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Category: Opinion

  • Real reasons Kaduna APC leaders want Buhari and El Rufai re-elected in 2019

    Real reasons Kaduna APC leaders want Buhari and El Rufai re-elected in 2019

    For political leaders in Kaduna State, Saturday, September 16, 2017 was a day like no other in the State, at least in recent times. Setting aside all differences and burying all hatchets, leaders of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) from ward to national levels, in an unprecedented move, gathered at an expanded stakeholders’ meeting and unanimously endorsed President Muhammadu Buhari as the State’s candidate for the 2019 presidential election. Similarly, the delegates endorsed the Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir el Rufai as the candidate of the party in the 2019 gubernatorial election. In all, APC leaders from all the 255 electoral wards of Kaduna State attended this very successful meeting, which held at the Umaru Musa Yar’Adua Hall in Kaduna. At this epoch-making political gathering were the State Governor, Mallam Nasir el Rufai, virtually all the members representing the State in the National Assembly, all the APC members of the State House of Assembly, all the Local Government Chairmen in the State, party executives at ward, State and national levels as well as several other critical stakeholders across the three Senatorial Zones of Kaduna State.
    For leaders of the APC in Kaduna State, the stakeholders meeting provided a veritable platform for soul searching and self-assessment. The unequivocal verdict was that the APC government under the able, careful and mature guidance of His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari, has truly rescued Nigeria from the economic, social and political malaise foisted on our great nation by the crass misrule, ineptitude and unbridled corruption of the immediate past Peoples Democratic Party-led administration. Indeed, all the persons who spoke at the Kaduna Stakeholders’ meeting affirmed that in just two years of APC’s rule under President Buhari, Nigeria has begun regaining its rightful place as a peaceful, stable, cohesive, indivisible, economically viable and internationally respected nation. More so, party leaders were effusive in their commendation of President Buhari for guiding the nation’s economy out of the recession that was brought on us by the unprecedented corruption that characterized the last PDP administration in the country. The President and gallant officers and men of the nation’s Armed Forces were commended for defeating the Boko Haram insurgents in the northeast. Not surprisingly, the political leaders in Kaduna resolved, at this meeting, that never again would the State vote into any political office persons that are known to be corrupt, aloof, inept, clannish or unprepared for the rigors of the high office they are supposed to occupy. It was on that note that it was unanimously agreed (a voice vote was actually called) that Kaduna State will massively mobilize and vote for President Muhammadu Buhari and the equally profound Governor Nasir el Rufai to continue for a second term in their respective offices of President of our great country and the Governor of Kaduna State.
    As one of the key organizers of the phenomenal APC stakeholders’ meeting in Kaduna, I must confess that since the outcome of the event was made public, I have received several calls, text messages and emails lauding the endorsements of President Buhari and Governor El Rufai for second terms in office. However a few persons have challenged me to openly disclose what the stakeholders were told that both President Buhari and Governor El Rufai have achieved thus far, that swayed them to pass the confidence vote on both men. I have, with all due respect, since accepted this challenge. However for want of space and given that the achievements of these great men in just over two years in office, are legion, I shall try to be brief.
    On President Mohammadu Buhari, leaders of the APC in Kaduna State, especially our dear Governor, Mallam Nasir el Rufai spent hours enumerating and offering proper details of the achievements of Mr. President in just two years in office.  Party members were told, among other things, that in the crucial area of the economy, the Buhari administration has returned the country to unprecedented growth in particularly Agriculture and Solid Minerals. Incontrovertible facts were made available at the meeting that showed all too clearly that these two priority sectors have in the last two years seen improved performance, in spite of the economic recession the nation contended with during the period under review. Facts that are available in the Federal Office of Statistics and elsewhere indicated that Agriculture grew by 4.11% in 2016, while Solid Minerals recorded a 7% increase. The contribution of the Ministry of Solid Minerals to the Federation Account tripled to about N2 billion in 2016, up from N700m in 2015. Party leaders were also happy to note that President Buhari has since restored the time-honoured culture of saving for the rainy day. Even at a time of low oil prices (and by implication low government revenues), Nigeria’s External Reserves grew by US$7 billion by October 2016; The Sovereign Wealth Fund witnessed inflows of US$500m in 2016 and 2017 (the first inflows since the original US$1bn with which the Fund kicked off in 2012), and the Excess Crude Account has seen an inflow of US$87m, in 2017.
    The Kaduna political leaders, many of whom are big time farmers, were besides themselves with joy when the facts were laid bare that the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative (which involves a partnership with the Government of Morocco, for the supply of phosphate), has resulted in the revitalization of 11 blending plants across the country – the benefit of this include annual savings of US$200 million in foreign exchange, and ₦60 billion annually in budgetary provisions for Fertilizer subsidies. Of course, many of the party leaders at the meeting said they were well aware that the Scheme has also made it possible for farmers to purchase Fertilizer at prices up to 30 percent cheaper than previously available.
    Our party leaders applauded relentlessly when a number of persons spoke about the Buhari Administration’s support for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). It was succinctly explained that the Buhari administration has launched a series of funding and capacity development initiatives designed to support MSMEs across the country, these include: the new Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) which is at the verge of taking off, with initial funding of US$1.3bn (provided by the World Bank, German Development Bank, the African Development Bank and Agence Française de Development) to provide medium and long-term loans to MSMEs.
    In the all-important area of provision of critical infrastructure across the country, delegates at the meeting acknowledged the fact that road projects are ongoing across every State of the country; many of these projects had been abandoned in recent years because of mounting debts owed by the Federal Government to contractors. They also appreciated the fact that the Buhari Administration is also pushing ahead with the revitalization of Nigeria’s 3,500km network narrow-gauge railway. In addition, Abuja’s Light Rail system is slated to go into operation later this year and Kaduna political leaders at the meeting were also well aware that the Buhari Administration successfully completed the reconstruction of the Abuja Airport runway within the scheduled six-week period (March – April 2017).
    Political leaders in Kaduna State also took cognizance of the fact that the four components of the Buhari Administration’s Social Investment Programme (SIP) have fully taken off. President Buhari’s SIP is reputedly the largest and most ambitious social safety net programme in the history of Nigeria, with more than 1 million beneficiaries so far. These include  200,000 N-Power beneficiaries (160,000 of them have had their details validated and are now receiving the monthly N30,000 stipend, while the rest are undergoing verification.
    The Kaduna political leaders were also made aware that the Buhari Administration’s Strategic engagements with OPEC and in the Niger Delta have played important parts in raising the nation’s expected oil revenues. Already, Nigeria’s External Reserves have grown by around $7 billion in the last six months. In the same period the nation has added $87m to the Excess Crude Account, and $250m to the Sovereign Wealth Fund.
    Even more profound is the administration’s war against institutionalized corruption. The Kaduna political leaders applauded the Presidential Initiative on Continuous Audit (PICA), which was set up by President Muhammadu Buhari to strengthen controls over Government finances through a continuous internal audit process across all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), particularly in respect of payroll. Through the activities of PICA, more than 50,000 erroneous payroll entries have been identified, with payroll savings of N198 billion achieved in 2016. Also, the Federal Ministry of Finance has set a target to ensure that the Federal Government’s Payroll Platform — the ‘Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System’ (IPPIS) — covers 100 percent of MDAs by the end of 2017. Currently 60% of MDAs are enrolled on the IPPIS platform.
    Further, the Buhari administration has since expanded the Treasury Single Account (TSA) coverage. This decision to fully operationalise the Treasury Single Account system — a public accounting system that enables the Government to manage its finances (revenues and payments) using a single/unified account, or series of linked accounts domiciled at the Central Bank of Nigeria  —  has resulted in the consolidation of more than 20,000 bank accounts previously spread across banks in the country, and in savings of an average of N4.7 billion monthly in banking charges associated with indiscriminate Government borrowing from the banks. As at February 10, 2017, a total sum of N5.244 Trillion had flowed into the TSA.
    It is also to President Buhari’s credit that safety, security and sanity have retuned to the once war-ravaged northeast of Nigeria. Barely weeks after assuming office, President Muhammadu Buhari and the gallant officers and men of our armed forces worked assiduously to defeat the Boko Haram insurgents in the northeast. Though, the defeated insurgents continue to target soft spots occasionally, the fact remains that Boko Haram’s operational and spiritual headquarters, “Camp Zero”, in Sambisa Forest has since been captured by our armed forces. Following this, the Nigerian Army conducted its Small Arms Championship from 26th to 31st March 2017 in Sambisa Forest, a measure aimed at enabling the Armed forces to dominate the area, and avoid regrouping by the terrorists.
    After enumerating the huge achievements of President Muhammmadu Buhari in just two years, Governor Nasir el Rufai bluntly informed the gathered stakeholders that the political future of President Buhari is closely tied to his own personal political future. He reminded the Kaduna APC leaders that he (El Rufai) was among the few persons who begged and prevailed on President Muhammadu Buhari to run for the office of the President of Nigeria in 2015, after three unsuccessful previous attempts. It was the view of Mallam El Rufai that if President Buhari does not accept the plea to run for a second term in office, the nation stood the risk of returning to the dark era of ineptitude, corruption and insecurity. Mallam Nasir el Rufai was so emphatic about his insistence on the continuation of Buhari in office beyond 2019 that he even suggested that he (El Rufai) might not be keen on seeking reelection as Governor of Kaduna State if President Buhari decides not to seek reelection in 2019. In fact, the Governor reminded the Political Stakeholders in Kaduna that as far as he could remember, he was the only person President Buhari prevailed on to run for office. Indeed several of the stakeholders recalled all too vividly how President Buhari staunchly insisted that El Rufai must contest for the Governorship of Kaduna State in the 2015 elections under the APC. At this stakeholders meeting an emotional Governor El Rufai said he was happy he has not betrayed the trust reposed in him by President Buhari and the teeming electorates in Kaduna. The political stakeholders agreed with the Governor and cited the fact that the visit of President Muhammadu Buhari to Kaduna three weeks ago to commission the multi-billion Naira Olam farm, was the President’s first official visit outside Abuja since he returned from his medical vacation. This, many of the stakeholders agreed, can only be a measure of the unwavering love, trust and confidence the President has in the Kaduna State Governor. They were also quick to point out that the solidarity rally the Kaduna State Government organized for the President shortly after his arrival from medical vacation in London remains unprecedented. Over 200,000 persons were said to have attended the rally, just to show support for the President.
    More so, many of the political stakeholders at the meeting poured encomiums on Governor El Rufai for changing the face of Kaduna for good. Faced with the arduous task of speedily creating an economy for the State outside earnings from crude oil and also saddled with the task of revamping inherited decayed infrastructures in the State, Governor El Rufai, on assumption of office in May 2015, opted for, and continues to assiduously pursue series of homegrown options. In particular, the State Government began focusing on mining and agriculture to rev up the economy of the State. Effectively collaborating with key players in the private sector, the administration has practically made Kaduna State the agricultural hub of sub-Saharan Africa. Not too long ago, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai was joined by the Governor of
the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele, to perform the ground breaking ceremony for the establishment of a
potato farm and processing facility worth $120 million in Manchok,
Kaura local government area of the state. The project, jointly initiated by the state government and Vicampros
Farms Limited, is the biggest potato plant in sub-Sahara
Africa, cultivating 10,000 hectares of land and is expected to
generate 30,000 job opportunities for the teeming unemployed youths in the State and beyond.
    Similarly, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai has attracted to Kaduna State, the biggest poultry and hatchery farm in the whole of West Africa. The farm, which is worth about $150 million (about N30 billion), was constructed by the Olam group and was commissioned at a very colourful event three weeks ago by President Muhammadu Buhari himself. Olam Group had on Friday April 8, 2016, commissioned another mega farming project in Kaduna, the Olam Integrated Feed Mill and Poultry project in Chikpiri Gabas village.
    In the same regards, the agricultural revolution in Kaduna State under Mallam Nasir el Rufai has caught the attention of the highly successful Dangote Group. Dangote Group is currently investing  $10 million (about N2 billion) on a 7000-hectare tomato farm and
processing plant in Kaduna state. Apparently, borrowing a leaf from the Dangote Group, another reputable business giant, the Stallion Group has also committed about 100 million USD investment to rice farming and milling in Kaduna State. Of course, sensing business expediency, Indorama, one of Africa’s largest fertilizer companies has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to build an organic fertilizer plant in Kaduna to power the agricultural revolution going on in the State under Mallam El Rufai.
    Conscious of the fact that Kaduna State is the leading producer of ginger in Nigeria, Governor Nasir el Rufai has perfected plans to more than triple yields between this year and 2018. On this score, the State Government is collaborating with the Central Bank of Nigeria to enable ginger farmers in the state access a N5 Billion loan to boost ginger farming. It is the hope of the Governor that when the loan is properly harnessed and utilized as intended, ginger farmers in the state will be empowered economically as the crop is in great demand across the globe. Already many ginger farmers in Kaduna State are hitting gold as they are merrily exporting several tons of their produce to China, Chad, Sudan and Ghana while a considerable volume is being sold locally across the country.
    But for the Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, it is in abundant deposits in raw Gold and Nickel that Kaduna State holds the aces. Indeed, mappings carried out by the Kaduna State Government has shown clearly that the raw gold deposits in one local government area of the state is larger than the entire Gold deposits in the Republic of South Africa. Mallam El Rufai disclosed recently that solid minerals alone would attract about N40 billion investments to the state, and urged investors to explore the opportunities in the state. No doubt, good times are in the offing for Kaduna State.
    It is also on record that Kaduna State is one of the first subnational governments in the world and the first in Nigeria, to conduct an in-depth analysis of local SDGs data and strategy development to implement all 17 Goals in the State. At the recently concluded United Nations General Assembly in New York, Kaduna State was the cynosure of all eyes as the State showcased to the world how it integrated the SDGs into its State Development Plan for 2016-20 as well as how the integrated system is improving livelihoods, investing in education and ensuring access to life-saving services, while boosting environmental sustainability, social cohesion and peace for its citizens. The overall goal of the El Rufai administration is to leave no one behind as every citizen counts in this development agenda. To achieve this, the State has taken drastic steps on the journey to sustainable development to generate sufficient data to understand where Kaduna State stands in relation to these SDG goals, and to help guide policy interventions to target the deepest and most persistent pockets of poverty.
    Clearly, the call for a second term in office for President Buhari and Mallam El Rufai has become so overwhelming that has practically transmuted to a Movement in Kaduna State that can hardly be halted or diluted by whatever means. It therefore did not come to many as a surprise when critical stakeholders and political leaders who attended the crucial expanded stakeholders’ meeting vehemently insisted on President Buhari and Mallam Nasir El Rufai as their respective candidates for the 2019 presidential and Governorship elections. This much they articulated in the communique issued at the end of the meeting and made available to the public. Kaduna State has become the first State to make its stand known: President Muhammadu Buhari and Governor Nasir el Rufai have much more to offer the nation and Kaduna State respectively beyond 2019.
    Sani is the Special Adviser on Political and  Inter-governmental Affairs to the Governor of Kaduna State.
  • Godwin Obaseki and his unusual ways

