The Nation Newspaper

Category: Dele Agekameh

  • This fragile democracy

    Much has been said about the year 2015 in Nigeria. The consensus of opinion is that the year may be a turning point in the history of the most populous Black Country in the world. In other words, bookmakers have predicted that the year will either make or break the country. What is paramount at this point is how to hold the country together well after the February general elections. First and foremost, we must know that there must be a country for any meaningful political activities to take place.

    Sometimes, I am amused by the way some people carry on as if come rain, come shine, the country called Nigeria, must survive. I am sure that people, who think this way, are only basking in the euphoria of the past when Nigeria remained intact as a country in spite of several odds that have threatened its corporate existence. For instance, shortly after the country’s independence on October 1, 1960, there were several challenges which were principally ethnicity-induced. The first was the January 15, 1966 coup which was largely a form of ethnic cleansing in which a particular part of the country suffered heavy human casualties with the loss of some of its prominent indigenes. This was followed by another major pogrom in which a whole tribe came under massacre. The massacre was so overwhelmingly carried out that it plunged the country into a 30-month civil war that created gargantuan material and human carnage.

    Even though peace seems to have been restored much later, the war succeeded in sowing the seed of ethnic suspicion and political imbalance in the country. Since then, the major ethnic groups have consistently engaged themselves in a war of attrition for political control of the country. It is as if the country has been ceded to the politicians, be they those in uniform or their civilian compatriots. The return to democratic rule in 1999, after several years of military interregnum, was a welcome relief to all, both in the country and beyond. At least, it afforded the people the opportunity to choose and change their leaders according to international best practices. But what the whole world did not take cognizance of was the black man’s factor in the whole process called democracy.

    Mind you, democracy is one and only one thing all over the globe. Dictionary.com defines democracy as “a system of government in which power is vested in the people, who rule either directly or through freely elected representatives.” Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, went further. It describes democracy as “a system involving distribution of political power in the hands of the public which forms the electorate.” According to it: “Democracy is a form of government based on four elements: The citizens choose and replace the government through free and fair elections; there is active participation of the citizens in politics and civic life; there is protection of the human rights of all citizens; and there is rule of law, in which the laws and procedures apply equally to all citizens.”

    From the above, it is clear that even though we pride ourselves as practising democracy in Nigeria, our true situation is that of democracy without democrats. The reasons are simple. Let us analyse the four component parts of a truly democratic culture. The first is that the citizens should be able to choose and replace the government through free and fair elections. In all honesty, what takes place periodically in Nigeria (every four years) is contrary to this first rule. The citizens are not able to choose or replace the government through free and fair elections. In most cases, it is either the electorate are coaxed or intimidated to vote for a particular candidate or their votes don’t count at all. In this case, the electorate can do the voting only for the criminal politicians to sit in the comfort of their homes or somewhere in the jungle and tinker or rewrite the results thereby foisting the wrong candidates or representatives on the people. It is for this reason that politicians nowadays have adopted ‘one man, one vote’ or ‘your votes will count’ as part of their campaign mantra. They mouth this even when they are neck deep in the manipulation of votes.

    The second element is that “there is active participation of the citizens in politics and civic life.” In Nigeria, the citizens are not in any way active participants in politics. Those who dare at all are those who venture out to make some gains. In most cases, people serve as foot-soldiers to some money bags who invest fortunes in politics with the hope of reaping abundantly from it. These are the people who actually corrupt and bastardise the system for pecuniary gains. They have formed a formidable cult-like persona in the business of politics and they will do anything, including killing and maiming their fellow men, to protect their satanic interests. They determine who does what and who goes to which office, as far as their interest is unshakeable.

    Now, let’s talk about the protection of the human rights of all citizens, which is the third in the elements of true democracy. We are all witnesses to issues bothering on flagrant human rights abuses pervading all over the country. It is like there are different applications of human rights for different categories of citizens. Depending on whom you are and who you know, it is possible to commit heinous crimes and go scot free, while the other man, who is a nobody and who knows no one up there, is thrown into jail or sent to the gallows for any little infringement on the law. Different strokes for different folks, you may want to call it. Also, the rampant impunity in government and in the society as a whole is a direct assault on the human rights of the citizens.

    Therefore, it is these acts of impunity that impugn the rule of law, in which the laws and procedures are unequally applied to the citizens. Whereas, a vital element of democracy says there must be rule of law, in which the laws and procedures apply equally to all citizens, it is this disparity in the application of the law that usually give rise to civil disobedience, anarchy and tremor in the polity. It is the lack of, or non-existence of the rule of law that must have contributed significantly to the outbreak of terrorism in some parts of the country. Remember that Mohammed Yusuf, the late leader of the Boko Haram group, was allegedly extra-judicially executed by some over-zealous security agents in 2009 and since then, peace has taken flight from the north-east part of the country in particular and the entire country in general. Till date, conservative estimate of the human carnage of the violence and terrorism that is holding sway in that part of the country with occasional and intermittent incursion into other parts of the country is put at more than 35,000, excluding material ruins.

    With all the cheerless news all over the place, can we really say that Nigeria is under a democratic rule? Not quite. The closest thing we have is civilian dictatorship. If you look around and listen to our politicians canvassing their positions on the soapbox these days, you will wonder whether Nigeria is preparing for elections or war. Already, missiles are flying at campaign grounds and bombs are being detonated. Perhaps, very soon, the guns may be booming as well. The fact is that politicians and Nigerians have not learnt any lesson from past mistakes and that is why we are carrying on as if God will continue to look the other way, while we systematically destroy ourselves, destroy our country, destroy our children and destroy our future. If Nigeria must survive, our politicians need to do a re-think, eschew bitterness and acrimony in our body politics. It will be foolhardy to think that we can always get to the brink and miraculously survive each time we get there. We should not overstretch the elasticity of our luck anymore!

  • Election as Nigeria’s Ebola

    Since its outbreak in West Africa in March 2014, the Ebola disease has spread rapidly in the three most affected countries – Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. Today, with the total number of reported cases so far put at more than 21,373, the epidemic, the deadliest occurrence since its discovery in 1976, has gripped the entire world with fear and trepidation. By last Saturday, January 17, the World Health Organisation, WHO, reported that no fewer than 8,483 people had died from the disease in six countries – Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, the United States of America and Mali. In fact, the virus has killed more of its victims than all other previous outbreaks of the disease since 1976 combined.

    But if the capacity of Ebola to wreak havoc was underestimated or its casualty figure underreported, it cannot be so for the forthcoming general elections in Nigeria. This is because elections in Nigeria are worse than Ebola spread. If past antecedents are anything to go by, the general election in Nigeria, scheduled to commence on February 14, is capable of causing tremor and acrimony in the polity, especially if the people are dissatisfied with the results. In other words, going by the pronouncements of some of the dramatis personae, if the elections are not free, fair, transparent and credible, there is the likelihood that those who might feel shortchanged will resort to self-help in the form of violence and brigandage to protest the outcome as it happened in 2011.

    The outbreak of deadly election-related violence in the northern part of Nigeria following the April 2011 presidential election left more than 800 people dead in three days of rioting. The incumbent president, Goodluck Jonathan, the candidate of the ruling People’s Democratic Party, PDP, was elected in that election. The violence began with widespread protests by supporters of the main opposition candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari, who contested the election on the platform of the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC. Buhari, a staunch Muslim and Nigeria’s former Military Head of State, is from the northern part of the country, while Jonathan is a Christian from the Niger Delta in the south of the country.

