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Tag: Lest we forget

  • Lest we forget

    Lest we forget

    In the light of debates over the quelling of the Benin Republic coup attempt, it occurred to me that Nigerians who are 40 years and below did not really experience military rule.

    So, while we can accuse those in the 50’s and above of denial or mischief, it is clear that a majority of Nigerians do not know what it meant to be under the jackboot men.

    Military rule ended in 1999, which means those who were born 26 years ago and now in their late 20’s were babies when the soldiers bullied us. If we add 14 years, it means those who were in their early teens then saw it. At that age, they looked but did not see.

    Read Also: Akinnadewo urges Christian, Nigerian leaders to deepen humanitarian efforts

    Unless you were 18, when General Abdulsalami handed over power, you did not realise what country was crawling under the soldiers, IBB and Abacha. If you are 40 or in your early 40’s, you did not see the banning of newspapers, you did not see jailing of dissenters, the slaughter of innocents.  You did not see the annulment of June 12 and how we fell into disarray, soldiers making laws and becoming laws themselves.

    You did not witness Abacha’s “ five fingers of a leprous hand” as Bola Ige described the five political parties who fell head over heels to make Abacha their presidential candidate. He crafted a mock republic of sycophants and lickspittles dedicated to the cult of one man. Good people were in hiding or on the run and bad one were peacocks on the streets.

    If he did not die, we might have had a life president.

    Men like Soyinka, General Akinrinade, Enahoro and now President Tinubu were wanted men by the junta around the world. Men like Adedibu, Wada Nas and Ebenezer Babatope, who was Awo’s super ally, became footloose sycophants of power. Fear and trembling took over the hearts of usually brave men.

     In fact, as Segun Adeniyi relates in his book, the last 100 Days of Abacha, on the very day Abacha died, Babatope was to be the lead speaker in a seminar on whether Abacha should succeed himself. Guess another man on the panel. Bashir Dalhatu, the chairman of Arewa  Consultative Forum (ACF). Retired army chief Buratai was one of Abacha’s honchos.

    Go figure. As they say in Warri, who no go, no know.

  • JAMB: Lest we forget

    Apologists of the old order at the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) are at it again, shuttling between the laughable to the ridiculous and ludicrous in presenting their own narrative of what is nationally recognised as Is-haq Oloyede’s miracle in the examination body.

    Specifically, if one may recap, within the first year of assumption of office, Professor Oloyede’s JAMB paid an unprecedented sum of N7.8billion into the federation account. His ’eminent’ predecessors had only struggled to remit a paltry N3million to N15million yearly to government. Speaking at the Policy Meeting of Tertiary Education Stakeholders at the Nigerian Judicial Institute, Abuja, shortly after the first lodgment of N5 billion by JAMB, the Minister of Education Mallam Adamu Adamu, said the amount was 400 times more than the agency had ever generated in its 40-year history.

    The payment shocked all and sundry, surpassing the wildest dreams of both the government and all watchers of the industry. Both the Minister of Education and his then  counterpart in the finance ministry, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, had hitherto set what they considered a target of N500 million, which was even optimistic and ambitious, judged by previous records.

    So far, over N15 billion has been paid into the federation account by JAMB. Already, Oloyede’s positive impact in the sector has resulted into almost 37 percent reduction of examination fees, from N5,000 to N3,500.

    Outside JAMB, Oloyede’s worthy example has led to the payment of almost N2 billion into the federation account by the National Education Council, NECO. The federal government has also reduced the NECO fees by 10 percent, from N11,500 to N9,850 all these to some however is no big deal.

    Quite unfortunately, a few Nigerians continue to dismiss Oloyede’s huge payments into the government purse as a product of the commercialisation of the examination body, and the resulting exploitation of hapless candidates. Some cite the payment of N1,500 for the changing of courses within an institution and N2,500 for change of institution as evidence of such charges that had boosted the revenue of the examination body.

    One must appreciate the effort of such critics whose sudden wake up from slumber must be appreciated in this new era, when JAMB, as a government agency, is returning generated funds into the federation account. But where were these critics in the years preceding this era, when JAMB was operating virtually at a loss due to non-remission of generated funds into the federation account even after charging the same fees? A little investigation into the past by them would have revealed to them that those amounts complained of were the same under Oloyede’s predecessors, yet they had contributed virtually nothing to the federation account. The new JAMB management has not increased the hitherto charged fees by a dime.

