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Tag: 2019 election

  • Kingsley Moghalu and how to elect Nigerians’ darling President

    Kingsley Moghalu and how to elect Nigerians’ darling President

    Quite necessarily, we Nigerians now have a bright idea of the ideal next president for the country. We have been advised by the very recognisable fundamental inadequacies of those who have led the country since 1999. The generality of Nigerians has suffered untold political, economic, social and psychological repercussions of having the fundamentally inadequate leaders. It is great that our reaction is the growing resolve that the country must get its topmost leadership right in 2019.

    Three of the qualities we want in the next president stand out. One, we want him or her to be young. This is not simply a matter of age, given the other qualities we want. But the youthfulness of the next president is important. We live in a fast-changing world. Keeping pace with the issues in today’s “digital” age can be very challenging for those whose prime years were in the “analogue” age.

    Very importantly, many Nigerians admitted that old age can be challenging in meeting the high physical demands of leading the country. Where a Nigerian President has been unable to function as a result of ill-health, which is common with old age, we have seen the usurpation of political power by the “cabal,” who frustrate legitimate, transparent and accountable use of political power.

    Two, we want this relatively young Nigerian to possess sound intellect. This requirement derives from the awareness of the abundant supply of well-educated Nigerians. It also derives from the awareness that both the comprehension of the perennial Nigerian development challenges and the solutions to address them require high mental acumen.

    For so long, the country has been led by people who are not intellectually equipped to solve the problems of the country. The notion that such leaders would make up for their shortcomings by working with technocrats has delivered very limited results. A technocratically competent leader will deliver optimal results by working with a good number of other technocrats at cabinet and advisory levels. Anything less will deliver, at best, underwhelming results.

    Moreover, the Nigerian president is ultra-powerful, in the absence of strong institutions that act as checks on the powers of the president in the advanced countries that practice the same presidential system of government. Without sound intellect, the president would see little use of building or supporting strong institutions that would not be tele-guided by him or her. This has been the case in Nigeria, to the effect of our underdevelopment.

    What’s more, nobody is allowed to outperform the Nigerian president. That is why he or she should possess the intellectual prowess to be a top performer. Three, we want this youthful and brainy president to be a good person. We don’t want him to be of the stock or a lackey of the corrupt, self-serving same old leadership we have been having. We have recently realised that a putative clean individual that is propped up by a group of corrupt individuals cannot deliver a clean government.

    The president must be empathetic. He or she must not be someone who will divide the citizens or take advantage of us, using our religion or ethnicity. We want him or her to see us, not merely as voters but as people whose legitimate aspirations should be the object of his government.

    So, how can we have this individual as the next president of the Federal Republic? There are two fundamental requirements for this to happen. One, the individuals who possess these qualifying attributes have to bring themselves forward for election. Two, we have to support and vote for the best among such candidates to fully assert our resolve for meritocracy.

    But our disinclination towards supporting and voting for our ideal candidates in previous presidential elections prevented such candidates from coming forward. While we have always had individuals who fit our requirements, we as the electorate – in particular those of us who made this sensible determination of the ideal leadership qualities and are influencers in our various capacities – have also been cynical of our very own preferences, insisting our idealism is unrealisable.

    We say a young, competent and clean individual cannot emerge as president in Nigeria because politics is a dirty, old game for people who cannot compete fairly. We also insist that politics is a game of money. But while money is required in running for office, money does not ultimately decide who wins the election. Ultimately, elections are won and lost by the number of votes a candidate secures.

    What the unscrupulous electoral aspirants and candidates do is go at any lengths to secure the highest number of votes. This may entail direct inducement of voters with looted public funds or mobilisation of thugs for ballot box snatching and stuffing. Even where there is collusion with the electoral officials to alter the vote tallies, this is mostly possible in tipping over a winner in a dead heat. The fertile ground for these malpractices is the withdrawal of a lot of us, the good people of the country, from supporting, volunteering and voting for our ideal candidates.

    Fortunately, the indication is that we have become wiser. We have seen how elections affect us – our career, business, wellbeing, community and country – when we withdraw from engaging the electoral process and fail to vote during elections. With our resolve to correct this situation, the 2019 presidential election will likely standout from the previous elections by the quality of the aspirants.

    Kingsley Moghalu, OON, has now made himself available for election as Nigerians’ darling presidential aspirant. Prof. Moghalu is relatively young. At 54, he is not too young to be inexperienced; neither would he be considered too old and tired. Since he returned to the country last November and set up his new “think and do tank” – not merely a think tank – IGET (Institute for Governance and Economic Transformation), he has been all over the country, delivering lectures, mentoring the youth and consulting with various stakeholders, including in Kano, Abuja, Nsukka, Ibadan, Abeokuta, Lagos and Port Harcourt. Quite young at heart, Kingsley Moghalu has been engaging directly with younger Nigerians on Facebook.

