Category: Festus Eriye

By Festus Eriye

There’s something about the word ‘restructuring’ that triggers emotional reactions whenever it is mentioned in certain quarters and parts of Nigeria. Perhaps, because it’s nebulous and offers people whatever they dream of in their little corner.

It began to be thrown about in the 80s and 90s as the country navigated a series of socio-political and economic crises: everything from traumatic military coups, to battles for civilian control of federal power, to agitation over sharing of national revenues.

Three years ago, Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, speaking on Channel Television’s Sunrise programme about the confusion surrounding the idea said: “What is restructuring? For some, it means creation of additional states. Going by the outcome of the 2014 National Confab it was recommended that we should have 20 more states.

“For others it is all about resource control, for others it is about moving certain items from the Exclusive Legislative List to the Concurrent List, for some it means community policing, for others it is about devolution of power.”

We won’t get into the wisdom of some ‘restructuring’ ideas at this time: for instance creation of more states, given that most of the 36 existing ones are on the ropes – unable to meet their obligations.

Mohammed’s definition stops short of saying that for separatists like the Independent Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) in the Southeast and Boko Haram in the Northeast, it means dismemberment of the federation and creation of new entities from our current whole.

Of course, getting your own ethnic or theocratic enclave carved out of Nigeria, doesn’t automatically deliver an Eldorado in your corner of Africa.

The clamour for ‘power shift’ and ‘resource control’ were by-products of the push for restructuring. These agitations forced the political class to make adjustments that led to ‘zoning’ in parties and enhanced allocations for oil and mineral producing areas.

But none of these changes have produced the country that its longsuffering citizens dream of. Instead, whenever it seems like a new day a false dawn evolves; and with every fresh national crisis calls for restructuring become amplified.

As the nation marked its landmark 60th Independence anniversary, the sound of frustration began emerging from the most unlikely of quarters. Take Vice President Yemi Osinbajo’s warning that Nigeria needs prayers so that present cracks don’t lead to a break-up.

A few days later, the respected Pastor Enoch Adeboye, General Overseer of The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) – a man not known for political flame-throwing – warned that the country must restructure of face the risk of a break-up.

His comment was front page news across the land and clearly touched raw nerves in high places as shortly after the presidency released a statement rebuking those calling for restructuring. They were dismissed as unpatriotic, with the underlying warning that President Muhammadu Buhari won’t be stampeded into granting them their desires.

For people like Buhari and other military officers who fought in the civil war, restructuring only means one thing – dismembering Nigeria with the constituent blocks retreating to their tents. So, he would resist the idea no matter how seductively packaged, no matter how eminent the marketer.

For those with this mind-set, the present structure is as good as it gets. But nothing can be farther from the truth. Nigeria as constituted now is largely delivering frustration, sorrow, tears and blood. Certain individuals and groups may be doing well for themselves and their families, but the vast majority of our people were not so cheery on the recent anniversary.

So whether the president likes it or not, whether he thinks proponents of restructuring are just troublemakers, it is clear something has to give.

Read Also: ‘Don’t force restructuring on Nigeria’

That said, the most vocal proponents of the idea have to be more specific about what they really want, rather than continue selling the concept like some pie-in-the-sky. They need to be practical about how they hope to actualise their goals.

Those who crave dismemberment should perish the thought that any Nigerian president – least of all one who is a civil war veteran – is going to advance their cause. Are they willing to take up arms and go the route of Biafra circa 1967 all over?

Are they ready to thread the path of entities that made up the old Yugoslavia who fought to restructure the contraption held together for so long by the strongman methods of Marshall Josip Tito?

Even those whose agenda isn’t that extreme have to understand that Buhari isn’t interested in any radical modification of existing political or geographical structures; those are not his priorities for the final years of his tenure. So anyone expecting him to issue a dramatic proclamation from Aso Rock restructuring Nigeria needs to snap out of their dreams.

Some have long sold the idea of convening another ad-hoc gathering of nationalities and groups to carry out the exercise. Who or what would confer legality to such a gathering? It’s a path well-trodden; it’s a path to nowhere and it’s unlikely to happen again.

Every time such so-called confabs have been convoked, they came with ‘no-go areas’ – guaranteeing the delivery of cosmetic solutions that haven’t addressed fundamental problems.

In any event, what makes those who would be appointed to such a conclave more credible that the underemployed senators and representatives thrown up by our elections?

