The Nation Newspaper

Category: Letters

  • Attaching conditions to ‘emergency’ illegal

    SIR: On Tuesday, May 20, the Senate in the exercise of its constitutional powers under Section 305(6)(c) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) endorsed a six month extension of the proclamation of the state of emergency in the north-eastern states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe on eight separate conditions read out by the Senate leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba (SAN). The conditions as communicated and reported by the Nigeria media include:

    a) Expansion of the cooperation and collaboration of the International Community with a view to arresting the ugly incidence of terrorism in Nigeria.

    b) Proper kitting, arming, welfare and care of the Nigerian Armed Forces and troops deployed to arrest the insurgency.

    c) Sustained military operations in order to rout out the insurgents.

    d) Special recruitments into the Armed Forces of screened and vetted youths particularly those in the civilian JTF (Joint Task force) who will receive emergency training and be deployed in the troubled zones in order to beef up the strength of our troops.

    e) Federal Government in conjunction with the state governments to come up with an economic marshal plan to revive the economy of the economically and educationally backward parts of our country.

    f) Monthly progress report to the Senate by all security agencies including the Ministers of Defence, Police Affairs, Service Chiefs, NSA, DG, SSS on the basis of which the Senate can review or possibly revoke the proclamation of the state of emergency.

    g) The President should prepare and submit to the National Assembly supplementary budget to meet any establishment financial requirements needed to combat the insurgency (Although there is no substantive budget yet). Emphasis mine.

    h) The President should immediately approve intervention funds to the affected states for development.

    Desirable as the above conditions may be particularly on the need to meet the security exigencies of the moment, w predicating such an extension on any condition(s) whatsoever is against the express provisions and spirit of Section 305(6)(c)(d) of the 1999 Constitution as amended. It is accordingly, illegal, null and void and of no effect or moment. The prerogative to issue a proclamation for a state of emergency under Section 305 of the Constitution is exclusively that of the President. To be sure, Section 305(2) accords the National Assembly a complimentary role after the issuance of the proclamation and transmission thereof to consider the situation and decide whether or not to pass a resolution approving the proclamation. The conditions that would exist and justify such proclamation by the President are as set out under Section 305(3)(a-g). It is also correct that the National Assembly can withdraw its approval of the proclamation within two days when in session or ten days when it is not in session in which case the proclamation ceases to have effect.

    By Section 305(6)(c) and (d), the National Assembly (Senate inclusive) can extend the period of a proclaimed state of emergency provided it is done before the expiration of the period of the first six months and not for a period longer than six months afterwards. Indeed, each House of the National Assembly can, by a simple majority, revoke the proclamation but cannot itself issue a proclamation in any circumstance.

    It follows therefore that if they cannot proclaim a state of emergency but can only extend or revoke, they surely cannot give conditions for the extension of the already proclaimed state of emergency. At any rate, in what manners are the condition(s) expected to operate? Are they conditions precedent or subsequent? If they are conditions precedent, it means the endorsement for the extension will only become effective upon the fulfillment of those conditions. On the other hand, if they are intended to be conditions subsequent, it would mean that the endorsement for extension already given is ineffectual because those conditions are yet to occur or materialise.

    The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended did not envisage a situation in which the executive would exercise its powers under Section 305 based on conditions imposed by the legislature.

    • Malachy Ugwummadu Esq.

    Adelabu Street

    Surulere, Lagos.

  • On rotational presidency

    SIR: The clamour by some people for rotational presidency  deserves a close look. Rotational presidency will lead to an unending rounds of rotation. If the policy is adopted, will there not be a need to also rotate amongst the constituent units (states, ethnic nationals, etc) of the zone or region to which the presidency  is rotated, at any point in time?

    Again, where is the guarantee that the number of candidates of the many, different political parties, as it is the case in Nigeria, are going to be from the one zone or region to which the presidency is rotated?

    The policy being proposed for inclusion in the constitution is nothing but a quick fix that will eventually lead to nothing but confusion.

    In any case,  once election is made to be credible, the question of rotational presidency  will be naturally resolved by contending political parties without having to resort to a constitutional fiat, as  it is being touted.

    All in all, rotational presidency will in the  end prove to be a minus to the enthronement of democracy and the process of attaining the most capable leadership in our country.

    • Ayodele Omowumi,

    Lagos

     

  • Something is wrong somewhere!

