The Nation Newspaper

Tag: leadership

  • ‘We have confidence in Ondo APC leadership’

    ‘We have confidence in Ondo APC leadership’

    Chairmen of  the 18 local government chapters of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State yesterday passed a vote of confidence on the state executive committee led by Isaac Kekemeke.

    The party leaders debunked various allegations levelled against the leadership of the party and appreciated the successes it recorded in the recent elections.

    A group, Political Youth Frontiers (PYF) had earlier condemned the alleged recalcitrant posture of Kekemeke which they claimed have deprived many members from contributing their inputs into the affairs of the party for its development.

    They particularly lamented that the leadership of the party shunned proceedings at the election petitions tribunal where some of its state Assembly candidates contested the election results.

    But the chairmen maintained that there is need to instill discipline in the party in view of recent happenings.

    Addressing reporters at the state office of the party in Akure, the chairman of Akoko North Local Government chapter of APC, Alhaji Rasheed Badmus said, “we need to correct the recent happenings where some members tend to indulge in some acts that tend to portray the party in bad light.”

    Badmus noted that all party members should realize that constituted authorities should be respected at all levels.

    He advised against the idea of groupings within the party, stressing that it should be discouraged where they exist.

    According to him, “APC is a big party with open arms to embrace and accomodate all entrants who should be encouraged to operate within the constitutional positions of the progressives party.

    Children and youths have been charged to justifiably appreciate the huge investments on them by their parents and the nation at large by excelling in all their endeavours.

  • How corruption, leadership hamper NDLEA’s drug war (1)

    How corruption, leadership hamper NDLEA’s drug war (1)

    In spite of mammoth arrests, seizures and convictions of drug peddlers, the battle against illicit drugs is far from being won, as the criminal market continues to grow, drawing profit and impetus for organised crime. After keeping a close tab on the agency for more than two years, Assistant Editor ADEKUNLE YUSUF reports that the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) requires an overhaul if it is to regain  its teeth to fight the drug war.

    It was in the wee hours – a time many residents were still asleep in an upscale housing estate in Akure, capital of Ondo State. Suddenly, a mild commotion erupted like an angry volcano, disrupting the tranquil sweetness of the night. In a gestapo-like manner, officials of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), apparently acting on a tip-off, swooped on a secret cannabis warehouse inside Shagari Housing Estate, spewing a shocking discovery that literally stole headlines. Many residents – who had their sleep abruptly cut short by the whoop of invading ‘warriors’ in 12  trucks – were shocked, as NDLEA operatives evacuated a staggering 34,030kg of cannabis with an estimated street value of N364 million from the criminal stockroom. Starting before the break of the dawn, the successful raid, which resulted in the single largest seizure of the illicit drug ever recorded in the state, lasted for more than eight hours that fateful Thursday, April 9, 2015.

    Basking in the euphoria of the exploits of his officials’ exploits, Ibrahim Abdul, NDLEA commander in Ondo State, boasted that his men would never rest on their oars until the state is rid of prohibited drugs. He named two arrested suspects, who he also paraded: God-day Chibuzor, 27, and Collins Nmor, 35, who are said to be cooling their heels in an NDLEA holding cell, assisting investigators in getting to the roots of the criminal network.

    “We began evacuation of the drug since 4 a.m. with 12 vehicles and the operation lasted over 12 hours. As we speak, three sensitive operations involving the destruction of cannabis plantation are going on simultaneously,” Abdul said.

    But that commendable feat was not an isolated case, as daily news reports are always awash with exploits of various states – drug seizures, arrests of suspected couriers, etc. More often than not, NDLEA officials in the various commands across the country risk their lives as they cross rivers, walk through valleys and ascend unwieldy mountains to access cannabis plantations. Because cannabis farmlands are usually tucked away in the far-flung corners of Nigeria’s vast forest reserves to escape the eagle eyes of ever-ready anti-narcotic operatives, their destruction operations are said to be quite cumbersome and hazardous – with dangers of predatory animals that populate the largely impenetrable jungles.

    That perhaps explains why NDLEA hardly raises eyebrows anytime the agency boasts that it has a superlative record in drug supply suppression index – in terms of size of drug farmlands destroyed, persons arrested and the quantity of drugs seized from couriers. As a matter of fact, in the last three and a half years, NDLEA has destroyed unprecedented hectares of cannabis farms and intercepted kilogrammes of narcotics, including cannabis, psychotropic substances, ephedrine, heroine, amphetamine, cocaine and methamphetamine. And with a staggering conviction statistics of 8,637 persons in five years – 1,509 in 2010; 1,491 in 2011; 1,718 in 2012; 1,865 in 2013 and 2,054 in 2014 – it will be difficult for any doubting Thomas to distrust NDLEA’s scorecard. “NDLEA has one of the highest criminal conviction scorecards among security agencies in the country. In line with our prosecution policy, all arrested drug traffickers are diligently prosecuted. Conviction is a top priority to us because it serves as a punishment to offenders while it also deters many from indulging in drug trafficking,” Ahmadu Giade, national chairman of the agency, bragged recently.

     

    Drugs, drugs everywhere!

    As alluring as the statistics on arrests, seizures and convictions are, they lie about the drug conundrum afflicting the country. Behind the façade of regular self-glorification headlines that cannot be tethered to reality is a country reeling under the pangs of a roaring drug business. From the north to the south, east to the west, there is proliferation of illegal drugs in all the dark and dank places in the country, as more and more people are losing their souls to destructive drugs, ranging from cannabis to heroin and cocaine etc. Although Nigeria used to be referred to as a drug transit nation, it is now fast becoming a haven for illicit drug manufacturers and consumers, with visible effects in major cities such as Kano, Lagos, Kaduna, Maiduguri, Port Harcourt, Onitsha, Owerri, Ibadan, among others, as people openly consume cannabis sativa (otherwise known locally as Indian Hemp), which is now commonly cultivated and consumed publicly in many parts of the country.

    Nigerians with criminal intents  regularly walk into the waiting arms of security operatives in many countries, with many drug barons and couriers alike falling for the guillotines, especially in nations where peddling in illicit substances attracts capital sentences.

    Last April, the world was jolted when Indonesia executed eight drug convicts, including four Nigerians – Jaminu Abashin, 41; Martin Anderson, 50; Okwudili Oyatanze, 41; and Sylvester Obiekwe, 42. The others were two Australians, one Brazilian and one Indonesian. Earlier in January, Indonesia also executed two Nigerians for similar offences, while eleven others are said to be on death row for drug offences. In China, Malaysia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Singapore and other countries where drug peddling attracts death verdict, hundreds of Nigerians have been reportedly executed in the last five years. A staggering number is said to be awaiting the hangmen for indulging in illegal drug businesses.

