The Nation Newspaper

Category: Editorial

  • Judgment leakage

    Judgment leakage

    •Apex court should look beyond the case of the dismissed six

    The Federal Judicial Service Commission (FJSC) has dismissed five non-judicial staff of the Supreme Court and one from the Court of Appeal, for allegedly leaking an undelivered judgment of the apex court. Those accused of the ignominious conduct are Russell Ndenu, Bada Kayode, Festus Ilurimi, Nathaniel Abraham, Olayinka Abiodun, all from the Supreme Court, and Stephen Izonebi from the Court of Appeal.

    The alleged leakage was in respect of the case between Senator Alphonsus Uba Igbeke and Lady Margery Okadigbo, over a senatorial election in Anambra State. According to the Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court, the leakage was allegedly masterminded by Senator Igbeke and Mr. Collins Okechukwu.

    We condemn without equivocation the alleged misconducts of the court officials, who probably for pecuniary interests have exposed the judiciary to ridicule. While we commend the FJSC for quickly resolving the puzzle over who leaked the judgment, we urge it to conduct a thorough audit of its entire staff, to determine their integrity and fidelity to the positions they occupy. It may be necessary to seek experiences from other jurisdictions, on ways of securing the integrity of judgments as it traverses between the judges and their confidential supporting staff. There is also the need for a mechanism to monitor the members of staff to know those living above their means.

    Unfortunately, similar allegations of leakage of judgments have been rife, particularly since the advent of politics, and until now, there has been little success in determining the culprits. We commend the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Aloma Mukhtar-led FJSC for acting promptly on this matter; but it also raises question why similar cases in the past appeared not to have been resolved as in the current case. Probably the mechanisms for such quick resolution were not in place, or the leadership in the past was not interested in determining the sources of such misconduct.

    For the avoidance of doubt, we wish to inform the FJSC that tales of similar leakages and sale of judgments is usually rife over election cases, so the judges and the FJSC should therefore always be on guard. The non-judicial staff working in the courts must also be made to realise that they form part of the integrity of the judicial process.

    While Senator Igbeke has taken an advertorial to deny his involvement in the leakage, it is of utmost national importance that the culpability of the senator and Mr. Okechukwu be subjected to the criminal justice system. The police and other security agencies’ job is made easier by the reported advertisement of the judgment before it was delivered. Whoever placed the advert has the responsibility to confirm to the police and the courts the source of the advertised undelivered judgment. In the overall interest of our judicial process, we urge the Attorney General of the Federation to take up the challenge to ensure that those responsible for this assault on the judicial process are brought to justice.

    Of course the sacked staff of the two courts must also be subjected to a trial for the leakage. It will not be enough to just sack them, as their other colleagues may be tempted to follow the same path where the financial inducement is right. We also hope that the chief justice will continue her well received effort to heal the judicial process. It is unfortunate, but we wish to inform her that many Nigerians believe that justice can be purchased. This cynicism over the integrity of judicial process goes as far as the Supreme Court, and it is hoped that the efforts of the CJN would help to restore the lost grounds.

     

  • Arresting land grabbing

    Arresting land grabbing

    •Lagos State House of Assembly moves to tackle a major challenge

    IT would appear that the Lagos State House of Assembly’s proposed penalties for “land grabbers” in the state were a development that merely awaited its time. Sooner or later, the authorities were perhaps bound to make some move to check perpetrators of the ugly practice of forcible entry and occupation of landed properties in the state.

    The violation had, regrettably, attained the status of a dangerous, destructive and negatively lucrative habit. Those who grabbed land were usually ready to go to extremes, with their eyes fixed on rewards. Consequently, many on the receiving end have had their lives shattered and their hopes dashed. The fear of the ubiquitous Omo onile , who sponsor or  carry out land seizures, has long become the beginning of wisdom in the state’s estate sector. The Yoruba word has become a loose term for unscrupulous characters who usually claim to have some interest in how land should be sold or developed.

    In this context, the provisions of the state’s properties protection bill 2013, which has scaled second reading at plenary, are cause for cheer. This bill, which is, interestingly, sponsored by a private member, seeks to prevent anyone, who without lawful authority, uses or threatens violence for the purpose of securing entry into any landed property for himself or any other person(s). If the bill is eventually passed, a special offence court shall try any person charged with contravening it, and if found guilty, would be liable to three years imprisonment or N300, 000 fine.  Also, it states that anyone found with firearm, weapon or chemical material or in company of any person so armed would be liable to a death sentence, which is a proposal that may prove contentious.

