The Nation Newspaper

Tag: scapegoat

  • Don’t use me as scapegoat for your failure in office

    Don’t use me as scapegoat for your failure in office

    Below are excerpts from the open letter, dated October 26, 2015, by Chief Edwin Clark, replying former Special Adviser on Media to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, Dr. Reuben Abati, and other critics over his recent comments on the former president.

    ORDINARILY at my age and position in life, I should not have to justify myself in a press controversy on my voluntary decision to quit partisan politics particularly when this personal and well intended act has come under unfair politicization of persons of mediocre temperament. For a couple of days now, I have been more bemused than angry by the not-so-funny, but, predictably, negative ingenuity of Nigerians, aided by an equally incredulous media, to create unpleasant things out of nothing. It has been a circus of those convinced that they have found a peg to hang their own, disloyalty, failure, shallowness and hatred unto, a ball to kick around, over my statement, not for the first time, that I was quitting partisan politics and my statement about former President Goodluck Jonathan, for reasons so obvious that I cannot understand what the orgy of self-flagellation is all about.

    I still believe that former President Jonathan performed creditably well in various areas.  I am very proud of him and so are millions of other Nigerians. He was good in so many areas, and did many good things for this nation. He resuscitated the railway system that was comatose for several decades; he engineered a robust economy for this nation; he fought against Polio and Ebola; maternal and child health; he did much for the power sector upon which President Muhammadu Buhari is now building; he tarred more roads than any of his predecessors; he turned agriculture to agro-business, a multibillion dollar business; he built the Almajiri schools in the Northern parts of this country; he established new federal universities across this nation; he allowed for free speech across this nation, and did not mind when he was criticised or, even, abused; people were not arbitrarily locked up in jail or prison, as he truly respected the rule of law; he signed the Freedom of Information Bill into law, which was not done by his predecessors; he modernised the aviation sector; he convoked a National Conference that brought Nigerians together and proffered recommendations on how to better bind Nigerians together as one; he sanitised the electoral system of this country, unlike what we had before him, when elections results were announced without actually voting, when ballot snatching were rampant and common place, he brought transparency into the electoral process, when people could vote and the votes actually  openly counted without violence. Today he stands as the first African president to concede an election to an opponent, even before the final counts. There are many more achievements to his record, but because of time and space let me end here for now. These are all lasting legacies that he has left behind. He has certainly set a precedent for others to follow.

    But no human being is perfect; only God is perfect. Therefore, to mention an area of former President Jonathan’s inaction may not be out of place. Every leader in this world has their fault. President Jonathan cannot be an exception. As the late British Prime Minister Harold MacMillan observed in his autobiography, politicians do not regret their mistakes because they can always explain themselves; but they never forgive themselves for opportunities they have lost. For instance, President Barrack Obama of United States of America is frequently attacked for not having the political will to deal with Israel over the Palestinian question.

    This does not mean that he lacks the capacity to take action against Israel effectively or to deal with the affairs of the United States of America or that he lacks integrity. Several years ago, the entire Western world was being accused of lacking political will to deal with Apartheid South Africa. This did not mean any inaction of the Western countries by the rest of the world. It only means that President Obama and the statesmen of the western world had other considerations in their minds in the interest of their countries.

    In keeping with my character I cannot say in private what I cannot say in the public.  I do not therefore, reject or disown Jonathan as my beloved political son.

    My open support for former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan

    My support for President Goodluck Jonathan predates his presidency. It dates back to the period when he was the Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State. So for people who are thinking that I only knew Dr. Jonathan when he became the President or that I was one of his hangers on, I think there will be need to give them a little information. My relevance and leadership of my people as an elder statesman and a critical stakeholder in this Nigeria project far pre-dates Dr. Jonathan’s public life and presidency. I have been relevant in politics and I have served my people honestly and creditably well.  I became very close to Dr. Goodluck Jonathan when he was Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State. I was present in London when the late former Governor of Bayelsa State, the Governor General of the Ijaw Nation, Chief D.S.P. Alamieyeseigha (may his soul rest in perfect peace), was arrested in London on the prompting of the Nigerian government under President Olusegun Obasanjo because of his hatred for Chief Alamieyeseigha.  I had to cancel my flight to Nigeria at the London Airport when the news of the arrest of Chief Alamieyeseigha was conveyed to me by Ambassador Pereware from Paris. I went with a few well-meaning Nigerians to Essex where we had been informed that he was kept, but could not find him. We went to a few other places before we were able to locate where he was. I remained in London for one week with him to put in place machineries for his bail. I recall the large-heartedness of Lady Ann Iyoha who brought out the title deed of her property in London to secure his bail and also the magnanimity of another woman from Amasoma, the home town of Chief Alamiyeseigha in Bayelsa State.

    When I returned to Nigeria, I went to Bayelsa State to meet with stakeholders to see that a peaceful transition of power take place whereby Dr. Jonathan who was the then Deputy Governor became the governor. Ambassador Godknows Igali became the Secretary to the State Government.

