The Nation Newspaper

Category: Opinion

  • IBB @80: What legacies?

    IBB @80: What legacies?

    It is with every ounce of innate joy that i celebrate the maradonic icon of our nation’s political history as he clocks 80 in a nation where life expectancy has been doing a topsy turvy and presently stands at 61 years for males and 63 for females. It means that Ibrahim Badamosi Babaginda has lived beyond the nation’s life expectancy age which is no mean feat deserving thus the celebrations and warm greetings ferried across the country.

    Surviving till 80 in Nigeria is no beans as my generation and the generations after will affirm in popular culture’s lingua; not in a country where our healthcare is in a comatose like shape or where our infrastructure is forever in bad shape, institutions are near absent while those saddled with leadership responsibilities make a general mess of the trust the masses give unto them, the Nigerian is bloodied, bruised and befuddled by the system and where life should be sweet, enjoyable and fulfilling it is instead near the hobbesian point, every one to himself, God for all.

    Thus the likes of IBB would be basking in unrestrained euphoria, the pages of newspaper and hours of broadcast time would be bought to eulogise the man, lush interviews would be granted on a number of high rise television stations, where he would pontificate about politics, state of the nation and his tenure as president.

    But what exactly are IBB’s legacies, for a man who is loved and hated by a vast majority of people, what can the man who sits atop the hilltop in Minna claim to have bequeathed to us as a nation he governed for eight years and even after, what legacies?

    Read Also: How I was nicknamed ‘evil genius’, ‘Maradona’, by IBB

    Here is a man who came to power on the enormity of the goodwill of his people and squandered it soon after, here’s a man who promised to walk the talk, but talked all round instead. Here’s a man who unlike other military leaders (Ironsi, Gowon, Murtala and Buhari) wanted power, threw himself at the power games and wrested it eventually, only to disappoint himself and the nation.

    It is said that Ali Mazrui the Kenyan American scholar never forgave Babaginda for failing to take Nigeria into the development index or at least set the country on an irreversible course in that direction. But then, who wouldn’t get angry? This is a man who vested much hardship on the Nigerian people, using a combination of economic policies that wiped away at the middle class and set Nigeria with two extremes, the very rich and the extremely poor.

    This is a man who engaged Nigerians on finding the route that was best for its return to democracy but at the end turned it into a state of “so near but yet so far” when he annulled the June 12 elections. Even at that the man has refused to come clean on the real reasons why he annulled such a free and fair election as well as plunged the nation into a political crisis we only recovered from in 1999 and began its healing in 2018 when the Buhari administration officially recognised that election and laid the ghost of June 12 to rest.

    Now to corruption, i shook my head in disbelief as he on television  attempted to conjure up himself as an anti corruption champion because he allegedly dismissed a governor for mismanaging a certain amount of money. This however leaves us with more questions than answers, otherwise we should be asking if a mere dismissal from office was punitive enough as a measure in fighting corruption, also, with all the known allegations of sleaze and wanton acts of corruption witnessed in his regime, it is not an achievement for one to tout that he dismissed a governor, that obviously is like a drop in the mighty ocean. Truth remains that IBB institutionalized corruption in the country, Nigeria became a “settle” me nation and never before his coming  did we see such outlandish and ostentatious display of graft, corruption became so glamourising that the next millitary strong man after IBB sought to much outdo his predecessor.

    This is not to say that there were not a number of positives from his administration, IBB brought panache to governance, he experimented with ideas, maybe a little too much , he also surrounded himself with brilliant people and crafted a number of brilliant policies but for every goal IBB scored, he scored four or more own goals.

  • We are Nigerianists not just Nigerians!

    We are Nigerianists not just Nigerians!

    On 22 April, 1990, Late Major Gideon Orkar in an attempted coup made a broadcast that North-Eastern and North-Western parts of Nigeria had been excised from ‘main’ Nigeria.

    In the early hours of the morning of 22nd of April, my colleagues and I in the student/youth vanguard movement, Patriotic Youth Movement of Nigeria (PYNN) were in a consultative meeting with the Leadership of the Nation Association of Nigerian Students (NANS). This was at the Nelson Mandela secretariat headed by its president Opeyemi Bamidele. I was part of the immediate past NANS Exco that just handed over to the Opeyemi’s leadership. Some excited students intoxicated by the repeated broadcast by Orkar who had seized control from Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FCRN) in Ikoyi Lagos, (when Lagos was still the seat of power), rushed to NANS Secretariat calling for support of the coupist.

    Some of the students were arguing that after all, Orkar had offered NANS and the Youth representatives’ seats in his provisional ruling council. Of course in that era, every political group was wooing the leadership of the studentry which had that time after the two weeks long anti-sap uprising become effectively the main opposition movement in the country in alliance with a section of the radical intelligentsia and radical bar.

    The students in record numbers came with assorted maps of Orkar’s new Nigeria, chanting solidarity and war songs. They were specifically infuriated by counter broadcast at the Bendel Radio by Colonel Odeleke, they demanded leadership from NANS to storm the broadcast station in Benin and chase Odeleke and his troops away from the Bendel State  Broadcasting Station.

    After brief deliberation, we took a position against the coup, especially as it concerns the excisement of the North-East and North-West of Nigeria. Our major task was how to contain the students in their numbers who were chanting  ‘ACTION’.

    It was my lot to bring these students under control and skillfully divert their energies to our point of view, it was a tough call as Bamidele approached me and said “Comrade you have the popularity as the hero of the last uprising, they will trust you.” God helped me, I did the job; we contained the students the NANS opposed the coup, rejected the offer of saet  in Orkar’s ruling council, the coup collapsed.

    Why did we do what we did?

    We did so because we are Patriotic Nigerians; who despite our opposition to the military government of the day believed in the indissolubility and indivisibility of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

    We are not just Nigerians who love their country, we are Nigerianists, who are fundamentally committed to the preservation of the unity of Nigeria.

    As it was then in 1990, our position on the unity of the country remains the same, we know that our country faces enormous challenges, but this is not because we are multi-ethnic; America and India are multi-ethnic too. We believe that whatever is it that is wrong with Nigeria can be corrected within Nigeria by devolving powers to the sub-national components of the Nigerian state (Local and State Government) for a more efficient federation.

    With increased visionary leadership, elected into various offices and increasing enlightenment and attitudinal change of the citizens,  the latant potential of this great Nation will be transformed into concreate reality.

    We are firm believers in the possibility of the greatness of Nigeria, Africa’s best hope; that is why we are NIGERIANISTS.

    • Olawepo-Hashim is a former Presidential Candidate and APC Chieftain.

  • Remembering Ironsi and Fajuyi (2)

    Remembering Ironsi and Fajuyi (2)

    By Igboeli Arinze

    Nigerians must remember that Ironsi did not govern alone Ironsi had the purest of intentions, perhaps he was naive but to accuse him of wanting to enthrone Igbo dominance  and that he colluding with the January 15th coupists is the gravest of injustices done to the memory of a man who simply wanted the best  of the July 29th coup justify the coup with a number of reasons. First, they was so brutally killed by soldiers from a particular section of Nigeria.

    The story goes as this. With Nigeria’s First Republic going through the throes of multiple but self inflicted crises, a few military officers, young and full of ideas flirted with the idea of restoring sanity into the country’s political space through the use of force to shoot their way into relevance and much obtain the obedience of the nation. Like every idea, this one hardened into some concrete plan and was given the name Operation Damisa. D-Day saw the January 15 boys strike, leaving in its wake the demise of several leaders of the First Republic. The coup, nationalistic in its agenda was highly successful in the North but  failed woefully in the South, this was simply due to the timely and courageous reaction of the General Ironsi, who refused to accede to the demands of Nzeogwu and co. Rallying loyal troops to his side, Ironsi outwitted and arrested the mutinous officers dealing the coup a fatal blow , since Lagos and not Kaduna was actually the seat of power, Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu leader of the coup had but no choice but to surrender to Ironsi.

