The Nation Newspaper

Tag: South West

  • Desperate challenges facing Yoruba South-west

    One of the major foibles of Nigeria’s development management since independence is that Nigeria’s federal rulers generally prefer to adopt an integrationist attitude to the issues of development.  Every group that somehow steps into the control of the Federal Government assumes that it has been given the duty and authority to micro-manage all development issues and all sections of Nigeria.

    Such an integrationist stance ignores the huge size of Nigeria as well as Nigeria’s intense diversity in geography, people, culture, history, levels of development, people’s orientations, desires and development choices, etc. Each people, region and section of Nigeria has its own package of development challenges, and each package evolves along a logic and trajectory of its own, and keeps perpetually producing its own peculiar kinds of new challenges. In the final analysis, therefore, the aggressive integrationist orientation of our federal rulers has been wasteful and foolish, and it has generated enormous waste and discord. In fact, to spell out fully how foolish, wasteful and destructive it has been, one would need to write a whole book – a book that could become a worldwide text on how to lead a country to failure.

    But the theme of this column today is not the folly and destructiveness of the Federal Government’s mismanagement of Nigeria but the peculiar and urgent development needs of the South-west region of Nigeria. The Southw-est came into the 20th Century and into Nigeria as the most developed part of tropical Africa. Its defining strength was its urbanism, with towns and cities at short distances from one another, a situation that did not exist in any other part of tropical Africa. Partly because of this, what is now the South-west of Nigeria was better able to absorb and utilize the incoming transformations at the beginning of the 20th Century. There were already schools in probably most Yoruba towns by 1900. In fact, Yoruba people had been producing new college-educated elite in Engineering, Law, Accountancy, Medicine and so on. By 1859 Yorubaland already, had a newspaper and by the end of the century, there were newspapers in many Yoruba towns. Yoruba authors had written books in various subjects all the way from History to Fiction to the Sciences etc. Then in the 1950s, a peculiarly business-like regional government pulled the South-west much further ahead still. Fortunately also, the Yoruba had a culture that respected the religious choices of individuals and accepted and included people from any other culture of the world.

    The consequence of all these, as Nigeria has declined since independence and as poverty has intensified all over the country, is that people have been fleeing from all parts of Nigeria to the South-west. Within only the past few decades, many Yoruba towns and cities have become almost unrecognizable as a result of rapid increases in population. Most who come, do so because of what they believe to be abundant opportunities waiting for them in the South-west. But sadly, many of them are now discovering that the opportunities are not as abundant as they expected. The level and intensity of poverty in the South-west is becoming frightful. Many Yoruba towns are losing all of urban beauty and many parts of many cities are simply growing slums. The crowds of young people peddling little handfuls of articles in the streets represent an underemployed mass.

    In a better managed federation with more sensitive leaders, a region that comes under such bombardment would be considered for special input and assistance by the Federal Government. However, nobody who knows Nigeria would ever expect that Nigeria’s Federal Government will make such special considerations for the South-west or any other part of Nigeria. The summary then is that the South-west is being asked to bear a burden it is unable to bear, and the result of this is that the quality of life in the South-west is deteriorating rapidly.

    Of course, we in the South-west have a lot to criticize our state and local governments for but the bigger problem is from the federal source. This bigger problem is not merely that the Federal Government will not help the South-west, but that in fact they are forever trying to hold the South-west back. The examples of federal efforts to hold the South-west back are legion and the result is that life is being made difficult not only for the people of the South-west but for the millions flooding in from other parts of Nigeria.

    There is no point asking anything of the Federal Government. A new situation has arisen now, however, in which the party holding power at the centre may be fairly reasonably expected to relate more sensibly and more productively to the South-west than ever before. We in the South-west are expecting and waiting for that to happen and hopefully it will happen. But even if it happens, the main burden is still on us the people of the South-west, our state and local governments and the traditional Yoruba institutions that served the interest of our communities.

    The first direction we must go is to make our masses of educated youths seriously productive members of society. By our youths I do not only mean the indigenous Yoruba youths but all youths. We need without further delay to establish programmes whereby our youths will be equipped with modern job skills in various directions as artisans, machinists, modern farm hands and farm managers, builders, plumbers, masons, computer operatives and so on. We need to empower some of our businesses to offer such training in-house. We also need to encourage private individuals who are interested in contributing to education to participate in the establishment of technical and skills institutes. Side by side with these skills, our youths need to be educated to be good workers – loyal to their employers, ambitious for the companies they work for and dependable in the performance of their duties.

    The investment world out there is already interested in the South-west, but the fear is that the workers are not there. If we could create the skilled and dependable workers, we could turn our fortunes around in just a few years. Then we need to dig deep into the resources of our culture in order to carry out this transformation. We must assist those of our people already in small businesses to improve the quality of their services. An American who travelled widely in the South-west recently remarked that the small business culture (not just in trading) already exists and is an ancient culture with the Yoruba people. For example, he pointed out that if public authorities would assist the countless thousands of Yoruba women who cook food for sale in ‘bukas’, this industry could attract a lot of foreigners to the South-west.

    The South-west also has one of the richest resources for cultural tourism on earth. This is an industry that people of the South-west can develop at little expense. Thirdly, the Yoruba produce a whole range of traditional products, garments, fabrics and works of art which is another area which the governments of the South-west should look into. Moreover, Yoruba women have the reputation of being, in history, some of the greatest traders on the African continent – another area in which their governments should help them to improve and modernize.

    The summary is this. The people of the South-west command the capabilities and the means to transform their region and to help Nigeria to pull ahead. Those who hold the reins of power in the region owe their people and the world the duty of attending to all these possibilities without delay. That is the challenge of the Southwest today. The situation can be changed quickly and radically. But if we delay, it can become too complicated to handle. Nobody can stop the many millions coming to the South-west. The onus is on the South-west to seek urgently to command the strength to accept and include them constructively.

  • Senate presidency: South West, Yobe senators endorse Lawan

    Senate presidency: South West, Yobe senators endorse Lawan

    Chairman, Senate Committee on Public Accounts,, Alhaji  Ahmed Lawan, yesterday got the nod of the Southwest  and Yobe caucuses of the  incoming 8th Senate to run  its affairs for the next four years.

    Lawan, Senator  Bukola Saraki and Senator George Akume are the leading candidates in the race to succeed Senator David Mark.

    The Yobe State Senate caucus leader, Alhaji  Bukar Abba Ibrahim, said in a statement in Abuja that the endorsement was made on behalf of the people and government of Yobe State.

    Bukar, a former governor of the State, said Lawan possesses the required qualities, character and the frame of mind to make a qualitative Senate President.

    He described Lawan as “energetic, hardworking and possessing progressive values.”

    “Senator Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan has demonstrated clear commitment to progressive values. He is energetic and hardworking and he has what it takes to lead the 8th Assembly,”  Bukar added, noting that his cognate experience places him above his peers.

