The Nation Newspaper

Category: Editorial

  • The ‘Gudu 10’

    The ‘Gudu 10’

    Since September 20 when security operatives raided a twin duplex around the Gudu Hills in Abuja, killing nine migrant workers and injuring 16 others, many Nigerians have been wondering whether the excuse given by the security agencies that those they killed in the place were Boko Haram members is tenable. The security operatives had swooped on the building, according to them, based on intelligence that the people there were members of the dangerous sect.

    According to the Deputy Director, Public Relations of the State Security Service (SSS), Marilyn Ogar: “The operation was sequel to the information obtained from two Boko Haram elements, Kamal Abdullahi and Mohammed Adamu, who had earlier been arrested for terrorist activities. They led the security team to uncompleted buildings where arms were purported to have been buried underground”.

    But another account had it that the duplex was occupied by about 200 migrant and menial workers who paid N200 each weekly to the security man in the house. However, by the time the operation which sent senators and House of Representatives members, who live in the Apo Legislative Quarters close to the place panicking ended, nine of the people in the building had been killed while about 16 others were injured and taken to hospitals.

    Given the atrocities that members of the Boko Haram sect have committed in the country, the needless shedding of blood and all, Nigerians could jolly well have said, ‘well, serves them right’. But most of the reactions that trailed the shootings were expressed just to be sure that innocent Nigerians are not killed extra-judicially and without justifiable reasons.

    It is true that Boko Haram is deadly; it is also true that there have been instances where innocent Nigerians had been killed by our security forces for no just cause. These included the September 2, 2001 killing, by a policeman, of a young car dealer at Eiyenkorin, a transit town near Ilorin, Kwara State, over the demand (by the police) for two hundred naira bribe. Also, sometime in April 2001, three policemen in Lokoja, Kogi State, at a road check point robbed innocent travellers and set them ablaze to conceal their crime. In the same Abuja, six policemen killed five auto spare parts dealers and their female companion in 2005. The examples are too many to recall. We only went this far to show that it was not a thing that started yesterday; it has always been with us.

    We also have many instances of soldiers and other security operatives in such illegal killings of innocent citizens. Indeed, the statement credited to a police officer in the recent incident in Rivers State where the police blocked one of the roads to the Government House in Port Harcourt (thus debarring the governor passage), that he does not take orders from ‘bloody civilians’, signposts the attitude of many of our security operatives who see their uniforms and the arms they bear as licence to kill at will. Some of them see civilians as mere expendables. As a matter of fact, it is common to hear them say they will just ‘waste people’ even without provocation.

    It is for these reasons that we call for a judicial inquiry into the Gudu killings. Boko Haram is an ill wind that blows no one any good. Even at that, we would prefer a situation where as much as practicable; its suspects are arrested and made to face the full rigour of the law. It is only in extreme cases where arresting them might pose a risk to our security operatives that the security men could shoot in self-defence.

    What we are saying in essence is that we should not put people on legitimate duty to illegitimate risks if we want them to continue carrying out their duties effectively. At the same time, none of us will be safe if we give security men the latitude to kill first and then start fishing for excuses. This is why a probe is inevitable.

  • Kofi Awoonor (1935-2013)

    Kofi Awoonor (1935-2013)

    The death of the Ghanaian writer and activist, Professor Kofi Awoonor, marks the transition of one of Africa’s most innovative and profound men of letters. Transcending Africa’s colonial and post-independence eras, and incorporating the paradoxes of indigenous and acquired heritages into a rich artistic texture, Awoonor’s life and work embody the hope and promise of the continent.

    He was born in Wheta in 1935, and educated at the famous Achimota School, the Universities of Ghana and London, as well as the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He began writing creatively as an undergraduate, and published Rediscovery and Other Poems, his first collection of poems in 1964. He went on to write several radio plays for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) during his studies in the United Kingdom. His second poetry collection, Night of My Blood, was published in 1971. Other works include This Earth, My Brother (1971), Come Back Ghana (1972), Ride Me, Memory (1973) and The Breast of the Earth (1975).