    The House of Assembly should be lauded for the thoroughness with which it is going about the issue, with the committees on lands and housing as well as judiciary, human rights and public petitions expected to consider the bill and present reports on it within one month.  This meticulous approach was correctly situated by the chairman, committee on lands and housing, Bayo Osinowo, who reportedly declared, “In Lagos State, land is our major resource. It is our petrol, compared to oil-producing states in the country. Therefore, nothing will be too much to protect its sanctity.”

    Furthermore, highlighting what was perhaps the crux of the matter,  Osinowo reportedly claimed  that 60 percent of Certificates of Occupancy (C of O) concerning landed properties in the state  were fake, saying that the bill was also aimed at correcting this anomaly. Indeed, those who go about seizing land often do so in the context of claims and counter-claims over genuine ownership of the disputed property. And the fact that these clashes have been known to occur, either before or during construction work, or even after, speaks volumes about the scale of the problem. It is a shameful reflection of social corruption and contempt for the law that people would forge such document.

    It should be said that by seeking to criminalise the odious practice, the lawmakers have already sent a welcome signal to those who sustain it. Without doubt, the bill, if passed, would create a necessary framework for civilised behaviour in the estate sector. The beauty of this bill is that it intends to lay down ground rules for owner-buyer relations in this area, which otherwise would probably continue to witness sour deals accompanied by gnashing of teeth, tears, and even bloodshed.

    It goes without saying that the land-owning families and their ilk, faced with the possibility of this bill becoming law, need to address with greater seriousness the issues that give them a bad name. They need to appreciate the embarrassment value of this law in the making. The House of Assembly should take this bill to a logical conclusion. It has all the makings of a people-friendly legislation.

  • Time to make it happen

    Time to make it happen

    THE chilling story is one that Nigerians are by now familiar with: the country loses $1.7 billion (N272 billion) yearly to the underdevelopment, underutilisation and flaring of its gas resources. The statistics goes like this: out of the 8.0 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) production, only 6.5 bcfd is utilised, leaving the balance of 1.4 bcfd flared. The tally of the daily loss of revenue at the ruling price of $3.50/1000scf comes to a princely $4.8 million, or N789 million.

    In a nation where an estimated 70 percent of the population live below $2 a day, the quantum of loss to the practice is, to put it mildly, scandalous.

    But that is not the only reason why the flaring of associated gas is unacceptable. It is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions with their deleterious effects on the environment. The practice explains why Nigeria ranks second only to Russia in global notoriety among the countries emitting greenhouse gases.

    We acknowledge that some progress has been made as far as the efforts to contain the environmental menace go. Two years ago, the amount of gas flared was 2.5 bcf. Thanks to the aggressive gas development activities aimed at boosting domestic gas utilisation, the amount has since come down to 1.4 bcfd. Of course, the Federal Government continues to maintain the existing “harsh” penalty regime of $3.5/1000 to discourage oil companies from flaring associated gas.

    The point remains that gas flaring has persisted despite government’s avowal to end the practice. Merely from the lessons of the past, the penalty regime has clearly failed to end the practice. So have the flare-out dates imposed by government, against strident objections by oil companies. The administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo actually fixed 2008 as the flare-out target date, with threats to shut down any offending oil wells after that date. Even the National Assembly later came up with its own date of 2010.

    The two floundered because the government couldn’t find the will to drive them through; the result is that the oil companies are left in their comfort zone of paying penalties as against investing in gas development.

    At this time, the issue of gas flaring should not be open for further debate. Clearly, the option of penalties for flaring associated gas is a false choice imposed only in the context of an assumed exigency of a time. That exigency, if it existed at all, has since been overtaken by the fact of significant developments in the sector.

    We are aware, for instance, that substantial progress has been made to address some of the concerns raised by the oil companies. The issue of gas pricing has been substantially addressed; even the development of ancillary infrastructure to take in the captured gas is well on course. The same goes for the framework for gas development and utilisation; they are being systematically overhauled. These and other developments ought to have afforded the oil companies enough time to think up their options to end the flares.

