The Nation Newspaper

Category: Dele Agekameh

  • ‘Nigeria’ in Cape Town

    ‘Nigeria’ in Cape Town

    Saturday, January 25, was a day that put all Nigerians on edge. That evening, Nigeria’s home-based Super Eagles had taken on their Moroccan counterpart in the third edition of CAF African Nations Championships quarter-final football match at Cape Town Stadium in South Africa. The game witnessed a shower of goals. It was exactly 40 minutes on the clock when a Moroccan attacker put the third goal in Nigeria’s net. Chigozie Agbim, the Nigerian goalkeeper, like the rest of his team, seemed to be flailing in vain, inexorably towards an ignominious exit from the tournament. A thrashing, whitewash, spanking or mauling, if you will, as they say in sporting parlance, was firmly on the cards in this encounter.

    Here were Nigeria’s hopefuls starring at an even more embarrassing defeat at the tournament designed for the participation of only those players who ply their trade in their countries. In fairness, the Eagles had started the match well enough. There wasn’t really that much difference between them and the Moroccans before the Moroccans first goal in the 33rd minute. And in truth, anybody who saw how naively, especially defensively, the team handled that crazy seven-minute period between the 33rd minute and the 40th minute, would have been well-justified to feel sorry for Nigeria for what was still to come.

    But how did things come to this sorry pass? There were several questions, and there seemed to be few more logical answers than to admit that the Eagles had been shambolic while the North Africans had been clinical in those frenetic seven first half minutes. As the horror show unfolded, Stephen Okechukwu Keshi, the coach of the Nigerian side, largely remained his usual inscrutable self, giving little away emotionally. But how dare he remain so stoic, so calm amidst the debris that his team was quickly becoming in this game? Perhaps, he was convinced, like many followers of football know too-well, that even the most one-sided football matches can rapidly become a game of two halves. In this case, a team which seems to be struggling badly in one half suddenly finds enough verve to turn the table in every sense in another half.

    After trailing behind by three goals to nil, the Eagles simply had to get back to reckoning, meaning that something had to give tactically and personnel-wise. The Eagles’ first goal came four minutes into the second half, a minute before the first Nigerian substitution was made. It was evident that ‘The Big Boss’, as Keshi is fondly called, gave two or so key instructions to his boys during the half-time rest: “press harder and higher up the pitch and; get the ball to the feet of Ejike Uzoenyi, an artist of a footballer, who, barring some rotten luck, should be packing his luggage to board the plane to the Brazil 2014 World Cup. Such has been the manner the young man has held this tournament by the scruff of its neck.

    And for the trick with Uzoenyi to work, he was further instructed to stay on the right side of attack, of course with some licence to roam, even though he is more comfortably left-footed. This position gave him a similar role to that being increasingly given to naturally-gifted left footed players like Lionel Messi who can frequently cut in from the right to devastating effect. This, coupled with the faster movement of the ball by the Nigerians in attack as well as better organisation across the pitch, gave the Moroccans too many different questions to answer, completely different from what they faced in the first 45 minutes.

    As the game wore on, the legs were gone from under the Moroccans even though they still managed a few flitting chances. The equaliser may have been too long in coming after which the match went into extra time, but there was no stopping the Eagles from soaring. The raw strength of the Nigerians, their never-say-die attitude and extra class both on the bench especially with ex-internationals as the coaching crew, as well as the finesse, purpose and vision of Uzoenyi, saw them to victory.

    At the very top level of organised football, it only happens once in a long while that a team is able to come back and level the scores in a match where it is already losing by three goals or more after the first 45 minutes. Arguably, the  most famous contemporary example of such three-goal comebacks by a top-level football team and one of the most referenced ones was recorded by the English club, Liverpool, when they came back to beat Italian outfit AC Milan on penalties in the final of the UEFA Champions League in Istanbul, Turkey in 2005.

    Nigeria, of course, had a couple of similar ‘previouses’ in this regard. There was the gutsy come-from-behind 4-3 victory against Brazil in the semi-final at the Atlanta 1996 Olympics during which the Kanu Nwankwo-led “Dream Team” rallied from 3-1 down to prevail. But by far the most remarkable of such feats by a Nigerian team was the match against the then-USSR, where Mutiu Adepoju, Christopher Ohenhen and Samson Siasia and co won on penalties after a 4-4 draw having been 4-0 down (2-0 down in the first half) at a point during the match. That match is romantically referred to as the Miracle of Darman in Nigerian sports speak. So the onus was on this selection of players to perform their 21st Century version of the Darman Miracle. Fittingly, what followed was not the Miracle of Darman. It was simply the Miracle of Cape Town.

    I tried to apply my best body-language reading skills to interpret the scenes that followed between Keshi and his coaching staff as well as some of the players after the match. Following the final whistle, the coaching staff all, together with the players on the substitutes’ bench, first made a bee-line towards the pitch and then as if by prodding, all, one after the other, turned back to Keshi. The triumphant coach was still calm on the bench whereas other coaches would have been beside themselves with joy after such a hard-fought victory. They all then seemed to whisper words that seemed to say to the coach that he was spot on with certain decisions or conclusions he had come to even when his team were losing. I guess Keshi, in his characteristic confident manner, had calmly told the players and coaches that even at 3-0 down, Nigeria would still win the match if they approached it with certain catalysts. Those catalysts, it appears, were duly applied and the rest is history.

    Whatever the interpretation, the victory of the Super Eagles certainly boils down to team character and the will to fight, even against seemingly insurmountable odds. It is much like the Nigerian spirit which enables the people to always weather all storms, man-made or natural. Although it had seemed – pretty much like many aspects of our national life – as though the players would once again, throw away an opportunity after doing the hard part of getting through a tricky qualifying group, in the end, a sheer force of character and togetherness saw them safely through. It was indeed a performance with a lot of ‘Nigerianness’ in it. Players of different religious persuasion, socio-cultural backgrounds and ethnic identity came together to serenade the spectators with Skelewu, Azonto, Etigi or Kukere in the joy of a football match.  It makes one wonder why the rest of the Nigerian society keeps ignoring the lessons of sport, especially football, in acts of unity and togetherness for the ultimate peace and prosperity of the country.

    Again, bear in mind that the current renaissance in Nigerian national football, especially at the senior national team level, has come mostly because the coaching of the teams has been handed over to ex-football players who have played at the highest level of the game. Now, why can’t we always try and put people who have the know-how in other public positions in our national life rather than dead woods and spent bullets? Remember, when you ask a carpenter to do the job of a tailor, you are likely to get an upholstering at the very best!

     

  • Tukur as sacrificial lamb

    Tukur as sacrificial lamb

    In the last few months, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has been engulfed in crises. Every other day, new dimensions are added to the roiling crises. Most of the issues involved borders on contest of supremacy and arbitrary use of power through which many party faithful have either been emasculated or pushed to the back burner of party affairs. In such a dire situation, it is only natural that the bubble will soon burst.

    When the bubble finally burst last week, the lone casualty was Bamanga Tukur, the erstwhile chairman of the party. But he did not go down without a fight. He fought frantically to secure his position but he was overwhelmed by the array of opposition mounted against his person and his office. The President, Goodluck Jonathan, and his henchmen tried as much to shield him and ward off attacks against him, but at the end of the day, the President capitulated when he realised that it was better to sacrifice him and keep the fractured party together.

    Since Tukur took over the reign of leadership of the party in March 2012, the party has been mired in scheming and internecine war. It started like a fratricidal war among key chieftains of the party, especially the aggrieved governors, many members of the National Executive Committee, and National Working Committee, as well as some members of the Board of Trustees. For the 22 months of his turbulent reign as chairman, Tukur was perpetually placed on his toes as the groups perfected their strategy to unseat him.

