The Nation Newspaper

Tag: PMB

  • PMB and MEGAPHONE

    PMB and MEGAPHONE

    President Muhammadu Buhari said in Teheran that some of the stolen loot have returned to our treasury. Two things were wrong with this. One, he is in the habit of playing megaphone outside the country. His lips are sealed at home.

    Abroad, he becomes announcer in chief. He is president of Nigeria, not diaspora. Does he love the outside world more than where he has legitimacy? We learnt abroad of ministers as noise makers, that he would give priority to those who voted for him, that we are broke. What shall we learn at home?

    Second, I thought we ought to know through what process the looters are returning the loot. This is a democracy, and we have the right to know the looters. Is it not the courts that should bargain with these people? How much have they paid? We have a right to know because it is our patrimony. This is not a monarchy. The rule of law is the best way to handle corruption.

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  • PMB’s prison ration (couched in parenthesis)

    Disambiguation: after typing the above title, Hardball had stared at the near-blank screen for a long while trying to soak up its overall import. Unknown to a many writers, titles often turn out to be grim albatrosses. For the first reason that most readers only read or scan headlines and titles and move on to other things. Readers have their own businesses too, don’t forget. What this means is that most times, your headline represents your story, all the words you have conjured up and all the arguments, logic and illogic you have trolled in a piece often end up in the graveyard of your title or headline.

    Woebetide you therefore if your title, which is your billboard, is hanging upside down (your error) or is read upside down (the readers’ error). Whosoever is at error the writer is doomed because it all comes back crashing upon him. Since most readers walk away with just the title and since every reader would interpret a title according to his wits, every writer must sweat a little to ensure that his title is as unambiguous as clean water. This is the reason for this long, parenthetic adventure over the above title.

    Imagine a reader glancing at “PMB’s prison ration…” without reading the piece, he would have formed about half a dozen impressions about Hardball; about The Nation or even a deep ‘conjecturing’ about some emerging political dynamics and the power matrix between the APC and the presidency. The conjectures and configurations could be stretched far and wide in any direction that suits the reader (some people have their imagination for breakfast). By the time such a reader is through, the damage would have been done not only in his mind but by a certain contagion on anyone who comes in contact with this ‘expert’.

    Consider for a moment that this particular reader has some education; consider for a moment that he is an unemployed graduate of long-standing who holds court and leads thought at a popular newsstand in a densely populated neighbourhood!

    Hardball hereby confirms to you that there is no deadlier ‘terrorist’ than an unemployed ‘political analyst’ at a newsstand.

    Therefore, the above title, Hardball dares say, is not suggestive of anything other than its simple primary meaning. It is not about any prospect of President Buhari ever going to do ration in prison or anywhere for that matter.)

    Now that we believe you have read the explanation of the above title, please here is the story behind the title. Hardball is simply talking about a recent report that the association of Nigeria Prisons Service Ration and Gas Contractors (NPSRGC) would stop supplying ration and gas to prisons across the country by end of November should the federal government fail to redeem N6.6 billion owed it.

    Gee! This is serious in rather precipitous and calamitous proportions if you can see it. It is a ration fit for a president, isn’t it? Having noted that, Hardball would simply request the presidency to act fast; prison ration is bad enough. Unless we seek to exterminate them by starvation. Save the inmates please!

     

  • Reimagining the PMB presidency

    It has become apparent in this epoch that imagination is as lean as the president himself and ‘body language’ is fast becoming an effusion of body odour to the people. And just as ex-President Goodluck Jonathan was branded ‘Mr. Clueless’, and appropriately so, President Muhammadu Buhari is fast earning the moniker of ‘Mr. Fuddy-Duddy’ and it looks like it’s gonna stick. What a pity.

    However, the coming of a belated cabinet may well re-imagine this presidency and rescue it. The executive council formed more than six months after inauguration is no doubt a good pick taken together; if only this cabinet had been set up earlier. Imagine what might have been if we had this team at work since July, about six weeks after inauguration.

    Perhaps the most telling reason to confirm that the PMB presidency is in dire need of deep strategic support (and it needs to realise its acute deficiency) is the statement emanating from last Monday’s workshop organised by the National Democratic Institute (NDI). Represented by the new Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, PMB had blamed the delay in the take off of his government on the Goodluck Jonathan government.

    Hear PMB: “We expected comprehensive report on the state of the economy, the security situation, infrastructure development or deficit and social issues, among others in an atmosphere devoid of bitterness, confrontation and conflict.

    “What we got was the exact opposite of what we expected…The incoming government was completely left in the dark and only got handover notes four days before handover date.”

