The Nation Newspaper

Tag: politics

  • Dickson to civil servants: stay away from politics

    Dickson to civil servants: stay away from politics

    Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson has warned civil servants against partisan politics ahead of the December 5 governorship election in the state.

    Dickson spoke at the weekend in Government House, Yenagoa, while inaugurating a newly appointed Head of Service of the State, Dr. Peter Singabele, and member of the state Civil Service Commission, Dr. Boumkuma Kpokiri.

    He said civil servants must uphold the principles of neutrality and loyalty to government in power.

    He charged Singabale to further depoliticise and instill more discipline in the state civil service to achieve improved service delivery.

    He said engaging in politics was against the ethics of professional civil service and negatively impact on efficiency and effectiveness in the public service.

    Describing the public service as the most important sector in service delivery in a government, Dickson said he would not allow political considerations to determine the occupant of head of the state civil service office.

    Dickson said: “For the past one year, no state government can boast of any effective construction work because we are in a state of recession.

    “But despite of all that, we are not owing salaries of members of the public service in this state.

    “We do not also owe their pension entitlements. The only thing that is left for us to handle is the gratuity that has accumulated for the past ten years, which is not a creation of this government. But we are determined to finding a solution to address it.”

    He paid tribute to the out gone Head of Service, Dr. Josephine Igodo, for her efforts in fostering cordial relationship between the government and the workforce.

    He promised to organise a state banquet in her honour at an appropriate date to fulfill the tradition already set by the present administration.

    Dickson urged Singabele and Kpokiri, who replaces late Sir Patrick Tekenah, to apply their wealth of experiences in performing their duties.

    Addressing them, he said: “You are appointed to lead the public service, which is the most important group as far as service delivery is concerned. It is our expectation that you are going to depoliticise the civil service.

    “We don’t want to play politics with the civil service. When we came on board, I promised a civil service that would not be politicised.

    “And that is exactly what we are doing. The permanent secretaries that have been appointed know that none of them lobbied.

    “There was no political influence or interference whatsoever. It was strictly in accordance with our judgment in terms of merit, hard work and capacity for improved service delivery.

    “And that is the civil service that we want to leave behind for succeeding generations of this state.”

  • I’m not for do-or-die politics, says Wada

    I’m not for do-or-die politics, says Wada

    Kogi State Governor Idris Wada has decried do-or-die politics.

    He said he would accept defeat in a free and fair primary election by .

    The national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ruled out automatic ticket for the governor’s re-election bid.

    Wada, who was at the national secretariat of the PDP yesterday to obtain his nomination forms, said he was not bothered by the party’s position.

    He said: “If I win, I will thank God. But if I lose in a free and fair primary, I will support whoever emerges. It is not a do-or-die affair.”

    The governor admitted that the Buhari Tsunami had an impact in Kogi.

    He, however, said contrary to the impression that the PDP might have faded out, it still had a strong base across the three senatorial districts.

     

  • Ogun: mixing politics with teaching 

    SIR: As a concerned parent and retired teacher, I have decided to join the ongoing debate on the propriety or otherwise of the SUMMARY passage for SS1 in Ogun State Unified Examinations for Public Schools, as reported in the papers. I had initially commented on the controversy, but have now obtained further information on the exam saga from a couple of Ogun workers.

    Fortunately, I was able to obtain a copy of the third term question paper from an SS1 student in my neighbourhood. The controversial passage in Section C   was said to have been “Culled from Jola Adegbenro’s Issues on Education Today”. The examiner’s/ teacher’s name is Joel Adegbenro.

    To my astonishment, I tried in vain to establish the Jola Adegbenro on any online platform. Neither could I establish the original write-up from where the exam question was said to have been extracted. According to some civil servants, when confronted on the source of the passage by the panel set up by the Civil Service Commission, the examiner/ teacher allegedly said he extracted the passage from his manuscript yet to be published in Issues on Education Today. And look at the additional prank played by the teacher concerning his name – Joel Adegbenro and Jola Adegbenro!

    Should we now be talking about fraud, forgery, impersonation or all of the above here? Should he have been handed over to the police on this score? I leave that to the lawyers.

    But the greatest tragedy in the question paper has not been highlighted by many commentators. I discovered to my horror and chagrin that the so-called SUMMARY passage was actually a summary or synopsis of opinions expressed in newspaper adverts sponsored by the opposition in the months leading to the April 11 governorship election in Ogun State. This is horrendous.

    Another anomaly is that we do not set such a patently political question to students in such a formal examination. WAEC, JAMB, it’s not done! At best, you have a generalised extract on the state of education in which no particular government or administration can be held accountable. I challenge any examiner to prove the contrary. The reason is simple. No examiner or teacher must be seen to turn his pupils against a particular government in power.

    The teacher/examiner and the students in this particular case know which government was supposedly being accused by the SS1 question despite the ‘smartness’ of not mentioning “Ogun” in the passage. But further mischief could be gleaned from the question paper. For instance, contrary to the passage, enrolment figures, as we all know, sky-rocketed from early 2012 as a result of free education and free textbooks of the Amosun government. There were many budding private schools across the state that closed down or nearly collapsed because so many parents withdrew their children from these schools when they heard the current administration was giving free textbooks to pupils. You may call it opportunism but why would any parent suffer to buy one or two textbooks when they can get 8 or 12 for their children free of charge?

    I saw the model school at Ogijo recently and wondered if it was a private or public school. Yes, a public school. I cannot fault Amosun on this score because  rather than spend my hard-earned money on renovating a great-grandfather’s mud house that would still collapse at the slightest anger of the elements, all in the name of “renovating existing infrastructure”, I will build a modern monument in honour of his memory!

    So, one could see the entire passage was a product of deliberate mischief and did not reflect, in the main, the current realities or continuous efforts being made to reposition the sector by the government. It is dangerous to use students’ question paper as a platform to attack a well-meaning government on behalf of a frustrated political opposition in Ogun.

    There is no way those involved in such a back-door political agitation could have escaped justice going by the provisions of Public Service Rules, as reported in the papers.

    Nevertheless, I plead for clemency. Reabsorbing the officials will not be a bad idea. I know it will be a difficult choice because people should live by the consequences of their actions as a form of deterrent. But it should be possible to forgive them. At least they’ve learnt their lessons – hopefully. You cannot be politicians in civil service garbs!

