The Nation Newspaper

Category: Hardball

  • Love, culture, death and jail

    The story of Madam Oluremi Adeleye, 73, a Nigerian nanny in the United States, who just got jailed for 15 years for murder, would melt  not a few souls.

    It is a grim example of how love can prompt duty, duty prompt tradition, tradition  leads to death, albeit unintended; and death paves the way to jail — to jail after 70!

    Enita Salubi, the baby in the care of Nanny Adeleye wouldn’t feed.  To avoid her starving, the nanny cottoned onto the popular traditional practice among Nigerian mothers — force-feeding the child.  Unfortunately, poor  Enita, with some eight ounces of milk down the throat of the baby and her nose tightly closed, the eight-month old choked to death!

    Though the nanny’s lawyers explained babies’ force-feeding was common practice in Nigeria, that the baby died was a notorious fact that couldn’t be wished away.

    “While I don’t find the defendant is an evil-intentioned baby slayer,” Judge Karen Mason told the court before pronouncing the sentence, “I also don’t find her actions were accidental.”

    The judge said it all.  The action — force-feeding — was certainly not accidental, even if the resultant death was unfortunately so.  Indeed, given a changed cultural milieu, like Nigeria for instance, it would have passed as a logical resort to a time and tested baby feeding formula.

    The only exception, of course, is that death is not expected to occur from such improvising; for the mother or nanny or guardian, would have been expected to fully master the art, before applying it.  That doesn’t however mean the death of an infant, even if it is from a honest mistake, could have been less severely punished.

    This indeed, is a chain of tragedies.  The eight-month old infant bid life bye-bye, when she had but the whole of her new life stretching in front of her, throwing her mother into indescribable grief.

    “I didn’t want to lose my child to a stray bullet …” pained mum, Nikia Porter volunteered, explaining she quit her former South Side of Chicago neighbourhood to escape gun violence, which could put her family in danger, but “I lost her to a formula.”  Sad!

    But no less sad too is the fate of Madam Adeleye, who suddenly realised she could be spending all of her last days in jail, when she should be coasting home in the comfort and warmth of family and friends.

    And the agony and pains, of her own offspring, extended family and even friends — is it describable too?  To spend probably the last of your days in a foreign jail!  Agonising!

    But her fate also brings attention to the situation at home.  If things were better here, would a 73-year-old national, without any specific skill, be moonlighting on a nanny’s job, when she should have been drinking palm wine and telling her grandchildren the famous African moonlight stories?  That points attention to the imperative to fix our country.  But that won’t be done by people just pointing fingers and trading blames.  Only clinical and creative thinking and a joint resolve by all can turn the tide.

    Still, you just must feel for the tragic pair: Baby Enita and Nanny Adeleye!

  • Small thinking

    Innocent motorcyclists in seven northern states now have to be more cautious regarding the routes they take.  In a move to tackle insecurity, the Nigerian Army banned the use of motorcycles “within the forest areas in Kano, Katsina, Zamfara, Sokoto, Kaduna, Kebbi and Niger states.” “Anyone caught using motorcycles within the named areas will be taken for an armed bandit, criminal and kidnapper with dire consequences,” Army spokesman Col Sagir Musa said in a statement.

    The army justified this security measure, saying it had “observed the use of motorcycles by armed bandits, kidnappers, criminal elements and their collaborators as enablers to perpetrate their heinous crimes especially in the states within the North West geopolitical zone of the country.” The statement added: “This informed the decision and directive to ban the use of motorcycles within the hinterland particularly around the forests where the armed bandits, criminals and kidnappers hibernate and all around where troops are conducting operations alongside other security agencies.”

    There is no doubt that insecurity still poses a major threat to Nigeria, and the Federal Government needs to tackle the security crisis with more creative approaches. However, banning the use of motorcycles isn’t the sort of creativity needed.  Indeed, it may be described as an uncreative approach.

    How will this motorcycle ban affect those who innocently use motorcycles? It is unfair to ban the use of motorcycles simply because some people use them for evil purposes.  Of course, the army knows that this approach would inconvenience many people who are not “armed bandits, criminals and kidnappers.” According to the statement, “While this may cause some inconveniences to some law abiding citizens in the area, the need to use all means possible to stop the dastardly activities of these bandits across the North West part of Nigeria needs no emphasis.”

