The Nation Newspaper

Category: Editorial

  • Defending the indefensible

    Defending the indefensible

    •The earlier Nigeria faced realities about the state of affairs in the country, the better

    AS usual with such reports, the Federal Government has disagreed with the latest African Development Bank (AfDB) report on poverty. In a statement personally signed by the Minister of Information, Mr Labaran Maku, the government contended on Monday that the report covered the period between 1996 and 2010. In effect, it did not take cognisance of the developments occasioned by President Goodluck Jonathan’s Transformation Agenda, according to the minister.

    It is baffling that the government is always eager to dismiss external reports which merely reinforce what Nigerians already know about their country. When Transparency International (TI) says ours is a corrupt nation to the core, the government says this is not so. When Nigeria is presented as lagging behind in social indices, the government reacts angrily. Now, it is time to debunk the AfDB report, despite the glaring realities of pervasive poverty in the country.

    This is not the way to get out of our challenges. Living in self denial can only aggravate an already bad situation. We agree with the minister that poverty is not peculiar to Nigeria. But what we also know for a fact is that the causes of poverty differ from country to country; so are the approaches to containing it. If many Nigerians are poor, it is not for lack of resources, mineral and human.

    Rather, it is due mainly to mismanagement and corruption. And only good leadership can steer the country away from the pangs of poverty. This is what has made the difference between Nigeria and other countries like India, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan that were in the same league of backbencher countries with us, even up to the 1970s.

    Even if we agree with Minister Maku that the AfDB report did not cover the immediate past, that is the last three years when he believed that so much has happened to present a different picture, the fact is that since May, 1999 to date, Nigeria has had only one ruling party, and that is the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). In other words, granted that the report covered as far back as 2010, the present government cannot distance itself from whatever the situation was at that time, if only for the fact that it is still a product of the same ruling party.

    Other claims by the minister can only pale into insignificance when compared with realities. Take the unemployment rate and Gini Coefficient, which measures the dispersion in income and wealth among individuals, that Mr. Maku mentioned. According to him, this is 26 per cent and 0.63, respectively, in South Africa, compared to Nigeria’s 24 per cent and 0.45. The Gini Coefficient for other comparator countries like Brazil, China, and Singapore were 0.52, 0.47, and 0.48, respectively. In effect, going by Mr Maku’s assertion, Nigeria’s economy is doing much better than any other of its size in Africa.

    We have heard this claim from several ministers of the present government. Just as we have heard that Nigeria remains the highest destination for Foreign Direct Investment (FID) inflows into Africa, over and above South Africa and Egypt. Yet, we cannot immediately recollect how many companies have folded up in the country and relocated to other places in Africa due mainly to epileptic power supply. The power problem is still there; erratic as it could be. Today, generation has dropped from over 3,800 MW to about 2,600 MW. All Nigerians get are excuses why it is deteriorating rather than be steady.

    We do not want to join issues with the minister beyond here. His principal’s government might have done a lot to fight poverty, create jobs, and reduce inequality. But what the AfDB report and others before it have said is what Nigerians see and feel. The country will be better off the moment we accept these realities rather than be trading excuses and defending the indefensible.

     

  • Killing intelligence

    Killing intelligence

    •Boko Haram attacks on informants is bad for intelligence gathering; it should be checked

    Since the declaration of a state of emergency in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states by the Federal Government on May 14 as part of efforts to curb the activities of the Boko Haram sect, the insurgents routed in those places appear to be fighting like wounded lions. But, just as one could be thinking that the military onslaught against them has considerably disorganised the sect’s members and weakened their capacity to unleash violence, the attacks, last weekend, in which about 60 persons were killed and which also led to scores of others being injured, in Ngom, Maisarmari and Mailari in Konduga and Mafa local government areas of Borno State are sufficient cause for concern.

    These latest attacks followed the ones on August 4, on some military formations, including the Mobile Police Base and Bama town in the state. At least 35 persons were said to have been killed in the attacks, according to the figures released by the joint task force. The terrorists had threatened to launch massive attacks as part of their own peculiar way of marking the end of Ramadan. Lt-Col Sagir Musa, the task force’s spokesman said ‘troops have successfully repelled Boko Haram terrorists attack on Mobile Police Base and Bama town. Terrorists using sophisticated weapons and Improvised Explosive Devices launched attacks at about 6:45am on 4th August, 2013’.

