Category: Gabriel Amalu

By Gabriel Amalu

The Nigerian elected political officials are a special breed of optimists. Their spirit of ‘never say die’, even when others are seeing political graveyards, can only be matched by the stubbornness of the defeated Donald Trump of United States of America.  Except for platitudes, most of them have no fidelity to the provision of section 14(1) (b) of the 1999 constitution (as amended), which provides that: “the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government.”

One wonders if they are concerned about the state of insecurity in the country, which has worsened since the Nigerian Police was sacked by vandals and criminals last month. Even the fact that Nigeria has become the country with the greatest concentration of the poor is not enough warning to thread with caution. To further aggravate the desperate situation, the country according to the World Bank, is facing the worst economic recession in many decades.

Yet, the only matter of concern from the presidency to the least official is strategizing for 2023 presidential election.  Take the tango between David Umahi, the erstwhile Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governor of Ebonyi State, who has ported to the All Progressive Congress (APC), and Nyesom Wike, of the PDP. While the president and APC governors are celebrating as if they have discovered a cure for Corona virus, Governor Wike, the self-appointed general overseer of PDP, has said the real reason Umahi defected is to position himself for the presidency in 2023.

Of course, Governor Wike on his part has not denied his plan to draft Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State, as a candidate in the PDP presidential primaries in 2023, as he did in the 2019 primaries. And with his second term ending, Wike, obviously hopes to run as his deputy, if not in the reverse order. Elsewhere, the APC governors have visited former President Goodluck Jonathan, celebrating him as the best thing to happen to democracy. Yet, their party dismissed the same Jonathan as clueless in 2015.

So, fast-forward to 2023, and damn the political and economic challenges that nearly torpedoed our democracy few weeks ago. In their usual reckless manner, our elected political office holders are not concentrating energy to interrogate the groundswell of massive discontentment that saw the underclass of our country try to burn down the country in orgy of violence. In their bravado, they hope that haven regained the initiative after the mayhem of last month; the dissatisfaction in our country can be treated as a matter of law and order.

The ruling APC which has been hijacked by the governors forum, are behaving like their contemporaries in the opposition party did, when PDP held sway. As long as they are in the driver’s seat, it is fair to overwhelm the environment with the political machinations for 2023. Few weeks after the house they occupy was almost burnt down, they have not pursed to ask themselves what they have been doing wrong, to generate such malcontent, beyond blaming the promoters of #EndSARS protest.

Instead of calling a bipartisan governors meeting to discuss the state of the sick union, they are gallivanting all over the place, pretending that all is well. Their counterpart in the PDP, instead of offering clear alternatives to the beleaguered citizens, are rather busy plotting for supremacy over 2023. None of the governors, who are desperately plotting to gain positional advantage in 2023, has offered an intellectual pathway for the recovery of Nigeria. As far as they are concerned, what matters most is scheming to control the party, not to offer any worthy alternative.

With the times so uncertain, a more responsible influential stakeholder like the governor’s forum should have concentrated energy offering solutions to the security challenges made bare by the inefficiency in the police force, which predates the present crisis. Rather, the governors pretend they can’t see a manifestly disenchanted police force, when it is an open secret that most policemen have abandoned their duty posts, or have sent in their resignation letters out of frustration.

In Lagos, last week, the okada riders who have become a menace to residents and other road users in the metropolis, refused the entreaties to remain law-abiding. In some cases, they mobilized and confronted the beleaguered police and state task force officials, who had to flee from the horde of motorcyclists in hot pursuit. Obviously, the message is lost on the governments at the federal and state levels, who may think it is just a Lagos problem.

This column warns that the open confrontation that took place last week between okada riders, and the Lagos State Environmental Task Force officials, which include security officers, provides a bird’s eye view of what awaits our dear country, as the state security agencies try to regain exclusive control of the coercive powers of the state. Instead of expending energy politicking for 2023, the governors should deeply worry about the very survival of the democratic endeavour, because without the basic provision of security and welfare for the citizens, the entire thing may collapse on all of us.

If the democratic project is allowed to derail, all the scheming and plotting would come to naught, as there would be no existing platform for the intrigues. So, any government official at any level who thinks that all is well with the democratic project is perhaps dim-sighted, and needs help to see well. Since governors now exert so much influence in the operational control of the two major parties, it is fair for them to be more concerned than any other political office holder.

While the APC is entitled to celebrate the porting of the governor of Ebonyi State to the party, they should worry about what history will say about the time in power of their party. Regardless of whether the PDP could have done better, considering the extraneous challenges of the year 2020, the APC must worry to what extent they have delivered on their election promises. While the corona virus pandemic is easily blameable for the worsened economic crisis, it is not an excuse for failing on the political reform promises.

If for any reason the APC is not returned to power in 2023, they would rue the lost opportunities they had, to help Nigeria become a sustainable federation. Many of the governors, especially from the northwest part of the country, who are excited about the power they are wielding during the presidency of the President Muhammadu Buhari, needs the structural reforms, more than the rest of the country. Yet, like Niger Delta political office holders under President Jonathan, they are ignoring the opportunity they have to engineer the necessary fundamental changes.

