The Nation Newspaper

Tag: conspiracy

  • Sport stakeholders Conspiracy of Silence

    I have watched with keen interest the unfolding drama within the sport industry and with specific reference to the existence or extinction of the National Sports Commission. I did mention some weeks back that there is a grand design to scrap this commission as part of the on-going restructuring and mergers of Ministries and some government agencies

    However, I will like to say that as a passionate and committed professional that has sworn to uphold the sanctity and enhance the development of sport sector in Nigeria this move is a great concern to me. The fact is that those clamouring for the total eradication of the sport commission do not really in my view understand the role of the commission as it relates to sport development in a country like Nigeria.

    I have said it times without numbers that sport if and when properly harnessed can generate more jobs than the telecom industry and create more revenue like the oil industry. Sport economy when activated grows and endures beyond the activators. It is one sector that we have not been able to tap into in the past years and rather than enhance what is on ground attempts are on to kill it totally.

    I remain the voice of one crying out in the wilderness like John the Baptist make way for the survival and activation of sport economy in Nigeria this can come to pass when we have the right legislation backing the right institution and also the right people appointed to drive the right process towards unlocking the economy of sport in Nigeria

    While we may say that this happenings seems to be going unnoticed I will be quick to mention that I perceive that there is a conspiracy of silence from all critical sport stakeholders in the fight for the survival of this industry in Nigeria. I have not heard nor read the position of the Guild of Sport Editors about the eradication of the sports commission, I have also not seen the NAPHER-SD making their position known on the same subject matter and I have not seen Sport Writers Association making a serious case on this matter – (I may be wrong).

    It has not been made a national discuss on sport programmes either on radio or television yet we see people going on with their business as though all is well. Sport veterans are not lending their voice neither have I heard any professional sport athletes association making a statement on this action of outright eradication of our industry.

    I don’t want to believe that all the stakeholders in sports including the Presidents of all Sport Federations in Nigeria are unaware of the effect that sport will suffer in terms of its structure and activities in the nearest future.

    Let me clearly say this that in the advancement of policies relating to sports, certain standard criterion are to be considered part of which should be the viability of the subject matter and its sustainability. If I agree to certain extent that the action is viable based on certain current indices the next question will be how sustainable can this be for sport in the years to come.

    May we all see the importance in sport as an economic power house that is tired to the apron of non- activation. We need to seriously look at this and consider it a fundamental issue that needs to be visited and government attention drawn to it as well as a comprehensive Threat Analysis done to show the effect or otherwise should this take effect.

    Sport is a massive industry, sport business cuts across boarders it is a leveller of some sort it enhances economic prosperity of a nation, it serves as a catalyst to new economic frontiers for a nation, in some cases it is among the major contributors to a countries annual GDP. Given all these and the fact that sport is unique may I submit by saying that all sport stakeholders should stop their collective CONSPIRACY OF SILENCE and work towards the activation of the sport industry in Nigeria.

     

  • ‘Stop conspiracy against Tinubu’

    The Action Group caucus of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has decried the gang-up against the party’s National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

    It said those deriding Tinubu after gaining immensely from his political sagacity and financial support would live to regret their action.

    In a statement by its spokesperson, Segun Dipe, the group said some elements believe that they could maintain their popularity only by denigrating Tinubu.

    “These conspirators are filled with venom and they consist of too many craven and irresponsible politicians.

    “Their game plan will not stand the test of time. They are parasites with superficial roots, which will soon rot.

    “We are all advocates of change, we worked very hard to attain it, and they also joined us to chant and chorus “APC…CHANGE”.

    “Yet deep down in their hearts, they did not want a change in the status quo. Rather they are only after a change that will improve their fortune and betray their benefactors.

    “Tinubu has been there for a while; he is a long-distance runner and will surely survive their intrigues.”

  • June 12: The grand conspiracy

    June 12: The grand conspiracy

    The memory of the June 12 presidential election lingers on. Assistant Editor LEKE SALAUDEEN examines the issues that led to its annulment and the role played by the principal actors in the saga. 

    Today, June 12, 2015, marks the 22nd anniversary of the 1993 presidential poll that is widely regarded as the freest and fairest election in Nigeria’s political history. Millions of Nigerians who trooped out to cast their ballots on that day demonstrated to the world that they are united. The fact that the flagbearers of the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP), Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola and Babagana Kingibe, were both Muslims did not matter to them. Their ethnic background was also not a factor during the election. The primary focus of the electorates was the programmes of their party and the personality of the candidates.

    On the election day, Abiola waited patiently under the sun to vote. Unknown to him, the powerful forces within and outside the military who were not comfortable with the idea of him becoming President would annul the election. The exercise was peaceful nationwide without any hitches or disturbances. While the vote count was on, with Abiola comfortably leading, the self-styled military President, General Ibrahim Babangida, struck. He ordered the electoral body — National Electoral Commission (NEC) — to stop further announcement of the results and on June 23, 1993, he annulled the election.

    This announcement was followed by spontaneous protests, mostly in the Southwest. To justify the annulment, Babangida in a nationwide broadcast claimed “there were allegations of irregularities and other acts of bad conduct leveled against the presidential candidates. But, the Prof. Humphrey Nwosu-led NEC went ahead to clear them.

