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Tag: opponents

  • Opponents allege certificate forgery against Akwa Ibom chairmanship aspirant

    Opponents allege certificate forgery against Akwa Ibom chairmanship aspirant

    ‘Opponents have nothing on me”

    A chairmanship aspirant in Eket local government area of Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Akaniyene Tommey Ikott, has been accused of forging the degree certificate of the University of Calabar, Cross River State.

    Ikott, the Transition Committee chairman of Eket local government, claimed to have graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Social Work.

    A court-certified copy of a University of Calabar degree certificate with registration number 07/BSW-4/030 allegedly issued to Ikott on November 11, 2015 claims he holds a B.Sc Degree in Social Work.

    But his opponents, who pleaded anonymity for security reasons, presented documents to prove that the chairmanship aspirant was actually admitted to the University of Calabar in the 2007/2008 session but did not graduate.

    They also presented a letter of disclaimer from the Registrar of the University of Calabar, Gabriel O. Egbe, Reference No. UC/AD/AM.27B, dated July 23, 2024, declaring the certificate fake.

    A letter addressed to a U.S. Attorney Sara Sass of SASS Law LLC, of No. 8647 Richmond Highway, VA, Washington DC, reads in part: “Ikott, Akaniyene Tommey was a Student in the Department of Social Work of this University. He was admitted in the 2007/2008 academic session.

    “According to available records, he still has some failed courses to remedy. The attached claimed certificate is fake and did not emanate from this University.”

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    Governor Umo Eno is alleged to have anointed Mr. Ikott as his preferred candidate in the upcoming October 26 council elections.

    However, Ikott denied the allegation that his degree certificate from UNICAL is forged.

    Speaking through his media adviser, Mr. Edet Friday Edet, the chairmanship aspirant said that the matter is not new.

    “My accusers, obviously my political opponents, have not been able to prove in court that my certificate is a forged certificate.

    “They have gone to all lengths to discredit me but have failed. Election year is here again and they up again with their old narrative which they can’t prove even in court,” he said.

  • Clapping for our opponents

    Clapping for our opponents

    I don’t envy the honourable Sports Minister Senator John Owan Enoh. The amiable politician would find out in the coming days the true picture of how well or how badly our Olympic Games’ bound sports federations have fared in the last four years.

    Enoh would also find out that there is a distinct difference in fielding athletes who qualified early for the Olympics and those who went through several expeditions of qualifying competitions before they could make the cut-off points.

    Enoh is in Paris to learn. He has done well by providing what the contingent reasonably wants. Kudos to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for releasing N12 billion to the 88-member contingent, another of Tinubu’s magic wands which ought to motivate the athletes to give their best during the competition.

    Tinubu has shown that he is grounded in the act of motivating people. Sports has never had it so good – N12 billion for the Olympics? Please don’t wake me up until the medals start flying in. Not drug tainted medals o!

     Indeed, after the Olympics, Enoh won’t want to see many of the cringing sports administrators who have been hovering around him like nectar on hibiscus. He would have been wiser, but won’t be able to do anything with the spilled milk. Enoh would, however, be able to correct some of the mistakes from the Paris Olympics by insisting that only goal-getters win the sports federations’ elections for a better tomorrow at the next Olympic Games in 2028.

    What this means is that the minister would have realised that the latter groups (late qualifiers) are at the 2024 Olympic Games as also-ran athletes. Most of them struggled to make the games’ mark to survey the boutiques, perfume shops, telecommunications outlets and other merchandising outlets for shopping not to compete for honour for Nigeria – put simply they are in The French capital to ‘See Paris and die,’ as the jingo goes. These groups are in Paris to enjoy the very good French wines and meals since they can’t kill themselves to win medals for Nigeria, experts in fire brigade style of preparing for a competition whose date was known four years ago. They would constitute the crowd of failed athletes who would be clapping for Nigeria’s better prepared opponents who would be sweeping the laurels when pitched against us. They would be ones inferring that our athletes were robbed by the officiating personnel. Forgetting that the rules of all sports keep changing and the Olympic family can’t wait for snoring Nigerian officials to learn the new tricks of each game before utilising them at big sporting competitions.

    Nigeria would continue to dance in circles at big tournaments except we learn how to host big sports competitions, going forward. The first benefit is that our infrastructures would be the latest supersonic brands in the market, not the rustic ones you find in dilapidated facilities across the country. Indeed, many young kids watching such competitions in Nigeria would be driven by what they see to embrace the sport. Our sports administrators’ penchant for competing only in foreign lands defeats the essence of sports development in a third-world nation such as ours.

    Enoh would find out albeit very late that the country’s hopes at the Olympics would be those forerunners in their different sports such as Tobi Amusan, Efe Brume, and perhaps, a few others in wrestling, who would scale through the qualifiers. Indeed, the Olympic Games is a melting pot of sorts for sports – only good for the best sportsmen and women and also a platform for upsets for those countries who have used the last two Olympics in 2016 and 2020 to discover, nurture, and it is time to expose the new kids on the block at the big stage – the Olympic Games.

