The Nation Newspaper

Tag: change

  • The change the health sector needs

    SIR: Healthy citizens, make a healthy and wealthy nation. That is why nations of the world serious about achieving great wealth, prioritizes health matters and devote enormous resources to the sector; from huge financial resources, to ensuring that the sectors’ manpower are kept happy. Over the years, this has not been the case of Nigeria. Despite the volumes of strategic health documents and commitments signed by previous governments (at federal and state levels) to improve health sector funding, the budgetary allocation to the sector still remains low; as medical personnel more than often go on stike actions; hospital wards still lack sufficient facilities and skilled manpower; the sick in many communities especially in the rural villages still travel miles to access medical care; while the supposedly rich in the urban cities spend fortunes to travel abroad in search of better health services. According to figures quoted by the Nigerian Medical Association, more than 5,000 Nigerian patients travel abroad for medical treatment every year; spending over N120bn ($800m) annually on foreign medical trips.

    From the Ebola outbreak, it has become obvious to all, that access to adequate healthcare and sanitation facilities is suppose to be a right to everyone regardless of tribe, economic status, legal position, state or location.

    Despite the enourmous resources in Nigeria, recent figures published in World Health Statistics 2014, shows Nigeria dragging positions with nations recovering and experiecing wars and genocide. Nigeria records the second highest maternal mortality rate in the world after India. The same applies in the rate of infant and child mortality rates. Medical personnel especially in government hospitals are more than often over stretched; take the furstartion out on patient, and in some cases induced to work negligence, which in many cases have led to the death of patients especially pregnant women and babies. With one midwife attending to over 20 pregnant women, contrary to WHO recommendation of one to four patients, in hospitals that lack water facilities, medical staffs are not only at the risk of loosing their minds from work overload, but are also at the risk of contacting transmitable diseases depite being owed arrears and under payed by their governments.

    There is the need for decision-makers, faith based organisations and other stakeholder and relevant audience to support and implement actions for the holistic reform of the health sector to reposition the health and developmental need of the people. This can be achieved when stakeholders, especially the government, pays critical attention to ensuring the full implementation of the relevant laws, acts and signed treaties relating to health sector improvements.

    Since 2001, allocation to the health sector has been on the downside. Barely six percent of the aggregate budget annually is allocated to the health sector, despite several re-affirmations by both past and present governments to commit 15% of the national budget to the sector. While South Africa and Ghana have their average percentages of public health expenditure as a total government spending to be 10.8% and 10.7% respectively, Nigeria lingers at 6.5% from 2007 to 2014. There is therefore need for increased budgetary allocation to the health sector as stipulated by the AU Abuja Declaration.

    While seeking for other innovative ways of funding the health sector to increase accessibility and affordability, there is also need to fast-track universal access therough health insurance.  The in-coming administration will do well to take more proactive approach to providing better working conditions for medial workers.

    Finally, while the burden of providing healthcare have been more on the neck of the federal government, citizens need to wake up from the traditional docility and demand for improved health care delivery from the state governments as well as their local government, as staying health is basic to the fundamental right to life we all deserve.

     

    • Donald Ikenna Ofoegbu

    Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), Abuja.

     

  • How civil society, citizens contributed to ‘change’

    How civil society, citizens contributed to ‘change’

    The change of leadership at the centre, achieved at the last elections, resulted mostly from a combination of factors, including a vigilant citizenry driven by Civil Society Organisations (CSOs). ERIC IKHILAE examines the role played by one of such groups – Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room.

    Nigeria has been hailed globally for achieving a rancour-free change of leadership at the centre, with the displacement of the ruling party – the Peoples Democratic Party – through a near-perfect electoral process, which many have described as a work-in-progress.

    The success achieved in the general elections has been attributed to a combination of factors, which included the existence of an electoral umpire with a focused leadership, a well-coordinated opposition forces and a vigilant citizenry, driven by observant civil society organisations (CSOs).

    One of such CSOs is the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room (Situation Room), a coalition of about 60 CSOs, which kept an eye on processes leading to the elections.

    Led by the Executive Director of the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC), Clement Nwankwo, the group’s members monitored the electoral process, keeping Nigerians informed about developments through briefings at its situation room in Abuja.

    In the build-up to the elections, it held discussions with major key players in the electoral process, including the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega; international figures, such as the ex-Secretary-General, United Nations, Kofi Annan, and notable religious leaders, such as Cardinal John Onaiyekan.

    Some of the sessions examined issues, including INEC’s preparations for the elections, how to ensure a rancour-free process and what should be done to ensure that the nation gets the electoral process right and avert chaos.

    When the elections were suddenly postponed from the earlier dates of February 14 and 28, the group alerted the populace, through a statement on February 12, titled: “Situation Room: Nigeria’s democracy imperiled,” to an imminent danger.

    It urged major stakeholders, particularly the courts, the security agencies and religious organisations to be wary and desist from yielding themselves as tools to truncate the democratic process.

    It noted: “the postponement of the elections following the stark refusal of the military authorities to guarantee security for the elections, while evoking dark memories of past military dictatorships, has thrown up various constitutional and political challenges that undermine and subvert our fledgling democracy.

    “It has also shaken public credibility and confidence in the forthcoming elections, setting off a round of speculations and conspiracy theories about the real motivation for the shift of the election dates,” it said, warning against any further tinkering with the election timetable.

    “We believe the postponement of this election, for whatever reason, will undermine whatever modicum of legitimacy the electoral process still has and may ultimately be the trigger for massive unrest, violence and armed conflict, effectively setting the stage for civil unrest,” it added.

    At the conclusion of the first round of voting on March 28 the group, after a thorough assessment of the exercise, observed some lapses, including late arrival of electoral officers to polling centres, reported cases of the malfunctioning of the card reader machines, partisan conduct by some security personnel, among others.

    In a statement it issued on March 29, the group stated that the failure of the card reader in some cases, which forced INEC to revert to manual accreditation, undermined the full benefit anticipated by the use of biometric technology and imposed unnecessary hardship on Nigerians.

    It also warned about the threat posed to the process’s credibility, where security agencies failed to prevent interference in the electoral process in some states. It urged the security agencies and officials to conduct themselves according to established standards of professional conduct, and asked INEC to correct its own deficiencies and inform the Nigerian public as to what to expect,” during the next round of elections.

    On April 13, the group made public its assessment of the April 11 governorship and House of Assembly elections, querying the credibility of the outcome of the elections in Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Abia states.

    The group, whose member organisations had election monitors throughout the country, said from reports submitted by members, it was concerned “about the overall conduct of the elections” in the three states because there are grounds to question the credibility of the elections results.

    It urged INEC to take steps to authenticate the final collated results from the three states against the polling unit results and make a reasoned judgment about them.

