The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Goodluck Jonathan

  • President summons ministers, perm sec over lawlessness in FCT

    President summons ministers, perm sec over lawlessness in FCT

    President Goodluck Jonathan has summoned the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Senator Bala Mohammed, over what he described as the deplorable condition of the nation’s capital.

    Also invited are the Minister of State (FCT), Olajumoke Akinjide and Permanent Secretary, John Chukwu, an engineer.

    Mohammed spoke yesterday in Abuja after inspecting the environmental condition of the city, which he said he was not pleased with.

    The minister inspected Kubwa Expressway, Zuba and Airport Road and was disgusted at the filth around the city, especially along Area 1 down to Asokoro. He complained about commercial motorcyclists and Keke-Napep operators, whom he said were more than vehicle owners.

    Mohammed said the ugly development was unacceptable.

    He said: “Mr. President called me and my colleague, the Minister of State and the permanent secretary to draw our attention to this. I felt embarrassed.

    “I have told the directors that the information they have been giving me in files about the state of the city are lies because I am getting my information from other sources.

    “We are sending notice to those people violating our bylaws that enough is enough. People will not be allowed to operate Keke-Napep where they are not supposed to operate. Nobody will be allowed to ride motorcycles in our city with impunity because they breach security. Street traders are not allowed to operate.

    “We will not allow this place to become a dungeon in the spirit of lawlessness.”

     

  • Preface to the National Conference

    Preface to the National Conference

    Dr Goodluck Jonathan’s National Conference may yet re-shape Nigeria and define Nigerian-ness in ways that not even the most fervent protagonists of restructuring could have contemplated. But on the strength of how the conveners have gone about recruiting delegates, there is much cause to doubt whether it will change the existing order in any significant way.

    Advertised as a forum for addressing the National Question, the Conference was not going to be a desultory parody, the type staged by Sani Abacha, of frightful memory, to bury “June 12” and buy legitimacy for his murderous regime, and by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who was widely believed to have confected it as a back-door route to a third term prohibited by the Constitution.

    Instead, the gathering was going to discuss, if not re-negotiate, the fundamental basis of Nigeria’s political existence, the sharing of power and management of national resources in terms of access, control, and distribution.

    Where the motley assemblies convened by Abacha and Obasanjo could only tiptoe around those issues on which discussion was not entirely foreclosed, representatives of Nigeria’s federating units, would at the Jonathan Conference engage in a wise, robust and uninhibited discussion to resolve, once and for all, the National Question.

    That, at any rate, was how Dr Jonathan sold the idea to the public.

    The pitch was a volte face for which nothing had prepared the public, and it was rendered all the more suspect by the timing. How do you convene a National Conference on the eve, literally, of a General Election, with the ruling party in disarray, in the face of an insurgency that has made a vast stretch of Northeastern Nigeria ungovernable, and an economy in which more growth has been translating into greater popular misery?

    Was the whole thing not a distraction? Could a new arrangement be designed in three months?

    Many thoughtful persons across the country who had for decades been demanding a National Conference embraced the proposal enthusiastically. To them, here was a chance, at last, to fix Nigeria and nudge it firmly and irreversibly into the place for which nature has so richly endowed it.

    There were also the usual careerists who saw the whole thing as an opportunity to bask in the glow of the Conference and more importantly pick up a good slice of the N7 billion voted for Helpful as always in such matters, the news media quickly figured it out that each delegate stood to take home some N4 million. That opened the floodgates for lobbying and influence-peddling.

    The list of delegates released last week represents both groups —those genuinely seeking significant if not radical change, and those with an eye on the main chance, plus more than a sprinkling of candidates handpicked by the Federal Government using a formula that is nothing less than a perversion of a “gathering of the tribes” demanded by protagonists of the National Conference and promised by Dr Jonathan.

    Learned societies like the Nigeria Academy of Science and professional bodies like the Nigeria Union of Journalists have suddenly been conferred with the status of “federating units.” Nor is it always clear how the delegates for many of the constituencies identified on the list were chosen.

    Take, an example, the two individuals who have been named to represent expatriate Nigerians in the United States, among whom I have counted myself for the past 16 years. I do not know them, and if any meeting was held at which they were voted to represent us, I was given no notification.

    I have inquired from fellow expatriate Nigerians living in the continental United States, from the Atlantic Northeast to the Pacific Northwest, and from the Florida panhandle to Sacramento, and their story is the same. They do not know the individuals, and had played no part in their selection.