    SIR: There is definitely something wrong with the government’s handling of the anti-terrorism efforts. I have wondered severally why our security agencies who have signed in to lay down their lives for our security are not provided with the required weaponry to engage the terrorists. This is despite the huge billions of naira voted to provide security and combat terrorism and other criminalities. Indeed, corruption in Nigeria is systemic and it permeates our public and private sectors. Unfortunately, our security agencies are not spared. I repeat, it is absolute irresponsibility to expose our security officers to dangers due to corruption or whatever negligence. It is a national and collective shame that our soldiers mutinied due to our inability to provide and protect them with the weaponry needed to engage the terrorists.

    We equally need to provide continuous orientations to our security agents to recognize and protect the fundamental human rights of Nigerians. We must not be permissive of extrajudicial decisions. It breeds mistrust between the populace and the security agents who must be partners in progress. The intelligence network then becomes denied of direct flow of information from the citizenry. It also helps the terrorists to attract sympathy from aggrieved individuals. We must take actions according to the law against erring officers. This will go a long way to prevent future occurrence and to assure Nigerians that the government stands for all against injustice.

    We must continue to remain united as we engage the terrorists who remain committed to the destruction of our nation. We must preach unity across ethnic and religious divides, and refuse to be distracted by religious and political leaders with ulterior motives. Such characters are never found wanting in situations like this. They seek relevance only by commitment to ethnic and religious bigotry. That is the way their pockets become oiled. We must make them irrelevant in the pursuit of our national goals.

    Terrorists are of their master: the devil. As devils, terrorists hide under whatever they can to justify evils. Terrorists neither speak for nor represent any faith. We must remain focused on our efforts to bring peace, unity and freedom to our nation.

    Corruption at the political and military leadership has been identified by the US military (who have come to help bring our girls to safety) as a major set-back. With several unclear issues surrounding our anti-terrorism efforts, we have made it clear to the world that something is definitely wrong somewhere.  Our security agencies are well known for their gallantry and excellence in international efforts dating back to the global recognition of our former Head of State, General Aguiyi Ironsi (and our officers) in bringing peace to crisis-torn Congo in 1960 and 1964 (commanding an entire United Nations Contingent).

    Why then have we failed so far to rein in terrorism and win the war against the terrorists? It is due principally to corruption at the leadership level. It is due to the absence of political will on the part of our President to name the terrorists and their sponsors and accordingly bring them to justice. The terrorists cannot exist without financial, material and political support. Once the sponsors of terrorism are dealt with without any regard whatsoever to whose ox is gored, , victory over terrorism is assured.

     

    •Akinlolu, Abdulazeez  Adelaja

    University of Ilorin

     

  • Is the coin still a legal tender?

    SIR: Under the colonial rule, local currencies which include coins were issued to ensure a balance in the currency structure as well as ease of transactions. It wasn’t until the 1991 currency re-structuring that people’s attitudes and acceptance of the coin began to gradually change, when the then military administration issued a new N50 bank note and turned 50 Kobo and one naira bank notes into coins. Many Nigerians saw it as an attempt to make the lower denomination unsuitable for transaction.

    No society can do without coins because of its role in facilitation of transactions. The coins reduced the tendency to approximate transactions to the nearest bank notes, makes change available for daily transactions; it was in the line of these that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) re-introduced the coins on February 28, 2007, as part of the economic reforms. Then, N50, N20, N10 and N5 bank notes as well as N1 and 50 Kobo coins were re-issued with new designs, while a new N2 coin was introduced.

    The CBN directed that all banks should pay two percent of all withdrawals in coins, which means for instance, that a customer withdrawing N20,000 from his bank account would go home with N400 worth of coins. It also directed the banks not to accept coins as deposits from the public until further notice, saying that the coins needed to be kept in circulation for sometime. Before the re-introduction of coins, goods were priced in multiples of fives because of the dearth of coins and this affected price levels greatly. No goods could be bought for N1 because no such denomination existed, so prices of the lowest- priced goods were raised to N5 and N10. Unfortunately and sadly, we are back to that situation.

    The coin has suffered untold rejection and abuse from the public because Nigerians are not better educated and enlightened on the need to have it in circulation. The situation whereby the naira notes have been turned into writing sheets,  even by those working in the bank, stained by meat sellers and squeezed by buses and taxi driver has worsen the state of the naira hence the need for the use of coins to be enforced.