Gabriel Amalu

Those who are in police custody across the country for their involvement in the rioting and looting that followed the mindless shooting of genuine protesters at the Lekki toll gate, may be concerned that the Minister of Power, Alhaji Mamman Saleh, is also not in custody, despite his alleged attempt to divert 20 rural electrification projects, to his local government, through the proposed 2021 Rural Electrification Agency’s budget.

I haphazard an answer. First, is that Mamman Saleh is a ‘big man’ and a minister for that matter, and perhaps one of the favoured sons of President Muhammadu Buhari, and as such is immune from the long hands of the security agencies. Second, is that he could say, he merely attempted to do so, without violence. Luckily for other rural local governments, the Senate Committee on Power and Rural Electrification has vowed to stop his unconscionable attempt to site 20 projects in Lau Local Government Area of Taraba State, where he hails from.

According to the senate committee, while Mamman Saleh sought to locate 20 projects in his local council, only one of such projects is sited in the entire south-south part of the country. To show how reckless and mindless Saleh’s attempt was, even Senator Yusuf Yusuf, from the same state, representing Taraba Central Senatorial District, strongly kicked against the unconscionable budget proposal.

As reported, Yusuf urged his colleagues to look closely at the proposed budget. He said: “It is not just the N52 million, but if you look at from number 85, N30m, N20m, N40m and they are all concentrated in one Local Government Area.” He went on: “That is the minister’s LGA. Twenty projects are in the Lau Local Government Area. I am not challenging him, but I am sure”. Another member of the committee, Senator Bala Ibn’Nallah accused the minister of violating his oath of office.

In this season of looting, there are looters and there are looters. Apologies to decent people from Taraba State, but it appears as if looters from that state have big hearts. I think it is in Taraba that we saw looters carting away tractors, in the full public glare. Some pushing, some driving the tractors. In fairness, Taraba is not alone, as we saw looters, in some other states who came to the government warehouses with vehicles and motor cycles to loot.

How on earth, someone can hope to loot a tractor, and safely keep it, beats my imagination. In the same vein, how the Minister for Power, can hope to site 20 rural electrification projects in his local government, when many other local governments have nothing, from a so-called national budget, beats my imagination the more. After all, the minister is supposedly educated and urbane, unlike the looters who are uncouth, high on drugs or other similar vice, as we believe.

Perhaps, we overrate our public officials when we hold them higher in character than the street urchins and ragamuffins, who tried to make a fool of the democratic culture of street protest, the penultimate week. Indeed, it is possible that what Mamman Saleh did, is what passes off as public service in many sectors. Could it be that self-aggrandizement and clannish interests, is what is pervading the public service, so much so that our country has bread an army of hooligans who are ready to end the life of the country in retaliation?

The opportunity to preside over the Ministry of Power, and thereby determine who gets what, which Mamman Saleh had, and grossly abused, is perhaps a mirror of the challenge we face in that sector of our nation’s life. This column has canvased that there should be a decentralisation of the power sector, down to states, local governments and estates. If the Ministry of Power wishes to intervene in rural electrification projects, it should use states and local governments, instead of creating its own bureaucracy.

As we have seen in the case of Mamman Saleh, it could be his decision that instead of wasting scarce resources going across the country to figure out a fair deal, in accordance with the constitution, he choose to site the majority of the projects in his local government, damn his oath of office. It is possible that the honourable has never bothered to read the country’s economic objectives as provided in section 16 of the 1999 constitution (as amended).

The minister should know that section 16(1)(b) provides: “The state shall within the context of the ideals and objectives for which the provisions are made in this: control the national economy in such manner as to secure the maximum welfare, freedom and happiness of every citizen on the basis of social justice and equality of status and opportunity.” It provided further in sub-section 2(c) “The state shall direct its policy towards ensuring – that the economic system is not operated in such manner as to permit the concentration of wealth or the means of production and exchange in the hands of few individuals or of a group.”

Perhaps the minister needs to revisit his oath of office, which is contained in the seventh schedule to the constitution. A part of which read: “… that I will strive to preserve the Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy contained in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, that I will not allow my personal interest to influence my official conduct or my official decisions… so help me God.”

Without equivocation, the Minister of Power has clearly abused his oath of office, and has shown himself not different from those who have laid our country waste in the recent past. Since he would not resign having been caught red handed, and since his principal would not do anything about his conduct, the senate should diligently ensure that the unconscionable act is nipped in the board. The senate and the House of Representatives should stand guard against similar looting under the guise of national budget.

The venomous alacrity with which families joined street urchins and vagabonds to loot both essential and non-essential commodities, from government and fellow citizens alike, show the decadent level of our society. Perhaps, a sociological study should be commissioned, to know whether what happened represent the perception of the citizens of what the public officials do in the name of public service.

Even with the #EndSARS crisis contained, it will be playing the ostrich to think that the anger and discontentment that bred, perhaps the worst socio-economic rioting in the history of Nigeria has gone with the winds. The economic desperation and the moral decadence exhibited the penultimate week should worry our public officials, if they have the interest of our country at heart.

Gabriel Amalu

TWhen this column advised the government not to unleash the military on #EndSARS protesters, we did not envisage that any intransigence would lay our country prostrate within days. We were concerned about our fledgling democracy, considering that should the obdurate organized protesters be confronted by a military on a war footing, the consequences may be too dire for our nascent democracy. Unfortunately, a sudden dumb attack on the organized and decent protesters has birthed an army of the decadent protesters.

