The Nation Newspaper

Category: Opinion

  • Presidential elections and broadcast media

    How that there is a break, half time break, in political campaigns or a postponement of the elections by six weeks, it is time therefore to take stock of the various political activities, and possibly prepare for a more refined, purposeful and positive approach contrary to what some have taken as “do or die”.

    Let the truth be told, we have simply behaved as if there is no tomorrow for Nigeria. The campaigns or advertisements of mudslinging and derision which we have allowed to appear on the screens have not been helpful to the cause of this nation. It has indeed helped to divide us as a people.

    The media are expected to be the unifying factor for all interest groups but unfortunately some of us have come out to be brazenly partisan. When I see such, the question I ask myself is, are these media houses aware that they have viewership across the various political divides? What happens to their viewers who do not agree with their new position? It is only natural that they will switch over to a more objective and balanced station. Has this helped the cause of the station?

    The advertisements are to say the least, banal, puerile, uncultured and primitive. One of the greatest values the Nigerian is identified with is respect. Our morals, and indeed our religious institutions teach us to honour our elders and our leaders. The two major political party presidential aspirants fit very well into the category of those we should respect and honour, as elders and as leaders. The advertisements have not in any way reflected it. What examples are we giving to the younger generations? Aggression and abuse of elders would not earn votes. Rather, they evoke sympathy, and indeed a vote for the victim.

    The National Broadcasting code has ample provisions for elections. Among them are:

    4.2.2    Broadcaster shall

    (a)        Not broadcast a programme which violates social values,

    shows disrespect for law and order or departs from an honourable life-style;

    (g)        avoid the use of foul and blasphemous language;

    5.1.6    Archival or library materials where used to illustrate a current event, shall be used with discretion and clearly identified to avoid confusion or causing emotional pain, offence, embarrassment or defamation.

    5.2.5    Political broadcasts shall be in decent language

    5.2.7    A broadcaster shall, in using a political material for news, avoid taking Inflammatory and divisive matter in its provocative form;

    5.3.6    A live broadcast shall take cognizance of the cultural and religious sensibilities of all Nigerians, and avoid offensive inputs.

    What, in our coverage, commercials or news clips, have exonerated us as objective stations, and non defaulters in the provisions listed above?

    The documentary that was transmitted in two major networks recently was, to say the least, in bad taste. Though designed to demonise a political opponent, its inaccuracies and the very obvious “run-him-down” line-by-line production, are not only nauseating but could do the very reverse of the intention – evoke sympathy for the central character in the production, as an underdog.

    One of the advertisements, in which the same presidential aspirant was transformed into a leopard was, to me, most despicable, and disgusting. This is a person running for the highest position in the land – the Presidency. That visual nollywood voodoo style production is an insult on our collective carriage of the presidency. Even if he were the least of all the aspirants in terms of followership, that office must be respected and the contestants given their due honour.

    Permit me to ask if it is the vogue these days not to preview what is to go on air. Even if the producers come in with such raw and indecorous content, is it not the station’s responsibility as professionals, to determine what will suit the sensitivities and sensibilities of Nigerian viewers by either editing the advertisement or out-rightly dismissing the producer to go and refine his production?

    What has become of our ethical standards? If a poll is taken today, are these stations, in all sincerity, sure of retaining their level of audience or viewership. I very much doubt.

    Another area that bothers me is the Outside Broadcast activities of the stations. There is undoubtedly a very pressing need for serious training of the crew ranging from the cameramen, the on-air presenters right on to the producers and directors. The earlier this is done against future events, the better it is for our profession and the viewers.

    By the way, I want to believe the watchdogs or regulators of broadcasting – The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) as well as the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) have done and are seen to have done something by way of sanctions to these errant stations to serve as a deterrent against the second half of the political campaigns. Both stations and the regulatory bodies must be seen as a servant of all.

    Elections will come and go but Nigeria will remain. Nigeria will remain as what – a nation infested with hatred, distrust and demagoguery? This is certainly not what we envisage for a country so heavily endowed by God to make us prosper as brothers, sisters and our brothers’ keepers. How shall we see one another after an election campaign so richly studded with hate, bitterness and indeed venom, all in the name of winning the election? At the end of the day, only one out of the 14-contestants will be sworn in as the President, whose constituency is the whole of Nigeria.

    This is the time to present an acceptable platform for some soft landing for both the winner and the losers.

    The broadcast media has an immeasurable role to play in this. Though a lot of harm and hurt feelings have been engendered by various broadcast segments, this ‘half time’ is auspicious for us to mend fences and resolve to be better, fairer and more professional in the second half. If we preach hate, we shall reap hate and destruction. If we preach love and peace, we shall reap same. Let us endeavour to preach the latter with our media for the good of this nation and its wonderful people. Nigeria needs peace for progress and development. The broadcast media must be in the vanguard for its promotion.

    • Dr Adaba, OON is Pioneer Director General, National Broadcasting Commission.

  • Sustaining value in the pay-TV industry

    Sustaining value in the pay-TV industry

    If, like me, you want top class television content at a cost that has charity written all over it, this piece is for you. Still there?

    I grew up watching television content for which we did not have to pay. And even up till today, millions access plenty of TV content such as sports, sitcoms, news, movies, music and kids’ entertainment without paying for anything other than electricity consumption and, of course, the one-off purchase of their television sets.

    There are millions of others that find the programming on non-conditional access television sterile, making them pay some money to pay-TV companies with considerably better programming and audio-visual quality. Frankly, many of those in the paying category, certainly, would wish they did not have to pay for the vastly superior service they enjoy. Even within this category, there are many that wish to pay for the superior service, but not the same amount the television companies are charging. They would rather pay, preferably for a lifetime,  a tiny fraction of what they currently pay. I do not mind paying, but prefer to pay the same subscription rate forever.

    But it does not require plenty of acumen to know that this is not possible. After all, I am not earning the same wage I earned three years ago.

    So, can I, with any justification, assume that whatever I pay to access premium television content should remain the same despite economic signs that such is not possible?