    In their indefensible mission, some of these critics even went to the extent of attempting to use a section of Nigerian students to articulate their cause. As it turned out, their evil intention was to frustrate a courageous effort by the Oloyede management to tackle another cankerworm in the nation’s tertiary education system, the late admission (regularisation) system. It is a system whereby a number of Nigerian institutions admit large numbers of unqualified and ineligible candidates through the backdoor. They are then presented at the end of their programmes for regularisation even when majority of these candidates are yet to address the defects in their entry qualifications, including the fundamental pre-requisite of credit in English and Mathematics. This system has been frowned at by the current JAMB management and concerted efforts have been made to stop it henceforth.

    Granted that Oloyede has been able to turn the fortunes of the agency around; returning over N7.8 billion into the national purse within the first year of his resumption, shall remain a big puzzle for students of public administration and public finance for a long time to come.

    No wonder, in quick response to the development, the federal government quickly set up an inquiry into the management of the agency by Oloyede’s eminent predecessors.

    Any honest observer would however recall that it was through the sanitisation of the entire JAMB system which came with Oloyede that it became possible for candidates to purchase the JAMB forms at the official rate of N5,000. Before his coming, getting the forms at that price was the exception rather than the rule, as hording of scratch cards was the order of events.

    One of the far-reaching measures taken by Oloyede was the scrapping of the scratch cards system for the purchase of JAMB admission forms. The scratch cards system had allowed unscrupulous officials and their collaborators to rob the agency of billions of Naira through duplication of cards and misappropriation of revenues. Above all, it facilitated a system where individuals or groups warehoused large quantities of forms which were then hoarded to create artificial scarcity, thereby pushing the cost up in multiple times.

    Oloyede opened up and democratised the procurement system to ensure direct access of candidates to JAMB forms. Instead of just one or two banks, multi-channels approach involving virtually all Nigerian banks and CBT centres and the use of POS was adopted.

    To stem the exploitation of candidates by owners of business centres, JAMB evolved a system whereby candidates can use their GSM numbers to create their profiles.

    Oloyede has also waged an unprecedented and very successful war against the massive exploitation of candidates by CBT centres, the so-called ‘miracle centres’ and tutorial operators, who had engaged in mindless exploitation of candidates in the past. For instance, in place of the approved N5,000, candidates obtained  forms at ‘miracle centres’ at N20,000. The so-called ‘VIP Candidates’ paid up to N200,000 to CBT centres just to allow someone in to assist the candidates to take the examinations.

    Judged by all standards, what has happened in JAMB in the past two years is a great joy and inspiration to all patriots and progressive-minded people that our country can still boast of men of immense competence and profound integrity.

    Any opinion contrary to this, is preposterous, a criminal justification and collaboration with the rot of the past.

    The choice before us therefore is between competence and incompetence; between open, transparent, and all-inclusive management and bad governance. Between visionary and transformational leadership and avaricious and corrupt leadership.

    Contrary to the opinion of the self-seeking advocates of hapless candidates, the Oloyede-led JAMB management has contributed more to the greatest good of candidates than anyone before them. Their all-time star performance, which must be celebrated by all lovers of the country, is central to the drastic reduction in the examination fees, almost 40 percent reduction in JAMB and 10 percent by NECO.

    The significant reduction in the cost of JAMB examinations and other measures he has adopted so far show that Oloyede is on the right side of history. This must be a source of concern for his self-appointed critics.

  • Lest we forget

    NOW that the great feast has ended and the faithful have returned to their normal routine, it is fit and proper to reopen those files that were temporarily closed as more exigent matters kept tumbling in. Being human, we tend to forget some of these important matters.

    Among the multitude that prayed for Nigeria’s unity and progress in far away Saudi Arabia were the very people who have been troubling Nigeria by their actions and inactions.  Leading businessmen and politicians, including some senators – God is really the most merciful – who have been at the forefront of the mindless battle that has kept the nation on the boil — I saw some of them on television.

    Why pray for Nigeria’s unity when you are at the centre of all that troubles our unity? Why not pray for humility and a sense of selflessness that every good leader must possess when you are so self-absorbed?

    Pardon the digression, dear reader. Now to those important matters that we may have forgotten.

    First, Leah Sharibu. The girl and 109 others were abducted by the terror group, Boko Haram, on February 19, 2018 from the Government Girls Technical Science College, Dapchi, Yobe State. She was 14 when she was abducted. In March, 104 of the girls were released. Left behind was Leah, who was said to have rejected freedom for the renunciation of her Christian faith.

    When her mother, Rebecca, learnt that Leah was still being held, she fainted. The distraught woman said: “To the Boko Haram, I have nothing to say other than that they should have pity on my only daughter and release her. It is not her fault that she is a Christian. I know that in this world, everyone chooses the path of faith he or she has chosen in worshipping God. There is no way one could be forced to do what he or she does not know. It is not possible.”