    One thought a handover note often comprised what the predecessor deemed important. It could come in tomes of a thousand volumes and it could also be only a few sheets. Whatever it may be, no new government with a clear vision would depend on his predecessor’s notes to initiate its actions. Again, we remember PMB told us he was taking his time to restructure; he also told us that he could work without ministers who are essentially noisome.

    One thought every new government must have clear ideas and the directions it wishes to go. What has a handover note got to do with the president appointing quality ministers in good time? Again, does it take so long for a new government to determine the true state of affairs of a country? All one needs do is to mandate the heads of the critical MDAs to generate the requisite reports in one week flat; and it is done.

    Blaming ex-President Jonathan after about nine months of beating him at the polls only lends credence to critics who think PMB has lost touch, or never had it. It is akin to a man who wins a trophy and complains that the loser would not teach him how to pop champagne or loft the silverware and jump for joy.

    Monday’s seeming faux pas may be considered the final denotation in a long narrative of inertia and lost opportunities of the PMB era. Coming on a groundswell of massive goodwill and popular desire for change, the change people are left with today may well be a few coins of disillusionment.

    For a country that literally offered the president a triumphant entry; for a people not only willing to do just anything but actually did everything to allow the president a grand entrée, the honeymoon is surely over now. The PMB government was running on what has been commonly called ‘body language’. In support and deference to the new government, Nigerians had over these few months endeavoured to do the right things even at their own detriment. Most people were acting on the expectation that the new government would latch on to such outpouring of goodwill and restructure certain fundamentals. But nothing of such has happened.

    One example is the petroleum sector, which was in a hail of crisis even as the president was inaugurated in May. Six months down the line, not a thought seems to have been spared on this matter of urgent national importance. What do we have today? The seeming reprieve granted by the stakeholders has been withdrawn, fuel is scarce once again across the country and PMB is about to pay a whopping N415 billion in so-called ‘subsidy’. And this is just the first tranche.

    How much does it cost to build a modern modular refinery? Assuming the president has no thoughts whatsoever on this absurd ‘subsidy’ conundrum before he ascended office, a panel of five, set up in June could have given him the answers he needed and he would have pronounced a clear direction on this ignoble ‘subsidy’ by the end of June. We would have long gone past the current crisis. Now we are back to the sorry days of ex-President Jonathan… with attendant sufferings for the people.

    Electricity supply is another sad example. The new owners of the distribution and generating companies who had begun to behave themselves upon the emergence of PMB, expecting a definitive new order, have simply reverted to their old ways, seeing neither spunk nor substance in PMB. Today, we are back to the old days of anything goes. Now in the middle of the dry season when power supply is needed most, what we have is sustained outages and sabotage. We are back to the Jonathan days… with attendant sufferings for the people.

    The latest we hear is that the presidency has ordered reassessment of the Gencos and Discos. We thought this was the natural action to have been taken in the first weeks of June. Every discerning person in the country could tell that though government divesting from power was salutary, the process was fraught with abuse and irregularities. Further, the new owners have continued to play pranks in the last two years, extorting the people and making little investment. If only PMB had ordered this ‘reassessment’ in July, we would be reaping results now. Today the people harvest woes and weariness.

    The war against graft has even turned out more vacuous, considering that it is the major plank of PMB emergence. Most of PMB’s energy seems to have been poured here, but not one person has been named, not to think of pulling anyone in for prosecution (apart from former NSA, Sambo Dasuki). Just a few days ago we were told that suspects were innocent until proven guilty. How profound! Six months after, we are still building up cases against those accused.

    How effective can that be with no Attorney-General and Minister of Justice? How can we fight graft with a smeared template? From one’s seat here in Lagos one can perceive the stench in graft agencies in faraway Abuja; there ought to have been a clearing out and cleansing in order to start on a clean slate. Can you clean with a dirty mop?

    Many Nigerians are truly apprehensive now about the PMB presidency and his ability to lead Nigeria out of the woods and back from the brink. The utter lack of urgency where speed is of essence is most frustrating. The ship of state is sinking, yet government struts as if it has 40 years to work. Now that a cabinet has been formed, it is hoped that purposeful activities will commence on all fronts.

    But who would lead change. PMB’s capacity is in doubt, yet he bugs himself down the more with the Petroleum Ministry as if he is going to go to the ministry and pore over files or go to the creeks and remark crude pump calibrations. Many are therefore apprehensive of the quality of vision available at the helm, thus individual brilliance would be key and perhaps engender competition.

    The party has not shown a brilliant core either. One thing that is certain, however, is that between the party, the president and the cabinet, there is need to re-imagine this epoch.