    The Yobe caucus asked for the support of the other parts of the Northeastern and the generality of  the senators  for Lawan.

    Twelve Senators (old and new) from the Southwest are also backing Lawan, it was gathered yesterday.

    Their decision was said to have been taken following consultations and meetings with Lawan on his aspiration.

  • Can South West be hoodwinked?

    SIR: It was John Bitten that once said: “In politics, I think it is wiser to leave five minutes too soon than to continue five years too long.” This aptly describes the belated pacification approach of President Goodluck Jonathan to winning the southwest before the conduct of last presidential election. The ubiquitous visit of President Jonathan to the southwest has now shown that our President loves the south westerners only for his re-election. The visit to our Obas’ palaces must have given the President the rare opportunity to compare the heterogeneous collection of artifacts in those palaces visited.

    And of course, the President needs to be told that his government has shortchanged the southwest people in terms of human resources and economically. His government is as hellish as that of Abacha. The hoi polloi have been more impoverished. Small and medium scale enterprises have been crippled by the debilitating exchange rate, which is the worst in history.

    The southwest roads are worse than its government met them six years ago. People’s Democratic Party appointed offices were not given to the southwest. It remains an illusion that implementation of the latter-day CONFAB report that was hurriedly put in place to douse political conflagration has now become a campaign issue. It is cheap and spurious. But South westerners nay other Nigerians are wiser. It is difficult to believe that a government that has failed to move us forward in six years can do any magic in the next four years. The hate campaign against General Mohammadu Buhari is only making the man more popular among the people.

    Nobody can stop an idea whose time has come. To appreciate the mortality of man, our present political players should hear the word of Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) to wit: “What’s man? A foolish baby, vainly strives, fights and frets, demanding all, deserving nothing, one small grave he gets”. The nub of the matter is that the window dressing of the President in the southwest is hoodwinking and not sincere.

    • Adelani Olawuyi,

    Odooba – Ogbomoso.

  • Accreditation commences in South West states

    Accreditation commences in South West states

    Accreditation for the Governorship and State House of Assembly elections commenced early on Saturday across many states in the South West Zone amidst tight security by police and army personnel.

    Correspondents of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) report that the accreditation process in many polling units was going on smoothly across the zone in contrast to the March 28 polls which were marred in many instances by challenges with the Smart Card Readers.

    In Ibadan, Oyo State, armed security personnel including soldiers, policemen and the NSCDC were seen in strategic places.

    At Bere, Molete, Challenge, Aleshinloye Junction, Mokola Roundabout, Sango, and Iwo Road Roundabout, road blocks were mounted by soldiers and other security personnel.

    The security personnel stopped vehicles and demanded to know where the drivers were going to and those with legitimate businesses were allowed to pass while others were asked to go back home.

    Also sighted at Mapo area were officers from the Special Intelligence Bureau who were busy patrolling some streets.

    At Sango area of the metropolis, the road leading to Ijokodo was sealed while a heavy security presence was noticed.

    At Agbowo Ward 12, Unit 8A, Ibadan North West Local Government Area, accreditation was ongoing peacefully under the watch of security agents. Speaking at the unit, Hon. Gboyega Makanjuola, a PDP House of Assembly candidate, commended the security arrangement which had ensured a peaceful accreditation process.

    NAN reports that accreditation began at Ward 9, Oluwo in Egbeda Local Government Area at about 9 a.m. amidst tight security and an impressive turnout.

    At Ward 6, Unit 16, Oke Padre, accreditation began at 8.20 a.m. in an orderly manner. But at Olopo Meta in Olorunsogo area of Ibadan, political thugs were said to have harassed voters.

    A resident, who simply identified himself as Alhaji Akintunde, urged security agencies to draft their personnel in the area. He told news men that the thugs had been disturbing the peace of the area since Friday night, adding that “ only a few of us were able to do accreditation.’’

    In Ogbomoso, voting materials arrived early at many polling units while accreditation commenced as early as 8am. Former Gov. Adebayo Alao-Akala and Labour Party Candidate in the governorship election was accredited at 8.20a.m at his Unit 13, Sabop/Tarra Ward 10 in Ogbomoso. Alao-Akala, who was accompanied by his wife, Oluwakemi, described the accreditation exercise so far as hitch-free. He urged the electorate to conduct themselves in a peaceful manner.

    A resident, Mr. Dele Abu, who was accredited at 9.07 a.m. at Unit 6, Isale-Ora.Sara Ward 5, described the exercise as smooth and fast. He said the Smart Card Reader was now more efficient and would give credibility to the electoral process.

    NAN reports that more than 21,000 policemen had been deployed in Oyo State for the elections in which no fewer than 277 candidates will be vying for elective posts.

    NAN also reports that 12 political parties will be presenting candidates for the governorship position while 14 parties will present 265 candidates in the contest for 32 seats in the state House of Assembly.

    In Osun, the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) deployed trained sniffer dogs to polling units across the state to detect Improvised Explosives Devices (IDEs).

    Alhaji Tajudeen Balogun, the State NSCDC Commandant, told journalists in Osogbo that the dogs would not disrupt voting process. He said the dogs would sniff around polling units to detect and apprehend anyone with explosive device with the aid of NSCDC officers.

    Balogun said that the dogs, which are well trained and have been part of the corps for some time, are now being deployed for election duty because of the security situation in the country. The commandant said that the dogs are well trained to detect what ordinary eyes cannot see and expressed confidence that the input of the dogs would further ensure safety during the elections. Security operatives took positions in strategic areas of Osogbo and other major towns in Osun as early as 7:30a.m., to enforce law and order.

    The law enforcement agents included men of the Nigerian Army, the police, and officials of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence (NSCDC).

    NAN observed that soldiers mounted road blocks at popular junctions including Abere, Olaiya and Okefia among other areas to scrutinise human and vehicular movements. Also, policemen and NSCDC officials were stationed at polling units to ensure security of the electorate and election materials. A soldier at Olaiya junction, who did not want his name published, told NAN that movement of vehicles that were not on election duty was not allowed after 8.00a.m.

    The elections commenced in many parts of Ogun with the accreditation of voters around 8.15 a.m. NAN reports that INEC officials and electoral materials arrived many polling centres around 7.50 a.m. accompanied by security agencies.

    The exercise which was monitored by NAN at Remo, Ilaro, Abeokuta, Ijebu, Otta among others was peaceful and orderly. NAN reports that there was heavy presence of police officials and men of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) at the polling centres while military personnel secured major junctions at the cities.

    NAN observed tremendous improvement in the operations of the card readers, though there were few cases of rejections. The turn-out of voters was also impressive as the number almost doubled that of the presidential polls in some of the polling centres. Some voters went with generating sets to some of the polling centres to assist INEC in case of need. Some of the voters interviewed by NAN attributed the large turn-out to renewed confidence in the electoral process. “Now that I am sure that my vote counts, I am encouraged to come out and vote,” Mr Ayodele Adejobi, a civil servant, told NAN at Unit 2, Ward Kuto area of Abeokuta South Council area.

