The Nation Newspaper

Category: Editorial

  • Nyako’s letter

    Nyako’s letter

    • The governor should not make statements that undermine the fight on terror

    Governor Murtala Nyako of Adamawa State took the blame-game over the raging insurgency one notch up when, in a letter dated April 16, and addressed to his colleagues in the Northern Governors Forum, he accused the Jonathan-led administration of genocide against Northern Nigeria. The governor would appear to have upped his earlier charge in the United States where he first accused the federal government of fuellin g the insurgency. This time, the governor did not only pointedly accuse the Jonathan administration of “full-fledged genocide”, he also alleged other sundry crimes said to be targeted against prominent citizens of the north.

    Having borne the direct brunt of the emergency for nearly the whole of a year running without visible signs of effective containment, we can understand the governor’s frustrations perhaps, in the context of the rather limited result of the counter-insurgency.

    In the first place, the human tolls in the number of deaths – of innocent civilians both in the hands of the security agencies and the terrorists – have continued to rise, calling into question, the efficacy of current strategies to contain the menace. Secondly, rather than see the emergency as a means to an end – the end being the restoration of normalcy to the region – the federal government would appear to have opted to see the emergency as an end in itself.

    Having said that, we must also say that there is a huge divide between fair criticisms of the current approaches to fighting the terror – whether of the dreaded Boko Haram or of the carnage by Fulani herdsmen – and the divisive, opportunistic pot shot by a functionary of state. It would certainly appear that the governor prefers the soap-box approach to solving the security problems as against exploring possible behind-the-scene channels with the federal government. We certainly cannot fathom his sweeping characterisation of the counter-insurgency as “genocide” in the absence of any shred of evidence. Coming from a holder of high office of governor, we consider it inappropriate, distasteful and most regrettable. So also is his virtual insistence on seeing current wave of terrorism as a creation of the federal government unhelpful.

    We have nothing against the attempt by the governor to rally the governors as indeed the leaders of the north against the menace. This is however a different call from tagging the Jonathan administration as the chief culprit, or even tainting other regions with tar brush all because of President Jonathan’s weak-kneed approach to the menace. As it is, all – federal, states and the local authorities – have in various ways failed the people.

    However, more than the federal government, the leaders in the North – whether governors or traditional rulers – must see themselves as bearing a larger portion of the responsibility for tackling the problems at the roots. They have greater role in settling internecine conflicts, for promoting brotherhood among the people, and for integrating the people currently torn apart by atavistic forces.

    We do not consider this as the time to open new battle flanks. What the nation needs at this time are wise counsels from elders, mature judgments from statesmen and for all hands to be on deck in the fight against terror. It is time to end all divisive rhetoric which aside playing into the hands of the terrorists – would in the end unduly prolong the agonies of Nigerians in the region. What the north as indeed Nigeria needs is peace without which development would remain elusive. Leaders like Nyako have a great role to play in this regard.

  • Duty and Shame as the Ship Sank

    Duty and Shame as the Ship Sank

    It may take a while to determine why the South Korean ferry Sewol turned on its side and sank last Wednesday, but already now we know that the image of its captain, Lee Jun-seok, walking to safety even as scores of high school students were struggling desperately for their lives in the capsized hull, has already entered the annals of shame.

    The duty to put the safety of the travelers entrusted to a captain’s care ahead of his or her own is one of the most enduring traditions of travel on sea, air or land. Yes, it would have taken courage to stay behind and fight to save the young lives for which the captain and crew were responsible — and there were those who did that. Yet Captain Lee and two-thirds of the crew survived, while two-thirds of the 476 passengers — 325 of whom were 16- and 17-year-old students from the Danwon High School near Seoul off on an excursion — are dead or missing. The president of South Korea, Park Geun-hye, called it “like a murderous act that can never be understood or forgiven.”