    Godwin Obaseki and his unusual ways

    I would be the last person to use the platform of divinity to score political points but there is no denying the fact that Governor Godwin Obaseki has built up enormous goodwill in the short space of time that he has been at the helm of affairs in the governance of Edo State as the sitting governor.

    The monologues and diatribe of the PDP (People’s Democratic Party of Nigeria) was a constant and regular feature in days gone by. It was like the king dancing naked in the market square; he was the only one that did not realize that his antics were an aberration.  Chief Dan Orbih’s face was seen, and his voice was heard regularly in strident criticism of government policies and programmes.

    The visible and laudable achievements of Comrade Oshiomhole did not deter him from the media onslaught that passed for opposition by the PDP.  They spewed out misinformation and disinformation.  Sometimes, it degenerated to personal levels.

    And suddenly, a new sheriff came into town.  Godwin Nogheghase Obaseki was sworn in as Governor of Edo State in November, 2016.  Edo citizens went to sleep only to wake up the following morning to outstanding changes in their landscape or the environment.  The appellation of “wake and see Governor” gained ground.  It was no longer business as usual. Comrade Adams Oshiomhole spent eight years in office and during that tenure, he doggedly reversed the rot and decay that the PDP had inflicted on Edo citizens over a period of sixteen years.

    The problems were myriad and seemingly intractable but Oshiomhole’s determination paid off in terms of the high level of successes he recorded.  This was the legacy that Godwin Obaseki inherited on assumption of office late last year.  He could not afford to lower the bar.  He was determined to live up to the mandate that Oshiomhole handed him that Edo must be taken higher to the next level. Refuse heaps disappeared from our streets, traffic mayhem evaporated from our roads, traffic lights were obeyed, market women and street hawkers disappeared from the sidewalks.  Dormant, moribund and comatose public investments began to spring back to life.  The people had value added to their lives, and they rejoiced across party lines.  I was reminded of Proverbs 29:2 which says in part, “when the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice”.

