The Nation Newspaper

Category: Opinion

  • Ambode and the politics of BRF’s successor

    The release of the time-table for party primaries by the All Progressives Congress (APC) has increased the tempo of political activities in most of the states. Returning lawmakers, particularly those who never frequented their constituencies while in Abuja, were shocked at the number of people already jostling and lobbying for their positions. These days, you see some of these Abuja returnees being nice guys, giving out money and buying Keke Marwa, grinding machines, sewing machines, transformers for the constituencies that they abandoned while in Abuja. The flowing robes and sprawling gowns, the trademark of Abuja opulence and flamboyance, can no longer cover their ineffectiveness, failings and frailties. Now, it is pay-back time. The billboards, the posters, the stickers, the banners, the flyers which are the media of reaching out to the people, are back again.

    But beyond the glitz and glamour of the campaign are intrigues and the artifice of the game. Of particular interest to this writer, is what is going on in Lagos State where the most visible governorship aspirant, Akinwunmi Ambode competes with other aspirants on his trail. Ambode, a complete gentleman of consummate humility and a meticulous technocrat, was the Accountant-General of Lagos State before he resigned in 2012, and before his foray into politics. While he was in the service, he worked with Bola Tinubu in different capacities but all within the Ministry of Finance. It was in the course of these interactions that Tinubu, himself an accountant, got to know him as a very transparent, disciplined, hardworking and pertinacious professional. Ambode’s expertise in financial engineering and economic management endeared him to Tinubu who never hesitated to advise him to join politics immediately he resigned as the state Accountant-General under Fashola’s administration. Ambode’s closeness to Tinubu paid off when it was time to begin the search for BRF’s successor. It was not an easy selection. Ambode’s eventual choice was, however, made easy when it was agreed at a caucus meeting that the financial situation of Lagos State demanded for a forthright and perspicacious professional who can manage the debt profile of the state in a way that will justify the reasons for obtaining the loans.

    According to the Debt Management Office (DMO), Lagos State owes 33.8% of the country’s total sub-national external debts. The state reportedly owes $1.01 billion of the total states’ external debt of $3.01 billion. Components of this debt include $837.91 million from multilateral bodies and $82.5 million from bilateral sources. Displaying his understanding of the debt issue, Ambode at a political forum defended the state by enlightening the people that debt should not be analysed in isolation but considered in relation to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). He added that most of Lagos debt went into financing projects to increase its revenue-generating capability and ensure it remains credit worthy. His position was reinforced and supported by the DMO which stated that the debt was sustainable and within healthy limits within the context of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

    But if Ambode thought that his robust analysis of the state’s debt scenario would impress them at Alausa in a way that would make BRF to support his aspiration, he was wrong. BRF, the incumbent, has obviously committed himself to some other aspirant and it is evident from his body language that he is not ready to retreat.

    With this declarative stance, BRF seems to have drawn the battle line. Speculation in political circles is that his preferred candidate for the governor’s seat is Kadri Obafemi Hamzat, (KOH) the son of Olu of Afowowa Sogaade in Ewekoro Local Governement, Ogun State. Though Hamzat’s scribbling supporters have laboured strenuously to exploit the fluidity and fragility of the Yoruba settlements to justify their principal’s genealogical claim to Lagos, what they fail to understand is that despite the migratory nature of Yoruba settlers, every Yoruba family can still trace their genealogy to a particular Yoruba town or village. If Hamzat’s father therefore was able to trace his roots to Ewekoro and consequently became the Oba of Afowowa, it simply illustrates the fact that the genealogy of the family is rooted in Ewekoro, not Lagos. The dynamics of Yoruba migratory settlements is not a historical justification for automatic conferment of indigeneship status. Instead, it only attests to the concept of Omoluabi which makes the Yoruba to see themselves as one. It is, therefore, unfair that the accomodationist spirit of the Lagos people is now being used to deprive them of a strategic position that is rightfully theirs going by historical antecedents.

    Besides, for Hamzat’s father to be crowned an Oba in a village in Ogun State and the son to become governor of Lagos State is nothing but an act of ingratitude to those who provided shelter for the family in the course of their migration to Lagos. The fluidity of the Yoruba settlements should not be an avenue for political opportunism but rather, it should be seen as a symbol of cultural accommodation. This is just a relevant digression.

    The common excuse from the opposition is that Ambode was a bad choice, but the same Tinubu said to be sympathetic towards his bid also made the BRF choice and put his political credibility and integrity on the line by sticking to that choice in the heat of stiff opposition from aggrieved aspirants back then.

    Has BRF not proven to be a very good choice? In a very rare sequence of succession arrangement, the exit of Tinubu heralded the exposure of BRF. Today, BRF’s legacy located in massive construction of new roads, light rail, expansion and rehabilitation of existing ones, extensive landscaping and environmental beautification, agricultural and industrial revolution, radical health services, provision of security, expansive infrastructure development and aggressive service delivery have endeared him to both civil society groups and the political class.

    In appreciation of this revolutionary impact, the society had unconsciously formulated a new socio-political construct to acknowledge the BRF ideology as an ideal conceptual national platform for good governance. In a piece I did on BRF sometime, I wrote inter alia: “…. It is nonplus that a very apolitical BRF is now being celebrated as one of the governors whose performance has attracted both local and international plaudit. The standard he has set in governance despite operating at the state level, is as salient as what some country leaders would hawk as epoch-making accomplishments”

    So, what could have gone wrong that BRF, a product of Tinubu’s discovery, would not back the supposed choice of his mentor? Agreed that both of them (BRF and Hamzat) are free to exercise their right to democratic participation in order to realize their political aspiration, I am only concerned about the fact that collision between “father” and “son” could have been avoided.

    In trying to repudiate a statement credited to him in his interview with a national newspaper, Hamzat wrote: “I, Dr Kadri Obafemi Hamzat owe Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a lot of gratitude because GOD has been using him for me….. specifically, apart from GOD Almighty, Asiwaju has been contributing to my successes in government and outside. He was the one that brought me back into Nigeria from USA and all that I have achieved politically must be attributed to his support.”

    For a man who claimed that Tinubu did all that for him, would it not have been more dignifying, decorous, courteous and gratifying to respect and support Ambode, who’s said to be Tinubu’s candidate, rather than confronting his choice? By implication, Hamzat is not competing with Ambode but Tinubu. Assuming, but not conceding, that Tinubu’s candidate loses to Hamzat, will Hamzat and his sponsor take delight in celebrating their victory and leaving Tinubu to mourn his defeat? They cannot deny that they will not celebrate if they win because there is no sobriety in victory. But what will be the gain if the man who brought them to fame ends his political career in shame? A case of one biting the fingers that fed him!

    The story of Gbenga Ashafa will help in elucidating this point. Senator Gbenga Ashafa was employed into the Lagos State Civil Service as a director by Tinubu in 1999. From his position as a director in the Governor’s office, Tinubu moved Ashafa to the Ministry of Lands as the Executive Secretary and later he was made the Permanent Secretary of the same ministry. It was from there he forayed into politics and through Tinubu’s intervention became a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

    Like Hamzat, Ashafa was also interested in the governorship. He consulted Tinubu on his ambition and the latter told him to keep working until the caucus decides who to adopt out of an army of aspirants that were lobbying him. Ashafa promised to collapse his group and support whoever was eventually favoured. As soon as signals pointed to Ambode, in deference to Tinubu, Ashafa collapsed his group and started working on his re-election as a senator representing Lagos East. Though some mischievous elements placed Ashafa’s billboards at strategic points in the state, those who are close to him knew it was all politics.

    Kowtowing and showing reverence to one’s benefactor is not stupidity but a sign of strong moral character and maturity. Why must a man be desperate to fulfill his ambition by betraying the one that gave him the inspiration for the ambition? Whatever resources and network those in power have today were made possible by the fact that Tinubu brought them into his administration without them being able to boast of any political structure. The world is full of people with ambitions and if we are all desperate to achieve our ambitions by throwing loyalty to the winds, the ethereal space will become a narrow-gate chaos. Over to you, pool scribblers!