    Of course, I openly supported President Jonathan not only as my son but also as the first person to emerge from the minorities of the Niger Delta as the President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. I had no choice but to support him and I have no regrets. My support is total and unyielding. If most of President Jonathan’s close associates and political leaders exhibited such support, by espousing all his achievements, rather than the pretence and betrayal they were engaged in, the story today would have been different.

    It will be recalled that I had on several occasions openly criticised the former President in the press and in my statements for actions or inactions which were damaging to the President’s image while he was in office. When the President failed to check the excesses of the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, which included his undue interference with the activities of the EFCC, I did not fail to speak my mind openly in opposition to the President. When the President did not deliver on his promise to complete the construction of the East-West Road, I did not fail to speak my mind openly.

    I even told him publicly that he should not leave the South South people poorer than he met them. When the Governors Forum appeared to arrogate to itself powers that infringed upon those of the President in the Constitution of Nigeria with impunity, I did not fail to criticise. The press conferences and open letters I wrote which were carried and published by the various media houses are there to confirm this claim. However, with all these, my support for him was and still is total and unshakeable.

    My relationship with Jonathan was not based on material gains

    It is indeed most disingenuous to insinuate that my relationship with former President Jonathan was based on what benefits accrued to me. Far from the truth as I never benefited any material thing from President Jonathan in all his six years of President. With all modesty, I am at this age contented. I state publicly therefore, that I never sought nor obtained any contract, oil block, oil lifting allocation or financial gratification from the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) during his years of administration.

    Similarly, I never solicited for appointments or special placements for any of my children or relations in any government or private concern on account of my relationship with President Jonathan. It is, therefore, ludicrous and totally ill-motived for these wicked and mischievous persons to sell to the public that my decision portends a plan to seek any special favours from President Muhammadu Buhari and his government, or to protect those gains which I acquired from President Jonathan’s government which never existed.

    On the contrary, my public service in this country which spans over 60 years had given me the opportunity to seek the political, social and economic development of my people and Nigeria in general. I remain committed more than ever before to the economic, political and social emancipation of the people of the Niger Delta, South South, the entire minorities and the development and unity of this great nation. This was even contained in the congratulatory letter which I wrote to President Muhammadu Buhari, dated 3rd April, 2015.

    My retirement from partisan politics

    I am fast approaching 90 years and had been in active politics for over 60 years.  It came to me as a shock that misguided persons are trying to lose their senses over my decision to quit active partisan politics.

    I was in the Niger Delta Congress (NDC), with the late sage Chief Harold Dappa-Biriye and late His Excellency, Chief Melford Okilo between 1955 and 1959. I was in Mid West Front (MWF). I was in the National Congress for Nigerian Citizens, NCNC. I was Secretary of the Zikist Vanguard, London in 1962.  I served in General Yakubu Gowon’s cabinet as Minister of Information with late General Murtala Mohammed as Minister of Commerce, General Olusegun Obasanjo as Minister of Works, Alhaji Shehu Shagari as Minister of Finance. Today, three of these persons have become Presidents of Nigeria. Apart from Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, the others are no longer in active politics.

    I was a member of the National Party of Nigeria, NPN. I recall with heavy heart that most of the people with whom I played politics are either dead or have become politically inactive. Some of them are Makama Bida of Niger State, Maitama Sule of Kano State, K. O. Mbadiwe of Imo State, Fani Kayode, Tanko Yakassai, Dr. Ibrahim Tahil of Bauchi State, Adamu Ciroma of Yobe State, Alhaji Ali Monguno of Borno State, A. M. A. Akinloye, T. O. S. Benson, Dr. Okezie of Imo State, M. T. Mbu of Cross River State, His Royal Majesty the Olubadan of Ibadan, just to mention a few. Not too long ago, I found myself attending a PDP caucus meeting in Warri with young men who are grand children of my political colleagues. Today, I sometimes move in a wheelchair. I had intimated former President Jonathan that once the elections were over and he was sworn into office for the second term, I will leave partisan politics and retire to my village.

    Thus, I recalled earlier receiving a request by a group with the rather uplifting name of “Think Nigeria First Initiative” (TNFI), for a courtesy call on me and to make me their Grand Patron. The name alone sent sensations of kindred spirit through me and I readily accepted. I responded, enthusiastically, naturally. It was in that context that I said that myself at the age of nearly 89 years, and having carried my passions of similar ideals with theirs for over 60 years, had decided that my energies needed a paradigm restructuring. This same position I had declared at Akure, Ondo State, on the 24th of August, 2015, at the meeting of the Southern Nigeria Peoples Assembly, SNPA, of which, by God’s grace, I am one of the Leaders.

    I wish to refer here to the crude and unpolished language used by Dr. Reuben Abati against me that I would have still been a PDP card-carrying member if former President Jonathan had won the election. I do not know the background of Dr. Abati but for him to lie and devilishly imagine that I should have remained a PDP card-carrying member if President Jonathan won the election is satanic.

