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Edo election: Call for parties to introspect and reform

By Ezenwa Nwagwu

The Edo State election has come and gone, but its aftermath has once again highlighted the changing dynamics of political strategy in Nigeria. While election winners naturally celebrate and losers lament their loss, this article however, seeks to help correct misleading post-election narratives, while also highlighting the imperative for political parties to reflect on their strategies and structural flaws, rather than hoisting regime of excuses and blame even for predictable losses, consequentially making INEC a convenient scapegoat for electoral losses

My reasons for engaging in this voyage are simple. As someone who is invested in our democracy and elections, we owe a responsibility to debunk misleading narratives and misinformation as well as restore confidence in our electoral process through continuous voters’ education.

One of the key aspects of voters’ education is helping citizens understand the true factors behind electoral outcomes rather than allowing them to be swayed by baseless accusations by those with unpretentious partisan interests. When politicians lose, their immediate reaction is often to cast blame on the electoral body rather than addressing internal failures within their campaigns or parties. This cycle of deflection and misinformation undermines public trust in the process and hinders the growth of our democracy.

This destructive approach must stop. We can’t only support the process when it works in our favour. The tendency to undermine and discredit our institutions just because a politician loses must stop. We must build citizens’ confidence in our institutions.

The question to ponder on is: Should INEC be blamed for the loss of political parties in the Edo election?

True to form, as soon as the results of the Edo election were announced, politicians and their supporters were quick to cry foul and hurling accusations at the electoral body, alleging rigging.

Let’s be clear that I hold the strong view that it is a reflection of political immaturity when we only celebrate and accept elections we won and condemn those we lost. Democracy should not be altered to suit the whims and caprices of politicians.

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While the opposition parties may want to blame INEC for their loss in Edo, the real reasons lie within the parties own structure, strategy, leadership choices, and the will of the voters.

Take the PDP for instance; it is obvious that its loss can be attributed to a combination of factors, ranging from the role of party agents, internal crisis within the party, Governor Godwin Obaseki’s rift with the Oba of Benin palace and his deputy, and a whole lot.

Now, let us explore the changing trend in the electoral process particularly the roles played by party agents and the emerging trends of political transactions and how this cost the parties a great deal in electoral loss or victories.

Role of party agents

One of the significant issues that have surfaced is the transactional nature of party agents deployed during elections. As election observers, what we have seen in many instances is that, these agents are not committed members of the party, but rather, they are temporary hires, primarily driven by monetary gains rather than loyalty or ideological commitment. This shift undermines the electoral process, as these agents no longer act in the best interest of their party’s candidate but are open to manipulation.

According to electoral law, at the polling unit, the party agent is essentially the candidate. They are the party’s direct representatives, ensuring that the process runs smoothly and fairly. However, politicians have evolved a disturbing strategy: buying party agents. This often results in party agents colluding with opponents, selling out their candidate in exchange for personal gains.

Allegations of results sheet manipulation often happen at polling unit levels. If political parties are alleging that results were tampered with at polling units, it is important to emphasize that any attempt to tamper with result sheets at polling units would most likely require the collusion or complicity of party agents, making it highly unlikely to occur without their involvement. If a party agent therefore sells his candidate out and such results are uploaded on the IREV, it therefore becomes immaterial whatever happens during the secondary stage of results collation, as the betrayal has already occurred at the polling unit.

This is a structural problem within the political parties, not an issue created by INEC. It is crucial for parties to take responsibility for the loyalty and integrity of the agents they deploy during elections.

INEC’s reforms and voter’s power

Interestingly, politicians must understand that Nigeria has moved past some of the more overt forms of election malpractice, such as ballot snatching and multiple voting. The electoral body has made significant improvements in Nigeria’s election process and has helped return power to the voters. The era of widespread ballot snatching, voter intimidation, and the use of multiple Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) has largely been addressed through reforms and innovation introduced by INEC.

For example, technological advancements like the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) have reduced the chances of rigging and fraud, ensuring that only eligible voters can participate and that results reflect the true will of the people. We have gone pass the era, where people hide in a room and manufacture numbers or where one man with hundreds of voters’ cards can vote multiple times.

Voters now are much better empowered by electoral reforms and have the ability to shape the outcomes of elections. However, the question remains: How will this power be wielded? If voters choose to sell their votes for pecuniary gain, the responsibility lies with them. While INEC has reformed the voting process, the decision to maintain its integrity now rests squarely with the people. The media and CSOs must continue to educate voters against unpleasant actions. Political parties themselves must acknowledge that incentivising vote buying is illegal.

Press conferences and baseless allegations

Another trend which also played out in Edo is the immediate response by politicians who hold press conferences post-election, accusing the electoral process of massive rigging, often without providing concrete evidence. It is important to emphasize that electoral decisions are made through ballot papers at Polling Units. Press conferences are not constitutionally recognized as legitimate ways to challenge election outcomes; electoral disputes must be evidence-based and taken to the appropriate legal bodies. The constant allegations are ploy to discredit and undermine the election and electoral umpire.

If party agents collude with opponents to betray their candidates at the polling unit level, who should truly be blamed? This question should provoke self-reflection within parties, as the actions of these agents play a significant role in determining electoral outcomes. Furthermore, claims of having situation rooms by political parties to monitor elections seem dubious, as these “rooms” are rarely opened to media scrutiny, adding to the lack of transparency of these parties.

The complex web of Edo politics

Edo politics is a complex web, and it played out at the just concluded election. This has nothing to do with INEC’s conduct of the election. Unfortunately, Nigeria’s politics has not progressed above identity politics. People want to know what zone you are from first before they hear what you have to offer: Identity first, ideas second. This played a significant part in the Edo election.

Decline of old election malpractices

It must be pointed out that, unfortunately, while INEC has made significant progress in the election process, the political elite remains the weakest link in our endeavour to solidify those electoral reforms. Nigerians must begin to question our political class. What have they brought to the table to strengthen electoral reforms or our democracy? They have been the biggest beneficiaries of our democracy and have contributed the least to its growth. Same politicians who spend thousands of dollars bribing party delegates to get nominated during primary elections are often the first to cry foul and allegations of rigging. This irony is striking. Politicians must put their act together and realise that power now belongs to the people.

•Nwagwu is the executive director, Peering Advocacy and Advancement Centre in Africa (PAACA).

October 1, 2024
On the proposed monthly rent collection in Lagos
- By Anthony S. Aladekomo
It is indisputable that Lagos State is the pace-setter (never mind that Oyo State arrogated that appellation to itself) politically, economically and socially among the various states of Nigeria. In many sectors, it is the trailblazer; it leads and the other states follow. This has also been the case in the area of the formulation of laws and policies in Nigeria.

