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Category: Dele Agekameh

Nigeria’s intriguing corruption

Before the age of computers, the internet and all forms of modern media generally, oral story telling was a big part of cultural integration processes, especially in Africa. Great story tellers existed and their traditional tales thrilled children and adults alike, with many twists and turns crowned by the inevitable moral lessons inherent in them. Fables were especially popular, and the tortoise was at the centre of many funny tales. It now seems like a wave of nostalgia about those times has come upon the corrupt elements in our society.

Like many incredulous stories that have come out of Nigeria in recent times, the rave in the past few weeks has been about a few cases of missing beans, which is not in itself strange news to Nigerians. This time though, there has been an unexpected twist to the tales of corruption – animals. Like scripts from one of the many fables we used to be so entertained by, we have heard of how mysterious snakes and monkeys made off with staggering sums of money. The story tellers, of course, were civil servants and government officials who were confronted with questions for which they could not give any satisfactory answers to.

In the first case, a sales clerk at the Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board, JAMB, office in Makurdi, Benue State, produced an unbelievable account of how a mysterious snake made repeated trips into a vault that held JAMB money and swallowed a combined sum of at least N36 million. The clerk accused her house maid and other staff at the office of being accomplices or puppeteers of the mystery snake. The incredible storytelling was caught on tape, despite the fact that the story teller denied making the statement in an interview with CNN.

Without going into details of how a domestic help at the home of a JAMB sales clerk got caught up in the case of missing beans, one wonders why the clerk thought it wise to relay the tale to her superiors, truth or not. If the clerk believed the story to be true, why had she never raised alarm before the JAMB audit uncovered the deficit? Furthermore, there has been no word from the alleged maid or other implicated people, or the snake for that matter. Yet, the news spread like wildfire, intriguing the eventual victims of this very real theft – the Nigerian people.

In the next case, which is even more embarrassing than the implausible snake story, the now former head of the Northern Senators Forum, Senator Abdullahi Adamu has been implicated in the disappearance of the sum of N70 million. Senator Shehu Sani from Kaduna State spoke on the floor of the Senate after the letter of removal of Senator Adamu as leader of the forum was read at the Senate. He commented that there had been rumours that some monkeys raided the farm of Senator Adamu and carted away the millions. It was not readily clear whether the comment was serious or jocular, but the very fact that it wasn’t clear says a lot about where we are as a country today.

Beyond the intrigues of this incredible storytelling, there are real issues of concern in these matters. First is the cash culture that is still prevalent in the country despite the supposed cashless policy of the government. In the JAMB case, at least, one is thankful that Ishaq Oloyede, the new registrar, has been able to phase out the cash transactions that enabled clerks in Benue gulp down a whooping N36 million with no credible explanation. This is why the joke or no joke about N70 million and monkeys involving senators is a shame.

Government officials are amongst the most frequent handlers of large sums of cash, some of it coming straight from the Central Bank, as recent corruption cases have shown. With the knowledge that cash transactions increase the potential for corruption and minimises the accountability window in official transactions, one would expect that government offices and officials would be the pilot grounds for the implementation of the cashless policy. All evidence points to the contrary.

Another quite disturbing issue is the reception of the incredible tales by Nigerians. It appears that the weight of corruption has worn down the minds of Nigerians into a dispassionate state where we are majorly interested in the intrigues of corruption cases while losing sight of the real issues. In this case, one can describe the reaction of Nigerians as that of fascination, rather than something like righteous indignation, in the least. Maybe the case of the clerk presented a scenario most could relate to as opposed to a governor making up the same story.

In any case, Senator Shehu Sani displayed this fascination the most while attempting to masquerade his delight with sarcasm. Before his likely-made-up statement about monkeys, which only served to disgrace the country further, the senator had been the one that visited the JAMB headquarters in Abuja with snake charmers to further make light jokes about a serious matter of embezzlement while on the clock for his constituency of Kaduna Central. The man was simply so enthralled in the admittedly comic dimension of the whole affair that he lost touch of the real issue. Many Nigerians unfortunately mirror this reaction.

A country where looting becomes funny because some ridiculous tale has been told to cover it up, is not ready for real change. Soon after the snake and monkey episode, other ridiculous stories made the rounds, all supposedly in good humour. The fact that many other JAMB offices around the country had cases of missing sums that could not be accounted for became suppressed under the comic weight of the snake and monkey, and of course with assistance from a Senator of the Federal Republic.

Another disturbing aspect of the matter is the quarter of the population that actually believes the story. In a vastly religious country where older voodoo customs are still practiced by many, one cannot be too surprised that the clerk’s story of the snake sounds plausible to a section of the population. One can bet also that those that believe this will hold other ideas as to how to move forward in the case now. There are many mysteries in the world, but civilised society cannot be run on logic-defying beliefs and notions.

The fables now being told by suspected looters and irresponsible lawmakers may rival the best stories we heard in old times, but there is no moral to these tales of corruption. The only lesson we learn is that we are not winning the war of greater accountability. Whether the clerk believed the tale she presented or not, the truth is that the mind-set of the custodians of the common purse at any point in time may be a barrier to accountability in official practices. If one were to believe the clerk, for instance, it is altogether possible that she was busy fasting and praying or visiting witch doctors of her own when she should have been reporting lost money.

It is indeed shameful also that these tales are getting international attention. That CNN interviewing the clerk is a deeply embarrassing episode for the country. Whichever way one looks at it, it casts us all in a terribly bad light, just as the appointment of dead men into government boards and other sorry tales that have emerged from the country in recent times. The comedy must appear to never stop for observers in other countries, particularly neighbouring African countries who are in the same race for greater development as we are.

The world is always watching, and no matter the statistics, figures and charts we put out there, a foreigner wants to feel like they are in a civilised country when they visit, instead they pick up the morning papers and are greeted by these ridiculous tales. It is all at once sad and uninspiring that these are the kinds of matters that are generating the most attention in an election season. Too bad!

March 7, 2018
Negotiating with terrorists

In April 2014, more than 200 school girls were abducted by Boko Haram fighters from a boarding school in the northeast town of Chibok in Borno State. The scale of that operation generated international attention and exposed the Nigerian government to a barrage of criticisms. Not only this, it also attracted many competent partners to the fight against the insurgents.

After many of the girls had escaped and were found by the Nigerian authorities, it took over two years before 21 of the girls still held captive were released in October 2016. Another 82 girls were released in May 2017 in deals brokered by partners like the International Committee of the Red Cross, ICRC. But beneath the loud jubilation about the freed girls, there was deafening silence on the part of the government on the cost of releasing the girls. In spite of this, many believe that as part of the deal, the government released key Boko Haram fighters and parted with money to pave way for the release of those girls. This tactic was always a risk, and some poor families may now be paying for it.

Sad enough, in the evening of Monday, February 19, Boko Haram terrorists, in a deliberate and targeted attack, raided the Government Girls Science and Technical College, on the outskirts of Dapchi in Yobe State. Much like the Chibok attack, the insurgents made straight for the dormitories and gathered many of the girls into trucks they had brought to collect them. A count coordinated by the affected families revealed that at least 110 girls had been abducted.

Much has been said in international circles about negotiating with terrorists. George W. Bush, former President of the United States famously said that no nation can negotiate with terrorists as “there is no way to make peace with those whose only goal is death”. However, despite the hard-line position, the US and many other countries negotiate through intermediaries and under the radar. These negotiations come with the risk of encouraging or rewarding acts of terror.