I would suggest that whatever our restructuring dreams are, the most pragmatic option for realising them at this time is to exploit the existing National Assembly.

If people are serious and aren’t just grandstanding, they can build political alliances within the federal legislature to achieve what they want – whether it is by constitutional amendment or through the regular legislative process.

We must also scale down our expectations as to what can be achieved immediately given the challenges of building consensus in a country with hundreds of ethnic nationalities – each with its own demands and aspirations.

Finally, there’s a case to be made for patiently tinkering with this flawed structure, rather than making wholesale changes. In 60 years, we’ve not given the parliamentary or presidential systems sufficient time to flourish. Impatiently we’ve launched military coups, constitutional amendments and conferences in search of some perfect model of governance. News flash! It doesn’t exist.

By Festus Eriye

In many ways politics is like sport. When you prevail, you not only win a prize, you earn bragging rights. Not surprisingly, Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki and his supporters have been crowing to the rafters – rubbing salt on raw wounds of the humbled.

Fresh from his exploits, Obaseki has embarked on a lap of honour – stopping by Arise TV – where he was a noticeable no-show days to the poll – to hold court on the concept of democracy.

He declared that his bete noire – Adams Oshiomhole – and All Progressives Congress (APC) National Leader, Bola Tinubu, were “extra-constitutional players” who were a threat to democracy and had to be stopped.

That statement suggests that only office holders like himself are permitted to participate, or have a say in the political or democratic process, however defined.

Again, just like in sports, the end often justifies the means. No one remembers how many fouls you committed, or red cards you received in the course of a football match, if you wind up with the trophy.

Today, Tinubu and Oshiomhole are demons and Obaseki the freshly-minted saint because he won. Imagine for one moment if Osagie Ize-Iyamu had defeated him!

He would have been castigated no end for his many errors. He would have been called a tyrant who didn’t brook opposition. He would have been tagged a traitor who sold his benefactor down the river. He would have been called an anti-democrat who emasculated an independent arm of government.

It would have been said he was inflexible for resisting every effort to forge a compromise between him and his mentor. He would have been reminded of the unforced error of not commissioning the hospital built by his predecessor – something he has admitted was a mistake.

But today he’s the victor and in a country where convenient amnesia is a national endowment, he smells of roses and can deliver lectures on democracy and the fine art of godfather-slaying.

Obaseki didn’t win one hundred percent of votes cast. This means a little over forty percent of ‘elector-jurors’ bought into the case against him.

Among his greatest misdeeds was not allowing the House of Assembly operate freely because majority of lawmakers were allies of his foe. You could defend him and say he was merely playing survival politics. But the House isn’t his personal toy to play with. It sits duly elected representatives of the people from the 18 local governments. Their right to representation was crushed casually as the governor fought for his political life.

The dodgy process of inaugurating the assembly in the dead of night, complete with a proclamation that didn’t indicate time, ranks up there with similar stunts by power-drunk governors across the country since 1999.

Today, only nine persons in the 24-member House are ‘legislating’ because the majority don’t feel it’s safe to show their faces. Their fate wasn’t before voters two weekends ago; it’s hanging fire in the hands of one powerful individual.

Days before the polls when the rebel majority decided to rattle the cage, Obaseki and his deputy sped to the assembly premises to commence ‘renovation.’ The roof was torn off and lorry loads of sand and gravel dumped at the entrance to prevent access.

Imagine if President Muhammadu Buhari had deployed similar tactics at the National Assembly when Bukola Saraki and Yakubu Dogara bucked the APC leadership to seize power! He would have been called a military dictator reincarnated and petitions would have reached the United Nations, the White House and No. 10 Downing Street, among others.

So, with victory secured, will Obaseki the democrat now undertake to let the House where his supporters are a minority operate freely? Can he guarantee that lawmakers who are not with him would be allowed to represent their constituents without intimidation? That would be evidence that his democratic claims aren’t just self-serving platitudes.

The governor’s campaign strategy successfully defined the election as a battle between him and an overbearing ex-this, ex-that. Once the dust settled, some have rushed to the conclusion godfatherism was slain on September 19. I disagree. It’s alive and well in Edo and in many Government Houses across Nigeria. It’s alive in the grand offices of many federal ministers.

