The Nation Newspaper

Category: Thursday

  • Amaechi and PDP’s fad for private jets

    Amaechi and PDP’s fad for private jets

    Owning private jets have become a fad among PDP governors who have access to free state money and their rich friends in the oil and financial sectors. The only thing that has changed in the 13 years of PDP administration is our new status as the third or fourth nation with highest number of private jet owners in the world. Our record as a nation where about 80% of the citizens live below two dollars a day remains unchanged.

    The curious thing however is that neither the presidency, said to control between 9 and 11 aircrafts in its presidential fleet, nor government body such as the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has been able to tell us the exact number of private jets owned or operating in Nigeria.

    Forbes publication for instance claims the figure of privately owned jets jumped from 20 in 2007 to 150 in 2012. The Guardian, on its part, quoting a top official of the NCAA claims that the ‘ownership of the state-of-the-art jets in Nigeria had grown to over 200 in 2012 from 50 in 2008’. The figures of the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers, (NIESV), a body that insisted it is trained to assess properties, agrees with that of The Guardian.

    But as far as the NCAA is concerned, there are only 10 private jets registered in Nigeria. According to Sam Adurogboye, the body’s spokesperson, all others including the Canadian-made Bombardier jet with US registration number N431CB, a gift to Ayo Oritsejafor, the president of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), are not owned by Nigerians because ‘they carry foreign registration credentials rather than Nigerian registration’.

    The only fact not in dispute however is the claim by Bombardier, the

    Canadian aircraft manufacturer that Nigeria ranks behind the United States, United Kingdom, and China among countries that top their orders for the supply of its aircraft type.

    Tragically, the concern of ACN that has been behaving like a mourner who weep louder than the bereaved has been to defend Rotimi Amaechi.

    First we are told, as if we didn’t know, that the grounding of his private aircraft by NCAA was “a glaring case of political witch-hunt”. Amaechi as a PDP star does not need Lai Mohammed or any outsider to tell him the consequences of anyone crossing the path of President Jonathan.

    Amaechi as a veteran of many PDP family wars, starting with Obasanjo who insisted he was then not a PDP material for governorship, the verbal battle with inpatient Patience Jonathan over his demolition of houses for schools in Okirika, the Rivers and Bayelsa battle over disputed oil fields, and the ongoing battle of wits between him and the presidency over the chairmanship of the governor’s forum, knows his enemies.

    Those who are setting him up against an unforgiving President Jonathan by attempting to sell his record of performance in power generation, infrastructural development and security in his state are only going to increase Amaechi’s nightmare. Such achievements count for very little among PDP leaders where ex-PDP governors who stole their states blind moved on to become senators, member of kitchen cabinet of a new president or received state pardon after an indictment by the judiciary.

    In any case, Ahmed Gulak, the president’s adviser on political matters has summarised the PDP government position on one of its stars: “If you are a governor and you are flying a private jet, you must do it within the extant laws. There are laws governing the usage of private jets in this country and the world over and because you are a governor does not give you the license to flout the laws governing your country”.

    I don’t think anyone should pick a quarrel with the presidency for saying ‘no governor is above the law’. Jonathan has after all, not said PDP governors and individuals including obstructive journalists cannot fly their private jets. I think it would have been more helpful if ACN had merely appealed to the presidency and PDP to live by their precepts.

    But I think the Amaechi case has thrown up a more fundamental issue that should be of concern to Nigerians. This is why those defending him should look beyond personality and focus on what has become a national malaise. It is bad enough we have some Nigerians who acquired their private jets by exploiting government weak institutions, some ‘self proclaiming’ prosperity prophets who buy theirs through exploitation of fears of their congregation and through sales of grace to fraudsters, but it is a national embarrassment when there is no one to call to order our elected political leaders who junket around the nation while those they were elected to serve wallow in poverty.

    It is therefore a disservice to the nation for anyone attempting to separate Amaechi, a man who in spite of his disagreement with his PDP family shares the same PDP predilection of freely spending the taxpayer’s money as if they are answerable to none.

    It is on record that Rivers State owns an AW139 helicopter, which it leased to a commercial airliner. It is also on record that Rivers State sold its Embraer Legacy 600, claiming it was too expensive to maintain. It has also been said that Rivers State government last year sold its Dash 8-Q200 aircraft to Cross River State for $6 million which the later then leased to Aero Contractors to undertake commercial flights to and from Obudu airstrip. It was also reported by the authoritative Guardian on October 7, 2012 that Amaechi acquired a brand new Bombardier Global 5000 (N565RS) from Bombardier Canada for $45.7 million (N7.3 Billion) through the Bank of Utah Trustee account.

    Defenders of Governor Amaechi should tell Nigerians what the poor people of Rivers State who coughed out N7.3b benefited from his last flight to Akure before being caught up in PDP family war often fought over sharing of posts and spoils of office. Perhaps they should also tell us the immediate benefits of the poor people of Taraba where Suntai Danbaba’s near suicide left five other Nigerians dead. The flight that led to the crash of a Nigeria Navy executive Augusta 109E helicopter, which killed Kaduna State Governor Patrick Yakowa, former NSA Andrew Owoye Azazi and four others, was not undertaken to better the lives of the poor who live on polluted waters of the Niger creeks or the people of Kaduna confronted at all times by religious and political strife arising from economic deprivations. Like Amaechi’s last flight in his state-of-the-art jet, it was undertaken to join presidential aide Oronto Douglas, a mere presidential aide who was burying his father. It is an embarrassment that while leaders of advanced economies use commercial flights for their official engagements, huge resources needed for development are tied up by PDP stars like Amaechi, Danbaba and their tribe joined by even fraudsters who clog our air space with private jets. Our greatest tragedy is that we have no leadership that can call them to order by leading by example.

    In this regard, a cursory survey of the list of private jet owners as published by the authoritative Forbes will show very clearly that PDP has failed our nation. We have on the list some indicted by the House committee probe on privatization The report which recommended that some privatized firms fraudulently bought by these con men be returned to the state was buried by PDP and the presidency. On the list also are some of those involved in fuel importation scam that in a sane society should be in jail Both the Farouk and Ribadu committee recommendations were rubbished The favoured Aig Imokhuede’s report has been sabotaged by the presidency, PDP and the judiciary. And featured prominently on the list are also some merchants of ‘grace for sale’ patronized by fuel and financial fraudsters.

     

  • If

    If

    If we were truly as intelligent as we think we are, this will be the moment in which we understand that the choices we made had never served but impeached us. This is the moment in which we agonize over what consequences we shall get to endure or what indescribable joys we will get to enjoy, according to the choices we made.

    If we had truly given voice to our rage and pain by casting our votes for the candidates truly deserving of them, we would know, from this moment henceforth; if President Goodluck Jonathan is the Messiah that we had longed to find. This moment henceforth, we will get to know if every state governor, senator, local council chairman, among others, actually measure up to statesmanship we are yet to enjoy.

    This moment henceforth, we shall begin to understand the many aces and inadequacies of “If.” And so shall we finally come to terms with wantonness, folly, and cowardliness by which posterity will define and judge us.

    If only we could ever get past “If”and its politics of regret and expectation. If President Goodluck Jonathan would scorn the beaten path, he would offer us more than time-worn “life-boats”that basically, incapacitates and obscures.