    The very idea of designating some persons to represent expatriate Nigerians in America or Europe or Asia or Australia is grounded on the misapprehension that they are organised into a body that can speak and act for them. There are no such bodies. The authorities in Abuja know that but still went ahead with their accustomed fudging to pick “delegates” for them.

    The bodies that are best placed to address the National Question are the accredited delegates representing the 36 states and Abuja FCT, the so-called geopolitical zones, ethnic nationalities and socio cultural organisations, traditional institutions, and of various faiths.

    But in an effort to create the illusion of democratic participation, delegate selection has been fragmented in ways that have no bearing on the National Question, the main issue before the National Conference.

    As far as I know, the National Question has never been a central concern of the International Federation of Women Lawyers. Yet it has been assigned two delegates – the same number as the recognised political parties with millions of card-carrying members.

    Former legislators and governors and chairmen of local government councils could easily have been accommodated as delegates of zones, ethnic nationalities, geopolitical zones, or political parties. But they have been assigned separate quotas of delegates, as have retired senior military, police, and national security officials.

    The 17 “statesmen” handpicked by the Federal Government to serve as delegates could also have been selected by their ethnic nationalities, states, or zones. And you have to wonder how they arrived at a quota of six delegates to represent people living with disabilities, and how the six were selected, to say nothing about whether they have a position on the National Question.

    This fragmentation, plus the packing of the Conference with handpicked delegates supposedly representing interests that are hardly critical to fruitful discussion of the National Question, can only constrain the room for the consensus that should, according to the Conference’s rules of procedure, undergird decision-making.

    In the absence of consensus, the rules stipulate that decisions taken by the Conference must be backed by 75 percent of the 492 delegates. It so happens that there are more than enough handpicked delegates answering to the Presidency or to no coherent constituency who can be counted upon to supply the 25 percent of votes required to block resolutions.

    Is this the product of design or just pure coincidence?

    A good many of the handpicked delegates and those going in on quotas assigned to all kinds of fringe associations have been around for so long in public life and contributed in measures large and small to our present grief. To them, the system is not broken. It has served them well. So, why fix it?

    Given this arrangement, one can hardly blame those in the attentive audience – or stakeholders, to employ the stultifying Nigerian locution – who believe tenaciously that at the end of the National Conference, the National Question will remain largely unresolved.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • How National Conference can reposition Nigeria, by Ekweremadu

    How National Conference can reposition Nigeria, by Ekweremadu

    Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu yesterday said the National Conference could help reposition the country, if well handled by delegates.

    Ekweremadu spoke at the Presidential Wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport before boarding the presidential jet with President Goodluck Jonathan to Onitsha for the groundbreaking ceremony for the Second Niger Bridge in Onitsha.

    A statement by his Special Adviser on Media, Uche Anichukwu in Abuja, said: “The National Conference is something that I believe will reposition this country if handled well.

    “I want to appeal to participants to approach it from the point of view of patriots, not just as individuals representing their various states, ethnic groups, political parties, ethnic groups or professional bodies.

    “They should think as Nigerians and about what we have to do to ensure the stability and progress of the nation and ensure that we bequeath a nation that our children will be proud of.”

    He said the National Assembly would give the delegates all the legislative support to deliberate and come up with their decisions.

    He added: “Ultimately, their decisions will come to the National Assembly for legislation and I have no doubt that the National Assembly will support the final outcome because it is the wish of Nigerians.”

  • Second Niger Bridge won’t be abandoned, says Jonathan

    Second Niger Bridge won’t be abandoned, says Jonathan

    President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday performed the ground-breaking for the N117 billion Second Niger Bridge in Onitsha, Anambra State.

    President Jonathan said the project would be handled by Messrs Julius Berger-NSIA Consortium.

    He said it was programmed in compliance with the Infrastructure Concession and Regulatory Commission Act and the Public Procurement Act.

    The President assured that the bridge would never be abandoned but would be completed on time.

    He said: “Federal Government is executing this project under a Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement for a concession period of 25 years, through a ‘Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer (DBFOT)’ model.

    “We have confidence in the capacity and competence of the concessionaire, Messrs Julius Berger-NSIA Consortium, to deliver this project for N117 billion.”

