The Nation Newspaper

Tag: needless

  • Needless secrecy over PMB’s health

    SIR: Despite being tagged as the most honest Nigerian with an unmatched integrity and incorruptibility, if President Muhammadu Buhari finds it difficult to be open and sincere to Nigerians who massively turned out to elect him into office by making public his state of health and challenge, then Nigeria is in a deeper mess than we all thought.

    It’s unfortunate that despite having in place the freedom of information law which allows and empowered every Nigerian to demand access to information, the populace have been continually kept in the dark of the health condition of their President.

    While in office as British Prime Ministers, Harold Wilson had colon cancer, Tony Blair was diagnosed with a heart disease, supra-ventricular trachycardia; Gordon Brown was diagnosed with an eye disease and even the current Prime Minister, Theressa May has recently been diagnosed of diabetes. Not only were the British told and rightly carried along about the ailments of their leaders, but the whole world was in the know.

    Former Presidents of the United States of America; John F.Kennedy had autoimmune polyendocrine syndrome while in office; Franklin Roosevelt had polio and Ronald Reagan was diagnosed of Alzheimer’s disease. None of these was kept a secret from American citizens and the whole world. Similarly, when former French President Fracoise Mitterrand was diagnosed of prostate cancer, he came out publicly to tell the world.

    The secrecy that has surrounded the health and medical vacation of the president is unnecessary, unfortunate and to say the least, embarrassing. Change should not only be about fighting corruption but total deviation from the way and manner things were done in the past. Leadership and common sense have not been applied so far as regards carrying Nigerians along about the health of the President.

    It’s true that President Buhari validly handed over power to his deputy to act on his behalf so that governance can continue in his absence; the fact that our tax is being used to foot his medical bills and other expenses gives us the right to ask questions and demand answers on what’s going on with our president. Nigerians has the right ro know.

     

    • Hussain Obaro,

    Lokoja, Kogi State.

  • Lawyers: Controversy over Buhari’s choice of words is needless

    Lawyers: Controversy over Buhari’s choice of words is needless

    To some critics, there is more to President Muhammadu’s Buhari’s letter to the National Assembly in which he refers to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo as coordinator of government’s affairs in his absence. But senior advocates, like Wole Olanipekun, Agbakoba, Yusuf Ali and others, feel otherwise. There is no controversy – Osinbajo’s acting presidency is automatic, write JOSEPH JIBUEZE, ROBERT EGBE and AUGUSTINE EHIKIOYA.

    What the law says Section 145(1) provides: “Whenever the President is proceeding on vacation or is otherwise unable to discharge the functions of his Office, he shall transmit a written declaration to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives to that effect, and until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, the Vice President shall perform the functions of the President as Acting President

    PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari’s letter dated May 8 to the National Assembly was his third since he took the reins of office on May 29, 2015. In all the letters, he had delegated Vice President Osinbajo to hold the forte.

    There was nowhere in any of the letters that Buhari deployed the words ‘Acting President’ while transferring power and authority to his deputy. Yet, none stoked controversy like the latest.

    Mr. Buhari had, through the letter read in both Chambers of the National Assembly on Tuesday, invoked Section 145(1) of the Constitution to notify the lawmakers of his medical trip to the United Kingdom. It was the third time such letter would be sent to the National since his inauguration two years ago.

    “While I am way, the Vice President will coordinate the affairs of government…”, Buhari wrote in the latest letter.

    Buhari’s choice of words sparked controversy because critics believe the President took a departure from the wordings of his previous letters on the same subject.

    On January 23, when he took a 10-day short vacation as part of his annual leave, Buhari wrote “…..while away, the Vice President will perform the functions of my office.” in his letter to Senate President Bukola Saraki.

    Last year, when he took a short medical vacation between June 6 -16, 2016, Buhari wrote “… while I am away, the Vice President will perform the functions of my office.”

    But when Buhari’s letter was read on the floor of the Red Chamber, Senator Mao Ohuabunwa hardly waited for the Senate President to conclude the reading before raising a Point of Order.

    The senator, representing Abia North District on the platform of the rival Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), noted that the Constitution had no provision for a “coordinating president or a coordinating vice president”.

    Ohuabunwa argued that the President’s letter to the Senate, the highest legislative body in the land, should be direct and unambiguous.

    He said in his Point of Order: “Mr. President (Senate), I don’t think in our Constitution, we have anything like ‘coordinating president or a coordinating vice president’.  It is either you are vice president and any letter should be unambiguous and very clear.

    “So, I am saying that this letter really does not convey anything because coordinating has no space or any place in our Constitution.”

    He was, however, countered by Senate Leader Ahmed Lawan, who said Buhari had done what was constitionally required of him – transmitting a letter to the National Assembly.

    Saraki toed Lawan’s line of argument and ruled Ohuabunwa out of order.

    If the May 8 memo was not Buhari’s first to the National Assembly, was Ohuabunwa and other senators, who feel the President’s choice of words were inappropriate, off duty on June 6 last year and on January 23? Why the fuss? Or some people are just crying more than the bereaved?

    In his response to a question on the issue on Twitter, the Acting President said Buhari handed over power to him before embarking on the trip to the United Kingdom.

    Tweeting via @benamaigwo, one Bernard Amaiguo had asked: “Mr. vice president, why did Mr President refuse to hand over the affairs of the country to you?”

    Osinbajo, in his response, said the President authorized him to act in his absence.

    Also yesterday, the Federal Government described the controversies as needless distractions.

    Speaking on the issue after the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting chaired by the Acting President, the Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism, Lai Mohammed, said that the controversies were needless.

    He said:  “?It’s a needless controversy, it’s just a distraction, the operating sentence is that in compliance of Section 145(1), any other word used is not relevant.”

    Senior lawyers described the controversies as needless. They said Osinbajo automatically became the Acting President once President Muhamadu Buhari transmitted a letter to the Senate in line with Section 145(1) of the 1999 Constitution.

    Besides, they said the President’s description of Osinbajo as the person to “coordinate activities of the government” does not vitiate the constitutional provision.