    And if I do, will I be on solid grounds? Answer: No. The reason is simple. The economics of pay-television, driven largely by live sports broadcast and airing of movies makes such an assumption untenable.

    Sports, without doubt, is responsible for a huge percentage of television’s programming costs and accounts for more than half the revenue of many professional sports. I am certain that without television, professional sport would be nothing like we currently know it. And without sport, the influence of cable TV on her lives would have been considerably weaker than what it is.

    Television content, especially of the world class variety, has always been pricey. It is exactly why we are required to pay certain amounts in subscription fees to have access to such.

    The subscription we pay is for the programming ( those channels we watch, that is) and the distribution  (the infrastructure and profits for the cable companies).

    It means that every time we pay subscription, the channels collect a fraction of the fee. That fraction is called an “affiliate fee.” The affiliate fee is the way cable providers compensate producers of the content that thrills us. Affiliate fees are what drive content development. They represent a “share” of the subscription fee we pay to our cable or satellite operator that is then shared with the content owner or distributor, often on a per subscriber basis.

    The most watched channels attract the highest fees. And those tend to be entertainment channels like those of sports and movies.

    In the current economic climate, marked the naira’s free fall, I have continued to wonder how pay-TV companies, charging the same as they have always charged will remain in business. The more I think about it, the more I am convinced the devaluation of the naira is what will unhinge them unless, of course, they have acquired an expertise akin to one required to turn water into wine.

    The broadcast rights for much of the content they bring to us are paid for in dollars. And in many situations, contracts for many of such are due for renewal. The implication is that pay-TV companies are condemned to pay a lot more than they paid the last time to have the rights to bring the content to us. The bidding process for such rights, anywhere in the world, does not allow for low-balling. The most in-demand content attracts fiercely competitive bids, a state of affairs that puts Nigerian pay-TV providers at a huge disadvantage on account of the naira’s limpness.

    The latest television deal for the broadcast of England’s Barclays Premier League matches, signed earlier this month, showed a 70% jump in cost. This was provoked by the frenzied bids by Sky and BT. The deal, which runs from 2016 to 2019, will cost Sky, which got the lion’s share of the matches, £4.176billion.

    The outlay sparked panic among Sky subscribers, who wondered if they would not have to pay more than they currently do. Keen to quell the panic, Sky issued a statement saying subscribers will not foot the bill. But in the same statement, the company said it would minimise the impact of the outlay on the subscribers. In plain language, Sky was saying that subscribers have to pay more because it has had to pay more.

    But it is not only foreign content that is affected by the sliding naira. Currency devaluation drives up the costs of goods and services, even if they are not coming from abroad. What this means is that pay-TV companies with interest in original local content production will have to spend more to have the type of content that keeps subscribers glued.

    This is in addition to acquiring content for which they have to pay. The movie offerings on MultiChoice’s eight-channel Africa Magic range have cost implications in form of payments to movie producers. If pay-TV companies lose the capacity to pay adequately, content producers will see their investments faced with the threat of going belly up.

    Pay-TV is business, it must be stated, is not a social service.

    It does not depend on government subventions. It creates value and for it to continue to create value, it must have a value-an appropriate value to which the subscriber’s contribution is required.

     

    Waritobo, a public affairs analyst, lives in Amasoma, Bayelsa State.

  • N7 billion: CAN denies allegation, seeks probe of faceless group

    N7 billion: CAN denies allegation, seeks probe of faceless group

    The leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has denied the allegation that it was given N7 billion by President Goodluck Jonathan to campaign for his re-election.

    A  statement issued in Abuja by CAN’s  General Secretary, Rev. (Dr.) Musa Asake, reads: “Our attention has been drawn to a report credited to one Musa Dikwa, alleging that the leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) was given N7 billion by President Goodluck Jonathan to campaign for his re-election. Ordinarily, we would have ignored this baseless and worthless allegation, but for the vulnerable public which believes in anything, no matter how incredible the source could be, especially in this era of politics.

    “For the avoidance of doubt, CAN has no knowledge of any N7 billion transaction as alleged by Musa Dikwa who claims to be the Executive Director of a non-existent group, Voice of Northern Christian Movement. CAN is not a political party, let alone getting involved in partisan politics. Christians who are members of CAN belong to different political parties. It is, therefore, surprising to hear that CAN is campaigning for one candidate.

    “Revered men of God, including Pastors Ayo Oritsejafor, CAN President; Bishop David Oyedepo of Winners Chapel and Pastor Bosun Emmanuel (Secretary-General of National Christian Elders Forum) are too upright to be linked with any such deal.

    “CAN is, therefore, not surprised to see Musa Dikwa doing a yeoman’s job the next day through his allegations. This is the hands of Esau, but voice of Jacob. The allegation by Dikwa is masterminded by those who were not happy with our recent press statement in which we denounced the endorsement of the presidential candidate of the APC, General Muhammadu Buhari (retd), by a group of people using the name of different Christian organizations to perpetrate fraud. We still insist that Buhari has fallen into wrong hands because his endorsement for the March 28 presidential  election by the Northern Christian Leaders Eagle-Eye Forum led by Aminchi Habu is fraudulent.

    “We are, therefore, calling on security agencies to commence investigation of the activities of this Voice of Northern Christian Movement and Musa Dikwa himself to unravel the N7 billion mysteries which is intended by their sponsors to throw the country into serious crisis.

    “We repeat for emphasis that  Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, Bishop David Oyedepo, Pastor Bosun Emmanuel and CAN were not given any money by the Presidency, let alone N7 billion. The allegation is the height of mischief and desperation. Unfortunately, our psyche as a nation has been bastardised and abused by the institutionalised corruption introduced by successive military rulers (in uniform and out of uniform) that we no longer believe that anyone can speak the truth without financial inducement or gratification. Fortunately, there are still people in the nation who act without financial inducement.

    “We are Christians and our candidate is Jesus Christ. So long as we believe that the church is under threat, we will speak for Jesus Christ and maintain the wake-up call to the church.”

