The Nation Newspaper

Tag: politics

  • Politics should be about service, says Ambode

    Politics should be about service, says Ambode

    Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode has stressed the need for Nigerians to embrace selfless service to humanity.
    Speaking at the opening ceremony of the 33rd Synod of Diocese of Lagos, Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), with the theme: “Serving”, Ambode urged political and religious leaders to toe the path of service to humanity, saying politics in the real sense of it should only be about selfless service to the people
    The governor, in his keynote address, described the Synod and the theme as apt and historic having coincided with the celebration of 50 years of existence of the state, which according to him, was about celebrating those that have served and are still serving the state.
    He said: “Serving, be it in government, churches, mosques or wherever, is like a call from God and for me, I believe that there is no way I can just give back to humanity for the greater blessings that God has endowed me than just serving and serving selflessly without any inkling of wanting to get a return back from anybody. This is what has actually propelled us to serve the people.
    “We believe our calling on earth is to serve, which is the essence of why we have also decided to dedicate ourselves to say that the only way we can give back to God is to serve humanity. This is what we have always been doing.
    “For us that are government officials or politicians, what is it that really makes a difference? The difference is that when you are getting a feedback from people that you have made their lives easier. That is it. People don’t want any other thing from us but to make their lives easier; to make them for instance move from one point to the other easily; allow them to send their children to school and then generally make them comfortable.
    “Those little things are the things that really matter to our people, and this is why we are more committed to say that on a Godly template, this is a calling that we need to serve not necessarily whether we are praised or not.”
    Acknowledging that Christians usually like to stay away from politics, Ambode said on the contrary, politics must be viewed from the point of service to the people and service without expecting any reward from people but from God.
    “I want to encourage everybody to stand on that point of selflessness, which is the need to do something without actually asking for a reward. If reward comes, it is just part of the package but not the package. We have been blessed, we have been enriched by God and the only thing is that wherever we find ourselves to touch other people positively, we should always want to do it. It should be service before gratification because the real blessing is the blessing of God, which is beyond any other thing,” he said.
    Diocesan Bishop of Lagos and Dean Emeritus, Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Most Rev. Ephraim Ademowo, hailed Ambode for his devotion to duty and passion for the growth of the state, which had resulted in massive developmental projects across the state.

    Ademowo, who said the church would pray and support the Governor to win election again for the second term in office, said Governor Ambode as a trail blazer and innovative leader had transformed the State and taken it to an enviable height.
    He said: “We have been watching with keen interest and studying the progressive administration of our Governor. As a trail blazer and innovative leader, he (Ambode) has taken our State to a greater height. Lagos State has become a reference point for other States.
    “We are also proud to be identified with your laudable achievements in making Lagos a great financial hub and a reference point for other states in the country. Let me say equivocally that your predecessors did eight years in office, and I say without any doubt that you will also use eight years.
    “We want to thank you for your absolute devotion to duty and life of practical humility, doggedness and total commitment to the growth and progress of Lagos State, as well as your constant efforts at making Lagos second to none and a reference point for all other States,” Ademowo said.

  • Wike’s love for ugly politics

    Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike of Rivers State may have learnt a few outlandish tricks from Adolf Hitler, the late German tyrant, master propagandist and one of the best firebrand orators the world has ever known. Like a joke, prior to World War 11, Adolf Hitler haggled the Nazi Germany and railroaded the country and the entire world into the most abominable carnage and bloodbath in human history.

    Before, during and after the governorship election in 2015, Wike’s inciting comments and his charge to members of his party to resist arrest by security operatives was scary. His threat to officials of INEC and security agencies who failed to do the bidding of his political party or even the threat to supporters of political opponents were some of the earliest signs that the Rivers State might soon be soaked in blood. As governor, Wike has kept the state under serious tension ever after. He didn’t disappoint on those promises, like Adolf Hitler.

    Adolf Hitler’s primary rules were never allow the public to cool off; never admit a fault or wrong; never concede that there may be some good in your enemy; never leave room for alternatives; never accept blame; concentrate on one enemy at a time and blame him for everything that goes wrong; people will believe a big lie sooner than a little one; and if you repeat it frequently enough people will sooner or later believe it.

    Like Hitler, Governor Wike is a thoroughbred nihilist and an advocate of Machiavellianism where the end justifies the means. He assassinates his political opponents’ characters in order to attain political position at all costs at the detriment of the citizens of Rivers State who elected him to show leadership. Relentlessly and randomly, he picks on perceived enemies, one after another, with a measure of consistency and currency and systematically chase them away from political reckoning.

    If you are a follower of Governor Wike’s uncanny and unregenerate politics since 2015, you will observe the unwholesome manipulation of perceptions, the steady use of “big lies”, distortion of facts, false alarms, ethnic instigations, electoral brigade, assassination and outright violence that have signposted Rivers State with a tag as the most politically blood soaked state in Nigeria.

    The Police, like everyone else suffered a major loss as DSP Akali Mohammed and his orderly were abducted and later beheaded by suspected cultists in Uju community in Ogba Egbema Ndoni local government area. The late Police officer was at the head of a police team from Mopol 48 to the community to take on cultists who allegedly held the area under siege when they met their untimely death in the hands of the cultists who laid ambush for them. The cultists hijacked their patrol vehicle and disappeared with their riffles. About 16 NYSC members were also reportedly abducted in the state during the elections and rescued by security men afterwards.

    The election that brought Governor Wike to power, along with the state and National Assembly were the bloodiest in the history of electioneering in Nigeria. Many INEC officials, journalists, party faithful and police men were hacked down in broad day light for Wike’s ambition to be realised. Since he assumed office as the Governor, he has practically thrown decency overboard, fighting real and imaginary political enemies, federal forces, his political party, the PDP, his political opponents, the ruling party, the APC, the Independent National Electoral Commission, and the nation’s security apparatus.

    Evidently, from the very beginning, it was clear that Wike would be a terrible disappointment to both Rivers State he seeks to govern and Nigeria at large. Rightly, he has taken incompetence in governance to a new height in Nigeria, turning Rivers State to a slaughter’s lab where human lives are not worth much and where kidnapping, assassination and robbery have become the norms.

    Recently, Wike was at it again. The governor accused the Inspector-General of Police of a plot to eliminate him. The state Commissioner for Information and Communication, Dr. Austin Tam-George made the allegation that Governor Nyesom Wike has been targeted for elimination by the Nigeria Police authorities. He claimed that Governor Wike had survived five assassination attempts in 11 months, accusing the police of complicity in attempts to eliminate the governor. He further disclosed that after several attempts to assassinate Wike had failed, an offer of N150 million was made to two of the six dismissed police officers, to directly kill the governor, but that the officers declined the offer.