In negotiating with terrorists, governments are wary about appearing weak and as such prefer to deal under the radar. The Nigerian government was very loud about its negotiations with Boko Haram, before any deal was reached and afterwards. The country suffered the embarrassment of negotiating with terrorists, which is a mark of weakness in international circles. Having suffered that, it is now suffering the humiliation of repeat attacks and abduction that will most likely lead to more deals.

One simply never negotiates from a weak position; and surely not with terrorists. As long as there were holes in the security plan for the entire northeast (for starters), the government remained in a weak position and negotiating was a bad idea. This is why the competence or sincerity of the ‘partners’ of the government in the northeast should be called into question. In the quest for the glory of finally helping to “bring back our girls”, there may have been oversights on the extended strategy for securing the northeast and ensuring that no further attacks like Chibok occur.

When Chibok happened, we all tried to imagine how a convoy of Landcruisers and trucks used by the insurgents could simply appear from thin air, take part in an all-night operation and vanish from the face of the earth in an area experiencing on-going terrorism and counter terrorism operations. Four years later, we are back here, in spite of the claims by the army of “crushing” the insurgency. This only shows the weakness of the security apparatus and its level of readiness to engage in negotiations with an adversary with no acceptable moral code.

This latest attack comes amidst an increased manhunt for Abubakar Shekau, the slippery leader of Boko Haram. It shows that if the government had any awareness of the risks associated with conceding to demands by the terrorists, it did not take adequate measures to ensure that the terrorists never attain such an opportunity in the future. This Yobe experience has now completely nullified any perceived success of the unholy negotiations.

Even while over a hundred families from Chibok still spend each day in the misery of not knowing the fate of their daughters, Shekau’s army of radicals has thrust more families into the endless wait for action from a government and military that does not realise its own weakness. The huffing and puffing of the Nigerian army in the face of colossal disintegration of internal security, especially in the northeast, is unfortunate for the lives and property of the people they are sworn to protect.

One recognises that the government finds itself in an impossible position, but it has failed to manage the situation to an acceptable degree, even with the huge resources in financial and human terms being volunteered from all around the world. Sustained violence on the scale at which we are currently experiencing within our borders is one of many markers of failed states. Now, how far is the Nigerian state from failure?

While many have taken the political route to reacting to the news of the latest abduction of girls, it is important to note that the current terrorism of Boko Haram is a collective result of the all brawn and no brains approach of the Obasanjo regime, the docile reaction under Jonathan and the over-confidence of the Buhari administration. It is obviously not a partisan issue but a grave danger to the whole country and its economic drive. More important is the pain of incompetence that is not felt by the government officials that fall short of expectations, but by the lowly masses looking up to the government to protect them from the enemies at their doorstep.

In all of this, it is saddening that Boko Haram has had the advantage all along. The girls were abducted for many reasons, and even after their release, the terrorists had taken something from them. Many of them returned with babies and those who did not, had been similarly violated. The emotional and mental toll seems to be unending for the returnees who have spent months in government re-integration camps and away from their families. The girls that were returned had lost their innocence, if nothing else.

All the while, funds collected through the charity of foreign donors were diverted with boldness and disdain while the terrorists made babies with their captive brides. The rumours about high ranking military officers who are complicit in the terrorism also remain, even in the Yobe attacks. It is inconceivable that in an organised system, a coordinated attack on this scale can take place twice in the same region after “intensive” military operations against it had been in place for years.

Our shame as a nation now knows no bounds because the government keeps showing weak points for terrorists and other blood-thirsty groups to exploit. There were the so-called militants in the Niger Delta that are still receiving plum government pay-outs today in exchange for their calmness. The amnesty extended to that group has been suggested even for Boko Haram members. Does our government know any other tricks apart from capitulation?

Now that Yobe has happened, are we going to go through the same roller-coaster of military gymnastics that end up in capitulation? If our nerves deep in the south are frayed from the incessant killing and violation of people in the northeast, one only wonders the state of mind of the people that have to live in fear and realisation that they are not safe after all.

There are no easy solutions, but there is room for improvement in all quarters, even with those providing “expert” advice and support to our military chiefs and government officials. We all need to be frank about safeguarding the lives of these defenceless girls and their right to an education. It is not time for trading blames, but a time for collective responsibility.

February 28, 2018
Creating choice in 2019

In the past couple of weeks, this column re-ran a two-part series that was first published late in 2016, about the need for a third force in Nigerian politics. Written over a year ago, before the recent resurgence of the debate about finding a third force in Nigerian politics, the series aptly mirrors the present realities and signals from political heavyweights in Nigeria. The analysis betrayed one sad truth about Nigerian politics as it currently stands; it is a Rubik’s cube of same-coloured tiles.

Beyond the usual self-interest, there is a need to give Nigerian voters political purpose and create real choice in politics that the people have not had since the re-introduction of democracy in 1999. The country has suffered politically in the absence of real choice for nearly two decades. Few things in life are more important than choice, and when a person or group is robbed of this, there is almost no greater calamity. This is even worse when the target persons or group have been deceived into thinking there is an abundance of choice.

From the fundamental practices of the only two viable political parties that we have, choice is being limited before the voter even thinks of voting. For example, the zoning policy that is adopted is understandable given our potpourri of ethnic groups and the ethnic conditioning of voters by the various leaders of these groups, but it does not make it ideal or even right. Certainly, if we had to choose between open and free choice on the one hand, and political conditioning that exploits ethno-religious sentiments on the other hand, the sane choice is clear. However, the people’s eyes need to be open to the exploitation of their sentiments before they can understand free choice.

No one in real authority within Nigeria’s political structure would encourage free choice. The current political class was weaned on ethnic exploitation and adversarial ideologies that are introduced into every facet of the Nigerian life. The products of this class are practically unable to see beyond divisions, and this is demonstrated in their politics and the understanding of politics that the voters that flock after them hold. That is why the attempt by the former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, or OBJ as he is called, to present himself as anything different from the other members of the present political class is laughable to discerning Nigerians.

OBJ suggested the birth of a third force and even christened his idea of a third force in Nigerian politics in the most public way he could muster while Aso Rock remains firmly (and thankfully) out of his grasp. The launch of his Coalition for Nigeria in Abuja was a celebration of the tyranny of the current political class. The years of mismanagement we have suffered under this class with the familiar dance of one step forward and two steps back will only continue with people like OBJ plotting the creation of a third force. The politics of the current political class and not the politicians themselves is what has held the country rooted to the ground of decay for all these years. You simply can’t teach new tricks to an old dog.

Also, similar to OBJ’s Coalition for Nigeria, a new group recently emerged under the name “National Intervention Movement” with the likes of Prof Pat Utomi and Olisa Agbakogba (SAN) spearheading the movement. While some see them as a committee of academics with no practical solutions to the Nigerian situation, there are some telling signs that it may be yet another waste of the time of Nigerians. Donald Duke, former governor of Cross Rivers State is associated with this movement and he was also found alongside the controversial former governor of Osun State, Olagunsoye Oyinlola, at the launch of OBJ’s movement. What Nigerians need in political alternatives are real choices, and this is only demonstrable by the existence of unique and separate ideals at party level, or in this case, their forerunner ‘movements’.

The troubling sign of purpose-shopping after the fact is exactly what put Nigeria in the state that it is presently. This is most visible in the time of this current dispensation where it became clear that President Muhammadu Buhari’s All Progressives Congress, APC, was not prepared for power when it pushed out the PDP government in 2015. The truth is that none of his predecessors were ever prepared. They all scrambled to find purpose after taking power and that is why they failed. The different would-be third force movements are displaying the same naiveté and one only wonders if a real force will ever be born.