    Trouble started for Tukur when the disgruntled groups within the party started clamouring for reforms in the party. The struggle for reform later snowballed into a major conflagration last August, when some party leaders, led by some state governors, staged a walkout from the party’s national convention ground in Abuja. Not only have the various reconciliation meetings even with the President in attendance failed to yield any fruitful result, there appears to be the presence of a certain clique within the party that is opposed to any form of reconciliation with aggrieved members. The reason for this is the fear that such reconciliation may pose a threat to their present comfort zone in the party. Therefore, they are hell-bent on maintaining the status quo.

    Now that the fate of Tukur as national chairman has been decided, there are other major issues involved in the simmering crises confronting the party, and several meetings, which attempted to resolve the knotty issues, have yielded no tangible result. Two of the issues are Jonathan’s candidature in the 2015 election and the control of party machinery in the states.  Going by the body language of the party’s hierarchy, the issue of Jonathan’s candidature in the 2015 election appears to be a no-go area. In order to consolidate the hawks’ hold on the party machinery, Tukur became a willing puppet that was used to perpetrate illegality and arbitrariness in the states’ party executives.

    One of the problems created for the PDP under the chairmanship of Tukur was that his leadership was particularly divisive. An example was the unilateral dissolution of the executive of the Adamawa State chapter of the party loyal to Murtala Nyako, the governor of the state which was achieved through the courts. The appointment of a new one was strongly suspected as a clear move to cripple the governor’s influence in the party and the state. In the wake of the dissolution, Tukur’s opponents had alleged that his decision to sack the Adamawa PDP executive was motivated by a selfish desire to pave the way for Mahmud Tukur, his son, who is currently on trial over his involvement in oil subsidy scandal, to become the next PDP governor of Adamawa State.

    Similarly, the executive of the party in Rivers State was wrestled from the hands of Rotimi Amaechi, the state governor, through the instrumentality of a court order and replaced by a team loyal to Jonathan and Nyesom Wike, the supervising Minister of Education. Ever since, both Rivers State and Amaechi, have known no peace as Wike has become a willing tool in the orchestrated campaign against the governor.

    In the case of the South-west, the situation is more pathetic as Tukur’s arm-twisting led to the installation of some largely unwanted leaders whose credibility has been severally called to question as interim managers of the South-west zone of the party. The takeover of the South-west machinery of the party by Tukur’s men was well planned and skillfully executed like a civilian equivalent of a military coup d’état. In early February 2013, agents of Tukur cleverly lured chieftains of the party from the South-west into Abuja for a meeting. Though the ‘family meeting’ was cloaked in the façade of a reconciliation gambit, those at the meeting were dumbfounded when they discovered that they had voluntarily walked into a booby trap set for them by Tukur and his clique. In one fell swoop, all the contending groups in South-west PDP were all deposited inside the trash can. The only man left standing was Buruji Kashamu, who, apparently, had a fore-knowledge of the tsunami that was about to happen.

    A few days to the Abuja parley, Tukur, through a top legal practitioner based in Abuja, went round the courts and withdrew all the pending cases instituted against the PDP by some of the groups jostling for control of the party machinery in the zone. The dummy that was sold was that the withdrawal of all the court cases would pave the way for genuine reconciliation. But this was not to be. As soon as the cases were withdrawn, the leadership of the zone was ceded to Buruji and his group. That was how the other contending groups were led to the slaughter slab. With power now fully in Buruji’s kitty, the businessman turned politician has been calling the shot with the tacit support of the party’s National Headquarters.

    That was not all. On Wednesday, November 6, 2013, a Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja reinstated Olagunsoye Oyinlola as the national secretary of the PDP. The three-man panel, chaired by Justice Amiru Sanusi, upturned the January 11 judgment of the Federal High Court, Abuja, which sacked Oyinlola. One would have thought that this judgement would provide a good opportunity for the party to resolve the intractable crisis that had enveloped it, but rather than find a solution, some desperate elements within the party, led by Tukur, went ahead to suspend Oyinlola and others under puerile excuses.

    The Presidency then came under heat from some stakeholders who felt that certain forces were exploiting the situation for their selfish motives. Some governors loyal to the President were also said to have made contacts among themselves and with the President to express deep concerns that the leadership of the party scuttled the opportunity for peace presented by the Appeal Court verdict. This is why Tukur may have incurred the wrath of Jonathan over his handling of the moves to resolve the crisis in the party.  Since then, Tukur’s days were numbered as the President was said to be unhappy with the unilateral decision he took to suspend the party leaders, including Oyinlola, who have been reinstated to his post by the appellate court. It was clear that instead of the party creating and getting more followers and friends, the hierarchy was busy creating more enemies for the party and the Jonathan administration.

    With the exit of the erstwhile chairman who is an ally of the President, the battle this time around, will shift to the agitation by certain elements within the PDP that Jonathan should not contest the 2015 election. But that would be against the President’s right to vote and be voted for as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution. Tukur’s tenure was characterised by intrigues and intra-party squabbles which resulted into mass exodus of prominent party leaders, five state governors, members of the National Working Committee and lawmakers in the National Assembly. Perhaps, only the President, for whom he was a cheerleader, will, most certainly, miss him.

  • Terror on Nigerian roads

    Terror on Nigerian roads

    Road accidents are a common phenomenon all over the world. Perhaps, it is in the realisation of this that governments, the world over, put in place various traffic rules and laws to regulate movements of vehicles on the roads. Sadly, in spite of these, road accidents, with the accompanied fatalities and destruction, have become a common, ugly sight on our roads.

    In Nigeria and most of other developing countries, especially African countries, the frequency of road accidents has turned the whole thing into an epidemic of some sort. Every other day, precious lives are lost on the roads while goods and other economic lifelines are destroyed. This situation has become so worrisome that many analysts now tend to conclude that the greatest killer decimating the world’s population, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, is no longer the deadly Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, AIDS, but uncontrollable road traffic accidents.

    The statistics are staggering.  The country is reputed to have the second highest rate of road accidents among 193 countries, and deaths from reckless driving are the third leading cause of death in Nigeria. In its grim half-year report released in June 2013, the Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC, an agency saddled with the responsibility of bringing sanity to Nigerian roads, declared that no fewer than 2,422 persons died while 11, 961 were injured in 3,708 road accidents between January and June of last year. Comparatively, this was the highest figure in the past three years. In the 2011 half-year report, 2,218 people lost their lives, while in the same period in 2012, 1,926 deaths were recorded — a 21.6 percent reduction that has now jumped to the latest frightening record of 2,422. Although the agency is yet to release the June to December 2013 figures, these statistics are alarming. This is even more so as the statistics may not have captured the total number of deaths through accidents on our roads.

    Ordinarily, these gory statistics should be enough caution against recklessness on our highways. But they are not. The scale of tragedies occasioned by road traffic accidents continued on its spiral swing in Lagos last Wednesday following an accident in which a 33,000-litre capacity tanker fully loaded with premium motor spirit (petrol) fell and ignited a wild fire. No fewer than 52 lives and property worth billions of naira were reportedly lost to the inferno. The following day, barely 24 hours after that tragedy, another tanker laden with 33,000 litres of petrol fell into a ditch in the Iju area, on the outskirt of Lagos, spilling some of its contents on the road. Also, last Saturday, yet another petrol tanker laden with 33,000 litres, crashed around Ajasa Bus Stop in the Meiran area of the State. Like the previous one in Iju, the tanker driver was said to have lost control and rammed into a fully-loaded passenger bus. Luckily, no life was lost in the two incidents as rescue efforts promptly arrived.

    What the three incidents above illustrate is that oil tankers, tipper lorries, luxury buses and other articulated vehicles have continued to maintain their unenviable position as the most dangerous vehicles and number one killers of people on Nigerian roads. And as it is, there is no let-up in their destructive tendencies all over the place. The growing menace of these articulated vehicle drivers and the failure of relevant authorities to permanently tackle the problem have brought untold hardship to the citizens, while the economy has been worse off.

