The Nation Newspaper

Category: Politics

  • Kaduna: Controversy trails preparation for local elections

    Kaduna: Controversy trails preparation for local elections

    ONE year after the dissolution of elected local government councils in Kaduna State, the Kaduna State Independent Electoral Commission (KASIEC) has released a timetable for fresh elections. The dissolution was based on provisions of the state local government laws. Since then, there has been persistent agitation by stakeholders for the conduct of elections into the third tier of government in the state.

    However, even with the release of the time-table, there complaints associated with such exercises have continued. It took a long time for the state House of Assembly to amend the local government electoral laws which government promised would be in conformity with the 2010 Electoral Act. It was immediately assented to by Governor Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa. Speaking on a live radio programme, the governor said the state electoral body had been given all the necessary support to conduct free and fair elections. He assured residents of the state and the political parties of his support for credible polls, pointing out that he does not have a particular candidate, but is prepared to work with any candidate so elected by the people irrespective of party affiliation. He believes that the aim of all is to ensure development of the state.

    But the opposition parties believe that the guidelines released by the Commission is tilted to favour the ruling party with the imposition of nomination fees on all candidates by the Commission in exercise of the powers conferred on it by the relevant laws. Candidates contesting the chairmanship position are to pay a non-refundable fee of N200, 000, while councillorship candidates are to pay N50, 000 before being allowed to contest the election.

    Chairman of the Commission, Hanatu Biniyat, said at a news conference to announce the date and guidelines for the election that “political parties wishing to field candidates for the elections are expected to conduct their primary elections between September 7 and October 26, 2012. The deadline for the submission of the list of candidates is November 1.

    On Thursday, November 8, 2012, the commission shall publish the personal particulars of candidates in their constituencies and anyone who has reasonable grounds to believe that any candidate has given wrong information in the forms regarding his or her qualification can apply for certified true copies of the forms and file a suit before the High Court for the candidate to be disqualified.”

    But the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) is not comfortable with nomination fees imposed by the commission, while the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) says it is considering a legal option to stop the fees. Mohammed Musa Soba, Chairman of ACN in Kaduna, said though his party has no problem with the guidelines, it is not comfortable with the nomination fees, insisting that it is too high. He believes that the State Assembly has no reason to impose the fees considering the fact that they did not pay any nomination fees when they contested elections in 2011.

    In his words: “We take exception to the unjust and undemocratic imposition of nomination fees by the Kaduna State House of Assembly. It is a shame that the same legislators that did not pay a kobo to INEC to contest election, would now sit down and enact a discriminatory law that would ensure credible people are edged out of the contest through the payment of unjustifiable and exorbitant fee.”

    The state chairman of CPC, Alhaji Ahmadu Cocacola, also condemned the high nomination fees and the two year tenure, saying it would not allow the council executives carry out meaningful programmes before the expiration of their tenure.

    He argued “we have been agitating for the tenure of the local government council to be extended to four years and now they reduced it to two years; that is unconstitutional, as it would not allow the elected chairmen and councillors execute any project for their people. The high nomination fee amounts to connivance between the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and KASIEC to disenfranchise the candidates of the opposition parties. Even if they have the capacity to perform, the high nomination fees may deter them from making known their candidacy or contesting the election.”

    Vice Chairman of the CPC in the state, Malam Samaila Suleiman, was, quoted as threatening that his party was considering a legal interpretation to some of the clauses. “We are happy that it is better late than never. SIECOM asking aspirants to pay nomination fee is an ugly development, we shall follow due processes to make sure that what is right is done. Democracy is supposed to be for the people and by the people.

    “Some couple of months ago, the House committee that was charged with the responsibility of amending the local government election organised a public hearing and majority of the participants clamoured for additional one year on the three years that was pegged for local government chairmen but instead of an increase, we now have a reduced tenure. Therefore, it beats our imagination that they are now saying the tenure has been shortened by a year. I can assure you that within the confines of the law, my party (CPC) will challenge it”, he said.

    Despite the opposition, the Commission Chairman believes that they have put in place enough plan to ensure a free, fair, acceptable local government elections devoid of violence.. She believes that the goal of having free, fair and credible elections depends principally on the perception, appreciation and involvement of stakeholders in the electoral process.

    She believes that the issue of security is the primary responsibility of all citizens and appealed to stakeholders in the electoral process in the state to play a vital role in creating and ensuring a peaceful atmosphere for the exercise.

    Mrs. Biniyat who spoke at an interactive session with stakeholders expressed the hope that the outcome would boost the confidence of the electorate and instill in them the tenets of sound discipline towards reducing inter/intra party friction, promote the need for communities to embrace tolerance, mutual respect and peaceful co-existence, among one another, enhance security consciousness on the part of all stakeholders, thereby leading to shunning of negative vices that might jeopardise peace before, during and after the election.

    The stakeholders on their part asked the electoral body to ensure a credible pool by creating a level playing field for all aspirants ensuring that the election materials get to every polling unit before the time of the election in order to avoid the tendency of rigging.

    While expressing support for the conduct of a free, fair and credible local government election, stakeholders have continued to insist that the elections should be a test case for credible council polls across the country. They charge the electoral body to prove that a state electoral body can conduct a credible election by ensuring a level playing ground for all. The commission chairman may not be aware that some contenders are already dropping his name ahead of the election, but he has warned those claiming to be his candidates to stop dropping his name and prove to the people their capability and acceptability to win election, pointing out that no candidate will ride on his back to electoral victory.

    In preparation for the elections, Governor Yakowa has directed Caretaker Committees for the local government councils to begin to wind up and give a comprehensive account of their stewardship. He has also directed all his aides interested in contesting tto honourably vacate office.

    However, the coming days are certain to bring out a lot of candidates, both serious and unserious. But the conduct of the party primaries will determine where the pendulum swings during the elections. Movement from one party to the other will definitely take place following such primaries as those who felt cheated may switch parties to get favour.

     

  • Reflection on State of Osun at 21

    Reflection on State of Osun at 21

     The colourful calisthenics display of a thousand youths, applauded by thousands of citizens, brought to climax the celebration marking the 21st anniversary of the State of Osun recently, writes Kehinde Bamigbetan.

    Beyond the thanksgiving in churches, mosques and traditional homes, indications that the celebration would generate scholarly debate on the place of the event in the struggle for development was initially raised by the lecture delivered by Senator Femi Ojudu on the impending creation of new local governments.

    The tempo of the debate on new local governments was yet to abate when a new radical think-tank, Osun Development Agenda (ODA), upped the ante by turning the anniversary to a debate over the development agenda for the state.

    At a world press conference the ODA brought a serious dimension to the celebration by providing fresh historical evaluation of the event to demonstrate its importance to the struggle for life more abundant.

    According to its spokesperson and Deputy Convener, Mr. Raman Shenge, the media briefing has nothing to do with the mere ritualistic observance of the anniversary. Rather, it is informed by the moral imperative of self-examination as a launch-pad for a brighter future.

    “An unexamined life is not a life worth living” said Shenge as he treated journalists to a historical reconstruction of the struggle of the people in areas now known as the State of Osun today from pre-colonial times through independence and the demand to reclaim their freedom from the Nigerian Federation.

    Delving into the political economy of the feudal kingdoms which ran the states and societies formed by the populace before colonialism ODA demonstrated that the self-sustaining communities had developed political, commercial and industrial systems which achieved significant prosperity.