  • Lagos and the threat of climate change

    In recent time, climate change has become an unusual challenge posing as a major threat to the survival of nations across the world.

    To underscore the new reality of climate change as a global menace, it is now being appropriately tackled not only as mere environmental worry but as a more complex problem with multiple effects on health, agriculture, water supply,  economic growth among other essential human related issues.

    Simply put, climate change denotes changes occurring in the earth’s climate system and the impacts such changes are having on eco-systems and society. Major features in climate change are changes in the concentration of sunlight getting to the  earth and in the absorption of volcanic dust, which reflects  sunlight back to space. These factors modify the quantity of sunlight that is taken in by the earth’s climate system. As a result of increased in industrial activities and other human factors such as greenhouse gas concentrations, ozone depletion, air pollution and alterations in land use, the threat of climate change has increased considerably across the globe.

    Today, lots of the disasters being witnessed in the world are traceable to climate change. Such disasters include flood, heat, mudslide, landslide, fiercer weather condition, increased frequency and intensity of storms, desertification, and water shortage among others. In recent time, millions of people, world-wide, have been affected by deadly floods resulting from torrential rains in China, Australia, Japan, United  States of America, Indonesia and Brazil. All of these experiences are largely traceable to global warming-induced climate change which is posing major threats to lives, food security and businesses. Lagos has had its own fair  share of such agonizing rains in recent time.

    Being a government that tackles far reaching social issues with scientific and strategic precision, the  Lagos stategovernment has put in place appropriate mechanism to respond to the threat of climate change. Understanding the danger of global warming to its environment, the state government has been in the fore-front of combating the challenge of global warming in the country. It has held several international global warming conferences in addition to making several advocacy campaigns on the subject in recent time.

    The state government has equally evolved several practical measures to deal with the climate change phenomenon. It has, for instance, restructured and empowered the Lagos State Emergency Agency (LASEMA), Fire Service, LASAMBUS, the Lagos State Building Control Agency and other relevant agencies to respond as quickly as possible to  disasters in order to reduce loss of lives and properties arising from effects of climate change.

    Equally, the state government is increasingly combating the effects of climate change through public awareness, legal and institutional framework, campaign against desertification and control of pollution and launching of climate change clubs in schools.

    Similarly, greening programme, tree planting and flood control are key programmes of the current administration that are embarked upon in partial response to global warming and climate change.

    Also, the Lagos State Summit on Climate Change is one of the steps being taken to draw local and global attention to the threat of climate change. The summit, which started in 2009,  offers great prospect to the state government to harness ideas from relevant stakeholders on how to address the climate change concern. This is necessary in view of the recognition that climate change has no boundary.

    The  crux of discussions by experts and stakeholders at the summit,  which has become yearly event,  mainly centred on nature, causes, effects and mitigating steps in rescuing the state from destruction by climate change. What this summit has achieved can be inferred from the statement of the state Governor, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) at a recent  World Habitat Day forum when he disclosed that the government has been using decisions from the hugely successful summits as basis for policy formulation and  implementation in the quest to mitigate the effects of climatechange.

    To consolidate on the success recorded so far with the previous summits, earlier this year, the state concluded the sixth Climate Change Summit with the theme: “Exploring Business Opportunities in Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation”. Part of the communiqué at the end of the summit is that Lagos State should share experiences of resilient cities programmes such as those of Kenya and Rwanda and kick start a process, including public consultation on short,  medium and long term targets. Others include a review of allexisting Urban Plans and existing Physical Law with an increased focus on mitigating climate change impacts and progress on the Lagos Building Codes initiative, that will promote climate resilient and eco-friendly compact housing to green and climate proof residences in its main urban centres.

    As  the commercial nerve centre of the country, Lagos state spots a lot of opportunities in the pursuit of climate compatible development, and it is currently channeling its efforts towards harnessing such opportunities which abound in implementing climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies. Part of the adaptation and mitigation measures which the government has embarked on are the Eko Atlantic City project and the Great Wall of Lagos, spanning seven kilometers that has helped to protect Victoria Island, return businesses to the waterfront and create jobs and other economic opportunities.

    Others are the Lagos Independent Power project, Akute Independent Power project and the Alausa independent Power project which have helped to provide steady and gas fired energy that have resulted in the decommissioning of hundreds of diesel fired generators and reduce carbon emissions. The shoreline protection project of 12 groins out of which six are almost completed are helping to slow down erosion of Atlantic coastline and protect homes in Goshen Beach Estate and will ultimately restore and protect land lost to the sea up to Alpha Beach.

    The state government is also working on ways of reducing gas emission through the Green Economy Technologies and the creation of alternative energy sources from solid wastes. For effectivemanagement of Lagos State coastal and marine ecosystem in the face of climate change, the state is investing in the institutions to predict local impacts, partnering with adjoining states to build regional response capabilities and flexibilities.

    Undoubtedly, Lagos has  shown the way forward in the bid to lessen the threat of climate change in the country.

    With more extreme weather and devastating natural occurrences likely on the prowl, according to experts, public safety and economic security depend on enlisting the collaboration of all stakeholders in combating the menace of climate change in the country.

     

    • Ogunbiyi is of the Features Unit, Ministry of Information & Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja.

  • Oluwajuyitan got it wrong

    How did all this begin? I find it necessary to provide a timeline because of the nature of the foe I am contending with-who has started playing the victim even when he is one of the most, clever by half, malevolent intruders imaginable. On August 14-about a week after the governorship election in Osun State which the APC won and was duly declared the winner, Dr Jide Oluwajuyitan wrote in specific reference to me…. “the only plausible explanation for a man of good breeding taking sides with those alleged to be deficit in honour, integrity and character is greed for power…..Welcome First Republic, lost through the perfidy of illustrious fathers (Oduola Osuntokun), swept away for choosing to swim against the tide. It is a new dawn for their illustrious scions (Akin Osuntokun) who think they can repeat the same mistake and get a different result”.

    What was my offence here? ‘Taking sides with those alleged to be deficit in honour, integrity and character’. Who are these alleged accused? The PDP and its governorship candidate, Iyiola Omisore. This is the totality of my offence-which he said was a replication of my father’s behaviour in the First Republic-on the basis of which he convicted me and my father of perfidy.

    To buttress this conviction he went ahead and wrote…..according to Akin Osuntokun “many of the NNDP candidates were returned unopposed because the candidatures of their opponents were invalidated fraudulently. Everyone knew that Akintola had stolen the election”, a quote he later admitted is falsely attributed.

    I responded with indignation and characterized this brazen mendacity as typical of ‘criminal betrayal and violation of the tradition of the intellectual avocation’. He wrote a rejoinder on September 18, repeating all these vices with remorseless impunity and renewed vigour. He left me with no option but to join issues with him once again.

    Oluwajuyitan said “I was partly instrumental to his securing a place at The Guardian. Tunji Oseni, one of my mentors who ran my article as Sunday Times editor in the mid-70s, in an effort to rehabilitate his personal assistant, had sent Akin to me for a place at The Guardian. I had advised Akin that a note from Alhaji Jose, our ‘father’ at the Times would carry more weight with Lade Bonuola than my direct intervention. And that was exactly what Akin Osuntokun did to get a place at The Guardian”.

    “I had assured him even while he shouted hysterically on the phone that the quotation which was a documented fact of our history was taken from one of his writings but wrongly credited to him rather than malice”.

    How do you take a documented fact of history from my writings and wrongly credit it to me? If it is a documented fact of history, why do you need to credit it to me? In none of my writings will you find the quote-which source he is yet to produce. Does honour not require that he provides this source and clear the muck of his own making? At any rate, he would soon be compelled to come clean on this.

