Category: Thursday

Youth symbolises heroism and sacrifice. Through valour and overbearing assertiveness, theirs, is the earth. Major transformations of society through the ages bear the imprint of youth. American President Kennedy once admonished the youth of America not to ask for what their country can do for them but what they could do for their country. Jesus Christ, the greatest teacher and social crusader from Nazareth at a youthful age of 29, embarked on social transformation of his society. His sacrifice was for more than half of the world population who for the promise of salvation have embraced His vision of a good society. Crusading youths seek honour and glory, not for themselves but for society.

Here at home, Nigerian youths, as nationalists, journalists, trade unionists and even soldiers have been in the forefront of nation-building since the pre-independence years. It was Nigerian youths studying abroad that first suggested that Nigeria be fashioned as a federal state modelled after Swiss constitution. They formed the Nigerian Youth Movement (NYM) in 1933. The new inheritors of power in the 50s who set in motion the process of creating a more egalitarian society were youths in their 20s and 30s.

With this history of heroic exploits of Nigerian youths, it is not a surprise our crusading youths are currently at war with those they claim mortgaged their present through uninspiring leadership. And because their cause is just, many have identified with their crusade. There is Senator Dino Melaye who has said he ‘is in politics to ensure the youths of Nigeria get their own share of our national resources’. There is Bukola Saraki, the senate president who having dismissed Buhari as too old and feeble to lead, is positioning himself as saviour of Nigerian youths. There are also Kanu Agabi (SAN), who has urged Nigerian youths not to allow artificial boundaries to split them, but work more on things that would unite them as a people; Governor Tambuwal who insisted that “we cannot keep calling youth the leaders of tomorrow without ensuring that we put in place deliberate measures that will aid their quest for public service.  “ We now even have a NotTooYoungTo Run Act, which reduces the age qualification for political office seekers.

Of course the biggest masquerade behind Nigerian youth’s current struggle for power is Chief Olusegun Obasanjo.   “Don’t be afraid or be discouraged, they will try to intimidate you individually or collectively, but I will stand by you”, he recently reassured them. He was also the arrow-head of the formation of Coalition for Nigeria Movement (CNM), and its integration to African Democratic Congress (ADC). Speaking on a theme: “Preparing Successor Generation for Effective Participation in Governance”, during a recent event in his presidential library, Obasanjo made it clear that “there can be no transformation without youths.”   But while challenging them to tackle the old generation politicians and wrest leadership from them, he reminded the youths that “Leadership is never given on a platter of gold, (they) have to work for it.” But how equipped are our crusading youths who have so far anchored their quest for leadership on a sense of entitlement for the task Obasanjo set before them?

The truth is that our founding fathers studied hard to understand the world and the place of their society in the world.  Obafemi Awolowo,  a self-made man, in 1947 wrote his master-piece, the ‘Path to Nigeria Freedom’  where he had argued “Nigeria is not a nation, it is a mere geographical expression; There are no “Nigerians” in the same sense as there are “English” or “Welsh” or “French” as a student. Enahoro had been an editor of a national newspaper, Nnamdi Azikiwe’s newspaper, the Southern Nigerian Defender, Ibadan, in 1944 at the age of at 21. Bode Thomas who died at 33 as deputy chairman of Action Group party was a successful and brilliant lawyer sought after all over the country and was the author of regionalism that we eventually embraced as the basis of our federal arrangement. Remi Fani-Kayode, ‘born in London, groomed in Lagos’ was the leader of the AG youth wing who set up his ‘mosquito squad’ believed to be a militant group. Akintola, an outstanding journalist and a successful lawyer was a wordsmith who Awo claimed could debate two opposing views and win both. Sadly, very few Nigerian youths in their 20s today know anything about our nation let alone the world.

Not even our colonial masters underestimated the crisis of nation-building in a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural nation like ours. Reflecting on this in 1948, Arthur Richards, Governor General of Nigeria had said: “It is only the accident of British suzerainty which had made Nigeria one country. It is still far from being one country or one nation socially or even economically… socially and politically there are deep differences between the major tribal groups. They do not speak the same language and they have highly divergent customs and ways of life and they represent different stages of culture”. Unfortunately, the Nigerian military and their collaborators benefitting from our tragedy have spent the last 50 years playing the ostrich.