    Whether Captain Lee could have prevented the capsizing of the ferry had he, and not a junior officer, been on the bridge is another question, one of many. Why did the ship suddenly lurch to one side and begin listing? Why did crewmen fail to order passengers to abandon ship and instead urged them to stay below decks? Why was there such a lack of preparedness? Why did the government take so long to respond to the anguish of parents?

    These require answers — and actions. This is not South Korea’s first such accident. In December 1970, the Namyoung sank with 323 fatalities, and, in October 1993, the sinking of the Seohae took 292 lives. The South Koreans will demand far higher safety standards and enforcement.

    The authorities in other countries should also review their laws and procedures. Many such pledges were made after the Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia struck a rock and was wrecked in the Mediterranean in 2012, with the loss of 32 lives, yet the fate of the Sewol shows that much remains to be done on planning for emergency evacuations. The Costa Concordia, of course, is notorious also for the flight of the captain, Francesco Schettino, before most of the passengers were rescued. Mr. Schettino is currently on trial, charged with causing a shipwreck, manslaughter and abandoning ship. Captain Lee and six crew members of the Sewol have also been arrested. Under South Korean law, abandoning passengers at a time of crisis is punishable by life in prison.

    – New York Times

  • Inexcusable folly

    Inexcusable folly

    •The attitudes of the president, his team and the military to the abduction of 234 girls expose incompetence and insensitivity

    Tears are flowing in Borno State. Tears of fathers and mothers. Tears from the absence of daughters abducted by militants who pass themselves off as the messengers of God. The nation at large is caught in this emotional pain and outpouring.

    Hours after bombs detonated at the popular Nyanya bus terminal in Abuja, the daredevil bigots drove trucks into a secondary school, the Government Secondary School, Chibok in Borno State. Initial reports had it that the young men whisked away 100 girls. Later the number moved up to 129. Newspapers reported on Tuesday that the number suffered from steep undercount. The real figure, adding 105 arts students, leapt to 234. This number came from the testimonies of the parents who are still at a loss why their wards sent to school under the bower of a government protection should be removed into a place they cannot imagine, subjected to treatment they cannot conceive and they could be wondering, in the absence of any clue, whether their girls are dead or alive.

    The parents, in acts of bravery, combed the now infamous Sambisa Forest, for about 12 hours in search of the victims. Their effort evokes heroics of parentage with the risk that all or any number of about 200 of them may have fallen victim to the familiar pattern of savagery of these dedicated hoodlums. Yet their story unveils a cruel underside of this society. They found no evidence of our military force in the forest. A state of emergency is in force in the state as it is in other states in the northeast. Yet, vulnerable civilians walked in the lair of the bandits without the succour of government sympathy.

    The whole drama of the girls’ abduction exposes the lack of seriousness in the war against terror. In the first place, the president and commander-in-chief of the armed forces, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, spent a day in tearful empathy with the victims in Abuja, his words bearing the imprint of condolence. The next day, as though a different person, he flew to Kano on a political campaign. From a sense of sobriety in the front of camera klieg lights in the nation’s capital, he turned to the feisty exuberance of a politician eager for the votes of the people. This is in spite of his ever ready denial that he has set in motion his campaign for reelection as president of Nigeria.

    Was it that the president did not understand the gravity of the kidnap of the girls, or was it that he did not grasp the agony of the bereaved from the Nyanya tragedy? The news of the girls’ kidnap was fresh while he gallivanted to Kano and danced to songs of politics while a diplomat was donating his blood to the victims. Yet the president ought to have empathised with the girls, he also being a father and having given a daughter away in marriage recently.

    To trivialise the event, the president spoke about how he spent money to induce politicians to vote for him. He said he passed the money through Kano State Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso. It could not have been more absurd, more out of sync with the high ideals of decency on a day hundreds of parents were grieving over the disappearance of their kids and families mourning the deaths of loved ones.

