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  • In Search of a ‘Yusuf’

    Preamble

    This world is a dramatic entity mysteriously coded in parables. Every living thing therein sees it and relates to it according to its own nature of existence. It takes history to decode it only after the actors might have left the stage. Who are we? Where are we coming from? And where are we going from here? Those are some of the questions which all rational human beings should ask themselves from time to time.

    But, in Nigeria, such questions have been rendered irrelevant because the circumstances of life in this retrogressive country have changed the priorities of her citizens. The only question now in vogue, which everybody seems to concentrate upon is this:: ‘what am I getting from this?’ Hmmm! We live in a material world without any material substance.

    That very question is the real drama that has permanently engaged the attention of Nigerians since the commencement of the fourth republic. It is the question that crowns money as the king of the world. It is the question that fosters greed and fetters humanity to the stake of Satan. It is the question that presents mirage to man as the only substance worthy of pursuit. Incidentally, however, no answer to that all-time question has ever proffered any solution to any human problem. Such an answer would rather confirm the ephemerality of this world.

     

    Hope or Despair?

    What can we say of a man who fixes his eyes on the sun but does not see it? Instead, he sees a chorus of flaming seraphim announcing a paroxysm of despair. That is the parable of the country called Nigeria. Like the Israelis of Moses’ time, Nigerians have become gypsies wandering aimlessly and wallowing in abject poverty in the midst of abundance. What else do we expect from Allah beyond the invaluable bounties with which He has blessed us?

    What is Nigeria not blessed with? We have land in abundance, not in terms of size alone but also in terms of agrarian soil and rich vegetation. At least over 77 million hectares of land is said to be arable in Nigeria. Out of this, only about 34 million hectares was reportedly being cultivated for various agricultural activities including husbandry some years ago. This has even dwindled to less than 25 million square hectares as more and more rural youths keep migrating to cities and towns for imaginary greener pastures.

     

    Bountiful Blessings

    We are blessed with rainfalls that water our plants from the sky and graze our animals to satisfaction. We are endowed with variety of nourishing food crops enough to feed us from generation to generation without importing from anywhere. The Qur’an testifies to this in chapter 80 thus:

    “Let man reflect on the food he eats; how ‘We’ pour down the rain in torrents and cleave the earth asunder; how ‘We’ bring forth the corn, the grapes, the fresh vegetables, the olive, the palm products, the thickets, the fruit-trees and the green pasture for you and for your cattle to delight in…” Allah’s favour is regular and incessant. We cannot deny it.

    In addition to the aforementioned, we have energetic and dedicated work force that is married to the farm land in Nigeria despite all odds. We also have intellectual brains that are capable of engaging in research work days and nights to ensure agricultural improvement of our country.

    Nigeria is not lacking in forest and savannah. She is rich in rivers and mountains all of which are great resources for people who are seeking reasonable comfort and are not self-deceptive.

     

    Dearth of Leadership

    What we have consistently lacked is a responsible government that should care about our foremost heritage which is agriculture. That food is becoming a threat to Nigerians today is purely due to naivety of the past governments especially in the disastrous past 16 years of the so-called democratic dispensation from 1999 to 2015. That misfortune started when the first shot at the Presidency in 1999 was entrusted to a parochial ‘prisoner’ who had lost contact with the actual reality of the modern life.

    On his assumption of office in that year, some die hard Nigerian optimists saw him as a reincarnate of the Biblical Yusuf (Joseph) of the Egypt of yore who could rescue Nigeria from an impending economic scourge. But no sooner had he assumed office as President than Nigerians realized that the man who was thought to be a modern day Yusuf coming from the prison to transform the dream of Nigeria into reality was actually a Mathew without focus.

    As a farmer that he claimed to be, before incarceration, he had been expected to act like Chairman Mao of China who started the revolution of that country with agricultural self-sufficiency. But this Mathew eventually confirmed that a man cannot give what he does not possess. Thus, with his style of governance, he proved that he was never tutored in good governance and decency. Those who imposed him on Nigeria have since openly confessed their calamitous error while expressing a belated regret even as are now liking their bleeding fingers with internal agony. Today, Nigeria is worse than what she was two decades ago.

     

    Compounded Tragedy

    The South West governors of that time and their South East counterparts also did not help the matter. Rather than focusing on agriculture which was the natural occupational endowment of their regions, those gold diggers preferred to depend on oil boom largess coming to them from the federal government through the so-called allocation revenue sharing. To them, such a quicker way of making money was more beneficial than investing in agriculture which could only yield results perhaps years after they might have left office.

    In Nigeria, the cost of running government alone is enough to render the   country bankrupt. What were we doing with about 40 federal ministers and scores of Presidential Senior Special Advisers as well a retinue of Special Assistants when even America with her huge economic resource, large but effective population and adequate financial wherewithal had only about a dozen ministers?

    Besides, what informs the idea of the so-called constituency allowances for legislators running into billions of naira, at the federal and state levels, especially at a time when innocent women and children were crying for food which is a foremost necessity of life?

     

    Evidence of Hunger

    No one could think about two decades ago that artificial hunger would be added to the abysmal level of poverty in Nigeria despite the unprecedented rise in price of oil in the international market during those wasted years. However, with the lotus eaters in government, Nigeria became an artful trick adopted to bamboozle the populace into blind submission. The propaganda in the 1980s, spearheaded by a government agency called Mass Mobilization for Self Reliance, Social Justice and Economic Recovery (MAMSER), established by the self-styled military President Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, and headed by Professor Jerry Gana was almost hypnotizing. That Agency’s slogan of “Food and Shelter for All in the Year 2000” rented the air with wide reverberation but in the end, nothing came out of it. Rather, some new multi-millionaires suddenly emerged from the smart project. That slogan was to later change in the 1990s to: “Vision 2010” with loud brouhaha under the dark goggled dictatorship of Sani Abacha. And when year 2010 began to approach under the Presidency of Olusegun Obasanjo, the slogan again changed to: ‘Vision 202020 in which Nigeria was deceptively envisioned to become one of the 20 most buoyant economies in the world. Both of that vision and its initiators have now naturally and quietly fizzled out into hopelessness.

     

    Game of Deception

    It takes two to tangle. If the deceptive leaders of those years could pretend not to know that a game of deception was in place, was the deceived populace   also pretending to play along? It takes a visionless populace to beget a deceptive government as the case in Nigeria. No country in history is ever known to have achieved economic vibrancy by magic and Nigeria could not have been an exception. But that was the portion of a self-glorified country that calls itself ‘the giant of Africa’. And, today, what is the result of that self-deception?

    In a report of the Food and Agricultural Organization some years back, about 300 Nigerians were said to be dying of hunger daily. Only God knows what that figure has risen to become now. Yet, rather than reacting to that sad news practically by devising a policy of rescuing the downtrodden people from the scourge of poverty, our government turned deaf ear. Rather, it continued to assure the populace that Nigeria would soon become one of the biggest economies in the world even as the easy money accruing from our petroleum resources was being partly stolen brazenly and partly shared monthly among states and political cronies without any benefit to the masses.

     

    Yar’Adua’s Tenure

    By some actions taken during his tenure, President Musa Yar’Adua of the blessed memory remains commendable for showing the example of governance with human face and human heart. He regulated the importation of food items and suspended tariffs on importation of essencial food items to the relief of all and sundry. He also released grains from the national silos to check inflation and pumped N400 billion into the economy for the purpose of creating about 10 million jobs then. He also granted unconditional amnesty to the then South-South agitators and thereby opened way for negotiation with them in the interest of peace and harmony.

    Although, such measures were far from being adequate for a country which was aspiring to become one of the biggest economies in 2020, the move was generally seen as a good beginning of a hopeful future. However, as soon as Yar’Adua died, all progressive steps were suspended and the national treasury was thrown open for audacious thieves to scoop upon with impunity.

