The Nation Newspaper

Category: Comments

  • School children, not tools of political war

    As a Nigerian who has experienced Turks and their culture both at home and in Turkey for over a decade, I have come to see and feel Turkey as my second country. My first interaction with the Turkish society was through education in Abuja at one of their many schools nationwide before I went on to spend five years in Istanbul.

    One of the first things I discovered about Turkey is the booming economy. I witnessed development beautifully driven by individuals in the industrial sector, pushing relentlessly for the best output on global criteria. I felt so blessed to be part of this growth and experience and Turkish work ethics first hand. Turks love to produce useful things of high quality; they love to boast of how much better their product or service is than China or how many big multinational brands outsource production to them.

    Since I returned to Nigeria I have watched my second country from afar, experiencing joy when I see them make moves to reach out to other parts of the world and imprint their mark of excellence. As of recent, my feelings have turned sour from the negative and unpatriotic happenings in Turkey.

    In order to grasp the scope of the bitterness I experience, one must know and understand the purpose of the Hizmet movement founded by Turkish intellectual scholar Fetullah Gulen. I define the hizmet movement as a self-sufficient, non-profit oriented selfless ecosystem held together by an idea fostered by volunteers to touch lives on a global scale through education, charitable projects, dialogue, healthcare and general economic development.

    Fetullah Gulen’s ideals are derived from Islamic teachings that promote education, enriching humanity’s welfare, dialogue and peaceful coexistence. It is through a widespread decision by many inspired Turks and Non-Turks to ‘serve’ this same idea that holds the hizmet movement together. The word Hizmet in Turkish directly translates to service. In this case, service is rendered to and for humanity with no strings attached. The only one string I have experienced in the hizmet movement is the unspoken request that as you have been served, make sure you serve too, so that the chain of goodness never ends; for those who have served you will come to pass. One must also take note that from the successful schools, hospitals, businesses and media outlets built in over 160 countries through donations from business-people and donors inspired by the hizmet movement; Mr Gulen doesn’t get a coin of profit.

    Although Gulen started to promote his ideas in 1966, it wasn’t until 1980’s that they experienced substantial tangible growth as business owners he inspired responded to the educational crisis in Turkey at the time by building and sustaining student dormitories, organizing university entrance exam courses, teacher associations, publishing houses and starting up a journal. Schools that won medals in nationwide competitions also sprung, catching everyone’s attention and increasing the movement’s follower-ship and trust. This later evolved to the building of more schools and hospitals in Turkey and overseas with the simple goal to serve humanity.

    Without this movement, there wouldn’t have been a Turkish International College for me to attend, or a Turkish Nizamiye hospital for me to visit for world class health care. Nigerian Turkish Nile University in Abuja would also be a myth that my younger sister would only imagine enrolling in and never actualise or conceptualise the dream of attending such an institution. There certainly wouldn’t be an Association of Business people and investors of Nigeria and Turkey to turn to for easy trade bridges.

    Tayyip Erdogan, the current president of Turkey was in good relations with the hizmet movement until recent times when they chose the path of revealing truths of his suspicious dealings rather than being silent accomplices. Ever since, the relationship between Erdogan and the hizmet movement has gone south. It especially took a turn for the worse when the 2014 money laundering scandal on shady real estate deals surfaced. He accused hizmet movement of influencing investigations by the police that led to the discovery of millions of euros hidden in a bank chairman’s home among others. Telephone recordings of him directing his son to hide millions of dollars also surfaced to further smear his image. These occurrences which he blames on his new enemy, hizmet, convinced him to retaliate aggressively. His most recent move is the most unreasonable and disadvantageous yet.

    President Erdogan is campaigning in Africa for the abolishment of all schools built by the hizmet movement by accusing them of promoting terrorist activities. The Nigerian Turkish colleges which I personally benefited from, falls under this category. On his recent trip to Ethiopia, he encouraged authorities to close down these schools and made beautiful promises of opening new ones. There is a Gulen inspired school in every major country in Africa. Using Nigeria as a sample for my case, there are 16 schools in Nigeria alone. If we put aside the effect such an act would have on the children who would lose an opportunity to get quality education, how about the hundreds or thousands of staff that will lose their jobs? How about the local business people who would lose their very good customers?. The people who sell meat to the schools, the electricity and diesel they use daily, the spending by the Turkish staff on local products and even further investments by the schools would be lost. Such an option would not just be a nationwide educational setback but also an economic disaster on a large scale. I avoid political affairs that do not affect me directly, but this matter is one I had to speak out about. The children in Africa who are in dire need of sound education should not be collateral damage in Erdogan’s political war with the hizmet movement.

  • COMMENTS

    For Gbenga Omotoso

    The man ObJ is a God-sent to Nigeria. May he be blessed, and may his life be long. From Okwute

    My Attention was drawn to the interview granted The Nation newspaper By Gen Olusegun Obasanjo rtd. The decision Obasanjo took as state manly, and the antecedents of Obj as a former military Head of State and a two term civilian President of Nigeria are enough reasons for Obj to place Nigeria above whatever political party. Obj has done right to quit politics, he can’t continue to watch those political jobbers castigate and blackmail his person. The former president has taken the right decision to leave politics at this moment. I personally grew up in Lagos and I knew what Nigerians benefited from government then; we had free education, there were consumer shops in every strategic location where you could buy a packet of Omo at 25.00 kobo, frozen chicken and other essential commodities. Such pleasant moments are seriously missing in Nigeria today. Obj decision is patriotic and applauded by those who saw the days of oil boom. The military should not be politicised. From. From, Abu Dan Shabayagi, Lokoja,Kogi

    Obasanjo is a true stateman. From Okadigbo, Abuja.

    What are we afraid of- Truth. Jonathan lacks the ability. Anonymous

    I have said it that Baba OBJ is an icon and crusader of peace and unity of modern Nigeria. Anonymous

    Nothing but the truth, we can only reject ObJ, in person, but we cannot reject the words coming from him. A good statesman needs to be angry with GEJ government failure. From Joshua, Lagos

    Obasanjo:  A chance encounter. A very good one from whose pen I read sound comments. From Acho, Port Harcourt.

    It is democracy but Obasanjo should not forget that if Jonathan fails he is the one that fails and to be blamed Nigerians didn’t know (Yar’adua and Jonathan) he brought them into power and now he is “leaving us at the middle of the sea for us to sink”. May God lead us. From Sunny, Abuja.

    All what Baba said is absolute true, Obasanjo remains man of highest honour in the world no doubt. Aremu has torn the umbrella and that is all because Baba Iyabo is a man of his word. From Alh Rafiu Aderomola, Ayobo

    On Obasanjo!: a chance encounter. Blame Obasanjo for our woes. He robbed us of good election in 2007, we are just reaping the corruption he sowed. He institutionalised corruption by 2007 electoral fraud. If he is truthful as he shows to be, he should explain how the crooks got hold of government since 2007 at both states and federal levels. Also, his do or die in election then with what we have now. Anonymous

    ‘Toso, considering OBJ’s mannerisms, your conjecture was, in fact, too real and correct. I doff for you. From Ofem, E.

    Sir, your writing on Baba is wonderful, Baba did not only enjoyed ‘’Goodluck’ but ‘Goodwork’ and ‘Good destiny ‘’, Baba Awolowo laboured  to be President for one day but no way, Abiola fought and died for it but never, Atiku tried but no way but Baba Obasanjo had worked in heaven and he is only here to reap the fruits as God ordained it; he took the glory of ending the Civil war, Murtala’s death and that of Abiola even while in Prison for saying the truth. Fayose’s attack on Baba is understandable as  Baba caught and expose him when he stole Ekiti money in the poultry scandal as he cannot escaped the eleventh commandment which says ‘thou shall not be caught ‘, Baba ‘dey campe’  and will surely laugh last. From Omololu Joshua.

