The Nation Newspaper

Category: Hardball

  • Shettima: a needless front

    Shettima: a needless front

    The ruling APC could well be parting itself on the back, given a sweet elite re-pacting that has near-turned the once vibrant PDP into a pitiable sight, teeming with sorry politically displaced people (PDP)!

    Indeed, it seems a new PDP (nPDP), that repeats the tragedy and farce of the old nPDP: that plotting disloyal band that, by stealth, shot Bukola Saraki into Pyrrhic victory as willy-nilly president of the Senate, only to vanish as new PDP (that nPDP quip again!) in his native Kwara, routed from the political fiefdom his father, Baba Oloye, the late Dr. Olusola Saraki, had left him, after the 2019 polls!

    Now, Saraki is in the PDP rut — an old nPDP saving a new nPDP: an old politically displaced person trying to rescue a new band of politically displaced people!  The irony never gets more savage or piquant!

    Which must have lulled some power-hungry APC blokes to open a putative self-destruct campaign at the expense of Vice President Kashim Shettima.  That’s absolutely unwise.

    That trick book is hardly new, though. Deify the president. Nullify the Vice President, though the only one in the cabinet with a shared mandate with the President.  Then, assume you can go for broke! 

    Again, that seldom ends well.  Events since 1999 are living proof.

    Olusegun Obasanjo’s henchmen felt they could — for whatever reasons — shoo off Atiku Abubakar from his constitutional due.  That marked the beginning of the end for PDP as a potent power force. 

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    The illicit enforcers of the Umaru Yar’Adua era ended up eating crow.  Goodluck Jonathan became President, despite their horrid plots, and the plotters’ sun set at high  noon.  For PDP, however, it was a premature end, even if Jonathan was fall guy.

    Even if all those are too “far” in the past — Nigeria is notorious for poor institutional memory — what of the ridicule-turned-glory, virtually yesterday, of the pair of Edo and Ondo deputy governors that some misguided players felt they could bump off.  The one is in the victorious Edo gubernatorial camp, after helping to dismantle the Obaseki regime and reclaiming his deputy governor office by law.  The other is sitting governor of Ondo State.

    The logic is simple: you can’t sell off a constitutional mandate on the altar of cheap or convenient politics.  The President and Vice President share an elective mandate.  One is incomplete without the other.

    Besides, the Bayelsa APC tragedy of 2019 is galling reminder: a false accusation of David Lyon’s running mate of “name forgeries” turned the governor-elect’s victory into defeat. That joint ticket is incomplete without the integrated partners.

    Until we respect that fine constitutionalism, this democracy won’t come of age.  That is basic principle: beyond temporary occupiers of seats. If you respect the President or Governor, honour too their deputies. 

    Those playing reckless 2027 politics with the office of the Vice President had better cautioned themselves.  If constitutional decorum doesn’t wash, stark electoral stats should.  Of all the North East, only Borno delivered in the 2023 presidential poll.

    Let the president be wary of these flock of flatterers.  After the elite re-pacting in the South, the president can’t afford an avoidable crisis in the North.

  • Gombe lethal surge

    Gombe lethal surge

    There was a lethal power surge in Tudun-Wada Pantami area of Gombe metropolis recently that caused the death of five persons and severely injured 13 others. Among the dead was the Permanent Secretary for Special Duties and Regional Coordination in Gombe State government, Mohammed Yusuf Kulani.

    Reports said the electricity surge occurred in a major transformer in the community, leading to electric wires snapping, sparking wildly and electrocuting victims. The incident occurred in the early hours of Saturday, 14th June, when power was restored after a period of blackout. Eyewitnesses said there was initially very low voltage of restored power, then a surge, resulting in unhinged voltage that burnt out domestic appliances and electrocuted whoever came near electricity wire. Emergency responders rushed persons affected to hospital, but five persons died instantly. The incident sparked outrage and grief in Riyel community in the state capital.

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    The Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA) blamed the Jos Electricity Distribution Company that covers the area for the mishap. In a statement, agency spokesperson Ama Umoren, said investigation uncovered several systemic and infrastructure-related lapses like use of aged, untreated/deteriorated wooden cross arms in the distribution network, absence of standard protective devices such as circuit breakers in consumer installations, aged low-tension conductors, poorly maintained substations, and inadequate clearances between high-tension lines and residential structures. “From the report of preliminary investigations, it can be said this is an unfortunate but preventable incident the Jos DisCo heeded previous warnings from NEMSA to rectify and correct observed faults on the network,” the statement said inter alia.

