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Tag: citizens

Citizens from nowhere but everywhere
Thank goodness we now have a leader who belongs to no one and to everyone. Now, what could be more needful or timely than the declaration of a ban on intra-tribal marriages in the country?

As write this piece, I see a country with no citizens. I see a Nigeria without Nigerians. I see only tribes of people. Everyone around me is either Jukun or Birom or Ijaw. No one is Nigerian and if they are, they are only so nominally and that is the problem. No nation of tribes can prosper and achieve greatness. This is because it is in the nature of tribes to compete and war with each other. War impedes development.

To make Nigeria prosperous and great we need only do two things; the first, create the state and the second, fill up state with citizens. We’ve achieved the first; the Federal Republic of Nigeria. This Republic was not originally a product of our collective initiative but it has since become our making. The British handed down the republic to our fathers. It was not supposed to last but it has and it would endure for a 1000 years! We’ve proved to the world and particularly to ourselves that the idea of Nigeria is a welcomed one, one that has been entrusted to us and one that we can protect, preserve and implement. Our fathers rescued it from the secessionists and our generation is rescuing it from the insurgents. This is very commendable but that is just the first phase in achieving our collective aspiration. We must move on to the second phase.

Phase two presents us with the more challenging task of populating the republic with good citizens; citizens who see themselves not as belonging and pledging allegiance to a certain tribe or community in Nigeria but as members and loyalists to the republic, citizens who primarily, are federalists, citizens who belong to and own every inch of land and space that constitutes the republic, citizens who hail from nowhere but everywhere, citizens who treasure and jealously guard every good resource and good value that is lies in the republic, citizens who are truly patriotic, and truly, truly, Nigerian.

To ensure this, we must turn not to ourselves but to the yet unborn. Permit me to call them, the ‘beautiful ones’. We must ensure that we admit these beautiful ones into the Republic through a national placenta. Hence, the need discourage intra-tribal marriages and instead, encourage inter-tribal marriages. Again, I say, nothing could be timelier than this.

Should the current regime see the need to pursue a vigorous and very aggressive policy of encouraging inter-tribal marriages across the republic while at the same time discouraging intra-tribal marriage relations, I, for one would give it my unreserved and absolutely best support.

The regime could put in place a new blueprint plan for national peace, unity and security that would among other things; see the NYSC programme entrenched in our constitution, much like was done with the Land Use Act.

The Federal Government, could over the next 30 years, mobilize and deploy the republic’s youth by the thousands in a bid to spread, expose and encourage them to intermingle with their counterparts from other parts of the federation and foster peaceful and culturally enriching social interactions and possibly inter-tribal marriages.

The Federal Government may not stop there. She could plan, build and develop more cities in all the 36 states. These cities could be multicultural cities that reflect the federal character of the republic. The grant of occupancy rights in these federal cities could be made evenly to all tribal and ethic affinities in the republic. Every tribe and religious affiliation could be adequately and equally represented in these cities. Furthermore, these federal cities would get special preferences in terms of government investment in infrastructural development.

The Federal Government could grant national recognitions and rewards to couples that venture into inter-tribal marriages and raise children of mixed tribal parentage.

Selected biological issues of these couples could receive scholarship grants and job placements in the wider society. If this is done, soon, a time would come when, the phrase, “Federal Government pikin” refers not to a neglected class of people living with mental disabilities but to everyday, ordinary and beautiful citizens of the republic.

The Federal Government could continue to find creative ways to bring together persons from the several tribes and ethnic groups in the republic. The aim would be to encourage intermingling.

In a few decades from now, this is bound to result in a delightful explosion of a population of persons who are neither here nor there. It would be explosions of persons who see themselves for who they are really are – persons from north, east, west and south of Nigeria. It would result in an explosion of persons with root everywhere that is Nigeria, an explosion of a new breed and a new generation of citizens who would have no cause to separate themselves along petty tribal sentiments. A society dominated by persons who have no choice but to unite and bond with others like themselves in their mutual pursuit for happiness and prosperity.

This policy if it ever materializes would be without an iota of doubt, an expression of the spirit of our Constitution. Section 25 of the 1999 Constitution, defines a citizen by birth as a “…person born in Nigeria before the date of independence, either of whose parent or any of whose grandparents belonged to a community indigenous to Nigeria”. The drafters of our constitution envisaged the passing away of tribal and ethic affiliations and the emergence of a nation defined and united by a common and higher sentiment. Yes indeed, the drafters of our constitution envisaged death to our tribes!

