News of the sudden death of the irrepressible journalist, Onukaba Adinoyi-Ojo, hit me like a bolt from the blue on Monday last week. I cannot now remember who actually broke the news to me. But what I can remember is that the news drove cold shivers through my spine and left me wondering how life can be so cruel.
The Sunday Onukaba met his death at the hands of rampaging armed robbers who had laid siege to the notorious Ilesa-Akure highway, vivacious Eric Osagie, the Managing Director of The Sun Newspapers and I had discussed him briefly in our chat. It was at about 4:30pm on that fateful Sunday when I put a call through to Eric on my way from Ikoyi to Ikeja. He asked me if I could still lay my hands on Born to Run, a book co-authored by Onukaba and Dele Olojede in 1987 in commemoration of the first anniversary of the brutal murder, through the instrumentality of a parcel bomb, of the founding Editor-in-Chief of Newswatch magazine, Dele Giwa. I told Eric that I gave my copy out to someone who never returned it to me. He said he had also contacted Onukaba who said he had none left in his library. Then we briefly discussed Dele Giwa and agreed to meet within the week.
You can imagine waking up the following day to be confronted with the sad news that Onukaba had passed on in such a gruesome manner. That is to say that by the time we were discussing him the previous day, it might have just been some few, fleeting minutes to his death. Like a cosmic joke played on us that Sunday, our friend came to mind so easily after many months and we discussed him fondly, oblivious of the events that would unfold. More bizarre is the remembrance of Dele Giwa that the book naturally occasioned. Who would have thought that Onukaba was soon to join the illustrious late Dele Giwa in the great beyond? Was it a sign that we missed? All of this played through my mind within seconds of hearing the news even as I tried to recover from the shock that it brought.
Onukaba and I met in 1985 and we bonded. The last time I saw him physically was recently when I ran into him at the Abuja airport on my way to Lagos. He had accompanied one of his friends to check in on a Lagos-bound flight when we met, hugged and exchanged banter. I spent a few minutes with them at the ticketing area before I disappeared into the departure lounge. It is sad that our next meeting can only be in the bosom of the Lord.
The sad and unexpected news of death always carries with it a reminder of our mortality as men and the inevitability of an end to our dance with death. It is a pity that the end of Onukaba’s dance was at the hands of criminal elements that have lost their humanity in the quest for quick riches. As the story goes, he had been accosted by the vicious robbers and had somehow managed to escape on foot when he was crushed by a luxury bus that came under attack and skidded off the expressway into the bush where he was hiding. It is not the way such an amiable fellow should have met his end, but death, they say, knows no one. It is no respecter of persons and I doubt that Onukaba had any inkling that he was on his final journey as he left Abeokuta earlier that fateful day.
The agony of Onukaba’s demise, for me, is made even more painful by the realisation that the men responsible for his untimely death may still be out there, free as birds, perhaps planning their next evil activity against unsuspecting members of the public innocently going about their daily life. They may have relegated the memory of that incident to the back of their minds and moved on already. That is the tragedy of our sick nation. They have tainted our memory of Onukaba’s life with a bitter end, but he was a giant of a man, in character and manner, and all the good things he has done will overshadow the truth of how he went away in years to come.
For those who were close to him, he had grace and the milk of human kindness in him. Onukaba had the grace of being genuinely friendly, open and free with whoever he came across. He was nice to a fault. If there is one final thing that we can do for our beloved Onukaba, it is to remember him fondly, celebrate his life as best as we can and believe that he is in a better place. We can shed tears because he is gone, but we can also smile because he lived and lived well.
One can lament all the factors that led to the death of our dear friend: a lack of security to protect the lives of Nigerians, economic hardship that has turned otherwise moderate people into lowlife criminals and the disregard for life that accompanies penury and desperation. All of these are responsible for Onukaba’s death and the painful part is that every time news of this nature is reported in the media, one will always remember the loss of a great friend. Onukaba is alive in our memories now and his memory shall be cherished.
This time, the devilish robbers have caused the death of someone dear to the nation as a whole; a rare gem, seasoned journalist and complete gentleman. It is my hope that his memory will be honoured with a rejuvenated security drive in the cities and along the expressways. A war on robbers and other related vagrants in the wake of his demise will be befitting. It will not bring back our dear friend or the many others that have met their end from wicked criminals, but it may somehow bring succour to families and friends left behind.
I have read all the tributes by some other people who were close to him. From Taiwo Obey (TO), Rueben Abati, Solana Olumhense to Atiku Abubakar, his former boss, and others. One common thread in their narrative is the fact that he lived an exemplary life worthy of emulation. Onukaba was such an easygoing man who lived above board. He was more concerned with his integrity and not how to make money by all means as is common among many of his peers today.
Adieu Onukaba, your memorable footprints shall remain indelible in our hearts. Good Night!
Category: Dele Agekameh
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Onukaba: Wasted by a sick nation
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Kidnappings in Lagos
At about 3pm on Friday, February 24, 2017, I received a phone call. The caller was Bola Frazer. She introduced herself as the producer of a programme on Channels Television. She expressed the station’s growing concern about the spate of kidnappings in Lagos and the need to seek expert opinion on how to curb the menace. She was, therefore, inviting me to appear on the programme scheduled for 7:30pm that Friday evening.
It was an opportunity for me to express my view in the raging debate on the menace of kidnapping in the country, particularly the disturbing dimension it has taken in Lagos. But then, the notice was too short for me. So, I politely expressed my gratitude for having been contacted, but, at the same time, expressed my inability to take up the offer due to my tight schedule. I promised I could be available in the future.
The brief encounter with Bola struck a chord in me. The result is this piece you are reading. There is, no doubt, a need to proffer practical solutions to the burning issue of kidnapping in Lagos and its environs. As we all know, most of the kidnappers are itinerant criminals who come in once in a while to unleash terror on the peace-loving people of Lagos. They often disappear through the creeks, back to their hideouts in the riverine areas of Ondo, Delta, Rivers, Edo states and other places. Generally, kidnapping is a global phenomenon. It was introduced big time into the country in the 1990s by aggrieved militants in the Niger Delta struggle. Since then, it has become a thriving business that attracts more and more criminally-minded individuals all over the place. Today, it has spread to almost all parts of the country because of the illicit and mouth-watering financial reward involved in the heinous crime.
A number of state governments have come up with severe measures, including the death penalty, to dissuade people from engaging in the criminal act, but it has not deterred the perpetrators. From Calabar to Maiduguri, Lagos to Yenagoa, Benin to Kano, Kaduna and even Abuja, the story is the same. Many lives have been lost and a lot of families have been ruined through heavy ransom payment or outright loss of breadwinners or both. In the madness, no one is spared. Children have been yanked off their mothers’ backs while parents are killed or maimed in the presence of their children or family members. The way the kidnappers are going about their nefarious business these days, they seem to be getting more emboldened and sophisticated by the day.
Sadly, the response by the security agents, especially the police, the agency constitutionally empowered to enforce internal security, is tardy and very worrisome. In most of the cases the police claim they have cracked, huge sums of money for ransom may have been involved, although the police are usually quick to add that “no ransom” was paid. Besides, it takes them almost eternity to crack some of these kidnap cases, thereby allowing the victims to languish precariously in the dungeon of the kidnappers for several days under intense psychological and physical torture, including hunger, sex abuse and all that.