    Over time, there came a general feeling in the air that something was missing, a vacuum created.  There was a loud silence.  Then it dawned on all and sundry that the hitherto strident, discordant and cacophonous opposition of the PDP was silent.  Chief Dan Orbih no longer had reason to moan about governance.  He had found contentment in the land which even he could not deny or ignore.  There were those infact, who wondered if the Chairman of the opposition party in Edo State was preparing grounds to defect to the APC as many of his erstwhile party faithful had done and are still dong in droves on a daily basis.  The voice of the people being the voice of God (vox populi, vox Dei), as they say, once again, a verse in the scriptures came readily to my mind.  Proverbs 16:7 says, “when a man’s ways please the Lord, even his enemies are at peace with him”.

    Such has been the effect of the unusual approach to governance that has been adopted by Governor Godwin Obaseki that even the opposition PDP has been overwhelmed into silence.  Except for the thunderous, steady and determined beat of continuing development that is the hallmark of the APC administration of Godwin Obaseki which is an offshoot of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, it is all quiet all over the length and breadth of Edoland, like it was on the Western Front in the theatres of war in Europe at the conclusion of WWII.  In the aftermath, the opposition PDP is barely able to catch its breath.  Such is the developmental pace of government and governance that is currently going on in Edo State.

    It is all kudos to the foresight and the visionary leadership of the APC.  The vibrant and ongoing synergy between the Party, ably led by Barr. Anslem Ojezua and the State Government ably and competently led by Godwin Obaseki is paying off handsomely in terms of dividends of democracy to the good people of Edo State.

    In the final analysis, everyone is a winner including even the PDP that can claim the pyrrhic victory of saying the heat they generated in the polity energized the APC to be a party that has delivered and continues to deliver on its campaign promises.  But for Godwin Nogheghase Obaseki, his track record performances bear testimony to the confidence of the Party leadership and the Edo electorate that said he is the best man for the job.  The people led, the courts affirmed, and the Heavens rejoiced.

     

    Azebamwan is the Edo State Publicity Secretary of the APC

     

     

  • Nigeria and NADECO’s absurd mouthing

    Nigeria and NADECO’s absurd mouthing

    Democracy in Nigeria is a precious gift to every Nigerian. That it has survived uninterrupted for over 17 years, since its return in 1999 is a big plus to the active players of the game and every other Nigerian. It is more a plus and applause to the Nigerian military under the current leadership for their absolute subordination to civil authority and faith in democracy.

    It is an apt expression of the determination of all stakeholders to uphold and defend democracy. Unarguably, democracy cannot flourish in an atmosphere of anarchy, violence and like vices. That it has survived this long is a mystery to die-hard rubble rousers and spoilers, who have become sleepless.

    The manifested angst now stems from the unexpected sustenance of democracy. So, they have risen to speak in negative tongues against the democratic leadership. And dreading shadows of their own demonic spirits, they hide under some funny excuses to attempt punching of this fledgling democracy.

    These are the same characters, who have etched their shadows as Nigerians uninterested in nurturing this democracy to attain full maturity. They masquerade variously to derail it. They have tried to wrestle it to the ground to no avail. Now new tricks are invented, which at best assault the sensibilities of the people. The perpetual power elite, the political gangs, the venomous cabals and the betrayals of democracy ethos have stepped up relevance from the absurd angle.

    Nigerians however know them as those who willfully thwart the electoral process, by deploying assorted devices against the civic expression of the masses; they abuse the vote; they frustrate accountability and transparency in public governance; they are the same Nigerians who sponsor assorted violence and crimes against the Nigerian state. They have foreign collaborators who pay them handsomely to ensure Nigeria knows no peace.

    The agitations, the restiveness’ in some parts of the country, the weird crimes, the terrorists’ atrocities and the militancy everywhere are all traceable to their satanic shadows. But in public, they pretend some saintliness and sound sanctimonious about national interest and defence of democracy.

    When the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) under President Muhammedu Buhari deflates these evil forces from crippling and crumbling Nigeria further, fresh groups reactivate to wage more wars. So, the National Democratic Coalition ( NADECO ), the pro-democracy activists of yester-years have sauntered on stage.

    Democracy is excited by divergent views, quite alright. But when such views are lubricated by malice, propelled by a mindset immersed in the desperation to be heard, more than the reason or crux the messages embody, it becomes a near intractable problem.

    The remnants of NADECO members met recently in Lagos and issued a widely publicized statement. Having been on sabbatical leave for a long time, news from the group ignited instant interest from the public. But perusing through it over and over again, the contents infinitely mocked the grandeur ideals of the founding fathers.

    Disappointingly, NADECO members are pleading the understanding of Nigerians to rejig the narrative of Nigerian military’s intervention in internal insurrections’ and the very destructive acts of terrorism which manacled Nigeria. NADECO was piqued and prophesied that the selfless and thankless job of taming these terrorists acts, and violent crimes, the Nigerian military has devoted time, energy and lives is signpost to the return of dictatorship.

    This is absolute gibberish! They can howl and scuff, but cannot convince any sane mind, simply by twisting facts, especially from Nigerians the military intervention has brought respite and peace.

    And singing the familiar song of revert to true federalism, which the likes of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar keeps singing  and someone,   suspected to have sponsored the resurrection of NADECO, it thought an impression has been ingrained on the psyche of Nigerians. Atiku feels his only and most worthwhile political asset is to preach restructuring to Southern Nigeria, as he restlessly eyes the Presidency of Nigeria in 2019 and beyond.

    It is bemusing what NADECO intends to imply by the assertion “Nigeria is back to dictatorship.” That, soldiers Operation Python Dance II in the Southeast has invaded communities, tortured civilians and scared the people and so, it is unconstitutional abuses logic. The explanation is as shallow as it sounds. Operation Python Dance II cannot be unconstitutional by such infantile reasoning. Soldiers on lawful deployment cannot be acting unlawfully by any stretch of imagination.

    But NADECO’s “conscionable” voice drained into the Ocean or  the Lagoon, when the Nnamdi Kanu’s  led Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) trampled on the rights and freedom of every Nigerian, most especially, Southeasterners’. When Kanu established a Biafran state, within Nigerian sovereignty, it was not NADECO’s business. When it formed security organizations’, which it armed and deployed to terrorizing law abiding citizens and security agents, NADECO’s wisdom never decoded it as threat to democracy and its liberties to the citizenry.

    To polish an obvious lie, NADECO faulted the FGN’s declaration of IPOB a terrorists organization, arguing lamely and insisting government has gone against the order of a Federal High Court. Did the court order restraining the FGN from declaring IPOB a terrorists organization came before the deviant and abrasive group was formally declared a terrorists sect by a Federal High Court in Abuja?

    If IPOB was ever dissatisfied with the verdict, does it not amount to abuse of court procedure for IPOB to approach a court of concurrent jurisdiction seeking to vacate a subsisting court verdict, instead of a higher court? This is the blind argument NADECO has condescended into endorsing in public domain. Are the grey hairs in NADECO members so ignorant to the extent of knowing that laws of Nigeria permits the President to invoke his execute powers to certain limits, when internal security is threatened, without recourse to the National Assembly (NASS)?

    Thoroughly washing itself in shamefulness, NADECO morphed into soothsayers by predicting the deployment of soldiers to the other two regions in Southern Nigeria. Some Nigerians you expect should exude honour are most times, prodded by the wrong instincts.  Actions of government are official. It is not a backyard discussion or a tete-a-tete with an “Iyabo” in the kitchen.

    So, utterances’ on government should not just hang in the air, but be based on incontrovertible facts, as against presumptions or anticipatory actions. It is quite strange that NADECO is arguing against deployment of soldiers in the Southeast in sympathy with Governors of the eastern states and at the same time, dubiously preferring to forget that the same Governors under the umbrella of Southeast Governors Forum (SGF), directly under the furnace of IPOB members, proscribed IPOB. The reasons for reaching such extreme conclusions cannot be diminished by NADECO’s stale blackmail of the FGN and the Nigerian military.

    Restructuring or true federalism sermons are not strange to Nigeria. Like President Buhari echoed sometime back, every region of Nigeria is capable of sustaining itself. That’s the extent God has blessed Nigeria. The resources are everywhere. But campaigners of true federalism usually prefer not to reflect on reasons Nigeria is astoundingly backward after 57 years of independence.

    Former President and elder statesman of international repute, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo (OBJ) is insistent that restructuring is not the answer to Nigeria’s present travails. He was emphatic that the canvassers of restructuring should first, “restructure” their minds. Mindless plundering of national resources by the political elite has left the country, a giant on bended kneels.

