The Nation Newspaper

Category: Comments

  • Case for special courts for looters

    The Federal Government’s seeming recharged firing at corruption, without instituting corresponding special court of speedy trial of identified offenders, is unlikely to hit the magnificent bull’s eye. The increasingly multiplying number of pending cases, including cases of corruption, at the law courts makes nonsense of the country’s system of administration of justice. The essence of the law and its administration is to ensure stability, peace and harmony in a society. In today’s Nigeria, however, these advantages of justice have rapidly peeled away in slow dispensation of justice. And Nigerians are fast losing confidence in the judiciary, and growingly resorting to jungle justice – a sure path to anarchy.

    A number of cases of corruption against politicians have remained pending ad infinitum at the law courts, or remained untried as long as the relevant politicians remained alive, and Nigerians have learnt to treat such cases as forgotten pieces of history. Extraordinary offences call for extraordinary measures. Here lies the justification for existence of special courts or tribunals in Nigeria and elsewhere that claim to be governed by the rule of law. Rightly, today’s democratic Nigeria still retains a number of special courts, including the Armed Robbery Tribunal, the Anti-Corruption Commission, established by the corrupt practices and other related offences Act (2000), and Fast Track Courts, established in 2007 to try and conclude commercial cases “within six months of the date of filing the case”. The existence of special courts or tribunals will not be an excrescence on our judiciary system. In addition to armed robbery, mounting illicit wealth of politicians and incidences of Advance Fee Frauds, commonly known as “419”, there are cases of internet frauds and fraudulent property speculators and sellers, and several other cases. Special courts should exist to handle extraordinary offences and ensure speedy justice in such matters.

    Contrarily, some argue that the existence of special courts is not the solution to the delayed justice that characterizes ordinary law courts. They point to the dismal, sluggish performance of the election tribunals in the restored democracy. Delivery of verdicts by the tribunals on a number of petitions was so delayed that certain petitioners who eventually won their cases enjoyed abridged justice, and as a result lost considerable portion of their constitutional tenure. Indeed, almost four years after the 2003 elections, a number of election petitions were not really disposed of. The petitioners had withdrawn from the litigations after calculating that even if they won, there was negligible justice left for them to enjoy. One sensible argument against the existence of tribunals or special courts is that it is a violation of the rule of law, which demands that the same ordinary court of law that tries a farmer for stealing a hoe should try a tycoon for defrauding a bank or a political leader for looting the public treasury. Again, they say, special courts are not ruled by normal laws, and in some cases, too, the extraordinary laws are not administered by professional judges.

    By the way special tribunals were composed, constituted and administered in the stretched military rule, Nigerians are bound to perceive them as all-round evil, intolerable in a democracy. However, there is hardly anything fundamentally wrong with tribunals or special courts, if the laws in the tribunals are administered by professional judges, and persons convicted by tribunals granted the right of appeal. The denial of right of appeal in the initial provisions of the Civil Disturbances (Special Tribunal) Decree 2 of 1987 came under severe criticism in 1995 when nine Ogoni men were executed after their conviction for murder by the tribunal. The decree was amended the following year, 1996, to grant the right of appeal to persons convicted by the tribunal and to remove military personnel from membership of the tribunal.

    The right of appeal is sine qua non in dispensation of justice. As Thomas Jefferson, the great constitutional lawyer and a former US president succinctly put it: “The sword of law should never fall but on those whose guilt is so apparent as to be pronounced by their friends as well as foes.” The removal of armed forces personnel from sitting on the special tribunals is in line with the demand of the rule of law that the laws of the land must be administered by a known and impartial judge.

    Let there be special court for looters of public treasury as there is special court for “419” cases. Let there remain special court for bank and other financial offences as there has remained armed robbery tribunal. Let there be miscellaneous offences tribunal to try miscreants who tamper with PHCN and NNPC equipment. Let there be other workable special courts, provided each of them is properly constituted and the laws there administered by competent judges, and the convicted granted right of appeal.

    It is always a serious mistake to believe that world democracies, including Britain, regarded as the mother of the rule of law, totally abhor special courts, and are ruled by law alone. It has not been so, not just because of the special courts’ advantages of specialization in cases they handle and their speedy delivery of judgments in such cases. The over-riding point is that certain developments today compel the existence of special courts as part and parcel of modern democratic governance.

    It is wrong to assume, as Prof. A.V. Dicey, who propounded the theory of the rule of law, assumed, that Englishmen are ruled by the law and only the law. The conventions play an important part in the British constitution, and many conventions are never enforced by law. Another point is that the British parliament is supreme over the law, in the sense that parliament can over-rule the decision of the judges if it does not agree with it. Besides, the growth of delegated legislation, the right to legislate granted to others by parliament, and administrative jurisdiction undermines the theory of the rule of law. For instance, a Briton who feels wronged by his local council goes to the appropriate ministry, and not to the law court, to seek redress.

    However, special courts as they exist in Nigeria today appear to be restricted to criminal matters, and this gives the false impression that only private citizens commit offences. Special courts should be extended to include administrative courts, which should try public officers for some acts that they have committed in their official capacities against the private citizen.

    In essence, Nigeria should adopt a model of the French system of administrative law and the administrative courts. Under the French Legal System since the time of Napoleon 1, a clear distinction exists between administrative law and the general law of the country. Administrative law deals with the state, the public service etc. in their relationship with the ordinary citizen. If a citizen feels aggrieved as a result of any act of omission or commission by a public authority, he can thus initiate an action in the administrative courts.

    If, for instance, such courts exist in Nigeria, citizens whose houses or shops were erected with officially approved plans but were demolished on the orders of a governor, minister or council chairman, will take such public officer to the administrative court. Likewise, a minister who denies a politician or a political party access to a public-owned media like the television, radio or newspaper, or invokes a non-existing law to shut a media house will equally be taken to the relevant tribunal for trial and sentencing.

    If Nigeria has a Federal Character Commission, it should also have a federal character court; if it has unity schools, it should also have unity schools court, and so on. There is a strong case for the adoption of a system of administrative law in Nigeria and other countries, including Britain, which do not have it.

    However, one major problem in adapting it in Nigeria is the problem of getting enough judges and lawyers specialized in the relevant laws. Administrative law is a definitely specialized branch of law, and, if judges and lawyers specialize in it, it is reasonable to expect fairer and more enlightened handling of administrative cases while the special powers enjoyed by the administrative courts enable them to act decisively in cases where they find an abuse of power on the part of public authority. The same also goes with other special courts.

    • Ubabukoh writes from johnifeanyiu@yahoo.com

  • Mr Lecturer, don’t teach me nonsense!

    Our political landscape has given rise to public opinions on both ordinary and sensitive issues as they occur. Sometime, there are more opinions than actual issues and occurrences. The recent views made by Olusola Adegbite, a lecturer in the Faculty of Law of Obafemi Awolowo University on the media assaults on former Governor of Lagos State Mr Babatunde Fashola left a big question mark on the place of knowledge and information.

    For those who missed the article as published online, Adegbite spared no words to cast aspersion on the Governor of Lagos State Mr Akinwunmi Ambode. He described the assumed Governor’s involvement in media attack on Babatunde Fashola with most derogatory words not even ideal to be used against a councillor in a Local Government parliament let alone an Executive Governor.

     For anyone who failed to explore space for acquiring right information, ignorance can never be an excuse. In the entire article, the Lecturer of Law made budging statements without a single evidence-based justification of the notion for which he nailed his victim severely. Then I ask what the place of knowledge is?

