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Olusegun Obasanjo
- How not to be a statesman
Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, two-term elected president (1999-2007) is, in or out of power, the most disruptive of democracy since 1999. His new “Afro Democracy” underscores that rather dangerous disruptiveness.

At a parley at his Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL), Abeokuta, Ogun State, on November 21, he declaimed liberal democracy and declared it a “failure” in Africa.

“The weakness and failure of liberal democracy, as it is practised, stems from its history, content, context and practice. Once you move from all the people to a representative of the people, you start to encounter troubles and problems,” he told his gathered guests.

“For those who define it as the rule of the majority, should the minority be ignored?” he asked. “In short, we have a system of government in which we have no hands to define and design; and we continue with it even when we know that it is not working for us.”

Perhaps the polity should hail Gen. Obasanjo as newfound champion of the cheated “minority”! But wasn’t his rule both as military junta head; and his elected presidency, which thrived on stolen votes (2003 and 2007 polls, under his watch, remain the worst since 1999), all about cheating the majority because those who captured power could do so and get away with it? Didn’t Obasanjo himself dub his sign-off election of 2007 “do-or-die”, for which he swore he owed no one any apology?

Regrettably though, after thrashing “liberal democracy”, Obasanjo could not espouse a more rigorous replacement other than just adding the prefix “Afro” to “Democracy” — like some confused playwright in Greek drama would throw in a deus-ex-machina, and kid himself the gods had resolved the conflicts in the plot to everyone’s satisfaction!

Had that funny idea been mouthed by a lesser personage, everyone would have laughed it to scorn. But such is Obasanjo’s nuisance value — or lack of it — that whatever he says (sense or nonsense) hits media headlines, which the former president often hugs as a sign that he is still relevant, and has not been left behind.

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Such psychological dissonance — an extreme paranoia, obsessing over-relevance or irrelevance — must be tough!   But such must be condemned if it threatens the very basis of our democracy.

Today’s democracy was anchored on confronting the political military for annulling the June 12, 1993 presidential election. Since its rebirth in 1999, it has enjoyed a fierce preservation, by the then opposition and civil society groups, despite the relentless assaults from anti-democratic forces, among whom Obasanjo proudly counted, with his despicable ill grace, as elected president.

Now in its 24th year — the longest time democracy would run since Nigeria’s independence — that fierce preservation must continue. That is why the polity must ensure Obasanjo’s eternal disruption does not plumb into outright subversion, and endanger our democracy.

Indeed, his presidential ill grace, fired by executive outlawry, could easily have ruined everything, had the Nigerian political military not exhausted their historical relevance– an unfortunate epoch Obasanjo himself was part of, though, to his credit, he handed power to a short-lived civil interregnum, under President Shehu Shagari (1979-1983).

Again, had the political military been as misguided in 1999 as they were in 1979, they would have stormed in with subversive patriotism, and yet again steal power. Such was Obasanjo’s gangling presidential outlawry, which subverted about every strand of the tender 1999 Constitution.

Indeed, within his eight-year tenure, President Obasanjo deployed his “federal might” to fire five governors, with less than parliamentary processes, imposing two state emergencies to boot! But for the courts that stood against his executive bullying, perhaps the entire exercise could have collapsed yet again.

The five governor-victims were: Joshua Dariye (Plateau), Rashidi Ladoja (Oyo), Peter Obi (Anambra), Chris Ngige (Anambra) and Ayo Fayose (Ekiti). Dariye, Ladoja and Obi were sacked via the notorious “simple minority” of their state assemblies — the Obasanjo-era illiberal contributions to Nigeria’s liberal democracy.

An Anambra godfather kidnapped Ngige, to procure a forced resignation. He was wrestling the state’s till with the governor, over some illicit pact over campaign funding.   Rogue federal security elements aided and abetted that intra-Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) kidnap. Obi was impeached because a sitting president asked him to cross from his All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) to PDP — or forget a second term!

Fayose was impeached and banished from completing his controversial first term, though Ekiti under him laboured under assassinations and executive outlawry, before the governor fell out with Abuja’s federal might. Dariye was illegally sacked by an assembly minority, though both governor and assembly would later go under, when President Obasanjo imposed an emergency, and appointed a sole administrator. That same fate — Ekiti sole administrator — would meet the last few months of Governor Fayose’s first term.

Again, the courts stood their grounds and all of these governors, except Fayose, regained their offices. With such an illiberal president as Obasanjo, how would liberal democracy have worked?

It’s irony of ironies though, that the same Obi the Obasanjo Presidency would rather shove off his seat is the same Obasanjo brandished as his golden “mentee” in the run-up to the 2023 presidential elections; and on the account of whose loss Obasanjo is now declaiming “liberal democracy” for his fanciful “Afro Democracy”! A living proof of Obasanjo’s ever fickle ideas?

But perhaps the illiberal President Obasanjo had a natural problem with liberal democracy with its rigid checks and balance; and really looked forward to some “Afro Democracy” with a “Kabiyesi” — read unquestionable — syndrome! That way, perhaps the two-term president could easily have altered the Constitution to get a third term as he craved, and maybe a life presidency ever after!

Still, there is a double irony totally lost on the former president, as he outed with his latest fancy theory, from his OOPL. At the waning years of military rule, Obasanjo lampooned military rule from his Ota Farm — itself a pork from his military rulership, thanks to the Land Use Decree (now Act) which facilitated his acquisition of so much land.

Now, from his OOPL, he pushes “Afro Democracy”, while declaiming the liberal democracy that made him two-term president, the Land Use Act that gifted him the large tract of land on which OOPL stands, and a corrosive presidential power that “divined” a fund-raiser, at which those who did business with the government could come “donate”!

Pray with such illiberal abuse of power, how can liberal democracy work for everyone?

Besides, when exactly did Gen. Obasanjo discover military rule was an aberration and President Obasanjo, that “liberal democracy” had outlived its usefulness in Nigeria and Africa? When it’s becoming more and more difficult to reap illicit benefits from both?

Obasanjo’s latest fancy should be dismissed with all the contempt it deserves, without prejudice to his inalienable right to hold and espouse opinion. It’s nothing but grand ego-tripping, with hardly any altruistic value.

It’s proof, yet again, that Obasanjo’s conduct, bruising citizens and institutions while he was president, and traducing others with reckless letters and noxious theories as ex-president, is a clear mirror of how not to be a statesman.
November 26, 2023
Diri’s Victory: Celebration of credible poll
- By Carl Seiyaibo
The off-cycle governorship election in Bayelsa State, held on the 11th of November 2023 has come and gone. The election which many pundits likened to the day of Armageddon due to the cloud of violence and ominous sense of fear that gripped the landscape of the oil-rich state had a peaceful outcome.

Prior to the election, violence and killing of perceived political opponents particularly in Nembe, Brass and some parts of Southern Ijaw Local Government Council Areas of the state were a source of worry and concern to all Bayelsans, in particular, and Nigerians in general.

On daily basis, the state was awash with reports of politically-motivated attacks which prompted the redeployment of the state’s Commissioner for Police twice.

The situation, however, got worse due to inflammatory utterances by desperate political actors, inciting their followers to be of battle ready to kill and throw away of any voter suspected of not being in support their candidate and party.

In the midst of the ominous cloud of orchestrated violence, the incumbent governor, Senator Douye Diri, known for his traditionally peaceful disposition, relentlessly preached the gospel of peace and unity to all and sundry across the political divide in the state. This he did even to the surprise of his ardent opponents in the governorship race. Notwithstanding, the sermon of peace preached, some hardened their hearts like the Biblical Pharaoh.