    Governor Wike himself had said at several fora that the federal government had laid out plans to execute him. He accused the police and the Department of State Services (DSS) of being at the fore-front of the plans, especially with the withdrawal of his security detail and failure to restore his guards despite appeals from different strata of the society.

    The Nigeria Police Force would dismiss the allegation by Governor Wike:  “The allegation, coming from Governor Wike, is malicious and capable of misleading and causing disaffection between the Nigeria Police Force and the good people of Rivers State who the governor swore to lead and serve democratically without prejudice. The Nigeria Police Force wishes to categorically state that, there is no iota of truth in all the allegations and false assertions in the interview granted by the Governor of Rivers State, Mr. Nyesom Wike, as regards his accusations against the Inspector General of Police and the Nigeria Police Force”, the Police Public Relations Officer, CSP Jimoh Moshood said.

    The latest of Governor Wike’s dramatic incursion as a purveyor of pure falsehood came with the discovery of $45 million dollars in an Ikoyi residence which he claimed was stolen by former Governor Rotimi Amaechi. He claimed the money belongs to the Rivers State Government and gave seven days ultimatum to the Federal Government to return the funds to his government.

    What further evidence do we need to come to the conclusion that Governor Wike present preoccupation is an extension of his known acrimonious anger against Amaechi? Why is it that out of the 36 States of the federation it is only Rivers State Government that is claiming ownership of the recovered/discovered loot? Why is Governor Wike preemptive of EFCC’s investigation?

    Painfully, nothing significant has been credit to Wike’s governorship of Rivers State, two years down the line. The destruction of the educational sector by stopping the scholarship and free education scheme put up by the Amaechi administration that has become a reference point in Africa tops his agenda as policy thrust. The model educational and health facilities put up in all the local government areas of the state built by previous government has become the dens of cultists.  Wike has refused to pay the salaries of over 13,000 teachers employed by the administration of Amaechi in a bid to darken his benefactor’s contribution to the development of the state at the expense of the suffering masses.

     

    • Erasmus Ikhide writes from Lagos.
  • ‘Why Obaseki can’t seperate politics from governance’

    ‘Why Obaseki can’t seperate politics from governance’

    Hon Samson Osagie is a former Minority Whip of the House of Representatives. The All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain spoke with Osagie Otabor on the face-off between the Presidency and the National Assembly and the crisis rocking the ruling party in Edo State.

    What is your opinion on the face-off between the National Assembly and the Executive?

    The face-off between the National Assembly and the Presidency is not unusual. The public and the media will like to call it a face-off, but we regard it as the normal intercourse that has come to characterise our young democratic experience as a nation where, first and foremost, each organ of government tries to assume power and over step its boundary and the other organ tries to do same. At the end of the day, in the ensuing muscle flexing, you now have open confrontation, open disagreement between the legislature and the executive. Curiously, these two organs of government cannot do without each other. I think it is the media that gives so much hype to those disagreement because behind close doors, there are constant meetings, consultations on issues, deliberations on issues of governance between the two organs of government. Unfortunately, some official of both sides tend not to understand that this relationship must be symbiotic and not a one sided affair. I like President Buhari’s approach to the issue by asking the Vice president to look at the issues involved. That underscores the that fact he recognises the importance of the organ of government for smooth operations as the driver of the governance of the country. It is not abnormal. In Nigeria, everybody wants to take sides with the executive against the legislature. The president has the power of appointment, but out of mutual respect, the president may say let me stop this circus of rejection and look for another person. But, I am not aware there is any law stopping the nomination of the same person.

    Was Prof. Itsey Sagay right to say he will not honour the summons of the Senate?

    Those are part of the issues I am talking about. It is a clear lack of appreciation and respect for the National Assembly because the constitution gives power to the National Assembly to invite anybody and get evidence from anybody for the purpose of enabling it to make law, even though that should not extend inviting every dick and harry over any issue. I believe once you get an invitation from the parliament, if you have nothing to lose, you stand every opportunity of explaining to them what the issues are. It is part of the way to heat up the polity by unnecessary flexing of muscles to say I will not heed the call of an institution of government.

    Some persons are of the opinion that the problems persisted because President Buhari is not playing politics….

    I do not know if that is correct because governance of any society in a presidential democracy involves politics. What politics will he play? Is it the politics of trying to pocket the National Assembly? Since 1999, the National Assembly has demonstrated a lot of independence. He cannot be seen to be meddling in the affairs of the legislature. He will create more problem for the system.

    Do you think your party is leading the country in the right direction?

    I believe the party has very laudable programmes for this country to be resuscitated economically. The challenges facing the government and the party at the moment probably are far more than what was contemplated. The revelations we are now getting, it is unlikely that the solutions that are being applied will yield the immediate and fast results that are required in the short run. To say that the party has no clear cut policies to take the nation beyond where it was so that Nigerians can begin to live a realistic lifestyle and not the false lifestyle that we used to live. Because we depend on one source of revenue, you can seal those revenue at will at the detriment of the people, it is an unfortunate assumption. Given the mindboggling pilfering of public treasury that we have seen in the last administration from which this government is trying to buckle up, coupled with the fall in price of oil prices and, of course, lack of adequate revenue, this government inherited a problem it didn’t bargain for. You cannot question the integrity of this government compared to the last administration. That is why I believe that in spite, of the gloomy economic situation in the country, the APC stands a greater chance of removing the nation from the clutches of corruption, indiscipline and the free for all way that this country used to be run in the past.

    Reports indicate that the APC is broke….

    Those are speculation. It is true that the recession is affecting every organ of government, including the party. That is not to say it cannot hold national convention because of lack of fund. It is not possible.

    Governor Obaseki wants to separate governance from politics. Will it grow the APC in Edo?

    I see a challenge there. There can be no difference between the government of a state and the party that brought the government to power. If there exist a gulf, strictly speaking, it can create a political problem for the governor and I pray that he does not allow that to happen. What will happen is that some persons will use that opportunity to use the party as an instrument for fighting political opponents, for personal aggrandizement, whether or not those persons are capable of holding the state together politically. A governor cannot ride on the platform of a party to governance and totally neglect or run away in the running of the affairs of the party. There are dire political consequences for that action because those he will leave it to will create political problem for him. They will use the party to take political decision that can create instability for his government. Governance that is party based cannot be separated midway. It will be my advice for him not to allow people to create confusion for his government because that can affect the performance of his administration.

    Will you say Obaseki has performed in the last four months?

    You can see that the government has a clear cut focus on delivery on the promises he made during the campaign. Not because the previous government did not performed but you will notice difference in approach in the way and manner he is delivery. Even without much advertisement, people know he is working. He is interested in so many areas, creating job opportunities, industrializing the state and of course continuing with infrastructure development of the state. We are not in doubt he is going to do a lot more.