    These attacks are worrisome, especially considering the fact that the state of emergency imposed on the states, designed to last for six months in the first instance, is already three months old. We urge the security agents to be persistent with the pressure mounted on the Boko Haram because nothing short of its total defeat will do. Intelligence is key here. This explains why the last attacks on the Borno communities are particularly disturbing. The terrorists reportedly attacked the hapless villagers because some of them had been giving out information to the military that had led to the casualties within the Islamist group.

    It cannot be denied that such information has been of immense benefit to the military in the campaign against the insurgents. We are afraid of what will happen when such a useful source of information dries up as it is bound to when people realise that they cannot rely on the government cover for their safety and security. The United States shut 20 of its diplomatic missions around the world on August 4 on the strength of intelligence report of possible terror attacks on US facilities on that day by Al-Qaeda. The point is that insurgents’ capacity for destruction is weakened when their actions are pre-empted.

    However, as we have always counselled on the Boko Haram insurgency, force alone cannot solve the problem. Certain factors begot the phenomenon, just as some factors are nurturing it; it is important to isolate these and find solutions to them. There are economic challenges to face, particularly in the north and central parts of the country where the activities of the sect are felt most. Governments at the federal and state levels have to come up with job-creation strategies that will take many of the jobless youths away from the unemployment queues. When they are productively engaged, those looking for idle hands to recruit for terror purposes will have to look elsewhere for foot soldiers.

    In the same vein, the governments must take another look at the state of education, again in that part of the country, with a view to further expanding the scope to capture more idle youths who should be in school but are not, for whatever reason. The bottom-line is getting these idle hands productively engaged. Three months may not be enough to rein in Boko Haram; it should at least be seen to be crippling the sect and weakening its capacity to wreak havoc.

     

  • Road rage

    Road rage

    •Time for FRSC to reappraise its mandate in road safety

    Although quite typically short on finer details, the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC)’s 10-year observed trend (2001-2010) of road accident fatalities is revealing in a number of ways. Aside posting an alarming average of 11 deaths per day over a 10-year period, the first indication is that road accidents, despite the hue and cry about efforts to stem the carnage, have remained a potent source of avoidable deaths in the country.

    The short take is that a record 64,000 Nigerians died through road accidents within the 10-year period. In 2001, the dead numbered 9,946; in the following year, it came down to 7,407 and even further down to 6,452 in 2003. Although, the number of deaths rose marginally to 6,661 in 2008, it fell to 5,693 and 4,065 in 2009 and 2010, respectively. The following year, that is 2011, the number of deaths was given as 4,372.

    What the figures suggest is that rate of fatalities have declined, albeit, marginally, during the 10-year period. Much as we have no basis to deny that the trend may have declined somewhat in the years as reported, to the extent that the figures represent only those captured by the commission, that is, those officially reported to it, there are good grounds to suggest that the fatality figures may have been grossly understated.

    Even at that, the situation is just as worrisome. Worrisome because most of these fatalities are not only avoidable, they are actually preventable.  If the development offers any indication, it is of the fact that the awareness created, not to talk of the resources poured into road safety management over the years, has not delivered much in terms of enthroning a safe driving culture.

    Of great concern is the state of our highways as a major cause of the fatalities. To describe some of our federal highways as gateways to hell is certainly no exaggeration. When vehicles are not falling into giant craters with attendant loss of lives, motorists are left at the mercy of the men of the underworld known to choose dangerous spots to strike. Two separate incidents come to mind here – the one along the Benin-Sagamu expressway and the other along the ever busy Lokoja-Abuja highway where the men of the underworld struck, leaving scores dead in either case.

    Be that as it may, one component of the road safety management issue often overlooked or understated is the moral hazard on the part of motorists. The hazard could range from drunkenness, over-speeding and other forms of anti-social behaviours by motorists. Of particular interest are the commercial drivers who increasingly see the niceties of road culture and the attendant regulations not just as something they can trifle with, but also scoff at.

    A way forward is for the nation to consciously evolve a road safety culture. In this regard, the federal and state governments may have to take another look at the current structure and institutions of road safety management. The states in particular need to revamp their Vehicle Inspection Offices as part of overall efforts to enforce traffic regulations as well as other road safety standards.