    The government says it is negotiating Leah’s release. When will she return home to the warm embrace of her traumatised parents? Are these Boko Haram elements true Moslems? If they are, as they claim, why won’t they consider the sacrifice and compassion symbolised by this season to let go of the poor girl, who has put a big stain on their banner of evil?

    Before Dapchi, there was Chibok. Many of the girls, who were snatched off their dormitories at night on April 14, 2014, remain in Boko Haram’s captivity. When will they be released?

    Abdulrasheed Maina (remember him?), head of the Presidential Task Team on Pensions Reforms (PTTPR), remains missing. He fled Nigeria in 2015 in the heat of allegations that N2b had been creamed off the huge pension fund. The Interpol was sent after Maina, the prime suspect. He returned to Nigeria mysteriously. He got reinstated into the civil service mysteriously by some mysterious officials.  Immigration claimed his itinerary was mysterious. The Head of Service said Maina’s return to the service was mysterious. The Finance ministry said his source of income was mysterious as his salary had been stopped. He must, by many accounts, be Nigeria’s most mysterious public servant.

    After his mysterious disappearance, Maina was declared wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). From nowhere, he spoke to the media, saying he had facts about who took what from the pension till.

    Maina remains missing. When will he and his collaborators be brought to justice?

    It will be one year on September 14 since soldiers stormed the palace in Afaraukwu Ibeku in Umuahia, Abia State to grab a prince, Independent Peoples of Biafra (IBOP) leader Nnamdi Kanu (no relation of the former soccer star Nwankwo Kanu, I am told). His supporters pelted the soldiers with stones. The soldiers were on parade as part of Operation Python Dance, which they launched against criminals in the Southeast.

    Kanu disappeared. Since then, he has not been seen or heard. Now, his community is gearing up for a legal war to retrieve their dearest prince. His ever restive supporters are accusing the military of holding him. A court is threatening to get his sureties arrested.

    Kanu had threatened to teach the military a lesson. In reply to Operation Python Dance, he proclaimed Operation David’s Dance – an allusion to the biblical battle between David and Goliath.   The air was thick with presentiments of war. Then, all went quiet as the IPOB chief quit the stage – no announcement and no celebration – in a manner that left many wondering about the strength of his character as a leader.

    Where is Kanu? Is the military keeping him? Is he somewhere overseas living it up while his supporters are left wandering like sheep without shepherd?

    He was powerful and strong, numbered among the few powers behind the throne. He had unfettered access to the seat of power and many courted his friendship. All that collapsed on the altar of greed and plain indiscretion when he allegedly issued a jumbo contract to a company in which he had interest. The N270m contract to clear weed in Adamawa State became Babachir Lawal’s Achilles heel and the biggest ever for such a job.

    The former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) got the push on October 30, 2017. He insists on his innocence, but the EFCC is investigating him amid calls for his trial.

    Will Lawal face trial?

    For two years, he was held incommunicado by the Department of State Services (DSS), blindfolded and tortured at will. Outside the dark, damp and drab DSS underground cell, the stupid argument on his trade – is he journalist or not? – went on. Now, Jones Abiri, publisher of “The Weekly Source”, a Bayelsa State tabloid, has been freed. He was a victim of the abuse of rights that was the hallmark of the DSS under Lawal Daura (may his type never head such a sensitive agency again), who was fired on August 7.

    Now, matters arising.

    Are heads of security agencies not accountable for their indiscretion while in office? Can’t they be made to  face the law for rights abuses they committed while being power-drunk? Shouldn’t they feel the hangover? Will Daura go in peace?

    By the way, when will Sambo Dasuki be allowed home on bail? When will Shiite leader Ibrahim El-ZakZaky and his wife be allowed to enjoy their bail?

    Since the shocking audio of the 2014 Ekiti State election, which then Governor Kayode Fayemi lost to then Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate Ayo Fayose (where in the world is His Excellency; still mending his broken neck and arms?), there has been no such a box office hit.

    Until, that is, the audio of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) sex-for-marks girl Monica (pronounced as spelled same way as Monica Lewinsky of  Bill Clinton’s era) Osagie’s conversation with randy Prof. Richard Akindele. The prof insisted on “doing it five times,” you remember? She felt that was not just much but too much.

    Akindele is facing the future with a bold face. Monica can’t get a job. A potential employer told her that he was not looking for a whistle-blower. Are we being fair to sexual assault victims? Who is afraid of hiring Monica? Who will help her?

