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Tag: Ali

  • Bash Ali’s lamentations

    Bash Ali’s lamentations

    Former world boxing cruiserweight champion, Bashiru Lawrence Ali, better known as Bash Ali, is inveterately a fighter. And that isn’t just in the ring, but also in life. He has for a while been duelling to stage a Guinness World Record boxing championship fight in Nigeria, and at 68 years of age he isn’t giving up. He lately said he planned to remain in professional boxing until he’s 70 years old. We must hope he got sound medical advice on that.

    The boxer’s last professional fight was in 2004 when he knocked out Tony Booth, then British cruiserweight champion, in the fourth round. But he hasn’t hung his gloves just yet and bids to take on another opponent for world record purposes. He wants the duel staged in Nigeria and somehow believes it is the country’s nationhood responsibility to underwrite the bill for this private ambition. His demands on the national treasury has not been readily met, and he’s been waging a bullish crusade to force concession. That crusade at different times set him on collision course with constituted authority, only that he put the challenge down to systemic corruption.

    Read Also: Dangote names Lagos refinery road after Wigwe

    Bash Ali, in a social media post to mark his 68th birthday early last week, reflected on the crusade that he lamented impoverished him but has left him undaunted. Writing on his Facebook page, he said inter alia: “For 17 years I struggled in vain to host in my country, Nigeria, my Guinness World Record Boxing Championship Fight because I was bold to say no to corruption in sport in particular, and in Nigeria in general. In 17 years, I went from being a millionaire in dollars to a zeronaire in naira. In 17 years, I was beaten and injured, such that I had to be admitted twice and treated at the National Hospital in Abuja. In 17 years, I was detained eight times at various police stations in Abuja. In 17 years, I was once detained at Kuje Prison for 43 days.” He also said he did not give up on Nigeria and spurned “juicy offers” to fight outside the country, adding: “Today, our dream is finally becoming a reality and because I am an extraordinary human being, I am going to fight until I am 70 years old, retire young and healthy with a lot of money and then go on to be the President of Nigeria. This is my ultimate goal so mark my words.”

    The pugilist’s optimism is heart-warming.. But his chokehold on the country to fund the record fight is queer. He could explore alternative sources for the proposed big match, like private sector funding. The bruising struggle might just be pointless.

  • Budget 2019: Fowler and Ali as metaphor

    In political circles, the common saying is that “money is for spending”. Nothing confirms this again than the action of federal lawmakers and their counterparts in Lagos few days ago. In passing their budgets – albeit belatedly – at separate sessions in Abuja, the legislators unilaterally topped up the budget estimates submitted by the executive branch.

    Whereas the federal budget was raised by almost N90 billion, N21 billion was added to that of Lagos. The Abuja lawmakers were more forthcoming on why they hiked the federal appropriations bill. The reasons, we were told, include provision for the severance pay for lawmakers and legislative aides as well as a special intervention of N10 billion in Zamfara due to the ongoing security operation there to curb the upsurge in criminality.

    Well, that is the easy part. Budgeting as we already know is merely a declaration of intent to spend. The real challenge is how to generate cash backing for the huge figures appropriated.

    Looking ahead, experts are agreed on very modest growth forecasts in the global economy in this financial year. One, the mammoth production lines in places like China are yet to return to the high levels recorded few years ago. The implication for mineral-dependent countries, therefore, remains at best tepid.

    Since President Muhammadu Buhari came on board in 2015, there has been heightened effort to reduce the country’s over-reliance on oil by formulating deliberate policies to boost agriculture. But the truth of the matter is that it takes a fairly long time for the seed of reforms in agriculture to mature into visible fruits. It certainly requires not only coherence but also consistency of a whole range of policies to make the magic happen.

    To be honest, the Buhari administration has been getting less accolades for not only navigating the national economy from perhaps the worst recession in a generation within two budget cycles without an oil windfall, but also getting the leadership mix right in some revenue-yielding agencies such that returns from such organizations have risen astronomically.

    Perhaps the most dramatic has been the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) which, for the first time in its more than 40 years of existence, remitted a record N5 billion to the national treasury.

    So, by and large, the performance of the budged passed by the National Assembly will still largely depend on how far the big “cash cows” are ready to up their game. Coming on the heels of the increase in minimum wage from N18,000 to N30,000, the times ahead will certainly tax the financial creativity of governments at federal, state and council levels.

    To meet the challenge, the agencies that readily come to mind are, of course, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the Nigerian Customs Service.

    With the no-nonsense Colonel Hammed Ali (rtd) calling the shots at the Customs, the revenue threshold of N1 trillion was crossed for the first in 2017. And the figure for 2018 is also in excess of N1 trillion.

    In 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2015, Customs had generated N741.8billion, N850.8 billion, N833.4billion and N904 billion respectively.

    While the figures of the last three years may appear handsome, some experts however believe the full potentials of the Customs are yet to be fully tapped. If the ports operations can be made more efficient, the income accruable to the Customs will only increase.

    For instance, access to the nation’s premier port – the Apapa ports – has remained a nightmare while the cargo-clearing process is, at best, still problematic.

    But much more spectacular is the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS. In the last three years, the revenue generated by the tax board has grown exponentially. From the N3.3 trillion generated in 2016, the tax board achieved N4 trillion in 2017 and raised it further to N5.3 trillion in 2018. Why this growth has been described as very impressive is because it came at a time when the national economy was supposed to be contracting as a result of the recession that befell the country in 2014/2015.