As chief security officer of the state, despite the enormous powers in his disposal, Diri continuously maintained equanimity. His peaceful, philosophical disposition in governance and the value placement of people as asset and their existence had no human input. He sees Bayelsans and others in the state as priceless and their lives remained paramount above any primordial political consideration. Though, as governor, he has everything at his disposal to deal decisively with any one who constitutes a threat to the state, but he decided not to tread the parts of an anarchical ruler.

These were some of the attributes the governor demonstrated all through the election, which many commentators on the election agree was largely responsible for 90 percent success of the election; except one isolated case of killing of a PDP supporter at the collation center at Brass Local Government Area and handful incidence of violence that were immediately resolved by the security agents.

Besides that, the general worry and pessimism that rend the heart of the people was the style of campaign exhibited by the APC in the state, that the ruling APC at the centre would unleash what it described as “federal might” to crush the ruling PDP in the contest.

To the amazement of many Bayelsans and those who closely monitored the election and its processes, the outcome was described as one of the best elections ever conducted by INEC in the history of Nigeria under the watch of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

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The election was free, fair and credible as attested by voters and even accredited non-state actors, who had their surveillance network spread across the state. They have commended INEC over her professional and transparent manner she conducted the election by upholding the principles of democracy.

The coalition of election observers led by a prominent activist Rex Anighoro gave INEC a part on the back for conducting credible election in the state. He particularly praised what he described as, “the very patriotic actions of the Commission, for ensuring the cancellation of votes that did not pass through BVAS accreditation process and as well did not reflect the will of the people especially in Nembe Local Government Area of the State.

The planned repetition of the 2019 electoral strategy using the local government council areas of Brass, Nembe and Southern Ijaw which have high quantity of registered voters as ghost votes in the election to win the election were aborted and the perpetrators were humiliated with ocean of tears clouding their faces.

Anighoro who addressed the media at the INEC collation Centre in Yenagoa further commended the gallantry of security agencies. He particularly hailed those at Yenagoa Wards 5 and 20 where they successfully recovered snatched ballot boxes by desperate agents of the political party without any loss of lives, ensuring that the votes were counted. The deployed security personnel ensured an agent of a particular party was successfully apprehended with arms and ammunition in furtherance of disrupting the elections to perpetuate election violence.

The civil society activist equally “wondered why a self-acclaimed special adviser on media and public affairs of a particular deputy governorship candidate who claimed to be from Southern Ijaw Local Government Area would be in Nembe was arrested and paraded in camera in possession of arms and ammunition in a planned promotion of violence in a contest of brothers”.

Contrary to the earlier claim that “federal might” will be deployed and the security agencies will have the electoral processes compromised, the security agencies rather conducted themselves with absolute professionalism and high sense of neutrality. They had all the waterways blocked with gunboats and had it supported by air surveillance to deter infiltration. The roads, communities and other flashpoint areas were not left out with security formations. The resolute teamwork of the security agencies disabled and aborted the planned deployment of arms and ammunitions by hired tugs to disrupt the election.

It is in this vein that President Tinubu expressed gratitude to INEC and security agencies “for working assiduously to create a level playing field for all contestants and the nation’s security agencies for maintaining law and order during the highly-anticipated elections”.

The president in a statement, “affirmed the need for sustained commitment to all efforts aimed at further sanitizing the electoral system and enhancing the credibility of future elections; noting that “the outcome of the election reflects the wishes of the people, emphasizing that democracy thrives when voters reward competence, transparency and good governance”.

Diri in his victory speech equally expressed his gratitude to Tinubu for his statesmanship by creating a level playing field in the electoral process which culminated in the conduct of free, fair and credible election in Bayelsa State.

He urged Bayelsans “to celebrate with temperance, as this victory is not the exclusive preserve of any one political party; rather it is the collective will of people united towards progress and a better future”.

At this juncture, one cannot hesitate to state that, President Tinubu deserves the commendation of all Bayelsans in particular and Nigerians in general for proving wrong the naysayers by resisting all the temptations and pressures to compromise the electoral process in Bayelsa State. This is clearly evident of his years of avowed commitment towards entrenching democratic values for the peace and progress of the country which is a litmus test that he has passed with enviable grade.

INEC on her part has opened a fresh article of faith in our March towards building a virile democracy, which is in line with Mr. President’s renewed hope agenda to transform the country. This is however a paradigm shift and indeed an emerging ethical rebirth in our electoral process. Mr. President has repositioned Nigerians democratic belief system and realigned their view that he is a beacon of hope in our electoral process, believing that, the Bayelsa election marks the beginning of restoring the eroded confidence in INEC. Therefore, INEC also need to be commended for not disappointing the voters in Bayelsa State in conducting free, fair and credible election in the state.

It is not out of place to commend the governor of Bayelsa, for the uncommon show of statesmanship and spirit sportsmanship all through the election. The successful conduct of the governorship election in the state is combination of several factors. Apart from the full commitment of INEC and the unbiased gallantry of the security agencies; the unwavering commitment of Diri towards the peace and unity of the people of the state was a key factor.

Moreso, greater population of Bayelsans and electorates in the demonstrated high level of confidence and commitment on the State project and wanted the continuation of the hard-earned peace and harmony in the state.

Another contributory factor was the competence he displayed in the management of the state resources and his sterling achievements were springboard in providing the necessary atmosphere for the near peaceful, free and fair and credible conduct of the election in spite of all the provocations and shenanigans actions by the APC in the state. There is no doubt, with the renewed mandate of Governor Diri for second tenure, there is a light of progress burning in the tunnel.
November 26, 2023
50-for-150: Just what is the worth of a Palestinian life?
- By vitus ozoke
Today’s breaking news all over the world is that a tentative hostage deal has been reached between Israel and Hamas. Hamas will release 50 Israeli hostages in exchange for Israel’s release of 150 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. That is welcome news! It is welcome news but only because any agreement that secures the freedom of hostages should be celebrated as good news. Which then makes the question I am about to ask a bit academic: Which side should consider itself as having achieved a better outcome in this 50-for-150 deal – Israel or Hamas?

Obviously, in a 50-for-150 deal, the side that gets 150 of its people released by the other side in exchange for releasing “only” 50 of the other side’s hostages will seem to have scored a bigger win than the other side. But that is only if numerical quantity is what you are looking at. Unfortunately, I am looking at more than just numbers. I am using a more profound calculation.

The strange truth, if you are looking at more than numbers, like I am, is that the real winner in this deal is Israel. You see, when it comes to the exchange of human beings by two parties in conflict, the party that gives up fewer in return for more is the real loser in the exchange deal. And this is where the Qatari mediators who brokered this deal should have done more – but did not.

What does it say about the comparative worth of a Palestinian life to an Israeli life? In a 50-for-150 human exchange deal, what you are effectively saying is that one Israeli life is worth three Palestinian lives. The tragedy in that is that you have effectively reinforced an existing dangerous stereotype. You have effectively accepted the qualitative superiority of an Israeli life to a Palestinian life. Sadly, that is a bad deal for Palestinian lives, as every life is equal to the other.

