The Nation Newspaper

Tag: infamy

  • Descent into infamy

    After spending close to two decades in the UK, a Nigerian relocated back home with his family, prepared to spend the latter part of his life here. He bought a property in a Lagos suburb and after concluding all the official and unofficial part of documentation, he settled in. The “unofficial” part of the bargain was to “settle” the “owners” of the area the property was located. During the negotiation process, he was told that the “settlement” is “once and final” which explains the unusual amount he parted with.

    To his surprise, the “owners” came back five months later to demand a fresh round of payment following the “expiration” of the earlier payment made. He patiently drew their attention to the agreement they had. “Forget that one, it was done under the past leader; we have a new leader now,” was the curt reply he got. Knowing he would be a perpetual slave to these hoodlums if he caved in, he approached the Police to lay his complaint. After repeated visits to the Police station, he was advised to “settle with the boys.” Long story short, he sold the property and left after concluding that even the Police cannot guarantee his safety.

    This is one of many stories we hear that makes one want to believe we are a troubled nation. But the one that touched my heart and left me speechless was the senseless murder of Ian Squire, a 57 year old optician from Shepperton, Surrey in the United Kingdom. Ian was the founder and chairman of Christian Charity Mission for Vision. Their mission was to take old glasses to remote African areas from donations to his surgery in Surrey.

    He was was one of four Britons – Alanna Carson, David Donovan and Shirley Donovan – working for a medical charity in the Niger Delta when they were kidnapped by suspected militants in the the rural community of Enekorogha on 13 October. He had invented a portable solar-powered frame and lens cutting machine to enable prescription glasses to be made in remote regions of the world. He brought his invention to Nigeria as part of his outreach.

    According to reports, the kidnappers were a criminal gang who had been operating in the area for around a year. The report stated further that this is the gang’s first kidnapping of foreigners. They had kidnapped very recently the mother of a local politician, but before that they were just carrying out petty crime. Dr. and Mrs. Donovan, who were kidnapped alongside the late Ian, have lived in Nigeria for the past 14 years, running a Christian charity called New Foundations, which gives aid to remote villages in the Niger Delta.

    Mr. Squire’s friend Paul Allan, who ran a neighbouring business, described him as a “good friend” and a “very straight forward, nice, gentle guy.” He described how Mr. Squire fundraised in the community for his trips and even collected old glasses to take and reuse.

    “I just can’t believe what’s happened,” added Mr. Allan. “I find it shocking to believe for someone who has gone out to do good in the community overseas that the action has cost him dearly. It has cost him his life. It is beyond belief. It is a sign of this day and age, but he wasn’t concerned about that. He just wanted to go out and help people in less fortunate situations than ours.”

    It is indeed a sign of this day and age. What in the world would make any sane individual to kidnap and kill a foreigner whose only “offence” is to leave the comfort of his home country- where he lacked nothing – to assist a people whose own government have neglected for years? Their mission was to ensure that people see, while our own government wants to ensure we remain in darkness. The fact that the Donovans’ have spent 14 years in Nigeria meant their dedication is unquestionable. I won’t be surprised if they even speak the local dialect.

    There are so many things wrong with our country and one of them is this issue of kidnapping which has grown into a multi-billion naira industry with a web of intrigues embedded in it. The case of “Evans” is still fresh in our memory. Beyond the once that made it into the news, there are perhaps hundreds that are not being reported where victims’ families are made to part with millions of naira. In some instance, these soulless kidnappers collect the ransom money and still kill their victims. The painful part is that we all appear helpless

    Three years ago, I sat with a senior government official seeking answers to why road construction is often way too expensive in Nigeria compared to other African countries. Apart from corruption – which he agreed is a major contributory factor – he highlighted other factors.. He challenged me to take a good look at the major highways in Lagos – and if I have cause to travel outside Lagos – and let him know how many of them still have their original aluminum protective railings intact.

    He pointed out that since government realised that these railings were being removed by unscrupulous citizens; they had meetings with contractors on what next to do. It was then suggested that new protective railings be stuffed with concrete to make it difficult to cut through and remove. This development added additional costs to contracts. Other factors include the provision of security. “It is suicidal for contractors to go to site without adequate security even on construction of social facilities that have direct relevance to a community such as schools and hospitals; these are not spared,” he told me.

    Based on these factors, the “unforeseen” costs are embedded in contract documents since kidnappings are now rampant and no contractor wants to move to site without security. This is another addition to the overall contract sum, even though it is the Police of Army that often provide these services – that is another story in the web of intricacies.

