The Nation Newspaper

Category: Opinion

  • Ex-militants and threats of war

    For the umpteenth time, Nigerians were treated to yet another threat of war, fire, thunder and brimstone; something that has become part of our daily menu list served from the oil-rich Bayelsa State, since General Muhammadu Buhari emerged the presidential standard bearer of the All Progressives Congress Party (APC), and a strong contender for presidency against their kinsman, the Otuoke-Bayelsa State-born incumbent, President Goodluck Jonathan, of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    As always, the ‘war apostles’ have neither learnt a new trade nor allowed the creeks to leave their thinking along with the changing times, having benefitted from what today, is regarded as government’s handshake across the Niger. For the lack of another word, at least, they are still the region’s ‘distinguished’ former militants turned millionaires. What, however, has changed is that they are not promising Nigerians war from the swirling waterways of the creeks, (though not unlikely they would relocate to the creeks when they begin to make their war), but right inside Government House, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.

    How time changes and men forget the past too soon.

    Here, we have men who were granted ‘pardon’ or ‘amnesty’ after a lucrative and gainful sabotage of the nation’s oil revenues through the force of arms in the region’s water expressways – a serious offence in most countries –  returning to poke the nation in the face. Interestingly, these same men, including one of the region’s typical turn-coats, Chief Edwin Clark, had put their sabotage skills to work when former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, presented President Jonathan to his kinsmen as Vice Presidential candidate to run with the late President Musa Yar’ Adua. One of the reasons they adduced for standing in the way of Jonathan was that while he was governor of Bayelsa State for two years, he did not add value to the state. Instead, they told the world, he pursued personal interests, including enriching himself. They had sworn possibly with the same thunder, fire and brimstone that they are currently promising Nigerians today should Jonathan lose the February 14 election.

    But Obasanjo had his way. The hatred did not end there. It reared up again rather ravenously when the late Yar’Adua appointed Jonathan to handle the amnesty negotiations. The militants had kicked until they were left without a choice. Today, curiously, it is this trio of Asari-Dokubo, Tompolo and Boyloaf that are swearing by Otuoke and creeks gods and goddesses to make Nigeria ungovernable should Nigerians reject Jonathan at the polls. Only a few weeks ago, Asari-Dokubo also boasted that he would raze down the entire South-west and went on to warn that the region has acquired war ships that could help them prosecute large scale war against any region of the country. One might have been accustomed to Asari-Dokubo’s often excessive and reckless manner of speaking, but more threatening is the uncommon silence of the presidency.

    With the manner Asari-Dokubo and his kinsmen are carrying on since the campaigns, it has become expedient to draw a line between drunkenness and madness, comedy and sarcacism or, crudity and ignorance. This month’s election is really not about war and even where it is about war, such wars are fought with the Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs). I dare say, the election is more of a contest between President Jonathan and Nigerians; not even about Buhari or APC, the party that has since the return of democracy, for once, posed real threat to PDP’s oligarchical dominance. Interestingly, President Jonathan as incumbent, is in pole position to cruise to victory if he is able to render to Nigerians a convincing stewardship of his six years in office. Nothing can be more patronizing than that. No cache of arms can win anyone the presidency as cheaply as evidences of performance. Except Asari-Dokubo, himself, is not convinced the president has done enough to sleep with eyes shut and so, readying for war just in case his fears come to pass.

    Even taken for granted that thePresident is under some sort of spell and can hardly remember anything he did that has impacted positively on the lives of the citizens, Asari-Dokubo rather than further blur and blot out his records by threatening fire and brimstone, should assist in looking up the performance evidences anywhere they are hidden. Bitter as it may sound, one thing is to want to rule, the other is to know what the challenges are and how to go about tackling them as president. Asari-Dokubo, it could safely be said, knows that every Nigerian desires steady power supply and an end to the pervading insecurity in the land, as well as a government that can fix the economy, create jobs eyes can see and above all, fight corruption which like a malignant fever has left the economy and every Nigerian with a red eye.

    How President Jonathan has fared in these regards, perhaps, is the difference between him and the evidently increasing popularity of the Katsina-born retired army General, who ruled the country more than 40 years ago, yet has clear chances in the elections as exemplified by the hurriedly shut down AIT opinion poll.  One expected Asari-Dokubo and his kinsmen to look beyond Buhari or APC; and South-west or North, to locate concrete reasons Jonathan deserves re-election since unlike the 2011 election tainted by the ‘no shoes’ sympathy, Nigerians would decide the election based on performance. The opposition APC points the president to the festering corruption under his watch. For instance, they say that never in the history of Nigeria has any leader given government officials unhindered access to state funds or fraternized with men who stole the nation blind as President Jonathan.

    Taken for granted that stealing is not corruption as the President said, they say where he decides to keep a blind eye, it should not be on people already convicted or being tried of corrupt practices. But to even the blind, the President’s body language is crystal clear. He seems to enjoy the company of foxes who steal with 10 fingers by either granting them state pardon or rewarding them with National Honours.

    While freedom of speech is one of the benefits of democracy, Asari-Dokubo and his ilk need be reminded of the implication of his threat, particularly as Niger Delta region alone cannot make Jonathan president either by force of arm or the ballot box. Jonathan is not the president of Niger Delta, but Nigeria and so must show as well as convince every Nigerian that he is deserved of their votes. With a sustained campaign of calumny against the army General, no one, either PDP or Asari-Dokubo, had expected he would still be standing tall.

    Like a stubborn stain on Jonathan’s white garment, his handling of the Nigerian Governors Forum controversy (NGF) was at best partisan. Or, how would anyone imagine that 16 is greater than 19? How about the $20 billion NNPC scandal or Minister of Petroleum, Diezani Alison -Madueke’s N10 billion private jet scandal? Or, even the president’s inability to rescue the Chibok Girls, yet was in Kano to dance hours after an Abuja Motor Park was bombed, killing thousands of people? It’s still fresh, too, the memories of applicants who died at the stadium after paying to enlist into the Nigerian Immigration Service, yet not an official or the minister was fired. One could guess correctly that had it gone without casualties, government would have added it to its lists of ‘ghost’ achievements though money was made off the job seekers.

    Today, poverty is in geometric proportions in a country ranked sixth in oil production. Manufacturing firms are leaving the country with those still around struggling to pay bills due to very high cost of production. In all of  these, the beneficiaries of the poor state of basic infrastructure in Nigeria are our neighbours, Ghana, Niger Republic, Camerounn and Mali, some of which we describe as poor countries! These should bother Asari-Dokubo, Tompolo, Boyloaf and Clark, because they are the true threat to Jonathan’s re-election. But again, we must remind ourselves that when we seek peace out of any bad situation, it should not be taken for weakness. For, though, even if  the man who chose to make war has all it takes to win a war, he will never sleep with two eyes closed until it is over. Until the coming of Boko Haram, the Niger Delta Militants stole the nation’s oil and killed military guards in their large numbers. Today, though they are hated with passion, Boko Haram is proving to everyone, including Niger Delta militants, that they do not hold the patent to violence. So, really, who is afraid of war?

    Any one who witnessed the wrath of god of thunder (Sango) with never talk evil of it.

     

    • Oba is Chief Press Secretary to the Kwara State Governor.  