    The group noted that in Rivers, “historically deep-rooted political animosities played out in a brazen, violent and naked manner to subvert the electoral process in many local governments in the state.

    “In Akwa Ibom, there were also serious questions about the veracity of the results because of reports of active and direct partisan interference with elections.

    “There are also concerns about Abia State, which recorded multiple cases of electoral misconduct,” it said.

    The group expressed concern about what it termed the weak oversight powers of INEC’s national headquarters over the Resident Electoral Commissioners and state INEC offices in the management and conduct of elections, which it partly blamed for the situation in the three states.

    “This makes it easy for compromised RECs and other state-level INEC officers to undermine the credibility of the election, sometimes with reckless impunity,” it said.

    Nwankwo dwelt on this perceived inadequacy in the administrative arrangement of INEC when he spoke with The Nation in Abuja. He stressed the urgent need for amendments to electoral law, to improve on the level of control INEC headquarters should have over the conduct of its officials at the state level.

    “That is the problem. There is a vacuum in the law that provides a hiding place for INEC headquarters to hide and refuse to cancel elections.

    “The electoral law requires that INEC makes available all the needed evidences, if it gets to litigation. Should that be the case, as INEC has said it will not cancel announced elections, I think it becomes important that INEC provides all the necessary evidences needed to prosecute litigation should the aggrieved elect to explore the litigation option.”

    On his assessment of this year’s elections, Nwankwo said “the 2015 general elections have seen a huge improvement on the part of INEC.  We are not there yet.  We think it is a long way to go and that there are improvements to be made. I am sure there will be recommendations on how to further improve the electoral system that need to be embarked upon.”

    He said the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room has been in existence since 2010 and that it also observed the elections in 2011. “We think it (the Situation Room) has provided a good platform and mechanism for civil society organisations to closely follow the electoral process, observe it and make recommendations for improvement.

    “So, by and large, yes, we are doing well in fulfilling the purpose for which this platform was created.”

    On the group’s future engagements, Nwankwo said “We will do a review of this year’s elections. We will come up with suggestions on improvement, and advocate these suggestions. We will also function in the manner of watching over the governance process.

    “So, it is not just about elections, it is about the performance of government, the delivery of government and the monitoring of all the indicators of governance to ensure that the government fulfils the promises it has made to Nigerians.”

     

  • Today’s election and the bandwagon, change and continuity syndromes

    To  say  or hazard  a guess  that today’s guber  and state legislative elections in Nigeria  will be very  much affected by the results  of the last presidential  elections is not  in anyway  an exaggeration but the truth. The presidential  election was won by APC candidate  retired General Muhammadu  Buhari who  is now our official  president elect while   the  loser  and  incumbent president must carry on like  the ultimate lame duck  president he has become till  the president elect  is sworn in on our democracy day May  29. That  really is the beauty  of democracy which  the great  Nnamdi  Azikiwe  used  to admonish  the former Administrator  of the East  Central state by  telling the man Ukpabi  Asika that  no condition  is permanent  and that was why the son  of a postmaster  could become a state governor.

    Similarly  the last presidential  elections  threw  the president who  never wore  shoes  before  coming  to power out  of office and replaced  him with  a man who  had lost thrice  in seeking  that same office. That  is what the French  mean when they say C’est  la vie   which  means such is life.

    Given  the  great   opportunities, influence and power  that electoral victories  confer  on successful  contestants it  is not difficult  to see  why electoral victories  are  celebrated in a triumphal,  winners take  all  mood   as  if they  are the last elections  before the end of the world. The essence of such celebrations is to leave the losers and their  sympathisers in no doubt  of their failure  and   loss  or  that  failure  indeed is an orphan and  that success  is sweet  even  though  it has many  fathers including defectors 24  hours  to the election date.

    One   needs  this sort of  down to earth appraisal  and elucidation  to appreciate the theme  and topic of today  in  order to have a realistic grasp of the mood  of Nigerians as they vote in another election  today  at the mercy of the great INEC, Nigeria’s  mighty electoral body  and master artist at the trick of mass disenfranchisement  of  Nigerian  voters.  Please  do not lose any sleep over my description  of INEC  because  that important institution at  election time does not respond to complaints before elections not to talk  of during it and  it knows that given the way Nigerians are desperate for power it can get away with murder as the politicians  look  the other way. INEC’S  power in Nigerian  politics and with  regard  to Nigerian  political parties  and leaders  can  be compared to that of a football referee on the field of  play. Once  the referee issues a red card the victim keeps  on marching in one direction and that is out of the field  of play with some match bans  in toe.  Which  in this case is till next election  four  years on or the mitigation  of reinstatement after expensive  litigation accompanied by painful  lamentation on the success or failure  of such legal  gymnastics at which Nigeria’s famous SANs  make their  huge  fortunes   in  our  temples   of justice  smiling in silk all  the way to the bank.

    Let  me dilate first  on the concepts  I have  highlighted as likely  to  dominate  today’s  elections in various  contexts. The  first  is the bandwagon effect which  viewed  from the failure is an orphan  context favors  the APC  which  won  the presidential  election. The second is the change  concept  which the APC adopted because the ruling  PDP had been in power for the last 16 years and at a time a former Chairman of the party boasted  that the party, the PDP will be in power for the next 50  years which  is now  mere wishful  thinking. The  third is the concept  of  Continuity which  is the  adopted  profile  for parties  that had been  in  power  for a long time in any state and  such states can be either PDP or APC states.

    Given  the lure  of power and success  at  the  last  presidential  elections  the APC  should  benefit immensely nationwide from  the bandwagon effect  since it is now the party whose  candidate is the next landlord  or tenant at Aso  Rock Nigeria’s source  of power, wealth,  influence  and patronage. Today  when APC candidates tell  voters not to waste their vote by voting for the opposition which the PDP  has  suddenly  become they  sound quite believable  and credible;  because suddenly too, as a result  of the last presidential election the APC is now Nigeria’s ruling party. Today’s  election  should,     all   things   being equal , consolidate  that.

    Rather  than going round the  nation to  illustrate  the effect of the change and continuity syndrome on today’s  election I will  dwell  on the situation  in  Lagos  State  where  the APC  is  using the concept  of  Continuity  to  retain  power even though  it won the presidential elections on the slogan  of change.

    In  Lagos in particular an  institution that is supposed  to be apolitical  and neutral  in democratic affairs  and competition , the  traditional  institution has thrown spanner in the works  for the APC  which won the last presidential  elections on a slogan  of Change.  The  purported statement by the Oba of  Lagos Rilwan Akiolu that the Igbos  in Lagos should  vote for his anointed candidate and APC candidate  Akinwunmi  Ambode or  risk drowning in the Lagoon  if they  don’t  has heightened  tension  in the state where  the Igbos  are many and some of them won  legislative   seats  in the last  March  28  elections. The  APC  has  had to disown the Oba’s extravagant  and  totally  unexpected foray  into politics albeit  on the APC  side. The  party  has gone to great lengths  to distance itself from the Oba’s  choice pointing out that the king is not a card carrying member  of the APC  even though he is entitled to make  a political  choice  he is not expected to impose  his will on anyone else   including the energetic  and  economically  boisterous  Igbos.