    Finally, workers must be wary of being used by bad-belle, ‘NFA’ politicians in the discharge of their duties. Condensing into an exam passage published attacks of the opposition political party against the government is totally reprehensible. Children are too impressionable to be drawn into such high-wire politics. We should not toy with their future.

     

    • Ayobami Odesanya,

    Sabo, Sagamu, Ogun State

  • Wanted: More women in politics

    Wanted: More women in politics

    A group of women, under the aegis of Women for Equity and Fairness Organisation of Nigeria (WEFON), has evolved what it refers to as ‘godmotherism’ which is its own way of grooming and mentoring young females into politics.

    WEFON, which was founded in 2011 as a non-governmental organisation (NGO) will serve as a platform for women in politics irrespective of their political affiliations.

    The group seeks to increase the number of women who participate in governance and decision-making in Nigeria.

    Its South West Zonal President, Alhaja Nourat Babs-Olorunkemi, who spoke to journalists just after the group’s zonal and state elections, said they have branches in the six South Western states as well as three other geo-political zones of Nigeria. Some of the objectives of WEFON are to serve as unifying platform for women and support for the political ambitions of women.

    She said: “We are here to promote women’s rights agenda, sponsor gender responsive bills in the legislature as well as mentor female youths in politics; since every woman, 18 years and above in politics is a member.”

    She said the agenda for the group’s new administration is to put on the front burner women issues and how the leaders of the group can engage government on appointments for women in the current political dispensation.

    The President of the Lagos State chapter of the organisation, who contested for governorship seat in Lagos State on the platform of Alliance for Democracy (AD), Dr. Abimbola Ajayi-Ojora urged women to begin from home to teach and build their daughters’ confidence in social involvement.

    She called for equity of rights with men in the development and resources of the land.

    “Men should carry us along if they want to succeed; else, they do so at their own detriment. We have no wish to compete with the men; we are only here to complement them to attain greater success,” she said.

  • The politics of war, peace and terrorism

    It  was shocking  to read in the news media   this week that  Nigeria’s top  military  chief  said at the pull  out ceremony of his retirement  that he led an army during his tenure  that  lacked funding and  equipment. If  you  remember that our President Muhammadu  Buhari, [and  not Ribadu as the printers devil  made out last week ]was  reported to have said on his  last trip to the US that the  US in not  selling arms to  Nigeria to fight terrorism  was inadvertently aiding and   abetting terrorism,  then  you wonder  about  the saying that there  can  be no smoke  without fire. Surely  the  two  statements compliment  each  other even though they  were said  at  different places.  More  ominously    though they  are as disturbing as they are credible  given the  political  stature and office  of the two  speakers.

    To  stop  any  doubts  on the authenticity  of the two  observations the former National  Security  Adviser  was  reported  to have  said  that Western  powers  sabotaged  the efforts  of the Jonathan Administration  to buy arms  to  fight  Boko  Haram and  terrorism. Surely  the jigsaw puzzle  is  unraveling on why  Boko  Haram has  become an unsolvable military  and  security conundrum  for the  Nigerian  nation, people  and their leaders.  A  clear case  of treachery  in high places  and  amongst  so called nations  that Nigeria  has come to rely on is  slowly  but  surely  emerging. That  is the problem  we shall  deal with today as we identify  the contents  of this betrayal  of our people  and nation.  We  shall   discuss  the  global politics  of war, peace, insurgency and terrorism that has claimed so many innocent Nigerian  lives  and does not seem  to be abating in spite  of assurances to  contain it by our leaders, both military  and elected.

    We  have  to confront  the problem war  and peace by thinking of what to do to those we call friends  but   who block  our capacity to defend ourselves when terrorists kill our people and such people show concern and sympathy  but refuse to sell arms to us to redress the situation and stop the killing of fellow  Nigerians. What  could be the motive  for such reluctance or outright denial and what is the grouse  of the so  called  Western powers against  Nigeria? That is a question  begging  for an answer. Could  it be that the Western powers  have started  to exact  their  pound of flesh from  Nigeria over the gay rights  issue and was  that why they  did not sell arms  to the Jonathan Administration?  If the  answer is positive then the action or decision is wicked  and  hostile  and the present Nigerian  government  must make inquiries and  seek  the appropriate  redress at  least  diplomatically as  soon  as  possible.

    This  becomes  imperative given the pledges  of western  nations  to  support Nigeria  against the terror  of  Boko  Haram. Really   of  what use  is such a pledge if the same nations or people refuse to sell  arms to us to fight what  they claim is a threat to their civilization – just as it is to our collective security  in the global  village that the world has become?  Surely  something is amiss on this development and  Nigeria  must demand  and deserves  an urgent explanation from  those  friends,  who  as things stand,    seem  tohave been shedding crocodile  tears on our bloody ordeal and  predicament in the hands of the perfidious   terrorism  of  Boko  Haram.

    Nothing illustrates  our befuddlement and consternation on this matter  more than the argument  of the US President Barak  Obama to woo the American  public on the newly signed Nuclear Deal with Iran. In  a one  off speech  delivered at the American University in the US  the US president  was appealing to the American people to talk to their lawmakers in the US Congress not to jettison the Deal because to do so will lead to war  and dent the credibility  of the US in the Comity  of nations. He  assured his audience  that Iran will never have nuclear bomb on his watch as he promised. He  acknowledged the fears of Israel’s PM Benjamin  Netanyahu  on the deal and his campaign  against  it but noted  strongly  that the Israeli PM was wrong on all counts and  that again  brings in another Gordian Knot  to unravel. Is  an American  President  more capable than an Israeli PM to determine the Security  of the state  of Israel? Must  Israel  abide by such  reasoning and conclusion because it depends on US largesse  for its security  and peace in a hostile environment?  Again  answers  need  to be found to these burning questions.

