The Nation Newspaper

Tag: country

  • The country is hard

    SIR: The quality of life in Nigeria is nothing to write home about. Poverty has become a common denominator as most Nigerians now swim in the scary waters of hopelessness. No other title can better capture what the average Nigerian has experienced in the last one year other than to tell President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB): This country is hard!

    From kidnapping, herdsmen terrorism, smuggling, armed robbery, demands for self determination, unpaid salaries, hike in prices of everything (including Tomatoes!), comatose electricity, collapsing or comatose business ventures, protests in first-generation Universities of Ibadan, Ife and Lagos (due to infrastructure decay), increased domestic violence leading to deaths, increase in ritual killings, abductions and suicide. Added to this awful list are phenomenal increases in unemployment (12.1%), underemployment (19.1%) and youth unemployment/underemployment (42.24%). Of course, one cannot leave out the large pool of internally displaced persons and the daring Niger-Delta Avengers (NDA). The NDA have demonstrated their capability and the consequences are legion. PMB must learn to negotiate peace and not force peace as a converted democrat.

    Of course, the anti-corruption fight is ongoing but its benefits still remain elusive to Nigerians. Corruption is getting more entrenched as people now device innovative ways to survive the hardship foisted on them. Yet, the ‘sacred cows’ continue to regenerate.  The figure of those murdered via herdsmen terrorism in the last one year is indicative of the failure of the state in its core function of securing her citizens.

    The spiral effects of the stiffening economic situation are backbreaking. The Federal Executive Council endorsed their failure to arrest pipeline vandals, stop smuggling, negotiate peace in the Niger-delta and fix the refineries and the ailing economy by forcing hike in fuel price on an already distressed people. The government should be ready for new dimensions of criminality and social problems because when there is disjunction between societally approved goals and means of achieving them, anomie ensues and people mostly innovate and rebel rather than conform.

    Corruption fight cannot be fought and won when the stomach infrastructure is threatened. Government should be apprehensive about how people are still going to their offices despite unpaid salaries! For example, my friend who lectures in a state polytechnic is owed four months’ salary and her husband, a civil servant is owed six months’ salary! Their kids are threatened to be sent out of school. Pensioners are receiving no benefits and you expect those approaching retirement to be incorruptible? Not many people will listen to the scratching disc of ‘God will do it’ or ‘Nigerians should learn to sacrifice’ when those in public offices do not sacrifice. Frustration and aggression are setting in and you can see the erosion of trust in the ability of government to save them.  One year is gone and the ‘Poor Peoples’ Republic in Nigeria’ is getting larger.  In the second part of the “You can trust me with your money” home video by PMB; the masses MUST experience the promised positive CHANGE.

     

    • Dr Oludayo Tade,

    Ibadan.

  • Not In My Country: A new campaign against corruption

    Not In My Country: A new campaign against corruption

    A new campaign, Not in My Country, produced by Bufferzone International Limited, is spearheading the war against corruption in Nigeria via behavioural change, writes ADEDEJI ADEMIGBUJI.

    President Muhammadu Buhari seems to have captured the long-term destructive impact of corruption on the nation when he made anti-graft fight one of the cardianl objectives of his adminsitration.  He said: “If we fail to kill corruption, corrpution will kill all of us.”

    In view of revelations from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the comments of the British Prime Minister, David Cameron that Nigeria and Afghanistan were two “fantastically corrupt” countries,  there appears to be a consensus about the need to tackle corruption so that the country can make progress.

    Communication is one of the tools that can help achieve this. It is in this light that the new campaign, Not in My Country, produced by Bufferzone International Limited, a citizen-led top-bottom initiative, becomes relevant.

    The campaign is designed to  support the current efforts of the government to fight corruption; as the level of corruption is well captured in sights and sounds.

    In one of the behavioural change communication episode, the high level of corruption in the aviation sector, was exposed: Ticket officers hoarding tickets; selling discriminately; two young men at the front desk demand Abuja tickets. Alas! They were told all seats were booked.

    Like a drama, as Rita Dominic, a Nollywood actress portrayed in her 2012 award-winning Movie, The Meeting, a tale of corruption in the public service, a wealthy female customer, sauntered in, in the glare of the young men. She was billed higher.

    Shocked, the young men protested, demanded an explanation like Rotimi Bankole the protagonist against Dominic, who was extorting the minister’s secretary in The Meeting. But the wealthy woman, a role played by Bukky Wright, felt the anguish of the young men.

    In agreement to stop the scourge, they reprimanded the cashier and chorused ‘Not in My Country.’  This is one of the episodes in the one-minute Not in My Country, scripted by Akin Fadeyi’s Bufferzone.

    Premiered in Lagos before media influencers and marketing communications experts, it charges the government and other believers in the Nigerian project to key into the campaign against corruption to change mindsets and establish a corrupt-free Nigeria.

