The Nation Newspaper

Category: Commentaries

  • Public officers and foreign accounts

    SIR: The ongoing attempt by the House of Representatives to pass a bill that will allow public officers to operate foreign accounts is atrocious and a desperate bid by the lawmakers to institutionalise and legalise corruption and money laundering. It is sheer brinkmanship and political brigandage.

    The bill which has already passed its second reading if allowed to scale through will spell doom for our nation and turn Nigeria legally and institutionally, into a country where its leaders are accountable to no one. At present, the government is accountable to none but at least, it can still be made to account for its actions, because the substantive Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act, and relevant laws guarantee that, even though the mechanism for its enforcement is seriously jaundiced. But once this bill being championed by the lawmakers is allowed to fly, then there will be no more hope for probity, accountability and transparency in this country.

    It is sad to note that at a time when democracies globally are taking a giant leap beyond secrecy, opening up governments, and becoming increasingly accountable to their people-the electorate, ours is taking a precipitous slide to draconian days; days better imagined than experienced. Indeed, historical records worldwide had shown that a government that is open thrives better than that mired in controversy and concealment. A government that is accountable to its people, that conscientiously does all it can to strengthen the institutions of democracy, that punishes incompetence and malfeasance and rewards integrity and diligence does well, last longer and insures development for the greater good.

    We are in a fast changing world, a world evidently undergoing a three-pronged critical revolution in the socio-political and economic sphere, technology and human rights. These are the things that are, and will determine the shape and direction of issues in this century; a classic revolution of values, but alas our government, in particular the legislature is sleeping through this amazing revolution. Soon, this cancer will spread into the very fabric of this nation, and if we, the Nigerian people do not ask fast, it will become malignant.

    These heartless, conscienceless and shameless men cannot even work to strengthen a simple Freedom of Information (FOI) Act to make government more open and accountable neither could they pass a sound Fiscal Responsibility Law to check fiscal recklessness; all they did was watered down the Fiscal Responsibility Act. For almost one and half a decade since return to democratic rule, they have squandered our commonwealth and collective patrimony. All of the lawmakers regardless of party affiliation are up to no good; the judgement of God is upon them.

    The Nigerian people surely cannot allow them to get away with this one; they can’t continue messing up with our collective destiny, and jeopardising and mortgaging the future of our children. It is time to take a stand and make our voices heard.

    •Eneruvie Enakoko, Omotunde Adetula, Olaide Ekeolere, Papa Siakpere, Abu Babangida

    Conscience Reports Team, Lagos

  • Time to improve policing in Nigeria

    SIR: In many parts of the world, the Police is often regarded as emblematic of envy, reverence, sanctimony, affluence, order, privilege, responsiveness and responsibility. In Nigeria, however, mere mention of the term ‘Police’ provokes the mental image of bribery, extortion, penury, aspersions, manipulation, subjugation, inauspiciousness, and above all, corruption. Indeed, it is commonplace that the population holds rifling grudge and unabated stigma against the police. In reality, the inscription “ Police is your friend is” is slaughtered on sheer irony. An officer is welcomed with most distant and hesitant camaraderie.

    Fuelling the above are common obnoxious manners through which the officers treat human rights and dignity with kid gloves, perhaps, the aggressive attitude of some of the officers, street-side extortion, ready tool in the hands of the political elites, inefficacy in responding to and combating of crimes, crude and obsolete approaches to investigating causes of breach of social orders. Array of unresolved high and low-point cases have aggravated the resentment of the civilian population. Central to all is the inadequate funding and kitting of the force. The remuneration and working conditions are unattractive. The force is also understaffed with present strength of 371,800 in a population of 155 million. Working equipment and communication gadgets are grossly inadequate hindering even the best of their human efforts on the course of taming crimes.

    A school has mooted has mooted the decentralization of the current structure to bolster intelligence collection. However, I dare say that no system is immune from prospects and challenges. No doubt, the suggestion may help in fostering better communal interaction between the Police and the citizenry, the problem of structure is not core. The challenge of insufficient funding, gross indiscipline and corruption transcend boundaries. We once experienced era when police was manipulated by the governors to intimidate and harass political opponents and rig elections. Our Police officers, to be candid, deserve improved welfare packages than we have it today. They expose their lives to risks during the course of their duties. Due to the sensitive nature of their duties, they are subjects of attacks and retaliations from the criminals who, more often than not, wield sophisticated weapons and arms. They are often the victims of breach of laws and orders notwithstanding that they have relatives and dependants.