    With the “pending” tray filled to the brim, we need to roll up our sleeves. Sadly, many in positions of trust have let down the people, even as they claim to be protecting us.

    A colleague has just told me of his opinion on the Chinese President’s comment on Nigeria.   “Chai shoi ting yang ten wong feng Nigeria Den Fung chooo Nigeria feng chan kin FCT Kong cho fungi choo 2019 feng chan kin Kong cho fungi chii chanchikki tirakitikata chincheng,” he said, quoting the respected leader.

    I agree completely because it is all in our interest.

     

    Multichoice and CPC

    A legal battle is on between Multichoice , the cable TV giant and the Consumer Protection Council (CPC), which is contesting the company’s right to increase its subscription rate. The court has ordered the company to stay action on the new rates until the determination of the substantive suit. Fine.

    In the court of public opinion, the matter has refused to go away. Everybody seems to be at peace with Multichoice’s service. The point of departure is the new rates regime. The company insists that it is pumping more cash into improving its services. Should it not reap the fruit of such investments?

    I do not think Multichoice should be punished for asking for a little more. This is a free market economy. We are not forced to hook onto the cable company and its programmes. That is the hard truth. Besides, the CPC is no price control board; it can’t fix prices of services over which it has no control .

    When my barber suddenly increased his price for a haircut that lasts barely 10 minutes all because he bought a new barber chair and a standing fan, I thought he had crossed the line; N1000 was too much for a balding man to pay. I moved to another barber.

    We often draw comparisons with other countries in matters of this nature. When cable television prices go up as they often do overseas, there is hardly a whimper let alone the uproar we see here. Ram prices have soared in this Sallah season. Why are buyers not protesting?

    CPC should not bite more than it can chew. Its job is to protect consumers against  defective products and shoddy services, not to fix prices. Multichoice should not get tired of explaining why its prices should rise to shows its customers that it cares.

    It will be interesting to see how the court will decide this matter.

  • PDP, the elephant in the room (Lest we forget)

    PDP, especially with one or two current APC leaders likely porting to join them, hoping thereby, to actualise their presidential illusions, would like us to forget where we are coming from.

    “Amazing loads and loads of stolen public funds in various currencies are being recovered and returned to government coffers. Thanks to the whistle- blower initiative, more and more disclosures about the hidden loots are being made to the relevant agencies. And unlike what obtained in the past, the big guns of society, hitherto untouchable, are being hauled to the law courts on account of fraudulent activities’ – Godwin Onyeacholem. 

    This is the second time I am having to quote Onyeacholem, first time being in the article: “What Does PDP Take Nigerians For?” (The Nation, 8 October, 2017). It is cited here today for its relevance to the topic.

    Towards its 9 December, 2017 convention, elements of the PDP from the south, jousting to emerge  chairman of the ‘ once upon a time’  political party,  are all out, traversing the country, campaigning for the lofty office . Many of them are feverishly reminding us about what a great party the PDP is,  and how, once back in power,  it would outperform President Muhammadu Buhari, and that is where they accept that Buhari is doing anything, at all, which is  rare. Their refrain, like that of their ‘village’ of nay- saying supporters, is that nothing is happening under the current government and that its promised change was nothing but a mere propagandist fluke. This obvious obfuscation is why it behoves us, as chroniclers of events, and history, especially given that we are a people of very short memory, to remind Nigerians of our recent history. This desideratum has become an urgency of now, indeed, something of a national emergency, since the PDP people are already  beginning to believe themselves; unexplainably waxing lyrical about what a great party they are, and what a fantastic government their ‘greatest rally in Africa’, ran during those better forgotten 16 years of the locust.

    While it would have suffice to merely list the mind boggling heists of that era,  calling special attention to the  escapades of two  of their most powerful and influential women who allegedly stole enough to  each own more than 50 properties spread  literally in all regions of the world, and preferring to, momentarily, forget the looted N2.1 billion arms money about which the former president is about being hauled to court as a witness, we would rather opt to press into service, the number two man in the Buhari administration, the respected Professor Yemi Osinbajo, to put into bold relief, where exactly the PDP, particularly during the six years of President Goodluck Jonathan, left our country. The Vice President was speaking at the recent Legislative Economic Summit, titled Legislative Framework for Economic Recovery and Sustainable Development.

    We would have to quote him at some length, indeed, throughout the piece.

