The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Continuity

  • Osun: Between continuity and change

    It is less than one week to the September 22 Osun governorship election and expectations have understandably reached fever
    pitch as the leading parties jostle for political advantage.

    At the last count, 48 political parties have been cleared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to participate in the crucial election, which, like the Ekiti poll, may be a forerunner to the possibilities inherent in the 2019 general elections.

    Many political observers are unequivocal that the Osun election will be a three-horse race among the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Gboyega Oyetola; Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) flag bearer, Senator Ademola Adeleke; and serial governorship aspirant, Senator Iyiola Omisore of the Social Democratic Party (SDP).

    If the crisis that trailed the party primaries are anything to go by, it will be foolhardy to underestimate the portents posed by a ‘third force’ represented by the duo of Moshood Adeoti of the Action Democratic Party (ADP) and Fatai Akinbade of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

    The outcome of the crisis-ridden primaries of many of the leading parties and their policy direction as well as the outlook and persons of the flag bearers may yet determine where the pendulum will swing.

    Oyetola, a former Chief of Staff to Governor Rauf Aregbesola, is readily the man to beat given his proven track record in the private sector, the critical incumbency factor, coupled with his personality which saw him winning the direct primary with 127,017.

    With his Ileri Oluwa (God’s Promise) campaign slogan, this Iragbiji-born politician will be riding on the crest-wave of continuity epitomised by Aregbesola’s massive infrastructural development of the state in almost eight years of his administration.

    As perhaps the most influential official of the administration, the self-effacing Oyetola has been credited with the enunciation and execution of many of the state government’s flagship projects.

    Instructively, his academic and professional background has suitably positioned him for this arduous task of sustaining the legacies of the Aregbesola years.

    He bagged a Bachelor in Insurance in 1978 from the University of Lagos and the Master of Business Administration (MBA) in 1990 from the same institution. In 1980, he joined Leadway Assurance Company Limited as Area Manager.

    In 1987, he left for Crusader Insurance Company Limited as Underwriting Manager and in 1990, moved to Alliance and General Insurance as Technical Controller.

    The insurance expert was to establish Silvertrust Insurance Brokers Limited in 1991, serving as its Managing Director from 1991 until he emerged Chief of Staff in 2011.

    Oyetola is seen as the totem figure for continuity in the development stride of Osun and many believe that a change in government may reverse the gains of the administration.

    Having been a member of the ‘kitchen cabinet’ of the Aregbesola administration these years, the policy thrust of his administration, if he emerges victorious, is certainly not in doubt. This much, he highlighted while unveiling his agenda for the people of the state.

    But in spite of the many factors in his favour, Oyetola would have to contend with some of the dissembling challenges facing the outgoing administration such as the huge pension bill, the arrears of salaries owed civil servants and the quite emotive campaign in favour of the governorship slot being zoned to the West Senatorial District.

    Significantly, the mammoth crowd that held Osogbo prostrate during Thursday’s mega rally of the APC flag bearer may well be an indication that Oyetola remains the candidate to beat at the poll.

    The workaholic Oyetola is not giving anything to chances. A first-time visitor to Osogbo, the Osun State capital, is likely to conclude that only APC is contesting in the gubernatorial race, with designer billboards of Gboyega appearing in almost every nook and cranny. Every street has miniature billboards with catchy phrases of promises of Ileri Oluwa, complemented by a burst of posters.

    The ‘dancing’ Senator Ademola Adeleke will predictably be exorcising the ghost of his elder brother, Adeleke, to sway the electorate votes in his favour.

    Isiaka, a flamboyant politician and former governor of Osun, died on April 23, 2017, in controversial circumstances which curried political advantage for the younger Adeleke who was to win the subsequent Osun West Senatorial bye-election by a landslide.

    Adeleke has promised not to loot if he emerges governor, saying he is already a blessed and comfortable man seeking the position only to benefit the masses.

    “I’m contesting because of the people. Our people are suffering and we need to liberate them.

