Category: Politics

In the First and Second Republics, Ondo State suffered many devastating effects of political violence. As the parties warm up for the October 20 governorship poll, pockets of violence and arson have been reported during rallies and campaigns. Deputy Political Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU examines the factors responsible for the conflicts and solutions proffered by stakeholders.

Politicians are beating the drums of war. Their followers are dancing to the peculiar tunes and fanning the embers of intolerance and discord.  Political campaigns create panic and tension, sending the wrong signal of do-or-die election. Steadily, a sense of fear of violence and electoral crisis is gradually being registered in the subconscious of the people.

In Akure, the state capital, political meetings are disrupted. Other towns and villages are enveloped in anxiety.

The critical contest is between Olusegun Mimiko, medical doctor and incumbent governor on the platform of the Labour Party (LP) and Rotimi Akeredolu SAN, legal luminary and former President of Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), who is the candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). In the forthcoming election, it appears that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which is fielding Olusola Oke, a lawyer, and Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), which is fielding Soji Ehinlawo, and candidates of other mushroom parties do not enjoy high rating.

Expectedly, their supporters and followers are locked in hot media campaigns. However, what is worrisome is the orgy of violence associated with campaigns in the Sunshine State. There have been accusations, counter-accusations and denials. But these propaganda have not halted the trend of violence and tension.

Recently, the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Abubakar, who had been inundated with complaints about the unruly behaviour of party thugs, spat fire and brimstone. He promised to relocate to Ondo State during the election to coordinate security activities. It is common knowledge that unemployed youths, idle artisans and peasants, and motor park boys usually form the bulk of the thuggery clubs.

Thus, at a meeting he held with the executive members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers ((NURTW) in Abuja, the police boss read the riot act to arsonists.

“Let me warn you that political thuggery will be ruthlessly dealt with. I want you all to take this message to your members all over the country that anyone who gets involved in violence would not be spared”, said the Inspector General who added: “I am issuing this warning in view of the fact that the date for for the Ondo State governorship election is around the corner. I am using this occasion to warn the Ondo State chairman of NURTW that the police will not tolerate thuggery from your members. I will be in Ondo State to monitor the election”.

About six years ago, it was a different ball game. Mimiko and Akeredolu were in the same political camp, as it were, waging war against the PDP administration of Dr. Olusegun Agagu. After Mimiko’s stolen mandate was retrieved, the collaboration between LP and AC(N) suddenly broke down. Now, members of the divided house are adorning a new outlook in preparation for a showdown in October.

The catalogue of violence stares observers in the face. It started with the face-off between LP and ACN members in Akure during the Adebayo Adefarati Memorial Lecture. In the twilight of life, the former governor was neither a chieftain of LP nor ACN. Sources said that both sides struggled to make a political gain out of the event. The organisers, nevertheless, had some guests in mind; elder statesmen, foremost politicians, top government officials from ACN-controlled Southwest, and relations.

The programme was about to kick off when some thugs invaded the venue, demanding why some LP chieftains were denied entry into the hall. Instantly, hell was let lose. Akure ACN leader Chief Wumi Adegbonmire was rough-handled. Scores of dignitaries were injured. Other eminent persons ran for dear life. ACN spokesman Gboyega Adedipe in the state alleged that the disruption was caused by suspected LP thugs, an allegation vehemently denied by his LP counterpart, Kole Odogiyan.

However, since then, violence has characterised preparations for the election. It reared its ugly head again in Owo when Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola, a staunch advocate of power shift in Ondo State, stormed the Achievers University to receive an award.

“Thugs barricaded the road. It was laughable because they wanted to attack the convoy, unmindful of security details of the governor”, recalled Idowu Ajanaku, Akeredolu’s Media Adviser.

Few weeks later, Adegbonmire and some elders were chased out of a political meeting in Ijoka/Sijuwade area of Akure. With him were Chief Olu Adegboro, Prof. Adegbola Aderounmu and other ACN leaders. The old Action Group (AG) chieftain was filled with anger. “Can’t I hold a political meeting again. This is my town. I am the Asiwaju of Akure. This is the height of intolerance’, he protested.

Last month, there was commotion along Oba Adesida Road, Akure, when Akeredolu and his supporters were blocked by some youths brandishing dangerous weapons. The convoy was heading to Owo, his birthplace, following the governorship congress that endorsed him as the flag bearer. The police immediately rose to the occasion to and so averted what could have been a tragedy.