    When the problem of funding is curbed, fighting corruption and indiscipline becomes an easier task. The regional and divisional offices can be better administered and manned with efficient and committed hands. Special investigative arms can be bolstered by expanding the capacity and training in communal relation with a view to enhancing efforts at intelligence collecting. Countries like US, UK and Japan , Russia, Sweden, China, Germany, Netherlands, France and South Africa have set the template for others.

    Finally, every citizen is his or her own police officer. Therefore, we are admonished to abhor crimes and criminals, cooperate with the police to purge our societies of social vices by respecting them and feeding them with useful information that will help propel a a stable and progressing societies of our dreams.

     

    •Opeyemi Michael Owolabi,

    Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife

  • Arrest the deplorable state of Aba

    SIR: It amuses me at times how our leaders chase rat when the house is burning or revel in hypocrisy when the truth stares them in the ace. How can we explain the fact that Nigeria and Abia State have a place like Aba and they are busy trumpeting a transformation agenda that is hollow? There can be no transformation agenda without employment and there can be no employment without industrialization.

    I was thrilled when on television I saw a trade fair organized and promoted by Senator Abaribe (the senator representing Aba Senatorial District) showcasing over 1,500 assorted products made in Aba. I marveled and said to myself why it has taken this long to bring Aba to national limelight. There are two reasons for the state of affairs in Aba. These are visionless leadership, and, bewitchment

    I have said the above because a leader driven by vision cannot be bewitched. The vision nullifies the bewitchment. But when there is no vision, bewitchment thrives because bewitchment anchors its lethal poison on empty vision.

    I was at Aba last week only to discover that one of the roads leading to Ariaria the biggest market in the South Eastern State constructed by Governor Mbakwe is now not only impassable by has become a refuse dump. I wept and only stopped short at invoking the spirit of Mbakwe. When I finally got to Ariaria market the hub of industrialization in Nigeria I saw the dirt, the dilapidated road network, the decrepit environment and the unsanitary stores, I bewailed the calamity that has befallen Abia State.

    Does anyone appreciate that Aba is the gate way to Nigeria’s industrialization? Or, that the potential of wealth creation at Aba will make Abia’s receipt from the federation account a child’s play? That Aba can be turned into a Dubai and Taiwan of Africa?

    I call on Governor Orji to rise to the challenge and begin the rebuilding of the broken walls of Aba.

    Aba is already a well planned city. All that is needed is to comprehensively work on the roads, restructure Ariaria market turning it into a modern market with shopping malls, good network of road, toilet facilities, pavements, water supply, more stalls and good transport in and out of the market, if Aba is comprehensively refurbished to make it a neat city as Calabar is with the necessary aesthetics of building of parks, recreational facilities, tree planting, etc; Aba can come alive again as a business and tourist destination.

    If this decay in Aba is allowed to continue, generations to come will not forgive all that have had the good fortune of presiding over Aba but failed to do something.

    Aba industrialists can provide Nigeria with most of the items we import from developed economies. To make this dream work, government must put in place adequate protective policies to safeguard made in Nigeria goods from the cheap inferior products from China and elsewhere.

    • Prof. G. O. Ozumba

    University of Calabar

  • Remembering Kofi Awoonor

    SIR: I was in Ilorin, Kwara state in June as a guest of Professor Ibrahim Gambari, who was being installed as the pioneer Chancellor of Kwara State University (KWASU), Malete. To me this is one of those ways the nation can engage academics who had distinguished themselves in public office. In the case of Gambari, he has distinguished himself as an academic, minister and diplomat.

    I got to KWASU early enough to participate in the convocation lecture delivered by Professor Kofi Awoonor, the renowned poet, novelist, scholar and diplomat who gave a damning verdict on Africa’s educational development sparing no institution, particularly the leadership, in locating the reasons for Africa’s woes. I finally met him after the lecture during a dinner given in the honour of Prof. Gambari. ‘Good evening Prof’ I greeted him. I’m very happy to meet you sir, particularly in Ilorin not in Lagos, Abuja or Port-Harcourt.

