The Nation Newspaper

Tag: politics

  • Where is the social contract for Nigerians?

    Every human society has its peculiarities anchored on its very mix of historical trajectory. It is a multi-layered fabric of norms, values, customs, cultures, traditions culminating in its over-arching politics. The politics of every society is the totality of this multi-layered history manifesting through social interactions, conflict and resolution.

    The Western nations of Europe brought their civilisation to Africa and blackmailed us that we are without a past, “history”. That we are from the Dark Continent (black skin), therefore, we were not capable of thinking and reasoning like human beings. They began to ‘civilise’ us through their religion and school (education).

    In the wake of this rude shock to the continent after centuries of dehumanising slave trade (trans-atlantics and trans-Sahara) another foreign religion and education was in toll in the Northern tip of the continent inching its way across the continent through jihadism. Thus, the continent came under the centripetal forces of foreign powers.

    Labour force, productivity, creativity, intellectuality and intelligentsias were all lost to these foreign predators. Human reproduction was adversely affected as population decimated and the continent lay waste. It was in this cul-de-sac that Africa found herself when the western colonial power introduced its concept of government. The concept of “social contract” is as old as the society. It has been re-invented over the centuries until finally deified by the trio of; Locke, Hobbes Rouseau and others.

    “Social Contract” is the agreement entered into by individuals that result in the formation of the state or of organised society; the prime motives being the desire for protection, which entails the surrender of some or all personal liberties.

    It is against this backdrop that I engage and interrogate the government of the Nigerian state today. Over the years since independence, lives of Nigerian citizens have become increasingly cheap that any group of lunatics, fanatics, criminals and even the state security agents could dispense with at the blink of an eye.

    Life in Nigeria can best be described in the same term as it were in the western world before its philosophers theorised “Social Contract”, “nasty, brutish and short”. Nigeria as a country in this 21st century has plunged into pre-history that the western philosophers abhorred by re-inventing through their civilisation to conceive social contract theories. Where is the social contract that exists between the government and her citizens today?

     

    • By Ogbu A. Ameh

    Abuja

  • Language in the time of politics

    THEY are not new, but by virtue of the uses (and abuses) to which they are being deployed, they deserve more than a cursory glance. They define the thoughts, actions and inaction of some of the leading actors on our national stage. They convey to us the feelings of our leaders and offer us a glimpse into the fecundity of their minds.

    They are words and phrases that have been effectively used by some of our compatriots to comment or act on the state of the nation. But, this is not just another voyage into the world of linguistics. Nor is it a matter of semantics as an end in itself. No. After all, words are mere vehicles conveying our thoughts.

    When the literary giant, Prof. Wole Soyinka, said President Muhammadu Buhari had committed some “unforced errors”, some excited lawn tennis enthusiasts were wondering whether the Nobel laureate had been sweating it out on the court to keep fit. Before anybody could find out if tennis was the secret of Soyinka’s agility and trim figure, politicians had seized upon the innocent phrase as a weapon to fight their battles.

    Akwa Ibom Governor Emmanuel Udom got an award from the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA), sparking an outrage in the camp of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state. The party claimed that the governor had done nothing to earn the award, which they never claimed was not worthy of the importance the giver and the recipient attached to it. The APC wrote to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), complaining that a Federal Government institution should not have honoured the governor, who belongs in the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The party said it thought little of it until Udom “turned the award into a political campaign slogan”.

    The APC urged SGF Boss Mustapha to call Udom to order as, according to the party, he was planning to erect billboards carrying his photograph while receiving the award from the SGF. It is still unclear if Mr Mustapha accepted this plea. Or whether Udom will agree to be called to order.

    Minister of Information Lai Mohammed also got an open letter from the APC on the award. The party wondered why the NTA should honour Udom.  That Udom got the award , the PDP said, was “an unforced error”.

    Not willing to turn the other cheek, the PDP fought back, calling the APC’s “attacks” “devilish” and “very petty”. Did the NTA actually commit an “unforced error”? Where was the APC when the NTA announced the winners of its National Service Awards? Why shut the stable after the horse had escaped? Should the governor not be allowed to enjoy the excitement of his prize?

    Isn’t the “forced error” actually APC’s? Why didn’t the party approach a court of competent jurisdiction to seek an order that Udom should not be honoured by the  Federal Government, its proxies, agencies, representatives, officials, servants and any other who may be directed, permitted and requested to confer such honours? Besides, it could also seek a declaration that the governor deserved no honour?

    Ever since a Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) official claimed that a mystery snake swallowed N36million belonging to the agency, the word “swallow” has taken on a new meaning. The official is said to have since recanted, saying the cash was actually collected from her by her boss.

    Despite that, some Nigerians have been claiming that animals, including monkeys, are swallowing cash. When President Buhari went to Ghana’s independence anniversary celebration, he promised that Nigeria would assist that country to fight corruption. The innocuous pledge became the subject of cruel jokes. Ghanaians were saying we should capture the snake that swallowed  N36million before lending them a hand.

    At restaurants now, it is no longer fashionable for diners to request for “swallow”. Asked if he would like to have rice and beans or “swallow”, a patron would simply retort: “Me, swallow? Am I a snake?”

    Until Senator Shehu Sani (Kaduna Central) let the cat out of the bag on the delicate matter of senators’ salary and allowances, it was as if the words “jumbo” and “bumper” had become obsolete. A senator gets N13.5million monthly running cost and a salary of N750, 000. Besides, there is N200million for constituency project.

    “I decided to burst it open. It was a moral issue,” Sani told the BBC. Senate spokesman  Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi confirmed Sani’s assertion, saying it was not new. Now many Nigerians are saying the “jumbo” running cost must be reduced or stopped altogether. Some are pushing for the “bumper” salary to be reviewed.

    Others are demanding an explanation of what the “running cost” actually stands for. Has the National Assembly become a factory? There are those who have called for the abolition of the National Assembly, saying as usual without facts and figures that it is a conclave of thieves who are bound together by a common goal – to loot the treasury and drop crumbs for their constituents.

    They have been deriding senators as greedy, lazy and shameless. Is this fair?

    The business of lawmaking is hazardous, riskier than working a rice milling machine, physically and mentally exerting. Sleepless nights, oversight duties, public hearings, motions, counter-motions, seminars and more. And all that for  chicken-feed.  Given the sacrifice of our lawmakers, I am afraid, we will all wake up some day to find out that they have gone on strike for a better pay and an environment conducive to their job.

    No prize for guessing the would-be mover of the motion for a better pay for legislators?

    The word “reconciliation” seems to have got more prominence since President Buhari chose Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu to lead the battle for peace in the ruling APC.  To many, the task is Herculean, but those who are familiar with Asiwaju’s tenacious grip on whatever cause he believes in have no doubt that he will succeed.  However, the popular question is, would there have been any need for a peacemaker if the party leadership was alive – morally and practically?

    When former President Olusegun Obasanjo issued his controversial “special press statement” in which he lashed out at the Buhari administration, he spoke of the need for a “third force”. He then threatened to form a Coalition for Nigeria Movement. Weeks after, former Cross River State Governor Donald Duke and former Osun State Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola stormed Abuja to join Ahmadu Ali (remember him? The one who got shoved off the PDP chair and, thereafter went into the political cooler) and others to present the Coalition.

    Ever since, it has remained a mystery how this “third force” will take concrete form.  Obasanjo, a sworn statesman, who has publicly renounced politics, has been strutting across the land – from Bayelsa where he had lunch at former President Goodluck Jonathan’s home to Makurdi where he laid a wreath at the graveside of the victims of herdsmen’s attacks.

    Some of Obasanjo’s associates have dumped the PDP for the Social Democratic Party (SDP). Is SDP the “third force”? The party denies it all. And the old fox, the mischievous chief, keeps them guessing.

     

    The blind versus Okorocha

    THERE is so much discontent in the land. Protests in Benue over killings by herdsmen. Anger in Plateau over killings. More protests over abductions – of Chibok and Dapchi girls – by Boko Haram. Pensioners are up in arms against governments.  Lawyers marched on Tuesday in Lagos over the Land Use Charge, which the government is ready to discuss.