    Awoonor was a close friend of Ghana’s first president, Kwame Nkrumah, and when the Osagyefo was overthrown in a military coup in 1966, he went into exile in the United States. Returning to Ghana in 1975, he was made Head of the English Department at the University of Cape Coast; 1978 saw him embroiled in political controversy once again, with the accusation that he had been involved in a coup plot allegedly spearheaded by members of his Ewe ethnic group. After his release from a year in detention, he served Ghana as the country’s ambassador to Brazil and Cuba, and in 1990 was Permanent Representative of Ghana at the United Nations (UN). He was also Chairman of Ghana’s Council of State, the country’s most prominent advisory body.

    Over more than five decades of public life, Awoonor combined deep interests in literature, teaching, cultural activism, domestic politics and international diplomacy. He enjoyed artistic success, endured political setbacks, participated actively in the cut-and-thrust of partisan politics, and tirelessly promoted literature and the arts. He was, in essence, a latter-day Renaissance Man, a jack of all trades and master of most.

    Given his other activities, it is a tribute to his literary gifts that he is ranked on the same scale as several of the foremost practitioners of African literature, including Chinua Achebe, Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Wole Soyinka and Okot p’Bitek. He was a strong believer in the artistic value of indigenous literary traditions, and drew upon them heavily in his own work. Much of his poetry is concerned with the ambiguities which arise from the clash between the pull of tradition and the push of modernity. As he writes in ‘Songs of Sorrow,’: “Returning is not possible/And going forward is a great difficulty.”

    Unlike other literary artists who are sometimes content to rest on their reputations, Awoonor was deeply involved in his chosen work to the very end. He was in Kenya to participate in the Storymoja Hays Festival, an international celebration of writing and storytelling, where he had conducted a Poetry Masterclass and was billed to read from his works. He had apparently gone to the Westgate shopping mall with his son when terrorists struck. He died on September 21, from injuries sustained in the terror attack on the mall.

    As the first generation of Africa’s writers passes away, perhaps the greatest lesson that can be learned from their distinguished and often-colourful lives is the vital necessity of contributing fully to the positive development of the society in which one finds oneself. Awoonor never allowed the restrictions of circumstance to limit his activities, and to a large extent, Ghana and Africa were the better for it. May his soul rest in peace.

  • Talking to Tehran makes sense

    Talking to Tehran makes sense

    In his speech to the U.N. General Assembly, President Obama on Tuesday promised to engage Iran’s new leadership in negotiations to prevent the development of nuclear weapons in that country as part of a broader normalization of relations. The president was right to say that “the diplomatic path must be tested” despite concerns in this country and Israel that Iran will never abandon its ambitions to be a nuclear power.

    An Iran that possessed nuclear weapons would be a deeply destabilizing development. The most commonly cited concern is that Iran might launch a nuclear attack on Israel — an operation that would be suicidal in light of Israel’s own (if unacknowledged) nuclear arsenal. But a more likely danger is that a nuclear-armed Iran would seek to maximize its political influence in the region, inspiring other states to seek nuclear weapons of their own.

    Although Iran insists that its nuclear program is designed only for civilian uses, the International Atomic Energy Agency has been consistently skeptical. The U.N. Security Council has approved multiple resolutions calling on Iran to stop the enrichment of uranium. Negotiations between Iran and the so-called P5-plus-1 — the five permanent members of the Security Council and Germany — have failed to produce a breakthrough.

    Yet economic sanctions have taken their toll, and in June, Iranians elected as their president Hassan Rouhani, a former nuclear negotiator who ran as a reformist. Rouhani has suggested that he would be open to creative negotiations to resolve the nuclear issue. For now, at least, he seems to have the support of Iran’s religious establishment.

    Skeptics in the U.S. and Israel are warning that this is trickery designed to soften sanctions while the nuclear program quietly progresses. But Obama is wise to engage the new Iranian leader, especially given the alternative. A military strike against Iran by the United States — an option Obama has said is “on the table” as a last resort — could have catastrophic human and political consequences, with no guarantee that it would achieve its objective. Moreover, Americans are uneasy about military intervention in the Middle East or elsewhere, as Obama discovered when he proposed a limited attack on Syria. A diplomatic resolution is obviously a far better solution.