    Really  I doubt if  the Oba’s  royal  gaffe  can upset  the applecart in a state that the APC  has  governed  with two governors and four terms in recent times. But  it is  natural  to expect the PDP,  a party  in  perpetual  opposition  in the state while in power in Abuja,  not try  to make a mountain out of the mole hill created unbelievably  by the Oba  of  Lagos.  Moreso  as the PDP normal  consolation in the state, the prized  possession  of Federal power and might had  been   evaporated  by the last  presidential election which was like  an upper  cut to  the jaw for a party  that has ruled Nigeria  in the best tradition  of the  infamous  ‘born to rule’  syndrome  of yesteryears.

    Overall  I  expect  the PDP  governors  and  candidates to fight fiercely for their  political  life to  show that the party is not about to collapse  like a pack  of cards  as in the domino theory on international  relations during the Cold War. But  then the  APC  can  bank  on the theory  that you  don’t change  a winning team   especially  one  that has just emerged  from the sweet  victory  of the last  presidential  elections. Definitely  in today’s  election the PDP  candidates  will  definitely  know  how the shoe  pinches.  Especially    now  when their  Champion  who  never  wore a shoe before becoming president is now  busy packing his belongings out of the seat  of power  in  Aso  Rock,  Abuja. Again, Happy  Voting.

  • I was nearly blown off by wind of change, says Oke

    I was nearly blown off by wind of change, says Oke

    A HUGE crowd yesterday jammed the conference hall of the Ondo State All Progressives Congress(APC) secretariat in Akure the Ondo State capital.

    The guests were defectors from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and APC supporters.

    The defectors were led by the 2012 PDP governorship candidate, Chief Olusola Oke. In the audience was Deputy Governor Ali Olanusi, who defected to the APC two days to the March 28 presidential election.

    Oke, who is the former National Legal Adviser of the PDP, said he was nearly blown off by the APC’s wind of change when he resisted joining the party before the presidential election.

    Oke said he had surrendered himself as part of the instrument to be used in transforming Nigeria.

    The former PDP chieftain  was received by Olanusi, the state chairman and his deputy, Isaac Kekemeke and Mr. Ade Adetimehin, Senator Ajayi Boroffice,Prince Olu Adegboro,Mrs  Fola Olaseinde Vincent, Mr Bola Ilori,Prince Ademola Adegoroye,Prince Adewale Omojuwa and many other leaders.

    Thousands of PDP members came with Oke to join APC – an indication that only Labour Party supporters who defected to PDP with Mimiko are now PDP members.

    Prominent among the defectors are: Abayomi Shaba, Mrs. Oladunni Odu, former Head of Service Olajide Ajana, Senator Gbenga Ogunniya, Mr. Ayo Fayefunmi, former Head of service, Alaba Isijola and House of Representatives member, Hon. Albert Akintoye.

    Others are Chief Olufemi Omosanya, Femi Bello, Febi Adeyemi, Segun Odidi, Folashade Gbajobi, Folake Omogoroye, Eniola Akinditure, Mrs. Yinka Ogunbabero, Chris Ayebutuwa, Sunday Kekereowo, Dare Adeniyi, Tayo Akinjo, Gbenga Opetusi, Dupe Ogundimeniha, Sule Oderinde and Nichola Akinbiola

    The rest are: Eniola Ogunga Hon. Tayo Fawehinmi, Mrs. Jedo, Hon. Olumoyegun,  Gbenga Princess, Dupe Adetuwo, Samuel Akinmade, Alhaji Sule Oderinde and Ibukun Omotehinse.

    Oke noted that he did not join the APC just because President Goodluck Jonathan lost his re-election, but because he wanted the wind of change blowing around to also change the present administration in Ondo State.

    He said: “I have passionately resisted to be part of this change, I resisted the wind of change that was blowing until it almost blew me out. Now, I have surrendered, I can’t resist no more.

    “I have come over not because PDP lost election, but I have come over because the wind of change blowing across Nigeria must blow over Ondo State. Let me commend you leaders for your courage, boldness in bringing about this change.

    “ In Ondo State, I know what you people have gone through because the forces of darkness that want the status quo to remain but everything in life is constant but change is permanent.

    “We have come to add value; we are not here to change. In 2012, when I took the courage to challenge the status quo, I titled my campaign ‘rescue mission’. That rescue mission that I cannot accomplish, the APC has promised a platform for that rescue of Ondo State.

    “No power of darkness will stop change from coming to Ondo State. Ondo State is the poorest state in the Southwest and we have no reason to be poor, because we have everything …, but our problem is lack of good leadership, lack of vision by those who are the privileged to preside over our affairs.

    “They changed a good government and replaced it with bad government and today there is penury in the land; deceit, unemployment. No industry, no employment, no job, no contract are being awarded and what we have are broken promises, deception and corruption at its peak.

    “Olokola that was supposed to be the desire, change to the state was killed. The last time I met Baba Obasanjo in Abeokuta, Baba said his priority is for the revival of Olokola in Ondo State. Mr. Chairman, we have come to join you so that this can be accomplished.”

    Oke went on: “Our belief is that for Ondo State to grow, you must open up the coastal resources and the forest resources. Today, what we have is replacement of priority. What is the meaning of mega primary school? It has no useful purpose. I called it mega nonsense and they were querelling with me and today, I call it mega wastage. What we see in Ondo State, debts; no project is going on and our money is being taken to Abuja on weekly basis to be a good boy in Abuja. I am happy that the priority of Mr. President-elect is to fight against corruption.”

    The three-term senator representing Ondo Central, who is a kinsman of Governor Olusegun Mimiko,Chief Gbenga Ogunniya, described his defection to the APC as the formalisation of a process which he started since September 2014.

    According to him, he stopped attending PDP functions, rallies and meetings, even as he was relating with APC leadership and strategising with them since then.

    Olanusi urged the party members and the new memebers to work hard and ensure they repeat on Sunday the feat recorded during the presidential  elections.

    Kekemeke said he believed that their coming together was to rescue the state from one man who believed he is smarter than others.

    “The Igbotako Accord is that we must all come together to put an end to the looting. Today, we have another accord, which is Great Ondo Accord – that all political parties coming together to deal with the governor. Ondo State is bigger.His ambition is to be the handsome, the richest, best fighter that everything that comes to the state must pass through him.

