Category: Hardball

Hardball

NOW was Biobarakuma Degi-Eremienyo chosen as the running mate of David Lyon of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the Bayelsa State governorship election of November 2019? Those who chose him must now be wondering why they did. The Supreme Court decision on February 13, which voided Lyon’s election just before his inauguration, exposed the flawed process that produced his running mate. The governor-elect was punished for the sin of the deputy governor-elect.

According to the Supreme Court, Degi-Eremienyo was unqualified and shouldn’t have been chosen as Lyon’s running mate in the first place.  A report said: “Justice Ejembi Ekwo, who read the lead judgment, held that the deputy governor-elect presented forged certificates to secure clearance for APC deputy governorship ticket.

“Ekwo added that in view of the discrepancies in the names on the certificates submitted by Degi-Eremienyo to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), he was not qualified for the election.

“The judge noted that it was established from the documents submitted   that the deputy governor-elect forged the certificates and fraudulently used different names when it suited him.

“He held that the primary school certificate obtained in 1976, GCE obtained in 1984, first degree obtained in 1990 and others were a product of forgery and that Degi-Eremienyo violated Section 182 of the   Constitution.”

Indeed, it’s strange that Degi-Eremienyo had presented a 1976 First School Leaving Certificate with the name Degi Biobaragha; 1984 West African Examinations Council General Certificate of Education (GCE) with the name Adegi Biobakumo; and first degree from the Rivers State University of Science and Technology with the name Degi Biobarakuma.

Significantly, none of these certificates had the name with which Degi-Eremienyo had contested the governorship election as Lyon’s running mate. It is unclear whether the names on the certificates he had presented referred to him.  Considering the ambiguity, it is unsurprising that the Supreme Court judgment highlighted the lack of clarity.

The judge said: “It is nothing new to say that affidavit of change, correction and confirmation of name has to be by Deed Poll and not mere deposition.

“It must be stated that such correction or change will necessarily affect National Record and Archives of the country.

“Therefore, the deponent, after executing a Deed Poll, has to approach the Nigeria Civil Registry to have the change published in a gazette. None of these was done in this case.”

If, indeed, the certificates were Degi-Eremienyo’s, why did he fail to do what should have been done to clarify that they were his? If they weren’t his, how did he get them?  This is a case where a name really mattered. The winners who became losers because of a name must now live with their loss.

HARDBALL

Something is brewing in Oyo State.  But it is not exactly the “good news” the media handlers of Governor Seyi Makinde love to share.

Indeed, it could be nasty news, an avoidable re-live of Oyo’s push-and-shove politics.  That is why the governor and his handlers must be very careful.

On February 18, the South West zone of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) addressed a press conference at Osogbo, Osun, where they issued a seven-day ultimatum to the Oyo State government.

Their grouse? Governor Makinde’s appointment of Alhaji Mukaila Lamidi, aka Auxiliary, the former chairman of a faction of the Oyo wing of NURTW, in the pre-Ajimobi days, as chairman, Disciplinary Committee, for Oyo motor parks.  Besides, they alleged the governor, by suspending union activities,  was usurping their legitimate functions as a lawful trade union, thus hampering their means of livelihood.

Now, NURTW and allied road unions are often known for their excesses; and frankly, any government may feel obliged to take tough actions against them, for the sake of public peace.  Governor Makinde may well be in possession of intelligence reports, to have necessitated his action to emplace a motor park disciplinary committee.

But the choice of Auxiliary is very odd.  Auxiliary, you may recall, was at the vortex of near-anarchy that seized Oyo, during the latter part of the governorship of Alhaji Rashidi Ladoja, dovetailing into the one-term of former Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala.  It was the high reign of Alhaji Lamidi Adedibu, former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s democratic garrison commander for Oyo.

During that period, Ibadan was a virtual war zone, with many members of its elite fleeing for dear lives.  Why, the sitting commissioner(s) of Police back then flatly told not a few among them that he could not guarantee their safety and security –particularly if they belonged outside the ruling party!  Auxiliary himself was, in July 2016, jailed six years, for intra-Union scuffles, that led to loss of lives.