    Industry experts are optimistic that the figures could, in fact, double within the next two or three years if the management of the FIRS under Mr. Tunde Fowler is hard-nosed enough to sustain its current bouquet of reforms.

    Part of the challenge, therefore, is to continue to explore means to synergize with state authorities through the Joint Tax Board under Oseni Elamah as the executive secretary for better results. For, higher return by FIRS simply means there is a bigger pie to share between the federal government and the states at the end of the month.

    Already, there has been a raging debate on the feasibility of raising Value Added Tax (VAT) to boost revenue at this point. But the preponderant view is that raising VAT shortly after a “token” wage increase will only impoverish the vast majority of the populace.

    What is, therefore, recommend is rather to widen the tax net such that more and more people – particularly the hitherto elusive super affluent – are not only captured but also made to henceforth pay rate commensurate to their wealth.

    Here, Fowler has undoubtedly brought his rich experience in Lagos to bear to grow FIRS’ revenue. As the chairman of the Lagos revenue board, he was credited as helping to grow the state’s IGR from a miserly N600 million at the inception of the Bola Tinubu administration in 1999 to around N8 billion by 2007. Under Fowler’s watch, the figure grew further during the Fashola administration to over N20 billion by 2015.

    It is quite instructive to note that today, roughly 70 percent of the revenue FIRS has generated in the past three years comes from Lagos. The good news is that more durable structures are being erected to institutionalize the process such that in the nearest future the system is no longer man-driven but system-propelled.

    Already, the Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS) the board floated last year has started bearing fruits as many folks have decided to take advantage of a unique official window to regularize the titles or the names on assets hitherto disguised. In any case, with FIRS working closely with financial institutions like banks, there is really no more hiding place for the affluent who would rather not pay taxes.

    To bring such high-net worth individuals into the tax net, the board has had to intensify its engagement with them to mutually agree on the terms of compliance. With more and more of such quiet interactions ending happily, it is believed that FIRS will announce more fantastic figures in the new financial year.

    Even more beneficial has been the deployment of technology to substantially automate the processes and ensure more efficiency in operation and cost. The old tax auditing system has been abolished in line with global best practices. Duplication or multiplication of taxes is eliminated by unifying the process for all taxpayers across the country. Another innovation is the electronic tax pay solution, a self-service channel available on all commercial banks internet banking platforms to ease the cumbersomeness associated with the existing manual method.

    Also noteworthy are the administrative reforms which have ensured that the cost of operation is drastically reduced. Gone are the days when heads of hundreds of FIRS offices across the country received a lump sum monthly over which they had discretion to spend on petrol, diesel and ancillary matters. Audit by the management after assuming office in 2015 had revealed a pattern of abuse which, in fact, impeded productivity rather than aiding it. Revenue officers who failed to meet target had a ready excuse: lack of petrol in their vehicles or blackout in the office because of lack of diesel for their generators.

    To check that, what Fowler did was to introduce a new inventory system such that officials are now only required to sign off a voucher to have their operational vehicles fuelled at designated filling stations across the country.  At the end of the month, the filling stations compile the vouchers and forward directly to the FIRS for payment. The result has been astonishing: operational costs have fallen by more than 60 percent.

    More of such creative measures are surely required to further grow the FIRS’ revenue in the times ahead.

     

    • Dr. Cyril Okafor, a financial analyst, is based in Port Harcourt.

  • Ali redeploys eight officers

    COMPTROLLER-General of Customs Hameed Ibrahim Ali has approved the redeployment of eight officers (three in higher acting capacities) for greater service delivery.

    Its Public Relations Officer, Mr. Joseph Attah, made this known in a statement yesterday.

    The statement reads: “The appointments in acting capacities are: Comptroller Aremu Modupe Adeyanju (Mrs.) as acting Assistant Comptroller-General (Strategic Research & Policy); Deputy Comptroller Agbara Ojobo Michael as acting Customs Area Controller, Ogun Command and Deputy Comptroller Olumoh Kamaluddeen as acting CAC, Adamawa/Taraba Command.

    “Officers redeployed include: Comptroller, Adetoye Francis moved from Adamawa/Taraba to Ports & Terminals Multi-Services Logistics (PTML); Comptroller Loko Yusuf from SR&P to Abia/Imo Command; Comptroller Ajiya Kashim moved from Human Resources and Development to Customs Training College Ikeja; Comptroller Sani Madugu from Ogun Command to Enforcement HQ and Deputy Comptroller Dangaladima Sambo Khalid from SR&P to Presidential Task Force on Cross Border Movement.

    “The CGC charged the affected officers to see their appointments and redeployments as opportunities to build on the gains of the on-going reforms for enhanced service delivery.”

  • Alleged import duty waivers: CBN boss, Ali, others to face Reps probe panel

    The House of Representatives committee has commenced investigations into the abuse of waivers and bonds on import duties from 2010 till date.

    Subsequently, the lower chamber has demanded an audit of the customs duties remitted by money deposit banks to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) from January 2014 till date with proof of the remittances.

