, who turned 70 on Monday, has also since moved back to Isale Eko. The last time I saw him was in his ancestral home on Igbosere Road just behind the Supreme in Lagos Court building. Oh, what a life! So, Uncle Yem could turn 70 without the boys being around to celebrate with him. I thank God for Uncle Yem’s life and join his daughter Efunyemi and grandchildren in wishing him a happy birthday. Igba odun odun okan.

  • Cry, the beloved country

    Until last Thursday, it was believed in certain quarters that nothing shocks Nigerians. No matter how serious an issue is, it was said, Nigerians won’t be bothered. It was argued that we have developed a thick skin to everything and that no matter how gargantuan an issue may be we will turn a blind eye to it and move on. I used to believe so too. If we are looking for a society where the people do not care about what is happening around them, Nigeria is it.

    Our leaders know us inside out; they know how to manipulate us and get us eating out of their hands. It does not cost them anything to sway us to their side. All they need do is to throw a few wads into the air and we will go rushing for the cash like kids scrambling for candy. Even kids will join in the mad rush for these crumbs from the so-called leaders’ pockets. Yes, these are crumbs compared to the billions now being recovered from them.  Are they really leaders or looters?

    They are more of looters than leaders from what we have seen in the last 21 months. In less than two years in office, President Muhammadu Buhari has exposed some of our past leaders for who they really are. These leaders  were chosen to be the custodians of our patrimony, but  they opted to be destroyers of the economy they were expected to protect. The immediate past administration, especially,  failed the country in every area of human development despite having high calibre professionals to run the economy.

    But I daresay, the ruination of the economy did not start with the Jonathan administration. The question is what did it do about the mess, if any, that it inherited? Did it just keep quiet in order not to ruffle feathers? Did it help the country by sticking to the age-long practice of business as usual? Has it not shot itself in the foot by upholding that asinine policy under which a past  administration covered up its predecessor to enable it commit greater evil against the country during its own time? It takes a determined administration; an administration with the love of the people at heart to break from the past to expose the evil deeds that have kept us underdeveloped for ages.

    The Buhari administraton has chosen to tread this path and from revelation so far, it is a step in the right direction. Our country has been stripped bare by those who should manage it. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo left $45billion as external reserve for the late President Umoru Yar’ Adua in 2007. The late Yar’ Adua grew the reserve to $64billion before he died in 2010. But when former President Goodluck Jonathan was leaving in 2015, the reserve had been depleted to $32billion, despite having some so-called World Bank experts working with him. It was not only the reserve that was depleted, many in the administration helped themselves to public funds. They turned the whole thing to a bazaar of sorts. It was as if they were in a competition over who will steal the most from the public till.

    The military too joined in the looting. Some Service chiefs diverted billions of naira and dollars meant for the purchase of arms and ammunition to their personal use. They built exquisite houses in Lagos, Abuja, Kaduna and their hometowns, while they sent their men to fight Boko Haram insurgents with bare hands. It was the height of  sheer wickedness. Their ongoing trial is quite revealing. It shows how they used our money to acquire properties all over the world. Many of them stole money which their generations yet unborn will never finish spending.

    We have heard of the Abacha loot stashed in different parts of the world, thinking that we will never travel that road again. But here we are today confronted by another set of perverts probably worse than the late Gen Sani Abacha, who held power between 1993 and 1998.  What has so far been recovered from former Petroleum Resources Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke alone is mind-boggling. Then there are others like former First Lady Dame Patience Jonathan, former Chief of Defence Staff Alex Badeh, former Air chiefs Dikko Umar and Sola Amosu, former National Security Adviser (NSA) Sambo Dasuki, some former governors and ministers and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftains. And what about the $151million in a fictitious bank account?

    The latest recovery is from the former Group Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Andrew Yakubu, in whose house in the slum of Sabon Tasha in Kaduna State, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) found $9.7million and  £74,000 cash. We should not be surprised that such a huge sum was found in Yakubu’s house. Those who should know once told us that the ‘’GMD’’ as the NNPC boss is called in government circles is the supplier of cash for all the needs of government. The NNPC, which should be bothered about ensuring all-year supply of fuel nationwide is saddled with other responsibilities, such as meeting the cash needs of the ruling party and top government officials.