    ‘Hmmn!!’ he answered; a very beautiful evening to you young man, somehow I’m happy we are meeting in a very less stressful environment, Ilorin. Awoonor was generous with time for a small chat that touched on his books, life as an academic and diplomat. He gave his insight into the problems of Africa and the continent’s leaders, saying how disappointed he was given its human capital and mineral resources. He also talked about his diplomatic efforts while representing his country in the UN and his books that he wished every African would read. By the time we finished our conversation, another small crowd had gathered to either talk to him or take photos with him. We parted on a good note. I was trying to re-read one of his books in light of our discussion when I heard of his senseless killing on September 21 in a mall in Kenya. I was shocked.

    Professor Awoonor, had distinguished himself in both academics and diplomacy; more still, he excelled as a writer and novelist, a good father and a friend. In memory of this eminent African son, the perpetrators of this evil act must be brought to book. The combined efforts of Africa Union (AU) must be brought to bear on the lingering Somali crisis, and efforts must be made to solve this problem. African countries should tighten security within and outside their borders to guide against future re-occurrence of tragedy like this. We cannot be losing our best to needless and senseless crisis. Awoonor stands for the best in African culture, manners and systems. His death should cause a re-think on the challenge of ensuring peace in Africa.

    •Adedeji Badejo.

    Surulere, Lagos

  • Re: Request for withdrawal of Sharia Court of Appeal from administration of the Estate of Late Hon. Justice S.A. Olagunju

    Please refer to your letters dated 4th July, 2013 and 1st November, 2013 on the above subject matter. The former was also reported in the Nation on Sunday newspapers of 20th October, 2013. This is a rejoinder thereto.

    As you rightly stated and admitted in your letter, the Kwara State Sharia’h Court of Appeal was directed by the President of the Court of Appeal, Abuja on 2nd of July 2008 to administer the Estate of the late Hon. Justice S.A. Olagunju of blessed memory. Based on the directive, a committee headed by Hon. Khadi S.O. Mohammed of the Sharia Court of Appeal was constituted to administer the Estate of late hon. Justice S.A. Olagunju, in accordance with Sharia law, the deceased having lived and died a s a Muslim.

    Between July 2008 and July 2013, the committee sat several times with members of the late Justice S.A. Olagunju family and Associates deliberating and consulting all concerned before sharing and distributing the estate of the late Judge in accordance with Sharia law of inheritance to the qualified beneficiaries.

    In the process and course of distributing the Estate, it was observed that the widow and former wife of the late Judge Mrs. Christiana Idowu Olagunju and Mrs. Comfort F. Iroye, (mother of the surviving two sons of late Justice Olagunju) respectively were not Muslims, and therefore disentitled to inherit the estate of late Justice Olagunju. As earlier pointed out, under the Sharia law of inheritance, a non-Muslim cannot inherit the estate of a Muslim, just a s a Muslim cannot inherit the estate of non-Muslim. The operative word here is inheritance a s opposed to a gift or bequest. A Muslim while still alive, can by means of gift or bequest transfer part of his or her property or money to a non-Muslim.

    It was in recognition of this equitable option that the committee strongly advocated and recommended to the late Olagunju family, particularly the major inheritors, the surviving two sons to make a gift to their step-mother-your client, which they have done in writing voluntarily by giving your client the sum of N3,000,000 (three million Naira). This amount represents half of the total money available for distribution. We do not think any fair minded person no matter the depth of his or her religious bias and bigotry will fail to appreciate the justice and fairness in the whole process.

    In your letter under reference, you alluded to sections 38 and 277(2)(e) of the 1999 Constitution which by your interpretation, restricted the jurisdiction of the Sharia Court of Appeal to matters “where all parties to the proceedings are Muslims.”

    With due respect, your interpretation and application of the two sections to the matter of administration and distribution of a deceased Muslim’s Estate are wrong.

    The relevant constitutional provision applicable to the matter at hand is section 277(2)(c) and not(e).

    Sub-section (2)( c) provides thus: “any question of Islamic personal law regarding a wakf, gift, will or succession where the endower, donor, testator or deceased person is a Muslim.” (Underlining supplied for emphasis).

