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Category: Gabriel Amalu

  • Anti-reformists fighting back

    Anti-reformists fighting back

    By Gabriel Amalu

     

    The clamour for restructuring Nigeria will not go away even if the fight becomes a dangerous venture like the fight against corruption. And to make matters worse, the anti-reformists, who hold top government offices are desperately fighting back and are determined to use their good offices to press their anti-reformist agenda. As the attorney-general of the federation, Abubakar Malami, SAN, showed last week, logic and common sense are irrelevant in the battle.

    In an interview with Channels Television, the AGF desperately compared the banning of open graving by governors of southern Nigeria with the postulation that northern governors may be persuaded to ban the selling of spare parts in the northern region. The open dig against the Igbo spare part traders, who like the Fulani herdsmen, are ubiquitous across the country, showed how desperate the situation has become.

    Of course, it is convenient for the AGF not to remember that the spare part dealers have not become a source of armed conflict and national crisis as the herdsmen. Again, the AGF choose to ignore the fact that spare parts dealers hire shops to engage in their trade, unlike the open grazing herdsmen who traverse and trespass on private and public properties, consuming or destroying private and public farm products and forest reserves in the conduct of their private business.

    Furthermore, in his desperation to justify his anti-reformist agenda, the AGF choose to ignore the fundamental right to own private property, and the exclusivity arising from such ownership as provided by the 1999 constitution as amended. Those who have taken the AGF to the cleaners, including the governor of Ondo State, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN, and Professor Chidi Odinkalu have wondered loudly how a learned silk, could proffer such jejune argument in furtherance of a jaundiced proposition.

    When arguments are professed that what Nigerians are against is open grazing of cattle, and not ownership of cattle and breeding them in private ranches, the desperados would remind Nigerians that those breeding cattle are adding to the nation’s GDP. When they are reminded that other businesses also contribute significant portions of the GDP, without endangering the business of other persons, they seek cover under the constitutional provision for freedom of movement. The AGF, using his stature as the chief law officer pontificated that the ECOWAS protocol and the Nigerians constitution guarantees the freedom of movement for cattle.

    Those who are also learned in law, like the AGF, have argued that the fundamental right to movement guaranteed by ECOWAS protocol and the constitution, deals with only human beings, and not cattle, as portrayed by the chief aw officer. But when a man is desperate, common sense and reasoning abandon him, which is what has happened to the AGF, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and a member of a profession referred to as the learned.

    The possible reason for such argument is that his interpretation of law has been fused in his cultural identity. As has been argued by Fulani protagonists, while the Fulani may forgive the mistaken killing of a human, they do not forgive the killing of a cow. So, perhaps in the cultural milieu of the AGF, the life of a cow is equal to, if not superior to the human being. In essence, if the constitution confers freedom of movement to humans, it also inheres automatically in the cattle.

    Could it therefore be that between those clamouring for reform and those opposed to it, there is a cultural clash? While those led by the AGF believe there is already more than enough progress, the reformists want accelerated progress for the country? If the AGF with the enormous power entrusted to him by the constitution, could push such an agenda openly, is he beholden to forces which he considers superior to his oath of allegiance to the constitution?

    Recall that the federal government, since the advent of the Buhari presidency chastise those opposed to some policies of the government, as corruption fighting back. That label was used to tar the enemies of the regime, as well as political opponents of the government. Even in some instances, it was the answer to some failings of the government, or to those opposed to some policies of the regime. Even when some officials of the regime are accused of corrupt practices, they push it as corruption fighting back.

    Now that the din for restructuring is reaching a crescendo, and those opposed to it, especially those within the corridors of power are fighting back, would the fight for restructuring, like the fight against corruption, become dangerous? Perhaps it is the danger in the fight that has shooed some public officials to quickly stand with the anti-reformist group, even when it is the promise of reformation that propelled them to the office they occupy.

    A lot of analysts have pooh-poohed the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) for promising the nation restructuring in the party’s constitution and during the political campaigns in 2015, only to renege now that the people are calling for it. But in fairness to the APC, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), while they were in power for 16 years could not push through any fundamental restructuring of the country. So, perhaps the forces against restructuring are so entrenched and powerful, regardless of the party in power.

    In her book, Fighting Corruption is Dangerous, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, tells the chilling story of how her mother was kidnapped, to force her to resign from office, as Minister for Finance. She went on to recall that when her mother somehow regained her freedom, the next plot was to maim and incapacitate her. Her sin was that she refused to pay billions of dollars of false claims, to dubious petroleum products marketers, who were draining the country of her meagre foreign exchange resources.

    One of the remarkable story that stood out was how the former governor of Cross River, Donald Duke, visited her in Washington, before she accepted to serve under President Jonathan, and told her not to accept the job of Finance Minister, as some powerful forces believe her involvement would give the regime credibility. When she enquired as to those Duke represented, he refused to disclose, but advised her to heed the advice.

    Of course, she rejected the advice and joined the government. But she paid a huge price, including the kidnapping of her mother and payment of ransom. As detailed in her book, what intrigues this writer is the existence of some powerful shadowy forces that are determined to ensure that the nation does not make any meaningful progress. These forces are only interested in lining their pockets with the nation’s resources, even if the country goes up in flames in the course of their nefarious activities.

  • Arrow of God

    Arrow of God

    By Gabriel Amalu

     

    The past week had thrown many political pundits into confusion over the responsiveness of the National Assembly leadership to the crisis afflicting our country. Not that the sky was clearer before last week, considering their silent disposition to the rivers of blood, which has become our way of life. The confusion arose from their antagonistic rebuttal of the Asaba resolution of the states of southern Nigeria, amongst which they demanded for a restructured Nigeria.

    It is the reactionary statement of the president of the senate, Ahmed Lawan, to the resolution which drove this writer to the inimitable work of the immortal Chinua Achebe in the Arrow of God for anchor. Before the two leaders of the National Assembly bared their minds, many thought that President Muhammadu Buhari was the only one out of sync with the enormity of the crisis facing our country, and unwilling to submit to a paradigm shift to save our nation.

    But as Lawan has shown, there are others, who like Ezeulu, the chief priest of Ulu, in the ‘Arrow of God’, who are more anxious about their powers and privileges, damn the impending tragedy that may consume their people. While the House of Representative Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila nuanced his reaction to the resolutions of the southern states, Lawan out-rightly condemned the governors as hypocrites, insisting that they should first restructure the states they govern, before calling for national restructuring.