    Of course, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) used to label Nigeria in the 80s and 90s as a mere transit point for heroin and cocaine intended for markets in Europe, East Asia and North America, among other places. Besides Nigeria, other West African countries have also become veritable routes for smuggling large amounts of illicit drugs from South America into Europe and North America. Sadly, experts are worried lately that the new stark reality is that Nigeria is fast becoming a production ground for psychotropic substances, worsened by a drastic increase in the rate of drug abuse among the young segments of the population, since there is still large availability of these illicitly manufactured products despite enormous efforts by narcotics operatives to frustrate the drug market. Topping the chart of most drugs most abused in the country is cannabis, which is not only consumed massively in various forms, but is also widely grown distributed in many parts of Nigeria. Although the NDLEA flayed the report for not being scientific in its method of arriving at its conclusions, a recent UNODC World report fingered Nigeria as one of the countries with the highest use of illicit drugs in Africa. The same report also rated the country high, lauding it for having the highest seizure of cannabis in Africa.

     

    Operatives collude with barons, aid couriers

     As many homes are forced to wear the mourning clothes whenever their kith and kin play into the hands of public executioners in foreign lands, it hardly occurs to them that it is as a result of institutional failures in the country.

    Unknown to many Nigerians, friends and family relations who get caught abroad for indulging in criminal acts of drug trafficking are individuals who are at their wit’s end after the initial déjà vu for beating the security checks in the home country. Although NDLEA is always quick to deny it, discreet investigations have shown that it is increasingly common at the agency’s several commands for some bad eggs to collude with the criminals they are being paid to hunt and bring to book, giving them access to traffic in illicit drugs for a fee. As if the NDLEA is primed to be a house of scandals, some of unscrupulous operatives at the various ports of entry and exit have inculcated the treacherous habit of working in cahoots with drug criminals, seeking the merchants of death the same way a salesman looks out for customers to buy his wares because of the love for filthy lucre.

    Even if it is not a business that is transacted in the open, compromising narcotics control and policing is prevalent at the nation’s international airports and seat ports where officers that have been found most worthy by the agency leadership are expected to be posted. In fact, for every three arrests or seizures, it is disheartening that no fewer than ten will have been criminally aided to beat the security apparatus at most of Nigeria’s airports and seaports. Because the drug barons have evolved into a cartel with huge resources to grease the palms of willing operatives, the gates are easily flung open for easy passage, with each smart drug passenger parting with at least N1.5 million. As some corrupt operatives sometimes look the other way at the country’s entry and exit points to ensure safe passage for their partners in crime, some of their colleagues that man the various NDLEA commands in many states are not saints too, for it is becoming increasingly disturbing for the operatives to connive with criminals they are being paid to hound.

    But this is not unknown to NDLEA, as a few instances will suffice. In January last year, Ogun State command of the agency was alleged to be enmeshed in a scandal involving its commander. For allegedly tampering with exhibit money recovered from a drug baron in the state, Mohammed M. Mohammed was reportedly queried by the agency. As one of those in possession of one of the keys to the exhibit room, the commander allegedly broke into the room of the agency and stole exhibit money which were retrieved from drug barons and kept in the exhibit room. The amount he was alleged to have stolen was said to be in six digits. To forestall fraud and corruption, NDLEA encourages that the keys to the exhibit rooms are separately kept by three different personnel so that no single officer would have access to the room at any time. But Mohammed was said to be under intense financial pressure occasioned by the burial of his deceased mother. He was said to have needed money desperately and his relief was to break the exhibit room with his personal carpenter and made away with money recovered from drug barons in the state. The commander  fled to his country home for the burial of his mother. When the scam was leaked, Mohammed was contacted on phone concerning the fraud. In order to cover up, he allegedly sourced for funds immediately and deposited it in the account of another officer, identified as Saminu Sanni, who  withdrew the money at his Abeokuta bank and handed same to the exhibit keeper, Chuwang Bulus.

    Also last year, specifically in early August, many major national dailies feasted on acts of malfeasance involving some commanding officers of NDLEA in Ondo State who were alleged to be providing paid protection for drug barons in the state. When the dust raised by the scandal in Ondo was yet to settle, news of a bigger show of shame broke weeks later, as another set of drug cartel was unmasked in the agency’s command in Kaduna State. At the heart of this scandalous compromise were Mohammed Kaka Jibrin, the state commander, and Goddy Obainoke, assistant state commander in charge of operations and intelligence, as well as a coterie of other senior officers in the command who were alleged to be hobnobbing with drug barons for monetary gains. While it is widely believed even within the agency that mindboggling unprofessional practices are entrenched in the command, sources said luck ran out of these unpatriotic officers following a disagreement over the sharing of the loot and proceeds from recycled drugs after parties in the cartel felt cheated by the commander. Besides this, it was also discovered that the command was entangled in several unwholesome cases bordering on recycling of seized drugs and extortion of huge sums of money from arrested drug dealers in exchange for freedom. Scores of cases of arrests with considerable drug seizures, which were later compromised for huge monetary returns, were uncovered when the national headquarters of the agency beamed its searchlight into the scam.

    The ugly discoveries were said to be so overwhelming that Ahmadu Giade, NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive, who visited the command immediately, ordered the immediate detention of Suleiman El-Gandau, Isa Hayatou, Ikumelo Segun, and Alao Sulaimon Dawodu. He also directed the allegedly compromising commander and his deputy to hand over to Alabe Azinge Samuel, presumably to restore normalcy in the command and mitigate the condemnation that the incident might engender. Sadly for  Giade, some of the affected officers were alleged to be some of his favourites who had enjoyed unmerited special treatment under him.

    Another operative of the NDLEA who specialised in passing drug traffickers at the airport was arrested for abetting and aiding drug traffickers in June last year. Ibidayin Godwin, an operative attached to the command in Anambra State, was arrested at MMIA by fellow NDLEA officials. He allegedly abandoned his duty post in Anambra and flew to Lagos to pass a drug trafficker who was to use the MMIA to his destination. He was quickly picked up for allegedly aiding and abetting Adetoye Taiwo, a suspected drug trafficker, in smuggling 3kg of methamphetamine to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. But Ibidayin was not alone in the scam, for he reportedly fingered three others in his clandestine drug cartel: Taiwo Ososanya, Fatai Olawale Akera and Yusuf Olayemi Bankole. It was learnt some other senior colleagues were involved.