    In contradistinction to the use of “where all the parties” in sub-section (e) wrongly referred to and applied by you, sub-section ( c) refers to a singular Muslim person, who is deceased and succession to his or her Estate in accordance with the relevant Islamic personal law. It does not concern the spouse of the deceased who may be a beneficiary, if and only if he or she is a Muslim. The sub-section, contrary to your perception, is neither discriminatory nor religiously bias especially as you rightly admitted, your client and the late Justice Olagunju agreed to practice and be bound by their different religious beliefs. Why does your client now want to take benefit of a religion she never practiced or believed in after the death of her Muslim husband? It must also be appreciated that Islam is not just a path to salvation but a way of life for its adherents.

    However, be informed that pursuant to the justice philosophy of Islam, your Client on the recommend dation of the committee has been allotted the sum of N3 million by the two sons (inheritors) of late Justice Olagunju’s Estate in writing: See attached copy of their jointly signed letter to that effect.

    We hope on the basis of the contents of this letter, you will advise your client appropriately.

    Yours faithfully,

    A.O. Mohammed & Co,

    (Signed): Kudirat Magaji (Miss)

  • On ‘Awo and SLA: Two exemplary paradigms’

    I enjoyed reading “Awo and SLA: Two Exemplary Paradigms” in the ‘Snooping Around with Tatalo Alamu’ column on November 17th, 2013. The Petain-de Gaulle comparison is spot on except that its definitiveness, unquestioned triumph of Gaullism and its continued relevance contrasted with the oblivion of Petain and his Vichy collaborators did not happen in the Awo-SLA case.

    While I was an unconditional Awoist in that era – “Omo Awo” as nom de plume – I share your worry that a new intra-Yoruba civil war in the South-West appears to be lurking in the horizon. Is there a role for an intergenerational group of intellectuals on this subject? Just to let you know that I would make time to participate in a brainstorming on the subject. I am assuming that you would be the convener.

    Professor Ladipo Adamolekun,

    Lagos.

     

  • Nigeria’s Upside Down macabre dance

    When Fela Anikulapo released his elpee, Upside Down in the mid-1970s, little did he know he was foretelling the lot of Nigeria in the 21st century. This is a country that has moved from degradation to degradation, such that but for God, we might have all perished! Here is a country blessed with the proverbial milk and honey, but like the Somalian proverb, “there is water everywhere, but everybody goes about thirsty”. Good thanks to bad leadership.

    Nigeria’s case aptly illustrates the story of the Prodigal Son, who in wantonness destroyed all before realising the agony of loose living. The question everyone has been asking is, “would Paradise be regained?” Yes and No. The United Arab Emirates is an illustration of a Prodigal Nation that suddenly woke up from slumber. The leadership suddenly arose to foresee perdition staring the country blessed with the Black Gold, like Nigeria, but which was badly raped by political jobbers who paraded themselves as politicians and leaders.

    Today, many rush to Dubai for shopping, rest, medical checkup and sundry reasons, little do they realise it took a visionary leader to awake that nation to creativity and accountability. Today, not a few people and groups are also exploring how dignity could be restored to Nigeria, a country heavily devastated by corrupt leadership, where avarice and kleptocracy have replaced democracy. One of the concerned groups is the Nigerian League of Democrats (NLD).

    Led by Otunba Omoniyi Adebanjo, the group is not only idealistic, it is bent on restoring the nation to the path of rectitude by serving as a pressure group to mobilise support for credible office seekers across the land. The group in recent outings emphasized its platform was opened to politicians who are not only credible, but abhor violence or do-or-die politics. Such leaders, it claimed, its teeming members across the land would support.

    But beyond just canvassing for votes, the NLD shocked not just a few when it announced in Abuja recently that it supports power shift to the North in 2015. This stand, many observers see as patriotic and in fact, a symbol of their neutrality. Many claimed that Nigeria may for the first time be breeding young leaders who are capable of charting the path to equity, justice and governance.

    Already, the group claimed to have started appraising about 10 political gladiators from the North to the end that the most credible would be supported by the alliance when the time comes. The appraisal, sources claimed, is rigorous and may eventually pave the way for good leadership, if the project succeeds.