    A major problem with us as a people is our unwillingness to address problems when they begin. Ten years ago, kidnapping was not a problem in the country. It began with the kidnapping of mainly oil workers in the Niger Delta for ransom. The oil firms quietly pays ransom for its kidnapped workers and life simply moves on. There were even insinuations back then that kidnappers are partners in crime with some dubious security personnel. Some discerning Nigerians warned when it started that the government should do all within its power to nib this cancer in its bud before it spreads. It has now spread and it is proving difficult to contain.

    But where the government fails, it is our duty as private citizens to rise to the occasion. Some concerned mothers did a few years back. They placed a paid advertorial in the papers when a prominent Lagos politician locked down the central business district as he walked straight from prison to the church to “give thanks to God.” The mothers told their children, wards and Nigerian youths that what they witnessed, or read, can never happen in a sane and forward looking society and nation. They charged the youths not to look upon the politician and his ilk as their ideal role model but to hold on to the timeless values their hard working parents instilled in them.

    To me, that was a classic case of positive citizen intervention. These mothers tasked themselves and placed adverts to warn Nigerians who have grown numb and accepted the depraved and corrupt way we are living as the “ideal.”

    If we are honest with ourselves we’d mostly agree that all is not well with our nation and that the values we once held dear sadly belongs in another era. Where are values like honesty, integrity, good neighbourliness, religious tolerance etc that once defined our society? Whatever also happened to being our brother’s keeper? Today, we’ve grown so numb and we’re no longer shocked when the unimaginable happens. There was no outcry when Ian was murdered, but some misguided citizens will carry placards in defence of corrupt politicians whom they know are stealing them blind.

    Are we on the road to infamy, or we are there already?

     

  • Their road to infamy

    IT goes by the fanciful name of Office of National Security Adviser (ONSA). It is a big and sensitive office, which handles national security matters. As an organ of government, it works directly with the president, mind you not the office of the president. The National Security Adviser (NSA) has direct access to the president and the NSA bypasses protocol whenever he wants to see the president.

    Not for the NSA is the waiting in line in the president’s  outer office  in order to see the first citizen. It is a given for him to see the president whenever he wishes. Under the immediate past administration, this was a routine matter. Embattled former NSA Col Sambo Dasuki saw former President Goodluck Jonathan at a minute’s notice. Whenever he was at the Villa things moved at frenetic pace. Dasuki’s visits were not for socials, they were strictly for business – but we did not know the kind of business he and Jonathan were transacting behind closed doors.

    Instead of serious business of state, facts are emerging that they were busy planning how to share the recovered Abacha loot. In one word, they were looting the loot, which they should have used to adequately arm the military to fight Boko Haram and also develop the country.

    The Abacha loot came at a time of urgent need. Here was the armed forces confronted with a formidable foe, but not properly armed to fight it. Dasuki, ever so wily and cunny, saw a way to make money out of such a major crisis. Why not use the loot to buy the much-needed equipment to fight Boko Haram? This was the idea he sold to Jonathan and without wasting time the former president changed his mind on the use of the money for national development. There is nothing wrong in Dasuki’s suggestion that part of the Abacha loot be used in equipping the military, but it is the motive behind it that is bad.

    Dasuki had no intention of buying any arms and ammunition, he merely saw a way to enrich himself at the nation’s expense and at a time thousands of his compatriots were being killed, maimed and displaced from their homes by Boko Haram. If he really meant to take the war to Boko Haram, he would have discussed with the then Minister of Defence, Lt Gen Mohammed Gusau, a highly-experienced officer,  and they would have mapped out a plan for acquiring weapons for the battle against Boko Haram. But he did not do that because he has his own agenda – and that was to render the military incapable in the face of the Boko Haram threat. With the security apparatus in his hands, he got his way, especially with a president with no experience in military matters.

    To Jonathan, Dasuki was the all-in-all in security affairs. After all you cannot be National Security Adviser without taking charge of everything security, be it the military, police, intelligence service and para-military outfits. Dasuki ran a one-man show, sidelining Gusau and others, who he knew could stand up to him when the chips are down. With Jonathan’s support, he did what he liked and got away with it. Having pocketed the Defence and Service chiefs, Dasuki operated an outfit, which main task was to take control of public funds and distribute to those he and Jonathan thought should benefit. Politicians, phony businessmen, marabouts and the media , among others, benefited from the looted funds, which Dasuki, according to former Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of Economy Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, collected to prosecute the Boko Haram war. Did he? Obviously, he did not; otherwise, Boko Haram would not have run circles round the military throughout the Jonathan years.