    The move by the lawmakers, The Nation gathered, was informed by the failure of affected agencies and private organisations to respond to requests for information sent three weeks ago, House Committee on Customs. The committee has therefore summoned the Comptroller General of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), Hammed Ali, Accountant General of the Federation (AGF), Ahmed Idris, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin  Emefiele, bank executives, importers and inspection agents, private organisations, among others.

    They are to appear at a public hearing this Wednesday to explain their different roles in the alleged infractions since 2010 to date.

    Chairman of the Committee, James Faleke (APC, Lagos), who expressed disappointment at the response of the affected organisation to the Committee’s requests, regretted that it may be a way of stalling the investigation.

    “In view of the timeline set for the assignment, our Committee wrote the affected stakehokders to ensure that the information and documents required of them are sent to the Committee’s Secretariat before November 29th, 2017. “What we are asking for include which are very critical to the investigation include schedules of all beneficiaries with respect to all duty waivers, exemptions, concessions, processed by them in the fiscal year 2010 till date,”Faleke said.

    The Committee, he stressed, hopes to review schedules of all beneficiaries with respect to all bonds indemnity upon which imports were processed by the customs within the period.

    “We want to believe that everyone concerned will realise that we have the constitutional powers to embark on this investigation as much as we are duty bound to set our country on the right path,” he said.

  • National chairman from Southwest or no PDP – Ahmadu Ali

    National chairman from Southwest or no PDP – Ahmadu Ali

    Prominent leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from the three geo-political zones in the North yesterday urged adherence to the zoning arrangement agreed upon for the party’s national convention and 2019 general elections.

    Among others, the party has zoned its chairmanship slot to the South and the presidential ticket reserved for aspirants from the North.

    The party leaders, at an enlarged consultative meeting in Abuja yesterday, appealed to aspirants to various elective positions not to violate the zoning arrangement, saying the party paid dearly for such violations in the 2015 presidential election.

    But there was disagreement.

    While a former National Chairman Dr. Ahmadu Ali argued in favour of electing the next chairman from the Southwest geopolitical zone, Caretaker Chairman Ahmed Makarfi said the position was zoned to the South and that micro zoning is not binding.

    Ali said: “It’s either we choose our next national chairman from the Southwest or we forget about PDP”, adding that the zone had yet to occupy the chairmanship position since the formation of the party in 1998.

    “We must be ready to ensure that at the convention, the main issue, which is the national chairmanship of the party, is well handled. If we don’t vote the Southwest, we can as well forget the PDP.”

    Ali maintained that the way forward for the PDP is to remain united and warned against unauthorised divisive meetings among certain members for selfish reasons.

    Makarfi restated the commitment of the party to respect the various zoning arrangements, adding however that those bent on going against the zoning arrangement should be allowed to please themselves.

    Makarfi said: “The Port Harcourt convention decisions remain valid and one of the decisions taken at that convention was zoning.  But microzoning does not have a binding effect.

    “If a position is zoned to the North and you are from the North and you come to buy form, we will sell for you. Don’t forget that people will not get tired of taking the PDP to court”.

    Another former National Chairman Dr. Bello Haliru Mohammed, called for sanctions against members that go against the party’s zoning arrangement.

    Haliru added that going against the party’s zoning arrangement should no longer be tolerated; saying doing so amounted to disobedience and disloyalty that must be addressed by the leadership.

    The ex party chair called for sanctions against Eklit State Governor Ayodele Fayose, who declared his intention to run for President, noting that “zoning and rotation are part of the PDP Constitution. We must adhere to them if we are to keep this party alive.

    “There are people who are bent on contesting whether the office is zoned to their place or not. We must discuss with the South, so that anybody who goes against zoning can be punished. We cannot afford to have people come to the convention and make a fool of themselves and ridicule the party”.

    Former Senate President  Iyorchia Ayu described the north as one with the required number to decide who becomes the next chairman.

    “We in the North have the number and we will decide who eventually becomes the national chairman from any part of the South. We have done it before and we are going to do it again”, Ayu said.

    A former Minister of Information, Prof Jerry Gana warned against impunity and imposition of candidates to avoid a repeat of past mistakes.

    “I want to appeal to you to give to the party the very best in the positions that have been zoned to us. Let us therefore give to the party, men and women of impeccable integrity.

    “Whatever the Fayoses of this world may be doing, the party has resolved that the presidential candidate will come from one of the three zones in the north”.

    A former Special Duties Minister, Dr. Kabiru Taminu insisted that zoning was one of the principles recognised and entrenched in the party’s constitution.

    Makarfi lauded the sacrifice made by delegates to the meeting.

    Makarfi called for unity among members as the surest way for the PDP to regain power in 2019.

    The chairman announced the decision of the Osun State chapter of the Labour Party to join the PDP as part of the reconciliation efforts.

    Also  at the enlarged meeting were former Governors Ibrahim Idris and Idris Wada (Kogi); ex Governor Ramalan Yero (Kaduna); Babangida Aliyu (Niger); and Ibrahim Shema( Katsina).

    Others include former Ministers Abba Moro, Adamu Maina Waziri Zainab Maina and Chief Fidelis Tapgun.

    A former Deputy President of the Senate, Ibrahim Mantu, former National Woman Leader, Ina Ciroma and the chairman of the BoT, Senator Walid Jibrin also attended the meeting.

