The Nation Newspaper

Category: Opinion

  • Bayelsa and politics of self-destruction

    On March 6, the Supreme Court put paid to the ambition of Timepre Silva to upturn the election which saw  Hon. Henry Seriake Dickson succeed him as governor in 2012. Syvla had sought to set aside an earlier judgement by the same apex court on  his  quest to be recognised as the candidate of the PDP vide the primary election of 2012. This long-winding case will continue to generate interest because of the associated issues in the legal realm and indeed its reflection on the local politics of the state.

    Even as the case has come to an end, several issues continue  to elicit reactions.  One is the penchant by some members of the political class to engage in endless litigation even when their cause or their case is hopeless thereby tying up valuable time and resources. It is as if they seek to rig through the courts what the democratic processes have declined to award them. Why indeed is this unrelenting  disposition of throwing huge amounts of money at wasteful litigation? Or is it the popular pull him down (PhD) syndrome to which Bayelsa State has not proved immune? Or shall we now see it as part of our political DNA playing up frivolity over substance?

    These questions  bear correlation to politics in Bayelsa State where the incumbent governor is assailed by the activities of those dark forces opposed to the government’s singular focus on socio-economic development of the state. For those unfamiliar with the Bayelsa story of great restoration, the last three years have been quite remarkable in terms of solid achievements particularly in education, health, infrastructure, economic diversification, manpower development and a sundry  other empowerment programmes touching on the welfare of the people.

    Essentially, there is a consensus among Bayelsans and outsiders alike that Governor Dickson has so far recorded a scintillating performance  unequalled in the annals of the state. Ironically, there are some who, misguided by a tiny fraction of the greedy elite formation, are not happy with the achievements of the government. Imagine such pronouncements like “Na road we go chop?” or “Na bridge we go chop?” These are regrettable comments you hear from  even among the educated.And when you ask them why they are not happy seeing so much development everywhere, you’re told the governor is not distributing money as they used to have it.

    Indeed, there is this sense of entitlement euphemistically called ‘stomach infrastructure’ and it is being seen as the right thing to do because that was the practice in the past. But how can the state develop when state resources are distributed rather than invested  in durable initiatives that have real value for the overall development of the people and society at large?

    While physical infrastructure will drive development and ensure everyone is enabled to provide their own ‘stomach infrastructure’, the primitive sharing of state resources in the manner of apostles of ‘stomach infrastructure’ only ends in waste deposited in the toilet! And it is only a matter of time before they come back for more.

    To be sure, Governor Dickson had made it known to all from the outset that his administration would be different. Said he in his inaugural address :” We shall undertake fundamental reform of governance culture to emphasize transparency, accountability, due process and value re-orientation by all institutions and functionaries of government, beginning with my humble self… there shall be zero tolerance for corruption… The days of enrichment without labour and funding the greed and avarice of a few at the expense of the development of our people is over”.

    It was a future foretold. Evidently, the governor saw the current ugly developments coming because he knew how much critical values had nose-dived. A reformation and a re-ordering would be inescapable to have a sane society which can only be the basis for development. From carrying out the reforms he promised in government, building institutions and making them work by enforcing compliance, the quest for re-orientation has been a major success and a clear departure from the anything-goes situation the government inherited. Just as the policies and programmes of the Restoration Agenda were being put in place for implementation, government was also cleaning up the Augean stable, enthroning due diligence and accountability in expenditure. This was not done by mere words of mouth but by the enactment of  relevant legislation and living by example on the part of the leadership.

    This is why it has been possible to deliver on the free education policy of the government; to regularly pay for WAEC, NECO and JAMB fees for all students, and to ensure the scholarship scheme for numerous Bayelsans up to PhD in local and foreign top rated schools are realistic. This is why Yenagoa has become a modern state capital with newly constructed roads and the first ever flyover to ease traffic , the several roads and bridges lnking the various communities in the state, the reason people can now drive straight to Nembe from Yenagoa for the first time. It explains why we now have the first world class diagnostic centre in Bayelsa State, among so many other uplifting infrastructural monuments and other life changing schemes and programmes spanning the state.

    Admittedly, the stomach infrastructure mentality is not peculiar to Bayelsa State but is  a national malaise which represents a tragedy in our political culture. No one can pretend not to know or appreciate the level of underdevelopment and huge poverty in Bayelsa State which had  over the years constituted a huge shame to the Ijaw nation. We have had governments in the state but none has had such massive socio-economic impact on the people as this Restoration Government.Yet there are  people who ought to know better and  be in the vanguard of championing the cause of development but who are instead fuelling disaffection and dissatisfaction, instigating the populace against the government even on very basic, commonsense measures.

    Why, for instance, should workers in the state bureaucracy feel bad over the insistence of the government on punctuality and presence at work violation of  which will attract sanction? That government should pay salary for work not done? Or why should the same set of people feel that the insistence of the government that the Pay As You Earn (PAYE), a federal government law, should not be applicable in the state?

    In another dimension, some wealthy Bayelsans who should use their resources to advance the living condition of their less-fortunate brothers and sisters are not doing so but only interested in throwing themselves around as “big men” in society and regrettably even doing greater harm by sponsoring hate campaign against the government of the day. The poverty at home is not an issue to them but their selfish and inordinate posturing to gain political power and return the state to the past’s savage soul. This is why an individual is going about boasting that he has set aside N15 billion for the sole purpose of removing the incumbent governor. Invariably, the crab in the basket analogy which doesn’t allow any of the crabs get out of the basket because they pull down one another is apt. But at what cost to the society and to the people?

    It is not about Governor Seriake Dickson but  about the sustenance of the collective good of the people who are beneficiaries of the good works of the government. It is also about decent sense of leadership and acknowledgement that Bayelsa State has  had a governor who is changing the ethos of government from that of profligacy and Father Christmas to the pursuit of  the common good.

    Frantz Fanon has  told us, “each generation must, out of relative obscurity, discover its mission, fulfill it or betray it”. Governor Henry Seriake Dickson  has  long discovered his  mission and is working assiduously to fulfill it. The challenge before all Bayelsans and indeed all Nigerians is whether they are doing the same.

     

    •Iworiso-Markson, Chief Press Secretary to Bayelsa State Governor sent this piece from Yenagoa.

  • Of a visioner and his legacies

    A Collins’ dictionary defines legacy, among others, as “a gift by will, especially of money or personal property; something handed down or received from an ancestor or predecessor.” While much has been said about the unprecedented physical infrastructure—and more would still be said before his constitutionally allowed tenure ends in May—that the Fashola administration bequeathed Lagosians, not much may have been said about the man and his essence as the real legacy upon which these infrastructural legacies rests. The dictionary’s definition of legacy “as something handed down or received from an ancestor or predecessor” fits perfectly with the fact that Babatunde Raji Fashola most likely would not have happened on the governance scene of Lagos State if Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu had not materialised. Asiwaju, who is himself a legacy whose administration created the template and the strong policy thrust and direction for a new Lagos, but has since moved on to create other compelling legacies, much of which have altered the nation’s political landscape forever. Therefore, since Asiwaju is himself a legacy, it goes without saying that he must beget another ‘son’ just like him. Hence Fashola became that legacy that was “handed down” by Tinubu, his predecessor.

    Governor Fashola has fundamentally changed governance not only in Lagos but Nigeria in general. He has changed the way people think about government in a democratic dispensation in this clime probably more than he himself is yet to realise. He has brought what may be termed a different pedagogy into how a society should be governed and plugged into modernity. He’s a reference point by both the Nigerian people and his governor colleagues even across the political divide. He has become the “poster child” in everything noble and worth emulating in the art of governance that he is, for the most part, the reason why Nigerians both at home and the Diaspora are upset with their state governors for lackluster performance. Some of his colleagues had publicly stated that they would like to be like Fashola, an unusual admission of the man’s many accomplishments in a society where ego and ‘bigmannism’ rules.

