The Nation Newspaper

Category: Gabriel Amalu

  • Reorienting Northern Nigeria

    Reorienting Northern Nigeria

    One of the biggest news scam of this century was that there was an agreement amongst the primordial actors that the amalgamation of Northern Protectorate and the Colony of Lagos and Southern Protectorate in 1914 was structured to last for only 100 years. The purveyors of the fake news niftily encouraged those disenchanted with the state of Nigeria to treat the nation as an expired product hence their trenchant determination to discard Nigeria into a waste bin. Of course, the protagonists made no attempt to provide proof of their wishful claims.

    The majority of the protagonists in the southern part of the country who see the northern part of the country, especially those in the north-west and north-east, as a burden on the rest of the country merely got further ammunition to pursue their desire to end a troubled Nigerian union. They point at the humongous socio-economic challenges facing the northern part of the country, and hold the view that nothing good can ever come from that part of the country. Those from northern part of the country, who because of the exigencies of Nigerian history, see themselves as the privileged class, view the agitators, as trouble makers who should be dealt with, mercilessly.

    On their part, the by-product of the decades of mismanagement in the north: the talakawas, almajaris, internally displaced persons, petty cattle rustlers, long trekking cattle herders, and other hordes of poverty-stricken masses in the northern part of the country see their compatriots in the southern part, with different idiosyncrasies, culture, religion and sundry practices, as the root cause of their social, economic and political dislocation. Thus at any slightest opportunity, that horde of the disposed and disoriented commoners, seeks to exert hefty prices from those who cause their problem. 

    In the southern part, a fervent wave of agitators who believe inextricably that the ways of the people from the so-called core north, and the ways of their compatriots from the southern part, can never align, seek both lawful and unlawful means, to end the nightmarish marriage, called Nigeria. The more enlightened amongst them, deride people of the northern Nigeria, as economic laggards, who depend on the southern part of the country for their survival. At every election cycles, political actors from the northern part of the country thus make strenuous efforts to show that the north is not a strain on the rest of the country. 

    Read Also: NAF strikes clears Niger forest, kill several terrorists

    Last week, the northern governors and the traditional rulers in the north, once again fell into that narrative, that they depend on the resources from southern parts of the country to survive. They moved against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration’s tax reform bills currently before the National Assembly. According to experts, the new tax reform bills are made up of four major components. And each is expected to deal with a specific aspect of tax administration. The part that the northern power elite stringently oppose, deal with the sharing of the proceeds from the Value Added Tax (VAT).

    In a show of brinkmanship, the Nigeria Economic Council (NEC), headed by vice president Kashim Shettima, also asked the federal government to withdraw the bill, and engage in more consultations, with stakeholders. While the NEC asked for withdrawal, the northern power elites that met, asked their representatives and political leaders not to support any bill that is against northern interest – read, the provision that seeks to alter the sharing model for VAT monies, in favour of where the goods and service are derived, as against a nebulous equality of states.

    Expectedly, the Tinubu administration which has shown remarkable determination to push on with its economic reforms is resisting the advice to withdraw the bills. The spokesperson of the president avers that the bill is a result of one year of painstaking consultations, and that any objections from any group to any provision of the bill should be made during the legislative process, towards passing of the bill. That ordinarily is the right part to follow and not to throw away the entire bills, for a few disconcerting provisions.  

    While political brinkmanship is part of the business of politics, the northern leaders must begin a reorientation process. The seemingly dependency mind-set, which may have informed their opposition to the VAT provision of the tax reform bills or any other effort at fiscal federalism, needs to reset. But for short-sightedness and incompetence, the north is potentially richer than the south. Even the northwest states of Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Kastina, Kebbi, Sokoto, and Zamfara, most of which have the worst indices of poverty, arguably are very rich with mineral resources and agricultural potentials.  

    The mineral resources in Zamfara were reputed by the former state governor, Mahmudu Aliyu Shinkafi, to be about 60 percent of the entire mineral deposit in the country. The lands in many parts of the northern region are much more fertile than in the south, which makes them the food basket of the country. Recent food crisis in the country has shown that the southern part of the country is actually dependent on the north for its food supply. Since insurgency became trenchant in many states in the north, Nigeria has been in the throes of food crisis.

    Yet, despite the enormous natural resources the northern states are endowed with, the poverty indices in the region remains endemic. In a paper, presented few years ago, Kingsley Moghalu, surmised the comparative poverty levels amongst the regions of the country thus: “Comparative regional poverty rates in Nigeria are: North-West: 80.9%, North-East: 76.8%, North-Central: 45.7%, giving a northern poverty average of 67.8%. Compare this with the southern regions: South-West: 19.3%, South-South: 25.2%, South-East: 27.4%, with a southern average of 24%. Northern Nigeria is nearly three times poorer than Southern Nigeria.”

    If the north wishes to liberate itself from the strangulating poverty and underdevelopment that has castrated the region, and by extension the entire Nigeria, it must begin to look at economic models, different from the dependency syndrome, which has not saved the day. Since Nigeria’s independence, the northern part has had more heads of state or presidents than the southern part of the country. The north has more states, senatorial zones, federal constituencies, local governments, and land mass, which are all the criteria used to share or cream resources from the federal centre.

    Yet, despite all these advantages, the north is still thrice poorer than the south. So, the north needs to introspect and seek new ways to extricate the region from the gripping poverty that makes the region a ticking time bomb – a bomb that could consume not just the region, but the entire country. Luckily, there seems to be some new state governors working had to change the paradigm.  While not urging the north to swallow the tax bills, hook, line and sinker; the enduring principle should be to create its own wealth, rather than seek to own what does not belong to the north, rightfully.

  • Healing the southeast

    Healing the southeast

    The south-eastern states of Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo have been in the news for good and bad reasons recently. The good news included the signing into law of the South East Development Commission, SEDC, by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. This columnist has over the years canvassed for the establishment of that type of commission, to pursue joint economic activities, especially in agriculture, transportation, and energy. No doubt, common projects in agriculture and agro-allied industrialization, is the lowest hanging fruit.

    There is an agricultural belt stretching from Anambra to Enugu down to Ebonyi State. There is also another stretch, between Abia and Imo, all of which can enjoy the intellectual output of the University of Agriculture, at Umudike. The SEDC should pioneer joint venture projects, between these states, which would lead to the resuscitation and redevelopment of complementary agro-allied industries, which had been abandoned after the Michael Okpara era. One of such, is large scale rice production, which could feed from the Anam river basin, stretching from Anambra to Enugu states.

    Another common interest in agriculture should be palm oil production which was the mainstay of exports for the defunct Eastern Nigeria. Palm produce from Abia and Imo, if revitalized and modernized, could become a major foreign exchange earner for the governments in the region. On that too, the commission could tap into the knowledge base of the university at Umudike for research and development of that sector. There are other cash crops like cashew and cassava which could exponentially benefit from such synergy amongst the states.