  • The Rivers PDP dilemma

    Nigerians, generally, are fixated on the forthcoming presidential election, failing to take into consideration the epic battle waiting to happen in the Rivers State gubernatorial polls. I say with all sense of seriousness that the battle for the soul of Rivers would go down as one of the most epic electoral contest in the annals of the state and the country at large.

    It would be a battle of winners and sinners, a battle of wits and egos, and a battle of seen and unseen forces. Some of the factors that would determine this election include the ethnicity of the candidates, and the federal and local forces behind each candidate.

    On the side of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), its standard bearer, Nyesom Wike (Upland-Ikwerre), has told all that cared to listen that he has the backing of the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, who is an indigene of Rivers State, and from the same ethnic group as the All Progressive Congress (APC) standard bearer Dr. Peterside Dakuku (Riverine-Ijaw).  In Rivers State the riverine-upland dichotomy is also used to distinguish the terrain of the Ijaws (Andoni, Bonny, Kalabari, Okrika/Ogu-Bolo, Opobo, Abua/Odual, parts of Ahoada West, Port Harcourt, and Oyigbo) from the terrain of other ethnic groups.

    In 1999 Rivers East produced Governor Peter Odili. He received the total support of riverine-Ijaw during his 2003 second term election. Governor Odili handed over power in 2007 to another senatorial district; this time to Rivers West. Celestine Omehia is an upland man from Ikwerre LGA. When the court removed him from office another Ikwerre- upland man also took over; this time Governor Chibuike Amaechi. Once again riverine in the other districts gave their unquantifiable support to Amaechi during his 2011 second term election

    Rivers South East, where the APC candidate is from, is expected to produce the next governor.  But the crisis rocking the state is all about Nyesom Wike’s gubernatorial ambition. Wike is not from Rivers South East. He is an upland man from Rivers West that already produced Governors Omehia and Amaechi. And he has a willing conspirator in the First Lady, who, ironically, isn’t interested in her kinsman becoming governor for inexplicable reasons. The question now is how does one explain the unholy alliance between Nyesom Wike and Dame Jonathan?

    To begin with, Wike is an aggressive grassroots politician. It’s on record that he worked assiduously for Governor Amaechi in 2007 and 2011. But he has since become a political liability because of his style of operation. He plays very dirty politics.  In my opinion, for the First Lady to jettison the idea of supporting her kinsman means that there are some undercurrents playing out. I stand to be corrected: if PDP loses the presidential elections, it would matter less to the First Lady. But if PDP loses Rivers State, the world would probably  to an end for her. This is why the President should be his own man by urgently addressing the injustice in Rivers PDP and making sure that  the PDP respect the zoning arrangement and allow the riverine area of the state to produce the next governor, instead of allowing the ambition of an individual throw the state into anarchy and war, which will not augur well for the state and the country.

    The unholy alliance between Wike and Dame Jonathan is three-fold. She owes a great debt of gratitude to Wike for welcoming her to Rivers State by giving her a voice and relevance because at some point Dame Jonathan wasn’t recognised as a stakeholder in the state.  She feels Wike has the political clout and structure to wrestle power from Governor Amaechi, and she will feel safe and secured with Wike as Governor, vis-à-vis over the control of the state. But she forgot that his candidacy has further polarised the state and might just be seeing the beginning of the end of PDP in Rivers State.

    The only way PDP can win Rivers State is with the use of force and violence. And this is their likely game plan. I say this for the following reasons. The party is so desperate to secure the state that it gave party tickets to ex-militants. One of such is Tamunotonye Smart Adoki, aka Ayinla, the House of Assembly candidate in Phalga Constituency two. Another ex-militant leader, Comrade Ateke Tom, as he is now referred to, is from the same ethnic group as Dame Jonathan. He drives in a bullet-proof SUV with a presidency plate number and heavily guarded by military men. The Chief of Army Staff, General Kenneth Minimah is also from the same ethnic group as the APC gubernatorial candidate but his loyalty is to Dame Jonathan. The PDP controls the security apparatus in the state including the Joint Task Force stationed in all riverine areas of the state.

    Dame Jonathan has decided to take the bull by the horns in supporting Wike despite repeated warnings from notable Ijaw leaders. It’s on record that they approached President Jonathan and warned him against making such mistake. But she refused to bulge and Wike emerged the PDP candidate. Time will tell how far her support would go in securing a victory for Wike

    There is also the issue of disgruntled members of the PDP who have decided to remain in the party to work for President Jonathan and against Wike. Take the example of Chief Dumo Lulu-Briggs , a man whom many have said can fix it for both the PDP and Rivers State. “We have the challenge of managing the multiple conflicts that have been generated by divergent political interests in the state, and we are aware that a polarized PDP needs to come together at a time through somebody who has the might to do that. So, Dumo, to us, is the right man for the job”, some PDP elders told this writer.  Another case is that of Odein Ajumogobia who dragged the PDP to court over the non-implementation of the PDP zoning arrangement.

    The crisis rocking the PDP in the state is too grave to be ignored. All things considered, interesting times definitely lie ahead in Rivers State.

    The options are clear enough but whether  the President will do the right thing to ensure that the greater interest of the party prevails over the interest of two people, his wife and Wike remains to be seen. Time will tell.

  • Ogun: The mystery 600,000 PVCs

    The 1946 Constitution, named after the then Governor of Nigeria, Sir Arthur Richards, was widely opposed by different groups and nationalist parties in the country not only because they were not consulted before it was promulgated but that it did not secure greater participation of Nigerians in the management of their own affairs. Contrary to the promise made by his predecessor, Governor Bernard Bourdillon, the Richards Constitution came into force with little opportunity for discussion by residents of colonial Nigeria. With the retention of Clifford’s ‘elective principle on a limited franchise’ of only four seats in the Legislative Council and increase in the power of the Governor, it was evident that the country was almost as far from representative government as she was in 1922.

    According to the National Council of Nigeria and Cameroons (NCNC), the fact that only four members were to be directly elected into the Legislative Council, as was the case in the 1922 Constitution, had exposed the British Government to the criticism that from the year 1922 to the year 1945, “Nigerians made no advance at all towards any qualification in election by adult suffrage of those who represent their interests in the Legislative Council.” The party, it must be underscored, did not limit its justified opposition to press statements in the media but sent a delegation to Westminster to, among others, protest the rape.