In Lagos, in spite of the huge sum of money put into the state’s Security Trust Fund by the state government, blue-chip companies and other well-meaning individuals, the spate of kidnapping has assumed an epidemic proportion. It is quite obvious that there are visible lapses in the command structure of the current security arrangement in place in the state. Today, the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) put in place and heavily funded by the state to checkmate crime, especially violent crimes, seems to be clay-footed. They now concentrate more on extortion and patrolling streets in highbrow areas of the state dominated by the rich and upscale individuals. This is one of the reasons why the kidnappers may have been having a free reign.
In some other instances, patrol vehicles are diverted for the personal use of the officers and men of the outfit, instead of gathering intelligence and responding swiftly to distress calls. Mostly at weekends, you see the vehicles carrying gaily-dressed men and women going out to parties or coming from shopping in markets and shopping malls.
The number of policemen attached to the RRS may be overwhelming, but they are mostly used by politicians and land-owners to settle land disputes and flaunt their importance in the society. They run rings around politicians who are curious to use them as status symbols. If you drive, say, from Onikan to Epe, you may not come across any of the patrol teams on the road. Instead, they go to places like Apapa to extort money from port users, leaving the water line porous. From Marina, Epe, Ikorodu, the police are hardly visible. In Marina, what they do is to simply push the smugglers to Takwa Bay where they are extorted.
Now, what’s the essence of buying helicopters, vehicles, motorcycles and properly equipping the police in Lagos if criminals, especially kidnappers, are constantly having a field day? The fact is that the militants-turned-kidnappers largely operate on the state waterways. It was from there they attacked the school in Ikorodu last year as well as staged the recent attack on the Turkish School through the creek; they also attacked targets in Epe and Festac area through the creek.
I have always thought that there is a marine police unit, but they seem to be fast asleep and snoring. Recently, I drove from Epe through Ijebu-Ode. I only came across two RRS patrol vehicles on that axis, with the operatives extorting road users. Basically, the waterways in Lagos are porous and unmanned. It is as if no lessons have been learnt from the rampant and debilitating criminal activities going on around the creeks.
It is pertinent to state that Lagos must change its security architecture. However, it is a sort of relief to see that the Lagos State government recently came up with a strong strategy to curb the menace. The police or the security agencies need to deploy along the coastal lines. The RRS, Operation Mesa, the Navy and others should go on regular patrols. One strange thing is that rather than concentrate on crime busting, RRS, which is supposed to be a quick-response force, is now bogged down with investigation of crimes and all that. They now have an investigation department in Alausa. This is a serious negation of their mandate because the initial vision has been bastardised.
Also, the marine police should be strengthened if they are to make any significant impact. Places like Onikan, Epe, Badagry, Ikorodu, Gbagada, are where Operation Mesa teams and the RRS should be visible along the coastal line. If you venture to Ajegunle or Okokomaiko today, you don’t notice any patrol vehicles while their vehicles cluster around Ikoyi, Victoria Island and other highbrow places. Robbers too have been using the creeks to stage attacks in Lekki Phase 1 and other places.
Lagos State should create a good and effective security hub because the state is surrounded by water. These criminals carry out their attacks using the waterways as amphibious landing spots and takeoff points. Therefore, there should be consistent patrols on the stretch of water from Marina to Epe, Ikorodu and other places. Above all, there is the need for security agencies in Lagos to be vigilant. Their welfare also needs to be looked into as some of them are said to be pulling out of the RRS to other formations as a result of the poor welfare package.
Finally, the current commissioner of police in the state should not create an island to himself. He should constantly rub minds with other stakeholders to proffer the best solution to this growing problem because nobody is a repository of knowledge. However, if the situation persists, godfather or no godfather, a change of leadership of the police in the state may become inevitable. -
Aso Rock’s waiting game
At the weekend, the President finally put a call through to some of his aides, particularly Femi Adesina, one of his spokesmen. During the call, the President was said to have dismissed those peddling unholy rumours about his state of health as “mischief makers”. He was however said to have insisted that he was getting back to form and would soon return home. Obviously, that is good news.
In fact, it is wretched of any human being on earth to wish another person dead knowing that death is the ultimate end of all mortals. It is the inevitable due we all must pay at one time or another during the course of life. Except that in Nigeria, being what we are, we practice what is essentially “do or die” politics.
The President’s health has been a topical issue for some time. Last week this column featured a piece titled: “Buhari: The price of ill-health”. It was centred on the goings-on in Aso Rock, the Nigerian Presidential Villa, since President Muhammadu Buhari left the shores of Nigeria on Thursday, January 19, on a supposed “10-day” vacation in England. The column took a cursory look at the way some aides of the President were fighting tooth and nail to downplay the severity or otherwise of the President’s illness by consistently selling a dummy to Nigerians on the issue. It is very obvious that rather than come clean to the public on the true situation of things, the presidency may have been economical with the truth.
First, they said the President was only going to London on vacation and that he would be back at his desk on Monday February 6. As the date drew nearer, the President himself transmitted another letter to the National Assembly to the effect that he needed more time to get through with the medical tests he was undertaking in London.
The storyline again changed. This time, the dummy sold to the public was that the President’s physicians had advised him to take further rest. At that juncture, his handlers attempted a bold-face by coming out to tell the public that it is only the President who can determine when he would eventually come back to Nigeria. And of course, that is predicated on the decision of his physicians, as it were.
What followed this was the call for prayers to enable the President to quickly get back to his feet and get back to work. In this regard, almost all the mosques and churches in Nigeria have been co-opted into one huge prayer vanguard to seek God’s face in the matter. The highlight was a recent event in Kano where a close friend of the President allegedly put a call to him in London. The event was a joint prayer session organized by the state government to offer prayers for the President’s speedy recovery.
Once the President got on line, the caller promptly told him where he was and after some banter, he handed over the phone to Abdullahi Ganduje, the Kano State governor, to have a word with the President. At this time, Ganduje upped the game by putting the discussion on speaker. Perhaps, this was to enable the attendees at the prayer session to listen first hand to the voice of the President from far away London. It may also have been to convince them that the President was still alive, contrary to insinuations making the rounds that he was gravely ill or that he had even passed on in London.
Trust Nigerians to want to convert any opportunity to an advantage or political mileage, as the case may be. From that moment, the airwaves and newspapers sprang to their feet and what followed was a deluge of news, analysis and commentaries that the President, indeed, spoke with Ganduje. That must have been the hidden agenda of the President’s close friends. You may call that sycophancy, but the truth of the matter is that, that singular call has given the President and his handlers some mileage in trying to assure the public that their principal is alive in London. Therefore, last weekend’s call to Adesina may have just been the icing on the cake.
Some other Nigerians with means even took the thing a notch further by embarking on get-well pilgrimages to London. They all came back with sweet tales of how the President was doing well. The crux of the matter is that beyond the façade going on in the presidency, it is apparent that all may not be well in the Villa. And of course, this may have to do with the true position of the President’s health.
According to impeccable sources, (sorry, the controversial American President, Donald Trump, recently embarked on a no-win crusade to stamp out “our sources” from the journalists’ lexicon), this was what necessitated the recent change of guards at the Villa. It is alleged that some powerful people want the President out of the Villa at all costs for some selfish reasons using his current state of health as cover-up.
