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Tag: Nigerian Newspapers

  • I have not quit politics but won’t contest again, says Ladoja

    FORMER Oyo State Governor Rashidi Ladoja on Sunday spoke on his future political plans, saying he has no plans to quit politics.

    He, however, clarified that will no longer seek election into any political seat.

    The Osi Olubadan, who promised to make himself available for any developmental politics in any part of the country, said he will never adopt the ‘siddon look’ approach to politics as being rumoured in some quarters.

    Ladoja made the clarification to reporters in his Bodija, Ibadan residence on Sunday after observing the Eid-el-Kabir prayers.

    He said: “Is it possible for someone to retire from politics? Are you not a politician? And so, what are they talking about? All I said was that I am not contesting again. Is that not retirement? That is retirement.

    “I say I am not contesting again, but I will always go for developmental politics. Whether I am in partisan or non-partisan politics, if there are any developmental politics, I will always go for it anywhere in Nigeria. So, it is not a question of ‘siddon-look’, I am not ‘siddoning look’.”

    In his assessment of the security situation in the country, the former governor said the government is not sincere in its approach to finding a lasting solution to the myriads of challenges facing the country adding that, if they are ready they will first look at the root causes of the challenges and tackle the same headlong.

    Read Also: Why I boycotted governor’s inauguration, by Ladoja

    He said the people do not trust the government anymore because the government has not fulfill its promises to the people, adding that there is the need for frank talk between the people and the government to restore mutual confidence to tackle the various insecurity challenges in different parts of the country.

    Ladoja said: “You know most of the time they talk about insecurity, we don’t sit down to look at the root cause of the problem. If we try to look at the root cause of the problem, then we will know that all these insecurities have got a root. And if we are not careful, we will be complicating it. Look at the Shiites people that were said to have been banned. They are calling for another Jihad. You know people take their religion very seriously and they will not want their religion to be killed. And that is another problem in our hands.

    “The root cause is a question of equity. This is a conventional government both at the federal, state and local level. It was set up by a constitution and the constitution provides for the three arms of government. So, if one arm is dominating the other, then you cannot have the desired peace.

    “Why should the court grant El-Zakzaky bail and they refuse to release him? And now, the people are saying, release our leader, after all, he has been granted bail and if you don’t want to release him, then take him to court. Then if the court asked them to jail him, then it’s another thing. But, they didn’t take him to court and they didn’t release him and his people are worried and they said the man is sick.”

     

     

  • Tinubu seeks stronger nation

    NATIONAL Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has advised Nigerians to shun divisive tendencies and build a stronger nation.

    Speaking after observing the Eid-el-Kabir prayers at the Dodan Barracks ground in Ikoyi, Lagos, Tinubu said: “Differentiation or stagmatisation is not going to help the country.

    “What today teaches is all about sacrifices that we all must make to really have our prayers answered.

    “No one was able to dictate to whom he would be born to, how he would be born and where he would be born. We are proud Nigerians and that is what should be paramount.

    “Let us be proud of our country, dedicate ourselves to the growth and prosperity of our country.

    “Yes, if we say things are hard, it means we will work harder to make it better, not to destroy what our founding fathers have done and put together in the spirit of one nation and one destiny.”

    He advised Nigerians not to forget the part of the first stanza of the old nation’s national anthem which states:   “Though tribes and tongues may differ, in brotherhood we must stand”.

    Lagos State Deputy Governor Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly Mudasiru Obasa, and minister-designate Babatunde Fashola also spoke after the prayers.

    Fashola described the season as the time to come together as a people and make sacrifices for the development of the country.

    He said: “This is the time to come together in the spirit of the season.

    “This is the time to sacrifice, to get behind our leaders and to come together among ourselves to build our country and make it what we expect it to be.”

    Lagos State Deputy Governor Obafemi Hamzat echoing the Chief Imam of Lagos State, Sheikh Sulaiman Abou Nolla, called for an end to the security challenges facing the country.

    So, the fundamental thing is peaceful co-existence among all of us whether Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo or whatever.