    Again, the president travelled across the country to Ibadan to mark the 100th birthday of the Olubadan of Ibadan. Jollification and mirth amidst loss, deaths and tragedy amount to a lack of understanding of the integrity and dignity of presidential office.

    But it did not show in the president alone. Mediocrity in the fight against terror showed in the response of the Nigerian army. The Defence Headquarters reported, with evident glee, that it had recovered 86 of the 100 girls. It turned out that the army had emitted a tissue of lies. They had not rescued any girl, and the about 39 girls freed at the time of this article liberated themselves from the clutches of their tormentors. They did not need the help of their so-called protectors.

    This raises a big question as to what are the other miscues, blunders and dangerous games of corruption going on in the presidency and the military under the guise of a war on terror. We cannot continue to fight a war on terror as though lives are not important. A news report that N76 billion dollars was spent on monitoring technologies in Abuja with the whole equipment now broken and paralysed had not been denied by the Federal Government at the time of writing this editorial. This is a case where incompetence meets insensitivity.

    The president’s party moved a notch up in its absurd game when its spokesman, Olisa Metuh, said the opposition All Progressives Congress was responsible for the blast in Abuja. Neither the president nor the hierarchy of the party has cautioned Metuh. Neither has the statement been withdrawn.

    The point must be made that no party should take advantage of the tragedy from Boko Haram for political advantage. Decency and civility should guide the statements of all parties. The victims of the tragedies bear no faith or political fealty or tribe.

    This is the time for the president to show sobriety and roll out strategies against the bandits who work in the name of religion. It is not the time for frivolous politics and epicurean pastimes. Lives are being lost, students are not going to school, and businesses are impaired. The more the bandits succeed, the more our way of life is imperilled.

    We have noted on this page that surveillance must be mounted in all critical areas of the state. Every school in session is a critical area, and it goes without saying. If a state of emergency is in force, how come students writing an examination are not targeted for protection? We wonder what vision guides the prosecution of a state of emergency where obvious targets lie prostrate.

    We cannot continue like a nation of impotence when we can use military force backed by intelligence to monitor doings and movements of such savage cruelty. What we need now is not resources, but the will. The president must take the lead in attitude, example and vision.

  • Nigeria’s poor

    Nigeria’s poor

    •Material suffering by many Nigerians trumps our GDP status

    In the heat of the euphoria over the rebasing of the Nigerian economy which puts the country at the top spot on the continent at South Africa’s expense, most Nigerians may have missed the import of the other sobering statistics released by the World Bank, which puts Nigeria among the top three countries harbouring the world’s poor. The figures, as released by World Bank President,  Jim Yong Kim, puts Nigeria, with seven percent of the world’s poor, in the third place, behind  India with 33 percent and China with 13 per cent.  Bangladesh, harbouring six per cent of the world’s poor, is fourth while the Democratic Republic of Congo with five per cent is fifth. In-between the five reside 760 million of the world’s poor, of which Nigeria accounts for a frightening 53.2 million – nearly a third of the country’s population.

    No doubt, the findings by the World Bank would merely confirm the reality of the wide chasm between official claims of superlative growth and the reality on the main street. After what was supposed to be a soar-away economic growth that has averaged seven percent in the course of the last decade –this latest testimonial – which suggests that nearly one out of three citizens still lives in extreme poverty goes beyond mere repudiation of government’s pretensions about achievement, what it does is to call for a completely new thinking on how to distribute the so-called gains of economic growth.

    This is where we couldn’t agree more with the World Bank when it posits that: “Countries need to complement efforts to enhance growth with policies that allocate more resources to the extreme poor. These resources can be distributed through the growth process itself, by promoting more inclusive growth, or through government programmes, such as conditional and direct cash transfers”.

    Today, what is no longer in doubt is that the poor are currently hemmed in by forces that only the government can ameliorate. Indeed, we do think that the problems are now of such magnitude that the current growth path, even with the best of results, would not be able to make appreciable dent either in the short or the long run.

