The Nation Newspaper

Category: Dele Agekameh

  • The ‘lost’ Chibok girls

    The ‘lost’ Chibok girls

    exactly 647 days after they were abducted, the fate of the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram terrorists remains a mystery. It has also remained a crime too horrifying to comprehend. That hundreds of teenage girls, who were about to finish their secondary education and destined for significant achievements in their lives, were so callously kidnapped in one fell swoop, perhaps, never to be seen again, is one of the greatest psychological trauma a nation can pass through.

    In the last 647 days, the whole world has been gripped with horror and anxiety over the safe return of the schoolgirls believed to be more than 200. Day after day, hope of their return is raised only to be dashed by the next minute. Towards the last desperate days of the Goodluck Jonathan-led administration, some crooks, possibly with the collaboration of other unscrupulous government officials, pulled fast strings on the government by claiming to be capable of brokering freedom for the unfortunate girls. It later turned out to be a scam and the government was swindled of millions of tax payers’ money.

    When the current president, Muhammadu Buhari, was sworn in on May 29, 2015, he promised that he would fight for the release of the school girls. Although he was quick to add that his government had no credible intelligence regarding the whereabouts of the girls, nevertheless, he assured the nation that his administration would do everything possible to ensure that the girls were rescued. Eight months down the line, no significant progress seems to have been recorded on the rescue of the girls. Now that the second anniversary of their abduction is around the corner, the Bring BackOurGirls campaigners have increased the tempo of demand for the rescue of the girls. The girls, all students of Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, were abducted from their school compound by the Boko Haram terrorists on April 14, 2014.

    Last week, the campaigners, alongside some parents of the girls, braved all odds to meet with the President. The President had earlier met with leaders of the BBOG campaigners and some of the parents on July 8, 2015, barely two months after he took office. Therefore, the President’s meeting with the parents and the campaigners last week at the Presidential Villa was the second time in six months. Apart from meeting with the two parties, Buhari also ordered fresh investigation into the missing girls’ case. The investigation will seek to, among other things, unravel the remote and immediate circumstances leading to the kidnap of the girls as well as the other events, actions and inactions that followed the incident.

    The President’s latest pronouncement may have raised a spectre of renewed hope about finding the girls, particularly now that the Boko Haram terrorists seem to have been badly decimated and decapitated. For sure, launching a new investigation into the abduction saga is a welcome development, though many people may regard it as merely drawing the hands of the clock backward.  Suffice to say that up till this moment, there is no comprehensive report on the events that took place on that fateful night of April 14, 2014 when the girls were abducted en masse while writing exams.

    Feelers from Chibok indicate that the military unit posted on guard duty around the scene of the crime that night was hurriedly requested to vacate the area some hours before the abductors arrived to carry out their nefarious activities. The soldiers said this much when they were rounded up by the military authorities after the crime had been committed. But rather than conducting a thorough investigation into the matter, the military authorities merely listened to cock and bull stories as told by the superior officers on ground at the time and just railroaded the soldiers into detention with no access to the outside world. The officer who issued the relocation order was dismissed and tried before he was convicted for one year in prison. By now, he must have finished serving his sentence. In fact, the soldiers too were said to have initially been slated for court martial but the decision was later dropped.

    Now that a fresh investigation is to be conducted, the soldiers, who are still in detention, may provide a good lead that could help in unraveling the truth about the Chibok abduction. But then, those helpless soldiers have no reason to be thrown in the dungeon since all these years for an offence they may not have committed other than obeying orders from a superior officer who has been duly sanctioned. The truth is that some unscrupulous army officers may have been complicit in the whole saga. Also, some residents of Chibok who were around during the night of the abduction and after may have more to disclose than had actually been revealed. Mention must also be made of the presence of some male students who were said to be writing exams side by side the girls on the night of the abduction. It is curious that since that event, nobody has been able to establish the nexus between those ‘mysterious’ boys and the Chibok girls.

    Similarly, the report of the Brigadier-General Ibrahim Sabo-led investigative panel set up by former President Jonathan to look into the abduction after several months of official lethargy and inactivity on the plight of the girls and their parents by his government, has never been made public. This is the time to open the veil of secrecy in which it has so far been shrouded. Perhaps, this is the time for anybody who has any information about the missing girls to come forward and speak out. We have certainly passed the level of covering up the truth about the events of April 14, 2014. It could be the Chibok girls today, but nobody knows whose turn it will be tomorrow.

    However, what appears confusing is all the talk about liberating the whole of the North-east from the clutches of Boko Haram. It might just be mere propaganda by the government. This is because in many areas in the affected places, people are yet to go back to their homes. A case in point is that of Mafa, which is just 35km to Maiduguri and some other adjoining villages like Gamboru Ngala and others which have remained deserted till date.

    From the little I have been able to piece together, the Chibok girls may have been dispersed across the West African sub-region to such areas as Chad, Niger, Burkina-Faso, Mali, Central African Republic and even to far away Sudan, Libya and all that. Remember that most of the leaders of the Boko Haram terrorists were possibly trained in both Sudan and Libya. That is the more reason why our intelligence officers should extend their dragnet to countries outside the shores of Nigeria.

    But do we really have capable intelligence officers to do the job? Certainly, no! This is because the Defence Intelligence Agency, DIA, whose responsibility it is to provide accurate intelligence for the country is in comatose. Up till now, the agency is still in the dark about the fate of two of its operatives who got missing in action in Baga more than a year ago. The place is a gold mine for most of the uniform officers posted there. That is why things have deteriorated so badly in the DIA.

    The sad and unfortunate aspect of this Chibok episode is that all the girls may have either been sold out to be used as sex slaves or married off to terrorists. Therefore, it will be a miracle if at all a quarter of them is ever seen again. That is the bitter truth!

  • Nigeria’s Hall of Shame

    Nigeria’s Hall of Shame

    For some time now, the war being waged by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration against corruption has continued to occupy centre stage in national discourse. For one, the figures involved are as mind-boggling as they are incredible to believe. And that is the truth. In most circles, the scandal has elicited debates of multi-dimensional colouration. While some people see the present war against corruption as a sort of witch hunt, others are quick to label it some sort of vendetta against old and imaginary enemies. All these colourations are nothing more than calling a dog a bad name in order to prepare it for the guillotine.

    One thing that people must understand is that this is about the first time that any Nigerian leader is showing exceptional determination to wage a titanic war against corruption, an endemic disease that has almost destroyed the fabric of our nation. Within and outside the country, the picture that is being painted is of a country where corruption walks on all fours; where there is little or no inclination to end the scourge; where vice has become an official creed in national ethos; a sort of religion that all Nigerians bow to and worship.

    Every other day, we all condemn corruption. Whether we all agree or not, corruption is one single, debilitating factor that has kept our great country very much underdeveloped in spite of the abundant manpower and material resources with which our nation is endowed. Unfortunately, a few smart Alec have constantly robbed the nation and its people of their God–given bounty. The consequence is the excruciating poverty and appalling state of our infrastructure. It is this sad and painful situation that Buhari is determined to reverse.