    No reader of The Guardian Newspaper, particularly its Sunday edition, will easily forget the frequently provocative columns by Dr. Reuben Abati. As the Chairman of the Editorial Board of the newspaper and syndicated columnist, Abati had a freehand to write whatever he liked in his column and could also influence other news items.  I do not recall any favourable remark made by Abati all those years when he was the Chairman of the Editorial Board and syndicated columnist about the former President His Excellency, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, and the First Lady Dame Patience Jonathan.

    If I recall correctly, they were always the butt of ridicule by Dr. Reuben Abati. In fact, he became so notorious and a fearless critic of former President Jonathan and his wife in The Guardian Newspaper that I had to draw the attention of my cousin, the proprietor of The Guardian Newspaper to his excesses. These vitriolic attacks on former President Jonathan and his wife only stopped when he was appointed the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity by the former President.

    On his appointment, Aso Rock activities and Jonathan’s achievements were not sold to the people of Nigeria. Reuben Abati will recall the number of times when I called his attention to how he was being negligent of his duty as the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity by not defending President Jonathan against some of the scurrilous attacks against him and also by not promoting his image and the well-known achievements of his administration. My advice that a Publicity Committee made up of eminent journalists be put in place in Aso Rock and that media proprietors and senior journalists should be invited to Aso Rock were jettisoned by Abati.

    Dr. Reuben Abati has risen to the defence of his last employer too late. He owes the former President apologies for his (Reuben Abati’s) failure to perform while in office. I should not be used as a scapegoat. I love Goodluck Jonathan and Goodluck Jonathan loves me.

    I repeat again that I will like Dr. Abati to find out from his former boss whether I did not intimate him of my intention that I will leave active politics sometime in 2015 and return to my village after Dr. Jonathan’s re-election as the President of Nigeria. It would be recalled that only two weeks ago, the former PDP National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, retired from partisan politics while celebrating his 80th Birthday. Although he is much younger than me, Reuben Abati and his likes did not feel offended. I repeat here again that I am very proud of my family background which has produced some of the most illustrious Nigerians and that I do not shift ground or change position. I still regard former President Jonathan as my son. Since the change of government, we have been in close communication on the telephone and Jonathan has visited me over four times.

    When I pointed to the former President Jonathan that most of those who surrounded him were not loyal, sincere or patriotic but mere opportunists. It is, therefore, unfair and unjust for Reuben Abati and others to accuse me for saying things against former President Jonathan while he is no longer in office. It is even more shameful that Dr. Abati who claims to be a cultured Yoruba man, a people who have great respect for elders, to go on this wild macabre dance to insinuate and say outright lies against an elder statesman of my age and standing. Unknown to him, more Nigerians know me as a person of strong principles and ideals than he and his likes can imagine. This is why their attacks on me have exposed them to more ridicules in the eyes of most Nigerians, than they would have ever imagined.

     

  • Making a scapegoat  

    In seizing power from General Gowon (80), the then military ruler General Murtala Ramat Muhammed (1938-76) told the nation on July 30, 1975: “This Government will not tolerate indiscipline. The Government will not condone abuse of office.” He kept his word.

    He retired over ten thousand public servants including top military officers. He set up a committee that reviewed the performances of all public officers. At the end of the exercise, only two Ministers were found not guilty, Alhaji Shehu Shagari (90) and Shettima Alli Mongunnu (89).

    At that time, Nigeria had twelve state governors. Only two of the governors, Brigadiers Oluwole Rotimi and Mobolaji Johnson were cleared of corruption. Quite a number of public servants, Ministers and Governors had their assets seized. No one was prosecuted for corruption.

    In taking over power from President Shehu Shagari, the then Major General Muhammadu Buhari (72) told the nation on January 1, 1984:  ”The change became necessary in order to put an end to the serious economic predicament and the crisis of confidence now afflicting our nation”. He said: “The situation could have been saved if the legislators were alive to their constitutional responsibilities. Instead, the legislators were pre-occupied with determining their salary scales, fringe benefits and unnecessary foreign travels, et cetera, which took no account of the state of the economy and the welfare of the people they represented”.

    To mark his 100 days in office on April 7, 1984, the then Major General Muhammadu Buhari further told the nation: “We took over from the defunct civilian administration at the Federal and State levels a financial situation of vast indebtedness. In fact, the depth and seriousness of the financial predicament of the State Governments and, by implication, of the nation has become clearer and clearer, day by day. The Federal Government had to assist State Governments recently with a sum of over N 600 million as loan to enable them pay all arrears of wages and salaries before the end of April 1984”.