  • Ali, Makarfi differ on zoning in PDP

    Ali, Makarfi differ on zoning in PDP

    •Southwest should produce chairman, says Ali

    Prominent leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from the three geo-political zones in the North yesterday urged adherence to the zoning arrangement agreed upon for the party’s national convention and 2019 general elections.

    Among others, the party has zoned its chairmanship slot to the South and the presidential ticket reserved for aspirants from the North.

    The party leaders, at an enlarged consultative meeting in Abuja yesterday, appealed to aspirants to various elective positions not to violate the zoning arrangement, saying the party paid dearly for such violations in the 2015 presidential election.

    But there was disagreement.

    While a former National Chairman Dr. Ahmadu Ali argued in favour of electing the next chairman from the Southwest geopolitical zone, Caretaker Chairman Ahmed Makarfi said the position was zoned to the South and that micro zoning is not binding.

    Ali said: “It’s either we choose our next national chairman from the Southwest or we forget about PDP”, adding that the zone had yet to occupy the chairmanship position since the formation of the party in 1998.

    “We must be ready to ensure that at the convention, the main issue, which is the national chairmanship of the party, is well handled. If we don’t vote the Southwest, we can as well forget the PDP.”

    Ali maintained that the way forward for the PDP is to remain united and warned against unauthorised divisive meetings among certain members for selfish reasons.

    Makarfi restated the commitment of the party to respect the various zoning arrangements, adding however that those bent on going against the zoning arrangement should be allowed to please themselves.

    Makarfi said: “The Port Harcourt convention decisions remain valid and one of the decisions taken at that convention was zoning.  But microzoning does not have a binding effect.

    “If a position is zoned to the North and you are from the North and you come to buy form, we will sell for you. Don’t forget that people will not get tired of taking the PDP to court”.

    Another former National Chairman Dr. Bello Haliru Mohammed, called for sanctions against members that go against the party’s zoning arrangement.

    Haliru added that going against the party’s zoning arrangement should no longer be tolerated; saying doing so amounted to disobedience and disloyalty that must be addressed by the leadership.

    The ex party chair called for sanctions against Eklit State Governor Ayodele Fayose, who declared his intention to run for President, noting that “zoning and rotation are part of the PDP Constitution. We must adhere to them if we are to keep this party alive.

    “There are people who are bent on contesting whether the office is zoned to their place or not. We must discuss with the South, so that anybody who goes against zoning can be punished. We cannot afford to have people come to the convention and make a fool of themselves and ridicule the party”.

    Former Senate President  Iyorchia Ayu described the north as one with the required number to decide who becomes the next chairman.

    “We in the North have the number and we will decide who eventually becomes the national chairman from any part of the South. We have done it before and we are going to do it again”, Ayu said.

    A former Minister of Information, Prof Jerry Gana warned against impunity and imposition of candidates to avoid a repeat of past mistakes.

    “I want to appeal to you to give to the party the very best in the positions that have been zoned to us. Let us therefore give to the party, men and women of impeccable integrity.

    “Whatever the Fayoses of this world may be doing, the party has resolved that the presidential candidate will come from one of the three zones in the north”.

    A former Special Duties Minister, Dr. Kabiru Taminu insisted that zoning was one of the principles recognised and entrenched in the party’s constitution.

    Makarfi lauded the sacrifice made by delegates to the meeting.

    Makarfi called for unity among members as the surest way for the PDP to regain power in 2019.

    The chairman announced the decision of the Osun State chapter of the Labour Party to join the PDP as part of the reconciliation efforts.

    Also  at the enlarged meeting were former Governors Ibrahim Idris and Idris Wada (Kogi); ex Governor Ramalan Yero (Kaduna); Babangida Aliyu (Niger); and Ibrahim Shema( Katsina).

    Others include former Ministers Abba Moro, Adamu Maina Waziri Zainab Maina and Chief Fidelis Tapgun.

    A former Deputy President of the Senate, Ibrahim Mantu, former National Woman Leader, Ina Ciroma and the chairman of the BoT, Senator Walid Jibrin also attended the meeting.

     

  • Senate versus Ali

    SIR: The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), according to reports, proposed the collection of duty on vehicles, without any just reason. That means, Kayode Adams would have to pay duty on a vehicle he bought over 10 years ago for no reason. The Senate and Nigerians at large considered this policy obnoxious. NCS was called upon to suspend the implementation of that policy, and Col. Hameed Ali (retd) was also summoned by Senate to come explain what the policy was all about. Ali was warned to appear before the Senate in his service uniform- because he has never worn it since he was appointed Comptroller-General of the NCS. Ali replied the Senate saying he will appear before the Senate but without his uniform. True to his words, Ali appeared before the Senate but without uniform and was denied audience by the Senators. This writer is ashamed at the Senate for ‘childishly’ sidelining the real issue for a mere ‘uniform’.

    Though there is no section of the Constitution that mandates the CG of Customs to wear service uniform, at least whoever is CG should just wear it as a symbol of professionalism, especially when appearing before the Senate. Also, Ali should respect the institution of the Senate and wear his uniform, just to allow peace reign even if he would not wear it later on.

    It explains another fact that Ali is just unnecessarily stubborn and showing a level of insubordination because he only reports to Mr. President. A lot of Nigerians have argued that the Senators are only trying to get back at Ali for seizing a N62m Range Rover imported by Saraki for not paying the required duty. This writer believes that assertion is wrong. How does pressurising Ali to wear uniform mean ‘getting back at him’?