    There has been no love lost between the largely Muslim north and the predominantly Christian south over whose turn it is to govern the country as a result of the sudden death in office of former President Umaru Yar’Adua. Yar’Adua, a Muslim from the core north, succeeded former President Olusegun Obasanjo, a Christian from the south, as president on May 29, 2007. Shortly after being sworn in as president, Yar’Adua began a titanic battle to save his life from an acute kidney disease from which he had previously been in and out of hospital while he was governor of his home state, Katsina. The battle to succeed him started in earnest while he was on his hospital bed in far away Saudi Arabia, as some of the hawks at the Presidential Villa, refused to allow the constitutional requirement which empowers his deputy, Jonathan, to assume office as acting President under the circumstances, to prevail.

    For a long time, the country drifted precariously towards a constitutional crisis until the National Assembly invoked the “Doctrine of Necessity” on February 9, 2010. This formally empowered the Vice President to exercise full powers as acting President, as provided for under Section 145 of the country’s constitution. From then on, the Muslim north refused to be pacified. Not even the death of Yar’Adua on May 5, 2010 and the formal inauguration of Jonathan as Nigeria’s 14th President to succeed him could change things. The discord was whether another northerner should have succeeded Yar’Adua to complete his term as President or not. It was still simmering when the April 2011 presidential election was held. Theimplacable north quickly lined up behind Buhari and his CPC. As election results trickled in and it became clear that Buhari had lost, his supporters took to the streets of northern towns and cities to protest what they alleged to be the rigging of the results. The protests quickly snowballed into a violent conflagration and massive sectarian killings in some northern states.

    Though the April 2011 elections were among the fairest in Nigeria’s political history, perhaps, coming behind only the annulled 1993 presidential election, but they have also been among the bloodiest so far. On May 11, 2011, President Jonathan appointed a 22-member panel to investigate the causes and extent of the election violence with a view to bringing to justice, those who orchestrated these horrific crimes and addressing the root causes of the violence. As usual, the panel’s report was tossed aside and allowed to gather dust while the nation carried on as if nothing had happened.  It is therefore, not surprising to note that the 2011 presidential election succeeded in dividing the country along ethnic and religious lines.

    With the 2015 elections less than four weeks away, there is no doubt that the nation has again been caught in the throes of another election fever as tell-tale signs everywhere across the nation’s landscape indicate. Reports have it that quite a number of Nigerians of southern descent are daily relocating either back to their home-bases in the south or out rightly out of the country for fear of possible eruption of violence during or after the forthcoming elections. Many politicians, chief executive officers, chairmen of companies, top businessmen and other wealthy Nigerians are also said to have started moving their families out of the county. As it is customary to him, one of my friends whose family is domiciled in the United States of America, left the country in the second week of December, 2014 to celebrate the Christmas and New Year festivities with his family. Usually, he returns to Nigeria early in the New Year, but this year, he told me, he would not be coming back until late in February. And, according to him: “That depends on what happens in February.” It is obvious from this last statement that my friend and many others like him have decided to keep a safe distance from the shores of the country in anticipation of the crisis that might come up in the aftermath of the February elections.

    The simple truth is that Nigerians are skeptical, so also is the whole world, watching with bated breath and concealed anxiety over what the elections might portend for the country. This is understandable. The two front runners in the election – Jonathan and Buhari – were the same gladiators who engaged each other in the 2011 elections. Now, the stakes are even higher. Jonathan will not want to capitulate easily and be disgraced out of office; Buhari too, will not want to kiss the dust for the fourth time. So, both of them will fight with their last breath. Their supporters are also caught in this frenzied trajectory. Here is the big problem. Who blinks first?

    The talk about signing agreement of a violence-free election is mere semantics as it does not exist more than on the piece of paper on which it was signed. This is because it is not the political leaders who control this violence; it is their foot-soldiers whose livelihood may depend on the gravity of trouble they are able to ignite. In other words, some people live by violence. The political gladiators know them; the security agents know them; those involved too, know themselves; we all know them. But by all means, we must stave off the looming Armageddon. We can only achieve this if our politicians will refrain from manipulating the election results. Electoral justice is the first condition for credible election. Therefore, our politicians should learn not just to preach peace but to do justice. They should play by the rules and not rob the electorate of their decisions. If the coming election is mismanaged, the casualty figure arising from that may far exceed that of the Ebola virus. Prevention, it is said, is better than cure!

  • Bedlam in Paris

    It was like a replay of a horror movie at noon last Wednesday, January 7, as two brothers, armed with guns, burst into the offices of Charlie Hebdo, the satirical magazine, located in the heart of Paris, the French capital. What followed was a staccato of gunshots. The two men started shooting from the reception area before moving to the newsroom, where they killed journalists and cartoonists, a policeman and a visitor, and later executed another officer who tried to stop them.  By the time the smoke from the booming guns finally died down, a total of 12 people were stone dead.The corpses of the casualties were strewn everywhere, from the lobby to the blood-soaked stairs and the second floor of the building where the bodies lay on one another. It was acommando-style attack, the sort that creates heavy carnage. It bore the signature of a terror strike.

    The world was enraged, with many world leaders spitting fire and brimstone from their various comfort zones in condemnation of the dastardly act. Naturally, nowhere was the outpouring of emotion and solidarity more pronounced than in France where the citizens in their tens of thousands gathered spontaneously across the country for poignant vigils in the aftermath of the attack. At noon, a day after the attack, the country literarily came to a standstill as a minute’s silence was observed all over the country in memory of those who lost their lives in the senseless attack. Later in the evening of that day, several thousand people gathered again at the Place de la Republique in Paris, a traditional protest site, shouting, “He isn’t dead, Charlie” or “Hip hip hurrah, we are Charlie.” Also on Sunday, an unprecedented crowd attended the unity rally in Paris to denounce terrorism.

    Today, Charlie Hebdo and France are mourning the callous murder of a total of 17 people, comprising 10 journalists, two police officers and five others.The fatal attack is an extreme example of the brutal, often violent reality for news hunters worldwide. In Syria, Yemen, Mexico, Iraq, Pakistan and many other volatile countries, the shock and fear that has stunned France is all too familiar. The International Press Institute, IPI, has always included in its annual report titled “Death Watch”, a list of  journalists and media staff who are deliberately targeted because of their profession – either on account of their reporting or simply because they are journalists. Since 2011, at least, 158 reporters and photographers have been killed while doing their jobs making it the worst three-year period on record. With this growing statistics, it appears there is a global battle against freedom of expression as journalists are unquestionably under increasing threat these days.

    What happened in Paris is a clarion call on newspapers and magazines across the globe to brace up for anticipated attacks in the foreseeable future as  terrorists are not about to let down their guard at all.  Instead, they are practically mushrooming everywhere and getting more vicious. There will, sadly and with outmost certainty, be more attacks across the globe as the year unfolds. When journalists are murdered, it is our entire society that should feel the wound. It remains to be seen, if, perhaps, this latest attack could be the one that finally jolts everyone to the stark reality that an attack on a journalist is an attack on us all.

    After the beheadings all over the place and a terribly violent year in 2014, what the latest attack portends is that, journalistic entities that challenge power structures in their societies are constantly being attacked. The Paris shootings conform to that form of attack, except that, in this case, it happened in Paris, a place that was hitherto considered very safe in view of its vibrant and robust intelligence network. That alone makes it more shocking and much unexpected. Well, if the intention of the terrorists was to intimidate, it may have largely succeeded, except that the attack is nonetheless incapable of dampening the enthusiasm and resolve of journalists across the globe to sanitise the world, a world where journalists face threats from religious fanatics, organised crime and overzealous security agents. Presently in Italy, about six journalists live under police protection because of threats from groups like the Mafia. Lirio Abbate, a reporter with l’Espresso magazine, is one of them. Abbate goes around in an armoured car and is protected 24 hours a day by five police officers. The Paris attack has enabled the whole world to really appreciatethe risk in the job of reporters. In the past, such devilish attack was a common sight only in Italy. Today, it has defied all borders.