    Without equivocation, Moghalu is especially fitting, among some other Nigerians who have come out to declare their intention to run for the office of President. He is a consummate technocrat. After spending 17 years in the United Nations, rising to the topmost career position of Director at a young age of 43, he left the UN to found and lead an international consultancy in Geneva, Switzerland. From his role of providing advisory services to some of the global companies, he was tapped by the administration of late President Umaru Yar’Adua to become a deputy governor at the Central Bank of Nigeria in 2009.

    At the CBN, Moghalu, under the governorship of Lamido Sanusi (as he then was, but now the Emir of Kano, His Royal Highness Muhammadu Sanusi II), led the far-reaching reforms to stop the spread of systemic risk in the banking sector in 2009. He played leading roles in formulating the resolution vehicles for the banking crisis, ensuring no Nigerian lost his or her money in the banks.

    Since he served out his one term of five years gracefully in 2014, Moghalu was appointed to the Advisory Board of the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum, the London-based global think tank that advises governments and central banks on fiscal and monetary policy. He later became a Professor of Practice in International Business and Public Policy at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University.

    Kingsley Moghalu’s inspiring professional career leverages his first-rate education: he obtained his PhD from the London School of Economics. That Nigeria needs a policy thinker who can come up with cutting-edge solutions to Nigeria’s myriad challenges is not in doubt. And this is where Moghalu asserts his credentials as a transformational leader. He is the author of Emerging Africa: How the Global Economy’s ‘Last frontier’ Can Prosper and Matter. Emerging Africa provides both conceptual and practical frameworks for Nigeria’s transformation, within the larger discussion of how Africa can make accelerated developmental progress. His new book, Build, Innovate and Grow: My Vision for Our Country, shows he hasn’t simply fancied himself as president; he has prepared to lead Nigeria to socio-economic transformation.

    The election of Kingsley Moghalu as President of Nigeria would hold a powerful symbolism for we Nigerians, if we make it happen. A lot of us had resigned to the belief that it is impossible to trounce the self-serving political establishment at the ballot. Moghalu, as President, would be the ultimate disruption of that political establishment. He has had no affiliation to the PDP or APC. He is of a proud Igbo heritage, with transformational national outlook. His victory would be uniquely capable of stirring our individual and collective “can-do” spirit, erasing doubts that Nigeria can ever be politically egalitarian.

    Moghalu is a good person. He stood up for the professional integrity of the CBN while he was deputy governor. Since he left, his public views about the institution have been on how to enhance its professional rectitude. Second to his professional orientation is good dispositions to his colleagues and those who look up to him for guidance, support and mentoring.

    Kingsley Moghalu surpasses our cogent three requirements. He has charm and an admirable family. He has oratorical prowess. This means he would be a president that is capable of engaging Nigerians directly. He would also be able to meaningfully engage the international community and global investors. Therefore, he would be a president that will truly make Nigerians proud. As a journalist, I am particularly excited that it would be joy to interview him.

    . Akintunde is Managing Editor, Financial Nigeria publications and Director, Nigeria Development and Finance Forum.

    Read Also: 2019: Moghalu declares for presidency

  • 2019 election: INEC to partner NURTW

    2019 election: INEC to partner NURTW

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is to enter into strategic partnership with the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) for an effective distribution of materials and personnel ahead of next year’s elections.

    The INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Ebonyi State, Prof Godswill Obioma,  at a meeting attended by representatives of   the 29 branches of the NURTW and INEC  officials   in Abakaliki yesterday described transportation as a critical component of election involving timely movement of INEC personnel and electoral materials.

    He lauded the union for the previous partnership with the commission in the area of transport arrangements.

    “It becomes pertinent that adequate transportation arrangements are made to ensure that INEC officials and materials are moved to designated election centres on time,” Obioma said.

    He said the meeting was in line with the directives  from the commission’s national headquarters that state offices of INEC should hold meetings with its  strategic partners on election planning.

    The REC told members of the NURTW that the meeting was to enable the commission embark on early transportation planning.

    He said that the initiative would also help the commission to overcome avoidable mobility challenges.

    Obioma said that the meeting was a follow up to an earlier meeting held between the commission and the union.

    “The main purpose of this meeting is to start planning early the transportation arrangements and it is also a follow up to the meeting held last month.

    “We made some far reaching resolutions during the last meeting and it becomes even more urgent to partner with your union in making transportation arrangement now that our headquarters has given us orders to do so.

    “We were told to go back and meet with our stakeholders in various aspects to begin arrangements in earnest for the elections.

    “We have just met with the committee in charge of security called the Inter Agency Consultative Committee in Electoral Security,” he said.

    Obioma explained that they had used the opportunity availed by the meeting to lay out strategic plans for security.