    Another major area that should interest the SEDC, is ensuring energy security for states in the region. Luckily there is abundance of crude oil in the region, and already a refinery in Anambra. The commission should be able to project the short, medium and long term needs of the region, and make necessary recommendations to the governments. It would be foolhardy not to take heed of the instructive inevitable match of the present administration to a free market driven and full deregulation of the petroleum industry.

    Read Also: Locals allege French involvement in CAR missing genital crisis

    Included in the energy mix, is the production and distribution of electricity in the region. All states in the region should quickly pass into law, their own state electricity regulatory authorities, similar to what has been done in Enugu State. With that in place, the various regulatory authorities can enter into a joint venture agreement, to enhance research on how the region can cooperate and provide multi-dimensional electricity sources for the region. The incessant collapse of the national grid indicates that in the near future, regions/states would have to resort to their own grids if they wish to make economic progress to lift their people out of poverty.

    The SEDC should also be interest in designing interstate railways for the region, which will aid the movement of especially agricultural products to the cities. Luckily, railway is no longer in the exclusive legislative list, so states can legislate on it and through joint venture agreements cooperate in planning interstate railways. Again, the full deregulation of the fuel supply, indicates that mass transportation can be the only panache to the crisis in the sector. Through zonal arrangement, the commission can also venture into air and road transport relying on the economy of scale, which regional partnership will provide.

    Of note, the cooperation within the region will attract massive private capital, more than what the states can individually offer. But for prebendalism and consequent mismanagement, the banks and other commonly owned financial institutions like the defunct African Continental Bank, would be in existence. No doubt, if the states can put in place joint bankable proposals in any of the economic activities enumerated above, private capital will tap into the region’s economy. Again, new privately dominant financial institutions can be put in place, by the region, to serve the economy of the region. 

    On the flip side, is the insecurity that has made Mondays in the region a compulsory day of sit-at-home. Unlike public holidays or even Sundays, Mondays remains a dreaded day of no activity, in most states in the region. Interestingly, the government of Enugu State, to a large extent, has tamed the monster, but obviously at a huge recurrent cost. One imagines what the state spends to keep the air and land surveillance every Monday within the state capital metropolis, and how expensive it would be to extend the show of power, across the state.  

    While congratulating the state for the reasonable success it has made in curtailing the activities of the so-called unknown gun men, this writer believes that a synergy amongst the states in the region would achieve a better result. In Anambra, many communities are raising huge capitals to buy private surveillance equipment, recruit operatives, and pay huge salaries to secure their communities. That type of ‘privately owned’ community policing, which has been copied by many communities, arguably was initiated by late Senator Ifeanyi Ubah, in Nnewi community. 

    The economic damage from the insecurity crisis in the region is humongous, and the governors should build a synergy to deal with that challenge. Of course, kinetic and non-kinetic measures should be adopted by the federal, state and local government authorities to address the insecurity challenges. The low hanging fruit for this columnist, is good governance at all levels, which will lead to a buy-in from the people. As simple as it might seem, if the majority of the people see activities to show that the governments are deeply committed to their welfare, they would mobilize to help tame the insecurity.

    Again, Enugu State government has shown how the people can be swayed to react differently. While there is diversification and increase in taxation, in the state, the people are not stringently complaining, because the state government appears to be doing enough to justify the increases. If those in governments in the region, can curtail their wasteful lifestyle, open new economic activities, especially for the youths, and engage the people on how the incomes generated are being used for their good, there will likely be a reduction in the prevalent criminality.

    As I argued here last week, there is near complete abdication of economic activities at the local government areas, across the country. And that helps to feed the insurgency in the rural communities. The saying that a hungry man is an angry may, is a truism. To help tame the hunger and anger in the rural areas, state governors who want peace in their states, should allow and encourage local government administrators, to tap into the economic activities which the constitution has provided for them, so they can help to economically engage the idle minds in the villages.  

    Those of them, who refuse to engage in meaningful ventures, but prefers criminal activities, like kidnapping, extortion, and burglary, of which this writer was a recent victim, would face the security agencies.

  • Local government administrators

    Local government administrators

    There are frantic efforts by laggard state governments across the country to meet the requirement of section 7(1) of the 1999 constitution (as amended), more so, as the beginning of the enforcement of the recent Supreme Court’s landmark judgment is around the corner. The constitution abundantly provides: 

    S.7 – (1) The system of local government by democratically elected local government councils is under this constitution guaranteed, and accordingly, the Government of every state shall ensure their existence under a Law which provides for the establishment, structure, composition, finance and function of such councils.

    (2) The person authorized by law to prescribe the area over which a local government council may exercise authority shall

    (a) define such area as clearly as practicable; and

    (b) ensure, to the extent to which it may be reasonably justifiable, that in defining such area regard is paid to –

    (i) the common interest of the community in the area;

    (ii) traditional association of the community; and

    (iii) administrative convenience

    (3) It shall be the duty of a local government council within the state to participate in economic planning and development of the area referred to in subsection (2) of this section and to this end an economic planning board shall be established by a Law enacted by the House of Assembly of the state.

    (4) The Government of a state shall ensure that every person who is entitled to vote or be voted for at an election to the House of Assembly shall have the right to vote or be voted for at an election to a local government council.

    (5) The functions to be conferred by Law upon local government councils shall include those set out in the Fourth Schedule to the Constitution.

    (6)Subject to the provision of this Constitution–

    (a) the National Assembly shall make provisions for statutory allocation of public revenue to local government council in the Federation; and

    (b) the House of Assembly of a State shall make provisions for statutory allocation of public revenue to local government councils within the state.      

    The Supreme Court in its landmark judgment held that the guarantee of democracy provided for in section 7(1) is sacrosanct, and as such, only democratically elected local governments shall be entitled to receive allocation from the federal government as envisaged by section 6(a) above. Considering that our country runs what some writers have described as a feeding bottle federation, the judgment of the Supreme Court, if implemented, will put enormous powers in the hands of the local government administrators. Whereas there are even more enormous economic potentials in the hands of the local government administrators, most of them, only rely on the handouts, in the same manner as many governors do.

    Read Also: New Anambra Local Government Law: Desperate attempt to fiddle with state’s LG funds

    While the issue of the creation of local governments appear to have been settled in an earlier case between the Lagos State government versus the federal government when President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was the governor of Lagos State, the local government administrators have not summoned courage to test the extent of their economic powers and privileges as envisaged by the provisions of section 7(3), and the Fourth Schedule to the 1999 constitution. A cursory look on the provisions shows that the economic sphere of the local governments is enormous. But sadly, state government over the years, have substantially emasculated those powers.

    Let me list a few of those powers as provided under the Fourth Schedule.