    Perhaps another way to interrogate the Fashola phenomenon in the governance architecture of Lagos state is to situate him within the context of dialectical materialism, that economic, political and philosophical system of the German Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Fashola encapsulates the dialectical on one hand, of these two philosophers in his spiritual awareness as the fundamental driving force of his totality from which his values and worldview are derived, which crystalizes into his political and philosophical beliefs as to how his society should be. The materialism, on the other hand, can be said to represent the unprecedented (economic) physical infrastructures that dots the length and breadth of the Centre of Excellence. Thus, Fashola can be said to be the personification of Marx and Engel’s dialectical materialism.

    Although the governor had said on several occasions that much of what he did had their root in his predecessor, Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu before he left office, which he handed over to him to build upon. While this is true, what a discerning mind cannot fail to recognize is that Governor Fashola has in the recess of his mind some core values that he not only lives by but has defined his administration. Having a foundation on which to build may be good, but the willingness to act on conviction in accordance with your values is quite another. He may have been askance of politics at the outset, but the indisputable is that Fashola, the man, possesses a rare, but clear vision of how a society aspiring to modernity should be. The seed to do great exploit had been divinely implanted in his soul. It just took a ‘seeing’ mortal in the person of Asiwaju to recognize that Fashola possesses an acorn in him that needs to be given expression to grow into a mighty oak tree. I can say without any fear of contradiction that much of the phenomenal transformation in Lagos today are the things that had agitated Fashola’s mind for a long time when the possibility of his becoming a state governor was as good as being elected say, the Mayor of the City of Chicago in the US or the Secretary of the African Union (AU).

    As a Chicago-based media consultant to the Tinubu administration, it was my professional responsibility to follow Tinubu and his team around whenever they’re in the United States for official engagements, most especially in the Midwest region. This day was particularly very hectic. Our itineraries had started at Chicago’s City Hall where then governor Tinubu was hosted by then mayor of the City of Chicago, Richard M. Daley. From there we moved to Richard J. Daley College where the governor and his team were shown around the college campus with particular emphasis on the school’s computer lab. Leaving the school, we proceeded to Chicago State University. From the university, we were back to Akainyah Art Gallery outside the Chicago loop where Dr. Akainyah, the Ghanaian owner of the gallery had a small reception for Tinubu and his entourage. Babatunde Fashola, then Chief of Staff, paid for a particular work of art that the governor liked. We finally retired to the Chicago south side home of late Dr. Nurudeen Olowopopo in the evening to kick back, relax and unwind.

    At Dr. Olowopopo’s house the entourage and Tinubu’s enthusiasts in Chicago formed themselves into small clusters, some with their plates of food on one hand and their choice drinks on the other, discussing anything they deemed important. At about 11pm, Dele Alake announced to the house, particularly to the Nigerian entourage that there was going to be another stop at the home of another prominent Nigerian that same night. Probably realising how this piece of information was hardly music to the ears of some of the governor’s aides, Alake quickly added that anyone not interested in going with the governor should feel free to return to the hotel as the bus was still waiting outside. For me, going with Asiwaju and others at that time of night was a non-starter as I needed enough sleep for the next day’s agenda. So, I would go with the bus to the hotel to pick up my car and go home, I told myself.

    Fashola, Ayobolu, then the CPS; Fadahunsi, a photographer from LTV and a few aides, probably must have also reasoned that whatever was going to be discussed at this Nigerian’s house could not be important enough to warrant their presence. Also with Mary Swope, owner of Chicago’s Mahogany Foundation, we were on our way. We engaged in another round of conversation in the bus about the day’s events, which dovetailed into, yet again, the Nigerian condition. Some of us chipped in. But one after the other, people started to fall off the conversation while some guys had started snoring. The discourse soon became a monologue as Fashola kept talking to no one in particular as he passionately expressed his displeasure about the filth that had become synonymous with Lagos. Fashola harped mostly on the city’s infrastructural deficit and environmental/sanitation issues that I wished quietly that he kept quiet to allow me to also take a quick nap. He indeed mentioned the eyesore that was Oshodi then as one of the degrading environmental problems that blighted the city. This recollection is to underscore the fact that Fashola had a clear idea about what ought to be and how a people should live in society at a time he could not have imagined being a governor. Governor Fashola may not have sired Akinwunmi Ambode, but there’s no doubt that their loincloths are cut from the same fabric sewed by their political progenitor. Therefore, the APC governorship candidate is another legacy waiting in the wings.

    • Odere is a media practitioner. He can be reached at femiodere@gmail.com

  • New leadership beckons at APCON

    In the last six months or so, Udeme Ufot’s name has been a recurring decimal on the national stage. If it is not about a national honour, it is about a national appointment, both coming in quick succession. The question on the lips of many who know the ebullient advertising guru is not whether another recognition might be in the offing, but – what, next? Where, indeed, is he going?

    When the list of nominees for the 2014 edition of national honourees was published in September last year, the surprise inclusion was the name of Udeme Ufot. The surprise was not because of his ineligibility for the award, but because, coming to the advertising industry for the first time, the award eluded those that could be considered his seniors in the industry – the veterans.

    His fellow honouree, Sir Steve Omojafor, is a veteran, all right, not belonging to Ufot’s generation of advertising practitioners.

    Never in the history of the awards has the advertising industry been considered.  If Ufot thought the national honour was all that would come his way from Abuja, he was wrong. The federal government proved this recently when it appointed him chairman of the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) – an appointment that is seen as a correction of the anomaly that was done last year when, contrary to conventional practice and against any known precedence, somebody from outside the industry was appointed into the position, more to satisfy political interests than for anything else. The new council was inaugurated March 5, by the supervising Minister of Information, Edem Duke.

    The common thread that runs through Ufot’s success story is that he has never fought or, in the Nigerian parlance, lobbied for any position that he has held. He has had success dropped on his laps by providence. He achieves on a platter of gold what others get through application of human and material resources.

    The signs that success would dog Ufot’s path showed early when he graduated top of his class with a second class upper honours degree, winning the Joe Adeka prize for best Design student at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, in 1981. A two-year stint as assistant manager with Desmark Advertising in Calabar, between 1982 and 1984, was all that he needed to be equipped to play in the centre of action – Lagos, where he joined Insight Communications as senior visualiser, rising to the position of deputy creative director over the next five years.

    His first attempt at part-ownership of an advertising agency was not a particularly successful one. With a former colleague at Insight, he teamed up at Complete Advertising Services (Casers) in 1988 where he served as creative director.  The partnership collapsed after less than one year. Not being one to be discouraged by setbacks, Udeme moved on. And with two other colleagues, he set up SO&U (the initials of the last names of the founders of the top-rate advertising agency) in 1990.

    Twenty-five years down the road, the list of the nation’s top five advertising agencies cannot be complete without SO&U. A list of the top 10 advertising practitioners in the country cannot have the name, Udeme Ufot, missing.

    In the giant strides that he has recorded in his chosen profession, Ufot has, at every stage, represented the generational shift that has been noticeable in the advertising industry over the years. In all the positions he has held in his professional association – the Association of Advertising Practitioners of Nigeria (AAPN) – he has either been drafted or returned unopposed, that is, if there was an election.

    He was elected into the executive council of the association in 1993, and the following year, elected unopposed as honorary secretary and chief executive officer of the association’s secretariat. Four years later, in 1997, he was invited to stand for election as vice president, and was returned unopposed. In 1999, at the age of 41, he became the youngest president of AAPN, having again been invited to stand for election in which he was returned unopposed.

    During his tenure as president of AAPN, Udeme recorded various achievements that include stabilisation of operations at the association’s secretariat; massive fund raising for the construction of the association’s secretariat and considerable progress in the construction of the secretariat; building of understanding among stakeholder groups in the advertising industry and diffusing of tension that had been on the rise between the AAPN and the emerging Media Independent Practitioners Association of Nigeria (MIPAN). His deft handling of the crisis led to the acceptance of the new association by AAPN and effective collaboration between the two associations for the good of the industry.

    Ufot also succeeded in building understanding and strengthening relationship between advertising agencies and media owners. As president of AAPN, he chaired various committees of APCON and served for three terms on its council. Today, he has returned as chairman of APCON, a position many in the industry believe is a befitting reward for somebody that has contributed immeasurably to the growth of the advertising industry in Nigeria. Is it just a coincidence that a few months after being one of the first in the industry to be recognized for a national honour, he has been saddled with the responsibility of piloting the affairs of the regulatory body for advertising practice in the country? Many don’t think so.