    During the premiere, the Minister of Health, Prof Isaac Adewole, who was represented by a director in the ministry, Mrs Boade Akinola, said changing the Nigerian mindset against corruption starts with individuals. She added that good leadership would leave no one with another choice but to support a good cause.

    She said the citizen-based anti-corruption campaign was a welcome development at this critical time in the history of the country, saying it agrees with the President ‘s desire to wipe out corruption.

    The Managing Director of Vanguard Newspapers, Mr. Gbenga Adefaye, condemned corruption in Nigeria, calling on relevant agencies of government to join hands with the producer of the drama series to re-orientate Nigerians.

    The target audience of the one- minute drama, which is expected to be in 365 different experiential clips round a year, are perception index-shaping institutes, international watchdog agencies, global and local media and the general public. To reach relevant quarters, it is said to  be already being aired on radio and YouTube while efforts are on to  translate it to all Nigerian languages.

    The producer of the campaign, Mr. Akin Fadeyi, said he was inspired by the fact that the country has been plagued with corruption which has paralysed the citizens’ collective psyche and confidence as a nation.

    He said: “Corruption is an unethical behaviour which runs counter to the accepted social norms and moral values. It is a behavioural pattern, which seriously hurts public morality and leaves the society worse for it. Corruption is an act involving dishonesty, illegality and non- conformity with accepted standard of behaviour. And such an act or behaviour has as its main aim, the return for financial or material benefit, either for the person committing the act or on behalf of any other person.

  • Fuel subsidy: How to kill a country

    Hardball wants to wager today that never had life been so viciously subsidise in any corner of the world than the Nigeria of today. But first, we must not mix up our words, their meaning and context.

    Subsidy in its true sense means to grant assistance especially in form of financial support. But Nigeria’s context of subsidy seems to connote the exact opposite. It means to take billions of naira from Nigeria’s treasury, hand it to some people known as independent marketers for purportedly importing fuel for the use of the people at moderated price.

    But in reality, it is either there is indeed no accurate check of the quantity of fuel imported or there is collusion between the so-called marketers and government regulators. So we are never sure what we pay for is what we got.

    But shortchanging or short-supplying us would have been palatable if it stopped at that but no, since it seems they do not want Nigeria to live and they don’t want Nigerians alive, they do worse things.

    Because they over-invoice and under-supply, there is always a shortfall and the attendant scarcity. For instance, for more than two months, there has been acute scarcity of premium motor spirit (PMS) in Nigeria. For most of this period, Nigerians have suffered untold hardship. Many man hours are devoted to queuing up to buy petrol daily; many companies have either shut down or downsized as a result of drastically reduced production capacity considering that public power supply has been at near zero during this period as well.

    For most of the last two months, Nigerians have purchased fuel even right from the nozzle at between N120 to N250 per litre. In a season of dwindling income and high inflation, people are expending nearly half of their income on fuel and half of their time at the filling station. Who talks about manipulated pumps anymore? Triple jeopardy: marketers sell at inflated price, manipulate pumps and collect subsidy.

    Yet again, we would live with these excruciating pains if they had stopped at that. But they don’t stop. Now wait for this dear reader: for all this period of damaging scarcity, the Federal Government will be paying subsidy at N12.88 per litre to the marketers. Let’s do a simple arithmetic: they say we consume an average of 44 million litres of petrol per day. If you multiply 44 million by 12.88 by 31 days, you will have an idea how much blood the government and their fuel marketer cohorts are draining from our system.

    After the January 2012 fuel subsidy protests, it came out that many fake marketers were in the system who easily collected billions of naira from government’s coffers. Not one of them has been convicted till today. Not one refinery has been built as promised since then. To think that the cost of this so-called subsidy would build us many refineries. But we prefer to import fuel from even non-oil producing countries.

    Since Nigerians have been buying fuel for average of N150 per litre, there has been a clamour to scrap the so-called subsidy obdurate.

    Hardball says: if this subsidy does not kill Nigeria…

  • Death will be that undiscovered country…

    Death will be that undiscovered country that we shall all visit. In that country, everybody will be stripped of titles and accumulated wealth. Nobody will be referred to as “Your Excellency,” “OON, CON, GCON” “Africa’s richest billionaire” and so on. In that country, the truth of our follies and the septic belly of our idiocies shall become even more pronounced and visible to all. Those of us, the billionaires particularly, who send so-called “prayerfully powerful” Alfas on holy pilgrimage to Mecca to seek for Allah’s forgiveness and infinite mercies on their behalf shall realize that they had simply been foolish. No amount of prayers-by-proxy, sacrifices and so on, shall move Almighty Allah to forgive them and grant them eternal peace and paradise if their handiwork is tantamount to evil.

