The Nation Newspaper

Category: Hardball

  • Kwara: the curse or voter punch?

    Between Chuba Okadigbo and Bukola Saraki, there is more than a passing similarity: the one was a former Senate president; the other is the sitting, though outgoing one.

    Okadigbo is dead — God bless his soul, the great and colourful Oyi of Oyi!  Well Saraki, is well on his way to becoming the political living dead, judging from his electoral massacre by the Kwara electorate.

    From the results of the February 23 election, Saraki not only surrendered his Kwara Central Senate seat, indications are that his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) might have lost all the other seats (two Senate and six House of Representatives) in a crushing defeat.

    But the most hideous similarity of all springs from a sinister fount: a curse — clearly documented in the case of Okadigbo (in Zik’s 1983 angry letter, “History will vindicate the just”); but rumoured in Saraki’s case.

    Well, to Nigerian political historians, Okadigbo got into political scrap with the Great Zik of Africa, calling his complaints, over the rigged 1983 election, the “ranting of an ant”.  An ant — the Zik of Africa?  A stung Zik would curse the Oyi: that he would drop and sink at the acme of his political attainment.

    That indeed came to pass.  The dashing Okadigbo became the second Senate president of this 4th Republic, after the first, Evan(s) Enwerem (also dead), had slid off the proverbial banana peel.  Not much later, he would die from inhaling tear gas, on the campaign stump in the run-up to the 2003 general elections, as running mate to the then Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (GMB).

    Saraki treads a similar path.  He outfoxed his father, the late Baba Oloye, Dr. Olusola Saraki, on the gubernatorial project of younger sister, Gbemisola.  It was 2011, and the Oloye wanted daughter Gbemi to succeed sonny, Bukola.  But the son vanquished the father, by sponsoring Abdulfatah Ahmed, outgoing Kwara governor, to rout Gbemi.

    That, not a few claimed, caused the irate father to hand down some dire curse — that Saraki the Son would end his career with disgrace.  Could that disgrace then be the Kwara shellacking of Saturday, which has come with boos and jeers from the “liberated” Kwara hoi polloi?  Maybe.  May be not.

    But you don’t, in grand perfidy, annex what is your party’s (Senate president); and gift another right to partisan opposition (Deputy Senate president), in an unconscionable trade-off.  You not only use that usurpation to thumb your nose at your party but you also undid  serious infrastructural projects, meant to lift a recession-plagued economy, and give the people some comfort.  Witness:  re-routing money budgeted for major highways crying for repairs, to junk “constituency projects”.

    Then, in a final show of utmost recklessness, you crossed over to the opposition, after failing to abuse your Senate president position to lure away your party’s other senators.  But even as a minority senator, you sat tight, clasping your stolen office.

    These are cases of indecency and undemocratic conduct that a civilized polity must punish — and punish severely.  So, was the Saraki tanning a voter comeuppance?

    Whether voter comeuppance or Baba Oloye curse, anyone with Saraki’s instincts is bad news for the democratic system.

    The O-to-ge rout, crowning Saraki’s disgrace, should serve as a severe example to other politicians, whose stock-in-trade is politics as nothing but mindless gaming, which only goal is self and nothing but self.

    Politics loses its essence when it doesn’t add value to the collective.  That is the bane of Nigerian mis-governance.

     

  • No to INEC demonisation

    Want to peep into the Nigerian heart of darkness, apologies to novelist, Joseph Conrad?  Fix your gaze on the run-up to elections.  Then endure the full dirt and stink (if indeed the thinking process can smell, by virtue of its very ugliness) of Political Nigeria’s ultra-dirty stream of consciousness, as it hits you in its full and unfazed ugliness.

    Before every election, the chief Satan is the electoral umpire, presently called the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), now under the chair of Prof. Mahmood Yakubu.

    Well, to be fair, skeptics could justify their fears by Nigeria’s rather seedy electoral history.  For once, there was a Maurice Iwu that conducted the 2007 disgrace, the worst ever, even trumping the 1983 poll, which brazen rigging destroyed the 2nd Republic (1979-1983).