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    The unwritten Olympic mantra is that it takes at least between two to three Olympic Games’ circles of four years to produce world beaters as athletes. Of course, the very exceptional ones take short circles. Anytime I listen to our sports administrators listing Amusan and Brume as potential medallists, my mind races back to Blessing Okagbare until she was caught in the drug web, thus ending her hitherto illustrious sprinting career. Okagbare had problems taking off out of her starter’s block in the 100 metres for women. Our administrators couldn’t get her a good coach to correct that flaw in her sprinting career.

    Countries such as Jamaica and the USA would storm Paris ready to dethrone Amusan in the 110 metres women’s hurdles and Brume in the women’s long jump. They would have studied both girls’ tapes to exploit their flaws to clinch gold medals in both competitions they have dominated in previous Olympic Games. It is important to ask our administrators with experience in handling such matters if they got Amusan and Brume the coaches, doctors, dieticians, nutritionists, video analysts etc who kept a watch on likely contenders in these girls’ events. Or have they left them chasing the gold medal blindfolded as usual? We won’t accept any form of excuses if both athletes don’t enjoy the preferential treatment that top stars such as the former Jamaica’s world record 100 metres champion Usain Bolt enjoyed in his heydays.

    Dear reader, I had the privilege of sitting close to the finishing line of the 100 metres final for men at the 2012 Olympics held in London and Bolt’s entrance into any event was memorable – simple, but noticeable even when the buzz around his presence has calmed down with his exit. I sat so close to the finishing line that I stood up to shake the champion who made the sprint race a delight to watch, in spite of his usual late outbursts from the starter’s block.

    The bodyguards who accompanied Bolt gave him space which he exploited to salute his fans. He signed several things brought before him by his admirers without any hindrances. His appearance at spots at the Olympic venues in London didn’t cause any stampede. Rather, he came like whirlwind, but this time not scaring people with any dust or litters which accompany whirlwinds. Bolt knows how to take pictures with kids – lovely shots. Bolt was indeed athletics’ King Kong, apologies to fans’ other choices such as America’s Carl Lewis.

    The Super Falcons were full of guts and gumption, but a 37th minute strike by Gabi Nunes separated the two-time Olympics silver medalists from the nine-time African champions as the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament got off to a nervy start on Thursday. The game ended 1-0 in Brazil’s favour. Such nail-biting results will characterise the outcome of Nigeria’s participation in the games. The finer edges of victory belong to those who did their homework between four and eight years ago. Not six months ago

    I would rather Nigeria returns from Paris without any medal because it wouldn’t be happening for the first time than for our country’s image to be stained by cases of drug-popping athletes.  I hope that the country’s doctors haven’t compromised standards for any reason. Nigeria won’t cease to become a sovereign country if our country’s sports ambassadors fail to get a medal in Paris.

    Interestingly, Nigeria can beat her chest to say that Amusan, the country’s flag bearer to the Japan 2024 Olympic Games and Brume are sure medal hopefuls based on their pedigree. But, the Olympics is a different kettle of fish. It is the platform for new stars to emerge by beating the established orders.

    As for this writer, I also wish to watch Amusan and Brume dancing on the medals podium with Nigeria’s national anthem played to celebrate their outstanding outings. I would be equally happy if our wrestlers could make a statement about their arrival in Paris by winning at least two gold medals, a silver and bronze medals.

  • Emmanuel to opponents: join me to build Akwa Ibom

    Akwa Ibom State Governor Udom Emmanuel has urged fellow contestants in last Saturday’s election to join him in building the state.

    Emmanuel of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was declared winner of the governorship election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). He polled 519,712 votes to defeat his closest opponent, Nsima Ekere of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who scored 171,978 votes.

    In a state broadcast after his victory, the governor said: “The election was hard-fought but God gave us the victory, and I hereby dedicate this victory to Him and of course, you my dear Akwaibomites.

    “To those who contested against me, I urge  them to join hands with me to build the Akwa Ibom State of our dream: an industrialised state where education, healthcare delivery,  food sufficiency, peace and security, infrastructural renaissance, foreign investments shall remain abiding articles of faith.

    “While others put their trust in the weapons of violence and destruction, and had openly boasted of the invincibility of their Federal might, we put our trust and faith in the only God we know and worship. The only GOD who never disappoints and he did not disappoint! To Him alone, we give thanks, glory and adorations.”

    Emmanuel promised to achieve more for the state in his second term, urging indigenes and residents to maintain the peace prevailing in the state.

  • Review nomination

    Candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State who have been barred by the courts from participating in the gubernatorial, national and state assembly elections will be weeping and gnashing their teeth over what the indiscipline in their ranks has caused them. The electorate who prefer them to their opponents will feel disenfranchised by the process, while their political opponents would feel elated at their enhanced chances of winning the election by default.

