The Nation Newspaper

Tag: democracy

  • Re: Bauchi: Democracy or anarchy?

    Some political agitators in Bauchi State represented by Ahmed Yerima, currently a member in the National Assembly from Misau/Dambam federal constituency, have in recent times resorted to negative publicity about the governor of the state in print and electronic media. I intended to turn a blind eye as well as deaf ears to such mischief as mere propaganda that could equally be ignored by the public, but the intensification of the campaigns, which from the looks of things are beginning to create wrong impressions about the governor, made me change my position.

    It is a common knowledge that the group in question has an overriding ambition to produce the next Bauchi State governor from within its fold. It is not wrong for any eligible aspirant to vie for that seat whether in the ruling party or any opposition party, but what is worrisome and crude is how the group is bent on damaging the reputation of the governor to have its ambition actualized. They see Barrister Mohammed AbdullahiAbubakar as the only impediment that will hamper their plans against 2019 if he goes for a second term. The initial scheme, which at last they realized could not work, was that Mohammed Abubakar would not seek reelection at the termination of his first tenure, failing to understand that this propaganda would not change the views of the electorate about the governor, in as much as the needed development would be adequately provided.

    The Yerima group insidiously hatches one evil plan after the other to make sure the good image of the governor is dented so that getting him unseated in 2019 will be easier. They spread, through their agents on social media, all sorts of malicious rumours and unfounded speculations in order to overheat the polity. The recent of such acts was an article authored by same Yerima, published in The Nation.  Though from the title of the write-up, Yerima was confused to use the word ‘anarchy’ where it didn’t fit, being that the state is well governed with all organs and instruments of power perfectly functional, it was clear that he was trying to falsely blame the government of Barrister Abubakar for not carrying all along. This is untrue. This government is all inclusive, because it involves all strata of the political class and even community, business and religious leaders in most of the decisions it takes. It is only members of the Yerima group, who I can best describe as enemies from within that turned out to be pariahs who for their selfish motives decided to break away, and even in this regard the governor did all he could to extend his hand of friendship and fraternity to individual members of this group in order to allow peace and unity to reign in his government, but it was met with rebuff, because the well-being of the state is not the primary objective of these people.

    I am yet to fathom what Yerima means by ‘‘wanton lack of adherence to norms and international best practices against democratic values’’.

    Yerima has a wrong perception of what politics is all about for dissenting to the idea of hosting Ahmed AdamuMu’azu and Bala Mohammed as citizens of Bauchi State to a dinner in Saudi Arabia. A liberal political affiliation does not prohibit interaction on personal level between members of different political parties. Politics is all about interests, which could be positive or negative. Both the former PDP national chairman and FCT minister have been good friends of the governor for as long as before the PDP and APC came to exist. What is wrong if they met with the governor in the holy land, ate and exchanged pleasantries where politics was thrown aside to unite with God? In whatever way we look at it, the two men are senior citizens of Bauchi State and must, therefore, be treated as such, regardless of what political party they belong to. What if they decide now to come over to the APC as many of their calibre did? This is never an excuse to portray Governor Mohammed AbdullahiAbubakar as being double-faced. After all, in what way did Mu’azu destroy Bauchi State when compared to the succeeding regime in which Yerima himself served and benefitted immensely? Is he part of the destruction? He should allow Mohammed Abubakar to rebuild.

    Yerima and his sponsors take advantage and capitalize on the present economic downturn, a reality that affects not only Nigeria but the world at large, to incite the polity against the government, especially the working class. Inability to pay salaries has become a national phenomenon which doesn’t exempt Bauchi State, and if we keep sentiments aside and assess the situation in the state, we would find  out that much has been done to address the situation, and I can say that 80 percent of the problem is solved.

    Let us consider other states with similar problems which are over 20 in number. Many of them with lesser workforce than Bauchi State could not pay salaries for as long as seven months and even above. Some threaten to pay half salaries if the situation doesn’t improve, and with the growing activities of Niger Delta Avengers, there is no sign of any improvement in the near future. Yet Governor Abubakar did all he could to settle the accumulated salaries to the barest minimum, but the gesture is not being appreciated. Even governors of the Niger Delta who collect higher grants than the rest of the states are paralyzed to pay salaries. We should also take into consideration that Governor Abubakar has come with clean intention and determination to lift the standard of the state higher from where he met it. I heard him mention on many occasions, before and after assuming office that Bauchi State was retarded in terms of development as compared to younger states created much later than Bauchi. He laments the deplorable state of all sectors and other social services including education which was allocated 20 percent of this year’s budget in order to save the sector from total collapse.

    All these need huge amount of money to be executed, and in this regard the governor must balance between the interests of the electorate and the civil servants for the dividends of democracy to reach where they are supposed to. Therefore while salaries are being paid, infrastructural provision is equally foremost.

    We all know that the beauty of democracy is the right it gives to all individuals to vote and be voted for. In line this, Ahmed Yerima or any other member of his clique has the right to vie for the gubernatorial seat of Bauchi State provided such a person fulfils the constitutional requirements in that regards. What is unworthy is vilifying the government with no justification, and especially the defamatory remarks about the personality of His Excellency. If they have anything to offer the state, let them express it in the right way and allow our governor to work for us. No matter their urgency and desperation, they have to wait for the incumbency to come to its stipulated end, and it is then they can assess and say whether this government lives up to expectation or not.