    Success in the advertising industry in which Udeme bestrides like a colossus thrust him on the national stage as far back as 2000. That year, he served on the media sub-committee of the Celebration Planning Committee for Nigeria’s 40th Independence Anniversary, and was tasked with managing publicity for the programme.

    His successful handling of the independence anniversary task caught the attention of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), which invited him to serve as chairman of its media sub-committee for three summits. And for the 12th edition of the summit in 2009, he was made co-chair of the organizing committee.

    Ufot’s interests are not limited to advertising and corporate Nigeria. He mentors also on entrepreneurship. As a facilitator in training programmes organized by the FATE Foundation, he teaches aspiring entrepreneurs marketing and communication skills that are borne out of his own experience.

    Ufot’s organizational ability is evident in the manner he has coordinated The Concerned Akwa Ibom Professionals in Lagos, the group that produced the man who could become the next governor of Akwa Ibom State – Udom Emmanuel.

    It is worthy to note that Udeme has not embarked on his journey to success alone. His wife and soul mate of over 32 years, Dorothy Udeme Ufot, is the first female lawyer of Akwa Ibom origin to be honoured as Senior Advocate of Nigeria.

    Described by those who know him as highly skilled, a consensus builder and motivator, Ufot is highly respected in corporate Nigeria. With his success at the helm of affairs of the SO&U Group that incorporates four other agencies, namely, Publicis Consultants Soulcomm, Quest Advertising, Lucid Adio Visual and MaxiMedia Global, many see him as representing the new generation of leaders Nigeria needs.

    The snag, however, is that Ufot is not a politician. He has never had to fight for any position he has held – whether within or outside the advertising industry. Those close to him say his gentle disposition is not suited for the turbulence of Nigerian politics. Nor does he know how to describe a colour by another name, which is a major prerequisite for participation in politics. Perhaps the same Providence that has made him succeed where he has no godfather will continue to work in his favour. Who knows?

  • Abubakar Gimba: ”Thoughts of yesterday!”

    Abubakar Gimba: ”Thoughts of yesterday!”

    “I was in the Business Centre situated in the outpatient ground floor of the Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, New Delhi, India, browsing the Internet to update myself with the elections results of our 2011 April General Elections, when the voice of a man that sounded typically Nigerian came reeling and condemning the reported weeping of General Buhari for the plight he foresaw our nation seemed to have been programmed to fall into…” This is where I met Abubakar Gimba. I regret that I never met him in person but only on the pages of papers.

    On one of my holidays, when I got chatting with Very Rev. Fr. Jerry D. O’Connell Spsof Minna diocese, I mentioned to him the above piece written by one AbubakarGimba titled: ”Et tu, Monsignor Kukah?” as a reaction to the homily of Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah at the burial mass of the late Kaduna State Governor, Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa at Fadan-Kagoma, Kaduna State on December 20, 2012. I told him my take on the matter and how I wrote a rejoinder to the said article which I captioned ”Re-Et tu, Monsignor Kukah?”

    The old man smiled and told me that Gimba is his friend. He said the man is a renowned scholarfrom Niger State and he lives in Minna. This heightened my cursiosity. Fr. O’Connell soon rewarded my curiosity with a book titled: ”Thoughts of yesterday.” Guess who the author is;behold, AbubakarGimbait was who has drawn my attention by his wit and rendition of prose earlier referred to. I owe a world of gratitude to Fr. O’Connell for the book which I now hold very dear to my heart. The fascinating thing about this book is that it has an autograph of the author plus a short note which reads: ”For Rev. Fr. J. D. O’Connell. For the commitment to the education of our youth, even a constant shining star to be followed. Dated, May 24, 2012.” For me, these are timeless words on the marble.

    Later events would reveal the identity of this man who has stood tall in the literary world.  Gimba worked in both the private and public sectors. The graduate of economics served in the Niger Sate Civil Service, rising to become a permanent secretary before departing for the banking industry where he was Executive Director of Union Bank of Nigeria Plc and United Bank for Africa Plc at different times before retiring. Little wonder the federal government decorated him with the national honour of the Order of the Federal Republic, OFR.

    The quintessential man was also chairman, Evaluation and Implementation (EAIC) of IBB University, Lapai, Niger State, a former national president of ABU Alumni Association and a past president of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA). Interestingly,he has written in virtually all genres of literature as his works reveal: Trail of Sacrifice, Innocent Victims, Sunset for a Mandarin, Sacred Apples, Footprints and Witnesses to Tears (all novels); Inner Rumblings and This Land of Ours (poetry); A Toast in the Cemetery (short story); Letter to the Muslim Fundamentalist and Letters to My Children (social dialogue), A Conversation from the Letter-box (Epistolary), A Matter of Faith (Faith) and two books of essays, Once Upon a Reed and Why Am I Doing This?.

    He was also a columnist with some Nigerian newspapers particularly the Nigerian Tribune and Weekly Trust. Gimba’s literary prowess seems endless; a knack that has endeared him to many Nigerians, including this writer. My reference to his reaction on Kukah’s homily further drew the attention of compatriots one of whom is Francis Damina who needed my permission for the article to be republished elsewhere. Although we have never seen each other, it was from Damina I got a message that necessitated this piece in honour of the man I respect and admire. On my way to Port Harcourt, Damina called and since I didn’t pick he sent an SMS. It was when I stopped over in Abba that I perused through the message which reads: ”…Are you aware that AbubakarGimba died? I (sic) just left MuhammedHaruna’s.” For the rest of the journey, I kept pondering on the life and times of the man l met only on the pages of papers.

    The iconic writer will be remembered for his contribution to the world of literary arts. As much as his immediate family, the ABU Alumni Association and the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) will miss him, all young writers have missed a tireless guru whose pen never goes dry. His sponsorship of an annual Schools Carnival of Art and Festival of Songs in Niger State for 10 years shows his vision for young writers in Nigeria.

    Hear him on Literature and the path of our future: ”For our literature in the 21st century to be relevant, it must encourage public discourse about every aspect of our national life in a sober intellectual manner, not in vitriolic exchange; it must enhance and enrich public discourse, not fuel it into a social conflagration. We must, as writers, encourage our compatriots to talk to each other. And listen to each other. Let’s encourage the convening of a national sovereign conference.” It would appear that his voice like that of other patriotic Nigerians was what gave rise to the national confab – something Nigerians will not forget in a hurry.

    Gimba is one of the few Nigerians who sees the role of women as pivotal to national development. I find his sense of reasoning revolutionary. In The Woman, All Hail the Woman, he compares the human community with a colony of bees. He argued that since the human society is made up of males and females, the man plays the role of the drones (though the advancement in science is threatening this role), while the woman plays the role of the queen bee (a role not threatened by cloning and other human replication sciences).

    He says in this respect, ”women like its queen bee counterpart, occupies a uniquely central position in the community for its continued existence and self-regulation. And just as the queen bee is the rallying point for the bee colony to attain its goal of constructing hive and producing honey, the woman in the human society is similarly positioned to ensure that the society attains its goal of ‘hive and ”honey.” He,therefore, surmised that the natural roles of women as mother and, wives uniquely places them as the custodian of our societal values. As such, motherhood is the most important, most sacred responsibility on earth. What could be truer as we recently celebrated the International Women’s Day?

    MallamGimbais a devout Muslim who was never shy of his religion and lived it to the best of his ability. Although I have not laid my hands on his work, Letter to the Muslim Fundamentalist, I believe he had genuine concerns about using religion as a vehicle of violence. His title, Writing for Peace, confirms that. While I am his fan on many fronts, I disagree with him on issues like the ones I raised in the rejoinder earlier talked about and his presentation ”Where are we going?” of 1998 at a forum of some leaders from the Niger South Senatorial Zone. Part of his submission, ”our tribalism must not have any agenda of some superiority complex over others, but must have a duty and responsibility to defend and protect ourselves against being made pawns and prey of the self-seeking agenda of others” seems paranoid. It appears as though he is baptising tribalism. I regret his absence to throw light on this discourse.

