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Tag: storm

  • The Storm is over in my marriage, Mide Martins

    The Storm is over in my marriage, Mide Martins

    Two months ago there were reports of cracks in the home of popular actress, Mide Martins and her husband; Afeez Adetoro. The thespian had earlier stated that her husband moved out of the home after a series of fights over allegations of infidelity which the actress denied.

    Fortunately, the industry has been spared the trauma of another celebrity marriage biting the dust. On Sunday April 24, 2016, the pretty actress took to Instagram to share her joy at the reunion between her and her husband. She also shared pictures of her and her spouse in a loving pose on Instagram with a loving caption directed to her hubby. The elated wife and mother was quick to state that the storm is over in her marriage. “The Storm Is Over!”

    Thanking her creator, fans and well wishers for their support she said, “Thank You Lord for This Great Reunion! And I Say A Very Big Thanks To All Our Fans and Well Wishers. Thank You for Your Prayers and Concern. We Sincerely Appreciate You All.”

    She avowed deep affection for her husband and also took the time to thank him for always supporting her.  She said, “You Are Not Just My Husband. You Are My Guardian Angel. Thank You for Always Being There For Me. I Will Forever Love You!”

  • Supreme Court in the eye of the storm

    Addressing the Nigerian community in Ethiopia in Addis Ababa recently, President Muhammadu Buhari inter alia lamented that Nigeria’s judiciary is a major cog in the wheel of his administration’s anti-corruption fight. There is no doubt the President’s angst and displeasure derive from the numerous reported cases of the involvement of officials of the judicial branch of government in seedy and sleazy conducts. Thus, a number of magistrates and judges and justices have, at one time or the other, come under suspicion of corruptive miscarriage of justice. In fact, there have been some proven cases of the complicity of members of the bar and the bench in an unholy alliance and the peddling of undue influence leading to perversion and twisting of the law to achieve predetermined outcomes.

    Actually, this is really nothing new. Sadly, for a long time in the beleaguered history of Nigeria’s judiciary there have been cases of corruption of varied hues ranging from malfeasance through misfeasance to nonfeasance, all occasioning miscarriage of justice. One easily remembers the celebrated case of Justice Okoro-Udogu, who presided in the matter of the State versus Fela Anikulapo-Kuti on the charge of illegal exportation of foreign exchange in 1984, in which the Justice was said to have sought out the later in Maidugiri, Borno State to apologise for his wrongful imprisonment.

    For instance, in January 27, 2012 letter to former President Jonathan, Justice Dahiru Musdapher, a former CJN, admitted that the judiciary was “already integrity-deficient” and “bereft of public confidence” based on the perception of corruption and impunity and called for an urgent effort towards the “redemption of the image and credibility of the judiciary”.

    Another former CJN, Muhammadu Uwais, is also on record to have publicly spoken of the need to re-jig the structure and processes of the judiciary as an institution that like Caesar’s wife should be above suspicion “…in order to maintain the integrity of the judiciary and to assuage public feeling and restore confidence in both the bar and bench”.

    The respected Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka, has also weighed in by cautioning on the dangers of denying the people justice, stating that “the country is being affected by the burden of untreated justice, and that social injustice could only thrive for a while; further admonishing that “where justice appears to be lost, a higher order of restitution takes over”. This is in line with the observation by John F. Kennedy that “Those who make peaceful change impossible make violent change inevitable.”

    Perhaps at no time in the history of the nation’s judiciary has the stock of the once revered institution come to the lowest nadir as since the slew of decisions concerning the governorship election petitions, especially since it made its bewildering pronouncements on the 2015 governorship elections in Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Abia states. In each of these elections, independent local and international election observers reported large scale electoral fraud. The respective legal teams provided overwhelming evidences of the electoral fraud, and marshalled compelling arguments and grounds. In each of the cases, the Court of Appeal upheld the petitions. But, hey presto! The apex court, the Supreme Court became the supreme kill-joy, hiding behind a transparent fig leaf of legal technicalities to the detriment of dispensing justice to the people.