    Charlie Hebdo is one of the few publications carrying on a tradition of satirising religion and rulers in cartoons dating back to the French Revolution in the closing years of the 1700s. Famed for its irreverent style, the magazine, which was attacked by extremists claiming a mission to “avenge” cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad, is unique in France for its broad thematic sweep. The magazine is not only devoted to political satire but it is also a social critique, from ecology to economy and finance. At Charlie Hebdo, you can say and draw anything. There are no forms of taboos.  The latest attack on the newspaper, strikes at the fabric of democracy, and aspiring democratic societies, the world over. This is because an attack on such a newspaper that is so bold, unwavering in its acerbic political satire and penetrating social commentary, is only intended as an attack on the values free societies uphold.

    The fact that this attack occurred in a country that is nonetheless committed to believing in difference and diversity, while struggling with its multicultural identity – liberté, egalité, fraternité – is a tragic blow for those committed to these values. What is exceptional in this instance is that the climate of hatred that fuels attacks on journalists worldwide, has reached the heart of European newsrooms. As we grieve, and as the reasons unfold and the story develops, I hope it will register deeply in the hearts and minds of everybody just how precarious our freedoms as human beings and as information practitioners have become. That anyone, anywhere, should be killed for exercising the right to freedom of expression is a travesty. Whether it happened in France, Iraq, Syria or Yemen, there is no exception. Only in solidarity can we hope to withstand assaults like this. But the reality – based on the lack of reaction to previous, countless, tragic slayings of journalists everywhere, over the years – is that until it happens in our own backyard, it often goes unrecognised as posing any threat at all.

    For those of us in Nigeria, in the face of this recent tragedy, we must reject the fear it was calculated to spread. We have a duty to those who died: to soldier on. They lived in the name of freedom, and died its truest defenders. Though democracy is hurt in their heart, we must not yield to provocation, intimidation and other forces that are everwilling to express themselves in this crude, cruel and abominable way.

    However, for every development, there are always the bad and the good sides. Agreed that the terrorists’ attack in Paris was bad, but something good came out of it. This is the fact that even political foes within and outside the country, who would normally have met through gritted teeth, set their differences aside and became united in grief. The attack provided a platform for everybody to brush aside their differences and come together as one. This spirit of oneness and unity demonstrated by warring political leaders in France and beyond, is worthy of emulation by our various political leaders in Africa, especially in Nigeria, a country that is plagued by deep seated political, tribal and religious animosities, chronic discontent and disunity even as the country battles a band of terrorists currently holding it by the jugular.

  • Christmas in electioneering season

    The 2015 elections are here. About a fortnight ago, the political parties concluded their primaries for the election or ‘selection’ of candidates to run for different political offices. While some of the primaries were held on a level-playing field, others came under an atmosphere full of rancour and acrimony. The result is that while majority of the candidates have accepted their fate, many others are currently up in arms in protest against the outcome of the primaries. A few of the candidates have taken solace in the courts which they approached as the final arbiter. Many others and their supporters have resorted to massive protest marches to lodge complaints with their party hierarchy.

    All these are taking place amidst the prevailing season when Christians around the world are celebrating Christmas, which marks the birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem. I am quite sure that politicians will naturally take advantage of this Christmas season to carry their messages to the people especially with the intent of influencing voters. So, this year’s Christmas celebration in Nigeria might just be a double barrel affair. As the Christians will be doing their own thing, so also will the politicians too be ubiquitous all over the place, wooing and cajoling voters, as the case may be, with mouth-watering offers including food, money and other exquisite and irresistible offers now popularly referred to as “stomach infrastructure”.

    We all know that a lot of excitement is packed into Christmas festivities. From the homes to street corners, there must be something to remind you that Christmas is here again. If you happen not to have noticed anything in your neighbourhood, at least, you will notice the traffic snarl everywhere as people shop for their needs. Besides, the fireworks that are exploded now and again around you, in spite of the warnings against its use by the Police, can only occur during the Yuletide.

    Christmas has always presented both a magical and spiritual season. It is magical with all of its window dressings of toys, decorations, lights, parties, food and music. It is spiritual because it is a time for reflection. Looking up at the starry, cold night sky, one feels a communion with God, his creator, in a reflection upon his wonderful gift at Christmas, when Jesus Christ was born more than 2,000 years ago. But honestly, many people also believe that Christmas is a time of some illusions and fantasy. For instance, you open a Christmas card and written therein is the phrase: “Peace on Earth, and Goodwill to All Men.” As a matter of fact, when you think about a world that is now seriously hemorrhaging with killings and maiming everywhere, these are almost empty words.

    Tune to any of the major television stations across the globe, you will be suffused with the horrible, heart rending, chilling and  gory spectre of  how many people die daily from car bombings, teenage suicide bombings, drone killings, beheadings, murders, air strikes and martial offensives. In those days, some of these heinous crimes were confined to some distant places until more than five years ago when the theatre of the absurd arrived at our shores in Nigeria, no thanks to the satanic Boko Haram hoodlums now on the rampage in the northern parts of the country.

    We cannot forget in a hurry, a series of bomb blasts and shootings that occurred during Christmas Day church services in Madalla, Jos, Gadaka, and Damaturu, all in northern Nigeria on December 25, 2011, which claimed the lives of no fewer than 41 people. Also as it happened quite recently, there is nothing more Australian than dropping in at the local cafe for a morning coffee, and it is tragic beyond words that people going about their everyday business should be caught up in a horrific incident in such a place as a cafe. That describes what happened barely a week ago, when a gunman, Man Haron Monis, who allegedly embraced radical Sunni theology, hurriedly dispatched two innocent Australians to their early graves after he held some people hostage in a local café in Sydney. This was closely followed last Tuesday by the horror which shocked the world to its foundation when 145 people, mostly children, were killed by Taliban gunmen at an Army Public School and Degree College in Peshawar, Pakistan. With these scenarios, the question is: Will there ever be real peace on earth?

    Economic disparity in the nation and in the world – in far too many places exacerbated by political and terrorists activities – now pose a major threat not only to the health of men, women, children and infants, but the lives of whole populations, the plight of many of them, unfortunately, more easily ignored or more readily accepted than others. The world will continue to anguish over such conditions without anyone, any nation, willing to make suggestions on how to achieve global peace. Though, it is heart-warming to note the approach or thinking about a new rapprochement or détente between the United States of America and Cuba, sworn-enemies of more than 50 years, yet it is difficult to believe that peace could be achieved so easily with just a voice affirmation. Genuine peace will only come when those profiting, as it were, from all these confusion and crises all over the place, have a change of heart. We live in a world that is constantly evolving. We are constantly evolving.

    Now back to the festivity. Christmas in Nigeria, as with the rest of the world, is a family event, a time when family members come together to celebrate as one and have fun. That is why most families that live in cities all year round, take the pain and discomfort to travel to their villages where their grandparents and older relatives live to celebrate with them. Many families will throw Christmas parties that will last all night long on Christmas Eve. Then in the morning of Christmas Day, they will go to church to give thanks to God for sparing their lives in the past year and still seek for God’s guidance and protection for the coming year. While this is done, homes and streets are adorned with beautiful flowers to herald the season of love. Most homes wear new looks complete with artificial Christmas trees and lightings.