    Reacting to his death, Hon. Jerry Agada former ANA president said; ”it pains me to bid farewell to this pioneer writer and fine gentleman of great repute. I had known AbubakarGimba through the pages of some of his novels before we eventually met at the 1997 ANA convention in Abuja when he was elected ANA president and I as Assistant General Secretary. Since then, it has been a symbiotic relationship built on mutual respect for one another.

    We will continue to cherish his exemplary leadership attributes which Nigeria will sure miss…”Of him The Sun’s Henry Akubuiro wrote, ”in death, Gimba’s cerebral testaments on print remain deathless.”

    May Allah grant his soul eternal rest inAljannatulFirdausi!

    Fr. J.J Dyikuk is of the Centre for the Study of African Culture and Communication (CESACC), Catholic Institute of West Africa (CIWA), Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

    Email:justinejohndyikuk@gmail.com

    Twitter: @just4realsquare

  • Buhari and the First Lady syndrome

    I have read with bated breath the outrage that greeted General Muhammadu Buhari, the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate’s remark that he would scrap the position of the First Lady if he wins the forthcoming presidential election.

    It is worrisome to read the sentimental and deplorable arguments marshaled by some so called rights groups in support of the office of the First Lady which has remained a conduit pipe for draining the resources of the country.

    It was shocking to read a statement credited to one Mrs. Nkechi Mba, the  National President of the National Council of Women Societies (NCWS), in which she condemned Gen Buhari’s statement. Without any statistical proof, she said that Nigerian women are not happy about Buhari’s planto scrap the office of the First Lady.

    because since inception of the President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, many women have been empowered, and the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan has been advocating for more women in both elective and appointive positions.

    Another Canada-based gender rights activist, Chioma Ikejiani, leading a protest, called on Nigerian women to rise against former the military Head of State, arguing that if he succeeds, the action would put an end to the development of women through his resolve to make the Office of the First Lady extinct.

    Riding on their lame argument, the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, who has been feasting on the controversial office emphasized the importance of the office of the First Lady in the Nigerian politics, saying that the office has been an avenue for mobilizing women for mass participation in politics.

    What a myopic and jejune argument in support of  naked illegality. The office, in the first place is unconstitutional. Despite of the fact that there is no constitutional backing  for the office of the First Lady, huge financial resources  of the state are usually deployed to service it with impunity. The allocation is often not within the annual budget and is never accounted for.

    Do we really need the office of a First Lady to mobilize and empower women in the country? The answer to this is simply no.

    Since 1957, when Nigerian delegates sat to deliberate at the 1957 Constitutional Conference, there has always been the presence of women. Although Nigerian politics have been dominated by men, women have somehow found their ways to  holding public offices.

    The concept of having a First Lady in Nigeria could be rightly traced to the period of  Flora Lugard, the wife of , the first colonial Governor-General of Nigeria, Lord Frederick Lugard .

    It is to her credit that the country got her name, Nigeria. With the present structure of 36 states, the Federal Capital Territory and 774 local government areas, Nigeria is believed to have over 800 women who enjoy this position of eminence as ‘first among equals’.

    At Nigeria’s independence, Mrs. Flora Azikiwe became the country’s First Lady and she frequently attended state functions with her husband.

    After her were a few other First Ladies  like Victoria Aguyi-Ironsi and Victoria Gowon that were prominent despite the relative short time they spent in ‘office’ (State house). They merely  played ceremonial role of hosting dignitaries from within and outside the country  dinners and chatting with their wives while the husbands hold formal meetings.

    The office of the First Lady took a new dimension during the era of Gen Ibrahim Babangida when the late wife, Maryam started her pet project called Better Life for Rural women. After Maryam Babangida came Mrs. Mariam Abacha. She also launched her pet project known as the Family Support Programme and an offshoot known as Family Economic Advancement Programme.

    In 1999 when Abubakar assumed office after the demise of Gen. Abacha, his wife Hon. Justice Fati Abubakar established a Non-Governmental Organisation known as Women’s Rights Advancement and Protection Alternative.

    The trend continued when democracy returned in 1999. Stella Obasanjo the First Lady of Nigeria’s former President Olusegun Obasanjo also set up her own project known as Child Care Trust.  By the time former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua assumed power in 2007, his wife, Turai, also toed the line of previous First Ladies by setting up the Women and Youth Empowerment Foundation.

    Mrs. Patience Jonathan inaugurated the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme Maternal and Child Health otherwise known as MAMA Project with a declaration that she should no longer be called Patience but ‘Mama Peace’.

    Unlike others before her, she has continued to wield excessive powers and influence to the extent of being alleged of exercising  some political powers by endorsing political candidates for election which usually do not allow for a level playing ground among contestants.

    This has resulted into some kind of  crisis and interparty brouhaha. In fact the latest trend is for First Ladies to want to combine their unconstitutional role with elective offices or control the apparatus of political parties.

    A point in case, is that of the first lady of Kogi State Mrs. Farida Ijeoma Wada, the wife of the current governor of Kogi State who tried to use the position of her husband as a seating governor to grab a seat at the Federal House of Representative in Abia State where she hails from under the People Democratic Party.

    She tried everything within her power to grab the ticket of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to represent Ikwuano Umuahia Federal Consitutency at the House Representatives. Even when it was obvious that she could not win the primary election as she was not popular.  She refused to step down like some other contestants and she was floored at the polls.

    Recently, some Nigerian women under the aegis of Women Arise marched in protest against a proposed wasteful allocation of N4billion to building a ‘Mission House’ for Mrs. Patience Faka Jonathan.

    Apart from their argument that the proposed N4billion would create numerous jobs for women and youths, the women offered that only one-tenth of the proposed N4billion for building ‘Mission House’ for Mrs. Jonathan could restore the abandoned Women Development Center (WDC) for Mrs. Jonathan to use as “Mission House” in the interest of all women and in place of an extravagant building to be constructed as a personal building.

    To show the sufferings of the majority Nigerian women in the country where only one woman amasses wealth for herself, widow of late Dr. Beko Kuti, Mrs. Abosede Ransome Kuti showed to Governor Fashola, some boxes of matches, a sachet of ‘pure water’ and a piece of onion which she said she bought from women she encountered on her way at Oshodi.

    The big question therefore is, when and who will interpret the constitution to our politicians that there is no constitutional role for the office of the First Lady . It is  an aberration, a misuse of power and a waste of tax payers’ money. The earlier this is resolved the better for the country as it will save the country several millions of naira being  allocated to the unconstitutional office. If this is done, the resources  can be redirected to more useful ventures that will benefit the citizenry and also help to make politics less attractive to politicians.

    It is in this light that the critics of Buhari’s statement should re-direct their thinking and not in the  shallow and deceptive belief that the office of the First Lady helps to mobilize and empower women. If the Ministry of Women Affairs is allowed to do its job very well, the would be no need to create an unconstitutional office of a First Lady which benefits just a few at the detriment of the majority.

    Instead of the flamboyant First Ladies that they country has been having all these years, Buhari  has said that his wife will act as one who provides moral support for the government as a mother to all Nigerians without necessarily wearing the garb as a first lady or live a flamboyant lifestyle that first ladies are known for in Nigeria.

    It remains to be seen whether Buhari’s pledge to scrap the office would achieve positive strides for the womenfolk if he is elected as president in the coming election.

    •  Edeye, a public commentator and analyst writes from Lagos

  • Evenings with ‘Sango’ and ‘Oya’

    I co-host, pro bono, two weekly programmes, on one of Nigeria’s brightest and fast-rising new independent radio stations, Space 90.1 FM, located in Ibadan, Oyo State and founded by a veteran broadcaster-turned entrepreneur, Otunba ’Deji Osibogun, with some of his friends.

    I derive great pleasure in the duty, like the five other volunteer presenters like me, because I share Deji and his station’s ethos of professionalism, creativity, independence, commensurate pay and provision of adequate tools for staff in the broadcasting profession. Little wonder, listeners have dubbed Space FM, the “people’s secretariat” and give the station a 98% listeners participation.

