The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Blues

  • Project Fame winner decries stereotype in Nigeria music

    Okiemute Ighorodje, the winner of MTN Project Fame West Africa, Season 9, has decried the glorification of Afro pop to the detriment of other genres of music.

    Speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria on Friday in Abuja, the artiste said other music genres including blues, reggae, R&B, jazz, classical and folk were being stereotyped.

    She said such stereotype would not give the affected genres and their artistes the opportunity to attain their full potential.

    The budding singer whose stage name is also Okiemute, urged relevant stakeholders particularly, music promoters, radio and television stations to place deserving attention to the neglected genres.

    “There is need to understand that music is diverse. There should be no deliberate attempt to promote a music genre over the other.

    “Afro pop is making a lot of waves over the others because of its promotion, whereas, there are many people that love other music genres.

    “They should stop stereotyping other forms of music. Music is music, if it is of good quality and it follows the rules, it should be appreciated,’’ she said.

    Okiemute said some radio and television stations, especially the music channels were guilty of this stereotype because of their failure to feature the neglected music genres as afro pop.

    “From morning till night, what you hear most on these stations is afro pop music. They do not give the audience the opportunity to make choice.

    “Listeners want to wake up in the morning, tune to a radio station, listen to cool music. In the afternoon, they want to listen to midday music, cross over tunes.

    “Before late night, they will like to listen to party songs that will make them shake their body and all that.

    “If listeners are given the opportunity to listen to other genres, they will start appreciating them and the music will see the light of day,’’ she said.

    Speaking on the predominance of vulgar lyrics in contemporary music, Okiemute said artistes must try to strike the balance.

    She said many of the artistes being condemned for vulgar lyrics also have songs with lyrics that propagate good values and teach morals.

    Okiemute contended that vulgarity could not be totally taken away from music because it has its social functions.

    “Our generation wants to party and have fun. We know about the ills in the society, we know about the stress and happenings, but most artistes want to take their listeners out of all these challenges.

    “They use what is being regarded as vulgar lyrics to create the illusion for people to forget their sufferings and move on with life.

    “You cannot keep using music to remind people of their problems, challenges or reminding people of what to do and what not to do at all times.

    “Music must be to entertain and to make people have fun and take listeners out of their challenges and unpleasant state,’’ she said.

    Okiemute said the major challenges of upcoming artiste, like her were finance and lack of direction.

    “You need funds to produce quality music and video that will stand out for acceptance. You also need money to promote your music which is not easy to come by.

    “Most upcoming artiste also do not have direction. It is challenging to really identify the people that really believe in you, buy into your dreams and ready to work with you for your success

    “A lot of people will come to you, but they do not really have your interest. They just want to joggle on you, play around and waste your time,’’ she said.

    According to the budding musician, it is difficult to strike collaboration deals with Nigeria leading artistes..

    She said there was no easy access to these artistes largely because they were also pursuing their careers.

    “I have made efforts but it has been to no avail. I therefore want to appeal to them to understand that the sky is big enough for many artistes to shine.

    “They should extend hands of help to promising upcoming artistes, may be by featuring them in their songs, building their fan base, signing them or bringing them up on their platform.

    “They should not think that when they help an artiste to grow, he or she will take their shine,’’ she said.

    The 27-year old Linguistics & Communications graduate from University of Port Harcourt said she had so far dropped two singles, “Good Loving’’ produced with a video and “African Wonder’’.

    She said life after winning project fame had been a mixed bag of struggling back and front growing from a live band artiste to the main stream music production.

    “Being in the house is quite different of coming out to the real world where you have competition and your audience are expecting a lot from you.

    “You have to ensure originality and quality in your production. Keeping up appearances to look good, from your hair, to your shoe and dresses and make up,’’ she said.

    On why she chose, “Okiemute’’ as stage name rather than any funky name like many musicians, she said it was unique and meaning; “there is time for everything’’ has always worked for her.

    Specifically, she said her breakthroughs in life had come at God’s time, when she least expected and the uniqueness of the name had paved the way for her.

    Okiemute appreciated the media for supporting her in promoting her works.

  • Yuletide blues

    Yuletide blues

    We saw it coming. It is an old trick that rarely fails. Cry wolf for some time, forge a scarcity, watch the people suffer as if we are at war, issue a long emotional statement of sympathy -and empathy – loaded with facts and figures on why a price hike is imminent and then, launch a big push for a new price.

    That has been the game in the past two or so weeks. A crushing petrol scarcity has marred what would have been for many an exciting Yuletide. How did we get here?

    Marketers have been demanding to be paid billions of naira for supplies made in those days of subsidy bonanza when every trickster, prankster and hustler in town was an oil and gas magnate. All you needed was to know somebody in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) or in any of its subsidiaries; you were made for life – just by hawking some papers. Genuine and counterfeit traders were lumped together in a pool of sharks and barracudas tearing at one another. Bloody. In the end, the treasury bled and bled. We could no longer fund the bazaar. And here we are.

    As I was saying, the present situation followed the old pattern. Marketers launched a push for their money; the government replied with some pussyfooting around the matter and then senior oil workers threatened to go on strike. A great show of pacification began. By the time oil workers shelved their plan after much persuasion, a petrol scarcity had forced its way in.

    The NNPC hit the old, weary path of explaining the landing cost of petrol (N171.40 per litre), freight cost and all that. It spiced it up with the smuggling theory, stressing how our petrol has become smugglers’ favourite. They are attracted to it as bees to honey. Of course, there is also the extenuation of how a long, endless stretch that is our border can’t be policed. But, said the oil giant, a month’s reserve was sitting pretty in the depots. Besides, ships were on their way with petrol. We relaxed.