     

    The Jonathan Years

    Now, it is evident that no miracle could have yielded any success based on a ramshackle foundation laid down for Nigerian economy by a Mathew (from the prison) who, as President, could hardly reason beyond the siege mentality of the prison yard from where he had emerged. If Goodluck Jonathan who succeeded Yar’Adua as President had sincerely meant well for Nigeria he would have known that the vessel which took this country’s Napoleon to the proverbial island of Elba was incapable of conveying Nigeria to the Cape of Good Hope.

    Yusuf (Joseph), the son of Ya’qub (Jacob), did not know that he could have any solution to the then fundamental problem of Egypt. But the accident of history never ceases to play itself out. Without Yusuf, only Allah knows what the history of Egypt would have been today. And without a Pharaoh’s dream of drought, the story of Yusuf would have been totally different from what we now know of it.

     

    Egypt of the 1970s

    Yours sincerely was a student in Egypt in the 1970s when the hostility between that country and Israel was fierce. Egypt was then an ally of the (now defunct) Soviet Union while Israel was virtually a satellite of the United States. Not only did Egypt suffer isolation from NATO member countries but even the Soviet Union which was supposed to be the main ally of Egypt was not forthcoming with any meaningful assistance beyond the supply of light and medium range weapons. Thus, the Egyptian government had to buckle in firmly in other to fend for its people at that critical time.

    Realizing the importance of food supply especially in a war situation, Egypt mobilized all her agricultural resources around the River Nile and forgot about any food importation. The result was tremendous as Egypt grew to become a food exporter rather than an importer that it had been for years.

    Uganda for Instance

    Less than three decades ago, Uganda, a sub-Sahara African country, found herself in the position of Egypt. A colossal drought broke out in that country killing thousands of people and virtually wiping out the entire cattle business in the country. No Pharaoh had any dreamed premonition and no Yusuf was in a prison to translate any dream into a solution.

    What the Ugandan government did to find a solution was to reset the country’s agricultural focus. Rather than concentrating on tilling the already sapped land and rearing the cattle, which drought had eroded, a new focus was brought to bear. Uganda took to commercial ‘bee farming’ as a relieving alternative. The seriousness which the government of that country attached to the new focus was such that Uganda became a leading country in the production and exportation of honey and other bee products to Europe and the United States.

     

    Nigeria’s Situation Today

    Today, Nigeria is not afflicted by drought or famine. Neither is she engaged in any uncontrollable war. Yet, the fear in vogue is hunger compounded by insecurity. How this country arrived at such a deadly scourge is irrelevant for now. What is relevant is how to get out of it. Like Egypt of yore, Nigeria needed a ‘Yusuf’ to unravel the mystery surrounding the dream that brought this scourge about. With the emergence of Muhammadu Buhari as President, that ‘Yusuf’ seems to be here. It is only left to Nigerians to learn a lesson from the Egyptian example by cooperating with the current government as the Egyptians of yore did with Yusuf who eventually solved their problem. Chief Audu Ogbe is now the Minister of Agriculture. Will he be the long awaited Yusuf?

    It is in the interest of those in government, especially the legislators who are most active in sharing public funds, to let the national wealth spread across board legitimately if only to avoid the current Lagos situation where every house has become a prison in which the occupants are self-jailed voluntarily. To ignore the rule of law and shun justice in a land blessed with milk and honey is to cultivate trouble with insecurity in all its ramifications.

     

    Observation

    Where people are well educated and conscious of their rights; where they perceive wealth as a divine privilege and not an exclusive right of any group; where they see themselves as qualified but denied their legitimate entitlements; nobody can consign them to ignominy indefinitely. They will react in no uncertain terms. That was what obtained in the recent past which paved way for insurgency. It must not be allowed to continue. Let Nigeria grow from a country into a nation that we may all be proud to be her citizens. “….God does not change the situation of a community until such a community is ready for change”…. Q. 13:11

  • Senate in Search for Redemption

    It is apparent that the 8th Senate of the Federal Republic is on a redemptive mission to salvage whatever is left of its battered image. The legislative chamber late last week ate the humble pie and reversed itself on some of the giddy measures it had set onto, which reeked of legislative brigandage. The coming days will show whether the chamber’s back-pedalling was sincere enough, and not too little too late in the day.

    The Senate had carried on, to the consternation of many Nigerians, as if the weighty task of lawmaking was a gutter fight motivated by the ongoing trial of Senate President Bukola Saraki before the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT). On the heels of a ruling early last week by the chairman of the tribunal, Justice Danladi Umar, that he would henceforth hold day-long sittings everyday to try the Saraki case that had dragged forever since last year, the Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions Committee of the Senate issued a summons on the same judge to appear before it “unfailingly” by 2p.m. on Thursday. Well, seriously?! The time scheduled for Umar’s appearance before the Senate committee conflicted flagrantly with the trial routine he had already made public. And so, the timing and coincidence of that summons were obvious even to a nincompoop as retaliatory against the tribunal judge and targeted at frustrating the Senate President’s trial. Discerning citizens and interest groups, of course, tackled the Senate over the summons and counselled that the tribunal judge should ignore it. Not that anyone thought it was it was helpful for our emerging democracy that legislative authority should be defied. But the legislative chamber, by the summons, undermined its own legislative dignity. It was thus in enlightened self-interest that the Senators, two days later, stepped down the invitation to Umar.

    The chairman of the summoning Senate committee, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, was reported as saying the legislative chamber reconsidered because the tribunal judge wrote in to officially ask for an extension of time. But, trust me, the legislative chamber is better off letting the matter lie, because it cannot at this time conduct any probe the tribunal judge that would have any shred of credibility. Isn’t there something generally known as ‘conflict of interest’? In any event, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was in the news late last week as having cleared the judge of the N10million bribery allegation pending against him. That clearance, from all indications, has made nugatory any plan by the Senate to proceed with its investigation of Justice Umar. A caveat though: EFCC is an interested party in the trial of the Senate President before Justice Umar, and I would personally have nursed serious reservations against the timing of its clearance of the tribunal judge, just like one did against the Senate summons on him. But the latest clearance was said to be reinforcing an earlier one issued under the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan by the former leadership of the EFCC under Ibrahim Lamorde, and that minimizes the chances of sinister motivation regarding the Saraki case.

    Besides the sudden summoning of the tribunal judge, the Senate had earlier on set onto a fast track legislative process to amend the Code of Conduct Bureau and Code of Conduct Tribunal Acts, as well as the Administration of Criminal Justice (ACJ) Act. Notice that the Conduct Bureau is the Senate President’s accuser even though he is being prosecuted by the EFCC, while the Tribunal is the trial court; and a major plank of the proposed ACJ Act amendment was to exclude the Conduct Tribunal from the application of that Act, such that the tribunal would no longer have jurisdiction to try criminal matters as it is doing now in the case of the Senate President.

    The legislative chamber, of course, justified the proposed amendments and argued that persons accusing it of aiming to benefit the Senate President thereby were just ill-informed. The chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Aliyu Abdullahi, was reported as saying since the Saraki case commenced in 2015, any amendment of the law in 2016 could not retroactively affect an ongoing case.”The proposed amendment would still take a minimum of six months, given the long process that law-making requires. This process includes committee hearing, public hearing, reporting back to Senate Committee of the Whole, the concurrence in the House of Representatives, and assent by the President as the final stage. There is no way we will even complete the process of finally effecting the amendments before the completion of the Saraki case. So, those who read selfish or ulterior motives to this ordinary legislative activity are either mischievous or ignorant of legislative procedures,” he told journalists last week.