    Obasanjo is a great man with good intentions for Nigeria. He expresses fear of Almighty God in all his doings hence he is one with God, therefore he is majority and will always be. God will continue to protect, guide and bless him. I was with him during the civil war. Anonymous

     

    For Prof. Olatunji Dare

    It is but a shame for a sitting president and commander in chief of any nation to play politics with insecurity, the job which he (the President) was chosen to do. Blaming it on past leaders is clearly explained that he (the President) is not fit, incompetent and lacks the vision to lead any group of persons including his parlour. He should either resign or stop talking recklessly. Anonymous.

    Since Buhari left office, the Nigerian soldiers have fought in Liberia with honor, in Congo with integrity, in Somalia with success and in Rwanda with glory: All through with accolades, such that the Nigeria Armed forces are rated the most efficient in Africa, up until 2010. What did PDP take away or added that has made the Armed Forces this bad? Anonymous

    Mr Olatunji, thank you for that write up on the back page. Hatred, selfishness and unreasonableness remain our problem. From Johnbul, Abia

     Good day, sir. Still in a frantic effort to disparage Buhari, the GEJ camp would blame him (Buhari) for instigating Allison Madueke for frittering away N10b on private jets or that GMB must have dissuaded Jonathan from building the second Niger bridge. Anonymous.

    Truth is what is always seen in your column. While they peddle nothing but falsehood in order to cling to power by all means. Nigerians can no longer be deceived. Change by God’s grace is certain this time. From Alfa Katamba Sharada, Kano

    “The selling of the front page” sir, I totally agree with your article. Please can you proffer solution to these unethical behavior? Thanks. Anonymous

    Mr Olatunji Dare, thanks for reminding your colleagues some of the principles of journalism. The PDP presidential   campaigns create enmity than followers, it always diverting from the main issues. This is a wonderful write-up. ‘Keep the flying’. From Anas Bajau,Warri,Delta State.

    Re-the selling of the front page.  Massive advertorials on the cover page meant huge money for the newspapers. Publication of political campaigns on the cover page of newspapers means sale of some candidates with much gains by sponsors if the candidate wins! Era of journalistic ethics is eroding by all Nigerian newstands because almost all, are corrupt and dishonest today. Sir fume not, on cover page for adverts in recent times. It is consequent upon corruption the same columnists and the papers are writing against, that they are also guilty of; otherwise you won’t see what you have noted.  From Lanre Oseni.

    Truth is a weapon of freedom. Covering it with stolen wealth spell doom. There is God!  From Victor, Akwa-Ibom State.

    Thanks for your frank, sincere and patriotic article. Gen Buhari is the one who reclaimed our land from the Chadian soldiers in  1982. But Today Jonathan can’t reclaim our land fm Boko Haram. It’s unfortunate. Let him face his tragedy. From Edet Ekoi, Uyo, Akwa-Ibom State.

    Bravo; Mr. Olatunji Dare was beginning to think that the front pages was for the  highest bidder even if it is to the detriment of common citizens like me and others who spend our hard earned money to buy some filth called newspapers! Innocent citizens like yours truly saw this garbage and believing it still had integrity like  in the good old days spent our hard earned money to buy it only to discover that it had lost its lustre and value or should I say integrity? Please NUJ or Committee of CJ should exercise some disciplinary measures to restrain such egocentric editorial impropriety from contaminating our news stand. From Adeola, Port Harcourt.

    Front page advertisement is avenue to make huge money to run the company and pay salary for workers. Truth of the matter is that news in front pages cannot pay bills with the situation in the country for now. From Gordon Chika Nnorom

     

    For Prof Segun Gbadegesin

    Thanks to you for the  message on the nation news paper old warriors and new alliances on the issue on warding southern Nigeria republic my choice is yes but on the issue of relection please Sir let there be a change in the partysan political fighting, my choice once again I recomend thanks. From Odio Ekuase.

    Re-old warriors, new alliances.  Asiwaju had his reasons for not followng the afenifere’s style  2003. He won lagos. Opinions differ hence it is not compulsory a minority accepts the majority’s opinion. Remember Awo on our economy in 1980! Let Afenifere hold their reasonng and wait for verdict before march 31, 2015. Don’t condemn president Jonathan. His achievements  include listening ability, systematically tackling problems, national conference and freedom of speech.  Open mind and peace. from lanre oseni.

    Your very inspiring write up in the back page of the Nation today refers. I just want to add that on the Issue of June 12 election the North voted massively for the late Chief MKO even in Kano where his Opponent hail from. Thanks. From Ismail, Abuja

    Sir: The piece is controversial.  If a Yoruba nation exists, show me her national flag? It is disgusting that some writers seem patriot and intelligent but cannot interpret the body language of neo-colonialism. Now they wander in the wilderness. The days of those who use tribe and religion to deceive the masses are numbered. What about the writers who have taken sides with the pro-imperialists? Thanks. From Amos Ejimonye, Kaduna

    The northerners believe they are the rulers while others follow. If the present president is from north everywhere would have been calm; they used Boko Haram take back power because they taught that the power has gone out of their hands for many years. Again, it is to spoil Jonathans name we believe in Jonathan and we will vote for him and not Buhari. Anonymous

    All these groups endorsement is for stomach infrastructure. Endorsement when Nigerians are suffering of hardship, insecurity and so on. Who is fooling who? From G.C.nnorom

    This president Jonathan ‘administration was full of unchecked corruption. Though, Mr. President may be aware or not but what was happening at the Port-Harcourt refinery since his regime was a good evidence. How can you borrow money from the bank only to be hijacked by the Area manager, Depot manager and his sales supervisor. Could you believe that people’s money was trapped at the Port-Harcourt refinery since last year August? Is Mr. President not aware? Let those wicked administrators be told to release kerosene tickets for people to recover their borrowed money from the bank. Anonymous

    Sir, we are very grateful for your action taken to dump PDP to APC. We the students of Benue state College of Education Katsin-Ala are believed that, the change will come and our strike will be called off. Thanks. From Mgbanyi Gabriel.

     

    You guys forget the antecedents of Col Dasuki (rtd). He was Babangida’s ADC. He was deeply involved in his oga’s manoeuvrings. He will surely teach his new oga those tricks. Anonymous.

    I have just read your “our good man’. After reading the whole work, I said waow! This is classic. You clearly spelt out all we need to know. Keep standing tall. From Nuhudeen Umar.

    Nigerians will be deceiving themselves if by now they still think the president has good intention for the country. A leader who pretends to be good but is sending wrong signals by proxy has no business calling himself a leader. Nigeria is being governed by a leader who often denies the happenings in the country and will still be telling Nigerians that he is in charge. It is very sad that the president who got massive support from Nigerians when his shoes were in a rotten state is now in a company of many Italian shoes and does not care about the country again. From Hamza Ozi Momoh, Apapa, Lagos.

    Well said, Tunji. But please be informed that all those that attend church are NOT Christians. From Tony Mmuo.

    I had reserved some respect for President Jonathan despite his shortcomings as a man and as president. But that respect vanished completely when during the last presidential media chat the president said he knew nothing about the request of the military seeking postponement of the elections. Haba!!!By that statement, the president exposed himself as an incurable (?) or at worst a president who is not in charge. That he gleefully uttered that statement is a pointer that he does not credit us with any common sense; in his mind, Nigerians are nothing but a congregation of morons. From Simon Oladapo, Ogbomoso.