    One of the core questions we need to address is how the FRSC has over the years veered from its core mandate of ensuring road safety to becoming a Jack of all trades and master of none. It is bad enough that it claims proprietary rights over issuance of driver’s licence under a federal set-up, it has also monopolised number plates production – functions that states licensing offices are better placed to execute. The problem here is that this disproportionate attention by FRSC to issues of driver’s license and number plates is what appears to have hobbled its capacity to discharge its road safety functions efficiently. It is partly responsible for why the commission has not been able to invest in the sorely needed road safety infrastructure on the highways. It’s about time the FRSC returned to the highways where it is more needed as against its men’s ubiquitous presence in the cities doing routine traffic control.

     

  • Terror alert

    Terror alert

    •US’ terror alert shows how unsafe the world is. A permanent solution  to the problem is imperative

    THE United States, on August 4, ordered the closure of over 20 of its diplomatic missions across the Islamic world, stating intelligence reports had warned of possible terror attacks on US facilities on that day.

    The alert followed a high-level meeting on terrorism at the White House, which revealed Al-Qaeda was about to strike at US missions across the Arab world, though it named no particular country or countries. The intelligence issued from the escape of hundreds of Al-Qaeda cells via jail breaks in July. The jail breaks happened in no less than nine countries, including Iraq, Libya and Pakistan.

    Embassies in Iraq, Egypt, Afghanistan and Yemen were among countries affected, with the Yemeni capital of Sanaa appearing to endure particular attention. Britain, France and Germany also closed their embassies there.

    That escaped Al-Qeada cells will sneeze and the United States would catch a cold shows how progressively unsafe the world has become. Even more importantly, it shows that raw power alone cannot solve the terror problem.

    Incidentally, the terror alert has been relaxed, with most of the closed missions now open.

    Two morals come from the US’ action. The first is sound intelligence. Since terror is surprise attack from a hostile underdog, its prevention is the best antidote, since victims, mostly innocent souls that have no problem with the attacker, are often sitting ducks. Sound intelligence is therefore needed to avert such attacks.

    Sound intelligence prompted the US alert, and the Nigerian government would do well to put in place and maximise the result of sound intelligence, while it confronts the Boko Haram threat. But that would do only in the short run.

    In the long run, what is needed is uprooting the cause of the violent campaign. Globally, the surface cause would appear an overwhelming Western cultural imperialism, perpetrated so completely that some religious opportunists seize the situation to unleash mayhem on innocent souls, under the guise of maintaining the purity of Islam.

    If somewhat the West can give Islam and other non-Western cultural practices their due, the bottom would be taken off the campaign of these anarchists; and pretenders to dubious causes. That is why it was heart-warming that even President Barack Obama hosted American Muslims to the Iftar, the breaking of the Ramadan fast during this last Ramadan. Such gestures were also replicated in American missions across the globe. More of those would project that America does not hate Muslims and, with time, drive the violent fundamentalist agitators out of work.

    But cultural imperialism aside, global poverty must also be addressed, such that the ranks of the hopeless and easily indoctrinated are acutely reduced. Increased prosperity across the board will, other things being equal, rid the face of the earth of that hate-filled army, ready to blow up fellow humans with themselves at the virtual snap of a finger.

    For Nigeria, this is even a more durable lesson to learn. Though there is information that Boko Haram trains drug-spiked cells for its mass murder missions, a good number of those cells – if not most of them – other things being equal, are poor and uneducated.

    To uproot the threat therefore, the Nigerian government should declare economic and educational emergency in the North East, the main vortex of Boko Haram, to rid the country of the dirt poor that fall victim to the sect’s end-time campaigns.

    The August 4 global terror alert is a grim reminder of how unsafe the world has come to be. But it must be turned into an opportunity to solve the problem, perhaps once and for all.

     

  • Wonderful WAEC

    Wonderful WAEC

    IN spite of justifiable fears to the contrary, the May/June 2013 West African Senior School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE) of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has given Nigeria cause for celebration rather than the usual condemnation. Unlike in previous years when poor performance, missing results and widespread malpractices were recurrent themes, the recently-released results resonate with heart-warming news.

    The most notable aspect of the results is the vastly-improved performance of candidates who sat for the examinations. A total of 889,636 candidates, 53.2 per cent of the 1.671 million candidates who took the examinations, obtained six credits and above; 1.074 million, or 64.2 per cent, obtained five credits. This compares favourably with the figures for 2011, when only 39.57 per cent of the candidates had six credits and above, while 50.09 per cent obtained five credits. In 2009, just 25.99 per cent of the candidates who sat the exams obtained credits in English Language, Mathematics and three other subjects.