    All that may well be true. But again, the timing of the amendments was indiscretionary in the extreme, as some members of that legislative chamber had cared to counsel; and the haste that attended the first two readings of the amendment bills was spurious and uncharacteristic of the notoriously sticky legislative process. Really, what was the rush for? Even if the Senate truly had noble intentions with the proposed amendments, its timing and haste were irremediably suspect; and it was redeeming for the chamber to have decided last week to suspend further legislative action on the bills. The proposed amendments had looked like a legislative foundry to fashion spanners that could be thrown at the ongoing tribunal trial of the Senate president, and no alchemy of whitewash by the legislative chamber could have altered that perception.

    I am a firm believer in the presumed innocence of an accused person until proven guilty by a court of competent jurisdiction. But the Senate President must submit himself to trial and prove his innocence, if he is indeed innocent of the charges against him. So far, he has exerted judicial energy more on stalling the trial than in putting up a robust defence against the charges, and that does not add up to the profile of someone who really has a defence.

    Still, it is good that the 8th Senate is in search of redemption. While at it, the legislative chamber would need to get Nigerians to terms with its decision to procure a fleet of foreign-made exotic vehicles amidst severe drought of foreign exchange and dire economic difficulties facing this country. It had last week confirmed taking delivery of 36 units of Land Cruiser VXR V8 model, at N36.5million unit price, and not a few consider the procurement as insensitive and affronting to public sensibility. The chairman of the Committee on Senate Services, Senator Abdullahi Gobir, told journalists last week that the 36 units were all that would be acquired in view of the harsh economic conditions. “We bought 36 cars because each senator in each state is either a chairman or a vice-chairman and we gave one car to each state. We don’t have money to buy 108 cars, “he said.

    Well, the question arises as to how the number of states became a determinant factor for the Senate in acquiring those vehicles. If they were operational vehicles and not mere patronage items, how come the vehicles were not assigned on the basis of Senate committees or committee clusters, but rather on the basis of states? And if they were given in patronage, then the procurement of even one unit of the vehicle was a mindless rape on the national treasury. There is need for more explanation.

  • Dan Foster, Zak Orji, others for Super Sun Talent Search

    All is now set for the Super Sun Talent Search which holds in Lagos in August.

    Speaking during a press conference in Lagos, the organisers of the event, Pretty Boy Music,  said an award-winning movie veteran, Zack Orji and his wife, Ngozi alongside one of the Nollywood best, Caroline King, and  a leading on- air- personality, Dan Foster of City FM, would be judges at the event.

    According to the organisers of the show, the choice of judges was based on their quest to get the best out of the participants, adding that the judges would also be life coach during the event.

    Christian music minister, Efe Nathan and DJ Xpressit would also be judges and would perform live.  Cute Sagay, A’tone, Okay Sokay would join them in the liveperformance.

    The grand finale of the vent holds August 27 at Excellence Hotels , Ogba , Lagos, where the winners would emerge, that will be after a four week audition at Mega Mercy Arena, Iju, Lagos. Aside the best three, 10 others would be rewarded with free musical session, with Dan Foster while Pretty Boy Music would also assist in taking the career of these 10 to another level.

    Answering questions on what they hoped to achieve at the end of the show, the organizers said they were not motivated by monetary gain, rather to impact on this generation. While revealing that the talent hunt show came after a series of research, they said it was not just a competition, but to help a destiny becomes better. “We don’t want to produce a mediocre; we want to produce excellent people that will be able to do something for themselves after the project.”

  • In Search of… good health

    When heads come together in a well-meaning, genuine, round-table knocking, I believe that doctors, jingles and pounded yam can indeed mix to translate to more health.

    As I am writing this, there are many people in this country who are right now traversing Nigerian roads to attend the burial ceremony of one close relative or another, most of who have died prematurely. Whenever I have heard that someone has died and have asked what killed the fellow, I have often been told ‘Death’. How is it, I ask, that death can kill so… so… so… irrevocably when it has no hands? Turn left or right and you see your fellow Nigerians of all ages dropping off like… like… flies from all kinds of diseases! Just the other day, someone mentioned how she had been to an office one day in search of a contract and had chatted with everyone at each desk only to have gone back the week after and been told that one of them had died. Talk of a surprise.

    No, I am not talking about life expectancy today; I am talking about how Nigerians are allowed to eat and die in ignorance with very little intervention from the body that should be needling them into long life. It’s often been said that ignorance is bliss, but no one has ever tried to sit down to calculate whether the level of bliss is commensurate with the ignorance that spurns it or even calculate the very high cost of blissful ignorance. When someone eats him/herself to death in ignorance, the costs are borne by the survivors who have to carry on in his/her absence. Sadly, some of them never recover.

    Ultimately, everyone holds his health in his hands, with complete responsibility devolving on him or his family. However, when an individual takes decisions from a vantage point of blissful ignorance, then we are dealing with weighty matters indeed. Worse, he may even find himself not taking any decision because he cannot. So, leaving all issues concerning health in our hands is downright dangerous I say.

    Look, there are two matters compounding this problem. The first is that what we know as the Nigerian diet is seriously in need of divine intervention. It is a given that the larger part of the nation’s population is rural based with little or no education; therefore, the likelihood is high that they would mostly be the victims of the diet situation. Now, you and I agree that what constitutes our diet on this hemmed-in island is mostly what you would call the sugars with little relief. What I mean by relief is this. In this here parts, when a child is given his dish, his face breaks out in grins larger than that of the Cheshire cat at the sight of what he believes will fill his stomach. That is the main concern; what will fill his stomach. So he, least of all, notices that the contents of his dish are designed to satisfy only one aspect of his ravenous hunger. He hardly notices that there are other parts of his body also badly in need of satiation; those parts in need of protein, vitamins and minerals. Too often, these are absent. On a steady stream of that starchy diet therefore, your young Nigerian child grows into an adult who is more developed in physical terms than in mental ones. Either way, officer, we are being cheated by our consummations. Now, I wonder indeed if I know what I’m talking about.

    Anyway, one notable result from this skewed consumption pattern is the rise in diseases. Now, doctors tell us that diabetes and hypertension are almost in epidemic proportions. Nearly every one of two people you meet in the city is swallowing something to fight something else. On the other hand, nearly every rustic you meet in the hinterlands does not even know he/she has anything to fight until that something comes to punch them in the face, belly, arm, leg, blood, head or any other susceptible part. That is when the doctor’s questions or admonitions concerning the badness of the culinary habits handed down from ancestors without end really sound like Greek. Then you don’t know who to pity more: the poor man who is obviously sick and does not understand why it is not his neighbour ‘doing him’, or the doctor who is vainly trying to marry two incompatible people – modern medicine and traditional man. Me, I stay in their middle: firmly on the fence.

    The second matter is that there are just too many folk beliefs firmly ranged as arsenals against the doctor’s doctrines. Our rural folks do not believe that taking things like milk and eggs, etc., is morally good. One, they spoil the teeth and they encourage children to steal. Two, those things spoil children rotten. I have visited a number of villages having large, lush lands for growing things to take to the market while their children have skins that look like crocodile’s scales. The villagers just do not believe in feeding milk and eggs and chicken meat to their children. Come to think of it, neither do many chicken farmers. After raising their chickens, do they not cart the whole lot off to the economic market to sell, leaving the neighbours with only the scented whiffs of chicken droppings?

    Interestingly, even many parents living in the city are not much different. Their credos revolve around preserving the children’s honour rather than their lives. Then people find that in the face of ill-health, honour is not as valuable a premium as good eating sense. Oh wait, there is this health insurance scheme that is as incomprehensible to me as I think it appears to many. The reason is that there are still many questions not yet answered. Many civil servants do not know the limit that can be spent on their health; many of us do not know what happens when big illnesses strike; who takes care of the rural folks who succumb to these big illnesses; etc. Right now, health insurance or not, most people are bearing their health expenses out of their pockets and the health care providers are smiling to the bank.