    “The area now known and described as Osun in those pre-colonial days boasted of a proud heritage of industry and administrative excellence. Kingdoms such as Ife, Ijesha, Osogbo, Iwo, Ila among others had by 1600 A.D established feudal systems of land tenure with monarchy as the dominant character of the political system. Production of food crops such as yam, plantain, maize and breadfruit among others competed with a large variety of vegetables.’’

    Noting that the disruption of this system by Europeans through trade and conquest and the incorporation of the region into the Nigerian State following amalgamation robbed the people of their pride and freedom, ODA significantly captured the quest for the State of Osun as a strategy to retrieve the lost independence and chart a new course of auto-centric development and renaissance.

    For ODA, the creation of the state on August 27, 1991 by the then military administration partly out of its acquiescence to a popular yearning for an elusive development and partly arising from its own limited and self-serving understanding of the way to go in the journey to a modern and developed society, provided a great opportunity to usher in a new system in which the welfare, prosperity and security of the people will be paramount,

    In what could be considered very scathing in certain quarters, ODA evaluated the regimes which have administered Osun since creation in the light of their contribution towards the freedom of the people from poverty, sickness, ignorance and squalor and concluded that while the administration of Chief Bisi Akande from 1999 to 2003 laid the foundation, it has taken the new administration of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola to advance the resurgence of governance in the state through whole sale ideological re-orientation of the political economy of the State of Osun.

    With ODA assessment from 19991 till date, the leadership of the first military administrator, Colonel Leo Segun Ajiborisha who was sworn in on August 30th 1991 devolved the task of laying down the foundation for the take-off of state administration and its bureaucratic institutions in terms of physical infrastructures as well as personnel which was available in abundance from the pool of the returnees from the former Old Oyo state out of which the State was excised.

    The brief period of the civil democratic dispensation under Alhaji Isiaka Adetunji Adeleke was rated among least performing administrations as it “failed to leave any bold imprint either in terms of transparency or good governance. Profligacy, hedonistic disposition and occasional display of political gangsterism were the major features of the administration.

    Also subsequent military administrations between December 13, 1993 and May 29, 1999 failed to post any significant change in direction and initiatives. “Within, the State remained dull and dour without holding any attraction for investors from outside. This was the situation until the arrival of Chief Bisi Akande, the old warhorse from Late Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s School of Public Service on the May 29, 1999.

    In retrospect, the four years of Chief Akande’s administration would seem to be the real beginning of the emergence of the state on the stage of history. With a meagre annual federal allocation hovering between N6 billion and N7 billion, the administration of Chief Akande laid down a shining example in prudent management of state funds and posted a stunning record never before seen in the annals of the state.

    The 90 months of former Governor Olagunsoye before November 27 2010 was considered by the organization as an era of unmitigated disaster for Osun during which those who presided over the affairs of the State behaved in a manner reminiscent of buccaneers and brigands. “The seven and half years of Olagunsoye Oyinlola deserved and still deserve to be described as both a long nightmare and the years of locusts and it is to this day, regrettable period.”

    Weighing down on the neck and pressing down on the back of the State of Osun was a huge and pointless debt burden of N18.38billion which the erstwhile administration incurred in June 2010. The implication of this is that for the state to be able to meet its recurrent expenditure obligations alone, it must have recourse to finance institutions for further monthly debt of N1billion. Osun, it seemed then, was irreversibly headed for the “debt peonage” which could only result in stagnation and indeed regression as the debt burden was not contracted with any meaningful development purpose in mind.

    This is the social, political and fiscal environment into which Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola was drafted by history on the November 27, 2010 following the historic verdict of the day which exposed Oyinlola and his gang to be usurpers and impostors who seized power by illegal means.

    In the event, Aregbesola administration found itself compelled to walk a tight rope, deftly and dexterously entering a compromise here, a concession there, to ward off the reactionary designs of an opposition that could not reconcile itself to the new reality of people’s power. Much had to be put on hold for the political equation of power to be altered in favour of the new administration following the election of a brand new House of Assembly by the electorate in April 2011.

    The path-breaking and trail-blazing effort of Aregbesola represent really the process of consummation of a revolutionary scheme which was earlier captured in the document entitled, MY PACT WITH THE PEOPLE OF OSUN, authored by him before venturing into the stormy waters of electoral contest in 2007.

    The document was inspired by the three principle goals of Peace, Progress And Prosperity that Yoruba leader committed themselves to at the end of “Kiriji Wars” in September 1886; the PACT is a statement and re-statement of an intention to resume the truncated journey of the Yoruba into glory under the leadersdhip of an illustrious son, Awo.

    But it is not just a mere statement. It is a condensation of an extended and comprehensive vision clearly outlined and articulated under six broad headings otherwise known as “Six Point Integral Action Plan” which are Banish Poverty, Banish Hunger, Banish Unemployment, Restore Healthy Living, Promote Functional Education, Enhance Communal Peace And Progress.

    In the course of the past one and a half years, the administration has “taken the bull by the horns in the pursuit of and execution of the integrated and organically linked crusades against poverty, hunger and unemployment. Massive investment in agriculture, food production and food security is being witnessed.

    Despite scoring the Aregbesola’s government high, ODA believes there is need to develop a longer term development plan that would outlive the four-year terms of governors and elected officials and provide a vision of what needs to be done to take Osun out of the woods into a new political economy whose articulate sectors complement each other and maximize human capital for industrial and commercial production.

    Such an innovation economy will utilize the immense research capacity of the vibrant intellectual centres such as the universities and colleges to position the state as a nursery for new technologies in all areas of application, boost tourism and deliver jobs and food on a sustainable basis.

    And for ease of implementation and sustainability, it advised the administration to break the envisaged 20 year long-term plan into five-year rolling plans for proper regular assessments so as to place the state on path of economic transformation and infrastructural renewal.

    It also recommends the strengthening of the administration’s monitoring mechanism which is already institutionalised as the Bureau of Social Services (BOSS) in order to effectively evaluate progress recorded or delay in the implementation of the revolutionary plans and programmes of the administration.

    Announcing that it intends to partner with the administration in its efforts to serve the people, ODA disclosed at the press conference that it is already conducting surveys and researches towards the publication of its first Mid-Year Performance Report of the Osun State Government.

    “The report would use the SWOT model to assess the promises of the administration, its challenges and achievements in the first 24 months in office.” It said.

    ODA is fast becoming a body to watch in the governance of the State of Osun on account of its scholarly and academic interventions in matters of public interest. It announced its presence by organizing the best public symposium on the anniversary of June 12 in Oshogbo this year drawing most of its participants from student unions on campuses, labour unions and middle class professionals.

    With Kehinde Bamigbetan, Chairman, Ejigbo Local Council Development Area as its convener, ODA parades young intellectuals with radical perspectives from State of Osun such as Gbenga Adedeji, Kolawole Victor, Kunle Oladejo, Fatuyisi Abiodun, Amusan Johnson, Rasheed Ropo, Arogundade Taofeek and Ayo Fadugba among its leading lights.