I, for one, would welcome the news of this kind and kind I trust you would too. This is more important than the anti-corruption crusade or the job creation campaign! The peoples of Nigeria need to mingle with one another and the government has to deliberately and vigorously encourage the inter-tribal marriages at the expense of intra-tribal marriages. The predominance and continuance has served only as a recipe of national discord and disunity.

Well, as it is, to the best of my knowledge, the current regime is not thinking of this policy talk less of pursuing it. I believe that’s a shame. Picture a Nigeria full of citizens who hail from nowhere and everywhere led by leaders who belong to no one but to everyone! Granted it would be immoral for the Nigerian government attempt to impose a ban on intra-tribal marriages but the government can adopt and pursue a policy that would ensure its progressive reduction, something which would secure the republic’s future and bring great benefits to successive generations of Nigerian’s in the long run. What should keep us from advocating and promoting this policy?

“Death to the insurgents! Death to the tribes! Life to the beautiful ones and long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria!”

‘Picture a Nigeria full of citizens who hail from nowhere and everywhere led by leaders who belong to no one but to everyone! Granted it would be immoral for the Nigerian government attempt to impose a ban on intra-tribal marriages but the government can adopt and pursue a policy that would ensure its progressive reduction, something which would secure the republic’s future and bring great benefits to successive generations of Nigerian’s in the long run’
- Ikita is a Kaduna based solicitor and works with the state university.
June 16, 2015
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.”

April 21, 2015
North’s governors to citizens: be patriotic

The Chairman, Northern States Governors Forum (NSGF) and Governor of Niger State, Dr. Babangida Aliyu, has called on the citizenry to draw lessons from the selfless life style of Jesus Christ and place the country above themselves.

Aliyu, in an Easter message through his Chief Press Secretary, Israel Ebije in Minna yesterday, said with the collective effort of everyone, the nation would overcome its social and economic challenges.

He urged politicians to imbibe the maturity witnessed during the Presidential and National Assembly elections, stressing that the beauty of the country’s democracy would be complete if the outcome of April 11 election is peaceful and people-based.

The statement added: “Let me wish Nigerians a merry Easter celebration. Let me also call on Christians and Muslims to avail themselves in sacrificial duties for the good of Nigeria. We must eschew self, we must view issues from a collective bargain point of view, we must see ourselves first as Nigerians no matter the circumstance, and we must place country first.

“Many prophecies of doom have been foretold that Nigeria will splinter. I am, therefore, glad that we have overcome a major factor that would have made the prophecy become a reality. We must, however, continue to imbibe the tenets of sacrifice and peace as we conclude elections in April 11.”

The NSGF chair then expressed optimism that the country will continue to grow politically, socially and economically.

He urged all to remain committed to the Nigerian project, insisting that ethno-religious cleavages would not take the country to its desired destination.

April 6, 2015
Imo senior citizens relish eight years arrears pay

Their sad story has changed. After eight years, pensioners of the Imo State civil service have been paid their arrears, thanks to Governor Rochas Okorocha.

It looked more like a dream than reality for hundreds of the retirees as they sat in the expansive hall of the state International Conference Centre (IICC) waiting to be paid their arrears of pensions and gratuities for eight years. The beneficiaries retired from the state civil service between 1993 and 2001.

As they waited, their wrinkled faces appeared to have assumed the freshness of youth and their otherwise sunken eyeballs sparkled with expectation. Although some of them who were led into the hall by their wards or other relatives as a result of failing health, dozed off immediately they sat down, other senior citizens chatted away happily as they relived their years of service to their state.

While most of them looked radiant and happy, others wore a look of despair and indifference, apparently because they had been abandoned for a long time by previous administrations in the state and had suffered untold hardship, so much that the decision to offset all the entitlements owed them by the Rochas Okorocha’s administration, meant little to them. Many of their close friends and colleagues have died in penury while waiting for their cash.

That notwithstanding, it was a memorable day for the pensioners as they relished the joy of been remembered and rewarded for their contributions to the growth and development of their father’s land. Even some of their family members who came with them also shared in the moment as they lauded the state government for not allowing the labour of the senior citizens be in vain.

One of the pensioners, Mrs. Gladys Njoku, who leaned heavily on her walking stick as she spoke with The Nation, rejoiced that at last God has answered her prayers, adding that she had been prayerfully waiting to receive her gratuity after her retirement from the state civil service 13 years ago.