    He said to ensure the project was delivered on schedule, Federal Government would contribute 25 per cent, about N30 billion.

    Recalling that the project was part of his electoral promises in 2011, President Jonathan hailed Anambra State Governor Peter Obi, Delta State Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan and the indigenes for their patience, understanding, support and cooperation.

    “As we commemorate our centenary, I believe this bridge will deepen national integration and enhance economic and social interaction in the Southeast and other parts of the country’’, he said, adding:

    “As part of our administration’s Transformation Agenda in the road sector, we have set out to build two important bridges across the nation’s two great rivers – River Niger and River Benue. These are the Loko-Oweto Bridge linking Nasarawa and Benue states, which is progressing and this second Niger Bridge connecting Anambra and Delta states.

    “The Second Niger Bridge, whose foundation we are laying today, represents a strategic national infrastructure, with great socio-economic prospects for the contiguous states and the country. It is an important economic artery, which will connect the great markets of Onitsha and Aba, as well as the industrial hub of Nnewi and beyond, to the northern and southern parts of the country.

    “On completion, this bridge, which is being built almost 50 years after the existing bridge was opened, will alleviate the pains experienced by travellers, following congestions on the old bridge, particularly at festive periods. It will improve road transportation in the Southeast and reduce travel hours.”

    The event was attended by Governors Obi and Uduaghan. Ebonyi State Governor Martins Elechi and Abia State Governor Theodore Orji were also present.

    Other personalities at the ceremony included Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Emeka Ihedioha, Minister of Works Mike Onolememe and Finance Minister Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

  • Do as I say

    Do as I say

    • Jonathan wants leaders to make people-centred policies their watchword!

    Although he was recently in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, for a purely partisan purpose – to receive decampees from other political parties to the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) – President Goodluck Jonathan made a thought-provoking and statesmanlike remark. He called on political leaders in the country to make the welfare of the people the thrust of their policies and programmes. This is in tandem with the maxim of the pursuit by the state of the greatest happiness for the greatest number of the people.

    But democracy naturally should serve as a vehicle for promoting public welfare and development only when public officers, particularly elected ones, rise above brazen partisanship, subordinate themselves to the rule of law, promote transparency and accountability and elevate the public interest above personal considerations. On all these counts, it is doubtful if President Jonathan is faithful to his own counsel. As President, he has not shown the example he is recommending to other political leaders.

    President Jonathan is the leader of all Nigerians and not just members of the PDP. In that case, should he have been at Ilorin to receive politicians decamping to his party? Could he not have left that task to the party chairman and other partisan functionaries? Is the presidency not too elevated an office to be trivialised this way? Beyond this, what exactly is Dr Jonathan’s notion of the welfare of the people?

    In his words on that occasion, “We ask ourselves why you get yourself into politics. You have to think about your people, not yourself. People who think about the people follow the People’s Democratic Party and PDP is the only people’s party”. This is a rather pedestrian view of ‘people-oriented governance’ advocated by Jonathan. We would have expected the President to emphasise such key indicators of service delivery as power supply, education, health, infrastructure, security and job creation, which transcend partisan boundaries.

    Even then, if supporting the PDP is the magic wand to promoting the people’s welfare as insinuated by Dr Jonathan, why have the conditions of the majority of Nigerians steadily worsened under the watch of the PDP in the last 15 years? And this is despite the fact that the PDP has been controlling the Federal Government since 1999 and has received the bulk of the country’s revenue! Still extolling what he believes are the virtues of the party, the President said, “If you get outside Nigeria and you ask the people from all over the world the names of the political parties we have in Nigeria, they will say PDP and others because you know it is only PDP that has members in every voting unit in this country”.

    Some may excuse this kind of statement as understandable campaign rhetoric but it is unbefitting of the office of President of Nigeria. It is also insensitive to the need for a plurality of viable political parties to engender the kind of competitive governance that can promote public welfare.

    Obviously still in the mood of the occasion, the President said “it is only in PDP that people like me can come from low level and stand here as the President of this country because PDP is not owned by any individual”. But is the PDP really free of the deficiencies that have characterised political parties in this dispensation? After all, it is public knowledge that the party has been seriously hit, especially with recent damaging defections specifically because of the President’s perceived hijacking of the party.