    To be continued.

  • For an ideal leadership

    For an ideal leadership

    Title: The Promise and Peril of Power
    Author : Soji Obebe
    Publishers: City Drum Ventures, Ibadan
    Reviewer: Edozie Udeze

    In The Promise and Peril of Power, Soji Obebe chronicles the reasons why many leaders in Africa and world-over, on assumption of office become tyrants and tin gods who end up terrorizing and traumatizing their citizens.  It is a booklet but it contains all the necessary ingredients that make it truly a treatise on political authority.  To him, there was the urgent need to write such a powerful and instructive booklet, letting readers see the fertility of being extremely wicked and abrasive while in office.

    He began thus: “Leadership with political power is transient”.  Even life itself in all its entirety is transient.  However, when entrusted with power, which is meant to be a guide towards making life and its circumstances good for the people, then a leader ought to use it well for the progress of the society.  Nevertheless, if you use this same power to oppress or hound and haunt the masses, sooner than later, you become good riddance to bad rubbish, “pleasantly forgotten and joyfully ignored,” so says the author.

    In essence, this booklet was done purposely to show leaders, men and women in positions of power and authority what power really entails.  It is a book meant to highlight the gains of good use of power in relation to the consequences or penalty of its misuse.  And even though power is sweet as espoused by Bertrand Russell, it is equally intoxicating.  “It is like a drug, the desire for which increases with habit and the quest for more acclaim.”

    Unfortunately, due to the intoxicating nature of power, those who have seized it even for the noblest and most desirable motives soon persuade themselves that there are indeed good reasons for not relinquishing it.  In Africa, for instance, the situations have been more worrisome and troubling with the likes of Emperor Bedel Bokasa of Central African Republic who rose to power on the crest of wickedness to torment his citizens.  His role saw the worst human enslavement and debasement in that part of Africa.

    So also was Field Marshal Idi Amin Dada of Uganda who became so swollen-headed that thousands of people lost their lives especially those who stood up to defend the common people.  Obebe situates his horrendous tenure this way.  “In the seventies, Idi Amin Dada, an uncouth and improperly tutored soldier, a glorified cannibal, gained power via a coup in Uganda.  He began to unleash a reign of terror on the land-locked nation of Uganda.  On this, two Ugandan journalists wrote: “three weeks after the take-over, seventy army officers and more than 2,000 men had died.  Within three months, 10,000 civilians had been slaughtered.  Indeed crocodiles basked beneath the Karume Falls Bridge, the Bridge of Blood, spanning  the River Nile…  For eight years the man they called the Black Hitler ruled over Uganda with unprecedented brutality.  Over these years, thousands upon thousands of innocent people had been murdered and tortured by Amin and his henchmen.”

    Others in his mould in Africa included Sergeant Samuel Doe of Liberia and Saddam Hussein of Iraq.  Close to them in Nigeria was General Ibrahim Babangida who ruled and plundered the nation’s huge and vast resources.  He was nicknamed Maradona, for he was indeed a good political dribbler who named himself, the evil genius.

    The author described Babangida this way: “His political philosophy could be summed up as lust to dribble.  He truly dribbled, hoodwinked and bamboozled Nigerians for eight years.  Eight years when he wasted the nation’s hard-earned petro-dollars on mindless and fruitless political engineering which he derailed by himself and his cohorts and advisers.  When he was in power, Babangida was more of a tin god.  He surrounded himself with intelligentsia to give his regime creditability, but then he went about doing what pleased him…”

    Sergeant Samuel Doe’s tenure was even worst, for, in the process he plunged Liberia into serious ethnic and internecine war that lasted for years and which also decimated the country.  Today Liberia has not recovered fully from the after effects of that pogrom and torment and torture.

    Obebe is saying, nonetheless, that leaders ought to be servants of the people.  He goes more biblical when he gave examples with Christ’s admonition to his apostles.  Whoever will be your leader will be the one that serves you.  Leadership in its truest sense is for service.  It is for the leader to see the numerous needs of the people and accede to them.  But a nation with a dictator is doomed.  “It is like casting one’s pearl before the swine… Gold ought to be sold to the person who knows its value.”  However, a good leader should know when there is good in what he does for the people.  His advisers should be able to give him sound advice to better the lot of the people; making them savour his leadership acumen and qualities.

    Invariably, no one truly knows the worth of a man until you entrust him with power.  “In Nigeria, the prayer of the people should be, let God give the country men who will be able to differentiate between the use and abuse of power.  Men who will be honest enough to admit it when their greed lure them to exceed the bounds of the power and trust reposed in them.  Indeed men who will remember always that political power, economic power, all powers, are ephemeral.  “No condition,” says the Zik of Africa, “is permanent.”  They should therefore do their best to use the authority they have for the joy and prosperity of many because to be in position of power is a rare privilege.”

  • Economic priorities, leadership and culture

    Before  leaving the US for Kenya,  his ancestral  home   this  week, US President  Barak  Obama  was  reported as telling some journalists  that he  would not relent on telling them in Kenya some home truths  he called ‘blunt talk‘on gay rights.  According   to him he  would  not  be intimidated in telling off anyone who  discriminates  on the basis of religion, race, sexual  orientation and  gender. Before  that however the Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta   elsewhere had  bluntly told Kenyans that the issue  of gay rights  was  not on the agenda of the US president’s  visit to  that  nation. Of  course  it is easy  to see why either president spoke with  finality on the visit.  This  is because  economic  priorities tied  to security  concerns far overwhelm  the mutual  suspicion  on gay rights during and after the visit.

    By  now   I  am  sure  the US  president must  have seen  the real  strength of the disdain for gay rights in nations he had selected  to visit  in Africa and those he had avoided on this particular visit.  The  Nigerian President Muhammadu  Buhari was shown in a CNN interview  with  Christiane  Amanpour joking  that he would like to see the American president visiting Nigeria  some time later and he would be sending a formal invitation to  that effect.  That however  did  not prevent our president from telling them in the US  that gay  rights and  homo  sexuality are alien to our values  and  culture  as a nation. Yet  Nigeria  is expecting  a lot from the  US in  terms  of economic  aid, military  hard ware, intelligence  and training to  fight  and eliminate  Boko  Haram which  is ravaging our North  East with  its brand of religion. One   which does  not respect human rights or the dictates  and  direction  of the established and well known  Islamic sects  and organization that have promoted their religion as one of peace  right  from its establishment. In  case  of any US  attempt to  misuse or misjudge  its  economic  assistance or aid we heard that the  Nigerian president told  an  audience  in the US in his last visit  that the US would  be aiding and  abetting  Boko  Haram,  if it withholds selling arms  to  Nigeria to  fight the murderous sect which is an  ally  of  Islamic  State  an enemy that the US  under President Barak  Obama  has sworn  to  destroy.