    In such a situation, why won’t the GMD help himself? The GMD cannot be watching, while others are looting, abi. On a more serious note, what this shows is that our leaders and public officers are more interested in feathering their nest than looking after the interest of the people. For all they care, the people can die of hunger and illnesses for lack of money and good hospitals as long as they have the means to take care of themselves and their families in some of the best hospitals in the world. Yakubu sought refuge in a slum because he thought nobody will ever think of looking for such cash in such a place.

    The dour looking Yakubu may have seen himself as wise by taking the money to that out of place community, but his wisdom did him in. The same people he relied upon to cover his track may have betrayed him because he never took care of them. He did not take care of them because he did not want them to know that he is keeping what the EFCC describes as ‘’proceeds of crime’’ in their community. This shows how greedy and inhuman our public officers are. They are only interested in themselves and are not concerned whether people are dying beside them or not.

    How do we stop this mindless stealing? It is by holding all public officers to account at the end of their tenure. We, the people, should also open our eyes. When we see evil, we should talk evil. We should not help looters to cover their tracks. By helping them, we re killing our country slowly. The result of all these years of looting culminated in the recession we are in today. In a recession when the country is looking for $30billion to borrow, someone has $9.7million stashed away in a slum, and others have $151 million hidden in a bank, not to talk of the various sums hidden in other places here and abroad. And they say Buhari should not fight corruption. Haba!

  • Sound and fury

    By now, Justice Walter Onnoghen should be sitting pretty as the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), but what happened to the Judiciary towards the end of last year seems to have stalled his confirmation for the exalted seat. It is given that the most senior Justice of the Supreme Court (JSC) takes the CJN seat on the retirement of the incumbent. This has been the practice for ages, but in 1972, the military deviated from the tradition to appoint the late Dr Taslim Elias, the commissioner of justice and attorney-general of the federation, as CJN. Perhaps, in order to avert a recurrence in future, the framers of the 1999 Constitution stipulated the criteria for appointing the CJN in the social contract.

    The Constitution made the CJN’s appointment a matter of seniority among JSCs. In one word, it became a turn by turn thing depending on who is next in the hierarchy. As the most senior JSC when CJN Mahmoud Mohammed retired last November 10, Justice Onnoghen should have automatically stepped in as CJN, in accordance with constitutional provisions. But there was a snag, which is not of his own making. Justice Mohammed was leaving at a time the Judiciary was virtually on trial for certain indiscretions, with two JSCs caught in the web. The homes of Justices Sylvester Ngwuta and Inyang Okoro were among the houses of some judicial officers searched by the Department of State Service (DSS) following allegations of corruption.

    Ngwuta has been arraigned, but Okoro is yet to be brought to court. Some Federal High Court judges have also been arraigned, while arrangements are on to bring some other judicial officers to court. This was the setting when Mohammed was leaving. Faced with a judiciary already tainted with allegations of corruption, President Muhammadu Buhari was probably in a  dilemma in keeping with the tradition on the appointment of the CJN. What do I know about this most senior JSC? Is he corrupt? Can he be trusted not to stain the exalted seat of CJN? What are his antecedents? These and many more posers would have weighed on the president’s mind. To avoid making hasty decision, he named Onnoghen acting CJN in line with Section 231 (4) of the 1999 Constitution as amended.

    Appointment into the Supreme Court is not a small matter, not to talk of who becomes the CJN. Elsewhere, appointment into the Supreme Court is treated with all the seriousness it deserves. Some countries do not follow the book as we do on the matter. They go for those who have what it takes to do the job. Such people may not even share political affiliation with the appointing authority. The most important criterion is : can the person do the job? Being the highest court in the land, the Supreme Court must be peopled by men and women of honour who will not compromise their stand because of filthy lucre. What we have heard about our judiciary in recent times is distressing, too too distressing. If the last hope of the common man is really like that, what hope is there then for the hoi polloi?

    Should the president be blamed if he decides to bide his time before appointing the CJN because of these distressing stories about the Judiciary? All we want is a judiciary that will serve the people and uphold the scale of justice without looking at the faces or the standing in life of the parties before it. The CJN plays a key role in the judicial set up because he is the numero uno, the leader of the Bench and the father of other judges. As a father, he must give direction to others. Can a CJN with a soiled hand play such a role and redeem the Judiciary? The answer is no. Onnoghen’s turn to become CJN came at a critical juncture in the life of the Judiciary. But, who knows, fate may have thrown him up as CJN at a time like this in order to sanitise the Judiciary.