    Whenever the drivers of these vehicles ply the roads, they appear to carry on with the notion that they are ‘kings of the road,’ a name that they have notoriously acquired because of their recklessness. It is even considered foolhardy for any motorist to ride alongside or behind a tanker or trailer bearing a container.  Many people have lost their lives when unlatched containers slid off flat-bed trucks and landed on moving vehicles, motorcycles, road side petty traders or other passers-by. Sometimes ago, a truck carrying a container slipped and landed on a car at the Anthony Bridge on Oshodi-Apapa Expressway in Lagos. All the three occupants of the car died instantly. A few months after that, no fewer than three persons lost their lives when a 40-feet containerized vehicle fell on a Mazda car on Badagry-Seme Expressway.

    About six weeks ago, Nigeria lost Adeola Ayodeji Nejo, a lecturer at Babcock University, Illishan, Ogun state. The promising young academic and two of his three children were crushed to death by an over-speeding truck along Ibadan-Lagos Expressway. His jeep was hit by the truck which dragged it along for some time. The surviving son, his second child, just about 4 years old, is still receiving treatment at Babcock University Teaching Hospital. Nejo, who could have moved to Achievers University, Owo, this January, was going to meet his wife, who had already joined the services of the University ahead of him, when tragedy struck. The Nejos are Ph.D holders in Chemistry. The catalogue of woe is lengthy.

    Besides causing avoidable deaths to road users, the drivers of articulated vehicles also constitute some nuisance to other road users as they often block the highways at the slightest provocation. There have been several instances where truck drivers deliberately rammed into other vehicles in an avoidable contest for space. If you have ever encountered them on the highways while driving, you will know that it is hellish plying the same highway as trailer drivers. Go to Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. The way they drive is terrible. They don’t care about any traffic rules especially those who take off from the trailer park, located in Ibafo on the Expressway. Other road users have to be extra careful because by the time you blink, they would have crashed into your car. They don’t have any iota of respect for any other motorist simply because they see themselves as the ‘kings of the road’.

    In 1993, the petroleum tanker drivers, under the umbrella of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers Union, NUPENG, held the entire nation to ransom by withdrawing their trucks. They were buoyed by the fierceness displayed by Frank Kokori, its then-national secretary, during the political turmoil precipitated by the struggle for the actualisation of June 12, 1993 election results. For many weeks, NUPENG successfully paralysed the nation’s socio-economic life. Since then, any time NUPENG is upset with any government policy, it takes the country to the brink by either blocking the roads with its tankers or paralysing the nation’s economy by withdrawing its services. They have continued to use this as a veritable weapon to negotiate and they often have their way even on mundane issues.

    Another sore point is the presence of malfunctioning and dilapidated vehicles on our highways. To avoid incessant carnage on our roads, therefore, owners of vehicles should ensure that they are in good working condition before hitting the roads. Drivers should also show consideration for other road users and avoid recklessness while driving. It has become morally compelling for relevant government agencies to launch robust initiatives to decisively deal with the widespread deaths and destruction articulated vehicles are causing through their carelessness, indiscipline and recklessness on Nigerian roads. Going by the rate of accidents they cause, the current efforts being made to address the fatalities arising from their operations seem to be grossly inadequate. All efforts must be made to curb the menace. The carnage has to be stopped.

    The various agencies that should ensure safer roads should work together to save lives. Of course, the roads would be safer if they are well built, well maintained and a culture of obeying traffic regulations is enforced. Above all, the FRSC must fashion a way of re-certifying these vehicles and those who drive them, such that unfit vehicles and drivers plying the roads are quickly removed from the highways before causing any havoc. At any rate, enforcing these measures will go a long way to successfully put the destructive activities of articulated vehicles under check. In addition, the hours of movement of these trucks and trailers could be regulated as it is done in other climes.

  • Not in God’s name

    In the last three decades, there has been a systematic upsurge in the number of places of worship that have kept on mushrooming in every nook and cranny of the country. Today, religion has virtually moved from the spiritual realm to become a major factor for economic development for many Nigerians. Nowadays, regardless of family background, many Nigerian men and women have abandoned the search for gainful employment for the warm embrace of what could be termed ‘economic spirituality’. What this means is that many people now see religion as a means to an end or as the quickest way to make money and live in opulence. Indeed, the whole thing has become a big industry on its own.

    As it is, all that is needed to start a church is for an individual to look for a one-bedroom apartment, a small shop somewhere or make do with a makeshift shed either with raffia palm or a disused container. Gradually, what begins with a congregation of less than five people, mostly the husband, wife and children, often grows to become a big place of worship that will require a land upon which a church will be built. From there, the thing keeps on expanding. And if the finances of the newly established church are properly managed, the congregation could stay together for long. If, on the other hand, there is any sign of smartness anywhere, particularly in the area of finance, then there is the likelihood of a faction breaking off to form a new church elsewhere. This has become a major factor responsible for the multiplicity of worship places now dotting the entire landscape of the country.

    The increase in churches has given rise to a new set of nouveaux riche who are also managers and chief executives of these churches. They go by various names and titles such as primate, supreme shepherd, general overseer, founding bishop and many more. As soon as there is a boom in their congregations, these individuals who are driven by the lure of money and power, will then transform themselves gradually into the overlords of the business empires, which by now have become a very large conglomerate. What is then used to bamboozle their followers is the claim that they are anointed by the Holy Spirit, or that they have received divine call to embark on their ministries. And of course, a few ‘miracles’ here and there take place to convince the congregation that, indeed, the spirit of God is dwelling in the heart of the big boss.

    I remember in those days, in the early 80s when I used to live in Idimu in Alimosho Local government Area of Lagos State. At that time, what baffled me was that on my street alone, Powerline Street, I could count at least about 13 places of worship belonging to different denominations of the Christian faith. Some were worshipping in uncompleted buildings, in one-room apartments, shops, open spaces and all that. They equally had their different modes of worship, which included, in most cases, nocturnal prayers and rituals particularly beginning at midnight to the wee hours of the morning with the accompanied noise making which more or less contributed greatly to their nuisance values. The last time I was there a few months ago, I noticed a great reduction in the churches. It is either some of them have relocated or they simply close shop for ‘lack of patronage’.

    We have watched helplessly as the focus of the religious merchants have shifted from spiritual intercession to save humanity from perdition and doom, to a clandestine scramble for obscene wealth and other inanities of life. By virtue of their headship of various churches and the unrestricted access to the common till of their congregation, our men of God now fall over themselves to take vantage positions where they could get closer to politicians and the elite class. They sustain their sartorial taste for luxury and questionable wealth by preaching the gospel of prosperity rather than that of salvation. Under this deceit, they tell anyone they put under their spell that God never created anybody to be poor, and that people could be rich and possess everything they want if only they could be closer to God by sowing seeds in the house of the Lord. This is why when it comes to “offering time” in the church, the pastors implore everybody present to deep his or her hand deeper into the pocket and bring out something tangible by saying: “The measure you give is the measure you get in return”. In actual fact, what this translates into is giving more passionately from their meagre earnings to sustain the ministry and indeed the pastor’s weird standard of living.

    The situation has degenerated so badly that our supposed men of God now compete favourably with armed robbers, kidnappers, oil thieves, rapists, fraudsters and those engaged in other despicable vices to wreak havoc on the society. In this way, they have turned a place of sanctuary to a place where evil is being meted out to unsuspecting people and the society at large. The other day, I was quite perplexed when this screaming headline went into town: “Armed Gunmen Beat Up, Kidnap Pastor and His Six Children in Lagos”. In view of what has been going on in the country in recent times, I quickly beckoned to the vendor to bring a copy of the paper. It was dark as I left home very early that morning in order to keep up an appointment.