    “Today, he is shedding crocodile tears and we must not be deceived. He piloted the state as if there was no Assembly. We must quickly make sure we put an end to that.

    “We are expecting nothing less than 25 per cent to the additional strength of the party from our new members. We must come together against one man who believes he’s the best in all things.”

  • Anti-aging tips for Buhari in change era (1)

    All things being equal, as economists say, former Military Head of State Gen. Mohammadu Buhari (rtd) should succeed President GoodLuck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan on May 29. The choice of this date as a political succession day for Nigeria’s president, governors and parliaments may have petty origins on the surface, but, deep down, plugs into an important date in the universe. Traditionally since independent on October 1,  1960, this October day in which British colonialists transferred sovereignty to Nigerians has been Nigeria’s political transition day until the switch to May 1 now described as Democracy Day. In some spiritual circles world-wide, may 29 regarded as the peak of Pentecost, the outpouring of power from the Holy Spirit for the maintenance of creation.

    Christians recognise Pentecost as a one-off event when disciples of the Lord Jesus received power from on High after his earthly departure. But, say the spiritual circle aforementioned, Pentecost happens every year.

    From the highest planes of the spiritual realms, power surges downwards into creation like blood pumped out by the heart, for the maintenance and strengthening of everything which absorbs it. The regeneration observed in the spring season has been linked to the outpouring. So has the energising of human character and deeds, for good or ill. For this power, like electricity or atomic energy, is neutral, pliable into any form for which the “potter” bears personal responsibility.

    Commenting on this subject a few years ago, this column suggested many riots which have occurred in Nigeria’s history in this season, including the onset of Nigeria’s Biafra civil war (1967-70) on May 27, may have been due to the forging of this power into negative ends.

    For it merely helps to actualise inherent volition. Ideally, the inherent volition of man should be the transformation of earth-life into paradise-like beauty. But since his soul filled with poison, his use of this power can only be for ignoble ends.

    As we stand in the era of change, which president-elect Buhari promised in his election campaigns, our prayer is that he be clarified about these matters, see himself as an upbuilding tool in the hands of his creator, connect and attach to Him, act only under His guidance, open himself to the helping rays of the power of Pentecost which transcend religious frontiers and, as Nigeria’s leader of the moment lead us to loftier heights.

    If he does this, change would have meaning, significance and impact in our lives.

    Road to change

    The journey will be rough, we shouldn’t deceive ourselves. For the last thing many people desire and resist is change. And is because the spirit, tenant in the physical body we all legs about in, is in deep slumber.

    When I was 40, in 1990, I took one day off work and traveled to Abeokuta, Ogun State to re-connect with the radiations of the town in which I grew up. I found, to my shock that if I was blindfolded, I would on my own find my way from the high on which I parked my car, to St. Andrews Primary School, Ileara, where, thanks to Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s free Primary School education project, I began school in January 1956, the year Chief Awolowo began free education in Western Region. My father was a colonial policeman and may have been unable to afford the bill. Nothing has changed in the environment between 1950 and 1990. The neighborhood was blighted.

    Even the once lushful lawn of the parade ground of Ibarra police barracks where a reception was held for Queen Elizabeth II in 1956 had become patched and blighted.

    Since the spirit forms the physical environment where it exists, it can be assumed that the state of the environment is the state of the spirit. Nigeria is replete with stories of successful people hesitant to build houses or make other investments in their villages out of fear that they may be killed.

     

    Aging Buhari

    There is no doubt that, at over 70, Gen. Buhari (rtd) is aging and would require bouncing health and energy to pull through his promises of four million jobs in one year, free education at all levels of schooling, steadying  electricity all day long, curb of corruption, improvement of security and professionalism in the military, among many others. Add to these subtitle picture of voting patterns in the presidential election of March 28 which has led many people to conclude that wounds of the 1967 to 1970 Biafran war are far from healed. Thus manifested in grave ethnic divisions that need to be addressed.

    Ethic division.

    The voting pattern was the geography of the biafran war… the Eastern- Region (South- East and South- South) pitched against the North and the West. Some political observers blame it all on the  South–West. Their thesis is that nowhere in history does the victor nation in a war relinquish power to the loser.

    They site Germany and Japan as examples. Both nations lost the second world war to Britain. The United States, France and the Soviet Union (now Russian). Till this day both nations are forbidden to manufacture offensive military weapons. Besides, foreign troops from the victor nations except perhaps China are stationed in Germany and Japan to monitor them. By this logic, Dr Ebele Goodluck Jonathan should not have become Nigeria’s President after President YarA’dua’s death midterm in office.

    The North opposed his ascension. But the South–West, backing constitutionalism, literally made him President. It is instructive that the bitter struggle between the North and the South–West, Dr Ebele Jonathan, as Vice-President, kept mute, like the South-East and the South-South regions. With victory achieved for Jonathan in both the left over two years of YarA’dua’s tenure and, later, a full four years term for himself, President Jonathan would display open pathological hatred for the South-West vengeance against the North. He was to describe South-Western as a pack of “rascals”,  re-engage in puletic office known foes of former President Olusegun Obasanjo from the South-West, who set the stage for Dr Ebele Jonathan, as governor of Bayelsa State, to become Vice President of the YarA’dua Presidency.

    The South-West was diminished in key appointments as well. As for the North, President Jonathan adopted a carrot and stick approach. The carrot was key appointments, especially in the security terrain. The “stick”  came in the form of folding arms pretending to have no immediate solution for the Boko Haram insurgency, before which the well-respected Nigerian military would appear to flee. President Jonathan said he was not a “general”, in response to call that he engage the insurgents. Some critics of his Administration say the plot was to let a North –on-North war weaken the North for an easy political rout during the next Presidential election.

    This would be facilitated by a sudden and victorious military assault as Boko Haram which would position President Jonathan as a tie-President who was latter left alone for another term. But it would seem the agenda, if there was one, miscalculated politically that the North and South-West, sworn political enemies since 1959, could offer a common political front in Nigerian history, and even fracture fortresses of the ruling People Democratic Party (PDP). That the North/South-West coalition of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was able to defeat President Jonathan was not just a question of the game of numbers but more of intellectual sagacity.

    While President Jonathan and the PDP were busy trying to destroy the person and image of Gen. Buhari (rtd) and image of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a master architect of the APC, the APC was busy abroad internationalising the coming election.  They knew the APC would win the polls and the PDP would attempt  to rig them and deploy soldiers to suppress protests. They were dead right in what happened in Port Harcourt and Abia State, among other discomfitures of the elections.

    Many people have said President Jonathan played the Statesman by unconditionally accepting defeat, a feat, it is said, for an incumbent African President. Somehow I do not share this view. I believe the President merely succumbed to international pressure reigned against him and accepted a negotiated settlement for a soft landing in which he would not be probed personally.