    He said, “The Commissioner of Police is the chairman and REC is the co-chair man.”

    The REC said that a nine-man joint sub-committee to work out the modalities for effective engagement of the transporters would be constituted at the end of the meeting.

    He commended the union for attending the meeting and reassured its members of the  commitment of the commission aimed at  sustaining  existing cordial relationship between it and NURTW.

    Obioma also restated the commitment of the electoral body to conduct credible, free and fair elections in Ebonyi in 2019.

    The state chairman of the NURTW, Chief Oko Ewa, said the union would support the commission to succeed in the areas of transportation.

    Ewa, represented by the state secretary, Mr Sunday Ebude, said that NURTW would respect the partnership arrangement.

  • ‘Social Media can win the Election in 2019’

    ‘Social Media can win the Election in 2019’

    Unavoidably, Facebook has been proven to be the largest community in the world in this present age. Facebook a fraction of the larger part of the mysterious inter-connecting society called the Social Media.

    The rise of Social Media users and the strength in its versatility is increasingly jaw-dropping. All kinds of institutions have come alive on the Social Media, ranging from the Government, its parastatals.

    The rise of bank interacting with their followers and customers who tweet at them and respond directly to customers who tweet as well as churches and law enforcement agencies, the likes of Lawma (the #LeaveTrashForLawma), Lastma, FRSC, NDLEA responding to tweets about drug abuse once seen, EFCC tweeting back at corrupt tweets or feeds.

    From the rise in the activities of these institutions, it shows that there is a shift to the social media.

    I say, “To sell in a product or idea in these times, feed it to the Social Media “Facts have shown rapid growth in product sales after the campaign went viral on social media.

    A close example is that of beard oil, at a time, timelines and captions on pictures and quotes were about men and beards. #BeardGang, Twitter and Instagram had tons of trends each day about beards thus companies selling beard oils took to those platforms and sold their products.

    These days you can buy practically anything once you search through the social media. Through hashtags and usernames you can locate agencies and businesses.

    Read Also: How social media forced NNPC, NASS to cancel dinner

    However, there is no argument that the youth own the internet media and it was said by analysts that in 2015, the youth won the now ruling party their seat of power.

    Therefore, I strongly believe that come 2019, the youth would be the core decider to who wins the elections but this time in a pretty new fashion, the Social Media.

    The Social Media is the only place where Nigerian Youths come in oneness and in one voice, void of tribe and ethnicity.

    The most feared social media society in the world. The binding power, the stronghold of the forthcoming elections.

    For a reason twitter Nigeria as it is called, not Twitter Igbo or Yoruba or Hausa, is the uniting force against and for any party or candidate this election.

  • Nothing has changed on 2019 election sequence – INEC

    Nothing has changed on 2019 election sequence – INEC

    The Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, said on Monday said nothing has changed in the dates announced for the 2019 general elections.

    Yakubu noted that the stand of the Commission was based on the existing law of the country.

    He spoke at a media parley in Abuja as part of the preparation towards the 2019 general election.

    The INEC chief noted that budget for the 2019 general election would be presented to the National Assembly before the end of the week.

    He said there is no lacuna in the existing law and where there is any amendment, the Commission would adjust.

    “But until that is done, INEC would still stand by the time table and scheduled of activities it released on January 9, 2018,” Yakubu stated.

    The two chambers of the National Assembly passed a bill to change the order of the general election, making the presidential election the last to be conducted.

    Yakubu stressed that the Commission only interest is for free, fair and credible elections.

    He added: “None of us here have any other interest.

    “On the bill passed by the joint House of the National Assembly, the second issue I will like to comment on relating to the preparation to the 2019 general elections is the electoral legal framework. We are aware of the bill passed by the two chambers of the National Assembly, awaiting assent. And we are aware also of the furor generated by the provisions of Section 25 of the extant law.

    “On January 9 this year, we issued a time table and scheduled of activities for 2019 general election based on the extant law and nothing has changed.

    “As it is at the moment, the only laws that exist are the electoral law 2010 as amended and the constitution of Nigeria, 1999 as amended. We released the time table and scheduled of election on the basis of law as it exists and that is the position of the Commission going forward.”

    The election, according to him, will begin with presidential and National Assembly polls on February 15, while governorship, states Assembly and FCT Area council elections take place on March 2.

    “We have already informed you that there is a principle that is behind these days. As democracy matures we should move to certainty, away from uncertainty. So dates for future elections in the country have been fixed by the Commission for the third Saturday in the month of February of the election year, which is 2019. Followed two weeks later by state governorship election which in 2019 falls on March 2,” he said.

  • Reps to investigate killings in Benue, Rivers, others

    Reps to investigate killings in Benue, Rivers, others

    Worried by the killings in Benue, Rivers, Zamfara and other states across the country, Nigerian military service and intelligence chiefs are to face the House of Representatives over killings across the country.