    I had to put on the inner light of the car to read the story. What I saw scared and infuriated me at the same time. According to the story, a 27-man gang had abducted a pastor, Godson Akubuiro, and six of his children from their residence in Ikorodu area of Lagos. Akubuiro is said to be the founder of Mountain of Breakthrough Church in the area. The incident was said to have occurred about 1.30am. It was later learnt that the Akubiros were arrested by operatives of the Department of State Security Service, SSS, in Lokoja, Kogi state. At the time they were arrested, Rita, the wife of the pastor, was said to be away in South Africa. On her return to the country, she tried to whip up sentiments that her husband and children were innocent and all that.

    A few days later, the SSS in Kogi announced the arrest of a syndicate, including Akubuiro and his six children, for allegedly printing and circulation of fake naira notes. Mike Fubara, the Director, who presented the suspects to journalists, said the syndicate included 15 others. Fubara said items recovered from the suspects include equipment and materials used in printing fake currencies. Other items recovered were a large quantity of printed fake notes, cut-to-size blank currency notes and N1.3 million fake naira notes. At the conference, Akubuiro, who was looking sober and downcast, said he did not use the money for himself but in supporting the less privileged and the needy in his congregation. He pleaded for leniency, saying men of God were often tempted like King David in the Bible, who as a man after God’s heart, fell many times but was still pardoned by God.

    The Akubuiro clan has become the latest in the lengthy list of men of God who are actually worshiping mammon rather than worshiping God, which they so profess. I am sure there are many other Akubuiros still walking free, pretending to be holier than thou. From the way they are going, the Akubuiros might as well enter the Guinness World Record as one family in which all members of the same family – father, mother and children – have constituted a dynasty of criminals. This is, indeed, a tragedy for this country and more so, for Christendom, which calls for a very high degree of religious spirituality. It is quite unfortunate.

  • This New Year 2014

    This New Year 2014

    “Many are landlords in the CEMETERY; many are tenants in the MORTUARY; many are candidates of OBITUARY. But we are here, still worshiping in His SANCTUARY. He has been keeping us since January; His good news filled up our DIARY; He’s doing all these without collecting SALARY. He’s indeed an awesome God! If you know he is truly an awesome GOD and you are alive today, He is the reason I am testifying …. Merry Christmas and a prosperous new year.”

     

    The words above encapsulated the text of a message sent to me on  Christmas day, exactly eight days ago today. The message came from a former civilian Governor of a state in the South-south geo-political zone of the country. The theme of this message is the definition of God as the Supreme Being. It describes the ephemeral nature of life which ultimately reduces man to “tenants in the mortuary” and eventually as “landlords in the cemetery”.  He says the world is God’s vineyard which he describes as “His sanctuary”, where we all worship, that is, carry out our daily activities under the guidance and supervision of God even though we do not as much pay Him a dime as “salary”. He reminded us that He is an awesome God and the reason why we are alive today.

    The message here is that we owe a duty to God Almighty our creator. Whether we call Him Allah, Yaweh, Olodumare, Oselobua or Chineke, we are most certainly referring to only one Supreme Being which we all owe allegiance to either as Christians, Muslims, pagans or even animists. Today, we are all exchanging banters that we have witnessed the dawn of a new year – 2014. Many people did the same thing this time last year, but today, they are no more. They are either still tenants in the mortuary or have since taken up permanent residency as landlords in the cemeteries all over the place.

    For us in Nigeria, it is a mix bag of celebration to witness a day which signals the beginning of what may look a tempestuous year ahead of the coming 2015 general elections. Going by all the happenings in the country in the last few months, especially on the political firmament, I don’t think we need a soothsayer to tell us that this year promises to be more exciting and exhilarating as we move closer to the general elections scheduled for next year. In some states, the elections will be held this year and the politicians across various political divides are already girding their loins for the epic battle which many see as do or die.

    However, President Goodluck Jonathan is not unaware of the turbulence that is lurking around the political horizon. Perhaps, that is why he has devised a ploy to diffuse the political temperature by introducing a National Conference which may get on stream anytime soon. If properly managed, it is expected that such a forum will afford all the contending groups, tribes and ethnic nationalities in the country an opportunity to ventilate their opinions on the way forward if we are to remain as one homogeneous political entity. At the end of the talk, there could possibly be a change of attitudes in our politicians. This is because for so many years, the average politician has always played and preyed on the intelligence of the voting public. The voters are brainwashed, cajoled or even coerced to vote only to be abandoned the day after by these politicians who then choose to run after their personal gains rather than what will benefit the majority of the people who voted them into power in the first instance.

    At any rate, politics is going to take centre stage in the affairs of this country this year. We have witnessed a lot of political alignments and realignments in the past few months. The gulf between those hitherto considered to be conservative and the so-called progressives appears to be disappearing. In the ongoing political reengineering, strange bedfellows have decided to cohabit and stay together for good or for ill. The enemies of yesteryear are fast abandoning their hard-line postures and are coming together to forge a common front. This is because, as it is, the country appears to be inching gradually towards the precipice if recent events are anything to go by. As the day progresses, there is this inclination that dictatorship and totalitarianism are gradually creeping into our political lexicon.

    For quite some time, Africa has variously been described as a continent where the best of the news emanating from the continent is replete with wars, disasters, famine, disease and poverty of unimaginable proportion and other things associated with the vicissitudes of life. Those who hold on tenaciously to this belief may be right after all. Take a look at the ongoing debauchery, genocide and pogrom that is going on in the Central African Republic and South Sudan, where people sharing the same umbilical cord have suddenly become sworn enemies. A lot of destruction is taking place and so much blood is shed on the altar of ignorance, poverty and bondage. Back home in Nigeria, we are all living witnesses to the enormity of destruction being wrought on the corporate existence of Nigeria by the Boko Haram terrorist group.

    Apart from the high incidence of terrorism in the country, there is also a serious security threat occasioned by rampant cases of kidnapping and violent robberies in many parts of the country. This has almost stretched the elasticity of our security agents beyond the limit and a drain pipe to our dwindling financial fortunes. This situation is further exacerbated by the uncontrolled massive theft of oil, the nation’s cash cow, which has led to significant drop in oil revenue in the last few years. This has reduced the financial muscle of the government as oil theft persists thereby drastically infringing on national revenue earning.

    Due to some financial recklessness by our leaders, it is no longer news that the nation is broke. In the last six months, this situation has resulted in many states not being able to pay salaries of workers and honour other financial obligations because of the shortfall from their shares from the federation account, which is a monthly ritual where states are given financial handouts from a common till to meet their financial expenditures. This month, almost all the nation’s federal universities will be throwing their doors open for their students to resume school. This is coming after six months of closure due to a national strike embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, the umbrella union of Nigerian university lecturers, seeking improvement in funding of university education.

    Unfortunately, while the lecturers are returning to classes, the Nigeria Medical Association, NMA, which suspended a five-day warning strike by its members a few days to Christmas, is gearing up for a more devastating strike action if its demands which include payment of allowances and consolidation of appointments are not met. With the sensitive nature of the health sector, if the NMA is allowed to go on its planned strike, it may be the mother of all strikes with devastating consequences on health care delivery in the country. And the body has threatened that the strike will be total, that is, it will involve both the public and private practitioners. If that happens, where does that leave the country?

    There are so many things to talk about, but we should bear it in mind that the economy of the country is like blood that flows in the body – if it dries up, then the person is gone. If we don’t take steps to strengthen the economy, diversify our economic base from oil earnings and tackle corruption headlong, all this talk about 2015 and which person, party or tribe will take over the mantle of leadership in the country will amount to mere balderdash.

    I wish you all a happy and prosperous new year in good health!