     

    • Nata’ala writes from Bauchi.

  • Nigeria’s democracy not threatened, says security expert

    A security expert and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Hon. Dipo Okeyomi, has advised Nigerians never to exercise fear about the durability of ongoing democracy, stressing that military rule anywhere in the world is an abominable act.

    Okeyomi spoke on the heels of the foiled military coup in Turkey and recent festering rumour of some mutinous plot in the Nigerian military.

    The expert noted, saying, “The Nigerian case is peculiar in the sense that a long spell of military rule has given us so much setback.

    “Now, Nigerians are ready to march on the streets and lay down their lives to protect this democracy.”

    Okeyomi, a chairmanship aspirant for the Ojokoro Local Council Development Area of Lagos State, also urged Nigerians to be patient with the President Muhammadu Buhari administration, as according to him, “ what the PDP administration had spent 16 years to destroy cannot be fixed in a year and even, two years.”

    The Buhari administration, he said, had done well to fight corruption in its entirety and recover looted funds from light-fingered politicians.

    The aspirant added that individuals should also join hands to contribute to alleviating the suffering of the masses.

  • Democracy feeds Turkey to fascism

    Democracy feeds Turkey to fascism

    From all indications, Turkey seems marooned at a dark crossroads today. A failed coup last Friday has  not only exposed the rump of military generals but also the darker side of a democracy entrusted to an intolerant hawk, Tayyip Recep Erdogan.

    Since triumphing over the putschists Saturday, the Turkish president has been acting in a manner that gives a new poignancy to the fascism German playwright tried to describe sarcastically several decades ago. Once a state loses confidence in the people, proposes the bard, it should then not hesitate to dissolve the citizenry.

    At the last count, no fewer than a record 50,000 persons have been summarily rounded up in a country of less than 80 million people.

    Addressing his nation Wednesday, President Erdogan did not sound in the conciliatory tone of someone intent on fixing the fissures the coup has inadvertently brought to light. In declaring a three-month emergency rule, he preferred the gloating words of a conqueror determined to in fact escalate the witch-hunt against the remaining opposition, real or imagined. For effects, he left no one in doubt that he is desirous of resurrecting the death penalty earlier abrogated in 2004 as part of a pre-condition for Turkey to be admitted into the European Union.

    Signs that all is still not well in Turkey despite the coup’s crash on Saturday were evident Tuesday. Even as officials were still counting the cost of the Friday/Saturday mayhem, a car bomb exploded in central Istanbul, killing 11 people instantly with many more badly injured. The following day, there was another lethal bombing in Mardin province. Predictably, the authorities quickly point a finger at an opposition party, PKK.

    And there precisely lies the peril to liberty in Turkey today and a clarion call on the rest of the world not to look away. Given the peculiar evolution of Turkey as a nation in which the military is more or less cast as the Praetorian Guard, there is no denying that the country truly needs a muscular president to scare adventurous generals away. But that sort of strength is not just about the weight of the biceps but more of the generosity of spirit. That is, the will to still accommodate, to tolerate those unwilling to view life through your own lens. A critical virtue obviously in deficit today. And what makes the prospects even more unthinkable is Erdogan’s bringing religion into an already toxic mix.

    Though Turkey is 99 percent Muslim (of the Sunni affiliation), her founding fathers were however generous enough to conceive a secular state with a view to removing any possible sectarian threat to her continued harmony and balance.

    But with his ascendancy in the last fifteen years, Erdogan has nudged his Justice and Development Party (AKP) to drag the nation more towards Islamist extremism. To further seduce the mullahs, he once described the EU as “a Christian club.” To the discomfort of moderate elements who would wish Turkey’s original architecture of secularism be preserved.

    At the boom of artillery fire last Friday in Turkey’s two key cities of Ankara and Istanbul, the initial interpretation was that a coup was underway. Happily, people’s power prevailed so dramatically that military’s otherwise awesome might was made to look so feeble. Though at a huge human toll: no fewer than 250 were killed and thousands suffering varying degrees of harm in a grim encounter that dragged from Friday dusk till Saturday morning.

    In one instance, we saw footage of a brave Turkish youth jumping on an armoured tank and punching the soldier on duty. In yet another was an epic reversal of role: a civilian was shown whipping the back of a group of subdued soldiers lying face down on the highway.

    But if as much as 50,000 could be linked to that coup as Erdogan’s action so far has suggested, then we honestly can no longer call that a putsch. What actually confronts Turkey today ought to be seen properly as an uprising, or what the Arabs call “intifada”. It is only a manifestation of deep fracture in the Turkey’s democracy as presently constituted. To pretend otherwise is to live in denial.

    Previously, allegations of coup plot were often parlayed to witch-hunt of Erdogan’s perceived opponents within and outside the military. But the current episode, apparently on account of its actuality, has broken past records. Already, a hundred of generals and admirals have been charged. Thousands of rank and file soldiers, said to have been tricked to the streets with the lie of “routine parade” by their superiors, would be made to face a scrutiny that potentially carries a death penalty.

