The Nation Newspaper

Tag: government

  • Customs killing: I hope government‘ll punish my husband’s killers, by expectant widow

    Customs killing: I hope government‘ll punish my husband’s killers, by expectant widow

    •…Debunks smuggling allegations against deceased, relative

    Deceased’s automobile graduation fixed for January

    The widow of Saheed Omotosho, an automobile technician killed by a stray bullet fired by Customs men, who were on the trail of rice smugglers at Alagbado on Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway 14 days ago has called on government to bring the officers involved to book.

    Temitope, a 21-year-old expectant mum, could not hold back tears as she managed to speak with The Nation.

    She was more pained that the officers arrested his deceased’s husband’s relative, Rasheed Oyedeji to cover up their “heinous crime.”

    The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) last Tuesday arraigned Oyedeji and Shuaib Sheyi before Chief Magistrate Y.A. Aje-Afunwa of the Magistrates’ Court, Ikeja, Lagos on a nine-count charge of smuggling prohibited items.

    The suspects have been remanded in Ikoyi Prisons.

    On the same day, the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR) protested at the Lagos State House of Assembly, calling for thorough investigation and prosecution of Customs officers involved in the killing of Omotosho.

    Mrs Omotosho described the Customs’ action as “sheer wickedness.”

    She said her husband left for work in the morning only to be called by their landlord that the deceased had an accident.

    She said: “We were in the room together that morning before he left. He said he was to going to work. Not long after, someone called our landlord, informing him that my husband had an accident and was shot. That was what I heard and I took off to the scene. By the time I got there, I didn’t see him. He had been taken away. I feel so sad that I cannot explain how painful it is. He is a very kind person. Saheed is not a person that quarrels or fights people; So I don’t think that kind of fate could befall him.”

    Temitope, a fashion designing apprentice, wondered what future had for her three-month-old foetus.

    She pleaded with the government to mete appropriate justice on the officers who truncated her husband’s life.

    “I just know God will help me cope with my pregnancy and I hope that the government will punish the killers of my husband accordingly and if they don’t, God will do it.”

    Saheed’s elder brother, Wasiu Omotosho told The Nation that his parent have been in pains since the unfortunate incident.

    He said the family were planning his (Saheed’s) graduation for an automobile engineering training he concluded weeks before he died.

    He said: “I was in Ibadan when he died. I couldn’t believe the news until I called his friend who confirmed it. We were preparing for his freedom when it happened. “During Ileya festival, he didn’t want to go home but he had to in order to inform our father of his freedom. In fact, my dad wanted to come to Lagos to see his boss on the requirements but Saheed told Baba to wait till he could raise enough money to sponsor his transport fare. The graduation ought to hold by January ending. The government should not let him die just like that by punishing the perpetrators. He was not a smuggler or hoodlum. He only has a motorcycle he works with to raise money for his graduation. How can you just spray bullets at a junction where a lot of people gathered?” he wondered.

    Oyedeji’s relatives and colleagues have debunked smuggling and hooliganism allegation levelled against him by the customs authority.

    They described Customs’ action as utterly unjust and flagrant display of insensitivity to human life.

    According to Solomon Ayansola, Oyedeji was intentionally branded a smuggler to justify the Customs’ unruly operation.

    “It is a double jeopardy to lose Saheed and also accused Oyedeji of involving in smuggling and hooliganism,” he said.

    Ayansola said the family cannot go on with Saheed’s burial, when, Oyedeji, the deceased’s guardian is remanded in prison on frame up charges.

    Moshood Olanrewaju, a relative of Saheed said: “We went to the Lagos State House of Assembly and they told us that something will be done. But I’m surprised that it is the same day that they assured us that Oyedeji was reprimanded at the Ikoyi prison. “These people (the late Saheed and Oyedeji) are not smugglers. Oyedeji’s parents are farmers. It was through him that Saheed came to Lagos. If he was a bad element, people in the area will not troop out to say they want to protest his arrest,” he said.

    An Okada rider, who witnessed the Incident, said: “As the custom officers were speeding towards our bus-stop with a truck of rice tied to their vehicle, some armed hoodlums blocked them and detached the truck from their vehicle, offloaded the rice and took the rice away. They were only dragging then but didn’t shoot. One of the customs also wanted to climb the vehicle and spray people around but their boss cautioned him not to shoot. But he refused and shot in the air. They called another patrol which joined them there and started spraying anybody. They didn’t even care at all. The man (Saheed) killed was shot while riding motorcycle. When they found out he had died, two patrols fled. As we tried to tell them they had killed someone, they faced us again with gun shots, so we fled. By the time we got to the junction, the police had arrived but the customs threatened to deal with them if they meddled in their affairs. The policemen had to advice us to go back to avoid multiple deaths.”

    NCS) Federal Operations Unit, Zone ‘A’ Area Controller Umar Mohammed Dahiru alleged that Oyedeji incited a mob who were armed with various dangerous weapons to attack its officers, which resulted to a shootout between the officers and the smugglers.

    Police spokesperson Dolapo Badmos, a Superintendent (SP) said: “Some Custom officers were on the trail of a vehicle, in the process they went started shooting. One passerby was shot to death around Ajegunle in Alakuko. A patrol team led by the Divisional Police Officer of Alakuko Division, moved to the area to douse the tension. They (Customs officers) fired sporadically and escaped from the scene. The dead body was evacuated to morgue. Investigation is ongoing.”

  • Council chief seeks transparency in government

    It was a night of many awards as serving and retired staff members of the FCT Administration, and others stepped forward, one after another, to collect awards for service to their fatherland. The Gala and award night, held at the Abuja Sheraton and Towers, was the grand finale of the press week organized by the FCTA NUJ Chapel, last week.

    By seven o’clock in the evening last week the hotel’s Ladi Kwali Hall was filled to capacity with top government functionaries from the FCT Administration, as well as the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) Chair, Hon. Adamu Abdullahi Candido with his entourage, among several others.

    First on the list of the awardees was a former Director of Information and an erudite speech writer, Mr. Ezeako Odi, who bagged the Most Outstanding Pioneer award for his effectiveness in the management of information in the Administration, as well as engineering the employment of many staffs in the department.

    While Hon. Adamu Candido was enviably given the Outstanding Leadership award for his wonderful performance in office so far, Alhaji Ibrahim Biu was awarded for his meritorious service to the country.

    Mrs. Victoria Umana, Director of the FCT department of Science and Technology grabbed the Most Innovative Director award. It was revealed during her citation that Umana initiated numerous innovative programmes, bothering on modern agriculture and production of household items, among others.

    Another retired Deputy Director of Information who served with the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA), Mr. Ikokwu Okonkwo also received an award for his commendable service during his days in charge of FCDA information.