     

  • Son of a Bitch

    On December 21, 1988, that is, a quarter of a century ago, a Pan Am Flight 103 with 243 passengers and 16 crew members exploded into shreds in the evening skies above Lockerbie, Scotland. In a twinkle of an eye, all the people on board including 35 students of Syracuse University, New York State and 11 more on the ground, perished.        Last Saturday, memorial events took place simultaneously in Britain and the United States to mark the 25th anniversary of the tragic bombing which devastated hundreds of families on both sides of the Atlantic. The day was marked with services of remembrance at Westminster Abbey, London and at Dryfesdale Church, Lockerbie. Services were also held at the Pan Am 103 Memorial Arcade in Arlington National Cemetery and at Syracuse University in New York State.

    The Lockerbie terrorist attack has so far remained the deadliest act of terrorism on British soil and probably surpassed by the September 11, 2001 terrorists’ attack on the World Trade Center in New York, the United States of America. And back home in Nigeria, today’s Christmas day marks the third anniversary of the 2010 bombing of St. Theresa’s Catholic Church at Madalla, Niger State. The bombing of the church, which was packed full of worshippers at the ceremonial service to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ, led to the death of over 44 persons, while about 75 others sustained serious injuries.

    Perhaps, nothing can be greater than the fact that the anniversary of Madalla bombing is being marked this year with the conviction of a major character in that unfortunate episode. Last Friday, barely five days to the third anniversary of that gruesome Christmas Day massacre, a Federal High Court in Abuja slammed a life sentence on Kabiru Umar, also known as Kabiru Sokoto, the mastermind of the act.

    Umar was first arraigned on April 19, this year, on a two-count charge bordering on terrorism. He was accused of training over 500 men on how to manufacture and detonate Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and having prior knowledge that the Boko Haram sect planned to bomb the church on Christmas day, but failed to disclose it to any law enforcement officer. He was also accused of having facilitated the perpetration of terrorist acts, including planting bombs at the Police headquarters and some government organisations between 2007 and 2012, at Mabira Sokoto, Sokoto State. Throughout his eight-month trial, Umar’s puerile defence was that the government failed to establish a prima facie case capable of warranting his trial and conviction.

    But the presiding Judge, Justice Adeniyi Ademola, thought otherwise. While delivering judgment in the case, the Judge held that the court found as a fact, the statement that Umar was the mastermind of the 2010 Christmas day bombing, adding that he did not controvert the evidence brought against him.

    Justice Ademola further held that the court agreed with the prosecution that the case against the accused person had been proved beyond reasonable doubt, adding that, the two statements of the accused person were admitted in evidence without opposition from the defence counsel.

    Justice Ademola held that the accused was a “pathological liar,” who deceived the court that he did not understand English Language when it was evident before the court that Umar had four credits in the West African School Certificate Examination (WASCE) and also worked as a Laboratory Scientist. The judge also faulted the attitude of the accused during the trial, adding that he did not show any remorse. Accordingly, Justice Ademola sentenced Umar to life imprisonment on the first count and 10 years on the second count, which should run consecutively.

    The judge also urged the security agencies to investigate the circumstances surrounding Umar’s arrest in the Borno State Governor’s Lodge in Asokoro, Abuja.

    He said members of Boko Haram had permeated all levels of government. According to him: “Indeed, the police have a duty to investigate and bring other persons involved to book. It is imperative that security forces finish off this investigation so that we can get to the root of this.”

    Umar was first arrested by the Police in Abuja on January 14, 2012 at the Borno State Governor’s Lodge after arriving at the Lodge in the company of a Flight Lieutenant in the Nigerian Air Force and one Ibrahim, who had sought and got approval by officers in charge of the lodge to spend the night there.

    Ibrahim had allegedly called the lodge officer who was away in Maiduguri, seeking to be given a room for the night, which he was obliged. But he came to the lodge that Friday evening along with Umar and the Air Force man. Security agents, who had been on Umar’s trail since he was declared wanted, traced him to the lodge that night and arrested him.

    Surprisingly, Umar was declared missing from Police custody two days later. His escape raised eyebrow in security circle. The police later came up with an explanation that he escaped when he was being taken to his home at Abaji, a suburb of the Federal Capital Territory, for a search by Zakari Biu, a Commissioner of Police. The police had said that a gang of youths flagged down the vehicle conveying Umar as it was heading for the Ona of Abaji’s palace, thereby creating chaos during which he escaped.

    His controversial escape from police custody was one of the factors that ultimately led to the removal of Hafiz Ringim, the then Inspector-General of Police, while Zakari Biu, who was in charge of the operation that led to Umar’s escape, was suspended from the Force on Tuesday, January 17, 2012. Biu was made to face an orderly room trial before he was later thrown out of the force with ignominy while a nationwide manhunt for Umar’s apprehension was declared. This paid off when he was later re-arrested in Taraba State by operatives of the State Security Service.

    Getting the conviction of Umar within a record time of eight months is a good sign that justice can still be speedily delivered in a country replete with various acts of injustice or where justice is hard to come by. Therefore, this judgment is a commendation for both the law enforcement agencies and the judiciary, which has again proved itself as a bastion of hope for the common man, particularly the victims of the Madalla senseless bombing. It is hoped that this judgment, although coming three years after the savagery was committed, would provide the necessary impetus for security agents to work hard to unmask those responsible for the killing of innocent Nigerians through terrorist acts wherever they may be.

    However, beyond bringing Umar to book, security agents should work assiduously to bring other perpetrators of this heinous crime to justice. It is also important for the government to go deep to unravel the root cause of this growing satanic behaviour, which has almost turned the country upside down. Just like many people have proffered in the past, beneath the insurgency that has continued to rattle the country and give it a bad name in the comity of nations, is endemic poverty which has eaten deep into the fabric of the nation.

    Of course, bad governance and inequitable distribution of our common patrimony may have bred this untoward situation through social disequilibrium. Suffice it to say that our policy makers need to tackle corruption, which is the bedrock of our national malaise, if this generation and generations yet unborn will not be permanently condemned to perdition.

    The case of Umar, who was arrested right inside a Governor’s Lodge in the company of a serving military officer, underscores the collaboration of some unscrupulous security agents with those who are determined to wreak havoc on the corporate existence of the country. Furthermore, the role of the Zakari Bius of this world in Umar’s escape from custody shows that really, as President Goodluck Jonathan admitted sometimes ago and this column pointed out last week, there are indeed moles within the country’s security apparatuses. This is dangerous for our national existence. We need to rise up as a government and as individuals to protect our country from the vagabonds who are hell bent on pulling us down.

  • Moles in the military

    Moles in the military

    Since 2009, the country has been reeling from serious attacks perpetrated by Boko Haram terrorists. It started like isolated attacks involving terrorists who daily sneaked into people’s homes and murdered them in cold blood. Their activities later grew in proportion and capacity to wreak havoc on hapless citizens. These satanic activities were no longer confined to the homes of their victims, they also hacked people down on the streets, highways, churches, mosques and wherever they chose to ply their lethal wares.

    Today, it has assumed the status of an epidemic on its own with countless people and numerous security agents falling victims in the hands of these terrorists who seem very determined. It was this frightening dimension introduced into the whole saga that prompted the federal government to impose a state of emergency on the three north-eastern states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe on Tuesday, May 14. This underscores the government’s resolve to confront the growing incidence of violence and insecurity in the country.

    While justifying the need for the measure, President Goodluck Jonathan bemoaned the breakdown of law and order in the affected states, parts of which he said terrorists had taken over. In a nationwide television broadcast, the President said: “Following recent developments in the affected states, it has become necessary for government to take extraordinary measures to restore normalcy… Accordingly, the Chief of Defence Staff has been directed to immediately deploy more troops to these states for more effective internal security operations. The troops and other security agencies involved in these operations have orders to take all necessary actions, within the ambit of their rules of engagement, to put an end to the impunity of insurgents and terrorists.”