    In Imo State, an unusual kind of protest was staged on Monday. Hundreds of people with visual impairment, under the aegis of the Nigeria Association of the Blind (NAB) marched on the Government House in Owerri, blocking the gates.

    Okorocha Imo
    Owelle Okorocha

    Their grouse?

    Non-payment of their “welfare packages, annual subventions and unfulfilled promises by the governor”. Governor Rochas Okorocha said NAB leader Mr Kalu Christopher promised to establish a Special School for the Blind. “No blind person in Imo has access to education, except those who can afford to travel to Ebonyi and Enugu states… .We met the governor in 2013. He promised that the school would take off in September 2014.But in November when we led a protest to him, you know what the governor told us? He said to us ‘had it been you came earlier, you would have seen truck carrying gravel to the new school site’.

    “But, since that 2014 till today, we have not seen the truck or the gravel and not even the school site has been shown to us. It is only in Imo State that a leader in that high position can openly lie without minding the effect.”

    Poor fellows. It is not only in Imo that leaders lie; they lie all over the place – with impunity. An activist has suggested that His Excellency should rather shelve his plan to erect more statues and pump the cash into building the school for the blind–as being recommended by some so-called experts–he should mount a huge statue of  the NAB leader in Owerri.

    That way, he said, the blind would  have a sense of belonging. Besides, Okorocha could set up a ministry for the blind and appoint one of his sisters as commissioner. Or draft in one of his in-laws who are eyeing his seat to be Special Assistant on the Blind Affairs.

    But Okorocha is not all sentiment.  He is also a man of equity.  Those who know him well say they would not be surprised if they woke up one day and found that he had erected a monument to the blind in the Owerri city centre.

  • The polluters of our politics

    Politics, either as a profession or as a vocation, has taken too much bashing that were it not a necessity of life, it’s about time one turned one’s back to it.

    Some of the ugliest adjectives had been used to describe politics – some see it as a haven for criminals, kleptomaniacs, murderers, blackmailers, liars, etc, etc.; and those of us who feel maligned and insulted by all these generalisations, sometimes feel like distancing ourselves from the business of politics, only restrained by our belief and conviction in what Edmund Burke said years ago that what good people suffer by abstaining from politics, is to allow fools and charlatans to rule them.

    Evidence abound where charlatans had reigned or ruled in some states, either in the military or civilian era, where their impact was only felt in the negative, like the snake that waltzed its way past a rock, without trace.

    Yet, we have experienced the Obafemi Awolowos in the old Western Region, the Nandi Azikiwe in the defunct Eastern Region; the Ahmadu Bellos in the former Northern Region;  the Col Osaigbovo Ogbemudias in the Bendel of old in the 70s, the Adekunle Ajasins in old Ondo State; the Lateef Jakandes, the Muhammed Buba Marwas, the Bola Tinubus, the Raji Fasholas, and now the Akinwunmi Ambodes in Lagos;  the Col Oladipo Diyas and Ibikunle Amosuns in Ogun, the Colonel Zamani Lekwots in Rivers in the mid-70s, and the Lt. Col David Marks in Niger in the 80s whose indelible marks remain visible for all to see.

    True, some politicians see politics as a means to an end of being worthy catalysts for change while others see it as only a means of enriching themselves without tangible contribution to societal development. Yet, the wages of sin and good service await individuals in due time – most times while still alive rather than at death’s heavenly post.

    The bane of our politics is to be located in the polluters of politics who abound all over. They lie and malign with relish, putting off other people’s candles in the mistaken belief that theirs will burn brighter; they plot character assassination of their perceived adversaries and even plot peoples elimination without blinking; oftentimes behaving like the proverbial ostrich whose head is buried in the sand when the rest of its body is clearly visible.

    Benefactors also have a hand in the making of these polluters in politics, albeit, perhaps, without knowing it. It is settled matter that you cannot give what you do not have. Some of these polluters have been helped too much beyond their intellectual and moral capacity that they are bereft of good ideas, manners, and they misbehave and betray trust with amazing ease because of the undeserved privileges they enjoy. They also suffer acute human management deficit that they most times act on only one side of a story; it is to them an anathema to hear both sides in a conflict before reaching judgement and apportioning blame. If only such people had the benefit of understanding what Josh Billings means when he said “ half of the troubles of this life can be traced to saying yes too quickly and not saying no, soon enough”!

    As another deep thinker, an Asian fellow known as Dalai Lama postulated: the ultimate authority must always rest with the individual’s own reason and CRITICAL ANALYSIS. The question is how many of the young people thrust into positions of authority in our land now, have this major attribute of life ? When they condemn the older politicians of all manner of sins, they are themselves guilty of unimaginable malfeasance. Evidence abound all over; and some of them instead of seeking rational debate, take umbrage at good counsel by encouraging the maiming of limbs and lives, through miscreants they harbour and nurture.

    That brings one to the vexed issue of uncontrolled possession of firearms. I used to think that people’s level of maturity and level of restraint counted before permitting the possession of firearms, be it single or double-barrel guns or high-caliber revolvers or pistols. Immature young men and women, who have accidentally become rich, as well as some long-indulged buffoons, masquerading as well-to-do, flaunt small arms as being like passport to fame or whatever; not to talk of the street boys and men who have also acquired digital-age arms as well as the ones fabricated in Baba Alagbede’s blacksmith’s shop which though are antiquated, still pack lethal pungency in their nozzles.

    It is in society’s best interests to clamp down on this worrying proliferation of light and heavy arms and review the licensing law permitting some affluent or influential people to bear arms; as firearms in the hands of both the un-certificated or untrained rich and the poor, are disasters waiting to happen in their homes and on the streets, when their short fuses of anger are blown through their wives or mistresses, or they are on “eliminate-him-for-a-fee” or revenge missions respectively.

    CP Imohinmi Edgal of Lagos directive in this regard is therefore welcome. I suggest it should be a wholesale directive from all police commands across the country. Everything that needs be done within the confines of the law must be done, to rein in possessors of lethal weapons, whatever their status in our society, to save the country from the senseless and mindless depletion of our Human Resources we are experiencing through assassinations.

    A little advice though. In the clampdown on illegal arms possession, there should be no sacred cows. Small fries as well as the big fishes must be covered in the operation while the police should be discerning enough to know which big man got approval for double barrel only but has a cache of small and heavy arms which are either hidden in his home or office or in the disused drains around them where one heard some of these forbidden weapons are kept.

    Back to the polluters of our politics. I think it was Jim Rohn that once said that “if you are not willing to risk the unusual, you will have to settle for the ordinary”. If the real political leaders whose motivation is solely to seek the greatest good of the greatest number are truly bothered about the bad name being given to politics, they need to risk the unusual and get the polluters of our politics out of business by embracing politics of truth, of merit, of principles, of the fear of God and of enduring legacies. Some have gone up in politics, not by dint of hard work, but  by how many innocent souls they  had maligned to political irrelevance or how many lives they had taken, in their pursuit of political ascendancy.

    Whether the political polluters like it or not, their days of reckoning are at hand. Or didn’t the Scripture tells in Psalm 37 verses 1 to 3 that “Fret not thyself because of evil doers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.

    “For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither, as the green herb.

    “Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shall be fed”.

     

     

  • Accountability, politics and diplomacy 

    Crazy  as  Nigerian  politics can  be at  times,  it can have its lofty  and edifying  moments. As  the film with that unique title-  ‘the  good, the bad  and the ugly ‘goes –  it can  be all  of these  and more. Today  we  look  at a   series  of events not only in  Nigeria but the world at large that  show that while   the morals expected  amongst  world leaders can  be of the highest  ethical  standards at most times occasionally they  fall  short  when  one least  expects.  We  tie  that with the saying in diplomacy  that in international  relations there  are no permanent  enemies  but  permanent  interests  and invoke   a popular   dictum in political  science that  says that  the morals amongst   nations cannot  be the same amongst  individual  leaders,  especially  in politics.