    Those irked that President Buhari has abated the pleasurable rape of Nigeria, sound loudest about restructuring, so that they can keep squeezing the juice out of states where they have imposed themselves as mini-lords and demigods. But every nation strives to forge ahead, with new ideals and actions. If all NADECO members and the likes of Atiku can propose after their resurrection is a return to the 1963 Constitution only exposes their wretchedness in ideology. It implies that they are barren of ideas, lost track of the dynamics of the world and seek, albeit questionably to again sink Nigeria into the dark ages.

    NADECO and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar are free to nurse dreams. The problem however is the intention to sacrifice the Nigerian military on the podium of political greed and interests. Nigerian military has demonstrated in the last two years that they are not just guardians’ of Nigerian democracy , but more interested in laying the template to ensure democratic institutions thrive and blossom to unimaginable levels.

    President Buhari’s choice of the present clan of the hierarchy of the Nigerian military was not carelessly selected. It explains why the military, particularly the Nigerian Army, has not only preached this sermon, but acted it in virtually all parts of Nigeria and excelling in every assignment with dignity. If world leaders take turns to salute their courage and resilience in demystifying and defeating Boko Harm terrorists in Nigeria, no amount of envy can obviate this acclaim.

    NADECO’s eyes are still dusty from the years of residence in the graveyard and cannot see beyond the veneer. Its belated bile campaigns against Nigerian military cannot fly and holding tenaciously to archaic ideas and using the military as a springboard is just in the middle of nowhere. If NADECO and its apostates are too haughty to appreciate the efforts of the Nigerian military in curbing acts of terrorism in Nigeria, it shall do its image some good by remaining silent.

    Okanga, a traditional warrior writes from Agila, Benue State.‎

  • Anambra: Campaign manual for candidates

    In recent times, aides to Governor Willie Obiano have been pushing out articles, the summary of which allege that Peter Obi is striving desperately to remain in the public eyes, to decide who governs Anambra State and is networking to become the Vice-President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 2019. They also re-echoed what their principal had made his campaign mantra – the comical claim that Obi demanded  N7 billon as campaign expenses – and that the N75 billion Obi left in the state coffers for Obiano was actually N11 billion. For good measure in their thinking, they have similarly submitted that Peter Obi is not in good terms with his deputies and Dr. Chris Ngige. As they ramble on, it beats the imagination what their tirades against Peter Obi have to do with the fact that Oseloka Obaze is contesting against their principal. Indeed, they should be explaining to the electorate what Obiano has done with the mandate he was given to merit his choice over Obaze.

    As electioneering goes on, many Anambrarians and Anambra-watchers have observed the antics of desperadoes all over the place. As their frantic moves collapsed, the APGA people resorted to propaganda, which has continued to offend the sensibilities of the people. What is published in the newspapers is child’s play when compared to what is churned out daily from the Anambra State Broadcasting Service. On radio and television alike, the bogey of Peter Obi forms the subject-matter of their commentaries; at times for days in a week.

    But is Obi contesting election? Why are they so afraid of him to the point of paranoia?

    With the intensification of electioneering, it is pertinent – for our collective good – to present a short manual for those vying for public office. The Quintus manual constitutes the introduction.

    In one of Cicero’s campaigns, his brother, Quintus, drew up for him a manual of electioneering technique. “Be lavish in your promises”, Quintus advised; “men prefer a false promise to a flat refusal … Continue to get some new scandal aired against your rivals for crime, corruption, or immorality”. He submitted that “a candidate must be a chameleon, adapting to each person he meets, changing his expression and speech as necessary”.

    Obiano has all the advantages of incumbency. As a governor for over three years, he is in a position to flaunt his achievements to convince the people that he merits another term. This was exactly what Obi did during electioneering for his second term. I was in charge of project tours and access was granted to doubting Thomases to verify our projects, and they did so commendably.

    In his inaugural speech, Obiano promised three independent power plants and a refinery within a year. Anambra people would like to see the progress of those projects and if, for any reason, he has not started them, he should tell us why. Anambra people will like to witness the implementation of close to 100 Memoranda of Understanding he has signed as well as the evidence of the US$7.5 billion investments he claimed to have attracted to Anambra State. We want to see how much he has added to the savings his predecessor, Peter Obi left in the state coffers or how some of the assets were disposed of as suggested by some people close to him. What of the Paris Club refund of over N20 billion and what he used it for? He should also clear the air on the allegation that he collects N1.2 billion every month as security votes – the highest among the states in Nigeria relative to income.

    Obiano spent a lot of state funds in media hype on his supposed export of N5 million worth of Ugu  and Onugbu (bitter leaf) vegetables as well as processing an order for the export of 10 million tubers of yam. Being seasonal crops, is the export of Ugu and Onugbu a regular business or a one-shot, election-year hype? As for yams, we in Anambra know that over 80% of the yams we consume are from Benue and Taraba states. It will be interesting to know by what magic he is generating 10 million tubers of yams.

    A careful observation of the electioneering terrain reveals that it is only Oseloka Obaze they attack. What of other candidates like Dr. Tony Nwoye and Mr. Osita Chidoka? Does it mean that it is only Obaze that they consider a real threat to their hope for another term in office? We know they spent hundreds of millions of Naira trying to prevent his emergence as a candidate even as they engage all manner of hatchet writers to vilify him with badly-concocted lies. What they do not realize is that you cannot destroy genuine reputation built over the years by uncouth propaganda as in the Quintus prescription.

    What is it you will say to run Obaze down? Unlike them, Obaze is a complete gentleman with poise and dignity. After reading commendations to him by world leaders – like the  UN Secretary-General Ban ki Moon – he had worked with, one is  bound to doff off one’s cap for him. I have also read the testaments of his colleagues.

    Indeed, the difference between his mind and the way he thinks and acts with those in power today is almost the difference between maturity and adolescence – in that order. He is their opposite in temperament and world-view.  Exceedingly temperate in food and drink, he has one of the most perceptive, penetrating and logical minds one has ever interacted with. In his company, one enjoys the sight of him tossing ideas like an acrobat into the air and impaling them in the prongs of the questions he usually throws back at one.  He puts on no airs, no elegances and no pretences.  There are no stories of unholy liaisons or risqué tales relating to him. Telling lies is neither a hobby nor habit for him. He is skilled in formulating policies and implementing them.  Much as he cherishes close collaboration, he cannot depend on others to think for him. He has so trained his mind to contentment that those about him are amazed by his asceticism.

    Obaze has not attacked any person beyond raising issues and seeking clarifications. He keeps telling Ndi Anambra what and how he would govern if elected. Take this sampler: “MDG was the (SPV) used effectively by  Mr. Peter Obi, which enabled Anambra to deliver to its 177 communities full dividends of democracy with no community left behind. The use of MDG and our home grown ANIDS Scheme has been discarded. We must return to that trajectory with ANIDS-MDGS to SDG programme”.

    Obiano’s people should emulate Obaze in facing issues. Obiano himself is not helping matters; in the beginning we forgave his lapses thinking he would overcome them with time as the holders of important offices are moulded by executive responsibility and experience into deeper maturity and judgement. However, whenever he speaks or acts, all one observes is degeneration. All the vices noticed about him have been magnified many times over. He has made Anambra a butt of dinner jollity by some of the things he does. His confidence in luck is more active than his faith in himself.

    Have we wondered the time-consuming attention his team deploys in doing the wrong things which, if channelled to governance, will make Anambra a better place?  What is this intemperate abuse of everybody for? Their attitudes keep Obaze and his supporters on the match convinced that come March 17, 2018, we shall breathe with relief, because a long and terrible nightmare would have been over.

    Obaze is the man Anambra needs because he is impatient with tardiness and incompetence.

     

    • Obienyem sent this piece from Lagos.

  • Killer drivers should face life jail

    Many newspapers on Saturday, September 16, carried front page stories on  the harrowing killing of 30 Nigerians in a head-on collision between two commercial commuter buses which occurred in the night on Thursday, September 14 along the Lagos – Ibadan expressway. The dead were 20 males and 10 females, all adults, according to Cyril Mathew, the Oyo State Head of Operations of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC). They left their homes hale and hearty, paid to be transported, safely, to their destinations only to have their lives brutally terminated in a mangled mix of metal and flesh by homicidal drivers. The drivers of the two buses, one coming from Lagos, the other from Ibadan, were said to have diverted to the closed lane section at a construction site and were over speeding at the time of the collision, about 8.30 in the night. Yet we term it ‘road accident’. This is a misnomer. It is more appropriately a matter of culpable vehicular homicide.