    At that time he was 42 and still vibrant, resounding and resonant. As a military officer with regimental discipline he turned to decrees to administer the nation. They are: (1.) The Constitution and modification decree 1 of 1984, which he signed into law on February 9 1984 (2.) The state security detention of persons decree of 1984, which he signed into law on February 9 1984, (3.) the Federal Military Government Supremacy and Enforcement of Power  of 1984 which is known as Decree 13, which he signed into law on May 13, 1984,(4) the Exchange  Control (anti-sabotage) Decree 1984 otherwise known as Decree 7 which he signed into law on April 5 1984, (5) the counterfeit currency special provision decree 1984 otherwise known as Decree 22 which signed into law on May 17, 1984,(6) the Public officers Protection against false accusations Decree 1984 which he signed on April 17 1984, (7)the robbery and fire arms special  provision decree 1984 which set up special tribunal for the trial of armed robbery and special cases, (8) Political Parties (Dissolution and Prohibition) Decree, 1984: this Decree provides for the dissolution and Prohibition of political parties and other similar organisation and forfeiture, disposal and discharge of the assets and liabilities of the dissolved political parties and state creation movements and (9) the Banking (Freezing of Accounts) Decree, 1984: which empowers the Head of the Federal Military Government, where he suspects or believes that any person has been involved in certain offences, including bribery and abuse of office, to issue or cause orders to be issued authorising an investigation into the accounts of such persons and restricting the operation of such accounts on such conditions as may be prescribed in the order. He also set up the recovery of public special Military tribunals amended decree 8 of 1984 which he signed into law on April 5 1984.

    In setting up the Decree 8, he created, in addition, tribunals in five zones of the country. The Enugu zone made up of Anambra, Imo, Cross Rivers and Rivers states was headed by Air Commodore M. Muhammed. For the Jos zone which comprised Plateau, Bauchi, Gongola, Benue and Borno states. Brigadier Peter Ademokhai was named as the Chairman.

    For the Kaduna zone made up of Kaduna, Kano, Niger, Sokoto states and the Federal Capital Territory. Navy Captain M.A. Elegbede was named as the Chairman. For the Ibadan zone made up of Oyo, Ogun, Ondo, Bendel and Kwara states, Brigadier C.B.  Ndiomu was named as the Chairman. As for the Lagos zone made up of Lagos State, Brigadier P.U. Omu was named chairman.

    Major General Buhari at that time was young, vibrant and patriotically adventurous. On August 7 1985, he was toppled at 6.00 a.m. via an announcement by the then Commander of the Armoured Corps of the Nigerian Army, Brigadier Joshua Dongoyaro. On that day, Major General Ibrahim Babangida took over as the head of state.

    Major General Buhari was detained for three years thereafter. He was first detained in a Government House at Alagbaka in Akure, where he became my neighbour before he was eventually transferred to Benin City.

    On November 24, 1993, General Babangida signed the forfeiture of assets (release of forfeited assets Decree 24) and returned some of the forfeited properties to former governors under General Gowon including Faruk and his wife, Brigadiers Samuel Ogbemudia, David Bamigboye, Alfred Diete-spiff and Chief Edwin Clarke who served as Gowon’s Minister of Information. The Decree rubbished the anti-corruption crusade of General Murtala Muhammed.

    In taking over on May 29, 1999 from General Abdusalam Abubakar, President Olusegun Obasanjo set up three panels to probe the administration of General Abdulsalam. The three panels were headed by Dr. Christopher Kolade, Brigadier (rtd.) Oluwole Rotimi  and Alhaji Igudu Inua. No one has so far been prosecuted. But it was understood that the Kolade’s panel recovered some money to the coffers of the central government.

    Now President Muhammadu Buhari is back in power, fully experienced and fully cautious. At 72, having passed through many ordeals he is now more scrupulous and punctilious. In the last few weeks, the country has been treated with stories of massive looting by the Goodluck Jonathan government.

    It appears it is the misfortune of President Muhammadu Buhari to head a corrective regime instead of a regime of continuity. Things have to be so bad that he has to step in to remedy a worse situation. That is the cross he has to carry. To his credit and in the words of President Barak Obama, “he is a man of integrity”- a befitting testimonial that is very rare among leaders of today’s world.

    No more decrees to govern this time. No more Supreme Military Council to guide him. He has to rely on his conscience and his God. The Constitution has bestowed on him the sole authority to shape our lives, about 180 million of us – all blacks. In the immediate, he has to reconstruct his government and recover the loot from the officials of the previous government.

    If he recovers the loot without prosecution, he is bound to lose a lot of goodwill. If he prosecutes few, he will be judged selective. Even if he prosecutes at all, he should be prepared to face the consequences for corruption has a way of fighting back. President Buhari has a big burden on his shoulder to carry, but I am sure he will never walk alone.

     

    • Eric Teniola, a former director at the Presidency, lives in Lagos.

  • The usual scapegoat

    Picture a severely skewed news story bearing the newspaper Daily Editor’s byline and the curious tag: “With political intelligence unit reports.” Picture how ridiculous it must be to witness the metamorphosis of presumed intellect into dimwittedness.