    By its counter-intuitive decisions in each of these cases, the nation’s apex court, which had a good opportunity to restore its reputation and uphold a veneer of integrity as the ultimate refuge and last hope of the common man, has turned itself into a macabre monster that dashes the collective yearnings of the people in the affected states to effect peaceful change in their respective polities. It would be foolhardy for this court to think that it would sleep easy when the majority of the people feel cheated and believe that its judgments deny them of justice. For, no nation can thrive in peace and progress where there is no justice.

    By its putative injustice, the Supreme Court appears to be encouraging election riggers by putting out the message that you should “do everything you can to get INEC to return you as elected and go home to sleep as we will always affirm you as winner if you know your onions”. To fit this straight jacket, the Supreme Court through its serial insensate pronouncements that defy any shred of logic or rationality, is sowing the seed of ferment and the potential recourse of the people to seek change by other means.

    In the context of this recent happenings, the call during the 10th Gani Fawehinmi Lecture in Lagos sometime ago by Justice Ayo Salami, former President of the Court Appeal, for the scrapping of our present Criminal-Justice architecture in which the Chief Justice of Nigeria is also the chairman of the Nigerian Judicial Council (NJC), the body responsible for the appointment and discipline of judges begins to assume new importance and poignancy.

    Nigeria need not delay further in hearkening to the 2012 Uyo Call by Justice Dahiru Musdapher, during a roundtable organised by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) in conjunction with Royal Netherlands Embassy in Akwa Ibom State for drawing up of a new judicial code of ethics to reflect current realities and challenges to tackle judicial corruption in the country, so as to ensure that “judges and the judicial system remain politically neutral and rise up to safeguard our fledgling democracy, and to minimize the entire judicial system against all identified iniquities.”

    As has been eloquently argued elsewhere, tackling corruption in the justice sector is a pre-requisite for tackling corruption in the larger society, as this would make it more likely that corrupt persons in other sectors will be diligently prosecuted and punished. This would up the ante against corruption and discount the rewards derivable there from. In the same vein, tackling corruption in the electoral process is a sine qua non for the entrenchment of good governance as the choices of the people are then more likely to get elected in free and fair contests. There is, therefore, a need to tighten our statute books to make electoral offenders pay for their crimes and to not reward stealers of mandates with honorific titles. For instance, someone who rigged his way to become a governor should never addressed as “His Excellency” or referred to as “Former Governor”. In other words the period during which he held sway should be left blank in all public records.

    Is it not somewhat perplexing that despite the lip service that is paid to the fact that our democracy is built on the principle of “checks and balances”, that whilst the activities of the legislature are subject to scrutiny by the constituents (who have the power to recall an errant legislator) as well as the judiciary, and the  executive branch and the President are subject to oversight by the legislature and censure by the courts; the judiciary on the other hand and especially the CJN, apparently, is answerable to no one, since the NJC is ostensibly designed to check and “discipline all judicial officers” is under his purview? The million naira question is: “What is the recourse and relief available to the people if a CJN chooses to act appallingly?”

    Indeed, allowing an incumbent CJN to chair the NJC in situations such as the Supreme Court’s controversial judgments in respect of the governorship election petitions in Abia, Akwa Ibom and Rivers States has brought to the fore is akin to allowing the President to be the chairman of the body established for charging, investigating and impeaching the self-same President. Can any rational person expect the NJC to be effective in investigating and indicting a Supreme Court panel which he (the CJN) not only constituted but was also a member for any perceived judicial perfidy?

  • Storm: U.K. insurers may face $2.2b claims, says KPMG

    Storm: U.K. insurers may face $2.2b claims, says KPMG

    United Kingdom (UK) insurers may face claims totalling 1.5 billion pounds ($2.2 billion) from businesses and homeowners for damage caused by two storms in December, last year, according to consultant KPMG LLP.

    Bloomberg reported that heavy rain and flooding is estimated to have caused a loss of 5.8 billion pounds to the economy, quoting the London-based consulting company. Storm Eva and Storm Desmond have damaged homes and disrupted business activities across northern England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland.

    “In 2007, when a similar pattern of flooding hit, total insured claims were 3.2 billion pounds. However, we consider that the actual financial impact far exceeded this,” Justin Balcombe, KPMG’s U.K. head of general insurance management consulting, said in the statement.