    On September 2, many newspapers also carried front page story of 21 persons killed in vehicular homicides in Ogun and Edo states, made up of 13 adults – 10 males, three females – and eight children. They, too, never reached their destinations, leaving friends and relations in tears and sorrow. Vehicular killings on Nigerian roads have left many families devastated and ruined the prospects of lives of many children as adults are the preponderant victims of such killings on the roads. There was the case of a man who lost his son, a first class graduate in petroleum engineering, who had just finished his NYSC year, in the crash of a so-called luxurious bus en route Lagos from Port Harcourt, who never recovered from the shock. The distraught father died in May this year and was buried on June 2. There are many families today going through traumatic agonies arising from the loss of their loved ones and breadwinners to homicidal drivers. The risk of premature death on Nigerian roads is so high that people now often engage in prayer session at the commencement of a journey, handing over their lives to God for safe arrival, and with shouts of Hallelujah on arrival at destination. In spite of the huge loss in lives and property arising from deaths on the roads, FRSC officials treat road tragedies as just events in a day’s work, the media report them generally as mere statistics, hardly humanizing the victims, thereby numbing the populace to a kind of fatalism. Hence, no public outrage.

    The insensitivity of FRSC officialdom to the road carnage was demonstrated by the commission’s spokesman, Bisi Kazeem,  who in reacting to the latest Lagos – Ibadan expressway tragedy attributed it to “route and speed violations” but added this rider : “This has further underscored the Corps Marshall, Dr. Boboye Oyeyemi’s advice to motorists to avoid night journeys…and drive within approved speed limits”.

    Advising motorists – and people, by extension – to avoid night journeys begs the issue and shows a rather pedestrian understanding of the key role of safe highways as arteries of the economy for a 24-hour movement of persons, goods and products and a major factor in promoting night economy. Anyway, horrible road carnage also occur in day time. Lunatic drivers constitute the major danger on Nigerian highways, not necessarily the poor state of the roads. In fact, most of the horrendous road killings occur on good highways which induce drivers to excessive speeding. Statistics from FRSC support this view.

    In the first quarter of 2017, figures from FRSC  show that of the 2,556 road crashes between January and March, speed violation accounted for 1,308, representing 42.69 percent, followed by loss of control which recorded 390 incidents (12.73 percent);  dangerous driving placed third with 225 cases ( 7. 34 percent ) while wrongful overtaking is sixth placed with 161 cases ( 5.25 percent). These four causes of deaths on the roads stand at 2,084 of the 2,556 cases and representing 68 percent, all attributable to drivers. Bad roads, which many would like to see as the main culprit is placed 15th with 25 instances ( 0.82 percent ) and another scapegoat – brake failure – only account for  163 cases, representing  5.32 percent and placing 5th in the 22-item hierarchy of causes of deaths on the roads. Consequent on the murderous disposition of drivers, 1,466 people lost their lives on the roads in the first quarter of this year made up 1,363 (93 percent) adults, 103 (7 percent) children, 1,164 (79 percent) males and 302 (21 percent) females. In 2016, a total of 5,053 people lost their lives, 3,970 being males and 1,083 females, according FRSC statistics. They are avoidable deaths but for the disregard for life by loony drivers.

    From the above statistics, it becomes obvious that drivers constitute clear and present danger on the roads and should be so treated. They cannot and should not be allowed to continue to waste people’s lives without facing commensurate consequences. Homicide cases against drivers can be graduated, like in other cases of killings, from manslaughter to first degree vehicular homicide, the latter with no bail condition, for those who demonstrate demonic disposition on the road.  For instance, a driver who drives against traffic in a built up area – township – at such terrific speed as to hit and kill someone on the spot, deserve no bail, and should face a first degree road homicide charge and on conviction be sentenced to life jail.  He should not saunter home, on bail, and resume driving after just a day at the Police station.  Commercial bus drivers are particularly an impossible set of people who do not listen to passengers’ complaints on their (drivers’) over speeding. Many truck drivers are a psychotic menace on the roads. What is confounding with regard to road rage in Nigeria, however, is that many owner-drivers are hardly better than commercial and truck  drivers in their over speeding, reckless driving and wrongful overtaking. For instance, of the 5,093 vehicles involved in road crashes from January to March  this year, 1,617 are private, 2,428 commercial, while government vehicles are five and three diplomatic vehicles. How family members and friends, as passengers in private vehicles, have been unable to restrain the dangerous driving of  hired drivers or owner drivers when they should be aware that their lives are being put at risk mystifies me. Of course, there are some exceptions. There was this young mother of two who said she does not travel with her husband because of his refusal to stop over speeding. The young man, who drives a BMW car, bragged that he goes up to 160 kilometres per hour anytime he is travelling home to Benin!!  He is a potential homicide case on the road.

    The carnage on Nigerian roads has inflicted deep grief on many families across the land. The killing spree by lunatic drivers is un-abating and therefore demands draconian measure. An activist Federal Road Safety Commission can seek amendment to its enabling Act to address this persistent danger of killer drivers as well as being empowered to extract compensation for victims for criminal negligence of construction companies and vehicle owners. But then, this may be too much to expect from an FRSC that, over the years, has been unable to effect free traffic flow on the Lagos – Ibadan expressway, thereby subjecting motorists and commuters to harrowing gridlocks. Highways should be made happy ways.

     

    • Dr. Olawunmi, is Senior Lecturer, Department of Mass Communication, Bowen University, Iwo, Osun State.

  • Half of Nigeria

    With the controversial declaration of IPOB a terrorist organisation by a Federal High Court presided over by Justice Abdu Kafarati, Nigeria has officially confirmed to the international community that about half of the country is exposed to terrorists. As expected, IPOB and her sympathisers has dismissed the court’s ‘ratification’ of the earlier military declaration, as ill-motivated, and politically induced. But regardless of the accusation of bias, it is encouraging that IPOB is resorting to judicial redress, instead of self-help.

    That is the right way to go. But for this column, what is very distressing is that the poorer part of the South (South-east), like the poorer part of the North (North-east), instead of gaining the badly needed economic ‘marshal plan’, to stem widespread social and economic dislocation, has in addition to their deprivation, been further emasculated by the tag of terrorist territory. It must be noted that while Boko Haram makes no bone about their terrorist philosophy and practise, IPOB claims non-violent philosophy and save for their silly rhetoric, and entanglements with security agencies, they have not been violent.

    But the court has ruled. And unless the declaration is set aside, IPOB will leave with the label and the South-east its further debilitating consequences. So, while any form of remedy to the reputation of IPOB remains with the judiciary, the remedy for a desolate, underdeveloped and marginalised South-east, just like the North-east, lies with the political leadership. Notably, even the eastern part of the South-south, and eastern part of the North-central, including Kogi State, are more despoiled than the western part.

    So, it can be argued that if Nigeria is divided vertically, the eastern part, from the northern fringe to the southern fringe, needs an urgent economic plan, to stave off the socio-political crisis that could give rise to factual terrorism further down south. With the speed with which IPOB was declared a terrorist organisation, there is also the possibility that the federal government could ask the courts to declare the cultists and agitators in the South-south axis and the murderous herdsmen operating in Kogi, Benue and Plateau area, terrorists, as the answer to vagrant socio-economic crisis.

    But while declaring IPOB a terrorist group could stall any security challenge, posed by the group, it will not cure the economic dislocations, masquerading as separatist movement, or even permanently save the failing Nigeria state. What will possibly stop the incremental descent into anarchy is a conscious economic plan to better re-distribute the resources of the country, and gift particularly the disadvantaged more opportunities. As many have rightly argued, with respect to other troubled sports around the world, poverty provides a fertile fermentation for terrorism.

    Our leaders must realise that the North-west and the South-west, including the western part of North-central, have historic advantages over the North-east and South-east, including the eastern part of the North-central, in the peculiar economic model, Nigeria patented, since the fall of the first republic. What one can call a paternalistic economic model? What do I mean? Those who ruled over the decades, used state apparatchik to confer economic advantages on the zones where they came from, and that advantaged half, has had commanding advantage, in terms of number of heads of state produced.

    What makes the disequilibrium even more suffocating is the refusal by the already advantaged, to allow liberal economic models, so that the disadvantaged could choose to redouble efforts, if they can. So, while historically some zones are disadvantaged, legislatively they are presently estopped from doubling their effort to meet up. I give concrete examples. By the stroke of political power, a zone can be denied the opportunities of an international airport, a functional railway, a seaport, good roads and bridges, enough watts of electricity and other modern factors of production, to stall economic development.

    While the less perspective will dismiss the issues as real politick, I wager that it is debilitating for both the advantaged and the disadvantages, to operate a suffocating paternalistic economy. One result of that suffocating economic model is perennial political crisis, which incrementally is degenerating to militancy. So, instead of spending humongous national resources to buy tons and tons of ammunition and armoured vehicles, even after Boko Haram has been ‘substantially degraded’, the resources can be better applied to gift our youth economic opportunities.