    Declaring that Nigeria witnessed barefaced stealing, one that is unprecedented anywhere in the world and  a situation he alleged, caused the  economic recession Nigeria recently excited,  the Vice President  said that  between 2013 and 2015, with oil prices averaging about  $110 per barrel, and sometimes going as high as $150, the PDP government  still  contrived not only  to increase the national debt from N7.9B  to N12.1 trillion, it also shrank  external reserves from $45 billion to $28 billion as  at May 2015.  Under President Jonathan’s watch, he continued, there was a massive inflation of contract sums and other procurements which, he noted, made the cost of infrastructure necessary for development unaffordable, adding: “of course, we all know that there was very little, if any, investment in infrastructure and capital projects peaked at less than 11%”.

    We are not yet done with the Vice President who went further to say as follows: ”I don’t want to keep repeating some of the incredible things that happened a few weeks before the last elections: how large sums of money, first, a 100billion in cash, ostensibly for security, and then another $289million, also in cash, were paid out during the same period”. ”No country can survive that kind of unbridled waste and corruption. We must never forget that corruption is about the most outrageous cause of our economic decline. Aside barefaced stealing, he continued, the inflation of contracts and other procurements under that government ensured that the cost of infrastructure became absolu-tely unaffordable, explaining that if what we should have spent, building a 200km road ends up being spent on a 20 km road, there would be no way Nigeria can make progress but would, instead, run into an economic cul de sac, which indeed happened.

    Unfortunately, he went on: “In 2015, oil prices fell to as low as $28, at some point. But worse was that, in 2016 we lost almost a million barrels per day in oil production due to deliberate vandalisation and sabotage of oil facilities and pipelines. We thus lost about 60% of our revenues. We would yet have survived without going into a recession if we had savings. But we had debts, not savings. ”As economists would put it, we had no fiscal buffers to enable us employ a counter-cyclical approach. In other words, we lacked the savings to see us through the lean times”. These were the doings of a thoroughly rapacious party and government, now eager to have power back. God forbid.

    Why, he asked? Why did we have no savings, when so much money was being made? This is the elephant in the room”. And I wager, as you see from the title of the article, that PDP is that huge elephant.

    Let’s then hear Osinbajo on some elements of  the “change” which  the PDP people, and their supporters claim they can’t see, indicative, I suspect, of the fact  that some people obviously need to see their ophthalmologist. ”Today,” he explained, “we can say that despite the 60% or even more reduction in revenues from oil, we are bailing out the States and our capital expenditure  in 2016 alone was close to N1.3trillion, the highest ever in the Nigerian history. So with prudent management, h concluded, it is possible to do more with far less money”.

    I decided to quote the Vice President at length so nobody thinks the columnist is manufacturing stories since the opposition continues to characteristically deny things that are so self evident. Additionally, I did so to respond to those who dispute the otherwise obvious fact that President Jonathan it was, and certainly not his successor, who ran Nigeria into economic recession, a situation Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu recently described as a sinking hole.

    This timely alert to Nigerians is being sounded now, well ahead of PDP’s 9 December 2017 gathering when all manner of lies would be told to confuse Nigerians about who they really are, what a great party they have, and how they would give Nigerians “four square meals” daily, as if they were not in power for well over a decade.

    PDP, especially with one or two current APC leaders likely porting to join them, hoping thereby, to actualise their presidential illusions, would like us to forget where we are coming from. While their paid internet warriors would like to forever remind Nigerians of ‘grass gate’ and Mainagate, as if the latter was not originally their baby, mum would be word about their several scams, the last of them being the oil subsidy scam to which Nigeria lost trillions, most of which had since been traced  to the children of  two past PDP chairmen. They are, happily, already having their day in court, and long before the 2019 elections, many should be where exactly they belong.

    It could therefore not have surprised Nigerians when at their recent  special non elective national convention in Abuja, the Chairman of its Caretaker Committee, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, promised to “ give Nigerians money to save them from the unemployment, insecurity and hunger unleashed on them by the APC”, as if what a government does is share money. Never for them to come up with appropriate policies for anything, believing that all you have to do is throw money at problems. As indicated earlier on in this piece, when in 2019 they come offering to buy your votes, just know that money, being offered you, is your own looted money. But yet, throw it back at them and remind them that yes, that short memories Nigerians might have, but they had stolen far too much for you, the owners, not to know.  Tell them, without mincing words, that what the country needs is a consolidation of the ‘change’; the full achievement of which their unrestrained lootocracy during their stranglehold on the country, had hamstrung.