For example, it was the first to pass a statute criminalising collection of rents in advance for more than one year. That statute was the Tenancy Law 2011 enacted during the administration of Babatunde Fashola, SAN, a lawyer. For the avoidance of doubt, section 4 (1) and (3) of that law makes it unlawful for a landlord or his agent to demand or receive rent for more than one year from a tenant or would-be tenant. Paying a rent for more than one year is similarly made unlawful for a sitting tenant or would-be tenant in section 4 (2) and (4) of the same law. Any person who is found guilty of those provisions shall be guilty of an offence and be liable on conviction to a fine of N100,000 or three months’ imprisonment. Apparently and expectedly, millions of peasant and middle-class Lagosians showered prayers of blessing on Fashola, because many Shylock landlords and landladies in Lagos were by then increasingly becoming inhuman, as they were going to the extent of insisting on two or three years’ advance rent!

The voluntary compliance with and success of the said provisions of the Tenancy Law 2011 must have inspired the recent insistence of the Lagos State government to soon begin to implement monthly rent collection in the state. Any policy that will reduce the burden of overloaded rent payment by the tenants in Lagos State, where rent payment is heaviest in Nigeria along with Abuja, should normally be hailed and be supported by patriotic citizens.

As a person who has lived in Lagos for decades and who relates with people across all classes in the state, I can testify that further reducing the maximum rent collectible by landlords from one year will be a great relief to helpless tenants in the state. The advantage that the policy will do the masses in the state is axiomatic and obvious, more so the economic situation in the country recently became worse and less friendly to the masses and even to the middle class. The indices of the worsened economic situation include astronomical rents, inflated prices of food commodities, high cost of transportation and increase in school fees, among others.

Though it does not appear that there is already any law or amendment of any law to back the monthly rent collection initiative, the Lagos State government has, in recent times, repeatedly hyped it. For example, in March, Mrs. Barakat Odunuga-Bakare, the Special Adviser on Housing to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, restated their plan for the monthly rent collection during a press briefing. According to her, the first phase of the policy will be a “trial run” to be conducted in the public sector, so that it will become more adaptable and fair. Afterwards, it will be extended to the private sector. She stated further that the monthly rent collection will kick off towards the end of 2024 or at the beginning of 2025.

This article is however meant to caution the policy-makers behind the current move to legislate or begin to implement monthly rent collection in Lagos State. While it would be commendable if the state government rolls out another policy that will further make life less harsh for Lagos tenants, such a policy should not turn out to be rash, myopic, counterproductive or unjust to any stakeholder.

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Accordingly, there are words of caution and advice here for the Lagos State governor and his advisers on housing. The policy should not be rolled out or implemented without putting in place a prior holistic approach. In other words, there is the need to allow both the landlords and the tenants to have justice, fairness and equity in the formation and implementation of the policy. Is the government right to just narrowly consider the interest of tenants with virtual no consideration of the interest of landlords and landladies, many of who are not filthy rich and who built their properties with their sweat and toil? Will it be just to compel some of such people, who built their properties for their sustenance after their retirement and at old age, to collecting a paltry monthly rent? Should a person who acquired and built real properties as his sole investment and business be compelled suddenly into collecting just a monthly rent, which will never be enough to plough back?

What will be the fate of certified estate managers, real property solicitors and estate agents who depend on yearly or half-yearly agency fees as their sources of income and means of livelihood? The truth is that the proposed monthly rent collection will drastically affect the investments, businesses and financial fortunes of the aforementioned retirees, old people, investors, businessmen and property agents.

In the light of the foregoing, the Lagos State government has got to do a meticulous holistic consideration of all relevant issues before implementing the monthly rent collection proposal. If the state government is bent on reducing collectible rent, the ideal downward review should be to six months; nothing less. The government has also got to make the policy to have a legal backing. If it has no enabling law, it will be a lame policy. For, where there is no law, there is no offence.

Having stated the foregoing facts, figures, laws and recommendations, I must also add that the Lagos State government should clear the air on the hypocrisy still surrounding the proposed rent policy. How does the state government want to reconcile the monthly rent collection policy with the suffocating land use charges (LUC) that it annually imposes on Lagos real property owners, many of whom are venerable retirees and old people?

Secondly, if the government is genuinely committed to making housing more affordable or accessible to its citizens, it should prioritise proving low-cost housing for commoners just like the Lateef Jakande administration did between 1979 and 1983. Thirdly, the government should first release the plots of land due to some of its public servants and residents, which it has inhumanly refused to give them decades after they had fully paid for them. I actually have a client, a former Lagos State public servant, who has been denied his plot of land till date by the Lagos State over 30 years after fully paying for it. The client fully paid for just a single plot of land in the Ipaja Housing Scheme as far back as 1989. The lame and cruel excuse of the Lagos State Land Bureau’s Land Use and Allocation Committee all these decades has been that there is no land yet, even after we have told them that the plot of land would be acceptable to our client in Ipaja or anywhere in the state.

Until the Lagos State government makes right such land-grabbing injustices, human rights violations and wrongs, many will continue to see its overhyped monthly rent collection proposal as an exercise in hypocrisy.

•Dr. Aladekomo is a Lagos-based law lecturer and public affairs analyst.
September 30, 2024
CREDICORP as new dawn for Civil Servants
- By Jill Okeke
When news filtered in August that the federal government had commenced its credit scheme with civil servants, a wave of cautious optimism swept through government offices across Nigeria. For decades, civil servants, the backbone of Nigeria’s public sector, have grappled with financial constraints that often seemed insurmountable. The launch of the Nigerian Consumer Credit Corporation (CREDICORP) marks a potential turning point in their financial lives, promising to reshape the economic landscape for millions of hardworking Nigerians.

The inclusion of civil servants as the initial beneficiaries of this initiative is both strategic and symbolic. Civil servants, with their stable employment and regular income, represent an ideal starting point for expanding consumer credit access. Yet, despite their steady salaries, many have long struggled with limited access to affordable credit, often resorting to high-interest loans or informal borrowing networks to meet urgent financial needs.

CREDICORP, spearheaded by Uzoma Nwagba, its Managing Director and CEO, under the visionary leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has begun to change this narrative dramatically. By prioritizing civil servants in its pilot program, CREDICORP is not just offering a financial product; it’s extending a lifeline that could potentially transform the economic realities of a significant segment of Nigeria’s workforce.

For the average civil servant, CREDICORP represents more than just access to credit; it symbolizes a recognition of their economic potential and a pathway to financial empowerment. The initiative’s promise of up to 50% reduction in interest rates is particularly significant. In a country where double-digit interest rates have been the norm, this reduction could mean the difference between financial suffocation and breathing room for many civil servants.

Consider the case of Adebayo, a mid-level civil servant in Lagos. For years, he has dreamed of investing in solar panels to reduce his family’s reliance on expensive and unreliable grid electricity. However, the high upfront costs and prohibitive interest rates on personal loans have kept this dream out of reach. With CREDICORP’s targeted loans for solar panels and other energy solutions, Adebayo and countless others like him now have a realistic path to energy independence and long-term savings.

Similarly, for Amina, a teacher in Kaduna, the prospect of accessing affordable credit to cover her children’s school fees or invest in her small side business could be life-changing. The financial stability and peace of mind that comes with knowing she has access to responsible credit options cannot be overstated.