    The two programmes that I co-present on are, ‘Je Nwi Temi’, a Yoruba language newspapers review on Thursdays from 9.00am to 11.00am and ‘Down Memory Lane’, on Fridays from 4pm – 6pm. The programme features achievers in all areas of human endeavours who must be above 70 years and of impeccable character. Our past guests included Mrs. Anike Agbaje – Williams, the  first woman to appear on television in Africa and widow of a late Chief Judge of the old Oyo State (that is present Oyo and Osun States) Honourable Justice Agbaje- Williams; a former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, Emeritus Professor Ayo Banjo; Juju music (Apola system) maestro-turned, preacher, Evangelist Idowu Animasawun; veteran photographer, Pa. David Ositelu, popularly known and called ‘Born Photo’, whose studio is located at  my axis of ascendancy in Ibadan-Isale ’Jebu – Isale Osi, Oritamerin –Oja’Ba and veteran footballer/coach Niyi Akande, former captain of Shooting Stars FC of Ibadan, star player in the national soccer team, the former Green Eagles (now Super Eagles) and the first coach of Nigeria’s female soccer team, the Falcons.

    Last Sunday was the International Women’s Day and Space FM did justice to the United Nation’s mandate that female achievers in the  world be celebrated, by hosting a veteran actress singer-dancer, Mrs. Abiodun Duro-Ladipo, popularly called “Oya”, widow of a great Nigerian playwright, actor and musicologist of world fame, Duro Ladipo, M.O.N who died on 11th March, 1978, aged 45 years.

    The late Duro Ladipo belonged to the talented group of pioneers/doyens of Nigerian theatre such as, Hubert Ogunde, ’Wole Soyinka, Segun Olusola, Sam Akpabot, Sonny Oti, Kola Ogunmola and Akin Euba.

    The interview session with “Oya” was nostalgic and a throw-back to Nigeria’s pre and post –independence eras of deep, rich and well-researched stage dramas, musical and cultural fiestas in which our talented guest was a star participant. Listeners, especially those who made telephone call-ins appreciated her era and the great epics she and her husband turned out like “Oba Koso”, “Oba Moro”, “Sango”, “Aare Akogun”, “Moremi” etc which won international awards on stages/theatres in Germany, United Kingdom, Brazil, France, Austria etc.

    In coining the title of this piece, I decided to marry (mark this word please) “Oyas” appearance on Space FM last Sunday with the evening of tributes to “Sango”, her late husband, Duro Ladipo, on 11th March, 2002, which I attended, at their Bode Wasinmi, Basorun, Ibadan home, I reviewed that evening programme in my article, published in major national dailies, titled “An Evening With “Sango”. (please see the Guardian on Sunday issue of March 24, 2002) By the way, Duro Ladipo died 37 years ago. Memorial prayers were held for him on Wednesday 11th March this year.

    We have since that 2002 evening of tributes established the Duro Ladipo Foundation, with ‘Oya’ as the president and my humbleself, her deputy. In celebrating the 30th anniversary of the passage, (I almost wrote ascension since the original Alaafin Sango is believed to have ascended into heaven) of Duro Ladipo in 2008, we published his biography co-authored by ‘Oya’ and two of Nigeria’s star authors, academicians, poets and playwrights based at the University of Ibadan, Professor Remi Raji-Oyelade, president of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) and Professor Dapo Olorunyomi,  and staged ‘Oba Koso’ in Oyo and Osun States. Our intention to put three of Duro Ladipo’s epic plays on celluloid is stalled by lack of funds/sponsorship. I pray this piece gingers philanthropists and endowed theatre lovers to rise up and lend their hands.

    The ‘marriage’ I talked about earlier in this piece between Duro Ladipo (Sango) and his widow, Abiodun (Oya) is hereby ‘consummated’ with the recall of my 2002 tribute to ‘Sango’ .Please savour it.

    “True to predictions and expectations, it not only rained, but thundered as well that Monday this March (11th to be precise) when relations, admirers, media and theatre arts practitioners gathered at Bode Wasinmi, Ibadan to celebrate the 24th anniversary of the passage of Duro Ladipo, MON, the world-renowned actor, playwright and folkore exponent, who, in character and acts, proved that he was no fluke reincarnation of Sango, the Yoruba god of thunder, who was an Alaafin (king) in the old Oyo Empire

    “Sango, was a very powerful king. He had an equally strong wife called Oya. She was a loyal ally of her husband. In the heat of a revolt by his subjects due largely to Sango-induced duels between two of his generals, Timi and Gbonnka, Sango abdicated to his mother’s town in Nupeland from where he “ascended” to heaven. He became a diety and is worshipped as the god of thunder till today in Yorubaland, Brazil, Cuba, USA, and parts of Africa.

    “The Monday March 11th rain and thunderstorms were repeats of the March 11, 1978 scenario when an unusually heavy rain with equally heavy thunderstorms heralded the transition of Duro Ladipo, at 45, confirming Sango’s welcome of his ‘alter ego` to heaven and before the Owner of heaven and earth, Olodumare(God).

    There were three `takes` of rains on the evening of tributes, which failed to deter one’s resolve to attend the ceremony, moreso as the matriarch of the Duro Ladipo dynasty, Madam Abiodun, alias ‘Oya’, had personally delivered the kind invitation and had admonished that  the evening was going to be the forerunner to the silver jubilee celebration of her late husband ascendancy to heaven, come March 11, 2003.

    Arriving at Duro Ladipo’s Bode Wasinmi expansive, but modest home , the name which the well-populated area of Basorun area in Ibadan now proudly shares, one transited into the pure, cool, natural village atmosphere. What with theatre and broadcast media greats like Alagba Adebayo Faleti (Baruwa to Duro Ladipo, his chum) “Baba Sala”, alias Moses Olaiya (wait a minute!) Tunbosun Oladapo (Odidere Ayekooto) Dr Larinde Akinleye, Moses Omilani, Olowomojuore, Ayobami Olabiyi among others, in attendance. On hand to welcome guests, like a good hostess which she has always been, was ‘Oya’. She seems to grow more radiant in beauty, sonorous in voice and glossy in skin as seasons fall on themselves. Her constant pleas to her guests to please pardon Bode Wasinmi’s simplicity were drowned by our choruses of “we are not here to lap up gaudiness or stinking riches but rather to pay homage to a true star actor and reformist”. I noticed that ‘Oya’ eventually relaxed when the genuiness of our feelings and expressions as sincere friends and admirers of her late husband sank home. That’s the beauty of life with ordinary folks and natural people. No pretentions, no fusses.

    “Perhaps, because of the rain and thunderstorms that evening , public power supply was cut off. As such, we had to watch a 1966 documentary on Duro Ladipo with power supply from a fairly-used portable generator whose havoc (actually a blessing in disguise), I shall recall in a short while in this piece

    “The evening of tributes, organized by the elders of the Association of Nigerian Theatre Arts Practitioners (ANTAP) was the first public appreciation of Duro Ladipo’s immense contributions to theatre arts in Nigeria by fellow artists , according to ‘Oya’. From Alagba Adebayo Faleti, Chairman, Oyo State Council of Arts & Culture to “Baba Sala” and Olufemi Dada, alias “Benja-Benja”, it was eulogies, songs, ewi (poems) and reminiscences galore in honour of the late son of a catechist who not only revolutionized church music with the introduction of native drums, but opened a fresh chapter in yuletide celebrations in Nigeria with the production of Christmas cantata at the Nigerian Museum, Onikan, Lagos in 1963, for which he was presented a trophy by Nigeria’s first president, the late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe. Duro Ladipo then went on full-time play writing and stage production in collaboration with a German and former lecturer at the University of Ibadan, Prof Ulli Beier, who converted Duro Ladipo’s  ‘Popular Bar’ in Osogbo to the  famous Mbari Club. The genius in Duro Ladipo blossomed in no time resulting in his production of classical operas and plays such as “Oba Moro”, “Oba Koso”, “Ajagun Nla”; “Eda” etc

    “In the documentary titled, “The Creative Man” by the American Educational Television”, Duro Ladipo talks about his life as a youth who took early interest in drama while at school in Otan Ayegbaju in present day Osun State. From there, he graduated to producing school plays when he became a pupil teacher. “I introduced native drums to church music in order to change the monotomy. I shocked everybody”, he explains in the film.