    If Mr President-elect truly intends to be true to his words, he would be done with his promises of better life, free amenities and infrastructure for in the normal conditions of existence, it is the duty of the government to provide among other things; good roads and electricity, security and a stable economy; for we do pay for them – quite painfully too; from our income as tax.

    If President Jonathan would do his bit, then he would foster a prompt eradication of the canker of unemployment; then he would seek with intent to actualize, lasting solutions to the monstrosities of bad roads, substandard education and health sectors, insecurity, erratic power supply, redundant refineries, elephant projects, ill-equipped hospitals, pervasive poverty et al. Then he would motivate his associates and fellow public officers in power to hearken and seek determinable end to the people’s cries and grunts of pain.

    And if every serving state governor among others would aspire to the noblest deeds in statesmanship and ardour, then every city and every village would be a haven for tourists to explore. If Governor Babatunde Fashola would extend his politics of progress and expansion to the enclaves that no one could manage to accept, still, as dazzling emblems of his mega-city project, then every street and every neighbourhood in Agege, Abule-Egba, and Agbado-Ijaye to mention a few, would become attractions no one could ignore.

    If Governor Babatunde Fashola would accord his studious stare beyond the bounds of Yaba, Ikoyi, Ikeja, Victoria Island et al, then he would find that there are resources yet untapped within the enclaves no one would gallantly identify as brilliant archetypes of his mega-city project. Then every lane and every settlement in Ayobo, Iyana Ipaja, Ipaja, Ajasa-Command would be a sight for the living. Then every street and every neighbourhood in Ahmadiyya, Meiran, Iju-Ishaga, Akute, Ojodu and those impenetrable streets of Ajegunle, just before Ogun state would become more habitable for every visitor and every resident alike.

    And if Ogun state governor-elect, Ibikunle Amosu, is truly the Messiah the natives claim he would be, he would endeavour to reverse every anomaly that has been foisted upon the state. He would re-energise the state by repairing the damaged roads of Abeokuta, Sango-Ota and the link roads by which Itele meshes with Lagos. He would make the filth in Ita-Elega, Itoku, Itoko, Isale-Ake, Onikolobo, Quarry road, Adatan, to mention a few disappear; he would improve the lot of Abeokuta, the land of industry, paramount royalty and the cerebral.

    If every incoming governor, local council chairman, could aspire to such noble ideal as the provision of good roads among other vital infrastructure, then, the mountain dwellers of Sankwala and their neighbours in Gashaka-Gumti, Taraba state would have no further need to travel across the border into Cameroon to seek good medical care. Then they would have no need to emigrate to till other people’s lands in Cameroon, while our land lay fallow in our motherland.

    If every public office holder would accept that we do not live for the benefit and love of “lifeboats” and that no patronising politics would serve as fertile earth in which to sow our seeds of hope, development and prosperity, they could chance on the means to improve our lives. And they could learn to institute veritable means by which we could attain it, like conscientious leadership cum service in the interest of the people.

    If they all would accept that poverty, ignorance, illness, corruption and strife as other afflictions of their kind are hardly metaphysical emergencies as we have been made to believe, they could finally attain a grasp of true statesmanship and governance.

    If they all would seek to obliterate these anomalies and improve upon our lives within the bounds of conscious efforts in pursuit of those values we seek – particularly those we are too effeminate to seek, they could eventually become the worthy representatives we have always wished that they would become.

    If every incoming public officer would evolve a personal ethic wholly derived to elevate the fundamental nature of our universe, then they could be able to revert that time-worn and insidious altruism that has been our lot.

    Then the Nigerian state could be able to refute such menacing philosophy that that propagates the notion that every citizen by his nature and stature is helpless and doomed. Then every Nigerian could be able to rebut such manner of altruism that stresses that success, happiness and achievement are impossible to you and me; that emergencies and catastrophes are the norm of our lives and that our primary goal is to combat them with the least expectation of triumph while we expect altruistic lifelines, lifeboats and other pick-me-ups from our leadership and state.

    If every newly elected public officer would endeavour to scorn the allure of the beaten and yet most travelled path, they could attain such wisdom and honour their predecessors could never have. They could get to appreciate that no brilliant degree of sophistry or double-speak could ever justify or validate such politics that seeks to asphyxiate the aspirations and wishes of the man on the street however far-fetched they are.

    They could get to understand why like the altruistic philosophy from which it is derived, such politics rests on a plethora of myths that are as outdated as supernatural as edicts legitimizing“The Divine Right of Kings” over serfs.

    And if we could endeavour to be more mindful and assertive, we could at long last, re-invent ourselves as everything but the inconsequential social elements we have been labeled to be.

    We could divest our lives of the shams that incapacitates and obscures. We could learn how not to compromise our struggle for self-determination any longer knowing that if we do, more often than not, we will suffer a succession of familiar betrayals that has overtime emboldened and fortified the power of corrupt and wholly evil leadership that we had lacked the courage to fight and conquer.

  • Amaechi’s political prognosis on Nigerians

    Amaechi’s political prognosis on Nigerians

    A  few weeks ago, the Governor of Rivers State, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, was reported by some newspapers as saying that the objective social and economic conditions in Nigeria called for a change, but that Nigerians were too timid to bring about such a change by directly challenging their leaders. Coming from such a highly placed public official, a state governor, his comments must be regarded as surprising and strange. He did not specifically call for a violent change, but came quite close to it. Many will be disposed to consider his comments as hypocritical, self-serving, and a gratuitous insult to his people, the same people who, through years of personal sacrifice, brought him to power after decades of military rule in Nigeria. The same views regarding possible future violent political change in Nigeria had been expressed earlier on by the respected Catholic Bishop of Sokoto, Matthew Kukah, who was reported as saying that a violent change was not possible in Nigeria. Well, the Catholic Church has not been known to be in support of violent change, except when it serves its interest. In general, it has always been in support of the Establishment.

    The conclusions reached by the two prominent figures raised some eye brows in both official and unofficial circles. This paper actually wrote an editorial in support of Governor Amaechi’s comments that Nigerians were too timid to force a change in the country. But I think Governor Amaechi missed the point by his explicit dismissal of Nigerians as being too timid to organise themselves in revolt against the authorities. There is no basis for his comments. A revolution occurs only when the objective conditions warrant it. That is not yet the case in Nigeria. There are far too many cultural constraints that would make a violent change difficult. The nation and its people are too badly divided.

    Now, I have never met Governor Amaechi, but my impression of him, drawn from his frequent press comments, is that of a youthful, energetic, and thoughtful leader eager for a change in the country, precisely what the nation is in dire need of. He may be having some political problems in his state and with his party, the PDP. But one must share his concerns about the lack of progress in the appalling social and economic conditions of the poor in Nigeria. Obviously his observation about Nigerians being a timid lot, though erroneous, came from the heart and one must respect him for his concerns.

    However, there is no historical basis for Governor Amaechi’s conclusion that Nigerians are too timid to force a change in the country. They will do so if the objective conditions exist. But that is not quite the case now. Both before and after Nigeria’s independence, the Nigerian public, particularly the poor, played a crucial role in Nigeria’s political history, challenging the authorities whenever there is a compelling reason to do so. And it is only the people who can make that judgment, not their leaders inciting them to do so. They will only resort to a rebellion if they are united about it and consider it to be in their interest to do so. It is unlikely that they can be goaded into it.

