The Nation Newspaper

Category: Dele Agekameh

  • This Atikulated politician

    The intrigues of politics make for good following, especially when one is an observer from afar. Just as we are now intrigued by the gaffe-prone antics of President Donald Trump in the United States of America, our own stories of political scheming and misadventures must make for interesting following elsewhere around the world. Even with the lives of millions of people in the balance, the drama never stops.

    Nigerian politicians, on their own part, have taken the theatrical element to new heights. This is not surprising. Politics in Nigeria has little to do with ideologies. Rather, self-interest is the primum mobile. This is evident in all the major political formations in the country, from the All Progressives Congress, APC, to the People’s Democratic Party, PDP and the others.

    Ronald Reagan, late president of the United States of America, was right on the mark at a business conference in 1977 when he remarked that he had come to the realisation that politics, as the supposed second oldest profession, bears very close resemblance to the first – prostitution. He would be stunned by the antics of our politicians today. Men who cannot demonstrate allegiance in their affairs as politicians are singing songs about their allegiance to the people.

    The name Atiku Abubakar readily comes to mind in this regard.  The former vice-president has been around the block for a long time. He is the face of cross-carpeting in Nigerian politics. Having once again defected from one major political party to another, the pattern in his political excursions is clearer now. Those who watch closely will have noticed that he gives the same reasons for taking flight every time. After wading through the verbal gymnastics and grandstanding, it always comes down to his being side-lined and disregarded.

    Now, he says he has not really made up his mind to take a shot at the number one political spot in the land. But Atiku’s ambition to become president is as clear to the electorate as it is clear to his fellow politicians. The concern is that in his quest to realise his ambition, he is further ridiculing our political arrangement that is already devoid of any depth. He is proof that our politicians lack character and are only interested in selfish gains. The man is like the bee in Nigerian politics, roving from platform to platform in search of the sweet nectar of presidential ticket, incidentally leaving a pollen trail of cool cash which the different political parties are glad to receive.

    To avoid being unduly critical of Atiku, one must point out that weak alliances, formations and reformations are widespread in Nigerian politics. Just last week, two lawmakers crossed from the PDP to APC. One of them was a very spectacular affair. In the case of Honourable Johnson Agbonayinma of Edo State, his former colleagues in the PDP shamelessly broke into singing and dancing upon the confirmation of his defection to the ruling party.

    Also last week, it was reported that about 1,500 PDP members in Oshodi-Isolo Local Government Area of Lagos State, defected to the APC, giving trivial reasons. There is also the matter of the fallout after the PDP convention in Abuja that led to five disgruntled members going ahead to announce a “Fresh-PDP” break-away party. This is even after Atiku suggested in his recent defection broadcast on Facebook that the PDP had resolved the issues that led to his exit.

    Unfortunately, this is all business as usual in Nigerian politics. No positive change in direction will emerge from either side of the defections. In its purest form, the aim of politics is to influence governance in the direction and policies that one strongly believes is best for the country. Whether this influence is exerted at the helm of a plush political post or not, is immaterial. In our case, and, to be frank, in many other places in the world, the aim of politics is simply to get plush government roles; the higher, the better.

    As an established businessman, one would expect that Atiku would be more prudent with his money and reputation. Obviously, his repeated defections and political about-turns do him no good on the road to achieving his coveted life ambition. There are several other parties registered in Nigeria, and there remains the opportunity of registering new ones. Aside from the traces of desperation in his moves, there are also hints of duplicity and lack of confidence on his part. If not, what is his obsession with the major parties?

    Having expended all this time courting people who do not share his dream, Atiku has himself become an antique politician and part of the old furniture in Nigerian politics. He could have spent all that time creating a more balanced political environment in the country by registering a new political party or raising one of the existing ones into a force to be reckoned with. That way, he would have made meaningful contribution to the country in the area of politics and perhaps, he could have been able to create his own School of Atiku-ism that is now supposedly about creating jobs for the teeming working class.

    It may be too late for Atiku to achieve all of that now. Even if he succeeds in doing so in the future, he would be contradicting his own message by not endorsing a vibrant, young candidate to run on the ticket of such a party. But then, it would not be surprising if he does not, as self-interest is the overriding motivation in the boat of Nigerian politics and he is the captain of contradiction.

    Now is the time to put the PDP and APC politicians on their toes. With the cross-movement between the two parties intensifying, it has become imperative for a third force to emerge as the two major parties cannot be told apart any longer. Above all, we need stability in politics and real choices to break the Stockholm Syndrome that afflicts the Nigerian electorate when it comes to old, expired and recycled leaders (and tormentors).

    In the same line of this much needed stability, the ruling APC need to realise that the president, Muhammadu Buhari, is the tie that binds that party together. Old as he may be, any attempts to side-line him in the 2019 race, may boomerang. It will throw the party into the sort of disarray that the PDP is still reeling from. It could also destabilise the current political space in the country.

    Definitely, there are no easy choices for the electorate now. But there are answers to many nagging questions. The answer for the frequent defections between the two major parties, for instance, is that they are too similar and therefore, are not real mutual opponents. The answer for this dilemma will naturally be the raising of strong, real opposition parties.

    Already, a constitutional amendment to allow independent candidacy in elections has been approved at the National Assembly. If the amendment scales all the remaining hurdles before 2019, it will open up the field and finally give Nigerians a chance to chart their own destiny and create a Macron-esqe upset. People like Atiku, the bee of Nigerian politics, can also have an opportunity to test their mettle at the polls and find out just how popular they really are.

    Napoleon Bonaparte said many centuries ago that, in politics, an absurdity is not a handicap. With many absurd happenings in our political space, another absurd event like Atiku picking up the presidential ticket for the PDP in 2019 will be no surprise.

    One hopes for the rise of real opposition in Nigerian politics and with that, a rise of real politicians with honour and integrity. The present crop of politicians may have lost any understanding of these words in their public lives. Whatever Atiku says is wrong with the APC today and PDP tomorrow, he is part of that establishment. Unless we find politicians who can make this kind of realisation, Nigeria will forever remain lost in the wilderness (or Sambisa) of real and genuine politics.

  • Trouble on the horizon

    In the past few months, there have been tell-tale signs of trouble in the near future that ought to be taken seriously if Nigerians are determined to achieve the change that we seek. The signs have emerged on two very crucial fronts. First, is the gradual return of brazen violence in mainstream politics and the second is the general lack of discipline on display in the civil service.

    In a throwback to less civilised chapters in the country’s history, the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, has been subject to three attacks on his life and property this year alone. The last attack on his farm house in the Karshi area of Abuja claimed the life of a police officer on duty at the property.

    While Magu remains a controversial figure, these attacks directed at him raise concerns about the immediate future in Nigeria’s political landscape as we have seen these kinds of violence in the past. Usually more associated with electioneering and political tussles, the use of targeted violence as an instrument for settling disputes is unfortunately well entrenched in Nigerian political history.

    A most perplexing example of this in the civilian era was the murder of a sitting Attorney General, Chief Bola Ige, in 2001. Till date, the cloud shrouding the truth of that murder has not been lifted. This is why the little signs of the return of violence to mainstream politics should not be taken lightly. This is not to say that the political landscape has been violence-free in the past few years.  With particular reference to places like Rivers State, it is clear that violence remains a part of the electioneering tool kit of the country.

    The problem with the repeated attacks on Magu is that its implications reach well beyond politics. The man is an unconfirmed appointee of the president with a reputation for dogged pursuit of his objectives as the head of an anti-graft agency. While people disagree with his true motives and integrity in performing his duties, it is undeniable that Magu’s approach carries the tenacity and fervour that is required in such a sensitive role.