    Indeed the US President rested his case on the issue of credibility  and rightly so except  that in this instance credibility has become  a two  way street and not a presidential close. As  a law professor the US president  should  know that he who comes  to equity must come with clean hands and   that  trust  is an essential ingredient of human cooperation  and progress and the Iran Nuclear  Deal is no exception. At one extreme the Iranians don’t trust either the US or  Israel  but would go ahead  with the deal anyway to make sanctions stop  and ease the economic hardship in the Iranian nation, to reduce pressure on the Ayatollahs ruling the theocracy. On the other hand Israel under its present PM mistrusts  this sitting US president and would risk even its security  to say  it loud and clear as its PM  has  been doing in the life of the Obama presidency. The fact that the two are slugging it out to buy the acceptability or otherwise   of  the deal in the media showed the failure  of diplomacy and bilateral relations between two  traditional and ancestral friends  and neighbors. Either  side has said the alternative  to its stand on the deal is war and  that its view  assures global peace. But  then the nagging question is whose definition of war is correct and whose categorization of peace is wrong?

    Obama quoted   Reagan to the effect that the peace is not the absence of  conflict    but the capability to   control  conflict. However  the issue  seemed  to have drawn attention to the issue of trust   outside  diplomacy and that is the  disturbing fact that the Israeli  leader has  confused distrust of Obama as a person with that of a diplomatic mistrust  and that is a   fallacy. He  may  not like Obama  as a  person  but he cannot make that personal as Obama is the US  and  is not representing himself but the  great US which  has guaranteed  the security  of Israel  since 1948 when the state  of Israel  was established;   and  the  US is in a position to do so under Obama  as  he has promised, an act  which  should have credibility  with any  Israeli  PM who  should normally  be trusting of any US President,  except this Benjamin  Netanyahu.

    In  this particular  instance  the issue  may not be simply that of separation  of morals amongst individuals from that of morals  or  values  amongst  nations. In  personal relations great store is placed  on loyalty and consistency. In  international relations  however  there  are  no permanent  enemies  but  permanent  interests.  On  both scores US – Israeli  relations seem  to have nose dived steadily  on this Iran Nuclear  Deal and  both nations should  take a good look at the strategies being used to sell or jettison the Iranian Nuclear  Deal both in the US and globally  because credibility  is taking a hiding on the international stage as both sellers and buyers  of the deal are exhausting their  goodwill and trust  capital without showing a clear path to  peace. And  at the end of it all  that is really  the light at the end  of the tunnel.  Similarly  such  a debate  is necessary  in Nigeria too.  In  our  own case   it will  be to  find out why those we call friends have not been willing to sell arms to us to fight those killing our people with impunity.  Again  long live the Federal  Republic of Nigeria.

  • PDP, APC and politics of second term in Bayelsa

    PDP, APC and politics of second term in Bayelsa

    Bayelsa State Governor is Seriake Dickson is fighting to get the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ticket for a second term. Correspondent MIKE ODIEGWU examines the obstacles on his way.

    Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson is in the eye of the storm. His bid for a second term has become a tough battle between his camp and his foes, in the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Dickson is fighting to remain in the Creek Haven, the Government House, next year.

     

    Thorny path to second term:

     The first obstacle against the governor’s re-election bid is the crack in the PDP. The crisis between Dickson and the former first lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, has not been resolved. The former President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, was a pillar of support for Dickson when he competed for the ticket with his predecessor, Timpreye Sylva.

    Mrs. Jonathan resigned her appointment as a Permanent Secretary in Bayelsa State. After her resignation, the friction led to the factionalisation of the PDP.

    Sources said that Mr. Weripamowei Dudafa, a former presidential aide, was being sponsored by Mrs. Jonathan. According to them, the former first lady was planning to use the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN) as a platform to campaign against Dickson. The leader of the group, Hon.   Talford Ongolo, a former Speaker of the old Rivers State House of Assembly, who is the Chief of Staff, was shoved aside to pave the way for the former deputy governor, Werinipre Seibarugu, an associate of Mrs. Jonathan.

    The group has continued to wax stronger in Bayelsa. Its office on Isaac Boro Road, Yenegoa, is always alive with partisan activities.

     

    Crack in PDP

    The governor moved swiftly by whittling the influence of Mrs. Jonathan. He sacked members of the State Executive Council perceived to be loyal to the iron lady. Last year, Mr. Francis Egele, Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice; Mr Ayakeme Massa, Trade, Investment and Industry Commissioner, and Dr Anapurere Michael Awoli, the Health Commissioner, were removed. Also dropped from the council were Mr. Nelson Belief (Tourism Development); Mr Gesiye Isowo (Special Duties (Federal Projects); Mr. Parkinson Macmanuel (Science, Technology and Manpower Development), Mr. Zuwa Konuga (Capital City Development), and Dr. Sylvanus Abila, (Environment).

    Other prominent politicians, including the Commissioner for Local Government, Mrs. Marie Ebikake, the Special Adviser on Federal Government Projects, Chief Remi Kuku, were sent packing. The aggrieved politicians may have resolved to team up with Mrs. Jonathan to work against Dickson’s re-election bid.

     

    Suspension and defection

    The PDP was further torn apart by the suspension of founding members. The Chairman, Col. Sam Inokoba, was suspended in controversial circumstances by the State Working Committee (SWC). The development worsened the bad blood between Dickson and Mrs. Jonathan. Inokoba, an associate of the former President, was accused of financial impropriety.

    However, the suspension is yet to be upheld by the National Working Committee (NWC) as stipulated in the PDP constitution. Therefore, ahead of the election, the PDP has two factional chairmen-Chief Serena Dokubo-Spiff and Inokoba. The Federal High Court was has restrained Inokoba from parading himself as the chairman. Yet, Dokubo-Spiff is yet to be recognised by the NWC.

    The governor has filled the leadership vacuum. He set up a committee chaired by his deputy to investigate the activities of erring chieftains during the last general elections. He also vowed to punish those indicted of anti-party activities. Consequently, nine chieftains were punished. Expelled from the party were Dudafa, Senator Nimi Barigha-Amange and former Acting Governor Nestor Binabo, former Deputy Governor Werinipre Seibarugu, Mr. Chamberlain Kren Ikidi, Mr. Osomkime Blankson, Mr. Emmanuel Okponipre, Mr. Ebikapade Dibiya and Joyce Fouyowei.

    Dokubo Spiff said the Executive Committee of the party has adopted the recommendations of the disciplinary committee in an unanimous voice vote.

    He, however, noted that some of the indicted members, who are in the National Assembly or holding appointments at the national level, would be referred to the national body of the PDP for further disciplinary measures in line with the provisions of the constitution.

    He said: “The State Working Committee met after receiving the report and deliberated on it and the State Executive Committee took a unanimous voice vote, based on the gravity of the offences and the attitudes of the affected members. Some were expelled, others suspended and a few others were reprimanded and exonerated.”