    Today, many of the fat cats and gluttons in our midst who, hitherto, had been highly respected as elder statesmen or leaders, have been exposed as mere charlatans who now cringe and genuflect before the nation’s anti-graft agencies over one misdemeanour or another bordering on financial impropriety. Ironically, as soon as any so-called “big man” becomes trapped in the web of the anti-graft agencies, his sympathisers go to town crying blue murder. For instance, when Sambo Dasuki, a retired colonel and former National Security Adviser, NSA, was taken in by operatives of the Department of State Service, DSS, his sympathisers immediately went to work and denounced, in no uncertain terms, his arrest and detention. All available space in the mass media, including the ubiquitous social media, were engaged for this purpose. Among his foot soldiers was Olisa Metuh, the irrepressible spokesman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, a party whose 16 years of political dominance in the country was cut short about seven months ago.

    From being a suspect for illegal possession of firearms and gun running, Dasuki has since metamorphosed to one of the biggest suspects in the history of money laundering and diversion of public funds in the country. From his captivity, he has allegedly been spilling the beans and singing like a canary. In the process, names of several highly-placed Nigerians have been mentioned as beneficiaries and partakers of the money-sharing bazaar. It is in the course of this that Metuh, an incurable critic of Buhari, is now cooling his heels in one of the anti-graft agency’s gulag. Many other prominent individuals and men of means have been listed in the still-running scandal which has assumed the toga of a soap opera.

    Imagine a person like Haliru Bello, a former Comptroller-General of Nigerian Customs Service, former acting chairman of the PDP and also erstwhile minister of defence being put on trial along with his son. On the day of his appearance in court, the old man, who was looking morose, was wheeled to the court by prison warders assisted by some security agents after arriving at the court premises in a prison ambulance. That scene that was captured by television cameras dominated the front pages of major newspapers the following day with his son paraded side-by-side with him. That scene was like a rehash of the ordeal of ex-President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt who has been in and out of court in Cairo on a stretcher with some his children as co-accused persons in recent times .Therefore, for Bello and his son, what could be more shameful?

    Also included in the roll call are, Tony Anenih, Tanko Yakassai, Attahiru Bafarawa, Jim Nwobodo, Peter Odili, Olabode George and Mahmud Aliu Shinkafi. The list is lengthy. Nigerians know the story of one of them popularly called “Mr Fix It” too well. How times change! It probably could be harvest time for the retired deputy commissioner of police who has been variously credited to be a political colossus of our time. By the robust accounts of his many political manipulations, Mr Fix It, surely, is one man whose name drives fear into politicians. He is acclaimed to be a strategist whose prowess is not limited to how to win elections with ingenious methods alone. So awesome and pervasive are his powers that when the 1983 general elections were conducted, the National Party of Nigeria, NPN, where he held sway as state chairman, won by a ‘tsunami’ in the old Bendel State.

    In 1999, ‘the master’, was very instrumental to the coming to power of former President Olusegun Obasanjo. ‘The leader’, as he is widely known, is believed to possess the magic wand for winning political battles. It is like once he queues behind you as a candidate, you can go to sleep and even snore. He is the kingmaker that determines who becomes what. His houses in Abuja, Uromi, his home town in Edo State and Benin City, have always been a Mecca where politicians flock to on pilgrimage to worship at the feet of this living deity. After more than four decades in the political space, he is still very much around – same man, same ideas, same techniques, same powers, same job, if you call what he is doing a job.

    But there is always a time for everything. And it is good to know when to leave the scene before the law of diminishing returns begins to set in. Mr Fix It’s journey to the bottom of the valley probably started when he could not deliver, as usual, on the so-called tenure elongation gambit that took the front burner in Nigeria early in 2006 under Obasanjo’s presidency. The chicken finally came home to roost when Adams Oshiomhole, became the Governor of Edo State in November 2008. It did not take long before both men fell out with each other. From then on, Mr Fix It gradually lost his prime position as the oracle of Edo and Nigerian politics. And the grand old fox has continued to be demystified. Therefore, if the recent news of his alleged involvement in the N2.1 billion arms saga is anything to go by, chances are that this untouchable may soon have his date in court like his co-travellers.

    What Nigerians want to see at the end of this arrests, detention and revelations is that the tax payers’ money which has been brazenly stolen by these culprits should be returned to the public till without leaving any kobo behind. In addition, those found to have burnt their fingers in this sad episode should be made to face the full wrath of the law. If the Buhari’s administration is really interested in fighting corruption, now is the time to descend heavily on all these rogues in our midst. The most painful thing in this unfolding drama of the absurd is that many of those whose names have been mentioned are mostly those who have for too long been feeding fat on our common patrimony either as governors, ministers, or senior government officials. It is a shame. A big shame indeed!

  • Ishaku’s New Year Gift

    Ishaku’s New Year Gift

    For Darius Dickson Ishaku, the incumbent governor of Taraba State, last Thursday, December 31, 2015 Appeal Court judgment in Abuja that affirmed him as the duly elected governor of Taraba State, was the best New Year’s gift anybody could have wished for. He couldn’t have settled for anything less. And when it came, it was in the nick of time, a last minute affair that closed the year 2015 on a beautiful and reassuring note. That piece of good news finally ended months of uncertainty and trepidation in the political battle that had been raging in the state in the last six months.

    The Appeal Court sitting in Abuja had last Thursday affirmed Ishaku of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, winner of the April 11 governorship election in Taraba State. By this judgment, the Abuja appellate court set aside the decision of the state Election Petitions Tribunal, which earlier sacked the governor from office based on pre-election matters. Justice Abdul Aboki, who read the unanimous judgment, held that it was a gross misdirection for the tribunal to have declared Aisha Jumai Alhassan, affectionately known as “Mama Taraba”, the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, winner of the gubernatorial poll on the basis that she scored the second highest number of votes in the election. The Appeal Court justices described the decision of the Taraba state election tribunal as untenable.

    The Appeal Court also held that from the evidence of witnesses to the petitioners before the tribunal, Ishaku was validly elected and sponsored by his party, the PDP, to vie for the governorship seat of the state in accordance with the constitution, the Electoral Act and in accordance with the electoral guidelines as laid down by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC. The court then pronounced that: “Therefore, the judgment of the Taraba State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal is hereby declared null, void and set aside in its entirety. The appellant’s appeal is meritorious and is hereby allowed”.

    In the opinion of the court, APC and its governorship candidate, who were the first and second respondents in the appeal, had no locus standi to challenge the primary election of the PDP, which produced Ishaku as its candidate for the election as none of the respondents is a member of the PDP. It also held that INEC superintends the activities of political parties and if there was any breach or failure of the PDP to give the electoral body 21 days notice of its primary as alleged, it should not have been the headache of the APC and its governorship candidate, adding that, the only person that could have complained of the conduct of a party’s primary election was INEC and the person who participated in the said primary election. The court went further to say that the Electoral Act specifies the procedures for the election and sponsorship of a candidate by a political party and that the right to complain is limited to participants in the primary election.

    Earlier on Saturday, November 7, 2015, the Justice Musa Danladi Abubakar-led Election Petitions Tribunal had, in a petition filed by the APC and Alhassan, held that the purported nomination of Ishaku as the governorship candidate of the PDP breached Section 85 of the Electoral Act and ordered him (Ishaku) to vacate his office. In that judgment, the tribunal ordered that Alhassan be sworn in as governor because the PDP did not conduct a valid primary that produced Ishaku as its standard-bearer. However, the tribunal held that the APC governorship candidate could not adequately prove her allegation of “over-voting, irregularities, and non-compliance with the Electoral Act 2010”. Ishaku, who was obviously dissatisfied with the tribunal judgment, immediately filed an appeal, asking the appellate court to set aside the judgment of the tribunal. His prayer was granted by the appellate court last Thursday.