    In the light of this season and mounting security challenges in some parts of Nigeria, it is expedient for everybody to be vigilant. With increasing terrorist activities in the country, the Police should take all necessary precautions to ensure adequate security for travellers, worshippers, picnickers and all citizens across the country before, during, and after the season. This can only be achieved if all key and vulnerable points, including places of worship, recreation centres, motor parks, highways, and all places of public resort are adequately and effectively protected by officers and men of the Police Force and other security agencies, who will be out on duty during this period.

    As we celebrate tomorrow, we should inevitably think of our families and loved ones. There is also the need to reflect on the misery confronting the growing numbers of Nigerians who have suddenly become refugees in neighbouring countries as well as those now classified as Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, within the country as a result of genocidal attacks in some parts of the country by terrorists. To this set of people, Christmas is as meaningless as their future is bleak at this point.

    So, if you are asking me what this time of the year really means, I’d say it’s about community. It’s a time to appreciate those around us, not just our family. We need to appreciate our friends, our neighbours, our colleagues at work, our staff, the ordinary man in the street, our country and indeed, everyone. Sentiments may vary, but one thing that won’t change is the sense of humanity and community. And whether we celebrate through prayerful worship or feasting and drinking, the most important thing is that we are doing it together. Here is wishing you all a Merry Christmas!

  • Reflecting on 2014

    Reflecting on 2014

    The year 2014 comes to an end in a few hours. Like previous years, the outgoing year has been dominated by a potpourri of good, bad and ugly issues in all facets of our individual and national lives. One particularly sad thing is that the year recorded a high number of avoidable deaths, especially those that were inflicted on helpless Nigerians through bombings and wholesale massacre masterminded by the senseless Boko Haram terrorists now on the rampage in the Northeast geo-political zone of the country. From a band of misguided youths roaming about and hunting for people to kill about five years ago, the Boko Haram terrorists have grown in strength and sophistication to a major terrorist organisation that now dominates front page headlines of newspapers within and outside the country.

    This year, the terrorists added a worrisome dimension to their dastardly operations by using teenage girls as suicide bombers. This is happening at a time the whole world is agonizing over the fate of more than 200 innocent school girls who were abducted by the terrorists from their school compound in Chibok community, Borno State, on the night of April 14. The fear is that the terrorists may have converted the captured Chibok girls to suicide bombers. In fact, rather than release the girls, the terrorists have continued to embark on fresh kidnappings of vulnerable women and children whom they take along to their enclaves as spoils of war after each assault on isolated communities. And like a festering sore, the activities of the insurgents have continued unabated.

    Earlier in the year, the nation was gripped by the unfortunate incident that has since been christened ‘Immigration Recruitment Scandal’. The term is used to describe the harvest of death recorded in March this year, when thousands of unemployed Nigerians, who had converged at different venues across the country to be interviewed for some job vacancies in the Nigeria Immigration Service, met their untimely death. The unfortunate Nigerians had been mandated to pay N1,000 each as application fee before they could be considered for employment. Thousands of them paid the fee and later converged at the venues of the exercise, mostly stadia. But in the melee that ensued due to poor organization, no fewer than 15 applicants, including some pregnant women, were trampled to death. However, what remains a big puzzle till date is that this incident has gone without anyone taking responsibility and no one has been sanctioned either for the avoidable deaths.

    The year also witnessed a protracted upheaval in both the health and education sectors. The issue of doctors’ strike, which has become a perennial problem in the country, reared its ugly head. Preceded by a warning strike in January, the actual strike by the doctors finally commenced on July 1 and was only suspended after 55 days of sorrow and agony by Nigerians who could not access healthcare while the industrial action lasted. The action was finally called off on August 25 after the medical doctors extracted some commitments from the government.

    While the doctors’ strike was on, a certain Patrick Sawyer, a Liberian-American  diplomat sneaked into the country carrying along with him the deadly Ebola Virus Disease which is currently ravaging the three West African countries of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, where no fewer than 7000 people are believed to have been so far despatched to their early graves. With the ‘importation’ of the deadly virus disease to Nigeria by Sawyer, Nigerians’ penchant for handshake almost became a taboo during this period. The disease claimed a few lives in both Lagos and Port Harcourt, even as the governments of Lagos and Rivers states, as well as the Federal Government, took concerted efforts to contain the spread. Relief finally came in October when the World Health Organisation declared the country free of the deadly virus after 60 days’ observation without any fresh case of infection.

    In the trouble-prone education sector, polytechnic students remained at home for about 11 months due to a nationwide strike embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, ASUP. The union embarked on the strike over, among other issues, the non-release of the white paper on issues in the polytechnic sector since 2012. This caused the students the loss of a whole session when students admitted into the first year of the National Diploma and the Higher National Diploma programmes respectively, for the 2013/2014 academic session, were unable to resume. The issue was finally resolved and normal academic calendar resumed in the polytechnics.

    As almost always, the year also witnessed a lot of political activities, two of the more remarkable ones being the governorship elections that took place in Ekiti and Osun states. The polls in the two states had several similarities in terms of the political parties and the dramatis personae involved. Long before the elections, political permutations had predicted that the elections in the two states could be marred by violence. In anticipation of this, soldiers were deployed for the elections. Fortunately, both events did not record any major incidence of violence.

    Furthermore, primary elections were recently held by the political parties at the state and national levels in preparation for the 2015 general elections. The elections saw many political Goliaths kissing the canvass and losing to political Lilliputians in their territories. In many instances, the primaries demystified the incumbency power of governors as many of them did not succeed in either imposing their surrogates to succeed them in office or set up their loyalists for other political positions. In all, the primaries paved the way for the emergence of new political gladiators. Of particular significance is the fact that no fewer than 50 of the sitting senators will not be returning to the chambers because they failed to pick their parties’ tickets. While many of them are crying blue murder, others seem to have resigned to fate as they lick their wounds in utter disbelief and amazement.

    The outgoing year also recorded unprecedented jailbreaks as series of attacks were launched on prisons by some faceless bandits in various parts of the country. The Kirikiri Medium Security Prison in Lagos, the Koton Karfe Prison in Kogi State, the Federal Prisons, Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State and the Medium Security Prison in Minna, Niger State, were all turned into theatres of war. The attacks on detention facilities in the country have become worrisome in recent times as it has nearly turned into a routine. The problem could have been exacerbated by some criminal gangs particularly Boko Haram terrorists who may have capitalised on the trend to free their members from detention. Accusing fingers are also being pointed at the activities of fifth columnists within the prisons system itself because some of the attacks bore the full imprimatur of insiders’ connivance. These recurring incidents of jailbreak could escalate the already terrible security problem currently confronting the country as rapists, murderers, kidnappers, drug addicts and other dangerous criminals may have been let loose to roam freely thereby wreaking havoc on the society.

    Perhaps, 2014 is closing with economic doom for those who rely so much on oil as the fall in the price of crude oil in the international market, is sending economic and political shock waves across the globe. Worse off are countries whose economies depend largely on oil for appreciable percentage of their foreign exchange earnings. In that bracket is Nigeria where crude oil accounts for about 95 of foreign exchange earnings. What this means is that in the New Year, 2015, the country would be tormented by the negative impact of the fall in global oil prices even harder. Already, the Federal Government is jittery. Now, Nigerians are again being inundated with the old, usual song – “tighten your belt”. This is suicidal because Nigerians have been tightening their belts since 1976, 38 years ago, without any respite in sight. The irony of this austerity regime is that while the poor man is often requested to tighten his belt, the rich are not wearing any at all, as their waists have doubled and even tripled in size over the years. May God help us, help Nigeria!