    The Ezeulu story is therefore a fitting metaphor of the crisis of leadership pushing the country to implosion. As written by Chinua Achebe, at the book’s back page: “Ezeulu, the chief priest of Ulu, finds his authority is under threat. He has rivals in the tribe, in the white government, and even in his own family. Surrounded by trouble, he adopts an increasingly cosmic view of events: surely in the battle of the deities, he is merely an arrow in the bow of his God?”

    Achebe went on: “Armed with such ideas, Ezeulu is prepared to lead his people on, if necessary to destruction and annihilation. The power of the people, however, reasserts itself.” In the battle for the soul of our country, her leaders are replicating the traits of Ezeulu as our country roils in crisis. Even while some of the governors may have exhibited totalitarian tendencies in their states, it is not enough reason for the National Assembly leadership to dismiss with a wave of hand, the Asaba resolutions that can stem the national crisis.

    One particular resolution that requires a constellation of forces to actualize is that on open grazing in the southern part of Nigeria. They said: “ the incursion of armed herders, criminals, and bandits into the southern part of the country has presented a severe security challenge such that citizens are not able to live their normal lives including pursuing various productive activities leading to a threat to food supply and general security. Consequently, the meeting resolved that open grazing of cattle be banned across southern Nigeria.”

    Of course, except the senate president is himself a hypocrite, the call for an end to open grazing is one he should readily support. All across the country, particularly in the middle belt and southern Nigeria, the poor handling of open grazing has exposed our country to the danger of food insecurity, as farmers have been chased out of their farms by the trained armed herdsmen. With herders raping women, killing farmers and now kidnapping persons in the country-side for ransom, going to farm has become suicidal.

    And with the national economy buffeted by inflation, and Boko Haram forcing farmers away from their farms in the northeast, such that food prices have skyrocketed, every leader worth the name should support every measure to help farmer return to their farms in the southern part of the country. The senate president who knows that our country is broke, arising partly from the expensive war in the northeast, should therefore be supportive of any efforts to make other zones as productive as possible, for the country to be able to sustain the war.

    So, instead of berating the governors, and tagging them regional champions, Lawan should call their representatives to a meeting to offer ideas on how the National Assembly can intervene to make the country more liveable. Or has Lawal like Ezeudu now become only interested in being in the good books of President Buhari, who has enough influence to threaten him in his plum position? That can only be the reason for the quick dismissal of the resolution of the governors of 17 out of 36 states in the country.

    While not asking Lawal to antagonise the president, he must strike a balance between what is of paramount national interest and fending off potential disruptions to his authority; after all the position he occupies is to keep the executive under check. Another of the Asaba resolutions, which is aimed at stemming the crisis bedevilling the country is the recommendation that “in deference to the sensitivities of our various peoples, there is a need to review appointments into federal government agencies (including security agencies) to reflect federal character as Nigeria’s overall population is heterogeneous.”

    It must be said that the senate, which Lawan heads partly bears responsibility for this malaise of the Buhari presidency, since most of the one-sided appointments passed through the senate for confirmation. If as senate president, Lawan had shown a measure of independence, the senate is in a position to check-mate the one-sided appointments. By allowing the president to make appointments that are glaringly sectional, non-state actors like Nnamdi Kanu and Sunday Ighoho get the impetus to preach their separatist agenda with some measure of justification.

    It is interesting that the initial equivocation by the speaker of House of Representative, Femi Gbajabiamila, has yielded to reasonable composition that the house does not oppose the Asaba resolutions. Gbajabiamila would have shot himself in the foot to push otherwise, for while he could secure the confidence of the president for an unreasonable stance against the resolution of the southern governors, he could so malignantly antagonise his constituency such that he would pay dearly at the next election.

    This column hopes the senate would also bend their president to be reasonable in appraising the Asaba resolutions after all, Lawan is not the president of the executive, but that of the legislature. As Ezekwesili said to Ezeulu, in the ‘Arrow of God’: “An adult does not sit and watch while the she-goat suffers the pain of childbirth tied to a post.” The National Assembly must wake up to their constitutional responsibility, and save themselves and the country from ruin. Lawan should avoid the tragedy of Ezeulu in the ‘Arrow of God.’

  • Time to strike

    Time to strike

    By Gabriel Amalu

     

    The members of the Judicial Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) who have been on strike for the past four weeks, surely did not take head to the Biblical exaltation in the book of Ecclesiastes which extols: “To everything there is a season. A time for every purpose under heaven.” If they did, they would have known there is a better time to go on strike, to gain the attention of the recalcitrant state governors, who don’t give a damn if the courts are shut.

    If JUSUN members are as wise as the serpents, they would have known that the best time to strike was when the governors are before the tribunals with their time-bound election petitions. But JUSUN was relying on the justness of their cause, and trusting that with little pressure, democratically elected governors will obey the 1999 constitution (as amended) from which the derived their power to govern. But as the striking unions have found out, most governors pay scant regard to the constitution, except to wield the powers it confers on them.

    For four weeks, the high and lower courts across the country have been grounded, because some governors are unwilling to obey the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, (Fourth Alteration, No. 4) Act, 2017. The Act which came into effect on 7th Day of June, 2018, provides in section 2, as follows: “Section 121 of the Principal Act is altered by substituting for subsection (3), a new subsection (3).”

    The new subsection 3 provides: “Any amount standing to the credit of the – (a) House of Assembly of the state; and (b) Judiciary; in the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the State shall be paid directly to the said bodies respectively; in the case of judiciary, such amount shall be paid directly to the heads of the courts concerned.” For reasons best known to the recalcitrant governors, they have refused to obey that clear provision of the constitution, even when President Buhari tried to force obedience by an executive order.

    Could it be because the governors constitute a major force in the political calculation for the 2023 general election, which has become the main concern of the ruling elite that the president’s executive order has been treated as a worthless piece of document, without the president snarling? Surprisingly, the promise by the chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum, Dr Kayode Fayemi, that the governors are willing to obey the constitution, so that the strike can be called off, has so far been a fake promise.

    JUSUN’s compatriot, the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN) has also been on strike to pressure the state chief executives to obey the same provisions of the 1999 constitution (as amended), with regards to money due to the state parliaments. Unfortunately for them, their principals, the state parliamentarians are too timid to look the state governors in their face and demand what is due to them under the law. So, PASAN as far as the state legislators are concerned are on their own in the struggle.

    Perhaps, because the speakers of state Houses of Assembly mostly depend on the support of the governors to emerge and retain their positions, most of them are too cowardly to demand the financial consequences of the autonomy granted the parliament by the amended constitution. The result is that in some states we have governors who are no better that constitutional leviathans, with all the consequences for our fledgling democracy.