    Others who were also awarded on the event include the General Manager, Abuja Enterprise Agency (AEA), Alhaji Muhammed Tukur Arabi, who got Community Service award and Mrs. Helen Odika of the FCTA Permanent Secretary’s office –the youngest of the awardees who was commended for commitment to duties.

    Mrs. Umana while responding on behalf of the awardees expresses gratitude to the Honourable Minister of the FCT, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello and the Permanent Secretary for permitting the Chapel to elaborately organize the event. She therefore prayed God to guide the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), especially at such a time when the truth was not only lacking but was also difficult to identify in the society.

    Representative of the Permanent Secretary who is Director of Information, Mrs. Stella Ojeme noted that the three-day event provided the opportunity for the Information Officers to learn a lot, urging them to put in practice what they learnt for the betterment of the FCT Administration and the entire territory.

    The Permanent Secretary therefore urged the audience to have a nice time during the gala night.

    NUJ FCT Council Chairman, Mr. Paul Ella who also spoke at the event pledged the continued support of his colleagues to the FCT Administration, even as he commended the efforts of Malam Muhammad Musa Bello “who has been doing wonderfully well” and the FCTA Permanent Secretary, Dr. Babatope Ajakaiye for his efforts.

    In an interview with journalists after the event, the AMAC Chairman stated that the award was a “call for further service to the citizens of Nigeria” and called for “transparency, truthfulness” and the maintenance of the mandate of public office, but not to abuse it.  He also tasked public servants to imbibe “the spirit of humility in service.”

    Earlier, Chairman of the FCTA NUJ Chapel, Comrade Nnachi Okafor in his welcome address said that the event provided an opportunity for reflection on the challenges of the journalism profession and commended his colleagues for laboring so hard to fight corruption in the society and wielding through economic challenges.

    The event was also attended by Mrs. Joy Okoye who represented the Director of FCT Treasury, Acting Secretary, Agriculture Secretariat, Alhaji Musa A. Aliyu, among others.

     

  • Forms of government

    It was Alexander Pope the British philosopher who said “for forms of government let fools contest that which is best administered is best”. How true is this today? The western world will dispute the fact that an undemocratic government can be good. They will even go further to say that a democratic government that is not parliamentary government can be good. In essence, democratic government must also embrace the idea of supremacy of the legislature. But today in many parts of the world there seems to be a trend in which parliamentary and presidential system are combined. This is the practice in China, France and Russia to mention a few. The United States maintains some form of separation of powers and the legislative branch functions independently of the executive. Ministers (Secretaries) are not members of Congress even though they could be summoned to appear before Congress, they are not compelled to do so if the President is against their appearance before Congress but as a courtesy they usually accede to Congressional call to appear. The American type presidential system seems to be the commonest system in the world today. It is the prevalent system in the entire Latin American region whereas the parliamentary system where ministers are chosen from the ranks of parliament is found in Great Britain and across most Commonwealth countries of Canada, Australia, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the various West Indian Islands, and New Zealand. The African members of the Anglophone Commonwealth seem to have chosen the presidential system in preference to the parliamentary system. South Africa is experimenting a unique mélange of parliamentary and presidential system. The president of South Africa sits in parliament and ministers are also parliamentarians. In Nigeria, the military imposed a presidential system on the country since 1979. The Obasanjo military regime that did this in 1979 claimed that it was more in consonance with African tradition of sovereignty. It was suggested that the tradition of an official leader of opposition was not African and that once there is an Oba, emir or Obi, he remains unopposed unless he commits a sacrilegious offense for which he would stand removed. The argument was also made that African countries needed strong governments and a leader who will epitomize the yearnings of the people and who will be above petty tribal or nepotistic tendencies. This was said to be necessary to overcome petty ethnic and fissiparous tendencies in our country. In Nigeria, the military governments that ruled us had done so from a command and centralized control characteristic of the military. In the 1970s, most of us supported the military in the choice of the presidential system. Nigeria having just come out of a fratricidal conflict bought the idea of the presidential system uncritically. This was before we found out that our country is over-centralized and our presidency is the most powerful in the world with the power of appointment of hundreds of thousands of people and control over our financial resources and the Central bank.

    There is now a belief in the country that we need to review the presidential system. The reason for this is that from experience all the promises of the presidential system remain unfulfilled. Those who have held the post have unfortunately pandered to ethnic demands and this is not good in a plural society. I can say without any hesitation that only President Olusegun Obasanjo has fulfilled the demand of rising above ethnic prejudice and solidarity in the appointment of state officials and sometimes to the point of putting his own ethnic group down and last. Others have simply ignored the demands of fairness and have gone ahead to pack their administrations with their ethnic cohorts. Nigeria’s experience under Abacha who used his office to denude the Central bank of billions of the country’s dollar reserves has made people to be wary of concentrating all powers in the hands of a military or democratic Poohbah. What operates at the centre also operates at state levels where the governors have almost absolute and total control of the finances of their states leading to grand larceny and looting of states resources. A way must be found for proper parliamentary control of leaders of government business at state levels and they must be members of state assemblies where they will presumably be controlled by the assembly.

    The last national conference sponsored by Jonathan perhaps to avoid over-concentration of power in the hand of one person suggested that Nigeria should adopt the French model of a prime ministerial government under an executive president. It has not always worked in fractious France where sometimes different parties control the parliament and the presidency thus leading to what the French call “cohabitation”. This would have been occasion for chaos in many places including Nigeria. The South African model with slight modification of  a ceremonial presidency like we had in the first republic and perhaps five deputy prime ministers with each having responsibilities for Foreign Affairs, Finance, Interior, Defence and petroleum and gas  and representing the zone that did not produce the prime minister. No constitution is perfect. In most cases it depends on the integrity and commitment of those operating the constitution and their desire to make it work. Those who have been shouting about the implementation of the Jonathan constitutional conference should first read it and tell us which aspects of which they want implemented. Will it include a 54   states structure as was recommended? This government can easily devolve police powers to the states while maintaining some kind of federal policing. This kind of incremental improvement in governance can be done without going the whole way of fundamental constitutional changes.  This is not to say there is no need for a review of the present unwieldy 36 states structure. It is apparent to me that the present states structure cannot stand because they have failed the yardstick of economic viability. Therefore we should be talking about a 12 states structure as we had during the Gowon years.

    When Alexander Pope made his famous statement there was a functioning civil service on which the success of all governments depend. If we have a functioning civil service recruited on career open to talents, then it would not matter what kind of government we have. The lives of the vast majority of the people will not be affected by the vagaries of the changes about who is in or who is out or which political party has won or lost elections. The modern state depends on the efficiency of the bureaucracy. But unfortunately the civil service has been undermined by internal corruption, political and external interference. The security of jobs and tenure which were the hallmarks of the civil service is no longer there. Since self-preservation is the first law of nature, civil servants now take care of themselves before taking care of the state. Erosion of the power and security of appointment means therefore that we can no longer rely on the civil service. Furthermore, American type of presidential system believes in a revolving kind of bureaucracy with each party bringing in members of the top echelon of the administrative staff. The horde of special advisers special assistants now do what civil servants would ordinarily be expected to do. This may work to the benefit of the state in the USA, but it is doubtful if it is working in Nigeria. This may be one of the reasons why there is no development in our country because of absence of institutional memory provided by experienced civil service.