    Given what we have seen of the obduracy of the oil companies on the subject in recent years, we are under no illusion that they would, on their own, put out the flares; in other words, they must be forced to. Fortunately, the trend in the last few years during which the emissions have gone down by half shows that it is doable. It is time for government to finally make it happen.

  • Fake imports

    Fake imports

    THE Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) definitely needs to do more in its drive to ensure that only quality merchandises are available in the country. The organisation recently destroyed seized contraband reportedly worth not less than N2billion. This was the first of its kind this year under the organisation’s zero tolerance policy.

    The burnt imports included several packs of cigarettes, consumable products, cables, electronics, other household equipment and assorted tyres. The sub-standard goods were reportedly intercepted and impounded by the agency at border posts, markets and warehouses within and outside Lagos State. In addition, the agency has also reportedly sealed over 50 firms involved in inimical businesses, and discovered that 80 per cent of the substandard products are illegally imported from China

    SON’s Bede Obayi, Head of Enforcement and Compliance at the Sagamu, Ogun State dumpsite where the 15- truck loaded goods were destroyed said: “We are not taking the issue of contraband very lightly. We must fight against this scourge and will never tolerate importation of substandard products…Our zero tolerance to substandard products is still in force….”

    But why did it take SON over half of year 2013 before coming up with this action? This is something that should be a routine exercise and not a one-off thing because the quantity of fake products in the nation’s markets is by far more than what SON is gleefully showcasing. If the organisation is adept at its job, without its staff’s undue collusion with smugglers, such an act should be a quarterly action to serve a note of admonition to unscrupulous elements who still engage in the illicit business.

    The situation where the country, for decades now runs an import-dependent economy with the shameful record of being the highest consumer of substandard products in Africa is pathetically sad. Most of the importers, due to the craze for imported items by Nigerians that hardly bother about the composition of, and expiry dates on such goods, and the loose regulations and enforcement strategy in place, have derived an insatiable proclivity for importing and dumping substandard products in the country. Most importers even have the effrontery of telling foreign manufacturers to lower standard in order to cut costs to maximise their gains – and usually with telling effects on local industries.

    The time has come for Nigerians to start having confidence in products manufactured in the land in order to boost the economy, employment and improve productivity. SON has a leading role to play in this regard by ensuring that high quality goods are manufactured in, and where necessary, imported into the country. Despite the deleterious effects of fake products on human health, we know that it will be difficult to dissuade the people from purchasing them for two reasons: If inferior goods are predominantly the most accessible and cheapest in the markets and: If no punishment is inflicted on perpetrators of the heinous act that rob consumers of value for money.

    More disgusting is that the agency has not been able to prosecute any of the offenders ingrained in the perpetuation of these criminal acts. The excuse of not having an enabling law by SON is unacceptable since the Criminal Code should come handy, pending when the National Assembly passes its Enforcement Bill before it into law. Also, we call for further tightening of the nation’s borders to prevent the influx of fake products into the country.

  • Egypt’s uncertain future

    Egypt’s uncertain future

    After more than 50 supporters of deposed President Mohamed Morsi were gunned down by security forces in Cairo on Monday, an official of the Muslim Brotherhood’s political wing warned that “to this chaos there is no exit unless Mohamed Morsi returns to office.”

    That outcome isn’t any likelier now than it was last week when the military unjustifiably ousted the democratically elected Morsi, supposedly in deference to popular protests. But the outrage over Monday’s violence makes it even more imperative that the military and its civilian allies move toward a restoration of democracy in a way that doesn’t create a permanent insurgency.

    Adly Mahmoud Mansour, the interim president installed by the military, has ordered an investigation of the shootings of the pro-Morsi protesters near the Republican Guard compound where Morsi was thought to be under house arrest. The protesters say they were attacked as they prayed; military officials claim that the conflict began with an armed assault on their personnel. The investigation needs to be searching and credible.

    Whatever the truth, the bloodshed has complicated the attempt to form a broad-based transitional civilian government that would win the acceptance, however grudging, of at least some of Morsi’s supporters. The ultraconservative Nour Party protested what it called a massacre by withdrawing from negotiations over the choice of a new prime minister. That was an ominous defection because Nour, whose brand of Islamism puts it to the right of the Brotherhood, had supported the coup, making it easier for the military to rebut charges that its actions were directed at Islam.