    Polling units in Odogbolu and Ijebu-Ode Local Government Areas in Ogun witnessed a positive turnout of voters. A visit by NAN correspondent to some wards across the local government areas indicated a general positive mood on the side of voters. It was observed that both INEC officials and voting materials arrived on schedule for the accreditation exercise which started in most polling units at 8 a.m.

    At Ward 11, Polling Unit 2 in Odogbolu, voters turned out as early as 7 a.m. with most beginning their accreditation as soon as the INEC officials arrived.

    Olufayo Ibrahim, 42, said he was impressed with the arrangement this time around as compared to the presidential polls. Another respondent, Mr Tunji Okiji, a public official, said it was obvious INEC had resolved most of the challenges witnessed in the last elections.

    The voters were optimistic that the polls would be conducted peacefully without hitches.

    NAN reports a heavy presence of police and NSCDC officers at the polling units and those of the Nigerian Army at major highways.

    In Ekiti, a tight security cordon was thrown across the state as the accreditation process got underway.

    The police spokesman in the state, Albert Adeyemo, said the tight security was to prevent breakdown of law and order, especially in view of the political crisis in the state.

    The Deputy Governor in the state, Mr Kolapo Olusola, expressed satisfaction with the security arrangement in the state.

    In Ilorin, the Kwara capital, the accreditation exercise was also being conducted smoothly across many council areas. Officers drawn from the police, army, NSCDC, Nigeria Immigration Service, Nigeria Customs Service, NDLEA and FRSC were sighted at strategic points in the metropolis.

  • Can South West be hoodwinked?

    SIR: It was John Bitten that once said: “In politics, I think it is wiser to leave five minutes too soon than to continue five years too long.” This aptly describes the belated pacification approach of President Goodluck Jonathan to winning the southwest before the conduct of last presidential election. The ubiquitous visit of President Jonathan to the southwest has now shown that our President loves the south westerners only for his re-election. The visit to our Obas’ palaces must have given the President the rare opportunity to compare the heterogeneous collection of artifacts in those palaces visited.

    And of course, the President needs to be told that his government has shortchanged the southwest people in terms of human resources and economically. His government is as hellish as that of Abacha. The hoi polloi have been more impoverished. Small and medium scale enterprises have been crippled by the debilitating exchange rate, which is the worst in history.

    The southwest roads are worse than its government met them six years ago. People’s Democratic Party appointed offices were not given to the southwest. It remains an illusion that implementation of the latter-day CONFAB report that was hurriedly put in place to douse political conflagration has now become a campaign issue. It is cheap and spurious. But South westerners nay other Nigerians are wiser. It is difficult to believe that a government that has failed to move us forward in six years can do any magic in the next four years. The hate campaign against General Mohammadu Buhari is only making the man more popular among the people.

    Nobody can stop an idea whose time has come. To appreciate the mortality of man, our present political players should hear the word of Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) to wit: “What’s man? A foolish baby, vainly strives, fights and frets, demanding all, deserving nothing, one small grave he gets”. The nub of the matter is that the window dressing of the President in the southwest is hoodwinking and not sincere.

    • Adelani Olawuyi,

    Odooba – Ogbomoso.

  • Jonathan’s trojan horse arrives South West

    President Goodluck Ebele “Azikiwe” Jonathan has firmly convinced himself that in the history of all ages, there has never been a space without master; and that there wouldn’t be any in Nigeria of today. The attacker always comes up against a possessor in various  forms since the greatest weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of oppressed.

    The possessors and the oppressed in this instance are the Nigerian people and the attacker is Mr Jonathan himself. The Presidency’s confusions and vacillations seemed to increase with each new month of the calendar. To him, the only alternatives are victory or destruction. He has enlisted the unshakable obstinacy of violent ethnic militias in the Niger Delta, South East and now South West to inflict maximum injuries in the minds of those who will not consider him electable.

    Like a thunderbolt, the calls for the removal of Prof Attahiru Jega, the chair of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), was first echoed by the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra, (MASSOB). The calls culminated in advertisements in both prints, electronics and the social media. The campaign is so strong that few days ago, the disbanded MASSOB militia protested in Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, among other locations in the South-East, calling for the immediate removal of Jega.

    These protests were attended by violent and untoward destructions as choreographed by the PDP and President Jonathan. Characteristically, the evasive Jonathan maintained dignified silence as though he had no hand in it. While the wanton destruction of property and harassment of law abiding citizens lasted, the Nigeria Police provided cover for the arsonists to have a field day. No words of rebuke or order to clamp down on the protesters came from the Commander-in-Chief. Mr Jonathan, in the past, has broke up protests against his government with the same police and the armed forces. Incompetent and lazy, vain as a peacock, dry and without direction as he has been, the president could be pardoned for not showing leadership.

    The aggression didn’t end there. The Oodua Peoples Congress and the Goodluck Jonathan Campaign Organisation in Lagos on Monday morning led other protesters to storm the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, demanding the sacking of the Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega, before the March 28 elections.

    The bus of the campaign group and the members of the OPC, who massed at the 7UP/Toll Gate end of the expressway, led the protesters, who were chanting anti-Jega songs, giving reasons why Jega should be sacked. The OPC members carried guns, cutlasses, pocket knifes among other weapons, occupying one end of the busy highway while some members of the groups harassed some motorists and passers-by plying the road.

    Some people, who were clad in black vest, said to be beneficiaries of the SURE-P, also constituted a sizable portion of the protesters.

    Heavy traffic built up along the highway as the protesters, who were well protected by heavily armed soldiers and police presence, took over one part of the road, grounding movement of other road users. The protesters took time to distribute leaflets containing seven reasons why the INEC boss should be sacked. The leaflet also contained what the OPC described as the achievements of President Goodluck Jonathan and why the President should be re-elected.

    Earlier, the National Cordinator of Oodua Peoples’ Congress, Chief Gani Adams has explained that his group resolved to endorse President Goodluck Jonathan for a second term, because of the promise to implement 633 recommendations of the report of national confab. “Yet some civil society groups have kept quiet on these issues. So, we need to move this country forward on the basis of structure and not about saying Buhari will come to perform miracle. When Buhari was in power, it was Buhari/Idiagbon government, not only Buhari. Idiagbon did much of the job in government. Buhari was just the administrator. Idiagbon was the master-strategist of that government”, he said.

    But prior to the violent protest of the outlawed militia, the All Progressives Congress, APC had alleged that it had uncovered a plot by its Peoples Democratic Party counterpart to fund ethnic militias to protest and demand Jega’s sacking. This allegation has not be refuted by either the PDP or the presidency.

    Vain and tactless and with incredible naivety and speed, Mr Jonathan has truly recruited and resuscitated the bloodcurdling OPC whose banal activities in South West Nigeria in the past almost laid the once urbane and sophisticated ethnic group prostrate. The consequences of arming militia terrorist group partly gave birth to Boko Haram insurgents and Niger Delta crisis for which the president himself is guilty of, and later became its victim when they bombed his house as Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State.