    We  start  with  the Nigerian  Senate which  this week  performed  the very  salutary  duty  of calling on   government  parastatals  to  render  their  audit  report  as required  by law  or face  the music of  legal  prosecution.  The  Senate according to reports  noted that only  ten  percent of the  over 400 public institutions  involved  have complied  and listed  a worrying long list  of various  periods  of non compliance  stretching   from  between one  to five  years.  More    alarming    was the fact  that the list contained  our powerful  anti  corruption  agency, the EFCC  and  the goose  that lays our golden egg, the  NNPC. Not  to talk  of many corporations  that  are supposed  to drive  our economy  and create jobs  and prosperity  for  Nigerians. This  is   aclear  case of   corruption,  institutional  irresponsibility,   lack  of  transparency and accountability   at  the  highest  level  and the government  should intervene. The reasons are obvious and the negative import of this should seriously bother government. If  government  institutions do  not render  audited  report and   accounts, as and when  due, then the  government  cannot claim  to be fighting corruption  as charity  should start  at home with public institutions  accountable  to government supervision, running  and  funding. It is not enough   or even    easy   to classify    or decry this as anti corruption forces fighting back  through  the Senate. This cannot fly. Auditing is part of government running of public institutions. Just  as corporate  bodies in the private  sector cannot  imagine  not  having Annual  General  Meetings and  audited  Annual  Reports,   it  should   be  a rule of thumb  for public institutions to  play ball  or  face  the wrath  of the law  for  negligence. Which  in   this instance  is not only  unpatriotic  and condemnable  but is also brazenly  criminal  in all  intents and purposes. Government  just  must  stop  this nauseating  situation.

    On  the international  scene we  look  at  the visit  of the Saudi  Crown  Prince to the UK  as well  as the visit  of the Liberian President  to Nigeria.

    First, in the  case  of the   visit to  Britain  of    Saudi  Crown Prince  Muhammed Bin Salman,  the British  government has shown  clearly  that in international  relations there are no permanent  enemies but permanent  interests. Protesters  were  busy in  London  condemning the visit  because  of the indiscriminate bombing of civilians in  Yemen  by  Saudi  jets propping up the government  in  Yemen  against Houthi  rebels who are Shia Muslims supported  militarily  by  Iran, Saudi  Arabia’s  implacable enemy  in the two pronged fight to get control  and leadership  of the Muslim  world as we know it today.  The  protesters  are   called ‘ Stop  the  war  Coalition ‘  and ‘Campaign  Against  Arms Trade ‘but  they  might  as well  be barking at  the moon.  This  is because  the UK  government  of  Theresa  May  is negotiating an arms and other business deal  worth over 100m  pounds  with  Saudi  Arabia  on this  visit.  The  UK  government  is not bothered  that this   is   an  unelected leader    in his thirties who  is  acting  for his   father who is  over  80  and  has seized  the powerful  levers of  power in  Saudi  Arabia  where  he locked  up  his cousins and fellow  princes in a luxurious hotel  in  Riyadh  recently, and did not release them until  they  paid huge amounts which  he alleged  they  embezzled    in his own   brand  of anti corruption  drive. The  British  establishment overlooked Saudi  politics  and its  peculiarities,  and rolled  out a royal  red  carpet  for the  Saudi  Prince  to  meet  the Queen  in person  and   the  PM  in 10  Downing  Street.  Such  is  the nature  of British  respect  for   leaders  of  nations that kill  innocent   civilians in war  and  such is the nature  of morals  amongst  nations being quite  different from those  amongst ordinary  human  beings, especially  when  juicy   contracts are  involved  in the face  of an uncertain Brexit  future.

    We  now  look  at the visit of the Liberian  President George Weah  to Nigeria   and  his  humble request  for  Nigerian  teachers  to  help  the Education  sector  in  Nigeria.  Let  me confess  first  that  I  have a soft  spot  for  Liberia  as  a nation  and a softer  heart  for  its new  president  as a  soccer  fan.  This  is because  Nigeria played  a major  role in bringing peace  to  Liberia  at a time  when the Nigerian  government  and military  dictated the pace and role of diplomacy  and even  force in maintaining  and   ensuring    the  security,  sovereignty  and territorial  integrity   of  not  only African states  in general  but that of the ECOWAS  sub region  in particular.  I  do  not want  to say  more  than that except  that the Nigerian  government of the day should help and grant  the request  of the   Liberian  government led  by   former  soccer legend, George Weah.

    With  regard  to  the Liberian  President himself,   I  say   again  that  I  admire him a lot  for   his   football  pedigree  and  success as the first  African  to win the European  footballer  of the  Year  award. I  nostalgically  and happily  recall  his soccer  success  with  the great AC Milan of  Italy   and  the pride  his exploits  gave  Africans as he  won honors  and laurels  amongst  the best clubs  and  giants of  European    soccer.

    In  Nigeria   his  equivalent  in my book  and for  my  generation,  was  my friend  and soccer  hero  Segun Odegbami, who   similarly   in  his playing days gave my  generation of football  fans so much  joy  and pride  with his runs and dribbles   for  the  Green  Eagles  at the National  Stadium  when it was really a  soccer  stadium  and not   the   rusty   event   centre   that  it is nowadays. Let  me once  again salute  the Liberian  President  George  Weah  and  wish  him a productive tenure  of office for  his nation  and   people. Once  again  long live  the Federal  Republic  of  Nigeria.

  • Corruption, religion and politics

    Corruption, religion and politics

    In  my time as an undergraduate  at the great Ife  in the early  seventies, more  final  year students  chose  to work at  the Department  of Customs  and Excise  than in any  government institutions on  offer  for  employment   and recruitment   after  graduation at  that time. Most never  wanted the Civil Service  and working in oil  companies  and banks   were the more  preferred  places for new  graduates.  The  reasons were obvious. Those  in Customs  who   left  the campus on graduation got richer quickly  and built  houses in a year  or two, while those in  the civil  service  only showed traces of toil  after getting their first  cars in  record  time. Those in banks and oil companies  were the rich  boys and girls in town.  These  in those  days were the eligible bachelors  who  married  the most  beautiful ladies  in town  and threw  the most  expensive parties.

    That  was in the seventies  and I  was  part  of it   and let  me use  myself as an example because I  cannot sue myself   for  defamation   or  slander   as my Sociology Professor,  the late  Pa  Sam  Adenola  Igun  use  to  say  in those days at  Ife. I was in the Civil Service   after   graduation as  an Assistant  Secretary on level 08. I  managed  to get  a job at the Daily  Times  as Staff Writer  and made it to  a bank   where  I worked  for 27  years before  retiring a decade ago. That  was  my time, a far  yesterday   and a far cry too,    from   the realities of today  which we will  look at  in the  context of today’s topic.

    Nigeria  today  has a government in place  that came into power on the  reputation  of a presidential candidate   renowned   for  integrity  and discipline. That  government was elected  in the  2015  presidential  elections and has fought  corruption massively  and seized looted  properties  from  looters.  Recently   there was   talk of selling seized  properties  from  looters  and two strong voices came up  like thunder.  The  first was that of the Sultan  of  Sokoto  the Head of the Nigerian  Muslims who  said despite the  war on corruption,  corruption is still  very  much  with  us. The other was that of the  governor of Ekiti State,  Ayo  Fayose   who  said  that  the names  of looters should be published  before seized  assets  are sold. Obviously  anti Corruption  forces  have fought back desperately  and the government itself  is fighting for its political  life  just  as the next elections of 2019  is around the corner.   I  have put this scenario  of the nature of the government of the day in perspective so one can  appreciate  the   comparison  I  want to make between  the eligible  bachelors of  my time and those  of the present time.

    The eligible bachelors of today are not in the Customs or  banks or oil  companies  as before. They are in the Political Class,  the Civil Service, the Security services,   and    the religious institutions. Special Assistants –SAs for short are the dream  husbands  for parents who  want the best for their daughters in marriage  nowadays. Pastors  are elegant  and very  wanted,   budding grooms  grooms  that  most Nigerian  mothers    seek   for their  unmarried  daughters  so  that the immediate future  can be bright for them  and their family at  large. Of  course  politicians and Honorables are the toast  of high  society  in any or all  of our 36  state capitals  and  the numerous  local  governments,  where  even  local  councilors will  get  a royal  treatment  before  any teacher  or  university  lecturer. That is the situation on the ground nowadays  in  Nigeria  as we battle corruption   and prepare  for another  presidential  election next year.