Who is a godfather? What do they do? In the concept we see paternalism fusing with the need to play God’s role of being in control. It’s about powerful individuals deciding who gets what and what gets done.

The fight between Obaseki and Oshiomhole was about control. The governor wanted control of who led the House as insurance against impeachment; his predecessor packed the House with his loyalists as a check on his successor. Was he right to do so? You could answer by asking if there’s still room in politics for exercising influence.

Many who are rejoicing over the former APC chairman’s political humiliation do so because he frustrated their own attempts to play godfather in their local fiefdoms.

In the run-up to last year’s general election, former Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun, dramatically pulled out a list from his pocket and read out the names of who would be what to stunned party men. He declared he was off to Abuja to get it rubberstamped and whoever didn’t like it could meet him in the field.

Former Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, tried everything under heaven to install his son-in-law, Uche Nwosu, as APC gubernatorial candidate. He even broke with his long time loyalist and deputy, Eze Madumere, over this.

In Zamfara, then Governor Abdulaziz Yari executed a mutually-assured-destruction strategy that eventually handed the governorship to PDP on a platter just because Oshiomhole wouldn’t let him foist his handpicked choice on the party.

When the Sarakis ruled the roost in Kwara, they controlled who got what. It was the same when the father held sway and not much changed when the son rose. Today, those who run things in party and government in the state, are still determining who gets what.

Politics is a game where men peddle power and influence. It’s the same in most climes and one election hasn’t changed anything. When these influencers prevail they are hailed as democrats, when they don’t they are demonised as godfathers. That’s just the way it is.

By Festus Eriye

The curtain is drawn on a strange electoral campaign and broken political limbs litter the landscape. In last week’s column I predicted September 19 would be a burial ground for fortunes.

So it would have proven to be, if this outcome survives legal challenges that are already ongoing and may yet come.

For now, the big losers are the All Progressives Congress (APC), its former national chairman, Adams Oshiomhole and his political family in the state. It’s isn’t just that they lost, it’s the sheer scale of Governor Godwin Obaseki’s victory they would find galling.

In the three vote-rich local governments in the state capital, there was hardly a unit where they prevailed. The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) even secured a symbolic victory in Osagie Ize-Iyamu’s home council. It was more than a setback for APC in a state it controlled not long ago; it was a debacle. Given Obaseki’s antecedents, it’s going to be a long four years for the vanquished.

But the governor and his supporters would be wise to shelve grand victory parades until judges cast their own votes.

It has happened a couple of times already. In Bayelsa, David Lyon was in the stadium rehearsing inauguration day rituals when gut-wrenching news came that his victory had been voided and PDP’s Douye Diri declared governor.

In Imo State, it ended just as dramatically for Emeka Ihedioha with the Supreme Court judgment that replaced him as governor with APC’s Hope Uzodinma.

So, in Edo the battle is over, but until Obaseki’s opponents disavow the legal option, the war is not won.

As the governor celebrates, it would be interesting to see how he manages victory. Would he see it as a chance to build a lasting legacy or an opportunity to settle scores – a four-year window to give the ‘godfather’ a befitting burial?

Would he be tempted to join a godfather-slaying adventure across the country? After all, he had boasted that after the Edo the next stop would be Lagos.

PDP has long been frustrated by its inability to wrest control of the nation’s economic powerhouse from APC. Flush from victory in Edo, its leaders are said to be targeting the Lagos East senatorial by-election as the next battleground, and thereafter the Ondo governorship poll.

In most battles in life the winner gets to write the narrative. So, for now it’s been all ‘Edo is not Lagos’ and ‘the downfall of the godfather.’ These were themes that resonated in last Saturday’s contest, but they were not the only factors at play.

Key, was the condition of APC – a house divided against itself. It paraded a façade of oneness that didn’t last beyond the campaign launch. Thereafter those who were bitter over the manner in which Obaseki was denied the ticket adopted the classic siddon look posture.

Their aloofness was more deadly than the open revolt favoured by erstwhile party chairman, John Odigie-Oyegun, who on the eve of the polls openly canvassed support for his party’s opponent.

The opposite was the case for PDP which historically has been a strong force in Edo. Even when Obaseki was governor it retained its resilience and was further strengthened by his arrival with a rump of what was then the ruling party.