According to the octogenarian who broke into dancing midway into the interview, despite her obvious health challenges, “I am a widow, because my husband died three years before I retired and two of my children child in a car accident the same year I retired so I am left with my youngest daughter who has tried very hard with her husband to take care of me, especially my medical bills but with what the Governor has done, my life is restored. I can now live out my years joyfully and cater for my needs, instead of dying painfully out of want”.

It was also a song of joy for 78-year-old John Ubanze, who thanked God for sparing his life to see the day, “I had given up hope that I will ever receive my gratuity, so I am indeed very grateful to God for sparing my life to this see this day. Most of my colleagues that retired with me and even those that retired several years after, are no more today, so I have every reason to thank God and my Governor for remembering us and wiping away our tears”.

Nze Christopher Njoku, was among those that had taken ill while waiting for the gratuity. Looking pale and weak, Njoku, who was brought into the hall by his grandson, cut the figure of a man who had long given up hope of any form of reward from government.

Partially paralyzed from stroke, the retired Director in the state Ministry of Health, who spoke through his son, commended the state Governor for his kind gesture, adding that it will motivate the current generation of civil servants to be more dedicated in the service to their state, knowing that they will be rewarded at the end.

Justifying the decision of the state government to pay the eight years arrears of pensions and gratuities to the retired workers, the state Governor, said that it was a fulfillment of his election promises and not politically motivated as insinuated by the opposition.

He said it was the continuation of his administration’s resolve to pay the last kobo owed all the retirees in the state.

The Governor argued that “it is a crime against humanity and sin against God to owe citizens who spent the most vibrant parts of their lives to serve the state”.

He stated that the problem would have been less cumbersome “if previous administrations had seen the payment of pensions and gratuities as a special case”.

The governor maintained further that, “all my life I hate seeing people suffering or going through pains. That is why I established the Rochas Foundation. That is why I introduced free education. That is why I am doing all these in Imo. I won’t rest until I see all these pensioners go home with their pensions and gratuities. I regret those who must have died without collecting what they worked for before my administration.

“I decided to run for governorship in 2011 for issues like those of pensioners, children who suppose to be in school but do not because nobody to train them and others. Governance is all about services to God and mankind. It is not all about acquiring wealth”.

According to him, “the payment of the bulk pension arrears and gratuities to the retired workers is for both local government and state establishments. The Rescue Mission Government is determined to wipe away their tears by also paying those involved from 1993 to 2001.

“Again, the absence of strike action by Imo workforce in the past three years was due to the regular payment of salaries. The administration won’t relent”.

He further stated that, “the very sick and old retirees will be paid cash to save them from the inconveniences of going to the banks. Those talking about politics with a sensitive issue like the payment of pensions and gratuities only want to justify their failure to pay the pensioners.”

November 20, 2014
‘Taraba govt insensitive to citizens’ plight’

The Christian community in Taraba State has accused the government of being “insensitive” to the plight of the citizens.

It accused the Garba Umar administration of breaching the constitutional provision, which guarantees protection of life and property.

This was contained in a communique at the end of 108 CRCN General Church Council (GCC) in Takum, Taraba State.

The communique was signed by the CRCN President, Rev. Osheka Caleb Ahima and Vice President Rev. Isaiah Jirapye Magaji.

The General Church Council is the highest decision and policy making body of the Christian Reformed Church in Nigeria.

It said the continuous attacks on Christians, in the southern and central districts of Taraba have led to the death of hundreds of people and destruction of property.

It said the sustained silence by the government on the killings of Christians, particularly the Tiv, and their forceful relocation to Benue State is “not only politically motivated but a calculated and coordinated plot to exterminate Christians in Taraba.”

It urged the Federal Government to compel security agencies to operate within the law, instead of promoting sectional interest, which often made some people sacred cows and others scapegoats.

It said: “The free movement of people claimed to be Fulani herdsmen with sophisticated weapons terrorising innocent villagers in southern and central Taraba under the nose of security operatives be halted immediately in the interest of peace and development.

“The federal and state government should bring back and compensate the Tiv who were forced out of their dwelling places.

“The mass exodus of Tiv people from Taraba state, if not addressed, will lead to famine in the state; government’s quest for food security and export of agricultural products to raise foreign exchange earnings for the state and country would be a mirage.

“We view the expulsion of Tiv people from Taraba State as a scheme to undo the Christian community because of their numerical strength.”

July 24, 2014
Identity crisis

• President Jonathan’s call that a national citizens’ data base be pooled by 31 December 2014 is good, but …

President Goodluck Jonathan spoke the minds of many Nigerians when he ordered all government agencies needing citizens’ data should hook on to the centralised data bank, which the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) is building. He also gave a target of December 31, 2014, for the NIMC to complete the current registration exercise.

