Category: Hardball

It isn’t surprising that the United States consulate in Nigeria discredited former President Goodluck Jonathan’s claim that former United States President Barack Obama meddled in the 2015 presidential election. The consulate’s Public Affairs Officer, Mr. Russell Brooks, described Jonathan’s claims as a “mischaracterisation.”

According to Jonathan, the alleged meddling caused his electoral defeat by Muhammadu Buhari. Jonathan made the intriguing claim in his recent memoir, “My Transition Hours.”

Jonathan said in the book:  ”On March 23, 2015, President Obama himself took the unusual step of releasing a video message directly to Nigerians all but telling them how to vote. In that video, Obama urged Nigerians to open the ‘next chapter’ by their votes. Those who understood subliminal language deciphered that he was prodding the electorate to vote for the opposition to form a new government. The message was so condescending, it was as if Nigerians did not know what to do and needed an Obama to direct them.”

But the Nigerian electorate knew what to do and didn’t need a foreign leader to show the way. Indeed, the electorate did what needed to be done without external prompting.

Jonathan’s performance during his presidential term from 2011 to 2015 wasn’t enough to get him reelected. His historic defeat showed that the power of incumbency was not greater than the power of the voting public. Jonathan lost the 2015 presidential election because the electorate rejected him based on his poor first-term performance.

Jonathan’s party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), had enjoyed federal power for 16 unbroken years before the debacle under Jonathan. This does not mean that the previous leaders on the party’s platform had provided the progressive leadership the country needed. The point is that Jonathan’s fall reflected how far his party had fallen in popular estimation under him.

It is noteworthy that Brooks was quoted as saying:  ”We are not favouring or supporting any candidate. It is up to the Nigerian people to decide. Our candidate is the process. The process should be free and fair, it should be a non-violent process.” He stressed that Nigeria should have “an election process that can be credible and stand against any election anywhere in the world.”

As the country prepares for the 2019 general election, it doesn’t need foreigners to highlight the importance of a free, fair and non-violent election process. The world is watching Nigeria.

Those who thought the controversy over the identity of the president was over have been prompted to rethink what they think. Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader Nnmadi Kanu maintains that the boss in Aso Rock, the seat of federal power, is an impersonator.

For the first time since the controversy started last year, President Muhammadu Buhari responded on December 2 in Poland. Buhari declared:  ‘‘It’s real me, I assure you.”

About a week later, Kanu countered the declaration in a December 8 radio broadcast from Israel.   Kanu had earlier claimed that Buhari was dead and a look-alike from Sudan, Jubril Aminu Al-Sudani, was in Aso Rock. In his latest broadcast, Kanu said:  “Even ‘Jubril’ himself, during his recent trip to Poland, claimed that he is the ‘real’ Buhari, not a ‘clone’.”

This time, Kanu released what he called six “scientific” facts to support his position. First, “Jibril is about 50 years old and it shows in his gait, his vibrancy, and the smoother tone of his face and skin. There’s also the slight difference in earlobes between the two men.”  Second, Jubril “appears to have fuller mane of hair, much darker hairlines, and now permanently spots a cap that he has refused to remove despite repeatedly being dared to do so.”

Third, Jubril “does not speak Fulfude but speaks Hausa only… One then wonders why Jibril, claiming to be the real Buhari in Poland, did not speak some Fulfude or even go as far as removing his cap.” Fourth, “since February last year, one notices a profound distance when in public between Jibril and Buhari’s family members, especially Buhari’s wife, Aisha and son Yusuf.”  Fifth, “Buhari was a very tall person, noticeably taller than other equally tall public officials such as Senate President Saraki, who now appears taller than the man claiming to be Buhari. How come?”   Sixth, since his ‘acclaimed’ recovery from his debilitating ailments and discharge from the London Hospital, the man that claims to be Buhari has not been traveling to London for mandatory follow-ups. Is it medically possible that someone who was ravaged to the point of looking skeletal and underwent complex surgeries would suddenly heal to the point that he no longer needed clinical follow-ups?”

Kanu’s assertions and questions are curious because Buhari has put the issue beyond question.  It’s a big puzzle that Kanu still insists the president is an impersonator. Kanu is hallucinating.