     

    Secret behind annulment

    The Director-General of Centre for Democratic Studies (CDS), the late Professor Omo Omoruyi, gave an insight into why the election was annulled. He was the intermediary between Babangida and Abiola. He knew all that transpired between them before June 12, 1993 and thereafter. He reflected in his account: “I recall my meeting with our common friend, Gen. Babangida on June 21, 1993 on the June 12 issue; I remember very vividly how the General exploded ‘Professor, I cannot go on with the presidential election’. I asked why, because both of us knew before that day that our common friend, Chief Abiola had won the June 12, 1993 presidential election. I thought we should be happy. This was the first time I knew that we were in trouble.

    “The General went on: If I allow Bashorun (MKO) to become the President ‘they’ will kill him and ‘they’ will kill me (IBB) and ‘they’ may not spare you (Omoruyi) because ‘they’ know you are with me now and working with me on this matter.”

    According to Prof. Omoruyi, Gen. Babangida finally summoned courage and had a meeting with Chief Abiola on July 4, 1993 in the Presidential Villa. This was after the annulment. He said: “What was IBB planning to achieve then? Maybe he was planning to implement what the northern leaders told him to do, ‘offer Abiola money in lieu of the mandate’. The northern leaders actually advised IBB: ‘pay him off or as Nigerians would say, ‘settle him’. Chief Abiola told me in London on my hospital bed that he turned this down. In his words, ‘Omo, I told him, the suggestion was an insult not only to my person, but to the Nigerian people”.

    Analysts say Abiola election would have led to a shift of power from the North to the South, but some persons were not comfortable with it. Most importantly it would have also led to a shift of power from the military to civilians through the ballot box.

     

    Babangida endorsed Abiola’s candidature

    Omoruyi gave two reasons why he believed Babangida endorsed Abiola for the June 12 presidential election. He said: “First, IBB saw it as a way of resolving the credibility crisis he faced in 1992 after the botched presidential primaries. Second, IBB saw it as a way of resolving the succession crisis. As a serious candidate along with other candidates, I had dealings with him and other candidates in 1993. I provided him and other serious candidates with the necessary information before and after they became the official candidates of the SDP and NRC in my official capacity as the Director General, CDS.

    “Specifically on Chief Abiola, I also had occasions to discuss him with the President at various times as to his chances as our common friend. The President showed interest in his ambition and this encouraged my dealings with him.

    “It was as a result of our past relationship (Abiola and I) which spilled over to our relationship with a common friend (IBB) that I got to know how passionately he (Abiola) felt about the politics of Nigeria and why he decided to seek the exalted elective office in the land. Chief Abiola from time-to-time sought my advice on whether our common friend (IBB) was actually serious with the transition programme and specifically whether there was any ‘vacancy’ in the Presidential Villa. What Chief Abiola wanted to know from me was whether General Babangida was serious or not with his decision not to transform himself into a civilian President. Of course, I told Chief Abiola, just as I told many peoples in Nigeria and in the international community, that IBB was not interested in what Washington called the West African model of democratic transition such as in Ghana, Togo etc. What I got to know was that Chief Abiola loved General Babangida very much and he would have supported him if he had wanted to transform himself into a civilian President. I knew as a fact that Chief Abiola definitely did not want to offend him. In fact, he regretted ever offending him one day when he went to the Presidential Villa with the ‘enemy’ of the junta, Barrister Aka Bashorun, who had earlier accompanied him to a Presidential Dinner Party in honour of the President of South Africa, Mr. F. W. de Klerk. Chief Abiola, like other candidates and even military officers, routinely called me on telephone to find out how IBB’s mind was working on any issue. It was therefore in order that he called me to find out if our common friend had changed his mind on the transition programme. Chief Abiola had a way of asking me the same question over and over again whenever we met in and out of the Presidential Villa. I was very definite after November 1992 when the search for credible candidates was on to solve General Babangida’s credibility crisis. I advised Abiola to think about the race and I was not therefore surprised when he decided to take the plunge in January 1993.”

     

    Those who betrayed Abiola

    Omoruyi continues: “Abiola regretted that he was misled and betrayed first by our common friend, General Babangida who assured him that he was serious with the transition programme and allowed him to plough his resources into the election. He complained about Generals Abacha and Diya who invited him to come home on the firm promise that his mandate would be enforced by the military. He complained about how our common friend made him plough back money into politics and the Presidential race with a view to according his transition program some credibility in March, 1993. This was a fact. It is also a fact that Chief Abiola was used later in May, 1993 as IBB’s instrument of resolving his succession crisis.

    “MKO was very disappointed with the leadership of the Northern Elders Forum, most of them who he helped on many occasions to have medical attention abroad. He was bitter with the way he, the Deputy President of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs and a major financier of Islamic causes in the country was treated after the June 12 election by the then President of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, the former Sultan of Sokoto.

    “He regretted his blunder in not showing interest in those who became the leaders of his political party, the Social Democratic Party after he won the nomination of the party in March 1993.  He lamented the dubious role of a major Yoruba traditional ruler. He wondered aloud, how impotent the military officers from the south, especially from the Yorubaland were in the military government.”