    According to Duro Ladipo, his traveling theatre group in the 1960’s made do with gas lamps and hurricane lanterns for stage effects. With vigorous rehearsals, attention to details, researches, guts and sheer luck, he broke through the amateur ranks and emerged the notable dramatist whose group, the Duro Ladipo National Theatre, would win the first prize at the Berlin Arts Festival, in Germany in 1964 and at the first-ever Commonwealth Arts Festival in London UK the following year with his epic play, “Oba koso”, With this play and “Oluweri”, Duro and his group stamped their authority across the globe with capacity- filled presentations in France, Switzerland, Yugoslavia, Italy, Iran, USA, Brazil, Belgium, Austria and Holland. To his credit, Duro Ladipo wrote and produced 36 plays, published 10plays, produced 9 gramophone records, received two national and three international awards and acted in four films.

    “When earlier in this article, I referred to the blessing in disguise by the generator at the evening of tributes, what I meant was that on getting to the scene in the film, “The Creative Man” where Sango threatened to hang himself, the generator spluttered to a stop!. All efforts to restart it failed thereby making it impossible for the audience, to see whether Sango carried out his threat to hang himself or not. Someone in the audience described the generator failure as a confirmation of the long-held belief that Alaafin Sango did not commit suicide, but ascended to heaven (Oba ko so).

    “Describing the evening as a prelude to the silver jubilee of her husband’s passage come March 11, 2003, Mrs. Abiodun Duro-Ladipo thanked the audience for its kind response to her invitation. She praised the organizers for their thoughtfulness and prayed for the chairman of the occasion (guess who). Between now and March, 2003, the onus is on all lovers of arts and admirers of ‘Sango’ (Duro Ladipo) to gird our loins and actualize the dreams of ‘Oya’ to make the silver jubilee celebration a thunderous show”.

    As I stated in the earlier part of this piece, we have since established the Duro Ladipo Foundation, but government / corporate / individual support in all good forms will make us realize our noble dream of reviving Duro Ladipo’s epic plays records and books.

    • Lekan Alabi is the Aare Alaasa Olubadan of Ibadanland

  • That 20 per cent subscription hike by MultiChoice

    Emotions, very strong ones at that, has dominated public reaction to the 20 per cent hike in subscription rates of various bouquets announced by MultiChoice, the country’s leading pay-TV provider.

    To say I was surprised by the public reaction to the announcement, made on 1 March and scheduled to take effect on 1 April, is to betray an Olympic standard lack of awareness of how people react to hikes in prices of goods and services they consider essential to how well they live.

    It is a fact that emotions are part of the human make-up and we should expect expressions of such. However, it is also a fact that emotion and reason have a history of estrangement.

    It is precisely because of the less than cordial relationship between emotion and reason that the reaction to the hike has been marked by affronted disbelief and the type of anger usually expressed towards those who have violated children.

    That anger has birthed what has been dressed up as an ideological movement to free Nigerians from the shackles of exploitation. A widely circulated Blackberry Messenger broadcast, heavy on demagogue vocabulary, calls for a boycott of MultiChoice’s DStv and GOtv services from 1 April. “Enough is enough,” it says in rousing activist language, before demanding a pay-as-you-watch regime as well as lower subscription tariffs as MultiChoice offers in South Africa. The broadcast message also claims that MultiChoice subscribers in Nigeria number two million, a figure for which it cites no evidence or source.

    On social media platforms and internet discussion forums, the reaction has not been different, with the same set of claims being recited like a religious mantra. In simple terms, a faith position has been taken. Faith, especially the variety accompanied by zealotry, and logic are not a mutual admiration society.

    But has MultiChoice really singled out Nigeria for exploitation, as being claimed? Is prevalent tidal wave of public anger the appropriate reaction to an organisation that has given much to Nigeria in the shape of technology, entertainment, information, employment and in other fields?

    I prefer to take a step back and reflect. Before presenting the outcome of my reflection, I need to say that I am in the category of those who want rock-bottom subscription rates. Left to me and me alone, I would pay nothing for the top class content that MultiChoice brings to my living room.

    That said, I will now make a few submissions in the hope that a little more understanding will be achieved.

    First, it is untrue that Nigeria is the only country where subscription rates have been increased. It is done in South Africa yearly and the country happened to be the first the new rates were announced. The new rates have since been announced in other countries. That is that. The claim that MultiChoice has two million subscribers is unsubstantiated. I do not have their subscriber figures, but I do think what can be asserted without evidence could and should be dismissed, as speculation, without evidence.

    Pay-as-you-watch? That does not exist anywhere in the pay-TV world. Not in South Africa, as claimed by the author of the Blackberry Messenger broadcast; not in Ghana, UK, US or Papua New Guinea.  What is available is pay-per-view, PPV, which is considerably more expensive because it demands that you pay for the broadcast of one-off events, notably sports or entertainment, in addition to paying for regular pay-TV service.

    Do Nigerians pay more for MultiChoice services than other African countries? No. Currently Zimbabweans paid the equivalent of $72, Zambians $81, Tanzanians $81.18, Kenyans $82, Mozambicans, $81 and Ghanaians $78.5 for the premium bouquet. Nigerians pay $72.46.

    Is there a monopoly, represented by MultiChoice, as claimed? Again, no. There is StarSat, which recently won the rights to broadcast games from the German Bundesliga. We also have Consat, ACTV, MyTV, Montage TV and many others. Many others have come and gone, including HiTV, whose bid for pre-eminence floundered on account of inability to renew the rights it won to broadcast premium sporting content. That DStv got to the party first is not in doubt. That it tied up the most appealing content is similarly not in doubt. That is business, not crime.

    Therefore, calling on government to institute some price control measures in pay-TV, to me, is bizarre, given that this is democratic country that runs a free market economy. As yet, I haven’t seen an agitation that the prices of toothpaste, beer, bread, suya, hotel rooms, mattresses, furniture and phones be reviewed downwards. There has been no campaign to get government to legislate the what carpenters, doctors, lawyers, engineers and other professionals charge for their services.

    The costs of these services are determined by prevailing situations in the market. Why should the government fix prices for MultiChoice which, until recently, has charged the same rates for two years despite the volatility of the national currency and the country’s inclement business climate?

    MultiChoice, to my mind, is responding to the prevailing market situation. It sure rankles when prices of goods and services rise, but that should not make those who have not walked in the shoes of providers of such goods and services demand that they be crippled.

    The gap is the value of the naira to the dollar has developed into a chasm. MultiChoice, like other businesses, have no immunity against this development.

    What that implies is that it has to pay a lot more to retain its rights to the content it broadcasts. Television content, especially in the premium category, is notoriously expensive. Traditional advertising revenue is incapable of covering the cost of acquisition let alone leaving room for profit. A major driver of the pay-TV model is sporting content which, as we know, does not come cheap.

    For example, the broadcast deal for the Barclays Premier League, signed a few months ago, showed a 70 per cent jump in cost. If MultiChoice still wants to keep broadcasting that content when the deal kicks in next year, it must fork out more money. Sky Sports, which took a lion’s share of the deal by paying over 4billion pounds, did not pay that amount to sell to vendors at loss. Sky has also hinted that its subscribers will have to pay more to keep watching and subscribers, understandably disappointed, have not called on the British Parliament to put a handbrake on Sky’s plan to hike subscription. Television economics is a subject or reason, not emotion.

    •Morohunfolu, a financial analyst, lives in Port Harcourt.

  • Ndukwe versus the godfathers

    The people of Anambra South Senatorial Zone have been at the short end of the stick since the return to democracy. Largely, the inefficiency and godfatherism that has dogged the steps of the zone have thrown up questionable representatives who are either forced down the throat of the electorates by some self-acclaimed godfathers, or people ill-prepared for the job of representing the people.

    The ugly situation within the ruling PDP in the zone is worsened by some  bizarre political arrangement that have provided one particular family with a blanket cheque to the political future of the zone as they have been allowed the prerogative of choosing which elective position they choose to run and who gets nomination to any elective office.

    At the last count, they have chosen the juiciest available elective office- the senate. At one time, it was the eldest of the Ubah family political triangle – Senator Ugochukwu Ubah that took the first turn. His immediate younger brother, Senator Andy Ubah, is about to complete his term and is bidding for the second tenure at the Senate for which his party has confirmed but not without a fight with his immediate younger brother, Christian Ubah, who is still battling at the courts to secure the nomination, having claimed it is his turn in the family!

