The Nation Newspaper

Category: Lawal Ogienagbon

  • No longer a numbers’ game

    Politics worldwide is a game of numbers. There is nowhere the numbers’ game is at play than during elections. Elections are won and lost on the strength of votes. What is usually required to win is simple majority except otherwise stated. Contestants know this rule well. This is why they strive to get the highest number of votes cast in order not to create doubts about the winner of an election.

    In any transparent electoral process, knowing the winner is not difficult since the results will be declared in the open. But in some cases, losers find it difficult to accept defeat. They do all they can to upturn the result. Where they cannot have their way, they turn their loss to ‘victory’ by laying claim to an office that does not belong to them.  This is at the individual level. At the institutional level, they use their minority to oppress the majority.

    What then is democracy if we cannot play according to the rule? What then is democracy if the majority cannot have its way? What then is democracy if the minority cannot bow to the majority? What is happening in the polity calls for concern from all people of goodwill. If we keep quiet because what is happening favours us  one way or the other,  we will be doing damage to the bodypolity.

    Democracy should not be a matter of life and death. It is high time  our politicians changed their attitude towards the game. They should not be desperate to win at all costs. When they lose, they should concede defeat and congratulate the winner  rather than try to destabilise the country through their tantrums and wild allegations of rigging and all  what not. It is only those who have come to see politics as a means of livelihood that behave this way.

    ”If I do not have it, nobody will”, this is what their body language usually says. This is why a governor will lose an internal  election and fight tooth and nail to retain his seat as the head of the group. The Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) is an association of governors cutting across party line. The 36 state governors meet under its umbrella, with one of them as chairman. Who becomes chairman used to be by agreement and not by  election until the Presidency started interfering in its affairs.

    The group became an object of interest to the Presidency following its Chairman, Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi’s spat with the First Family. To get back at Amaechi whose first tenure was then expiring about two years ago, the Presidency infiltrated the NGF to get him voted out, counting on the support of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors, who are in the majority. Amaechi carried the day because he enjoyed the confidence of his colleagues irrespective of party affiliation.

    He won by 19 votes to Plateau State Governor Jonah Jang’s 16. Till today, Jang continues to parade himself as NGF chair despite losing woefully in that election. He is being encouraged by the Presidency, which recognises him as NGF chair, but treats the validly elected Amaechi as leper because of his feud with the First Family. What kind of democracy are we practising if our leaders cannot abide by the outcome of such a minor election? Will they allow the people’s will to prevail in the forthcoming general elections?

    This kind of absurdity is also playing itself out in Ekiti State where the minority is lording it over the majority in the House of Assembly. Power changed hands in the state last October 16 with the swearing in of Governor Ayo Fayose, who won the June 21 election. The 26-man house is controlled by the All Progressives Congress (APC); while Fayose is of the PDP. Since he assumed office, he and some of the lawmakers have been having issues. There have been allegations and counter-allegations. Whatever the problems are, we pray that they sort them out soon.

    In the meantime, we are bothered by the impunity going on in the state under the guise of legislative work. Seven of the lawmakers, who are members of PDP, have been ‘legislating’ on behalf of the house, while the majority has been chased out of town . To have their way, the seven lawmakers are being protected by the police. They are given cover to sit and perform other ‘legislative’ duties suitable to the needs of the governor. First, the seven removed the speaker and other principal officers at an awkward hour. We leave them to the court to determine the propriety of their action.

    With the coast clear, Fayose promptly sent a list of would-be commissioners to the house, sorry his seven sidekicks. Without wasting time, they confirmed the commissioners. A few days ago, they approved the 2015 budget. Fayose is riding on high with his men in control of the house. But, has he stopped for a minute to think over the legality or otherwise of what the seven lawmakers are doing? Does it portray Ekiti State, the land of honour and fountain of knowledge, in good light that seven lawmakers are running rings around their 19 other counterparts?

    We hear of the majority having their way and the minority having their say. But, in our clime,  the reverse seems to be the case. Is politics still a game of numbers?

    Malala’s country again

    MALALA Yousafzai survived a gun attack on October 9, 2012,  to become the poster-child for girl education globally. When Taliban gunmen shot her in the head in a school bus, they never knew that they were changing the course of her life through their dastardly act. Today, Malala is a Nobel laureate having won the the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize.  Rather than repent, these mad men, like their Nigerian counterparts, Boko Haram, have continued to wreak havoc on school children. Tuesday’s attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar, Northwest Pakistan, in which 145 pupils were killed,  is despicable. Why will any sane man shoot a pupil? For going to  school? Is it a sin to seek knowledge when Prophet Muhammad, in his life time,  admonished Muslims to seek knowledge and to go even as far as China for it? We pray that God touches the hearts of these self-styled jihadists to know that what they are doing is evil. Like Malala said in her reaction, the world mourns these children, ”but we will never be defeated by terrorists”. Never.

  • Fall of the mighty

    Their exit from the cabinet was announced with fanfare. At the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting on October 15, President Goodluck Jonathan took it upon himself to tell the world that the ministers would be leaving to contest election. It was the last meeting the ministers would attend since they had only five days left then to resign to pursue their ambition.

    These men have since pursued their ambition and known their fate. They are former Information Minister Labaran Maku; his counterparts in Health, Prof Onyebuchi Chukwu and Labour, Emeka Wogu. Others are Minister of State for Defence Musiliu Obanikoro and his counterparts in Education, Nyesom Wike, Trade and Investment Samuel Ortom and Niger Delta Darius Ishaku.

    These president’s men thought their party’s governorship ticket was theirs for the asking. They miscalculated. Forces on ground in their respective states had another plan. These were the ones playing local politics. They were determined not to yield ground to anybody, be he a former minister or not. Many of them asked : ”When they were ministers what did they do for us?”

    Rather than see the handwriting on the wall, the former ministers plunged headlong into the race, believing that with their wealth and connection, they will win. No doubt, they may have  got the President’s  blessing to run, but they needed more than his blessing to win. More than anything else, they required the support of party members, many of whom they  abandoned while in  office, to get the ticket.  Moreover,  they had no political structures to fall back on.

    Those who had structures had to contend with the intrigues of some leaders who do not like their faces. It was a battle royale between these ministers and the leaders, who were determined to stamp their authority on their parties. There were snide remarks such as ”they cannot come from Abuja and take over our parties from us”; ”They have enjoyed themselves in Abuja, now they want to come and continue their enjoyment with the party we slaved hard to keep going”; ‘Where were they when we were building our parties?”; ”Now, they want to come and reap where they did not sow”.