    To the lawyers, the wordings of the letter do not, in any way, affect Osinbajo’s authority as Acting President with full executive powers.

    Those who spoke include: former Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) presidents Chief Wole Olanipekun and Dr Olisa Agbakoba; Mallam Yusuf Ali; Prof Koyinsola Ajayi; Abiodun Owonikoko; Mike Ozekhome  – all Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANS) and activist-lawyer Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, as well as Lagos lawyer Clement Onwuenwunor.

    Olanipekun said there is no provision for the position of “Coordinating Officer/President/Vice-President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria” in the Constitution, adding that the letter was not properly drafted.

    “Prof Osinbajo is either addressed as Vice President or Acting President; and in the present circumstance, and not minding the crafting and language of President Buhari’s letter to the National Assembly, Prof. Osinbajo automatically assumed office as Acting President by constitutional imperatives.

    “He cannot be addressed as Coordinating Officer but as Acting President. Those who drafted this letter for President Buhari have not been fair to him or the nation,” Olanipekun said.

    To him, Osinbajo assumed the position of the Acting President based on what the constitution dictates, and based not on Buhari’s wishes.

    His words: “No special favour is being done to the Vice-President by the transmission of a letter by the President to the National Assembly under and by virtue of Section 145(1) of the Constitution, as that section is self-executory, meaning that on the transmission of a letter to the National Assembly, the Constitution employs the use of the word ‘shall’ to install the Vice-President as the Acting President.

    “It is a constitutional appointment which takes effect from the moment the President informed the National Assembly that he is proceeding on medical leave.

    “The words employed in President Buhari’s letter cannot derogate from or override the mandatory provision of section 145(1).

    “Apart from this, under and by virtue of section 142(1) of the Constitution, both the President and Vice-President contested on a joint and single ticket, which is inseparable.

    “Having said this, my reservation still lies in the fact that a good number of Nigerians still surprisingly hold on to the thinking that government and governance should be personalised, and that by alluding to ‘government of Nigeria’, they ignorantly zero in on individuals.

    “There cannot be any vacuum in government and governance anywhere in the world, and the Constitution also states this very clearly and unambiguously in Section 142(1).

    “To me, this should be the end of the discussion and debate; as there is a world of difference between a Coordinator and a constitutionally appointed Acting President”, Olanipekun said.

    Agbakoba said the “controversy” created by President Buhari’s choice of words was unnecessary.

    The one-tine MBA President said: “I am concerned by the unnecessary controversy. I believe it is a distraction by politicians. The nomenclature used by the President to describe his Vice President does not matter.

    “What matters to the average long suffering Nigerian is good governance.  Will the Acting President create jobs; provide water, roads, electricity, food, etc. This is what is important.”

    To Ali, the letter’s content has no importance.

    He said: “Once the President transmits a letter that he will be away, the Vice President by operation of Section 145 of the Constitution transmutes as Acting President ipso facto (by that very fact or act)!”

    Prof Ajayi said the President’s clear reference to Section 145 of the Constitution meant that authority had been transferred to Osinbajo to become the Acting President.

    “The Vice President is the Acting President,” he said.

    Owonikoko shared the same sentiment. The National Assembly, he added, was right to accept the letter.

    He said: “The National Assembly has accepted the letter. Since the President cited the relevant constitutional provision that he was invoking, the consequence is clear.

    “He doesn’t have to stipulate the consequence once he has expressly identified the section under which he was writing.

    “Even in law, once you make a legal opinion that is valid, that you cited the wrong law will not make it invalid. Besides, the President is not a lawyer, even though we expect that he would have consulted before that letter was sent.”

    Owonikoko also observed that President Buhari’s use of the word ‘coordinate’ in his letter to the National Assembly, showed inelegant draftsmanship, but that this did not stop the Vice President from assuming the office of Acting President.

    He said: “The only thing is that the inelegance of the letter is something to be avoided, because if not for the mature way that the National Assembly handled the matter, it could have led to more political unease in the country about whether the use of the word ‘coordinate’ is just like a caretaker that you can be giving directions.

    “So, I think it is a welcome development that the National Assembly took a very informed and mature view of even what appears to have been an inelegant way of drafting the letter.

    “But the right message is passed on and the Acting President is on ground to discharge his duties.”

    Ozekhome also praised the National Assembly for not over-flogging the issue.

    He said: “There is nothing like ‘Coordinator of National Affairs’ in our Constitution. That is a strange importation of an unknown term into our Constitution. Section 145 of the 1999 Constitution specifically refers to ‘Acting President’, who ‘shall perform the functions of the President as Acting President’ whenever “’he president is proceeding on vacation or is otherwise unable to discharge the functions of his office ‘.

    “President Buhari may have used the term jokingly, to represent one who is fully in charge in his absence. Certainly, it is not legally or constitutionally correct.

    “The National Assembly that has the sole prerogative to accept or reject the president’s letter under Section 145 of the Constitution can actually reject the letter from Mr President which referred to Osibanjo as ‘Coordinator of National Affairs’.

    “In that case, a needless constitutional crisis would have arisen, as a big vacuum in governance would have been created.

    “In my humble opinion, in these times that try our souls, task our patience and sap our energy, matters like this are better left to lie low,” he said.

    Onwuenwunor said the controversy could have been avoided if the President had paid attention to his choice of words.

    He said: “The words used by the President in transferring power to the Vice President through the Senate are very wrong. The words of the Constitution should have been used properly to avoid any controversy.

    “But, the Senate did the right thing by focusing on the constitutional provision and recognising Osinbajo as Acting President.”

    But, Adegboruwa believes Buhari’s description of Osinbajo was an impeachable offence.

    He said: “A coordinator is a person of equal status with others. So, the Vice President cannot make appointments or sack anybody while the President is away. He cannot discipline any erring minister. He is limited in policy decisions as a coordinator.

    “He has no power of control over the cabal to whom the president has handed over power, albeit illegally. In effect, Nigeria has no leader presently.