Sadly again, this would not be the first time a human exchange deal that cheapened and devalued Palestinian lives, in comparison to Israeli lives, would be brokered. The 2005 war that involved Israel, Hamas, and Hezbollah ended with a prisoner exchange deal. The deal signed in Cairo was brokered by German and Egyptian mediators. A single Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, held by Hamas, was released in exchange for 1,027 Israeli-held Palestinian security prisoners. 280 of these prisoners were serving life sentences for various terror attacks against the State of Israel.

And if you argue that there is a qualitative difference, because this is an exchange of innocent Israeli hostages held by Hamas for convicted Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, it will be a very weak argument. I do not have the list of the 150 Palestinian prisoners that Israel plans to set free as part of this exchange deal, but I can safely speculate that 97 percent of them will be young Palestinian men. I can further speculate that these are not young Palestinian men held prisoners in Israel because they broke into and robbed Israeli banks or engaged in crimes of opportunity.

No, these will be young Palestinian men who were arrested, charged, tried, convicted, and sentenced by Israel for conducts considered inimical to the safety and welfare of the Israeli state. For Palestinians, however, these are young men engaged in the struggle for the liberation of the Palestinian people. So, as far as Hamas and Palestine are concerned, these are their heroes. Yet, in a 50-for-150 (1-for-3) exchange deal, that is not the message you send. Heroes are not supposed to be a dime a dozen.

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Like I said, this is where the Qatari mediators who brokered this deal came short. Had the Qatari mediators made this life worth argument to Hamas, perhaps, the outcome would have been a better one. Had they reminded Hamas that a 50-for-150 exchange deal meant a triple higher worth of an Israeli life than a Palestinian life, and also reinforces a dangerous dehumanization stereotype, the Qataris might have secured a parity of 150-for-150 exchange deal.

In other words, if Hamas had insisted on the release of 150 Palestinian prisoners, it would have had to release 150 Israeli hostages in return. Alternatively, if all that Hamas was willing to do at this time was the release of 50 Israeli hostages, then the equal life worth argument would have meant the release of 50 Palestinian prisoners by Israel. Whether it was a 150-for-150 or 50-for-50 human exchange deal, it would have been a strong statement of equality of worth and a denunciation of an existing stereotype. The Qataris failed to achieve that. The stereotype that values an Israeli life far more than a Palestinian life will remain. And the dehumanization may just continue.
- Dr. Ozoke is a lawyer, a civil and human rights activist, and a public commentator based in the United States.
November 24, 2023
Culture as a tool for revamping the economy
- By Segun Runsewe
There has been no time in the socio-economic evolution of Nigeria that the naira has been under such a severe pressure than it is today. With the exchange rate of one US dollar to less than one naira in the 70s, the exchange rate of the naira to the dollar today has risen beyond N1,000 to one US dollar. This phenomenal fall in the value of our currency beginning, from the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) regime, till today, has continued to negatively impact on all spheres of our national life, challenge our cultural values and call for a comprehensive value re-orientation.

As a free market economy, the value of our nation’s currency would ultimately be determined by the market forces of demand and supply. This has implication on our level of consumption of foreign goods and services and by extension, our values. In those days when the naira commanded remarkable economic power at the global market, our values were right; our attitudes were positive and our personal dispositions were supportive of our developmental aspirations. We were a nation committed to agriculture as the mainstay of our economy while aggressively embarking on solid mineral exploration to drive a diversified economy. We were a people imbued with positive sense of purpose and productive hard work was our national work ethics and our unique selling point. We were proudly Nigerians in our attitude to work, in our consumption, our dress culture and in all that we did. We witnessed relative economic stability, social harmony and development because we believed in and espoused the tenets of our culture.

Today, the story is different. We have thrown our cherished cultural values overboard. In place of hard work, we have embraced laziness, idleness and the get-rich-quick syndrome. We are no longer proud of our rich cultural values and their diverse manifestations. For example, we have relegated the Nigerian fabrics which projected our cultural identity in the yesteryears and sustained a booming garment industry, for foreign dresses like the French suits, Holladian fabrics and Senegalese attires. It is now fashionable for our educational institutions even at the elementary level to import school uniforms to educate our children away from our culture, both in content and in form. Our educational curriculum has become largely alien and non-reflective of our socio-cultural background.

It is unfortunate that today, we export Nigerian hide and skin to Italy and Spain only to import Italian and Spanish shoes made with Nigerian raw materials. Aba made shoes has lost domestic patronage except when exported to Dubai and imported into Nigeria with the brand “made in Italy”. China has made alarming in-road into the Nigerian traditional fabric industry and imported Chinese tie and dye originally rooted in Osogbo culture is now in vogue in Nigeria. The story is endless.

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There can be no sustainable economic development when the values and orientation of the citizenry are at variance with the culture on which the society is founded and where the general pattern of consumption is conspicuously alien and brazenly extravagant. For us to attain economic growth and the stability of the naira therefore, we must return to our cherished cultural values and harness our cultural resources to engender national development. Examples abound of nations who utilised their cultural strength to enhance the developmental process. It took men and women of vision, courage and commitment to conceive, pursue and realize the American vision rooted in the firm belief in America as a virgin continent magnificently endowed by nature. With a strong culture of patriotism and commitment to the growth of America, the USA rose from the ashes of a people with diverse ethnic nationalities, ravaged by a civil war and racial segregation to become the world’s foremost super-power. Those who crafted the American dream upon which the continent was born were not angels from above. They were Americans who believed in the vision of a great continent and patriotically committed themselves to ensuring that the vision became a workable reality. Today, when America sneezes, the rest of the world catches cold.

China presents another example of a people who believed in themselves and looked inward to collectively reinvent their nation. From the dark trenches of the global depression of the 1930s through the Sino-Japanese war of 1937 to the Great Leap forward and the famine 1957, China has emerged the second largest economy in the world, with firm belief in their history, culture and heritage.

India, like Nigeria, was a British colony. Unlike Nigeria however, India has used the scientific and technological expertise of Western education to develop its nation, holding jealously on to the Indian cultural heritage. They dress Indian, eat Indian, talk Indian and live Indian.

In view of the proven capacity of the cultural sector to contribute significantly to the Gross Domestic Products, most nations of the world are developing strategies to integrate and mainstream cultural products to the process of economic development. Nigeria is unarguably the most culturally diverse nations in Africa, rich in various cultural products. It offers a unique opportunity for artistry, craftsmanship and entrepreneurial skills that can be developed, showcased and marketed to derive a robust cultural industry. A rich cultural industry in Nigeria will no doubt speed up our diversification drive, engender rapid socio-economic growth and development and lead to a strong and stable Nigerian currency at the international market.

It is in the light of the foregoing that the National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC) is vigorously pursuing cultural programmes that will open up the industry; unbundle, harness and develop latent skills talents and capacities that would lead to the emergence of a vibrant cultural economy for Nigeria. In the last six years, the NCAC has executed skills acquisition programme through the platform of the National Festival of Arts and Culture (NAFEST) and the International Arts and Crafts (INAC) Expo. In these and several other programmes, over 10,000 Nigerians, especially women, youths and the physically challenged, have been trained and given start-up grants. We have successfully ingrained skill acquisition in metal production, hair weaving, wood carving, local fabric making, soap and bead making among others, into our flagship programmes.