    Not long ago, I wrote on the unconstitutional exclusion of this same half of Nigeria, from the railway rebuilding plans of the present administration. While the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has reassured of plans to also start the rebuilding of the rail track, from Port-Harcourt through Enugu to Makurdi to Jos and Maiduguri, I can imagine the quantum of economic activities that a railway project will have on Umuahia and neighbouring Aba, instead of the show-off of the imported armoured personnel carriers, in the name of Python Dance.

    While our military are dancing, smiling and engaging in police duties across the country, Nigerians hope there is also as much enthusiasm to raise the ante in Research and Development, in other to gift us a modern independent fighting force. It is embarrassing that even for light weapons, our country has to depend on imports from other countries. It has been said that at Independence in 1960, our military capability and that of India and similar third world countries were at par. So, what happened?

    Meanwhile, while the federal government pursues its policy to acquire more and more arms, to quell increasing internal insurrection, it may also be wise to consider using economic diplomacy to quell some of the crisis. That will of course include giving states more economic opportunities, through devolution of powers. It is unfortunate that our governments appear not to be addressing the link, between massive youth unemployment and the rise in crime and related vices. As the saying goes, an idle hand is a devils workshop.

    Again, after welding the hammer against IPOB, the federal government should engage in dialogue, as suggested by former President Olusegun Obasanjo. Such dialogue could be covert, even as the South-east governors, under the auspices of the South-east development agencies, should organise youth dialogues in the region, to debate openly, democratic models for agitation, different from the separatist model of IPOB. It will be naïve to think that the IPOB challenge is entirely a matter of law and order.

  • Legality of “special courts” for corruption cases

    ON Monday, September 18, the learned Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Nkanu Samuel Onnoghen, at a special session organized to usher in the 2017/2018 Legal Year and to swear in 29 new Senior Advocates of Nigeria, ordered the Chief Judges of courts in Nigeria to designate at least one court in their jurisdictions as a special court solely for the purpose of adjudicating on corruption and financial crimes cases. It is meet and proper to state, to begin with, that the piquant-witted and eminent jurist, Justice Walter Onnoghen, is a great patriot, who is actuated by the urge to rid the judiciary and Nigeria of corruption and corrupt elements. It is also apt to state, in view of my stand in this article that I believe that corruption, ethnocentricity and religious bigotry are easily the worst enemies, the bane, of the socio-economic, political and cultural development of Nigeria. As far as this writer is concerned, stiffer penalties than are provided for in the various extant statutes in Nigeria should be meted out to anyone found guilty of corruption, brazen nepotism and religious zealotry, issuing forth in violence. The days of the Crusaders of the 11th and 12th centuries and of the Jihadists in the 7th and 8th centuries should, in the 21st century, be consigned to the waste-paper basket of sordid history.

    But the thrust of this write-up is the riot act read by the learned CJN to all the courts in Nigeria to set aside at least one court within their jurisdictions to try only corruption and other financial crimes cases. All the courts of superior record in Nigeria are established by subsection (5) of section 6 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended). Subsection (4) paragraph (a) of section 6 thereof allows the National Assembly and State Houses of Assembly to establish courts other than those established by subsection (5) of section 6, provided such courts have subordinate jurisdictions to those established by section 6 (5). It would be clear from the foregoing provisions that only the Constitution and Parliament (Federal or State), NOT the CJN, Federal or State Chief Judges, can establish a court (of superior or inferior record).

    Section 36 (1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) stipulates, inter alia as follows: “In the determination of his civil rights and obligations, including any question or determination by or against any government or authority, a person shall be entitled to a fair hearing within a reasonable time by a court or other tribunal established by law and constituted in such manner as to secure its independence and impartiality.” Please, note the phrase “…by a court or tribunal established by law…” Section 46 (1) of the 1999 Constitution unequivocally provides that “Any person who alleges that any of the provisions of this Chapter has been, is being or likely to be contravened in any state in relation to him may apply to a High Court in that state for redress.” No CJN or Chief Judge can change that or any provision of the constitution by denuding a particular High Court “within the jurisdiction of a Chief Judge” of powers conferred on it by the Constitution. Under subsection (2) of section 46, a High Court shall have original jurisdiction to hear and determine any application made to it in pursuance of this section…” That is the command of the uncommanded commander! It would, therefore, be the height of unconstitutionality for a Chief Judge to single out a particular High Court to try only corruption cases. You either establish new special courts or tribunals, subject to the provisions of section 6 (4) (a) or you leave the existing courts severely alone with their constitution-given jurisdictions; otherwise, you would be amending the constitution unilaterally!

    In clear terms, section 257 (1) of the constitution delineates the jurisdiction of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory as having power “to determine any civil proceedings in which the existence or extent of a legal right, power, duty, liability, privilege, interest, obligations or claim is in issue or to hear and determine any criminal proceedings involving or relating to any penalty, forfeiture, punishment or other liability in respect of an offence committed by any person.” The provisions of section 272 (1) of the constitution on the jurisdiction of State High Courts are on all fours with those in section 257 supra.

    The provision in section 46 (3) that “The Chief Justice of Nigeria may make rules with respect to the practice and procedure of a High Court for the purposes of this section” (underscoring mine) cannot, and should not, be construed to mean a usurpation, by either the CJN or any other judge, of the constitutional powers conferred only on the National or State Assembly. Rules of practice are orders made by courts for the purpose of regulating the practice of members of the Bar and others; they are rules for the transaction of the business of the courts, which rules may be altered, changed, rescinded or repealed. While they are in force, they must be applied to all cases which fall within them; they can use no discretion unless such discretion is authorized by the rules themselves. Civil or Criminal Procedure Rules which the CJN is permitted to make for superior courts of record are cases in point. We must note, however, that, in contradistinction to the rules and procedures of court which section 6 (3) talks about, the establishment of a High Court, any court, is ultra vires the CJN and remains the preserve of the Constitution and of parliament (Federal or State).

    “Rules of Court”, according to John Bouvier, the learned author of “A Law Dictionary: Adapted to the Constitution and Laws of the United States” (1856), “cannot, of course, contravene the Constitution or the Law of the land” (3 Pick. R. 512; 2 Har. & John. 79; Misso. R. 98. 11 S. 131; 5 Pick. R.187), a statement of fact.

    The pyrotechnical statement and body language of Justice Walter Onnoghen, are a predictable augury that the “independence and impartiality” of a Federal or State High Court singled out in the manner suggested by him cannot be secured. Such a court, specially disengaged from the body of the regular courts to deal with corruption, is not unlikely to be a ready tool in the hands of the federal government and its Attorney-General to pillory opponents of the ruling party, even before trial commences!

    The CJN should encourage the state and federal Chief Judges to computerize their court systems and give a time limit to the trial of corruption and financial cases, stipulating a more emphatic order in the Practice and Procedure of courts than is given in section 142 of the Electoral Act, 2011, that every corruption and financial matter must be given not just accelerated hearing and have precedence over all other cases but should be concluded within a specified time. He must then warn lawyers, through the NJC, against frivolous adjournments, otherwise, the CJN may have to import, into the “special courts”, some strange beings from the outer-space! “Special courts” should have no place in a democracy.