Most of our crusading youths below 50 years of age know only the military narrative. They similarly cannot appreciate that government policies in the First Republic succeeded only to the extent they were anchored on the value and culture of the people. The free education policy succeeded in the west because it was anchored on the ‘aaro’ a type of self-help system where age groups come together to contribute materially and physically towards successful implementation of members’ projects such as building houses, marrying a new wife or burying their old departed parents. On the other hand, the policy was violently resisted in the east because it was not part of their culture. By building on their cultural values, the old Western Region is widely today believed to be the most educated part of Africa.

Unfortunately, most of our crusading youths, routinely cite Emmanuel Macron of France to justify their sense of entitlement.  It is as if his magic can be replicated in neighbouring Britain or Germany with different cultural values let alone Nigeria with over 450 distinct language groups. They also often cite American democracy which produces only a choice, imposed on society by two rival elite groups, no matter how idiotic.

There are other intriguing questions before our crusading youths. Are they by any chance, thinking of alternative to the current expensive presidential system or even democracy, the reigning king which even with its celebrated major attribute – check and balance – is by far inferior to the old Oyo traditional administrative system? Are they going to continue the military hypocrisy of trying to dictate unity amidst clashing of cultures where for instance one group say “when calamity befalls the owners of the land, …they run back to our villages to allow the owners of the land who know how to appease their own gods confront their own demons” and the other culture that insists you must be prepared to swim or sink with your benefactor?

The demand on youth is enormous. It is a call for service which requires adequate preparation.  Youth because of heroic exploits may own the earth. But it is at the behest of society. Because of youth’s brevity of life,

“The garlands wither in your brow.

Then boast no more your mighty deeds.

Upon death’s purple altar.

See where the victor-victim bleeds” James Shirley (1596-1666)

The latent war against Buhari by western promoters of market-driven economy which started back in 1984 came up anew shortly after he was sworn in as president some three years back. It was rekindled by the London-based Economist, in  an article titled “Crude Tactics”, where ex-President Jonathan was first described as “an ineffectual buffoon” who allowed “politicians and their cronies fill their pockets with impunity” without acknowledging that Britain served as safe-haven for such looted funds, before moving on to criticize Buhari for “refusing to devalue the naira in order to battle the fall in global oil prices”. Two years down the line, it is difficult to know who between the state as net importer of labour of other societies, the privileged elite who had millions of stolen state funds in foreign currencies stashed in their rooms and in their domiciliary accounts who became multi-billionaire many times over overnight and the vulnerable poor who look up to government for protection but left to face the attendant inflation.

The renewed war however assumed a new dimension last week with a new provocative report by the news magazine’s Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) and HSBC, a scandal-prone multi-national banking and financial institution whose activities are mired in controversies in many parts of the world. The conclusions of the reports by these two institutions widely regarded as foot-soldiers of western imperialists was not only at variance with facts they presented but touted at a regime change in line with policy thrust about those who constitute a threat to the interest of their principals.

And if anyone fills that bill, it is President Buhari. As pro-state and anti-free market economy messianic leader who questions the continued exploitation of our resources by foreign powers, Buhari has always been legitimate target of western imperialist powers’ strong arm tactics. His removal from office was engineered in 1985 after rejecting the IMF loan and refusing to honour terms of repayment of loans looted and domiciled in British banks by some second republic politicians. Babangida, working with foreign powers, exploited the sentiments of Nigerians Buhari  insisted had an option to starve if they could not produce their own foods, to play the Brutus in the night of many knives inside an army barracks in Victoria Island Lagos. Babangida’s acceptance of  IMF loan and its ‘conditionalities’, is responsible for the  turning of our country into a dumping ground for manufactured goods and today’s mass unemployment of our youths. For his pains, IBB got a state visit to Britain and was allowed to embark on a fraudulent ‘transition without end’ for eight years.