    Defending the disciplinary action, Dickson said that it would check indiscipline and disloyalty, which are inimical to the survival of the party. He said chieftains who sponsored candidates against the PDP in the state in the last elections were disloyal members.

    Dickson stressed: “You cannot have a situation where party leaders will sponsor candidates on the platform of other political parties to contest for political power and space against our party. And they do so with impunity, campaign openly while they are PDP members benefitting from the platform provided by our party. This can no longer be tolerated.

    “This is a PDP state, but our party’s strength will wane, if we do not maintain party discipline. We cannot tolerate a situation where a few people consider themselves above the party and do things with impunity without regard for the authority of the leadership of the party just because they are in one leadership position or the other which by the way were positions they got through the instrumentality of the PDP.”

    But, Inokoba fired back. He described the activities of the governor and the disciplinary committee as null and void, accusing Dickson of destroying the party. He said the crisis was engineered by the governor to send potential governorship aspirants out of the PDP and pave the way for him as the sole candidate.

    He said: “As the truly elected chairman of the PDP in the state, I am the only one that can summon any meeting of the executive committee or set up any disciplinary committee”.

     

    Failed reconciliation

    The defection of prominent chieftains is a setback for the PDP. The defectors-Senator Clever Ikisikpo, Mr. Nadu Karibo and Hon. Azibola Omekwe-dumped the PDP for the APC, citing the protracted crisis as the reason for leaving.

    Former President Jonathan’s move to reconcile the warring chieftains were belated. Many members have berated him for failing to stop his associates from leaving for the APC. They alleged that he refused to call them to order as they sowed the seed of discord. Although he called a meeting, many aggrieved chieftains shunned the parley. Sources said Mrs. Jonathan’s associates refused to attend the fence-mending meeting because of the presence of the Dickson and his supporters.

    For the PDP to retain power next year, party elders said the aggrieved members should rally round Jonathan and Dickson. Jonathan has endorsed the second term aspiration of the governor and party members to support him.

    The former President also set up a three-man committee headed by former Governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha to reconcile the aggrieved groups and individuals. Other members are King A. J. Turner and Chief Thompson K. Okorotie.

     

    A house divided

    Despite the endorsement of Dickson for a second term by Dr. Jonathan, Dickson’s kinsmen, under the aegis of Ogbia Joint Initiative (ODJI), said rejected the endorsement. Then, a gale of defections followed. Dr. Jonathan’ friend, Chief Diekivie Ikiogha, defected to the APC.

    Ikiogha, a founding member of the PDP, Chief Victor Awala, Mr. Paul Ajuwa, Mrs. D. Irene, Mr. Prince Abeki, a former commissioner, and  over 150 former councillors led the ruling party.

    At a rally in Yenagoa, Ikiogha said he decided to quit the PDP because it is party of betrayal and deceit.

    He said:  “The PDP is full of betrayal and deceit. There is lack of internal democracy and it is a party where the highest bidder always has his ways.”

     

    Division among elders

    Dickson’s second term ambition has divided the party elders under the umbrella group, the Bayelsa Development Forum (BDF) headed by Chief Thompson Okorotie. Those opposed to the governor’s ambition have left the group. Following their exit, they held a meeting in Yenagoa to map out strategies. In attendance were former commissioners, special advisers and local council chairmen. Majority of them came from Dickson’s Bayelsa West Senatorial District. At the meeting, they formed a group, the Bayelsa Peoples Consultative Assembly (BPCA). Senator John Brambayefa from Sagabama, where Dickson hails from, was elected chairman of the group.

    Speakers flayed the Dickson administration, saying that it has made the state stagnant. They were unanimous in their clamour for change.

    Brambayefa disclosed that a 14-member committee has been set up to work out the modalities for their defection to the APC.

    Also, an elder statesman, Alex Ekiotimin, said decried what he described as the inhuman polices of the governor. He accused him of disregarding elders, adding that their decision to join the APC was in order.

    But, Dickson described the elders as greedy and hypocritical politicians.

    He said: “This is an opportunistic lobby group, desperately in search of power without any modicum of integrity. They should be reminded that contrary to their assertions, they actually constitute the problem of development in the state. Their selfish conception of politics and attitude in government are what had retarded development in the state since the era of the late statesman, Chief MelfordOkilo.

    “Bayelsans can never exchange the present peace and tranquility in the state and the unprecedented level of development for the chaos and unmitigated rent culture of the past”.

    Dickson said the aim of the group is to return the state to the era when state resources were shared among few people at the expense of development.

    He added: “Since 1999, these are the same people, who benefited in state and federal appointments, which came with huge influence and privileges, but what did they do with such power and influence?                                         “What has been their contribution to economic development and empowerment of Bayelsans? All they want is free access to money, which will enable them to live big at the expense of development.”

    Also, the PDP said the defection to the APC is insignificant, although it acknowledged that it was unfortunate and embarrassing.

    The party said the defectors were not grateful to the platform that offered them opportunities to rise to stardom.

    The Publicity Secretary, Mr. Osom Makbere, alleged that the defectors  have wrecked havoc on the platform before leaving for the APC.

    He said: “These fellows, who actually have no electoral value and whose fibre are also spent, are creating the impression that they are moving with supporters.”

    He said the defectors took undue advantage of the PDP’s defeat at the centre to reposition themselves as APC members, adding that they did so to curry favour and attract patronage from the APC leadership. He said it is shameful and disheartening that the defectors were the key men of the former President.

    Makbere added: “They ought to remain faithful to the party in this period of sober reflection as a way of demonstrating our appreciation and eternal gratitude to the party for providing the platform for us as a minority to produce the President.

    “But they are now busy jumping ships in passion for greener pastures. This clearly show them as people who are untrustworthy, disloyal, unfaithful and treacherous”, he said.

    He said the defectors sought to fly the flag of the party at the last general elections, but lost out by divine providence.

    He said: “It is repugnant that most of these persons are beneficiaries of the magnanimity of the Seriake Dickson Restoration Government which either appointed them to senior sensitive positions or awarded them contracts. These are the ones turning around to say that nothing is happening in the state.”

    Makbere said Dickson has recorded many achievements in the areas of good governance, rule of law, safety of life and property, education, rural electrification construction ad equipment of hospitals.