  • Christmas in electioneering season

    Christmas in electioneering season

    The 2015 elections are here. About a fortnight ago, the political parties concluded their primaries for the election or ‘selection’ of candidates to run for different political offices. While some of the primaries were held on a level-playing field, others came under an atmosphere full of rancour and acrimony. The result is that while majority of the candidates have accepted their fate, many others are currently up in arms in protest against the outcome of the primaries. A few of the candidates have taken solace in the courts which they approached as the final arbiter. Many others and their supporters have resorted to massive protest marches to lodge complaints with their party hierarchy.

    All these are taking place amidst the prevailing season when Christians around the world are celebrating Christmas, which marks the birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem. I am quite sure that politicians will naturally take advantage of this Christmas season to carry their messages to the people especially with the intent of influencing voters. So, this year’s Christmas celebration in Nigeria might just be a double barrel affair. As the Christians will be doing their own thing, so also will the politicians too be ubiquitous all over the place, wooing and cajoling voters, as the case may be, with mouth-watering offers including food, money and other exquisite and irresistible offers now popularly referred to as “stomach infrastructure”.

    We all know that a lot of excitement is packed into Christmas festivities. From the homes to street corners, there must be something to remind you that Christmas is here again. If you happen not to have noticed anything in your neighbourhood, at least, you will notice the traffic snarl everywhere as people shop for their needs. Besides, the fireworks that are exploded now and again around you, in spite of the warnings against its use by the Police, can only occur during the Yuletide.

    Christmas has always presented both a magical and spiritual season. It is magical with all of its window dressings of toys, decorations, lights, parties, food and music. It is spiritual because it is a time for reflection. Looking up at the starry, cold night sky, one feels a communion with God, his creator, in a reflection upon his wonderful gift at Christmas, when Jesus Christ was born more than 2,000 years ago. But honestly, many people also believe that Christmas is a time of some illusions and fantasy. For instance, you open a Christmas card and written therein is the phrase: “Peace on Earth, and Goodwill to All Men.” As a matter of fact, when you think about a world that is now seriously hemorrhaging with killings and maiming everywhere, these are almost empty words.

    Tune to any of the major television stations across the globe, you will be suffused with the horrible, heart rending, chilling and  gory spectre of  how many people die daily from car bombings, teenage suicide bombings, drone killings, beheadings, murders, air strikes and martial offensives. In those days, some of these heinous crimes were confined to some distant places until more than five years ago when the theatre of the absurd arrived at our shores in Nigeria, no thanks to the satanic Boko Haram hoodlums now on the rampage in the northern parts of the country.

    We cannot forget in a hurry, a series of bomb blasts and shootings that occurred during Christmas Day church services in Madalla, Jos, Gadaka, and Damaturu, all in northern Nigeria on December 25, 2011, which claimed the lives of no fewer than 41 people. Also as it happened quite recently, there is nothing more Australian than dropping in at the local cafe for a morning coffee, and it is tragic beyond words that people going about their everyday business should be caught up in a horrific incident in such a place as a cafe. That describes what happened barely a week ago, when a gunman, Man Haron Monis, who allegedly embraced radical Sunni theology, hurriedly dispatched two innocent Australians to their early graves after he held some people hostage in a local café in Sydney. This was closely followed last Tuesday by the horror which shocked the world to its foundation when 145 people, mostly children, were killed by Taliban gunmen at an Army Public School and Degree College in Peshawar, Pakistan. With these scenarios, the question is: Will there ever be real peace on earth?

    Economic disparity in the nation and in the world – in far too many places exacerbated by political and terrorists activities – now pose a major threat not only to the health of men, women, children and infants, but the lives of whole populations, the plight of many of them, unfortunately, more easily ignored or more readily accepted than others. The world will continue to anguish over such conditions without anyone, any nation, willing to make suggestions on how to achieve global peace. Though, it is heart-warming to note the approach or thinking about a new rapprochement or détente between the United States of America and Cuba, sworn-enemies of more than 50 years, yet it is difficult to believe that peace could be achieved so easily with just a voice affirmation. Genuine peace will only come when those profiting, as it were, from all these confusion and crises all over the place, have a change of heart. We live in a world that is constantly evolving. We are constantly evolving.

    Now back to the festivity. Christmas in Nigeria, as with the rest of the world, is a family event, a time when family members come together to celebrate as one and have fun. That is why most families that live in cities all year round, take the pain and discomfort to travel to their villages where their grandparents and older relatives live to celebrate with them. Many families will throw Christmas parties that will last all night long on Christmas Eve. Then in the morning of Christmas Day, they will go to church to give thanks to God for sparing their lives in the past year and still seek for God’s guidance and protection for the coming year. While this is done, homes and streets are adorned with beautiful flowers to herald the season of love. Most homes wear new looks complete with artificial Christmas trees and lightings.

    In the light of this season and mounting security challenges in some parts of Nigeria, it is expedient for everybody to be vigilant. With increasing terrorist activities in the country, the Police should take all necessary precautions to ensure adequate security for travellers, worshippers, picnickers and all citizens across the country before, during, and after the season. This can only be achieved if all key and vulnerable points, including places of worship, recreation centres, motor parks, highways, and all places of public resort are adequately and effectively protected by officers and men of the Police Force and other security agencies, who will be out on duty during this period.

    As we celebrate tomorrow, we should inevitably think of our families and loved ones. There is also the need to reflect on the misery confronting the growing numbers of Nigerians who have suddenly become refugees in neighbouring countries as well as those now classified as Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, within the country as a result of genocidal attacks in some parts of the country by terrorists. To this set of people, Christmas is as meaningless as their future is bleak at this point.

    So, if you are asking me what this time of the year really means, I’d say it’s about community. It’s a time to appreciate those around us, not just our family. We need to appreciate our friends, our neighbours, our colleagues at work, our staff, the ordinary man in the street, our country and indeed, everyone. Sentiments may vary, but one thing that won’t change is the sense of humanity and community. And whether we celebrate through prayerful worship or feasting and drinking, the most important thing is that we are doing it together. Here is wishing you all a Merry Christmas!

  • The Police and the society

    The Police and the society

    In recent times, the activities of the Nigerian Police have generated intense debate. Different opinions ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous have been canvassed on what a model Police Force should look like. Though it is difficult to know exactly where the pendulum of public opinion fully swings, the fact remains that due to the nature of their job, the police are only to be seen rather than being heard. It is in this vein that this column is constrained to look at the issue of the police and the society.

    The public and the police exist as one. They are dependent on one another. The constitutional roles and the workings of the police as an organisation specialised in the overall peace and security interest of the public cannot be over emphasised.  In spite of the often-held misconception by some members of the public who see the police as a compulsive interloper, there is a symbiotic link between the police and the larger society.

    As British Home Secretary between January 26, 1828 and November 22, 1830, Sir Robert Peel, who is globally regarded as the father of the modern professional police force, established the Metropolitan Police Force for London based at Scotland Yard, in 1829. The 1,000 constables who form the nucleus of today’s British Police, were affectionately nicknamed ‘Bobbies’ or, somewhat less affectionately, ‘Peelers’. Although unpopular at first, they proved very successful in cutting crime in London. As a result, by 1857, all cities in the United Kingdom were obliged to follow suit and form their own police forces. Still adored today as the father of modern policing, Peel developed the Peelian Principles which defined the ethical requirements police officers must follow to be effective. He once made a famous quote detailing the inseparability of the police from the larger society: “The police are the public and the public are the police”. A truism that is as natural as the legend of the egg and the chicken.