    In introspection, it’s easy to now see that President Jonathan’s successful gamble with the postponement of the polls has brought him a victory more staggering and more fatal in its immense consequences than could be comprehended. Nigerians are not certain if Mr Jonathan would heed the note of caution, almost of despair, creeping into his second term bid.

    It’s yet unclear, day after day, who stands the most to gain from the chains of chaotic governance guaranteed by the PDP and Mr Jonathan in the last sixteen-years. It could be the people who barely sleep with one eye opened in virtual darkness. It’s possible it is the masses who stay awake all through the nights on empty stomach. If Mr Jonathan didn’t stand to gain from the  missed opportunities and aborted chances, why did he soil his hands with innocent people’s blood?

    In all of this, the plush official denizens who literarily took possession of his gutter government must have been having a field day.

    That Mr Jonathan awarded N9 billion contract to the OPC for the protection of pipelines in a country where you have hundreds of thousands of soldiers, policemen, Navy, Air Force, DSS and Civil Defence is a classical example of a gutter that becomes government.

    Feted and flattered by the ethnic militia as a reformist, even by the witches and wizards, the president becomes deprived of knowing how fateful his presidency has become. With the roaring dollars all over the place, Obas defaming their crowns, Christian leader cheering obsessively on the arrival of another easy money, assurances of God’s divinity issuing forth from the ‘Throne of Grace” for his continuity gambit, echoes of victory is all the president could hear.

    Well-meaning Nigerians know a thing that is unknown to the hired crowd or they pretended not to know. Should Jonathan stay beyond 2015 in Aso Rock by whatever means, the nation’s decadent economic situation would be worsened to an unbearable, even hopeless extent. The darkening time would have firmly gripped a people whose only hope  in the face of many failings was to have a voice in the affairs of their governance.

    As things stand, whoever lights the torch of electoral fraud can wish for nothing but chaos. Nigerians are already living in the solid conviction that in our time, nothing of such will be tolerated, not even a descend to the merest of manipulations. The renaissance of democratic ethos must take its full course so that Nigeria may make an imperishable contractual contribution toward the global strive for democratic space. That is the plight of the people in their proud nation and their unshakable belief in its indivisibility.

    • Erasmus, A Public Affairs analyst write in from Lagos, Nigeria.

  • Which National Conference Report is Jonathan brandishing in South-West?

    Which National Conference Report is Jonathan brandishing in South-West?

    Fragmented pan-Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, recently endorsed President Goodluck Jonathan for a second term, pinning their support on the president’s assurance to implement Yoruba agenda at the last National Conference. Group Political Editor, Emmanuel Oladesu, reports that the declaration is generating ripples in the South-West geo-political region.

    The decision of a section of the polarised and fragmented pan-Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, to support President Goodluck Jonathan’s second term bid is still generating ripples in the South-West geo-political region. The elders have resolved to mobilise support for the President in Yorubaland, based on his promise to implement the report of the 2014 National Conference, if re-elected at the general elections.

    Question mark on endorsement:

    But, other prominent Afenifere leaders and critics, who were taken aback, have raised some puzzles: Which aspect of the ‘Yoruba Agenda’ is contained in the National Conference Report that has warranted the uncritical endorsement of a leader that has marginalised the South-West for six years? Is the support for Dr. Jonathan’s re-election bid by some acclaimed Awoists motivated by pecuniary motive? What is the ideological basis for the inexplicable fraternity between frontline progressive and anti-mainstream politicians and their conservative rivals at a critical election period? Would Afenifere, led by the late Chief Adekunle Ajasin and Senator Abraham Adesanya, have endorsed the President under the current circumstances? Is the President a fan of advocates of radical economic and political restructuring? Why has the Commander-In-Chief not made the conference report implementation a campaign issue in other zones?

    At a conference in Akure, the capital of Ondo State, with the theme: ‘National Conference, 2015 elections and the Yoruba Nation,’ Afenifere chieftain, Chief Ayo Adebanjo said: “We are supporting Jonathan because of the consistency of the Yoruba to have this country restructured so that it can develop. People are calling for change. I want a change in the constitution of Nigeria. Only a change in the constitution can truly bring about the change we need.” The host, Governor Olusegun Mimiko, who is the Southwest Coordinator of Jonathan/Sambo Campaigns, said the President will implement the conference report. When it is implemented, he said it will create room for each state to own its own constitution, prison service, police, create its own local governments, build airports, seaports and railways.

    Also, Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) founder, Dr. Fredrick Fasehun, and its Coordinator, Otunba Gani Adams, said the implementation of the report will enable the South-West to actualise the Yoruba dream of a prosperous South-West. To make this possible, he urged the people of the region to vote for the President. While Fasehun described the President as the answer to Nigeria’s problems, Adams said that six million members of the group will vote for Dr. Jonathan at the polls.

    To further legitimise the controversial endorsement, there was a follow-up conference at Ibadan; the political headquarters of the South-West. It was attended by the Yoruba Council of Elders (YCE) chieftains led by its President, Gen. Adeyinka Adebayo, and many Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftains. At the meeting were Adebanjo, former Ogun State governor, Gbenga Daniel, former Anambra State governor, Peter Obi, Otunba Iyiola Omisore, Dr. Doyin Okupe, Chief Olu Falae, Alhaji Yekini Adeojo, Chief Isola Filani, and Mr. Tony Uranta. Participants endorsed the President for re-election, saying it is in the “enlightened interest” of the Yoruba race.

    Adebanjo, one of the delegates to the conference, maintained that Jonathan is committed to the restructuring of the country through the implementation of the confab’s report. Echoing him, Chief Olu Falae, another delegate, said: “Throughout the conference, Jonathan did not try to teleguide us. He said he will implement the report of the conference in the first year of his second term of office.” The Minister of State for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Chief Jumoke Akinjide, said the President had already commenced the implementation of the report by setting up an inter-ministerial committee of which she is a member representing the South-West.

    To many Yoruba, the endorsement may not shape the voting pattern at the general elections. Many stakeholders perceived it as another futile attempt to spite the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, who has fallen out with the factional Afenifere chieftains since 2003. Ahead of the National Conference, the former governor of Lagos State described the conference as a decoy and Greek gift, predicting that it will lead to nowhere. When it was inaugurated, many Southwesterners were reluctant to show interest in the conference proceedings. There was only a semblance of re-awakening of interest in the region when Gen. Alani Akinrinade, Dr. Amos Akingba and Mr. Femi Falana (SAN) accepted to participate as delegates.

    Besides, Yoruba, according to stakeholders, believes that the Buhari/ Osinbajo ticket will restore its sense of belonging. The thinking is that, if the President is re-elected, no Yoruba can occupy any of the first seven leadership positions in the country. This in contrast with the consequence of power change, which will pave the way for the ascension of a Yoruba into Vice Presidency. Thus, many observers point out that the APC presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, has favoured Yoruba by picking his running mate from the South-West. Besides, many people are wondering what has happened between last year and now when the leader of the factional Afenifere, Pa Rueben Fasoranti, cried out over the marginalisation of the zone in the distribution of federal appointments and social amenities.