    “If I become governor, I cannot steal money that belongs to people. I have achieved everything that I could need money for in life.

    “I have built houses, I have cars; I have everything. So, what would I do with stolen money? So, I won’t steal as a governor. I only want to serve,” he says.

    Pretty little is known about the educational and professional background of the PDP flag bearer although he will be contesting under the shadows of the controversy surrounding his secondary school certificate and the disclaimer by an American university on his status as a student of the institution.

    But other than the legacy of a political family bequeathed to him by Providence, the senator from Ede appears to be a political neophyte given his last outing in the PDP primaries in which he defeated his closest rival, Dr Akin Ogunbiyi, by seven contentious votes in spite of the massive war chest deployed by his billionaire elder brother, Deji.

    Adeleke scored 1,569 votes during the governorship primary in Osogbo to defeat Ogunbiyi, who scored 1,562.

    Although dissatisfied with the outcome of the primary and the certificate fraud litigation against the candidacy of Adeleke, Ogunbiyi, a grassroots political warhorse, has insisted he will remain in the party.

    In spite of the seeming farcical resolution of the dispute between the duo in Abuja by Senate President Bukola Saraki last week, observers say the continuous silence of Ogunbiyi may be ominous for the PDP standard bearer.

    Sen. Iyiola Omisore has become the archetype aspirant in the governorship race of Osun and he will be flying the flag of the SDP in this latest exercise after a bitter primary election.

    Many will recall that the party held two parallel primaries that produced Omisore and Munirudeen Atanda, with the National Chairman of the party, Chief Olu Falae, backing the Ife-born former Deputy Governor in the Chief Bisi Akande administration.

    In spite of the initial hiccups to his aspiration, Omisore, the incurable optimist, believes the election is his for grabs, hinging this on the ill-feelings over unpaid wages and pensions.

    “If I become the governor of Osun State, the salary and wages of the workers will be paid promptly and there was a testimony to this when I was the deputy governor.

    “I will treat workers with dignity and respect. I will focus on building major infrastructure in the state, such as roads,” he said.

    Although credited with a deep pocket and some level of acceptability in his Osun East Senatorial District, Omisore is throwing his hat in the ring with too much political baggage which saw his exit from the PDP, the platform on which he was soundly defeated in the 2014 governorship election in the state by Aregbesola.

    Can other fringe candidates swing the votes? Alhaji Moshood Adeoti, the former Secretary to the State Government and the standard bearer of the ADP is another veteran politician with a track record of grassroots mobilisation.

    The 63-year-old politician, who hails from Iwo in Iwo Local Government area of the Osun West Senatorial District, was the pioneer Chairman of the Action Congress of Nigeria in Osun.

    Analysts say Adeoti, who left the APC following the outcome of the party’s direct primary which produced Oyetola as flag bearer, should not be wished away in the political calculus of the state.

    With the growing popularity of the ADC in the South West Zone of the country, observers also say Fatai Akinbade, a former Secretary to the State Government in the Olagunsoye Oyinlola administration, remains a candidate to watch in the unfolding dynamics that may determine the outcome of this electoral exercise.

    Formidable as the credentials of the candidates are, the critical factors of vote buying, the safety of election materials and security at polling units may ultimately decide where the pendulum swings.

    Already, INEC, worried about the incidence of vote buying during the July 14 governorship election in Ekiti, had read the riot act to all stakeholders. The commission says it is working on secret balloting to curb vote-buying in the September 22 election.

    The Resident Electoral Commissioner in Osun, Mr Olusegun Agbaje, says the current trend of inducing voters with money popularly known as ‘see and buy’ in the local parlance is worrisome.

    All told, with the APC campaign apparatus solidly and visibly laid across the state, and with a formidable team of foot soldiers daily criss-crossing the entire Osun, from door to door, community to community, city to city, appealing and canvassing for votes, Gboyega, as he is fondly called, remains the man to beat.