    He added: “We are not perturbed by these show of shame because the party ad the government enjoy massive support from within and outside the state. We use this opportunity to appeal to our teaming party supporters ad the general public to remain calm and collected and have unflinching confidence in the government and the party”, he said.

     

    Divided cabinet

    The State Executive Council is also divided over the governor’s ambition. Commissioners and special advisers are attending anti-Dickson’s meeting in Port-Harcourt, Rivers State capital, by the former Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Timi Alaibe, who may run for the governor in the APC.

    A source said: “Timi Alaibe hosted a meeting in Port Harcourt. I have the names of Dickson’s aides who were in attendance. Even people in Government are in the opposition. The governor is aware of all the moves by some of his appointees to join forces with his detractors and move against him.”

  • Politics, public service, morality and integrity in Nigeria (2)

    President Obama, President of the richest country in the world earns $400,000 per annum.  The British Prime Minister earns 190,000 Pounds.  A Senator, in Nigeria, one of the poorest countries in the world, earns, $1,700,000 per annum.  It is absurd.  It is, as someone has called it, “a feeding frenzy”

    The Senate President is reported to be earning N250, Million quarterly or N83.33 Million per month, whilst his deputy earns N50 million per month.  The Senate has allocated N1,024,000,000 as quarterly allowance to its 10 principal officers, known collectively as Senate leadership.  Each of the other principal officers earns N78 million every three months or N26 million per month.33

      All data on legislators salaries and allowances were obtained from (1) Business Hallmark Newspaper, June

    3.6         Someone sent text messages to many Nigerians putting the above situation in context as follows:

    “It is being speculated that it cost N290 million annually to maintain each member of the National Assembly.  This is happening in a country where virtually every amenity does not work and where average earning of 80 per cent of the populace is below N300 per day.  Whereas [the earnings] of a Nigerian Senator is more than the salary of 42 army generals or 48 professors or 70 Commissioners of Police or more than twice the pay of the US President Obama or nine times the salary of US congressional representative.”

    This tragic state of affairs is clearly unsustainable.  Those engaged in this feeding frenzy are endangering our democracy.

    3.7         Legislators have been arrested and are being prosecuted for unlawfully procuring federal contracts for their private companies.   Legislators have also been prosecuted for demanding bribes before approving budgets for ministries.

    Some Federal Ministries’ officials have been known to share unspent parts of the budget allocated to their ministries.  The Ministry of Health was in the middle of such a scandal two years ago.  Can we guarantee that this is not also happening in the States’ Ministries?

    2009, saw the revelation of major frauds in our banks, perpetrated by the Chief Executives and Directors of the Banks concerned.  So grave were the acts of fraud that the seven banks would have failed, if the Central Bank had not injected billions of naira into them.  How innocent the ‘offence’ of Dr. Azikiwe of merely banking Government funds in his bank at a rate of interest, now seems in retrospect.

    3.8         This corruption pandemic has even spread to the judiciary.  The Business Day Newspaper of Monday 28 June 2010 reports that it costs between 1-3 billion naira to bribe judges who are members of Governorship Election Tribunals.  Many Judges have already been dismissed for collecting bribes while sitting on election tribunals. This involvement of the Judiciary in corruption is the most painful of the injuries being inflicted on Nigeria.  The Judiciary ought to be the Nigerian safe haven to which we can all look for relief and respite from Nigeria’s political earthquakes storms and fire.  We must however acknowledge that the Court of Appeal has largely redeemed the image of the Judiciary in recent times.

    3.9         In addition to all these, we still have the foreign companies’ bribery scams involving numerous public officers.  These include, the Halliburton scam, involving 80 former public officers, the Wilbros scam and the Siemen’s scam.

    Of course many state Governments are currently or have in the past experienced raids by the EFCC and ICPC in which officials were arrested for multibillion frauds both at State Government and Local Government Levels.  These excesses have no limitation in terms of quantity and diversity.

    3.10      The outcome of all this, is the prevalence and persistence of fraudulent, violent and horribly rigged elections, lack of accountability in governance, uncontrolled corruption, a rundown economy, underdevelopment, broken down infrastructure, particularly power and roads, poverty of the masses and decayed social services.  This is followed by capital flight, diversion of investments to other countries, and the achievement of pariah status by Nigeria in the international community.  The last time I arrived in Muritala Mohammed Airport at the end of a trip abroad, both conveyor belts for conveying luggages at the arrival hall had packed up and to Nigeria’s eternal shame, luggages were being manually transferred to the floor of the arrival hall of that dilapidated and government abandoned Airport.  Meanwhile, British passengers through whose computerized airport we had commenced the journey were looking on with contemptuous amusement.

      Only recently The News Magazine observed correctly as follows:

    “In the 11 years that Nigeria has returned to democracy, infrastructure decay (roads, railways, power supply), has worsened, while all sectors (education, health, housing, manufacturing) have further collapsed, despite the several trillions of naira budgeted each year to improve the nation.  One Nigerian columnist called the parasitic nature of the politicians “a feeding frenzy”, a term that described how predatory animals descend hungrily on preys, like when piranhas or sharks attack a school of fish.4″

    3.11      Some current State Governors are giving themselves stupendous pensions even before the end of their terms of office.  In one case, a Governor gave himself 200 million naira, a monthly pension equivalent to his present salary, a personal assistant of level 8 or above, two vehicles with drivers, replaceable every four years, free medical treatment abroad for the Governor and his immediate family, a 30-day annual vacation abroad, with estacode, free mobile phone with internet services, and in one case, a retirement house.

    1. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

    4.1         I wonder whether Nigeria has not gone too far down the depths of the abyss to be saved.  Recently, Professor Ben Nwabueze suggested that only a bloody revolution could save Nigeria.  I hope not.  What we absolutely and urgently need is a leader who can impose discipline and eliminate corruption.  There will be need to amend our laws to strengthen the state at the expense of individual liberty at least for a short while, if we are to get to redemption point.  All legal provisions permitting preliminary objections to prosecutions for corruption must be repealed from our laws.  The power of any court to issue an order of injunction against a trial for any crime, particularly corruption should be repealed.  Interlocutory applications in cases concerning corruption should be banned.

    4.2         Apart from the above, legislators should no longer be allowed to fix their own allowances and such salaries and allowances should not exceed that earned by a Permanent Secretary.