    Still, before 2007, Prof. Humphrey Nwosu, the ultra-demonstrative one, had conducted the 1993 epochal poll; considered Nigeria’s best ever.  Though Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, and his misguided junta cancelled the results and threw their country into grief and chaos, that crime will haunt them till the rest of their days.

    After Nwosu had come another INEC chair, Prof. Attahiru Jega, the first northern Nigerian to chair the electoral body.  He had the distinction of conducting the 2015 polls, in which the federal ruling party, for the first time in Nigerian history, was voted out; by the deployment of technology, principally the smart card reader.  That made it more difficult to press ghost voters into action, and also cut down pre-election thumb-printed ballots.  But even then, Jega had his own share of demonization and stigmatization, by political partisans.

    The Yakubu-chaired INEC is also a victim of free-wheeling accusations, many of them sounding frivolous.  The bad news, however, is that it would appear only a few of its predecessors had been more demonized.

    On the eve of a crucial election, public confidence in the body is rather low.  There are wild rumours, of the alleged compromise, of some RECs.  But also there are worrisome leakages, as already thumb-printed ballots, retrieved from some parts of the country, suggested criminal sabotage, aimed at rigging the election, if it had not been postponed, at the virtual last minute.

    But Prof. Yakubu has admitted attempts to sabotage the process.  He also has pledged to make amends before Saturday.

    With hard revelations in the public space, Yakubu’s INEC has some organizational challenge.  Some image challenge too, given the perception that some of its principal operators, national and state, could have been compromised.  Still, that is not helped by partisans’ seeming deliberate throwing of muck, just to out-do the other in psychological warfare.

    Hardball feels Prof. Yakubu and his INEC deserve a benefit of the doubt.  Let them keep its eyes on the ball.  Let them conduct a free and fair election.  Let the majority win.  Deliberate demonization of INEC only de-markets Nigeria’s democracy.  No one gains by that.

    But INEC too must be above board.  That is Yakubu’s onerous task as Saturday comes.  But if they falter, Yakubu would join Maurice Iwu in Nigeria’s electoral hall of shame – and infamy.

     

  • Requiem for the vote robber

    President Muhammadu Buhari’s blunt order, that electoral robbers trying their luck next Saturday, could stake their lives, has turned the polity to a tizzy, especially in the opposition camp.

    The reason is rather not clear: why should that order, conditional on brazen electoral robbery, worry anyone? Or are they putative vote robbers?

    To be sure, the emotive hyperbole (orchestrated hysteria over dire consequences) and euphemism (no less orchestrated down-playing of the crime) has been rather sweet, in the protesting camp.

    Hyperbole: Why would the president order fellow citizens to be “shot”, in a democracy?

    Well, a vote robber is no “fellow”, law abiding citizen; and no could could have ordered anyone “shot” in a democracy, except that citizen constitutes himself into a danger to all, who must be stopped before he stops everyone else.  That is what a vote robber is — an armed brigand. He would kill: first, to steal the vote; and then rob the people of their will.  The state would be damned to helplessly stand by and watch such brazen crime happen.

    Euphemism:  Should a citizen “die” for “electoral infraction”?

    A smart tone-down.  But no one is deceived.  Brigandage isn’t part of the electoral process.  It’s a high crime against the electorate.  In any case, the lawful and decent citizenry eschews such crimes.  If you don’t stray into that dangerous zone, that warning is null and void.

    Besides, it’s such brazen vote robbery that has brought Nigeria to its present woes.  Fiddled votes enthrone irresponsible leaders, who account to no one.  The result is there for everyone to see: government turned into personal bazaars and the resultant mass poverty.  That is the present sorry pass.

    In 2007, sitting President Olusegun Obasanjo boasted the election would be “do or die”.  He got his way: the result was the worst election in Nigerian history.  But that was only the beginning.  The ultimate result was the meltdown under President Goodluck Jonathan by 2015.  By then, almost every facet of good governance had vanished.  The looters, enthroned by electoral robbers, were too busy looting the treasury to care.

    It’s amazing — isn’t it? — that the same Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), under whose tenure these robbers and looters held sway, appear championing the democratic right to steal the vote, with their hysterical reaction to the presidential warning.  In their cant, they posture to love democracy.  But really, what their taste buds crave is carrion of democracy — snuff out the people’s will to gain illicit power..

