The Nation Newspaper

Category: Wednesday

  • APC scores an own goal

    APC scores an own goal

    By  Festus Eriye

    Even if someone with character traits directly opposite to those of All Progressives Congress (APC) National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, were running the show, the civil war in the ruling party would still have been fought.

    Among other things, some critics have dubbed the former labour leader an inflexible dictator who lacks the temperament to run an organisation as complex as a ruling party.

    Oshiomhole’s predecessor, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, was the deliberate and diplomatic type. But he was perceived as weak and unable to get rebellious elements within APC to tow the party line.

    Under his watch, former Senate President Bukola Saraki and House Speaker Yakubu Dogara, defied the party and emerged leaders of the National Assembly after cutting deals that virtually handed control of the legislature to the opposition.

    Despite the outrage that greeted their manoeuvre, the offenders didn’t even get a tap on the wrist by way of censure.

    By the time of Oyegun’s ouster APC was yearning for a national chairman who could restore order in a system where certain individuals – especially governors – had come to think that the rules didn’t apply to them and that it was their way or the highway.

    They were used to that under Oyegun, but to actually see Oshiomhole make a stab of enforcing party supremacy was something of a culture shock. Ibikunle Amosun in Ogun State, Rochas Okorocha in Imo and Abdulaziz Yari in Zamfara are yet to come to terms with the fact that persons other than their preferred choices are now governors in their states.

    What the present power struggle is exposing is that influential politicians in APC merely mouthed ‘change.’ What they wanted was a change of faces, but not a radical departure from business as usual.

    This tussle is about control of the party and its structures for the short and long term. All sides would like a party chair who is beholden to them and always favours their interests. But that is impossible in a party with APC’s history, or in any democratic organisation where people are free to canvass differing agendas.

    Under President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, the PDP National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, faced similar opposition from governors who felt he didn’t sufficiently appreciate their relevance with the party and treated them like kindergarten kids.

    This is not to suggest that Oshiomhole hasn’t made mistakes. His foes would hand you with a list of failings an arm long. Many find his longwinded style grating, but they had tried the gentler Oyegun and opted for change. APC leaders knew what they were getting when they went looking for the comrade.

    However, the fierceness of the battle is down to the fact that whoever is chairman in the next 24 months could smoothen or derail the path to power for the ambitious.

    Power intoxicates and amnesia is its key side-effect. That is the reason politicians repeat the mistakes that undid their predecessors.

    The cocky PDP lost its grip on power not because its members were worse than those from other parties. They blew it because they could not manage internal contestation for power.

    They dreamt of a 60-year hegemony and may still be in office but for a series of unforced errors. They became overfamiliar with power and the leaders arrogant and consumed with their own false sense of invincibility.

    The divisions within lead to the dramatic exit from the party in one day of five governors and the likes of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Saraki.

    Knowing how powerful state governors are in the Nigeria system, it was the height of haughtiness to let five depart your ranks and go on to strength the opposition, without bending over backwards to mollify them.

    I remember Jonathan dismissing the departed as troublemakers who the party wouldn’t miss.

    In reality the entrance of the five PDP governors transformed the APC into a totally different proposition. Imagine if the then ruling party had managed to retain the ‘Offended Five’? APC may never have won the 2015 polls because it would have struggled with the challenge of national spread.

    Between 2014 and 2015, intractable internal battles messed up the ruling party. Now the APC which swept to power promising to do things differently are suddenly more interested in a fight to the death over the national chairmanship than in sustaining their grip on power.

    Whether Oshiomhole remains chair or is ousted, the APC has already poisoned itself. Internal cohesion has been affected and the bitter fallout from this battle for control means the party could be weaker going into the next elections – unless it is able to heal its wounds quickly.

    Given the manner of its formation it was inevitable that the current conflict would occur at some point. In 2015, the need to unseat PDP was such a powerful imperative that the gladiators temporarily sheathed their swords.

    But APC leaders and members have now become so used to being in power. Life in opposition is a distant memory such that they are not bothered that their present free-for-all could lead to a speedy return to the political wilderness.

    You get a sense of déjà vu that like the PDP circa 2014, some of the ruling party’s leaders have also reached that point where they have started believing their own invincibility.

    The reality is if an upstart APC could topple an entrenched ruling party, nothing stops history from repeating itself. The main opposition party controls 15 out of 36 states. That is a much stronger position than APC was in when it started to challenge the PDP Goliath in 2013.

    Also, in three years the Buhari factor that guaranteed 12 million votes in the North may no longer be there. The region would be open territory thereby changing the dynamics of the contest.

    Rather than thinking of how it can produce another game-changer the way Buhari was in 2015, the APC with its current battles is letting in the football equivalent of an own goal. History would not be kind to the protagonists.

  • Continuity and change in Osun’s education policies

    Continuity and change in Osun’s education policies

    By Niyi Akinnaso

    If my party believes there are areas which I ought not to have done or which I would have done differently, the party will adequately inform IleriOluwa, and he would do so. So, expect him to do things differently.

    • Former Governor Rauf Aregbesola, now Federal Minister of Interior, during the 2018 governorship campaign in support of the present Governor, Gboyega Oyetola

    If it is the yearning of the majority of the people that we should reconsider any policy … we would look at it.

    • Governor Gboyega Oyetola (then APC governorship candidate), responding to the question during the governorship debate in 2018 as to whether he would scrap common school uniform, if he became the Governor.

    About two weeks ago, a review committee suggested changes to several education policies in the State of Osun. The changes affect school uniforms; the reclassification, mixing, merging, and renaming of schools; the management of the Model High Schools; early childhood educaton; and the structure of the Ministry of Education. It is important to place these changes within the appropriate historical and political contexts.

    As indicated in the opening quotes, both the immediate past Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, currently the Federal Minister of Interior, and the present Governor, Gboyega Oyetola, anticipated these changes. A major reason for this anticipation is that these policies were being criticized even as they were being implemented. For example, alumni associations of several secondary schools opposed the renaming, mixing, or merging of their schools.

    Neither the past nor the present administration was oblivious to these criticisms. After all, the core of the Oyetola administration today is a carry-over from the immediate past Aregbesola administration. This includes the Oyetola himself, who was then the Chief of Staff; the present Chief of Staff, who was then the Director General of the Office of Economic Development and Partnerships. In addition, the Commissioners for Finance, Health as well as Budget and Economic Planning, all retained their former portfolios.