  • PMB and his surprises

    SIR: As Nigerians waited for the allocation of portfolio to the ministers-designate, a lot of guesses on who would head one ministry or the other flew around town.

    With the announcement of the portfolio of each minister on Wednesday, many Nigerians were caught by surprise as their expectations were not met. The ministers I would say really fit into the ministries allocated to them. The inauguration of the new Federal Executive Council is a pointer to the direction in which the Buhari administration is heading; I see a government that is seriously ready to diversify the economy.

    Kudos to President Muhammadu Buhari for being a man that is up to his game. I wish the new ministers well and urge them to be proactive and be determined to deliver.

     

    • Adewumi Tope Humble,

    Omuo-oke Ekiti, Ekiti State.

     

  • PMB, Bring Back our Roads!

    Of late, passing through the Lagos-Ibadan expressway has become a very excruciating experience. For those who work in Lagos but reside along the axis, journeying daily along the route is akin to sojourning through hell. With recent development along the road, one does not really need any prophet to conclude that hell is not really far from us. The failed portion of the road between Magboro, Arepo and Wawa communities have been subjecting commuters to harrowing and traumatic experiences.

    It is quite appalling that commuters and residents along the road have been thrown into unending trauma because of the criminal neglect by concerned authorities. Ordinarily, travelling along these three communities to Lagos shouldn’t take more than 15 minutes. But now, commuters spend distressing hours on same trip. The situation becomes more miserable when one realizes that what is responsible, for the agony being faced on the road, could at best be referred to as a routine issue. What makes commuters waste hours on the road could at best be addressed through creative palliative measures. In saner climes, such could have been routinely taken care of. But then, this is Nigeria and things do happen.

    Of course, hell is not only on Lagos-Ibadan expressway. Hell is almost on every federal road in the country. Recently, thanks to Channels Television, one came face to face with the ugly reality of some of the federal roads across the country. One of such roads, the Jebba-Kaduna road, could at best fit for the Stone Age. It was in such a state of total collapse that journeying through it has become a dreadful experience for commuters. Some of the motorists who spoke on their experience on the road revealed that they spend hours on same spot by the bad portions of the road. A tanker driver disclosed that his truck has been submerged in the road for days.

    Worst hit are, perhaps, federal roads in the south-eastern part of the country. A recent visit on inspection of the highway by members of the Senate Ad-hoc Committee on Works to Anambra State, brought to fore the deplorable condition of the Enugu-Onitsha Expressway. The havoc being done to this road and other such federal roads in the region, especially by erosion, is quite appalling. In Owerri, the Imo State capital, the situation isn’t in anyway different as some of the federal roads have become death traps. Some of the roads include the Owerri-Umuahia road, the Okigwe–Owerri road, the Owerri-Elele road, Owerri-Aba road, Okpala-Igirita Road (Rivers State border) Ulakwo and the Umuohiagu-Obokwe-Alulu road, the Itu-Eziudo Road Ezinihitte and the Umuaka Amaigbo road.

    In Kaduna State, the Kaduna-Jos road remains a nightmare for commuters and motorists. Same goes for the Bauchi/Ninigsi-Kano road which has reportedly claimed many lives. The Bauchi-Kano road, a strategic link road between Bauchi and other adjoining states to Kano has also remained largely impassable. In Osun State, condition of federal roads equally remains pitiable. For instance, the deplorable portions of the Gbongan-Ipetumedu-Ile-Ife of the Ibadan-Ilesa road have continued to be horrendous for travellers along the route. Lots of vehicles have been damaged along the road, especially when driven by those who are unaware of the dreadful state of the road. Similarly, in Edo State, federal roads remain largely in pathetic state. Mostly affected are: the Benin–Auchi-Okene-Lokoja road, Benin-Abraka—Obiaruku road and Agbor-Ekpon–Uromi road and the Benin-Auchi-Okene-Lokoja road. Due to years of neglect and criminal abandonment by contractors, these roads have led many to untimely graves.

    Without a doubt, the awful state of federal roads across the country comes with dire consequences. For one, it leads to avoidable waste of human resources. No thanks to the disgraceful state of these roads, many of our compatriots have died prematurely in most gory circumstances. Recently, the Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC disclosed that Nigeria loses three per cent of her GDP which translated to 17 per cent of current national reserves through road traffic crashes. No nation that is desirous of economic development and growth will handle with levity a situation where its vibrant work force and other citizens are wantonly wasted through otherwise avoidable occurrences.

    Presently, our nation faces dire economic reality as a result of dwindling global price of crude oil which is the mainstay of our national economy. There have been talks on the need to diversify the economy by focusing on other sectors such as agriculture, small scale enterprises, and extractive industry among others. With the dearth of a well crafted intermodal transportation mode in the country, the road remains our major and most pragmatic means of transportation. With the sorry state of vital roads across the country, our desire for the diversification of the economy might be nothing but a mere hallucination.