    “We are assessing this month’s events through a number of economic lenses, resulting in an initial total cost estimate of 5 billion pounds to 5.8 billion pounds.”

    PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP estimated economic losses of as much as 1.3 billion pounds, with the insurance industry bearing up to 1 billion, according to a December 27 report published on the consultant’s website.

    “If rain continues to fall in large quantities, and the areas with warnings in place do indeed flood significantly, it could well be that the total economic losses could breach 1.5 billion pounds with an additional significant increase in insurer losses from our initial estimate,” Mohammad Khan, general insurance leader at PwC, said in the report.

    Storm Frank is due to hit the west of the U.K. from with strong winds and heavy rain, the Daily Telegraph reported. Widespread gusts of up to 65 m.p.h. are expected, with exposed areas — particularly in northwest Scotland and later Shetland —likely to endure fierce gales up to 80 m.p.h., the paper said.

  • The coming storm

    The coming storm

    •Given the economic outlook, 2016 will  be both challenging and interesting  

    WHICHEVER way one looks at it, the 2016 fiscal year promises to be both challenging and interesting. On one side is the Federal Government’s rather ambitious, expansionary budget of N8 trillion – a figure which comes close to doubling this year’s figure of N4.4 trillion. That, no doubt, fits snugly into general expectations of massive infrastructure-building and rehabilitation, particularly of roads, rail and power, in the face of the virtual collapse of those critical enablers of the economy.

    On the other is the report of cargoes of Nigeria’s unsold crude stranded on the high seas desperately looking for buyers – a mortal threat to projected revenue.  Only last month for instance, a shipping journal, Hellenic shipping news reported “an overhang of unsold Nigerian cargoes for November” said to number 10; it also reported of some two-thirds of December’s loading schedule set at 62 cargoes – which comes to 72 cargoes unsold. And now with oil prices, rather than showing signs of imminent rebound, actually plumbing further down, budgetary projections across the board not only stand on the tenterhooks but appear imperilled.

    And if projections by analysts are anything to go by, the demand for Nigeria’s crude, which has been on the decline since oil price began its free fall last year, will follow that trend in the near, foreseeable future. With Angola crude grades currently the toast of the Asians, and United States’ – our erstwhile leading crude importer – now preferring its own huge stock of shale oil, the future of our oil-dependent economy can only be extremely grim. Ordinarily, the solution would be as simple as finding new sources of revenue to bridge the yawning expenditure-revenue gaps – something that has proven over the years to be easier said than done; or in the alternative, finding creative means to fund public expenditure, while blocking all possible avenues through which public funds are either stolen or frittered away. In all of this, the imperative to achieve what appears to be a miracle, in the face of rising but unmatchable expectations both at the federal and state levels, has never been more urgent.

    As for taxes, it isn’t exactly that a lot has not been achieved, particularly by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to revamp and modernise the machineries for tax administration at the federal level. At the level of states, some, like Lagos, Rivers and Kano have in fact, done reasonably well to boost their internally generated revenues through improved taxation.

    The overall evidence is however that most states are still doing too little in this regard; many are in fact non-starters. A good way to start is to expand the tax base. And if we may make the point at this stage – the old defeatist argument which suggests that majority of citizens are too poor to pay any form of tax should give way to proactive measures to bring all eligible taxpayers into the tax net. While there may be need to review some of the tax laws, there may in fact be need to look at the adequacy or otherwise of the existing rates.

    In the same vein, we must put on record, the Buhari administration’s efforts in drawing attention, as well as taking practical measures to block all known avenues for leakages in the federal bureaucracy. We urge the administration to ramp up the measures as there remain too many earmarks or pork to be taken out of the nation’s public finance system.

    One area where a lot needs to be done is agriculture and solid minerals. Today, despite our vast potentials, both sectors are yet to live to their full potential. The Federal Government will do well to pay greater attention to these areas. The same for manufacturing; it is the quickest route to wealth and ultimately job creation.

    It seems about time citizens are availed of the broad thrust of the Muhammadu Buhari administration’s policies and programmes. It seems to us the best way to prepare their minds for the sacrifices that may need to be made. Beyond that, there are still too many grey areas of policy. For instance, where does the Federal Government hope to get the funds to finance the yawning deficit built into the 2016 budget? Does the Private-Public-Partnership fit in – if so how? Nigerians need to be taken into confidence.