    The question, then, is: Why these changes now, when the present administration is a continuation of the previous one?

    As indicated above, the agitation for change preceded the present administration and endured during the governorship campaign, when the voters knew that a new administration was coming on board. It was this agitation that led ace Political Reporter, Seun Okinbaloye, to pose the above question to Oyetola during the governorship debate.

    Oyetola’s response notwithstanding, he did not just wake up one morning to change the policies. He went about it methodically, employing a bottom-up approach. First, shortly after becoming governor, he embarked on a Thank-You tour across the state. As it is to be expected, the people seized the opportunity to make several demands, including changes to several education policies.

    Not done, Oyetola invited the UK’s Department for International Development to conduct a Citizens Needs Assessment for the state. I attended the presentation of the findings and also read the full report. In local government after local government, the citizens agitated for one change or the other in the education policies.

    Armed with these data, the Ministry of Education interviewed various stakeholders on their reactions. According to its report of these interviews, there were overwhelming requests for a thorough review of the education policies.

    It was at this point that the Governor set up an internal committee, headed by the Deputy Governor, to review all requests for change in the education policies. It was this committee that distilled the various requests to eleven critical ones. The Governor subsequently presented the eleven requests to a Technical Committee for its recommendations.

    The Committee recommended changes across the board, save for the Opon Imo tablet. The Committee recommended retooling the tablet for cost effectiveness. It further recommended the cooperation of critical stakeholders, especially parents and teachers; streamlining production and distribution; and exploring an alternative power source, such as solar energy.

    The Committee noted several problems with the educations policies. One, the common school uniform for all schools made it difficult to identify pupils or students with particular schools, especially where there were security breaches.

    Two, the merging, mixing, and renaming of schools irked many alumni associations, whose members could no longer identify with their old schools. In a number of cases, some renamed or mixed schools retained their old names in the records of the West African Examinations Council. There were cases of boys whose WAEC certificates placed them in Girls Schools, leading to suspicion of fraud.

    Three, the reclassification of grades into a 4-year Elementary, 5-year Middle, 3-year High, and 4-year Higher education system is viewed as a violation of the National Policy of Education, which adopts a 6-3-3-4 system. One of the disadvantages posed by this violation is the reported refusal by UNICEF to release certain education funds to the state because of the departure from the national norm.

    Four, the suspension of Early Childhood Care Development Education led to grave consequences, including stoppage of grants from the Federal Government and UNICEF for this education tier.

    Two critical questions emerge: First, why did Aregbesola change from the status quo to which the State is now seeking to return? Two major reasons: One, educational achievement was very low when he came on board in 2010, requiring immediate intervention. Two, many of the changes made were driven by the dual need to generate income and provide employment and training for Osun youths. For example, the construction of Model Schools provided immediate employment for construction workers, while the Garment Factory provided both employment and training. Similarly, school feeding provided employment for caterers and nutrition for school kids in the vulnerable 6-9 age grade.

    However, the challenge for Aregbesola was not limited to criticisms of the new policies. Improvement in educational outcome lagged behind the huge investment in the sector.

    This leads to the second critical question as to whether return to the status quo will lead to improvement in educational outcome. This remains to be seen. Clearly, the pressure is now on Oyetola to move beyond structure to content and process, by investing in curricular reform, teacher recruitment, capacity building, ICT training, library and laboratory equipment, and more effective instructional delivery methods.

    A major lesson from these developments is the need for governments to base policies on citizens’ needs and demands rather than on what is considered by politicians to be beneficial to the people, no matter how well intentioned.

     

  • Improving university education in Nigeria

    Improving university education in Nigeria

    By Niyi Akinnaso

    At a time when countries in the Americas, Europe, and Asia are paying more and more attention to university education through infrastructural development, digital learning management systems, targeted funding, breakthrough research, and faculty and student exchange programmes, African countries are squabbling over political positions, with their elite being consumed in power struggle and primitive accumulation, while only paying lip service to university education. Universities are mushrooming all over the place, alright; but most of them are lame at birth, while older ones are wallowing in crumbled and still crumbling basic infrastructure and facilities.

    Over there, the focus is on giving the best education to the few as university students are being prepared for global competitiveness. Down here, the focus is on giving the worst education to the most university students, as they are being prepared for local markets, which have much fewer jobs than the number of graduates being produced. The few available jobs are offered to more prepared graduates (mostly children of the African elite) trained in the advanced countries or in elite local private universities.

    The situation could not have been worse for Nigeria than now, when the major indicators of quality university education are at their lowest levels, leading to the production of poor quality graduates, who are being advised by the government to go to the farm in the absence of job opportunities. Those who don’t want to go to the farm take to various forms of crime.

    Nigerian universities lack four major indicators of quality education, accounting for the present sorry state of the sector. First, while the world’s top universities operate with sizable budgets, Nigerian universities lack adequate and regular funding, not just to pay staff salaries but also to fund research and provide cutting-edge facilities for teaching and learning. Save for a few private universities into which their proprietors pumped huge resources, often for take-off, Nigerian university campuses and research facilities leave much to be desired.

    Federal and state governments have consistently starved the education sector of funds, with the Federal Government allocating less than 10 per cent of the national budget to education, while states average below 15 per cent. It is quite understandable then why public universities in the nation experience very deep cuts to their budgets. Even the slashed budgets are never paid in full or on time.  As a result, the universities have stagnated, save for the occasional intervention of TETFund and other government parastatals.

    Second, good quality universities feature world class teachers, researchers, and students, who invest in one another through stimulating lectures, seminars, workshops, conferences, research, and other academic activities. True, Nigerian premier universities started out this way, but Nigerian universities today suffer from poor quality teaching, reflecting the low quality of lecturers, substandard research output, and unqualified students.

    To be sure, there are exceptions here and there, but the general national outlook is discouraging. You have universities where majority of lecturers either lack a doctorate degree or have not attained Senior Lecturer rank; where university teachers make it to the top by publishing in obscure journals in India, Pakistan, Malaysia, and other obscure places; and where unqualified students are admitted and matriculated.