    Paragraph 1(b) – collection of rates, radio and television licenses;

    (c) – establishment and maintenance of cemeteries, burial grounds and homes for the destitute or infirm;

    (e) establishment, maintenance and regulation of slaughter houses, slaughter slabs, markets, motor parks and public conveniences;

    (f) construction and maintenance of roads, streets, street lightings, drain and other public highways, parks, gardens, open spaces, or such public facilities as may be prescribed from time to time by the State House of Assembly;

    (g) naming of roads and streets and numbering of houses;

    (h) provision and maintenance of public conveniences, sewage and refuse disposal;

    (i) registration of all births, deaths and marriages.  

    (iv) restaurants, bakeries and other places for sale of food to the public;

    (v) laundries, and,

    (vi) licensing, regulation and control of the sale of liquor.

    2. The functions of a local government council shall include participation of such council in the government of a state as respects the following matters –

    (a) the provision and maintenance of primary, adult and vocational education;

    (b) the development of agriculture and natural resources, other than the exploitation of minerals

    (c) the provision and maintenance of health services, and

    (d) such other functions as may be conferred on a local government council by the House of Assembly of the state.

    Instead, of pushing the local government administrators, to perform the listed functions, for the good of the states, the scramble to elect local government administrations that are loyal to the state governments, appear to be to be the only paramount interest of state governments. Across the political divides, and states, the challenge is to return candidates of the ruling party in the state, in all the local government elections.  So, nearly every state, ensures through the state electoral commission, the (s)election of chairmen and councillors, from the same party as that of the state governor. One hopes that in returning their favourite party candidates, a thought is speared about those capable of carrying out the enormous economic responsibilities provided for, in the constitution and the relevant state laws.

    This writer calls out the frontline state governments, in the country, to take up the challenge of empowering their local governments, with the responsibilities, as envisaged by the constitution. The executive, legislative and judicial branches in such frontline states can collaborate to make their local governments models for other states. The present disposition of nearly all the states, working to clubber their local governments, to be sheepish and operate as mere cash sharing centres does not do anybody any good. After all, even those presently in government will eventually leave, and join the rest of Nigerians to suffer the indignities associated with a failed local government administration.

    There is also the need for such frontline states to collaborate with the National Assembly to tinker with the modality for elections at the local governments. Sadly, state independent electoral commissions have been anything but independent. For the good of the polity, there is an urgent need for a bipartisan approach, to deal with that challenge, and bring respect to the local government elections. No doubt, the states of underdevelopment in our local governments are enablers for the insecurity ravaging most of our rural communities.

  • Surviving fuel price hikes

    Surviving fuel price hikes

    I travelled home, the penultimate weekend, to bury my step-sister, Monica Chukwujimma Amalu who had died at 90 years. Sister Monica, a retired nurse, was a privileged child, who was sent to Britain, in 1962 to train as a nurse on the income of our father, a senior civil servant, with the Nigerian Prisons. As I said in my tribute to her, she grew up, mgba ezi di na ukwu ukwa, a common saying amongst my people, depicting, when life was more predictable.

    Clearly, life has become improbable. Considering that I was travelling with three of my family members, and needed to stop at the Ministry of Education, in Awka, Anambra State, to deliver 100 copies of a book, I wrote with Emeka Agbayi in 2008, titled, Service Above Self, featuring the state governor, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, amongst others, I decided to hire a Toyota Sienna car. To my amazement, I was charged a whopping N260,000. With the high cost of fuel as the chief culprit, the driver told me that the cost of a single one-way ticket, on that vehicle was N45,000.

    On getting to Enugu, I discovered that the price of fuel was about N1,500 a litre, unless you queued in the few and scarce, NNPC fuel stations. And so, for a journey of about 45 minutes, to my village, Amofia, Ogwofia-Owa, I paid a staggering N30,000, to hire a cab. With electricity, a scare commodity, in my village, we had to buy about 200 litres of fuel, for the four days, we spent, to power the two generators, needed to light up the environment and supply energy to the disc jockeys that played to entertain.

    Even with the environment lit up, we still had to higher the local vigilante and the Civil Defence, at huge costs, to provide security, during the ceremonies, to avoid ‘had I known’ as my brother-in-law, Frank Offor, warned against. Feeling the pinch, I was interested in knowing how the people were coping with the fuel price hikes and the attendant high cost of transportation. Sooner than later, two of our family friends showed up, at Offor’s expansive compound in Enugu, to expose the survival tactics, for civil servants and business men.

    One, an architect and a contractor, came to park his Toyota pick-up van, in the compound. After exchanging pleasantries, he told me, the keke that will drop him off at the park to enter a public transport to Owerri, where he has a project, was waiting outside the gate. He explained that he dares not travel to Owerri with his van, considering the high cost of fuel. I was told, he has a vehicle parked in Owerri, for his local runs.

    Read Also: Senator Dafinone hails Kellyrae for winning BBNaija season 9 on victory

    Shortly after, another family friend, a lecturer at the Institute of Management and Technology, IMT, came in a keke, to drop off his little girl, at my sister’s private school. Again, while exchanging pleasantries with me, he explained that his car was parked at home. He said, that it was economically suicidal, to do the school runs, with his private car, considering the cost of fuel. He noted that it was cheaper, to hire a keke, which consumes a lot lesser fuel, than his car bought when fuel price was more reasonable.

    He said some time, akin to Chinua Achebe’s assertion in, Things Fall Apart that Eneke the bird, ‘says that since men have learnt to shoot without missing, he has learned to fly without perching’. I also noticed that many have resorted to the use of solar panels, to get electricity. I am not talking of the bigtime solar panels, but the small single panels that light up single flood lights. Many of such solar lights are now common in my village and in the compounds in Enugu.

    But a lot more needs to be done, by the governments to help the people deal with the challenges posed by the removal of fuel subsidy and the attendant hike in the transportation costs and the inflationary pressures arising from that and the deregulation of the Naira. One of the low hanging fruits should be the conversion of cars and buses to use CNG, which the federal government is championing. This writer thinks the state governments should show more interest in that programme, than many of them are currently doing.

    Proactive governors, like the governor of Enugu State, Peter Mbah, should show interest in that programme. The first place to start is to train technicians to carry out the conversion. The state government can raise an army of interested technicians and pay for them to be trained at state cost, to nurture the programme in the state. Also, private entrepreneurs can also be encouraged to go into the conversion training programme, by making soft loans available to them, to access the training and acquire necessary equipment.

    While I was in Enugu, I didn’t notice the CNG powered commercial buses, similar to what the Ogun State government is doing. The Enugu State governor, I hope will show interest in procuring CNG buses if he has not already done that. If the reputation that is following the CNG buses in terms of lower costs of fuel is true, then this writer urges every state governor to show interest in that programme to help reduce the inflationary pressures on the cost of goods and services, especially transportation.

