The Nation Newspaper

Category: Opinion

  • Violence as threat to democracy-2

    A typical song by the angry demonstrators was “E jeki a mura ogun, eleyi l on je iya (let us prepare for war, this is an insulting behaviours) (Anifowose, 1972).

    The high rate of electoral violence (pre and post) following the 1964 and 1965 elections were said to have contributed in no small measure to the collapse of the first Republic. Continuation of this political violence led to spates of military coups, which prelude the 30-month civil war pogrom.

    The electoral process of the second republic (1979– 1983) equally led to various cases of electoral violence across the whole of Nigeria. The most important one was the second election that was conducted after the first administration in 1983.

    The structure of politics, despite the alteration in the structure of the federation from three (and later four) regions of the first republic, to nineteen states, was still largely driven by ethno-religious forces, where each party maintained its stronghold in a given regional/ethnic domain (Omotola). For example, the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) dominated the Northern region, the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) dominated the Western region while the National People’s Party (NPP) dominated the Eastern region (Abimbola & Adesote, 2012).

    The National Party of Nigeria (NPN), obviously NPC’s successor, controlled the federal government between 1979 and 1983. In the 1983 elections, it wanted to extend its reach to other regions, either by hook or by crook. The attempt to achieve this underscored the massive rigging of the 1983 elections, which resulted in an unprecedented outbreak of violence in the Western region, where the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), AG’S successor, held sway (Omotola, 2007). In the then Oyo and Ondo States, the two UPN states were declared for the NPN. This announcement led to unprecedented violence, in which a writer simply described it as ‘the house of war’ (Babarinsa 2002). Although Ondo state was later returned to UPN at the Election Tribunal, series of violence that accompanied the disputed election results following various cases of alleged irregularities in the conduct of the election led to the collapse of the second republic; thus giving the military the opportunity to seize power on 31 December 1983.

    Prior to the Presidential election in 1993, the local government and gubernatorial elections had already been conducted in preparation for the birth of the third republic. It is a known fact that Nigeria since independence has never had any peaceful election devoid of violence and other electoral vices. Thus, the 1992/1993 elections were no exception. Meanwhile, the circumstances that led to the aborted Third republic revealed that Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, a dictator, in spite of his long transition programme, had no intention of handing over power to the civilian. This became known when he annulled the June 12, 1993 presidential election which was internationally acclaimed as free and fair; and as well described by local observers as the fairest election in the post colonial Nigeria.

    The annulment of the election caused series of crises especially in the Western part of Nigeria championed by some groups such as NADECO among others. The post electoral violence, which followed the annulment of the June 12, 1993 election, was what forced Gen. Ibrahim Babangida to form an Interim National Government (ING) headed by Ernest Shonekan, who was later overthrown in what was regarded as peaceful coup on November 17 1993 by General Sani Abacha. This development made the Third Republic an aborted republic.

    The above historical analysis of the electoral violence in the post colonial Nigeria in particular contributed immensely to reasons why democracy in the first two major republics (first and second) could not only be consolidated but also be sustained. It could also be argued that the electoral processes as well as the kind of party politics (popularly known as zero sum game, winner takes all syndromes) played in the two republics were parts of the reasons why democratic rule could not be sustained.

    The conduct of free, fair and credible periodic elections by unbiased electoral body including its umpire as well as other electoral officials and the adherence to democratic principles of governance remain major factors responsible for the avoidance of electoral violence in any democratic society. These two major factors were the challenges that the fourth republic had been contending with since its birth in 1999.

    Since the birth of the fourth republic in 1999, four general elections have been conducted under a civilian administration in the country in which one can say that democracy was actually consolidated. In other words, the years between 2003 and 2015 witnessed the successful transition of one civilian administration to another. For instance, in 2003, a presidential election was conducted and the incumbent president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo of the PDP was declared the winner by INEC. In 2007, Late Alhaji Umaru Yar’Adua of the same PDP was also declared by INEC as the President elect. In April 2011, another presidential election was conducted by INEC in which Dr. Goodluck Jonathan of the PDP, who was initially sworn in first as, Acting President following the critical condition of Late president Umaru Yar’Adua, and later as a substantive President after its death also contested and was declared winner of the election by INEC.

    In his quest for a second term, President Goodluck Jonathan contested against candidates from other political parties, including Major-General Muhammadu Buhari, a one-time military dictator, who had contested and lost thrice. The fact that elder statesmen led by General Abdulsalami Abubakar, had to extract non-violence agreement from the two leading contenders (Jonathan and Buhari), lead credence to the fear of violence.

    The early concession of defeat by incumbent President Jonathan has been applauded nationwide. This gesture did not permeate among other PDP contestants across the country. Pockets of violence, ballot-snatching and outright rigging were observed, despite assurances from security agents.

    In spite of the fact that the just concluded elections for the Presidency, Governorship of 29 states as well as national and state houses of assembly witnessed minimal violence, we should be on our guards to sustain this democracy. Thanks to national and international democratic institutions, Nigeria, for the first time witnessed a smooth transition not only from a democratically elected government but also from one party to another. With several deaths on its toll especially in the south-south state of Rivers, as well as recorded malpractices in Ekiti State, where seven assembly members sacked 19 others, resulting in some deaths, and pockets of violence nationwide, a lot still needs to be done to safe guard this democracy from doom. There is the need to strengthen our democratic institutions like the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, encourage internal democracy among political parties, de-emphasize money-politics and the need to play by the rules of engagement.

    I will not end this essay without a reference, once again, to the admonition by Asiwaju, a living sage. He says “We have to remove violence from our body politic. Election is about(  people and service to the people. That is why democracy is the(  government of the people, by the people and for the people. It is ( not a process of gun and war and violence. It is power by all( means necessary that leads to violence. We need to eschew that,( allow the process to run its course, nurture the institutions of( democracy; respect the rule of law and the lives and property of( Nigerians. The right of the people to choose their own leader for a( specific period of time should be respected.”(Concluded.)

    • Akinola wrote in from Lagos

  • Lessons of Buhari’s victory

    With God all things are possible. If men were God, something would have happened, but men are not God and can never be. The above assertion underscores the victory of the presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) Major General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) in the just-concluded presidential poll. The outcome of poll is a big lesson and eye opener to every Nigerian irrespective of religion, status and tribe. Buhari is today the Abraham Lincoln of Nigeria. His tenacity and resilience paid off at last. Despite initial odds and frustration, Buhari even at his age never lost hope or confidence in Nigeria as a country.

    He kept faith and hope that the country can be salvaged. His election victory is unique and unprecedented in the sense that for the first time in the country’s political history, an incumbent president was defeated in an election by opposition candidate. It happened at a time pseudo analysts and prophets of doom had prophesied that it was impossible because of power of incumbency.

    Ahead of the presidential poll, they vowed that Buhari would never become president of the country again. They threatened that instead of handing over to Buhari, the country would be better divided. They wished Buhari dead and alleged that he was sick and cannot rule the country well. They said he was brain-dead and cannot recognize anything even his phone numbers.

