The Nation Newspaper

Tag: responsibility

  • Power without responsibility

    The on-going macabre dance in Taraba State is symptomatic of all that is wrong with our constitution and its operators. It is no more a secret that Governor Danbaba Suntai was aided by two hefty men to disembark the plane that ferried him from the US after 10 months of intensive medical treatment following serious injuries he suffered when he crashed his personal jet near Yola in October last year. It is also public knowledge that he was not strong enough to acknowledge cheers or speak to his enthusiastic supporters and well-wishers that were on hand at the airport to welcome him. Even if the scenario had been different, one will still be tempted to ask what informed Suntai’s desperate bid to take over the reins of government even before he had time to take inventory of what transpired in his absence. But since the governor has not appeared in public or address his state House of Assembly close to two weeks after his arrival, one can hazard a guess – the lure and nostalgic craving for a governor’s pervasive power without responsibility.

    This perhaps explains why the race for the governor’s seat, from nomination to election is often a fierce battle. It is a war viciously fought by desperate men. It is, as ex-President Obasanjo appropriately described it a ‘do or die battle’. It is not a race for the faint-hearted.  Besides brute force which has left us with unresolved cases of assassinated governorship aspirants, it sometimes requires a resort to perfidy and high level of intrigue accompanied with non conventional rules. For instance during ex-President Obasanjo’s failed attempt at railroading the South-west into the ‘mainstream’, an era marked by massive rigging of governorship elections, his point-man in Ibadan, Alhaji Adedibu, the man designated as ‘garrison commander’ by PDP, reportedly took a close look at a governorship aspirant and coldly asked, “Can you without hesitation remove your dress and like a hooligan engage in a public brawl? Can you swear publicly with the Holy Koran on what you know was evidently untrue”?

    And for those who want to be governors by all means, it is a zero-sum game and the end justifies the means.  In 2007 race to Ekiti governor’s lodge, Fayemi outwitted about a dozen of his highly cultured soul mates – journalists, human right activists, intellectuals all sharing the same ideological orientation. But the crave for the governorship seat drove some of them to the embrace of PDP. They blatantly rigged elections and turned the land to a battle ground for about four years. A few months to the next election, the battle line is once again drawn between the governor and Opeyemi Bamidele both of APC. An earlier attempt by PDP to pick its candidate ended in a shoot out. Ekiti state by the way is a poor state whose federal allocation is second to the last on the list of 36 states.

    In  Oyo, Uyo, and Awka as in Port Harcourt where Nyesom Wike, the minister of education (state)  has said he was ready to sacrifice his ministerial position  to fight the battle for the Rivers government lodge by ensuring  Amaechi the incumbent governor of the state does not ‘sleep with his two eyes closed’, the story is the same. The lure of the office of governor is such that all manners of men find it irresistible- those in their 60s, 70s, ex military governors and administrators, serving senators , successful professionals and business men we all describe as  ‘men of great accomplishments’.

    For instance, Chukwuma Soludo, a celebrated intellectual, former CBN governor who for five years pursued PDP monetary policies with passion, cross-carpeted to APGA following his failed attempt at entering Awka government house through PDP. Last week his new party disqualified him from its primaries. Most Nigerians, except the aspirants who understand what it means to be a governor in Nigeria, would ask what on earth Soludo is looking for in Awka after conquering Nigeria and the world.

    The same question can be asked of Dora Akunyili, who as minister of information was the most visible of Yar’Adua ministers. She pursued PDP ‘branding policy’ fraud with passion. The lure of governor’s office however drove her from PDP to APGA. The race for the Awka government house can get no more comical than with the presence of Andy Uba, a former governor for two weeks and a serving senator. He is presently locked horns with Tony Nwoye, a man said to be his protégé. Similarly, the uninitiated is bound to wonder why Senator Chris Ngige would not be discouraged by the ignominy he suffered as a governor when  he was kidnapped in a broad daylight, locked up like a common criminal and asked to write an undertaking renouncing his office as governor. Rather than get discouraged, he is now set for a battle against all comers, including his erstwhile godfather and tormentor, Chris Uba.