    But how will the ordinary man be convinced that a law that restricts free choice in an electoral process is a just law? That is our worry, and we doubt if he will appreciate the validity of a law that has technically excluded those who want to participate in an election, just because their leaders are entangled in a dispute over how the candidates should emerge. Indeed, they will see the law as an ass. But bad as the outcome is, the courts have merely interpreted the laws of our country on electoral matters.

    The culprit in the legal tango in Rivers State, and potentially in Zamfara, is the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (Fourth Alteration Act No. 21) 2017, itself a further amendment of section 285 earlier amended in the first alteration act 2010. That act S.285 (9) of the constitution (as amended) provides: “notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Constitution, every pre-election matter shall be filed not later than 14 days from the date of the occurrence of the event, decision or action complained of in the suit.” In sub-section 12, it further provides: “an appeal from a decision of a court in a pre-election matter shall be heard and disposed of within 60 days from the date of filing of the appeal.”

    So, it is a combination of the provision of the constitution (as amended) that has done-in the candidates of the APC and those who prefer them in the forthcoming general elections in Rivers State. Why then have we enacted a law that has clearly disenfranchised our citizens in a participatory democracy on the altar of technicality? The provision has become a form of albatross on participatory democracy, which is the fundament of the 1999 constitution. That should worry every democrat, regardless of party affiliation and we urge the National Assembly to re-consider the provisions of the law to gift the country a freer choice.

    A democracy will not be worth its name if the law becomes a shackle instead of an enabler. It should be such as to accommodate the disputes arising from liberal democracy. Perhaps the laws should enshrine a deadline for disposing of all pre-election matters ahead of the general election with room for a fresh nomination exercise. This way, the courts would have quieted the intra-party issues with regards to candidates, and any rumbles will be extra-legal or even illegal and impotent because they will not be exercised into effect by way of prosecution or judicial verdicts. This will compel parties to structure fresh and agreeable nomination process ahead of the deadline. Of course, we deprecate the indiscipline within the parties, and acknowledge that a price should be paid for such. But we doubt if debarring a party from participation in an election is not an over-kill. We acknowledge that the law is the law. Our laws must also appreciate that parties are mostly a cobbling of divergent interests and not an organic whole.

    While the benefiting parties in River State may feel elated at the opportunity handed over to them by the courts, they should ponder how the public would have received the development if the dominant party at the centre had been the beneficiary of the judgment and others the loser. Considering the volatile nature of the state, would those affected not have interpreted it in such a way as to cause serious security breach? How would the ordinary folks understand that their party’s candidates are barred from participating in an election which they are expected to adjudge as free and fair?

    For the APC in Rivers State, this year’s gubernatorial, national and state legislative elections can be anything but free, fair and credible. An election will only be free if the voters are free to make a choice from amongst those that have freely submitted themselves as candidates. The election will only be considered fair if the same standards are applicable to the electorate and the candidates. To consider the process as fair, all the willing and qualified voters and candidates should be free to participate without any undue inhibition or hurdle.

    Also, an election would be deemed as credible if the procedure, from registration of voters, the nomination of candidates, the voting and the work of the umpire are not unduly inhibited. In Rivers State, there is no way the supporters of the APC and their candidates would not feel cheated by the electoral process, which has disenfranchised them. It will not matter that it is the recalcitrant conduct of their leaders and a few members that have put them in the quandary. So, a political system must be elastic enough to accommodate the rancorous nature of party politics, otherwise the rigidity could mar the entire process.

  • Declaration pits Buhari’s men against opponents

    President Muhammadu Buhari’s declaration to seek re-election next year may have pitted his supporters against his political foes. ONYEDI OJIABOR and JOSEPH JIBUEZE report the positions of both camps on Buhari’s decision.

    MORE reactions yesterday trailed President Muhammadu Buhari’s declaration to vie again. The declaration, some said, saved the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) from disintegration, said that it calmed fray nerves at the scheduled APC National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting.

    Others believe that the President broke an earlier promise that he would follow the Nelson Mandela by not seeking re-election.

     

    APC saved from

    disintegration, says senator

     

    The Chairman of the Senate Committee Chairman on Police Affairs, Abu Ibrahim, said declaration saved the All Progressives Congress (APC) from disintegration.

    The Katsina South senator said the President’s  announcement would go a long way in dousing what could have created an unmanageable crisis of confidence in the ruling party.

    Ibrahim told reporters in Abuja that he was “joyous, elated and delighted” at the decision of President Buhari to seek re-election.

    He added that “I think that it (seeking re-election) is also the right thing for him to do.”

    According to him, if the President had decided not to contest, “it would likely have led to the disintegration of the APC.

    “If Buhari decided not to contest, the NEC meeting would have ended up in combative situation. The meeting would have turned into explosive uncontrollable situation. Who will emerge as APC flag bearer: is it from the North or the South. It would have led a serious situation that would have been difficult to manage and control.

    “If Buhari decided not to contest, it would have created confusion. That declaration saved us that confusion. I am joyous.

    “There is no doubt that we are on the path of recovery in Nigeria. We are on the path of rebirth in Nigeria. If this gentleman continues for the next four years, Nigeria will be much better.”