    Obama noted that mistrust between the United States and Iran has “deep roots.” The difficulty of forging a better relationship was symbolized by the fact that the U.S. officials were unable to arrange even a casual meeting between Obama and Rouhani at the United Nations. But the absence of a presidential photo-op will be forgotten if lower-level officials are able to make progress on the nuclear issue.

    – Los Angeles Times

     

  • Terror attack on Kenya

    Terror attack on Kenya

    The September 21 attacks on the Westgate Shopping Mall, Nairobi, Kenya, by Somali Al-Shabaab terrorists left the world gaping. By the time President Uhuru Kenyatta who led the country’s response to the challenge declared the siege over, not less than 130 were presumed dead. The East African country promptly declared a three-day mourning period.

    In many ways, Kenya had always been a candidate for such attacks since the current tempo of terror attacks picked up with the September 11, 2001 attack in the United States of America. As the economic hub in East Africa and a prominent actor in the anti-terrorism fight, Kenya had been marked as a likely target by militants from the region. Its multicultural setting, too, makes it open to such an assault.

    The Al-Shabaab militants who took responsibility for the attack said it was in response to the country’s participation in the international efforts to smoke out Islamists from Somalia. The October 2011 Linda Nchi Operation in Southern Somalia involving troops from France, Israel, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, in particular, was said to have rankled the terrorists who have since made efforts to destabilise Kenya.

    Immediately the terrorists announced their mission with staccato shootings at the five-storey shopping mall, the Kenyan Defence Forces cordoned off the area and professionally moved to dislodge them without giving any impression that the Kenyan state was in panic. At the end of the operation, all six militants were reported killed and many of those declared missing were probably buried in the rubble of the three-storey building that collapsed during the attack.

    One lesson from the attack and the Kenyan response is that security forces in Africa should update their training to combat the scourge. Terrorism is now a global disease that has put the world on notice that it could go on the rampage anywhere, anytime. The Kenyan Defence Forces would not have performed so creditably if the authorities had not envisaged the possibility of such a situation arising. It is a beacon to other countries on the continent to perfect their tactics, to rise to such challenges whenever they arise.

    In Nigeria, similar attacks in the past had caught the security forces napping. Such high-profile targets as the United Nations House in Abuja and the Police Headquarters in the nation’s capital caused much panic among the security men and civilians. Such was the disgust that the entire nation felt at the mediocre response of the security forces to the challenge that the National Security Adviser had to be relieved of his appointment.

    Nigeria’s political leadership and the men in uniform need to rise up to fresh challenges to sovereignty  by reviewing the training and retraining requirements of the men in uniform, as well as the equipment needed to combat the plague.

    We join the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IAD) in commending the efficient and prompt response of the Kenyan Defence Forces to the confrontation. President Kenyatta gave leadership by rallying the country to speak with one voice despite the wound opened by the last presidential election. He spoke as a leader who knew what to do at such a time and left no one in doubt that the Kenyan nation could handle its own affairs when the occasion calls for it.

    The institutions involved, too, showed they had not been left to decay over the years. Each responded as it ought and politicians were given no room to play their divisive roles in such circumstances. Nigeria could learn good lessons from the episode

  • Testing Iran’s soft-sell strategy

    Testing Iran’s soft-sell strategy

    THE APPEARANCES of President Obama and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani at the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday further primed soaring expectations that the United States and Iran, after decades of enmity, can reach an accord. Mr. Obama said the two governments “should be able” to reach “a meaningful agreement” limiting Iran’s nuclear program. Mr. Rouhani called for “time-bound and results-oriented talks.” Secretary of State John F. Kerry will join a meeting with Iran’s foreign minister this week, the highest-level U.S.-Iranian contact in years.

    Mr. Obama is right that “the diplomatic path must be tested.” But is the president’s optimism justified? Mr. Rouhani has excited Iran-watchers in the West over the past several weeks with a charm offensive that has included tweeted holiday greetings to Jews, the release of some political prisoners and a Post op-ed that promised a “constructive dialogue.” But there has been no substance — and there is ample reason for skepticism that a reversal of Iran’s drive to achieve nuclear weapons capability is in the works.