    The ruling by the appellate court ignited wide-scale jubilation in Jalingo, the Taraba State capital, as residents marched through major streets of the town in celebration of the judgment. Recall that when the Electoral Tribunal earlier unseated Ishaku, the state, particularly Jalingo, the capital, was thrown into political upheaval because many people were dissatisfied with that judgment. Therefore, the relative calm and convivial atmosphere which pervaded the state after the Appeal Court’s judgment, was a sign that the judgment seems to have vindicated the majority of the people of the state who overwhelmingly voted for Ishaku as their governor in the last election and even at the re-run election that took place later. Besides, the judgment may have proved that the judiciary is the last hope of the common man. Perhaps, if the judgment had gone the other way, the state could have been thrown into turmoil.

    The conflicting judgments in Taraba pose a big legal challenge. Now that the case is heading to the Supreme Court, the final arbiter, for final adjudication, I am quite sure that all the grey areas would be effectively tackled in order to sanitise our electoral laws. The scenario in Taraba, is not an isolated case. In the last few months, it has been replicated in some other states. Unlike what was obtainable in 2011 when election results were more credible and devoid of legal tangos across the country, the results of the 2015 elections seem to have opened a floodgate of legal battles. The consequence is the confusion all over the place. What we are now witnessing is one tribunal after another upturning one electoral result after the other. In the process, many results either at the House of Representatives, the Senate, the gubernatorial elections and all that, have been overturned in recent times, leading to many re-run elections. This development is at great cost to taxpayers because of the colossal resources involved in the conduct of these elections.

    What this all boils down to is the fact that our electoral system is fraught with irregularities and fraudulent practices of unimaginable proportion. There is desperation everywhere and this is not healthy for the nation. The picture that is being painted is that of an unbridled, unhealthy political rivalry between the two dominant political parties – the APC and the PDP. The APC, an amalgamation of some political parties and groups, succeeded in sending the hitherto octopus political party in Nigeria, the PDP, into political Siberia in the last general elections. That effectively ended the latter’s 16 years of domination of the Nigerian political landscape. This feat was not easy to achieve though. While the PDP has found it difficult to come to terms with the reality that they have suddenly been swept off their feet, the victorious APC seems to have caught the Oliver Twist’s bug. Therefore, there is this uncontrollable quest for territorial control going on all over the country.

    This insatiable quest for political dominance is now a sort of irritation and concern to political observers. This is perhaps one of the reasons observers consider Ishaku’s victory at the Appeal Court as instructive at a time there are fears that there is a growing tendency to achieve a one-party state in Nigeria – something that could be dangerous to the peace and tranquillity of the entire country. It is common nowadays to hear people saying: “When the PDP was the dominant party, it was the same thing because they wanted to put the whole country under their umbrella”. There is no doubt about that. But should we continue to perpetuate the same arbitrariness, the same impunity, the same callousness and recklessness for which the PDP stood condemned? The fact remains that if we, as a people, are to make meaningful progress, there is the need to eschew bitterness, acrimony and strong arm tactics from our body politics. That is part of the change Nigerians earnestly crave.

     

     

  • Chibok girls: The deafening silence

    Chibok girls: The deafening silence

    On Saturday, May 10, 2014, Wole Soyinka, professor and Nobel Laureate, appeared on the British Broadcasting Corporation’s programme, Hardtalk and added his voice to the growing international discourse on Nigeria, especially the issue of the disappearance, on April 15, 2014, of more than 250 schoolgirls from Government Girls’ Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State. Among other things, Soyinka said: “The Nigerian nation-space is poised on a knife’s point; it is failing, but not beyond redemption. The rescue of the abducted Chibok schoolgirls and the outcome of the National Conference would help define the country’s future.”  Today, more than one month after, the opinion canvassed by the Nobel laureate remains fresh in our national psyche as the issue of the abducted Chibok girls remains unresolved.

    The country has been thrown into one huge, dramatic macabre dance since that midnight hostage-taking by the Boko Haram terrorists. The incident has drawn both the anger and dagger of civilised humanity all over the world who have continued, in unmistaken terms, to condemn it as sordid and barbaric. Regrettably, two months down the line, what we have been witnessing are empty talks and promises of a phantom rescue operation to free the girls from their captors who are in no way ready to relax their stranglehold on them. With various pressure groups mushrooming daily all over the place, the whole thing has now ascended a crescendo of pulsating emotional gyration, ventilation of anger and global condemnation. Perhaps, for the first time in the history of Nigeria, the entire global community is united in solidarity with the country.

    Many foreign countries have offered and are still offering assistance in several ways to help the country in its bid to rescue the abducted girls as well as defeat the terrorists who are now holding on to the country’s jugular. Everybody seems to be eager to get the girls out of the gulag. Unfortunately, days have turned into weeks and months, and nothing tangible or cheering has been on the horizon about the girls’ return to reunite with their loved ones. For the parents and relatives of the unfortunate girls, hope has turned into despair, and a big nightmare with no end in sight.

    While all these are going on, the military, saddled with engineering the release of the girls, appears to be stuck. On May 26, 2014, Alex Badeh, an Air Marshal and Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff, told a curious nation that the army have located the abducted girls. He said this while addressing members of the Citizen Initiative for Security Awareness (CISA), a non-governmental organisation (NGO), who were on a solidarity campaign to the Defence Headquarters. He assured them that everything was being done to ensure the girls’ safe rescue but he quickly chipped in that the military would not use force in the rescue operation. His words: “We want our girls back, I can tell you our military can do it, but where they are held, do we go with force? Nobody should say Nigerian military does not know what it is doing. We can’t kill our girls in the name of trying to get them back. So we are working. The President has empowered us to do the work and no one should castigate the military”.

    Good talk. Except that many weeks after this promise, there is hardly anything to show that those girls are getting nearer to their freedom. In the first instance, many people opine that what Badeh said was very unprofessional in that it was tantamount to playing into the hands of the enemy. Or else how does one view such a statement which is like giving away what should have been a closely guarded secret, while the army strategises to free the girls? Why announce to the whole world that the army was aware of the location of the girls? The terrorists’ response will be to simply relocate the girls further into the wilderness to avoid any surprise from the army. This is why people believe the statement was either totally uncalled for or grossly lacking in military diplomacy.

    Now, former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, has come up with yet another suggestion that he could reach out to Boko Haram on the fate of the school girls, but regretted that the Federal Government has not given him the green light to act. In an interview on the Hausa service of the British Broadcasting Corporation last week, Obasanjo said: “I have ways of reaching them (Boko Haram) but I have not been given the go ahead”. The former President expressed fear that some of the schoolgirls may never return home but added that the terrorists might free those found to be pregnant or have given birth. He also expressed worry that the girls might have been separated and kept in different locations.

    Earlier last week, some newspapers reported that the parents of the abducted girls had become disillusioned about government’s efforts to free the girls. In fact, some of the parents are said to have died heartbroken, while others have relapsed into all forms of depression as a result of the continuous absence of their loved ones. As they say, he who wears the shoe knows where it pinches. But for how long would these parents remain traumatized?”

    The above is an extract from an article titled: The ‘forgotten’ girls of Chibok, which was first published in this column on Wednesday, June 18, 2014. Since then, nothing reassuring has been heard on the fate of the unfortunate girls. I remember when the article was first published few months after the abduction. I received several SMS alluding to the fact that it was too early for anyone to say that the Chibok girls had been forgotten. But those who know this country called Nigeria well should know better. Nigeria is such a beautiful country, well endowed with human and material resources. But our greatest problem is leadership. The other is that all the good things that God has provided for this country are either mismanaged or stolen. That is the tragedy this country is confronted with.

