The Nation Newspaper

Category: Hardball

  • All because of Buhari

    hings happen that shouldn’t happen. Should this have happened? Troubling August 12 report: “The police yesterday prevented what could have resulted in a bloody fight between the #OurMumuDonDo# and pro-government protesters at the Unity Fountain in Abuja. The Charlie Boy-led protesters were observing the fifth day of their sit-out at the venue when members of the pro-government group, Centre for Fairness and Justice, stormed the garden and attempted to attack them. But the police quickly formed a cordon around the #resume or resign protesters and shielded them from the attack of the government supporters.”

    It should be clear to those who are for President Muhammadu Buhari and those who are against him that if one group likes him and another group dislikes him, they shouldn’t get into a violent fight over him. But from the look of things, this simple wisdom may not be so easy to understand.

    The anti-Buhari group wants him to “resume or resign,” arguing that his nearly 100-day absence from office for medical reasons is bad for governance and unacceptable.  The pro-Buhari group does not see any reason for the anti-Buhari campaign. Okpokwu Ogenyi, who spoke for the pro-Buhari group, was quoted as saying: “In as much as we all want our President back to his duties, the constitution never stipulated how long a serving President can be away on medical holiday.” The different viewpoints shouldn’t have triggered any violent move. It is condemnable that there was a move towards violence.

    It is ironic that policemen reportedly prevented violence, considering that policemen were reportedly violent in a drama three days earlier on August 8. A report captured police violence that was unnecessary and condemnable: “A reporter with Silverbird Television (STV), Femi Togun, and a protester, Theophilus Abumagada, were injured when policemen fired tear gas canisters to disperse protesters demanding the return or resignation of President Muhammadu Buhari. Togun was allegedly assaulted by policemen, who slapped and dragged him on the ground, injuring his hand and leg in the process. The policemen were also said to have confiscated his camera, which they later released. Abumagada was rushed to the Federal Staff Clinic at the Federal Secretariat complex after he was injured during the melee. Another STV reporter, Amadin Uyi, said he was assaulted by the policemen for covering the protest.  Motorists, commuters and passersby on the Shehu Shagari Way also got a dose of the police assault as the operatives fired several canisters on the road.”

    By their ugly actions, the violence-prone policemen and protesters showed their ugly sides.

  • UBTH heal thyself

    In these days when calls for true federalism comes across as part cry, part catcall and part cacophony, we tend to forget that it is all about fairness. Relatively obscure institutions play out this drama with such resonant intimacy than bigger pictures cannot convey.

    One of such is the battle to become the next medical director of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) located in Benin City, Edo State.

    Depending on what reports you accept, at least 11 persons were in the running for the position of the top medic of the hospital. Two things though have been lost in the theatre that seeming more absurd and sully by the week. One, the UBTH is a federal institution but it is being regarded as though it is not.

    Two, although it is a federal institution, it was set in the days of the late Osaigbovo Ogbemudia when he was governor of the old Bendel State. This means that if it is a federal institution, it targeted the peoples who inhabited the area covered by Bendel State. Today, that will be Edo State and Delta State.

    As the stakes ramped up for the top job, it appears the Benin in UBTH is looking like Bini. It seems the federal institution has been ethnicised. Now, in the shortlist there are three names, all from Edo State. At least two names stand out that are not from Edo State. They include Professor Gabriel Ofovwe who was deputy medical director under the previous prime medic of the institution. The other is Professor Anthony Okonkwo.

    The three shortlisted candidates are Professor Sylvester Idogun, Cashmir Omuemu and Darlington Obaseki. Rather look at it as broad swath for good talent, the politics has been so ethnicised that it is seen as a battle between Edo North and Edo Central. Professor Idogun is touted as the Edo North offering, while Omuemu and Obaseki duel as icons of Edo South.