    They will all die eventually. It wouldn’t matter if they are buried in Victoria Court Cemetery or Atan Cemetery; it wouldn’t matter if their remains are unrecoverable in the event of their demise in a ghastly accident or assassination. Immediately they pass on, they shall begin to pay for their handiwork like the rest of us. They shan’t escape the trials of the grave.

    No priest, highfaluting ceremony of absolution from ‘original sin,” redemption and so on shall ennoble the Christians among us with the “infinite grace” of Almighty God if they remain evil at heart. If they like, let them build as many gigantic Churches and temples as they like, let their offerings and tithe tower beyond the rafters and sky-high, it won’t make them pious before God.

    No priest or Alfa can intercede with God on our behalf. We shall all die: President, governor, first lady, special advisers, ministers, accountant, journalist, activist, dibias, babalawos and so on. And even our tiniest depravity shall be summoned to witness against us.

    Those who profess to be godly live like they answer to some blind, stupid, and partial god. Almighty Allah is not stupid, silly or blind. Jehovah is neither partial nor handicapped by greed for worship houses, outlandish sacrifices and exaggerated humility. Chineke, Eledumare is surely no perverted wimp that we could corrupt by wile and insincere tokens of sacrifice and worship.

    He will judge us all according to our handiwork. In the face of such imminent reality, it’s amusing to see the ruling class administer our lives like they are answerable to no one. It’s even more bizarre to see our youth lend themselves as willing tools to the antics and designs of the ruling class. Many a self-styled professor of truth and champion of the masses’ rights have become junkyard dog and dunghill mongrel for the same ruling class they used to criticize.

    Talk is cheap really and Nigerians love to talk a good game. That is why everyone: literate, semi-literate and illiterate, display flawless capacities to decipher and summarize the political and socio-economic problems afflicting Nigeria, just for the fun of it or the benefit of applause.

    Besides a few good men and real heroes who have staked their lives and personal comfort to protest the gross ineptitude and bestiality of the ruling class and the society at large, most of us have accepted to remain acquiescent. When we are criticized for being unacceptably docile, we respond that there is infinite wisdom in choosing our battles wisely and keeping our mouths shut.

    Nonetheless, we continue to mount the soapbox in our living rooms, around our dinner tables and in the ubiquitous ‘beer parlours’ criticizing our leaders, casting blames and justifying our pathetic and apologetic existence.

    The tragedy subsists in our customary lamentation about the state of the Nigerian nation; every time our conscience is roused with a damning report, as it is still customary of us, more racist politicians and activists suggest that we split and go our separate ways touting it as the only solution to our league of extraordinary problems.

    There is no wisdom in secession unless it serves to eliminate the same bogeys that make Nigeria a living hell for us. Secession, I maintain, is the fruit of ‘reason’ that we need to be wary of and I will continue to say this hoping every prospective muscle – that is, the youth – by which the separatists hope to achieve their dreams of dissolution, would listen and learn to let the secessionists risk their skins and their lineages to actualize their platitudes.

    Let every political godfather, public office hopeful and so on send their sons and wives and daughters on to the streets to wield cutlasses, guns and bombs. Let the ruling class recall their children from their Ivy League schools and exclusive mansions abroad to march on the streets and hack to death perceived oppositions to their political ambitions. Let every youth from humble background and the breadlines mobilize instead to collectively seek an end to the ruling class’ reign of terror.

    Violence and bloodshed is never the answer. Secession is never the answer to our woes.

    The biggest misconception about separation, insurgence, self-determination or whatever the separatists choose to call it is that it could be peaceful and that the end result would be a conscientious and citizenry-centred dispensation.

    It’s all dirty, greedy politics. The separatists want the youth to fly the flags of their dream nations, they want everybody to brandish a bumper sticker that bellows, “Death to the Federal Republic of Nigeria!” They call anyone that’s anti-war and anti-secession, “pacifist,” “traitor” or whatever colourful adjective suits their rage. Then they promise the youth a prosperous future and better fate under their dream nation. Consequently, youth that ought to know better buy into such farce and they all begin to dream and talk of the great uprising that would set them free from the living hell Nigeria has become.

    Even when we see through the promises of the separatists, we choose to ignore it for the love of paltry inducements and instant gratification. It’s about time the Nigerian youth started postponing immediate gratification and endure hard sacrifices spurred by conviction that the future can be better than the past.

    But we face a far more difficult problem at our moment in history. What do you promise youth who have been told they can have anything they want, who are repeatedly urged to seek the best of all possible circumstances without shedding sweat for it? How do you tell them that “the good times,” as they have known them or heard of them, will definitely come back?

    The Nigerian youth needs a new vision to help them deal with reality, a promising story of the future that helps them let go of the pains and disappointments of the past. We need a grand vision of possibilities that Nigerians may pursue and dream on: the country’s rich socio-cultural and political tradition, the right of all citizens to larger lives. Such dreams should never be about getting richer than the guy next door or accumulating obscene wealth for applause and to show off but the right to live life more fully and engage more expansively, the elemental possibilities of human existence.