     

    Forces behind annulment

    The principal characters in the events that led to the annulment of June 12 are:

    Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, Alhaji Bashir Tofa, Alhaji Babagana Kingibe, Chief Tony Anenih, Chief Tom Ikimi,  Chief Ernest Shonekan. Sen. Arthur Nzeribe, Justice Bassey Ikpeme, Justice Dahiru Saleh, Abimbola Davies,  the late Gen Sani Abacha and Clement Akpamgbo.

     

    Babangida

    Gen. Babangida has been a recurring feature of any discourse on June 12, 1993, presidential poll. This is primarily informed by his position as the head of the military government then, on whose desk the buck stopped. His claim that he annulled the election in the interest of the state was not acceptable to Nigerians and the international community. Against the backdrop that the Babangida regime had one of the longest political transition programmes in history made observers to conclude that the head of the military junta was not prepared to relinquish power. It was a grand design to perpetuate himself in power.

    An attempt to embark on another transition programme was repudiated by the political class. When the seat became too hot for him, he had to ‘step aside’ in August 1993 and installed a lame duck interim government led by Chief Earnest Shonekan. He once described himself as ‘an evil genius’. The annulment of June 12 is a burden that he will carry for the rest of his life.

     

    Tofa

    Alhaji Bashir Tofa was the presidential candidate of the National Republican Convention (NRC). He was a dark horse until he emerged in 1993. The Kano-based businessman was, however, very wealthy and had connections with the then ruling military class. His money, connections and political clout were, however, no match to that of Abiola, who easily defeated him in his home in Kano. Ordinarily, Tofa ought to have behaved like a good loser, by conceding defeat, but he failed. He played into the hands of the military officers who did not want the election results to be upheld.

    He keeps defending the annulment. He described the critics of June 12 as people that have nothing to offer in moving the country forward. He insisted that the June 12 election was marred by irregularities and that the military did the right thing in cancelling the results.

     

    Kingibe

    Ambassador Babagana Kingibe was the pioneer chairman of the SDP. He was Abiola’s running mate in the 1993 election. He got the slot through the influence of the SDP governors. With immense influence upon the SDP governors, he easily became a major factor in the run up to the SDP primaries which Abiola eventually won. The governors were nevertheless determined to foist him on Abiola as his running mate, a decision Abiola took at the expense of Atiku Abubakar who was a loyalist of the powerful Shehu Musa Yar‘Adua.

    Following the annulment, Kingibe initially stood with Abiola, but he wavered in the struggle for its revalidation. The confidence in him among the pro-June 12 agitators ebbed when he accepted to serve in the Abacha administration. A Kanuri man like Abacha, Kingibe abandoned the June 12 struggle and turned his back against Abiola who languished in Abacha’s gulag for five years before he died.

     

    Abacha

    The late General Sani Abacha was the arrow head of the military officers that were opposed to June 12. The National Defence and Security Council, the highest military ruling body under Babangida’s regime was polarized by the June 12 crisis. The Council set up a committee headed by Abacha to look into the election and advise it accordingly. Members of the Committee included Brigadier David Mark (former Senate President) Murtala Nyako (former Governor of Adamawa State) General Aliyu Muhammed Gusau (former Minister Of Defence) and Col. Halilu Akilu.

    Abacha threatened NEC Chairman, Professor Nwosu for disobeying court order that stopped June 12 election during the National Defence and Security Council meeting. He was the most senior military officer left behind by Babangida when he ‘stepped aside’ and put in place an interim government headed by Chief Shonekan.

    Abacha sent the interim government packing and took over the reign of power. He dismantled all democratic institutions and suppressed agitations for the revalidation of June 12. Many June 12 activists were thrown into detention, some died in the process, while others fled the country. He was referred to as ‘maximum ruler’ because of the brutish style of his administration. He died in office on June 8, 1998, in mysterious circumstance.

     

    Anenih

    Tony Anenih took over the chairmanship of the SDP after Kingibe. He was a retired police officer. He became chairman through the influence of late Gen. Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, the leader of the Peoples Democratic Movement, a major bloc within the SDP.

    Though Anenih led his party to victory, but soon after the results were annulled, he abandoned the cause of the party. While political leaders and rights activists were agitating for revalidation of June 12 mandate, Anenih looked the other way. Sources said he became a master strategist for the military regime that detained the flagbearer of his party.

     

    Ikimi

    Tom Ikimi was the national chairman of the NRC, the opposition party that was defeated by the SDP in the June 12 1993 election. Like his party’s presidential candidate, Tofa, he refused to concede victory and echoed the words of the military to justify the annulment of the results.  He allegedly played a major role in the committee that mid-wifed the birth of the Interim Government that succeeded Babangida.

     

    Shonekan

    Chief Ernest Shonekan was a respected figure in the business community who through his successful stewardship at the UAC, one of Nigeria’s leading blue chip companies at that time had carved a name for himself. He was appointed by Babangida to head the transition cabinet at the beginning of 1993 and with the annulment he stayed on as chairman of what was named as an Interim National Government (ING), which was supposed to arrange for another presidential election.