Recently, in Irele, Ondo South Senatorial District, suspected thugs disrupted the empowerment programme organised by an LP  lawmaker. As LP and PDP supporters clashed, Oke, who later became the PDP governorship candidate, was attacked by thugs.

In Akure, the ACN state secretariat was vandalised. The security man was beaten to a state of coma. Adedipe blamed LP members for the mayhem, which he described as acts of hooliganism and barbarism. But Odogiyan disagreed, advising him to look for culprits elsewhere.

At the weekend, Ajanaku alleged that the indiscriminate arrest of ACN chieftains by police at Owo is now rampant, describing it as an affront on human rights. “It is part of the grand design to frighten our people and disperse our supporters. But the strategy will fail”, he said.

“In Ifon and Ute, the campaign offices of Chief Akeredolu have been vandalised. When Mimiko was campaigning for governorship in 2007, Agagu did not stop him. But this governor has refused to let ACN use OSRC and Akure Town Hall. Mimiko declared in that hall for governorship in 2007”, Ajanaku added.

Ondo State Information Commissioner Kayode Akinmade objected to the claim. “Ondo is peaceful and our people are ready for October 20. The hue about violence is just a face-saving tactic by the opposition. The plot to hire machineries has been uncovered and LP members are not involved. There is no panic in Ondo State”, he said. The commissioner did not elaborate on his allegation about machineries.

Mimiko Campaign Organisation’s spokesman Kola Olabisi had a harsh words for the PDP and other parties, which he accused of peddling falsehood, saying that they are alarmists. He said LP secretariat was recently vandalised, although he did not give clues about suspects. He alleged that Oke was actually creating tension by promising to scrap developmental projects embarked upon by Mimiko. He said this is an unguided utterance, urging him to moderate his reactions.

“PDP was allowed to use the ‘Democracy Park for its rally. If they (ACN) wants to use the town hall, they should apply to the appropriate authorities and if it is the ‘Democracy Park’, they should do so too. As to the issue of OSRC, all the parties in Ondo state are free to go there, afterall, it is the property of Ondo State”, Olabisi added.

Close watchers of the scenario in Ondo State contend that the forces struggling for political control were once upon a time united against the conservative bloc in the state. But the house split, following an inexplicable disagreement.  Now, LP government is the lone administration in the Southwest, which had been regained by ACN after a fierce battle against the PDP.

To the ACN leaders; Chief Bisi Akande and Senator Bola Tinubu; and the five governors, there is a difference between LP and ACN, based on two criteria of fraternity with the national PDP and posturing on regional integration.

Yet, other observers believe that, historically, in the Southwest, the sheer parting of ways among the supposedly members of the progressive family, could herald a bitter contest.  Following the split in the defunct AG, the federal and regional elections in the wild wild West ended in chaos. In the Second Republic, when there was defection of some leaders to the National Party of Nigeria (NPN), Ondo and Oyo states were in flames after the election.

However, the root of violence is deep seated political intolerance borne out of the desire to either gain or retain power. In the long run, it is an ill-wind that blows nobody any good. A political scientist and lawyer, Dr Derin Ologbenla, observed that, any effort to totally eliminate violenvce from social life would definitely be a vain effort. But he clarified that when violence is endemic and persistent, or unimanageable, it may become an anathema to to political stability and economic development.

Ologbenla, who teaches at the University of Lagos, Akoka, described electoral violence as an aspect of political violence. In his view, this may include all sorts of riots, demonstrations, party clashes, political assassinations, looting, arson, thuggery, maiming, kidnapping, and ballot snatching which occurs before, during and after elections.

“All these could be regarded as election-motivated crises employed to alter, change or influence by force or coercion the electoral behaviour of voters or voting pattern or possibly reverse the electoral decision in favour of a particular individual, group or political party”, he stressed.

The university don described violence as part of winning tactics for dubious politicians. He distinguished between pre and post-electoral violence.  “The pre-electoral violence may occur where electoral laws or provisions are seen as favouring a particular candidate at the expense of the others. It could also occur when a particular candidate is over-ambitious and perhaps, sees the signals that he may likely lose the election to the opponents. Experience has shown in Nigeria that such a candidate may engineer violence to disrupt the electoral process”, he added.

However, post-election violence may lead to more debilitating effects. Ologbenla warned that it may be spontaneous, adding that it may also be engineered by individuals, group or a political party who feels cheated, rigged out, alienated or deprived by the unfairness of the electoral process and the deprivation may be real or perceived.