    What is the truth? I worked with Oseni when he was managing director of Daily Times in the capacity of special assistant and member of the editorial board. We were both relieved of our jobs on the grounds of being NADECO members in 1996. At Oseni’s request, I expressed the desire to work with The Guardian. He got in touch with Bonuola who found me suitable for a seat at The Guardian editorial board. That sums up how I ended up at The Guardian.

    I never ever set my eyes on Oluwajuyitan before my admission to the editorial board of The Guardian. In the first place, anybody who has an inkling of the long standing chubby relationship between Lade Bonuola and Tunji Oseni would find it inconceivable that either of them will require the mediation of a third party to talk to one another let alone a subordinate. As God would have it, there is an existing formal document in which Bonuola himself clarified how I got employed at The Guardian.

    I deem this rejoinder proper and appropriate albeit with reluctance for a number of reasons. First is that the fraudulent infringement on my person was perpetrated on the pages of this newspaper. Second is that the blatant falsehood, if not attended, may provide a peg for misappropriation by like-minded individuals now or in the future. Third is that bending facts and being economical with the truth is objectionable misbehaviour, more so, in the context of intellectual punditry. Fourth is that the misbehaviour speaks directly to the central malaise plaguing this country-a pervasive culture of dishonesty and corruption among the high and low.

    I have to admit that Oluwajuyitan poses a special challenge. I have never had to contend in the market place of ideas with anyone so remorselessly wedded to the impunity of parsing fiction as fact. In doing this he is exploiting and perpetuating the dysfunctions and vulnerabilities of the Nigerian society-the tendency to condone impunity-no matter how brazen; the addiction to scandal mongering; the short attention span and superficial understanding; the latitude and license open to a commentator who has no particular serious audience, a writer who knows that he is not held to any high standard or expectation.

    Oluwajuyitan adduces that Awolowo plucked my father from the classroom and made him minister. If he had not demonstrated negative obsession with my father and had not once held a university teaching career, I would have overlooked this dubious misinformation. Under the parliamentary system of government which was in operation at the time my father served as minister in the Western Region, ministers were appointed from among elected members of parliament (in this instance the regional house of assembly).

    My father got appointed as minister in 1955 on the platform of being an elected member of the western regional house of assembly (since 1951) and he got elected to the regional assembly not as a member of the Action Group, AG, but as an independent candidate.

    Oluwajuyitan credited himself with starting me off in life by facilitating my appointment with The Guardian and spoke of how I didn’t merit my station in life sans my integrity. If, for argument’s sake, we accept his fantasy, then he must have done The Guardian and Nigeria a world of good. I doubt if appointments to the editorial board of a newspaper like The Guardian can be made on any consideration other than merit not to talk of being granted the privilege to write a weekly column-a distinct mark of confidence and regard in my personal competence and capability.

    If any group of Nigerian professionals can be credited with heroic resistance to the Mobutu Sese Seko model of military despotism being incubated by General Sani Abacha that group was the Nigeria media. And without any immodesty intended, I would easily number among the front row members of this group at the material time. If I have a relatively close rapport and association with multifaceted icons like Professor Wole Soyinka, this recognition is the basis of such cherished relationship.

    One would imagine that some issues are too trivial to merit op-ed page discourse. I am not one to introduce myself as a chief but Oluwajuyitan is sufficiently excited about this ornament as to make it an issue in the biography he writes of me-including flaunting a title I am yet to formally receive and from a king I never met before-as typical of the largesse I got under Ayo Fayose’s governorship.

    Now I don’t see much sense in the suggestion that being conferred with a chieftaincy title in my hometown requires the prop of any governor and the other chieftaincy was extended to me in 2009-three clear years after Fayose left office as governor.

    Oluwajuyitan initiated this altercation by questioning my right to the freedom of association-on the basis of which he accused me and my father of greed for power and perfidy. He added salt to this injury by manufacturing statements I never made to demonize me and my Dad. He acknowledged the falsehood by playing the juvenile with the devious apologia above.

    Along with others similarly privileged I started leading opinion in this country through editorials and regular weekly punditry 24 years ago-and for so long have I been receiving commendations from my employers and general public. This record cannot be eroded by the fraudulent revisionism of the Oluwajuyitans.

  • Akwa Ibom at 27

    Akwa Ibom, located in the south-eastern corner of the nation, wedged between Abia and Rivers states in the west and Cross River State in the east is 27 today.

    The struggle for the actualisation of the dream and yearning for self-determination began in 1928 when the founding fathers in what was then known as mainland, came together to form a formidable forum called Ibibio Union.  The Ibibio Union, seen then as a minority group, became the seed of the present day Akwa Ibom State. The union tabled the agenda for discussion at the 1957 London constitutional conference although the struggle did not see the limelight until 1967, when General Yakubu Gowon at the beginning of the Nigerian civil war, created South Eastern State of which Akwa Ibom was part.

    The South Eastern State was one of the pioneer 12 states created by Gowon’s military administration in 1967 following the military intervention of January 1966. The setting up of political bureau in 1986 by Babangida administration provided another opportunity for the founding fathers to submit another memorandum demanding the creation of Akwa Ibom State.

    This came on September 23, 1987, after over three decades of unrelenting efforts.

    However, with the fulfilment of the people’s demand, the young but dynamic state then faced the challenge of development, particularly the immediate task of turning a local government headquarter into a state capital.

    Today, the state has since grown in leaps and bounds under different administrations from the pioneer military governor, then Colonel Jonathan Tunde Ogbeha, Cololnel Godwin Osagie Abbe, Wing Commander Indongesit Nkanga, late Obong Akpan Isemin, Lt. Col. Yakubu Bako, Navy Captain Joseph Adeusi, Col. John Ebiye, Obong Victor Attah and now Chief Godswill Obot Akpabio.

    The first civilian governor of the State, Obong Akpan James Isemin, heralded a new dawn in the democratic governance of the state; though his regime lasted for a year and 10 months but the apostle of “Structural Mental Adjustment” changed the people’s perception to thinking and dreaming big.  He initiated the struggle for abrogation of the obnoxious onshore/offshore oil dichotomy.

    Obong Victor Attah, the second democratically elected governor of the state made significant efforts in the provision of infrastructure for the people. He came with a mission statement: “To create prosperity for our people and communities by developing the infrastructure and processes that will support the responsible exploitation of our natural endowments for growth and sustainable development.”

    He laid the foundation for the development of the state. Incumbent governor, Chief Godswill Akpabio, readily admitted the sterling role Attah played in the development of the state at his inaugural speech on May 29, 2007 when he stated: “To my predecessor Obong Victor Attah, Akwa Ibom applauds you for laying a solid foundation for future development.  I will complete all the ongoing projects and initiate new ones for the benefit of our people”.

    Despite the achievements of the six military and two civilian governors, infrastructural development was still at its lowest ebb.  The urban and rural areas were still without access road, electricity and some other infrastructures.  Akwa Ibom children were generally regarded as domestic helps as many hardly passed through primary and secondary education.  School structures were decaying and many could not afford the school fees.  Consequently, the Akwa Ibom child seemed to have lost hope, thus the massive movement to seek menial jobs in the cities of Lagos, Abuja, and Port Harcourt among others.   Akwa Ibom was in such situations until Godswill Obot Akpabio was elected in 2007 as third civilian governor of the state.

    First, he realised that he who starts a race late would have to run faster in order to catch up with his peers and that the progress of a nation depends first and foremost on the progress of its people. As part of his human capital development strategy, Akpabio declared free, compulsory and qualitative education for both primary and secondary thereby eradicating the menace of gatemen, drivers and domestic help syndrome that the people of the state were noted for.

    Today, with two federal institutions of higher learning plus the state university and a polytechnic including a college of education, the state is taking a front seat in the realm of education.