    Things must have gone incredibly bad for the President to become his party’s campaign manager; indeed, it is the height of desperation to get attention and possibly coerce people into joining the fast sinking ruling party. For the umpteenth time, we urge Dr Jonathan to be more cautious and reflective in his public utterances. It is tragic if despite how bad things are in the country, he could still find time to embark on this frivolous mission, wasting the tax-payers’ time and money in the process. No wonder the country keeps regressing in his time.

     

  • 2015: Can Kwara PDP spring surprise?

    2015: Can Kwara PDP spring surprise?

    President Goodluck Jonathan has visited Kwara State to boost the morale of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members, wo have lost many of their leaders to the All Progressives Congress (APC). Correspondent ADEKUNLE JIMOH examines the challenges confronting the troubled chapter, ahead of the 2015 elections.

    The defection of the Kwara State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members led by Senator Bukola Saraki, to the All Progressives Congress (APC) is taking its toll on the party. For 11 years, the PDP was the ruling party. But, now, it is in the opposition, struggling for relevance in the Northcentral state.

    The defection has changed the political landscape in Kwara. Following Saraki’s defection to the APC, the 2011 governorship candidate of the defunct ACN, Dele Belgore (SAN) and his supporters left the APC for the PDP. Also, the son of the late Governor Mohammed Lawal, Hakeem, his supporters, and the former Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN) governorship candidate, Senator Gbemisola Saraki, who is Senator Saraki’s sibling, also defected to the PDP.

    When Gbemisola returned to the fold, PDP stakeholders were happy. They said that the defection of his brother, will not diminish the popularity of the party. Saraki’s men who have not defected include Senator Simeon Ajibola, from Kwara South, his predecessor, Senator Sulaiman Ajadi, who has been appointed the Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly Matters, the Chairman of the Federal Character Commission, Prof. Oba Abdulraheem, and former Transport and Sports Minister Alhaji Bio Ibrahim.

    President Jonathan, the National Chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu, and other party leaders also believe that the PDP still has a future because these chieftains have not left the chapter. At the recent PDP rally in Ilorin, the state capital, the national leaders basked in the euphoria of hope.

    Speakers at the event said that the huge crowd at the Metropolitan Square was encouraging.

    Dr Jonathan said: “Today is a great day because, as all the speakers that spoke first have spoken, Kwara is a PDP state. Kwara truly believes in the PDP because, for now, it is only the PDP that can bring liberation.

    “We ask ourselves: why do you get yourself into politics? It is your people that matter in politics and not yourself. If you get involved in politics, you have to think about your people, not yourself. People who think about the people follow the people’s party and the PDP is the only people’s party.

    “PDP is the party that, even if you go outside Nigeria and you ask people from all over the world which are the political parties we have in Nigeria? They will say, ‘PDP and others.’ Because you know it is only in the PDP that everybody voting has in this country. It is only the PDP people that can take this country to where we want it to be. I say it without any contradiction. Because only in the PDP that people like me can come from the low level and stand here as the President of this country because the PDP is not owned by any individuals.

    “It is not owned by any group of people. We do not have dictators in PDP. We have leaders who believe in people; that s why in PDP we talk about one man, one vote, one woman, one vote and one youth, one vote.

    “PDP is the only party that can liberate everybody and also liberate Kwara State; it is only the PDP that can give you what you want.”

    Senate President David Mark boasted that, “those who are pretending to leave the party would soon come back”. He urged the people to have the large heart to accept them when they come back.

    He added: “The only party that promotes democracy and good governance is the PDP. This is the reason why we have this large turn out of people to welcome Mr. President. The turn out was so impressive that I almost shed tears.”

    Vice-President Namadi Sambo, who thanked President Jonathan for what he had done for Kwara State in education and agriculture, said that¸ “the PDP train is moving and anybody that does not join it now is late”.

    To Akwa Ibom State Governor Godswill Akpabio, Kwara belongs to the PDP. He said: “PDP shall reclaim its mandate in Kwara. We worked for it and we shall not allow it to be snatched away by anybody.”

    Adducing reasons for his defection, Belgore said: “We are joining the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which has shed the very core of the liabilities that made our people run away from it.

    “We are joining hands with other like minds in the PDP, who were unjustly shut out because of their progressive bent to endear the party to the people of Kwara State.

    “Together we will work to advocate and bring about economic liberation, equal opportunity for all and positive development to our dear state and its people.

    “We join forces to break the shackles of oppression and restore our state back to its former glory. It is never easy to leave a party that one has nurtured to such an enviable position.