    Let  me now dwell  somewhat  on the perspective of Kenyans on the presidency of the US  leader as he visited their nation as well  of the of  Africans generally on the Obama presidency and its import  for Africans and their economic  progress  dur ing his tenure.  We  shall  also take    look at the oil theft  charge leveled  against  Ministers in the last Jonathan  administration by  our President as  well as the news  that the Buhari  Administration has not disbursed funds for the education  of militants  abroad  as agreed by the Yar Adua   under  the Amnesty  Agenda  and  pursued by the Jonathan Administration. In  the context  of today’s  topic  it is necessary to  highlight what  one sees as propelling the  Nigerian President and  his American   counterpart  in the various strategies  they have adopted in leading their two nations at this point in time in their  history.

    Starting with Kenya  it is a fact that Kenyans are proud  to host a son of a Kenyan who  has become the President of the most  powerful  nation on earth. That  is the stuff  of legend and  patriotism and  no one can take that away  from  Kenyans and their  nation. That  is heady passionate stuff  that  can  be satisfying  and exhilarating like good  African liquor. But  Kenya   also needs the US  under their  son  to help  in fighting the lethal,   militant  Somali  group Al  Shabaab  that has made Somalia a failed  state and  is trying to make the nations  bordering  Kenya  around the Horn of  Africa ungovernable.  The  Ethiopians  are helping in this regard  as Ethiopia is an ancient war faring nation while  Kenya’s only  military experience  was that of Mau Mau fighting the Colonialists to secure Kenya’s freedom under the leadership of  Jomo  Kenyatta, the  father  of Kenya’s present  president,  aptly  named  Uhuru    which  means freedom, by  his father, Kenya’s  first  president.

     President  Obama is visiting Ethiopia tomorrow  and would be the first  US  president to address the African  Union in that  nation.  He  would do that at the beautiful 20m dollars Head quarters  of the AU  donated by the  Chinese  who  are doing a lot to outpace the Americans in providing  economic  aid  to African  nations. Without asking  too many questions  and  creating  debilitating  conditionalities on  repayment terms and schedules like US  driven financial  and banking  institutions like  the World  Bank and  IMF which has milked Africa dry from such  inhuman financial  strategies.

    Kenya  of course is expecting a lot of aid in millions of dollars  from  the US to  fight Al  Shabaab  which is trying to carry  the  terror war  to the streets  of  Nairobi.  The  fact  that the US  has  deployed drones  to bomb and kill Al  Shabaab   leaders in the area showed that military  collaboration and cooperation  on security is a priority for both Kenya and the US at this point in time in spite of the blunt talk on both sides on irritable  even  though  unshakeable   culture  matters.

    It  is in this light that one should see the  reluctance  of the Buhari Adminstration  to continue  with the Amnesty Policy  of training militants from  the Niger  Delta  oil  Creeks. It  was a dubious policy at best to make state  funds available to train people blowing up the nations oil wealth. It  was a policy based on blackmail and sustained by choice  and convenience by the Jonathan Administration. It was a security problem deliberately transposed to an economic priority in a political culture that we had,   and still  have, which  does not  subscribe to the fraudulent dictum  that you  can  always  use a thief  to catch  a thief.  Anyway that policy  was bound to meet its Nemesis  the moment a person like  Muhammadu  Buhari  became the President of  Nigeria and that is what we are witnessing     right  now.

    The  word  blunt  has been bandied about a lot in this write up.  Yet no where is it more apt than when the Nigerian  President reportedly said that  ministers in the government of his predecessor were  oil  thieves  milking  about  one million barrels of oil a day. He  went on to promise to prosecute such ministers after blocking their  foreign  accounts in the US which was part of the economic aid expected  of the Americans. Which  must  have sent many potential oil  prisoners looking for  escape routes ever since  the presidential  disclosure from a president who  was a former  oil minister and certainly  knows what he is looking for and what  he has seen in the toxic oil waters  of economic  mismanagement in  Nigeria.

    Definitely  it can  not  be business as usual with the sort  of information in the files the Nigerian  president said  have  been put  on his table. He  does  not  need to plead for patience  as those asking for speed at the expense  of sight  must  have their  agenda . Anyway who told them a presidency  is a sprint event as in Athletics. It  is not.  As in politics, tenure is assured and  that is the ultimate  political consideration  to judge  and   time  an elected  president’s  legitimacy   and  performance  in any democracy and this cannot be  an exception as  time even  is on his side.

    Effectively  then the economic priorities  of the Buhari  Administration are emerging. The first is to use economic  intelligence  to identify the looters and their loot then go after them to cough out the ill gotten money which can be made available  for public use. The  second is to make sure  Nigerians are not destabilized  by the sudden removal  of oil subsidy which  can  make oil  unaffordable even  if available  and create predictable  social  violence that disrupt  social  cohesion  and   investment   in  the economy. The  third  is to create  an  environment that  makes corruption  unattractive and shameful as  discredited treasury  looters  are disgraced,  imprisoned   and  made to return their  loot.

     No  family  wants it name to be tarnished and the  average  Nigerian  family shies away from being labeled  with  the opprobrium  of theft.  In  all these  I   am  certain that justice will be served as this  was what this president assured Amanpour  on  CNN.  Definitely  the pursuit  of justice  in catching the oil thieves is one that the Vice  President, a professor of law,  Professor  Yemi  Osinbajo   is more  than capable in handling and  making sure  that justice, swift  and deterrent,  is served   to  the delight  and relief  of all  Nigerians. Again  long live the   Federal  Republic  of  Nigeria.

  • Bamidele hails Buhari’s intervention in NASS leadership crisis

    Bamidele hails Buhari’s intervention in NASS leadership crisis

    A former member of the House of Representatives, Mr. Opeyemi Bamidele, has hailed President Muhammadu Buhari for his intervention in the leadership crisis rocking the National Assembly among the All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmakers.

    Bamidele also praised Buhari for emphasising the need for all members of the APC to align with the doctrine of party supremacy.

    The former Chairman, House Committee on Legislative Budget and Research, said the President by placing himself under the authority of the APC, has automatically resolved the leadership crisis rocking the two chambers of the National Assembly.