    If UBTH was set up for as a federal service for a particular area, why is the original dream sacrificed for insular tigers. This is a corruption of the concept of federalism. But then it is a federal institution, and it should be treated as such. Professor Ofovwe is from Delta State. He was the deputy and most senior of all vying for the post.  He was not allowed a second term as chairman advisory committee and director of clinical services and training. The board, in its devious wisdom, edged him out and within two months gave the position to Obaseki and then made him acting MD.

    Hardball wants to know what the others have over Ofovwe. Dr. Obaseki is an associate professor. Hardball will really want to know why it should not suspect nepotism when the cousin of the governor becomes the acting CDM and goes against the management protocol that says those in top management should not vie for the position. Yet, he is not a full professor.

    Is he lining up for the job because he is Obaseki and he is from Edo South? This is a violation of the trust, especially the moral trust behind the founding of UBTH. Even if he does not win, a dirty cloud overhangs the process. Hardball believes that the process is, ab initio, corrupt and indefensible. Those who shortlisted should rethink. As Hardball noted earlier, it is a federal institution, and not Bini enclave. What is fair is fair.

    UBTH should now hear what Jesus said, “physician heal thyself.” UBTH heal thyself.

  • Of BH, the axe and the tree

    What has the Boko Haram sect got to do with axe and even tree, you may ask? Axes of any sort are not the favorite weapons of the dreaded terror group that has held Nigeria by the sac since 2009. The axe must represent a cumbersome instrument of warfare for them because it has never featured in their profile all these years.

    Of course they are most famous for the now infamous IEDs(Improvised Explosive Device). In fact, the BH may have invented that crude instrument of mutual annihilation the way they have churned out and deploy them with maniacal fury. In fact for the IEDs, the BH would have been truly, technically and roundly defeated. As far as conventional arsenal of warfare like firearms, ammunition and tanks is concerned the war is virtually over for the sect.

    So does Hardball per chance suggest that the BH may be resorting to the use of axes? Not by any chance. The logic here is pithier and less lineal than that.

    Now let us back track a little. Recently, the BH stated acting up seriously once again, almost over running the University of Maiduguri in Borno State and recording high casualty rates of civilians and soldiers. This warranted Acting President Yemi Osinbajo ordering service chiefs to return to the battle fronts.

    Following upon that, the United States Department of State in its 2016 Country Reports on Terrorism recently, had sharp criticism of the federal government’s approach to the terror war against Boko Haram.

    According to the report, the Nigerian military failed to restore security in territories recaptured from Boko Haram in 2016. It notes that there was no evidence of the implementation of a coordinated plan to that effect. The report states further that though the federal government had in partnership with international donors set up several institutions to coordinate the reconstruction of areas destroyed by the insurgency, it was doubtful that this was done last year.

    This heavy indictment would not come as a surprise to Hardball considering the recent resurgence of BH and some dreadful antecedents of our military. And this is where the parable of the axe and the tree plays out.

    We have seen security advisers and defence chiefs divert funds and resources meant for prosecuting the terror war; we have witnessed the BH over-running towns and villages in the northeast, planting their flags on Nigeria’s soil while military top brass sat in obscene opulence in Abuja, tending their verdant tummies instead of managing the war efforts.

    Are these scenarios being reenacted? Why the current upsurge in the terror attacks in spite of consistent huge defence budget? This is a wake-up call for Nigerians to be more vigilant and ensure that people are not profiting from this war again at our expense.

    Moral of the tale:    It is only a tree that stands still when an axe is raised to cut it down.

  • A question of conscience

    IT’s easy to see that members of the House of Representatives are interested in cars. An August 7 report said: “The House of Representatives is spending N6.1 billion on procurement of 360 Peugeot 508 for its members, it was learnt at the weekend. At a unit price of about N17 million, the leadership of the House said no member would get more than a car, including the principal officers.”

    Interestingly, some of the legislators have complained about the allegedly slow process of delivering the said cars to the beneficiaries. House spokesman Abdulrazaq Namdas reportedly “explained that installment supply of the vehicles was due to the financial challenges facing the House leadership.”