Many of them are said to be disgruntled politicians, particularly from the North, the President’s homestead, who believe that they are not benefitting from the Buhari presidency. But the President’s close aides and acquaintances do not want him to move an inch from the Villa and that is why they have thrown a protective cordon around him. This is probably out of fierce loyalty and not really because of the benefits accruable to them with his presence in the place.
By and large, the President is said to be personally worried about new twists around his health status, so much that he had probably toyed with the idea of putting other things on hold to attend to his health. But the cabal in the presidency will not want to hear anything like that. They do not want to lose the presidency to any other person other than their own man. Among members of the cabal are some personal aides, ministers and friends of the President who have his ears.
The game plan of the cabal is to keep Yemi Osinbajo as acting President for some time until such a time when the President becomes medically fit enough to return to his desk. As it is, in the ranks of those who are eyeing the presidency after Buhari come 2019, three northerners are said to be seriously in contention. They are: Atiku Abubakar, former vice president; Sule Lamido, former governor of Jigawa State; and Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, former governor of Kano State, now a Senator of the Federal Republic. Among the trio, the former governor of Kano State is said to enjoy the support of a wide spectrum of people across the country particularly in the north.
If Kwankwaso sails through, it would mean the end of the road for the loquacious Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, who has been positioning himself for the Villa all the while. There are many things working against el-Rufai. Those who are close to him say his greatest undoing is that he is very slippery, a situation that has made people to rightly or wrongly classify him as consistently inconsistent and not a politician in the real sense of the word.
Before his recent trip to London, it was alleged that the cabal around the President tried to dissuade him from giving the Vice President the power of attorney to act in his absence. It was said to have been a thug of war. At the end, Buhari was said to have stood his ground and transmitted power to Osinbajo. Even at that, beyond the shuttles, meetings and razzmatazz all over the place, what important documents has Osinbajo been able to append his signature to since he became acting President? That is the question many Nigerians may want an answer to.
For now, it is still a waiting game as Nigerians eagerly await the return of their President to his duty post. -
Buhari: The price of ill-health
Around the middle of January, Nigerians were told that President Muhammadu Buhari would be embarking on a 10-day vacation beginning from Monday, January 23. The announcement clearly stated that he would be back at his desk on Monday, February 6. At least that was the official notice from Aso Rock Villa, Nigeria’s seat of power, where Buhari currently calls the shots.
But shortly after the notice was put out to the public, the president hastily left the shores of Nigeria on Thursday, January 19, that is, few days before the vacation was to officially commence. Since then it has been one new story after another, as speculation has become rife that the president may have been ill and needed urgent medical attention in London.
Expectedly, the President’s handlers quickly sprang into action, trying to debunk rumours that the President was ill. However, in their attempt to cover up, they have made many goofs and gaffes to the extent that the information and culture minister, Lai Muhammed, has been on the receiving end of public anger.
The minister may have unwittingly incurred the wrath of the public by his insistence that his principal, Buhari, was “hale and hearty”. For instance, while addressing State House Reporters at the Villa shortly after the National Executive Council, NEC, meeting on Wednesday, February 1, the minister said: “I think I can say without any equivocation that he (the President) is well, he is hale and hearty, no question about that.” He did not stop there: “Do you think Mr. President will be ill and we will be here and going about our businesses like this? All our ministers are busy. But I want to assure you that Mr. President is well and he is absolutely in no danger.”
If Muhammed expected these soothing words to calm the curiosity of the people, he was dead wrong. Unfortunately, he is not the only one that has been caught up in this trajectory of trying to explain away the President’s rumoured illness.
The torrent of alibi and series of explanation over the President’s health have since shifted to get-well pilgrimages to London by party stalwarts, politicians and other influential people in the country. That appears to be the thing now in vogue. Still, the whole drama playing out cannot hide the fact that the President is indeed indisposed, contrary to what Nigerians were made to believe.
One of the things that probably gave away the game was the fact that the President kept on wearing the same kaftan all through the photo-shots of the numerous get-well visits to him. And in most cases, he was either in the same sitting position or just taking a few guided steps to the front door. This is why the elaborate photo-shots with his hordes of visitors have had little or no positive impact on the psyche of doubting Nigerians. Not even the very recent photograph of the president with Bukola Saraki, the Senate President, Yakubu Dogara, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and Ahmed Lawan, the Senate Majority Leader, has been able to sway the people.
While the orchestra is going on in faraway London, intense prayer sessions are simultaneously going on in Nigeria especially in many of the mosques in the northern part of the country as Muslim faithful there have resorted to marathon prayers for the President’s quick recovery. They may have embarked on this bend because the President’s illness is coming so soon after another prominent northerner from the same state of Katsina died in office. President Buhari hails from Daura in Katsina State, while Umaru Yar’Adua, the late president who died on May 5, 2009, also hailed from Katsina town.
The death of Yar’Adua in 2009 opened the gate for Goodluck Jonathan, his deputy, to take over the mantle of leadership. The grudge of the northerners then was that the death of Yar’Adua robbed them of the golden opportunity to preside over the affairs of the country for at least eight years. Now, with the unfolding scenario around Buhari, there is apparent trepidation in the north that what happened in 2009 may happen again. That may be the reason intense prayers are currently ongoing to avert such a bad occurrence.
At any rate, to underscore the fact that the North is not folding its arms this time around, few weeks ago, there was wild rumour that some strong elements of northern extraction in the present government were mounting pressure on Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, the ebullient vice president, to resign from office. The reason given by the rumour mongers was that this will pave the way for Bukola Saraki, the ambitious president of the Senate who is from the North central geo-political zone of the country to assume power in the event of anything on toward happening to Buhari. This will enable the North to retain the number one spot in the country’s political equilibrium rather than lose it to another Southerner so soon.
Although Osinbajo has denied this, but Nigeria is a country of immense possibilities especially in the face of rumours and counter-rumours on the health condition of the President. The truth is that the Northern oligarchy loves power and can do anything to retain it.
Right now, his illness apart, there are many people jostling to replace Buhari in the 2019 elections. Many of them are familiar faces but they all have one baggage or the other which will make them ineligible to be nominated. Again, while some of them are too ambitious and largely inexperienced, others are like spent bullets that cannot do anything spectacular anymore. With the simmering crisis within the ruling APC and the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, on the throes of death, notwithstanding the recent Appeal Court verdict in Port Harcourt, no one can be sure of the direction of Nigerian politics come 2019.
There are indications that another political realignment may be in the offing. And that realignment may exclude some of the present gladiators in the ruling APC as some of the aggrieved but influential members of the party may go for broke. On the other hand, the PDP, a party that once boasted that it would rule Nigeria till infinity, but was ignominiously defeated in the 2015 elections by a formidable APC, will try to go into alliance with some mushroom political parties. With the gale of defections from the PDP which may get worse in the coming weeks because of the recent Appeal Court verdict, making PDP relevant in the 2019 election may not be far from a mirage.
My worry is that the APC, as presently constituted, may also find it a herculean task winning the presidential election in 2019. I foresee an implosion of the party before then. The options left for the party is either to reorganise quickly and properly or pave the way for some prominent members of the party to form a new alliance and subsequently win the election.