    After this proclamation, the military moved in with their war arsenals. The first few months were hectic as the terrorists seemed to have dug in. With the more sophisticated weapons paraded by the Nigerian troops at that time, the terrorists were soon routed from city centres as they took to their heels and sought sanctuary in the hills and dense forests of the North-east. But just as people were beginning to heave a sigh of relief, the terrorists came up with deadly attacks using guerrilla tactics. And because the troops were not fighting a conventional war, they had to be mindful in their assault against the terrorists so as not to incur heavy civilian casualties.

    As it is, the terrorists seem to be capitalising on the self-restraint of the troops to wreak havoc on defenceless and innocent people, particularly in Borno State, which is the stronghold of the terrorists. Added to this is the fact that the terrorists who obviously enjoy some external support from Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Magreb, have grown in sophistication in recent times. This is apparent from the deadly attack unleashed on many targets, including a military base in Maiduguri on December 2.

    The attack, which came barely a few days after the President got approval of the National Assembly to extend the emergency operation in the North-east by another six months, took everybody, including military authorities, by surprise. Unfortunately, it was the military that suffered the heaviest casualty in the attack as about five aircraft were disabled by the terrorists when the Air Force base in the town was hit. Other military formations, including checkpoints, were not spared in the coordinated attack. That was just one of the many attacks in which the military suffered serious setback.

    Sometimes ago, at least 40 Nigerian soldiers were reportedly killed and 65 others went missing in a deadly ambush by suspected members of the extremist group in the state. The casualty, one of the heaviest for the military in its ongoing campaign, occurred along the Baga –Maiduguri Road on Friday, September 13, in what was described as a classic case of operational and communication failure. A detachment of soldiers under the 134 Battalion of the 12 Brigade under the Multi National Joint Task Force, MNJTF, stationed in Kangarwa village in Kukawa Local Government, had conducted a reconnaissance in order to gather intelligence around the area. During the exercise, they established the presence of previously unnoticed Boko Haram camps. The soldiers returned to their base and filed a report. The report recommended aerial bombardment of the area ahead of a ground operation by troops.

    Unfortunately, the plan was cancelled at the last minute by a senior officer without formal communication to the more than 100 troops that had already advanced on the area. Consequently, due to lack of communication, the troop ran into the terrorists without knowing that the aerial bombardment had been cancelled and they were caught unawares.

    The soldiers were trapped in the ambush as they came under heavy fire from the terrorists who had surrounded the area, leaving at least 40 soldiers dead. Some 65 others were missing. The terrorists also confiscated a huge cache of weapons from the soldiers. The attack jolted the army authorities which immediately ordered an investigation into the suspected operational blunder that gave the terrorists such an upper hand. The authorities were so irked that the commanding officer of the unit was instantaneously removed from his post.

    That attack came less than two months after a similar miscalculation on August 4, which also resulted in a heavy casualty following a similar surprise attack by the terrorists on a camp at Malam Fatori where no fewer than 20 soldiers got missing. Just as with past failures and massacres, the military authorities had placed a lid on the two incidents. These terrorists’ assault are a sad reminder of the difficulties which daily confront the military in its campaign against a dodgy but adept enemy that continues to take advantage of mistakes by military planners to inflict heavy casualties on the military.

    This was probably why the December 2 attack on the Air Force base and other security formations in Maiduguri sent the military authorities back to the drawing board. New strategies seem to be unfolding. It may have included the trial of those being held for terrorists’ activities. The Defence Headquarters recently recommended 500 suspects for immediate trial in respect of terrorist operations in the three North-east states. Some of those slated for trial include high-profile suspects, some of whom had been training other terrorists in weapon handling. Among the suspects are a medical doctor and some paramilitary or service personnel who had been fighting on the side of the terrorists. While some of the suspects might face trial in the states where they committed terror-related activities, others may be arraigned before federal high courts.

    In the same vein, the report also asked the authorities to release 167 others from detention. It described 614 cases inconclusive and recommended a review of the issues against the suspects. The suspects are among the almost 1,400 detainees screened by the Joint Investigation Team set up by the Defence Headquarters at the detention facilities in Maiduguri, Yola and Damaturu between July and September this year. The report also proposed that some of the detainees be tried for other offences ranging from armed robbery, murder to drug-related offences. This is a good development.

    From all indications, the military high command needs to look inward in order to be able to contain the activities of these terrorists. There is no doubt that with the various ambushes and surprise attacks on military formations, there are moles within the military itself. Take the attack on the Air Force Base for example. Without insiders’ involvement, it would not have been easy for the terrorists to overrun the base and other military establishments with ease. And the fact that the attack was carried out by the terrorists as a pre-emptive attack on the military on the eve of a planned major offensive on the terrorists’ locations in the forests and hills of Maiduguri, shows the hands of insiders in the whole episode.

    The military will do itself some measure of good if it can conduct a thorough investigation into both the December 2 spontaneous attacks and previous attacks on security formations in the past. It is only by doing this that the wings of the Boko Haram terrorists can be safely clipped.

  • The litmus test of greatness 

    The litmus test of greatness 

    It was Daniel J. Boorstin, an American Historian who in 1914, said: “Some are born great, some have greatness trust upon them and some hire public relations officers.” It is apparent that Nelson Mandela was born great. He was born into a royal lineage and at a point he lived in a royal household. But by far, it was the environment where he was born that eventually catapulted him to the pinnacle of greatness. He didn’t need the services of any PR firm to make him great. All he needed and which he had in abundance were inestimable values which are very rare in ordinary mortals.  These values include pragmatism, resilience, perseverance, determination, strong will and character, tenacity of purpose, sacrifice and a forgiving spirit, among others.

    From the script of his life which runs like an award-winning Hollywood movie, Mandela was always mindful that his leadership role in the liberation of South Africa from apartheid might not have been possible if he had not been imprisoned. This is further reinforced by Rolihlahla, his name at birth, which in his native Xhosa language simply means ”pulling the branch of the tree”. Colloquially, it also means “troublemaker”. His English name, Nelson, was given to him by a missionary schoolteacher who got startled when he called the young Mandela one day at school and asked for his name. The teacher must have encountered some pains pronouncing his African name. Hence he resorted to naming him Nelson, a name that stuck to him till death last Thursday at the age of 95 years.

    After this name transfiguration, his life as a youth in elementary school, though not properly documented, had shown some rebellious inclination in him. The young Mandela was expelled from the Fort Hare University after joining a student protest. He later completed his degree at the University of South Africa, which he followed up with a Law degree from Wits University. He fled the Eastern Cape for Johannesburg after Jongintaba Dalindyebo, his uncle and the leader of the Tembu people, tried to lure him into a pre-arranged marriage.

    He secured a job as a night watchman at a mine in the city. This, probably, was one of the best jobs a black boy like the young Mandela could get in a country reeling under the heavy yoke and seething vortex of apartheid at that time. He later moved in to hibernate with Walter Sisulu, his close friend, and Sisulu’s mother in Orlando, Soweto. This was where he met Evelyn Mase, his first wife, who was a nurse and Sisulu’s cousin. Evelyn was the breadwinner of the family and she supported Mandela while he studied Law at Wits University where he became further involved in politics. They had four children together and divorced in 1958.

    Mandela rose rapidly in the ranks of the youth wing of the African National Congress, ANC. He was versatile and cerebral. He later formed and became the commander in chief of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing of the party which was forced to go underground by the repressive white minority government. He was not only the first commander-in-chief of the  armed wing, but was also, in conjunction with Oliver Tambo, co-founder of the country’s first black law firm, Mandela & Tambo, which largely rose up to the defence of  people who were affected by apartheid laws.