    “All of us are Nigerians. We must live in peace and we must unite as a people,” Hamzat added.

    “The imam had said it clearly: it is enough of all these killings. It is enough of these kidnappings and it is enough of all the bad things.

    “So, if anybody says Allah Akbar and you kill somebody, it’s either you are insane or you don’t understand Islam. Islam is a religion of peace.

    “So, the message to all Lagosians and to Nigerians is that we must live peacefully. All the religions–Christianity, Islam preach peace. We should live in peaceful environment.”

    According to the deputy governor, without peace, no progress and development can be achieved by anybody.

    Obasa urged Nigerians to make sacrifices for the nation to move forward.

    He said: “We must love one another and help each other. I believe if we live in tolerance, definitely, we will be able to build a nation of our own.”

    Muslim faithful in their hundreds converged at the prayer ground for the religious ritual.

    The prayers, which started at exactly 9:00 a.m. were led by the grand chief imam of Lagos State.

    The Northeast governors and some clerics called for prayers to overcome the various challenges facing the country.

    They called for the intensification of prayers to God for permanent peace to return to the sub-region.

    Making the call in their Sallah messages to the people, they said with complete submission to the will of God, the challenges were surmountable.

    They also called for respect for one another to enable the achievement of the desired unity necessary for the resolution of grey areas.

    Gombe State Governor Inuwa Yahaya prayed for bumper harvest and sustainable peace.

    Read Also: Eid-el-Kabir: Make sacrifice for development, Tinubu urges Nigerians

    He expressed optimism that his government would overcome the challenges he met on ground when he assumed office.

    In Yobe, Governor Mai Mala Buni called on the people to pray for peace and unity, as well as support Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) during the festive season.

    He renewed his call on insurgents to surrender and get reintegrated into the society.

    Commending the military and other security agencies over the successes recorded in the counter-insurgency operation and peace building process, the governor urged the people to pray for the repose of the souls of the fallen heroes.

    Adamawa State Ahmadu Fintiri called on the people of the state to be tolerant and live peacefully with one another for the development of the state.

    He said: Tolerance and living in peace with one another is our source of strength and a solution to our challenges. I therefore call on Muslim faithful to use the lesson of this great day of Eid-El-Kabir by emulating the good teachings of Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him).”

    In Kogi, Governor Yahaya Bello urged the people to imbibe the spirit of sacrifice which signifies the essence of Eid-El-Kabir.

    He said: “We join Muslims around the world to celebrate this year’s Eid-ul-Adha to commemorate Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son in obedience to God. This occasion calls for sacrifice, love and the need to leave in peace amongst ourselves.”

    The governor also enjoined the people to continue to pray for peace and prosperity of the nation.

    “We should join the pilgrims in offering special prayers for greater security, peace, unity and progress in our dear state and country, as well as for the peaceful and successful conduct of the next  gubernatorial elections in Kogi State.”

    Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike urged Muslims to emulate the Holy Prophet Mohammed by imbibing the ideals of sacrifice as exemplified by the Prophet.

    He urged Nigerians to embrace religious tolerance which will promote peace across the country and enhance national development.

    The governor assured the people of Rivers State that his government will cooperate with the security agencies to ensure that all citizens celebrate the Sallah in peace and harmony.

    Yobe State Governor Mai Mala Buni tasked citizens to show love, kindness, respect to each other, as Borno Gov asks citizen to remember troops making sacrifices for the state.

    He called on citizens of the state and Nigerians as a whole to showing kindness, respect and generosity to one another, noting that for the people to achieve a happy society, the examples of Prophet Ibrahim must be emulated with total submission to the commandments of God.

    Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq appealed to Kwarans to sustain the tempo of peace existing in the state for overall development.

    Speaking at the Ilorin praying ground yesterday, the governor said the prevailing peace would attract investment and socioeconomic development.

    AbdulRazaq, who was represented by his Chief of Staff Adisa Logun, urged residents to guide the existing peace jealously.

    “If you notice Kwara was so calm before this sallah. It has never been so calm and we will work hard to sustain it,” he added.