    Doctors have sounded some warning bells on the rising phenomena called cancer, diabetes and hypertension, which, together are killing people off silently. Sadly, most people put such deaths down to ‘spiritual attacks’ or ‘wicked home people’. I am not here to argue with them though because everyone is entitled to a second opinion, so I am consulting my own crystal glass again. Yep, it tells me such people are suffering from severe cases of ‘deep, debilitating ignorance’.

    Honestly, this country can help itself preserve the lives of its citizens. Even in advanced countries, the government still sponsors advertisements which advise citizens on the proper diet to follow, the consequences of wrong diets, as well as admonitions on taking the right stuff such as milk, eggs and greens. This country can borrow a leaf from that. There must be a way of letting us the uninformed people know why we should keep a wary eye on the calorie contents of our steaming, mouth-watering plates of well-rounded eba, amala, pounded yam and rice, and why we should also keep the other eye on the meat to be sure it does not walk off the plate in indignation about its tiny size.

    How about we try radio jingles? They are catchy, cheap to produce and are definitely more far-reaching. Yeah, I know, in many cases it’s not the knowledge that is lacking, it’s the financial will. Even with that, there must be a way. All that this country – government, corporate world, people, etc. – needs is for heads to come together in a well-meaning, genuine round-table knocking. That is where we will find that doctors, jingles and pounded yam can indeed mix to translate to more health.

    • This article was first published in 2013.
  • Buhari and the search for credible ministers

    Buhari and the search for credible ministers

    In this piece, Lagos lawyer Wahab Shittu urges President Muhammadu Buhari to set up a cabinet that will assist him in the implementation of his manifesto.

    Under normal circumstances, no one would have expected the search for credible cabinet ministers by the Buhari administration to have generated this level of controversy in our country, but then these are unusual times.

    Opinions of course vary on the seeming delay in constituting the cabinet by the Buhari administration but I prefer not to join issues with either side of the divide but would rather prefer to focus my searchlight on factors that should guide the President in constituting a cabinet of credible ministers that would deliver on good governance. I am convinced in taking the debate on this direction given the fact that the President had assured that the cabinet would be constituted in September this year and this in my view is just around the corner, I would therefore prefer to give the President the benefit of the doubt and sue for greater understanding on the part of the populace.

    The President came into office with a clear agenda on anti-corruption, security, economy and infrastructure. Clearly, only those who could deliver on these agenda need be considered. Therefore, one fundamental factor that cannot be compromised in the constitution of the cabinet is the issue of competence, character and capacity. One is convinced that persons who are willing to key into the change agenda of the administration are required to drive the process.

    Secondly, it is important to enlist the services of persons with impeccable track records and antecedents. These include persons with credibility who are not lacking in integrity, honesty and ethical dealings in all their private and official transactions. It is clear that persons in this category cannot be found on the platform of political parties alone, the belief being that such credible people are scattered across political parties, professional groupings, private organisations and in all strata of the Nigerian society including outside the shores of Nigeria. The search for these elements must therefore cover the entire field believing that the Nigerian project is a collective enterprise requiring the services of the best hands wherever such talents may be found. It is this realization that can deliver on the quality outcomes required by the change agenda.

    The other issue that should be noted is that these talents abound in all the geo-political zones of the country and no particular geo-political zone has a monopoly of these human resources. Consequently, the searchlight to discover these best hands must be extensive, balanced and reflect the type of federal character that would give every entity within the Nigerian federation a sense of belonging. This will be in furtherance of the President’s commitment at his inauguration when he said ‘I belong to nobody and I belong to everybody’. The President should walk the talk on this fervent commitment of cohesiveness and all-inclusiveness which he made on national television.

    I agree with the President’s promise not to appoint persons who are ‘hostages’ and heavily compromised as ministers in that the President cannot afford to be polluted by persons who do not have his record of discipline, integrity and incorruptibility. Luckily, his Vice-President, Professor YemiOsinbajo (SAN) is already of that orientation and pedigree. The few appointments the President had so far made also agree with his credentials of high integrity and ethical standards. The tempo must be sustained throughout the cabinet.  Persons with the right attitude are required since attitude is everything.

    It would also seem that the President would require a balanced mix of politicians and technocrats in constituting the cabinet focusing mainly on knowledge, experience, exposure and integrity. This is not the time to give jobs to the ‘boys’ but time to allow appointments to reflect overall national interests.

    It is important to note that these are unusual times. Times such as these require the services of great thinkers, people of foresights who can think ahead of time and who are gifted not only with the power of ideas but also the power of action and those with abilities to galvanize the power of action and ideas in to evolving result oriented policies for the transformation of the society. More than ever before, these are men and women required now to take our country to the next level.

    Taking the country to the next level require persons who could see beyond the day’s crisis and who are imbued with vision, the indispensable quality of leadership. This vision should transcend national borders with local and international influence.

    The country also requires persons who can be trusted to manage the destiny of the country and its vast resources. Persons who though may be talented but are unreliable and untrustworthy are not required in the service of our country at this period and may not be required for a long time to come rather we need persons who place emphasis on values and motivation.

    Depending on the circumstances and given the atmosphere of relative insecurity under which we found ourselves presently, we also require persons who have strong political skills to cope with conflicting requirements of multiple constituents. We need to realize that Nigeria is highly diversified country with several tendencies, beliefs and consciousness. Only persons who by their actions and pronouncements are capable of taking advantage of these tendencies in building a cohesive and unified country are required at this critical point in time. We do not need people who are parochial, narrow minded, divisive and shortsighted at the helm of affairs. We need leaders who are statesmen and who are able to rise above primordial sentiments in building a great and prosperous country.

    We need persons of great influence and with capacity to priotize responsibilities based on self-discipline as ministers.

    We can also not underestimate the need to enlist the services of persons imbued with problem solving skills. There is the urgent need to fix the economy, fix infrastructure, fix insecurity, fix corruption and raise living standards. Only those with problem solving skills and can think outside the box need come on board to address these challenges.

    We also need men and women of deep compassion who understand the human element. I mean persons that understand the most appreciable asset is people and know how to develop them including persons who have value for people, commitment to people, integrity with people, standard for people and influence over people. We do not need people who do not value human lives and do not give a damn about basic human needs as ministers.

    We need persons who are decent, patriotic and hardworking as ministers. It is important that such ministers are assigned portfolios relevant to their knowledge, expertise and exposure.

    We need persons who understand the workings of democracy and are willing to abide by the fundamentals of the democratic tradition. Persons who are democrats are required since they will operate in a democratic setting. Consequently, we need persons who are schooled on the theory of constitutionalism, rule of law, due process, transparency and accountability, rights and freedom of others, separation of powers and good governance.

    Finally, we need persons who have a sense of duty and are ready to make sacrifices even at the expense of their personal comfort in making the country great and prosperous.

    In the words of Abraham Lincoln, one of the greatest and most quotable American Presidents ‘The worthiness of life is deep-rooted in sacrifice to mankind. If one dies in the process, he becomes a martyr’.

    We need men and women who could make sacrifice. I mean real sacrifice.

  • Search for truce continues in Oyo APC

    Search for truce continues in Oyo APC

    What could spur followers to oppose their leader consistently in a united front? The crisis that engulfed the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oke-Ogun State, Oyo State has escalated. The party leader, Chief Michael Koleoso, is being accused of anti-party activities. The protracted crisis leaves the future of Koleoso’s political career hanging in the balance. BISI OLADELE reports.

    For elder statesman, Chief Michael Koleoso, this is a trying period. The former National Chairman of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) and Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) is being battled by party members, most of who he groomed in politics, for allegedly being smart by half.