    You and others were recently suspended from the APC. What can you say about that?

    It is unfortunate. It looks like Governor Obaseki does not seem to be interested in the running of the affairs of the party and that can have political consequence. It is a clear display of arrogance. If you suspend all these persons, who are you recruiting to replace them? Can you even replace them? I think the suspension was not a healthy thing to do. The PDP went this way in the past when it deregister a retinue of people from the party because it wants to secure power in 2007. At the end of the day, the APC took power from. I do not think anything that happens in the party, the first step to take is suspension. That should be the last resort after thorough investigation has been conducted and it is clear that the person or persons involved actually committed the offence as spelt out in article 21 of the party’s constitution. A situation where crude method are used track down political opponents, hurt their feelings rather than building the party, you are dismembering it. To dismember a body is easier than to build. It is quite unfortunate that it is happening at this stage. Thank God Comrade Adams Oshiomhole is the Leader of the State Caucus of the party. He will be able to intervene and halt the gale of suspension across board because you can imagine that in the last six months, we are witnessing the gale of suspension that was never witnessed as at the time Oshiomhole held sway. It is because these persons are capitalizing on the policy of the governor to concentrate on governance rather than partisan politics. They are exploiting what looks like a gap. If you go down the records, the people behind this are almost political liabilities who cannot produce results during election periods. In order to sustain their hold on party politics and party position, they have resorted to suspending people they believed are threat to their local positions. What is my business being a leader of a local government. Is that the position I want to aspire to? Leaders evolved. You don’t appoint leaders in a community, you don’t appoint leaders in an organizations. People come around to say you are their leader. At less than 50, I have had the rare privilege of being an officer in the National Assembly.

     

    With age on my side, my ambition cannot be to be a local government leader. It is tantamount to be a chairman of a local council. People are feeling threatened by my stand on certain issues before now. They are calling me various names because they believe I am a threat to their position. There is nothing they can do about that unless they kill me that is when I cannot continue to show interest in politics. A man who has been elected five times to represent his people, do you want to say he is a nobody? If you go through the local government, I have projects tied to my name. Some of these leaders do not have such legacies. They are holding on to the little positions which they believe is their last bus stop. I think the governor should watch out for them so that they don’t create unnecessary crisis for his government.

    Obaseki said he plans to take party politics to the grassroots which was why he asked the party to nominate political appointees?

    In conception yes but in practice, these same leaders who have become lords in their respective areas did not follow the rules. They still hijack the system. The conception and idea is good from the governor but these people who have constituted themselves did not follow the procedure. If the governor were to screen all the nominations that came except in a few areas, those procedures were not followed. They were done and written in the bedroom of one of two leaders. That is why Obaseki needs carefully do an understudy and take positions on these issues in order not to allow people close to him create serious political upheaval within the polity.

  • If politics is a game

    SIR: The game of politics distinguishes itself in many areas, chief among which is its great effects on the lives of not only the players but the generality of humans. In any given society, the extent to which the players apply decorum and adhere strictly with the rules of the game will determine the pace or velocity of development in such society. Hardly would any society get it without getting its politics right. It is the real driver of societal development. As a result, its players mustn’t only be up to the task, they must be determined to play it right.

    Right from the inception of this government, the executive and the legislature have hardly agreed on any serious matter. On the confirmation of Ibrahim Magu for instance, the Presidency failed to realize that the game of politics involve lobbying; not necessarily with money but by using persuasion and building consensus.

    Under the American system, rejection of President’s nominees by the Senate is nothing new. Debo Adegbile, a Nigerian was nominated by former President Obama in 2016 to head Human Rights Committee, a special department created in US and he was rejected by the Senate. Obama was so angry and couldn’t understand why such a brilliant man was rejected. He had to withdraw him. No president in a normal democratic setting can force the Senate to accept a nominee except he wants to intervene in the function of another arm of government.

    On the invitation of Colonel Hameed Ali, the Comptroller General of Customs by the Senate and the controversy surrounding the instruction given by the latter to the former to put on his uniform while going to the Senate chamber, the brouhaha is a needless one. At least, precedence has it that Major-General Haladu Hananiya, a retired military officer like Ali was appointed to head FRSC and wore the uniform of his new appointment then. Col. Ali wasn’t appointed as sole administrator but Comptroller-General of Customs, the highest rank of the organization. Even S.O.G Agu, who was appointed in 1994 as sole administrator of the organization was always wearing his military uniform and Customs uniform on ceremonial occasions.

    The legislature may be involved in a game in which the executive arm is not left out. People around the President seems determined to rubbish NASS as an institution, forgetting that once a precedence is set, the institution will remain disrespected even when the set of legislators we so hate now must have vacated the institution.

     

    • Abdul-Lateef Ishowo,

    Ilorin, Kwara State.

  • Buhari should play politics to succeed, says Osifo

    Buhari should play politics to succeed, says Osifo

    Eddy Osifo, a lawyer, is former Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources in the defunct Bendel State. In this interview with Osagie Otabor in Benin, the Edo State capital, he speaks on the crisis in the All Progressives Congress (APC) and how President Muhammadu Buhari can succeed in office.

    How do you see the current face off between the Executive and the Senate?

    The APC as a party appears to be in government only and not in politics. If they are in politics, some of them who grew wings in the National Assembly wouldn’t have been able to do so. Because the APC is not in politics, it created a discounted tune between the executive and the legislature. If the APC were in politiccs, they would have known how to deal with the situation. The situation is not legal, it is political. I am particularly pissed by the rejection of Magu because Nigerains have never had it so good, in terms of recovery of of stolen properties of the federal government, particularly money before this time. The average Nigerian is in support of Magu and if there is a referadum between Magu and those legislature, Magu will defect them. Magu has not been caught stealing. He has only been blamed for some ethical conduct like he lives in luxury. One of them was that he took a first class flight to the hajj. That is not luxury. A person of his status is entitled to take first class flight. When I was Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources in Bendel State, I took Fisrt Class flight to Brazil, USA and Isreal. Whenyou are in certain position, you are entitiled to some things. Magu has not been caught in an act of stealing  or colloding with looters. They would have alleged more serious things. They have a right of rejection and the President has a right of renomination. But, the President should pay some attention to politics. It appears he has abandoned his party and the party has become weakened in that process. He should dedicate 40 per cent of his time to politics and 60 per cent to governance and for all Nigerians. The President is from a political party. He must nurture the party and strengthen it.

    Why is it that the fight in the Senate is more from the APC Senators?