  • Osun: Oyetola promises continuity

    A leading governor-ship aspirant on the platform of the All Progressives Congress in Osun State, Alhaji Isiaka Adegboyega Oyetola, has described himself as Mr. Continuity. He said he was better positioned than his co-aspirants to sustain legacies of the Rauf Aregbesola administration and also do a lot more. Speaking in Olorunda and Osogbo local governments at the conclusion of his consultation tours of the nine federal constituencies in the state, Oyetola said “I have an idea of what to do without being briefed.”

    “This is a competitive world and we must ensure that competitive leadership is installed at all times in the interest of the future of the state. We can not afford to have non visionary and non purposeful leadership take over from a dynamic, courageous and pace setting administration which has shown direction for great and abundant opportunities for every resident in so shot a time in the face of harsh financial conditions.

    “I am offering my self for service because I know what it means lead. I have been engaged in the public service in the last seven and a half years with very great achievements and accomplishment that any reasonable person will be proud to associate with. Also, I was in the competitive private sector driven by target for over thirty years. So, there won’t be any excuse for me not to be driven by same, vision, passion and commitment, integrity and sense of mission for which the Rauf Aregbesola administration is known.

    “I thank you so much for your warm reception and very large turn out and show of solidarity for my candidature. I enjoyed same reception in all federal constituencies, including those in the Osun West senatorial districts. I assure you that immediately after my victory, I will become a citizen of all parts of this great state and work with diligence and without favoritism,” the aspirant told the huge gathering at the Nelson Mandela Freedom Park in Osogbo, the state capital.

    The Attoney-General and Commissioner for Justice in the state, Dr. Ajibola Basiru, while attesting to the readiness of Bashiru to continue where the incumbent governor will stop, said “wherever Aregbesola goes there I will go on the issue of who succeeds him because I hold the development so dearly.” Many others that spoke acknowledged “excellent performance of the Aregbesola administration, saying only the ingrates in and outside Osogbo will not appreciate the governor what he had done for people individually and collectively.

  • Osun APC chief canvasses continuity

    A chieftain of All Progressives Congress (APC) and Senior Special Adviser to Osun State Governor on Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs), Folawiyo Kareem Olajoku, has urged APC faithful to ensure continuity for more dividends of democracy in the state.

    Olajoku, who fielded questions from reporters in Osogbo, explained that the party has done well in providing projects.

    According to him, the sustainability of good governance is important, therefore, the state deserves the best in terms of good governance.

    According to him, the APC-led government has performed well, saying what the government accomplished through Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) would remain a reference point

    He enjoined party faithful to collect their Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) as it is their only weapon to vote in the APC.

  • Contrived continuity

    Contrived continuity

    It is interesting that Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha was quoted as saying to reporters on February 5: “If I show them my successor now, they will kill him. The politicians here are very wicked, but at the right time, when I disclose the identity of my successor, I will stand behind him to protect him.”

    So, Okorocha knows who will succeed him as governor. He sounded so sure of the identity of his successor. Okorocha will leave office next year after a second four-year term, and the person who will become governor after him is expected to be elected by the electorate.

    Going by Okorocha’s words and the way he spoke confidently about the identity of his successor, he may not be thinking about the electorate and its electoral power. He may well be thinking about his own power to pick his successor and ensure that whoever he picks succeeds him as governor. In other words, Okorocha is thinking like a kingmaker.

    “The governor we want is a man that will continue with what we have done, because my administration has laid a solid foundation for the next governor,” Okorocha said.  Of course, he is entitled to want the person he wants. The question is whether the person he wants is the person the voters want.

    When will Okorocha reveal his choice? When is “the right time”?  Does the person he wants know?  Why would his choice be targeted for elimination? Okorocha unfairly labelled politicians in the state as “very wicked,” and maligned them by saying they would kill the person he wants if he unveiled the person’s identity at this time.