But to understand the nature of the ongoing war against ‘Buharinomics’, we must first understand why Britain and other old European powers have no apologies for protecting their disproportionate share of world resources. First driven to Africa in search of food, goods, gold and glory by a hostile environment, they did not see anything immoral in first introducing Africa into the globalized economy through slave trade. From slave trade to colonialism, neo-colonialism and globalization, there is only one aim – profit or living on the sweat and blood of the less the privileged. The only difference between slave trade and globalization where pastoralists in the west receive $2-$7 for every head of their cow, while 70% of Nigerians live below $2 a day is only in nomenclature.

Now let us critically examine this latest assault by these two western imperialists’ acclaimed foot-soldiers- the Economist and HSBC. First, the simmering two years war between Buhari’s government and South Africa multi-national telecommunication giant, MTN, it had ordered to repatriate back to the country the $8.1b it improperly transferred abroad was recently brought to the public attention.  Then last Sunday, Garba Shehu, the president’s media assistant, while challenging the HSCB report revealed an ongoing government investigation of  HSBC  which it accused of laundering more than USD 100,000,000 for the late General Sani Abacha in Jersey, Paris, London and Geneva. He went on to identify the following accounts as the channels through which the monies were laundered as: AC: S-104460 HSBC Fund Admin Ltd. Jersey ($12,000,000); AC 37060762 HSBC Life (Europe), U.K ($20,000,000) and AC: 38175076 HSBC Bank Plc. U.K ($1,600,000). He also claimed the bank is also suspected in the laundering of proceeds of corruption involving more than 50 other Nigerians, including a serving senator.

All the above came to light because government handlers want to prove that any report by David Faukners who works for the Economist and HSBC (South Africa), cannot be anything but malicious. For instance he first admitted “Higher oil prices have brightened Nigeria’s macro outlook, boosting export earnings and the supply of foreign exchange, improving the external position and supporting NGN stability; conceded the trade account has registered a surplus equal to 6.2% of GDP in Q1 2018, while the capital inflows have recovered following last year’s FX reforms with a FX reserves almost doubled over the past 18 months”.  But this however did not stop him from predicting that “A second term for Mr. Buhari however raises the risk of limited economic progress and further fiscal deterioration, prolonging the stagnation of his first term, particularly if there is no move towards completing reform of the exchange rate system or fiscal adjustments that diversify government revenues away from oil”. It is also no less curious that after admitting that the PDP is not only fragmented without a known presidential candidate  but also with little known about its policy platform”, he went on to predict  the 2019 election  ‘favours a return to power for the opposition PDP’.

It is difficult to disagree with government that now says it is corruption and its sponsors fighting back because ‘the medium is the message’. As proof of its culpability as an accessory to corrupt elements, Garba Shehu pointed out that not too long ago, HSBC was forced by the US federal authorities ‘to pay $1.92 billion to settle charges of money laundering; fined $1.2 billion in Hong Kong for “systemic deficiencies” in bond sales and was made to pay $100 million in currency rigging settlement’, as reported by The Telegraph of January 18.

To further prove their report was malicious, the federal government has been flaunting a more balanced ADB report that states ‘Faithful implementation of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (2017–20) which focuses on six priority sectors: agriculture; manufacturing; solid minerals, including iron, gold, and coal; services, including information and communication technology, financial services, tourism, and creative industries; construction and real estate; and oil and gas, holds the promise of weaning the country off its dependence on oil’. And if further proof of mischief is needed, the government has called attention to HSCB’s report which incorrectly claim that “several local manufacturers have suspended operations”, and accused the president of being responsible for the death  of “much of Nigeria’s nascent industry”, at a period  the Nigerian Manufacturers Association has come out to commend President Buhari for ‘his anti-import policies as provided for in the budget’.

With the above facts, it is difficult to disagree with those who claim the controversial HSBC’s verdict of “second term for Mr. Buhari raises the risk of limited economic progress and further fiscal deterioration”, was borne out of mischief by those who have more to lose from current ‘Buharinomics’ and his anti-corruption crusade.