    The growing casualty list also includes 1,577 university deans ordered to resign beside 21,000 teachers and 15,000 education ministry officials. Just as vocal journalists and independent media houses are being hunted down. Paranoid still, Erdogan has barred access to the WikiLeads website in continuation of his old tactic of crude censorship of the social media and manic obsession to control people’s minds. (Ironically, when guns started booming last Friday, it was the same social media Erdogan resorted to while in hiding to incite supporters to troop to the streets and confront the coupists.)

    By the time the purge is over, one then wonders how many people would be left in Turkey for Erdogan to rule over. It is for these reasons that those who have Erdogan’s ears like the United States (which leads the NATO to which Turkey belongs) must impress it on him that he cannot continue like this.

    It is reassuring that the US has so far not succumbed to Erdogan’s blackmail that his arch political opponent and American-based cleric, Fethullah Gulen, be extradited to Ankara to face trial over alleged involvement in the failed coup plot. Rather, Washington is insisting on strong proof of complicity before entertaining such request.

    In retrospect, the Turkish president has proved to be too intolerant and would not mind burying an entire town led by the illusion of tranquility, even if it is that of the graveyard. Memories of the Cizre massacre are still fresh. In the city of Cizre, hundreds of young people were burned to death in basements in what readily recalled the ghost of Hitler’s gas chamber against the Jews decades ago. So much that even the United Nation has called on the Turkish government to establish an independent commission of inquiry to investigate the killings.

    Through intimidation, Erdogan has stampeded the congress to pass obnoxious laws granting him sweeping powers to hunt down opposition elements, particularly those with sympathy for the long-suffering Kurds. Earlier, he fired the moderate AKP prime minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, who was critical of the proposed constitutional changes.

    But the budding fascist in Ankara needs to be made to understand that the peace of the graveyard is not sustainable. At best, he would have only succeeded in delaying a civil war.

  • Reconciling democracy and restructuring

    Reconciling democracy and restructuring

    I take seriously the reactions and responses of readers to my weekly contributions and I take time to digest them and, if necessary, respond. It helps also that they have been few and far between. They have also been generally thoughtful and thought-provoking. The latest, on last week’s column, is not an exception. While I find the tone of the comment mature and reasonable, and its general stance agreeable, I think that the logic of the argument is shaky. It is because I sympathise with the commentator’s fundamental position that I have chosen to respond to the flawed logic of the argument.

    The comment is interesting for at least two reasons. First, the author took the time to dig from the archives my column of January 16, 2015 to interrogate my position in the column of July 15, 2016. Quoting from my January 2015 column, the author wonders why I should now maintain my current position. In fairness, the commentator did not directly accuse me of inconsistency. Still, I suspect that there is a sinister aspect to his or her point: If that was your argument then, why worry now? You wanted the elections. You got the elections. Now live with it. For the commentator, it was a got you moment. Here, below, is the comment and in its totality.

    ‘“Fifth, if restructuring is an important issue for the polity, it is not too much to ask the presidential candidates to explain their positions on it to the voters before they (voters) head for the polls. Hopefully, candidates will have opportunities for debate on issues because such is an occasion for the electorate to get to know more about their prospective leaders. However, if voters don’t care about issues of restructuring and constitutional amendment, we cannot force them and we must be reminded about the inviolability of Lincoln’s wisdom: “Elections belong to the people. It’s their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they will just have to sit on their blisters.” (Riding Out the Gathering Storm (2) January 16, 2016.” The people have decided. Why are you worrying?’

    What is my response to the question: why are you worrying? First, I am not worrying. Rather, I am concerned about the future of the country that we all claim to love. With all the negatives that she has drawn to herself especially in recent times, does this country have a robust future that makes nations great? My intervention, through this column, has been generally focused on issues surrounding this question. Last week was not an exception.

    Second, the commentator seemed to infer that if I pitched my tent in favour of conducting a democratic election and letting the people vote their conscience, and they eventually did, then I should not be in a position to re-litigate the case for restructuring. “Why are you worrying yourself?” means “ You argued for the election to go on in lieu of restructuring before election. Why are you now arguing for restructuring?”  A fair interpretation of my column under reference and the one that preceded it cannot come to this conclusion. It’s worth recapitulating.

    The man of God, Pastor Tunde Bakare, had in a powerful submission, suggested the postponement of the presidential election to avoid what he referred to as “the gathering storm.” He recommended instead first dealing with the restructuring of the country. I differed respectfully while acknowledging the thoughtfulness of the pastor’s intervention.

    Surely, there was a gathering storm. But to my mind, that storm would have become a Level V hurricane if the election had been halted. And in view of the revelations since then, I still firmly believe that it would have been a huge mistake. I then suggested that a debate could be organised for the candidates with restructuring as the major issue. This is how democratic elections are conducted. If this is a matter that people cared about, they would make up their minds on the best candidate based on their evaluation of his or her position on the matter of restructuring. It was from this mindset that I brought in Abraham Lincoln who had suggested that citizens will have to live the consequences of their vote.