    The World Bank chief actually puts the global challenge in perspective when he suggests that “To end extreme poverty, the vast numbers of the poorest – those earning less than $1.25 a day – will have to decrease by 50 million people each year until 2030. This means that one million people each week will have to lift themselves out of poverty for the next 16 years. This will be extraordinarily difficult…”

    For Nigeria’s poor, the challenge would appear even more daunting. At the heart of the challenge is how to lift the mass out of the vicious grip of poverty through the widening of economic opportunities, better access to qualitative education, quality health care, cheap and affordable housing and public transportation.

    We see the World Bank report as a call to arms. Needed at this time are practical and sustainable programmes to reduce the number of the poor. Good enough, states like Ekiti and Osun – with their provision of stipends to the elderly – have offered the nation a template of the possibilities. Other states should borrow a leaf.

    In the long run, the challenge is to get the economy revving at full throttle to create opportunities for employment and wealth creation. It is unflattering that an economy which claims to rank first on the continent and in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), has remained an investors’ nightmare – going by 2013 World Bank’s Doing Business Report ranking the economy 147 out of 189 nations; this is even when South Africa is ranked 41, Tunisia 51, Botswana 56, and Ghana 67.

  • Good riddance

    Good riddance

    •Supreme Court ruling on female inheritance in Igbo land upholds gender equality

    Among the many shortcomings that have disfigured Nigerian democracy, one of the most egregious is the continuing influence of destructive cultural practices which continue to negate the most fundamental provisions of the country’s constitution. Entrenched as they are in the beliefs and traditions of the many nationalities that comprise the country, they have proven particularly difficult to get rid of.

    Given this lamentable situation, it is especially gratifying that the Supreme Court of Nigeria recently ruled against plaintiffs who had sought to uphold traditional Igbo custom which apparently discriminates against daughters in inheritance matters. Reading the judgment of a five-person panel which sat on the case, Justice Bode Rhodes-Vivour stated that a female child was entitled to inherit from her father’s estate, regardless of the circumstances of her birth. He added that denial of such rights amounted to discrimination which conflicted with Section 42(1)(a) and (2) of the 1999 Constitution and therefore could not continue.

    The significance of this ruling cannot be under-estimated. Not only does it clearly declare a long-accepted practice illegal, it opens the way to further challenges of similarly discriminatory and oppressive cultural practices that have gone on unquestioned for decades. Thus, the maltreatment of widows, child marriage, and other unjust practices are being exposed for the crimes that they are.

    With its 170 million people, 250 languages and more than 450 ethnic groups, Nigeria is a veritable cultural paradise. It is home to some of the oldest and most distinguished cultural heritages, including those of the Nok, Benin, Ife, Arochukwu and Kanem-Bornu. These cultures have provided their peoples with a set of attitudes, beliefs and customs which have, by and large, adequately prepared them to face the challenges of life and living. At the height of British colonial oppression, it was the durability of cultural heritage which served as a bulwark against the assault on traditional sensibilities that colonialism represented.

    However, what must also be recognised is that all cultures are dynamic. In that regard, they are subject to change, alteration and development over time. In the particular case of girls, women and inheritance, the cultural imperatives which made it possible for women to be discriminated against in inheritance in the past have surely become irrelevant in an age where some of the most influential public offices in Nigeria are held by women. Nor can the marrying-off of underage girls make any sense in a world where education for all children has become the globally-accepted norm.

    Nigeria needs to move more quickly to end the damage caused by cultural practices that have clearly outlived their use. It took the country decades to allow women to post bail; child marriage is still a notorious feature of life in some parts of the country; unproven accusations of witchcraft continue to endanger the lives of women and children throughout the nation.