    Of course, there were other nationalist parties in the country then but it was the NCNC that picked the gauntlet to obtain support and funds for the London trip. It is instructive that the agitation against the Richards Constitution did not only lead eventually to its short life but the all-inclusive Ibadan General Conference of 1950, preparatory to the enactment of the Macpherson Constitution of 1951, which moved the country closer to representative democracy.

    Ogun State, South-west Nigeria is not the least populated state among the 36 in the country. But it boggles the mind while as at mid-February, its eligible voters should have had the least access to the Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) in the comity of states in Nigeria. As if this was not strange enough, thousands of petitions were reportedly directed to the governor by eligible voters, including the numbing allegation that about 625,000 PVCs carried Ogun State code, but the photographs on the cards did not match the faces of registered residents in the wards where the cards were displayed. The governor specifically confirmed this anomaly in his own Ward 11 at Ita-Eko, where the mystery cards were equally observed.

    This, naturally and under normal circumstances, should have agitated the minds of all stakeholders in the forthcoming general elections, especially the political parties canvassing for votes. The Governor of Ogun State, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, is not just the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the coming polls but the one the citizens should eventually look up to on their agitation to collect the PVCs. Just like Herbert Macaulay (and later Nnamdi Azikwe) rose to the occasion, it was Amosun that took up the gauntlet by visiting the state office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to raise the allegations and ask that something urgently be done so that all the 1.8 million eligible voters get the PVCs and that no one should be disenfranchised.

    However belated the reaction of the opposition parties might be, they should have at least raised the alarm further because the 1.8 million registered voters are residents who will vote for the parties of their choice on March 28 and April 11. But what did we get from the leaders of these opposition parties on both the shocking low distribution of PVCs in Ogun and over 600,000 fake PVCs? Silence! Funeral silence! Then condemnation of the governor for speaking for the voiceless.

    Hear the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as reported in the papers on Friday, February 20: “Governor Amosun, being a candidate of the All Peoples Congress (APC), who is also standing for election in the April 11, 2015 governorship election, just like every other candidate standing for elections, has no legal and moral right to visit the INEC office to complain about the distribution of the permanent voter cards (PVCs) in the state. This is crass opportunism, and open blackmail, aimed principally to compromise the integrity, neutrality and independence of the election umpire. We condemn this in totality. There are other windows open and available to vent any perceived, assumed or imagined ‘irregularities’ in the conduct and operations of any independent commissions and or agencies. For instance, Governor Amosun could issue press statements, grant press interviews or even write official but open letters to the commission to register his protest…”

    Is there any law preventing the candidates of political parties from visiting a public place like INEC office? None. How does an open visit to INEC office on such a matter public importance result in the compromise or blackmail of the institution? But for narrow and parochial politics of the opposition, or more importantly, their hidden agenda, should their leaders not have joined Amosun in marching to the INEC office to register a serious protest over the low distribution of PVCs and the over 600,000 mystery PVCs that have flooded Ogun State?

    Now, my worry is, and Nigerians should take this very seriously, the statement by the PDP did not raise any issue on why Ogun State is miserably lagging behind in its adults getting the PVCs let alone raise any concern on the mystery PVCs that have been observed and seen in virtually all the 236 Wards in the state. This can only lead, inexorably, to one conclusion – the party (PDP) may be a suspect! This is the product of logical reasoning. Till date, the leading opposition party in Ogun (PDP), with its allies, has not issued a single statement or expressed any concern or worry on the inexplicable low distribution of PVCs in the state. Who then are the people they are expecting to vote for them? It then means they have a hidden agenda.

    Now that the news of the fake 600,000 voter cards is in the public domain, it is the responsibility of all stakeholders, especially INEC, to withdraw the mystery cards and ensure all eligible voters in the state get the original PVCs. No one, party or institution must be permitted to subvert the will of the electorate – through any means. We must all join hands in resolving the mystery PVCs, including sending a delegation to INEC headquarters in Abuja to demand that right thing be done. The people of Ogun must not be prevented from exercising their political sovereignty through the ballot boxes.

     

    • Soyombo, public affairs analyst, sent this piece via densityshow@yahoo.com

     

  • Open Letter to President Jonathan

    My dear President, it’s with a very heavy heart that I’m writing this letter to you. Sir, whether you are re-elected in the coming Presidential Election rescheduled for March or rejected by the same Nigerians, who massively voted for you in 2011, there is no way the history of Nigeria would be written without a mention of your name on the list of honours. Like an adage says:  ”A good beginning or good ending, only the middle will mend itself,” seems best for a time like this.

    You had a good beginning with Nigerians and that was why we stood with you, despite your ‘shoeless’ background; and, like everyone destined to the top, you became the acting President and in 2011, you were elected by nearly all Nigerians wishing for ‘a poor boy’ to become the President. Today, things may not be the same, but, I am strongly persuaded that you can still have a good ending if you allow the current electoral process to go on according to the will of the people. I’m confident that if you so do, whatever misgivings anyone has (and there will always be) against you during the period you served would be taken care of by your act of courage, genuine and evident commitment to fatherland.

    ýThis letter is intended to among others, remind you that before now, God had given some other Nigerians opportunities to lead and, like you, and depending on how they used that office, we either celebrated or mourned their exit. Remember, men like the late maximum ruler, Sani Abacha. Today, no public relations efforts will erase the jubilations across the length and breadth of Nigeria at his demise. He ruled for nine years, but the man who took over from him, the gentle AbdulSalam Abubakar, who spent only few months in office, is seen as a hero. He knew this nation does not belong to an individual or group; but to all of us and whoever we have chosen to lead us, must align with the will, wishes and desires of the generality of all of us.

    Ibrahim Babangida, (IBB), as he is fondly called, also had his chance to lead us, but because of the way he handled the fate of Nigeria, he is today saddled with the hard task of selling his ideals to Nigerians again. It is sad but the truth is that Nigerians find it difficult to believe and accept him. He acquired an uncomplimentary pitiable nickname, Maradona simply because of his unprecedented inconsistency.