    Okorocha’s thinking on succession shows that he may be no better than Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose. Okorocha of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Fayose of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are on the same page on the question of succession. It is noteworthy that Fayose had caused a stir last year when he named his deputy, Prof. Kolapo Olusola, as his successor. The state is expected to elect a new governor this year. Justifying his choice, Fayose had said during a thanksgiving service to mark his third year in office:  ”I wanted Kayode Osho, but the Lord said it is Kolapo Olusola and I had no choice but to obey.”

    Governors who think they must pick their successors appear desperate to remain in power after their tenure. It is contrived continuity.

  • Lake rice, others: ‘Policy continuity ‘ll help Nigeria attain food security’

    Lake rice, others: ‘Policy continuity ‘ll help Nigeria attain food security’

    An agricultural economist, Prof. John Aihonsu, has advised state and Federal governments to sustain the current agricultural policies and programmes targeted at boosting food supply and self-sufficiency in food productions across the country.

    Aihonsu said Nigeria would have long overcome its food shortage dilemma without resorting to huge importation, if previous agricultural policies designed and started by past governments were not jettisoned by succeeding administrations.

    The expert spoke at Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU) at Ago-Iwoye in Ogun State while delivering the institution’s 78th inaugural lecture.

    The expert said there should be continuity of the current efforts at state and national levels to increase food production and supply.

    He noted that the country would not achieve food security or sufficiency if the condition of the farmers was not “prosperous.”

    He suggested that the fortune of farmers can be made prosperous through assisting them financially to experience a “sustained improvement in productivity and income availability.”

    Delivering his lecture, titled: Addressing Nigeria’s Food Shortage Dilemma: The Cooperative Agenda, Aihonsu advised every succeeding administration to sustain and not abandon the policies of previous governments, which were targeted at helping Nigerian farmers to increase their productivity and tackle the nation’s “food shortage dilemma”.

    The professor identified over 15 previous agricultural programmes, including the Operation Feed the Nation and Farm Settlement Scheme, which could have placed Nigeria on the path of self-sustenance in food production and consumption, if they were not abandoned by succeeding administrations.

  • Kachikwu, NNPC and need for continuity

    Proponents of restructuring in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, to divest Ibe Kachikwu of his double-barreled position of Minister of State for Petroleum and Group Managing Director (GMD) of the corporation have, at last, had their way. Last Monday, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina announced that Maikanti Kacalla Baru had been appointed the new GMD of the corporation with a board headed by Kachikwu who retained his position as Minister of State for Petroleum. May be, that is just as well so that peace will reign within the establishment.

    For far too long, speculation about Kachikwu’s departure from the GMD’s job had ruled the media space with irritating frequency triggering, at times, frantic rebuttals from the agency. But as it goes in the popular Nigerian parlance, there is never a smoke without a fire. Kachikwu’s exit was a secret on everyone’s lips except the man who had the power to make it happen. But many had thought that Buhari would not want to tamper with an arrangement that is working optimally, that the timing of such an action, when it became imperative would allow for the deepening of the winning strategy that is being implemented.

    Many reasons had been advanced to justify it: that one man should not hold the two most powerful positions in the oil industry, conveniently ignoring the fact that the ultimate position was held by President Buhari who, had he not appropriated the position, still would have overriding powers, including that of removal, over Kachikwu. Or any other minister for that matter. The overwhelming feeling is that the President has capitulated to geopolitical pressures. Worse still, allusions have been made to the exclusion of the south-east zone in the NNPC board as further evidence that the Igbo of the South-east have no place in a Nigeria ruled by Buhari.

    This has become a recurring feature of PMB’s appointments since he came to power and this has also become increasingly worrying. May be we should remind our President that Ibe Kachikwu comes from the South-south geopolitical zone. While we ruminate over the political implications of the President’s action, good conscience will demand that we first consider how it affects the dramatis personae in this unfolding saga, Kachikwu himself. Does the President’s action amount to a vote of no confidence on the minister? Or has he discharged the initial mandate that warranted his occupying the two strategic positions at the same time? If Kachikwu were to leave the cabinet today, how will he be remembered? What will be his legacy?