    You have said it all. The money and materials sharing to woo voters is our resources. So, the electorate should collect whatever that comes their way and vote wisely in a way that they won’t be mortgaging Nigerians’ future by never do well leaders for the sake of ‘stomach infrastructure’.  We should vote based on track record knowing that Nigeria’s future is at stake. From Gordon Chika Nnorom, Umukabia, Abia State.

    Re: Our good man.  I am yet to see any past Nigerian head of state that was free of criticisms. That was ever given ‘above average’ mark for performance while in office. Somebody did not win the primaries of his political party in 1999 yet became a two-term governor. Nothing was written against that. The real winner is late. No leader can be 100 percent excellent in the world. What will happen if Jonathan wins between 28 and 30 March because election would take place. Then you would fear Nigerians the more. The president is doing his best. He needs to do better. From Lanre Oseni.

    Gbogbo ibi ni a ti nko (not) ji adiye ale. The cultural tradition is to pack the chickens to safety from wherever they may have retired to once it is nightfall. The packing to safety is done by the rightful owner. Please note that this observation did not take anything away from your incisive write-up. Cheers. Anonymous.

    Jonathan is  a terrible leader who wasted all the goodwill we bestowed on him. My wife was one of the people given the useless fertiliser last year in the dry season, with Jonathan’s picture. It is still in our store. Let Jonathan and the drowning PDP come and collect their fertiliser. It is useless to us. In fact, about 15 bags of the said fertilizers are lying in one store uncollected. We are Christians and we shall vote for Buhari and not Jonathan who surrounded himself with criminals (names withheld). Please let Jonathan and the unserious element he surrounded himself with know that the day of reckoning is around the corner. Let them allow this nation achieve greatness. A word is enough for the wise. The truth is, give the president 10 years more, he cannot repeat; he cannot perform beyond his intellectual ability and psychological capacity. A president denying the audio of ‘Ekitigate’; the kidnapping of Chibok girls! Nigerians are not animals. Anonymous

    You will soon see GEJ in a white garment worshipping in a white garment church just for re-election. He will also be shocked that the Afenifere endorsement will amount to nothing. He also has no power to create states. That function belongs to the national Assembly. From Tony.

  • Our Girls; Politicians, bankers: No corruption difference? Fight ‘Illegally legal’ NASS salaries for life

    Our Girls; Politicians, bankers: No corruption difference? Fight ‘Illegally legal’ NASS salaries for life

    Our girls and many of our people have been missing on, before and since April 14, 2014. Many others, over 10,000, lie dead in mostly unmarked graves and there are the perhaps millions displaced or injured. The recent King of Saudi Arabia was also buried in an unmarked grave even though he had almost $20 billion, not as rich as Dangote whose name appears in the Swiss branch of HSBC discussions about international tax evasion and undisclosed secret bank accounts confirming international bankers’ fraud. In the 60s, the magazine West Africa advertised Swiss Accounts. Corruption has been around forever.

    The civil service, political and economic banking class all stink of manipulative corruption igniting the historic anti-corruption stance of the Buhari campaign facing the reactionary ‘who-is-who’ in ‘Who is afraid of Buhari?’ on the other side. Millions of Nigerians are frustratingly sick of the personal and public service cost of corruption consuming as much as 50% of budgets of most LGAs, states, federal government organisations.  This cost of corruption is murderous and is an election issue and an affront to national pride. Corruption thought is seen in the high political wages; bankers’ corruption is seen in high bank rates and destructive naira value. Political corruption includes a weak security strategy, near-perpetual darkness, potholes filling our roads, poor education and health delivery systems, high graft in government functions and services, cost of doing business, the greedy open hands of all uniformed organisations, poor return on the contract naira, the education exodus to Ghana, the growing Diaspora population and even worse – the corrupt funding of political parties by government/ contractor corruption.

    African leaders could have directed the Africa Union to declare ‘2015-2025 -The Solar 10 Years’ and negotiated the cutting edge solarisation of Africa as an ‘African-Anti-Poverty, Job Creation’ strategy against the invasion of fortress Europe and as a priority of development from village to Presidential Villa. Of course very few African countries have the criminally low power supply that Giant of Africa, Nigeria, has. The Nigerian citizen has been punished by politics for ever. All our powerlessness, suffering, falling naira, high interest rates are all caused by a lack of true leadership. It seems the leaders have got well ahead of the followers in ‘benefits’. In Nigeria we have a ’Politicians’ Paradise’  Vs a ‘Citizens Cesspool’ of preventable suffering from which we foolishly smile and applaud when we get chairs in a classroom or a few potholes filled or  a 31% pass in WAEC or ‘only 20 deaths from Ebola’ or a 50kmph slow-train while they get a new presidential plane.

    People wake up!! Do not applaud at the dregs given you while they steal us blind. Nigeria was never supposed by God to be so bad.  God gave us oil, geological minerals, millions of hard working people, 12 hours daylight a day, a good climate filled with solar energy, a naira valued at $1.2:1Naira in 1970. Where have they gone?

    Last week the National Assembly, NASS approved for themselves new salaries-for-life for certain national officers within the NASS. This is after receiving huge unknown Salaries and Perks, while in office which are SAPping our budget dry. All this in a country where politicians are regrettably the highest paid in the world while they cannot pay others their salaries and pensions. All this in a country whose currency has plummeted from N150 to 200+ or 25% and whose oil revenues have fallen by 50% through falling oil prices and reduced demand.  Is this ‘Salaries for life’ law a copycat law from the USA, EU or UK? Is there not a body which fixes Salaries and Perks for political office holders? This body perhaps called the Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal something has failed yet again to curb the politicians who are drinking greedily from the near-empty well of Nigeria’s budget. But these politicians are already stupendously wealthy at the nation’s expense. How greedy can a man get? How many golf courses, private jets or mansions in different continents does a man need while fellow Nigerians are protesting seeking unpaid salaries and stolen pensions and food for children? This law giving life salaries and perks to even one NASS member is an insult to our sensibilities, morally reprehensible and though NASS may make it legal, it is an illegality and must be challenged in the courts as ‘ILLEGALLY LEGAL’. Today officers, tomorrow everyone in NASS. This must be challenged in court and some political parties must take this as a key policy strategy like the excessively high political salaries and the need to cut the NASS and state and LGA from ‘full time’ to ‘Part-Time with Sitting Allowances’. The politician appears as a blood-sucking leech on Nigeria’s budget. This political class must be stopped before there is nothing left.  Nigeria has had seven+ years of plenty stolen and faces politically induced seven years of resultant famine.  We need a change.

    Apologies for a missing sentence on Feb 18. The full paragraph was: Nigeria’s builders must visit The Pan Atlantic University Lekki, Lagos has a fantastic eco-friendly building, Enterprise Development Centre, powered by solar energy. All Nigeria’s buildings must be eco-friendly buildings. Of course Africa’s traditional mud and grass buildings were eco-friendly. There is a new National Solar Policy suggesting that all new houses under the new Nigerian Housing Policy and all new government and corporate buildings must include renewable energy, solar. These are huge policy steps

     

  • The Obasanjo-Jonathan tango

    The Obasanjo-Jonathan tango

    It all started like a joke, a joke that soon took on the pattern of a witch-hunt. Now, the push has come to shove, the bubble has finally burst. In the beginning, it was as if the whole country had been zoned to both President Goodluck Jonathan and his kingmaker, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, the man who likes to dominate his environment and every other thing therein either living or dead.