  • Letter to president Jonathan

    Dear President Jonathan, let me begin this letter by telling you what you already  know; by reminding you of what you are not expected to have forgotten:  the year 2015 has been predicted to be, and is being widely seen as, the year of Nigeria’s unravelling.

    Dear President Jonathan, let me begin this letter by telling you what you already  know; by reminding you of what you are not expected to have forgotten:  the year 2015 has been predicted to be, and is being widely seen as, the year of Nigeria’s unravelling. The year that Leviathan contraption knocked together by Frederick Lugard for the glory of the British Empire, will totter back to its separate aboriginal parts and drown an already overwhelmed Africa with another swarm of hapless refugees in an unspeakable maelstrom of the typical African misery.

    This dreadful prediction is generally believed to have originated from the star-gazing wizardry of American soothsayers, reinforced by the frighteningly frank morbidity of studies such as Karl  Maier’s This House Has Fallen. Some Nigerians as well as non-Nigerians interested in Nigeria’s affairs shudder at the threatening inevitability of this prediction. Others dismiss it as another tale from the seamless yarn of Nostradamus, the religious among them claiming that the God that brought us together this far is not about to abandon us and let us fall apart. The rich and fat kleptocrats who hold their knives to the carcass of the Nigerian elephant are too avaricious, too satiated, too visionless to notice the dangers in the Nigerian forest, forever festering, as they do, in the illusion that the booty is far too big, too sumptuous to vanish under their gaze. Worthy descendants of ancient Nero, they feast while the country burns. The politically clever among this group try to paper over the cracks and fissures in the Nigeria house with dubious “advertorials” and syrupy sloganeering as if a loud noise of can smother the stench of a rotting corpse.

    Mr. President, between the morbid prognostication of the first group and the heady optimism of the second lies the real truth of the Nigerian condition as well as the sane, intelligent  appreciation and analysis which the situation requires. The contraption over which you preside is not a country yet: it is still very much a work-in-progress with its frustratingly rough edges and unpolished aspects. I am tempted to conclude that you yourself know this. Which was why you convoked that huge National Conference last year, an act many Nigerians saw as so suspiciously close to the end of your first term as President as to constitute a major plank in the campaign for a second. But, at least, yours was an attempt at a task many of your predecessors in office had routinely shied away from, though we are all wondering what benefits are likely to emerge from that very expensive national constitutional jamboree.

    Oh,  please forgive my patriotic digression. The burden of this open letter is the impending national election, the run-off to it, its actual execution, and its possible aftermath. Mr. President, you will agree with me that this election is so crucial, so fateful that its outcome will decide the coming to pass or otherwise of the doom so loudly and so frightfully foretold for Nigeria. The troubling signs are all over the place, as visible, even conspicuous as Aso Rock which overlooks your presidential abode. Right now, the whole northeastern flank of our country is literally out of and beyond your control. The kidnappings, blood-letting, and other  gruesome barbarities in these parts make the Dark Ages look like a humane era. The Chibok Girls have been gone for almost nine months, with no possible solution from your government, and the whole wide world is defining Nigeria’s international standing by the utter helplessness and apparent apathy of its government. Like those of other people in the world, my heart bleeds each time I remember these girls (and I do so many, many times a day), the manner of their abduction, and worse still, what fate must have befallen them in the hands of their violent captors. We have seen you traversing the country, making speeches, and waxing bold on the hustings, but we have not heard any credible anti-insurgency plan that would make Nigeria safer in your second term

    Another alarming phenomenon is the treasonous threat from some ‘militants’ from your region of origin who claim to be speaking and acting in your defence and on your behalf. One of them actually declared for the whole world to hear that ‘Nigeria will be history’ if you are not ‘given’ a second term. The closer we get to the election, the louder has become the thunder of this piece of ethnic blackmail. For the avoidance of doubt, I am one of those who fervently believe that the Niger Delta has been done a terribly raw deal by previous Nigerian governments, and that a combination of reparation and reconstruction has become a compulsory political and economic (and environmental!) necessity. But, Mr. President, have you been hearing what these ‘militants’ have been saying? Have you been listening to them? Are they really speaking on your behalf? What do you see and sense in their threats: a bond of ethnic solidarity, or a threat to Nigeria, the country over which you preside? Are you a president of the whole of Nigeria or a tribal champion for an ethnic enclave? Have you done a study of the sociology and statistical diversity of the votes that brought you to the presidential throne – or that Nigerian conundrum called ‘doctrine of necessity’ which eased your way to full presidential power a few years ago?

    Mr. President, while the country cannot hold you responsible for the opinions and utterances of other people no matter how close they appear to be to you, it is your bounden duty to disclaim incendiary utterances capable of setting the Nigeria house ablaze. Put succinctly, it is your inescapable duty to respond PERSONALLY and unequivocally to all such utterances with an emphatic: NOT IN MY NAME! I have not heard you say that, Mr. President. The whole country is waiting for you to say so. We have not seen your Inspector General of Police rein in the flame-throwers; nor have we seen your Attorney-General read them the portions of the Nigerian constitution forbidding their inflammatory incitements.  There surely must be a wide discernible difference between a national leader and a tribal jingoist. Say something, Mr. President. Say something. Your silence in this instance is anything but golden. Your ostrich cannot hide for long, for the Nigerian sand has become so transparent,  thanks to many years of painful wisdom and enlightened skepticism of the people.

     

    •To be continued next week

  • PDP and the hollowness of power

    These are, indeed, trying times for the ruling People Democratic Party (PDP) which, from all its recent actions, is now like a rudderless ship, just meandering without control. It is evident, from happenings across the country, especially on the political turf, that the umbrella that used to provide a false sense of refuge for the party is now in tatters. Without any doubt, things have finally fallen apart for the party that once boasted that it would rule the country for 50 years because even its leaders know and are now just wondering how fast things are working against them. Desperation is now the order of the day within the rank and file of the party.

    For the first time in the political history of our country, we now have a ruling party that is mounting huge propaganda machinery even against itself as if it is the party in opposition.  The party got to this sorry state because at a time when all Nigerians expect it to leverage on its ‘performance’ in the last 15 years, what we have is a sinking party that is trying to justify its failure using a rather depressing presidential declaration that ‘My generation has failed Nigeria’. This is because the party really has nothing to show for these wasted years other than brigandage, shamelessness and do-or- die stance that has made even the president become angry with himself.

    Out of sheer desperation, a party that openly promised an issue -based campaign is now resorting to lies, vulgarism, blasphemies and deception as campaign manifestoes. Thus, if it is not Buhari’s ‘sickness’ today, it is his certificate issue tomorrow and next  it is about a phantom scheme to Islamise the country  or a desperate attack on the man’s  impeccable character  and his anti – corruption stance.  The PDP does not mind to go any length to play dirty, not even the note of caution by Kofi Anan, former UN Secretary General, would stop the President and his party from all sorts of crude and desperate politics. Or how would the PDP imagine that Nigerians would gullibly accept that a man who did not Islamise Nigeria as a military ruler (with absolute power) will try same in a democracy? But then, will anybody be surprised when it is the PDP that we are talking about, a gathering where anything, other than the right thing, is the norm.