    George Bernard Shaw once said “beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance”. Adegbite refused to give benefit of doubt in his submission by neutralising his opinion and thus doing justice to literary common sense. The lack of decorum in the entire piece betrayed the author’s emotion while he totally forgot he was a don from a well-respected institution in the country. Well, it is a good choice of word in this scenario to refer to the author as a qualified lecturer in a Law Faculty of a reputable academic institution in Nigeria.

    Even at the instance of a sponsored media service, the author supposed to know that there is no justification to assume and conclude that Governor Ambode was being used by Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, hitherto described by the author as hidden face, to launch media attack on his predecessor. The law teacher who quoted thousands of proverbial statements to support his position forgot the one that says “get all your findings right and hold unto the one that is the truth”. In the process of unleashing his emotional tsunami, he should have given benefit of doubt since he was not quoting any tangible evidence; and as such, he would be respected for writing from knowledge point of view and not sheer emotions which does not have basis in Law.

    Foremost, there is no basis for comparing eight years government of Fashola to Ambode’s three months as being placed by the author. When Fashola’s administration began, he was written off that no good thing could come from Asiwaju’s choice of candidature. Today, it was evident that that choice was predominantly good for most Lagosians. If not for the purpose of putting the record straight with Mr Lecturer, there is no reason for anyone to get bothered about Ambode’s performance because he has already started on a good note as a Governor with human face and required prudence. While I believe no one should be too much in a hurry, we need another four years to put Asiwaju’s choice of candidature in the last general election in Lagos State to test. Ambode is Tinubu’s product as Fashola was, and of course several excellent leaders including the Chief Security Officer in the State where Adegbite teaches Law at a federal University.

    In fairness to Bola Tinubu, the standard of governance delivered by Fashola showed the place of vision on the path of the political icon being adjudged as the chief propagator of the media war against Fashola. In politics and school of power, assumption is a weak premise.

    Following ignorance like a sinking star, Adegbite didn’t realise that a public commentary that speculates must be deployed as a neutral third party point of view, not like the one expressed by him.

    As far as I know, Lagos State needs every fair opinion it can get to sustain peace and tranquillity the people enjoy. Any paid opinion writer will only be doing injustice to well-being of over 25 million people already living in peace. Derogatory and uncultured words used by the author to describe the Governor as doing ‘night soil man’s job’ among other insulting languages is not decent of a kindergarten school teacher not to talk of a Lecturer, and one who teaches Law for that matter. As much as he quoted several Yoruba proverbs to justify his piece, he deviated from the Yoruba norm that teaches politeness, culture and fair hearing.

    Today, Ambode is the Governor of a state that has more responsibilities than others. We will be doing better if we deploy energy of criticism on his management abilities but not on political issue he is not liable for. No clear evidence has been traced to him in this complex political friction.

    Within the shortest possible time, Ambode has shown the world he is a good product and another quality choice from the Jagaban institute. Without wasting time, he has set agenda for good governance, rolling-in scores of achievements in a short while.

    While restructuring of the civil service to improve performance of government workforce is fast taking place, Ambode has also demonstrated high spirit for prompt response to urgent issues that affect the populace such as removing the Apapa gridlock and taking proactive measure to eradicate avoidable accidents often caused by tanker and container drivers. A listening leader, he has fashioned out ideal engagement of the stakeholders in decision making and creating an environment that promotes accountability and transparency by taking after the President on single account system to avoid leakages. He has reawaken hopes of the youths in job provision and wealth creation by setting up special ministry to solve unemployment problems and ensure wealth creation.

    Ambode is laying foundation for good governance by reopening cities and communities through road construction and enhancing the health centres with ambulance services across the state, all these even before appointing his commissioners.

    While Ambode is so busy with the business of good governance,  Adegbite and his likes are busy looking for how to discredit him, forgetting that attack on the Governor of Lagos State is an attack on entire Lagosians.

    The author has failed to dissuade public opinion in favour of his self-created motion. Asiwaju and Fashola have come out to inform the public they are in good terms with no brushings, whereby Asiwaju himself condemned the said attack on Fashola. Ambode on the other hand has squarely faced business of governance with no time for petty political issues. The trio are best of friends that Adegbite cannot define how cordial they are.

    While engaging in the dirty job, it is wrong for Adegbite to assume his opinion on this matter is a popular notion with entire Lagosians. The Teacher cannot speak on behalf of Lagosians because he is not one of us; we are proud of all democratic governors God has blessed us with in Lagos.

    The same way the author is seeing Ambode as an apprentice was the way the public saw Fashola when he came on board. Thank goodness he became a good student of good governance ofAsiwaju’s leadership institute and became the pride of Nigeria. Fashola himself has always identified with his leader Asiwaju and claimed that they remain inseparable.

    Maya Angelou in wisdom once said “my mother said I must always be intolerant of ignorance but understanding of illiteracy. That some people, unable to go to school, were more educated and more intelligent than college professors”.

    For Adegbite, the academic community will not pardon a teacher of legal studies who blatantly flaunt ignorance by laying knowledge to rest, cracking emotionally like die-hard politician. Besides, the spirit of Lagos will not be pleasant with anyone who drums opinions capable of causing outrage among both political class and nominal citizens of the State. Itesiwaju Eko, ohun lo jewalogun!

    • Olulade is a member of the Lagos State House of Assembly representing Epe Constituency II

  • New media as platform for terrorism

    It is almost impossible to predict the act of terrorism because it has moved from being carried out in the conventional way of operation to using the new media such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, amongst others, to recruit, convince and interact with youths that are mostly glued to social media.

    The rapid growth of new media communications technologies is becoming a critical component in the operation and organisation of terrorist networks. While security-based concerns regarding the use of the Internet for cyber-terrorism (disruption of critical networks, etc) have somewhat subsided, there is growing recognition that both the Internet’s mass media function and its decentralised infrastructure play a crucial role in modern terrorist organisations.

    Internet technologies are being deployed in innovative ways by terrorist groups, from the creation and maintenance of encrypted traffic over rapid and untraceable networks to transmitting alternative news broadcasts. The Internet is serving both as a forum for the training of subterfuge and as a means of conducting that subterfuge, both as a vehicle for dispensing information about terrorism and for coordinating the logistical and financial resources to conduct that terrorism. Additionally, the Internet provides a valuable space for the location and integration of new recruits. New communication technologies are presenting violent groups the means to both target particular audiences as well as reframe their messages independent of the mainstream media for a broader audience. These dynamics together pose new and formidable challenges to domestic and international policy-makers. After a series of properly coordinated Christmas bombing in Kano in 2011, Boko Haran terrorist group released a video statement defending their action to YouTube.

    The new media differs from traditional and conventional media in many aspects, such as in interactivity, reach, frequency, usability, immediacy, and permanence. Unlike traditional media that is characterized as “one-to-many,” in which only a small cohort of established institutions disseminates information to an effectively limitless audience, social media enables anyone to publish or access information. New communication technologies, such as comparatively inexpensive and accessible mobile and web-based networks, create highly interactive platforms through which individuals and communities share, co-create, discuss, and modify content. With social media, information consumers also act as communicators, vastly expanding the number of information transmitters in the communication market. This two-way communication promotes creation of small, diffused sets of communicators and groups. Virtual communities using social media are increasingly popular all over the world, especially among younger demographics.

    Terrorists use social media because they are by far the most popular with their intended audience, which allows terrorist organizations to be part of the mainstream. Social media channels are user-friendly, reliable, and free as well as allow terrorists to reach out to their target audiences, which is in contrast to older models of websites in which terrorists had to wait for visitors to come to them.