The president did well by putting a halt to what appears some malady on the data gathering front. The situation in which the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Nigeria Police, Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) and Nigeria Population Commission (NPC), would embark on varied data gathering, some of them at the expense of the citizen, is undesirable and absolutely unacceptable.

In one of those schemes, the FRSC even unilaterally cancelled binding legal agreements, by purportedly abrogating national drivers’ licences before their due date, for a new updated one, just like it did in the case of car registration plate numbers. In its own case, the Police also started – before it stopped – its own Biometric Central Motor Registration scheme. In both cases, citizens were burdened with undue expenses.

Still, it is only fair to note that these multiple registrations, in search of data gathering, were caused by the absence of a national data base, in which biometrics of every citizen is captured. That absence was itself caused by the failure of previous attempts at national identity card projects, under Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo as military head of state, under President Shehu Shagari and under Obasanjo as civilian president. On these three occasions, the schemes failed, with billions of naira going down the drain.

It is with such previous failures in mind that everything must be done to make the current exercise a success. On that score, NIMC is expected to capture all eligible citizens latest December 31, 2014. Perhaps the NIMC would have preferred an open-ended deadline, particularly given the fact that citizen registration is an open-ended event, taking in newly born citizens while the dead ones exit. Still, a deadline of one year and two months would appear fair, other things being equal.

That is why the commission must ensure it makes a success of this current exercise. As the president said, multiple registration for data is not only expensive, it is inefficient. If indeed resources are scarce, that would appear a double jeopardy. It is better, cheaper and more productive, therefore, to invest in one fool-proof scheme, and build a pool from which other data-thirsting agencies could drink from.

But if the present exercise must succeed, there must be more publicity and enlightenment. Indeed, NIMC should crank up its publicity blitz as if the exercise is closing in but a few months, enlightening citizens on how to register, where to register and possibly how long registration takes. That way, the target is likely to be achieved.

The benefits of a central biometric data base are many. To start with, it would generate social security numbers imperative for planning and other social security schemes. It also acts as control to census exercises, which in these climes, have also been too controversial, therefore making planning a nightmare. With adequate citizen registration, it would be more difficult to manipulate census figure; and the Nigerian economy would be better for it.

Nigeria must get the national identity card scheme right this time. It is the least the country can do if it ever wants to get its planning right.

October 29, 2013
Osundare: development reflects mental capacity of citizens

•Ikogosi Graduate Summer School kicks off

Poet laureate and literary icon Prof. Niyi Osundare has blamed the country’s underdevelopment on the limitations of the “thought capacity” of citizens.

Osundare spoke in Ikogosi-Ekiti, Ekiti West Local Government Area, on Monday at the opening of the two-week Ikogosi Graduate Summer School (IGSS).

The event was attended by the Deputy Governor, Prof. Modupe Adelabu; Governor Kayode Fayemi’s wife Erelu Bisi; Vice Chairman, Senate Committee on Education, Senator Olusola Adeyeye; Senator Babafemi Ojudu (Ekiti Central); Secretary to the State Government (SSG) Alhaji Ganiyu Owolabi and the Chief of Staff, Mr. Yemi Adaramodu.

Also in attendance were Commissioners Kehinde Ojo (Education) and Ronke Okusanya (Culture and Tourism) and the Special Adviser on Millennium Development Goals (MDG), Mrs. Bunmi Dipo –Salami, among others. Osundare, who teaches at the University of New Orleans in the United States (US), urged governments to invest more in the education sector, noting that “no country ever develops beyond the mental capacity of its citizens”.

Praising Fayemi’s efforts to develop Ekiti, Osundare urged the administration to sustain the Ikogosi Warm Spring Resort.

He described the IGSS as a means through which brain-drain can be reversed and hailed the incorporation of foreign-based scholars in the programme.

The poet said the programme, which is the first in Africa, would improve the education sector.

He said: “Ekiti is gradually being returned to the path of glory and high academic attainment it was noted for. IGSS is a very noble initiative. One of the things that make it significant is the invitation of foreign-based Nigerian scholars to teach. Very soon, our brain-drain will become brain-gain.”

Osundare hailed the governor for transforming Ikogosi from a jungle into a world-class tourist centre, saying the project, which is already attracting tourists from all over the globe, was made possible through determination.

He said: “When I arrived here, I did not know where I was. The last time I found myself here was a week before the June 12, 1993 election, when my car stuck in the mud three times on the way before I could get here. But now, Ikogosi is beckoning to the world.”