    This is a critical matter because countries like South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan have done reasonably well under authoritarian leadership and with a good civil service. Totalitarian states like China and the old Soviet Union had done reasonably well in delivering services to the people and protecting the integrity of the state. Because at the end of the day, the purpose of government is to ensure the happiness of the greatest number of the people and it will not really matter to the ordinary citizen under what system of government they are living. Some of our people during difficult times have been heard to say “Na democracy I go chop?” I think this is the test which all governments must pass. It has of course been proved that human ingenuity thrives better under freedom. Freedom does not necessarily mean political freedom. What freedom does a hungry poverty-stricken man have in a democratic state? Will he not prefer comfortable life and forfeit political freedom which to him may seem esoteric? These are the issues facing governments all over the world. Ideally it will be nice to have freedom from want as well as political freedom and the fundamental freedoms of association, thought, movement, ownership of property, life and freedom from arbitrary and unusual punishment and to live in a society of laws. Some pride themselves in this kind of freedom that they have been heard to say give me liberty or death.

  • Madeline Berah, the African Detective in the missing government papers (9)

    Unfortunately, my sister blamed me. She said I used juju to take her son’s star and distribute it among my children; that’s why they are now doing fine and her son is languishing.

    ‘After trying everything I could, I finally got him a job in another ministry hoping he would build a career and rise on the job. But he got involved with a bad group and started misbehaving, stealing and all that, and he got sacked. I decided to bring him here right under my nose so I could keep an eye on him. So, I came to you sir and you gave him a job, and now a fine job I seem to have done. What am I going to do? If he goes to prison, what am I going to tell the mother?’ She started to cry again.

    Aunt Deline was grieved. She hated to see a woman cry.

    ‘Don’t worry, the permanent secretary will be magnanimous. He will not press charges.’

    The permanent secretary sighed and agreed that he would not; he wanted to keep the matter quiet anyway. But the young man must recount how he got hold of the papers because he, the permanent secretary, thought he guarded it jealously enough.

    After a lot of coaxing, the cleaner opened his mouth and explained.

    ‘I had been present when the paper was brought to the office by the boy sent to deliver it. The secretary, my aunt, had not seen the contents of the envelope before she went to the restroom. While she was away, I quickly looked in the envelope and decided that the papers were very important so I just bid my time.

    ‘Whenever I cleaned the office, I noticed that Oga would make sure his briefcase was near his feet just behind his desk. So, I just watched for the times he went to the toilet and how long he spent there. One day, I saw him go to the toilet because the door was slightly open and my aunt was not around, and since I knew the shape, size and colour of the envelope, it was not difficult for me to get it within half a minute. Before he came out, I had done what I wanted to do and was already back on my seat pretending to sleep when he came to see if anyone was waiting for him here.’

    ‘But why did you take it?’ his aunt asked in exasperation.

    ‘I saw the gambling receipts. They were more important than the other papers. I was going to sell them back to the owner.’

    The inspector spoke. ‘Do you know that blackmail is a criminal offence?’

    ‘And supposing the man killed you instead of paying you? What then?’ his aunt asked again.

    Aunt Deline stood up. It was our cue. ‘I think our job here is done. We should allow the good permanent secretary to get on with his job.’

    The permanent secretary stood up too. ‘I know that if I asked you how you knew that the envelope was on the young man, you would not tell me. But at least let me pay you.’

    ‘Oh, I don’t mind telling you’, replied Aunt Deline. ‘I was not expecting anyone to be ‘wearing’ the papers; I was expecting to have to lift up every carpet in the place or go through the toilets, but I was prepared to be surprised anyhow so I paid attention to everything.

    ‘When the cleaner came in, I noticed that the left side of the front of his jacket was infinitesimally more swollen than the other side.

    ‘And I was prepared to find it with someone else, not him. It was when you mentioned the cleaner that it hit me, fool that I was. I don’t mind confessing that I very nearly missed that. Thanks. It just shows that we all live and learn.

    ‘As for payment, I must tell you that while I do not accept money as a rule, I am not above accepting favours, which I will mention when my niece and the good inspector and your secretary leave us alone. By the way, (turning to the secretary) what your nephew requires is the service of a good psychoanalyst. I will give you a recommendation to a good friend of mine.’

    With that, the inspector and I left the office. I cannot report what favour Aunt Deline asked the permanent secretary but I certainly hoped it would concern her job. The next week, however, a large crate containing an inverter with a two and a half KvH capacity was delivered to our flat. This meant not only did we have a power source for me to do my reading, the fridge and the fans in the flat could be powered without the accompanying stress or noise that generators give.

    More importantly, Aunt Deline received a personal call that day from the manager of the electricity company apologising for the ‘crazy bill his boys’ had forwarded to her flat, and that she should discountenance them. I think she did not need a second invitation.

    When I asked Aunt Deline just how she had arm-twisted the poor permanent secretary, she only said that the man was very lucky, he could have lost his job. In that case, someone needed to be providentially placed to receive his gratitude. Who better than us?, she asked.

    When I also asked her why she had not asked him to connect her for a job at the proposed university, however, she brushed me off. ‘Let us live one day at a time, right?’ I marvelled at her. Once again, she had put my need to study ahead of her even more important need for a job!

    In the evening, when the inspector came to visit, he informed us that the permanent secretary never did find out the person that sent the papers to him; maybe a disgruntled fellow gambler, who knows? Most importantly, the permanent secretary had been able to tell the governor that the press reports were not true, and nothing was missing from his office. Also, the senior director concerned in the story had been dismissed from service on the basis of the incriminating evidence.

    ‘Now,’ said Aunt Deline, ‘he can become a full-time gambler. People who do not know the worth of their job do not deserve to keep it.’

    ‘Yes,’ agreed the inspector, ‘work is sacred. The work you do is a huge responsibility that you owe the country, your fellowmen and your maker. Through your effective work, you send a message to nature that the human society should continue. This is why nature hates the disruptions that come through ineffective work. Talking of effectiveness, how were you able to deduce so that the envelope was in the vicinity?

    ‘I paid attention. I told you that you must think cyclically. Let me tell you, in cases of this sort, it’s often the little things that count the most. While everyone was looking up at the most important things about the case  where the permanent secretary had been that day, what he did or did not do, the strength of the briefcase, etc., — I was more interested in the little things and one visit to this place assured me of all I wanted to know.’