    Those APC senators are the ones fighting anti-corruption crusade. Corruption is fighting back through the lawmakers. The President should not listen to such demands. They want to blackmail him. I do not see why people who belong to the same party are not supporting the ideology and programme of that party. If the APC is strong and really faces politics, such peole should not be reelected. If it were in our time, we will make their constituency hot for them and there is a way of doing it. If you make their constituency ask them question; whether they are representing Nigeria or their own interest. They are representing their own interest and not Nigeria.

    What is your assessment of Obaseki administration?

    He has shown that he is a very enlightened and sophisticated governor. There are areas he has touched, which were neglected by his predecessor. For example, the issue of technical education. All these theoretical things are responsible for graduates going from street to street without jobs. Obaseki is tackling the problem headlong and also tarring adjoining roads. We are observing him and he is making statements, which shown aggression against poverty and squalor in the state.

    Will Obaseki succeed in his action by separating politics from governance?

    He wil not succeed. If he does that, his political powers will be eroded. He must give 40 per cent of his attention to politics and he must keep making the party stronger and stronger so that when the party talks, nobody else can talk senseless things, unless you talk sensible things. In the party I belonged to which was led by Awolowo, when Awolowo tables a programme he will listn to your views, if your views are too selfish he will know and make you feel ashamed from superior arguments. Obaseki must not separate politics from governance. Politicians are not the selfish people we take them to be in this country. It is the dirty people who call it a dirty game. It is the most honourable thing. That is why you are called honourable when you win election. They are now turning it from honourable to dishonourable. They are to be despicably honest and not acquiring riches and personal wealth. That is what Buhari is returning it back to. Obaseki can succeed if he is not personally interested in wealth. That is the first cardinal principle of any ruler. That will make him not to be bias in taking decision. I see them distributing chickens to women to encourage them in farming. If they can do it to men, it will be a good thing. I see Obaseki as a versatile man. The indication he has showned show that he will succeed

    Will Buhari succeed as a President?

    He will suceeed with his economic policy. The only place he is lacking is his political policies or refusing to turn the APC into an idealogiccal group. If you hate wealth to the extent of not using it for yourself, the party you lead should be that nobody who loves personal wealth would like to enter such party. Many people want to live simple lives than those who want to acquire primitive wealth. I said Buhari will succeed because you will disover that all contractors that abandon projects across the country have returned to site. He has paid the mobilisation fee for the second Niger Bridge that eluded previous governments for 16 years. When he was away, everything was going on smoothly as if he was around. From all indications, Buhari is bound to succeed.

    What do say about the Senate and the Custom boss?

    It should be properly investigated by an independent body and not the Senate. The Senate should not continue to be their own judge in their own cause. If they continue to do that, they will have no respect for their belief in the rule of law or democracy. If there is an allegation that vehicles were imported without adequate payment, it should be investigated by another body and not the senate. We cannot believe that they are not bias.

  • Politics of secondary education (2)

    Apart from extending Basic Education benefits to include current senior secondary education, decentralisation of the curriculum should be one of the major steps in education reform.

    Man is the sole dynamic in nature; and accordingly, every individual constitutes the supreme economic potential which a country possesses. It is axiomatic that man can create nothing. But, by an intelligent and purposive application of the exertions of his body and mind, he can exploit natural resources to produce goods and service….. Therefore, other things being equal, the healthier his body and the more educated his mind, the greater will be his morale and the more efficient he becomes as a producer and consumer. —Obafemi Awolowo

    The ability to read, write, and analyse; the confidence to stand up and demand justice and equality, the qualifications and connections to get your foot in that door and take your seat at that table—all of that starts with education.—Michelle Obama

    We concluded the first part of this essay last week with an excerpt from the section on education in the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) recently released by the federal government: “The shifts in the global economy, the emergence of new sectors and the digital revolution have changed the skills required of the work force. Nigeria has to reposition its education sector to prepare its young people to cope with the changing technological and economic environment. As things stand, limited access to basic education and science and technology courses coupled with insufficient capacity and sub-standard infrastructure at the tertiary level mean that the work force lacks the critical skills needed to develop the economy.” The focus today is on what needs to be done to achieve, through education, citizen empowerment and national economic, political, and social development.

    It is logical to assume that the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan has overtaken the pledge on education made during the 2015 campaign, given the fact that the pledge was made before the realities thrown up by recession and the imperative of economic diversification. The pre-election manifesto to “fully implement and enforce the provisions of the Universal Basic Education Act with emphasis on gender equity in primary and secondary school enrolment whilst improving the quality and substance of our schools” seems to have been eclipsed by the new emphasis of ERGP “to reposition the education sector to prepare its young people to cope with the changing technological and economic environment” and the realisation that “limited access to basic education and science and technology courses coupled with insufficient capacity and substandard infrastructure at the tertiary level mean that the work force lacks the critical skills needed to develop the economy.”

    As our economic realities alter our political and cultural ideology, so must our political vision be allowed to shape our economy, polity, and society. The ERGP seems to have started to think out of the box that had hobbled national development and citizen welfare for far too long, particularly in respect of the place of education in the life of a nation and the wellbeing of its citizens. At the beginning of Nigeria, it was colonial ideology that drove form and method of education. Missionary schools and a few public schools were created to train workers for the colonial economy and government: production of interpreters for colonial masters; assistants in the administration of the colony; training of citizens to assist in improving production of raw materials needed in Europe.

    After independence, the political ideology for governing the country still focused in many parts of the country on raw materials, such as crude oil.  This economic vision made it easy for the federal military government to focus on education with limited access to primary and secondary education. Just a few states saw free primary and secondary education as the right of citizens. To the central government, Unity Schools became more important than free public secondary education for all citizens. Free access to nine years of basic education was established by Obasanjo’s civilian presidency after the 1999 post-military administration.

    Apart from states in the former Western Region, free public secondary education was not seen as a priority in most states of the federation. Even in those states with free secondary education, quality of public secondary education suffered so much in the last few decades that many parents opted to enrol their children in private secondary schools, with the result that public secondary schools started to become educational ghettoes for those whose parents could not afford private secondary education. It was only in the last few years that some of such states started revitalising a few public secondary schools as model or mega schools. Despite efforts to create model schools in the form of Federal Unity Schools or State Mega Schools, the country has been compelled to realise after the fall in prices of petroleum that there is a need “to reposition its education sector to prepare its young people to cope with the changing technological and economic environment.”

    ERGP seems to have changed the education discourse in the country. Political and cultural leaders who thought for decades that education should be treated as elite good now seem to have come to terms with the inevitability of education to building and sustaining a modern multiethnic country. ERGP suggests that there is a need for a major reform, if not a revolution, in the education sector. The challenge is for the various levels of government in the federation to think anew about what type of education to give citizens in the effort to reposition the country for global competitiveness economically and to prepare the citizenry for a life worth living for all.