    On the run-up to Saturday, let everyone behave themselves.  Follow the law, vote whoever you like and let the vote count.  But whoever wants to crookedly tweak the process can’t claim greater right to citizenship than other law abiding citizens.

    To be fore-warned, is to be fore-armed.

  • Curbing breast cancer

    One of the many paradoxes that characterise breast cancer is the fact that its curative therapies cause almost as much pain and distress as the ailment itself. The recent announcement of a new discovery which will substantially reduce the number of patients needing chemotherapy is very welcome news.

    A phase-3 clinical trial called TAILORx, carried out on 10,253 women aged between 17 and 85 in the United States, Canada, Peru, Australia and New Zealand since 2006 shows that many women with early-stage breast cancer who would normally be recommended for chemotherapy do not, in fact, need it. This finding will spare thousands of women the side-effects of a treatment method which includes nausea and hair-loss, and can lead to heart and nerve damage, as well as the risk of leukaemia later in life.

    Breast cancer is one of the most common forms of cancer, and refers to a malignant growth in the tissues of the breast. It is usually found in women, but can make rare appearances in men. Cancer is responsible for nearly one in every six deaths worldwide. About 14 million people develop it every year, a sobering statistic that is expected to rise to 21 million annually by 2030.

    In Nigeria, some 100,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer every year, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), and about 80,000 die of it annually. This death ratio of 4 in 5 is one of the worst in the world.

    To further aggravate an already-terrible situation, cancer control strategies such as prevention and early diagnosis are relatively unknown in the country, to say nothing of more advanced treatments like chemotherapy and endocrine therapy.

    Breast self-examination (BSE), in which women carry out simple routine checks for unusual lumps or alterations in shape on their breasts, has not been fully integrated into the primary healthcare process. Far too many hospitals lack the capacity to undertake the mammograms which are crucial in the early detection of breast cancer that is vital to its successful treatment.

    For a nation struggling with a host of infectious diseases, as well as very high infant and maternal mortality rates, this apparently willful refusal to seriously confront the breast cancer menace is inexplicable. Its high fatality rates, the prohibitive cost of treatment, and the fact that it targets women has resulted in the devastation of families across the nation, regardless of social class, ethnicity or religion. Increasing lifestyle changes are very likely to result in even more women contracting the disease, turning what is already a healthcare emergency into a full-blown crisis.

    If Nigeria is to properly address the looming disaster that is breast cancer, it will require nothing less than a complete overhaul of current attitudes, infrastructure and public enlightenment methods.

    The ridiculous and outdated notions of modesty which continue to hamper honest and open discussion of breast cancer must cease. It makes little sense to hide behind mythical cultural beliefs to block open dialogue on an issue that is so crucial to the wellbeing of the nation’s women.

    Allied to this is the re-launching of vigorous and comprehensive enlightenment campaigns aimed at educating the populace on what breast cancer is and what its symptoms are. As the most cost-effective element in combatting the disease, there is no reason why it cannot be effectively put into action.

    The country’s healthcare infrastructure must be comprehensively re-tooled to confront breast cancer. This means properly equipping secondary and tertiary healthcare institutions, training more medical professionals in oncology, and creating opportunities for beneficial cooperation with the thousands of Nigerian doctors and nurses working abroad. Health insurance must be overhauled to make it more widespread and better able to cover the cost of cancer treatment.

    The country’s elite must be encouraged to contribute to the funding of cancer research and the establishment of treatment centres, instead of engaging in mindless and offensive displays of wealth.

    Cancer is a harsh reality. The sooner it is comprehensively confronted, the better it will be for Nigeria.

     

  • Odinkalu’s misjive

    Chidi Odinkalu’s open rebuttal of Governor Nasir El Rufai’s claim, that 66 locals were killed in the Kajuru Local Government of Kaduna State, would appear ill-advised.

    It could well be interpreted as yet another slur on the victims by local fanatics.  That could result in a future retaliatory blood bath.

