The Nation Newspaper

Tag: politics

  • Chibok: Blame game and politics of rescue

    The continuous captivity of about 200 Chibok school girlscaptured from their hostel since February 15, 2014 by a group of fanatical anarchists called Boko Haram terrorists has become a festering sore and a moral burden on the Nigerian state as hope wanes on the ability of the government to rescue them alive and intact.  The narrative has remained the same since the dithering former President Jonathan’s reaction of mum and denial and the jelly-footed, lethargic response of the security forces and the intelligence community. But for the steadfast and constant reminder of the Bring Back our Girls (BBOG) campaign group that took the campaign to the global stage, the nation would have gone to sleep as usual and forgotten about them.  No state in history has ever failed her people like the fate of these innocent Nigerians; whatever we do today, it is too little too late.  Our government has continued to vigorously pursue their release onlyat seminars, symposia and pages of newspapers by trading blames and speculating.

    Nobody appears to still have any clue of their condition and whereabouts; not even the ubiquitous intelligence community that could sniff out fresh wads of dough in the boots of cars during elections.  It is a shame that we are still living in delusion that foreign intelligence and American commandos as our development partners would come and rescue the girls for us.  The sad thing is that it only dawned on us in the face of the insurgency in the North-east that our security forces have become partisan and fractious, lacking the appetite to fight and fulfil their traditional roles.  They have become bogged down and distracted by undue political meddlesomeness.  This is the reason why with all our God-given resources as a nation, we are still not able to build capacity and equip our security forces and the intelligence community to help us fight insecurity, which insurgency is just an aspect.  Rather than invest in equipment, the politicians and some of the commanders at the Military High Command looted money meant to buy equipment to prosecute the war leaving the military humiliated and the nation embarrassed.

    There have been hostage situations in other countries in the world and at every such occasion those states have always risen to the occasion and conducted immediate rescue operation through their security forces.  In April 2004, the Russian Federation was jolted by the siege on the Beslan School in the Chechnya region where over 800 people, most of them children, were taken hostage by terrorists.  The drama and agony lasted for only 72 hours and the nation had its peace while 31 of the 32 hostage takers were killed and one arrested.  There were collateral damages and the parents and nation were not kept in suspense and the message was sent to the spine of all who may have such sinister motive that the country was equal to the task.

    Rather than take the bull by the horn, the capturing of the Chibok girls and insurgency have thrown up all manners of experts debating on terrorism, parroting theories that have taken us nowhere.  Terrorism or insurgency is an unorthodox warfare that our security forces very well know.  The whole world is watching with disbelieve as we debate and sing discordant tunes on the where about of the girls;  whether they are still safe and alive or whether they are intact or married off or as the video showed by the insurgents recently, whether they have been killed by air strike by the Nigerian Air Force.

    We are told the girls are still in the Sambisa forest.  All the excuses and foot-dragging are signatures of failure and unacceptable.  Sambisa forest is not an evil forest populated with gnomes and characters from Soyinka’s, “A Forest of a Thousand Demons”.  If the insurgents could establish their stronghold in the place, there is no earthly reason why our security forces after two years have not been able to smoke them out whether they are living in bunkers or holes.

    It is astonishing that our leaders are still prevaricating instead of summoning the political will to deal decisively with the terrorists once and for all, while we allow any collateral damage to heal with time rather than to continue to be the laughing stock of the world as a big for nothing country.

    Nigeria had faced similar crises of insecurity in the past and the armed forces had acquitted themselves creditably well. They successfully prosecuted the Nigerian Civil War whose scale cannot be compared with the Boko Haram insurgents.  In 1980, the Nigerian Armed Forces helped to put down a fanatical religious insurgent movement, “Maitatsine” in Kano led by a Cameroonian called Muhammadu Marwa. In 2004, a self-styled Taliban staged attacks against police personnel and installations in North-east and attempted to establish stronghold in the Mandara Mountains between Nigeria and Cameroon.  The military came in and flushed out the bandits with little or no casualty recorded on its side.  In the sub-region, the Nigerian armed forces have been hailed to high heavens in their exemplary feat in combat.  Indeed, the Nigerian military had always projected itself in positive light and beyond any appearance of   political partisanship but not any longer as it now  engaged in political tuff against itself;  helping  or providing  protection  and  cover for one political party or the other, thereby losing its credibility and respect.

    A good military should be apolitical but patriotic.  It is training, equipment and the ability to drive the equipment when it matters that makes a soldier; it is not the uniform as the hood does not make the monk.

    We have gone beyond what the last government did or failed to do as this has been settled by the Nigerian people in the last election; this government should be focused on concrete deliverables rather than dwelling and blaming past regimes. The government should not see the BBOG group as irritants because they are acting as the conscience of the nation.  If we are beginning to see them as becoming political arising from recent demand for the President to resign, the ruling APC has been the greatest beneficiaries of their politics and campaign.  We should remember that if we do not like the way we look in the mirror, breaking the mirror does not change anything, we have to change ourselves.  The blame-game has become too monotonous; the President should give a matching order to the security forces of which he is the Commander-in-Chief to put an end to the Chibok girls  nightmare one way or the other.

     

    • KebonkwuEsq, writes from Abuja.

  • Bauchi politics and Dogara’s indiscretions

    By now, the outpouring of disgust that has continued to trail House of Representatives’ Speaker YakubuDogara’s ill-fated attempt to divert the attention of Nigerians from the allegations of budget padding that he is enmeshed in and which has added to the misery of Nigerians, will hopefully teach him a lesson he will never be able to learn in any history class.

    It must have occurred to the most incurable Dogara loyalist that the needless, badly-scripted drama staged last week, when he led a delegation of some Abuja politicians to report the governor of Bauchi State, Barrister Mohammed Abubakar to the National Chairman of the APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun has backfired because Nigerians are more politically conscious now to allow any politician take them for a ride. For the embattled Speaker, if the attempt was aimed at sweeping under the carpet the issue that directly affects the lives of all 170 million of them, using local politics as a pretext, then it has failed.

    As a lawyer, Dogara knows that anyone coming to equity must come with clean hands. Not even Robert Green, the famous American author of the 48 Laws of Power, who advocates that creating enemies to achieve selfish ends will endorse the amateurism and double-speak that have dogged Dogara’s desperate efforts to fend off attention from the budget padding matter that he sensationally claimed is not a crime.

    To Dogara and his team of spin-doctors, accusing the governor of Bauchi State of not applying the sum of N8.6billion bailout funds to the purpose (according to them) for which it was collected, or merely saying he is running a government that excludes their personal interests, will not get the nation to ignore the real issues at hand. Shifting attention to Bauchi will not be enough to get the discerning public to shudder at the mindless indiscretions of the Honourable Speaker.