    In a statement issued in Ado Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital on Saturday by his media aide, Ahmed Salami, Bamidele urged the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, to embrace what the leader of the party had demonstrated, in order to restore lasting peace to the party.

    He urged the duo to reciprocate the party’s gesture as communicated by its National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, that their elections stand recognised, even in the face of breaching the party’s directive to actualise their aspirations.

    Bamidele said, “What President Buhari demonstrated was a paradigm from the old order where a party was often being treated as an appendage of its powerful members. With this clear position, I believe the crisis in APC is over.

    “President Buhari promised Nigerians change and he has started demonstrating this by showing how a good party structure must be under an ideal democratic situation. The party supremacy is a global convention and Nigeria cannot be an exemption no matter how we perceive our style of politics.

    “I see no reason why members would continue to feud when the national leader of the party had made it clear that the positions of the party is incontestable and must be respected at all times.

    “The two factions must concede to each other. They must shift positions and concede where necessary in order not to blow away the party’s goodwill with Nigerians.”

  • Leadership tussle: CCC elders, Shepherds rally support for Olatoso

    Leadership tussle: CCC elders, Shepherds rally support for Olatoso

    Elders of the Celestial Church of Christ (CCC) have rallied  round their “unification”leader, Rev Olatoso Matthew Oshoffa, asking members to support him.

    They said Olatoso was “divinely ordained.”

    In a statement yesterday, Senior Evangelist Adeola Emmanuel and Senior Evangelist Johnson Olakunle, said the church could not move forward without a divinely anointed leader who will take it to another height.

    The statement reads: “Following the unfortunate judgment of the Ilaro High Court which terminated the leadership of our former Pastor, Reverend Emmanuel Oshoffa, our great church had been without headship and this is not healthy for the church.

    “Now that the Lord in His goodness has chosen a new leader for His church in the person of Reverend Olatoso Matthew Oshoffa, we should bury our differences and embrace him for the benefit of all.”

    The elders said God’s will must be done for the church to move forward, noting that in the last 12 years, it has not made progress.

    Rev Oshoffa has promised to, among others, build a cathedral at the church’s Imeko, Ogun State headquarter; saying the project will be completed in five years.

  • Saraki/Ekweremadu: Senate and its bi-partisan leadership

    Saraki/Ekweremadu: Senate and its bi-partisan leadership

    The emergence of a bi-partisan leadership at the Senate, headed by Dr. Bukola Saraki of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Ike Ekeremadu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as his deputy, took many Nigerians by storm because it is unprecedented in the current political dispensation. Assistant Editor ONYEDI OJIABOR examines the development and its implications on the polity. 

    The emergence of Dr. Bukola Saraki as the Senate President and Dr. Ike Ekweremadu as his deputy has continued to reverberate in the country. For the first time, the country woke up to the reality of a bi-partisan leadership in the Senate.

    But, what is the implication of the emerging scenario in the Senate? Some believe that the marriage of convenience in the Senate may not last because it is built on a quicksand. The Eight Senate was inaugurated on June 9, 2015, under questionable circumstances. In the days to come, a bitter power struggle between the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) might ensue on the floor of the Senate.

    On the other hand, this might be in the overall interest of the nation, according to some analysts, because in the process lawmakers in the Red Chamber may resort to building a broad consensus in carrying out its principal functions. This development, in their view, would strengthen the Senate and make it more people-oriented.

    No doubt, the debate for and against the bi-partisan leadership in the Senate will continue for quite a long time. The implications of the development, observers say, will soon unfold to make things clearer. A lot of things hitherto taken for granted and considered settled in the Senate may assume a different dimension.

    For instance, in the past, it was common for Senators belonging to the majority party to gather somewhere in a closet to rehearse the steps that will be taken to arrive at decisions on the floor of the Senate. Thus, they merely come to the floor of the Red Chamber to act the script. The new arrangement in the upper chamber may have foreclosed such compromised decisions. The meaning is that it will be difficult to ignore the opposition in the Senate for whatever reason.

    Again, in the past, whenever the ruling party is to hold its National Executive Council meeting, the Senate is usually held to ransom and forced to close. With the emergence of a Deputy President of the Senate from the opposition party, the Senate can decide to continue its sitting. Decisions taken at such sitting will be binding on the Senate if the issue of quorum was not raised.

    It should not also be forgotten that with the new arrangement in the Senate, the executive arm of government can no longer easily have its way on issues in which it has special interest, especially with the minority party now being part of the presiding officers.

    Besides, for the first time, the country is likely to witness robust, healthy and vigorous debates on the floor of the Senate. At the end of the day, issues are more likely to be decided on their merit. Decisions are likely to be enriched because the era of “carry go or bow and go” would be a thing of the past. This is likely to be the case, provided the opposition does not sell out.

    Observers say the fact that the majority and the minority parties are fairly matched is a healthy development. The APC, which is the majority party, has 59 senators, while the PDP, the minority party, has 49 senators. The implication, according to such observers, is that the upper legislative chamber may be very slow in arriving at decisions, due to divergence of personal and party interests. “Unless it is well managed, the divergence of interests may breed friction because the opposition with its large number of members and a presiding officer on its side may decide to challenge issues it is strongly opposed to,” an observer who wants to remain anonymous said.

    What is more, it is believed that the APC members in the chamber may remain largely divided because of the division created during the election of the key principal officers. The partnership between Saraki and PDP members within the chamber, observers say, is likely to prevail for a long time because the former Kwara State governor and his backers are likely to remain perpetually in fear of the APC majority who opposed his emergence.  Saraki is also likely to be in perpetual fear of PDP senators though majority of the opposition lawmakers supported him to emerge. The APC, insiders say, may have sued for peace and are now willing to bury the hatchet.

    But, the different caucuses within the ruling party will continue to habour mutual suspicion. It may prove difficult to manage and probably erase the suspicion. “Everything however depends on how Saraki will handle the explosive situation. If he is tactful, Saraki can ensure that the Senate behaves like a family where unnecessary partisanship on issues of national interest will largely be subdued. Former Senate President, David Mark, did it successfully where even APC Senators went to represent him at occasions,” the unnamed observer noted.

    Other observers say Saraki would have to perfect the art of blending opinions, do more of introspection on issues, regardless of his interests. Such observers argue that extreme political intrigues and unabridged inflicting of his views on matters of national interest may turn out to be Saraki’s undoing.