    To put the Nigerian economy on the lane to speedy recovery and growth, the Federal Government would have to immediately commit itself to a result-driven programme that would make federal roads passable and investors’ friendly.  There must be a time-frame known and acceptable to Nigerians for the rehabilitation of these roads. While the Federal Government is fine-tuning efforts to redevelop and modernize the roads, one would like to implore the Federal Road Maintenance Agency, FERMA, to as a matter of necessity, mobilise its men and resources to address the failed portions of the roads in order to avert imminent disaster, reduce travelling time as well as lessen every trouble associated with travelling on the roads.

    In order to preserve life as well as put the Nigerian economy on the lane to speedy recovery and growth, authorities concerned would have to wake up and be alive to their responsibilities. This is the time to put an end to the pains and stress being experienced by commuters on some of the roads. It is enough that Nigerians are facing all sorts of economic and social issues. It is enough that there is little or no social security for our compatriots. It is enough that the commonwealth has, for long, been cornered by a few. Over the years, Nigerians have learned to live with all manners of anomalies. But then, will they be asking for too much if they demand that federal roads be fixed by government?

    But then, to ensure that the government is alive to its responsibilities, all stakeholders must not relent in bringing attention to the outrageous state of public infrastructure in the country. Democracy can only thrive when the citizenry ensure that government is accountable to the people. The civil society, the media, religious bodies, traditional institutions and other key stakeholders in the polity must keep asking questions of the government.  It will be suicidal for the people to go to sleep after electing a government. It is now that the government has been inaugurated that the real work begins. Democracy is endangered when the people tolerate and live with all manners of impunity. This is the time for everyone to rise and demand that the federal government bring back our roads!

    • Ogunbiyi is of the Features Unit, Ministry of Information and Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja 

  • Can PMB, no, APC afford another political faux pas?

    If the president would not move to stop this self interest-induced camaraderie with the PDP by its National Assembly leaders, then APC needs be told that Nigerians are watching, and waiting, as the party makes fools of them, knowing pretty well that the next election is even less than four years away. 

    Let me rephrase that question: Can President Muhammadu Buhari survive a second damning political miscalculation? If he does, will he, and his party, succeed in positively affecting the country as they promised us all during the campaigns, or as the PDP never ceases to chorus, is all that change mantra nothing but a chimera? In an event that, in retrospect, can now be described as sleeping on duty, President Buhari surprisingly showed not even the faintest interest in who and who became the Senate President or the House Speaker when, given a clear understanding of the critical role of the National Assembly, he should have shown much more than a passing interest in who emerges in those positions. The result was that  a clever Senator Bukola Saraki did not only end up defying both the party and the president,  shredded the party’s  well choreographed  preferences but also traded off a key position that rightly belonged to the majority party, his. For me, it remains a puzzle till this day whether the president simply did not understand the role of the National Assembly, as in the senate constitutionally having to confirm some of his key appointments and such other things apart from its primary function of law making, where his government would, willy nilly, have to depend on its majority in the two chambers.