    One needs to go far back into mafia-controlled Italy to find similar tactics employed to influence or neutralise government appointments. A case in mind that is a close comparison to the attacks on Magu, was that of an Italian prosecutor and magistrate, Giovani Falcone, an unbending and relentless anti-mafia figure who was killed in his car by a bomb triggered by the Italian Mafia in 1992. It began with threats to his life and other forms of intimidation just as in Magu’s case.

    The real problem is not that men are violent. The problem is that they have found the confidence to perpetuate violence brazenly, even towards a person with Magu’s stature and office. That is why this is a sign of worse things to come, especially in the run-up to 2019. If Magu is killed, the killings will not stop. Falcone’s fellow magistrate and friend, Paolo Borsellino, was killed 57 days after Falcone’s murder in the same way.

    It is true that there is usually a forecast of possible violence in most election cycles in Nigeria, but recent happenings have wider implications. There is a message to would-be candidates and winners that the status quo must be maintained at all costs. The real fear is that the violence could spill into the election process itself.

    While violence threatens the fragile system that we have, another threat from within the institution of government eats away at government productivity and credibility. On this second front, the citizenry, and not elected officials are closer to the problem. A cancer of indiscipline and selfish interest has coursed through the civil service at both state and federal levels all over the country. The problem has long existed and can be more damaging in the long run than any intermittent violence can.

    In Nigeria, the government is the highest employer of labour. With a large civil service, the processes of government are placed in the hands of the people employed by the government. These ‘civil servants’ thus become key players in the dynamics of governance, with real sway in government outcomes and results.

    However, many civil servants have proved to be neither civil nor willing to be servants of the country. They approach their duty with disdain and/or disinterest and the cloud of self-interest is thick in the service, often leading to unnecessary delays and errors in the command chain.

    This problem however goes deeper than disinterest in the service by our civil servants. In many cases, civil servants are the active hands corrupting the process of government in exchange for personal gains. With many unlawful, money-spinning interests outside their official duties, some civil servants simply do not have the time or enough attention to spare for their duties.

    In many cases, the illicit gains attained from corrupting the process of governance are shared throughout the respective departments, as far as the doorman. Thus, everyone is in the loop.

    Some civil servants have grown so big on kickbacks and outright theft from the common purse that they become desperate to protect those interests and can go to any length. This is where the violence mentioned earlier and illegal enrichment within the civil service connect. All corrupt elected officials and shady private individuals who are benefitting from a corrupted system depend on equally corrupt civil servants to foster their activities. This means that one would find civil servants in every cabal and mafia working against the success of government processes.

    Maina’s case for example aptly captures the picture on these two crucial fronts. Having probably benefitted from illicit enrichment himself while a member of the civil service, he compromised the interests of others who likely have a propensity for violence and are aggrieved.

    Also, with the help of other civil servants and political appointees, he attempted a quiet return to the civil service outside the roving eyes of the law, an attempt which, unfortunately for him, failed. The brazen disregard for due process allies with indiscipline unearthed after Maina’s attempt is a practical portrayal of the unabashed acts of civil servants and their supervisors.

    If the government allows violence to become a regular path to influencing its processes, with an increasingly corrupt civil service to balance the scales where violence fails, then we will be locked into our mediocre system for many decades more. The key is to break this emerging system as soon as possible before the country is caught up in a mafia style stranglehold that may never be broken. The mafia is still alive and prominent in Italy today.

    It is a pity that whatever parallels to the mafia that may now exist in Nigeria have their backbone in the civil service. One only hopes that those in the government who are opposed to Magu’s continued role in the EFCC understand the need to protect him irrespective of their sentiments. An untoward eventuality in Magu’s case will be the cue for more ugly events and will signal the ceding of power to corrupt influences.

    Most of all, the ground gained on the international scene in recent years will be lost, and much needed foreign investment will cease. We cannot be held to ransom by corruption and the agents of corruption within and outside the government. A wide overhaul of the civil service may be impracticable, but tactical dismissal and prosecution of known corrupt civil servants will go a long way.

    In the end, the people make up the civil service, and the lowly civil servant sharing in a director’s loot today will become the money guzzling director tomorrow. It is imperative to plant the memory of consequences in the mind of civil servants and other agents of corruption by tackling the sacred cows now, through every available means and agency, so that there will be too many ‘Magus’ to neutralise.

  • The SARS’ menace

    The SARS’ menace

    The Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, unit of the Nigeria Police Force is one of the 14 units under the Force Criminal Investigation Department, FCID. The unit is charged with the prevention and investigation of armed robbery, one of the most serious crimes committed on Nigerian soil.

    While most Nigerians, including many policemen, cannot identify any of the other 13 sections under the FCID, the acronym SARS is known countrywide. Frequently dressed in plain clothes, the operatives of SARS have proven to be the most unruly unit in any uniformed service in the country – and that is putting it mildly.

    Shabbily dressed, AK47-bearing men on the street in slippers are likely to be armed robbers or men of SARS. Similar not only in appearance, men of SARS are sometimes a greater evil on the roads than roving armed robbers. Armed robbers may stick to dispossessing a person of any luxuries that catch their fancy before making a quick escape. On the other hand, men of SARS concentrate on dehumanising and humiliating people into submission through threats and violence before extorting them.

    Little wonder that sordid tales of unguarded or misguided brutality and summary executions by men of SARS now litter social media in an on-going campaign calling for the folding up of the notorious unit. The calls have led the Senate to open an investigation into the nature and activities of the unit. Nigerians seem to have had enough of the unbridled terror and the atmosphere of fear and resentment that SARS creates. Protests have also been organised in multiple states to urge the government to scrap the unit.

    It is often said that the men picked for SARS are hardened men who match the capacity for violence of desperate armed robbers. To let such men loose on the streets is not only irresponsible on the part of the police hierarchy, but it also shows a disregard for people’s dignity at the highest levels. SARS men routinely mount road checks at will, preying on young men and women, with no identifiable agenda other than to extort.

    Worse than being openly humiliated, sometimes in full view of one’s family and children, people are being indiscriminately arrested by the unit. Many have been ‘arrested’ by SARS in circumstances closer to abduction, and are never heard of again. If they are not killed in transit, they are taken to crammed holding cells, where they are tortured and most likely killed, especially if there are no witnesses to their ‘abduction’.

    Every SARS facility in any state is dreaded. The SARS headquarters in Abuja known as the “abattoir” is one of these. Apparently sited on what used to be an actual abattoir, the place has kept with the spirit and letter of that name through the deadly excesses of the men of SARS there. Close neighbours report gunshots in the dead of night, as in most other SARS bases, like Akwuzu SARS in Anambra and many others.

    The arrest in Kaduna of one of the top campaigners calling for the end of SARS just last week struck fear into his colleagues, friends and family who took to social media to create awareness about his arrest. He was eventually released, probably because of the quick attention drawn to his plight. Nobody wants to think of what would have become of him, had no one been aware, after he was chained by the hands and feet and spirited to the abattoir in Abuja.

    In many instances, SARS men display an unmistakeable ignorance of their duty. They hound smartly dressed young men, in good cars or even on foot and invade their phones and personal gadgets. People that have identified themselves with ID cards have had them broken and dismissed as fake without even a cursory investigation. Every young man is a “yahoo boy” and young woman a prostitute, by the SARS playbook. The men are stripped of their cash or taken to ATM points to drain their accounts, while unfortunate women are raped.

    The men of the unit have also been used to settle personal scores. The efficacy of this strategy is ensured by their indiscipline and propensity for violence. One man reportedly sent SARS men after his girlfriend in a squabble over a car he gifted her. The “special” in the name of the unit has been rubbished by their common violence and indiscipline.

