The Nation Newspaper

Tag: politics

  • Minimum wage politics

    In the early life of the Buhari administration, state governors had after one of their meetings, canvassed for a reduction of the current minimum wage or in the alternative, they will be compelled to reduce their workforce. They cited the parlous state of the Nigerian economy and the drop in international oil price as their main reasons for wanting a reduction from the current N18, 000 minimum wage regime.

    But they found two dissenting voices in their colleagues who argued to the contrary. The then governor of Edo State; Adams Oshiomhole, apparently because of his labour background, contended that the current wage regime was a product of elaborate discussions and agreement between the various governments and labour and could therefore not be tampered with even as it had become time barred. He found ample and timely support from his colleague, Nyesom Wike of Rivers State.

    We were soon confronted by a scandalous inability of governors and even agencies of the federal government to pay salaries, allowances and pensions. In some cases, workers were owed backlog of salaries and allowance mounting to over 10 months. The federal government had to intervene by advancing some funds to enable governors offset the arrears of salaries and allowances. Even then, there were instances where the funds were diverted to areas other those for which they were meant.

    Some governors and even agencies of the federal government arbitrarily worked out their own formulae of what to pay and how to pay in other to remain afloat. They resorted to paying workers certain percentage of their salaries. And faced with serious challenges of survival, those workers had no alternative than to accept whatever stipend the governments were prepared to pay. Since then, some governors have been paying below the minimum wage hiding under questionable agreements entered into with their workers. Yet, the issue of salary and pension arrears running into several months has remained a recurring decimal.

    The above background comes handy given the inauguration last week of a 30-man tripartite National Minimum Wage Committee to negotiate a new national minimum wage for workers.  President Buhari while inaugurating the committee said it followed the recommendation of a technical committee put in place after the increase in fuel price in 2016 and that the current minimum wage had expired.

    In May 2016 and against all expectations, the government increased the price of fuel from N87 per litre to the current selling price of N145 per litre. Before that regime came into office, its prime movers were at the vanguard of those opposed to any slight upward adjustment in the selling price of the commodity. It was therefore surprising that in one fell swoop, and barely a year after it came into office, it unilaterally hiked up the price of the commodity by that high margin. For some reason, protests did not erupt from any quarter probably because those with the technology for organizing them saw the government as their own.

    That increase brought in its wake a sporadic rise in the prices of goods and services with deleterious effects on the living conditions of the people. Prices of everything skyrocketed given the centrality of fuel to all economic activities. But it led to demands for wage increase with the NLC being its prime mover.

    Instead of wage increase, we were soon to witness an unprecedented layoff of workers, closures and salary cuts. Life was reduced to a similitude of the Hobbesian state of nature – nasty, short and brutish. We were almost immediately entrapped in an economic recession that took a toll on the lives of the people. The price of oil which sold around $40 per barrel in the international market then did not help matters. So we have had to contend with the debilitating realities of the harsh economy in the last two and half years of the current regime with no end in sight.

    Given the above, the inauguration of the national minimum wage committee came with mixed feelings. Not unexpectedly, some people have termed it an attempt to bribe workers as the 2019 elections draw closer. Some others see in it, an exercise in playing with time, doubting the sincerity and commitment of the regime to emplace a new national minimum wage. They cite the delay in setting up of the committee more than one and half years after the debilitating effects of the fuel price increase had taken negative toll on the lives citizens and the trademark inability of governments to pay the current wage.

    And since many of these governments have been finding it difficult to pay extant wage, there is the feeling that increasing the minimum wage would amount to an exercise in futility. What is the sense in an increase the governments cannot pay, the argument further goes. Since the governors are heavily represented in the tripartite committee, there is everything to suggest they will gang up to oppose an increase now.

    So the committee may not come out with anything tangible given that the debilitating economic conditions that forced them to owe are still very much around. But the federal government may be basking on the euphoria of our supposed exit from economic recession which has even failed to translate into improved standard of living for the toiling people of the country.

    It is true prices of some commodities have had a marginal drop. It is also no less correct that the price of oil in the international market now hovers around 60 dollars per barrel. The federal government in its 2017/2018 appropriation bill to the National Assembly also promised increased revenue to state governments next year. All these may have encouraged the government to inaugurate the committee.

    But they remain at best projections. And for a government that banned employment in all its ministries, agencies and departments next year, it appears contradictory it is about to increase wages. Even then, the same government has not kept faith with the current minimum wage regime. Under its N-Power Tech job creation scheme, it pays N30, 000 monthly stipends to graduates. By that policy, it has set the precedent that any employer can pay workers what it desires.

    The same government has been beating its chest regarding the quantum of jobs it claims to have created. But in reality such jobs have turned out as sources of cheap labour for state governments who deploy beneficiaries to schools with no incentives at all. Due to the paltry stipends, beneficiaries refuse to put in their best as it barely covers their transport fares to their places of assignment. If the government found reason to engage these graduates, it should have shown example by going the whole hog to pay them the minimum wage. With the cheap labour offered by this manner of job creation coupled with that of the NYSC members, the federal government has inadvertently shut down the capacity of the state governments to recruit workers.

    Even as wage increase is desirable, the number of those in paid employment peters out in the face of the army of the unemployed and the self-employed. A wage increase that targets the few in paid employment cannot substantially address the rising poverty in the land. Moreover, it will definitely come with its own concomitant problem of a general rise in the prices of goods and services. So we should be prepared for another inflation spiral.

    It would seem despite its allure, wage increase does not offer much prospects now especially given the inability of governments to pay the subsisting wage regime. It is bound to trigger another cycle of inflation and turn out counterproductive unless the government puts in place safety nets to cushion its negative effects on the ordinary people. The solution to the rising poverty lies in massive job creation and the provision of attendant infrastructural facilities to enable people create their own jobs.

  • More women must participate in politics, says Ezekwesili

    More women must participate in politics, says Ezekwesili

    •Eminent personalities at HID Awolowo Foundation Lecture

    Women have been urged to deploy their great talents to nation-building by ensuring they participate in politics and governance.

    Former Minister of Education Oby Ezekwesili made the call yesterday at the maiden edition of the Hannah Idowu Dideolu Awolowo Foundation Lecture in Lagos.

    Notable personalities across the country attended the event to honour the late matriarch of Awolowo family.

    In her keynote address, Mrs. Ezekwesili said women should leave their comfort zone and use their ample talents to change the face of governance in Nigeria and Africa.

    In her lecture titled: “Ethical politics, peace, development and security: The critical importance of women’s leadership”, she said it had been difficult to achieve good governance because leaders have not been accountable to the people.

    Mrs. Ezekwesili added that women have been marginalised in the term of governance, stressing that men should take responsibilities for the country’s mismanagement.

    She said: “Until we are guided to improve the participation of women in our political system, things will not be properly done. We need to have more women in local governments, we need to have more women in state governments and we need to have more women at the centre of our politics.