    ‘And what was that?’

    ‘The psychological state of the secretary. If I had found her inscrutable, it would have deepened my suspicion of her further. But I found her rude, but sad and in pain. So, I knew that one, she probably did not take the papers, and two, she had her suspicion of who did. When I found her at her filing cabinet, I believed she thought the thief had hidden it there and she was hoping to surprise him. Poor lady; how was she to know the extent to which her nephew had degenerated?

    ‘So, if she did not take it, then who did?, I asked myself. I did notice an extra desk in her office on which there was no computer or anything. The table was small, dark brown, glossy from being so dirty and used, and wobbly. There were other chairs around it but the accompanying chair was even more wobbly and its leather well worn in the seat. Also, the carpentry seemed to have weakened so that the chair sagged down and the packing under it gaped. I believe that gaping hole made a perfect initial hiding place for the thief. This meant that whoever took it shared the office with the secretary.

    ‘I did not have time to find out who that person was, that first time. I thought however that if the envelope had not been moved, I would likely find it under that chair when we would come back based on one principle.’

    ‘What principle is that?’

    ‘The principle that says the best place to hide anything is in plain sight. How was I to know that providence had an even better illustration of that dogma for us? Child, is that bottle of wine in the fridge cold yet? Please bring it and let us all ‘wash’ this new source of electricity that the country is forcing me to live with.’

    On the veranda, under the watchful eyes of the stars, we three sat and drank the California wine. When I say drank, I exaggerate. Aunt Deline poured me a generous amount that could not even satiate an ant while the two adults proceeded to get to the bottom of why the electricity situation of the country was so bad. This discourse also led them to the bottom of the bottle; but I was content to listen, as always.

  • We have a government that is deaf, says ASUU

    The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has again called on Nigerians to appeal to the Federal Government to save public universities from imminent collapse.

    Following a briefing by the union four weeks ago, ASUU said another call became necessary against the seeming recalcitrant posture of the authorities, and the need to absolve the union of any blame if it is left with no choice than embark on strike which it believes is “the only language government understands.”

    “Let it be known that our union has, in the past and if it becomes inevitable, will once again sacrifice the comfort of its members and take up the priority duty of rescuing our education system.

    “In order to forestall this avoidable crisis, we appeal to all genuinely progressive individuals and groups to prevail on Nigerian government to arrest a brewing and potentially combustible situation in the Nigerian university system,” said chairman of ASUU Lagos Zone, Prof Olusiji Sowande at the University of Lagos venue of the briefing.

    Sowande said the union has made repeated but unsuccessful efforts to compel government to fully implement the 2009 ASUU-FG Agreement, part of which include: the release of Nigerian Universities Pension Management Company (NUPEMCO) licence; NEEDS Assessment Fund; Funding of state universities; and Earned Academic Allowances, and di-harmonisation of staff schools, among others.

    According to Sowande, the scenario is becoming more sickening especially as some state universities have embarked on brazen irregular or non-payment of members’ salaries.

    The zone had representatives from Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU); UNILAG; Federal University of Agriculture; Tai Solarin University of Education; and Lagos State University.

  • Madeline Berah, the African Detective in the missing government papers (8)

    To everyone’s surprise, when she reached him, she put her arms around him, as if giving him a tight hug. The man was more surprised that we were but that was for a few seconds. Suddenly, however, she began to pull at something in his clothing. When he seemed to realise what she was about, he began to try to pull himself out of her embrace.

    Have I told you that once Aunt Deline gets hold of something, she is worse than a hungry tiger holding on to its prey to make sure its lunch does not escape? No? Well, you must know now that Aunt Deline would as soon wrestle with a lion over his prey if she felt he had no right to it as she would punch a man in the nose for insulting her.

    When she gets like that, I usually look for the nearest exit because her punches have had previous habits of falling irreverently on anyone who gets between her and her target. I have been an unwary recipient before. Before our very eyes today, however, her embrace transmuted to a struggle to hold on; but the more she struggled, the more the cleaner tried to pull out.

    Nearing exhaustion, Aunt Deline cried out, ‘Don’t just sit there all of you, help me hold this man down. He has the papers!’

    Hearing that, the two men rushed upon them just as the secretary came in and within minutes the man was on the carpet. While the men had the man pinned down, Aunt Deline was stripping him of his French suit. She started with the trousers. I tried to look away because I thought she was going to be taking off his briefs next. When I looked again though, she had removed his short-sleeved jacket and was feeling all over it. There, from right inside the front lining, she pulled out a long brown envelope. Everyone gasped as they left off holding the struggling man.

    The permanent secretary held out his hands for the envelope. Trembling all over, he brought out the contents and checked them one after the other. The look he gave us was both exultant and triumphant.

    ‘Everything is intact,’ he said in wonderment. Then he sat down heavily on his chair again and looked at Aunt Deline with reverence. ‘Madam, you have saved me and my career today!’

    By now, the cleaner, who had been full of valiant struggles a minute before, was sitting hunched up on the carpet, face down and refusing to look at anyone. The secretary, who had come in while the struggle was on, took a seat near him and draped his shoulders with his jacket.

    When all was calm again, the permanent secretary had a look of awe on his face but he spoke quietly.

    ‘How did you know?’

    Aunt Deline answered. ‘I didn’t. I was sure that the papers were in the office, but I at first thought that the secretary had them. However, when I spoke with her, I did not see a woman hardened by crime but I saw a face in pain. When I surprised her in the office the first time I was here, I thought she was either deeply unfriendly or deeply troubled. Even now, I am not sure what the source of her pain is as it cannot be just the papers.’

    The secretary sighed. ‘Ma, it is the papers. I was also worried about them.’

    ‘Then you should be happy like the rest of us’, shouted the permanent secretary.

    ‘Yes sir’, the woman replied wearily, ‘but I am not happy about the place where we found them.’ Then she burst into tears.

    We all sat in perplexity.

    Pulling herself together and wiping her eyes, she explained.

    ‘Fifteen years ago, my sister who lives in Zunguru asked me to take her young boy to live with me since I was in the city and could give him a better chance in life. I took the boy and tried my best for him. I sent him to the same school as my children. I fed him the same meals as I did my children. In fact they did everything together, including studying. For some reason, however, my children came out of school with good grades, went on to university, graduated and took good jobs and are now living fine, independent lives.

    ‘Somehow though, my nephew just could not do well in the same academics despite being exposed to the same conditions. I did all I could to help him, including taking private teachers for him, but nothing helped.

    ‘Unfortunately, my sister blamed me. She said I used juju to take her son’s star and distribute it among my children; that’s why they are now doing fine now and her son is languishing.