    To answer these questions will require looking at his mandate even against the background of his self-professed benchmarks that revolved around the following fundamental issues: professional restructuring of the NNPC anchored on best practices spearheaded by knowledge based leadership, reversing the loses in the NNPC, enthroning transparency and accountability, steadying fuel supply, restoring confidence in industry stakeholders who were suspicious of the motives of Buhari and restoring stability to the Niger Delta through a win-win proposition.

    Nearly three quarters of a year later, can we attempt an objective scorecard? What will be the highpoints of his performance? Was the NNPC under the minister able to deliver on the key benchmarks? Is it not possible that the President, satisfied that the expectations had been met, therefore decided on a further restructuring to achieve his best intentions? If so, what are those best intentions? Are they best for the country or just for narrow interests, going by the composition of the board which suggests pacification of known political godfathers and gladiators in the party in power?

    However one evaluates the situation, judged by the ministry’s accomplishments within so short a time, it can be argued, without any fear of contradiction, that Kachikwu has been one shinning ministerial performance in a rather opaque canvass of questionable administration deliverables. Under him, accountability and transparency have been restored to the operations of the NNPC. The publication of monthly accounts may not mean much to the ordinary Nigerian who is more concerned with food on his table, electricity and water at home, employment for his or her three graduate children and a sound sleep at night and a trip from Abuja to Lokoja without the fear of being kidnapped on the way. However, to oil industry stakeholders, investors and entrepreneurs, it provides a solid mirror for understanding what goes on behind those tightly guarded dollar-incubating towers, analyzing the Nigerian economy and taking investment decisions.

    Of course, not even Kachikwu’s detractors will deny that by his handling of the fuel crisis, he established himself as a solid professional, a consummate bargainer and a principled patriot not deterred by the prospect of losing his job in so far as the greater national good was achieved. Talking about patriotism, his willingness to negotiate with the militants implied that not only was his job on the line, even his life could be sacrificed in the process. In spite of the predictable dangers including intra-party and inter-governmental distractions, he has forged ahead with the zeal of a patriot and the consuming passion of a martyr. Is this new arrangement a reward for such brilliance and exceptional dedication and performance? Some doubt it.

    Coming immediately after the very successful NNPC road show in Beijing China,where investment MOUs totally over US$50 billion were signed to fast-track the administration’s plans for transforming the oil industry, it will amount to a contradiction to interpret the President’s action as a vote of no confidence on Kachikwu. On the other hand, it may well be that in the President’s calculation,Kachikwu has delivered on the target set for him. I am more inclined to go with the latter view because I sincerely believe that the President cannot reward such performance with a seeming demotion. That being the case, I think there are, at least, three fundamental issues that should be addressed by the President. The first is the timing of the changes especially against the background of the need to have some consistency in driving already initiated platforms to their logical conclusion. Related to the first, we would be naïve to ignore the inevitable power relations that would disrupt the existing order. How this is managed would determine the sustainability of present achievements including relations with external stakeholders. Thirdly, it appears that the President is not bothered by the perception challenges that go with each of his every action as this latest step has oiled the arsenal of those who insist that his government has been grossly unfair to the South-east zone. This point has been made by several unbiased commentators that ignoring the South-east in most of the President’s appointment, except for the ministerial positions mandated by the constitution leaves sour taste in the mouth.

    Let me conclude on the following notes. One: the change has been made; Baru is an industry insider and a member of Kachikwu’s team. Therefore, he can be expected to deliver on the settled goals of the administration. Second, while Kachikwu’s position as chairman of the NNPC Board guarantees that he retains substantial oversight over the activities of the company, the fact that he is a junior minister can circumscribe his authority and render him vulnerable to humiliation. The way out: unless President Buhari no longer has confidence in him which is doubtful, the most strategic thing to do would be to confirm him as substantive oil minister without delay. That not only confers him with the moral authority to prosecute the existing reform template but the confidence of the Niger Delta militants who, at the moment, could see this thinly veiled demotion as a repudiation of Kachikwu’s promotion of dialogue with the Niger Delta militants.