    The senator noted that if Buhari decided not contest, it would have been difficult for the APC to get somebody as widely accepted as the President as the party’s flag bearer.

    Acknowledging that “there are pockets of problems here and there”, Ibrahim noted that Buhari had, to a large extent, dealt with Boko Haram insurgency.

    On his blueprint for Buhari if he is re-elected, Ibrahim said that he would still put more emphasis on security, especially internal security.

    He said: “Internal security is important. It means that the police must be rebuilt, given more funds and made viable to perform better. I will also put emphasis on the economy and infrastructure and investment.”

    To those criticizing President Buhari he said: “They should continue their criticism while we will continue to give them answers. That is the beauty of democracy.”

     

    Agbakoba: 2019 polls

    will be competitive

     

    ONE-TIME Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) President Olisa Agbakoba said the President’s declaration will trigger upsets in next years’ general elections.

    The Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and leader of the National Intervention Movement (NIM), however, said the declaration was within Buhari’s constitutional rights.

    He told The Nation that with the declaration, the President had thrown the ball into the court of Nigerians for them to decide his fate.

    On what he thought about Buhari’s declaration, Agbakoba said: “It’s his constitutional entitlement but what really matters is whether this means he will be re-elected is an entirely different matter as this will be decided by Nigerians.”

    Agbakoba, a civil rights activist, said discussions were ongoing with a view to presenting a credible candidate who can match Buhari, predicting that next year’s general elections would be competitive.

    On whether there is a credible candidate who can successfully challenge Buhari, Agbakoba said: “That’s to be taken for granted. I am aware there are massive consultations and alignments underway throughout Nigeria and very credible candidates will emerge to make the elections competitive and with strong possibility for upsets across Nigeria.”

     

    ‘Decision good for Nigeria’

     

    Activist-lawyer Toluwani Adebiyi said Buhari’s decision to seek re-election was “good for Nigeria”.

    According to him, the President’s honesty and discipline stood him out as the best candidate, adding that a victory for the opposition party would take Nigeria backwards.

    Adebiyi said: “Buhari’s second coming is good for Nigeria. There are two things he possesses – discipline and honesty – rare qualities in present Nigeria Leaders. We need them and we will continue to need them.

    “No doubt he has made some economic restructuring and diversification, benefits of which may not manifest until later years.

    “Let him come back to reap and use what he had sowed and the looted money he had recovered for the betterment of Nigeria.

    “The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) coming back will only be to re-loot and waste the recovered money. It will be a reign of revenge.

    “Honesty and discipline cannot be acquired; they are inborn. No PDP leader has such qualities. They will only take us back and down the drain in a despicable form that Nigeria may never find recovery.”

     

    It’s timely, worthy, says Ngige

     

    To Labour & Employment Minister Chris Ngige, President Buhari took a timely and worthy decision by declaring to run again.

    He said: “President Buhari’s declaration is a timely and worthy step in the right direction. We shall meet all letter writers and their cronies in the electoral battle fields’. God will bless Nigeria.”

     

    Obasanjo, IBB, others

    not God, says minister

     

    Communications Minister Adebayo Shittu said the stance of former presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Ibrahim Babangida and others would not affect President Buhari’s re-election bid.

    He urged supporters of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) not entertain fear that the former leaders may block Buhari’s chance of coming back.

    Shittu told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja yesterday that since the former Nigerian leaders “are not God, there should be no apprehension’’.

    In separate letters, Chief Obasanjo and Gen. Babangida, had advised the president not to run in the 2019 poll. They urged Nigerians to vote him out should he decide otherwise.

    But Shittu, who described Buhari’s declaration as a welcome development, said: “Who is OBJ? OBJ is not God. IBB is not God. Obasanjo was president here, he wanted a third term and he didn’t get it.

    “What Mr. President did yesterday (Monday), we had done that much back on his behalf; that is the Mohammadu Buhari/Osinbajo Dynamic Support Group.

    “So, what he did yesterday was just a follow-up to what we had done about three months ago. And I want to assure you is that by the grace of God, Mohammadu Buhari will become president the second time.”

    According to him, the president had distinguished himself as his achievement in three years had surpassed what the PDP did in 16 years.

    He said: “For instance in the area of job creation for youths, no government has ever in one day employed 200, 000 graduates. It has never happened but under Buhari’s N-Power, that happened.

    “Through this, he has provided jobs for 200, 000 families spread across the length and breadth of Nigeria.

    “The government is still processing the employment of 300, 000 more graduates to make it 500, 000, this has never happened.

    “In the areas of transport, works and housing, the last budget of the PDP government was less than N20 billion and most of these monies were stolen; diverted to private pockets.

    “In 2017 alone, the Buhari government spent N255 billion on those subject matters; transport, works and housing. So, how do you compare?”

    He said the government was building new roads across the Southeast states with $100 million dollars SUKUK loan and non-interest loan from Islamic Development Bank.