    At the last count, besides ministers and captains of industry jostling for government houses in the 36 states of the federation, there are about 40 senators and members of the Lower house set for the battle. They include senators Ifeanyi Okowa, Enyinnaya Abaribe, Hope Uzodinma, Chris Anyanwu, Ike Ekweremadu, Ayogu Eze, Annie Okonkwo, Ayo Arise, Gbenga Aluko, Kabiru Gaya, Olufemi Lanlehin. Others are Representatives, Abdulrahaman Kawu Sumaila,  Emeka Ihedioha, Uche Ekwunife and  Opeyemi Bamidele among many others.

    The desperate bid to be a governor is perhaps because governors have immeasurable powers. They are the lords of the manor in their states. As leaders of their parties, they alone determine who is nominated to contest election as councillors and chairmen, if and when they decide to have local council elections. In most cases they run the councils as local administrations through their appointees. Members of state

    assemblies also need their endorsement before they can contest election. Most state assemblies are therefore extensions of the governor’s office. Attempt to assert their independence will most often lead to Ogun experience under ex-Governor Gbenga Daniel who locked up his state house of assembly and chased the lawmakers out of town.

    We also know governors can through their power of patronage create millionaires overnight. They don’t account for their monthly security votes. In the Niger Delta and North-east, we have seen how governors deployed security funds to sponsor terror gangs that metamorphosed into Niger Delta militants and Boko Haram insurgency. In Oyo State, Adedibu, the garrison commander and leader of the thugs demanded and got 20% of the security vote which he said was needed to mobilize his gangs. That was after getting Abuja’s support to illegally remove a governor that turned down his request.

    The power of the governor is so pervasive. Yet it is often power without responsibility. They are accountable to none but themselves. Perhaps with the exception of Nuhu Ribadu who recently challenged the 19 northern governors to justify the over N16 trillion they collected from the federation account in the last 14 years, we have ignored the governors and LGA that spend over 30 per cent of the budget. We have failed to subject to scrutiny the activities of governors who dish out patronage and gifts to shut up the mouth of the local opinion leaders, including the Obas, the Obis and the emirs.

  • Ijaw group claims responsibility for attacks

    An Ijaw group in Warri, Delta State, Egbema Radical Group, yesterday claimed responsibility for Tuesday’s bloody attack.

    Eight Itsekiri, including a father and his infant son, were killed in Tuesday’s bloody attack, targeting towns in Warri North Local Government Area.

    The group’s spokesman, Capt Dada Amin, promised more mayhem in the days ahead.

    No fewer than 200 persons, mostly of Itsekiri extraction, have been displaced.

    Sources from the riverside communities said the full extent of the havoc wreaked by the militant was still yet unknown, stressing, “There who is nobody willing to go and find out because of fear of the unknown.”

    It was gathered that some of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) fled as far as Ondo and Edo states.

    Amin, who spoke in a telephone interview, said the group is determined to ensure scuttle democratic rule in the council and make the riverside areas ungovernable.

    A source within the group, who acted as mediator during the chat with the warlord, said, “We gave the government enough warning to address issues of marginalisation of the Egbema Ijaw in Warri North.

    “Unfortunately, our warnings and threats were treated with levity and what you saw and heard about on Tuesday was just the beginning of more attacks to come. We are determined to change the situation once and for all,” Amin added.

    The Commander of the Joint Task Force (JTF) in Koko, Lt. Col Etim, could not be reached for comments.

    A source in the command said he was supervising troops deployment to the troubled spot.

    The government has banned speed boats of two horse power and above on the waterways in Warri North Local Government Area.

    The Secretary to the State Government, Ovuozorie Macaulay, announced this after a Security Council meeting.