    Logun urged the people to remain peaceful and support the state government in its quest to provide the dividends of democracy to the people.

    In Kaduna, Governor Nasir El-Rufai called on Muslims to reflect on the meaning of the festival of sacrifice and exhibit sacrifice to lift Nigeria out its woes.

    Malam El-Rufai said that, in troubled times, there are poignant lessons from the act of absolute faith in Almighty Allah that the festival commemorates.

    Urging Muslims to celebrate the festival with modesty, the governor called for a renewed commitment to exemplary conduct, goodwill and peaceful relations with other members of the great family of humanity.

    Prof Zulum was in Gubio Local Government Area where he spent the greater part of the day, raising public confidence after soldiers of the 5 Brigade repelled dozens of Boko Haram fighters who stormed the council at 6pm, leading into seven hours of gun battle that ended 1am. The governor’s trip came after he set aside activities lined up for the sallah celebration, including a lunch with stakeholders of the governing APC and a traditional visit of the Shehu of Borno, Alhaji Abubakar Ibn Umar Garbai Al-Amin Elkanemi to the Government House, which usually takes place at 4pm on every Sallah Day.

    Zulum postponed the Shehu’s visit till today, putting security first.

    The governor, alongside a member of the House of Representatives representing Gubio, Kaga and Magumeri Federal Constituency, Usman Zannah and some government officials, first visited headquarters of the 5 Brigade in Gubio town where a meeting, hosted by the Brigade’s commander, Col I.A Ajose and attended by the theatre commander, operation lafiya dole, Major General Benson Akinroloyo and the caretaker chairman of Gubio, Zannah Modu Gubio and other government officials, was held.

    The caretaker chairman informed the governor that were it not for a gallant resistance by soldiers of the Brigade, the insurgents could have gained control of Gubio on the sallah Eve.

     

  • Buhari, Emerhor congratulate former APC chairman

    President Muhammadu Buhari has congratulated Chief John Odigie-Oyegun on his 80th birthday.

    He described him as a patriot and democrat.

    President Buhari, in a statement by the Special Adviser on media and publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, congratulated Oyegun on the milestone, which has been highlighted with memories of great achievements.

    He recalled that the celebrator was a Permanent Secretary at the age of 30, won a govership election in his 50s, and became chairman of a party that sacked an incumbent government for the first time in Nigeria’s history.

    The President affirmed that the former chairman of All Nigeria’s Peoples Party (ANPP) and APC set a standard for consistency, honesty and integrity in Nigeria’s politics as he championed the building of strong democratic institutions, and promoted the virtue of looking beyond elections and positions to growing and unifying the nation for posterity.

    As an active participant in governance for many years, President Buhari believed Oyegun’s depth of wisdom, maturity, tolerance and penchant for always putting the interest of the nation above self should serve as a lesson to both old and younger political actors, noting that the greatest investment for building a nation is personal sacrifice.

    Also, a leader of the APC in Delta state and its 2015 governorship candidate, Olorogun O’tega Emerhor, noted that Oyegun’s leadership sagacity birthed the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government, which has positively impacted the lives of Nigerians.

    While congratulating the one-time Edo state governor, the party chieftain prayed for good health to him.

    He said: “I write to congratulate a quintessential father, leader, role model, democrat, benefactor and a fine gentleman on his achievement of being strong, active and untiring on his 80th birthday.

    “Today, I and the Emerhor Political Family in Delta State are honored to celebrate him and to join millions of his well wishers, admirers, family, friends and benefactors to wish this icon of our time good health and more years in his untiring service to Nigeria and humanity”, Emerhor said.

  • Omo-Agege greets Adeola at 50

    Deputy Senate President Ovie Omo-Agege has congratulated the Chairman of the Senate Committee Finance, Senator Olamilekan ‘Yayi’ Adeola, on his 50th birthday.

    In his message to Adeola, Omo-Agege said: “Over the years, you have remained a populist grassroots politician and philanthropist, utilizing your professional capacity, life experiences and resources for the betterment of your people”.