    It might seem unlikely that the military, having overthrown Morsi, would now reach out to or even tolerate political expression from his supporters. But the stated premise of the coup was that the armed forces were removing an ineffective leader who had lost touch with the people, not excluding his followers forever more from the political conversation — or targeting them for violence. We hope that will be the case.

    Now, as for much of modern Egyptian history, the armed forces have the upper hand. Nor is there any sign that their decision to overthrow an elected president will threaten their financial support from the United States, which sees that aid as an insurance policy on peace between Egypt and Israel. But along with that aid, the United States has offered Egypt a suggestion. After the coup, President Obama said, “I urge all sides to avoid violence and come together to ensure the lasting restoration of Egypt’s democracy.” If it is serious about calming the convulsions in Egypt, the military will heed that advice.

    – Los Angeles Times

     

  • To China with waste

    To China with waste

    President Jonathan’s 13-minister, four-governor delegation to China perhaps hallmarks an idle country cavalier in its idleness

    Even for a reported finalisation of a US $1.1 billion loan, President Goodluck Jonathan’s five-day visit to China, boasting 13 ministers, four governors, a platoon of aides and a battery of media personnel, paints a picture of a country tragically without focus. Which other country would so merrily trot out virtually its whole establishment because it is finalising a loan deal?

    On the trip and its humongous delegation, Reuben Abati, presidential spokesperson, had made a spirited defence. Of course, there is something asinine in the claim that President Jonathan took off to China just to spite US President Barack Obama, for again snubbing Nigeria on his second visit to Africa, during which he visited Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania. That sounds evidently stupid and Dr. Abati did well to dismiss it with the contempt it deserved.

    But not so the humongous presidential delegation. It is true the US $1.1 billion finalised during the trip is part of a US $3 billion loan package, at interest rates of below three per cent that China is extending to Nigeria. The package is meant to fund infrastructure: airport terminals in four cities, roads, a light-rail line in Abuja, the federal capital; a hydropower plant and other projects in oil and gas.

    But trucking 13 ministers, four governors and a rash of aides – does that not reflect the manifest waste that has condemned Nigeria to seeking the China loan when it could, if it husbanded its resources well, have financed a good percentage of these projects from its own pocket? Indeed, the picture of this fair weather delegation is the grim irony of a poor country happily show-casing a rich, over-pampered and wasteful bureaucracy.

    The Presidency could well argue that since the loan was multi-sectoral, the various ministries involved had to be represented on the China trip. But13 ministers? And there is a coordinating minister of the economy? And also a Minister of National Planning?

    That everyone thrust himself or herself forward to be part of the gravy is indicative of a presidency bereft of planning; and almost incapable of fully grasping its needs; and putting to work a lean staff, to get the most effective results, with eyes focused on cost cutting.

    Indeed, it would appear that despite signs emerging that the government could be running broke – or what other reasons could be there for proposing to shrink the 2013 federal budget? – the Jonathan Presidency appears incapable of avoiding a bloated bureaucracy. That is the picture the China junketing paints.

    Dr. Abati could push the official line that everyone on Jonathan’s delegation was well accounted for, had a specific function and would return value for money. He is entitled to his official-speak. But the presidential spokesman should grant Nigerians some measure of intelligence; and accord them some mastery of the negative sociology that drives governance on these shores; which Nigerians have come to know over the years.

    True, a good number of the delegates would be fully engaged, particularly the sub-heads of delegations. The ministers should be well engaged, even if the sheer number of their tribe present – 13 – still rankles. So, would be their immediate lieutenants. But the farther down the line, the more lax they become and the more unjustifiable the inclusion in the team.

    Indeed, many a delegate would be on the trip simply because some high official felt obliged to compensate the lower official with government estacode – the government travel allowance. Such is the abiding racketeering on public funds.

    If you factor in probable corruption, which could entail the benefactor having a cut from the beneficiary’s largesse; and even the whole delegation, being China Government guests, drawing the full estacode instead of a third as dictated by Civil Service Regulations, then you can understand why Jonathan’s delegation is so big, happy and merry! These are the probable systemic wastes that have rendered the country prostrate, when it should be out there competing with the rest of the world.

    Despite the junketing (which runs counter to the spirit of going a-borrowing) however, the China trip is not altogether unnecessary. Decayed infrastructure is the bane of this economy. A policy of sustained investment on infrastructure cannot go wrong, other things being equal. A promise of four glittering and new airports, light rail for Abuja to improve intra-city commuting, a hydropower plant to solve the abiding electricity problems and new projects in oil and gas is exciting; and good for the economy.