    It is obvious that the motorcycle ban will disrupt the activities of many people who are themselves threatened by insecurity. This is why the announcement  ”enjoined” the general public, “particularly in the North West and some parts of North Central in Nigeria where Ex Harbin Kunama is ongoing,” to bear with the Nigerian Army.  The state governments concerned are expected to circulate information about the ban on the use of motorcycles in the named areas and enforce the ban in conjunction with the security agencies.

    This approach to problem solving could become problematic.   Those expected to enforce the ban should not abuse their power. The effectiveness of this move remains to be seen. The army needs to think beyond small thinking because it only leads to small results.

     

     

     

  • Early crack in Ekiti?

    The news of the suspension, of Segun Oni, former People’s Democratic Party (PDP) former governor of Ekiti and former All Progressives Congress (APC) deputy national chairman (South), did not exactly come as a surprise.

    The moment Chief Oni was invited, by his local Ifaki APC Ward II, in Ekiti’s Ido-Osi local government area,  to answer charges over “anti-party” activities, you needed no especial acuity to know something was bound to give.

    That the former governor didn’t show up at the meeting venue, was no entire surprise too.  It could well be that Engr. Oni felt the system was rigged against him anyway; and was not going to legitimize the process with his presence.

    Or it could be what the uppity London newspaper, The Economist, would call the “African Big Man” syndrome — that penchant to feel that because one had attained a certain height in the party, it was infra dig for the ward level of the party to summon him.  That is a political a hubris that seems to have evolved with Nigerian tempestuous democracy.

    Whatever it is, Hardball wants to believe the former governor got a fair hearing; and that the decision is still subject to higher channels of the party before a final decision is taken.

    Still, whatever APC does with its members, particularly disciplinary measures, should be the business of APC.  Beyond basic fairness, Hardball is not really interested.

    What Hardball is not disinterested in, however, is core development.  By Ekiti’s not so stellar example, development, which the people crave, is often captive to politics — politics of the most brainless kind.  That should trouble everyone, with the development crisis Nigeria generally faces.

    In Ekiti, it takes an added deja vu — have we not seen all these before?  Of course, we have!

    That is why Ekiti would trade a Fayemi, with excellent developmental policies of his first gubernatorial term, with Fayose, just because of plebeian politics.  The Ekiti people have been the net loser.

    Yes, Fayose has expired his term and didn’t quite exit in a blaze of glory.  But what is personal glory or sorrow, compared to needless collective suffering?  To make up for Fayose’s lost years, tourism-powered jobs in the Ikogosi sector have got to be restarted again.

    But what of the key N5, 000 welfare monthly benefits, for the elderly and vulnerable, that would take a back seat for now?  Imagine what improvement that would have made on the Ekiti economy now, if it had continued uninterrupted, for some eight years now?  That is the toll plebeian politics takes on excellent policies.

    The point here is that the Kayode Fayemi first-term debacle started with cracks like this.  By the time it climaxed, the humpty-dumpty had had a great fall!

    Which is why every lover of Ekiti people must ensure this Oni issue doesn’t snowball into a crisis.  After the Fayose debacle, Ekiti must jealously guard whatever progress it makes.  That is why APC stakeholders must sort out the problem before the  Ekiti people, again, become the net-losers.

  • Thomas Hobbes ‘visits’ Iju-Ishaga

    Thomas Hobbes, God bless his British soul. It was he who in 1650 wrote that masterpiece of a philosophical thought known as The Leviathan. In that opus he described the natural state of man where there is no government or community.

    Let’s illustrate ‘the state on nature’ with this excerpt quickly:

    “In such a condition, there is no place for industry; because the fruit thereof is uncertain: and consequently, no culture of the earth; no navigation, nor use of the commodities that may be imported by sea; no commodious building; no instruments of moving, and removing such things as require much force; no knowledge of the face of the earth; no arts; no account of time; no arts; no letters; no society; and which is worst of all, continual fear, and danger of violent death; and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.”