    While the curious and unwarranted domination of this family in the zone is still unexplained, their imposition of candidates may have become a welcome albatross to the party, given the conspicuous absence of the dividends of democracy, resulting in many electorates in the zone beginning to ask whether democracy has got another meaning. The decapitation of Dr. Alex Ekwueme politically by the Obasanjo administration on one hand, and promotion of godfatherism as represented by the Andy/Chris Ubah family has further alienated the people from government.

    This is why the emergence of Ernest Ndukwe, former chief executive officer of the Nigerian Communications Commission, as senatorial candidate of APGA, outside the fringes of the Ubah family political domination has brought some refreshing angle to the politics of the zone. Clearly, the contest for the senatorial seat in Anambra South zone is set between Ndukwe of APGA, and the incumbent, Senator Andy Ubah of the PDP. As interesting as this contest might be, the difference between the two candidates are very clear.

    As both have worked for government at the highest level, the depth of the accomplishments, altruism, nationalism, intellectual attributes, and their understanding of service to the people, are available and accessible. But for electorates who may not be fortunate to understand the issues, it become imperative to highlight some of these in relations to the people’s expectation after they have made their choices.

    For the incumbent senator, Senator Andy Ubah, his more than eight years as the Special Adviser on Domestic Affairs to President Olusegun Obasanjo, and four years at the senate for the zone, are riddled with unanswered questions about how the people have missed even the least of the dividends of democracy.  Here is a glimpse of all his accomplishments as boldly espoused in his website:  ”… Senator Andy Uba remains a cheerful philanthropist to the needy and underprivileged, as well as supporter of noble goals and initiatives. Amongst his contributions to the Nigerian people and to the good people of Anambra State includes; the construction of the Nze Philip Uba endowment building for Mass Communication, named after his late father at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka; the building of multipurpose hall for the people of Uga and his numerous donations to various charity homes and organizations in Nigeria”.

    If these were the only achievements of the man who seeks to go to the senate for a second term, the electorates may begin to ask what happened to the huge funds approved for each of the senators for constituency projects, running into hundreds of millions of naira. The questions being asked by some observers of the trends in this zone are wont to ask is if the man who called the shots at the Presidency for eight years, and sat at the senate for four years could not attract basic infrastructure to his zone, what fate would befall this zone in the next four years? Today, the two major federal roads in the state, Nnewi Ekwulobia- Oko-Ufuma-Umunze-Okigwe Roads, and Nnewi-Uga- Okigwe Roads, have been in a state of disrepair since 1999. There is no single presence of the federal government in a zone that has produced prominent Nigerians like the late Ikemba of Nnewi, Chief Emeka Ojukwu, and former Vice President Alex Ekwueme, among others.

    Senator Ubah’s performance on the floor of the Senate has become a subject of ridicule as one writer recently described him as a ‘monument of silence’. It is a fact that this senator has never uttered a word on the floor of the senate!  His performance at the Senate reminds one of hard-to-believe story of illiterate lawmakers whose only voice to debates and discussions on the floor of the house is “I concur!  It is so bad that many hardly remembers the senator as the chairman of the Senate Committee on INEC, with all the issues, controversies around this electoral umpire. It does not stop on the floor of the Senate. While each of the senators can boast of providing at least 20 top jobs in the federal government offices and its agencies, no electorate or citizen of the zone can boast of ever seeing Senator Andy Ubah in his office at the National Assembly, talk more assisting them in several other ways that elected senators do.

    Obviously, the odds favour Ndukwe, whose renowned intellectual depth and candour, offers a potent resounding voice for the people of the zone. Given his pedigree as the pilot that delivered Nigeria to the promised land of telecommunications revolution, with the attendant transformation of businesses and lives in the country through regulation, Ndukwe is regarded as a huge asset for people transformation. His kind is a sure banker for redefinition of people’s representation and his personality commands the dividends of democracy to the people.

    Considered an active player qualified for today’s first-eleven brightest in national development contributions, it is agreed that if Ndukwe could do it for the entire nation, he could do much more for his senatorial zone. It is agreed that his personae would elevate the quality of national discourse and debates at the highest law making body.

    Perhaps, and more importantly, Ndukwe represents a break from the past of godfatherism, nurtured by the PDP that has eaten deep in the fabric of the politics of the zone.  Ndukwe’s stature and calibre would also complement the vision and remarkable jobs of the current governor of Anambra State, Chief Willie Obiano. This may be the reason why some electorates in the zone have advised the Governor that to pay more than a passing interest on how free and fair elections will be conducted in a zone known for producing results where no ballots are cast! The mantra in this zone is for INEC to give the citizens the opportunity to cast their ballots and to also let the ballots count.

    • Emenike writes from Ekwulobia, Aguata LGA, Anambra State

  • Tobacco smuggling denying Nigeria billions in revenue

    There are clear indications that there is a need for the Consumer Protection Council (CPC) to consider collaborating more strategically with traditional and non-tradition stakeholders in the fight against illicit tobacco trade.

    A few months ago, the CPC published a consumer alert about Esse – a brand of cigarettes imported into the country for Nigerian consumers. Apparently Nigerians were already consuming cigarettes from the future; cigarettes in circulation in July and August 2014 had a manufacture date of September 2014.

    The CPC circular should trigger an alarm about the illicit trade in tobacco products which is a global business worth over $50 billion annually. The link is obvious. While Esse might be a brand legitimately imported into the country by Black Horse Tobacco Company, this episode with the fake date of manufacture indicates how far those who flood our markets with illicit products will go. First they manufacture under conditions which our Standards Organisation of Nigeria know nothing about and are not in a position to approve of.  Next, they deliberately cheat the country of revenue by avoiding import duties and then they undercut the local manufacturers who employ thousands of Nigerians and pay their taxes reportedly in the tune of 20 billion Naira and counting.

    One can only hope that with the current devaluation of the Naira and the impact on the spending powers of the average Nigerian, the CPC is alert to the fact that there will be even more demand for these illicit cigarettes. This is because, illicit products usually cost less than local products that have to meet the standard requirements of the SON and the World Health Organisation’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and are made under more exacting conditions.

    The CPC must – within the powers granted in the CPC Act of 1992 – work closely with other agencies and leverage their strengths and areas of expertise to prevent the rising share market of illicit cigarettes in Nigeria and force down this share to rates which we have not enjoyed in a while.

    In tackling the obvious health risks posed by illicit cigarettes whose conditions of manufacture are not known to us, the CPC, in addition to warning the public about products like Esse, should work on getting these products tested and publicizing the results to ensure consumers are aware of the risks. Those who distribute and sell illicit cigarettes know that what they do is illegal, but they also feel driven by the needs of consumers to buy cheap. The consumer is not being rational at this point and can only take informed decisions when he knows all the facts. Under Section 14 of the CPC Act, the CPC “may seek collaboration with government agencies or other professional bodies in establishing laboratories or in joint use of testing facilities…” The SON already has laboratories to ensure that amongst other things, the tar, nicotine and carbon dioxide levels in cigarettes meet regulations. There must be an opportunity under which the CPC could enter into a formal agreement with the SON where the CPC may send suspect products such as the Esse cigarettes for testing at the SON laboratories. These results if indicative of not meeting our standards for cigarettes would form the basis for further communication with the public.

    This reveals another potential stakeholder-partner in the fight against illicit trade in tobacco products. The Ministry of Health could be a formidable partner in educating the public about the extremely harmful effect of specific illicit tobacco products. Where the results from the laboratories indicate that the cigarettes in question do not meet our standards, in addition to confiscating and destroying, the Ministry of Health has a stake in ensuring wider dissemination of the information. The Ministry of Health did and continues to do a great job with Ebola related communication – the CPC with a smaller budget, should be able to leverage on the might of the Ministry.

    Another government agency the CPC should be working closely with is the Nigerian Police Force. It is likely that these two institutions already co-operate but what does this look like in practice? Recently an article reporting on the activities of smugglers pointed out that even when members of the CPC or Customs attempt to inspect warehouses, they find themselves locked out and denied entry. If the CPC worked closely with the Nigerian Police Force and the judiciary (when warrants are necessary) then it would be easier to gain access into these warehouses were smuggled tobacco products are being stored.