    The Nigeria Police is a dynamic organisation with a clear constitutional mandate to ensure a safe, secure and orderly society by serving the community in accordance with extant laws of the country. Its responsibilities to the society include: Protection of life and property; preservation of peace, security and stability; preventing the commission of offences and misdemeanours as the focal point of the new approach to effective policing; detecting and apprehending offenders and their accomplices; assisting people in distress; in legal circumstances; providing security; monitoring and protection during elections and other national events, among others.

    In performing these roles, the Nigeria Police and its personnel are expected to exhibit flexibility. This goes with the expectation that the rank and file should be open-minded at all times; be adaptive to changing patterns of policing, psychology and tolerate differing opinions and standpoints. Its personnel must exhibit leadership. That is, the rank and file is expected to be consistent and approachable while being committed to and inspiring the organisational values in others. They must demonstrate integrity, which simply means, they should act with honesty and respect for the right to fair hearing and due process for all while maintaining confidentiality and respect for those they deal with on day-to-day basis.  Furthermore, the officers and men are expected to demonstrate moral strength, courage and behave honourably and impartially, at all times.

    Other expected qualities include the display of professionalism. What this means is that they should not shift responsibility but be accountable to superiors and constituted authority, honestly, openly and consistently, while continually striving for excellence. This, they can achieve, through respect. Therefore, members of the Nigeria Police are expected to realise, embrace and respect the inherent diversity in languages, religions, cultures, lore and mores of Nigerian communities with no iota of bias. They must also have a sense of appreciation. Policemen are also expected to value other opinions whether dissenting or complementary, while appreciating and acknowledging the efforts of others.

    In all of these, what the police need most is support.  Apart from support by the public, officers and men should endeavour to recognise and reward the service and sacrifices of others through promoting professionalism and career development. This support comes in the form of synergy between the police and the community where they operate. This is necessary because the average policeman should always tap from his catchment community in the areas of community policing such as information sourcing and sharing, volunteer services and so on, while maintaining confidentiality of sources.

    Above all, it is pertinent to note that the police cannot exist in isolation because the public justifies the existence of the police in the first instance, just as the public cannot prosper in chaos or the absence of law and order. It is the performance of this onerous duty by the police that sometimes brings them into bad reckoning in the minds of some people who probably do so after perpetrating or getting involved in certain heinous and prima-facie crimes and misdemeanours.

    Generally, the average Nigerian views and interacts with members of the police force with measured suspicion and concealed distrust.  In many instances, many people think the policeman or woman is an extra-terrestrial being with a clear agenda to make life difficult for people.  This mindset is responsible for many Nigerians hoarding useful and essential information from the police, a behaviour that is responsible for non-resolution of many crimes especially murders, assassinations and other killings in the country.  The reluctance of people to volunteer useful information, except, probably, for pecuniary purposes, has become bottle necks in solving an array of knotty criminal cases over the decades.

    It is also of prime concern that the Nigerian public, particularly the political class, is in the habit of heaping praises and encomiums on the police when its actions favour them and demonising it when its actions do not favour them. It is good to note that under the new dispensation, the leadership of the police is opening up new vistas for working cooperation with the larger public in the areas of developing joint initiatives to target crime and criminality within the society by creating and supporting information and resource sharing.  In doing this, policemen are expected to form active partnership with research and training institutions/organisations. They can also involve more people outside the force, such as volunteers, who will help in crime prevention and community policing.

    Recently, the police hierarchy established human rights desks in all police formations nationwide. It was followed last week with the release of the code of conduct for human rights in the police. This is in tandem with the reformative process and the new orientation geared towards transforming the operational and psychological make-up of the police, especially in the area of maintaining law and order as a prelude to a peaceful election season in 2015.

    Therefore, those who are currently trying to drive a wedge between the Nigeria Police and the Nigerian public, by skewing information and cooking up non-existent scenarios capable of bringing the police to public ridicule and odium, must seriously have a rethink. The public should be wary of those who seek to indoctrinate it with Goebellian propaganda designed to rubbish the police. Now that the political parties’ primaries are over and the candidates for the 2015 elections are known, the police should be mindful of those who are determined to use the instrumentality of the force either to cling to office or assume power at all costs.

    The symbiotic link between the society and the Nigeria Police calls for a reappraisal because it seems the new genre of the political class has been creating dire situations designed to alienate and practically destroy the natural bond between the two segments.  Perhaps, we should introspectively ask: Why is the Nigeria Police, the same organisation that has excelled in the various United Nations’ peacekeeping missions in other countries, being constantly vilified by a segment of the society? This is germane because apart from reflecting and mirroring the society, the success or failure of the Nigeria Police will certainly have a catastrophic cum collateral damage on the larger society.

  • Terrorism: Nigeria at crossroads – 2

    Terrorism: Nigeria at crossroads – 2

    The recent attack on Ashaka Cement Factory in Gombe, may have come because the Boko Haram terrorists had gone low on materials for manufacturing Improvised Explosive Devices, IEDs, hence, they attacked the factory and carted away lorry-loads of explosives-making materials, which they seem to have quickly put to use. As things stand now, Nigeria seems to be at crossroads over what to do to end this senseless war declared on the nation and the citizens by these ruthless, bloodsuckers called Boko Haram.

    A greater percentage of the blame goes to our politicians who have been playing politics with human lives. Whether it is at the executive level or the legislature, the story is the same. Not even the hierarchy of the existing political parties, particularly the major ones, can be exonerated. It is a case of politics and politicking carried too far to the detriment of the peace and corporate existence of the country. At a time all hands should be on deck, with the country speaking with one voice against the agents of destabilization, what you see is a cacophony of voices, each canvassing for different viewpoints as solution to the menace of terrorism. Never before in the history of this great country have the people become so tacitly and overtly divided along ethnic, tribal, religious and ideological lines as we experience today in Nigeria.

    And while our politicians are busy trading blames and running themselves down on the pages of newspapers, the terrorists are busy perfecting their strategies to actualise their desire to carve out an Islamic Caliphate in Nigeria and impose Sharia. This is the reason why some of the captured territories in the three North-east states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe, have had the names of some of their towns changed from their original names to purely Islamic names. For instance, Gwoza, a town in Borno State which was captured in July has been changed to Darul Hikma or “House of Wisdom,” while Mubi, a flourishing town in the North Senatorial District of Adamawa State was changed to Madinatul Islam, or “City of Islam” in Arabic.

    The military appears to be helpless because going by the dictates of the constitution; they must subjugate and subordinate themselves to civilian authority in a democracy. Of course, the military is grappling with its own numerous problems, but it is sad that rather than helping out, our policy makers have, indeed, worsened their problems by engaging in unnecessary debates and foot dragging in matters that require prompt attention. This way, the civilian policy makers have caused the military more trouble thereby aggravating their predicament.

    The cumulative effect of this official lethargy vis-à-vis the non-release or quick release of funds for salaries and allowances has greatly brought the morale of the soldiers to an all-time low. It will be very bad if there is a fight among these politicians during the electioneering period or the election itself in February and soldiers are called upon to restore peace, I am sure Boko Haram could convert this confusion to their immediate advantage. They could as well hide under the ensuing confusion and plot their way straight to Lagos, the heartbeat of Nigeria’s economy. If they succeed in getting to Yola, they will simply head for Makurdi, from there to Nasarawa State and Abuja. By so doing, they would have cut off Maiduguri from the bottom. Come to think of it, after all, it is the civilians that started this Boko Haram of a thing in the first place. Now, the monster has outgrown their capacity to dictate the tune and the military, the only saving grace, is battling to contain the turmoil.