    This grand thought, expressed by a grand mind about 359 years still rings true today. It speaks about the rudimentary setting of societies and communities; look around you, do you see some of these base and basic precepts enumerated above?

    Let us pick a few examples from the above quote. First, it says there’s no place for industry: consider Nigeria’s situation; industry in the primary sense, which is individual’s engagement in productive work, is in such a miasma. And industry as symbolized by large business is near comtose.

    It says there is no culture of the earth: our agriculture and cultivation don’t not feed the populace even in this age.

    No navigation: we do not have shipping companies as we rely on other countries’ and our major sea ports are encumbered by articulated trucks.

    No account of time: yes, we still do not have a proper conception of time; we rely on our own ‘African time’.

    Then, the worst of all Hobbes say, is, “No society.” This he says yields to continual fear, and danger of violent death, making the life of man poor nasty, brutish and short, to sum it all up. This is our stark reality today.

    But a typical Hobbesian scenario was re-enacted in the Iju-Ishaga suburb of Lagos early in the week when a train (yes, train) crushed four people in a tricycle. According to witnesses at the scene, the tricyclist was reckless as he attempted to defy an on-coming train… the remains of the deceased littered the scene… three men and a woman.

    You would think barricades were let down at railway crossings when a train hurtles by? If this is not classic Hobbesian nasty, brutish and short life…

  • Gbajabiamila: Let him speak

    OUR first serious encounter was in 2011. I had just returned to Nigeria fresh from six months of academic research at Oxford University under the auspices of the Reuters Journalism Fellowship.

    I dropped by Bourdillon to inform Asiwaju Tinubu that I was back and to thank him for his support through the years and understanding as I pursued this academic goal. Even through my investigative journalistic years I enjoyed great support from.

    After some friendly banter and political arguments, I told Asiwaju that I intended to enroll n a full time Doctorate program. Needling me in jocular fashion, Asiwaju kept laughing and challenging me to explain why a PhD was necessary.  We debated back and forth. At some point during the conversation, Hon. Gbajabiamila breezed into the room and quickly contributed to the conversation showing practical but profound insight.  He declared that education was required and he supported my quest. He even stated that such an experience in an institution such as Oxford would indeed be excellent. However, he postulated, there was no need for me to leave where I now was if my goal was to further my education. Gbajabiamila offered that I could get the best PhD in politics simply by working for Asiwaju.  It was a counsel well timed. The minute I heard him speak, I knew what he said was correct and wise just like Asiwaju counseled. I accepted this counsel because there was no better advice to have been given. I have no regrets and there is not a moment that I do not thank Asiwaju and of course Hon. Gbajabiamila for their timely and sage intervention that set me on an exciting full political immersion that culminated in the dislodgement of the PDP political behemoth by the APC political coalition.

    As a journalist with nearly 3 decades of experience I have followed Hon. Gbajabiamila’s career before this encounter.  He has always been known to have a way with words. His legal background stood him in good stead.  The man is articulate and urbane yet can be straightforward and piercing if the situation mandates such directness. He recalls to mind the Cicero of Esa Oke, Chief Bola Ige.

    Over the years Gbajabiamila has grown to be the consummate lawmaker. Fair and objective. Principled and committed to progressive ideals that would better the lives of the average person. Blessed with a sharp intellect, this man has learned and studied the craft of lawmaking and governance. He is that rare combination of experience and ability that beckons greater responsibility and leadership.

    Given the challenges that face our nation and understanding the present situation in the National Assembly, the times require that a man with special ability and character step forward to become the Speaker of the House.  The man of the hour in this regard is Gbajabiamila. It is time to allow him to lead the house so that it can truly represent the people and fashion legislation on their behalf and to their benefit.

     

     

  • Hearing and doing

    There were voices of reason and words of wisdom at the three-day retreat for re-elected governors and first-time governors-elect in Abuja. But whether the participants learnt anything is another matter altogether. The focal point of the speakers was that governors and governments ought to pursue “the greatest happiness of the greatest number.”