    “There is the need to have more women at our legislature, judiciary and in the executive branch of governance. Women should occupy positions where the collective good of societies are taken. It has been proven that where women occupied such positions there is less corruption.”

    She explained that the poor use of the 60 per cent of the country’s human resources was responsible for the backwardness the country is facing, adding that societies where women were recognised made outstanding progress.

    The former minister said the country’s political system act as a barrier to the development of women, noting that the system was deliberately fashioned to shortchange women.

    “By virtues of our standing today in memory of a woman, who gave everything for the political maturation of the country, we dare to say it is time to devolve the Nigerian political system.

    “It is now time for the women of Nigeria to disrupt the existing paradigm that says you must hold the women down because for as long as the women are held down, and we continue to struggle on the current trajectory, the trend analysis does not show any reverse.

    “If we care about the generation ahead, we must make sure we put the women exactly at the centre of the management of our communities. Women should no longer be at the margin of community development because women are incredible human resources that we must put to use,” she said.

    A discussant and Publisher and Chairman of The Guardian Newspaper, Lady Maiden Ibru, said politics was all about power, noting that nobody would give women power on a platter of gold.

    She said what women achieved in the country was due to selfless efforts, noting that women in business were presently contributing to the country’s economic system.

    “The time has come for the women to come to the front to say enough is enough. It is the women who are the wives, mothers who actually mould the character of the children to move to the society. Therefore, the role of women in society development cannot be underestimated.”

    Presiding Pastor, Latter Rain Assembly Pastor Tunde Bakare urged people of goodwill to support women in the liberation struggle, noting that women signified peace and stability.

    He said: “In the Garden of Eden, God already designed how it will work. God put a lot on the woman and expect much from woman. In the part of the country that I come from, when women take decision, nobody can stop them.”

    Chairman of the occasion Senator Daisy Danjuma said the HID Awolowo’s roles in the moral and virtues keeping were immeasurable, noting that people from all walks of life visited her to tap from her wise counsel when she lived.

    She enjoined Nigerian women to be upright and support their spouses, noting that whatever they did would be rewarded in due course.

    The convener, Dr. Tokunbo Awolowo-Dosumu thanked the women for the unalloyed support she enjoyed from the Nigerian women.

    Those present at the event were Senator Olorunnimbe Mamora, former Information Minister Labaran Maku, former Ondo State governor Olusegun Mimiko, eminent scholar Prof. Adebayo Williams, Erelu Bisi Fayemi, Erelu Abiola Dosunmu, Mrs. Abimbola Fashola, Mr. Gbenga Adefaye and Otunba Gani Adams.

    Others were Mrs. Abimbola Jakande, Mr. Yinka Odumakin, Alhaji Tajudeen Olusi, Mrs. Abba Folawiyo, Mr. Taiwo Alimi, Arewa Youths leader Shettima Yerima and others.

     

  • African politics: Young must grow

    SIR: By the wake of decolonization in 1945, Ghana’s former president, Kwame Nkrumah was just 36 years old. He had become politically conscious at age of 23 when he started Nzima Literary Society. Coming before Kwame into the limelight of political awareness was former Nigeria’s president, Nnamdi Azikwe. At exactly 30 years old, he had become a graduate instructor in History and Political Science Department at Lincoln College; he had created an African History course in that department and had begun writing his political opinions as a columnist for pro-Africanist papers. He influenced Kwame’s interest in Black nationalism.

    Julius Nyerere, former president of Tanzania came into the scene quite late but not without the zeal needed for a political career. By 1954, at the age of 32, he had helped form the Tanganyika African National Union – an instrument in obtaining the independence of Tanganyika and eventually Tanzania. Few years later, Nyerere issued his vision of ‘Ujamaa’ – African Socialism.

    However, while some of the African liberators (not necessary mentioned above) met an untimely death in the hands of those they fought for; a few stepped down as leaders to let others lead; many of them remained sit-tight. It suffices to note that these freedom fighters started young, got into the power struggle scene and fought through to liberate their various nations. They understood the analogy of power. Power is not given, it is taken. They were literally worshiped, accepted by Africans and taken Young Africans needs to take a clue. Kaduna State governor, Nasir El Rufai, explains the reality of African youths in politics thus: “The youth come into the political process with a sense of entitlement. Nobody gives you power…You have to get involved and fight and negotiate for it. If youth think old guys would just hand over power to them because they are young, then they are making a mistake. It has not happened anywhere in the world. It will not happen. The issue is involvement and getting engaged and making contributions. Then you will have the way”.

    This brings to fore the need for youth’s genuine, positive and impactful involvement in politics. There is a need to bring something to the political scene, as a contributor not just a liability or benefactor. The old men in power fought passionately to get the power they own and enjoy as perceived by most African citizens. Political power – which also comes with wealth not economic power – becomes a jealously owned possession because they earned it. Hence, they will need either a trusted hand to hand the power over to or they will watch a determined generation, fight to get that power off their hands, the way they fought to get and earn it. Then, the old generation will agree that the young have grown.

     

    • Oluwatosin Akintola,

    Lagos.

  • Engineers urged to join politics

    Members of the Nigerian Society of Nigeria (NSE) have been advised to join  politics to provide direction in leadership, revolutionalise the nation’s infrastructure and ensure rapid economic growth.

    Flour Mills Plc Human Resources Director,  Wale Adeniran, made the call while speaking as a guest speaker at the 8th memorial lecture of the late Dr Ralph Alabi, the first  Ikeja branch chairman of the society. The lecture was organised by the Ikeja branch of the NSE. He spoke on the topic: “Political and Human Re-Engineering: An exemplary passion of an Icon for his nation.”

    Adeniran said political leadership should be accessible and affordable to engineers in order to make the desired impact needed in the nation’s economy.

    The guest speaker said engineers were trained to provide solutions and manage human resources, and as such, would do better in political leadership.

    He said engineers provided leadership in most developed countries, noting that China revolutionalised its infrastructure and economy because it had engineers in politics.

    Adeniran explained that some countries like Indonesia with history of military rule developed rapidly because their engineers were given opportunity in governance.

    “The NSE must take it as a challenge to mentor engineers to provide leadership. In the case of China, they have engineer politicians. Where are our own engineer politicians?,” he asked.

    The NSE Ikeja branch chairman, Mr Akin Akintola, said the branch was ready to lead the campaign to mentor engineers into politics.

    “I am a politician myself and will encourage and give my members optimum support to go into politics for the overall good of Nigeria,” he said.

    Akintola said the legacies of the first chairman, the late Dr Ralph Alabi, being celebrated, was worthy of emulations.

    An elder and past chairman of NSE Lagos Chapter, Mr Tunde Zedomi, also stressed the need to take the campaign for participation of engineers in politics serious.