    Mandela sneaked out of South Africa in 1962 ostensibly to garner support for the armed struggle. During this period, he received guerrilla training in Morocco and Ethiopia. He later returned to the country and had to move around incognito because his activities were becoming not only embarrassing to the apartheid government, but also a threat to its existence. One thing led to another and he was eventually arrested by security agents. The circumstances surrounding his arrest at a police roadblock outside of Howick, near Durban, remain unclear but it is believed that an American CIA agent tipped off the police about his movements.

    He was arraigned for trial. At the end of the trial, he was convicted of sabotage and attempting to violently overthrow the government. For this, he was sentenced to five years in prison. A year later, when the apartheid authorities discovered a safe house in Johannesburg linking Mandela to the sabotage campaign, he was brought out of prison again to stand yet another trial for the more serious charge of sabotage, which carried the death penalty.

    Mandela, along with eight others, were spared the gallows, but sentenced to life imprisonment, out of which he served 27 years. During his time in prison, Mandela was restricted to a 2m x 2.5m cell, with nothing but a bedroll on the floor and a bucket for sanitation in it. He was consigned to hard labour in a lime quarry for much of that time and was, at first, only allowed one visitor and one letter every six months. He spent 18 of his 27 years of incarceration on Robben Island.

    The light in Nelson Mandela’s prison cell was illuminated 24 hours a day. The apartheid government offered to release him on no less than six occasions but he rejected them each time. On one such occasion, Mandela released a statement saying: “I cherish my own freedom dearly, but I care even more for your freedom … What freedom am I being offered while the organization of the people [the ANC] remains banned?”

    Mandela wrote a memoir during the 70s and the copies were wrapped in plastic containers and buried in a vegetable garden, which he kept while at prison. His thinking was that Mac Maharaj, a fellow prisoner, who was due for release at that time, would be able to smuggle the memoir out. But the containers were discovered when prison authorities began the building of a wall through the garden. They were livid. As punishment, Mandela’s study privileges were revoked. Mararaj eventually smuggled out the transcripts at a later date. In fact, Maharaj was so creative that Mandela made him the Minister for Transportation when he became South Africa’s President in 1994 partly because of how effective he was in ‘transporting’ the documents out of prison.

    The ANC was labelled a terrorist organization by the apartheid government and was recognized as such by several countries, including the United States and Britain. It was only in 2008 that the United States finally removed Mandela and other ANC members from its terror list. The United Nations honoured him by declaring July 18, his birthday, Nelson Mandela International Day. This was the first time the UN dedicated a particular day to a person. Hundreds of awards and honours were bestowed on him in his lifetime.

    In an interview less than a year after he stepped down as the country’s first black president, Mandela shared his reflection of how prison changed him. He said that reading the biographies of great leaders who had been able to overcome their shortcomings and rise to do great things had inspired him. He said it also helped him to realise that in every seemingly ordinary person lay the potential of greatness. “I have been surprised a great deal sometimes when I see somebody who looks less than ordinary, but when you talk to the person and (he opens his mouth, he is something) completely different,” he said.

    Mandela said that he had learned that when you had the moral high ground, it was better to sit down, talk to people and persuade them of the correctness of your cause. “If you have an objective in life, then you want to concentrate on that and not engage in infighting with your enemies. You want to create an atmosphere where you can move everybody toward the goal you have set for yourself,” he said.

    From the handwritings on the wall, it could be correctly argued that the passing on of this great son of Africa has further exposed the entire continent to the vulnerability of imperialist manipulation. And this time, not through apartheid but through economic emasculation and slavery. The metamorphosis and trajectory of Mandela’s life is surely a lesson for those who lead or those who aspire to lead wherever they may be.

  • FG, ASUU’s tango

    FG, ASUU’s tango

    For several months, the cloud gathered. Now, the bubble has burst with devastating tremor. And so, last week, the five-month-old dispute between the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, and the Federal Government finally degenerated into what might be a major conflagration. The new twist in the lingering dispute is the ultimatum handed down by the government, which directed all federal university vice-chancellors   to reopen their institutions for academic and allied activities. The government also declared that lecturers who fail to resume on or before today, December 4, risk losing their jobs.

    This development has elicited mixed reaction in the polity. Not only this. It has also put spanners in the works of progress made on the truce meeting between President Goodluck Jonathan and ASUU leaders. The meeting had raised the hope of students and parents on the final resolution of the impasse before the latest development. A gory accident on the Lokoja-Abuja Road on November 12, in which Festus  Iyayi, a Professor and former President of ASUU, lost his life, possibly delayed the suspension of the strike after the President met with ASUU leaders. Iyayi and some   members of the University of Benin chapter of the union were on their way to the Bayero University, Kano, for a meeting where the outcome of the meeting with Jonathan was to be tabled before the National Executive Committee members for consideration when he met his untimely death.

    ASUU had called off that meeting in honour of Iyayi. It later reconvened in Kano   to harmonise its position on the   offer made to it by the government. The meeting later came up with conditions for calling off the strike. Part of it was its demand for the payment of its members’ salary arrears and a commitment on   the part of the government to review the agreement in 2014.

    On November 25, the union wrote a letter which was addressed to the President through Nyesom Wike, the Supervising Minister of Education and demanded that the N200 billion agreed upon as 2013 revitalisation fund for public universities should  be deposited with the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN , and disbursed to the benefiting universities within two weeks;  that the renegotiation of the 2009 Agreement in 2014 be included in the final document as agreed at the discussion with the President; that a non-victimisation clause, which is normally captured in all interactions of this nature, be included in the final document; and that a new memorandum of understanding shall be validly endorsed signed by a representative of government, preferably the Attorney-General of the Federation, and a representative of ASUU, with the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress as a witness.

    But as students, parents and other stakeholders eagerly awaited the government’s decision on the demands, an over-enthusiastic Wike addressed a press conference last Thursday and ordered ASUU members to resume today or be sacked. To rub it in that the government meant business, Wike, who was blowing hot and cold at the conference, ordered the vice-chancellors to advertise the positions of those who failed to resume at the specified date. The supervising Minister said the government took the decision in the best interest of the country.

    If the past history of ASUU’s strikes is anything to go by, it is certain that this latest action by the government aimed at arm-twisting the striking lecturers could not have been done in the interest of the country. If anything, it has worsened an already bad situation. The ultimatum had shown that the government might not have been totally committed to the implementation of any of the resolutions it earlier reached with the union. That the lecturers could be so shabbily treated under a democratic government with a former university lecturer as head of that government shows the depth of political insincerity and lack of determination on the part of the government to rescue the nation’s education sector from the abysmal abyss it has sunk for many decades. This level of decadence is manifested in the poor turnout of university graduates who are not properly intellectually equipped for the challenges of their future careers.

    The result is that many of these graduates permanently roam the streets looking for jobs which are elusive in the first instance, and if available at all, they may not have been adequately prepared for them. That is why it has almost become the norm for employers of labour to conclude that many of our graduates nowadays are unemployable. It might sound ridiculous, but those who are in positions to employ these graduates know better.

    Anyway, now that the government has decided to clamp down on the lecturers, it is left to be seen how this threat would hinder ASUU’s determination to ensure that the universities are well funded and standards raised. It is a pity if the federal government is not willing to perfect the resolutions reached with the union. This is why people find it difficult to trust Nigerian leaders. How can the government be threatening to sack lecturers when, in actual fact, the universities are said to be short-staffed by almost 60,000? This was probably why Professor Osarieme of the University of Lagos who spoke on Channels TV main news hour recently, said that the government’s ultimatum reminded her of the military era which ended 14 years ago.

    Perhaps, Osarieme could not fathom the reason the government ordered them back to the lecture rooms with fiat like Kindergarten School children. That type of a setting was under the military dictatorship which terminated in 1999 with the ushering in of this democratic dispensation, which the country is still struggling with. No thanks to our politicians whose attitude and behaviour have placed them among the world’s worst, selfish, visionless leaders in history. The military tried the same arm-twisting tactics and it failed many times. I am sure this one will go the way of the previous ones.