     

  • ‘True federalism is the way forward’

    ‘True federalism is the way forward’

    Protocol

    I greet our distinguished tra-ditional rulers. Kabiyesi, k’ ade pe lori o, ki bata pe le se, irunkere a di abere, ase a pe lenu o! Your excellencies the executive governors of all our states, Our highly regarded elders, former and serving members of Federal and state legislatures, ministers of the Federal Republic and state commissioners, retired and serving jurists, former and serving ambassadors, members of the professions, members of the organised private sector , members of the Armed Force, members of the Forth estate of the realm, representatives of market women, artisans, road transport workers, students, representatives of the unemployed in our region, distinguished ladies and gentlemen.

    I greet you all and heartily welcome you to this important gathering of the Yoruba family from all parts of our country and the Diaspora. I thank the government of Oyo State for allowing us the use of this ‘PLACE’. A very symbolic place in our history just as the city of Ibadan.

    I am Alani Akinrinade, a Yoruba and Nigerian patriot. I believe in the unity of our federation and have spent most of my adult life lending credence to that assertion. I have, after wide consultations with elders and leaders in Yoruba land; called this family meeting to reflect on how to make Nigeria conducive to the development of Yoruba civilization.

    Today’s meeting is not to do or say anything that will detract from the unity of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. It is intended to allow us, as Yoruba sons and daughters all over the federation to rob minds on the way out of the country’s crippling underdevelopment, with special emphasis on the parlous state of affairs in the Southwest. Our forefathers have a maxim that says: Omode gbon agba gbon ni a fi da Ile Ife. Today’s assembly is to allow the Yoruba nation, across social, political, and sub-ethnic divides to rob minds about the future of our own corner of Nigeria.

    Historical background

    But first, let me crave your indulgence to take you on a very brief historical journey of the Yoruba. Our people are believed by historians backed by archaeological evidence to have lived in this very place for over 1,000 years. Our ancestral home, Ile-Ife, was already a thriving kingdom by 1000 C.E. Most of our major cities have celebrated over 500 years of their respective kingdoms. By the time Portuguese explorers first came to what later became today’s Nigeria in the 1400s, many of the Yoruba City-States were comparable to cities of similar size in Europe. Yoruba land at that time was considered one of the most urbanized areas in the world.

    Before the arrival of the colonial enterprise in the 1880s, the Yoruba had already established one of the most complex federal or con-federal networks of kingdoms in the world. This was centuries before Switzerland or Belgium created a system of government that gave constituent parts of each country, simultaneously, the freedom to progress as equals and the responsibility to cooperate with each other for advancement of common goals.

    Around 1500 C.E., when Oduduwa sent different groups, each led by one of his sons, to found new kingdoms or city-states, he gave them the crown and the freedom to rule the new kingdoms without being subjected to a fiat from Ile-Ife. In the few cases when empires grew within the Yoruba territory, we all know that such efforts led to civil wars.

    In other words, the Yoruba have traditionally organised their polity along the model of federalism. It was not surprising; therefore, that one of the highlights of Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s contribution to political thought in response to the amalgamation of Nigeria by Frederick Lugard as well as during the struggle for independence was the importance of federalism to national unity and development in a multinational state like Nigeria.

    Contemporary development

    In more contemporary times, those of us in this hall that grew up in the ’50s and ’60s would have no problem remembering that the quality of life of the average Yoruba was much better than what it is today. When the United Nations says that the quality of life in present day Nigeria is much lower than what it was in the 1970s, we all know that there is no exaggeration whatever in such an assessment. The tragedy is that most children growing up in Yoruba land as from the ’80s have come to see life as an experience to endure, rather than enjoy.

    Most of them would readily take the Andrew option, migrate legally or illegally, to other countries of the world, including even some of our neighbouring countries like Ghana, which became independent about the same time Western Nigeria obtained self-government. You have to visit important establishments abroad to experience the magnitude of the brain drain from Yorubaland.

    Those who have no means of escaping from the country have become frustrated and would do just about anything to survive. Between 1952 and 1966 Nigeria operated a federal system that allowed each of the three regions then to develop in consonance with the dominant values of its culture and at its own pace. Western region, home to the Yoruba, obtained self-government in 1957; started the first free primary education in West Africa in 1955, built the sub-region’s first modern stadium within the same period, established the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) in 1962, created the Western Nigeria Television Service and a corporation devoted solely to economic development (WNDC), both first in Africa. Long before Nigeria became independent in 1960; our region developed the most professional civil service under the leadership of Chief Simeon Adebo of blessed memory.

    The Yoruba were the first to officially recognize opposition in governance and provided official accommodation for leaders of opposition in the region, a clear sign of our philosophical commitment to the plurality of perspectives as a necessary aspect of democratic governance. All of these achievements and others too many to itemise were made possible, not with petro dollars but with resources from agriculture.

    It is the period 1952-62 that historians now nostalgically refer to as the Golden Age of Yoruba land thereby acknowledging the unmistakable decline in the region in the decades after the ’60s. The cruel irony of all these is that the region is now almost fully dependent on revenue from oil and hand outs from Abuja. At independence in 1960, the federal government was taking loans of substantial amounts from the government of Western Nigeria.

    Unfortunately today, the truth is that, apart from Lagos State, our region has become a mendicant region that waits for limited droppings from the table of the federal government in Abuja. A distant Federal government has become an overlord that has unnecessarily attracted to itself the charges of marginalization from the constituent nationalities.

    Despite its oil resources, Nigeria today remains one of the poorest countries in the world; it ranks almost highest, world-wide, in corruption being only a shade better than Bangladesh and Togo! Nigeria has the least developed transportation system for any country of its size that possesses her quantum of natural resources throughout the entire world. Its railway system is in a state of complete disrepair while its roads are abysmally decrepit. No wonder it is completely unable to sustain any meaningful industrial activity!

    Particularly on account of crippling lack of electric power, factories have turned to worship places just as many multinational companies have migrated to other countries like Ghana. Thousands of jobs have thus left the country in search of more stable economies. Insecurity has nose-dived beyond even the Biafran war time years since the emergence and upsurge in the activities of Boko Haram, -a rampaging urban terrorist group that has completely enveloped the North-Eastern part and making menacing incursions into other parts of the North of the country. Boko Haram may not have struck in Yoruba land, but our people, like many other Nigerians, in their teens, are daily being slaughtered, or incinerated, in the North.

    Given the feckless way the federal authorities are handling Boko Haram, it is only a short time away from when the marauders will be emboldened enough to attempt attacking other parts of the country. Indeed, not too long ago, the University of Ibadan like the University of Benin had to postpone end of semester examinations for no other reason than an alleged Boko Haram infiltration of the two campuses.

    Leadership and
    structural problems

    Political theorists have argued that the problem with Nigeria is a problem of leadership just as some have attributed it to a warped geo-political and governance structure. The choice of a country’s leadership is determined by political partisanship in a democracy. But the structure of government is one matter that can be addressed by all, regardless of party affiliation. Knowing where we are coming from, it is crystal clear that the absence of functional federalism in the country has exacerbated the decline of Yorubaland.

    It is the structural problems thrown up against our security, general wellbeing and the future of our children that motivated me to convene this family meeting. If some parts of Nigeria or even the rest of Nigeria have no problem with the current constitution and political structure, and I am sure they do, that should not stop us from raising issues with a system that daily traumatizes, impoverishes and completely degrades our people.