    Just as marketing companies can view members’ information to find potential customers and select products to promote, terrorist groups can view people’s profiles to decide whom to target and how to approach each individual thereby giving them the opportunities to carry out their purpose of propaganda, radicalization, and recruitment. Social networking sites allow terrorists to use a targeting strategy known as narrowcasting.

    Facebook is the largest online social network. As of January 2014, it had 1.31 billion users, of whom most (54percent) log in on a regular basis and almost half (48 percent) log on in any given day. Their average age is about 30 years. In the Middle East, Facebook has seen a significant membership increase and reached 67 percent penetration in 2010, and in Asia overall, 23 percent. Terrorists, noting the trends, have set up their Facebook presence.

    Twitter has recently emerged as terrorists’ favourite Internet service, even more popular than self-designed websites or Facebook, to disseminate propaganda and enable internal communication. Terrorists use of Twitter take advantage of a recent trend in news coverage that often sacrifices validation and in-depth analysis for the sake of almost real-time coverage. Under these conditions, especially when there are few options, mainstream media may take tweets as a legitimate news source. Terrorists repeatedly and methodically exploit this shortcoming for propaganda purposes.

    More and more applications interconnect the different services and extend the possibilities of conveniently sharing material. Lately, Instagram and Flickr, two applications for editing and sharing pictures and videos, have gained great popularity among the mainstream audience. By the end of 2013, Instagram had 150 million active monthly users, more than 60 percent of whom were from outside the United States, who shared 55 million pictures each day on average. Flickr offers a web service which allows users to upload photos and videos to its website, and, if desired, to their social network profiles. By March 2013, Flickr counted 87 million registered users and approximately eight billion photos.

    Terrorists have long used the Internet for purposes that range from recruitment, propaganda, and incitement to data mining and fundraising. They have turned to the new media not only because counterterrorism agencies have disrupted their traditional online presence but also because the new media offers huge audiences and ease of use. Terrorist followers, sympathizers, converts, and newcomers also find in the new media a much lower threshold to access terrorist-produced and terrorism-related content than they faced in discovering and signing up for access to the hardcore forums (those which have not been shut down, at least). This trend is combined with the emergence of lone wolf terrorism: attacks by individual terrorists who are not members of any terrorist organization.

    The meteoric rise of social media has let radical groups and terrorists freely disseminate ideas through multiple modalities, including websites, blogs, social networking websites, forums, and video sharing services.

    Cyberspace, with its numerous and emerging online platforms, presents new challenges and requires dramatic shifts in strategic thinking regarding national security and countering terrorism. Despite the growth of internet research in recent years, it has not yet provided efficient strategies or fruitful counter measure devices or tactics such all users of the media need to be careful while making use of it, most especially youths.

    • Esigbemi is a student of University of Benin.

  • Akure: A monarch and his political ambition

    A friend had invited me to a social event in the thick of the presidential election campaign. At the table were my friend and two other men, one of whom was already known to me as both of us had discussed politics during some chance encounters. Proudly an Ondo town man, he never saw anything wrong with the Mimiko and Jonathan administrations while I would argue that Iroko is the worst to ever happened to the people of Ondo State since the invention of plywood and that Jonathan was the most pathetic and incompetent president in Nigeria’s history. Since I never met the other guy at the table, I was introduced by our mutual friend at whose behest I was at the event. Almost as a sidekick, our mutual friend drew, jokingly, our attention to the fact that all the three of us are from the same state, except him, being a Lagosian.

    “Where’re you from in Ondo State?” the guy I was meeting for the first time asked me.

    “Akure,” I replied.

    “Ah! You people are not a force to be reckoned with. You’re not in charge of the state. We the Akokos and Ondos are,” he deadpanned.

    “I see,” I retorted. And he went on to give me some anecdotal instances to buttress his point. I was stunned. But I listened calmly with hardly anything to say as counter argument.

    What stunned me was not the veracity of his statement (as I have suspected long ago that Akure indigenes may largely be inconsequential in the state’s political scheme of things), but his audacity to rub this on the nose of someone he was meeting for the first time. That statement unsettles something in me each time I think about it.

    The new Deji of Akure, Oba AladetoyinboAladelusi’s coronation came at a time when politics and the business of politics were the only games in and across the Nigerian landscape. In the aftermath of his coronation, some members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) led by Barrister Isaac Kekemeke, the state chairman of the party, paid a courtesy visit to Oba Aladelusi. In a speech to these party stalwarts, the new Deji was reported to have indicated that the fundamental political objective and directive principle of his monarchy is to see an Akure indigene in the Alagbaka Government House after the 2016 governorship election. Also, during another courtesy visit by members of the Executive Council of the Akure Community Development Forum (ACDF) led by Chief Reuben Fasoranti, in a news report entitled: “Akure is next to rule Ondo, says Deji” in The Nation newspaper on Monday, August 24, Oba Aladelusi was reported to have reiterated his earlier stance that his desire is “to ensure that the state’s next governor is produced by [the] Akure community” and that he was ready to use his “influence and connections to ensure that his dream comes to fruition.” Oba Aladelusi said his “major ambition on the throne was to ensure [that an] Akure indigene becomes the governor” and “urged politicians and other eminent personalities who were (sic) indigenes of Akure to rally round him to ensure the realization of his dream.” The monarch was reported to have “lamented that Akure, despite being the state capital, has not produced the governor since Ondo State’s creation about 40 years ago.”

    One may never know if the Akure monarch’s desire to see an Akure indigene in the state’s Government House was a spur-of-the-moment, carefully crafted and politically correct rallying point to his subjects to close ranks after a rancorous kingship tussle. Neither can it be ascertained that this perceived sense of unfairness to Akure indigenes have always been embedded in the monarch’s subconscious, waiting for expression at the opportune time, which has now presented itself, having received the staff of office as the paramount ruler of the Akure kingdom. But whatever may be the reason(s) for Oba Aladelusi’s position, it was a profound and noble declaration that should be interrogated by not only Akure political elites, but also its well-meaning indigenes. It’s a call to duty that should engage the minds of Akure indigenes in a representative democracy.

    While the Oba is on the right track concerning what he sees as his subjects’ political disadvantage, who, incidentally, are adjudged as having the strongest voting strength in the state, it should also be stated in no uncertain terms, however, that the realization of Oba Aladelusi’s political ambition for his subjects lies not in mere bringing this disadvantage into the public consciousness, but rather in scrupulously looking at those fundamentals that may have inhibited an Akure indigene from ascending to the highest political office in the state. A good starting point, it seems to me, is this eerie feeling that the economic and political foundations of Akure’s political elites, critical to their ascendance in the state’s body politic, are much weaker relative to the economic and political architectures of other ethnic groups with which they must contest for political power. Their rancorous and fractious dispensation of their political capital in terms of their votes, to which Oba Aladelusi alluded in the news report when he said that he “regretted that indigenes of Akure have failed in the past to unite and speak with one voice” have almost always been their undoing.  Perhaps their weak economic and political strengths, coupled with their politics of “Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD)” may have found their roots in their lack of psycho-emotional bonding that would have naturally predisposed them to lending each other some helping hands which seems to come natural to their ethnic counterparts such as the Akokos or Ondos. With the aforementioned, they may have unconsciously disempowered themselves, or may not have paid enough attention to how others have deliberately disempowered them in order to make it difficult, if not impossible, to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with other political heavyweights from other ethnic groups in the state. The present Mimiko administration which is practically a government of Ondo/Idanre/Oke-Igbo axis is a classic example. A government doesn’t get more exclusive than that.