     

  • Dasuki in the eye of the storm

    Dasuki in the eye of the storm

    NIGERIA is a perfect study in the ephemeralness of power. On November 3, former National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd), was granted leave by the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja to travel abroad for a few weeks to attend to his health.  His trial was to resume on November 26. Nearly three weeks after, however, the powerful former NSA is yet to travel anywhere because he is technically barred by the Department of State Service (DSS) from travelling out until he has answered questions relating to allegations of fraudulent arms deals levelled against him and many others. He has obstinately made himself unavailable, and the DSS has in turn made it impossible for him to move an inch. Meanwhile, the Air Vice-Marshal (AVM) O.N. Ode (retd) panel set up to probe the arms deals has quickly submitted an interim report indicting the former NSA and a host of others. Immediately too, President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered that everyone indicted in the report be arrested and questioned.

    The implications are that the AVM Ode report supersedes in urgency the order by Justice Adeniyi Ademola of the Federal High Court granting the former NSA leave to travel, and that the report constitutes a fresh case against the embattled officer for which he must answer before he travels. The kernel of the new case against Col. Dasuki is that he was involved in fraudulent financial transactions in excess of $2 billion, a humongous amount too galling for the cash-strapped Buhari presidency to either overlook or treat with levity. Col. Dasuki’s health concerns, though even riskier to overlook or treat with levity, are therefore secondary. Given its intransigence, the presidency must know something about his health which both the courts and the rest of Nigeria do not know.

    By now, Col. Dasuki must know there is no way he will be allowed to travel without shedding light on the arms deals and the role he played, which he insists was nothing more than that of a clearing house. He is lucky Nigeria is a democracy. For whether open or secret trial, he will have his day in court instead of facing the mean and unpredictable belligerence of a military tribunal which in those troublesome days seldom exonerated suspects. He will of course prefer to be charged in court straightaway rather than be questioned in the humiliating but spiteful fashion he is familiar with as a top security officer accustomed to giving orders. However, it is not certain he can leapfrog over the standard procedure of questioning suspects despite barricading himself in his private home for weeks. The president’s order that anyone indicted in the questionable deals be arrested seems to suggest that one way or the other, Col. Dasuki and others mentioned in the affair will be compelled to appear before security agents as a prelude to appearing in court.

    Consequent upon the president’s order, Col. Dasuki faces two immediate options: either to make himself available for questioning, or to be forcibly arrested. The country will hope he should make himself available, for the second option is fraught with many difficulties, including uncertain outcomes to both his health and safety. But as far as he and the former ruling party are concerned, the former NSA is being persecuted. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and a few of its top functionaries have suggested that Col. Dasuki’s involvement in the 1985 coup that overthrew the then head of state Buhari may account for the presidency’s bellicosity towards him. The former NSA, who was aide-de-camp to former military president Ibrahim Babangida, was reported to have mistreated the then Gen Muhammadu Buhari after the coup, a report he denies.

    Whether there is substance in this allegation or not, the ongoing case against Col. Dasuki is backed by facts and figures. The DSS may be acting tough towards him, but it has not done violence to standard rules and procedures of investigations. Even the NSA’s office, which is behind the latest investigations and indictment has been careful to follow due process. Col. Dasuki is of course free to challenge the processes in court and put the lie to public impressions of him as arrogant and fraudulent. Nevertheless, it is not totally unfounded that other unstated motives might explain the strong-arm tactics being deployed against Col. Dasuki, for even the DSS has in the past few weeks acted and spoken not unlike the defunct Nigerian Security Organisation (NSO), the imperious security organisation that abridged the rights of citizens and enforced cruel treatment of suspects before Gen Babangida regime came to power.