  • The 2017 Resolution South East Should Make

    It is usual for people to have resolutions with the arrival of a New Year and the several groups claiming to represent the interests of the Igbo nation in southeast Nigeria would do well to announce realistic resolutions for the year 2017. The resolutions should centre around advancing the geo-ethnic agenda without engaging in acts that amount to self harming. Self harming is precisely what all the groups –IPOB, BIM, MASSOB – that agitated for Igbo interests did in the preceding years.
    Less than one week into the year it became apparent that the mistakes of 2016 would be repeated wholesale with the one month ultimatum issued by the Biafra National Guard, BNG, for the release of IPOB (Indigenous People of Biafra) leader, Nnamdi Kanu failing which they will attack the government. It is inconceivable that one Ruben Okoro signed the statement issuing a threat to commit treason in his capacity as Public Relations Officer of BNG.
    A few things are lost on these characters here. First, one does not threaten to attack a constitutionally installed government and not expect the relevant security institutions to act regardless of whether the southeast voted against that government enbloc; other nationals will hold the government responsible if it does not treat the BNG avowal to attack seriously. Secondly, committing a crime in pursuit of forcing the government to release suspected insurgent from detention will inevitably attract repercussions. Furthermore, the notion of being ‘freedom fighters’ as these element want to portray themselves does not arise; they waived their right to use that label from the moment they began the expression of their grievances from the point of attrition as opposed to dialogue.
    Part of the self harm being done in the region is such that people are not even able to objectively assess issues anymore. The Nigerian Army for instance launched Operation Python Dance in the southeast during the Yuletide and while it generated goodwill for the institution as it helped to curb the activities of criminals during the period, BNG’s best input is to parody it. In the fixation to attack the state and the army the antagonists failed to realize that their geo-political zone celebrated Christmas and New Year without being under siege from kidnappers and robbers as was the case in the past. Much as the separatist elements are in denial. Fortunately, the leaders of thought from the area inundated the Nigerian Army with accolades – governors, traditional rulers and clergymen were full of appreciation to the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt Gen. TY Buratai during a short working visit to the southeast. They showed the power of intellectual approach to issues.
    Tragically, this capacity to approach issues intellectually using dialogue is one that is lacking among those agitating to commit crimes as one increasingly sees ethnic jingoists that cannot even make meaningful contributions to national debates online without resorting to calling Nigeria a ‘zoo’ and other ethnic nationals dismissed as ‘animals in the zoo’. It is therefore not surprising that even the CSOs and NGOs pursuing the Igbo interest have taken on aggressive stance that has left them increasingly militarized like the other separatists groups.Even some groups that were hitherto nationalistic in outlook have been hijacked by ethnic warriors as in Campaign for Democracy (CD) that has now been reduced to a southeastern mouthpiece.
    The devious intent for hijacking such NGOs can be seen in the use of CD to claim that 2000 persons have been killed by the state. No such deaths occurred anywhere and just like their counterparts in Amnesty International who claimed 150 deaths, the sudden jump in the figures given by CD has exposed the purposeful and deliberate disdain for federal authorities.
    A statement issued by CD’s national publicity secretary, Dede Uzor, which made that claim made a futile attempt at looking nationalistic by exploiting the Southern Kaduna killings. One can only hope that the request to include IPOB and MASSOB members in the panel to investigate the Kaduna killings has nothing to do with attempts to cover up the allegations that some persons of Igbo ancestry fought as mercenaries on the side of the rampaging herders.
    That demand for the National Assembly to include IPOB and MASSOB members on the investigative panel exposes the delusion that is prevalent among these separatist groups whose members hallucinate about their phantom acceptability as mainstream entities. What parliament in the world would hobnob with insurgents? If that demand was meant as a devious way of worming their way into legitimacy then is dead on arrival. The best members of these outlaw groups can hope for from the National Assembly is for some selected lawmakers that would negotiate lesser punishments for their errant members.
    There is a lesson for all the separatists groups in the southeast – IPOB, MASSOB, BIM, BNG, CD and just any other acronym that will join the growing list – Boko Haram fanatics started out with the same delusion of righteous sense of hurt but eventually ended up as something the entire world is eager to hear the last about. From the way the various separatists groups are behaving it is a matter of time before they attempt staging spectacular attacks as face saving measures once Nigerians begin to realize their threats are empty.
    God forbid that things get to such sorry pass since the response to such provocation would be no lesser than the one given to Boko Haram. The difference would be that with the benefit of experience no one would wait until they get out of hand before acting.
    It is therefore time for the Nigerian state to call time on this nonsense and say enough of the IPOB, MASSOB, BNG, and BIM distraction. They cannot threaten the government with a 30 day ultimatum for the release of Nnamdi Kanu who is facing trial before a competent court of law. If things were to work the way they are demanding then the clan members of every armed robber apprehended by law enforcement agents would threaten to bring the country down like these groups.
    The lot therefore falls to the so-called human rigths NGOs, whether local or international should hold seminars and workshops to educate these would be hooligans what sovereignty means and the consequence of their action should they take up arms against the state. The separatist groups on their own should re-assess their option; perhaps they will come to the realisation that their current choices are hurting more than helping their interests. This should be their New Year resolution.

    Odoma is President, Africa Arise for Change Network and contributed this piece from Abuja.‎

  • Egwu Eke: Between Kanu and Jollof Rice

    Genuine freedom fighters anywhere in the world are known for a definite character. They fight and remain in personified expressions in words and actions. They do not run away; they do not go into hiding and dump adherents to languish in sorrow alone.

    Social activists have their fate sealed by the beliefs and convictions in the cause for public good. It makes them impenetrable to bullets and guns. It melts the fire force of all armoury. They dare authorities in the face, without shrinking to defend their cause even at the risk of their lives.

    This is the portrait you see in all social crusaders around the world. They come from different backgrounds or orientations and perhaps, may even vary in perceptions, but the system of the pursuit of social justice has uniformity. This is what you encounter in forces like the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr, the Afro-American civil rights crusader and his likes everywhere.

    When he delivered the historic speech, which ironically turned out to be his last public address, at the Mason Temple, a Pentecostal church in Memphis, Tenn, April 3, 1968, decrying the injustice done to the protesting city sanitation workers in Memphis, King Jr knew he dared the authorities. But he was bold and eloquent, irresistibly beholding, as he harped for a change of the low pay and poor working conditions of the workers.

    Less than 24 hours later, Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated. But he told the people to live and fight for their humanity in these words, “We aren’t engaged in any negative protest and in any negative arguments with anybody. We are saying that we are determined to be men. We are determined to be people. We are saying that we are God’s children. And that we don’t have to live like we are forced to live”.

    Even in death, Martin Luther King Jr is worshipped by all mankind. He dared the forces against humanity, but did not take to his heels. But in Nigeria, the people are compelled to see a strange and very deceptive version of a freedom fighter, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). In the last two years, he has heightened tension in Nigeria, particularly in the Southeast region under the fake claims of fighting for the realization of a “Biafran republic.”

    He gambled with reason and sacrificed wisdom on the altar of greed. He lured most of his people into avoidable mess. He enjoyed the drama because it raised a platform for him to freely swindle his people. He barked violence at every point and swore that the “republic of Biafra” will be actualized through brute force. He established private security organizations – the Biafra Secret Service (BSS) and the Biafra National Guard (BNG) to militantly cage everybody.

    Kanu massively recruited criminals into these organizations. He thereafter unleashed them on a hapless Igbo nation, as kidnappers/abductors, cultists, murderers, extortionists and armed robbers. These miscreants could do nearly everything criminal, laced in violence, including attacking worship places to either kill or rape female worshippers. IPOB security identified and murdered individuals opposed to the cause and style of self-determination as enunciated by Kanu and buried them in secret shallow graves.

    BSS and BNG were all powerful and even dared physical confrontations with soldiers. Police officers were their favorite barbecue. They effortlessly murdered police officers in the line of duty, who attempted to enforce public law and order. Kanu dared soldiers or any security agent to attempt his arrest anywhere in Biafran land” and be roasted to death. He directed BSS and BNG members to raze Nigeria to ashes if his bail is revoked and he is re-arrested.

    Listening to Kanu, you were prone to mistake him for a man with guts and someone committed to the cause he had hoodwinked all leaders in the Southeast to buy the meal ticket. He flamed with fake courage.

    But how did Nnmadi Kanu funded the BSS and BNG or his operations generally? Kanu had exceptional skills in swindling his people. Some reports indicated that Kanu armed with the secession agenda allegedly approached the Igbo congress in the US to request money to buy guns and ammunitions to fight the Nigerian state. How much he got from the gamble is not clear. But there were overwhelming doubting voices. And he never learned from it.

    But the criminal instincts in Kanu could have earned him a deal, as he first of all disparaged the Igbos in Europe as broke. He praised the Igbos in America, as more sensible. But certainly, they were not foolish enough to donate their hard-earned money into the sort of project launched by Kanu. They preferred devoting the monies to improving the living conditions of their impoverished people back home.

    But Kanu argued that the problem of Igbo nation was all about identity, through separatism. He was not comfortable with their NO answer and could have probably pushed the funding at individual levels. But it is plausible the argument that Kanu eventually sourced for funding and that’s why he formed the BSS and the BNG, which he armed with weapons. So, he came back to Nigeria and became the untouchable, always spitting fire.

    It was easy to say, Nnamdi Kanu was absorbed in his convictions. But it was far from it. When the Presidency ordered a military operation to cleanse the Southeast of these criminal elements who had infiltrated every nook and cranny of the region, Kanu’s emptiness and hidden agenda was exposed. At first, Kanu’s “troops” displayed some bravado by engaging the military in unprovoked attacks. Soldiers observed restraint, as “Operation Python Dance II” launched by the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. Gen. Tukur Yusufu Buratai had not officially commenced operations. Mere military patrols infuriated IPOB members who came out ferociously against soldiers.