    “My supporters and I call on all those who wish Kwara State well, both within and beyond Kwara, indigenes and non-indigenes, to support us in the PDP to fight this just and noble cause so as to bring a brighter day to the lives of our people and to renew their positive aspirations.”

    Belgore added: “Today is very symbolic. It is symbolic because people have waited for us to make a pronouncement on our political future”

    Senator Gbemisola Saraki said her return would boost the fortune of the chapter. She said: “Three years may not be so much a long time, but it has been long enough for me to learn very important lessons. During this period, I have interacted more and intimately with thousands of Kwarans from different towns and villages. I have closely related with people of varied status. I have related with the very poor, the common people, the educated and the uneducated, the workers, the unemployed, the old and the young people.

    “I have interacted with the traditional rulers, the community and religious leaders. I have lived every day of my life as an Ilorin woman and as a Kwaran. I have had my happy moments. I derive my utmost joy when I have you, especially the common people, around me. You have had my low moments. Unfortunately, this has been more pronounced because each day, I see despair and helplessness from people who are ordinarily hardworking, honest, and courageous. I hear tales that are heart rendering”

    Gbemi, as she is fondly called, said that the defection of her brother to the APC notwithstanding, the PDP remains the party of majority of Kwarans. She stressed: “The majority of the people of Kwara State remains in PDP. We must therefore, show our strength.

    “We must begin to pull together and give our support to President Goodluck Jonathan. It is clear that the reason for the defection by a loud few is because of their personal and selfish reasons. It is not about Kwarans, majority of whom remain solidly committed to our party and the national leadership.”

    The Chairman of the PDP Caretaker Committee, Solomon Edoga, said that the party would wrest power from the APC in 2015 elections.

    He added: “We have seen that the PDP is Kwara and Kwara is the PDP. The ground that President Goodluck Jonathan is coming to cultivate is a politically very fertile and the harvest is going to be jumbo. The shackles of bondage will finally be broken on that day and the President is coming here to cut the freedom cake. Kwara is now free. Every voice will now be heard. Decisions will become bottom-top approach.

    “As from 2015 elections, votes will count and will be counted. The one man one vote mantra will be in place in the state. Elections will now be based on the voice of the people and that is why we are putting in place an elders’ committee. The committee will midwife all the processes that will lead to the elections of our ward, local government and state executives.”

    Gbemisola said that the PDP is on course because of its commitment to internal democracy. She added: “Internal democracy is now liberally practised in the PDP. The PDP is trying to make itself the biggest party in Africa. That shows how universal we are. The PDP we are building is one where godfatherism will not count, where one man show is an aberration.”

    However, keen observers of Kwara politics contend that the PDP faces a difficult future. “Its leadership is now weak,” said an observer. Other analysts are of the opinion that Kwara PDP has become an amalgam of ambitious and power crazy politicians who will not kowtow to any consensus arrangement.

    They argue that the choice of party leaders at the next congress and selection of ther governorship candidate next year will tear the party into shreds.

    It is believed that Abdul-raheem, Ibrahim, Belgore and Gbemi Saraki are interested in the governorship race. Thus, observers contend that, when the party is seized by post-primary crises, there will be no strong leadership to broker peace and reconciliation.

    The determination of the APC family to retain the state is also a setback to the PDP. The APC now has the majority in the House of Assembly. As the ruling party, it also leans on the power of incumbency, which the PDP lacks.

    An observer put this into perspective: “Saraki has never lost any election in Kwara. They made a mistake of allowing him to leave the party. With the large number of supporters behind him, the APC, under his leadership, will retain the state.”

  • A welcome action

    A welcome action

    •It is good that a retired judge is challenging her retirement in court

    The compulsory retirement of two judges by President Goodluck Jonathan, based on the recommendation of the National Judicial Council (NJC) has generated some controversy. This is unlike similar previous retirements. One of the retired judges, Justice Gladys Olotu, has gotten leave of court ex parte to sue the President, the NJC, the Chief Justice of Nigeria and the Federal Attorney General, seeking for an order of certiorari, to bring the recommendation of the NJC for her to be retired, before the court, to be quashed.

    Constitutionally, the NJC is empowered by section 21(b) of the Third Schedule of the 1999 Constitution to recommend to the President the removal from office of certain class of judicial officers, like the affected judge.