    Nigeria’s political history shows that, at various times, the Nigerian people were in open rebellion against British colonial rule in Nigeria and their own post independence governments, both civilian and military. Examples of this include the violent protests at the coal mines in Enugu, the riots in Abeokuta, led by Mrs. Ransome Kuti, over the introduction of direct taxation, and the 1946 Labour strike in Lagos that virtually paralysed the colonial government. The Nigerian people participated fully in the independence movement under the leadership of the various political parties and organisations. It was the support of the masses that made Nigeria’s independence from British colonial rule possible. Without their active support the struggle against foreign domination would have been more difficult.

    After independence and at crucial moments the Nigerian people took their destiny into their hands by challenging the excesses of both civilian and military rule in Nigeria. One may recall the Agbekoya resistance movement in the Old Western Region against the unpopular Akintola government foisted on the people by the Balewa federal government. The Agbekoya movement made the state ungovernable and virtually paralysed the unpopular Akintola government. During the long period of military rule, determined resistance from the people made our military rulers very uncomfortable. They knew they did not enjoy the support of the people. More recently, under civilian rule, the federal authorities had to back down on the issue of fuel subsidy, following mass protests and demonstrations in Lagos and some other state capitals. Had the Jonathan PDP not given way on this issue it would have faced the danger of an open insurrection. So, time and again, the Nigerian masses have shown great courage in challenging the establishment where they are forced into doing so by being pushed to the wall.

    However, it should be admitted that in the context of Nigeria’s tribal politics, it can be quite difficult to mobilise the people for the purpose of challenging the authorities and forcing a change in the country. For this to happen, two things are necessary. First, there must be shared values among the various Nigerian tribes on governance and the limits of government. This is not the case now. The massive public corruption in Nigeria, the source of much public irritation, has been tribalised and cannot, therefore, be addressed squarely by mobilising the people against it. Corrupt public officials often get away with it because they know they can count on the support of their own people. Though a potent force, corruption is unlikely to be the source of violent change in Nigeria.

    The second condition for forcing a change is that this must be led by a cohesive and detribalised middle class among which there are also shared values. Again, this is not the case in Nigeria. The economic reform programme of the late 80s set the emerging middle class in Nigeria back by several decades. Their incomes and status fell dramatically to the extent that, today, there are really only two classes in Nigeria, the rich and the poor. It worsened the social and economic conditions of the poor, even endangering their very existence. For them, their survival is the first order. After all, the poor cling even more tenaciously to life than the rich and will not put themselves in harm’s way by resorting to violence, the outcome of which is by no means certain. In the event of a violent revolution, the poor will suffer even more than the rich.

    No one can be absolutely certain that a violent change will not occur in Nigeria in the light of the appalling social and economic conditions in which the vast majority of its various peoples live. In the last few years, Nigeria’s economic growth rate has been impressive, showing an annual average of 7 per cent. But there has been very little trickle down effect of this significant growth in its GDP. The economic conditions of the people have worsened. This is why it is imperative for the various authorities in Nigeria to take necessary economic measures to avert it. We already have in various parts of the country kidnappings, assassinations, violent crimes and insurrections, such as those of Boko Haram, MEND, MASSOB, and others, that openly challenge the legitimacy and moral authority of the government and the viability of the nation. Cumulatively, all these may lead to violent protests and mass demonstrations that can spiral easily into a mass revolt.

    But no one can predict with any degree of certainty when this dire security situation might lead to a direct revolution, as most revolutions are triggered off rather suddenly and at a time least expected. In fact, in most cases revolutions occur just when the economic conditions of the people, begin to show some improvement; hardly ever before. The ‘Arab Spring’ that is currently sweeping through the Arab world is sufficient confirmation of this. It was when economic conditions began to improve in most of the Arab countries that the people went into a rebellion against their governments.

     

     

  • Deconstructing the architect of Abia’s modernisation

    Deconstructing the architect of Abia’s modernisation

    It has recently become fashionable to embark on painstaking research and socio-psychological study of dramatis personae that influence and drive public policies. An incontrovertible finding reveals that a person’s background, experiences and idiosyncratic make-up contribute largely to his approach in governance and life’s issues. For Abia State governor, his mastery of the socio-political milieu (as a home boy) and the challenges he encountered, have culminated to his transformational leadership exemplified by the numerous legacy projects.

    Governor T.A. Orji has been severally described as a cat with nine lives. The booby traps and landmine that trailed his quest to govern his people turned out blessings in disguise. By a twist of fate, (Ochendo as fondly called) is usually placed in underdog positions in virtually all his political fights but remarkably and out of the blues, he has consistently emerged triumphantly, to the chagrin of the spin doctors of the opposition.

    Typical of the journey to the seat of power in Nigeria, Orji’s ascendancy to Government House was bumpy, tortuous and attracted a barrage of nasty onslaughts. Of course, the ‘all-powerful nature’ of Nigerian State and its unfettered capacity to dispense favours and punishments alike, are at the root of concerted manoeuvrings and war-like dispositions in the political chessboard.

    With a thorough-bred academic and civil service background, his candour and administrative finesse when he served as the Chief of Staff at Government House were legendary. His infectious smile and disarming humility attracted silent admirers for him. Most obviously, his knack for details and fine sense of operational balance in handling state affairs (usually intertwined with divergent interests), elevated the office as a veritable buffer ground and melting-pot for crystallization of policy in-puts.

    Interestingly, when it was mooted that he would fly the gubernatorial flag of his political party in 2007, it was not difficult to market his candidature given his huge store of goodwill across the state. Not long, the preponderance of genuine support groups for Ochendo was witnessed in all parts of Abia. His intimidating profile and wide acceptability became worrisome to the opposition. They conspired and took him out of circulation on trumped up charges in the build-up to the 2007 elections. The shenanigans in the name of litigations and unprovoked campaigns of calumny that followed his first term were enough distractions. The family dynasty that held the state down for years gave him no breathing space either. The political economy of the state that was under ‘mamacratic’ stranglehold obviously became unbearable to him. Of course, Orji in his characteristic frankness admitted that his first tenure in office was the years of the locust.

    Determined to jumpstart the state from its doldrums, he led the crack team of progressive elements in the state to chase away the merciless foxes bent on milking Abia to stupor. In fact, T.A. Orji imbibed the ideals of ‘winning without bloodshed’ as enunciated by Sun-tzu, the author of the ancient Chinese classic, The Art of War. His unassuming but amiable mien and broad-based engagement of stakeholders helped matters; as he walked the talk with unassailable commitment to leapfrog Abia from the backwaters of mainstream national politics. Expectedly, a groundswell of support for a momentous march to excellence ennobled his avowed readiness for revolutionary governance and set the stage for a giant leap and speedy modernisation processes.

    The new Abia under Orji is marked with consensus building, mutual respect among the elders and management of political differences with maturity. The state now enjoys unprecedented peace which has brought about a convivial atmosphere for development activities. The investment climate in Abia is very inviting. Abia is unarguably, one of the safest states in Nigeria. It used to be a hotbed of kidnapping, armed robbery and other violent crimes until Orji did a re-jig of his security strategies.