    Inspite of the gross rigging of elections in 2003 and 2007, no one has so far been prosecuted for electoral crime.  This must no longer be the case.  The Electoral Crimes Tribunals should be established at once and all persons suspected of flouting provisions of the Electoral Act should be charged before it.

    4.3         However, the most important factor that can effect a fundamental difference to our situation is a change of orientation on the part of our politicians. They must take a leaf from the conduct of our 1st Republic Politicians if our polity is to survive.  They must shed their cloak of self interest and ‘feeding frenzy’ for a garment of public service and sacrifice.  They must see politics as a call to serve the Nation and its people rather than an opportunity to make a fast fortune.  In other words, they must imbibe a culture of civilized and enlightened servants of the people, rather than that of primitive and barbarous hordes of foreign invaders determined to feed ferociously on and exhaust all of our resources.  Leaders or even rulers are not termites or foreign hordes of invaders.   They must not subject the populace to a scorched earth policy.

    4.4         Inspite of what I have stated above, I do not want to give the impression that’s the country is enveloped in total darkness.  NO. There are glimmers of light and hope here and there.  Though few and far between, they raise our hopes of the possibility of a brighter and civilized future for Nigeria and Nigerians.  Developments in Lagos, Rivers, Edo and Ondo States in the last 2 to 4 years, give us a glimmer of hope for the future.

    4.5         I conclude this address with the following inspiring statement by a man I regard as the greatest Nigerian who has ever lived – Chief Obafemi Awolowo.

    In his autobiography, Awo stated as follows:

    “As I said before, we believe in the equality of all men, and in the liberty of the individual.  I believe that every citizen, however humble and lowly his station in life, has a right to demand from his government the creation of those conditions which will enable him progressively to enjoy, according to civilized standards, the basic necessities of life as well as reasonable comfort and a measure of luxury.  In other words, every citizen, regardless of his birth or religion, should be free and reasonably contented.

    It is often overlooked that there are two vital and inescapable stages in life wherein all men and women, however great or small, and however, rich or poor, are equal: at birth and at death.  Through these two events, Nature herself is incessantly imparting to us a lesson which is also vital and inescapable and which mankind ignores at its peril, namely that all men and women should be treated as equal, both as political and economic beings.  For this reason all laws, measures and programmes introduced by government must be framed so as to give equal treatment and opportunity to all.”5

      Whenever I think of the chaotic, disorderly and confused condition of things in our dear country, the following verses of a Church hymn which seem to be directed at us, come to my mind.

    “Dear Lord and Father of Mankind

    Drop thy still dews of quietness,

    Till all our strivings cease;

    Take from our souls the strain and stress,

    And let our ordered lives confess the beauty of thy peace.

    Breathe through the heats of our desire

    Thy coolness and thy balm;

    Let sense be dumb.

    Let flesh retire;

    Speak through the earthquake, wind, and fire, [of Nigeria]

    O still small voice of calm.”

    (Footnotes)

    1See New Webster

    ’s Dictionary of the English Language. P. 649

    2 Obafemi Awolowo,

    Awo: An Autobiography of Chief Obafemi Awolowo

    ( Cambridge University Press,

    1960), p.  225.

    28 – July 4 2010and (2) Elombah Perspective, by Elombah Daniel, posted in the internet, June 29, 2010.

    4                       Issue of 29 November 2010.

  • ‘Why medical students should play politics’

    ‘Why medical students should play politics’

    Many medical students shy away from politics because of their academic workload. Is that wise? No, say participants at a summit organised by the Nigerian Medical Students Association (NiMSA). The participants argued that medical students lack leadership skills because they are apolitical, reports EDDY UWOGHIREN (300-Level Medicine and Surgery, University of Benin).

    Medical students have been advised to participate in politics to acquire leadership skills for self development.

    Dr Phillip Ugbodaga, former chairman of Edo State Chapter of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) made this plea at the Igbinedion University in Okada, Edo State penultimate week, during the maiden Leadership Summit organised by the Nigerian Medical Students Association (NiMSA).

    Dr Ugbodaga spoke on Medicine and politics: Mentoring medical students for leadership, where he said medical profession lacked vibrant youth wing because students were not interested in politics. Noting that there was need for progressive leadership in the healthcare management system, Ugbodaga said there would be paradigm shift if students showed interest to fill the vacuum.

    He said: “Medical students and young doctors are seen as people who don’t need to socialise and engage in any other activities apart from medicine. Because of this, medical students receive no structured guidance about becoming effective community leaders; they only learn after leaving school. This is the reason students must take up leadership role while in school.”

    Observing that other professions have representations in national politics, the former NMA chair said medical students were always conscious of academic workload they needed to cover. This, he said, was the reason they failed to develop their leadership skills.

    “They just pass through medical school without any thing to hold on to. If we have enough doctors in the National Assembly, they will push for laws that will improve healthcare delivery to Nigerians. We have health bills pending without little hope it would be passed into law. The bill would benefit medical students, because it would encourage exchange programme,” he said.

    Dr Amina Okhakhu, president of Medical Women Association of Nigeria (MWAN) in the state, spoke on Medical career and life outside medicine: Finding a balance. She told students to always balance their studies with extracurricular activities they engage in.

    She said: “In medical school, the struggle for a balance between academics and leadership role is usually a difficult task. Medical students in leadership position find reasons to question their choice to participate in politics when faced with the demands of leadership.  At times, medical students get disapproval from friends and lecturers to participate in politics. All these challenges reduce the number of medical students in leadership role on campus.”

    While getting involved in leadership, Dr Okhakhu said students must not allow their primary aim in medical school to suffer.

    Earlier, Stephani Oni-Ogunbor, NiMSA’s Vice President for Internal Affairs, said the declining participation of medical students in politics informed the programme. She said the association had an objective to see that medical students getting involved in politics.

    “During the summit, we seek to identify concerns and priorities with respect to leadership in medical practice. We will deliberate on possible components of successful leadership intervention for medical students and derive the possible means of integrating leadership training in the medical curriculum,”Stephani said.

    The event also featured power summit, proposal writing session and fund raising. These were followed by a football match between the host and the delegates. The match ended 2-0 in favour of IUOMSA. There was also dinner and Red Cross training for the students.