  • Rivers: Lest we forget (2)

    We are final not because we are infallible, rather we are infallible because we are final. Justices of this Court are human beings capable of erring. It will be short sighted arrogance not to accept this obvious truth— The late Justice Chukwudifu Oputa

    Seven days ago, the oracle eventually explained why Nyesom Wike will lead Rivers State for the next three years and three months. As I digested the reasons, I could not but remember Paul and Ogechi Adube. They are living examples of the evil that men did during the last general elections in Rivers. I thank God for their lives. They would have died on April 3, last year when men without brains stormed their home in ONELGA and killed their father, Christopher Adube and three of their siblings. They also killed their family driver and a family friend who was in their home when they came, dressed like soldiers, that evening. The bullets they pumped into 15-year-old Paul’s leg have ensured he is wheel-chair bound. The hot lead they released unto Ogechi’s legs have also seen rods inserted into her bones and because of this, she cannot fold her legs. You can imagine the pains of walking around with legs that feel like wood.

    Of the 12 children Adube had with his two wives, three were killed with him; two were left practically crippled and the others now live with shattered dreams. They are not sure of where the next meal will come from. Their father’s sin, I am made to understand, was his affiliation with the APC. His children’s sin was being born by him. The evil men applied the law of Moses forgetting that the coming of our lord Jesus Christ marked the end of that law, which encouraged taking out the father’s sin on the son or daughter.

    Paul and Ogechi will never forget. The Adubes and several others are not here to see the Rivers of today. But Ogechi, Paul and other victims of the violence before, during and after the polls are still here, with memories and pains of the bad times thrust on their dear state.

    The report of the Rivers Commission of Inquiry headed by the Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Prof. Chidi Odinkalu,  said a monthly average of 19 killings occurred in the state between November 2014 and April 2015.

    The Commission noted that of the 97 allegations of killings it received, 94 of them occurred between November 15, 2014, and April 11, last year.

    Odinkalu said: “This report reaffirms that no state or country should allow a repeat of such violence in the name of politics. It also shows how and why Rivers State and Nigeria must end impunity for political violence.

    “The evidence suggests a significant incidence of internal displacement resulted from political violence in many parts of Rivers State.

    “The Commission of Inquiry also received evidence which strongly suggested that sexual violence was part of the arsenal of political violence in some areas.

    “We met some of their survivors. There were children orphaned. The youngest we met was 9 months old when his father was killed in his presence. He was still breastfeeding.

    “We met young widows of political violence, as well as grand-mothers who had to bury their grand-sons killed in violence. Their stories deserve to be told and heard. They deserve justice as well as political leaders and security agencies that will protect their best interests.”

    For the oracle of the judiciary, the killings Odinkalu spoke about were “hearsay”.  May be the bodies of the victims would have convinced the seven-man panel of the court led by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mahmud Mohammed.

    In the wisdom of the justices, the evidence provided by security agencies — police, army and DSS officials — were hearsay and should not have made any impression on the tribunal and the Court of Appeal. One man’s meat, another’s poison, it sounds to me. So, since the court sees what the security agents said as hearsay, Dr. Dakuku Peterside and his party failed to discharge the burden of proof placed on them.

    The justices also said the tribunal and the Court of Appeal were wrong to have based their decisions on the petitioners’ claim that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officials’ failed to adhere to the commission’s manual, guidelines and directives on the exclusive use of the card reader for accreditation.

    The court raised another issue, which got me thinking. It said the tribunal denied Wike and his party, the right to fair hearing by allowing a wrong panel to deliver ruling on an application they filed, challenging the competence of the petition.

    Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, while giving reasons for the position she took in the lead judgment, held that it was wrong for Justice Suleiman Ambrosa, the later chairman of the tribunal, to have chaired the panel that delivered the ruling on the application by Wike and PDP when he was not the chairman when the application was argued. For the apex court, this alone was enough to throw away the whole case.

    Let me offer some background information here. As at the time the chairman of the tribunal was changed for reasons, I believe, will later come out in the open, the 180 days which the tribunal was given to sit and deliver judgment was almost out and as at that time, the hearing proper had not begun. Witnesses were still waiting to take their turn.

    Time had been wasted on issues such as whether or not it was right for the tribunal to be sitting in Abuja and the quest by the petitioners to have the election materials subjected to forensic examination. If the tribunal, whose chairman was the only one changed (other members who were in the panel from the beginning were still there), had started all over again, there would have been no time to hear the case. It would have died a technical death on the account that 180 days had lapsed.

    Before then, lawyers as usual had used all kinds of delay tactics to ensure time was wasted, all in the hope of ensuring the case died technically.