    Information supplied by Namdas indicated that “about 200” cars had been delivered to the beneficiaries out of 360 planned for delivery. He was quoted as saying:   “About 200 vehicles have been supplied so far and members would take possession of theirs by the end of the year. We never promised to supply the 360 vehicles at once because of the financial constraints. The budget implementation hasn’t commenced and that is the reason for the installment supply of the vehicles. But, since it was provided for in the budget, every member will get theirs before the year runs out.”

    With about four and a half months to the end of the year, it is understandable that the legislators who are still waiting to get their own cars are getting more and more anxious as the days go by.  Namdas was reassuring:   “Complaints by some members is normal because the House is huge and it is normal for some to complain. But, since we are getting the cars in batches, it will be impossible for everyone to get at once…The distribution was not meant to marginalise anyone; the leadership wasn’t choosy about the distribution. Everyone will be adequately taken care of before the year runs out.”

    The hardest part of this arrangement is making it look reasonable to members of the public who consider it unreasonable and unfeeling, particularly as the country is still struggling to get out of recession and those in power are expected to demonstrate a sense of moderation.

    Namdas struggled to make sense: “On why the House had to procure the cars for its members, Namdas pleaded for the understanding of Nigerians, saying there was a level that Nigerians would not want their lawmakers to descend to. According to him, Nigerians would want their representatives to be deserving of their status.” Still struggling to make sense, he added: “Our job here is to make laws for good governance and that is what we are doing and we need peace of mind and the goodwill of Nigerians to accomplish this.”

    He needs to be told that this unconscionable car-buying arrangement won’t bring “peace of mind” and can only attract ill will.

  • Hard instinct

    Sometimes, some premises must be explained upfront otherwise prognoses may become flawed and conclusions invalid. Hardball therefore states afore hand that he has of course tweaked the above title a wee little bit. The correct phrase is actually herd instinct; denoting people acting alike or following blindly in the footsteps of others.

    But Hardball being what he is, has found some of that follow-follow (as it is said in the Nigerian street parlance) phenom quite some hard act to follow.

    A whole lot of explanation is needed here, it would seem. First, speaking about herd instinct, here are some examples: recall that once upon a time, breweries was in vogue and every state had one which brewed a variant of the golden liquid with white foam head. Apart from their very poor branding, some of those brews actually tasted worse than morning pee. Today, nearly all of them are gone! Goodbye to bad brew you would say.

    When it was poultry time, every state government put up massive poultries none of which completed a basic value chain cycle nor was designed to be sustainable. One whiff of a fleeting flu and the poultry season was over. It was the same throng towards setting up farm settlements just as in the rush for states’ independent power plants.

    Though rice production trended most of last year, what seems to be in the air today is private/state universities. Call it academic epidemic if you like.

    This indeed is where the above title, Hard instinct, comes to play. Most of the individuals and state governments rushing to build universities as if they were Pitman’s Secretarial Institute are embarking on a very tough, enervating task the enormity of which some of them may not quite understand.

    Governors who are currently reneging on such basics as lecturers’ wages are in the bandwagon of shovelling billions into putting up massive block works they consider to be university. But it must be said that blocks are the easy part. The hard part of a quality citadel of learning is its software.

    Where is all this coming from? Last week, the National Universities Commission (NUC) told the world that it is processing 240 applications for the establishment of private universities. NUC also intimated that there are 153 universities already; 68 of these being private ventures.

    Now speaking of hard instincts; did any of the 240 applicants check out the enrolment level in these 68 private universities? Are their exorbitant fees realistic and sustainable? Is it possible to run a university cheaper and better? Is a university a for-profit business proposition? Are all manner of people allowed to own universities as if they were high schools?

    Hard questions!

  • Ebora’s prophecy on Lagos

    Today, Hardball remembers his late father — God bless his soul!  Indeed, there are many things to remember the old man for.  But this time, it is about a particular counsel, hinged on iron conviction.