    Mark and Ekweremadu’s leadership of the Senate, although they belonged to the same party, brought stability to the upper chamber. Between 1999 and 2007, a period of eight years, the Senate had five different leaderships. But, between 2007 and 2015, another period of eight years, it had only one leadership with Senators Mark and Ekweremadu holding sway.

    Prior to the inauguration of the National Assembly, when senators within the APC were divided over the election of its key principal officers, it is instructive that some senators even within the ruling party were rooting for Ekweremdu’s return as Deputy President of the Senate.

    What was not clear then was whether he would agree to defect to the party to be able to clinch the position and whether the APC would accept to have a PDP man as Deputy Senate President, considering the fact that the opposition party has 49 seats in the chamber. The proponents of the above idea believe that Ekweremadu’s re-emergence will bring experience and stability in the handling of the affairs of the Senate and the country, irrespective of his political party.

    Ekweremadu has always been rated among the majority of his colleagues and various zonal caucuses as highly detribalized, humble, intelligent, and a straightforward personality.

    A public affairs analyst, Nicholas Ozor, who spoke about what the Saraki/Ekweremadu leadership portends for the Senate, insisted that the whole thing depends on the political and psychological temperament of Saraki and Ekweremadu and not necessarily about the party they belong to. Ozor said: “It will be foolhardy to believe that all APC senators would always support the proposals and bills brought by President Muhammadu Buhari to the floor of the Senate.

    “Individual, regional, ethnic, political and even religious interest would always play up. It is how the individual lawmakers are able to manage these interests and subdue them to national interest that will make the difference. For instance, if some of his public comments are anything to go by, it is safe to say that Ekweremadu favours a responsible opposition. For his widely published address to his constituents after the presidential and National Assembly polls, as well as his recent address at the PDP National Assembly members retreat in Port Harcourt, leaves no one in doubt that he places national interest above party interest. I don’t see someone with Ekweremadu’s kind of mindset working at cross purposes with any policy that would move the nation forward.”

    Ozor also cited the example of the PDP, which he described as both the ‘real’ opposition in parliament for the 16 years it held sway as majority in the National Assembly. He also explained how leadership of at least one chamber had always been at loggerheads with the executive arm for the 16 years even though they were of the same party.

    In the Enugu address, Ekweremadu said: “It needs to be reiterated, however, that the Southeast PDP and indeed Ndigbo have nothing against President Mohammadu Buhari as a person or against his incoming administration. We will work hand-in-hand with him in line with our regional agenda and the overall development of Nigeria. We will give him all the support to succeed because he was elected as the President of Nigeria, not president of the APC or any section of the country in particular”.

    Preaching constructive opposition in Port Harcourt, Ekweremdu had stated: “Let me quickly add that ours should not be an opposition that sees nothing good in any government action or policy. We should not engage in market square propaganda and destructive criticism that turn truth upside-down or tends to incite the citizenry against the government in power…. So, we must oppose responsibly and with patriotism. We must play by the rules and stick to verifiable facts. The PDP lawmakers in the 8th National Assembly should hold the ruling APC accountable on each of its campaign promises…. We should also provide policy alternatives, dissect every executive bills on its merit, and provide informed and energetic oversight of the executive to ensure that Nigerians are not cheated at any point in time. We should ensure that successive national budgets address national needs and that they do so equitably. We should only support the confirmation of appointments that meet competency test and comply with the principles of federal character and equal opportunity”.

    Ozor argued that what Senator Ekweremadu listed were what should ordinarily constitute the role of a legislator in a democracy, irrespective of whether he is in the opposition or majority party.

    In the same vein, an Ibadan-based political analyst, Zachaeus Adebayo, also insist that if the Benue and Plateau Houses of Assembly could work with the APC lawmakers as Speakers. Even though the PDP are in the majority in both houses, he saw no reason why the situation in the Senate should be different. His words: “The APC’s Hon. Terkimbi Ikyange was elected Speaker of a house where the PDP is in majority, while the PDP made do with only the Deputy Speakership position. Hon. James Okefe Ejembi. Ikyange beat PDP’s Hon Ucha to the Speakership position. In Plateau State, Hon. Peter Azi of the APC was also elected Speaker of the 24-member House of Assembly, whereas the PDP is in the majority with 13 seats. So, it is all about democracy in action. Much more depends on the readiness of the individuals in question to work.

    Some observers however contend that for Ekweremadu to continue to enjoy the support of a greater majority of the Senators, he should always be Deputy Senate President whenever he presides. He must not try to outshine Saraki at any point in time. By that, analysts say, the fear that PDP Senators may hijack the Senate will greatly be reduced.

    It is also the thinking in some political settings that Saraki, as unpredictable as he may be, needs to combine some level of political maturity and native intelligence to weather the storm stoked by the novelty of a bi-partisan leadership of the Senate.

    To most watchers, the political chessboard in the Eight Senate will not only be interesting, but will also remain unpredictable. A lot, they say, will depend on Saraki and Ekweremadu’s political sagacity. With some nibbling from within and outside the country’s political circles, Nigerians are likely to gain more from the Eight Senate.

  • Nigerian student in Canada wins leadership award

    Nigerian student in Canada wins leadership award

    A Nigerian student in Canada, David Ogunkanmi has won the Walter Murray Leadership Award at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada.

    David, the Arts and Science Representative between 2012 and 2013 and International Students Representative between 2013 2014, is the President of Global Peace Alliance of the University.

    He was awarded with the prestigious leadership award following the tireless but visionary leadership skills exhibited over time on campus and by extension, the community of Saskatchewan, a prairie province in Canada.

    David was said to suitably qualify for the award having proven to be someone whose activities have both affected the university and the whole community as a whole.

    Despite being in diaspora, he organized the ‘BringBackOurGirls Rally’ in the city hall at Saskatoon, being a voice for many voiceless immigrants and students as a whole.

    His network of friendship cuts across different races and backgrounds. He volunteers with the Peer Health Mentors and a trainer in the Bystander awareness campaign.

    He also served in the student council of the University as elected representative of the Arts and Science College with the highest number of students in the University of Saskatchewan, and also elected to represent the International students.

    Annually, his group on Campus brings together all people from various countries represented in the campus and the city as a whole together through a sing and dance event tagged – International Dance Party.

    The dance party is an event that usually pulls a lot of crowd to the campus. David also organized the Black History Awareness Day, an event that drew wide arrays of people not only in Saskatoon but in the whole of Saskatchewan bringing the whole English and French communities together.