    What is not so good is the record of tardy implementation (or even total abandonment), even after a deal has been struck; and of course, the baffling change in public policy, simply because a new set of faces has taken over government.

    On October 30, 2006, for instance, the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidency signed a US $8 billion contract with the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CECCC) to modernise the Lagos-Kano railway line, replacing the present obsolete narrow gauge with a medium-gauge track. But for some reasons, the succeeding Umaru Musa Yar’ Adua Presidency cancelled the contract and opted to renovate the present obsolete tracks. Earlier, Obasanjo himself, exhibiting anti-Sani Abacha sentiments, had cancelled a US $3 billion contract with China to modernise Nigerian rail, citing alleged corruption. Will the sad history continue with this latest economic tryst with China?

    Despite the bloated delegation to sign this latest infrastructure deal, therefore, even all the wastes would matter little if the government delivers on the project to gift the economy a kiss of life.

    But will it? We insist it must.

  • Jubril Aminu’s unending tirades against Murtala Nyako

    Jubril Aminu’s unending tirades against Murtala Nyako

    For some time now, Prof Jubril Aminu’s mouth has been running foul against the governor of Adamawa State Admiral Murtala Nyako but such deliberately calculated attacks to malign the governor were consciously ignored.

    Recently, the attention of the people of Adamwa State and indeed that of the National Council of Emirs and Chiefs were drawn to a news story in a leading national daily with the headline “Nyako not doing enough to lift curfew in Adamawa” credited to Prof. Jubril Aminu.

    Ordinarily, the state Traditional Council of Chiefs and Emirs would not have bothered about such a story as we have always done in this state when politicians are playing their own game, besides Aminu has since demeaned his reputation as an honest critic of state affairs because of his vindictive and evil attitudes targeted against the governor who has performed more than any elected or appointed governor in Adamawa.

    Aminu has chosen this time around to mudsling the people along with the governor his usual punching bag and to drag eminent traditional council members into his dirty game of foul mouthed politics which has become his stock in trade.

    In the unfortunate story, Aminu alleged: “what can be done to relax curfew is not being done by the people that are supposed to do it. The governor and traditional rulers should appeal to the Federal Government and the military”. We want to state in clear terms that we understand the limitation of Aminu as a human being but we also understand that Aminu is experienced and knowledgeable enough to know his boundaries when he is playing politics no matter how desirous of pulling Admiral Murtala Nyako down in their power tussle.

    It is in this light that we want to call him to order that traditional rulers in Adamawa State are not for politics especially for his brand of politics that is getting messier by the day.

    We understand just like everyone that the emergency rule which Mr President slammed on the state and two others in the North East region was primarilly meant to curb the hitherto increasing security challenges which engulfed the region. We believe that this was done in good faith and we have been educating and sensitising our people to conduct themselves orderly.

    We have also been making our own contacts and efforts on how best our people can survive under the emergency rule. The contacts and efforts must not be politicised.

    We are therefore surprised at Jubril Aminu’s attempt to push us against our people by his ranting and painting of us as careless about the plight of the people, because we know that Prof. Aminu has access to us and could have jolly well found out things from us without necessarily resorting to crying wolf on the pages of the newspaper to whip up sentiments.

    We expected Aminu to have respect for constituted authority. His attitude in this matter is unbecoming and shameless to say the least, besides Nyako has done so much to rehabilitate a drowning Aminu yet his ugly mind-set has continued to spill maggots in Adamwa’s political arena.

    We have taken up our statutory responsibilityn to God in this matter and we want to assure anybody who wants to know that the curfew is continually being relaxed by the military and our people are now living in peace and tranquility.

    The like of Aminu have gone further to say, fifty-one elders of Adamawa are allegedly working together for the “betterment of Adamawa State”, we strongly feel that this group has a better platform and latitude to have fought this cause better than his resort to blackmailing the fathers of the state.

    It is worthy of note that, there are among the fifty-one elders claimed by Aminu may include former Vice President(s), Governors, Senators, Ministers, Hon. Members of National Assembly and that of Adamawa State Assembly and former ambassador(s) who know everyone in Nigeria and are known by everybody, yet that could not use their positions to save Adamawa people from the state of emergency.