    In 2017, a document credited to the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board indicated that at least 23 of the nation’s 168 universities at that time have adopted an admission cut-off of 120 out of a total of 400 points, that is, 30 per cent of the pass mark. It has by now become clear that the decision to lower the admission cut-off was made by the Vice Chancellors, a decision vigorously defended by JAMB as being better than allowing universities to admit students under the table, without even taking the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination at all or encouraging them to go to universities in some other African countries, where the standard may be worse than that of Nigerian universities.

    Equally substandard is the prevailing pedagogical practice in the universities. Rather than see themselves as facilitators and employ a modern learning management system, most Nigerian lecturers still see their role as that of a traditional teacher who stands in front of the class and talks till time is up.

    Third, Nigerian universities have a management deficit. This is due partly to the politicization of the appointment of key managers of university affairs. The situation is further complicated by the parochialization of the recruitment of academic and administrative staff. The result in most cases is square pegs in round holes.

    This is not to excuse the militancy of university unions, which leads to the fourth major problem with university education in Nigeria today. Recurrent strikes by various university unions are often responses either to government’s failure to honour its financial obligations or to poor governance in the universities. Yet, recurrent strikes by the unions could only complicate the declining standard and credibility of Nigerian universities, while also putting the students’ learning experience at risk.

    It will be futile to expect a simplistic solution to the problems facing university education in Nigeria today. Nevertheless, to the extent that poor funding seems to be primary, it is high time federal and state government executives got together to jointly empower public universities to increase tuition and related fees.

    The ultimate goal is to reduce the gap in tuition between private and public universities in order to reduce the facilities gap between the two types of universities as well as provide a level playing field for admission seekers. At the same time, universities should explore additional ways of increasing their Internally Generated Revenue.

    This has become necessary because it is now abundantly clear that neither federal nor state governments could cope with the financial demands of public universities. Even in the United States, state government subventions have long been overtaken by tuition revenues as the universities kept increasing tuition and related fees to make for repeated shortfalls in government subventions.

    To be sure, there will be parents who may not be able to afford an increase in tuition. The government could assist such parents with one form of financial assistance or the other. In the final analysis, it is better for the government to focus on Universal Basic Education than to continue with the illusion of affordable university education.

     

     

     

     

  • Life in the time of coronavirus

    Life in the time of coronavirus

    By Festus Eriye

    The contest for Phenomenon of the Year 2020 has already been won by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). So far over 90,000 cases and 3,000 fatalities have been recorded in 69 countries across the world.

    Compared to the swine flu outbreak of 2009 believed to have killed over 500,000 people, or the Asian flu that claimed the lives of millions in the 50s, the latest epidemic has been fairly restrained.

    Although, the pattern of spread suggests things could get worse before they get better. First noticed in a sea food market in Wuhan City, China, the coronavirus has embarked on a global hop, skip and jump that has millions shivering in their boots. It is no respecter of persons.

    An adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei died from the disease during the week. The country’s Vice President and Deputy Health Minister have also contracted it. Even Pope Francis has had a scare. After falling ill, he took a test which turned out to be negative.

    The impact of the outbreak across the world has been dramatic. It’s changing the way we live, work, socialise and bringing out the worst in us as humans.

    Sports events have been cancelled with the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo reportedly under threat. In the UK authorities are contemplating shutting schools for two months. Countries have disallowed public gatherings above 1,000 people.

    Twitter just asked its over 5,000 staff worldwide to work from home until further notice.

    France has banned kissing – at least of the variety administered on both cheeks in public. In some places handshakes have been outlawed. These days, amiable people are taking to greeting each other by knocking feet against another. So the next time you get an overly enthusiastic kick in the shin, don’t get angry – your attacker is only being friendly!

    It is not just leisurely activity that has been dislocated, economies are in trouble. Oil prices are dropping, businesses are losing sales. However, experts say, the outbreak is unlikely to tip the world into a recession – at least for now.

    Death has always been unattractive but fear of the fatal consequences of coronavirus is driving people to do desperate and unkind things. A week ago, a Canadian family of five flying to Paris were thrown off a flight before take-off after passengers complained that their coughing daughter could be infected. This was despite two doctors confirming the toddler was safe to travel and only had a common cold.

    The coronavirus is a humbling phenomenon. It is showing up the limitations of leaders and countries. China with all her resources has thrown up its hands and called on the World Health Organisation (WHO) to declare a global emergency.

    Many economic and military powers who constitute the G-8 are battling to protect their populations. Other countries not willing to admit their helplessness have taken some very questionable actions.

    Iran, one of those worst hit, has been accused of a massive cover-up with one parliamentarian claiming that the real death toll from the disease was far greater than what the authorities have been putting out. He added sarcastically that the government could conceal figures but “you cannot hide graveyards.”

    China, the epicentre of the problem, has also been accused of a cover-up. One report said the government was warned by scientists about the looming crisis in December 2019 but did nothing.

    The crisis has become political football in places. US President Donald Trump initially dismissed it as a hoax peddled by his enemies – the Democrats. That was until an American died of the disease and 66 cases were confirmed.

    In Nigeria, the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), blamed the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) for its management of the outbreak. All that government spokespersons could do in reply was issue rebuttals denouncing politicisation of ill health.

    But questions are being asked as to how the Italian who fell ill during his visit to Lafarge Cement Company in Ewekoro, Ogun State, managed to import the virus into the country despite assurances about thorough screening at the airports.

    However, for hilarity, nothing compares with the intervention of Economic and Financial Crimes (EFCC) chairman, Ibrahim Magu, who declared that corruption was the cause of the coronavirus.

    As his remarks ignited Twitter, his spokesmen rallied to deny that he made that statement. Unfortunately, the video which captured the intrepid anti-graft warrior uttering those very words quickly went viral. So far we’ve not been told that the video was doctored in a clear case of corruption fighting back!

    A new report indicates that the virus may become a seasonal occurrence like the flu which makes an appearance every year. Disturbingly, the race to produce a solution is lagging behind the speed at which the disease is claiming victims.

    The good news is that there’s just something about Africa that the coronavirus doesn’t like. Maybe it is our genes, diet or weather. Global health authorities who had feared for the continent because of the weakness of her health infrastructure, are now scratching their heads trying to understand why the spread has been quite restrained here.