    Obviously enraged, those behind the scarcity – we may never know them, as usual – pressed the throttle harder. Petrol price hit N400 a litre. Filling stations shut down. Some opened in the dead of the night. One mounted a big pipe from its storage to the back of its filling station, dispensing the stuff at its own price. Many had been fleeced before the bubble burst. Black marketers seized the roads, making brisk business. Travel plans were shattered.

    Marketers returned to the fray. They said banks were after their property for not repaying their loans, the fate of their legion of workers was hanging in the balance and their depots were empty. They could no longer raise the cash to fund imports and NNPC had become the sole importer of petrol.

    The NNPC fought back yesterday, accusing  Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association (DAPPMA) members of owing the Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC) N26.7b.

    Now that the message seems to have hit the right target, there seems to be some respite – in some cities.

    Why do we have to go through this cycle of anguish every year? Who are the big masqueraders behind the yearly scarcity? Why are marketers whose debts have been verified not paid? What is the state of our troubled refineries? Are DAPPMA members right  to blame it all on the NNPC – if it is true their members are owing the PPMC N26.7b? Why has this problem become part of us? Is corruption fighting back (pardon the “cliché”)? Why has the crash in oil price not reflected in petrol price? Will the oil sector ever get it right? Will anybody get punished for this?

    Trust Nigerians. Amid the despair, they found time to crack some ribs in the social media. There is the picture of a young man with a puffy face. His eyes are shut. His lips are swollen. He cuts a pitiable picture of a hit-and-run driver’s victim The caption: “I shouted ‘sai Baba’ at a filling station.”

    A car with the hash tag “I stand with Buhari” is being filled from a jerry can on the street. That drew some bitter comments from people who do not think the administration has done well. Of course, Buhari’s admirers picked up the gauntlet and gave it to them in equal measure.

    A 50-litre black jerry can of fuel is spruced up – ribbons and all – and presented as one of the items demanded for the bride price at a wedding.

    But the biggest comical relief of all did not seem to have worked. The Presidency had announced that a documentary on the soft side of the President would be aired on television. Some counselled that the timing was not right. Others asked how television sets would be powered to watch the documentary, considering the fact that public electricity remained unstable and fuel was scarce. The show went on. Then, the criticisms started pouring in–in torrents.

    Human side? Who has said the President is inhumane? How has this shown the President’s “human side”? Isn’t this a mere show of loyalty and panegyric on the aides’ relationship with the President? Where are his jokes? Is this the best way to tell the world that our President has a remarkable sense of humour? Where is the witty President who sent us reeling – and furious – with “my wife belongs to the kitchen, my living room and the other room”.

    When former Vice President Atiku Abubakar quit the All Progressives Congress (APC), Buhari dismissed it all in a jocular manner. He told party Chairman John Odigie-Oyegun: “I learnt that one of your prominent members resigned. Please, accept my sympathy.”

    There you have it: a parallel between former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s “I dey laugh o” when told that Atiku was planning to run. Buhari even poked fun at himself when he flashed that gap tooth, smiled and said: “I know people call me Baba Go-slow.”

    How has His Excellency reacted to any major calamity? Has he ever shed tears? How did he feel when his health became a challenge? What are those situations in which the soldier in him could give way?

    The documentary and the fuel crisis were not the only hallmark of what many have referred to as a dull Yuletide. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said it was investigating how $48,485,127 was diverted at the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) when Dr Ngozi Olojeme was chairman. A court granted the agency’s request to detain Mrs Olojeme for two weeks after which it plans to take her to court. Mrs Olojeme reportedly denied all the allegations against her and swore to defend her integrity in court.

    Then the EFCC claimed to have recovered 38 houses, which it believed belong to her. Before one could scream “incredible”, a court said she should temporarily forfeit the houses – until the matter is decided. We are holding our breath.

    Before we could make any sense of the EFCC-Olojeme matter, another story of graft on a gargantuan scale had grabbed the headlines. Some of former President Goodluck Jonathan’s aides are said to have shared N27b Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) sales proceeds. The cash, it was reported, was meant for insurance premiums of disengaged PHCN staff. The matter is in court.

    Apparently shocked by the irrational behaviour of some of our leaders, the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi, recommended that they should be tested for drug abuse. He spoke at a roundtable on “drug abuse epidemic in Nigeria”, organised by the Senate in Kano.

    Hours after the Kano talks, a video hit the social media. A senator in a simple “buba” and “sokoto”, a tray of groundnuts perching on his head, hawking on a busy street. He persuades motorists to buy his groundnuts. Dear reader, there is no prize for guessing who the senator-hawker is.

    I support the Emir. Some of our leaders need to be weaned off drug abuse. By the way, where is Senator Dino Melaye (Kogi West)? He should raise a point of order for a matter of national importance.

    So much for an exciting Yuletide.

     

    Again, Honours 2017

    By popular demand, we continue today to honour those compatriots whose actions have contributed to our collective wellbeing, lest they feel disenchanted to do more in the new year.

    Hajiya Aisha “Mama Taraba” Alhassan would easily have snatched away the trophy for Minister of the Year, considering her courage and forthrightness in speaking truth to power. But, the trophy isn’t hers.

    Take a bow, Honourable Minister of Youth and Sport Solomon Dalung . He knows his beat like the back of his palm. He recently said the Super Eagles qualified for the World  Cup without conceding a goal. Besides, said the minister, our stars do not need to train overseas to do well. Told of the decaying National Stadium in Abuja, Dalung said, “but we have repaired the swimming pool in Sportscity, Surulere, Lagos”.