    He prayed God to grant  Adeola long life, peace, good health and enduring prosperity.

  • Enyimba sure of overturning CAF Champions League loss

    ENYIMBA has said they are confident they can overturn a 1-0 loss at Rahimo of Burkina Faso to advance to the first round of the CAF Champions League.

    Rahimo recorded the match-winner after half an hour when danger man Zanon dribbled into the box before his shot took a wicked deflection off Ifeanyi Anaemena and into the net.

    However, Coach Usman Abdalla said he was confident Enyimba could turn the tables in Aba in a fortnight.

    “The goal came in with a deflection. We could have saved that goal but now we have to go back to Aba and cancel the goal and have to get another one more goal to seal the deal,” he said.

    “It’s not a good result for us, but at the same time it’s not catastrophic because if we had lost by two goals or three then it would be a difficult situation.

    Read Also: Enyimba crowned NPFL champions

    “As you know we are all starting and results are always this way until we get ourselves into the the competition where we get much fitter.”

    He praised the fitness of the Burkinabes.

    “They have a youthful and young team with very good mobility and good techniques and they are very fit,” he remarked.

    “We’ve seen the team now so the most important thing is to go back, sit down and work with what we’ve seen of the team.”

  • Union Bank unveils initiative to boost innovation

    Union Bank has announced the launch of the EdTech Challenge.

    The EdTech Challenge is the third of the yearly Innovation Challenge, which aims to discover, showcase and support innovative, cutting-edge technologies with the potential to transform the education system.

    The initiative reinforces the bank’s commitment to innovation and education, underpinning its dedication to enabling success in Nigeria.

    During the entry period from July 30 to August 28, entries will be received on the bank’s website, from anyone with innovative technological solutions that demonstrate a strong potential to transform the education system. Entries are expected from students, teachers, developers, designers, fintechs and tech companies.

    On the launch, the bank’s Chief Digital and Innovation Officer, Lola Cardoso said: “The edTech challenge links two areas that Union Bank is passionate about – Education and Innovation, and our focus on these two areas stems from the realisation that they are crucial to driving development and sustainable impact in Nigeria.”

     

  • Lagos, Fidelity Bank push for SMEs funding

    The Lagos State government and Fidelity Bank have advised financial institutions to fund small medium enterprises (SMEs) because of their importance to economic development.

    The state Deputy Governor, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat,  spoke at the inaugural edition of the grants competition organised at Fidelity SME Funding event in Lagos.

    Hamzat praised Fidelity Bank for the initiative, saying the importance of SMEs to economic development could not be overemphasised.

    He said small businesses contribute to employment creation, poverty alleviation and revenue generation.

    “What Fidelity Bank is doing is to create access to capital, which is the biggest threat to MSMEs,” he said, urging other financial institutions to borrow a leaf from Fidelity Bank.

    “The Lagos State government is ready to create the enabling environment for the MSMEs to thrive,” he added.

    Also speaking on the occasion, Fidelity Bank CEO, Nnamdi Okonkwo,  emphasised the importance of Micro Small Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to the growth and development of the economy.

    He said: “MSMEs employ over 80 percent of the country’s total 90.5 million labour force, contribute 48 percent to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and constitute over 80 percent of registered exporters in Nigeria.”

    While noting that the MSME sector remained largely bedeviled by a myriad of problems with limited financing options being one of the main drawbacks, the Fidelity Bank chief said it was important for the bank as “one of the best SME-friendly banks to come up with the initiative in furtherance of our support for the sector because of its contribution to economic development and poverty eradication”

    He praised the winners of the competition.

    Market Doctor, an innovative healthcare provider that sets up clinics around clustered markets in the country emerged the overall winner of the  SME Funding event.

    It got N2 million cash prize.  An initial 12 finalists emerged from more than 2,500 successful applicants who went through a rigorous and intensive selection process conducted by the renowned accounting and consultancy firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

    The number was further cut down to five after another round of assessment and they were made to pitch to panel of judges during the SME Funding  event.