To open our cultural industry to the international market, we have continued to run INAC with the theme “Networking Nigerian Crafts to the World” while targeting members of the Diplomatic Community as our primary audience. This effort is deliberate because foreign trade enquiries start from the embassies in the host countries. For us to have an in-road into the global cultural market, we must cultivate the attention and partnership of members of the diplomatic community while honing our skills and enhancing our design, finishing, packaging and presentation to meet global market standard. It is through product improvement that we can raise the value of our arts and crafts industry to become truly attractive and earn the confidence of the international consumers necessary for a robust cultural economy that can create employment and wealth for our nation. Accordingly, we have introduced the concept of comparative advantage in our efforts to tap into the cultural uniqueness of the respective states through the 37 wonders of Nigeria. This programme is anchored on the economic policy of one state, one product.

In the efforts to expand the frontiers of our cultural industry, we cannot afford to be in competition but in active collaboration and complimentary. The 37 wonders of Nigeria was launched by the governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu during the National Festival of Arts and Culture in Lagos last year with the emphasis on one state, one product. The cultural wonders of Nigeria is a brand identity and marketing concept premised on peculiar tangible manifestations and intangible expressions unique to the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital territory (FCT). Each of these constitutes the wonders of natural endowments or amazing evidence of human creative interactions. Together, they have evolved to become iconic emblems of Nigeria tourism destinations and technological processing.

For example, the Zanna Cap of Borno, the Akwa-Ocha dazzling white traditional woven fabric of Delta State, the queen India head of Benin, Edo State, the Ikogosi Water Spring of Ekiti, the Nok Culture of Kaduna State, the Dye Pits of Kano, the Itoguntoro traditional weaving heritage of Kogi State, the Dada pottery of Kwara State, the brass works of Niger State, to mention but a few have all assumed unique cultural brands that can be enriched, repackaged and aggressively promoted as aspects of Nigerian cultural brands at the international market place. In addition to the above, Nigeria is one of the richest countries of the world in terms of cultural festivals. Our fascinating cultural festivals and dance include Ohafia war dance in Abia State, Ekwobi dance in Cross River State, the Nwa Umu-Agbogho of Ebonyi State, the Odo Masquerade festival of Enugu State, the Eyo Masquerade of Lagos State, Argungu Fishing festival of Kebbi State, the Osun Osogbo festival of Osun State, Igwe festival of Edo State, the boat regatta of Rivers and Bayelsa States and so on. These festivals can be repackaged into a cluster and a national festival calendar evolved to ensure that tourists in search of leisure and festival entertainment can experience several of these festivals in a particular cluster during one visit.

It is my hope that if our cultural resources are carefully harnessed and productively channelled, it will open up our cultural economy, engender rapid socio-economic growth and lead to the emergence of a strong and stable currency that will command the required purchasing power at the international market.

•Runsewe is the Director General, National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC).
November 24, 2023
Obasanjo and failure of democracy in Nigeria
- By Alade Fawole
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo in a recent keynote speech in Abeokuta asserted with magisterial arrogance that Western liberal democracy has failed in Africa. First, I agree with him, as I have proved this point multiple times in my articles in this newspaper. Second, I lay the blame for the failure of democracy to perform in Nigeria at Obasanjo’s feet. He is chiefly responsible for corrupting and bending the democratic system in Nigeria out of shape for self-aggrandizement. I did this careful analysis as far back as July 2005 in an op-ed piece titled “In the Grip of an Imperial Presidency?” I wrote for The Westerner (now rested), two clear years before the end of his second presidential term. The following is excerpted from that article. Please read on:

“While the imperial presidency took several decades to fully evolve in America, Nigeria’s own descent did not occur gradually; the plunge actually began right from the inception of the present civilian administration in 1999; it would seem to be embedded in the intent of those who cobbled together the 1999 constitution. Chief Olusegun Obasanjo is the first president and commander-in-chief in our newly minted post-military democracy to operate the new democratic constitution. He thus enjoys the unique advantage of shaping, and stamping his persona and authority on our new brand of post-military democratic politics, in much the same way that first US President, George Washington, was opportune to shape American democracy at its infancy. Incidentally, both George Washington and Olusegun Obasanjo share quite a few characteristics in common. They both enjoy the distinction of being retired army generals and war heroes who were given the mandates of their peoples to govern their respective countries. It was Washington who had the unique responsibility of implementing the newly written US constitution and translating the intents of its writers into reality for the people. He did this creditably, and the American people still have fond memories of him as an exemplar. In a similar manner, our own Chief Obasanjo was handed the arduous task of making the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria come alive, i.e. of translating it from being a mere paper document and a collation of grand intentions into a living and breathing document. And like George Washington, Obasanjo’s eight-year presidency will have a profound and lasting impact on our democracy for good or ill, and for many years to come.

Unfortunately, it will seem that Chief Olusegun Obasanjo is not destined to be to Nigerians what George Washington was to Americans. In eight years, Obasanjo will have redefined the nature, character, texture and content of our democracy after his own fashion, and the legacy that he is likely to bequeath to his successors may not be particularly worthy of commendation. He is unlike George Washington who, believing that no single individual has monopoly of wisdom to govern, gracefully bowed out of power after two successful four-year terms. He took this action at a time he was still immensely popular among his country men and women, and when the US Constitution had not yet been amended to prescribe term limit for presidents. Obasanjo, on the other hand, did not seem perturbed that his acolytes and errand-boys in the political party, in the federal cabinet and legislature, attempted, and in the most obscene and arrogant manner to alter the constitution to elongate his tenure beyond the stipulated two terms, and at a time his popularity rating was the lowest of any civilian leader in Nigeria’s history. That brazen demonstration of indecent ambition to rule over Nigerians against their wish and in clear contravention of both the letter and spirit of the constitution has, in my view, set a bad precedent which we can only pray others would not emulate. It seems to me that Chief Obasanjo has not been particularly mindful of the unique historic opportunity that Providence has given him to set Nigeria on the road to proper and durable democracy. Surrounded by unscrupulous opportunists and political jobbers who worship at the altar of power for self-aggrandizement, President Obasanjo completely lost all sense of history and his place in it. He allowed himself to become a hostage to power and grandeur. It is clear that by the time he vacates Aso Presidential Villa in May 2007 after eight years at the helm of affairs, he would have done considerable disservice to liberal democracy as we know it. His tenure, in my view, will be remembered for being overly militaristic, commandist, personalist, arbitrary, condescending and arrogant.

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How did I come to that conclusion? He bluntly refused to have a substantive petroleum minister in spite of all entreaties; he conducted foreign policy largely by himself, even though he had two ministers in the Foreign Affairs Ministry and a third one in charge of the Ministry of Cooperation and Integration in Africa; he constantly ridiculed the legislative arm of government; he showed little respect for state governments who he treats as mere senior prefects holding fort for him in the states; he is intolerant of opposition and criticism; he turned flagrant disobedience of court rulings to a form of art; he implemented national budgets passed by the National Assembly whimsically; fought corruption selectively, etc.

Under him, the Presidency not only became incontestably imperial but also imperious. The fault is partly inherent in the constitution, which gives too much power to the office, and partly in the occupant of the office, who simply appropriated more absolute powers to himself and exercised it absolutely. The 1999 constitution allows excessive powers to reside in the presidency; it is a product of the centralizing tendencies of military rule where the awesome powers of head of state, commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and most senior army general, were combined in the same person without restriction. Under the present dispensation, the president alone controls the police, the armed forces, the security and intelligence organs; he alone determines how, when and for what purposes they would be deployed, and they answer only to him. Odi town in Bayelsa State and Zaki-Biam in Benue State were sacked on the orders of the president; the police and other security forces have been similarly employed at the behest of the president, especially against his perceived opponents. The constitution makes no provisions for democratic or popular control over the armed forces and security agencies. To compound the imperial character of the presidency, the constitution also allows the control over the nation’s resources to reside at the federal centre to the detriment of the federating units, thus giving the president unlimited financial leverage to assume immense powers. All these have made it possible for the presidency to subordinate both the National Assembly and the Judiciary to the whim of the executive, and to cynically pick and choose which court orders it would obey.”