    He said security operatives have also been mandated to arrest youths, who hide under the guise of youth associations to engage in nefarious activities.

    He said: “The existing law banning the activities of youth organisations in the state is still in force.

    “The Council notes with regret the recent happenings in Warri North Local Government Area within the last few days. We wish to commiserate with victims and affected families.

    “Security operatives are in control and they should be allowed to do their work. People should be calm and go about their duties.

    “The Council approved the ban on all movement on the waterways in Warri North Local Government Area from 6pm to 7am.”

  • Ogbulafor denies responsibility for kinsman’s conduct

    Former Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Vincent Ogbulafor yesterday distanced himself from the alleged fraudulent conduct of his kinsman and ex-Secretary, Secretary of the National Economic Intelligence Agency (NEIC), Emeka Ebilah.

    He admitted that Ebilah, who hails from Abia State like him and whose appointment to NEIC board he facilitated, donated N2million to his campaign fund while he campaigned for the position of the National Secretary of the PDP.

    Ogbulafor, a former Special Duties Minister, spoke yesterday while being cross-examined at his trial before Justice Ishag Bello of the Abuja High Court.

    He is being tried with Ebilah on charges of conspiracy and award of fictitious contracts to the tune of N107million. They are being prosecuted by the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC).

    Under cross-examination by prosecution lawyer, Marcus Abu, Ogbulafor admitted nominating Ebilah for appointment as NEIC board member, but denied being instrumental to his emergence as the body’s Secretary.

    When asked if he knew what Ebilah’s salary was to have enabled him make a N2million donation to his (Ogbulafor’s) campaign, the ex-PDP leader denied knowledge.

    “The N2million he donated was in support of my campaign. Others donated vehicles and took them back after the campaign. When he gave me the money I did not know where it was coming from because it is campaign fund.”

    He also washed his hands off any allegation of misconduct against Ebilah, saying he only recommended Ebilah for appointment and can not be held responsible for his conduct. He said Ebilah should be able to account for his deeds.

    When asked if he trusted Ebilah, Ogbulafor said he knew him (Ebilah) from his community having contested election for the Senate and believed that he must have been a person of good reputation to have been allowed by his community to contest election at that level.

    Ogbulafor admitted knowing Chris Nwoke, who the prosecutor said paid money into the ex-PDP leader’s bank account, an allegation he denied.

    He admitted that the President, while he was the Special Duties Minister, directed him to reconstitute a Renegotiated Debt Committee of the NEIC that renegotiated the debt by the Federal Government to contractors.

    He also admitted that his ministry identified and advised the contractors to be paid by the government.

    Ogbulafor ended his testimony yesterday, following which the trial judge adjourned to July 15 for Ebilah to testify.

  • ‘Media’s responsibility to society is awesome’

    ‘Media’s responsibility to society is awesome’

    The Executive Secretary of the National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO), Dr. Barclays Ayakoroma, has identified the nation’s multi-ethnic and religious composition as a challenge to national development. He said it was disheartening that after five decades of independence, most Nigerians still have fastidious attachment to their ethnic origins to the detriment of national unity.

    “Rather than celebrate our unique cultural identities, emphases are still placed on our ethnic and cultural differences,” he said.

    Ayakoroma spoke in Lagos last Thursday at the quarterly media workshop organised by the institute for art editors and writers.

    The theme of the workshop was Culture as a panacea in the peaceful co-existence of a multi-ethnic nation: The role of the media.

    He said: “It is the contention of peace and development experts that the present ethnic, political and religious intolerance in Nigeria can best be addressed if the media is encouraged to play a vital role in educating the citizenry on the immense benefits of embracing peaceful co-existence.

    “The media can help promote and project our rich cultural values of honesty, hard work, sanctity of human life, respect for elders and constituted authorities, unity in diversity and love for our dear country.”

    Prof Femi Osofisan, who chaired the occasion, noted that the objectivity and partisanship of a journalist can be influenced by the ownership of the media organisation where such journalist works. He wondered if culture means the protection of the ruling elite or is it the survival of common people in a given society.