    Nigerians are already getting to see the effect of that tactical error especially as it is beginning to play out in the Senate.  The consequences of a second faux pas would, of course, be far worse and the National Assembly is already furiously working towards that, relying on a nebulous claim of separation of powers, as if in our own Electoral Laws, it is not the party that was voted for. I refer here to the ongoing constitution of the membership of committees in both chambers where the leadership is dramatically orchestrating a parity between both the APC and the PDP simply because of the highly flawed manner in which they got to their high offices. Indeed, so  unreflective is the National Assembly now that while the president, well aware of our parlous financial circumstances, is doing everything to cut down the cost of governance, restructuring ministries and planning to have ministers without portfolio thereby, among other things, cutting  down on the number of ministerial aides, its (the  National Assembly) leadership,  is creatively, and unilaterally, increasing the number of committees just so their members could dig deeper into the little money the country now has consequent upon the down turn in the price of oil. Were they not being driven by their own survival instincts, since it is now payback time, they should have been mindful of what obtains in the U.S from where we copied the presidential system.  Even with all the hue and cry over the president’s single-minded determination to restructure the bureaucracy, the U.S, a much more endowed country than ours, has only about 15 departments, namely: State, Treasury, Justice, Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, Labour, Defence, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, Energy, Education, Veteran Affairs and Homeland Security. In place of  our  House of Representatives’ 96 committees, the U.S  Congress,  equivalent to the  House of Representatives,  has only 24 committees  made up of  the following: Agriculture, Appropriations, Armed Services, Budget,  Education and the workforce, Energy and Commerce, Ethics, Financial Services, Foreign Affairs, Homeland Security, House Administration, Judiciary, Natural Resources, Oversight and Government Reforms, Rules, Science, Space and Technology, Small Business., Transportation and Infrastructure, Veterans Affairs, Ways and Means, Intelligence and some select or special committees like the one on Benghazi. The senate has an almost identical committee structure. In constituting  these committees, it is customary for members of the majority party to hold the chairmanship but even if, for purposes of  attempting  to further unify our country the leadership wants to concede  chairmanship to PDP, it should only have  been tokenistic but because  they got to office ugly, the leadership  thinks  nothing  of  rubbishing the Nigerian masses who voted  massively against  the  same PDP in the last elections. If neither the president nor the party would move to pro-actively stop these politicians keen only on their own survival, with some of them serving on two or three committees, we would again have lost a golden opportunity to put a stop to the unspeakable profligacy going on at the National Assembly. It would be remembered that somebody who should know once alleged that the National Assembly consumes 25 percent of the national budget though they tepidly denied it. But that, in fact,  is only a part of the problem as the Speaker has already constituted the House committees virtually at par between APC and the PDP  while , from the grave vine, we  learnt  the senate president would be  toeing  the same line. This will be very disrespectful of the Nigerian electorate who made a clear choice in that election and is keen on seeing some concrete change.

    It never ceases to amuse me when our politicians behave as if they own us all – something akin to a master class – believing their personal interests supercede the peoples’. It will be a huge surprise if the National Assembly leadership does not appreciate how very much President Buhari would need all the support he can get from his party members in driving his and the party’s agenda. One would have thought it a no brainer to appreciate that the president would need their support, working, especially through the committees, to translate his campaign promises and programmes into action. That is the window of opportunity they have again thrown away. Or how on earth did Speaker  Dogara get his 48/46/2  ratio  in the distribution of chairmanship positions which he allotted to APC, PDP and the other  two  opposition parties, in that order? How does that reflect the parties’ numerical strength in the House?  I ask again, is this what is rumoured the senate president is about repeating in the red chamber? Are they such strangers to the practice in the U.S where no minority party member chairs a committee? This is what happens when overarching ambition drives politicians to disrespect their party and become unequally yoked with members of the opposition party whose only prayer is to defeat, and replace, the ruling party at the next election.  Can’t they see? Are these the president’s party members who will help him kill corruption before corruption kills Nigeria? Indeed, I have a sneaky feeling that, by allegedly gifting the PDP the chairmanship of critical committees as Finance, Petroleum, upstream and downstream, and Gas, Aviation, Environment, Foreign Affairs, Science and Technology and Works, somebody is already strategising for that party’s presidential candidacy come 2019. Or has  the PDP not announced already that it has zoned it to the north, deliberately remaining silent as to what exact zone in the north, so they could play some politicians, one  against  the other?  Can’t the non complicit APC members, apparently presently keener about serving on juicy committees, see the larger picture and put on their thinking caps? Can’t they see that there are some of their colleagues who care not a hoot as to whether or not APC survives beyond 2019 as long as they achieve their own political ambitions? It is left to President Buhari and the APC leadership to know exactly what they have coming or they would have kissed victory at the 2019 elections bye long before they know it. As I have repeated severally above, what concerns the National Assembly leadership, as well as many of its members, is not the well-being of the country. Rather it is calculations towards 2019 and whatever else, in addition to their humongous salaries and allowances, they can make even when Nigerians are hoping, apparently against hope, that they will appreciate our current circumstances and reduce their totally disproportionate earnings. If the president would not move to stop this self interest-induced camaraderie with the PDP by its National Assembly leaders, then APC needs be told that Nigerians are watching, and waiting, as the party makes fools of them, knowing pretty well that the next election is even less than four years away.

  • PMB; time for real action

    PMB; time for real action

    SIR: During the last electioneering campaigns, the APC and its candidate, Muhammadu Buhari did well to let Nigerians know the depth of their plans to move the country forward. Nearly six months after, all that we are witnessing are mere talks, oversees travels, photo sessions and no real action.

    The question here is how long would it take for the implementation to begin? My main area of concern is that of youth involvement in governance, which is the current trend in all developed and developing nations, as the youth population of any country serves as the backbone of growth and development.  They supply new ideas, strategies, vigour and enthusiasm to move that country forward.

    But in Nigeria, the reverse is the case.  Our youth population are being continuously sidelined, ignored and marginalised, while the people of yesteryears are being regurgitated and recycled to handle the affairs of the country and even those that exclusively have to do with the youth.