  • INTELS and drama of ‘cannibal’ politics

    Keyhole views of the mass hysteria generated by the termination of the pilotage contract between Integrated Logistics Services (INTELS) Nigeria Limited, and the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) make it appear as a mere politicization of policy issues. However, a parallax view shows it is a drama of cannibalistic politics. This claim is best appreciated against the backdrop of the alleged role of the management of NPA.  According to INTELS, the NPA deliberately frustrated attempts to address the issues raised by the introduction of the TSA in the execution of its pilotage agency agreement.

    Some public commentators are strongly advancing the notion that the political ambition of former Vice President of Nigeria, and ex-presidential aspirant of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Atiku Abubakar (GCON), who is a co-founder of INTELS is the root cause of the ongoing debacle.  Worrisomely, there are no evidences that decisively relegate this popular view to counterfactual realm of reality. One thing is evident; its popularity shows that many Nigerians think instruments of state are often used to achieve malevolent political and economic goals.

    The termination of the pilotage contract between INTELS Nigeria Limited, and NPA presents grave security concerns. It could fuel social anomie in the Niger Delta region. It may spur restive youths to engage in violent economic crimes, when they become jobless. This point was succinctly underscored by Niger Delta youths. Recently, under the auspice of Niger Delta Youths Coalition (NDYC), they appealed to the federal government to rethink its directive to terminate the agreement. In a similar fashion, the Ijaw Youth Council Worldwide (IYC) has asked for a peaceful resolution of the debacle. The spokesman of the group, Daniel Dasimaka, notes: “We are calling on the management of NPA and the federal government to rethink their decision to give Intels Nigeria Limited, three months to round up and hand over the pilotage services to the NPA. As of today, thanks to Intels, the Onne Port is about the only port in Nigeria outside Lagos that is viable, thus, any attempt to stifle it is considered an attempt to cripple the port.”

    This contract termination without due consultation to resolve the disputes arising from the implementation of TSA policy is antithetic to Nigeria’s quest to foster economic development through foreign direct investment. Economic victimization of political actors vying for public offices does not only narrow the orbit of participation, it makes a mockery of economic development plans. It also makes the business environment inordinately hostile, gravely infantilizes public institutions, and erodes the confidence of local and foreign investors.

    The urgent need of the moment is public-private sector partnership for economic revamping, partnership that would create jobs. The possibility of the agreement reversal to plunge 15,000 Nigerian families to the morass of destitution has inspired the House of Representatives, Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN), the Maritime Energy Media Practitioners of Nigeria (MEMPON), and a broad consortium of stakeholders in the sector to denounce it in unison.

    The President-General, Maritime Workers’ Union of Nigeria (MWUN), Adewale Adeyanju, rightly enjoined the federal government to “avoid anything that will send wrong signals to investors that Nigeria’s environment is not safe and conducive for business.”  Furthermore, he noted that: “Most of these employees are Nigerians with families and responsibilities. We are therefore, worried that if this issue is not resolved amicably, their jobs could be on the line. The socio-economic implications of most of them losing their jobs in a volatile area like Rivers State can be better imagined than experienced,”

    The ethics of citizen-centred politics proscribes anything that can undermine people’s right to flourish economically. There is a human cost to this raging subterranean political battle. If the antics to bury INTELS succeed, inadvertently, it would bury the happiness and dreams of countless Nigerian families. The essence of politics is self-defeating, if it thwarts the socioeconomic well-being of citizens.  Destroying people’s means of livelihood, because of intra-elite squabbles is a relapse to Stone Age morality.

    Expecting elephants to fly seems more plausible than expecting politicians to fight ethically. Campaigns that heralded recent elections and referenda around the world, Nigeria’s 2015 election included were festivals of shame. In telling manners, they demonstrated how lust for power turns men into political cannibals, and deluded them into thinking that political cannibalism is essential to human flourishing, moral renewal, national transformation, and cultural revivalism.

    As 2019 approaches, the likelihood of economic disruption and political parricides becoming commonplace is very high.  It seems that INTELS ordeal is a prelude.   Already, the political elite are shifting allegiance, and secretly encoding their modus   operandi. Shortly,   this might ignite a contagion of betrayal and gruesome exploitation. This poses a question: Must the quest for political supremacy be debased to the low level of dog-eat-dog?

    Sadly, some men of conscience would say yes. For they have become staunch defenders of this retrograde practice that mainly fans the flames of primitivism. The only reason why some of them have not manifestly lost their equanimity of mind is their tendency to rationalize that they are “savage” for a noble cause.  It assuages the pang of their conscience.

    The amazing growth of INTELS from a container office at Apapa Port, Lagos is a glowing tribute to the tenacity and resourcefulness of the Nigerian spirit. Its incremental yet astounding growth right of over 30 years shows that clarity of vision is an essential growth incentive. It negates the notion that Nigeria’s business environment is hostile to long term investment.

    As Nigeria seeks to position herself at the front end of knowledge-driven service economy, companies like INTELS should be showcased as model of business success.  As Hon. Hassan Saleh (Benue, PDP) rightly noted “it is saddening that an indigenous firm is undergoing such disdainful treatment.”  He also noted that it is puzzling that “the relevant authorities failed to renegotiate the terms of the contract before terminating it.”

    If there is any reason for optimism, it is the fact that history shows that INTELS is not unacquainted with the perils of cannibalistic politics. During the Abacha era, it suffered untold economic hardship.  The pro-democratic crusader, late Shehu Yar’Adua, was a director in the company, which was known as Nigeria Container Services (NICOTES). When Shehu Yar’Adua demanded that General Sani Abacha should announce a date of restoration of democratic rule, NICOTES became a victim of the machinations of state actors.

    Atiku Abubakar’s refusal to disassociate from Shehu Yar’Adua made the regime to seize the company, and render it almost comatose. Atiku Abubakar and his allies were unlawfully dismissed from the board. However, in 1998, General Abdusalami Abubakar returned NICOTES to her legal owners, then it was renamed, INTELS.

    This historical parallel has deluded some public commentator into thinking that President Buhari is a moral equivalent of Abacha. This is most untrue and uncharitable. His illustrious pedigree and record of altruistic services put him in an echelon of nobility that Abacha could not aspire to. In fact, ethical prudence is a lodestar of Buhari’s enterprising quest to provide good governance.

    Those pigeonholing Buhari into Abacha’s moral category should desist from doing so. They have failed to factor in the roles of political zealots that inadvertently inflict reputational harm on their heroes. The tragedians who scripted this drama should hearken to the voices of reason and history. They should toss the script to the trash can of history, at least, for the unblemished moral honors of President Buhari.

    They should consider the fact that the logical outworking of the doctrine of political cannibalism is dreadful.  It exudes the possibility to push Nigeria to the backwaters of civilization. If unchecked, it could destroy the spiritual, moral, and material building blocks of a thriving economy. Retrogression is foreseeable when vendetta animates economic regulators.

     

    • Ibie is a Lagos-based public commentator.

     

  • Why does anyone want to die for politics?