    As you read many more newspaper editors and their reporters are manifesting at the ruling class’ bidding and your bidding, into the stamen that lets down the azalea, the comforters that bring grief, the emissaries of needless hate we orchestrate.

    Today, tyranny attains ultimate refinement in the news columns; this brings to mind that memorable jest by Norman Mailer that “Once a newspaper touches a story, the facts are lost forever, even to the protagonists.” Journalists are often the butt of the most demeaning jokes and premeditated put-downs in the social arena. Nobody thinks much of a journalist; in the eyes of big business and the ruling class, the journalist whatever his designation or job title, is the manipulable pawn and necessary evil that has to be courted and tolerated. In fact, very few journalists command the respect of the society.

    The descent and humiliation of the journalist however, begins in the hands of his employer; very few media today are paying fairly. Many are not paying at all and among the few establishments that pay, salaries range from N15, 000 per month at entry level to N70, 000 per month at managerial level. Just three media houses endeavour to pay fairly and across the three; journalists are oft treated as vermin by administrative/human resources and advertising staff. While just three newspapers may claim exceptionality in this respect, the reality is known to the government, big business, advertisers and general public that the Nigerian journalist is an endangered species, haunted by his employer and tormented by the public he serves. These sad realities lead to daily exodus of skilled and promising hands from journalism and a daily influx of quacks into the profession.

    This resonates badly for the Nigerian mob; the nation’s critical mob to be precise. Mob culture requires that he who would adorn the cloak of defender of the masses’ rights should be upright and flawless in character, work and personal ethics. Such admirable traits are rarely attributable to the Nigerian journalist manager and the press in general.

    The Nigerian mob, like every other rabble, seeks fulfillment of tyrant fantasies; such fantasies often vary between the destruction of an unpopular government, despot or worn-out civilization. Reality however, affirms the impotence of the Nigerian mob. The latter is continually tamed and kept on a leash by a ruling class that capitalizes on its obvious handicaps: its impulsiveness, insensibility to reason and judgment, poverty of soul and intellect, its irritability and overt sentimentality – which are undeniably characteristic of beings belonging to inferior forms of evolution, like savages and carnivores.

    Despites it handicaps, the Nigerian mob conveniently picks on a scapegoat for its infinite timidity and cluelessness: the press. The journalist is expected to serve as the conscience and moral compass of the society, challenging the government and checking the excesses of the ruling class, uncompromisingly and selflessly.

    As utopian fantasies go, these are noble expectations of the journalist but the Nigerian mob ignores the cultural shift of the society from conventional morality to unbridled hedonism. It assumes, hypocritically, that the press will continually give it honest and developmental news even as every segment of the society strive to unmoor the journalist from his role as a crucial appendage of the nation’s critical mob. The public, comprising big business, the government, and civil societies among other mob segments, vilify any journalist or news medium that seeks to educate and engage rather than entertain and perpetuate their biased definitions of reality.

    Contemporary Nigeria embraces the emotional pageant that has turned news into paid publicity and mindless entertainment and the journalist in response kowtows to lusts and vanities of modern society. Beneath the mindless glamour and cultural decline however, an insidious reality festers in the death of hope and incandescence of tragedy. Prevalent socioeconomic tragedies necessitate the emergence and elevation among the citizenry of the bungling and sadistic, and the beginning of a differentiation cum tyranny of social grades.

    At the centre of the turmoil is the journalist whose fate is so critically bound with the country’s but he obviously does not know that hence the cluelessness, treachery and brazen recklessness that characterizes his work. Consequently, the Nigerian journalist manifests as an accident to society. He perpetually loses his grasp of the issues at stake; fundamentally hollow and benumbed to valor, he shamelessly resigns to the powers that be, blaming the tyranny of the ruling class and the proverbial ‘system’ for his inability to fulfill his professional and moral obligations to the society.

    Rather than pose a challenge to the system that domesticates and enslaves him, he chooses the easiest way out and plays junkyard dog to tyrant cabals and the predatory bunch constituting the nation’s ruling class. He assumes the role of a poseur and pretends to fight for the interest of the public. This sad charade is continually perpetuated across esteemed leader-writers’ polemics in foremost newspapers’ columns.

    The contemporary journalist trades in all manners of truths, deploying sophistry and shades of impressive fallacies in the interest of whatever social divide fulfills his lust for relevance and economic survival. I am a journalist and I shamefully acknowledge that my clan and I hardly epitomize hope to our world. Not yet. Rarely does our work signify hope, self-sacrifice or a promise of future honesty and gallantry in the interest of all. We can blame the society and advance all forms of isms and ostentatious arguments to justify our descent the steep slope of amorality and socioeconomic expediency; it wouldn’t excuse our treachery to our calling and the Nigerian citizenry.

    If Nigeria chooses to exist as a land of savages, it’s our responsibility to nudge her back on to the path of humanity and progress – for only in such clime can we positively evolve and prosper. Our failure as journalists indicates severance from a progressive and moral culture while we institutionalize bigotry, lies, depravity, base sentimentality and pitiful fantasies.