    Now, what contradiction is there between asking democratic elections to set the stage for restructuring, and now, after elections, asking for restructuring to be placed on the front burner? I certainly don’t see any.

    What is more, it was also clear that the antecedent of my suggestion, namely a debate on restructuring as the major issue of the campaign never received the blessing of electoral authorities. Therefore, there was no way to know what citizens’ preferences were. They went and voted presumably on other matters, including the proverbial and detestable stomach infrastructure appeal for which all parties competed with gusto.

    If the platforms presented by the political parties were evaluated through the medium of a political debate, and the people chose a candidate who rejected restructuring, the commentator would at least have a point. But since that was not the case, the logic that the argument relied upon is deeply flawed.

    But there is more. Assume what is not the case—that the people actually went to the last elections on the basis of an informed understanding of the candidates’ positions on restructuring. Assume further that with such an understanding, the majority chose to elect a candidate who rejected restructuring. Would the commentator then have a valid argument against me? Would I be found guilty of inconsistency? The answer from my humble opinion is “No”. The reason is quite simple and there are two parts to it.

    In the first place, democratic elections do not sentence a country and a people to a life-time of helplessness or hopelessness. When elections are conducted and won or lost on the basis of ideological positions, the losers do not as a result choose to fall on their own swords. They brace themselves up for the next time hoping that their position will attract more voters and secure a majority.  Therefore, while democracy is against imposing a position on the people, it is not against a persistent appeal to them all-year round and at every election cycle on behalf of a position that one truly supports. Consider that as my present position on the matter of restructuring.

    The second part of my response is quite simple. My last column takes the All Progressive Congress (APC) up on its declared interventions by way of its documented platform as contained in its manifesto. The point I made was simply that while I concede that the party did not make any direct pronouncement on restructuring, it should start fulfilling its promises on at least the three items that were clearly articulated in its manifesto. These included the matter of restructuring the police force with an emphasis on community policing, reforming the Land Use Act to encourage freehold or leasehold, and refocusing the economy, with particular reference to a new approach to mining.

    Is there any inconsistency in upholding the sanctity of democratic elections and calling on the victorious party to act up to its promise? I see none. Suspending an election in a democracy could be more problematic to the polity because it would create a dangerous precedence. The nation missed the opportunity for serious debate on restructuring through a sovereign national conference in 1998 prior to the return to civil rule. Of course, the military had also then been traumatised as an institution and was just too eager to quit the political scene. We can moan that missed opportunity for ever. But we cannot make up for it by intervening in the democratic process without appearing to favour one party or the other.

    Meanwhile, however, there is a moral justification for calling upon a political party to fulfil its promises to the electorate because, as Hobbes would say, justice is keeping promises voluntarily made. That was my message to APC. And if the party refuses to keep its promises, well, there is always a next time coming. I respectfully rest my case.

  • That our democracy may survive

    SIR: Nigeria as a political entity was nurtured into democracy after a long period of colonialism which afforded her the opportunity of foundational structure that eventually prepared her for a democratic rule. She was still basking in the euphoria of the long awaited democracy vis-à-vis independence when the military struck in 1966. This immediately truncated the six-year old democratic practice that led to political instability which in turn led to various coups and counter-coups. The military, which is both antithesis and aberration to politics was quick to suspend the existing constitution and replaced it with decrees. Pitifully enough, the return of democracy in 1979 was short-lived with another military interruption until 1999.

    Another landmark recorded in the annals of democracy in Nigeria with the coming of a new democratic dispensation in 1999 which unlike before remained uninterrupted. However, a careful look at our experiences so far has shown that we have not imbibed the democratic culture enough as gross misconducts and malpractices were the order of the day in virtually all the general elections held in 2003, 2007, 2011 and 2015 respectively. The attitude of many desperate electorates and political actors during the elections resulted in the violence which sent numerous Nigerians to their untimely graves.

    As if this was not bad enough, social unrest in different forms such as Boko Haram insurgency, militancy, kidnapping as well as vandalism among others have been rearing their ugly heads in the last 17 years; they have indeed become an albatross for the government and the governed. Unemployment keeps increasing by the day as institutions of learning continue churning graduates out in hundreds of thousands on a yearly basis without corresponding spaces to absorb them. Corruption in high places, especially among leaders who have been siphoning public funds and stashing them is not helping matters either, as a matter of fact, this unpatriotic and selfish act is one of the factors responsible for making an average Nigerian live the Hobbesian life that is “poor, nasty, short and brutish”.

    To check these excruciating conditions,  parochial nature of the nation’s political culture needs to be corrected. The attitude towards participating in political matters or all governmental issues should be upgraded. Citizens should see public property as theirs and not merely public-owned. The “I don’t care” attitude of the people to political matters must equally stop, while ethnic chauvinism, which has eaten deep into the fabric of the country, should be corrected.

    The cost of running government and emoluments should also be reduced, thus, making the offices less attractive. The redemption of the image of t

     

    • Segunmaru Adebayo,

     Abeokuta.

  • Democracy: Buhari commends U.S

    Democracy: Buhari commends U.S

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday expressed appreciation for the important role the United States Government played in the success of the 2015 general elections in Nigeria.

    He spoke at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, while receiving the outgoing Ambassador of the U.S, Mr James Entwistle.