    Now, with the Chibok girls still at large, we are being told that the war against Boko Haram has ‘largely’ been won. I think that is on paper. The fact that there is an escalation of Boko Haram attacks in some next door countries must be a cause for concern. Three days ago, the terrorists resurfaced again in Maiduguri. So, it is not yet Uhuru after all. Besides, the Chibok girls are still marooned in the forests in the North-east or some other places within and outside the country. It is rather dispiriting how they seem to have been forgotten. Nobody seems to be talking about them any longer.

    Last Friday was Christmas. Surprisingly, in all the goodwill messages from the leaders of this country, none mentioned anything about the Chibok girls. Yet, they all canvassed for peace. Peace? So that they can steal the nation blind as they have been doing? How can there be peace when those who are the tormentors-in-chief of the common man are the leaders themselves. Is there any common man involved in the scandal known as Dasukigate? Is there any common man involved in the oil subsidy fraud? Is there any common man involved in the pension scam? I can go on and on.

    In less than 48 hours from now, we will all be chorusing Happy New Year. Can this be meaningful to the Chibok girls and their families? What is New Year to the families when they are still in the dark over the fate of their loved ones who are yet to be accounted for? I think the government should stop these grandstanding and self-glorification and speak out on where the Chibok girls really are. Otherwise, the Boko Haram war has not been won!

  • Soldiers, Shiites’ clashes

    Soldiers, Shiites’ clashes

    The recent Soldiers/Shiites’ clash in Zaria is a worrisome development. It has come at a time when Nigerians are almost heaving a sigh of relief over the deadly Boko Haram attacks that seem to be abating. In fact, these Soldiers/Shiites’ clashes have become a recurring episode in our national life. And whenever they rear their ugly head, it is with some catastrophic consequences, leaving a tale of sorrow, tears and blood in its wake.

    The Shiite group known as the Islamic Movements of Nigeria, IMNL, is led by its fiery leader, Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky. The group came into prominence after the 1979 Iranian Revolution which was led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. That 1979 revolution sent the then American puppet leader of Iran, Shah Reza Palavi, who had ruled the country with iron fist for decades, into oblivion. An Islamic regime was then put in place and Ayatollah Khomeini became the spiritual leader of the country. Since then, the Ayatollah, as the spiritual leader, has become the supreme authority of Iran.

    This spiritual-cum-political arrangement must have been very attractive to the Shiite group in Nigeria who are equally thought to be pursuing the establishment of an Islamic state. Though the Shiite group holds sway in the northern parts of the country, little is known about them in the southern parts of the country. Nevertheless, security agents particularly the Police and operatives of the Department of State Security, DSS, have always focused their binoculars on the group especially its leader, El-Zakzaky. This has inevitably made the sect and the security agencies bitter enemies.

    In July 2014, while on a pro-Palestinian solidarity march in Zaria, Kaduna State, the group clashed with soldiers. The unfortunate encounter led to the death of about 34 members of the sect including three sons of El-Zakzaky. The army later came up with the explanation that the clash occurred when members of the sect attacked some soldiers who were trying to prevent the procession in view of the prevailing delicate security situation occasioned by the activities of the Boko Haram terrorists who had put the North-east of the country under armed insurrection. It took some time for frayed nerves to be calmed but that incident drew the line between the sect and the army. It was like a ticking bomb waiting to explode.

    However, the ticking bomb finally exploded on Friday, December 11. That day, Lt. General Tukur Buratai, the Chief of Army Staff, COAS, was on his way to the Zaria depot of the Nigerian Army to review a parade of the 74 Regular Recruits and also later, to pay a courtesy call on the Emir of Zazzau, when his convoy ran into members of the sect who were on a procession. Attempts by the COAS’ armed convoy to disperse the crowd were said to have been rebuffed. Not even the entreaties of some officers in the convoy who disembarked from their vehicles and approached the sect members would sway the crowd who by then had blocked the road. The COAS convoy was said to have come under attack possibly engineered by some misguided and unruly elements within the crowd. The soldiers in the convoy allegedly responded by firing some shots which led to the death of some people. The crowd was then forced to disperse.

    Since then, the social media and other media of communication have been awash with comments and repudiations from both sides to the conflict. But if the comment of a spokesman for the sect which has been well advertised in the media is anything to go by, then there is actually no love lost between the army and the sect. While the army could be accused of possibly being high-handed, the sect too appears to hold the establishment -the government and security agencies, particularly the army- in utter contempt. When the spokesman was asked whether they believe in the government or whether they defer to government, he simply said that the sect obeys orders especially when the orders are not in conflict with “Allah’s injunctions”. If I may ask: How do you determine between Allah’s injunctions and government’s authority? The interpretation of what the sect spokesman simply said was that even if the government issues an order that there must not be any procession at a particular time, for security reasons, chances are that the sect might flout that order if it (the sect) believes it is embarking on a procession in line with Allah’s wish. To say the least, this is nothing but a recipe for confrontation.

    When asked whether it was true that the sect members attacked the soldiers, the spokesman said: “If you are in your house and you see an armed person within the precinct of your house, what will you do?” What this man needs to understand is that if you have no skeleton in the cupboard and you suddenly woke up and see security agents around your premises, the most reasonable thing to do is either wait and see what they are up to, or to politely ask questions. Confrontation cannot and must not be the first option. There cannot be a republic within a republic. Otherwise, what is the difference between what this sect is trying to do and what Boko Haram is doing? Nobody can pronounce himself or herself an untouchable. We must all be answerable to the laws of the land and not attempt to carve out any utopian empire just because we feel we are superior to the law or that our religion is superior to the laws of the land.

    At any rate, what has happened and has continued to repeat itself is quite unfortunate and uncalled for. Just as religion has a role to play in the country, the government, through its laws and agencies, also has a duty to create the enabling environment for citizens to go about their normal duties without fear of molestation and attack. Without an enabling environment, no religion, government or business can thrive. The first casualty is peace. We must get that clear. Therefore, rather than preach hatred, our religious leaders must preach peace at all times. If we are today saying that successive governments in Nigeria have failed the people, so also are our so-called religious leaders. They have also failed us since they appear to be more engrossed in how to line their pockets with filthy lucre and acquire political powers through the back door. They merely use their spiritual positions as subterfuge to acquire undue influence and power.

    If anything at all, we need peace in this country more than any other thing as the absence of peace will certainly impinge on the much needed development we all crave for. Our religious leaders whether Christians, Muslims or any other religion for that matter, should strive at all times to subjugate themselves and their followers to the dictates of the law. The laws are there to guarantee peace and uphold the fundamental human rights of individuals. You don’t undermine the law and then turn round to say that your human rights have been abused or trampled on.

    With more than 700,000 innocent citizens dead, countless others maimed, many houses raised and economic lives ruined, pseudo-religionists as represented by Boko Haram, have done incalculable damage to this country. We cannot afford another dangerous group toying with the destiny of this country. The security agents too must exercise restraint in the way they go about their duties without creating unnecessary tension and acrimony in the polity. This country belongs to everybody – Christians, Muslims, traditionalists, pagans, soldiers, other law enforcement agents, ordinary citizens and what have you. It is not the exclusive property of any individual or group of people no matter how highly or well placed they might be.