    The  independent judges led by Prof  Yinka David-West of the Lagos Business School, pronounced Market Doctor winner, in consideration of the profitability, viability, and scalability of her  business model.

    Founder Market Doctor, Miss Yetunde  Ayo-Oyalowo, said: “We are thrilled to receive this grant by Fidelity Bank to scale our business and improve the wellbeing of Nigerians.”

    Healthy Nellies, a food production firm and Greenhill Recycling, who emerged first and second runner up, took home N1 million each. Other finalists include Adeyinka Tekenah of Happy Coffee and Olalekan Afolayan of PackMyLoad.com, who smiled home with consolation prizes of N500,000 each, and the remaining seven shortlisted SMEs received N200,000 each.

     

  • Police retirees’ pension agonies

    Police retirees under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) supervised by the National Pension Commission (PenCom) are groaning over the undue delay in the remittance of their accrued rights which have been in arrears of one year. This is as the retirees are complaining of low monthly pensions paid to them by the Nigeria Police Force Pensions Limited (The Police Pension Fund Administrator).

    These retirees, under the aegis of Association of Retired Police Officers (under the Contributory Pension Scheme) rue their woes and the attendant hardship they, with their families are facing, no thanks to their meagre pension. They lament that that after 35 years of meritorious services to their fatherland, and having put their lives on the line for the safety of the Country and her citizens, they deserve better treatment in their retirement life.

    The situation is not only undermining the core objective of the Contributory Pension Scheme but also denting the image of Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs). It however appears that Police PFA, NPF Pensions Limited is the worst hit because all its clients are Police, unlike other PFAs that have a mix of probably 20 percent public service and 80 percent private sector clients.

    A Police constable earns between N42,000 and N47,000 after deductions of tax, accommodation allowance and others; a Sergeant’s pay is about N50,000 while a Police Inspector now earns at least N60, 000 monthly. In the Senior Police Officers (SPO) cadre, an Assistant Superintendent of Police earns a little above 80,000 after deductions have been made.

    This is greatly affecting pension benefits paid to the officers at retirement because pension is a function of salary, hence the benefit at retirement are also low. At retirement, a Police Inspector earns just about N20,000, while those in the Superintendent cadre earn about N30,000.

    The recent reversal of the template used to calculate pension payments by the regulator, the National Pension Commission (PenCom) has further caused some negative issues with the system, with the Police retirees agitating against NPF Pensions Limited that they want to exit the CPS entirely. They believe that NPF Pensions is tampering or fraudulently dealing with their pension payment.

    Read Also: PenCom orders PFAs to open micro pension account with PFCs

    It is absurd to say the least that PenCom has refused to approve payment to the retirees from the available balances in their Retirement Savings (RSA) Account pending when the federal government will pay their accrued rights. Part of the agitations of the retirees is that PFAs are not allowed to pay them from their contributions that have accrued since they joined the CPS. They have every right to ask for this because the federal government is unable to fulfil its obligation in the first place. And so within this problem, PenCom should exhibit a human face in its regulatory and supervisory activities. Some of the retirees die without enjoying the fruit of their labour on the back of the commission’s claim of waiting for accrued rights.

    While waiting for accrued rights, PenCom should allow PFAs to pay retirees from the balance in their RSAs. By the time a retiree is paid for a year, the accrued rights are paid and then the PFA can regularize and pay the balance. The question of exhausting the balance in one year as argued by PenCom is not tenable because a retiree cannot exhaust his or her balance. There is always return or interest from investment of the pension fund made on behalf of the retiree by his or her PFA. When the retirees are not paid because their employer, the federal government have not paid accrued rights, does PenCom consider that they have responsibilities to their children and other members of their family?

    Should the retiree die waiting? Does PenCom remember that they were bread winners of their homes before retirement and now you stop them payment for more than one year from earning a living because you have not received their accrued right. How are they going to survive? Even if it is N1 million that they were able to contribute into their account, allow the PFA to spread it, so that there will not be sudden cut of income to zero. If an officer was earning a N100,000, it is better he or she earns N10,000 per month as pension than nothing.