    The Nigerian Senate at that point in time did hand over Ironsi, who immediately settled down to fix the nation’s troubles. Possessing the best of intentions for Nigeria, Ironsi identified Nigeria’s biggest problem as tribalism and sought much to end the trend, it is important to note that his maiden address to the nation ended like this, Nigerians simply want an end to tribalism.

    Assembling minds and a number of stakeholders to carefully study the Nigerian nation vis a vis its existing systems and the prevailing dynamics then, the committee did recommend the abrogation of regions and the creation of a unitary system, where every Nigerian would see himself as a Nigerian even if they were in places outside their own regions of origin. Thus a Hausa man would be at home in Orofia, Abagana , work there, live there and even marry his statutory number of four wives from my home town if he so desired. He could even become a DG or Perm Sec in Enugu, contributing his quota for the overall development of Nigeria. This was Ironsi’s vision for Nigeria. Laudable one might say.

    Ironsi, the soldier democrat unlike other military dictators who would have just announced such a policy without discussing it with fellow members of his ruling council, presented the document to the council, seeking their own input into such a document. No member of his council spurned the idea; none presented even the feeblest of opposition to the proposal, like lizards they simply nodded in agreement to the policy. You might think that Ironsi’s Supreme Millitary Council must have been lopsided, having more Igbos than other ethnic groups in its membership, no! Ironsi had more Northerners and Yorubas than Igbos in the council; members of this council did include Yakubu Gowon, then his Chief of Defence Staff, who was later to share complicity in the tragedy that befell Ironsi.

    Ironsi, not satisfied with the consent of his council alone sought to engage the nation on his proposal, he began a tour of the country, visiting the various regions and listening to the input of its stakeholders, General Ironsi finally landed in the Western Region, it was here that the infamy of July 29, 1966 took place, Ironsi was abducted alongside his host, Colonel Adekunle Fajuyi, the duo were then dispatched by bursts of a sten gun.

    Suddenly, the likes of Gowon, Kam Salem, Hassan Kastina and Alhaji

    Yesufu, found their voices, whilst trying to justify the coup, Gowon who was later to succeed Ironsi pitched the idea that Ironsi’s unification decree was never agreed upon and that it was an attempt to entrench an Igbo hegemony upon Nigeria, only for the same Gowon to do a summersault and implement a faulty version of what Ironsi had in mind, one that propped a Northern hegemony. Gowon and other prime members of the coup then began to plant canards against Ironsi in their bid to vilify him and portray him as an ineffective leader.

    But was Ironsi really an ineffective leader? History says no! A close examination of his 194 days in office very much reflects this view for under General Ironsi the issue of fundamental human rights, freedom of expression and conscience were very much upheld under Decree No. 1 which suspended the Constitution but left intact the sections that dealt with these freedoms.

    Asides that, the Ironsi regime also repudiated Decree No 2 or the Circulation of Newspaper Decree put in place by the Balewa administration to curtail press freedoms. Ironsi favoured a free press and encouraged it.

    Nigerian today remains a hot bed for all forms of crisis, senseless events that have long consumed millions of lives and properties, events that have carved scars upon our people. Year in, year out, governments have constituted high powered committees to look at means of preventing reoccurrences yet the next wave of terror that comes makes past occurrences a child’s play. Some have it that what obtains in Nigeria is simply what we call the clash of civilizations as popularized by Prof. Samuel P. Huntington , some scholars have attempted to link it with the ongoing crisis in Jos and other parts of the North, I simply disagree and state clearly that Nigeria today would not have experienced these set of crises and her interests would supersede ethnic affiliations and tribal loyalties the melting point would have been Ironsi’s felt was Decree No 34, which in all sought to make the Nigerian Civil Service as one institution. Ironsi’s train of thought was simply moving in the direction where every Nigerian was or would be free to work and live where he wanted or where duty called. Thus a Tiv man could work in Enugu and discharge his duties to the nation as a true Nigerian, while a Yoruba man would not feel out of place working in Maiduguri.

    Ironsi was the last of statesmen, who served selflessly and refused to enrich himself with the commonwealth of ours, he was the last of leaders who did not own hilltop mansions, hotels, banks, it is reported that following his demise, his killers rushed to his bank to identify how much wealth he had stashed there perhaps to use the startling amount as one of their many excuses for toppling Ironsi, to their chagrin they met a paltry sum of six Pounds and ten Shillings, this put an end to their corruption story.

    General Aguiyi Ironsi was a great man born to a great nation but his vision of unifying our nation during the height of our ugly human emotions remains a legacy for future Nigerians be ye Hausa, Igbo , Yoruba or Tiv, a legacy that was jettisoned , little wonder peace eludes our country today. His ideas still echo today, his voice towers above others, one that some of our founding fathers could not surpass.

  • IBB and June 12: The great betrayal

    IBB and June 12: The great betrayal

    By Emmanuel Oladesu

    The greatest mistake former military President Ibrahim Babangida made at the twilight of his ‘maradonan rule’ was the annulment of the most historic and credible June 12, 1993 presidential election won by Social Democratic Party (SDP) standard bearer, the late Chief Moshood Abiola.

    The ex-military leader’s greatest regret should be the lack of opportunity to correct the mistake, 28 years after.

    There is no human being without conscience. It is that portion of the inner mind, which produces guilt. That guilt, psychologically speaking, is the internal version of punishment. But, Babangida has said that he is a different personality.

    Power is sweet. Yet, it is transient. But, the military, like typical politicians they are, always want to sit-tight. It is an extreme dimension of political covetousness for a man that had for eight years assumed full executive powers as Commander-In-Chief, without accompanying checks and balances, to liquidate a transition programme.

    In the process, due to personalisation of power and gross insensitivity to public opinion, he failed to quit when the ovation was loud and much havoc was wrecked on the country.

    If a man has annulled the most democratic and freest election, and the cancellation led to protests that resulted into the death of many citizens, apart from the death of the winner in captivity,  and the former leader refuses to show remorse, he is more than an evil genius.

    Babangida’s place in history is that of a man behind a political experiment that led to nowhere, as the great Chief Obafemi Awolowo previously warned. His justification for cancelling the election results during his interview on Arise Television was laughable. He deluded himself into thinking that Nigerians, particularly those who had reached teenage years in early 90s, are assailed by collective amnesia.

    Read Also: IBB was not individually responsible for Vatsa’s fate – Gen. Akilu

     

    The coup merchant rationalised his perfidious act with an anticipatory coup, which he lacked the wherewithal to foil as military President, if the popular will was sustained. Indeed, Babangida was the coup, the coup plotter, the coup detector and the mastermind of the greatest tribulation that befell electoral democracy, which he trickishly engineered to elongate the boring military rule and perpetuate himself in power.

    Is Nigeria not a pitiable sight? How can people now reconcile the coup theory with the present reality of political dominance by ex-soldiers, who are governors, ministers and legislators? They resented democracy. Later, they emerged as its greatest beneficiaries.

    Eighty year old IBB, as he is fondly called, also pontificated on anti-corruption war, claiming that he fought graft and sleaze better. The generation that remembered the oil windfall during the Gulf War were taken aback.

    Besides, his idea of corruption is narrow. Does it not include dictatorial tendency of detaining rights activists, seizure of human liberty, banning and unbanning of politicians, shifting of goal post amid the match and misuse of public funds?

    He also disputed zoning, or rotational presidency, which has the potentials of blocking power shift to other zones, knowing fully well that since the Northern Region has never paid attention to birth control, its predictable quantitative numerical strength is permanently assured during elections. He said zoning was antithetical to democracy. Merit should be the watchword.

    Yet, to observers, IBB breached the criteria for merit, competence and democracy when he advised  that Nigerians should elect as president people who are in their 60s or below. He even said he has somebody in mind. The implication is that no Biden is welcome in the race and Atiku Abubakar who defeated him during the selection organised by Northern leaders in 2011 should retire.