    Unfortunately, the die is cast as Nigerians are now wiser. The baseless emotional appeal of a shoeless president no longer holds water. Not even a fraudulent hurried reduction in the pump price of fuel after General Buhari called for it can deceive Nigerians again, not to talk of the belated visit of the President to the parents of the kidnapped Chibok girls after over 200 days of their captivity will win the sentiment of Nigerians now. There is no longer a hiding place for the PDP and its tottering presidency.

    To the discerning Nigerians, the PDP’s floundering approach to governance is not in any way unanticipated because from the outset, the party never really promised Nigerians anything that will better their life. While other parties’ slogans are anchored on hope, change, progress, prosperity, etc, PDP’s is anchored on POWER! So, wherever its members gather, the shout of ‘PDP, Power!’ usually rents the air. And since power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely, the party has only been using power to encourage corruption, impunity, kleptomania, ineptitude and divide-and -rule since the last 15 years that it has held on to power. Contrary to the stand of late Martins Luther King who once said he is not interested in power just for its sake but in power that is moral, that is right and that is good, what the PDP desires is nothing but naked power.

    By alluding to the moral perspective of power, King was simply emphasizing justice and fairness as the fundamental basis of true political power. Sadly, these are functional components of power that the PDP knows nothing about. PDP and fairness are strange bedfellows as evident in how the party bungled and polarized the Nigerian Governors Forum for parochial interests. Today, in Ekiti State, seven members of the House of Assembly legislate in a legislature made up of 26 members. In the same state, a Permanent Secretary has been reportedly sacked for not mobilizing staff to attend President Jonathan’s re-election campaign rally in Ado Ekiti. PDP’s concept of power is anchored on impunity and driven by desperation.

    Unfortunately, it is this faulty perception of power by the PDP that has resulted into the several aberrations that we have witnessed in the polity in the last 15 years. This is partly why a First Lady that resides in Abuja was made a Permanent Secretary in Bayelsa State. And she was bold enough to say that it is her way of securing her pension whenever her husband is out of power. What an outrageous arrogance of power! Not a few will tell you that what we have presently in the country is a faltering presidency. It is obvious that those that occupy the presidency presently are only interested in the allure and grandeur of power and are ignorant of the ultimate purpose of it. They lack the creative and innovative thinking needed to make governance work for the good of the people and only see governance in the context of grandstanding, show of shame and abuses.

    Despite being located in a desert, the nation of Israel remains self-sufficient in food production. This could only happen when people with the right view of power hold sway in a country. The late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, once revealed that he was always studying late into the night in search of solutions to the myriads of problems confronting the country while some of his contemporaries were partying away in the dead of the night. No wonder Awolowo’s legacies still abound all over the country years after he left office.

    Today, it is because leaders with adequate preparation for the rigorous demand of power are in short supply in the PDP that we have been moving in circles for one and a half decade.

    It is so inopportune that the PDP is more concerned about being in power rather than performance. It is sad that the party sees politics more about ruling and not performance.  Since 1999, the PDP – led federal government had collected over N40 trillion in oil revenue but Nigerians have nothing to show for it. Ironically, Nigeria, under the PDP, remains the only oil producing country in the world that is still classified as poor. We are also the only oil producing country that imports petroleum for local consumption. We even shamelessly import from small African countries that are less buoyant but better managed

    The forthcoming general elections, therefore, offers Nigerians a rare opportunity to free themselves from the naïve, clueless and tired PDP government. The main essence of political power is to serve the interests of the people by upholding the principles of fairness and justice for all. Governance is not just about braggart leadership, neither is it about mere grandstanding nor blaring of siren to terrorize innocent people. It is about protecting the interests of the people who are now unanimous in saying the game is up for the PDP. The time for CHANGE is now. God bless Nigeria!

  • Jimi Agbaje: Not different from the pack

    Character is greater than intellect. A great soul will be strong to live as well as think. –  Ralph Waldo Emerson.

    It will not surprise anyone in the least that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-led federal government will stop at nothing to bring Lagos State under its control.Despite its successes at the centre, the PDP contested the governorship of Lagos on four occasions, twice each with the duo of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his successor, Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN. The PDP lost miserably on all four occasions.

    Now, it’s almost another four years. The general elections are here again. Babatunde Raji Fashola the APC governor of Lagos State is rounding off most outstanding eight-year tenure, and the gladiators are presently at it again.

    Akinwunmi Ambode, retired civil servant, Permanent Secretary and the state’s former Accountant-General emerged from the party’s primaries as the flag-bearer of the APC.

    However, in what appeared to be the result of a fast depletion of competent hands in the ranks of the PDP as a result of the fiasco of past contests, in a move spearheaded by no other person than Olabode George, the party went outside of its membership to recruit and manage its primaries for Jimi Agbaje to emerge as its candidate for the February governorship contest.

    Agbaje is not new to Lagos governorship race. In 2007 after losing out in the then Action Congress, he went ahead to contest against Fashola on the platform of the DPA, where he returned a distant third behind Musiliu Obanikoro of the PDP with only 8% of the total votes cast.

    This latest scheme of the PDP in recruiting Jimi Agbaje to their side is yet another of their desperation to get a foot-hold in Lagos and commence a reversal of the gains of the past years. They are calculating that what they could not accomplish in the last four elections even with the support of the federal government is realizable with a Jimi Agbaje.

    With the mindset of a gambler, the PDP expects to reap a windfall for staking a token. The party is oblivious of a wide range of issues that are agitating the minds of the people. Is it the total abandonment of the state for well over a decade by the government in Abuja that will now endear the PDP to Lagosians in February?

    Apart from its controversial primary (when the votes were eventually cast, the number of votes recorded far outnumbered the accredited delegates who were announced prior to the commencement of balloting, a situation that turned out to be a huge embarrassment to the party that prides itself as the biggest political party in Africa), one other issue that has to do with the candidate who though possesses the right qualifications and pedigree is that, he is entangled in the web of not too altruistic intrigues of his political godfathers, and blinded by unbridled ambition of governing the state at all costs.

    Like President Jonathan of the same PDP, the candidate himself is not helping matters in his public appearances. With his recent declaration that the “South-south will wreck the Nigerian economy” if Jonathan could not secure a second term, he has shown that his progressive posturing is a smokescreen after all; that he is no different from the gabby gang of the PDP. And it confirms my suspicion that Jimi Agbaje is being over rated beyond his mental capacity, because it is difficult to see any intellectual justification in such an insensitive remark. Such remark does not suit the temperament of a leader expected to take right and tough decisions on behalf of the good people of Lagos.

    A popular maxim says that if you do not stand for something, you will end up falling for just anything. Agbaje in his equally desperate bid to become governor has chosen to ride with a thinning crowd, and has thus fallen below the minimum of the depth we expect from our leaders in this part of the country.   I am not advocating that people with burning desire to serve should not put themselves forward, but such should be imbued with a consistently defined personal philosophy. The people are ever always wary of chameleon politicians.

    One question begging for an answer is, how did Agbaje fondly called Jay Kay by his supporters find his way into the PDP, a platform reputed for being anti-people in outlook and action? The answer might not be far-fetched; he is driven by unbridled ambition. To Agbaje, the Machiavellian ethos is it; anywhere his ambition could be realized is okay. The end justifies the means.