    It is obvious that there is a substantial improvement in the results of the 2013 May/June WASSCE. It is likely to be attributable to the increased attention paid by state governments to education as seen in the construction of standard classrooms, libraries and laboratories, the increased provision of facilities, and greater focus on teacher training and educational administration. Praise must also go to the candidates themselves, many of whom have had to undertake their studies in an atmosphere that is not very conducive to learning, given the country’s many infrastructural and other challenges.

    However, it is to be hoped that these improved performances come mainly from honest effort, rather than successful recourse to so-called “expos,” the practice of obtaining examination questions before the time they are due to be taken. WAEC does not appear to consider this to have been a problem, but given the generally poor performance in the 2013 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME) which were taken by the same candidates at about the same time, it cannot be dismissed lightly.

    In addition, there is the fact that these good performances give rise to new challenges. With over half a million candidates getting the five credits, including English and Mathematics, that they require to enter university, the already-high pressure on the admissions process is likely to become even worse. As the competition for university places gets ever fiercer, the positive values of competence and hard work will be overthrown by bribery and other underhand practices.

    The federal and state governments must remedy this situation if Nigerian students are not to become victims of their own success. One way out of this conundrum would be to embark on a massive expansion of existing universities as opposed to the establishment of new ones. It is a persistent mystery that Nigeria has chosen not to imitate the multi-campus university system that has been so effectively utilised in the United States. The University of California, for example, operates a ten-campus system with nearly 250,000 students, enabling it to operate flexibly and efficiently. There is no reason why some of the nation’s older universities cannot adopt this approach, instead of the expensive policy of building brand-new federal and state universities.

    Another way in which the ever-increasing numbers of qualified candidates for tertiary education can be accommodated is to improve the quality of the nation’s polytechnics and monotechnics, generally perceived as an unattractive second choice due to the widespread discrimination suffered by their graduates. This problem can be resolved by giving them the status of degree-awarding institutions after an exhaustive process of upgrading their human resources and teaching facilities.

    Nigeria’s youth have begun to display their educational mettle. It would be a shame to deny them the opportunity to fully realise their potential.

  • Hard lessons

    Hard lessons

    PREDICTABLY, it will be a drama of the absurd when 1,300 primary school teachers in Edo State appear before a verification committee in connection with alleged irregularities in their academic certificates and age records. The clarifying exercise, which is part of the state government’s efforts to sanitise the education sector, is a welcome move.  It is coming on the heels of an audit carried out by the state Information and Communications Technology unit which showed that 789 teachers out of 1, 379 obtained their Primary School Leaving Certificates before the age of eight.

    Ordinarily, it would appear that the teachers concerned were prodigious in their early years, but the government is reasonably suspicious of their credentials which, indeed, leave room for doubt. The state governor, Adams Oshiomhole, interestingly highlighted the ridiculous dimension of the matter in a meeting with the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) in the state. According to him, the teachers “appear to have started their primary school before they were born.”

    Although it is not clear how long these teachers have spent in service, the primary and inevitable question prompted by this development is how they managed to achieve employment in the first place. Consequently, it stands to reason that, even if such teachers are guilty of misrepresentation, perhaps even more culpable are those government officials who recruited them. What this episode reveals, if it can be described as revelatory, is that there is a systemic anomaly.

    Whatever the reasons that might have informed the falsifications, there is no excuse for such misconduct. It is even more intolerable in the context of education, considering the likely negative and counter-productive consequences. It is reassuring that the long-term effects of such undesirable practice were not lost on Oshiomhole, who said, “If you mismanage education, you are killing our tomorrow, our collective future…In the absence of brains, we will not have growth and development.”

    The objectives of the verification, namely, determination of the requisite qualification and competence of the teachers, and clarification of their ages and suitability for work, are absolutely necessary. It is, however, hoped that the process will not be long on ceremony but short on integrity. In other words, the panel must get its assignment right. But, perhaps more important, the government must review its recruitment procedure to ensure that after the corrective exercise, there would be no relapse that might allow unsuitable individuals to penetrate the system.

    It is noteworthy that the governor has assured the teachers that the panel was not constituted to carry out a witch-hunt, and that only those who were evidentially deficient would be shown the exit, while those who needed re-training would be accommodated and their skills updated at the government’s expense. Indeed, this would be a positive example if the governor’s words are matched by deeds.