    Despite the harsh criticisms of his mode of dressing – some said he looks like an excited door man; others said he dresses like a Civil Defence recruit awaiting his first set of uniforms – Dalung soldiers on. He is Minister of the Year.

    Abdulrasheed Maina, the Pension Task Force Team boss, was fired and declared wanted for alleged misappropriation of funds running into billions. He went into hiding. He suddenly returned, got reinstated and promoted – to the consternation of all. There was outrage. President Muhammadu Buhari moved in. He fired Maina and ordered a probe. Maina has disappeared again. When will he return?

    No doubt, Maina is Civil Servant of the Year.

    An unnamed girl is said to have stolen $40,000 from the Abuja office of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF). She reportedly handed the cash to money doublers. How did an intern have access to the NFF’s vaults? Has the cash been recovered.

    It is incontrovertible; the unnamed girl is Intern of the Year.

  • Graduation blues

    Graduation blues

    After their last papers, graduating students of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) in Ile-Ife, Osun State, jumped up for joy. This is a yearly occurrence on campuses. But beyond the revelry, some graduating students will remain in school either for not passing the number of required courses or not completing their projects. GABRIEL OGUNJOBI (graduating Social Studies Education student) writes.

    As it was during their matriculation, students’ final moments on campuses are full of excitement. Immediately after their last papers, the campuses  would erupt in celebration.

    In customised attires, the Final Year Brethren (FYB) – a common name adopted by graduating students-will dance round their schools to announce their eventual departure from the routine, but strenuous academic activities. Some engage in the ritual of ‘baptism’, a euphemism for extreme celebration, where graduating students are sprayed with all kinds of grubby liquids, including sewage water and mud.

    This was how the graduating students of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) in Ile-Ife, Osun State, marked their final examination, last month.

    However, beneath the veneer of the academic conquest is a tinge of regret and distress for some of them who may not be allowed to graduate because of one reason or the other. Graduating students are usually delayed in school because of factors, such as incomplete project dussertations, supervisors’ harshness, laziness, carryovers and examination misconduct.

    Except for unlucky students whose final year project works are being overseen by hard-hearted supervisors, it is generally believed most students have control over any physical factor that can keep them beyond scheduled graduation period. In the final year, only careless students ignore these factors, which are likely to earn them additional years.

    David Adelegan, a graduating student of the Department of English Education, did not join his colleagues in the spontaneous celebration after their final examination last month.

    He was introspective and sober, describing the jubilation as needless. To him, it was not yet a time to celebrate when the results of the final year examinations have not been released.

    David said his graduation was almost threatened by a “silly mistake” he made when he was choosing courses to be offered in his final year, which shot up the required credit load. This, he said, gave him sleepless nights, because he left out the compulsory final year project work.

    He said: “When I was choosing the courses, I was very careful not to pick courses taught by callous lecturers in the department. Unknowingly, I submitted my course form, leaving out my final year project unregistered.

    “I would not have had the opportunity to write the final year examination with my colleagues if it was not for the intervention of the Head of Department, who took up the task of supervising my project work. It would have been a different story entirely. I will celebrate when the department releases my results, because I need to be sure I will not be delayed by any carryover.”

    It was a moment of celebration for an English and Literary Studies student (name withheld), who said she almost got into trouble with a lecturer (name withheld) when she turned down advances from him. She said she prayed throughout her final year to avoid anything that got to do with the lecturer, including project supervision.

    She said: “I was threatened by the lecturer after I turned down his sexual advances. I knew I would not offer any of his courses in 400-Level, but I sensed he could be made my project supervisor. I prayed against this. I had every reason to celebrate after I wrote my final examination.”

    Agunbiade Samuel, a graduating Family Nutrition and Consumer Science student, said some of his colleagues in the department, who celebrated after their final examination, may be held down in school for plagiarism of project dissertations.

    He noted that his department has strict regulations for supervision of students’ final year projects, adding that some of his colleagues were not allowed to graduate last year because they plagiarised their dissertations.

    He said: “Department of Family Nutrition and Consumer Science is very strict when it comes to final year project. We have some senior colleagues who are still in school because they copied theses of projects done by those that graduated many years ago. Their supervisors discovered and their graduation was withdrawn. They had extra years in school because they were told to start their projects all over again.”

    Lecturers’ mischief could delay students’ graduation, Funmi Olapade, a graduating Education and English Language student, said, while sharing the experience of her friend identified as Tolu.

    Tolu, she said, failed a course when she was in 300-Level because she refused to hug the lecturer taking the course at the Department of Special Education and Curriculum in the Faculty of Education.

    Funmi said: “That resulted in an automatic extra year, because she did not have extra credit load in 400-Level to accommodate the course. Tolu cried in silence because she could not tell anyone about her problem with the lecturer. So how does this become the student’s fault?”

    Dr Oludele Okewole, a lecturer of Social Studies, disagreed with Funmi, saying no “serious student” can be delayed in school after passing all required courses. He listed ill-health, financial problem, failure, incomplete number of required courses, misplacement of priority as reasons why students may earn extra years in school.

    Some students combine their studies with business to raise money for their fees and become self-reliant during their period of study. When they become engrossed in trade, these students relegate core purpose in school for their business, resulting in setback in their academic performance.

    Oluwaseun Bankole, 400-Level History and International Relations, found nothing wrong in combining business skills with academics, but said tertiary education system is “too rigid” to allow students work while they study.

    She adduced academic reasons for students’ inability to graduate in record period, saying some lecturers “intentionally” fail students.