“In Nigeria, the purpose of such violence, apart from seeking redress through illegal means, including killing, maiming, destruction of property, is also “to destroy it, if we cannot have it”.

This latter perspective should not be lost on the handlers of the electoral process. How is the electoral agency responding to these inter-party conflicts? The Resident Electoral Commissioner, Akin Orebiyi, said reports on political violence may have been blown out of proportion by the media. “I don’t support violence, but what has happened in the state has not been properly reported. I was aware of what happened at Oba Adesida Road on the day ACN held its congress and the Irele incident. Police intervened immediately. We need to verify the claims’.  he said. To buttress his point, he said the reports about breaches in Ondo State ahead of the poll would pale into insignificance in the face of the disturbing violence that heralded the recent Edo State governorship election.

Ajanaku disagreed, saying that reports about violence should not be ignored or treated with levity. “A culture of intolerance is growing in Ondo  State and we believe that LP members are responsible because they are desperate”, he maintained.

Orebiyi acknowledged that campaigns are hot in Ondo State. But he quickly added that “anybody who foments trouble will be consumed by trouble”.

Early in the month, a stakeholders’ meeting attended by representatives of 12 parties met in Akure. At the meeting, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officials, State Security Services (SSS) men, an Assistant Inspector General of Police, a Deputy Inspector General, Mr. Abdulraman Akano, and commander of the Army Artillery, Akure, issued serious warnings to politicians in the state to desist from acts capable of breaching the law during electioneering.

Orebiyi assured that, with that warning, there would be no violence and break down of law and order. Besides, he said clashes among rival political supporters would be averted by the implementation of the campaign schedules jointly subscribed to by the various parties.

“At the stakeholders’ meeting, a committee was set up as a clearing house for campaigns schedules. Before any political party embarks on campaigns, it must inform the committee, which will make sure that campaigns do not clash. Through that, there will be no case of inter-party misunderstanding, fighting and breakdown of law and order. This will be implemented faithfully”, he stressed.

The emergence of President Goodluck Jonathan on the highest seat in the land has been largely credited to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, but the frosty relationship between the duo in the last one year is giving their loyalists a cause for worry, writes Remi Adelowo

It took the surprise visit of the Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson, to the hilltop residence of former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo in Abeokuta, Ogun State, to arouse any suspicion that indeed, all may not be well between President Goodluck Jonathan and Obasanjo.

A further proof that Obasanjo may have distanced himself from the president was the widely reported outcome of the meeting between the former president and former military leader, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, in Abuja.

A joint statement issued by the two former leaders had suggested on the way forward to addressing the incessant security challenges in the country, while albeit insinuating that the president seems incapable of providing the right leadership at this critical period of the nation’s history.

Originally planned as an incognito visit, it was a shocked Dickson, who on sighting newshounds after he stepped out of Obasanjo’s residence, searched for the right words to say on the reasons for his visit. Obviously laboring to sound convincing, the governor disclosed that he was simply on a courtesy visit to pay homage to the former president.

His aides had also reportedly told some journalists that the governor had come to solicit for the intervention of the former president on his (governor’s) alleged frosty relationship with lawmakers in the Bayelsa State House of Assembly.

Impeccable sources privy to the discussion between the governor and the former president, however, revealed that Dickson, at the instance of the Presidency, was on a fence-mending mission to repair the relationship between his godfather, Jonathan and Obasanjo, which despite denials by the principal characters, has almost completely broken down in recent times.

The governor, it was learnt, had allegedly pleaded with Obasanjo to join hands with the president in tackling the various challenges that the present administration has been battling with in the last two years. Dickson was also said to have worked on the emotions of the former president, reminding him on the roles he (Obasanjo) played in the emergence of Jonathan, both as acting president in 2009 and later as president in 2011.

In rounding up, Dickson told Obasanjo that now is the time that his support is most needed to stave off the several attacks directed at the president, particularly from influential political players from the North.

Wily as ever, Obasanjo according to sources, simply thanked the governor for the visit and said nothing more. “He was non committal to the requests of the governor, but promised to get back to him”, said a source.

Composition of PAC

The prelude to the thawed relationship between the erstwhile close allies started shortly after Jonathan was sworn-in as acting president following the death of late Umaru Yar’ Adua in April 2009. To chart an agenda and bring as many stakeholders as possible on board, Jonathan had inaugurated a Presidential Advisory Council (PAC), headed by former Army Chief and ex-Minister of Defence, Gen. Theophillus Danjuma, to come up with a blueprint for the fledlging administration.