Buhari may be gradually losing favour with the Nigerian electorate as his health could also be a burden to him in 2019. Even in the North where he comes from, many of his compatriots appear not very comfortable with his strides in office. Therefore, the thought of fielding him as president in 2019 may not arise. And if the economy continues on the present downward trend, then your guess would be as good as mine! -
Wike’s odyssey
Nigeria is currently locked in a cycle of misrule and arbitrary use of power in government. From what is going on, it is quite clear that the political class has converted the machinery of state into a weapon for perpetuating dogged vendettas and settling political scores, thereby derailing from the real objectives of political office. The end result is that Nigerians are left with a system in which their interests are side-lined for party-driven agendas and misadventures of the political elite.
And it appears that there is no shortage of avenues through which political pressure can be exerted on anyone. This is because all agencies of government including the police force have become mere tools by oppressors in power to attain their political objectives. Surprisingly these objectives have nothing to do with serving the people but more geared towards incapacitating perceived enemies.
One curious example is Nyesom Wike. The governor of Rivers State has recently come under fire from multiple directions in what is thought to be a carefully orchestrated campaign against the governor by the federal government through its agents. Whether this is true or not, one material fact remains that the All Progressives Congress, APC, has hold of power at the centre. In Nigerian terms, this means that all things and all people connected to the opposition are fair game for agents of the federal government.
The present probe by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, into alleged fraud and embezzlement orchestrated by the Rivers State governor, is considered as an example of the many instances of power tussle by the political elite. The power game is openly and sometimes, shamelessly perpetuated using the full machinery of state that ought to be used for the people’s benefit. In addition to the EFCC probe, a leaked audio tape that allegedly contains a conversation where Wike threatened the lives of some officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and admitted to bribing others, also emerged some time ago.
Wike has always been a controversial figure. Besides, Rivers State politics (and hence, politicians) is generally ‘muddy’ as it is. The political scene in the state has witnessed a bitter struggle for power between Wike and Rotimi Amaechi, the former governor of the state. And the friction between the duo appears to be eternal. In truth, Amaechi, an APC member, and Wike who belongs to the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, are both representing the interests of their larger political parties.
Amaechi notably endured many indignities at the hands of Wike, then a minister of state for education, who had the support of the federal government under former President Goodluck Jonathan. Now, the APC has unseated PDP at the centre and appears to be using the “federal might” to hound Wike, just like the PDP did to Amaechi in the past. One does not need to be a Wike apologist to see the trend that is taking shape, especially amidst rumours of selective investigations and prosecutions in this administration which has seen far more PDP casualties.
Ibrahim Idris, the Inspector General of Police, who was appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari, has now launched a full investigation into the leaked tape. All focus of the investigation appears to be on implicating Wike and not necessarily carrying out a comprehensive investigation which might implicate many others, including APC-affiliated individuals. Also, from a statement issued by INEC, as at Sunday, February 12, INEC said it was yet to receive a notice or report of allegations of bribery against any of its staff. This almost shows that even with INEC’s track record of collaborating with politicians to rig elections, the police somehow have less interest in moving forward with investigation of its officials. This has made the picture clearer that there may be a vendetta against Wike in the offing from the centre.
Recently, after Republican Donald Trump won the US Presidential race through the Electoral College, his rival on the side of the Democrats, Hillary Clinton, was graceful enough to concede defeat and attend his inauguration in the spirit of peace. Her graceful carriage after the loss came after a tough and bitter contest. Unfortunately, Nigerian politicians are not as graceful. Today, Wike’s administration stands accused of mismanagement funds amidst similar allegations against other serving and current PDP governors. But his arch nemesis, Amaechi, who has been named in more than one alleged bribery investigation, is sitting comfortably within the ranks of the ruling party untouched for now, while his party enjoys primacy.
It is almost certain that if power were to change hands in the next elections, PDP will do the exact thing to APC governors and other officials. And the cycle of vendetta will go on and on whilst weakening government apparatus further. Now, we all know about the immunity clause for sitting governors in section 308 of the constitution and will prevent any prosecution of Wike until after he ceases to be governor of Rivers State. If the allegations are so crucial and substantial, the only other option will be to submit a report to the Rivers State House of Assembly who can then deliberate and either impeach the governor or dismiss the allegations. The campaign of calumny that has been employed instead belies a sinister, rather than sincere motivation for the move against Wike, who, as has been hinted, is no saint.
There is no substitute for a stable government, undisturbed by frivolous investigations. Perhaps, this is why the immunity clause in the constitution exists; not to protect the people that enjoy the immunities, but to protect the system; to preserve the machinery from unwanted distractions. The problem with our politicians is that they get busy playing politics at all times and paying little attention to the demands of the job they actually got elected or appointed to do. Nigerian politics is complicated enough and should not be so driven by vendetta so much that the real aim of governance is side-lined. The truth is that the oppressors in this episode are every inch as corrupt as the oppressed. Regrettably, no matter the grandstanding by the incumbent IGP, the police itself is an agency with next to zero public confidence due to corrupt practices.
Also bothersome is the new foundations for abuse that are being set in this administration of “change”. Dangerous precedents like using the Department of State Security, DSS, to perform all manner of tasks against public and private citizens, for non-violent matters that have specialised agencies already assigned the roles. Precedents like mass, coordinated ‘attacks’ on individuals and the knack of the Attorney General of the Federation, AGF, for overreaching, should not be encouraged in a system that is notorious for repeating old mistakes. Already, there are allegations by Rivers PDP that the federal government is planning a scheme to interfere with the management of funds by the Rivers State government. This, if there is any truth to it, is a dangerous game to play.
Apart from the partisan flavour of the investigations and probes, there is the almost comical truth about individuals within the present administration who have been accused of numerous acts similar to the allegations against Wike but no investigations have been launched. Instead, a sitting governor is being investigated. Still, there can be no pity for Wike, who, if the roles were reversed, would employ the same tactics or more. The point is not about who did what to whom, as the political class involves similarly inept individuals. The issue is about getting politicians to refrain from using the forces and agencies of government for frivolities and personal vendettas.
It is clear that there is a campaign against PDP politicians all over the place, using tricks from old playbooks that we have seen in the past. Even Jonathan’s regime had untouchables who have now been ‘touched’ and dragged in the mud. It is high time the entire playbook is discarded and this cycle of vendettas and shameful politics be put to bed. -
Much ado about prosecutorial powers
There is growing debate over whether the police should retain their prosecutorial powers. The Nigeria Police Force, NPF, is saying that it must be accorded the powers to prosecute criminal matters before the law courts. This may not be a wrong idea after all. Perhaps, it should be seen as a zealous desire by the NPF to be part of a justice system that is supposedly under reform. It can also be seen as an intention to ensure that ‘good police work’ is followed up with even better police prosecution. In that case, the public should be moved by what seems like a gallant effort to protect those powers.
But make no mistake about it. The issue has been brewing for several years in the light of seeming incompetence of the police in prosecuting cases in the law courts. At any rate, the public is not fooled. The public is unmoved, but is only wary of police work in general and the entire justice system as a whole. In truth, there ought to be no controversy over this issue at all. The present round of debate was reignited recently by the Chief Judge of Delta State, Justice Marshall Umukoro, while speaking at the 2017 Aquinas Day Colloquium of Dominican Institute in Ibadan, where he suggested that the police should be stripped of all prosecutorial powers in order to stem its abuse of those powers.