    Hence within a space of eight years, Agbaje traversed four political parties, though this is his second foray into the governorship race. In 2007, he unsuccessfully sought the ticket of the defunct Action Congress (AC) from where he moved to the Democratic People’s Party (DPA). He soon switched camp to Labour Party and back to the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) before his current recruitment by the PDP top brass. Above all, Jimi Agbaje lacks public service knowledge. According to Fashola, Lagos is too important to be sacrificed for experiment in place of experience. Henry Ford sums it beautifully: “You can’t build a reputation on what you are going to do.”

    From all indications, the current exercise will also go the way of the initial efforts that failed.  Riding on the back of two rejected politicians, Bode George and Adeseye Ogunlewe is like being chained to a rail track with an oncoming train. The outcome is obvious. Very soon, Agbaje will discover that the duo of George and Ogunlewe are more of an albatross than an asset.

     

    • Raji is Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor on Information & Strategy.
  • Babangida Aliyu’s Senate quest

    Babangida Aliyu’s Senate quest

    Not a few have snorted that some governors serving out their last term are fixated by their ambition to head for the Senate. Indeed, some see it as self-perpetuation by other means. Let us get it clear; the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria does not discriminate against governors with such dreams.

    But much as some pundits see the ambition as political gluttony, it cannot be overlooked that some of the governors with eyes on the Senate will add value to political discourse by being there. Any serious-minded analysis that sidelines experience and track record ought to be seen as a material for the trash bin. The case of Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu should be viewed beyond parochialism.

    For one, he started his political career as a legislator when he was elected into the House of Representatives in 1983. His contributions on the floor of the National Assembly were the stuff by which one could measure depth in parliamentary proceedings. The record of his articulate delivery, influence and clarity of thought made him a delight to watch on the floor and in the committees on education and foreign affairs that he served on.

    If he was then so good, one can imagine how he would impact on the 8th National Assembly with the better education he has acquired, public service credentials and exposure to governance. Experience, they say, is the best teacher. Aliyu must have thought through the quality of representation given to his people before joining the race. Being a deliberate person, one is not in doubt that he opted for the Senate to further the interest of his people and provide nation-wide service to fatherland.

    Even when he was widely touted as a presidential hopeful, the Niger State governor never acceded to pressure to run for the nation’s highest office. It is therefore unlikely that he has inordinate ambition. Yes, he has a pan-Nigerian vision of equal opportunity, welfarist existence and justice. For him the only way to bring about change is not by merely mouthing it. It is by the choice of practical platforms of action to bring them into fruition.

    For sure, Aliyu has always been a nationalist. He rallies supports across a wide spectrum of issues and is not someone limited by ethnic, religious and pecuniary considerations. In and out of office, he has an idea of how to better the country and improve the circumstances of the Nigerian. A seat in the Senate will help him articulate a model of governance that will engender development in all spheres of our national life and living.

    A seat in the Red Chamber of the National Assembly will also accord him the opportunity to share with his colleagues some success nuggets in the art of governance. Also, his colleagues will learn how on assumption of office as Governor of Niger State he was quick to make an impression on the state as a prudent, conscientious and responsive leader.

    Returning and fresh lawmakers will learn how, as an administrator and a good manager of resources, the chief servant was able to show sensitivity and responsiveness when it comes to attending to the needs of the down-trodden.

    Governor Babangida Aliyu is an accomplished bureaucrat who understands the rules of public order. He is therefore going into the senatorial contest with a clear understanding of the plights of the people and what is needed to make laws that will reverse the prevalence of poverty and underdevelopment ravaging the nation.

    At his inauguration speech on May 29, 2007, he provided an insight into how he intended to govern the state when he assumed the official title of “Chief Servant” instead of the more flamboyant title of “His Excellency.” His reasons were both inspiring and logical. His words then, “ chief servant to me best describes the job of an elected leader, who derives his powers exclusively from the mandate of the electorate….leadership should be and reflect humility and ability to render services to the people in the most dignified and accountable manner.” If elected Senator of the Federal Republic, his approach will not be different.

    The chief servant has in the last seven and a half years left development imprints that are difficult to ignore. His chosen areas of priority, namely education, health, agriculture, infrastructural development and social security have seen progressive achievements. His accomplishments have been attributed largely to prudent and judicious application of funds, visionary planning and consistency in policy implementation.

    Aliyu has demystified power and the act of governance. He has introduced initiatives that are novel in the history of political leadership in Nigeria. An instant revelation is the Ward Development Projects which ensure that development reaches the grassroots.

    The Ward Development Projects which ensures that each of the 274 wards in the state receives N1million monthly is a huge success story. Under the initiative, each ward takes full responsibility for proposing to the state government development projects that the ward consultative forum feels deserves priority attention. The implementation of projects is carried out by the people, who participate fully at all levels.

    The Jama’a Forum, a meet-the-people-tour, initiated and embarked upon by Governor Aliyu to meet and interact with the people one-on-one in their communities and villages has not only gained significant support but has served as instrument through which the governor relates directly with the common man. The tour is aimed at getting to know the people, their areas of need and how to address their problems as well as giving the people an opportunity to interact freely with their governor on issues bordering them.

    Nigerians should therefore expect a robust Senate with the likes of Dr Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu.

     

    • Ndayebo is Niger State’s Commissioner of Information, Communication and Integration

  • Peterside: Credible alternative for Rivers

    Until the All Progressives Congress picked Warisenibo Dakuku Adulphus Peterside as its governorship candidate in Rivers State, there was confusion and palpable fear about the future of the state. Many big-wigs of the Peoples Democratic Party [including some founding members of the party] had cause to reconsider their membership of a party that has become anything but democratic, and so did the ordinary people wonder if governance in Rivers State had become the exclusive preserve of a charmed circle of political patrons and their benefactors.

    Contrary to the existing principle of power rotation among the various ethnic groups and the people’s desire for a humble and charismatic leadership, the Abuja dictators hand-picked the former Minister of State for Education, Nyesom Wike as its preferred candidate. And when the victims of the PDP political machination kicked against injustice, some of them were hounded and brutalized right in the premises of the party’s national secretariat in Abuja. Rivers State was a political time-bomb waiting to explode on account of injustice, until the simple, humble and charismatic Dakuku Peterside emerged on the scene.

    Born in Opobo-Kingdom of the King Jaja fame some 45 years ago, Peterside is a former Commissioner for Works in Rivers State and member representing Andoni/Opobo/Nkoro Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives where he has left his foot-prints in the sands of time as chairman House Committee on Petroleum Resources [downstream sector]. Owing to his wealth of experience, he has also served as a member of other strategic committees, including anti-corruption, national ethics and values, drugs, narcotics and financial crimes, cooperation and integration in Africa, electoral matters, industry; communications and works. His laudable achievements in public life, as those who have kept a close tab on his career would readily admit, is the outcome of conscious efforts to attain personal development for leadership. After grazing from the learning pastures of the prestigious Okrika Grammar School [OGS] in the 1980s, Dakuku proceeded to the Rivers State University of Science and Technology where he bagged a degree in Medical Laboratory Sciences. In a desperate search for knowledge, at a time his peers were fiercely engaged in the pursuit of material acquisitions, Dakuku went further to obtain a post-graduate Diploma in Business Administration. He’s today an alumnus of the Georgia State University [Atlanta] and the Harvard Kennedy School. A member of the Institute of Medical Laboratory Sciences, and the Nigerian Institute of Management, he is also a fellow of the Institute of Management Consultants of Nigeria. A globally-recognized expert in institutional reforms, the Amaopusenibo of Opobo Kingdom has been a regular resource person at international conferences around the world where he constantly shares his thoughts on leadership, corporate political strategy and business-government interactions.