    Iran has steadily built its capacity to enrich uranium through a decade of negotiations and escalating sanctions. Mr. Rouhani, a longtime and fiercely loyal follower of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has yet to offer any indication of what, if any, deviations the regime may be prepared to make from its previous refusal to limit that activity, accept more intrusive international inspections or answer U.N. inspectors’ questions about suspected work on warheads and missiles.

    On the contrary: During his election campaign this year, Mr. Rouhani boasted that, as the regime’s nuclear negotiator a decade ago, he had managed to head off sanctions even as the program moved forward. His pitch to Iranians was that a different approach to the West, eschewing the confrontational, Holocaust-denying antics of former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, might win relief from sanctions while preserving Iran’s interests.

    In that sense, Mr. Obama’s assertion that “President Rouhani received from the Iranian people a mandate to pursue a more moderate course” struck us as misguided. Mr. Rouhani was in New York on Tuesday not because democracy triumphed in Iran but because Iran’s real leader decided to give the soft-sell strategy a try. It’s possible that the regime could offer concessions, such as partial limits on enrichment or a reduction of its growing stockpile of enriched uranium; such steps, after all, were once proposed by Mr. Ahmadinejad. But a genuine renunciation of the capacity to build a weapon, and the acceptance of international controls that would enforce that commitment, looks far-fetched.

    A small accord with Iran — a reduction of nuclear capacity in exchange for a partial lifting of sanctions — would be preferable to unchecked development by Tehran that provokes U.S. or Israeli military action. The Obama administration has aimed at such a deal since 2009 — and has responded to Tehran’s intransigence by sweetening its offers. The danger is that, in the fevered atmosphere generated by Mr. Rouhani’s skillful public diplomacy, the United States and its allies will be induced into further, unwarranted concessions — or deluded into believing that a “grand bargain” is possible with Iran. Better to swiftly demand that Mr. Rouhani make clear his bottom line — and prick the bubble he has been inflating.

    – Washington Post

  • CBN’s N.5bn donation

    CBN’s N.5bn donation

    •Again, should the apex bank continue giving away money like this?

    Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) decision to spend N500million on renovation and infrastructural development of Lisabi Grammar School, Abeokuta, Ogun State, has opened its flank for another round of criticism, Doing good is not inherently bad; but it raises eyebrows when a public institution like the CBN is concerned. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), as they call it, is done by many business concerns as a way of giving back to the society part of what they have taken from it.

    But what they spend on CSR is usually taken from their profits. This is one reason many Nigerians believe it should not be the duty of the CBN to embark on such projects because it has no tangible product that it sells.

    As a matter of fact, that was one of the reasons many Nigerians asked questions when in February last year the apex bank donated N100million to the Kano State Government, for delivery to victims of the Boko Haram-induced violence in the state. The bank explained then that under its statute, it is empowered to make such donations, provided they are approved by its board. Consequently, there should be no issues on the Kano donation since it was approved by its board; in other words, the bank had fulfilled all righteousness. Not many Nigerians were impressed with this answer, and many people began calling for a tinkering with the autonomy of the bank in a way that would clip its wings for such expenditures.

    A raging debate thus ensued, with some former governors of the bank, former finance ministers and other financial experts wading in, in defence of the CBN, to protect it from the undue influence of politicians. Somehow, a middle course was reached with some people suggesting that we should demarcate between the bank’s operational autonomy and its budgeting autonomy. This seems sensible in that it both protects the apex bank’s autonomy to play its regulatory role in the economy as well as ensure that it submits its budgets to the National Assembly like other government agencies.

    However, no further action was taken on the matter ever since. But, the donation to Lisabi Grammar School, as part of the apex bank’s development policy of intervention in schools, has once again brought to the fore the question of how far the apex bank can go in spending money without appropriation, beyond the approval by its board? No doubt the projects for which the money was donated, which included a 200-seater capacity hall, an ultra modern library, laboratory for Physics, Chemistry and Biology; staff quarters, two boreholes as well as two buses are laudable, but should it be the business of the CBN? Being the alma mater of the bank’s deputy governor (operations), Mr. Tunde Lemo, won’t it raise question of abuse of office? In other words, would such generosity have been the school’s lot if Mr Lemo is not its product?