    Giving an instance how students’ scripts are intentionally marked down by lecturers, Oluwaseun said: “We have so many students who fail because lecturers don’t want to make their courses so cheap. In OAU, History and International Relations are two different disciplines in the Faculties of Arts and Administration, unlike other institutions where they are placed under one department. History students offer borrowed courses in International Relations courses during the second semester of 300-Level and usually, only a few students pass the courses. Majority of students are marked down by lecturers who don’t want students to see their courses as cheap.

    “History courses are easily passed, but this is not so for International Relations subjects. Blaming students for failing the borrowed courses is not a tenable excuse, because mass failure has been a yearly pattern in the Department of International Relations. I believe this is an intentional act against students combining the two disciplines.”

    Oluwaseun said those who failed more than one course in 300-Level, were not allowed to take the carryover courses in 400-Level, because of the number of required courses to be taken in their final year. According to her, this automatically means the affected students would have extra year in school.

    Head of the Department of Arts and Social Sciences Education, Dr E.F. Bamidele, said it would be unethical for any lecturer to deliberately fail students, blaming the students for not putting up good performance.

    He said: “No lecturer derives joy or pride in failing students. Just as it is unethical for any lecturer to award marks for undeserving students, it is also wrong to intentionally fail students, especially in the final year. We do not undermine what students are capable of doing outside the academic environment. But, students need to convince their lecturers that they know the reason why they are in school. Many of them don’t read, yet they want to have good grades.”

    Dr Bamidele cited the case of a student who is unable to graduate in the last four years because he has repeatedly failed EGL401. “Why should a serious student fail one course repeatedly? Isn’t that a sign of not being serious?” he queried.

  • Still on Jonathan’s blues

    Abdullahi Usman was Personal Assistant to former Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega, and his Recorder at the National Collation Centre for both the 2011 and 2015 national elections. He was in the thick of collation of the 2015 presidential and National Assembly (NASS) poll results, and here rejoins to claims of vote disparity in the following piece titled:

    Alleged one million-vote disparity in 2015 Kano results

    In his book, Against the Run of Play: How an incumbent president was defeated in Nigeria, Olusegun Adeniyi cited former President Goodluck Jonathan alleging a huge disparity in the election results from Kano State in respect of the presidential and National Assembly elections conducted by INEC on March 28, 2015. On pages 17 and 18 of the 221-page book, reference was made to a potential disparity of one million votes, as reported inter alia: “Go and check the results from Kano. The presidential election and that of National Assembly happened on the same day and same time. The National Assembly result reflected that about 800,000 people voted but that of the presidential election reflected a vote of about 1.8million.”

    In the same introductory section, a friend and former colleague in the electoral commission described this as “nothing particularly special,” and went on to explain, amongst others, that the alleged scenario in Kano was a “general trend (across the country) as many voters were more interested in the presidential election than in other elections;” but he was not specifically recorded as having disputed that outrageous disparity. While not disagreeing with his submission, it is important to stress that the figures ascribed to each of the two elections were nowhere near the actual number of voters in the official results.

    The 2015 presidential and NASS elections held on the same day nationwide. The NASS poll was for seats in the Senate and House of Representatives, hence three separate elections were simultaneously conducted on the said date.

    To compare the number of voters in the presidential election with voter turnout in each of the two NASS elections in any state, we must first arrive at the total number of votes cast in each of the NASS elections in that state. And, to do that, the three Senatorial Districts’ vote tally must be added together to get the cumulative number in respect of the senatorial election in the entire state, while the total number of Federal Constituencies in respect of the House of Representatives seats contested (which happens to be 24 in Kano) must equally be tallied to arrive at the grand total. The three can then be compared to see if there is any disparity, before we can proffer probable reasons for such disparity – if any.

    As we may recall from our elementary school Mathematics, the part cannot be greater than the whole. Consequently, the reference to 1.8million as the total number of people that voted in the presidential election in Kano cannot logically be correct where one of the 14 presidential candidates secured over 1.9million votes in that same election. The total number of votes cast in the 2015 presidential election in Kano State was 2,172,447, as captured on INEC’s Presidential Election Summary of Results From States “Form EC 8D (A)” – a stamped and sealed copy of which was given out to agents of all political parties on the ballot, and to representatives of security agencies present at the Collation Centre following formal declaration by the Commission in the early hours of March 31, 2015.

    This figure is broken down as follows: party/candidate with the highest votes scored 1,903,999 votes; party/candidate that came second scored 215,779 votes; the remaining 12 parties/candidates cumulatively scored 9,043 votes (which made it essentially a two-horse race). Total valid votes were 2,128,821; while rejected votes stood at 43,626, representing 2.01% of total votes cast. Total number of registered voters in Kano was 4,943,862, while number accredited was 2,364,434. The difference of 191,987 between accredited voters and total votes cast owed to those that failed to show up for voting after accreditation.

    The 2.01%  rejected votes for Kano was not dissimilar to many other states that recorded large voter turnout for that election. Examples are Kaduna (total votes cast – 1,650,201), Rivers (1,584,768), Katsina (1,481,714), Delta (1,284,848) and Akwa Ibom (1,028,551) with percentages of rejected votes at 1.98%, 1.22%, 2.17%, 1.33% and 1.12% respectively. Overall rejected votes percentage nationwide stood at 2.87% of the 29,432,083 total votes cast, compared to 3.19% recorded in 2011 out of 39,469,484 total votes cast.

    For the two NASS elections, both of which also ended up as two-horse races, INEC’s official results as published in various national dailies (excluding rejected votes and the cumulative votes scored by other parties in the election) were as follows:

    Senatorial election: (1) Kano Central: Winning candidate – 758,383; Runner-up – 205,809, (2) Kano North: Winning candidate – 381,393; Runner-up – 107,845 and (3) Kano South: Winning candidate – 498,528; Runner-up – 145,923. Total votes scored by the two leading political parties were 2,097,881. These excluded rejected ballots and votes scored by other parties that contested election in each Senatorial District, which could explain the difference of 74,566 compared to total votes cast in the presidential election.