    At one time or the other, I have been privileged to observe, at close quarters,  these two important Nigerians who are now locked in a fratricidal war which is capable of ruffling political feathers in the country. My knowledge of Obasanjo dates back to the mid-1970s, precisely shortly after the coup through which the then Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon was ousted on June 29, 1975. It was at the end of my fourth year in the secondary school – St. John’s Grammar School, Ile-Ife. That coup thrust the late General Murtala Muhammed to the pinnacle of leadership as he succeeded Gowon as Head of State and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. That also brought Obasanjo as his second-in-command.

    From then on, Obasanjo became a regular visitor to the palace of the late Ooni of Ife, Sir Adesoji Aderemi, one of the most respected and highly revered traditional rulers of his time. Having been born and brought up in the palace, I had the privilege of being around most times Obasanjo paid his numerous visits which were mostly done incognito. He usually came in just one car, a Peugeot 504 saloon car marked SHQ 2 accompanied only by the driver and one other person at the front seat of the car, all wearing mufti. The reason for those visits was first, to seek the support of the Ooni in the policy implementation of the new government such as the land use decree and others which the government initiated and also, to seek advice and tap from the great monarch’s fountain of wisdom. In all the visits, Obasanjo cut the image of a humble, quiet and easy-going person. Even when he later became Head of State, he still maintained his close contact with the monarch. Such was the respect Obasanjo had for elders and traditional institutions. I was also around him during the 2011 elections.

    As for President Goodluck Jonathan, I had the privilege to observe him closely when he was the deputy governor in Bayelsa State. My good friend and brother, Prof. Steve Azaiki, was a two-time Secretary to the State Government of Bayelsa during that period. Each time I visited Azaiki at that time, we would both end up either in the governor’s office or in his lodge. And each time the deputy, Jonathan, appeared on the scene, either in the governor’s office with files to treat or in the governor’s lodge for some official functions, Jonathan was always humble, quiet and very reserved. Sometimes, when he opened the door to the governor’s office and saw people waiting, he will quietly shut the door and go back to his office. In some instances, Azaiki will run after him, shouting “HE…HE…HE..” (His Excellency). As soon as he caught up with him, he would either persuade him to come in and see his boss or take over the files from him and take them straight to the governor for his signature. Azaiki was like a go-between for both Jonathan and his boss at that time. Jonathan was humble, honest and shy, while the governor was a no-nonsense man. This, notwithstanding, they both had an excellent working relationship.

    What am I trying to say here? Remember the Yoruba proverb: “When a goat is pursued to the wall, it will turn back and face its pursuers.” In the current Jonathan-Obasanjo tango, I am quite sure that one of them must have pushed the other to the wall which has necessitated the other one to turn back and say, ‘Not anymore.’ We are all aware of the political permutations that threw up the ticket of both the late President Umaru Yar’Adua and Jonathan. While in the case of Yar’Adua, Obasanjo must have seen an honest and God-fearing person, in Jonathan he must have counted much on the man’s humble disposition, sense of contentment and his decent composure, even in the face of provocation. As vice president Jonathan suffered all forms of humiliation but like the humble man he is, he waded through that period without causing any form of commotion. He was truly an obedient servant.

    For everything good or bad, there is always a reward. I believe God must have rewarded Jonathan with the presidency of Nigeria. Why? I am not sure that if Yar’Adua had fully completed his two terms, it would have been possible for Jonathan to succeed him. Even when Yar’Adua was critically ill, it took the invocation of the doctrine of necessity by the National Assembly to enable Jonathan become Acting President and later, President following the eventual demise of Yar’Adua. We should take cognizance of the fact that, in the choice of Jonathan as Vice President, Obasanjo may have been thinking of a way to placate the restless militants who had then held the country by the jugular through their activities in the Niger Delta area of the country, an area that is responsible for more than 90 percent of the country’s foreign exchange earnings through the oil in its underbelly. Obasanjo could also have seen Jonathan as a humble fellow who would not rock the boat. In that case, Obasanjo must have possibly nurtured a hidden agenda which he expected to unfold as time went on.

    I believe things started falling apart between Jonathan and Obasanjo well before the 2011 election that produced Jonathan as President. Before that election in which the candidate of the ruling party, the Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP, in Ogun State lost out, there was no love lost between Obasanjo and the leadership of the PDP. The fallout between Obasanjo and the then governor of Ogun State, Gbenga Daniel, was fuelled by the leadership of the PDP and key actors at the presidency at that time, notably Mike Oghiadomhe, the then Chief of Staff to the president and others. Backed by the other conspirators, Oghiadomhe, who was the go-between between Jonathan and Daniel, played a significant role in that messy arrangement all for reasons better known to him.

    Nevertheless, Jonathan still found a way to accommodate Obasanjo in his new government in 2011 when he appointed late Prof. Olugbenga Ashiru and Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, Obasanjo’s two nominees, as Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Agriculture respectively. Though the two men were eminently qualified, they were single handedly picked by Obasanjo without any input by any party member from Ogun State. Remember, Obasanjo’s appetite for globe-trotting and his entrepreneurship interest in Agriculture. These were the two reasons he brought the two men on board. While Jonathan had to drop the late Ashiru from his cabinet when he finally fell out with Obasanjo, Adesina held on because he had succeeded in dazzling the President with all his razzmatazz as Agriculture Minister.

    With Obasanjo’s penchant for dominating his environment and people around him, he may have over reached himself and forgotten that Jonathan is no longer the boy who could be tossed around. He is the President of the country. The fact is that Obasanjo will always want to have his way even if it means walking or stepping on other people’s heads. He cares no hoot. Besides, the current face-off between the two leaders shows the composure and comportment of those who are privileged to rule us. There are so many nauseating things that happen in the corridors of power especially in Africa and particularly in Nigeria, so nauseating that people will be wondering that such things could ever happen in high places. That is the way we are. Like late Ronald Reagan, former American President, once said: “I have learned that one of the most important rules of politics is poise, which means looking like an owl after you’ve behaved like a jackass.” Now, who blinks first?

  • Naira and six weeks waiting game

    A former British Prime Minister, Harold Wilson is often quoted as saying, ‘a week is a long time in politics”.  The battle hardened intriguer from  his long experience in politics certainly knew what he was talking about. The shifting quicksand of politics can throw everything upside down in the twinkle of an eye, not to mention six weeks!

    Wilson’s aphorism looms large within the context of today’s chess game involving the elections in Nigeria. The postponement of the election has thrown all the hitherto careful permutations upside down. The contrived ‘postponement’ was conjured to do just that in the first place. This is because apart from the party in government at the centre, everyone else is cash-strapped. How to fight an unanticipated war of attrition over the next six weeks will certainly tax the ingenuity of those in charge of the exchequer of the main opposition party. It’s going to be hard!

    Unfortunately, for a battered economy, it’s going to be, even much harder. For a start in what is now a state-of-siege, no sane investor is going to make any far reaching decision. It would be crazy to do so. And you don’t need a political risk analyst to tell you why, any more than you need a weatherman to tell you which way the wind is blowing.

    The ‘unintended’ circumstances arising out of the postponement are beginning now to reveal itself, much like the proverbial chicken coming home to roost. For example the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) during the week intervened in defence of the Naira by selling foreign exchange (FX)  outside of its official band for the second time, a sign that the apex bank could weaken the currency to save its fast shrinking foreign reserves. Already the Naira has crashed through the psychologically important level of 200 to the dollar.

    The worst of course is yet to come. How to prevent a free-fall of the currency during the contrived six weeks haitus is going to task the ingenuity of the hard-pressed CBN and its Monetary Policy Committee. It’s also going to be very punishing  for the man in the street who has been immortally referred to by the television commentator Frank Olize as ’ the common man’. This makes us to go back to yet another one of Harold Wilson’s aphorism. Pressed as to the worth of the British pound sterling after the devaluation of 1966, the wily-old fox retorted that well, ‘the pound in your pocket is still worth a pound’.