    Buhari, in a statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said that the U.S insistence on free, fair and violent-free elections largely contributed to the deepening of democracy in the country.

    He said: “The U.S support before, during and after the 2015 elections was vital to Nigeria’s stability and I will never forget the role they played in the stability of Nigeria.

    “We were lucky to have had an INEC Chairman who was competent and courageous. Mr Ambassador, you occupied a position at a very strategic time in Nigeria’s history and I hope our historians will record this because it meant so much for our stability.

    “I hope you write a book on your experience in Nigeria. The commitment of U.S in supporting Nigeria has been unprecedented, ’’ the President told the outgoing U.S envoy.

    He also thanked the Americans for their military, intelligence and humanitarian support to Nigeria on the ongoing Boko Haram insurgency.

    Nigeria, he said, also valued U.S contributions to promoting regional peace and stability through the instrumentality of the G7.

    President Buhari also received in audience the outgoing High Commissioner of Canada to Nigeria, Ambassador Perry Calderwood.

    The President commended the Government of Canada’s humanitarian assistance to Nigerians displaced by the insurgency in the North East, and their commitment to polio eradication in the country.

    He highlighted the Federal Government’s effort to facilitate voluntary return of displaced persons in addition to ensuring that conditions in North-eastern Nigeria improve significantly before the next farming season.

    In their separate remarks, Ambassadors Entwistle and Calderwood had expressed concern on the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the North East with looming reports of food crisis and malnutrition.

    Entwistle said the bilateral relationship between both countries had remained very vibrant and cordial.

    “I had a marvellous three-and-half years in Nigeria and I am grateful to have been involved in the memorable elections in 2015,’’ he said.

    On his part, Calderwood conveyed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s desire to strengthen ties with Nigeria in Canada’s quest for partnership on international engagements, including its bid for a non-permanent seat in the UN Security Council,   2021-2022

  • Bauchi: Democracy or anarchy?

    In our time, political speech and writing are largely the defence of the indefensible
    – George Orwell.

    The tide of turbulent waves is ebbing in Bauchi State, but how it plays out remains to be seen by serious political watchers and strategists. Since the inception of the overwhelming concept of change, vis-à-vis the momentum of President Buhari’s emergence and the beneficiaries of that “rolling stone gathers no moss” experience in the Nigerian political firmament, many political players will find out that our leader (PMB) who belongs to everybody and belongs at the same time to no one paradoxically, means business.

    In a clear departure from what obtained as a norm in times past, and the difficulties facing the people of Nigeria, I will want to intimate all well-meaning and patriotic Nigerians of the facts and possibility of some turncoats or merchants of double standards are among APC fold. If care and repositioning is not done now, we will have ourselves to blame come 2019. The experience learnt by the PDP should not be lost on all of us which will be taking collective amnesia too far.

    The crux of the matter lies in the fact that a very resourceful state, with enormous contributions in human and material capital to the Nigerian state, is at the verge of going down on its knees, due to lack of prudence, dislike for mankind and wanton lack of adherence to norms and international best practices against democratic values.

    A discerning mind may want to know to what I owe this mind-set. It is only based on the miscarriage of justice, fairness and equity in Bauchi State.

    The intrigues and political philandering displayed in Bauchi State can at best be synonymous with anarchy, where all rules of governance are relegated to the background and self-serving interests are brought to the fore. The inherited PDP Caretaker Local Government Chairmen can only work against this new administration’s policy of zero tolerance to corruption and its appurtenances. This will be an antithesis to the belief’s and tenets of President Buhari’s government.

    The most amazing thing that happened in the last few days of the fasting period is Governor Mohammed Abubakar’s extension of his goodwill to some of the PDP primary stakeholders like AhmaduMu’azu, former PDP National Chairman and Bala Mohammed, former Minister of FCT, in Saudi Arabia.

    It’s okay to have friends across political divides but not friends that destroyed the system which we are trying very hard to revamp. The APC government in Bauchi has now become a laughing stock in the Social Media and other forums. It is not only political misconduct but lack of wisdom, tact and organizational skills. If he is a man of honour, which he is trying to claim, he should resign honourably. If he refused to do so the people will vote him out in 2019, as they did his former governors PDP friends. What he has in common with his cronies is common interest and not PDP or APC ideologies. The common man in Bauchi is now aware of this common interest among cronies, exchanging the mantle of leadership among themselves and will no longer allow it to continue.

    My conviction lies in the fact that I have severally brought these issues to the front burner and waiting for it to be distilled and served to patriotic citizens of Bauchi State. In the way they can appreciate it and play their own part as the owners of the state politically. In one of my earlier discourse I highlighted the Republican nature of the average Bauchi man, and I dropped the blame for outsourcing leadership at the doorsteps of the political elites.

    Imagine a state where there is no interaction between the key stakeholders in the state leadership of the party, the governor, the National Assembly members and the grassroots. Imagine this scenario and add the untold hardship permeating all sectors of the state. Mix it with the fact that you will get persecuted through queries and outright dismissal, for stating the obvious misconduct of governance in the state and proffering solutions to make a way forward.