    One of the things making the NLD’s popularity to grow leaps and bounds is its ability and propensity to articulate political positions based on deep thinking and argumentation. For example, when it canvasses power shift to the North by 2015, it gave certain criteria for whoever aspires to the nation’s presidency. “These are the qualities that must stand out the man who will be Nigerian president in 2015. Any Northern politician who possesses these sterling qualities and performs excellently well in the NLD’s Credibility Rating: Change, Competence, Compassion, Courage, Credibility and Commitment.

    Nothing has made the relevance of the NLD more apt than the absence of people of Chief Gani Fawehinmi in the present political calculus. Worse still, is the directionless administration in the country, that is more confused and seemingly castrated from doing anything creative or good.

    Never in the history of this country is a government that runs beserk when it ought to be at the top of development and a so-called government that failed by design to carry out free and fair election in a small state as Anambra.

    Nigeria is the only nation that would hold religious-related security challenge with kid-gloves just because the leadership is barren of ideas and bereft of any creative way of the crisis.

    One of the key factors the NLD has continued to emphasize is the insincerity of the weird Peoples’ Democratic Party which is dominated by political jobbers and liabilities.

    To prove that the PDP is aversed to change, the NLD sighted the case of Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola who was flushed out of office has National Secretary by a whiff of court pronouncement a day after a high court ruling. The same party that was justice-conscious to bundle Oyinlola out of office refused to restore the same person to his office after a superior court threw out the earlier ruling.

    According to the NLD, the PDP stands for autocracy and not democracy. “The PDP is a group of political hypocrites and gladiators”, a release alerted the nation recently. It was in this wise that the NLD is appealing that progressives of like minds should bury their differences and come together to wrestle power for the PDP in 2015. The group insisted that progressive elements such as Atiku Abubakar, Mohammadu Buhari, Aliyu Babangida, Ribadu, Tambuwal, Sule Lamido and so on should come together and bail Nigeria out of scavengers’ daily milking of the nation to its grave.

    The most annoying joke to the group as it is with many right-thinking Nigerians is the pipe dream of President Goodluck Jonathan to contest for office in 2015. According to the group, it is obvious that President Jonathan has failed to bring dividends of democracy on the table of Nigerians and the better option opened to them (victims) is to vote both Jonathan and his party, the PDP out of relevance.

    The group pointed attention to the ethnic cleansing in federal ministries such as Aviation and Education where only people from the same tribes as the ministers have the chance of survival in a federating unit.

  • Nigeria: Growing away from oil?

    Nigeria: Growing away from oil?

    ‘A further drop in oil production or oil prices could trigger a downturn in Nigeria’s domestic consumption and hamper non-oil growth. The country’s fiscal and monetary policies that have so far supported growth are also likely to come under increasing pressure in 2014’

    At the first glance, Nigeria does not appear particularly alluring to international investors. The country’s important oil industry is in the doldrums with crude production stagnating at around 2 million barrels per day. Oil investment is held back by the failure to pass a key reform bill. Pervasive theft of crude oil is nibbling away at onshore oil pipelines as well as export figures. Previously a major crude oil exporter to the US, Nigeria’s share of US oil imports has dropped 11 to 5 percent in the last year.

    The political outlook is scarcely any better. Nigeria’s government is fighting a vicious Islamist insurgency in the country’s remote and sparsely populated Northeast that has the potential to trigger further attacks in other parts of the country. The ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has been tearing itself apart over the intent of incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan, a southerner from the Niger Delta, to run for another term in the 2015 elections, a move fiercely resisted by Northern politicians.

    Nigeria’s economy has achieved consistently high growth of about 6 per cent a year over the last decade, largely driven by a fast-growing non-oil sector. In fact, non-oil sector has quietly grown at a rate of up to 8 per cent a year in spite of the much-publicised woes of the oil industry and a myriad of political, operational and infrastructural challenges. Paradoxically, slow oil sector growth has entailed a gradual diversification of the economy, albeit one that is consumer-based and remains vulnerable to volatility in global oil prices.

    Nigeria is the top foreign direct investment (FDI) destination in sub-Saharan Africa with about $20 billion of FDI over the last three years. The impact is visible: the skyline of commercial capital Lagos is changing rapidly as international high-end hotel chains such as Intercontinental and Radisson Blu have moved into the market. Retail and fast-moving consumer goods are also attracting the attention of international investors. The pharmaceutical sector is well-established as well, though international drug companies are grappling counterfeiting issues in the country.