    The mishap that reportedly occurred at about 12:45a.m. on the fateful day was linked to a high-tension power line that snapped and made contact with low-tension wires, leading to a wild surge of electricity sparks across the local distribution network. “Eyewitness accounts and technical evaluations revealed that the incident was triggered by structural failure of a high-tension (11kV) wooden cross-arm support, which led to the detachment of the red phase high-tension conductor. This conductor made direct contact with a low-voltage (400V) line below, causing a dangerous voltage surge into residential houses. The impact resulted in widespread electrical sparks, severe electric shocks, and the electrocution of five individuals,” NEMSA said, adding: “Several residents sustained varying degrees of injuries while trying to disconnect power supply to their homes and electrical appliances, including televisions, refrigerators and meters, which were extensively damaged.”

    Jos DisCo, in its statement, said it was “deeply saddened” and was “closely monitoring the situation, particularly in light of palpable tension within the affected community.” But how does that mitigate the loss of lives, injuries and extensive damage to property? Whoever was directly responsible for the lapses should pay a heavy price, so also should the DisCo.

  • Awaiting trial inmates

    Awaiting trial inmates

    It’s an old issue that has refused to go away. “Overcrowding, no doubt, stands out as the most pressing challenge of the NCoS,” the Acting Controller-General of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS), Sylvester Nwakuche, noted during an interactive session with field officers on January 13.  He said 48,932 inmates in the country’s correctional facilities were Awaiting Trial Persons (ATPs), many of them “on non-bailable offences.”

    He unveiled his plans to tackle the problem, saying, “I intend to interface with the attorney-general of the federation and minister of justice, the inspector-general of police, and other prosecuting-agencies and critical stakeholders to fast track the trial of these inmates. This is necessary, especially those on non-bailable offences like armed robbery, murder, and others that constitute over 60 percent of awaiting trial persons (ATPs).”

    He added: “While engaging state chief executives to expedite the trial of the over 90 percent state offenders in custody, the use of non-custodial measures and early release mechanisms will be taken up with the judiciary. We will also fast-track the construction of proposed 3,000-capacity ultramodern custodial facilities and other centres across the country.”

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    Notably, Segun Olowookere, who controversially spent 14 years on death row before he was recently pardoned by Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke, drew attention to prison conditions in the country in an interview published after his release.

    He was sentenced to death and life imprisonment for conspiracy to commit armed robbery and robbery with firearms, and to three years imprisonment for stealing. But the popular narrative that he was given a death sentence for stealing fowls ultimately led to pardon by the governor. 

    He was in Ilesa prison, Osun State, “throughout the trial of the case.” After the judgment, he was moved to Ibara Prison, Abeokuta, Ogun State. He was later moved to Kirikiri Maximum Prison in Lagos, in 2016.

     According to him, “The major challenge was congestion. There were too many people inside a limited space. Because of the population, 50 inmates would occupy a room that should naturally contain a maximum of 10 people. We sleep like fishes packed in a carton because everywhere is measured for us. As an inmate, a space is measured for you to sleep because of congestion.”

    • First published January 29, 2025
  • Fubara’s cross

    Fubara’s cross

    His words had an unmistakable ring of pathetic defeat.  As Siminalayi Fubara, the suspended governor of Rivers State, appealed to his supporters to embrace his latest peace deal with Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Nyesom Wike, it was clear that “the hurlyburly’s done” and “the battle’s lost and won.” Those lines from Shakespeare were inevitable in the context. 

    The intense conflict between the two political actors had resulted in the controversial declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State by President Bola Tinubu, on March 18. He also suspended the governor, his deputy and members of the House of Assembly for an initial six months. The move followed the continued deadlock despite the president’s efforts. He appointed Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas (retd) as the sole administrator of the state. 

    On June 28, Fubara told members of his Simplified Family in Port Harcourt that he was ready for peace following further intervention by the president. Speaking about the new agreement with Wike to bring about peace in the state, he said: “It’s heavy; it’s bitter, but we must accept the situation and move on with it.”

    He added: “The sacrifice that we are going to make for us to achieve this total peace is going to be heavy, and I want everybody to prepare for it. Without a total reconciliation, which, by the grace of God, the both of us have gotten to, there’s no way we can make progress in this state…

    “So, I want to appeal to everyone, I have accepted that we must accept this peace no matter how it looks, no matter how you feel, we must accept it.”

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    He did not elaborate on the terms of the peace deal. But his words suggested that they were unfavourable to him and his group. In other words, the peace deal was more or less a surrender to the other side.  He gave the ultimate hint of conquest when he said of Wike, “If he feels that for the pains he has gone through, these are things he wants, in as much it is not my life, I will give it to him and let us have that peace.”