    Why does anyone want to die for politics?

    I am amused anytime I hear some politicians say they are ready to die because of politics.

    They come with all manner of reasons for wanting to commit harakiri. It is either in defence of democracy or in order to prevent the president or a governor from getting re-elected. You hardly hear them swear by the gods that they will do same to prevent a councillor, a council chairman or a state or federal legislator from a re-election.

    The last time I checked, the tribe of those who genuinely fought and defended democracy for its own sake and NOT for selfish reason or pecuniary gain, is almost extinguished.

    Governor Lateef Jakande of Lagos State in the Second Republic fought hard and defended democracy with all his fibre – for the sole purpose of ensuring that the letter and spirit of the Constitution of the country, on the freedom of speech and ownership of radio and television by the state and individuals, were upheld and preserved – and he didn’t have to die for that. Instead, his tenacity of purpose and insistence on upholding the rule of law gave Lagos State the right to establish a television station for Lagos State – LTV8 – which led the way for other states to have their own TV stations as distinct from the monolithic NTA, from the Second Republic.

    The benefit of that, which we are all enjoying today, is that Nigerians now have a choice on television programming. Where the NTA or any propaganda machine of any state government or individual is boring, unprofessional and nauseating, one can now switch to another news or features or sports channel on another station; or some other cable channel on entertainment. It makes for healthy competition and free choice.

    Or, the titanic battle the main opposition parties of the Second Republic, led by Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s Unity Party of Nigeria, waged against the National Party of Nigeria’s Federal Government’s tyrannical, oppressive and absolutely unjustifiable deportation from the country, of the majority leader in the Borno StateHouse of Assembly, Hon Abdulrahaman Shugaba. The man who was dumped in a bush in a foreign country, returned to his Maiduguri home after the court battle, in a hail of glory and to the eternal shame of his traducers.

    That was a battle in defence of democracy, won for democracy – and without any loss of lives.

    So, when people currently holding important public offices talk of dying to defend democracy, the clear-headed and the fore-sighted should know immediately  that such talk is cheap, self-serving and should be licked with a pinch of salt.

    Truth of the matter is that such statement of readiness to die as ascribed to Governor Wike of Rivers State and undenied to date, is hogwash. It is not an altruistic talk in the pure sense of defending democracy but one meant for the preservation of privilege.

    For the purpose of argument, even when former governors Bola Tinubu and Babatunde Fashola, for example, fought the Federal Government, on their Lagos State and other states’ behalf, and won in court to sustain their rights on certain aspects of governance like local government creation and control of inland waterways, none of them vowed to die on these issues.

    It is trite to add that other states are now lapping on those victories, though obtained after shedding a lot of hot sweat, but WITHOUT shedding of any blood.

    Something tells me that those who talk of violence and death at the drop of a hat must themselves be analysed if their ascension into high offices they now occupy, are by-products of meek disposition or not.

  • Politics of bailout

    Politics of bailout

    Governors are seeking for fresh bailout from the Federal Government, as if it is their right. They made the declaration at a meeting of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) when they met President Muhammadu Buhari. MUSA ODOSHIMOKHE examines the pros and cons of the bailout.

    When President Muhammadu assumed office, he met many problems begging for urgent attention. One of them was the inability of state governors to pay workers’ salaries. It was so bad that some states owed between six months and one year salaries.

    Workers’ salaries became so challenging that the threat of strikes was imminent in most of the states. Workers actually went on strike, while those yet to do so were warming up for it; making the President to actually feel sympathetic to their plight.

    The President, upon receiving funds from the Paris Club, gave governors the money to settle the backlog of salaries. But, some governors did not apply the money to the problems they were meant to solve.

    Many governors still owe, despite the large sums of money they were given to cushion the effects of the harsh economic realities on workers. Those who managed to pay workers up to date, in no distant time, started owing workers. The situation necessitated renewed calls to authenticate the claims of mismanagement leveled against some governors over the Paris Club refund.

    Bauchi State Governor Mohammed Abdullahi, during the National Working Committee (NWC) meeting of the All Progressives Congress (APC), said Buhari expressed concern that workers were owed salaries. He noted that the last refund from the Paris Club was judicious utilised by the governors.

    At the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, the governors made it clear that they could no longer cope with workers’ salaries.

    Ebonyi State Governor Dave Umahi who made the disclosure after the meeting, said the request for bailout for states was to offset salaries arrears. He said this could come in form of budget support, the same view shared by his Bauch counterpart, who said that the Paris Club refund is the right of states.

    Umahi said it was  difficult to function well, when what accrues to the state is less than N600 billion from the Federation Account. He said the governors had put in their best to meet workers demand.

    He said: “We came to the understanding that every month, if the total shareable revenue in the federation account is less that N600 billion, the Minister of Finance has to give each state budget support.

    “In the last 12 months and that continued to the second year. States have done very well and have been able to pay their accumulated salary debts. They have equally increased their commitment to infrastructure and revenue generation.”

    The call for bailout has been criticised from different quarters, because it had barely clocked two years, when the Federal Government gave states money for the same purpose they are now demanding.

    Analysts say the state cannot continue to seek bailout to function. They said states must look beyond handouts from the federal government to be able to perform their statutory obligations.

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) had shown concern on how the money would be used when President Buhari gave them the funds. It pledged to work with the Independent Corrupt Practices and Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to monitor the disbursement of the funds.

    The NLC even directed its affiliate councils to serve as whistle blowers to reports any criminal diversion of bailout funds by the state governments. Despite the pledge, the same complaints had resurfaced again and Nigerians are getting agitated whether fresh bailout will not go the same way.

    Observers say most state governments do not attach much importance to workers salaries. They said government believes that workers could be relegated because on capital projects.

    Commenting on the need to pay workers his salaries as and when due, the Secretary General of Association Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) Comrade Bashir Lawal said state were defaulting despite the huge bailout received from the Federal Government.

    Lawal added: “In other parts of the world, you pay workers salaries before doing anything else. It is in Nigeria that reverse is the case; the governors prefer to spend workers money on white elephants project because these are avenue for cut corners.

    “Some of the state who had applied the money judiciously, they do not owe workers. Some of them who in spite of the huge them that made them seek the President attention to pay salaries, refused to apply to it when they got the found. They carry on as if the workers could go to hell.

    “The Federal Government is also guilty of the same conduct. It is busy bailing out state and local governments without its own workers. They owed not less than N290 billion promotion areas for its workers. Those promoted from one grade level to the other are still earning the same salary of the last position.”

    The ASCSN scribe, who expressed disappointment over the negligence of federal workers, noted that it would press harder on government to equally bail itself out of the mess that had been in place since 2007.

    He said: “We have made noise, but government is not listening. So, we are prepared and very shortly, we will do something to at least, compel the government to look our side. This indebtedness to workers dates back to 2007 and we are talking of 2017. This is 10 years, it is precarious situation, but we are hopeful that some of the action we intend to take will compel government to address the issue.”