On August 26, CREDICORP disclosed that so far a total of N3.5 billion has been disbursed to beneficiaries through financial institutions participating in its consumer credit scheme.

The corporation noted that a total of 10, 942 beneficiaries received the amount in just five days of the scheme.

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The beneficiaries, according to the organization include 4,786 federal and state teachers, 2,831 administrators from federal and state Ministries, Department and Agencies, (MDAs), 1,307 government medical doctors, 1,264 workers of Police and paramilitary institutions, and 753 judicial workers.

Beyond a policy initiative, the introduction of CREDICORP represents a fundamental shift in Nigeria’s approach to financial inclusion and economic empowerment. Under the pilot program of CREDICORP, five trusted financial institutions so far — FCMB’s Credit Direct (focused on civil servants), Wema Bank, Accion MFB, Letshego MFB, and Abbey Mortgage Bank — now offer consumer credit to help Nigerians tackle the growing financial pressure caused by rising costs of petrol and energy. Through this pilot, every day Nigerians start gaining access to cheaper credit (up to 50% reduction in rates) to meet urgent household expenses, access cheaper energy solutions, and invest in their future.

What’s particularly encouraging about the pilot program is its focus on addressing immediate needs while also laying the groundwork for long-term financial empowerment. The inclusion of loans specifically for solar panels, compressed natural gas (CNG), and electric vehicles reflects a forward-thinking approach that aligns consumer credit with broader national goals of energy efficiency and environmental sustainability.

The early testimonials from the rollout suggest that CREDICORP is already making a tangible difference in people’s lives. From helping parents cover unexpected medical expenses to enabling small business owners to invest in equipment, these early successes provide a glimpse of the transformative potential of widespread access to consumer credit.

CREDICORP is bridging this gap by creating a structured and accessible consumer credit ecosystem. The initiative is built on three foundational pillars: infrastructure, capital, and cultural re-orientation. These pillars are designed to address the systemic issues that have long prevented the development of a thriving consumer credit market in Nigeria.

Its infrastructure pillar is the ambitious goal of providing every economically active Nigerian citizen with a comprehensive credit score. This initiative recognizes that credit scores are more than just numbers—they are financial passports that can open doors to economic opportunities. Working in partnership with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and credit bureaus, CREDICORP is creating a robust credit profiling system that will serve as the foundation for responsible lending and borrowing.

CREDICORP’s second pillar focuses on providing the necessary capital to fuel the expansion of consumer credit in Nigeria. It offers wholesale funding and credit guarantees to financial institutions, addressing one of the primary obstacles to credit expansion—the perceived risk associated with consumer lending.

This approach is particularly innovative in its focus on supporting locally-manufactured products. The linkage between consumer credit and domestic production has the potential to create a virtuous cycle of economic growth, where increased consumer spending drives industrial expansion, which in turn creates more jobs and further increases demand for credit.

Perhaps the most challenging and long-term aspect of CREDICORP’s mission is its focus on cultural re-orientation. This pillar recognizes that for consumer credit to truly take root, there needs to be a fundamental shift in attitudes towards borrowing and lending. On the consumer side, CREDICORP aims to promote responsible credit use as a pathway to a better quality of life.

The focus on civil servants in CREDICORP’s rollout could serve as a catalyst for broader economic change in Nigeria. As government employees begin to experience the benefits of accessible credit, there could be increased pressure to expand these services to other sectors of the economy. The success stories emerging from the civil service could provide valuable data and insights to refine the program for wider implementation.

Moreover, by improving the financial well-being of civil servants, CREDICORP could indirectly enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the public sector. Financially stable employees are likely to be more productive and less susceptible to corruption, potentially leading to improved public service delivery across the board.
September 30, 2024
This time next year!

In the midst of Nigeria’s complex economic and political landscape, meaningful conversations become crucial catalysts for change. My recent discussion with Bolade Agbola, a distinguished Agricultural Economist, stockbroker, banker and Business Administration doctorate holder, offered invaluable perspectives on the country’s pressing challenges.

As we delved into the intricacies of Nigeria’s development trajectory, Agbola’s multidimensional expertise and cosmopolitan outlook shed light on the country’s potential pathways toward sustainable growth. This conversation serves as a timely reminder that Nigerians continue to seek solutions, driven by resilience and determination. In this article, I reflect on our insightful exchange, exploring critical themes and actionable strategies for Nigeria’s economic revitalization.

Let’s be frank, Nigeria faces complex challenges affecting citizens’ daily lives. Economic struggles, including inflation and unemployment, are paramount. Political stability and security are also pressing concerns, amid terrorism, banditry and kidnapping. This situation is unhelped by Boko Haram terrorism, which has exacerbated security issues since the early 2000s. To alleviate these, Nigerians are seeking economic growth, a stable currency and reduced poverty.

Despite the noises of despair, Agbola shared his optimistic vision for Nigeria’s future, citing potential milestones achievable by next year. He predicted that domestic petrol refining would increase, easing foreign exchange pressures. In his words, “This time next year, the inflationary rate would drop below 20% and racing towards single digits. Security concerns would also diminish as armed forces tackle clashes, banditry and kidnappings.” Not done yet, he emphasized the importance of state policing and local government autonomy in enhancing security. Agbola also predicted that economic fundamentals would improve, driving the naira exchange rate below N1000.00/$1. ‘E lo f’okan bale! The economy will soon witness a positive turnaround’, he concluded reassuringly!

Obviously, Agbola’s perspective on ‘This time next year’ showcases humanity’s capacity for resilience, optimism and community solidarity. By embracing the present, this mindset inspires collective action toward a brighter, more equitable future. But then, this time next year, the journey to 2027 will have begun in earnest. Regardless of government policies, one doesn’t need to be a genius, or an econometrician, or a Nostradamus before knowing that, given current economic trends, the dollar-naira exchange rate is unlikely to drop below N1,000.00, which is at a best case scenario.

His other predictions, while optimistic, may similarly face significant hurdles, including infrastructure gaps, regulatory frameworks and global market fluctuations. According to Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics, inflation rates have consistently exceeded 20% since 2020. Therefore, achieving single-digit inflation by 2027, as Agbola predicted, would require significant policy shifts and economic reforms. Furthermore, his emphasis on domestic petrol refining overlooks the need for comprehensive energy sector reforms. To address this, Nigeria must prioritize investment in renewable energy sources and grid modernization.

Talking seriously, Nigeria is currently grappling with a balance of payment crisis; and, when one has a balance of payment crisis, one’s response will be like that of Jawaharlal Nehru in 1958, when there was not much for India to export; or, Harold Wilson in 1967, when Britain’s was more of currency crisis. Nehru’s quote, echoed by Wilson, remains relevant: ‘We have to export or perish’, thus emphasizing the need for export-driven solutions to rectify economic imbalances.

Under the circumstances, President Bola Tinubu should have prioritized exports from the outset more so as competitive institutions are crucial to Nigeria’s success. However, the decision to float the naira without diversifying production and strengthening institutions has been calamitous. Addressing these institutional deficits should have been the first order of business. To get out of the current economic challenges, the government needs to rethink its export strategies to mitigate the currency turmoil and alleviate the cost of living crisis.