    House of Representatives election: (1) Rano/Kibiya/Bunkure: Winner – 66,091; Runner-up – 30,129. (2) Karaye/Rogo: Winner – 54,907; Runner-up – 30,129. (3) Dala: Winner – 91,616; Runner-up – 4,740. (4) Nasarawa: Winner – 111,473; Runner-up – 12, 608. (5) Fagge: Winner – 44,226; Runner-up – 12,700. (6) Dawakin Tofa/Tofa/Rimin Gado: Winner – 79,473; Runner-up – 21,490. (7) Kura/Madobi/Garun-Mallan: Winner – 82,555; Runner-up – 30,708. (8) Ungogo/Minjibir: Winner – 89,945; Runner-up – 23,993. (9) Bagwai/Shanono: Winner – 48,548; Runner-up – 18,864. (10) Gwarzo/Kabo: Winner – 67,770; Runner-up – 17,610. (11) Kunchi/Tsanyawa: Winner – 53,250; Runner-up – 9,550. (12) Takai/Sumaila: Winner – 79,486; Runner-up – 21,521. (13) Tarauni: Winner – 55,221; Runner-up – 14,013. (14) Gezawa/Gabasawa: Winner – 65,114; Runner-up – 17,553. (15) Bichi: Winner – 39,408; Runner-up – 11,862. (16) Danbatta/Makoda: Winner – 52,871; Runner-up – 17,988. (17) Tudun Wada/Doguwa: Winner – 67,350; Runner-up – 16,844. (18) Dawakin Kudu/Warawa: Winner – 57,528; Runner-up – 21,338. (19) Kano Municipal Council: Winner – 81,104; Runner-up – 14,804. (20) Kumbotso: Winner – 50,549; 1st Runner-up – 14,239; 2nd Runner-up – 6,762. (21) Gwale: Winner – 47,179; Runner-up -13,382. (22) Kiru/Bebeji: Winner – 55,589; Runner-up – 22,674. (23) Wudil/Garko: Winner – 65,905; Runner-up – 11,169 and (24) Gaya/Ajingi/Albasu: Winner – 94,782; Runner-up – 13,862. Total votes scored by the two leading parties in the House of Representatives election across the state amounted to 2,032,472. These excluded rejected ballots and votes scored by other political parties, which could also explain the shortfall of 139,975 votes compared to the presidential votes tally.

    From the foregoing breakdown, it should be evident that any allusion to a probable disparity of one million votes between the number of people that voted in the presidential election and those that voted in either of the two NASS elections is nothing but an illusion.

     

    • Abdullahi Usman writes from usmanabd@gmail.com

  • Jonathan’s blues

    It is indeed curious President Muhammadu Buhari has re-nominated for Senate screening and confirmation, 82 year old Sylvanus Adiewere Nsofor (rtd) as a non career ambassador. In a letter to that effect dated March 29, the President was silent on the reasons for Nsofor’s re-nomination.

    When the nominee appeared before the Senate on March 23, he was rejected due to his refusal to respond appropriately to questions posed to him during the screening exercise by members of the committee on foreign affairs. The committee chairman, Senator Monsurat Sunmonu had then said Nsofor was not rejected because of his age even as he walked in looking frail and was supported as he was not able to walk on his own.

    According to him, “his responses to issues raised were either not answered or devoid of details and mostly satirical. When we asked him to recite the National Anthem, he said we should have sent him a syllabus”. A member of the committee asked him if he knew about IT. He asked what is IT and I told him Information Technology and he said “it’s for your age and not mine”. Also when asked if he was not too old, he said we should go and ask Mugabe who is still working.

    For this inability to respond to questions in the appropriate manner for reasons best known to him, the Senate refused to approve his nomination for the ambassadorial position. Now that the President has re-nominated him, what assurances are there that he will not again ask to be sent a syllabus when asked to recite the National Anthem, refer them to Mugabe when issues are raised about his age and tell the committee that information technology is for their age and not his?

    Even if a new set of questions are asked him by committee members, what guarantee is there his responses will not toe the same evasive pattern? This poser has been raised to underscore the inappropriateness of his re-nomination by the President. From all indications, Nsofor is neither prepared for the job nor is his age best suited for it. At 82, and given the committees’ characterization of his appearance, it is obvious he has no business with that job. Perhaps, he knows that too well and that may have accounted for the manner he responded to questions posed to him by members. A nominee who felt so confident to tell the Senate committee members that information technology is for their age and not his has no business taking up appointment either as a career or non-career ambassador.

    But more importantly, at 82, it is ridiculous that somebody is still considering the retired judge for such appointment. There are other ways of helping him if someone is interested in his welfare rather that make a mockery of that sensitive office. The situation is even more disconcerting when it is recognized that such appointments are made on representative basis.

    Imo State which he is being appointed to represent has a surfeit of high level, energetic and well-qualified manpower for such positions. It is a slap on the collective psyche of people of that state that a retired 82 year old judge is the person found fit and proper to fill its slot at the ambassadorial level. What a shame!

    So the issue is not just about his inability or refusal to address questions posed to him in the appropriate manner. Even if he was able to answer the questions to the satisfaction of the committee members, his age cannot possibly permit his approval for that position. The Senate should not hesitate to reject him on account of old age even if he now answers questions to their satisfaction.