    Following the receipt of about $322 million Abacha loot, Mrs Okonjo-Iweala said, ‘’the NSA made a case for using the returned funds for urgent security operations since, he noted, there cannot be any development without peace and security. Based on this, a decision was taken to deploy about $322 million for the military operations, while the expected $700 million would be applied for development programmes as originally conceived’’. As coordinating minister of economy, Mrs Okonjo-Iweala owed it a duty to ensure that the recovered loot was judiciously spent, but she did not, preferring to pass the buck to Jonathan because as the commander-in-chief of the armed forces security matters fell under his purview.

    Hear her : ‘’The NSA is to account for the spending to the president, who is the commander-in-chief, given the fact that the Minister of Finance is not part of the security architecture and does not participate in the Security Council’’. She failed in her duty for not insisting that due process be followed in the processing of the money. For one, the money was not captured in the Federation Account as stipulated by the Constitution. Second, it was not appropriated for by the National Assembly. Jonathan, Dasuki and Mrs Okonjo-Iweala, on their own, just decided what to do with public funds without recourse to constitutional provision. Yet, they  swore to uphold the Constitution when they took office.

    Mrs Okonjo-Iweala is as guilty as Jonathan and Dasuki on that score. This is not trial by media; it is merely stating the facts as they are. Our leaders like to act with impunity and nothing reflects this arbitrariness more than the way the trio of Jonathan, Dasuki and Mrs Okonjo-Iweala handled the Abacha loot. Their action smacks of cruelty to Nigerians. Little wonder that activist lawyer Femi FalanA (SAN) is talking of taking them before the International Criminal Court (ICC) for offences against humanity. Their wickedness reflects in those officers and men who lost their lives in the terror war and in the thousands of others killed or maimed or now staying in Displaced Persons’ Camps (IDPs).

    Yet, immediate past Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh had the temerity to say at a Security, Media  Summit held in Abuja in October, last year by ONSA  that ‘’when we took oath to become soldiers, we didn’t say there was anything like constitutional immunity; your own is to first obey. We took oath to defend Nigeria with everything that we have’’. The question that Badeh and his ilk should ask themselves is what did the military provide for these soldiers to defend the territorial integrity of their country? Were they given the equipment to fight and still fled from Boko Haram? Badeh was just given a dog a bad name in order to hang it. He knew where to direct his complaint, but he could not do so because he was hands in glove with his NSA.

    What Dasuki and others did to their country is sad. They abused the people’s trust and they should be made to pay the price for their action to deter others. Dasuki has said he did all he did with Jonathan’s approval. I do not doubt him, but when he sees Jonathan face to face can he confront him with that fact?

  • PDP’s infamy, admission of failure

    In its desperation to hold on to power at all cost, the People Democratic Party (PDP) has suddenly thrown all caution to the wind. All of a sudden, decorum no longer means anything to the party and its leaders. An inordinate obsession for power has abruptly turned a ruling party into a shameless propaganda machine that is churning out series of lies in inconceivable fashion every minute. Lubricating the propaganda engine of the party is no other than a queer personality who, in saner climes, should be behind the bars over graft matters.  That the PDP could even make such a dubious character the rallying point of its presidential campaign propaganda mechanism speaks volume of the party’s make up. Without a doubt, the PDP is on the verge of self-destruct and the colossal fall of the phony “biggest political party in Africa” is imminent.

    It is rather strange how a ruling party, that is supposed to have the edge in a political contest if it had performed well in terms of delivery of visible dividends of democracy for the citizenry, has chosen, rather barefacedly, to resort to propaganda. A ruling party in a normal setting will go into election on the strength of its kept promises, showcasing its people-oriented programmes and meeting the visible testimonies from the people whose lives have been touched and their welfare needs met by the government. Unfortunately, this is not so with the clueless government of Goodluck Jonathan as it cannot point to anything as achievement since 2011 other than a dismally performing economy, a naira that is almost becoming worthless, the over 13,000 innocent lives lost to Boko Haram, a criminally high level impunity, hi-tech corruption and kleptomania of a high degree as well as kidnapping that has reached an inexplicable degree. Ironically, this is the same party that was initially talking about issue-based political campaigns.