    Charity, as the saying goes, begins at home. Peterside is a man who has worked tirelessly as a youth to improve the lots of Rivers people, without necessarily playing to the gallery. At various times, quite early in life, he served as national president of the National Union of Rivers State Students, state financial secretary of the defunct Democratic Party of Nigeria, Special Assistant to former Governor Peter Odili on students and youths affairs and chairman of Opobo/Nkoro local government area in 2005 when he was recognized as the best performing local government chairman.

    Dakuku Peterside makes no pretence about transforming Rivers State with a magic wand overnight. Unlike others, he counts on the support of Rivers people and his undying passion for sustainable development to improve the lots of the people. A seasoned management expert and globally acclaimed leadership trainer, this man who was instrumental to the success of Governor Rotimi Amaechi’s infrastructural revolution in Rivers State intends to take service delivery of new heights in the nation’s “Treasure Base”. In addition to infrastructure development, Peterside has articulated a workable plan on industrialization, youth empowerment and security. Above all, his highest selling point is his antecedent and avowed commitment to purposeful leadership and transparency in governance. For now, how he intends to achieve his dreams for Rivers State is obviously more important.

    That Peterside is a credible alternative in a political setting soaked in tension emanating from the PDP politics of exclusion is evident in his political philosophy that drives home the point that Rivers people are “Greater Together”. Having considered the where the people find themselves now and where they ought to be, the Igbani-born politician of distinction has thought it wise to devise a political strategy that seeks to mobilise the people for the common good of Rivers State, regardless of their ethnic, religious and political differences. To dwell further on his “Greater Together” political philosophy, it is a deliberate attempt to aggregate the social capital in Rivers State with a view to employing the benefits that flow from such a governmental arrangement, including trust, cooperation, information and reciprocity, to re-invent governance.

    The planned alteration in the existing social order of a system imbued with conflict arising from an unhealthy competition over the control of political, social and economic capital has come at the nick of time. Clearly, what the government of Dr. Peterside intends to achieve is a more politically stable environment driven by increased awareness, greater participation, and the building of public trust in political leadership. To achieve its objectives, the political inclusion agenda of the APC governorship candidate in Rivers State also promises increased opportunities for all, particularly the most disadvantaged groups and communities.

    Beyond mere platitudes, Peterside’s action-plan provides real solutions to the problems confronting Rivers people in recent times. On the political scene, he represents a paradigm shift in many aspects. To the admiration of his friends and close associates, Dakuku is not one to shut the door against a brother or neighbour on account of political differences. Little wonder he has spent his entire political career building bridges of unity and friendship across the length and breadth of Rivers State.

    Without a shadow of doubt, the man who is now fondly called DAP [an acronym for Dakuku Adulphus Peterside] is the most technically equipped candidate gunning for the highest political position in the state, an office where making correct political decisions requires sound judgment. Unlike those without any record of achievements outside the realm of politics, the APC candidate is a man who, having developed his mind at the highest level in the academia, understands how to use political power for public good. It was perhaps owing to his unrelenting quest for good governance and the promotion of human rights that he established the Democratic and Leadership Initiative, a non-governmental organization which he ran successfully until his appointment as works commissioner in 2007.

    “The chick that would become a cock”, as the African saying goes, can be spotted the very first day it was hatched”. This is a unique opportunity for all to identify with Dakuku Peterside, the new face of Rivers State.

  • Corruption: Lessons from Sri Lanka

    Opening the electoral season for the 2015, Sri Lankans who went to the polls on January 8 to elect their president pulled a stunning election upset and dumped their former over-confident leader, Mr. Mahinda Rajapaska, who had called the election two years before it was due. The Sri Lankans elected the candidate of the opposition alliance, the 63-year old Maithripala Sirisena, who campaigned against the debilitating corruption of the former ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance that is eating away at the fabric of Sri Lankan society.

    The former president, Mr Rajapaska, who crushed the insurgency of the vicious 25-year Tamil Tiger armed confrontation with the state in 2009 had easily won re-election in 2010 and basking in the euphoria, the former strongman scrapped the constitutional limits of two terms, angling to become a maximum ruler. The rebuilding of infrastructure following the defeat of the Tigers provided a huge avenue for cronies of the regime to help themselves generously to the public till.

    Extensive nepotism in which the relatives and kinsmen of the former president manned key government positions added to the erosion of public confidence in the administration.

    But after the former president allegedly consulted his astrologer, Sumanadasa Abeygunawardena, who had predicted an easy win for the 69 year old strongman, Mr Rajapaska called a snap election two years before it was due with the opposition sweeping to victory with 51.28% of total votes. The defeated ruling party managed to scoop 47.58% in a high turnout of 81.52% of the total registered voters.

    The formerly fractious opposition had united under the common candidacy of Mr. Sirisena, who himself belonged to the majority ethnic Sinhalese, from the where the former president hailed.

    Mr Rajapaska, who crushed the Tamil Tigers but without effective reconciliation with the Tamil minority population in the north of the country, had them, looking over his shoulder for a conciliating national leader. The Tamils, Muslim and Christian minorities, who endured the nepotism and corruption of the Rajapaska regime seized the opportunity of the snap election to throw in their lots with the opposition alliance whom they helped sweep to victory.

    According to the former opposition, the former government and its hangers-on has through public infrastructure projects looted public funds, leaving majority of Sri Lankans in economic misery with bourgeoning social tensions. The opposition insisted that should the ruling party be re-elected, Sri Lankans in no time would have no country, except one wreaked by poverty and misery. It warned that while the regime’s hangers-on live in an unfathomable affluence, the ordinary Sri Lankans whether the minority or even the majority ethnic Sinhalese would sink further into misery except they cease the opportunity of the snap election, confidently called by the ruling party to end its corruption and nepotism. The message resonated very deeply and profoundly too to the Sri Lankans, who in exercising their vote, took out the ruling party in the historic January 8election.

    Even with the victory over the former resilient guerrilla –  the Tamil Tigers in the pocket, the ruling party, the United Peoples Freedom Alliance of Mr Rajapaska, had a difficult time convincing the ordinary Sri Lankans that corruption is a non-issue and that ending the torment of the formerly brutal Tamil Tigers was the issue for all time. By plucking in to the opposition, the Sri Lankans showed that they understood very clearly that corruption is not mere abstraction, but a crucial variable that affect the qualities of their health care delivery, and access to education, water supply and other crucial services, including even the quality of food on their tables. With government-protected stalwarts who have their hands in the public till, corruption could never be an abstract issue or a non-political starter either in Sri Lanka or Nigeria, where its corrosive impact have left millions of young people in a state of hopelessness.