    But, the former military President was above 60 when he vied on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), 10 years ago.

    Should the advice of a ruler who landed the country where it is today not be viewed with suspicion? Would it be wrong to think that an agenda is in the offing, from the Hill Top Mansion, Minna?

    That culture of prevarication, deceit, tossing people around and imposing personal wishes on the beleaguered polity by certain category of retired military officers are typical of the political principals and principalities of Nigeria.

    The pain of the criminal annulment lingers. There were confusion, outrage and condemnation of the barbaric act. But, Babangida stood against the people as democracy was subjugated by the barrel of gun. The hope of a peaceful transfer of power to the democratically elected President, despite the huge financial investment, was dashed. The rest is history, which IBB is now trying fruitlessly to rewrite.

    June 12, 1993, was a historic day. The election was a miracle. It was unifying.  Nigerians rose above ethnicity and religion to choose between Abiola and his National Republican Convention (NRC) rival, Alhaji Othman Bashir.

    The exercise was a peaceful nationwide. There was no thuggery. There was no violence. Although it was during the raining season, the weather was benevolent. Malpractices were not reported. Domestic and foreign observers hailed the poll, saying that Nigeria was coming of age.

    It was a day the electorate issued a red card to the military. But, IBB resisted the change. It was because he belonged to the clan of those who believe that the best candidate cannot be President of Nigeria.

    After annulling the poll, the symbol of the struggle was caged. Consequently, the victor became the villain. The political class was polarised. The elected parliament and judiciary were compromised. The faithful were in disarray. Abiola never returned alive from detention. Up to now, the circumstances surrounding his death are in the realm of conjecture.

    The history of treachery and betrayal, particularly how the populist military ruler programmed the transition programme to fail, will be narrated from generation to generation. He was not only in government, he was also in power. He knew those who would not succeed him, but he did not know those who will succeed him. All these were not without a huge cost to his image. But, power has a way of drawing the wool across the eyes of leaders. Therefore, they are unconscious of the judgment of history. As IBB dribbled the country, he inadvertently dribbled himself, thereby forfeiting the chance to write his name in gold.

    Despite the finality of the annulment, IBB’s life in power, from that June 1993 to his inglorious end  in office, was full of tension.

    Read Also: For IBB so loved MKO

     

    When IBB unfolded his transition programme, Awo cautioned against the illusion of hope. Weary of the prevailing political situation, he doubted the sincerity of the transition drivers. Awo, who was invited by the Political Bureau chaired by Dr. Cookey to contribute to the debate of the future of the country, predicted that Nigeria was embarking on a fruitless search. He warned that when Nigerians imagined that the new order had arrived, they would be terribly disappointed.

    When Awolowo returned to Ikenne from Lagos, following his visit to the Evil Genius in Doddan Barracks, Lagos, he urged his followers to learn to eat and wine with the devil with a long spoon.

     

    Gap-tooth IBB started to gamble with the transition timetable very early. He shifted the poll twice. The third attempt was resisted by the human rights community. On poll day, voters were determined. They were ready for the festival of change. Even, the mood in the army and police barracks was not different. Soldiers, their wives and children, displayed enthusiasm. According to the National Electoral Commission (NEC) chaired by Prof. Humphrey Nwosu, 14 million voters participated in the voting. The contest showcased the potency of the Option A4, the open ballot system and the symbolic importance of the two party system.

    According to the poll results, Abiola scored 8,341, 309 votes, representing 58.36 per cent of the total votes cast. Tofa, it was said, was ready to concede victory. In fact, the NRC National Publicity Secretary, Dr. Doyin Okupe, declared that the poll was devoid of rigging, affirming that Abiola won a popular mandate. However, based on the order from above, the announcement of the result was stopped abruptly. The game of deception had reached the peak.

    A feeble and spurious explanation for the annulment, a wide departure from the imaginary coup, later came from military Vice President Admiral Augustus Aikhomu’s media aide,  Nduka Iraboh, who said: “The National Electoral Commission is hereby suspended. All acts or omission done or purported to have been done by itself, its officers or agents under the repealed Decree No 13, 1993, are hereby nullified.”

    With the cancellation of the results, Abiola’s vision for Nigeria died. The symbol was not prepared for the challenges of post-June 12. He was helpless. After declaring himself President, the next option was to go into hiding. He had   jetted out to seek international support. By the time he returned home, his party had split. The SDP leaders were speaking from the two sides of the mouth. Former Information Minister Comrade Uche Chukwumerije,  mounted the hottest propaganda against the just cause. He said by travelling abroad, MKO had gone down in history as the first Aare Ona Kankanfo of Yoruba to have deserted the battle field.

    As June 12 divided the polity, associates were changing allegiance. The Association for Better Nigeria (ABN), led by Senator Arthur Nzeribe, was collating imaginary signatures of people against the election.

    The late Admiral  Aikhomu also doubted the fitness of Abiola for the Presidency. He said the rich man was not the philosophical king.

    As IBB stepped aside to save his face, he was succeeded by an interim contraption that was sacked by another power monger, Gen. Sani Abacha, who completed the military war against democracy.

    That is the legacy of IBB, who is now struggling with history. That too, is the the dilemma of a man who is being hunted by his past.

  • There is no Place like Nigeria

    There is no Place like Nigeria

    By Mike Kebonkwu

     

    There is no other place I know on planet earth that is like Nigeria.  Not because of its rich biodiversity of flora and fauna; not even because of the cream of its colourful ethnic nationalities.   We are excitedly a lively animated people living loud and priding ourselves as very intelligent people whereas we have not been able to outgrow our primordial sensitivities of religion and ethnicity.  We are indeed a strange people who will hold on to the fossil of a dinosaur even when it is known to cast a spell on us and impedes our growth and development.  We  have found  ourselves attached to Nigeria not because we have patriots committed to having  ethnic nationalities that gravitate to a Nigerian identity with its own unique value system.

    Where we are today, the country will snap if it is not unbundled soon.  People have  generously talked about restructuring and true federalism.    We have fundamental foundational problem that not even negotiation on terms of staying together as one Nigeria can resolve at this material time given the incalculable damage by the APC led government and especially the lopsidedness of appointments by the President who is incurably tribalistic.

    Corruption is perceived as the greatest problem in Nigeria and like the President said during his inaugural speech in 2015, “If we do not kill corruption, corruption will kill Nigeria”.   We have corruption because of bad governance and poor leadership so if we do not kill bad leadership and poor governance Nigeria is as good as dead.  It is poor leadership that enthrones and sustains corruption; it is bad leadership to promotes ethnic hatred and resentment and intolerance.

    Our problem is not the Fulani ethnic group that we have chosen to demonize in our characterization due to the marauding herdsmen that have been unleashed on Nigeria as a result of political calculation which they are not able to rein in after using them to win election.  Our problem is not Nnamdi Kanu and his IPOB or secessionists campaign. Sunday Adeyemo (a.k.a. Sunday Igboho) and his demand for Oodua Nation is the least of Nigerian problem.  These are young men fired by the desire for good life for their people.  Their approach and methodology may be wrong but they represent the sum total of the views of their ethnic nationalities who  have become vulnerable due to bad governance.  The problem of this country is not President Muhammadu Buhari, he is a manifestation of deep rooted chasm that exist between the ethnic nationalities in the country.  If he lives office today, Nigerian problems would still remain.

    The problem of the country is hugely the elites; the political elites and their intellectual wing that provide them compass without a sail.  These elites are not amorphous, they are well known.  They are from all the tribes; Hausa politicians, Fulani politicians, Igbo politicians, Yoruba politicians, Effik politicians without exception.  They are people who have appropriated the machinery of the state, including security enforcement for personal aggrandizement.  They own the Media and mode views and opinions to suit their whims and intuitions.  They deploy the coercive apparatus of the state to protect themselves and establishment without providing safety and security for the ordinary citizens.