    Emmanuel Edigberhi, a participant from the University of Benin (UNIBEN), praised NiMSA for floating the summit. He said he was marvelled by the speakers’ message, adding that he was better equipped for leadership role. He said the summit provided him opportunity to relax and build friendship with other medical students.

  • Osun’s politics of the belly

    It had got to be the limit — Bayelsa senator, Ben Murray-Bruce’s attempt at wannabe activism.  He had “donated” his anticipated wardrobe allowance to feed hungry Osun workers — and a few Bayelsa widows.

    Hare-brained activism never made a more hare-brained start!

    Homeboy, Iyiola Omisore, also made a quiet rumble: doing his little bit to feed the hungry Osun multitude.  However, had he wanted to cause a stir, he would have parked trailer load of grains at the Osun Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) secretariat in Osogbo; and invited the starving plebs of Abere, the state government’s secretariat, to come have their fill!

    In Mr. Omisore’s world, charity and politics co-mingle for devastating effects!

    Why, the controversial Buruji Kashamu, Omisore’s deep ideological soul mate in democratic feudalism, also sent in his own words of hope: trailers, creaking under loads and loads of victuals and myriad provisions, were snailing and snaking into Osun!

    Has the SOS caravan arrived?

    O, the media also weighed in; in the Osun wage hysteria.  Abimbola Adelakun (The Punch, June 11) intervened with a piece that betrayed structural split-personality. The headline, “Ogbeni Aregbesola, pay your workers” was a cynical taunt, in the classical Yoruba traditional sense.  But it ended with basic reason and admission that Osun’s problem stems from a national systemic failure. In-between were emotive and neo-liberal snarling against “populist” policies.

    Ms Adelakun’s newspaper would later pour cold water on efforts, at the end of June, to start paying the salary arrears, suggesting, by its cynical angling of the news, that the efforts were too little, too late.  Of course, between The Punch and Aregbesola’s government, there appears no love lost.

    Still, the very limit would come with a crusading jurist, ensconced in the Osun judiciary, inflicting great violence on judicial reticence and the separation of power doctrine.

    Justice Oloyede Folahanmi, an Osun high court judge, wrote a petition calling on the Osun legislature to impeach Governor Aregbesola, over the salary arrears.  Her tone suggested the governor wilfully held salaries back to punish and intimidate workers.  But logically, why might he do that?

    A few have defended Justice Folahanmi’s unprecedented conduct, insisting she wrote in her personal capacity; and not as a judge.  Still, the notorious fact (as her constituency would say) is that she is a sitting judge, sworn to some service ethos and etiquette!

    Besides, if that apologia held, then the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), writing as a citizen, could  well gift himself the liberty to write the National Assembly for the president’s impeachment, should the Federal Government falter on salaries!  You see how misguided judicial activism could easily court anarchy?

    But something should be clear.  Between friendly and hostile camps to the Osun governor’s salary odyssey, there is no high moral ground.  Both are driven by the logic of public policy analysis, a media activity critical to democratic deepening.

    So, what is Ripples’ angst at the stand of Justice Folahanmi and co?  Good question; but before an answer, another caveat: other things being equal, salary delays are degrading and indefensible.  Their ripple effects can make a family really, really miserable; and it is a path no self-respecting adult wants to tread.  Besides, even a month’s delay is bad enough.  For months’ delay, one can imagine the anguish on the affected families.

    So, what is wrong with telling it as it is — as Aregbesola’s media critics have done — and reading out the riot act to the governor: pay or quit?

    The approach.  While compassion is noble, emotion-milking is vile, wilful and cruel.  It can only create two victims: the governor as demon, useless and uncaring; and hurting workers, fed on the daily diet of gubernatorial loathing.  Both can only work up emotions; but hardly solve the problem.

    Besides, the skewed attention on Osun, when more than a half of the 36 states are involved in the salary meltdown, suggests a media roasting most bizarre, with the media becoming part of the problem, instead of navigating the polity towards a solution.

    Of course, such unconscionable muddying of waters suits nicely Aregbesola’s political traducers.  That is where Omisore and co belong; and to the amoral political class, all is fair in war.

    But the media, becoming ready and merry tools to fight these unholy wars, is tantamount to the media becoming smashed mirrors, from which only skewed images of society can emerge.

    And for a serving judicial officer to unthinkingly barge in, is the judicial equivalent of dancing naked.

    But the most tragic consequence of this politics-of-the-belly approach to a serious crunch, which calls for radical financial restructuring, is deliberate misdiagnosis, which has nothing to offer but mischief.

    In the heat of the crusading passion, Aregbesola became the irredeemable Satan, not Goodluck Jonathan; under whose presidency the national purse became a sieve, putting most states in the present bind.

    For instance, the Jonathan presidency declared daily stolen 400, 000 barrels, from the 2.6 million produced each day.  Though that should have translated into some 15 per cent reduction, states suffered a 40 per cent drop from Federation Account (FA) takings — without any cogent reason.

    Then, the global oil price crash.  The cumulative effect of Jonathan’s leaking purse and the price dip, crashed Osun’s revenue by some 55 per cent.  Now, Aregbesola’s only blame here appears his huge appetite for developmental projects, financed with sundry loans and bonds,  invested in social and physical infrastructure.  That tenuous balance left the state heavily leveraged.  The shock, from this sudden financial storm, smashed Osun’s monthly FA taking below the N3.6 billion monthly civil servants’ wage bill.  That explains the salary default.

    Even then, Osun’s internally generated revenue (IGR) for 2014, from National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) figures, was N8.5 billion, placing 11th out of 25 states.  Compared with Akwa Ibom’s N15.6 billion (seventh placed, though Nigeria’s highest FA drawer), it would appear Osun is using its meagre resources to deepen its local economy, while Akwa Ibom, flush with oil derivation cash, seems largely content with its FA takings.

    Besides, a global multidimensional poverty index (MPI) survey of Nigeria, with 100 other developing countries, has introduced a fresh perspective to Osun and poverty.

    The MPI is based on a 10-point indicator, based on three broad poverty criteria: education (years of schooling and school attendance), health (child mortality and nutrition) — both gauging the meeting of a child’s social infrastructure needs  — and a six-point indicator under “standard of living”: assets, cooking fuel, floor, water, sanitation and electricity.