     

    • OhuabunwaOFR, an industrialist writes from Lagos.

  • FG’s N-Power: Where is continuity?

    Sir: Employment and unemployment are two sides of a coin. While the former brings about happiness, self-esteem and fulfillment, the later brings about its direct opposite. The history of unemployment is as old as man and civilization. Public works and ancient colossal projects commissioned by kings and emperors come to the rescue to provide work for teaming army of the unemployed.

    Since the era of industrial revolution, the face of work and labour has been redefined radically. Hence, modern man and society have been faced with the challenges and herculean task of labour and productivity.

    It is in this direction that nation-states are perennially faced with the social-economic and political implications of unemployment in a fast changing world. Developed economies are better off as they produce for themselveswith enough to export while the underdeveloped ones are caught in the web of dependency.

    Developing economies are perennially laden with the negative consequences of failed policies, policy summersault, lack of political will to implement and political manipulations leading to truncation of well thought out policies. This is why dearth of continuity became synonymous with the faces of successive governments in Nigeria. We are witness to past short-lived programmes with obviously good intentions subverted as soon as we have a change of government.

    Where is; DFFRI, NDE, PTF, SURE-P Graduate internship scheme and other intervention poverty alleviation programs before now?

     

    • Comrade Ogbu A. Ameh,

    Akatekwe Kingdom, Benue State.

  • Stability, continuity key in anti-terror war, says Osinbajo

    Stability, continuity key in anti-terror war, says Osinbajo

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, has identified continuity in governance and political stability in the West African subregion as an important element in the fight against Boko Haram and insurgency.

    He spoke at the weekend in Niamey, Niger Republic capital, at the inauguration of President Issoufou Mahamadou for second term in office.

    Osinbajo described the re-election of the Nigerien leader as significant for the sub regional coalition against insurgents and terrorists.

    A statement by Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity Laolu Akande, quoted Osinbajo as saying: “As you know, Niger is an important partner, and also an important ally in the war against terrorism and we are good neighbours.”

    He described Mahamadou’s investiture as of great significance because “first Nigeria understands President Issoufou well. He is an old hand and Nigeria has worked well with him as a partner.

    “So, his re-election brings continuity and is good for the fight against Boko Haram and the insurgency in general.” He added

    Osinbajo who represented President Muhammadu Buhari at the ceremony also said Nigeria holds the Nigerien President in high esteem.

    “He is an old friend of President Buhari who is abroad attending the nuclear security summit in Washington, USA, which is why he could not attend this event.” He added

    He said that the Nigerien President’s inauguration is also an opportunity to honour a strong ally and “to reinforce all our important diplomatic and military ties.”

    In his inauguration address, President Mahamadou noted that current worries regarding insecurity is global, transcending boundaries.

    He reiterated Niger’s renewed commitment to join forces with Nigeria and other neighbours to fight insurgency at the subregional level.

    The Nigerien President explained that defeating Boko Haram has several benefits particularly for economic integration in the region stating that it ‘ will facilitate trade between Niger and Nigeria’.

    About 52, countries witnessed the ceremony including nine West African presidents.

    Many Nigerian dignitaries also witnessed the inauguration including APC National leader Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and governors especially from North’s states.