Obasanjo’s successors have been reading from his playbook, displaying arrogance and impunity, and playing god. Though the claim that democracy has failed in Africa is largely correct, but Obasanjo personally lacks the moral gravitas to be the one to make it, bearing in mind his huge contributions to this failure.
- Prof Fawole writes from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife.
November 24, 2023
NLC and TUC’s unionism by hypocrisy
- By Jude Ndukwe
The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC and the Trade Union Congress, TUC, embarked on a nationwide strike on Tuesday November 14, and after the intervention of the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, and the Minister of Labour and Employment, Simon Lalong, called it off two days later.
The reasons for the strike according to labour leaders was the needless brutalisation of the NLC President, Joe Ajaero and other labour leaders in Imo State on November 1, by people suspected to be agents of government who were averse to the mission of the labour leaders in the state; outstanding salary arrears owed Imo workers, unjust declaration of 11,000 workers in the state as ghost employees, unsettled gratuities, non-compliance with N30,000 Minimum Wage Act, and declaration of 10,000 pensioners as ghost retirees.
While one might be tempted to view the labour leaders’ mission in Imo State as pristine, the underlying factors are what give them out as hypocrites who have politicised unionism to achieve parochial political interests.
It is believed in some quarters, and perhaps rightly so, that the timing of the actions of the labour leaders in Imo State was tailored to coincide with the November 11 governorship election in the state so as to discredit the incumbent, APC’s Hope Uzodinma and shore up the ratings of Labour Party’s Athan Achonu before the voting public. That seems to be the crux of the whole shenanigan by the labour leaders. The other issues surrounding workers’ welfare in the state were just a smokescreen which Ajaero and his cohorts deployed to suit their narratives and justify their actions.
This is so because the current leadership of NLC and TUC have paraded themselves unapologetically like a people in bed with the Labour Party since the run up to the last general elections till now. To them, any political party that is not Labour Party must be discredited in any state where they have any glimmer of hope of winning election especially in the southeast.
Their last mission to Imo State was certainly not in public interest but in party interest. It was the basest politicisation and weaponisation of unionism in the history of our nation.
This is not to justify the unleashing of thugs to dehumanise anybody not to talk of leaders of unions as ubiquitous as the NLC and TUC. Such attacks only aggravate rather than alleviate issues. It should never have happened. It further widens the schism between government and workers and can be used as an excuse by workers to foreclose any form of dialogue with government. Such brutalisation belong in the stone age and should not be witnessed in our society governed by laws. Every citizen irrespective of their affiliations and views deserve government protection and where one is suspected to be going over the line, there are laid down procedures to rein in such a person rather than resort to self-help. Two wrongs do not make a right!
Having said that, it is pertinent to state that one wonders where Joe Ajaero and his team were when the governor of Abia State, Alex Otti sacked about 10,000 workers in one fell swoop for no good reason other than that they were employed by the previous administration? The careers of many senior civil servants including directors have been cut short with suspensions and forced retirements under cloudy circumstances. And even at that, Abia workers who escaped being sacked have had their salaries slashed significantly leading to several protests by pockets of workers in the state including a time they had to block the office of the state’s accountant-general to drive home their points.
At some point, pensioners also had to cry out against the ill-treatment meted out to them by the Alex Otti’s administration.
In all of these, Ajaero pretended like he was no longer the president of NLC and abdicated his responsibilities to Abia workers by turning blind eyes and deaf ears to the workers’ plight simply because Otti runs a government of the Labour Party. To Ajaero and his team, Otti’s inhuman treatments of workers cannot be challenged as long as the government is not run by the PDP or APC. To them, everything LP is perfect even if their members, the workers are being grossly short-changed.
This practise of unionism by hypocrisy took a turn for the worse when Ajaero led his team to Imo State to protest against the governor, Uzodimma for alleged industrial breaches far less in magnitude and effect than those committed by Otti in Abia State. The timing of the planned industrial action in Imo State on the eve of a crucial governorship election was a well-planned but failed political move by leadership of the labour unions and the Labour Party which they have sympathy for to diminish Uzodimma’s ratings before the workers who form a critical mass of electorate in the state.
To further give credence to this shenanigan, Alex Otti had in the run up to the November 11 governorship election in Imo State brazenly ordered Uzodimma to prepare his handover note to the candidate of Labour Party, Achonu. His plans as the only governor of Labour Party in the entire country was clear: deploy the same strategy used in Abia for the Imo State election.

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In the run up to the March 18 governorship election in Abia, labour unions in the state were allegedly compromised and used by the Labour Party to instigate workers against the then state government led by the PDP, to discredit that administration so as to pave the way for the election of Labour Party’s Alex Otti.
The same strategy was planned for Imo State with Joe Ajaero appointed to lead the charge. Unfortunately for him, Imolites do not accept such extraneous interferences in their election processes. It did not end well for him and his team.
The subsequent nationwide strike action by NLC and TUC was just a face-saving measure by the unions. The other issues given as reasons for the action were mere appendages used to pull the wool over the people’s eyes.
Such politicisation of unionism in our clime should come to an end forthwith if the unions were to regain the kind of respect Nigerians had for them in the not-too-distant past having contributed in no small measure to the end of military dictatorship in Nigeria. Their value before Nigerians, it will seem to discerning Nigerians, has been on a consistent downward slide since the emergence of the Fourth Republic. Ajaero and other leaders of workers’ unions in the country have a lot of work to do to regain the confidence of the people as unions that truly represent and pursue the interests of Nigerian workers everywhere irrespective of party affiliation or such other parochial considerations. They must be consistent with their struggle and stop being selective in their fight to improve the overall welfare of workers. They must not be seen to be fighting for the welfare of workers in Imo State simply because a certain Hope Uzodinma of the APC is the governor while they ignore an even worse plight of workers in Abia State simply because a certain Alex Otti of the Labour Party is the governor.
NLC and TUC should respect the age-long saying that what is sauce for the goose is also sauce for the gander. Anything other than that is unionism by hypocrisy, and that will lead to a gradual driving of the nail into the coffins of the unions.
•Ndukwe sent this piece from Abuja.
November 23, 2023
Nwabueze: The quintessential public intellectual
- By Solomon Ukhuegbe
On July 18, 2013, at 82, he publicly asked God to spare his life for five or possibly more years to complete the tasks he set for himself on this earth. He had already achieved so much but felt that his country still needed his intellectual guidance, especially to reorder our political order. His achievements were almost too numerous for even his acolytes to keep track of. But his energy was boundless even as age and ailment gradually took their toll. “The fact that I’m incapacitated by illness, which makes me not strong to stand on my feet to address this gathering,” he said on the occasion, “doesn’t mean that I’m ready to go. I hope to live up to 90 years.” That was an underestimate. He lived to 92. Merciful God gave him twice as much time as he requested. Perhaps God knew that Nigeria needed the man for a little while longer. On October 29, 2023, it was over. Who was this man?