    The fact is, N500million is a lot of money; it will go a long way in putting smiles on the faces of students and staff in some five colleges, at the rate of N100million per school. Yes, when a school clocks 70, like Lisabi Grammar School, it calls for celebration and retrospection. Without doubt, if the donation had come from the old students, no one would have questioned it; irrespective of the amount involved.

    Something must be wrong with whatever process that allows the CBN such latitude without appropriation by the National Assembly. Even the government that appoints the CBN governor has oversight done on its budget by the National Assembly. The apex bank is a mere custodian of public wealth; it should not give the impression that it is its owner.

     

  • Caught in the act?

    Caught in the act?

    • The ICPC sting operation that caught a lowly civil service in alleged receipt of  bribe is one up for anti-corruption

    Sales of petty corruption are probably as old as the civil service itself. But a reported case of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) using a sting operation to apprehend a civil servant allegedly involved in such an act holds the promise of ending the criminal culture of silence that has fuelled that impunity for too long.

    According to news reports, one Abbah Adikwu, a Grade Level 07 officer with the Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC), Abuja, allegedly kept on demanding bribe before doing his legitimate duty. Another civil servant (names not mentioned) had, according to the report, been visiting the suspect’s office since 2012. His mission was to regularise his appointment. But each time, Adikwu allegedly always stonewalled his efforts, allegedly insisting on gratification before doing his job.

    Adikwu’s conduct therefore compelled the unnamed colleague to lodge a complaint with the ICPC. The anti-graft body told him to play along, agree to a bribe sum and gave the complainant marked notes to pay Adikwu. But no sooner had Adikwu collected the marked bribe money than ICPC operatives swooped on him to effect his arrest.

    To show Adikwu was probably not alone in his alleged pastime, some of his colleagues tried to obstruct the ICPC agents from arresting the suspect, who had earlier turned violent and tried to bolt for it. These misguided sympathisers (at best) or accomplices (at worst) even tried to cage the ICPC agents and their quarry, until back-up security foiled their efforts. It is however gratifying to note that both Adikwu and accomplices are cooling their heels at an ICPC facility.

    Corruption often appears a huge and fearsome monster, on which virtually nothing can make a dent. But that is not true. What appears so mighty and formidable is only an agglomeration of millions of tiny turpitudes. So, if you keep hacking at those tiny misdeeds, the chances are you are attacking the base of the worrisome monster. With persistence and focus, it just might crash.

    That the unnamed Abuja civil servant shunned criminal silence and abject submission is a thing of cheer. If many people take after his bold lead, the criminals entrenched in the corrupt practice, from the messenger to the minister, would surely be less brazen. If people had always challenged requests for gratification, corruption would not today have assumed the worrisome guise of the norm, rather than the abnormal it is.

    The defiant victim has also earned praise by resorting to the bounds of law and decency to trap the suspect. But he would have got nowhere if the ICPC had not risen to the occasion and supported him. On this score, the ICPC deserves praise. It should do more of that by timely responding to similar requests. To the extent that the ICPC has been perceived as somewhat less vibrant than the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), this is a move really to cheer.

    But every action so far taken would amount to nought if the Adikwu matter was not pursued to its logical conclusion. Even more than punishing the suspect if he is guilty, the innocent civil servant must get his due by getting his service regularised. The FCSC must see to that, if only to publicly demonstrate that it tolerates no bad conduct from bad eggs in its employ.

    Then ICPC should bring Adikwu to speedy justice, to serve as example to others. But it must also go after bigger rogues in the civil service. Nigeria has no choice than to win the war against corruption. Otherwise, the future is bleak.

     

  • People’s confab

    People’s confab

    •Senate’s support for a national conference is welcome, but it must be held in accordance with the People’s Will

     

    THE conditional support given by Senate President David Mark to the call for a national conference where the Nigerian people would come together to review the state of the union and come up with a Peoples Constitution is welcome. Coming so soon after Senator Mark had dismissed the demand at the National Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association in Calabar, it is an indication that the ruling elite may be getting converted to the view that the fundamental problems of the country could no longer be swept under the carpet. They need to be discussed frankly in a conference where the basic working conditions of the country could be revisited.