    Now that politicians, i.e. those who control or struggle to be in control of allocation of values in the country accept that education is crucial to development, each of the three levels of government needs to commit to reforms that emphasize equity, access, quality, and relevance in the conceptualizing, planning, and funding of education with a view to make public secondary education the center piece of educational policies in the country. Abandoning provision of public secondary education to market forces may not make the country competitive in a globe in which more advanced economies like the USA, Germany, the Scandinavian countries, etc are providing their citizens with free and compulsory public secondary education.  It is common knowledge that over 80% of people who contribute to the U.S. economy are products of public school system. To act as if Nigeria can become competitive without making the first 14 years of schooling free and compulsory is to engage in wishful thinking.

    Furthermore, any attempt to centralise education may also not bring the benefits that the country requires to become and remain competitive. Any attempt to impose a uniform or central curriculum may be counter-productive. Apart from extending Basic Education benefits to include current senior secondary education, decentralisation of the curriculum should be one of the major steps in education reform. States and local governments need to participate in the design of curriculum and reform of teaching and learning methods and customise any aspect of these that can add value to education at subnational levels. States and local governments need to decide what should be the goals of free and compulsory schooling from pre-school to high school. Each state ought to determine whether it needs a comprehensive public education system or an academic one that focuses on preparing students solely for entry to degree programmes. There are many research-based policy decisions to be made, and such decisions should be left to both politicos and experts from each subnational government.

    The creation of an education that can produce efficient producers and consumers, to borrow Awolowo’s phrase, produce self-confident and analytical citizens that Michelle Obama believes can demand for equality and justice and sustain democracy captured in the words of Michelle Obama’s requires more rigorous and honest thinking than we have given the matter of education in the last few decades in the country. It is about time all levels of governance in the country engaged sincerely in making policies that can bring more meaning to provision of education and prepare the country for benefits enjoyed by other countries with cultural diversity. It is now too late to view education as factories for credentials to qualify citizens for slots in federal or state jobs to implement Federal Character principle. What is needed is to produce citizens that can be creators of value in a world where value creation and addition require more knowledge and skills than when all that was needed was selling petroleum to generate revenue to allocate to various levels of government to spend, more with the hope of national unity than national development.

  • Join partisan politics, Christians told

    Join partisan politics, Christians told

    Christians have been encouraged to get involved in grassroots politics for good governance in the nation.

    This was the consensus at a one-day seminar by the Ambassadors, an arm of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) devoted to raising Christian politicians.

    Chairman of the group, Comrade Michael Aderele, lamented Christians have ignorantly tagged those involved in partisan politics with one unpleasant name or the others for years.

    Noting many Christians dismiss politics as a dirty game, he, however, pointed out “whenever these dirt are swept, they are often parked at Christians doorsteps.

    “Whether we admit it or not, numerous Christians across the globe are victims of some of the ungodly or satanic policies.”

    The guest speaker, Tonye Cole, urged Christians to become card-carrying members of political parties for influence.

    “As a card-carrying member, your role goes beyond exercising a voting right on Election Day but you are expected to influence decisions at grassroots,” Cole said.

    The guest speaker encouraged Christians to come together as one body in ensuring they speak with one voice to win election. “We have to come together as one body of Christ to have impact and a voice in governance.”

    Chairman of Ofada-Mokoloki local government development council, Hon. Kudirat Balogun, said while she was about to run for the council position, she didn’t have money for registration.

    “I came to the church to pray and Daddy Adeboye said someone will get to a position in the council in this gathering and I immediately claim it that I was the one Daddy GO was talking to.

    “A week to the closing of the date, I had only N50,000 and I was to pay N250,000. Surprisingly, some friends gave me the money and here I am the chairperson of the council,” Balogun testified.

  • ‘Re -traditionalisation‘, globalisation and politics

    The  topic  of today may  look like that   of a wordsmith or   a lexicographer both  of which  I   cannot  really  disown.  In    truth however  they  are  quite  royal  in origin conception  and  adaptation  for our analysis  today. The  copyright to  Re traditionalisation’  belong   to the illustrious Obi  of  Onitsha, HRM  Nnaemeka Alfred  Ugochukwu Achebe who  delivered a  public lecture   titled ‘  The  Traditional  Institution  in the Modern  Nigerian  Society ‘ at  the equally  illustrious Yoruba  Tennis  club at  Onikan, Lagos  this week . I  went  to the  lecture   as  a member  with  the utmost  suspicion  about the choice of the lecturer,  his ethnicity,  the   venue  as well  as the    relevance  of  the topic  to any  modern  society. My  skepticism  stemmed  from  the  notion in my head that even  though  culture matters,  progressive societies look  forward  to change  and  innovation  for human progress  and development  while  traditional  societies extol the past and customs  which  are  antithetical  to human progress. Well, it turned that the  Lecture opened  my  eyes  like  Saul  of  Tarsus  on  the way  to  Damascus. The only difference is that I am  resolved  not to be an  apostle  of tradition like  Saul  went on   prodigiously  about  the  gospels,  but   to  bring to  the  attention  of   Nigerians the  danger  they  are in by  the  ‘re- traditionalisation   of  our  polity‘.  The  Obi  used  the  word, innocuously  I presume,   to  show   that  the  traditional   institution   has  been  extolled   by  the  military   as an  instrument  of order, peace and stability  in our  nation  as far  back as 1994   by  late  General  Sanni  Abacha.  In  this regard  the military    has  contributed  immensely  to   the  number  of traditional  rulers nationwide. Which   to  me,  is  a  most  revealing  but    alarming  encirclement  of  our traditional  institutions,   politics  and society  by  the military  which   now  seems   to  have   simply  shed  its military fatigues  and braid  hat  to  take  over  our  politics  by  other  means, this  time  through traditional  rulers.  Which   is no exaggeration  as it is an open  secret  that our legislatures  at Federal  and state levels  are peopled mostly  by former  military  governors  who have  served two  terms  as civilian  governors  and gone further  in their political career  by turning up again  as  two  term  senators  in our powerful  senate with the red carpet of immunity  from prosecution,  well  laid  out for  them all  the way.