    The bandits and insurgents can kidnap the whole school children and rape all our women as it does not affect the elites who have all the security and probably with their children safe and away in Europe and America and lately UAE, Dubai and other Asian countries Nigeria is working.  They suppress every genuine protest and revolutionary move by a few patriots who are depleted and thawing out in their numbers due to frustration and early death.

    What else is therefore left to defend of Nigeria, is it the name or our individual selves?  Is it our regions or religions or simply to keep the identity for the purpose of sharing the  available resources?  What is the value system that is the magnet and attraction why we are holding unto Nigeria as presently constituted and run?   Every tribe and ethnic nationalities have one grouse or the other and feel marginalized.  The country is sitting on a stool of injustice and the people are traumatized being pummelled by insecurity and economic hardship heaped on the citizens by poor government policies.

    How does one explain to average Nigerian citizen that the politician in Abuja or the government house in his state does not represent his interest but just there to build an empire for himself and his family?  Watching the pattern of voting in the last Bill on the use of Electronic Transmission of Elections Results where the Deputy Senate President voted against it one can conclude that Nigeria has lost everything noble.  The unkindest cut of all was when I saw Honourable Opeyemi Bamidele, once a Student Union leader and a redoubtable activist voting against the Bill.  There is no place indeed like Nigeria.

    We have to come to terms with the stark reality and avoid further plunge into anarchy and bloodshed by taking step to discuss the terms under which we can live in peace together and not just to hold on to the name and identity of Nigeria without more.  To save Nigeria, we have to midwife a peaceful unbundling of the federation as other nations have done without bloodshed as no amount of legislative or constitutional fiat can hold strange bedfellows together.

    Read Also: Secret Sunday Igboho told me, by close ally

     

    The discontent of the people and ethnic nationalities is as a result of the perception of injustice which is covered up with more injustice.  The secessionists’ agitation is fuelled by the inability of the State to treat equals equally and carry everybody along.  The arch secessionists, the duo of Nnamdi Kanu of IPOB and Sunday Adeyemo Igboho of Oodua nation have been arrested and are facing trial.  The government invested so much to apprehend them as if every other problem would go away by neutralizing the duo.   We will soon realize that they are symptoms of the problem and only a manifestation of resistance to injustice which every other person prefers to bury just for a pot of porridge to maintain the peace of graveyard.

    The system we are operating bread bandits, insurgents, cultists and unknown gunmen no matter how much we try to create false reality to cover up like promoting individuals through media hype as supermen.  We have only succeeded in promoting a system that can only birth an Abba Kyari and Huspuppis of this world to our eternal derision.

    There is palpable fear that to see the next day is sheer luck and the Grace of God as eternally religious people.  Worse still is the growing fear of the State which has misdirected its anger and unleash the coercive agencies of the State on the citizens; telling people what they should say or think thereby creating a new reality like the Big Brother of the Orwellian fable, 1984.   Now the NBC wants to regulate what the media should air or what panellists should not discuss.   While the country is grinding to a halt, we are telling ourselves the opposite with all the contradictions and ironies.

    We appear to be fighting only for the name Nigerian without national identity as we see ourselves in our tribal toga of Igbo, Hausa Fulani, Yoruba, Tiv, Ijaw etc.  We are fighting to preserve and keep an entity where some people are faithful while others are infidels.   We want to hold on to an entity where the faithful celebrate ecclesiastic victory when the infidels are killed.  We saw this when the Emir of Muri  in Taraba State during the last Eid el Kabir celebration berated the Bororo Fulani brothers from the neighbouring countries  for turning his emirate and domain to a den of criminals against his people.

     

    These are the same band of criminals that have been unleashed in the forests  in the Middle Belt and  southern part of the country  that the federal government is stoutly resisting their removal as unconstitutional through the Attorney General of the Federation and the Presidential Spokesman, Garba Shehu.  With this attitude, living within the same demographic and political space will continue to be suffocating and engender more extreme variant of violence and resistance.

    A united one Nigeria has become an empty slogan and a myth built round the Constitution which this government want to sustain through force of arm and intimidation.  What then are we holding on to; a country where the President thinks and perceives growing the economy of a neighbouring country is more beneficial just because his kinsmen and forebear are from there than opening up the economic arteries of other parts of the country?  We are funding and developing the hub of Niger Republic economy with our resources, building railway lines to connect Niger before we can connect the Abuja – Lokoja and other parts of the South.

    Nigeria cannot regenerate itself because the fibres of the nationalities that make up the country are not culturally homogeneous and socially compatible.  You cannot decree unity amongst hostile entities whose differences are rooted in religion and culture.    For peace and progress, Nigeria has to be unbundled so that likes will identify with likes.  It bears repeating to restate the fact that Nigerians are tribal people and highly divided.   Politics in Nigeria has also been essentially regional and tribal within the coordinates of geo-ethno-religious positioning.

    The political class has not shown or demonstrated the capacity and understanding of building a multi ethnic and multi religious diverse secular state.   We are holding on to Nigeria only as a vehicle for sharing resources which in itself has torn the façade of hypocrisy behind the union.  Try as we may play the ostrich, Nigeria has got to a point that it cannot regenerate itself as in the past.  Clearly, we have expended our legendary good luck.  Every region, every ethnic nationality has one grouse or the other without exception, playing the victim of marginalization.

    Whatever that was alluring about Nigeria has been killed on the altar of poor governance, rabid ethnic arrogance, corruption and bigotry.   What then is there to hold on to in Nigeria, insecurity, insurgency, collapsed infrastructure or the economy that is on the wheel of suffocating made in China loans?

    You may want to ask yourself if indeed Nigeria is even a developing country and in what sense and direction?  Is it in science and technology or industrialization?  Is it in agro business which ordinarily we should have comparative advantage giving our natural endowment?  We are not developing because of the suffocating socio-political factors inhibiting growth.  Our youths are only adept in Information Technology (IT) as consumer technicians not for growth but as a vehicle for fraud in cyber crime (‘Yahoo yahoo’).   Our political elite  have never be known to  excel in anything else  but using  politics as an art of war by arming deprived youths and turning them to hoodlums and feeding them on drugs and sex.

    The APC led government has primed Nigeria up for ultimate implosion and irreversible collapse.  Now they are strategizing for 2023 and will try and build a compromise only to secure a ticket for the party.  They will appropriate the federal might and go for a kill that will make the country to become a one party state.  A fixation on victory  for 2023 elections will only be a calm before the storm as the country is racing down on a highway to disintegration not because of Igboho or Nnamdi Kanu but because the government has put a knife on the things that hold us together and we can no longer  stand  as one.

    You may choose to dismiss dissent voices as unpatriotic elements or pessimists when they paint a true picture of the precarious state of the nation which is steering us in the face.  You may well prefer or choose to believe the lie that expose you to risk and danger; again the choice is yours.    We are being emotionally attached to an entity that only exists as an object of fancy to be exploited by the ruling class.   Our elected representatives have their eyes only on political offices and the pecks without furthering the cause of the unity and development of the country.

    We are just suffering and killing ourselves  over the name of Nigeria without building a Nigerian identity.   We have to interrogate who will are and whether we want to continue under the umbrella of one Nigeria and drop all these pretensions of  a united, indissoluble entity by fiat.

     

    • Mike Kebonkwu Esq

     Koyen-hi kebonkwu chambers

     Wuse zone 5 Abuja fct

     

  • APC’s conundrum: Did Osinbajo, et al., goof !

    APC’s conundrum: Did Osinbajo, et al., goof !