    Every man is guilty of all the good that he did not do – Voltaire. Silence in this case would be misconstrued by the folks in the state to mean complicity in this ubiquitous rape of democracy. “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing”, added Edmund Burke. As things stand now,Governor Abubakaris caught in a state of doublethink, according to George Orwell; Doublethink means the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one’s mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them. The high sentiments always win in the end; the leaders who offer blood, toil, tears and sweat always get more out of their followers than those who offer safety and a good time. When it comes to the pinch, human beings are heroic. He also posited that; War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is Strength.

    One of the pomposities and lack of vision of Governor Abubakarwas exposed through his release of 146 prisoners in the state. The irony remains in the fact that he is sending them back to the same place they left, with no support for their parents who are salary and pension earners. They will surely miss the meals provided by the federal government in the prisons. What happens after that? Will he give them employment to remove the possibility of returning to crime? His use of thugs as his personal security is an offshoot of the existence of such elements that are ready to do anything to get out of poverty and unemployment.

    The Statutory allocation for Local Governments is about N2.5 billion, an average of N120 million per LG and about N3 billion for the state every month, over 5 billion in total. Bauchi Local Government, with the highest allocation, got N170 million in January and shared in February; Bogoro and Dass Local Governments got N76 million each, in the same period which was the lowest, but what is on ground is not commensurate to these statutory provisions.

    The dysfunction of hospitals, water supply and the non-payment of salaries and pensions is certainly breeding discontentment among the people. Hon. Ibrahim Baba from Katagum Federal Constituency, singlehandedly spent over N10 million cleaning waste in his constituency and its immediate environs to improve sanitation and good health. All these are despite the bailout funds of N10 billion and another N4 billion borrowed without approval by the state House of Assembly (N14 billion in total), ostensibly to pay salaries and pensions.

    This is the time for the anti-graft agencies to come all out and do something about the fiscal irresponsibility in Bauchi State.

    My best wishes still goes to the good people of my constituency, Bauchi State and the country at large, who have sacrificed a lot for democracy.

     

    • Hon. Yerima is a member of the House of Representatives.

  • Ekweremadu, champion of democracy?

    Ike Ekweremadu, not too long ago, forwarded the court summons over alleged forgery by the Senate leadership and some others  to the United Nations, governments of the UK and USA, the European Union parliament and foreign missions, to call the world attention to an ‘attempt by Buharis’s government to rubbish the legislative arm of government’, ‘ clampdown on opposition’ and for what  he described as  continuation of ‘marginalization of the South-east and South-south geopolitical zones of Nigeria’. He however conveniently forgot to say by whom since the Igbo, according to General Alabi Isama, have been part of every government since independence and have played leading roles in every government since the return of democracy in 1999 with Ekweremadu (South-east) as Deputy Senate President in the last nine years and ex-President Jonathan (South-south) as Vice President and President for eight years. All the same, decked in Igbo traditional war attire to give a wrong impression his arraignment for alleged forgery was an assault on the Igbo nation, his travails, he claimed during his press conference ,was ‘an attempt to silence the highest ranking opposition leader’, a  move he said  was ‘capable of truncating Nigerian democracy’. His grieving supporters a few days later, followed with another distress call, this time on Nigerians. ‘Buhari’, they said, ‘was about to black out democracy’, citing as evidence ‘the alleged kill­ing of members of Inde­pendent People of Biafra (IPOB) in Onitsha as well  the continued detention of the Director of Radio Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu’. Others supporters also followed by lionizing and praising him for his courage. Finally, there were those who celebrated him for his letter which they claimed found only parallel in those letters the APC wrote as opposition party to warn the international community about Jonathan’s plan to prolong the nightmare of besieged people of north-west through corruption-ridden war chest if only that would guarantee his reelection .

    Except for those whom the end justifies the means, many believe Ekwerenmadu’s letter crafted to defend a position which he by his own admission was acquired inelegantly was childish, ill-advised and self-serving. There is no doubt that those to whom a letter in which Ekweremadu positioned himself  as the champion of democracy in Nigeria was addressed know he is the greatest threat to democracy. Those who have had long years of political socialization in the long established participatory democracies know there can be no greater threat to democracy than the betrayal of the spirit of democratic rules and conventions. They know that Ekwerenmadu’s self admission that he immorally usurped a position that by convention belongs to the ruling party with majority was a calculated attempt to derail the democratic process. Unlike Nigeria where many of our compatriots suffer from the crisis of ideas and crisis of poverty, any misguided politician who embarks on such political perfidy in the UK, USA or in the European Union parliament, would be digging his own political grave. None of his generation would ever smell elective offices.

    They know more. They know that Ekweremadu cannot be a champion of democracy. They witnessed the obscene scenes in states houses of assembly such as Ekiti, Rivers and Edo where five thugs as lawmakers supported by the federal might purportedly impeached speakers supported by as many as 20 state lawmakers while the 7th assembly presided over by Mark/Ekweremadu looked the other way. They also know that by the virtue of Ekweremadu’s position in the 7th assembly, he cannot pretend not to be privy to how $2.1b inclusive of $1b loan meant for procurement of arms for our embattled soldiers who at a point could not defend their barracks and their loved ones were shared by PDP stalwarts to buy support for Jonathan’s 2015 failed reelection bid.

