The Nation Newspaper

Category: Commentaries

  • Justice Salami’s long-running ordeal

    Justice Salami’s long-running ordeal

    It has been more than one year since the National Judicial Council (NJC) under the leadership of former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu, recommended to President Goodluck Jonathan the suspension of the President of the Court of Appeal (PCA), Justice Ayo Salami. The recommendation, it will be recalled, was swiftly endorsed. Salami was said to have lied against Katsina-Alu and refused to apologise to him and the NJC. Nine months after the suspension was endorsed, the next CJN, Justice Dahiru Musdapher, led the NJC to reverse itself in May 2012 by recommending the reinstatement of Salami. This time the Presidency baulked, citing court cases standing in the way of the president and disallowing him from riding roughshod over the courts. The nuisance was therefore passed on to the current CJN, Justice Maryam Aloma-Mukhtar, who was sworn in some three months ago, and who, like her predecessor, has sworn to remove the blot on the judiciary’s escutcheon, which the Salami case had become.

    No one is sure the current CJN will succeed in bringing a just and sensible closure to the unseemly affair. One of the new options being considered to settle the case is for Salami to withdraw the suits he filed against the Federal Government and the NJC, be reinstated, and then gracefully retire. This option, according to a report by The Nation a few days ago, would be discussed by the CJN with both the president in order to avoid a conflict with the Executive branch and with Salami after the Sallah break to secure an amicable resolution. Neither the apex court nor the NJC has confirmed the story. While it is feared that a few anti-Salami conspirators are poised to file fresh suits to stall the reinstatement bid until the PCA attains retirement age next year, it is not even certain that the presidency would buy into this option, nor is anyone sure the PCA himself would be amenable to the deal.

    What is however sure is that the stalemate has weighed heavily on the conscience of the CJNs and the NJC. Apart from Katsina-Alu who triggered the stalemate, and who couldn’t care less, the other CJNs have made strenuous efforts to bring closure to the case and restore the judiciary’s independence and reputation. There is probably some near unanimity in the NJC concerning the Salami case; but the Presidency has hardly disguised what it thought should be the only outcome of the rigmaroles: it wants Salami out, whether disgraced or with soft landing. As determined as the CJN and the NJC are, it is also obvious that they are reluctant to confront the government.

    Justice Salami must resist the temptation to make it easy for the troubled conscience of the president, the CJN and the NJC, which agreeing to the cheap and ignoble terms of disengagement will imply. While the altruism of the CJN and the NJC cannot be doubted, only one outcome appears depressingly inevitable in this sordid affair: reinstatement as a prelude to retirement. The Presidency has immobilised its own conscience. But every man of honour, except political partisans, knows that the odds are stacked against Salami in a country that has lost its moral compass and provoked its people into sundry rebellions and lawlessness. Given the disposition of the Presidency and the fanaticism of his enemies, Salami will be forced out one way or the other. Let him choose to depart in a blaze of glory by daring them to retire him themselves and completing the circle of infamy. No other honourable compromise exists.

     

  • Yuguda’s succour to the education sector

    Yuguda’s succour to the education sector

    SIR: When Governor Isa Yuguda took over the mantle of leadership in 2007, the education sector in Bauchi State was on the verge of collapse. There were less than 1,000 trained teachers to manage Bauchi State’s 247 public secondary schools with more than 200,000 students – a ratio of 1 to 200. Also over 7,000 out of 16,000 primary school teachers in the state were not qualified as they did not possess the required minimum qualification of NCE.

    The glaring decay in the state’s education sector was so malignant that only nine

    candidates out of over 3,000 who sat for the 2004 common entrance examination passed. Again only four, out of the 8,000 candidates who sat for the 1999 Senior Secondary School examination in the state scored five credits and above.

    Against the backdrop of the over N700 million spent on the sector in that year alone, the poor showing was discouraging and revealing.

    Faced with the disturbing situation, Governor Yuguda immediately zoomed into action to salvage the sector from imminent collapse. First he declared a state of emergency in the sector and began the immediate renovation of dilapidated structures in Primary, Secondary and Tertiary institutions across the state. The budget for education sector was jacked by over 100 percent from N2.5 billion in 2007 to N6.6 billion in 2009 and N19.4 billion in 2012, in an effort to restructure the sector. The Yuguda administration also procured and distributed six million copies of assorted textbooks to all state-owned primary, secondary and tertiary institution at a total cost of N6.5 billion as a support to the sector. The administration also distributed brand new cars to those qualified by civil service regulation to own automobiles under subsidized loan scheme, including teachers training and retraining to improve their skills.