Add to this the fact that Oshiomhole was now operating from a diminished position as former party chairman. He was equally labouring with the near-impossible marketing job of walking back devastating character attacks he made against Ize-Iyamu four years ago. Even when he argued he made a mistake and wanted to correct it, the typical response was: why should we trust your judgment this time?

These were factors unique to Edo. They are not the issues in Lagos or Ondo at this time. That’s another way of saying Edo may not be Lagos, but Lagos is certainly not Edo, just as many would soon discover that Ondo is most definitely not Edo! In the end, all politics is still local.

In Ondo, APC isn’t divided over Governor Rotimi Akeredolu. He was anti-Oshiomhole but retains the support of his party’s leaders of all stripes. On the other hand, it’s the PDP that appears to have issues of cohesion arising from scheming for control of the Southwest arm of the party and manoeuvring by those with 2023 presidential ambitions.

Better still for the incumbent is the fact that his deputy, Agboola Ajayi, is fronting a third force challenge on the platform of Zenith Labour Party – splitting what would have been a united bloc against Akeredolu.

But even if APC wins in Ondo it would only be papering over the cracks as it heads for the post-Buhari era. We have seen how the bitterness that attended the process that forced Oshiomhole out of office, cost it in Edo.

That battle is going to be engaged again as the party heads to the convention where national officers to lead it into the next general elections would be chosen. It’s an event that will determine the direction in which the party’s presidential ticket could go. It could be make or break. Judging by comments of some of its leaders, the portents are not good.

Former Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, has suggested the ruling party is already on life support – only being sustained by respect for Buhari. He echoes similar sentiments by others who question whether it would survive the president’s tenure.

How remarkable that the more things change the more they remain the same. A little over six years ago the internal divisions that ultimately led to the downfall of the seemingly-invincible PDP behemoth were playing out in a very public fallout by the party’s leaders.

In their arrogance they never believed they could be ousted from power. Former presidential adviser, Dr. Doyin Okupe, even famously swore he should called a bastard if APC won.

A similar sort of conceit hangs over many in the ruling party given their obdurate adoption of hard line positions and opposition to compromise. It appears only a return to the dreary opposition wilderness may clear it. Edo was a warning shot heard across the land; I wonder if it was heard within the ruling party.

Festus ERIYE

WITH COVID-19 Nigeria appears to have pulled off a trick that’s near impossible: shut your eyes long enough and a problem disappears. Throughout August the number of new infections crashed nationwide, but it wasn’t a pattern revealed by increased testing.

In Lagos, for long the epicentre, the state government shut a couple of isolation centres as the numbers of prospective tenants fell. It was those same positive statistics that authorities cited as grounds for ordering reopening of schools on September 14.

Shortly before he announced he had tested positive, Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, said infections had peaked. “Our observation is that Lagos has passed the worst of the pandemic, it has passed the peak and is now on the flattening stage and over time will experience a downslope of the virus then the end of COVID-19,” he stated.

Now it appears all is not as it seems. The Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 (PTF) says falling numbers is down mainly to a decline in testing by states – Lagos included. At the committee’s briefing on Monday, Head of Disease Surveillance for the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Elsie Ilori, confirmed that “very low number of samples” were collected in August.

Bear in mind that the government’s target is to test two million Nigerians and scale up to four million. As of yesterday only 403,347 samples have been collected nationwide.

According to Ilori, there was a decrease in sample collection in just seven states in July but this rose to 32 states in August. In the last thirty days none of Nigeria’s 36 states gathered up to 1,000 samples.

“In July, Kogi had 19 out of 20 local government areas without samples collected. Also in August, no local government in Kogi collected samples. In Katsina, only 24 local government areas collected samples – Jigawa (22), Kano (20), Taraba (16),” she revealed.

“Even though in Lagos all the local government areas are collecting samples, the number of samples collected was quite low. So, that brought down the number of samples collected for August.”

From the early days of the outbreak, Kogi had been very reluctant to get involved. These statistics show nothing has changed in its resistance to any inquiry that suggests the presence of COVID-19 cases in its midst. The five cases credited to it on the NCDC charts remain unrealistically unchanged more than two months after.

The decline in testing could be interpreted in two ways. It’s been caused by a drop in the number of persons reporting COVID-like symptoms. It could also be down to coronavirus fatigue, causing governors and the governed to press on with daily life, irrespective of what’s going on with the virus.