    This was arrant nonsense of course and Prime Minister Wilson who had been an Oxford Don at a very early age knew so. After the devaluation, the pound had shrank and living standards predictably went down. This brings us to ask what exactly is the worth of the naira in your pocket now. Well, it hasn’t been worth that much since, the ill-advised devaluation of 1986 which heralded the structural adjustment programme.

    It’s been a downward spiral ever since for an import dependent economy. Living standards have plunged to such an extent that the N18,000 a month “minimum wage” means just that, “minimum” this is as in the bare-bottom minimum needed not to exist but to subsist. Take out rent, school fees, food, transportation and all manner of added on and it’s more like economic genocide on the part of those who brought us to this sorry state  placed within the context of a major oil-producing country. Those who have led us to this stage in reality ought to face an international economic war crimes tribunal. It’s that serious.

    As the incomparable reggae star, Bob Marley intoned, “in the midst of water, the fool goes thirsty”. In this light, paradoxically, the propaganda machine of the federal government expect us to believe that after the disputable ‘rebasing’ of the economy, we are really better-off, than presumably we where, let us say four years ago. This of course is the height of intellectual dishonesty.

    Perhaps, this is why the federal government’s operators were so furious at the endorsement of General Buhari by the highly rated Economist magazine of London. They were, as it were hoist on their own petard. Having spent so much time and effort cultivating the international credit agencies and organs such as the Economist, they have suddenly found out that you can’t fool all of the people, all of the time. In the meantime it is getting worse for the government as other highly rated organs such as the equally authoritative New York Times have also become highly critical and disapproving.

    The government’s economic platform propaganda has now been found out to be a classic text-book case of ‘growth without development’. Rebase as many times as you like, for the person on the street, economically he or she is worse off today than they were four years ago. This is why the election propaganda on the governments’ side is based on religion and ethnicity. This is all very convenient. For it is intended to detract from the real issue, which is ‘are you better off today, than you where four years ago?’

    Outside of the corridors of power of course, no one is better off. For example with a depreciating currency driving up the price of building materials, the prospect of owning one’s own home for the mass of the people is looking ever more like a mirage. The side effect of course is that the landlord is going to increase his/her rent. The multiplier effect of the ruinous economic policies based on management ineptitude, corruption and sloth is already being painfully felt by the man in the street.

    Denied of a living wage, assuming of course that there is any wage in the first place, people have become resistant to the Buhari is an Islamist battle-cry of the government’s spin- doctors. The hard-pressed and the dispossessed who are thinking of the next meal, rent and school-fees  are not likely to be persuaded by cheap sloganeering and propaganda.

    In the next six weeks it’s going to get nastier. Originally it was felt that a six weeks postponement would buy time to spew out more propaganda. This strategy with the amount of money available to the ruling party looked good on paper. However, the other side of the coin is that a depreciating currency has made people to look at their wallet, the ‘naira in their pocket’. Unfortunately, for those who contrived the postponement, the naira in their pocket in terms of what it can buy is going to be worth even less by March 28. The only trick left is to cut petrol prices again. But can they? And to what immediate effect? It is worth noting that the price cut has resulted in a price war amongst retailers in neighbouring Ghana which has benefited the common man. Predictably in cronyism-fired Nigeria directed by ‘paddy-paddy’ government, this has not happened.

    Postponing the election for six weeks in order to gain lost ground has back-fired on those who contrived it. For the ‘opposition’ or should we say the government in-waiting, it’s actually an opportunity to continue to pound upon a central theme whis is: are you better off today than you where four years ago? No prizes for guessing how the mass of the people across religion, tribe and social status are going to reply. They will certainly say ‘we won’t get fooled again’.

  • 2015 presidential election: Reality or mirage?

    2015 presidential election: Reality or mirage?

    Let’s face it; the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that contested the general elections of 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2011 isn’t the same PDP that’s contesting that of 2015. It has become irredeemably factionalised, fractioned, fractured and fragmented by a combination of overconfidence, reign of impunity and lack of internal party democracy. On the other hand, the multiplicity of weak opposition parties that contested past elections succeeded in coalescing into a formidable opposition party – the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    What’s happening to the PDP is what generally happens to any ruling party where political forces and power blocs with vested interests succeeding in betting the party’s fortunes on a political and power neophyte. It happened to the IRI in Mexico, to a post-Jimmy Carter Democratic Party in the US and a post-John Major Conservative Party in Great Britain.

    That the opposition presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, is majorly perceived today as a knight in shining armour or a type of messiah, if you will, is the biggest indictment of an incumbent president who equally received a pan-Nigeria mandate just four years ago that’s only surpassed – in terms of depth, scope and breadth – by the June 12 mandate of Chief MKO Abiola in the electoral history of this nation.

    Can a man who frittered away so much political goodwill still be expected to fully recover lost grounds within the six-week period the national security adviser and service chiefs have availed him with? Although the answer would largely depend on Jonathan’s deftness in handling the issues that will sway voters, such as corruption, insecurity and unemployment, it appears to me that such an objective would amount to a mission impossible.

    Yes, Jonathan doesn’t have to build prisons to incarcerate corrupt officials – or be as draconian as Buhari of yore, but the president must be seen to be genuinely angry about the negative impact the hydra-headed monster is having on the nation’s overall development, because as the saying goes, “It’s either Nigeria destroys corruption or corruption will destroy Nigeria.” It’s equally very difficult to see how the military can accomplish in six weeks what it has been unable to do in five years. The same is equally true of any efforts to curb the irresponsibly high rate of youth and graduate unemployment.

    Truth be told, the president and the ruling party have boxed themselves into a very tight corner. There’s a saying that you can fool all the people some of the time and some of the people all of the time but you can never fool all the people all of the time. While primordial considerations still influence voter patterns in this nation, the truth is that a significant proportion of the citizenry has grown much wiser and refuses to fall for the scare tactics and smear campaign of the PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation. Buhari has become even larger than the APC. His momentum has assumed a life of its own and he has transfigured into an unstoppable phenomenon or movement.

    Buhari indeed has more to gain from the time extension than Jonathan because it provides him ample opportunity to positively tackle the image of a Muslim bigot that has been making the rounds. His recent meetings with the Council of Catholic Bishops of Nigeria, his endorsement by leaders of the Northern Christian Leaders Forum and the unusual ominous warning by the Archbishop of Enugu Anglican Province, Most Rev (Dr) Emmanuel Chukwuma, that Jonathan’s “sectional visits to (only Pentecostal) churches could be counter-productive as the orthodox denominations would pay him back for his nonchalance and continuous neglect” clearly indicate that he’s making considerable headway in this direction.

    That’s why allegations that the presidency and the PDP have started a clandestine campaign to lobby traditional rulers and opinion leaders to accept a Jonathan-led Interim National Government (ING) from May 29 – as a panacea for quelling potential violent protests in the North and Niger Delta if either Jonathan or Buhari emerges victorious – shouldn’t be dismissed offhand. Just like when the national security adviser, Sambo Dasuki, ignited the fire of election postponement with his surprise stance at a London conference, kites are already being flown for the cancellation of the rescheduled presidential elections and establishment of an ING.

    First off the starting line is the coordinator of the National Information Centre and Director-General of the National Orientation Agency, Mike Omeri, who recently stated that intelligence reports disclosed that Boko Haram has started recruiting fighters aimed at making the “general area” unsafe for the rescheduled general elections. Really? And are the service chiefs equally taking appropriate measures to neutralise that threat?