    The well attended event that was declared open by the Mayor of the city, had the President of the University, the student union President and other student leaders in the university and other notable dignitaries from the campus and the city in attendance.

    The award is significant considering the fact that the President of the University, Walter Murray was the first President of the University of Saskatchewan and served in the capacity for 29 years (1908-1938). His legacy is therefore celebrated by honouring a student who has exhibited exemplary leadership within the University community and has contributed to creating a positive environment through leadership roles at the University of Saskatchewan.

    Winning the award has been described as a feat from a black man that is not common in the 108 years of the University 1908-2015.

    David’s picture stands gallantly in the hall of fame of the students’ tunnel.

  • Change, morality and leadership

    An  ordinary election to bring in a new leadership in Nigeria’s legislature after the 2015 elections has turned into an unbelievable fiasco on change management  or mismanagement and has created a nightmarish  watershed in Nigeria’s  politics as  we  know  it today. Our  June  9  2015   leadership  election  in our   hallowed  legislature has  become  a grim  reminder  of the AG Crisis  of 1962  culminating in the breaking  of legislators  heads as well  as the Speakers mace at the Western Region  House  of Assembly  then   in  Ibadan, now  in Oyo  State. At  stake then  was the struggle  for power  between AG leader Chief Obafemi  Awolowo  and his deputy  Chief S L A  Akintola, the  Premier  of the then western region who refused  to cede control  of the party  to  his leader  because the leader has gone  to the center in  Lagos  to become the Federal  Opposition leader. Incidentally the two leaders were mentioned in our new president’s Inaugural  address  as  a  source  of inspiration for  a new generation  of  Nigerians by  the president. However the  leadership elections in our senate on June 9  2015 surely  brought  back  dark  memories  of the 1962 AG Crisis  which  was  a lesson in betrayal, treachery, disloyalty and a break down of party  discipline  and solidarity. That  incident boomeranged into several  other crises leading to the civil war  and the subsequent  military  interventions  before  our return  to democracy  on May  29  1999.

    Ominously the elections of  the leaders  of the House of  Representatives  and the Senate last week was another lesson in treachery and perfidy and a slap  on the face for party  leadership and  discipline. The  only difference was that there was  no break down of law  and order in Abuja  as was the case in Ibadan and  more pointedly the  beneficiaries  of the betrayal  of their  colleagues  proceeded  to  administer with  dignified  calmness the oaths  of allegiance  on the new legislators in both  houses as required by law and decorum in the best tradition of the dictum – Done deed, Done  deal.  Nevertheless  no  one is deceived  that  the new leaders  have gotten away with  murder as  the APC  has announced that it will use due  process  to mete  out punishment to those  of its  members  who  are beneficiaries of the betrayal  of their  party  and its leadership in the nation’s  legislative  chambers in Abuja.

    The  legislative leadership elections have thrown up many issues  to be discussed  for  a  long time  in this nation. Some  of such issues will be tackled  today and some later. Surely  Nigerians are’ flabberwhelmed’  and ‘overgasted’ as Peter Pan or  Peter  Enahoro wrote in his hilarious book ‘How  to be a Nigerian’  Undoubtedly   fundamental  issues  come to the fore as to the mode, nature, character  and make up  of those we call leaders  in our present  political  dispensation. We  shall  identify  some  of these  issues for discussion today  and link  that up  with the new assignment the G7  has  given our new president who  has swiftly  congratulated  the new leadership  of the legislature  even though his party  leadership  and new legislators  were  said  to be waiting for him for  a meeting before they were knocked  out of voting and counted out of reckoning in voting in a new leadership  at our legislative  houses.  President  Muhammadu Buhari  has  been busy  of late holding meetings with leaders of the Lake  Chad  Basin Commission   nations to prepare a  bill  for the G7  on the needs of those nations in  their  fight against the terror of  Boko  Haram which  has  claimed  affinity with  ISIS  and  has qualified  for total elimination as an enemy of the G7, the  EU  and indeed that  of the civilized  world.

    But  again  let  us look at the  issues  that the controversial  legislative  elections generated. The  first is the disenfranchisement  of those legislators waiting to see the president. They lost their voting rights on two grounds.  They were  both absent and at best guilty of punctuality as they arrived later.  A  sort of closing the stable doors when the horses  of power have bolted or were  properly  harnessed  in their absence. The  opposition PDP  literally  elected the Senate  president as less than 10 APC  members were present  and the PDP  had over 40  in attendance as at voting time. Which  opens a new chapter in inter and intra party  relations in  Nigeria  especially  in our legislature  and   marks the beginning of a chain  of events   the end of which  no  one knows  as Chief  Anthony  Enahoro  once said  when he proposed Nigeria’s independence in the early  fifties.  There  is  also  the issue  of quorum which  was  used decidedly  and negatively as the 51 APC  senators never gave notice of a boycott and were not involved in any accident and their absence  should have generated concern given their number  and not good cheer and good  riddance as the Clerk  and the   Senators present seemed to have swiftly  and  readily  assumed.  A  clear  case  of mischief  and  fraudulent intent was established  by the speed and execution  of the leadership elections. As if speed  was more the essence  rather than the seriousness  of getting legislators present and available in their correct  numbers to fulfill  their legislative duties and obligations  for  which they  have been  duly elected.

    More  importantly the elections in the legislature bring out the issue  that change  cannot  be managed successfully  and that indeed change management  is an  oxymoron.  Like’ living death’, change  and  management  as  the experts have said  don’t go together. That  is what the  APC leadership  is discovering after  securing  the 2015  general  election on a platter  of change  only  to be short  changed and ambushed in the legislature by its own members. That  also  showed  the  paradox  of change  in that  it can  not  be managed but accepted  and  followed  as it can maul and  destroy  those who stand  in its decided  path to  stop  or forestall  it. The  legislative  election of June 9  has shown  that the die is cast between the APC leadership  and that of the legislature. Only  time will tell  which  the  futile   attempt  at change management  will  propel  or destroy.  Definitely  however  a new  political  culture evolved  from the last leadership elections  in our legislature and  we are taken aback  by its morality  and wait   for what it portends as it for now looks  like an ill wind that bodes  no good.

    With  regard  to the president’s  new assignment  for the G7  we wish  him  and the G7  every  success  in the new  collaboration.  We however  want to sound a note  of  warning and that is that there is no  free  lunch  nowadays especially  in the war on terrorism  and  in the return of the Cold  War between the US and  EU  on  one side  and    Russia  under  its  President  Vladmir  Putin  on  the other. Surely  the nations bordering the Sahel  need  help  to  fight Boko  Haram but  they  are more powerful in doing this  when  they  cooperate  amongst  themselves  as our president has blazed a trail in doing than in relying on foreign aid  and largesse  which  must have  a price.