    Mindful of the strategic importance of road infrastructure to economic development, Governor Orji has embarked on massive construction, reconstruction and rehabilitation of roads across the 17 LGAs and most importantly, at Aba where over 18 roads are being worked on. Some have been completed. Besides the over 250 health centres scattered in all nooks and cranny of the state, the newly constructed Abia State Specialist and Diagnostic Centre, Umuahia recently got the approval of Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria for training of medical interns.

    The evacuation of power from Ohiya Power Station has increased electricity supply in the state capital and its environs while the Alaoji National Independent Power Project and Geometric Independent Power Project in Aba are part of the gains of good working relationship with the Federal Government and enabling environment that is a sine qua non for public private partnership. When these projects become fully operational, they will boost economic activities of small and medium scale enterprises and act as catalysts to industrialization.

    On the strength of Orji’s robust vision, Abia State has turned into a huge construction site with the erection of offices and edifices for the conduct of government businesses. The double three-storey secretariat, the world class international conference centre, the new government house, the new court rooms and offices, the JAAC/ASUBEB building, the new office complex for the State Broadcasting Corporation are indicative of the fact that Abia State is poised to gain a befitting status for accelerated development. Before now, the state capital- Umuahia had retained a despicable status of a rural setting.

    As a welfarist par excellence, Orji, at the beginning of his administration, had put smiles on the faces of civil servants by promoting all cadres of workers to one salary grade level and presently, he has sustained the payment of the highest minimum wage of N21,100 in Nigeria. It is equally on record that Abia workers under his administration have never embarked on industrial action as a result of healthy relationship and mouth-watering welfare packages. The tuition free education for primary and secondary schoolchildren has increased school enrolment of Abia pupils and students just as Abia students have excelled in national and international competitions.

    No doubt, the task of rebuilding Abia from the scratch is a daunting one. But the good news is that the man at the helm of affairs is conscientious and is adequately prepared to clean up the Augean stables. The unfolding development strides in Abia portend a good omen. True, the radical departure from the entrenched self-glorification and empire-building by a tiny family cabal is Orji’s greatest legacy that marks the beginning of an end.

     

    • Nna contributed this piece from Obi Ngwa LGA, Abia State.

  • Death at a border town

    Death at a border town

    Even journalists, who are known to have a thick skin, were shocked on hearing the news. 185 persons killed in the border town of Baga in Kukawa Local Government Area of Borno State! It sounded unbelievable. ‘’How can 185 persons be mowed down in one fell swoop?” some wondered. ‘’Haha, and you believe that such a number can be killed just like that when we are not at war”,others said.

    This was the situation in many newsrooms on Monday when news filtered in of the killing by the Multinational Joint Task Force (MJTF) of 185 persons. Who are they? Boko Haram members? Children? Old men and women? For now, their identities remain a secret because they have been buried in line with Islamic injunctions, which stipulate that the remains of the dead should be interred within 24 hours. The MJTF was said to have unleashed its firepower on people of the town in its bid to smoke out members of the Islamic sect Boko Haram from the community. The task force’s brief is to castrate Boko Haram at all cost.

    So, when it heard that members of the sect were in the border town, it moved in to clip their wings before they became a menace. According to reports, when the task force got there, the Boko Haram elements opened fire, killing a soldier. Since the task force operatives comprise soldiers from Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger, we are yet to be told the nationality of the killed combatant.

    As a bloody civilian, I respect soldiers a lot because they don’t usually go about showing off that they have the skills to kill in over 1000 ways, as some of them are wont to say. Well trained soldiers are cool-headed; they are not moved, no matter the provocation to unleash their power on the defenceless. It is the ability of a soldier not to give in to anger or undue provocation in any situation that makes him stand out in any gathering. The hallmark of a soldier; a good soldier at that, is his levelheadedness even in war.

    A good soldier is expected to exercise restraint in the face of provocation. In any situation, when others are losing their heads, he is expected to keep his because if he should do otherwise, the end result will not be palatable. With what happened in Baga, we have seen what the uncontrolled anger of a soldier can lead to.

    If soldiers are not levelheaded, they will commit a lot of atrocities during wars, especially among the civilian population. But because of their training, which forbids them from killing, except if extremely necessary, we often don’t hear of extra-judicial killings during wars. Where we hear about such acts, as some soldiers will still behave irrationally, they are few and far between. Those are the soldiers who give the military a bad name.

    These are the soldiers who kill old men, women and rape girls in full public glare under the pretext of military operation. I wonder what kind of military assault will approve of the killing of innocent children and the raping of women. When such things happen, soldiers are no longer soldiers but savages. It is only a savage that will stoop so low as to kill the aged, both men and women, as well as children and also rape young girls. If such are permissible in war, what about in peace time?

    Nevertheless, such sadistic acts are disapproved of in war, so why must they happen when we are not at war? What happened in Baga last weekend is despicable. From the look of things, it was a premeditated act of murder. The soldiers deliberately went out to avenge the killing of their colleague without a thought for the consequences of their action. They probably did what they did in order to teach the civiolian populace a lesson that you don’t shield those who kill a soldier. But that was a wrong approach.

    In 1999, former President Olusegun Obasanjo adopted a similar strategy when he ordered the levelling of Odi in Bayelsa State over the killing of some soldiers. Yes, Odi was levelled; children, old men and women were killed, but what did he achieve? Did the action serve as a deterrence? As a former soldier, I appreciate the show of esprit de corps by Obasanjo, but he more than any other person ought to know that you don’t achieve anything through force.

    This is why till today, I respect the soldiers who arrested the late Yusuf Mohammed, the former Boko Haram leader, in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, in 2009. The soldiers treated the late Mohammed well and even treated him of his wounds. But when they handed him over to the police, the story changed. Mohammed was killed in police custody and the Boko Haram members became madder than ever. This is, however, not to justify the sect’s insensate actions ever since.

    If the soldiers could treat the late Mohammed nicely just four years ago, what could have happened to their temperament between then and now? Before the late Mohammed was arrested in 2009, members of his sect had killed many soldiers, yet when he fell into JTF’s hand, he was not skinned alive. He was treated like a gentleman and granted his full rights.

    In peace keeping as in war, soldiers have rules of engagement. The rules differ for both operations. These rules do not sanction the invasion of a community under the guise of hunting down suspects even where soldiers are killed. This is so because in a purely civilian setting as is the case with Baga, the collateral damage that may be done will be enormous during such invasion. In the MJTF’s desperate search for the killers of a soldier, they virtually wiped out a village.

    There is no way the soldierscan justify their action.

    Yes, we feel for them over the killing of their colleague, but the solution to that does not lie in killing innocent people. Those killed may not know anything about Boko Haram. Or are the soldiers saying that all those killed were Boko Haram members? We are yet to get the full picture of this massacre. We may be in for a big shock when the full details of this gruesome act become public.

    For now, all the soldiers, who took part in that bitter enterprise, should be withdrawn from this mission and courtmartialled. They should be made to tell us why they took part in these extra-judicial killings. Whether the carnalthy figure is one, 25, 37, 185 or 300, a life is a life and it should not be taken so cheaply. Soldiers more than any other professional should know that life is precious.