    There is a veiled reference to this in Gen. Buhari’s reply to President Jonathan’s congratulatory message in which the President–elect promised that the President would be treated with “respect” and “understanding”.

    We must now proceed from the geography of the presidential election to the psychological war inflicted ethnic injuries which a Buhari administration should tackle, which may sap his energy and for which, in the coming series of this column, it would be shown how again people like him can make themselves biologically younger than their calendar or calendaric ages and fulfil all their tasks as if they are young people and without a scratch or dent in their health

     

    Ethnic war injuries

    The South–East  has a grouse with the (1) North (2) South–West and (3) parts of the South–South.

    The North

    Hundreds of thousands of igbos were killed genocidically in the North in 1966 which security forces, either helplessly or in full support, looked the other way. Naturally Igbos fled eastwards, to their homeland. It was a clear lesson that the generosity or warmness of a host land, not withstanding, there is no place on this earth that is a NO MAN’S LAND. It is better to invest the fruits of adventure back home and not seek to make a home of a host land.

    Even Igbo soldiers in the Nigeria army returned home after skirmishes in the barracks in which some of them were killed by Northern soldiers. The mood in the East was for a breakaway from Nigeria. Lt. Col Yakubu Gowon, Head of State of Nigeria at 32, found this a daunting challenge. Chief Obafemi Awolowo, leader of thought in the West, made the remarkable Statement: “If by commission or omission the East is allowed to go, the West will also follow.” The situation called for mediation and reconciliation. Ghana threw its doors open to Nigeria. All the regions met in Aburi, Ghana, Where Lt. Col Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, military governor of the Eastern regions, as opposed to federation, and Lt. Col. Gowon agreed. Lt. Col. Gowon rejected the agreement on his return to Nigeria, when the implications were explained to him. As was to be expected, Lt. Col. Odumegwu Ojukwu stuck to his guns, stating ON ABURI WE STAND. Chief Awolowo was to head for the East for a reconciliation meeting. It was at this meeting that the East said Chief Awolowo promised the East that, in the event of war between the East and the North, the West would fight in the side of the East.

     

    The West

    This thinking dominates the thinking of the average man and woman in the East today, and explains why the East persists in its traditional opposition to anything originating from the West, however good or beneficial to the East, and why the East would wish the West dismantled and its star city, Lagos, regarded as a no man’s land.

    Yet Chief Awolowo, in post-war speeches and in the books, have denied making  such a promise at the meeting with Lt. Col. Odumegwu Ojukwu. A tape of the meeting recovered by Federal troops in Enugu following the fall of the capital city, and reviewed by the Nigerian Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by Gen. Gowon (as he later became) found no such promise. Even Odumegwu Ojukwu after his return from exile did not insist such a promise was made.

    The gap in this Eastern thinking and reality has led scholars to conclude that a promise of support from the West for secession by the East must have been invented by pro-seccession and pro-war intelligentia in the East to galvanise the population for a war of seccession.

    Incapacitation of the West

    The bitterness in the East over the West fighting alongside the North during the Biafra War takes no account of how the co-alition Federal government of the East (NCNC) and the North (NPC) emasculated the West in the civil service and the Armed forces, excused the Mid-West region (later called Bendel State, now Edo and Delta State) from the West as a part of that emasculation, encourage break up of the Action Group (AG), government party in the West, and sent the leader of the region, Chief Awolowo, to 10 years imprisonment on charges that he plotted to overthrow the NPC/NCNC Federal government. Reasonable people should have asked: how would Chief Awolowo have done this when his Yoruba kinsmen were little present in the Army under the said emasculation? An evidence of the emasculation presents itself in the story of Brigadier Ogundipe. After the killing of Maj. Gen. J.T.U. Aguiyi Ironsi, an Igbo, who was the Head of State of Nigeria, in the counter coup of July 1966, Brig. Ogundipe was the most senior Nigerian Army officer around. But when he commanded a northern private, the latter declined to obey until the head received instruction from a northern officer. Brig. Ogundipe had no Yoruba soldiers to enforce his order. So, like Igbo officers, he took refuge… in a naval ship commanded by a fellow Yoruba, who took him to England. With this kind of scenario, how did the East expect the West to fight a war. In any case, northerners controlled all the army barracks which rank up the West.

    In Lagos, there were Myong Barracks, Abalti Barracks, Bonny Camp, Doddan Barracks, Ojoo Cantonement and Ikeja Cantonement. There were army garrisons in Ibadan, Abeokuta, Ijebu-Ode and other towns. In any case, the Yoruba are guided by the wisdom of the proverb of the elders that “ti owo omode ko ba ba ida, kii bere iku to pa baba re”, that means until he has firmly gripped the handle of the sword, a child doesn’t seek vengeance against the killers of his father.

    In the East at the time, Lt. Col. Banjo, a Yoruba, was in the custody of Lt. Col. Odumegwu Ojukwu. Lt. Col. Banjo was one of the four officers who staged the first coup in January 1966. They handed over to Gen. Ironsi when the coup failed. Banjo and Ifeajuna were released by Lt. Col. Odumegwu Ojukwu to work with him. When it would appear the West was not forth coming in striking a military blow, Lt. Col. Odumegwu Ojukwu decided on an invasion of Lagos from across the Niger through Benin. Banjo and Ifeajuna objected. He had them executed. Biafran troops from Onitsha crossed to Asaba and seized Bendel State which they renamed Republic of Benin.

    From Benin, they moved towards Lagos but were stopped at Ore by troops commanded by Maj. Gen. Muritala Muhammed. Had Biafran troops succeeded, it was possible a Republic of Oduduwa would have been declared. But many people in the West doubt this intention.

    Why, they wonder, did Lt. Col. Odumegwu Ojukwu not make the East the theatre of war by invading the North through the East-North border. Why force a war on the defenceless West? In any case, what were the justifications for the air bombings of a supposedly friendly or neutral Lagos?

  • Now that Change is here

    To many a Nigerian, March 28 will stick indelibly to their memory. It was the day the will of the majority prevailed on the expectation of minority and the powers that be. In a process largely seen as free and fair, a powerful incumbent was voted out of power, and opposition took over the central government. This is the first time in history of Nigeria.

    Although, the presidential and National Assembly elections may have come and gone, but the subtle lesson the elections taught us must not be lost. For many, it was a sweet period for the nation as the event signaled an improvement in our electoral process. It was also observed that such important elections were held without bloodshed. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lost to All Progressives Congress (APC) after 16 years in power. The majority of Nigerians voted for change and the results reflected the wishes of the people without interference from any quarter.

    The polls were said to be free, fair and credible, especially by local and international observers, but there were hitches that surrounded the process, which the electoral body – Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) – ought to rectify before the next round of elections slated for Saturday. It was observed that introduction of card readers by the umpire delayed accreditation exercise during the elections, because some of the devices were faulty and could not display information of voters on time. Also, the late arrival of electoral officers and materials are among other hitches seen in the last election.