    According to observers, many questions are begging answers: Has the marginalisation been halted? Has the inequality been addressed? Apart from the piecemeal rehabilitation of Lagos/ Ibadan Expressway, what other important federal project is on-going in the South-West? When did the President, who described some Yoruba leaders as rascals, change his perception? How sincere is the President now that he is using the conference report as a carrot?

    Gap between expectation and reality:

    Former Afenifere Secretary Mr. Ayo Opadokun said that the premise for the endorsement by Afenifere is faulty, stressing that explanation by the chieftains were unjustifiable. He conceded to pro-Jonathan campaigners in Afenifere, the right to their freedom of association. But, the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) Secretary said the report being brandished by them does not reflect the popular yearnings of the Yoruba. Emphasising the curious gap between expectation and reality, Opadokun added: “The Yoruba Agenda did not see the light of the day at the conference. The agenda was defeated. It was not upheld on the floor. So, I don’t know what they mean when they are saying that the President will implement the report.”

    A delegate to the conference, Falana, chided the 13 Afenifere chieftains who endorsed the President for peddling falsehood and confusing the public. Apart from Pa Rueben Fasoranti, Adebanjo, Olaniwun Ajayi and Chief Olu Falae, other chieftains include Chief Seinde Arogbofa, Chief Duro Duyile, Chief Iyiola Omisore, Dr. Segun Mimiko, Prof. Akin Onigbinde, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, Okunrounmu and Mr. Jimi Agbaje. Falana said all the positions canvassed by Afenifere at the conference, except state police, were rejected. To that extent, he said the chieftains made fraudulent claims, stressing that what the conference achieved had nothing to do with ethnic champions. The lawyer said the Yoruba Agenda, which encompasses restructuring, regional autonomy, parliamentary system; unicameral legislature, devolution of power, fiscal federalism and resource control, special status for Lagos, and the removal of the Land Use Act were rejected. “For them to now come out and say that the President will implement the report is fraudulent. I am challenging them publicly to tell us which among the agenda is contained in the report,” he fumed.

    Falana lamented that, after receiving the report, the President set up another technical committee to study the recommendations.

    “The President received the report, promised heaven and earth and said he will send a bill to the National Assembly. He set up another committee of seven headed by the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke to make recommendations on the report,” he added.  Falana said Afenifere leaders were trying to trivialise delegates’ collective success at the conference.

    A critic, Joseph Amoru, said Afenifere chieftains have acted in bad faith. “Okurounmu called for a Sovereign National Conference in 2002 at the National Assembly. It was shut down. But, he agreed to preside over a non-sovereign national conference,” he said, adding that Yoruba will not take the President’s endorsement seriously in the South-West.

    Adebanjo’s colleague in the defunct Action Group Youth Association and Afenifere Deputy Leader, Senator Ayo Fasanmi, also objected to the purported endorsement. He said the pan-Yoruba group should know that Yoruba will not vote for an incompetent leader. He said his colleagues spearheaded the endorsement without sparing a thought for the future, adding that they are not leaving behind worthy legacies. Fasanmi said, if any Awoist has urged the people of South-West to support the President, he has mocked his antecedent as a fighter for a better Nigeria. He said since their leader, the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, never supported any inept leadership, his colleagues have not done justice to his memory. “The purported endorsement is unfortunate, illogical, embarrassing, and misleading. What legacy do we want to hand over to the next generation?

    Fasanmi challenged Afenifere to list the achievements of President Jonathan in the South-West that could warrant their endorsement of his candidature. He said the Federal Government has marginalised the region in the distribution of appointments. “They said they are supporting Jonathan because he has promised to implement the National Conference report. Jonathan cannot implement it. It must go to the National Assembly. When Buhari wins, APC legislators in the National Assembly will do the job,” he added.

    Revisiting Yoruba Agenda:

    Since 1991, Yoruba and their compatriots across the federation have been in the vanguard of the demand for a Sovereign National Conference. The goal is to discuss the basis for peaceful co-existence in the heterogeneous country. In a document by the Pan-Yoruba Assembly titled: Yoruba Agenda for 2014 National Conference, Yoruba canvassed a federal and democratic country built around certain fundamental values. These include the sovereignty of the people, respect for human rights, equal political, economic and social opportunities for all citizens; equity, justice and fair play on the basis of politics and national unity; and transparency and accountability as the basis of governance.

    According to the document, the South-West Obas and leaders set up the Yoruba Agenda Committee to collate Yoruba positions and prepare the Yoruba Agenda for last year’s conference. Highlights include:

    Political restructuring:

    Yoruba called for the restructuring of the federation into six federating zones and regions, with each region exercising the power to create states as allowed by the regional constitution. The states will be responsible for the creation of local governments. Any ethnic group or groups in a state wishing to align with any other state or region shall be allowed to do so, if confirmed in a plebiscite by the affected people.

    Regional autonomy: Yoruba proposed a new Nigeria made up of a Central Union/Federal Government and six regional governments, based on the six geo-political zones. But, the proposed Southwest zone must include Yoruba outside the imposed artificial boundaries, including Yoruba in Edo, Delta, Kwara and Kogi. Thus, there must be federal and regional constitutions.

    Parliamentary system: In the view of Yoruba leaders, a return to the Westminister model of parliamentary democracy will lead to a cut in the cost of governance and reduce acrimonious campaigns and bitter struggle for power. The implication is that, at the federal level, there will be President and Prime Minister and at regional level, a governor and premier.

    Unicameralism and part-time legislature: According to Yoruba leaders, a unicameral legislature at the centre and the region, with part-time legislators as members, will reduce the cost of governance.

    Fiscal federalism: This revolves around the agitation for a just and equitable taxation system that will make the federating units equal and coordinating at the federal level to eliminate the current “rentier syndrome.” To Southwest, ideal resource management makes true fiscal federalism and resource control more compelling. The implication is that a substantial part of the proceeds accruable from every region will be domiciled in the region and an agreed percentage contributed to the centre by the federating regions for the responsibility of the Federal Government.

    Self-determination:

    Yoruba also proposed the right to self determination on and up to the right to secede. Based on this proposal, Yoruba leaders have always reiterated that the unity of Nigeria is negotiable.

    State police: Yoruba demanded for state police. Its argument is that security, including policy, has its environmental dimension as language and culture play a role in criminality and crime control. Also, it is illogical for state legislature to make laws which the state executive lacks the power to enforce because the police is centralised. However, the terms of cooperation between the federal and regional police should be clearly defined.

    Decentralisation of elections: All elections shall be organised and conducted by regional, zonal electoral commission in the regions. The commission shall be composed of representatives of contesting political parties, religious bodies and civil society groups.