    “The existing office of the Vice President is no more. The constitutionally created office of Acting President has been circumscribed by the President. The President is away on an indefinite medical trip abroad.”

    According to him, the letter should have been rejected, saying: “The Senate lacks the power to pronounce Osinbajo as Acting President, without a written resolution of both chambers of the National Assembly, through a decision taken on the floor of both chambers.

    “The President cannot travel for medical checkup for an indefinite period of time. The National Assembly should reject the letter from the President. There is therefore a serious constitutional crisis.

    “Pro-government lawyers and activists, who have goaded the Buhari administration into dubious and reckless interpretations of the Constitution in the past, should be held responsible for the current crisis and all acts of impunity from Aso Villa.

    “In all, the National Assembly should commence impeachment proceedings against the President for gross misconduct.”

     

     

  • Needless comparisons

    Sports Minister Solomon Dalung enjoys controversies. He is easily excited when he comes before cameras. He loses control when he is swarmed by journalists’ microphones. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be entangled in this needless comparison of able-bodied athletes and the physically-challenged sportsmen and women participating at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. The Spartan fighting spirit is in every Nigerian, irrespective of his or her disciplines. It isn’t peculiar with sports.

    Indeed, given the Federal Government’s resolve to end of polio by 2020, we shouldn’t be talking about Nigerians at the Paralympics. Let somebody say a big “amen” to the prayer of a complete elimination of polio.  Most of these Paralympians don’t like their physically-challenged status. It shows in the zeal they bring into anything that they do. For them, there is ability in disability. It has also driven them to embrace sports and other activities that the able-bodied people can do. So, we shouldn’t abuse their sensibilities by this needless blame game.

    What Dalung should be telling us now is the government’s plan for the Paralympians when they return. The world isn’t surprised that Nigeria is doing well at the Paralympics. This is not the first time these magicians have outshone their able-bodied counterparts. It will, therefore, be wrong for any minister to bask in the euphoria of their feats, knowing too well that but for their feats in sports, not even Dalung knows how they keep themselves alive.

    It would shock Dalung how these physically-challenged sportsmen and women push themselves to earn a living. Dalung’s focus should be how to cater for them after the games. They must not be allowed to return to their squalor until another four years. Dalung should let them know how they can get their drugs. He must tell us what the government is doing to ensure they can put food on the table, aside ensuring that they train adequately for subsequent assignments. These physically-challenged athletes don’t want us to pity them. They want to live like everyone of us. So, Dalung must plead with President Muhammadu Buhari to institute a welfare package, which should include a workable insurance policy that will cover them. Dalung should tell us how the government wants to create jobs for them to make ends meet.

    These world champions shouldn’t be allowed to return to the motor parks as touts? Surprised? Don’t be. Just visit the front gate of the National Stadium, Sururlere, Lagos, after the games. You will find some of them holding court to collect their fees at the bus stop.

    It wouldn’t cost the minister anything to allocate offices to the Paralympics body. They should have a large hall where they can relax after each day’s training. Nigeria’s anthem was sung eight times in Rio, which means they are worthy ambassadors of this country, who shouldn’t be seen touting in motor parks.

    President Buhari should also assure these athletes by announcing big cash incentives to their sports federations to help them attend competitions which would help them to improve on their performance by 2020. This idea of the Sports Ministry abandoning these athletes until a few months to the next Paralympics isn’t good enough.

     Iheanacho, this is your life

    Pep Guardiola needs no introduction either as a player or a coach. He seems poised to earn more respect as a coach than as a player. Good to know he cut his teeth playing for his pet club Barcelona and producing young talented players who have dazzled the world with their sublime skills and soccer artistry.

    Guardiola was Emmanuel Amuneke’s captain at Barcelona. Little wonder pundits are not surprised with Amuneke’s rich coaching dossier, in spite of the fact that he won the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup for Nigeria as a coach. He was assistant to Garba Manu in the coaching crew that won the FIFA U-17 World Cup for this country in 2013.

    Amuneke had a bad patch with the Flying Eagles but that experience served as a learning curve for him. It is quite gratifying that Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) chieftains are retaining his services with the U-20 squad. But Amuneke isn’t the reason for this column.

    Guardiola is set to nurture Kelechi Iheanacho as the next Super Eagles striker. And the world is waiting with bated breath. Guardiola thinks Iheanacho can fit into Aguero’s shoes in Manchester City’s central attacking position. And the Nigerian has shown that Guardiola’s instincts are right.

    Many wondered who Guardiola would unleash on Manchester United last weekend in the Manchester derby, with Aguero out due to suspension. This puzzle troubled the Special One, Jose Mourinho, who told everyone that Manchester City were more dangerous without Aguero. Trust Mourinho and his antics. He factored that Iheanacho could replace Aguero, though he couldn’t place a bet on it, given Guardiola’s pedigree as one capable of doing many things.

    Therefore, Iheanacho’s choice as Aguero’s replacement may have shocked Mourinho, because he didn’t plan for the Nigerian as was evident with his assist to Kevin De Bruyne to score the first goal. And Iheanacho’s tapped goal into an unguarded net from a De Bruyne rebound.

    This is the first time Iheanacho has scored goals for City. He may have shocked himself last season when he took advantage of the few minutes he had as substitute to score goal that made an instant choice for Guardiola, who replaced Coach Manuel Pellegrini.

    With the way things are at Manchester City, Iheanacho is Guardiola’s replacement for Aguero. Can Iheanacho cope? He answered that question on Wednesday night when he replaced Aguero in the second half. He scored a sitter, his first in the UEFA Champions League, but City’s fourth on the night. Manchester City beat Borussia Monchengladbach 4-0.

    Are we expecting a fierce battle between Iheanacho and Aguero. Hmm… Aguero, you have a bad rival who could bench you. First, he is younger. Secondly, he is a Nigerian with the can-do spirit. But above all, Aguero is too injury-prone such that in his absence, Iheanacho could make the striker’s shirt his.