    The septuagenarian had announced his retirement from politics last year, indicating  his resolve to play only minor role in political activities. But, his critics in the Oke-Ogun All Progressives Congress (APC), faulted his claim, saying he was only officially withdrawing from the APC to join forces with another party to battle Governor Abiola Ajimobi in the last elections. They contended that Koleoso was involved a war of supremacy with Ajimobi, whom he accused of failing to recognise him as the leader of the party in the state after the demise of Alhaji Lam Adesina.

    Many chieftains have appealed to the APC zonal leader, Chieft Pius Akinyelure, to wade into the crisis.

     

    Genesis of the crisis 

    The crisis started after Adesina’s death in November, 2012. In rank, Koleoso was next to Adesina in the leadership structure of the party. But, his position as deputy was unofficial. He was only accorded the honour by virtue of his political strength, experience and influence over the years. He was one of the leaders that insisted that Ajimobi should be given the governorship ticket. Hence, at Adesina’s death, Koleoso expected himself to be declared the leader. But, it never happened.

    Sources said that Koleoso could not have been made the leader because of his activities when Adesina was alive. The zonal leaders were also said to have insisted that Ajimobi should become the leader because he earned the respect of APC members as governor.

    Both Adesina and Koleoso were said to have left Ajimobi in the cold when the need to inaugurate the Seventh House of Assembly arose in 2011. Ajimobi’s ACN had only 13 members while Alao-Akala Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had 12 and Rashidi Ladoja’s Accord had six in a keen contest laced with bitterness and acrimony. For the governor to have a House that would cooperate with his government, he needed a majority in the House in such a way that would leave no opportunity for the PDP and the Accord to collude against the ruling ACN. “Ajimobi needed the two older politicians desperately, but he never got it,” said a source. He recalled that both of them told him that he was the governor and must find a solution to his problem. “He was left in the cold. He was forced to humble himself and approach Ladoja for an alliance, which eventually worked for him. But the then party leadership vehemently opposed the same alliance that helped stabilize Ajimobi’s government. It was a tough knot for Ajimobi to crack. But, we thank God for helping him to succeed.” The source said.

    To confirm the position of the zones, an advertorial was published by each of them in December, 2012 to endorse the governor as the leader of the party. The battle line was, therefore, drawn between the Ajimobi-led APC and Chief Koleoso.

    Koleoso was said to have dragged many of his close associates, who were not holding positions on the Ajimobi administration away in preparation to join another party that will give Ajimobi a good run in the election. Koleoso was said to have boasted that he would ensure that Ajimobi and the entire APC experience an electoral rout.

     

    Anti-party activities

    In September, last year, the political space was awash with the news that Koleoso had taken his associates to the Labour Party (LP). He was said to have liaised with Alao-Akala, who was believed to have some followers in Oke-Ogun and other zones. The thinking, according to sources, was that the combination of Alao-Akala’s strength and Koleoso would defeat Ajimobi.

    A source said: “He started embracing break-away members of our party. Then, he went to invite Chief Alao-Akala to Labour Party (LP) to contend against Ajimobi. He took away his close associates including Chiefs Awakan, Adelere, Ige and Sangolade. He instructed all his followers to go to LP including the immediate past Chairman, Saki West Local Government, Mr Dapo Popoola.

    “When Governor Ajimobi visited Oke-Ogun to distribute letters of appointment to teachers, he did not come. During the main campaign again, he did not come. He instructed all the party chairmen in the 10 local governments to follow him to LP but some of them ignored his instruction. All these confirmed that he worked for LP.”

    But the election went the other way. The APC won convincingly in the 10 local government areas of Oke-Ogun in the presidential and National Assembly election. The feat was repeated in the governorship election with the exception of only Oorelope Local Government where the APC lost.

     

    Election amid crisis

    The number of politicians appointed by the Ajimobi administration was unprecedented, according to leaders from the area. They contended that Ajimobi even surpassed Adesina, the acclaimed ‘the friend of Oke-Ogun’, in opening up opportunities for Oke-Ogun people in government. Six people were appointed as commissioners with several appointed as special advisers, senior special assistants and special assistants.

    Projects that met local needs were undertaken. While the Iseyin main township road was dualised, the Saki campus of the Polytechnic, Ibadan was upgraded to a polytechnic and the School of Nursing, Kishi was repackaged for improved performance. Besides, the deputy governor, Chief Moses Alake-Adeyemo, hails from the zone.

    The governor warmed himself into the heart of the majority through his performance. His urban renewal project, Free Health Mission, recruitment of 5, 300 teachers, free transportation for civil servants, massive promotions of civil servants and enthronement of peace across the state, among others, endeared him to many voters. In the end, Ajimobi was preferred to other candidates including Ladoja, Alao-Akala and Sen. Teslim Folarin,

    The emergence of Gen. Mohammadu Buhari as the presidential candidate also fetched some support to the APC across the nation.

    It was also gathered that the nomination of a former Deputy Governor Iyiola Oladokun, as a member of the party’s Board of Trustees (BOT), further hurt the strong politician as it suggested that the party was not going to compromise on its stand against his alleged anti-party activities. He believed he should have got the nomination, in view of his standing in the party. Oladokun also hails from Oke-Ogun.

    But, the crisis deepened when party chieftains in the zone learnt that the Koleoso told the national leadership of the APC that he had delivered his constituency during the presidential and National Assembly elections. They faulted the national leadership’s recognition for Koleoso and took to the media to publish paid advertorials puncturing the recognition, saying he deceived the national leadership. They affirmed Chief Samuel Adekola as the authentic leader of the party in Oke-Ogun and urged the national leadership to ignore the strong politician.

  • Lagos PDP in search of elusive peace

    Lagos PDP in search of elusive peace

     Lagos State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is embroiled in a protracted crisis. Assistant Editor LEKE SALAUDEEN examines its implications on the future of the troubled chapter.

    The Lagos State People Democratic Party (PDP) seems to be sinking deeper into crises. Since its inception, the chapter  has not known peace. The issue at stake is the struggle for the party’s soul. The chapter has recorded the highest turnover of party chairmen: Chief Olorunfemi Basorun, Alhaji Murtala Asorobi, Chief Alaba Williams, Bayo Adebayo, Hon Setonji  Koshoedo and Captain Tunji Shelle.

    Amid persistent crisis, many founding members have defected to the ruling party. Many  chieftains believe that, since Chief Olabode George became the party leader,  peace has eluded the chapter. There are three factions in the party namely: The Establishment led by George, the Union and Non-Align Group. All of them are working at cross purposes.  George’s group is in control of the party executive to the detriment of the other factions.

    Key party leaders are in arms against George. They complained that he has aborted efforts to unite the polarised chapter by taking unilateral steps considered infuriated to other party leaders. Others have accused him of imposition of candidates for elective offices especially governorship candidates.

    The crisis assumed a new dimension, shortly after the general elections. Thirty four of the 49 members of the State Working Committee (SWC) sacked  chairman, Captain Shelle,  for what they called mismanagement of party funds and unilateral decisions that were detrimental to the interests of the party in the state.

    The Secretary, Mr Wahab Owokoniran, said the decision was taken after a critical look at the recommendation of the disciplinary committee set up by his faction to investigate a 14-point allegations levelled against Shelle.  He said: “We members of the executive committee have agreed that the way the party is being run should not be allowed. The party was not well run before, during and after the elections. There is need for restructuring. If we want to restructure there is no way for the chairman to remain in office”. He disclosed that the disciplinary committee had recommended expulsion or impeachment of Shelle but “we resolved to impeach him”.

    Analysts say the bitter struggle in Lagos PDP underscores the personality crisis and ego war between George and his arch rival, Musiliu Obanikoro. They said the current face off was the continuation of the battle of supremacy that preceded the party’s governorship primary. The decision of Obanikoro to vie for the party’s ticket re-opened the old rivalry between him and George and former Minister of Works,Senator Adeseye Ogunlewe who were the prominent PDP leaders that backed Jimi Agbaje.