    Sophistry and deceit are the springboards from which our civilization evolves. Add mediocrity, mindlessness and greed and you have a perfect representation of the contemporary youth. We were wrong to think it a matter of years and decades that we would improve in citizenship and tact. We forget that true citizenship essentially translates to being an emissary of truth, hope, superior culture and progress to the benefits of the literate and unschooled.

    It should above all be the appendage of that fine adjustment between reality and the growing knowledge of life – an adjustment which discovers the secret of civilization and the solution to its seemingly intractable problems. Insanely, to this end, we apply bigotry in politics and religion. Thus by every manner of faith we commit the worst of inhuman transgressions – like terrorism and mass murder, inordinate lust for wealth and acclaim.

  • Nigeria at 55: Pray for the country, Rep urges

    Nigeria at 55: Pray for the country, Rep urges

    As Nigeria celebrated her 55th year of attaining independence last week, the lawmaker representing Ojo Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Hon. Tajudeen Obasa, has urged Nigerians to remain steadfast and pray for the nation.

    Obasa, who is a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), also admonished Nigerians not to relent in supporting government at all levels.

    In a statement, the lawmaker urged Nigerians irrespective of political and religious affiliation to support President Muhammadu Buhari in his task of rebuilding the nation.

    He said: “Election is over and governance must commence. Nigerians cannot afford four years of politicking. As a member of the opposition, I’m not in the House to oppose unnecessarily. Good policies focused on the interest of the people will be supported by me, while policies that will not favour the people will be completely rejected not on the ground of my party affiliation but in the total interest of Nigerians.”

    Obasa further advised the president to form a government of national unity that will comprise of representatives from different political parties.

  • Nigerian-born French athlete indicates interest in representing home country

    Nigerian-born French athlete indicates interest in representing home country

    Nigerian-born French athlete, Ayodele Ikuesan, on Friday indicated interest to feature in international competitions for the nation.

    Ikuesan, 30, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that she had competed for France in several major competitions such as the London Summer Olympics in 2012.

    The athlete, who won a gold medal for France in the 4×100 metres race in the Mediterranean Games in 2009, is also a specialist in the 60 metres dash.

    In the 100 metres dash, Ikuesan returned a time of 11.62 seconds at the International Association of Athletic Federations (IAAF) Diamond League in Dessau, Germany

    She said she wanted to use her talent to win laurels for the country, if invited for international events.

    “I have competed for France at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics and the London Summer Olympics in 2012, and several other European championships and I am now ready to feature for my home country.

    “My desire to compete for Nigeria is simply because of my growing passion to represent my fatherland at the international level.

    “I understand Nigerians are talented in the 100 metres and the 4×100 metres like Blessing Okagbare, who I really admire.

    “I am prepared to contribute my own quota. I understand that the rule is for me to wait for one year before being eligible to run. I am prepared to wait,’’ she said.

    Ikuesan said that she would focus on upcoming events in 2016, stressing that she had made efforts to meet with officials of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), on her resolve.

    “I have faith in my mission to compete for Nigeria and I believe the federation will consider my desire to compete and help me fulfil my childhood dream,’’ she added.

  • The Achilles’ heel of a country

    The Achilles’ heel of a country

    I suspect the people are getting tired of a police unit existing in name as the de jure strength of the nation but which constantly allows itself to be showcased as the de facto Achilles’ heel of the nation

    Yes, dear people, Nigeria has done it again: it has written its name in the universal book of infamy once more. This time, it did it through the antics of a daring female teenager who led an armed gang to lay a brazen, crude and openly defiant siege on a bank in Lagos and rob it blind – for as much as eighty or so million Naira! The news report gave further details which I am certain will be denied or corroborated very soon, but which are difficult to believe. There are two things here. First is the effect of unemployment on the people and second is the response (or lack of it) from the police. We will address the first later. Today, let us take the second.

    The fact that the police were said not to have responded to this brazen attack on the country is disheartening. Let me hasten to tell you that it is not an easy thing to be accosted by gun wielding robbers. I believe the mind just seizes up on you. Most times it is not so much out of fear as out of anger, that someone who refuses to put his back and arms to work to earn a living would sooner pick a gun and put it in the face of another human being than pick a shovel. And that’s why we have the police. At such times, we call them up to use their supernatural powers to discourage people like that.

    Last week, however, that organ was said to have failed us in the hour of trial. According to news reports, some of the robbers had first scared away the policemen in the police station right across the street from the bank by shooting at them. Then the shooters remained outside while the siege on the bank lasted. During that time, it was said, the few remaining policemen had taken refuge somewhere. I am so hoping this account is not true, and that sometime soon, someone will come up with a better story to bolster the people’s confidence in the police.