    Under MPI, quoted from an Oxford University document called Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (2015), Osun placed second, only to Lagos, among Nigerian states least affected by poverty, via a pile chart tagged  ”Headcount of the ratios of MPI poor and destitute”.

    That means that despite all the salary hoopla, Osun has somehow devised ways to improve its poverty level.

    Still, many newspaper commentators thunder, from their Olympian heights of raw passion, that Aregbesola should scrap his high impact developmental programmes, because of the salary hoopla.

    The Ogbeni, to his peril, would listen to such Mephistophelean counsel; though he should try his best possible to clear the salary arrears.

    ‘Many newspaper commentators thunder Aregbesola should scrap his high impact developmental programmes. The Ogbeni, to his peril, would listen to such Mephistophelean counsel’

  • Al-Makura, politics and living with disability

    Al-Makura, politics and living with disability

    People aspire to be wealthy and powerful; but what is the true measure of a man? Does race, intelligence or character make you superior to other men? Or are those who are able bodied better than people living with disabilities? These were the questions on my mind as I watched Governor Umaru Tanko Al-Makura deliver a thought-provoking keynote speech at the  International Conference on Disabilities which held recently in Lagos.

    As many are well aware, he entered the race to become Governor of Nasarawa State in 2011 as a person living with the disability of deafness in both ears. He contested at that time on the platform of Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), a political party newly formed by Muhammadu Buhari which was barely four months old in at the time of elections. The CPC had no template for electoral victory – since it had never ruled before; yet Al-makura defeated the sitting governor at that time and was re-elected for a second term in 2015 under the All Progressives Congress (APC). After four years of outstanding political stewardship, which goes by the moniker: “Buhari’s political laboratory”, Umaru Tanko Al-makura has successfully carved a niche for himself as one of Nigeria’s leading champions of government accountability and transparency, with Nasarawa State ranked among the top three states in the country with high fiscal discipline by Transparency International.

    Prior to the coming of Al-makura, the standard practice was for the government to borrow N800 million each month from banks to pay workers salary. He promptly halted this financial haemorrhage and rejected the option to take monthly bank loan but insisted on a stringent strategy of fiscal discipline and cost-cutting measures to pay the salary of workers.

    Today, as the saying goes; the rest is history. The governor was able to pay up the huge debt of N37 billion which he inherited within two years without taking a loan from any bank and his innate sense of sacrifice ensured that the state has not failed to pay workers’ salary for four years running since May 2011. Indeed by all indices of good governance, Governor Al-makura has proved to be a worthy ambassador of people living with disabilities. For anyone who is disabled, the turbulent terrain of politics is not the most ideal. First, disabled people cope with the consequences of negative attitude towards people with disabilities as a whole, and every day they must endure a certain measure of physical discomfort, even if it is wearing a hearing aid for almost 18 hours. Some people who lose their limb, eyes or their arms and are forced to crawl through life on bare hands or pushed from place to place on a wheelchair endure endless bodily pain and often exist in a state of mourning. It is like living your life in a bad dream where you constantly reach for your arms, only to suddenly remember that you no longer have hands!

    But how do we ascertain if our own society discriminates against the disabled? In a CCD report, it noted that: “If a deaf person comes to the Police Station in Nigeria to make a complaint there are no sign language interpreters, and he is asked to either write down his complaint or a family member will report on his behalf!” The Report then posed the question: “What then happens when the complaint is against the said family member, how do we ensure that this disabled person will get justice?” In the same vein, the Chairman of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Professor Chidi Odinkalu, who describes Nigeria as an “oral society” where we talk without keeping track of what we say or putting action to words, recently promised to summon financial institutions in Nigeria over discrimination of citizens with disabilities’ because they have no access to banking halls and no special platform to provide them with financial services. On his own part, Cosmas I.B. Okoli, Chairman, Mobility Aid and Appliances Research and Development Centre, Lagos notes; “It is obvious that the disabled people in Nigeria are living daily in an environment that is hostile to their yearnings and aspirations. The society has unknowingly denied them all forms of integration be it social, economic or political. They have been cast aside as non-issues and subjected to a heavily tensioned psychological trauma!”

    It is instructive to note that there is no denying the fact that we pay lip service to the care and integration of disabled persons in Nigeria. For instance, Uganda has no less than six different legislations covering different aspects of lives of persons living with disabilities, while Kenya enacted its own disability legislation as far back as 2003 and Ghana passed the “Person with Disabilities Act” in 2006! Without effective national disability legislation, some “compassionate” states in Nigeria have for long been left to sprinkle the milk of human kindness on the disabled in whatever way they deem fit.

    All the efforts of Al-makura and others like him are without doubt commendable, but the enactment of an active Disability law is wholesale, mandatory and has deeper long-term impact. According to President of the World Bank Group, Robert B. Zoelleck: “Addressing the health, education, employment, and other development need of people living with disabilities is fundamental to achieving the Millennium Development Goals. We need to help people with disabilities gain equitable access to opportunities to participate and contribute to their communities. They have much to offer if given a fair chance to do so!”

    My personal view is that even the way we talk or write about people living with disability is “unconsciously” tainted with some measure of detachment, isolation and discrimination. It is as if those of us who are able bodied see the disabled as “THEM”, very distinct and separate from “US”, meanwhile the fact is that “Disability is part of the human condition. Almost every one of us will be permanently or temporarily disabled at some point in our life!”  And that is the plain truth, at infancy we are yet to develop the ability to fend for ourselves and at later stages of life, accident or ill health and finally old age might leave us so incapacitated to the extent that we are unable to take care of ourselves.

    Without doubt, comprehensive care for persons living with disability and their inclusion into the economic centre and fabric of society can be institutionalized in laws and legal frameworks, but the deepest inclusion must come from our hearts. This is where I must quote one of my favourite aspects of the keynote speech by Governor Al-makura where he stated that: “It is only when we interface and transact rather than despise the disabled, show care rather than neglect, that together we can have an inclusive society. This must take place in government agencies, corporate concern; media etc., failing to do this will amount to what I can call institutional genocide against People Living with Disability!”

    The keynote speech by Governor Al-makura at the International Conference on Disabilities in Lagos had one central message. It asked all of us to take the first step and open our hearts to our friends, neighbours and fellow humans who are disabled in order for us to build an inclusive society.

    •Lamai is Senior Special Assistant, Public Affairs & Media Strategy to Governor Al-makura of Nasarawa State