    But rather than just celebrate this as God’s providential cover for us – especially in Nigeria – it is important that we utilise the opportunity to build capacity for dealing with similar outbreaks in the future. Many states don’t have facilities to deal with the numbers if suspected cases multiply.

    The inability of the screening point at the airport to detect the infected Italian is not much of a confidence-booster either. So far, no decent explanation has been given for the failure of the checks. The process needs to be made more robust.

    It is equally alarming that many who were on the Turkish Airlines flight with the patient cannot now be traced. Health and aviation authorities must now work with airlines to gather detailed, authentic information about those entering the country as anyone could turn out to be a walking weapon of mass destruction.

  • Plastic, WASH: Sanitise, hands/hisses/kisses

    Plastic, WASH: Sanitise, hands/hisses/kisses

    By Tony Marinho

    When is Nigeria going to help fulfil the Social Development Goals (SDGs) and follow many African countries and New York State in banning ‘Single Use Plastic Bags’ to stop the growth of mountains of rubbish and reduce rubbish in the hundreds of millions of gutters around the country?

    Luxembourg, population 600,000+ offers free rail and bus transport. Revolutionary? Yes and No. It is certainly a statement about what a government should be doing with the citizens’ taxes instead of paying the political class among the highest earnings in the world. I challenge you to Google or Bing ‘Parliament earnings worldwide!

    In the UK, there is free transport for over 65s on public transport. Here in Nigeria, you cannot get through a police/FRSC/VIO/Customs checkpoint without an overt or implied financial challenge -and this in the middle of a self-professed anti-corruption government. Does EFCC not see the activities of the ‘uniforms’ on the road???

    Nigerian authorities have deliberately underfunded public transport, mostly refusing to provide real mass transit for its people preferring our roads to be clogged by 100,000 Okada one seater or 3-4 Keke vehicles than 2,000 buses 60-80-seater for real mass transit.

    The Coronavirus COVID-19 with deaths 3,000+, infections 90,000+ and growing. COVID19 will cause $100billion of losses in worldwide stock market, commercial, business and soon to follow the inevitable millions in job losses associated with cancelled services from parties to travel for tourists and business, cancelled events in business, entertainment, sport and by cut-throat companies shedding jobs –‘No Work Available -No Pay!!

    Nigeria will suffer budgetary income losses and income damage and lose from reduction in demands for its oil in line with the worldwide fall in demand for oil for industry and transport which will cut the price of a barrel to well below $50 compounded by low demands of summer. Nigeria will lose a lot in delays and falling loan funding for infrastructure because most of its infrastructure contracts are in the ‘Chinese basket’ of ‘’loan and own on default’’. These loans, across Africa, are dependent on ‘Chinese Happiness’ loans which may be cut by ‘force majeure’, even though China holds trillions in US Dollars. Delays in Chinese contract execution will reflect badly on the governments across Africa who depend on the Chinese participation to meet their SDGs and political infrastructure goals.

    Critics claim that the Chinese do little local recruiting in their contracts preferring Chinese labour, and even criminal Chinese labour. If so, the execution of the contracts will stall badly as immigration officials must sit up or risk importing coronavirus massively. The reputation of the Chinese is also adversely affected on social media by fake or true videos demonstrating strange feeding habits and methods of making food items for distribution to Africa.

    The world is now a ‘Global Viral Village’, no longer just a Global Village’, but with the dangerous opportunity for lethal and debilitating viruses spread by accident, ignorance, deliberate treachery or a dot in an undeclaration of war. The spread could also soon be fuelled by poor hygiene, poor sanitation in many countries -a failure of governance. China, like India and others, embraced the concept of the ‘Global Village’ to lure foreign boardrooms and businesses to relocate services and production with cheap labour and expertise. This often put the home countries’ workers, more expensive with pensions or even under-skilled, out of work. What China and India developed also made other countries weak. Independent in 1960, Nigeria still struggles to allow its competent engineers to even build a good road, flyover bridge or railway in 2020 without road digging foreigners who may or may not be importing any one of a vast variety of viruses, as yet unnamed or undiscovered.

    Interestingly, the only place Nigeria does not allow foreigners is in its politics. I leave you to judge the success of that enterprise – a purely local high consumption, destructive and largely unproductive machine suffering from its own viruses. That fact itself should answer the question of our competence or lack of it.

    In answer to the very real presence of coronavirus, social media is also awash with very important ’WASH’ preventive advice. WASH= Water, Sanitise and ‘Avoid Handshakes/Hugs/Head-touching/Hisses/Kisses. Do not wait for Coronavirus to enter via your street. Reintroduce the simple, non-panic, standard hygiene measures used to contain Ebola and which also reduced typhoid infections for a time as well. Even though all governments have destroyed tap water sources. It is of course difficult to wash hands in a country which unfortunately has, by policy or no policy, managed to ‘reverse the flow of water’ with removal of or non-running taps from homes and streets resulting in nonfunctioning toilets nationwide and a 75% open defecation rate with declining potable water in hospitals, schools and neighbourhoods over the years.

    You, the reader, literate and responsible, must express commitment by practicing and rehearsing ‘Coronavirus Preventive Measures Today’, to prevent infection tomorrow. Today, call ‘Coronavirus Prevention Response’ meeting in your family, workplace, community and country and at gatherings for friendship, worship, scholarship and ‘work-ship’. Anyway, is it not good to wash your hands to prevent vomiting, diarrhea, typhoid, gastroenteritis? Make an effort to keep your hands to yourself and even away from your face. Do not cough into other people’s faces. Drink enough fluid to make the colour of your urine colourless or lightly yellow.

    NB: WASH= WAter, Sanitise and ‘Avoid Handshakes/Hugs/Head-touching/Hisses/Kisses’. Change Your Life=Save A Life!

  • Is the Supreme Court judgment final or not?

    Is the Supreme Court judgment final or not?

    Niyi Akinnaso

     

    NOW the US Supreme Court has spoken. Let there be no doubt, while I disagree with the court’s decision, I accept it. I accept the finality of this outcome … I know that many of my supporters are disappointed. I am too. But our disappointment must be overcome by our love of country … This is America. Just as we fight hard when the stakes are high, we close ranks and come together when the contest is done.