    Status of Lagos: In view of the enormous pressure on the infrastructure of Lagos and because of the fact that Lagos will continue to be the economic nerve-centre of Nigeria and West African region, there shall be an appropriate budgetary provision that is part of the first line charge in the Federation Account for Lagos.

    Immunity: The immunity of President, Prime Minister, regional governors and premiers and their deputies from court processes during their tenure of office should be circumscribed and made only to cover civil processes. These public officers should be made amenable to court processes on charges bordering on commission of crimes. Where a prima facie criminal case has been established against a holder of any of these offices by a court of competent jurisdiction, such officer shall vacate office, until the proceeding is concluded. His or her deputy shall hold the position in acting capacity, until the matter is concluded.

    Defective lobbying:

    However, despite the pre-conference parley between Afenifere and some compatriots from the South-South Peoples Assembly (SSPA), it became increasingly difficult for “Afenifere delegates” to convince other delegates to reflect deeply on agenda. A delegate said, despite Afenifere’s sustained agitation for true federalism in the media, the conference presented a different ball game.

    Giving insight into the clash of interests, a delegate to the conference said, right from its inauguration, there were indications that the government was not interested in a Sovereign National Conference. He stressed: “There was a clash of agenda at the conference. The Federal Government had its own agenda, which was to divert attention and convey the impression that it was a listening government. The conference was to keep some people busy. Another agenda, may be, was to re-introduce the proposal for a seven-year single term. But, it could not scale through.

    “Then, the President knew where he was going. He made the conference a South-West affair by appointing Senator Okurounmu as the head of the pre-conference advisory committee. Then, he made Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi the deputy chairman of the conference. During the conference, he started courting delegates from the South-West, especially Afenifere members, who have been critical of his government. To spite Tinubu, who personally objected to the conference, Afenifere members started fraternising with the President. So, apart from pursuing Yoruba agenda, it can be said that they were also pursuing anti-Tinubu agenda.

    “But, the Afenifere chieftains at the conference, as old as they are, have never participated in any similar conference before. They have not served as members of any constituent assembly or constitutional drafting committee before. Therefore, they lacked that lobbying skills. They believed that the Yoruba Agenda is so beautiful and appealing, but they lacked the skill to persuade delegates from other zones to buy into it. To get things done in that kind of conference, there is the need for behind-the-scene negotiation and lobbying. Even, delegates from the South-West, those who opposed Awo in his life time who were part of the conference, did not take Afenifere delegates seriously at the conference. They held contrary views.”

    The only proposal that scaled through was the state police. Falana said Afenifere cannot take credit for the marginal success.

    Collapse of agenda:

    It is an understatement. In the 763-paged National Conference Report, delegates rejected regionalism, re-affirming the states as the federation units. To delegates, regionalism is old fashioned. But, the report conceded to any group of similar and contiguous states the right to create self-funding Zonal Commission to promote economic development, good governance, equity, peace and security in accordance with the constitution. Already, APC states, through the South-West Integration Agenda or Development Agenda for Western Nigeria, have put in motion development initiatives. On page 201 of the report, it is stated that “Conference maintained that geo-political zones should not be the federating units of our federation.”

    The Conference also rejected parliamentary system proposed by Afenifere. It called for a modified presidential system, but the elements do not significantly differ from the model already being practiced. The suggestion that ministers and special advisers should come from the parliament under the proposed home-made modified presidential system will be difficult to implement.

    On resource control, the Conference asked the Federal Government to set up a technical committee to advise it on the sensitive matter. The only allusion made to it was that the percentage of revenue allocation to oil-producing states should be reviewed.

    Other issues – special status for Lagos, power decentralisation, regional autonomy, unicameral legislature and political restructuring – did not see the light of the day.

    Which way forward for Jonathan in Southwest?

    A group, ‘Concerned Yoruba,’ said that the promise by President Jonathan to implement the report is a gimmick. There is no pro-Yoruba conference report to implement, said the group, which comprises of Mr. Felix Adenaike, Adetowo Aderemi, Tokunbo Ajasin and Kayode Oyediran. Dismissing the post-conference summit at Akure and Ibadan as a fraud, the group added that the summit was very presumptous, misleading and delusional.

    The group has two grudges against the Jonathan administration. It is irked by the reluctance of the president to make the confab report implementation a campaign issue. Also, the president has not taken any concrete action on the report beyond the setting up of a diversionary inter-ministerial committee to deliberate on the report. The group said Yoruba will not vote for the president because of the dummy.

    Falana shared this line of thought. The lawyer said the electoral battle transcends ethnic jingoism. He also said that those who will vote in the South-West will not look up to Afenifere for direction and guidance.

    “As far as elections are concerned, most of the voters are young. They have no nexus whatsoever with these ethnic or faith-based organisations,” Falana stressed.

    The legal luminary predicted hard electoral times for the ruling party at the centre. He noted that, for the first time in 16 years, PDP leaders, who have boasted that the party will rule for 60 years, were running from pillar to post. He said two things may continue to work against the party. These are the growing enlightenment among voters and the consequence of media scrutiny of the candidates. “The critical segment of the media has since dismissed President Jonathan for unprecedented incompetence, grand corruption and official impunity. This is the reason why the President was in Lagos to extend largesse to some selected leaders of interest groups,” Falana added.

    The Concerned Group also doubted the success of the fronting by Afenifere for the PDP. It said that, while restructuring of Nigeria is desirable for the stability and survival of Nigeria, other problems militating against the welfare and development of the country cannot be ignored. According to the group, these problems include endemic and pervasive corruption, a culture of impunity and the debasement of the institutions that undergird the nation such as the police, judiciary and the armed forces. “These problems have worsened steadily during the Fourth Republic, particularly under the current administration. The best interest of the Yoruba, and indeed, all Nigerians, dictate that it should be arrested and reversed before it is too late. This is the change being sought,” it added.

  • 2015: ‘How South West will assess Jonathan’

    The Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has said the people of the South West will assess President Goodluck Jonathan strictly on his performance in the last six years and not on the basis of his new promises ahead of the next presidential election.

    In a statement issued in Osogbo, the state capital, the party’s Director of Publicity, Research and Strategy, Mr. Kunle Oyatomi, accused the president for allegedly neglecting the zone and its people in the provision of dividends of democracy.

    This act, according to Osun APC, amounted to “sordid ingratitude and contempt for a people who did the most to help him become President.”

    The party added, “If in the last six years, President Goodluck Jonathan has down-graded the Yoruba from the first three positions to below the 15th in Nigeria either in political or civil service structure, and in particular, in Nigeria’s rating of expertise and valued contributions to the country’s development, then he does not deserve, and will not get the Yoruba votes this time around. All his promises to the Yoruba people are empty and deceitful; our people not only know it, they feel it and they will act appropriately on March 28, 2015.”