Of all the contenders for 2019 uncovered in the analysis of this column, or anywhere else, none are so removed from the corrupt touch of the politics of this political class as to raise the hope of a much needed change in ideology. As already suggested here, we do not only need a change of politicians, we need a change in political ideology and approach to politics. Ibrahim Dakwambo, Rabiu Kwakwanso, Nasir el-Rufai and of course former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and President Muhammadu Buhari have all swam in these murky political waters and are tainted. They cannot drain a swamp that is full of their friends, and relatives in most cases.

In the race for the creation of a third force, we are currently faced with an assembly of old tainted politicians with scores to settle and a committee of academics with their noses so far up the clouds of idealism that they may be unable to communicate with the people they seek to liberate. Then there is that other theory that no ‘outsider’ can get anything done politically without fraternising with the power brokers in the political class. Whichever way one looks, the picture of the future is bleak.

The sun has to set on this era in Nigerian politics, and there is no telling what the dawn will bring. We need urgent action to shore up the future of the country so that the mistakes of past years do not keep recurring and more importantly, so that the perpetrators of past misdeeds do not slip through our net of awareness. True change needs to begin with the realisation of our inherent choices as the electorate and potential candidates and the rejection of the mind-set that our circumstances and leaders have foisted on us.

When we remind ourselves that we run a democracy, where choice – the people’s choice – is the foundation, we get a clearer perspective of the real problem before us. Why has none of the other fringe political parties garnered enough weight to be real contenders for political power? Or why do we need the deceitful tongue of an OBJ, for instance, to call for a third force before we resume debate or take action about it?

The greatest tragedy of being Nigerian is our collective mindset; It is adversarial, to the slightest extent. The political class is not the only one that has been raised on divisive ideologies, but it is the one that ensures that it persists and is propagated indefinitely. Because we distrust one another, we are constantly at odds and in search of means with which to subdue one another. Power holds the means, and so we look to power to exploit our differences, and the holders of power oblige. That is their failing.

In a throwback to military era propaganda, there are now calls for a million man march for President Buhari. Rather than for praise-singing, such a colossal movement is appropriate only to send a message to the establishment that the people have had enough. When the electorate is awake, all political parties are viable and the people become the only force. This is the future that Nigeria needs and it only requires utilising our forgotten choices come 2019. We have always had choices.

February 21, 2018
Waiting for a Third Force (2)

It is rather ironic that it is Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, one of the prosecution witnesses selected to rubbish, incriminate and demonise Saraki and his ambition to run for president in 2019 that is being primed to pull Saraki from his high pedestal. It is also surprising to note that the unusual rapport and camaraderie existing between Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, a former governor of Kano State and current senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and his erstwhile deputy and successor as governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, has nose-dived into a raging confrontation between the duo.

It is believed that Ganduje, the incumbent governor of Kano, is either intent on running his own show or working assiduously to stifle and minimize Kwankwaso’s threat of running for the 2019 presidency at the behest of either el-Rufai or the President, himself. Confrontation between the two sides of the divide recently went physical when policemen, supposedly on the express order of Governor Ganduje, stopped a mass wedding event sponsored by the Kwankwassiya Movement, Kwankwaso’s political and ideological foot-soldiers. A move by this same organisation to hold the event at the residence of Senator Kwankwaso was also put down by the same security agents, an action that is currently under investigation by the police high echelon.

Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, currently the Governor of Sokoto, supposedly as a consolation prize after he recanted his presidential ambition for Buhari’s emergence, is believed by many political pundits to be working subterraneously, to re-energise his ambition in the face of the poor showing in all facets of governance and service delivery by the current Buhari presidency. As a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tambuwal’s grip on issues and fellow representatives, presented a picture of one with commitment, independence, fairness and religious tolerance – attributes that seem in short supply in Buhari’s rule so far. Tambuwal’s political sense is further attested to by his liberal attitude to those issues that rile other politicians. Recently, he went to Rivers State to commission some projects done by the rival Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), government of Nyesom Ezenwo Wike.

It is generally believed that the ambition of Atiku Abubakar to be the president of Nigeria, has never dimmed for once considering his huge investment in the long-running project which has seen him make several forays. Rather, he becomes more determined by the day. To actualise his enduring mindset that his northern people have not been represented at the presidential stage by the one who is truly national in orientation and profoundly detribalised in practice, Atiku sees himself in that stead and is primed for the position.

With the younger hawks in the All Progressives Congress angling for a piece of the presidential cake, Atiku may be forced by the prevailing circumstances to float a political party of his own as a platform to actualise his ambition. Either way, the prospects of his supplanting a Buhari in the run-up to the 2019 Presidential Election, appear brighter and more realisable on that new platform. Sources within the APC and the PDP are also of the view that a presidential field that includes an Atiku running on a new party with a Buhari on the APC ticket, and a northern PDP candidate will be a beauty to watch. Atiku is also seen by many as a bridge between the old and the young especially if the robust health he currently enjoys is taken into consideration.

Atiku is generously endowed financially and with decades of personal, business and political networks across the six geo-political zones of the country he is the man to beat. He, it was, who inherited the political machine of the late master-strategist, General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, that once straddled the Nigerian political space, a factor that will come handy in the coming couple of years. With the current happenings and uncertainly in the PDP, a new party midwifed by Atiku will present a third leg of the political tripod that will determine who takes what in 2019.

With the current power pendulum of the existing two major political parties – the APC and PDP – it is apparent that, barring any unforeseen circumstances, a new political party would soon emerge on the horizon. The new party, which would be a third force, will be made up of aggrieved members of the ruling APC and the remnants of the opposition PDP. The new party would challenge the APC and the PDP.

Many frontline leaders of the two main political parties are involved. Meetings on the new party have been held both in Nigeria and outside the country particularly in London and Dubai. The emergence of the party probably became imminent because some leaders of the two main political parties believe that Nigerians are neither happy with the current governance style of the APC nor the present deplorable state of the PDP.

As a result of this, some concerned leaders of both parties, who are equally dissatisfied with the goings-on in the polity are trying to forge a new alliance in order to find a way out of the Buhari presidency. The way things are now, it is not certain that the APC or the PDP will go into the 2019 election as presently constituted. What this implies is that, a new political party, chiselled from both parties, is in the offing and could be unveiled anytime soon to prepare it for the 2019 elections.

Nigerians are particularly irked by the perceived non-inclusive nature of Buhari’s APC and the protracted crisis in the PDP. They will not be happy to see the PDP return to power so soon under the same name. It is also obvious that though some top politicians in the APC are still on the surface, showing solidarity with President Buhari, they are rankled by the strength of what they call the ‘cabal’ around the president’s cabinet. Thus, many top members of the party are dissatisfied with the vice-like grip of the group on the president.

Though some strong political leaders and supporters of the two main political parties might dismiss those looking for a new party as deluding themselves, the Buhari presidency has become too shaky in recent times and so could be vulnerable to manipulations and outright abandonment by those who have been sidelined in the scheme of things.

But the protagonists of the new political party are not unaware that the Buhari presidency is far different from the immediate past Jonathan presidency where all sorts of things happened. They are cautious that if anybody makes a false move now and those in the corridors of power get to know, all they need is to show you some papers and tell you what you did in the past. That is trouble. That is the way it goes in Nigeria. That was the way former President Olusegun Obasanjo kept opposition to his regime at bay.