    Others who spoke to The Nation expressed dismay that things are not done properly. They cautioned that government must put its acts right to make Nigerians believe in what it is doing.

    The National Publicity Secretary of Afenifere, Yinka Odumakin, said the idea of bail out for states is fiscal rascality. He added that on budget estimation, there was no money put in place to grant bail out.

    He said states take advantage of the fact that they could go to the Federal Government to seek fund, which would be given to them, to perpetuate laziness, noting that most states have abandoned projects that are laudable for beggarly lifestyle.

    Odumakin added: “Let me say that either in last year or this year budget, there was no money earmark to grant bailout for anybody. The power to expend funds lies with the National Assembly. So, the Paris Club refunds given to state are illegal allocations to them.

    “Again, you don’t need to bail anybody out because the governors would take the money and many of them have mismanaged the funds they have collected from the Paris Club. There has never been any accountability on the money they have collected so far. That has not solve the problem they claimed they got the money for in the first place.

    “What we need at this stage is not for state to run to government to collect money refunded by the Paris Club, the money should be reinvested into productive gesture to turn around the economy. There is no solution in bailout and bailout cannot bailout anybody. It can only bailout the pockets of the governors who are collecting the money.”

    The Chief Executive of the Coalition Against Corrupt leaders (CACOL), Debo Adeniran, said the system is faulty, adding that the federalism practice in Nigeria has not been helpful. He said where true federalism is obtained, the states would be up and doing to take up responsibilities granted them by the constitution. He said they would beef up their internally generated revenue and would not be bothered about running to the federal government.

    Adeniran added: “It is not justified that state would be receiving bailout every now and then. I must say that any business that is not viable should pack and go. When we are talking about the Paris Club Refund, it is expected that the money should go to the Federation Account.

    “The states are entitled to it; however, the federal government owed it a duty to monitor the way the money is applied. That is where the oversight function of the National Assembly is important. The money is not supposed to be spent on recurrent expenditure rather for capital development.

    “So, the bailout of state is not supposed to have continued the way it is now. The earlier bailout was to alleviate the condition of the state and not for them to make an issue they have to continually seek from time to time.”

    He added: “It is only Lagos that I have seen that had not shown interest in the bailout. This does not mean that some of the states are being marginalized. I have to point out that all the states have become so lazy except Lagos in improving their internally generated revenue.

    “They no longer engage in productive activities like agriculture, manufacturing, marketing and other ventures that can add value to the state’s income. They only rely on taxes and possibly do not re-channel the money to the state, to allow tax payers enjoy the outcome of the taxes they pay.”

    Adeniran maintained that the bailout is an affront on the people, urging members of the civil society, the media to keep a close watch on how state governors put to use the money they collect from the federal government.

    The National Chairman of the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), Prof. Bankole Okuwa, said state governments are not competent. He said the situation in Ogun State is an aberration. Okuwa said: “The governor does not care about the salaries of its workers. He is busy building roads everywhere which are not needed. Billions of naira are going into the projects, these road have become havens for destitute and robbers.

    Observers said this is the time the workers must rise to demand for a better life. They opined that, workers should look use their voters rights to change the situation.

    They believe the workers whether in states or at the national level could turn the table in their favour by being politically conscious.

    Workers, according to them have a strong weapon they could use during election, citing their voting the rights.

    The people must stop selling their votes to the highest bidders to offer them food, clothes and money during elections. If they consider its imperative to build a future, they must shun those who come to buy their votes during elections, an observer noted.

    Former Secretary General of the Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, believes the solution to Nigeria’s endless problems is for the country to function with six regional units.

    Anyaoku said zones could become the federating units for the country, noting that states seeking bailout would have to square up for productive venture under the zonal arrangement.

    He explained that the 36 states could be retained as development zone within the regions but without full administrative paraphernalia. He added that the present status of Nigeria would continue to attract more debt if something substantial was not done to arrest the drift.

     

  • Politics and sociology of conflicts: Herdsmen vs. farmers

    Today’s Nigeria is by anybody’s definition, a troubled country despite the huge material resources and robust human capital at its disposal.  Many things are just not working except we want to deceive ourselves. This situation should worry the political leadership more than ever before. Thus, for example, workers especially at the local and state levels are groaning under the weight of unprecedented, material poverty as a result of non-payment of salaries for months in the face of hyper-inflation. Even medical doctors are not spared. More and more Nigerians are committing suicide on a daily basis. How can a hungry medical doctor be fully committed to his work which is extremely sensitive? Certainly, the country needs a major political and economic surgery or re-engineering in order to keep total anarchy or disintegration at bay. Most of the age-long, indigenous values and value-systems of Nigeria are disappearing from our vocabularies of popular discourse. Indeed, demons are let loose upon the space. It is pathetic to note here, that some university graduates are now involved in crimes and criminality as a coping strategy in the face of unemployment and under employment. The current economic hardships have led to the production of much more destitute, prostitutes (of various grades), armed robbers, street beggars, car hijackers, ritualists and kidnappers than ever before. Only the political class and its business associates are living in affluence, of course, at the expense of the toiling masses.

    It is becoming increasingly clear, that the political leadership has not shown sufficient will power to address the numerous problems bedevilling the system as a whole. Even when the often thoroughly maligned federal legislators occasionally demonstrate some commitment to the common good, by probing corrupt government officials among others, the executive arm appears not to respond accordingly. This attitude of the executive gives room for legitimate, non-partisan suspicion concerning its sincerity and readiness to fight corruption in a non-selective manner. The chagrined Nigerian masses with their problem of voicelessness or near-total helplessness, are understandably losing confidence in the executive. Their expectations or hopes have been blatantly dashed. Nigerians, regardless of their ethnic or religious backgrounds, need good governance not empty rhetoric while innocent people are being killed by some blood-thirsty sub-humans fit only for the hottest part of hell. The thinking was that President Buhari would protect us from ourselves, when Nigerians voted him into power in 2015.  We are still waiting for him to practically prove that there is no basis for fear.  Nigerians are interested in fearless, charismatic, messianic leadership with no space for partisanship or primordial ethnic/religious prejudices. Smelly, primitive politics will make the idea of a united country a wild goose chase.  Politicians only talk of national unity when it is expedient for them to do so. They are still embracing parochialism as an ideology. This is the reason why no amount of subtle harassment by the government and its agents will stop the so-called hate speeches by Nigerians who have been afflicted with that terrible disease called maximum poverty. It is the political class that is promoting disunity in the country. The ordinary Nigerians are not so ethnically or religiously conscious. Politicians continue to play the politics of divide-and-rule when it is convenient for them to do so. Visiting some markets in Kano, Maiduguri, Jos, Makurdi, Ibadan, Lagos, Abeokuta, Benin-City, Nsukka, Port-Harcourt and Aba will reveal the mischief and deceit of the Nigerian political class. In these markets, Nigerians of a diverse range of ethnicities and religions are doing businesses together without rancour. This is a vivid illustration of national unity.  This does not mean that there will not be some crises here and there once a while because no human society is completely trouble-free.  Crisis has no geographical, ethnic, racial or religious boundaries. It is a human phenomenon rooted in considerable antiquity.