    By John Ekundayo

     

    These are interesting and intriguing times in the political scenes and settings of our dear country, Nigeria. Definitely, aligning with the words of the highly celebrated, erudite and cerebral novelist and social critic, the late Professor Chinua Achebe, things have fallen apart, as the centre cannot hold within the two most popular political parties; the ruling party, All Progressives Congress (APC) and the main opposition party, People Democratic Party (PDP). The wrangling and wobbling within the parties are worrisome and saddening to major political watchers and observers as 2023 beckons. The internal squabbles seemingly stem from political immaturity and grandstanding of some over ambitious party leaders who care less whether the house is pulled down in their quest to get their ambition actualized! The leaders of the ruling APC, refusing to learn from their past blunders in the past elections in Zamfara, Imo and Rivers States, are apparently walking with their two eyes wide open into a ditch occasioned by the Supreme Court ruling in the case of Olusegun Akeredolu versus Eyitayo Jegede. The apex court gave it narrowly to the APC’s candidate, Arakunrin Olusegun Akeredolu, SAN, on a 4-3 decision. It is instructive to succinctly state that the ruling saliently declared that if the Chairman of the Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC), who doubles as the Governor of Yobe State, Mai Mala Buni, had been joined in the case, the outcome would have tilted favorably towards the candidate of the PDP, Mr. Eyitayo Jegede, SAN.

    Context of the Conundrum

    In his interview in the Punch newspaper of Tuesday, 3rd of August 2021, legal luminary, Mr. Ifedayo Adedipe, SAN, was of the opinion that APC goofed in picking Mai Mala Buni as the Chairman of the Caretaker Committee. In his words: “… the constitution of the party itself expressly forbids any of its officials from holding a political office.” The posers: Is APC acting with impunity or ignorant of this extant provision in its own constitution? Moreover, with the hosts of eminent legal luminaries in the APC such as the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, SAN; Arakunrin Olusegun Akeredolu, SAN; Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN; Mr. Festus Keyamo, SAN; and Mr. Shehu Malami, SAN, just to mention a few, could they all have forgotten that the 1999 Constitution, as amended, was clearly against an incumbent Governor holding any political party post? Or could it be a case of high handedness as opined by the Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege, that no one could stop the ruling party, APC, in his quest towards 2023? Omo-Agege, as a lawyer and leader in such a visible and vantage position of authority, needs be cautious in his diction or lexicon if the followers will take APC serious come 2023 even as many promises the party made to the followers (electorates) while campaigning for votes before the 2019 elections are yet to be fulfilled!

    Where did Professor Osinbajo, et al., goof?

    It was said that President Muhammadu Buhari, away in London, directed the Vice President, possibly as a learned professor of law, and not in his capacity as the vice to the President, to wade in the seeming melee and mess aftermath of the apex court pronouncement. It is unsettling that with the pronouncement accompanying the ruling of the apex court, the rudderless APC still went ahead to conduct ward congresses nationwide with the Chairman of the Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC), Mai Mala Buni, presiding over the party affairs! In law, and quoting Lord Denning: “You cannot put something upon nothing and expect it to stand.” This columnist is not a lawyer but as an informed researcher and reader can pinpoint the error of the CECPC in letting that congress to hold despite the illegality ascribed to the headship of the body – CECPC. It is said in Yoruba common parlance, when the head of a fish is rotten, the whole fish is rotten. With the array of cerebral legal minds in the ruling APC, was it that they were all oblivious, ignorant or lackadaisical of the provisions in the APC’s constitution and the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as amended)? If they are aware, why has the committee’s headship been allowed to continue acting illegally ab initio? Can something stand on nothing? It is both illogical and irrational! APC: wise up!! The way forward: to change the headship of the CECPC, fix a date for the party’s convention and to nullify the congresses held nationwide last Saturday.  

    Read Also: Osinbajo’s team working on ways out of APC’s ‘legal ditch’

     

    Professor Osinbajo: Be wary of figures!

    The Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, in receiving the research report of Course 29 of the National Defence College, opined that it was the onus of the government to provide the enabling environment to close the unemployment gap in the country. He went further to eulogize the Buhari administration, of which he is a part, in creating more opportunities for Nigerians to be gainfully employed. In his words: “If you recall, when the President was speaking concerning the budget in 2019, he mentioned that one of the critical things to do, concerning every Minister, is that, with every policy, we must state how many jobs to create.”  In addition, he declared that the Food for Jobs Programme identified 5 million farmers nationwide with BVN and these farmers were geo-tagged meaning they are apparently present in virtually all local governments of the country. It is instructive for Mr. Vice President to note that as far as many Nigerians (followers) are concerned, this programme and others aimed at stemming unemployment  are mere paper tigers as the real impact is not felt, seen or embraced! How? There are pertinent questions to ask. Firstly, is there a robust and rugged Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) system in place for a humongous programme catering for 5 million farmers? Has the Vice President and his team randomly cross-checked the data, for instance, in his own local government, Ikenne, Ogun State, to decipher the veracity of the data captured? Inculcating MEAL ab initio in carrying out the programme will ensure at least 80% success of the programme thus leading to the possibility of creating more than 5 million jobs since one farmer can overtime engage extra hand to work with him. Secondly, there would not have been the incidence of soaring food prices in the market as it is presently. In fact, there is upward review of food prices seemingly on a weekly basis in the market across Nigeria lending credence to less foodstuff available for the teeming population. Thirdly, with the spate of insecurity pervading the country, it is doubtful, the 5 million farmers were all engaged. Fourthly, the unemployment rate of over 30% in Nigeria is a pointer to the apparent shoddy execution of such a programme. Lastly, if there has been a robust and rugged MEAL, the baselines, milestones and targets would have been ab initio identified with proper key performance indicators (kpis). These kpis would have been tracked. In the learning leg, concluding the MEAL; what works and what does not work would have been unraveled and improved upon in the next phase of strategic planning and implementation to cut off waste and increase yield.

    Conclusion

    It is high time APC woke up from slumber and faced reality. The top notch of the party should do an objective and impartial appraisal of the followers’ perceptions of the party in the nick of time. It is sheer delusion to think that the party will ride on the euphoria and enthusiasm of followers that ushered in the party to power in both 2015 and 2019 elections. Saliently and succinctly stated, the party has not lived up to its billing in keeping its social contract with the followers going by current socio-economic indices and metrics rather than rhetoric. It is a truism that the two most popular parties like it was written in this column last week, lack ideas, ideology and inclusivity. It is not too late to amend and do the needful as followers are watching and a third force may emerge to shuffle both APC and PDP aside in the political struggle and juggle for power as 2023 beckons.

    • Dr. Ekundayo, J. M. O., leadership researcher and consultant, can be reached via 08155262360 (SMS only) and drjmoekundayo@hotmail.com
  • Tokyo Olympics: Rethinking Sports Administration in Nigeria

    Tokyo Olympics: Rethinking Sports Administration in Nigeria

    By Tunji Olaopa

     

    In the twenty-first century, sport has grown beyond being just a form of entertainment. It has become a most serious endeavor that earns more for both individuals and states. Even in its ancient form, individuals participate in sports for fame and glory. From its first appearance as a pan-Hellenic festival from 776 BC to 393 AD to its modern incarnation in 1896 and up till date, the Olympics has become the ultimate celebration of individual feats and the tenacity of the human spirit. Earning the wreath after participating in the Olympic, as far back as ancient Athens, was the ultimate in competitive sports. However, the event has gone beyond its individual characteristics to encode some significant socioeconomic ramifications, especially for nations hosting the event. According to Eduardo Paes, the Brazilian politician, “Hosting the Olympic Games of course guarantees the world’s attention, but there is more to it than simply bathing in the global spotlight. Most importantly, host cities can use the opportunity to create a positive and lasting legacy, resulting in both tangible and intangible returns to local communities.”