    There are unavoidable questions: Was this humiliating defeat avoidable? Would he have arrived at this point if he had taken another path?  These questions may well haunt him as he ponders the path not taken.

  • Justice for Baby Eleweke

    Justice for Baby Eleweke

    For baby Emmanuel Eleweke at Umuoba-Uratta community in Owerri North council area of Imo State, it was a short foray into a wicked world. He was hit by a stray bullet from an unidentified source, and when the parents rushed him to a nearby hospital for medical help, he was refused that help until he died from the injury.

    Agency reports said 20-month-old Emmanuel, who was the third child of Mr. and Mrs. Okechukwu Eleweke, was in his parents’ home on Monday, 9th June, when a stray bullet lobbed in from God-knows-who outside of the house and hit him. He died shortly after from the injury. The mother was cited saying they were in bed that fateful night with the toddler playing restlessly and refusing to sleep despite efforts to “lull him to sleep on my body; instead, he shrugged off from me.” She added: “A few seconds later, I heard a huge sound and felt a splash of sand-like objects on my body. This was followed by my son’s scream for help as he shouted ‘mummy, mummy.’ The next thing I saw was blood all over his body and the bed.”

    The heartbroken mother further recalled that she quickly picked up the injured child and rushed outside for help. “My husband too got up, and we made efforts to get to a nearby private hospital,” she said, adding that instead of getting help from the hospital, a man believed to be the doctor “demanded for police report before treating my child.” According to her, despite intense pleas to help save the little child, the man simply ran a bandage round his head and asked the parents to take him to the Federal Medical Center (FMC), Owerri. She said as she was only half-dressed at the time, she returned home while the father continued with efforts to save the child.

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    In his own narrative, the father said he stood by the roadside for some while before getting a vehicle to FMC. “For the period we were in transit, I can say the boy was alive until we got to FMC gate. But on getting to the emergency paediatric ward, the doctor on duty examined him and pronounced him dead on arrival,” he recalled. The family, according to him, could not say where the bullet that killed their child came from. Upon enquiries Tuesday morning, they learnt there were sporadic gunshots in the area the previous night: “They said some people were shooting around our area, whatever they were celebrating that led to my son’s death, we don’t know.”

    The police have a responsibility to ascertain who the shooters were and bring them to justice for manslaughter or other relevant charges. Likewise the ‘doctor’ who refused to treat the child without a police report, he should be arrested and arraigned for complicity in the toddler’s death.

  • A governor’s rogue dream

    A governor’s rogue dream

     Somewhat, Governor Duoye Diri of Bayelsa State reminds all yet again of former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s third term debacle.  But that parallel only leads to even a richer ironic parallel between the two.

    Obasanjo and cronies deluded selves they had the power of “third term”, by bribing and suborning the National Assembly, into a constitutional amendment surrender.  Yet, were so coy about it all — at least Obasanjo himself, who put a lie to the plot but his body language screamed the exact opposite.

    Diri, on the other hand, knew his jaundiced dream would only happen when Birnam woods move to Dunsinane (to borrow that witch imagery from Macbeth, the William Shakespeare tragedy).  Yet, he was more brazen, in his third term pipe dream. But he knew it would never happen.

    Moral: if the PDP has moved from “Power!” of old to “scatter!” today, just know it had always packed undemocratic conduct in its DNA!  A “third generation” of leaders down in Bayelsa, and the third term nonsense is rearing its head.  But perhaps the governor spoke tongue-in-cheek?

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    Using “abandoned projects” as excuse, Governor Diri, on a tour of Nembe in the Nembe Local Government of Bayelsa State, urged his audience to impress it on their members in the National Assembly, to amend the 1999 Constitution to give governors a third term.

    He suggested that though his government was focusing on completing an independent power project plant, he would still not be able to meet all his electors’ demands, with the short time he had left in office.  For that, the appeal for third term!

    Deja vu — have we not heard such before?  When Obasanjo’s cronies were dangling his own constitutional subversion, it was to create time for the imperial president to complete his “reforms” — reforms that with hindsight were nothing but deforms in real terms, given the huge burden of corruption the PDP era bequeathed the country, until it all crashed on the luckless President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015.

    You’ll also want to remember how the guy that now wants third term accessed power.  In 2019, David Lyon, the APC candidate, defeated Diri, the PDP candidate, by a shellacking of near-8:2: 79.59% to 28.66% of votes. But that win was annulled, on the eve of Lyon taking power, by the most gangling form of injustice, by the Supreme Court.  Poor Lyon was even rehearsing his inauguration guard parade when the thunder him him!