    Is there the likelihood of Guardiola pairing Iheanacho and Aguero in a twin attacking formation? I feel so strongly, but in all these permutations is my joy that Nigeria may have found a striker who can lead our charge for the sole qualification ticket in Group B for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

    Iheanacho, welcome to the most challenging period in your bourgeoning career, especially as a former World Cup champion at the U-17 level in 2013.  If Nigeria makes it to the Russia 2018 World Cup and Iheanacho plays, he would have justified FIFA’s mantra of using grassroots competitions to produce world class stars.

     Thank you Mikel

     The furore that accompanied the choice of John Mikel Obi as Nigeria’s torchbearer at the 2016 Olympic Games was deafening. Those against his choice wanted Segun Toriola. They argued that since it was his seventh Olympic Games, it was just appropriate to crown his efforts with that privilege.

    Good point, except that Mikel was Nigeria’s biggest athlete at the games. There are very few footballers in the world today who can point at their wardrobe of laurels having all the medals Mikel has inside his. Asking Mikel to captain Nigeria was the best decision taken, irrespective of his previous tantrums. Mikel’s feats placed him ahead of Toriola and he made amends of his past sins by the way he rescued Nigeria’s Olympic Games’ bronze medal achievement by splashing 30,000 pounds on the players, when the government abandoned them in Atlanta.

    Would Mikel have done that if he wasn’t Team Nigeria’s captain? He would because he was the soccer team’s captain, playing for a coach (Samson Siasia), who nurtured him to stardom. Besides, Mikel is also the Super Eagles captain, who knows how to get his cash back from chieftains of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), including the minister.

    I’m glad that Mikel didn’t disappoint those who picked him. He was exemplary in both his conduct and play during the Olympics. If Mikel doesn’t have a national award, then he rightly deserves one when the next list of awardees is being written.

    Talking about national awards, Nduka Odizor doesn’t have one too. He revealed early this year that a sports administrator asked him to part with some cash, if he wanted to have a national award.

    Dalung sir, please google Nduka Odizor’s achievements in sports and see if he isn’t better qualified than many of those who are awardees today. Our star Olympians, whether or not they won medals, should be honoured. It is the best way to show that their efforts are appreciated. Their kids would love to emulate them too.

     Sorry please, Onazi!

     Oguenyi Onazi should accept the fact that perhaps those beasts who raided his home in Jos didn’t know the landlord. I am not saying that what they did was right. If they were not under hard drugs, they would have seen on the walls inside the house Onazi’s picture and spared his family their tortuous moments when they raided the place last week. Thankfully, the police have fished out the bandits in Lagos while they were about selling off Onazi’s father’s Toyota Highlander jeep. It is sad that those who strive to reshape people’s perception of our great nation can be rewarded in this manner by these wicked souls.

    Onazi should consider this a mistake. The idiots claimed they attacked his father because he lives alone and assists no one. Please, also ignore their ‘threats’ because they have been caught. Good luck in your weekend match. Best wishes to your dad, who is out of the hospital. God has healed him already.

    Tears for Papilo’s mother

    Nwankwo Kanu says he is still in shock following the death of his mother last week. Who wouldn’t be? Most of us who have lost our mothers still rue their absence. This isn’t to say that our fathers are less important.

    Kanu, Mama has gone home to rest; no more worries and aches. She lived to see you achieve greatness. She train your siblings to be worthy kids. She has played her part and needs to rest, like we will all do some day, when Our Father in heaven calls us up.

    Good night Mama, you left behind a great son, who would continue to rock the world. Laa nk’oma (farewell) Mama.

  • Needless directive

    •The president should let NNPC and oil companies do their job as they deem fit

    If we had thought that the era of politics trumping geo-scientific considerations in the arcane world of oil exploration was gone with the past, last week’s reported directive by President Muhammadu Buhari to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to fast-track oil exploration in the North obviously shows how far the nation is yet to go in that regard. At a parley with the Bauchi State Governor, Mohammed Abubakar, in his office last week, the new Group Managing Director, NNPC, Dr. Maikanti Baru, reportedly informed his visitor of the president’s directive to the NNPC to fast-track oil exploration in the North.

    Said he: “We have exploration activities on the frontier basin; that is in the Chad; and also there are some areas close to the Kolmani River where Shell had made indicative discovery of hydrocarbons and Mr. President has directed me to go into that area to reprove and further explore the magnitude and prospects of those finds.

    “We are taking steps to get into those regions. We will reinvigorate the Frontier Exploration and see how they collaborate with the NNPC that is holding Block 809 where some of the finds have been found. We will also do the same at the DPR for the other blocks that have not been assigned, and work towards proving the prospects of that region.”

    The idea of the president seeking to fast- track the exploration of potential oil wells would ordinarily be in order, coming at a time the nation is in dire need to grow its oil reserves. Moreover, given the nation’s near total dependence on oil for its revenue, the bulk of which comes from the restive Niger Delta, extending exploration activities beyond the traditional boundaries, especially where those reserves are of proven commercial yield, has become particularly urgent.

    Beyond these, we understand that the case has long been made for exploration activities in the Chad Basin, particularly with neighbouring countries of Chad, Niger and Sudan, with similar structural settings with the Chad Basin making significant discoveries. Among these are those in Doba, Doseo and Bongor – in Chad with over two billion barrels (Bbbls) reserves; Logone Birni in Southern Chad and Northern Cameroun with over 100 Bbbls; and Termit-Agadem Basin in Niger with over 1Bbbls. Asides, it is equally known that the NNPC New Frontier Exploration Services Division has done a lot of preliminary work on the basin and the signs appear to be positive. Indeed, we recall that the immediate past administration actually sought to put together a comprehensive framework to drive the process.

    All of these, we must admit are on record. So, it is not entirely true to suggest that the president seeks to re-write the books. And we must not also admit that the president, being the de facto petroleum minister, would have more than a passing interest in the activities in the petroleum industry.

    Yet, a presidential directive in the circumstance would seem entirely needless.