While the Lekki protesters were gyrating to music and patriotically waiving the national flag, the decadent protesters who have taken over are hell bent on bringing our country to its knees. With arson, banditry and stealing as their ethos, this group foolishly think that by burning public buildings and private property, burglary and stealing, maiming and killing fellow citizens, they are hurting those who have laid the country waste by their corrupt practices. Unfortunately, they have succeeded in giving the protest a bad name, which is a reason to end it.

Amongst the army of the decadent protesters are drug addicts, scallywags, political thugs, the economically humiliated, the chronically unemployed, criminals, marauders and the politically displaced. For the politically tainted, criminals and marauders, their armour is to burn down everything of value, while for the economically humiliated, theirs is to gleefully steal on camera. Damn visual evidence, and morality, they mobilise their households to a burglary expedition, good name be damned.

The events of the past week, has really brought out the worse in us. For some of the politically tainted decadent protesters, it is an opportunity to either effect a regime change or alternatively balkanize the country. So, the most depraved amongst them are tweaking the tales to infuse the twin national fault lines of ethnicity and religion to further blur the achievements of the decent protesters. They care not about the innocent lives that would be lost

Lagos, where the decent protesters made protest elegant, beautiful and alluring, has been so devastated by the criminality of the decadent protesters. Like a group of maniacs, the decadent protesters went about town burning government and private property, as if the ashes could be used to heal their depravations. In a most depressing manner they poured scum on the nobility of protest as a democratic weapon.

But enough of angst against the decadent protesters, whose counterparts in government are pretending to be hard of hearing and dim sighted. Against common sense, members of the legislative assemblies and the executive councils are yet to wake up to the warning from the #EndSARS protests, despite the dire consequences of ignoring it. They should know that while police brutality was the trigger, the angst against the governments is much deeper rooted, and they ought to be proactive in dealing with it.

Unfortunately, while the decadent protesters are openly destroying our country, the decadent public officials are hideously doing the same. President Muhammadu Buhari, the commander-in-chief of the armed forces and the chief executive of the federal republic, whose legacy as president is at stake, must wake up from his lethargy over the issues troubling our country and lead the charge to heal our nation.

Substantially, the anger out there is trained against the style of Mr President, and persons perceived as his die-hard supporters. The prime individual target of the arsonists, in Lagos, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Jagaban Borgu, is a victim, mainly because he is viewed as the person who helped the president to get to power. Of course, while that is not a justification for the debauchery of the decadent protesters, it is a signal to the president to re-examine his style of governance.

The chief failure of the president, is his disposition to tribalism and nepotism. For reasons best known to the president, he has perjured the provisions of section 14(3) of the 1999 constitution (as amended), which provides that: “The composition of the government of the federation or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such manner as to reflect federal character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity, and also to command national loyalty, thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from a few states or from a few ethnic or other sectional groups in that government or in any of its agencies.”

While his minders are quick to abuse those who point out this illegality, and make bogus reference to dubious statistics to justify the unconstitutional conduct, we have no doubt that many of them ran under the bed when the fire came. So, the president must save his legacy by consciously changing his ways, to reflect the diversity of our country in his appointments. Many of the anger out there is because many see the president as a sectional leader.

The second issue the president should address is the over centralisation of economic and political power at the centre. By publicly declaring and taking steps to diffuse some power from the centre to the states, the president would instantly turn to a hero. Whether in the northern part of the country, or the southern part, most states are economically unviable and that is impacting negatively on governance.

The members of the National Assembly who receive unlawful emoluments, referred to as #EndotherSARS, should return to constitutional behaviour. They should quickly obey the provision of section 32(d) of the Third Schedule, Part 1, of the 1999 constitution, which gives the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission the authority to determine their remuneration.

Some of the aggrieved view the members of NASS as lawbreakers, and the anger against them, is because of their huge salaries and other emoluments. Again, this column joins other voices of reason to ask the NASS to come to their senses and mend their ways. With regards to some states, the angst may be a reflection of how the powers that be in the states are perceived. Of course, there are also cases of the politically displaced who see the crisis as an opportunity to regain some ground to achieve private agenda.

Again while that is not an excuse to commit arson, the chief executives and the state legislators must realise that they cannot be living in opulence while the masses wallow in abject poverty. To compound their challenge, governors who answer chief security officers, have no command control of a single police officer. To heal Nigeria, those in power must restore credibility to public service otherwise the decadent protesters may burn down our country.

This column urges the legislators and the executives at all levels to treat the ongoing crisis as a national emergency, to save our hard-earned democracy.

Gabriel  Amalu

This column has paid scant attention to the exercise of public power at the third-tier of government in Nigeria, otherwise known as the local government council, over the years. But in this essay, I hope to discuss my double encounter within few days, with the chairman of Awuwo Odofin local government council, Engr. (Dr) Valentine Buraimoh. The reason for the concentration of our enquiry on governance at the centre and the states is because the two tiers park heavier punches in the exercise and impact of public power.