    We must not continue to look askance, at a political structure, and Constitution which continue to deny us our place in the sun as it completely rubbishes our freedom to develop at our own usual pace as eloquently demonstrated in the days of Awolowo and his team when each region had the authority and the freedom to grow as it wished. We believe this should not be a matter that divides the country or even the region into warring groups. It is, ordinarily, a contestation that should be civil and peaceful, being basically constitutional and which can therefore be approached in the most respectful manner amongst the various people making up Nigeria.

    Without a doubt, Yoruba land is not the only part of the country suffering from our national rudderlessness. The truth is that Yoruba should really have no stock with the all-pervading misery that has enveloped the nation; not with our education, exposure, location, industriousness and cultural richness. While analysts are still battling with the cause of Nigeria’s underdevelopment close to sixty years after independence, we are duty bound as a people, to come together in a non-partisan manner, such as we are doing today, to interrogate the various issues militating against our well-being and, together look for solutions.

    The dialogue option

    May I suggest that in place of brick-batting and hard-line mudslinging pervading the Nigerian atmosphere, giving the impression that it is impossible for the nationalities to sit together and dialogue peacefully, we turn to civility. We should come to terms sooner than later, that science and technology is drifting to the realm of negotiation with death and it may remain only taxation that is not negotiable. All matters including the unity of Nigeria are negotiable. Perhaps we should remember that all the apostles of non negotiability in defunct Yugoslavia, Rwanda etc have either died in jail or are serving long terms of imprisonment or still facing criminal trials. Never mind the avalanche of destruction that they wrought on their countries. When some states decided to install Sharia and organized hisbah to police and enforce it, the others saw no reason why they should go up in arms even though it was not sanctioned by the constitution.

    Today’s family assembly is therefore convened, to think together on how to ensure that our children do not remain unfed; that our roads are safe for our people to move around and for business, that our streets are safe for citizens and residents, and that generally our region does not remain underdeveloped. In other words, we need to examine the structure of the polity together and make recommendations on how to facilitate the overall economic development of the country and the South-West geo-political zone, in particular.

    We need to brainstorm about how to make sure that “the architecture of governance”, to borrow a phrase from Chief Emeka Anyaoku, is designed to strengthen the unity of the country through a constitutional system that favours restoration of regional autonomy that made it possible for our region to create the largest pool of manpower in sub-Sahara Africa half a century ago. At the rate at which we are going, being constantly pulled back by a dead weight federal structure our children may not even be able to obtain good education and knowledge which is the only competition left in the globalized world.

    This Assembly has also been called to allow us to help Nigeria optimize the potentials of its cultural diversity and to enhance its unity through a clear headed re-engineering of its observable structural imbalances. We can provide leadership for other regions in the search for the proper structure that can sustain democracy, development, and unity in our diversity. May I suggest that we discount the noise of the war mongers who believe that a conference will necessarily end up in the battle field. They have carried decadence too far. They are steeped in reaping unfairly where they didn’t sow.

    They believe in the unity of purpose of the donkey and its owner. Or how do we explain a Federal government that collected punitive duty on imported alcohol and returns to collect heavy value added tax from the consumers and repair to Abuja to distribute the proceeds to all states including those that banned alcohol, using some dubious calculus.

    While we are at it, can our present leadership find ways and means of not just preserving our language and culture, but employ it for fast-tracking knowledge. I have been hinted by a psychologist that we do not dream in foreign language. I, and myself have not found a good example of any nation that made salutary contribution to science and technology using someone else’s language.

    It sounds like share violence expecting a five year old to think in someone else’s language. I was assured by late Baba Fafunwa and Chief Cornelius Adebayo that it is easy and rewarding to teach in our language. They successfully did so. Can we possibly start a revolution? Please forgive me, I digress.

    One more matter. Can we refuse as an article of faith, to allow anyone rampage our land in the name of partisan politics and elections? I mean, can we remove the brigandage that accompanies elections. The stigma, the unnecessary destruction of lives and property is avoidable. By all means, let us enjoy vigorous rivalries of ideas, principles and healthy canvassing, but leave the rampage out of it. That is the Yoruba way.

    In the last twenty years, the Yoruba have gotten together under various auspices to examine the structure of the polity. The exercise leading to the production of the Yoruba Agenda is the most memorable of such efforts. The Yoruba Agenda contains ideas that can be reviewed and improved upon. There may be some things that are no longer applicable and need to be taken out at this Assembly. There may be other issues that need to be considered and added to the position taken by our traditional rulers, elders, professionals, and other patriots when the Yoruba Agenda was put together during the pro- democracy struggle of the 1990s.

    Kabiyesis, Your Excellencies, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, before I take my seat, I would like to bring some of the salient points of the Yoruba Agenda to your attention. This is to help us arrive at decisions on what we need to do to enhance the unity and overall development of the country, Nigeria, in general and Yoruba land, in particular. The Yoruba people fully subscribe to certain universal values which influence and govern the behaviour of peoples throughout the modern world. The values which may be termed Fundamental Principles leading to peace, stability and progress of a people like the recognition of the Sovereign will of the people, equal political, economic and social opportunity for all, and respect for human rights, equity, justice and fair play are all extensively dealt with in the Agenda.

    Kabiyesi, Your Excellencies, Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, our region can be much better than it is. It can and should be much better to live and work than in the 1960s if we put our heads together to work for a more conducive structure that can nurture our civilization and that of others that co-habit the country with us. Only a proper constitutional and political agreement, enhanced by a consensus among the Yoruba to press for re-structuring and creation of a truly federal constitution, can help resolve the current constitutional and structural logjam in the country.

    This Assembly is convened to start the process of restoring true federalism with its cornerstone of regional autonomy in our country. This, as I said earlier, should be without acrimony as it could be achieved the same way Scotland has, through a peaceful constitutional process, demanded home rule within the framework of the United Kingdom. Today’s Assembly is a family meeting aimed at starting the formal process of demanding a restructuring of the Nigerian federation.

    Finally, we know that lions eat lambs, but when fire starts raging in the valley, all animals become equal. E ma jeki o di igbati aja ba nle ikoko ki a to mo pe ogun ti de bode. The Yoruba need to rise, in the wise saying of our fore fathers that Agbajo owo ni a fi so aya.

     

  • Taraba: Will national honours bring reconciliation

    Taraba: Will national honours bring reconciliation

    TODAY, the Taraba State  Deputy Governor Alhaji

    Abubakar Sani Danladi is being honoured by the President in Abuja. But, at home there is fire on the mountain as he is facing impeachment proceedings.
    Taraba State Governor, Danbaba Danfulani Suntai, a pharmacist; his deputy, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Danladi and Senator representing Taraba South, Emmanuel Bwacha are among the 149 Nigerians shortlisted to receive national honours today.

    Suntai and Bwacha are recipients for the Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON) while Danladi is to bag the Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR). But Danladi’s mood will certainly be that of mixed feelings, when he is being decorated. The State House of Assembly has served him an impeachment notice, for what it allegedly termed “gross misconduct, sharp practices and lack of capacity to function as a deputy governor”.

    The national honours were instituted by the National Honours Act No. 5 of 1964, during the Nigerian First Republic, to honour Nigerians who have rendered services to the benefit of the nation. Since then, it has been the practice for the president to confer a set of orders and decorations upon honest and credible Nigerians as well as friends of Nigeria who have contributed immensely to national development.