    If we may ask: why was a similar directive not issued for other frontier sedimentary basins like Anambra, Bida, Gongola/Yola and those along the Middle/Lower Benue trough?

    Assuming it was truly issued by the president, why issue a directive that leaves little room for discretion by the national oil corporation, even if in the long run the realities on ground dictate an alternative course of action? Will the president as the directing authority bear the responsibility should things go wrong?

    On the whole, it is clear that the presidential order may be easily misconstrued, particularly at a time like this.

    As it is, the NNPC as indeed any interested exploration company should be allowed to do their jobs at the pace dictated by funding and other operational exigencies while the government restricts its role to either creating the conducive environment or supplying the tools to get the job done. That way, the operators can be held to account when things do not go as they should.

  • Needless summons

    Members of the House of Representatives have suddenly woken up to see that there is trouble in the house of football. Now that they have intervened in the crises orchestrated by those who want the organisation of the game to be under government lackeys, has anything changed? I laughed my heart out over the summons handed to Sports Minister Solomon Dalung and the President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Amaju Melvin Pinnick, to appear before the House’s sports committee in the House of Representatives over the leadership tussle at the Glasshouse when those recognised by the world soccer body’s last Annual Congress in Mexico.

    Ironically, the likely political resolution of the impasse will be a nullity for the simple reason that it amounts to interference by third parties, which is one of the things that FIFA frowns at. Besides, decisions from the meeting won’t be binding on those who may lose, if are they are the ones who emerged from a democratic process.

    I found the decision to put Chris Giwa on the list quite preposterous since Pinnick and his deputies were rubbing minds with FIFA and CAF chieftains, who run the game for the world body in their 210 affiliates. Giwa opted to seek redress in the courts and it is only proper to allow him get to the end of the matter than to cajole anyone to accept a political resolution to an exercise that had been decided through the ballot box.

    I’m miffed at the sudden realisation by the House that the fuss in the Glasshouse was remotely responsible for our ouster from the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations. Was this failed expedition happening for the first time? Wasn’t this intrigue responsible for Nigeria’s was elimination from the 2015 edition?

    Where were these emergency peacemakers when Giwa was stopped from seeing the Super Eagles on the pitch before a game inside the UJ Esuene Stadium in Calabar? Don’t the committee members know those they have been relating with since their inauguration? Don’t these members, some of whom have travelled with the country’s soccer teams, know that Giwa has no role to perform at the NFF?

    It appears that some people are benefitting from the meddlesomeness of busy bodies, such as the House, in an issue that has been decided. The legislators have a right to intervene in matters of national interest. But, shouldn’t they allow sleeping dogs lie after seeing Pinnick et al interface with their counterparts in the 210 countries under FIFA’s umbrella? If they were not the legitimate body, according to FIFA’s rules, they would have been excused out of the Congress and sanctions meted out to Nigeria, like it has been done to Republic of Benin, for a matter similar to ours. Benin is a soccer pariah today, because their football matter was taken to the court. Is this not what Giwa has done? Do we need a summons to know what is right? Must we always fail to learn from others’ mistakes, considering the Benin situation? The House must be told that the Giwa group wants Vice President and four other “juicy” posts as part of the political arrangement for peace. Foul – it won’t happen because FIFA rules are sacrosanct. Nobody forced Nigeria to belong to the body. We may as well renounce our membership of FIFA and see if anyone would invite us for a game. Nigeria is bigger than anyone. We have a right to use soccer to engage our youths, create employment for people and use the game to enable the citizens recreate to stay healthy. Soccer is played across a wider range of people than any other sport, hence its leadership status in terms of followership.

    Rather than repeat this fruitless exercise of having the minister and Pinnick face them like we have seen in the past, the House members ought to have waited for the opportunity of FIFA President’s proposed visit to Nigeria to ask the critical questions about the workings of the international body, in a bid to truly stop this laughable rituals which happen every four years, after elections.

    I’m excited that the FIFA president will meet President Muhammadu Buhari. I know that he will tell the President the dos and don’ts of the federation in unambiguous terms. The FIFA president will tell Buhari, who between Pinnick and Giwa, his body recognises. So, the House of Representatives’ men shouldn’t have beaten the gun with this needless summons.

    The truth must be told – the electoral rules allow dissatisfied people to seek justice. But, here we have a man occupying a seat through legitimate means and another struggling to unseat him through means forbidden by the custodians of the game’s rules. At the risk of repeating myself, if Nigeria doesn’t want to belong to FIFA, we should say so and join the league of banned countries, such as Benin (God forbid).

    Asking the minister and Pinnick to appear before them with Giwa attending was an insult to both institutions that they represent. Would it be fair for those who emerged through an election to lose their positions thorough political resolutions? Would you accept that, honourable members, if you are in these members’ position? What happens to those whose offices would be given to those who didn’t partake in the elections? Will they keep quiet?

    Nigerians would be excited to see Giwa’s members in a flawed election organised by FIFA, which is the body recognised to supervise its elections. Indeed, all Congresses, including the ones for elections, are recorded. Can Giwa show us the video of the election he wants us to believe he won? The Warri election was recorded and observed by FIFA chieftains, unlike the Abuja one which went ahead despite FIFA’s warning against it.

    If the House members want to be busy, they can organise a forum where stakeholders can rub minds to make the sports sector solvent through working relationships with the private sector. Nigeria’s preparation for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games is in quandary. We don’t have good structures where our athletes can train for major competitions. This problem predates what is happening now.

    I won’t be surprised if this committee initiates another summons to the minister after the Olympics, seeking to know why Nigeria returned from another Olympics without a medal. Just watch out.

     

    Why not Guus Hindink?

     

    Surprise, surprise, surprise! I heard that John Mikel Obi accepted to play in the central defence position for Chelsea without qualms. Mikel has played in that position thrice and did very well. Could that be Mikel’s best position in the twilight of his meteoric career? Have we forgotten the jabs thrown at former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho by most pundits that he destroyed Mikel’s attacking instincts by restricting the Nigerian’s playing area with the Blues?