    As at the time of writing this, Ali was said to be seeking legal advice on the matter. We hope to see where this ends.

     

    • Kayode Adams
  • How Borno Christians are faring under Shettima- CAN Chairman

    How Borno Christians are faring under Shettima- CAN Chairman

    Bishop Naga Williams Mohammed is the Chairman of Christians Association of Nigeria (CAN),  Borno State and also Secretary of Northern Bishops incorporated. The Christian Leader hails from Gwoza, Borno State, a place once seized by Boko Haram and declared as their Caliphate. The Christian cleric who bears in this interview with a group of journalists in Maiduguri spoke on the support Gov. Kashim Shettima has given to Christians in the wake of the Boko Haram crisis in rebuilding the churches that were destroyed by the insurgents in Borno State. He also recalled how tolerant the people have lived in the past as Muslims and Christians. Our correspondent JOEL DUKU was there.  

     

    Bishop we are surprised to see that your surname is ‘Mohammed’, how does this came into being?

    Yes, in Southern Borno generally, it is common to see a family mixed up with both Muslims and Christians. My father was a Muslim and my Mother was a dedicated Christian. We were living in the same house, eating the same food and sharing the same culture. When it is Christmas, my Mum would give money to my Dad to buy whatever animal for us to slaughter. The same thing when it was time for Eid El Kabir (Sallah) Celebration, my Dad would buy a Ram for us to slaughter without discrimination.

    As a Bishop, some persons would probably expect you to have dropped the ‘Mohammed’ in your surname, what do you say to that?

    Someone cannot replace either of his biological parents. Mohammed is my father’s name, he was a Muslim and I cannot replace or change my father. That was his identity and I am his son.

    You talked about the religious harmony in your family, how will you compare that with instances of religious suspicion all over Nigeria?

    Waoh! In the past there was absolute tolerance to the extent that you don’t know this man’s religion and the other one, we all trust ones religion. In fact, in my Mum’s house, she had a kettle which is called ‘Buta’ in Hausa.  Muslims use it in performing ablution. While growing up, I was raised to see Muslims from a positive light. All I knew was that Muslims were doing what they were supposed to do, and we Christians were doing what we were supposed to do in terms of worship and coexistence in our communities. In Southern Borno where most of the Christians in Borno State hail from, most of our families are inter-faith based, mixture of Muslims and Christians. I used to know of a family where the father and his six children were Christians, while his three wives were Muslims, and they lived peacefully.

    Bishop, Christians are in reasonable population in Borno State but they still constitute a minority in the State, tell us how much successive Government has been responsive to challenges of insurgency faced by Christians in Borno.

    If you go back to recent history, our first major problem was in February 2006, when a Danish man whom I learnt was not even a Christian, portrayed a picture of the prophet of Islam in a bad light. Unfortunately, there was protest here in Maiduguri and Christians received the repercussion.  If I can recall, in 2006, they were saying miscreants, arsonists, hooligans, and bastards. I pity those who call them with these names, because, these bad guys when they see an opportunity, they execute it properly. A total of 56 churches were razed down in Borno, and so many shops belonging to Christians were destroyed and there was no compensation from the then Government.

    You mean the then Governor, Ali Modu Sheriff didn’t release any funds for rebuilding and compensation for Christians who suffered the attacks and lost lives, assets and means of livelihood?

    I was among the High Powered Administrative Committee as representative of the Christian community constituted by the then Governor Sheriff. I think only N150, 000 was given to each pastor whose entire church was destroyed. At a point, we compiled all the destroyed properties including churches and submitted the report to the Borno Government.

    Bishop, if Christians didn’t receive compensation from the Borno Government after the 2006 Danish cartoon crisis, one is tempted to wonder what the situation is under a more vicious Boko Haram that has caused more havoc on communities that include Christians.

    My brothers, those who are not from Borno State may not know, but you and I know better. In the history of Borno State, there is no Governor that has been fair to the Christian Community in this State as much as Governor Kashim Shettima. I am saying this in the presence of God Almighty and this is nothing but the truth. Governor Shettima, in the history of Borno, is the only Governor that has sponsored highest number of Christian Pilgrims every year since 2011. I am speaking boldly without fear or favour because as CAN Chairman I do not receive salary or kobo from Government or any institution, but the facts need to be told. This Governor has shown compassion to the Christian Community. For example, when Gwoza people were driven from their ancestral homes, they fled to Maiduguri, and the Governor personally came to CAN Centre in Jerusalem ward two times in June and July 2014. He gave N10 million for their upkeep at first instance, by the victims were not many. By the end of October 2014, the IDPs from Gwoza increased to 42,000 in that camp alone. Governor Shettima came again and gave another N10 million. He also gave additional N5 million for Christians from Borno who fled to Cameroon to be returned home. He gave another N5 million for non-indigenes who fled to Cameron to come back to Nigeria. The Governor even directed the Borno State Emergency Management Agency, SEMA to be supplying food directly to the IDPs in under the Christian leadership. In fact, the Governor insisted that he wanted Christian IDPs to stay together with their Muslim counterparts in various designated IDP camps here in Maiduguri but we the leaders felt it wise to separate Christian IDP’S to avoid frictions between displaced persons dealing with trauma.