    They accused Obanikoro of joining the race to cause trouble. George said it was curious that he resigned as a minister few months after he was appointed by former President Goodluck Jonathan. He also accused Obanikoro of peddling rumour that he had been endorsed by the Presidency. His summation was that Obanikoro’s candidacy would dent the image of the party and make it lose the election in the state.

    Obanikoro,the former Minister of State for foreign Affairs returned the missiles, saying the retired naval officer and former military governor of Ondo Sate was his rival at the primaries and not Agbaje, who he described as a foreigner in the chapter. At the venue of the primaries in Oregun, Ikeja, the supporters of Obanikoro and Agbaje clashed. They exchanged gun shots to intimidate delegates and observers. At the end, Obanikoro rejected the results of the governorship shadow election won by Agbaje. He went to court to challenge the validity of the result. The former minister alleged that George manipulated the result in favour of Agbaje. It took the presidency intervention and promise to reappoint Obanikoro as minister before he could withdraw the suit.

    A chieftain said the chapter went into the general elections as a divided house. Reflecting on the division, he said the party was weakened by the escalation of the crisis that preceded the primaries. In spite of the last minute reconciliation by the Presidency, the party was not united. Until we are able to resolve the deep seated animosity between George and Obanikoro, the PDP will never produce governor in Lagos, he affirmed.

    “Agbaje’s defection to the PDP few weeks before the governorship primaries escalated the crisis. Some members perceived it as deliberate attempt to block the chances of Obanikoro. His teeming supporters believe that only Obanikoro can win the governorship election for the PDP in Lagos State. Though Obanikoro remained in the party despite losing the primary and campaigned for Agbaje, but not all his supporters worked for the party. In fact some of his supporters worked against party interest,” he stated.

    A group within the party, Concerned Members of the State Caucus, and PDP Stakeholders in Lagos have accused Obanikoro of sponsoring the removal of Shelle as  chairman. The group alleged that Obanikoro bribed 34 members of the  State Working Committee to sack the chairman and to pave way for him to hijack the party structure and facilitate his emergence as the party governorship candidate in 2019.

    “We know Obanikoro gave the 34 SWC members money to remove the chairman. When will the PDP stop this politics of corruption and imposition? The person who wants to be acting chairman lacks profile, capacity and political expediency to lead us. We believe Obanikoro’s action to sponsor the removal of the chairman and replace him with his stooge is to demystify George and pave way for his political ambition to run for governor in 2019″, the group alleged.

    But, Obanikoro has exonerated himself from the crisis resulting in the sack of Shelle. He said he never influenced members of SWC in taking the decision that led to removal of the chairman. However, he hailed the sack of the Chairman at a meeting with the elected Lagos PDP members in the general elections

    There are indications that the crisis at the national level has a link with the removal of Shelle because of his closeness to George, who had been at loggerhead with the National Secretary of the PDP, Professor Wale Oladipo. According to party sources, the call by George for the resignation of Oladipo did not go down well with Obanikoro, who is a close ally of Oladipo.

    Reflecting on the crisis, the Financial Secretary, Chief Taiwo Kuye said that what Owokoniran and his group did was illegal and not binding the party. He stated that few members of the party cannot take decision on a non-existent matter and remove the party chairman for personal interest. He ruled out division in the party. He said there is unity in Lagos Chapter. We are united. Obanikoro is a leader. George is also a leader in Lagos and the Southwest, he concluded.

    A party stalwart has warned against the national leadership interference in the resolution of the crisis. “It is purely a Lagos PDP affair which the state chapter can handle; we don’t want Abuja interference. The party in the state is heading towards restructuring by sacking Shelle who did not carry members of the SWC along in financial matters during the elections. Shelle was running the party as a personal estate. He failed to consult before taking decision which affected the party performance at the governorship poll. Shelle could not mobilise properly during the election because he was just mobilising only one group within the party. It is time to restructure the party towards 2019 and we are going to remove more dead woods in the party in the process of restructuring the party.”

    According to him peace may continue to elude the party. Since the report of the Harmonisation Committee led by Chief Tunde Osunrinde from Ogun State was not implemented, the politics of exclusion permeated the chapter. Osunrinde had recommended the sharing of party officers on equitable basis so that peace could reign. Owing to the non-implementation of the report, party leaders have been working at cross purposes with George.

    A former chieftain of the PDP, Dr Abayomi Finnih, described George as Lagos PDP headache. He said the bone of contention was the congress that produced the current state executive of the party. “Few people hijacked the process. The court halted the congress from holding but the Olabode George faction called “the Establishment” defied the court order and went ahead with the congress. So, a faction is in control of the party executive. The other two factions namely: the Union which I led and the Non-Align Group are left in the cold. This action has further brought the party down. A serious party should open its doors for every member to be part of decision making.

    “There were reconciliatory moves made from outside such as Southwest zone, the Presidency and PDP Governors Forum, all to no avail. The panel recommended a harmonised   executive that would embrace all the factions, but the George group remains adamant. Even the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) wrote the party’s national chairman that the Lagos congress contravened the party guidelines and the constitution and that the commission does not recognise the congress. That was over three years now. Nothing has changed.

    “Some of us bent backward by reaching out to George and his group to find solutions, but the incalcitrant attitude did not allow George’s group to reason with us. Politicians don’t behave that way. There must be compromise. The situation on ground would continue to jeopardise PDP chances in the state.”

    Proffering solutions to the crisis, a political analyst, Dr Akin Babajide said the leadership of the party should bring all factions to a round table discussion for amicable resolutions of differences and give the party a new sense of direction. The leadership should bring every member on board to work together and ensure the unity of the party in the state.

    Babajide advised George to allow internal democracy in the party. According to him, a leader should carry members along in decision making adding, the will of the majority should prevail. In a democratic system, a leader cannot impose his will on the people; the people must be part of decision making, he said.

    The analyst stressed that if the party must remain solid and compete effectively in Lagos State, peace must prevail and the party leaders should ensure equity and fair play.

    To a youth activist, Yomi Davies, BodeGeorge, Obanikoro, Adeseye Ogunlewe  and Segun Ogundimu should retire from active politics and allow the youths to take over the leadership of the PDP in Lagos State. He said for as long as these leaders remain in dictating the tunes for the party, PDP in Lagos will never know peace. They lack charisma to command followership;  they lack electoral value; many of them can’t win elections in their wards, he added.

    With the hard line posture of the warring factions, analysts say peace may not return to the troubled Lagos PDP soon .

  • Senate’s search for peace continues as House settles rift

    Senate’s search for peace continues as House settles rift

    With yesterday’s adoption of Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila and others as principal officers, peace seems to have returned to the House of Representatives. But, for the Senate, the search sure continues, writes VICTOR OLUWASEGUN, GBADE OGUNWALE and ERIC IKHILAE

    House of Representatives Speaker Yakubu Dogara and his challenger Femi Gbajabiamila cut the image of two friends who had not seen for some time on Monday. It was at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, where President Muhammadu Buhari had hosted them to a peace meeting. The duo talked, joked and laughed. At the end of the meeting, Nigerians were told that in a few hours the crisis in the House of Representatives would be over. Many took the claim with a pinch of salt and almost all major news medium reported yesterday that the meeting did not provide the desired result.

    Yesterday was an eye-opener for many who doubted the All Progressives Congress (APC) leadership who saw the end of the crisis. Gbajabiamila was yesterday announced the House Leader as the party had wanted. Alhassan Doguwa, who was earlier chosen by Dogara, did not object. He accepted to be Deputy House Leader.

    The magic behind the resolution of the crisis, The Nation learnt, is no other than Buhari, who Dogara decided to defer to.  Dogara allowed the caucuses of the APC to have input in the choice of principal officers.