    Again, in 1993, Chief M. K.O. Abiola of the Social Democratic Party defeated Alhaji Tofa in the presidential poll, even in the country home of the latter. It is important to note here, that Abiola was a Nigerian of Yoruba extraction. The issue of ethnicity and religion did not matter to the people who had been thoroughly short-changed by past political leaders. Nigerian politicians, a special breed of Homo sapiens, have always been using circumstantialism of ethnicity and religion to deceive a lot of people who are unthinking, due to dire material poverty. The permanent interest of these politicians is personal aggrandizement. Therefore, ordinary Nigerians must deal with them cautiously. However, a few of them are fine gentlemen by anybody’s definition.

    It is my pleasant duty as a Nigerian to ask this question: Are cattle more precious than humans in Nigeria?  If the images I saw on the television recently were true, then Nigerian cattle had started attending classes both at the secondary and tertiary levels of education. The people of Edo and Oyo states are very familiar with this ugly scenario. The governors here hardly complain because of the fear of the centre. The fear of EFCC is the beginning of’ ‘wisdom’.  The ordinary people suffer heavily as if there is an interregnum in the country .If you think that the north does not suffer also from this malady, then you are dead wrong! Cattle now jostle for the best positions on the campus of the University of Abuja. What a wonderful country!  If there is a moral, it is for the President to do something very quickly, more so, when the Fulani herdsmen’s incessant attacks of crop farmers reached monumental proportions between 2015 and now. Even a primary six pupil can easily do the arithmetic and get the correct answer. For Providence’s sake, why should the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders’ Association be threatening state governments that have just started a new architecture of sustainable peace via the lens of cattle ranching? As a third-party interventionists, the state governments, have formed some committees in order to engender lasting peace. The government cannot just be so slow about a problem that is capable of disintegrating Nigeria..  The reactive approach of government involving sending soldiers to trouble spots cannot bring about sustainable peace especially when the issue has been politicized. Who is fooling who? Can somebody please call the above association to order before they kill all the innocent farmers! They are defecating too much on our collective landscape. Both Taraba and Benue governments have come up with cattle ranching in line with best global practices and the sacred cows are boasting of annihilating the Tiv and Agatu among other ethnicities. Demons were let loose again in Plateau State, a few days ago. Is it a crime to be a Nigerian?  It seems some leaders are proud of primitive behaviour even in the 21st century!

    Ghana is always ahead of most other African countries with respect to good leadership. Ghana has embarked on the ‘Ghana Cattle Ranching Project’. The main aim is to find a lasting solution to the perennial conflicts between Fulani herdsmen and crop farmers. The central government was ready to hold the bull by the horns. This project was also aimed at developing some time-tested strategies to improve cattle ranching culture in Ghana. The central government or regional administration never politicized the issue, in the interest of all Ghanaians. Here, the government is sincerely playing the role of a third-party intervention in community crisis management. Cattle ranching has a myriad of advantages. There would be better access to education and health care facilities. This is in addition to production and reproduction of healthier cattle with greater amount of milk per day. It also provides direct and indirect employment opportunities for people, thereby reducing crime rates to the barest minimum. Culture is not static, understandably because it is tied to the apron strings of social and physical environments. Human expectations, aspirations and sensitivities are not a fixity. The Nigerian government must understand this global reality in order to pave the way for sustainable development in several senses. Environmental degradation with a special emphasis on desertification in the extreme north will continue to lead to southward migrations of cattle among other ruminants for pastures. This situation necessarily puts more pressure on the south, thus leading to crises or conflicts on a regular basis between cattle herders and crop farmers. Currently, an awful sense of gloom pervades Nigeria’s post-coloniality. President Muhammadu Buhari is the most appropriate person to change the narrative in the interest of the survival of our collectivity.

     

    Professor Ogundele is of Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Ibadan.

     

  • 2019: Politics of containment in Akwa Ibom

    2019: Politics of containment in Akwa Ibom

    The recent offensive against the Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Mr. Nsima Ekere, which was followed up with the chasing away of one of the commission’s contractors from site by officials of the Akwa Ibom State Government, suggests that the preparations for the 2019 governorship election is gradually building up. Deputy Political Editor RAYMOND MORDI, who has been following the development, reports.

    The Akwa Ibom State Government and the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) appear to be engaged in a battle of supremacy over their mandates to develop the state. The disagreement came to the fore during the October 2017 edition of the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Security Summit in Uyo, the state capital, when Governor Udom Emmanuel warned the Managing Director of the NDDC, Mr. Nsima Ekere, not to undertake any projects in the region without taking permission from the governors.

    Governor Emmanuel’s words: “Let me use this opportunity that the MD of NDDC is here to state clearly that NDDC does not own even a piece of land, it is the Governors that are in-charge of land. NDDC should not enter any of the nine States to do any project without permission from the Governors.”

    Two days later, Commissioner for Works, Mr. Ephraim Inyang Eyen, led armed policemen and thugs to disrupt the activities of an NDDC contractor who was repairing Youth Street in Uyo. Eyen’s justification was that the contractor’s job was substandard.

    Never in the history of the commission had its relationship with the Akwa Ibom State Government reached such low ebb. In the last six months, there has been one controversy or the other between the two sides, over projects execution and delivery and this is said to have stalled ongoing developmental projects. For instance, in June 2017, the governor had accused the commission of poor project execution, project abandonment and distortion of the state development plan.

    But the recent broadside against the commission, which was followed up with the chasing of an NDDC contractor away from site, suggests that the disagreement is deep-seated. Observers believe that it may not be unconnected with the 2019 governorship election in the state. There are speculations that Ekere, a former Deputy Governor of the state, may run for the election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC). He participated in the 2014 governorship primary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) where Emmanuel emerged as the candidate of the party.

    Indeed, it was the disagreement over the conduct of the primary that led the NDDC helmsman to dump the PDP for the APC. Ekere and other aspirants accused the former Governor Godswill Akpabio of manipulating the process in favour of the incumbent governor. The thinking in the camp of Governor Emmanuel is that Ekere may use the NDDC to launch himself into the good books of the people ahead of the election and that may not auger well for the plans of Emmanuel who has indicated his interest to run for a second term.

    The NDDC was established 17 years ago as an interventionist agency of the Federal Government with the sole mandate of developing the oil-rich Niger Delta region. The law setting up the agency aligns appointments, projects and programmes with oil production quota of the states in the region. This means that with Akwa Ibom as number one oil producing state, it should be allocated the highest number of NDDC projects.