I cannot recall what day it was in 1987. The third Idigbe Memorial Lecture to be delivered by Professor Nwabueze was scheduled for the day. He was expected to speak on the topic “Transition from Military Rule to Constitutional Democracy.’ The lecture did not take place. He arrived at the venue inside the University of Benin promptly. But the audience, better accustomed to “African time,” did not. He could not accept that situation, and he returned to his private lodging at the other end of town. This remains the only Idigbe Memorial Lecture that was not orally delivered. I in the company of Professor Itse Sagay chased after our guest. Unable to persuade him to return to campus to give the lecture (though he was gracious to enough to accept our apologies for the disappointment), the occasion turned into a courtesy visit of sorts. At this time, Professor Nwabueze’s fame, especially for constitutional law, had reached the ends of the earth. He had, by my recollection, already published nearly ten major titles on the subject since the first was published in 1964.

The academic who aspires to play the role of public intellectual, according to Richard Posner, will need communication skills and authority. “Specialization makes it difficult to write for a general audience. His orientation is towards writing for his fellow specialists on narrow topics in an esoteric jargon. For jargon is the natural language when people communicate primarily with members of an in-group.” Nwabueze’s works were very readable and always appear to be written for a general audience than as specialist works, and he probably always intended them to be so. For that reason, he captivated an audience far wider than his specialization of law and government. He vigorously pushed his views publicly at almost every opportunity from the mid-1960s until only a few years ago through frequent public lectures and speeches, books and essays, newspaper articles and interviews, and above all, active participation in constitutional reform and constitution-writing.

Before he was a public intellectual, he was a scholar. He distinguished himself as a student, both at the London School of Economics and Political Science, where he completed his LL.B. and LL.M. degrees, and the bar examination, respectively. He was commended by one of his teachers, the eminent English constitutionalist Professor Stanley Alexander de Smith FBA (1922-1974) for being the student who “scored the highest mark ever awarded by the University of London in the LL.M. Examinations in the constitutional law of the Commonwealth,” a course that Professor de Smith newly introduced at the university. Nwabueze’s career as an academic began at the University of Lagos in 1962. Before then, his only teaching experience was one year teaching LL.B. students at the Holborn College of Law. In addition, he previously had another one-year experience as a secondary school mathematics teacher in Eastern Nigeria during 1955-1956. After completing his LL.M., he registered for a PhD at the School of Oriental and African Studies of the University of London in 1961with the expectation to work on a dissertation on “The Position of Chiefs under the Laws of Eastern Nigeria” with Professor Tony Allot as his supervisor.

He never completed the PhD. Because the following year, he was recruited by former teacher and dean of law at the London School of Economics, Professor Gower to teach at the University of Lagos, where the professor had been appointed to establish a faculty of law. Thus, Nwabueze was among the foundation lecturers of the University of Lagos.

Nwabueze’s career at the University of Lagos ended abruptly with the closure of the University in 1965 in the wake of the Eni Njoku-Biobaku crisis, which resulted in the departure of all lecturers and students of Eastern Region origin from the University for the University of Nigeria. At the end of the Civil War, he left for the University of Zambia only to return to the University of Nigeria in 1975 but quickly retired. He was only 44 years old. While some of his greatest works were already published, he would live for nearly a half century longer, during which he produced three times as many books as he did as a university teacher.

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Nwabueze published a total of about two dozen titles including a few multi-volume books. Yet, his greatest work may be among the half dozen titles he published by 1975. He felt Nigerian Land Law was “considered by many as the most scholarly of my works.” But he personally judged his more recent two-volume Colonialism in Africa: Ancient and Modern (2005) “the best of my books.” The reason why the former is so highly rated is obvious. Land law is a terror to many a law student, especially the abstruse labyrinths of the English tenure system and estates.

Regrets.

Nigeria’s present Constitution has been much criticized for its adequacies, and Nwabueze was one of the principal authors of the Constitution of 1979, which the present Constitution closely replicates. What is peculiar about the critique is that Nwabueze was among the leading critics. This was not simply self-criticism but a total disavowal of his previous position, root and branch.

He also regretted serving on President Babangida’s Transition Council, although he was proud of what he accomplished as Education Secretary during the eight-month life of the Council. It is difficult to justify the country’s leading constitutionalist participating in an organ of a military dictatorship designed to prolong transition to democratic rule. If that was not bad enough, his tenure was tumultuous, and will be remembered mostly for his confrontation with ASUU.

Nwabueze scrupulously avoided partisan politics throughout his life. “I have always kept an unwavering aloofness from politics, because it (politics) seems to me not quite in tune with the life of study and reflection I have chosen for myself ….” Yet, that November 14, 2018 iconic image of the octogenarian Nwabueze weeping on the shoulder of Atiku Abubakar, PDP’s presidential candidate for the 2019 election, will be hard to forget. This more so when, seven months later, though he ceased appearing before any court as a lawyer in 2008, wheelchair-bound, he showed up at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal on July 4, 2019 as the lead counsel for the petitioner, Abubakar. But he was there for only briefly, during which he requested and got leave of the court to address it while remaining seated. He spoke for only a few minutes, and he left the court riding into the sunset.

Nwabueze has rightly indisputably taken his place as among Africa’s greatest constitutionalists. He was a comparativist, and his strength was comparative constitutional law. He was not a theorist, and he did not make any contribution to constitutional theory or political theory. His forte was constitutional statics. He identified and explained rules of the constitutional order. He said little about constitutional dynamics or how a constitutional order actually operated.

Nor was Nwabueze, despite his prodigious output, necessarily an original thinker. I even doubt if he intended to be one. He was richly eclectic for sure. His strength lay in his ability to master a subject and render it in a manner that was capable of being quickly understood by a student or a non-specialist. And although he exuded great learning, he was always quick to admit or acknowledge the impact of his teachers or the debt he owed other authors he read.

Such was the man Benjamin Obiefuna Nwabueze, the greatest of his generation. A man of humble birth whose illiterate parents had no record of the year of his birth but who by a lifetime quest to excel put his God-given capacity to master things arcane and render them for easy understanding, to the betterment of his country and of humanity has fallen asleep. But his reputation as a scholar and public intellectual will long survive him. The market for public intellectuals is much poorer with his demise.

•Ukhuegbe writes from Toronto, Canada.
November 23, 2023
Cheering news from Liberia
- By Tayo Ogunbiyi
For a long time, political transition has been a serious issue in Africa. Elections are often turned into a theatre of warfare as incumbent political leaders wouldn’t want concede to electoral defeats easily.

It is rare in Africa for an incumbent president to lose an election. It is sacrilegious!

The ugly trend has sadly led to the existence of an array of sit-tight-leaders who hold on to power at all cost on the continent. And the list is pathetically extensive.

In Cameroon, 90-year old President Paul Biya has been in the saddle for 41 years. He has been the country’s president since November 6, 1982, having previously been prime minister from 1975 to 1982.

In Sudan, after 30 years, Omar Al-Bashir’s reign ended almost the same way he started. The Sudanese long time president, who seized power in a military coup on June 30, 1989 stayed in office till April 1989 when he was overthrown and arrested by the armed forces.

The story is not any different in faraway Angola where Jose Eduardo dos Santos, 75, has been president since 1979, after the country’s first post-independence president, Agostinho Neto, died.