    What  is however  pathetic  about  the scenario  I  have  dug  up is that  in the battle against  corruption  of  the  present Administration    today, and in  the nation at  large,  the professions and calling I  have highlighted   as  reeking with  the most  eligible bachelors in society   nowadays,  are  in the   front  line of the government  of the day’s     fight  against  corruption. Your  guess  is as good as mine  therefore  how  successful  they  have been.  I   add  very   significantly   that   these  Nigerians   are  mainly  from the two  major  religions in  Nigeria namely   Christianity  and Islam  and   again  they   are  the toasts of   sermons and  praises   at all  our mosques   and churches  where  they  are blessed    as  products of divine benediction   and salt   of the earth,   regardless of the source of huge  donations and grants they  bring personally   for  the welfare    of the leaders   of  these  religious institutions. I will    therefore  illustrate  with  three  events   both  here  and in  the USA to  show that  corruption  is hydra headed  and that those  who  are  expected  to fight it must  like Caesar’s wife  be above reproach as  those who  live in glass  houses  should   not  throw  stones.

    I  will  comment  on the news in the media that there  was  corruption in the election of the Bishop of  Lagos by the House of Bishops in  the   Nigerian Anglican  Communion in Ilorin, the capital  of Kwara  State  recently.  I will  take issues  with  the suggestion of the US President Donald  Trump  that  teachers  should be trained  to use guns after  a mad student walked calmly to a school  from where  he had been dismissed  in Florida, USA,   and killed  17  of his school mates. I will  round up with the  observation  of  the Sultan  of  Sokoto  that corruption  is still  very  much  a way  of life in Nigeria   in  high   places   and  that criminals  should   be called  criminals regardless  of whether   they   are  Christians  or  Muslims.

    The  news  that bribery  was involved in the election  of the new  Bishop of Lagos  by the House  of Bishops in Ilorin bothered   me as I am an Anglican  and worship at Christ Church  Cathedral,  Marina, Lagos,  the Mother Cathedral  of  the Anglican  Communion in Nigeria and the seat  of the Bishop of  Lagos. The  pedigree  of this   Cathedral   is an  important  one in the  history of the Anglican  Communion  and the House  of Bishops  should accord that respect to history  and know that  the election of its Bishop is important   and  should  be treated  with great  respect and circumspection  given  its huge  contribution now and in the  past, to the fortunes  and growth  of  Anglicanism in Nigeria.

    Christ  Church  Cathedral, Marina   should  not be treated  as  just   a part  of  the Anglican  Community in Nigeria because it has paid its dues  in  terms of the quality  of its congregation  and its leading role  as  center of  high  quality  church music, its impeccable Choir  and communal  rendering of liturgy and Songs  of Praise  of   the highest quality  in  Nigeria. Succession  to the seat  of the Bishop  of Lagos should not be stage managed  as alleged  and not at  all  by those who  think money  can  buy anything in Nigeria  including the House  of  God. The  end should come decisively  to  an era of those who have  said the clergy  should not be given second hand cars and should only use new Camrys  when  most of the congregation  in many Churches  do   not even own cars and are  expected to buy such expensive spiritual  fringe  benefits  for their spiritual  leaders. Money  indeed is the root of all evil  but it should  not  affect  the choice  of who is the  Anglican  Bishop  of  Lagos.

    On  Donald  Trump’s suggestion  that teachers  should bear  arms I  think  he was just  trying  to dance to the  powerful    guns lobby  on the right of Americans to bear  arms. His excuse was that if teachers  have arms mass killers  could be stopped faster. But then teachers according to analysts did not enter their profession to bear arms but to educate.  The US’  problem  is that it has over pampered  its youths  and the result  is the  unprecedented  killings by teenagers of their  mates.  The  present generation  of  Americans  glorify  rights at  the expense   of  God  and   even   their own security. Even  the present killer of 17  innocent kids  was given a VIP treatment in  court  with the female police officers handling  him  so  carefully  and with something  akin  to affection. That will not deter crazy people like  him  from envying and wanting to emulate  him.  In  addition the students of the school    who   were  killed  by one of them   were  allowed   to   lead a delegation    to  the White  House   to  meet  the president of the US  who  simply said he has heard  them   and was thinking of  making a law   to check  mental  history   and raising the age of gun owners   to  21, well  beyond the age of the students.  It   is the moral  right of parents   in the US   to  control   and discipline their   children   in school   as   students   not   turn them  on society  as protesters  when  one of   them   turns  the gun on his fellow    students    in  this crazy  manner.    The   US  motto    is ‘In   God  we trust ‘   but  in reality  Americans    value  their rights  to  own  guns   and    live   as gays   more  than  their God  or even their security.  Indeed   America  has not been truthful to its own on the guns  issue  and is going to  pay a huge price  now  for that moral  corruption  that can  only spew  out  more violence and killings after  the six  that have occurred  in  schools   in   the two  months of this year  alone.

    Lastly,  the  Sultan  of  Sokoto  at a recent  book launch  observed  that the Fulanis as a tribe  have been  branded  as killers because  of  some Fulani  herdsmen killing people all  over the nation. According  to reports, the Sultan said – There  are millions of  Fulani who don’t even know what a cow is. I am Fulani I am not  a herder. He then concluded –Lets  give criminals their ideal  name, not Christian criminals, not Fulani criminals, not Muslim criminals. If  the government   has  failed, let  them call us to come and help  out. I cannot agree more with the Sultan. Once  again,  long live the Federal  Republic of Nigeria.

  • Jega, Oshiomhole back labour participation in politics

    Jega, Oshiomhole back labour participation in politics

    Former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Prof. Attahiru Jega and former Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole have advocated the active participation of organised labour in political activities to bring about changes.

    Speaking at the 40th anniversary celebration of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), they said while activism, the power of negotiation and persuasion were important in the labour movement, it might not be able to achieve much for workers and Nigerians.

    Jega, who is a former president of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, said the labour movement’s “primary interest should not be only who presides over policy formulation and implementation, but also on how politics are conceptualised, how they are implemented and how beneficial they are for the Nigerian electorates, the voters generally and in particular, how they address the fundamental needs and aspirations of the working people of our country”.

    “The Labour movement needs to constantly pay attention to who is being elected and the process through which they are being elected and once elected, the process through which they conduct the business of governing and the outcomes as well as the impact on the citizens,” he said.

    Oshiomhole, who was chairman of the event, said no amount of placards carried by labour unions will change the perception of those in government, but will only force them to go back and restrategise on how to make the people poorer.

    He said: “Contrary to my earlier thinking when I was much younger that what the movement need was to perfect the act of persuasion and negotiation and where that doesn’t work, to militantly challenge private capital and even the state to ensure that we have a living wage and all those benefits, looking back I realised that what really determine the quality of life is not so much the amount of money that is transferred to you.

    “What really determine the overall quality of life of citizens is about all the other facilities available beyond the works of world. Your wages will not transform to a decent life if the health sector is hopeless, lecturers spend more time on strike than in the classroom and education privatised and the ladder for upward mobility is destroyed. I came to the conclusion that those who are in power will never govern according to your own values.

    “The position they take or the policy they make are not the results of errors of judgement. They are the conscious decisions taken in order to ensure that a particular class gets more. So, government and governance is a bias act, which decides, who earns what and get what.”

    “Placards can moderate and force them to go back and restrategise. But placards will not change their value system, rather, they will go back and strategy on how best to continue to dominate and use the instrument of state to enrich the rich.”

     

  • Don’t mix politics with security, says Shettima

    Don’t mix politics with security, says Shettima

    Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima yesterday recounted the 2014 Boko Haram abduction of the Chibok schoolgirls in his state. More than 100 of the girls are yet to be rescued.

    Shettima, who is also the chair of the Northern States Governors Forum, paid a sympathy visit to neighbouring Yobe State where pupils were abducted last week.