    The traditional, conscientious journalist is going extinct today along with true, dependable news culture because Nigeria obsesses and migrates to the pseudo-reality of the internet and reality shows. It is no doubt ironical that the masses would turn around to blame the press for not fulfilling its roles to the society.

    The only profiteers from the status quo are those skilled in the art of manipulation but this despicable band can rarely function without the support of the journalist hence the urgent need for the Nigerian press to retrace his steps. Journalism will thrive and Nigeria will prosper if we neglect the culture of the news spectacle to focus on progressive pursuits, like development and socially responsible journalism.

    It’s about time we stopped narrowing the debates and spotlight to the shenanigans and petty differences of the ruling class and instead aspire to serve as a true voice to the voiceless. There is no magical antidote to our decline and death as a crucial part of the nation’s critical mob.

    Real progress will manifest in the country when we start demanding that the ruling class march in virtual lockstep with promises they make. Whatever the tone and dialect of intellectualization that characterizes our news culture, posterity will judge us by how truthfully we fulfill our roles as conscience and watchdog of the society.

  • The scapegoat ten naira

    In Nigeria, it’s a mixed grill of events unfolding in thousands by the day. While some make you smile, some actually make you sad; and many others could best be described as totally insane.

    Currently in circulation are eight different denominations of the Nigeria’s national currency of 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500 and 1000 naira respectively.

    However, since the federal government announced reduction in the official pump price of petrol in the land in 2012, one of the national legal tenders has been crying the wide river of ‘WHY ME’!!!

    “Why me, Ten naira, of all the denominations? If not a five naira reduction, why not N20 or N50 naira from the old pump price? WHY ME TEN NAIRA?

    “Could the pump price reduction by any chance be Political? Or a mere ethnic sentiment based on the tribe of the picture I carry?

    Why the poor me as victim of the 2015 electioneering circumstance?

    In the name of justice and equity, the unimpressed general consumers of petroleum products in Nigeria hereby advocate against the choice of making me, Ten Naira, the scape goat. We also offer the following recommendations:

    •Already, the reduction is perceived as tribal. But based on the tribal affiliation of the picture on the green currency, the same sentiment shall be expressed if 20 naira is taken off.

    •The public advocates recommend that government shall pronounce a 50 naira reduction from the old 97 naira pump price of petrol and other petroleum products like kerosene and cooking gas for Nigerian women.

    •Afterall, the 50 naira denomination carries the pictures of major tribes in the land and therefore no tribal sentiment can be read to it.

    Clamouring for change, only to get 10 naira PMS price reduction was such a smart response. At least it tallies with words of the good book in Mathew 7-7.   Ask for national change to get 10 naira!

    And though the Nigerian electorate did welcome the 10 naira reduction as a good gesture, do they consider it a good enough political move worth celebrating on day number 300, since Nigerians and the world began clamouring? Bring Back Our Girls… Bring Back Our Girls… Bring Back Our Girls?

    Indeed, the 10 naira pump price reduction was a ‘Smart’ response to the public call for National Change.   However, further effort at Bringing BackOurGirls without further delay would be better appreciated as a ‘smarter’ response by the federal government, amongst other national issues.

    The precious lives of the abducted Chibok girls do matter for the National Change being advocated, and more especially the lives of the non-abducted Nigerian masses. BringBackOurGirls!  God Bless Nigeria.

    •Sulaimon Salam Bamidele (thegreatssb@gmail.com) (Bamidele, a visually impaired journalist wrote in from the USA)

  • Making Osun the scapegoat

    Making Osun the scapegoat

    SIR: At the close of last year, it was widely reported that the federal government and some states were owing workers up to, and in some cases, more than three months salaries. This allegation was first made by the secretary general of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria, Alade Lawal. His concern, on which he gave details, was the various Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the federal government. However, The Punch in its usual mischief and anti-Aregbesola diatribe added some states to the mix, prominent of which is Osun. A few days later, regrettably, the president of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) just took the newspaper’s false report verbatim and also included Osun prominently on the list of states owing workers three months salaries and in which industrial action could commence.

    This is unfortunate. If The Punch had done any investigation as it claimed, it would have known that as at the time of the report, it was only November 2014 salary that was outstanding since the October salary had been paid. So much for mischief and adversarial reporting that makes no distinction between truth and falsehood.

    We must however have a holistic understanding of the salary situation. When Governor Rauf Aregbesola was sworn in November 27, 2010, the total wage bill in the state was N1.6 billion. The following year, the minimum wage act was passed into law and it became binding on all states. By 2012, all states of the federation had complied, making Osun wage bill to rise to N3.6 billion.