    To ease parent’s burden in part funding of their children’s education, the administration paid WAEC and NECO examination fees for all its students without discrimination as to the state of origin, tribe or religious inclination. To further develop the education sector, the government established the state university and plans have reached an advance stage to establish a teacher’s academy to produce quality teachers. The administration also expended over N1.2 billion on students allowance in the last three years. Over 21 students are in the USA for various degree programmes in critical areas like aircraft maintenance engineering while more than N80 million was expended on the sponsorship of 38 students studying

    Medicine in Egypt, while over 100 students are in Malaysia. The administration also renovated and equipped science laboratories in selected secondary schools. These apart, six special secondary schools for married women were established as the administration expended over N189 million on the purchase of 10,000 units of double decker beds and another N204 million on 45,000 quality mattresses which were

    distributed to various schools.

    Feeding allowance to students in government boarding schools was increased by 100 percent as N420 million is quarterly expended to feed students with quality and quantity meal. In line with his blue-print policies the governor introduced the symbolic teaching programme, where as the governor, he squeezed time to personally teach economics in some selected schools. This perhaps explains the decision of US Agency for International Development, USAID to invest about N25 billion in Bauchi and Sokoto states to boost their capacity in expanding education and good governance. The Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) acknowledged the efforts of Governor Isa Yuguda by bestowing on him its 2011 Best Governor Award.

     

    • John Akevi,

    Bauchi

     

  • Politically-motivated armed robbery in Ogun?

    Politically-motivated armed robbery in Ogun?

    SIR: Permit me a space in your widely-read newspaper to comment on the killing of police officers in Ogun State allegedly by armed robbers, as reported in the media on Tuesday, October 23. It has never been heard of for armed robbers to put a distress call through to the heavily armed officers of the Quick Response Squad or the Joint Police/Military Patrol Team in order to lay ambush for them and kill them.

    I smell a rat here. The whole operation smacks of conspiracy when armed robbers are no longer interested in robbery but killing of security agents. Can we still call that robbery? The timing of this tragic incident and other reports in the social media (on alleged breakdown of a new APC at Ijebu-Ode) since last week when it became public knowledge that Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State would be honoured in Ghana as the Best Security Conscious Governor in West-Africa, lend credence to the theory of politically-motivated armed robbery, orchestrated to fault the well-deserved award to Senator Amosun.

    I therefore call on the Commissioner of Police, Director of State Security Services and other relevant agencies to look beyond a mere robbery incident and establish if some politicians in Ogun still engage in keeping a “Killer Squad” to perpetrate heinous crimes in the state.

    From my little experience, you may trail or monitor a person or group for up to 3 or 5 years before making them to face the full wrath of the law. You just have to cast your net wide.

    The police should also investigate their men to ensure they are not being used by the opposition, beside the need for professionalism in crime control.

     

    • Chief Ayodele Adesanya

    Sagamu, Ogun State

     

  • Amosun and the changing face of Rock City

    Amosun and the changing face of Rock City

    SIR: Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, has been a screaming metaphor of governmental failure since the return of civil rule in 1999. The state capital has been on the wrong side of the developmental chart ever since.

    A good number of those who held sway as governor and public office-holders in the state during the locust era of the military, and under civil rule did not do more than pay lip service to the gnawing problem of development and the rot in the city. The result is that the city is languishing under the heavy yoke of bad roads and the twin problem of flood and erosion.

    What would have passed as an average effort by the administration of Otunba Gbenga Daniel to address this sore in the heart of one of Nigeria’s foremost cities ended in a fiasco, as people who were said to have been mobilized for major contracts in the city simply took a walk after collecting full payment for the jobs.

    Officials had always explained the failure of the government to address the plight of the city on the premise that Abeokuta is an ancient town whose plan is lacking in adequate implementation.

    However, the story is changing. At the inception of his administration last May 2011, Governor Ibikunle Amosun promised the people of Ogun that his administration would give attention to the challenges of wresting Abeokuta from infrastructural decay, flooding and erosion identified as the loudest sources of misery to the inhabitants of the city.