    By controversy over the changing names of Lyon’s running mate, Senator Biobarakuma Degi, the Supreme Court nullified the Lyon mandate on an alleged “forgery”.  But a lower court had since found no forgery existed; and that the names were only different but legitimate names of the senator.  But that couldn’t save the doomed Lyon mandate.

    So, a governor that accessed power through rogue justice dreams rouge third term — perfect logic!

  • Insecurity tragedy

    Insecurity tragedy

    Tragically, Major Joe Ajayi (retd), 80, died in captivity at the hands of kidnappers who had collected N10million ransom from his family towards his release. He was said to have been kidnapped from his residence, on May 21, at his hometown in Kabba/Bunu Local Government Area of Kogi State.

    The kidnappers had initially demanded N50million from his family for his freedom. After they collected the reduced ransom of N10million, they directed the family to a place where he was found dead.

    In a statement, the Bunu Leaders Forum described him as a “revered elder” and a “gallant war veteran who fought bravely to keep Nigeria united during the civil war.” They added: “He lived for service, and he died in painful betrayal by a nation that failed to protect one of her finest sons.”

    The accusation that the country had failed the kidnap victim is the heart of the matter. Those who kidnap for ransom in the country continue to demonstrate that they are no respecter of persons.

    The Special Intervention Squad inaugurated by the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, last year, was expected to alleviate the kidnapping crisis. He said it was created “to confront the most formidable challenges that beset our nation today — challenges like kidnapping, banditry, and other violent crimes that have sown discord and fear across various regions.”

     He also said the officers had been trained for “advanced tactical operations, intelligence gathering, crisis negotiation, and community engagement,” among others, and described their work as a “critical national assignment.”

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    The creation of the squad further underscored the country’s security crisis, and also suggested that the authorities were taking the issue more seriously. However, its operations have failed to make a difference.

    The scale of the country’s security crisis, which includes kidnapping and banditry, demands more than establishing a numerically inadequate ad hoc squad. In August 2023, Egbetokun was reported saying the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) “requires an additional 190,000 personnel to be at par with the United Nations (UN) recommendation,” adding that inadequate manpower had resulted in “low police presence.” The UN-recommended ratio is one police officer to about 450 citizens.

    There is no doubt that the country needs to substantially increase its police personnel, particularly in the context of a complicated security crisis. Nigeria is critically under-policed, which is bad for security as well as law and order.

    The apparently strong connection between the retired soldier’s death at the hands of kidnappers and the state of the country’s police force cannot be ignored.

  • Retired general vs retired police corporal

    Retired general vs retired police corporal

     It was the solid logic of a retired general versus the frothing (il)logic of a retired police officer! 

    That is the latest macabre drama coming out of Rivers, the last dying kick — it appears — of Ijaw exceptionalism or supremacism: the wide and merry way that threw suspended Rivers Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, into power Siberia for six months.

    With the late Chief Edwin Clark gone, it would appear Senator Henry Seriake Dickson, sitting senator for Beyelsa West, was fancying himself some Clark-wannabe on Rivers, but this time from Bayelsa, opposed to Clark from Delta, before the Rivers National Assembly caucus starkly shut him down.  Enter: retired Navy general vs retired Police constable!

    Clearly playing to the gallery, Senator Dickson wondered why President Bola Tinubu should not have removed Rivers Emergency Administrator, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ette Ibas (rtd), and restored Fubara, yet he gave a long speech to the combined National Assembly.

    But in his over-reach, he waxed hyperbolic, arguing crass illogically too, that since Ibas the Rivers Administrator was a retired Navy officer, Rivers was under military rule.  That was cheap and disingenious  — and also false.

    But that claim provided an instant nemesis that brought Dickson back to his humble start — and the Rivers National Assembly caucus rubbed it in.

    That caucus riposted that though Dickson was a retired police corporal, he is a senator today, after being a two-term governor, does it then mean that he’s still a police corporal — a post he retired from eons ago — and not distinguished senator of the Federal Republic, after being His Excellency, Governor of Bayelsa State?  Case closed!

    Why a senator would mouth pure falsehood to make a political point in crass deceit beats any logical mind hollow.  How could Dickson have said Rivers in under military rule?  What deliberate fib, built on sinking sand of illogic?

    But again, the more fundamental question: what’s Dickson’s especial interest in Rivers, being from Bayelsa?  Anything beyond because Fubara is Ijaw, he must be right and others must be wrong?

    It was the same dead — lack of — reasoning that the late Edwin Clark pushed that led Fubara astray, landed him in Emergency ditch and sent him now eating crow!

    These interlopers should keep off Rivers case.  Let the folks there work on honourable reconciliation which should earn Fabara a ticket back to his high office.  Enough is enough of wailing more than the bereaved.