    How can they justify the killing of this lot for the death of a soldier, who knew from the day he joined the army that he had signed away his life? Some people are tried for war crimes in other climes for offences not as grievous as the Baga massacre; so nothing should stop us from getting those who committed this atrocity.

     

  • Jonathan and the evil forces within

    Jonathan and the evil forces within

    What President Jonathan is a deeply religious leader is not totally unexpected because his life has been a testimony to God’s special kindness. From a ‘shoeless’ school boy, God paved the way for a very rewarding position of an OMPADEC Assistant Director. From there he became Deputy Governor through the goodwill of his mentor, Alamieseigha. Obasanjo then became God’s instrumentality to change Jonathan’s life to a life of bigger testimonies. Obasanjo after jailing Jonathan’s boss, for stealing his people’s money first installed Jonathan Governor and later moved him up as vice president.

    Jonathan, the apple of God’s eye without struggle became president following Yar’Adua’s death. And in spite of PDP zoning policy and resistance from the real owners of PDP, he won a landslide victory in the 2011 election. Dame Patience Jonathan also enjoys God’s special grace. She recently gave a testimony of how God gave her another chance by raising her from death after eight days in a German hospital.

    One can therefore understand why the president not only believes in miracles but also in the existence of ‘evil forces’ working towards the disintegration of Nigeria. This also explains why Jonathan doesn’t give a damn about the alleged weakness of character of his close associates including much reviled Tony Anenih, Doyin Okupe Bamanga Tukur and Ahmadu Alli and their troublesome sons. Jonathan knows men count for little but ’with God all things are possible’.

    In 2010, instead of reducing the presidential palace to just a house of intrigue, like his predecessors, he set up inside Aso rock an annual prayer session as ‘a forum to establish God link at the Presidential villa’. Two weeks ago after one of such sessions, he alerted the nation about the evil forces trying to derail Nigeria.

    I think we must pay special attention to what was by all account a revelation to President Jonathan after a powerful prayer session. This is to prevent the president’s advisers from reducing this serious revelation to name calling and witch hunting of groups and opposition parties. We must not forget they once misled him on serious policy issues such as removal of phantom fuel subsidy and bail out for the aviation sector instead of the manufacturing sector.

    Let me therefore as a social scientist and stakeholder in the Nigeria project help our god-fearing president to isolate groups that are not likely to support disintegration of Nigeria and identify areas where he should pay greater attention to avoid unnecessary dissipation of energy.

    First, neither the dominant nor the minority ethnic groups including the oil-rich states want a disintegrated Nigeria. I think what each group wants in line with the dream of our founding fathers is fairness, justice and freedom to manage the affairs of their respective nations within the greater Nigerian nation.

    First, the Hausa/Fulani in the event of Nigerian disintegration have nowhere to go. When the intemperate Murtala Mohammed leading northern soldiers in the wake of the vengeance coup of 1966 attempted to take the north out of Nigeria, Britain and the US counselled them to fight for survival within a greater Nigerian nation. Today, there is no more a monolithic north. Secondly, the greed of today’s northern leaders have replaced the selflessness of Ahmadu Bello, the very personification of feudalism who nonetheless practiced egalitarianism by sending children of the poor and underprivileged in the north to the best schools in the world. Almost 50 years after the venerable Ahmadu Bello’s death, the new northern leaders and beneficiaries of his foresight need Nigeria if they are to survive the wrath an army of unemployed and uneducated youths forced to embrace Boko Haram.

    The Igbo, hemmed at all sides and detested by less competitive groups have no place to go outside the greater Nigerian nation. They like the Jews thrive more in other peoples land. And as Achebe puts it, they only ‘run home when calamity befalls the owner of the land, leaving behind the owners of the land who know how to appease their own gods”.

    That has also changed. Today, they are marooned in Boko Haram-besieged north. Back home, their hostile land has been taken over by an army of unemployed youths whose major occupation is kidnapping children and the wealthy for ransom.

    Of course the Yoruba in spite of clamour for regional integration need Nigeria more than any other group. An area P C Loyd said was more urbanized than Europe at the time of the colonization achieved that cultural advancement by their accommodation of strangers. It has always been the case since Obatala, according to myth descended with a rope from heaven or Oduduwa according to Ifa came with a new wave of immigrants from Mero near today’s Egypt. . Their cities and villages have today become havens for Nigerian internal immigrants from the besieged north-east and those driven by commerce and kidnappers from the south- east. The Market women yam sellers are at peace with itinerant Hausa yam sellers, motorists wait patiently for Fulani herdsmen and their flock while crossing the busy express ways, property rate has soared in Banana Island and I am sure Governor Fashola has factored into his Atlantic City Project, Igbo property speculators.

    The South-south will need more than vandalisation of oil pipelines to survive a disintegrated Nigeria. Amaechi, Imoke are some of the governors with Igbo names ruling some of the oil producing states. President Jonathan won more votes in Imo than Governor Okorocha because of his wife’s Igbo factor. In other words, a disintegrated Nigeria is an open invitation for the landlocked East to start from where they stopped before the civil war and finally resolve the outstanding issue of Port Harcourt abandoned properties.

    And finally, to exorcise the evil spirit bent on disintegration of Nigeria, the president should take a closer look at himself and his PDP. He may for instance discover that the real source of despair in our nation is PDP and its leading lights who as beneficiaries of present anarchy, stand against fairness, justice and are opposed to a national conference to discuss our differences.

    What else can be a greater threat to survival of a nation than a group of greedy men sharing of our blue chips firms on which the nation had invested over a hundred billion dollars for a pittance or when an exercise designed by World Bank to create seven million jobs became an avenue for amassing huge family wealth while millions of unemployed youths roam the streets of our major cities?

    The evil forces bent on destroying Nigeria include the president’s PDP colleagues who appointed over 140 fuel importers including their siblings some of whom defrauded the nation to the tune of about N1.7 trillion without importing a pint of fuel. And of course, the evil spirit will include senior members of the judiciary smiling to the banks for shielding felons from facing justice.

    In league of the president elusive evil spirit bent on destroying our nation are the president men who without recouping the tax payers’ billions of naira given out as bail out to the airlines embarked on another wasteful venture of borrowing millions of dollars to buy aircrafts for mismanaged air lines owned by members or sympathizers of PDP.

    And finally, if the president stopped closing his eyes during his well meaning night vigils, he may discover to his pleasant surprise that in the league of the ‘evil forces’ are some pastors who exploit the fears of our jobless youths they fraudulently reassured of miracles in spite of God’s injunction that we all must live by our sweats, and those who buy private jets with the help of governors as ‘thieves in state houses’ and bankers who stole depositors funds.