    “For the first time, government is building new railway from Lagos to Kano, from Kano to Maiduguri, from Maiduguri to Calabar and from Calabar to Lagos. So the records are there,” he said.

     

    Report on Buhari’s one-term

    presidency wrong, says Adesina

     

    Presidential spokesman Femi Adesina has described as a ‘misquote’ the report that President Muhammadu Buhari had pledged only one-term presidency and will never seek re-election in view of his age status.

    Adesina, who is the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, was reacting to a contributor on Channel television programme via Skype, on Tuesday.

    Yemi Akinbode, who contributed to the programme, said he was not surprised by the President’s declaration in spite of his pledge in 2014 not to seek re-election.

    Adesina said: “No, that’s misquote, he was never, never quoted that way. If there is anything on record like that is a misquote because I was with him in South Africa when that issue came when he said, oh, he wished he had become president at the time he was a military governor that he would have done a lot for Nigeria.

    “And the other happened in 2011. When he was running in 2011 he said, yes he would be a president for one term. But did he win in that year? No.

    “The victory came in 2015. So, that being quoted in 2011 is not applicable again because he did not win that year.’’

    Akinbode had said on the television programme: “It didn’t come as a surprise to me. We have seen indications that the president was going to run a long time ago.

    “The President in 2014 said that he was only going to run for one term because of his age.’’

    But the presidential aide maintained that it was not on record that Buhari had told the APC or any member of the party that he would do only one term in office.

    On the purported vote of no confidence allegedly passed on the President by Northern Elders Forum and the Council for Shariah, Adesina said the two groups had the constitutional right to support anybody vying for political office in the country.

    He cited an example of a former president of the country who equally failed to secure the votes in his state and region but ended up winning the presidential election twice.

    On whether the president had obtained the support of his doctors before making his declaration, Adesina said Buhari was a responsible man who would never go against the advice of his doctor.

    He said: “The President is a very responsible man. If there had been any warning, any red light from his doctor, you know, he wouldn’t have ventured into it, unless you are telling me there is something you know that I don’t know.

    “But I know the President, as a very, very responsible man. If there was any warning he wouldn’t do it.’’

    Adesina, who said that the President took him and other presidential aides unaware when he announced his intention to run for re-election next year.

    He said the president’s declaration was in reaction to appeals by millions of Nigerians.

    “Yes, there had been a lot of appeals. I have served in different meetings with different interest groups and all of them want him to run for second term in office.

    “And do you know that whenever the president reacted to these groups he would speak on all other points they raised except the issue of second term.

    “It has been like this in the past one year even before he went for medical vacation, these calls had started coming but Mr. President would not say a word and that reinforced my opinion that for him it was not a matter of do-or-die.

    “It is just a matter of serving the country and if he feels that he has done it with the best of his ability that is just it.’’

     

  • Between advocates and opponents of restructuring

    Between advocates and opponents of restructuring

    The souring of our national political discourse over the matter of restructuring the quasi-unitary system that the military imposed on the country since 1966 is not in the interest of anyone, whether advocates or foes of restructuring. Name-calling certainly does not help. Threat is counter-productive. There is no viable substitute for an adult discourse that privileges rationality over emotion no matter the depth of passion that the latter invokes.

    On the other hand, however, the state of the debate is a true reflection of who we are: true offspring of our founding fathers. They did not initially zero in on federalism. They had robust debates, sometimes inflamed with ruinous rhetoric, including, yes, name-calling! Threats of withdrawal from the union were made by all sides. But in the end, it was reason that prevailed and won initial opponents of federalism to the side of its advocates. The leaders saw the wisdom in the federal option, they embraced it and made the best of it.  Indeed, shortly after the motion for independence was passed in 1957, Alhaji Tafawa Balewa, who would later be named Prime Minister of the new nation, celebrated the choice of the federal system for the new nation in the following words:

    “But to me the most important result of the constitutional changes in 1954 was the introduction of a federal form of government for Nigeria—a system which I had advocated as far back as 1948 in the old Legislative Council. I am pleased to see that we are now all agreed that the federal system is, under present conditions, the only sure basis on which Nigeria can remain united. We must recognise our diversity and the peculiar conditions under which the different tribal (sic) communities live in this country. To us in Nigeria therefore unity in diversity is a source of great strength, and we must do all in our power to see that this federal system of government is strengthened and maintained.”

    A few years later after independence, the all-powerful forces of human nature invaded the system. Instead of strengthening the federal system, they subjected it to series of assaults. Those who sought to strengthen the system were treated as pariahs and for their intransigence, they were made to pay a heavy price, including long-term incarceration.

    Its lopsided nature was the first major concern for the strength of the federation. From 1954 to 1960, there was nothing resembling a common national identity beside the occupation of a common territory. Political parties were formed based on regional and ethnic identities. An obvious population imbalance between the three regions meant that in a parliamentary system, the region whose census figure was more than double that of the other two can expect to rule the country in perpetuity. Obviously too, if the unity of the new country was the consensual vision of its leadership, this kind of imbalance needed to be addressed for the sake of a more perfect union.