    As Col. Dasuki very well knows, it is a tough task fighting the state, especially when the victim is either living in a glass house or is on the wrong side of history. Conversely, the state must also know from history and experience that for legitimacy not to be undermined, the government must approach its responsibilities with unquestionable altruism and patriotism. Both Col. Dasuki and President Buhari will have to examine their motives and persuade themselves of the justifiability of their causes. While it is important that no offender escape justice, no matter how highly placed, it is also crucial that good precedents be laid for future leaders and governments. President Buhari is today more mature than he was as military head of state. It is expected that the lessons he learnt in his first tour of duty as Nigerian leader should  both inform his current attitude to country and power and lead him to esteem highly the great obligations that accompany the almost immeasurable power he wields today as elected president.

    The face-off between Col. Dasuki and the federal government is at bottom not one of legal disagreements or dispute over processes; it is indeed clearly a consequence of the poor leadership and examples set by past governments. The fundamental mindset of Nigerian leaders and the security agencies is so badly flawed that despite grossly undermining stability and national cohesion, it is a miracle the society has not imploded. Security and law enforcement agencies do not see themselves as servants of the state, nor do leaders see themselves as primus inter pares. Both see themselves as conquerors and overlords inspired by brutish colonial behaviour, taking advantage of the artificial dichotomy between the people and their leaders. Had ex-president Goodluck Jonathan and his predecessors built and inculcated a mature and inspiring culture of governance, and instituted respect for the rule of law and the rights of the people, both Col. Dasuki and the Buhari presidency would perhaps be approaching the current standoff differently.

    The Buhari presidency may see itself as being firm over the Dasuki affair, and its cause just and unimpeachable. But going by its understanding of Nigeria’s modern history, it must begin to appreciate the deeper nuances of the country’s national objectives and the means of attaining them. It is not enough to enforce the law; it is more important how the law is enforced. The end does not always justify the means. Dr Jonathan, for instance, pretended to respect the rule of law, but cavalierly suspended and virtually sacked a former President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Isa Ayo Salami, in 2013. In addition, he tampered with the judiciary and gave little thought to what would come after his presidency. Ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo also tampered with the judiciary, disrespected court rulings, including those of the Supreme Court, and grossly undermined and bastardised the political process. President Buhari has promised to be different, howbeit some observers will question his zeal in bringing Col. Dasuki to justice, wondering whether a whiff of vendetta is not perceptible.

    Though he has not yet shown any indication of appreciating the delicate nuances of modern governance, especially running the gauntlet between national security and the inalienable rights of the people, President Buhari must urgently tackle how his government and the ones coming after him should be perceived. Nigeria has not always been well governed, even though the country showed a lot of promise before independence. If President Buhari is to break the vicious circle and institute a modern and impersonal form of security and law enforcement protocols, he must change tack, become more even-handed, consciously rise above the prejudices that beset the country, himself included, and create great precedents which succeeding governments will inexorably follow. This will require him to absorb and endure a lot of insults, and it will call for his patience and equanimity in the face of obvious provocations and deliberate subterfuge by suspects seeking to flee the law and justice. Far beyond fighting corruption, which  routine assignment officials must learn to fight almost without thinking, President Buhari must show the country he has a properly conceived social order he wishes to enthrone, and which he has a coherent and consistent tool of midwifing.

    The president must find ingenious and effective ways of defeating the current obnoxious culture of malfeasant officials seeking to evade the law and undermine the cause of justice. Col. Dasuki is undoubtedly evasive, Senate President Bukola Saraki is vexatiously forum shopping and undermining the cause of justice, and the president himself has not systematise his understanding of and campaign for a new social order, giving everyone the impression his appreciation of grave national issues and the methods of resolving them are both eclectic and ephemeral. It is time to inculcate order and finesse. And it will not come from below, from among the people; it will come from above, from the presidency. Let President Buhari get thinking and cracking.

  • After the storm

    After the storm

    •Sylva
    •Sylva

    In this space not long ago, I concluded an intervention on Bayelsa State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) thus: “I have no problem with (Timipre) Sylva flying the flag of the party, but things must be done right. (Timi) Alaibe, I believe, has his support base and the APC can benefit from harnessing this rather than risking a situation where (Seriake) Dickson will harvest all the aggrieved and make political gains of it. I am afraid with the way things stand. Dickson will be justified to paint the APC in the state black. And the blame will not be elsewhere but on the APC itself. The time to get things right is now. Otherwise, Dickson can start preparing for his victory thanksgiving.”