    This  is because  for  now it is the US  priority  foreign  policy  to promote  same sex  marriage globally  and Ireland  a Catholic  nation  recently passed  a referendum approving same sex marriage. Indeed  in  Uganda the US cut aid  on the grounds  that the Ugandan parliament banned  same sex marriage just like Nigeria has also  done. These  are clear cultural and religious  issues that the US and  EU  nations  have said  are civil rights  which  do not make sense to  those  of us  in  this  part  of  the world. So  in  packaging the needs  of the Lake Chad Basin  nations  to the G7 our  president and  his  colleagues  from other nations  must  ask  for  the price  the  magnanimity  of the G 7 entails.  This  is to  ensure  that in fighting  and  defeating  Boko  Haram we do not cut our nose to spite our nose  and inadvertently give  more  ammunition for recruitment  and expansion  to  Boko  Haram  which has shown already  that   it has no respect for human rights or any  religious or  moral  values except  to spread its insane  form  of religion in bogus  caliphates.  Boko  Haram  must  be contained  but at no extravagant  and  prohibitive cost  to our collective sanity,   culture and religion in the entire Sahel or  indeed  the whole ECOWAS  area.

  • Buhari and challenge of leadership

    Social critic Olawole Oladeji writes on the need for President Muhammadu Buhari to reduce the cost of governance, block financial loopholes and wage war against graft in high places.

    The political landscape has put on a new look, following the inauguration of the All Progressives Congress-led Federal Government. The inauguration has effectively put an end to the 16-year reign of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which once called itself the Africa’s largest political party. APC is now the ruling and the dominant party. Although many did not see this coming, but it is now a reality that PDP, which many of its followers have vowed that it would be in power for 60 years is about to become an Opposition Party.

    Nigerians, home and abroad have high hopes and expectations about him and the leadership of the APC. It is not going to be an easy task for the President-elect. However, it must be put on record that Nigerians who came out on March 28, 2015 to cast their votes for Gen. Buhari (rtd)  were the ones that brought about the real change in government and not only the President-elect or the leadership of his Party, APC. They voted for him because they believed that his leadership would bring about positive changes in governance. Therefore, it must be clear that Nigerians would no doubt use the same approach they used in sending President Goodluck Jonathan and PDP out of power if the APC does not meet their expectations.

    However, it is gratifying to note that the APC has promised to be a governing party and not the ruling party as we have had under the PDP-led Federal Government. That in itself is a remarkable signpost of what to come. If indeed it would be a governing party, then it is safe that the incoming government takes a lesson from the fall of the PDP-led Federal Government, where the rulers lord themselves over the rest of us.

    To have a successful tenure as the President, Gen. Buhari (rtd)should come up with his set priorities. He should not set many targets for himself. He should simply choose what Nigerians want him to do, and what we want him to do is to put Nigeria in its rightful place.

    Nigerians would like to know how President Jonathan and his team spent government revenue under their watch. It is our right to know how the money was spent, and we would not accept anything less from the incoming administration. To achieve this task in a country like Nigeria where corruption has eaten deep into the fabric of her government, I would suggest thatthe President-elect should simply go through the books. For instance, the claim by a former Governor of the Central Bank, now Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II, that $20bn, that was supposed to be remitted by the NNPC to the federation account should be looked into, and those who are involved should be allowed to face the music. The N255m car scandal of the former aviation minister, now a senator-elect, Stella Oduah should be properly investigated. Although, she has already been indicted by the committee that was set up by President Goodluck Jonathan, yet the presidency is yet to take any decisive action on her.

    On the economy, Nigerians would like to know its true state. According to the British Member of Parliament (MP) and Shadow Secretary for international Development, Mr. Ivan Lewis, Nigeria is too rich for its people to live in ‘’extreme poverty’’ and deprivation. Butthe truth of the matter is that Nigeria is broke. Unfortunately, in an interview with CNN’s Richard Quest, the Nigeria’s Minister of Finance, Okonjo-Iweala, denied this by saying that the country is not broke despite the cash crunch currently being experienced.

    Thus, the President-elect must let Nigerians know their true status. Nigerians voted for him, and a lot of people died in the course of ensuring that they effected the real change in the nation’s economy.

    The President must cut deep all the excesses in government. There is no doubt that the cost of governance in Nigeria is not sustainable.Thus, we do not deserve a President who will continue with the status quo. Nigerians do not need forty two ministers and countless number of SAs in Buhari’s government. Thus, he should reduce the size of his cabinet. He should also implement the recommendations of the Oronsaye committee on restructuring of Federal Ministries, Agencies, parastatals and commissions.  The committee, while submitting its report on 16th April, 2012, said government would save over N862 billion between 2012 and 2015 if the recommendations of the committee were implemented. Unfortunately, President Goodluck Jonathan did not implement any of the recommendations made by the Committee.

    The President will need to look into the 25 percent of the recurrent expenditure of the Federal Government’s budget which is being allocated to the National Assembly of just 469 members every year. He should put the sensitivities, wishes and aspirations of Nigeriansin the front burner of his government. That is the only way he can earn the respect and confidence of the people.

    The President should alsoaddress the issue of oil subsidy. Despite the fact that price of oil has gone down at the international market, Nigerians are still buying oil at the same amount that they used to buy it before the price came down.

    Excesses like these have caused untold hardship to the common man who seems to bear the full wrath of the rotten government alone.

    Finally, the President-elect must ensure that he get his team right. We do not want ministers or technocrats who will not share the goals and aspirations of the common man. He should look at the pedigree, qualifications and makeups of people he wants to appoint. He must ensure that they are as conservative and radical as he himself is. He must also ensure that it is only those who appreciate and have genuine love for the country that are appointed as ministers in the coming administration.

    Governancemust wear a new look starting from May 29, 2015. It must be taken as a serious business and not the usual tea party. The welfare of the people should be the driving force of government policies and programmes.

    No doubt, if the President-elect can achieve these within the next four years of his administration, it will surely bring sanity back to the country. It will also restore our pride and dignity in the International community.  That is why we are all calling on Gen. Buhari (rtd) to Bring Us Hope And Restore our Integrity.

    OlawoleOladeji (Mr.)

    Staff Associate

    DAWN (Development Agenda for Western Nigeria) Commission

    Ibadan