    Next on the queue is Delta State Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan – who with the likes of Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom) and Olusegun Mimiko (Ondo) constitute the arrowhead of Jonathan’s campaign strategy in the PDP Governors Forum – magisterially declaring that a six-week period is too short to make the country safe and secure for the conduct of general elections.

    Uduaghan has recommended an indefinite postponement of the elections. So far, no one from the presidency or the ruling party has called him to order. And to project a false sense of a broad consensus, Dan Nwanyanwu, the loquacious chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Labour Party, has equally taken on the hatchet job of campaigning for the shifting of elections to an indefinite date, ostensibly to “afford the federal government the opportunity to tackle the intractable crisis threatening the corporate existence of the country,” regardless of the fact that the party’s national executive committee has told him that he is on his own. What damnable hubris!

    But the icing on the cake is embedded in the written notice to Jega by the service chiefs to the effect that a minimum of six weeks is required “in the first instance.” Now, figure this out yourself: what happens when the need arises for a “second instance,” “third instance” or whatever instance, as is the case with the present-continuous declaration of emergency in the northeast? If the presidency and the PDP reluctantly allow the elections to hold as rescheduled it can only mean that sinister plots are afoot.

    It’s already being alleged that advertorials asking Muslims to only vote for Muslim candidates are actually sponsored by PDP supporters in a two-fold bid to reinforce Buhari’s characterisation as a Muslim bigot and instigate Christians into trooping out en-mass to the polling booths, at the same time perceived APC strongholds are systematically depopulated and disenfranchised through scare-mongering pamphleteering and/or dispossession of their PVCs under the guise of ’empowerment programmes.’

    There’s equally talk of getting a pliant judge to jettison the use of smart card readers and rule in favour of rigging-prone TVCs with no time left for an appeal as well as the implementation of a “shock and awe” strategy using the police, military and security agencies to intimidate and pulverize APC chieftains. But I’ve this strong feeling that things would quickly return to normal if the major dramatis personae can only see the shadow of the International Court of Justice at The Hague looming large over their shoulders!

    •Okoye writes from Abuja.

  • …Another Boko Haram victim

    Whatever comes out of Africa’s most populous country is not only the business of Nigerians, but also that of the international community, business community and media. Thus, the whole world is patiently waiting on the outcome of the polls.

    Nigerians have never been so enthusiastic and relentlessly optimistic about any election in the history of democracy,they had hoped this year’s presidential polls, scheduled for February 14, would be different and so much is expected of the outcome. This time, we would get it right. The ruling PDP is about to lose the presidential election in a keenly contested poll since 1999, opposition parties have united behind a single presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari. The change was imminent.

    After months of spirited campaigning by the two prominent candidates, a poll showed Buhari and President Goodluck Jonathan running neck and neck. The election was declared too close to call. Hitherto, Nigerians usually know the winner of a presidential election months before voting day, this was a refreshing change. This was good for the country’s democracy.

    The  Electoral Commission (INEC) which stated a week ago that elections will go on despite attempts to use various reasons to postpone it , announced that, while it was substantially ready to conduct elections on February 14, it is constrained for security reasons to postpone voting for six weeks  and thereby choosing March 28, as an alternative date, It is the hope that the 1.5million internally displaced persons will have been relocated and Boko Haram will be a thing of the past before the next election.

    Prof. Attahiru Jega, head of the INEC, said Nigeria’s service chiefs had told him they needed to concentrate on military operations meant to defeat the dreaded Boko Haram group within six weeks, a feat they could not achieve for more than six years since the inception of the insurgency in the country. If Boko Haram can be trampled in six weeks, why did it take this long? Thus, the postponement of the election as rightly observed by most Nigerians and in particular the advocates for Change in the country; it is a major setback for democracy.

    Admittedly, the situation in the north east of the country calls for a major military response, this fact did not just become apparent to the Commission or to the military chiefs or the government who might just be checking the list in an attempt to perfect its rigging tactics.

    Perhaps, it is an attempt to give the president and the PDP a chance to restrategise in the face of the support mustered by the opposition-the hand writing is on the wall, this is the end of an era for the ruling party since its accession to power sixteen years ago.

    The postponement is definitely suspicious and gives Nigerians a cause for concern. Not only can the election go on in Nigeria, experiences in the presidential election in Afghanistan, Ukraine and even in Iraq makes the excuse of insurgency unfounded and baseless at this critical moment.

    After the failed attempt by the president to invite the INEC Chairman for a private meeting on the need for the postponement, an offer openly rejected by the Chairman on ground that such will affect public confidence in the Commission, thus, a military intervention. Nigerians should at this time not go to sleep the script is still being read, perhaps, the next move is to send Jega on a compulsory leave or an outright removal from office for not implementing or singing the tune of the president.

    The intimidation has already started after the postponement, a major leader of the opposition party is presently under siege by the Nigerian military in Lagos, sadly, this is coming at a time where neighbouring countries (Niger, Chad etc ) are donating military personnel to Nigeria to fight Boko Haram. It is apparent that the President is in a desperate attempt to hold on to power and will not relent in his attempt to bring down any attempt to stop him with state resources and at the detriment of national stability and unity.

    After the postponement, there is low level of public confidence that the elections will be free and fair. Also, the nation is presently divided along northern and southern line with the two major contenders controlling each region and any attempt at rigging will increase the risk of violence immediately after the election.

    Free and fair elections distinguish true democracies from those merely masquerading as one. Though nominally democratic since the end of military rule in 1999, Nigeria has yet to hold a presidential election free of ballot-rigging, voter intimidation and other decidedly undemocratic practices. The ruling PDP has ensured victory for itself, by hook or by crook, in every single Nigerian presidential election conducted since 1999. It is high time that Nigerians rise up to and reject any attempt by the ruling party to frustrate them by saying no to tyranny, intimidation and dictatorship.

    •Bush-Alebiosu is Chairman, House Committee on Treaties and Protocol, Abuja.

  • A plea to my countrymen

    Democracy has been universally accepted to mean the government of the people by the people for the people. On independence, Nigeria was bequeathed with a flourishing democracy by the British colonial masters. The quest and struggle for independence was largely fought on peaceful democratic principles. We had a very acceptable constitution that recognized our diversity and ensured the practice of true federalism. The component units were competitive and without oil, we were an emerging African economic power. Indeed, even the colonial masters on independence described Nigeria as a potential superpower nation and the land where the sun never sets.

    However, when the British departed, we had only one major threat to our democracy – elections. How do we organize elections that will be free, fair and credible enough to be accepted in order to prevent violence and the eventual truncation of our democracy?

    Historically, the first Republic was truncated as a result of violence resulting from a rigged election predominantly from the South-west. The same scenario happened in 1983, when the administration of Alhaji Shehu Shagari was truncated by the military led by General Muhammadu Buhari.

    Each time the military came in, they promised a brighter future for us but eventually left us worse than we were before their incursion into politics. The worst aspect of military regimes is that they even leave the military institutions weakened, demoralised, divided and segmented in order to ensure that no military colleague will be strong enough to overthrow the incumbent regime. The gradual and intentional neglect of our military over the years by military regimes is what we are suffering today in our war against Boko Haram and other insurgents.

    We are now at the threshold of another election. Year 2015 is unique in various ways. This is the first time the nation is having two strong parties that evolved on their own, contesting elections. What a great democratic achievement! This is the first time Nigeria will be conducting elections while the federation is at war. What a great democratic challenge! Hence my plea to my countrymen to accept the results of the elections as declared by INEC without violence and use lawful means to seek redress in the case of any perceived injustice.