    With the latest development, the government’s commitment to its promises has come under serious doubt. Even if ASUU says since it was agreed at the meeting that N200 billion is for 2012 and 2013 revitalisation, the government should, therefore, deposit the money in the coffers of the CBN, the government should have found a more decent way around it. ASUU is also saying that a non-victimisation clause should be inserted as agreed while the renegotiation of the 2009 Agreement should be included as agreed with the President. I do not, by any stretch of imagination, see the conditions as being too much for a sincere government to agree to.

    The problem, as I see it, is not Jonathan per se, but the colony of wheeler-dealers in government who will stop at nothing to hoodwink him to toe their selfish path. The combative position adopted by Wike on this matter, though consistent with his behaviour in recent times, especially in the frosty relationship between the Presidency and Rotimi Amaechi, the governor of Rivers State, is both reprehensible and condemnable to say the least. With a person like Wike as a minister, we are doomed in this country. And to discover that Julius Okojie, a Professor and Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, was comfortably seated where the Minister was reeling out his abominable vituperations on the lecturers in what many have termed an ‘Area Boy’s show’, smacks of collusion with the government to ridicule the lecturers. I thought Okojie should have known better and appropriately advise the government on how to go about the whole issue.

    I am lost as to how Wike concluded that ASUU was making outrageous demands from the government. The onus is on government to address the issue ASUU sent to it in the letter, and from the contents that have been made public; they are not demanding anything extra. Wike and his cohorts should know that under successive military dictatorships, such threat to sack lecturers   did not work. What the government has simply done is to set the stage for another tortuous path to prolong the strike that should have been called off by now if the government did not engage in unnecessary bravado.

  • Anambra: A familiar storyline

    Elections in Nigeria have always assumed the status of a war on their own. Unlike the conventional war, this war is fought with deep war chest, propaganda, blackmail, intimidation and other rough tackles. Since the advent of democracy in the country in 1999 after many years of military interregnum, the story has been the same. Politicians, at every level, have devised various ingenious means and methods to win elections. In this game, the electorate who are supposed to freely express their wish and preference through the ballot box, often finds themselves either marginalized or disenfranchised.

    All these came to the fore recently in Anambra State, south-eastern Nigeria. For two days, November 16 and 17, the electorate fanned out to their different polling booths to elect a new governor who will take over the running of the affairs of the state from Peter Obi, the incumbent governor, whose tenure expires in a few months time. That election featured about 23 contestants, all eyeing the exalted seat. Everything was thrown into the campaign. But try as they all did, it was clear that only one person would emerge victorious. That was a settled matter.

    Except for a supplementary election, scheduled for Saturday, November 30, the election is yet to produce a clear winner. Expectedly, the election has raised more questions than answers. Many of the gladiators are crying foul and blue murder. The electoral body, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, is facing a barrage of accusations over its less-than-tidy conduct of the election.

    The politicians considered the election as crucial. In the first instance, Obi, the incumbent governor, saw the election as an opportunity to make a bold statement by installing a successor on the platform of his party, All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA. In actual fact, Anambra State is the only state under the control of this party which is largely considered the platform of the people of the South-east, the Igbo. That probably accounted for why all through his whistle-stop campaigns, Obi had to invoke the spirit of the late Chukwuemeka Odimegwu Ojukwu, ex-Biafra warlord, the Ikemba Nnewi and the founder of the party who is highly revered in Igbo land. Perhaps, this was a subtle way of reminding the electorate that they owed their progenitors a duty to keep their ancestral link and umbilical cord intact.

    For the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, the election was an opportunity to reclaim the state they lost to APGA eight years ago. But the entrance into the race by Tony Nwoye, its candidate, barely two weeks into the election after a protracted court case, could not have been to win. It could possibly have been a grand ploy by the PDP to divide the votes. This is because of the fear that Chris Ngige, a former governor of the state, now a serving senator and candidate of the All Progressive Congress, APC, was believed to be capable of springing a surprise at the election, thereby, upsetting the applecart. That fear may not have been misplaced. The APC considered the election a test of its avowed determination to take over the government at the centre in 2015. Therefore, the party believes winning the Anambra election would be a catalyst that will propel it in 2015.

    Ifeanyi Ubah, the candidate of the Labour Party, who was making his first appearance as a candidate for any elective office in the state, ran a good campaign, particularly in the media. He told whoever cared to listen that he had the magic wand to turn things around in the state. He went as far as boasting that he could deploy his personal resources into the governance of the state, if need be, and if he is eventually elected by the electorate. But he soon found out that securing votes in an election was far different from lifting oil or selling goods in the market. Anyway, the four were those considered to be serious contenders in the election which ended in a deadlock.

    INEC too did not come out clean. Going by the elaborate preparations it claimed to have made, the electoral umpire was not expected to have any issue as far as the voter register was concerned during the poll. But that was not to be. Many names were said to be missing in the voter register. Two cases in point are that of Nwoye, the PDP candidate, and as alleged by him, his family members. So many others’ names were also said to be missing from the voter register used for the election in his ward.

    The question that readily comes to mind is: Given the fact that INEC had discovered that the voter register to be used in the electoral process in Anambra State was fraught with problems, which it had enough time to put right, should any name still be missing in the register? Again, from past experience in this country, it is very certain that one of the strategies compromised electoral umpires usually employs to subvert the will of the people during election is the use of delay tactics in the deployment of election materials to areas considered as stronghold of a candidate that might create an upset in the poll. It is against this background that Ngige’s condemnation of the electoral process is seen by some observers of the election as justified.

    Long before the election, INEC should have considered the geography and topography of the state, and correctly estimate the distance from one council area to the other. If this had been properly done, it would have enabled the commission to plan the distribution of sensitive materials based on its findings. Certainly, the agency had more than enough time to plan for the Anambra election, if nothing else, to show its readiness and competence to carry out the forthcoming 2015 nationwide election.

    Regrettably, the agency has consistently failed to carry out hitch-free election each time. Like Attahiru Jega, the INEC chairman, admitted: “INEC prepared for that election more than it had ever prepared for any other election in the past. There is no doubt that INEC’s operational capability could not be said to be its best but we did our best under very difficult circumstances.” That storyline seems to be familiar. But when will this umpire live up to expectations in view of the vast resources put into it?

    By any standard, the announcement by INEC that supplementary election will hold in 210 polling units spread across 10 local government areas of the state is an admission of failure. It is the reason the winner of the election could not be ascertained yet since there are 21 councils in the state and a winner must score two-thirds of the election in 25 per cent of the councils.

    As things stand now, none of the three frontrunners, namely Willy Obiano, Nwoye and Ngige, has secured the majority votes and spread required by the Electoral Law to emerge winner on the first ballot. Even though Obiano, the APGA candidate, secured the most votes of 174,710 out of the 429,549 total votes cast, his 79,754 votes more than that of the PDP candidate, Nwoye’s 94,956 votes were less than the 113,113 votes that were cancelled by INEC in different polling units of the state. Therefore, to determine the ultimate winner, a total of 113,113 votes will be up for grabs in the supplementary election. It then follows that the winner of the Anambra election and his supporters will have to tarry awhile for the victory dance which will only come after the result of the supplementary election is announced.

    Curiously, the talk of supplementary election has not gone down well with some of the candidates in the election, and they have vowed to boycott next Saturday’s election if INEC did not cancel the whole exercise. That will cast a dark spot on the integrity of the whole election. And the country would again come under the trauma of endless court litigations which have been a regular feature of our politics in Nigeria. INEC should endeavour to learn from past mistakes and extricate itself from the litany of errors that have become its moral albatross in the conduct of elections.