  • Hegemon in a peripheral region: Future of Nigeria’s foreign policy (4)

    Hegemon in a peripheral region: Future of Nigeria’s foreign policy (4)

    Added to this trend was Nigeria’s support for the removal of Muammar Ghadafi and his eventual killing which raised the question of whether Nigeria’s foreign policy in recent times has been hijacked by the West and whether Nigeria was sensitive to the question of sovereignty which our postcolonial leaders fought bravely for. Of course Muammar Ghadafi and Gbagbo were bad leaders, and Ghadafi in particular may not have wished Nigeria well in his past actions, but their removal by extra African forces, establishes a principle and a precedent that could perhaps haunt us in the future. This is why we must tread softly in our present entanglements in Mali, even though we are supporting a worthy cause and a principle of the non-violability and non-changeability of inherited African colonial frontiers. But care needs to be taken, so that whatever we do in Mali is not perceived as supporting Western led campaign and war against terror, in which some may misinterpret as war against Islam. Already, there is already a growing murmur in some parts of the North that Nigeria is in League with western countries to attack Muslims in Mali. This is not going to be the first time the bona fides of Nigeria would be called into question. In 1989 when there was a border skirmish between Senegal and Mauritanian forces following the migration of Mauritanian black citizens (haratin) into Senegal after their brutalisation by the Moorish regime in Nouakchott, Nigeria’s criticism of Mauritania was resented by some of our Muslim brothers right inside our foreign policy establishment. This was despite the fact then as it is now that black Malians, Senegalese and black Mauritanians are 98% or more Muslims. This lack of unanimity in our foreign policy seems to be a permanent feature of our relation in areas where religion directly or indirectly can be manipulated to undermine the unity of direction of our foreign policy.

    Future of West African integration and the role of Nigeria

    Leadership carries a cost. There would never have been a European Union without the sacrifices of France and Germany and the division in Europe in particular and the historicity of that division is much deeper than the colonially imposed linguistic division of West Africa. It is in Nigeria’s enlightened self-interest to support economic integration of West Africa as a prelude to political integration and union. The logic here is that Nigeria must continue to make sacrifices for the good of the region and in doing so; its leadership must carry along with it the entire citizenry.

    The population of West Africa is just slightly over 300million and less than the population of the United States. This population is very complex and we must not overlook this complexity, but if we create a situation in which all stakeholders see an advantage in economic integration, then, integration can become realistic practical politics. Nigeria should champion adopting a regime of a Customs Union (Zollverein) and it must be prepared to support countries that are not economically viable, through a distribution of custom duties on a demographic basis as well as basis of need. As at present, the neighbouring country of Benin, in particular, derives its economic well-being on smuggling of goods to and from Nigeria. A Customs Union would obviate this. The Customs Union should be the first step towards Economic Union. Nigeria and other ECOWAS countries for more than four decades have talked and planned the introduction of a common currency. In spite of the difficulties that dog this plan, it should not be seen as insurmountable and the goal should be fast-forwarded so that adoption of a common currency becomes a foreign policy goal in the future.

    There are other areas in which resources can be pooled together by governments and business people. This would depend on economic policies of the constituent governments in the region. Nigeria should lead the way in supporting a market economy in the region, without necessarily abandoning the role that states can play in the economy. We should not be glued to the orthodoxy of a market economy in which the state has no role at all. Even serious economists in the West are now beginning to see the positive role states can play in the economy through appropriate regulation of the market and the economy generally.

    Going hand-in-hand with economic integration should come ideological re-orientation of the politics in the region. It is now clear that development must be anchored on democratic rule. It is now proven that without adherence to fundamental human rights and the basic liberties and freedom, man would not be free to think through problems and to innovate and these are necessary conditions for development in a knowledge based world. In the past and even under military rule, Nigeria pursued a policy of spreading democracy in the region; a system of government denied its citizens at home. We must never in the future be in this invidious situation. In our sub-region, Senegal, Ghana and Benin are well ahead of us in the march towards democratic governance. We must do something about our democratic credentials so that laggards like Guinea, the Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Niger, Mali, Burkina-Faso, Togo, the Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone and Liberia do not find solace in our undemocratic practices, particularly, rigging of elections. It is by strictly adhering to correct democratic practices that we would make military intervention in politics a thing of the past; and unless Nigeria gets it right, it would be impossible for us to impose democracy in states in our region when anti-democratic parties seize power.

    Democracy should be seen in terms of peaceful co-existence of all the states in the region. Democratic states usually do not fight one another. This has been recognised as far back as the nineteenth century when Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) wrote about “Pacific Federations” (foedus pacificum). He wrote that it is only when there is no democracy that war breaks out; and that it is when there is no democracy that the war party of the Bourgeoisie and the military fight war of expansion and conquest. This of course would not apply totally to Nigeria because Nigeria is a satisfied and contented country and has no imperialistic design on her neighbours. But the point of the peaceful nature of democratic government should be embraced by all and should be a driving force behind our foreign policy in the region and outside; and should be a fundamental factor of our relations with other African and non-African countries.

    Without security, there can be no development. The proliferation of small arms in the region is something to worry about. This problem has increased exponentially since the overthrow of Muammar Ghadafi in Libya and the infestation of the Western Sahara by terrorists allied to either the Al-Qaeda in the Maghreb or al-Shabaab in the Horn of Africa.

  • Man in the mirror (10)

    Man in the mirror (10)

    Now that we are done fiddling with change, we are dying to articulate dissent like the emptiness that approximates silence; again. Like leadership we loathe, the language of our dreams and dissension has never been fathomed by us. Perhaps it’s because we allow our sentences and imports to trail off in confusion. Perhaps it’s because we swallow grief to express impotent will even as we vow to show that we too are blessed with discretion and character.

    But we have our inclinations too – wantonness, incoherence, shallowness and that fledgling impassivity that masks essentially, our recklessness and vile. Thoreau would call it a knack for folly. Russell would simply identify it as the manifestation of imprudence and lack of tact.

    I would call it suicide. For only the suicidal would entrust such sensitive things as the birthing of a “promising dawn” to professional undertakers accustomed to darkness and vile. We are still the little, little people with neither principles nor strength of character. That is why we bestow our mandates unto all manners of candidates – in a manner characteristic of ones who have been programmed to self-destruct.

    Forget our apologies for Goodluck Jonathan, Muhammadu Buhari, Nuhu Ribadu, et al, it does not matter who we root for; it’s the reasoning that excites our politics that should appall us.

    It wasn’t too long ago that we brandished our untiring love for President Goodluck Jonathan. Many revealed their passion for him just because his name is Goodluck. Others took a liking to him because he is purportedly “humble to a fault.”

    Then there were those who would die to see him retain his seat just because he hails from the South-South. They believe it’s the turn of the South-South to plunder our national purse. But the song has since changed. Now we are beginning to see that it is not enough for Jonathan to answer the name: Goodluck. We have begun to see that it takes more than Mr. President’s touted humility and inclination to “respect elders” and call “those who are older than him Sir or Ma!” even though “he is President,” to salvage our State. Let me not dwell on President Jonathan as there isn’t much to say of his candidature and administration. Any attempt to do so would be tantamount to squeezing the palm kernel seed for crude oil.

    And there was Buhari. Remember Buhari? It wasn’t too long ago that we labeled him an “extremist” and “terrorist,” among other things; just because he is a Muslim. Some claimed he was set to implement a northern agenda to Islamize Nigeria. And not a few people recalled perceived excesses and shortcomings of his regime – to this lot, it hardly mattered that the former military dictator recorded some commendable feats during his regime.