  • Akintola: Continuity and change in Nigerian politics – 1

    It is 50 years since Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola was brutally cut down by a band of rebellious Nigerian soldiers who participated in a coup d’état that led to a chain of events disrupting a normal democratic trajectory of Nigeria, the consequences that are still with us today. Fifty years in many countries provide a timeframe within which an objective assessment of past events can be viewed. The dust of history presumably would have settled and the emotional trauma would somehow have been healed because time is a healer. Man is the centre of politics because man constitutes a variable factor in social science, it is difficult and problematic formulating general laws in social science unlike in physical and experimental sciences. Therefore, what happened in the past even though it has implication for the present and for the future does not necessarily determine the trajectory of events in the present. History repeats itself and as George Santayana said, when history repeats itself it comes as a tragedy and those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. This is why it is very important to study the past in other for the present not to repeat the mistakes of the past. Unfortunately, people do not learn from the lessons of the past and this is why we keep doing the same thing and expecting different outcomes or result. The study of historical personages or characters provides the historian the opportunity to learn a lot about the past because dominant personalities play fundamentally significant roles in history. It is impossible to study the past of modern Britain without the full knowledge and study of Winston Churchill neither can we understand modern Germany without the study for bad or for ill, the impact of Adolf Hitler. The development of modern historiography in Nigeria is at its infancy but at least now we have a century of the role of important personalities in the history of our country from people like Sir Akintoye Ajasa, the Emir of Kano, Sarkin Mohammadu Abass and Alafin Ladigbolu the first and others. It is in this respect that a careful and analytical study of the life and times of a major historical figure like Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola may elucidate the past and foreshadow the future of our country. There is no doubt that Chief Akintola first as a central minister, leader of opposition in the federal parliament in Lagos, successful mover in 1957 of the motion for independence of Nigeria and lastly premier of Western Nigeria from 1959-1966 was a formidable figure in the politics and evolution of Nigeria. The child is the father of the man and we are products of our environment so hence before a detailed analysis of his role in Nigerian politics, I will like to situate him within the context of his environment and his people respectively Ogbomoso and Yoruba. Politics is about competition of ideas and people, sometimes in the interplay conflict almost seem inevitable in the life and times of politicians. It is when compromises cannot be reached that you sometimes have open rebellion, disagreement and breakup of political parties. Historically in the Yoruba past, wars were a feature of Yoruba politics. Between 1783 and 1884, almost a century, the Yorubas were involved in internecine fratricidal war particularly after the collapse of the old Oyo Empire and Ogbomoso; Chief Akintola’s hometown produced one or two Are-ona-ka-kan-fo as a major war leader in old Oyo. It would therefore be necessary for me to say a few things about Ogbomoso.

    Ogbomoso, the town where Chief Akintola was born, and which has a current population of over 500,000, is the fourth largest town in Nigeria. It is located in the drier part of the rain forest belt and is a city in a transitional zone between the rain forest and the savannah.  It is, perhaps, the openness of this environment and the shortage of adequate employment opportunities at home because of over-population which, among other factors, made Ogbomoso people wander as itinerant traders throughout West Africa and particularly into Northern Nigeria. This wandering has in turn tended to make them accommodating and adaptable in the various alien places where they have settled.

    Ogbomoso people are Oyo-Yoruba and form part of the larger Yoruba nation that spreads from South Western Nigeria westward into the Republics of Benin and Central Togo. The Yoruba are a highly homogenous people in terms of culture, and while they speak a variety of dialects, these are intelligible to most of the Yoruba. The Yoruba number around 40 million in Nigeria and West Africa. The Yoruba form a well-defined society with a common history, shared experience, a distinct and common language, a single and contiguous geographical area and even the belief in common eponymous ancestors, Oduduwa or Olofin.

    This is not to say that Yoruba people themselves do not recognise sub-groups or regional traits and characteristics. In fact, throughout most of the 19th century, the Yoruba were engaged in civil wars after the collapse of the old Oyo Empire when new centres of power were established and new political alignments were being made to ensure peace and good governance.