    The general view is that the 2012 list of honourees, contains names of a few impeccable Nigerians, as well as corrupt personalities, including those who are being probed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for alleged graft and other contraventions. This implies that decorating people of questionable characters means the national honours have lost the respect and sincerity for which it was instituted for.

    Danladi’s case is equally one of alleged fraud and dishonesty –to his state and national development. Is he still qualified to be decorated by the presidency, after being served with the impeachment notice? What could be of Danladi’s national honour, if, after bagging the OFR, he is pruned of his job by the legislature? Will the embattled deputy shy away from such an honour? No. He told The Nation he would receive the award. If he does, what will be his mood and the reaction of his boss (Suntai), who is said to have implored the legislature to carry out the curious impeachment process?

    But how will the Assembly feel if the allegations turn out to be falsehood and unimpeachable offences? By every indication, Sani will not return to celebrate his award as number two citizen of the state. He was given 14 days, beginning from Tuesday, September 4, to respond satisfactorily or face impeachment. The impeachment threat is more apolitical than a constitutional matter and thus, his survival chances are slim, The Nation learnt.

    Nevertheless, here comes an opportunity to heal the divisions. The National Honours award has set a stage for Danladi to reconcile with his boss and by extension, the state Assembly, to wave off his sins and at worse, caution him.

    Danladi is particularly being accused of using his office to divert MDG facilities meant for the state, such as MDG ICT centre, a motorised borehole and solar street lamps project to his private School, Yagai Academy.

    The legislators alleged that the deputy governor used his office to acquire a large parcel of land in Jalingo on which he built the Yagai Academy with multi-million-naira business ventures, such as Yagai Water, Yagai Printing Press and Yagai Restaurant, arguing that his total emolument as deputy governor could not justify the ventures.
    The Taraba State Assembly is usually perceived by many as a tamed, toothless and ineffectual appendage of the executive. It was therefore a surprise when last week the legislature bared its fangs and brandished an impeachment dagger at the deputy governor.

    The handwriting on the wall is crystal clear: Suntai is done with Danladi, and wants a substitute, his kitchen cabinet members have said. Sani’s sins, according to reliable sources, are many. His romance with Senators Aisha Alhassan and Tutare Abubakar as well as the former State Chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Abdulmumini Vaki. The romance is perceived as unhealthy to the Suntai government.

    Alhassan, who represents Taraba North in the senate and Tutare, who represents Taraba Central, have formed a stiff opposition bloc against the governor, with an eye on 2015. They fell apart with the governor during the last PDP congresses in the state where they accused the governor and his cohorts of sidelining them in the composition of party executives in their various senatorial districts.

    The political atmosphere in Taraba is already charged with scheming upon scheming. Suntai, who hails from the same zone with Tutare is making plans to go into the senate when he bows out in 2015, after serving two terms as governor.

    Tutare wants to be returned. Fierce acrimony and ruthless spite have rancorously plagued the body politic of state. The gladiators are all members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), but ferocious campaigns for 2015 have ingrained a deep crack in the ruling party in the state.

    Reliable sources said the deputy governor allegedly held a meeting with Alhassan in Saudi Arabia during the last Umrah, to plot Suntai’s downfall. On getting knowledge of the development, an angrily disappointed Suntai truculently deployed his paraphernalia to oust Danladi, whom he reportedly said he had lost confidence in. But Danladi has debunked the allegation.

    The governor on Friday fired Vaki’s wife, who was his Senior Adviser, from office. “This is just the beginning of the end of our adversaries, including the deputy”, one of the governor’s aides said, adding that “Danladi’s removal is long overdue and oga (governor) is already shopping for his substitute”.

    The state PDP Chairman, Mr. Victor Bala told The Nation that he would wade into the crisis. But his promise sounded more of a political statement. “I am going to do something about it. If the children are quarrelling, the father has to intervene”, he said. Bala decried the fact that the issue was not just a party squabble, hence 19 out of the 23-member House, including the deputy governor’s kinsmen from Karim-Lamido Local Government area and non-PDP lawmakers, signed the impeachment notice.

    As Danladi receives his national honour, the state is keen to see how he will foil the impeachment process against him. If he does survive it, analysts have said, it would not be due to being political savvy but out of sheer sympathy from his boss (Suntai). Perhaps the national honours award will set a stage to pave the way for reconciliation.

  • Whither Yar’Adua’s forgotten men?

    Whither Yar’Adua’s forgotten men?

    Sometime in April 2008, speculations were rife that President Umaru Yar’Adua was about to effect some changes in the Federal Executive Council (FEC).

    Expectedly, most of the ministers were apprehensive of their fate. This particular Wednesday before the weekly FEC meeting when the rumoured cabinet reshuffle was to be carried out, a palpable tension reigned in the air.

    Shortly before the arrival of the president signaling the commencement of the meeting, most of the ministers had clustered around Dr. Sayydi Abba Ruma. Individually, they conferred with Ruma for a few minutes and before leaving for their respective seats.

    No cabinet reshuffle eventually took place after the end of the three-hour long meeting. But one thing was obvious: among the ministers, Abba Ruma was a first among equals. That his colleagues held him in high esteem was not in doubt.

    Within the cabinet and in government circles, Ruma was acknowledged as a ‘super minister’ who had the ears of the president. As the Minister in charge of the strategic Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources, Ruma was alleged to be the ‘go to’ man for any top government official desirous of fixing any knotty issue with the president.

    A doctorate degree holder from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Ruma had served as the Secretary to the Katsina State Government for about five years when President Yar’Adua served as governor. He had also briefly served as the Minister of State for Education at the latter years of the Olusegun Obasanjo presidency.

    Step in Dr. Taminu Yakubu. Also from Katsina State like Yar’Adua and Ruma, Taminu served in the cabinet as the President’s Chief Economic Adviser. A doctorate degree holder in Economics, Taminu was also a member of the National Economic Management Team (NEMT).

    Other members of NEMT chaired by the president included Mr. Remi Babalola, the former Minister of State for Finance; Shamsideen Usman, Minister of National Planning; Dr. Rilwan Babalola, Minister of Power, Mrs. Sarah Alade, a Deputy Governor in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and former banker, Mr. Atedo Peterside, to mention but a few.

    There is also Dr. Mansur Muhtar, who held the position of the Minister of Finance. An indigene of Kano, Muhtar is alleged to be one of the closest aides and allies of the late president whose words in the seat of government carry immeasurable weight.

    The list of the influential kitchen cabinet is not complete without the mention of Mr. Micheal Aondoaka, the Benue State-born former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation. Unabashedly loyal to the late president while his tenure lasted, the former minister courted controversy like a duck is attracted to water.

    Two other men who had the ears of the late president were his Aide-De-Camp (ADC), Col. Mustapha Onoyiveta, an Infantry army officer from Delta State and Yusuf Tilde, the Chief Security Officer (CSO).

    Outside government, the man said to be the late president’s closest friend and associate was Alhaji Dahiru Mangal, a wealthy businessman from Katsina State. In his late 50’s, Mangal was named as one of the major financiers of the Yar’Adua’s election as governor in 1999 and president in 2007.

    In early 2009, a newsmagazine published a report on Mangal, which detailed his alleged unsavoury business deals in Nigeria and neighbouring countries including Chad, Niger and Cameroun.

    Beginning of the end?