    Then he picked Tunde Bakare, controversial and self-styled cleric, as his running mate and suddenly, the rising wave of dissent against his candidacy quieted to a drone. Vintage Buhari. The Spartan general knew just how to shut his detractors up. Now the much dreaded “fundamentalist” has become the favourite of not a few Nigerians.

    It isn’t just that Buhari had to pick Bakare that should shame us but that he had to play the religious card in order to sway the opinions of even his most virulent critics in his favour, provides food for thought. We have chosen to ignore the fact that Buhari, for all his stature and promise could have done better in choosing a running mate. Even Buhari knows that. But the elder statesman was just being pragmatic. He needed to feed us a generous dose of our own poison.

    This emphasizes our lack of depth and dependable political philosophy. I do not blame Buhari. The tireless contender had to survive. It doesn’t matter that his choice of running mate, Bakare, resounds all manners of permutation neither does it matter that his action projects our personal politic as desperate and shorn of wisdom. The Spartan general is actually not as rigid as we thought him to be. And we aren’t as wise as we thought we are. If we were, we wouldn’t be taken by such cheap politic and stunt.

    And there was Ribadu; the candidate whose bid excited the worst of unexplainable bitterness and ill-will in various circles – basically because he did a poor job of connecting with people he sought to govern. Not a few people claimed“Obasanjo’s attack dog” was no saint. Many argued that he was hardly Nigeria’s equivalent the awaited Messiah. It is understandable that the ruling class and highest echelons of the civil service and the corporate business sector would rather perish than see Ribadu mount Nigeria’s most coveted seat; for it wasn’t too long ago that he became the brute in their recurring nightmares.

    It is even more understandable that a considerable percentage of the nation’s youths – particularly internet and advance fee fraudsters among others – would give their last breath to thwart the presidential ambition of Nuhu Ribadu. But that a great percentage of Nigeria’s youth would profess an abiding dislike for Nuhu Ribadu because of numerous reasons they are yet to pin-point, is actually very distressing.

    Some argued that he contested knowing he was incapable of victory. They claimed he only sought to register his eligibility in order to appear as a worthy candidate for the presidency come 2015. Then there were those that believed Ribadu deserved scorn simply because it is fashionable to do so. Indeed, every other Nigerian is always supporting and scorning a candidate because it is fashionable to do so. A great many of us are switching loyalties, candidates and political platforms as socioeconomics and political expediencies demand. Some have done so because their favourite columnists suggested it.

    The most pathetic amongst us however, are loving and hating one candidate above the other, simply because it is fashionable to do so. Yet for all the thoughtlessness we foster, we could be forgiven for whatever political anomaly we foster; even as you read, none of our contenders and self-styled Messiahs has been able to justify his claim to our mandate and seat of power.

    It is just one of many such ironies that their emergence has failed to imbue us with much needed conviction and trust we ought to repose in our preferred contender to power. The connection is what we need. Among other benefits, it accords us a peep into the soul of each contender in order to trust him or not. It also means familiarity and wounds and scars. It could make it difficult to look upon them and see them as the future.

    But wherever it exists, it makes it easier to forgive the worst they’ve being in order to hope on the best they could be. We have two years to the 2015 general elections. Within the period, we could seek out a worthy candidate, “A man of the people and truly for the people in a sane way” if you like. But still, we rally round the usual candidates, the usual perversions and dire sentimentalism. Come 2015, when we usher in more calamitous leadership than we have now, you and I shall be deserving of blame.

  • When evil stalks the land

    When evil stalks the land

    Fear rules the land these days. The people live in fear. Whether in or out of the house, they are afraid because they don’t know when that kidnapper or robber will strike. Even though many of us live in fortresses, we no longer feel safe behind our high fences. The walls we built round ourselves to protect us have become our prison yards. As we go out daily, we pray that evil will not befall us; that we will return home safe and sound. When we do, we heave a sigh of relief and thank God for His mercies.

    On the road and at work, we say the same prayer. ‘’Father, oh Lord, protect us from those watching us with evil intentions’’. Our prayers for protection and preservation have been doing wonders, if not many would have found themselves in the lair of hoodlums. Hardly a day passes without news of kidnapped or missing persons. We have seem to come to terms with it as a way of life. We tend to believe that these things must happen and when they don’t happen, we are shocked. Isn’t that strange? We are shocked by what should ordinarily not move us, while we feel unconcerned when calamity befalls people.

    Parents either kill or sell their children. Some also use their children for money rituals. This is the depth to which our society has sunk. Human lives no longer have value. To hoodlums, killing is nothing; they seem to derive joy from this dastardly act. Why are people so bestial? Why do they kill or kidnap people? Is it for money? The ready answer will be to say it is for money, but we will be missing the point by so doing. Something must have informed a person’s decision to become a killer or a kidnapper or a robber. Some have blamed it on poverty; others on the devil. What this shows is that these people are psychologically troubled.

    In the past few years, these maniacs have made the country unsafe. We all live with our hearts in our mouths for fear of the unknown. When the Niger Delta militants were granted amnesty in 2009, we thought we had seen the end of kidnappings and all sorts of killings, only for some faceless goons in the Southeast to start their own. Then came Boko Haram. The Southeast goons have made kidnapping their business and they are making a kill from it. They kidnap people and get their families to pay huge ransom. They are smiling to the bank, while many households are wailing over their losses because at times, those kidnapped are killed. In some instances, they collect the ransom and still kill their victims.

    Pioneer deputy governor of Anambra State, the late Dr Chuddy Nwike, was one of such victims. After kidnapping Nwike, the kidnappers demanded $30 million ransom. The family negotiated and they agreed to collect N5 million. The family took the money to the designated place, hoping that Nwike will be released as agreed. He was but the family got only his body. As I write this on Tuesday night, his killers have yet to be found. Of course, this is no longer a case of kidnapping but murder for which those involved should be brought to book because it might have been done deliberately as revealed in the confession of one of those arrested over the abduction of Prof Kamene Okonjo, mother of Finance Minister Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

    The suspect killed his victim, a woman, to avenge, according to his accomplice, the death of his brother. Was the brother killed by the slain woman? he didn’t say. It seems there is no part of the country where they cannot strike. Abeokuta, Abuja, Enugu, Warri, Ilorin, Umuahia, Kano, Kaduna, you name it, they have been there. Many people are abducted daily on the streets or in their homes that we don’t get to hear about. These hoodlums are so brazen in their daredevilry that they can operate anywhere, even if security operatives are around. Does it mean that our security agents cannot match these hoodlums who have spread their tentacles far and wide?

    They struck in Lagos on Monday night when they kidnapped Ejigbo Local Council Development Area chairman Kehinde Bamigbetan, who was on his way home. Bamigbetan is not your typical politician, who could be said to have had a run in with his opponents to warrant his abduction. Until he served former Governor Bola Tinubu as chief press secretary (CPS) a few years ago, he was a reporter doing his job quietly. Even as CPS, he was not a loud person. He preferred to allow his work speak for him. So, why will anyone kidnap such a person? It appears the spate of kidnappings is not going to stop any time soon. So, the government must rise up to the challenge of smoking out these monsters.