  • Before Oil Runs Dry: Options For The Development Of The South-West Of Nigeria

    Before Oil Runs Dry: Options For The Development Of The South-West Of Nigeria

    The Case for Restructuring the Political Economy

    Our incipient economic crisis triggered by declining oil revenues calls into question our entire governance model and political economy which revolves round the distribution  of oil rents. The elite consensus and the political architecture that have informed how Nigeria works (or does not work as the case may be) have long been overdue for review. The current crisis offers us an opportunity to do just that and to restart the stalled conversation about the necessity of a truly productive federal order and create a new template for organizing the republic. In order to begin this conversation from the proper point, we must entertain a brief historical excursion that examines how we got to where we are.

    During the First Republic, regional federalism was the order of the day. Nigeria was divided into three (then subsequently four) regions each with a great degree of autonomy to organize their affairs as they saw fit. The regions enjoyed fiscal autonomy, constructing their social economies based on the taxation of the economic activities carried out within their territories. They had control over the nature and forms of their development and how they could explore latent and evident potentials in their environment to maximize on the most effective ways to deliver the goods of governance to their people.

    The regions had their own constitutions, had total control over and regulated issues relating to education, agriculture, healthcare, taxation, and other significant aspects of their existence. Yet they subscribed to a central authority that held the exclusive right to make decisions pertaining to defence and a few other select issues. The regions were in charge of the resources that they generated, could develop at their own pace and according to the manner that they deemed fit, while contributing a percentage of their revenue towards the keeping of the centre afloat.

    A new order commenced in 1966 with the first military intervention that terminated the First Republic. Under the military, governance was centralized, the regions were abolished and their tax-based social economies along with them. What emerged then was a militaristic-unitary state built atop the ruins of the old regional federalism and a new economy based on the proceeds of selling crude oil on the world market. Where regional authorities had previously harnessed their internal resources and the energies of their people to propel development, there arose a federal military government which shared the revenues from crude oil sales to states which were now administered not as autonomous federating units but as subsidiary and subordinate departments.  The primacy of the federal government would be decisively established over the course of decades to the extent that local and regional autonomy became virtually politically incorrect.

    Provoked by the internecine anarchy and violent political conflict that characterized the First Republic’s last days, the military resolved no federating unit should ever be strong enough to threaten national unity. Accordingly, the military literally dismantled most of the First Republic’s federal structures and adopted a new revenue allocation formula. The power to manage all natural resource (oil, gas, solid minerals) was vested exclusively in the Federal Government. Rights over revenues changed. The regions were divided into states which became the new allocative units for sharing the nation’s wealth. Consequently, the more ‘states’ any group could get, the higher their collective ‘share’ of the national cake. The fiscal viability of the states themselves was not an issue. The verdict confronting now confronting us is that this form of oil-dependent unitarism has reached its expiry date.

    Today, we are faced with the crippling limitations of our “feeding bottle federalism.” An obscure and remote federal authority cannot purport to provide these benefits for all the population. It simply lacks the capacity and the reach to do so effectively in a country as heterogeneous and geographically expansive as Nigeria. The scale of demands are simply too great. We cannot manage and address the aspirations and concerns of over 167 million people from Abuja.  This is one of the reasons why developmental efforts authored by the federal government, despite the huge sums committed to them by successive administrations have failed. Real development emanates from the people’s perceptions of their own problems and their willingness to take responsibility for solving them.

    For development policies to work, the people have to take ownership of them and drive their execution. For this to be the case, the development goals have to be generated right at the grassroots by the citizenry and tally with their own needs and aspirations. It is a process that flows from the bottom to the top. The imperative is the restructuring of the Nigerian state in line with the core principles of decentralization – Subsidiarity, Fiscal Federalism and Cooperative Federalism; which provide for governance matters to be handled by the smallest, lowest or least centralized authority capable of addressing the matter effectively. In other words, in the Nigeria of the future, the central government should have a subsidiary function, performing only tasks which cannot be effectively performed at a more immediate or local level. The various levels of government would thus interact cooperatively to solve common problems.

     

    The Necessity of Economic Diversification

    A case can certainly be made that oil wealth has made us lazy and unimaginative given the bountiful resources with which Nigeria is blessed. Consider solid minerals and agriculture, two sectors brimming with potential but which have suffered great neglect because of the obsession with oil. In fact, agriculture is already this country’s biggest employer and could become even more significant if more effort is devoted to it. It could help address the problem of unemployment. Solid minerals are equally largely untouched.

    However, the biggest resource we have is demographic. We have a youthful working age population that needs to have their energies unleashed. The challenge is to take this population and turn it into human capital to drive development. Zero-natural resource economies such as Japan have been able to successfully harness their human capital with great economic advancement to show for it. Already, the informal sectors as well as youth-led economic sectors such as Nollywood have proven that the Nigerian youth need little incentive from government to thrive. We can all therefore imagine what a functional power sector can do in stimulating creativity and industry at the grassroots. The successful reform of the power sector holds the key to unlocking the potential inherent in our country’s youth bulge. On the other hand, our failure to direct the energies of our teeming youth appropriately would keep them undermined and vulnerable to the inducement of being used as fodder in the cannon of fundamentalists who seek to destabilize our great country.

    No country can prosper by being a net exporter of natural resources. Nigeria, like all mono-resource export economies is extremely vulnerable to fluctuations in world commodity prices. However wealthy oil has made us now, we must understand that it is a finite resource. Its exploitation for sale is a primary economic activity that is subject to the laws of diminishing returns because natural resources are exhaustible or can be rendered irrelevant by innovation. Manufacturing is the key. We have to resuscitate our industries. The path of growth lies with value-added economic activities of manufacturing.

     

    Diversity and Decentralization as two Sides of the Same Coin

    The need to diversify our economy and the necessity of decentralizing the governance are coterminous imperatives. Indeed, one cannot occur without the other. We cannot diversify the economy without decentralizing governance. In the emergent post-oil-centered dispensation, a regime of fiscal federalism which devolves economic power to states and municipalities is now imperative. States have to depend on internally sourced revenue and taxable productive endeavour as against federal largesse. We must see that our prime economic resource is neither oil nor solid minerals but human capital – productive citizens whose entrepreneurial endeavours create wealth and whose taxes fund governance. The principal task of the government is to create an enabling environment that permits citizens to actualize their economic and entrepreneurial potential.

    Thus, fiscal federalism incentivizes smart governance because unlike the current order in which state governors are judged by their ability to distribute patronage, a new order which offers scant resources for patronage immediately levies a demand on local elites to supply the developmental deliverables that make life meaningful. Fiscal federalism, by its very nature, incentivizes productivity and de-emphasizes patronage. By the same token, a tax-paying citizenry whose hard earned funds oil the machinery of public administration will necessarily motivated to adequately interrogate that administration, to ascertain how their taxes are being spent and to hold politicians accountable. In sum, economic diversification and political decentralization will have the effect of strengthening our democracy.