    From my research, the Pension Reform Act did not state that a PFA should wait and consolidate accrued rights before a retiree can be paid. It is being imposed by PenCom based on administrative convenience on their part. It means they have to give approval twice and for the commission, this is additional work.

    The Police PFA is currently being associated with the fraudulent activities at the defunct Police Pension Office, carried out by Police Pension Reform Task Team, led by Abdulrasheed Maina. The bad legacy left behind by the ‘Mainagate’ before the establishment of NPF Pensions is making it difficult for trust to be gained by those currently running the administration of the Police PFA under the CPS.

    Suffice it to state that NPF Pensions, in collaboration with the Police authorities in its wisdom set up a N500 million Retiree Support Fund in 2017 to cater for the retirees while awaiting their legitimate pension. It was created to support the retirees such that when pension has not been paid due to unpaid accrued rights, NPF Pensions give them some money as a relief pending payment of their pension.

    But because pension has not been paid for more than a year, the Retiree Support Fund is being misconstrued by the retirees as their legitimate payment. They want their pension entitlement. They think that perhaps somebody is keeping their money and giving them just hand out. Even police officers do not believe that the CPS is a different scheme. In their mind, these regulators can muddle the old Police pension fund with the CPS and again, mismanaged their pension funds.

    It is worthy of note that a police officer at the Force Headquarters (who pleaded to remain anonymous) disclosed that a tripartite committee made up of the Acting Director-General, Mrs Aisha Dahir-Umar and her team; a police team headed by a Deputy Inspector-General of Police and NPF Pensions team tried to address the agitations by police retirees to exit the CPS two years ago. They met to brainstorm on the low pension payment and PenCom agreed to address the smaller balances of the retirees.

    They resolved in a Memorandum of Understanding that the federal government should approve a special gratuity for the police so that when they retire, the lump sum of their total pension will not be taken from their account and the balance will be channelled as monthly programmed withdrawal, which will make their pay out more quantitative. They agreed that the federal government should consider the gratuity in form of 300 per cent of a police salary which is the approximate that used to be the gratuity.

    The crux of their argument was that if permanent secretaries in the federal service are treated differently and allowed to retire with their salary, why not allow a police officer that is on the rank of AIG, equivalent to a permanent secretary be allowed to retire with his or her salary. So the police are saying that once you retire from the rank of AIG and above you should be treated like permanent secretaries and judges. They want to retiree and leave with their salaries. These are their agitations.

    Unless the retirees are given a gratuity separate from pension, they will continue to complain. It is painful to them that after risking their lives to protect the country, a ministry worker will earn better than them at retirement just as he has always earned more while in service. Two people worked in the federal service, one worked in Federal Ministry of Health, the other worked in Police. They went to university together; they worked for 30 or 35 years. At retirement, the police man is paid N20,000 monthly as pension and the ministry worker is paid N60,000. This cannot be considered fair.

    Even the military, an arms-carrying agency which the police is one, earns six times more. An equivalent of the Commissioner of Police in the army retires with almost like six times what the CP gets. Same with officials of immigration and customs. This is because it is a function of their salary in the first place.

     

    • Adekunle is a concerned stakeholder.

  • Revolution When?

    The story of a revolution can be strange. Sometimes it can start because of pepper like the Yoruba Wars that changed the face of the tribe, even some say Nigeria, forever. Bread can provoke it as in the rumble of the French Revolution that capsized the history of Europe and even civilisation.

    Or the killing of a mere duke as in the Sarajevo potentate. It sparked the First World War that altered the course of the 20th century. Or even because of the svelte vanity of a belle known in myth as Helen of Troy. For her puff of passion, men growled in randy waves and set off a revolutionary conflict. The Poet Homer memorialised it into an epic of the Greek world in The Illiad.

    Nor is the meaning of revolution so easy to understand. When a mere coup happens, or when a king dies, some say it is enough to pass that definitional muster.  Yet on fewer occasions in history do actors in a revolution know they are fermenting a fundamental change. They tend, as historian David Thomson noted, to pursue a narrow goal, maybe to bring down the price of bread as in the French turbulence. But they end up winning the big prize, which is a change of system.