    What of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo? He was able to come back as President after he first served as military ruler, simply because he did what the people wanted in his first outing. Nigerians will not forget in a hurry how he almost succumbed to the temptation of Third Term; a move that would have terribly dented his hard-earned reputation. But like all great leaders, he sensed the danger signals of subverting the will of the people and humbly let Nigerians have their way. Today, not only is Nigeria standing when he talks, but African countries as a whole.

    In Africa, the picture of Hosni Mubarak, the former President of Egypt, once deified in the political and military history of Egypt, but today treated with little respect and wheeled to court in the most cruel of manner, to face charges of wickedness and corruption, holds sad memories. Often paraded in cage before a court of law, his, is enough lesson to anyone who wants to have his way, like it or not.

    These are a few frightening examples nobody, not even an enemy, can wish for a president, who once had ‘no shoes’, but today, has more than enough to serve him for a life time, just because he suddenly sees himself as above the same people who gave him their votes in trust a few years ago. No! I reject it for you; even if you are already thinking of taking a walk on this dangerous path.

    I know you have many Bishops and pastors as friends; and have even visited many of them recently. I can guess correctly, too, that they have prayed and probably are still praying for you; and told you nice things any leader would love to hear, but, I want to appeal to your conscience. Nobody wears your conscience; not the pastors or your hordes of aides at Aso Rock or even all those who beat war drums ‘for your sake’ in your home town.  History, when it will be written, will surely not lump you together with them since they were not directly in charge of Nigeria, but, you, alone.

    Therefore, my prayer is that you end well; not as meat to the dogs of war as was the case of Samuel Doe, former President of Liberia, former dictator and Libya’s leader, Colonel Ghadaffi or Sadam Hussein; all of who had opportunities to act right and live, but yielded to the lure of office to their peril. Today, the entire world has moved on with their aides, some of whom refused to let them see danger signals, finding new vocations in other governments.

    I wonder if it has ever crossed your mind why Nigerians would still want a “performing” President out sharp sharp as shown in the six online polls conducted by Nigerians, two of which were done by your aide and the African Independent Television (AIT) whose owner is probably a card-carrying member of your party.  Have you ever thought why Nigerians are still angry at your government though you say you created over one million jobs? Couldn’t they have shown understanding and trust you to create more jobs when re-elected? ý

    It is probably your lack of understanding of the situation of things that has driven Nigerians to want to support an erstwhile dictator rather than, forgive me sir, have a failed leader as they often refer to you behind closed doors. Really, who dares call you that to your face?  For every five Nigerians, four agree that you fanned corruption with everything within you. They point to the pardon you granted to Chief Dieprieye Alamieseigha, your former boss to the point of handing him ticket to run for Senate in your state.  Others point to the Pensions scam, the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) scandal, the money-in-a-South African-bound flight and the several reports of probes gathering dust as the days go by in your cupboard.

    Truth is, Nigerians crave a leader they can trust; one with a strong character that transcends ethnic and religious chauvinism. Never forget that your arithmetic of 16 being greater than 19 during the election of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum; suspension of Emir Lamido Sanusi and your elevation of people either indicted or going through trial for corruption are some of your major albatrosses.

    Hope is not lost though things look hopeless. The opportunity to change things for the better and make history are still available. That opportunity will come on March 28. How the election is organized; who is used and how your men and the military comport themselves during and after the election, will go a long way in changing the perception of Nigerians about you.  If, as most Nigerians fear, you deploy the military to advantage during the election, you can be sure where you will stand in history. But more than anything else, the reactions that will trail the election will point to how well you have prepared to let the people see you.

  • A positive storm is brewing

    History is upon us, asking something bold of us. Those who hear must respond to its call because history is impatient. If we tarry, history shall not. If we fail to act as the situation requires, history will still move forward and its pen will write an unanswerable verdict against us. All the prior achievements and feats we have recorded in the past will matter little unless we now answer the challenge now facing us.

    We have come to the place where things must change or we shall sink. For the nation to continue as is constitutes nothing less than an invitation to doom. Such a fate we shall not abide.

    The hour is late and our chance for national progress reduces with each idle moment. The way Nigeria is governed must change and change dramatically. This means the shape of politics must change.

    Nigeria must be a prosperous, secure, safe nation that helps weaker nations attain peace and stability. Instead we are beset by woe on all sides. Boko Haram falls upon our people in the North. MEND in the Niger Delta falls upon us. Kidnapping and robbery encircle the nation as if we have become a training ground for criminal misconduct.

    Rich in manpower and material resources

    Nigeria should set the agenda for economic development and broadly shared prosperity on the African continent. Today, the opposite is the case. Instead of having a wealth of domestically produced goods in our manufacturing basket, we hold a virtually empty basket. As such, we have become a basket case.

    More Nigerians than ever before suffer under the daily grind of poverty. Unemployment is so rampant among our youth that finding a job is no longer the natural progression of life. It is seen as a miracle.

    Even then, upon finding work, too many people soon discover they labour for wages below the subsistence level. For them there is too many days left until the end of the month after the money is finished. With too little food and more tears in their eyes than drinkable water in their cups, they stare into the darkness of   despair on a constant basis.

    This is not the way of a great nation. It is the way of heartless and mean governance that puts the interests of small elite above the interests of the common working man and woman who are the soul and backbone of this nation.

    We should have a vast land transportation system that moves our active, energetic population safely and moves our goods and produce cheaply. Instead, our roads have become portals of death where people perish by the dozens — one accident after another.Yet, those in command do nothing for the average Nigerian who is forced to run this gauntlet of death for his daily crumbs of bread. Instead, those who could improve this situation for the good of all do just enough to make things better for themselves.

    Where the road is bad, they budget for it, still the road gets worse off. Where the road is impassable, they offer excuses and empty promises. The touted improvement in electricity supply is now a mirage. In the midst of petrol dollars and abundance of natural gas Nigerians are without a commensurate standard of living. Our billions are embezzled and shared to cronies. The slogan of the ruling party is power, but corruption is the fuel that powers their government.