    His ING was eventually declared illegal by a Lgos High Court. This paved the way for Abacha to bare his fangs and assume full control of the country in November 1993. His acceptance to head the 32-man ING at the expense of his kinsman, Abiola, infuriated many.

     

    Nzeribe

    Arthur Nzeribe was notorious for his dubious role in the events that led to the annulment of June 12. He and some faceless Igbo politicians and businessmen carried out their nefarious activities on the platform of Association for Better Nigeria, (ABN). Nzeribe became a ready tool in the hands of the military to truncate the June 12 electoral victory. He and one Abimbola Davies and Dr Atkins mounted campaigns against June 12 poll. They created fears in the minds of the Nigerians. The unexpected happened when Nzeribe obtained a mid-night court injunction on June 10 stopping the election from holding. The court order was one of the reasons cited by Babangida to justify the annulment.

     

    Akpamgbo

    The late Clement Akpamgbo was the Attorney General and Minister of Justice during the Babangida’s regime. He held several meetings with ABN chiefs in his house. ABN’s lawyer, the late Philip Umeadi, frequented the house to hold consultations with the Attorney General. Instead of advising the military on legal matters pertaining to the election, Akpamgbo colluded with those bent on scuttling the election especially, the ABN.

     

    Ikpeme

    The late Justice Bassey Ikpeme granted a controversial ruling to stop the election from holding at odd hours. The court sat in the night on June 11. The ruling was believed to have contravened Decree No. 13 of 1993, which does not recognise the jurisdiction of the court on election date.

     

    Saleh

    An Abuja High Court, presided by Justice Dahiru Saleh ordered NEC to stop further announcements of election returns and subsequently declared the entire poll illegal on the ground that it was held in contravention of a subsisting court order. Defending his action later, Saleh said both the late Ikpeme, who first ordered NEC not to conduct the elections, and himself were only doing their job.

     

    Nwosu

    Prof Humphrey Nwosu was the Chairman of the electoral body. He ignored the court ruling stopping the election from holding. He relied on Decree 13 of 1993 which says: “Once a date has been set for the general election in Nigeria no court can stop that election”. The electorate had confidence in him that he would conduct a credible election. He was transparent in the declaration of the results until the military leaders stopped him from making further announcement of the results.

    Nwosu succumbed to intimidation by the military. But, analysts said Nwosu should have released the results and declare Abiola the winner since he had all results with him.

  • Super six conspiracy! Referees favour national teams, John fumes

    Super six conspiracy! Referees favour national teams, John fumes

    New Kano Pillars shot-stopper, John Lawrence, has lashed out angrily at the referee’s officiating matches at the on-going Super Six in Abuja after his side’s 1-0 loss to the Dream team VI in the Day 3 of the tournament.

    Lawrence cried foul after Pillars were held to a 1-1 draw by Fatai Amoo’s men – he felt the referee was not fair in his handling of proceedings and that has been the trend throughout the tournament in matches between clubs and national sides.

    The current league champions were denied a penalty on 18th minute when Shobowale went down in the box but they went ahead in the game when new signing Christain Obiozor fired the ball past Jonah Usman in goal for the Dream team VI,  but Yahaya Adamu rescued a point with a goal late on.

    “We had a good game but I must be sincere – the referee was not fair in the game,” he told Brilafm.

    “The Super Six is supposed to be an open affair but it’s like they want the Under 23 and Under 20 teams to win the competition.

    “In our last two games, the officiating hasn’t been good enough. Enyimba, Warri Wolves are also complaining – I really don’t understand because we are doing our best but they just want to kill the game.”

    However, Rangers manager John Obuh rose to the defense of the organizers dismissing claims made by the Kano Pillars goalkeeper as ‘pure nonsense.’

    “I don’t want to believe that, what is it for?” he queried.

    “If you have to support the national team in that manner, of what good is it? The fact is, this tournament is meant to help the various teams prepare for their different tournaments so who wins the Cup doesn’t matter.”

    The six teams participating in the tournament are Kano Pillars, Enyimba, Warri Wolves, Dolphins, Flying Eagles, and the Dream team VI.

  • The conspiracy against ‘smaller’ parties

    THE Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC’s de-registration exercise and what should be the right number of political parties have generated heated debates in the media. Sabella Abidde wrote in an earlier piece: “… a Jonathan presidency beyond 2015 will be a disaster for Nigeria”. But curiously, in an article he wrote in Punch on August 13, 2014, titled “Is the APC taking a nap? he wrote: “… it is in their best interest and the interest of Nigeria to have fewer parties…”

    It makes one wonder if the opposition knows anything about politics, power-sharing and nation-building…”What nation building and number of parties have in common is a matter for another discourse, because other nations with more parties have not failed. INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega’s recent statement on the decision of his agency not to obey a court order which voided his de-registration of Fresh Democratic Party (FRESH), raised concerns over his respect for the rule of law. INEC has refused to respect this court order despite public outcry.

    Instead, Prof. Jega says he stands by his own order to ban parties: “That is the law. Until it changes, we will continue to enforce the provisions of the law,” he told The Punch. Abidde also seems to think that INEC is right to decree fewer parties. But here comes a glimmer of hope: a Federal High Court, Abuja Division, under Justice Adeniyi Ademola recently upturned the de-registration of Hope Democratic Party, and warned INEC to immediately comply with the judgment.