    When they start, the players expect to attain a goal, in their lifetime they achieve a second, but history proves they have accomplished a third. Such is the facile virtue of human life. So when Omoyele Sowore blustered about a revolution, did he really know what he meant? Did the DSS really go to school and studied the ages of revolution? It is one of the clichés of the world. But we know it when we see it.

    The Sowore case was a comedy before the DSS made it a farce. It was like Malvolio in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night in which a servant permitted himself the grandiose self-belief that he could marry the countess. In her case, the countess locked up Malvolio for delusion of grandeur, not a threat to her chambers. In our case, the DSS locked up Sowore, making the Shakespeare’s play to cry for a sequel. Sowore had a mere 33,000 votes compared to Buhari’s millions. So, how come the mighty is afraid of the scanty? It is one of the ironies.

    Another irony is that the DSS is supposed to know if Sowore had the capacity to foment a revolution. Was he armed? Where is the evidence? They arrested him first, and then sought evidence to justify it. We can recall the case of Aikhomu when IBB arrested a certain business mogul. The then IBB deputy announced that the government was going to jail Umana. His press aide Nduka Irabor pointed out he had to be prosecuted first. Aikhomu, acting as though he had acquired new wisdom, quipped: “Yes, we will try him and then jail him.” He did not know he had become at once the prosecutor and judge. In a military era, what did we expect? But in a democracy, that chapter is haunting our DSS.

    Read Also: Sowore urges court to vacate detention order

    Did it occur to them that a man who could not pull an ant’s percentage of Buhari’s voters could not stir the country, a man who is even in crisis in his own party over how he spent election funds? A man who was also suspended by his party for playing monkey with its money? He may be innocent, but the charge hangs over him. So he could not mobilise the party that gave him that small following. When threatens to overthrow a leviathan on a video announcement?

    Again, what was special about Sowore’s? Yes, he uttered reckless words, but they were empty. In democracies, we are stronger when we allow free speech than when we muzzle it. Free speech, especially of the reckless sort, tends to amount to nothing because of the greater resilience of democracy. He has his say, but we all go our ways.

    Did we not witness a few years ago the world-wide Occupy movement, triggered in the United States. Did they occupy anywhere other than the geographic spaces of their protests? Did we not have it here? Did we not see Oby Ezekwesili in her protests? Did she threaten the system? Did Buhari himself not lead protests in his quests to be president? Did he not utter the blood and baboon rhetoric? Did it overthrow the system?

    The DSS cast a vote of no confidence in itself by arresting and lionising the online publisher. It showed that it had no facts to work on. The sort of lack of intelligence has been exhibited in the Boko Haram, in the surge of banditry, in the kidnaps, et al. Rather than focus on where it has failed mightily, it is working up itself and the nation into a meaningless frenzy over a fringe revolutionary. Even when the protests were to happen, it became the news of police impunity rather than the protesters who were probably too few to raise any dust.

    Revolution Now slogan was sweet but impotent. It has made Sowore into a sort of counterfeit Che, with the sense of messianic impatience. He is tapping into a malaise in the land, with hunger, fear and despair tearing apart many homes today. He seems to be making himself into the urgency that John F. Kennedy uttered: “If not us, who? If not now, when.” Hence his “Now.” But revolutions are not a matter of logic. It does not happen because the people are in deep distress, or because it seems ripe. As Lenin noted we can have a revolutionary situation without a revolution. Marx thought his revolution would happen in England or Germany, but Russia held the torch. Nigeria has been ripe for revolution since I was a school boy. It seems riper now, but it guarantees nothing. Revolutionaries must address our joint pains and know how to bring us jointly to treat them.

    The irony is that revolutions tend to happen when the people see that things are getting better. In our case, they are getting worse. As Tocqueville explained, “in a revolution, as in a novel, the most difficult part to invent is the end.”