    The horse-trading ran late into the wee hours of yesterday and at the end, all parties decided that it was time to face the business of law-making.

    The Chairman of the House Ad-hoc Committee on Information, Mallam Sanni Zorro, who spoke exclusively last night with our correspondent said: “It was the triumph of democracy, the House is the winner. The House has demonstrated political maturity because politics is about give and take.

    “President Buhari is not only a leader but a game changer. Since 1999, past Presidents had always installed the leaders of the National Assembly but President Buhari decided not to interfere.

    “There was pressure on him to interfere but he refused. It was only when the crisis got to a critical stage that he intervened. Yet, he did not impose his will. The party also did not use force.”

    Zorro praised the Speaker for championing peace in the House.

    He added: “To resolve the crisis, Dogara came up with a final consensus formula which took into consideration the interest of critical stakeholders including the nation, the presidency, regional politics, zoning and all those things that divided members.

    “It is a win-win situation. There was no winner, no loser. With the crisis amicably resolved, the House is now open for business, legislative activities and engagement with public, private and non-governmental actors.

    For the Senate, however, the search for peace continues. Like the House of Representatives, it resumed yesterday. At the sitting, Senator Kabiru Marafa tried to nullify the election of Senate President Abubakar Bukola Saraki and Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, on the ground that they were not duly elected.

    Marafa (Zamfara Central) and a member of the Senate Unity Forum opposed to Saraki’s emergence, draw the attention of the Senate to what he described as an obvious error committed by the Senate during the inauguration of the 8th Senate on June 9.

    The lawmaker, who raised order 1 (a)and (b) ; 13 1 and 2; and order 3 (2), said he was guided by the ruling of Saraki on June 24th that the Senate rules in force is the Senate Standing Order/ Rule 2015.

    He said: “I am guided by your (Saraki) ruling of June 24 that the Senate Standing Rules in force is the Senate Standing Order 2015 as amended. I also rely on the wise counseling of Senator Ike Ekweremadu on the issue.  Order 1 (a) talks about the proceedings of the senate in accordance with the book.”

    The senator said going by the rules of the Senate in force, Order 13 ( 1 ) states that on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays,  Thursdays, Fridays except the second and third Fridays of the month, committee meetings are to hold between 9:00am and 12 noon.

    He also referred to Order 13 ( 2 ) which states that on Tuesdays,  Wednesdays and Thursdays,  the Senate shall meet at 2pm and unless previously adjourned,  it shall sit until 6pm .

    He added that a substantive motion has to be moved by the leader of the senate or a senator acting in that capacity that the senate be adjourned by 6pm.

    Marafa said Ekweremadu said the Senate rules had come into effect and that for them to be amended, order 110 had to be followed.

    “I want to posit that the activities of the Senate on the 9th of June stands because it was covered by the proclamation of Mr. President which states that the proceedings of the chamber shall start by 10:00am.

    “But all other activities of the Senate from the time but not limited to the oath of office, is a nullity because it was not done within the time frame stated in the rule book. The activities of the Senate on the 23rd and 24th are equally a nullity.”

    But, Saraki cut him to size. He ruled that the issue of timing of the proceedings of the Senate Marafa raised would be referred to the Clerk to the National Assembly, Alhaji Salisu Maikasuwa.

    He said: “You came under three orders. Orders 1 and order 13 as regards to the timing of seating will be referred to the Clerk. Your interpretation of the Order on nomination of principal officers is not in order.”

    He subsequently ruled Marafa out of order.

    Yesterday, another amended version of the Senate Standing Order/Rule 2015 was distributed to Senators. The new rules essentially corrected the timing errors Marafa referred to in his point of order.

    Saraki also asked members to pick up forms where they would signify not more than five committees in which they wish to serve. Significantly, Marafa and others case seeking to prevent Saraki from constituting committees came up yesterday at the Federal High Court in Abuja.  Justice Gabriel Kolawole of the Federal High Court, Abuja declined the request of the five senators to restrain the Senate from constituting its standing and ad hoc committees.

    The judge, in a ruling yesterday, refused an ex-parte motion filed by  Senators Abu Ibrahim, Marafa, Ajayi Boroffice, Olugbenga Ashafa and Suleiman Hunkuni – on the ground that it was without merit, because there was no urgency in the issue raised by the plaintiffs.

    The five senators, who had earlier filed a substantive suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/651/2015, brought the ex-parte motion, containing the prayer, and which their lawyer, Mamman Osuman (SAN) argued yesterday.

    They said their prayer, which is to stop the constitution of the Senate committees pending the determination of their application for interlocutory injunction, was informed by the fact that the Senate was operating with an illegitimate and unconstitutional Senate Standing ?Orders 2015 including using it to conduct the election of June 9 which produced its current leadership.

    The plaintiffs alleged that the Senate Standing ?Orders 2015 was “contrived” from the amendment of the 2011 version of the Orders without following its relevant provisions and those of the Constitution.

    They argued that the said amendment was in breach of the “prescriptive procedures” stipulated by the extant provisions of section 60 of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) and Rule 110(1), (2), (3), (4) and (5) of the Senate Standing Orders 2011 (as amended).

    The plaintiffs are of the view that the election of the current leadership of the Senate and other proceedings based on the unconstitutional Orders were null and void.

    In his  ruling, Justice Kolawole held that there was no urgency in the case because the plaintiffs had known about the purported illegal Standing Orders since June  9 when it was allegedly used for the election, but  chose to file the ex parte motion barely 24 hours to resumption of the Senate from its about one month recess.

    He further held that the court would hardly intervene in a matter relating to the application or misapplication of the internal rules of the Senate or the legislature when such action did not amount to “substantial infraction” of the provisions of the Constitution.

    Justice Kolawole was of the view that, in matters relating to disputes over the “the decision reached by a majority of the members of the Senate”, aggrieved members of the arm of government could only seek a redress by mobilising their colleagues to reverse such decision.

    He held that in various appellate courts’ decisions, courts had been warned “to be wary” in intervening in such internal legislative activities, let alone granting an order to restrain the activities of that arm of government at the stage of an ex parte hearing.

    “In the light of the above analysis, I will be unable to grant the ex parte application dated July 24 and only filed on July 27, 2015 ?by only five out of the 109 senators constitutionally elected to the upper legislative chamber,” Justice Kolawole said.

    He ordered the plaintiffs to serve the motion on notice, seeking the same prayer contained in their ex parte motion, on the defendants – Saraki, Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu; the Clerks of the National Assembly and the Senate and the National Assembly.

    Justice Kolawole fixed August 5 for hearing of the plaintiffs’ motion on notice.

    The plaintiffs are, in the substantive suit, seeking among others, the declaration of the Senate Standing Orders 2015 as null and void for being a product of an alleged illegitimate and unconstitutional amendment of the 2011 version of the standing orders.

    They also want the court to nullify the amended order as well as the election of Saraki as the Senate President and that of Ike Ekweremadu as the Deputy Senate President, ?for being products of the alleged illegal orders.

    If Saraki has his way, the aggrieved senators should just accept that the battle was won and lost. He enjoined them yesterday to stop bickering and face legislative duties.

    In his welcome address at the resumption of plenary, Saraki reminded the senators that Nigerians elected them was to deliver on their mandate and not to struggle for positions on the floor.

    Acknowledging the enormity of the hydra- headed challenges facing the country, Saraki spoke of the urgent need to address these challenges.

    He said: “Distinguished colleagues, we have our work cut out for us. We cannot afford to frolic. Nigerians did not give us our mandate to come and pursue leadership; their mandate was for us to pursue governance and bring solutions to their burning issues.

    “It is time we remind ourselves of the solemn promise to deliver to our people real change. Leadership is secondary to our primary responsibility of good governance.

    “As Senate President, you have given me responsibility to ensure that our primary responsibility is placed on the table, not under the table. Nigerians did not put their lives on the line for politics but for the delivery of good governance.