    If there is anyone deceived by  Ekweremadu and his 7th Senate whose leadership publicly admitted spending a whole night scheming about how to steal what belongs to others, where those who handsomely rewarded themselves for being called upon to serve the people routinely abandoned the Senate chambers in solidarity with their leader facing charges at the Code of Conduct Tribunal,  and where elected senators are threatening to sabotage the federal government programmes instead of prevailing on their leaders facing alleged forgery charges to clear their names, it is certainly not United Nations, the governments of US  and Britain or the western society for that matter.

    Perhaps Ekweremadu and his supporters need to be reminded that unlike his self-serving letter, but for the APC letters which forced the US to reconsider the plan to sell arms to Nigeria upon discovering that Nigerian arms were finding their way to the insurgents, beyond the 29 LGA seized by Boko Haram, the whole of the besieged three north-eastern states would have been captured by Boko Haram. The US had accused Nigerian Generals of human rights abuses. What greater human right abuse than condemning your ill-equipped young soldiers to death. Revelations from the ongoing probe has vindicated APC. Dasuki, Jonathan’s NSA has since confessed the $2.1b funds meant for procurement of arms ferried in boxes to his office was authorized by President Jonathan. EFCC has since revealed how a minister of defence, using an aircraft personally ferried N4.7b of the amount to Akure airport from where it was allegedly shared between Fayose, Omisore and Obanikoro. PDP stalwarts and their sympathizers such as Dokpesi, Metuh, Fani Kayode, Olu Falae and many others have since admitted receiving money from the NSA office. With these facts before Nigerians, the motive of Ekweremadu’s letter to the international community is clear-preemption. It is a survival strategy.

    But using the name of the Igbo poor in vain by those who rode on their back to power whenever they are called on to face their demons is not uncommon. And not long ago some Igbo elites facing prosecution for evasion of payment of land rent on the palaces they erected in exclusive parts of Lagos claimed they were being persecuted by Fashola’s government for criticizing his repatriation of some destitute back to their home states. That was at a period similar exercise had just been carried out among the south-eastern states. That was a time Imo State government was trying to cope with crisis of Imo indigenes repatriated from Abia State civil service while thousands of Igbo were gainfully employed in Lagos civil service and parastatals.  But some Igbo ex-governors who led the crusade against ex-governor Fashola over the repatriated few destitute were silent on the fate of thousands of poor uneducated Igbo youths who can neither read nor write that roam the streets of our major cities hawking smuggled substandard goods. They are only relevant to Igbo political elite during season of personal travails or when they want to ride on their back to power as they did in 2015 when they were railroaded to vote Jonathan who twice promised to build the second Onitsha Bridge and twice failed.

  • Democracy and fear mongering

    Democracy and fear mongering

    Instead of seeing separation of powers as mechanisms for checking and balancing the three branches of government in a presidential system, many senators are calling for opposition of powers.

    There is no worse heresy than that the office sanctifies the holder of it.—Lord Acton

    Like everything else about our country, no institution is guaranteed the stability, most especially under the watch of those charged to nurture it. Even democracy, under the new government of change, is already being turned into a problemat the hands of persons empowered by electoral democracy who, for personal reasons, feel compelled to become fear mongerscommitted to replacing agenda setting with distractions.

    The new army of warriors for democracy in the country via fear stoking has many battalions. One group is of lawmakers not at ease with the executive’s notion of change. Another is a grouping of Christian propagandists from various denominations. And another is a band of ethnic leaders not openly avenging any wrong but just only acting to strengthen a dare-devil enclave of self-proclaimed avengers. As starkly different as these groups are, one thing connects all of them. Each of the groups presents itself as the country’s post-Jonathan patriotic vanguard for democracy and justice. All the groups have a flair to see the intention to destroy democracy on the faces of those who may disagree with the view that venality in government in the last four years is something that should be expunged from the agenda of a government voted for citizens’ hunger for change.

    Top lawmakers in the 8th Senate are already building fears in the minds of citizens about threats to our democracy, largely on account of efforts by the executive to fulfill one of its main functions: law enforcement, crime detection, and prosecution. Although simmering for months since the Buhari’s change agenda started with identification of individuals who, in the words of Chinua Achebe in AMan of the People, had taken too much from the nation’s tilly for the owner not to notice, massive fear mongering broke out when two principal officers in the senate got mentioned in a charge of forgery of rules used to select senate’s principal officers. The struggle to save democracy from the executive branch now appears to be full blown to inspire (or incite?) citizens to take their democratic country back from abusers. Currently, a new battle line has been drawn by senate gladiators to fight what they consider as hidden agenda on the part of the executive to destroy the principle of separation of powers.