    Let us even assume for its mischievous intent that the allegations against Governor Abubakar were true, there is no way an issue that affects only about three million Bauchi citizens will override the more damning matter of budget padding that affects 170 million people across Nigeria.

    Many Nigerians have expressed disgust that the timing of Dogara’s allegations against the governor, and ridiculously following it up with personally leading a delegation to protest against him is not right. Even political grandmasters often tutor their disciples to always master the art of timing.  Clearing his name against the allegation of budget padding should have been more urgent and important to Dogara.

    The truth is that, as in many other states of the federation, Governor Abubakar met an over-bloated civil service of well over a hundred thousand personnel. So over-bloated was the number of civil servants that funds accruing monthly to the state, in statutory allocation from the Federation Account, could not even address payment of salaries, not to talk of other matters of development and of urgent importance to the state.

    Even when he very well knew that it was all landmines set up to entangle him, the Bauchi Governor disappointed the perpetrators of this evil by not sacking tens of thousands of civil servants and causing deep damage to the innocent ones among them. To minimise the damage and ensure justice, the governor decided that the way to go was to institutionalise a process of sieving the grain from the chaff by identifying actual workers from the ghost, non-existent ones.

    But in a manner that leave their flanks open, and which could make people to suspect their involvement, Dogara and his gang had as a prime reason for their protest to the APC National Chairman: the need to get the governor to stop the process of verifying the truth. In the words of Senator Suleiman Nazifi, (APC Bauchi North), “all the unending verifications must end,” even though they know, more than most of us, that what they were demanding will only benefit a handful at the expense of millions of good people of Bauchi State.

    Did Governor Abubakar divert the bailout funds meant for payment of salaries to something else? First of all, it is to the credit of the governor that with all the venom coming out of Dogara and his co-travellers, none of them accused him of diverting the money for his personal use. And the answer to the question is that the bailout funds were never diverted. Anyone in doubt can crosscheck with the ICPC which investigated the matter and gave Governor Abubakar a clean bill of health. The funds were openly applied for the purpose for which it was collected. Save for mischief, Dogara knows more than all of us  that though Bauchi is situated on the lower rung of the statutory allocation ladder, with very little potential for internally-generated revenue, Governor Abubakar has strived to be as up to date as possible, with payment of salaries to civil servants. Any check will easily establish the fact that only last month’s salary is being owed the workers. Even at that, efforts are being made to ensure prompt salary payment.

    To lay a solid foundation for the development of the state and boost its sources of revenue, the governor has developed and transformed the Yankari Games Reserve to international standards, and has been paying commensurate attention to overall development and transformation of all of Bauchi, not sections thereof, even though he is inhibited by the clearly-known national tragedy of paucity of resources.

    This brings us to the question of motive. People have rightly been asking: what does Dogara aim to achieve by sabre-rattling? In Bauchi today, people openly talk about demands on the governor to purchase properties in Abuja and abroad for some federal legislators, and share out the state resources on a monthly basis to the agitators, even if far more resources are needed to develop the state and transform the lives of the people. There are also intrigues surrounding the general election year of 2019 as another reason Dogara and his cohorts are neck-deep in fighting the governor. The group is believed to have co-opted a member of the federal cabinet to contest against Governor Abubakar in 2019 in case Dogara’s rumoured candidature fails.

    To buttress the fact that the motive of the latter-day agitators is far from being noble; that it is all about personal interest, they complained to the APC National Chairman that Governor Abubakar is running an exclusive government.  This was also shot down by Comrade Sabo, the governor’s media aide when he pointed out that “after the gubernatorial primaries, the governor picked Engineer Nuhu Gidado as his deputy, though Gidado had contested against him in the primary election.

    “Again, the allegation that the governor has side-lined them is unfounded because five serving commissioners were close to these people that are now fighting the governor. Why are members of the state House of Assembly and the state chapter of the APC not complaining? It goes to show that the Abuja politicians are out for mischief.”

    Does Dogara listen to any wise counsel from his retinue of advisers and hangers-on? Only they can provide the answer, but it is either they are giving him inferior advice, or they are afraid to tell him the bitter truth because of his rumoured over-bearing, only-me-knows-it-all nature. People have rightly been asking: How many wars can the speaker fight at the same time? Throughout history, even wisest generals believe the best way to win a war is not to spread your strength thin. Of course, he can seek to fight on all fronts if his motive were pro-people.

    In the traditional Bauchi society that some of us sprouted from, trouble is regarded as an enemy that one is enjoined to always keep a safe distance from. Not just when it knocks on one’s door. Trouble is like an ill-wind, which blows no good to anyone.

     

    • Musa wrote from Bauchi.
  • KSA @ 70: Ariya as Catharsis

    KSA @ 70: Ariya as Catharsis

    The reports few days ago that the acclaimed torch-bearer of Ariya culture chose a foreign soil – the United States – to commence his grand entry into the septuagenarian club must be troubling indeed for cultural sentinels back home. How ironic that the platinum milestone of the king of African beats, connoisseur of the good times, falls in a lean season that has imposed austerity harshly on the entire citizenry!

    True, economic recession is presently biting hard. But let no one blame the foregoing aberration on the economic crunch. Lest there be a tumult from the denizens of the high society. However depleted the saucer filled with baby toiletries and ointment becomes, they say, it never gets to the point where a nursing mother completely lacks what to rub on her suckling.

    Really, still stretching far ahead is the road to September 22, the birthday of Sunday Adeniyi, the undisputed monarch of juju music. But to his cult following in jollity forever occupying the forecourt of the juju music factory, the Ariya is obviously already jump-started in its full sybaritic splendor. In the coming days, the town will definitely shake as they toast the man who has come to embody a popular genre in Yoruba music in the last half century.

    That KSA would on the eve of his 70th birthday be on a road show in faraway North America (his last outing there being more than eight years ago) could not be in search of his next meal ticket. It is certainly borne out of an enduring passion for his vocation.

    True, he only inherited juju as an art form. But the identities of all the forerunners in history now seem totally eclipsed on account of the immensity of his redefinition of that inheritance and the prodigious stamina he has demonstrated since then.

    As his muse attained full maturity in the early 80s, he succeeded in welding western synthetic pop sound with African talking drums and electric guitar to birth a dense rhythm. Thus, he was able to reach a global audience, earning a Grammy nomination with “Odu” later in 1998. Other than Fela, no other Nigerian musician was as globally acclaimed at that time.

    Born in the artistically inspiring Osogbo in 1946, KSA served his apprenticeship in the early 60s under the tutelage of Moses Olaiya who would later rest his Federal Rhythms Dandies band to diversify into full-time comedy and soon become a household name as “Baba Sala”.