    The people’s will to change the government to what they deserve may have been responsible for their resilience to vote against all odd. But, would the elected leaders respect this historic message of Nigerians?

    The political office holders must be mindful of their behaviour while in office, because they have may have cause to meet the people against in another four years. Given the change that happened at the central government, it goes to show that electorate would hold public officers responsible to every error they commit while in power. Anyone who does not go back to the people will not be re-elected because this election has set a good precedent for us to follow.

    The president-elect, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, as military Head of State, has had his past and his present achievements may have been product of his past. Some praised his iron-fist regime for reducing corruption and promote discipline in public. Others condemned him for his draconian policies, which sent many offenders to jail. Whether good or bad, Buhari’s 1984 regime became a good reference point in the history of this nation.

    But, the questions to be asked are: what should we expect in his democratic government? Will there be changes from his iron-fist past? Will there still be zero tolerance for looting and economic sabotage? Will there be revolutionary changes in oil sector? These and many more questions may have come to minds of many Nigerian, but anyone who listened to Buhari’s acceptance speech will know that he is ready to work.

    The General still detest corruption as he did in the 1980s. He said his democratic administration corruption will not tolerate sleaze in any form. He promised to tackle insecurity like he fought a dangerous sect called Maitatsine in 1984. He also promised to generate immediate employments to tackle youth restiveness and rid the nation of crime.

    We must be ready to support the new government, because we are having a leader who we can call our own. Buhari introduced a guideline to proffer sensible solutions to myriad of challenges, because since the republic started 16 years ago, there has not been a leader that is prepared for the leadership position in this country. If someone purposely draws a developmental plan to implement before winning election, there is possibility that such leader would achieve his aim. It is unlike a leader who draws his plan after winning elections.

    Buhari’s plan is titled: Covenant with Nigerians and the president-elect worked out strategy on how he would cause changes in major sectors, such as education, power, sports and agriculture and health. With these, it is important for Nigerians to try as much as possible to get a copy of this plan to read and look for ways to support the APC government.

    Buhari’s campaign team spent good time telling us about change. We should let them know that there won’t be any room for excuses for Buhari and his disciples if they fail to deliver on their promises. If, in the next four years, he has not reduced key challenges facing the nation, we would be right to look for solution elsewhere as we did for President Goodluck Jonathan.

    Finally, though hard times might be ahead but such juncture also presents Nigeria the opportunity to re-assess its priorities and opportunities. Nigeria can be great but our good actions and contribution are needed to make it happen.

    • Samson, ND II Journalism, NIJ Lagos

  • The blind also made change possible

    The blind also made change possible

    In Minna, Niger State, eligible blind men and women voters trooped out in large numbers to carry out their civic duty, JIDE ORINTUNSIN reports

    Nobody expected anything from them. No politician reached out to them, not even during campaigns. It is on record that no political party or their candidates ever reckoned with them. They remain the ever-forgotten Nigerians. Their condition is pathetic. Majority of them are physically agile; only their sight has failed. So they are never seen to have any electoral value. That is the plight of the blind across the length and breadth of the country.

    But during the March 28 Presidential and National Assembly elections, the visually impaired in Niger State trooped out in large numbers, like other eligible voters, to choose the country’s leaders.

    As early as 7am on Saturday they left their colony in Limawa quarters of Minna for the two nearby polling units. With their walking sticks and infant guides, they formed two orderly, gender-based queues and waited patiently for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) ad hoc staff.

    Their accreditation went with little or minor hitches. The Smart Reader Card machines did not pose much problem either. Done with that, they moved in droves back to they colony for a call up to come and vote. This civic duty they carried out with the assistance of their guide to the admiration of able bodied voters and with a high degree of fulfilment on their part.

    Led by the Sarki Makarfo (Chief of the Blind) Alhaji Rabiu Abdullahi, they all resolved to be part of the process that will give birth to a new Nigeria. They resolved to live above their limitation. With their trusted guides and some public spirited persons they all cast their votes for the candidates of their choice.

    The Sarki said the large turnout of his people was a product of deliberate and conscious mobilisation before the election.

    Recounting the efforts made prior to the March 28 Presidential and National Assembly elections, Abdullahi said,

    “We have been relegated. Nobody ever thought of us. We are left in our colony as forgotten Nigerians. Past efforts to fight for recognition have failed to yield positive and desired results and now with the election we felt we should come out en masse to make a statement that our votes can determine who wins and to tell our leaders that we exist.

    “We suffered during past elections. INEC, its officials and even other voters never accorded us any special attention; we never knew the procedure of voting. Many times we were disenfranchised; we were even deceived into voting wrongly.

    “In the past Politicians used their agents and capitalized on our predicament to lead us to thumb print for the candidates of their own choice and not ours because we are blind.

    “Though we can’t see them physically, we however know these politicians and what they have been doing for the society and the election period is when we can express our appreciation to them but unfortunately, we were misled and made to vote for the wrong candidates,” he lamented.

    In order not to fall victim again, the Niger State Association for the Blind organised series of sensitaization of their members with the assistance of the Independent National Electoral  (INEC). They were educated on what they are to do and things to avoid before, during and even after the elections.

    The Chairman of the association, Alhaji Abdulraham Awwal said the association brought leaders of the blind in all the 25 local government areas of the state to Minna to attend “train the trainers workshop” and to fully equipped members of the electoral law and process and by extension educate other members in their locality.

    Awwal, a teacher at Niger State School for the Handicapped, Minna noted that the interactive session paid off, according to him, “We were able to make case for our members who are eligible voters. We raised many issues, especially the challenges we use to suffer during elections and at the end we were allowed to come to the voting centres with our aides leading us to cast our votes or get a trusted person at the polling centres to lead and assist us to thumb print for the candidates of our choice.”

    The chairman debunked insinuation that the move of the association was motivated by a political party.

    Hear him, “We are not politicians, we are not card carrying members of any of the registered parties, we are just a pressure group fighting for our rights and for the need to be related or dealt with like any other human being. We educated our people on the candidates and their parties and we resolved to give our votes to the candidates or party that will take our welfare into consideration so that we too can live a better life”

    “With our coming out in large numbers, we hope whoever wins either at the state or national level will not take us with a pinch of salt. We too desire and deserve a better welfare package. If they cannot come and appeal for our votes, our coming out to vote is to send a message to them,” Awwal stated.

    The Sarki Maikafo however had a parting shot for INEC. “Though we had a better treatment at our voting centres last Saturday, I want on behalf of my people appeal to INEC to help reduce if not total elimination of the agony we use pass through in previous elections.