    The nation cannot continue to be held by the jugular by some criminals who think that they can use the weapon of fear to cow everybody. The insecurity in the country is not something for the government to gloss over. It should rise up and act now before things get out of hand, that is if they have not already. Those in power should not think that because they have security men at their beck and call, they are safe from the reach of these criminals. They should show concern over what is happening because what comes round have a way of going round. They may have an army guarding them today, but will they enjoy that privilege for life. Once they are out of office, they are as vulnerable as those of us who look up to them for protection today.

    In as much as I don’t want to heap all the blames on the government, I cannot shy away from the fact that it is not doing enough to address the security challenge. The police, which should lead the campaign against kidnappers and other criminals, are not alive to their responsibility, yet they enjoy huge support from the states. Virtually all the states are trying to outdo one another in order to meet the needs of the police, yet we are not getting results from them.

    I wonder if the Inspector-General

    of Police (IGP) is still there. If

    he is, he should wake up from slumber. The police get vehicles, communication gadgets and even subvention from the states to facilitate their job of crime fighting, yet they find it difficult to work. What is their problem? What is the essence of all this support by the states if the police cannot deliver?

    We cannot continue to wring our hands in frustration over our inability to tame the excesses of kidnappers, Boko Haram and other criminal elements and at the same time be wasting money on equipping the police. No, there is no sense in doing that. If the police cannot make use of these equipment to curb crime, it will only be logical for the states to stop wasting money on them.

    Kidnappers are on the rampage and they are not ready to stop because of the easy money they are making. It does not matter to them that they waste lives in order to make this easy money. To them, it is all in the line of business and so the end justifies the means.

    As long as there is easy money in kidnapping because people are ready to pay ransom secretly, they will continue to brave the odd to get it. Should the government continue to watch as these people perpetrate criminality? The answer is obvious; there is nowhere in the world where criminals are given a free hand to operate and ours cannot be different.

    It behoves on the government to break the back of kidnappers and other criminals by applying the force of law. We have allowed them to operate for too long and they have come to see themselves as being above the law. But nobody is above the law. We must make them know this by bringing them to book no matter what it takes.

  • Hegemon in a peripheral region: Future of Nigeria’s foreign policy (3)

    Hegemon in a peripheral region: Future of Nigeria’s foreign policy (3)

    The present educational institutions that are grossly under-funded and under-financed are not capable of producing the outcome that this country needs for its industrial and economic leap forward. Yet this is critical to the kind of role Nigeria has to play in the sub-region. Nigeria can afford to finance its educational institutions at the appropriate level of funding and also provide modern infrastructure required in an emerging economy. One of the obstacles to this availability of funds is the current pervasive corrosive and debilitating corruption. It does not seem the Nigerian elite particularly those running the affairs of the country at public and private sectors realise that corruption is not just a criminal offence but has become a cog in the wheel of development and has therefore become a security issue because without development there would be a rise in poverty and immiseration in our country. Economic growth and development would redound on our country’s political stability, domestic strength and consequent power and influence in our region.

    Political stability is a necessary condition of development particularly in a post-colonial country like Nigeria. The bane of African politics is the instability arising out of the plural nature and the multiplicity of tongues in many African countries. The incessant coup d’états of the past was the result and the manifestation of this malady. In the case of Nigeria, about 350 different languages and ethnicities have been identified. Some of these languages are of course related. This multilingualism is further compounded by the divide of religion among votaries of Christianity, Islam and Traditional African religions.

    Poverty in the land has unfortunately exacerbated fissiparous religious and ethnic tendencies in the country. Politics in Nigeria is becoming gradually a zero-sum game.

    Electoral victories are most times manipulated through rigging and other anti-democratic means. Leadership selection is usually compromised by ethnic differences and affiliations to the extent that dissatisfaction with the political process is generally the outcome of electoral and political party processes. The result of all these is political instability.

    The exposure of the country to the outside world of terrorism has not helped. In order to be heard, ethnic and religious factions in the country sometimes result to arms as witnessed by violence in the Niger-Delta; ethnic militancy in the South-east and South-west expressed through cultural organisations and youth movements. But the most challenging problem the country now faces is the terrorism of religious fundamentalism in certain parts of Northern Nigeria. There is growing evidence and fear that the Boko Haram movement has links with the Al-Qaeda in the Maghreb (AQIM) and Al-Shabab in the Horn of Africa. The ongoing campaign against the forces of secession and fundamentalism in Mali, in which Nigeria is involved militarily, is the greatest challenge the current government faces. It is a case of stopping fire in a neighbour’s house so that it does not consume one’s house. For Nigeria therefore to remain stable and prosperous, steps would have to be taken to consolidate democratic and economic development at home. Once this is done, the place of the country would be assured in the sub-region, in Africa and in the world at large.

    Nigeria’s role in the future of the sub-region

    Unlike physical development of a country in areas such as housing, roads, infrastructure, telecommunication, educational facilities, health and social welfare, a country’s achievement in the area of foreign policy is sometimes difficult to measure. The dividends of foreign policy are always not quantifiable, even though peace is a factor in development, it is not easily measurable. Nevertheless, peace in our region, due to Nigeria’s leadership, especially when it physically intervenes to prevent wars would be obvious to everybody. In recent past, Nigeria’s intervention in Guinea-Bissau, in Togo, in Principe and Sao Tome outside our region was decisive in bringing peace and avoiding war in those countries. Our intervention in Liberia and Sierra Leone, worthwhile as it was, had to be subsumed in the final stages within the UN peace-keeping operations. Nigeria’s role in bringing peace to Liberia and Sierra Leone was not always acknowledged and sometimes it is forgotten when the success is ascribed to the UN; despite the fact that the fighting and dying in those two countries had virtually been done before the UN’s advent and presence and this was at a cost of about $8billion to Nigeria’s exchequer between 1989 and 1998.

    On the question of peace keeping for which Nigeria has acquired justified credibility and covered some yardage in our march to global recognition, there is need to preserve the sanctity of our reputation. Along with India and Bangladesh, we have provided troops in many UN Peace Keeping and Peace Enforcement operations. But in recent times due to corruption and the Nigerian “factor” our troops have sometimes been provided with poor arms and equipment leading to our troops performing below par and consequent UN criticism of our troops’ ineffectiveness and lack of courage. Our honour is involved. If we are to continue to be relevant in this respect we must adopt best practice in kitting, provisioning and arming our troops with weapons that are new and conformable to UN military standards. This in any case is a reimbursable expenditure and the UN pays for services that meet UN standards and there is no reason to buy cheap or second-hand weapons for our troops.

    Our involvement in peacemaking in the Ivory Coast raises some fundamental questions in one’s mind. For the first time in our history, Nigeria had to compete with South Africa in our sub-region for influence. In the past, we used to imagine there were two powers in West Africa, Nigeria and France, but the involvement of former South Africa’s President, Thabo Mbeki in the Ivory Coast was a sign of what is to come in the future, when South Africa and Nigeria would have to compete for Africa’s leadership. The denouement in the Ivory Coast finally came in the form of French military intervention, albeit under UN auspices to get rid of Laurent Gbagbo who is to face trial in the International Criminal Court in The Hague. Nigeria was complicit in this French intervention. It is true that Laurent Gbagbo should have left power after losing the election; but a situation where a former colonial power intervenes to remove a sitting African president and with Nigeria being complicit in this removal raises a fundamental question in one’s mind.