    Of course, most governors enjoy the trappings of autocracy which the disequilibrium in the other two arms of the presidential system of government offer. Thus they treat the legislative and judicial arm as junior partners of the tripod, and have members of the parliament and judges grovel at their feet for what ordinarily should be their entitlement. As the Igbos say: “it is the man who holds the palm leaves that the goats follow”, and so the governors, instead of the constitution, have become the fons et erigo.

    This absurdity is partly responsible for the political crisis afflicting our country, and governors who have interest in how history will judge them, must encourage abundant observance of the tenets and spirit of our constitution, knowing fully well that power is transient. In his book: The Presidential Constitution of Nigeria, Professor Ben Nwabueze, SAN, wrote: “Concentration of government powers in the hands of one individual is the very definition of dictatorship, and absolute power is by its very nature arbitrary, capricious and despotic.”

    On his part, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, SAN, GCFR said: “Under our constitution, the three organs of government are separate and distinct both in respect of the function which they perform, and of the functionaries who are entrusted with the performance of those functions.” In Myers vs USA, (1962) 272 US 52, learned Justice Louis Dembitz Brandeis held: “The doctrine of separation of powers was adopted by the Convention of 1787 not to promote efficiency but to preclude the exercise of arbitrary powers. The purpose was not to avoid friction, but, by means of inevitable friction incident to the distribution of the governmental powers among three departments, to save the people from autocracy.”

    This column commends the governors to the wise counsel of Allagoa, Ag. CJ, Rivers state in Amakiri vs Iwowari (1974) 1 RSLR 5; wherein he held:  “Rule of law in practical terms means no person however highly placed is beyond the law and it implies due consideration for others and a true fear of God. The courts are the watchdogs of these rights and the sanctuary of the oppressed and will spare no pains in tracking down the arbitrary use of power where such cases are brought before court …”

    He continued: “The fruits reaped by respect for Rule of Law is stability, efficient administration and economic progress and satisfaction amongst the citizens. Persons in authority and government functionaries should by their good example command and not demand respect.” The averments made by the learned Justice above are sacrosanct, and if I may add, it is to the benefit of all and sundry that there is stability and progress in the society. As should be abundantly evident to all and sundry, those in government today needs the observance of rule of law, especially when power leaves them.

    The crisis foisted on the nation by the avoidable strike by JUSUN and PASAN are huge. Apart from clogging the already clogged judicial dockets, many detainees are languishing in jail because the courts cannot hear their bail application. Even more importantly, the impression that might is right, being exhibited by the recalcitrant governors, is akin to the anarchist tendencies of the ravaging Boko Haram, kidnappers, terrorists and violent separatists.

  • State of emergency

    State of emergency

    By Gabriel Amalu

    This column is worried, each time politicians call for declaration of state of emergency to deal with difficult national challenges. The latest gambit is from the national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Uche Secondus. In what he termed a non-partisan comment, Secondus called on President Muhammadu Buhari to declare a state of emergency on security in the country.  In the early days of late President Umaru Yar’Adua, his government also threatened to declare a state of emergency on power.

    As I listened to the national chairman of PDP proffer what he thinks is the answer to the security jigsaw puzzle, I came to the conclusion that the PDP leader is bereft of clear thinking. By asking the president to declare a state of emergency, is he offering the president extra-constitutional powers, without any worry that it can be misused? As the leader of the main opposition party, he should be the last to concede such powers to the ruling party.

    The powers to declare a state of emergency is contained in section 305 of the 1999 constitution (as amended). Sub-sections 1 and 2 provides that the president may by instrument published in the official gazette of the government of the federation issue a proclamation of a state of emergency in the federation or any part thereof, and immediately thereafter forward same to the president of the senate and the speaker of House of Representatives for the houses to decide whether or not to pass a resolution approving the proclamation.

    Section 305(3) lists conditions precedent for such declaration. That “the federation is at war; the federation is in imminent danger of invasion or involvement in a state of war; that there is actual breakdown of public order and public safety in the federation or any part thereof to such extent as to require extraordinary measures to restore peace and security; there is clear and present danger of an actual breakdown of public order and public safety in the federation or any part thereof requiring extraordinary measure to avert danger”.

    It continued: “there is an occurrence or imminent danger, or the occurrence of any disaster or natural calamity, affecting the community or a section of the community in the federation; there is any other public danger which clearly constitutes a threat to the existence of the federation; or the president receives a request to do so in accordance with the provisions of sub-section (4) of this section.” While the federation may be at war, is it of the nature that an opposition party will offer extraordinary powers to the president?

    Though the National Assembly can negate the declaration of state of emergency if they oppose same; that may not happen if the leader of the main opposition party is the one who called for it. Should the president harken to Mr Secondus, and declare a state of emergency, he could take extra-ordinary measures common in a military regime, and claim that they are necessary to deal with the prevalent security challenges.

    In his contribution on national security, the governor of Ekiti State, Dr Kayode Fayemi, one of the state chief executives believed to be apologists of President Buhari’s regime, rightly noted that Nigeria is the only country practising federal system of government but which operates a unitary police, and called for a change. As far as this column is concerned, the problem of our country lies in the fraudulent 1999 constitution (as amended). Apart from the nature of its birth, the makers of the constitution deliberately concentrated excessive powers at the centre.

    All the hullabaloo about where the president would come from is because constitutionally, the president wields too much powers, which is bound to be abused. The makers of the 1999 constitution in their malice-laden ingenuity dispossessed states the usual powers of sub-national governments, on economy and policing. It is that disproportionate balance of power that has made it possible to have a president, especially if a bigoted president, as a constitutional leviathan.

    The challenge we have had since 1999 is that we have never had a statesman as president. Ensconced in the trappings of the power and accoutrements of office, the presidents we have had, spend valuable time protecting the fraudulently gained powers at the detriment of national progress. The tragedy of presidential powers becomes monumental when the occupier of the office is deformed by tribalism, bigotry, economic illiteracy and social illiberalism.

    But in Secondus’s naivety, he couches his offer of extra-ordinary constitutional powers for the president as an act of patriotism. Luckily for him, his party in a meeting over the weekend, subtly disagreed with him; while promising to offer alternatives. Of course, if their antecedent is any guide, the PDP is malignantly afflicted. The presidents the PDP produced did not fare better that the current president except with regards to handling of the challenges of insecurity.

    And in my view, if President Muhammadu Buhari can shorn himself of ethnic insularity and become the president of Nigeria instead of pandering to his ethnic group, he would be remembered as a better president than those produced by PDP. Tragically, it is that insularity that has worsened the security situation in the country. It is that insularity that made the president to threat the menace from trained armed herdsmen with levity, which in turn has emboldened other non-state actors to arm themselves in a free for all armed banditry.