    Surprisingly, while the military is over-stretched and continues to be battered by critics, other security agents seem to have alienated themselves from the problem. At least, by virtue of their closeness to the people, other security agencies in the country could have been able to help especially by gathering massive intelligence to prosecute this war. Unfortunately, these agencies may have abdicated this responsibility while concentrating on other issues possibly because they are ill-equipped both in manpower and materials to perform such functions and render a helping hand to the military in the ongoing campaign.

    What is happening in Nigeria is very absurd. It is as if the security of the country has been consigned totally to the military. This is wrong. Aside from the military, other security agencies including the current arm-chair operatives of the Nigeria Intelligence Agency, NIA, should be involved in activities to nip this terrorism in the bud and curtail their havoc on the society. The NIA, the agency that is saddled with the responsibility of gathering external intelligence, does not seem to be alive to its duty. Few days ago, the Americans spoke about the discovery of a training base run by the Islamist militant group, ISIS, in Libya and were monitoring developments there. I doubt if the NIA had such information before now and if they do, what have they done? It is believed that the war machines being used by the Boko Haram terrorists were brought into the country from Libya through neighbouring Niger Republic and Chad. Obviously, I am sure those now undergoing training in Libya are Boko Haram terrorists that will soon be let loose on Nigeria. And we are all carrying on as if nothing is happening.

    There is certainly an international conspiracy to this crisis, which is why the international community has been aloof all this while. Take the issue of the aircraft that was impounded with its arms cargo in Kano, last weekend. The aircraft’s destination was Chad, the operational headquarters of Boko Haram. That is suspect. We must properly equip our security agencies to enable them to adequately rise up to the security challenges facing the nation. Fighting terrorists like the Boko Haram requires good intelligence. That is, going behind their lines, infiltration, pre-emptive attacks and disruption of their supply routes and so on and so forth. This is why other security agencies in the country must work together with the military. The reason is that while the military comprising the Army, Air Force and the Navy may be less than 150,000 personnel put together, other security agencies have more numerical strength in their individual capacities, not to talk of when put together. What this implies is that the military is over-stretched. Therefore, other security agencies should rise up to the exigencies of the time. The country is at war and they must all get involved.

    A lot may have gone wrong with the military we used to know, the worst, probably, being its politicisation. Quality training is usually the first casualty when Command Officers are not picked on merit or mostly lacking in combat experience as some Nigerian Generals get promoted only by writing examinations. The President and Commander-in-Chief needs to tell the military chiefs: “I give you two weeks to recover all lost territories otherwise you will be fired.” I am sure with that, the job will be done. The President should be seen to breathe on this people and show his annoyance over the current not-too-impressive handling of the terrorists’ war.

    There is a job to be done and it should be seen to be done. This can be achieved only if the soldiers are promptly paid and given incentives, the sort of incredible incentives that are given to sportsmen and women. Even the fallen heroes should be given hero’s burials in a dignifying manner. The practice of paying a retired General a paltry 10 Million Naira as gratuity, while a Senator collects more than that per month, is obscene, to say the least. These are the iniquities of our democracy. In addition, the government should properly unravel the internal saboteurs who are creating confusion among the soldiers and misleading them at warfronts by diverting their attention from their original plans. This way, many of the soldiers have been ambushed and reduced to mince meat while the terrorists are having a field day. Now is the time to declare a total war on Boko Haram!

    • Concluded
  • Terrorism: Nigeria at crossroads – 1

    Terrorism: Nigeria at crossroads – 1

    The expiration of the emergency rule in the three north-east states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe on November 20, and the seemingly foot-dragging by both Houses of the National Assembly to assent to  a further extension of the state of emergency currently in the three states, has thrown the government into a quandary.  If at the end of this logjam, the emergency is finally approved by the National Assembly, it would be the third time the President would be extending the emergency since the outbreak of the festering Boko Haram crisis in the country in 2009. The first state of emergency was declared by the President on Tuesday, May 14, 2013. This was later extended for another six months in November, 2013 and again renewed for a further six months in May, lasting till Thursday, November 20.

    After 18 months, it is yet unclear if the emergency has had any serious impact on the security situation in the affected areas beyond the numerous checkpoints now dotting the landscape in the North-east of the country. In recent times, rather than improve, the security situation in the theatre of war seems to be deteriorating to such an extent that the terrorists now control an expanse of land across the three states. They seem to have grown from a roving band of criminals – using guerrilla tactics to inflict pains on innocent people as well as confronting security agents who are mostly taken unawares – to become a formidable force that takes on the security agents, sack villages and declare such conquered areas as part of a utopian Islamic Caliphate, which they intend to create.

    With the anticipated fourth state of emergency in place, the time has come for the federal government to find a lasting solution to this problem of terrorism, a problem that has accounted for the loss of thousands of lives, the displacement of many, while hundreds of schools and churches have been destroyed, with the economy of the affected areas lying prostrate. This is why many people think the emergency rule may not bring the desired result after all. Many are, therefore, advocating for a total war to be declared by the government on the terrorists as a way of uprooting them from Nigerian soil.

    But the government seems to be handicapped by extraneous political considerations or the lack of political will which may have prevented it from declaring an all out war on the terrorists. Such a declaration could make life uncomfortable for the governors, the legislators, the local government administrations and all that, in the affected areas. It is doubtful if such a request would sail through in a divided and fragmented National Assembly such as we have in place at the moment. Besides, it remains to be seen whether this constantly renewed emergency which has already spanned 18 months, would bring an end to the menace of these terrorists at the end of the day.

    Much of the job needs to be done by the military with the support of the government and the people. However, with dwindling oil-based revenue, the money may no longer be there to properly support the military and deal decisively with the terrorists. Equally telling is the fact that the country is currently being confronted by the ugly spectre of a demoralised military as illustrated by the ineffectiveness so far displayed by the soldiers drafted to the battle-front to fight Boko Haram. The problem with the military include: lack of adequate fire power to effectively confront and contain the terrorists, non-release and non-payment of duty allowances to the troops, insubordination and indiscipline among the troops, as well as cowardice and desertion, among others. The morale of the troops seems to be at the lowest ebb, which is why some time ago, a case of mutiny was recorded when some soldiers attached to the newly created 7th Division of the Nigerian Army based in Maiduguri, a division created out of expediency to take on the terrorists operating in the north-eastern axis of the country – allegedly turned their guns on the General Officer Commanding, GOC who reportedly escaped death by the whiskers.

    What we are witnessing is a situation where the terrorists who seem to be operating under the influence of an inexplicable murderous spell, are ready to die and kill as many people as they possibly could, while our soldiers either don’t want to engage the terrorists or often vote with their feet at the sight of the rampaging terrorists. This way, the terrorists have often effortlessly captured towns and villages as well as huge cache of arms abandoned by fleeing soldiers. In certain instances, some military formations have been laid bare for terrorists to overrun because soldiers claim their officers had asked them to pull out.

    Though some of these anomalies are currently subjects of investigation by the Army hierarchy, they have nonetheless engaged the attention of military analysts who are of the opinion that the Army should possibly embark on the recruitment of fearless, able-bodied men to boost its manpower needs.  Their contention is that most of the soldiers recruited in the last few years may have signed up mainly for the sole purpose of eking out a living, especially as they got recruited in peace time without weighing the possibility that a war of the magnitude of the current one could break out. In the alternative, some analysts say, the Civil Defence Corps, who are supposedly well-trained, could be converted from their sleeping mode into an effective fighting force to be incorporated into the Army.

    The fact remains that soldiers may not want to be seen as incompetent; otherwise, the Army may need to fall back on the old, retired soldiers who are still active and may be willing to participate in the war. As it is now, there are no two ways about it: it doesn’t seem that the 7thDivision of the Army alone can cope with this war. There may be need for the creation of several task forces, each with independent commanders to take care of specific sectors with a strict warning never to yield an inch of Nigerian soil to the terrorists. Besides, as this column has advocated in the past, there is the need for somebody of high competence to coordinate this war. By this, I mean a Coordinating Minister for the war.