    The  professorial  Obi  of  Onitsha   at  the  lecture   affirmed  that  the  Traditional  institution  suffered at  the hands of the  military  in Nigeria more  than  with the elites before  independence who, he noted with the help  of hind sight, could  now be said to have been involved in a struggle  for   succession of power after the  exit of the  colonial masters even  though  the traditional  rulers  were portrayed  as unprogressive then.   The  Obi  said  this even  as a former military  governor of  Lagos state was  making his entrance during his speech .He  then went on to  read  a quotation very  appreciative of Nigerian  culture  and  asked  the  audience to  name the author while promising to reward the winner with,  wait  for it,  a hundred naira!. Even though the task was   unclearly unrewarding, the wordings of the quotation were progressive for social  development and I thought  the Nigerian  sage, late  Chief  Obafemi Awolowo could have easily  been  the answer.  But  I was  wrong  the  answer  was  unbelievably  the most  vilified  and  most corrupt  military  leader  in  our history, the late  General  Sanni  Abacha   who  spoke  at the at  the Inauguration  of the National  Constitutional  Conference in Abuja on 27 June  1994. The  Obi then  concluded quite  gladly  and very  satisfied –‘ thus  even  the armed  forces became converted  to appreciating   the place of the traditional  institution in the country  But  they  have gone  beyond appreciation  by offering some of their finest  officers  to occupy  some  of our most revered thrones  in the country  today. He  then  listed a frighteningly  majestic  list of the of the present  occupants of  our most  coveted palaces  and   temples  of culture nation wide, nine  of   them  in  Sokoto, Egbaland, Lagos, Twon Brass, Zuru, Okpe, Jos, Gwandu, and  Awka,    amongst  many  others.

    This  was the kernel  of the majestic intellectual  analysis  of the topic  of the day  by the Obi  of  Onitsha, a  former  Shell  Executive  Director comparable   in  every  sense  to the new US  Secretary  of  State who  was  the  boss  of  oil giant  Exxon  Mobil, and  who  is expected  to bring his wealth of experience  including his  friendship  with the new US no1  global  enemy  Russian President  Vladmir  Putin  into  play  to ease Russo  American  relations  which  nosedived during the Obama era. Indeed  the  Obi  of Onitsha brought  in  the term ‘globalization’  and  the  current  anti – globalisation mood   of the new  US  President  Donald  Trump  when  he  quoted  a 2010 perception  study  by Professor Sylvanus J S Cookey and  four  other academics  ,to  buttress  the fact  that the Nigerian traditional  institution is at the peak  of  popular  acceptance and  approbation compared with other periods since colonial  times. The relevance  and  acceptance were  found to be due to  ‘a  combination of factors such  as the counter reaction to globalization, the  declining confidence in our modern political  institutions,  and  the rising  caliber  and  leadership abilities of the  emerging traditional  rulers‘.  According  to the sagely  Obi, ‘the traditional  institution has  shown  resilience  by  being  adept  at  adapting   itself  to its changing   circumstances  while holding to its core custodianship of the  customs  and traditions. The institution has successfully  re- invented  and renewed  itself  at  every  critical  period  by  ‘running fast enough  to stand  still ‘ That may  sound  like the  strategic  management  vocabulary mockery on  lack  of change inherent  in the phrase – commotion  without  motion –  but   this  makes the ability to adapt and  survive in spite of all odds  the  real  meaning  of change. It  reminds me of the story  of the oak which  stood firm  against  a violent storm  and was  uprooted, whereas  the  feeble  reed  which bent  in the direction  of  the storm,  survived.  Surely  the phrase – running  fast enough to stand  still –  has  benefited the Nigerian  traditional institution  far  more  than the rest of society in the  stormy world  of  Nigerian politics.

    This  too was  well  illustrated  in the quality of education  of the present  crop of traditional  rulers in the nation. The  Obi of  Onitsha quoted  a statement  by  a member  of the Central  Council  of Ibadan Indigenes [CCII ]Chief  Adeniyi  Akintola SAN  that  said – ‘if  you  look at  the current  members  of the  Olubadan in Council, you  will  discover that they can make any  faculty of a university. They are  accomplished bankers, engineers, businessmen and  academics. That  is  the trend  now‘. Which  really  is a major institutional  change  that can only lead to social  progress and development.

    More  importantly  I  find  two  issues  the brilliant  lecturer   discussed  candidly  about the  past  and the present, very  educative  for  our federalism  and  the present  clamor  for the restructuring of our nation. The  first   was  the colonial  administrative  concept  of  indirect rule and  its legacy  on our  system  of governance. The  second  was the suggestion by the Obi  that it should be put in our constitution that traditional  rulers  should  not  be involved  in partisan  politics.

    The  Obi  to me  highlighted the fraud  in the colonial  policy  of indirect rule which  he said was somehow  successful in the North  before being  imported to the south  because of lack of Administrative manpower  on the part of the colonial administration. The Obi attributed  the success in the North to the fact  that there  was a highly  centralized traditional  institution on the grounds  that  fits the administrative  design  of the colonialists. I  add  to that the fact that religion  of the major  part of the North was and  still  is  Islam  and the traditional ruler  was both  the political  and religious  leader  and that made administration  quite easy  and unified. In    fact  the Obi characterized Indirect rule as a form of re- enactment of the well  known saying that  the hand is the hand of  Esau  but the voice is that  of  Jacob. He  noted  that this policy  failed in the West because  the traditional systems  there had  their  own political checks  and balances on their Obas  which the colonialists ignored  and which  the Obas  as native  authority  exploited for selfish  reasons  with the connivance of the Colonial  officers. In the  East which  was largely  republican and  diversified, Warrant  Officers were imposed who were  highhanded  and corrupt, again with the connivance of the colonial  masters . Which  really showed  that large  differences existed  in the culture of ethnic groups  in the nation at  amalgamation in 1914  which  really need to  be ironed  urgently  and  peacefully as  the  results  of the indirect rule  and policy of saying what is good  for the goose  is good  for  the gander is  creating more tension in our polity  than  the anticipated unity  of purpose in the infamous indirect rule policy of Lugard.

    The  Obi’s  recommendation  of keeping traditional  rulers  out of politics will  be controversial  to some  traditional  rulers who think  that they must  have a  say in telling their  people  who  to  vote for. But  the Obi’s  views  tally  with  those  of the  Awujale  of Ijebu Ode, Oba Sikiru  Adetona  who told  former President Goodluck  Jonathan on a  presidential campaign visit  that he is  father of all his people and he cannot tell  them who  to vote for. But  the  Obi insisted  that the traditional rulers  must  be insulated from  politics  by government  support. This should  come in the form of constitutional  provisions to protect  the traditional  rulers from ‘undue meddling and interference by the  political elites  and  moneyed  class  ‘This  is a pragmatic  suggestion  and  given  the caliber of the present set  of traditional  rulers in terms of education and social  achievements, this  is  something they  can see through themselves  for the benefit of both our culture  and  politics.  Lastly,    and  in  spite  of my friend  Bambo  Ademiluyi   calling me  a republican   at  the end  of  the lecture,  ostensibly     because   of his royal  background  and  bias  in favor  of   monarchies ,       I    thank  the  Obi  for an exhilarating    and  awakening lecture on our  emerging   political    culture  and    development    .  I      also  agree very much with him that  ‘ Lord  Lugard  and his band of colonialists  are having a rethink   in their  graves ‘  on the progress  of the traditional institution in modern  Nigerian society today . Once  again long live the Federal  Republic  of  Nigeria .