    This is the second ruling by a competent court reversing the de-registration of political parties. After noting that INEC failed to comply with an earlier judgment in favour of FRESH, Justice Ademola warned the electoral agency against contempt of court. Party’s like FRESH, which INEC wants to sniff out to make room for bigger parties, are not smaller because they have demonstrated the capacity to fight big guns, and to proffer workable solutions to Nigeria’s hydra-headed problems. We all know that followership and political loyalty in Nigeria are bought, not earned. Voters are compelled by dire economic deprivation to seek pay-offs in exchange for votes, so it becomes a game for the highest bidder which the ruling parties can fund from government coffers.

    This is primarily why budding parties appear to be unmarketable. New parties need a long gestation period because democracy is not an event, it is a process. Rev. Chris Okotie, the exponent of paradigm shift and Chairman of FRESH, has often said illicit money is usually diverted to fund elections in this country, while funding for infrastructure dries up. This means that ‘settlement’ and corruption keeps the political machinery of the bigger parties well oiled. More campaign money fosters corruption and serious criminal behaviour.

    To be sure, more than five decades of corruption will wear any country thin. The problematic attitude of INEC, which is very aware of this ‘stomach infrastructure’ and monetization of votes, which are hampering Nigeria’s politics, is unwittingly legitimising this aberration by its action. The problem new parties face is not the absence of quality candidates who can offer new dimensions of governance, prosecute and sustain programmes which can turn the fortunes of the nation and its people around, but a system that stifles growth and frustrates the ambitions of such people. The ‘smaller’ parties are not led by career politicians like the big politicians, who earn a living from the corridors of power.

    They are mostly gainfully employed citizens. So naturally, after the rounds of non-profit-making politicking, they return to their businesses, thereby creating what appears to be a lull in party activities. They are like pressure groups which can break the cycle of crony management that has dominated Nigeria’s economic and political sphere. They don’t have the embezzled government resources which finances the big parties’ media propaganda, electoral campaigns, fame and ‘stomach infrastructure‘. So, all argument by Mr. Abidde, a brilliant writer if you ask me, cannot justify his grouse with small opposition parties. Most Nigerians have never heard of some of these parties because the media houses naturally don’t promote the smaller parties and the bigger parties have the ‘resources’ to buy the highly expensive media space.

    Of all the parties that contest, the media only mentions the leading contenders despite the claim to fairness in reportage. A commentator on Abidde’s article said: “Having many parties is not the real problem but the media. Media makes every party what it prefers it to be in the eyes of the electorate. For instance, 20 parties contested in Osun, but only two or, at best, three were recognised by the media…”

    True, there is strength in numbers, but having many parties does not confuse voters or dilute opposition parties competitive edge if moral character, personality and principles of aspirants are used as criteria by the electorate, as opposed to party brands as is the case in Nigeria.

    This is what Rev. Okotie’s paradigm shift is all about. And if parties are constituted along ideological lines, then they don’t need to dissolve; all they need do is simply ally and adopt a consensus candidate to accomplish chosen goals. It is the ‘unseriousness of Abidde’s so called ‘serious’ politicians that has dug our nation and economy into the abyss that we find ourselves today, which is exhibited by their corruption quotient.

    If the corrupt PDP administration and its members are Sabella’s idea of serious contenders, then Nigeria is in deep trouble. So, a government that condones corruption cannot be an example worth citing. And if the writer is honest, he would know that the alternative he asks about can be found in some of the de-registered parties like FRESH. And this is not being overtly partisan.

    Let’s recall Okotie’s pedigree. He has been in the race since 2003 without a godfather, thugs or cronies who play up tribal or religious sentiments. Abidde said he was told in Abuja by more than three cab drivers that ‘Jonathan would have been a better and more effective President but for what the Northern elites are doing…”.

    In a country of an estimated 150 million people, Mr Abidde based his conclusion on what a handful of ‘cab drivers’ said. Quite interesting! Focused and visionary leaders have accomplished more under more dire circumstances, and the death and maiming of thousands of citizens has not “helped the Jonathan government and his candidacy”. Jonathan’s real and perceived shortcomings are inherent, not devolved.

  • Nigerians and terrorism: Conspiracy of silence

    I know that silence is an ill-wind. Those who keep silent in the face of great moral crisis diminish humanity and the very essence of living. Nothing exemplifies this reprehensible culture of silence like the eternal words of Martin Neimoller, the great anti-Nazi theologian and preacher: “First, they came for the communist; I did not speak out because I was not a communist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew. Then they came for the Catholics and I did not speak up because I was a protestant. Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak for me”, Neimoller said in 1946.

    The anti-Nazi theologian made these timeless remarks while addressing German intellectuals and leaders of thought following the Nazi rise to power and the annihilation of their targets that triggered world-wide condemnation.

    Today, Nigeria faces global outrage on account of terrorism and particularly the abducted Chibok girls which still continue to dominate headlines across the world. To be honest, I feel low anytime the story and the accompanying horrific pictures of those innocent girls and their abductors are shown on international media. I do not think we need to overemphasize the fact that we live in a globalised world and that the voices of our neighbours matter. But we did not get here overnight.