    Zamfara State Governor Abdulaziz Yari, who is the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), said at the opening of the retreat on April 29: “It is imperative to note that the NGF, under my chairmanship, and the National Economic Council under the chairmanship of His Excellency, the Vice President, had agreed that borrowing is never a reliable alternative to solving our economic problems…We must work hard among all the tiers of government to multiply our revenue generation base so that together we change the course of doing government business for the betterment of our people.”

    The United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Ambassador W. Stuart Symington, asked: “How do we invest in human capital development?” He told the participants:  “Invest in people and earn trust.”

    First Bank of Nigeria Chairman Mrs. Ibikunle Awosika spoke on  “The task of nation building.”  “Governors must earn the trust of the people,” she remarked.  “If you earn the trust of the people, they will pay taxes. When you see children that are hungry in your state, you have failed them in some way. We have the capacity to solve some of the problems. Your commitment to helping the people is what will help you achieve what you want to do… You will get much more than wealth after office if you do well for your people.”

    The Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Rev. Hassan Mathew Kukah, said:  “Final book I recommend is “The End of Power.” We need to find people willing to invest in our people. That has not happened. When people cannot see a reflection of themselves in government, they shut down.”

    The re-elected governors as well as the first-time governors-elect were expected to learn from the speeches. During their four-year tenure, which begins on May 29, they will be expected to demonstrate that the retreat was useful in preparing them for people-oriented governance.

    The problem is that some have ears but refuse to hear. Those who have ears and are willing to hear will be seen in the days, weeks, months and years ahead.  The participants should not be hearers only; more importantly, they should be doers.

  • Democracy without democrats

    Post-election, it is always the vogue to carpet the electoral umpire (not unjustified many times, particularly during the notorious Maurice Iwu era), as the worst monster since the dawn of Satan.

    But a report on the 2019 general elections, released on April 29, has hit the nail right on the head: Nigeria is a fond democracy without democrats.

    That is the major disease.  Even the Iwu Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was a symptom, though that symptom was so virulent it could qualify for the epidemic itself.

    A report by the Centre for Transparency and Advocacy  (CTA), a medley of civil society groups, observers during the 2019 general elections, just bared it all.

    On INEC: “There is no doubt that the present INEC under Yakubu invested heavily in producing a free and fair election,” CTA declared.  “INEC proved quite independent in the way and manner it responded to the unexpected challenges thrown its way by the political class.”

    No logical mind would say this verdict is unfair.

    On politicians, the non-democrats that insist on running a democracy: “The politicians, their agents and thugs constituted the greatest menace in the conduct of the 2019 general elections.  From brazen acts of vote-buying, violent attacks on perceived opponents,” CTA listed its long and ringing indictment, “intimidation and abduction of INEC officials, snatching and destruction of ballot boxes and papers, to burning up of INEC offices and electoral materials in Plateau, Anambra, Akwa Ibom, Imo, Benue and Abia states, the political parties and politicians showed their desperation for power.”

    Again, no logical mind can claim this verdict is harsh!  So long for general non-democrats running — and therefore, ruining — a democracy!

    Even then, beyond establishing a general trend, broad generalities, just as statistical averages (with the possible exception of the mode), do grave harm to pin-point accuracy.

    Even, as the political class appears as guilty as charged, the question is what segment of it got the cake of the blame, in these last polls?

    Look at CTA’s damning indictment again, and track the states home to pre-election destruction of INEC materiel: Plateau, Anambra, Akwa Ibom, Imo, Benue and Abia states.

    Before the advent of the smart card reader, many of these states, particularly in the South-South and the South-East, had gathered notoriety for not holding elections but with the political elite just writing figures that suited them!

    So, if some thugs in the states set fire to INEC card readers, well before the polls, you could guess the intention of the thugs, from the not-so-mute voices of the political masters that sent them.

    Tragically, the media, supposed to point out all these, had since become captives to vested interests, rationalizing the irrational; and pouncing on INEC to do magic, when politicians that should play by the rules descend to playing juvenile and dangerous election-season games.

    If Nigerian democracy must thrive, the media and every segment of goodwill must help to shape Nigerian wayward politicians into responsible democrats.