    The service chiefs are to avail the lawmakers’ details of their intervention and strategies aimed at preventing future occurrence, it emerged Tuesday.

    The lawmakers however expressed concerns over a stereotypical attribution of every killing to a particular group irrespective of where they took place.

    They said such conclusions hinder paths to enduring solutions to the challenge.

    Speaking at a press briefing Tuesday, Chairman of the ad hoc committee mandated to carry out the investigation, Pally Iriase said the House was not unaware of a number of efforts and approaches by other organs and agencies of government to tackle the problem.

    Iriase who is also the Deputy Chief Whip of the House however regretted that the efforts, while still ongoing, are being impacted by strait – laced narratives, political innuendos and ethno-religious distrust.

    He said: “In fact some of these strait – laced narratives have tended to ascribe all killibgs to a single cause, thus jettisoning the need to rigorously interrogate the happenings with an open, unbiased and nonpartisan mind.

    “The seven-man Committee is bipartisan, multi-ethnic and multi-religious in composition and we are enjoined to approach this important national assignment with an open mind and adopt an Intelligence gathering focus.

    “To achieve our goal in this onerous task, we have adopted a proactive approach that will see us embark on visitation and interaction with victims by visiting a number of carefully selected areas that have been attacked severally, interact with the victims, survivors and other critical stakeholders.

    “We will also interact with the security chiefs, in addition to our foreign partners.

    “To assure Nigerians that it is going to be an all – inclusive engagement, a public hearing that will afford Nigerians the opportunity to air their grievances and proffer solutions will also be conducted.

    “It must however be emphasized that intelligence gathering is going to be our major focus because the aim is to identify the remote and immediate causes of these killings enable us proffer solutions from informed position”.

    Saying that the approaching 2019 electioneering activities would not affect the commitment of the Committee members, Iriase noted that the issue is more important to the country.

    “2019 election and activities towards its prosecution will not affect us because it is only in an atmosphere of peace that election can hold.

    “To us this assignment is more important than the election and this is the reason why the House will make the report available to Mr President when we are done,” he added.

  • 2019: We must put horse first before the cart, says Obasanjo

    2019: We must put horse first before the cart, says Obasanjo

    Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, on Wednesday, declared that the  way to go and make the country great again is to put the youth and women forward where they would realise their legitimate interest and power in governance.

    Obasanjo said he has unalloyed passion for greater Nigeria but added that he neither has a candidate nor is backing anyone for an elective office in 2019.

    The Ebora Owu, who is championing a Third Force – Coalition for Nigeria Movement (CNM),  to galvanize Nigerians  to demand a paradigm shift in the  present system of things,  noted that he would not budge in his earlier resolve  to remain an elder statesman.

    He spoke at his Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL) Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, when a youth group from Delta State, led a governorship aspirant, Frank Ufuoma Esanubi, to pay him a courtesy visit.

    He reiterated that the CNM would remain a socio-political movement, insisting he would cease to be a member of the Coalition if it turns partisan.

    The ex – President explained that that transitions that had taken place in the country since independence neglected the people at the grassroots.

    According to him, his letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, was not meant to belittle the office of the president or embarrass the occupant, but to articulate his position about the situations in the country and offer sincere advice.

    Obasanjo said the press statement was well thought out, and not a product of frivolity.

    “In the year 2015, I said I would no longer participate in partisan politics. And I still stand by my decision. Everybody, irrespective of his or her political affiliation is free to come here for advice, I will gladly do that. I have no candidate, whatsoever, for any political office. I just believe that things must be done differently in Nigeria to get different result.

    “If you study our transitions since the colonial era, they have all taken place without taking the people of the grassroots into consideration. So, CNM is about the people at the grassroots. It is a socio-economic movement where youth and women, especially, will be given opportunity to appreciate their interests and power. Unlike before, I believe we must put the horse before the cart.

    “If the system and the platform sync, I believe Nigeria will get there. And like I said, the moment the Coalition gets involved in candidate sponsoring or participates in partisan politics, I will opt out of it,” Obasanjo said.

    Earlier, Esanubi said his group’s visit to Obasanjo was to pay homage to him and intimate him on their resolve to heed his clarion call for Nigerians to come together under the CNM, for a better Nigeria.

     

  • 2019 Election: Cleric caution politicians against do-or-die politics

    2019 Election: Cleric caution politicians against do-or-die politics

    Pastor John Kayode of Disciples Church, Taiwo, Ilorin, has cautioned politicians against win at all cost mentality as 2019 election draws near.

    Kayode gave the warning in Ilorin on Wednesday while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

    He called on politicians to play politics with maturity and stop politics of assassination and kidnapping of other aspirants.

    The clergy man advised politicians to prioritise the development of the country above their personal ambition.

    “It is time for politicians to embrace defeat and cooperate with the emerging candidate to move the country forward.