    It can be in the people’s minds, but it may just be a wish. John Adams said the American Revolution was “in the minds and hearts of the people.” They were fortunate. We are not yet.  When Lenin was in Switzerland,   he had many self-doubts and enemies within the revolutionary circuit. Nobel laureate Alexandre Solzhenitsyn, no friend of Marxists, novelised Lenin’s lonely moments in his book, Lenin in Zurich. Some of the men Lenin did not like he described as revolutionary cretins.

    We may have a lot of cretinism today in the civil rights and revolutionary society in Nigeria. A few of course are genuine. We should not treat them by locking up, but by addressing the concerns of democracy. And just as Fred Hampton wrote, “You can jail a revolutionary, but you can’t jail a revolution.” Ask Mandela in his grave.

     

  • Credit history

    THERE is sound basis to see the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) order on banks under its regulation to obtain the credit history of customers before giving out loans as flowing from the need to bring the financial services sector up to speed in matters of credit administration.

    The order, conveyed under the apex bank’s consumer protection guidelines on ‘Responsible business conduct”, among other measures designed to ensure that debt recovery processes were “courteous and fair, devoid of undue pressure, intimidation, harassment, humiliation or threat”, mandates the institutions to “obtain the credit history of consumers from the Credit Risk Management System, Credit Bureaux and other sources of credit reference to ascertain consumers’ outstanding debt obligations and repayment history before advancing credits.”

    Also, going forward, lenders are to “inform customers of the debt recovery procedures in loan contracts; proactively engage and give customers early notice of outstanding obligations prior to the beginning of debt collection process; and initiate foreclosures only when other reasonable attempts to reach a resolution had been unsuccessful. The guidelines further mandate the lenders to, “give customers a minimum period of six months from the date of notice of foreclosure, the option of a private sale before commencing foreclosure except where the customer waived the right and ensure that the entire debt collection process was transparent and with active participation of the customer, including the foreclosure”, among others.

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    The development obviously says a lot about the sector’s slow embrace of fundamental reforms – coming after two earth-shaking developments in the financial services sector – the first by the Soludo-led CBN management tagged ‘Consolidation’ in 2004/5 and the second,  the Sanusi Lamido Sanusi-led CBN sanitisation of 2008/9. The suggestion here is that those building blocks of sound, modern and responsive financial services system have remained largely inchoate. That we still have an industry riddled with abuses by people charged with the duty of keeping custody of depositors’ funds; the same pervasive malfeasances that characterised the financial services system of pre-2009 would seem the greatest proof of this. We refer specifically to spurious credit decisions which continue to threaten the integrity of the institutions, while ensuring that delinquent borrowers are left with enough room to continually prey on the system.

    Nigerians will readily recall the Skye Bank example, which after receiving a massive N350 billion intervention from the CBN in July 2016 could still not pull through as the money went down the sink hole – no thanks to the mismanagement of the entity by its board and management – leading to the inevitable hammer by the apex bank in September 2018.

    Much as one might consider the latest measure by the CBN belated, it is certainly not too late. Notably, a lot of progress has certainly been made in this direction, particularly with the basic infrastructure of the Biometric Verification Number (BVN) already effectively in deployment; we see the platform as probably as good as any to begin with. Moreover, it is hard to conceive of a credible consumer banking platform without those guidelines which spell out the rights/obligations of both the lender and the consumer of financial products.

    For the sake of both the institutions and the potential borrowers, the system needs to have those safeguards in place right now and working optimally – to ensure that those deserving of credit are availed it, and that those who have had cause to abuse the credit system at one time or the other are made to pay hefty price. For the industry in particular, it comes with the calm assurance that all activities in the financial market are seamlessly interlinked; a sound credit bureaux infrastructure means the industry is at once assured that all players are captured on the radar of the regulator, and that every single credit decision passes through the same platform.

    It certainly will be one sure step to reverse the current situation in which those in dire need of credit facilities would sometimes have to pass through the eye of the needle – so to speak – to get it while politically-exposed persons could draw from the system to their heart’s intent even without consequences when they default.