    He restated his resolve to ensure a holistic implementation of the Abeokuta masterplan, reputed to be one of the most badly mauled plans in the country. He was shocked that the residents of the city, who complained about the menace of flooding and erosion had constructed structures, kiosks and containers to block the natural drains constructed by the founders of the city. During one of the visits, the governor promised that all illegal structures blocking the drains would be pulled down.

    Although few people believed the governor then, he has commenced a process in earnest to remove the shameful scar of rot from the city. He has also taken some practical steps to fulfill his promise to recreate the exploits of Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State in Ogun. He seems to be drawing his inspiration from transforming effect of creative governance in Lagos as shown by the conversion of Oshodi from a centre of filth and crime to a welcoming centre.

    In the past 10 months, Abeokuta residents have witnessed the noticeable impacts of governmental presence.

    For the first time in Abeokuta, several people who had exploited the weakness of previous administrations to encroach on the right of way including the commercial Bank in the city, got the message and decided to embark on the expected corrective step of vacating the area and relocated. Those illegal structures built without government approval were sealed off by the State special Task Force on Bureau of Urban and Physical Planning (BUPP) under the programmes “Build Right.”

    Across the city, landlords of such structures deemed illegal by the government have taken the initiative to embark on the demolition themselves. Those who have certificate of occupancy got their compensation from the state government for the demolitions. Even as the exercise continues a good number of roads, especially the major ones and streets would be stripped off in due course for roads reconstructions and expansions.

    With the first phase of demolition and the additional space added to the major roads like, Sokori/Ita-Eko/Totoro road and others, Abeokuta is like a bride waiting to be decked in colors of gold when the contractors complete the work at the site at the end of the rainy season.

     

    • Ademola Orunbon

    Abeokuta, Ogun State

  • King Solomon’s (pension) mine

    King Solomon’s (pension) mine

    During a recent visit to the national headquarters of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) in Abuja, the Chairman, Pension Reform Task Team, Abdulrasheed Maina, told his hosts that N300 million daily was stolen from the Police Pension Office “through fictitious cheques prepared in the names of fake pensioners.” So far, he continued, investigators had been able to uncover pension fraud totalling some N36 billion. In addition, and more worrisomely, he also added, investigators had only covered about 40 percent of the pension scam. As if this gargantuan scam was not enough nightmare for everyone, the Pension Reform Team also told the ICPC that far more frightening scam had been uncovered in the Local Government Pension Funds where some N3.3 trillion had been deducted without proper accountability between 1976 and today.

    The scale of the mismanagement of pension funds is unimaginable. What should the country expect when investigations are completed? And in spite of the exposure of the seedy details of pension scam, is anybody discouraged from following the same criminal path? Indeed, going by past scams of this magnitude, is anyone behind bars?

    It can hardly get juicier or racier than these, except perhaps you are a fan of Victorian adventure novels such as King Solomon’s Mines (1885), in which, complete with maps and other tools, you embark on a journey in search of hidden treasures. It is in fact doubtful whether the author of King Solomon’s Mines, Sir Rider Haggard, would not have been overwhelmed with inspiration had he lived in modern Nigeria. Here in Nigeria, no one needs maps or any other tools to locate where the treasures are, and they are not even hidden. After completing tentative investigations into the fuel subsidy scam, the National Assembly discovered that many oil merchants had broken the law. Most of the suspects already charged in court are said to have fraudulently converted billions of naira of subsidy funds. One is even being investigated for fraudulently converting over N40 billion subsidy funds, a sum estimated to be approximately the monthly allocations of 11 states.

    Pension funds and fuel subsidy payments may be the most lucrative avenues for corrupt enrichment modern Nigeria has known; in reality, however, this most dystopian of countries has become a huge mine, far more lucrative than any other known route to wealth. As the poor opt for armed robbery, kidnapping and Internet scams, the elite will apparently continue to concentrate on pension and subsidy scams. Pension and subsidy scams may not seem like real mines where gold, silver and platinum are extracted; but they are nonetheless mines yielding inexhaustible treasures any Victorian novelist would have loved to be inspired by. Perhaps Robert Louis Stevenson (Treasure Island) and Sir Rider Haggard lived before their times.

     

     

  • Oshiomhole wrong on death row prisoners

    Oshiomhole wrong on death row prisoners

    SIR: Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State, recently ordered the execution of two prison inmates pending appeal of their suits before the courts.

    The characters of these inmates were described by the prison authorities in the state as “ unmanageable “.

    Despite being on death row, the governor failed to recognize that these inmates have their Rights to Life pursuant to Section 33, 1999 Constitution.