    Governor El Rufai, on virtual election eve, had announced the death of the 66, by alleged gunmen.  He pleaded with the victims, believed mostly to be ethnic Fulanis, not to retaliate; adding that the motive was to provoke a reprisal and sabotage the elections in the area.

    But Prof. Odinkalu, former chair, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), sensationally controverted the governor, claiming from his own findings, no more than 11 was killed, and the governor was only playing to the gallery.

    The Cable, an online newspaper, then ran a story which, complete with its accompanying reader feedbacks, all but suggested the governor all but made up the tragedy.

    All taken together, Odinkalu’s intervention was rash and a tad unwise.  To start with, a governor’s voice out to take primacy, in security matters of his state.  He has better access, other things being equal, to security briefings and other intelligence, than other citizens.  He is the chief security officer of his state.

    Odinkalu, therefore, might not be in a position to countermand the governor, no matter how reliable he felt his own cross-sources were.

    Besides, suggesting a governor would just wake up and play politics, with people’s lives, could be pandering to nihilism.  The Nigerian system might be sick.  But nihilism is a new low, to which no one should sink.

    But apart from rashness, Odinkalu’s intervention was rather tactless.  A tragedy, even if disputed, had just occurred.  The governor was touring the troubled spot and trying to calm the angry victims — a governor that could speak the language of the aggrieved and bond with them.  Then, came another voice, bearing a southern name, claiming it was all but empty drama.

    What if things had taken a turn for the worse?  What if things had spiralled out of control, and the victims had lunched reprisal attacks, claiming provocation by Odinkalu’s counter-claims?

    Who would have taken responsibility for the new carnage, knowing that when life is lost, it can never be regained?  That is why Odinkalu ought to have been more sensitive — and circumspect.

    Southern Kaduna has been a bitter zone for ancestral feuds — settlers versus natives, Muslims versus Christians, Hausa/Fulani versus other ethnics.

    This gory cycle has gone on for too long because of sickening dynamics.  A side claims a set of aggressors have illicit backing from their kith-and-kin in government.  The other counters that the media hushes up its own fatalities while they are hysteric in trumpeting the other side’s, with ethnic bias determining the tilt.  It’s a cycle of war without end that must be broken.

    Which is why Governor El Rufai must not rest until he pacifies the victims, and dissuades them from future reprisals.  The best way to do that is arrest the perpetrators of the killing — not only the foot soldiers but the masterminds — try them and get justice for the dead and the maimed.

    As for Prof. Odinkalu, he should be more restrained next time.  The needless controversy he sparked could easily have worsened the matter.  Thank God it didn’t — at least, not yet.

     

  • Curbing breast cancer

    One of the many paradoxes that characterise breast cancer is the fact that its curative therapies cause almost as much pain and distress as the ailment itself. The recent announcement of a new discovery which will substantially reduce the number of patients needing chemotherapy is very welcome news.

    A phase-3 clinical trial called TAILORx, carried out on 10,253 women aged between 17 and 85 in the United States, Canada, Peru, Australia and New Zealand since 2006 shows that many women with early-stage breast cancer who would normally be recommended for chemotherapy do not, in fact, need it. This finding will spare thousands of women the side-effects of a treatment method which includes nausea and hair-loss, and can lead to heart and nerve damage, as well as the risk of leukaemia later in life.

    Breast cancer is one of the most common forms of cancer, and refers to a malignant growth in the tissues of the breast. It is usually found in women, but can make rare appearances in men. Cancer is responsible for nearly one in every six deaths worldwide. About 14 million people develop it every year, a sobering statistic that is expected to rise to 21 million annually by 2030.

    In Nigeria, some 100,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer every year, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), and about 80,000 die of it annually. This death ratio of 4 in 5 is one of the worst in the world.

    To further aggravate an already-terrible situation, cancer control strategies such as prevention and early diagnosis are relatively unknown in the country, to say nothing of more advanced treatments like chemotherapy and endocrine therapy.

    Breast self-examination (BSE), in which women carry out simple routine checks for unusual lumps or alterations in shape on their breasts, has not been fully integrated into the primary healthcare process. Far too many hospitals lack the capacity to undertake the mammograms which are crucial in the early detection of breast cancer that is vital to its successful treatment.