    So, the solution to our national security challenge does not lie in granting extra-constitutional powers to the president, but in making a constitution that equitably shares powers between the centre and its constituent units. Perhaps, the chairman of PDP, Uche Secondus has no idea of the needed constitutional amendments to stem the crisis in the country? What a tragedy!

    For example, what is the position of the PDP on the loud call for state police, or is Mr Secondus not aware that a lot of the crisis in the states of the federation, relating to kidnapping, armed banditry and sundry criminality is the result of poor law enforcement capacity of the federal police? So, how would the exercise of extra-constitutional powers by the president add value to security in Benue State, where his party-man and governor of Benue, Samuel Ortom, has accused the president of ethnic chauvinism?

    Unless the idea is to ensnare the president to make grave mistakes, which will be silly in the face of national challenges, the suggestion by Uche Secondus is dumb. Thankfully, Governor Aminu Masari of Kastina State, one of the epicentre of the insecurity in the northwest, has said that declaration of state of emergency is not the answer, even though his premise is that the military is already overstretched.

  • Nigeria at war

    Nigeria at war

    By Gabriel Amalu

     

    The Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, is right in his recent assertion that Nigeria is at war, and for this column the nation no longer has the luxury of time for platitudes. As he posited: “This nation is at war, yet we continue to pretend that these are mere birth-pangs of a glorious entity”. He asserts unequivocally: “They are death throes. Vultures and undertakers hover patiently but with full confidence”.

    This column doubts if the vultures and undertakers are merely waiting patiently. Rather, they are protagonists doing all they can to precipitate a breakout of wars across several parts of the country, as they can’t wait anymore. Whether by subterfuge or direct inducement, there are signs that unless a miracle happens, these vultures and undertakers are already baying for the blood of a Nigeria at the throes of death, as asserted by the erudite professor. Of course, this column had written on national insecurity last week, but every new week brings us closer to the precipice.

    Seeing the governors of the northern states cluster to President Muhammadu Buhari at Aso Rock, last week, like weather-bitten chickens, seeking the protection of the mother hen, it appeared as if the governors went to mourn their vulnerability. What this writer does not appreciate, is the predilection of the governors to think that it is by paying extended courtesies that their challenges would be addressed. As if to confirm that vulnerability, the country home of the governor of Imo State, was fire-bombed, last weekend.

    In a coordinated attack on Governor Hope Uzodinma’s country home, hooded hoodlums tried to set the house ablaze. According to the report, few hours earlier, a special security squad had attacked and killed one alleged leader of Eastern Security Network (ESN), Mr Ikonsi, and some of his accomplices. Could it be that the attack on the governor’s home is in retaliation for the killing of the alleged IPOB commander? If it is, both attacks are unhelpful to the brewing crisis in Imo State.

    The penultimate week, this column had written on the unluckiness of Imo State, because of the quality of leadership the state has had over the years, and we had appealed to the present governor to stem the tide, in the interest of the innocent people of the state. With the state governor and his immediate predecessor trading blames, over the crisis in the state, we also derided the culture of young men and women hanging on government, and hoping to become rich without work.

    Of course, underpinning the security challenge in Imo State and the other states in the southeast, is the activity of the proscribed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), who have gone ahead to set up the so-called regional security outfit, known as ESN. That is why it is speculated that while Mr Ikonsi was killed by security agents, for being the alleged mastermind of the recent attacks on the state police headquarters and correctional centre, IPOB members immediately retaliated by setting the country home of the state governor on fire.

    Both strategies, no doubt, are condemnable. If the security agencies have information that the late Mr Ikonsi was the mastermind of the attacks, what they should have done was to arrest him, and put him on trial. Indeed, if he had been arrested and interrogated, perhaps, the security agencies could have deciphered information that could be more valuable to the security agencies in the state than a sting operation to kill him, without the resort to rule of law.

    As we argued, it is the ordinary people who suffer the consequence of the grave insecurity which years of poor leadership and the presumptuous activities of IPOB have degenerated into. But as I have argued elsewhere, it is the insecurity foisted on the states by a debilitating national security architecture that has given non-state actors the impetus to fill in the yawning gap. The so-called ESN is attractive to some indigenes of the southeast because of the activities of the trained armed herdsmen, who make the country-side dangerous.

    And it is the failure of the federal government to address the murderous activities of these trained armed herdsmen that has precipitated the mutations of all manner of security outfit across the northern and southern parts of the country. Whether in the southwest or southeast, these non-state actors are pointing at the activities of these dangerous herdsmen as the justification for their emergence. Also in the north-central, particularly in the Benue-Plateau axis, the youths of the area are also up in arms against these terrorists.

    Further up in the north-west, the insecurity challenges revolves around the activities of the armed herdsmen, whether as victims of cattle rustling or as avengers of the cattle that have been rustled. As correctly posited by a governor in the northern part of the country, the herdsmen caring for cows in the forests are not the owners of the cattle, neither are they responsible for hiring the trained armed herdsmen who strike in the rural areas to put fear amongst indigenous people.

    Of course, knowing that they have masters who can protect them, the local herdsmen also engage in sundry atrocities like kidnapping and rape, as a side-kick. It is these orchestrated activities of the herdsmen and their patrons that feed the conspiracy theory about a Fulanisation and Islamisation agenda across the country. While such agenda may be far-fetched, the challenge of civil authorities across the states is made more incapacitating by the failure of the federal government to ensure that security agencies bring the murderous activities of the armed herdsmen to a stop.

    This column is apprehensive that the counter fire-fighting strategy of both the security agencies and the ESN in Imo State may trigger another round of insurgency, even when the war in the north-east has already sapped our national security resources. While this writer unequivocally condemns violence by IPOB and other non-state actors, he urges the federal government to stave the descent into anarchy by halting the murderous activity of the trained armed herdsmen. To treat their menace as an economic crisis, while treating the counter reaction as terrorism, is counter-productive.

    Up the northern front, the governors of the region should insist that the federal government implement the recommendations of Governor El-Rufai’s committee. Since the Kaduna State governor connects culturally to President Muhammadu Buhari, he should use that advantage to convince the president to change tactics. If the pilgrimages to Aso Rock is not working, they might as well change their own strategy, unless their allegiance to the culture of obsequiousness is higher than the clear provisions of the 1999 constitution (as amended), which they hey swore to uphold.