    If developed countries like the USA and China use the coin for their daily transactions, it shows its importance and advantages to the economy. As a matter of urgency, the CBN should send a bill to the National Assembly to criminalize the rejection and any form of abuse of the coin. Furthermore, the government should designate some business places and establishments as no–banknote-for-transaction. Places like Post Offices, toll-gates, licensing offices, school business centres, lottery centres, and cinemas etc should only transact in coins. Those are ways by which the government can intensify the campaign for the use of coins in all transactions so that the unemployed and poor Nigerians can survive.

    • Hussain Obaro

    Ilorin – Kwara State.

     

  • INEC and card-reader machines

    SIR: The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has matter-of-factly ruled out the use of card reader machines for the coming governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun States. This is rather disappointing.

    INEC is not sure of its capabilities and has developed cold feet after initially announcing with glee that the machines would be used in Ekiti and Osun, but is rather cautious now and would not want to deploy both cards and machine readers at this same time. This is self defeating. It would amount to going to great length to install scanner machines at the airport and refuse to use them.

    The sophistication of the card is useless without the use of the machines. This is because there have been reports that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has been secretly buying the cards from the poor, tempting them with offers ranging from N5,000 to N50,000. One of the party’s big-wig in Ikirun was caught and handed over to the police with thousands of voters’ cards in his car. In some instances, they have been promising people jobs and collecting their cards in return. In other instances, they have been giving out questionnaire to job seekers and asking for their card numbers–to clone the cards.

    In these instances, only the card readers can stop these fraudulent practices. Criminally obtained cards are transferable. All they need to do is to import ‘voters’ from near or far states for the election and give them the cards. Where the cards are cloned, their aim is to create confusion where two voters brandish the same. Dispute over card would lead to violence and disruption of voting. Where there is voting disruption, the rule says, result would be cancelled. If this is done successfully in precincts where your opponent is strong, then of course, you can strategically rig the election by knocking off the results where your opponents are strong.

    The politicians are desperate and INEC should be one step ahead of them. I am asking therefore that the decision not to use the card readers should be revisited. We need the card readers for a free and fair election. May God help INEC and especially Prof Jega to be able to resist pressure from the presidency who are sorely afraid of the card readers.

    • Wale Adeyemi,

    Osogbo, Osun State

     

  • Much ado about Akiolu’s endorsement

    SIR: The beauty of democracy is the freedom it grants citizens who are of voting age of both expression of their views and association. This social latitude does not preclude traditional rulers who are the custodians of our much-cherished cultural values and traditions. Indeed, given their exalted positions of spiritual authority they ought to speak up when any government in power is out of tune with the collective wishes of the people.

    Recently, at the public presentation of the biography of Akinwunmi Ambode, the erstwhile Lagos State Accountant General and Permanent Secretary Ministry of Finance, Oba Rilwanu Akiolu of Lagos gave his endorsement of Ambode’s candidature to contest the governorship seat of the state. In doing so, he revealed that there had been due consultation between him and traditional rulers, especially from Epe where Ambode hails from. He also made it clear that his support was personal and that being known as someone who does not pretend on critical issues such as this and does not paper over cracks, he was acting in good conscience.

    Since Oba Akiolu’s endorsement, both the Pan-Lagos Development Advocacy Group (LDAG) and the opposition PDP have gone to town to berate the much-respected Oba. While the former wants Babatunde William-Fowler, the current executive chairman of the Lagos Inland Revenue Service (LIRS) as their preferred choice, the latter is vexed by that singular support for Ambode as it obviously narrows their chances at the polls.

    Oba Akiolu has freely expressed his candid views. He has a right to. Others are entitled to their choices without stoking the fires of acrimony across Lagos State. After all, only recently , the Oba of Benin, sent his eldest son to President Goodluck Jonathan asking him to contest the 2015 presidential election, just as he had endorsed Governor Adams Oshiomhole for second term. Several traditional rulers from the South-south, South-east and Middle- Belt have pitched their tents with President Jonathan even while he is yet to publicly declare his intention to contest.

    One’s candid advice to those being sponsored to cast aspersions on the Oba of Lagos is to sit down and ask themselves why he did so. For all intent and purpose, Ambode is eminently qualified to take over from Fashola, given his professional competence, his vast experience of the workings of virtually all the local councils Lagos, his brilliance and humility.

    Lagos residents of voting age would be the final decider of who wins the race come 2015. Oba Akiolu is one of such and should not be denied his constitutional right.

    • Yemi Ojo

    Lagos

     

  • Terrorism as Nigeria’s incubus

    SIR: Do the murderous deeds that are being executed by the Boko Haram Islamists foreshadow an impending apocalypse for Nigeria? Nobody can correctly conjecture what will happen in the future. Nigeria stands at an equidistant between war and peace. How our leaders tackle the issue of Boko Haram will either throw Nigeria into a civil war or make it an oasis of peace.