    Earlier, you said Governor Ali Modu Sheriff didn’t pay any compensation to Christians after the 2006 crisis which led to destruction of 56 churches, we know Churches and Mosques were destroyed by Boko Haram from 2011 to date under Governor Kashim Shettima, has any of these churches been rebuilt by the State Government just like mosques are being rebuilt?

    On the Churches that were razed down, we had a meeting with Governor Shettima on how his administration can come in to assist in rebuilding some of these churches. Last year when the Governor visited Gwoza, Askira -Uba  and Chibok Local Government Areas for On-The- Spot- Assessment of destructions, he saw how some of these churches were dilapidated, some burnt down to ashes, in fact, some churches were not only razed down but Grader was used to pull down the whole structures to ground zero as if that church  never existed there. Like in Gwoza, the report we received was that after some of the churches were demolished, the terrorists packed the whole debris and threw it far away from the premises.

    During Governor Shettima’s visit to these areas, he released N100 million for the rebuilding of some of these churches. A committee was set up for that purpose, I am a member of the committee headed by a permanent Secretary, Mr. Justus Zare as Chairman, and I am happy to inform you that presently we have used that money to rebuild 11 key churches which our people are now using for their worship services. I am surprised when some people were saying why not rebuilding all the churches, we cannot do that because there were so many places that are still unsafe for people to return, and you cannot expect us to go to the Christian communities of the fringes of Sambisa Forest to start rebuilding their destroyed churches, when the security situation has not improved.

    After, the initial N100m, Governor Kashim Shettima graciously approved another N105 million for the 2nd phase of rebuilding destroyed churches. This was made possible when CAN officials led by my humble self-had a meeting with him on Thursday 30th March, 2017 at the Government House. So far, the governor has released N210 million for reconstruction of our burnt churches.

    He also approved the sponsorship of all our local pastors to participate in the 2017 Jerusalem Pilgrimage. During the meeting, Governor Shettima approved allocation of Certificates of Occupancy (C of O) and land for church buildings in the state. This has never happened in the history of Borno since 1979. We are very grateful indeed. In fact, one of my neighbour who was a Journalist with Abuja based newspaper, died last year. He was a Christian, and when the Governor heard of it, he delegated some of his aides and gave the family the sum of N1 million for the burial. So also, when Arch Bishop Emmanuel Kana Mani (whom I succeeded as CAN chairman) died, the Governor visited the family residence in Maiduguri and gave N10 million for the family, I was among those who welcomed him at the Bishop’s Court. He gave N5 million for the upkeep of his family, while the other N5 million was for the preparation of his funeral.

    There was a time we complained to him to give us additional Christian Permanent Secretaries, initially we had only one in the state, and he immediately approved additional three. As it is now, we have five Christian Permanent Secretaries in Borno civil service and we have to appreciate him, yes.

    His Government has given us the opportunity to even run a collective programme on Television and Radio, we work with the Jama’atul Nasril Islam to sensitize our people on peaceful coexistence.

    They trust us, we trust them. In fact, it may interest you to know that there was a time I was asked to lead in a Christian prayer at a gathering where we were only three Christians in the midst of many Muslims. The government under Shettima is bringing harmony between religious leaders through his fairness and graciousness.

     

  • Ali versus uniform

    Ali versus uniform

    If you have stood close to Hameed Ali, you will see two things that collide. The air of an aristocrat and the mien of an army officer. In between, you observe the impulses of an entitled man. So, if you are the Senate, you cannot expect the man to simply cave in when you ask him to wear a uniform.

    Ali will not say it, but he believes he is done with the uniform. He was done when he retired as a soldier. To him, when you say “old soldiers never die, they only fade away,” it also includes the uniform. His army uniform, in all its imperial glory and starch, is fading away, and that is just fine with him. For him to put on the uniform of the Customs officer, he sees as degrading. You cannot be a soldier, where you rose to an elite rank and became military governor, and stoop to an inferior garb.

    After all, as military governor and senior officer of the Nigerian Army, the Customs was a subordinate agency. Its comptroller-general could not puff beside a colonel during the military era.

    The army officer sneers. But then he is also an aristocrat in bearing. He believes he belongs to a power elite in ethical and ethnic senses. With such double-barrelled accolade, he did the Senate, with the Oloye snorting, a rare privilege by appearing in the chamber to answer their questions.

    Ali thus represents the irony of power in our democracy. He imbues the hauteur of an army officer and emblem of a feudal elite, and why did he agree to be the comptroller-general? Because he can, and he can get away with such contradiction. He sees himself as superior and saviour. In his special way, he has stooped to conquer. By asking him to wear uniform, they are trying to conquer him into stooping. Oliver Goldsmith’s 18th century play, She stoops to Conquer, fits into this narrative. Except that the play’s principal actor disguises to conquer. Ali is too patrician to hide under any cloak.

    That is why he is defying calls to wear a uniform. He knows no law court can compel him to do so. No law asks him to wear it. Decency is the only reason, and who is to tell an aristocrat what is decent? Decency is for the common pool, and we don’t tell the big man what to wear and how to dress. As Mokokoma Mokhonoana, a South African writer and philosopher noted, “what to wear: an employee chooses. How to dress: His employer chose.”