  • National insecurity

    National insecurity

    By Gabriel  Amalu

     

    The captains of Nigeria need radical changes in their strategy to save the nation from the maelstrom that is threatening her survival as a body corporate. For it appears that finally, the decades of prodigality has berthed a combination of insufferable disasters which are about to put an end to the miserable life of the prodigal Nigerian state. So, those who are in charge must wake-up to the reality that unlike the prodigal son in the Bible who had a hard working father and brother to fall back on after his wasteful years, Nigeria has no fall back strategy.

    If Nigeria fails, it will thunder miserably into pieces on the ground. While the nation is waging an unending internecine war in the northeast, a new insurgency is brewing in the southeast, even as trained armed herdsmen appear determined to bring the north-central and the entire southern Nigeria to a miserable end. In the northwest, thousands of unemployable youths have taken up arms to engage in the employment of kidnapping for ransom.

    As if the cocktail of security disasters afflicting every part of the country is not enough challenge, Nigeria is financially broke at a time stagflation and food insecurity has entwined to make the lives of the citizens worse than that of the prodigal son. For a nation already having the dishonour of being the poverty capital of the world, a worsening economic crisis combined with overwhelming armed non-state actors on the prowl, is a highway to Somalian experience.

    To make a very bad situation miserable, the political disposition of the president has left even the traditional supporters of the corporate Nigeria, with no option than to champion the disintegration of the already fractured Nigerian state. In the past, the southeast or majority of the old eastern Nigeria, used to be the suspect for separatist movement, while the rest of the country bind to enforce the go on with one Nigeria.

    Now the southwest appears to have given up on the possibility that the prodigal son will return to his senses and come home for rehabilitation. Of course, the change of course was not made with clear eyes, but rather in the blur of the red-eye from plummeting by the trained armed wing of the herdsmen who have made life short and brutish for every part of the country.

    It is in the face of the maelstrom that economic meltdown is now squarely starring down the country; and is Nigeria about to commit suicide? Watching the Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele, sweating profusely as he confirmed that Nigeria is in a worse economic situation than it was in 2015 and 2016, one can imagine the panic that has gripped the majority of citizens that are living in abject poverty, unlike the privileged, yet sweating CBN governor.

    The adult members of the Nigerian state who have cornered the breast of the mother hen, for their exclusive feeding, even when the younger siblings are desperately hungry, may soon wake-up to the obituary of the mother-hen. When the president engaged in the exceptionalism of his tribe as those who must hold all the top echelons of the Nigerian state, Nigerians were told to forgive him, as he needed to work with those he can trust.

    Some of his ardent supporters even touted the disingenuous argument that the president was appointing the most competent persons, and Nigerians should not worry about where they come from, as long as the persons are competently discharging their responsibilities. Any mention that the 1999 constitution (as amended) clearly enjoins “That the composition of the government of the federation or any part of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the federal character of Nigeria, and the need to promote national unity, and also to command national loyalty…” was viewed with disdain.

    Now to the chagrin of even the most ardent promoters of the constitutional aberration of exclusivity and exceptionalism that is in practice, both the privileged and the under-privileged are now at the mercy of draconian forces far beyond the competences of those entrusted with power and authority. Unless there is a radical change of tactics by those who have the constitutional authority to change the cause of events, Nigeria may suddenly disintegrate and Nigerians would enter into the kind of misery the world may have not seen, even during the world wars.

    The reaction of the governors of the southeast to the maelstrom is to reluctantly create a regional security outfit known as Ebubeagu. How far that creature can go to confront the amorphous security challenges facing the region is in the womb of time. Of course, this column has never believed that an agglomeration of poorly trained, and poorly equipped men legally prohibited from carrying arms, is the solution to the enormous security lapses facing the nation.

    This writer considers it strange that in the face of the security crisis, the federal and state governments have not considered it expedient to quickly amend section 214 of the 1999 constitution, which provides that there shall be a single police force in Nigeria. Even to the dumbest fellow, it is obvious that our dear nation needs a new security strategy. And the challenge facing the governors of the southeast is compounded by the activities of the proscribed IPOB, and their so called Eastern Nigeria Security.

    It is also strange that instead of confronting the constitutionally entrenched economic imbalance created by the lopsided exclusive legislative list, some governors have taken the line of least resistance by proposing to sack their workers and unlawfully tinker with the national minimum wage. On its part, the federal government with its over-bloated powers which it has been poorly exercising, has forced the entire country into a slow march to economic strangulation. For instance, the inefficiency of the federal government has made something as basic as regular electricity supply, a luxury item across the country.

    To show how debilitating a bad constitutional arrangement can make a country behave like a prodigal son; under the guise of constitutional authority, the federal government is building a railway to a neighbouring country, when more than half of the country is denied that important means of transportation.  Again, with states and regions denied serious economic activities by suffocating constitutional restrictions, many of the governors are rendered redundant, in the face of challenges.

    For this column, the solution to the despondency of this era, lies in constitutional amendments to gift states enough economic opportunities and lawful authority to provide police security for her citizens. To keep living the oil cause is a sure death sentence for our dear country.

  • Unlucky Imo

    Unlucky Imo

    By Gabriel Amalu

    Who are the criminals trying to set Imo State up for collateral damages by attacking police stations and correctional facilities? Obviously, they want the armed forces to vent their frustrations elsewhere on the common folks, who have no hand in the attacks. Of course, this column does not buy the street talk that the police and other security agencies have been overawed by the hoodlums who wish to see the state descend into anarchy.

    While the sacked IGP Mohammed Adamu pointed an accusing finger at the outlawed IPOB, the group has disassociated itself from the mayhem that has become the lot of the state. There is a joke in the social media that while the police are accusing IPOB for burning police headquarters and Correctional Centre in Imo State, a crime they have denied, the army is exonerating the Boko Haram from being responsible for the disappeared military fighter jet, even when the group has claimed responsibility.

    On its part, the government of Imo State has pointedly accused the former governor of Imo State, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, of orchestrating the mayhem in order to make the federal government declare a state of emergency in the state. In his response, the former governor asked the state government not to politicise the attacks, but instead has advised his successor, Senator Hope Uzodinma, to consult him for lessons on how to ensure the safety of the state and her citizens.

    Of course, Imo State has not been lucky with the quality of political leadership at the state level and that has affected the succession plans since 2003. The result is that the state has been exposed to persons whose pedigree and sources of wealth are shrouded in mystery. And wealth without work, has thrown up a desperate cache of political ragamuffins, who will not bat an eyelid to sell the state for lucre.