    Everything was thrown into the mud to demonise the person of Buhari and other members of his party. It was a campaign of calumny like never before. Religion, ethnicity, and primordial sentiments were thrown up. Our great country Nigeria was torn along ethnic and religious lines. A dangerous political precedent was laid and political sycophants who claimed to be leaders were championing and promoting them, insulting our collective sensibility with our patrimony all for selfish reasons.

    Nigerians were being brainwashed with all sort of lies and gimmicks. But they all forgot that Nigerians know better and would take wise decision when the chips are down. Not even the sudden shift in the date of the presidential poll discouraged Nigerians because they have bought into the “change” campaign mantra of the APC and saw Buhari as a brand and incorruptible.

    I have always asked this question; how many of us were like Buhari? We are in a clime where what matters most is wealth and power, not how they were acquired or gotten. No wonder politics has become a do or die affair because most politicians have no second address and lack clear vision, and integrity. But for Buhari, what worked for him in the election is his integrity which he had built over the years.

    In trying to demonise Buhari during the campaign, his political opponents could not point at any wealth he amassed, while in office as Head of State or chairman of Petroleum Trust Fund. He lives a modest and humble life and never believed in amassing ill-gotten wealth. Even as a former Head of State, Buhari has no house of his own in Abuja or overseas. All these good virtues were to his advantage during his party primaries and presidential election. Even the political class and the APC chieftains saw that there was need for urgent change in the country’s political leadership to save the country from total collapse. Having seen the direction the country was going, sacrifices were made by the political class and Nigerians who realized that if the country collapses, they and their kiths and kin are not safe, and posterity will not forgive them. Besides, they have no other country of their own except Nigeria. So in Buhari, they saw the alternative and better option. That was the reason they voted for him en masse during poll.

    Today Nigerians have decided and Buhari is the president-elect. So the questions are; where are the influence peddlers who are always bestriding the corridors of power, holding the country ransom, dictating who gets what for their selfish reasons. Where are the praise singers and the shameless godfathers who vowed that Buhari would never be president of the country again? Where are the prophets of doom who prophesied otherwise about Buhari’s victory? Where are those who wished Buhari dead and said that he is brain-dead? Where are the Aso Rock cabals who hijacked and misled President Jonathan for so long? Have they seen how transient political power could be? For those that they have ears, let them hear and for those who have eyes, let them see. The change has come and the PDP’s boast that they would rule the country has become a mere talk and a ruse.

    I know just like every other Nigerian that the cabal would be disappointed for not being consulted by the President before conceding defeat to Buhari after the poll. But the cabal should bury their heads in shame because President Jonathan acted wisely by conceding defeat, having realised that they are deceits and saboteurs masquerading as political leaders. President Jonathan has proved that he understood the idiom “once bitten, twice shy.”

    By President Jonathan’s action, he has written his name in the political history of the country to the shame, and disappointment of the political hawks in who believed that the corridors of power are their ancestral homes. It is obvious that if President Jonathan had acted as expected by these political hawks or merchants by rejecting the poll result and something unusual emanates from it, they will be the first to abandon and blame him when the chips are down.

    The victory has renewed my faith in the people of Nigerians that at any crucial moment in the country’s history, they would do the needful to keep the country together. It has also shown that Nigerians are not dociles and dullards as some opportunistic and accidental leaders have believed and thought before now. It has revealed that henceforth no elected leader should take the people’s power for granted on any account. It has underscored the point that history could be made or marred one day and nothing is permanent except change. It has proved that Nigeria is growing and maturing politically and democratically, and that with a square peg in a square hole, the country’s electoral process will be better off.

    For the president-elect, Buhari, to whom much is given, much is expected. The massive support given to him in the election by Nigerians is a clear testimony of the people’s confidence in him. So for this reason, Buhari’s government cannot afford to disappoint Nigerians. Obviously, there are great challenges ahead for Buhari and his party, but one good thing is that Buhari and his party men are not strangers in Nigeria. They understand the enormity of the challenges confronting the country and are in a vantage position to provide workable solution.

    The in-coming government must first of all tackle the monster called corruption headlong and forthwith. It is the greatest enemy of the country since independence and successive governments have treated it with kid gloves. It is root of the country’s numerous problems. Expected to be sanitized by the new government is the country’s electoral process that has been characterized with fraud and irregularities. The process should be made to be transparent, free and fair. Public office holders whether elected or appointed should be made to accountable to the people, and not to themselves as it is presently. Meritocracy and integrity must be basis for choice of our public leaders and not ethnicity, religion or other primordial sentiments.

    I believe that with Buhari’s integrity, sincere and selfless approach to governance, the country can be restored to its past glory. No sacrifice is too much at this point by both the political leaders and followers. So all hands must be on deck to salvage the country as there was no loser and winner in the poll. It is all for the good of the country and the future of the posterity.

    • Imansuangbon, lawyer and politician wrote from Virginia, USA. 

  • Violence as threat to democracy-1

    The history of political development in Nigeria has recorded the growth of multi-dimensional forms of violence in the desperate bid of power thirsty individuals and groups to attain and keep state power. In recent times, Human Rights Watch revealed that over 2000 Nigerians lost their lives in post- election violence in the country.

    As the campaigns for the 2015 general elections were rounding off, the governor of the state of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola had his convoy attacked in Ilase, Obokun Local government of the State. That was on Friday the 13th of March, 2015. Stalwarts of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party allegedly initiated the attack. It left at least one person dead, many injured and properties worth millions of Naira destroyed. This is a sad footnote on our quest for a true democratic process, because it underscores happenings in almost all states of the federation including Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Imo and a host of other states. Updated report has it that 66 violent incidents targeted at polling units were recorded nationwide during the April 11, 2015 governorship and state houses of assembly polls.

    In a remark, the leader of All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, had this to say, “Throughout the week, before the election, there were lots of( gunshot across the state. That was scaring to the people. That is ( why they didn’t come out. That is a method of rigging. It is(  because you are not popular. If you are popular, you will want the ( crowd to be there and make their choice. The abuse of power in ( this nation must stop. It takes a commonsense revolution to do ( that”.

    I wish to historicize electoral violence and its implications on the survival of democracy in Nigeria with major emphasis on this Fourth Republic (1999-2015). The high incidence of electoral violence (pre and post) in the Fourth Republic in particular is closely associated with neo-patrimonial character of the Nigerian state, the nature and kind of party politics being played, the weak institutionalisation of democratic architectures and inefficient electoral management body among others. These were among the factors that led to the fall or collapse of the First, Second and Third Republics.

    In every stable democratic society, election remains the essential ingredient of transitory process from one civilian administration to another. Elections have become an integral part of representative democracy that by and large prevails across the world. In all, elections constitute a core component of democracy. The electoral process in Africa in general and Nigeria in particular especially since the beginning of the 21st century is characterised by violence.