    The principal role of government is the protection of lives and properties. When government fails in this responsibility it has a moral crisis of legitimacy at hand. The international community has expressed concern about the role of government in this whole saga but our people have maintained unusual and troubling silence. Government regrettably views every criticism, no matter how constructive, as voice of detractors. Religious, traditional, political and economic leaders have refused to speak out against government apathy and even against insurgents.

    We all appreciate the fact that the fight against terror in Nigeria has stretched the citizenry who are the real victims, and the government. Every day, from Maiduguri, Yobe and Yola to Jos, Bauchi, Kano and Kaduna, we watch helplessly as lives are snuffed and dreams aborted. Sadly, one could almost predict the hypocrisy and cyclic response that greet these bombings, abductions and arson that now threaten our country.

    Since this devastating act of extreme evil took a new turn on February 25, with the fatal raid on Federal Government College, Buni Yadi, Yobe State where over 30 male students were murdered and undisclosed number of female students abducted, Nigerians have not known peace. Today, Boko Haram literally keeps everybody on the edge, creating fear, confusion and uncertainty in the minds of our country men and women.

    What is baffling for me, however, is our attitude generally as a people. I hasten to add here that this does not in any way preclude government of the day from blame. In fact, government is the chief culprit. Take for instance this unfortunate Chibok abduction. At the beginning, a deafening silence from government greeted news of the kidnap.  It took sometime before there was noticeable seriousness on the part of government, that is, after some of its apologists had openly expressed doubts over the veracity of the abduction. There are also a good number of Nigerians who claim that they have not seen enough will and commitment on the part of government to inspire confidence and hope.

    As Nigerians, a few people would argue the fact that as citizens, we have also not done enough to assist our law enforcement agents. Have we volunteered enough information that would necessarily support our embattled military and others in the law enforcement chain? Have we, in our thoughts and action genuinely shown enough patriotism and concern in seeing that we defeat this evil?

    What about this conspiracy of silence that is still lurking around us?

    The plain truth is that our armed forces and the police are not spirits, the bulk of their work depends largely on intelligence and if we hope to circumvent the antics of this deadly sect, we must be willing to go beyond the surface.

    I must commend the efforts of our vibrant civil society organisations and volunteers who are bracing all odds in an attempt to draw more attention to this needless crisis but there is still a huge deficit.

    I am nonetheless happy that part of this deficit is already been addressed by some groups. I am proud of the Oby Ezekwesili-led Bring Back Our Girls Campaign and must commend them for the now popular 10 questions for the federal government.  The 2Face Idibia’s Million Voices for Peace (MVP) Project also deserves commendation. Some artists under the umbrella of the MVP, in an attempt to draw attention to the global call for the release of the abducted girls have recorded a major song of peace and unity titled Break the Silence to raise funds to support the on-going campaign for the girls. But we must go beyond the MVP initiative if we truly hope to break this silence. We must therefore enlist the support and understanding of all Nigerians to defeat Boko Haram.

    Members of Boko Haram are not ghosts. But we must be vigilant because we have in our midst, their admirers, confidants, siblings and other relatives who know that they deal and live on the blood of the poor, the innocent and the vulnerable. This is the most disturbing part of our tragedy today. So, we are faced with the truth that many Nigerians would consciously support evil rather than repudiate it because they know the roles of their kith and kin, and this reality of the present says a mouthful.

    There are also those who fear to upset the apple cart because of the dire consequences. In our society, Boko Haram therefore thrives because men and women are afraid of any form of discomfort in their different comfort zones. Others regrettably see the sect as a distant phenomenon that is already constrained by geography and weather.

    But both the leadership and the led must urgently embark on attitude change because we are already reaping the awful dividends of insurgency. I also know there is a strong belief in some quarters that there is a colossal failure of policy and management of men and materials in the execution of this on-going war that is dragging for too long. For that reason, the executive must look inwards for solutions. The federal government should also be amenable to criticism. A situation where the executive misconstrues every critical point is further exacerbating the situation and widening the already existing gulf between the leadership and the led. The federal government in my considered opinion should also be magnanimous enough to accept criticism and desist from the practice of branding critics as opposition and detractors.

    This is, therefore, a time to stand up and be counted. After all according to Martin Luther King Jnr, “in the end we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends”.

     

    • Peterside, a member of the House of Representatives, is chairman, House Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream).

     

  • Anti-solar conspiracy; ‘Solar Generation’ must replace ‘Generator Generation’

    As there a conspiracy against solar energy – another energy conspiracy like the generator conspiracy? How else do we explain that Nigeria with 85-100% sun days has no solar farms while the UK with 20% pathetic sun days per annum has 157 solar farms and 229 awaiting approval not including roof-top millions of mini-solar plants? The UK expects solar enterprise to deliver 20GigaWatts of power by 2020. Africa has no such plans. A small physics lesson: 1,000watts =1Kilowatt; 1,000 kilowatts or 1,000,000 watts=1Megawatt; 1,000Mw=1Gigawatt=1,000,000,000watts or 1billion watts.  Nigeria@52+ makes 3- 4,200Mw.  Africa needs visionary ‘Mr. Solar President’ Leadership.