    Unfortunately, for the PDP, lies and distortions is a lifeline for a brazen party that wants to cling on to power by all means. So, while the electorates were expecting to hear from the PDP what it has done to improve the economy, stabilise power, create jobs, stem corruption, advance education, upgrade infrastructure and beef up security, the party has chosen to play to the gallery by celebrating frivolities. It has resorted to character assassination and mudslinging as high point of its campaign strategy. Thus, if it is not about Buhari’s age today, it is either about his health, certificate, complexion, height, wife or his children the next day. The demonization of Buhari and other APC leaders have so much become the sole campaign manifesto and agenda of the PDP that the people are already getting tired of it.

    While flagging off his re-election bid campaign at the Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos, President Jonathan took the demonization of Buhari to a ridiculous  height when he claimed that his administration could not win the war against Boko Haram because General Buhari did not buy ammunitions for the military while the latter was in power way back 1985. Unknown to the President and his gang of hypocrites, they were merely making a mockery of themselves because what readily came to the minds of men with lucid thoughts is why the President should think of winning  a 2015 combat with the weapons bought in 1985! This asymmetrical line of reasoning from the President clearly explains why the nation has been heading in the wrong direction since he came into office. It speaks so much of the sterility of the minds that have unfortunately been saddled with the highly demanding and daunting task of providing seasoned and reasoned leadership for the country.

    Naively, the more the PDP attempts to batter and disparage the All Peoples’ Congress, APC, the more it exposes itself to sickening public ridicule. For instance, as the party appears to have given up on Buhari and devised another cruel campaign against the person of Professsor Yemi Osinbajo, his running mate, who Femi Fani- Kayode, the basket mouth of the party who, strangely alleged to have swore to an oath with Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu to resign from office after six months, it got condemnation from the people who could not imagine how it suits Femi Fani-Kayode to thrive on ignoble ways. The desperate PDP has left that now to concentrated much energy on frontal attack on Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, who it  now disparages in a documentary which PDP’s television station, AIT broadcast last week to portray the APC national leader in bad light.  Unfortunately, this callous attempt has not, in any way, affected the profile of Asiwaju who is leading Nigerians to have the desired change and give the country the long awaited freedom this month.

    As at now, many parts of the country have started experiencing fuel scarcity. As if it is not disgusting enough that an oil producing nation of Nigeria’s profile is importing petroleum products into the country at huge cost, the clueless PDP- led government, in its characteristic lame duck style of buck passing, said, through Alhaji Adamu Muazu, the national chairman of PDP, that it is the opposition that is responsible for the fuel scarcity being experienced in the country.

    The joke around town now is that if it doesn’t rain for some time in the country, the opposition must be the ones behind it. Regrettably for Muazu and his apparently senile co-travelers, however, the Petroleum Products Price Regulatory Agency, PPPRA, has come out to tell Nigerians that the devaluation of the naira by the Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN) is the real reason for the current fuel crisis. Certainly, the PDP is an assembly of confused and illogical minds who are toying with the destiny of our great country and who must be voted out so the country can progress.

    Hypocrisy and double-speak have become the hallmark of the PDP. It is the worst case of double standard for the PDP to question the basis for General Buhari’s recent appearance at the Chatham House, London, when the same platform was used a few weeks back by the administration, when the National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, first gave a hint of the postponement of the general elections. For the hypocritical PDP, it is alright for Dasuki to be at the Chatham House, a globally respected platform where statesmen speak on vital national and international issues, but it suddenly becomes an improper platform because Buhari is involved. The pointless eruption of the PDP and its propaganda machine against Buhari’s outing in London is exactly the kind of reaction that has turned the party and its leaders into a bunch of clowns across the world.

    The truth of the matter is that Nigerians are not in any way swayed by the PDP’s tissue of lies and propaganda against Buhari and the APC. They are quite aware that it is the trademark of the failed and unaccepted PDP led government. Nigerians recognize that the PDP’S resort to bankrolling clearly defective propaganda against leaders of the APC is an indirect way of admitting that it has failed the country, but are concerned about the desperation that the PDP and the Lords in Abuja are putting into this election. The way they have been going about to put everything on the way of a free, fair and credible election clearly shows that they do not want Nigeria to continue to be when they are voted out. When a ruling party relies a great deal on propaganda as a major campaign selling point, one does not need to go to a great length before submitting that such a party has nothing to offer the people.

    The fact that the PDP–led government has been wasting public funds in broadcasting damaging information about the APC and its leaders as well as the recent hiring of people to protest during General Buhari’s recent appearance at the Chatham House in London are indications of how the country’s hard earned resources is being squandered by the dense and inept Jonathan administration.  As it is now, the die is cast and there is no hiding place for these enemies of the people who want to perpetuate kleptomania,

    mediocrity, brigandage and lack of focus,  as imminent trouncing awaits them at the polls. You can postpone an election as much as you want but you cannot destroy the resolve of the people yearning for change.