    Nigerians generally have commended the pace of hard core infrastructural development under the dispensation of Chief Godswill Akpabio. True, the pace of infrastructural development under him has put Akwa Ibom State on the same developmental plane as the first generation states in our country.  In the same vein, projects not completed by his predecessor like Ibom International Airport and Ibom Power Plant are no longer in an embarrassing state as the governor has since completed and put them to use for the benefit of the populace. It may still be early in the day, but it could just be that when the developmental history of Akwa Ibom State is chronicled, it will fall into two eras: pre- and post-Akpabio. Akpabio has so rewritten the history of infrastructural development in Akwa Ibom.

    It is the first time in the annals of the State that we have an administrator who has worked like a hurricane.  Akpabio has taken the state like a storm.  His advent has pulled down old notions of development and installed an approach that while seeing a new Uyo, it also picturing the opening up of every corner of the state as potential Uyos.

    He is etching a difference by landing the presence of government and governance in every part of the state.  The state has since secured the indispensable access such as air access by way of a modern airport.  Most of the roads have been dualised while several parts of the state are now linked by well-laid roads.  Several roads in the town which constituted an urban blight are now motorable.  A marine access is also in the works – Ibaka Seaport.

    Akwa Ibom State, the oil-rich and pacific oasis of the South-south is 27 years old and Uyo has become one of the best cities in Nigeria. It is a moment of celebration for the dreams that have come true. But the anniversary should provide opportunity for a sober reflection on where the state is coming from, where it ought to be, and where it will be in the next five years. This should be our focus. Hence the state should look for individuals be it man or woman, passionately committed to developing the abundant resources of the state. In the next dispensation, we expect to see a state where knowledge would constitute yje springboard for development; where oil would no longer be regarded as the soul of the state, as if without it the state won’t survive.

    While wishing Akwa Ibomites a happy and eventful anniversary, my humble advice is that we must avoid polarizing the state along ethnic lines to cover up failures and misdeeds.  The ethnic diversity should be seen as a strength rather than weakness. The recriminations among the ethnic groups are unnecessary.  The energy should be channelled to more productive issues that will cause the state to be cynosure of all Nigeria.

    A great Akwa Ibom is ours to build through our individual and collective efforts. Happy anniversary!

    • Udiong, a communication consultant wrote in from Uyo

  • What you need to know about public relations

    What you need to know about public relations

    Many people often asked me; what’s Public Relations all about? Whilst I tend to feel bewildered and completely taken aback by a question of this magnitude, I don’t waste too much time in “Wonder land” before coming to terms as to what I needed to do in order to thoroughly educate such ones.

    Why do I wonder when people ask me about the question of what’s this profession of mine called “Public Relations” is all about? I feel that if there is any profession whose immediate impacts and values in the lives of ordinary citizen ought to be evidence, it’s “Public Relations” undoubtedly. I say this without equivocation.

    My reasons for this are many.

    First, there is no known organization in the world that does not require the inputs of Public Relations strategies if such organization wants to succeed in business. The values and the roles of Public Relations resources and strategies can be vividly felt right from the Office of the Managing Director “CEO” to the accounts and finance department, moving onto the legal department, the Administration and Human Resource department, to Custom care service, moving onto Marketing and sales department; just to mention but a few.

    Just as culture is said to be “A total way of life;” that’s what Public Relations means. Remember that my aim here is not to be scholastic nor technical in trying to enlighten those who are less knowledgeable about this esteemed profession of ours called Public Relations – my aim here is to have me break this issue into bits and pieces that would be easily understandable by the lay man seeking a good knowledge or education about one of the most misconstrued and misunderstood professions in the world i.e. Public Relations.

    One individual who has carried out a scholastic research here in Nigeria in order to figure out how well Nigerians do understand the professional discipline call Public relations is Dr. Victoria Ajala in one of her books on Public Relations. She said that from the thrust of her research many out of her respondents could not identify Public relations and its practitioners to what “Public Relations” really stands for. According to her some of her respondents felt that Public relations is just a programme of organizing free meals; some others call Public relations practitioners to mean errand boys i.e. those who carry brief cases and accompany big men all around.

    I must say that I am proud to be a member of one of the most esteemed professions in the world called Public Relations. Public Relations is a scientific and management professional discipline which has the competence and capability to make life and business better for all and sundry. Right from the family setting up to the macro level at the larger society, Public relations is the tool needed in order to get things right.

    In life, we set goals for ourselves and consequently we articulate strategies at reaching these goals. Whatever those goals are, doubtless to say that one would require the need of social interaction, goodwill and a solid relationship between one i.e. the individual or corporate entity who has set out to achieve a given target goals and the diverse range of individuals whom you would be expected to encounter along the way in the course of seeking to realize those goals and objectives. You must seek to carry out those goals of yours in life without seeking to infringe on the rights, legitimacy and benefits of another person. This is where I say Public Relations begins from. If you can succeed at doing this, then, may I say that you are about working your way into the realm of Public relations! As you succeed in doing what is right in the eyes of all those you’ll be expected to meet along the line in the course of seeking to achieve those goals of yours, then, you begin to earn their trust, confidence and loyalty. If you were required to go through one hundred kilometers before reaching those target goals of yours, with this practice and the application of Public Relations principles and tactics, it won’t be long before reaching your destination. Put for short, Public Relations is the short cut to the attainment of set goals and objectives.

    As you move along in aid of achieving those goals of yours, you would be required to undertake some certain activities e.g. public enlightenment, publicity and advertisement of yourself and/or what you do, connect and relate with government agencies, protect the interest of your business through lobbying activities at both the state and national assemblies respectively, organize corporate formal and informal business and social events, build customer loyalty, patronage and goodwill, relate with the media e.g. electronic, print and the social media (online), build good friendship and relationship with the members of your immediate community e.g. where you have your shop or business outfit set up etc. These are just most if not all of the Public Relations activities you’ll have to consider in aid of reaching those set goals and objectives of yours.

    You also need to determine those who are directly or indirectly concerned about your business objective(s) or goals in life. You will have to place these ones into a checklist and you would have to apply appropriate communication skills and strategies to seek these ones out and to sustain their goodwill. When doing this, please, kindly divorce yourself from the idea or the concept of general public. There is no such thing in Public relations. These individuals would then be categorized using concepts and nomenclatures that can best describe their identity. The aim of doing this is to sort out those individuals who could positively or negatively affect the course of the fulfillment of your set goals and objectives in life. Let me take it from the micro level. From the nuclear family, the individuals who form the public of such unit are: extended family members, the Landlord of the house where the family is staying in, next door neighbours living on the same compound, Proprietor or Proprieties of the school of the kids and wards, teachers of the kids and wards, members of the Church where the family worship, etc. (these are just a few of the individuals as categorized into what we call in Public Relations “Publics” that a nuclear family would be bothered with.)

     

    If the nuclear family is to fair well in the fulfillment of its goals and objectives to its members, then it must give consideration to the aforementioned set of publics. The aim here is to seek out what is peculiar and appropriate to each of these set of individuals and to use this to reach out to them. It’s impossible in Public Relations sense to be seeking to communicate with everybody or the general public as people tend to call it at the same time. As we do have publics of a nuclear family, every given corporate organisation do also have their own publics specific to the industry that they are operating in. Research would be needed to identify these ones and to deploy the most appropriate Public Relations tactics and techniques into seeking these ones out and to sustain a mutual and cordial relationship with these ones in order that the course of the business activity of the company is not stifled or jeopardised.

    Let me quickly touch on something that has become the norm in Nigeria. It’s the norm to often here people say; “We are doing PR.” As such you see politicians wooing the electorates with money to buy their votes; you see people offering brown envelopes to journalists in order to obtain favourable mentions for which credibility cannot be substantiated, twisting facts and information giving half truth or distorting the truth altogether. All of these are not PR. Let me put it how the popular comedian Zebrudaya would say it; “If it’s not Public Relations, it’s cannot be like Public Relations.