    Shettima cautioned against mixing politics with security matters.

    He told his host: ”Your Excellency (Gov. Gaidam), I have been in your shoes since 2014 when schoolgirls were abducted in Chibok. I know exactly how you feel. When our daughters were abducted in Chibok; only God understood how I felt and I can imagine how you also feel, and the trauma you are going through. The parents of these girls would always look up to you with hope in the midst of agony. I know you are pained but I also believe that Insha Allah, these girls will be rescued very soon.

    “It is unfortunate that we have faced yet another abduction but that only reminds us about the difficulties of fighting insurgency. Oftentimes, they strike where you least expect. Before Boko Haram attacked Chibok, that Chibok had the least threat of Boko Haram in the Northeast. No one expected them to even think about Chibok because it is a mostly Christian community where Boko Haram was hardly an issue.

    “In the same vein, I don’t think anyone ever expected an attack in Dapchi. This incident, however, reminds all of us not only in Borno and Yobe but perhaps across the northern Nigeria to be on guard. I think the difference between the Chibok incident and this one, is that the Federal Government didn’t react in denial, doubt or formed a conspiracy theory. The Federal Government assumed responsibility which we hope will lead to rescue of the schoolgirls. When schoolgirls were abducted in Chibok, some people said there was no abduction because Borno was in the opposition. Those who admitted there was abduction, came up with a conspiracy theory that the APC leaders perpetuated it in order to win the 2015 elections. Now, this abduction took place in an APC controlled state under an APC led Federal Government. What this reminds us, in very painful way, I should add, is that as political actors, we should learn to separate politics from issues of security. Human lives are very precious in the sight of Allah” Shettima said.

     

  • APC’s reconciliation politics

    APC’s reconciliation politics

    THE All Progressives Congress (APC) is in the midst of an attempt to reconcile its warring members. It is not clear whether there are many within the party who are desperate to help engender that reconciliation, or whether even given the nature of its formation and beginnings, not to say its malformed ideology, structure and leadership, that reconciliation is possible now or in the future. But what is clear is that as the ungainly reconciliation train of the party began to lumber out of the station, its quarrelsome members have simply carried on regardless of peace moves, and with gusto started fresh fires with the intention of fighting one another to the death.

    Much clearer, however, is the fact that the fights, the disunity, the animosities they heartily nursed against one another were totally needless. Apart from the reality that the party was not really a party in structure and ideology when it won high office in 2015, its major problems were triggered by party leaders, particularly the president whose credulous approach to party politics and party organisation was certain to foster internal conflict and weaken cohesion. Combined with the hijack of the presidency by an apolitical group of fierce technocrats and opinion leaders destitute of the transcending and inclusive ideology of the party’s founding, disunity was writ large on the party’s mind and workings.

    But somehow, the president has seemed persuaded that once he could saddle the party’s national leader, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, with the arduous task of reconciling the party’s warring states and interest groups, a form of tenuous unity, which is all they think they need, could be sustained through the election period to produce victory, even if it had to be by the skin of their teeth. Asiwaju Tinubu has since put his shoulder to the wheel, anxious to cobble together the unity the party needs to triumph in the next polls. His enthusiasm is infectious, but whether it can produce the results party leaders hope is another thing entirely. For not only have the divisions within the party ossified, many warring party leaders seem to revel in the discord, and are delighted to strew the peacemakers’ path with red herrings.

    Far more importantly, the party has not appeared to convince well-wishers and patriots that it understands the foundation of the crisis confronting them. There may be discord in Kaduna of such severity and virulence that no medicine can cure, and in Kogi of such jejuneness and triviality that any serious peacemaker is bound to be mocked, but really, the party’s problem can be located squarely in the presidency where, unfortunately, no anodyne can penetrate. The fractiousness and factionalism in the states and among widely dispersed and competing party functionaries are at bottom a product of the nervous breakdown and ideological stasis in the presidency. The manifestations in the states are merely symptomatic of the problem in the presidency. Heal the presidency (the mind), and the divisions (in the body) will be healed.

    It speaks to Asiwaju Tinubu’s large-heartedness and perhaps consummate love for politics that he has accepted the onerous task of reconciling a party which shoved him aside immediately after the elections were won. The urgent task that faced the party in 2015 after their victory was how to build a party out of the disparate groups that combined to snatch victory from the feeble hands of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Rather than acknowledge that responsibility, a task the presidency was best suited to organise and lead because of Nigeria’s peculiar political culture, a group of individuals without a pan-Nigerian vision, or even political reach and mandate, simply stepped in and took the diadem. Thereupon, the group embarked on the most convulsive and fratricidal scheming imaginable, one that immediately tore the party apart and created a vacuum which many ambitious individuals and groups have struggled to fill.

    In 2015, the presidency was expected, in consonance with leading party apparatchiks, to firm up the party’s ideology and structure, and prepare itself for governance. Instead a few people aggressively consolidated their private hold on the levers of power and the party. The presidency was expected to assemble a pan-Nigerian group of theorists, technocrats and pragmatic leaders to design a suitable and functional foundation for Nigeria in the 21st Century. Instead, it unwittingly created a festering environment that has pushed the country back to its atavistic past. It was expected to boldly and intelligently tackle the cancer of corruption and institute the rule of law in such a manner that Nigeria would inspire the continent and make the black man proud. Instead, it has enthroned the rule of man, constricted the war against corruption, and exhumed primordial instincts to the point that few now hold out any hope in their Nigerianness. It is this malaise that has trickled down to the states, encouraged tin-pot messiahs everywhere, caused disaffection in the party at national and local levels, and emboldened many party leaders to adopt strong-arm tactics of governance and political exclusion. (See box). To tackle these divisions, the source of the problem must be healed. Yet, there is no indication, nor has Asiwaju Tinubu suggested it to the press, that that primary healing would be undertaken first before the secondary healing is embarked upon.

    Late last year, when it became obvious that President Muhammadu Buhari would be seeking a second term, and he seemed suddenly and uncharacteristically amenable to advice from outside his immediate circle, a consensus appeared to have developed to encourage him to rejig his cabinet, purge his inner circle of ethnocentric advisers, return the country’s security infrastructure to its former state of real inclusiveness, firmly and justly tackle the herdsmen crisis, and though he seemed incapable of it, speak warmly and empathetically to grieving citizens about their rights and obligations, and then propose a soaring and visionary ideal for a new Nigeria where neither tribe nor religion mattered. Unfortunately, no steps were taken in these salutary directions, and the presidency seemed to have sunk deeper into unreflective and unproductive conservatism.

    If healing does not begin at the presidency, a healing that will restore the real and functioning APC men in the saddle of power and politics, it is hard to see healing taking place in the states and local levels. Indeed, the wound has been left to fester for far too long that, rather than hope to recreate a united APC for the sake of winning the 2019 polls, all the party’s leaders can hope for is that neither the PDP nor any newfangled political organisation organised and inspired by ex-presidents can present a credible alternative. Without a credible alternative, without anyone of some stature and gravitas showing up on the opposing side, even if unreal and affected, the APC will hope that its standard-bearer — obviously the president — will coast home to victory, regardless of the portents of that victory and its potentially harmful impact on the future and stability of the country.

    The APC is right to pursue reconciliation. But it has a responsibility to first identify the source of its troubles in order to chart a sensible and lasting solution out of its self-induced morass. The party has been lucky so far that the main opposition party, the PDP, is blithely unable to find its feet after its bad loss in 2015. But that lack of credible and inspiring opposition has lulled the ruling party to sleep, overconfidence and inexcusable arrogance. If the APC is not to be shocked a few months down the line, it should quit taking the country for granted. It has been told what needs to be done at the presidency, and how deeply irreconcilable its disaffected party men are. It should urgently and persuasively commit itself to the change it independently coined as its moniker. Above all, it simply must genuinely convince the country, which has endured the party’s lack of discipline and focus for about three years, that it is capable of imbuing the nation with a restructured political future that conduces to peace, progress and stability.