    “Son, if the whole of Lagos goes this way,” he was wont to say, “and you’re convinced the opposite direction is the way the way to go, just stick to your guns.  It is only a matter of time,” he would add, “when the crowd would make a u-turn, and queue behind you.”

    So, it is with former President Olusegun Obasanjo aka Ebora Owu.  The other day, he made the equivalent of a prophecy, on the plane of political economy, swearing Lagos would become the third biggest economy in Africa before he died! Geez, everyone loves a winner!

    Flashback to Obasanjo’s imperial days at the Nigerian presidency.  A time, perhaps consumed by presidential hubris, Obasanjo exploded: “Lagos is a jungle” — and indeed it was — and the presidential emperor had no apologies over his declaration.

    Another: the Lagos Bar Beach front, with its umpteenth overflow of ocean waves, was an open window for Obasanjo’s presidential bumbling, when Tony Anenih, Obasanjo’s first Works minister, would order truck loads of sand to combat intruding ocean waves!  Cutting edge solution to ocean encroachment, wasn’t that?  Or just a soulless growth area for PDP-era corruption, that hit a monstrous scale under Jonathan?

    Ah, lest we forget: the Ebora Owu, newfound hot lover of Lagos, withheld local governments’ funds, just because the Tinubu government had the audacity to create additional local governments, as prescribed by the Constitution, and the presidential emperor declared himself above the grundnorm!

    Well, thank God, a committed corps of Lagosians, starting with the Tinubu governorship (1999-2007), followed up by the Fashola tenure (2007-2015) and now, the Ambode administration (2015-date), have been hard at work, turning Obasanjo’s Lagos “jungle” into a success story.  Glory be to God — and to punishing thinking, relentless innovation and iron determination!

    By the way, before Obasanjo went on his power wild goose chase, didn’t Governor Tinubu implement the Enron power scheme for Lagos, an initiative supposed to be embedded, to light up Lagos?  What did Obasanjo do as president?  Insist it must pass through the national grid — and Lagos was the worse for it.

    Obasanjo and Lagos are reminiscent of the Nigerian Christian, if mischievous, prayer: May God not kill my enemies, so they can proclaim, with own mouths, the glory of God in my life!

    Now, Obasanjo is proclaiming the glory of Lagos — the Lagos he fought tooth-and-nail as misguided president!  Shout halleluyah somebody!

    Had Obasanjo, as Nigerian president, shown the grit and vision Bola Tinubu showed as governor of Lagos, perhaps his brag about the Lagos economy would be the Nigerian story.  But alas!

  • An attention-grabbing burglary

    Interestingly, perhaps the clarifications were not clarifying enough. Former President Goodluck Jonathan’s spokesperson, Ikechukwu Eze, said in a statement: “Following series of enquiries from journalists and other concerned Nigerians on the extent of the reported vandalisation and theft in the house of former President Dr. Goodluck Jonathan located in Gwarinpa Abuja, we therefore would like to make the following clarifications: 1) The theft was discovered last month upon which a report was duly lodged with the relevant police authorities. 2) The police immediately commenced investigations which led to the arrest and detention of some suspects, six of whom were policemen, even as investigations continue.”

    The statement also said: “3) The house, which the former President bought from CITEC estate developers in 2004, was totally stripped bare by the thieves who stole every movable item in the house including furniture sets, beds, electronics, toilet and electrical fittings, as well as all internal doors and frames.  4) However, contrary to exaggerated reports in some media, only six television sets, 3 refrigerators and one gas cooker were stolen. Being that the house is a modest 4-bedroom duplex, it couldn’t have been fitted with “36 Plasma television sets and about 25 refrigerators” as falsely reported by some media outfits.”

    It is understandable that the defensive statement focused on the allegedly exaggerated number of Plasma television sets and refrigerators stolen from the ex-president’s house. The figures given in some media reports were alarming, and naturally triggered questions about the ex-president’s sense of proportion. Considering media information that “the former president does not stay in the house,” why would there be the reported number of televisions and refrigerators in the house? Was the house a kind of store for the said items?