    It is a testimony to raw talent, sheer industry and unshakeable faith that KSA eventually outgrew such humble circumstances to become bigger than his tutor. For those who might be wondering the source of the dazzling athleticism he brings to dance on stage, he revealed that the now fallen highlife wizard of Kennery fame, Orlando Owoh, taught him boxing.

    In retrospect, beside Ebenezer Obey (his long-time competitor), no other practitioner could be said to have spoken with so much eloquence and broad appeal for the juju brand. Whereas Obey calls his Miliki, KSA’s is Ariya.

    As a sub-culture, Ariya captures the feel-good urban spirit of the Yoruba society. It is the distinctly louder, uninhibited version of Miliki propounded by Ebenezer Obey, the meditative darling of the aristocratic caste. Ariya and Miliki (corruption of milk) are taken as the social benefit of labour. He/she who has toiled hard is deserving of a moment of merriment, they say. With a rhythm defined by heavy percussion, the feet KSA’s Ariya lures to the dance-floor belong to the less inhibited among the jolly crowd.

    If in doubt, you only need to embark on a tour of neighborhoods of the average Yoruba town during the weekend at normal times. So much that some sociologists and anthropologists have mischievously gone ahead to list the Ariya culture among the chief incentives for the relative peace and tranquility prevalent in Yorubaland even when other sections of the country appear to totter under social or sectarian eruptions. Those eagerly counting down to the next Owambe date are less likely to be easily recruited into a mission to disrupt the social order.

    At the national level, such mindset is thought to also account for the lack of stamina for a sustained struggle and the general absence of will to endure pain with a view to changing the social disequilibrium. Ariya offers an escape; it plies the citizenry with opium against harsh realities. Once the people start counting the number of Ariya opportunities already lost, they soon begin to defect from the barricade, one after the other.

    Fela already identified this character flaw in his “Sorrow, Tears & Blood” released in 1973: “I no wan die, papa dey for house, mama dey for house, I wan enjoy, I no wan go.”

    Indeed, one of KSA’s earliest hits exuberantly declares “Ariya has no end, Ariya is unlimited”. Tired of “Shokoyokoto” (Fresh Fish), he next offered “Sweet Banana” while assessing “My Destiny” only to be pricked by “Conscience” (Eri Okan) to discover the “The Good Shepherd” and so decided to exult “Merciful God”. Perhaps the one single album that truly defined and established his authority as a national legend was “Let Them Say” in 1986. It is a bold statement of the art form balancing danceable sounds with enduring messages.

    Later in the 80s, he chose to tickle the nation’s imaginations by openly engaging Onyeka Onwenu of the “One Love” fame in a musical romance. That sired “Wait For Me”.

    But to say the KSA magic is regionalized in the South-West would be doing grave injustice to his enigma. His audience is indeed national and by far broader than his ancient Miliki rival. The secret partly lies in the cross appeal of his beat. And he carries all the credentials that fully define musicianship: composer, singer, master guitarist, consummate dancer and producer.

    His pioneering vision also led the industry into creating video for the audio. To bring life to songs, he began the experimentation in mid-80s by dramatizing new songs in short movie. It was instant commercial success. Expectedly, others began to copy him. Many consumers would thereafter not mind paying a little more for the video CD as value addition. Today, musical video has become a vibrant sub-sector in the industry with young lads like Clarence Peters infusing more creativity with cutting-edge technology.

    Indeed, while the older generations reminisce on KSA’s exploits in the past decades, their hearts must be aching at the relative emptiness of the so-called stars of today. Unlike musicians of old who honed their skills diligently, priding themselves on being able to play at least a few instruments and tended to treasure their artistic expression more than monetary compensation, today’s creatures are mostly computer-generated stars obsessed with materialism. They hardly feel limited if all there is to their talent is merely chanting on a sound conjured synthetically to make music defined more by vulgarities and profanities.

    The shallowness of the typical hip-hop act of today is easily verifiable if, for instance, invited to a concert alongside his counterpart from the “old school”. The former will likely fret at any suggestion to perform with a live band, lest his inadequacies are exposed. Rather, he/she prefers to mime a medley of songs pre-recorded on the CD, possibly further embellished with the razzmatazz by the disc-jockey on the band-stand. Unlike the latter who forever craves opportunity to show off his craftsmanship and will painstakingly build the sound from the scratch by syncopating one instrument after the other until the crescendo. Not surprising, he ends up lasting longer on stage.

    Ironically, the new artiste rakes in more cash for less exertion. Feeding off a new national culture that glorifies shadow over substance, he/she somehow still manages to command higher fees than the far more industrious older colleague.

    With Obey’s later absence of more than a decade and lately occasional showing, it has therefore been KSA’s remit over the years to defend juju’s flanks against the merciless encroachment by new-generation hip-hop. It has not been an easy task, though. First, it took more than grit and sheer adaptation to survive the scare of Sir Shina Peter’s Afro Juju explosion in the twilight of the 80s.

    With the release of Ace in 1990 followed with Shinamania in 1991, juju’s old orthodoxy of message over beat was shattered into smithereens. A master guitarist of no less virtuosity, SSP’s novelty of non-stop dancehall beat literally set the entire nation dancing. As revelers bayed for more, it became clear that the old king needed to urgently reinvent himself lest his crown and jewel be swept away by the raging tornado.

    With the runaway success of Ace and Shinamania, a horde of SSP’s clones soon appeared. Enter Dayo Kujore, Dele Taiwo et al.

    In his fight-back entitled “Authority”, KSA could not but join the bullet-speed train, relying heavily on synthetic studio garnishments to achieve a fast-tempo beat. The old game-master was at his combative best, freely deploying innuendos against the “restless pretender to the throne unwilling to pay the customary dues.”

    Stanza after stanza, lyric by lyric, he let it be known point-blank he would not surrender the throne yet, famously declaring “Pounded yam is greater than yam tuber”. And to traducers already checking their wrist-watches, KSA’s follow-up song defiantly screamed “E ma fi enu retirement pe Sunny Ade mo” (Stop calling for Sunny Ade’s retirement).

    True to the bookmaker’s prophecy, the Afro Juju craze soon fizzled out. With that, KSA might have survived the stiffest challenge to his stool as juju monarch, but it obviously left him with deep scars. In subsequent offerings, he would seem to have given up on hunting for new audience. With a voice increasingly enfeebled by age, his recorded music soon began to showcase more of a dexterity on instruments, apparently only now desirous of keeping his old fans base. However, the appeal of his live concert remains undiminished. The magnetism of his live performance continues to draw forcefully, even from a distance.