    Should the states join forces with the federal government, in driving the CNG programme, it will have greater impact on inflation, which thankfully, is beginning to dip, since July. While according to the Consumer Price Index, inflation, has dipped to 32.15% in August, from the 33.40% recorded in July 2024, the cost of food, is still too high for the majority of Nigerians. Food inflation, which stands at 37.52%, still makes mincemeat of the income of the average Nigerian. And, one sure way, to further deal inflation a blow, is to dip the cost of transportation.

    Coming back to Lagos, my wife and I, had to pay N140,000, out of the entire cost of putting the Sienna on the road, as there were not enough Lagos bound passengers, to fill the vehicle. To get some passengers, my driver had to make a deal with another driver, who had only three passengers, not reaching Lagos. In the words of the driver, the era of putting your vehicle on the road, with less than full passengers, were over, otherwise the cost of fuel will swallow the entire earnings.

    One imagines what savings, this writer would have made, if there is a train running from Lagos to Enugu, as against the exorbitant costs of travelling by road. Of course, the cost of travelling by air, in our case, paying for return tickets, was fearfully prohibitive.

  • Elections at state councils

    Elections at state councils

    Like many other commentators, this columnist condemns the culture of every ruling political party, in every state, winning all the seats for the chairmanship and councillorship election, contested in the local governments of the state. That is impunity writ large. But, forcing elections or quasi elections, at the local government councils, will over the years, create a pool of experienced local administrators and eventually, the culture of democracy at the grassroots, will blossom. That is why I commend the Attorney General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, and the federal government for the Supreme Court judgment that has forced all states to conduct local government elections.

    Our country’s democratic journey, would be better off if there is opportunity for potential leaders to train, starting from the local government councils, before proceeding to the state and federal levels. Persons, who go through the leadership ladder from bottom up, are usually more passionate and empathetic in the art of governance when they get to the top. Perhaps, the leadership crisis Nigeria is facing stems substantially from the recruitment process. Take Edo State for example, the outgoing governor, Godwin Obaseki, was recruited straight from the private sector, to the Government House, in Benin City.

    While Obaseki is definitely not the worst governor in terms of performance, he exhibited a poor understanding of party politics which contributed to his falling out with his predecessor and godfather, Adams Oshiomhole. Obaseki, thinking like a political neophyte, also battled the Oba of Benin, believing that because he has executive powers over all state indigenes, he also has the power to coerce the people against their monarchy held in reverence for many centuries. Obaseki also opened battle lines with state legislators without remembering that they would wait for him at the next election cycle. 

    The same is applicable to the governor of Rivers State, Simi Fubara, who was a civil servant, before he was promoted to the position of a governor. Of course, he failed to understand the enormous resources invested by his predecessor and godfather to make him a governor. Like a prodigal son, he wanted to squander what took former Governor Nyesom Wike and his protégées a lot of resources to build. Because he was not schooled in party politics, he underestimated the resultant volcanic eruption that nearly smelted his tenure.

    While rightly we must condemn unequivocally, the corruption associated with godfatherism in Nigerian politics, there is no doubt that godfatherism is a fundamental practice in party politics. In faraway United States of America (USA), when the road became too rough for President Joe Biden to continue his quest for a second term bid, he personally chose Vice President Kamala Harris to succeed him. Of course, he became a godfather to Kamala, and has been campaigning vigorously for her to succeed. For Kamala to succeed, she also sought the godfathers of the Democratic Party, to endorse her candidature.

    In Edo State, Obaseki, who won his re-election in 2020, on the notion that he was slaying his godfather Adams Oshiomhole, never raised that campaign mantra this time as he sought to help Asue Ighodalo take over from him. He didn’t, because, having become a godfather himself, he dares not rail against that political concept during the campaign. So, having a godfather is not a problem; what is the problem is what the godson and the godfather make of the symbiotic relationship.

    Read Also: Tinubu to citizens: your sacrifices will soon yield enduring economic benefits

    If godfatherism is steeped in corruption, then everyone is doomed. But if it is substantially that a godfather helps a godson win a political office, then there is nothing untoward about that. So, while this column wishes for an improvement in the election process at the local government level, it celebrates the return of democratic practice at all local governments, however tenuous. After all, a child must falter many times, while learning how to walk. And surely, there would be very bad examples of the imposition of candidates at the local council, but the majority will benefit from the system.

    In states where elections have not been held for years, one imagines the kind of excitement and political activity the election campaign will bring. With many contenders seeking the position of councillors, across the wards, the people will feel the impact, much more than when a gubernatorial aspirant comes, once in a long while. Again, since the candidates come from the local community, including the one who will be declared a winner, the people will have names and faces, they can easily relate to as their representatives.

    Where a chairman or a councillor fails to perform in office, the governor who selects, as sceptics believe, would be bound to choose another preferred candidate at the next election cycle. Of course in reality, while the governor may have the final say, he is bound to listen to local party leaders, to make the final choice. Again, as the Labour Party candidate, in the Edo State governorship election, Olumide Akpata, would have realized, one needs the support of the local leaders to win an election.

    That is what political pundits call the party structure and where it is lacking, the campaign message would be lost in transit, as happened to the cerebral and entertaining campaign of Akpata. Again, many political pundits have railed against that political necessity as if the term and the idea is evil in itself. This columnist thinks otherwise. For where a political party has no men and material to prosecute election, it will not be able to go far. Those, who point at the Labour and its presidential campaign miss the point.

    While the party had no pre-existing structure when it turned to a whirlwind, there were many young men and women who volunteered to become the party’s emergency political structure. But like the biblical parable of the sower, those structure was like the grain which fell on rocky places, which had little soil, and sprang up quickly. But when the heat associated with party politics came up, many of them withered away. As seen, the Edo State election made a mockery of the tsunami of the 2023 LP’s presidential election.

    A very interesting fallout of the local government election, in Enugu State, for this writer, is the election of Dr. Ibenaku Onoh, Ph.D., as the chairman of the municipal council of Enugu State, otherwise called Enugu North Local Government Area. Elected in 2019, as a very erudite, young lawmaker, representing Enugu North constituency, this writer had after an encounter with him, predicted that he is headed to the Lion building, in the future. But, the Peter Obi tsunami, of the 2023 general election, temporally derailed that. In his middle thirties, Dr. Ibenaku Onoh, no doubt, is one rising political star that should be nurtured to stardom. 

  • Do or die in Edo?

    Do or die in Edo?

    Next Saturday, the people of Edo State, will vote for a new governor to take over from Godwin Obaseki who will soon complete his second tenure. The major gladiators in the election are Obaseki’s preferred candidate, Asue Ighadolo, of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Monday Okpebholo, and that of the Labour Party (LP), Olumide Akpata.