    The question here is – what went wrong? The President is well aware of the unhealthy rate of youth unemployment in the country and its adverse effects on all aspects of our life as a nation, be it economic, security etc. Yet since his assumption to office, there’s little or no hope that the trend is coming to an end. The question here is, what is the government doing to address this issue?

    Another dangerous trend that is creeping up with the new government is the issue of late payments of civil servants salaries.  Despite the fact that majority of the ministries and parastatals are already on the electronic payment system otherwise known as the IPPIS, October’s salary is yet to be paid nearly a week into November. This has been the trend for the past six months. The civil servants are already beginning to get frustrated, furious, impatient and agitated with this development. The question here is how long will this go on?

    The most worrying issue of insecurity all over the country is still yet to be properly addressed and the promise of bringing an end to the insurgency in the north-east by December is far from being actualized. The question here is what measures are in place to ensure the realization of the December deadline?

    Lastly, the President’s penchant for overseas travel should be at least limited to the most vital outings that are meant to foster the actualization of the new Nigerian dream as outlined in the APC’s manifesto, because no matter how lean the presidential entourage is, considerable amount of state resources is being utilized to finance such outings. Why not invite other world leaders here in order to showcase Nigeria’s potential to them?

    I still have enormous confidence in the ability of President Muhammadu Buhari to steer the wheel of this country to the promise land.  However, now is the best time to stop talking and start

    working as there’s a huge mountain of expectations for you to climb.

     

    • Usman Mohammed

    IBB University, Lapai-Niger State

  • Apc, Pmb: Not yet the change we voted for

    Are the All Progressives Congress (APC) and President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB) aware of the great expectations their intense advocacy of change in the campaigns leading to the last general elections aroused among Nigerians? Are they conscious of the fact that the greater the time lag between their formal assumption of office and the manifestation of their promised changes, the greater will be the growing frustrations of sections of the populace with the attendant increasing nostalgia for an idealised past?

    It is now nearly five months after PMB was sworn in following the sweeping victory of the APC at the polls. Yet, the party is only just putting in place members of its Federal Executive Council (FEC) to assist the President in driving the machinery of governance.  PMB claims he needed sufficient time to pick the very best men and women in terms of competence and moral integrity to work with him. Yet, impressive as the ministerial list he has sent to the National Assembly is, any President could have assembled the team within a month.

    For most Nigerians, the APC’s mantra of change remains just a slogan. No one is sure of its concrete content. Does its idea of change mean just a shift of power from Dr Goodluck Jonathan to PMB and from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the APC? Nigerians who voted for the party in droves expect more than that. The very depth of the PDP rot that the APC campaigned vigorously against necessitates a higher degree of sure-footedness, decisiveness and sense of urgency in governance than the APC has shown so far particularly at the centre. This honeymoon can surely not go on forever.

    Any follower of this column will know that this writer does not share the sentiment of ethno-regional balancing in perceived juicy political appointments particularly at the expense of merit. Hence, I have refrained from joining the bandwagon of critics who fault the alleged ethno-regional lop-sidedness of PMB’s early appointments. The Federal Character principle of the constitution serves the latent function of ensuring a sense of balance and fair-play among cultural components of a diverse and plural society like ours. But it also serves the manifest function of legitimating the criminal extraction and privatisation of public resources by representative elites in public office purportedly in the interest of their ethno-cultural groups.

    I find it astonishing that in these fiscally and economically famished times, PMB, apart from having obtained the approval of the Senate to appoint 13 Special Advisers has sent a list of 36 ministerial nominees to the Senate for confirmation. This makes a FEC of at least 49 members. It is unjustifiable. There is absolutely no difference between this and the PDP era of opulence and waste associated with the costs of governance. Where then is the change?

    Some readers aware of my views in this regard have referred me to Section 147 of the 1999 constitution, which requires the President to appoint one minister per state.  That section is non-justiciable. It is just like the section on the Directive Principles of State Policy, which demands the implementation of certain social and economic objectives that can only be at the discretion of the President. The Federal Character principle requirement can be met across the different arms, levels and agencies of government and not just in the composition of the FEC. In any case, as Professors J. Isawa Elaigwu and Ali A. Garba have argued “It is important to note that in a federal system, all levels of government operate directly on the people and not through another level. That is the import of multiple poles of power – i.e. non-centralisation”.

    However, I must confess that I am also beginning to be disturbed about the possible mindset of PMB in making some of his very sensitive appointments. This is particularly so with his appointment this week of Professor Mahmood Yakubu, a renowned historian as Professor Attahiru Jega’s successor as substantive Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). No one doubts Professor Yakubu’s intellect, integrity, administrative experience and managerial acumen. However, this appointment appears to me very insensitive.