     

  • This Dasukigate

    This Dasukigate

    Certainly, these are uncertain times in Nigeria. Around this time last year, the ‘change’ slogan was at fever pitch. That was in the heat of the campaign for the 2015 elections. By that time, it was obvious that the country was somehow heading for the rocks. So, the clamour for change spread like wildfire in the harmattan. Everyone was involved – the old, the young, the urban dweller, the rural dweller, people with white collar jobs, artisans, beggars and even destitutes – all shared in the idea that a change was inevitable in the country.

    We all witnessed the dying days of the campaigns, particularly the campaign for the presidential election which revolved around the use of money, stupendous money. A lot of money was deployed into that campaign to either woo voters or buy votes. It was as if money was running out of fashion or that the outcome of the elections would be determined by the amount of money thrown into the campaigns. Lagosians will not forget in a hurry, the naked display of financial recklessness allegedly orchestrated by stalwarts of the then ruling party, the Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP, in central Lagos at the last minute of the campaign for the presidential election. Tons of dollar notes were said to have been flung out of moving vehicles in some areas in central Lagos leaving the streets strewn with hard currencies while residents scrambled to pick them. A friend on the Island, also confided in me on how some party agents on the Island had wads of dollar, running into several millions, neatly stacked in their bedrooms.

    When it seemed that money alone may not do the magic, a number of crude but ingenious innovations came to play. One of them was the recourse to Boko Haram as an alibi simply to buy more time as there were indicators that the then opposition party, the All Progressives Congress, APC, may coast home to victory in the impending election. The APC is an amalgamation of all the ‘progressive’ parties or parties who shared in the ‘progressive’ ideas which the then Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, represented. The ACN fused with the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC to form the nucleus of the APC and attracted other political groups like the breakaway faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA and the renegades of the PDP into the fold.

    This amalgamation of ‘progressive’ forces drove fears into the ruling PDP so much that Sambo Dasuki, the then National Security Adviser, a retired Colonel in the Army attempted a solution by alluding to the fact that the military needed, at least, a few more months to be able to deal a decisive blow on the rampaging Boko Haram terrorists who were then occupying a significant part of the landscape of the North-east geo-political zone of the country. On the surface, this proposition appeared patriotic but there was more to it. Consequently, the presidential election was postponed by a further six weeks from February 14 to March 28, under the guise that the Boko Haram terrorists would have been routed from the country by March 28. But that was not to be. The reason for this was that in spite of the country obtaining a USD 1million loan to enable it to procure weapons and other war armaments to prosecute the war, the fighting troops were no more than a rag-tag army which Kashim Shettima, the governor of Borno State, aptly described as being inferior to the Boko Haram terrorists. If recent revelations are anything to go by, it seems that instead of fighting the war, Dasuki and his ilk, were merely lining their pockets while the terrorists were making kilishi of the soldiers.

    In my own opinion, those who participated in that bazaar, which is now turning into some sort of Dasukigate, are worse than Boko Haram commanders who are still visiting death and destruction on innocent people in the North-east and elsewhere. They are simply saboteurs and deserve to be treated as such because their actions have directly and indirectly led to the prolongation of these mindless killings, rape, abductions and other unimaginable crimes against humanity.

    The money involved in this unfolding drama of the absurd, especially the Abacha looted fund which has now been re-looted, is too incomprehensible and scandalous to be ignored.

    A fortnight ago, I was a guest of one of the country’s former leaders. The day was a Sunday and I had paid a routine visit at the request of the former leader. As soon as I entered the expansive sitting room, he fired the first salvo: “Dele, all these figures that are being bandied about as stolen money, are they true?” Initially, I was transfixed. I did not know what to say but I quickly put myself together. I replied: “Well, that is what we are hearing. But if it didn’t happen that way, I do not think the Buhari government is just making a fuss where there is none. It shows the depth of moral decadence into which the country has sunk in recent times.” I tried to prod him further to open up, but my attempts fell flat. All I got was the dismay which was visible on his face as he kept on shaking his head in utter disbelief. I told him that what comes out of this probe will determine the future of this country and where the war on corruption, which the Buhari government is waging, is headed.

    Honestly, Nigerians are eagerly waiting for the outcome of this Dasukigate probe. In fact, all other probes should be carried out to the letter. We cannot continue to recite the usual refrain: “If Nigeria does not kill corruption, corruption will kill Nigeria”. Indeed, the country is currently gasping for breath on account of the debilitating corruption which has, for far too long, thrown the most populous Black Country in the world into an asphyxiating coma. For too long, we have been treated to high falluttin phrases and semantics about how bad or evil corruption is in our body politic, but nobody has lifted a finger to exterminate this cancerous tumour. It is like everybody is involved. It is possibly the reason why many people will fight tooth and nail to go into government at local, state or national level. The simple attraction being the glamour of office and the fact that there is a lot of free money, absolutely free money to steal.

    The fear is that the Nigerian legal system is too porous and very susceptible to manipulation and manoeuvre by lawyers and their clients. The lawyers have perfected the practice of invoking all manner of interlocutory injunctions to either impede or frustrate the trial of suspects involved in corruption cases. A good number of law enforcement agents, too, are very insincere and unpatriotic. They easily cover up crimes and criminality in the society in return for filthy lucre. The lawmakers in the National Assembly and state assemblies are also seriously neck-deep in several corruption scandals instead of proffering any meaningful strategies towards checking the monumental corruption plaguing the nation. Besides, there are wastages in public expenditures, so much that nearly all contracts are grossly inflated to pave way for corrupt enrichment.

    If we must get our bearings right, there is the need to leave no stone unturned in the probe of this Dasukigate in order to convince Nigerians that the days of sacred cows are over in the country. Without this, the nation will continue to wallow pitifully in the slough of ignorance, poverty and bondage in which it is currently enmeshed. God help us!

  • The ‘security scare’ at MMIA

    The ‘security scare’ at MMIA

    The day was last week Wednesday, December 2. And the scene was at the local wing of the Murtala Muhammed International  Airport, MMIA, Ikeja, Lagos. On that day, Medview Airline’s Flight No 2108, which was heading to Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State enroute Abuja, had called its passengers for boarding at about 11:15 a.m. Within minutes, the intending passengers had taken their seats. My seat was No 01F. After observing all pre-departure formalities, the aircraft started taxiing on the active runway for final departure.

    Suddenly, a female member of the cabin crew broke protocol. She stood up from the crew’s seat and hurriedly walked past the Business Class cabin and headed straight for the window by the front row of the aircraft. She peeped through the glass window and then quickly walked back towards the cockpit’s door. The only male crew member on the flight then followed her to the spot where she had earlier peeped through. At this juncture, many passengers left their seats to join the crew members in the peeping game. It was obvious that something was amiss. Commotion took over as both the passengers and the crew were now visibly apprehensive.

    In the ensuing confusion, the pilot hurriedly brought the aircraft to a halt but the engine was still running. By this time, the news had gone round the aircraft that someone, a man, holding a polythene bag, had been spotted running after the aircraft as it was taxiing. The news sent cold shivers through the spines of the passengers as more passengers surged forward looking terrified. One particular passenger, a bald-headed young man in his early 40s, started shouting on top of his voice and knocking furiously at the cockpit’s door. All attempts by the attendants to calm him down were rebuffed as he kept on saying: “Let me get down. Let me get down”. He then relapsed into a brief soliloquy: “I am coming from the United States and I am going to Maiduguri just to get a document. I don’t think I want to go with this aircraft any longer. My life is more precious to me,” blah, blah, blah! Some other passengers soon joined him at the entrance to the cockpit demanding that the pilot should head back to the departure hall.