    Perhaps Oba Aladelusi may want to take stock of the political elites and other eminent Akure personalities vis-à-vis the extent of their economic and political capacity as a group in Nigeria and the Diaspora by calling a summit of Akure indigenes as soon as practicable in order to chart a new and sustainable political course for his subjects. Perhaps it’s also important to interrogate further the monarch’s political ambition to see one of his subjects at the Alagbaka Government House in light of the political machinations that brought about the emergence of the Oba from among other contestants. As much as what the monarch said was important, it’s equally imperative to listen to what was not said. As a paramount ruler who owes his staff of office to Governor OlusegunMimiko, a Machiavellian political operative who will stop at nothing – literally – in his quest to dominate the southwest politics, one hopes that Oba Aladelusi (with all due respect to the crown and his person) is not being unsuspectingly goaded by one of the two “whitlows of the southwest” into making that declaration. One hopes that the statement was not a prelude to a “political IOU” that Governor Mimiko must extract from the monarch at election time to achieve a nefarious objective of dividing Akure voters, thereby rendering them inconsequential once again. Just as eternal vigilance is the prize of liberty, cognizance must be taken of Mimiko’s Machiavellian political maneuverings in different guise and coloration. Akure’s political interest will be better served in the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the long run even if its indigene fails to secure the governorship ticket in the next election.

    • Odere is a media practitioner. He can be reached at femiodere@gmail.com.

  • Comments

    ‘Re: Education and our value priorities. Bravo Gbadegesin for reminding us timely about our rotten educational system. Mandela said:  “Education is the weapon you can use to change the world”. Chief Awolowo tried it in the defunct Western Region, and till date the evidence cannot be nationally obliterated. Desires should be determined by expected value.”All labour of man is for his mouth, and yet the soul is not satisfied”. (Eccl. 6:7).Nobody can ever satisfy his desires. There should not have been Boko Haram, primitive wealth accumulation, schooling under trees today ,if we had nationally got our educational priority right just after Independence(1960). President Buhari and APC need to curb our institutions from their massive production of Unemployable souls with unwholesome character as being witnessed at the National Assembly. From Elder L .O .David; Efon Alaaye, Ekiti State’

    For Olatunji Dare

    Those public officials who see their elevation to position of responsibility as a clarion call for inebriety and a macabre dance of cant and self devaluation can never be comfortable under President Muhammadu Buhari. What once was unimaginable has happened. The squeaky wheel doesn’t always get the grease: sometimes it gets replaced.  Public officials or politicians should either change   or face the law. From Adegoke o o, Bako, Ibadan, Oyo State.

    For those questioning how much the president and the vice president have declared, it is important they note that the president has never for whatever reason claimed to have nothing or being a comrade . His belief is, earn or get as much as you can, but legitimately, period. Do they know how long he has been rearing cattle? Talking about 270 cows. What about former / serving public officials who started the business overnight and have several thousands of cows today? On a second note, what he has declared has nothing to do with his relationship with the talakawas, because they know him and his worth. The whole life savings of the president before he was elected was what former Governor Akpabio used (N30m) to acquire the SUV jeep he crashed in recently. So what are we talking about? Please let’s save ourselves this display of ignorance and sentiment in reacting to issues. Anonymous

    Sir, please when did the DSS make public its report on the unlawful invasion of the Akwa Ibom State government house as you seemed to be insinuating in your article entitled These disarticulated times. From Aniefiok Macauley, Uyo

    No member of PDP can honestly declare their assets. They all don’t give a damn. Anonymous

    Re: These disarticulated times. President Buhari now has state’s power to touch many lives even beyond the Talakawas . He started toiling as a boy herding his father’s flock .Hence, those assets including the 270 cows declared have become family’s inheritance.”For the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children”(2 Cor.12:14b).You don’t lay up looted assets for your children, it’s a curse. Public officers like Fayose a ‘danfo’driver, and Wike who was allegedly indicted in the Federal Ministry of Education Audit plus UBEB’s vehicles  with him, cannot boldly declare their dubious assets. But God will let loose devourers on stolen propertie. However, what happens after the officers must have left office? Without appraising their assets you, pay them huge severance allowance? Over to Prof. Dare. From Elder L. O. David, Efon Alaaye, Ekiti State 

    Hello Dare, I hope our so-called public servants would be allowed to free movement to serve us or have forgotten the OGA kidnappers. From Okoro O.L, Calabar

    Re-NNPC’s recovery drive-The NNPC has been regarded as a party company which is why no discipline is visible. Now that a Daniel has come to judgment hence a kobo stolen should be retrieved. Only a cleanup of the mess in the company will give the nation the desired respect in the comity of nations. The recovery is imperative and no looking back no matter whose ox is gored. No sacred cows. Enough of party stealing/patronage syndrome. From Pastor Odunmbaku. 

    Sir, your article in the ‘Nation’ newspaper of September 15, was a masterpiece in content and in the images it evoked. More grease to your elbow. From Chief Mrs. I.  Idowu.

    It is necessary for all elected politicians to declare their assets for public to know because corruption in governance has become something else It needs to checkmated. All politicians should emulate PMB and his vice for their assets declaration. From Chika Nnorom

    Re-these disarticulated times. No matter what any detractor would say, pmb has so far shown an example of a good leader. He declared his available assets. Even if others refuse to declare, we should give pmb the maximum support to deal and penalise whoever is caught to plunder this country. My prayer is that PMB would not be misled into picking ministers who at the end of the tenure will not disappoint him. From Lanre Oseni.

    Ref:”These disarticulated times”: Point of correction please .Our “uncommon transformer’s car did not just collide with a U.S. embassy car. Rather, reports had it that the ex “digital governor and our former Lord of the manor’s car hit the other car from the rear. One then wonders if traffic offence should not be included among Akpabio’s alleged many official malfeasances. From Marshall Mboboh,Ikot Abasi,Akwa Ibom State.    

    Thanks for your piece – These disarticulated times. For former Governor Godswill Akpabio, who brags, claims to be and parades himself as  an eagle – the only bird that flies without getting tired – it’s a case of ‘the eagles have come to roost.’  Too bad, there will be no hiding place for people like him. From Julia, Uyo

     

    For Segun Gbadegesin

    Re: Education and our value priorities. Bravo Gbadegesin for reminding us timely about our rotten educational system. Mandela said:  “Education is the weapon you can use to change the world”. Chief Awolowo tried it in the defunct Western Region, and till date the evidence cannot be nationally obliterated. Desires should be determined by expected value.”All labour of man is for his mouth, and yet the soul is not satisfied”. (Eccl. 6:7).Nobody can ever satisfy his desires. There should not have been Boko Haram, primitive wealth accumulation, schooling under trees today ,if we had nationally got our educational priority right just after Independence(1960). President Buhari and APC need to curb our institutions from their massive production of Unemployable souls with unwholesome character as being witnessed at the National Assembly. From Elder L .O .David; Efon Alaaye, Ekiti State.

    Re-Education and our value priorities.  At this jet age, almost all will have no option than to priotise and repriotise education to be topmost. individuals, communities, states and the nation must abide by development strategies of following the development factors of low population, quality education and merit in all ramifications. Era of expenses on frivolities must stop in Nigeria by individuals, communities and the nation. From Lanre Oseni.