    The animosity against the ministers was strong . As soon as they declared their intentions for run for governor, they ran into trouble with chieftains of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in their states. Why? Is it that these ministers never touched base with their people while in office? Politics is all about people and seasoned politicians know too well that they can not survive without people. It is just like fish out of water; it will asphyxiate to death.

    Politicians also suffocate to death when they abandon the people. Ask Maku, Wogu, Chukwu and Onikoro. These are the faces of the President who lost in the race for the governorship tickets of Nasarawa, Abia, Ebonyi and Lagos states. What their loss shows is that the political race is about being close to the grassroots and having the ability to carry those who matter along. No politician can be bigger than those that will determine his fate at the poll. And mind you, the true worth of a politician is known at the poll and not the amount of money he has.

    It is good to have money, but that money will not vote for you. It is how a politician uses his money to win people to his side that separates the men from the boys. No matter how influential a politician may be, his ability to deploy his resources to good use will determine how far he goes. As our former honourable ministers have come to realise, not even the federal might can save a politician, who is distant from his people from losing an election. The ministers are stewing in their own juice.

    They cannot eat their cake and have it. They cannot spend months ministering to themselves alone and now think they can ride on the backs of the people into office as governors to continue their self seeking agenda. Politicians, who always think of themselves first, will always meet with the kind of defeat suffered by these former ministers whether in the primaries or real elections. So, tell it in Lafia, sing it in Abakaliki, mime it in Umuahia  and publish it in the streets of Lagos so that the people will rejoice over these ministers’ loss.

    Oh, how the mighty fall; and their wealth and connection come to nought.

    Apostle of evil

    I watched bemused on Channels Television, last weekend,  as Police Affairs Minister Jelili Adesiyan defended Inspector-General of Police Suleiman Abba, who treated the office and person of Speaker Aminu Tambuwal with scorn the other day before the House of Representatives  Committee on Police Affairs. Adesiyan said Abba was right by refusing to recognise Tambuwal as Speaker because the matter is in court. So, when a matter is in court one can no longer hold his office? It is a shame that this is the kind of person we have as a minister; a man, who does not know that a court case does not automatically strip you of your office until judgment is delivered. But, what do you expect  of a man, who once referred to himself as a killer of persons (ta nlo je ode aperin niwaju ode apa enia). Besides,  Adesiyan also attacked the All Progressives Congress (APC), bashing the party for always ”complaining” when it loses election, but hailing the process when it wins. ”When they won in Edo, they gave INEC credence (sic); when they won in Osun, they gave INEC credence (sic)…” Did I hear you say what does that mean? That is a Minister of the Federal Republic (MFR) for you.

    In his character

    IN defiance of a court order, former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Tuesday launched his three-volume book, My Watch, in Lagos. He also cast aspersions on Justice Valentine Ashi, who stopped the launch. As it were, Obasanjo has sat on appeal in a case in which he is a party. Can he do that? The answer is no. He should not have gone ahead with the launch after being stopped by the court, no matter how he feels about the order.  But, I am not surprised. What do you expect of an ‘institution’ like Obasanjo? It is left to the court to do the needful over this obvious contempt.

  • Abba’s faux pas

    The police play a vital role in every society. They are in charge of law and order to ensure peace and harmony in the land. The police are an arbiter of sorts, between two disputing parties, be they individuals or institutions. As a body conferred with the power to arrest and detain people within a reasonable time before charging them to court, the police are expected to use this power wisely and soberly.

    But, in many instances, the police, especially in Nigeria act with impunity. They arrest and detain people at will. At times, they kill people under the guise of law enforcement and tag their victim ”a robber”. Where the person is not ”a robber”, he may be a victim of what they call ”accidental discharge”.  Our police do not seem to value human life, yet they say they are our friend. The ”police is your friend” is the legend you find at the counters of almost  all police stations or posts.

    Are the police really our friend? There is nothing that puts the lie to this claim than their actions in recent times. Led by the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Suleiman Abba, who should be the epitome of a gentleman officer, the police have become the attack dog of the executive. It seems Abba was deliberately chosen among his peers to take up the executive’s fight. Since his appointment in February following the retirement of his  predecessor, the urbane  M.D Abubakar, Abba has been putting the wrong foot forward.

    Rather than be the people’s IG, he is more at home being on the side of President Goodluck Jonathan. Those not in the same political camp with the president are not in his good book. The president’s fight is his fight and we have seen him prove this time and again. When Speaker Aminu Tambuwal defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in October, Abba wasted no time in withdrawing his security aides, citing Section 68 of the Constitution. The interpretation of this section is  the crux of a case between PDP and Tambuwal at the Federal High Court in Abuja.

    On November 20, Abba was at it again when he sent his men to cordon off the National Assembly in order  to stop Tambuwal from entering the House of Representatives Chambers. To him, Tambuwal is no longer Speaker because of his defection to APC. Pray, where was Abba when the Speaker and virtually all members of Ondo State House of Assembly defected from the Labour Party to PDP? If he saw nothing wrong in those defections, why is he shouting blue murder over  Tambuwal’s move to APC? Why is he not applying Section 68 of the Constitution in that case since he knows law so well? It is not the job  of Abba as IG  to interpret the Constitution; his job is  to ensure the maintenance of law and order.

    Abba has left his job undone in his attempt to interpret the Constitution when he is not a judge. Perhaps, he feels that as a lawyer, he can play the judge. Instead of wasting his time interpreting the law, a job not under his purview,   Abba should turn the heat on hoodlums, who have taken over the country.   Last Wednesday, he did the unthinkable when he appeared before the House Committee on Police Affairs over his men’s invasion of the National Assembly on November 20. He told the stunned committee members that he no longer recognised Tambuwal as Speaker.

    Irked by his persistent reference to the Speaker as Alhaji Tambuwal, the committee asked him to address the Speaker properly. Abba replied that he would not because the matter is in court. If he knew that, why then did he withdraw the Speaker’s security details when the matter has not been decided? This is the impunity we have been talking about. If Abba can withdraw the security aides of the Speaker with the tacit approval of the president, can other Nigerians be sure of the protection of their rights and privileges?

    While awaiting the court decision, it would be advisable for Abba to retrace his steps before it is too late. He is not the first IG and certainly,  he won’t be the last. But whatever he does today will become history tomorrow. How will he want posterity to judge him? As IG of the people or a puppet? The choice is his.

     

    Adieu Olopa

    The news hit me like a thunderbolt. Jude had been in my thoughts since I returned to work on November 24. Last Wednesday, I asked after him from Dada Aladelokun, his colleague on the City Desk. Dada said he was on leave and would soon resume. The following day, we got a medical report that he would not be able to resume on November 30 because he was ill. The doctor said he was placing him on two weeks sick leave. We left matters at that until Saturday morning when a telephone call from Folorunso Atta, my colleague at the defunct Daily Times and a crack crime reporter like Jude, changed everything. Whenever Atta calls, he regales me with his exploits of late. But on this day, that was not to be.