And right now, the cabal is stronger than that of former President Obasanjo. Don’t be fooled that you can threaten them. The only safe passage for the protagonists of any new party for now, and they are aware of this, is to keep their scheming close to their chests, otherwise, they should be prepared to ruffle feathers with security agents particularly the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

It is obvious that the PDP may not survive after all. That is why those who can think fast believe there is need for a backup on their side. Many leaders in the APC are also unhappy with Nigeria sliding into recession under their leadership. They attribute the state of the nation’s economy to a lack of capacity by those saddled with the responsibility of governance.

Whether young or old, Nigerians expect those who harbour the intention to preside over the affairs of this great country to set corporate development agenda by enunciating sustainable policies that will benefit all, not just a section. Concluded.

February 14, 2018
Waiting for a Third Force (1)

Power, to the ambitious, is like an aphrodisiac. It creates the enabling self-satisfying platform for the realisation of other pursuits and wants that can only be assuaged by a higher dose of its finer or baser attributes. It has been used by leaders to subjugate and strangulate the opposition in the selfish race to personalise or colonise it. Others want power for its sake as a development tool or a vehicle to emancipate a larger mass of the people they lead. An admixture of these variants sometimes occurs.

In its pristine form, the beauty of politics is the allure and aura of power. In the Nigerian context, there is the added tendency for some of the wearers of the power toga to use it to accumulate economic capital for self and cronies. It is not enough to apportion the accruing “dividends of democracy” as many of those within the periphery of the power modem develop a sense of “resource control” and “self-help,” as the case may be.

It is in the light of the foregoing that we must situate the desperate and precipitate actions, activities and utterances of a certain section of the political class that has indulged in wanton disregard for constituted authority and rebellious activities designed to instigate other sections of the society to do same with intent to undermine the freely-elected president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and his administration by overt and covert means.

The present cadre of politicians believe that the art of politicking is another dimension of war that must be fought with bile, angst and uncommon but intense vehemence to achieve the primary aim of acquiring power and all other “appurtenances” that will, necessarily, follow. Ordinarily, the foibles of the average politician are mainly predicated on the need to have a space in the market place of ideas to drive his quest for power.

In recent times, the Nigerian polity has witnessed a subtle but clearly discernible jostle for political power with the most strident and baleful politicking in the nation’s history. It exhibits the frightful potentials for exacerbating the already taut and fragile security situation in certain parts of the country and the crippling economic recession, the existence of which many people believe some of the politicians are culpable.

Conversely, a section of the political class, with hidden drum majors, has been fanning the embers of discord, hatred and bare-faced manipulation of the people’s set views through inciting statements, activities and proxy media interventions. These are carried out with pre-determined anti-establishment focus, bent and impact, to rock the boat of focused governance, preparatory to a final assault on the presidency in 2019. A very important area that most people are not paying any attention to is the frenetic and subterranean moves and posturing for the presidential elections of 2019. This is even so as the government of President Muhammadu Buhari is still tottering and trying to consolidate on the tenets of good governance it espoused during the 2015 campaigns.

There is no gainsaying the fact that the virtual ‘war’ for the soul of the National Assembly, on the issue of the election of its principal officers, was one fought solely to position certain persons for prime positions at the presidency in 2019 and beyond. Among the top echelon and rank-and-file of the APC, there is talk of the likelihood of President Buhari doing one term and leaving the terrain to the likes of Atiku Abubakar, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, Abubakar Bukola Saraki (who is currently in the visible and powerful position of President of the Senate) and lately, the diminutive Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, has silently crept into the emerging presidential list of possible successors in 2019.

It is pertinent to note that Mallam el-Rufai is steadily building bridges of understanding and networking among the power bases in the six geo-political zones of the country as a dress rehearsal for 2019. He was physically present at the annual Ojude-Oba festival in 2016, an assembly of prominent Ijebu sons and daughters in Ijebu-Ode, three days after the Eid-El-Kabir festival. It is patterned along the ancient Durbar that is also held at about the same time in many cities in the northern parts of the country.

A member of Buhari’s kitchen cabinet, el-Rufai is believed to be one of the brain-boxes of the CPC that co-joined with two other legacy parties to form the APC. Being at the epicentre of the scheming and posturing within the APC, he sees himself as that technocrat who is honing his skills to succeed a geriatric Buhari. The fireworks are expected to be set off as soon as President Buhari engages the home-bend in the dusk of his current term. This is mindful of the possible scenario that the president’s foot-soldiers will, either by self-help or prodding from the principal himself, plot a second term which he is constitutionally-entitled to and in the process, rubbish the ambition(s) of those who are rearing to go after his job.

As it is, President Buhari has a date with history, positively or negatively, depending on how he will ultimately solve the myriad of problems and challenges besetting his present term of office. With the present dismal indices, he will either be remembered for assuaging the dire circumstances assailing the larger mass of the Nigerian people or for compounding them.

It is believed that the most glaring leadership flaw that President Buhari has, as usual, is his susceptibility to being hijacked by a powerful cartel or cabal to take decisions and provide direction. It is this shortcoming that el-Rufai feels he is in the best position to reverse through the effective combination of goals and methods in the practice of good governance. In the camp of those disposed to a new presidency in 2019, the current president has been silently consigned to an Old Peoples’ Home even while he is the de jure occupant of Aso Rock Villa, a fact that is reinforced by the held perception by many Nigerians that President Buhari lacks the required “magic” wand to turn around the crippling downturn that is currently assailing the heart and hub of the Nigerian economy and by extension the people’s living standard.

Purveyors of this empirical theory are wont to postulate that: if Buhari at age 73 is wobbling and fumbling to steady the similarly wobbling and tottering Nigerian economy without visible success, what do you expect when he is in the throes of age 80 and above?

It is the younger cadre of APC faithful that is throwing up an el-Rufai or any other ‘Young Turk’ with a vaunting ambition to shove and shunt a geriatric Buhari aside and replace him with a young and mentally-active president who will be his own man. He will solve the nation’s problems and challenges through a digital approach and alacrity shorn of the drudgery and “slow motion” that is presently the rule of the day.

It is rather ironical that el-Rufai had at a forum on October 5, 2010, shot down Buhari’s decision to run again in a fresh presidential election. Hear him in the following words which are still very profound and true in today’s circumstances: “… Babangida and General Buhari should just disappear. They should give way to a new set of people with new ideas. Young people, preferably… Obama is 48 and Cameron is 43, for God’s sake. So, why are we recycling leaders that ruled this country very well or very badly, 25 years ago?”

Many also believe that a long list of possible successors are scheming on the side-lines and are building structures to actualise their projections. Saraki’s sly politicking that made him the president of the Senate has resulted in the orchestrated scheming to remove and disconnect him from the very visible role of the Senate President which many political watchers believe he is using to test waters and mainly to reinvent himself as a welfarist and caring bridge-builder.

February 7, 2018
2019: OBJ’s shenanigans

The last presidential elections that held in Nigeria in 2015 marked a momentous point in the history of Nigerian politics and democracy. In that election, a sitting government was uprooted in favour of the opposition for the first time since the country reverted to full democracy in 1999. After the frenzy of that election, our politicians retreated to their cocoons to await another day, another opportunity.

By the latter part of 2017, the electioneering spirit again gripped the politicians. Now, the familiar stirrings of election season are spreading across the country. Today, the very last day of January, the gloves are fully off for another round of political jostling ahead of elections in early 2019. Elected officials have already begun backtracking on many politically injurious courses they had chosen in the last three years. Their implicit confidence in the short memory of Nigerians is being showcased yet again.