    On the present crisis, both the present and immediate former administrations have agreed that it is political ragamuffins that maybe holding the state by the jugular. In an interview with Channels Television, Governor Uzodinma claimed that the mayhem in the state is the handiwork of aggrieved politicians. His Commissioner for Information, Declan Emelumba, accused Rochas of attempting to use the violence “to repossess property government had sealed.”

    On his part, Rochas stated: “During my time as governor, Imo State was very peaceful and these security issues and agitations were on. We applied wisdom in the sense that we talked with the traditional rulers, the youth leaders and made them see reasons.” He went on: “as long as young men wake up in the morning and no job and poverty is ravaging the system, there is nothing the armed forces can do … the young men are coming out of schools, they are not getting jobs.”

    So while the present administration is pointing accusing finger at her immediate predecessor for organising the idle hands that are terrorising the state, the former administration is saying that the idle men are in abundance, even when they were in power. If we go by Rochas’s account, while he found a way to contain the ragamuffins, Uzodinma is incapable of doing that. According to him, when he was the governor “we collected more than 100 AK-47 rifles from the youths who came for exchange willingly, just by taking to them.”

    Of course, nobody will deny that Rochas has the gift of gab. As a governor, some of his greatest moments were behind the microphone, but I believe he was talking euphemistically when he said the ragamuffins surrendered their rifles “just by talking to them.” So, instead of “just talking to them”, the present administration has resorted to strong arm-tactics, and Rochas counsels: “engaging them with issues rather than this idea of bringing in air force and army as a first measure.”

    There is no doubt that Rochas should know what he is talking about, considering that he was at the helm of affairs for eight years. What he has not come clean is the kind of issues the governor needs to engage the army of jobless youths with. To gain that knowledge, he has asked Governor Hope Uzodinma to consult widely. In particular, the governor should consult him to learn how he handled IPOB, how he handled kidnapping, and how he handled agitators?

    But I doubt if Governor Hope Uzodinma will accept the Greek offer from his predecessor, considering the ongoing battle to repossess the assets former Governor Rochas Okorocha, allegedly gained corruptly in office, which has been seized by the state. While he was in office, this column wrote a number of articles, advising the then Governor Okorocha, to resist the temptation to turn the state to a private fiefdom, considering the information about the involvement of his family members in controlling every sector of the state economy.

    This column also strongly advised him not to succumb to the temptation to field his son-in-law as APC’s flag bearer, in the last gubernatorial elections, even when the ragamuffins around him were egging on. But, of course, he ignored us. Unfortunately, the carpetbaggers who surrounded him lied to him that he was a king, whose word was law, and he swallowed the bait. But when the house collapsed, the erstwhile praise singers scattered in different directions.

    Now that the state is buffeted by organised crime, the present administration is pointing fingers at those erstwhile carpetbaggers, who were living large without work, as the source of the mayhem. While it is left for the law enforcement agencies to unravel the criminals trying to foist a state of lawlessness on the poor citizens of Imo State, who are no less victims in the unlucky trajectory of governance in the state, the present administration must do all in its power to change the culture of poor governance in the state.

    Of note, Imo State is reputed to have the largest concentration of professors in the country, but unfortunately those who govern the state prefer to surround themselves with charlatans. There is also the intriguing fact that instead of setting up industries, the indigenes prefer to build hotels in the state. Perhaps, the governance models in the state, needs to change in other to change the orientation of the elite of the state. If this assertion is correct, then the solution to the challenges facing the state would have to come from the leadership in the state.

    The government of Senator Hope Uzodinma, would therefore need to change the philosophy of governance in the state. Even when his opponents deride him because of his emergence, through the controversial Supreme Court judgment, against Emeka Ihedioha, he can surprise the state indigenes with a superior performance in office.

  • Lucky Anambra

    Lucky Anambra

    By Gabriel Amalu

     

    The people of Anambra State were lucky last week. But for providence, some miscreants tried to put a permanent blot on the state canvas. They attempted to murder one of Nigeria’s best and brightest sons, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, a former Central Bank of Nigeria governor. His crime? May be for daring to express interest to contest the upcoming state governorship election later in the year. If it is, then the plotters did not want to take a chance, that the man could be defeated at the polls; rather, they wanted to be in charge of who should contest. What a shame.

    Yet, by some accounts, Anambra State, is the homestead of Gad, acclaimed as one of the 12 sons of Israel, which by biblical account, is God’s chosen race. Could it then be that in a poor imitation of the Jews on Good Friday, persons from Anambra State, wanted to murder one of their most successful sons, just like the Jews, murdered Jesus around the same period, 2,000 years ago? As I wrote on this page, some time ago, Anambra State is blessed with the best the Igbo race can offer, as well as some of the worst dregs of the proud race.

    They boast of the highest concentration of intellectuals, as well as the highest concentration of billionaires any state in the country can boast of. Amongst these money-men, are some of the most productive Nigerians; whether as industrialists, entrepreneurs or traders. Conversely, the state also boasts of many billionaires whose source of income are shrouded in mystery. Those who believe that having tons of billions in their bank account is an end in itself, even if they gave the devil their soul in exchange.

    It is this last group of conscienceless billionaires that the good Lord has somehow saved the state from their hands, since 1999, as they become exceedingly dangerous when they join politics. Since the birth of this republic, such billionaire-politicians have approached every gubernatorial election as a do-or-die affair. With the billions they acquired dubiously as their only credential, they treat election as a bandit enterprise. Indeed, should the major political parties in the state sell nomination forms for a billion naira, there would still be several aspirants on the ballots at party-primaries.

    But somehow starting from the start of the 4th republic in 1999, the state has managed to outwit the bandit-billionaires in the political chess game. In 1999, former vice-president, Dr Alex Ekwueme was able to ensure the emergence of Dr Chinwoke Mbadinuju, who was not a money bag. Mbadinuju who managed to survive for a term, could not however survive the political hurricane engineered by the late Ikemba Nnewi, Chief Odumegwu Ojukwu in 2003.

    Luckily for the state, Ikemba engineered the birth of All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) which again snatched the state from the hands of the desperate billionaires who were ready to buy the governorship off the shelf, regardless of the price tag. Peter Obi, the APGA candidate though a billionaire, was hewed from a different wood from the desperadoes angling for a kill. While he changed the paradigm of governance with his gentle disposition, the tumultuous money-men pounced at the state at the next election.

    After swearing Dr Chris Ngige to a fetish oath, in other to tie the state’s treasury to their private bank accounts, they handed over to him a stolen governorship seat. To their chagrin, Ngige, ignored his oath and governed like a free born. To the consternation of Nigerians, the desperate billionaires bribed federal government officials, at the highest level, to allow them teach the governor a lesson. Again, Anambra was lucky, as the governor who had already signed his resignation letter under the force of arms was saved from a forced resignation.