    This section entrenches that everyone has a right to life and no one shall be deprived of this except under the circumstances permitted by law.

    Looking at the length and breadth of this section, the action of the governor has no legal backing for it is a breach of the law to execute someone pending appeal.

    Also affirming this right is Article 4 of the African Chatter on Human and Peoples Rights. To this end and others, the right to life has received the status of a jus cojen. It is universally recognized.

    Taking a clue from the decision of the court in Nosiru Bello v. A.G Oyo State (in which the court held that the killing of the deceased was unconstitutional), I think this mishap should be re-addressed.

    Lucy Freeman, Amnesty International’s deputy program director for Africa, speaking on this, described this act as “ a deep disrespect for the judicial process”.

    Not considering the fact that these two were convicted for murder, the constitution remains supreme (Section 1).

    The law will prefer 99 guilty persons freed than one innocent man killed. Since the deed hasn’t been done, there is still room to respect the grundnorm – The 1999 Constitution.

     

    • Ekpo Uduakobong

    Faculty of Law, University of Lagos.

     

  • The travails of Ifeanyi Uba

    The travails of Ifeanyi Uba

    SIR: The on-going trial of fuel subsidy scam bears similarity to the efforts of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to nip in the bud acts that are inimical to the economic well-being of the nation. This development has shown that the proceeds of crime will never bring forth good seeds; neither will the tracks of any such acts be forever covered.

    Last week, one of the subsidy fraud suspects, Patrick Ifeanyi Uba was remanded in prison custody on the order of Magistrate Martins Owumi of the Lagos State Magistrate’s Court.

    The order was sequel to an affidavit in support of an application for remand sworn to by Chief Superintendent of Police, Francis A. Idu and filed before the court. The court action was sequel to the report of the Presidential Committee on Verification and Reconciliation of Fuel subsidy headed by Mr. Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, which President Goodluck Jonathan set up to audit the report of the House of Representatives ad hoc committee on the same subject, headed by Farouk Lawan.

    Uba’s Capital Oil and Gas was said to be culpable for fraudulently obtaining N42.291 billion from the Federal Government by falsely pretending that it imported and sold 538.7 million litres of petroleum during the 2011 fiscal year through 26 transactions.

    Before now, Uba, like others before him, had endlessly struggled to ‘wash’ his new earned status as one of the nation’s billionaires through acquisition of traditional titles accompanied by excessive celebrations and opulent lifestyle.

    Until September 3, 2011, the name hardly rang a bell. However, on his 40th birthday anniversary, the smokescreen was lifted. Well over 100 pages of adverts were plastered in several newspapers to mark the day. The celebration was adjudged to have“broken all tenets of modesty and brought superfluity to walk on all four.”

    Interestingly, just one year later, the façade of a nobility and hard working businessman he constructed round himself began to be lifted.

    Apart from the current travails, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) listed his company as one of the 113 corporate organizations heavily indebted to banks. The debt profile of Capital Oil is in the region of N48.014 billion, which AMCON said it had “restructured and awaiting performance.”

    The fact remains that Uba has made some meaningful contributions in employment generation with the establishment of his oil marketing firm. Its equally noteworthy to mention that his Capital Oil played a notable role in kerosene distribution at a time the cooking fuel was most needed in many homes.

    But it should be pointed out to our entrepreneurs that organisations all over the world are imbibing best business practices and good corporate governance that enhance sustainability. This is the way we expect our businessmen to go. His current travails should serve as lessons to all.

     

    • Alfred C. Nwachukwu Snr.

    Abuja.

  • Fed Govt must urgently address looming food crisis

    Fed Govt must urgently address looming food crisis

    In response to President Goodluck Jonathan’s national broadcast on the flood ravaging the country, Hardball on October 10 decried the failure of the federal government to address the looming problem of food scarcity and provision of seedlings for the next planting season. The column said among other things that, “In the 20-paragraph broadcast, the president said virtually nothing about the even more frightening cataclysm of impending food shortages, nor of how it would be mitigated both immediately and in the next planting season. It is bad enough that weeks after the flood, he is still proposing a visit to affected communities. But his refusal to say something concrete about what he intends to do both to tackle a possible food crisis and to ensure the availability and distribution of seedlings for the next farming season, and his inability to acknowledge the threat food shortages could pose to national security at a time of sundry and ubiquitous terrorist threats, is truly befuddling.”