    Re: “Education and our value priorities.” I do agree with you that without education, all other values and desires amount to nought.  In the olden days, youths will gather under the shade of a tree to receive oral instructions from the Baale-Community head-about the tradition, culture and the history of the community before the advent of missionary which established schools to spread the values of education. Much premium had been placed on education since then. What are our priorities today? Despite so much effort at revamping our battered system of education, we have continued to get it wrong. We have allowed interest in politics and pecuniary incentives to overshadow our value priorities while giving room to mad desires to amass illegitimate wealth. As a result of bastardisation of our value priorities, the society has failed to get its rhythm. The already devalued standard of our education, without much ado, needs improvement, that is, if we have the political will to do so. We ignore the leprosy and then focus on the ringworm, remember that, time will come, when there will be no more fingers and toes as a complete human being. So, are we to raise our higher to get it right? All what we need, is a good reformer not just any leader who is not ready to take risks. From Prince Adewumi Oyeromade Agunloye

     

    For Gbenga Omotoso

    Since PMB took over the leadership of this country, sanity has return to the nation everybody has to sit up for challenges facing the nation. Impunity would no longer acceptable again.PMB is taking care of insecurity and other social vices in shortest time Nigerians will have cause to smile because promised land is around the corner. With the assistance of the international community, what PMB need from Nigerians is prayer. From Gordon Chika Nnorom

    Which concrete steps have been taken by any government in Nigeria against kidnapping? Please speak truth to governments (state and federal). Has there been serious purnishment that will deter others?  Regards. Anonymous

    As I equally pray for the unconditional release of Toyin Nwosu. I equally believe this would serve as a lesson for those of us who go to parties to show their class to the gallery by spraying naira notes. I want to believe the abduction was informed by the wedding party Steve Nwosu and the wife attended over the weekend with their last N20,000. From Saheed Yussuf.

    Re-lexical matters. Whether or not ground is being hit, we all know, the past 6 weeks, that ‘’action’’ is being witnessed from pmb. pmb must desist however, fom being teleguided by anyone no matter highly placed he/she may be in this governancee. Language of opposition will never be soft. It was worse than the present, under jonathan. From lanre Oseni.

    Whenever the news of kidnapping comes around, I could only but pity any abducted person that is in captivity. The harrowing experience and the trauma that is involved and followed after release is better imagined. Please release this lovely soul from the den that you kept her. God be with Toyin Nwosu. Anonymous

  • The war on corruption

    When then candidate Muhammadu Buhari made his now famous statement “if we don’t kill corruption, corruption will kill Nigeria” in the course of his campaign for the presidency earlier this year, not a few Nigerians agreed and silently wished that the former Head of State triumph at the April 14 presidential election.

    And when it came to pass that the candidate of the then opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) party was the victor in the election, the whole nation, save a few, heaved a sigh of relief that the 16 years of unbridled corruption under the “largest political party in Africa” the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has finally been terminated. And to a great and better future for Nigeria they looked when Mr Muhammadu Buhari mounted the saddle on May 29, this year, taking over from Dr Goodluck Jonathan as President and Commander-In-Chief.

    A President Buhari at the helm is seen not by a few as signaling not only the beginning of the end for corruption and impunity in the country but also a rebirth for a giant of a nation that has been on all fours since inception.

    The fight against corruption Nigerians expect would now be given a sharp teeth with the two main anti-corruption agencies, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) in vigorous pursuit of corrupt elements in our society. And the two agencies have seemingly been up to the task, pursuing their assignments without fear or favour. The government, meaning the presidency, we are made to believe, has also been working behind the scene with core operatives of the immediate past regime to secretly refund public funds they have stolen from our common purse, to prevent prosecution and punishment. Good. But we should also be told who these people are, if only to shame them.

    All these are gladdening to hear and Nigerians are beginning to not only hope for the best, but also feeling the best. The bad boys are being dealt with, we all seem to agree. Kudos to EFCC and ICPC. But what of the Code of Conduct Bureau and its twin agency, the Code of Conduct Tribunal, what are they up to? Have they been sleeping? Not really. Last week, the CCB and CCT entered the fray and all hell has been let loose since then. I hope you know what I am talking about. In case you are still in the dark, recall that a little over a week ago, the Bureau dragged Senate President, Bukola Saraki before the Code of Conduct Tribunal on a 13-count charge bordering on false declaration of asset. The president of the National Assembly and third in line to Nigeria’s presidency narrowly escaped being docked as his lawyers cleverly approached a Federal High Court to challenge the CCT. Though the Tribunal is also fighting back, issuing a bench warrant for the arrest of the SP, the matter clearly presents the sternest test to date to the Buhari administration fight against corruption.

    Senator Saraki is the first big fish to be entangled in this anti corruption web and it remains to be seen how the matter would be treated. The allegations are no doubt weighty, but mere allegations they remain until the man is proven guilty. For now he is innocent of all the charges.

    But while the matter is best left for the judiciary to handle, the political fallout from Saraki’s arraignment is as interesting as the matter itself. Expectedly, Nigerians, not the least, members of the ruling All Progressives Congress are sharply divided on the matter. While some see it as a move in the right direction to cleanse the stable of corruption, sympathizers of the Senate President are seeing it as a political vendetta against Saraki as punishment for defying his party to contest the presidency of the Senate and also getting a member of the opposition on board as his deputy.

    Considering the frosty relationship between President Buhari and Senator Saraki since the Senate presidency election and the division it generated within the leadership of the APC, it is very difficult not to believe the Saraki supporters, while at the same time their assertion is very difficult to prove. And now that the presidency has distanced itself from the travail of Saraki in the hands of the CCB and CCT, it becomes more difficult to pin the matter on President Buhari. But this is politics, anything is possible. Did I hear you say CHANGE?

    While the APC people are bickering over the matter, the PDP is expectedly licking its lips over the development, accusing the president and his party of political witch hunt in its anti corruption war, conveniently ignoring the fact that the monumental corruption that we are talking of in Nigeria today took place under PDP’s watch. Let’s put that aside for now.

    While the politicians from both sides could be excused for holding different views on the matter, what is perhaps surprising is the position of the leadership of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) on the matter.  Over the weekend in Abuja, NANS president Tijani Sheu teamed up with the Director General of a political association called Heritage Group and threatened to protest Saraki’s arraignment and trial at foreign embassies in the federal capital. Ironically, the same Sheu had on September 2 led a group of Nigerian students to the presidential villa in Abuja to pledge support for Buhari’s anti-corruption campaign. So what is he up to or rather, in what direction is he leading Nigerian students?  I don’t want to read too much into this but suffice to say that the Nigerian youth, especially student leaders should exercise restrain when commenting on issues outside their knowledge lest they fall victim to cheap political opportunism. They are better advised to think before they speak and to always keep quiet when they have nothing to say.

    How would protesting at foreign embassies help the cause of fighting corruption which NANS told Buhari on September 2 that it supports, or stop the CCB from going ahead with its case with Saraki if  indeed it has a case against the Senate President? What I think the students should concern themselves with is the integrity of the process. If the CCB thinks it has any case against Saraki, it should proceed at the tribunal as stipulated by law. And if the Senate President thinks otherwise, he should go and fight it out at the tribunal and clear his name. And if he can get the Appeal court to stop the tribunal, fine.

    Let the right things be done. Imputing political motive to the CCB’s action would not change the fact that the matter at hand is a legal matter and should be so treated. I can see this matter getting to the Supreme Court, whichever side loses, and this will ultimately be good for the system. Once the matter is decided one way or the other by the courts,  Nigerians would do well to forget about it and forge ahead. But then, the war should not stop with Saraki. There are many others public officers with similar stories, it is when the CCB pursues their case with the same vigor as Saraki’s that the doubters of the anti corruption war would be put to shame.