    But the Rivers folks should rise to the occasion too.  It’s when you leave your matter to fester that outsiders take over.  The Nyesom Wike bloc should take especial note.

  • From Ghana, with a message

    From Ghana, with a message

    What’s in a title? Ask the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) that has just forbidden holders of honorary doctorate and professorial titles from wearing the labels publicly henceforth in that neighbouring country.

    In what it called a final warning, the commission restated its earlier caution against the use of honorary doctorates and professorships publicly and stressed the need for compliance. The directive, according to GTEC, is particularly aimed at politicians, business people and other public figures who often flaunt honorary titles in their official communications and at public engagements. The commission described the practice as deceitful and unethical, saying it undermined the credibility of the higher education system and devalued the significance of earned doctoral degrees and academic promotions.

    GTEC further said in its statement that it would “from now onwards, in addition to naming and shaming those individuals found to have flouted (its) directives, take legal action against them.” It urged all stakeholders to support efforts aimed at preserving the integrity and standards of Ghana’s tertiary education landscape.

    The GTEC is the equivalent of the Nigerian Universities Commission (NUC), and you would wonder if titles are the biggest challenge facing that country’s tertiary education system at the moment. Besides, the task of implementation the commission has set itself to promises ordinarily to be enormous – unless, perhaps, the commission has assessed that the violation rate is minimal and monitorable, in which case it could as well have ignored it. You would wonder if the commission would have time left for anything else other than running after vanity trippers.

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    But the Ghanaian commission has a persuasive case against misuse of titles that resonates even here in our own country. In an earlier statement on the matter that it issued in April, GTEC said the misuse was particularly concerning because the titles were increasingly being conferred by institutions both within Ghana and abroad. It noted that awardees were flaunting the titles “Doctor” and “Professor” after receiving honorary awards, and worried that the practice was misleading and could damage the credibility of the academic community and public trust in the nation’s higher education system.

    While GTEC acknowledged the value of recognising individuals for their outstanding contributions to society, it insisted that honorary degrees should only be conferred by accredited and recognised institutions within Ghana’s higher education system. Furthermore, the honorary titles shouldn’t be used as part of a recipient’s name after being awarded. “The use of these honorary titles as part of someone’s name misleads the public about their true academic credentials… Misuse of honorary titles diminishes the prestige of legitimate academic qualifications and erodes public trust in the educational system,” the commission argued.

    Now, you can’t fault the argument, can you?

  • June 12: Remembrance and omissions

    June 12: Remembrance and omissions

    There were many actors in the fight for democracy after the annulment of Nigeria’s June 12, 1993, presidential election under the military dictatorship headed by Gen. Ibrahim Babangida. It was, therefore, predictable that the recent list of people rewarded with national honours for their roles in that struggle could not be exhaustive. However, the 66-person list released by the President Bola Tinubu administration was more remarkable for its omissions.

    The president announced the names of the honourees during his Democracy Day address to a joint session of the National Assembly on June 12, saying, “As we mark a 26th year of unbroken democracy, it is right to honour those who have made sacrifices in the past, braving all the odds and the guns to ensure we have a regime of democracy in our country.”

    There were reactions highlighting omissions. Among the noteworthy ones was a statement issued by Chief Tokunbo Ajasin, son of the late Chief Michael Adekunle Ajasin. He said: “It is unconscionable that the leader of the group (NADECO) best known for fighting the military and bringing about the much-touted democracy never got a single mention in the scheme of June 12 celebration/anniversary.”  He added that his father “in his lifetime doubled as the Leader of Afenifere and NADECO, the two organisations that were the arrowheads and in the forefront of the fight against military dictatorship.”

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    He also said: ‘While Chief Ajasin was the leader of NADECO, Chief Anthony Enahoro was the Deputy leader, and Mr Ayo Opadokun was the General Secretary. None of these names appeared on the published list!” He asked: “So, what happened?”

    Another striking reaction that drew attention to omissions came from Dr Kayode Fayemi, a former governor of Ekiti State and a notable participant in the June 12 struggle, in an interview on Channels TV on June 12. Fayemi, who coordinated the Kudirat Abiola Radio abroad, a strong pro-democracy medium, said: “Those who were the drivers of that project were not recognised today. According to him, “There were so many voices, people who risked their lives. But they were not the ones mentioned today.”  

     It is unclear how the list was produced, and it is also uncertain if some names were intentionally omitted. The list is not, and indeed cannot be, exhaustive, partly because individuals may be omitted due to extraneous considerations.

    However, perhaps the controversy about omissions could have been less intense if the presidency had been more history friendly.