    In the October 9 broadcast, the president merely sympathised with the affected communities experiencing flood and announced the provision of N17.6 billion to be shared among the 36 states of the federation. In addition, he set up a fund raising committee headed by businessman Aliko Dangote to raise approximately N100 billion to help flooded communities. But Hardball had criticised the fact that the monetary relief was planned before the president had the opportunity to visit affected communities or correctly estimate the extent of the floods and the crises they were likely to engender. A few days later, the president began his visits only to discover that the problem was far worse than estimated. He has belatedly started to appeal to the international community.

    Now, in the face of fresh warnings of flood in some 19 states, it is time the federal government began to look at the issue of food crisis and national security much more closely. Not only are many farming communities and towns still under water, the threat of additional flood is an even huger burden for the affected states to bear. Already, food prices have shot through the roof, and scarcity looms. For certain food crops, prices have risen by as much as 300 percent. At a time of grave terrorist threats and breakdown of law and order, rising food prices can only stoke the fire lit by years of social and economic inequalities. With poverty spreading, highways are likely to be more unsafe, while homes in towns and cities will come under intolerable siege.

    In addition to the money already voted to ameliorate the flooding problem in the 36 states, and the funds yet to be raised by the Dangote committee, President Jonathan must urgently set up a committee to look at impending food crisis, the threats they are likely to constitute to democracy and stability, and the options available to tackle them. These threats are not an exaggeration; they are real, and they must be addressed now. The three tiers of government must also manage the flood relief camps much better than they have done so far and plan for the aftermath of the floods. Nothing must be left to chance.

  • The Aluu massacre and national malady

    The Aluu massacre and national malady

    The recent massacre of four University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT) students tagged criminals by the people of Aluu in Rivers State, who became the prosecutor and the judge overnight in their own court of law has left many Nigerians and foreigners in a stupor with pangs of anger and righteous indignation. It had been shock, grief and lamentation since the judicial killings took place. Before the unfortunate incident, forty students were killed at the Federal Polytechnic, Mubi in Adamawa State. Why kill innocent souls for no just cause, especially future enlightened leaders? The action of the killers is embarrassing, degrading and has not only dented but denigrated our image nationally and internationally.

    Now that the Aluu community has massacred four students for an unconfirmed allegation, which was not substantiated by a court of competent jurisdiction but its people, who are now the real criminals, is it the Aluu community or the students? The jungle justice exhibited by the people without following the appropriate procedure is condemnable, wicked and a clear demonstration of not wanting or encouraging any good thing. To me, the people of Aluu are the criminals for going into wanton destruction of students by taking the law into their hands.

    Furthermore, the Federal and Rivers State governments should rise to the challenge of unmasking the real culprits behind the cowardly and dastardly act no matter how highly or lowly placed. This is because the act is not only condemnable as it is despicable and regrettable putting Nigeria in bad light which is the very depth of abomination. Consequently, there is need for all to be guided by the word of an elder statesman, octogenarian and first executive president of Nigeria, Alhaji Aliyu Shehu Shagari, who said “This moment of our history demands of all of us the spirit of tolerance and cooperation rather than the things that divide us, we will have succeeded in bequeathing a fitting legacy to the coming generation.”

    However, let this be a time of sober reflection for us all. As Nigerians and the international community condemn the wicked act, let everybody look inward and reappraise what happened. Injustice and oppression cannot but ultimately produce a desire for revenge and or rebellion but the law of the land should be adequately applied. Let our deep sympathy go to all who lost their lives, persons and sense of security. Nigeria needs to be made safe for all; and the federal government should lead and show the way especially through its security agencies.

    In my opinion, all progressive and articulate Nigerians irrespective of religion, tribe and status must dislodge the idea of being agents of darkness and destruction. In this connection therefore, it is absolutely necessary with due respect, humility and sense of responsibility to appeal to all Nigerians to remain steadfast, focused on the path of truth, honour, fairness and justice so that Nigeria can make meaningful progress economically and politically in our current democratic structure.

    With these recent killing of students in Port Harcourt and Mubi, one may say that Nigeria’s democracy is therefore dangerous if the massacre is not properly investigated and the perpetrators brought to face the music. If not it might lead to a stage that the falcon can no longer hear the falconer and that things will fall apart. This is not the best for Nigeria’s democratic structure. In the words of Desmond Mpilo Tutu, “Justice must be done to the poor and oppressed and if the present system does not serve the purpose, the public conscience must be roused to demand another.”