    Fundamentally, there is no doubt the fact that electoral violence remains a major source of political instability in a democratic society with palpable threats of deconsolidation. Nigeria, having survived decades of military dictatorship that was characterized by despotism, violation of fundamental human rights, financial profligacy among others, eventually returned to democratic rule on May 29, 1999, which culminated in the birth of the Fourth Republic. The republic, which started amidst great hope and expectations, is yet to significantly convince the generality of the Nigerian populace its democratic success especially with respect to the conduct of free, fair and credible elections devoid of election violence (pre and post). The block votes for failed President Jonathan recorded from the south east and south-south in the just concluded 2015 election leaves a sour grape in the mouth regarding incessant geo-ethnic loyalty in voting patterns. This has however put the zones in a disadvantage position in the unfolding power sharing and political relevance. The threat of violence by militant leaders, especially by Asari Dokubo, in the zone is a sad commentary that must not be allowed to endure.

    International Foundation for Election Systems (2011) defines electoral violence as “any violence (harm) or threat of violence (harm), like that of Asari-Dokubo, that is aimed at any person or property involved in the election process, or at disrupting any part of the electoral or political process during the election period.”

    These above definitions of electoral violence typically captured the deeper nature and stages of electoral violence in Nigeria especially since the birth of the Fourth Republic in 1999. The first and immediate post independence electoral violence in Nigeria occurred during the 1964 general elections, the first election to be conducted after independence. The Northern People’s Congress needed the elections to consolidate its power at the centre. The Action Group (AG) also needed it in order to dislodge Chief S.L Akintola from power in the West. The NCNC on its own also wanted to improve its bargaining strength in the East.

    It became obvious that all the major political parties were anxious to participate in the elections (Falola et al, 1991). By the middle of 1964, two major political alliances had emerged from all the manoeuvres. The NPC and the NNDP founded the Nigerian National Alliance (NNA). The AG and the NCNC constituted themselves into the United Progressive Grand Alliance (UPGA). The 1964 federal election was contested between these major alliances (Ige, 1995). Two main coalitions contested these elections: the Nigerian National Alliance (NNA) made up of the NPC and some other minor parties; the United Progressive Grand Alliance (UPGA) comprising the NCNC, AG, NEPU and UMBC (Falola, et al, 1991).

    The campaigns by these coalitions generated much bitterness, acrimony and violence, especially in the west. The elections which were said to have been massively rigged through different means lead to widespread violence/conflicts in the west following the announcement of results by the Chairman of Federal Electoral Commission in person of Mr. Esua. This argument could be corroborated with the address of president Nnamidi Azikiwe and the then Inspector General Police, Mr. Louis Edet. Azikiwe in his dawn broadcast to the nation. The head of state condemned the way and manner the electioneering was conducted and expressed his disappointment.

    The politicians in power have no right to employ instruments of power in order to perpetuate their stay in office. The president cited instances where Nigerian citizens were deprived their constitutional right to freedom of association. In a similar view, the inspector general of police, Louis Edet made a nation-wide broadcast reporting that incidents involving violence had reached alarming proportions. He appealed to the politicians to protect Nigeria’s enviable reputation as a bastion of democracy in Africa (Anifowose, 1972).

    As it was in the west, so also it went on in the Middle Belt. A good example was the second Tiv riot of 1964 (Anifowose, 1972). The last straw that broke the camel’s back was the elections into regional assembly in the west in October 1965. The announcement of the election results by the Federal Electoral Commission, which led to the purported victory of Chief S.L Akintola of the Nigeria National Democratic Party (NNDP) as against the wishes of many people who expected that Chief Adegbenro of the UPGA led to large-scale widespread violence in the whole of western region on the ground that there were irregularities in the election results. The decision of the federal government to recognize the election thus gave Chief Akintola the power to form a new government. This however made UPGA to embark on a spontaneous and violent demonstration known as “operation wet e” – an operation which required the spraying of houses, cars and persons with petrol and then setting fire to them (Ige, 1995).

    There were series of protests and demonstrations carried out by angry students, market women, farmers and other groups in most towns and villages throughout the western region, and these were accompanied by looting, arson, killing on an unprecedented scale and burning of houses, vehicles and shops. Anti-governmental placards were displayed, party slogan- Awo! Awo! UPGA! UPGA! -as well as war songs were advanced. In some cases, the demonstration ended in clashes with anti-riot police squad, who did not hesitate to shoot. (To be continued.)

    • Akinola wrote in from Lagos

  • Tinubu and resurgence of progressive politics

    His small trim figure and frail frame belie the enormous strength it carries, and does not in any way reflect his true capacity. It is a sort of decoy. As a result of his frail physical makeup, many unsuspecting minds see him as one who is to be ignored. However, many who have ignored him have done so at their own peril.

    What actually is it about men with a little physical frame? Historically, it has been revealed that men with tiny physique are dynamites. In football circle, Argentine Diego Maradona is a personage.  Short and stocky, Maradona took the soccer world by storm such that his exploits on the soccer field have become a legendary tale. Ditto for Lionel Messi, his equally pint-sized countryman, who has become a soccer idol to many football fans across the globe. German Adolf Hitler also readily falls into the category of pocket-sized men who held the world awestruck, albeit negatively. There was also the Emperor of France, Napoleon Bonaparte, who once ruled the entire continent of Europe. Let me quickly add that Asiwaju is not diminutive, he’s a frail weight.

    In the contemporary political landscape of Nigeria, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu remains a force to be reckoned with. His fragile physique notwithstanding, Asiwaju has the heart of a lion. He dares to follow the path that lesser mortals tremble to trail. His audacious confrontations with the military are partly responsible for the restoration of democracy in our country in 1999. But then, Asiwaju is not all about boldness without vision. He combines a bold heart with a sound mind. He is blessed with an unusually sharp and uncanny mind.

    Asiwaju’s intellectual prowess is legendary. He is a deep thinker and a pragmatic philosopher in his own right. He combines unbelievable intellectual depth with amazing spiritual profundity. His bat like full-size eyes prods deeply at everything in sight with the calculated precision of a predator going after its prey. They are, perhaps, responsible for the depth of his vision. Asiwaju sees far ahead of time.

    Asiwaju is, indeed, a complex character. Late Afro beat maestro, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, was popularly referred to by his teeming fans as ‘Abami Eda’ (the Strange One). Asiwaju could equally be likened to an ‘Abami Eda (a Strange Creature). The more you think you know him, the more intriguing he becomes. It is mostly when his adversaries think they have pinned him to the wall that he bounces back even stronger, like the proverbial cat with nine lives. ‘O sewo, eyin Ologbo ki bale’. It is impossible to give the cat a pin fall. Asiwaju is that cat whose back doesn’t touch the floor. Even when it does, he bounces back in record time.

    Impossibility is a common word in the dictum of fidgety and skeptical souls that abandon their visions in the face of the slightest challenge. However, for Asiwaju, impossibility is a doorway to possibilities. Hence, he sees profound opportunities in every seeming impossibility.