The fact is that this recently renewed call was not instigated by Justice Umukoro’s recommendation. A piece of legislation passed in 2015 as part of the apparent reformation of the justice system, the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, ACJA, began the process by stating in section 106 that only qualified legal practitioners can prosecute criminal matters in the courts. This provision had already excluded “lay prosecutors” within the police force who have no legal training – evidenced by a call to the bar – from prosecuting criminal matters. This put to bed the Supreme Court pronouncement in F.R.N V Osahon (2006) 5 NWLR (pt. 973) 361, which affirmed that all police prosecutors, with or without legal training, can prosecute cases in court. That case has been notoriously cited by the police when challenged in the past.
It has been said that the police now employs many trained lawyers and as such may still actively prosecute cases through these trained officers. In truth, the trained officers are not so easily distinguishable from the lay prosecutors within the force. This is because they employ the same tactics and are motivated by the same factors, ending in the same results – needlessly endless prosecution, easily reversible convictions upon appeal, and dismissal/discharge of the accused for varying reasons connected to poor prosecution.
There have also been reports of ‘soft padding’ of charges in exchange for pecuniary benefits that sometimes reach all the way to magistrates who, overtime, have developed improper relationships with police prosecutors within their jurisdiction. In short, the corrupting influence of the wider police force and their shoddy practices rubs off on all police prosecutors, trained or not. In the end, the real issue may not be about formal legal training of police prosecutors, but lack of confidence in the police force as a whole.
Perhaps, it was in consideration of this that the Attorney General of the Federation, AGF, Abubakar Malami, SAN, signed an order in August, 2016, going further to remove all powers of prosecution from the police, without exception. Even then, the police prosecutors continued to defy the order by the AGF who is considered as the Chief Prosecutor for all criminal matters, meaning that all powers of prosecution by any other person or body are derived from, and are at the instance of, the AGF. Section 174 of the 1999 Constitution grants the AGF wide powers to institute, take over or discontinue all prosecutions over any matter in any court in the land. The Supreme Court has acknowledged these wide powers in previous cases, describing the AGF as “a law unto himself” in this regard.
Despite the mounting campaign to rid the justice system of police prosecutors, the police force has remained adamant for reasons undisclosed. Even if the ACJA left a window for continuation of prosecutions by trained police officers, surely the AGF has the power to remove that power, as all powers of prosecution are at his pleasure, so to say. This is why any kind of controversy or defiance by the police is not only unwarranted but perplexing from a legal stand point, especially on the back of the bad record of prosecutions recorded by police prosecutors till date.
The lay prosecutors, some of whom may still be actively prosecuting cases, are no match for well-versed defence lawyers. Lay prosecutors are also unable, by force of law, to make replies to issues raised on points of law during trials. Their trained colleagues are not much better off as one would imagine. One should then ask: Why is the police so eager to continue prosecuting cases? Surely, there are many more demanding issues that require police attention.
The argument against police prosecution goes beyond incompetence. It has been directly linked to the incidence of thousands of awaiting trial inmates who are arrested on sometimes flimsy grounds and have to remain remanded whilst the police saunter about courtrooms unsure of what charges to bring, or delay the proceedings indefinitely, aided by an overindulgent magistrate. Case files have been forgotten for years, and when they do get to trial, as Justice Umukoro pointed out in his speech, magistrates sometimes become assistant prosecutors, descending into the arena in what can only be described as a legal faux pas of the worst kind, leading to a miscarriage of justice. The police prosecutor becomes trapped in a routine that kills any legal ingenuity that he/she might have once possessed. One only needs to visit a courtroom to observe a police prosecutor in action, to understand what this means.
While some, like Ahmed Raji, SAN, have said that the AGF cannot make an order of the kind made in August 2016, without the sanction of a federal government committee, it is clear that the issue needs to be put to bed. This should be done in the interest of the reform taking place and for clarity and uniformity. Although no legal provision qualifies the AGF’s powers in this regard, it is not unsurprising that everything in Nigeria is politicised.
As an alternative system, Justice Umukoro advocated that a separate body responsible for prosecutions on behalf of the government should be created, similar to the Crown Prosecution Service in England and Wales. This is because there are too many agencies with power to prosecute, which sometimes overlap and lead to issues in the courts, thereby delaying proceedings. At the end, the move to strip police prosecutors of their powers is traceable to the need for swift and effective dispensation of justice. This is why the suggestion to create a specialised body with well-trained professionals may be a veritable option.
The issue with this proposition, however, is the problem associated with the creation of yet another body, adding to the many government-funded and operated agencies already in existence. For this reason, a preliminary streamlining of already existing agencies involved in the justice system may make introduction of this new body less problematic. Alternatively, or in addition, a reformation of an already existing department like the Department for Public Prosecutions, DPP, can achieve the same objective.
However, whatever step is taken going forward, the present reality where agencies of government jostle for “prosecutorial rights” is untidy, especially when it does not translate to well-prepared prosecutions. The police may function better if it focuses on investigations and works closely with dedicated professionals who handle the prosecutions. There are also bound to be fewer possibilities for abuse if the investigators and prosecutors are properly separated. This is why the federal government and the AGF need to align their intentions and put this matter to bed now before it graduates into a bigger problem for the justice system. -
Peter Obi’s revelation
He surely doesn’t need elaborate introduction. For eight years, he presided over the affairs of Anambra State as governor. Though, for the greater part of those years, his tenure was characterized by massive political intrigues from all corners of the state, like the famous Rock of Gibraltar, Peter Obi surmounted all the man-made hurdles strewn on his path. He eventually emerged after eight gruesome but eventful years in office, as one of the best and most prudent governors Nigeria ever had.
Unlike many of his contemporaries then and now, Obi signed off in Anambra in March, 2014, leaving behind many rock star developmental projects littering the state. In addition, he also left a huge amount of money in the coffers of the state. This outstanding record of performance attests to the way and manner he managed the resources of the state during his tenure which made him stand out as a good manager of resources. With a background in banking and finance, when it comes to financial matters, Obi is surely a man who knows his onions.
So, when he recently made up his mind to say a few things about how Nigeria’s political leaders have wrecked the economy of the country, it was big news for the media. Obi blamed the Nigerian governors under the Goodluck Jonathan administration for the current recession assailing the nation’s economy. He said rather than save for the rainy day, many of his counterparts in the states at that time were reckless in their spending and all entreaties to make them see reason and save money fell on deaf ears.
The former governor who disclosed this while speaking on Consumer News and Business Channel, CNBC Africa, last week, said Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the immediate past minister of finance and Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, now Emir of Kano, appealed to the state governors at that time, to endeavour to build savings for the country, but the governors kicked against the idea and took the two public officials to court.
According to Obi: “I was in government when the likes of Okonjo-Iweala, Olusegun Aganga, Sanusi were crying let’s save; we collectively said we didn’t want savings, and we are now in this mess… I was in government when Ngozi Iweala was crying, meeting after meeting, ‘let’s save money; we need to save for the rainy day.’ We said no… Some said this woman should not be found near this country.”
Obi’s startling revelation is coming on the heels of recent media reports that the greed and selfishness of the nation’s former governors are exerting tremendous pressure on the finances of state governments, even after they have left office. By calculation, more than N37.367 billion is expended on servicing 47 former governors in 21 states for the payment of pension, provision of houses, staff, and vehicles which are replaceable between three and four years.