    Obaseki who was elected governor in 2016 on the platform of the APC, decamped to the PDP, to contest the 2020 elections, after he fell out with his godfather and predecessor, Adams Oshiomhole who was then the chairman of the APC. The PDP excitedly welcomed him to their fold, and after a keenly contested election, Obaseki was declared the winner. When Obaseki fell out with Oshiomhole, during his first tenure, he also fell out with the members of the state House of Assembly, elected on the platform of the APC, in 2019.

    To the chagrin of even non-partisans, in Edo State and across the country, Obaseki refused to swear in some elected legislators. Out of 24 legislators, Obaseki carried out his executive responsibility, which required the imprimatur of the legislators, with only 10 legislators, out 24, which make up Edo State House of Assembly. Luckily for Obaseki, former President Muhammadu Buhari, condoned the governor’s intransigence and the 14 legislators, who were considered to belong to Oshiomhole’s faction spent their four-year tenure at home.

    Oshiomhole, was also sacked from his position as the APC chairman by his ward, apparently for belonging to the camp of the then potential presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu. And with the tacit approval of the presidency, Obaseki swept the polls. As the gladiators head towards the election, next weekend, there is no doubt that the dynamics have changed. Oshiomhole has bounced back to reckoning as the senator representing Edo North, and his faction of APC had won the presidency. Now, he is not only the leader of the party in the state, he has behind him the so-called federal might.

    The APC in Edo State, was also able to cohere, after the presidency reconciled the preferred candidate of Oshiomhole, Dennis Idahosa, now the deputy gubernatorial candidate, with the winner of the second round of gubernatorial primaries, Okpebholo, the candidate of the party. To further compound the challenge facing the PDP, Obaseki’s deputy, the vivacious Philip Shuaibu, fell out with Obaseki, and he has decamped to APC, to fight the next weekend’s election. Shuaibu didn’t leave without a lot of embarrassing drama to the governor and the PDP.

    Read Also: NiMet predicts 3-day thunderstorms, rains from Tuesday

    Apart from the drama of office space after Obaseki sacked him from the precincts of the government house, there was the religious incense, when Shaibu got his priest to say a Mass to disinfect the new office space he was banished to. To further push the knife into Obaseki back, Justice James Omotosho of Federal High Court Abuja, declared the impeachment of Shaibu as null, void and of no effect. The reinstated deputy governor decided to rub salt to the injury by making a grand entry into Edo State with the APC gubernatorial candidate on July 18, which resulted in the death of Inspector Onuh Akoh.

    The APC has been pushing for the trial of the alleged killers of the Inspector, which they claim was sponsored by those beholden to the state government. While the state government has denied culpability, the Edo State Security Network, which the APC had accused of spreading terror in the state, has been banned by the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun. The governor’s past intransigence also caused a rift between his government and the highly revered Edo monarch, the Oba of Benin, Ewuare II, and the implications are far reaching, in an election year.

    The governor whose forbearer allegedly betrayed, the forbearer of the current Oba, is seen by the opposition party as living up to the pedigree of his family. To further compound the challenge on the royal front, the royal courtiers in the Benin kingdom have accused the governor of dragging the king to the court of law, which they consider a sacrilege. The dispute over the custody of the returned artifacts of the ancient Benin kingdom has made the governor an enemy of the Benin royal house.

    There is also the challenge posed by the resurgence of the LP candidate, Olumide Akpata, with the support of Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the party in last year’s presidential election. The LP’s candidate is likely to eat into the votes of the PDP, whose officials including the governor, had previously given the impression that the LP and PDP were fighting APC, as a common enemy, at last year’s election. Now that it is only one election, and with the PDP and LP standing differently, and fighting for one trophy, the PDP may suffer the backlash. 

    These challenges perhaps explain why, Obaseki has expectedly declared next Saturday’s election as ‘a do or die’. But how can he contend with the many battle lines he had opened in the last eight years? How can he contend with the far reaching influence of the Oba of Benin, who may likely oppose his candidate? The historical discontentment and his resent challenge of the authority of the Oba are strong influences that may work against his candidate. Again, Obaseki and his erstwhile chummy deputy, Shuaibu campaigned for the 2020 election on the ground that they were slaying god-fatherism, which they said Oshiomhole represented.

    Now, people are accusing Obaseki of being a godfather, who wants to foist a Lagos boy, on the state. Ighodolo, a very successful lawyer, based in Lagos, is taunted with the lack of capacity to speak Edo language fluently. The PDP has however counted that lack of fluency in Edo with the lack of capacity on the part of the APC candidate, to speak fluent English. The battle line will be tight in Edo north, where Oshiomhole and his reconciled boy, Philip Shuaibu holds sway, and will likely give Obaseki a bloody nose.

    The threat of ‘do or die’, by Obaseki may however turn out a wimp considering the enormous security personnel that has been deployed to the state to protect the voting process. According to the IGP, 35,000 police personnel have been deployed to the state for the election. That would be in addition to other security personnel from the Civil Defence. Being an off-cycle election, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), should also be better prepared to deliver a free and fair election. Unfortunately, the last time former President Olusegun Obasanjo declared an election as, a do or die affair, even the winner considered the process a sham. Will Obaseki’s threat be proverbial in Edo State election?

  • Nationwide militancy

    Nationwide militancy

    This column maintains the view that Nigeria has been unfair to the oil producing areas, in the Niger Delta region, since the discovery of oil at Oloibiri, Rivers State in 1956, by Shell Darcy. Ever since, it has been exploitation ala carte, all pun intended. Listening, to Chief Edwin Clark, who is 97 years, recently, as he engaged in virulent verbal violence with the same gusto, as the younger militants like Asari Dokubo, against Minister Nyesom Wike, left this columnist flustered and flabbergasted.   

    Perhaps, it is the age-long exploitation of the region that has bred such ferocious militancy in the old and young, alike. Chief Clark, had thundered “arrest Wike now”, over the minister’s threat to ignite fire in any People’s Democratic Party (PDP) state, whose governor intervenes in the Rivers State political crisis, against his interest. Wike’s threat, while not altruistic, is also not so vile, as most politicians, including the threatened PDP governors, do similar things to protect their political turf.

    The main interest here is about the militancy that has been the lot of the region and nearly every part of the country. While Chief Clark fires verbal missiles, the region’s children in the creeks fire ballistic missiles, making the region a theatre of combustion. Hopefully, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (PBAT) would be able to change the dynamics so that militancy in different shades across the country, would allow effective governance. A recent good news that things may be looking up, in the Niger Delta region is the increase in crude oil production to 1.658 million barrels a day. Last week, Abdullahi Maiwada, the spokesperson for the Nigeria Customs Service made the announcement at NCS’s Strategic Communication Interagency Policy Committee (SCIPC) media briefing, in Abuja.