Osundare lauded the physical and infrastructural transformation going on in Ekiti and urged the Fayemi administration to sustain the progress.

Describing Fayemi as “the author of the new book of change in Ekiti”, the professor said the state now has one of the best road networks in the country.

Fayemi said the IGSS would make Ekiti a marketplace of ideas and centre of knowledge in the country.

He said: “The concept is in line with our eight-point agenda, which gives prominence to education, and the need to reverse the mass emigration of the best academics to greener pastures.

“The IGSS was proposed as a platform through which they can mobilise their expertise and exposure for postgraduate students to create and nurture relationships with scholars abroad.

“These are our dreams for IGSS. It would be a pillar of support for the university system, providing flexible services where identities or other traditions stand in the way.

“It would also promote what can be called learning without boundaries, a new culture of inquiry in which endless interrogation is an article of faith and multi-disciplinarity is the rule, rather than the exception.

“My administration has invested huge resources into this project, particularly to ensure that all 50 successful candidates are able to participate in the IGSS free-of-charge, so as to foreclose the exclusion of anybody on the basis of financial need.”

Fayemi said the tranquil ambience of the resort was good for the two-week programme.

The two directors of the IGSS programme, Dr. Wale Adebamwi of the University of California and Dr. Ebenezer Obadare of Kansas University, also shed light on the focus of the summer school.

June 19, 2013
Must the country’s unity kill its citizens?

Unity discourse in our country is becoming absurd. Recently, the media carried a news story about the federal government’s instruction to Lagos State to shelve its desire to install 10,000 solar-powered CCTV devices in Lagos State, to deter criminal acts that grow by the day in a state that has in the last six years been more crime-resistant than other states in the federation. The reason for the federal government to prevent the government of Lagos State from making efforts to secure life and property in the state is that the federal government has the intention or plan to install CCTV cameras in major cities of the country. The result almost four years after announcement of Lagos State’s plan to install CCTV cameras in the state is that neither the federal government nor the government of Lagos has done so.

The promise by the National Assembly may not be enough to assure Nigerians that the union does not need the sovereign national conference that citizens have been calling for since the annulment of the 1993 presidential election. The attitude of the federal government to the security of the parts as the basis for the security of the whole remains hostile to what Daniel Defoe once characterised as Union of Affection, in contradistinction to the principle of Union of Policy. The attitude of those in charge of the federal government in the post-military era is as worrisome as it was during the era of military dictatorships.

Under the guise of integration of the country, successions of military dictators created policies which robbed the states of powers to carry out basic responsibilities required of states in a federal union. Such erosion of federalism got to a head in the 1999 Constitution which General Olusegun Obasanjo recently described as representing the apogee of efforts by the military to integrate the country. It is the 1999 Constitution, like all other military-authored constitutions since 1979 and decrees since the suspension of the 1963 Republican Constitution, which killed the tradition of multi-level policing in the country.

It appears that it is the preference of military dictators and their civilian apologists in the post-military era that must have given the federal government the audacity to stop Lagos State from deploying modern technologies to protect citizens and their property. Even at that, it is clear that the federal government is not as much after good governance of the country as it is in search of total control of the states. Knowing that federal political appointees and civil servants are well travelled and very conversant with latest security architecture and techniques in other countries, there is no other way to interpret the federal government’s attempt to stop Lagos State from spending its own resources to enhance security of the 18 million residents of the state.

This is not the first time that the federal government would prevent states from enhancing the survival of their citizens. When Yoruba states indicated their wish to fix the Lagos-Ibadan highway, the federal government rejected the offer, on the ground that it is only the federal government that has the responsibility to repair and rebuild federal roads. Thousands of citizens from all parts of the country must have died from accidents on the bad road since the federal government’s rejection of offers from Yoruba states through which the Lagos-Ibadan highway passes.

When military dictators in the past prevented Lagos State from establishing intra-city rail system as a means of mass transportation within Lagos, citizens blamed this on poor judgment from dictators that had no mandate from citizens. When Obasanjo rejected offers from Oodua Investment to build a fast rail system between Ibadan and Lagos, citizens shrugged it off as evidence of Obasanjo’s loyalty to his military culture of preventing any part of the country from providing services that are not available in other parts of the country, all in the name of even development and national unity.

It is an irony that the federal government under the leadership of a civilian elected by citizens is behaving in a way that is reminiscent of military heads of states. How does the provision of 10,000 CCTV cameras in Lagos State derogate from the country’s unity or the powers of the federal government? Why would the federal government prefer to provide a service that a state has the power to provide? Is the federal government’s purse overflowing with funds to the extent that it must look for projects to underwrite? And if so, must such funds be spent on providing the same service that a state is ready to use its own funds to provide?