    Not that the police have invested much in the people’s confidence. Sometime in the week, I was listening to a radio programme, which took in calls from listeners, on whether the army should really be taken off check points. It shook me to hear many of the negative comments from the public on their police. Some said they could not trust a police that asks complainants to pay one hundred thousand Naira ‘to facilitate running around’ in order to investigate a complaint. Many lamented the fact that the police are too used to collecting ‘twenty Naira’ from people for them to be effective at checkpoints; they just might go and collect that twenty Naira from a bomber.

    But I ask: are our Nigeria Police content and happy with the dilapidated image they have garnered over time? Why then are they not making any efforts to do something about it, all to a man? From the news report on the assault on the bank, not one person even attempted to accost these robbers either by force or stealth. We all know that it’s not all the time that force of arms actually works in emergencies; some situations demand mind games and contest of wills, personalities and intellect. When these are put to use, they can prove superior to bullets and guns. It is also when that happens that heroes are born, although they can also die. The fact that we have no heroes in this story means that no one was willing to try these. (Whisper) I think they were running away from the reality that, somehow, Nigerian heroes wind up dead.

    Seriously, this reluctance by Nigerian policemen to do their jobs is truly scary, considering that everyone believes they have the nation behind them. They carry the nation’s power anyway. This authority should have been brought to play during that siege, not after, as the reports gave. The reports said that about an hour after the event, there were many police vehicles and men besieging the place you would think it was another problem. They had come to assess the crime scene. I had an experience like that too, but I will not regale your ears with that story now.

    What then might be responsible for this timidity? The reason I ask is that I suspect the people are getting tired of a police unit existing in name as the de jure strength of the nation but which constantly allows itself to be showcased as the de facto Achilles’ heel of the nation. I think someday, they will bring down the house. You remember the dogs feeding on a little boy and the police looking on? Or the crowd frenzy that killed some students while the police looked on? Ah ha!

    I don’t know, but you might cite reasons such as insufficient armoury, or insufficient training, or insufficient funds to run the unit, or even insufficient morale. Me, I would cite the fact that this country is completely messed up and no one knows who is doing anyone’s work anymore, or what effect anyone’s action may have on others. Wherever you have a compromised political leadership as we have had in the last sixteen years, there is often a tendency for people to take the law into their hands and for others to throw up theirs.

    I think the general belief is that the gradual descent of the police into the state we witnessed last week has been caused by their involvement in the political games of the unconscionable politicians that have run the country from the very beginning, including the colonial period. There has been no political dispensation that has not used the police for awkward purposes, beginning from the colonial times. Professionalism in the police came dead on arrival.

    Professionalism needs to be brought to play so that policemen can earn the respect they require to function. Crime has gone up several notches in sophistication so the police need to be brought up to date in crime fighting. What is said to have happened last week represents the lowest point of our shame. We can swallow that. What we cannot swallow is doing nothing and going back to business as usual as if nothing happened. I think that is the real crime for which we will need that young female to come and bail the country out by leading us in the fight against crime. Talking seriously, we need to get the police to step up.

    P.S. – Give that list already.

    I am adding this postscript to share my amusement with you. I listened to the reason given by one of the president’s media men on why the release of the cabinet list is delayed. He said something to the effect that the president was taking his time because he did not want to have to sack someone almost immediately after engaging him or her. Frankly, I laughed. In short, he did not want to make any mistakes in his choice.

    I have always quoted the saying that the only person not making any mistake is standing still. Well, that’s what the president is doing right now. But if he will end up appointing human beings and not angels or Martians, then he should just do it and hope to God he gets it right. Believe me, as long as there are only humans on earth, some of those to be appointed will turn out to be monsters, serious mistakes, perfect, good, mediocre, unnameable, etc. Sir, close your eyes, say a prayer and give that list already.

  • We’ll take Chicago Motel to all parts of the country

    We’ll take Chicago Motel to all parts of the country

    The  CEO of Chicago Bar Grill and Motel, Dr. Segun Akindayini, has said that Chicago outlets are expected to be opened in other parts of the country soon.

    He said the success recorded by the motel, which is located in Akute, Ogun State, so far, brought about the idea of taking the outlets in other parts of the country.

    While agreeing that there is competition in hospitality business, he said Chicago Bar Grill and Motel is unique because of the services it provides.

    “What makes Chicago unique is the treatment we give to our customers. We feel we have to treat our customers right. Customer is king in Chicago. The services we provide are different from what others provide. We’re a complete entertainment centre,”Akindayini said.

    In order to take away stress from its customers, Akindayini said customers could book online via its www.holidaychicagoo.com where the enquiries of customers are attended to instantly.

    Aside providing entertainment for its customers throughout the week and weekend, Chicago boss said adequate security has been put in place with the collaboration with the local police and the CCTV to ensure things are not left to chance.