The council had as its members distinguished Nigerians, which included former Secretary General of the Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, Professor Ben Nwabueze, to mention but a few.

Obasanjo, The Nation learnt, felt slighted that he was not consulted on the issue, but never broached this with the then acting president.  “He (Obasanjo) was not comfortable with Danjuma’s headship of the Council; you know his relationship with Danjuma has remained frosty since the latter quit his cabinet in 2006.”

The outcome of the 2011 general elections in which the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was swept away in all the South West states controlled by the party, according to sources, is also another bone of contention. Obasanjo, revealed another source, believed the president did not do enough to ‘support’ the party at the polls. “Right now, the man (Obasanjo) does not have a support base and he is blaming the president for this.”

The godfather palaver

Another complaint of the former president is the alleged refusal of the current president to seek his opinion on key national issues, but rather prefer the counsel of a prominent Ijaw leader, who is widely acknowledged as the president’s new godfather and an influential South-South politician.

Cabinet reshuffle

The first cabinet reshuffle carried out by President Jonathan in early 2011 was also cited as another grievance of Obasanjo. One of the former president nominees in the cabinet, Chief Jubril Martins-Kuye, who served as the Minister of Commerce and Industry was dropped, a decision that did not go down well with Obasanjo.

Alleged second term ambition

While the former president still feels proud that he played a significant role in ensuring power shift from the North to the South-South, he is, however, not comfortable with the alleged surreptitious moves by loyalists of the president urging him to contest for another term in office in 2015. Obasanjo wants power back in the North in 2015 to guarantee the political stability of the country, The Nation reliably gathered.

Early signs

The first early sign that the former president’s relationship with President Jonathan has not been cordial came when the former resigned his chairmanship of PDP Board of Trustees (BOT) early this year, citing the need to have more time to attend to his international engagements as the reason for his action.

Not a few Nigerians were also surprised when, at the last Council of States meeting held at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, the former president quite unusually was conspicuously absent even though sources said he was in the country. The other ex-leaders absent at the meeting were Gen. Babangida, Gen. Yakubu Gowon and Gen. Muhammadu Buhari.

According to a source, “the former president is not hiding his displeasure with Jonathan; that explains why he has washed his hands off the affairs of the party and also stayed away from the Villa or calling the president to offer any advice.”

The icy relationship between the two men remains unresolved, just as the camp of the former president is allegedly working behind-the-scene to promote Governors. Sule Lamido/Rotimi Amaechi for the PDP presidential and vice-presidential tickets in 2015. The former president’s camp has since denied this report.

As a practical step towards giving true meaning to the federal structure that Nigeria adopted at independence, more federating units are joining the clamour for true federalism through adoption of unique identities. In this report, Assistant Editor AUGUSTINE AVWODE examines the development and presents the conviction of proponents of such a move and the fears of those opposed to it.

IT is all a bit calm now, resting like a volcano waiting for another prompt by nature to erupt. Two weeks ago, the hue and cry about states’ symbols, coats of arms  and flags raged like those tropical storms for which the West Indies and the Americas are famous. But notwithstanding the outcry, the message is gradually sinking into the sub-conscious of many a Nigerian. As a country which claims to be a federal state, having one central government and 36 federating units, there is a growing awareness among component units to carve a  niche and individuality for themselves.

When it was announced that the Bayelsa State Executive Council has approved a state emblem, anthem and coat of arms to mark and strengthen a sense of identity for the people of the state in line with the vision of the founding fathers of the state, it was greeted with a loud outcry. It was quickly interpreted to mean a ploy to declare an independent state of Bayelsa.

The  announcement by Chief Press Secretary to the Bayelsa State Governor, Mr Daniel Iworiso-Markson read in part: “The decision was taken at the end of the 7th meeting of the State Executive Council. The State Executive Council approved a flag, state anthem and coat of arms for Bayelsa State, which will reflect the colours and symbols of the Ijaw nation and it will be put to use as soon as Governor Seriake Dickson, gives his accent to the law, which had just been passed by the state House of Assembly”.

He explained that “This decision also underscores government’s belief that this state, like any other state, is where the Ijaw, the fourth largest ethnic nationality, has as its home. Bayelsa is home to all Ijaw both at home and abroad.  The emblem, therefore, will help serve as a unifying force and rallying point for all our people.

“It says a lot about the preservation of our culture, our essential values as a people and as a race.  These are the qualities that distinguished us and makes us who we are – proud, great people of the Ijaw Nation.”