    Public Relations practitioners work hard to ensure that whosoever they work for get the right value for the services they render. They are helpful to both corporate commercial business organizations and not for profit commercial business organisations and even private individuals on whatsoever level e.g. show biz celebrities and stars one-man private business set up etc. Public Relations practitioners are very helpful and indispensable in the following corporate business establishment set ups: Banks, Telecommunications companies, Hospitals, Military institutions, manufacturing companies, oil companies, Insurance companies etc.

    Public Relations is not a disorganized Professional calling as people have tried to paint it. There are specific ethics and codes of conducts guiding the practice of the profession in Nigeria. Doing any of the negative stereotypes of Public Relations such as those mentioned therein is against the ethics and codes of conduct of Public Relations. The more any given institution keeps masquerading the truth, not relating well with its appropriate publics; the more such an organization would be challenged towards attaining its set corporate goals and objectives. Sincerity of purpose, transparency, openness and candour are some of the key ingredients for building effective Public Relations between an individual or organization and his/its publics.

    As it’s typical of any profession, Public Relations is a member of one of the established professions in Nigeria. It would require lots of training and skills to be able to do all of the things mentioned therein. Not everyone can practice Public Relations. You would have to be thoroughly trained and duly qualified and licensed to do so. In Nigeria, the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations i.e. NIPR is the statutorily qualified body for the accreditation and license of Public Relations practitioners in Nigeria. They have professional examinations and training suited to qualify any given individual to practice Public Relations in Nigeria.

    At this juncture, it’s important for me to quickly give you a brief checklist of what Public Relations can do for you as an individual and as a corporate business entity.

    Public Relations can help contribute to the thrust of your business’s bottom line. In other words, Public Relations if and well applied can contribute as a catalyst to the avenues of profitability for any business concern.

    • Public Relations can help gain, maintain, sustain and develop customer loyalty, trust, confidence and patronage.
    • Public Relations can help retain and acquire quality employees or workforce.
    • Public Relations can help gain, maintain, sustain and develop investor/shareholders’ loyalty, trust, confidence and legitimacy.
    • Public Relations can help a political party gain, maintain, sustain and develop political loyalty, trust, confidence and legitimacy from the electorates.
    • Public Relations can help any government administration suffering from the crisis of legitimacy, poor image, reputation and credibility crisis regain, maintain, sustain and develop political loyalty, trust, confidence and legitimacy of the followership/electorates.
    • Public Relations can help place, turn and develop an individual or a corporate business organization into a trusted, reputable and respectable brand name.
    • Public Relations can help engender goodwill and mutual relationship between an individual or a corporate business organization and the members of his immediate community.
    • Public Relations can help gain, maintain, sustain and develop favourable media representation without compromise of distortion of facts; falsification of information; or the payment of a price or monetary inducement of journalists to curry favourable mentions in the media which are far off from the truth.

     

    Public Relations is not: propaganda; not the issuance of brown envelopes to Journalists to curry favourable mentions in the media which are far off from the original truth; it’s not the issuance of rice sugar and money to electorates to buy their votes; it’s not a denial of the truth even where and when the whole world seem to be against you; it’s not a consideration of only the needs and interest of your own self or organization at the expense of the different stakeholder groups or publics of your organization; etc.

    “Public Relations is the art and science of analyzing trends; predicting their consequences; and counselling organizational leadership; and implementing planned programmes of action that would be in the interest of both the organization and its publics.”

    I’d like to conclude by also mentioning yet another very good definition of Public Relations: “Public Relations is the deliberate and sustained effort to establish and maintain goodwill and mutual relationship between an organization and its publics.” What this means is that be you a private individual or a corporate business establishment you can’t but need the services of a trained and qualified Public relations practitioner. Start getting things right! Start doing things the right way with the right results!! Choose sound and effective Public Relations practice in all that you do!

    BY: ALIMI BANIRE “B.Sc, MAPR, MCIPR, ANIPR, AMNIM.”

    prvoicetoday@gmail.com

    The writer can be reached on – prvoicetoday@gmail.com.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Borno’s economy under the yoke of Boko Haram

    A couple of years ago, Alhaji Mohammad Asheikh, 52,  used to be a major transporter in Gamboru, headquarters of Gamboru-Ngala Local Government Area (LGA) of Borno.

    His company — Gamboru Transport Company – then had about 15 trucks in its fleet.

    However, Asheikh is now a pauper living on charity, as his once-thriving business has collapsed; thanks to the Boko Haram insurgency.

    Recounting his ordeal, Asheikh said that his business nosedived after suspected Boko Haram insurgents launched several attacks on his vehicles on different routes.

    “I used to be a major transporter in Gamboru; I had about 15 vehicles, mostly trailers and articulated lorries.

    “Unfortunately, I lost everything within a very short time to Boko Haram attacks,’’ he said.

    Asheikh said: “It all started in November 2013 when I lost three trailers conveying goods from Kano to Maiduguri during an attack in Benishiekh, the headquarters of Kaga LGA.

    “The trailers were destroyed in an early morning attack by the insurgents, who also killed the drivers.’’

    He said that he lost another trailer in December 2013 in another attack within the same vicinity in Benisheikh.

    “When the November attacks occurred, we asked our drivers to hold on for a while but as soon as they started operation in December, one of my trailers was attacked again in Benisheikh,’’ he moaned.

    Asheikh said that he lost three other vehicles in a row in Mafa in January 2014.

    “In January this year, I lost three articulated vehicles conveying cement to the Republic of Cameroun during an attack in Mafa, headquarters of Mafa LGA.

    “I also suffered another huge loss in May when I lost three trailers at the Ngala park,’’ he said, adding: “The trailers were burnt while they were loading cows for transportation to the southern part of the country.

    “As it is now, I have lost everything but I thank God that I am still alive,’’ he added.

    Asheikh, who is currently taking refuge in a friend’s house in Maiduguri, said that he had been surviving on the goodwill of his friends and former associates.

    He, however, noted that a number of people similarly had a harrowing experience as a result of the insurgency.

    “So many people have lost their means of livelihood to the insurgency; we believe that the whole thing is a trial from God and it will end one day,’’ he said.

    Sharing similar sentiments, Alhaji Bello Maduganari, the Chairman of the Maiduguri chapter of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), said that several members of the union suffered a similar fate.

    He specifically said that the Boko Haram violence had destroyed the livelihood of over 1, 000 members of the union in the last few years.

    “We lost over 50 members between January 2013 and August 2014, due to attacks on major roads by the insurgents.

    “Besides, more than 1,000 commercial vehicles were destroyed during the Boko Haram attacks,’’ he said, adding: “In Bama alone, over 200 commercial vehicles were destroyed.’’

    Maduganari, however, noted that the situation was not different in other places like Damboa, Konduga, Mafa, Dikwa and Marte, among others.

    “We have large number of members who are now unemployed, as their vehicles were destroyed in the attacks.

    “At present, most of them have nothing to do because they have lost their means of livelihood,’’ he added.

    The NURTW leader said that some of the union members had resorted to begging, all in a desperate need to eke out a living.

    “In all honesty, the situation is quite terrible but we thank the state government for providing occasional aid for our members, particularly during festivities.”

    • Inuwa is of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)

  • Searching for APC’s consensus candidate

    The above was stoked by The Cable, the new but increasingly popular online newspaper in its analysis of the different aspirants on September 1. Perhaps the issue should be: Does the APC really want to win the presidential election next year? If they want to win, then, they must do their homework. As it appears today, there is nothing to suggest that they really, really want to win. Any party that wants to choose a consensus candidate among several aspirants must use certain objective criteria devoid of selfish interests. To do so, the APC must ponder what the key issues are right now that are likely going to influence the direction of voting next year. In my opinion, there are four key issues.