    “My distinguished colleagues, the job of changing our corporate destiny starts today. Though the challenges are huge, they are not insurmountable.

    “Let these challenges inspire us as leaders to show courage, statesmanship and valour. We have taken the right first steps out, we must now set out at dawn. We do not have all the time; indeed our clock is ticking.

    “Distinguished colleagues, it is time; let’s get started and deliver meaningful change to our people.”

    Saraki lamented the dwindling national revenue profile, which he blamed on falling oil prices, oil theft, indiscriminate granting of import duty waivers, dubious concessions and grants.

    He continued: “Distinguished colleagues, our country is passing through a difficult time. We cannot afford to watch the mind-boggling leakages in our oil receipt to go on. This Senate is in tandem with Mr. President on this and is determined to turn every stone and shift every rock to ensure that all revenues due to the country from oil are recovered.

    “We are not the only oil producing country in the world; oil theft cannot therefore become an acceptable part of our oil business.

    “Furthermore, Nigerians are tired of the inadequacies in the power sector and want to see a reinvigorated power sector capable of delivering enough energy to power the new Nigerian economy.

    “Our people dream to see a more open economy, they want to see legislative instruments that will help to open and stimulate private sector investment in infrastructure development, and enhance the ease of doing business in the country.

    “Nigerians want to see the National Assembly tackle these obscenities in our revenue systems as they deny our people the right to good governance.”

    He added: “Make no mistakes about it, the aim of these militant groups is simple; to test our resolve and disintegrate our unity. But let me reiterate the readiness and willingness of the National Assembly to support and work with President Muhammadu Buhari to comprehensively rout Boko Haram.

    “We join Mr. President in saying that we will defeat terrorism in our country and region, because we have the will to win this fight. Our resolve is collective, we urge all friends of Nigeria, including the United States and the entire international community, to join us.”

    For his opponents, who feel sad that he has exposed the party to ridicule by rejecting its position, he can tell all that to the marines. They certainly are not done with him. Not even his appointment of a key member of the group, Senator Barnabas Gemade, to chair an adhoc committee seems to have achieved any end.

    The days to come will sure prove that all is not well with the Senate despite the vote of confidence passed on him by some 80 senators yesterday.

     

     

  • Nigeria: The search for humanity

    SIR: Nigerians readily point to the country’s bad reputation as the result of a foreign conspiracy. It is only logical that this is true. The international media’s focus on Nigeria ranges from the barbaric to the unbelievable – surely no nation is capable of generating so much negative news with such consistency. After all, we are the biggest economy in Africa, and a few of our citizens are the continent’s most wealthy individuals on the Forbes list. We, however, concede to our share of problems – every nation has them.

    We believe our bad image comes from the fact that stories out of Nigeria are mostly told by foreigners. They tell it wrong. They lack the proper narrative. They surely are incapable of understanding what it means to be Nigerian. What it means to bask in the glory of being the most populous and industrious black nation on earth.  For this reason, it is important we tell our stories ourselves. Kill off the conspiracy. Perhaps only then would we reflect that we are a people in need of redemption.

    A recent survey on Twitter asked its users to describe their countries in one word. The pool of tweets from Nigeria reflected a few predominant words: Corruption, Fraud and Boko-Haram. It is impossible not to agree that these define the worst of our nation. They reflect the concern of all Nigerians – except the nation’s privileged elite. On the surface, they explain the reason why we have the highest number of school age children not enrolled in school; the despicable state of our infrastructure; an unacceptable infant mortality rate and high poverty indices. Security? I wouldn’t add that to the list. We have none.

    Sadly, these commonplace concerns do not tell the true story. Nigeria is gone. We have lost it. It is lost with our humanity. Ours is a nation without a soul. In this moment, we cannot blame our leaders. The bane is ours to bear. We have given up our collective humanity.

    As news of the atrocities committed in Baga trickles in, it becomes clear how many lives have needlessly been cut short. Satellite images show tales of absolute horror; entire villages wiped out and bodies litter the streets. The carnage barely made our local news, like many others before it. We continue to dispute the number of actual dead – the government in an attempt to save face revised the figures from about 2000 to “JUST a few hundred in the interim.” Where is the outrage? Where are the millions of angry people on the streets denouncing this massacre, and demanding answers from those charged to protect us? In any society, the entire country would have stood still for weeks, with overwhelming outpour of empathy towards the victims.

    But this is Nigeria. Nothing shocks our conscience. The best of us are content to wish away these horrid deaths. The average Nigerian justifies it – viewed through a narrow prism of religion or tribe, which somewhat make these deaths acceptable – and our government simply denies them. It has become a daily fact of life. We have grown fatigued to care about the lives of others, or express shock. We seem incapable of feeling empathy when the victims are neither family nor share our faith or tribe.

    Make no mistake. I too am Nigerian. I too share this trait of indifference. I too whisper a silent prayer, and hope not to be our country’s next victim. I too bow my head in shame. In this, I do not trade blame.

    Sadly, there will be no quick fixes. There can be none. Without doubt, making a difference is a lifelong commitment. It is a long walk. But I hold faith. That someday we shall shed our shackles of tribal and religious bias, and hold the creed that an attack on one is an attack on ALL. Our resilience as a people makes this possible. Our diversity gives me hope. Perhaps the next time I hear news of carnage; I will make time to join a protest march. Perhaps, the next time I feel the warmth of my bed; I will donate a blanket to an initiative in support of internally displaced persons. Perhaps, next time I hear of a soldier’s death in combat; I will spare a day to visit families of dead soldiers and share their grief. Whatever my actions; I MUST do more.

    • Ayobamidele Akande,

     ayobamidele.akande@gmail.com

  • Okogie faults search for Chibok girls

    Okogie faults search for Chibok girls

    The Federal Government’s search for the Chibok girls is “more of a talk show”.

    “It is over 100 days now that our over 200 children, God’s special gifts to humanity have been abducted by the Boko Haram insurgents,” Archbishop Emeritus of Lagos Anthony Cardinal Okogie said in a statement yesterday.

    “Unfortunately, the search for these schoolchildren in captivity is more of a talk show and trading of blames than real action,” he said.

    On April 14, Boko Haram militants abducted 276 schoolgirls in Borno State’s town of Chibok, according to official accounts.

    Boko Haram kingpin Abubakar Shekau later claimed responsibility for the abductions, offering to trade the kidnapped girls in return for some of his fighters held by Nigerian authorities.

    Cardinal Okogie, one of Nigeria’s most respected priests, faulted a decision by the Nigerian president to allow foreign military strategists and troops into the country.

    “The father of this state opened Nigeria to the comity of nations on the pretext of helping to rescue the children from captivity. With this decision, is our country still well-secured?” he queried.

    The archbishop’s position is in harmony with many Nigerian intellectuals who had warned that allowing western military troops to set feet in the country poses security risks.

    Cardinal Okogie also expressed doubts on the president’s request for $1 billion foreign loan to fight the insurgency in the northeast.

    “Some people are even insinuating that the president’s request could be in preparation for the 2015 elections,” he said.

    “On our part too, we are asking for the concrete explanation and the rationale for this loan at this critical period,” added the revered priest.

    “Our military personnel need to be well mobilized before emphasizing on the hardware. No hungry and angry military can fight any war,” Cardinal Okogie said.

    The Nigerian parliament has gone on recess, and no indication the lawmakers would call off their holiday, ending in September, to consider the president’s request.

    Northeastern Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states have been under emergency rule since May of last year.

    Tens of thousands have died since Boko Haram launched its violent campaign in 2009 following the extrajudicial murder of its leader Mohammed Yusuf in police custody.

    The group has also been blamed the destruction of public infrastructure, private businesses and displacement of at least six million Nigerians.