    A lot has gone under the proverbial bridge between then and now. Alaibe, who was former Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), has teamed up with Sylva, who was a former governor of the state, in the quest to ensure Dickson serves only one term.

    One other good thing that has happened between then and now is that Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole and Sylva have buried their hatchets and the comrade governor is a leading member of the APC Campaign Council for Sylva’s second bid for the leadership of the state.

    The Bayelsa APC situation cannot truly be situated without a journey into the past. Sylva as governor fell out with the then First Family. Many people believe he actually ran into problem with Dame Patience Jonathan who later enlisted the support of her husband, Dr Goodluck Jonathan. His ordeal provided the room for Dickson, then a member of the House of Representatives, to become governor.

    Sylva later teamed up with others to give the APC teeth some two years before the last general elections, which swept off Jonathan and ushered in Muhammadu Buhari. Jonathan’s removal gave room for hope that the APC could win the governorship of Bayelsa. Sylva joined the race. Dickson did too. And Alaibe did not allow lethargy to stop him from joining the race to occupy the Bayelsa Government House.

    Alaibe knew the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ticket was not his for the taking. Even though Dickson only enjoys the ‘compromised’ blessing of the former first family, wrestling the ticket from him, Alaibe knew would be taxing. He pitched his tent with the APC. By the time he joined, Sylva was already entrenched as the landlord of the house. Without him really, there would not have been anything like APC in the state. He took all the risk to identify with Buhari at a time an average Ijaw man saw anybody against Jonathan as the enemy of the Ijaw nation, despite the fact that he did not do much to lift the Niger Delta in his six-year reign as President.

    When it was time for the primary, it was clear the race was between Sylva and Alaibe. But as the landlord, Sylva stood a better chance.

    As a result of violence, members of the national electoral committee led by Oshiomhole abandoned the exercise and fled the venue. The state chapter continued with the election. Sylva was later declared the winner of the governorship primary election by the APC State Working Committee (SWC).  The former governor was said to have been declared the winner by a member of the APC electoral committee identified as Nelson Alabar. He polled 726 votes to defeat his closest rival and former member of the House of Representatives, Mr. Warman Ogoriba, who was said to have scored 10 votes.

    Alaibe, who among some other delegates had left the venue, was ‘awarded’ four votes. Sylva was elated. He described his emergence as a proof of the indivisibility of the APC in the state and the national level.

    His words: “I have never been proud in my life. I have belonged to many political parties, such as the defunct UNCP and the nearly dead PDP. But I am very proud of the APC with a very clear internal democracy.

    “A few years ago, I was unjustly stopped from contesting a governorship primary by my former party. My former party did that to me. A few days ago, they disqualified a serving Senator from contesting.

    “It is shameful. I have once again gone through a primary and emerged winner. It is contest such as this that makes the difference. It is this contest that makes the difference between the APC and others. There is no doubt that we will win the election.”

    Ogoriba was quoted to have spoken on behalf of other aspirants and accepted defeat. The national arm of the party did not accept that exercise. This was a result of the violence at the Samson Siasia Sports Complex, Yenagoa, the venue of the exercise, where thugs hurled stones at delegates who lined up to be screened. They nearly overwhelmed the over 1,300 policemen led by the Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG) deployed in the venue to maintain the peace.

    Alaibe, Prince Preye Aganaba and Ebitimi Amgbare spoke with reporters before shunning the exercise.

    The ex-NDDC chief said: “You have seen the rancourous process leading to the primaries. The process is being marred by irregularities, violence, intimidation and complete disrespect for aspirants, agents and party officials.

    “This is an enactment of negative history for a party that stands on the mantra of change. I think something is missing somewhere and we need to get it right. We have had delegates perceived to be loyal to us, threatened, beaten and wounded since morning.

    “Quite a lot of people you see here are not delegates. Most of the authentic delegates are outside. We need to put a stop to this process. We will meet with the chairman of the committee and ask for the cancellation of the process.

    “Some other times we can get the security dynamics right so that we can get the methodology of the primaries right. We cannot continue with this process.”

    Aganaba described the process as shameful and said it failed to represent the values and principles of the party.