    Prior to the successful merger of the various political parties that transformed into the All Progressive Congress, APC, merging of political parties had not been a successful venture in the country’s political terrain. In the Second Republic, for instance, the progressives led by the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Alhaji Aminu Kano, Alhaji Waziri Ibrahim and others tried fruitlessly to form a formidable progressive inclined political party that could wrestle power from the then ruling National Party of Nigeria, NPN.  These frontline leaders of the progressives held several meetings at that time but with insignificant success.

    It was, perhaps, this history of failures by the progressives to forge a common front that initially made political observers and pundits to be skeptical about the feasibility of the APC project. Indeed, some prominent PDP members swore by their mothers and grandmothers that the merger was not going to work. However, with the unwavering and calculated focus of a lion in pursuit of its prey, Asiwaju and his fellow progressive leaders, who are today’s heroes of democracy, forged ahead like Trojans who are sure of their destination.

    The one who has become a spectacle does not act as a spectator. So, Asiwaju and his compatriots refused to be distracted even when the sound of the drummer at the market place became quite vicious and notorious. The one with a mission at the market does not pay attention to the noise of the market. So much noise came from the PDP’s organs such as the Nigeria Television Authority, NTA, Africa Independent (?) Television, AIT, and much more, but Asiwaju and co surged on. The rest, as they say, is history.

    Now that the night is over, no one should deny Asiwaju the right to click the glass and pump champagne. It is his right. He deserves it after sixteen years of focusing on the prize. In 2003, when the Alliance for Democracy, AD, lost all its controlled states in the South West, except for Lagos, the only attractive option for Asiwaju was to jump ship and move to the ruling PDP. That is the natural path in African politics because playing opposition politics in this clime is hazardous and unattractive. But such a choice is for men with blatant opportunistic disposition.

    So, Asiwaju forged ahead and Action Congress, AC, came on board, later paving way for the emergence of the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN. Though the road was rough and tough but with the ACN came the recovery of lost states in the southwest. Edo state was to later come into the fray. Now, the ACN has arrived. That was the thought of some of Asiwaju’s apostles. But, like the visionary leader, he is, Asiwaju knew that the journey has just started, and nothing has been won.

    In order to achieve the long-term mission of the progressives in the nation’s political landscape, ACN, with its relative success must die. Thus came the death of the ACN. The funeral ceremony took place in Lagos. But other deaths were equally recorded along the way. The Congress for Progressive Change, CPC as well as the All Nigeria People’s Party, ANPP also died. However, these parties did not die in vain. With their death came the birth of the APC, a formidable opposition party. At last, the progressives were ready to confront the PDP for the political soul of the country. In a most keenly and fiercely contested presidential election in the political history of the country, the PDP bit the dust. Thus, ending its sixteen years of infamous and impunity laden grip on power at the centre.

    Many who do not really know him bear false tales about his person. Others hate him just out of vicious envy and jealousy. But those that are privileged to know him are conscious of his unquestionable patriotic zeal and uncommon commitment to the emancipation of the downtrodden. Many who used his political influence and benevolence to achieve political success have betrayed him. But for Asiwaju, there is a price to pay for every prize that one desires. The more inestimable the prize, the more bristly the price.

    Without a doubt, fiercer political battles lie ahead for Asiwaju and his progressive co-travellers. But of what essence is life without battles? That is the stuff that champions are made of. Ride on Asiwaju! May your light never go dim. Long live the progressives!

    God bless Nigeria!

     

    • Raji is Special Adviser, Information and Strategy, Lagos State.

  • Buhari Presidency’s first 100 days-1

    There was euphoric feeling across the land as millions of jubilant Nigerians celebrated the triumph of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the just concluded May 28, 2015 presidential election. The chant: ‘Sai Buhari, Sai Baba’ rented the air. The defeat of the much-touted largest party in Africa, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and its presidential candidate, President Goodluck Jonathan, was seen by many as offering Nigeria an opportunity for a new and wondrous beginning.

    Given this scenario, the first 100 days in office of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria are going to be critical days  – in fact the defining period of his Presidency.

    The stakes are high, just as the high expectations of traumatized Nigerians. As the saying goes, morning shows the day, so the morning of the Buhari Presidency will indicate if it is going to be good day for Nigeria.  As a former Head of State and someone who had thrice doggedly fought for this trophy, it is expected that the General already has a blueprint of public governance to be rolled out, at the go. It cannot be seen as misplaced high expectations. The challenge, therefore, for President-elect Buhari is being able to take off in a dead run – right from inauguration day on May 29, 2015.

    I believe the President-elect has appropriately defined the arduous task ahead of him with that evocative caption of his acceptance speech – ‘The Die is cast’ – on being presented with his certificate of return by the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega.  The Nigerian people gave him their votes because they are frustrated with the under-performing government of President Jonathan and were no longer willing to give the  ‘humble boy’ from Otuoke, Bayelsa state, the benefit of the doubt for another term.  So, in line with philosopher John Locke’s ‘Doctrine of Social Contract’ between the people, as the popular sovereign authority in a democracy, and the agents they elect into government, the electorate exercised its right by terminating the Social Contract with the Jonathan Presidency and awarding the governance contract to Gen. Buhari.

    Apparently, the President-elect understood this  ‘Social Contract’ philosophy when in his acceptance speech, he declared:  “There shall be no ruling party again: APC will be your governing party. We shall faithfully serve you. We shall never rule over the people as if they were subservient to government”.  The practice had been that the agent becomes the Overlord of the people.

    Gen. Buhari earned his reputation on law and order that has endured for 30 years since his first coming as military Head of State in December 1983. The day now beckons for him to go on ‘Action Station,’ for a repeat performance. It is therefore no surprise that he identified the twin evils of corruption and insecurity/terrorism as the two major woes facing the country, which he is resolved to battle, resolutely.

    While pledging to demonstrate State Power in decisively tackling the Boko Haram insurgency, he sees corruption as worse than terrorism and vowed: “We shall strongly battle the evil of corruption…Corruption attacks and seeks to destroy our national institutions and character…By misdirecting into selfish hands funds intended for public purpose, corruption distorts the economy (and) creates a class of unjustly-enriched people”. He noted that such filthy rich will attempt to buy government and pledged his resolve: “We shall end this threat to our economic development and democratic survival… I repeat that corruption will not be tolerated by this administration”.

    Strong words. Reassuring words.  Now, the die is truly cast for President-elect Buhari to translate words into action. He invites us to make input, by way of suggestions – “I seek your voice and input as we tackle these problems”.  I take him up on the offer and suggests as follows:

    Wanted is an agency for public order.  Protection of lives and property is the primary obligation of government and deserves top priority attention. There has to be a unified, holistic approach to tackling endemic insecurity in the land that has created pervasive fear and shut down night economy, as people abandon the night hours to marauding, violent criminals. It got to a point that a police chief even advised people against night travel as robbers waylaid motorists during night journeys!! It was police surrender to criminals. So, today, life is very cheap in Nigeria, as people get killed on daily basis, with impunity, even by police officers paid to protect lives. The prevalent general disorder and indiscipline throughout the country highlight the failure of relevant regulatory agencies.