The players largely remain the same. On the part of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, familiar faces have returned in preparation for this round of jostling. Leading the pack is Atiku Abubakar, the notorious carpet-crossing former vice-president. He made a comeback to the party late last year when it became apparent that the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, was uninterested in his presidential ambitions. Atiku hopes to pick up the presidential ticket of the PDP in the coming elections. But there are other contenders like Ibrahim Dankwambo, governor of Gombe State, and the rabble-rouser Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State, amongst others, waiting in the wings.

In the ruling APC, there is less clarity about the party’s presidential frontrunner. Amidst expectations of another term for the incumbent, President Muhammadu Buhari, there are rumours of other prospective options should Buhari decline. Curiously, the president has recently been under fire because of a run of perceived nepotic appointments made by his administration, and some ‘mis-appointments’ that include dead persons and members of the opposition party in an apparently careless exercise. Most evident, however, is the outcry over his administration’s docile handling of the on-going killings related to activities of his kinsmen, the Fulani herdsmen, across the country.

Other issues plague Buhari’s possible second coming. His age, frail health and failings in the management of the country’s economy have become usual points of criticism from the opposition. In the shadows of APC, names like Nasir El Rufai, governor of Kaduna State, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, former Kano State governor, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, governor of Sokoto State, are prominent on lips within the APC.

However, in the background of all the posturing by the heavyweights in the different political parties, a bombshell was delivered last week by the self-appointed kingmaker and oracle of Nigerian politics, former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, more commonly known as OBJ. The delusional messiah penned an open letter to the president, advising him to bow out of active politics by 2019, else he be disgraced out of office like his predecessor, Goodluck Jonathan.

One recalls, with some distaste, that the same OBJ wrote an 18-page letter to the then President Jonathan before his eventual defeat at the 2015 general elections. The 13-page letter to President Buhari, this time, contained many points of interest that ought not to have escaped the mind of the self-righteous OBJ. His hubristic belief in his own importance and cunning is revealed in his plea to the president to retire to the sidelines. At the same time, he himself proposes and names a movement that ensures he (OBJ) can pull strings from the background as he has been unable to do just that in any of the two major parties since his failed third term bid.

OBJ speaks of “lice of general and specific poor performance” in government today, and the need to crush them. Perhaps he needs a lesson in biology to understand how lice replicate at an alarming rate. The older lice lay eggs called nits and die off in a few days just when their nits have matured and are ready to lay their own eggs. OBJ is one of the old lice in Nigerian politics that have refused to die. The hubris of the man to think that he is somehow removed from all the problems he laid out is vexatious. In fact, he laid the foundation for the appalling state of the nation today.

The grandfather louse also wrote about a movement that ‘should’ be created, when he had been in consultation for its creation for months. Another deadwood of Nigerian politics, Olagunsoye Oyinlola has been named as the coordinator of the ungodly coalition that OBJ contemplates. Already, it is said that about six governors and more than 20 senators have pledged membership to this coalition. Truth is, these governors and senators are from the same wobbly political parties that OBJ blames for the present state of the country.

In essence, the former president is telling Nigerians that he can come out and declare a new platform that will absolve any subscribers of guilt for their part in eroding our democracy since 1999. The frontrunners of these parties are his past associates who are set to leave him in the dust of Nigerian politics and the self-proclaimed kingmaker cannot live with it. So he has resorted to manufacture an opposition force to his former friends so that they will not enjoy what he can’t. No doubt that his coalition will be full of people that are ready to pledge loyalty to him in what would amount to blind loyalty. This fact has been amplified by a recent open letter to the old fox by Iyabo Obasanjo, his biological daughter.

Though the open letter does contain a lot of truths about the present state of things, the medium of these truths is the problem in this case. There is, indeed, the need for a third force in Nigerian politics, as has been pointed out by many credible Nigerians before now. The third force, however, cannot be populated by all the familiar faces we have become accustomed to in governance. The present crop of politicians are cut from the same cloth of reckless corruption that has been an embarrassment to the country for decades.

Only a movement like the one that occurred in France not too long ago, can serve the purpose of what OBJ alluded to. Certainly not the desperate reshuffle of despicable characters like him who are spent forces that have nothing else to offer apart from deceit and forced relevance.

OBJ spoke of Buhari passing the buck of his shortcomings, whereas he persists in passing the buck himself, after orchestrating every failed administration that has come since his greed and over-ambition for a third term was truncated. The time has come for the old hands to truly take their place in history and remain there. OBJ has refused to join ‘elders’ of his stature like past Heads of State, Ibrahim Babangida and Abdusalami Abubakar who have truly retired and settled into the life of elder statesmen, giving opinions when prodded and generally remaining in the background, where all past leaders should be.

2019 can be a turning point if Nigerians can muster courage to stand up to the shenanigans of OBJ and his cohorts who are the new colonial masters holding the country back. They have been brainwashing gullible Nigerians into believing in godfatherism as the ultimate political system. This is why the first thing most Nigerians of voting age look out for in a new candidate is who his/her godfather is.

For the many other old hands and new “lice of poor performance” that have castigated Buhari over his failings, a message needs to be passed in the next elections that Nigerians are not ready to settle for the devil’s alternative anymore.

January 31, 2018
Cattle-cracy

When George Orwell wrote his timeless book, Animal Farm, he was consumed by thoughts about the ills of communism and the events surrounding the Russian Revolution of 1917.

In the satirical work published in 1945, Orwell imagined a dystopia where the masses, represented by farm animals, unite to topple their tyrannical overlords, chiefly represented by the human character of “Mr Jones”, the owner of the dystopian “Manor Farm”. The farm was then re-christened Animal Farm by the animals following their revolution. Thick in timeless satire about equality and the designs of oppressive leadership, the book remains one of the greatest literary works of the 20th century.

After Orwell’s dystopian farm animals successfully rebel against their owner, Mr Jones, by chasing him and his men out of the farm, “Napoleon”, the pig, became the de facto leader. And with the aid of propaganda, perpetually modified laws and a band of dogs trained to kill, he brings the animals under harsh rule that sees the pigs, like Mr Jones, enjoy the spoils of the new farm. In the end, the “laws of animalism” are subsumed into a single law – that “all animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.”

Animal Farm provokes thoughts about real problems of oppression and inequality in virtually every society. However, what many have never contemplated, and perhaps, beyond most people’s wildest imaginations, is an actual uprising of animals in society. Odd as it may seem, Nigeria now appears to be as close to this unfathomable experience as possible, especially as our cattle seem to have already acquired human vassals to do their bidding and enforce their will on us humans.

In recent times, allusions have been made to Nigeria being a zoo full of animals. One imagines what an animal government would look like in this ‘zoo’. Of course, cattle will run the show, due to their already immeasurable contributions and efforts towards colonisation of humans as we have it in Nigeria today.

The first order of business for the animal government might be to suspend our laws and systems, to be replaced by a cattle-cracy, governed by the law of repercussion. This will ensure that cattle will be “more equal than other mammals” and one cow’s life will be worth several human lives as it is now happening in modern day Nigeria.

Since the cattle are mostly from the north, there would be a need for some measure of balance to assuage other animals. The Southwest, being the enjoyment or owambe capital of Nigeria and the most cattle-loving region (never mind the nature of this love) would be a beneficiary in this regard. A worthy goat from the extensive stock of asun goats in the southwest would suffice as the deputy head. As we all know by now, if you put yam where a goat is, the goat will eat the yam. The head cow will ensure that there are plenty of yams to keep the deputy head goat occupied so he won’t interfere in the enjoyment of the cattle.