Bayelsa has since consum,ated the move and joined the league of other state with their emblems and crests.

bayelsa’s forerunners are states like Lagos, Cross River, Rivers, Osun, Ondo, Ogun, Ekiti and Kwara . Some of these states have adopted a flag, coat of arms or anthem different from the Green- White-Green flag and the “Arise O Compatriot” but have religious maintained the two side by side.

Iworiso-Markson made it clear that Bayelsa  was emboldened by what other states had done before. According to him, “The point must be made clear that the step taken by our government to announce the proposed launch of a state owned flag, anthem and coat of arm is not in any way different from what other states in the federation have done.

“It is common knowledge that virtually all the states in the South-Western region such as Lagos, Oyo, Osun, Ondo, Ogun and Ekiti have since launched theirs. The most recent was the North Central state of Kwara. In the South-South, Cross River and Rivers States are the only two states in the region that have embraced this noble concept. In the case of Rivers, it was done since the 1970s”, he argued.

In April when Osun State Government not only took a similar step but went ahead to adopt a nomenclature that is hitherto unused in the country by opting to be known and addressed as the State of Osun, as a further mark of identifying itself, all hell was let loose. So much was the outcry against it that it was interpreted in some quarters as plans by the governor to effect a secession and he was allegedly placed on security watch by the State Security Service (SSS).

Governor Rauf Aregbesola had to embark on an extensive explanation to disabuse the mind of critics and especially the opposition party in the state.

Strictly, the major reason for the upsurge in the creation of states’ individual identities is to give meaning to Nigeria’s federal status. It is a way of saying that the perception that the central government is the father while the rest 36 federating units are children of the same father is a wrong notion. It is a drive to ensure that the true spirit of the constitution is reaslised.

Those who support the idea insist that there is nothing constitutionally wrong with it. They, however, point out that in any state where the national flag is hoisted along with a state’s flag, the national flag must be slightly higher than that of the state. And where a state’s anthem is sung, it should come before the national anthem which must be sang last. They contend that it has nothing to do with the unity of the country.

Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State who rose in defence of Aregbesola when he was criticised by the opposition had this to say on the subject: “We had a flag before Osun did. Lagos had a flag 20 years ago. It was the only state that stayed back when the other states were balkanised.

“If you come to Ekiti, we don’t sing just the national anthem; we recite our own anthem and if you come across any document from the state, you will see that it is not the Federal Government coat of arms that we have in Ekiti State. We don’t even have the Federal Government coat of arms on our documents. That is not to say that we are not a constituent part of the federal state called Nigeria. We are proud to be, but we believe that we need an identity that speaks to the core values of our state,” the governor argued.

But to those opposed to the idea, the move could jeopardise efforts of previous and present administrations since independence to maintain Nigeria’s image of a nation of different people with one national identity. They often point to the Nigeria Civil War of 1967 to 1970 as a result of moves to assert individual identity as against what has been described as the “common identity.”

The argument for or against this development may be a bit silent now, but it does not by any means indicate that the matter is finally rested. For protagonists and those opposed to it, there is surely another day to fight, perhaps, in the law court.

Mixed reactions by politicians, lawyers and rights activists have greeted the proposed dialogue with Boko Haram sect by the Federal government. Deputy Political Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU captures their optimism and reservations.

However, other Nigerians believe that the decision may have further underscored the confusion in high places and timidity of the Federal Government. According to them, the President may be laying a dangerous precedent by holding dialogue with people who act like terrorists. They also cautioned the government against conferring unearned status and inadvertently validating the claims by the sect through dialogue. But those who favour dialogue maintain that the option could yield positive results.

Former Ekiti State Governor Niyi Adebayo said dialogue should be given a trial. “It is my candid opinion that the federal government should dialogue with Boko Haram. I believe that it will lead to a lasting solution”, said Adebayo. The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) chieftain believes that dialogue may unravel the personalities behind the violence and the motivation behind the sect’s activities, thereby bringing the arsonists from invincibility to visibility.

A political scientist, Prof. Kunle Ajayi, said dialogue is a legitimate means of resolving crises and building brotherhood. He reminded those against the measure that peace returned to the troubled Niger Delta, following dialogue between government and militants. He however, said that dialogue with the sect may require more political and professional skills.

Ajayi, the Head of Political Science Department, Ekiti State University, added: “There is nothing wrong in dialogue with the sect. Dialogue is a tool for crisis resolution and peace-making by warring parties. Dialogue with the sect will enable government to know the real grievances of the sect, the reasons behind their actions and what can be done to appease the group and elicit from them solution possibilities.