    But, according to reports, that was not the situation Ekere met on ground. In terms of project volume, Akwa Ibom trails Rivers and Delta. Against this background, when he assumed office in November 2016, he sought to allocate more projects to the state and to address critical development issues across the Niger Delta generally.

    While other states in the region have been applauding the commission and lobbying for more projects, the reverse is the case for Akwa Ibom. In this regard, the governors of Imo, Cross River, Abia, Rivers, Ondo, Bayelsa and Edo is said to have met with the management of the NDDC and signed strategic memorandum of understandings (MOU), to provide infrastructure for the long-term development of their states. Rather than hail the development as a good one for the people of Akwa Ibom State, the NDDC move was resented by the government.

    Since the new board led by Ekere was inaugurated less than a year ago, the relationship between the NDDC and the governor has never really been cordial. The quest by the Akwa Ibom State Government to rubbish the NDDC began in December 2016, barely two months after Ekere assumed offices, when the commission rolled out an advertisement for tender on contract jobs. About 60 of the contracts were for Akwa Ibom State only and covered the areas of the commission’s mandate: water, health, education, power and roads. Nearly all local government areas had one or two projects listed. This, in addition to about 37 emergency roads repair jobs that were also awarded by the commission, was enough to send signals to discerning citizens that the NDDC was going to be pro-active in its posture towards the state.

    From the outset, when the NDDC began the implementation of its plan to invest in the infrastructural development of the state, the ruling party has been waiting for an opportunity to confront the commission. The ruling PDP government saw a perfect opportunity, when the state government, which had worked on one of the roads abandoned by the commission in Ikono Local Government Area, inaugurated the road. At the occasion, the Commissioner for Works, Eyen, urged the Federal Government to probe the NDDC, saying the commission has turnied Akwa Ibom State into an abandoned project site.

    The government’s bid was backed by a group, the Akwa Ibom Integrity Group, which ran a seven-page advertorial in national and local newspapers, calling for the probe of the Ekere-led management of the NDDC. Their petition listed 377 projects purportedly abandoned.

    After the NDDC responded, the hunter became the hunted. It said what the petitioners did not state in its advertorial was that the contracts listed in the petition were mostly the ones awarded between 2007 and 2015 when the PDP held sway at the commission.

    Besides, the NDDC said contrary to the claims by the group, the commission has committed itself to 890 projects and 62 emergency repair works across the state. Its spokesman, Mr. Abitoye Abosade, said of the 890 projects, the agency has completed and commissioned 160, while 281 others have already been completed and are waiting commissioning.

    The projects, he added, cut across various areas of development, including buildings, roads, electricity, healthcare, education, water, bridges and that the projects have positively impacted on the lives of the people as well as given them a sense of belonging.

    He said: “Some of the major projects of the commission in the state include the 12.5km Okoita-Itu-Mbak Atai-Ikot Ntuen-Mkpeti-Oku Iboku road in Itu; the 10.125km Ididep-Ekpenyong-Ikot Etim Afaha Itiat road in Ibiono Ibom; the 30km Nsasak junction-Akon road in Essien Udim; and the 6.7km Iwuochang-Okorutip road project with 600m bridge span bridge.

    “Others include the 4.9km Oku Iboku internal roads in Itu; construction of a community centre at Ibiaku Ishiet along Airport road; renovation of hostels, dining and kitchen at Methodist Boys High School, Oron; maintenance/dredging of creek at Esit Eket and Okoroitak in Ibeno; ongoing construction of a specialist hospital at the main campus of the Akwa Ibom State University, Ikot Akpaden, Mkpat Enin Local Government Area.”

    He said the NDDC has also intervened in the area of erosion and flood control as evident in the flood control work executed at Ekpene/Obuk Afaha community in Eket and shore protection works at Eastern Obolo, Ibeno and Ikot Abasi and the building of embankment at the Naval Base in Mbo Local Government Area.

    In the area of education, Abosade said the agency is building model schools in the nine states of the Niger Delta, including Akwa Ibom. “This is in addition to the provision of scholarships to students of secondary and tertiary institutions from its catchment areas,” he added.

    A number of stakeholders have pointed out that Emmanuel and Ekere should sheathe their swords, because when two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers. For instance, former Akwa Ibom State PDP Chairman, OtuIta Toyo, believes it is wrong to politicise the NDDC intervention. He said: “Now, if Akwa Ibom State Government draws attention to abandoned NDDC projects in the state in good faith, they are in order. Starting from abandoned local and state projects, the state government has a duty to ensure the completion of project within her jurisdiction, even when the project was instituted by United Nations. There is nothing amidst there.

    “To our fortune, the NDDC is here doing what the agency could not begin to contemplate in the days we controlled the Presidency. Would it not be a source of joy to then complement the state government for a change now that we have the good fortune of a son who remembers the situation back home? The unhealthy rivalry is senseless, rather there should be cooperation.”

    A former Attorney-General in the state, Victor Iyanam, said a Federal Government agency has the right and mandate to embark on projects in any part of the state. He said: “The NDDC can intervene when roads are bad, they have done this in several other states; there are federal roads in Akwa Ibom State, there are also state roads. When the NDDC intervenes in roads rehabilitation in the state, it doesn’t mean that it is only the NDDC or Federal Government officials that will be using the road.

    “What I expect the governor to do is that is if the NDDC comes to the state and identifies a bad road and start construction work on it, they should sing halleluiah. Even if the state governor have plans for that road, it will be relieved in that the government will now be able to use that money for some other projects still within. The governor’s statement was in bad faith; it is only a governor who does not have the interest of the people at heart that will be confronting the Federal Government not to enter the state to do project.”

    A former member of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, Hon. Kufre Etuk, also expressed dismay at the altercations between the state government and the NDDC. He said during the 16 years that the PDP held sway in the federal and state level, there were no such altercation between the NDDC and state government, because they were operating like a family.

    Etuk said since the creation of NDDC in 2001 that Akwa Ibom State has never had it so good, in terms of attracting development projects to the state, adding that for the first time there is a kind of healthy competition between the state government and the NDDC, in terms of project delivery.

    He said: “The state needs development, especially internals roads; it is wrong for Governor Udom Emmanuel to say that the NDDC is distorting his development plan. He has already done two years of his first tenure, how many road projects does he have to showcase so far? Besides, there is so much to be done; let him break new grounds, as the NDDC is helping out in some of the remedial works.”

    The former lawmaker argues that both the governor and the NDDC MD should take advantage of the opportunity and bring development to the state.

    He added: “Even if the NDDC wants to come and asphalt the entire road in Akwa Ibom, they should allow the agency to do it; the state government has a lot more things to do.”

    A former governorship on the platform of the Accord Party, Mr Okon Iyanam, said what is playing out between Emmanuel and Ekere is nothing but elevating personal interests above that of the state. He said whatever development is coming to the state should not be blocked by such considerations. He said: “The NDDC has been in existence for this long and across all the nine beneficiary states, this sort of local challenge has not been reported. You must note that NDDC states are busy lobbying for projects to be taken to their states. It is abnormal to chase development away from your state, for such simplistic reasons.