    He said he was happy with the way Nigerians have received Chicago since it opened shop in less than a year ago.

  • Beware the ‘technicians’: Win the battle and lose country?

    Beware the ‘technicians’: Win the battle and lose country?

    President Goodluck Jonathan recently admitted in a Voice of America interview that foreign ‘technicians’ had been brought in for maintenance and instruction in the fight against Boko Haram. This has however been refuted by Nigerian soldiers who say that the technicians are participating in actual combat and are not working with them but rather on their own. All we have heard of these technicians is that they are likely from South Africa, Russia and Ukraine. In the past, these technicians would be referred to as mercenaries but a more modern term would be private armies, security contractors or now technicians as President Jonathan would have us believe.

    The political spin machinery has been working overtime with reports of gains made against Boko Haram. Although some might suggest these are good gains but we need to ask ourselves this question: At what cost have these gains come? By cost, I do not mean the millions of dollars that have likely been paid to these technicians (It is widely speculated that the average cost of hiring a private security contractor ranges from between $10,000 to as high as $40,000 a month), but rather the cost to our national integrity and future stability.

    My concern is that these gains may be short lived and ultimately, the country may live to regret them. We may be setting a dangerous precedent of using non-­ state actors in conflict resolution. If history teaches us anything, it is that we should beware of the ‘technicians’.

    We only have to look to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, where the use of “private contractors”, as they were popularly known, did not end the wars but rather, escalated them. Closer home on the African continent, we can look at the role private armies played in the Congo, Sudan, Equatorial Guinea, and Uganda; and some of these countries have not yet recovered from the after effects.

    Even if the fight against Boko Haram is successful – some serious and burning questions still need to be answered:

    •What does this say about the once formidable Nigeria military?

    •What is in it for our regional friends – Chad, Niger and Cameroon?

    •What dangerdoes it portend for Nigeria? – In terms of prolonged political instability and the possible creation of new threats.

    •What are the implications under International Humanitarian Law? Can human rights abuses arise from the misconduct of these technicians?

    Historically, the Nigerian Army has generally been perceived as one of the better equipped fighting forces on the African continent and has been instrumental in ending regional conflicts in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Sudan and most recently Mali. However, that reputation has been shaken to its core with its inability to proffer an effective strategy in tackling Boko Haram. Reports of corruption, mutiny, loss of territory, arms deals, increase in unchecked arms importation, low morale of soldiers and even rumours of a possible military coup have further blighted its strength. The question is why spend all these funds on short term gains, when the same amount could have been used to buy equipment, and to recruit, train and empower the military force? Our underbelly has been exposed and the sharks have come out to feed. Whatever bragging rights we once had may not exist anymore unless we have a rethink.

    According to a recent Global Fire Power (GFP) ranking used to determine a nations Power index; of the 30 African countries in their database, Nigeria ranks fourth; first to third being – Egypt, Algeria and South Africa. Others to note are those of our regional joint partners – Niger, Chad and Cameroon. An analysis using a few of the factors that were used to determine some countries rank – total population, land size, active frontline personnel, active reserve personnel, air power, naval power, defense budget is captured in the table above.

    From the data, Nigeria tops all countriesin population size, our land size is roughly about 920,000 sq km, our frontline personnel is at 130,000, reserve personnel at 32,000 and our defense budget at about $2.3 billion. Egypt is about the same land size but with a population of 86million, frontline personnel at 468,500, reserves at 800,000 and a budget of $4.4bn. Algeria has the biggest defense budget with about $10.5bn, a population size of 38 million, frontline personnel of 512,000 and reserves at 400,000. South Africa’s numbers pale in comparison to Egypt, Algeria and Nigeria but what they lack in personnel and reserves, they make up for in the size of land systems, air and naval power. The numbers that stick out are how low are frontline and reserve personnel are – For a country of 177 million people; our cumulative military strength is 162,000. Invariably there is one soldier to about 1000 people.

    This brings me to the role of our friends in Niger, Chad and Cameroon who were ranked according to this index in 10th, 12th and 23rd place respectively. Niger has only 5,300 frontline personnel and 0 reserves, a land size of over 1,200,000 sq km, a population of 17 million and a defense budget of $85 million. Chad has a similar land size to Niger, 30,350 frontline personnel and 0 reserves, a population of about 11 million and a defense budget of $120 million. Finally, Cameroon has a land size of roughly over 475,000 sq km, frontline personnel of 14,000, and reservespersonnel of 10,000 and a defense budget of $370 million.

    Cumulatively, Nigeria tops ALL its partner countries in EVERY index. The big question is, how then, are these 3 able to combat Boko Haram more effectively than Nigeria?  Surely, can it be simply standing in solidarity with its ‘giant’ neighbor? Some suggest the impact of internally displaced Nigerians and the loss of territory spurred these countries to action, perhaps, but have you considered the fact that military operations are expensive. Other theories, many of which suggest that money is the deciding factor also exist. No doubt, money and conflict will always be the visible and invisible face of evil. Throw in oil and any other resource and you have a war on your hands.