    In Nigeria, whose election calendar is coming quick in the heels of the Sri Lanka’s election tsunami, corruption is also taking centre stage. The ruling party, the Peoples Democratic Party far from having in its pocket, the containment of the Boko Haram insurgency, unlike its Sri Lankan counterpart that crushed the tigers, is actually being overwhelmed by the insurgency. Even mocking the opposition for its highlight of the devastating impact of corruption in public life, the ruling party’s candidate and the president, Mr Goodluck Jonathan said that while the opposition is poised to throw corrupt people behind bars, he would continue to follow the ‘due process and rule of law’ in the treatment of corrupt people. Nigerians are not definitely forgetting that following “due process and rule of law”, has rendered several cases of corruption involving formerly key public office holders either inconclusive or abruptly discontinued from government intervention through an application of the federal attorney general’s office. Even assets temporarily siezed by statutory government agencies in the course of investigation were returned to the suspected fraudsters in apparently partisan-motivated decision by the PDP controlled federal government.

    The most depressing of these serial politically-motivated compromise involved one Mr. Ifeanyi Uba, whose capital oil and gas company taken in by the asset management company (AMCON) for alleged debt of nearly N50 billion was ordered returned to him by the federal government without any resolution of the debt issue. That individual is alleged to be the financial patron of the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN), a key advocacy group of the president Jonathan re-election effort.

    Try as the ruling party might to exert itself, it will be hard as the formerly Sri- Lankan ruling party has found out, to banish corruption and its corrosive impact from the key issues affecting the voting decisions of the electorates in the February 14presidential poll.

    The newly elected Sri Lankan leader, Mr Sirisena has promised to deal fatal blows to corruption and even limit the presidential powers that have been deployed in the past to condone it.

    According to him, all those stalwarts of the former ruling party and their accessories who previously help themselves unhindered to the public treasury must come to terms that the day of reckoning is here.

    President Jonathan spoke glowing recently about measures his government has taken to block loopholes of the financial leakages in the public service.

    In the most comprehensive anti-corruption campaign in the modern Chinese history, its president, Mr Xi Xinping set to catch not only the low and medium scale crooks which he dubbed the ‘flies’ but also to bring to account, heavyweight political figures that he characterized as ‘tigers’. Now he has not only netted several ‘flies’ but some ‘tigers’ that are previously sacred cows.

    The former member of the ruling nine-member standing committee of the politburo, the most powerful collegiate leadership of the party and state, Mr Zhou Yokang is in the net for corruption. He is the highest official of the ruling party and state to stand trial for corruption since the political and economic reforms in the late 1970s.

    Corruption has bounced in the front burner in several countries for its extensive corrosive impact. Will Nigeria be different?

     

    • Onunaiju is journalist based in Abuja.

  • Clueless party, directionless government

    The story of the PDP-led federal government and its mishandling of the affairs in Nigeria, is that of the worthlessness of power in the hands of inept, deficient and clueless people whose understanding of governance is limited, selfish and dangerous. Very soon, it will be 15 years that the party has been in power at the federal level and without a doubt, these have been years of grave misadventure that has put almost every sector in the country in disarray. The economy is in distress, security of life and property is ignored and dignity of man is compromised.  Salaries are being owed in some federal agencies, power is neglected, law and order is jeopardized and the whole country is in serious crisis. And from all indications, things are not likely to get any better, as the government at the centre has imposed a regime of austerity measures on hapless Nigerians, who, as usual, would have to bear the brunt of its incompetence and insensibility.  Indeed, Nigerians have never had it so bad. Unfortunately, when people with sound economic and financial minds were raising alarm of an impending economic doom, the PDP economic spin doctors, like in the NPN days, were shamelessly proclaiming that all was well. Now we know better!

    It is sad that even our oil has become a curse on us as Nigerians now suffer more than when we lived only on agriculture. Today, the country, even as the sixth oil producing country in the world, continues to import fuel for local use because the PDP-led federal government has found it difficult to fix the refineries. Abu Dhabi, the capital and second most populous city in the United Arab Emirates, UAE, is today a major world’s tourist and travel hub. Its creation is a manifestation of the miracles which the leaders of UAE have performed with their oil resources. In our own case, what can we really pin-point as the most enduring legacies of our huge oil wealth, particularly, in the past fourteen years except the consistent monthly stealing of our oil.

    On infrastructure, the federal government has lost completely as federal roads remain dead traps across the country. The big question is what exactly does it really cost to turn all federal roads into world class monuments with modern road furniture? Or what exactly is preventing the federal government from seeing the nexus between good road network and economic growth? It is true that we have the resources to make Nigeria a true giant but do we have creative and innovative leadership to conceive and implement such people-friendly projects that can take us there in the PDP-led federal government? Sadly, what we presently have at the federal level is a clueless, incompetent and amateurish leadership whose understanding of governance is impunity.

    Successive federal governments in the country have been known to be traditionally prodigal but the PDP-led government has taken profligacy and kleptomania to an inconceivable height while impunity has suddenly become the order of the day. There have been widespread unconfirmed reports of gross mismanagement of the country’s foreign reserves. Government anti-corruption agencies that were hitherto stepping up in the anti-corruption crusade have suddenly become complacent. Indeed, there have been insinuations that the PDP led federal government is a major clog in the wheel of anti-corruption agencies as it is being accused of compromising justice on the altar of political expediency. Those who vehemently uphold this view readily point to the inability of the anti-corruption agencies to see any of the corruption cases they have been handling, in the past four years, to a logical conclusion. A former Minister in the PDP led federal government, whose corruption case has been bungled, presently holds a key position in the Jonathan re-election campaign machinery.  What then makes a government that shields corrupt public officers from justice deserve the mandate of the people?

    The party’s insensitivity to the power needs of Nigerians and their inability to connect power to the growth of the economy have made them turn Nigeria into a large market for power generator sellers. Thus, despite the billions of naira that we have supposedly spent to rejuvenate the nation’s power sector, the power situation in the country still remains epileptic. The productive manufacturing interests in the country have folded up while some multi -national companies have relocated the core of their business interests to neighbouring countries as a result of unstable power supply and the resultant high cost of doing business in the country. Considering the centrality of power to the continued existence and buoyancy of other sectors in the country, it is not surprising that things are bad across all sectors.

    As it is the case with their handling of economy and power, public security is equally in a mess. Aside the civil war era, there is, perhaps, no other time in our national history that the country’s security has been so threatened like now. In its characteristic style, the PDP-led federal government has muddled up the security situation through its uninspiring approach to tackling issues involved. At first, the government accused opposition of sponsoring Boko Haram. Later, the President claimed that there are Boko Haram members in his government.

    While it initially shunned having discussion with the group, the government turned around to do the exact opposite and has strangely announced the death of Shekau, the leader of the deadly group, two times even as the group has come out deadlier and is still waxing stronger.  The sect is daily gaining more of our towns and villages in the North-East and has even at one time hoisted its flag in captured territory and yet the PDP government wants to continue in power.  It took the intervention of 17-year-old Pakistani child rights activist, Malala Yousefzai, for the presidency to meet with the parents of the fateful Chibok girls. This is even as the First Lady, at a time, turned an otherwise very sensitive national security issue into a comedy of a sort with her, “There is God o”. Nollywood–like episode. It was that bad!