The payments are, in many cases, besides provisions for medical expenses for the former chief executives and members of their immediate families which run into hundreds of millions of naira. As expected, these pensions and entitlements are draining billions of naira from the resources meant for development in the states. The matter is made worse due to the fact that some of the governors ended up becoming senators. As senators, they are entitled to another round of mouth-watering salaries, allowances and severance payments independent of what they drain from the states’ lean purse.
These revelations have clearly shown the type of characters we keep in public office in Nigeria. It is sad that governors who held the destiny of their subjects running to several millions of people in their hands could turn deaf ears to the wise counsels of those who were in the know of what to do to sustain the economy of the country. The depth of greed and selfishness of Nigeria’s office holders and the negative consequences on development in the states and the country at large can only be imagined.
One can even see the recklessness associated with these set of public office holders who, rather than listen to Okonjo-Iweala and others, went as far as saying “this woman should not be found near this country.” What this means is that they believed they could do whatever pleases them at any point in time and they must crush anybody that attempted to stand in their way. That is the way we are in Nigeria.
Every now and then, Nigerians elect people into public offices expecting them to serve the people and assist them to make their lives better. These people come to the electorate promising heaven and earth and promising to be servants of the people. But as soon as they assume office, they automatically transform themselves into masters of the people or slave dealers. That is the irony of our situation in Nigeria. This way, a greater part of the resources meant to uplift the living standard of the people and make life more meaningful to them is channelled into the private pockets of the so-called leaders who have made personal aggrandisement through bribery, corruption, stealing and other vices, their major focus as public officers.
To feather their nests, projects, mostly white elephant projects, are initiated not because they will add value to the lives of the people, but because of the kick-backs and other financial rewards that would accrue to them. Many even pay for the projects upfront. But as soon as they leave office, the projects are abandoned by their successors who prefer to initiate fresh projects from which they can reap immense benefits rather than servicing old debts that will fetch them nothing at the end of the day.
According to recent publications in the media, Nigeria, today, has more than N5 trillion worth of abandoned projects and if you trace the history of these projects, you will find that they are predominantly caused by contractors’ neglect due to the fact that the money meant for the projects have been diverted by awarding authorities, mostly the governors and other public officers.
The report of the Presidential Projects Assessment Committee, PPAC, set up in March 2011, by former President Goodluck Jonathan, to look into cases of abandoned federal government projects had it that the country had 11,886 abandoned projects that would cost an estimated N7.78 trillion to complete. If the government does not start any new projects, it will take more than five years budgeting about N1.5 trillion annually to complete them all – and that is assuming no cost-over runs or delays. In the face of the dwindling economic fortune of the country, how can this problem of abandoned projects be solved?
In March 1992, then military president, General Ibrahim Babangida said: “Frankly, I have kept asking my economists why is it that the economy of the country (Nigeria) has not collapsed up till now?” That was 25 years ago. Today, the grim reality is that the Nigerian economy has completely collapsed and we don’t need any arm chair economist to tell us anymore. And if what ex-governor Obi has just revealed is anything to go by, Nigerians now know where the country’s problem started from.
There is no doubt that we have a big problem on our hands. It is unfortunate that people are already crying about recent measures aimed at taming corruption in the country when, in fact, we need to be more stringent in the fight against corruption and other vices that threaten to bring the country to its knees. Perhaps, this can begin by stopping these politicians who continue to feed fat on the nation’s lean coffers from multiple sources after wrecking the finances of their various states. Although Nigerians appear docile, the time has come for them to wake up from their slumber and confront these merciless buccaneers. -
Buhari: Here we go again!
On Thursday, last week, President Muhammadu Buhari hurriedly travelled out of the country to London for yet another medical vacation in the United Kingdom. The latest trip is the third time the Nigerian president has sought medical attention in a UK hospital since he assumed office as president on May 29, 2015 – 20 months ago. While he is away, the vice-president, Yemi Osinbajo will act as acting president for the third time.
The President’s frequent trips abroad for medical attention have been a source of worry for many. In the run-up to the 2015 election through which he emerged as president, the greatest campaign against his candidacy was that he was too old and not medically fit to withstand the rigours of governance. His party, the All Progressives Congress, APC, had a hectic time convincing sceptics that their candidate was as fit as a fiddle and therefore, qualified to be voted into office as president.
Many months down the line, there are indications that the president might not be as fit as his aides, loyalists and supporters may want Nigerians to believe. That is probably why rumour mongers have always been at work spreading fallacious stories about the president’s health because of his seeming slow approach to governance. Shortly after he left the shores of the country on the latest medical sojourn, the rumour mill was again agog with unverifiable stories that the president may have passed on in London. The news which was all over the social media at the weekend, caused a lot of consternation in several quarters. The Presidency was quick to douse the tension created by this unfathomable rumour by saying that there was no iota of truth in the news.
Sworn in as president in May 2015, in the country’s first peaceful, democratic transfer of power, Buhari had promised a clampdown on so-called “health tourism”, where government officials travel abroad for treatment rather than patronise Nigerian doctors. In a speech in April 2016, to the Nigerian Medical Association, he said the country loses around $1 billion to health tourism each year. The president added that he would discourage government officials from going elsewhere for treatment “especially when there is evidence of expertise in Nigeria.” Many Nigerians are, therefore, wondering why Buhari, with all the billions allocated to the medical centre at the presidential villa, still needs to go abroad constantly for medical attention.
As mentioned earlier, Buhari’s health came under severe scrutiny during the 2015 election campaign. Even as the president and his handlers continue to dismiss the insinuation of ill-health as balderdash, the ugly story has refused to go away. The trademark slow response of the president to issues of national importance and governance may have been fueling speculations that the president might, indeed, not be in the best form of health. This is underscored by the fact that the president has had to shy away from many important engagements that would have required his physical presence.
Few days before Buhari left for the UK, Osinbajo had gone on a peace mission to the Niger Delta where he met with some leaders of the region in Gbaramatu, which appears to be the hotbed of the ongoing militancy in the Niger Delta region. On his return, he was again airborne, this time, to Davos, Switzerland, to attend the yearly global leaders’ conference, otherwise known as World Economic Forum. It is a forum where leaders across the globe gather every year to discuss issues of mutual economic importance. The forum is so important that attendee global leaders usually attend the conference with the full compliment of officials who are experts on various issues. Unfortunately, this year, Buhari was missing in action.
Similarly, though the recent accidental bombing of the Internally Displaced Persons, IDP, camp in Rann, Borno State, by pilots of the Nigerian Air Force attracted huge public outcry, the president did not deem it fit to visit the camp as well as the wounded in the hospital. Instead, he merely sent what the presidency termed “a high powered delegation” led by Abba Kyari, his chief of staff, and other top government officials, including top military chiefs, to commiserate with the victims. In saner countries, such a visit could have been undertaken by the president in person, to empathise with the victims.
What the two illustrations above connote is that the president might be getting increasingly weighed down by the rigours and burden of his office due to his unfavourable health condition, either caused by old age or by ill-health. The fear now pervading everywhere is that the country might, once more, be travelling down an old, beaten path as happened during the late President Umaru Yar’Adua’s days.