    For a nation struggling with a host of infectious diseases, as well as very high infant and maternal mortality rates, this apparently willful refusal to seriously confront the breast cancer menace is inexplicable. Its high fatality rates, the prohibitive cost of treatment, and the fact that it targets women has resulted in the devastation of families across the nation, regardless of social class, ethnicity or religion. Increasing lifestyle changes are very likely to result in even more women contracting the disease, turning what is already a healthcare emergency into a full-blown crisis.

    If Nigeria is to properly address the looming disaster that is breast cancer, it will require nothing less than a complete overhaul of current attitudes, infrastructure and public enlightenment methods.

    The ridiculous and outdated notions of modesty which continue to hamper honest and open discussion of breast cancer must cease. It makes little sense to hide behind mythical cultural beliefs to block open dialogue on an issue that is so crucial to the wellbeing of the nation’s women.

    Allied to this is the re-launching of vigorous and comprehensive enlightenment campaigns aimed at educating the populace on what breast cancer is and what its symptoms are. As the most cost-effective element in combatting the disease, there is no reason why it cannot be effectively put into action.

    The country’s healthcare infrastructure must be comprehensively re-tooled to confront breast cancer. This means properly equipping secondary and tertiary healthcare institutions, training more medical professionals in oncology, and creating opportunities for beneficial cooperation with the thousands of Nigerian doctors and nurses working abroad. Health insurance must be overhauled to make it more widespread and better able to cover the cost of cancer treatment.

    The country’s elite must be encouraged to contribute to the funding of cancer research and the establishment of treatment centres, instead of engaging in mindless and offensive displays of wealth.

    Cancer is a harsh reality. The sooner it is comprehensively confronted, the better it will be for Nigeria.

  • Kampala dreams

    Kampala npa ‘yan” – went a popular lingo in Lagos streets in the rocking 1970s, meaning, in Queen’s English: “Kampala kills”; or in the more picturesque nationwide pidgin Engish: “Kampala de kill peson”!

    But in the run-up to the 2019 presidential election, and the politics and optics of endorsement, Hardball can only think of Kampala dreams.

    The Nation of February 13 reported a compatriot from Kogi State, Yakubu Kampala, identified as the president of Reliable Food for All Foundation, as well as chairman of the Nigeria Integrity Forum, aside from being a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) “chieftain”, was reporting a rather strange dream, which for ease of expression, Hardball would just tag “Kampala dream”.

    Hear what the Kampala dreamer said – verbatim, according to The Nation report: “Sometime ago, I saw the fathers of our nation and some past leaders in my dream.  Sir Ahmadu Bello, Tafawa Balewa, Obafemi Awolowo, Nnamdi Azikiwe, Aguiyi-Ironsi, Murtala Mohammed, Shehu Shagari and several others in a meeting.”

    “At the end of the meeting,” continued the Kampala dream, “they all expressed support for Atiku Abubakar to rule Nigeria next.  When I woke, my initial response was to take the dream as one of those dreams that people normally have that reflect the experiences they are going through.  But later on”, the dreamer continued, “I started feeling uncomfortable as the dream repeatedly came to my mind with unsuppressed urge to let the nation know”.

    “I strongly believe this is divine confirmation Nigerians need,” the Kampala dreamer affirmed, “concerning this year’s presidential election.  So, we must all rise to the challenge of voting Atiku.”  What a clincher!

    Now, how do you start validating or disproving dreams – being a psychical and no physical exercise?  Is it not like faith, which is neither right nor wrong, but your ardent religious belief?

    Still, give it to Mallam Kampala, for initially trying to do due diligence on his own dream.  But to confirm such fancy, and vault it into some “divine confirmation”, is dreaming taken too far.  Indeed, at that spot, it becomes Kampala purple dreams!  Yes, it is sweet – to the dreamer.  But to others, it is just fantasy in full Technicolor!

    So, let Mallam Kampala support his candidate, mobilize for him and vote for him.  But trying to turn that into some spiritual message is nothing but spiritual rascality.  That can only happen in grotesque politics and politicking.