  • Between politics and preaching

    At a House Fellowship meeting, the leader raised a poser for members to address: On the same day that you received your letter of admission to the seminary to train as a pastor, the governor of your state also nominated you as his Commissioner for Works. As a believer, which of the two opportunities will you pursue?

    Members struggled to wrap their heads around the rationale for the question. A commonly held view is that politics is a dirty game. Therefore, there’s hardly a good reason to choose it over preaching. But politics is also a noble vocation with real consequences for the lives of real people.

    One obvious answer is that one will need to pray about the matter and let God make the choice. However, this approach does not adequately address the question: which of these opportunities will you choose? Rather it postpones the day of answering till after prayer. It is the path that many of us take when faced with a dilemma. For the faithful, it is inevitable, based on the assurance that God will make His choice known one way or the other in a timely fashion. It was the approach suggested by one of the members at the House Fellowship.

    A second member analysed the question from another angle. As a professional with vast knowledge in public work management, he knew exactly that if he were to face this dilemma, he would take it as God’s calling upon him directly to take up the job of Commissioner for Works. Otherwise, why would this position be available and offered to him if not for God’s determination to use him to promote the good of his creatures here on earth? Without little or no skills in preaching compared with professional expertise in public work, it was clear what God would have him choose.

    In response to the fellow member’s position, he was reminded that the question posed noted that the person applied for admission to the seminary. Therefore, even if he or she had very low skills or none in pastoring, choosing the seminary was bound to improve the skill level needed to succeed.

    A third contribution queried the presupposition of a dichotomous relationship between politics and preaching and sought to break down the artificial boundary between the two. It was an ambitious attempt, especially in view of the well-conceived notion of the separation of church/mosque and state.

    Yet as valid as this notion is, it was different from the concern of the participants at the House Fellowship meeting.

    The third attempt was to make this point forcefully and to argue that both pastoring or preaching and serving as commissioner in a political system are activities in the vineyard of God. When both are conscientiously undertaken, they can promote the good of God’s creation. But, when either of the activities is motivated by the worst of ego, they can undermine the purpose of God.

    To pursue this idea further, we may approach the subject from two angles: spiritual and secular. From the spiritual angle, every believer starts from the premise that God’s creative endeavour has a purpose, namely to promote as much good as possible for his creatures. Therefore, as we were taught from the cradle, God sets up the machinery for the promotion of the good by revealing himself to individuals specially chosen as interpreters of his message. These individuals convey to the rest of God’s creatures what is required of them to maximise the amount of good for his people. But in addition, God also prescribes that everyone be assigned responsibilities for the management of the affairs of the society.

    The work of creation is itself a good lesson in teaching by example. If everyone must contribute something to the affairs of the society, coordination is inescapable and some must be in charge. At its idealistic best, this is what politics is about. Therefore, from this angle, politics has a divine origin, or at least a divine sanction. Whether, therefore, I choose pastoring or commissioning, I am doing the bidding of God by furthering his purpose. I only need to do whatever I choose conscientiously and with the fear of God.

    Now, assume that you are not one to embrace spirituality at the expense of rationality; there is also a secular premise to the same conclusion. Forget about creation and embrace the Big Bang. The universe just came about randomly and we all found ourselves in one corner of it, with everyone engaged in various kinds of activities, some innocuous, some dangerous. With the passage of time and the consequences of uncoordinated egoistic activities playing out and jeopardising our individual and collective interests, we put on our thinking caps, summoning our rational faculties to action.

    Shortly, we came up with a workable solution that adopted some control mechanisms to limit our freedoms with the prospect of promoting our interests. We resolved to create social institutions including, among others, religion and politics, which from different directions establish control systems that put us in check. The ultimate purpose of both was to promote the greatest amount of good. To achieve this, we further created functions and assigned responsibilities to individuals, some as clerics, including imams and bishops; others as clerks, artisans, educators, home makers; yet others as presidents, governors, law enforcers, security agents, and yes, commissioners.

    From both secular and spiritual perspectives, the commissioner is as useful as the pastor and there is no good reason to discriminate against either.

    The third contributor then moved the discussion from the realm of the abstract to the abode of the concrete. He suggested, using the case of Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo and the choice that he faced in 2014, that one can serve God’s purpose and fulfill one’s destiny from a variety of settings. A pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Professor Osinbajo was nominated as the running mate of General Buhari. Should he accept the nomination and give up his pastoral service? Or should the nomination be construed as God’s will to use him for the furtherance of his purpose for humans in this corner of the world? There was no doubt that Osinbajo prayed about his options. There was also no doubt that he sought the counsel of the General Overseer.

    In view of the overall positive assessment of his performance as Vice-President, no one can reasonably deny that Professor Osinbajo is God’s chosen vessel for the job. More importantly, it leads to the conclusion that God does not discriminate between the various vocations and he can use any of them for his purpose. After all, God works in mysterious ways, his wonders to perform.

    We could be less charitable as my friend was when I reported the discussions at the House Fellowship to him. Opalaba is not known to carry his spirituality as a banner and he often chides the Pharisee in many of us. He queried the “holier-than-thou” attitude of those who would practise their faith openly only to disguise their night-time reprehensible activities. Therefore, for him, should one make a choice of pastoring over politics in the case before the House Fellowship, it does not by itself tell us anything about the Godliness or goodness of that individual.

    Finally, when we are admonished to seek first the kingdom of God, and all other things shall be added unto us, we must note that the kingdom of God is a metaphor for doing the most good and avoiding hypocrisy.

    To do the will of God on earth is to tend his earthly garden of innocent human beings seeking to make the most of the life that God has endowed them with. In the end, the verdict will not be that you are welcome because you were the most articulate preacher on earth. Rather, it will be “you provided for the needy among my creatures; you fed them when they were hungry; you housed them, when they were homeless; and you clothed them when they were naked. Since you did it for them, you have done it for me.”

     

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  • Senate v Ali: Drama and politics over uniform

    Senate v Ali: Drama and politics over uniform

    As the face-off between the Senate and the Comptroller-General of Nigerian Customs and Excise Service peaked at the senate, Assistant Editor, Onyedi Ojiabor, traces the origin of the face-off and reports on the politics and drama

    The build-up started with the Senate Committee on Customs and Excise scolding the Comptroller-General of Nigerian Customs Service, Colonel Hameed Ali (rtd.), for refusing to wear service uniform.

    In the estimation of the upper chamber, the recalcitrance of Ali in choosing not to wear service uniform amounted to rebellion and insubordination against the institution he heads.