    In a prior age, an arrogant ruler reportedly once scoffed regarding her starving population, “let them eat cake.” Today, our rulers scoff at our people “let them face death.”

    The current way of governance makes nation building impossible.  What it does is make poverty and the erosion of a just society inevitable.

    We have gathered at this hour and in this place to put an end to this national corrosion. We have assembled to bring a new day and a new Nigeria to our people.

    The Nigerian people are decent and hard-working people. They also are long –suffering.  Just because they are long –suffering does not mean they should be forced to suffer until death comes.

    Our people have had enough of having nothing. The current government’s trademark is to throw empty words and hollow action at our problems as if doing nothing will cause our troubles to leave from sheer boredom.  Instead, trouble mounts.

    If this is the government’s idea of transformation, I will have none of it. It seems their notion of change is to go from slow motion to no motion at all.

    If they want to stand still, that is their right. However, they have no right to force the whole nation to stagnate with them. We have things to accomplish and progress to make for the good of the people.

    If they have nothing to offer except the nothing they have been giving us, let’s join hands with others to sweep them aside, so that we can keep pushing through and move this nation upward and forward.

    This is why we hold our convention today. This convention portends the coming of great political change. A storm is brewing. Don’t be frightened. It is a positive storm with a positive wind. Those things that have no roots and offer no solution to the plight of the people shall be swept away. This storm will change the political terrain forever.  I am not afraid of this storm. I welcome it because the storm is us- our new vision. Our new party.

    I stand to tell you that for the good of Nigeria this must be the last and final convention of the Action Congress of Nigeria (CAN).  As one of the national leaders of this party, I have dedicated myself to our political collaboration. I am attached to it in the strongest way. I am proud of what we have accomplished. Had we not held fast in the Southwest against onslaught and intrigue, Nigeria would effectively be a one party state. When history rights its tale of the past decade, it will say the ACN preserved Nigerian democracy when it came under great threat.

    But we must enter a new phase if poverty and want are to be lifted from the backs of our people. Given the destructive nature of PDP governance, we can no longer be satisfied with preserving democratic practice and with serving as the opposition. The first step in changing Nigeria for the better is to change government for the better.

    Weighing all things in the balance, if I must decide between the existence of this party and the improvement of Nigeria, I must choose the improvement of Nigeria. That is our duty and responsibility. While it would be most comfortable to remain with our party as is, with its unique symbol, manifesto and constitution, we are not here to do what is comfortable. We are here to do what is right for our people and our country.

    We are here to answer to a greater, higher calling.  That calling is the love of Nigeria.

    To rescue Nigeria from the blight of mis-governance, we must join hands with like-minded progressives in other parties and organizations. We must sacrifice our current partisan identity to create a larger one capable of assuming leadership at the national level. This and only this offers the best chance for Nigeria at this stage. We dare not miss this chance because we cannot be sure of another.

    I ask you my brothers and sisters to take pride in what ACN has accomplished but to have the vision and courage to see that our national imperatives require us to enter a new phase of political maturity, sacrifice and cooperation in order to bring an era of progressive governance to the whole of Nigeria and not just part of it. If we must end the ACN identity to form a new party so that Nigeria can survive and our people can live better life and face a rewarding future, then so be it. We shall do this with serious yet happy purpose and no regrets.  May your chests fill with pride at what we have done and may your hearts fill with optimism at the better future that we shall create.

    Join me today in voting to move our party into merger with the ANPP, CPC, other parties and organizations to form the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    I assure you that the place we are going will be your house of political fulfillment. We shall have a meaningful voice in the APC. The principles of democracy, justice, visionary governance and liberty that shaped the ACN shall carry over into the APC. The new party will be as welcome a home as the ACN. It will just be a bigger house for a larger political family.

    It shall be this family that saves Nigeria by bringing to the people the creative policies that promote wide prosperity, employment, infrastructural overhaul, education, health care, civil rights, peace, stability and justice.

    Thus vote with me to close the historic and noble chapter on the ACN so that we can begin a new and bigger book called the APC.

    For us this is not a sad ending, it is but the beginning of a great beginning. Let us do what is right so that when history writes its account of this day, it shall write that we lived up to our moral duties by doing what the moment required.

    For a better Nigeria, the ACN must join with other parties to merge into the APC.

    This is our last best hope. There is nothing else to do. Thank you and God bless this convention and God Bless Nigeria.

     

    •This momentous speech made by the former Governor of Lagos at last ACN convention on April 18, 2013 foretold the change in Nigeria which is about to happen in the next five weeks.

     

  • Real democracy and people’s wishes

    Nigeria’s problems, as at today, are classifiable principally into two: endemic corruption and immorality, both of which require an iron hand to uproot

    On corruption, essentially, the root cause of corruption in Nigeria is the wrongful uses of political parties for our elections.

    The political party system was adopted in 1960 at independence. It was borrowed from our former colonial masters, the British government, who had developed the system over several years and clearly in line with their culture.

    The use of political parties in Britain, as well as other European countries, is often carried out with transparency and with utmost sincerity to the people, to the extent that people may have not realised that the use of political parties is undemocratic. A situation in which a political party will have to endorse or nominate a candidate against the wishes of the people for the primaries is clearly undemocratic.

    In fact, the Senate also needs to be scrapped because its primary function is unnecessarily repetitive to review and delay the execution of the decision of the representatives. The Senate is a mere colossal waste of public funds, and we can certainly do without it.

    It is sad and regrettable that the use of political parties, without doubt, is related to corruption in Nigeria.

    Looking back, since the adoption of the use of political parties in Nigeria in 1960, you will find that unhealthy rivalry, arson, assassination, looting of the treasury, unlawful killings, do or die rivalry, unilateral appointment of candidates against the wishes of the people and attacks on personalities rather than on issues and their manifestoes have become the norm. This has never been the case in Britain and other European countries.