    “Some of the projects being completed by the NDDC are projects conceived by previous NDDC regimes. They should be finished for the benefit of our people. How on earth can you chase somebody away from tarring a road? How would you explain such an action to the people who live on such roads?”

    The Accord Party chieftain said the state governor is a member of the NDDC’s advisory council and therefore he can channel his misgivings through the council. He said: “You cannot forget the childishness involved in a commissioner embarking on civil disruptions. What if the NDDC, which has even more access to the police and other security agencies, being a federal agency, had decided to use force too? No father would allow his children to go hungry, simply because he has issues with his wife. Akwa Ibom must triumph. This is beyond Emmanuel or Ekere.”

    Akwa Ibom State is not new to this sort of politics. In the 1980s, in the old Cross River State,  the government of former Governor Clement Isong was perpetually embroiled in a fight for supremacy with prominent indigenes of the state at the centre, led by Senate President, Dr. Joseph Wayas. The fight was so intense that although the state was governed by the defunct National Party of Nigeria (NPN), the then ruling party at the centre, it could not attract federal projects throughout the four years. Isong was eventually squeezed out of the party and he lost the re-election bid. Isong’s group was branded the home front, while the Wayas group, which includes Senator Victor Akan and his supporters, was dubbed the Lagos Group.

    Under President Olusegun Obasanjo, Akwa Ibom State produced the Secretary to the Government of the Federation in Obong Ufot Ekaete. But, the stormy relationship Ekaete had with the then Governor Victor Attah meant not much came to the state from the centre. Ekaete, as the most prominent indigene of Akwa Ibom State at the centre, became the arrowhead of the Abuja group that hardly agreed with Attah on any matter, even though the state was governed on the platform the former ruling party, the PDP. The implication was that Akwa Ibom State could not attract any significant project from the Federal Government in the eight years of the Obasanjo administration.

    To avoid a repeat of the above scenario, former Governor Akpabio recommended for federal appointments during his tenure people that would be extremely loyal to him, above other considerations. But things did not quite work out as Akpabio expected. For instance, Ambassador Sam Edem, the second Chairman of the NDDC was disgraced out of office when his political influence grew larger than Akpabio could stomach. Edem’s successor, Bassey Dan Abia, who later became the Managing Director, towed the line of the then governor. At the end of the day, Akpabio’s closeness and influence on the Jonathan administration did not count for Akwa Ibom State in the allocation of federal projects.

  • 2019: Politics of realignment in Oyo

    2019: Politics of realignment in Oyo

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s reconciliation with former Governor Rashidi Ladoja and the new understanding among Abiola Ajimobi, his predecessor, Adebayo Alao-Akala and former Senate Leader Teslim Folarin have signaled new alignments in the Oyo State politics, which may shape the 2019 general elections. BISI OLADELE reports.

    When the National Caretaker Committee Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Ahmed Markafi, declared after his victory at the Supreme Court on July 12 that he would lead the party on a successful reconciliatory path, many disparaged his ambition, based on the failure of previous efforts. But, the moves by his committee are yielding fruits in Oyo State. Some of the party’s former leaders are already returning, following after series of parleys. For instance, Oluseyi Makinde, who flew the flag of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the 2015 governorship election, is back in the fold.

    Political watchers are keenly waiting for former Governor Rashidi Ladoja and his successor, Adebayo Alao-Akala, to follow suit.  While Makinde and Akala dumped the PDP, preparatory to the 2015 elections, Ladoja left for Accord in January, 2011. They left due to irreconcilable differences.

    But, a surprise photo surfaced on social media recently, suggesting yet another realignment of forces in preparation for the 2019 elections. It was a group photograph of  Ajimobi, Alao-Akala and Folarin in a relaxed meeting in London, the United Kingdom. The conviviality of their mood conveyed a political fraternity, which made analysts believe that they may have been united for the 2019 elections.

    Since Akala and Folarin fell apart in 2010 over the PDP governorship ticket for the 2011 election, both politicians have not resolved their crisis. Yet, Fokarin supported Ajimobi in the 2011 elections in spite of the fact that they belonged to different parties. While Folarin was in the PDP, Ajimobi contested on the platform of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). It is believed that Folarin supported Ajimobi to spite Akala, who sought a second term to thwart Folarin’s governorship ambition in the 2011 poll. Besides, Folarin and Ajimobi are Ibadan indigenes who have a common tie through the late Ibadan politician, Chief Lamidi Adedibu.

    Yet, in another meeting, recently, Akala hosted Ladoja in his Bodija, Ibadan home. It is believed that the latter led the PDP team to woo Akala back to the party.

    From the two major meetings, it is becoming clearer that Akala will be a valuable bride to court in the 2019 election in Oyo State. His value is largely due to his popularity in Ogbomoso, his birth place. From 2007 till date, Ogbomoso voters have expressed solidarity for the former governor through landslide victory he recorded in all of the elections.

    PDP will wax stronger due to the return of Makinde and Ladoja.

    But, Akala may stay back in the APC, if he has the assurance of Ajimobi for joint ownership of the next administration. He will naturally prefer an arrangement where he would not be directly under the leadership of Ladoja for fear of revenge and uncertainty of party and policy decisions. If he operates in the same party with Ajimobi, Akala will interpret it as working with a friend and equal rather than under Ladoja where he would be a subordinate.

    For this reason, the return of Ladoja and Makinde will do little to upstage the APC in the next election because of its strength in Oke-Ogun, Oyo, Ibarapa, Ogbomoso and Ibadan. The APC’s strength in Ibadan will also slightly grow, should Folarin perfect his defection to the party before the next election.

    The former senator will have good reasons to defect to the APC. It will be a time of reward for him for his support for Ajimobi since 2011. He will be a major voice in the APC, officially coming under Ajimobi who will have served two terms of eight years. Also his defection will reduce the strength of the PDP in Ibadan while wielding more influence as a leader of the party in power, both at the federal and state levels.

    All these mean that the next election in Oyo State may be between APC and PDP, unlike in 2015 when five major parties struggled for supremacy. They were the APC, Accord, Labour Party, PDP and SDP. This time, Accord and SDP, which were imported as safety nets, will be dead.

    Town unions including Ibadan Elders, Central Council of Ibadan Indigenes (CCII), Ogbomoso Parapo, will wield great influence in determining who becomes governor and other top positions.

    But, their influence will somehow wane, if the above expectations come to reality. The PDP will solely determine its candidate before seeking their endorsement. The APC may honour them by letting them see the reasons they will like to present their candidate but will not likely pander to their choice if they differ.

    Other implications include the fact that the campaign will be tough and that the electorate will be divided into two sharp sentimental groups with fierce support for their parties and candidates.