    ‘After trying everything I could, I finally got him a job in another ministry hoping he would build a career and rise on the job. But he got involved with a bad group and started misbehaving, stealing and all that, and he got sacked. I decided to bring him here right under me so I could keep an eye on him. So, I came to you sir and you gave him a job, and now a fine job I seem to have done. What am I going to do? If he goes to prison, what am I going to tell the mother?’ She started to cry again.

    Aunt Deline was grieved. She hated to see a woman cry.

    ‘Don’t worry, the permanent secretary will be magnanimous. He will not press charges.’

    The permanent secretary sighed and agreed that he would not, but the young man should just tell us how he got hold of the papers because he thought he guarded it jealously enough.

    After a lot of coaxing, the cleaner opened his mouth and explained.

    ‘I had been present when the paper was brought to the office by the boy sent to deliver it. The secretary my aunt had not seen the contents of the envelope before she went to the restroom. While she was away, I quickly looked in the envelope and decided that the papers were very important so I just bid my time.

    ‘Whenever I cleaned the office, I noticed that Oga would make sure his briefcase was near his feet just behind his desk. So, I just watched for the times he went to the toilet and how long he spent there. One day, I saw him go to the toilet because the door was slightly open and my aunt was not around, and since I knew the shape, size and colour of the envelope, it was not difficult for me to get it within half a minute. Before he came out, I had done what I wanted to do and was already back on my seat pretending to sleep when he came to see if anyone was waiting for him here.’

    ‘But why did you take it?’ his aunt asked in exasperation.

    ‘I saw the gambling receipts. They were more important than the other papers. I was going to sell them back to the owner.’

    The inspector spoke. ‘Do you know that blackmail is a criminal offence?’

    ‘And supposing the man killed you instead of paying you? What then?’ his aunt asked again.

    Aunt Deline stood up. It was our cue. ‘I think our job here is done. We should allow the good permanent secretary to get on with his job.’

    The permanent secretary stood up too. ‘I know that if I asked you how you knew that the envelope was on the young man, you would not tell me. But at least let me pay you.’

    ‘Oh, I don’t mind telling you. I was not expecting anyone to be ‘wearing’ the papers; I was expecting to have to lift up every carpet in the place or go through the toilets, but I was prepared to be surprised anyhow so I paid attention to everything.

  • Madeline Berah, the African Detective in the missing government papers (7)

    The inspector spoke up. ‘This is my friend, Dr. Madeline Berah, she is interested in the case; and this is her niece, Miss Enita Parry. I assure you that they are the only ones who know anything about an investigation. I am doing it under the radar, as you requested.’

    The man’s eyes opened wide. ‘Thank you. Is this the madam, the one who solves crimes as a hobby?’

    ‘Yes,’ replied Aunt Deline simply, ‘I read the report in the newspaper of how you lost some documents and I got very interested. So, how did they get lost?’

    He sighed. Then he looked out the only window in the office. The window looked out to the scattered rusty roofs of the adjoining buildings. He looked back at us and sighed again. Suddenly, he got up, strode to the door, opened and shut it again, as if to make sure it was properly shut. Then he sat down again.

    ‘Five days ago, I received an envelope delivered by hand from someone who would not leave his name. My secretary said the person who brought it was a young boy who said he had been sent to deliver it to my office. The envelope was marked ‘To the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Works.’

    ‘At first, I thought it was a bomb but, picking courage, I looked inside and found sheet after sheet of papers detailing different high-price contracts given out by this office in the past ten years. About twenty of them. As you know, the office can only award contracts up to a certain amount. Anything above that is done by the state government. I was very surprised. I had not called for them, so I wondered why they were being sent to me.

    ‘So, I sent for the director in charge of contracts and asked him to give me the files containing the contract papers. I wanted to see if the ones with me were authentic.’

    Aunt Deline spoke. ‘Were the papers copies or originals?’

    ‘Originals!’, the man almost shouted. ‘As original as you and I.’

    ‘Well,’ he continued, ‘I did not see him that day. At the end of the next day, I sent for him and repeated my request. He stammered and prevaricated but finally told me they were missing. I asked him to go.

    ‘Not knowing what to make of the situation, I determined to keep the envelope with me until I figured out what was going on. Three mornings ago, I brought out the papers again to see what was so special about them. What was my surprise when I found that the last five sheets were not contract papers but gambling receipts!’

    ‘Gambling receipts!’ the inspector echoed. Aunt Deline closed her eyes for a moment and a tiny smile crept to the left corner of her mouth. She always did that when she felt she was in control of the situation. Whenever a situation got the better of her, she tended to bite the skin off her lips or the lining of her mouth. Nasty habits, but that was her.

    ‘Yes, gambling receipts running into millions of Naira, from a Lagos hotel! And they had been made out in the name of my most senior director who had been a thorn in my flesh since I got here. You can just imagine how I felt. I was elated that I finally had something against my worst enemy, but at the same time baffled. I began to be more careful how I kept that envelope; I was determined to guard it with my life until I got to the bottom of things. I promise you, I never let it out of my sight.’

    ‘How much did those receipts total?’

    ‘About one hundred and fifty million Naira!’

    The inspector whistled. Aunt Deline’s eyes opened. I could not imagine what the sum looked or felt like. I stayed still.

    ‘Why did you not make copies of the papers to be on the safe side? That could have saved you many palpitations’, the inspector asked.

    ‘I thought of that. But I could not entrust it to my secretary or anyone else. Can you imagine the kind of talk that would have generated if people saw me doing that at a computer centre?

    ‘I decided to lie low and watch what would happen.’ He sighed. ‘Well, what happened was that two days ago, that envelope was stolen.’

    ‘Can you describe the circumstances of the theft?’ asked my aunt.

    ‘Yes. At ten in the morning on that day, I had to attend a meeting at the office of the head of service. The meeting ended at a quarter to two in the afternoon and I came back here.’

    ‘Did you see the envelope any time during that time?’

    ‘I saw it. It was in my briefcase. I remember because I opened my briefcase to bring out a document. It was lying close to the bottom of the case because I put many things on top of it so that no one can easily spot it. Everything was ok all the time I was in the office. It was when I was about to sleep that night that I checked the envelope once more only to discover that it was no longer in my briefcase. You can imagine. That was the end of sleep for me that night. In fact, I haven’t slept ten winks since that moment.’

    ‘Try and remember. Did you take anything else out of your case that afternoon before you left the office?’

    ‘No.’

    ‘Did you have any visitors?’

    ‘You mean apart from the people who work around the office here?’

    ‘Anyone at all?’, persisted my aunt.

    ‘As a matter of fact, yes, I did; many people came in and went out, but I saw only one outsider, a schoolmate of my youngest brother’s came to greet me. He was looking for a job or a contract, I can’t remember which one now. But all the while, my case was near me here, behind the desk and definitely out of sight to all visitors. In fact, you would have had to be searching for it to know where it was.’