    Overall, a critique of KSA’s catalogue is incomplete without recalling his dabbling in political commentary at some point. In a 25-minute epic The Way Forward (I & II) released in 1996, KSA would rally a galaxy of musical stars cutting across generations and ethnic/genre divides. When publicists began to hype the title ahead of its official presentation, many naturally shifted in their seats, apprehensive about the message at a time the nation had descended into funereal silence under Abacha’s bloody despotism. The expectation of something earth-shaking however turned out to be forlorn.

    Caught at similar crossroads eighteen years earlier in Jamaica, Bob Marley chose to act differently. His Caribbean homeland had been devastated by political storms involving the Jamaican Labour Party (JLP) and the People’s National Party (PNP). The reggae icon resolved to stage One Love Peace Concert in Kingston in April 1978. Drawing a record 32,000 capacity crowd including the sitting Prime Minister of PNP and the opposition leader on the D.Day, the hitherto gasping nation literally stopped breathing when Marley, with his hit track Jammin’ playing, invited leaders of both JLP and PNP, Edward Seaga and Prime Minister Michael Manley respectively, to the stage. Symbolically, the trio held up their hands to signify reconciliation. At the end of that historic night, the Jamaican nation left the concert reunited. Such was the depth of Marley’s intervention.

    But beyond the fast dancehall beat, the KSA-inspired peace song of 1996 offered nothing fresh, other than a rehash of the usual folksy appeal for communal unity. No mention was made of the legion of political captives languishing in the gulag then. At best, it could be described as an artistic statement without depth.

    Perhaps, we should have known that KSA is neither revolutionary Bob Marley nor caustic Fela. The poor outing of 1996 will however not diminish the weight of his legacy. Indeed, new kings will be born tomorrow. But it will certainly take another generation to see one as domineering as KSA.

     

     

    Kano & politics of love

    After iconic Gani Fawehinmi, only a few lawyers would come near Comrade Kanmi Osobu in terms of popularity vis-a-vis human rights advocacy from the idealistic 70s, through the turbulent 80s to the early divisive 90s. In all Afro Beat originator Fela’s brushes with the establishment during these epochs, Osobu constantly stood by him through thick and thin.

    An inexhaustible bag of yabis (humour) like Fela, Osobu was often a spectacle in and out of the court before his demise.

    Once, he reportedly returned from a frolicking to the United Kingdom to a little storm instigated by workers (fellow comrades, for sure) in his chambers unhappy that whereas they were left to rough it out at home for months without salaries, their comrade chose to travel out with a lady-friend to “enjoy”.

    After listening to the militant submission by the most senior among the lawyers flaying “this bourgeois indulgence utterly unbecoming of a true comrade”, Osobu reportedly quipped: “Well, comrades I heard all you have to say and cannot fault your argument, very brilliant, except on one point. When you pick quarrel with my traveling overseas with a lady friend, comrades I only wish to ask you just one simple question: is our struggle now against love?”

    Of course, the room erupted in delirious laughter.

    Well, we are tempted to pose this question also today as erstwhile governor of Kano State, Rabiu Kwankwaso, and his successor and now estranged political godson, Abdullahi Ganduje, appear to have carried their animosity to the province of love. Some weeks ago, Kwankwaso, the senator presently representing Kano Central, announced a plan to bankroll the mass wedding of 100 couples under the auspices of his non-governmental organization, the Kwankwasiyya Development Foundation.

    As governor between 2011 and 2015, Kwankwaso formed the habit of helping widows find love by underwriting the mass wedding as a way of promoting family values. Since the incumbent has not organized any since assuming office last year, the more politically astute Kwankwaso would seem to have seen a window to score a political point.

    But Ganduje apparently was not ready to allow that happen. To scuttle the plan, the state soon announced a youth empowerment programme to hold same day and same time. Determined not to be beaten, the Kwankwasiyya people announced a postponement of the mass wedding till the following day.

    It was at this point that Ganduje decided to flex some gubernatorial muscle. The police, allegedly at Ganduje’s prompting, directed that both the youth empowerment event and Kwankwasiyya’s mass wedding be postponed over adverse “security reports”.

    Things however took a bizarre twist Tuesday as heavily armed policemen sealed off Kwankwaso’s residence at Lodge Road that doubles as the headquarters of the Kwankwasiyya Movement. The action, according to the state police spokesman, DSP Magaji Musa Majia, was peremptory “because of an intelligence report that there is a plan to conduct mass wedding at the house.”

    Too bad, the police would appear to move in only after the proverbial horse had bolted out of the stable. For sources close to the Kwankwasiyya movement reportedly confided that the mass wedding had already been conducted on Monday secretly with “only brides and grooms’ next of kins, including some selected Islamic scholars” present.

    Now, what is unclear is whether charges would be entered against the sponsors of the mass wedding despite a subsisting restraining order by the police.

    Indeed, Ganduje and Kwankwasiya are free to continue to seek avenues to trade rough tackles. But it is doubtful if those who took advantage of the reported mass wedding would be amused. Like Kanmi Osobu, they must now be wondering if the battle between the godfather and his estranged godson is also against love.

  • Adeojo quits politics over PDP’s unresolved crisis

    Adeojo quits politics over PDP’s unresolved crisis

    The former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Deputy National Chairman (South), Chief Yekini Adeojo, at the weekend, said he has decided to quit politics after several decades.

    Adeojo, who was until now a founding father of the PDP in Oyo State, said his decision was not unconnected with the recent happenings within the party.

    In a chat with The Nation at the weekend, the PDP chieftain, who made several attempts at reconciling the factionalised PDP both within and outside Oyo State, noted that he was “fed up with politics”.

    He said: “That is why you didn’t  see me at the Port Harcourt convention. I have since discovered that it is not worth it after all. I want to face my private life and my business. That is it; it just doesn’t worth it.”

    Adeojo, who is the Seriki Musulumi of Yorubaland, admitted that he intentional didn’t want to make any statement when he was appointed by Governors Olusegun Mimiko and Ayodele Fayose to chair a committee to select a candidate from Lagos and Ogun states at the Akure PDP meeting co-chaired by the two governors.

    “Yes, I was aware of that meeting. Even the meeting in Ibadan, did you see me there? I felt it is time to quit. Let me face my business and private life. I think that is the best thing to do,” he said.

    Adeojo, a traditional Ibadan chieftaincy holder, had made several attempts to become the Oyo State governor, but each time he contested, he had issues with the late strongman of Ibadan politics, Chief Lamidi Adedibu.