    First, Nigeria has become dangerously polarized on the issue of religion caused directly by the Boko Haram phenomenon and President Jonathan’s divisive actions along those lines. This appears to be PDP’s main strategy for 2015 as the party’s bigwigs continue to associate the APC with Boko Haram without bordering to back up their assertion with any evidence. It would also appear that the PDP has enlisted the SSS in this dangerous strategy considering the fact that Marilyn Ogar, the spokesperson of the SSS has started echoing that line too recently.

    Secondly, beating a sitting president has so far not been possible in Nigeria no matter how unpopular he is. To defeat particularly this one will require the mobilization of the entire country, in order to neutralize the rigging machine.

    Third, Jonathan has currently been roundly branded, and rightly so, as incompetent and unfit to govern, and therefore extremely unpopular but that does not necessarily mean any APC candidate can defeat him.

    Finally, the unity of the north shall also be key as this will determine whether a northern candidate can win in 2015. To defeat Jonathan in 2015, APC must field a candidate who has the capacity to unite the whole north and who can be supported by all the contending and power centres within the party. The credential of that candidate must also be such as to be able to neutralize Jonathan and PDP’s strategy of balkanizing the nation along petty religious lines in the 2015 election.

    So in determining which of the APC presidential aspirants comes closest to qualifying as a consensus candidate using these criteria, let us re-examine the names mentioned by The Cable viz Muhammadu Buhari, Atiku Abubakar, Rabiu Kwankwaso, Aminu Tambuwal and Sam Nda-Isaiah.

    I will also examine the prospects of Rochas Okorocha and Bukola Saraki

    Buhari is a very well-respected former head of state; straight as an arrow. His greatest strength is that he is very popular among the masses of the far north. But history has shown that politicians with such massive following among their people are held in suspicion in other parts of the country. Very popular politicians of old who fall into that category and never became president include Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Mallam Aminu Kano and Dr. Joseph Tarka. That is the real reason why Buhari lost in 2003, 2007 and 2011. Buhari’s case has also been worsened by the fact that his opponents have successfully branded him as a fundamentalist. Even though there is no evidence to support this, the perception has stuck. It does not matter who Buhari’s running mate is, that perception will stick. That is why in spite of Pastor Tunde Bakare, a well-known Christian clergy being his running mate in 2011, he lost almost all of the Christian votes in Nigeria. Buhari’s supporters always brandish his over 12 million votes in the 2011 presidential election as the strongest reason he should be APC’s candidate, but they forget that of this more than 12 million votes, less than 250,000 votes came from the entire 17 states of the south and probably even less from the Christian north.

    There are other reasons why Buhari may not even get the 12 million votes again. There is the Buhari fatigue. After contesting in 2003, 2007 and 2011, many people think he should not be contesting in 2015 again. Many also believe that a 70-year old should not be contesting to be president especially for a man that was head of state 30 years ago.

    Not many people both within the APC and outside think Atiku should be the APC presidential candidate. ( Atiku has too many baggage and if the APC presents him, it will show the party as an utterly unserious party.

    Kwankwaso has done well as the governor of Kano State. He is one of the PDP governors who crossed over to the APC because Jonathan will not be keeping his promise of not seeking a second term and therefore would be denied the party’s ticket. If Kwankwaso gets the ticket, then the 2015 presidential election will be between PDP and New PDP. Even the PDP will laugh at the APC. And many original opposition politicians will remind themselves that in 2003, they had to virtually wrestle Kwankwaso to the ground in order to replace him as the governor of Kano State. Buhari and his followers in Kano will be reminded that in the 2003 governorship election, Kwankwaso, together with Obasanjo tried to use the military to alter the peoples’ will. Kwankwaso will most certainly be a good president but giving him the ticket can break the party. He is also far from being the ideal consensus candidate.

    There have been rumours of Speaker Aminu Tambuwal decamping from the PDP to the APC and contesting for the APC presidential ticket almost immediately. His candidacy could satisfy the yearnings of a large section of the country for a generational shift, but it will simply be laughable for the speaker, or anyone for that matter to officially decamp from the PDP to the APC tomorrow and the day after, he becomes the party’s presidential candidate. The speaker cannot be a consensus candidate by any stretch of the imagination.

    Sam Nda-Isaiah, publisher of Leadership newspapers is not a political heavyweight. He has never contested any election and has never occupied any public office, so no one knows how he might behave in public office. But his campaigners say that also makes him the only real face of change among all the aspirants since “change” is the APC’s slogan. It is probably true that no other APC aspirant can really claim to represent change as Sam. At 52, he is also one of the youngest aspirants and therefore a representative of the school of generational shift. Being a Christian minority from the north could eliminate Jonathan’s key and pivotal support in the Christian north. Because of the activities of Boko Haram and President Jonathan’s divisive politics, no Muslim candidate would be able to receive northern Christian support. But Sam also has another critical advantage. Northern Muslims feel very comfortable with him in a way that they do not with some other Christian northerners such as Professor Jerry Gana, for instance. So Sam’s candidacy, in spite of his scanty political CV has the potential of uniting the entire north. His fresh face in politics with little political baggage and a popular south-west Muslim running mate can also deprive Jonathan of the entire south-west votes, since his candidacy can also neutralize Jonathan’s south-west Christian vote advantage.

    Sam’s major problem is that he does not appear to posses the campaign war-chest like the other aspirants.(

    The former governor of Kwara State, Bukola Saraki also has age on his side and will also represent those with the thought of generational shift. He also did well as a governor so can be counted to be a good president. But he is hampered by a couple of issues. First, like Atiku, Kwankwaso and Tambuwal, he is of the PDP stock. In fact in 2011, Atiku and Saraki were presidential aspirants on the platform of the PDP. The second is that he is currently under investigation by the EFCC. Even though the EFCC issue is clearly a tool of victimization of the Jonathan government against him, the APC cannot field a candidate with this unresolved problem.

    The main issue against Rochas Okorocha at this time is that the APC has technically zoned the presidency to the north in 2015. It is clear that the APC has very limited choices if it really wants to win the presidency come 2015. It is obvious that the closest the APC has to presenting a consensus candidate is Sam Nda-Isaiah. Sam’s candidacy will put a lie to PDP’s label on the APC as a Muslim party, which unfortunately have been swallowed hook, line and sinker by a section of the international community. But if the APC big guns decide they are not comfortable with him, they can try their own logic. But the truth is that 2015 is probably APC’s best chance of coming to power. If they bungle this one, Nigerians will not forgive them and they will not have another chance to correct this.

     

    • Danjuma wrote in from Hotoro Quarters, Kano.

     

     

  • Who actually attempted rigging in Osun?

    Democracy is a game of consensus in which competing elite groups offer differing ideas of how best to organise society. Their primary theatre of competition is election. Though conflict is embedded in politics, the players have at the back of their mind the best of their people at heart. After elections have been won and lost, the losers take it calmly and retreat to prepare for the next one. This is the fabled ‘spirit of sportsmanship’ that has become the hallmark of developed society and which makes democracy to serve the best interest of the people ultimately.

    However, looking at the events leading to, during and immediately after the August 9, governorship election in Osun State, the conduct of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Senator Iyiola Omisore, has left much to be desired. It is like they are at war with the people of the state. They have given the impression that they must win at all cost or heaven will fall.

    One of their assault on the people is unconscionable fabrication and abuse of media access. It is a seriously perturbing development to find a syndicated story in many of our national dailies on Wednesday September 3, to the effect that two staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) have been suspended because they, according to the quite reprehensible story, allegedly colluded with the All Progressives Party (APC) to rig the August 9 gubernatorial election in Osun.

    It is reprehensible on the one hand, because the apparently un-investigated story projects our newspapers in very bad light as thoroughly shoddy and quite careless in their reportorial duties. On the other hand, the utter falsehood of such story gives away the unconscionable character of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and invariably that of the politicians with which it is peopled.

    That the party will have the effrontery to turn the truth on its head and flip facts over in the service of its failed political bid to foist a candidate of irreparably damaged reputation on the people of Osun during the August 9 election remains an incomprehensible mystery.