    Working for a more perfect federal union which accommodated diversity without jeopardising the goal of unity was the rationale of the agitation for the creation of more regions and especially for drawing the boundaries of regions to coincide with linguistic identities, which Chief Obafemi Awolowo championed. It was what attracted ethnic minorities to his political philosophy. Unfortunately, it was what irritated his fellow political leaders, especially the great Ahmadu Bello and Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa both of whom had been staunchly in favour of true federalism and regional autonomy. The idea that the North can be broken up into more regions was unacceptable to them. And it did not happen even when the Midwest was carved out of the Western Region.

    The rebalancing of the federation, which political leaders failed to do, the Gowon military administration accomplished with the creation of 12 states. However, this was after the federal constitution had been suspended and the system had been unitarised to conform with the military ideal of unity without diversity.

    The 1963 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria opened with the following preamble:

    “Having firmly resolved to establish the Federal Republic of Nigeria, with a view to ensuring the unity of our people and faith in our fatherland, for the purpose of promoting inter-African co-operation and solidarity, in order to ensure world peace and international understanding, and so as to further the ends of liberty, equality and justice both in our country and in the world at large, we the people of Nigeria, by our representatives here in Parliament assembled, do hereby declare, enact and give to ourselves the following Constitution….:”

    That made the 1963 Constitution the first and last sincere declaration on behalf of the people by their representatives. It was a federal constitution that respected the diversity of the country, acknowledged the right of regions to have their own constitutions, and accommodated their rights and responsibilities in the running of the country with the establishment of exclusive and concurrent legislative lists. Since then, every military constitution that has parroted the language of the 1963 preamble has been a bogus lie. But it is not just the lie that makes those constitutions intolerable as the foundation of our union, it is also because they have proved incongruent with the aspirations of the teeming population of the nation.

    First, the fact that states have become mere appendages to the central government makes it impossible for them to effectively promote the interests of their residents. This is especially with regards to their responsibility for the social and economic welfare of their citizens. Whereas the 1963 revenue formula prioritises the interests of regions vis-à-vis the allocation of revenue, the 1999 formula reverses this in favour of the central government. In real terms, since states are closer to the people than the central government, they are better placed to know and promote the people’s social and economic well-being than the central government. Therefore, it stands to reason that more revenue be available to states/regions.

    Second, the security interests of regions/states have been compromised with the pivot of the 1999 Constitution to the central government in the matter of the institution of the police. It has become clear that the Nigeria Police is incapable of securing the totality of the country. The upsurge in criminal activities, including kidnapping, cultism and armed robbery is an incontrovertible evidence. But the Constitution has apparently barred states from establishing their own police. It is unclear which interest is more important—the abstract interest of the state in unity or the concrete interest of citizens in security.

    Third, the radical change from an emphasis on regional autonomy which respects diversity and healthy competition to state dependency which objectifies uniformity has been a mockery of the practice of federalism. It is more so when the change was not wrought through a democratic consensus but with the fiat of an unelected military junta which pretended that it knew better than an overwhelming majority of citizens what was good for the country. That majority has relentlessly voiced its concern for the direction that the military has taken the country and has demanded a return to a true federal structure.

    Fourth, while the creation of states has made government closer to the people than the former regions, it is also clear that the balkanisation that state creation represents has made the states weaker vis-à-vis the centre. Whereas the regions were almost self-sufficient in their economic needs, the states have proven incapable of satisfying the yearnings of their people.

    These are the reasons for the call for a return to regional structure. Human nature being what it is, this has not gone down well with those who have benefitted from the current system even if it is not working for all. It is clear, however, that we must come up with a creative approach to our governance structure. To this end, almost every zone of the federation has championed voluntary regional integration. While those efforts are commendable, they are not a substitute for a formal process that recognises the challenge of a wobbly system and summons courage to fix it.

     

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  • Tornadoes won’t underrate opponents-Adebayo

    Tornadoes won’t underrate opponents-Adebayo

    Niger Tornadoes centre-back Abiodun Adebayo expects a tough encounter when his side lock horns with Heartland at the Dan Anyiam Stadium this weekend.

    The Naze Millionaires are neck-deep in relegation troubles this term, and Adebayo believes the Owerri-based outfit will be no pushovers.

    “This is certain to be another tough match for us,” Adebayo told Goal.

    In my opinion, Heartland aren’t a pushover.

    “They’ve been a little bit unfortunate with a couple of their results, which drew them into the relegation zone, so we are expecting probably one of the toughest games of our season.

    “They are a team that’s fighting to get out of the bottom spot, they don’t deserve to be there either.

    “This is also probably their last chance to get out of there, so we’ve really gotta be up to it.

    “We won’t go down either,” he concluded.

    Tornadoes head out for a win as they seek to keep their survival chances afloat, having amassed 45 points to sit in 11th place on the table.