    In one breathe; the government celebrated a spurious cease fire agreement it purportedly secured with Boko Haram. But 24 hours later, the dastardly group was up in arms against hapless civilians. Till date, we are yet to have official explanations about how the ill-fated cease fire was bungled.

    The justice system has also been perverse by the PDP. When judges are not being slapped by purported PDP thugs, the party and its government obey only the court orders that suit them. When an Abuja High Court pronounced judgment removing the Godspower Ake-led PDP leadership in Rivers State, the order enjoyed full and prompt implementation, but when an Appeal Court ruled in favour of former Osun State Governor, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, as the National Secretary of the PDP, Oyinlola and his other colleagues were hurriedly suspended by the party. The PDP’s culture of impunity has rub off on the police. When a state Commissioner of Police publicly calls a sitting governor, the supposed Chief Security Officer of the state, unprintable names, you need not to be told that things have fallen apart.

    To unsuspecting minds, the PDP’s bungling of the Nigerian project could be shocking. But, given the character of the party, will anybody be surprised that it is performing woefully? Will anybody begrudge the Abuja power drunken people for not having the people in mind? Will it actually surprise anybody that the party and its leaders are milking the country dry or is their level of impunity surprising to anybody? Do you therefore doubt their cluelessness when the president, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan himself has written off Nigeria with his vituperation that ‘Our generation has failed Nigeria’?

     

    • Ibirogba is Commissioner for Informastion & Strategy, Lagos State

  • Yet again, Sege talks the talk

    President Goodluck Jonathan and his alienated godfather, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, have been heating up the polity, with their less-than-presidential bile.

    In fairness though, the former president is the guiltier party, for the president’s you-are-no- statesman-but-motor-park-tout retort would appear from a person pushed to the wall by a ferocious, relentless and  unsparing foe.

    Still, no tears for President Jonathan.  He emerged by conspiracy — a pan-Nigeria gang-up that delivered a pan-Nigeria mandate of Southern Nigeria and the Middle Belt, fired by mass hysteria against the North, and its legitimate — and illegitimate — expectations, following the death, in office, of President Umaru Yar’Adua.

    Ironically, Obasanjo was proudly part of that thumping anti-zoning, false testimony-bearing orchestra; swearing on their (dis)honour that there was nothing like zoning, just to pave the way for Jonathan, who Obasanjo verily believed would be a puppet, he could manipulate anyhow.

    Now, if Jonathan emerged by pan-Nigeria conspiracy and anti-North hysteria, why shouldn’t he vanish by another pan-Nigeria mandate of Northern Nigeria and the South West, fired by mass pro-Muhammadu Buhari hysteria, itself powered by pan-Nigeria outrage against crass incompetence and rank insensitivity?

    Still, Obasanjo’s latest bombing, which elicited Jonathan’s rather inelegant riposte, was rather predictable.

    “When we left in May 2007,” Obasanjo thundered with patriotic rage, “the reserve was said to have been raised to US $35 million.  But today, that reserve has been depleted.  Our reserves,” he added, after exiting the debt overhang in 2005/2006, “was US $45 billion … I heard that the reserve increased to almost US $67 billion.  [But] our reserves now …” he rued, “is left with around only US $30 billion.”

    Long and short?  Jonathan is an irredeemable spendthrift, unworthy of public trust.  That could well be, though his economic czarina, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has written a long letter to rebut that claim.

    But the irony of ironies!  Mrs Okonjo-Iweala was in charge, when President Obasanjo was amassing the huge reserves.  Now, this same Okonjo-Iweala is in charge, as President Jonathan is busy depleting them!

    So, is Dr. Okonjo-Iweala’s equivalent of the late Senegalese Mariama Ba’s So Long a Letter, aside from trenchant self-defence, proof that Breton-Woods’ local under-development agency is alive and well?

    Still, even if Jonathan is guilty as charged, he is only the latest fall guy of Obasanjo’s age-old wilful infliction of suspect successors on the polity, yet growl most at their clear non-performance, in contrast to his own “golden years” in office.

    In 1979 Gen. Obasanjo, as exiting military head of state, was so eager to deliver Alhaji Shehu Shagari as president, that his military junta even conspired to scuttle a looming electoral college face-off between National Party of Nigeria, NPN’s Shagari and Unity Party of Nigeria, UPN’s Chief Obafemi Awolowo.

    The trigger was NPN National Legal Adviser, Chief Richard Akinjide’s controversial  twelve-two-third legalistic joker.  It claimed Shagari needed to win, not by a spread of 25 per cent in 13 states (mathematically, the twelve-two-third of the then 19 states, earlier affirmed by Michael Ani’s Federal Electoral Commission, FEDECO), but by 25 per cent in 12 states, and a fraction of the 13th!

    The Supreme Court upheld this contentious argument but hurried to add the judgment would not be cited as precedence in future cases!

    Now, why did Obasanjo do this?  Some said he wanted to impress the North at Awo’s expense.  Maybe.

    But others insisted Obasanjo did it because he sensed if Awo became president, he would lose his anticipated bragging right that things were far better under him, than under his successors.

    So, when the 2nd Republic collapsed after four years, Obasanjo was quite happy to wear a chip on his shoulders: that the succeeding Buhari-Idiagbon regime claimed the Murtala-Obasanjo regime was its nativity.  The biting irony that Obasanjo himself de-legitimised Shagari, on account of the twelve-two-thirds controversy, never troubled his patriotic soul!  What is more?  When he came back in 1999, Baba lamented that all he left in 1979 had vanished!

    That same crass illogic drives Obasanjo’s present gloating.

    After inflicting a fatally ill Umaru Yar’Adua on the country, via his infamous do-or-die (s)election of 2007 — the most horrible in Nigeria’s history — Obasanjo disowned poor Umoru, on his death bed: resign with honour, he thundered, if you are given a job and you can’t do it!

    It was another especially callous call from the Olusegun Obasanjo brutal stable!  Even if his formerly beloved Umoru was far too gone to feel anything, what about the hurting folks he left behind?

    The same Obasanjo would carpet Yar’Adua, in his new book, My Watch, as an ingrate — a dead man that cannot defend himself?

    Goodluck Jonathan’s presidential incompetence is clear, without Obasanjo’s huffing-and-puffing.  But can Obasanjo wash himself clean of it?

    Obasanjo puritanically bombs Jonathan he is hopeless spendthrift — which probably he is — judging from the Jonathan Presidency’s record.  But what of Obasanjo’s own fatally flawed strategy of hoarding money as “reserves”, when local decayed infrastructure needed urgent fixing?

    Obasanjo’s all-wise, economic holy writ: reserves is it, do-or-die!

    Still, juxtapose Gen. Ibrahim Babangida’s simple and profane theory, on his own Gulf War oil windfall: “Our argument then was if you have the money, why keep it and be looking at it, when you have a lot that will benefit the ordinary man.  So, that money was not stolen.

    See the fatal danger of showing off grand ideas, when you don’t even understand simple ones?

    The notorious fact: with all Obasanjo’s grating noise, he has not, all his public life, nurtured any worthwhile successor to edify his legacy.  Yet, he has been military head of state and two-term elected president!

    Contrast his tale with common Bola Tinubu, a comparable toddler in power and politics, being only two-term governor of Lagos.  Asiwaju Tinubu raised Babatunde Fashola, SAN, to build on his legacy in Lagos; and also inspired post-Tinubu tenure development governance in Nigeria’s South West.