    Therefore, a public order institution or Commission, whatever name that may be appropriate, headed by a passionate individual and committed rank and file, has become imperative, to tackle the pervasive lawlessness in the country. Such activist Public Order Agency, working in collaboration with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and Servicom, should have as its focus the activities of The Nigeria Police and the Federal Road Safety Commission, (FRSC) among others, the two being institutions of government whose inefficiencies, compromises and connivance have contributed largely to lack of safety at home, at work and on the road.

    The Nigeria Police, an institution central to public order, has lost credibility with people with tragic consequences for all.  This must be urgently reversed.  The government would be seen to be pro- people if one of its first acts is to announce that heads of police jurisdictions, Divisional Police Officers, (DPOs) et al, will henceforth be liable for criminal activities in their jurisdictions and sanctioned appropriately and speedily, where they fail to effectively discharge their responsibilities. This is enforcing responsibility and accountability, both of which have been lacking in many government agencies. Establishment of a hotline, perhaps in The Presidency, where people can report compromised police officers will be a measure of performance monitoring by the public.  The impunity of police brutality, which alienates the public, must be stopped as the first step to restore a much needed police-people friendly relations.  When the demons in the Nigeria Police are exorcised, the people would be more willing to volunteer information about criminals, a prerequisite for police effectiveness.  It is instructive that within the police leadership, there was a former reformist Inspector-General of Police who scrapped police roadblocks, where many people had been killed and maimed by police officers, with impunity. The proposed Public Order Agency or the Justice Ministry, as documented by NHRC, should review the cover up of such killer policemen, with prosecution.

    These measures, which should attract saturation publicity, will boost public confidence in The Presidency as people-oriented and strengthen reformists within the police.  When people fear, rather than have faith in, the Police, it can only be to the advantage of criminals.   With regard to the FRSC, it is saddening that succeeding governments/leaders and agencies have not shown any outrage about the horrendous killings on the roads where thousands have lost their lives.  The Buhari Presidency can begin to make a difference here as part of security of life. The establishment of FRSC is a recognition of the grave situation of road killings (road accident is a misnomer) by homicidal drivers, even in governors’ motorcades, and where thousands more are maimed for life and rendered economic liabilities. Killer drivers often go scot free to continue their homicidal rampage on the roads.  Unfortunately, the FRSC has turned out just another government employment agency with poor service delivery. (To be continued tomorrow)

     

    • Dr. Bisi Olawunmi, Lecturer, Department of Mass Communication, Bowen University, Iwo, Osun state, is former Washington Correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria. 

     

  • The President-elect and I

    The President-elect and I

    On the morning of December 31, 1983, I was one of the young men who poured onto the streets of Jos, Plateau State, to welcome the coup that toppled the government of President Alhaji Shehu Shagari. The Shagari government was the first civilian government my generation witnessed having won the election that ushered him in during the 1979 election. So, when the military struck, we were not moved because we had grown up under the aegis of a military government that was to us purposeful. At least life was not as tough under the military as we witnessed as adults under the Shagari regime.

    The year that former President Shagari assumed power was the year I left secondary school. As it was with many young men of that era, my eyes were trained on travelling to America for further studies. Although I was not from an affluent home, I was determined to travel abroad.

    The naira had begun to fall in comparison to the dollar, so getting foreign exchange was becoming tough. Toward the end of 1983, after working for about four years and making some savings, I got a letter of admission to a university in the US and I was preparing to go and resume there when the Buhari/Idiagbon coup came. I joined the crowd on the streets rejoicing because I felt the civilian government that was responsible for the woes that had befallen our economy had been swept away.

    I was still determined to travel abroad despite the change of government. However, the speech by Gen Buhari that “Nigeria is our country, we must stay here and salvage it together,” stopped that dream. That was the singular sentence that sealed my fate. The tenor of the speech and the sincerity on the face of the speaker (Gen Buhari) and his lieutenants jelled with me and touched me. I decided to drop my decision to travel abroad and help “salvage” my country as demanded by the then Head of State.

    Although twenty months down the line, he was shoved aside and all the dreams he had laid down were shattered by the succeeding government. Thirty one years after, the same man has come to renew the dream of a great Nigeria.

    The presidential election held on March 28, 2015 has put the country on another threshold of hope by throwing up Gen Muhammadu Buhari. I am part of that renewed hope that our country would rise again.

    The tasks ahead

    At every opportunity, the president-elect himself has acknowledged that he knows that he is at the cusp of history. The chance that has been given to him, not only by Nigerians but by the world at large is enormous. In fact, I don’t envy him because looking at the faces of many Nigerians, especially the millions of citizens who trooped out to vote for him, I know they are all very expectant and impatient.

    We have all been so traumatised that the General cannot afford to fail. Apart from that, he should understand when our patience seems to snap. He should not expect that he would have the whole time in the world to put the country back on an even keel. We know that the sixteen years of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have been years of locusts that have made many hitherto reasonable citizens grow irrational. It is the task of the General to fix this and not give excuses as to why things are not easy to fix. Many trooped out to vote for him because they believed in him and do not expect shifting of blames when things are not fast as we expected.

    As a General, he must know that choosing a winning team is key, and as he plans to constitute his team he should do this with a thorough and fine tooth comb. Winning an election might not be easy, especially when you’re faced with an incumbent and a behemoth as the PDP. But this has been achieved and the next step is not as easy as defeating an incumbent. This he will soon find out, that is if he doesn’t already know that.

    There are going to be many interests to serve and please. This is normal in every political contest. However, he must be able to differentiate what would work for the country and what wont. He should always remember the word of that former American President Harry Truman that “The buck stops at this table (the President’s).” All the interest groups that worked for his victory cannot be ignored; to ignore them is to be ungrateful. However, he must know when to call the brake. He is the one elected and whom history would call to question if he fails (God forbid).

    I feel very passionate about what I personally call ‘The Project Buhari’ because I hold him responsible for holding me down in Nigeria till today.

    Since that dawn of 1983 when he came to power till now, I’ve had several opportunities to travel around the world and it has never crossed my mind to stay away despite the temptations and offers. His statement that we must salvage our country and rescue it from the hands of carpetbaggers has resonated with me.

    For me, the March 28 election has offered him the golden opportunity and the time to reshape our country. I don’t envy him because the tasks ahead are enormous and frightening. But they are all surmountable, all he needs is to pick his team with care and impress it on them that this is no time to indulge in any victory ride. Nigeria and Nigerians expect so much from the name Buhari, it is perhaps too much to hinge the fate of a country on one man’s shoulder. However, this seems to be what most of us citizens have done; and as a senior journalist, Mr. Dan Agbese, had said the before the election, the emergence of the president-elect which he called the “Buhari Phenomenon” must be sustained to make us recreate our own ‘Nigerian Dream’.