    I sensed that something was wrong from Atta’s voice, which was too low for my liking. I was about asking if all was well when he said:  Man Lawi, Jude ti ku; o ku laro yi. Meaning: Jude is dead; he died this morning. I was dazed by the news and promptly asked Atta, ”how did you learn of his death?” He told me he got the information from Jude’s neighbour, who works with a paper in Anambra State.  When I saw Jude Uche Isiguzo last in October, I didn’t know that I will never see him again. Jude was a lively and easy-going person. His philosophy was live and let’s live and was at home with everybody. What could have killed Jude I wanted to know from his neighbour. Did he undergo surgery?

    ‘No, he didn’t undergo surgery”, the guy said. ”So, what killed him?” I asked. Like me, the guy had been shattered by the news of Jude’s death. He pleaded with me to let him be and I understood what he was going through, especially as he said he was standing beside Jude’s body.  Jude was a lovable person because of his simplicity. He was everybody’s person as shouts of olopa rang out from every corner whenever he was in the newsroom. Though, he was chairman of our chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), he did not allow that to affect his job. He was on top of events on his beat. You can trust him to deliver if news breaks on his beat. What could have cut Jude down in the prime of life?

    His wife Gwen told us on Sunday that he was already getting better and that the family was planning to hold a thanksgiving after he left the hospital. Instead of a thanksgiving, we are now planning for Jude’s funeral. What an irony of life. We take consolation in the fact that he lived well and touched lives. As the Editor, Gbenga Omotoso, told Gwen last Sunday, it is not how long, but how well. As part of the funeral rites, our chapel yesterday held a candlelight procession for Jude. Decked in black, members walked from the office in Fatai Atere Way, Matori, Lagos, to the nearby Palm Avenue intersection and back on his memory.  My heart goes out to Gwen and other members of the Isiguzo family. Adieu Olopa. May you find rest in the Lord’s bosom.

  • ‘Area boy’ democracy

    THOUGH the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) knew long ago that it had lost Speaker Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, it was still thrown off-balance by his defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC) on October 28. The defection was vintage Tambuwal and it was executed with clinical precision, which left some members of the House of Representatives wondering what hit them long after he hit the gavel on his table to end that day’s  sitting.

    Outside the hallowed chambers of the House, the PDP leadership was dazed. Its national leader, President Goodluck Jonathan, Chairman Adamu Muazu and others had no immediate answer to the calamity that befell PDP.  Their dilemma since then is what to do to Tambuwal without being seen to break the law.

    Without much ado, the  President invited Senate President David Mark and Deputy Speaker Emeka Ihedioha to a meeting at Aso Rock. The main agenda, according to those who should know,  was Tambuwal’s defection. The President, it was gathered, found it unbelievable  that Tambuwal could defect on the floor of the House without the PDP members, who are in the majority, doing anything to stop him. He was said to have also met with other political actors and the security agencies  on how to address what he sees as  the ”Tambuwal challenge”.

    Jonathan, sources said,  views the Speaker’s defection as a challenge because of its capacity to strengthen  the North’s campaign  against his second term bid. Tambuwal is the most prominent core northerner in this administration. Though Mark is a northerner from Benue State, he is not from the core north like Tambuwal, who is from Sokoto and a Fulani to boot. To pay Tambuwal back in his own coin, it was decided that he must go as Speaker. But how do you achieve that without flouting the law? To this end, Tambuwal’s  security details were withdrawn barely 48 hours after his defection by the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Suleiman Abba, who turned himself into a court by interpreting the Constitution to justify his patently  illegal action. The IGP was not done yet.

    Determined to satisfy his master and also thank him for confirming him as IGP, Abba, ever the obedient servant, went beyond himself last week to stop Tambuwal from entering the House in order to pave the way for the Speaker’s removal by  those involved in the covert plot. In a society where crime is being committed almost every second, hundreds of policemen were drafted to the National Assembly just to stop the Speaker and his supporters from entering, while millions of Nigerians were left at the mercy of criminals.

    I laugh when I hear the police defend their indefensible action. They said they went there following intelligence information that ”thugs” would invade the Assembly that day. But pray, did Tambuwal and his entourage look like thugs to the police when they were coming? Here was a man, who submitted himself to screening, yet he was not allowed to access the House. I watched on television  how he beckoned on a police officer, asking him to ”approach me; I am Aminu Tambuwal, Speaker of the House of Representatives”. The officer  ignored the Speaker because he was acting a script.

    Simply put, this is motor park democracy where the powers that be use the  security agencies to deal with their opponents. The holidaying lawmakers decided to sit last week following a letter from Jonathan, seeking another extension of the state of emergency in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states. I hate to believe that the President would abort a sitting which he called for to consider his request.

    To prove that he has no hand in this misadventure, the President must not spare all those involved, no matter how highly placed they may be. The police also cannot be trusted to investigate the matter because they are biased. They cannot be the investigator in a case in which they are indicted. If we are interested in getting to the root of the police siege to the National Assembly, we should constitute a group of eminent Nigerians to probe the incident.

    Anything short of this will serve no purpose because the police have shown their bias in the matter.  This is not a police case.

    When two elephants fight

    THERE is no love lost between Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu and Enugu State Governor Sullivan Chime. The duo became bitter political foes because of Chime’s interest in the Enugu West Senatorial District, which Ekweremadu presently represents in the Senate. As the leader of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Enugu State, Chime has been doing everything in his power to make Ekweremadu politically irrelevant.

    But Ekweremadu has proved to be a tough nail, absorbing everything thrown at him by Chime and his acolytes. Ten days ago, his medical mission to the state was disrupted by those ostensibly acting on ”orders from above”.  The mission is a yearly project under which over 10,000 people from the five local government areas under Ekweremadu’s  senatorial district enjoy an all-embracing  free treatment for eye-related problems. Those who require glasses, surgery, drugs et al, get them for free.

    The question is why would anybody want to disrupt such a programme? Must we play politics at  the people’s detriment?

    If Ekweremadu wants to bring dividends of democracy to his people should he be stopped from doing so because he is not in the same political camp with the governor of his state? Is it wrong for political foes to join hands to bring succour to the people? People go into politics to better the lot of their constituents and  not to deprive them of the inherent benefits.

    Who is the loser in all these? It is the people; not Ekweremadu. So, if Chime has the people’s interest at heart, he would do something about the disruption of the Senator Ike Ekweremadu’s Ikeoha Foundation Free Eye Treatment Project at Oghe in Ezeagu Local Government Area of Enugu State by thugs allegedly led by two development area administrators (DAAs). Being government officials, there should be no problem in fishing out the DAAs  to answer for their action, except if they have the backing of officialdom.