    We have severally encouraged the various Chief Justices of Nigeria and the NJC which they head, to stem corruption and ineptitude in the judiciary. Since Justice Aloma Mariam Mukhtar assumed responsibility as the CJN, nine judges have been sanctioned. Among the recent cases were former Acting President, Court of Appeal, Justice Dalhatu Adamu, Justices Gladys Olotu, Ufot Inyang, A. A. Adeleye and D. O. Amaechina, variously of the federal and state high courts.

    But, in most cases where the NJC recommends to the President or Governor the retirement of a federal or state judicial officer, respectively, the indicted judicial official does not stare back at the NJC, or take their case before a court of law, for adjudication. Moreover, in those cases, the corrupt conduct is in the public domain.

    But when a judicial officer is charged with ineptitude or inefficiency, which she denies, the public is less emotive than when a case of corruption is alleged. So, the sympathy may sway. Nonetheless, the NJC is still primarily the body that is constitutionally empowered to investigate all allegations of official misconduct against judges. The council’s power in this regard is enormous and far-reaching. That is why it is hoped that the august body must at all times act judiciously, considering the calibre of its members. It is also hoped that the learned CJN and the other justices and very senior lawyers who sit in the council would, at all times, remember that it is the career of their colleagues that they preside over.

    While it may be intriguing to see a successful judicial adjudication against the NJC, because of the peculiarity of the statutory body, it is within the right of any person who feels that his or her right has been abridged by any authority to approach the court for redress. That is the clear purport of section 6(6)(d) of the 1999 constitution when it says: “the judicial powers vested (in court) in accordance with the forgoing provisions of this section – shall extend to all matters between persons, or between government or authority and to any person in Nigeria, and to all actions and proceedings relating thereto, for the determination of any question as to the civil rights and obligations of that person”.

    Justice Olotu, having exercised her constitutional rights is entitled to have her day in court. While the judges that will preside over her case are also answerable to the NJC, it is hoped that they will rise above that challenge to act judicially and judiciously in accordance with their oaths of office. In essence, they must eschew bias or intimidation in meting out justice to the case brought by their learned colleague. On our part, we restate the need for even-handedness by the NJC in all dealings, as we believe that is a surest way to avoid a seeming indictment of its process, by one of its own.

     

  • Scrapping a toxic presidency

    Scrapping a toxic presidency

    Can a toxic presidency produce a wholesome president? That is one fundament players across the political divide have refused to grasp.

    That appears responsible for the conceptual fog that continues to plague the National Conference, billed to take off on March 17.

    On the virtual eve of a supposedly make-or-mar confab, partisan temper appears coalesced on the ruinous centrism that has beggared Nigeria for decades now — and seems set to see its eventual unravelling.

    The trajectory of the Nigerian ruling court, since the colonial times, appears clear enough. Lord Fredrick Lugard headed a colonial regime sold to total local exploitation for its Metropole.

    At independence, foreign domination gave way to local domination. The collapse into military rule, shortly after, further formalised the notion of power without responsibility.

    Even with the current democracy, little has changed. From Olusegun Obasanjo to Goodluck Jonathan, the ruling ethos appears clearly on the side of an unquestionable Leviathan, even with the mouthing of “democracy” and “federalism”.

    At the root of this subversion of democracy and good governance is idle funds in the central till, that gives each succeeding president the Dutch courage that it could do and undo — so long as it has enough cash to fund its rascality. And all the talk about the unity of Nigeria being a “no go” area is all scarecrow stuff: to divert attention from the real dangers; and keep the central Leviathan intact.

    Even in the build-up to the confab, you could tell from the body language of the Jonathan Presidency that it is anxious that those idle funds are never drained off, so that it could retain the instrument to wield humongous mischief, powered by idle money.

    What is more? Though one should always give the extant government the benefit of the doubt, that its intentions are noble and its motive pure, the N7 billion budget for the confab, with the anticipated N4 million allowance for each delegate, looks like some grand but cynical bribe to lure who is who into some bazaar, from which they can’t possibly pull out until it is too late.

    Yet, if this conference fails to fix Nigeria for good, other dynamics would fix Nigeria for ill.

    But not only the government side is fixated with centrist tendencies. The opposition too is not entirely cured of that ailment.