On December 17, 2006, Yar’Adua was chosen as the presidential candidate of the ruling PDP for the April 2007 election, Shortly after winning the nomination, he chose Goodluck Jonathan, who was then governor of Bayelsa State, as his vice-presidential candidate. Just like APC sold the candidacy of Buhari to Nigerians as an upright man, then President Olusegun Obasanjo settled for Yar’Adua as a successor on the strength that he (Yar’Adua) was one of the few serving governors at that time, with a spotless record, devoid of any suspicion or charges of corruption. But as soon as he became president, things started happening differently. He was soon bogged down by ill-health which was believed to have plagued him right from his days as governor of Katsina State, between 1999 and 2007.
On March 6, 2007, shortly before the presidential elections, he was flown to Germany for medical reasons, thereby fomenting rumors about his health. In the election held on April 21, 2007, he won. After his assumption of office as president on May 29, 2007, Yar’Adua, who suffered from a kidney condition, challenged his critics to a game of squash in an endeavour to end speculations about his health. From then on, the late president’s health dominated discussions everywhere in the country as many Nigerians were kept in the dark on the true state of their president’s health. During this period, the country was virtually on auto pilot as the president’s close aides at the Villa scrambled to hold the reins of governance together in the absence of their principal who had almost become human vegetable in the Villa.
Yar’Adua finally left the country on November 23, 2009, and was reported to be receiving treatment for pericarditis at a clinic in Saudi Arabia. According to the American Heart Association, a common symptom of acute pericarditis is a sharp, stabbing chest pain, usually coming on quickly. The chest pain may feel like a heart attack. Severe cases of chronic pericarditis can lead to swelling in the stomach and legs and hypotension (low blood pressure). He was never seen in public alive again, and his absence created a dangerous power vacuum in the country.
On February 9, 2010, the Senate invoked the “doctrine of necessity” to transfer presidential powers to Jonathan, the vice president and declared him acting president, with all the accompanying powers, pending the time Yar’Adua will return to full health. On February 24, 2010, Yar’Adua sneaked into Abuja under the cover of darkness on a life support machine. Various political and religious figures in the country were quickly arranged by his aides to visit the Villa under the guise of seeing the ailing president to ‘’wish him a quick recovery’’. It was all a decoy to cover the truth as they all emerged from the Villa to tell Nigerians some blatant lies that the president would make a recovery. He never did. He passed away on May 5, 2010, at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa. The question is: Will history repeat itself? God forbid! -
Pretty Mike’s detestable road show
Wonders will never cease. Nigerians have for long been known to be copycats of foreign ideas or behaviours especially in fashion and other social trends-cum-vices, as practiced in other climes, particularly in Europe and the Americas. Talk of a lawless, morally debased society and Nigeria is increasingly coming into focus.
More than 10 years ago, Nigerian youths caught the bug of the social malaise called ‘sagging’. This is a form of dressing in which a young man or even sometimes, a young lady wears on a pair of trousers otherwise called pants in the United States of America, shorts, knickers or boxers, skips the waistline where the sartorial item is supposed to sit and positions it somewhere between the buttocks and the thighs. This way, the underwear, which is supposed to be tucked secretly beneath the trouser or pant, now plays the ignominious role of being the only clothing item covering the buttocks. The list is endless.
The fact is, there is a growing tendency amongst some Nigerians to attempt to outdo their foreign counterparts in their own rotten and maggoty cultural afflictions which ordinarily should be alien to our own culture and tradition in Africa. Not long ago, we were caught up in the web of resisting the importation of homosexual practices into the country. Although the government managed to stave off the pressure from some of those who were hell-bent on towing this path, nevertheless, it is quite understood that many of these rascals merely disappeared underground to continue the satanic practice.
Many Nigerians were shocked to the marrow last week when the nauseating story of an attention-seeking Nigerian, Mike Eze-Nwalie Nwogu, who goes by the appellation Pretty Mike broke on the social media. Mike or Pretty Mike, (you may be wondering how a man, not a woman, describes himself as ‘Pretty’) who is said to be the owner of ‘Club Uno’, located somewhere on Allen Avenue, Ikeja, Lagos, revels in the fantasy of turning young girls into human puppies.
By the way, my only previous idea of a club which name comes close to being identical to this Pretty Mike’s club’s name was a particular club called ‘Numero Uno’ otherwise known as Number One, located within Bobby Benson Hotel, Jibowu, Lagos and was patronised by Majek Fashek, Black Rice and his Boys quarter boys who were then based in Ojota, on the outskirts of Lagos about 32 years ago.
From the narrative, 30-year-old ‘Pretty Mike’ appears to be a person who is desirous to stand out in the society even though in a very negative and controversial form. This is possibly why he thinks the best way for him to achieve stardom is by putting young girls on a leash and tying dog chains around their necks while the girls perform the role of human outriders that herald him into important functions in town. His style is to get at least two girls, dressed in the same attire, (known in Owambe parlance as “And-co”), chained up like dogs, as they lead him into the venue of a function, while he holds their chains like a dog owner would do to his dogs.
His recent appearance has created a lot of furore by provoking huge social media umbrage. That appearance was said to be at a wedding ceremony somewhere in Lagos. For the outing, the girls appeared in pink dresses with their signature black masks and dog chains woven around their necks, while Pretty Mike held on tightly to the leash. The picture of the parade of madness particularly showing about five policemen laughing hysterically at the bizarre sight of human dogs and their heartless owner or handler, sparked off the social media war.
What is not immediately clear is the reason the policemen at the scene of this bizarre occurrence were so amused that they erupted in uncontrollable laughter when, in fact, they should have accosted the shameless boy, make him untie the chains from the neck of his victims and take him in for questioning. They did not do this. Rather, they turned the whole sickening show into a sort of melodrama. When eventually the Lagos State government rose up to the occasion by ordering his arrest, all Pretty Mike could say was that he was trying to make a statement on women advocacy because “most of the people that have become popular on social media, did so by doing something drastic, different and unique.”
I remember a famous photograph in the 1960’s showing the late flamboyant politician, Chief Festus Okoti-Eboh, otherwise known as Omimiejoh, the then Federal Minister of Finance in the First Republic, moving into a gathering with a long, flowing wrapper worn by a tribe in Delta State, descending from his shoulder, running over a distance of 30 metres or more backward and ending up being tied to the neck of a man who appeared to be his slave or house boy. Laughable as the widely-circulated photograph was, it only showed the reckless opulence relished by the political class at that time. Present day politicians are even worse. That could have been an inspiration for Pretty Mike anyway.
Although there may not be any law directly opposed to this type of behaviour, but I think there are laws against public nuisance which can effectively take care of this type of misdemeanour. This is a form of cruelty to fellow human beings simply because of the lure of filthy lucre. It is quite astonishing that due to the general economic meltdown in the society, our women have become easy pawns in the hands of dubious businessmen and women, who are out to capitalise on the growing misfortune of many families in the country to do whatever they like with human beings in exchange for a few naira notes.
The good news is that Fatai Owoseni, the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, said last week, that the Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team, DSVRT, of Lagos State, is already looking into the matter. Fact is many of our young girls especially university graduates who are daily roaming the streets of major cities in the country have become vulnerable to the despicable antics of Pretty Mike and his likes. Those of them who are lucky to find jobs either in banks, insurance companies and other blue chip companies, have been turned into glorified prostitutes in order to attract business to their companies at the expense and detriment of the future of these young girls.