    Well, Ekweremadu has vowed to fish them out, no matter what. ”I will do everything within my powers to bring them to book. They can run, but they can’t hide; I will smoke all those involved out and ensure they face the wrath of the law”. Nothing will make the people happier than to see those who torment them pay the price for their action.

  • Caveat emptor: Readers’ beware

    SINCE news broke of the smuggling of $9.3 million into South Africa in an aircraft owned by eminent cleric Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor for the purchase of arms, all hell has been let loose. These reactions were expected because of the calibre of the man whose plane is  at the centre of it all. When the South African authorities seized the money, they took the action based on the laws of their country.

    In South Africa, it is illegal to bring in such amount without declaring it. Besides, what the money is purportedly meant for is not a deal that can be carried out across the counter just like that. Arms purchase is a highly restricted business. It is not a deal between individuals as such because of its sensitive nature. It is a transaction between countries and those acting on their behalf. This was why Nigerians were curious when news broke of the transaction.

    Their curiosity heightened when it was revealed that the aircraft  belongs to Oritsejafor. Then, they started putting two and two together. If Oritsejafor owns the aircraft and the Federal Government is saying that the money is for the purchase of arms, which is another way of saying that the plane did no wrong, the pastor must be aware of what is going on. The premise for such conclusion is no other than the chummy relationship between President Goodluck Jonathan and Oritsejafor.

    It is possible that Oritsejafor does not know anything about the money found on board his plane. It is also possible that he does not know anything about  the deal entered into with the lesse of the plane. But there is no argument about his relationship with the custodians of the plane,  Eagle Air Company,  in which he has ‘’residual interest’’. Thus,  he cannot escape being linked with this transaction because of his association with the firm and the plane. In one word, through association, he must be linked to this sad development. I feel for him.

    There is no way  he can hide under the fact of not having a hand in the day to day running of Eagle Air to wash his hands off this matter. He has a lot of explanations to make to many Nigerians, who hold him in high esteem. It is also not about politics and religion. It is all about what is right and wrong. Was it right for the airline to have allowed such  amount on its aircraft, knowing the laws of its country of destination?

    The truth of the matter is Oritsejafor’s association with the company makes the matter messier. As a man of God, any company that he associates with must, like Caesar’s wife,  be above board. As such, those who run the company are expected to be mindful  of  his status in society  and always  do things to protect his image. He is in the eye of the storm because of the miscalculation of his managers. Oritsejafor has nobody but his business partners  to blame for this mess.

    He cannot hide under the guise of religion, politics or his stand against Boko Haram to blame critics for the trouble he brought upon himself. He is doing a legitimate business, no doubt,  in giving his plane to a company to manage, but to avoid problems like this, he ought to have shown interest, keen interest at that, in what  the firm does. Why? Because if the firm makes profit, he will share from it; if a loss, he will get nothing.  So, if the firm runs into trouble as it has now done, can Oritsejafor distance himself from it? The answer is no.

    I do not buy his argument that by linking him to the money the aircraft was carrying, ‘’a war is being waged against the Nigerian church”. What has the church got to do with it for God’s sake. It is not the church that hired out the aircraft, but a company in which he admits he has residual interest. This being so, can he blame anybody for his predicament? I would plead the legal maxim caveat emptor (which in Latin means buyers’ beware) in respect of this matter. In this case, readers must beware not to  swallow hook, line and sinker some of the statements being made by those defending the embattled Oritsejafor.

    Neither he nor his defenders are helping matters. In a clear cut case of this nature in which a plane was involved in illegal business, the best Oritsejafor could have done is to apologise to the people for the involvement of his plane in deal gone awry. Why should a plane carry $9.3 million cash into a country where the law stipulates that you can bring in 25,000Rands or its equivalent of $10,000 undeclared. The law permits people to bring in more than that amount as long as it is declared. If the carrier was not up to mischief, why didn’t he declare the $9.3 million?

    Oritsejafor and the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) that he leads should not try to play the religious or political card in a clear case of business misdemeanour. They should put the blame where it rightly belongs-those who knew the law but still went ahead to deliberately flout it. They thought they were in Nigeria where they could flout the law and get away with it because they know people. In some countries, things just do not work that way and this South Africa has shown us.

    So, Oritsejafor and CAN should stop whining that some detractors were behind what occurred. Was it the detractors that loaded the plane with the cash? There are certain things people should not voice out, but rather maintain their  silence when there is trouble. What do you make of Oritsejafor’s claim that ‘’as Christians, we need unity in the church now more than ever. We are witnessing inhuman attacks by religious extremists against Christians in the northern part of the country, while Christian infrastructure is being destroyed in hundreds. If we permit the enemy to divide us, our chances of corporate survival shall be severely threatened’’

    Then this from CAN, which in an advertorial titled : ‘’Do not be misled : Bad company corrupts good character’’, urged ‘’Nigerians not to let their good honest hearts and minds become infected by the lies of those who obstruct the fight against Boko Haram’s reign of terror – do not be misled’’. What has the fight against  Boko Haram insurgency got to do with the $9.3 million cash smuggled into South Africa in its president’s plane. Somethings are better left than said. I hope Oritsejafor and CAN realise this and not set the country on fire with their vituperations.

    One more thing, they should stop the threats and go to court if they feel they have a case; that will even be better than all this noise about being set up. If I may ask who set who up?

     

    • This column goes on vacation from next week  

  • 54 years in wilderness

    Yesterday, Nigeria was 54. As usual, the Federal Government rolled out the drums to celebrate yet another National Day anniversary. The sceptics among us may ask: what are we celebrating? Is it to show that another year has gone by since we turned 53 last year? It is good to celebrate, but it is better to have good reason to celebrate. To celebrate for the sake of celebration is a waste of resources. And as we all know these resources are scarce to come by these days.

    It is in our character to celebrate; we are good at that. We celebrate just anything when  we have easy access to the resources to do so. Those in government are  most guilty of this since  they have access to our common wealth which they can use the way they like. They know how to spend the people’s money on their behalf without the people benefiting from such jamborees.

    The life of a nation and  a man is comparable. Though age may tell on a man and not tell on a nation, but where a nation has nothing to show in terms of growth and development, its age becomes mere number.

    Since our independence from Britain in 1960, Nigeria, many believe, has been moving round in circles. Its leaders have not done anything to help the country achieve its potential. They are more interested in themselves than in what they can do for the country. Nigeria has the capacity to be great, but sadly, the kind  of leaders it has been saddled with all these years, does not have what it takes to take it to the promised land. Unlike the children of Israel, who spent 430 years in bondage in Egypt, God was so kind to us that we did not spend that long under British colonialism.