    Nigeria is reputed to be a cat with nine lives. When people thought that Nigeria would implode, bowl over   and disintegrate, it would pull back from the precipice. The 30-month civil war failed to dismember our country; the trouble caused by the annulled June 12, 1993 Presidential election didn’t throw Nigeria into a civil war. The ethno-religious conflicts that characterized Nigeria have not snow-balled into a civil war. So, can any political upheavals cause the demise of Nigeria?

    Nigeria is not immune from disintegration. Nigeria is a federal state. Some federal states had split into many smaller nation- states. Think about Yugoslavia, USSR and others. But, no multi-ethnic country with diverse religions is without internal ethno-religious conflicts. From Ivory Coast to Liberia; and from Kenya to South Sudan, it is the same sad tale of bitter ethnic rivalry and religion-induced conflicts.

    Who doesn’t know that Nigeria is weeping from the whiplash of Boko Haram insurgency? So, Nigeria is battling for breath as its soul is choked by terrorism. But, if the menace of the Boko Haram is not eradicated from our polity sooner than later, Nigeria may go the way of Czechoslovakia.

    President Jonathan should wield the big stick and use maximum force to flush out the group from the North-east; otherwise, the political stability of the country will be imperilled. Is he not aware that the country’s general elections will take place next year? Can INEC conduct elections in the North-east, the hot-bed of violence and the strong-hold of the Boko Haram group? If elections are not held there, many people will say that they’re disenfranchised. This has the potential of causing political chaos in the country.

    Nigeria is at the cross-roads; our leaders have the onerous and taxing duty of entrenching unity in the country.

    • Chiedu Uche Okoye

    Uruowulu-Obosi,

    Anambra State

     

  • Short takes on the Boko Haram

    SIR: If words and outcries after each attack by Boko Haram were bullets, there will not be a single Boko Haram member still breathing today but sadly noises and outcries from the masses can’t hurt a fly without action from the government and so the killings continue.  Even the government has joined in ‘sharing’ the noisemaking and helpless cry.

    We are used to our policemen calling black white but not so used to our military playing the game of “lying by numbers”. From the numbers of the children kidnapped to the numbers of those rescued and even numbers of terrorist killed, the game of lies is being perfected gradually. Remember Shekau was once killed by the military before he rose up again?

    State of emergency is when law abiding citizens are forced to stay at home to become a sitting duck for the lawless ones. Or how do you explain the situation whereby a state is under a state of emergency yet they are being murdered in large numbers?

    Almost after the Nyanya bombing, our president was at Kano dancing his heart out. If you think that was just a gaffe, our president was away to Ibadan birthdaying just after the kidnapping of more than 200 students at Chibok. Does it sound like let the dead bury their dead? Can you imagine a United States President or any civilized president doing this?

    In few years time when the history of Boko Haram would be reviewed, one thing will dominate its timeline, it is when Shekau and his boys decided to take the path of impatient dog; rather than wait for the illusory 72 virgins, they decided to grab over 200 young girls from their place of learning. Historians will recall that it was the ‘kidnap’ (not the whip) that broke the Nigerian timidity (not camel) and also woke up the international community (USA and Britain). Historians will also recall how Nigeria desperately covered up the sponsors of the group after eliminating majority of the Haram boys.

    Nigeria’s number one enemy are the people that come out in daytime to shed ‘tears’ with us, criticize Boko boys with us and in the night supply both ammunition and intelligence to these agents of death. Without them the activities of Boko Haram will greatly reduce and so also is their power. Our second enemy is the government that we surrender both our resources and protection to that is daily looking like a weakling… the armies that we surrendered our civility to that is everyday acting more cowardly than our shadow.

    Ever heard of beer parlour generals? Don’t take it literarily like I did until a friend’s father (a retired general in the Nigeria army who has served almost in all the continent of the world with distinction before retiring a decade ago) gave me the definition. “A beer parlour general is a general who is more adept at drinking, looting or is it sharing of money, politicking, socializing and civilian maltreatment than at the arts of war.”  He added “They used to be available then but they rarely get to the top because when they get to the top, they render the military blunt and obsolete” What do you say?

    Many theories have been propounded since advent of Boko Haram, some are laughable while others are purely maniac; there is one that so much sound like the work of a genius. It goes thus; the people responsible for Boko Haram are the Christian Association of Nigeria. They created Boko Haram to reduce the population of the North and reduce the influence of Islam…!