    I am sure, as a war General, he can do it.

  • Buhari’s victory and the West

    One of the noticeable developments of the just concluded Presidential elections was the active involvement of the United States of America in the events prior, during and after the elections. From when US Secretary of State John Kerry paid a whistle stop visit to caution against the shifting of the election from the earlier scheduled February 14 date (which was shifted to March 28 anyway) and urge against the recourse to violence by the main candidates, to the broadcast by US President Barack Obama directly to the Nigerian people on the eve of the rescheduled date of March 28, there was an unmistakable determination by the US Government to see through the process to the very end. What must be the defining moment of US involvement in the elections in this regard was when the US along with Britain issued a joint statement asking the Nigerian Government not to interfere with the collation process. This was when it appeared that as the results were streaming in from the various states, the incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan and his People Democratic Party was heading for a defeat against his main challenger, General Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressive Congress Party.

    This development was significant because in the run up to the elections, one of the testy issues in the Nigerian public domain was a National Intelligence Estimate from the US which had concluded that disagreements among the fractious Nigerian elite arising from the scheduled 2015 general elections would likely lead to implosion and possible disintegration of the country.

    That the elections have come and gone without the dire predictions coming to pass must have resonated in the American political establishment. In analysing the elections, it is hoped that the legions of political analysts across the political and media spectrum of America would have drawn some useful insights into aspects of Nigerian society and politics which until now have tended to be ignored in the rush to key into the convenient narrative favoured by Western analysts on Africa. They would find that concepts like “ Muslim north, Christian south’ so often used to describe Nigeria do not  really reflect the reality of Nigerian geo-ethnic or geo-religious structure. They would also find that increasing social and economic interaction among Nigerians, coupled with changing demographics over the years have drastically blurred the lines of ethnic and religious divisions.

    These developments have brought along with them changing views and perceptions among Nigerians on the issues of governance, accountability and the opportunities offered by the democratic dispensation to make informed choices based on overriding public and national interest. As the outcome of the elections showed, most Nigerians are now more willing to consider issue-based politics than ethnic or religious based ones.

    It is these changes that were largely responsible for the outcome of the 2015 presidential elections. And it mattered very much that on the canvas of public expectations especially pertaining to two critical issues- insecurity and corruption- among others, which have ravaged Nigeria, President Jonathan and his Peoples Democratic Party has been adjudged to have performed abysmally. In General Buhari whose past records against the two evils measures up favourably and coupled with his party’s commitment to internal democracy as demonstrated in the conduct of its primaries, Nigerians across divides used the opportunity of the elections to make the choices that they eventually did.

    Objective factors in the ground indicate that having crossed this democratic threshold, the momentum of deepening democracy in Nigeria will be sustained in the coming years. And this is where the United States and its Western allies need to come in.

    The first expectation is that the US and its western allies should begin to move away from the narrative of pessimism that characterizes their perspective on Africa. That Nigerians have shown that Africans are ready to make the critical choices necessary to deepen and sustain democracy should not be glossed over. It should be seen as a landmark political development that should help change perceptions and prejudices about African political development. Indeed it is fittingly significant that this is happening in Nigeria being the bell weather country in Africa where such positive development is expected to cascade down to other countries in Africa and beyond.

    Going forward, it is expected that the US and its Western allies would work actively to support this process in order to stop it from derailing. It is instructive that Nigeria where this salutary development has just taken place faces daunting economic challenges. The oil industry which accounts for majority of its income has been severely affected by the downturn in oil prices in the world market ironically occasioned largely by massive US shale oil production. Indeed the US which used to be Nigeria’s biggest crude oil customer has since stopped importing oil from Nigeria. To compound Nigeria’s daunting economic prospects, there is little or no tangible industrial base to divert and take the shock of the effects of the current turmoil in the world oil market on the Nigerian economy.

    It is therefore necessary that Nigeria should be rewarded adequately for keeping faith with democracy. This call for massive economic package in the form of the post Second World War Marshall Plan that assisted Europe recover from the devastation of the war. In the case of Nigeria the economic package should aim at establishing it as the democratic and economic hub of the African continent.

    In the President-elect, Nigerians could not have chosen a better man to play the role expected of a leader for the circumstances they find themselves. From his character disposition and records, he will not play footsie with the security threats to the country and he will definitely tackle the bugbear of corruption that has devastated the country. Importantly too he will be relied upon to firmly guide the transition process that will eventually consolidate democracy and development in Nigeria.

  • The challenges ahead of Buhari’s Victory

    One of the happiest moments for many Nigerians was when the cool-headed Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Professor Attahiru Jega, finally announced the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), General Muhammadu Buhari, as the winner of the just-concluded presidential election in the country. Buhari, after a fourth attempt at becoming president, polled a total votes of 15,424,921 to defeat Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, the incumbent President and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who scored 12,853,162 as well as other aspirants that contested the election. Apart from the agile voters, there was also doggedness on the part of special class of electorate – the aged, the sick and the physically-challenged – who defied the heavy rain, scorching sun in many places and trooped out to exercise their civic obligation. Some community were said to have provided generating sets to recharge card readers while Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), officials used car headlamps to count votes at polling stations when it became too dark.

    The election has been described as the most keenly-contested in recent times in the annals of the nation because the opposition party gave the ruling party, described as the biggest party in Africa, a hot chase for the highest position in the land. The electioneering was certainly not without its low periods that almost derailed the efforts put in place to have a successful exercise. The postponement of the polls, the adoption of the Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), smart card reader and the purported removal bid of the INEC Chairman, were some of the controversies that almost truncated the process and eroded people’s confidence in the credibility of the elections, aptly described by the Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, as the ‘most vicious, unprincipled, vulgar and violent’. When eventually, the people’s resoluteness prevailed, an attempt by a PDP agent, Elder Godsday Orubebe, to stop the announcement of results resurfaced. Interestingly, Orubebe, a former federal Minister for Niger Delta Affairs, who sought the stoppage of the release of the results, allegedly cited partisanship against the INEC chairman. All of that is now history!

    The quest by the opposition party to wrestle power from the ruling PDP was largely hinged on poor performance that is evidenced with the high level of insecurity, unemployment, decaying physical infrastructure, corruption and impunity pervading virtually every sector of our national life. The victory of the APC should, therefore, be a turning point for the common man that have suffered from many years of neglect and deprivation. The reality today is that many people live in abject poverty. Earning a decent living in Nigeria is almost a mirage. The cost of living is extremely outrageous, as workers’ wages cannot really take them home.

    The economy is so much distorted, mismanaged and emaciated that only the rich can now afford the basic comfort of life while a majority – comprising the working class and the dependency stratum including senior citizens – continue to live under untold hardship and abject poverty. Many people have died as a result of hunger, the poor state of our health institutions and complete absence of social security. Unfortunately, the Jonathan-led government seems to be cut-off from this reality. It is this disconnect between the government and the governed that the opposition party has struggled very hard to bridge by taking over governance of the nation that is abundantly blessed with human and material resources.