    This is why I am not taken in by the noise being made by those trying to stampede the president to confirm him. The president, I am sure, will eventually send Onnoghen’s name to the Senate for confirmation, but that will be after he is satisfied with the investigation on the acting CJN. Let us face the truth, if we are in the president’s shoes, will we just send Onnoghen’s name to the Senate just like that because he has been recommended by the National Judicial Council (NJC) without probing his background in the light of the mess in the Judiciary? The president has not said he would not appoint him and he did not breach the Constitution by naming Onnoghen acting CJN. And Onnoghen’s three-month acting tenure will not end until tomorrow. As I write this on Tuesday evening, I am sure that the president will act on the matter between now and today.

    Those who feel that the president is delaying unnecessarily should sheathe their swords. The president will send Onnoghen’s name to the Senate before Friday for confirmation and he will only be doing so because he is satisfied with the outcome of the investigation on the acting CJN. Onnoghen has a Herculean task ahead of him. He has to cleanse the Augean stable once he becomes the CJN and automatically, NJC chairman. He has a lot of work to do as CJN to change the people’s perception about our judges. Long before the DSS’ raid on some judicial officers, many Nigerians had nothing good to say about many judges. Many senior lawyers will dismiss this claim, saying there is no proof of such allegations. They will talk like that because they are in it with those judges. But we all know that there is no smoke without fire.

    If a poor man goes to the market square or a bar and paints a picture of what he went through before a judge, then he must know what he is talking about. There is no poor man who will just wake up and accuse a judge of misconduct if he did not experience such in court. We should not be sentimental about Onnoghen’s appointment. It is not an ethnic, religious or political thing. All the president wants is the best for the country. His administration is fighting corruption and he needs a strong and an incorruptible judiciary to wage the war. If the Judiciary is corrupt, it will make nonsense of the anti-corruption war.

    This process will strengthen Onnoghen and make him a better CJN. I wish other CJN went through the same process. May be that would have helped them in leaving behind a worthy legacy.

  • A pastor and the law

    From time immemorial, the state and the church have always been in a contest for power. The church has the power of the word and the state has the force of coercion. The church appeals to the minds of the people, the state coerce them to do its will. In this contest for power and supremacy, the people have always been at the receiving end. Yet, they claim to be working for the people. The church has an edge because it is closer to the people. This closeness is as a result of the relationship between the pastor and his flock.

    A pastor, who is a good shepherd in the biblical sense of the word, looks out for his sheep. He does not make too much demands on them, rather he ministers to their needs, whether spiritually or materially. A shepherd who sees his sheep as cows to be milked misses his calling. The scripture puts it succinctly : ‘’Woe be to the shepherds…that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flock? Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed : but ye feed not the flock…neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost, but with force and cruelty have ye ruled them’’.

    The job of a pastor is not only to feed his congregation with words, he is also to cater to their needs to enable them stand firm and not to backslide. Unfortunately, the reverse is the case today. Pastors ride exotic cars, live in mansions, while their flock live in abject penury. Their God, they are quick to say, is not a God of poverty. Is it the God of their sheep that is poor then? Beyond their flock, pastors owe society a duty to speak truth to power and also pray for those in authority. ‘’Exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; for kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty’’, says the scripture.

    This divine mandate is to ensure that the society progresses as it should for the betterment of all. A society where the fear of God reigns will surely be peaceful. This is why pastors are to act as checks on leaders so that they do not derail. In discharging this obligation, the men of God are not expected to overreach themselves. Though they are ministers in the temple of God, they are not above the law. A pastor who oversteps his bounds is courting trouble and when the consequences come, his flock may not be able to save him. In correcting the leadership of their countries, pastors are not expected to be quarrelsome. They must discharge this god-given responsibility with decency and not play to the gallery.

    A pastor must not criticise the government of the day in order to score cheap political point. By his calling, he must be apolitical in order not to incur the wrath of government. Reason : if he supports the Pharaoh that is in power today, what will happen if there comes a Pharaoh that does not know Joseph. He would have exposed himself for what he truly is. Pastors must tread gingerly because anything they do or say are usually monitored by the public that can easily discern where they stand from the positions they take. The church and the state appear to be on a collision since the failed attempt by the Federal Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRC) to regulate not-for-profit organisations, such as churches, mosques and civil society organisations. The FRC set a tenure limit for general overseers, which forced the respected G.O of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) to step down for Pastor Joseph Obayemi. Obayemi is now the national overseer for Nigeria.