    Trouble began for Ruma, Taminu, Muhtar as a result of the long absence of Yar’Adua from the seat of power while on admission at a Saudi Arabia hospital due to health challenges.

    The resultant constitutional crisis that ensued following Yar’Adua’s failure to transmute power to his then deputy, President Goodluck Jonathan, was attributed to the alleged machinations of a ‘cabal’ comprising Ruma, Taminu, Onoyiveta and Tilde, who were accused of not only shielding Yar’Adua from Nigerians who wanted to know his true state of health, but also undermining the position of Jonathan.

    So powerful and influential were these men, that they (excluding Aondoaka) were alleged to be the privileged government officials who had direct access to the late president on his sick bed.

    But once Jonathan was sworn-in as acting president, the first person he fired from the cabinet was Aondoaka. The trio of Ruma, Taminu and Muhtar with a couple of other ministers were soon shown the exit door after they were fingered as signatories to a letter allegedly sent to Jonathan (who had then assumed office as substantive president after the death of Yar’Adua) asking him not to relieve certain unnamed ministers of their duties.

    For Onoyiveta and Tilde, their crime, it was gathered, was the secrecy under which they allegedly masterminded the return of the ailing president in the cover of darkness without the knowledge of the then acting president, Jonathan and relevant military authorities.

    Their new lifestyles

    After his exit from government, Ruma took a break from the spotlight, while shuttling between Abuja and Katsina.

    Before the 2011 elections, he decamped from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the Congress of Progressive Change (CPC) to contest for a senatorial seat in Katsina. He failed. The Nation, however, gathered that Ruma is working behind-the-scene in preparations for the 2015 general elections. His interest this time around is to succeed the incumbent governor of Katsina State, Ibrahim Shema.

    But until then, the once powerful man who was once allegedly referred to as the next powerful individual in the immediate past administration after Yar’Adua and his wife, Turai, had recoiled into his shell.

    While the whereabouts of Taminu and what he does presently remains unknown, Muhtar is reported to be a consultant of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), an arm of the World Bank.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Power shift threatens politics of ‘three wise men’

    Power shift threatens politics of ‘three wise men’

    For those familiar with the politics of Cross River State, the phrase, “three wise men” does not immediately conjure up the image of three sage-like figures riding on camels back from the East with gifts for the Holy baby Jesus on a cold winter night.

    What comes to mind instead is actually the triumvirate of the sleek and suave-looking past governor Donald Duke, a calm and calculating present governor, Liyel Imoke and a behind-the-scene top politician and chairman of State Water Board, Gershom Bassey.

    At a time, stories of how these three, under the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), would wield power and control the state for 24 years one after the other before handing over to their cronies, could well be recited by the averagely politically conscious secondary school student in the state.

    As speculated. Duke completed his eight year tenure as the state governor, from 1999 to 2007, and Imoke took over and is currently on his second term of eight years to expire in 2015. But somewhere along the line, it appears something must have gone wrong as it does not seem absolutely likely that Bassey would take over in 2015.

    This is because of the speculation that the group had fallen apart, apparently because they may not have taken into consideration the political configuration of the state. Cross River State is made up of three senatorial districts which are the northern, central and the southern. The southern had produced Duke, the central, Imoke, and the agitation that power must be rotated evenly is threatening to put an end to the plot of the three wise men, as Bassey is from the south.

    On the surface, these do not seem to bother Bassey, the last of the trio, as he seems content with his current position as chairman of the Cross River State Water Board.

    Imoke, at different fora has said that for the sake of fairness he would hand over power to the north in 2015. It was on the basis on this promise that political stalwarts supported him in his second term bid. Also in a state where political enlightenment has heightened significantly, it seems unlikely that three people can just sit down and decide how everything is run.

    Some observers believe him to be singing a different song at a time he was rooting for Victor Ndoma-Egba to return to the Senate last year, when he had said the best material should always be given the job and not on the basis of where one comes from. At the time Patrick Iwara, with the Action Congress of Nigeria, who wanted to wrest the seat of the central senatorial district from Ndoma-Egba, had argued that the Central Senatorial District is made up of Old Ikom and Old Obubra (Old Ikom consisting of Ikom, Etung and Boki local governments, while Old Obubra is made up of Yakurr, Obubra and Abi local governments) and that Ndoma-Egba, who is from Ikom, and then serving his second term should also let it rotate to the people of Old Obubra.

    But in a recent parley with newsmen, Imoke had said, “Cross River already has three senatorial districts. Two senatorial districts (southern and central) have produced by the grace of God, governors. One has not. Would it be fair for us not to allow the other senatorial district a governor? This is just a question of simple fairness; just like we had president from the north, then, south-west, now from south-south, etc. There is no big deal. It is a natural sequence. That is why I support it openly. Some people have been asking oga to keep quiet over this matter; this is not how to do it. I say I don’t know how to deal with what is honest, sincere, correct and right. This is what I have always stood for in my politics. My politics has always been about uniting Cross River. That is why I started my politics by taking on the most difficult challenge. That was when they said no Efik man can ever be governor of Cross River State and I said no. So, there is a set of Cross Riverians that cannot be governor? So, I fought that. And then I wasn’t governor, I wasn’t anything, and by the grace of God we managed to win that battle that changed the face of Cross River. That united all of us. That thing that we used to be called an atavistic society perpetually at war with itself is no more. I challenged it. That I think is one of my greatest achievements – uniting our people. The final seal on that unity would be that the next governor of Cross River comes from the northern senatorial district.”

    With his position, on where power should go in 2015, Imoke has declared the floor open for contestants in the northern senatorial district to get their act together to have a shot at the top job in the state under PDP ticket.

    Among such people in the north, who are likely to run in 2015 is the former Secretary to the state government and current Executive Secretary of the National Planning Commission, Fidelis Ugbo, who is believed to have Imoke’s blessing. He is believed to be simple, well educated, mature, a team player and someone who would be easily accepted across three senatorial zones. A lawyer, he has served in many capacities within and outside the state.

    It is alleged that with Imoke he shares strong opinions on issues. For instance, Imoke in a recent media parley had spoken strongly on the clamour for a Sovereign National Conference when he de-emphasized the call for the conference, saying what is needed is constitutional amendment.

    Similarly Ugbo in an interaction with journalists in Abuja recently described the call for the convocation of a Sovereign National Conference by a cross section of Nigerians as unnecessary. Ugbo had argued that from the legislative houses from the local government to the National Assembly comprised of the representatives of the people with mandates to advance the interests of their constituents.

    The senator representing the northern senatorial district, Prof Ben Ayade, is another likely candidate. Believed to be very wealthy and independent minded and in a system where more often than not it has been shown that money can sway the polity, the powers that be in the state, appear to be wary of him.

    Ayade had in last year’s elections practically bulldozed his way to becoming senator as he was believed not to have government’s support.

    He has already started registering his presence in the state by introducing a fleet of buses running routes from the Calabar in the southern senatorial district through the central senatorial district to Ogoja and Obudu in the northern senatorial district, thereby reducing the stress and cost of transportation across the state. The ubiquitous presence of the white buses boldly inscribed AYADE MOTORS, observers believe is a sign of things to come.