Furthermore, it is an irony that, at a time the federal government is apparently over stretchedin its effort to fight different sources of insecurity, the same federal government would stop a state from assisting it to fight the various sources of insecurity in the country: Boko Haram terrorists, professional and ritual kidnappers, and Niger Delta militants, in addition to daily rise in incidence of other crimes in all parts of the country. It is also ironical that a government that lives on the promise of transformation appears hobbled by the country’s tradition of subordinating states under the federal government.

If it is true, as some media pundits have posited, that the federal government’s order to Lagos State with respect to deployment of CCTV cameras in the state is political, this is in bad taste and an illustration of primitive political attitude to multiparty politics in a federation. In the days of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the government of Western Nigeria provided several services that were not available in other regions of the country. Yet doing this neither broke the country’s unity nor derogated from the power of the federal government: free primary education, television service, building of Olympic-size stadium in Ibadan, etc. If anything, such services encouraged other regions to imitate Western Nigeria. The result was that progress in parts of the country translated into progress for the whole of the country.

Without doubt, the 1999 Constitution, nicknamed by Obasanjo as the instrument of the country’s integration, has given too much power to the federal government. Any president who fails to wield the big stick given to him or her by the current constitution to subordinate states or make them appear as junior partners in a federation stands the risk of being called weak. But any attempt by the federal government or its representative to frustrate states that are spending their hard-earned resources to show interest in the welfare and wellbeing of citizens is likely to be seen by most citizens as wicked and insensitive.

The federal government should not have to be told that many citizens are being kidnapped in Lagos every day. It also cannot be oblivious of the rising crime statistics in Lagos in recent times, despite strenuous efforts by the Lagos State government to invest a lot of its resources on beefing up security in the state. There is no other state in the federation that is more attractive to policemen and women than Lagos. This is because of the incentives in terms of equipment and other support given by the state government to law enforcement officers in the state.

Over half of the security efforts in most countries today is achieved with the help of modern technology, particularly collection of intelligence that can prevent crime and detect criminals. The decision of the government in Lagos to deploy 10,000 surveillance cameras is applying best global practices in the use of technology to secure life and property to the security situation in the state. It will be bad politics if the federal government prevents the state government from doing everything possible to secure life and property in the state, on the excuse that whatever the federal government has a hand in cannot benefit from input from state governments.

Apostles of strong federal government and weak or weakened state governments must realise that their vision is more likely to make the call for sovereign national conference to re-structure the union unquenchable.

May 5, 2013
Ngozi! and Sege’s agony: a tale of two citizens

Sege’s agony (December 18)

In ‘Sege’s agony’, no mercy for Baba. – Ichie Emma Ezeh, Enugu +2348061149491

Re: ‘Sege’s agony’ – very informative and educative piece. Constantly being in the news is the tonic that keeps the “Ebora Owu” going! Chief James Ajibola Ige will forever be my hero for his humility, accessibility, simplicity and his principle of operating from a position of relative obscurity. Ogbeni Aregbesola is a man with sound intellect, sharp memory and organisational competence and I do not think he will fall so easy to the avuncular wisdom of Uncle Sege as did his seniors because his political associates have learnt from the benefit of hindsight, insight and foresight to deal with ‘Baba’ from a securely comfortable distance, a stand that pays off handsomely in the long run! Compliments of Yuletide to you. – Kayode A, Abeokuta, 2348073821313.

It is another embarrassment, affront, trauma and insult to Yoruba integrity that Gen. Obasanjo unveiled the statue of Uncle Bola Ige. Gen. Obasanjo conspired against the indomitable Awo’s presidential ambition in 1979. Bola Ige was rigged out of existence in 2001, under his presidency. Obasanjo’s chicanery also rigged out the the Alliance for Democracy (AD) progressive governments in the South West, except the no-nonsense Bola Tinubu of Lagos. The ACN governors must therefore be focused and implement their much touted regional integration without any delay. The ailing industries in the South West should be revived. They should stop chasing shadows, and avoid being distracted. – Ayodele Fagbohun, +2348169482226.