    In admitting the flawed nature of the election that brought him to power, the late President Umaru Yar’Adua exhibited uncommon nobility of spirit and integrity. He went on to set up the Justice Mohammed Uwais panel on electoral reforms, which proposed a wide range of reforms to strengthen the electoral process. One of these, which the opposition parties at the time vigorously supported, was that the President would pick the chairman of INEC from a list of three nominees by the National Judicial Council (NJC). Although, President Goodluck Jonathan from the South-south did not implement this reform, he at least picked a man of integrity from the north, Jega, as head of the electoral umpire.

    The least one expected of PMB as a northerner was that he would emulate this worthy example and also pick an INEC chairman of intellect, character, experience and integrity from the South. In this respect, we seem to have taken one step backward. This is very unfortunate. In the same vein, I find it curious that a leader with zero-tolerance for corruption like PMB would not consider an anti-corruption and pro-human rights legal icon like Mr Femi Falana (SAN) as a great asset to his government. One seriously hopes that in his decision making process, PMB is not becoming hostage to a narrow ethno-regional cabal the way Jonathan was.

    Due to the utter naivety of its politics and rank indiscipline within its ranks, the APC, which controls a majority of members in the National Assembly, is today burdened by an ethically challenged National Assembly leadership that gravely imperils PMB’s much trumpeted anti-corruption war even before it takes off.  This is why beyond the media razzmatazz; there is hardly any difference between the utter lack of seriousness and rigour that characterised the screening of ministerial nominees under the PDP-dominated Senate of the past 16 years and the new APC-dominant Senate.

    We still have the absurd situation in which Senators are asked to scrutinise and interview ministerial nominees whose portfolios are unknown. It is very comical. Indeed, with the very strong pro-North signal sent out by PMB’s new appointment of the INEC Chairman from his ethno-regional zone, it will be very interesting to see the pattern of his allocation of portfolios to his confirmed ministerial nominees. I hope we will not all be turned into ethnic chauvinists now.

    I write this as a wakeup call to the APC. Time is ticking. The people are expectant. If an incumbent party and President could be defeated in 2015, the same feat is not impossible in 2019. The party cannot afford further complacency.

  • NIS recruitment: PMB must hear this!

    NIS recruitment: PMB must hear this!

    Who will speak for us. Who will stand for us. We are oppressed in our fatherland. We have committed no crime. A great injustice is going on in the country and nobody is talking about it, no one is demanding justice. We are being punished for no fault of ours.

    We are the recent recruits of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS). We applied for the job, driven by passion to serve our fatherland. We were invited to take the computer based test, physical fitness test and oral interviews. We came out successful out of thousands that applied. The recruitment process was fair, credible and merit based. Two thousand of us who were successful were asked to proceed to NIS training schools in Kano, Imo and Rivers state depending on our cadre to collect our appointment letters. Some of us are yet to collect our appointment letters. We were later directed to report to various state commands for three months induction training programme.

    We travelled from different parts of the country, risked our lives on the road, resigned from our previous places of work, abandoned our educational pursuits supposedly because we had gotten a new job with the immigration. In the course of our induction programme, some of us borrowed money to pay rent and feed for three months. Our induction programme entailed lectures, military drills, sweeping, cutting grasses, cleaning toilets. These we did for three months without pay.

    After three months of going through all these, we were sent home and now we hear rumours of cancellation of the recruitment. I am poised to ask. Is our government this heartless. Is this not injustice? To make us go through all these things and then throw us away just like that. After all we have lost, money, jobs etc. What have we done to deserve this punishment?

    Who will speak for us? Will President Muhammadu Buhari, a man of integrity allow this injustice to continue? I plead with Nigerians everywhere, please stand for us, and speak for us. I plead with the federal government. We are Nigerians. Please recall the Nigeria Immigration recruits to work and pay us our arrears. We have lost all. Let the appointment letters of the Assistant Superintendent of Immigration (ASIs) be released unto them. I want to be a proud Nigerian and not a frustrated one.

     

    • Lawrence Peters

    lawrencepeters84@gmail.com

  • 10 reasons PMB should NOT run any ministry

    I have had to return to this matter fully after last Friday’s two-paragraph box on this space (PMB, don’t run any ministry!, 02/10/15) for two reasons. First there was a deluge of responses from readers most of them castigatory and insisting President Muhammadu Buhari is the best man for the petroleum ministry.