    Most members of the Yoruba nation would also acknowledge their membership in sub-groups such as Ekiti, Ondo, Oyo, Ilorin, Ijebu, Ikale, Ilaje, Ijesha, Awori, Akoko, Owo, Okun, ibolo, Igbomina and some would say Itshekiri. Contact between the Yoruba and other Nigerians, particularly the Edo, Nupe, Borgawa (Ibariba), Hausa-Fulani, Kamberi, the Fon and Aja speaking peoples in Benin Republic (Dahomey) goes back thousands of years at least, it certainly predated the coming of the Portuguese during the fifteenth century. The contact has been of two kinds. In some cases, it was for trade and in others, contact took the form of conquest. In these relations, Yoruba culture has influenced others and has in turn borrowed from others. The mutuality of this contact in the case of the Yoruba, Edo, Igala and Nupe can be seen in their fairly similar political organisations and in the similarity of the material artefacts of their past civilisations.

    The British first made an inroad into Nigeria by the invasion and annexation of Lagos in 1851 and 1861 respectively. From that time onwards, they spread their tentacles all over Nigeria through either diplomacy and cunning or outright conquest. By 1914 modern Nigeria came into being after the amalgamation of the separate administrations of Northern and Southern Nigeria. The country was put under an autocratic governor, Sir Frederick Lugard, who succeeded in isolating one Nigerian group from the other and maintained the political status quo then prevailing as much as possible. Through this administrative unification, the state of Nigeria was preserved for the British, who used Nigerian men and resources in prosecuting two World Wars. But by and large, Nigerian leaders until 1914 were not brought together to advise the British about the direction of policy. The so-called “Nigerian Council” created by Lugard and to which belonged important indigenous rulers like the Alafin of Oyo and the Emir of Kano, was no more than an ineffective talkfest or causerie if it was even that, since “discussions” such as they were, were carried on in English, and these rulers spoke no English at all. It was not until the 1930s, through the meetings of native rulers organised by the British that the traditional elite in Nigeria began to perceive their common nationality and identity. Of course, the ordinary Nigerian people continued to engage only in trade relationships as before, and to regard themselves different from other Nigerians.  It was, for example, quite normal for one group, particularly one which did not have much external contact before the advent of the British, to regard other groups as bogeymen and strangers with whom it was unsafe to associate.

  • Jonathan backs Dickson’s re-election for ‘continuity’

    Former President Goodluck Jonathan is supporting the second term ambition of Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson.

    Jonathan said his endorsement was based on the governor’s achievements.

    He described Dickson as one of the most performing governors in Nigeria.

    The former President said Dickson had an excellent track record in regular payment of workers’ salaries, reduction of the state’s huge debt profile and what he called an unprecedented infrastructural development.

    Jonathan’s declaration ended the speculations on his position about Dickson’s desire to seek the ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for a second term.

    Dickson, last week, submitted his nomination and expression of intent form at the PDP’s national secretariat in Abuja to contest the party’s primary ahead of the December 5 governorship poll.

    Jonathan spoke at the weekend when he hosted Dickson in his courtyard at Otuoke, Ogbia Local Government Area.

    The former President insisted that his decision was based on the achievements of the governor in the last three and a half years.

    Jonathan said: “If Bayelsa is compared to other states in the country in terms of physical infrastructure, coupled with the degree of indebtedness in terms of bank loans and capital market, Dickson deserves to be praised.

    “I am not expecting the governor to score 100 per cent. There are three key parameters where I will like to score Dickson: payment of salaries, physical infrastructure and low indebtedness of the state in terms of bank loans and in the capital markets.

    “If you compare what has happened in other parts of the country, you will praise the governor. People should think more about the way the state is being run and prepared for our future generation.

    “Bayelsa is not a cursed state. On the notion that governors in Bayelsa cannot do eight years, it slows down the rate of development. Except there is continuation in government, development will be truncated. Performance is not about satisfying individual needs. So, we need to encourage Dickson to go for a second term.”

    The former President described Dickson as his political first son, noting that if given a second term, the governor would consolidate on his achievements.

    Dickson solicited Jonathan’s support to run for a second term.

    The governor noted that his support was crucial since he was PDP’s leader at the state and the national levels.