“It will also bring the two sides to a negotiating table. The advantage is that it will make government to know the actual members and leaders of the group, who cannot ordinarily be disclosed under normal situation. There is a precedent. Government negotiated with the Niger Delta militants and it yielded positive results in terms of relative peace in the region”.

The university don urged government to discard the fear of being labeled “ a government that hold talks with terrorists” by foreign powers, pointing out that the expected dividend of peace overrides the stigmitisation that may follow dialogue.

A  human right activist, Lanre Suraj, supported the line of thought. “ A responsible and serious government must know the importance of dialogue on every thorny issue”, he said, advising the President to employ all constitutional and legitimate means to ensure security in the country.

“Dialogue with any disgruntled stakeholder is in the collective interest of the system. This is not limited to Boko Haram. If every war and conflict ends with a dialogue or discussion, why not avert the cost of a violent conflict and start embark on the resolution of the disagreement with dialogue. This is better”, Suraj added.

But another pro-democracy activist, Comrade Joe Igbokwe,  disagreed with this view, saying that dialogue with the sect is “unwise and improper”. He described the members of the sect as criminals and murderers disturbing the peace of the country and bringing agonies to families.

“They have murdered children, mothers, fathers and youths for a cause that is not only laughable, but stupid. To engage them in a dialogue is to celebrate criminality because they are hardened criminals that have nothing to offer, except blood and tears. My fear is that, tomorrow, another useless group will follow their footsteps and the cycle of violence and stupidity will continue”, he fumed.

In another vein, Igbokwe clarified that he was not against any move that would end the orgy of violence and killings, adding that it may not be a sign of weakness for the federal government to engage them.

Former Rector of Lagos State Polytechnic Olawumi Gasper, an engineer, berated the government for proposing dialogue with the enemies of the country. He described the move as defeatist, adding that it portends danger to the country.

The former Rector said, while dialogue is good, it is absurd that government representatives would now be meeting a group of faceless terrorists wielding dangerous weapons and holding the country to ransom in the name of peace and quasi-unity.

Gasper blamed the confusion on the collective disquiet and inaction, which have resulted in the colossal loss of innocent lives. He urged the President to rise up to the occasion as the Commander-In-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces.”The nation requires a sound and effective local and community intelligence framework. This should further be complemented by military action. Our actions must be non-political, brutal and forceful within a short span of three months, with all borders closed during the operation period. We must commence these military actions before Christmas, which will herald the beginning of political activities leading to the next presidential election”, he said.

To Yinka Odumakin, the proposed dialogue with Boko Haram is suspicious and questionable. To butress his point, he said it is confounding that the same federal government that once derided the sect by describing it as a faceless group turned around to proposed dialogue.

The former Afenifere Publicity Secretary also said that government may be beating about the bush and conveying an impression of seriousness. He said the former Security Adviser, Gen. Patrick Azazi, had attributed the activities of the sect to PDP, wondering why government failed to look in that direction in its search for solution.

“All we are saying is that the federal government should end the activities of Boko Haram. One minute, government says it is a faceless group. The next minute, it announces plans for talks. That means that they may not be telling us the whole truth about the Boko Haram phenomenon. Azazi said it is the creation of PDP. Let the patrons dialogue among themselves”, Odumakin  added.

A University of Ibadan teacher and security expert, Dr. Soji Aremu, warned against embarking on a fruitless venture. He doubted the success of any dialogue with the sect. “Lessons from other countries like Australia, India and Pakistan have shown that dialogue with insurgent groups have never produced the desired peace. What such countries did is to rise to the occasion by raising combined military and police counter terrorism force driven by intelligence and well informed community, said Aremu, who teaches Counselling Psychology at the Premier University.

“Boko Haram is a home grown terrorism whose adventure has caused the federal government and the country much embarrassment. It is on record that the insurgency of Biko Haram sect is the worst security challenge the country has faced in recent time.

“Dialogue with the sect is a misnomer and antithetical in counter terrorism. Actually, there is nothing bad in dialogue, if it is a war situation and the opposing or warring faction is known. But in the case of Boko Haram, which is an insurgency, it is out of place in any known security parlance to dialogue with a faceless organisation. Only a dialogue with a known organisation and or organisationnthat is fighting ideological, economic or political war is appropriate. The idea of dialogue in the first instance is a failure on the part of the government to curtail the insurgency through combined security agencies”, he added.