One imagines that there will also be strategic appointments into military and other security positions in the Animals’ Republic. Crocodiles from the Niger Delta will serve as marine guards in the inland waters and creeks, while great white sharks of the Atlantic, also found in the Niger Delta, will man territorial seas. The Chief of Air Staff will, of course, be a guinea fowl from the northeast, to command a fleet of eagles and vultures. The Chief of Army Staff may be a ram, chosen by nepotism, also from the north, to command more qualified animals like tigers, lions and leopards. And dogs, who enjoy a good treat but can be quite ferocious at other times, will make good policemen under the new dispensation.

The inner caucus of the head cow at the Federal Cattle Territory, FCT, including the Chief of Staff and others, will most likely consist of hyenas who will also populate the cattle secret police. An assortment of snakes and pigs will be in charge of ministries and the states, while some humans will be kept on as vassals and foot soldiers. One is only thankful that majority of these animals are herbivores. However, in a world of acquired tastes, as Napoleon and the other pigs prove in Animal Farm, one ought to be cautious with expectations.

The very first description of Napoleon in Animal Farm paints him as a “fierce looking” boar “with a reputation for getting his own way”. In like manner, the cattle-cratic code imposed by the head cow, one expects, will be quite simple when it comes to voting in elections. Whoever the cattle vote for, wins an election, although other animals would be allowed to vote. To keep up appearances as well, a true, unruly parliament of many animals will be created to engage in useless debates which will end up in fights as they devour each other.

Now, let us wake up from this cattle-cratic nightmare. It is scary that, were we in a world where animals have the intelligence to think up such elaborate schemes, the present situation of mindless killings in the country and the proposition of absurd laws do, in fact, seem like a preparation for such eventuality. Scarier still is the feeling of helplessness that has been fostered by the inaction of the security forces.

We may not be subject to any cattle-cratic codes now, and never will, but it is the symbolism that matters. Truth is, we are not far removed from the Orwellian dystopia of Animal Farm. In the past, we have switched from the kleptocratic oppression of one regime to another. Today, our country is caught in the throes of totalitarian oppression, the ramifications of which we are yet to fully grasp. Unfortunately, there are no messiahs in waiting or in hiding for that matter to rescue us. We are only availed with more lecherous and serpentine boogeymen openly flirting with power and dwarfing all would-be champions of the people.

Since the first military coup in Nigeria in 1966, the country has been replicating Orwellian leadership in every form and system of government it has adopted. For this reason, many have been enticed away to other countries like the sugar-loving character of “Mollie” the mare (female horse) in Animal Farm that is enticed away from the farm with the promise of sugar, ribbons and other fineries. Many that remain are also like Mollie, concerned about themselves alone and their material wants.

Also in Animal Farm, there is a hardworking but impressionable horse named “Boxer”. Of very low intelligence, Boxer works tirelessly with naïve belief in Napoleon until he is eventually sold away to his death when he becomes old and sick and is no longer of value to Napoleon’s regime. Boxer is like many Nigerians with blind loyalty, including Fulani herdsmen, all other militant groups and even working professionals that allow cunning Napoleons all over the place to exploit them for selfish gains.

It seems we are a country of Mollies and Boxers, ruled by Napoleons who are wolves in sheep’s clothing and pigs at heart. The result of this mix is what we are experiencing at present. The answer is surely not in transforming the country into one giant cattle colony. Nigeria should not be overrun by cattle in the name of accommodating a tiny spec in the visible economy of the country. The cattle trade is an inadequately taxed cash business, and giving pride of place to a trade that generates little or nothing to the national purse is unsound reasoning, especially when it comes at the cost of human life.

Going into an election year, if the issue of cattle continues to dominate national discourse, we may find ourselves in a situation where it becomes an important factor in swinging votes. With the numbers of Fulani and other northerners involved in the cattle trade, and with the rhetoric coming from those quarters, we may eventually find ourselves in an actual cattle-cracy. Too bad!

January 24, 2018
A bovine stench in the polity

The scourge of herdsmen attacks in and around farming communities in Nigeria has recently reached a disturbing crescendo. This has been reflected in national discourse. The issue is heightened, this time, by immutable facts. But while these facts may be insufficient to make reasoned conclusions, they are enough to bring an unstable nation to the brink of an all-out ethno-religious war from which it may never recover.

For anyone wondering how the seemingly harmless matter of cattle rearing is setting off national red flags, a brief statement of the facts as they stand may be necessary. The Fulanis of Nigeria, predominantly found in northern Nigeria, are age-long cattle farmers who control the cattle trade in Nigeria. Largely because of climatic conditions, Fulani herdsmen have, for many years, adopted nomadic pastoralism that involves grazing cattle along routes that cut through the Middle Belt and extend deep into the south. Along this route, they inevitably encounter crop farmers.

For many years, separate issues such as religious tensions between the majority Muslim north and Christian south and other ethnic issues have influenced the relations between Fulani herdsmen and crop farmers along their route. The consequence is that their interactions are not always pleasant. In the past one year alone, it has been reported that over 1000 documented deaths have occurred in connection with this friction between herdsmen and crop farmers in different parts of the country.

The lack of official security action concerning this issue has generated even more anger in the last two years because Muhammadu Buhari, the incumbent president and a retired army General, is Fulani and a cattle farmer. This particular fact may have underlined the weak official response to vicious attacks related to Fulani herdsmen activities. It has also been recently revealed that most of the frontline Fulani traditional rulers in the North are all patrons of Miyetti Allah, the umbrella body of the pastoralists. These two facts have led many to conclusions that are unflattering of the president and his commitment, above Fulani interests, to the general peace of the country.

Unfortunately, what is still being classified by government spokesmen as “communal clashes” is fast spiralling into the most tempestuous crisis the country has ever seen. All of the issues of Boko Haram and religious intolerance, border security, ethnic marginalisation, inconsistent and careless legislation, political wrangling between regions of the country and all other lingering issues from unsavoury parts of the country’s history, have somehow found place within the simple problem of grazing for cattle. It is almost unbelievable.

Recent accounts of violence by herdsmen in communities in Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Delta and significantly, the Nimbo massacre in Enugu, in 2016, amongst many others, has seen many frayed nerves.

Beyond Nigeria, the Fulani people inhabit areas in 20 African countries, with significant populations in about 10 countries in West Africa, some of which border Nigeria. The existence of a militant arm of the Fulani tribe that aids and accompany the herdsman across all territories is also known. In November 2015, the Global Terrorism Index ranked the Fulani militant group as the fourth deadliest terrorist group in the world, behind Boko Haram, Al-shabab and ISIS. This fact is yet to be acknowledged by the Nigerian government.

The Fulani militia have orchestrated and contributed to deadly killings all over Africa, including in the conflict-ridden Central African Republic, CAR, and right here at home in Nigeria. Thousands have been killed over cattle across Africa, yet the Nigerian government refuses to recognise the terrorism perpetrated by Fulani herdsmen in herding their cattle.

The porosity of border security between Nigeria and the countries that border her, especially in the north, also allows the movement of people, including the Fulani, in and out of Nigeria without as much as cursory questioning. The traffic is large, especially in connection to labour for the vast cattle trade in Nigeria, which includes lightly armed herdsmen and their heavily armed militant cohorts.

During election periods in any of the countries with substantial Fulani influence, like Nigeria, the people traffic intensifies.