    The stories are sickening, not only by the horrors described but by the sheer number of stories. By the accounts, without any research, it seems that one in every three Nigerians has been humiliated and extorted by men of SARS or knows someone who has been so shabbily treated. It is a wonder what percentage of SARS time is spent actually fighting violent armed robbers. Their impunity is based on an assumption that they have a license to kill and inflict unreserved brutality and they say as much. Where do they get this idea?

    In the midst of all the uproar, the police has denied these claims in a farcical response. Jimoh Moshood, a Chief Superintendent of Police, CSP, and the force Public Relations Officer, was on TV recently pointing fingers and accusing campaigners of political motivation while denying the excesses of SARS. The reports are not new. Amnesty International released a report on SARS three years ago, detailing many of these same claims.

    Books have been written on SARS and police excesses by some of the voices now calling for action, at least, a decade ago. To claim that the horror stories are untrue is insulting. The re-organisation of the unit now announced by the present Inspector General of Police has been tried before, most recently in 2015. Many of the SARS men need to be dismissed or reshuffled into positions where they do not deal directly with the public, to make way for scrapping the unit.

    Veteran police officers often claim that the disposition of the public towards policemen usually leads to some of these cases. The truth is that there is no excuse for the ill-treatment of the public that SARS men resort to. What level of defiance from a member of the public can justify taking him/her to the ATM point to clear his account? The fact is that these SARS men have no moral or professional compass and the public is sick of their rudderless menace.

    Perhaps, the saddest part of the issue is that these men wear their notorious reputation like a badge while engaging the public. One is expected to be in fear when one encounters the group. Any show of confidence or frustration will most likely end badly for an unsuspecting member of the public.

    The menace of SARS is domestic institutional terror and it seems that there is no level of reorganisation that can take away the stigma. These are the things that the Senate and the presidency ought to bear in mind in considering this matter going forward.

    The institutional approach to crime fighting is also to blame for the excesses of SARS. The police depend too much on reputation and not on efficacy to achieve its objectives. Outside of SARS, the mobile police unit popularly called “MOPOL” has its own reputation. Although not as lawless as SARS, their existence is more hinged on reputation for ruthlessness than for their efficacy. Same goes for teams code-named “Operation this and that” that now litter everywhere in many of the states of the country.

    The time has come for the police to wake up to their responsibility of protecting the public through efficient monitoring and intelligence gathering rather than brutal reputation which can get out of hand as in the case of SARS. Years of lawlessness cannot be reorganised away. It has become a lifestyle and the office/unit that facilitates that lifestyle, needs to be scrapped as a matter of urgency.

    Allowing armed men in plain clothes or faint SARS jackets without any personal identification to roam about and freely engage the public was always going to go badly. A situation where these men have built deadly reputation and are still allowed to operate openly is irresponsible policing. This has to end now.

  • Orgy of denials in Maina-gate

    Orgy of denials in Maina-gate

    The travails of Abdulrasheed Maina, the embattled former head of the Presidential Task Force on Pension Reform under former President Goodluck Jonathan is still hot in the news.The House of Representatives began an investigative hearing into the matter on Thursday, November 23, and we have since been treated to a rash of accusations and denials that leaves no doubt that there is a toxic element to the Maina matter. One after the other, government officials and heads of agencies have distanced themselves from involvement in Maina’s re-appointment.

    Documents that were made public through excellent journalistic diligence showing the paper trail of approvals and referrals leading to Maina’s re-emergence have made the matter worse. This is because they have not only been denied by their apparent makers and originators, the denials have even gone as far as to include claims of forgery in their preparation and production. The entire issue is now taking the form of a mystery/thriller bestseller novel.

    In a display of the lack of coordination between government agencies that this column has continually hammered on, Winifred Oyo-Ita, the Head of Service of the Federal Civil Service, Abubakar Malami, the Attorney General of the Federation and Abdulrahman Dambazau, the Minister of Interior, the seeming principal players, all washed their hands off responsibility. They are all claiming no knowledge of how Maina eventually re-emerged as a Director in the Civil Service. Dambazau on his own part claimed no knowledge at all about even the prior correspondence and instead, led the Permanent Secretary in his ministry, Abubakar Magaji, to the gauntlet.

    Magaji later emerged to be the sacrificial lamb in the festival of denials playing out before the House of Representatives. After an initial tussle with Oyo-Ita, Magaji seemed to accept responsibility for Maina’s appointment by admitting to an ‘administrative error’ that, at least; on the surface, cleared Oyo-Ita. His admission remains the only recorded hint at responsibility for the re-appointment.

    Many questions remain, however. In the case of Malami, it does not appear that his 10-foot pole strategy will work.  He is caught stark in the middle of the imbroglio. Tapes have surfaced showing Maina giving account of how he met with Malami outside the country. This does not help Malami’s picture of aloof interest in the matter suggested by his convenient memory lapse while making his first statements.

    Also, Mrs Oyo-Ita and the Head of the Federal Civil Service Commission, Joseph Akande, both claim to have received series of letters from the AGF on the issue of Maina’s re-instatement. Malami denied signing or sending any. This suggests one of two things – that forgery is involved in this matter or that the AGF has suffered memory loss. Either way, Malami is far from exonerated, as there is documentary evidence, some of which has been made public.

    The denials extend as far as the net of Maina-gate goes. For instance, whereas Maina’s lawyer claimed that his client has continued to receive payment of salary from the government, Kemi Adeosun, the Minister of Finance, and Ahmed Idris the Accountant General of the Federation, have both rubbished the claim, stating that Maina’s last payment from the government was in February 2013. The police denied protecting Maina or his properties, with the Nigerian Immigration Service also claiming to have no record of Maina’s goings and comings in and out of Nigeria since 2013, while he was wanted by the EFCC and the police.

    Ibrahim Magu, the EFCC boss, had the opportunity to make his own denial in response to a Senate ad-hoc committee finding that Maina handed over 222 properties recovered from pension thieves to the EFCC. He claimed not to have been handed anything by Maina, but, instead, that all properties recovered in relation to Maina and pensions were done solely by his agency. This is particularly interesting as the EFCC has routinely been accused of receiving and ‘sharing’ recovered loot and properties. Claims by ‘victims’ of the agency who are coerced into forfeiting assets quietly in exchange for no prosecution are rampant.

    In relation to recovered loot, there are unanswered questions arising from the video recording of Maina that surfaced recently. He claimed to have handed over documents to Malami that would lead to the recovery of N1.3 trillion in stolen pension funds. There has been no hint of this in any part of the testimony that has been recorded at the House of Representatives. If true, there is already another case to answer between Malami and whoever else was privy to the documents mentioned by Maina.

    Maina further pleaded for audience with the president and protection from the security agencies to enable him reveal facts and documents that will expose people and lead to the recovery of even more trillions.

    For what it is worth, it is beginning to appear like Maina has been sitting on serious evidence and information that may justify his paranoia. What is disturbing, however, is his lack of trust in the integrity of the government agencies, particularly the EFCC. His fear and distrust is an indictment on the agency. Guilty or not, a person under investigation should have confidence in the system and assurance that the right thing will be done.

    The plot thickens with the emergence of new clues that the Department of State Security, DSS, has been within reach of Maina in the past. The head of that agency has revealed how he advised Malami to meet with Maina. If the government agencies were in consonance about their objectives, the knowledge of Maina reaching out to Malami could have been used to lure him out into the open and let the law take its course.

    At this juncture, with the facts at hand and the demeanour of the different agencies, there seems to be some cover up. The shadow of vested interests is again visible in this case. An alternative perspective of the matter sees Maina as a compromised person who is threatening to bring other powerful people down with him.  As he stated in the video recording, “I am no saint”. Whether that is an admission of some guilt on his part is left to anyone’s imagination but his evasiveness and insistence on his possession of information that puts his life at risk cannot be ignored.