    Unfortunately for the party, facts, given their nature, are not easily amenable to the kind of senseless revisionism as the PDP is trying to engage in. For the record; the fact of the matter is this: the two Electoral Officers (EOs) in question were in fact working in cahoots with and for the PDP to subvert the will of the people of Osun State before and during the governorship election.

    One of the two culprits, Segun Eshilokun, was the Electoral Officer (EO) for Obokun Local Government who, along with one Ismaila Taofik, was apprehended with a truck full of election materials a day prior to the Election Day, before INEC officially began to distribute such materials. Eshilokun and his partner were handed over to the police by the youths, only to be subsequently released to a PDP top functionary from Ile-Ife, Professor Oladipo Oladapo. The excuse given for their release was simply and barefacedly, ‘Order from Above’.

    The second suspended staff of INEC was the EO for Osogbo Local Government during the election. Being the largest voter base in the state, and given the already widely known support for the APC in Osogbo, this EO made spirited attempts to manipulate the electoral process in favour of the PDP. It was the vigilance and persistent complaint by the APC that prevented his brazen attempts from succeeding.

    In fact, his suspension was consequent upon petition to INEC by the APC about his numerous attempts to twist the voting process in Osogbo in favour of the PDP of which he is a card-carrying member. For instance, it is on record that on Election Day, he released only 64 out of the 227 identification tags he was supposed to release to APC polling agents.

    The intent was to deprive the APC polling agents of access to their polling units to monitor the accreditation process. The APC had to call INEC Commissioner for this zone, Ambassador Wali, to intervene. But he was not done yet. When voting came to an end, the same EO withheld the customised Form EC8C meant for recording collated results for Osogbo Local Government. Again, the APC had to call in Ambassador Wali, who issued him a second query in one day for the form to be released.

    If we put these and other shameless incidents of attempted rigging by the PDP alongside the militarisation of the state, the cases of widespread bullying by gun-wielding agents of the PDP-led federal government, the unlawful arrests of APC bigwigs, including members of the governor’s cabinet among many other such horrifying acts, would it not be clear to all which party actually attempted to rig?

    That the PDP can now turn around to enrol the media in its reprehensible propaganda to change the facts is quite inconceivable. But it is even more unfortunate that our media practitioners will allow themselves to be co-opted into this kind of disgraceful agenda to turn the victim into perpetrator over-night.

    The cases of attempted electoral manipulation against the two suspended INEC staff are in the public domain and were given good coverage in the media. It is the least any media practitioner should do in satisfying the requirement of professional ethics to do a proper check of the accuracy of a story before rushing to press.

    The blatant falsehood of this story gives the impression of media collusion with the PDP to convert lie into truth. Against this background, INEC also owes it a duty to Nigerians, the people of Osun, and to morality to come out clearly and say which party the suspended EOs were actually colluding with. Associating the name of INEC with this mendacious story can only drag its name in the mud and give it a taint of partisanship.

    The electoral body would lose nothing by coming out to announce which party is involved in the attempt to manipulate the election for which the two EOs were suspended pending the completion of the investigation it is conducting. After all, it is still in the process of investigation. But to keep quiet in the face of this morally damaging story in which INEC’s name has been mentioned in the authentication of plain falsehood cannot bode well for the integrity of the electoral body.

    It is not only a matter of moral obligation for INEC, but the electoral body would also be making a strong statement that no political party or partisan group has a right to use its name as a stamp of authority for falsehood.

     

    • Ogundele writes from Osogbo, Osun State

  • Tale of two parties

    The essence of this piece is to offer my thoughts on a topic that continues to be debated. In the event that Nigeria is said to have two dominant parties, the ruling PDP and the opposition APC, it only makes sense to presuppose that the two entities will essentially be different. Different in the sense that even in a situation where you have two parties with exact same ideology, they cannot be said to be the same which is why they have different identities to start with. Or perhaps would it be correct to say that the Anglican church is the same as the Catholic church because the membership of both is composed essentially of Christians, some good some bad?  In the event that the PDP has found itself in a reputational dirt-pit, it finds it convenient to proclaim that the APC is no different from it and often the fact that many members of APC are former (and perhaps future) members of PDP is cited as proof.

    Nuhu Ribadu, erstwhile APC chieftain and now PDP governorship wannabe, in the resulting confusion of his suicide plunge into character immolation and reputational lights out, defended his obviously opportunistic defection on the grounds that the two parties are the same. So what was the motivation if he believed this to be true? Anyway this piece is not about Ribadu.

    I argued in a piece many years ago, that Nigerians do not really believe that political leadership impacts with any meaningfulness on their well-being. This attitude manifests in the general lack of the deserved seriousness attended to the choice process in our democracy. It would appear that the generality of Nigerians after several years of disappointment have developed the attitude that dependence on government is futile and so place their well-being on overcoming mis-governance and being self-sufficient or perhaps we can say that Nigerians prefer to ‘government-proof’ their lives. This is however a very unhelpful attitude and is responsible for successive governments at all levels not living up to their responsibilities and taking the people for granted, if not for a ride. Governments exist to put order in our collective well-being and provide the requisite environment and infrastructure for us to enjoy a meaningful existence generally. Allowing governments to get away with not satisfying our basic needs is tantamount to throwing away our sovereign rights. We throw away our sovereign rights when we do not care sufficiently about who or which party manages our affairs. We do not care about who or which party manages our affairs when we fall for ‘they are all the same’ propaganda. So if ‘they are all the same’ and we are getting rubbish, can we not use our sovereign rights as ‘the people’ through our votes to send a clear message that whether you are all the same or not, these are the kind of people or parties that we need?

    Nigerians are taking this ‘I don’t care’ attitude to a ridiculous and suicidal level and it is not restricted to political governance. Using the church as an example, the fact that an owner/pastor is exposed to be in breach of his pastoral vows and setting a bad example by engaging in sinful conduct, will not necessarily result in a depletion in the numbers of the worshippers in that church. If you ask  any of the worshippers why they still attend a church where the pastor is the lead sinner, instead of moving to a different church,  typical responses will be ‘who is perfect? ‘Are they not all human beings? “Will I change my church every time a pastor is exposed as a fake?”

    This attitude of condonation is counter-productive and in my view the approach should rather be geared towards constructive reprimand. Leaving for another church will send an unmistakable message not only to the offending pastor but to all others that certain acts will not be tolerated. The pastor, who is conscious of your reason for defecting to a new church, will be kept on his toes because of the exhibited ‘no time for nonsense’ posture.

    On the contrary, if you stay put, it is likely that things will only get worse given that human beings typically respond to only coercion by whatever form. And also we all typically will keep pushing our luck until we are stopped. Young people starting out in the art of seducing the opposite sex, will typically if on a stroll, hold the waist. If there is no resistance, the hand is bound to go lower! That is just the way we are! The whole church system is also affected by this attitude because there is no stricture for bad behaviour, so general malaise envelopes the church and standards fall to the detriment of the generality. In a nutshell, by moving over to another church you clearly lay down your standards. Even the church you are leaving will endeavour to lure you back but only by striving to meet your standards – so you create a win-win situation for the membership of the church community.