The situation in the CAR is particularly instructive because the ‘agricultural terrorism’ of the Fulani militants has led to the rise of many ethnic militias that are fighting a war within the war in the CAR, against Fulani militants. This is why the attacks launched by the Bachama militia in Numan, Adamawa State, against Fulani settlements last December, is very troubling. It can set off a wave of ethnic militias resorting to self-help against the marauding Fulani herdsmen, and it was not the first time communities would go all out against the Fulani herdsmen.

However, the most significant move by the government towards resolution of all of this has been the introduction in the National Assembly of a “National Grazing Routes and Reserves Bill” which purportedly holds the solution. The bill contemplates the setting up of a commission to oversee the establishment of grazing routes and reserves in every state of the country. The reserves can potentially house as many as 40 ranches, according to Audu Ogbeh, the Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development.

Sourcing of the extensive land contemplated in the bill is, according to Part IV, to be done through compulsory acquisition of land in the different states, with the “cooperation” of the governors.

Apart from the potential distortion to commercial and private interests in the states, it is unclear whether the commission will actually have any authority to acquire lands which are legally vested in state governors by the requirements of the Land Use Act (LUA) of 1978, a controversial Act that is the prevailing land law in the country.

Potential conflict may arise from considerations relating to the acquisition of land which may not meet the requirements of “overriding public interest” in the LUA and the 1999 Constitution. Also, the matter of compensation to any affected persons is not adequately provided for, with reference only to “necessary compensation” which may include resettlement, in contrast to adequate pecuniary compensation.

A big problem also appears in Section 29 where it is said that pastoralists will not be allowed to graze outside the grazing routes except under “exceptional circumstances”. In defining these circumstances, the bill mainly restates that they must be “exceptional”. With due respect to the drafters, this is more or less a return to the status quo. Apart from the maddening connotations that imply land grabbing to accommodate non-local private interests to which many southern governors will not “cooperate”, the bill is a colossal waste of legislative time and energy.

Many states have responded with anti-grazing laws. These states include Benue State, the stage for the latest gruesome attack by Fulani herdsmen that claimed more than 73 lives. The Benue government and people have been particularly hostile because of destruction of their crops. The herdsmen again dealt the only hand they deal, the hand of violence, just at the turn of the New Year.

The sponsors of the Fulani herdsmen have always relied on the force of ‘consequences’ to assert their will. The table may be turning on them in equally bloody ways which may lead to even more bloodshed. The somewhat aloof government under President Buhari needs to prescribe adequate legal consequence for violence of any kind in order to stem these clashes now. It can start by tracing and prosecuting the sponsors of the herdsmen. We all know they are not the true owners of the cattle.

Whether this is a Fulani agenda or mere sponsored violence, the lack of definitive action and absence of a lasting solution only leads the country in one direction – total chaos. The herdsmen menace already provides the violent opponents of the government and other evil doers with a veritable avenue to explore; letting it linger will be unwise for this administration.

January 17, 2018
New year, old woes

By December, the last month of every year, most people would have crossed into the New Year in their thoughts, fine-tuning plans and invoking new energy to meet the challenges of the coming year. Unfortunately, this last December, many Nigerians could not even muster the mental stimulation to prepare for a new year of opportunities as we were all bogged down by tiring old woes.

Crippling fuel scarcity fouled the holiday mood early in December and persisted right into the New Year. After dealing with many disturbing developments and mind-boggling actions of the political class all year round, Nigerians were denied a stress-free end to the year. Familiar fuel queues returned to the country’s filling stations with biting force as the cost of transportation doubled or tripled in many places and cars simply could not get any fuel. It was a sordid end to 2017 and a frustrating beginning for the year 2018.

The New Year also saw loss of lives in mindless killings in Omoku, Ogba-Egbema-Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers State, renewed massacres by suspected herdsmen in Guma and Logo Local Government Areas of Benue State. There was also bloodbath in Southern Kaduna and other similar skirmishes all over the country. The attacks were followed by the usual empty words of reassurance that Nigerians have come to expect from the government, further dampening spirits as we proceed into the year.

The bleak picture already forming in 2018 is unfortunate enough as it is. If anything, it is being accompanied by a chronic lack of faith in the government and the expectations of even worse things to come. So, without radical changes at the highest levels of government, it promises to be another long, forlorn year ahead. Even though Nigerians have consistently been listed amongst the happiest people in the world despite all odds, the woe-defying happiness may soon wear out.

It is quite sad that the response of the government to the myriad of problems bedevilling the country, has, no doubt, immeasurably contributed to the pain and anguish of having to live with these situations. For instance, after the queues began at filling stations across the country, Maikanti Baru, the Group Managing Director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, was forced to leave his cosy office to embark on a ‘road show’. The purpose was to create the impression of concern and control over the situation. While on one of these public ‘shows’, he unwittingly let slip that the country had resorted to resume paying some subsidy to petroleum marketers.

Before then and up till now, Nigerians had not been informed that yet another major promise of the government would be rescinded. At inception in 2015, the Muhammadu Buhari administration had rubbished the payment of subsidies to petroleum marketers with a promise to stop the payments. Consequently, the price of fuel jumped to N145 at the pumps. We are now being inundated that the landing price of petroleum has increased, thereby making it impracticable for the pump price to remain at N145.

From Baru’s explanation, the government has been covering the difference between the new landing cost and the old cost to ensure that pump price remains at N145. But reports from the filling stations suggest otherwise. Contrary to Baru’s claims, petroleum marketers were bearing the new cost. This is what has resulted into hiking or hoarding the product.

Considering the two differing accounts, it is obvious that the government has been engaged in a deceitful game on this fuel issue. While new ‘subsidy’ has not been fully reflected in costs to the petroleum marketers, the government had issued a draconian order for pump price to remain the same. That was simply why the marketers resorted to self-help until such a time when the government would come good on its subsidy.

What this boils down to is that this government has still not perfected the art of diplomacy and negotiations. Worse still, it has failed to learn the practice of transparency and open government by carrying people along at every point a major change that will affect their lives occurs or is likely to occur. Many of these issues could have been solved through effective communication and education of the populace on government processes.

As if this was not enough, even while on long queues during the holidays, Nigerians were again taken aback by the apparent appointment of dead individuals in the government’s latest list of board appointees. Even the most ardent believer in this government would have had cause to pause, in the midst of all of this, to wonder what 2018 has in store for the country.

As usual, the government was ever so reluctant to admit its failure, apologise and make swift amends. Instead, absurd excuses started to pour out of government channels. The claim that it was impossible to vet the 3000 long list before eventual release and that those making outright obnoxious remarks were “Lilliputians” and trouble makers with nothing better to do, was a puerile and unintelligent defence. In a country looking to grow its international image, it was an embarrassment of epic proportions that ought to have led to a sack in a sane country.

Some government spokesmen even claimed that the deaths were too recent to have been caught by the ‘diligent’ people responsible. Francis Okpozo, a former senator, posthumously appointed to chair the Nigeria Press Council, died as far back as 2016, and the president himself mourned his passing-on in December 2016. There are not one, two or three dead appointees, but about nine of them, which ridicules the whole exercise.

For any part of this government to publicly say anything else that is not an apology and promise to do better in the future, is embarrassing. Yet, the tone of the government is so unapologetic that it stirs anger, dismay and bewilderment in the minds of reasonable Nigerians. What is more disturbing is that this is the same attitude that has accompanied everything wrong that has been done in the present administration, so much that it seems the government has a penchant for making costly but avoidable mistakes.