    One way of achieving this is for all citizens to be more prepared to contest such injustices wherever they are seen. Concerned individuals and non-governmental agencies should seek to challenge cultural practices which unnecessarily oppress others in court, as well as in the court of public opinion. Many negative cultural practices continue to flourish in the absence of exposure to the harsh light of rational inquiry. When they are shown up as the unjust behaviour that they are, it becomes less easy to defend or sustain them.

    It is true that Nigeria’s traditional cultures will continue to provide its people with a sense of uniqueness and belonging, especially given the less-welcome aspects of globalisation. But this must not be at the expense of genuine social progress. This is what the Rhodes-Vivour panel unambiguously upheld, and it is what Nigerians must work to achieve.

     

  • Message of Easter

    Message of Easter

    •Nigerians, irrespective of religious persuasion, must imbibe the lessons of the season

    WHY do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but he is risen!”  These oft-quoted words, central to Christianity, are in season again as followers of the faith not only ponder but also celebrate the post-crucifixion resurrection of Jesus Christ. Easter, more than any other period in the Christian calendar, emphasises the redemptive power of divinity and the ever-present possibility of God’s forgiveness in the context of human repentance.

    It is important to stress this underlying significance of the commemoration lest people gloss over it and get carried away by the superficialities of festivity. It is worth mentioning that the celebration marks the climax of a 40-day concentration on fasting and prayer, and it would amount to missing the point if the sobriety expected to be engendered by the spiritual exercise is ended perfunctorily at Easter.

    Regrettably, this particular Easter has been marred by destructively violent incidents, notably the shocking bombing of Nyanya Motor Park in the federal capital, Abuja, resulting in the reported loss of at least 75 lives, with 164 people injured, and the outrageous abduction of 100 students at the Girls Senior Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, all within two days last week. At a philosophical level, these evil acts, tragic as they are, transcend linkage with the Islamist terror militia Boko Haram; the overriding point, which should not be lost on anyone,  is that the wickedness targeted humanity, irrespective of religious loyalty.

    It is instructive that the life and times of Jesus represented an essential counter-point to such inhumanity, a fact that is underscored by his appellation, “The Prince of Peace”.  Without doubt, the lessons of this spiritual icon go beyond the narrow limits of religious sectarianism; and   indeed deserve to be well learned and practicalised by society at large.

    It is noteworthy that the activities of Jesus also condemned a much more subtle form of violence, the sort that callously promotes social impoverishment and misery by the abdication of leadership responsibilities and the omissions of headship, especially in the political arena.  He demonstrated genuine compassion for the people, which is a desirable quality that is unfortunately in short supply among the country’s leaders; he was not given to scandalous materialism and exhibitionism, which are the very obscenities that these leaders enjoy. In addition, official corruption, which observers have identified as possibly the bane of the land, is certainly not Christ-like.

    Furthermore, and this is a pivotal point, Jesus exemplified humility, a feature that many players in the country’s power loop observably treat with disdain as they would rather highlight their own  sense of self-importance. This explains, for instance, the desperation for political office with an attitude that betrays egoistic thinking illustrated by the question, “If not me, who else?”

    In the spirit of this season of redemption, and implied renewal, it would be a heart-warming development if the example of Jesus prevailed in the various sectors of society and across the country. Among the valuable aspects of religion, it should be pointed out, is its capacity to inspire goodness and virtuous living.

    It is hoped that Easter will be better appreciated as an opportunity to show greater sensitivity to spirituality and the implications for individual enlightenment as well as the pursuit of social good in all ramifications. Particularly in these times when the country is faced with increasing religious tension, the truth is that its multi-religious composition need not be a source of intolerant contention. To grasp the message of Easter is to recognise the path of harmonious cohabitation not only in the religious realm but also in the secular sphere.

  • Presidential gaffe

    Presidential gaffe

    •The president’s stand on the 2007 polls and campaign funds is ridiculous

    PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan was recently at his goofing best when he received the outcome of the National Stakeholders Forum on Electoral Reform chaired by former Senate President, Ken Nnamani. In one breath during the occasion, he bemoaned the shoddy results of the 2007 presidential election that produced himself as vice president and late President Umar Yar’Adua as president. According to him, that election was an embarrassment to him then as second-in-command, within the international community.