    “How do you define culture in a multi-ethnic community? Can the journalist promote a melting pot of all cultures? If we recognise heterogeneity, how do we promote unity? And if competition is normal, what then happened to different cultures? He asked.

    In her paper, Nigeria’s Season of Anomie: Fashioning a cultural media tool-kit, Prof Foluke Ogunleye observed that the role of the media and its responsibility are awesome and huge. According to her, the media should go beyond reflecting and mirroring the society to affecting the society.

    “When the media fails to do this, it has disappointed the people,” she added.

    On how the media shapes or changes the cultural identity of a people, she said cultural groups think, feel and act differently but that there is no scientific standard for considering one group as intrinsically superior or inferior to another.

    Prof Ogunleye stressed that getting to know activities which focus on similarities rather than differences can reduce barriers between people of different cultures.

    “Mass media has a political and a persuasive power over us. Radio, TV, the press and film can manipulate the whole societies. Political propaganda, advertising and the so-called ‘mind bending’ power of the media are long-standing causes of debate and concern,” she added.

    Former Editor, The Guardian On Sunday, Mr. Jahman Oladejo Anikulapo, spoke on how ownership of media organisation affects the performance of the practitioners who are culture writers. He noted that in a country where there is no operational cultural policy, culture writers would be handicapped as there would be no policy guidelines to pursue in their reports.

    He lamented the dearth of critical reporting among culture writers, which he blamed on the corrupt tendencies in the larger society.

    “But, above all, I worry for the emerging threat from ethnic papers from different zones of the country. In fact, most newsrooms in the country today are divided along the various ethnic militias. We now have partisans rather than patriots running media organisations,” he noted.

    Associate Editor, The Sun newspaper, Mr. Alvan Ewuzie, said the media should bring to public attention the efficacy of deploying cultural events in fostering unity amongst the multi-ethnic groups with the same potency of football. He stressed that Nigerians must not let the political authorities denigrate and look down on cultural events, as they have tended to do.

    “Take the example of the annual National Festival of Arts (NAFEST). Since 1990, no President or Head of State has attended the opening ceremony, a pointer to their rating of the event. Sometimes, governors whose states are hosting the event would leave the town and delegate deputies and other officials to attend. Yet, such governors would fly across continents to watch football matches involving national teams or boxing events,” he lamented.

    Ewuzie stated that unity should not be taken for granted. “We have to work at it and know that peaceful co-existence come through deliberate actions that foster togetherness and tolerance. Culture provides a vital key and panacea to peaceful coexistence. The media ought to take its rightful place in deploying culture as an instrument in making it happen,” he added.

     

     

  • WAEC should brace up to their responsibility

    WAEC should brace up to their responsibility

    Sir: The recent comment by the West African Examination Council (WAEC) that school administrators are responsible for examination malpractices is like running away from the main issue. About 14 years ago I was involved in supervision of the school certificate examination under WAEC. With what I saw, I wish to say that the root of the failure and flagrant misconduct in examinations is from WAEC.

    The WAEC officials are as corrupt as the school heads and teachers. Examination malpractice is a network and a collaborative action between WAEC staff, school heads, principals and supervisors. After all, it takes two to tango. I agree that there are other principal agents in this malaise like parents, community leaders, ministry of education officials etc. WAEC is the owner of the exam and they should take responsibility for any failure. It is their duty to ensure proper supervision and the deployment of men and women of integrity on the field. Most WAEC field officers are simply corrupt and are just out to make money.

    I remember an instance when I supervised the exam. On arrival at the school, the school principal welcomed me thus “ we treat our supervisors well, sir I will like to know your terms.” He spoke to me as if it was a normal thing and I later discovered that it was really a normal thing for them. On further discussion, I learnt that most supervisors who had come earlier and even WAEC officials had their terms and were “treated well”. WAEC should mobilise credible and sufficient manpower to the field as supervisors and appropriate sanction should be meted out to defaulting ones. That means, strategies have to be in place to monitor their conduct.