On Saturday, October 3, the Holy Family Catholic Church, Festac Town, hosted Engr. Valentine, as the special guest, at the Parish’s event, to mark the 2020 Season of Creation, which was celebrated across the Archdiocese of Lagos from September 1 to October 4. In tandem with the message of the Holy See, Pope Francis, in Laudato Si – ‘on care for our common home’, the Archbishop, His Grace Most Rev. Dr Alfred Adewale Martins, through the parishes drew the attention of mankind on the need to protect and preserve our common home – the earth.

In paragraph 216 of the Pope Francis’s Laudato Si, the Holy See, reminded us: “the rich heritage of Christian spirituality, the fruits of 20 centuries of personal and communal experience, has a precious contribution to make to the renewal of humanity; a commitment this lofty cannot be sustained by doctrine alone, without a spirituality capable of inspiring us, without an interior impulse which encourages, motivates, nourishes and gives meaning to our individual and communal activity.”

Acting out the admonition for communal action by the Archbishop, the Holy Family Parish Priest, Rev. Fr. Melvis Maiyaki, invited the local council chairman, as the number one civil citizen of the community to be the special guest. At the event, in agreement with the message of the church on preservation of the environment, Engr. Valentine spoke on the need for environmental consciousness amongst the residents of the council.

He expressed gratitude to the church for leading the world to a change of heart with regards to the treatment of our common home – the earth, as the Archbishop and the Pope in their various messages relayed at the event. At the tree planting part of the event, Valentine was the first to plant as a symbol of restoration and sustainability of the environment by the church community, followed by the clergy, and the leadership of the lay faithful, including this writer, who has the honour of heading the Catholic Men Organisation in the parish.

This column has no doubt that the message of the church strikes a chord with the council chairman, who has done reasonably well, particularly in restoring the physical environment of the Amuwo Odofin Local Government Council, since he took over the administration of the council. This writer is particularly impressed with the effort to de-silt some of the major drainages in Festac Town, even though a lot more has to be done, in a manner that enables sustainability.

Valentine also impresses this writer with the level of his accessibility to the people of the community. While I have severally interacted with him, at occasions without introducing myself beyond the confines of my role at the various events, I always watch closely his inter personal relationship with those who mill around him, because of the position he occupies, and I give him a pass mark on accessibility. Unlike some office holders, he is not snobbish, neither dose he carry himself with a sense of over-worth, as most politicians do.

My second encounter with Valentine Buraimoh, was at the ceremony hosted by the Rotary Club of Lagos Festac Cosmopolitan, on Wednesday October 7. There again, I am privileged to be the supervising assistant governor, in charge of the club, representing Rot. Bola Oyebade, District Governor, District 9110 Nigeria. But for my editorial board meeting, I would have been the presenter of a Rotary pin to Valentine, as an honorary member of the club.

In choosing him as an honorary member, the club reminded him in their citation, thus: “the community will know and judge Rotary by your action and ideals. You will become an ambassador for Rotary and you will carry these ideals and principles of Rotary service to those who know you or with those whom you are associated.” That is a tall order for a politician, considering the stringent ideals of Rotary, particularly the 4-Way Text, which I have espoused severally in this column, as a guide for the exercise of public power.

But to have found him worthy, I am hopeful, Valentine will not disappoint Rotarians and the people he governs as chairman. Of course, they trusted Valentine as worthy of the honour, and even more, they invested him with a Paul Harris Fellow of the Rotary Foundation. In the citation for that honour, the club eulogised Valentine in this words: “A world for peace and goodwill comes closer to reality today as Engr. Dr Valentine Oluwaseyi Buraimoh becomes a Paul Harris Fellow.”

The Rotary Foundation is the engine house with which Rotary serves humanity. As the club succinctly pointed out, “a contribution to the Rotary Foundation is an investment in the ideal of goodwill, peace and understanding.” They went on: “as Rotary works with such individuals of good will, we believe the ideal will become a reality.” That dream ideal is turning a reality with the partnership between the Rotary Club of Lagos Festac Cosmopolitan, a not for profit enterprise, and the Amuwo Odofin local council, for public good.

All persons of goodwill would love the vibrant young Rotary club, led by Rot Uzoamaka Akanene, as president, and their collaboration with Amuwo Odofin local council, for adopting the median in the section between the main Festac entrance gate and the intersection with the 2nd Avenue for the purpose of beautification, conservation, maintenance and sanitation. The club fenced off the area and planted 60 King Palms, grass and lilies, installed a water tank and piping in the median. They also plan to maintain the planted trees and conduct a monthly sanitation exercise in the adopted area.

Like in the church’s Season of Creation, the council chairman and yours sincerely were again called upon to plant two of the King palms, as special guests. It was after this ceremony that I walked up to introduce myself to the chairman for the first time, even though I have sat with him on several civic occasions in the community. While wishing him well, I join Rotary and Catholic Church to promote a healthier environment. As Laudato Si Multi Year Roll out Plan promotes, let us all “make communities around the world totally sustainable in the spirit of the integral ecology of laudato si.”

By Gabriel Amalu

Following the fall of man and woman in the Garden of Eden, the Bible recorded that God put a curse on the woman thus in the book of Genesis: “I shall give you intense pain in childbearing; you will give birth to your children in pain.” The intensity of pain for a woman in labour may be best described by mothers who have experienced it; but witnessing it, is also emotionally agonising, even though joy comes afterwards.