    The state’s luck became permanent when Peter Obi was returned following his victory at the Supreme Court, against Ngige. Again, the desperadoes bided their time, as Peter Obi went about governing the state with a frugality that even his supporters considered strong handed. After completing his second term, to forestall the purchase of the state by the billionaire desperadoes, Peter Obi started an ingenious campaign that Ikemba Nnewi, had asked Anambrarians to do him the last favour of electing Willie Obiano the APGA candidate, as state governor.

    Somehow the gimmick worked, and Willie as governor worked hard to earn himself a deserved second term, even after falling apart with his benefactor, Peter Obi. Now that Willie’s second term is about to end, the nightmare of the state being hijacked by the bandit-billionaires has returned. Somehow, Governor Obiano appears to be angling for the former CBN governor, Soludo, and many believe he could become the APGA candidate and perhaps eventual winner of the governorship election.

    Many believe last week’s attempt to murder the former CBN governor was a desperate attempt to kill the project at its embryo. So, the police must find those involved in the dastardly act that snuffed life out of three policemen. Hopefully, the kidnapped state commissioner would be rescued alive. The security agencies should thoroughly drill those arrested, so that they can reveal their true sponsors, who should be treated as the law provides.

    For this column, all those involved in the attempt to murder Professor Soludo should be ashamed of themselves, for the needless calamity they wanted to foist on the family of Soludo, the people of Anambra and Nigerians in general. In an Easter period, when chastity should be the watch word, the bandits, whoever they are, have no qualms about the consequences of spilling an innocent blood.

    Yet, if there was a person eminently qualified to govern any state or even any country, Professor Soludo is that person. As Emeka Agbayi and I wrote in: Service Above Self (2008), Soludo studied Economics at the University of Nigeria, Nsukkka, and graduated with First Class Honours degree in 1984, as best graduating student. He was also best graduating student in the M.Sc. class of 1987. He crowned these with the Faculty Prize for the best graduating PhD candidate in 1988/89 academic year.

    This prodigious intellectual, became a full professor at the age of 38. Instead of praying for the Soludo solution, apologies to: service above self, some miscreants wanted Nigeria, and Anambra state in particular, to go into mourning. Luckily, God said no to their evil machinations. While there is a presumption that it could be those who harbour ill-will against the political aspiration of the former Central Bank Governor that had wanted to kill him, the police should as well look beyond them in their search. This column hopes that Anambra State’s luck will shine again at the next governorship election.

  • Tinubu as potentate

    Tinubu as potentate

    By Gabriel  Amalu

     

    Yesterday, the former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, turned 69 years, and as expected, his expansive political associates celebrated him, while his opponents vilified him. On both sides is a great multitude and they live happily in their divergent worlds.  While his associates consider him the greatest leader in the present political dispensation, his adversarial opponents consider him an enemy of democracy.

    But interestingly, even his opponents acknowledge him as the most influential non-public office holder in the country today. And with some of his supporters promoting him as a presidential candidate in the 2023 general election, it is fair to interrogate the arguments in his favour for public office which is the centre-piece of this column. Indeed, as the acclaimed national leader of the All Progressive Congress (APC), in power at the centre and in many states, he influences public power.

    Tinubu’s trajectory shows that as late as 1990, he was a top executive, as Treasurer, at Mobil Oil. His foray into politics started as a senator in the aborted third republic, and he was reputed to be one of the stringent opponents of the military president, Ibrahim Babangida, in his schemes, to commandeer the republic for his selfish benefits. Some records, say that at a time many of his colleagues were circumspect, he openly opposed the schemes of the military president.

    Eventually, his contributions to the June 12 struggle, eventuated his political rise in the Southwest. He was reputed to have supported the struggle financially, intellectually and physically, while in exile. His immense contribution endeared him to the leading lights of the Obafemi Awolowo’s school of political thought, who had influence and organisational capacity at the resumption of politics in 1999. Some believe that he was rewarded with the governorship ticket of the Alliance for Democracy, and he went on to win the governorship election that followed.

    Of note, while he may be considered as a beneficiary of the benevolence of the Awoists in 1999, he must be given credit for making the right choice to support the June 12 struggle, which endeared him to the group. Unless he had the power clairvoyance, at the time he invested his resources in the struggle, it would be far-fetched to contemplate any benefits. So the choice he made in the struggle could only have arisen from his firm belief in the pursuit of truth and justice.

    Having become the governor of Lagos State, it is important to interrogate what he used the power to achieve. He is reputed to have gifted the state with financial autonomy, by using his intellectual skills as a professional accountant, to raise the revenue base of the state from a paltry N600 million to over N8.5 billion monthly, 70% of which was internally generated within the state, by the time he left office.

    With the parameter he set in place, his successors have built on the revenue legacy to gift the state financial autonomy. Of note, while in office, Tinubu weathered the political blitzkrieg by the regime of President Olusegun Obasanjo when he sought to bring the state to its knees over the creation of local government councils, which the federal government refused to acknowledge. Of course, the state would have crumbled, under the weight of the crisis, if not for the financial acuity of Tinubu as the helmsman.

    His promoters for the office of the president, would of course rely on this capacity, to push his candidacy for the 2023 presidential election. For clearly, one of the major challenges facing the nation, is the dearth of financial expertise in managing the nation’s resources. Another selling point for the promoters of the Tinubu presidential contest is his disposition to federalist principles. According to some records, in the second and third republics, there were only two court challenges of the limit of the federal government’s power, vis-à-vis, state, up to the Supreme Court.

    But during the regime of Tinubu as governor of Lagos State, there were 13 cases concerning federalist principles which went to the Supreme Court for adjudication arising from Lagos State challenges. Beyond doubt, such disposition confirms the inviolable belief by the former governor on the need to lawfully disentangle the centralist principles in the 1999 constitution. This writer believes that unless there is economic and political diffusion of power as practiced in the first republic, even a Tinubu presidency would achieve little.

    The promoters of the Tinubu presidency also argue that as governor, he set the stage for the exponential development of Lagos State’s social and physical infrastructure. He is reputed to have developed a master plan which has become the beacon for the high achievements of his successors, from Babatunde Fashola SAN, to Akinwunmi Ambode, and presently Babajide Sanwo-Olu. Such agencies like LASTMA, LAWMA, BRT, LAMATA, LASIMRA and several others came from the master plan. That again places Tinubu in the vantage position, when discussing his potentials as president.