    Sylva and Oshiomhole later took time out to abuse each other thoroughly. They did not spare each other at all. It was simply fire for fire. So, when, on Monday, Oshiomhole’s name surfaced on the list of the campaign council, I was surprised. It is like these men have decided to put their party first.

    Alaibe too has instructed his men to work for the APC, saying the state would be better under the ruling party. Now, there seems to be calm after the storm.

    Dickson, on the other hand, is boasting that APC will be roundly defeated. While he is beating his chest, the national arm of his party is raising the alarm over an alleged plot by the APC to rig the election for Sylva.

    With the APC patching its leaking roof, one thing that comes to mind is whether Dickson and Dame Jonathan have patched their relationship too. Forget her presence at Dickson’s declaration; the duo fell apart last year. It became glaring when Dame Jonathan announced her retirement as a Permanent Secretary in the Bayelsa civil service, a position Dickson appointed her under controversial circumstances.

    At the time, the civil society screamed. Human rights activists condemned the appointment. They urged the then First Lady to reject it. But the First Lady not only accepted the appointment, she also personally went to Yenagoa to be sworn in on July 21, 2012. She was one of 17 who took the oath of office that day at the Government House Banquet Hall.

    The governor shrugged off criticism of arbitrary use of constitutional powers. He rationalised the appointment, saying he did it based on the power conferred on him by Section 203 of the Constitution. He added that the First Lady merited it because of her services to the state and the nation. He did not forget to remind Nigerians that she was a directorate level officer in the civil service and was only on leave of absence to support her husband.

    To the discerning, Dickson was only playing to the gallery and only helped his benefactress to reach the summit of the civil service.

    My final take: With APC putting its house in order, the stakes have become higher. Even if Dickson will get re-elected, he will break some sweat. A disunited APC would have served his interest better. Now, it is no time he planned his thanksgiving. Rather, it is time he worked round the corner to save his political future.

  • Battle of Brussels: Six players storm Belgian embassy today

    Battle of Brussels: Six players storm Belgian embassy today

    The six home based players invited by Super Eagles’ chief coach, Sunday Oliseh for next month’s friendly matches against the Leopards of Congo DR and the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon are expected to appear before officials of the Belgian embassy in Abuja for visa applications.

    A source told SportingLife exclusively that the Sunshine trio of Ikechukwu Ezenwa,Paul Onobi and Prince Aggrey alongside Chima Akas of Sunshine Stars, Enyimba’s Femi Thomas and Abia Warrior’s defender Austin Oboroakpo would be drilled by the Belgian embassy officials.

    It was also gathered that assistant coach of the team, Salisu Yusuf and goalkeeper trainer Aloy Agu with all the backroom staff were also told to make physical appearance at the embassy before their application for visas will be processed.

    “For obvious reasons,the Belgian embassy is insisting to see the players,the coaches and the backroom staff travelling to their country for the two friendlies next month. It’s presumed that the embassy wants to be sure that visas will be given to those who have a role to play in the two games.

    SportingLife was also reliably informed that apart from the players and coaches who are deemed to be active participants in the matches, the other backroom staff have been asked to come with valuable documents like their university certificates as a guarantee that they would not abscond in Belgium.

    Last Friday, Oliseh released a 24-man list of players for the friendly matches on October 8 and 11 against Congo and Cameroon  with the invited players scheduled to report to Belgium, latest by October 5.

    The NFF said on its official website that the friendlies were structured to build a bond between the players. The football house said it has activated “its plan to entrench stronger bond and cohesion among the relatively new group, through several friendly matches.”

    The Eagles will face the winner between Swaziland and Djibouti in a 2018 World Cup qualifier on November 9 with the second leg on November 17.

  • Storm over for Mike Igbinedion?

    Storm over for Mike Igbinedion?

    The storm that had governed the life Mike Igbinedion, son of the Esama of Benin, High Chief Gabriel Igbinedion, appears to have ceased after a long while.

    Mike, who until recently was facing fraud charges, was spotted at D’Place Reataurant, Lekki, Lagos last Thursday in the company of a female friend, looking completely free of worries. He also had a good time at the fun spot run by Frank Papas.