    Looking at the monumental development under the leadership of Nyako in skill acquisitions which other governors are copying from, not to mention the road networks which encompass the entire state as well as the healthcare delivery system Adamawa State is on a sound footing of development, but the likes Prof Aminu will not hear of such.

    We want to advise him to stop raising dust for survival sake but squarely face past family and other antecedents that are haunting his political life. So Prof., do not do to people what you do not want to be done to you. This advise is not for Prof. Jubirl alone , it applies to all the likes of Jubril Aminu.

    Suffice to say that least about the monumental development of the Nyako in Adamawa State. Twelve functional farming skills acquisition centres across Adamawa, purchase and supply of fertilizers and herbicides in 21 local governments of Adamawa state, supply of cassava seeds, one hundred thousand bags of cassava cultivation, development of a technical and funding for state wide grassroots programmed of micro credit scheme for the poor to access funds.

    Provision of fish farming facilities and solar paused boreholes in 21LGA, construction of Danki farmer’s community centres and farm produced processing bays in 21LGA, 700 water irrigation pumps distributed free to the poor, construction of Earth dams in 21LGA, construction of 500 housing units at Wauru Jabbe, completion of multipurpose conference hall at state secretariat , construction of 20 housing estates in each 21 LGA, complexion of the Adamawa High Court premises, construction of a new stadium complex, renovation and upgrading of Yola International hotel, establishing and full functional of Operation Tsaro security outfit to fight crime with 200 initial Hilux vehicles, provision of Hilux vehicles to all security organization s in Adamawa state to fight crime.

    Provision of land to the Nigerian Law School, Yola, Court of Appeal and staff quarters, establishment of Industrial Court, establishment of 80 new junior secondary schools, establishment of 20 girls secondary schools, establishment of 14 new skills acquisition centres, establishment and equipping of technical and vocational schools with state of the art equipments, renovation of 38 secondary schools, 25 junior secondary schools upgraded to senior secondary schools, 6 new boarding girls secondary schools, completion of annual N233M WAEC exams fees for students.

    Completion of standard VIP toilets in all secondary schools in Adamawa State, construction of over 1000 roads and bridges in Adamawa under the Nyako administration apart from the construction of boreholes with overhead tanks in all communities of Adamawa State, construction of dams at Guyaku, Dasin Hausa, Bwatiye, Jibiro, Magar, Timdore, Gwamba etc, construction of state of the art German Diagnois centres in Yola . The massive achievements of Nyako cannot cover a single page because they are monumental.

    Gabdo writes from

    Yola, Adamawa State.

  • Jonathan’s rivers of shame

    Jonathan’s rivers of shame

    •The dreary drama in the Rivers State House of Assembly takes away
    from presidential dignity

    THE theatre of the absurd unfolding in Rivers State should give any patriotic and peace-loving Nigerian a sense of foreboding. With impunity in the air, the constitution in peril and official stamp from the high office of the presidency, the moral legitimacy of this republic is fast sliding downhill.

    By the week and recently by the day, the conflict between Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, and President Goodluck Jonathan, imbues the nation with nausea. Respect for law has swapped places with brigandage, and the average Nigerian watches as the President engages in a bestial war of proxies.

    The recent development has all the trappings of déjà vu. In a dawn meeting that passed as a mockery of a legislative session in the chambers of the Rivers State House of Assembly, five men loyal to the Minister of State for Education, Nyesom Wike, held an impeachment proceeding to dislodge the legitimate speaker. They also had the temerity to elect one of them, Bapakaye Bipi, as the speaker.

    The so-called session continued with the usurper speaker making a speech as the new face of the legislature. In the midst of this farce, Governor Amaechi with 27 other lawmakers broke through the security condoned by Mbu Joseph Mbu, the state commissioner of police. The Amaechi loyalists held the day as they delegitimised the kangaroo action, reaffirmed the legitimacy of the speaker, Otelemaba Dan Amachree, and passed the budget the governor presented.

    But the triumph of Governor Amaechi turned out to be a deft political move. If he had remained in his cosy office and allowed the 27 other lawmakers alone to go to the assembly premises, it might have embroiled the state in an intractable and potentially gruesome battle of survival with ominous implications for this fragile democracy. With the ouster of the speaker, the next move would have been to dislodge the governor in a brash impeachment process.