    If Maina’s claims are to be believed, he has obtained about three court judgments in his favour concerning his dismissal. True to his lawyer’s claim also, there is no court judgment or pronouncement that has found him guilty of wrongdoing. Whether this is because he has not made himself available for prosecution is another matter altogether. However the legalese of this matter is not the main issue anymore. The central issue now is that Maina is a potential whistle-blower who fears for his life. Malami needs to be re-invited to the House to shed light on the truth of the gift of documents Maina claimed to have handed him somewhere outside the country.

    The next chapter of Maina-gate is likely to be more revealing than the present orgy of denials. Somewhere down the line, there will be no more room for excuses and the real issues will begin to emerge. Maina’s fame or infamy will ultimately be determined in the long run. His family insists he is a hero and will be justified, while Magu wants to find out why his seven-year-old son has N1.7 billion in his account.

    In other climes, a person claiming threat to his life and access to sensitive incriminating evidence would have been granted protective custody by now. Seeing as the information could help recover crucially needed funds, some sort of deal can be reached regarding his culpability. The government has dragged its feet for too long and this is now becoming a media circus. Hopefully, the right thing will be done in the end.

     

  • How not to arrest a spy

    How not to arrest a spy

    It happened again last week. And all the major newspapers picked up the news. It was a perennial showdown between the operatives of two security agencies – the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and the Department for State Security, DSS. This time, the bone of contention was the attempt by the EFCC to arrest two of the intelligence community’s ex-chiefs – Ita Ekpeyong, of the DSS and Ayo Oke, the recently dismissed head of the National Intelligence Agency, NIA.

    To say the situation was badly handled would be a gross understatement of the lack of professionalism shown by the agencies involved. According to reports, the standoff led to threats that degenerated into rifles being corked and aimed within full view of members of the public and pressmen at the scene who were alarmed and frightened.

    In the aftermath of the incident, there are two major issues dominating discourse on the matter; the first is whether due process was followed, which itself brings a sub-question of what due process is, in the circumstances. The second issue dwells on the lack of cooperation between Nigeria’s security agencies.

    The apparent disconnect in operational cooperation and lack of general inter-agency courtesy has, on many occasions, led to worse cases of ego-fuelled street brawls in a literal battle for supremacy.

    On the issue of due process, the many opinions that have been rendered do not agree on what exactly that would entail in the circumstances of this clash. Majority opinion, however, supports the right of the EFCC to storm the residences of the two ex-security chiefs. The argument for that opinion is that nobody is above the law and the DSS had no business obstructing the EFCC from effecting arrests of individuals who have no immunity by law.

    On the other hand, the opposing views point to a subsisting edict titled: “Instrument No. 1 of 1999”, which shields the DSS from external audit investigation of its financial dealings, making them subject only to presidential review. The order was a proclamation by the outgoing General Abdulsalami Abubakar’s regime on May 23, 1999, a few days before the nation’s transition to civilian rule. The implication is that until this edict is repealed by the National Assembly, the two agencies will always have friction.

    At any rate, too much blame cannot be heaped on any of the teams on ground during the incident. The DSS operatives could not have been expected to give up their principals without prior superior order to stand aside. The EFCC should have contemplated this eventuality, warrant or no warrant. The EFCC and police operatives were also given a clear mandate from their headquarters. It is not in the training of any security agency to abandon an order at a whim.

    Remembering that the operations of the DSS and NIA are covert in nature also dims the right of the EFCC to haul in any operatives or ex-operatives and ask questions as it deems fit without an extra layer of authority outside a magistrate’s warrant of arrest. This may account for the ex-security chiefs not honouring invitations to answer questions bothering on their operations.

    Ita Ekpeyong of the DSS is wanted by the EFCC in connection with the Dasuki arms cash bazaar, while Ayo Oke is wanted in relation to the Osborne (Ikoyi) cash find. While the presidency has said it is not stopping the EFCC from carrying out any investigation, any information concerning the use or intended use of the Osborne cash or Dasuki’s cash by these agencies may be protected information that can only be divulged upon clearance from higher authority.

    Even if the EFCC has found personally incriminating evidence against any of the two ex-chiefs, it ought to share and coordinate with their respective agencies. If the EFCC Act does not require this, surely common sense in these matters does, especially when dealing with sensitive information. No spy agency or secret service in the world would willingly submit operatives or ex-operatives to scrutiny without assurances that the inquiry will not touch on its operations.

    This leads to the second issue of inter-agency cooperation. While it may not be feasible for security agencies to open their operations wholesale to others to scrutinise for the sake of coordination, there ought to be guidelines for minimum level of information sharing and circumstances for coordination in operations. Every once in a while, purposes intersect and undue friction can be addressed through ready guidelines and procedure for these situations.

    It is widely believed that lack of collaboration between the United States of America’s Federal Bureau of Investigations, FBI, and the  Central Intelligence Agency, CIA, contributed to the success of the September 11, 2001 terror plot in that country. If our security agencies develop enmity towards each other over little issues, they may drop the ball on potentially severe threats to the country through non-cooperation.

    In Nigeria’s case, at least, the problem is deepened by a lack of professional courtesy towards other security agencies. Men of the Nigerian Police Force, for example, are notorious for their disregard of the men of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC.

    The police are, in turn, hounded by the Nigerian military particularly the Army, which regards the force as an inferior security force and openly display their disdain at every opportunity. Lives have been lost through this unnecessary supremacy contests.

    In this recent DSS and EFCC/police clash, the discourteous mien of the men is further heightened by perceived personal vendetta by Ibrahim Magu, the EFCC boss, who seems to have an axe to grind with the DSS over his confirmation saga. While one may never know the truth, the bad blood is thick and obvious between Magu’s EFCC and the DSS.

    Also related to discourtesy and unprofessionalism is Magu’s tendency to court publicity in EFCC’s operations. Without being told, a keen observer can guess that the media presence at this recent clash was no coincidence, just as it happened during the Osborne seizure. The tip-off of the press could only have come from one quarter and, as it turned out, they were called to witness the nation being embarrassed, again.

    Our security agencies need to be trained on agency interaction and the positives of coordination when necessary. A re-orientation is long overdue and it must begin from the top of the hierarchy of these agencies, where the problem usually originates. Also, guidelines addressing the issues raised by this recent clash need to be explored and determined to prevent these kinds of occurrences in the future.

    The law does its best to give guidelines, but it cannot address every possible eventuality; which is why law-making is an on-going process. Circumstances like this are opportunities to modify existing laws to accommodate new scenarios. This is what the Senate ought to be focusing on, not on setting up committees and launching useless probes into matters that the Federal Executive Council or judiciary are better positioned to handle at this juncture.

    In a case like this, the position of the Attorney General of the Federation is crucial in keeping sanity within the security agencies. However, the antecedents of Abubakar Malami, the present Attorney General, have been even more divisive. Malami, for instance, was involved in the gung-ho raid by the DSS on judges’ residences that led to similar clashes some time ago.

    For whatever it is worth, it is doubtful that Magu and Malami enjoy a cordial enough relationship for the former to seek the help of the latter in this matter. The AGF’s position as regards to Magu, an appointee of the executive, betrays the same disconnect that leads to clashes like the one that was witnessed in Asokoro last week.

    This disconnect summarises the point of this whole piece. When these agencies and their supervisors are working at cross purposes, clashes like this will continue. It is better to make sacrifices now that will help improve inter-agency relations, than to have to deal with the consequences of lack of cooperation later, when it will be too late.