Watching the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) leaders struggle to explain to Nigerians who felt betrayed after the strike against fuel and electricity tariff hike was aborted, one could envision their agony as akin to the pains of a woman in labour (all pun intended). The difference though is that no joy will come to the labour leaders after this labour pains.

Many Nigerians insinuate that the labour leaders, like the woman, fell when they were tempted to eat of the forbidden fruit. The Bible records that when God asked the woman: “why did you do that?” she replied “The snake tempted me and I ate.” Well the dramatic incidence of the late night meetings between the labour leaders and the government officials bears all the trappings of the Garden of Eden tragedy.

I recall that in the past when labour leaders hand an ultimatum to the government, they usually go underground, and remain incommunicado, until either the government yields or the strike action commences. But nay, the current labour leaders honoured an invitation to meet with the Minister of Labour and other high level government officials in the cosy environment of the banquet hall of Aso Rock, the seat of the president.

Could it be that like the woman, they were tempted there, and they ate? Who knows? But surely the labour leaders will labour for a long time to convince their followers that they did not eat the forbidden fruit to become turncoats at the detriment of their followers. With their followers jeering at them, and not likely to follow them to battle anymore, they have figuratively become naked before the government officials.

And going forward, if truly they ate the forbidden fruit, they would have to rely on the federal government officials to cover their nakedness. Poor fellas! Without the backing of their followers, all the talk about spending the next two weeks to review the electricity tariff, and decide economic cushion for the workers is a joke. But what ordinarily can the labour leaders do, faced with a desperate government that is presiding over a failing state?

At the anniversary of its 60 years of independence, Nigeria is a nightmare, even for those in power. A classic example is that the two most powerful government officials, President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, and Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, GCON, cannot visit their home states and take a stroll in the street. While Kastina, where the president hails from, is the epicentre of banditry in the northwest; Yobe, where the senate president comes from, is in the axis of militant Islamic insurgency in the northeast.

At 60 years, our country is financially broke, yet is waging war in all parts of her territory, and is therefore economically castrated by local and international forces exceedingly beyond her control. So, how can the labour leaders confront such desperate leaders? Before the meeting, I had no doubt that the labour leaders would capitulate, as the consequences of any form of obstinacy could be very dire. A desperate government would not hesitate to treat them as economic saboteurs, if need be.

Moreover, if President Buhari, reputed for his ramrod love for command economy, could after experiencing five years of the temptations of the presidential villa, become a born again champion of market driven economy, regardless of its inflationary pleasure on his much beloved ordinary folks; who are the labour leaders not to see the new dawn, after receiving what may have been a well laid out presidential pampering. So, if they say, to their followers, the presidential aides tempted us and we fell, they should understand.

The labour leaders can also plead that the National Industrial Court had declared the proposed strike action illegal, and as democratic labour leaders, they are obliged to obey the order of court. Speaking of the position of the law, section 17(1) of the Trade Disputes Act, by its extraneous provisions, makes it impossible to organise a lawful strike. Well, it may be argued that the onerous conditions provided in the Act have never been met in the past by labour leaders, before embarking on strike.

But again, it can also be argued that the times we are in, are perilous, and with the nation on the verge of economic collapse, due to the reduction in its income capacity, even as its expenses rise astronomically from prosecuting an unending war, the only option left for government is to increase taxes. In such desperate situation, the present labour leaders cannot withstand the pressure from government officials.

Unfortunately, in the midst of these challenges, this column cannot see any economic blueprint that will lead to an economic turnaround. While price deregulation can attract investment that will drive the prices down ultimately, other economic impetus like security, political stability, rule of law, secure legal regime, and macroeconomic stability, amongst other factors, must combine before we can reap the fruits.

Without dealing with these other challenges, what the government has merely done, is to increase tariffs, while the people who have become economically emasculated, are left to struggle to afford the new tariff. On its part, if there is no general economic growth, because of macroeconomic crisis, the value of the naira would further depreciate, and the government will continuously be forced to increase the tariffs for the services.

That is the economic quagmire that the nation faces, and the labour leaders despite their pretences of self-worth, are not in a position to effect any fundamental changes, considering the nation’s antecedents. It is those antecedents, which are referred to as the fault lines that those in government explore, to our common detriment. For instance, even when Kastina and Yobe states have majority of the economically dispossessed, peoples of the states would not join to demand necessary fundamental change, considering that their sons are in power.

So, when labour leaders are invited to Aso Rock to negotiate how to make life difficult for the residents of the villa, you do not need a prophet, if I may allude to Pastor Adeboye’s recent mathematical bombast, to know that whoever keeps vigil for a worthy outcome, labours in vain. We can only hope that with the respected pastor, joining in the advocacy for economic restructuring, perhaps those in charge would have a change of heart.

By Gabriel Amalu

The Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the federation, Abubakar Malami, SAN, is on trial in many fronts. With respect to the knotty issue of the Process & Industrial Development Ltd (P&ID) scam against Nigeria, the learned silk has distinguished himself creditably in his capacity as the chief law officer of Nigeria. With respect to his fight with the suspended chairman of EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, the jury is still out as to whether he was accentuated by ill-motive in his petition indicting the erstwhile corruption czar.