It was the Auxiliary era insecurity question that Governor Abiola Ajimobi had to first tackle, when he assumed office.  That virtually recalled Ibadan to life, to use the image of Charles Dickens in A Tale of Two Cities, leading to the city regaining its peace.

This background, therefore, makes the choice of Auxiliary, a clearly polarizing figure, well and truly controversial, if not outright bizarre.  Given present rumblings,  and if past trends are anything to go by, Ibadan appears again set for destabilizing violence.  That appears a doom foretold; and you just wonder the quality — and sanity — of this gubernatorial decision.

Well, it is very easy to start a fire but very difficult to put it out.  That is true of almost every Nigerian crisis; and a living and troubling proof is the Boko Haram insurrection, which was totally avoidable.

Besides, it took quite an effort for Ajimobi to stamp out road union violence, that shattered the peace of the state and endangered innocent and law abiding citizens.  It therefore makes no sense to lead the state right back into it.

Auxiliary is the acid test for Makinde.  Will he prove his campaign-era fresh spring (Omi Titun) giving fresh life?  Or just another muddy water (Omi Erofo) endangering the wellness of all?

Hardball waits with bated breath!

Hardball

FIRST, the Olubadan threatened to “arrest” and “banish” the Ibadan former high chiefs, upgraded as lower-cadre kings, under the Olubadan’s paramountcy, by the Abiola Ajimobi governorship.

Now, these embattled kings, coalesced under the Olubadan Advisory Council (OAC), are roaring back: they might just be provoked to unhorse the Olubadan because — now, listen to this: “that same instrument that gave out the title of Imperial Majesty to Olubadan, gave out Royal Majesties and Royal Highnesses to them as High Chiefs and Baales”! — going by The Nation’s reportage of February 17!

Then, the dire threat: “We reserve the right to call for his abdication of the throne, if we are not comfortable with the administrative style of the palace.”

O pari — it is finished!  Ibadan: the new Penkelemes years (apologies to our own WS) — a royal rumble never gets more quaking!

Yet, the Ibadan court face-off isn’t new — nor would it be the last.  It is the natural pull of a free-wheeling republic, that somewhat morphed into a monarchy.  Nobles in a republic (even with that violent contradiction in terms) are co-equals, in their different grades.  But in a monarchy, the King is unchallenged and unchallengeable — kaaaaaaabiesi o! — in Yoruba tradition.

But Ibadan was hardly a classical monarchy, as Oyo for instance, which even flowered to be an empire, at its plundering worst!  So, intra-noble intrigues came with the Ibadan territory.

In the 19th century, Latosisa, the Aare Ona Kakanfo, found cause to eliminate Efunsetan Aniwura, the powerful czarina of commerce.  The official reason was Efunsetan’s cruelty, putting to the slaughter, every slave maiden foolish enough to get pregnant, after the Iyalode had lost her sole daughter.  The odyssey, of the ill-fated Adetutu, still chills the bones till this day!

But the real reason was that Latosisa wanted to combine being war generalissimo with the prime political leader, the Baale, a move the Ibadan power convention disapproved of.  At a stage, the desperate Latosisa thumbed down the Baale as a “woman” because the Baale never went to war!  But even the post-Efunsetan Latosisa, despite emerging Ibadan’s unchallengeable strongman, never realized his wish.

But back to the present peculiar mess.  The Olubadan wants to crack down on former republican colleagues, albeit junior, as if he were some classical, over-arching monarch, like the Alaafin.  That would appear clearly delusional.

But the elevated Chiefs — royal heresy! — appear set to call his bluff.  To up the ante, they just threw in their common republican roots, as well as alleged palace mammon, which they dubbed “cash-and-carry” chieftaincies and allied palace racketeering.

So, if-you-banish-me, I’ll-depose-you!  Meanwhile, at the neutral corner perches a Governor Seyi Makinde, craving the loving gentleman to both warring camps.  Wish him the best of luck!

Hardball’s take?  Federalizing the Ibadan crown would appear an idea whose time has come.  For one thing, it reinforces Ibadan’s republican roots.  Besides, Ibadan appears too vast and big, to sustain its present royal status quo.