    According to him, the Nigerian Navy ‘Operation Delta Sanity’, recently destroyed 15 illicit refineries, 17 wooden boats, and 10 refining ovens in Bayelsa, Rivers, Delta, and Ondo states. He also reported that the Navy dismantled two million litres per day refinery, along Ogoloma-Bakana waterways, in Rivers State. The average oil production in 2023, was 1.5 million barrels, and that had been due to the help of Tomopolo’s Tantita Security Services, a company recruited by the government of President Muhammadu Buhari after the Navy, was considered as incapable of effectively defending oil production in the region.

    Read Also: Army’s 81 division launches operations planning cadre to boost military readiness

    Could it be that the Navy is now willing to discharge their statutory duties by defending the Nigerian waters and its abundant resources from the militants and the illegal crude oil thieves who have been making a joke of their supposed superior power? This column hopes the development is not a flash in the pan as the Tinubu administration work towards its crude oil production target of two million barrels a day. It will be good for the struggling national economy if a combination of the private and public security apparatus redeems Nigeria’s security image.  

    Maiwada, spoke about other successes of the military. He reported that the Nigerian troops have neutralized 1,166 terrorists, arrested 1,096 suspected terrorists and criminal elements, and rescued 721 kidnapped hostages in August. Also, that key terrorist leaders and commanders were taken off. They included Munir Arika, Sani Dilla, and Ameer Modu in the Northeast, and Kachalla Dan Ali Garin Fadama, Sani Baka Tsine, and Ibrahim in the Northwest. What baffles this writer is that despite the regular briefings that many of the terrorists have been neutralized, they seem to regenerate in that region.

    According to the spokesman: “The strategy of dismantling these terror groups by targeting their leadership, commanders, and collaborators is significantly diminishing their capacity to carry out major offensives.” This writer wishes that the strategy would yield faster result. And the PBAT obviously wants better results from those entrusted with securing the country. That explains why he sent his Minister for Defence, Bello Matawalle and Chief of Defence state, General Christopher Musa, to Sokoto State to end banditry which consumed the life of an aged traditional ruler, the District Head of Gatawa District in Sabon Birni Local Government Area of Sokoto State, Isa Bawa.

    According to reports, between 2010 and May 2023, approximately, 13,485 deaths are attributable to banditry, while about 1,087,875 individuals in rural communities have been displaced by the bandits. The report published by IPI Global Observatory, further indicates that there are about 30,000 fighters referred to as bandits, spread across the groups terrorizing the northwest. The group of criminals have made life even more miserable for the people of the region, which boast of being the poorest of the poor in Nigeria.

    The impact of the bandit attacks has been devastating on the already pauperized economy of the region. Agriculture which is the mainstay of the regional economy has been devastated, further impoverishing the people which in turn feed the terrorist’s recruitment drive. Also affected, is the cross-border trade on agricultural products, which use to thrive between Nigeria and her neighbours, Benin and Niger.  The causative factors include farmer-herders clashes over access to pasture, poor governance over the years, across board, and insurgents from the Sahel region, with links to Tuaregs who are in the country to fight for their Fulani cause.

    The north-central apart from occasional bloodletting in the Plateau and Benue have been relatively calmer, compared to their recent past. The groups, who target communities, kill, maim and burn down wantonly, are without any scruples. The crisis which initially started as farmers-herders clash, have degenerated to what many see as ethnic cleansing by herders and their agents. Considering that over the years, the south largely depended on the north for most of its food supply, the entire country is affected.

    There is also militancy in the southeast associated with the agitation for a breakaway republic. While the leaders of the main group, known as IPOB strenuously argue that they are non-violent, their so-called militant wings and breakaway factions, constantly seek to embarrass the state actors with attacks on soft targets. Luckily for the region, the present state governors show determination to end the militancy, and they have taken the battle to the enemies. The Monday sit-at-home, an imprimatur of the boldness of the militant group, has ceased to impress, unlike before.

    The northeast which used to be the hot-bed of a militancy that degenerated into terrorism for over a decade has simmered in the past one to two years. The Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa (ISWA) which strangled some of the states in the region for years, have been on the back foot for some time, and hopefully will be finally defeated. While all is not yet Uhuru, the mass abductions in hundreds, especially students, seems to have substantially abated. No doubt, the onerous task of nation-building is being slowed down by militancy and terrorism.

  • The seller is no king

    The seller is no king

    The aphorism that the buyer is king, does not apply to Nigeria, any more. If all things are equal, as they say in economics, sellers competing for customers offer their goods at competitive prices, which make the buyer the king. Where the sellers are unreasonable, it is the responsibility of the government to ensure that sellers are estopped from arbitrary price fixing. So, a seller who hideously sells far beyond a reasonable margin should be driven off the market, either by other competitors, or punished by the state. Sadly, most Nigerian sellers want to be kings, averse to fair pricing.

    That perhaps explains why the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), decided to move against the racketeering sellers. According to the Vice Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the FCCPC, the commission will fight the disturbing trend of marketers “engaged in the growing trend of unreasonable pricing of consumer goods and services across the country”. Presently the price of goods and services, now largely depend on how greedy the seller is, damn the buyers, and even more damned, the manufacturers.

    One common example is the price of cement. The chairman of BUA Cement, Abdul Samad Rabiu, captured the kingship of sellers, in an interview with The Guardian, while relaying how his dealers handed the buyers of BUA cement, the short end of the stick. He said: “we sold over a million tons of BUA cement to dealers at the price of N3,500 per bag, to reduce price for the consumers. However, the dealers were selling each bag of cement to consumers for prices ranging from N7,000 to N8,000.”

    He went on: “we were unable to regulate the dealers who were earning substantial profits due to the high margins, as the company lack influence over pricing in the open market so we discontinued the price policy.”

    What happened in the cement industry may not be different from what is happening in other industries, as marketers in anticipation of inflationary pressure on the naira, continuously hike their prices, which in turn further negatively impacts the cost of goods in the market.

    The above scenario is the lot of Nigerians in recent times, otherwise how can the market forces justify the crazy inflationary pressure that has made mincemeat of the nation’s economy. Food inflation for instance, has refused to budge even in the midst of several intervention programs by the federal and state governments. Sometime in February, the federal government announced the release of 102,000 metric tons of various grain types from the Strategic Reserve and the Rice Millers Association of Nigeria.

    Again, in July, the federal government announced the dispatch of 740 lorry loads of rice to the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory, to cushion the effects of food shortages across the country. Strangely, despite these intervention programs by the federal government, and many others by the states, the prices of food items continue to skyrocket. What the sellers do obviously is to determine the price of the goods, with scant regards to fair pricing and even the supply.

    The discreet investigation by FCCPC as reported by this paper last Friday, captures the profiteering going on amongst sellers. Retailers, joyously increase the price of goods, every day, as if they derive pleasure from the suffering of the masses. And the saddest part of what has been the lot of Nigerians is that the arbitrary gains are most times made by middlemen, who are merely parasitic in the economic value chain. Some are market association officials, who have no goods of their own, but yet determine the prices goods are to be sold at.