    President Buhari should be asked to nominate a more suitable candidate from Imo State for that position. We cannot continue recycling people who have served out their terms in their chosen fields in the face of the spiraling unemployment challenges that pose the greatest challenge to order, peace and stability in this country.

    The re-nomination of Justice Nsofor is a sad reminder to the controversy generated by the re-nomination of the acting chairman of the EFCC Ibrahim Magu who was equally rejected for non-satisfactory performance during screening in addition to the damning report on his credibility to lead the anti-graft war. Since the second rejection, we have been made to believe that a proper interpretation of the constitution shows clearly that the President does not really need the approval of the Senate to appoint the EFCC chairman.

    Yet, in the past, that tradition had been followed without any adverse consequence. We are not looking at the overall intendment of the act setting up such bodies in stipulating that their heads should be approved by the Senate. We now show scant interest in the principles of separation of powers, checks and balances and their overall capacity to check abuse of power which corrupts absolutely.

    In a bid to find escape route, we had to scrutinize the constitution to find a way out. And our researches paid off in section 171 of the constitution which they said empowers the President not to seek Senate approval for Magu’s appointment. We are now only interested in working from the answer so long that answer enables us achieve a predetermined end. That is the interpretation of the legal opinion offered by Femi Falana and copiously adopted by the Vice President Prof. Yemi Osinbajo that the EFCC chairman does not need Senate confirmation.

    But, Magu’s name had been sent to the same Senate on two consecutive times and rejected. Had he been confirmed, perhaps nobody would have cared to search the constitution to seek and explore loopholes. Given the above, it could be safely concluded that the whole idea is to have Magu on the EFCC seat by all means. But the interpretation of that part of the constitution by Falana and its adoption by Osinbajo is still not the end of it all. The final resolution of the matter lies with our courts.

    It is true that when any law clashes with the constitution, the latter takes precedence. But that is not the only issue that will be taken into account when the matter comes before the courts. The courts will also consider issues of public interest, what stood to be gained or lost by subjecting such appointments to Senate confirmation. They may also consider the dangers inherent in having the executive solely appoint heads of such sensitive bodies on the overall assignment they have to prosecute.

    Besides, it has been argued that section 60 of the 1999 constitution (as amended) empowers the Senate and the House of Representatives to make rules to guide their activities. It is further being contended that section 60 is not inferior to section 171 and that the rule of the House is subsidiary legislation deriving its powers from the grand norm, which is the 1999 constitution.

    The above point underscores the contention that the interpretation proffered by Falana and adopted by Osinbajo is still largely provisional as it cannot be the final position on the matter. The issue should be challenged in the courts for us to get to know the true position.

    But then, should we undertake all this trouble just because Magu is involved? Must he stay in that office by all means? These are the issues to ponder especially given the valuable energy dissipated on this singular appointment. Even if he does not need Senate approval to retain his job, has he cleared himself of the damaging allegations against him by the DSS?

    This poser is germane given that Babachir Lawal, former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF who was earlier cleared by the President together with Magu on the allegations made against him has now been suspended from duty and being investigated. If the government has seen reason even very belatedly to suspend Lawal, it needs to revisit the Magu saga instead of exploring loopholes in the constitution to retain him by all means.

     

  • RANDOM BLUES

    Between the cracks in the wind

    Live the elephants of time

    Yes, between the cracks in the wind

    Live the elephants of time

    Their tusks tease the ticking clock

    They push the day towards its prime

    Tread soft-soled

    In the territory of Pain

    Say, tread soft-soled

    In the territory of Pain

    Thorns and thistles in the silent sand

    May make your roost a tricky lane

    Sorrow built a house

    For Joy to live

    Hear? Sorrow built a house

    For Joy to live

    Between sun and rain, a looming rainbow

    One needs the other to live and thrive

    Laughter sits pretty

    In a lazy sofa

    Hear, Laughter sits pretty

    In a lazy sofa

    Lolls all day like a friendly puppy

    Has no room for the sourly petty

    Every time the dentist says

    Smile, smile and please the town

    Yea, every time my dentist says

    Smile, smile and please the town

    I giggle like a gale, striving tooth

    And nail to suppress a frown

  • Budget blues

    T appears the row over the budget will never end. Right from the outset, the budget has been dogged by controversy. There was no stage of the document that did not have its own drama. Whether at the compilation, preparation, appropriation, documentation or signing stage, it was one drama after the other. It is as if we have never seen a budget go through the mill since the return to democracy in 1999. Yet, between then and now, 15 budgets have been presented to the National Assembly by a sitting president.

    Budget 2016 seems to have a life and a story of its own. These two elements derive from the persona of the person of the president, who we can safely call the author of the budget. The budget bears the imprimatur of President Muhammadu Buhari. He may not have personally prepared the budget, but his influence over its preparation cannot be ruled out. Known as a man of integrity, this attribute would have been at the back of the minds of those who worked on the budget.

    In discharging this onerous task, top officials of the various ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) charged with this task must have been guided by the philosophy of the president that every kobo must be accounted for. To account for every kobo, there must be transparency and prudence in the compilation of the fiscal document, which will guide the nation’s spending during the year. Some of them tried to play games with the process by adding their own figures to some areas of the budget. It was a trick that they used in the past and got away with. But this time around, with the wind of change blowing across the country, it was not business as usual.

    The president caused the process to be double checked with the eyes of an elder and it was found that certain things just did not add up. Since then, the budget has been reeling from one case of padding to the other. Officials of MDAs started this padding, which from all indications did not start with the 2016 Budget. It is more than certain that our budgets since 1999 would have been tampered with one way or the other by these people, who know where to hide some cash and how to get it out when the time comes. A budget cabal, it seems, exists in every ministry, department and agency.