One now thinks that the ministerial list that took so long to produce could have been determined the night of the election victory too, as it eventually came with no surprises or evidence of any deep search or vetting. Similarly, the way the issues of herdsmen, fuel scarcity, insecurity and general government communications have been handled betrays a lack of regard for proper handling or meticulous governance that the administration promised before taking power.

Perhaps, of greater worry is the recurring decimal of herdsmen belligerence, bellicosity, intransigence and melancholy now on display across the country with the attendant bloodletting and destruction of property on a scale never envisaged before in the country. Now that the police hierarchy has clearly confirmed through the Inspector General of Police that this rampaging herdsmen are indeed, Nigerians, it is fuelling speculations that the issue of herdsmen, farmers’ clashes being witnessed on a large scale all over the country, may have a jihadist inclination and political undertone. And the government has, so far, not shown any readiness to confront this issue headlong as thousands of lives are being wasted in the ongoing genocide and pogrom all over the place.

Coming so close to the election year of 2019, one can only expect more disruption and greater scrutiny of this government. No matter what side of the pond one belongs, the truth is that stability will benefit this country more than constant change that is not aligned to any philosophy.

The truth is that while many positive strides have been taken in the past couple of years, the nonchalance in other areas and lack of cohesion threatens to unravel any good work that has been done. It is a new year, and the least Nigerians deserve is peace of mind at this time to forge ahead, especially as there is likely to be none this time next year.

January 10, 2018
Imo’s comic emperor

The year 2017 brought out the good, the bad, and the ugly side of politics in Nigeria. One loquacious governor particularly stood out in the vista. That fellow is Rochas Okorocha; Either for good or bad, Okorocha has consistently diverted attention to the south-eastern state of Imo. Through his over-the-top antics and convoluted style of politics, Imo State has been perpetually in the news, quite often in controversial circumstances.

Okorocha’s run of thoughtless decisions peaked in October with the unveiling, in Owerri, of a towering statue of President Jacob Zuma of South Africa. This happened at a time when Zuma’s popularity was at the lowest ebb in his own country. The South African President has been facing a barrage of stiff criticism at home based on his perceived high handedness and allegations of corruption. Unfortunately, Zuma has always brushed all these aside, just as Okorocha brushes off his own critics.

But it appears the two men have more in common than previously realised. Okorocha may have found in Zuma, a kindred spirit. Both are running governments that have lost touch with the people and are unapologetic about it though. The problem is that, similar as the two men may be, there is very little that South Africa has to do with Imo State in Nigeria. Therefore, the cozy reception accorded Zuma by Okorocha last time, was a gross miscalculation by the governor at a time when tensions are frayed between Nigeria and South Africa because of incessant murder of Nigerians in that country.

With his penchant for courting controversy at every turn, one wonders about the quality of advice and assistance that Okorocha’s 27 Special Advisers and 30 Special Assistants actually render. After immortalising one of the most controversial presidents of South Africa since the end of apartheid, he went on another spending spree to host outgoing President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia. This was followed by the obscene celebration of Nneoma, his wife, on her 50th birthday.

It was a sheer show of wealth and opulence when he threw whooping sums into moulding statues, including his own almost month-long birthday celebration in September. The events were televised live. It was nothing but a slap on the faces of Imo workers and pensioners who are being owed by the government.

Perhaps, as further evidence of his insensitivity to the plight of his people, Okorocha may have come to the decision that his people were not happy and lacked fulfilment in their lives. He probably could not fathom why the people were not more responsive and appreciative of his efforts to “open the doors of Imo State to the world”. He, therefore, quickly reached out again to his rich arsenal of comic tools to assuage the sensibilities of his people.

At the swearing in of a whopping number of 28 commissioners to replace the cabinet he had dissolved 10 months earlier, the governor created a “Ministry of Happiness and Purpose Fulfilment”. His thinking was that he had found an answer to his people’s gross unhappiness. So much is the love he has for the people of the state that he appointed his own begotten sister to head this strange ministry.

Surely, one can simply not make these things up and the simple-mindedness of the governor in this regard is truly remarkable. Taken into context with all the other decisions he has taken in recent times, the insinuation by some that he may be losing his mind begins to sound plausible. Okorocha himself had once declared that his vision for Imo drives him crazy. Perhaps one should take those words literally.

Before the dust had settled on the statues now littering the state, and the creation of a Ministry of Happiness, governor Okorocha again jolted his people. This time, he caused even more unhappiness when his government changed the name of a popular avenue, Assumpta Avenue, in the state capital, to “Muhammadu Buhari Road”.

This was another display of governance by the whims and caprices of the governor. Secondly, to take such a decision anywhere in Igboland that is a heartland to the catholic faith in Nigeria, is a misadventure of the highest order.

As Okorocha’s list of comical miscalculations keeps growing, he may have forgotten the lessons of history. He must have been blinded by sheer braggadocio to forget that it was on the back of a rejection of Ikedi Ohakim, his predecessor, by the catholic faithful for allegedly assaulting a priest that he was swept into office. It was, therefore, not surprising that the name change was swiftly reversed after the Catholic Church in the state quickly began to mobilise against the change. The government later claimed that the new street name was mounted in error – a deliberate error you could say.

Same thing for the Ministry of Happiness which was originally named “Ministry of Happiness and Couple’s Fulfilment”. A “printer’s devil” was the excuse given at that time. Okorocha’s comical whims in office have become a thread of shame and absurdity, with serious consequences that do not appear to have weighed on his mind at the time of making his decisions.

The governor has brought the quest for national and international visibility of the Igbo ethnic group into high politics, and in so doing, he is neglecting his primary role of addressing the actual needs of the people. His vision is literally driving him crazy and he may end up rather destroying the legacy that so consumes his thinking in its pursuit.

He claims to have built more roads, bridges, hospitals and schools than all other past administrations in the state combined. That might be true. But insensitivity to the smaller needs of the people and losing touch with the realities of their everyday lives, will neutralise all his good works if he does not wake up from the trance he seems to be locked in.

It is obvious that the people are not being carried along in the state, and this has birthed resentment towards his government. That his actions cause the people of Imo State embarrassment also leaves its mark on public confidence in him. When he was asked about the elaborate honour for Zuma, his response was that he admires the man and Zuma came to visit his schools when many Nigerian “big men” do not care.

That sounded like the reply of a person who is unable to separate government functions from personal feelings and ambition. He has often been accused of running the state purse like his personal account and being utterly averse to due process in his decision making.

The business tycoon turned governor who is wont to refer to himself in the third person is known for his predilection for making jokes, general lack of subtlety and his thick skin to criticism. As a man used to having his way, Okorocha is now in danger of disconnecting with his own people through deliberate acts that are perceived to be more self-serving than in any real interest of the people.

Often in politics, a leader hits a quandary where his vision for moving his people forward becomes obscure to the people themselves. This occurs particularly when leadership decisions do not reflect or directly address the immediate needs of the people. In such cases, trust in the good intentions of the leader is crucial and good leaders can also cash out on the goodwill of the people. Sometimes, a leader’s vision just doesn’t include the people anymore, and many suspect this is the case for Rochas Okorocha.

For a man that likes to make jokes, the joke is now increasingly on Okorocha with every miscalculation he makes in pursuit of his dream. The time may have come for him to realise that the dream of the people of Imo State may be different from the dream of Rochas Okorocha, and the former takes precedence. If not, Okorocha may be consigned to the comic halls of history rather than the grand vision he has for himself.

January 3, 2018