    And those nations participating in the Olympics also wield their participation as a form of ideological demonstration; what has come to be known as national soft power. In Olympic history, most people will never forget Jesse Owens and his exploit at the 1936 Summer Games. Apart from being regarded as one of the greatest and most famous athletes, especially in track and field, his feat in winning four gold medals at the 1936 Olympics is taken to have “single-handedly crush Hitler’s myth of Aryan supremacy.” Unfortunately for him, however, the United States did not consider that ideological victory worthy of recognition. But then the US benefits immensely from its dominance in some sporting events, a projection of its world superpower status. The projection of a nation’s soft power is a signifier of that nation’s institutional and governance capacities that is demonstrated globally on a stage like the Olympics, even though it is often more demonstrated and calculated in socioeconomic terms through various indices.

    It is in this sense that my reformer’s sensibility would latch on to the recent disqualification of ten Nigerian athletes for their failure to meet the minimum testing requirements demanded under the Rule 15 of the Anti-Doping Rules. No keen observer of Nigeria’s sporting administration and trajectory of achievements and failures will ever have been surprised by what just happened at the 2020 Olympics. Sports enthusiasts in Nigeria, who see sport as a form of redemption for Nigeria, usually have their hearts in their mouth anytime Nigeria’s goes to any regional, international or global sporting events, from football and boxing to swimming and basketball. And the narrative remains the same: something is always institutionally and administratively wrong from home. I have heard tales of woes by sportsmen and women who complained of nepotism, favoritism and pure neglect. And it is these neglected sportspersons that we expect to perform wonders in global games. And if they are not available, we need not worry since the foreign-based professionals are always there. Indeed, it is always better to call on the foreign professionals to step in after we have used the home-based ones for the drudgery of training and preparation. It does not matter that some of these foreign professionals left Nigeria in frustration. It also does not matter that better training and grooming can provide home-based coaches as long as the foreign ones are available. Nigeria now celebrates Anthony Joshua, not minding that if he had decided to stay here, he might not have become anything near who he is today.

    All this points attention to the parlous state of sport administration in Nigeria. And the urgent need for reform. We routinely hear in the news tales of malfeasances and intrigues of corruption in not only the ministry of sport but also the National Sport Commission as well as all the other sport administration bodies. And it takes little reflection to see how such an administrative instability can translate into lackluster sport performance in global sporting events. Thus, the Nigerian postcolonial development predicament has circumscribed her capacity to project her soft power through sport. One easy diagnosis of Nigeria’s dismal sporting profile is the larger environment of clientelist and neo-patrimonial dynamics that constrains national development. It seems logical that if the development of Nigeria is under the grip of prebendal network of corrupt patronages, then no sector of that state’s national life is immune from its limiting framework. For instance, so many have wondered why the head of either the sport ministry or the NSC should not be someone who has made sport a profession—a former sportsperson or a sport enthusiast. But when a square peg is not inserted into a round hole, how does anyone expect some serious performance?

    This worry speaks to the relevance of leadership in sport administration, the same way the Nigerian state is plagued. Take an instance that has been the bane of succeeding administration in Nigeria; the challenge of continuity. Most government want to have the satisfaction of initiating its own programmes and policies. And this at the cost of any existing governance arrangement that the preceding administration had laid down. At the 2012 Olympics, Nigeria’s woeful performance led the Jonathan administration to initiate a one-day retreat to address the problems with sports in Nigeria. The report of the retreat has not seen the light of the day, but the new Buhari administration has commissioned another report. And then the cycle of abandoned reports and institutional recommendations for reform goes on, from new commissioned committee to abandoned reports.

    How can Nigeria break out of this vicious cycle of institutional dysfunction in sport administration? Like a bulk of Nigeria’s institutional dysfunction, sport administration also has the fundamental issue of governance at the core of its predicament. There are usually well-intentioned reform ideas encapsulated in beautiful documents with clear-cut pathways that could lead to performances and the achievements of objectives. But such ideas do not get implemented because those at the helms of affairs, in sport for instance, do not really care about such documents and the agenda and objectives they hold. The fundamental question for me here, from which other issues are generated, is whether the government at the three levels in Nigeria, consider sports a critical ingredient in national development. This is a crucial question for me because, as I have argued recently, the federal government in Nigeria often invest rigidly in the tangibles of development usually defined by infrastructures, from roads to structures. And less attention is paid to the intangibles like human capital development. Sports constitute one of those areas where the intangibles of national development can be harnessed for the cultivation of Nigeria’s soft power. However, with a comatose educational system, one cannot expect that sporting activities that ought to be part of a rounded educational training would be available. I doubt that Nigeria’s higher education system is wired, like North America, to award scholarship founded on the sporting prowess of any student.

    Sporting activities and festivals, from primary schools’ inter-house sports, universities’ inter-collegiate games and national sport festivals have all receded to the background of educational activities. It is time to bring them back. And the solution lies in a multidimensional reform effort that begins with a visionary political leader whose understanding of national development is comprehensive enough to perceive the relationship among all the sectors of the national economy, from infrastructural development to sports. First, no institutional reformer will neglect the place and role of any national policy document in the restructuring of any sector. Thus, this makes the Nigerian national sports policy a very crucial place to start reforming the role of sport in national development. However, while the sports policy is a well-crafted document that especially recognizes the fundamental significance of the grassroots in sporting development, the significance of this insight will continue to be lost if that document is not synergized, for instance, with other national policies in cognate sectors of the economy, from youth development to employment. For instance, statistics revel that sports constitute one of the highest employers of labor in Nigeria. This immediately speaks to the relationship between the national sports policy, the national youth policy, the national policy on education and the national productivity policy. For instance, the relationship between the national policy on education and the national sports policy synergize between the development of physical education in universities with the resuscitations of national sports festivals and games across the Nigerian school system.

    However, it takes sport professional, grounded in the intricacies of sports development, to make this connection. And this is where the idea of sports professionalism and the resuscitation of the moribund National Sports Commission tie into the rearming of sports as a key ingredient in national development. The NSC, in conjunction with the National Institute for Sports, and the entire institution of sports in Nigeria requires an urgent re-professionalization that will undermine the patronage system in letting sports professional handle sports administration. From such a thorough management of sports in Nigeria flows not only a solid line of employment opportunities for sportspersons and professionals as well as non-professionals, an even more solid avenue for tax revenues emanating from multiple sport businesses of all sorts, but also a human capital development framework that complement the streams deriving from higher education and all flowing into Nigeria’s development profile.

    As with all issues of reform in Nigeria, the baseline test lies with the amount of political will the Nigeria political class can muster. Charity must always begin at home. It is only then that we can begin to expect more than shame at important global sporting events like the Olympics or the World Cup.

    • Olaopa is a retired federal permanent secretary, Professor of Public Administration and Directing Staff, National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, Jos

    tolaopa2003@gmail.com

                

     

  • Hushpuppi Saga and Kyari’s seven fatal errors

    Hushpuppi Saga and Kyari’s seven fatal errors

    By Tiko Okoye

     

    Prologue:

    There is no doubt that the most topical issue in the country today is the bombshell Hushpuppi-related US court order that agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have come to Nigeria to execute against Abba Kyari. He is Nigeria’s most decorated super cop, a Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) and commander of the elite Intelligence Response Team (IRT) of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF).

    Saying that a man like Abba Kyari with his stellar achievements and rapid promotions must have stepped on the toes of many of his colleagues and superior officers and aroused envy and wrath in the process is to make an understatement. But the aura and mystique of invincibility and impregnable network of influencers and operators of power he masterfully cobbled together kept potential predators at bay.

    But that was until FBI agents showed up at our doorsteps for him. Truth is that Abba Kyari has committed no fewer than seven fatal mistakes that are creating PR and credibility nightmares for him, the Police High Command (PHC) and the Presidency.

    Mistake No. 1

    Abba Kyari lived a lavish lifestyle that was totally out of sync with his position and legitimate means. Worse still, he didn’t care who knew it, hence he kept uploading photos of trappings of his wealth on his Instagram and Twitter walls. The populace of any country in the world abhor seeing – or even hearing stories of – their cops imitating the lifestyles of fraudulent and ostentatious politicians and criminals.