  • ‘Fake’ Coup in Zimbabwe

    In an unusual coup that has been desperately downplayed by the Zimbabwean military forces, Robert Mugabe, long-time president of Zimbabwe, was last Wednesday placed under house arrest. The army later marshalled the streets and took over the state broadcasting service. In its address to the people, the army vowed that it only intended to weed out criminals within the Mugabe government while assuring that the president and his family were safe and sound.

    It is widely believed that the military action was directly connected with the ambition and activities of Grace Mugabe, the first lady. The first lady had been engaged in some heavyweight politicking uncommon to wives of presidents in Africa, or anywhere in the world. The latest casualty of her assault on political rivals saw the sacking of Emerson Mnangagwa, Mugabe’s vice-president and long-time associate, who had been a favourite to succeed the aging president.

    Mnangagwa’s sack turned out to be the final straw as it placed Mrs Mugabe in prime position to succeed her husband. The events following the military’s annexation of key locations in Zimbabwe now make it clear that Mugabe’s wife may have been the real target, and not Mugabe himself. The secretary turned first lady had racked up resentment for herself in many quarters for her outspoken nature, lavish lifestyle and unmasked thirst for power.

    However, the military action rumoured to have been orchestrated by Mnangagwa “the crocodile”, opened the lid on the festering discontent which may have developed overtime against Mugabe’s rule within his ZANU-PF party. The bubble of support that Mugabe enjoyed within the party finally burst and the party ousted him as its head on Sunday, replacing him with Mnangagwa. Interestingly, the party also gave Mugabe an ultimatum to resign as president by noon on Monday or face impeachment.

    There are several talking points from the sequence of events that unfolded in Zimbabwe last week. First, it is symbolic that military interference was again the catalyst for change. Just like in Egypt and many other African countries that have been under the hand of a dictator, the army was again instrumental in breaking the stranglehold. While many Zimbabweans rejoice at the military intervention, the point to note is that military solution is never a constitutional solution and it sends worrisome signals in the 21st century.

    Also, this time, if the military is to be believed, the ‘soft coup’ was fashioned to make changes within the government while maintaining the current structure and power arrangement. This is no cause for celebration. The world has come to recognise and somewhat support the idea of a “Guardian coup”, especially in Africa with its many dictatorships, which entails the sacking of an oppressive regime by the military, provided that democratic elections are quickly organised freely and fairly.

    What may be more sinister and destructive of the whole idea of democracy is a caretaker arrangement, in this case, where the military appears to be at liberty to make changes to the democratic order as it deems fit. In that case, supreme power lies with the military and all elected representatives of the people would serve at the pleasure of their military overlords. Therefore, if the military event of last week was not a coup, it was something worse and the Zimbabwean people and other foreign leaders must be made to realise this.

    While Zimbabweans and people around the world still struggle to understand the pattern of this coup, Mugabe successfully pulled off a last minute turn-around on Sunday at a nationwide broadcast. As a military chief turned the pages of his speech, Mugabe acknowledged that the country would be “refocused” but said nothing about his resignation. The speech, therefore, cast further mystery into an already unusual coup, if there was one at all.

    Like a lot of past world leaders, Mugabe came into power on the back of an uprising, as a freedom fighter. He then planted himself in power like they usually do and has been there for over 37 years. It is a classic scenario, where a ‘messiah’ uproots a totalitarian regime only later to become a tyrant himself. Even Fidel Castro did not escape the aspersions of tyranny but he may have enjoyed enough support because his anti-American stance was shared by a good portion of Cubans. Mugabe’s anti-West posture had won him similar support in Zimbabwe and ensured his perpetuity until now.

    As the Zimbabwean economy slumps lower and lower and key alliances with the West becomes more crucial, so has Zimbabwe’s anti-West sentiments dissipated. This perhaps explains how Mugabe lost the confidence of his party. Coupled with the apparent influence of his secretary-turned wife, and his embarrassing old age, the party had enough to have acted before now. Like in most African countries, they lacked the resolve and have now only made some cosmetic changes that could have been initiated without a military intervention.

    This speaks to their sincerity of purpose and concern for the future of Zimbabwe. Maintaining the status quo must have been more profitable than doing what is right and reclaiming the respect of the world by sacking a president that routinely falls asleep during world conferences. In Africa, self-interest is the key motivation in politics, and the protection of this self-interest, perhaps, led to this half-baked coup, the expulsion of Grace Mugabe from the party and Mugabe’s refusal to resign as expected.

    If the examples of Mobutu Sese Seko of Congo, Muammar Gaddafi of Libya (albeit with external influence), Laurent Gbagbo of Ivory Coast and most recently, Yahya Jammeh of the Gambia are to go by, Mugabe may have to be forced out of power, even at this juncture where he has a golden opportunity to salvage some dignity in his exit. Like all of them and many others, he is predisposed to clinging to power as he probably cannot imagine a life outside power, even at 93, after spending so much time at the helm.

    His attempt to install his wife as leader of the country after him betrays the same politics of inheritance that has bastardised democracy in places like Congo, Togo and even somewhat in Kenya. His tenure is now more likely to end like that of Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and Blaise Compaore of Burkina Faso who were eventually forced to resign after initial reluctance like Mugabe now displays.

    The West has labelled African leaders as power thirsty kleptocrats and African leaders continue to justify this description. Looking at the African situation, and opposed to other places, it would seem that shame is the missing ingredient for true democracy. Leaders elsewhere resign for far less than many African leaders are ready to live with and it is therefore no surprise that many African leaders have to be practically forced out of office.

    There are more long term African leaders on the continent – in Cameroon, Togo, Uganda, Equatorial Guinea etc – who have cemented their rules and are likely to exit through the same forceful routes. I guessed they should be on guard now.

    It is a shame that tanks have been rolled out to the streets of Zimbabwe to expel the president’s wife. It is a greater pity that such a firebrand revolutionist of Mugabe’s stock could be easily sucked in by the “inner bosom” of a woman, who was married and his secretary at the time she started sharing the president’s (master’s) bed. It adds to the farce of African political history and the ZANU-PF party needs to see this through if the military will not. The problem is that Mnangagwa himself is cut from the same cloth as Mugabe and this may just be motion without movement in the end.