Dr Agagu is the immediate past governor of Ondo State. In this interview with AUGUSTINE AVWODE and SEGUN AJIBOYE, he talks about his expectations in the October 20 governorship election in the state; why he thinks the PDP will win and his impression about the state of things in the ‘Sunshine State’.

What are the expectations of your party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in next month’s governorship election in Ondo State?

The expectation of the PDP is that we will win the contest. And this expectation is not far-fetched because it is based on very reasonable grounds. The PDP has a candidate, Olusola Oke, who is very well-known in the politics of Ondo State, having served in many capacities, both in the state and at the national level. To most people, he has discharged his responsibilities creditably. The PDP was the ruling party in the state, and now that the people have had the opportunity to compare real progress, I mean progress for today and tomorrow, that was made in the state between 2003 and 2009, and what they can observe today as impact of government on the people, both for today and for tomorrow, I think every reasonable Ondo State citizen knows that the difference is clear.

What is the difference between then and now?

From my interaction with the people, they are not happy as their economic well-being has taken a down-turn. They cannot see any hope in the horizon. Infrastructure around them is beginning to decay from the level where it was before. Those who had good roads no longer have them because they have depreciated. You know every road needs to be maintained. The road projects started by my administration were discontinued. Those who had good water supply, especially through the network of solar- powered boreholes, don’t have them anymore because the maintenance culture that was put in place was jettisoned. The expectations of the people to have pipe-borne water in their homes in the entire central senatorial district of six local government areas; which was about to happen by the time the PDP administration left, has been dashed because the government jettisoned the Owena multi-purpose dam project. It a very comprehensive agricultural revival programme that goes through farm settlement centres in every local government, horticulture farm, hatchery in each of the three senatorial districts to produce five million fingerlings each to help our people in aquaculture.

The one that is in Akure is not running very well; the one in Okitipupa, though completed, has not been commissioned by the government and the one in Owo has been jettisoned. The oil palm company that was working before is nowhere, the Ifon Ceramic and the Oluwa Glass companies that were about to be revived through injection of new capital by well-established companies was jettisoned, the Omotosho/Oluwa Industrial Park has been jettisoned, the Olokola Free Trade Zone, which was meant to energize industrial development, not only in Ondo State or Nigeria, but in West Africa has been jettisoned. We can go on and on. Enlightened people understand these things. They also understand why the economy is on the downturn, and therefore, they all think this administration must change. Those who are not literate enough to know why the economic downturn is there can feel it, and they all believe that the administration must change. But it won’t come on a platter of gold. It is going to be tough. But we have the best product on offer, a good candidate and a past that the people now know is better than the present.

Don’t you think the incumbent factor will come into play?

The outcome of an election depends on a number of factors, and there is no doubt that you have an advantage as an incumbent. You have the government functionaries, which even to a fair-minded governor, can still be used to advantage. But this can also be abused by people with less virtues. They also have contacts with the security chiefs in the state, and the workers would be afraid of talking ill of a sitting governor, while the obas, even while they are not happy, cannot come to say it. The governor has a lot of money in his hands to play with, which of course is not available to other candidates. However, in spite of all these, I think democracy has matured and the people are beginning to know the importance of governance in their lives, and they now know that they should take their destinies into their own hands. So, even if you have a huge incumbency advantage, if the people don’t think that you are doing well, they will look for a way to remove you. So, there is a limit to incumbency factor as it does not mean you’ll always win as an incumbent. It depends on the works of your hands.

What do you find disagreeable with the present set-up?

Governance is about improving the quality of the lives of the people. There are several things you can do. You can paint your roads with gold if you like, but is that the best thing to do to a single road when there are millions of people who don’t have access to their homes, especially in the riverine areas? If you want to build schools, it should be for improvement of quality of education of the people, in terms of the number of people who will benefit from it and in terms of the quantum of benefit they will see. So, if there are millions of people, in the nooks and crannies of the state, who don’t have access to good educational facilities, and you go to a school that is already beautiful inside town and you make it more beautiful, are you improving the lots of the people in terms of efficiency? If there is an agricultural programme that is built to support farmers around the state, and you then decide to build three fanciful centres in a state, is that of any benefit to the people? Everybody knows that the greatest challenge of the country today, even in Africa and the world, is unemployment. Anybody who means well for his people should see that as the number-one problem. So, the roads you’ll build should be targeted towards reducing unemployment; your agricultural programme should be targeted towards reducing unemployment or improving the pockets of the masses. Your health programme should be targeted towards reaching far and wide to make the people well to make them fit enough to work and get employed. You must design your economic programme to enhance productivity, create industries or ventures that will reduce unemployment. So anything that you do that doesn’t conform to these is like a fancy show.