We seem to have arrived smoke and mirrors territory where testing can be manipulated to produce an alternate reality. It may just work! After all, in the worst case scenario, disease produces death. COVID-19 is just another disease that kills. Without testing, there’s no proof that demise was by the virus. In a society where life has always been cheap, death by Coronavirus cannot then be more special than death by other means. Life goes on.

Lagos insists infections have peaked in its territory and is pressing ahead with reopening of schools. The PTF would rather it made haste slowly to avoid fatalities. The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) whose members would be catering to the returning students is less than enthusiastic – describing resumption plans as “suicidal.”

For its part, the World Health Organisation (WHO) warns no country can “pretend” the pandemic is over, saying any move to ease restrictions too early would be disastrous.

WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said this week countries need to have “control” of the virus before attempting to kick-start their economies.

“We want to see children returning to school and people returning to work places, but we want to see it done safely,” he said.

However, it bears repeating that our worst fears at different points of reopening haven’t come to pass. It’s been four weeks since churches and mosques were allowed to hold services again in Lagos. So far, no outbreaks have been reported and most religious organisations have behaved responsibly with regards to observing prescribed protocols.

In Nigeria, COVID-19 and fraud allegations have always travelled together. If it’s not those who think the whole thing is one big scam, it’s those who are allegedly making a mint out of the crisis.

A couple of days ago, Executive Director (Projects) of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Dr. Cairo Ojougboh, reacting to claims his organisation had showered several billions of naira on staff as Coronavirus “palliatives,” claimed lawmakers equally took care of themselves.

“In the National Assembly, each of the senators got N20 million, while the House of Representatives members got N15 million for COVID-19,” he alleged.

It was a bombshell that was initially greeted with deafening silence – but not for long. Chairman of the Senate’s Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Ajibola Basiru, has denied he or his colleagues “collected the sum of N20 million or any sum whatsoever from NDDC as COVID-19 relief fund or for any purpose whatsoever.”

Basiru is also challenging the accuser to provide evidence of his claim and name those he allegedly gave the sum.

But Ojougboh didn’t say the commission paid the monies, he claims the National Assembly did. Did the legislature make any such payments? We can hazard a guess how this challenge may end.

It’s all so reminiscent of when Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, was in full finger-pointing flow at a recent House of Representatives hearing into the financial shenanigans of the NDDC’s Interim Management Committee.

The moment he claimed the bulk of the commission’s contracts had disappeared into the voluminous folds of the lawmakers’ babanrigas, one of the honourable panellists who was supposed to be grilling him suddenly uttered these immortal words: “It’s enough, it’s enough. Off the mic!”  And the inquiry was truncated on that chaotic note.

Given our national overfamiliarity with the scandalous, nothing may come of this serious allegation. But for the sake of our common health and commonwealth, here’s hoping the truth comes to light.

Festus Eriye

What is the greatest threat to Nigeria’s internal security today? A few of the usual suspects quickly spring to mind. The insurgency in the Northeast, rash of bandit attacks across the Northwest, farmer-herder conflicts, separatism in the Southeast and kidnapping as enterprise across the country.

But there is something missing in this list that suggests security agencies have different parameters for grading which is more dangerous.

Under military rule, expression of critical views or any display of independent thought was often viewed as near treasonable. Perhaps, because where such views captured the mood of the people they sometimes provided justification for a fresh set of coup plotters to move against the sitting junta.

That was why militant unionists, student leaders, university lecturers and journalists were always in and out of detention not because they were armed, but because the ideas they projected were considered just as dangerous.

Despite the fact that the country under civil rule has largely relaxed and permitted greater liberties, sections of the security agencies don’t look like they are about to “calm down” any time soon.

We have seen this recently in the travails of former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Deputy Governor, Obadiah Mailafia, who made the explosive claim that an unnamed governor of a northern state was a major sponsor of Boko Haram.

As far as sensational allegations against public officials go, it ranks up there with claim made in the 80s by the late social critic, Tai Solarin, that $2.8billion oil money had been pinched from government coffers. When the old man was pressed to reveal his source he said he picked up the tale in a bus.

Mailafia, for his part, has said he received his information from some equally unnamed traders. Intelligence can be gleaned from the most unlikely of sources – drivers, cleaners, housemaids, street urchins etc. However, this rather vague attribution of such a grave allegation to sources whose credibility cannot be vouched for was quite underwhelming.