  • The politics of aviation fuel scarcity

    The politics of aviation fuel scarcity

    For weeks, things have been tough for airlines, because of the scarcity of aviation fuel otherwise known as Jet A-one.  Despite all efforts, the problem remains unsolved. KELVIN OSA-OKUNBOR reports that the on-going collaboration among airlines, regulators and fuel marketers may end the impasse.

    These are not the best of times for stakeholders in the aviation sector. From domestic airline operators to passengers, even to regulators, the scarcity of aviation fuel, otherwise known as Jet A-One, has become a nightmare.

    The problem, which has been lingering in the last few months, has been hurting operators who bear the burden of huge financial losses caused by disruption in flight operations. It has also left bitter taste in the mouths of passengers, who agonise daily over occasional delays and flight cancellations.

    By extension, the spate of near-air rage by aggrieved passengers demanding to know the status of their flights, for which airlines are unable to provide response, has continued to pose a serious challenge to the industry regulator Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).

    The scarcity of aviation fuel, which hit the industry, has pit many passengers against airline personnel at airports nationwide, even as allegations of sabotage are raging among fuel marketers and the affected airlines. This has put NCAA under tremendous pressure, as it battles to difuse the tension generated by passengers’ legion of complaints.

    Investigations,  however, revealed that aviation fuel is not only unavailable; the fluctuation in the price of the product in the last few months was also an issue that underscored the hiccups in its supply chain. This partly explains why the scarcity appears to have defied previous attempts to resolve it.

    Two former ministers of aviation, Princess Stella Oduah and Chief Osita Chidoka, are said to have set up Ministerial Committees to resolve the crisis. But the move may have failed to yield results, as the problem continued to put the stakeholders in the industry under pressure.

    Already, many airlines, including Arik Air, have scaled down their operations on some routes because of the scarcity. While absolving themselves of blame for the problem, the affected airlines also said that marketers might be grappling with infrastructure challenge.

    However, some players, who spoke with The Nation, put the blame for the scarcity at fuel marketers’ doorstep. For instance, an aviation security expert, Group Captain John Ojikutu, accused fuel marketers of creating the scarcity to increase the price of the product.

    As far as Ojikutu is concerned, airlines and marketers have questions to answer. He said: “Yes, the airlines are shouting. Are the marketers shouting? Are they concerned? What exactly is the problem? Is it a problem of scarcity or one of cost?

    “If it is a problem of cost, is it that of the marketers or that of airlines? Cost in what form? Is it that it is high or because the marketers are not getting foreign exchange?”

    He said there was something the government should look into. “It is a cabal. This is why the NCAA should be involved in providing aviation fuel,” he said.

    According to Ojikutu, the NCAA must be involved in the importation, distribution and marketing of the product. ‘’It should find out why the airlines are not getting fuel. That is why I said there is a problem somewhere, because only the airlines are shouting; the marketers are not,” the expert said.

    Worried by the effects of the scarcity on their operations, Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), the umbrella body of domestic carriers, called on the Federal Government to step in. Its Chairman, Captain Nogie Meggison, urged the government to, urgently, address the acute shortage of aviation fuel.

    Meggison said the call became imperative because of the consistent unavailability of the product in the past few weeks. He lamented, for instance, that the problem has led to 50 per cent delays or cancellation of flights.

    He said: “We have been forced to cry out over this perennial problem because it continues to put us in difficult situation to go the extra mile to fulfil our obligations to our customers in spite of the inconveniences that go with it. However, we are at the mercy of oil marketers and many times our hands are tied such that we are left with no other option than to cancel flights.”

    The AON chief alleged that apart from the shortage of Jet A-1, marketers have been increasing the price to unbearable levels.  “Till April this year, I bought Jet A1 Fuel for N105 a litre. About a month ago, the price jumped to N145. Two weeks later, it rose to about N200 a litre. Today, the price has skyrocketed above N200 a litre. This has greatly increased our operational cost,” he said.

    Ojukuta said considering that cost of fuel accounts for about 40 per cent of operational costs of most airlines, the astronomical rise in price of the fuel by over 100 per cent had equally increased operational costs. In the light of this, he said, operators’ feasibility studies and financial projections were threatened, thereby putting the airlines in financial difficulty.

    The AON chair lamented that in spite of  these, operators could not increase ticket prices in order not to discourage customers that have been seriously stretched due to the economic hard time facing them. He said the economic downturn has reduced the disposable income of many airline customers.

    He said: “For most of them (customers) now the alternative means of travel is by road; our major competitor. It should be put on record however, that road transport uses Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) also known as petrol, which is highly supported or assisted by the Federal Government with exchange rate of N285 and available to marketers.

    “On the other hand, airlines don’t have such foreign exchange support or availability from government with regards to helping to make Jet Fuel available to airlines or at an affordable price.”

    He, however, said operators earlier this year met the Minister of State, Aviation, Hadi Sirika, to seek a solution to the problem. The minister, according to him, assured the delegation of his assistance.

    While operators await the government’s intervention on the matter, they have also called for the  reviving of  the Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) at Warri Refinery and the pipeline -hydrant system of supplying aviation fuel to the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA), Lagos.

    The operators said apart from reviving the Warri Refinery, the Atlas Cove and Mosimi pipelines -hydrant system earlier used for supplying aviation fuel to the airport should also be fixed.

    It was learnt that before the pipelines were shut in 1996, aviation fuel hydrant at the Murtala Muhammed Airport was used to supply fuel to aircraft through the pipeline from Atlas Cove and Mosimi.

    Meggison said the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) should look into the possibility of reviving the pipelines, which must have become rusty, having been abandoned for 18 years. “We need NNPC to revive this pipeline so that airlines can get cheaper and cleaner aviation fuel,” he said.

    He pointed out that one of the causes of high cost of aviation fuel is the cumbersome chain of distribution and supply it has to pass through before getting to airline operators.

    Pumping fuel using pipeline and hydrant, the AON boss said, is safer and more cost effective compared to using tankers and fuel bowsers. He added that airports do not use tankers for fuel distribution these days.

     

    Fed Govt’s intervenes

    Bad as the situation is, stakeholders, especially operators may soon heave a sigh of relief. This is because the Federal Government said it is engaging stakeholders in the aviation fuel supply chain to ensure availability of the product.

    Speaking through the NCAA, the government said it was engaging fuel marketers to clear hurdles in the supply of the product, which had ripple effects on airline operations for weeks.

    The regulatory authority said it was aware of the prevailing scarcity of Jet A1, which has inevitably led to flight cancellations and delays by the airlines, adding that it has also taken cognisance of efforts being made by the airlines to ensure that passengers were ferried without any hitches.

    Last month, Arik Air said it was grappling with flight schedule disruptions caused by severe scarcity of aviation fuel across the country.