    What the party seems obsessed with and committed to, however, are how it can coax a tentative unity without restructuring their party and running an inclusive APC, and how it can win the next polls without a sustaining and coherent ideology, visionary programmes, and adequate plans to tackle the complexities and challenges of the future. After snatching victory from the jaws of defeat in 2015, they will hope to pull off the rare marvel of making lightning to strike the same place twice in 2019 without attempting a fundamental change to their orthodoxies or getting the presidency to acknowledge and receive absolution for its blame in predisposing the party to discord. By going ahead to entrust redemptive powers to others, it remains to be seen just how far the APC can go in the next few months in the face of abundant proof that its actions are spurred by electoral desperation.

  • Akeredolu’s wife seeks gender-friendly politics for women farmers

    Akeredolu’s wife seeks gender-friendly politics for women farmers

    The wife of Ondo State governor, Mrs Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu, has been honoured as the Cluster Advocacy Change Champion.

    She got the award was at the inauguration of Agric Gender-friendly Policy Development Technical Working Group at the Winners Guest House in Akure, the state capital.

    Mrs Akeredolu said there were significant inequalities between women and men in many societies.

    The governor’s wife noted that though women make up about 75 per cent of the agriculture workforce, yet they were highly marginalised.

    According to her, some of the challenges women farmers face are consistent reduction in the budgetary allocation to the Agricultural sector in the last 7 years, non-capture of support for smallholder farmers as a line item in the Ministry of Agriculture’s budget, lack of state gender-friendly policies among others.

    Mrs Akeredolu hailed the present administration in Ondo State for identifying agriculture as one of its cardinal programmes for job creation and economic prosperity.

    She noted that the government had initiated strategic programmes, such as Agriculture Transformation Agenda (ATA) and Development and Policy Implementation Committee report, which is in line with the goals of Sustainable Development Goals towards eradicating poverty.

    The governor’s wife said the Agro-Women Initiative was the first time ever that a line item in the agriculture budget was dedicated to support smallholder farmers by the state government.

  • 2019: Politics of PDP ticket

    2019: Politics of PDP ticket

    EVEN before former President Olusegun Obasanjo came out to demand a youthful president as the way forward for Nigeria, the search for the flag bearer of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the forthcoming Presidential Election has been intriguing. This is mainly because of the opposing interests and avalanche of powerful aspirants desperate to pick the party’s ticket.Given that most of the serious aspirants are old political warlords, the party’s dilemma over the choice of its presidential candidate has been further deepened by the current campaign for younger leaders, The Nation investigation confirms.

    It would be recalled that during the 2015 General Elections, the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) practically closed its doors against would-be presidential aspirants as it made it clear to all and sundry that it would not allow anybody to drag the party’s presidential ticket with the then incumbent President, GoodluckEbele Jonathan. Today, that decision is one of such, that many commentators, within and outside the party, have blamed for the landslide defeat of the PDP in that year’s general election.

    After the blinding loss to the All Progressive Congress (APC) then a budding mega-party peopled largely by individuals and groups opposed to the continued presidency of Jonathan, the PDP was thrown into chaos as it struggled to keep its house in order. The self-acclaimed biggest political party in Africa moved from one intra-party leadership wrangling to the other until it was rescued by a Supreme Court judgement last year.

    Perhaps determined to right the wrong of the past, the PDP promptly held an elective convention where new leadership was given to the troubled party. Though controversies and threats of fresh crises trailed the convention, it appears the Prince UcheSecondus-led National Executive Committee enjoys the support of major organs and stakeholders within the party. Thus, it has been making efforts to move the party forward against all odds.

    Pundits have been applauding the new leadership, especially after it successfully managed the biggest post-convention threat to the party’s unity. A group of aggrieved chieftains had after the convention last December announced the birth of a new faction of the party called Fresh PDP. The promoters had promptly announced a parallel Executive Committee and secretariat.

    In a manner many still say is unusual of the PDP in its hey days, the national leadership of the party for weeks, engaged the Fresh PDP in series of dialogues and meetings even as the publicity unit of the party refused to be dragged into verbal or media wars with the new faction. After weeks of consultations and dialogue, the Fresh PDP announced its decision to fuse back into the PDP and end the factionalisation of the party.

    Announcing this decision after a meeting with a former National Chairman of the party, ‎OkwesiliezeNwodo, in Abuja, Chairman of the ‘Fresh PDP’ OlukayodeAkindele, said the party is bigger than any individual or group, stating that it was time for a ceasefire. “I am delighted to tell you that we have collapsed into the mainstream PDP. We have assurances from our leaders and we will not have a parallel NWC on Monday,” he said.

    An excited Nwodo told newsmen that the truce was broken with the knowledge and support of the Board of Trustees (BoT), the National Working Committee (NWC) and other organs of the party, adding, “if the Fresh PDP was allowed to form a structure on Monday, they would have given legitimacy to our members to leave the PDP. We have learnt our lessons and we are coming back more prepared and resolute to change the fortunes of this country.”

    However, as the PDP revels in the success of its management of the threat posed by the defunct Fresh PDP, pundits and inside sources say the party is currently in a dilemma over how best to handle the emergence of its presidential flag bearer for the 2019 General Elections. Still aching from the many errors it allegedly committed while undertaking the same assignment in 2015, the party says it is determined to get it right this time.

    Indications that the party may not find it easy arriving at the choice of who to present as its presidential candidate in 2019 emerged immediately after its elective National Convention, held in Abuja last December. Party sources claimed some developments at the convention altered certain permutations on ground and introduced new dimensions into the ongoing search for PDP’s presidential flag-bearer.

    “The ease with which the controversial ‘Unity list’ sailed through at the much publicised convention rattled some powerful blocs within the party. It also introduced a new fear; the fear of the possibility of a group imposing a candidate on the party. Similarly, the convention also reinforced earlier fears that some deals may have been struck among some chieftains concerning the 2019 presidential race.

    The search is on

    Former Anambra governorship aspirant on the platform of the party, KodilichukwuOkelekwe, indicated possible happenings within the PDP when he warned that his party will lose the next presidential election in 2019 if it fails to pick the right candidate. He said while the odds currently favour the PDP ahead of the 2019, the party may lose the opportunity if it repeats its mistakes of the past by picking the wrong presidential candidate.

    “I am advising my party, the PDP. I am saying clearly that we must make sure that we choose the right aspirant as our presidential candidate. 2019 presents us with an opportunity to return to power. The election is ours to lose. Once we pick the right presidential candidate, Nigerians will overwhelmingly return PDP to power. We can see that APC was not ready for governance. They were more interested in taking power but they have no blue print for governance.

    Governance is a serious business and PDP, we have done it before. We have the experience and we can do it again. That does not mean that there were no mistakes in the past. As is the case with anything human, we are not infallible; infallibility belongs to God. We have learnt from those minor mistakes and we will take them into account when we return to the government in 2019. There are certain things that PDP will no doubt do differently based on past experiences,” he said.

    But while speaking to The Nation during the week on how PDP intends to handle the emergence of its next presidential candidate, Senator WalidJibrin, Chairman of the party’s Board of Trustees (BoT), said the PDP is not leaving any stone unturned as it strives to ensure that the party does things right this time. According to him, it is important for the opposition party to avoid the pitfalls of the past.

    “Take my words for it. I have said this before and it is the true state of things with the PDP. We are working to present the best presidential candidate for Nigerians this time. And like we said earlier too, the PDP candidate will be from the North in 2019. The party’s leadership in the North had already put in place machinery to ensure the emergence of the best presidential candidate from the area in 2019.

    “All of us as a party have agreed that the President of Nigeria should come from the North in 2019. I enjoin you to support the North to bring and give us capable presidential candidate. We are all doing what we can in the North with all the leaders to identify who is the best candidate to rule this country. The best person that will take power from the ruling party in 2019 is our own, 2019 is for the PDP,” he said.

    The Nation also learnt that the party is still undecided over the modalities for the presidential primary elections. Party sources say currently, talks are on about either retaining the presidential convention approach or adopting the Option A4 approach proposed in 2016 by the then leadership of the party. According to findings by our correspondents, party chieftains are sharply divided on the matter.