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) recently committed to working with the Nigerian Customs Service to “check the activities of the trade in smuggled tobacco products into the country”. The CPC, if not already part of these discussions, should take the initiative of suggesting how all three may work together towards this jointly owned objective to reduce illicit trade in tobacco in Nigeria. The EFCC is expected to particularly bring its unique expertise in financial crimes to the equation.  Smuggling is profitable and being able to follow the money and cut off conduits would go a long way to Nigeria contributing to the global fight. There is need for the agency to full utilise the powers of the EFCC’s Director of Operations Olaolu Adegbite to ensure this type of result-oriented collaboration is achieved.

    While illicit trade in tobacco is a global problem which has been with us in Nigeria for a while, there was a time when the Nigerian Customs Service and other stakeholders had a firm grip on the issue and we saw a drop in illicit trade. However, things have been reversed and it is safe to bet that at most traditional retail sellers one can find illicit tobacco products.

    Illicit trade in tobacco not only robs Nigerians of revenue lost from import duties but also from the reduced taxes from local manufacturers who do not sell as much as they should. At a time when our economy is struggling and our Naira is taking a beating we should be doing all we can as a matter of policy to protect local manufacturers. We cannot afford to lose any more manufacturing jobs to Ghana.

    It is time for the EFCC, CPC and other stakeholders with roles to play to come together be creative and innovative about how they tackle the growing menace of smuggled tobacco products.

  • Situating Jonathan in the power grid

    Enough empirical evidence has made two things to be crystal clear since the advent of Nigeria’s democratic dispensation in 1999. The first is that Nigerians are not in charge of their country because they’ve been practically excluded from the economic and political conditions that affect their existence. The second is that Nigeria was never founded on justice, equity and fair play. The country’s political arrangement is such that her rulers are always from the samesmall clique of people, probably not more than a hundred, out of which a chief of state—either military or civilian—emerges. It has been like that since the civil war. It is a political arrangement that John Campbell dubbed the “patron-client networks” in his seminal book.

    Campbell is no ordinary foreigner. He probably knows Nigeria inside out, including all her secrets, due to his position as a former US ambassador to Nigeria. In the book entitled “Nigeria Dancing on the Brink” Campbell lucidly dissects Nigeria and its political players, which may have explained why the country may never amount to much because of this entrenched “patron-client networks,”the only road through which political power can be attained. How these networks works in the book is just one of the startling revelations about the Nigerian condition. The author said that the networks have rules, virtually unwritten but well understood by the patrons. A patron at the helm of the country’s affairs may push the power envelope as much as possible but never to violate theserules. Some of the paramount rules of the networks are “that there is to be no president for life. Another is that patrons at the pinnacle of the networks are never killed by their rivals, though their clients are fair game. A third is that money accumulated by a political figure in office is sacrosanct.” He also saidthat “rival patrons, however, ensure the personal and financial survival of an ex-chief of state. Those who aspire to the highest office in the land or to control that office through surrogates want no precedent of presidential accountability by legislative oversight—nor do they want a presidential killing that could someday be a precedent applied to them, hence the durability of national political figures such as Gowon, Buhari, Babangida, Obasanjo, Danjuma, and (late) Ojukwu, despite the pervasive violence of Nigerian politics.” Campbell said further that the networks “have held power, lost power, and lived to play again.” The “coteries of patron-client networks are interconnected at every level of society and government [that] even the Lagos Area Boys, thugs involved in various extortion and protection rackets, have their oga. So, too, do the ‘rag pickers’ working the Lagos refuse dumps. The system is based on mutual dependence and support.” It is this political arrangement that has been labeled by a Human Rights Watch as “criminal politics.”

    President Goodluck Jonathan’s ascension to the country’s highest office was serendipitous. He (and by extension his geopolitical region) was drafted into the main power structure because some of the major deciders (patrons) of the networks had no choice. Jonathan’s region was never really reckoned with and its leading political lights are not considered part of the key patrons of the networks despite their being the geese that lays the golden eggs. If anything, the region’s political players probably play a fourth fiddle to the paramount power bloc of the networks. But some daring elements, on account of an egregious socio-economic injustice meted on their people by the Nigerian state changed this time-tested political arrangement when they took up arms against the nation and succeeded tremendously, probably beyond their wildest imagination. Jonathan was never one of the key players even in his region let alone in the nation’s complex networks. He was a complete outsider to the power structurewhich has always been the exclusive preserve of patrons from the core north, the southwest and the near north as a significant political appendage of the former. Yet, Jonathan’s emergence on the pinnacle of political power was a combination of political expediency by the patrons (because the militants have found out that the emperor [Nigeria] has no shirt after all), some luck and yes, the intervention of the divine (for those who are passionately religious). So, the patrons admitted him, even if grudgingly.

    Upon becoming the new chief of state outside a power structure that has taken more than half a century to build, Jonathan must choose one of two available options. He could either use moral suasion to convince and encourage patrons of the networks that it is in their own long term interests to dismantle the networks that has chained down the country and her people, and build a just, equitable and sustainable society, akin to what Mandela did in South Africa despite of the age-long injustice to his people through the system of apartheid. Or he could build his own network to compete, supplant or cooperate, as the case may be,with the rest of the networks to deepen the pauperization of the country and her people. He chose the latter. Jonathan probably could not have opted for the first option even if he wanted because he most likely would have been vigorously resisted. All state institutions, including his executive branch are either controlled directly by other patronsor indirectly by their clients. He would have been clipped and/or his seat summarily removed from under him because the rules did not include making Nigeria a great nation.Since he must build a network formidable enough to withstand the vagaries of the entrenched, battle-tested networks and do so quickly, he must adopt the Machiavellian political strategy. Political brigandage in which murder and assassination are not exempt, corruption that can aptly be described as heist, and impunity are the tools required to building a formidable patron-client network. After all, the patrons before him deployed these same tools. Even by re-defining corruption and his reckless impunity, Jonathan is still within the bounds of the rules. Veteran patrons of the networks are just too shocked that a supposedly naïve, shoeless individual from a backwater could best them at the games they invented.

    That is the reason why militants who should be spending the rest of their lives behind bars are now stupendously wealthy and politically influential that some of them had supplanted some state governors. Since his network must compete and supplant other networks that had taken decades to build and nurture, caution and operating within the constitutional framework are hindrances that Jonathan cannot afford. Therefore, cash haulage by an aircraft belonging to a clientof his network ostensibly to procure arms made more sense. Going through some international procedures of arms procurement would have left a paper trail. So, it was not for nothing that some other clients, among them a stark illiterate, secured pipeline protection contracts and procuring gunboats and all the country’s navy could do was drool. It was also not for nothing that the two most important Service Chiefs, Army’s Kenneth Minimahis Jonathan’s kinsman and his Defence counterpart Alex Badehis a minority Christian from the north whose people are probably tired of playing a second fiddle, yet unrecognized, to the networks of the core north. These two clients possess the real power to roll out the tanks to protect their patron if push comes to shove.

    Nigerians may have been angered, and justifiably so, by Dokubo’s war threats should Jonathan lose. They may have been riled when Tompolosaid he would take away the oil (our collective patrimony?) should Jonathan not be re-elected because the commodity is the only thing that makes unity to have meaning to the patrons. But they’ve come of age to understand the game. Jonathan’s network are probably wondering why the fuss in their looting spree when other patrons at the helm since the civil war did the same and heaven did not fall. So, when Danjumasaid that the president’s clients should be arrested, and Obasanjo, who is probably the leading patron of all the networks has been relentlessly castigating Jonathan in the public, it means that some consensus may have been reached that Jonathan must not be allowed another term, otherwise they may be in trouble. The president can either negotiate a safe exist and enjoy his loot and that of his clients, which is permissible under the rules. Or he can ‘engineer’ his own electoral victory and damn the consequence. Only he can make this choice. He will probably do the latter because power concedes nothing without a demand.

     

    •Odere is a media practitioner, femiodere@gmail.com