    Senators who were initially content with accompanying the senate president to court in a show of solidarity on an earlier charge of false declaration have now thrown all cautions to the wind by proclaiming that the legislative branch would stop cooperating or supporting the president. Some have pledged to suspend approval of the president’s nominees for ambassadorship and other assignments while a few went further to stop supporting the president’s war on corruption. It did not stop there with senators at war. Many top senate officers and their supporters are making strenuous efforts to redefine the concept of separation of powers. To them Locke’s and Montesquieu’s preference for a government with three separate branches to check the power of each other gets a new definition. Instead of seeing separation of powers as mechanisms for checking and balancing the three branches of government in a presidential system, many senators are calling for opposition of powers. What was designed as political effort to achieve public and social order is fast becoming in the hands of some senators as a war to appropriate powers constitutionally reserved for the executive branch. The offence that calls for senators’ decision to frustrate the president from now on is failure on his part to discourage his attorney-general from enforcing the country’s laws, with respect to the integrity of the rules under which some senators obtained authority as principals of the 8th senate. Under the new interpretation of opposition of powers, senators have started to harass the attorney-general with summons to appear before them to explain why he chose to accuse the country’s “co-presidents in the senate” of such ridiculous action as forging any rule.

    As expected, media owners must have been smiling to the banks from revenue generated by sensationalising in the past few days of the war to save democracy from murderous hands of the executive. Citizens who have little training in critical reading must have been scared to death that the country’s democracy is under serious attack. As is often the case with the Nigeria factor of everything around here, rumour about attempted coup d’etat became a popular theme at bus stops and beer parlours. Consequently, leaders of the armed forces felt obliged to re-assure citizens of stability and commitment of the armed forces from top to bottom to abide by the function given to them by the constitution: protect the country’s territorial integrity, citizens from external attacks, and the government elected to govern the country and its people.

    On another front, some Christian leaders are sending text messages to citizens to warn them about the danger in what they see as marginalisation of followers of Jesus by the government of a president who follows Mohammed but rules with a vice president who is a respectable Pentecostal evangelist. With conflicting views of separate Christian leaders, the community of followers of Jesus in the country appears divided at present. Some pastors are giving assurance in the media that they are in support of President Buhari’s war on corruption. Yet another group is warning citizens through text messages and media announcements about imminentArmageddon on account of marginalisation of Christians in federal appointments by Buhari.

    Worse still, even nationalities that are not known for complaining about marginalisation on account of their own exaggerated opinions of their achievements are already in the news as engaging in diplomatic shuttles across regions to negotiate with other nationalities perceived to be fellow victims of marginalisation, without reference to co-members of such nationalities who are outside the cartels for power. Incidentally (or coincidentally?), some of such leaders also accused Jonathan of marginalisation during his administration until President Jonathan then quickly did the needful. For example, when some leaders arranged to meet Jonathan on the matter of marginalisation four years ago, they had on their agenda the percentage of persons from their nationality appointed into juicy MDAs by Jonathan, not direly needed repair of the federal roads on which hundreds of their fellow men and women die prematurely on account of lack of repair. Today’s focus is not on demands of specific nationalities or regions for de-marginalisation.

    It is about deafening distractions from self-appointed warriors for democracy in our country— lawmakers who may have acted to get noticed by warriors against corruption, failed politicians and self-appointed cultural and community leaders aspiring to obtain political power or influence. Citizens need to be helped to know that fighting corruption is not tantamount to corroding democracy.

    There is a short Yoruba folktale that those engaged in distracting attention from the war on corruption can get some wisdom from. It goes thus: Olongo and Tiintiin were close friends in the avian world. Tiintiin travelled out of his town for one year and left his wife in the care of Olongo. When Tiintiin came back home, he noticed that his wife was pregnant and showed his surprise at the development. His wife confessed that she was pregnant for Olongo, listing all the reasons for succumbing to Olongo’s entreaties. Anytime Tiintiin approached Olongo to discuss the state of his wife, Olongo engaged in theatrics of distraction by acting insane. Tiintiin then urged elders to join him in singing to his friend thus: Siwin Olongo, Olongo sinwin, kio to sinwin, o tan oranyinaa o, siwin Olongo,Olongo sinwin (Get mad Olongo for as long as you want, but before you go insane, just let us settle this matter first). Lawmakers with interest in supporting their colleagues, spokespersons for ethnic militant groups, and organisers of marginalised nationalities should just wait for the government branch charged to call to order persons those who had stolen from the country’s treasury, before they all go crazy with the country’s renewed theatre of distractions.

  • ‘Democracy has been raped’

    ‘Democracy has been raped’

    The Abia State executive council of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday took sides with Dr Okezie Ikpeazu whose governorship was nulified by a court.

    Its chairman, Chief Johnson Onuigbo, described the political situation in the state as “a rape of democracy”.

    Onuigbo told reporters in Umuahia that “there is nothing wrong when an aggrieved person goes to court and when a judgment is entered against you, you have the right of appeal, which the governor has exercised.”

    Onuigbo said: “It is normal, but it has to be after an appeal had been heard that the governor can stay or vacate office.”

    The governor has appealed the judgment. Besides, he has applied for a stay of execution. “Unfortunately INEC has gone ahead to issue a certificate of return to Uche Ogar, which is wrong,” Onuigbo said.

    “As a party we will resist any move by anyone to undermine the peace in the state and as a government that believes in the rule of law we have obtained an injunction stopping the swearing in of Ogar,” he said, adding:

    “If the people involved ignore the court injunction, there will be anarchy, as we are in a democracy; impunity should not be condoned.”