    It was learnt that while the Option A4 proposal was discussed and approved by the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) in 2016, it was agreed that it should be ratified at a national convention of the party for it to become part of its constitutional provisions. But that was not to be as the issue was neither raised nor discussed at the last convention of the party in Abuja.

    A chieftain of the PDP and former Publicity Secretary of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) in Anambra State, Arthur Nwoye, while speaking to our correspondent during the week, revealed that there is a growing agitation within the party that the Option A4 system must be adopted for the 2019 presidential primary election. He explained that many party bigwigs are of the opinion that the approach will help the party to do the right thing.

    “It is true we are considering how to go about the presidential nomination ahead of the 2019 General Election. You will recall that our party leadership proposed the Option A4 as an approach that will help the party do things better. It was widely applauded and supported. Our then Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, took time to educate party members and Nigerians on how it will work.

    “It was resolved that we go to a convention to ratify the decision of the leadership. We all remember that we were unable to hold convention until the Supreme Court gave its judgement. At the convention, the issue was not raised and we suspect that was intentional. Already, we are seeing that some people are not comfortable with the Option A4 suggestion because it will make it difficult for them to impose a candidate on us. But we are unrelenting in our request for it,” he said.

    Beyond the PDP

    And as the opposition party intensifies its search for a sellable presidential candidate ahead of the next general election, there are indications that the PDP may have decided to spread its dragnet beyond its own shores, into the space of other political parties, especially the ruling APC, in its quest to ensure that it procures a candidate with the right capabilities to help the opposition unseat the ruling party in 2019.

    Findings by The Nation revealed that many chieftains of the PDP are supportive of an alleged move by some forces within the party to open up the contest for the party’s presidential ticket in such a way that returnees and new entrants into the party would be able to seek and possibly win the ticket ahead of the next election, not minding the time they join the PDP.

    Sources within the party told The Nation that it is this line of thinking that informed the recent amendment of the party’s constitution to allow defectors and other new members contest elections. According to the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Kola Ologbondiyan, all the new entrants and old members of the party would be allowed to test their popularity during the party’s primaries.

    “We are not closing our doors to new entrants who want to contest the party’s presidential ticket. Our doors are open to them. We have amended our constitution to take care of their interest as well as those of other members. We are looking for credible people to fly our ticket in 2019. We have amended the constitution, which has now reduced the years that defectors can stay in the party before contesting election from two years to just six months,” he said.

    The Nation learnt that the PDP is strongly working on some of its former members who left the party for the APC in the build up to the 2015 General Elections, to return to the party and help in its struggle to return to power. According to party sources, it is not impossible that one of such former chieftains being expected to return to the party will be favored to emerge as the presidential candidate of the party in 2019.

    “For now, the many talks about who will be the party’s flag bearer remain in the realm of mere speculations. I can tell you that the leadership of the party and numerous other stakeholders are daily holding meetings and talking about how to procure the best man for the job ahead. But in arriving at who will lead us to the next political battle as our presidential candidate, the PDP is currently considering a number of factors,” our source added.

    Checks within the party by our correspondents revealed that party leaders and other stakeholders have been meeting to discuss, not just the modalities through which the presidential candidate of the party will emerge, but also the many things to consider, given the current political realities, chief of which is the fact that the party is now in opposition, seeking to dethrone a sitting President.

    To go with this are other germane considerations the party will have to take decisions on if it desires to win the 2019 Presidential Election. According to party sources, the party is searching for a candidate who can defeat incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari of the APC. Thus, concerns are being raised about issues like the age of the-would be candidate, his public image, who will be his running mate and how is candidature will help resolve some nagging disaffection within the party, especially in the South-West zone.

    The Age factor

    Although leaders of the party were said to have been considering the issue of age all along as they discussed the various options for the party ahead of the 2019 presidential election, The Nation learnt that following the surprise open letter to President Buhari by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, calling on the former to resign largely on account of old age and performance, and the seeming support given to this call by ex-Military President Ibrahim Babangida, the need for the opposition party to field a younger candidate against Buharihas taken the center stage.

    Obasanjo, in an open letter that is still trending weeks after he dropped it, said Buhari is not healthy enough to withstand the rigour associated with running a country like Nigeria and has performed far below expectation and should honourably “dismount from the horse” to join the league of the country’s former leaders whose “experience, influence, wisdom and outreach can be deployed on the side line for the good of the country.”

    Obasanjo, a two-term president on the platform of PDP, said he feels disappointed by Buhari, whom he supported during the 2015 election over the then incumbent and candidate of his former party, Goodluck Jonathan. Obasanjo further argued that neither the President nor his party hold the solution to the country’s problems. “He has a role to play on the side line for the good of Nigeria, Africa and humanity and I will see him as a partner in playing such a role nationally and internationally, but not as a horse rider in Nigeria again.”

    And while Nigerians were still wondering how best to handle both Obasanjo’s message and the messenger, Babangida, a very unlikely collaborator, added his voice to the call when he said it is time for his generation to encourage the emergence of a new crop of leaders who are much younger. According to the retired General, the 2019 elections offer “a unique opportunity for Nigerians.

    “While saying this also, I do not intend to deny President Buhari his inalienable right to vote and be voted for, but there comes a time in the life of a nation, when personal ambition should not override national interest. This is the time for us to reinvent the will and tap into the resourcefulness of the younger generation, stimulate their entrepreneurial initiatives and provoke a conduce environment to grow national economy both at the micro and macro levels.”

    “The next election in 2019 therefore presents us a unique opportunity to reinvent the will and provoke fresh leadership that would immediately begin the process of healing the wounds in the land and ensuring that the wishes and aspirations of the people are realised in building and sustaining national cohesion and consensus,” Babangida’s letter read in part.

    Speaking to The Nation at the weekend, former governorship candidate in Lagos State and a frontline chieftain of the PDP, Remi Adiukwu, said the PDP, like any other party willing to win the next presidential election, is thinking about fielding a younger candidate. This she said is largely based on the need to give the country a new beginning but partly because of the growing calls for a younger leader.

    “The PDP is peopled by seasoned politicians and technocrats. We also understand what the country needs going forward and there is no doubt that the party is concerned about not offering someone as old as Buhari to Nigerians in 2019. And when you consider the growing calls for a younger leader, you will appreciate the enormous task ahead of the PDP as we decide on who will fly our banner in 2019.

    “Over and above many other qualities we currently seek in a presidential candidate, the issue of age and good health is central. And as we speak, the leadership of the party is looking closely at all our presidential hopefuls with a keen interest in how old they are and how fit they are for the task ahead. There is no doubt that the PDP stands a better chance in the next election with a man or woman younger than Buhari,” she said.

    And from the north, where Buhariis still believed to enjoy something close to a cult followership, especially among the commoners and the youths, some voices of dissent are daily springing up to join the call for a much younger leader as 2019 draws nearer. To these people, what is important is for the political players to understand the urgent need for generational shift of power.

    YerimaShettima, the President of Arewa Youths Consultative Forum and an erstwhile ardent supporter of Buhari’s aspirations, is one of such northern elite who have joined their voices for change in 2019. The pro-democracy activist says he is not particular about which political party should win the next presidential election, but he is interested in seeing a younger leader emerge for the country after the polls.

    “Our target is to seek opinion of Nigerians to build capacity, consult our southern counterparts to ensure that we come up with a candidate that is younger than the age of Buhariso that at the end of the day, with the support of the youths, we will come to realise the Nigeria of our dream. I took that position long before now, Shettima said while explaining his objection to Buhari’s reelection.

    Consequent upon these growing agitations, inside sources say the PDP may be forced to place the issue of age over and above other considerations as they seek the next presidential candidate of the party. “There is no gainsaying that if we go to the polls with a younger candidate, we will win the support of many Nigerians across political party divides. So, it will be politically expedient for us to do that,” a chieftain of the party said.

    South-West factor

    There is another factor to ponder on for the PDP concerning who should be its presidential candidate in 2019. This is the South-West zone of the party. Currently, apart from being riddled with pockets of intra party wrangling, the zone is seemingly detached from the rest of the party as it is still nursing the wound inflicted on it and its leaders at the December convention where its numerous candidates were defeated by the lone contestant from the South-South, allegedly contrary to an earlier agreement.