Read your sardonic piece, ‘Sege’s agony’ and it struck me that you are the one in concealed agony at the surreal spectacle of Gen. Obasanjo unveiling the statue of his friend, Chief Bola Ige, callously murdered under his watch as president. To imagine that an ACN putative political ideologue, Governor Rauf Aregbesola, was the host is the ultimate in political morbid humour. So, many improbable people seem to be dancing on Ige’s grave! And with Ige’s son as witness, it doesn’t get more weird! – Dr. Bisi Olawunmi, +2348033647571

Ripples: This is a completely different ‘doctoral dissertation’ of the event. But are you sure your ideological leaning is not playing a trick on you?

Does your warning against Aregbesola “getting too comfy with this man” not suggestive of your discomfort at this apparent rapprochement? You politicians are a different breed – no permanent friends or foes? Maybe Obasanjo will still laugh last. He is genius at capturing people. He is on repeat performance. – Dr. Bisi Olawunmi.

Ripples: ‘You politicians’ – who, me? A politician? Some laugh! Anyway, I concur: politicians cook up phony and unholy deals. That’s why the media must be alert to warn. But does that make the commentator a politician?

Some, if not all the time, I see you people as callous and wicked. You referred to a three-time president as irrelevant? Haba! Do you wish for such an opportunity? Then retrace your steps. Your comments are not ‘Omoluabi’ [Yoruba for well-bred] – +2347033045653.

Stop abusing an elderly man. You should know that whether people like it or not, Obasanjo is a human being and a great Yoruba man. Maybe if you had the opportunities God had given him, you probably would have been a worst person than him. – Segun, Orile-Iganmu, Lagos, +2348083556806.

Your article, ‘Sege’s agony’, is a timely warning to all ACN governors, particularly the Ogbeni governor of the State of Osun. He should watch his back, as Obj is capable of anything to ‘capture’ the South West back for PDP. A word is enough for the wise!!! – Chief Apelogun, Ilesa, Osun State, +2348188810889.

Obasanjo is not irrelevant. Everyone knows you can never see anything good in him. One time you will age and retire, and younger people will write about your own agony. – +2348098829997.

Ogbeni wasn’t comfy. He deliberately invited Sege to taunt him with Cicero’s greatness. But you’re right: Dictum sapient sat est (a word is good for the wise). – Leke Ikumapayi, +2348184972087.

Your piece, ‘Sege’s agony’ is good bordering on excellence. But you should have left out paragraghs 20 and 21. Ponder this and you would get the gist. – +2348055749747.

Ngozi! (December 11)

I thought the Nigerian youth had no place in the present Nigerian political dispensation until I read your piece on the late Mrs. Ngozi Agbo. Please keep it up. – Prince Illo, Abuja, +2348054566282.

Thank you. Reading your column, ‘Ngozi!’ wet my tear ducts again, six months after the death of the Campus Life Lady. She was the second woman whose demise melted my heart, like a crystal of shea butter in a furnace. Aunty Ngozi affected lives in the 37 years she lived. In fact, she was a mother and father to me! But you wrote that the award was held on November 24. It was actually held on November 30. – Wale Ajetunmobi, +2348035832227.

Ripples: The mix-up in date is regretted. Thank you.

To die completely is to be forgotten. He who dies and is not forgotten lives forever – Samuel Butler. Thanks so much for remembering an icon like Mrs Ngozi Agbo. She added so much value to me and my articles, during my days at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, despite the fact that she had never seen me before. Though the messenger is dead, her message lives on. May her gentle soul rest in peace. Long live the young Emmanuel Agbo [Ngozi’s son], Long live Mr. Agbo Agbo [her husband] and long live our country. – Seyi Babaeko, +2348030858606.

Believe you me, when I saw the headline of today’s Ripples, I thought it was referring to our ubiquitous ‘Aunty Ngoo’ whose performance has made the economy very attractive to kidnappers! For the Ngozi that rippled today, I can only say RIP and may God grant her loved ones the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss (Amen) – Kayode A, Abeokuta, +2348073821313.

Thank you for your beautiful write-up on my wife, Ngozi. God bless you. Agbo Agbo – +2348033778406.

December 25, 2012
A lawmaker’s passion for citizens’ empowerment

The major responsibility of the legislature in most democracies is to make laws for the good governance of the society. Accordingly, those elected into the legislature are usually immersed in law making process to justify their mandate. However, some legislators with vision and progressive ideas veer into other populist activities that have the potentials and capabilities to touch the lives of their people.

Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, representing Aboh Mbaise/Ngor Okpala Federal Constituency in the House, is one of the notable visionary legislators of the times. Ihedioha, who made his debut in the National Assembly in 2003 after leaving an indelible landmark as aide to several national flag officers including former (late) Senate President, Dr. Chuba Okadigbo and Vice President Atiku Abubakar has, apart from his legislative functions carved out a niche for himself as one with unassailable penchant for grassroots empowerment, wealth creation for citizens and attracting development projects to his area and beyond.