    In another breath, he damned the recommended limitations on campaign funds which he described as unrealistic. The forum, among others, recommended that there should be regulation of campaign finance. His words on the 2007 elections: “I was embarrassed when the international observers complained that there were certain breaches in the 2007 polls … Each time one travelled abroad, people asked all kinds of questions that even got one angry. That was when I promised myself that if l could have the opportunity to oversee elections in Nigeria, no other President or Vice President should suffer that kind of harassment from the international community … And I promise that 2015 elections will be better.”

    His position on regulation of campaign expenses went thus: “I’m a realist and I’m a practical person, and that’s why I behave differently. I don’t pretend. I believe that even the laws or even regulations must not be designed in a way that it’ll pretend. In some countries, if you’re getting funds from government, then you must set restrictions; but if you’re generating your own funds, then you’ve no restrictions.”

    We ask: who is the president trying to impress? Could it be himself or the hopelessly deprived Nigerians? This is why we query him for weeping louder than the bereaved on issues bordering on the 2007 elections – After all, late President Yar’Adua publicly admitted that the election that brought him to office, despite judicial seal of affirmation, was flawed. Moreover, it was consequent upon that premise that he instituted the Electoral Reforms Committee headed by Justice Mohammed Lawal Uwais, with Professor Attahiru Jega, the current Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as one of its members. Again: what hypocritical point is President Jonathan trying to make other than to indirectly cast the blemished mandate of his late boss in renewed bad light? The enormous challenges facing the nation, and begging for his personal attention, should be faced squarely and solved rather than for him to be making statements that are capable of unnecessarily overheating the polity and also disturbing the spirit of the dead leader.

    We equally regard his opposition to the recommendation for restriction of campaign funds by the forum as a scandalous direct presidential support for electioneering graft. Without being oblivious of the recent United States of America’s apex court decision that removed the seal on individual donations for political campaigns, we make bold to say that this is not America. The level of political maturity in that country cannot be compared with what obtains in our clime. How can the president be saying that a move meant to bring financial discipline and institutional checks on currently odious campaign spending in the land is not practicable? The president’s position is an invitation to politicians of his mould in power to dip their hands in the public till in their bid to raise stupendous money for election campaigns simply because government is not the one giving funds for that purpose.

    We state in unequivocal terms that the presidential aversion to campaign funds restriction and his needless re-awakening of the ghost of the 2007 election are immoral and uncalled-for, especially under his regime where routine oil graft/electoral fraud has now been elevated to the level of state policy.

  • Words and Deeds From the Pope

    Words and Deeds From the Pope

    Each time Pope Francis speaks out, he seems to be evolving in his view of how well the Roman Catholic Church has been dealing with the grave historical legacy created by priests who raped and abused children. Last month he was decidedly defensive about a United Nations report that criticized the church. Francis insisted “no one else has done more” than the church to address the scandal, “yet the church is the only one to have been attacked.”

    This month, on the other hand, the pope took a different tone in stepping forward to stress his own responsibility as a leader “compelled to personally take on all the evil” that some priests — “quite a few in number” — committed against children.

    Without being specific, Francis promised the imposition of sanctions, presumably against those who committed or covered up the abuses. He offered no concrete measures, though he did venture a step beyond his Vatican predecessors in personally taking responsibility for confronting the problem.

    “It is personal moral damage carried out by men of the church, and we will not take one step backward regarding how we will deal with this problem,” the pope promised in impromptu remarks at the Vatican to a French children’s welfare organization. “On the contrary, we have to be even stronger, because you cannot interfere with children.”