    Rather than punish public officers found to have compromised their positions, they are even rewarded with national recognitions and appointments. It is in our dear country that abnormality is celebrated as the ideal. The zeal for patriotism, selfless service and excellence no longer have a place in our national life as mediocrity and god-fatherism seem to have taken over. Upholding high moral values is no longer a big deal to many people. It is this desire for bringing sanity into the nation’s affairs that spurred the imperative for change through the ballot. Rather than revamping the ailing economy, as a winning strategy, the Jonathan administration decided to toe the wrong path by dissipating energy and enormous funds on winning re-election through the back door by using people with little or no political weight and relevance. The outcome of the presidential poll has vindicated this. In the process, he was misled into believing that he still enjoyed large political support.

    Now that the wishes of the majority of people have become a reality, it is time for the President-elect to make a difference by turning things around for the better. He should prove cynics wrong that he is neither a religious bigot nor a dictator – the two appellations that nearly cost him the votes of Nigerians. He should avoid taking decisions based on religious, tribal and parochial persuasions. He should serve the people with fervour within the ambit of the law. He has a lot of work ahead of him especially in the areas of revamping the economy, ending the Boko Haram insurgency, curbing unemployment and ending epileptic power supply, among others. More importantly, he should be careful in choosing his cabinet by ensuring that only sound, committed and qualified persons are appointed into the various positions. This should not be limited to politicians and card-carrying members of the APC. He should search for experienced, committed and hardworking professionals and technocrats with proven integrity.

    Buhari should be wary of people who will now pretend to be his friends. This is the period when sycophancy would be at its peak. Many leaders fail and fall because sycophants, who ward-off genuine people having the passion to serve, surround them. The APC should also be wary of politicians that would want to decamp into its fold in a bid to joining the winning train. This should be discouraged otherwise, the party could end up losing focus and this will be a great disappointment to many Nigerians. APC should not allow carpet crossing of politicians into the party for now. It will be unfair to allow new entrants to hijack power and displace old and committed members. The party should now focus more on winning the April 11 polls. Jonathan’s magnanimity of conceding defeat should be lauded considering the fact that it signaled the first time an incumbent Nigerian leader will be defeated at the polls. His display of sportsmanship is impressive. He should commence without delay, the process of handing-over preparatory to May 29.

    The efforts of the INEC Chairman, his team as well as international observers are highly commended while carrying out this sensitive and important national assignment. Jega should work harder by improving on the lapses recorded during the presidential poll. These shortcomings include the malfunctioning of the card readers, minimising cases of invalid and rejected votes and other irregularities experienced during the accreditation of voters. These are still crucial tasks ahead for INEC as Nigerians look forward to free, fair, transparent and credible gubernatorial and states’ house of assembly polls in a matter of days.

    • Kupoluyi writes from Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), adewalekupoluyi@yahoo.co.uk .

  • Oyo 2015: Why we must vote for continuity

    Whenever election is approaching, especially in Oyo State, it is not new to hear people chant the cliché:  ”Ibadan kii sin ‘yan leemeji”; literally meaning “no governor gets a second term in Oyo State”. It is baffling because such position has no scientific while it is quite apparent that the mystery behind this myth will be unraveled during the tenure of incumbent Senator Abiola Ajimobi as governor of the pacesetter state.

    Rather than for people to tarry a bit so as to have rigorous introspection into the causative factors that have been preventing successive governors from being re-elected, they routinely mouth the baseless sentiment that no governor can rule Oyo State consecutively. Perhaps the people were right not to have re-elected any of their previous governors in the state. Why? If you consider the financial resources at their disposal and what they did compared to what Ajimobi has done within a space of 45 months in office, one might then be compelled to also share their wantonly dispelled sentiments.

    With due respect to those who have been governors before Ajimobi in this Fourth Republic, what the incumbent has done so far, in one’s own candid estimation, has surpassed all what previous occupants of the office have done combined.

    Talking about the forces that rolled back the landmark achievements of the Awolowo era, Governor Abiola Ajimobi, during his inaugural address on May 29, 2011, said: “What stares us in the face today are nothing but the ruins of that noble pedigree. Even the most generous commentator on Nigeria’s affairs will not deny that Oyo State is no longer the pacesetter that it used to be. The labour of our heroes past has been lost in the vortex of vanity. Our public infrastructure is dilapidated. Our public institutions have been compromised. The psyche of our people has been bruised. Our state has ceased to be the reference point for laudable programmes for which it earned her nobility. We have, on the reverse, become a staple on reports on violence and brigandage, corruption, street fight and lingering political crises. The duty of government as guarantor of public peace has been performed in the breach”.

    The above obviously marked the resolve of Governor Ajimobi’s to make the state return to the glorious era.

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) administration led by Governor Ajimobi has left no one in doubt as to its capacity to effect change within the shortest possible time. The state, which was hitherto famed for violence, is now a safer haven for both people and investors.

    The establishment of the joint security task force code-named “Operation Burst” has helped in stemming the menace of insecurity in the state. The effect of this is that many investors are trooping to the state. Cases like murder, armed robbery and kidnappings have drastically reduced.

    To make water available for the people, many water works across the state including Asejire Dam and Eleyele waterworks were repaired to improve water supply effectiveness from 10 per cent to about 80 per cent. Once the new Federal Government improves electricity supply, the effect of the repair, which is currently hammered by poor power supply, will be felt by all residents as potable water will begin to run in dry taps and in homes across cities and towns.

    In terms of employment for the teeming youth populace, the incumbent administration has scored very high points. In addition to the 20,000 youths engaged under the Youth Empowerment Scheme of Oyo State (YES-O), over 5,300 teachers were recently recruited into the service. The beauty of it is that these teachers were recruited within their localities and posted therein.

    To make standard of education meaningful, the incumbent administration has rehabilitated many classrooms while the newly introduced model schools in each of the senatorial districts will be a thing of joy for the educational sector when completed. To bridge the gap between graduate primary school teachers, they have been provided with enhanced salary package while more than 7000 teachers have been trained.

    Some people have argued that the incumbent administration removed traders from the roads but they have forgotten that it was done for their own good. They have also forgotten that the two previous administrations before Ajimobi also demolished shops without providing alternatives. But Ajimobi constructed a massive modern market consisting 3,000 shops in Scout Camp area of Ibadan and given free to traders.

    The government also provided traders in markets across the state about N500 million interest-free loans. Over 6,000 traders benefitted from the loan policy. Sensing that health is wealth, the Ajimobi administration has brought in about 300 medical personnel to help tackle the scourge of health challenges.

    In the area of stomach infrastructure, which has become a norm in the country, this is the only government that has taken the people into consideration. The ‘Ajumose’ free buses are the first in the history of the state. While it is free for workers and students, it is subsidized by about 75 per cent by the government for commuters compared to what commercial vehicles charge.