    The pilot finally emerged from the cockpit and tried to calm the incensed passengers. He told them that when he spotted the man carrying a polythene bag and running after the aircraft, he had quickly alerted the control tower on his observation and requested for aviation security personnel. But lo, no airport security personnel whether FAAN, Police, Airforce or any personnel from the surfeits of security agencies at the airport showed up in the first 20 minutes in which the whole aircraft was engulfed in confusion and panic. When someone finally showed up, he was like one of the airlines’ officials who usually give signals to pilots on take-off and landing. He merely strolled in and did not betray any emergency emotions at all.

    Anyway, by the time the lone airline personnel later resurfaced from underneath the aircraft, he was followed by a half-naked young man, possibly in his late 30s, with bruises all over his body. He had a trouser on but no shirt, no shoes. The skin of his stomach, chest and back, had peeled off, making him to look like someone who had been partially roasted in a furnace. To the surprise of all the passengers, the airline personnel, neither attempted to get the “intruder” arrested, nor call for reinforcement. The intruder simply walked away. As he walked away, the airline personnel signaled to the pilot to continue the journey. This enraged the passengers who insisted that the journey should be aborted because of doubts over their safety. The major worry to the passengers was the fact that, though the intruder had been fished out, the bag he was carrying was nowhere to be found. Besides, the fact that no attempt was made to arrest him as he strolled away from the scene, further infuriated the passengers.

    The pilot tried to persuade the passengers that there was no cause for worry. He told them that in order to ward off the intruder, he had deliberately increased the speed of the engine and it was the subsequent heat emission from the aircraft that burnt the upper parts of his body. He also said that the bag he was carrying might have been blown away in the process. But the passengers ignored his epistle and stood their ground. The pilot eventually buckled. It was right on the runway there that a landing stairs was provided to allow the passengers to disembark.

    It was then I noticed about 10 Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, security men and an Airforce Sergeant or Staff Sergeant at the scene making calls. When I moved near the Airforce personnel to ask him why no security personnel at the airport responded quickly to the distress call, he kept the cell phone glued to his ear and pretended not to notice my presence. But I was determined, so I waited. From the conversation he had with the person on the other end, it was a mere family discussion. When he was done, he simply said: “Eh..hen, what did you say?” I shook my head in disbelief and walked away from him.

    All the passengers went back to the departure hall where they were kept waiting for more than three hours. We finally boarded another aircraft, Flight 2104, which was a combined flight, at about 3:20 pm with Captain Otobo in command. That flight also had its own problem which almost resulted in fisticuffs as the number of passengers far exceeded the available seats.

    However, the following day, the story that appeared in the newspapers was at variance with what really transpired. The statement issued by the FAAN, read: “Vigilant aviation security staff of FAAN, apprehended one Mr. Alabibu Olushola, who was attempting to stow away in a taxiing aircraft on the tarmac of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja. The culprit was arrested as soon as he scaled the perimeter fence near the moving aircraft and after interrogation he was handed over to the police.” FAAN said the intruder was quickly apprehended as soon as he scaled the airport’s perimeter fencing. That was a white lie. The story was either doctored by FAAN or a dummy was deliberately sold to the public to cover up the inexcusable security lapses at the airport. The questions are: Would somebody want to stowaway to a place like Maiduguri at this time when bombs are dropping over there like ripe oranges? Why is it that no other person except the pilot noticed the intruder on the runway? Is the runway that close to the perimeter fence of the airport?

    If the incident at the MMIA is taken as a yardstick, then it is clear that Nigerian Airports are a disaster waiting to happen. In these days of Boko Haram and security breaches all over the place, if the intruder had had the intention of wreaking havoc on the aircraft and its passengers, he could have easily achieved that sinister motive. From what I personally witnessed on that day, though I am not a prophet of doom, a major disaster is lurking around the nation’s airports. It is not a question of if it happens; it is certainly waiting to happen, unless security is drastically improved around the airports. The airports are too porous. There is no security. The security personnel there are more interested in the money they can make than providing foolproof security. Perhaps, it is only God that has been protecting passengers at these airports. Like OBJ once said: “Me, I dey look o!

  • Policing Lagos

    With a population in excess of 21 million, Lagos is arguably the largest city in Nigeria. In fact, it is the second most rapidly growing urban area on the African continent after Abuja, the capital city of Nigeria. As one of the most populous urban agglomerations in the world, Lagos is the commercial capital of Nigeria and a major financial centre in Africa. In recent times, successive administrations have been putting measures in place to justify Lagos as a mega city. Furthermore, with one of the highest Gross Domestic Product, GDP, and also home to one of the largest and busiest seaports on the continent of Africa, Lagos presents an attraction to all manner of people in search of the Golden Fleece.

    Side-by-side with this ever-increasing population comes a myriad of problems such as over-stretched infrastructure, inadequate health care delivery system and above all, security problems, to name a few. In the last few months, the issue of insecurity has been on the front burner with the unrestrained onslaught of armed robbers, kidnappers and other miscreants who have turned the heat on hapless citizens and helpless law enforcement agencies particularly the police.

    Perhaps, the most noticeable among these criminals are the band of ruthless and blood-thirsty armed robbers comprising mainly misguided youths who have taken to violent robberies as a way of life. Every now and then, they come in large contingents, well-armed and daring, as they wreck havoc on unsuspecting citizens who are indiscriminately cut down either at the scenes of violent robberies or in areas close to the scenes. Members of the security agencies are not spared either. They are continuously mowed down as the dare-devil intruders scramble to gain access to their target which, in most cases, are financial houses where they help themselves by looting the treasuries and emptying the counters.

    This ugly spectre which has often sent cold shivers down the spines of residents of the city has continued unabated for some time. In fact, it has also elicited some unpalatable side comments. Obviously, the spate of crime and criminality has also become an irritating nightmare to those in authority who have been working round the clock to find a lasting solution to the ugly development. Therefore, in an attempt to put an end to the growing concern expressed by Lagosians on the issue of insecurity in the state, the governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, last Friday, November 27, demonstrated his commitment to protecting lives and property in the state by donating security equipment and vehicles valued at a whopping N4.765bn to the state police command and the state’s re-branded anti-crime outfit, the Rapid Response Squad, RRS. 

    Equipment donated include 100 4-door salon cars, 55 Ford Ranger pick-ups, 10 Toyota Landcruiser pick-ups, 115 power bikes, Isuzu trucks, three helicopters, two gunboats, 15 armoured personnel carriers, revolving lights, siren, public address systems.  Also donated were vehicular radio communicators and other security gadgets including bullet proof vests, helmets, handcuffs, uniforms and many other kits. As a way to further motivate members of the security agencies, the state also put in place an improved insurance and hazard benefit schemes for the officers.

    Recall that Lagos State was the first in Nigeria to put in place a Security Trust Fund in the country in order to assist the police in performing their statutory role of protecting lives and property. The trust fund is a government-citizens’ partnership on security. The establishment of this trust fund, which attracted generous donations from many blue chip companies and high net worth individuals, has really changed the face of policing in Lagos. Buoyed by the successes achieved by this innovation in the state, many other states including the neighbouring Ogun State and a few others have since followed suit.