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The ‘Soludo Solution’ merged Cooperative Banks into larger institutions, neglecting their potential as specialized financial intermediaries for farming cooperatives and hundreds of agricultural associations. Simply put, while temporary relief may come from global interest rate cuts, it is insufficient as speculative investments seeking high returns won’t drive sustainable growth or employment, even if the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) cuts interest rates in the next few days. Instead, Nigeria should prioritize production and modernize its agricultural sector to create jobs and boost exports.

The Netherlands’ success story offers valuable lessons, attributing its prosperity to two key factors: specialized financial institutions like RABOBank, which was credited with knowing everything that’s worth knowing about agricultural finance, and world-class agricultural research institutions. These two elements are intricately linked. In contrast, Nigeria presently struggles with inadequate agricultural financial institutions and research entities, and these have been hindering its progress. A comic interlude comes from reports that the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria (CRIN) allocated funds for urban solar-powered streetlights. In a twisted harmony like ours, where contradictions blend into a unique melody, this is a tragic comic illustration and the complete absence of interest in the development of agriculture.

In Nigeria, hope is vital amid economic uncertainty. Drawing from Prophet Elisha’s wisdom (2 Kings 4: 1-7), Nigerians can develop innovative solutions and collaborative problem-solving. Just as the people of Samaria persevered through famine and siege, Nigerians have continued to show remarkable strength in the face of economic instability, political turmoil and security threats. For Nigeria to achieve progress, strategic economic plans, addressing security concerns, strengthening institutions, promoting transparency and accountability in governance are essential.

Across centuries, development has typically begun with a strong foundation at the local or community base. In other words, true development goes beyond monetary policy and MOUs. It’s about building a strong foundation! Nehru advocated for village development through initiatives like cooperative farming, rural electrification, and access to healthcare and education, setting the stage for broader economic progress. That’s commonsensical! Brazil’s transformation from exporting raw cocoa to chocolates is particularly admirable. This shift has boosted the country’s earnings, making Brazilian chocolates easily available in global markets like New York and Paris. By adopting similar strategies, Nigeria can improve its economic prospects.

Nigeria’s economy is a complex, hydra-headed beast that requires a multifaceted strategy to tame. Thankfully, the wheel has been invented on these issues! The Tinubu-led government deserves credit for securing the Supreme Court autonomy ruling for local governments. Going forward, Think of it as a delicate recipe requiring the perfect blend of export-led growth, financial sector reform, and strategic investments in agriculture and manufacturing – with a dash of institutional reforms and human capital development for added flavour.

As 2027 nears us by the eyelids, the party in power must revisit its developmentalist manifesto commitments. By translating policy intentions into tangible outcomes, Nigeria will not only bridge the gap between rhetoric and reality but also ensure citizens’ well-being and improve lives. Meanwhile, while sustained commitment to developmental goals may be destined to determine Nigeria’s future prosperity, discussing a competitive economy is pointless when the foundational issues persist.

Beyond big transactional jargons, the next budget should include an ‘Inflation Reduction Act’ with clear timelines to achieve single-digit inflation by 2027. This is the urgency of the now, more so as it is difficult to make informed decisions on an empty stomach. Beautifying the streets is futile, if basic needs remain unmet. As Michael Afolayan emphasized, citing William Shakespeare, “Take the current when it serves, or lose our ventures.” And what’s the USA-based erudite professor trying to say? ‘A greened street is most likely to be disgreened by an ungreened stomach!’

May the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, grant us peace in Nigeria!

September 28, 2024
Time Nigeria adopted NBA model for elections
- By Ekpa Stanley Ekpa
Nigeria’s first federal election upon independence ended disastrously with the United Progressive Grand Alliance (UPGA) refusing to participate in the elections on the ground of irregularities. On the eve of the poll, the major alliance of southern political parties, backed by the ceremonial president, insisted on a postponement of the election as the only way to bring about a free and fair expression of opinion. When the demand was denied, political leaders from southern Nigeria boycotted the election.

Nevertheless, the election held, and the Northern People Congress (NPC) and its allies went ahead to win the election with a majority of seats. The consequent events led to Nigeria tottering ‘perilously on the brink of disintegration and bloodshed”, as the president in an open disagreement with the prime minister threatened to resign rather than carry out his constitutional duty to invite the NPC to form a government.

Sixty years later, the credibility of elections is still at issue.

Whereas electoral irregularities occur in almost all democracies around the world, every country must constantly pursue processes that improve their electoral systems, as the foundation of a country’s credible leadership is credible election. It is irreconcilable, the paradox of progress in Nigeria’s electoral process, particularly in a digital age, where almost all human interactions are digitized for efficient results. To contextualize this writer’s immediate concern, it ruffles logic, that a country like Nigeria with one of Africa’s brightest communities of successful tech and digital entrepreneurs and citizens, is confined to the affliction of politically intended electoral irregularities.

From the historical 1959 federal election that throttled Nigeria to independence in 1960, to the keenly contested electoral outcome of 2023 general elections, Nigeria has continued to seek electoral reforms for a transparent, credible, free and fair electoral processes, without success.

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Notwithstanding that till date, no free or open-source electronic voting systems have been used on a large national scale in any country, the Nigerian Bar Association’s recent National Executive Committee’s election presents a model, that should guide Nigeria to leverage digital technologies for credible and inclusive elections. You cannot be an objective lawyer, who voted in the last NBA election, and will not question the rational for INEC’s sustained failure to leverage the electoral legal framework to build a safe, seamless and real-time e-voting system, that allows for a hybrid Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAs), digitize the accreditation systems which will allow Nigerians anywhere in the world to vote either virtually or physically, ensure that votes cast at physical polling units are reflected real-time on the Election Result Viewing Portal (IReV), and provide credible electoral outcomes.

NBA’s e-voting system is not perfect, but since it was adopted by the NBA’s 27th President, Augustine Alegeh (SAN) in 2016 following the controversy that characterized the election that produced his administration in 2014, NBA’s e-voting system which replaced the old delegates system, has helped to reduce campaign expenses and ensures seamless voting process. After four subsequent deployments of the e-voting system in NBA elections, the system has significantly improved.

If election is about people and the system seeks to ensure that the people truly participate in exercising their free will to choose their leaders, a hybrid voting model that is secure, inclusive and efficient is required. With the level of entrenched electoral irregularities in Nigeria, an integrated hybrid model of voting remains a realistic option for sanitizing the system. As Nina Wudiri puts it, the ‘purchased participation of the people in a democracy cannot be stopped by the rhetoric that “once you sell your vote, you have sold your voice”, particularly in the face of poverty and illiteracy.’

The best way to deepen the freedom of the people to express their free will is to improve on election technology that helps to reduce the tendency of human inference and compromise. By advancing election technology, we can reduce the logistical challenges in delayed delivery of electoral materials, reduce widening apathy, eliminate ballot box fraud and reduce electoral violence.