    But back to terra firma, Major Gen. Thomas Aguiyi-Ironsi was not among Nigeria’s founding fathers.  Neither was Murtala Mohammed, though he tried a salvage mission, during his six-month spell as military head of state (July 1975 – February 1976).

    So, while at it, the Kogi dreamer should snap out of his Kampala dreams to correct these glaring historical inaccuracies.

    Aguiyi-Ironsi and Mohammed belonged to the military class, whose power intervention was negative on the balance.  Aguiyi-Ironsi was the first of those military adventurers.  But not a few would say Mohammed was among their finest.

     

     

  • Humiliating exclusion

    It would be interesting to know how the Deputy Governor of Adamawa State, Martins Babale, feels about Governor Mohammed Jibrilla Bindow’s decision to campaign without him in Toungo. Bindow is seeking re-election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).   Babale, who is Bindow’s running mate, comes from Toungo local government area.

    A report said Bindow “allegedly barred Babale from the campaign visit to Toungo, following fears that he could be attacked because of complaints against him by his people.” According to the report, “Babale had been booed by Toungo people earlier in the month when he went there as a member of a zonal campaign tour team that prepared the ground for the council area campaign tour.”

    Toungo is said to be one of the least developed council areas in Adamawa State. Indeed, it is known as the only council headquarters in Nigeria without electricity.  The people in the area can’t understand why it is still without electricity after four years of Babale’s deputy governorship.   Many blame the deputy governor, saying he had failed to use his position to bring electricity to the area.

    A politically influential leader, Mansur Toungo, had said during one of the APC rallies in Toungo that the APC in the area would be better off without the deputy governor. “We have told the governor that we don’t like his deputy,” he was quoted as saying.

    Interestingly, Babale isn’t the only office-holder in his people’s bad books. Others barred from the statewide campaign because they had been blacklisted by their own people, particularly in southern Adamawa, include Senator Ahmed Barata who represented Adamawa South Senatorial Zone in the National Assembly between 2011 and 2015; the Commissioner of Livestock Production, Isah Salihu Barima, and the Chairman of Adamawa State House of Assembly Committee on Information, Abubakar Isa Shelleng.

    Those who will not participate in the campaign because they are no longer respected and could be attacked will most likely feel bad. But that is what can happen when office-holders are out of sync with the people.

    This development in Adamawa is a lesson. It should attract the attention of office-holders beyond the state. The point is that the people appreciate good performance and can recognise bad performance.

    If Bindow gets re-elected, and Babale gets a second term as deputy governor, Babale’s humiliating exclusion from the campaign should make him a better leader if he is the teachable type.

     

     

  • Falae takes a bow

    In the run-up to the 2019 presidential election, Chief Oluyemisi Falae, national chairman of the Social Democratic Party (PDP), bows out.  But why does his quitting echo that famous quip: that every political career ends in failure?

    Don’t get Hardball wrong: Baba Falae, 80, is no failure, in any sense of the word.  A seasoned banker, and an accomplished civil servant, who peaked as secretary to the Babangida Federal Military Government (SMG), cannot be deemed a failure.

    Yet, he has seen better times.  Thanks to June 12’s revalidation activism, Chief Falae somewhat escaped harsh censure, as Babangida’s “Mr. SAP”, the gung-ho doctrinaire-in-chief of the Structural Adjustment Programme, which eventually ended a fiasco.

    By the start of the 4th Republic in 1999, he had garnered enough public esteem to clinch the Alliance for Democracy (AD) presidential ticket, ahead of the late Chief Bola Ige, whose progressive credentials were much more solid.

    Yet, some 20 years later, the old man is quitting under cloudy circumstances.  His SDP just junked its own warring claimants to a sole ticket, Prof. Jerry Gana and former Cross River State Governor, Donald Duke, and endorsed President Muhammadu Buhari, not exactly a Falae favourite.  So, it wasn’t surprising, when the old man said he wasn’t party to that decision.

    But Prof. Tunde Adeniran, the acting SDP national chair, being the next highest party hierarch, in Falae’s zone, countered that PMB’s adoption was unanimous; thus showing some party isolation of the old man, in his winter years.  Conclusive proof?  Falae made public his secret retirement — perhaps to underscore his protest?