    -Former Vice President Al Gore, in his concession speech, following the Supreme Court’s decision to stop the manual recount of votes in selected counties in the state of Florida during the 2000 presidential election.

    AS I reflected on the Supreme Court judgements on the Imo and Bayelsa governorship election cases and the reactions of major actors in the Peoples Democratic Party and the All Progressives Congress to the judgements, my mind went straight to the impact of the absurdist actions of the political class and the judiciary on Nigeria’s ailing democracy.

    The repeated assaults on the country’s democracy by politicians and judges since its rebirth in 1999 cannot but invoke the punishment meted on Sisyphus by the gods for his mischievous exploits. Sisyphus was condemned to repeat forever the same meaningless task of pushing a rock up a mountain, only to see it roll down again. No wonder then that Albert Camus saw in the plight of Sisyphus a vehicle for explaining the futility of our existence in a world devoid of truths and values.

    The plight of mischievous Sisyphus is analogous to the behaviours of politicians and judges in the Nigerian political sphere in which failure and futility are pervasive, endemic, and enduring across all institutions, as I observed over ten years ago (see Nigerian politicians, Ekiti, and the Myth of Sisyphus, The Punch, May 7, 2009). With judges and politicians behaving badly in the recent Imo and Bayelsa governorship cases, it is clear that the situation has worsened rather than abated.

    There was no extent the aggrieved politicians did not go to signal their disagreement with the judgement of the Supreme Court. Although the Supreme Court judgements in both cases appear to be justified in the eyes of the law, the optics are bad in the perception of the partisan public. The readiness of the Court to review the cases is viewed as admission of culpability, thus aggravating the bad optics.

    Observing that there is nothing final in the Supreme Court’s judgement after all, the Peoples Democratic Party quickly mocked the Court, by requesting a review of its earlier decision on the presidential election and other previous cases unfavourable to the party.

    It is all too easy to dismiss the American example in the opening quote. After all, the Americans have been at it for over two centuries. But then, Al Gore delved into history for precedents: “Almost a century and a half ago”, he said in 2000, “Senator Stephen Douglas told Abraham Lincoln, who had just defeated him for the presidency, ‘Partisan feeling must yield to patriotism. I’m with you, Mr. President, and God bless you’.”

    Gore did not agree with the Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision against him, but he accepted it and offered to assist Bush, who won the Electoral College by only 5 votes, while Gore won the popular votes by 543,895 votes! Poor Gore accepted the nature of their electoral system and the finality of the Supreme Court judgement.

    Unfortunately, in our case, neither the electoral system nor the Supreme Court judgement is viewed as beyond reproach. The critical question to ask is: What is it in the nature of our political culture and judicial system that makes it difficult, if not impossible, to do the right thing and behave appropriately?

    To start with, political parties do not exist in Nigeria in the form in which they are supposed to operate in a democracy. Rather than provide an ideological base for shared views about the role of government in a democracy, Nigerian political parties exist only as vehicles for grabbing power. As such, the door is wide open for those who can afford it to purchase power as we have witnessed in election after election.

    As a result, Nigerian political parties fail repeatedly to perform one of their crucial functions, namely, to provide strong pillars upon which to build our democracy, by successfully screening candidates for elective and appointive offices. This failure is evident in the Bayelsa case, where an otherwise unqualified candidate, whose name changed with every certificate he tendered, was chosen as the Deputy Governor. Given the burden on political parties to nominate candidates for election, it was the political party that lost in the Bayelsa case. The failure of political parties to function as the guardrail of democracy in this respect cannot but open the door for the courts to intervene.

    According to the Independent National Electoral Commission, the courts intervened in over 1,600 cases, following the 2019 general elections alone, including the Imo, Bayelsa, and Zamfara cases under discussion. In addition to putting undue burden on the courts, the unprecedented number of cases opened a floodgate of abuse, thereby creating room for further weakening the judiciary.

    Another critical factor that has shaped Nigeria’s political culture is corruption, which is as pervasive in the electoral and judicial systems as it is in the wider society. This is so because there really is no system of value anymore to provide a reference point for behaviour. In a society where the educational, economic, political, and infrastructural systems have virtually collapsed, it has become everyone onto himself or herself.

    The lack of adequate power supply and the attendant collapse of industries and manufacturing plants have led to high unemployment, leaving politics as the only lucrative job in town. In seizing the opportunity, Nigerian politicians are prepared to throw caution to the winds in the quest for power. This explains why they often blow their tops whenever they lose at the polls or in court.

    What they often forget is that they are destroying not only the democratic institutions they are supposed to nurture, protect, and preserve, but also the judicial system they scandalize now and again. At the same time, lawyers and judges have a crucial role to play in upholding the rule of law rather than the lure of money. That’s the only way to preserve the sanctity and finality of Supreme Court judgements.

     

  • Onigbanjo/Oyekami milestone: Invasion season

    By Tony Marinho

     

    For two years Leah Sharibu and other Dapchi victims have been terrorised. Nigeria must rescue them urgently.

    More classroom legal learning. The judiciary is shaking up Nigeria, at last. Last week we commented on the Supreme Court’s earth-shattering removal for fraud and deception of a deputy governor-elect with his governor-elect as collateral damage.

    This removes rewards for doctoring political and election documentation fraud for all candidates and parties instantly. This week it is the other end of the judiciary.

    The least scrutinised area -magistrates’ court- where the legal lesson is taught. The teachers are the duo of Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General of Lagos State Mr Moyosore Onigbanjo (SAN) and the Director of Public Affairs [Prosecution] Mr Kayode Oyekami of Lagos State.

    They deserve the highest NBA, Legal AID, NGO/CSO and nationwide public adulation, ululation and popular applause with press recognition, awards and recognitions from ‘Peace and Justice’ and ‘Conflict Resolution’ organisations and, as the late murdered Uncle Bola Ige and a former AG of Nigeria, would request- ‘Seven gbosas’.

    Why? For the simple act of summarily withdrawing a stupid prosecution of a fellow Nigerian for the non-existent charge of ‘making a video of a traffic warden at work’.