    It would have been marvelous if we can go back, develop, and streamline the Town Hall System. The meeting will appoint people who are knowledgeable and who show appropriate interest. Their task would be to eventually elect those to represent the nation or state in the House of Representatives or Assembly. And of course, INEC, with amended rules & regulations, would be retained to carry out approved laid down arrangement.

    The truth is that 90 per cent of Nigeria’s problems over the years and the even till today are caused by unhealthy rivalry among the political parties.

    An election conducted with tanks and soldiers on the street is certainly not free and peaceful, as we are often made to believe.

    In order to uproot this endemic and image damaging phenomenon called corruption, and for peace and faster progress to be made in Nigeria, I pray that political parties should be scrapped.

    On morality, there seems to be insufficient rules and regulations guiding against acts of immorality in Nigeria. Imagine a woman, who after 10 years of marriage, coming out to tell her husband that a child who the man had called his own belonged to another man.

    To eliminate family hazards after marriage,  it is extremely important that couples health status should be stated with a valid medical report in respect of the following ailments   (a) sickle cell anemia (b) epilepsy (c) frequent mental degeneration (d) breast& cervical cancer  (e) HIV & AIDS  (F) VD.

    To enhance the chances of family happiness after marriage, it is essential to eliminate the prevailing dichotomy, which states, on the one hand in the Bible and Quran, as well as in our culture, that the husband is the head of the family unit. No doubt, equality before the law can bring a lot of disunity, sharp disagreement and in fact divorces into family lives and indeed discontent in the national social order. Moreover, it is un-African for a man to take a man to the altar for wedding, or for a woman to present a dog as her “husband”, though these things condoned overseas under human rights principles.

    The clamour for equality in status between the husband and his wife is a mere and unwarranted introduction of European culture into Nigeria/Africa culture, which if not quickly discouraged,  will continue to be an intolerable source of unhappiness and high rate of divorce among married couples.

    Human rights principles should not be introduced or tolerated in family lives. It is a home breaker that could be managed overseas, where women are accorded higher respect than men. For example, women will be given preference to sit before the men. It has become their culture, but certainly not in Nigeria.

    Fornication

    This has become common among girls of 14 to 25 years of age. It is unfortunate that it has become fashionable for girls who are expected to still be tied to their mothers’ apron to already be loose on the streets, despite Biblical & Quranic injunctions condemning fornication in very strong terms.

    Therefore a stringent method to reduce fornication to its barest minimum will probably be to classify weddings into Classes A, B & C.

    A bride may be required to produce a Certificate of Virginity from a government medical doctor a week before wedding, either in church or mosque. This will perform a wonderful moral change in the society.

    I hope Nigeria women will see this suggestion as acceptable to them and as being in the best interest of all Nigerians.

    The Nigeria Society will smell fresh with dignity both nationally and Internationally.

     

    .Solanke is a Lagos based lawyer

  • N7 billion: CAN denies allegation, seeks probe of faceless group

    The leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has denied the allegation that it was given N7 billion by President Goodluck Jonathan to campaign for his re-election.

    A  statement issued in Abuja by CAN’s  General Secretary, Rev. (Dr.) Musa Asake, reads: “Our attention has been drawn to a report credited to one Musa Dikwa, alleging that the leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) was given N7 billion by President Goodluck Jonathan to campaign for his re-election. Ordinarily, we would have ignored this baseless and worthless allegation, but for the vulnerable public which believes in anything, no matter how incredible the source could be, especially in this era of politics.

    “For the avoidance of doubt, CAN has no knowledge of any N7 billion transaction as alleged by Musa Dikwa who claims to be the Executive Director of a non-existent group, Voice of Northern Christian Movement. CAN is not a political party, let alone getting involved in partisan politics. Christians who are members of CAN belong to different political parties. It is, therefore, surprising to hear that CAN is campaigning for one candidate.

    “Revered men of God, including Pastors Ayo Oritsejafor, CAN President; Bishop David Oyedepo of Winners Chapel and Pastor Bosun Emmanuel (Secretary-General of National Christian Elders Forum) are too upright to be linked with any such deal.

    “CAN is, therefore, not surprised to see Musa Dikwa doing a yeoman’s job the next day through his allegations. This is the hands of Esau, but voice of Jacob. The allegation by Dikwa is masterminded by those who were not happy with our recent press statement in which we denounced the endorsement of the presidential candidate of the APC, General Muhammadu Buhari (retd), by a group of people using the name of different Christian organizations to perpetrate fraud. We still insist that Buhari has fallen into wrong hands because his endorsement for the March 28 presidential  election by the Northern Christian Leaders Eagle-Eye Forum led by Aminchi Habu is fraudulent.

    “We are, therefore, calling on security agencies to commence investigation of the activities of this Voice of Northern Christian Movement and Musa Dikwa himself to unravel the N7 billion mysteries which is intended by their sponsors to throw the country into serious crisis.

    “We repeat for emphasis that  Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, Bishop David Oyedepo, Pastor Bosun Emmanuel and CAN were not given any money by the Presidency, let alone N7 billion. The allegation is the height of mischief and desperation. Unfortunately, our psyche as a nation has been bastardised and abused by the institutionalised corruption introduced by successive military rulers (in uniform and out of uniform) that we no longer believe that anyone can speak the truth without financial inducement or gratification. Fortunately, there are still people in the nation who act without financial inducement.

    “We are Christians and our candidate is Jesus Christ. So long as we believe that the church is under threat, we will speak for Jesus Christ and maintain the wake-up call to the church.

  • Agbaje’s ‘godfatherism’ postulation

    Olujimi Kolawole Agbaje needs little introduction in the politics of Lagos state. The man popularly called JK, a once-upon-a-time progressive is surprisingly the Lagos governorship candidate of the conservative Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He stoked the fire of curiosity recently when he declared publicly as widely reported in the newspapers that he is the ‘best man to rule Lagos because he has no godfather that can influence him negatively in office.’

    Rather than address issues germane to governance and general well-being of Lagosians, he played to the gallery before newsmen by laboriously trying to present himself as a man of himself and also by notifying Lagosians about his witch-hunting expeditious plan if ever he gets the chance to rule the state. He declared: “When it was time to choose my running mate, I chose my running mate, nobody chose her for me. The issue of a godfather hampering

    service delivery is not even on the table. I don’t have a godfather. I want the people to believe me that it won’t happen.”