For making his, as yet unproven claim, the ex-CBN chief has visited Department of State Services (DSS) offices a couple of times to clarify what he said.

Not satisfied with the job the DSS had done, the Nigeria Police has jumped in on the act with a summons for the man to appear before them. Although, they didn’t expressly state why they wanted to interview him, it was evident it had to do with the Boko Haram statement. It is a point his lawyer has made to justify his spurning the invitation.

A couple of weeks ago, a bunch of activists rallying under the so-called ‘Revolution Now’ banner made the grand announcement of ‘massive’ protests across the country. Anyone familiar with their antecedents would know that their bark is worse than their bite. But not so the police and other agencies.

They reacted as if another civil war was upon us. In the end a handful of protesters showed up at one or two spots in Lagos and Abuja – chanting slogans – just words – no Molotov cocktails in sight.

They were largely ignored by the milling citizenry who just walked by, more concerned with getting meals on their family table for the day.

But overzealous police chased them down with guns and teargas. In Abuja, some who were apprehended were made to lie face down in the grass. The episode produced images that were less than flattering for the authorities.

I am yet to understand how a few rabblerousing protesters constitute a threat to the might of the Nigerian state.

There’s a point to be made that certain utterances can inflame passions in a country that is forever seething with ethnic, religious and social tensions. But what is a democracy if people cannot hold contrary views – no matter how radical, or protest down the street however sensational their cause may be?

A protest is feedback of sorts. It shouldn’t always be viewed as adversarial activity.

In any event, these protests are nowhere near what the world has seen with the Black Lives Matter movement to be considered a threat to national security!

While security agencies are busy chasing after gadflies and attention-seekers, there is a greater security threat staring us in the face. It is one that unless creatively and urgently addressed cannot the contained using DSS or police guns, neither would there be enough prison space to house the offenders produced by the crisis.

The threat is economic. Lately, it’s been a rain of bad news. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) just reported that due to the crash in oil prices and the COVID-19 crisis, the economy would contract by 6.2% in the second quarter – the worst such performance in a decade.

According to the agency, unemployment rate has climbed to 27.1% – up from 23.1% in the third quarter of 2018.

Put differently, 27 million people out a national workforce of 80 million are unemployed. Among young people aged between 25 and 34, the rate is even higher at 30.7%. Is it any wonder that the devil is finding work for so many in this most active segment of the population?

It doesn’t get any better with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo’s Economic Sustainability Committee estimating that due to lockdown and social distancing measures put in place to stem the pandemic, more than 40 million Nigerians could lose their jobs by the end of 2020. More are expected to slide into extreme poverty unless pre-emptive measures are put in place.

With many sections of the economy yet to reopen, the gloomy picture isn’t about to change any time soon. Even areas that have returned to life are not seeing the same level of activity as pre-lockdown. The result has been the sort of retrenchment by some airlines of highly trained professionals like pilots. It’s the same story playing out in most sectors.

It doesn’t take clairvoyance to understand that with the unprecedented loss of livelihood by millions, the desperate may become a recruiting pool for all sorts of unsavoury activity – everything from illegal cyber activities to violent crime.

That is the greatest threat to internal security facing the country today and not some opinionated individual waving an anti-government placard at the bus-stop.

08116759748 (sms only)   Email: festus.eriye@gmail.com

Festus Eriye

PNot since the demise of former Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari, has so much controversy attended the death from COVID-19 of a high-profile personality. In death, Senator Buruji Kashamu stirred up as much dust as he did in life.

Given the many emotional tributes and outpouring of grief at his funeral last Sunday, it’s obvious he was loved by his people – perhaps for his philanthropy.

Such was their fondness for him that a heaving mass of humanity descended on his Ijebu-Igbo, Ogun State home. They jostled each other in a desperate bid to lay hands on the bier on which his body was being transported for burial.

It was as if many wanted to follow him into the grave. Everything that has been preached about social distancing was cast aside in the emotion-laden atmosphere.

But amidst the grieving there was one condolence message that bucked the trend. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo after dispensing with the bit about receiving “sad news” of the senator’s passing, proceeded to talk about the lessons of his death.

He wrote: “The life and history of the departed have lessons for those of us on this side of the veil. Senator Esho Jinadu (Buruji Kashamu) in his lifetime used the manoeuvre of law and politics to escape from facing justice on alleged criminal offence in Nigeria and outside Nigeria.