    This charge was ‘created out of thin air’, bogus, trumped up and unfortunately the hallmark of police mental and physical torture –‘the fake case’. By entering a ‘nolle prosecui’ the duo of Onigbanjo and Oyekami unpleasantly shocked the police and the magistrate, while delighting the accused, his family, the law profession and Nigeria by withdrawing a no-crime case.

    They thus nipped in the bud this tradition of police and legal collusion manifesting as court terrorism, with legal collusion at its worst.

    Hurray! But sirs, execute the remaining four steps to complete the circle of justice.

    Firstly, calculate and give punishment including financial compensation for ‘wrongful arrest, loss of income, legal fees’ to the victim and bill the arresting officer as a deterrent.

    Secondly, the arresting officer should be prosecuted for vindictive crimes including ‘wrongful arrest’, ‘fraudulently arresting on a non-existent law’, ‘deception’ and ‘attempting to extort under false pretences’, ‘exceeding his authority’, ‘maliciously creating a fake crime’, ‘wrongful prosecution’ and ‘abuse of public facilities’, ‘attempts to pervert the course of justice’, ‘mental torture’, ‘misrepresenting government’, ‘bringing government and the police into disrepute’ and ‘temporary loss of livelihood’.

    Thirdly, identify all complicit persons including the arresting officer, police station desk officer where the case was reported, station DPO and prosecution lawyers, if any, willing to prosecute the case. Include the court clerk listing the non-case and the magistrate entertaining an illegality – the fake-case.

    All should be investigated and prosecuted for ‘abuse of office’, ‘wrong accusation’, ‘wilful deception’ and ‘bringing the government into disrepute’.

    Fourthly, teach ‘Citizen’s Rights’ to all uniforms from police and LASTMA College. How can a country encourage tourism if its police create trumped up non-existent charges to arrest those filming daily life – the essence of tourism.

    The unchallenged excesses of many in uniform, ‘uniform terrorism’ are ‘horrifyingly legendary’ in Nigeria.  Check the social and mainstream media. Usually the passer-by’s camera is the only evidence confirming victims’ stories against the lies of the ‘uniforms’.

    This case tells Nigerians that you can monitor and film government and any workers in and out of uniforms, doing good and bad, and it is legal.

    Read Also: Buhari promises to redouble efforts to free Leah Sharibu, others

    We finally have a court case to prove it thanks to the duo of Onigbanjo and Oyekami backed by Governor Sanwo-Olu approving this minor case creating mega-justice waves.

    ‘No’ to fake-charges and fake-prosecutions! As community policing becomes a reality, this case must be taught in all police colleges, circulated in all police formations and stations and to all magistrates at risk of hearing such rubbish cases but fearing to correct prosecuting officers.

    Those who take oaths of office, which always include protecting the rights of citizens almost always, abuse the law and the privilege of their power, instead of upholding the law. Why?

    This Onigbanjo/ Oyekami case dismissal milestone is great for the victim, for the citizens, for Lagos State and the Police which should learn to practice human rights instead of manipulating the legal system.

    But it will only be complete if we have commensurate punishment with its several components: suspension, sacking, jail time, restitution fines.

    We want many more cases thrown out pre-case in court. Nigerians deserve such protection.  Now please apply your legal logic and ‘human rights’ approach to the ridiculously high traffic fines recently imposed in Lagos State.

    Late Justice Kayode Esho and Lord Denning would be proud of you. Congratulations and thank you.

    We face a season of invasions: Locusts need no visas to cause widespread destruction to food crops in East Africa with impending famine.

    Meanwhile here in Nigeria, large swathes of farmland has been uncultivated or un-harvested due to the ravages of the war with AK47-bearing herdsmen, bazooka-wielding Boko Haram and ISWAP with an estimated 4-5milion rural citizens displaced to IDP Camps and across Nigeria.

    We face daily mounting unexplained death-by-police etc. ‘Yahoo boys’ is a brand almost no youth with a phone or laptop can escape. Look at late Tiyamiu Kazeem, promising footballer dreaming of going international, playing for Remo Stars FC as vice captain’s pathetic end after an unfortunate fatal encounter with police.

    The Coronavirus COVID19 with deaths 2,592+, infections 79,000+ is still being kept at bay from Africa in general. Protect yourself, family, workplace, community and country.

  • Insecurity and the security chiefs

    By Festus Eriye

    In just about any other business when things are going south, leadership pays the price. If a company keeps making losses and isn’t delivering dividends to shareholders, the CEO would be sacked.

    Elite football clubs dispose of managers like used tissue paper when they are unable to meet targets – and it doesn’t matter how reasonable their excuses for failure may be.

    The military and security establishment are just like any other business organisation – except that they are not tasked with delivering monetary dividends. Theirs is to manage men and armament with a view to guaranteeing the nation’s territorial integrity.

    It stands to reason that when insecurity becomes a national crisis their leadership would come under scrutiny, with many calling for the sacking of the heads of the armed forces.

    If things are going well, there may be no need to change people. IEDs may not be exploding in Abuja, but life is still scary for people in Borno, parts of Yobe and Adamawa.

    Insurgents cross our borders at will, ride roughshod over our territory, making headline-grabbing sorties that embarrass the government. The ghoulish Abubakar Shekau who has been ‘killed’ or ‘badly maimed’ a couple of times has reincarnated to revive his video-making career.

    One of the targets of recent criticism, Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Yusuf Buratai, argued in a recent interview that internal security is the brief of the police.

    That’s another way of saying don’t blame us for what isn’t our responsibility. But this classic separation of duties between the forces is becoming irrelevant.

    Nations sometimes bring out their armed forces to assist in times of natural disaster. Our current insecurity challenge is a disaster by any definition which has caused the government to co-opt the military in joint operations from far north to the Niger Delta.

    All over major cities like Lagos, you see vans carrying a mix of soldiers and policemen. The government didn’t take the position that soldiers shouldn’t be contaminated with internal security assignments. The military is involved because the challenges of 2020 are different from what existed in the 70s and 80s.

    Buratai also argued that sacking security chiefs is no guarantee that the war against the insurgents would dramatically improve.

    The ghoulish Abubakar Shekau who has been ‘killed’ or ‘badly maimed’ a couple of times has reincarnated to revive his video-making career 

    That may be so. But it is equally possible that assigning new hands to the task could alter the dynamics of the conflict. New leaders want to prove a point and make their mark. They will come with fresh ideas. Also, such changes refresh the system and cause upward movements that boost morale within the forces.