    Additionally, remuneration and welfare issues pertaining to the teaching profession deserve to be adequately addressed, considering the observation that age lowering is, among other factors,  commonly inspired not only by a desperation for employment, but also  by a need to prolong service period because of the fear of life after retirement. Socio-economic arrangements that provide greater job opportunities and practical pension programmes are crucial in the circumstances.

    However, the Edo State approach recommends itself beyond the physical boundaries of the territory, particularly in a country faced with a general decline in worthy values across various sectors. There is no doubt that education is an area that holds great promise in its capacity to impart not only the correct knowledge and skills, but also the desirable decency, especially  to the youths who are the proverbial “leaders of tomorrow.”  We cannot afford to allow it go to the dogs.

  • Egypt on the Edge

    Egypt on the Edge

    It’s hard to imagine things getting worse in Egypt, but they could. The generals who now call the shots in the world’s leading Arab country and their handpicked civilian government have halted efforts to reach a compromise with the Islamist supporters of the man they ousted — Mohamed Morsi, the country’s first democratically elected president. Instead, they have threatened to forcibly disperse tens of thousands of pro-Morsi civilians from two sit-ins in Cairo.

    Such an intemperate response could end disastrously. Nearly 300 people have been killed in political violence since July 3, when the military overthrew Mr. Morsi; among the dead were 80 Morsi backers shot by security forces on July 27. The government has carried out a sweeping crackdown against the Brotherhood, jailing Mr. Morsi in an unknown location, and blamed the group for inviting the crackdown even though the two main sit-ins, which are demanding Mr. Morsi’s reinstatement, are open and seemingly nonviolent.

    After working its back-channel ties to the army with little obvious effect, the Obama administration sent one of its ablest diplomats, William Burns, the deputy secretary of state, to Cairo to join a European Union representative and envoys from other Arab states in presenting both sides with sensible, face-saving proposals to calm the crisis. The army, they suggested, would release some Brotherhood leaders from detention and allow the Brotherhood to participate in elections; in exchange, the Islamists would forswear violence.

    The generals and some civilian leaders, however, refused to budge, despite warnings in Cairo from two prominent visiting Republican senators, John McCain and Lindsey Graham, that America’s $1.5 billion aid package could be at risk.

    It is difficult to understand why the army, which considers itself the guardian of the state, would think that crushing the Brotherhood could benefit the country. Egypt is existing hand-to-mouth on donations from gulf allies when what it needs is to rebuild a strong economy that provides jobs, housing and education to its people. Tourism and foreign investment will never rebound if there is persistent violence and turmoil.

    The Brotherhood, having been tossed out in a coup, might legitimately wonder whether the democratic process can ever be trusted. But that process offers the only path to long-term stability. The United States, which has gone too far in accepting the coup, must keep making the case for a political solution. With Europe and the Arab world, it must also be prepared to condemn the army and consider stronger action if more bloodshed occurs.

     

    New York Times

     

  • Agenda for APC

    Agenda for APC

    The new party must differentiate itself from the pack with its vision and mission statement

    The euphoria over the successful merger of some political parties to form the All Progressives Congress (APC) is understandable, considering that it is the first time such an effort has been consummated in the history of Nigeria. For such a feat, the leaders of the defunct parties that merged – the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) deserve the commendation of all democrats for their sacrifices that hopefully will enhance our democratic enterprise. Having achieved the current success, the next step is for the leaders to stir the new party to fulfill the potential of an enduring democratic Nigeria.

    We have no doubt that every democratic Nigerian nurses the hope that the APC will signal the organic emergence of a two dominant party structure in Nigeria. As the history of political parties in Nigeria will show, there have been several failed attempts by disparate parties to coalesce into two major parties as national elections approached; unfortunately, such attempts were usually bogged down by parochial interests. In the First Republic, two broad-based political alliances were formed to fight for elections, but they were unable to consolidate as soon as the election successes were achieved or proved unrealisable. The same fate bedevilled the political accords entered into by the substantially regionally based parties during the Second Republic; and of course they all collapsed as soon as the objective proved a forlorn hope.