    To be sure, the newly released All Progressives Congress (APC) road map appears exciting. But it is still based on the centralist tenet of an all-powerful and all-rich federal government; that would nevertheless spend its excess money more responsibly than the reckless and spendthrift Jonathan Presidency.

    If the APC federal government is pledged to creating two jobs for every one job a state creates, the simple logical conclusion is that the central government is an economic Leviathan, far richer than the states it is supporting.

    No doubt, creating jobs that way is not unwelcome. Indeed, it would be hailed by all — the distressed youths and their ever-stressed parents and guardians. But it hardly changes the current folly of building an economy top-down, instead of down-up. That is the bane of Nigeria’s pseudo-federalism, and the root of the country’s perennial under-development.

    Where then are the sharp federalist alternatives, that should mark APC out as leading the push from sickly centrism to vibrant federalism, in the best tradition of “Change”, its political war cry?

    Still, APC may well be a victim of its grand coalition. Aside from the South West that has a radical federalist agenda, the attitude of others appears somewhat ambivalent, even if it is the fashion these days to mouth “true federalism”.

    The North is basically centrist at heart, which is understandable. That region has most benefited from Nigeria’s skewed federalism — and power nepotism. But it also has paid the stiffest price of its dysfunction. With its parlous development index, it is a region purging from the sweet poison of its “good” fortune.

    The South East is torn between growing and managing its landlocked homeland — which, with its talent it is perfectly capable of doing — and the fate of its far-flung Ndigbo in the “Nigerian Diaspora”. Its ambivalence on the federal cause is perhaps understandable.

    The South-South, on the other hand, screams federalism and resource control to have more of its oil wealth — hardly illegitimate. But if Jonathan can nick the good luck of four more years, it would appear quite open to a central bazaar’s last hurrah.

    These might therefore be the cross-current APC had been navigating before coming up with its road map, which is anything but federal, save for its proposal to vest minerals and mining in local interests, as against the present joke of making it a central affair, and its consequent paralysis.

    After the failed hope of five decades, therefore, it is sheer folly to entrust the fortune of Nigerians to a good man or woman, without radically restructuring the bad system. That is more or less what the APC roadmap offers. The APC good men and women are welcome. But even more welcome is a good system!

    The system to do the job is robust federalism, with even more robust checks and balances, between a pared down centre and much more energised federating units. That should ensure the real economy is in the constituent parts, with the federal government doing positive facilitation and coordination.

    Former President Obasanjo and incumbent President Jonathan are a pole apart as any can be: the one, a gruff, irredeemable old soldier whose default temper is dictatorship; the other a harmless-looking, ever-smiling bloke with a supposed liberal temper.

    But see the difference in their presidencies: six and half-a-dozen, when the issue is unconscionable domination and wielding power without responsibility!

    The one suborned the local economy for an illicit presidential library complex; and is living happily ever after with his trophy. The other cannot account for an allegedly missing US$ 20 billion oil money. Yet he is flushed, not with regret, but with a sickening sense of divine entitlement for second term!

    Obasanjo and Jonathan are both products of a toxic presidency. Any wonder they have not emerged non-toxic presidents?

    So, the first task before the National Conference, if they really want Nigeria’s survival, is to detoxify the Presidency flush with toxic money, and channel such to development, where it is needed.

    Two eminent Nigerians are pointing at the way out.

    Chief Emeka Anyaoku, former Commonwealth secretary-general, is voting for a restructured federation, based on federating regions of states.

    Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, who shares in the notoriety of the military and its central command complex that has left Nigeria winded, warns at the mutual desperation between his native North (ogling central power as it is) and the South-South — read opportunistic Jonathan (not in a hurry to spew out, to use Achebe-speak, the palm kernel thrust in its mouth by benevolent spirits!).

    The National Conference must rid Nigeria of its misery — a toxic presidency that fattens while the people in its charge waste. It is the arrogant face of mindless centrism that has underdeveloped Nigeria for too long.

    But should it preserve this hideous Leviathan, it would have paved Nigeria’s way to Golgotha.

  • No alternative to Jonathan in 2015, says Gulak

    The Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Ahmad Gulak has declared that there is no an alternative person to unseat his boss, President Goodluck Jonathan in the  2015 Presidential election.

    Jonathan is yet to declare to Nigerians if he would be running for the election or not.

    But Gulak, who is the National Coordinator of Goodluck Support Group (GSG), in a statement at the weekend urged the international community to ignore what he described as ‘noisy propaganda sponsored’ in  the press by the opposition.