    Now, perhaps you realise how hollow Obasanjo’s eternal jeremiad, over his useless successors, really sounds!

    Even, Obasanjo’s ad nauseam love for Nigeria is, at best, a happy marriage of showy public love and intense private gain.

    What, for instance, does OFN mean?  Operation Feed the Nation — an Obasanjo military rule agricultural policy?  Obasanjo Farms Nigeria — an Obasanjo post-head of state private enterprise?  Or Operation Fool the Nation — a  not-so-illegitimate interpretation, given how the Land Use Decree powered the first two OFNs!

    Pray, where was Obasanjo waxing lyrical about his love for Nigeria, while meeting the Yoruba market women leaders?  The Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library of profoundly suspect moral provenance!  So long for hot love for Nigeria and cold love for own pocket!

    President Jonathan should, other things  being equal, meet his electoral waterloo on February 14.  But let Obasanjo not delude himself he wasn’t the mastermind of Jonathan, whose meltdown must be removed, if the country were not to melt down with it!

    Obasanjo made many bad calls, as Nigeria’s wannabe messiah.  Jonathan is only the latest of those mistakes.

    Therefore, let him quietly deal with those costly errors, without insulting the polity with his eternal posturing of peculiar patriotism.

  • Cost reduction in public procurement

    Public procurement can be defined as a strategy to provide infrastructure for the welfare of the people. Public procurement efficiency is the essence of good governance. The current economic situation in Nigeria, being an oil-exporting country, is not palatable. This is because Nigeria’s income is highly dependent on petroleum export which price has fallen mainly because of over-supply and reduction of fuel consumption as a result of climate change campaigns and discovery of alternative energy sources. This trend may continue over time because of inventions and innovations in energy generation and consumption.

    Nigeria expenditure is financed by over 90 per cent of proceeds from petroleum products and less than 10 percent from income from other sectors and internally generated revenue (IGR). The internally generated revenue from taxes, direct investments, levies and fines is not adequate to balance positively the expenditure for the same period. Nigeria’s over-dependent on income generated from petroleum is affecting the development of other sectors like agriculture, tourism, solid minerals and manufacturing.

    Nigeria and Russia are two of the countries that have been predicted to suffer immensely from the crash in the price of petroleum products. Rouble, the Russian currency has fallen to a new low against American dollar and Russia’s central bank hiked interest rate to 17 percent. Nigeria has declared that the country is going through difficult financial times but ‘not broke’. As usual, the country will go through series of public expenditure reduction exercises while it is struggling for fund. Austerity is imminent and an already battered economy requires tactical methods in its cost reduction so as not to further aggravate the sufferings of the poor masses.

    Not all public procurement costs can be reduced in a period of austerity especially, costs of on-going projects. In China, as a measure to improve income, three new free trade zones were commissioned. If some costs are cut, it will backfire. In most cases where cost reduction has been effected to keep leaning budget, it had been found out that the reduction did not help the economy. Cost reduction may hurt productivity of the employees and production of quality goods and services. Cost reduction is not the first tool to be applied in troubled economy but should be applied traditionally to ensure value for money in public expenditure. For effective cost reduction in government expenditure, the following points must be borne in mind.

    First, those in authority must realise that the catalyst for meaningful development is the provision of hard and soft infrastructures. There can never be excuse on the part of government for not providing infrastructure especially the maintenance of the existing ones so that they can be functional and for the public to derive value from them. The development strategy and what the country stands to gain and lose if costs are reduced must be evaluated. Cost reduction in this case must be from top to down and not vice versa.

    Second, cost reduction should be done by reviewing all items in the budget and then reducing those items that can be reduced without having side effects and not pro rata. In most cases, ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) make provision for expenditures that they may not necessarily need. The costs and benefits of reducing costs should be reviewed item by item as reducing cost of some expenditures will have higher implications than others. Reducing cost of entertainment will have fewer implications than reducing cost of security. Reducing cost of launching will also be better than reducing the cost of maintenance of assets.

    Third, the impacts of costs reduction should be measured using economic and management tools against factors like employment rate, gross domestic product (GDP), deflationary rate, housing stock, employees’ motivation level, citizens’ satisfaction level, crime rate and consumption level. Government’s aim should not be to kill industry for costs reduction’s sake. Costs reduction should have human face and be gradual instead of been sharp and unbearable for cost centres. Cost reduction usually starts with public awareness on the need to cut costs.

    Fourth, expenditures that aid income generation, for example, investing in provision of social infrastructure, may be increased if they are sure to bring more income. In a time of cost reduction that affects employment, crime rate will definitely be higher. Government should consider increasing expenditure on crime prevention and control instead of reducing it in a period of higher unemployment rate. Government can also think on investing in infrastructures that will increase employment and schemes that will keep lot of people in work with the aim of generating more income from taxes.

    Fifth, reducing costs in a period of high corruption rate is of no consequence. If costs are being reduced and corruption in some quarters is still high, then the reduction of costs will have no positive consequence. It should be remembered that the whole country kicked against subsidy removal on petrol despite the fact that Nigerians are aware that petrol subsidy removal will generate more income into the purse of the country. Cost reduction should not be the paramount solution to troubled economy but being pragmatic and searching for alternative means of income generation. Efficient tax management is an alternative.

    Sixth, wastes and financial loopholes which are letting out money should be reviewed to see ways of practically reducing costs instead of reducing budget. Some government functions are critical more than others. For example, agriculture and food security is important more than external affairs. Provision of security is required more than sports and provision of transportation infrastructure in a nation is needed more than travelling by government officials. Government should move towards creating a sustainable economy that depends less on oil and gas diversifying the economy is a good way to do this.

    Seventh, procurement officers should not undermine the power of negotiation. In procurement generally, the three most important factors are: negotiation, negotiation and negotiation. Clients should negotiate with contractors and service providers instead of delaying payment and distorting cash flow. In 2005, a consultation paper on  improving payment  practices  in the  construction  industry  was  published  by the United Kingdom Department of Trade  and  Industry (DTI).

    The main aim of the Act with reference to payment was to: provide  a right  to interim,  periodic or stage  payments, making  clear  when  payments become  due,  their  amount  and a final  date for  payment; prevent the payer  from  withholding money from the  ‘sum due’  after  the final  date for  payment unless  he has  given a  withholding notice; provide  a statutory right  for the  payee to  suspend  performance where  a ‘sum due’ is not  paid, to  properly withheld, by the  final date for  payment; and prohibit ‘pay-when-paid’ clauses which delay payment until it is  received  by the  payer.

    Costs reduction is not an easy task. A country that has good reserve can cushion the effect of costs reduction by applying part of its reserves. Austerity period should serve as a period of sober reflection when people in financial authority, especially the procurement and planning officers, should realize that budget is not cash. Nigeria needs to be financially prudent. The aim of spending everything provided for in the budget so as to get what is asked for in the following year’s budget should be over. Government should provide Project Implementation Committee (PIC) with representatives from Ministry of National Planning, Ministry of Finance, Central Bank, National Bureau of Statistics, Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), a representative of civil society organizations and the presidency.

    • Oyedele is a public affairs analyst