    With that change of temper, INEC will do with less logistics; and the state would certainly spend less on elections.

     

  • Growing club of the untouchables

    Impunity is akin to a demon, or shall we say, virus: it damages indiscriminately. Both the victim and perpetrator are liable to come to ruins if there is no repentance.

    Acts of impunity rankle like hell, releasing tremulous rush of maddening adrenalin down the veins and nerves of sufferers. Some instances: imagine armed robbers apprehended and handed to the police returning a few days later to exact vengeance and leash more terror on their victims.

    At rarefied levels, imagine high state officials handing their wards high level jobs for which they are not qualified; imagine governors and legislators in a state awarding themselves criminal life pensions and severance benefits. What vein-bursting impunity!

    While the law officers fraternizing with denizens of the underworld are bound to meet their comeuppance sooner, the high level official who gives his ward undue advantage has simply damaged the system deeply beyond his immediate imagination. Such is the ramifying danger of impunity on the society. But let us look at this new club.

    Two examples will suffice here, to illustrate Nigeria’s untouchable hall of fame. First and most current is the story of Prof Usman Yusuf. He is the suspended Executive Secretary of the National Health insurance Scheme (NHIS). He is the type of fellow mother used to describe as one who ‘regales in sin’. In other words, impunity seems to be his very essence.

    A black cat of numerous lives, he had defied the Health Minister, bringing him to ridicule as the Presidency rule in his favor against the Honorable Minister. In the same manner, he stared down the board of the NHIS, openly refusing to obey lawful instructions.

    Suspended after a sustained turbulence at the NHIS and a probe panel set up to find out the now murky facts of the NHIS matter, Prof Untouchable lives by his name. The current update is that though the Federal Government probe panel had recommended Prof. Yusuf’s dismissal since December 2018, he has continued to draw emoluments till today.

    As at last week April 25th, Prof. Yusuf had been paid a total of N13.8m. This comprises furniture allowance for 2019 (N9m) paid in January and salaries for five months up to April. For a man accused of serious misdemeanor, a man in suspension and a man indicted by a probe panel to get paid such huge sum, he is really Mr. Untouchable.

    But Prof. Yususf is nothing but a small fry in the devious art of impunity. He has a master in a fellow called Abdulrashid Maina (at large). This fellow accused of finagling with billions of Police Pension Fund has defied two Presidents already and still counting.

    A countdown that started under President Goodluck Jonathan has spilled over into the current presidency. If you thought a corruption-fighting President Mohammadu Buhari would bring Maina’s antics to an end, think again as Maina may have brought the Presidency to a bamboozling dilemma.

    To enact what is his current act of impunity, Maina who was wanted by the Police suddenly reappeared in his office at a higher level. But upon a heightened public opprobrium, he vanished once again like Huddini and all the forces in the world, including Interpol cannot seem to find him till date!

    No, he simply achieved national untouchability.

  • Reorientation is the solution

    It’s understandable that Acting Inspector General of Police Mohammed Adamu wants to make his mark and be remembered for something. In January, he reorganised the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS).  At his inaugural conference with Commissioners of Police and other senior officers in Abuja, Adamu announced a new arrangement, saying there will now be a Special Anti-Robbery Squad domiciled in each of the 36 states under the direct supervision of the Commissioners of Police.

    Beyond decentralising Federal SARS, news of the findings of the Presidential Panel on the Reform of SARS showed that the operations of SARS need to be sanitised.   Members of the panel said they saw detainees with scars and serious injuries, “which the detainees made us understand were as a result of torture.”  “The detainees were kept in cells that were overcrowded and stinking, and had inadequate access to food and healthcare,” the panellists observed.   It remains to be seen how the restructuring would improve the operations of SARS without a fundamental reorientation.

    Adamu’s latest directive that the current 12-hour, two-shift work arrangement in the Force be changed to the traditional eight-hour, three-shift arrangement, is another instance of his intention to make a difference. Adamu said no officer should be made to perform any duty exceeding eight hours within a period of 24 hours, unless there was an emergency. He gave the order at the maiden Conference of Medical Officers and Heads of Medical Facilities in the Nigeria Police Formations and Commands in Abuja.