The learned AGF is also at odds with the Nigerian Bar Association, (NBA) of which he is a prominent member, for allegedly acting mala fide, ultra vires and in bad faith in his purported unilateral amendment of the Rules of Professional Conduct (RPC). Unfortunately for the learned silk, the din associated with the purported amendment of the RPC, has overshadowed the success recorded by Nigeria in successfully raising a prima facie case of fraud with regards to the arbitral award, in favour of P&ID.

While the EFCC is also laying claim to the success story, the AGF clearly deserves kudos for his dogged fight against those who wanted to scam Nigeria of over $10 billion, a significant portion of our national budget. As the judgement of the English Court showed, it was Nigerian government officials and lawyers retained to defend Nigerian that were in bed with P&ID and their collaborators in what perhaps could have been one of the greatest heist against the country, in recent time.

In his essay, in Thisday Newspaper, titled: P&ID and its Nigerian Conspirators, Shaka Momodu, wrote a damning indictment of senior officials of the NNPC, Ministry of Petroleum Resources and a learned silk and former Attorney General of Lagos State, Olasupo Shasore, SAN. Quoting from the judgment, he x-rayed a judicial indictment of Mr Oguine and Ms Taiga of the NNPC, and Ms Adelore of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, all of whom became alleged collaborators, instead of defenders of the Nigerian interest, they work for.

Of note, the alleged actions of the senior lawyers which amounts to professional misconduct, took place while Mohammed Bello Adoke, SAN, who is standing trial for financial crimes against Nigeria, was the Attorney General of the Federation. Again, in the matter for which Adoke is standing trial, AGF Malami has stood resolute, and ignored the plea of his predecessor that he was being unfairly targeted by the foreign lawyer acting for Nigeria. For standing up against those who betrayed their fatherland, the AGF deserves to be commended.

Like I said earlier, the jury is not out with regards to the counter-accusations levelled against the AGF, by the former boss of EFCC, Ibrahim Magu. As I wrote on this page, not long ago, what is good for the goose is good for the gander. Since it was Malami’s petition that led to the suspension of Magu, and Magu has alleged similar malfeasance against Malami, it is only fair that those allegations be scrutinized. My position on that has not changed.

But, since many Nigerian have trust in the panel of enquiry set up by the president, under the leadership of retired Justice Ayo Salami, to do a comprehensive job, it is fair we await the outcome of the enquiry to know, between Magi and Malami, the one who betrayed the trust of President Muhammadu Buhari. This column only hopes that the tribunal would conduct its enquiry in a judicial manner, so that the outcome can withstand a judicial review.

The third issue on which the AGF has received criticism is his purported amendment of the RPC, over which some lawyers have threatened a lawsuit, with the aim of stripping the AGF of title of senior advocate of Nigeria. The NBA led by a new executive has also protested against the unilateral amendment of the RPC, a responsibility reserved for the General Bar Council, which the AGF heads. Apart from the AGF, the attorneys generals of all the states, and 20 representatives of the Nigerian Bar Association, make up the council.

The power to amend the RPC is provided by section 12(4) of the Legal Practitioners Act, as amended by law No 21 of 1994, and it is clearly reserved for the council. So, unless the council met and made the recent amendment, a unilateral action by the AGF is ultra vires, null and void. While the AGF has kept mum since the controversy broke, senior lawyers have taken sides depending on their interests, clearly beyond the issue at stake.

Of course, the NBA is afflicted by many ills, including the alleged subjugation of the electoral process, to achieve preconceived outcomes. A clear evidence of that is that the immediate three past elections have been the subject of controversy, including in one instance allegation of criminal misconduct, arising from the conduct of the elections. So a number of lawyers are unhappy with the process, and some of them see the interference from the AGF as a deserved comeuppance for these electoral manipulations, by some members.

While this writer is unhappy with the electoral process, and has canvassed for an improvement, such disenchantment is not enough to support the AGF to usurp the powers of the bar council. Those whose anger have beclouded their position on the issue should retrace their steps in the interest of rule of law, the fundament of the legal profession, which they profess. Again, no doubt, the huge revenue accruing from annual dues and cost of stamp that the NBA generates have become a sauce for those who have made membership of the executive body their own law practice.

These group would do everything and anything to gain a position in the bar, and once they have gotten there, they become careerist in the executive body or its extended bodies. That is the anger of some others who don’t give a damn if the body implodes. Again, such disposition will not aid the profession in the long run, everything considered. Furthermore, a number of the aggrieved have personal issues with their colleagues who have fed fat from their time in the executive.

Many of them have used their membership of the bar executive, as the ladder to higher privileges, even when they have not distinguished themselves in the profession. To save the NBA, the new executive body at the national level, should do what it can to purge itself and state executives of the avarice and ills that is trying to upend the association. Unless there is internal healing, those working to divide the bar, would gain from these discontentment.

In conclusion, I urge the AGF, Mr Abubakar Malami, SAN, to acquit himself creditably, while he has the powers of the office vested in him. Sooner than later, the office will leave him willy-nilly.