    President Goodluck Jonathan had toed the same line while receiving a delegation of The Patriots who had consistently canvassed the option. He said the issue was being discussed within government and identified how to get the National Assembly to accommodate the call as the major obstacle.

    However, while we welcome the shift in the position of the heads of the Legislature and the Executive arm of government, it is our view that they are not in a position to dictate the powers to be conferred on the conference. We are miffed by the insistence of Senator Mark that the conference cannot be ‘sovereign’ since there is a sovereign government in place and the 1999 Constitution has vested all lawmaking power in the Legislature.

    This is a rehash of the position canvassed by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, that sovereignty resided in his government and he was unwilling to cede any portion of it to an ad hoc body. This could only have stemmed from a poor understanding of the working of democracy. Under the system, power is derived from the people. It is in realisation of this that the constitution lied in its preamble that “We, the people give ourselves this constitution.” It was neither subjected to a national debate where all legitimate constituent groups were invited, nor was it submitted to a national referendum for approval.

    It is in this light that we associate with the popular demand for a national conference with full constituent power. Sovereignty belongs to the Nigerian people and what government enjoys is delegated authority. This point has been eloquently made by eminent constitutional lawyers, including Professor Ben Nwabueze who leads The Patriots.

    The late Chief Gani Fawehinmi made the point in 2000 when he said: “The primary duty of the Sovereign National Conference is to address and find solutions to the key problems afflicting Nigeria since 1914 to date. The concern is to remove all obstacles which have prevented the country from establishing political justice, economic justice, social justice, cultural justice, religious justice, and to construct a new constitutional framework in terms of the system of government – structurally, politically, economically, socially, culturally and religiously.” This is an unassailable submission.

    The basis of the Nigerian union agreed by leaders of the various component regions just before independence was a federation where the federating units retained a large measure of autonomy. Each of the three regions complemented the federal constitution with its separate constitution that spelt out how it wished to be run within the powers conferred on it by the negotiated federal constitution.

    The incursion of the military to the political arena scuttled the federal structure and sowed the seeds of structural distortions and imperfection that have become the source of the perennial tension and instability in the land.

    It is time to review the development of Nigeria with a view to removing the factors that have impeded growth. A Sovereign National Conference has become inevitable. It is not subject to the whims of those who are adept at exploiting the subsisting system to their advantage. The Nigerian people deserve the best and should not be held down by a phantom belief that such a conference could lead to the country’s disintegration.

     

  • Jonathan on corruption

    Jonathan on corruption

    • Contrary to the President’s view, Nigerians are not to blame for the cankerworm

    But for the fact that the statement to the effect that Nigerians are to blame for the high wave of corruption in the country has not been denied days after the media reports, we would have thought that President Goodluck Jonathan was either misquoted or that he was not the one who made the claim. Speaking while declaring open the 54th annual conference of the Nigerian Economic Society in Abuja on September 17, the President lamented that despite the institutional reforms aimed at fighting corruption in Nigeria, Nigerians kept encouraging graft through their actions.

    According to President Jonathan, “I want a society where all of us will frown upon people who come up with what they are not supposed to have. (If) a young man who just started a job and within six months or a year comes up with a car of N7m to N15m and you clap for him, then you are rewarding corruption.

    “So, for us as a nation to bring corruption down, it is not just blaming government or blaming the police. but all individuals must frown upon people who have what they are not supposed to have; who live in houses they are not supposed  to live in; who drive cars they are not supposed to drive and who wear expensive suits  they are not supposed to wear. And until Nigerians are able to do this, I don’t think we will get to where we want to go.”

    We disagree with the President that corruption thrives in the country necessarily because Nigerians encourage it. Even in some instances where Nigerian have blown the whistle, government and its agencies responsible to act have merely looked the other way. For instance, Nigerians have been clamouring for the removal of the petroleum minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke since the fuel subsidy racket broke in January last year. Many people are still wondering how such monumental fraud could take place in a ministry and the minister in charge would still sit pretty in office.