    Mistake No. 2

    Abba Kyari did not only flaunt his wealth in the public square, he also allowed – if not encouraged – his younger brother to follow suit.

    Mistake No. 3

    When the story first broke, Kyari tried to pooh-pooh it by mocking and taunting the FBI and the Police High Command: “Hahahaha,” he tweeted, “indicted where, how? On social media, abi…good luck to dem bad belle people waiting to see us arrested.” Although the tweets were eventually deleted,they had incensed the FBI agents and fanned growing anger and consternation among the top echelons of the NPF.

    Mistake No. 4

    Even as he was talking too much too soon, much of what Kyari was averring in his defence was unconvincing and ludicrous. For example, he was quick to counter that the only connection between him and Hushpuppi was a request by the latter asking him to make copies of his (Kyari’s) fashionable wears, and that the relationship ended when he paid the designer the sum of N300,000 Hushpuppi had provided as payment for the finished products. Wondered Kyari: “Many people who admire our clothes are connected to the designer, so that is an offence now?”

    Mistake No. 5

    Indiscretion as well as lamentable lack of perspicacity evidenced in attending the burial ceremony of Obi Cubana’s mother and having photos of his active involvement going viral on social media platforms.

    Mistake No. 6:

    Allegedly threatening to bring others down with him if approval is given for him to be extradited to the USA, including retired and serving senior police officers and prominent members of the public. Some names have already gone viral on social media platforms.

    Read Also: Leave Abba Kyari alone

     

    Mistake No. 7:

    Capitalising on long-existing fault lines to goad the Police Service Commission (PSC) and the PHC into another do-or-die battle for supremacy on policy matters. The PSC has since disclosed that it would conduct its own “separate and independent” investigation after receiving the IGP’s investigative report. Isn’t this simply a ruse to buy time for whatever reasons?

    Epilogue:

    Having seemingly covered all loose ends in Nigeria, Kyari understandably crowed about his invincibility. But the highly intelligent celebrity crime-buster failed to take the foibles of Hushpuppi into account. The global internet fraudster had apparently chosen to keep details of their business transactions apparently as a trophy with the likely intention of bragging to friends about how successful he has been in his line of work.

    When silence mattered most, Kyari kept making unforced errors by opening his mouth widely. “Blessed be the man,” chimed George Elliot (pen name of female English novelist Marian Evans), “who, having nothing to say, abstains from giving in words evidence of the fact.”

    No one is accusing Obi Cubana and his monied guests of any wrongdoing. But Kyari should have opted to err on the side of discretion. In explaining why he divorced his second wife, Pompeia, Julius Caesar allegedly averred that prominent public figures should avoid attracting negative attention and scrutiny or even the tiniest whiff of scandal, giving rise to the idiomatic saying that Caesar’s wife must remain above suspicion at all times and on all occasions.

    An occasion where wealth was wantonly on display, such as the unbridled ‘hurling’ of bundles of currencies, wasn’t one any prominent cop should have graced. Kyari’s right of association is guaranteed by the constitution, but like the Good Book so poignantly declares: “All things may be legal but not all things are expedient.”

    The experiences of other Nigerians similarly caught in the sights of the US legal system in the past ably demonstrate that that an accusation doesn’t automatically amount to a guilty verdict. Kyari’s arrogance only makes it increasingly difficult for the federal government to find a diplomatic way to resolve his matter.

    Members of a major school of thought contend that the US court order is compliant with an extradition treaty signed between Nigeria and the USA in the mid-1930s – and reviewed in the mid-1950s. Sadly, these are largely the same people vilifying the Presidency for seeking Sunday Igboho’s extradition from Benin Republic.

    But treaty or no treaty, a Nigerian court order to arrest an American citizen – whether of high or low status – in America would only generate howls of derision and butt of very unkind jokes before the paper is thrown into a trash can! Nigeria is a sovereign nation with her own laws and justice systems which should be rightly respected. So, while the evidence against Kyari is compelling and damning on the surface, due process must be allowed to fully play out itself.

    Albeit, it must also be noted that Nigeria isn’t an island to itself. As the cases of Nnamdi Kanu and Sunday Igboho clearly demonstrate, we may also require similar cooperation in this regard from other nations. And while the USA may not arguably have the right to arrest a Nigerian citizen in Nigeria, it does have the power and wherewithal to spirit any target out of the country should shove turn to push, as the cases of Panamanian military dictator Manuel Noriega and Al-Qaeda’s Osama bin Laden clearly indicate.

    A political timebomb for the administration is whether it would wittingly or unwittingly provide any basis for perceiving differences in the way and manner the cases of Kyari, Kanu, and Igboho are handled through the primordial prism of geography (Arewa versus South) and religion (Islam versus Christianity)!

    President Muhammadu Buhari must consequently carefully weigh the pros and cons. A lot would depend on whether the influential backers of Kyari who have the president’s ears are able to convince him that keeping Kyari has a higher value than repatriating Igboho since Nigeria cannot be seen to be doing everything possible to frustrate Kyari’s repatriation to the US and be simultaneously fighting tooth and nail to bring Igboho home.

    • Okoye, a financial inclusion expert, wrote in from Abuja.
  • Party delegates and the politics of nominations

    Party delegates and the politics of nominations

    By Nnedinso Ogaziechi

     

    Politics is said to be a game. Ironically, in developing countries like Nigeria, the politics played often continually turn out a losing game for women during elections. However, women do not really lose at elections. They actually lose during party primaries from the ward level to the highest office in the land. Somehow, both the women in politics and the men often do not realize that fairness in the democratic processes ought to start from the smallest unit and must be all inclusive.

    It is ironic that the only fairness that that comes to mind in the practice of democracy in a country like Nigeria seems to be solely about men achieving their goals politically. The other half of the voting public,  the women almost always lose at basic levels of democratic practice.  The idea of fairness does not seem to include women and their rights to play on a level playing field.

    Even though the political odyssey of women tends to be global, the Nigerian situation given the population and level of development seems very dire. The 1995 Beijing Conference with the 35% affirmative action was a global issue but from records, most Nigerian governments seem to have ignored that even when Nigeria was a signatory. The very abysmally low presence of women in governance in Nigeria says a lot about the political space.

    The Roundtable Conversation concerned about development and its variables spoke to Ignatius Nicholas Essien, a retired civil servant in Akwa Ibom state. To him, a lot of reorientation and reorganizations need to happen in the political party structure in the country. As it is, it does seem that the political parties are merely stepping stones for the politicians to grandstand as there seem  to be no serious ideological convictions.

    The idea of politicians just defecting to other parties at the drop of a hat shows that they do not understand that party politics is about ideologies.  The ease with which politicians switch political parties shows their understanding of democracy. Moving from one political party to the other and sometimes back to the original political party shows a lack of seriousness and presents the politicians as merely interested in the political expediencies.

    There must be stability in the in the political parties for politicians to truly sit down and plan along a given ideology that can develop the country. There is value in politicians following a marked ideological process that stands them out. In that case, they would know that their ideology as a political party provides the guidelines for them at all tiers of government. The lack of ideological grounding of our politicians makes it look like they are in the business for self-aggrandizement and financial security.

    When the focus is about personal economic well-being, then the nation suffers because no politician can be cautioned if he or she deviates from a known ideological leaning.  It is difficult to have a direction in politics if the political parties just have manifestoes just for the purposes of elections and not necessarily as embodying their ideological convictions. When this happens, the people suffer because then service becomes a scarce commodity. Participation in politics must be about service to the people he said.

    The role of political parties must be strengthened if Nigeria is interested in development. The political parties must function well and be about the people and not just about their members and what posts they can grab. The political party system must be strengthened in ways that politics becomes more admirable for competent people to begin to join and bring their ideas to the table to help the country develop. The political parties must begin internal sanitization so that more intellectuals can be encouraged to join.