    He spoke at an award ceremony for eminent women by the Global Connections for Women Foundation to mark the 2014 International Women’s Day  at Havard Club, New York, United States of America.

    Gulak said: “We have searched from the West, East, North and the south, for today, as I speak with you, we have not found an alternative to Goodluck Jonathan.  What  you get to hear in the press is the work of the opposition who are desperate to hold power and definitely they are not going to be an alternative to this present administration.”

    “We have seen what some  of them had done in the past and we are still seeing what they are doing.  Nigeria under  President Goodluck Jonathan is progressing.  We are developing,” Gulak said.

    He called for greater support from global super powers in the  fight against terrorism in the African continent.

    “We are still groaning or complaining or condemning what happened during the first and second world war. The effects are still with us. In Africa, the insurgencies in Africa, the terrorism in Africa would not have been possible without the proliferation of small arms and ammunition.”

    “And the small arms and ammunition are manufactured and delivered through the super powers. If they really want to help Africa,  then this area is key, ”

    “The security challenges are global phenomenon. We challenge our women because this campaign, if driven by women, we believe we would overcome it. Today is the challenge we are throwing to the women to take the campaign, to take the lead and address issues either public or in the bed room with their husband.” he stated

     Responding , the chairperson of  GC4W, Chief Temitope Ajayi  noted that women are engines of growth.

    According to her, the Jonathan’s administration has offered great opportunities for women advancement and contribution to societal growth and national development.

    Calling on Nigerians to give more support to Jonathan in his giant strides to advance the country, she asked for more women to be given more opportunity to contribute to the political leadership of the country.

    END

  • Jonathan vows to boost education standard

    President Goodluck Jonathan has  promised to do everything within his power to increase the standard of education in Nigeria.

    He made the promise while speaking at the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) 2014 First Plenary Meeting in Abuja.

    The Conference is themed ‘Church and State Partnership in Providing Quality Education for Nigerian People’.

    Stressing that education is directly linked to national capacity, power, development and progress, he urged state governments to partner with religious bodies in order to improve education system in the country.

    But he noted that Nigeria cannot succeed no matter how innovative the schools  are or how effective teachers are except students imbibe the virtues of good home training.

    On terrorism, he said: “I urge you to continue to pray for our country to speedily overcome the current challenges it faces, especially insurgency, terrorism and the killings of innocent children in schools. I believe that with your devout prayers and the strategies we have put in place, we shall surely surmount these challenges.”

    “I want to sincerely thank all of you for your spiritual leadership and your efforts in serving as an important bridge between our people, society and government. Your interventions in national issues have always being forthright and your counsel most useful. You have continued to demonstrate the fact that the church cannot afford to stand aloof in the face of changing fortunes of the society. You have shown that indeed the purpose of the congregation is better served from the pulpit when the church takes keen interest in the practical lives of its members.”

    Speaking earlier, the Senate President, Senator David Mark pushed for the return of schools taken over by the government to churches in Nigeria.

    Stressing that the taking over of the schools by the government after the civil war was a mistake as the schools then started breeding armed robbers, kidnappers among other crimes.

    He also maintained that the problem were further compounded when religious studies were made optional in Nigerian schools.

    “What is the way forward? We must go back to the way our schools were run. Education must not be politicized.” He declared

    The Senate President also commended the President for not allowing the pressure from outside the country to prevent him from signing the anti-same sex bill into law.

    In his welcome address, the President of CBCN, Archbishop Ignatius Ayau Kaigama urged the government to return seized missions school and provide reasonable funding to enable them educate the children as a matter of justice rather than favour.

    Stressing that schools’ administration should be a shared responsibility, he said that it should be accompanied by enough financial supports from budgetary allocations.

    He commend individuals and groups who genuinely provide education and not for profit reasons.

    Delivering his homily in a message titled ‘The Devil is a Liar,’ for the opening mass of the CBCN Plenary meeting, the Archbishop of Abuja, Cardinal Onaiyekan listed the evils in Nigeria to include sociopolitical confusion, corruption in high places, widening economic inequality, insecurity of all kinds, misuse and perversion of religion.

    “More can be listed. But the nation is still in hands of God. The devil and his agents can and will be vanquished, if we join hands in doing good. Let us not be afraid to tackle the evil that overwhelms us.” He stated