Gabriel Amalu

The recent hike in tariffs, of electricity and petrol, has added to the adversity wrought by the coronavirus pandemic upon Nigerians. As expected, the cost of food, transportation, and other social needs have gone up. For instance, the price of a loaf of bread has increased by more than 10 percent since the hike, from a price many could hardly afford before the increase.

To make matters worse, before the increase in the cost of bread, many breadwinners have lost their jobs. The costs of other staple food items have also gone up, so, many Nigerians go to bed without food. History reminds us that it was the increase in the cost of bread that led to the storming of the Bastille, which triggered the French revolution, in 1789.

Before the new hike, many small scale businesses have closed shop, while those still operating run at half capacity. Now, with many of them running on generator, a number of the survivors will close shop. The businesses that took loans from finance houses may not be able to repay and that will affect the liquidity of the finance houses. The financial squeeze could spiral up to the banks, which finance the finance houses.

So, it is a tale of woes for the ordinary Nigerians and businesses. But there are no signs that the luxurious lifestyles of those in power have been affected by the economic and social hardship their misrule has plugged Nigerians into. One can say that the impact of their failure in governance have only affected the ordinary Nigerians, and without feeling the heat, there is the likelihood that the ruling elite may continue to cause the ordinary people greater hardship.

So far, short of expanding the tax nets, those in government appear clueless. Yet, the federal government officials keep talking about the ease of doing business. Not long ago, the federal government taunted the new Companies and Allied Matters Act, 2020, as the best thing that has happened to businesses in Nigeria. While the new law may have improved the legal regime, what can be achieved when the economic environment is most excruciating?

It is unfortunate, that despite promises, the federal government has failed to either build new refineries or repair the old ones, after five years of being in power. Like their predecessors, the officials are defending the price hike in fuel and electricity, as the best thing to happen to Nigeria. Yet there is no government roadmap to get Nigeria out of the shameful cycle of importation of fuel, while we export crude oil.

The federal government’s claim that Nigerians enjoyed the low cost of fuel, during the lockdown, is hogwash, and Nigerians are not buying it. In the social media, the joke is on the sympathizers of this government, as they are constantly reminded of the promises the ruling party made, before they won the election. One of the most disarming video is that of the campaign against fuel hike, now trending in the social media.

In one of the videos, many pro-democracy activists are shown telling Nigerians to resist the fuel hike, under President Goodluck Jonathan. One of the videos has President Buhari, Ogbonnaya Onu, John Odigie-Oyegun, and a host of other party leaders, campaign against the hike in fuel price, amongst other punishing programmes. In several of the trending videos, candidate Buhari made promises that fuel import will stop, Boko Haram will be defeated, presidential fleet will be reduced, if he wins the presidency.

With the stirring failures, the legitimate question the Buhari government and indeed the ruling party should ask introspectively is why has the government been unable to deliver on many of their patriotic promises? There was no doubt that the government of Goodluck Jonathan was on the wrong path in terms of the corruption laden fuel importation regime, and the handling of the Boko Haram, amongst other malaises then plaguing the nation.

So, it was legitimate for Nigerians to seek an alternative government, which an austere and ascetic candidate Buhari represented. But after five years of the alternative regime, it is legitimate to measure the success level of the change agenda. Since, things appears to remain the same, even as the government works hard to change things, perhaps the challenge is more fundamental and structural than our leaders are willing to accept.

For instance, why is it that the much advertised Petroleum Industry Bill, which all the regimes touts as a sector game changer, have not be passed, while it is easy to agree to remove the fuel subsidy? Also, what is the cause of the apparent failure of the privatisation of the electricity sector, despite the potential economic gains?

Again, despite the huge resources expended in the maintenance of the refineries, how come the refineries are still as moribund as they were under the former regime, which many describe as corrupt and inefficient? What could be responsible for getting the same result, from what is touted as different measures, or are we in a flux, not knowing what we are doing or what we are seeing?

The failure of the electricity sector should worry Nigerians, despite the promises to do things differently, by the Buhari regime. Of note, we recall that under President Olusegun Obasanjo, the late Bola Ige, boasted that he would conquer the sector, but failed abysmally. Again, under President Buhari, Babatunde Fashola, who boasted that any serious government can solve the electricity problem in six months, failed woefully when he was saddled with the responsibility to walk his talk.

Could it be that as presently structured, it is nigh impossible to gift Nigerians adequate electricity? Could it be that maintaining a national grid, instead of regional grids, amongst other reasons, makes stable electricity impossible? While we lack the capacity to generate enough, we are incapable of transmitting efficiently what has been generated. To show how incoherent the management of the sector has become, it is President Buhari that is ordering for mass metering after the obnoxious increase in tariffs.

Perhaps it is becoming increasingly obvious that Nigeria as presently configured cannot make any meaningful progress, even with the best intentions. Perhaps there is too much concentration of powers in the centre, and the absence of incentive to strive, amongst the federating units. So, can the nation make progress without confronting these structural challenges?

To make matters worse, the nation is already in a debt peonage, while it is facing an expanding war against Islamic fundamentalists, plus internal security challenges. Are we applying the same unworkable formula, and expecting a better result? Unfortunately, we are at the mercy of those who are luxuriating in our adversity.