After a peace deal signed in 1991, Dos Santos beat UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi in the first round of Angola’s first contested presidential election in 1992, but Savimbi rejected the result and resumed guerrilla war. While some have praised the septuagenarian for leading the country to recovery after the end of its 27-year civil war in 2002, others accuse him of authoritarianism, overstay in office and failing to distribute the proceeds from the oil boom more widely. Detractors indicted him of being gradually dictatorial when he chose his daughter, Isabel, as the head of the country’s oil company, Sonangol.

In Gambia, Yahya Jammeh was forced to leave after he had refused to step down following his defeat in the December 2016 election. He went into exile after a last minute diplomatic push and threat of military invasion by ECOWAS troops.

Yoweri Museveni, 79, became Uganda’s president in 1986. With five presidential terms in office, Museveni claims Uganda is one of the most democratic countries in the world. In 2005, the constitution was changed to allow him to extend his time in office. Museveni was re-elected in 2016 in an election overshadowed by arrests of politicians and allegations of rigging. Police carried out multiple arrests of opposition activists, including his closest rival, Kizza Besigye, during the vote.

During one of his re-election bids, when he addressed the issue of stepping down, for a younger generation of leaders, he asked: “How can I leave a banana plantation that I have planted when it has started bearing fruit?”

That, of course, is the skewed mentality of some African leaders. He sees his nation as a private property. He sees his people as a conquered species. He sees his country’s resources as booty to be plundered and used for his fancy. Obviously, for him, the harvest is still not over as he has continued to rule over the country for 37 years!

That, indeed, has been the messy state of political leadership in Africa where leaders don’t really know when to quit. Oh, that God will give Africa more of noble, selfless and visionary leaders like late President Nelson Mandela of South Africa. After spending a term in office, Mandela opted to step aside, stressing that his country needed younger and more vibrant leaders. Here was a man who spent almost his entire life fighting for the emancipation of his nation.

Can Africa yet experience the privilege of having such leaders?

Well, it is not totally gloomy for our beloved continent. There still remains a glimmer of hope that Mother Africa will not be like the biblical Nazareth that someone exclaimed had nothing good to offer.

Can anything good come from Africa?

Yes. It can! A new Africa is possible.

A few days back, Liberian President, George Weah gave Africa hope. He changed the sordid African political narrative by conceding defeat to his main opponent, at the recently concluded presidential poll, Ambassador Joseph N. Boakai.

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What really made the scenario quite ‘unAfrican’ by every standard is that President Weah conceded defeat while vote counting was still on.

Is that possible? In Africa? Yes, it is. And it happened. President Weah made it happen.

Hear him: “I stand before you tonight with a heavy heart, but with the utmost respect for the democratic process that has defined our nation.

“The results announced tonight, though not final, indicate that Ambassador Joseph N. Boakai is in a lead that is insurmountable.

“A few moments ago, I spoke with President-elect Joseph N. Boakai to congratulate him on his victory and to offer my sincere commitment to working with him for the betterment of our beloved Liberia.

“I extend my heartfelt congratulations to President-elect Boakai, his supporters, and his campaign team. May his presidency be marked by success for all Liberians, and may our nation prosper under his leadership.

“Under my leadership, these elections were organized with a promise to the Liberian people – a promise of fairness, transparency, and credibility. I am proud to say that, for the most part, we have fulfilled that promise. The Liberian people have spoken, and their choice will be honoured and obeyed.”

One thing that stands out in the above message is the ex-footballer’s deep rooted patriotism and unalloyed love for his people. Unlike the sit-tight African leaders of the old order, he cared more about his country and his people. It is not about him!

In a continent where political contests often end in bitter struggles, causing sharp and needless divisions among the people, President Weah has chosen to be different. He has chosen a path of honour and dignity. His historic concession of defeat was not just a personal feat; it was a crucial moment for his country, Africa and democracy.

He has proven that with men of great conscience like him democracy can flourish on the continent. Like former president, Goodluck Jonathan, history will surely be kind to him and posterity will judge him right.

To deepen democracy in Africa, those that are entrusted with the process must not be self-seeking in their thoughts and deeds. They must be leaders who put their people first in all they do. They must be folks who will reason like Goodluck Jonathan that their ambition is not worth the blood of any of their compatriots.

Thank you, President George Weah, for making Africa proud! Thank you for choosing to be different in a continent where political leaders will rather ignite a needless civil war just to remain in office.

As for the impenitent sit-tight African leaders who have taken their respective nations hostage, the advice is for them to take a voyage to Liberia and learn the art of nobility from a noble man.

•Ogunbiyi is a Director (Public Affairs), Lagos Ministry of Information & Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja.
November 23, 2023
Creating meaningful financial inclusion in Nigeria
- By Tosin Eniolorunda
There is one undeniable truth, that even the most ardent of skeptics might actually hold to be true – Nigeria, as Africa’s most populous nation, has the potential to become the greatest country on the continent. From its vast arable land to an enormous population which has a high propensity to be an asset if adequately managed and deployed, it’s really ours for the taking. The role of financial inclusion as a catalyst for economic development, poverty reduction, and social inclusion has been widely recognized. Some industry analysts aver that if we are going to be able to deepen shared prosperity, accelerate poverty reduction and reduce inequality, then we have got to roll up our sleeves and invest in critical physical, financial, digital, technological and innovation infrastructure that support the building of our most valuable asset – Nigeria’s human capital. Because at the end of the day, financial inclusion, financial literacy is about the transformative power that people have whether they live in bustling cities or remote villages. The question to be asked is how do we create a meaningful experience for all stakeholders.

Identified barriers that prevent meaningful outcomes include low income, low financial literacy, lack of trust in financial institutions, high cost of financial services, inadequate infrastructure, and restrictive regulations. Sadly, these challenges disproportionately affect women, rural dwellers, youth, and micro, small and medium enterprises. However, as both empirical and anecdotal evidences have shown in many emerging markets, the effective deployment of technology in leapfrogging over previously identified barriers holds the biggest attraction. It’s usually a game changer. India and China, with similar heterogenous societies and large populations are fine examples to learn from.

Imagine the immense satisfaction that will come from POS terminals being able to cater to the tactile or auditory needs of the physically challenged – this is inclusiveness in all its trappings. Can we use technology to deliver financial literacy modules or microsite where people can access and understand using pidgin and local languages?

Can we have contactless payment solutions become the default mode of payment in a way that means that the bus conductor isn’t asking a passenger for cash, all that needs to happen will be done via a mobile phone from Damaturu in Yobe to Agenebode, Edo State? Surely, an aggressive adoption of innovative technologies will make a huge difference in our lives irrespective of gender, creed, station in life and other societal markets.

Another tool for unlocking prosperity will be how we leverage digital financial services (DFS), which are enabled by information and communication technologies (ICTs), such as mobile phones, internet platforms, and electronic payment systems. DFS have demonstrated that costs can be lowered while increasing the convenience, and expanding the reach of financial services to the underserved segments of the population. As we have seen with players like Moniepoint, they are fostering innovation and competition in the financial sector, creating new opportunities for value creation and economic diversification. Imagine a scenario where we can reverse engineer our financial landscape such that DFS become the dominant go-to service provider for accessing credit, savings, insurance, pensions, and other financial products and services that could improve their livelihoods and resilience.

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Lastly, the role of transformational leadership at all levels of government #and the private sector should be of the highest national significance in curating a meaningful experience for all stakeholders across our financial services system. As we all know, creating a supportive regulatory and policy environment is necessary to foster financial inclusion. Clear and inclusive regulations that promote competition, innovation, consumer protection, and data privacy will be instrumental. Collaboration and partnerships among various stakeholders is closely aligned to the point. This is because even by our communal Ubuntu ethos as Africans, we recognize that no single tree can beautify a forest, it will take the coming together of many trees to provide shade and succor for many people.