    What then is delaying our progress after surmounting the odds of colonialism? Where did we miss our way? What is the problem? As Shakespeare said, the fault is not in our stars but in ourselves that we are underlings.  The problem of Nigeria is simply that of leadership. We have been unlucky in the type of leaders we get. They are those who do not care about the nation but themselves and their families. To them, as long as it is well with them and their families, the country can go to blazes. They come to office, promising heaven and earth, but they end up doing nothing.

    They lack vision and are clueless. The Bible put it succinctly, where there is no vision, the people perish. Nigerians are suffering for the lack of vision of their leaders. The vision they have is to loot, loot and loot. Where do we go from here? Must things continue like this? Why is a nation so blest suffering lack? Why are the people of a nation  suffused with oil living  in poverty? God wanted us to attain greatness without breaking much sweat and so allowed us to be liberated from Britain without a fight with our colonial masters. Even, the 30-month civil war could not stop our march to greatness.

    But, we missed our way by not following God’s plan for our nation’s life. Many are asking today whether it would not have been better to remain under British colonial rule than the self government we have been practising in the past 54 years.  With what we are witnessing now, we cannot even say that the future is bright. How can the future be bright with those at the helm of affairs today? Yes, the Jonathan apologists will say that he did not get us into this mess. Ask them, what has their man done to get us out of it? You will shudder at the tissue of lies that will  come out of their mouths in their bid to defend the indefensible.

    They will tell you that their benefactor has confronted terrorism frontally, yet Boko Haram continues to run rings round the Northeast states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe. Their  man has ”fought terrorism to a halt”, yet the Chibok girls are still in captivity, 171 days after their abduction from their school in the wee hours of April 14. Indeed, have Nigerians not   been enjoying stable power supply since the privatisation of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN)? Have companies which relocated to Ghana, Benin, Cote d’ivoire and Togo not returned? Are the textile mills not running efficiently again? Have generator distributors not packed up and moved to other countries since Nigeria is no longer good for their business?

    In the past 54 years, we have been in wilderness because of lacklustre leadership. We are in the wilderness of corruption, mismanagement, failed public utilities and a comatose real sector. But things were never  as bad as they have been in the past four years. There is no hope of a better tomorrow because of  the insistence of some people that the same leadership must remain in place in 2015. The older generation of the Israelites did not get to the promised land because they doubted the power of God to deliver them. The promise of God to them was to move forward, but on the way, they questioned His power to deliver them, wondering whether His servant, Moses, actually heard from Him or had his own plan to kill them while in transit to the promised land.

    They taxed the Lord’s patience as our leaders have been doing in the past 54 years. God gave us freedom on a platter of gold so that we can come to ours within a few years. But see what our leaders have made of this freedom, which some countries went to war to attain. If after 54 years of independence we are still crawling, at what age will we then walk? At  70, which is just 16 years away? Those that started this journey with us have gone far. They have since left us behind in the race of life.

    Even Ghana, our next door neighbour is not the same Ghana we used to know in the 1980s when things were difficult for that country. Ghana whose citizens did menial jobs here in the 80s has since overcome its challenge and now has a thriving economy. This is why many companies are leaving Nigeria today for Ghana. Mind you, I love Nigeria because it is my country, but I would not be blinded by that love not to point out its ills. Our leaders have, over the years,  been our problem. Unfortunately, Jonathan is not making things better. All the same, happy anniversary, Nigeria.

  • A tale of two friends

    I do not know when their friendship started, all I know is that a strong bond existed between them then. The late Chief Gani Fawehinmi (SAN) and Dr Olu Onagoruwa (SAN) were like Siamese twins at a time. They did everything together. Where you saw one, the other would not be far behind. Theirs was more than friendship . It was more of kinship.. They were there for each other.

    Their friendship was the envy of many of their colleagues who wondered what brought both men together. They wanted to know what the late Fawehinmi and Onagoruwa shared in common that made them to be so close. Whenever the late Fawehinmi was in trouble as he often was, Onagoruwa was always there for him and vice versa. But, most times, it was the late Fawehinmi who was always in the news because of his legendary fame of bucking the system.

    Onagoruwa is no push over too in challenging the establishment, but he was no match for the late Fawehinmi, who seemed to have capacity for trouble. In the late 1980s and 1990s, it was fun watching these men going in  and out of court, challenging the military government on one infraction or the other. It was a time that challenging the military, in whatever form,  was a taboo. As far as the late Fawehinmi, whom many simply referred to as Gani, and Onagoruwa  were concerned the only taboo was for them not to speak out or act against injustice.

    These brothers, these friends were a two-man army, who fought side by side. They paid the price for their decision to be on the side of the people and by implication on the side of truth. They were denied certain privileges by their professional association and the government of the day also made life difficult for them. Friends also kept a distance from them for fear of being blacklisted by the government of the day. To be a friend of the late Fawehinmi or Onagoruwa was unheard of then simply because they were seen as rebels.

    But they were rebels with a cause, who fought for the betterment of  society. Both men walked where angels feared to tread. They understood each other perfectly well. One knew what the other should do in case of any trouble. This was why for years the military could not decipher what made both men  tick. The duo may be on short fuse and I should know, having been at the receiving end of their anger, this does not detract from their humanity. Let me cite two instances to buttress my point.

    Shortly after his release from one of  his many  incarcerations by the Babangida regime sometime in 1989, The Punch, which I worked for then, ran a story which the late Fawehinmi considered offensive and pronto, he fired a letter to the editor, asking that the paper should retract the report or he would go to court. Barely 24 hours after, a lawyer from his chamber was in the editor’s office, with another letter from him, asking that the paper should ignore his threat, adding that he could not afford to fight a paper which did so much for him while in detention.

    I was to run foul of Onagoruwa sometime in  1990 while handling the Inside the Courts page at The Punch. In an article on the page, I used a word which Onagoruwa did not find funny. Despite being a lawyer to The Punch then, he still complained to Justice Augustine Ade-Alabi about the article, which he said described him in words he did not find funny, and urged the court to order the reporter to mind his language, henceforth. Justice Ade-Alabi noted the complaint of Onagoruwa, who said he would not push the matter further because he is the paper’s lawyer, and directed the reporter to choose his words whenever he is writing. I learnt one or two things about the tort of libel from that episode.

    I have gone this length to establish the relationship between the late Fawehinmi and Onagoruwa for the benefit of  those unaware of their cordial relationship  to know how close they were before the break-up. What led to their parting of ways  was Onagoruwa’s decision to serve as attorney-general and minister of justice in the late Gen Sani Abacha regime. The late Fawehinmi did not want his bosom friend to take up the job. But Onagoruwa was prepared to serve the nation to prove a point that you could be in government and still  do what is right.