     

  • Clapping for our opponents

    The die is cast with the commencement of the Olympic Games in Rio de Janerio, Brazil. It is the biggest multi-sports competition, where new winners emerge, with former champions humbled. For some previous winners such as Usain Bolt, the Olympics in Rio offers him the best chance to confirm his dominance of the sprint events (100 metres and 200 metres), with many athletics followers wishing that he wins the three gold medals like he did in London in 2012 and Beijing in 2008.

    Since Bolt emerged in 2008, the talk has been who would beat him. Such a feat can be achieved by drug free athletes such as Bolt, who hasn’t tested positive to any banned substance. Bolt signposts the best of athletics as epitomised by the Jamaicans’ superiority over the Americans, who in the past coasted past their competitors with grace and candour. Until the Jamaicans dethroned the Americans, the athletics event was the “birthright” of the Americans, given their dominance of the tracks. And they justified the ratings with their unbeatable template for producing world beaters in the event. Little wonder the Jamaicans went to the United States of America (USA) to understudy the Americans before coming up with their model that has left the Americans in awe, wondering when they would reclaim their “crown.”

    Countries such as Nigeria have gone to Australia to study their model, culminating in the need to improve on the facilities inside the Nigeria Institute for Sports (NIS) to attain the standard required. Sadly, policy somersaults arising from frequent changes in sports ministers have left the NIS in ruins, only producing half-baked coaches, whose certificates are not better than the foil used to wrap bread, only to be flung out the moment the content has been eaten.

    However, the Rio Olympics offer the Americans the best platform to beat the Jamaicans. Will the Americans come up with a new kid to breast the tape ahead of Bolt? I can’t wait. For Nigeria, it would be the place to watch and clap for our opponents, who commenced their preparations when the light was extinguished in London to signify the end of the London 2012 Olympic Games.

    Being a multi-sports event, the swimming pool would be the place where the Americans, Australians and the Asians will rule. Will Nigeria present a swimmer at the Games? I dey laugh o! Can block float? We have the talents to do well at subsequent games. But that won’t happen given the dearth of swimming competitions in the country and the dry pools, that is if we even have them. Since the time when former Sports Minister Jim Nwobodo told everyone that the black man doesn’t have the innate talent to swim, we have been winking in the dark in swimming. And there isn’t any light at the end of the tunnel irrespective of the renovation of the swimming pool at the National Stadium Surulere, Lagos. Soon that place will return to its decayed state where rodents and other dangerous animals will co-habit.

    There will be focus on tennis because of the Williams’ sisters – Serena and Venus, not forgetting Andy Murray of Great Britain. Did I hear you ask about Nigeria’s entrant for this event? Keep dreaming. If we had, he or she would be there to clap for his/her opponents. Tennis has sadly become an elite sport played seriously by rich men and their families who embrace the game as a form of recreation- not to compete for the country. For crusaders of this sport such as Godwin Kienka, their products embrace the game too late to do anything meaningful because they are usually interested in seeking greener pastures for those who got scholarships to play the game outside the country.

    For ping pong, Nigeria has been doing well, except that the Asians dominate the event. Our boys and girls could cause some upsets in the qualifying rounds. That is the best that they can achieve because our preparations were poor. Aruna Quadri, Segun Toriola, Funke Oshionaike et al are not strangers to the Olympics but their best years are behind. Quadri could be our best prospect. But the field at the Olympics is tough, with the Nigerian not showing enough character to sustain his quest for the Olympic Games’ medal’s podium.

    Don’t wake me up from this dream when it comes to Nigeria’s chances of winning a medal in basketball. No doubt, our game has improved, but it is not enough to stop the Americans in the dunking game. Good to know that  this is our second appearance at the Olympic Games’ basketball event, yet majority of our players ply their trade in the NBA; but this makes the task of beating us easy for the Yankees. True, they know them but when push comes to shove, the Nigerians would be lacking in technique and tactics. These are the hallmarks of champions developed over time and not through the fly-by-night approach by the Nigerian government and sports administrators.

    Winning any medal at the Olympics is a seven-year project. This means if Nigeria was serious about wining any medal, preparations ought to have started after the Beijing 2008 Olympics Games. Blessing Okagbare was the best prospect for that. But we wasted the opportunity with our rudderless structures and policy summersaults arising from a high turnover of sports ministers.

    Rather than invest in Okagbare after her debut in Beijing, we allowed her to burn the tracks in all the seasonal athletics meets, leaving her unprepared for the big events such as the Olympics. I won’t blame Okagbare for running round the year. She must put food on the table. She must pay for her school fees. She must pay for the services of her technical staff. Little cash many may argue, but when the Nigerian government isn’t forthcoming, Okagbare must decide her future. Of course, with a government that pays lip service to corporate sponsorships for sports, the blue-chip firms are not inspired to take the initiative. Even the few sports federations that seek sponsorship from these firms are unconvincing to a prospective sponsor when asked what a sponsoring company stands to gain from such investments. This will even be worse now considering the tightened noose on the economy- a development that has left many firms rethinking their spending portfolio. And for such firms, every kobo for sponsorship must be worth their while for their return-on-investment.