    Has any African engineer, politician or professor visited a solar farm in Spain, Israel, UAE, UK or USA? Why is this failure to commit to new technologies allowed when our electricity powerless Africa has a mega-sun stroking our land and Nigeria has epileptic 3-4,000Mw after billions of dollars? Why are Africa and Nigeria still holding ‘talk-shop’ conferences on ‘solar energy as a way forward’ but giving mega-contracts for imported turbines for 50 year-old power plants using non-renewable energy, instead of creating the long overdue ‘New African/Nigerian Solar Generation’ to replace us- the ‘Generator Generation’?

    Is our leadership blinded by the government-allocated perks of office – the 24-hour generator and vehicles with anti-sun tinted windows?  The leadership should recognise the technological and moral value of taking Africa and Nigeria solar before God relocates the sun to those who value it more? ‘God gives and takes away’. God can take away the sun if we misuse it as much as we have misused that other energy gift from God, petroleum. Imagine solar energy being provided to Africa by underground cable from the UK, Spain, Israel, UAE or USA. The sun shines on everyone. Why cannot we grasp the future? Nigeria gives citizens 12 watts of average power per person. South Africa gives 457, Zimbabwe 113, Zambia 61 and Ghana 29. Will Nigeria ever become ‘solar wise’? Since Africa is technologically challenged, why do we not turn to the gloriously powerful sun? Tell the AU, ECOWAS, governments and the private sector to get power from the sun, everyone!

    Solar energy is to electricity what the cell phone was to communications –a great leap forward, cutting out the PHCN men. It will not get better with the new power companies who will overcharge. The sun is being underutilised by Nigerians, individual, government and the private sector, who are victims of a conspiracy against the spread of solar energy. Are the conspirators forcing government to use high tariffs and taxes on solar imports? Are oil marketers afraid of losses from reducing patronage and generator companies for the same reason?

    Nigerian authorities are afraid of committing ‘big’ to the new technology which is not new at all and has been around since the dawn of time and has been largely ignored, to our loss, except for sun drying clothes and food items. Nigeria started with the sun and then went underground to coal and petroleum. Now we must come up to the surface again and harness the sun. It has already been done so there is no point Nigeria’s NUC giving ABU N10m to research solar energy as was done some years ago. It is on international record that the prices of solar panels and rechargeable batteries have fallen by over 80% making solar energy affordable. Why is cheap solar equipment not available in Africa? Conspiracy! Entire cities are run by solar abroad. Africa, wake up before they steal the sun and sell it back to your children in a bottle!

    The UK offers government subsidies to families and companies to purchase solar equipment. Such subsidies are not available in Nigeria and denied to Nigerian ‘Sun Energy Seekers’. CBN gives N10b to ABU and billions in rescue money to banks while the federal government gives $200m to Nollywood and billions to textile manufacturers. Few economists have calculated that a large chunk of this financial support will be spent on generators and fuel.  Every Nigerian and every economist knows that the mantra for survival in family, and business is ‘Get Electric Power Right And All Will Be Added’.

    It is not too late for government to target solar power by increasing grants, solar loan portfolios, reducing interest rates on loans, longer term loans to increase solar power use and reduce pressure on the new power grid roadmap. We do not want another talk shop, no actionless ‘Solar Energy Conference’.

    If the current government fails to take solar seriously will the new party? Will the APC, vaguely promising 40,000Mw in four or eight years, rethink and embrace a serious manifesto ‘Solar Power Roadmap’? The powerful people, rich with money obtained from the murky waters of Nigerian commerce and politics, want dependent citizens. Solar energy in the home frees the owner from the grid and solar farms can also supply the grid. Solar is a generator without pollution.

    There are a few African solar projects. Solar energy empowers and reduces poverty –not the goal of Africa’s powerful governments. It is the goal of the poor and their NGOs, seemingly powerless to change government ‘secret plans’. The world must get the poor vote to matter in politics. The voice of the people is the voice of God. We want solar energy today or will make it a 2015 election issue! Fight the ‘Anti-Solar Conspiracy’. Who is afraid of solar powering Africa and Nigeria?

  • The conspiracy of the theory

    The unprecedented, horrific events of the Woolwich killings of a British soldier, James Rigby, in broad daylight on a London street last week forced a massive shock, not only in Britain but the rest of the world. The straw that broke the camel’s back (if you will) is the fact that both the suspects are of Nigerian descent and the dimension of the revelation further revealed that they are Nigerians from the southern part of the country. The fact that they are not Muslims from the northern part of Nigeria gives a more complex perspective to a phenomenon that would otherwise have been labeled by Nigerians especially as a Boko Haram terrorist activity. The overzealous and fascinatingly diverse conspiracy theories spun by Nigerians in the media, especially of southern descent, on dissipating the forensic evidence on the scene of the crime have been gigantean in nature. This is not the first of such unfortunate activity on an international platform of which a Nigerian has been involved. But in the first of such case, the media, especially those of southern descent, never expressed or entertained the possibility that the first case, which involved a northerner, could also lend itself to a conspiracy theory.