    We are not going to have any party with only saints, never! Given the fact that the parties have a profound bearing on our well-being, it is left to us to shape them. If a party disappoints it must be rejected for another so as to engender positive competition for our support. Let me discuss the PDP and APC briefly and in conclusion. Tom Ikimi has perhaps unwittingly drawn a major difference between both parties. In his confused diatribe for re-defecting back to the PDP, he said he was denied the APC chairmanship because he, during the Abacha years was a prominent supporter of that brutal military dictatorship as opposed to a majority of the APC leadership who were part of the democratic coalition (NADECO) against the dictatorship. For me personally the Abacha years were the most soul-wrenching of my life and the pervading air of helplessness will forever remain in me. I was thoroughly disgusted by the actions and pronouncements of the regime collaborators and heartened by my brave countrymen who stood with me at that time. Thank God we overcame. Thank God for memory because some of us will never forget. Thank God many of the operators on both sides are still active today and thank God Ikimi has pointed out that they are indeed in two separate parties. Thank God, Ikimi has declared that he is going back ‘home’. Thank God that other notable Abacha supporters have remained at ‘home’ and those like Sheriff who wandered into APC have opened their eyes and redirected their steps towards ‘home’. Thank God indeed because until they left, I for one would not have been able in good conscience to support a party with these elements. Thank God that in the week after the Ebola outbreak, APC governors of the South-west convened a meeting to rub minds and plan for containing the disease. The same day PDP governors and elders from the South-south were also meeting – to declare their support for President Jonathan’s 2015 presidential bid. Thank God I know that both tendencies are not the same and nobody’s confusion will shut my eyes and ears from the reality. Finally, I thank God for the commonsense to know that in a contest between two parties, even if both score below the pass mark I will not leave the party with 30% and support the one with 20% simply because both are failures and hence ‘the same’. That will make me the same as a man who must climb into one of two sinking ships. One ship has sunk lower than the other and the man decides that since they are both going to sink anyway he may as well climb into the one that will sink first. I will rather climb unto the one that that has more showing form because it has a better chance of survival, more so if it is evident which crew is showing better focus to salvaging the sinking vessel. Thank God that Nigeria my country will not sink!

    • Ukpong is a legal practitioner

  • Agony of insecurity

    A dazed nation; a traumatized people, and a routed security forces. That is how the Boko Haram insurgents have left us – in utter despondency.  Nigeria has held a history of honour in the face of daunting challenges; from the civil war, to the twin civil wars that almost broke up the West African countries of Liberia and Sierra Leone.  Nigerian soldiers were once the toast and darling of the people for bravery and gallantry in peacekeeping and internal security operations.   It was unquestionably the role of the Nigerian contingents in the Economic Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) forces in Liberia and Sierra Leone that changed the tide of the operation and forced the rebels to embrace peace.   Sierra Leone today, remains about the only United Nations success story in peacekeeping, thanks to the courage displayed by Nigerian soldiers and political leadership.  Today, besides being the most populous black nation on planet earth, there is nothing inspiring to look forward to in leadership both at national and institutional levels.  Lately, the Nigerian military has become an albatross in theatres of operations at home and abroad. At home, the life of ordinary Nigerian is dominated by fear.

    Nigerians now sleep with two eyes open for fear of armed bandits; fear of being killed or kidnapped by cult members who operate in broad daylight in full glare of the Nigeria Police.  There is fear of political assassination, fear of economic survival, fear of Ebola and the fear of Boko Haram terrorists.  The only secure places and people are government offices and officials.  This is because all security paraphernalia and state resources are mobilized for personal safety of officials to the detriment of security for the larger society.  For the common man, the only safe place is the graveyard.  Even the graveyard sometimes is not safe enough as ritualists violate the graves and take body parts for charms of all sorts. Rather than tackle the security problems bringing the country to the edges and precipice, we are foisted with security theatrics by erecting road blocks on every access road and concrete slabs where citizens are daily tortured in unbearable traffic.

    Our leaders do not experience it because they do not travel the same road with the common man and when they have the misfortune once in a while, they travel against traffic with their retinue of “kill and go” security squads who clear the road with siren.  Whenever they watch footages of local news items of pain and agony at the traffic gridlocks on our roads, they assume that it is a political campaign against the government.  They care less about the plight of the ordinary Nigerians who really drive our economy.

    Entering the Federal Capital Territory from Nassarawa axis is a living hell for commuters.  Most workers in the FCT who are resident in the suburbs and satellite towns in Karu of Nassarawa State wake up as early as 4 O’clock in the early hours to go to work.  They remain in traffic sometimes for up to four hours held up at the ubiquitous military checkpoints.  The chaotic traffic, unknown to us, is a greater security risk in itself because should there be any attack with explosives devices, God forbid, it will be more catastrophic with attendant inferno that could follow.   If we consider it a serious business to fight insurgency, we should take the fight to the insurgents and terrorists rather than the histrionics of security planting of roadblocks and barricade everywhere and waste needed manpower.

    Securing Abuja, the seat of power does not by any shred of imagination translate to security of the country and its people.  The number of roadblocks on our roads across the country and the needless hardship occasioned by the delays they cause is only a demonstration of lack of imagination in tackling our security challenges.  The method chosen by the government and the security forces to deal with the insurgency calls to question the theoretical doctrine of our security template.  Nigerians must face the reality if we are to combat successfully the current insecurity in the country.  The stories and reactions coming from the government and security forces about what is being done to contain the terrorists is not only misleading but appears to be serving us tissues of lies.

    It is unimaginative to go into a theatre of operations without correct analysis of the situation.  One was startled when on assumption of office, the Chief of Defence Staff told Nigerians and indeed the whole world that insurgency in Nigeria would be over in three months.  That audacious statement would not have been the thought of a military tactician or a strategist.  That declaration was a tall order achievable only through voodoo and certainly not scientific military operations.  A more worrisome dimension to the fight against the Boko Haram insurgents is the regular briefing from the Defence spokesman who reels out every plan and tactical manoeuvre they are employing in an ongoing military operation.  Sadly, his recent claim that it was a tactical manoeuvre when over 400 soldiers strayed or found themselves marooned in Cameroon in the heat of battle with the insurgents was a lamentable tragedy of fighting force in the 21st Century.  This is where silence would have been golden.

    The Inspector General of Police was more circumspect when he told the world that the insurgents were better armed and in greater number than his men after they were routed and about 27 of them kidnapped.  Perhaps one would add – better discipline and commitment of course.  They allegedly came with sophisticated Armoured Personnel Carriers, and trucks mounted with General Purpose Machine Guns (GPMGs) which to him the police does not have in its inventory.  This incident happened in Gwoza, a place with high level of security threat.  The same general area covered by the state of emergency and fully under the security forces.  Where did the insurgents come from?   Certainly, the insurgents drove through some routes and did not materialize like spirits into the Police Training College.

    The Military High Command has told us that they will soon take delivery of military equipment and hardware to deal with the Boko Haram terrorists.  If this is true, it obviously shows we are the most unserious people on earth in relation with the security of life and territorial integrity of our country.  The full-scale onslaught by the Boko Haram is over five years old, to be conservative and if we are just expecting delivery of procured military supplies, it shows lack of commitment by those concerned.  In any case, materiel not backed up with well-trained, disciplined, and motivated personnel to drive the equipment will certainly not reverse the tide against the terrorists.

    Tactical military manoeuvres in an ongoing theatre of operations should not be for media hype.  Strategic operational plans should be on the need to know and not for the public.  The voluble reaction of the security spokesmen in the face of the fight against the Boko Haram terrorists is simply running verbal diarrhoea.

    We do not have to militarise the entire population before we can win the war against terrorism.   Today, every government agency beside the military and the Nigerian Police wants to carry arms with no limitation to scale.   From the Department of State Security (DSS) National Security and Civil Defence Corps, Immigrations, Customs, Boys Scout just name it; want to bear arms and Armoured Personnel Carriers (APC) and drive these weapons recklessly and offensively in the worse of traditions.

    Certainly, we are not helpless in the face of the current insecurity in Nigeria.  The government should live up to its responsibility and devise creative ways of dealing with terrorism and insurgency in Nigeria.  We should muster the political will and act with patriotic fervour rather sectarian interest.  There should be total and complete overhauling of the security forces.  For the military, training and discipline should be the watch word.  There should be less meddlesomeness and interference into military affairs by politicians in government and the armed forces should truly professionalize.  We can not afford to invest so much in Defence and live in a state of insecurity.  Roadblocks are not the answer to insurgency but simple intelligence and commitment could serve better.

     

    • Kebonkwu is a lawyer with Bamidele Aturu and Co, Abuja