    Still, the terrible chink in Falae’s armour happened in 2015, with the infamous Jonathan pre-election “obtainment” scandal.  With that Chief Falae’s stock didn’t exactly soar in public estimation, particularly in the black-or-white stark universe, of his native South West.

    It all started as a push, to pass Falae and fellow Afenifere grandees’ partisan preference, for a pan-Yoruba positive referendum, for the then President Goodluck Jonathan.  The 2015 election results settled that question with a Buhari win.  But the campaign funding support scandal broke on the run-up to that election.

    Post-2015, Falae and his group had harped on “restructuring” as their Buhari post-victory rally.  Although restructuring has been an age-old Yoruba campaign, Afenifere cleverly turned it into their own post-2015 defeat survivalist strategies, entering into “agreements” with other groups, but claiming a “Yoruba” mandate which they didn’t have, though restructuring always resonates in the Yoruba mind.

    But in playing this new game, “restructuring” morphed into rabid Yoruba nationalism (against some Hausa-Fulani “enemies”, real or imagined); then Yoruba irredentism and finally, crass demonization of anyone who doesn’t share this new ultra-nationalist sentiments — read the South West All Progressives Congress (APC). Afenifere baited them to no end, challenging them to deliver on “restructuring” or remain bastards — at least by implication — to the Yoruba cause.

    That led to the Baba  Adebanjo faction of Afenifere endorsing PDP Candidate, Atiku Abubakar.  But in response, the Baba Fasanmi faction, which claimed the Afenifere majority, counter-endorsed APC candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, in a ceremony at Ibadan, with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo in-situ.

    You could then imagine Baba Falee’s angst when his very own PDP junked their own official candidate and endorsed PMB!

    It’s certainly not the best of times for Chief Falae, bowing out rather on the low.  But then, that is politics.  It’s a pre-election retirement that bodes rather ill for his political clan.

    But then, the old man has tried his best and he is entitled to his rest.

  • Corrupt collaboration

    Former Minister of State for Defence Musiliu Obanikoro is understandably a reluctant prosecution witness in the ongoing trial of former Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose for money laundering.  But his reluctance is irrelevant.

    Fayose is on trial for allegedly receiving and keeping N1.2 billion and $5 million allegedly stolen from the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), contrary to the Money Laundering Act.  Obanikoro had allegedly delivered the money to Fayose to fund the former governor’s 2014 governorship campaign.  The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) listed Obanikoro as one of 22 witnesses to testify in the trial.

    Testifying against Fayose wasn’t going to be enjoyable for Obanikoro, considering their connection when they were both in the same political party. But things are different now. Fayose is no longer governor and Obanikoro is no longer in the same party with him. But what they shared in the past is not easily forgotten.

    Obanikoro must have remembered things they did together before things changed. As a witness, he was quoted as saying at the Federal High Court in Lagos on February 4: “I’m trying to restrain myself from saying things that will further damage my relationship with him (Fayose). I was in Ado-Ekiti (the state capital) in furtherance of his governorship bid. It’s very painful for me to give evidence against him, no doubt about that.”

    In the beginning, in 2016 while Obanikoro was being questioned by the EFCC in connection with the distribution of over N4billion taken from the ONSA, he was quoted as saying: “Out of N4.685billon transferred to Sylva McNamara Limited, N3.880billion was transferred to both Ayodele Fayose and Senator Omisore through cash and bank transfers. The dollars contents were handed over to Fayose personally by me in the presence of some party leaders and he collected it and took it to the room next to where we were all seated.”

    Fayose was still governor at the time. His reported reaction: “Let me believe that Obanikoro did not say all these because whatever you say, you would have to prove it in court. It is not enough to just say it. If he’s saying all these to get out of trouble, it is just a drama of the moment. I know he is looking for ways out of the quagmire as his house was seized, his bank accounts were frozen and all that.”

    Now that the matter is in court and Obanikoro is testifying against Fayose, the drama is beyond the moment.  Both men will relive that dramatic moment of corrupt collaboration.