And you are really concerned …

I am concerned about the future of our people, not only in Ondo State but in Nigeria. Take Ondo State as an example, if the total revenue of the state is, say, N100 million in a year, made up of statutory allocation from Abuja and Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), what is indigenous to Ondo State is the IGR. In most states of Nigeria, except for Lagos and a few other states, the IGR is less than five per cent. And as a petroleum geologist, I am scared of that because I know that the 95 per cent, which comes from Abuja, is substantially made of oil income. And even if you are not a geologist, you know that the oil cannot be there forever. So, what happens when the oil dries up or it starts to diminish? Where do you go when this happens? You must, therefore, do things today which in 10 years time would expand the economy. These were the economically sound basis for our governance. But all that is no longer there. You don’t derive this by building bus-stops, or by building fountains; you don’t derive that from halls, you don’t derive that from market stalls when you don’t have the goods to display in the markets. And you don’t derive that by putting air conditioner in one room in a motor park or from building an auto mart where people sell used cars or cars that were thrown away in Europe. So, to me, if we are thinking of the quality of life of the people, the government got it wrong. All it has embarked upon are just fancy projects.

Fancy projects like which one?

I hear people now go out to look at the fountain in Akure. You may say that there are people in Akure who have never seen a fountain. For them, it is novel. But they would go back to their homes and drink bad water because there is no good water in most parts of Akure, and indeed in about 90 per cent of Ondo central senatorial district. I would rather not build that fountain if there are conflicting demand on money. I would use part of the money to complete the reticulation of the Owena multi-purpose dam water, which is a 30 million gallons water supply every day. We had built the dam through our effort. We got the Federal Government to build it for us after abandonment of 40 years. The water treatment plant had been completed and designed to transmit and reticulate the water to all of Ifedore, Akure South, Akure North and Idanre council areas. By the time we would have done that, the present water supply at Owena-Ondo road would have been diverted to Ondo east and west. So, the six local government areas would have had their water problems solved for life within one year. But when you jettison that and you are building one fountain at one location, of what economic benefit to the people is that? You’ll be surprised very soon that the people would go and fetch water from the fountain to use because they don’t have good water to use in their homes. So these projects are misplaced priorities.

So, you are not comfortable with the beautification projects at this point in time …

Not just that, today, the Sunshine Stars, the state-owned football team, plays its home matches in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State. We had a stadium in Akure, it was not a bad stadium, but it was where we held most of our programmes. And when we looked at the purse of the state, we started to build a new stadium which had a completion time of 24 months from June 2008, and we had paid 50 per cent to the contractor, while the balance of 50 per cent was in the bank. So, two years from 2008, there would have been an old stadium that is well-maintained and a brand new state-of-the-art stadium. Unfortunately, the old one has been broken into pieces in the name of refurbishment, and the new one has been completely jettisoned. That does not make sense to me, and I don’t think it will make sense to anybody else, except for the author of that decision.

We had a banquet hall, which was a good hall to host state events. We also paid 50 per cent to the contactor, but the new government said it wanted a seventh wonder of the world dome, and jettisoned the banquet hall project. The money for the banquet hall is still with the contractor. That is definitely not good prioritization; it is not good management of state resources. I will not manage my own money like that, and I won’t expect any governor to manage the people’s money like that.

Do you think the government is losing the battle for the security of the country?

I don’t think we have lost the battle. I think the battle is only getting tougher and tougher in the sense that those things that tend to promote insecurity are getting more and more potent in the country. They are things like poverty, increase in number of unemployed youths, political differences and politicians who are more pecuniary in their thinking than in terms of rendering service to the people, a declining global economy and a national economy that is showing growth without visible development. Many factories have been turned into Churches. If you drive round the industrial areas in the country, you don’t get increase in number of industries; rather you get increase in the number of industries that have been shut. In some parts of the country, you see young children who should be in school roaming the streets. They are ready materials for violence, a sure pot of gun powder and willing tools in the hands of those who are unhappy with the system. Those in charge of security might be doing their best, but we have left undone many things which ought to have been done. We lack an efficient security network to handle the security challenges of the country. So, we need to work harder in terms of intelligence gathering; we need to work harder in terms of making life more meaningful to the people, and we need to work harder to expand the economic base of the country in order to ensure that people get jobs to do.