    Read Also: 2019 election may be chaotic – Cleric

    “There is no reward in sending assassination team to go after your opponent’s life. This must stop in 2019 as we want to witness a peaceful free and fair election in Nigeria.

    “Do-or-die politics will not take us anywhere. We need to emulate Western world where one aspirant congratulates the other after defeat,’’ he said.

    The pastor, however, called on party leaders to organise a platform where aspirants would be adequately orientated to shun violence.

    “Any politician that continues to kill opposition to attain position is only inviting God’s wrath and will surely regret it with time,’’ he said.

  • Cost of 2019 election not ready, says INEC boss

    Cost of 2019 election not ready, says INEC boss

    Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC) chairman Prof. Mahmud Yakubu yesterday told the Senate that the total cost of the 2019 general elections was not ready.

    Her said: “It is provisions of the amendment to 2010 Electoral Act after passage by the National Assembly  that will show the commission how  elections at primary level by the political parties will be conducted and monetary cost that it will entail on the part of INEC.”

    The INEC chairman spoke while defending the 2018 budget estimates of the electoral body before the Senate Committee on INEC.

    He told the committee that 85 staff of the 16,000 workforce of the electoral body died last year.

    Yakubu was reacting to a question about why budgetary provisions were made for sick bay at the headquarters of the electoral body.

    He said some of the deaths were recorded within its  premises.

    The committee screened additional eight nominees as Resident Electoral Commissioners . Those screened and approved on Wednesday are  Dr Usman Ajidagba from Kwara State , Baba Yusuf Abba from Borno State, Segun Agbaje from Ekiti State , Yahaya Bello from Nasarawa State, Mohammed Magaji Ibrahim from Gombe.

  • [Full text] Obasanjo to Buhari: Don’t contest in 2019

    [Full text] Obasanjo to Buhari: Don’t contest in 2019

    THE WAY OUT: A CLARION CALL FOR COALITION FOR NIGERIA MOVEMENT

    Special Press Statement By President Olusegun Obasanjo       

    Since we are still in the month of January, it is appropriate to wish all Nigerians Happy 2018.  I am constrained to issue this special statement at this time considering the situation of the country.  Some of you may be asking, “What has brought about this special occasion of Obasanjo issuing a Special Statement?” You will be right to ask such a question.  But there is a Yoruba saying that ‘when lice abound in your clothes, your fingernails will never be dried of blood’.  When I was in the village, to make sure that lice die, you put them between two fingernails and press hard to ensure they die and they always leave blood stains on the fingernails.  To ensure you do not have blood on your fingernails, you have to ensure that lice are not harboured anywhere within your vicinity.

    The lice of poor performance in government – poverty, insecurity, poor economic management, nepotism, gross dereliction of duty, condonation of misdeed – if not outright encouragement of it, lack of progress and hope for the future, lack of national cohesion and poor management of internal political dynamics and widening inequality – are very much with us today. With such lice of general and specific poor performance and crying poverty with us, our fingers will not be dry of ‘blood’.

    Four years ago when my PDP card was torn, I made it abundantly clear that I quit partisan politics for aye but my concern and interest in Nigeria, Africa and indeed in humanity would not wane.  Ever since, I have adhered strictly to that position.  Since that time, I have devoted quality time to the issue of zero hunger as contained in Goal No. 2 of the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN.  We have set the target that Nigeria with the participating States in the Zero Hunger Forum should reach Zero Hunger goal by 2025 – five years earlier than the UN target date.  I am involved in the issue of education in some States and generally in the issue of youth empowerment and employment.  I am involved in all these domestically and altruistically to give hope and future to the seemingly hopeless and those in despair.  I believe strongly that God has endowed Nigeria so adequately that no Nigerian should be either in want or in despair.

    I believe in team work and collaborative efforts.  At the international level, we have worked with other world leaders to domicile the apparatus for monitoring and encouraging socio-economic progress in Africa in our Presidential Library. The purpose of Africa Progress Group,which is the new name assumed by Africa Progress Panel (APP),is to point out where, when and what works need to be done for the progress of Africa separately and collectively by African leaders and their development partners. I have also gladly accepted the invitation of the UN Secretary-General to be a member of his eighteen-member High-Level Board of Advisers on Mediation.  There are other assignments I take up in other fora for Africa and for the international community.  For Africa to move forward, Nigeria must be one of the anchor countries, if not the leading anchor country.  It means that Nigeria must be good at home to be good outside.  No doubt, our situation in the last decade or so had shown that we are not good enough at home; hence we are invariably absent at the table that we should be abroad.