    No one would have thought that a company like Shoprite would have sited two outlets in Ibadan, one of which is its largest outlets in West Africa.  States like Ogun, Osun, Ekiti and Ondo are still struggling to have one. That means they have seen what many people were unable to see. And another advantage is that the more of these companies we have, the more jobs are offered to residents.  The newly rehabilitated Agodi Gardens now plays host to renowned artistes and entertainers while offering world-class recreational services to tourists and fun seekers.

    The upgrading of the satellite campuses of the Polytechnic, Ibadan at Saki and Eruwa to full fledged institutions is one of the achievements that will continue to linger in the minds of the good people of Ibarapa and Oke-Ogun.

    As against the traditional practice, Oyo State is now a construction site as various ongoing works across the five geo-political zones of the state bear testimonies to the infrastructural development policy of the governor and his party. Oyo State has never had it so good.

    His relationship with workers and the good people of the state has endeared him to first-class traditional rulers and opinion leaders in the state. To the good people of the state, the title of Aare-Atunluse of Ibadanland bestowed on Governor Ajimobi by the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Samuel Odulana is but an endorsement of another term in office following his urban renewal efforts in Ibadan and infrastructural development across the state.

    All these achievements cannot but make me to conclude that it is by re-electing Abiola Ajimobi for another term that the state can move forward. At this point in time when the APC is assuming leadership at the centre, the people of the state must not play into the hands of political marauders by voting any other person than Abiola Ajimobi. Oyo State cannot afford to be in the opposition because one of the reasons why development has been delayed is because those who hold sway in Abuja don’t want progress at the state simply because we don’t allow them to feast on our collective purse.

    As we go to the poll this week, a vote for Abiola Ajimobi and all other APC candidates is a vote for continuous peace, stability and development.

     • Sunday Ogundipe writes from Oyo State

     

  • A philosophical reflection on the Nigerian project

    One of the perennial problems that dominate the reflections of philosophers is the issue of human action, and whether such actions are free or determined by some powers beyond human comprehension. In other words, when a person carries out a particular, say, political act, should that person be blamed/praised for the consequences of that act or not? If we are to be praised or blamed for whatever action we initiate—whether social, economic, political or personal—then the implication is that we are morally responsible for such actions. We were not in any way compelled to make decisions. Rather, we arrived at a particular decision after usually painstaking deliberation. However, if we were compelled into taking any decision—through external or internal duress—then we cannot be held liable for whatever consequences arise from the action.

    I have definitely caricatured the debate, which, in the character of philosophical problems, is usually more complex and complicated than my simplistic rendering. Shakespeare is not really a philosopher, yet the epigraph of this article—taken from his Julius Caesar—shows him taking side in this philosophical issue through the mouth of Cassius. What then can Cassius’ philosophical statement teach us about the project of nation building in Nigeria?

    Contemporary Nigeria has a lot in common with ancient Rome. For one, both are highly political societies, always battling for the consolidation of democratic processes. Second, Rome achieved the zenith of national greatness that Nigeria has embarked upon since independence in 1960. The critical difference lies in the fact that while Rome had the privilege of inheriting the cultural and political legacy of Greece, Nigeria inherited the albatross of colonial encumbrances. Thus, Rome rode to its glory almost effortlessly (of course, not forgetting the countless hordes of barbarians along its borders ceaselessly warring to undermine that greatness). On the other hand, Nigeria has had to battle with crippling institutional and value deficits that had crucially slowed its march towards greatness beyond what ought to have been since independence.

    What then can we learn from Cassius’ philosophy in Julius Caesar? Julius Caesar was fast becoming the dictator who shook Rome to its foundation with the force of his charisma and brutality. Often, he explained his rise to the fortunate intrusion of the stars, or the fates, in human affairs. For instance, in Act ii, scene ii, Caesar declared: ‘It seems to me most strange that men should fear,/Seeing that death, a necessary end,/Will come when it will come.’ Cassius rejected that fatalistic interpretation. Of course, he believed that certain events are beyond human control. However, giving the fates the credit for human successes and failures is too convenient a cosmological argument for any reasonable human agency. That explanation constrains us too much into passive submissiveness. And conveniently, it makes Cassius and the rest who opposed Caesar’s rise cosmologically incapacitated to challenge his dictatorial tendencies! Eventually, Cassius and Brutus successfully planned and executed the murder of Caesar.

    Cassius’ statement reveals a critical reading of the condition and responsibility of public life and performance. If we fail to make our nation work, he seemed to be saying, we should really not blame our stars. Rather, it is our humanity as statesmen and citizens that make us weak or underlings. Brutus, for instance, was torn between his love for Caesar as a friend and his ultimate duty to the Republic as a citizen. And in spite of the pull of love, Brutus dared to do his duty to Rome as he perceived it. According to him, ‘Not that I lov’d Caesar less, but that I lov’d Rome more.’

    Nigeria has been on the road to greatness for more than fifty-two years now. The destination is the achievement of greatness in the form of national integration around the Nigerian Dream which every citizen from Warri to Kontagora, and from Yola to Oshogbo would associate with. The dream of national integration requires the capacity to redirect the people’s loyalties away from their ethnic enclaves to the civil public. The first stage of the Nigerian Project requires that the Nigerian State begins the process of making life comfortable. This involves making the civic public a space of equity and justice, where the public good is available to every citizen. Once the citizens are convinced of the good intent of the State, then the second phase of national integration begins.

    Cassius represents an ambivalent politician. This is because, in the first place, his intentions about Rome were seemingly genuine. He wanted to prevent the rise of Julius Caesar as a dictator in a republican context. Yet, Cassius also came across as an ambitious person. Yet, in spite of this assessment, he acted for the sake of the Republic. To get a citizen to act often arise from the personal belief that the State is worth serving and defending, or dying for. This is the root of patriotism. Of course, Cassius’ and Brutus’ brand of patriotism may be less than worthwhile, yet Nigeria needs a crop of followers who have enough faith in the capacity of the state to bring their hopes and aspirations to fruition.

    Immanuel Kant, the eighteenth century German philosopher, played a huge intellectual role in defining the Enlightenment age in European socio-philosophical history. For him, the slogan of the Enlightenment is sapere aude! (Dare to think!) We can equally say that nation building in Nigeria requires a serious form of political audacity. We can call it the audacity to dream. Nigeria requires a crop of intellectuals, politicians, statesmen and officials who can dare to dream about justice, patriotism, equity, progress and all the ideals of greatness befitting a nation like Nigeria. These would be people who will give the lie to the doctrine of the fates by seizing the opportunities given them to serve and be different. A nation is not built on the whims and caprices of fate; rather, it is built on courage and the strength to will political aspiration into existence through the force of conviction.

    When we get to this level, we can go on then to thank our stars that we have been born Nigerians and had been given the chance to rewrite the political history of a nation that was once floundering but regained its national footing and resumed its march through the concerted efforts of people who refused to be underlings.