“But no legal, political, cultural, social or even medical manoeuver could stop the cold hand of death when the creator of all of us decides that the time is up.”

It was a condolence message that dispensed with social graces observed in times of mourning in a Nigerian setting and it quickly drew angry ripostes.

He was repeatedly reminded you don’t ‘speak ill of the dead.’ Former Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, assured the old soldier many were waiting for him to expire to vent their spleen.

But the battle-hardened Obasanjo always has a fitting comeback. He told salivating critics to go right ahead and have a field day whenever he kicked the bucket as he didn’t care what they had to say.

More importantly, he stated he wasn’t gloating over Kashamu’s death, but was rather put off by the praise-singing and near-deification of the departed which he felt was uncalled for.

Some were quick to accuse the former president of hypocrisy as he had a hand in the rise of the senator politically. They even pointed out instances when he had engaged in his own share of eulogising a man he now appeared to deride.

In a video uploaded sometime in 2015, Obasanjo was captured praising an empowerment programme of Kashamu’s Omo-Ilu Foundation. “The work you have done in the past, we appreciate it. God will reward you for that. God will not take away those things you do that makes you happy,” he said in the clip that has resurfaced in recent days.

If COVID-19 protocols were being trampled aground in celebration of the dead, so they were also in matters political last week. The All Progressives Congress (APC) flagged-off its governorship campaigns in Edo State with a mammoth crowd in Benin-City. Eleven governors and a motley collection of office holders were present, social distancing absent.

All of this in a state where Governor Godwin Obaseki, sensing his foes were determined to deny him the APC gubernatorial ticket through the agency of direct primaries, rolled out and gazetted emergency COVID-19 regulations that banned political gatherings of more than 20 persons.

The APC rally therefore breached that numerical limit hundreds of times. The governor’s media aides quickly rushed out statements saying their opponents should be held responsible for any spike in coronavirus infections.

Perhaps these opponents learnt disobedience from government officials who have been flouting their own law long before Saturday’s rally.

On the day, Obaseki travelled to the state’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) headquarters to pick up a membership card, he was accompanied by a crowd of supporters who clearly never heard of his COVID-19 gazette. He, too, has been holding rallies of more than 20 persons.

Last week when the governor and his deputy, Phillip Shuaibu, went to deliver sand and gravel for ‘renovation’ of the House of Assembly, the crowd that accompanied them were more concerned with preventing majority lawmakers from sneaking into the facility to inflict legislative harm on him, than in being infected with coronavirus.

Despite their preaching and posturing it is becoming evident that governors and the governed no longer take coronavirus and the miseries it has to deliver seriously. They are not about to let a little thing like the threat of resurgence stand in the way of social and political events.

On Monday, members of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 were challenged about the huge crowds at the rallies and at Kashamu’s burial. All that the National Coordinator, Dr. Sani Aliyu, could do was express dismay that those who should be leading enforcement had become chief violators of the protocols.

The ‘good news’ is that the number of infections seems to be trending downwards despite the insistence of authorities that the pandemic hasn’t peaked.

Of course, these figures may be the result of low level of tests conducted nationwide. It is also possible that many infected persons are seeing their cases resolved without becoming part of official statistics.

The numbers have encouraged the epicentre of Lagos to reopen churches and mosques partially. It’s an offer that not all have embraced. They insist that the same government which projected the virus would peak in August had no business reopening worship centres when that hadn’t happened.

But one in particular, Reverend Chris Okotie’s Household of God, has issues with the ‘no face mask, no entry’ condition, which it says reintroduces the veil in the place of worship after God had ripped it away.

In reply, others say fussing over the flimsy facial adornment is an overreaction. After all, debate over what is appropriate apparel to wear in the place of worship has gone on through the ages and never led to closure of the church.

Clearly, the authorities have plenty to do to deliver regulations that would please all manner of men while the pandemic lasts!

By Festus Eriye

President Muhammadu Buhari’s successor would not be elected for another three years, yet the air is already thick with intrigue. Given the immense powers of the Nigerian presidency the scheming is understandable.

Such is the clout of our presidents and governors that the cycle of politicking never really breaks to provide a breather for governance.

The recent upheavals in the All Progressives Congress (APC) have been linked to succession politics. So like it or not, there’s intense jockeying going on within the ruling party as well as the main opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) with key players moving their pieces around on some unseen chess board.