    Given the apex court’s position that one witness each ought to have been from each polling unit, I am afraid nobody can prove election fraud again. It is impossible for a petitioner to be able to achieve this. The lawyers on the defendants’ side always ensure there is no enough time to call them to the witness box. Rivers, for instance, has over 4,000 polling units. The petitioners had less than two weeks to call witnesses, who must also be cross-examined. I sincerely believe this cannot be done within the allotted time. I am afraid proving electoral fraud using the apex court’s model will be impossible.

    Looking at the reasons given by the apex court, I agree with my big brother, Olakunle Abimbola, that the implication of the judgment is akin to saying: “Go forth, electoral bandits. In the next bout of re-runs in Rivers and elsewhere, kill, maim, rape and raze!  It is perfectly legal!”

    I equally allign myself with another big brother and Managing Director of This Day, Eniola Bello, who wrote on Tuesday: “Bloody violence marked the governorship elections in Akwa Ibom and Rivers States, in the one to a lesser extent, and in the other to a greater degree.  Although Akwa Ibom’s Emmanuel and Rivers Nyesom Wike had their victories validated at the Supreme Court on technical grounds, to bring the God factor to election victories so stained with blood is turning the grandeur of righteousness on its head. God is a force of order, not of confusion and chaos. It is therefore curious for Oyedepo to conclude, as he did in his message at Uyo, that what was being celebrated “is the supreme hand of God in the affairs of men.” I would want to believe that all those wild thanksgiving services by our politicians, in the circumstance, do not, to use the words of Apostle Paul (Roman 16:18), ‘serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by sweet words and flattering speech deceive the mind of the simple.’”

    Another This Day columnist and former Editor, Olusegun Adeniyi, believes that the so-called elections that produced Governors Wike (Rivers) and Udom Emmanuel (Akwa Ibom) were not credible, no matter how many “thanksgiving” church services the duo hold. He observed yesterday: “Common sense and empirical observations suggest that there were no credible elections in Akwa Ibom and Rivers States and that Alex Otti won the majority votes in Abia State. The lower echelons of our court system even upheld these conclusions. But the Supreme Court, as the final arbiter on matters of law and legal justice in the land, obviously applied the more arcane technical legality by delivering judgements that, many would argue, do not advance the course of justice in our country.”

    May be we should take solace in another  point made by Adeniyi in his column yesterday: “We should also not lose sight of one fact. In most climes, the Supreme Court often weigh in on the side of order, especially in situations where justice could feed the ogre of violence and bloodshed and may cause more problems for the people. That then explains why those who sit at the apex court sometimes go beyond the law as was the case in the United States in Gore versus Bush.”

    I also agree with Prof Itse Sagay that the law should not be about technicalities and that justice, not judgment, should always prevail.

    My final take on this matter: Is the Supreme Court infallible? Is it wrong to criticise its decisions?  The learned ones have told me it is not. The late Justice Chukwudifu Oputa once said: “We are final not because we are infallible, rather we are infallible because we are final.” The implication of this statement is that the Supreme Court can err, but when it does its decision still remains final, except it reverses itself. So, we are bound by it. But we are not bound to keep quiet about the flipsides of its decisions.

    And to the aggrieved and the families of the about 100 people whose blood were spilled before and during this poll now sanctioned by the oracle, the only option is to wait for the bigger oracle in heaven. It shall be well with Rivers. Rivers shall sing and dance to the end of violence.

    •Concluded

     

  • Tinubu: Lest we forget

    Lionel Messi is the best football ever! This was the declaration of a 12 year old boy to his grandfather during the recently concluded 2014 football World Cup won by Germany. The grandfather took time to educate him about a former Brazilian player called Pele who made four world cup appearances, won three world cups, scored 12 World Cup goals and more than 1000 goals in his professional career. He then told him about the exploits of a former French player Fontaine in 1958 World Cup in Sweden where he scored 13 goals and about another legendary former Argentina Player called Diego Maradona, etc. The boy immediately recanted.

    Just like the great Obafemi Awolowo who was vilified by political opponents in the First Republic and eventually sent to prison on trumped up charges of treasonable felony, there appears to be a calculated and orchestrated attempt to distort history especially to post 1999 youngsters in Nigeria about Bola Tinubu, hence the need to set the records straight. Recall that while Awolowo was providing advanced and exemplary leadership for the unprecedented educational and economic development of the Western Region, his less endowed and less focused enemies were painting him black in the eyes of the people to score cheap political points.

    A brief research into the political career of Tinubu would therefore suffice. He was elected Senator to represent Lagos West Senatorial District in 1992. Thereafter when the military truncated Nigeria’s democracy after the June 12, 1993 elections which led to the death of M.K.O Abiola and his wife Kudirat, he fought doggedly with other democrats and suffered grave deprivations while taking sides with the oppressed people of this country. Together with other patriots, he fought gallantly to chase away the military despots.