Once, breaking up the omnibus Ibadan Municipal Council (IMC), with headquarters at the iconic Mapo Hall, was sheer political heresy.  But right now, that breakdown is political common sense.

So, let the governor move in and midwife a tough compromise between the Olubadan and his alienated OAC.  Else, Their Imperial-cum-Royal Majesties and Highnesses may soon fight naked in public, in Ibadan’s neo-Kiriji royal rumble!

That, won’t be pretty — and the Yoruba political capital can’t afford such tragic distraction!

Hardball

How was Biobarakuma Degi-Eremienyo chosen as the running mate of David Lyon of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the Bayelsa State governorship election of November 2019? Those who chose him must now be wondering why they did. The Supreme Court decision on February 13, which voided Lyon’s election just before his inauguration, exposed the flawed process that produced his running mate. The governor-elect was punished for the sin of the deputy governor-elect.

According to the Supreme Court, Degi-Eremienyo was unqualified and shouldn’t have been chosen as Lyon’s running mate in the first place.  A report said: “Justice Ejembi Ekwo, who read the lead judgment, held that the deputy governor-elect presented forged certificates to secure clearance for APC deputy governorship ticket.

“Ekwo added that in view of the discrepancies in the names on the certificates submitted by Degi-Eremienyo to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), he was not qualified for the election.

“The judge noted that it was established from the documents submitted   that the deputy governor-elect forged the certificates and fraudulently used different names when it suited him.

“He held that the primary school certificate obtained in 1976, GCE obtained in 1984, first degree obtained in 1990 and others were a product of forgery and that Degi-Eremienyo violated Section 182 of the   Constitution.”

Indeed, it’s strange that Degi-Eremienyo had presented a 1976 First School Leaving Certificate with the name Degi Biobaragha; 1984 West African Examinations Council General Certificate of Education (GCE) with the name Adegi Biobakumo; and first degree from the Rivers State University of Science and Technology with the name Degi Biobarakuma.

Significantly, none of these certificates had the name with which Degi-Eremienyo had contested the governorship election as Lyon’s running mate. It is unclear whether the names on the certificates he had presented referred to him.  Considering the ambiguity, it is unsurprising that the Supreme Court judgement highlighted the lack of clarity.

The judge said: “It is nothing new to say that affidavit of change, correction and confirmation of name has to be by Deed Poll and not mere deposition.

“It must be stated that such correction or change will necessarily affect National Record and Archives of the country.

“Therefore, the deponent, after executing a Deed Poll, has to approach the Nigeria Civil Registry to have the change published in a gazette. None of these was done in this case.”

If, indeed, the certificates were Degi-Eremienyo’s, why did he fail to do what should have been done to clarify that they were his? If they weren’t his, how did he get them?  This is a case where a name really mattered. The winners who became losers because of a name must now live with their loss.

Hardball

AND the boy died, hanging himself on an Indian bamboo tree — and he was only 12!  How could a 12-year old, barely starting life, have had such a dark view about life, that he would decide to end it all in such a gruesome manner?

Kasarachi Odurukwe, a primary six pupil in Agboala Ishiala Umudi community, in the Nkwerre local government area of Imo State, was the eldest of three siblings, all orphans, left in the care of their aunt, after the death of their parents.

The boy was said to have been making a sing-song of suicide, even if most thought it was a joke.  According to The Nation of February 12, Kasarachi would “jokingly tell his mates that he wanted to die and meet his mother in heaven.”

What could have pushed such a tender mind to such grim thoughts — neglect, guardian cruelty, lonesomeness, hunger, poverty, lack of love, what?  Was it a case of mental ill health?  If so, why didn’t anyone figure it out?

Where were the adults around him?  How come nobody never noticed that virulent strain of depression, in a minor?  What was he thinking?

The boy’s eventual suicide was tragic enough.  But even more tragic — and worrisome — was the range of suicide options in his troubled mind.  More horror: his younger siblings were right there, by the river, when he tried thrice, before succeeding in hanging himself!

At the stream, that fateful day, Kasarachi first assisted his younger ones to fill their cans, in what appeared a heroic last duty.  But even as he did that, he was churning over, in his mind, the option of drowning, by feeling depth of the river, even if the younger kids couldn’t really grasp the meaning of his actions.  He abandoned that option after satisfying himself the river was too shallow.