    The churches did not find this funny and they rose stoutly to condemn the code of corporate governance fashioned by the former Executive Secretary of FRC, Jim Obazee, who was fired in the aftermath of Pastor Adeboye’s  decision to quit as RCCG’s leader in Nigeria. Living Faith Church Worldwide aka Winners Chapel founder Pastor David Oyedepo did not hide his anger over the issue. In a message that went viral, he said unequivocally that the country could not remain under the shackles of one region. Nigeria, he said, belongs to all Nigerians, noting that nobody should be treated as a second class citizen in his fatherland because of his faith.

    Apparently taking a cue from his fellow pastor, Apostle Johnson Suleiman of the Omega Fire Ministries (OFM), at a crusade in Ado Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, last week, touched on the vexed issue of herdsmen’s killings in some parts of the country. He condemned the dastardly act, calling on Christians across the country to defend themselves, if the need arises. He was quoted as saying that if any herdsman comes near Christians, they should kill him. His statement ruffled the feathers of the Department of State Security (DSS), which went for him in his hotel room. The pastor quickly called Governor Ayo Fayose, who rushed to his aid before the security men could pick him up.

    The herdsmen matter has become something else because of the seeming silence of the government on how they have been wreaking havoc in some parts of the country. Are they Fulani herdsmen or where are they from? The DSS will do well to ascertain who these herdsmen are if it is really interested in getting to the root of how they have been killing, maiming and raping women in some states. Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai in whose domain the herdsmen struck last December, leaving death and destruction in their trail, said they were from outside the country. The governor must have had certain information at his disposal to have spoken like that. But has he availed the security agencies of that information?

    Apostle Suleiman’s message got the DSS worried. And since the agency could not get him in Ado Ekiti, it invited him to Abuja last Monday. We do not know yet what actually transpired at that meeting, but it is certain the apostle would have been grilled on the message he preached in Ado Ekiti. Was it a call to arms by Christians, he would have been asked. The apostle has since clarified what he said in Ado Ekiti. Shortly before going to keep his appointment with DSS, he told reporters that his statement was based on information from a reliable source that herdsmen were coming to attack him. ‘’I was talking in my personal capacity on information from a reliable source that certain people in the capacity of herdsmen were coming to attack me and I told the people around me that if it happens they should defend themselves’’.

    Everybody, not only pastors, should be concerned about the atrocities of these herdsmen. If it takes the message of a pastor to wake us up to their menace, so be it. The pastor may have made what the DSS perceives as inciting statement, but did the agency leave him with any option? Indeed, has it left Nigerians, especially those attacked, any option over this issue? The herdsmen have been allowed to be on the loose for too long. It is high time the DSS and other security agencies upped their game and fished out the culprits. The pastor may have spoken as one pained by what is happening to those he considers his shepherd, but that does not mean that he should take liberty for licence.

    Our governors too should be mindful of how they interfere in security matters. They do not have the power to stop the security agencies from doing their jobs.  No matter how strong  they feel about an issue, obstructing security agencies in the line of duty is not the way to go. If care is not taken, this may create more trouble than it is meant to solve.

  • The Rann tragedy

    BORNO STATE has been through a lot since the war against insurgency started about eight years ago. The war was preceded by the dastardly activities of Boko Haram, which believes in the use of force to pursue its agenda. Villages have been razed and thousands displaced from their homes. Today, many internally displaced persons (IDPs) camps dot the landscape of the state. Some of these camps can be found in the neighbouring Adamawa State and other parts of the country.

    The Federal and Borno State governments are working round the clock to get these people back to their homes. Towards this end, many of the ravaged communities have been rebuilt by the indefatigable Governor Kashim Shettima, who also directed local government chairmen to live among the IDPs to enable them have first hand knowledge about their needs. The Boko Haram insurgency has virtually crippled Maiduguri, which is the epicentre of the sect’s activities, and environs.

    Borno can never be the same again, no matter what the Federal and state governments do to rebuild it. The state, like a burnt palace, will eventually wear a new look and become more beautiful, but there will always be something missing from it all – and that is the cherished relics of the people which can never be replaced. What about the lives lost? What about those maimed and raped? What about the minors put in the family way? But Shettima is striving to make the people forget this ugly past and look to the future with hope that things will be better.