    We cannot isolate what happened this week outside a series of dramatic face-offs between the governor and the president, as well as his proxies, in the past few months. The first open show of power was the order to strand Governor Amaechi’s aircraft. The presidency failed to cloak it as a matter of technical procedure without political undertone. Findings from investigations have exposed not only the imbecilities of the aviation authorities but also revealed them as couriers of malicious orders.

    We also witnessed other developments. A known brigand marched through the streets in the name of protests, and caused fellow citizens to quake with fear. This same fellow belonged to a coterie of lawless persons who loved chaos and bloodletting more than the reign of civility. These men associate with President Jonathan, and it must make any level-headed Nigerian bow in shame.

    A fellow militant, Ateke Tom, reenacted that mayhem on Wednesday with sporadic shootings in Port Harcourt. This wave of events has returned the city to the pre-Amaechi era when citizens had to raise both hands in the public to demonstrate they did not bear arms. A president who planned to transform a country now takes credit for the reverse by taking a city from peace to violence against his foe who took the city from violence to peace.

    The same president condones, if he encourages, a police commissioner who acts like a lord to the citizens and a toady to the presidency. Mbu watched as his men backed the gang of five as they performed one illegality after another. We cannot forget the sins of this so-called security officer who barred traditional rulers from paying a visit to the governor. The same fellow played an ignoble role in trying to restore a local government chairman that the legislature had ousted. The inspector-general of police, Mohammed Abubakar, has acted as though he does not control the police or, as it is speculated, Mbu has grown so powerful because he takes orders only from the presidency.

    The Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) election has showcased, more than any other evidence, the desperation of the president. After defying the rules of aircraft landing, the necessity for peace, he and his proxy governors defied the purity of arithmetic by making 16 superior to 19 votes. He executed that anomaly purely in bungled bid to remove Governor Amaechi as chairman of the NGF. He also inspired the factionalisation of the group such that his loyalists now formed a parallel forum.

    The Jonathan we know today differs by a wide gulf from the apparently meek, shoeless sheep who marketed a humble visage to credulous Nigerians. This same president kept meek exterior when the plot to oust his home state governor, Timipre Sylva, began to seethe. He denied it serially until he burst out in a supine speech of defiant hubris. That followed his deployment of armed forces to impose a governorship candidate in his state. The nation kept silent as impunity answered impunity.

    Now the same formula seems to unveil in Rivers State, and the president’s displeasure derives from a series of disagreements that ordinarily could make both sides disagree without anyone being disagreeable. The presidency has cited the row over oil wells on the border with Bayelsa State, his support of former governor Sylva, among other matters.

    How that should account for the mayhem on the streets of Port Harcourt and lead to the hauling of teargas canisters into the state house will be difficult to defend.

    We ought to remember that the sort of drama in the Rivers State House of Assembly tore apart the old Western Region legislature in the First Republic. The region descended into a sanguinary chapter known as we tie. Those outside the region ignored it as a local rumble until it led to a chain of events that resounded in the civil war that cost us 30 months of peace and a million lives.

    It should propel us to call for sanity in Rivers State, and the president should rein in his men for transforming the state into a conclave of violence and pursuit of parochial interests not in sync with our aspirations as a people.

  • Bible holds lessons for future of energy

    Bible holds lessons for future of energy

    – The Genesis message about preparing for harsh times should be applied to fuel production

    The writers of Genesis understood the commodity cycle very well. When the pharaoh dreamt of seven fat cows being eaten by seven lean ones, it was a warning to prepare in the good times for harsher days to come. It is a Biblical lesson that energy policy makers would do well to relearn.

    In the global oil market, we are in the fat years. Not only is the US enjoying a fully fledged oil boom, but production is set to grow in Canada and Kazakhstan, Iraq and Brazil. It is tempting to think that we are entering an “age of abundance”, in which concerns about oil security are behind us.

    The recent surge in US crude to $104 a barrel, driven by concerns about the Suez Canal, has been a reminder that that attitude is dangerously complacent.

    As the FT series this week on the outlook for oil has shown, the expected sources of increased supply all face substantial challenges.

    In the US, the new reserves being opened are less productive than the shales of North Dakota and south Texas that have powered the boom so far. In Iraq, poor contract terms and infrastructure are deterrents to fresh foreign investment. In Brazil and Kazakhstan, the oilfields are more challenging than anything that the industry has faced before.