Even then, the tragedy soon came in bolder relief.  Tree after tree, the 12-year old started tying ropes to trees; and the bewildered younger ones started begging him to stop — one, two, and finally, three — and snap!  That last bamboo tree was strong enough, and the boy snapped his neck and died!

Again, where were the adults?

As the panic-stricken boys raced to the village to break the news, the no less shocked elders would make even a more shocking find: they found four batteries on the dead boy, triggering speculations that he probably wanted to drain the acid inside and drink it to end it all — perhaps if all else failed!

Again, where were the adults, who sat napping, while a mere minor plotted no less than three options to take his life,  after making a sing-song of it with his school mates?

Where was the aunt in whose care the boy was?  Where were the other members of the extended family, or even attentive neighbours, since it was in a village setting?

When bad things happen in this country, everyone lashes out at the government — hardly a crime!  But this was one tragedy for which the family was blame-worthy.

Is the Nigerian family structure that broken down, such that such very avoidable suicide bids would succeed?  It leaves a very bitter taste in the mouth!

Hardball

In a defensive move, the Nigerian Army issued a statement to support the claim that it’s winning the terror war. The army said any statement to the contrary was propaganda.

The statement was questionable, considering that it came just a few days after suspected Boko Haram terrorists killed no fewer than 30 people in a village in Borno State. Eighteen vehicles, including trailers, buses and cars were said to have been burnt by the insurgents who attacked the village at about 9.50 pm on February 9.

“Villagers said the victims arrived at the military checkpoint leading into Maiduguri after the 5pm closure of the gate and had no choice but to sleep in Auno, the neighbouring village on the Maiduguri-Damaturu Highway,” a report said.

Incredibly,  the head of the military counter-insurgency operation in the North-East (Theatre Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole), Maj. Gen. Olusegun Adeniyi, had blamed the victims, saying the Maiduguri/Damaturu Road would now be closed by 4pm in order to protect lives and property.

It is unclear how the army carries out its role in the theatres of operation, but closing a road should not mean some areas are left without protection.

The shocking incident at Auno contradicts the army’s Operations Media Coordinator, Colonel Aminu iliyasu, who said in a statement that Boko Haram and Islamic State of West Africa (ISWAP) had been routed across the North East theatre. He gave detailed information about various encounters between the troops and the terror groups in which the terrorists were defeated. In other words, he presented a narrative of victory over the insurgents.

The statement painted a picture of what happened elsewhere in Borno State on the same day Boko Haram attacked Auno village: “During the ensuing meeting engagement which occurred at Njaba along Damboa – Bale Road, the troops’ unleashed superior and overwhelming fire power to obliterate the criminals. At the end of the encounter, several of the insurgents were neutralized while others escaped with gunshot wounds…

“Additionally, one Buffalo Gun Truck, one Anti-Aircraft Gun, 3 Machine Guns, 2 AK 47 Rifles, 141 rounds of 12.7mm ammunition, one suicide vest, one Improvised Explosive Device Box, 10 motorcycles, one pumping machine and some mechanical tools were captured from the marauding criminal insurgents.”

This account shows how the army continues to promote its claimed dominance in the terror war. The Auno incident doesn’t reflect the army’s dominance. Ironically, it is the army spokesman who sounds like a propagandist.

Hardball

Hamza Al-Mustapha, chief security officer (CSO) to the late Gen. Sani Abacha, is out with Abacha tales — Abacha tales that sound very much like Arabian tales.

Arabian tales that are exotic versions of African moonlight tales, which Hardball believes, he himself barely believes.

Major Al-Mustapha just outed with a yarn: that the US$308 million just being repatriated from Jersey, and dubbed the latest tranche of the Abacha loot, wasn’t stolen by the thieving Abacha, but by his successor-rogues.

Hear him speak, on the Hausa service of the VOA: “All the money being repatriated were those stolen by some leaders who served after Abacha’s death.  The late Abacha’s successors in the Presidential Villa were the thieves, who stole the billions and hid the money elsewhere.”