    In other climes, government has incentives for firms that support sports such as tax holidays and/or rebates. Besides, those climes establish sports lottery funds which help to support their athletes going for big competitions such as the Olympics. Okagbare has a few sponsors but their cash isn’t anything to refer to when compared with what bigger athletes receive.

    Talking seriously about Nigeria’s chances of winning a medal at the Rio Olympics, one is tempted to list wrestling as the biggest prospect. But my enthusiasm waned when I listened to the Wrestling Federation of Nigeria (WFN’s) boss, Daniel Igali’s lamentations on Channels television’s sports programme during the week.

    Igali lamented thus: “In elite sports, little things matter a lot and as a nation, Nigeria must go beyond the stage of depending on luck to win competitions and do things in the right way.

    “I don’t believe in outcome, I believe in process and part of the process is their training partners. We don’t have to do things the Nigerian way.

    “If Nigerians want medals, come forward to us as the Nigeria wrestling team needs to take five training partners and one coach to Brazil. The wrestlers cannot afford to stay off shape as over 200 teams will participate in wrestling,” Igali said.

    For the records, Igali is an Olympic Games medalist at Sydney 2000 Olympic Games in wrestling, but he achieved that feat wrestling for Canada after being frustrated by our sports administrators. Igali is back to Nigeria and wants to introduce those things he found in Canada that were responsible for his feats. Of course, there can’t be a Nigerian way of doing things. Here, we count on luck as if others signed a pact with ill-luck during sports competitions.

    So, how do you drop the wrestlers’ training partners yet you expect them to warm-up properly before their events? Do our administrators understand that a wrestler cannot train with one who isn’t in his weight class?

    Indeed, Igali’s arguments are germane because the wrestlers won’t be competing on the mats until August 17. So, what would they be doing between August 2 and 15? They can’t be starring into the sky for those 13 days. They need their training partners to keep them fit. It is these partners who would be used as the guinea pigs to perfect the strategies to adopt on competition days.

    With this scenario, one isn’t too sure of a medal in wrestling. But with a Nigerian, anything is possible. Who would have thought that Chioma Ajunwa would win a gold medal in the female long jump event at the Atlanta ’96 Olympic Games? Ajunwa’s feat that year was not because she had an exceptional preparation for the Games- no, far from it. Rather, it was simply Nigeria’s ninth wonder of the world. And in line with the Nigerian tradition, 20 years after Ajunwa’s long jump gold medal, who has emerged to repeat half the feat?

    The world is waiting for Nigeria’s soccer team in Rio for two reasons. Firstly, soccer pundits are licking their lips waiting to see if Nigeria and Brazil will tangle at any stage of the competition.

  • Eaglets get FIFA U-17 World Cup opponents today

    Eaglets get FIFA U-17 World Cup opponents today

    World Champions, Golden Eaglets of Nigeria, will today know the identity of their group phase opponents as the draw ceremony for the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup holds in Santiago, capital of Chile.

    The Official Draw is billed to take place at the massive Art Centre 660 at 20:00hrs local time (12:00 midnight in Nigeria) and the 24 qualified countries would be drawn into six groups of four teams each.

    Defending champions and four-time winners Nigeria and host Chile would most likely be the seeded teams in their respective groups of this year’s FIFA U-17 World Cup.

    Speaking ahead of the draw, Golden Eaglets’ Head Coach Emmanuel Amuneke, said he was not expecting an easy draw since all the qualified teams have the same ambition of winning the FIFA U-17 trophy, adding that the Nigerian youngsters would be ready to defend their title.

    “We are waiting to see who and who we are going to meet after the draw on Thursday,” said the former African Footballer of the Year. “Though we don’t have the luxury of choosing the teams we want, we are preparing very well for the tournament and we would be ready to give a good account of ourselves.”

    Meanwhile, the 24 -team cast is made up of six from Europe (Belgium, France, Germany, Russia, Croatia and England); four from Asia (Australia, Korea Republic, Syria and  Korea DPR); four from North America (Mexico, Honduras, Costa Rica and USA); five from South America (Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador, Paraguay and host Chile); one from Oceania (New Zealand) and; the African quartet of Mali, Guinea, South Africa and Nigeria .

    The 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup would be held between October 17 and November 8 across eight Chilean cities, namely La Serena, Coquimbo, Vina Del Mar, Chillan, Talca, Santiago De Chile, Concepcion and  Puerto Montt.

  • No let up for Elechi’s opponents

    No let up for Elechi’s opponents

    Despite reports that some lawmakers of the Ebonyi State House of Assembly have allegedly backed out of the impeachment plot against the state governor, Chief Martins Elechi, sources say the principal architects of the “sack Elechi project”, are not relenting in their desperation to get rid of the governor at all cost.

    The fear in the camp of the governor’s opponents is that with the man still in saddle during the governorship election, it may be difficult for the PDP governorship candidate, Dave Umahi, who is also the current deputy governor to win the election.