     

  • Strengthening grassroots development through LG creation: The constitutional and legal challenges

     

     

    The topic which I have been asked to examine is at the core of the struggle for true federalism which has been championed in a new way recently by the national leader of our political party, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. As the Governor of Lagos State, Tinubu, assisted by the likes of Aregbesola – who was then one of his commissioners – fought a gallant battle against the Federal Government led by President Olusegun Obasanjo, over some critical issues over how to properly organise a federal state such as Nigeria and the rights and powers of the constituents units vis-a-vis the government of the centre. That battle, interesting enough, was centred on the power of a state to create local governments within its jurisdiction.

    That battle which was largely won by the Lagos State Government under Asiwaju Tinubu was an important point in the age-long battle to ensure that Nigeria is not a federal state only in name. The Supreme Court affirmed without any contradiction the power of the state to create local governments. However, the Supreme Court also recognised its own limitation as an instrument of the interpretation of the law and not as a law-making institution. The apex court was constrained by the 1999 Constitution, imposed on the country by the military without consultation with the people of Nigeria. The fatal errors inscribed into that constitution has become part of the central challenges of the Fourth Republic, and indeed, the future of Nigeria.

    As a public-affairs journalist, my own exertions were also directed towards ensuring the correction of some of the fundamental errors of that constitution, a cardinal part of which concerns the creation, funding and operation of local governments in Nigeria. I am here today to speak to the constitutional and legal challenges that we face in Nigeria which continue to limit grassroots development in Nigeria.

    Let me say up front that I intend to ruffle some feathers in my proposals for a new order in the context of ensuring grassroots development through local governance in Nigeria. This is because we cannot continue to deceive ourselves by concentrating only on our rights to create and live under the political structures that we desire, without engaging with the duties and responsibilities that such rights impose on us.

    Democracy, decentralisation and the rationale of local governance

    The concept and basis of the creation of a local government are basically about ensuring self-governance at the local level. Local government is the closest thing to the Athenian origins of democracy, where all the qualified citizens met at the agora, which was at the centre of the political life of the Greek city-state…

    A local government is constituted and functions to ensure the ideas of local governance: that is, to ensure that the local people participate in locally important matters, that they are the key decision-makers in determining their own fate and concerns, and that they are the ones who manage and learn from their local experiences of self-rule. It is important to also add that this implies that such a local system of collective action and collective rule would also translate to local accountability to the people of the locality.

    In this context, experts in the democracy, development experts and democratic activists have, in different ways, emphasised the linkages between local governance, democracy and development. They have emphasised the fact that “enhanced participation, greater control over programs by beneficiaries, and increased resource mobilization for development projects” at the local level serve as “foundation for democracy, and as tool to achieve better governance.”

    However, for local government to live up to the ideals of local governance, that is, confront and effectively and efficiently solve the problem of the concerned locality, there are certain requirements that must be met. A local government must be able to (i) identify the problems of the locality, (ii) set priorities, (iii) mobilize resources, (iv) implement programmes, (v) evaluate results, (vi) learn from those results, (vii) and maintain popular legitimacy through their performance and accountability…

    From 299 local governments at their creation in 1976, to 593 in 1991, Nigeria now has 774 local government areas (LGAs). However, because of the nature of their evolution, Nigeria’s structural crisis and the challenges of our political culture, the process of the creation, the powers of the local government councils, and the capacity of the councils to deliver the goods to the people have been embroiled in controversy.

    In its modern history in Nigeria, the creation of local governments was part of the process of return to democratic rule. There were three fundamental elements of the 1976 local government reforms. One was to make the local government one of democratically elected local councils with its own resources, personnel, responsibilities, and autonomous legal existence. Two was to distinguish it from the state and the national governments. Three – and this included the subsequent legal contexts in the 1989, 1995 and 1999 constitutions – was to empower local governments legally and transform them into a third tier of government in the federation.

    The fundamental elements of the 1976 reforms seemed to have worked well until 1979 when the Second Republic started. And let me say, with all sense of responsibility, that this was understandable. In deciding on the local government reforms, the military regime largely consulted itself and its chosen experts. The most critical structural problem of the 1976 reforms and subsequently laws establishing and governing local government in Nigeria was the fact of treating the local government as a federating unit. This was an aberrant innovation in the practices of federalism. In a federal state, there are only two fundamental, constitutional levels, the central government and the federating units (regions or states). Any other lower level of government must be the creation of each of the federating units. The centre is only first among equals. Any other level of government created by the constituent unit, such as local government or mayoralty, is not, and cannot be, a federating unit within the constitution. The attempt by the military-imposed constitutions since 1979 to subvert a fundamental principle of federalism by turning local governments into creations of the central government has brought all sorts of problems not only for local governance in Nigeria, but even for the relationship between the centre and the federating units, that is, the states.

    The truth is that the people of Nigeria did not accept the strange principle of treating local governments as if they were federating units. There was no referendum in which the military-imposed constitutions and this particular provision were accepted.

    This is what produced the subversion which was experienced in the Second Republic and has been experienced in the Third, and is being experienced in the Fourth Republic. This is no argument for the non-democratization of local governments that we have experienced in many parts of the federation. But we must accept the fundamental fact that, while the local government remains a critical development and democratic point in federal governance, it cannot be accorded the right of a federating unit in a proper federation. Therefore, the idea of a third tier of government recognized by the federal constitution in their names and whose creation must be sanctioned by the National Assembly or some other central institution is a direct and violent slap on the face of federalism…

    I am not making an argument against increasing the capacity of local governments so as to strengthen grassroots development. In fact, on the contrary, as will become evident as I conclude this lecture, I am making an argument for increasing the capacity of local governments to deliver the goods. However, my departure point is that the way it has been done in violation of federalist principles by the military-imposed constitutions – which we have failed to thoroughly and fundamentally revise – does not augur well for the development of local governance in Nigeria.

    While I must admit that many of the states from the Second to Fourth Republics have abused the autonomy of local governments and subverted the capacity of that tier of government to perform its duties, I will argue that correcting this trend should not involve the subversion of federalist principles. After all, the federal government in Nigeria’s history has failed us repeatedly, yet its powers have been expanded over the last 50 years, rather than being reduced. Why is it that the federating units must be the ones forced by an external authority – external in the context of local issues – to give up on their powers of supervision and control over the local governments that ought to be, originally, their own creations? How can the centre that is so far away from the people assume the wisdom for the number, size, and locations and even capitals of local governments over and above the states that are closer to the realities?

    Strengthening grassroots development through LG creation: What should be done.

    Let me say with all emphasis at my disposal that the first step that must be taken in the quest to strengthen grassroots development in Nigeria is to expunge the names of local government areas from the constitution. This is the core constitutional challenge. It is the biggest constitutional challenge faced in the efforts to strengthen grassroots development. And it is one of the core issues that must be addressed in a truly democratic, serious-minded constitutional review process…

    Expunging the list of local governments from the Constitution is in many ways linked to the critical efforts aimed to making the Constitution and subsequently, the country, truly federal. In this context, let me quickly add that, as it is the practice in all truly federal systems, the all the states in Nigeria must and should have their own constitutions, just as the regions in the First Republic, had their own constitutions. It is one of the critical instruments of the assertion of the autonomy of the states in a federation. I call on the State of Osun to lead this process. Anyone who in uncomfortable with this important principle of federalism should go to court. I have no doubt in my mind that the Supreme Court will rule in favour of state constitutions.