    Some popular reports speculate a deliberate sabotage by the Chadians against Nigeria mostly stemmed from the rights to the Lake Chad basin – which some say contains about 2.32 billion barrels of oil and 14.65 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Another theory is the threat of a food crisis in these countries; many of whom depend on food from Northern Nigeria. Supporting Nigeria in tackling Boko Haram will certainly open up access to food markets and distribution chains. Another theory is perhaps the lure of a huge payout from the Nigerian Government to the joint forces; one reported by PUNCH newspaper to total 146.2 million naira a month to troops from neighboring Chad and Niger. These armies reportedly don’t earn as much as they are currently being paid so supporting Nigeria is financially beneficial. All these are speculative theories and we should welcome their support. Perhaps this may give rise to calls for better funding of regional forces.

    When governments choose to use private contractors to solve conflicts, not only does this pose a real and serious threat to stability and conflict resolution, it also erodes the capacity of public institutions to ensure order. How prepared are we to deal with potential human rights abuses? Studies show that if the defense institutes of states fail to establish effective management structures to regulate the activities of these private contractors, there are higher chances of misconduct and committing of atrocities.

    The clamour for power and political positions has blinded many to this clear and present danger. Why win a battle only to lose the country? Is the desire to desperately hang on to power worth trading our future for?

    When all has been said and done, will there even be a country and are we not opening ourselves up to even greater problems after Boko Haram is gone? Boko Haram is a well-oiled machine; the Federal Government may claim to have made gains for now but what happens when it regroups and fights back? Or worse still, what happens when a new set of heavily armed splinter groups emerge? We’ve seen the group’s tactics evolve over 5 years and unless a more strategic solution is sought, they will evolve to a much larger beast.

    Too many interests want to see Nigeria fail and bring our almighty ego to its knees. Why play into their hands?

     

    •Akinmeji is a Public Policy Analyst. She is an alumnus of the prestigious Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, Washington DC. She writes from Abuja

  • For the love of country

    For the love of country

    During the oil subsidy crisis, he thoroughly bad- mouthed Yorubas and canvassed that non-Yoruba elements in Lagos, who he claimed are more than Yorubas, should gang up against their hosts

    While some of us continue to relish the past and insist that our leadership position is not threatened, the more discerning among us realise that failure to correctly appraise the situation could only be calamitous to the destiny of the Yoruba people. The truth of the matter is that the lives and destiny of over 30 million souls cannot and should not be trampled upon by reprobates, renegades, revisionists, and impostors. The contemporary self-proclaimed spokesmen and supposed protectors of our people just have to cease and desist from their sanctimonious and opportunistic crusade and become true subscribers to the common cause’.

    The Jurisprudential Professor of Professors, Akin Oyebode, in his lead paper at the authentic  Pan -Yoruba Summit in Ibadan,  Thursday, 19 March 2015.

    ‘For the love of country’, ‘for the love of country’ etc. So goes one of the multibillion naira television adverts of President Goodluck Jonathan urging Nigerians to vote him for another term of four years with his duplicitous government that keeps assuring foreign envoys of peaceful elections while for two whole months it has continued to deny visas to over twenty foreign journalists from such stables as the influential The Telegraph, The Times and Channel 4 News; something that should take no more than two weeks. Candidate Jonathan showed the extent of his love for Nigeria and Nigerians this past week when he inspired the country’s wretched of the earth, to lay Lagos prostrate.  Earlier, another  phalange of these  miscreants, operating  under the aegis of  the  anti-Nigerian ragtag organisation which  recently publicly launched vehicle and driver’s licences, as well as what it called the  passports  of its still-born Biafra Republic without a whimper from the  security agencies-  by the way,  dollarized Afenifere should try doing the same  for Oduduwa Republic  to gauge  the real depth  of Jonathan’s love for  Yoruba. Unlike them, however,   those under the lead of the carpenter completely shut down  Lagos and laid  it  prostrate for hours,  causing  the citizenry untold hardship. The scallywags, members of the outlawed Oodua People’s Congress (OPC), who had long become thugs -for hire, brandishing assorted guns and live ammunition, broken bottles  etc, with the PDP- police and  DSS, even soldiers, watching in amusement, smashed their way through Ikorodu Road,  laying waste everything on its way, including APC billboards.  With the resultant traffic snarl, Lagos was completely crippled for a whole day.