    ‘I see. Did you leave him alone for a moment, to go to the restroom for instance?’

    ‘Not while he was here. When he was leaving, I saw him to the door myself and he seemed to be on very friendly terms with my secretary.’

    ‘The secretary! How would you rate your secretary?’

    ‘She’s first class, very efficient and loyal to the core. She cannot hurt a fly.’

    ‘Hmm… Have you ever tested her loyalty?’

    ‘Many times. Look, I can safely entrust my life into her hands. She would sooner sacrifice hers than let mine go. She’s that kind of person.’

    ‘I see. All right. What did you do when you discovered the papers were missing?’

    ‘I began to look for them. Searched everywhere in the house; came next morning and searched everywhere in the office but no luck. My secretary has been a tonne of help too…’

    ‘At what point did it get into the press? Who told them?’

    ‘I don’t know…Now, I have received a summons from the governor over the matter.’ The man sighed and bowed his head.

    ‘Who knows about the papers in the office apart from the secretary?’

    ‘No one. Not even the cleaner.’

    Aunt Deline sat up. ‘The cleaner?! Who is he and where can we find him?’

    The man rang a bell. The secretary opened the door.

    ‘Ask the cleaner to come in for a minute.’

    She left.

    A few minutes later, a youngish looking man came in. He was dressed in a badly sown brown French suit. The arms and torso were way too big and the front tended to be much higher than the back, almost exposing his not-very-white singlet.

    ‘Mr. Lawani, these people want to ask you a few questions,’ said our host.

    A frown immediately crept onto the face of the man. He reached out with his left hand to lean on the chair nearest to him. Suddenly, Aunt Deline shot up from her chair and strode up to the man.

  • Madeline Berah, the African DETECTIVE In The Missing Government Papers (6)

    The inspector leaned back. ‘And what did your observing eye tell you in this matter?’ I thought I detected sarcasm.

    If Aunt Deline heard it too, she ignored it. ‘First, I observed many lapses in the news report. Our journalists are getting lazier and lazier. In my days, the report would have included all the details concerning the matter rather than the hazy sketches we were given. I determined therefore to fill in the gaps myself. I got to the secretariat at half past eight, early enough to find workers on their seats. You know yourself most of them don’t get to their work places on time, especially those higher up.

    ‘The block itself, one of several similar ones, was about five stories tall, once-upon-a-time cream coloured but now somewhere in between rain-washed grey and dust-inspired brown. Did you know that the buildings that make up the secretariat are lined up, one after the other, in a slanting fashion like people slanting sideways to take a photograph?’

    ‘Everyone knows that. Tell me something I don’t know because I have been there myself on this matter,’ replied the inspector testily.

    ‘Well,’ replied Aunt Deline equally testily, ‘if you’re patient, you will eat the fat of the land. When I climbed to the fourth floor, I came out of the staircase and found myself on a balcony looking directly down on the street below. The first office I turned to was quite wide, bare-floored with many spaces where the flooring had given way to the sand used for the construction. Ugh! Come and see sand everywhere! Imagine, in a government building. No standards anymore.

    ‘Anyway, about four tables were placed in the room, not arranged in any particular order, if you don’t count someone’s whim not to face the sun or to back an incoming visitor. The tables were all occupied by some buxom ladies in various stages of weight wear, plying their figures with more food from plastic food flasks. I give you all these details so that you can have an idea of what I observed.

    ‘They all said I should come and eat. I told them no thanks, I did not really like what they were eating. I preferred something lighter.’

    ‘What were they eating?’ I asked.

    ‘Rice, beans and dodo; so early in the morning too. Strangely though, when I asked to be directed to the office of the permanent secretary of the education ministry, they looked at each other before one of them replied. “It’s the last office on the top floor.”

    ‘But I heard them laughing as I went out of earshot. I distinctly heard one of them say: “Did she think we were really asking her to come and eat, when it’s not government food? Some people think everything in the government building is for the general public to eat.” I said nothing to them however.

    ‘When I entered the office I had been directed to, I found the room empty. It was furnished rather sparingly, even though it was a large room. There was a large desk looking directly at the door from the right corner adjacent to a door that obviously opened to another room inside. I decided that that must be the permanent secretary’s office.

    ‘There was a smaller table at the far corner of the room, with several chairs arranged in front and behind it. I took the chair nearest the door, and sat down to wait.

    ‘Five minutes later, a big, dark-complexioned woman came in hurriedly. Running behind the large desk, she quickly removed a large, brown envelop from her bag, pushed it to the back of the top drawer, before she made to stow the bag inside a drawer.

    ‘That was when I spoke. I said ‘Excuse me …

    ‘The way she jumped had me suspecting something. She had not known anyone was in the room with her. Her face looked cross as she looked first at the door before finding the source of the sound. As a matter of fact, the face seemed to be hiding some pain. Her eyes were a slit, even though the entire face and mouth were wide, yet you could see sadness and hopelessness lurking around the eyes that she vainly tried to hide in haughtiness… She looked at me and spoke roughly.

    ‘ “What do you want early this morning?”, she snapped. “Are you here to beg for a contract?”

    ‘I thought this was rather rude but I did not say so.

    ‘No’, I replied instead. ‘I’m here to see the permanent secretary’.

    “For money?” she asked.

    ‘No’, I coolly replied. I decided to try a shocker of my own. ‘I woke up this morning and found I had no husband, so I’ve come to see if he will fit into the role.’

    ‘Auntie!’, I exclaimed. She was not contrite. ‘It’s true; you have to really give Nigerians what they deserve before you can get anything out of them.’

    ‘Anyway,’ she continued, ‘the woman relaxed a bit before saying “He’s not here yet, he’s attending a meeting this morning at the government house.”

    ‘When can I meet with him then?’, I asked her. “Maybe you can come back in the afternoon. Maybe he would have come back by then” she replied.

    ‘When I got up to leave, I said to her: ‘Maybe I don’t want to see your boss yet. Maybe by afternoon, I will feel like it. In the meantime, when he wakes up and calls you in, tell him that Dr. Berah was here to see him and will return at two o’clock. By the way, I told her, you also need to get some sleep.

    ‘As I went out of the door, I had the satisfaction of seeing her wide mouth open wider. As I left, I heard the bell ring from inside the room and I saw her jump again before she went in.’

    The inspector was impatient. I was too. ‘So, where are the papers?’

    ‘There, in the office. I intend to go back first thing in the morning to retrieve them.’

    ‘Oh yes, the one the secretary was holding. I’m coming with you,’ the inspector declared.

    ‘So am I,’ I said.

    ‘Suit yourselves, although I’m not sure it’s that envelope exactly. But we can find out tomorrow’, Aunt Deline said. Then she leaned back in her chair and began to talk about other things.