    All these led me to take the unusual step of going against my own political Party, PDP, in the last general election to support the opposite side.  I saw that action as the best option for Nigeria.  As it has been revealed in the last three years or so, that decision and the subsequent collective decision of Nigerians to vote for a change was the right decision for the nation.  For me, there was nothing personal, it was all in the best interest of Nigeria and, indeed, in the best interest of Africa and humanity at large.  Even the horse rider then, with whom I maintain very cordial, happy and social relationship today has come to realise his mistakes and regretted it publicly and I admire his courage and forthrightness in this regard.  He has a role to play on the sideline for the good of Nigeria, Africa and humanity and I will see him as a partner in playing such a role nationally and internationally, but not as a horse rider in Nigeria again.

    The situation that made Nigerians to vote massively to get my brother Jonathan off the horse is playing itself out again.  First, I thought I knew the point where President Buhari is weak and I spoke and wrote about it even before Nigerians voted for him and I also did vote for him because at that time it was a matter of “any option but Jonathan” (aobj).  But my letter to President Jonathan titled: “Before It Is Too Late” was meant for him to act before it was too late.  He ignored it and it was too late for him and those who goaded him into ignoring the voice of caution.  I know that praise-singers and hired attackers may be raised up against me for verbal or even physical attack but if I can withstand undeserved imprisonment and was ready to shed my blood by standing for Nigeria, I will consider no sacrifice too great to make for the good of Nigeria at any time. No human leader is expected to be personally strong or self-sufficient in all aspects of governance.

    I knew President Buhari before he became President and said that he is weak in the knowledge and understanding of the economy but I thought that he could make use of good Nigerians in that area that could help.  Although, I know that you cannot give what you don’t have and that economy does not obey military order.  You have to give it what it takes in the short-, medium- and long-term.  Then, it would move. I know his weakness in understanding and playing in the foreign affairs sector and again, there are many Nigerians that could be used in that area as well. They have knowledge and experience that could be deployed for the good of Nigeria.  There were serious allegations of round-tripping against some inner caucus of the Presidency which would seem to have been condoned.  I wonder if such actions do not amount to corruption and financial crime, then what is it?  Culture of condonation and turning blind eye will cover up rather than clean up.  And going to justice must be with clean hands.

    I thought President Buhari would fight corruption and insurgency and he must be given some credit for his achievement so far in these two areas although it is not yet uhuru!

    The herdsmen/crop farmers issue is being wittingly or unwittingly allowed to turn sour and messy.  It is no credit to the Federal Government that the herdsmen rampage continues with careless abandon and without finding an effective solution to it. And it is a sad symptom of insensitivity and callousness that some Governors, a day after 73 victims were being buried in a mass grave in Benue State without condolence, were jubilantly endorsing President Buhari for a second term! The timing was most unfortunate. The issue of herdsmen/crop farmers dichotomy should not be left on the political platform of blame game; the Federal Government must take the lead in bringing about solution that protects life and properties of herdsmen and crop farmers alike and for them to live amicably in the same community.

    But there are three other areas where President Buhari has come out more glaringly than most of us thought we knew about him.  One is nepotic deployment bordering on clannishness and inability to bring discipline to bear on errant members of his nepotic court. This has grave consequences on performance of his government to the detriment of the nation.  It would appear that national interest was being sacrificed on the altar of nepotic interest.  What does one make of a case like that of Maina: collusion, condonation, ineptitude, incompetence, dereliction of responsibility or kinship and friendship on the part of those who should have taken visible and deterrent disciplinary action?  How many similar cases are buried, ignored or covered up and not yet in the glare of the media and the public? The second is his poor understanding of the dynamics of internal politics.  This has led to wittingly or unwittingly making the nation more divided and inequality has widened and become more pronounced.  It also has effect on general national security. The third is passing the buck.  For instance, blaming the Governor of the Central Bank for devaluation of the naira by 70% or so and blaming past governments for it, is to say the least,not accepting one’s own responsibility. Let nobody deceive us, economy feeds on politics and because our politics is depressing, our economy is even more depressing today.  If things were good, President Buhari would not need to come in.  He was voted to fix things that were bad and not engage in the blame game.  Our Constitution is very clear, one of the cardinal responsibilities of the President is the management of the economy of which the value of the naira forms an integral part. Kinship and friendship that place responsibility for governance in the hands of the unelected can only be deleterious to good government and to the nation.

    President Buhari’s illness called for the sympathy, understanding, prayer and patience from every sane Nigerian.  It is part of our culture.  Most Nigerians prayed for him while he was away sick in London for over hundred days and he gave his Deputy sufficient leeway to carry on in his absence. We all thanked God for President Buhari for coming back reasonably hale and hearty and progressing well in his recovery.But whatever may be the state of President Buhari’s health today, he should neither over-push his luck nor over-tax the patience and tolerance of Nigerians for him, no matter what his self-serving, so-called advisers, who would claim that they love him more than God loves him and that without him, there would be no Nigeria say. President Buhari needs a dignified and honourable dismount from the horse. He needs to have time to reflect, refurbish physically and recoup and after appropriate rest, once again, join the stock of Nigerian leaders whose experience, influence, wisdom and outreach can be deployed on the sideline for the good of the country.  His place in history is already assured.  Without impaired health and strain of age, running the affairs of Nigeria is a 25/7 affair, not 24/7.