  • The showdown in Kaduna

    In Kaduna State right now, over 20,000 Nigerians are facing imminent job losses in the state’s civil service. Nasir el-Rufai, the governor, plans to replace them with more suitably qualified personnel. The news sends chills down the spine of the average person, especially in the current unfriendly economic climate in Nigeria.
    The spine-chilling horror of the proposed move will probably turn to a mixture of disbelief and strong approval when one learns that the more than 20,000 civil servants are teachers who had just failed examinations set for primary four pupils. Images of some of their test scripts have been released online by the state government to justify the governor’s decision. The scripts reveal errors in spelling that would earn primary two pupils sharp rebukes by their teachers. The incoherent sentences on some of the scripts are heart-breaking.
    The governor is now torn between calls for his administration to be “humane” and desist from carrying out the extreme action and others cheering him on to save the children of Kaduna State from a mediocre future. It does not help that the governor has acquired a reputation for harshness and blind resolve in his past appointments. This uncomfortably comes into play to steer the conversation away from the real issue, which is that the future of the Nigerian child should not be toyed with.
    The truly gulling reality is that this could have happened anywhere in the country. While teachers from some states may fare better than others, there is just no guarantee, and this is a sad point indeed. An optimal result will be that no teacher scores below 80% in this kind of test, but it is doubtful that this will be the case in any state school anywhere in Nigeria. The Kaduna State situation should therefore, be considered as a litmus test in the resolve of the country to break through the chains of primitivity and mediocrity in the educational sector.
    The unenviable situation el-Rufai now finds himself is accentuated by the threat of strike made by the Nigerian Union of Teachers, NUT, in Kaduna if the governor persists in his decision. It is understandable that the NUT is a trade union by description and as such is expected to protect the interest of its members, suitably qualified or not, as it is. However, the body ought to have a frank discussion amongst its members with the interest of the children at the forefront of their thoughts.
    The selfish interest of teachers, who are largely not qualified, has been demonstrated before through age falsification and irregular certificates in Edo State. Adams Oshiomhole, then governor of Edo State had a chance then to set the tone for reform amongst state schools in the country. In a popular video, the governor is seen beside a teacher who could not read the contents of her own certificate after being prompted to do so by the governor. Oshiomhole hatched a plan to conduct competency tests for teachers at the time, which was resisted by the teachers on spurious grounds.
    Even then, the NUT threatened and Oshiomhole’s former comrades at the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, also mounted pressure until he made the political decision to settle for a “training and re-training” programme instead. The ‘programme’ has now led nowhere. Oshiomhole sacked only 936 teachers then, a decision which he reversed after the mounted pressure. This helps to put into scale, what el-Rufai is about to embark on.
    After the capitulation of Oshiomhole to trade union pressure, el-Rufai’s mission takes on much more significance, not just because of its scale. The future of public school education may now rest on the outcome of the showdown between el-Rufai and the unions. The NLC and NUT are already active in protest in Kaduna and Nigerians should keep watch on developments there as it may have ripple effects on other states.
    If the strong-willed el-Rufai manages to overcome the unions and carry out his plan, a bold precedence will be laid. The power of the unions against crucial personnel overhauling in public schools will be weakened and the reform can spread far and wide. Now is the time for extreme measures because public education has barely survived a sustained crisis since about the early 1990s. It is now at a critical point.
    Many years back, a person with a standard six certificate (First school leaving certificate) could speak and write very well. These days, a school certificate holder and even graduates struggle to make sense in English. With the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, recently dropping cut-off marks to record low levels, with the lowest levels for intending teachers, it is obvious that the quality of education is only sinking lower.
    We are at a point where the only options for recovery are extreme choices. How does one retrain a teacher that cannot pass primary four examinations? Surely, the children do not have the time it takes for the teachers to go back to primary school, which they ought to do.
    The future of Nigerian children cannot be mortgaged for political advantage by our leaders or the selfish interests of the unions. Too much is at stake in a fast growing world for Nigeria to jeopardise its position in an increasingly competitive space on the global front. Of the current crop of millennials, many have been adjudged to be unemployable, and the others have only excelled despite the educational system. Better qualified teachers will make intelligent demands for teaching aids from the government and task the students to do more to achieve their potential.
    Something has to give within the education system, and if what gives is the cycle of incompetence guaranteed by weak political will and irresponsible unions, then so be it. El-Rufai may be unpopular in many quarters, but if it takes an unpopular man to take the unpopular decision that may start the educational revolution in Nigeria, then it is fortuitous that he is a governor today.
    As for the unions, the NUT and NLC should rather be thinking towards a deal to make the transition from ill-qualified to better qualified teachers as dignified as possible. This is achievable if the affected teachers are provided with an option of re-absorption if they manage to improve themselves in future. The one thing that should be non-negotiable is the quality of education the Nigerian child receives.
    While the popular saying that teachers’ reward is in heaven may be a stretch too far, it is also true that selfish interest is not a leading quality in a good teacher. The NUT needs to re-invent itself as a body and re-evaluate its mission and values. It must be aligned with the better interest of the Nigerian child. This can only happen if the body can indeed play a part in ensuring teachers are adequately trained in the actual sense, not just bearing certificates that say they are.
    Helpless children in Kaduna state are being placed between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand they may be denied what little education they are getting through strike action by the unions, while on the other hand they may continue to be taught by teachers who cannot themselves pass the examinations the students are assessed by.
    Competency tests should be carried out for teachers all over the country to ensure that the students are indeed getting an education and not just attending school. It is better for us to know where we stand and safeguard the future than for the unions to maintain the job security of their members. The individuals who populate these unions must begin to see every Nigerian child in the eyes of their own children and make the best decision for them.
    Today, if there are incompetent doctors who cannot differentiate between a stethoscope, proctoscope and otoscope, will the medical association defend them or will they be allowed to continue practice? This is where we are with many teachers and the sooner all involved realise this, the better.

  • Now that heads have rolled

    Last week, President Muhammadu Buhari finally terminated the appointments of Babachir Lawal, the embattled Secretary to the Government of the Federation, and Ayo Oke, the head of the National Intelligence Agency, NIA. The president’s order came six months after the duo were placed on suspension over separate allegations of corruption brought by the Senate in Lawal’s case and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, in the case of Oke.

    Lawal’s woes began when a Senate committee started looking into his award of contracts as the head of the Presidential Initiative on the North East, PINE, which was created to alleviate the plight of people ravaged by the Boko Haram war in the area. Towards the end of 2016, the Senate unearthed details of irregular award of contracts and funds paid into accounts controlled by Lawal. However, the president failed to act until April, when NIA’s Oke was caught up in the Osborne cash discovery of about $43 million by the EFCC in Ikoyi, Lagos. Lawal and Oke were subsequently suspended and a three-man panel headed by the Vice-President, Yemi Osinbajo, tasked to investigate their cases.

    What is particularly striking is the president’s initial reluctance to look into Lawal’s case. Many of the president’s decisions come belatedly after sustained public outcry and demands for action, especially when it involves members of the president’s cabinet or party. The senate’s motives may have been shady, but the facts, as they say, speak for themselves and ought to have been taken up regardless.

    After the allegations against Lawal came to the fore late in 2016, the president wrote to the Senate in January, claiming that he would not act because Lawal had not been given an opportunity to defend himself. But the truth is that Lawal had refused to appear before the Senate. Oke’s much publicised cash trouble seems to have forced the president’s hand with Lawal as it would have been tactless to move against Oke while continuing to protect Lawal.

    The shameless politics that has been practised since 1999 has been playing out at the background of the whole issue since Lawal was first hounded by the Senate in 2016. There are some within the ranks of the Senate that fingered Lawal as the chief architect of the Code of Conduct Tribunal proceedings against Bukola Saraki, the Senate President.

    In an apparent revenge mission, the Senate launched the probe into PINE with its clear target in mind. And it wasted no time in publicising its findings to pressure the president to move against his man. This, perhaps, explains the president’s initial resistance as an act of defiance. But what it does not explain, is how the fist-thumping between the Senate and the presidency contributes to the general welfare of Nigerians.

    Now that Lawal has finally been let go, Junaid Mohammed, a former lawmaker, has claimed that Boss Mustapha, Lawal’s replacement, is, in fact, Lawal’s first cousin. While there are no laws prohibiting the appointment of family members of sacked political appointees to take their place, a case can be made on the basis of common sense and good judgement that such a move is testy, especially at a time when Buhari’s popularity has taken a dip. If true, it would seem like a consolation to Lawal who may have been left untouched, had the circumstances allowed.

    On the one hand, the pressure of Nigerians and the opposition seemed to have achieved results through the sacking of Lawal (and Oke), while on the other hand, the president strips that result of any real bite by appointing the man’s cousin to take his place in a country of over 180 million people. The indelicate decisions that have been taken at the highest levels of government in Buhari’s time as president are simply disturbing. Far from the president’s personal blame, his advisers and strategists, are also culpable as they ought to play a role in ensuring that the right decisions are made in that office.