    As if the controversy over wearing of service uniform was not enough, the Senate picked issue with the customs comptroller for proposing what the lawmakers tagged anti-people policy.

    The parliamentarians were peeved that Ali issued a circular on retrospective payment of duty on vehicles.

    For them, gleefully compelling vehicle owners who are end users to pay duty on vehicles probably bought years ago was the height of insensitivity by the NCS.

    Like the ‘Ali Must Go’ episode of 1978, which saw students of higher institutions in the country do battle with a former Minister of Education, Colonel Ahmadu Ali, alleged excesses of Hameed Ali were itemized by the lawmakers.

    They did not just list Ali’s ‘sins’ but seemed to have resolved that enough was enough. The spoken and body language of the senators spoke volume.

    Deputy Senate Leader, Senator Bala Ibn Na’Allah, started the altercation by alerting his colleagues about a planned implementation of retrospective duty payment on vehicles.

    At the end of the debate the senate resolved to ask the Comptroller-General of Customs to put the policy on hold.

    They did not stop there; the lawmakers summoned the NCS boss to appear before the chamber to explain reasons why the policy cannot be consigned to the dust bin of history.

    The issue took a turn for the worse a day after the resolution when Senator Dino Melaye drew the attention of his colleagues that customs CG vowed to go ahead with implementation of the retrospective duty payment on vehicles irrespective of senate’s resolution.

    The senate saw the position of the customs boss as an affront on its power as the highest lawmaking institution in the country.

    Melaye who appeared to have found an opportunity to cut the customs comptroller to size was at his best.

    “Mr. President, democracy is standing on three legs; one of the most important legs of democracy is the legislature and Nigerian Customs cannot function without the National Assembly because they cannot spend or survive without appropriations and oversight.

    “If this Senate, which is one of the most vibrant Senates in the history of this country, we take a resolution and an agency of government will have the temerity, will have the guts, will have the strength to blatantly disregard the entire institution of the Nigerian Senate. It is a very dark day for democracy.

    “I am a member of the Customs Committee, and I want to educate some of us today that the position of the Comptroller-General of Customs is a rank. As I speak today, we have Deputy Comptroller-General of Customs; the next promotion, if it comes to be, is Comptroller- general of customs and we have asked this man in the committee why he is not wearing the rank of comptroller General and he said uniform men don’t wear uniform twice.

    “Then I asked under which law and I educated him by reminding him that he retired as a Colonel and General Hananiya retired as a General; he was appointed as the Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Commission; he wore promptly and daily the uniform of the commission.

    “Then, if that position is a rank and you are not wearing that rank, it means you are not even proud of the Nigerian Customs. I want to believe that government exists to serve the people and not the people in government, and if we have taken a position in the interest of the Nigerian people, an institution of government will show disrespect and disparage the Nigerian senate,” Melaye said.

    The Kogi West senator reminded the senate that if the policy was implemented, the people that would be mostly affected are poor Nigerians.

    “We need to check this properly because if customs people will now start checking duty certificate on Nigerian roads, I will not be affected because if the president is coming, no customs men will stop him to ask him for his customs paper; the customs people will only salute and he will pass; if a senator is passing, including Ike Ekweremadu, when he is passing, nobody will stop him to ask for customs papers, they have to standstill till his convoy passes. But we are doing it in the interest of the Nigerian people and they have now confronted the institution of the Nigerian senate,” Melaye insisted.

    Senator Solomon Adeola Olamilekan who was also irked asked the senate to rise and curb the excesses of the customs boss.

    The Lagos-West lawmaker further urged senate that it was time for the amendment of the Customs Act to streamline the functions of the agency.

    The performance of the NCS under Ali, he said, had been on the downward trend.

    Adeola did not stop there. He underscored the fact that the Service had recorded dwindling revenue while officers and men of the Service would become more vulnerable to corruption if the policy was allowed to stand.

    Senator Kabiru Marafa, in his contribution said, “The customs need to know that they are under the people of Nigeria and Nigeria is under a democratic rule, and we are elected into office by the people, and we have a duty to protect the people of Nigeria.

    “This kind of impunity cannot be allowed to continue. This is one issue that all Nigerians are unanimously against; it is condemnable and we cannot allow it to see the light of day,’ Marafa said.

    Perhaps, the Customs CG did not realise the Senate may have wanted to use his refusal to wear service uniform to get at him.

    It was obvious when Ali eventually bowed to pressure and appeared before the Senate on Thursday.

    As predicted, he was attired in his traditional white caftan with cap to match. The talk when he was ushered into the Senate chamber after being left in the office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters, Senator Ita Enang, for over two and half hours, was no longer the overzealous policy of duty payment on old vehicles.

    He was completely washed down and walked out of the chamber to go and do the needful.

    Call it “power pass power” and you may not be wrong. It appeared the Senate had made up its mind on what to do.

    Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, may have put it in proper perspective before he put the question on whether Ali should be asked to go home and return with the proper uniform.

    Ekweremadu said: “Distinguished colleagues, we have heard everybody and the CG. I’m going to put the question but let me just do a further explanation to the CG of Customs: Mr. CG, if you look at Section 2 of the Customs Act, it defines the officer and that definition is so comprehensive to include the Comptroller-General of Customs.

    “I believe there are certain things the officers take for granted, which includes wearing uniforms. So, if that is what they should take for granted, I believe as the number one Customs officer, you should lead by example. Because if you create the impression that you should not wear uniform, then every other officer can also say there is no law telling them to wear uniform?

    “So, we as leaders we must lead by example and example is the best teacher. So, I think we need to encourage those we supervise to obey the law, by ourselves obeying the law.

    “Let me also further explain to you that why we still need to meet with you regarding the policy is that you simply suspended it. The suspension means that it can still come into force. We will like to have a conversation with you on the propriety or otherwise of that policy. So, you have an opportunity to explain to Nigerians through their elected representatives the propriety or otherwise of that. And then you will hear a feedback of Nigerians, also through their representatives. If Nigerians say we don’t like this, of course we are not going to force any policy on them. I think that’s why it is necessary that even after the suspension; we still need to have that conversation with you.

    “We must ensure that we lead by example. The Senate, as you can see, is of the view that you need to come back in the proper uniform.”

    The adoption of the motion that the Customs CG should go back appear next Wednesday in proper uniform was unanimous.

    Ekweremadu amplified the resolution, saying, “The Senate observed that the Comptroller-General was not properly dressed. The Senate therefore insists to see the Comptroller-General of Customs in uniform on Wednesday, 22 of March at 10am prompt.”

    As the Customs CG walked out of the Senate chamber, he appeared to be unrepentant.

    But the import of the unfolding drama was not lost on some observers. Why take a job you are not proud to wear its uniform, was the question on the lips of some people.