    • Ibirogba is Honourable Commisioner for Information and Strategy, Lagos State
  • June 12 annulment: A calendar of infamy

    June 12 annulment: A calendar of infamy

    By the time Justice Bassey Ikpeme delivered her first pronouncement on the petition of the Association for Better Nigeria (ABN) on June 7, 1993, it was clear that the presidential election scheduled for the following Saturday, June 12, was headed for a debacle

    ABN, the shadowy but well-funded and highly-connected organisation that has in recent times emerged as a major vehicle for consummating military president Ibrahim Babangida’s hidden agenda, had gone to court to seek an injunction restraining the National Electoral Commission (NEC) from conducting the presidential election.

    Why?

    Because, as claimed by the wily and mercurial Arthur Nzeribe who never championed a cause without bringing it into disrepute, 25 million Nigerians do not want the election to hold. They want General Babangida to continue as president for four more years. The petition, Nzeribe claims, is backed by the signatures of those 25 million Nigerians.

    Justice Ikpeme, about whom little was known until that day, was impressed enough to order NEC Chairman Professor Humphrey Nwosu, Federal Attorney-General Clement Akpamgbo and President Babangida to appear before her the following Wednesday to show cause “why the election should not be stopped.” She reserves ruling till Thursday, June 10.

    That ruling, delivered in the dead of night, follows closely her pronouncement at the first hearing, her language is just as exorbitant, and her conduct just as heedless. The election must not hold, she rules, but NEC is free to ignore her order.

    For the next 16 hours or so, there is no clear indication that the election will hold. It is well past lunchtime on Friday, June 11, when NEC finally announces that the election will go on as scheduled, Justice Ikpeme and the ABN notwithstanding.

    The Federal Government’s affirmation that the election will hold comes indirectly, in response to a statement by the United States Information Service, in Lagos, to the effect that any postponement of the election would be “unacceptable to the U. S. Government.’’

    The elections hold on Saturday, June 12, as scheduled. Minor hitches are reported here and there, the type that can be expected even in the best-ordered poll. For the most part, NEC and everyone connected with the election gets high praise for a job superbly executed.

    By late Sunday, intimations of a grand sweep by the Muslim-Muslim ticket of Chief MKO Abiola and Babagana Kingibe, of the Social Democratic Party, are all over the place. By lunchtime on Monday, June 14, victory songs are in the air in the SDP. The NEC has authenticated the returns from 14 states, and returns from the remaining 16 states are being “collated.” It names a chief electoral officer, an indication that it is set to declare a winner. The National Republican Party (NRC) is putting the finishing touches to a statement conceding defeat and pledging to work with the SDP in the country’s best interest.

    By the next day, Tuesday, the NRC is singing a different tune, following a telephone call to its candidate, Bashir Tofa, from Aso Rock. The NRC, per Nduka Obaigbena, publisher of the defunct newsmagazine ThisWeek, who had made an unsuccessful run for the Senate from Delta State, the NRC charges that SDP candidate Chief Abiola had gone to vote on election day attired in a dress on which was embroidered a stallion, the party’s symbol, in breach of the electoral rules,.

    The penalty for such a breach, they hint darkly, is a huge fine or a two-year jail term, or both fine and imprisonment. They assert that the breach raises questions of “morality;” that the entire poll stood fatally tainted, and should therefore be voided.

    Meanwhile, NEC has stopped announcing results, while apparently continuing the “collating.” But the results from all except two of the 30 states are everywhere at home and abroad. For just N200, you could at Oshodi Bus Stop, in Lagos, purchase a set of documents detailing how Nigerians had voted ward by ward and precinct by precinct. They show unequivocally that Abiola has won a decisive sweep.

    Unencumbered by NEC’s order forbidding publication of “raw scores,” foreign correspondents covering the election had filed the results with their media back home. Even the national press has all but called the election. So, why all the fuss, especially when the results that had been authenticated tallied in virtually in every aspect with the figures earlier circulated in Nigeria and abroad?

    A clearer but more troubling picture emerges as the day progresses. Another high court in Abuja Federal Capital Territory, Justice Dahiru Saleh presiding, grants a petition by the ABN to stop further announcement of election returns. Attorney-General Akpamgbo orders NEC, first, to comply with this order, and second, to show cause why it should not be punished for discountenancing the order of Justice Ikpeme, aforementioned.