    Though efforts are on by various organs of the party to bridge the obvious gap, pundits say it is too early to confidently say the South-West arm of the party will swallow the bitter pill it was served at the convention and work for the success of the party going forward. Hence, there is serious talk within the party about getting a presidential candidate that will appeal to the South-West and fasten the process of reconciling its leaders to the mainstream of the party.

    “It is important for the PDP to consider the preference of the South-West zone in arriving at its choice. It is clear the zone cannot produce the next PDP presidential candidate but if the party succeeds in getting a northerner in whom PDP leaders in the south have common interest, it will do a lot of good for the party because given the quantum of votes in the zone and its cosmopolitan nature, no serious party can afford to ignore the region,” a party leader said.

    It was former Director-General of the Jonathan Campaign Organisation, Femi Fani-Kayode that first gave an inkling of things to come during the build-up to the last convention of the PDP when he said the chances of the opposition party in the 2019 Presidential Election are largely hinged on the South-West zone producing the National Chairman of the party at the convention.

    “One of the things that I learnt at the early stage in this game is to try to avoid a hypothetical question. You are asking me what the reaction of the South-West will be if we don’t get the National Chairmanship. If we don’t get it, then we will cross that bridge when we get there. But I sincerely hope we are not brought to that impasse because it will be very difficult to our people in the South-West which probably has the second largest number of voters in the country.

    “There was an agreement they would go to the South-West. Some were of the view that agreement no longer binds anybody, and others believe it should remain in the South-West. I believe strongly that it should remain in the South-West for a number of reasons. I believe at the end of the day it will if we are really serious about winning the election in 2019.

    “In the Presidential election, it will be difficult to explain to them why we don’t have the Presidency and why we would not have the National Chairmanship of the party and why we wouldn’t have the Vice-Presidency and why we would be left with nothing,” Fani-Kayode had warned PDP leaders days before the convention which produced UcheSecondus, a south-southerner as the chairman of the PDP.

    Shortly after Secondus emerged and the South-West lost the chance to produce the National Chairman of the party, the Chairman of PDP’s National Committee on Reconciliation and Governor of Bayelsa State, Seriake Dickson, said the party would need the full support of its members in the South-West to effectively execute its plan to capture political power in 2019.

    Dickson, who wasted no time in urging reconciliation and appeasement of aggrieved party chieftains, especially in the South-West zone, said that the PDP would need the support and the wise counsel of leaders in the South-West to succeed in its objectives. He said his committee went to the zone to discuss the issues that were thrown up by the convention.

    Dickson’s concern, which is shared by numerous other PDP leaders, is not premised on Fani-Kayode’s position alone. Like many others within and outside the party, he would recall that many South-West leaders of the party left no one in doubt that unless the zone produces the National Chairman of the party, its chieftains in the zone will be left to reconsider their continued support for the opposition party.

    Days before the convention, Chief Ebenezer Babatope had, in his usual blunt manner, spoken on the South-West quest for the party’s chairmanship thus; “I want to make it absolutely clear that if Mr. Makarfi is an honourable man, he will voluntarily resign his position without waiting to be pushed out. His game plan is simply to handover the party to NyesomWike, through his acolyte UcheSecondus.

    “This is indeed a road to perdition, as the Yoruba will never accept any attempt to insult our people and denigrate our collective intelligence. We are absolutely resolved in our position. We will not stand idle and fold our hands while all kinds of machinations are being hatched to destroy the collective interest of the Yoruba people. If we are denied the chairmanship of the party, we will walk out of the PDP and take our fortunes elsewhere.”

    Numerous other leaders of the party are also believed to be disenchanted with the PDP. These include former Deputy National Chairman, South, Chief Olabode George, a former Minister of Works, Senator Adesewe Ogunlewe, Chief Makanjuola Ogundipe, Chief Mrs. Remi Adiukwu,  former Deputy Governor of Lagos, Sen. Kowoworola Akerele-Bucknor and former Minister of State for Defence, Erelu Olusola Obada.

    Also being pacified by various organs of the party currently are Mr. Jimi Agbaje, Otunba Gbenga Daniels, former National Vice Chairman, South West, Ishola Filani, former Minister, Elder Wole Oyelese, PDP chieftain, Othman Shodipe, Chief Makanjuola Ogundipe, Chief Eddy Olafeso and others. Dickson had said no effort will be spared to ensure that these chieftains are reconciled to the party.

    In a statement showing that progress is being made, Babatope recently declared that, “We have contributed to the party immensely and helped hold it together since its inception. We will not jump from one party to another. Those of us who believe in PDP will never compromise on our membership. The controversy will not have adverse effect on the party’s performance in 2019, especially if a reconciliation mechanism is put in place to address genuine grievances.

    “The PDP will not suffer in the South-Westbecause of what happened. South-West PDP still seeWike, Secondus and others who denied the region the chairmanship slot as friends.” But the continued silence from the camps of other notable party leaders in the zone remains a source of worry to the promoters of the leading opposition party as they hope to unseat the ruling APC in 2019.

    If truly Babatope said the above from his mind and he speaks the mind of majority of other PDP leaders in the zone, the party may have finally solved a big problem confronting its 2019 presidential dream. But if otherwise, the PDP must begin to think of the magic it will deplore to get votes in the region during the next presidential election.

    To make matters worse for the PDP, its state chapters in the South-West are battling lingering intra party crises. From Ogun State where the expulsion of Senator BurujiKashamu by the national leadership of the party is still generating discord while the no love lost relationship between ex-Governor Daniel and Honourable Ladipupo Adebutu divides party members into camps, to Ekiti where Governor AyodeleFayose’s alleged imposition of his deputy as the PDP gubernatorial candidate for this year’s governorship election is daily shredding the party, the PDP is far from being united in the zone.

    The situation is not different in Osun State. Senator IyiolaOmisore’s governorship aspiration and the stiff opposition to it by some prominent party chieftains across the state has kept the party on its knees even as the national leadership of the party recently ordered a fresh congress to elect a new state executive committee for the party.

    In neigbouring Oyo State, the former  Governor Rasheed Ladoja political family, which recently returned to the PDP from Accord Party, is at loggerheads with ‘old’ members of the party over the control of party machineries.

    While party leaders in Lagos appear united in their rejection of the treatment meted out to the zone at the December convention, inside sources insist the rivalry between the Bode George and Agbaje camps remains unresolved. And it is likely they will go back to their fighting ways once the burning issues arising from the convention are either resolved or forgotten. And for now, the PDP in Ondo State is not healthy. With former Governor Segun Mimiko yet to get his political groove back after the defeat his party suffered at the last gubernatorial election in the state, and Chief Eddy Olafeso in court against the PDP over the chairmanship of the party in the South-West, it is obvious that the party needs help in the Sunshine state.

    The Vice-Presidential ticket card

    As the PDP searches for its presidential candidate for the 2019 elections, another major factor that has taken a prominent position is the choice for the vice presidential ticket.

    Insiders revealed that the slot was initially considered for the South-East, but following South-West zone’s failure to clinch the position of the National Chairman, some forces are proposing a possible South-West candidate for the Vice Presidential job. “The initial idea was for South-West to produce the National Chairman while the South-East will produce the Vice-President. But as part of the reconciliation, some groups from the South-West zone are suggesting that the South-West may also be considered for this job as compensation,” said a source.

    Another source, a former member of PDP National Working Committee, however faulted this claim, saying that South-East is likely to produce the PDP vice-presidential candidate. “The South-East is likely to produce the Vice-Presidential Candidate. Since our aim is to defeat APC and that party is likely to field Buhari and and his current vice, who is from the South-West, it is wiser for PDP to field a vice presidential candidate from the South-East. That is all I can say. It is more strategic and more realistic, considering all the relevant factors,” he said.

    Whichever, our correspondent gathered that beyond the issue of the zone that should produce the vice presidential candidate, the issue of the candidate has become very prominent as governors and former governors have filed out for the plum job. This also confirms why it is critical for PDP to get it right.