Conscious of the economic predicament of the vulnerable especially women and youths in the country and Imo State in particular, worsened by rising rate of unemployment and the resultant societal ills such as kidnapping and armed robbery, the Deputy Speaker has commenced in phases, the implementation of a comprehensive Youths/Women Empowerment Programme through skill acquisition training. The programmes which cut across the 27 local councils of the state have in no small way brought succour and relief to the numerous beneficiaries drawn from all walks of life including the physically challenged, road transport unions, religious bodies, media, farmers, market women, tricycle operators, political parties, Civil Society Organisations, e.t.c in the three senatorial zones of Imo State.

Working in collaboration with the National Directorate of Employment (NDE), Ihedioha flagged-off the empowerment programme which commenced on Tuesday, November 27 with hundreds of participants. According to him, the programme is geared towards providing an antidote to the embarrassing tide of unemployment and help to attain economic self-reliance for the beneficiaries. In many respects the training programme has been designed to ensure a high success level. For instance, it boasts of well-equipped workshops with tools and funds with highly experienced trainers who would take the participants through the programme for enhanced results. Hon. Ihedioha disclosed that a total of 20,000 Imo indigenes are targeted to be empowered through various training schemes in order to stimulate the economy, reduce poverty, unemployment and indeed crimes and other social vices.

This large number of prospective beneficiaries is indeed instructive of the broad scope, high impact pedestal and inimitable success level of the exercise. The pilot programme according to the Deputy Speaker has been packaged to accommodate all relevant stakeholders and interest groups with assurances that arrangements have been put in place for starting up and sustaining successful trainees in entrepreneurship.

It would be recalled that the Deputy Speaker recently facilitated an empowerment programme on Agro-Training Programme for 700 women and youths drawn from all over Imo State on improvement of root crops production and micro agricultural enterprise in collaboration with the National Root Crops Research Institute, Umudike, Abia State. The programme which held at Alvan Ikoku Federal College of Education, Owerri was indeed a huge success as participants were diligently trained on how to improve on root crop production and diversification for more productive use. Just two months after the programme, the state has started witnessing the benefits in the areas of food production and the concomitant effect of crime reduction, among others. During the grand finale of the agro-training programme, the Deputy Speaker promised to build three cassava processing plants in the three senatorial zones of Imo State to provide the needed mechanism for sustainability.

It is necessary to mention here that Hon. Ihedioha’s humility, compassion, loyalty and meticulous nature have so endeared him to his colleagues in the House of Representatives and indeed made way for him to record the kind of unprecedented achievements since being elected to the hallowed Green Chambers. Drawing on this goodwill, he has continued to facilitate several development projects and programmes to his constituency and Imo State in general. For Instance, he facilitated the on-going dualization of the important Owerri – Elele road put at a cost of N23billion. Construction of the jetty/mini-wharf at Imo River along Owerri-Aba road in Ngor Okpala LGA is attributed to him. This project is 95 per cent completed and which when commissioned will open up the water ways transportation between the entire regions, create over 500 jobs which will tremendously stimulate the economic activities of the state and the country in general.

Other projects facilitated by the Deputy Speaker include construction of several water schemes, primary health care centres, equipping of hospitals, building of school blocks, skill acquisition centres, ICT centres, among others. The 133kva/33mva electricity power substation sited at Ibeku, Aboh Mbaise LGA with over six injection stations is another project facilitated by him. This project which is 90 per cent completed, will boost electricity supply in Imo State and in indeed enhance the economic activities of all sectors in the state. It is noteworthy that in the past, he had self-financed the reconstruction of 14 schools in his constituency. Just recently, he facilitated the construction of Isinweke-Onicha Uboma-Imo River Boundary road in Ihitte Uboma LGA of Imo State. The construction which is being done by NDDC at the sum of N5.7billion has over four bridges and six culverts.

These efforts by Chief Ihedioha, a Knight of the Anglican Communion has greatly impacted Imo State immensely. He is one leader that is regularly in touch with the people. Apart from regular visits home to feel the pulse of his constituents, he set aside since 2003 a special day, known as Annual Accountability/Constituency Briefing Day, every December to account for his stewardship and also take their feelers back to Abuja for further intervention.

The passion and zeal which Ihedioha has applied in working for the development of Imo State since he was elected to the House has changed the face of representative democracy in the entire country.

• Onyeukwu is media aide to the Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives.

December 25, 2012