Unfortunately, our government or policy makers have deliberately turned a blind eye to all the nonsense going on in the society because, at any rate, most of them are the owners and directors of these blue-chip companies who want to do business regardless of its cost to the health and well-being of these young girls. Many of them also enjoy frolicking with these young girls who are so immature and barely out of sucking feeding bottles. Ironically, these proprietors jealously guide their own teenage daughters back home. If we allow this to continue unchecked, only God knows the type of society Nigeria will become in the foreseeable future.
As for this so-called Pretty Mike who has re-enacted one of the ugly features of the long-abolished slave trade era, the best place for him at this moment is to throw him behind bars until he purges himself of this dehumanising behaviour. He could also be kept in a zoo for some time to atone for his sin against humanity. Beyond investigating the issue as a criminal offence, as Owoseni said, the security agencies need to do a comprehensive profiling of him to uncover any other form of debilitating behaviour or atrocity he might have committed in the past. He looks more like a dangerous individual who must be tamed before he turns the society into George Orwell’s animal kingdom in order to achieve his dream of being widely popular. -
Funding the amnesty programme
On Thursday, last week, leaders of the Niger Delta met at Kiagbodo, hometown of Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin K. Clark in Delta State to reflect on recent developments. Rising from the meeting, the leaders warned the presidency to show more concern towards the growing impatience, occasioned in Nigeria’s crude oil belt, by the delay in the proposed dialogue between government and regional stakeholders, aimed at bringing lasting peace to the troubled region. The delay by the federal government in firming up a peace deal with the stakeholders, the leaders said, could reverse the gains of the current ceasefire, which could jeopardise the oil sector and dim the hope of the nation’s recovery from its current recession since the economy is oil-dependent.
However, while the meeting was holding in Kiagbodo, the government made good its promise to pay the stipends promised to the Niger Delta militants under the amnesty programme. Though only the first batch of beneficiaries were paid their August and September stipends, plans are said to be underway to complete the payment for the second and third batch of militants under the programme. This is a commendable development. It must be understood by all stakeholders that human capital development is the enduring fulcrum on which meaningful progress revolves. This empowerment tool is at the heart of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, PAP, which has, since 2009 been enabling erstwhile militants to acquire specialised education in many institutions across the world.
The amnesty programme was conceptualised to embody a social agenda that will underpin the health, education, employment, sense of fulfilment and the general well-being of all the people of the Niger Delta region either directly or indirectly. Through the programme, the pervading atmosphere and culture of gross neglect and general malaise is expected to give way to that of fulfilment, contentment, peace and people-centered development and commensurate progress.
On the whole, the government was expected to recognise the inviolability of an existing social contract between it and the people’s rights, responsibilities and with promises to deliver the basic necessities as a pre-requisite for decent human existence. These needs include; food, clothing, shelter, basic education, primary healthcare, security, productive assets, etc, which are mainly provided in the breach despite a rich endowment of natural and human resources in the Niger Delta region.
In spite of the huge revenue from the exploration and exploitation of crude oil and gas which are found in abundance in the bowels of the Niger Delta region, it is quite appalling that the travails of existence in that region have assumed gargantuan proportion. This is the paradox. This paradox has been underlined by the Oil/Primordial Curse Syndrome which many pundits believe is really the bane of the abject living conditions in the Niger Delta and the virtually unending violence or near-chaos in the areas of oil and gas production.
The dynamics and the increasing incidence of poverty and want in Nigeria, especially in the Niger Delta, have stratified and polarised the society into opposing camps of haves and have-nots; educated and uneducated; north and south etc. The resulting tensions and other social conflicts is eroding the fabric that has held the society together over the decades. Therefore, it is very important to state that the challenge is not only to institute reformative measures to jumpstart and boost the nation’s economic growth alone, but also, there is the need to empower the people of the Niger Delta as a means of revitalising their living standard and rekindling their faith in government and governance.
It is in fulfilment of the government’s social contract with the people of the Niger Delta region that the amnesty programme becomes one of the veritable means to redress the retrogressive legacies of the past. It must be noted that the programme is not an end in itself or solely designed to financially-empower the core leaders of the various militant groups dotting the creeks of the Niger Delta or their sorely aggrieved foot-soldiers. Rather, the prime intention of the programme is to completely rehabilitate the more than 30 thousand-rich corps of repentant militants who have taken advantage of the new vista created by the amnesty programme.
In empowering the ex-militants through sponsored training and education in selected schools and technical centres at home and abroad, the programme has contributed, in no small measure, to strengthening the Niger Delta, nay Nigeria’s technological and scientific base through the training of the ex-militants in technical, vocational, liberal and entrepreneurial education to meet the region’s manpower needs.
A veritable testimonial in reference to the contribution of the PAP to the human capital development of the Niger Delta region is the recent graduation of 51 ex-militants from Novena University, Ogume, in Delta State, with seven beneficiaries graduating in the second-class upper division. Two out of the seven were in Intelligence and Security Studies; two in Political Science and one student each in Energy and Petroleum Studies; Accounting and Computer Science. Thirty-one of this set had second class lower division, 10 with third class while one had a pass degree. Many more are still in schools across the globe.
As in all human endeavours, it has not been smooth-sailing in some crucial aspects of the programme. There are reported cases where many ex-militants were not paid their stipends for months on end. It is gratifying to note that under the new leadership of the programme, safer and more accountable measures are being put in place. It is also commendable that adequate monitoring and control precautions are now in place to plot the trajectory of the funds released while making sure that they are properly and adequately expended in the true spirit of the programme.
As Nigeria enters the eighth year of the PAP, there are indications that it may be wound up this year, 2017. But there are also signs and palpable presidential body-language that it may either be reviewed with more ex-militants being inducted into the scheme as a precautionary measure against the simmering unease degenerating into a full-scale war or confrontation. It will be seriously out of point for hundreds of the PAP scholarship beneficiaries to be abandoned mid-stream in their current institutions of studies here and abroad, without a clear-cut and painless exit strategy in place.
It is also imperative that additional funding should be injected into the programme as a prime factor that will drive the key area of human capital development, which is multi-dimensional in scope. This core aspect of the PAP involves; educational advancement across all the strata of the society, capacity building of the active workforce through training and retraining; individual-based micro-business support programmes, self-employment, job creation and empowerment scheme.
The amnesty programme needs more funding at this point in time, more than ever before as more emphasis and premium is being placed on creating a well-educated and trained cadre of ex-militants who are proficient in their various disciplines. It is through the infusion of adequate funds that those training centres which are presently short of acceptable standards in equipment and other facilities as well as personnel, would be adequately revamped.
As a matter of policy, the limited employment opportunities open to the beneficiaries of the diverse human capital development schemes of the programme, should be bridged through the provision of attractive starter-packs inclusive of soft loans (or given gratis) and technical advice on self-employment etc, which will, in turn, create employment windows within the region.
It is therefore, a good thing that the current Senate has bought into this thought pattern and is ready to liaise with the Presidency to actualise it. Bukola Saraki, the Senate President, has been rather explicit and frank about the need to shore up the financial base of the amnesty programme to guarantee peace and harmony in the Niger Delta and enhance the exploitation of crude oil deposits and gas reserves in the region for the benefit of Nigeria and Nigerians.