We have barely two years and five months to the 2027 general elections, to restore voters’ confidence. INEC must galvanize relevant stakeholders to amend Sections 40, 60, 64, among others sections of the Electoral Act, 2022 to ensure that the accreditation, voting, collation and announcement components of the electoral process, which is mainly a manual process at the moment, is made hybrid, allowing for the BVAs to be used for both accreditation and voting, with votes cast reflecting real-time. INEC must further continue to develop a safe technology for digital voting – every eligible electorate should be able to vote from anywhere in the world.

Voting should be through a hybrid model that allows for physical and digital voting, ballot paper should only be allowed as a last resort in cases where both the BVAs and digital voting channels fail. Like the NBA voting portal, once you verify your unified unique identification number, the voting portal should direct you to select and vote your candidates of choice, and click submit to cast your vote.

Notwithstanding that some countries have tried e-voting and had to stop, due to concerns about digital security and reliability, Nigeria must continue to develop its version of e-voting technology. No doubt, there will be challenges, particularly with merely 43.53 per cent broadband penetration in Nigeria as at February, and the unavoidable possibility of cyber-attack on such platform, our electoral legal framework must broaden the scope of treason to include cyber-attack on our electoral infrastructures such as the e-voting platform.

Those who hold the backward brief that poor internet services, possible voting platform breach, likely conflict of interest, and other related challenges, are sufficient reasons to continue to conduct analogue and easily manipulated elections, must first realize that it is not possible that there is an impossible social problem that cannot be solved with a rational, purposeful, transformational, focused, resilient and sincerely transparent leadership.

•Ekpa a lawyer and leadership consultant wrote via ekpastanleyekpa@gmail.com
September 27, 2024
Ensuring safety of public infrastructure in Lagos
- By Abisoye Ogunjobi
Infrastructure development is critical to achieving human capital development in any society. The economic impact that infrastructure improvement has on nation-building cannot be over-emphasized. The growth of any country’s economy hugely depends on the status of its infrastructure.

The dearth of needed infrastructure in a given society places serious limitations on human capital development. This is why the advanced nations of the world commit huge investments to infrastructure development.

J.F. Kennedy, a former President of the United States of America, USA, once put the relationship between infrastructure development and economic prosperity into a proper perspective when he affirmed that: “America has good roads, not because America is rich, but America is rich because it has good roads”.

Across the world, the provision of crucial services is still far below the required expectations, as almost 1.6 billion people have no access to power, 1.2 billion people lack access to safe and potable drinking water and 2.4 billion are faced with the challenge of insufficient medical facilities. Ironically, the infrastructure budget of many developing countries is dwindling.

According to the World Bank, every 1% of government funds spent on infrastructure leads to an equivalent 1% increase in Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which invariably means that there is a correlation between any meaningful inputs in infrastructure development which reflects on economic growth, and indices.

Hence, the value of infrastructure cannot be underplayed. Infrastructure development has in recent times assumed a pride of place in Nigeria’s drive to achieve social and economic progress. Consequently, governments across the country are placing a high premium on infrastructure as the central point of their administrations.

It is because of this that the Lagos State government set out to invest N550.689bn to develop and maintain its infrastructure in 2024. According to the State’s Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Ope George the total amount of N550.689bn budgeted for infrastructure represents 24.28% of the entire budget and is part of the ₦1.315trn Capital Budget for the year.

While highlighting some of the infrastructure targeted with the budget, the commissioner said there will be the continuation of ongoing transportation projects, such as the expansion of the rail network, road construction, and completion of the Blue/Red Line and other metro projects within the state.

George said the budget will also address the development of affordable housing schemes and urban renewal projects in improving the housing deficit in the state by injecting a total of N55.924bn representing 2.5% of the entire budget.

He listed some of the social housing projects including the completion of 444 units of building projects at Sangotedo Phase ll, the completion of 420 units of building projects at Ajara, Badagry Phase ll and the construction of 136 units of building projects at Ibeshe ll, among others.

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According to him, there will also be a focus on some special projects, and continuous progress on major infrastructure projects like the Lekki-Epe International Airport, the Omu Creek, and Blue and Red Rail Lines, stressing that most of these projects would be prioritized.

The budget, the commissioner said, was also designed to ensure the completion of the front-loaded and ongoing infrastructure like Massey, Omu Creek, Opebi-Mende Link Bridge, Stadia, SCRPS, Lekki-Epe, Lagos Badagry Express, etc., as well as the commencement of the Fourth Mainland Bridge that will connect Ikorodu to the Island.

The implication of the foregoing is that the state government is investing massively in infrastructure development for obvious reasons. It is, however, important that Lagosians take ownership of this laudable project by ensuring that they are not vandalized.

Over the years, it has been discovered that one of the banes to infrastructure development in the metropolis is the vandalisation of public infrastructure. Lack of civic sense is widespread in our society. People urinate and defecate in public places with reckless abandon. They vandalize and steal public property with impunity. They damage road medians as if to prove that it is not needed.

Blockage of drainage systems with refuse when it rains is also a common phenomenon. Similarly, excavation is done indiscriminately and carelessly on the road. The list of anti-social and unpatriotic attitudes of our people is endless.

Yet, we blame the government whenever the consequences of our actions stare us in the face.

What is, perhaps, even more intriguing is that it is often the same people who perpetrate or keep silent when public property is vandalized or stolen that are quick to condemn the government whenever the effect of their conduct bounce back on them.

Shouldn’t it be clear to everybody when public light cables are vandalized that long days of darkness have been courted? What do we expect when in contravention of environmental law we build structures on drainage channels and indiscriminately dump refuse inside street drains if not flood? It is perhaps a tragedy that we allow our lack of civic sense to harm ourselves.

One major way to safeguard public infrastructure is for everyone to be vigilant and report vandals to police or community leaders for punitive measure(s) to be meted on culprits. It is only when everyone realizes that public infrastructure is meant to serve the public interest that the trend of vandalisation could be reasonably contained.

Under whatever guise, no one has any right to damage, steal, or buy public property.

Steel companies in the state have been fingered as buyers of this vital property from hoodlums’ in the name of excavators. Painfully, buying and selling vandalized property is usually at a ridiculous price while the effect is at an exorbitant price.

A state like Lagos, which has many needs to use its scarce resources can ill afford to waste such resources on replacing vandalized property by the same citizens it is working hard to serve.

•Ogunjobi is an intern with the Features Unit, Ministry of Information & Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos.
September 27, 2024
Time to give Mamu a fair, expedited trial
- By Jaafar Jaafar
Since the arrest of the publisher of Desert Herald newspapers, Tukur Mamu in September 2022, there has been eerie silence in unexpected quarters. The Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), International Press Centre (IPC), civil society organization, among others, have all kept mum over his prolonged trial and detention, perhaps because of the weight of the allegations levelled against him. But why should we blink over advocacy for a fair trial as espoused in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UNHR)? Even if Mamu was not a journalist, it is our responsibility as journalists to advocate for a fair trial.

Mamu was arrested alongside his two wives and one other person while in transit in Cairo en route to Saudi Arabia for lesser hajj. Although nothing incriminating was reportedly found on him, the Interpol extradited him back to Nigeria.