    Nigeria’s rapidly growing population of some 170 million consumers and its potential for continued growth attract blue-chip companies keen to gain a foothold in sub-Saharan Africa. On the other hand, some FDI is driven by an ample supply of cheap dollars from the US Federal Reserve’s monetary policy, potentially creating speculative bubbles and worsening economic volatility.

    Despite a failure to pass key reforms – chief among them the Petroleum Industry Bill, which has stalled for years – some things are moving in the right direction. Nigeria has privatised the infrastructure and assets of parastatal power company Power Holding Company of Nigeria, splitting the company up in regional distribution and generating companies and placing the national power grid on a management contract. The privatisation process took longer than expected and experienced some hiccups along the way – Power Minister Barth Nnaji resigned in August 2012 amid allegations of conflict of interest.

    The fact that power privatisation did happen is significant. Nigeria’s notoriously erratic power supply has been a brake on economic growth. Although it will likely take years for the power supply to improve, private investors are better placed to access the funding and technical expertise required to make it happen. An estimated $5 billion a year in financing is required.

    Additional infrastructure upgrades can further Nigeria’s growth. Much of the country’s road network needs improvement, but a credible model for public-private partnerships has not yet emerged and toll-roads would be politically contentious. Atedo Peterside, one of the drivers of power privatisation, has publicly hinted that Nigeria’s railways may be next. Improved infrastructure – be it roads or rails – would have a positive spillover effect: a considerable part of northern Nigeria’s agricultural output is wasted before it reaches market in the south or further afield.

    Pitfalls still remain

    In spite of the growth potential, companies new to Nigeria face plenty of pitfalls. Nigeria’s security environment – while manageable outside the Northeast – is highly dynamic and diverse. Companies must be cautious about deploying personnel to remote and unfamiliar parts of the country. Even seasoned businessmen with extensive experience elsewhere in Africa are sometimes caught off guard by Nigeria’s business environment. More often than not, the surprises stem from a careless choice of local business partners. Political risk is also not completely out of the picture – while licenses and contracts may generally appear stable, local companies with a high political profile may be more likely to come under pressure in the future.

    There are macro-level risks as well. A further drop in oil production or oil prices could trigger a downturn in Nigeria’s domestic consumption and hamper non-oil growth. The country’s fiscal and monetary policies that have so far supported growth are also likely to come under increasing pressure in 2014. Central Bank Governor Lamido Sanusi has been committed to keeping inflation steady and maintaining the Nigerian naira in a tight exchange rate band with the US dollar, thereby creating a stable environment for investors. However, Sanusi’s term expires in 2014 and his successor is likely to come under pressure to pursue less independent policies.

    Moreover, there will be pressure on government to spend more in the lead-up to the 2015 presidential and general elections. As in most other countries, government spending tends to increase in election years, and with heightened political tensions in Nigeria the campaign is likely to be even more expensive than in 2011. The result may be a fiscal squeeze as government revenues are already under pressure due to disappointing oil output.

  • Yerima as ‘prayer’ contractor

    Last Friday on this space, Hardball served you a fable titled: “The Prayer Contractor” and some friends thought it was a tale contrived and wringed too taut to share any semblance with reality. It is a story about a government contractor who suddenly found that the taps of most contracts have been shut and he was down and out until he happened upon government weasel who advised him to try the prayer business. Today, I enjoy the privilege of serving you a real and un-fabled report about how the Nigerian ruling class has corrupted even the solemn art of communion with and supplication to the Supreme Being – prayer. It will also show how the so-called leaders in our midst are like entrails that slush with every movement; they do care a hoot about what you and I think.

    You must remember Ahmed Yerima, governor of Zamfara State for eight years and currently a Senator of the Federal Republic. You could not have missed that handsome and ebullient man with verdant mullah beards. Or, you surely must remember that fellow who invoked Sharia rule in his domain leading a few other copycat governors to follow suit and almost bringing a horrific ripple of ethno-religious crisis upon our beloved country. Yerima terrorised his state and his hapless people with this sacred law, actually cutting off the hand of one poor cattle thief called Jangali and setting up another miserable woman for stoning over what was adjudged to be an adulterous act. He almost succeeded in returning us to those ancient, brutish days when humans were stoned like diseased animals by a mob until they passed out. But the entire world rose as one to tell him hey, enough is enough, you can’t do that; this is 21st century and there is something called common humanity.