    However, Kanu’s underbelly was exposed when the Nigerian Defence Headquarters (DHQs) officially declared IPOB a militant terrorist’s organization, after a professional investigation of its activities. It listed several reasons including the raising of a private army by Kanu. The Southeast Governors Forum (SGF) also reviewed the operations of IPOB and discovered its multiple aberrations and slammed a proscription on it.

    It was expected that Nnamdi Kanu would be courageous enough to stay and defend IPOB and the cause he murdered sleep for millions of people. But he rather exhibited the unexpected. He shamefully fled into hiding. That is not the mark of a genuine freedom fighter. It was paradoxical that Kanu dreaded death, but pushed armed Southeast youths to kiss their early graves. Since then, Kanu has not been forthcoming.

    Kanu, the self-appointed cleric of the Biafran gospel, the one-time dreaded alfa and omega, the numero uno of the Biafran struggle, who rejected all entreaties to a civilized and decent manner of prosecuting his separatism agenda suddenly became effeminate. He forgot his avowals to have “Biafra” now or never. He was tamed so easily and that is how any agenda hatched on dubiousness perishes and fizzles out.

    What is left of Kanu and IPOB is a cocktail of disclaimers of him and his organization from leaders, groups and institutions in the Southeast. The dirge was personally announced by “IPOB Media Strategist, Tim Elombah himself, who posted on Facebook thus; “Breaking! SE Govs, Senators, Ohaneze, Disown Kanu, Proscribe IPOB”. It was unbelievable, but true. Now, Kanu who plotted to invade Abuja to demand for President Mohammedu Buhari’s head to deliver at Umuahia is proscribed. Kanu’s guts have melted, with his vanishing shadows.

    But operation “Egwu Eke II” (Operation Python Dance II) is ready for a dance with Kanu and IPOB. But it appears Kanu is not prepared for the dance. But viewing the video clips of Kanu and his brainwashed illiterates, who stoned an APC belonging to the military and attacked soldiers at a roadblock at Isialangwa, one thought they were ready to do the dance. It was possible to provoke the soldiers into vengeance, but there was no indication that anybody was murdered. One thought Kanu’s gods have consumed all the Nigerian troops like it happened in Nigeria at a time with Baba Alakyo in Nasarawa state.

    But the comportment of soldiers was simply because the Army was under strict instructions of the Chief of Army Staff not to molest anyone, let alone kill anyone, no matter the depth of provocation. The cordiality of soldiers radiated the more when they arrested Kanu’s boys and offered them launch of jollof rice and fish, something Kanu had denied them throughout the struggle for a fake secession.

    Let those who admire Kanu intimate him that true freedom fighters, do not runaway. Fleeing is an irrecoverable sign of defeat. Having done this, Kanu should perish the thought of his “Biafran” pursuit forever. He is free to scout for new strategies to swindle his people, but the tactics veiled as Biafran struggle has been demystified.

    Okanga, a traditional warrior writes from Agila, Benue State.

  • Atiku and the Buharists

    A recent publication by a group that goes by the name, Governance Support Group, further underscores the apparent contradictions in the pro-Buhari camp in responding to the recent claim by former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, that he has been side-lined by the Buhari administration in spite of his contribution towards its emergence. With no official response to Atiku’s claim, the unofficial responses from the pro-Buhari camp have been essentially contradictory, hasty, ill-digested and laden with emotions.

    What first look like an official response by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and which was made by the national vice chairman (North West) of the party was quickly denied by the party’s national publicity secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, who said he was expressing a personal opinion. That was quite instructive.

    The next unofficial response was from Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State who, according to media reports, was the “first governor to visit the presidential villa” after Atiku’s statement. El-Rufai’s statement was, of course, quite predictable. He regurgitated his narrative on the 2019 presidential election – that Atiku was after Buhari’s job. But lacking in tact as ever, El-Rufai couched his response in a language that effectively let out what both the party and the presidency have been hiding from Nigerians.

    El-Rufai disclosed that a group, which according to him, goes by the name “Buharist”, will do everything with its powers to ensure that the president runs for re-election in 2019. He said: “We have a group, we have Buharists amongst governors and ministers. Our group wants to ensure that President Buhari runs in 2019. If he chooses not to run, he will tell us which direction to go…. And we are making every political effort and creating every structure to achieve this”.

    Of course, Nigerians have read this to mean that, contrary to the posturing of both presidency and the APC, Buhari’s 2019 race has already begun in earnest.

    But the contradiction and opaqueness in the pro-Buhari camp became more apparent with a recent publication by the so-called Governance Support Group, which accused Atiku of beginning his own campaign for the 2019 presidential election. In a newspaper advertorial on September 12, the group claims that “we see all these claims by Alh. Atiku Abubakar… as unfortunate and befuddled dress rehearsal for 2019 general elections, adding, “this is a premature project…” Clearly, the group’s statement further brought to the fore the incoherence and insincerity among those who have taken it upon themselves to respond on behalf of the administration.

    To begin with, the idea of a Governance Support Group made up of 23 odd fellows should embarrass the Buhari administration which claims to have a broad-based support across the country. Apart from being the height of sycophancy, the existence of such a group suggests that the administration is desperately in need of make-believe support groups to make up for its seemingly eroding popularity.

    Even before the emergence of the Governance Support Group, the nation was already being inundated by the antics of different groups that daily march the streets of the nation’s capital city, Abuja, and other parts of the country lashing out on imaginary enemies of the administration while canvassing for support for it. Not long ago, there were media reports to the effect that two separate pro-administration groups clashed in Abuja over issues bothering on the sharing of funds apparently earmarked for hiring the crowds. Who hired the crowds is anybody’s guess.

    While Nigerians expected the administration to take steps to curtail this unprecedented spate of sycophancy, there came the latest group that has taken the matter to a most inglorious height. However, Nigerians still believe that it is not too late for the administration to take steps to halt this trend. It should not portray itself as being so desperate in search of support that any group can spring up at any time to begin to assault the sensibilities of Nigerians in the name of garnering support for it. This is what the so called Governance Support Group did in the advertorial referred to above.

    Before Atiku made his feelings public, it was no longer a hidden matter that some other notable leaders of the APC who, like him, made significant contributions to the emergence of the Buhari presidency, were no longer enamoured by the administration. The other ‘victims’ of the Buhari style of administration might have, for certain reasons, chosen not to speak up but that does more harm than good for the ruling party, the administration and the country as a whole. Therefore, it would amount to a big disservice to the entire nation for a fellow of Atiku’s calibre, who had had the privilege of presiding over the affairs of this country as a vice president, to continue to remain silent, even at the risk of expected attacks that would be coming from the direction of make-believe groups like the Governance Support Group.

    In the publication under reference, the group alluded to ministerial nominations and “the benefits of regular consultation with Mr. President”. But if Atiku’s only interest in contributing to the success of the APC in the 2015 presidential election was to simply nominate ministers and have “regular consultations” with the president, then he would be guilty of under-rating himself.  It was no big deal accepting nominations from a former vice president who had in the past received nominations from people himself. It is also not a big deal for a former vice president, who was for eight years the second-in-command in the country, to have access to a sitting president.

    Instructively, some stalwarts of the party in reacting to the matter have corroborated Atiku’s statement by giving account of their own personal experience in their respective states where they are similarly being treated by some of the APC governors.

    The group tried to fault Atiku on his statement that the administration has not recorded a comprehensive success in its fight against Boko Haram and corruption. But it is common knowledge that Atiku’s position is not far from that of the generality of Nigerians on the two issues. Nigerians have continually expressed dissatisfaction over the method being employed in the fight against corruption; which tends to prefer media noise to thorough and painstaking investigations and which has led to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) losing nearly all the high profile cases, to the chagrin of Nigerians.

    The group quoted the amount of N434.76bn as having been recovered by the agency, but it knows that, as far as Nigerians are concerned, the issue is not the amount recovered. The question Nigerians are asking is, from who were the amounts recovered? The group claims that the recovered funds are “intact” and are “being judiciously utilized in improving the lives of citizens…” This is a big contraction and which goes to show that the group is merely out to deceive Nigerians.  The money recovered cannot be “intact” and at the same time “being… utilized…” Even so, do Nigerians know in what areas the recovered funds are being specifically utilized?

    Similarly, the group’s claim that the deadly Boko Haram sect does no longer control any territory goes against the grain of evidence available to even the least discerning Nigerian. Not too long ago, the administration celebrated the “defeat” of Boko Haram, with television footages of the captured official flag of the sect at the Sambisa forest being handed over to the president by the military commanders. But up till now, our military is still fighting in the same Sambisa forest. So what happened? How come that the insurgents regrouped and came back to the same forest with even greater force? How come that suicide bombing in the North-east has continued unabated?