    However, there seems to be a problem in the human components of this arrangement. Like we all know, equipment and armaments alone cannot deliver the needed results. This is where the human components come in. This is the more reason why the police high command should ensure that in posting officers and men to Lagos and assigning them responsibilities, round pegs should be put in round holes. To be frank, as it is, efficiency in the police is almost at its lowest ebb as the service seems to have been reduced to ‘who knows who.’ And, in any case, he who pays the piper calls the tune. The officers and men know this but there is virtually no avenue to ventilate their disgust. The question is: How many of these privileged officers who are posted to strategic beats are dedicated to fighting crime the way it should be?

    It is a good thing that the governor said that those who are going to be engaged in using the newly procured equipment have been trained on how to use them. If that be the case, there should be training and retraining of the policemen. As we all know, training is a continuous thing. For instance, if an officer must be a Divisional Police Officer, DPO, he should be physically fit and not a mere bench warmer. Above all, the police should completely overhaul its operational strategies in order to effectively cope with the exigencies of modern crime where armed robbers, kidnappers and others now go about in large numbers, armed with sophisticated weapons, to carry out their nefarious acts.

    During a robbery incident in the Ikorodu axis of the state earlier this year, reports had it that the control room of the state police command got wind of the movement of the robbers in time and told the police contingent, the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, sent to accost them  where and where to block. But while the young boys, obviously the rank-and-file of the force, were ready for a showdown, their leader was said to have been fretting because he was not a tested officer. Now, if the boys are brave but there is no good leader, then there is a problem somewhere. That is why the right people should be engaged. That is, those who are not only vast in methodology but with proper orientation on how to carry out their assignments.

    By every standard, Solomon Arase, the Inspector General of Police, IGP, has been giving the right direction to his men, at least, theoretically. This should be adequately matched with action. There is the likelihood of insider collaboration among the security agencies in the wave of crime in the state. This should be thoroughly investigated and dealt with.

    In the case of the renewed system of robbers passing through the waterways, the Marine Police should be effectively mobilized to give them a good fight. The first thing to do under such circumstance is to clear the waterways of boats and see who will come looking for a boat. And if the robbers block the roads, even if you cannot meet them face-to-face, fire some warning shots, encircle them and pin them down, then begin to do what in security parlance is known as “snake and tiger movements” to get them. Restrict all vehicles, Okada and others and since they cannot fly or put bags of money on their heads, their loot will become a burden to them. The police can also gain the upper hand if they launch their teargas properly. The teargas can be a decisive factor.

    As Arase said at the formal handing over of the equipment last Friday, the equipment would surely allow police officers to be a step ahead of criminals. But then, the public will not want to see any of the recently purchased patrol cars being used by police officers’ wives to go shopping in the market for Ewedu or as status symbols at Owambe parties. They must be used strictly for the purpose for which they are meant. Period!

     

  • Coming from Yola

    Coming from Yola

    The appointment in Yola was made about three weeks ago. It was scheduled for Monday, November 9. But for one reason or the other, the delegation could not make it and so it was delayed. The delay and disappointment was not taken lightly by our waiting host in Yola who could not hold back his anger as he lashed out at the delegation. We had to appeal to him to take it easy and that a new date would be communicated to him.

    For about two weeks, we tried to sort ourselves out and prepare for the trip. The journey was finally fixed for any day between November 16 and 18. Of course, we knew that this time around, the dates were cast in iron as we could not afford to disappoint any longer. November 16 and 17 came and we could not make it. We knew that the last day for us to redeem our image and live up to expectation was November 18, a Wednesday and there was no going back.

    By Tuesday morning, November 17, everything about the journey scheduled for the following day, Wednesday, November 18, was set. We had earlier made our flight reservations the first time the issue came up on November 5. But since we could not make it at that time, we had to liaise with the airline to put our tickets on hold till such a time when we shall be ready for the trip. So all we did on the eve of our departure was to revalidate our tickets. This done, we were set for the trip the following day, which was our last window of opportunity to make the trip.

    As we were busy putting heads together and planning for the trip that we were embarking upon the following day, something sinister and scary occurred: Suddenly, a bomb went off in Yola in the evening of Tuesday, November 17. As the news filtered into town, a member of the delegation frantically got in touch with me at about 9pm and drew my attention to the breaking news that was being scrolled by a national television station. Pandemonium set in as one member of the delegation after the other, expressed fears over our proposed trip the following day.

    At this juncture, there was an urgent need to calm frayed nerves. Pronto, I placed a call through to my contact in Yola. I told him what we have heard on the television and expressed concern over the insecurity pervading that part of the country. I also told him that in view of the latest bomb blast in Yola, the capital city of Adamawa State, it could be foolhardy or suicidal for anybody to embark on a journey to this troubled zone at this time. To my greatest surprise, my contact merely laughed off my ranting as he restated his earlier assurance that there was no cause for alarm.

    I communicated this to other members of the delegation who grudgingly agreed to proceed on the journey regardless of the commotion that attended the bomb blast. The following morning, we all converged at the airport. We were five on the delegation. By the time the Medview Airline flight was about to take off, one of us, Morola, a lady, who was coming in from the Lekki axis to take the 8:50 am flight, was still held in traffic on the bridge from the Mobolaji Bank-Anthony Way end of the Lagos Airport road. By the time she managed to get to the boarding gate, the airline officials simply told her that the door of the aircraft had been shut for departure. All pleas to consider her for boarding were ignored.

    Well, that was one of the rules of the airlines which are religiously and rigorously observed by airlines’ officials. Unfortunately, only two airlines –  Medview and Azman – ply the Lagos-Abuja-Yola route at an hour’s interval daily. Rather than be dejected, the lady, whom I often refer to as a He-lady because of her energy, enterprise and guts, quickly dashed down to the ticketing counter and bought another ticket from Azman which was going to ply the same route an hour later.

    After finally landing in Yola at 12 noon on that Wednesday, November 18, the day after the bomb blast, we had to wait for one hour to enable Morola to join us at the airport before moving to town. Everything was calm in the city as people went about their normal businesses without any betrayal of fear and anxiety whatsoever. Yola is home to people from all over the country. We came across people from Akwa Ibom, Cross Rivers, Edo, Kogi, Imo, Enugu, Oyo, Osun, Lagos and Ondo states, to name a few. Upon inquiry, it was discovered that many of them had been in Yola for more than 10 years, engaged in various businesses without any molestation from any quarter in the state. In fact, to them, Adamawa State is home. And not even the deadly exploits of Boko Haram can change that.

    We moved round Jimeta, where most of the government offices are located and then Yola proper where the majestic palace of the Lamido of Adamawa is situated. At the turning point in front of the gate to the palace, a police patrol vehicle was conspicuously stationed there, perhaps, to monitor movements. While driving round the town, our host told us that what happened the previous day came as a surprise. According to him, a Boko Haram suicide bomber had suddenly emerged at a crowded evening market and started distributing N500 notes freely to people. This attracted a large crowd as people moved closer to the would-be suicide bomber to share in the unexpected largesse. Just then, the bomber detonated the bomb and blew himself up. In the process, scores of people died along with him while many others sustained various degrees of injuries. That, probably, was a catastrophe made possible by excruciating poverty!