    Mr. Essien believes that the disappointment that citizens feel with politicians that force discontent  that often leads to social ills. Another area of our national politics that needs attention is female inclusiveness. According to the constitution, each state of the federation must produce one minister. That is a constitutional requirement. Essien believes that there must be a constitutional review to make it mandatory for a certain number of women to be elected to certain positions.

    The constitutional review to him is very key because women have gone beyond the old order when it was the duty of women to cook and bear children. The women themselves must wake up and work for it. The men might never willingly give them the chance but they can seize the moment and agitate seriously for a constitutional review that can force not just a level playing field during elections but also influence the delegate elections and party nominations because the exclusion of women actually starts from the election or selection of party delegates that nominate candidates.

    To Essien, women must realize that male delegates cannot vote for women except the few that believe that leadership is not about gender but about the capacity and readiness to lead. Women must continue to advocate for constitutional review to right the wrongs.  A woman can only be voted for if there is gender balance ab initio. There are very few men that have that understanding to encourage and support women in politics and that can be seen from the very few women that are either elected or appointed in government.

    The women too must learn to support each other by speaking with one voice. The women must use the advantage of their numeric strength and insist on being given the chance to play a complimentary role in governance.  Unless the women stand up for themselves, their exclusion would continue. Delegate elections should be the focus of women because that is the pillar of elections. Without that, women might not make it. Alternatively, they can make stronger moves to let men realize that they constitute a greater number of voters. With determination, women can change the face of politics and development in Nigeria if they are willing to work as a team.

    The story of the very effective women in politics in Nigeria has always shown that when there is a level playing field, most of the women remember the people they are representing in ways that remain indelible in their minds. The recent story of the Bayelsa state councilor, Hon. Onem Tyna Miracle the young lady who assisted in rebuilding  a village bridge linking Otuokpoti and otuogon communities in her ward remains a reference point. Growing up in the community, she saw the danger the bridge posed for her communities and was a witness to some women, some even pregnant falling off the shanty bridge is a remarkable story that shows what is possible.

    She is clear evidence that masculinity has nothing to do with performance. Since the creation of the state, her ward had always been represented by men but not one single man looked at the bridge that was causing the people their lives. She started rebuilding it with her allocation and even added her car loan. The people have made a Mecca of the place as they sing her praises on the sport on a daily basis.

    She was elected because she was allowed a level playing field starting from the lowest level – the ward level. What this implies is that when the roots are straightened out in a democracy, elections are done with fairness and the voice of the people as they say becomes the voice of God.  That is the hallmark of democracy.

    The Roundtable Conversation believes Nigerians must stop playing the Ostrich by pretending that flawed elections are miracles that happen only at the general elections. The country must begin self-detoxification politically. The system must be scrutinized properly and  cleaned up. It is wrong for political parties that are the main vehicles constitutionally enabled to produce candidates to be run in ways that a greater part of the citizens are surreptitiously excluded through obvious means that excludes.

    The National Assembly must begin to realistically address issues of constitutional amendments in ways that might not necessarily favour their members but to create an enduring system that their children can be proud to inherit. There must be a re-orientation that can save the system and create a more enduring political system that can guarantee development and save the system from the being the most pre and post -election litigious in the world.

    The core of democracy is the ability of the people to choose who leads them and so the system must be that that is done to be fair and just to all. The present system tilts unfavorably against women and no nation that excludes half of its population can make progress. We equally expect the coalition of the political parties to work towards equity rather than their perennial struggle for candidates feeling dissatisfied with big political parties to find refuge in the smaller ones.

    Other developed countries might not be running a perfect system but they have a system of checks and balances that keep politicians in line in ways that the constitution is protected and fair to everyone. Elections on its own do not make enduring democracies, the integrity of the system matters. Nigeria must begin to realize the roots of flawed elections. Intra-party democracy is the precursor to viable democracies and it is an achievable goal. Development needs all the diligence that goes with building a nation.

    The dialogue continues…

  • Before APC disintegrates in Enugu

    Before APC disintegrates in Enugu

    By Cornelius Okoro

     

    As a card-carrying member of the APC in Enugu State, I have taken this time to alert the members within our state and leaders within the zone and at the centre of the continuous sinking of the chances of APC to beat the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the forthcoming elections in 2023.

    I am mortified and petrified that a party that parades the stellar constellation of politicians like one time governor Sullivan Chime, former Senate President Ken Nnamani, JOJ Okolagu, General Chris Eze, one time speaker of the Enugu State House of Assembly Rt Hon Eugene Odo, Princess Ada Ogbu and Hon. Ginika Tor should be at home with being a poor opposition party when it has all it takes to give the PDP a run for its money in the state.

    What then could be the problem? It lies largely in the actions of its serving acting chairman, Dr. Ben Nwoye. As I write this, I am bewildered at the numerous acts of the chairman which seem to be eroding the goodwill of APC as a party in the state. If he is not insulting Ken Nnamani, a man who has sought to add verve to the APC in Enugu State, he is harassing a number of elders or mortgaging the APC’s chances of becoming the ruling party. This has led to his estrangement with numerous stakeholders, many of who were previously his allies.

    The Enugu APC Ward Congress, which was held nationwide, was supposed to elect the 27-man executive who would supervise the ward activities. Fearing that the party could suffer an implosion, leaders of the party met repeatedly to ensure that the congresses were smoothly conducted. They adopted the consensus mode but then stated that where consensus could not be reached, party members should peacefully vote their preferred candidates.

    A day to the D-day, news began to fly about the process being hijacked by some Abuja politicians. This was even as the members of the Enugu State Ward Congress Committee mandated to supervise the process were just arriving Enugu before holding a stakeholders meeting with Nwoye present at the meeting. At the said meeting, the chairman of the committee, Dr. Arodiogbu Ijeomah, addressed party faithful and even presented the voting materials which appeared to be intact to the satisfaction of the members there.

    Read Also: APC governors: Supreme Court has validated Buni’s committee

     

    Saturday, July 31 saw party members trooping out to vote. In most areas it was the adoption of the consensus mode that prevailed. Leaders such as Senator Ken Nnamani, Sullivan Chime, JOJ Okoloagu and Geoffrey Onyeama gave their appraisals of the process, likewise the committee members who moved about the state, monitoring the process alongside other constitutionally backed agencies such as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Nigerian Police and the State Security Service (SSS).

    As at then, it seemed like the APC in Enugu was coasting home to becoming one of the few states that organised a seamless congress. But another figment of mischief makers seeped its way into the media sphere via some cheap blogs, alleging that the result sheets for 206 wards were missing. Such outlandish and puerile story should have been dismissed outright, but Nwoye was said to have confirmed the story from the very low budget blogs, saying that he had heard such rumour. This could not have been true, as throughout the exercise, no such complaint had been made. The acrimony that greeted the exercise in 2018 seemed absent.

    Everything went well and even those who had planted such a mischievous story were nowhere to be found, at least to protest to the Congress Committee which was accessible to all. However, by Monday, we were shocked to the bone marrow when the same Nwoye, who had told the world that there was no form of factionalism in the Ward Congress process, organised the inauguration of his own ward executives at a point when the original results from the properly conducted congresses were still in transit to the National Secretariat.

    Now, how Nwoye arrived at his selection/election of ward executives is a case that requires comparison with other brazen acts of impunity. Here is a man who had told the world that there were no factional congresses doing an about turn and conducting inaugurations. Funny, isn’t it?

    Thankfully, party leaders have risen in unison to condemn his action. But then this cannot be enough, the CECPC led by Mai Mala Buni must also react to such impunity, deploying the much needed sanctions. Otherwise, many may see such a putrefying action as legal, thus nullifying all the work the CECPC has done. The party at the centre must act fast! A stitch in time, they say, saves nine.

     

    • Okoro wrote in from Enugu