    The late Fawehinmi did not see it that  way. He believed that his friend would compromise on becoming part of the government and asked him not to take the job. It was a painful parting of ways. For those who know, the late Fawehinmi did not do things in half measures. Whenever he drew the battle line, there was no going back. It was so in this instance. Right from the time his bosom friend took up the nation’s chief law officer’s job, he saw nothing good in him again, even after Onagoruwa had left office. The late Fawehinmi was highly critical of Onagoruwa that many did not know that they were so close before Onagoruwa came into the late Abacha regime.

    Onagoruwa lived up to his promise to be his own man in government. He resigned in 1994, barely a year after coming into office following the promulgation of decrees, which he said he knew nothing about. His action cost him a lot. His lawyer-son, Toyin, who was managing his chambers, was killed some months later. Onagoruwa himself was a target of many attacks from which he miraculously escaped. But, his family suffered. Onagoruwa lost his wife and his health took a nosedive. In the past 20 years, the man has been pining away.

    But no matter, God will always honour His own. Though it may tarry, it shall come to pass. For years, both men were denied the highest honour of their profession which they deserve. The Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) is an honour which many lawyers covet, but it is given to the chosen. Many believe that they deserve it, so year in, year out, they apply for the title. In bringing their applications, they count on others to get them approved. No matter how brilliant a lawyer is, if there are no good words from members of the Legal Practitoners Privileges Committee (LPPC), which sits on these applications, on his behalf, he would not be made a senior advocate. It is as simple as that.

    To become a senior advocate, a lawyer must be in good standing with  those who will determine his fate. For long, the late Fawehinmi and Onagoruwa were not and the title passed them by and the legal profession  was the poorer for it. In 2001, the late Fawehinmi, who for years was referred to as Senior Advocate of the Masses (SAM), was given the title. The late Fawehinmi became SAN without an Onagoruwa beside him to celebrate the well deserved honour.

    Thirteen years later, Onagoruwa’s turn came. As fate would have it, Onagoruwa became SAN five years after Fawehinmi’s death in 2009. I watched brokenhearted as Onagoruwa was being conferred with the honour by Chief Justice Aloma Mukhtar in her chambers and not in full public glare on Tuesday. Onagoruwa was on a wheelchair as he received his well deserved honour. At a stage, he broke down in tears, wiping his face with a white handkerchief. It was not an occasion for tears; it was one of joy,  but something would have made him weep. What is it?

    Was he shedding tears of joy? Was he remembering his late wife and what would have been if she had been alive? Was he remembering his friend who became his harsh critic when he took up the job of attorney-general and minister of justice? Was he remembering how unfair the system has been to him – and of course many other Nigerians in the same shoe with him – over the years? Sir, your days of weeping are over. Rejoice because you lived to see this day. Though it was delayed, it finally came, to show that whatever will be, will be (Que Sera, Sera). Congratulations.

  • Travails of a war hero

    His name conjures fear. When many hear the name Benjamin Adekunle, they look behind their shoulders to see if he is coming. As the legend goes, Brig – Gen Benjamin Maja Adekunle aka Black Scorpion was a brave and ruthless soldier. Many heard the tales of his exploits during the 1967-70 civil war. Gen Adekunle’s fame grew during the war. As small as some of us were then, we heard how he handled the enemy and treated his soldiers who fell out of line.

    There was a myth surrounding Gen Adekunle. It was said that he could disappear and reappear to wreak havoc on enemy territory. Of course, many of the stories were embellished, but the people chose to believe them because they suited those times. People believed anything thrown at them so far the Nigerian side was winning the war. The Adekunle myth grew as he was said to be a soldier that the enemy could not touch because he wielded certain powers.

    The Adekunle myth followed him home after the war. Many wonder till today if he actually did all that people said he did during the war. The man is tough no doubt and he showed early in life that he is going to be a non-conformist. For a boy to run away from home at the age of nine to fend for himself is enough evidence that he will not allow people to trample upon him anyhow when he becomes an adult. This rebellious streak in him stalked him all the way. At military training schools in the United Kingdom (UK) and India; in the Nigerian Army; as aide-de- camp (ADC) to the former Eastern Region Premier, the late Sir Akanu Ibiam and at the war front, Gen Adekunle played by his own rules.

    But he could not be ignored by his bosses because, according to those who should know, he was a damn good soldier. The Black Scorpion fought the war as if his life depended on it. Those in his command remember him as a commander’s commander. Hear one of them, Brig – Gen Alabi Isama, who was Adekunle’s chief of staff during the war : ‘’What did these people (Adekunle and others) do wrong to the society? They went to the war and came back alive. But what did they get out of it? Nothing! Today, Adekunle is forgotten by the country. That is the hero of the civil war. He won all the battles…’’ Yes, as Gen Isama said, the Black Scorpion ‘’won all the battles but not the war’’.

    By that statement, Gen Isama was referring to the sorry state of Gen. Adekunle, who is lying critically ill at home. Should a person in such a condition be kept at home? The answer is no, but the Black Scorpion is being treated at home because an air ambulance is not readily available to fly him to Ghana. When I read his story in last Saturday’s edition of this paper, I shook my head in disbelief that a thing like this is happening to someone of Adekunle’s calibre. No matter what some may consider as his eccentricities then, Gen Adekunle does not deserve to be treated as a nobody in this country.

    Our country owes a lot to people like him for fighting to ‘’keep Nigeria one’’. If they did not make that sacrifice, we may not be where we are today. The war in which he played a leading role ended 43 years ago, but it seems some people are still holding that against him. What could he have done to warrant being treated like this at the ripe old, age of 77. He was 77 yesterday. Happy birthday sir. But the best birthday gift we can give him as a country is to assist his family in getting him to Ghana fast for further treatment. All the family needs to do that is an air ambulance. The family says it has written to the army to assist in that regard without success. The army worldwide does not abandon its own. It rallies round its operatives and does everything to protect them.

    Where they are ill or wounded in battle, the army ensures that they get the best of treatment. And here, we are talking of Adekunle. Does he have to beg before he gets his right? This is the tragedy of our country. We treat our heroes with contempt and give looters of the treasury red carpet treatment, thereby sending a wrong signal to those coming behind. The Adekunle family seems to be at its wit’s end in its bid to get the authorities to help in flying its patriarch out of the country. Hear Abiodun, son of Gen. Adekunle : ‘’He is very weak and not in control of his memory. It is more of memory problem. He is not able to recognise people around him or anything. But, at some other times, he recognises people. So, it is an on and off thing. I have tried very hard to get the Nigerian Army to come to his aid without luck. Here is a man who spent his youth fighting a war to keep the country one. In other organised societies, he would be treated as a hero. But unfortunately, here in Nigeria, he has been forgotten by all’’.