    • Odunlade Oluwaseun,

    Mowe, Ogun State

     

  • Jonathan and botched Chibok visit

    SIR: It is, to say the least, most disheartening and pathetic that President Goodluck Jonathan has not deemed it proper to pay even a one-second physical visit to the traumatised Chibok community, more than one month after the over 200 teenage school girls were forcefully taken away from their school by the devilish group, Boko Haram, amidst the growing global outrage and agitations that have trailed the callous abduction.

    The hope of the Chibok community having their president share in their pains and agonies was unfortunately dashed last Friday, less than 24hours after it had been raised, when President Goodluck abruptly cancelled a scheduled visit to that North-east state and instead jetted out to Paris to “re-strategise” on the security challenges tearing our country apart. The botched visit, according to several media reports, was predicated upon an “intelligence report” which suggested that the President’s safety was not guaranteed. But like so many persons have rightly questioned: if the life of the President, with all the security apparatus, could not be secured during such visit, then what becomes of the ordinary people living in the community? Who will protect them from the ravaging and more superior sect group? Just who will?

    Anyway, Nigerians were not surprised by the cancellation. Indeed, they didn’t expect much from a president who waltzed away in a political rally less than 24hours after the report of the ugly incident. Nigerians will certainly be asking too much from a president whom it took almost three weeks after the abduction to begin to “do something” about it. The President would rather prefer to give a 36-paragraph paper speech to his audience in Paris France to giving audience to the yearning Nigerians and Chibok community. Does charity now begin abroad? Does a man whose house is on fire go hunting a rat? It is even more shameful that Aso Rock media aides have openly told the world that President Goodluck never planned to visit the community as widely carried by the media. If for anything, the denial has further succeeded in portraying him as an insensitive president whose only interest is his own safety and that of his immediate families.

    It is important that the President is told in clear terms that long speeches and global throttling will not #BringBackOurGirls. ACTION and insightful leadership will. Essentially the President should understand that this action does not only include the extension of the almost counter-productive emergency rule in the affected states. One thing the so-called emergency rule has succeeded in achieving is lining the pockets of the actors, as it has since become a conduit pipe through which the country’s resources are frittered away. It was unfortunate that the lawmakers merely played to the Abuja’s sentiments rather than assess the outcome of the rule on merit.

    Nigerians therefore call on Abuja to lead action in rescuing the abducted girls and securing lives and properties in the country; it cannot abandon such fundamental responsibility to the international community or Nigerian citizens.

    • Barrister Okoro Gabriel,

    Abakaliki Ebonyi

  • Taraba: Motion without movement

    SIR: Some people find themselves in leadership position well prepared and ready for the task ahead with a well defined and articulated blueprint which would serve as a guide in actualizing their pre-conceived objective. These group of leaders always succeed; for instance Babatunde Fashola of Lagos and Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers.

    Others find themselves unprepared, without any defined idea of what they intend to achieve; in fact, some come into office as a result of a misfortune of others; this group rarely triumph. The acting Governor of Taraba State Alhaji Garba Umar alias UTC fell within the later group.

    I am not trying to validate the nonsensical position of those agitating for his vacation from office so as to pave way for them to run the affairs of government on behalf of ailing Governor Danbaba Suntai, but to highlight silent issues which those sycophants around him would not be able to tell him for the fear of the unknown.

    I have been away from my state, Taraba, for almost four months. As I approached the city gate coming back home, I was expecting to see changes in the landscape of Jalingo. Alas, there were no changes. Even the street lights that I left working are no longer functioning, No single road project is going on, nothing!

    When I enquired from the locals, I was told that it has been like that since I left. One of his defenders told me he is constructing Bali-Gembu Road and that he is also working on the completion of College of Nursing Jalingo. Coincidentally, while watching the local news that same evening, I saw workers of the Taraba State Road Construction and Maintenance Agency (TARCMA) demonstrating over non-payment of their salaries.  What a shame!

    His recent appointment of about 24 Special advisers and 24 Special Assistants is nothing short of embarrassment. What do you need them for when you have commissioners manning all the portfolios? Is that not duplication of work? Or is it an avenue of empowering the foot soldiers that would prosecute the 2015 election? No wonder, I was told that they don’t even have offices.

    The truth of the matter is that, the acting governor’s performance in the last two years by all standards is below average. How did I arrive at that conclusion? It is simple arithmetic; calculate the total amount received by the state government from the various