    As already seen from the reaction of the organized private sector, the FCCPC won’t find it easy, in regulating the abuses in the retail end of the price manipulation, but they should do their best to curtail the abuses within the sector. The attack from the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE), shows a mind-set which do not care much about the consumers. While this column does not advocate for price fixing, mindboggling price gouging and abuses, that is common within the retail end of the market, should be addressed.

    Sometimes, prices of goods change every day, and that cannot be reasonably attributed to market forces of demand and supply. Sellers merely anticipate what the next price could be, and they affix it on their goods. As the enquiry by FCCPC showed, the price of an item sold in a supermarket in the USA, was 500 percent cheaper than what is offered for the same item, in a supermarket in Nigeria. And to further worsen the exploitation, there is over 20 percent increase in the price within a week.

    If the organized private sector, fully understand the market dynamics, they would encourage the FCCPC to use the powers they have to bring sanity to the market. After all, if goods produced do not leave the shelf because of price abuses, their members would close up their businesses. So, the organized private sector, before jumping into the fray to attack the Commission, should research the market dynamics, to determine whether it is inflation or price gouging that is at play.     

    If it is the forces of inflation that is at work, they should lay their findings before the public, and that would spur the government to continuously rejig their fiscal policies. This writer agrees with the position of the President of NACCIMA, Dele Oye, that instead of pointing accusing fingers, concerted efforts by all stakeholders is what is needed. It is easier to point fingers, than to join forces, as Muda Lawal of CPPE seems to be more interested in doing.

    As argued by the FCCPC’s chief executive, what is the rationale for the price of a product to be the equivalent of N140,000 in USA, and N944,999 on the same day, in Nigeria. The blame on ‘fluctuating exchange rate, galloping lending rate, high energy costs, multiplicity of taxes, levies, fees and unfriendly regulatory environment’ while causes for serious concern, do not justify the 500 percent differential, in the practical example shared by the Commission. And clearly, while promoting free trade practices, regulatory agencies, should also forestall trade abuses, as is obviously the case in Nigeria.   

    Read Also: Chicken seller attempts suicide over N1.2m debt in Anambra

    A cursory look at the mandate of the FCCP, shows that they are in a pole position to save Nigerian consumers from the exploitative pricing of goods and services, when caused by sellers. With its functions and powers enumerated in sections 17 and 18 of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act (2018), the Commission has expansive powers to protect the interest of Nigerian consumers. Again, while not asking for price fixing, the Commission should do all within its powers, to rein in, unlawful anti-consumer practices.

  • Modernising the police

    Modernising the police

    The dramatic rescue of the 20 medical students of University of Maiduguri and University of Jos from the kidnappers’ den, without the payment of ransom shows what is possible if the police are well-equipped. The students were abducted by bandits within Benue State on their way to Enugu for the Federation of Catholic Medical and Dental Students’ annual convention. Luckily, their ordeal, attracted the attention of the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), and the necessary human and material resources were mobilized, by security agencies to free them.

    But there are several other kidnappings across the country which end up in tragedy or the massive extortion of the relations before the victims are freed. In some cases, victims are killed even after ransom has been paid. The tragedy of a Sokoto traditional ruler, killed after a huge ransom was paid is a case in point. Perhaps, because of the humongous ransoms that are easily paid to the bandits without any consequences, kidnapping for ransom has become a lucrative underworld business.

    Unfortunately, there is the general belief amongst ordinary Nigerians that unscrupulous security personnel participate in kidnappings, or cover-up the bandits. Considering the huge sums extorted from victims, sometimes running into hundreds of millions of naira, the temptation to engage in kidnapping may be high amongst greedy security officials. Sadly, once a kidnaped victim is released, whether ransom was paid or not, there are no follow-ups by security agencies to apprehend the bandits, or persons who participated in the kidnap.

    The kidnappers who operate mainly in the vast forests, scattered across Nigeria’s 923,7770 square kilometers, also make it impossible for farming activities to take place in the rural communities. The bandits rape and kill, old and young women, in very remote communities, which don’t make any headlines, in the media. In some rural communities, vigilantes are formed by the local community to combat the menace, but of course they are no match to the bandits who are equipped with better guns. Even when the communities are funded to acquire relatively modern guns, they are still no match for the criminals.

    Read Also: Kaduna Police nab cattle rustlers, gunrunners

    In states where the state governments have made laws to establish vigilantes, the legal impediments with respect to carrying sophisticated guns by such vigilantes create tensions between them and the police, who sometimes treat them as meddlesome interlopers. In extreme cases of antagonism, the police treat the vigilantes as enemies, and there have been instances where they are targeted by the security agencies, and they get maimed or killed, without consequences. The reasons for such cruelty, may sometimes be a sign of envy, or merely to keep them off the way in places where the security officials collude with the underworld criminals.

    So, one may ask: what made the difference with respect to the rescue of the medical students over the weekend? This writer attributes the difference to commitment by the security agencies and the availability of resources to get the job done. The Inspector General of Police reportedly deployed, tactical operatives and assets including drones, tactical vehicles and helicopters.  Accordingly, the kidnapped victims were tracked to Ajide forest in Ukwonyo council ward, Ado Local Government Area, of Benue State. So, the first step in all kidnap cases should be to track down the location of the bandits, and that shouldn’t be difficult, especially when the victims are many, and the resources for tracking is provided.

    According to reports, helicopters hovered around the area for days searching for the victims and their kidnappers, and such reconnaissance put the bandits under pressure. With security agencies closing in on them, they reportedly tried to run for their dear lives, and one of them was killed, while another two were apprehended. Of course, the bandits are cowards who love their lives, but because the state has shown untrammeled weakness, they take advantage, to make life even miserable for the citizens.

    While helicopters may be hard to come by easily except with the involvement of the state or federal government, there are drones which every local government should be able to afford, more so, now they would have their federal allocation to themselves. The federal, state and local government can also collaborate to ensure that every Area Command, especially those covering the local communities, have drones they can deploy. Sadly, Divisional Police stations, don’t even have the capacity to track phones, a technology that is cheap and available, at road sides.

    Another interesting angle to the rescue, is the collaboration between the security agencies. The military, Department of State Services (DSS) and police were deployed to rescue the victims, and with each bringing their own innate asset, the job was made easier. Again, even at local levels, such assets exist, and why they are not deployed routinely to deal with the menace of kidnapping is difficult to fathom. I have sometime ago written on this page how military men allegedly refused to pursue kidnappers who passed near their road block, and even stopped the local pursuers from proceeding on their trail.

    If the local vigilantes and the security agencies collaborate, their combined efforts would impact positively on the criminal activities of the bandits. Luckily, many states have vigilantes, and some also Forest Rangers, principally to combat the activities of the bandits, who operate in the forests. The police can establish a team for such collaboration, and they can tap into the intelligence capacity they provide. With knowledge of the local environment, the vigilantes can gather intelligence for the police and other security agencies.