     

    Goodnight Mama H.I.D Awolowo

     

    Just as the Awolowo family of Ikenne , Ogun State was getting set for the centenary birthday celebration of their Matriarch, Mama Hannah Idowu Dideolu, slated for later this year, death came calling last Saturday and took away the ‘Jewel of Inestimable Value’ of their father, Chief Obafemi Awolowo.

    Chief Mrs HID Awolowo, the Yeye Oba of Ife died at the age of 99. She would have been 100 years old on November 25, 2015.

    Coming 28years after the death of her husband, Mama lived a life worthy of emulation by all women, especially wives of our politicians and other public office holders. She stood by her husband through out his political life and remained steadfast to his political ideology even after his death. She doggedly kept the Awolowo flag flying all these years after her husband’s death. May her soul rest in perfect peace. Amen.

     

  • Buhari and August 27, 1985 (thirty years after)

    Buhari and August 27, 1985 (thirty years after)

    Arson has been used to cover up fraudulent acts in public institutions. I am referring to the fire incidents that gutted the P&T buildings in Lagos, the Anambra State Broadcasting Corporation, the Republic Building at Marina, the Federal Ministry of Education, the Federal Capital Development Authority Accounts at Abuja and the NET Building. Most of these fire incidents occurred at a time when Nigerians were being apprehensive of the frequency of fraud scandals and the government incapacity to deal with them. Corruption has become so pervasive and intractable that a whole ministry has been created to stem it. Fellow Nigerians, this indeed is the moment of truth. My colleagues and I – the Supreme Military Council, must be frank enough to acknowledge the fact that at the moment, an accurate picture of the financial position is yet to be determined. We have no doubt that the situation is bad enough. In spite of all this, every effort will be made to ensure that the difficult and degrading conditions under which we are living are eliminated. Let no one however be deceived that workers who have not received their salaries in the past eight or so months will receive such salaries within today or tomorrow or that hospitals which have been without drugs for months will be provided with enough immediately.We are determined that with the help of God we shall do our best to settle genuine payments to which government is committed, including backlog of workers’ salaries after scrutiny. We are confident and we assure you that even in the face of the global recession, and the seemingly gloomy financial future, given prudent management of Nigeria’s existing financial resources and our determination to substantially reduce and eventually nail down rises in budgetary deficits and weak balance of payments position.The Federal Military Government will reappraise policies with a view to paying greater attention to the following areas:

    • The economy will be given a new impetus and better sense of direction.
    • Corrupt officials and their agents will be brought to book.
    • In view of the drought that affected most parts of the country, the federal government will, with the available resources, import food stuffs to supplement the shortfalls suffered in the last harvest.

    Our foreign policy will be both dynamic and realistic. Africa will of course continue to be the centre piece of our foreign policy. The morale and combat readiness of the armed forces will be given high priority. Officers and men with high personal and professional integrity will have nothing to fear.

    The Chief Justice of Nigeria and all other holders of judiciary appointments within the federation can continue in their appointments and the judiciary shall continue to function under existing laws subject to such exceptions as may e decreed from time to time by the Federal Military Government. All holders of appointments in the civil service, the police and the National Security Organisation shall continue to exercise their functions in the normal way subject to changes that may be introduced by the Federal Military Government. All those chairmen and members of statutory corporations, parastatals and other executive departments are hereby relieved of their appointments with immediate effect.

    The Federal Military Government will maintain and strengthen existing diplomatic relations with other states and with international organisations and institutions such as the Organisation of African Unity, the United Nations and its organs, Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, ECOWAS and the Commonwealth etc. The Federal Military Government will honour and respect all treaties and obligations entered into by the previous government and we hope that such nations and bodies will reciprocate this gesture by respecting our country’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.

    Fellow Nigerians, finally, we have dutifully intervened to save this nation from imminent collapse. We therefore expect all Nigerians, including those who participated directly or indirectly in bringing the nation to this present predicament, to cooperate with us. This generation of Nigerians, and indeed future generations, have no country other than Nigeria. We shall remain here and salvage it together.

    • Randle is a former President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and former Chairman of KPMG Nigeria and Africa Region. He is currently the Chairman, JK Randle Professional Services.

    Email:jkrandleintuk@gmail.com

  • Buhari, Buharism and Buharinomics

    Buhari, Buharism and Buharinomics

    The nation is gradually seeing the president in action and the generations who were either not born or matured enough in 1983 to 1985 during the first coming of Major General Muhammadu Buhari as a military ruler, must now be able to see that the story they heard about the man has not changed. What story? The story that a military ruler took over from a civilian administration; from one President Shehu Aliyu Shagari, due to corruption and incompetence.  The nation was made to undergo a rebirth from wastefulness and daylight political brigandry, the malady that almost suffocated life out of the nation.

    Buhari came, saw the nation bleeding to death, as an infantry officer, he shot his way to power, arrested the looters of the commonwealth and tried them under the military decree. Some politicians were jailed, while some were kept under house arrest, others fled. Those that fled the country were not spared. Buhari’s government declared them wanted at all cost. Ubah Ahmed, Adisa Akinloye and Umaru Dikko were declared wanted over treasury looting. Dikko was abducted by the State Security Service officials in the heart of London. The abduction failed at the Heathrow Airport in London and Nigerian officers behind the operation of repatriating Dikko to Nigeria were apprehended, tried and jailed in London for abduction. The Dikko’s loot remained in UK banks till today, but the conscience of the keepers kept troubling them till they cried out over why they are still keeping the loots.

    Buhari’s retroactive decree against drug traffickers was described as draconian. Some young Nigerians; Batholomie Owoh and others caught were summarily tried and executed, and the nation’s condemnation went far and near over Buhari’s government action. Those drug traffickers ran out of steam for the period Buhari called the shots, but returned and remain till date after his ousting. Buhari that we know will sooner or later chase the drug peddlers out again. This time not with retroactive decrees, but with the laws of the land. To Buhari, what is not good must not be spared. Drugs have ruined many lives all over the world. We must therefore waste the wasters before they waste our youths.

    Buhari’s War Against Indiscipline (WAI) battled indiscipline in almost all aspect of our lives. The war against indiscipline in schools curbed lateness among teachers and students. Soldiers were sent to schools to whip the students when necessary, but Fela Anikulapo would not tolerate that, so he withdrew his son, Femi, from school. The war worked against rushing and unruly behaviour at bus stops. Civility was restored in public places. No one dared to jump queues at post offices, supermarkets, airports and etcetera. The Buhari we know will not spare acts of indiscipline. Those concerned should get out of the way of indiscipline before PMB comes to that item on his agenda. No nation progresses in the midst of indiscipline; to Buhari, the change will not be completed without war against indiscipline.

    The Decree 4 of 1984 caused the press to clash with Buhari, two Guardian newspapers reporters were jailed. Buhari forgot the word of Chairman Mao of China who declared: “I fear the pen more than the sword.” Buhari took on the press, and it remains his albatross till date. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) took him up with the press and he almost lost out. It was the then opposition press that rescued him. The world almost believed that the APC’s candidate had no secondary school certificate. Ayodele Fayose compared his mother’s health at 72 with that of Buhari and swore the man’s brain was dead. Only those that were not in Nigeria will not remember how the president was humbled and embarrassed over the certificate issue. His health and mental capacity were queried before our very eyes. The State Security Services were always in the news over the political party that Buhari was flying its flag. The Raypower/AIT documentary was out to damage the dream of his presidency. They spared not even his backers.