    The IDPs camps have since become home to many, who lost everything to the Boko Haram insurgency. To mitigate their pains, Shettima is holding council chiefs responsible for their well-being. For the IDPs to feel the impact of government, he directed some local governments to maintain secretariats in their camps and also station officials there. Bama, Kukawa, Gwoza and Marte councils today run two secretariats – one in their headquarters and the other in the IDPs camps in line with the governor’s directive. Three others operate satellite secretariats in the IDPs camps in Maiduguri because of the ongoing military operation there.

    ‘’We will not have good reason to hold chairmen accountable if we sent them to their local government headquarters only whereas they have majority of their people in Maiduguri’’, Shettima said, adding : ‘’I will hold council chairmen responsible if I hear any complaints about shortages or lack of foods, water, access to primary healthcare and absence of teachers at any IDPs camp unless it is evident that they had made frantic efforts to bring such cases to the notice of the appropriate authorities. Chairmen must come up with rosters that would ensure deployment of their officials to all camps on rotational basis and anybody whose turn it is must be stationed at the camps…the presence of government officials in IDPs camps will help build the confidence of IDPs as they go through their healing process’’.

    The IDPs have gone through trauma from which many may never recover. What they went through in the hands of Boko Haram will live with them forever. They may find it difficult living like refugees in their own country, but they have no choice than to make do with what they have. There are millions of their compatriots who are not displaced, but do not have a roof over their heads. Having lost everything not because of their own making, the state is duty bound to come to their aid, help them to pick up the pieces of their life and gradually reintegrate them back into society. The idea of IDPs camps is not to turn those places into their permanent abode, it is a temporary sanctuary from which they will leave for the accommodation to be provided by government or good spirited Nigerians.

    The IDPs are already in a pathetic situation. Their case was compouded last week with the accidental bombing of an IDPs camp in Rann in Kala Balge Local Government Area of Borno State. Many of those killed were charity workers and civilians. Some soldiers were among the casualties. No matter how well planned a military operation may be, if an accident is going to happen, it will happen. Even the best armies in the world also experience such accidents once in a while. The Rann bombing was not premeditated; it was something that happened in the course of an operation to flush out Boko Haram insurgents suspected to be hiding in that place.

    The Air Force with all it has been doing since the war against insurgency started cannot with its own hands wipe off the gain so far made. It is with its help that Boko Haram was dislodged from Sambisa Forest last December. So, the Air Force  would not deliberately bomb a place inhabited by civilians even if it has all the intelligence in the world that Boko Haram members are there. In military operations, there is what is called collateral damage. Unfortunately, the bombing of Rann falls into this categorisation. It was an unforeseeable occurrence which is inexplicable. How do you explain the bombing of an IDPs camp, which is under the protection of the government?

    But something must have led to the bombing. What is that thing? Who gave the Air Force information that led to its bombing of the camp? Is the source credible? Has he ever given information to the military that helped in the war against insurgency? Was the source not aware that Rann harbours an IDPs camp? Does the military cross check such information before carrying out an attack? Couldn’t the pilot have distinguished an IDPs camp from insurgents territory? The questions are many, just too many. And answering them sincerely will ensure that such a tragedy does not recur.

     

    Dictators gone forever

    AWIND is blowing across Africa and it is the wind of redemption. Long condemned as the continent of bad, inept and rogue leaders, Africa is fast redeeming itself in the eyes of the world. It is no longer the region of sit-tight leaders. Those days when a leader will decide not to leave office after losing election are gone for good. Last December 1, former The Gambia dictator Yahya Jammeh lost the presidential election to Adama Barrow. He initially conceded defeat, but later changed his mind, alleging that the election was not free and fair. He filed a petition at the Supreme Court in order to stall the January 19 inauguration of Barrow. Despite all his tricks, the Supreme Court refused to be used to thwart the people’s will. His deputy and some of his ministers also dumped him when they saw the handwriting on the wall. His defence minister told him pointblank that the military would surrender if the Economic Commission of West African States (ECOWAS) forces entered the country. Jammeh, who was talking tough that ECOWAS could not dictate to him, quickly changed gear and fled into exile on Friday night, ending his 22 years misrule of the tiny and impoverished country. May other dictators still tormenting the continent go the same way soon.