    I only appeal to brother Buhari to consider a deserved rest at this point in time and at this age.  I continue to wish him robust health to enjoy his retirement from active public service. President Buhari does not necessarily need to heed my advice.  But whether or not he heeds it, Nigeria needs to move on and move forward.

    I have had occasion in the past to say that the two main political parties – APC and PDP – were wobbling.  I must reiterate that nothing has happened to convince me otherwise.  If anything, I am reinforced in my conviction.  The recent show of PDP must give grave and great concern to lovers of Nigeria.  To claim, as has been credited to the chief kingmaker of PDP, that for procuring the Supreme Court judgement for his faction of the Party, he must dictate the tune all the way and this is indeed fraught with danger.  If neither APC nor PDP is a worthy horse to ride to lead Nigeria at this crucial and critical time, what then do we do?  Remember Farooq Kperogi, an Associate Professor at the Kennesaw State University, Georgia, United States, calls it “a cruel Hobson’s choice; it’s like a choice between six and half a dozen, between evil and evil. Any selection or deflection would be a distinction without a difference.”  We cannot just sit down lamenting and wringing our hands desperately and hopelessly.

    I believe the situation we are in today is akin to what and where we were in at the beginning of this democratic dispensation in 1999.  The nation was tottering.  People became hopeless and saw no bright future in the horizon.  It was all a dark cloud politically, economically and socially.  The price of oil at that time was nine dollars per barrel and we had a debt overhang of about $35 billion. Most people were confused with lack of direction in the country. One of the factors that saved the situation was a near government of national unity that was put in place to navigate us through the dark cloud.  We had almost all hands on deck. We used people at home and from the diaspora and we navigated through the dark cloud of those days. At that time, most people were hopelessly groping in the dark. They saw no choice,neither in the left nor in the right, and yet we were not bereft of people at home and from the diaspora that could come  together to make Nigeria truly a land flowing with milk and honey.  Where we are is a matter of choice but we can choose differently to make a necessary and desirable change, once again.

    Wherever I go, I hear Nigerians complaining, murmuring in anguish and anger.  But our anger should not be like the anger of the cripple. We can collectively save ourselves from the position we find ourselves.  It will not come through self-pity, fruitless complaint or protest but through constructive and positive engagement and collective action for the good of our nation and ourselves and our children and their children. We need moral re-armament and engaging togetherness of people of like-mind and goodwill to come solidly together to lift Nigeria up.  This is no time for trading blames or embarking on futile argument and neither should we accept untenable excuses for non-performance. Let us accept that the present administration has done what it can do to the limit of its ability, aptitude and understanding. Let the administration and its political party platform agree with the rest of us that what they have done and what they are capable of doing is not good enough for us.  They have given as best as they have and as best as they can give. Nigeria deserves and urgently needs better than what they have given or what we know they are capable of giving.  To ask them to give more will be unrealistic and will only sentence Nigeria to a prison term of four years if not destroy it beyond the possibility of an early recovery and substantial growth.  Einstein made it clear to us that doing the same thing and expecting a different result is the height of folly. Already, Nigerians are committing suicide for the unbearable socio-economic situation they find themselves in.  And yet Nigerians love life.  We must not continue to reinforce failure and hope that all will be well.  It is self-deceit and self-defeat and another aspect of folly.

    What has emerged from the opposition has shown no better promise from their antecedents.  As the leader of that Party for eight years as President of Nigeria, I can categorically say there is nothing to write home about in their new team. We have only one choice left to take us out of Egypt to the promised land.  And that is the coalition of the concerned and the willing – ready for positive and drastic change, progress and involvement.  Change that will give hope and future to all our youth and dignity and full participation to all our women. Our youth should be empowered to deploy their ability to learn, innovate and work energetically at ideas and concepts in which they can make their own original inputs.  Youth must be part of the action today and not relegated to leadership of tomorrow which may never come.  Change that will mean enhancement of living standard and progress for all.  A situation where the elected will accountably govern and every Nigerian will have equal opportunity not based on kinship and friendship but based on free citizenship.

    Democracy is sustained and measured not by leaders doing extra-ordinary things, (invariably, leaders fail to do ordinary things very well), but by citizens rising up to do ordinary things extra-ordinarily well.  Our democracy, development and progress at this juncture require ordinary citizens of Nigeria to do the extra-ordinary things of changing the course and direction of our lackluster performance and development.  If leadership fails, citizens must not fail and there lies the beauty and importance of democracy.  We are challenged by the current situation; we must neither adopt spirit of cowardice nor timidity let alone impotence but must be sustained by courage, determination and commitment to say and do and to persist until we achieve upliftment for Nigeria. Nothing ventured, nothing gained and we believe that our venturing will not be in vain. God of Nigeria has endowed this country adequately and our non-performance cannot be blamed on God but on leadership. God, who has given us what we need and which is potentially there, will give us leadership enablement to actualize our potentiality.