    While this may seem like the logical step to take regain momentum, President Muhammadu Buhari, is clearly not inclined to embrace it. National Assembly leaders who have been amongst the most militant in seeking leadership changes, after meeting him emerged to sing a more nuanced tune.

    Senior Special Assistant to the President (Media and Publicity), Garba Shehu, provided insight into official thinking on the matter. No one is going to be sacked in a hurry because the nation is at war, he said.

    Oh, really? Examples abound in history where military commanders were changed because they had not met their target, or because a change of strategy required the redeployment of officers who were a better fit. The changes affected administrative heads of the forces as well as field commanders.

    It happened during the Nigerian civil war – bringing to national consciousness a corps of star officers like Olusegun Obasanjo, Benjamin Adekunle, Murtala Mohammed, Alani Akinrinade, Mohammed Shuwa, Godwin Alabi-Isama to mention a few.

    Famous United States President Abraham Lincoln faced with the real threat that forces of the southern confederacy could overrun Washington DC, kept firing general after general, until he appointed Ulysses S. Grant who was always winning battles where his colleagues were foundering. That was the turning point in the war against the rebels.

    The president may be a retired general who in his present capacity knows more than the rest of us emergency security experts, still what is at stake needs not be mystified. We are not venturing into discussing principles of war or battle strategy. This is just about getting the best hands to manage men and material.

    The presidential spokesman disclosed a long list of equipment that has been procured to take the war to the enemy. That is comforting and in line with the argument in this column several weeks ago that a nation at war needs to increase defence spending.

    But the most powerful weapons and armaments don’t do the job on their own, they need humans to activate and deploy them. This is why strategy and leadership are more important than just acquiring things.

    Before the current crop of security chiefs were hired, Nigeria made advances against the insurgents. Long after they would have left their positions the country would still have capacity to defeat the terrorists. So it is a mystery clinging on to the officers – some of whom have long crossed their retirement dates and are serving simply at the pleasure of the president.

    Prominent lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), has argued that laws regulating military service require the retirement of officers who have served for 35 years or reached the age of 60. Virtually all the service chiefs have clocked out three decades and a half in service.

    I am not aware of any rigid tenure for service chiefs. Historically, most have spent between one and four years and been moved on. The present crop are well on course to becoming the longest servicing in the nation’s history.

    Buhari has a reputation for being slow to hire, slow to fire. Little wonder cabinet reshuffles were a rarity in his first term. If he wants to keep his security chiefs and exit with them in 2023, good luck to him.

    Nigerians are only interested in defeat of the insurgency and security of life and property – one key ground for which he was elected in 2015 and re-elected last year.

  • Supreme Court: Prison, Life ban

    By Tony Marinho

    Two weeks ago the strain of coronavirus which has killed 1,600 and infected over 67,000 was called ‘2019-nCoV’. Today that virus is re-named ‘COVID19’. Protect yourself. Now, 38 human victims killed in one day, eight humans killed by herdsmen Delta State. About 30 victims early this week outside Maiduguri. When will war be declared by Nigeria?

    Politics is not a game. It kills and is an extractive criminal industrial enterprise -taking from the people and the treasury. Nigeria suffers horrendously from political criminality – 87% poverty, poor MDG/SDG compliance. Politics has failed us and we demand penalties – long jail time and high fines for political criminality.

    There are issues arising from the Supreme Court judgement disqualifying the deputy governor-elect for fraud and sacking the ‘innocent’ governor-elect, as collateral damage. Is the governor innocent or a collaborator?

    First: we have a fraudulent unqualified politician illegally seeking office. Politics has the lowest qualifications but still some politicians must cheat. We need punishing jail time! He is now an alleged criminal, deserving 21 years jail term on each count on conviction, as recommended by his National Assembly (NASS) colleagues for WAEC exam fraud.

    Second: he should be jailed for attempting to defraud the state by illegitimately accessing a salary, perks and privileges for four years.

    Third: the party background check system failed or stinks from bullying, bribery, old boy network, zoning et cetera.

    Fourth: the judiciary is too slow and should have dealt with this matter long ago. In many countries including South Africa, by law the local ‘INEC’ publishes all politicians’ alleged qualifications for public scrutiny. EFCC also failed in screening candidates for governorship office.

    Fifth: the judiciary must punish criminals, political and otherwise, it detects immediately, including the negligent party unleashing criminals as candidates, by a hefty fine, even a time bound ban, for failing in screening candidates.

    Six: INEC should sue to recover money covering election costs, financial redress, with fines for deception, intent to defraud and derail the electoral process and electoral mandate.

    Seven: The Supreme Court and or INEC must take action against the political parties for oversight illegalities.

    Nigeria reverses the natural order. Sins of the children are visited upon the parent. The deputy incapacitated, has maliciously incapacitated the governor. Why? Why not sack him and ask the governor to appoint a new deputy governor? How did the candidate escape party vetting? To sanitise all political parties, we demand intraparty punishment for incompetence, connivance and corruption. Was it the old boy network, blatant lies, money or was he a rabid politician? What a monumental disservice to properly qualified candidates and the party all now abandoned for the next four years at least. Why is the cheating politician not banned for life from political office? Compute the cost to honest voting party members if not corrupt party members of the entire time, money talk, travel wasted in the election process?

    But it is monumental political historical landmark. The Supreme Court has dealt a death blow to the ‘Political Forgers Club’ as it has put a powerful weapon of ‘only true certified candidates to step forward’ in the hands of all parties. This strengthens the hand of honest party members, weakens dishonest ones and will stop the plague of corruption and certificate forgery. There is rumour that the replacement also has a case to answer. Why it should take so long for such criminal forgeries to be adjudicated upon is a huge stain on the party and the judiciary and a question only they can answer.

    Forgery upon forgery- all is forgery!! The lion roared and the deputy ate him.  Now the ‘De-Selected, Dis-Elected or Sacked Governor-Elect’. A lion devoured by the cub: A pointer to the legal dangers of imposing party people without thorough screening. Too often unqualified former thugs seize office directly themselves with brute force and even murder of opponents and blood-thirsty rituals.