    There are many legal and other problems that this will resolve. One is the problem of injustice, inequity and lopsided allocation of resources. For instance, among the many reasons which necessitated the gallant and commendable action of the Governor Bola Tinubu-led administration in creating more local governments in Lagos State is the glaring injustice and appalling inequity that ensured that Lagos State had only 20 local government areas while Kano State, even when it was split into two states, Kano and Jigawa States, continued to expand its number of LGAs – such that Kano state now has 46 LGAs and Jigawa, which was taken out of the old Kano State, has 26 LGAs. That adds up to 72 LGAs for the old Kano State against Lagos State’s 20 LGAs. The flagrant disregard for justice and equity and the economic and development challenges peculiar to both old Kano and Lagos state is evident here. There would have been no problem and there probably would have been no such geometric increase in the number of old and new Kano and Jigawa States’ LGAs but for the politics of oil revenue. The allocation of revenue on the basis of the number of LGAs is certainly the fundamental reason for the injustice in the number of LGAs across the federation. This is also why the military, in their lack of a sense of fairness and justice, created these LGAs at the centre and enshrined them in the constitution.

    Conclusion

    What I am arguing for is that, if we desire the full democratisation of the processes of the creation of LGAs in Nigeria, we must also be ready to embrace the challenges that this will bring and not just the opportunities that come with it…

    It is only in a people’s Constitution and a truly federal one that we can have the guarantees of creating viable, effective and efficient local government areas that will genuinely lead to grassroots development in the State of Osun, as well as the rest of Nigeria.

    Being excerpts from a speech delivered by Senator Ojodu at the 21st anniversary of the creation of Osun State, on Monday, 17th August, 2012.

  • Controversy over Ojukwu’s statue

    As the final preparations for the recent state visit of President Goodluck Jonathan to Anambra State reached its peak, there was palpable fear that some individuals in Onitsha, the commercial nerve centre of the east, may try to cause confusion in order to register their dissatisfaction with Governor Peter Obi-led state government. Government agents assigned with the Ojukwu Gateway project were particularly worried that they issued several public notices to warn such individuals against taking such actions.

    During the visit to Onitsha in particular, where Jonathan finally commissioned the Ojukwu statue and the Gateway, security presence was breathtaking.

    These measures were taken as part of the state government’s reaction to the criticisms against the state of Ojukwu’s statue and the multi-million naira Ojukwu Gateway in Onitsha.

    Although no unhealthy scene was made by critics during the visit and the official inauguration by the president, criticism against the projects has not ceased since them. Instead, the number of critics has continued to multiply even as the state government continued to express its good intentions.

    This week, however, Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra and four other civil rights organisations took the controversy to its peak, when they issued a joint statement condemning what they described as the “desecration of the statue of the late Biafran leader, Chief Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, and the road named after him by touts and security agents in Onitsha, Anambra State”.

    In the statement, issued last Sunday, September 9, 2012, MASSOB, along with the International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law, the Civil Liberties Organisation, the Human Rights Club and the Human Rights Development International asked Anambra State Government to reverse its renaming of the Headbridge-Upper Iweka section of the Onitsha-Enugu Expressway.

    Point of debate:

    While there seems to be no doubt that the late Biafran leader deserves to be honoured, critics of the action are not satisfied with the location of the statue and the choice of the road named after Ojukwu. They have therefore alleged that instead of immortalising the late hero, he has been insulted because the area, especially the road, where his statue is located, is filthy. According to them, the late leader’s name, which ought to be venerated, has been desecrated.

    The groups did not stop there. They in fact demanded that the statue be transferred to a more decent place “where it would be treated with respect and honour.”

    The statement, entitled, ‘Ojukwu Gateway and Statue in Onitsha abandoned and converted to Sodom and Gomorrah — A joint report by Intersociety, MASSOB, CLO, Human Rights Club and Human Rights Dev. Int’l and signed by Mr. Emeka Umeagbalasi,Intersociety; Comrade Uchenna Mmadu, National Director of Information, MASSOB; Mr. Aloysius Attah for CLO; Mr. Samuel Njoku, Human Rights Club and Mr. Peter Onyegiri for HRDI, likened the situation around the statue to what happened in the biblical Sodom and Gomorrah.

    Other critics had earlier faulted the wisdom of Governor Peter Obi-led government of Anambra State in renaming the popular Iweka road after Odumegwu Ojukwu. One of them is Anambra State Publicity Secretary of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Mr. Okelo Madukaife, who pointed out that since Eze Iweka was a traditional ruler, who contributed immensely to the development of Onitsha, it would be humiliating for the current state government to dishonor him by renaming a street previously named after him.

    According to him, “The proposal to de-honour an ancestral royal father, illustrious son of Anambra State, and prime mover of the development of Onitsha in order to honour Ojukwu, our own Ikemba, the legend, is tantamount to ridiculing two Anambra icons and honouring none, because it can generate altercations between individuals, families and communities that will erase any honour, if truly intended.

    He added that “The ACN dissociates itself from this self-serving move and urges the government to retrace its steps, be more imaginative and take steps to respect, Ezeigbo GburuGburu rather than destroy another name to mock Ikemba.”

    The controversy commenced soon after Obi made public the agreement it had with the federal government to reconstruct part of the Onitsha-Enugu Expressway and rename it Ojukwu Gateway.

    Instead of attracting general applause from the people, majority of who adore the late Ikemba Nnewi, the move soon became a source of sharp disagreement even amongst commoners.

    The first issue was the way government officials allegedly handled the clearing and relocation of traders and transporters occupying the two unused service lanes, from which the 10-lane space was designed to be carved out. Ikedichi Uzochukwu, a merchant in the area, told The Nation that “government officials were so uncaring that many of us immediately understood that they have motives other than honouring our hero, Ojukwu.”

    But a source close to the Government House in Awka, reacting to the allegations, said the traders that occupied the area before scored zero in environmental rating and have over the years, not only polluted the place but have also been bribing government officials and have thus bee warding off government’s efforts to relocate. The present government, the source said, is being criticized because such tactics have failed.

    It would be recalled that the Odumegwu-Ojukwu statue and the Ojukwu Gateway, the first three kilometres of the 107-kilometre Onitsha-Enugu Expressway, were inaugurated by President Goodluck Jonathan on August 30, 2012 while on a state visit to Anambra State.

     

  • Attahiru Bafarawa opts for senate

    The former governor of Sokoto State, Attahiru Bafarawa, may be warming up to take an active part in the next democratic dispensation if feelers from his associates are anything to go by. The ex-governor, who made a botched attempt at the presidency on the platform of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and later the Democratic Peoples’ Party (DPP), according to sources, is finalising plans to contest for an elective position again, this time as a senator in his home state where he still enjoys a cult-figure status. However, it is not yet clear the political party he would chose to contest the election

  • Donald Duke still on sabbatical

    Donald Duke still on sabbatical

    Almost six years after he left office as the Governor of Cross Rivers State and decided to take a break from politics, Mr. Donald Duke is still not keen on staging a comeback to the political turf. The ex-governor, it was learnt, remain unconvinced about the direction his party, PDP, is headed and would rather prefer to watch events from the sidelines. The only major political event Duke has attended after he left office five years ago was the second term declaration of his successor, Liyel Imoke, held at the U.J Esuene Stadium in Calabar. This gesture, we gathered, was after much pressure from his friends and political associates.