    In other words, the federal government needs to investigate thoroughly if there was gross negligence by any person or group of persons that would have helped to stop the killings and then follow due process. Let us not make Nigeria a sick country by our actions.

    Charles Ikedikwa Soeze, Petroleum Training Institute (PTI), Effurun, Delta State.

  • Nigeria’s rating descent

    Nigeria’s rating descent

    The 2012 Mo Ibrahim Foundation’s Index rating of Governance in Africa that was published recently underscores the shambolic state of governance in virtually all African countries. Expectedly, Nigeria got poor ratings in human rights’ issues and political participation, transparency and accountability.

    Quite shameful too, the Foundation’s Prize Committee found none of the continent’s former leaders worthy of winning the £3.2m reward for excellence in African leadership. The committee identified topmost countries from the four geographical regions of the continent. They include South Africa, Kenya, Egypt and Nigeria. However, all of them were considered by the foundation established in 2007 to have performed badly in the set criteria for the ratings. The records of these countries in the realm of rule of law and public safety, political participation and human rights were said to be on the decline. The reality in the spheres of sustainable economic opportunity and human capital development for the regional powers is also nothing to write home about.

    Comparatively, on the index ratings, South Africa ranked fifth, Egypt 14th and Kenya 25th. Political participation in these countries was said to be poor except for Egypt that reportedly witnessed significant improvement in economic opportunities; the others scored low points. Somalia in its usual tradition expectedly occupied the last position. Tanzania, for the first time since inception of the award was among the top 10. Liberia, Sierra Leone and Angola also got significant lifts. Mauritius was adjudged the leading nation in the overall index; Cape Verde, Botswana and the Seychelles, respectively, followed Mauritius in the tradition of last year.

    Nigeria ranked 14th position out of the considered 16 countries in West Africa and 43rd out of the overall 52 listed countries: the country came out worst of the top four adjudged countries in the continent. The nation’s ranking descent is saddening, judging from its sliding from 37th position in 2006 to 41st in 2011. Of all the top ranked countries, Nigeria, without equivocation, has the most abundance of resources. Yet, the rating confirms that the country is the most mismanaged. Its Index rating shows that Nigeria for the first time dropped to the last 10 countries in the overall rankings.

    The opportunities offered by the foundation are enough incentives to goad leaders of countries across Africa to govern well. But, as if the continent is cursed, leaders of the various countries have been ensconced in promoting perverse values. What better governance incentives could be expected from the Mo Ibrahim Foundation that provides winners of its award the opportunity to pursue their commitment to Africa once they have stepped down from office? The foundation’s award, reserved for democratically elected former African heads of state or government, is acknowledged to be the world’s biggest individual prize. It offers a $5m reward for 10 years and after a decade $200,000 annually for life, to the winner. Equally, it offers another $200,000 per year for 10 years for good causes backed by the winner.

    We acknowledge the fact that all the four regional powers have enormous natural and human resources but the fact that Nigeria came last on governance score sheet among the quartet makes it sad. What this translates to is that since the country scored low in economic and political areas, it could not be relied upon to provide good examples worthy of emulation by other less endowed countries in the continent. Furthermore, it could not be a model for providing direction when occasion demands.

    Nigerian leaders need to provide the desired direction in governance not only for the interest of the citizenry but for their own interest. The dearth of good leadership not only in Nigeria but Africa generally needs rigorous examination. By the verdict of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, it could be assumed that a leader that is not doing well in his home front is not in any way doing himself any good. It is the sterling internal performance that would rub off on the leaders outside office and make eminent foundations like that of Mo Ibrahim to consider them for worthwhile ventures after leaving office. This is the message inherent in the foundation’s refusal to give any of the leaders this year’s award; none of them met the set criteria.

    It is a shame to the big four that Mozambique’s Joaquim Chissano won the inaugural prize in 2007; Botswana’s ex-leader, Festus Mogae, won it in 2008 while Cape Verde’s former president, Pedro Verona Pires won it in 2011. The big four countries’ former leaders are just curious onlookers to the lofty attainments of former leaders from these smaller well managed countries. Too bad!

    We consider above all, the poor ranking of especially Nigeria in the Mo Ibrahim Foundation’s index rating to be a sad reminder of the lull in governance and a wake-up call that Nigerians are not feeling the impact of governance.