    In 1999, he was elected Governor of Lagos State where he served till 2007. For those may have forgotten, traffic gridlock all round Lagos was partly caused by mountains of refuse which usually blocked half of all the existing roads. It was during Tinubu’s administration that the modernization and re-equipping of Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) that brought this eye sore to an end was carried out. He also introduced the Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) system to ease transportation difficulties of commuters.

    In the area of infrastructure, he embarked on massive road construction and dualization. They include Kudirat Abiola Road, Oregun, Ikeja, Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, Akin Adesola Road, Victoria Island, Ikotun – Igando Road, Yaba – Itire – Lawanson – Ojuelegba Road, LASU – Iba Road, Ojo. Others include Ajah-Badore Road Eti Osa; Oba Sekunmade Road, Ikorodu; Adetokunbo Ademola Road, Victoria Island. He undertook the modernization of six roads in the Central Business District and the historic Tinubu Square of Lagos Island to mention but a few.

    In the health sector, he upgraded the buildings and facilities at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) to international standards; expanded and rehabilitated old General Hospitals in Lagos, Gbagada, Epe, Isolo, Ikorodu, Badagry, Agege and the Island Maternity. He also built new General Hospitals in  Mushin, Shomolu, Ibeju Lekki and Isheri – Iba as well as upgrading of existing health centers to full fledged hospitals at Ijede, Ketu, Agbowa, Agege, etc.

    In the housing sector, he constructed 6,000 housing units such as Abraham Adesanya Estate, Ajah, Ibeshe Low Income Housing Scheme, Amuwo Odofin Housing Scheme, Oba Adeyinka Oyekan Estate, Lekki. Others are Anyagburen Phase II, Ojokoro Millennium Housing Scheme, Alagba Low Income Housing Scheme, Oke Eletu and Oko Oba Low Income Housing schemes amongst others. He constructed Micro Water Works at Onikan, Ikeja, Iwaya, Igando, Oworonsoki, Atan, Bariga, Isolo, Shomolu, Iponrin, etc.

    I am sure that most young people below the age of 25 years might not be aware of these giant strides by Tinubu and certainly many above 25 years might have started to forget. He constructed new High Courts, computerized them, enhanced the welfare of judicial officers and established the Office of the Public Defender (OPD) to provide free legal services to indigent persons and established the Citizen Mediation Centre as an alternative dispute resolution mechanism. Honestly, one would not have gone to the extent of highlighting these concrete achievements, but it is very disgusting when political failures try to confuse the people about genuine heroes like Tinubu who have been working tirelessly in the last 22 years to improve their lot.

    In the field of education, he introduced nursery education, built 14 new schools, 77 information technology centres in public primary and secondary schools in the state. He did not stop at that. He introduced introductory technology in secondary schools. There was massive construction of school furniture and equipping of the laboratories. The icing on the cake was the provision of free education in all public primary and secondary schools including payment of WAEC/NECO fees as well as all internal examination fees to ensure that indigent children did not drop out of school.

    I am sure that at this point many people looking back objectively at the facts would now begin to understand that all the propaganda directed against Tinubu are merely concocted to deceive the masses to their own waterloo. However there is an Igbo adage that says that in a village where there are no elders, children may mistake vultures for chickens. This writer’s intervention is only to set the records straight.

    There is no doubt that Tinubu has his own flip side, just like any other human being. He has been accused of dishing out political favours to anyone he likes to the chagrin of others who may feel left out. But on the whole, he is a committed democrat who is passionate about making the lives of people better. He displayed a keen seen of political sagacity when he groomed several leaders including Rauf Aregbesola and even a successor in the person of Babatunde Fashola. Fashola’s sterling achievement today is there for anybody to see as Lagos remains a pacesetter and a reference point in people oriented development.

    In conclusion, according to the sage Awolowo at the end of the 1958 Constitutional Conference, “In the years that lie ahead, those of us who have the good fortune to lead our people will need statesmanship of a high order and God’s guidance in managing the affairs of our country for the benefits of every Nigerian citizen”. Further according to Harry Truman, “Men make history and not the other way round. In periods where there is no leadership, society stands still. Progress occurs when courageous skillful leaders seize the opportunity to change things for the better. Certainly, Tinubu is one of those leaders Truman is talking about.  History shall be fair to him because available records have shown that he is an exceptional leader.

     

    • Njoku is a lawyer