    Ironically, it was through a military fiat that a two-party structure emerged in the still-born Third Republic. But even with their birth defects, the National Republican Convention (NRC) and Social Democratic Party (SDP) were able to provide a virile two-party structure that potentially dealt a blow to religious and regional-based political party structure in Nigeria. Unfortunately, the military which created the two parties also summarily executed them with the same fiat as they had decreed them into existence. With the birth of the current republic, the reemergence of atomised ethnic-based parties resurfaced, and several efforts to come together had failed until the registration of APC.

    So, the emergence of APC brings hope to Nigerians that ethnic and religiously biased parties in the country, may eventually disappear. But there is enormous work to be done to achieve this Eldorado. Towards this, it is hoped that the leadership of the new party will work towards expanding its membership, to enable Nigerians of all ethnic and economic backgrounds gain access to the party. If such expansion is achieved, the APC will join the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to form the two broad parties to act as viable alternatives for the Nigerian electorate.

    In working to achieve a national spread, the new party must also seek to distinguish itself from the existing lot, in character and content. To achieve such prospect, there is the immediate need for the party to clearly define its vision and mission in a way that will appeal to Nigerians across ethnic and religious divides. The party must also work hard to instill internal democracy and discipline among its members, to ensure that it attracts quality membership, instead of the vagabonds that populate most political parties. Such a vision must also be founded on patriotic principles to help guide its members, to work for a better country.

    It will indeed be exciting to see the new party move in a direction that will inspire confidence in Nigerians. Its members must not pretend that they are insulated from the unfortunate vagaries of our modern day partisan politics, such as the type that has turned the ruling PDP into a constant war front. Part of the cause of the internal wrangling within the PDP and most other parties is the lack of any guiding ideology, as the parties are seen as mere avenues for power and economic aggrandisement. Regrettably for most politicians, party politics in Nigeria are mere outposts for exploiting the economy and people of Nigeria, without any regards whatsoever to the sustainability of the system.

    So, Nigerians will be utterly disappointed if for any reason, the APC turns into a cult or aggregation of the alternative exploiters of the country. As we celebrate the possibilities that the party portends, it is fitting to commend the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), for sticking to the provisions of the constitution and the electoral act in this matter. We also commend Nigerians and the national institutions, like the courts, and urge them to maintain eternal vigilance to ensure that the gains of this merger are not truncated by anti-democratic forces.

    Once again we wish the All Progressives Congress a fruitful life in the service of our country.

  • State power abused

    State power abused

    Why did the police allow the anti-Amaechi protests only to clamp down on the pro-Amaechi one?

    Peaceful rallies are an integral part of democracy. But when the police, under the nebulous concept of preventing a breakdown of law and order disallows such protests, it lays itself and the government bare to allegation of abuse of state power. That was the scenario on July 30 when the police put Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, and its environs under siege by deploying surveillance helicopters, armoured personnel carriers (APCs) and patrol vehicles all in the bid to stop the planned Defending Democracy Rally organised by a coalition of activists.

    The Niger Delta Civil Society Coalition (NDCSC) chairman, Anyakwee Nsirimovu, and other members of the coalition who planned the rally said they had earlier written to the police commissioner, Mr Mbu Joseph Mbu, to provide minimal security for the rally. However, rather than provide security, the police besieged the Isaac Boro Park which the activists had indicated as venue of the rally as early as 6 a.m. with battle-ready, riot and regular policemen, backed by APCs, and sealed off the park.

    It was around 9 a.m. that the police realised that they had been sold a dummy and that the rally was actually going to take place at the Liberation Stadium. They rushed to the place with two APCs and many patrol vans, sealed off the stadium main gate and dispersed the invited activists and members of the coalition from the nine states of the Niger Delta, who had gathered at the stadium. Also, policemen were deployed in Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa, apparently to prevent pro-democracy and human rights activists invited from other parts of the country from getting to the rally venue.

    The police did not stop at sealing off the venue of the rally; they also made some passers-by to frog-jump, having been mistaken for members of the coalition. We consider this an anathema to democratic ethos. In the first place, they ought not prevent people from embarking on peaceful rallies. The best they are expected to do is to ensure that hoodlums do not hijack the rally.

    For the umpteenth time, we want to say that the state police commissioner has not hidden his bias against one of the parties in the Rivers State crisis. The evidence in this instance is that the same Mr Mbu who only a few weeks back allowed Niger Delta militants to protest on the streets of Port Harcourt over the same issues that the activists wanted to stage their rally now deployed his men to intimidate the members of the civil society coalition and other law-abiding citizens, ostensibly to prevent a breakdown of law and order.