That is some claim, even if post-Abacha leaders could be fairly accused of alleged sleaze.  But the wild muck-raking, mud-splattering, in favour of Abacha the confirmed thief, was clear.

Why, the impassioned Al-Mustapha even pressed to service a red herring, attempting to tar sitting President, Muhammadu Buhari, for his service at the defunct Petroleum (Special) Task Force (PTF), one of the few redeeming features of the best-forgotten Abacha tyranny, which gulped as much public funds as it crunched lives and limbs.

Hear Al-Mustapha again: “I was forced to implicate the leadership of the defunct PTF under President Buhari then, during the military era.  If there will be a genuine fight against corruption in Nigeria, many people will be arrested” — meaning?  Well, talk is cheap!

Still, it’s clear how Al-Mustapha attempted the pro-Abacha integrity equivalent of what the Japanese would call seppuku — ritual suicide for honour: by canonizing Abacha the Acclaimed Thief and demonizing Buhari, the acclaimed man of probity.  Nice try — and plucky one for loyalty, no matter what, to a dead benefactor.  What rogue nobility!  But even Abacha himself would have winced: PTF was the whited sepulchre of his regime, generally believed untouched by Abacha-customized rot and sleaze.

It’s therefore rather amusing to observe Al-Mustapha play Nigeria’s contemporary Rip van Winkle, who snoozed for 20 years and suddenly jerked awake to make wild and jerky claims!  Does he think other Nigerians were deep in dreamland with him all those 20 years?

O, he surely thought he was still in the Abacha primal jungle, as the regime went after innocent souls, it had cowardly declared as enemies?

Wake up, Al-Mustapha!  Abacha might not be the only thief, among the rather undistinguished band of parasites, that Nigeria had the misfortune of having as past leaders.  That is the cause of the crippling poverty and the unbelievable decay in infrastructure the Buhari presidency is killing itself to fix.  Still, the dark-goggled one was in a class all his own!

So, please, please, please, keep those Abacha, no Arabian, beg your pardon, African moonlight tales to yourself!  Inasmuch as self-delusion — that Abacha was not a thief — is democratic, it is no less so for clear-eyed others to reject it with all the force and contempt at their disposal.

Hardball

NEARLY a year since President Muhammadu Buhari signed the National Minimum Wage Bill into law on April 18, 2019, it’s inexcusable that the law is yet to take effect in all the country’s 36 states.

According to the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), 16 states have completed negotiations on the adjustments and started paying the minimum wage to workers on Grade Level 1-7. They are Lagos, Borno, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, Jigawa, Yobe, Katsina, Ondo, Sokoto, Kebbi, Kano, Kaduna, Bayelsa, FCT, Anambra and Akwa – Ibom.

NLC President Ayuba Wabba gave an update during a meeting with members of the National Administrative Council (NAC) in Abuja on February 4, saying 17 states were at the negotiation stage.  The delay is condemnable.

Much more condemnable is the news that the Taraba State government is acting as if the minimum wage law is inexistent.  Wabba said: “We have been able to make some progress. As I speak to you today from the initial six states that we mentioned in the last press conference, today we have 16 that have signed and commenced (payment).

“We have about three that have reached agreement but have not signed. We have about seventeen that negotiation is ongoing. I can say authoritatively that it is only in Taraba that nothing has started.

“The committee has not been inaugurated, the process of dialogue has not commenced and therefore, I want to use this medium to call on the Taraba State government to quickly respect the provision of the minimum wage Act.”

The buck stops with Governor Darius Ishaku of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He is expected to ensure that the minimum wage law is implemented in Niger State. It’s a measure of the oddity of non-implementation that the state stands alone as a dodger. By dodging, the Ishaku administration hasn’t acted with a sense of propriety.

It’s unclear why the Taraba State governor is playing with such a serious issue, which may bring trouble.  The reality is that by law the country has a new national minimum wage of N30, 000. It’s unreasonable to act as though there is no such law in place.

It’s scandalous that the Ishaku administration hasn’t even set up a committee to begin negotiations with labour leaders in the state. The government is treating not only the minimum wage law with contempt but also treating the workers with contempt. It deserves to be treated with contempt.