    The problem is that when the president is surrounded by the wrong team, wrong decisions will be made and it is the people that suffer the consequences. At the moment, no one has been suspended or sacked for the re-instatement of Abdulrasheed Maina, even though the president, by ordering the disengagement of Maina, effectively admitted that it was a thoughtless decision. Buhari’s policy of half measures is becoming the hallmark of his presidency. This is why there have been calls from many quarters that Lawal and Oke must be prosecuted since they have been indicted. It shows lack of faith in the president’s resolve.

    There was no reason Lawal and Oke should not have been handed over to the anti-corruption agencies for investigation upon their suspension. The setting up of unnecessary panels of inquiry in criminal matters is usually a pre-cursor to cover-ups and clandestine deal-making that do not serve the public good. Having delayed prosecution for six months, it is unlikely that the public is about to get to the truth of the allegations against either of the men and equally improbable that any real legal repercussions will result from any prosecution now conducted.

    It is noteworthy that the ex- NIA boss had earlier fingered the National Security Adviser and member of the VP’s three-man panel, Babagana Monguno, as being privy to operations involving the seized cash that apparently emanated from the Central Bank of Nigeria. Reports also revealed that Monguno had briefed Buhari on the operations. Now, several months down the line, these revelations have been hushed and the presidency has declared that the anti-corruption agencies are free to perform their duties. No doubt, there has been house cleaning and any new ‘revelations’ and outcomes emerging from this matter, will be stage-managed drama deployed to appease the public’s thirst for closure.

    The real issue here is that skeletons lie behind every closed door in our government. The dirty politics is facilitated by the dirty hands of the politicians and new scandals are merely results of somebody’s decision to open the doors to where the skeletons of his adversary lie.  It is clear Saraki and the Senate knew where Lawal’s skeletons lay. Open doors will mean transparency and good governance but many of these ‘doors’ that have revealed skeletons in the past, have now been shut again.

    Before we cheer the rolling of heads, we ought to be sure that it is not only the heads of Nigerians in the North-east and other troubled areas that are, in fact, being lost. Our politicians are hydra-headed snakes and it is increasingly becoming clear that no amount of rolling heads can put down the beast of corruption in Nigeria. Having waited for so long for Buhari to finally take decisive action on a matter close to his comfort zone, the sacking of Lawal and Oke seems almost like an anti-climax as the appointment of Boss Mustapha signals a return to the same.

    The president is known to be fiercely loyal to his appointees and this has resulted in many clashing objectives between officials in his government, who enjoy relative job security. Is it better for Nigerians to allow the president stick with his people even in the face of damning indictments or do we have to settle for the foot-dragging that led to the final sacking of Oke and Lawal?

    As the legal maxim goes, justice delayed is justice denied. There is no telling what the delay has achieved in this case, but we can be sure that any legal outcomes now will be diluted. That is why calls for the prosecution of Lawal and Oke, while not undesirable, may be merely playing to the gallery at this point.

  • Buhari’s many ‘gates’

    Mainagate’. Nigerians are confronted with yet another sorry tale of recklessness in an on-going thread of discordant exercise of official functions and administrative disarray. This time, Abdulrasheed Maina, the otherwise forgotten former head of the Presidential Task Team on Pension Reforms under former President Goodluck Jonathan, who is most famous for evading prosecution in 2013, is at the centre of this new saga.

    Maina had been duly dismissed from the civil service by the Federal Civil Service Commission in 2013 after allegations of fraud and embezzlement were brought against him by a senate committee. He fled the country after he was declared wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC. His recent reappearance and re-instatement into the federal civil service seems to have enjoyed the support of the upper hierarchy of the civil service and the top law officer of the country.

    As soon as the news of his quiet re-instatement broke out, Abdulrahman Dambazau, the Minister of Interior and Winifred Oyo-Ita, Head of the Federal Civil Service, were quick to wash their hands off responsibility. It was as though it were possible that his reappearance and subsequent re-instatement through the Ministry of Interior, could occur without their knowledge, or was altogether false.

    But thanks to excellent journalistic work by Premium Times, the renowned online news outlet who broke the news, we now know more than the advocates would wish the people to know. The newspaper revealed evidence of their correspondence that exposed the careful manoeuvre of words and calculated sidestepping in letters, which is common in the civil service hierarchy when officers are deflecting liability. It was then it became clear, at least from the deliberate wording of the letters, that none other than Abubakar Malami, the Attorney-General of the Federation, AGF, was the originator of the move. Oyo-Ita who is reported to have initially resisted the move, masterfully passed the buck, while Dambazau, whose ministry made the final decision and the AGF who gave the initial directive, are left with soiled hands in this roiling scandal.

    The AGF claimed in an interview that he acted in “public interest” in initiating the move. He also stated that with clearance from his principal, the president, he is ready to make full disclosure and clarifications. From his veiled remarks so far, it is easy to pinpoint the AGF as the key to the unfolding scandal. As a man answerable to the president, one may wonder if the buck does not rise further than the AGF’s office.

    So where does the buck stop? President Harry Truman, the 33rd President of the United States of America, is reported to have kept a sign on his desk reading “the buck stops here”, meaning, as the commander-in-chief, ultimate responsibility for decisions and outcomes, rests with him. Over the past couple of months, after episodes of different scandals, we are fed with feedback suggesting that President Muhammadu Buhari may have been unaware of the questionable acts or motives of his appointees. It has become methodical in the damage control strategy of the presidency, but it is becoming old and wearisome for the president to continue to feign ignorance over some of the acts that are ascribed to his officials.

    This is why Buhari’s immediate directive that Maina be ‘disengaged’ from the civil service, may not have the desired effect that the presidency wishes it to have on the mood of the public. The list of things the president seems to be unaware of is growing by the day and the people are becoming sceptical and wary at the possibilities of the president being so disengaged from his officials. Already, we know that Maina has been entering and leaving the country at will and the Department of State Security, DSS, and interestingly, the police, have been offering him and his properties protection since his disappearance in 2013. It, therefore, seems all the more unlikely that the president is unaware of Maina’s eventual emergence and reinstatement.

    The truth is that Maina seems to have leveraged on powerful people in the corridors of power. This may explain why the president’s men seem blind to his unsavoury history, but instead, focus on the legalese as a justification for engaging the ‘fugitive’. Okoi Obono-Obla, the president’s Special Assistant on Prosecution said last Monday in an interview on Channels Television that Maina has not been convicted by any court and as such, he sees no ground for the uproar about his re-absorption into the federal civil service. This is an insult on the intelligence of Nigerians. It is also, a tacit pronouncement that the much orchestrated war against corruption is dead and awaiting final interment.

    The special assistant may not be wrong. Maina’s arrest warrant by a court in 2015 was extinguished by a subsequent court pronouncement in 2016. Even his red-listing by Interpol is not technically an international arrest warrant, as Interpol revealed it was only a haphazard request from Nigeria that was not followed by necessary processes to include him on the wanted person’s list on Interpol’s website.

    Since Ibrahim Magu assumed office as acting EFCC boss, he seems to be the only one going after Maina. This is in direct conflict with the attitude of the AGF to Maina. It has come to the point where we need to start asking whether Malami and Magu serve the same principal, or whether the entire country is being played for fools in the president’s theatre of scandals. One thing is certain and that is, Maina’s re-emergence did not occur overnight and members of the president’s team, if not the president himself, may have been in contact with him before now, with the knowledge of his whereabouts.

    As Magu begins doing what he does best – confiscating properties, Maina’s family have claimed that he inherited several houses from his late father. That reminds me of the quantum of foreign currencies allegedly found in an account which Patience Jonathan claimed belongs to her late mother.