    This cabal knows that without the National Assembly, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to steal from the budget. So, it infiltrated the National Assembly, with which it has been working for the past 17 years to steal our money via appropriations. The chicken has come home to roost with what is playing out among leaders of the House of Representatives. The lower chamber’s debacle clearly shows that there is something intrinsically wrong with the way our budgets have been appropriated over the years. The lawmakers, who are supposed to be the representatives of the people, have turned budget appropriation into an avenue for stealing.

    Under the guise of making a case for projects in their constituencies, they appropriate funds under bogus heads and when the cash is released they, in connivance with top officials of MDAs, take the money and share. Abdulmumin Jibrin, until about two weeks ago, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, knows all the tricks deployed in this budget-for-project-scam. His committee worked on the 2016 Budget and from what he is saying today, the panel did not do a good job. Instead, it was more interested in serving the needs of members under the pretence of serving the people.

    Members were using their influence to get money appropriated for fictitious projects, which cash will end up in their pockets. Jibrin, according to some members, was also into the game. He was said to have asked some of his colleagues to name projects for their constituencies which would be included in the budget. In some cases, he was said to have told his colleagues that he had put projects and appropriated money for them in the budget on their behalf. Just like that! Yes, just like that! Some played along with Jibrin, others allegedly raised the alarm, but nothing came out of it because Speaker Yakubu Dogara and Deputy Speaker Yusuff Lasun seemed to know what was going on.

    If they knew, as their colleagues are saying, why did the presiding officers keep quiet? Is it that they benefited from Jibrin’s ‘generosity’, that is if we can call what he did generous? We would not have heard of this matter if Jibrin had not been removed as the appropriations committee chairman. His removal, which he prefers to call resignation, triggered the budget padding scandal in the House. What annoyed him, he said, was the statement credited to Dogara who he supported with all he had for the speakership last year. He said Dogara painted him black, pointing out that the speaker’s statement suggested that he abused his position as committee chairman. Didn’t he?

    Known to be a fighter with the way he mounted the Dogara-for-speaker campaign, which no doubt fetched him the committee job, Jibrin is deploying the same arsenal and zeal in fighting the speaker over this budget padding matter. The speaker, Lasun, Chief Whip Ado Doguwa and Minority Leader Leo Ogor, among others, he alleged, wanted to appropriate to themselves N40 billion out of the N100 billion earmarked for the 360-member House. In all, he said the over N6 trillion budget was padded with N284 billion. Dogara has described his estranged friend as a blackmailer and asked him to withdraw the allegation or face legal action.

    Jibrin has said he would not withdraw the claim, daring the speaker to go to court. Before they go to court, Nigerians will be interested in knowing whether or not both of them benefited from the padding of the budget. Reason: It is now certain that some figures, which should not be there, found their way into the budget despite all the president’s efforts to ensure that that did not happen. Our lawmakers are just too much. See how they beat the president in his anti-graft war. Right under his nose, they smuggled their own figures into the budget and he signed it without knowing. I do not know what could be worse than using the president to perfect what could be called stealing from the budget.

    As if the president knew. Little wonder, he initially refused to sign the budget until the lawmakers removed some of the padded figures. How do we remove the remaining padded figures from the budget and bring those responsible to justice? This should be an urgent task for the law enforcement agencies.

  • Power sector blues

    Power sector blues

    •Stakeholders must be guided by public interest at all times

    Last week, protesters under the aegis of the Citizen Access to Electricity Initiative (CAEI), in conjunction with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), took to Lagos streets to decry the abysmal service delivery of Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company (IKEDC)). The organisers also identified “indiscriminate sacking of over 400 workers without any reason” as one of the reasons behind their protest.

    Alarmed by the potentially disruptive effect of the protests on their operations, the company went to court seeking to restrain “the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE), Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies (SSAEAC), Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), their agents, officers, privies, representatives or otherwise, whether acting of their own accords or in concert with other bodies, persons or unions, from disrupting or shutting down the operations of the company or barricading the entry and exit points of her corporate headquarters… or any other premises or location where the company carries out commercial and (or) technical operations”.

    Also on Wednesday last week, Transmission Company of Nigeria locked out workers from its headquarters in Abuja over outstanding issues relating to severance payment for some workers of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN).

    For a sector already hobbled by operational and other logistical challenges, there seems to be no end in sight to the many crises facing the sector. In February, it was a storm over the new electricity tariff structure proposed by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission under the Multi Year Tariff Order, MYTO. This was at a time of worsening power supply and in the background of the continuing failure of the Discos to issue electricity consumers with meters. The angst provoked by that move had barely quietened down when the grid experienced total shutdown – twice within a fortnight – from an alleged sabotage of gas infrastructure.

    Last week’s street protests would appear to have marked a new phase in the struggle to address the worsening crisis and to get the Discos to address consumer concerns.

    Nearly three years after the take-over of the entities of the erstwhile PHCN by the private sector, Nigerians are about now wondering how much worse things would have to get before they get better – or whether they ever will.

    As it is, the same vices – of corruption and extremely poor service delivery which took the sector to the nadir, and which necessitated the privatisation, appears to have metastasised into new malignant forms, hence the current tragedy of the greater majority of electricity consumers continuing to pay premium for services not delivered.

    More than that, far from delivering on their promise to attract new investments, revamp and upgrade the inherited infrastructure and modernise operations, the operators have demonstrated neither the financial muscle nor the technical/managerial capability to inspire confidence in their ability to turn things around.

    Unfortunately, while the constant threat of eruptions over unresolved labour issues would ordinarily appear normal, given that the industry is currently in the throes of transition, that these have come at the pains of sabotage and overt threats to the system would suggest that something more fundamental is amiss.