    A few weeks ago, the same minister was accused of hiring private jets with about two billion naira in just two years. Yet, she was not affected by the cabinet reshuffle carried out by the President on September 11. Isn’t this corruption? And if it isn’t, what then is it? Is this a way by which Nigerians encourage corruption? Even the President who is accusing the people of aiding and abetting corruption has refused to publicly declare his assets. How does this help the cause of transparency? And how many people want to take the risk of exposing corruption in a country where such information may not be treated with the utmost confidentiality that it deserves? Can the police keep such secrets secret?

    Even the government accusing Nigerians of abetting corruption is by far guiltier. Look at its list of heroes: Diepreye Alamieyeseigha that received presidential pardon despite the monumental fraud he committed against the people of Bayelsa State; in the same vein, the late General Sani Abacha’s son, Mohammed, has found solace in the president’s political party. When all these are happening, why won’t former Governor James Ibori’s people too celebrate their own despite being in jail abroad?

    President Jonathan should realise that human beings will always be human beings, irrespective of their colour or creed. Corruption is pervasive in Nigeria not necessarily because Nigerians encourage it; but because successive governments have not summoned the courage to deal with it frontally. When the government takes the lead, and Nigerians see a genuine intention on its part to fight corruption, they will always fall into line.

    Moreover, the government has to focus on the basic things of ensuring people have jobs to do, to keep them away from idleness. So, the ball is back in the President’s court.

  • Jonathan at NYSE

    Jonathan at NYSE

     As the President rings the closing bell, he should remember the NSE back home

    LATER today, President Goodluck Jonathan will step on the dais at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) to ring the closing bell. Although, he will be making history as the first Nigerian leader to play that role, he merely joins the long list of celebrities, show business personalities and other global leaders that have rung either the opening or closing bell at the world’s most prestigious trading floor.

    Call it – if you may – a lifetime achievement for the Jonathan Presidency; too good to miss would be apt to describe the fleeting moment of that hyped appearance on the global stage.  If merely for the extensive media coverage, not least the opportunity afforded the leader of the most populous African nation to deliver his message to, first, the Wall Street, and then the Main Street all around the world, the platform would still have been important by any standard.

    That, however, is where the paradox lies. For much as the administration is wont to tout the outing as an achievement, it is hard to see any tangible benefits to the country or the economy, particularly as the world now has better tools to rely upon for market intelligence than the one-off marketing event of an appearance at the headquarters of global capitalism. It seems to us that the NYSE is, on balance, the ultimate beneficiary of the well-staged event through the opportunity afforded it to showcase the depth of their market and the vast accomplishments of the operators. The latter point is better appreciated in the background of the growing pressure on some companies to get listed on foreign bourses.

    The point is: we see no big deal in President Jonathan ringing the NYSE closing bell or the opening bell for that matter; that other global icons have made appearance at the bourse does not make it any more so. We understand the penchant by the Federal Government to begin its charity abroad; it is all part of the craving, or worse – the fetish – for foreign endorsements. The world surely knows the Nigerian economy better than the whitewash presented at such high-octane affairs.

    Be that as it may, we can only use today’s occasion to remind the President and his team that the NYSE did not happen by accident. That it has evolved with time, maturing in the process and now to the point of transforming into a powerful magnet – drawing stars and leaders – is because of the abiding faith of the American investor in the promise of capitalism, and the strong institution put in place by the US government to regulate its operations. The bedrock is of course technology and innovation which not only power but deliver the competitive advantage to the US economy.

    The story of the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE) of course presents an intriguing tale of the absurd. After the market hit the bottom in 2009, the nation’s expectation was of a revamped regulator – the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) – primed to clear the mess. None of this has happened more than three years after. Instead, the team brought in by the Federal Government to clear the mess did not come without courting its own share of controversies, which later snowballed into the extraordinary measure of defunding SEC by the National Assembly. Today’s event in New York should, hopefully, remind President Jonathan of that unfinished job of getting SEC’s appropriation restored.

    We continue to make the point that any discussion on the state of the capital market without establishing its direct linkage with the overall economy would remain superficial. One lesson from the 2009 capital market bust-up must be in the understanding that both must go pari-passu. The summary is that President Jonathan will do a far better job of fixing the critical enablers of the economy than the endless jamborees being staged in the name of courting foreign investors.