    Clearly, Asiwaju Tinubu, has proved himself one of the most astute political mentor and developer of men. By a combination of foresight and luck, his political family stretches to the presidency, the leadership of the National Assembly, several state government houses, federal ministries, local governments and party offices. With one of the most intriguing recruitment and promotion schemes, he has his mentees in far flung political offices across the country. And interestingly, he has helped Nigerians of varied backgrounds, tribes and religion, even as his Yoruba people naturally are the greatest beneficiaries.

    So, fundamentally, Tinubu stands shoulder high, as a sagacious political leader, and even his opponents would acknowledge that. Perhaps, but for Obafemi Awolowo, who gave the Yorubas a head start in education and infrastructure development in the country, Asiwaju Tinubu may have done more for the Yoruba race than any other person in history. Even with the turbulence under the presidency of the All Progressive Congress, which he eminently championed its emergence, the southwest region has fared better than others.

    On the other hand, as we match towards 2023, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s sagacious intellect would be tasked to explain the level of insecurity in the country, under the presidency of his party, the APC. His wits will be tasked to explain the grand failures of the party, in handling the national security. Should he throw his hat into the ring, Nigerians would want to know what he would do differently, to stem the security mess, plaguing our country.

    As the Asiwaju of Lagos and the Jagaban of Borgu, celebrates his 69th birthday, this writer wishes him many happy returns. The column joins his wife, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, as she is reputed to always pray that Asiwaju ends well.

  • Running for life

    Running for life

    Gabriel Amalu

     

    The attack on the Governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom, last week, by suspected armed herdsmen has brought a new dimension to the insecurity plaguing the country. While thousands of ordinary Nigerians have been dispatched to their grave, by the ubiquitous armed herdsmen who have made life miserable for many Nigerians, especially farmers in the rural areas, the audacious attack on one of the few most guarded Nigerians gives cause for serious worry.

    According to the governor, who has been in a running battle with the leaders of the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, and their patrons like the governor of Bauchi State, Bala Muhammad, he ran one and a half kilometres on foot to escape death at the hands of the attackers. The governor, who parked his official car on the Makurdi-Gboko road, had walked that distance into the bush to tend his farm, only to be waylaid by the armed bandits.

    Thankfully, the governor escaped unhurt, for an assassination of the governor could trigger a major cataclysm for Nigeria, already divided along ethnic lines. Like the assassination of the Austria-Hungary’s Archduke Franz Ferdinand triggered the First World War, a killing of the Benue governor could lead to a second civil war in Nigeria, as warned by the governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike. While Wike is garrulous, with the way the security architecture of the country stands, conspiracy theorists would have had a field day.

    With the commander-in-chief of the nation’s armed forces, and most heads of the nation’s military and paramilitary agencies manned by persons of a particular ethnic stock, how can the people of Benue State and Tivs in particular, not believe that such assassination was planned from the top? So, this column joins Governor Nyesom Wike, to advise the federal government to find the armed bandits involved in the attack, and punish them, to serve as a deterrent to their cohorts, who may have such evil plans.

    While all lives are indeed precious, and the 1999 constitution enjoins governments to protect all, there is no doubt that the lives of political office holders have greater value, which is why state apparatus is deployed to protect such lives. Unfortunately, because the Buhari presidency has concentrated majority of the leadership of the nation’s military and para-military agencies in the hands of a section, there is the notion of a hegemonic plans.

    So, with the crisis rocking several parts of Nigeria, particularly Benue State, predominantly a result of the farmers-herders clash, if any harm had come to Governor Ortom, the people of Benue will easily swallow every conspiracy theory that puts the blame on the patrons of the herders in government. As this column has argued severally, it is dangerous to skew the headship of the security agencies in favour an ethnic group.

    The 1999 constitution forbade such insularity, and common sense abhors such tendency in a heterogeneous country like Nigeria. So thank God, Governor Ortom ran for his life, and was able to outrun the attackers. But again, those who attacked him, and those who are in the know, need to be apprehended and made to account. Also, the federal government must wake up and curtail the insecurity facing the country.

    Like Governor Ortom, running for life, has become a way of life for many school children in the northern part of the country. According to some records, in the past few months, more than 600 pupils have been victims of kidnap by armed gangsters. What started as an isolated case when President Goodluck Jonathan was president has become a pastime under President Muhammadu Buhari. From Niger State, to Kastina and Kaduna states, kidnaping of school children have become a vogue, and the cost on those children, can only be imagined.

    Tragically, those who are in charge of the states where the children were kidnapped have not shown an understanding of the traumatic impact on the children. After the children are returned, one gets the feeling that public officials are more interested in the photo sessions with the rescued children than a therapeutic rehabilitation for the children. The officials behave as if they are not apprehensive of the horrific experience on the children’s mental physiognomy, as far as the quest for education is concerned.

    The shoot at sight order, allegedly issued by President Buhari, has not yet affected the insurgency and may not deliver Nigeria from the hands of the criminals working so hard to torpedo our country. Therefore a greater effort needs to be made by the federal government to stymie the descent into anarchy. This column wonders why the federal executive council has not proposed an amendment to the Police Act, and the 1999 constitution, to gift the country a decentralized police, when all zones in the country claim to be interested in that.

    Why we prefer a knee-jerk instead of holistic approach to governance of our country is worrisome. An intelligent approach to some of the issues could reduce the tension in the country, yet those in charge prefer the panel-beating that has only brought misery to Nigeria. Just like his predecessors, the Buhari presidency is uninterested in restructuring, and like presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan, may become wiser after he leaves office.

    This column urges him to engineer the restructuring of our country, for greater efficiency, instead of waiting until he leaves office. While Obasanjo was president, he treated any mention of decentralisation of the security agencies or even the national economy as an abomination. President Buhari now has every chance to make a difference by taking steps to decentralise the nation’s economy and police architecture, to gift our country the opportunity to prosper.

    Sometimes, I wonder what type of advisers the president has; whether they ever advise the president at all, or they are just there to waste our nation’s resources. Or is it possible that they are the ones misleading the president to make skewed appointments to the military and para-military agencies, such that majority of Nigerians have lost confidence in President Buhari’s sense of fairness as a national leader? Sometimes, when you see the preponderance of people from his ethnic stock getting nearly every position available, you wonder the future of our country.

    Those who pretend that all is well with our nation or that what is happening is normal should worry now that a governor had to run a kilometre and half to stay alive. One wonders what would have become of our country, if Governor Orton is not physically fit, and had succumbed to fatigue, and was murdered by the armed herdsmen. If that happened, those claiming hegemonic agenda would have proffered that tragedy as a conclusive proof.