    The police chief observed that “efficiency in discharge of police duties requires a good state of physical, mental and psychological wellbeing.”  But his argument sounded far-fetched when he said “the resonating incidents of misuse of firearms and other extra-judicial actions by police personnel often result directly from work-related stress and emotional conditions which disoriented their rationality.”

    It’s simply simplistic to think that “incidents of misuse of firearms and other extra-judicial actions by police personnel” would automatically stop with the introduction of the eight-hour, three-shift work arrangement.  The abuse of power and extra-judicial killings by police personnel should be tackled by a fundamental reorientation.

    It is noteworthy that three ex-police chiefs, Solomon Arase, Adedayo Adeoye and Emmanuel Ojukwu, observed that the police would need hundreds of additional personnel to make the new eight-hour shift work.

    It’s understandable that Adamu wants to succeed in this new chapter in his career. But he needs well-thought-out policies that won’t further problematise the problems.

  • Of Ngige misjive and misdeed

    Minister of Labour, Dr. Chris Ngige, is fishing in troubled waters, with his latest misjive on Nigerian doctors; and his not-so-late misdeed on the Kokori affair.  It’s high time President Muhammadu Buhari called him to order — and fast.

    Ngige just talked himself into trouble with his careless remark on Nigerian doctors.  He reportedly said no one should sweat over the stream of Nigerian medics, seeking better deals in foreign lands, simply because Nigeria was always producing more doctors.  That is a tad insensitive.

    Many have rushed to claim the minister implied Nigeria had more than enough doctors, even with the relay of those fleeing abroad.  That interpretation would be doing utter violence to the context of the minister’s speech.

    Still, it hardly justifies the carelessness of the statement, for what is reward of constantly training, only for the products to be trucked off to serve other nationals, instead of fellow Nigerians.  Instead, the minister should show the rest of us what the government he serves is doing to stem that negative tide.

    But even that Ngige misjive pales into insignificance, when compared with his  misdeed, over the Kokori  NSITF chairmanship affair.

    For some three years now, President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed Chief Frank Kokori the chairman of the board of Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), a federal Labour ministry parastatal.  Three years after, Ngige is still playing hanky-panky over the inauguration of that board.

    Now, Chief Kokori is no ordinary person, in Nigeria’s pro-democracy lores.  He is one of the authentic heroes, that helped to chase away the military, after Gen. Ibrahim Babangida cancelled Basorun MKO Abiola’s 12 June 1993 presidential mandate, and the crisis that followed.

    Kokori and his NUPENG braves led the paralyzing strikes that drove Gen. Babangida out of power.  He continued to marshal the sit-at-home strikes that commemorated the June 12 anniversaries, until he was betrayed and thrown into Gen. Sani Abacha’s torturous gulag, where he languished without trial.

    He survived both Abacha and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) era, under President Olusegun Obasanjo, and his successors, when those who contributed the

    least to the anti-military struggle, landed the plum of democratic era jobs.  Yet, Kokori maintained his dignity — until the coming of the All Progressives Congress (APC) government in 2015.

    That Minister Ngige would play hanky-panky with inaugurating the Kokori-chaired board is, therefore, the height of brazen injustice.  It is absolutely unacceptable.

    There is even a joke that the minister is offering Chief Kokori another chair, in lieu of the one the president offered the man.  That had better remain a joke — for who is the minister to change the decision of the president?  It had better be the joke of the millennium!

    Ngige, of all persons, should be the last to inflict injustice on anyone. Back in 2003, during those reckless PDP power days, the whole polity rallied for Ngige, against those who wanted to fraudulently remove him as Anambra State governor, using illicit state resources.

    So, the polity that rallied for Ngige should rally for Kokori now, against what looks like nothing but ministerial rascality.  The Kokori injustice must not be allowed to stand.  That is why every Labour centre, the media and the general public must pile up the pressure until Minister Ngige succumbs.

    But if things continue this way, then the president must call the minister to order.  This Ngige intransigence is no good to anyone.  It only de markets the Buhari Presidency and gives the government a bad name.