    Yerima tactically backed down upon noticing that the whole world was primed to battle him to the ground, should his peculiar Sharia claim another victim. It eventually turned out that Yerima was merely playing politics with Sharia and worst of all he could never have stood the test of Sharia the way he applied it to his people. Nobody mentions Yerima’s Sharia any longer because it has been proven to be a sham; a political gimmick he deployed for his selfish ends.

    Then, of course, you must have heard about Yerima’s last escapade: his snatching up of a 13-year-old Egyptian tot as a wife. A serial matrimonist, if there was any such thing, the Casanova would love to change nubile brides like disposable diapers but for the fact that a ‘busybody’ world would harry and expose him until the very venture he craves loses its flavour. Child rights activists have conjectured that it was because of Yerima’s penchant for marrying children that the Senate was made to tinker with the constitution to favour him and have him marry babies if he wanted. Again activists and the media got on the case and shouted themselves hoarse, forcing the Senate to reverse it self.

    What has all this Yerima yarn got to do with the prayer business we started with you might ask? Well, nothing really, except that Yerima, the grand schemer has found another line of shenanigan to engage in – prayer pimping. Yerima’s main preoccupation these days is to harvest ‘strong’ malams and marabouts from across the land and beyond and ship them to Aso Rock for prayers for our dear president, Goodluck Jonathan. Of course, even you can guess the content of the prayers, incantations and shaman-like wailings: 2015. No man born of woman would stop you from retaining power in 2015 and even beyond, they would tell President Jonathan.

    On a last note, Yerima is a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, yet he is a major prayer contractor for Aso Rock? To think that this fellow was a governor and currently a Senator! See what stuff our leadership is made of.

  • Anambra election forebodes ill omen for 2015

    SIR: I have watched with keen interest the brouhaha that characterised the Anambra State governorship election. And I am still in shock about the future that awaits us in this country. For about a year now, our televisions and newspapers have featured all manners of dangerous trend happening in almost every sector of government and governance.

    Beginning from the corruption of the oil subsidy, inflation of road contracts, stealing of pension funds, secrecy of oil production, corruption and extravagant spending in various sectors;  oil theft, the ballooning of external and internal debt to over N8 trillion, kidnappings and assassinations, the politicisation of the judiciary, unbelievable decay in our educational sector and, insecurity. To these have been added voters disenfranchisement and the shameless and irresponsible display of thuggery, daylight robbery and impunity in the handling of our electoral process.

    The gathering storm is something we must confront if we ever desire a future. The admission of mix-up and failures of Professor Jega and the electoral commissioners in the Anambra election on itself is a shot on INEC’s foot. The reckless use of the security agencies to perpetuate oppression and impunity has become alarming. The failure of the Anambra election needs no prophet to tell that a war has been silently declared against Nigerians.

    I must call on the chairman of INEC, Professor Jega to, as a matter of urgency, cancel this label of reproach called ”election” in Anambra and withdraw all the electoral commissioners sent to conduct the charade of election.

    How do we explain to the entire world that INEC, after the huge sum of money pumped into the preparation for the election and the drafting of over 28,000 policemen from different parts of this country, and with taxpayers’ money and other funds provided for logistics to conduct an election for just a state, that we are ready for an election in 2015?  Or, is Anambra election a test run to see what Nigerians would do when such illegality and impunity is perpetuated in 2015?

    If anyone is in doubt of the insensitivity of our leaders to the plight of common man in this country, the election has stated it loud and clear. I could not hold back tears when I saw hundreds of women who trooped out on the highway in protest at how they were disfranchised and their rights violently taken away from them. Nigerians should be ready to take their destinies in their hands by insisting that we can no longer fold our hands and watch the leadership of this country plunge us into a chaotic and unimaginable crisis. We must rise and stop this before it gets too late. Events have proved that the only language the Nigerian leadership understands is massive protest or strike.

    Socrates aptly put it thus: “the only thing the upright could do for evil to strive or take over the land is to do nothing”.  To sit, fold our hands and watch all these ills being perpetuated across the land, is to our own undoing.

     

    • Apostle Eugene Ogu,

    Port Harcourt