    Ali does not see himself as an employee. He sees himself in the mould of an employer. If you come from the vault of power, how else can you think? Enough has been said about how the fight between him and the Senate betrays the fissures in the APC. But for me, it is a far more symbolic thing.  Wearing a uniform was a way to make the strong-head Customs head conform.

    The man is known to be doing well on his job. He is raking in money. He is a sort of corruption czar in a cocoon known as the Customs. The top brass of that agency must be nervous to have him around. The agency is, by common consent, the most corrupt in the country. Those who work there live the peacock life, the sort their legitimate incomes can never even dream of.

    It seems the real peacocks of this democracy somehow fell into the shadows of the Customs bear. They wanted a bear hug, instead the beast pounced on them. The animal has them in their claws. I am referring to the Senate and scandal of Senate President Bukola “Eleyinmi” Saraki, the extant Oloye of the upper chamber of Nigeria’s legislature.

    Every member of the top class wants a big car into the country one time or another. We have learned that Oloye has fallen into the man’s net with a big, armoured vehicle. Oloye is denying ownership of a Range Rover impounded by the Nigeria Customs. Saraki’s spokesman says it is a matter of the supplier. But they have not been able to clarify why his name was not inserted in it. Well, we now know that the Senate intervened not because of the outcry over NCS impunity on the streets by impounding vehicles with antiquated papers, but because it touched their bones. What a selfless Senate and its leadership. Oloye had to fight back, and he wanted to put the man back in line by wearing uniform.

    It’s clear now, this is no trivialisation of uniform. The Oloye has a keen sense of symbolism. Politics has always used uniform or sartorial markers for effect, either for good or ill. It’s not for nothing that presidential candidates changed their clothing from region to region during campaigns. Goodluck Jonathan was adept at this. The stiff Buhari, who never cared to change his habiliments, was compelled to do so in the last presidential hustings.

    Appearances are too important in politics to be left in the hands of stylists. Key political actors are their own aesthetes. Hitler had his tuft of beard. Mahatma Ghandi looked grand in his half-cloth, and defied Churchill who called him “a half-naked kafir” in the heat of the Indian’s anti-colonial maelstrom. Abacha loved his goggles. Trump’s turbulent toupee is gaining notoriety. Charles de Gaulle had his cap and so did Churchill. Nyerere had his French suit.

    Yet these men knew that the hero was not about the uniform, but about the man, as Andrea Randall wrote: “Heroes don’t always have capes, badges, or uniforms. Sometimes they support those who do.”

    Ali believes he is supporting those who wear uniforms. Saraki and co. want to force him to don one.  The uniform, for the point of view of Oloye, is not the stuffy khaki. It is obedience. Ali gets it and that is why he is kicking. Uniforms are about obedience. Individuality is about sacrifice. Ali would not sacrifice his individuality, though, to an institution. The reason is that he has come as a messiah. Messiahs in history have tended to be humble. But they have also been individual without alienating their folks. Jesus whipped the money changers in the temple. What do you expect when a combo of soldier and patrician takes over a can of worms like the NCS? Perhaps, Ali may have the moral bona fides for the job. He does not seem to have the humility. Just like his boss, Buhari, the fight against corruption calls for men of integrity. But history tells us that winners triumph with other weapons as well, including cunning and strategic flexibility. Sentiment, sometimes, supersedes principle, when appropriately harnessed.

    Ali would not wear the uniform, and that is wrong, not in law but in optics. As Apostle Paul noted, all things may be lawful, but they may not be expedient. If he can stoop to fight the corruption war, he should respect the men by donning their clothing. He becomes their leader in and out, in and out of uniform. It does not make him less of soldier or patrician. It makes him a better man.

  • Ali, Senate and that bullet proof toy

    There is an unsettling, squirmy feeling in the stomach when you watch self-labeled ‘distinguished’ lawmakers at the Upper Legislative Chambers pontificate about the ‘unfitness’ of Col. Hammed Ali (rtd.) to hold public office just because he failed to honour a summon by these eminent noisemakers. I laughed at the drama that played out before the gentlemen’s advice to Ali to honorably resign his appointment as Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service. I giggled as Senator after Senator revved into fits of rage, tearing Ali apart for daring to shun an invitation from a respectable body like the Nigerian Senate. Somehow, one couldn’t miss that glint of comic relief as the lawmakers struggled to speak truth to power. In that crowd of pretenders are people with files of their corrupting influence sitting in the cabinets of the Economic Crimes and Financial Commission; well-known political thugs who suddenly came into stupendous wealth without any record of entrepreneurship; confirmed drugs barons fleeing from the arms of the law; lackeys imposed by powerful forces and all shades of characters that should ordinarily be anywhere but definitely not that hallowed chamber. Yet, the reality of the Nigerian story is that its Senate is mostly peopled by charlatans who have turned delusion into an art. They are the drama kings and queens of this infamous democratic experiment.

    How I wish the Senate could remove the speck blocking its vision before offering to help another pluck out the log in his eyes. In truth, the faceoff between Ali and the Senate is nothing other than a contest of ego. It is as simple as that. Sadly, in its brash angst, the Senate just threw away the baby with the bath water by focusing on the less-important issue of Ali’s appearing in a Custom uniform instead of the more significant matter of collection of import duties on old cars brought into the country in the last seven years. By the way, would the heavens fall had the Senate chosen to ignore the ego show and humble Ali by interrogating him on the car duties matter even if he had honoured the invitation in knickers, rumpled shirt and bathroom slippers? Would it not have been ennobling if the Senate had played its expected role by triggering a downward review of the policy or its outright cancellation through a positive engagement with the Customs chief? Whatever its decision, the one that has bitten the dust in this needless ‘war’ is the Senate. This is worsened by the fact that the Senate’s resolution on the matter is not worth the paper it was penned on. I’m sure they know President Muhammadu Buhari would have no problem ignoring the so-called resolutions.