    What has Guus Hindink seen in Mikel to necessitate this novel change in position for the Nigerian? Is Hindink’s decision not a justification of what Mourinho started? Should we not go for Hindink as the Eagles’ next manager, especially as the glory days of our football at that level has been with Dutch coaches? Our football needs this drastic change in personnel and positions in the Eagles’ formation, if we hope to excel at the 2018 World Cup slated to hold in Russia? We shouldn’t be scared of Hindink’s wages. We can employ him for one year and see how well the Eagles transform to become giant killers, not their present Super Chicken sobriquet. If Nigeria qualifies for the semi-finals at the Russia 2018 World Cup with Hindink, a lot will happen to the game to make the NFF self-financing, with the new dispensation at the Glasshouse.

    Hindink isn’t new to handling national teams. He knows how to breathe life into sinking teams by injecting younger players to rev up the team’s attacking forays. He will gladly accept the Nigerian job at the right price, knowing that success with the Eagles will reopen a new vista for Dutch coaches in the developing countries. We truly need a foreign coach in Hindink’s class to rejuvenate the Super Eagles.

    No Nigerian coach dares play Mikel in the central defence position. He will lose his job that day. Drafting Mikel to the defence, clears the way for younger boys like Oghenekaro Etebo, Alex Iwobi, Kelechi Ihenacho et al to blossom in the midfield. Mikel slows the pace of the game in counter attacking situations, largely because he is ageing. His experience will help block the Eagles’ leaky defence, as the other defenders would easily listen to his instructions in the course of the game. As a central defender, Mikel can be the coach on the field since he sees everything happening from the vintage position. No player dares misbehave, if he beckons on them to mark the opponents in the course of the game. These younger boys can cope with the rigours of the game over 120 minutes.

    I’m a big fan of technically competent foreign coaches for the Super Eagles – Nigeria’s biggest brand waiting to blossom. I also feel strongly that with a coach who knows his onions handling the Eagles, the pool of talents that we will throw into the international market will be awesome. Only foreign coaches can make the fight for spaces fierce, such that established stars will sit on the bench for the new kids. This idea of fielding the same players and expecting different results still beats my imagination.

    We need new kids in the Eagles who will be hungry for glory, not what we have where nothing challenges our experienced stars, because they have seen it all. This is why the Eagles wobble and fumble (apologies to Coach Fanny Amun).

  • Again, a needless carnage

    •Deaths on Nigerian highways result from bad roads as they do from shocking human error

    Two auto crashes, on two consecutive days, claiming multiple casualties, again underscore the sorry state of Nigerian roads; and even the sorrier minds of those that use them.  If we can radically improve on both, we probably would have a hang on the madness on our roads; and greatly stanch the bloodshed from the needless killings.

    On February 7, at Km 19 on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway near Ibadan, a DAF Trailer White, with registration number XS 626 LSD, collided with another articulated truck, as a result of over-speeding: 17 lay dead; another 74, injured. Inside the two vehicles were some 96 people: 95 male and one female.

    Ninety-six passengers in two vehicles? Were they road trains? The bulk of the victims were commuting in the trailer — a trailer meant to carry goods and cargo; and over a long distance too.

    That, of course, is a very common sight, particularly of migrant workers from the North, seeking economic nourishment in Lagos and other coastal southern cities and towns. They simply, it appears, cannot just afford more secure forms of road transportation.

    It is not uncommon too, for the trailer drivers conveying them to push their trucks to the very limit, with many doing as high as 90km an hour. Such insane driving could have accounted for the crash of that tragic Sunday morning.

    The following Monday, February 9, an 18-seater passenger bus, carrying some students of The Polytechnic, Ibadan, and some staff back to Ibadan, from a christening ceremony in Oyo, ended in a horrendous crash. The devil, this time, was less the bad road but more of over-speeding. Six students of the polytechnic’s Department of Quantity Surveying died; 12 others were wounded. Since the bus was an 18-seater, none in the bus escaped unscathed.

    A burst tyre, according to newspaper reports, caused the accident, at Motunde, near Moniya, on the glittering Ibadan-Oyo Road. As a result, the bus hit a road median and somersaulted. Though preventable, burst tyres could be common causes of crashes. But it is doubtful if it could have produced such goriness, had the vehicle been cruising at a moderate speed, at which the driver could still have controlled it.

    There in then, lies the paradox. This was a smooth road. Yet, over-speeding still led to a fatal crash. On the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, mercifully now under reconstruction, the main problems are bad patches. Those, complemented with bad driving habits, make that road a notorious showcase of past carcases of mangled vehicles. But even those would appear to have little or no impact on new drivers despatching their passengers to early grave.

    By all means, the Buhari Presidency should squarely face the 200 federal roads, in the six geo-political zones, valued at N2 trillion, it is pledging to complete in this fiscal year. Providing safer roads is, at least, solving one part of the problem.

    But it should also work hard on its rail programme. With fast, safe and affordable rail, there would be succour for migrant workers, moving from one part of the country to another for economic salvation. It is absolutely unacceptable to see citizens, too poor to afford decent transportation, hitch-hike or even patronise Shylock trailer drivers, who pick no bones about logging them with cargo and even cattle, over a long stretch. If that were a thing of the past, the February 7 accident that consumed 17 souls would at least have been averted.

    However, beyond upgraded road and rail infrastructure is the infrastructure of the mind.  The accident on the Oyo-Ibadan road could perhaps have been averted, had the driver not over-sped.

    Therefore, the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) should not relent on its road safety sensitisation programmes. This carnage would not stop until Nigerian road users embrace saner road habits.

  • Needless Aso Villa security tiff

    Needless Aso Villa security tiff

    Of all the problems besetting the Muahammadu Buhari presidency, especially soon after he assumed office, the most intriguing must be the needless misunderstanding between the president’s Aide de Camp (ADC), Lt.-Col. Lawal Abubakar, and the now redeployed president’s Chief Security Officer (CSO), Abdulrahman Mani. The misunderstanding centred on who should perform close protection duties for the president: the Department of State Services (DSS) or the military. The ADC, perhaps reflecting the mood of the presidency, preferred the military, while the DSS believed that that duty should be performed by the secret service. When the tiff began, no one was sure where the president leaned. After Mr Mani’s redeployment, it became clear how the president voted.