Apparently, the security agents in the country had been working with their Nigerian counterparts because, less than 24 hours after his arrest, Mamu was bundled back to Nigeria, straight into the waiting arms of State Security Service (SSS) operatives who had already taken positions at the Aminu Kano International Airport Kano. From Kano, he was taken straight to Abuja.

Since his arrest, Mamu’s tribulations have taken a turn for the worse. He is being held in the SSS bunker in Abuja from where he is moved to court at intervals to answer to charges of terrorism financing and other related crimes slapped on him by the federal government. Unfortunately, Nigerian Sanctions Committee, the national body responsible for the implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolutions (UNSCRs), had listed Mamu among 15 individuals and bureau de change operators funnelling funds to terrorists operating in Nigeria. Of the lot, Mamu happens to be the only known name.

In response to queries as to what could have prompted his arrest, the SSS said in a statement that Mamu was a “person of interest” who was picked up following “a request by Nigeria’s military, law enforcement and intelligence community to their foreign partners to bring back Mamu to the country to answer critical questions on ongoing investigations relating to some security matters in parts of the country.” The question is why was Mamu not arrested or invited at the point of leaving Nigeria for lesser hajj in Saudi Arabia?

Meanwhile, at the time he was held in Cairo, the SSS stormed his residence and office in Kaduna to conduct a search. Nothing incriminating was found during the search, except a set of military uniform said to belong to his nephew (who is a serving military officer). In justifying the tag of terrorism financing hung on Mamu’s neck, the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) said he received and delivered ransom payments to the tune of $200,000 to ISWAP terrorists for the release of hostages of the Abuja-Kaduna train attack which occurred in March 2022.

The government also accused Mamu of exchanging voice notes relating to the Abuja-Kaduna train hostages with one Baba Adamu, who is said to be a Boko Haram spokesperson. Mamu has vehemently denied all the allegations associating him with any allegiance to elements terrorizing Nigeria.

Nigerians might recall that Mamu was part of the Sheikh Ahmad Gumi-led team that traversed the forests and enclaves of kidnappers, bandits and other criminal elements to persuade them to lay down their arms and stop terrorizing the people.

The top Islamic cleric whom Mamu served as media consultant has also been compelled to defend a man he claims to know too well. Gumi rightly believes that the Kaduna-based publisher does not in any way support acts of terrorism, and that the problem the Nigerian government currently has with Mamu was the outcome of a misunderstanding between both parties. And the cleric is not far from being correct. Mamu is a genuine patriot who will do nothing to undermine the peace and security of his country. This is the reality that his tormentors in government are yet to come to terms with.

The misunderstanding that has resulted in his current travails apparently stems from his role as a negotiator for the release of the hostages of the train attack held by the terrorists. This does not in any way qualify him as an agent of terrorists. Mamu is a media professional with strong views on issues that he is passionate about. A couple of times in the past he may have had a run-in with governmental authorities with regard to his media work, which is normal especially when the individual in question is driven by principles.

True, Mamu was the main man in the bid to get the hostages released, but his intention should not be misunderstood. His involvement in the negotiation for the release of the hostages was propelled by nothing but an undiluted sense of humanity. And he did that with the consent of Nigerian authority. His was an act of selfless service rendered by a citizen deeply troubled by the intense anxiety that enveloped the country at the time as a result of the palpable danger in which some fellow compatriots found themselves in the forest, surrounded by a contingent of well-armed, ruthless terrorists.

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Moreover, even Western countries that abhor every facet of terrorism had, on occasions, paid ransom and engaged local negotiators to secure release of their citizens abducted by terrorists. It is also a trite that Nigerian government paid ransom to secure release of hostages.

Mamu was honest and forthright in his engagement with the families of the hostages, and he dealt with the terrorists with the same even handed temperament in his effort to secure freedom for the hostages. Money exchanged hands in the process no doubt – from the families to Mamu, and on to the abductors. But it would be incorrect to conclude that because of his role as the link between the families of the hostages and their captors, Mamu is a collaborator or promoter of terrorism in Nigeria or elsewhere.

What he did was to parlay his connections to mediate between the parties involved to end the abduction. And instead of being made to face prosecution for this, he should rather be commended.

He has been detained in the SSS facility for over two years now, and it cannot be predicted how long he will be kept there without trial. At this point, it is appropriate to call on the federal government and the new DG of SSS to either subject him to fair and accelerated trial or withdraw the charges against him and set him free. Mamu deserves no less.

•Jaafar is a UK-based Nigerian journalist.
September 27, 2024
Resetting development mode: Thinking global, acting local

By Chris Obisi

The present decade has been unpleasant for Nigeria and Nigerians. It is also known that the crisis of Nigerian civilization and development has intensified due to frantic pace of economic, development, social, political, judicial and technological changes which are subjecting us to contrary and unfavorable pulls.

Nigeria is a country of contradictions but strategic and committed leadership and followership which are keys to development and transformation are capable of pulling the country out of the doldrums. We all know that we cannot continue like this.

A number of critical things need to be looked into. And they range from foreign imitation to dependence on foreign aid which has become more of   a curse and impediment to Nigeria’s development.

In the name of market economy/openness, there is only imitation which cannot promote a genuine and sustainable development capable of earning admiration and respect for Nigeria in the world.

It is totally wrong and therefore unjustifiable to undermine in the efforts towards development one’s own culture/products and nourish other countries culture/products. Whatever we do as Nigerians in choosing the right course of action and monitoring implementation should always be in the context of Nigerian and should have Nigerian reference like the management philosophy, stage of technological advancement, knowledge explosion, sociological changes, government policies and their impact on Nigerian businesses and industry. Thus, the legitimate interest in discovering the Nigerianess of Nigerian management should grow.

In the final analysis, foreign ideas and influences howsoever coveted must not be accepted by Nigeria and Nigerians without discrimination and discretion. We must now embrace made in Nigeria as charity still begins at home. The Nigerian context of development should never be forgotten.

The mental conditioning of the young Nigerian management students is such that they are willing to accept unconditionally and indiscriminately imitate affluent societies good or bad, right or wrong.

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The mind of the young and adult manager is prejudiced that whatever might have been enshrined and institutionalized in the old but living culture must be wrong and bad if it is economically poor and technologically backward. The intellectual inertia compels them to believe that the paradise lost can be regained by imitating the technologically advanced affluence culture.

In the late 1990s, the late Chris Imonite Imoisili, Christopher Kolade, Felix Ohiewerei, Olusegun Osunkeye, Micahel Omolayole, Abel Ubeku and Gamaliel Onosode initiated the process of using sorghum, locally produced crop in the food and beverage sector in Nigeria. That helped to   reduce pressure on foreign exchange and brought stability to the economy, especially in the food and beverage industry.

We should now look seriously into how we can utilise agricultural and other value chains to transform Nigeria.

It is time to pay attention to the management ideas and thoughts of many successful eminent Nigerians in diverse fields as the ways to put Nigeria back on the path of economic growth.