Creating a meaningful experience for all stakeholders in financial inclusion in Nigeria is not just about increasing the number of bank accounts. It’s about empowering the unbanked, supporting financial institutions, and fostering a collaborative effort among government agencies and fintech companies. Only through a holistic approach that takes into account the unique challenges and aspirations of each stakeholder can Nigeria truly achieve the goal of financial inclusion, ensuring a brighter and more financially secure future for all its citizens.

In unlocking prosperity for all Nigerians, it is imperative to harness the power of technology and digital financial services. This would require concerted efforts from various stakeholders, including the government, regulators, financial institutions, fintech firms, civil society organizations, and consumers. By creating a conducive environment for innovation and inclusion in the digital financial space, Nigeria can realize its vision of becoming a leading African economy in the 21st century.
- Eniolorunda is Group CEO, Moniepoint Inc.
November 22, 2023
National contradictions PBAT must resolve
- By Michael Owhoko
Any Nigerian with rational and open mind knows that complexity of governance in Nigeria today is rooted in the country’s political system, which by any stretch of imagination and logic, is unsuitable for a heterogeneous society like Nigeria with over 250 ethnic groups that are characterized by incompatible cultures, varied history, background and interests.

These ethnic groups were hitherto independent nations that ceded their sovereignty to the Nigerian state under federalism, a political system that took cognizance of their peculiarities and agreed upon by the country’s founding fathers. But ever since this system was subverted and replaced with a unitary state structure, Nigeria has been embroiled with unending suspicion, distrust, disunity, disharmony, nepotism, hegemony and rivalry among the various ethnic nationalities, indicative of its inappropriateness.

Unsuitability of the unitary state structure, inequitable revenue sharing method, breach of country’s secularity status, dishonest quota system and political location of industries are major national contradictions undermining Nigeria’s potentials. Except to hide under cover of pretence, it is a common knowledge that Nigeria’s progress is held down by these national paradoxes. They are aberrations and drawbacks that are fundamentally responsible for the country’s stunted growth. These are what President Bola Tinubu must address to set the tone for equitable and prosperous Nigeria.

Efforts outside this trajectory amounts to sheer cosmetic administrative routine and waste of valuable resources incapable of restoring hope. The unitary system of government has become a Frankenstein monster that is pushing the country towards the precipice with diminished national and global stature. Until a more suitable political template is introduced, Nigeria will continue to drift in circles like a regional giant with no illuminating potentials to inspire public confidence.

Federalism had been tested in Nigeria, and it worked. It is a system of government where all federating states and central government are financially independent, autonomous, interdependent and co-equal with neither the federal government nor the states inferior to each other. This is the political system that best suits the country’s cultural diversity and sociological complexities, capable of achieving equity, justice and balance.

In a plural society like Nigeria, unitary system is a misfit, lacking the capacity to promote unity. It engenders acrimony, disaffection, nepotism, primordial nationalism and marginalization, owing to conflicting cultural aspirations. Emergence of separatist movements and other related self-determination groups are some of the challenges facing Nigeria today, justifying the need for federalism to stem the tide. Otherwise, the country risks more ethnic nationalities surfacing to seek autonomy.

With about 68 items on the Exclusive list and 12 items on the Concurrent list, the 1999 Constitution is in structure, content and spirit, a unitary constitution, where the destiny of the states and people are determined and centrally regulated, using revenue allocation as tool for coercion and subservient corporatism. This constitution has failed Nigerians. The states or geo-political zones want independent hold of their future within the context of their distinct cultural aspirations.

As a way out, the concept of the 1963 Constitution should be invoked to allow states to take control of mineral deposits found in their domains. In other words, fiscal federalism with derivation principle allowing retention of 50 percent minimum of accrued revenue found in or generated by the states, should be introduced. All states and geo-political areas in Nigeria are evidently endowed as God has provided every habitat with natural resources, including agricultural crops for subsistence. This will not only give states the necessary financial autonomy, but will encourage them to harness and optimize their potentials, just as it will encourage hard-work, healthy competition, and discourage indolence.

Government’s involvement in religion is also a national contradiction and aberration. Nigeria is a secular state as affirmed by Section 10 of 1999 Constitution, which says that the government of the federation or of a state shall not adopt any religion as state religion in Nigeria. But federal government’s behavioural disposition undermines this clause when viewed against the backdrop of its contribution and participation in religious matters.

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By establishing the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) and the Nigeria Christian Pilgrim Commission (NCPC) to oversee and facilitate the process for participation of Muslims in Hajj or Umra in Saudi Arabia and pilgrimage of Christians to Jerusalem and other holy sites, the federal government has adopted Islam and Christianity as official religions, contrary to the intention of secularism.

Religion is a personal affair, and individuals are at liberty to practice their faith as deemed appropriate, as long as it does not violate the right of others. The huge amount expended by federal government annually to fund NAHCON and NCPC, as well as meeting financial obligations in Organisation of Islamic Countries, OIC, is an infringement on the right of Nigerians whose taxes are used to service these private interests.

After all, government’s involvement in religion has not reduced moral decadence in Nigeria, as most beneficiaries of these pilgrimages are involved in corruption that have contributed to the country’s woes. Rather than waste the country’s resources on these unprofitable ventures, such money should be used to shore up decaying infrastructure across the country.

President Tinubu should therefore dissolve NAHCON and NCPC, and remove Nigeria from membership of OIC, as part of strategies to maintain the secularity of Nigeria. Any state government whosoever desires to fund its citizens to holy sites is free to do so at its own expense. The federal government must hands-off religion to save taxpayers’ money.

Quota system is another national contradiction. It is part of Nigeria’s problems, and a source of bureaucratic ineptitude that should be discarded for excellence. This system has been consistently abused and manipulated by government officials to serve primordial and entrenched interests. The system has also deprived millions of brilliant Nigerians of opportunities to serve their fatherland on account of their states of origin.

When merit is sacrificed on the altar of representation, what you have is incompetence and failure. Nigeria is currently paying price of poor performance in government owing to quota application in recruitment process in ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs). The outcome has been inefficiency and poor delivery output with no value addition.

Sadly, the quota system is applicable to the educational sector that is supposed to be the substratum of research and development. Unqualified students are admitted into federal unity schools and universities while brilliant ones are unable to secure placements. In some cases, appointment of professors and award of PhD degrees are based on quota system, leading to production of quota scholars lacking capacity for research and discovery. What an irony for a country that is striving to compete in global affairs!

Another national contradiction is political location of industries. Oil and gas companies involved in exploration of crude oil in the Niger Delta should be compelled to relocate their administrative headquarters to areas where they have a minimum of 70 percent of their operations. This will not only accelerate development of the region, but will help in resolving current poverty and frustration, resulting from negligence and degradation in the region. The Nigeria LNG Limited which moved its administrative headquarters from Lagos to Bonny Island, Rivers State, where its operational base is located, is enjoying support from its host communities. The company should be commended and emulated.

Therefore, to reset, reshape and reposition Nigeria for stronger brand identity aimed at maximizing its full potentials to achieve national progress, regional influence and global respect, President Bola Tinubu must address and nip these national contradictions in the bud by next year, 2024.
- Dr. Owhoko is a Lagos-based journalist and author.
November 22, 2023