    By the same token, with higher oil prices and increase in the pump head price of refined fuel locally, Osun’s revenue jumped to N4.6 billion, which was relatively safe, wage wise. However, by July 2013, Osun’s revenue had dropped to N2.8 billion. Within the same period, Aregbesola had shored up internally generated revenue from the meagre N300 million he met to N1billion, thus he was still able to pay salaries usually by the 26th of every month. However, allocation has dropped progressively since then and the last allocation Osun got for November 2014 from the Federation Account was N1.03 billion. There is no magic to this. Aregbesola should be commended for the astute manner he has managed the state’s economy, implementing wondrous projects and still fulfilling obligations to workers in spite of dwindling revenues.

    The grim options before any state in this situation is either to reduce its workforce size to a sustainable level or find creative ways to generate revenue. The governor has chosen the latter and should be commended. Dwindling state allocation is a time bomb that portends the grave danger of state meltdown and the federal government should be held accountable for the malaise of oil theft and underproduction, which brought this about, not states trying to cope with the consequences.

    • Adekunle Ajayi,

    Mushin, Lagos

  • Zamfara as scapegoat

    A  few weeks ago, the issue of arming the vigilante group in Zamfara State became a subject of high-wired politics at the hollow chambers of the National Assembly. It almost deteriorated into fisticuffs when two senators engaged each other over the debate. Since then, the issue has become a subject of intense debates all over the country, more especially in security parlance.

    Now the arms have arrived in the country. This has opened a new page in the roiling controversy. Pronto: the federal government has seized a total number of 1,500 double-barrelled guns imported by the Zamfara State government for distribution to its vigilance group. Reports say Muhammed Dahiru Abubakar, the Inspector-General of Police, personally ordered the seizure of the arms said to have been imported from Ukraine based on the alleged contravention of firearms laws of the land.

    This is certainly not a good time for Abdulaziz Yari, the Zamfara State governor. Yari is claiming that the state needs the lethal weapon so badly in order to curb the incessant armed robbery attacks in the state. The attack, he claims, has become too worrisome due to the terror, pains and death which the men of the underworld usually unleash on innocent citizens of the state whenever they struck. The governor was said to have felt betrayed by the police hierarchy, which was said to have earlier granted a silent approval to the state to import the arms.

    The issue of arms importation came about when the state was facing serious challenge of armed robbery in 2012. Yari was said to have reached an agreement with the state police commissioner on the need to set up a vigilance group.  The meeting agreed that the vigilance group should be armed. The governor then decided to import double-barrelled guns which he hoped would be licenced by the police through a dealer in Kano.

    It was learnt that the importation tactically bypassed the Presidency because of the belief that individuals could buy double-barrelled guns and apply for licence thereafter.  The state government must also have thought that the Inspector-General of Police would give approval for the arms because he is an indigene of the state and he is also aware of the security challenges facing the state.

    Sha’aba Lafiagi, a senator and vice-chairman of the Senate Committee on National Security and Intelligence, had, on the floor of the Senate, alleged that the Zamfara State governor had purchased guns and ammunition to arm vigilance groups in his state. Lafiagi alleged that the governor had approached the IG for a permit after he bought the guns.

    When the news broke out, the Nigeria Police Force denied issuing gun permit to the Zamfara State government to be used by vigilance group in the state. In a statement, the police had insisted that it was an offence for a person to have in his possession or under his control any prohibited firearms without a licence granted by the President of the country or the IG. “While vigilance groups and other sincere community efforts towards safety and security are encouraged to work in partnership with local police authorities, the conduct and practice of such groups must be in total conformity with the law of the land.”

    Making justification for the purchase of the arms, Ibrahim Birnin Magaji, Zamfara State Information Commissioner who spoke on the issue in a recent interview aired on the Hausa Service of BBC, said the number of policemen in the state were not enough to protect the lives and property of the citizens. The arms, according to him, would be distributed to members of the vigilante group living in the areas and who know every nook and cranny of the state. The idea, he said, “is to enhance the security in the state and help the security personnel in carrying out their duties by taking them round the state.”

    Just as Zamfara arms were being confiscated, Peter Obi, the governor of Anambra State was distributing about 300 fully fitted security vehicles to 177 communities in the state. He also handed over N230.1 million to the communities to be shared among them at the rate of N1.3 million per community. This money is for the payment of salary of 10 members of each community’s vigilante group. Before this latest gesture, the state had, sometimes ago, put together a form of vigilante outfit which was then known as Bakassi boys, to bring sanity to the appalling security situation in the state.

    Now, Zamfara is being made a scapegoat for deciding to take the bull by its horns, as far as security is concerned in the state. That sounds unfair. Perhaps, Yari, the governor of the troubled state needs to talk to his brother governors in the Niger Delta to find out the means by which they have been fighting oil pipeline vandals and other miscreants without raising eyebrows from any quarters. Any of the militant leaders can also give him a pep talk on how to import firearms without really stepping on toes.