    There are arguments about who is statutorily empowered to provide the president close protection (inner ring) in a three concentric circles security system. The balance of argument tilts in favour of the DSS. But there are also arguments about the president reserving the right to determine who should perform that function, notwithstanding what the law and convention say. Sadly, public discourse on the matter, which should have been done exhaustively and with flourish, has been unadvisedly curtailed by general indifference. It seems everyone has deferred to the president’s wish. However, public discourse and a broad examination of what the statutes say about the subject should lead the country to establish and follow conventions, until such conventions are amended by, again, broad, public consensus.

    Three important issues flow from the controversy. One, even if the disagreement was inevitable, it was important it should not have broken out so embarrassingly into the open as it did. The president’s ADC unprecedentedly  issued an order directing the DSS operatives to vacate their close body protection duty posts, when that order should have come from the DSS. And the CSO himself openly and scathingly rebuked the ADC, making it impossible for any middle ground to be agreed. In addition, it remains a mystery that the president, over whom the two officers quarreled, should fail to intervene when the tiff was at its infancy. If the president recognised that the misunderstanding gave an unflattering image of his presidency, and in particular of his mastery of governance, he would probably have intervened much earlier.

    Two, the misunderstanding was also indicative of some of the dangers the president may face in the early period of his presidency for as long as he defers appointing his advisory team. Had he assembled a team of advisers, collective and dispassionate reasoning would have helped him nip the problem in the bud before it became a public embarrassment. Even after the tiff, the president had still not felt the urgent need to put a team together. It is not only Aso Villa that is temporarily in danger of dissolving into a cauldron of intrigues and quarrels, even the domestic economy and international community must feel exasperated that nothing in the Buhari government guides them as to what decisions and policies to conceive, let alone align with those of the government.

    Three, there are suggestions that the seeming bellicosity the Buhari presidency may be demonstrating towards the DSS is a consequence of the Service’s initial hostility to President Buhari when he was contesting the presidency. This insinuation has not been corroborated. But what is clear is that the DSS has not seemed to earn the confidence and trust of the president, a pointer perhaps to the lack of professionalism and detachment displayed by Nigeria’s security and law enforcement organisations in their incomprehensible and fanatical zeal to demonstrate loyalty to the government of the day. During electioneering, this column had warned that the open bias demonstrated by the military, police and DSS against the candidacy of Gen Buhari was both unprofessional and antithetical to the dictates of the constitution and even common sense. What if Gen Buhari should win? this column asked.

    There is nothing in the ADC/CSO tiff, nor in how the matter was tackled, that gives indication the country has learnt any lessons. The ADC was wrong to issue orders to the DSS operatives; and the CSO was unwisely combative. It was as if both officers engaged in a power struggle, and perhaps viewed what took place as power struggle. President Buhari urgently needs to administer the right remedies. He needs a team quickly, one that will show him how to be sensitive to the fact that he is president of Nigeria in a way that transcends his background and idiosyncratic stereotypes. Crucially, too, he needs to deftly tackle controversies and conflicts both around him and all over the country, for controversies will always arise. So far, he has not shown that nimbleness of feet and suppleness of fingers in reactively and proactively applying presidential powers and prerogatives to the problems that needle him and the country.

  • Licensing more varsities is needless

    The approval of operational licences for nine private universities by the Federal Government to increase the numbers of private tertiary institutions in the country to 60 is one decision that ache my heart so much. And I begin to have a rethink whether the government is serious about elevating university education to standards obtainable in developed countries.

    It came as a surprise watching the government of the day flaunting the establishment of 12 new universities in the last four years as achievement to boost quality education. But, it has not told the public how viable and competitive the new universities are.

    At least, some people will still praise the government for “transforming” our economy to the biggest in Africa even though many will still argue standard of living still remains what it is used to be in the last 16 years. But what is the achievement about our new universities?

    The last time I checked, none of our universities is ranked among the 1,600 best in the world according to Webometrics – the world ranking system, which rates quality of the content and teaching in universities and publishes on the web.

    How many Nigerian universities are considered for rating by the British QS ranking – a system which evaluates quality content, data citation and quality of graduates of world universities? And most painfully is that, our universities do not enjoy good rating in Africa where Nigeria prides itself as giant. All these best summarise how bad our universities are.

    It is as if the government is playing to the gallery in reviving the falling education standard. Today, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) is still battling the government for its failure to implement the 2009 agreement reached by both parties to improve the standard of education and research.

    The union maintains that it is only a total implementation of this agreement that can arrest and reverse the decay in the university system. The union has at several times accused the government of not showing commitment; what the government has so far been doing, according to ASUU, is no more than a repeat performance of its action, using deception, lies, propaganda, mischief and other shenanigans to whip lecturers into line.

    Given the parlous state of education, one feels sorry for the future of this country. The state of infrastructure and teaching facilities is the most perilous. It is normal to see students of Chemistry using kerosene-stove for practical experiment, instead of Bursen burner. The decay of public universities’ laboratories may provoke tears from patriotic citizens.

    Yet, the Federal Government gave scholarship to students who managed to have a First Class to any best 25 universities around the world. One will wonder if it is a crime for the government to also develop our universities to be ranked among the elite school of the world.

    No serious government will continue to build more universities when the existing ones are in a dismal state. The popular mantra “the more the merrier” is not applicable in a terrible situation.

    Most of the licensed private universities are no better than glorified high schools in the true sense of word. In reality, they are nowhere near our decayed public universities in term of infrastructures, researches and manpower. Even, some of the proprietors of the private varsities have been asking for government’s support to survive.

    Apart from the fact that they are parasites that is endangering and threatening to kill the public universities, hardly can some of these private school pay salaries of qualified lecturers and professors; they relied heavily on lecturers of public varsities that work on part-time basis.