    “We look forward to a stress free governorship election. We don’t want to go through the same process and rigours of standing on the long queue with the able persons. We should also be seen as human beings and create a separate registration and voting units for us for the forthcoming elections.”

  • Now change has come

    In this column last Monday, I wrote under the title “Beyond the elections”. The article which was put together days before the election and published before the results of the presidential and national assembly elections were released, had examined two possible scenarios that could play out after the elections.

    These were the likelihood that it may come out rancour free with the results accepted by all. The other simulated outcome was that of violence leading to breakdown of law and order in some parts of the country arising from a disputed outcome. The latter speculation was further given fillip by the foul political environment that arose in the desperation of politicians to control the minds of the electorate and threats of mayhem from sundry quarters should the election go in certain ways.

    We also took very serious note of the peace accords signed by both President Jonathan and General Buhari to maintain the peace during and after the polls. On the basis of these accords, we further contended that in a very peaceful election, the nation would have been on the threshold of history as all predictions of cataclysm that have instilled fear in the people leading to many fleeing to their ancestral homes, would have come to naught. So also would the prediction of doomsday for the corporate existence of Nigeria by some foreign interests.

    The column also examined the inevitability of change in this country. The main thesis of our presentation was that change was imminent in this country irrespective of which party comes into power as the consciousness of the people have been aroused to its dynamics. That was our summation of the heuristic value of some of the issues raised during the campaigns by the opposition and the possible reaction to them by the government in power if it succeeds in winning the election.

    That election has come and gone. It has also been lost and won with the emergence of Muhammad Buhari as the president-elect. Its outcome has been generally accepted though it had its own problems. The man at the helm of affairs, President Jonathan displayed a rare show of statesmanship by not only conceding defeat but went ahead to congratulate his opponent at the tension soaked election. That is a rare feat in this part of the world where leaders and sundry political contenders cling tenaciously to power irrespective of their unpopularity and the verdict of the people.

    Africa is replete with such leaders. And here at home, matters are not remedied by the inability of politicians to cultivate the culture of accepting defeat. Coming from an incumbent President, there is cause to celebrate. At last, we can beat our chests and say in unison that the peace accord did the miracle. There is a ray of hope in the horizon that we are on the path to parting ways with some of our ruinous political attitudes and orientations. So, we have been left with the first scenario.

    Even though subdued anger and disgust cannot be ruled out completely, everybody seems to be happy that peace has after all reigned supreme irrespective of these feelings. Everybody seems to be satisfied and reassured that Nigeria has been rescued from the precipice of disintegration to which it was irretrievably headed.

    With this also, predictions of doom and cataclysm of unimaginable proportion have come to naught, albeit for now. Those who fled their places of residence for fear that harm may come their way after the election may now return. Perhaps, the relative peace we are now savouring is because Jonathan lost and accepted his defeat in good faith. Matters would have taken a different dimension if he had disputed the election outcome. The situation may also have been different if Buhari had lost the election. These possibilities should not be ignored as we celebrate.

    In effect, there was the hand of God in all the events that brought about the current pass. And the gloomy atmosphere has given way to a very bright one. So, there is every reason for people to be happy especially the poor who bear the brunt of the inadequacies of those who superintend over the affairs of this country. They are the ones who would have suffered immeasurably had the elections degenerated into violence. Nobody died after all. Those who reportedly died met their fate while happily celebrating the victory of their preferred candidates. May their souls rest in peace.

    Now, the much-clamoured change has come with the successful election of General Muhammad Buhari to run this country for the next four years. Change has come with the defeat of the PDP, a party that has ruled this country for over 15 years and had boasted to rule ad infinitum. That boast is now history.  Change has also come from the ascendancy of the APC into power at the national level. Change has come for the first time in our history for an incumbent president to be defeated in an election. So change is all over the place especially since that mantra was the key campaign slogan of the APC.

     

    And if we still borrow from our article under reference; that will not be the end to it all. Soon Nigerians will begin to contend with the reality of the new dawn. They will soon begin to contend with the prospects of what this change holds for them. They will begin to look up to the new things to come in the way this country had hitherto been run. They will begin to look out for fundamental changes in the structure and organization of this country in such a way that can unleash the creative energies of the constituents to fasten the pace of development and give a new lease of life to the suffering masses.

    The consciousness of the ordinary people has been aroused to the inevitability of change in statecraft. Their minds have been attuned to different approaches in the running of affairs of the government. They desire real change. That change must permeate every strata of the nation’s social fabric. It must proceed beyond vote catching strategy to redirect the resources of this country for the overall public good.

    Change cannot take place in the face of the pervasive corruption that has over the years left our people hewers of wood and fetchers of water despite the immense resources nature has placed at our backyard. Change will turn an aberration if ethnic and primordial considerations, which took ascendancy to an all time high during the elections, become prime considerations in the distribution of public resources. Change will only endure when we build national institutions that will serve all Nigerians irrespective of who is in power and from which sections of the country he got the largest chunk of electoral support.

    Good a thing, Buhari has made the fight against corruption a cardinal objective of his regime. He says the fight counts most and he is determined to make the difference in this regard. He has said it all. But the challenge can be daunting. If he can achieve that for this country, he would have written his name in gold. But for him to do that successfully, he must be resolute and firm. There are entrenched interests here and there he will have to contend with.

    The fight against corruption should also be matched with institutionalisation of a new social order based on equity, justice and fairness; a new order that will consign to the dust bin of history vestiges of alienation and marginalization of the constituent units in this unity in diversity. Then, change would have endured with the country on a steady march to peace, progress and unhindered development.

  • Election for change

    Election for change

    • Buhari’s victory is at once a watershed and a chance for national healing

    Against all odds, Nigeria not only held a presidential election on the controversially rescheduled date of March 28, but also has a president-elect who trounced the incumbent in an electoral battle that was incredibly unriotous.  The countdown to the poll witnessed considerable public anxiety and tension that were thankfully not aggravated on D-day. Indeed, in a reflection of negative passion, electioneering was marred by a concentration on personality targeting rather than issues, especially on the side of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP).  Understandably, the presidential contest was the focal point, even though the National Assembly elections held on the same day were also important in the context of the country’s democratic evolution.

    This election has marked a first in our history in that the nation’s leader has lost to an opposition candidate, and it has happened free of rancour. It is a tribute to the electorate that, despite the fouled atmosphere, an overriding sense of civic responsibility prevailed. In this sense, it was ultimately a victory for the voters who demonstrated a commendable capacity for focused voting, and refused to be distracted by extra-electoral negativities.

    Also, it must be said that President Goodluck Jonathan who lost in a striking manner, displayed a remarkable appreciation of his failure by congratulating the winner, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd), of the All Progressives Congress (APC), ahead of the official declaration of the final result.  On a continent known for political leaders who, more often than not, defy the voice of the electorate, Jonathan’s unproblematic surrender was a positive, which is not to discount his hints of brinksmanship in the period leading to the election.