    The development and modernization of our country and society must be anchored and sustained on dynamic Nigerian culture, enduring values and an enchanting Nigerian dream.  We must have abiding faith in our country and its role and place within the comity of nations.Today, Nigeria needs all hands on deck.  All hands of men and women of goodwill must be on deck.  We need all hands to move our country forward.

    We need a Coalition for Nigeria, CN. Such a Movement  at this juncture needs not be a political party but one to which all well-meaning Nigerians can belong.  That Movement must be a coalition for democracy, good governance, social and economic well-being and progress.  Coalition to salvage and redeem our country.  You can count me with such a Movement.  Last time, we asked, prayed and worked for change and God granted our request.  This time, we must ask, pray and work for change with unity, security and progress. And God will again grant us. Of course, nothing should stop such a Movement from satisfying conditions for fielding candidates for elections.  But if at any stage the Movement wishes to metamorphose into candidate-sponsoring Movement for elections, I will bow out of the Movement because I will continue to maintain my non-partisan position.  Coalition for Nigeria must have its headquarters in Abuja.

    This Coalition for Nigeria will be a Movement that will drive Nigeria up and forward.  It must have a pride of place for all Nigerians, particularly for our youth and our women.  It is a coalition of hope for all Nigerians for speedy, quality and equal development, security, unity, prosperity and progress.  It is a coalition to banish poverty, insecurity and despair. Our country must not be oblivious to concomitant danger around, outside and ahead.  Coalition for Nigeria must be a Movement to break new ground in building a united country, a socially-cohesive and moderately prosperous society with equity, equality of opportunity, justice and a dynamic and progressive economy that is self-reliant and takes active part in global division of labour and international decision-making.

    The Movement must work out the path of development and the trajectory of development in speed, quality and equality in the short- medium- and long-term for Nigeria on the basis of sustainability, stability, predictability, credibility, security, cooperation and prosperity with diminishing inequality. What is called for is love, commitment and interest in our country, not in self, friends and kinship alone but particularly love, compassion and interest in the poor, underprivileged and downtrodden.  It is our human duty and responsibility so to do.  Failure to do this will amount to a sin against God and a crime against humanity.

    Some may ask, what does Obasanjo want again?  Obasanjo has wanted nothing other than the best for Nigeria and Nigerians and he will continue to want nothing less.  And if we have the best, we will be contented whether where we live is described as palaces or huts by others and we will always give thanks to God.

    I, therefore,will gladly join such a Movement when one is established as Coalition for Nigeria, CN, taking Nigeria to the height God has created it to be.  From now on, the Nigeria eagle must continue to soar and fly high.  CN, as a Movement, will be new, green, transparent and must remain clean and always active, selflessly so.  Members must be ready to make sacrifice for the nation and pay the price of being pioneers and good Nigerians for our country to play the God-assigned role for itself, for its neighbours, for its sub-region of West Africa, for its continent and for humanity in general.  For me, the strength and sustainable success of CN will derive largely from the strong commitment of a population that is constantly mobilized to the rallying platform of the fact that going forward together is our best option for building a nation that will occupy its deserved place in the global community.  May God continue to lead, guide and protect us. Amen.

  • 2019: Saraki’s aide resigns to chair political party

    2019: Saraki’s aide resigns to chair political party

    Ahead of the 2019 election, Special Assistant to the Senate President on Youth and students matters Ikenga Ugochinyere has resigned his appointment.

    Ugochinyere in a one page letter to the Senate President, Abubakar Bukola Saraki, said that his resignation was to enable him serve as the national chairman of his newly formed political party.

    He did not however give the identity of his new political party, but said he decided to quit his job “because the legal and political implication of his new status, national chairman of a new party does not allow him to continue to serve as an aide to the Senate President.

    The letter dated October 3, 2017letter read “Sequel to the recent issuance of certificate of registration by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to my newly formed political party and my emergence as the national chairman, I wish to tender my resignation as your Special Assistant on Youths and students matters .

    “This is because of the legal and political implication new status as a result of which I cannot be able to discharge my function to you Sir ” The Imo state born youth leader however expressed gratitude to the Senate president for given the opportunity serve in that capacity .

    “Our over two years official relationship I count as the most amazing moment in my public service life. His Excellency confidence and believe in the innovative spirit of the young people is indeed legendary.

    “He built a bridge between the old and the young and have been working hard to help return the country to the part of national unity.”