    The following day, Wednesday, June 16, the New Nigerian, wholly owned by the Federal Government, and the Daily Times, in which it holds controlling interest, come out with editorials expressing diametrically opposed views. The Daily Times hails the election results a “people’s triumph.” The New Nigerian denounces the entire poll and calls for its cancellation, even while proclaiming that it had been won by a “third party,” presumably the ABN.

    How so?

    Because, says the New Nigerian, the 25 million ABN members who did not vote outnumbered 2:1 the 13 million Nigerians who had voted.

    That day, NEC chairman Nwosu fails to address a scheduled press conference. Also missing action is NEC’s director of publicity, the voluble Tonnie Iredia. An assistant director, about whom little has been heard previously reads out a convoluted statement saying NEC would seek legal clarification of Justice Saleh’s clarification. It is being bruited that Nwosu has offered his resignation, to no avail.

    It comes to light the following day that Yakubu Abdul-Azeez, editor of the New Nigerian, has resigned over the editorial attributed to the paper and by implication to him. He is quoted as saying that he is quitting because he cannot continue to affix his imprint on a newspaper being used to pursue policies that can “lead to Nigeria’s disintegration.”

    Throughout all this, there has been no word from the Presidency, save a statement by Chief Press Secretary Onabule, to the effect that the Federal Government had in no way interfered with the election and that NEC had not complained of any difficulties.

    Everything stands still until Monday, June 21, when NEC rises from the stupor into which it had been lulled by the events of the previous week and files a petition before the Kaduna High Court against the ruling of Justice Ikpeme, a certified copy of which it has not been provided, and against the ruling of Justice Saleh. None of NEC’s officials is in circulation. Professor Nwosu is reported to be ill, with an undisclosed ailment. The appeal is scheduled to be heard two days later, on Wednesday.

    Just as NEC is filing its appeal, Justice Saleh who had barred NEC from announcing further results, swings back into action in Abuja and declares the presidential election of June 12 null and void and of no effect whatsoever, on the ground that it had been conducted in violation of a restraining order.

    The order under reference is Justice Ikpeme’s. She had issued it fully acknowledging that NEC was not obliged to heed it, since the court had no jurisdiction in the matter. Justice Saleh now says that since NEC had disregarded that order, the election is null and void.

    Two days later, on June 23, the Federal Government strikes a blow that leaves everyone practically breathless. It cancels the presidential election, suspends NEC, and repeals the law governing the final phase of the political transition programme that had been eight years in the making. By that singular move, it also terminates all court cases relating to the presidential election.

    The statement announcing these measures is not signed and not dated. Typed on plain paper, it was issued on behalf of the government by Nduka Irabor, press secretary to the Vice President, Admiral Augustus Aikhomu. The statement says the government has taken these sweeping measures to ensure that a judiciary that has been built on a sound and solid foundation is not “tarnished by the insatiable political desire of a few persons.”

    This stunning announcement comes a few hours before the National Defence and Security Council is scheduled to meet and deliberate on the crisis. Can it be that the Council had met earlier than scheduled, or is the announcement designed to present the Council with a fait accompli?

    The Council disperses only after a brief meeting, ostensibly for what Information Secretary Uche Chukwumerije calls “wider consultations.” It is to convene the next day.

    When it finally convenes, it members are reported to have taken far-reaching decisions on a new agenda that could include the appointment of a prime minister to serve along an unelected military president, formation of more political parties, and the un-banning of all those who had been kept in political purgatory during the transition. Field commanders, principal staff officers in military formations, and the police hierarchy, are to be briefed the next day, Friday, followed by a national broadcast by Babangida.

    Friday ends without the promised broadcast, which is now rescheduled for Saturday, June 26. But it does not take place at mid-day as the public has been led to believe, nor an hour after mid-day as announced in a revised schedule. It does not take place at 7 p.m. as rescheduled again.

    It takes place, finally, two hours later, at 9 p.m. Even more than the benumbing events of the previous 12 days, the content is beyond belief. It provides proof, were any still required, that the “hidden agenda” was not the invention of cynical commentators.

    The broadcast, a tissue of self-serving lies and fabrications and evasions and rationalizations, eviscerates the promise emblematized by June 12, that one nation might emerge at long last, from the plethora of nations inhabiting the Nigerian space, and it locks the country even more securely into a debacle.

    Its place is assured in Nigeria’s calendar of infamy. So also is the political and judicial debauchery of which it was the culmination.