    Since 1999, it has become increasingly clear that a number of our national developmental objectives now fall within the purview of states rather than the federal government. What we need now is for this recognition to become institutionalized through the devolution of powers and resources from the centre. As states are unshackled from federal control, they will become freer to engage in regional and inter-state collaborations to meet the scale of the demand on the ground.

    We may not be able to re-establish the regional architecture of the First Republic today. State governments and local governments as presently constituted have existed long enough to have developed institutional and political lives of their own. Abolishing or reconfiguring them in order to recreate the regional dynamic of the First Republic will be politically onerous. But this does not mean that we cannot create forms of regional cooperation among political leaders, civil society actors and stakeholders to chart a path forward. Moreover, a confluence of economic, social and political pressures may make the transition towards regionalization a fait accompli. Economically unviable states will cease to exist by merging with others to form new regions and consequently regional hubs that will multiply the economy’s centres of gravity.

     

  • 2015: South-West PDP in dilemma

    2015: South-West PDP in dilemma

    Barely five months to 2015 general election, leaders of South-West People’s Democratic Party (PDP) are sharply divided over the recent suspension of Chief Ishola Filani as the zonal chairman, reports Assistant Editor, Dare Odufowokan

    In spite of unending calls by the national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on its members nationwide to commence earnest preparation towards the 2015 general elections, the South-West zonal chapter of the ruling party appears to be slipping deeper into crisis by the day.

    Currently, the PDP in the zone is enmeshed in a leadership crisis that has pitched the current Zonal chairman against some prominent chieftains of the party within the zone. All efforts, including moves by the national leadership, to douse the fire ignited by the fresh wave of disagreements, according to party sources, have proven abortive.

    The implication of the situation is that the party, which is seeking to build on its victory at the Ekiti gubernatorial election by winning more state come 2015, is left without a leadership ahead of the forthcoming elections.

    “As we speak, the party in the South-West is in disarray. Chief Ishola Filani has been rejected by prominent party leaders across the states of the zone. This is not something anybody can wish away. It is a development that calls for serious concern,” a chieftain of the party in Ogun State said.

    Asked if the recent report that the issues involved have been resolved is untrue, the chieftain, a former party chairman, said “it will not do our party any good to pretend that all is well. The issues involved are deep. The issues are about transparency and openness as we approach 2015. There is need to dig deep into the issues and lay them to rest. It is not enough for some people to say all is well, carry on,” he added.

    Signs of trouble emerged within the party last week when Filani was suspended by the members of the executive committee of the South-West PDP in Ibadan, on September 3. He was subsequently ordered to leave office and stop parading himself as the vice chairman of the party in the zone.

    But the situation turned awry when a group within the party on Wednesday dismissed the suspension of Filani and his team from office. The group under the aegis of South-West Peoples Democratic Party Leadership Forum, which met in Abuja, called on the National Working Committee of PDP to dismiss the suspension.

    Amidst condemnation by prominent leaders opposed to Filani, the South-West PDP leaders said their intervention in the crisis was geared towards discouraging any form of crisis within the party with the 2015 general elections fast approaching. The PDP leaders, during a meeting which lasted more than five hours, dismissed the suspension of Filani, saying that the action was illegal.

    The leader of the group, Chief Olabode George, said those who suspended Filani lacked the power to do so, because the constitution of the PDP stipulates that only the National Executive Council of PDP had such power.

    He said moreover, those who suspended the PDP South-West caretaker Chairman failed to explore the normal channel of effecting such action since they did not lodge a formal complaint against him before announcing his suspension.

    “The suspension of Filani by members of the committee was not good at this point in time because it was capable of breaking the fragile peace in the South-West arm of the party.

    For peace to reign in the South-West PDP, Filani should be allowed to continue in office as his suspension may affect the chances of the PDP in the coming general election in the zone, where the opposition group had been in strong contention,’ George opined.

    The South-West PDP elders appealed to the PDP national secretariat to call those behind the suspension of Filani to order while prevailing on them to sheath their swords.

    Also speaking on the issue, the PDP Chairman in Ondo State, Ebenezer Alade, said all South-West chairmen of the party were shocked by the report of the suspension of Filani. He said the committee members who claimed to have removed Filani from office did not carry them along in taking their action.

    He also affirmed that members of the commitee did not file any complaint before the party and had not indicated at any point in time that the suspended chairman did any wrong before taking the action.

    But those opposed to Filani are not letting go of their decision as according to them, he remains suspended by the committee.

    “Chief Ishola Filani, has been running a one-man show and has not carried the members along in the running, finance and other statutory issues of the zone.

    “It was in the light of the above that the meeting passed a vote of no confidence on the chairman, Chief Ishola Filani. For the smooth running of the zone, the meeting appointed Lanre Orimoloye – the Zonal Treasurer – to act in his place and Ayo Olowofoyeku, the Zonal Ex-Officio from Osun State to Act as the Zonal Treasurer. The communique was signed by the 13 members present at the meeting,” a source told The Nation.

    It was gathered that among zonal executive members opposed to the return of Filani are the Secretary, Chief Adepegba Otemolu; the Women Leader, Chief Wunmi Osinroluke-Euba; the Financial Secretary, Otunba Banji Obasanmi and the Publicity Secretary, Waheed Lawal.

    It would be recalled that barely a year ago, precisely on May 13, 2014, Justice Okon Abang of a Federal High Court in Lagos gave respite to the crisis ridden party in the zone when he reinstated members of the Zonal Caretaker Committee led by Filani. Justice Abang, while delivering judgment in a suit filed by the 17 caretaker committee members, held that the plaintiffs could remain in office until a valid congress was held.

    The caretaker committee members had earlier resigned their positions to contest in the rescheduled South-West zonal congress of the PDP, which eventually failed to hold. Amidst opposition to their return to office, the members had asked the court to hold that they remained the valid caretaker committee members of the party in the zone by virtue of a court order, which held that “PDP cannot appoint any other persons to replace them.”

    In his judgment, Justice Abang held that the plaintiffs can remain in office until a valid congress is held and also directed the PDP to recognise them as the valid officers in the Southwest.

    The plaintiffs back then were Ishola Filani (Ekiti State); Chief Pegba Otemolu (Ogun State), Adedeji Doherty (Lagos State), Rasak Adekonla Akanni (Oyo State), Bolaji Jeje (Lagos State), Orimolade Olanrewaju (Ondo State), Olawunmi Oshinmoluke Yuba (Ogun State) and Banji Obasanmi (Ekiti State).

    Others are Shola Oludipe (Ondo State), Lawal Waheed Olatunde (Oyo State), Emmanuel Oladejo (Oyo State), Olalekan Abubakar (Lagos State), Seun Adesanya (Ogun State), Semiu Babatunde (Ogun State), Prince Tope Ademiluyi (Ekiti State), Tunde Olowofoyeku (Osun State) and Prince Omoniyi Alo (Ondo State).

    Today, these erstwhile co-travelers are now divided into two opposing factions in a fierce power struggle that is threatening the very existence of the ruling party in the South-West zone, and it appears there is no respite in sight this time around