    As welcome as the pope’s words were, advocates for abused victims properly asked whether and when they will see deeds to go with the talk. “Until he takes some actions, it’s hard to believe that his request for forgiveness is serious,” said Barbara Dorris of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests.

    Pope Francis has created a special commission to advise him on the protection of minors and the reform of church procedures. One glaring area that must be addressed has been the Vatican’s failure to punish members of the church hierarchy who took part in the widespread, systematic cover-up of the pedophilia scandal and shielded priests from being charged in the criminal courts.

    For all the pope’s heartfelt comments, his and the church’s record on this shameful issue will depend considerably on whether Francis calls diocesan leaders to account for their crucial role in perpetuating the scandal.

    – New York Times

     

  • Dance of shame

    Dance of shame

    We condemn President Jonathan’s political jamboree to Kano and Ibadan at a time of national mourning 

    Does President Goodluck Jonathan have empathy for human life? This question would have become unnecessary but for the frolicsome political visits the president made to Kano State and Ibadan, Oyo State, at a period that he should have led the country in mourning the several calamities that befell her within about 24 hours. Firstly, the Nyanya motor park in Abuja was bombed by Boko Haram terrorists, which led to the death of over 71 people (officially) while unofficial figures stand at about 200, with about 200 others injured. Secondly, barely a few hours after this gory incident, about 129 students of Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok, a town west of Maiduguri writing their Senior Secondary Certificate Examinations (SSCE) were abducted by Boko Haram terrorists, in Borno State.

    Yet, the president ignored these incidents and still created time to welcome the former Governor of Kano State, Ibrahim Shekarau, to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP): And to attend the 100 years birthday celebration of the Olubadan of Ibadan Oba Samuel Osundiran Odulana, when he could just have sent representation to the ancient city’s monarch’s event. Sadly, the presidential visits were just 24 hours after the Nyanya calamity and the barbaric abduction of the school girls in Borno State. Where is the fatherly compassion, the civilised leadership and humanity in President Jonathan?

    This year alone, it is unfortunate that terrorism has reportedly led to the untimely deaths of 1,500 people. Despite these despicable acts, it is sad that the president still had the time to be in celebratory mood in Kano and Ibadan, at a time that the bereaved families were still counting their losses and victims were still writhing in pain in various hospitals. Also, the fate of the abducted school girls remained unknown.

    The president’s rush to the Nyanya scene of the incident and some of the hospitals where the victims were on admission, to us, was a ruse from a deceitful leader that wanted to give the impression that he was touched by the incident. Unfortunately, President Jonathan is gradually evolving a pattern that portrays him as lacking the milk of human kindness. We recollect that last February, he was on top of his celebratory game when he and his guests clinked glasses at the wasteful centenary celebration, notwithstanding that not less than  43 school children were then just massacred in Yobe State. He did not even bother to visit the state or the parents of the unfortunate kids to commiserate with them.

    President Jonathan is obviously more interested in keeping his job at whatever cost than in protecting lives and property in the nation. There is a huge disconnect between the government and the governed. Save for the regrettable political culture of docility among Nigerians, the contempt espoused by this presidency for Nigerians is enough to cost those in power their positions. The president routinely engages in acts that debase his office, otherwise, how can it be explained that he would descend so low as to be settling personal political scores with the Kano State governor at a time that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had not lifted the ban on political campaign?  To underscore the abyss of his degeneration, the president reportedly mentioned the Kano State governor’s name more than 50 times during his 15 minutes speech at the shameful political jamboree. More saddening is the fact that he travelled to Kano not to commission beneficial projects as dividends of democracy; he went there with the sole purpose of furthering his 2015 re-election ambition at a time that insecurity has blossomed to quite unacceptable levels in the country.