It is against this backdrop that we must view the recent intervention by Buhari’s nephew, Mamman Daura, on the issue of zoning. It was a bolt out of the blue that called for jettisoning of the concept. In its place merit and competence should be used to pick presidents.

“This turn-by-turn, it was done once, it was done twice, and it was done thrice… It is better for this country to be one…it should be for the most competent and not for someone who comes from somewhere,” he told the BBC Hausa Service in an interview.

Choosing the best man for any job is a reasonable proposition, but Daura’s proposal has been meet with a raucous chorus of disapproval and suspicion. Even the presidency felt it necessary to distance Buhari from the comments – arguing that they were personal and the author old enough to hold whatever views he espoused.

But Daura is no ordinary voice. His blood ties to Buhari and role in his kitchen cabinet are well advertised. In fact, they are so close that he moved into Aso Villa with the president. So at a time of uncertainty and suspicion within APC it is to be expected people would assume he was uttering what cannot be said officially.

Again, his remarks have come when a certain strand within the northern political establishment was sending out signals they were actively scheming for retention of presidential power in the region come the next election cycle. This is after Buhari would have held power for eight unbroken years.

It is a thought that should make anyone with the slightest familiarity with Nigeria’s political history recoil in horror.

For all their flaws and failings, zoning is one thing the political class have got right as a way of reducing heat in the polity and fostering a sense of belonging in a culturally and ethnically-diverse country as ours.

It is a device which, despite its imperfections, provides hope that at national level even minorities – outside of the big three ethnic groups – can ascend the highest heights of political power with time. The same holds true at state level.

Before the defunct National Party of Nigeria (NPN) pioneered zoning in the Second Republic, ‘merit’ and ‘competence’ were the yardstick for picking leaders. But did we ever get the ‘best’? No way!

Instead, the power structure was tilted in such a way that the dominance of the old North was total. It was always easy for the region to divide the two southern blocs and rule.

When the late Biafran leader, Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, visited the home of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo to condole with the family on his death, he wrote these famous lines in the register: “The best president Nigeria never had.”

Many shared that sentiment – especially in the Southwest – but elsewhere in the North and East people couldn’t be bothered about his abilities and he never became president.

Over time frustration with this lopsided arrangement triggered the agitation for ‘power shift’ to the south. Zoning was a by-product of that political evolution.

But for the military intervention of 1983 the concept might have become an unshakable article of faith of our politics – never to be tampered with.

In the Fourth Republic it worked seamlessly with the President Olusegun Obasanjo handing over to Umaru Yar’Adua. It would have gone on and on but for the unscripted death of Yar’Adua which handed PDP the dilemma of denying then President Goodluck Jonathan the right to seek re-election when the breach of the rotational arrangement wasn’t his making.

Without manipulation and with the cooperation of men of goodwill, it would equally work in producing a successor to Buhari from any of the three southern zones.

Daura’s argument that zoning hasn’t delivered the best for Nigeria is disingenuous. At what point did he make the discovery? As many have pointed out he didn’t hold this position when zoning favoured the emergence of Buhari in 2015.

It’s not as if there’s any system known to man that throws up the ‘best’ candidate for a political position.

The office of president wasn’t made to be filled by a conclave of wise and influential courtiers. Constitution writers through the ages left that important assignment to ‘ordinary’ voters – many of whom we would dismiss as lacking the sophistication to choose the ‘best’ man for the job. In the end everyone is left to determine who is ‘best,’ not based on any objective parameters but subjective ones.

No country ever elected ‘the best’ leader. Many who have been lauded through history also had truckloads of detractors. Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses Grant, Winston Churchill, Kwame Nkrumah, Sekou Toure, Nelson Mandela…weren’t without critics.

Nigerians aren’t looking for a superman. They just want an honest, competent and empathetic individual who may not necessarily be the ‘best’ of his generation. He would do his bit and step aside for a successor to continue the task of nation-building.

Such competent hands abound in the north, south, east and west of this country. Many would come to the office underrated only to be transformed into giants by the office and the challenges they overcame while serving there.

Leaders of Daura’s generation keep saying Nigeria’s unity is non-negotiable. But it can only be sustained if political actors don’t destroy trust. Zoning is a glue that enhances accommodation and sense of belonging. Dismantling it does the opposite and perpetuates the belief that some are born to rule while others are mere spectators.