    In Israel, there is a Minister of Intelligence; the Americans have a Director of Intelligence, but here in Nigeria, all we have right now is a coordinating spokesman in the person of Mike Omeri, whose duty is just to speak turenchi everyday and no more. Also, our Defence Intelligence Agency, DIA, as presently constituted, is comatose, or perhaps, even as dead as dodo. The DIA, an agency that is statutorily saddled with the responsibility of gathering intelligence across our borders, has been caught napping while all manner of criminals are infiltrating our borders at will and roaming about in the country, killing and maiming people indiscriminately.

    The Boko Haram war has, so far, defied any solution, just as the terrorists have remained defiant. From all indications, that band of gangsters is determined to prove a point through their signature mark of ceaseless brigandage and bloodletting. At a time people thought some respite had been achieved because of the lull in their bombing campaigns. But then, the terrorists swiftly swooped on the premises of Ashaka Cement Factory, located in Ashaka town, Gombe State. After a staccato of gunshots, during which a few people were killed, they exited the premises with some vehicles fully loaded with explosive materials and disappeared into thin air. What followed was a resurgence of their bombing campaign all over the place. At the last count, many states and cities in the northern part of the country including Kano (last Friday), Maiduguri, Potiskum had been hit by suicide bombers.

    From the sudden resurgence of these bombings, it is apparent that Boko Haram has perfected its strategies to get replenishment for its war arsenal by conducting raids on possible weapon locations.

     

  • Wingless Eagles!

    Wingless Eagles!

    Mad enough, a treacherous, lousy Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign ended with the Super Eagles of Nigeria, the current champions, spectacularly failing to get the required result right in front of their home fans at the last hurdle. With this, they crashed out of contention for the ultimate African football glory. And so, for the second time, the Cup of Nations will be played without a defending champion come January/February 2015.

    Nigerians are still in shock, trying to rationalize just how a team that shone so brightly in South Africa, last year, could have had such a wretched outing in the just concluded qualifying series, culminating in a limp exit. Of course, this is setting the team’s pedigree against the background of the fact that they were involved in a group in which bookmakers would have ordinarily concluded that picking one of two spots was a-given. In Group A of the African Cup of Nations qualifying series, was Nigeria alongside South Africa – a team still feeling its way through football on the continent since its golden period of the mid-90s until the early 2000s.  The South Africans have always struggled to survive under the shadow of their more illustrious Super Eagles opponents whom they had hardly ever even picked a point off in football. There was also a plucky Congo (Brazzaville) team that had failed to qualify for the tournament since the 2000 edition. And then, there was a Sudanese team who had been a lacklustre force in African football and had never, ever even scored a goal against Nigeria.

    Now, given this statistical and historical edge Nigeria had against the other teams in the group, it was certainly too hard to believe that Nigeria could not pick one of the two automatic qualifying spots. However, with six unconvincing performances and a measly eight points, the African champions limped out of the qualification with their chance of defending their crown come January 2015, emphatically ended. In the final, decisive match against South Africa on Wednesday last week in Uyo, the Eagles only managed a 2-2 draw when an outright victory would have taken them to 10 points and given them second spot behind the already-qualified South Africans. It was perhaps instructive of the wretched journey through the series that the team’s ultimate implosion came in Uyo, a few kilometres from neighbouring Calabar, in Cross River State, where the path to perdition was laid by the home team on September 6, when they lost the first match of the series 3-2 to Congo, a loss they never recovered from. Now, a lot of people are busy with forensic examination of the tragedy that Nigeria’s qualifying campaign was.

    But then forensic examinations have never come any easier to conduct if you eschew unnecessary sentiments and look at the picture matter-of-factly. The on-off relationship between Stephen Keshi, the Super Eagles’ coach and the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, certainly did not help matters. It would be recalled that on Thursday, October 16, the NFF had announced the sacking of Keshi as the Super Eagles coach. This followed several tension-filled months dating back to the Nations Cup in South Africa, during which time it seemed that even as the most successful indigenous coach to ever handle the Super Eagles, Keshi was perennially living on borrowed time. Such a poisoned atmosphere never augurs well for a team, no matter the difference in opinion.

    And speaking of differences, it seems that Keshi has always been too ‘different’ even for his own good. This, no doubt, affected his team selection many times as he was always at loggerheads with this player or that player. For instance, he only recalled striker Ikechukwu Uche to the fold for the final two matches of the qualifying campaign after keeping the player in the cold since the Nations Cup in South Africa. This was despite repeated calls from many Nigerians and the good form the player exhibited for Almeria, his Spanish league club. Keshi also famously had fallouts that ended up robbing the team of the services of some of its best players at crucial times.

    Looking back on the Uyo match, one may also have to ask why it seemed that the Super Eagles did not have a plan as to what to do with set pieces other than to simply lump the ball towards the penalty area and hope that there is a lucky connection in favour of the team. Tactically more astute teams always seem to be able to be inventive with set pieces and while they don’t always work to plan, at least, it keeps providing the opponent with surprises. At the last World Cup, Costa Rica, for instance, tried a particular routine on free-kicks three or so times in their group game against Uruguay and eventually got a goal from it in the second half. France scored their second goal against Nigeria from what was an intelligently executed corner kick routine. And there is where you put the blame on the doorstep of Keshi and the coaching crew.

    But the team’s problems obviously run deeper than Keshi. For one, Nigeria currently lacks enough players playing regularly at the highest level of club football, so match sharpness seems to always be an issue. That fact was cruelly exposed at the last World Cup when Nigeria got as far as they could by qualifying for the round of 16. Anything else would have been a bonus, a huge one, given the overall playing quality of the team. Removed from the sterner test of the global stage and the likes of Argentina, Nigeria admittedly had enough to do better against the lesser might of the likes of South Africa, Congo and Sudan.

    This means that the team has problems that are not related to skill only. Starting from the performances at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, it was clear that there are all sorts of problems with the Super Eagles. This is not to say that the issues were not there even when they won the CAN in South Africa anyway. The fact is that a coach may be able to coach many things into a footballer, but then there are occasions when you expect a team to put its life on the line for the cause. You will be hard pressed to find higher motivation than to play a must-win match in front of your own fans, against an opponent that had hardly ever picked points off you, and who in this case, does not have the added pressure of needing the points to advance. Yet, that was the scenario the Super Eagles handled with such lifeless, insipid and uninspired approach last Wednesday.

    Obviously, the reasons for Nigeria’s ultimately doomed qualifying campaign are many, but the hope is that by the time the next competitive engagement comes around, the football authorities would have imbibed enough lessons from this latest failure of grand proportions. However, we must learn to keep aside our sense of entitlement as far as football is concerned and realize that we must grow football from its roots up if we are to find our true bearings, rather than our continued accidental or artificial success in the game. Going into the Nations Cup come January, 2015, Algeria will be one of the early favourites. The beauty of that is that starting from the 2010 Nations Cup in Angola and then the World Cup in South Africa later that year, one could see that the Maghreb nation was quietly building its national team. What they have done during the past four years is to accept their inadequacy and go into tournaments more focused on collective progress and the long term result than expecting to win. Today, they are Africa’s most organised, technically astute and formidable team. And if they end up winning the cup in February, it will not be a shock. We can toe a similar path. We simply must be more realistic in our expectation and become more committed to the positive growth of the sport by building better stadia, committing more resources, and the whole gamut.