    Next morning, which was a Friday, we were shown into the office of the permanent secretary by his secretary. Aunt Deline was right; the woman’s face was a little long and the mouth was firmly shut. Her eyes looked sad and it was clear that she was harbouring some pain.

    It was also clear that the man himself had had a rough night. Much as his office was comfortable, I didn’t think it had been designed for sleeping in. The couch looked big all right, black, fully upholstered, leather-clothed and all (false leather yes, but comfortable). Judging by his uncombed hair, half-closed eyes, tightly held lips, it was obvious the rough night was spent on the couch. I could swear his print was still visible on it.

    He welcomed us solemnly and shook hands with the inspector languidly. We took our seats on the same couch. He paid us a distracted attention, constantly flipping over papers on his desk, obviously still searching for his papers. But Aunt Deline jolted him into paying us full attention.

    ‘We have come about the missing papers.’

    You could almost hear him snap to. I really pitied him. ‘Do you know where they are?’, he asked suddenly and quietly.

    ‘I do, but first, you have to tell us the whole story.’

  • The Missing Government Papers (5)

    Presently Aunt Deline asked: ‘What is this I am reading about the permanent secretary misplacing some papers?’

    ‘You know’, Inspector Gogo said, leaning forward confidentially, his hunger forgotten, ‘I have a theory about those papers, but I am interested in hearing yours.’

    ‘No, let’s hear yours first’, Aunt Deline insisted.

    ‘Ok. I think the permanent secretary forgot where he put the papers.’

    ‘The report says he said he kept them in his briefcase.’

    ‘He might have thought he did. It happens many times. Remember the case of the missing diamond brooch of Mrs. Tango? She swore she had kept it in her drawer but where did we eventually find it? In a case in her bathroom! Did she not confess that she remembered putting it there when she heard one of her servants coming into the room? People forget things.’

    ‘Granted, people forget things,’ Aunt Deline persisted. ‘Even I forget things. But let’s give credit to a man who says he still saw the envelope in the morning while at another meeting and he never touched it all through the day but occasionally checked on it and always saw it. I think your theory of a memory lapse cannot hold here. I rather think that I believe him.’

    ‘Believe him all you like; but I have seen enough of the lapses in human nature to put my faith in the staidness of any man. Have you forgotten the case of the civil servant who killed his girlfriend? Everyone swore he was an upstanding man but one lapse of judgment caused him to commit murder…’

    ‘We’re not talking murder here, just some missing papers. And I think I might know where the papers are,’ Aunt Deline replied.

    ‘You do?

    ‘Oh yes, from my reading of the newspaper report, I can plot you the exact spot where those papers are. However, I will not say where until I have visited the office and tested my little theory.’

    ‘Surely you can do that tomorrow. I will hold my theory till then.”Yes do; I don’t want your theory contaminating mine. I have found that the average policeman thinks linearly. In situations like this, you must think within the entire radius of the problem. As soon as the sun rises tomorrow, I will go and test out my theory.’

    ‘I can go with you. The permanent secretary has asked for my help on the matter. He got to know me through an old classmate, I guess. I can tell him I have come to survey the place myself and introduce you as my associate.’

    Aunt Deline looked hesitant. ‘I would have liked to go on my own. But you can come along I guess.’ With that, they fell into talking about other things.

    When the morrow dawned, I found myself breakfasting alone. Aunt Deline left home early and returned about two hours later, fuming.

    ‘Did you know that taking a taxi ride in this town is just like taking a ride through hell? Not only are they tiny for the six people they cram inside it, the drivers are very rude, impatient and lack the human connection. Sometimes I wonder, what is the point of their life? They would sooner lose their passenger’s life than lose their money.’

    ‘What happened, Aunt Deline? Where did you go? The Inspector came to look for you.’

    She waved her hand dismissively at me. ‘Oh, never mind, you’ll hear about it soon enough. Where is breakfast?’

    After I had presented her with her favourite pap and akara meal which I had bought from the woman downstairs who specialised in frying akara, she ate heartily. You would think she had never eaten before.

    ‘Mama Sikira sure makes the perfect akara, I tell you. If I happen to pass out, don’t go for sniffing salts. Just put one fist wrap of her akara under my nose. Believe it or not, my mouth will open.’

    Immediately after breakfast, Aunt Deline disappeared again and did not reappear until evening. I occupied myself by studying. After all, my exams were approaching.

    About half past seven, Inspector Gogo came down to our flat. Aunt Deline was not only back but had freshened up and had had supper. I had cooked some stew and white rice which I garnished with some fried slices of plantain we call dodo around here. I was proud of myself after watching my aunt smack her lips on the last slice of dodo. If I had to say so myself, I certainly had a nifty hand in the kitchen; obviously, I could not depend on my aunt to say it. Around here, you have to help yourself to everything, including praise.

    The inspector had come along with the day’s paper, which he proceeded to read to himself, semi-aloud.

    ‘Even with a university education, the man still reads like a kindergarten cop.’ Aunt Deline’s remark lighted the spark as she came into the parlour.

    ‘It’s not everyone who had the privilege of a straight-line education  from nursery to primary to secondary to university. Some of us had to do farm work before we could do GCE privately to even be able to go to pivotal or sandwich to earn our degree,’ replied the inspector before he continued mouthing his reading.

    ‘Well, you don’t have to be so proud of your lengthy educational journey. The question is, has it helped you find the missing papers?’

    ‘No. You left me behind, remember? My theory has not changed though… What did you find?’

    ‘I said it, you need to go back to school and get your money back if you cannot solve a simple enough problem like some missing government papers.’ She made it sound like it was a problem that amateur detectives used for practice.

    ‘If I remember correctly, even the great detective, Sherlock Holmes, had some difficulty solving a similar case involving some missing government papers,’ replied the inspector.

    ‘Perhaps; but I’m not sure he will agree with you that he ‘had some difficulty’. To start with, he was dealing with a professional criminal class whose system was more advanced. In this case, we are dealing with a criminal whose interest in trade overrides everything, including loyalty. You must remember that where the Nigerian is concerned, money comes first.

    ‘So, I asked myself, who is likely to benefit more from these papers? First, the permanent secretary had taken them in order to use them, not sell them. That was motive enough, but in this case, he was the victim not the beneficiary. He also stood to gain but indirectly. So, clearly, he did not take the papers. The question is, who did, since no one else knew about the papers, and papers do not get up and walk away? Papers fly away, yes, but only if the window is opened, but that was not the case. According to the report, the man was had already left the office and was home, so presumably, his windows would have grills. All home windows in this country have metal grills.’

    ‘Someone could have concealed him or herself in the room without anyone observing…’

    ‘I thought of that too, and I must confess that was my main thought when I went to the office this morning to see things for myself.’

    The inspector bristled. ‘Were you well received there? Were you able to take a good look at the place?’