    Similarly, the recent preposterous outburst by the ridiculous Asari Dokubo, where he threatened fire and brimstone primarily targeting northerners drew anger from a wide spectrum of Northern leaders. While it goes without saying that Dokubo is nothing better than an ignorant and mad bumbling fool, who has directed his personal frustrations towards bigotry, the outrage of many northerners to the utterances of the ‘rabid dog’ has been as revealing as the complacency southerners treated his onslaught. But the truth is, even though the manner and approach adopted by Dokubo was, to say the least, crass and uncouth, several northerners have, in the not so distant past, made statements not so dissimilar to Dokubo’s. But when they did, northerners didn’t see fault in it and didn’t articulate outrage in the same way southerners haven’t reacted to Dokubo’s statements. The theory of this behavior, in each instance is that there is a conspiracy where all regions adopt the posture of victims whose existence and well being is threatened by some tribal covert grand design. And that in itself makes a conspiracy of the theory.

    The reactions to the Woolwich killings and Dokubos statements may not seem connected, but they are; in the most crucial manner. Assessing these diverse events and the reactions that have followed them, one can’t help but conclude the navigation of ethnic sensibilities. When such conspiracy theories came into the fold in Nigeria, one can bet that there is an assessment of tribe and our natural denial of anything that reflects negativity of anyone that comes from the same tribe as us. Instead of universally labeling inciting statements of both northerners and southerners wrong, instead of accepting that murdering extremists are nothing less than murdering extremists, we make excuses when our tribes are concerned; use conspiracy theories to rationalize bad behavior.

    When it comes to conspiracy theories, we here in Nigeria are the sharers out of nations. So dependent we are on story telling for our survival, especially in connection with tribal issues, we have lost the codes of rational reasoning and to properly and reasonably articulate our outrage.

    Don Delera, one of the most outstanding contemporary American writers, once said of conspiracy theories, “If we are on the outside, we assume a conspiracy is the perfect working of a scheme; silent nameless men with unadorned hearts. A conspiracy is everything that ordinary life is not. It’s the inside game, cold, sure, undistracted, forever closed off to us. We are the flawed ones, the innocents, trying to make some rough sense of the daily jostle. Conspirators have logic and a daring beyond our reach. All conspiracies are the same taut story of men who find coherence in some criminal act.”

    We do this to an art form in Nigeria. So easy is it to take refuge in the shadowy world of maybe or maybe nots. To blame all our failings on bogey men, on the ‘other’ tribes, on anyone except ourselves. It saves us the trouble of confronting reality. It saves us the trouble of having to take responsibility, of conserving our identity and our country; which we destroy so quickly and so shamelessly. It saves us from taking accountability for our actions and decisions and in the long run, we assassinate the potential of our young Nigeria in the span of one short lifetime. And it saves us from demanding better from our feckless rulers and depriving them of their overbearing and overwhelming power over us, especially when those rulers are the same tribe as us.

    It is becoming harder and harder to escape the sense that the narrow-minded idiosyncrasy we apply to the issue of tribe is the core threat to our development and existence. Being unable to assess issues objectively without giving it a tribal and ethnic dimension is disturbing and a further reinforcement that what we have got in Nigeria is a most disunited and leery order. As a people, our way of reasoning requires a stronger focus on inconvenient truths which are much too often swept under the carpet in exchange for an optical illusion that exonerates what we consider to be ‘our own kind.’

    It honestly is a woeful decree in the assessment of Nigeria that, a century since our formation; we are still unable to shed the garb of suspicion, intolerance and disparity. Still, unable to see beyond ethnicity, religion and regional origin. We; the black race, the people of Africa, Nigerians far and wide want to be accepted and seen as equals by the Europeans, the Americans, by the Caucasians all over the world. We complain when the Westerners make documentaries depicting our nations decline. We curse and cry bias when they refuse to grant us visas to their countries and when fellow Africans label us parasites, criminals and 419ers. Who are we to accuse anybody else of prejudice against us? We have no right to claim discrimination when we fail to exhibit the equality and understanding that we yearn from outsiders to our own people and in our own home. Through actions and words, all ethnic and religious groups in Nigeria are equally as guilty as each other of promoting the disharmony that is now drowning us.

    The downfall of any multi ethnic country is usually enhanced through the flaw of reasoning, social dogma or ignorance. Unless we are able to overcome our flaw in reasoning and ignorance that accentuates our ethnic distinctions, then we will remain unable to address our troubles, because even though we clearly see the truth, as Don Delera says, it will “forever be closed off to us since we can only see ourselves as the innocents trying to find coherence in some criminal act.” Let’s wake up and recognize that; “the real theory of the conspiracies lies in the conspiracy of the theory,” and it has nothing to do with a real rationale but everything to do with our prejudiced tribal sensibilities and denials.

    So as we come to terms with the emergence of a converted Muslim extremist of southern descent, as we enrage about comparable inciting tribal statements from northern personalities and Niger-delta militants alike, we might just need to take a minute and look for fault from within, give the conspiracies a break, put tribal sensibilities aside and lay blame where blame is due…, even if it is on our doorstep. Then and only then will there be no conspiracy in our theories!