The legitimate interest in discovering the Nigerian-ness of Nigerian business management and environment must not be vitiated by foreign influences. It is tragic that Nigeria is losing contact with her roots by importing unnecessary western ideas of management and leadership which have not helped the country. . Nigeria has many business management and development gurus that we can document their ideas and thoughts in a book. Such book can serve as a heritage bequeathed to the present and future generations to deliver Nigeria out of the doldrums. Besides Kolade, Omolayole, Ohiwerei, Onosode, Osunkeye, Imoisile, Ubeku, we have guru like Akinwunmi Adesina, Cosmas Maduka, Rotimi Oladele, Bassey Ndiokho and Kola Jamodu.

There are other business and management titans like Subomi Balogun, Jim Ovia, Hassan Kukah, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Tony Elumelu, Aliko Dangote, Mike Adenuga,   Anya. O. Anya, Ebere Nwosu, Michael Imodu, James Uduji, Nduka Obaigbena, Stella Okoli, Aigboje-Aig-Imoukhede, Poly I. Emenike, and Christopher Eze .

The ideas, thoughts and experiences of these accomplished Nigerians in business management and development, can when documented, will also serve as part of acting local and enthroning the Nigerian-ness of Nigeria and African management. This will no doubt reset Nigeria for transformation and sustainability.

For example, Harvard University in the USA agreed that the Alaba International Business Market is arguably the largest incubator platform in the world as venture capital. This Alaba model (apprenticeship/Igbaboyi) is an indigenous Igbo Nigerian – Africa business and economic development model that show that local/indigenous ideas can transform countries. This Alaba model is already being taught at Harvard University.

One other way that can help Nigeria bounce back is by producing and consuming what we produce. Charity they say begins at home. Nigeria must embark on local production of goods and Nigerians must consume what we produce. This that is how countries like China, Japan etc. got industrialised. Without local production, Nigeria will never become an industrialised country. We must encourage, patronize local companies and embrace made in Nigeria goods.

Some other ways for resetting Nigeria’s development default mode include stemming corruption because it blocks Nigeria’s development, national consciousness and culture change, simple living and high thinking as a philosophy of life, sanity and decency, rule of law, inward -looking by both the government and the governed.

•Obisi, is professor of Human Resource Development and Organisational Transformation, University of Lagos.

September 26, 2024
Bishop Oyedepo at 70

By Dan Aibangbe

All over the world, the platinum anniversary is a major milestone in the life of any favoured individual. It is one of the most significant milestones, as it marks the peak of human productivity, according to modern research. The Platinum is the gem among metals. It stands out for its purity, elegance and reliability. I guess it is for the latter reason it is usually ascribed to the 70th anniversary. Suffice to say it is an age of high reckoning. As in the modern day of football, it can be likened to the beginning of the time in which the most significant events of the game occur!

Born in the year 1954, September 27 in the serene town of Osogbo, he hails from Omu-Aran in Kwara State from where his parents originate. His full biography is out in the public domain, so it may serve no purpose to replicate the details here. However, his early childhood and righteous upbringing inculcated in him the early virtues that have congealed into the colossal imagery known to everyone today.

Bishop Oyedepo gave his life to Christ as early as when he was 15 years old. He has been able to master both the simplistic and the spiritual content of the Bible, which he rightly considers to be the User’s Manual for humanity by the Creator. He has fully codified its teachings and blended it with personal discipline, honesty, forthrightness and complete faith in God. Bishop Oyedepo is a modern-day father of faith, just as Father Abraham in the Bible. His entire life, works and results have been testimonies of mountain moving faith! Many people may not be aware that the entire suburban known today as Canaanland was once a terrifying ‘evil’ forest, which by acts of faith has become a modern day city and holy land!

Aside from the personality traits, Bishop Oyedepo is an exemplary man of skills. He is an architect by learning and training. He is a walking encyclopaedia of Biblical knowledge who can navigate the scriptures endlessly without need to make physical checks. The Bishop is an accomplished author with many bestsellers to his credit. He is a living prophet with strong effectual spiritual voice and insights. He is a lifetime evangelist and soul winner. With a PhD in Human Development from the Honolulu University, Bishop Oyedepo is an accomplished academic and education entrepreneur of the highest standards. He is a great mentor and leader with so many shining protégés and success stories.

Bishop Oyedepo is a very successful family man, whose children are innumerable and of diverse generations, hence the title papa! Aside from his nuclear family, he has fathered a huge number of mentees.

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In fact, a casual observation will reveal many among them resemble him in speech and in mannerism. His success as a family man has been made possible through the loving support of his lifetime partner, Pastor Faith Oyedepo. Mama (as she is fondly called) is a woman dutifully fulfilling her God-ordained role of helpmate. It is no mere coincidence that she was rechristened ‘Faith’, which is the central theme of the entire Winners Ministries. Mama Faith Oyedepo is an authority in family life, marital success, youth and women empowerment. She has produced great offspring in David Jnr, Isaac, Joy and Love. She consistently makes great impact in the lives of the underprivileged through her Faith Abiola Oyedepo Foundation.

The spiritual fruitfulness of this great Man of God is too large to itemise or capture in a single article like this. His teachings feature essential themes of Heaven, Faith, Destiny, Breakthroughs, Wisdom, the Supernatural, Prayers and Divine Health. His mentorship about prosperity is that it is a right and not a privilege. He believes firmly that Christians (especially his followers) need not chase after wealth; rather wealth should be chasing them around, if they follow the protocol of sowing the necessary seed of diligence and gratitude to their Maker in offerings, tithes and charity.

One of the key impacts of the Bishop is the generation of leaders who pursue righteousness and are trustworthy enough to be placed in positions of trust within the society, in opposition to the large crowd of interlopers and corruption plaguing the land. He has also impacted the human capital development landscape through the establishment of more than 100 secondary and tertiary institutions of learning and knowledge acquisition and application. The curriculum inculcates Christian tenets. With such a large number of places of worship and fellowship, the Living Faith Assembly as his brand of Pentecostal Christian Ministry is called, a large portion of the Nigerian populace is tutored in uprightness and faith in God, rather than the surrounding. This gives the followers the necessary faith and hope to rise above the environmental challenges to become solution providers, rather than join the despondent throng.

The ministry of Bishop Oyedepo transcends spirituality to include service to mankind in the areas of basic needs such as housing, education, charity, entrepreneurship, leadership, etc. As a further fruit of education and leadership grooming, the Covenant University operates a foundation consisting of its graduates.

Bishop Oyedepo is the voice of him that speaks in the wilderness that our nation today is passing through! He does not ‘look face’ before delivering his heartfelt non-partisan message. He speaks to power without caution, hatred, personal inclination or bias. I guess this is one reason that makes his voice impactful above those of other messengers of God. May God strengthen The Voice and give us more measured voices to direct our nation in the right path!