    ‘Yes to both questions. How else can one arrive at the truth? You must see things for yourself. I ask you: can a doctor arrive at a true diagnosis of a disease without inspecting the patient? Every disease leaves a trail as plainly as a crime. It is then up to the doctor to follow the trail to catch the criminal.’

    ‘Now, you are talking like an academic — being simplistic. You think diseases are so easy to catch? If so, no one will be sick. Don’t you know that there are people on hospital beds whose doctors are as baffled about the nature of their illness as I am about many crimes? You are just a typical woman, jumping to conclusions!’

    ‘That’s where you’re wrong. There is nothing yet that has not yielded its true and explicit nature to the observant eye. The eye is the key. If you miss one step in your analysis, the data will deal falsely with you. You must pay close attention.’

  • Igbo, Ngige and Buhari’s government

    Recently the story went viral on social and traditional media alleging that the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Dr. Chris Ngige was booed while trying to defend President Muhammadu Buhari’s alleged lopsided appointments at a Town Hall forum organised by the Federal Ministry of Information in Enugu.

    Now, who booed Ngige and why – if true? Why not the other ministers at the Forum which included Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, who is from Enugu or Minister for Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed who is the image maker of Buhari’s government? This question underscores the purpose of the sponsored story against the personality of Ngige, a man who has never shied away from the truth and what he believes is right no matter the circumstances.

    There is no doubt that among the wailing Igbo political elites today who were majorly responsible for the political and economic woes of the south-east zone in last 16 years, Ngige stands shoulder high above them, with his unprecedented track records in political leadership and vision. Politically, Ngige has always carved a niche for himself and avoided bandwagon syndrome like a plague.

    Dissecting Ngige’s foray in Nigerian politics after an outstanding public service career that spanned over a decade, he took off as a foundation member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 1998. Becoming the governor of Anambra State in 2003, Ngige redefined governance and leadership through his verifiable and unparalleled infrastructural development in the state. At the risk of his personal life, he dared and conquered political godfatherism, liberated the state from the stronghold of the notorious political godfathers that held the state down for years. That singular action of Ngige marked the beginning of new, responsible and responsive leadership in the state and the rest of the country.

    Defecting from the PDP to co-found the defunct Action Congress (AC) in 2006 alongside the likes of Ahmed Bola Tinubu, AlhajiAtikuAbubakar and others, Ngige never looked back at the PDP led-government throughout its locust years that benefitted majority of the South-east PDP elites at expense of the rest of the Igbos. Within this period, Ngige remained steadfast, focused, patient, and dogged, despite several efforts by these elites and their cohorts to pull him down by all means.

    To prove his popularity and acceptance in the South-east, Ngige won Anambra Central zone senatorial election in 2011 on the platform of Action Congress of Nigeria, defeating the candidate of the ruling APGA government in the state, late Prof. Dora Akunyili. His party also won five House of Assembly and one House of Representatives seats in the state to the surprise and disappointment of the PDP and APGA apologists in the zone. While in the Senate, he attracted infrastructural and manpower developments to his state and the zone in general.

    Ahead of the 2015 polls, the South-east PDP elites who lacked political sagacity to read the country’s political barometer, and for their own selfish interests deceived the Igbos to put all their eggs in one basket, by voting for President Goodluck Jonathan and the PDP, against Muhammed Buhari and the APC.

    It was the same Ngige who never hid his unalloyed support for the APC and Buhari that consistently appealed to the Igbos to reconsider their stand and avoid putting all their eggs in one basket, because the odd favoured APC and Buhari. But nobody believed him, instead some sponsored and disgruntled Igbos called him all sort of names.

    Again, when these political jobbers and merchants who have continued to parade themselves as Igbo political leaders heard that APC has zoned the Senate President to the South-east ahead of the elections and Ngige was the favourite, they deployed everything at their disposal to ensure that Ngige did not win re-election to the Senate. That was a typical Pull-Him-Down political practice that has held the Igbos down since 1999 till date.

    Immediately after the 2015 presidential poll, which was won by Buhari and the APC, it dawned on the Igbos and their merchant PDP leaders that they have misfired politically.

    These were the same leaders who have occupied all the positions in the PDP led-government for 16 years, won all the contracts, cornered all the funds meant for the zone without any tangible thing to point at as their achievements for the Igbos. But instead of keeping quiet and re-strategize for a better political alignment with the APC-led government to attract federal presence to the south-east zone, one of the PDP leaders, who is also a ranking senator, now embattled, once boasted that Igbos have no regret voting for Jonathan and the PDP in the 2015 elections, stressing that if the opportunity comes again, Igbos would vote the same way.”

    As if that was not enough to show the southeast zone’s belligerence to Buhari’s government from the onset, NnamdiKanu and his sponsors commenced the nefarious activities of the Independent People of Biafra (IPOB) in the zone without any caution from the merchant leaders of the zone, all in a bid to distract the Buhari’s government. Not long, IPOB members became allies of the Niger-Delta Avengers members making it obvious that they are working together to bring down Buhari’s government by all means.

    Instead of the continued lamentations over alleged lopsided federal appointments by Buhari’s government, the Igbos should ask their leaders who have been appointed and awarded contracts in the last 16 years of the PDP rule to account for their stewardships. This is the time for the Igbos to take stock and hold their merchant leaders responsible, because they have always been the bane of progress in Igbo land. They have neither shown nor provided leadership for the people of the zone. Rather they have continued to exploit the gullibility of an average Igbo person using the Biafra sentiment. That is why the lamentations should be more on the terrible state of basic infrastructures in the zone, than federal appointments, considering that past appointees from the zone have always cornered public funds for their personal use without rendering account.

    Has any Igbo man asked who embezzled Enugu-Onitsha road contract fund during Jonathan’s administration? What about Enugu-Port Harcourt road and other federal roads across the south-east zone that have become death traps? They are the same people who are today sponsoring media attacks on the likes of Ngige and Buhari’s government. Their major motive is not about the well-being of the Igbos or development of the zone, but for them to be appointed into government positions to continue with their looting spree. But unfortunately for them, they have met a brick wall in Buhari’s government because of its pragmatic and transparent style of governance that has made easy money difficult to come by.

    It is not too late for the Igbos to have a rethink, do away with their merchant leaders who have misled and held them down before now, support their genuine leaders and constructively engage Buhari’s government for the development of the zone. Igbos should not cry more than the bereaved now or throw away the baby and the bath tub again as it is becoming obvious that the Niger-Delta region, whose son was defeated in the last presidential election is already engaging the Buhariadministration for their betterment. Enough of political deceit, self-aggrandisement, political jobbing, greed, vindictiveness and political differences among the Igbos for 2019 is fast approaching. Once beaten, twice shy. A world is enough for the wise.

     

    • Dr. Ezeh, a university don wrote from Ogui, Enugu State.