    It is reassuring that Buhari, who had been demonised by his opponents, exhibited a large and generous spirit in victory, rather than unhealthy triumphalism. It is instructive that he said in his acceptance speech: “At exactly 5:15 yesterday (Tuesday) evening, President Jonathan called to congratulate me on my victory. For this, I want all Nigerians to join me in congratulating and appreciating Mr. President for his statesmanship. President Jonathan was a worthy opponent. I extend my hand of fellowship to him.” Perhaps more importantly, Buhari also said about Jonathan: “He will receive nothing but cooperation and understanding from me, who led this nation to democracy.” It is hoped that the president-elect would keep this promise, which should be helpful in healing the land in the aftermath of a divisive election that played up ethnicity and faith.

    Beyond the encouraging conduct of these rivals, the employment of card readers in the election proved to be a plus, especially against the background of contention over the use of the technology. Fundamentally, there is no doubt that the equipment was advantageous in minimising election rigging, despite the reported hitches which may well be insignificant when considered against the benefits. Of course, improvement is possible and should be seriously pursued, so that the Governorship and House of Assembly elections fixed for April 11 will reinforce the wisdom of the modern method. By taking advantage of modernity, logistical challenges associated with the old way of doing things would likely become history. Speaking futuristically, it is not far-fetched to look forward to electronic voting in Nigeria, among other modern-day advancements. To introduce electronic voting should be the natural next step to the card reader and PVCs. It will obviate the cumbersomeness of electoral materials and the hobgoblin of coercive thumb-printing that has shadowed our elections for decades. This is a recommendation that the next National Assembly should take seriously.

    The desirable goal of eliminating election fraud must constantly be kept in focus as the country continues on the democratic path. In this connection, it is worth reflecting on a number of complaints that have been made concerning the presidential election. For instance, there are allegations of under-age voting in certain areas as well as manipulation of figures. The deployment of security forces for partisan designs was reported. In two states, namely Rivers and Akwa Ibom, observers were whisked out of sight. Such claims of irregularities are harmful to the democratic ideal, and should be addressed with all seriousness. Tackling the allegations of electoral wrongdoing would give further credence to Buhari’s statement:   ”We have proven to the world that we are a people who have embraced democracy and a people who seek a government by, of and for the people.”

    Regrettably, the presidential election had its monstrous sides; in particular, a nauseating drama designed to frustrate normality, with a former Minister of Delta State, Elder Godsday Orubebe, as the protagonist.  A disappointed global audience watched as Orubebe introduced the tactics of a thug when officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) were set to announce the anxiously expected results. In a manner unbecoming of any civilised individual, Orubebe disrupted the event with allegations against INEC boss Prof. Attahiru Jega, whose gentlemanly approach to the outrageous development deserves praise because it ensured that the critical business of the day was not aborted. In addition, it is worth noting that Jega demonstrated an impressive sense of duty in the course of carrying out his job.  In fact the whole exercise was a personal triumph for Jega who attracted vicious campaigns from the ruling party as well as hirelings who plotted his outer. He still has the next round of elections to prove his competence.

    With the presidential poll lost and won, it is time to concentrate on unifying possibilities and shun the influence of centrifugal forces. The religious and ethnic divisions that marked electioneering, and which were unfortunately promoted by sections of the media, must be terminated in the interest of peace and progress. It is food for thought that the presidential poll results largely reflected a historical tendency and pattern suggesting that concrete candidate appeal was less important than provenance, religious beliefs and other sentiments. The country needs to rise above the inconsequential.   We hope both the media and ethnic goons would realise that Nigeria is larger than all of us, and such distracting nightmare of belief and place of origin spew hate and take away from the greater fights against poverty, ignorance and disease. Fire-spitting clerics who rattled out ominous prophecies and prescribed electoral choices should also learn the limits of ecclesiastical influences in politics.

    For Nigerians, the historic transition from one administration to another, from an incumbent loser to a former-opposition-figure-turned-winner holds a promise that must not be deflated by petty parochialism. It is a time of change and a time for change, which should be premised on a healing that transcends the narrowness of tribe and faith.

  • Tinubu: victory shows people’s will for change

    The victory of All Progressives Congress (APC) in the presidential elections was yesterday hailed as one anchored on people’s will to stop the nation’s drift to abyss, the party’s national leader Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has said.

    The APC leader said the country had been mismanaged and toed a dangerous path under the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which was defeated in the contest.

    The victory, Tinubu said, would detach the nation’s economy from its current bond to dollar, noting that PDP government wasted time to run the country down. He said Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, the president-elect, would introduce “common sense reforms” and bring accountability to governance and public administration.

    “This is a defining moment for our nation. It is the time to turn potentials of our country to realities. The people have suffered enough but we are resilient. Our economy is tied to the dollars when we have arable land and untapped minerals, yet we have no electricity to power the industry. How can you build a nation in that way?

    “The PDP government had enough time to develop the country…we have petroleum industry yet we cannot create enough jobs. We have refined products from petroleum but we cannot turn them around. Who says we cannot be the headquarters of plastic in Africa? It is a matter of creativity and common sense reform.

    “We have to have this change to engender competitiveness in thinking and in service delivery. But, a nation that follows a political philosophy of power in reverse becomes the ruler and will not serve the people. If people are not being held accountable, then you have not had a nation. APC will be a good octopus that will start from every aspect and bring good governance to the people.”

    At Tinubu’s Ikoyi home, it was celebration galore. Hundreds of youths and politicians converged to celebrate the party’s victory at the polls. Notable politicians at Tinubu’s house yesterday included Governors Babatunde Fashola (Lagos), Abiola Ajimobi (Oyo), Chief Bisi Akande, Senators Dayo Adeyeye, Babafemi Ojudu, Anthony Adefuye, Chief Pius Akinyelure, Justice George Oguntade, Cardinal James Odumbaku, Mr Dele Alake, Joe Igbokwe and Mr. Demola Seriki, among others.

    Also speaking yesterday in a statement,  Tinubu described the outcome as “Nigeria’s finest moment.”

    “It is a moment when hope is re-born, faith is rekindled and a fresh fire of patriotism is released for the task ahead. I congratulate General Buhari, Nigeria’s President-elect on his  hard won victory. I salute our galant party leaders and members for running the long distance to victory. To millions of Nigerians I say this- the APC seeks not power for its sake, but for the purpose of bringing a better life to our people and re-building our country”.

    This is also democracy’s finest moment. Nigerians alive today have witnessed the beginning of an era of change . They made this happen and they are the true celebrants and they are deserving. Together we share this victory. Side by side we would work together to bring our country back.”