    The Supreme Court judgement is that a person has committed a criminal office with intent to illegally insinuate himself into a political position to defraud the government of the income of that position. By implication, the over 300,000 voters were criminally misled into mis-voting and have been defrauded of their political choice for four years.

    INEC has been deceived to register this person and the judgement has nullified the election and cost INEC its reputation. INEC must sue for malicious intent, false pretences, deception and charge costs. All these must have a real cost and the criminal responsible has been found guilty by the Supreme Court. His property must be impounded by the Supreme Court to help pay the billions lost.

    The Supreme Court must complete the cycle!  Politicians can only be stopped by ‘crime, dismissal and punishment’.

    The Supreme Court must announce the introduction of the principle of ‘Payment for a Debt of Deception’ or ‘Cost of Criminality’ based on the ‘Depth of Deception’. The first crime is ‘Criminal Deceit in Wasting the Time of The Supreme Court’. The Supreme Court must impose commensurate fines in cases that come before it on the losing party if the loser has committed a criminal act or lied or misled the legal process to get to the Supreme Court. The deceivers must no longer walk free but owe and must pay a ‘Debt of Deception’ in cash, kind, property seizures, jail and denial of political participation. After all they seek to profit from poisoning and polluting politics.

  • Lowering the risks of prostate cancer

    Niyi Akinnaso

     

    I THANK readers for the numerous responses to my earlier articles on prostate cancer. Two recurrent questions raised by the readers are: (1) What are the risk factors for prostate cancer? (2) What can I do to lower the risks or avoid the disease? Both questions are answered below, but neither exhaustively.

    Researchers agree, to varying degrees, that five key factors are associated with the onset or escalation of prostate cancer. While there is no agreed strategy for preventing prostate cancer, there are various ways of reducing the risks and slowing down its growth once it strikes.

    There are two groups of factors. Group A factors consist of age and family medical history, while Group B factors are a composite of lifestyle choices. While there is universal agreement on Group A factors, because of their wide applicability, there is no such agreement on Group B factors, because they apply differently to different people.

    Group A Factors

    Age is the number one risk factor for the onset of prostate cancer. The disease usually shows up around age 50 and the likelihood of its occurrence or growth increases thereafter. By the time a man is 70, he will be lucky not to have one prostate issue or the other, cancer being one of them. Although everyone agrees that prostate cancer comes with age, not every old man dies of the disease as there are other competing diseases.

    The second Group A risk factor for prostate cancer is family medical history. If your father or brother had prostate cancer, then you are at a greater risk than others, who lack such a family medical history. The problem here is that many Nigerians do not know their family medical history, especially as it relates to cancer.

    There are several reasons for this lack of knowledge. One, some Nigerians are secretive about the nature of their illness, while others blame it on the evil machinations of an enemy. Two, many patients are misdiagnosed, due partly to inadequate information about their symptoms and medical history and partly to inadequate facilities for appropriate diagnosis. Yet others are not diagnosed at all, because poverty prevents them from seeking treatment. Third, many Nigerians are not curious enough to probe into their relatives’ illnesses. Yet, their future survival may depend on such knowledge.

    Group B Factors

    There are three related risk factors in Group B, all having to do with lifestyle choices. However, the factors do not affect everybody the same way owing to differences in DNA, environment, and immune quality. Besides, there are conflicting research findings on this group of risk factors.

    One risk factor in this category is exposure to bacterial infection that may work its way up to the prostate. Urinary tract infection (UTI), which is more common with women than men, is a possible source of bacteria in the prostate. True, a variety of factors may lead to UTI, the most common causes are sexually transmitted diseases. Untreated bacterial infection can lead to kidney damage or cause inflammation of the prostate, leading to damage of some prostate cells.

    When damaged cells fail to repair themselves, as they normally should, they often become cancerous and then grow abnormally. Most sexually active men have one form of UTI or the other in the course of their lives. Prompt treatment of such an infection could eliminate one major risk factor for prostate cancer or kidney damage.

    However, rather than treat yourself with just any antibiotic, you should see a doctor, who will order an appropriate laboratory test. The result of the test will determine which antibiotic to use as each one is designed to kill or stop the growth of particular types of bacteria.

    A second Group B risk factor for prostate cancer is dietary habit. Although there is no proven cancer prevention dietary strategy, research suggests that habitual consumption of a diet high in saturated fat, red meats, and dairy products (milk, cheese, and yogurt), increases the risk of prostate cancer or any other cancer for that matter. What is more, epidemiological studies show that such a diet also advances the growth of prostate cancer after its onset.

    The third Group B factor is the duo of lack of exercise and obesity. Research shows that men who are overweight, especially with a body mass index of 30 or higher, may have an increased risk of prostate cancer than those who maintain a healthy weight.  At the same time, those who maintain a healthy weight but lack exercise also have an increased risk of prostate cancer.

    If one or more of the Group B factors apply to you, then prostate cancer screening should begin at age 45. It may be expedient to begin at 40, if there is a history of prostate cancer in your family or if two or more of the Group B factors apply.

    Lowering the risks

    The question, then, is what should one do to lessen the risk of prostate cancer? Of the five major risk factors, age and family medical history are essentially beyond control. However, there are ways to lessen or delay the impact of the Group B risk factors. The most important requirements are awareness and lifestyle modifications.

    One, avoid bacterial infections, especially through sexual activities without due protection. However, if urinary tract infection does occur, either through sex or some other means, you should seek prompt medical intervention.

    Second, choose a healthy diet by avoiding or taking in moderation foods that are high in fats, such as meats, oils, and dairy products. Processed meats, such as sausages, bacon, hot dogs, and ham, are especially dangerous. The World Health Organization lumps them with smoking and asbestos as cancer risks.

    Instead, skinless chicken or turkey, fish, eggs, beans, nuts, and legumes are considered healthy. They are also good sources of protein that help to reduce the risks of prostate cancer. Increase the consumption of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. They contain vitamins that are believed to reduce the risk of prostate cancer. However, vitamin supplements per se are not recommended.

    In addition to dietary changes, you should develop an exercise regimen and work at it at least three times a week. Finally, whether or not you have any of the relevant symptoms, you should get screened for prostate cancer, if you are 50 or older.