    It is noteworthy that the defensive statement described the house in question as “a modest 4-bedroom duplex,” suggesting that its owner is modest and not the kind of person, or the kind of former president, that is defined by materialism or showiness.

    Remarkably, there is an aspect of this attention-grabbing burglary drama that the defensive statement didn’t defend. Media reports said the allegedly stolen items include:  “Niger Delta traditional attires in about 20 Ghana-must-go sacks; Suits, each one with “President Jonathan” inscribed in the inner side, in five big Ghana-must-go sacks; About 10 big Ghana-must-go sacks of women attires made from lace materials sewn in Niger Delta style; More than 10 bundles of Ankara materials, known as Atamfa; About 10 sets of babban riga; One big Ghana-must-go sack containing clothes with PDP logo neatly sewn on each one; About 20 Niger Delta bowler hats.”

    What kind of modest person would reportedly have “President Jonathan inscribed in the inner side” of his suit jackets when he was certainly not going to be president forever?  Now that he is no longer president, does the alleged inscription make sense?

  • By their roads

    By their deeds, says the Bible, we shall know them.  For some states, however, by their roads we shall know them.  Grim one for travellers, though.

    Hardball, with some other colleagues, had cause to travel, last weekend, for the funeral service of a colleague’s father.  Destination was Kabba, in Kogi State. And most of the distance traversed was between Ekiti and Kogi states, a two-some sharing soaring notoriety in road decay.  Indeed, after the seeming endless travel, a lady among the travelling party joked on phone: we had toured all of the “endless” Ekiti, yet the journey was nowhere near its ending!

    In Ekiti, Fayose’s country, there was virtually nothing happening. As the party traversed the wonderful greenery of what should have been a rustic paradise, what coursed through the perceptive mind was sheer paralysis: no new schools, no new life, no new roads — except, of course, the concrete eyesore that violently bifurcated a section of the Ado Ekiti main artery, a very epitome of flyover-for-flyover’s sake. A government without ideas never merrily exposed itself so starkly!

    But that wasn’t even the main gist. The main story was the Ikole-Oye-Aiyedun-Omuo Ekiti axis, where a long stretch of road, hitherto a relief to motorists, is breaking up fast.  Along the route too, you saw a school block roof completely blown off; and other school buildings, mere carcasses without window frame — again, ample evidence of a government on seeming vacation.

    Indeed, you got that sorry feeling that over here, in hardy Ekiti country, government had taken a break, and there was absolutely nothing the people could do about it. Well, it’s Ekiti country, and Emperor (sorry, Governor ) Ayodele Fayose had taken full time off government work for meaningless stunts. Tough luck for his electors!

    But as dreary and dreadful the Ikole-Omuo stretch had become, it was only a mild dress rehearsal for the hell to come — and that very hell started in earnest from the Iyamoye-Ekirin-Adde-Iffe-Iyara -Egbeda-Kabba axis!

    Geez!  Ever seen a fitting metaphor for once-upon-a-road? This was it.

    “Don’t they have a governor here?” Someone snapped, as the bus lunged and plunged into big craters.

    “As a matter of fact, they do,” another replied, all sarcasm.  “But he only comes home during weekends!” The laconic wit was biting.

    “No wonder,” the lady that initiated the discourse admitted. “How else would the entrance into your state look like this — and you still claim to be governor!”

    Though the bumps and craters would ease off as you eventually approached Kabba, for the traveller, the harm was already done.

    But before you were even celebrating, Kabba soon revealed itself as hopeless captive to water erosion, which has done endless havoc to its roads, many of which appear really old, and untouched for a long, long time.

    At a particular T-junction, the erosion completely washed off the tar, as if bragging who was lord of the manor in the land! The rest of most of the road stock was a canvas of potholes and craters.