    Moreover, President Jonathan cannot claim non-complicity in the looming graft in the country with his indictment of the process that produced him as presidential candidate of the PDP when he said that Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano State allegedly cornered the money he gave to him (Kwankwaso) for logistics for Kano delegates to the convention where he emerged as the party’s presidential candidate. Where is the much touted internal democracy in the ruling party, especially now that we know that he emerged through reproachful monetary inducement of delegates at that convention? No wonder he has condemned the proposition that a seal should be placed on campaign funds. But he failed to tell his audience how politicians in power are expected to meet the huge budget of campaigning in a graft-ridden system like ours. He also reportedly ended his speech stating to whoever cared to listen that the PDP would ‘recapture’ Kano, Sokoto and Zamfara in 2015 general election while he was also sure that the party would retain Jigawa, Kaduna and Katsina states that are currently under its control.

    The dance of shame in Kano and the insensitive adventure to a birthday bash in Ibadan at a period of national mourning merely underscore one vital point: That in President Jonathan’s view, derisory power game is more important than providing good governance to Nigerians.

  • Subversive generosity

    Subversive generosity

    • Reported multiple car gifts to the president’s daughter and her husband are a veneer covering systemic corruption in the country

    The Edwards, new couple made up of presidential daughter, Faith and her husband, Godswill Osim Edward, a prince from Cross Rivers State, deserve all congratulations for their wedding.

    That was a private affair, as any wedding ought to be. But that the bride is the president’s daughter puts the ceremony pat in the public space. Still, the newly wedded deserves everyone’s prayers and good wishes. We at The Nation therefore join other Nigerians in wishing the new couple sheer matrimonial bliss.

    Gifts are legitimate parts of any wedding. It is friends’, families’ and acquaintances’ show of love and affection — and why not? Weddings, after all, other things being equal, come once in a lifetime. So, no one should ordinarily begrudge the couple whatever presents they got. It was their happy day and they perhaps deserved all of their good fortune.

    Still, because the president was involved and because you cannot divorce the person of the president from the office of the president in this case, the matter cannot be left alone. Indeed, there are reasonable grounds to suggest that the quantum of the wedding gifts can be directly linked to the fact that the president’s daughter was wedding. Now, when does a present cross the threshold of love to subtle subversion bordering on corruption?

    That is why every Nigerian must be bothered by reported obscene and cynical gifts reported to have changed hands, most probably from contractors, sundry business persons and politicians seeking presidential favours. Some media reports even claim a virtual armada of cars has been the lot of the happy couple, aside from other gifts.

    Though this might not have been initiated by the president, and it is certainly no fault of the couple, the end result is subversion: that sooner than later would come to haunt the exchequer. It is yet another corruption of an otherwise solemn event by a greedy and corrupt elite.

    True, such venal practices precede the Jonathan Presidency; and would appear institutionalised at every level of governance. Earlier, the whole country watched aghast as former President Olusegun Obasanjo suborned the business class and the elite public sector to “donate” money to his presidential library project.

    It is the practice in the United States where the idea originated from to stage such launches after a president has left office. So, why did a sitting president insist on staging it? It was another Nigerian penchant to corrupt otherwise noble concepts. The victim, as usual, are the people, whose collective matrimony are raided for these subversive donors to recoup their money.

    That is why we have no hesitation to condemn the cynical gifts by do-gooders at the wedding of the daughter of the president. If corruption is the bane of our underdevelopment and the sweeping poverty plaguing Nigerians today, Nigerian leaders must be more discerning in whatever gifts they allow themselves to receive.

    Such gifts and their bearers are tantamount to the proverbial Greeks bearing gifts. It might cost the receiver more than he or she ever thinks!

    Nigerian leaders must be wary of gifts sure to trigger corrupt practices, which further worsen the present mass poverty and underdevelopment. Those who literally pelt the first family with cars and expensive gifts, on the excuse that their daughter was wedding, certainly know where they will recoup their money.

    It is the bounden duty of patriotic leaders that such hustlers are barricaded far away from the common wealth. But how can they do this if they had earlier fallen for their cheap, subversive and cynical generosity? LITERALLY.