Gabriel Amalu

The photograph of President Muhammadu Buhari, in the newspapers, last week, admiring samples of gold bars and other precious minerals, brought to him by the Zamfara State governor, Bello Matawalle, at the Presidential villa, Abuja, caught the image of an absentee landlord, admiring the precious metals brought by the overseer of one of his far flung estates. Governor Matawalle visited the president, to show him the wasting assets, and notify him that ‘foreign gold poachers’ have taken over the mines and are trading the precious metals for firearms.

As relayed by Governor Matawalle, the ‘foreign gold poachers’ have entered the state: “to buy gold and sometimes, instead of paying people (with money), they pay back with arms.” He confirmed that his finding is a product of an investigation. Zamfara and other parts of the northwest have become a hotbed for banditry and sundry criminality, and very regularly the governors of the states run to Abuja, to seek presidential help to curb the insecurity.

Of course, the federal power cannot do much, with revenue from oil resources in doldrums, partly because of the economic crisis arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, and decreasing dependency on hydro-carbons by world economic behemoths. But more importantly, the oil revenue, is becoming insufficient, to fight the wars in the northeast and northwest, the armed herdsmen’s insurgency in the middle belt, the kidnapping and banditry in the southern part of the country, and feeding the ballooning population, without commensurate economic activities.

Like a tenant who relies on his absentee landlord for survival, Governor Matawalle, is banking on the recently launched Presidential Artisanal Gold Mining Development Initiative, to curb the illegal gold mining that is fuelling insecurity in his state. Of course, he cannot legitimately touch the gold and other precious metals, without the approval of the federal government. To compound his dependency syndrome, he cannot also set up a police to curb the security menace from the illegal mining, because that will be illegal under the law.

So, the governor as state chief security officer is prohibited from providing any security, just as he cannot harness the mineral resources nature endowed his state with. Except to share the resources sent down from Abuja, the governor is a caricature of a chief executive. He survives at the mercy of an absentee landlord. According to Law.com, an online dictionary, an absentee landlord is “an owner of a real estate who leaves the premises vacant. While there may be no tenant and the property is empty, they have not abandoned the property.”

Like his brother governors, Governor Matawalle is trapped in a bizarre constitutional web, which makes him a chief executive, without the legal instrument to fully act as one. While section 2(2) of the 1999 constitution (as amended) proclaims that: “Nigeria shall be a federation consisting of states and a federal capital territory” section 214, says: “There shall be a Police Force for Nigeria, which shall be known as the Nigeria Police Force, and subject to the provisions of this section no other police force shall be established for the federation or any part thereof.”

So Governor Matawalle is what is called in local religious parlance, ‘a powerless power.’ His legal encampment by the absentee landlord with regards to the challenge his state faces is total. By the provision of section 1 of the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act 2007: “The entire property and control of all minerals resources in, under or upon any land in Nigeria, … shall be vested in the Government of the Federation and on behalf of the people of Nigeria.”

To securely lock that door against the state chief executive and the peoples of the state, Section 2, reiterates: “All land in which minerals have been found in commercial quantity shall from the commencement of this Act be acquired by the government of the federation, in accordance with the provisions of the Land Use Act.” On its part the Land Use Act which vests all land in the state on the governor, makes an exception with respect to land with precious minerals like gold.

So, a combined reading of the Land Use Act with the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act vest all land on which minerals have been discovered or on which mining is taking place assuredly on the federal government. That is why the governor like a forlorn tenant scurried to Abuja to seek the favour of the president to mind his resources, and secure the state. If the president dislikes the governor, he can ignore his pleas and allow the minerals in Zamfara State to remain a curse of monumental consequences, instead of a blessing.

While speaking to the press, Governor Matawalle recognised the abundant mineral resources in Zamfara, as the root cause of the insecurity in the state. The tragedy is that he can do little to save the state, because the laws of the land hamstring him. That is the conundrum, in Zamfara and across Nigeria. As I have argued on this page severally, the tragedy of the failing Nigerian state is substantially the result of our greedy appetite, for the oil resources of the Niger Delta.

The incongruity of languishing in abject poverty and insecurity, by Zamfara State and many of its ilk, in the midst of its gold and other solid mineral resources, is because the Nigerian state cannot sever the ownership of oil minerals from solid minerals. So, if the federal government must keep control of the oil resources of the Niger Delta, then it must also keep the solid minerals and thereby render the entire nation’s landscape a poor and dejected abandoned estate.

While the ordinary people have been suffering the consequences of this bizarre federal system of government, because they lack the capacity to join in the looting of the oil wealth, the chicken has come home to roost, for even the rich, with the insecurity that is trying to submerge the entire landscape, into a feisty conundrum of fire and brimstone. To make matters worse, the corona virus pandemic has shown that it is possible to lock everyone inside the cage, while the boiling runs its course.

Going forward, instead of the federal capture of the mineral resources across the country remaining an issue of ‘might is right’, it has mutated into a ‘poisoned chalice’. No doubt, the gods of the Niger Delta, must be laughing at the gods of the other parts of the country, and mocking their subjects, whose gluttony for oil wealth, is about to upend their existence. Restructuring the security and economic architecture of our country, is a matter of survival. Those running the Nigerian bazaar, must realise that awuf dey run belle.