    So, when the holy book says by their fruits we shall know them, luckless travellers, put through this daily grind could we ll echo: yeah, by our roads, we shall shall know them!

    It is a sad story of how rot, not life, defines a state — or two.  Sad!

  • One Federation, two ‘presidents’

    Oriental sages of old used to say that a man who has no sense of shame would easily steal. Those days as kids, one didn’t quite understand the adage when mother threw it at us in a fit of rage upon a minor public misdemeanor. But today, the import of it spreads large in bold relief as one could see it play out at every turn.

    Shame is a function of public misbehavior but there is probably no worse odium than being caught in the act of thievery. Therefore, if one does not have an innate trepidation for public disgrace, then such acts as stealing would not be big deal for such a one.

    Hardball has gotten a bit twisted on this one hasn’t he? Looks like it but let’s cut to the chase all the same to make it clear. Since June this year, the Nigerian Basket Ball Federation (NBBF) has been parading two presidents. Now, there is no precedent on this anywhere – not in Nigeria or in any other country.

    If this typically the Nigerian hustle not managed at the homestead; now like the little boy caught violating the soup pot, our shame and peculiar malady has been taken abroad to the world stage at the offices of basketball global body, FIBA.

    One wagers that the FIBA honchos must be frustrated as hell to have to handle such a disgraceful matter. Two basketball henchmen, Musa Ahmadu-Kida and Tijjani Umar had convened two different kangaroo elections last June in Abuja and Kano respectively. And both have held on to their turfs since then each pretending to be the de facto president.

    Now a FIBA world tournament is at hand and the two Nigerian irritants have been told to go sort out their mess or Nigeria faces suspension.

    The next question is: the desperation to serve as NBBF president is in aid of what? Now that we have taken our stench to the world, there is another adage that: it is not the mentally challenged who suffers shame in the market square but his siblings.

    Perhaps these two ‘presidents’ should just give way.

     

  • Hajj at all costs

    Shocking news on July 27: “Some intending pilgrims aborted their pregnancies in order to participate in this year’s hajj, Lagos State Commissioner for Home Affairs Dr AbdulHakeem AbdulLateef said yesterday.”

    The commissioner supplied this unbelievable information to reporters at the Hajj Terminal of the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA), Ikeja, Lagos, adding that 18 intending pilgrims were disqualified after failing medical and pregnancy tests.

    According to a report, “Hajj, he said, was not a do or die. Abortion, he said, is a condemnable act.” He continued: “You should not kill a soul because of hajj. It is unfortunate that some of the intending pilgrims, who earlier tested positive for pregnancy, later came back during the second medical check and tested negative to the same pregnancy test. There are some pilgrims that are due to deliver in September, but were discovered hiding their pregnancies. This is not good. “

    As the hajj departures begin on August 4, it is unclear how many of the over 6,000 pilgrims to be airlifted from the Lagos Zone are among those that allegedly aborted their pregnancies in order to qualify to fly to Mecca.  The Lagos Zone comprises pilgrims from Lagos, Oyo, Osun, Ogun and Edo states and the Armed Forces.

    Naturally, every devout Muslim dreams of performing the yearly Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, the holiest city for Muslims. This pilgrimage is “a mandatory religious duty for Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by all adult Muslims who are physically and financially capable of undertaking the journey, and can support their family during their absence.”  It is one of the five pillars of Islam.

    It is a point to ponder whether those who allegedly aborted their pregnancies in order to make the trip think or believe they did the right thing. Why were such intending pilgrims so desperate to go on pilgrimage that it didn’t matter if it involved taking the life of “the unborn”?

    Those who allegedly aborted their pregnancies to qualify for the pilgrimage were blind to the contradiction evident in killing a foetus, which is considered a sin, in order to be able to fulfill a religious objective.

    If religion regards abortion as a sin, how can it be justified in this case where it was allegedly done with a supposedly religious objective in mind? Perhaps those involved would seek God’s forgiveness in the Holy Land, but that doesn’t make them any less condemnable.