As successful as he already is, Bishop Oyedepo is not resting on his oars; rather he appears to be someone just warming up. His vigour is like that of the proverbial ‘life begins at forty!’ For instance, the ministry will be moving from its current resplendent 50,000 seater capacity to the more futuristic 100,000-seater capacity Ark Tabernacle! Bishop Oyedepo revealed that The Ark is slated for completion and will officially open for worship on November 29, 2025, in time to host the annual Shiloh 2025. One can already envisage the wonder and the glory at the dedication of King Solomon’s Temple, to the glory of God.

With a deep passion for philanthropy, The Bishop Oyedepo Foundation is established to formally take care of orphanages, widows and other indigent persons on a consistent basis. The activities are worldwide in different countries of the world. In fact, certain percentage of the ministry’s income is set aside for this humanitarian assistance.

As the entire world pauses to celebrate this important milestone in the life of this humble servant of God, may the nation, Nigeria continue to be blessed with great examples like him, until righteousness pervades our land, people and institutions. Happy birthday, Papa and many glorious returns of the day!

•Aibangbe is a media and public relations consultant.

September 26, 2024
Amilcar Cabral and the future of Africa

By Charles Onunaiju

September 12, was 100 years since the birth of one of humanity’s most profuse thinkers, theoretician, consummate revolutionary, astute organizer and Pan-Africanist visionary, Amilcar Lopes Cabral whose ebullient life of service and devotion was brutally cut down by the cowardly assassin’s bullets on the January 20, 1973 at the age of only 48 years.

Amilcar Cabral founded and led the African Party of Independence for Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC) in a long drawn struggle against Portuguese colonial domination. Cabral was beyond conventional nationalist agitator or a mere national independence activist. He was an outstanding theoretician, with acute insight to the relevance and benefit of historical science in understanding realities and aligning it to the specific context of national conditions. Amilcar Cabral developed original thinking and strategies not only in the national liberation struggle he led and waged in his native Guinea and Cape Verde but offered key insights to the then, emerging post-colonial African states, pin pointed with enormous clarity and erudition, the structural pitfalls of then emerging new states.

He warned against taking things on its face value and held that colonial domination was basically and essentially the violent disruption of the historical course of the colonial peoples and any real and genuine independence and liberation must consist in the recovery of the people’s historical process and their initiative to drive and shape it. This can only be done in absolute deference to the existential reality of the specific national conditions with an eye on wider emerging trends.

Cabral’s theoretical depth was unmatched among his peers and he remained to this day, a towering figure in understanding and appreciating theory as a weapon not only to engage natural laws of social development, but in bringing clarity to existential realities. What is broadly pathetic across the entire horizon of post-colonial states in Africa is its total absence in the understanding of our structural weakness which has rendered most of the approaches in attaining sustainable and inclusive development a difficult one.

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Cabral had in a speech he delivered in Havana, Cuba in 1966 spoken about the struggle against our weakness and made clear that both in the context of anti-colonial struggle or post-colonial construction, that “experience” in the broad framework of the daily “struggle” indicated that whatever difficulties may be from without, the struggle against our weakness is the most difficult struggle for the present and future of our peoples. He went ahead to define the struggle as “the expression of the internal contradictions in the economic, social and cultural (therefore historical) reality of each of our countries”. He warned presciently “that any national independence or even national or social revolution which is not founded on the adequate knowledge of this reality runs grave risks of poor results or of being doomed to failure”.

Further articulating how theory could illuminate reality and render natural laws of development more intelligible, Cabral clarified that even “if it is true that a revolution or post-independence construction can fail, even though it be nurtured on perfectly conceived theories, nobody has yet successfully practiced state building and sustainable development, without enabling theory. The chaos, conflicts, coups, crises of development and the widening trend of social exclusion and political marginalization of the majority of people in post-independence African countries, underlines the brilliant and uncommon insight of Amilcar Cabral in the severity of the false starts in most of Africa.

For the then leaders of anti-colonial movements and independence activists, Cabral warned that they could give effect to the natural impulse that their positions have given and simply replaced the colonialist and take on his role, which would simply correspond to neo-colonial situation, to the betrayal of national liberation or independence. But in order to play completely, the part that falls to it in the national liberation struggle, the leaders of the emergent independent nations “must be capable of committing suicide as a class, to be restored to life in the condition of the broad mass of their people and completely identified with the deepest aspirations of the people to which they belong.

“This alternative – to betray the goal of national independence or to commit suicide as a class”, Cabral opined, “constitute the dilemma” of the post-colonial independence leaders in the general framework for the future of the countries in Africa.

It is no gain saying that the easy choice of post-independence leaders and the nature of power instituted thereof, without context to the unique national conditions and the existential social realities of the African countries, underwrote the lethargy and atrophy that most African countries faced up to this day in the challenge of economic construction, social inclusion.

Cabral was resilient, intrepid and perpetually optimistic. Even with the darkening clouds of the contemporary condition in Africa, where insurgencies, violent extremism, banditries and youth restiveness pervades sizeable swathes of the continent, things can be turned around, if leaders “hide nothing from the masses of our people, tell no lies, mask no difficulties, mistakes, failures and claim no easy victories”.

Amilcar Cabral’s vision of a renascent Africa is not paved of gold but consist in its trajectories, restoration of our historical initiatives. As he said, both in classical colonial domination and pseudo-independent condition of most African state now, the essential characteristic of imperialist domination remains the same; denial of the historic process of the dominated people by means of violent usurpation of the freedom of the process of development of national productive forces. He posited correctly that the productive forces are the motive force of history and the total freedom of the process of their development is an indispensable condition for their full functioning”.

More than three decades after Cabral made this observation, the Chinese reformist leader, Deng Xiaoping reached similar conclusion in 1978, when he observed that the key contradiction in China is the backwardness and underdevelopment of its productive forces and therefore, declared the unfettering of the productive forces as the major thrust of China’s modernization and economic reforms. Staying focused on the imperative of the total freedom of the process of the development of the productive forces, China within a generation have ended absolute poverty and contributed to draining the swamp of global poverty by a hefty 30% and fulfilled all the goals of the U.N sustainable development goals 10 years ahead of time.

What Amilcar Cabral outlined in 1960’s was what the Chinese put to practice from the early 1980’s and five decades after, took 800 million of Chinese out of extreme material want, became the second largest economy in the world and a premium trading partner with more than 150 countries. Cabral’s clarion call for a return to history is more relevant today than when he rallied it as the most credible starting point for Africa’s renaissance and it remains the imperative for securing the future of the people of the continent.

The enigma of Amilcar Cabral and his enduring legacy was recently put on the spotlight, when in a poll conducted by the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) world histories magazine in 2020, he was named the second greatest leader of all times in the world, with Winston Churchill, Abraham Lincoln and Queen Elizabeth coming third, fourth and fifth in that order. Maharaja Ranjit Singh, 19th century ruler of the Sikh empire in India was the only one ahead of Amilcar Cabral in the poll.

Cabral’s thought, actions and strategies constitute an immense resource from which to draw in the current efforts to bring Africa to the future but in Cabral’s immutable observation, she must first return to history.

•Onunaiju is research director of Abuja-based think-tank.

September 25, 2024