    The other prompter is an interview granted to The Punch by my friend Malam Garba Shehu (GS) last Monday. The newspaper had quoted him as saying that: “The criticisms are coming from deal makers and briefcase-carrying crooks because they know that Buhari is not a deal-maker. The deal makers are not ready to go down without shouting because they know that their days are over.”

    Before I proceed to present at least 10 reasons why PMB must relieve himself of additional burden of carrying on any ministry, I think GS has stepped a notch out of line to label critics of the President’s move as ‘crooks’. I must say that one is a bit taken aback because GS is a man of most elegant and subtle pen; those who have read him for decades will testify that he would never draw the ‘dagger’ on any issue and he would always make his point. Now that GS is in the arena and with a daily barrage of barbs, I must say that I know what he feels. But do I smell a whiff of Doyin Okupe or Femi Fani-Kayode somewhere?

    While we sincerely hope not, it must be stated that we all mean well. And imagine for a moment, a government without critics; it would, in my opinion, be akin to a man without a woman.

    Now why the President must not hold an additional portfolio:

    ONE: It’s not good for him:  Some may begin to argue already how one can deign to know better, what is good for another man; well these are matters of fact. No matter how healthful and brilliant a 73-year-old might be, he cannot be the President of the biggest nation in Africa and carry on a ministerial portfolio to boot without being bugged down or stressed out. If he is not, I will wager he is not doing either or both jobs well.

    TWO: It’s not good for the country’s image:  PMB being President and Petroleum Minister projects an image of a backward country populated by incompetent people. This will not happen in any enlightened country where people understand the magnitude and import of THE PRESIDENCY.

    THREE: Not good for the Minister of State: First PMB had told us he is restructuring and whittling down the MDAs. This means that he would do away with such aberrant positions as minister of state. Why would he make an exception for the Petroleum Ministry?

    Having the President and the minister of state might become a kind of double jeopardy for the ministry as the junior minister would be encumbered and unable to think up and express fresh ideas. He would simply expect directive and direction from the President.

    FOUR: Neither efficient nor effective: There are at least over a dozen other agencies and commissions reporting to the Presidency. This is apart from numerous presidential committees and panels whose reports stop on the President’s table. What about all the security paraphernalia – DSS, NIA, DIA, etc? We are also in the midst of a ‘war’ with bombs going off and our soldiers killing and getting killed.

    Who is giving a thought to the carnage going on in the Northcentral? What is the Presidency doing about daily slaughteration between cattle rustlers and Fulani militia. Can anyone in the Presidency tell us how many Nigerians have been killed in that theatre this year? These are matters begging for PMB’s exclusive attention.

    FIVE: No room for young people to grow: I will take a bet that there must be at least a million young, Nigerian men and women who can run the oil ministry better than PMB if given the opportunity. Col. Muhammadu Buhari was only 34 years old in 1976 when Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo entrusted him with the Petroleum Ministry.

    He was not a petroleum engineer, he had no prior experience in the industry, yet he gave a good account of himself going by available records. Today he thinks no other Nigerians in their 40s, 50s and 60s can be trusted with that ministry!?

    SIX: Not good for the industry: From the last time PMB was in the oil ministry about 40 years ago, so much has changed. It must be an entirely new ball game now. So the experience argument is simply laughable if not illiterate.

    SEVEN: Nothing special about Petroleum Ministry: Basically, the same principle will apply in running the Petroleum Ministry as virtually any other. The key factors required for running any ministry would be: system, leadership, integrity, diligence and some patriotism. Any educated adult imbued with these qualities can run any ministry. Whatever else will be matters of capacity, degree and details.

    EIGHT: Agric, Tourism, IT of more strategic importance: Let us imagine for one moment, a scenario in which oil prices drop to about $5 per barrel or even less; where does that leave Nigeria? Would the Petroleum Ministry still be important enough for an especial presidential interest? As noted here last week, if I were the President, I would pay a little more attention to agric, ICT and tourism because they hold more potential of becoming the new El Dorado for Nigeria even in the short run, if we know what to do NOW!

    NINE: No to Obasanjo’s style: It is true that PMB is by no chance President Olusegun Obasanjo who sat on the Petroleum Ministry for eight years with no salutary result, this column maintains that no President who knows his onions would add an additional portfolio to what is already a huge Presidency.

    TEN: Second term beckons: On a lighter note, a reader took me on last week, tearing me down for antagonising the President and not allowing him the space to deliver the goods to Nigerians. “We want him to manage our petroleum so he can clear the mess and raise funds for the other ministries,” the reader texted as if PMB was his personal property. I responded by reminding him that the President is not getting younger; if he burdened him so much he would not be able to consolidate his good work with a second term. The reader shot back almost immediately saying: “My brother na true o!” I just laughed.