    In his desperation, President Jonathan showed, through these characters, that he would not mind a version of Boko Haram sprouting in Yoruba land the way they brandished live ammunition without a single security operative raising an eyebrow. Coming so soon after  the  president included  both Fredrick Faseun and Gani Adams  in his reckless pipeline surveillance contracts, both factions of the Oodua People’s Congress have shown  themselves no better  than mercenaries as they were  campaigning for  the president’s re election  which they believe  the INEC chairman’s sack, even if  in total disregard  of laid down procedure, will guarantee. And I ask, what exactly is driving President Jonathan into this paranoia: love of country or an eagerness to cover up the massive looting under his watch?

    And this is what baffles about his Lagos/ Yoruba politics. During the oil subsidy crisis, he thoroughly bad- mouthed Yorubas and canvassed that non-Yoruba elements in Lagos, who he claimed are more than Yorubas, should gang up against their hosts.  During the current campaigns, he has met with literally every ethnic group residing in Lagos, preaching the same serpentine hate message. Yet, both within and outside Lagos, he has spared nothing in presenting as a Yoruba friend; romancing Afenifere and heavily compromising all, but few of Yoruba Obas. Such duplicity!

    Happily, Yorubas know their friends just as they know a Greek gift. The historic desecration of Lagos by the OPC, in a complete reversal of roles by a group founded primarily to defend Yoruba land, will haunt them eternally. This shameless, mammon-induced perfidy will, forever, scare them. How they can so easily shred whatever remains of their tattered integrity since they came under the tutelage of the likes of former Ogun State governor, Gbenga Daniel, simply confounds. It must be mentioned here, for emphasis, that the treaty which ended the Kiriji War in 1886 forbade Yorubas fighting against themselves. Their action is, therefore, an abomination the consequences of which will not escape.

    Nigerians must go out on 28 March, 2015 to show that they are not deceived by this type of ‘love of country; by voting out candidate Jonathan.

    Six weeks was only a decoy for rigging

    Readers of this column must have read me say, severally, that PDP cannot win a mere local government election without rigging. The coming elections will be no different, only the rigging method will change. With Capt Sagir Koli, through the Ekitigate tapes, blowing the cover off the military, at its rigging best, which the likes of Obanikoro had relied upon for victory, and INEC’s PVC and Card Readers now a fait accompli, they are already gunning for new methods.  This is precisely what inspired the postponement even after the Council of State had okayed it. My auditory nerves have been on active mode since the Ekiti photocromic rigging, waiting for these shameless riggers.  The answer came shortly after the president’s visit to one major Yoruba town.  A megalomaniac politician, who, of course, should know the finer details of the plan talked too much to those he believed were his supporters. That was how we got to hear that card readers would be sabotaged and that under no circumstances would President Jonathan hand over to General Buhari. All signals are also to be jammed by agents of the PDP on 28 March, 2015.

    Incidentally, it would appear the APC also picked up this information and it’s Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has since addressed a press conference during which he gave more details which included the name of the Israeli fixer contracted to supply 750, 000 units of fake Card Readers which will be planted on PDP members at the polling centres to jam the INEC Card Readers. Olisa Metuh, PDP’s Publicity Secretary, on a Channels TV appearance with Alhaji Mohammed on Thursday, 19 March 2015, had no answer to this allegation.

    Traditional rulers on wonder errand for President Jonathan

    Nigerians woke up Wednesday, 18, March 2015, to read that the president has sent traditional rulers on some mundane errand across the country; an abomination in the first place. This was, however, not completely surprising having just returned from shaking hands with most of their Southwest colleagues. After all, one good turn, they say, deserves another. Divided into 11 groups, their mission is simple: regardless of the fact that elections have not yet been held, talk less of knowing what the results will be, just go where I send you, seat them down and plead that they accept whatever the outcome, no matter the sanctity of the process. In my opinion, no self regarding person, however hungry, should have accepted this formless assignment.  This is why not a few Nigerians have reasonably read meanings into this misadventure. Granted nobody wants a recrudescence of the 2011 post-electoral conflagration, but how do you explain this graceless job?  What exactly do President Jonathan and the PDP have in stock for Nigerians?

    And what are they agitated about after signing a Memorandum of Undertaking supervised by two of Africa’s greatest international diplomats, Emeka Anyaoku, former Secretary-General of the Commonwealth and Annan, a former United Nations Secretary-General? What is President Jonathan or the PDP afraid of?  Why do they think they have to beg Nigerians to accept the outcome of what everybody expects to be a free, fair and transparent election? Is this a case of the guilty becoming sleepless ahead  of what would surely be the consequences of a compromised election; no matter  what force is arraigned against a cheated  people? I think it is important these royal errands ask why this has become a necessary enterprise.

    Or does it have anything to do with the rumour making the rounds that Nigerians are about to experience June 12, all over again?  Is it true that we could soon have procured, a court judgment at the 11th hour, on Thursday or Friday -26/27 March, 2015 – invalidating the use of card readers?

    I feel certain President Jonathan loves Nigeria much more than to have it incinerated.