    Its spokesman, Adebanji Ola, said since the beginning of this year, Nigeria has been grappling with inadequate supply of aviation fuel leading in most cases to shortages of the product and consequently the disruption of flight operations.

    Ola said: “The airline operates an average of 120 daily flights, requiring about 500, 000 litres of fuel daily. Due to the large number of domestic and international flights, it is the most impacted by the inability of oil marketers to meet its daily fuel requirements on a timely and consistent basis. This has forced the airline to postpone flights while waiting for the fuel marketers to source and deliver the product.

    “On many occasions, despite all efforts in engaging the marketers, fuel could not be sourced, and flights may eventually be cancelled, causing not only revenue loss for the airline but also inconveniencing passengers.”

    He, however, identified marketers’ supply and infrastructural challenges as some of the key factors responsible for the epileptic supply of aviation fuel. He explained: “At the root of the fuel supply crisis is low stock due to the inability of marketers to source for foreign exchange to import more Jet A1 fuel into the country.

    “There is also distribution challenge, as the discharging of vessels bringing Jet A1 and other petroleum products are done in the same jetty. Loading various trucks for distribution to cities like Kano or Abuja takes considerable effort and time.

    The situation in the north is even more difficult since the product takes longer to be delivered due to the trucking distance. Oil marketers have also resorted to trucking of aviation fuel to the airports because hydrants are not consistently available at the airports.”

    Ola said while the Federal Government and oil marketers were working hard to address the supply and distribution challenges, operators had appealed to customers to bear with them, as they might experience flight delays and cancelations because of the prevailing scarcity of aviation fuel across the country.

    It remains to be seen how the deal with oil marketers will resolve the problem. But until that happens, it remains complaints galore for various stakeholders in the aviation sector.

  • Ohakim retires from partisan politics

    Ohakim retires from partisan politics

    •Ex-governor: I’m tired of Imo PDP’s circus

    Former Imo State governor and chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Ikedi Ohakim, yesterday announced his retirement from partisan politics.

    At an emotional gathering at his Okohia country home in Isiala Mbano Local Government Area, Ohakim said he was shocked by his numerous followers who gathered for a luncheon with him on hearing the news of his retirement from politics.

    The former governor said he took the decision because he could no longer condone what he called the brigandage in the state’s politics.

    Ohakim, who spoke in an emotion-laden voice, said he kept the decision away from his policy associates because he did not want to be advised otherwise.

    He said: “People’s ambitions have been destroying our party in the state. I have decided to take steps backwards. I have decided to withdraw from all forms of partisan politics because I am too intelligent to be involved in the ongoing brigandage. In view of the current situation, I have come to the sad conclusion that I will no longer be able to be part of this circus in the political arena for the time being.  I am, therefore, by this statement, announcing my temporary withdrawal from active participation in partisan politics.

    “Let me quickly hasten to emphasise that there is nothing in this decision other than the need to have time to pursue other matters of terrestrial interest, outside partisan politics.

    “This is the fourth major decision I am taking in my political journey. I want to go on sabbatical and focus on mentoring young people and my non-governmental organisation (NGO). I am not asking any of my supporters to follow me. But if anyone chooses to follow me, he is welcome.”

    Ohakim assured his supporters that he might return with a bang someday.

    He added: “I will come back to play politics of ideas with those who are intelligent. I am coming back someday with a bang. But for now, I am quitting. I want to thank all of you for standing by me throughout my journey. But I can no longer continue until the system is sanitised.”

  • Politics as war

    Two events in the past week triggered my interest to write on politics as war and to launder vicarious liability in the law of tort to help tame our murderous third class politics by means of arms. Of course I am aware that tomes have been written on war as the extension of politics by means of arms.

    The more memorable of the two events was the picture in the media of the minister for transportation and former governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi and his successor and current governor Nyesom Wike, after their so called peace parley with the chiefs of police and state security service. The picture of the foursome in one national daily portrayed the peace parley as a farce, as the two gladiators sternly looked away from each other even while shaking hands.

    The other was the recent rehash by President Muhammad Buhari of the motive behind the dawn coup of August 27, 1985, that overthrew him as the military head of state, in an interview with a newsmagazine. According to the president, he was overthrown because he had formalised the process to sack some top military officers accused of gross abuse of power and corruption. Many commentators have tried to proffer the reason why the president chose to release the bomb now. My guess is that he dredged up the scarecrow to ward off potential intruders as the 2019 presidential election war approaches.

    So for our politicians, whether in Rivers State, Abuja or elsewhere, it is all about elections, even when only one quarter of their current mandate has been used. By going right away for the jugular of his former military colleagues, the lesser mortals – the bloody civilians, will realise that the 2019 elections is not going to be a tea party. Again, perhaps there is already an intelligence that the Peoples Democratic Party, which has zoned its presidency to the north, may approach IBB and his former intelligence chief, General Gusau, to lead a civilian variant of the 1985 power wrestle.

    On his part, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who can be described as the foremost presidential election warrior of this republic, considering his many election battles, is adamantly throwing himself up as the opposite of the unitary credentials of the president. So, while the president is saying the present structure of the country is okay, the Turaki Adamawa has become the new champion of restructuring. For these gladiators and their potential compatriots, while we are shouting ourselves hoarse about the prevailing cruel economic conditions, they are already busy plotting for the next electoral battle, even when the casualty figures from the recent electoral war front, in the north-east and Niger Delta particularly, are yet to be interred with any form of honour.

    For Rivers State, the political war in its intensity and casualty figure is not much different from a full blown internecine war, elsewhere. Until very recently, a week or two will not go-by without a gruesome mass murder in one locality or another in the state, between what has been fancifully referred to as war among cultists. But we cannot forget that originally the clashes were the fallout of disagreements between the followers of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressive Congress (APC). The narrative changed when calls were made for a state of emergency to be declared in the state.

    Of course, the immediate prize for the raging war in Rivers State is the outstanding electoral positions in the federal legislature and the state assemblies, which has remained inconclusive after two attempts, because of the prevalent insecurity. Apart from the two major gladiators Amaechi and Wike, there are undoubtedly smaller warlords, superintending their local turfs and turning elections in Rivers State into a war without end. The result is that many innocent people are daily maimed, disposed of their valuable properties or even killed by violent political activists, without any consequences or liabilities for those directly or vicariously responsible for the carnage.

    If I have my way, the law of tort, particularly its variant on vicarious liability ought to expand to hold accountable those whose servants or agents, wilfully or negligently cause harm, losses or even death, to innocent bystanders. Perhaps with the potential of a liability to pay heavy damages looming, many of our political gladiators would encourage their followers to behave better. I know, some will dismiss the proposition as fanciful, but if an employer can be vicariously held accountable for the negligent act of his employee, say a driver, I propose that party agents should also be held liable under such legal principle.