    As demand in emerging economies continues to grow, eventually oil markets will tighten.

    When the cycle turns from abundance back to scarcity again, the transition will be easier if oil consuming countries are ready for it.

    First, that means developing their own production. While the US record is outstanding, Europe’s is woeful. Shale oil may never take off in Europe, but muddled and obstructive policies are stifling whatever potential it might have.

    Second, it means pushing for greater fuel efficiency. Enthusiasts for efficiency may often overstate its benefits, but the evidence is clear that improved fuel economy can cut oil consumption.

    Third, it means backing alternatives to oil. Biofuels may have turned out to be a dead end, but natural gas and electric vehicles have much further to go. Taking a long-term view means supporting renewable and nuclear power, even when in the short term they are uncompetitive against fossil fuels. Energy strategy along those lines would both help curb greenhouse gas emissions, and reduce the economic impact of the next oil shock.

    When the lean years come again – which they will – governments will not be forgiven for having ignored the pharoah’s dream.

    – Financial Times

  • Curses are not enough

    Curses are not enough

    Mr. President was understandably distraught but, disappointingly, he chose to express his emotion in diction that was at once unrefined and most un-exemplary. Preesident Goodluck Jonathan’s verbal reaction to the news of a bloody attack by Boko Haram that consumed over 20 students of Government Secondary School, a boarding institution at Mamudo, Yobe State, could have been more measured, considering that the development demanded more of effective counter-action than words, particularly of the undignified type.

    Jonathan, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, declared, “The killing is barbaric, completely wicked.” Then he jolted public consciousness, and perhaps sensibility, by issuing a curse on the perpetrators of the evil. The statement attributed to him said, “Anybody who will target innocent children for any kind of grief or emotional dysfunction will certainly go to hell.”  Jonathan’s priestly presumptuousness is interesting, but he missed the point.

    True, the targeting and large-scale slaughter of children by the terroristic Islamist group is a conscienceless new dimension to its condemnable pursuits. However, the answer to such callous brutality cannot be a curse, which merely shifts responsibility for tackling a practical issue to the realm of the supernatural. No, this is a problem that must be urgently addressed by President Jonathan, in material terms rather than through appeals to the spiritual.

    The chilling account of 15-year-old Musa Hassan, who survived the mindless assault of July 6, is sufficient to illustrate the need for urgency in arresting what seems like a new trend for Boko Haram, a focus on child murder. According to Hassan, “We were sleeping when we heard gunshots. When I woke up, someone was pointing a gun at me.” He reportedly raised his arm in defence, and had four fingers of his right hand blown off. He said the gunmen were armed with jerry cans of fuel which they used to torch the school’s administrative block and a hostel.  ”They burned the children alive,” he was quoted as saying.

    This horrendous picture is reinforced by the fact that the fundamentalists had carried out similar attacks against schools and students only last month. On June 16, they stormed Government Secondary School in Damaturu, Yobe State, killing four students. Twenty four hours later, they also hit a private primary/secondary school in Jajeri Ward of Maiduguri, Borno State, killing seven students who were writing the National Examinations Council (NECO) examination.

    Boko Haram’s latest tendency for slaying the most vulnerable members of society is certainly repulsive, and perhaps betrays a desperation in the face of the government’s imposition of emergency rule in the troubled states, Yobe, Borno and Adamawa, since May. It is a highly dangerous turn of events that must be arrested with dispatch.

     Predictably, this recent wave of child-focused violence has left deep wounds not only on the collective mind but also on the psyche of the affected parents and guardians. The experience of a farmer, Mallam Abdullahi, is instructive. He lost two of his sons, a 10-year-old and a 12-year-old, in the Mamudo massacre. “That’s it. I’m taking my other boys out of school,” he reportedly said. This is a sad occurrence indeed, particularly because it disrupts the education of the youth, which is certainly a negative consequence with counterproductive implications for socio-economic development in those areas.

    It is reassuring that the federal authorities approved an increase in troops in Yobe, while the National Security Adviser, Mallam Sambo Dasuki, ordered an investigation into the incident. Also, the state government’s closure of schools in Yobe to allow room for reviewing safety measures in the education sector is a welcome move. Such concrete steps, and even improved strategy, are more advantageous in the war against terrorism.