    Maina is an archetype of the civil servant in Nigeria whose properties and lifestyle always exceed their means. So, it is not a question of whether he had illegally enriched himself; the fact that he can afford to flee the country whenever he desires, is already a testament to vast means that his civil service rank and stipend, cannot support. He is said to have been living in Dubai. As soon as the spotlight hit him, he should have been done from the civil service forever. So, Malami’s claims hold no water.

    The real questions now are: Why didn’t the EFCC move to confiscate these properties that were being protected with taxpayer’s money before now? Why hasn’t Maina shown his face in public if he believes he is innocent of the allegations? Why are the DSS and EFCC always on opposing sides? And why has President Buhari not corrected the discord between his agencies after several occurrences? Instead of asking whether the president followed due process by directing Maina’s disengagement, we need to be asking these questions as a pattern is forming that is unflattering to the intelligence of the populace.

    Properties, money and other resources have been confiscated in this administration, but ‘heads have not rolled’ as Nigerians are wont to say. One wonders what it will take for a Buhari appointee to be axed in the face of these recurring monumental scandals. One also wonders when the president will borrow a leaf from Truman and start taking responsibility. It is also beyond comprehension how the Jonathan government, again, has somehow been blamed for ‘Mainagate’.

    Will the President wait for another gate to open before he tightens the reins of his presidency? Or will he begin to demonstrate leadership by taking decisive action? There is no telling who exactly the key man to this present ‘gate’ is. But reason points back to the president as another gloss-over of these events will put yet another dent on public confidence in the president’s integrity and leadership ability. This plague of ‘gates’ must stop.

  • Abaribe’s gamble

    The case involving Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, has been a hot topic since it began after his long period of incarceration by the Department of State Security, DSS. No sooner had he been released on bail than he began breaking every condition attached to the bail. He eventually committed the final act of defiance by jumping bail. For now, no one seems to know Kanu’s whereabouts, including his ‘brave’ sureties who are now engaged in finger pointing.

    Emmanuel El-Shalom Oka-Ben Madu, a Jewish High Priest, Tochukwu Uchendu, an accountant, and most significantly, Enyinnaya Abaribe, a senator representing Abia South, all valiantly stood as sureties for Kanu on a bail bond of N100 million each. After this, he was granted bail on very stringent conditions. Despite Kanu’s immediate display of disdain for his bail conditions, the brave trio stood firmly behind their man as he repeatedly broke every condition and made inciting comments. His disregard for constituted authority knows no bounds. Although the senator has now revealed that he cautioned Kanu against his excessive behaviour, it appears that the allure of openly associating with a cause that attracts wide support in Abia State was too much for the senator to contemplate backing out.

    The logic of becoming a surety to Kanu may not be difficult to decipher in Abaribe’s case, as it is no secret that he nurses the ambition to be governor of Abia State. The quest to score easy political capital in Abia may have now backfired on the ambitious senator. When his case came up last week, it was apparent that Kanu had, indeed, gone incommunicado as he was nowhere to be found. With this, the reality of possibly losing N100 million or imprisonment finally dawned on Abaribe. It, therefore, elicited a late reaction by the senator, through his lawyers, who applied for the senator to be discharged as surety for Kanu.

    In trying to make a case for the discharge of their client, the senator’s lawyers cited the military’s siege on Kanu’s home in September as extenuating circumstances, coupled with their belief that the military seized or fatally harmed Kanu during the said invasion. As is wide knowledge now, the court did not bulge, and the axe still dangles over the senator’s head.

    Beyond the histrionics of this case, it is evident that many people do not grasp the full import of standing surety for an accused person in a criminal case. People routinely stand surety for complete strangers in arranged transactions that involve receiving payment for putting their freedom and resources at risk. This form of touting is common in the courts in Nigeria, with court registrars and other court officials being sometimes complicit in the act.

    In this case, however, the senator’s ‘payment’, as it were, may be in the form of political capital the senator is hoping to reap. But this act may eventually cost him more if Kanu does not turn up between now and November 20, the time the court has graciously granted the senator to produce him. Unlike Ayo Fayose, the Ekiti State governor, and Femi Fani-Kayode who are courting friends in the South-east through their support for Nnamdi Kanu at no risk to their finances, the senator may now have to earn his keep.

    It is unlikely though that the senator and others are in any serious danger of imprisonment. This is because that eventuality is offset by forfeiture of the bail bond of N100 million which will suffice to discharge their responsibilities as sureties, if they can fulfil it. What many may not know which has contributed to touting in the courts in regards to bail bonds is the actual practice of the courts regarding sureties.

    The law concerning bail generally envisages actual deposit of the bail sums in court as security for the appearance of the accused at the next adjourned date. In practice, however, this sum is not actually deposited, as the sureties have always satisfied the courts by instead depositing title documents to properties of the value of the bail sum as security. The problem here is that, the value of property can be inflated, or the documents may not be authentic.

    Little is known about the other two sureties, but one can safely assume that the senator is “good for the money” so to say. There is another danger here, one that is far more significant to Nigerian law and it is shown by the boldness of the senator’s lawyers in asking that he be discharged as surety at this juncture. First, the accused has gone AWOL. Secondly, the claims that the military has seized Kanu, including the reports of many killed at his residence are unsubstantiated. The army has denied responsibility for his disappearance and the presidency has echoed its stance, so there is little to hold this claim before the courts.

    The answer to Abaribe’s legal team’s boldness can be found in the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015. Section 177 (1) of the ACJA allows a surety to apply “at any time” to be discharged as a surety. Sub-section (2) of that section further states that “on an application under sub-section  (1)…the court shall issue a warrant for the arrest of the defendant on whose behalf the recognizance was executed and on his appearance, shall discharge the recognizance either wholly or so far as relates to the applicant…”. This provision justifies Abaribe’s lawyers’ application and more importantly, seems to absolve the surety of responsibility for the whereabouts of the principal – the accused person.

    It seems, by this provision, that Abaribe’s application and a warrant of arrest for Kanu, will suffice to hold off further action on the sureties until Kanu is found. Although his appearance concludes the discharge, there is no compelling provision that triggers forfeiture in the interim. Depending on the attitude of the court in this case, we may be on for what will become an indefinite stay of proceedings, as this defective drafting is likely to lead to another adjournment come November 20, if Kanu remains missing.

    There is also the issue of a serving senator standing as a surety in a criminal case. Not many people have spoken out about this. The fact is, it is a potentially disruptive act on his senatorial duties. Assuming he cannot meet the bail bond, he would be liable to be committed to prison for six months. Therefore, committing to such risks is unfair to his constituents and the country as a whole as these considerations should have been in mind before Abaribe jumped to Kanu’s aid. As always, personal gain seems to have been at the forefront of his decision, true to the tendencies of the ruling elite.

    In developed countries, it would be unspeakable for a sitting senator to stick his head into a criminal matter in this way. Whether through negligence or through careful and deliberate political calculation, a senator of the federal republic has stuck his nose in a criminal affair. It appears he is now poised to explore legal loopholes to avoid responsibility for his actions. In the least, it will be only right for the senator to forfeit the N100 million bond for his lack of forethought and recklessness. In a country with a deficit of shame, however, it will not be surprising to see legal and political gymnastics carry the day again.

    In the final analysis, one would think that to save time, and having had prior knowledge of the claims of Abaribe’s lawyers, the prosecution ought to have obtained an official document or statement on oath from the Chief of Army Staff and/or the Presidency reiterating their innocence in the disappearance of Kanu or knowledge of his whereabouts. The way this case is turning out, Nigerians are not looking forward to months and years of stalling in this matter. As it stands, only swift action by the courts is paramount to show seriousness in putting the IPOB matter to rest. For now, the Kanu episode remains a festering sore on the face of the nation.