    Politicians are the major gladiators in a democracy. They make policies, offer themselves to be voted for, occupy the seat of power and determine the destinies of the nation and the individual citizens. Their actions or inactions determine the success or failure of democracy.

    In advanced countries, politicians are known to make sacrifices before, during and after elections for the survival and prestige of their nations. During the American Presidential elections of year 2000, Governor George Bush and Vice President Al Gore were the Presidential candidates of the Republican Party, Democratic Party respectively. After the elections, Al Gore won the popular vote while George Bush won the Electoral College vote. Constitutionally, whoever wins the Electoral College votes becomes the President. To make matters worse, the Florida state elections which became the deciding factor was believed to be manipulated in favour of George Bush by his brother Governor Jeb Bush of Florida. It took America 50 days to resolve this crisis. There were court cases that reached the American Supreme Court. America became a laughing stock in the comity of nations. After the judgment of the American Supreme Court, Al Gore though he disagreed with the judgment, accepted it and conceded victory to George Bush and saved America the shame and ridicule.

    We are now on the threshold of general election 2015. For all intents and purposes there are circumstances which already exist that can form the basis of controversy after the results of the elections are announced. The insurgency in the three North East states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa and the inadequacy of the permanent voter’s card are just some of them. The only thing remaining is whether we can find enough political statesmen who can disagree with the results but accept them for the general good of the nation

    My plea to the youths is to imbibe this admonition by the President Goodluck Jonathan that “no politician’s ambition is worth the blood of any Nigerian”.

    The military reflects the strength and dignity of the nation. No nation can attain a superpower status without a strong, loyal and courageous military. The US became a super power today because of the steadfast dedication of its military to the protection of its democracy and wading off external aggression. Also, USSR, China, Britain, France are nations whose military assisted their rise to international prominence.

    In Nigeria, our military has been known to be the most powerful force in Africa from independence. The numerous military incursions into politics weakened this great institution to the extent that during Abacha’s regime, officers were framed up or set up for treasonable offences and condemned to death. Mutual suspicion among soldiers was so high that barrack life collapsed amongst them.

    By 1999, President Olusegun Obasanjo retired all military officers who had held political offices before that date. This further led to the depletion of the finest of officers among the soldiers.

    My plea to the military today is that they should stay away from politics. This will enable them focus their attention on their constitutional duty of protecting the territorial integrity of the nation. I have no doubt in my mind that the military is always lured into incursion in politics by politicians who lost elections or fell out with the system. But they should resist this satanic lure as this would lead to destroying itself eventually

    The 2015 elections will present peculiar challenges to the military since they are engaging the Boko Haram insurgents and may also be called in to secure the elections. They should not lend themselves as agents of rigging and must ensure that there is no violence after elections. Love of country and its constitution should be their priority rather than blind loyalty to any candidate.

    In Nigeria, unfortunately, our men of God have become more political than the politicians. It has become a regular feature to see our Priests, Prophets, Pastors and Imams to use their pulpits to propagate the agenda of hate against candidates and parties. They make dubious prophecies which create the basis for violence when such prophecies fail to come to pass.

    My plea to them is to stand fast in the calling wherein they are called. Even if the politicians are bad and the people sin, it is their duty to plead with God to show mercy, forgive the people and heal their land.

    We have numerous challenges today that can naturally question the validity of the elections but we are praying to have politicians who are willing to disagree with the results but accept them for the general good. They must remember the admonition of Winston Churchill that “the statesmen lose control immediately the guns begin to fire.”

     

    • Okonkwo, veteran actor writes from Lagos.

  • Wamako: Honour well deserved

    The recent award of The Sun Man of the Year 2014 threw up the personality of the subject of this piece, Alhaji Aliyu Magatakarda Wamako, Governor of Sokoto State and Sarkin Yamman Sokoto. My interest in Sokoto State dates back to my undergraduate days when I developed a wish to meet Alhaji Aliyu Shehu Shagari, President of Nigeria from 1979-1983. There had been many comments about Shagari that motivated my young mind to meet him. I visited Sokoto State for the first time in the late 90s’. Naively, I embarked on this daring journey without informing my parents and colleagues. It was indeed a smooth journey from Lagos to Sokoto; much of sightseeing as this was also my first time of venturing up-north. It was in Sokoto that I faced a huge challenge of communication, and transiting from state capital to Shagari village. When I got to the village, I was told that the former President was not in the country. A kind Nigerian, one Alhaji Danbaba saved the day for me, facilitating my return journey to Lagos.

    Again, in March 2011, I visited Sokoto. It was on this occasion that we ran into the convoy of Alhaji Aliyu Magatakarda Wamako, Governor of Sokoto State. We were told he was returning home. As a governor, Wamako does not reside in the posh Government House preferring his private house within Sokoto metropolis. The house as I saw it then, is neither that fantastic nor majestic, and obviously not a new house. Behind, adjacent and not too far from this house are rows of shops which attracts heavy human traffic for buying and selling. In fact at the peak of transactions, the place could well be a market. Ever since these visits, I had somehow been following the politics and happenings in Sokoto.

    To start with, the ascendance of Wamako to the gubernatorial office was fraught with legal battles. Wamako was deputy governor of Sokoto from 1999-2006 before he resigned when things went awry with his boss. He went ahead to clinch the coveted post of governor in 2007 on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). On two occasions, Wamako faced two court-ordered rerun elections, and both occasions he triumphed. A cat with nine lives, you might say.

    Wamako has modernized Sokoto with numerous infrastructures with direct bearing on the populace. That Sokoto is massively shedding its old and rural character to urban and modern signatures will be an understatement. From the airport, a brand new Western bypass, an 11 kilometre six-lane carriageway welcomes the visitor. So also is the Eastern bypass with all allure just completed by Wamako. These expansive roads are lined on both sides with neem trees. Being a state where majority are farmers, government concentrated more on rural roads like Kalambaina-Arkilla-Nasarawa-Polythecnic link road, Tambuwal/Kebbe road, Sokoto-Ilela road (a border town with Niger Republic) has all been completed by Wamako.

    Alu, as the governor Wamako is fondly called also made giant strides in the health sector: there is a General Hospital in all the 23 local governments. There are also two superb programmes: Free Medical Care (FREMCARE) and Rural Mobile Medical Care (RUMCARE). FREMCARE is a free health care programme dedicated to pregnant women and children under the age of five. The aim is to reduce maternal and child mortality rate in the state. RUMCARE, on the other hand, is designed for those that cannot afford healthcare services as well as those that live in places that are hard to reach.

    In addition, there is also an orthopaedic hospital with full complements of expertise drawn from within Sokoto and abroad. With over 500 indigenes studying medicine abroad on state government scholarship, and a College of Nursing and Midwifery to boot, Sokoto is sure on sound footing, health-wise.

    In spite of his aristocratic background, Wamako has chosen to work for the people of Sokoto. The new world-class Sokoto State University is testimony to Wamako’s commitment to education. New infrastructures like administrative blocks, staff quarters, and students’ hostel etc dot every corner of the university. It recently admitted its first set of students. Indeed, if truth be told, the Almajiri school system was the initiative of Wamako. He was first to establish an Almajiri school in Sokoto. The then Minister of Education, Professor Rukayatu Rufai gladly requested the assistance and expertise of Wamako on this scheme. It is rather unfortunate, that the Almajiri school system is now a subject of politics with federal government claiming the credit of this system in the north.