    We however commend the organisers for mobilising and addressing the press at a multi-purpose hall close to the stadium even after the police had dispersed them from the place. We are happy that they were able to outsmart the police by changing the venue. The attempt was a triumph of the Nigerian spirit.

    We are all familiar with the crisis rocking the state; the latest being the impunity by five legislators who wanted to ‘impeach’ the speaker of the state house of assembly with 32 members, when it was clear they lacked the requisite figure to do that.

    Many well-meaning Nigerians have condemned the serial acts of illegality going on in the state and asked the presidency that is ever denying involvement in the matter to call its goons there to order. What is, therefore, bad in activists wanting to add their voice to the strident calls for a return of sanity to the state?

    The country’s constitution guarantees freedom of expression, assembly and association and nothing should take that away from Nigerians. Again, we want the state police command to understand the implications of its partiality in the Rivers crisis. A police force that is in dire need of funds should not waste scarce state resources on a show of force designed to stop legitimate protest.

  • At the crossroads again

    At the crossroads again

    Purported reelection of Mugabe portends dire consequences for a once promising Zimbabwe

    Thirty-three years after he was first elected the Chief Executive of Zimbabwe, Mr. Robert Mugabe, at 89, has reinstalled himself in power despite stiff opposition and allegations of widespread poll irregularities. Mugabe who, in 2008, plunged the country into unprecedented post-election crisis, was so determined to repeat the “feat” that the manipulation of the process started during the registration of voters.

    Consequently, at the poll, many voters, especially in the urban centres reputed to be strongholds of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), were prevented from performing their civic duty.

    It is shocking that, almost a nonagenarian, Mugabe could still so desperately crave power, despite his appalling record in office. Under him, the Zimbabwean economy has collapsed, with inflation at an all-time high and the local currency worth nothing. Poverty is ravaging the country and starvation is the lot of majority of the citizens. Political intolerance in a land ruled by the ex-Marxist is one of the worst in the world and genuine democratic rule has been stoutly resisted by veterans of the anti-colonial struggle fiercely loyal to the President-for-Life.

    While the President and his loyalists claim to have won the last presidential election by a landslide, with the election commission declaring that 61 per cent of the electorate expressed preference for continuation of Mugabe in office, domestic and foreign observers have expressed reservations about the process. The Zimbabwe Election Support Network, a group that deployed about 7,000 local monitors, said about one million voters were disenfranchised, and thus dismissed the poll as neither free nor fair.

    Foreign observers from the European Union, United Kingdom and the United States expressed concerns about the method adopted by the election commission and security agencies. This might have received some credibility as a member of the nine-man commission, Mikhululi Nyathi, resigned just before the result was announced.

    Even the African Union and the Southern African Development Commission’s (SADC) observers who were diplomatic in expressing their reservations found it difficult to endorse the result as being a product of a fair process. The AU said it was free and credible, “with incidents that could have been avoided”, while the SADC said polling was “free and credible”, but was quick to add that it had chosen to reserve judgement on its fairness.

    We condemn the charade that has gone for an election in a country with a bright future that the whole of Africa rose to support in the struggle for independence. We hold that man is free only when he has the full right to determine who runs his affairs.

    It is not surprising that Morgan Tsvangirai of the MDC who was Mugabe’s major opponent at the poll has rejected the results. He has indicated his readiness to challenge it in court and warned that no one should expect any power-sharing arrangement this time. It is shameful that more than five years after the last general election that resulted in widespread violence and threatened the corporate existence of the country, Mugabe and his men could be so brazen in manipulating the electoral process. The 2008 presidential poll admitted that MDC was a major political force in the country and allocated 48 per cent of the votes to it while Mugabe’s ZANU could only manage 43 per cent in the first round; the MDC, this time, is credited with only 34 per cent of the votes.

    The Zimbabwe election saga is a sad reminder of the state of affairs in Africa. When the AU continues to send men like Nigeria’s Olusegun Obasanjo to monitor elections in other countries despite his own record of mindless poll rigging, it gives the impression that the future of the continent remains bleak. The comments of observers on the 2003 and 2007 general elections in Nigeria, depicted as the worst in the country’s history, ought to have disqualified the former President from performing such a sensitive role.

    Mugabe, at 89, should realise that the life cycle of a man is indeed short and he has no right to compromise the future of succeeding generations of Zimbabweans.