    In 2012, I watched the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator Pius Anyim, analysing the many challenges facing Nigeria’s public universities during the 36th Convocation Lecture of the Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto (UDUS). He listed the challenges to include funding, inadequate research, infrastructure and suchlike; it is needless to say the government is not unaware of the situation of our universities but why is it that, almost three years down the line, no serious action has come from the government to reposition our varsities?

    The consequence of the present trend is that, while the government continues to encourage and even build more universities for the sake of scoring political points or to appease the ‘friends of government’, the system will continue to sink and we will continue to produce half-baked graduates. At the end, other people from other land will have to run our affairs and we may later end up as slaves on our land.

     

    •Ibrahim has just finished from Zoology, UDUS

  • A needless endorsement

    A needless endorsement

    SIR: I read the news of the endorsement of President Goodluck Jonathan for second term by Afenifere and other social cultural groups in Yorubaland with mixed feelings. Mixed feelings because the groups, including the two factions of OPC had the rights to endorse whosoever they like for president, but the endorsement is contrary to the position of all major socio-cultural groups and even individual’s positions that President Jonathan administration marginalized the south-west region in his appointments and patronages. As a matter of fact, I was privileged to attend a meeting of the Yoruba Unity Forum at the Ikenne-Remo residence of the late sage about three years ago; the major discussion that day was marginalization of the Yoruba by President Jonathan-led federal government. I could remember that a communiqué was produced and a petition was equally written and a delegate sent to President Jonathan. It was heart-warming that President Jonathan made some redress with the appointment of Brigadier Gen. Jones Oladeinde Arogbofa as the Chief of Staff. However, issue of marginalization in terms of developmental projects has not been fairly addressed. Save the rehabilitation of Lagos/Ibadan expressway, which was a Pan-Nigerian Highway, establishment of a university in Oye and a polytechnic in Ondo State respectively, I have not seen any physical development embarked upon by the federal government in the South-west which could have compelled the sudden change of position. In actual fact, what I believe led to the sudden change in the disposition of Afenifere, OPC, et al, to the administration’s marginalization of the South-west was the appointment of many stalwarts of these organizations to the recently held constitutional conference. As a matter of fact, the disposition of many members of the confab during the last year Yoruba Unity Forum’s meeting at Ikenne confirmed this. And if this is so, it amounts to betrayal of trust. This is because for many years, Yoruba depended on Afenifere for direction on critical national questions. Indeed, I have read several interviews by the leaders of the groups, who based the support for President Jonathan on the pretext that the recommendations of the National Conference would be implemented if he wins the next election. This position too, is superficial. This is because, if President Jonathan wins, he would still need the majority votes in the National Assembly for the recommendations to sail through. Even, the Afenifere’s recommendations which the group wants implemented are parochial. This is because it is not meant to serve the interest of Yorubaland, but those who drafted the recommendations. If not, the opinion of all Yoruba people would have been sought on this before going to the conference, but this was not so.

    President Jonathan needs the endorsement of nobody in Yorubaland. What he needs is performance. Yoruba are the most politically sophisticated people in Nigeria. Majority of Yorubas are independent-minded and could read between the lines. Late Obafemi Awolowo became idol because of his performance as premier of the region, sincerity of purpose and for meeting the yearnings and aspirations of his people in and out of government. If a party is dominant in Yorubaland, it is only doing the biddings of the people. Once it derails, it is rejected.

    • Adewuyi Adegbite

    Apake, Ogbomoso

  • Another needless doctors’ strike

    SIR: With due respect to my teachers, senior colleagues and colleagues, the call for downing of tool by doctors is needless having read the ratio on which the strike was called. Having worked within and outside Nigeria both in Clinical and Public Health domain, I am strongly obliged to state that the nation’s health drawbacks are essentially caused by doctors who are meant to be the leaders of the health team. It suffices to state that while it is true that the leadership of the health team is like a birthright, their roles and responsibility must equally be so. Only when these are aligned can we claim the leadership of the health team. As for the request placed before the federal government, it is sad to note that the issues are quite petty and trivial to culminate in the decision that will result to irreversible consequences and loss of lives.

    As a medical doctor with over 14 years experience, I have never had to face the question of whether or not I am the head of any health team where I found myself as the most senior doctor or the only doctor in a collection of health practitioners in a health mission. The simple reason is that I know my bound and appreciate that even the weakest link in my team count. The posture and activities of my colleagues both at the public and private sectors is appalling, such that it has left some of us who have seen our shortfalls and have made or shown some resentment to it are seen as deviants.

    I am not surprised at the backlash we receive from other team mates in the hospital. Looking critically at their opposition to us, you will naturally find that something is wrong with us as doctors, if not, how could we have lost the confidence of all our team mates including non medics such as the ward attendants, administration staff etc?

    Now my question is, of what value is the appointment of a Deputy Chairman, Medical Advisory Committee (DCMAC) to the already Chief Medical Director (CMD) and Chairman, Medical Advisory Committee (CMAC) that has been exclusively for doctors?

    How is the work of a doctor affected by the appointment of the most senior health practitioner to direct the activities of his other colleagues as a director; or how is doctor’s work affected if a health practitioner has reached a level of expertise in his field and he is referred to as a consultant?

    It is quite worrisome to hear my colleagues down tools for the simple reason that the post of a Surgeon General is yet to be filled even when the two ministerial slots are occupied by doctors. I believe that the hazards’ allowance needs to be reviewed, but doctors especially our consultants must justify the little that has been paid by actively availing themselves in the daily routines of the hospital instead of turning attainment of consultant in the hospital as a gateway to truancy; my colleagues know what I mean.

    We are already fast losing our respect from the government and the general public, and in recent time even from our colleagues whose disposition is for the good of man.

    This piece is a wakeup call to my colleagues to look within and appreciate the rot and imbroglio our actions and in-actions have brought to this noble profession and the health sector in general.

    • Dr Abdullahi Baba Abdul,

    Former UN Medical Doctor to the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.