    With meagre resources and prudent management, Wamako has touched every aspect of economic value chain in the state, from housing, where over 5,000 units had been built and allocated; the ministry of the environment (created by Wamako in 2008) with triple components of forestry, environmental health and sanitation, and erosion and flood control. A brand new Independent Power Project (IPP) the first of its kind in Sokoto was built by Wamako. He also recorded giant strides in human capital development with its main hub in training and retraining of civil servants, youth employment and empowerment (with the creation of Sokoto Marshals and Skill acquisition centres). And unlike many states, physically challenged persons get a N6,500 stipend monthly.

    Asides strides in physical infrastructure provision, Wamako has displayed a high sense of tolerance in his political activities within Sokoto State. When, along with five other governors he switched political affiliation from Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC), his deputy Alhaji Mukhtari Shehu Shagari did not go with him. As a true democrat, the deputy was left alone, with all paraphernalia of office and duties intact. In fact, the relationship between him and the deputy governor is incomparable, vis-à-vis the numerous in-fighting between some governors and their deputies elected on the same political party platform. Wamako deserves commendation for this act.

    Humane, generous, accessible, team player and hardworking, Wamako has received several awards including Member, Muslim World League, Best Governor awarded by the House Builders Association, and the national honour of Commander of Niger (CON). The Sun Man of the Year 2014 is not only well deserved by a man who has created a new template for development in Sokoto, it is a confirmation of his superb administrative skills and prudence as a manager.

    • Badejo writes from Surulere, Lagos State.

  • Abia 2015 & lamentations of a banker

    It may not be politically correct to respond to every insipid and dubious critique of Dr Okezie Ikpeazu’s electoral  30prospects at the forthcoming Abia governorship elections. More so when such appraisals emanate from the spin-doctor of an APGA candidate encumbered with nativity issues and intra-party challenges from a factional leader, arising from a botched primaries, it should be treated with the derision it deserves.

    Writing recently in a tabloid notorious for its conversational terrorism, owned by an Abia born politician, one Ndubuisi Orji, futilely struggled to juxtapose the strong points between the two contending tendencies he glibly characterized as ‘old and new orders’. Bandying words such as ‘entitlement politics’, lechery tendency’ ‘traumatic citizenry’ Ndubuisi resorted to some logical fallacies, and argument by generalizations in a desperate attempt to cast a slur on the integrity and pedigree of Dr Okezie Ikpeazu.

    In the context of his discourse, any candidate espousing continuity and consolidation is a non-starter. For him it is the untested, grapevine peddled achievements of a money market operator, Abians should vote for. This is patent chicanery which cannot fly because what constitutes the core essence of a credible politician is the sum total of his functional public service track records.

    We are not swayed by the mumbo jumbo of ’financial engineering’ in some bank which did not impact on the economic fortunes of the average ‘Aria Aria’ market trader. Poser is: what is the quantum of loans, overdraft, working capital, if any did Diamond Bank under his watch made available to Igbo nay Abia customers? What money market instruments, did his bank package to facilitate enterprises in the state during the period under review?

    For Ikpeazu, his antecedents can be tracked. His background check is in the public domain. For 19 years, he has been a key player in the corridors of politics as a home baked politician who understands the nuances of the average Abian. During this period, his activism and services had been domiciled in the trenches with our people, fighting and battling with the various administrations for the elevation of Abia State. Ikpeazu is at home with all the political gladiators of Abia State and has served diligently.

    The greatest challenge of our economy, not only in Abia State, is that the economy has shut down the middle class, to the extent that we now have two classes of people – rich or poor. The renaissance of the economy cannot be predicated or leveraged by the so-called Alex Otti’s affiliations with the International Finance Corporation- an offshoot of the discredited Breton Woods institutions, (IMF& World Bank) whose deleterious prescriptions and reforms brought the mess on Third World economies including Nigeria.

    Recall that these institutions have been sorely implicated as anti-people, anti-labour, anti- industry. The collapse of the Nigerian economy, nay Aba, was tripped off by the acceptance of the IMF conditionality in 1985 by the General Babangida regime which in its wake crippled the SME’s and industries. In 2005, these institutions were tellingly indicted by the Breton Woods project, and I quote inter alia; ‘’With the World Bank, there are concerns about the types of development projects funded. Many infrastructure projects financed by the World Bank Group have social and environmental implications for the populations in the affected areas and criticism has centred on the ethical issues of funding such projects. For example, World Bank-funded construction of hydro-electric dams in various countries has resulted in the displacement of indigenous peoples of the area.

    The World Bank’s role in the global climate change finance architecture has also caused much controversy. Civil society groups see the Bank as unfit for a role in climate finance because of the conditionalities and advisory services usually attached to its loans. The Bank’s undemocratic governance structure – which is dominated by industrialized countries – its privileging of the private sector and the controversy over the performance of World Bank-housed Climate Investment Funds have also been subject to criticism in debates around this issue. Moreover, the bank’s role as a central player in climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts is in direct conflict with its carbon-intensive lending portfolio and continuing financial support for heavily polluting industries, which includes coal power.

    There are also concerns that the World Bank working in partnership with the private sector undermines the role of the state as the primary provider of essential goods and services, such as healthcare and education, resulting in the shortfall of such services in countries badly in need of them. As an increasing shift from public to private funding in development finance has been observed recently, the bank’s private sector lending arm – the International Finance Corporation (IFC) – has also been criticized for its business model, the increasing use of financial intermediaries such as private equity funds and funding of companies associated with tax havens.’’

    The politically astute Abia electorate are not about to swallow the International Finance Corporation vomit, being regurgitated by a clueless economic model. It failed everywhere and Abians are not ready to be any body’s guinea pig.

    Rather than playing casino with the fortunes of God’s own state with some new fangled economic paradigm, Okezie is a firm believer in sustainable development planning which lays much store in continuity and consolidation. He is on firm grounds, because the bane of developmental framework in Nigeria has been the practice of neglecting and abandoning previous contracts, projects and visions by successor administrations.

    Since independence in 1960, we have had a litany of developmental plans which were always jettisoned for other models as soon as new managers took over the reins of government. Between 1962-1985, 1962-68, 1970-74, 75-80 and 1980-85 developmental plans were marked by gaps, leakages and fragmentation.

    Fast forward to 1986, we embraced the Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs) and its Rolling Plans in 1986. Next was Abacha’s VISION 2010 that was thrown away and replaced with Obasanjo’s NEEDS 2004. Today we are grappling another initiative branded VISION 2020. The challenges of these processes, is that we have been achieving growth without development which Okezie Ikpeazu seeks to disavow by building on Governor T.A Orji’s legacy projects not only in Umuahia but in the wider Abia polity.

    Okezie’s blueprint for development is a clear headed, well defined manifesto that takes its motive force from a bottoms-up all inclusive community based approach with Aba as the center-piece and hub of enterprise and production. Fundamental to this is the enactment of policies for planning and housing to facilitate access to land, service, and investment codes realistic, flexible and compatible with local conditions. In the informal sector, he will address rigidities, corporate governance issues and widening inequalities vis-à-vis employment/wealth generation. His administration will review laws and practices that discriminate and frustrate the organized private sector.  The state under his watch will act as a buffer sector manager in creating the milieu that promotes access to credit, financial and business services. This is a panoramic snapshot of Ikpeazu’s economic bouquet as space and editorial constraint will not permit a fully blown narrative.

    The issue of down ‘playing’ the existence of Ukwa component is neither here nor there, as the critical Ukwa political stakeholders led by Senator Adolph Wabara are in amity with the choice of Ikpeazu as the PDP flag bearer. Except some rabble rousers being used by APGA malcontents, the issue of Ukwa marginalization is otiose.

    • Torti is a public policy analyst and management consultant