    It is laughable that, after all the tantrums and drama, all the Senate could do was to draft a five-point agenda with an advisor that an ‘unfit-for-public-office’ Ali should honorably pen his resignation and quit. And to give a bite to the toothless resolution, the Senate also directed that “the resolutions be sent to the House of Representatives for concurrence so that it will be a National Assembly resolution.” Talk about an unfit legislature and you have truckloads of them in that chamber. Just last week, this same bunch of jokers adamantly refused to sanction the appointment of Mr. Ibrahim Magu as the Chairman of the EFCC over a Department of State Security report that he “failed integrity test.” They lashed on a report that an alleged friend of Magu spent less than N40m to rent and furnish a building for his use. Even when the allegation was yet to be substantiated, it was enough reason for the set of patriots to nail Magu in the sun to dry. By the time they came out of the Red Chamber that day, there was this feeling of accomplishment that a would-be nemesis of the corrosive poster boys of corruption has been stopped in his tracks. It never mattered if Magu cried blue murder. The ‘victory’ was made sweeter by the fact that Magu’s ultimate fall was made possible by a report that was surreptitiously obtained from an agency under the control of the same Presidency that forwarded Magu’s name. For the lawmakers, it was time to clink glasses and pat backs for a job that was professionally executed with pin-point accuracy.

    Just a little scratch beyond the smokescreen and you would be confronted with the rottenness that defines this Senate. Among those who concurred to a questionable and strange report on Magu were about 10 or more former state chief executives whose files of blind looting of their states’ treasuries were in Magu’s office. In fact, Magu directly investigated some of them and they are presently facing trials at the courts. There are also those dancing to the tunes being played some political godfathers who would get a good kick out of the humiliation of the police officer. But then, the question needs to be asked: If Magu was adjudged to have failed an integrity test for ‘flirting’ with a benefactor said to be under the radar of the EFCC and Ali declared unfit to hold public office for failing to wear a uniform, what then would be the verdict on a National Assembly with members that appropriate billions of naira for its upkeep without availing the public of any details? How come not one exemplary senator currently being investigated or tried by EFCC was bold enough to excuse himself from Magu’s screening? Or is that not what is expected of people with integrity and self-worth?

    Besides, there is an intriguing twist to the Ali tale that cannot be ignored. Was Ali being punished for daring to demand that the National Assembly leadership pay the right Custom duties on the treated SUV specially imported for the use of the President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, or was it a case of curious coincidence in which a retroactive policy met its waterloo at a time the issue of the imported toy was yet to be resolved? For a man who sits at the top of an agency that fetches billions of naira daily for the Federation Accounts, it is shocking that the lawmakers could make a song and dance of the decision not to wear uniform while cleverly ignoring the propriety or otherwise of the purchase of a car worth over N330m for the luxury of its leader. In his response to the allegation, Saraki’s spokesperson, Yusuph Olaniyonu, was swift to deny any link with his principal. While not denying that the car was for the use of Saraki, he argued that the supplier engaged to deliver the car had tried to outsmart the Customs by paying lesser charges on the expensive toy. He contended that the Senate could not be held culpable since the vehicle was yet to be delivered to it. By this thread of thought, I want to assume that the Senate President was eternally grateful to Ali’s men for halting the delivery of a ‘smuggled’ state-of-the-art Range Rover Sports to his fleet. For all we know, the Office of the President of Senate could have dispatched a letter of commendation of the Customs for a job well done. .And that, I also imagine, explains why the National Assembly quickly drafted a letter to the CG of Customs, demanding the immediate release of the vehicle to the owners!

    I honestly don’t get it. Was it up to two years that the Senate leadership spent millions of Naira to change the fleet of cars in the convoy of its principal officers? And under which subhead did the management rake the funds to purchase a treated car with a street value of N298m and brought into the country with fake documents to avoid paying appropriate duties? If the matter at hand was a simple case of disagreement between a car dealer and the Customs, why did the National Assembly hierarchy, with military fiat, dispatch a letter to the Customs requesting an immediate release of the car on the day it was impounded? Or could it be that the O. A. Ojo that signed the letter was not the Secretary of Procurement, Estate and Works in the National Assembly? Can the National Assembly avail the public with copies of the car purchase contract to enable us determine the veracity of the tale that nothing untoward transpired in the course of executing the contract? Could it be true that the price of the car was significantly undervalued which enabled the dealer to pay a “measly Customs duty of N8 million” instead of N78 million? Could this be the real reason why Ali has been declared a persona non grata, despicably unfit to hold public office? If that is the case, does the entire Senate still score itself high on the integrity ladder? Who among the Ali, Magu and the lawmakers should be resigning for failing to hold the morality torch with dignified pride? Who knows, maybe when these guys stop playing to the gallery they would make sense out of the glaring senselessness in an era when the business of lawmaking has gone to the dogs. Just maybe.