    Of course I appreciate the existence of liability for criminal negligence and the possible award of damages for wilful destruction of property, but I doubt if any of the existing remedies, will adequately answer as pungently as vicarious liability in tort for most of the mayhem that result from political warfare in a third class democracy like ours. Also I appreciate the availability of tortious remedies for trespass to person that may result from assault, battery or false imprisonment. But like a financially limited employee, the political servantsare incapable of paying substantial damages for the huge loses caused innocent bystanders during political wars.

    A cursory look at the definition of the legal concept of vicarious liability will explain such possibility. According to learned author, Ese Malami: “vicarious liability is the liability of a superior for the conduct of a subordinate. Thus, vicarious liability is the liability of one person usually a superior for the conduct of another person usually a subordinate such as, the liability of an employer for the conduct of an employee in the course of employment”.

    To deter political actors from turning our low level politics to internecine wars with all its consequences, judicial activism should ground vicarious liability for the conduct of identifiable agents of political leaders, on the principle of law that: “he who does anything through another person does it himself”.

    So political agents should appropriately come within the definition of a servant, even when there may be no clear contract of service, or a clear instruction to do harm, in the cause of political thuggery. To accommodate these mayhem caused by political actors in third rate democracies in many third world countries, the various tests to define a servant to ground vicarious liability, should be expanded to accommodate this specie of modern day plague.

    After all, learned author Salmond defined a servant thus: “a servant may be defined as any person employed by another to do work for him on the terms that he, the servant, is to be subject to the control and direction of his employer.” To make our uncaring political gladiators liable, the test on servant liability, made out by Denning LJ, in Young vs Box & Co Ltd should apply. The law lord said: “To make a master liable for the conduct of his servant, the first question is to see whether the servant is liable. If the answer is “yes”, the second question is to see whether the employer must shoulder the servant’s liability.”

  • Commissioner: zoning has no place in Ondo politics

    The Ondo State Commissioner for Information, Mr. Kayode Akinmade has given reasons for the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) decision against the zoning of its governorship post ahead of the November 26 election.

    Speaking in Akure at the weekend, Akinmade said no governor has ever been elected in the state on the basis of ethnicity, adding that competence had always been the major  factor considered.

    “If you go into history, between 1999 and 2012, all the candidates of PDP in those elections have been coming from a particular zone and at that time we never thought of zoning.

    “In 1999 when the late Adebayo Adefarati wanted to contest election, the late Dr. Olusegun Agagu contested against him, the people of Ondo State voted for Adefarati. They did not vote for Adefarati because he was from Akungba-Akoko in Ondo North Senatorial District. They voted for him because he was central to the agitation for the emancipation of Nigeria from the military junta in Ondo State.  He was a leader of Afenifere in Ondo State. He was voted because he was vocal and was able to achieve a lot in galvanizing the people towards a common goal.

    “In 2003, he also stood for  election with late  Dr. Olusegun  Agagu from the South. At that time, Dr. Agagu won the election.  Dr. Agagu did not win the election because he was from the southern senatorial district. He won the election because of the political structure of that time. In 2007, the same re-contested election with some other people from other zones. You will recall that Prince Ademola Adegoroye from Akure contested the election and Dr. Olusegun Mimko from Ondo contested the election. It was not based on any primordial sentiment.

    “At that election, Dr. Mimiko won and he was rigged out. But thank God, he got his mandate back through the judiciary. People voted for Dr. Mimiko in 2007 not because he is from Ondo, they voted for him because of what he has consistently stood for in terms of progressivism politics. They voted for him because he has used the instrumentality of government to better the lot of the people of Ondo State. They voted for him because he has pedigree.”

    He said there is no agitation about zoning in the PDP as being portrayed by some individual, submitting that what is being witnessed at the moment was that aspirants were moving round the state to canvass for support and candidate would emerge at the primary.

  • Politics of Ribadu’s return to APC

    SIR: The return of Mallam Nuhu Ribadu to the All Progressives Congress (APC) has come along with some serious political hullabaloo in Adamawa State.

    Adamawa APC is fragmented into three groups: Governor Muhammad Jibril Bindo group headed by former Vice President AtikuAbubakar; former Governor MurtalaNyako group led by his son, Senator Abdul-Aziz Nyako, while the third group, popularly called Abuja/Buhari group is led by Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Engineer David LawalBabachir.

    The Atiku/Bindo group has never hidden its opposition to Nuhu’s return to APC because they see it as a serious trap to them in the games of 2019; the Babachir and the Nyako groups have not shown any open resistance to Nuhu’s moves. Is Ribadu member of any of the group?

    Ribadu may not be a direct member of the any of group- but the Abuja group led by the SGF will feel very at home with him because he is a stakeholder of one of the legacy parties- the defunct ACN. He can be an excellent ‘game-changer’ for the group when it comes to the 2019 governorship elections. Beating Governor Bindo in 2019 governorship election will require a miracle if the governor can sustain his current infrastructure development drive especially in the opening up of new roads and urban development, moving away from the era of sharing the state’s commonwealth among family, friends and elites. Governor Bindo’s greatest mistake was his side-lining of the members of the legacy parties- ACN, CPC and the ANPP.

    It will not be a surprise if the Abuja group is among those that pressurized Ribadu to return to the APC; he can be a special political weapon for the group in another way- President Muhammadu Buhari may be keen to give Ribadu an important appointment, because he was very instrumental in the merger that produced the APC. So, if the group effected Ribadu’s return to APC and he eventually gets any appointment, it will have a prime addition to its connections.

    Does Atiku have something to fear with the return of Nuhu to APC?  Yes and no! Atiku has proven to be the only man that always survives and pulls weight in Adamawa politics whichever way the tide turns. Nuhu cannot in any way present a threat to Atiku- a savvy politician, but Nuhu’s return to the APC will definitely alter the present permutations and settings in the Adamawa politics which Atiku absolutely enjoys. Little wonder Nuhu’s return has sent jitters to the Bindo and Atiku group.

    The Nyako group still feels betrayed by Governor Bindo and its main political crave is to have Senator Abdul-Aziz Nyako as governor. If NuhuRibadu has returned to the APC to contest the 2019 governorship election, the Nyako group will be not be comfortable with him, but if his return is just to join the party’s front men, the group will be happy because Nuhu was among those individuals that vehemently opposed the impeachment of MurtalaNyako, though Governor Bindo also did that as a senator from Adamawa North.