    I strongly believe that if WAEC officials do their job well, it will go a long way to check exam malpractice. I must say that one of the things that gives school heads and teachers the boldness to continue in this act is the moral failure of WAEC officials. In the exam malpractice network are supervisory agents from state’s ministries of Education.

    There are another set of people government must handle squarely. Schools should only nominate teachers of integrity and repute for supervision not those who can make returns to school heads.

    There should be very stringent penalty for schools and head of schools involved in exam malpractice. Its a shame to see cases where teachers write on the board for students or dictate answers to them on exam day. If a school is closed down for such an act, I am sure it will serve as a deterrent to others.

    The question is, have WAEC in collaboration with the appropriate bodies come up with well defined and actionable policies to curbing exam malpractice? Charity, they say, begins from home. Let WAEC clean her house first before spreading the dragnet to others. This is not the time to pass blames. They must take responsibilty as the body empowered to conduct and supervise the Senior School Certificate Examination Pragmatism and leadership is required at this time from WAEC. The future of Nigeria’s educational sector is on the precipice and to salvage it, WAEC must play her statutory role well.

     

    Alexander Ighoro

    Warri, Delta State

     

  • ‘Security is everyone’s responsibility’

    THE Ekiti State Chapter of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) has said communities must step up vigilance to ensure security.

    The group’s Chairman, Prince Adeniyi Adedipe, in a statement, said: “The task of combating crime must involve the people, the Oodua group and the police.

    “To control crime, the people must be vigilant and ready to offer information on criminals in their communities, while OPC and the police must complement them.

    “Recently, we arrested a gang of armed robbers with the support of the people. We also arrested another group of bandits.

    “Each time we make such arrests, we hand the criminals over to the police for investigation and prosecution and the police have been very appreciative.

    “Our job is to assist security agents. We will continue to work with the police.”

    Adedipe said OPC recently held a campaign in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, on the need for Nigerians to see security as a collective responsibility and shun crime.

    He said: “We pledge our support for Governor Kayode Fayemi in the task of transforming the state.

    “The state’s revenue is small, but the governor’s efforts have been great and wonderful.”

     

  • The responsibility of citizenship: The youth in focus (1)

    The responsibility of citizenship: The youth in focus (1)

    On Tuesday, December 18, 2012, an historic event occurred in Ibadan, the political capital of the southwest. A dynamic group of young, upwardly mobile men and women, determined to contribute to the transformation of Oyo State launched a project with the inspiring name, ThinkOyo. I felt humbled and considered it an honour to be invited to deliver the maiden edition of the organisation’s Distinguished Lecture Series. The following is the first installment of the lecture that will appear on this page in the next two to three weeks. I appreciate the organising wizardry of the Steering Committee including Funlola Adesina, Wale Olajide, Biodun Makinde, and Femi Popoola, the incomparable broadcaster who brought back memories.

    I am particularly impressed with the choice of name for the organisation, ThinkOYO. Thinking is one activity that we as a people have not been serious about in this country. But the downside of that neglect of thinking is that we are denying what is our fundamental nature. We are thinking animals. That is what separates us from other animals. It is the ability to think that enables us to appreciate who we are, what we are, and why we are here? Opo ojo lo ti ro ti ile ti fi mu. What makes any of us so special that we were not in the list of those that have been called to the other side of the river? Are we better than those that were called?

    Moreover, it is the deficit of thinking that makes people engage in disreputable activities. Consider the case of a leader who got carried away by the allures of office and misappropriates public funds. He or she might give little thought to the probability, even possibility, of being caught. That is the kind of shallow thinking that gets people into serious trouble. So the name of the organisation that sponsored this event is itself food for thought. And for me, it does the job half way.