    We must state that nothing would be achieved by constant threats of sabotage and disruptions to the operations of the electricity companies. Both would most certainly injure public cause and set the industry back. Yes, the electricity consumer deserves far better than currently served. Surely, they deserve more than the anaemic operators foisted on them.

    As for the workers, they deserve fair and equitable settlements in the spirit of collective bargaining and to the extent permissible by the law.

    Yet, we are constrained to restate that the parties should be guided by public interest at all times just as the nation’s collective interest should override every other consideration.

    In summary, the parties are admonished to refrain from acts capable of further aggravating the current crisis.

  • Mikel rested in Blues FA Cup win

    Mikel rested in Blues FA Cup win

    •Fourth round draw to be held today

    Nigerian international Mikel  Obi was rested by manager Guus Hiddink in the FA Cup Third round win against English League One side Scunthorpe United yesterday at Stamford Bridge.

    The Blues continued their resurgence under the Dutch caretaker manager with a comfortable 2-0 victory but Mikel who has been a mainstay for the former UEFA Champions League winners was given a deserved rest after featuring in all Hiddink’s three previous games.

    The former Lyn Oslo midfielder watched from the bench as Spaniard Diego Costa escaped Scott Laird and impressively directed Branislva Ivanovic’s cross past Luke Daniels in goal for the visitors inside the first 13 minutes.

    It did not turn out a whitewash as expected as the Blues waited until the second half to double their lead courtesy of substitute Ruben Loftus-Cheek who blasted a shot past the keeper after receiving a pass from Cesar Azpilicueta.

    Chelsea won the game 2-0 and will now await the fourth round draw which will be held this evening.

  • Blues at the bourse

    • Bears run riot as Nigeria’s stock exchange shed N3.25 trillion in one year

    The horizon appears grim: severely shrunk revenues caused by the sustained dip in the price of oil; a stifling environment that continues to constrict and shrink private sector activities; pervading gloom occasioned by high unemployment rates, in the atmosphere of rising but increasingly hard to meet expectations.

    Too say the Nigerian economy has fallen into terrible times would pass as an understatement. That much is replicated in the general economy, beyond the precincts of the stock exchange.

    Still, we refer here to the travails that have constrained the Nigerian equities market to a losing streak over the last one year.

    According to Vanguard newspaper, the Nigerian bourse has shed a whopping N3.255 trillion in the 12 months from 30 September 2014 to 8 October 2015. More explicitly, the market whose capitalisation stood at N13.61 trillion on 30 September 2014 fell to N10.26 trillion on October 8, a net loss of 23.9 per cent one year later.

    Following that bearish trend is the All Share Index (ASI), which also dropped by 26.9 per cent from 41, 210.10 basis points to 30, 123.20 points in the corresponding period.

    If it is any consolation, there is sufficient evidence to point at in the Nigerian bourse story as merely reflecting the realities faced by the larger economy at this time. After all, it would seem unimaginable that the equities market will continue to thrive at a time factories are daily drawing shutters on their operations; and at a time economic activities are slowing down.

    What these imply is that the factors behind the trend could very easily be explained. Foremost on the list, of course, is the dip in oil prices that has put a lot of strain on spending across the board.

    Related to that is the continuing devaluation of the national currency, the Naira; with the resultant negative impact on inflation rate and hence, the market.

    There is also the factor of uncertainties brought by this year’s general elections, as a result of which many of the so-called foreign investors cashed out.

    We have also heard some analysts hold the tardiness in the appointment of ministers as contributing to the fostering of uncertainty on the economy, though a more rigorous reason would appear the general freeze over spending, to kickstart President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption war.

    Not a bad one, given how corruption has eaten into Nigerian life.  Still, the president must know that the fight against corruption should not end up corrupting — and compromising — the economy.  There is therefore need for balance and moderation, without sacrificing the basic anti-sleaze principles.

    All of these no doubt (although to different degrees), together with the general perception of insecurity across the land, could well serve to explain the situation.

    We recognise that there can be no such thing as magic bullet to redress the situation. The challenge really is how to create an enabling environment for businesses – particularly indigenous businesses – to thrive.

    Indeed, the craze for the so-called foreign investment continues to be inexplicable.  In 2008/2009, these same foreign portfolio investors cashed out at the onset of the global credit crisis, thus precipitating the collapse of the Nigerian bourse.  It appears no lessons have been learned from that — for that situation appears playing out again.

    The anxieties over the so-called expulsion by the American lender, JP Morgan, obviously flows from that same obsession with anything foreign.

    We have said it again and again – and we think it bears repeating – that the current fixation with Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and their hordes of portfolio investors is somewhat misplaced. It is also worth stressing that a country’s equities market is a reflection of its economic fundamentals.

    To that extent, the market can only lift when the larger economy is doing well. As for the Nigerian bourse, stability and meaningful growth would only come when the Nigerian investor truly holds the ace.

    At the moment, the best that Federal Government can do is to continue to promote a healthy environment for doing business. A huge part of the challenge is continuous investment in critical infrastructure without which costs of production would continue to be prohibitive.  The government should also put in place policies to make businesses truly competitive.

    With deepened and better investment in critical infrastructure — in power, rail and road — local firms would better compete, since they would enjoy lower production and transportation costs.

    With upgraded infrastructure deepening the local economy, holding stocks would become much more profitable. That way, confidence will not only return, it would likely stay up for a long time (other things being equal); and the bourse will bounce again.

    This fundamental approach holds alluring prospects; far better than putting our fate in the hands of fickle foreign investors, who bale out at the first hint of trouble.