    Agbaje may be competent to speak publicly on several issues but not on that of political godfatherism because his aversion for it contradicted how he got the governorship ticket slot in his new found love party- the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP). Permit me to refresh readers’ memory by re-presenting the result and whole essence of party primaries that produced Agbaje as governorship candidate of PDP direct from the mouth of his major challenger, Musiliu Obanikoro: “The entire primary was a sham. I still cannot comprehend how accredited delegates of 806 will turn out to be 868. To be honest with you, with the benefit of hindsight, you can tell that the outcome was predetermined.’’

    Perhaps it is pertinent to ask: Who were those powerful PDP figures that predetermined the outcome of the Kangaroo primaries that produced Agbaje as governorship candidate? They are two including Bode George and Seye Ogunleye both central figures in the PDP central administration’s plan to cause chaos in Lagos. The two leading PDP leaders are beneficiaries of godfatherism in all their political lives and will not support a candidate that would not treat them as such and therein lies the fallacy of Agbaje’s statement. Up till today, he has not denied the fraudulent discrepancy that gave him the PDP ticket, rather, he has been rationalising the political charade.

    Yet, Akin Ambode, the candidate of All Progressives Congress(APC) empirically made nonsense of the claim of godfatherism when after intense campaign across the 57 local governments in the state participated in the APC governorship primaries, widely acknowledged as the fairest, to emerge as progressive flag bearer in an untainted primary.

    Ambode scored 3,735 votes while the aspirant that came second, Obafemi Hamzat

    scored a distant 1,201 votes where more importantly and unlike that of PDP, the number of approved delegates was not more than the number of votes cast. The result of the APC primaries was a consequence of political decency of the APC candidate in Ambode and the PDP’s sham primaries result that of the primitiveness of Agbaje’s godfathers that he has futilely been trying to deny in public. Agbaje should stop living a life of political denial.

    Apart from the issues of primaries, the political trajectory of Agbaje since his days in his touted Afenifere cliché, down to PDP, gave him away as someone that was in search of godfathers that would make his desperate governorship aspiration come true which he now, albeit erroneously, thinks he has found in Bode George and Ogunlewe. Two symbols of what a godfather should not be.

    Jimi Agbaje, a pharmacist, in his desperation to become Lagos governor dumped JAYKAY Pharmaceutical and Chemical Company Limited that he founded in 1982 precisely 10 years ago. He had a deceitful dalliance meant to hoodwink the undiscerning public with the progressive Action Congress (AC), his first political party. He left in 2007 to join the Democratic Peoples Alliance (DPA) in search of his governorship ambition after losing the party’s governorship ticket to incumbent Babatunde Raji Fashola in the primaries. In

    his typical domineering way, he deliberately ran the DPA aground in the state which was one of the compelling reasons why INEC de-registered the party. Is this the man Lagosians want as governor? Absolutely No! This intentional act of his paved the way for him to join the reactionary party that has always been after his heart-the PDP.

    He got to PDP and hijacked the two main godfathers there to the chagrin of co-aspirants for the governorship ticket. What obtains in PDP now because of overtly ambitious Agbaje is fragile peace of the grave yard. It cannot last beyond February 28 when Agbaje, a serial loser would have once again lost the governorship contest.

    In contrast to this deceitful profile of Agbaje is that of Ambode who in the short period of his emergence on the political firmament of Lagos has endeared himself to millions of people in the state. Ambode as finance intellectual was a success and as a career civil servant, a shining star and beacon of hope to the young folks. As a serving civil servant and chief custodian of Lagos treasury, his unflinching commitment was not in doubt as he buried himself in bureaucratic obscurity in accordance with the civil service norm of being seen but not heard.

    He helped the state to escape the illegal seizure of Lagos funds by former President Olusegun Obasanjo after the creation of additional local councils in the state by Asiwaju Bola Tinubu’s

    administration. He created the successful financial infrastructural template at the time.

    Ambode was responsible for the global revenue and expenditure profile of the state government; he also provided admirable financial leadership and supervision to over a thousand accountants across all ministries and agencies in the state. He was in the forefront of financial strategy formulation process for the operations and growth of Lagos State Treasury

    Office (STO) and for implementation and meeting of the State finance requirements. All these were attained because of his well grounded academic background both home and abroad.

    He graduated with Honours in Accounting at age 21 from the University of Lagos and became a Chartered Accountant at age 24. This feat was simultaneously achieved with his finishing a Masters degree in Accounting, specializing in Financial Management, at his alma-mata through a Federal Government scholarship.

    He was also a US Fulbright scholarship for the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship at

    Boston University in Massachusetts and was alumnus of the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Boston, USA amongst other reputable institutions across the world. He surprisingly retired voluntarily at age 49 to set a company more interested in mentoring the youth when he could have stayed back.

    This act of voluntary retirement showed Ambode as a man of courage and of himself not holed up by any godfather and as someone who is not afraid of the future since politics was not on the agenda at the time he did this. How can this lofty profile of Ambode be compared with that of Agbaje who was merely driven by the lucre of the governorship position? Where is Agbaje’s requisite public service experience, not his godfathers instigated board appointments adventure, to make him a veritable contestant against Ambode?

    One thing is sure and that is the fact that Lagosians are not ready to trade experience for experiment in who becomes the next governor of the state which is the nation’s centre of excellence. This was corroborated by no mean royalty than Oba Rilwan Akiolu, who several months back endorsed Ambode as competent and capable to take over from Governor Babatunde Fashola come May 29. His precise words: “Ambode remains the best man with

    the required pedigree and character to take Lagos to the next level.” What other endorsement is need that one from the father of all and not Agbaje’s divisive godfathers that had deludingly promised him what is not in their powers to give. What a fate for a politically duplicitous man

    angling at all cost for what is beyond him!

    • Adisa, public affairs analyst writes from Mushin, Lagos.