    My question then is this: When you think Oyo, what do you think? What ideas run through your mind? What images are presented to your mind’s eyes?

    I hope that what comes to your mind is the enviable tradition of pace-setting in every aspect of social and political life, in adventurism, in culture, in work ethics and pride in the dignity of labour, in entrepreneurship, in political consciousness, and in civic responsibility.

    Oyo indigenes in particular and Yoruba nationals in general have a great heritage to be proud of provided. Consider the origin of the nation. Oranmiyan was the most adventurous of the children of Oduduwa. It was his adventurism that motivated the founding of Oyo and the consolidation of the kingdom of Oyo, making it one of the first empires of note in Africa. That spirit of adventure inspired many of the “first in Africa” achievements that the Western Nigeria was able to claim credit for in the fifties and early sixties.

    That Oyo has always been a pace setter in culture should come as no surprise to anyone. Whether it is material culture production or artistic creativity, our people have led the pack. And when I once privately watched a video of Iku Baba Yeye Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi III making a presentation on Yoruba history and culture I found myself literally leaping out of the seat filled with pride and joy in my cultural heritage. Of course the video was promptly circulated among my colleagues who were always eager for good news from the home front.

    Needless to remind ourselves that culture is an identifier. It is what makes us who we are. The major elements of culture include language and religion. Let us grant that the latter is a controversial issue which can take us further afield from our focus here today. It cannot be denied, however, that for various reasons and due to various causes, traditional religion has lost its place as an important aspect of our cultural identification. But not only do we no longer want to identify with traditional religion, we also shy away from names that are otherwise meaningful but have dispensable connection with our past religious identification as Africans or Yoruba.

    What is more disturbing, however, is the place of our mother tongue in our contemporary quest for new identities. The Yoruba language has been an enabler in several respects. First, like other mother tongues, it provides the most effective medium for the education of our children in their formative years as the research has been an unambiguous about the benefits of mother tongue education. Secondly, the richness of Yoruba language is attested to by scholars and the diaspora community has been fascinated by this undeniable property of the language.

    Institutions of higher learning across Yorubaland and the Americas have developed centres for the study of Yoruba. The multiplication of such centres means that there are going to be openings for specialists in Yoruba language and culture in those countries for the foreseeable future. We are going to take advantage of such opportunities for our young ones only if we provide the foundations for the teaching and learning of the language right from the elementary school.

    But it is a damning aspect of our present condition that we have relegated Yoruba language to the back burner of the media for civilised discourse such that middle and upwardly mobile Yoruba are literally banning the speaking of the language in their homes!

    Our work ethics and enterprising spirit is legendary. Our ancestors understood the importance of hard work. They detested laziness and explicitly expressed their disdain for a life of drudgery or thievery. Tal’o fole lomo? We have poems in praise of hard work: Ise loogun ise. Mura sise ore mi. Ise lafi ndeni giga. Ba o ba reni feyinti, bi olee lari. Baa ba reni gbekele a tera mose eni. The emphasis on hard work is not just so you can do well in life if you had no wealthy relatives. They also advise against relying on the prosperity of relatives. Baba re lee lowo lowo, Iya re lee lesin leekan, Boo ba gboju le won, o te tan ni mo so fun o. Iya mbe fomo to ko gbon. Ekun mbe fomo to nsa kiri. Ma fowuro sise ore mi. Mura si se ojo nlo.

    That was the sentiment that underscored our identity and it is what must naturally come to mind when you think Oyo. For when we now reflect on the pace setting achievements, we must bear in mind that everything associated with that era was the result of the highly charged productivity of the populace and the determination of leadership to make a mark, itself born out of the internalisation of the cultural norms that got them inspired in the first place.

    With regard to political consciousness, colonialism cannot claim sole credit for its inception. In any case, politics is the heart and soul of societies. Whether it is the politics of ascension to or abdication from the throne, it’s all politics, if you abstract from the pretentions to spiritual intervention.