    Whichever way, the pendulum swings, NuhuRibadu’s return to the APC will be highly welcome by the APC national caucus and it will definitely view Nuhu’s return beyond the mere Adamawa local politics, because Nuhu is a strategist with international status, credibility and he played an outstanding role in the formation of the APC. Furthermore, the APC will love to deny the PDP the honour of having a Ribadu in its fold. Nevertheless, his return to the APC will continue to generate some interesting political ripples in Adamawa State. And, it is good for democracy and real spirited politics.

     

    • Zayyad I. Muhammad,

    Jimeta, Adamawa State.

  • Race, politics and economics in America

    Race, politics and economics in America

    Here, quoted at considerable length, is the lead story in The New York Times (Late Edition) for November 25, 2008, titled RACIAL BARRIER FALLS IN DECISIVE VICTORY.

    “Barrack Hussein Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States on Tuesday, sweeping away the last racial barrier in American politics with ease as the country chose him as its first black chief executive.

    “The election of Mr Obama amounted to a national catharsis – a repudiation of a historically unpopular Republican president and his economic and foreign policies, and an embrace of Mr Obama’s call for a change in the direction and tone of the country.

    “But it was just as much a strikingly symbolic moment in the evolution of the nation’s fraught racial history that would have seemed unthinkable just two years ago.”

    In his victory speech the previous night, in Grant Park, Chicago, President-elect Obama was            no less expansive.

    “If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy,’’ he said, “tonight is your answer.”

    “It has been a long time coming,” he added, “but tonight, because of what we did on this date in this election at this defining moment, change has come to America.”

    Three months later, on the night of Obama’s Inauguration, some 20 House Republicans gathered      at a steakhouse across from the US Capitol to lick their wounds – they had also lost control of the House and the Senate – and, more to the point, to plot how to ensure that the Obama presidency would fail.

    They came out of the working dinner vowing to fight Obama on every issue, to be united and unyielding in their opposition; in short, to “take back the country” – their country – at the earliest opportunity.

    Far from sweeping away the last racial barrier in American politics” as The New York Times had declared, the election of Barak Obama entrenched it, consecrated it, and invested it with the kind respectability Jim Crow could not muster even at its most benign. Far from taking great pride in Obama’s oft-repeated assertion that only in America is his story possible, they are ruing how it  came about and saying, never again.

    The election upturned what white, middle-aged Americans without a college education had always regarded, and profited disproportionately from, as the natural order of things.  This is the group that globalisation and technological innovations left behind, the group that once thrived on high-paying jobs that have disappeared and will never return.

    Middle-aged white Americans without a college education live for the most part amidst sad reminders of halcyon days, in decaying towns piled with rutted heaps of abandoned mills and manufacturing plants.  The average family now has to work two jobs just to keep afloat. Access to credit, more than anything else, is what sustains the average American in the illusion of well-being

    Although the economy has made a significant recovery during Obama’s tenure – more than nine million jobs have been added since he took office — the really significant gains have gone to  speculators in the casino economy, many of whom go home with $10 million in bonuses alone at the end of each year.

    And now as reported recently by the Princeton economists Angus Deaton, recipient of the 2015 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science, and Anne Case, “something startling” is happening to middle-aged white Americans, the foot soldiers of the Republican Party, the constituency of the TEA Party and Donald Trump.

    Unlike every other age group, unlike every other racial and ethnic group, and unlike their counterparts in other rich countries, death rates in this group have been rising, driven by an epidemic of suicides and afflictions stemming from substance abuse.

    In contrast, the death rate for middle-aged blacks and Hispanics continued to decline during the same period, as did death rates for younger and older people of all races and ethnic groups.

    Middle-aged blacks still have a higher mortality rate than whites — 581 per 100,000, compared with 415 for whites — but the gap is closing, and the rate for middle-aged Hispanics is far lower than for middle-aged whites at 262 per 100,000.

    The least educated also had the most financial distress.  In the period examined by Dr. Deaton and Dr. Case, the inflation-adjusted income for households headed by a high school graduate fell by 19 per cent.

    In 2014, according to another analysis, among 25- to 54-year-olds without college degrees, blacks and Hispanics were much more positive than whites: 67 per cent of African-Americans and 68 per cent of Hispanics responded “much better” or “somewhat better,” compared with 47 per cent of whites.

    Those figures represent a reversal from 2000, when whites were more positive than blacks, 64 per cent to 60 per cent. (Hispanics were the most positive in nearly all years

    What used to be considered the peculiar pathology of black society in America has now caught up with the white underclass.  The resentment of that class is what Donald Trump has been exploiting.  It has served him well, at least to the extent that it has helped consolidate his base.

    Given the foregoing you can expect a hardening, not a softening of the racial rhetoric, especially on the right.  The world glimpsed something of this on live television and raw video last week showing the gruesome killings of two black men by police officers during more or less routine encounters — one in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and the other in Falcon Heights, Minnesota.

    There was yet another in which a black man shot and killed five officers in an ambush and wounded nine more people at a peaceful demonstration by whites and blacks against the Lousiana and Minnesota killings.

    Hundreds of blacks have died at the hands of white police officers during routine traffic stops over the years, and in situations that posed no grave danger to the public or to the officers.  In almost every case, juries have absolved the police, saying they acted in reasonable fear for their lives, even when the police team had the lonely suspect on his back or belly, fully restrained.

    You do not have to act suspiciously or be in the “wrong” place to warrant the brutal attention of law and order.  The tennis star James Blake, a gentleman of the first class who would make an outstanding diplomat, was waiting in a hotel lounge in downtown Manhattan last year, for a cab to convey him to Flushing Meadows, venue of the U.S. Open Tennis Championships.

    Suddenly, two cops jumped him, guns drawn, pinned him down on his back and handcuffed him.  They said he matched the description of someone who had been reported snatching cell phones, or whatever.  The whole thing could have ended fatally.

    Couldn’t they have called him to a corner and interviewed him? He is, by the way, bi-racial, with a black father and a white mother, like Obama.

    The movement Black Lives Matter was launched to call attention to the casualness with which the police take black lives.  Its goal was to remind the police and a generally complaisant public that black lives need to be protected with no less vigour than white lives and Asian lives and Hispanic lives.

    Now, in a reversal not unusual here (remember, “Affirmative action” is “racist”), they are   calling the movement and its anthem racist.  Leading the pack is former New York Mayor Rudi Guiliani, he of the hyena snarl, who had condoned the racist excesses of New York Police officers in the bestial degradation of Abou Louima, a Haitian immigrant, and other serious misconduct.

    Of course, all lives matter.  That much is implied in the name and agenda of the movement.   But the police continually act as if they believe that some lives are more expendable than others.

    That is the issue. That is why it is necessary to remind them and those who think and act like them that Black Lives Matter.