    Let those in authority listen, whatever is done for the Black Scorpion today cannot be too much. As they say, he has paid his dues. Many, if not all in Service today, are his juniors. Will they watch and allow their superior to die all because of his family’s inability to get an air ambulance to fly him to Ghana? It is Gen Adekunle that we are talking about today, we don’t know what may happen tomorrow to those still in office. God forbid, if they become seriously ill after leaving office and help is not forthcoming as in the case of Gen Adekunle, how will they feel about their country? In Gen Adekunle’s present position, he cannot be happy that a country he fought to preserve seems to have abandoned him at his hour of utmost need.

    To those in authority, I commend, Gen Isama’s remarks in this paper last Saturday. He said: ‘’Everybody is aware that he (Adekunle) is battling to stay alive. But, should we wait until he dies and then roll out the drums, shouting that he was a hero and start marching round the town? Every January 15, the whole country gathers to remember our fallen heroes. What about our living heroes?…As the Commander of the Third Marine Commando, he captured Calabar…he sent me to capture the whole place. We captured the whole of what is today known as Cross River State…So, Adekunle was our leader. But, unfortunately for him, he was not a thief like many of them. If he were a thief like many, his condition would not have been like this today. Can’t you see the others? Don’t you see where they live? Adekunle’s house was renovated by Ogbomoso people…Let this country rise and help this man to live a little longer in comfort because he has denied himself such comfort while fighting in the war. There was no commander of the Nigerian Army that is better than Adekunle. Why should he be the worse off today?’’

    Indeed, Adekunle or any other retired officer for that matter should not beg for bread. They should not be made to see their service to the country as a curse after retirement otherwise we may start breeding officers, who will be more interested in making money rather than serving the country.

    There is still room to make amends in Adekunle’s case; it is not too late to do that. The country awaits the Chief of Army Staff’s prompt response to this matter. Whatever he does, he should remember, he will be doing for a senior colleague and only God repays such a kind gesture.

     

    Footnote : This article was first published on June 27, 2013, when the Benjamin Adekunle family cried out for help  over its patriarch’s failing health. The much sought help never came. But since Gen Adekunle’s death last Saturday,  many, including his colleagues, have been shedding, what I call crocodile tears, and also singing his praise. Where were they when he needed them most?  What a world! Certain people don’t matter to us when they are alive, but they become saints when they die.

  • Davis, Chibok girls and Boko Haram

    A few months ago, an Australian, Dr Stephen Davis, emerged from nowhere, claiming to be  negotiating on behalf of the government with Boko Haram on the release of the abducted 219 Chibok schoolgirls. His claim was widely reported by the media. Among others, he claimed that the Boko Haram insurgents were ready to release the girls, who are spending their 150th day in captivity today, if government met certain conditions. He did not state the conditions.

    Most importantly, he said, the group was literally tired of holding the girls because it has run out of supplies. By this, Davis meant that Boko Haram does not have food, drugs and other essentials that could make living in the bush a bit easy. And with 219 girls in tow, the sect has added more to its burden with its own hand. Again, some of the girls were ill and needed medication, which Boko Haram could not readily provide

    In such a situation, the wise thing to do is to release the girls, which it seemed the group was willing to do,  everything being equal. Nigerians were looking forward to the government taking the matter up from there, but mum was the word from Abuja. What we heard next was that the government would not negotiate with Boko Haram because, in its own thinking, to do so, would amount to giving in to terrorism. Indeed, I am for standing up to terrorists, but time and circumstance should determine whatever position we take when confronted with two evils.

    In the circumstance that we are in, is it not better to negotiate with Boko Haram and get the girls out before any other consideration?  We have seen such happen in the United States (US). As powerful  as America  is, it did not allow its ego to stand in its way of negotiating with the Taliban for the release of an American soldier, who was captured in Afghanistan. For that lone American soldier, the US released five Taliban militias. There is a lesson in that for us, but our leaders chose to listen to those who said they should not negotiate with Boko Haram. If the US could through Qatar negotiate with the Taliban, what stops Nigeria from reaching out to Boko Haram in order to free our girls?

    Davis is again in the news. A few weeks ago, he released a bombshell. He claimed that he was told by the Boko Haram leadership that its sponsors are, among others, former Chief of Army Staff Lt Gen Azubuike Ihejirika and former Borno State Governor Alli Modu Sheriff. Many mouths are still agape over the allegation. Can it be true? This is the question many are asking because as army chief Ihejirika waged relentless war against Boko Haram. If he fought the sect while in office, when then did he become its sponsor considering that he left office not long ago?

    Davis’ claim beggars belief but it cannot be brushed aside with a wave of the hand. He must have been told something by the Boko Haram elements who he has met on a number of occasions to discuss one or two things. It  looks absurd that it took his allegation against Ihejirika for the government to disown him. When Davis spoke about his efforts to rescue the Chibok  girls after  meeting with Boko Haram, government did not tell us then that he was not acting on its behalf. It kept quiet, and silence, they say, means consent.

    If the government did not disown Davis then, why is it doing so now? Is it because he claimed to have been told that Ihejirika is a Boko Haram sponsor? What Davis said is mere allegation. What is more; it is hearsay. What this means is that he has to produce the person who told him that Ihejirika is a Boko Haram sympathiser for his statement to be worried. So, why is the government fidgety over his claim? Rather than being troubled by the allegation, it should try to get to the root of the matter, if it is  serious about stopping the Boko Haram insurgency.

    How do you stop Boko Haram if you are not ready to follow a lead that would help you in your investigation? It is disheartening that the State Security Service (SSS) could come out boldly the way it did without investigation to dismiss Davis’ claim against Ihejirika,  and yet in the same breathe, it upheld the allegation against Sheriff. Sheriff, the SSS said, would be invited for yet another interrogation. What did the SSS find in its previous interrogations of the former governor? If SSS did not find anything against him then, is it now that it will get cogent evidence of his romance with Boko Haram, just because of what Davis said?

    At times, our security agencies act hastily without looking at the merit of a case before drawing their conclusion. And this is just one of such occasions. There is no serious security agency in the world that will dismiss such grave allegations without prior investigation. For instance, a court will never dismiss a claim as frivolous and vexatious without first hearing the parties. Who and who did the SSS quiz before dismissing  Davis’ allegation against Ihejirika? If SSS  cleared him because as ”army chief he waged battle against Boko Haram”, why can’t it extend the same gesture to Sheriff, who the agency  investigated in the past without finding anything incriminating against him?