    We wanted to go to Mubi but our host dissuaded us by telling us that the road was littered with military checkpoints. What this means is that while Yola, the capital of Adamawa, looks peaceful and quiet, there may still be pockets of violence occasionally instigated by the satanic Boko Haram terrorists in some other parts of the state. On the whole, when you look around in Yola, you find a state in dire need of attention and development. The Boko Haram escapades which have been on for many years now, may have further pauperised the state, nay, the entire northeast geo-political zone of the country. From the looks on the faces of the people, they seem to have had enough from the insecurity that has pervaded the zone and they are now looking forward to better days. In that case, an enabling environment must be created for businesses to thrive and blossom.

    To rebuild the North-east and the northern parts of the country in general, the 19 northern state governors and other stakeholders, should, as a matter of urgency, hold an economic summit to fashion out the ways and manner in which their dying economy can be quickly rejuvenated. Besides, the troubled North-east and perhaps, other parts of the country need to look at the issue of community policing and intelligence gathering to be able to fight the current scourge of terrorism and criminality now rampaging everywhere. It is not enough to give the military a marching order to flush out Boko Haram by next month. Even if the military is able to achieve this tall order, how do you curtail the excesses of the renegades who will still be prowling everywhere visiting innocent citizens with death and destruction? That is why we must all be on guard!

     

  • The Economist’s faux pas

    The Economist’s faux pas

    Journalism is an interesting and exciting profession. Perhaps, it is in keeping with the exciting aspect that The Economist, a weekly newsmagazine published in London since 1843, recently focused its binoculars on the city of Lagos. I do not have anything against the choice of Lagos as the focus of the magazine because doing this was in tandem with the magazine’s philosophy that “it is not a chronicle of economics. Rather, it aims to take part in a severe contest between intelligence, which presses forward, and unworthy, timid ignorance obstructing our progress”.

    Writing under the caption Paralysed, the magazine attempted to explain “why Nigeria’s largest city is even less navigable than usual”. The magazine described the ubiquitous traffic snarl on the streets of Lagos and pronounced the city as the most notoriously congested place in the world. That is not news. Yet, it did not stop there. It went ahead to say that the lengthy, snail traffic had raised safety concerns as hoodlums are cashing in on the ugly situation to rob people who are held in traffic. Still, no news. It then laid the blame on “a new and less competent state government”. That is news!

    To further drive home its point, the magazine drew a comparison between Babatunde Fashola, the former governor of the state and Akinwumi Ambode, the incumbent governor. It lauded Fashola, now a Minister of the Federal Republic, for improving traffic and security during his tenure as governor as well as curbing the excesses of okada riders, and taming street urchins otherwise known as area boys. In what amounted to self-contradiction, it also pointed out that “cars were terrified into order by a state traffic agency, LASTMA, whose bribe-hungry officers flagged down offending drivers”.

    Not done yet. The magazine said that the situation of things, under Ambode is different because Ambode is “full of excuses, but few solutions, for the worsening gridlock”. Now, the final coup de grace: “Yet the root of the problem is in policy: Mr Ambode cut the powers of traffic controllers by banning them from impounding cars. In retaliation, officers have refused to enforce the rules”. So, who is actually responsible for the gridlock: Ambode or the recalcitrant traffic managers? Again, which one is better, to let loose bribe-hungry traffic officers to harass motorists or ban them from impounding vehicles?.

    There is this belief that the streets of Lagos are paved with gold hence the daily rush or migration to Lagos from all parts of the country including the West African sub-region. Unfortunately, when these people get to Lagos and discover that the streets are not strewn with naira notes, they easily resort to all manners of pranks, including stealing and robbery. This may be partially responsible for the prevalence of all crimes of imaginable proportion in the state.

    However, ssuccessive administrations in the state -military or civilian- have not been unaware of this, especially the security implication of the influx of people. To bring it under control, a number of measures had been put in place in the past. The security bar was raised under the current democratic dispensation. This witnessed the birth of a Security Trust Fund to address the issue of insecurity in the state. Lagos has the heaviest investment on security amongst the states in Nigeria. In fact, it is the first state to set up a security trust fund, a sort of government-public partnership which has become a model in the country. Truly, Fashola did not toy with it; and Ambode is not about to toy with it either.

    In fact, in anticipation of an increase in crime rate during the forthcoming yuletide, the state government recently purchased more than 100 patrol vans to be distributed to security agencies in the state to strengthen their operational capacity. The governor is also tackling the issue of unemployment. Towards this end, the governor recently forwarded a bill to the state House of Assembly for the establishment of a N25 billion Employment Trust Fund, ETF. The fund will be used for job creation and employment opportunities through the state’s newly created Ministry of Wealth Creation and Employment.

    Of course, the governor knows the enormity of task his office has placed on his broad shoulders. Immediately he was sworn in on May 29, the Governor swung into action by outlining his governance blueprint and meeting with relevant public service stakeholders. He commenced by engaging the Permanent Secretaries and Chief Executives of MDAs on Saturday, May 30. That same day, he relocated to Lagos State House, Alausa, Ikeja, the official seat of government from Marina, Lagos, which his predecessor had used. This act was carried out in order to ease and reduce the cost of governance.

    The meetings with the public service, corporate organisations as well as NGOs continued for about one-and-a-half weeks to enable him have a good grasp of issues and reel out his own governance strategies. On June 3, he held a crucial meeting with top officials of LASTMA, Vehicle Inspection Officers, VIOs, as well as officers of the Kick Against Indiscipline, KAI. He donated over 300 patrol vehicles to all the traffic control and management agencies and admonished them to be civil in their operations. He categorically declined a request for the acquisition of more parks for impounded vehicles. Reason? He did not want to add to the economic problems of Lagosians as a better approach needed to be deployed.

    Therefore, the recent traffic gridlocks experienced in the state and attested to by The Economist was actually an indication of sabotage on the part of these traffic officers. Several of them have faced and are still undergoing disciplinary actions as a result of various acts of corruption and gross misconduct traced to them. Besides, there are other actions which the governor has taken in order to make governance in Lagos more meaningful to the citizens. These include: Reorganisation, restructuring, reordering and realignment of MDAs in order to have more efficient, effective and robust service delivery organisations. This not only reduces cost of governance, but also ensures deliverables to the citizenry.  The governor is also institutionalising grassroots governance by setting up a Local Government Reforms Committee.

    In addition, bidding has just been completed for 144 roads, two in each of the 20 local government councils and LCDAs. This is in line with the governor’s policy of aggressive road construction in all strata of the state without focusing only on elite areas. The state’s Public Works Bureau has also been energised and reorganised to be up to this task while continuity of several uncompleted and ongoing projects by his predecessors is also given concerted attention. This is in addition to the engagement of the different security organisations in dialogue in order to tackle the hydra-headed security challenges facing the state. Many other innovative measures have also been undertaken with the aim of reducing cost of governance while ensuring efficient public service delivery in line with international best practices.

    Now, with all these, it is quite easy to see the faux pas in The Economist’s story. While the magazine prides itself as a publication to be reckoned with, its recent story on Lagos was more or less a calculated attempt to deliberately malign Ambode. Only a visitor from the moon will be sucked in by the jaundiced report as the story bore all the imprimatur of a hatchet job. It is a remarkable departure from the magazine’s philosophy of taking active part “in a severe” contest involving intelligence by delving into “unworthy, timid ignorance obstructing our progress”. It negates the magazine’s claim that “it targets highly educated readers and circulates among an audience of many influential executives and policy-makers”. Above all, in this “new age of Mass Intelligence”, the magazine has regretfully displayed an “unworthy, timid ignorance” designed to obstruct the progress of Lagos state. Too bad!