    But Buhari’s vengeance against Raypower/AIT came sooner than they envisaged and Buhari’s men sent them out of Aso Rock before the people cried out that this is democracy and not a military regime. Buhari was not done yet, but he said “They call me baba go slow, let them call me, I will go slow and steady.”

    BUHARISM

    Buharism- is a political philosophy. It is the philosophy that guides Buhari in all his years past. It is going to guide him for as long as he remains in power. Buhari believes in spartan discipline. He lives by it, he walks it and eats it. Buhari may not be in the class of the late Aminu Kano, the father of the Northern Talakawas, who at death had only a transistor radio and less than N300 in his bank account. Buhari may not be in the same plane with former Tanzanian President Juluis Nyerere, who ruled Tanzania for twenty years without building or owning a house. The Uruguayan former President Jose Pepe Mujica is far away from our Buhari in terms of accumulation of wealth. Jose Pepe Mujica lived with his family in a two-room apartment as a president. He owns an old Volswagen car and has no money in his savings account.  All he does is to see to the welfare of the people. We can’t but commend Buhari, who was once a Petroleum Minister and Head of State at different times but cannot be grouped among the billionaires.

     Our Buhari, from immemorial, has been accused of caring for the Hausa- Fulanis. He was accused in his first coming of double standard; Shagari and other northerners outsted by him were given house arrest, while hundreds of southern politicians were jailed.

    Unfortunately, he has started in the same step by appointing 90 percent from the north as his personal aides, only for him to say: “If I appointed people I know quite well in my political party all the way right from the APP, CPC and APC, and have remained together in good or bad situation, the people I have confidence in and can trust them with any post, will that amount to anything wrong?” Mr. President, something is wrong, you have violated Section 14 sub section 3 of the1999 Constitution of Nigeria.

    Buharism is going to shape the ministerial appointments. But will that work for long? It may, given the fact that the All Progressives Congress (APC) is a merger of many political parties. Will Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, APC National Leader, fold his arms while Buharism continues to prosper? Dr. Ogbonaya Onu, Rochas Okorocha and Dr. Christ Ngige may soon explode, as well as other members from the eastern part of Nigeria are not going to spare the president from his manner of lopsided appointments. Even some minority voices in the north are against this approach. How are we going to appease the Igbos that the president’s action, even without a slot among the top seven political offices in Nigeria is normal? How  are we going to interpret Section 14 sub 3 of the 1999 Constitution that states: “The composition of the Government of the Federation or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the federal character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity, and also to command national loyalty,  and thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from a few states or from a few ethnic or other sectional groups in that Government or its agencies.” Can we collectively agree that Mr. President has complied with this section of the Constitution? If not, can someone tell Buhari that this philosophy will not work.

    BUHARINOMICS

    The challenge before the nation today is that of economy.  The oil we all depend on is no longer sustainable, as its price in the world market is falling fast. There is the problem of corruption that has made billionaires out of the indolent and boot-lickers They became billionaires, not because they were contractors or businessmen or women, but because they looted the commonwealth. So, Buharinomics is working and must work against them. The experts have suggested that Nigeria should look beyond oil economy. PMB himself has warned that except we divert from oil to agriculture, the economy will continue to be in trouble. It is hoped that Buharinomics will be on agriculture.  But will it be fertiliser-induced agriculture or commercial farming? Until we face the reality that agriculture was the first source of our revenue through which the nation was built from the colonial era till post-civil war years, we will continue to be at the mercy of western nations.

      The Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) is another direction that PMB would likely fall back to, as well as the revenue acquired from duties. The appointment of Mr. Fowler as the new Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS) boss may enhance government drive towards high returns in this area. The ongoing reorganisation in Custom Services and Nigerian Ports Authority may assist the federal government to shore up its revenue base.

  • Odumakin and Ogun politics

    Mr Yinka Odumakin, author of the piece, “Finishing well: The Osoba example”, is a “change fiend”. At one point he belonged to the Afenifere camp. Later he switched allegiance to the Afenifere Renewal Group, which was and is not in good terms with the parent Yoruba socio-cultural group. Today, he is back in the old Afenifere. At a point, he fought the then President Goodluck Jonathan to a standstill. But just before the 2015 general election, he espoused the virtues of Jonathan to the heavens. He was a prominent figure in the quest of the current President, Muhammadu Buhari, to lead the nation in 2011. Today, he is a budding critic of the Buhari administration. Like a bolt from the blue, Odumakin now sings the praise of Chief Olusegun Osoba. We pray to God to grant Osoba good health and long life so he may be in a position to form the right opinion about Yinka.

    Given this background, I hardly had time for anything written or said by Odumakin, until the very latest assault on my home state. Not even Joseph Goebbels of the Nazi Germany was capable of the propaganda spin introduced by Odumakin in the article published recently in the papers. More worrisome is the timing of his write-up. The SDP, for all you care, is no longer in any public space in Ogun State. Even the ruling APC in the state has been quiet, concentrating on governance. It’s only the PDP that is already preparing for 2019, albeit by subterfuge. I agree with a commentator who says Isiaka has no case but only chose the tribunal option in order to court public opinion ahead of 2019.

    But at the level of political mischief, Ogun State has not been silent, as the opposition hacks outdo themselves in their mission to discredit Governor Ibikunle Amosun. And there are no blinkers in their obsession with “Pull Him Down”, hence the campaign of calumny also directed against his family. So, why did Odumakin choose this time to launch this malevolent propaganda?

    According to Yinka, “They (the Osoba camp) moved to the unknown SDP and campaigned like never before in all nooks and crannies of Ogun state. There wasn’t much electoral dividend to all the efforts given the sham nature of our electoral process…”

    Odumakin was totally wrong when he blamed the woeful performance of SDP on what he termed “the sham nature of our electoral process.” Well, he is not from Ogun State, so I assume he does not know the level of political consciousness of our people. Yes, the SDP “campaigned like never before in all nooks and crannies of Ogun state”. Yes, they spent money like water. Yet, they were overwhelmingly rejected by the electorate because the party was seen as anti-progress and anti-people. From within and without, they did everything possible to sabotage all the pro-masses policies and programmes of the Amosun government. Our people saw all the machinations and punished SDP commensurately at the polls.

    Indeed, it was sheer happenstance that made my cousin drive along Itoku market in  Abeokuta during the SDP campaign. If the party could not command a modicum of respect in what should ordinarily be the jurisdiction of its leader despite the name, money and well-oiled propaganda against Amosun, I wonder how it should have fared elsewhere. And when the votes were counted at the polling booth of Osoba, news went round that SDP recorded just thirty-six (36) votes as against APC’s one hundred and sixty-nine (169) votes; PDP got twenty-four (24) votes. It was apparent the electorate had taken side with the APC even right to the doorsteps of Chief Osoba. If the poll was rigged as Odumakin tried in vain to establish, was the election also rigged at the polling booth in front of Osoba’s house, where majority of the voters were his neighbours? Haba! Odumakin! Tell us something else!

    No one in Nigeria, except Odumakin and a few wishful-thinkers like him, gave SDP any chance. Check in-depth media reports during the election period, it was a straight fight between APC and PDP, with analysts predicting a landslide for Amosun not just because of his outstanding performance and the fanatical support he enjoyed and still enjoys from the masses, but the tug of war within the Ogun PDP and the political albatross around the neck of its candidate. Therefore “the most sophisticated rigging machine” could only have been around the home of Odumakin. And indeed, they deployed it in Ogun with the support of the then ruling PDP at the centre to deny thousands of supporters of APC their PVCs especially in some of the strongholds of the party. Otherwise the margin of APC’s victory should have been a lot wider. After all, Amosun mauled Isiaka in 2011 by polling three times his votes.