    While awaiting the amendment of the 1999 constitution to allow state police, the president can issue an executive order, for collaboration between the police and the vigilante groups across the country. It is also within the purview of the president to authorize the carrying of arms, by non-police actors. While not urging the president to issue a blanket license for ill-trained vigilantes to carry sophisticated weapons, they should be allowed to carry low capacity weapons, and have official collaborative relationships with the police and other security agencies.

    It beats this writer’s imagination why despite 25 years of democracy, the Nigerian police is still poorly equipped and trained. Under the military rule, the buzzword is that the military don’t want a well trained and equipped police, as they can be a counter force to coup plotting, and unconstitutional take-over of governments. But despite 25 years of civil rule, policemen still buy their stationaries, uniforms and other office accoutrements.

    Even with members of the National Assembly paying themselves furniture allowances equivalent to the annual salaries of some police officers, the senior police officers privately fund the furnishing of their offices, including the provision of alternative power supply, to their offices. Perhaps, these challenges explain why insecurity has become a thriving business, amongst the unscrupulous security personnel.

  • Bala Mohammed’s diatribe

    Bala Mohammed’s diatribe

    In politics, passing the buck is a standard practice. So, what Governor Bala Mohammed tried to do, by blaming President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (PBAT), for the national economic challenges while he campaigned for the state local government election, which predictably, his party cleared, is common. Addressing his party faithful, during the #Endbadgovernance protest, the Bauchi State governor said: “I listened to Mr. President’s speech with rapt attention and with all humility and courage what he said was empty.”

    While the governor is entitled to play politics against an opposition political party, what requires his courage most is the challenge facing his state and the northern Nigeria. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, 65 percent of the poorest Nigerians live in the north, and that is about 86 million Nigerians. And in a paper presented by Dr. Umar Farouk Musa and Aliyu Mahmmed Malami, in 2020, on “Exploring the Living Standard Dimension of Poverty in Bauchi state,” the state scored abysmally low in relevant indices.

    The writers said: “Bauchi state of Nigeria recorded 89.5 percent shortfall across living standard, in health care and education as well as complemented by destitution. The parameter applied cut across the ten indicators associated to schooling, enrollment, nutrition, sanitation, mortality, electricity, water, cooking fuel, assets and floor.” The deplorable state of Bauchi is similar to the challenges facing other states in the northwest and northeast. Sadly, the existential crisis facing the northern Nigeria manifested eloquently during the recent protests, as thousands of out-of-school children, flooded the streets, maiming, burning and destroying the scant infrastructure in the region.

    Yet, in the midst of these challenges, facing his state, Governor Mohammed is accused of engaging in acts of extravagance by his people. Over the weekend, the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) expressed shock and outrage over the choice of the governor to buy exotic multimillion naira SUVs for the six first class emirs in the state while majority of the citizens are stymied in multi-dimensional poverty. Such choices over several decades are at the root of the fearful cataclysm awaiting the northern Nigeria, and by extension, the entire country.

    As succinctly expressed by the PRP: “This is an egregious display of the callousness and disregard for the welfare of the people who elected him into office. At a time when many residents of Bauchi State are struggling to put food on their tables, the governor has chosen to prioritize luxury and indulgence for the privileged few.” They went on: “We condemn this flagrant waste of public funds and call on Governor Bala Mohammed to account for his actions. The people of Bauchi State deserve better than to be governed by someone who prioritizes the pampering of a few at the expense of the many.”  

    Getting northern Nigeria and by extension Nigeria out of the poverty quagmire is the responsibility of the federal as well as sub-national governments. The former Secretary General of Arewa Consultative Forum, Anthony Sani, captured the real challenge that demands courage in an interview, when he said: “Poverty in the North is real. And this is because education, which is the instrument of empowerment that narrows inequality is stymied by the number of out-of-school children. This stokes ignorance and the poverty.”

    While definitely the federal government has a role to play to alleviate poverty in every part of the country, the states and the local governments have important roles to play to make that happen. With the increase in state allocation, arising principally from the removal of the fuel subsidy, which is the agent provocateur for the protests that Governor Mohammed exploited, it is expected that states would increase their poverty alleviation policies.  And by Bauchi State government’s account, there has been substantial increase in state income receipts.

    Read Also: First Dangote PMS delivery set for September

    According to the state budget performance index, out of the N159,088,077,055. 00, income projection for the year, from the FAAC, the sum of N42,591,866,864.58, representing 26.8 percent were received in the first quarter of the year. The state government attributed the significant receipts to the removal of oil subsidy. If Bauchi, like the rest of other states have received higher income arising from the fuel subsidy regime, and instead of channeling the resources earned to improve the socio-economic wellbeing of the people of the state, the governor chose rather to spend more on luxury items for a privileged class, it smacks of deceit to blame the president for not turning his speech to a magic wand.

    While every effort should be made to turn the national economy around, the demand for reversal of fuel subsidy should never be contemplated. The simplest reason being that to subsidize fuel in Nigeria, means to subsidize fuel in neighbouring countries, especially in the northern part of the country with vast unmanned borders. Those agitating for the return of fuel subsidy would agree that no matter how wealthy Nigeria may pretend to be, it has no capacity to subsidize fuel, for her neighbours.

    And those pushing the narrative that what is needed is a strong policing of our boarders miss the point. As seen during the debacle arising from the closure of the northern borders with Niger Republic after the coup in that country, and further confirmed with the flying of Russian flags during the protests, a cross-over influence from Niger, the so-called national border, is a mere artificial creation dividing brothers. Clearly, the movement of people, goods and services across the artificial borders created by Europeans during the balkanization of Africa is unrestrained amongst brothers separated and living in different countries, knowing they are one and the same.

    In fairness to Governor Bala Mohammed, the act of spending scarce state resources on unreasonable ventures, while the people suffer, is not common to him alone. One example, though not as tawdry, as Bala Mohammed’s luxury cars, is the proliferation of airports in Nigeria. Out of the 33 airports in the country – all but two entirely owned by the federal or state governments – statistics indicate that only three airports account for 92 percent of all passenger journeys nationwide. A similar attraction for misplaced priority is fly-overs, in states with insignificant traffics.

    So, instead of playing the blame game, especially with the venom exhibited by young Nigerians during the #Endbadgovernance protest, Governor Bala Mohammed and his brother governors, and even the local government administrations, should end the debilitating mismanagement of scare resources, and use it to lift their citizens from multi-dimensional poverty. Sadly, the transformative effort of the Supreme Court’s judgment on local government administration may not be realized if states continue to make a mockery of local government elections as allegedly witnessed in Bauchi State, last week. With 73.9 percent poverty rate in Bauchi State, the real challenge requiring courage from Governor Bala Mohammed is clearly spelt out.