    Whichever way this issue is viewed, I personally think that Yari is just unlucky as many states have established and are still establishing vigilante groups to fight off hoodlums from their states. If we take the issue of the entire North, it may be apt to believe that the insurgency in the North-east, which necessitated the emergency rule slammed on Adamawa, Yobe and Borno states, may have a spiral or collateral effect on a contiguous state as Zamfara. Those who are terrorizing the indigenes of Zamfara could as well be some remnants or renegades of Boko Haram who are out to fill their pockets and stomachs. And we all know that this new generation of crooks have always beaten our lethargic security system to the game.

    As for the Police and other security agencies operating in the state, it is true that they may lack enough manpower or even firepower to withstand the volcanic onslaught of the bandits. But adequate operational strategy could be employed to beat the hoodlums to their games. In the past, a number of security agents have been found either wanting or of complicity with criminals, the very criminals they are employed to track down. This, they do, for pecuniary gains in a rat-eat-rat society such as ours.

    Recently, the military claimed that they were part of internal security arrangements in 28 out of the 36 states of the country, including the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. This is alarming. What this means is that we have almost lost the whole country to hoodlums who have overrun everywhere. Had it not been for the presence of the military in strategic locations in some volatile areas of the country, probably the story could have been different by now.

    But beyond throwing tight security cordons everywhere, we must urgently find a way to put able-bodied men and women back to work as well as put food on people’s tables. This way, I believe that once we find solution to poverty and hunger in the society, the likes of Yari will not need to import large quantity of arms and ammunition to protect the citizens. On the other hand, the security agencies, especially the Police, should rise up to the occasion in view of the tongue-lashing they get every day on the sickening security situation in the country. They need to demonstrate that they are equal to the task.

    Security is one of the most important statutory requirements that a governor needs to accomplish in order to be able to govern the people. Be this as it may, one can clearly understand the predicament of the Zamfara governor at the moment. That is why we should not condemn Yari for the importation of the lethal weapons. Rather, we should blame a system that is not working, a system that has pauperized everybody, a system that cannot provide jobs for school leavers and food for the teeming hungry mouths all over the place. It is a pity. A great pity indeed!

  • Ameobi should be scapegoat, urges Akpoborie

    Ameobi should be scapegoat, urges Akpoborie

    Ex-Nigeria star Jonathan Akpoborie has urged Nigeria to stop Shola Ameobi from playing for Newcastle if he does not feature at the AFCON.

    The ex-Wolfsburg striker told MTNFootball.com that foreign clubs are fond of taking Nigeria for granted over players release and that Nigeria should fight the Ameobi’s case to the end.

    “Well we need Ameobi at the Nations Cup for his ball-keeping abilities up front to keep pressure away from our defence, I believe at this time, Ameobi is crucial to Keshi’s plans, so FIFA’s rule is key. We should do all to block him from playing for Newcastle United,” demanded Akpoborie.

    “He (Ameobi) should have known all this before he made himself available for Nigeria. We should go the whole way to block him from playing for them so as to send a message to other team who may want to do same next time.”

    Keshi has not heard from Ameobi as the player promised and Newcastle manager Alan Pardew has maintained the experienced striker will not be at the AFCON after the club invoked a clause in his contract.

    Ameobi posted an encouraging Eagles debut in November against Venezuela to complete his nationality switch from England to Nigeria.

  • Africa Women’s Championship FALLOUT: Ikhana a scapegoat, says Onigbinde

    Africa Women’s Championship FALLOUT: Ikhana a scapegoat, says Onigbinde

    Former Nigerian manager, Adegboye Onigbinde, wants NFF to look beyond manager, Kadiri Ikhana to reverse Super Falcons’ dwindling fortune in Africa.

    Ikhana reportedly resigned his appointment on return from the African Women’s Championship in Equatorial Guinea on Monday where he guided beaten Cup holders, Falcons to her worst record at the biennial football showpiece.

    Onigbinde said the former Enyimba manager prosecuted the Africa Women’s Championship with the material available to him.

    “I’m not making excuses for Ikhana over his team’s show of shame at Equatorial Guinea. I’m disappointed that Super Falcons didn’t come back with at least bronze but not surprised because we’ve failed to explore the abundant material available to us.

    “Ikhana is not the problem of our failure at Equatorial Guinea, he went to the championship with what was available.

    “The decay in women football didn’t start with Ikhana. The men and women’s game is the same with one set of rules but for their chemistry and psychology I agree there is difference.

    “We must ask ourselves whether we’ve developed the game to the height obtainable in other lands. Have we spared a thought on administration.

    “We’ve to sit down to redress the problem but it must go beyond Ikhana. This is not the time to play the blame game or search for an escape goat but time for soul searching. If we limit it to Ikhana’s exit from the team we would’ve missed it,” the FIFA technical instructor said to supersport.com.

    The NFF technical committee member said failure or success in football competition is self-induced.

    “If you failed to plan, you would’ve deliberately planed to fail. Success or failure is a deliberate act, so when we fail as the case at hands points to we must be bold to tell ourselves the truth,” he added.