    Yinka was equally economical with the truth when he insinuated that the Amosun government owed salaries before the elections. From the facts available in the media, Amosun did not owe salaries, before, during and after the elections. The problem, according to some workers that I know personally, has to do with co-operative deductions, which was caused by the financial problem in the country. And I read in the papers recently that the deductions in question amounted to only one month salary of workers. So if Amosun owes just a month salary at a time many state governments owe up to nine or thirteen months, how does that imply the governor won elections without winning power?

    However, let me say that I have no sympathy for Amosun on this matter of wages. I remember when the Minimum Wage problem began some years ago, I was on a radio programme where I cautioned Amosun against implementing the increase across board. My argument was that somebody cannot sit in Abuja and decree what the states must pay their workers. We need money for capital projects. The cost of living in Lagos, Rivers, Abuja etc is higher than that of Ogun, yet Amosun decided to pay above the Wage, citing as excuse the need to motivate workers for productivity. He did not stop there, he implemented the percentage increment up to the highest level in the civil service which ballooned the salary bill to twice the figure he inherited from the previous government. Up till today some states have not implemented the minimum wage. Many that did so only stopped at the level of junior staff. When the going was good, we did not hear the voice of Odumakin and by the time the governor will sort out the deductions, no external voice will be needed.

    But the most tragic aspect of Odumakin’s piece was his reference to an incident that did not happen on the day Amosun was inaugurated in 2011. From the two public events that I attended and some that I viewed on television, Amosun always recognised Chief Osoba as “our leader” before recognizing ex-governor Bola Tinubu or any other leader. Interestingly, I relate with a couple of ACN chieftains on another level. They agreed that Odumakin is a good “fiction writer”. According to them, there was no single ACN chieftain that was not aware that Asiwaju Tinubu would not attend the inauguration ceremony early that day as he was billed to honour other ACN governors, with a promise to attend Amosun’s post-inauguration lunch, which he did. Therefore, the idea of tagging a seat next to Amosun for Tinubu instead of Osoba was a criminal lie, a complete fabrication and distortion of history. Where again is honour in this land, Mr Odumakin?

    As I stated earlier, based on the political trajectory of Yinka, I am not sure his publicity stunt for Osoba is with good intentions. Another aspect of his piece does a disservice to Osoba. If Osoba knew the former governor of Lagos was a “rogue” as Odumakin alleged and related with him very closely for years, having their houses beside each other, eating and drinking together, wearing the same clothes to private and public functions,  logic teaches that it is either the two of them are “rogues” or the former Lagos governor is not a “rogue”. I know the two former governors are men of honour, who served their states meritoriously.

    The political battle between Chief Osoba and Senator Amosun remains a tragic interlude in the political evolution of Ogun in this generation. If it’s all about the electorate or public service, then the voters have spoken, and loudly too. And it is commendable that both Osoba and Amosun have since moved on with their lives.

     

     

    • Chief Adetayo writes from Ifo, Ogun State.

  • Battle against same-sex marriage far from over

    Abhorrent pratices like homosexuality, lesbianism, bestiality and their pervasive influence on governance recently engaged the attention of Rev. Chris Okotie’s Fresh Democratic Party (FRESH) mainly because the western world is determined to brow beat the whole world into accepting this immorality as the new norm. As a long-standing member of the Pastor’s Household of God International Ministries, I listened to his insightful teachings on what he called the ‘cult of the beast’, a broad title he used to describe the power of homosexuality and those who engage in such pervasion on government and other institutions of society. You only need to observe the frenetic urgency with which western nations are embracing this trend, as if the growth of their economies is dependent on it. Maybe it indeed is!

    Same-sex marriage is reminiscent of those who launder slush funds or black money from looted public treasuries, drug trafficking, illegal bunkering and illegal mining of precious stones. The ultimate aim of homosexuals is to control governments and fulfill Satan’s end-time objective, according to Rev. Okotie. The pastor-politician’s prediction in his book, The Last Outcast, that western nations would legalise same-sex marriage has come to pass, with its endorsement by the U.S. Supreme Court.

    Expectedly, many western nations have followed suit. At the last count, about 17 nations have approved what the major religions—Christianity, Islam and Judaism—considered to be an abomination. Now, what makes the homosexuality cult different from other sexual pervasions like adultery, fornication, etc? Cults are usually associated with the religious, and as heterosexuality is God’s way of continuing the creative process, homosexuality and lesbianism are cult’s way of perverting it. One can, therefore, appreciate the warning the FRESH Party gave President Mohammadu Buhari to resist western pressure to bring Nigeria into the emerging club of same-sex nations in the world.

    In The Last Outcast, Rev. Okotie brought to the notice of the world about 15 years ago that sodomy would become a new religion and why it would herald the unveiling of the Anti-Christ. Also, in an interview in Nigerian Compass of Monday, October 18, 2010, he told the reporter that “there are three levels of what I call the tripartite coalition of evil… We have elitism, satanism and mysticism. If you can understand these three, you will understand how politics works…” Yes, now we understand.

    To exert pressure on dissenting nations, a spokesperson for the British High Commission countered Nigeria’s signing of the Anti-Gay Act, saying that the law “infringes upon fundamental rights of expression and association which are guaranteed by the Nigerian Constitution and by international agreements to which Nigeria is a party.” It was seconded by

    U.S. Secretary of State, Sen. John Kerry, who said: “…It is inconsistent with Nigeria’s international legal obligations and undermines … democratic reforms and human rights protections.” This is the coalition of evil that Rev. Okotie is talking about.

    The US, like its western counterparts, where incongruous practices like homosexuality are welcomed and embraced acts of institutionalised endorsement of the horrific trend, is an evidence of how strong the power of the Devil is on the world today. A cleric recently appeared in court facing charges for exercising his constitutional right to refuse honouring a gay marriage request, while a clerk was found guilty on the same charge in Kentucky, US, and has spent time in prison. This is the country that played a major role in the launch of the Pentecostal revival.

    Here in Nigeria, our immediate concern is different, as the Act, which strengthens a previous Constitutional provision against sodomy, is under threat from forces within as much as from without. Despite the signing of the Act, and President Buhari’s uncompromising stance in defence of it, there is no contesting the fact that there are numerous secret adherents of these perversions in the corridors of power, corporate circles, citadels of learning and across different spheres of our nation, who are still ‘in the closet’. There is also its appeal which has been craftily infused into the global village with years of subtle advertisements in the media and with the political might of the western culture and economies.

    This translates into the future possibilities of a Nigerian generation, government or leader upturning this Act to gain relevance in an already primed world. Our youthful generation, which consistently interacts with peers across the globe, is most susceptible to these obscenities, as they are more receptive of such liberal ideologies, especially via the mainstream and social media. Mr. President should not be lost on this fact. He should call the relevant authorities to task on ensuring that all avenues like movies, music and fashion, which western nations use to glamorize this perversion are regulated. That is why extreme measures like censoring the media and internet content to weed out offensive materials was being adopted by several countries like China, Sri Lanka and Russia.

    In summary, it is instructive to refer to what Jesus Christ foretold over two millenia ago. He said: “… as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man… Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built, but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.” That time is here, and we cannot be caught in its vortex. Rev. Okotie has sounded the warning, President Buhari has upheld the spirit of the Act; Nigerians must now take up the gauntlet for deviation from a course that will surely set man’s existence at odds with continuity.

     

    • Osewenghie Osagiede wrote in from Osun State.