News of yet another Boko Haram attack on two military bases in the country’s northeast shows that the insurgents mean business. Sadly, the counter-insurgency fighters are yet to demonstrate that they mean business too.

Here is a report of a disturbing sequence published on December 5: “Riding in trucks fitted with anti-aircraft guns, fighters from the self-styled Islamic State West Africa Province faction of Boko Haram launched a raid late Tuesday on troops in the town of Gudumbali, sparking a fierce firefight in which two soldiers were injured, a military officer said… ‘Troops fought hard and repelled the terrorists, two soldiers were injured in the fight,’ he said, adding the base was on “high alert” for a follow-up attack. On Monday, ISWAP fighters had attacked another base in the town of Malam Fatori near the border with Niger, which was repelled with air support, according to two military sources who said a soldier was killed and several injured in the attack. An ISWAP attack Saturday on soldiers in Buni Gari village, in Yobe state, left eight soldiers dead, the Nigerian army confirmed on Tuesday.”

The reported attacks happened on December 1, December 3 and December 4. The November 18 Boko Haram  attack on troops at Metele village, Guzamala Local Government Area, Borno State, which claimed many lives, is still fresh.

The report said: “Since July, AFP has reported at least 22 attacks on military bases and positions in Borno and Yobe. ISWAP claimed responsibility for most of them.” The report continued: “When the Malam Fatori army base was attacked, it was already sheltering a contingent of soldiers who had abandoned another base near the fishing town of Baga on the shores of Lake Chad. The soldiers had run out of ammunition during a fierce gun battle on November 29, in which one was killed and seven injured.”

There have been too many attacks and too many casualties. The repeated attacks on military targets cast doubt on the military’s grip on security; the attacks also raise questions about the military’s counter-insurgency capacity.

An estimated 27,000 lives have been lost since the insurgency started in 2009. Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states are the most affected. The destructive activities of the Islamic terrorist group have made about 1.8 million people homeless and caused a humanitarian crisis.

There is no end in sight to the war against Boko Haram.  The military should demonstrate that it can win the war.

It is otherwise known as the seat of power – Government House. In this side of the universe, it is a surreal abode with numerous mythical denizens. It is the bastion of power and patronage and palaver even.

Government House anywhere is a powerful seat of power except that in Nigeria it seems to be peopled by gremlins, marabouts and politicians. Not necessarily in that order.

A former occupant of Aso Rock, Nigeria’s number one abode of power after his over five years’ tour of duty wrote that the seat of Nigeria’s Number One isn’t an ordinary habitat. He said that there was a strong likelihood that malevolent spirits are co-tenants.

While the populace roundly lampooned the fellow, quite a few wise voices had admonished that there just might be something in the assertion. Why is it that the number one occupant of the number one house always seem to be in a trance (or a daze, if you like).

They all seem to get wiser only after they have moved out… then the blinkers drop and they can see clearly. Is it by chance that some of our best critics of government are our former presidents and governors? They speak so magisterially and pontificate as if they have suddenly become strangers from Mars.

For instance, a former governor who fully, totally and wickedly purloined all the funds accruable to the local governments in his state would be the first to accuse his successor of fiddling with LGA funds. They seem to suffer loss of memory after the fact or vice-versa.

When a Nigerian president is in his exalted seat, in his goblins-infested office, he acts as if he is perpetually ensconsed on the wings of evil. He is his own god and diviner; he is at once a falcon and falconer. He is the law, justice and jurisprudence. And oh, the iron steel of state is his most cherished toy. But their worst tragedy is that they never seem to be able to conceive or contemplate life after power.

Consider the man in Imo State today. A few months ago, the last thing in his mind must be the contemplation that he would ever be ousted and indeed, shunted out of power. He had it all laid out in his surreal world of gremlins and sprites: if he must leave, he would keep his lick-spittle.

He must have worked out his ghoulish equation thus: if he must quit government house, his dark, long shadow would drape perpetually over Government House. That prospect is dim now and even the man’s shadow may have left the House ahead of him. Pity.

Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, painted a disturbing picture of the primaries conducted by the various political parties ahead of the 2019 general election.  He said during a capacity-building workshop for journalists:  ”Unfortunately, we have also witnessed some of the most acrimonious party primaries in our recent history. Internal party democracy is still a source of concern to our electoral progress.”

The event was organised by INEC, European Centre for Electoral Support, European Union and European Union Support for Democratic Governance in Nigeria. This shows the importance of Yakubu’s criticism.

If the primaries were so “acrimonious,” what should we expect in the general election?  Yakubu’s description of the primaries is justifiable:  ”So far, the commission has been joined in 396 pending actions in various courts across the country arising from the conduct of party primaries and nomination of candidates by political parties.”

He added: “We have similarly received 302 requests for CTCs of documents, mainly our monitoring reports of party primaries and copies of personal particulars of candidates. These requests are obviously a prelude to more court actions. In addition, we have also received 52 petitions and protests from aggrieved party aspirants. The implication of these challenges is that as we prepare for the general elections, we are also going to grapple with pre-election litigations.”

The scale of contention reflects disunity in the parties. It is ironic that political parties, which are supposed to demonstrate cohesion, manifested such a high degree of division.

The conflicts are attributable to political ambition of various dimensions and various intensities.  While democracy is about freedom to aspire, it is also about understanding the limits of aspiration.  Political aspirants must learn to accept defeat when they are defeated in a democratic context.

Godfatherism is another problem.  There are political players who see themselves as kingmakers.  They try to impose their choices on the people, claiming it is in the people’s interest. They are desperate to be in charge indirectly.

Many times, political players jump from party to party in search of so-called internal democracy.  Sometimes, these searchers need soul-searching. Instead of looking inward for solution, they chase an outward answer that becomes a question.

Yakubu’s observation is a sad commentary about the state of the country’s political parties. So many conflicts arising from the primaries constitute a distraction to the federal electoral agency as well as the public. When will the parties get their act together?

Now, there’s nutmeg, the spicy seed used in cooking for its fine flavor. And there’s nutmeg, the football dribble in which the ball is cheekily passed through the legs of an opponent and retrieve at the other side. It’s also enacted in other games like basketball and hockey.

Expectedly, Hardball is concerned with the football imagery here. Nutmegging in football is as old as the game itself. It’s probably the cheapest and oldest trick yet it happens all the time. It’s the fool’s trick in the sense that everybody can enact it just as everybody can fall for it.

Often, a player goes to mark the opponent with both legs wide apart both for balance and for cover. And the open legs create the only window through which to sneak the ball. In Nigeria’s parlance, it’s called ‘window’ or to take the ‘pants’ off the opponent leaving him naked and stupid. Almost every country has a quirky tag for it. For instance, in Brazil, it’s called ‘little egg’ and in Cyprus it’s ‘watermelon’; Vietnamese call it ‘pierce groin’, and Korean calls it ‘laying an egg’.

Players dread nutmeg because once you are beaten, it’s often difficult to recover. It’s often calamitous if an attacker nutmegs a defender in the final quarter of the pitch. It either results into a goal of a costly foul. Crazily skillful players have been known to do a double nutmeg: the nutmegged player who is already in panic mode turns swiftly to chase after his nemesis only to expose himself to yet another nutmeg – ouch, game over!

But in high class professional football, well-trained players hardly fall for such cheap tricks anymore. And when perchance they do, there are structured and practiced responses to it.

But not so for the Nigerian military battling the Boko Haram terrorists mainly in northeast of Nigeria; the bad guys seem to run riot these days casually nutmegging men out there. But if it were mere football, we may all live with it and laugh it off; but scores of officers and men are being cut down through cheap tricks that should never beat a professional.

The Nigeria military said the insurgents came as friends, a decoyed to infiltrate the Battalion at Matele. A nutmeg of sort you would say? But how come response was so poor even as the scoundrels sacked two other military locations in a complete rout? How come even subsequent reinforcement and counterattacks failed initially. It means no intelligence of the obvious massing of men and ammunition in the territory by the dogs of war?

While nutmegging may be cool in football, in war it’s a dribble that leaves victims cold…