    The battle to unmask those behind Boko Haram is not one to be fought on sentiments. Our security agencies should bear in mind that they owe Nigerians a duty to end the Boko Haram insurgency and bring all those behind it to book, no matter how influential they may be. Nobody should be seen as too big or untouchable in this Herculean task of ridding our nation of this evil. No sane person will be happy with what Boko Haram is doing in the Northeast today.

    The insurgents  have been capturing towns and villages in Borno and Adamawa states, leaving death and destruction in their trail. We must collectively put a stop to this and the only way we can do that is to be truthful to ourselves. What is the essence of disowning Davis when we know that there is no way he could have found himself in Boko Haram’s enclave without the knowledge of those in power? And of course, that of the Australian High Commission, which represents his home government here. If Davis was not hired as government negotiator, what then was he doing in Boko Haram’s  den knowing the inherent danger in such adventure? Training the insurgents on the use of arms and how to make bombs?

    The government should spare us  that kind of talk. We are wiser than that. What we want urgently now is for our girls to be rescued and the lost towns in Borno and Adamawa states recovered from Boko Haram.

  • Our soldiers’ burden

    Soldiers bear heavy load. Those of us who know nothing about soldiering see them as super human. We expect them to perform gigantic feats just because they are soldiers. Yes, as soldiers they know that much is expected of them because, as a nation, we have given them much to be able to defend our territorial integrity when the need arises.

    This is precisely the point. Have we given our soldiers much to  demand that they put down their lives for our country? In the last five years that  Boko Haram has been killing, maiming, looting and burning, our soldiers have been in the news, all for the wrong reasons. It is either that they are fleeing from battle or that they do not have enough arms and ammunition. In some cases, it may be that their bush allowance has not been paid. Yet, allocation would have been made for  payment.

    On some occasions, we have heard of our soldiers’ refusal  to fight over the non-payment of their allowances. Whenever  they take such action, they are  accused of mutiny and court-martialled. In the army, it seems it is a cardinal sin to fight for your right even when  your superiors deliberately deprive you of your entitlement. What these superior officers forget  is that  only a well catered for soldier will do justice to his calling in times of war. So, when we see our soldiers in rubber slippers instead of boots and in tattered iniforms we know those to hold responsible.

    To get the best out of our soldiers, we must give them the best in terms of kitting  and equipping them for battle. We have heard stories about our soldiers in recent times that are not palatable.  If these stories are true, it means that we are in trouble as a nation because we cannot say that we have  an army in the real sense of the word.  The army of a nation should be its pride. It should be a standing force that can be called upon at anytime to defend the nation and it should be able to rise to the occasion.

    Our soldiers’ exploits in the ongoing battle with Boko Haram does not seem to  show that we have such a force. If our soldiers have  been finding it difficult to cut Boko Haram to size all these years, then we are in trouble; serious trouble. To say that they are not trained to fight an ‘enemy’ like Boko Haram, as the Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Kenneth Minimah, said some weeks ago, will be begging the issue. To a layman, a soldier is a soldier and he  should be able to live up to that name, anywhere and anytime and against any opponent, whether a militia or soldier.

    Nigerians who have  been looking forward to  our soldiers  finishing  off Boko Haram never imagined that they were putting too much faith in their soldiers. To them, it was a matter of national pride to have had such expectation of their soldiers, a fighting force which they could hide under in times of trouble. So far, Nigerians have been disappointed by their soldiers. This disappointment is fast giving way to fear in case of attack by an external aggressor. Many are asking can these soldiers save us from an  external army   when they cannot fight Boko Haram?

    I share their apprehension because Boko Haram seems to be having the upper hand in its encounters with our soldiers. Whether we like it or not, Boko Haram is determined in its bid to reduce our troops to nothing. So, the sect  seizes every opportunity to paint our soldiers as sissies before the world. How does it do this? By deliberately attacking our soldiers and pushing them out of their strongholds as we  have witnessed in Damboa, Gwoza and Bama, all in Borno State, which is supposed to be under emergency.

    As at today, Boko Haram is exercising suzerainty over Gwoza, where it has declared a caliphate, meaning an Islamic republic right under the nose of our soldiers. With its flag flying in Gwoza, Boko Haram is inching towards capturing more towns in that troubled state. On Tuesday, it succeeded in its bid when it overran Bama, the second largest town in the state, which became famous in 1991 when former Petroleum Minister Prof Tam David-West was jailed there. The battle for Bama was fierce, with the sect losing no fewer than 40 militants on Monday.

    Their loss did not deter them as they returned on Tuesday to resume fighting. Their targets were said to be the Mohammed Kur Barracks and the police station in Bama, a town said to be strategic to the sect because most of its leaders have their base there. If our soldiers could repel Boko Haram on Monday, how did the tide turn overnight? Is it that we do not have what it takes to sustain such advantage? How was the sect able to rout out our soldiers? Were they better equipped than our soldiers? Do they have more men than us? If our soldiers cannot keep  a territory seized from Boko Haram elements, a band of loose fighters, I am afraid of what may happen if we fight  a trained army.

    The prayer of many Nigerians today is that Nigeria may not have cause to go to war with another country. The Boko Haram insurgency has exposed so many things about not only the army, but our military in general. There is need to overhaul our armed forces to meet the exigencies of the time. If it takes our experience with Boko Haram to reinvent our armed forces, the nation will be the  happier for it

    But first, we must reverse the Gwoza and Bama losses before Boko Haram becomes  so emboldened as  to attempt an attack on Maiduguri, the Borno State capital,  which is said to be about 64 kilometres to Bama. What we are witnessing today is highly disturbing. It is a shame that Boko Haram is running rings around our soldiers. I do not know why our soldiers, who are known for their outstanding performance  in peace operations abroad, can allow themselves to be so treated by Boko Haram?

    It is no longer tactical  for them   to hold their peace against Boko Haram, which does not deserve to be treated with kid gloves. If a loose band of soldiers feels that it has what it takes to confront trained soldiers it should be prepared to pay the price for its action. Boko Haram has made its choice, so it should be ready to live with it.  We can no longer watch while the sect treats our soldiers like a bunch of fighters, who do not know why they are donning their uniform. It is time to make Boko Haram stew in its own juice.

    If Cameroon can mount an assault against  Boko Haram,  why are we shy of doing the same? Boko Haram cannot take on the Nigerian Army; no never. So, our soldiers must wake up from their slumber  and redeem their image that has been sullied by Boko Haram. As the mirror image of our nation, they cannot afford to fail us.  Enough of running away from these insurgents. They should take the fight to the sect and flush its members out of Gwoza, Bama and of course,  Sambisa Forest and bring back our girls.