    Mike appears to have finally dumped the many unpalatable issues that hung around him into the dustbin of history.

  • Ooni: The storm that rocked the palace

    Ooni: The storm that rocked the palace

    Daring media reports of Oba Okunade Sijuwade, Olubuse II’s demise unnerves Ife traditional royal authority
    Why the chiefs won’t pronounce him dead just yet
    Contenders to the throne campaign for support

    A mortal plague assails the ‘State of the living spring’ – or Osun State, if you like. The golden diadem of her pride emits a cool flow of devouring fire. Osun, clotted with the blaze, seethes from the crown of her head. An unforgivable sacrilege has been committed: His Imperial Majesty Oba Okunade Sijuwade, Olubuse II, the 50th Ooni of Ife, has been declared dead. The royal palace is livid, the people are confused, Ife Kingdom crackles like embers beneath a simmering fire.

    The scene prefigures the transition in Greek art from high classicism to Hellenistic style or radical shift from ancient didactic Yoruba folklore to the nuances and wild experimentation of contemporary theatre. Tradition tangled with modernity, is like Laocoon dying with his strangled sons or the ancient Yoruba god, Sango Olukoso, vanishing or transitioning if you like, in his rage at betrayal.

    Ife feels betrayed. The primordial borders of the Kingdom are overwhelmed by the smirking vanity of modernity – severally depicted by web journalism, traditional press and the social media. It’s like a cultural holocaust and the apocalypse. Ife flounders at ground zero, her fabled civilisation incinerated by a distant invader, the new media in particular.

    The ancient kingdom, regarded by the Yoruba as the cradle of civilisation, still smarts from the daringness of modern civilisation and the new media. Following web media reports that Oba Sijuade died at the age of 85, in a clinic located at 20, Devonshire Place, London, United Kingdom (UK), the Royal Traditional Council (RTC) of Ile Ife, moved to debunk the report, insisting that the monarch is actually hale and hearty.

    The RTC, which comprises of all traditional chiefs and title holders in Ile-Ife. Speaking at the House of Chiefs located within the premises of Ile-Oodua palace of the Ooni, the Lowa of Ife, Oba Joseph Ijaodola, maintained that the report in the media that the monarch died in a London Hospital of an undisclosed ailment was untrue.

    According to him, “Those behind the death story are enemies of Ife and as I speak with you, chiefs have not heard anything like that. This is not the first time such rumour will be carried about our father.”

    Similarly, the Chairman, Ife Development Board, Prof. Muib Opeloye, maintained that the royal father was preparing for his son’s wedding, urging people not to panic and go about their normal daily activities.

    Oba Sijuade was, however, absent at his son’s wedding. But his staff of office was on display at the wedding ceremony thus signifying his attendance by proxy.

     

    In an ideal situation…

    A radical fusion of traditional media comprising print, broadcast media and daring new media, comprising internet journalism and social media stung the Kingdom of Ife awake from its cultural stupor. A new social and cultural space replaces the ancient village square and challenges royal traditional authority to its throne of power.

    No one has the right to announce the death of the Ooni, so argued a source within the palace. More importantly, it is only the RTC that possesses the authority and honour to announce the passage of the monarch, if at all he truly passes away, claimed the source.

    Given that the death of Oba Sijuade has not been announced, it is impossible for any of the ruling houses, including the Giesi, to make their nominees known. Whatever permutations or scheming are taking place concerning the selection of the next Ooni of Ife must be done underground.

    The Nation findings revealed that whenever the Ooni of Ife passes away, the Kingdom knows without being told. The signs are there for everyone to see. Ogunlaadin, the main entrance used by the monarch and all the markets in Ife will be closed for seven days as a mark of honour to the soul of the departed Ooni. Major trunks of major trees and their leaves would be cut in the market and within the palace. In the past, in addition to these signs, all women would shave their heads for 40 days. Also, the process of initiation and installation of the Oba-elect, picked among the Omo-Oye (princes) will only commence after all these rites had been performed.

    After ascertaining that the Ooni is dead, the palace chiefs are expected to inform the other children of Oduduwa, particularly the Alaafin of Oyo, the descendant of Oranmiyan Akinorun, the Ewi of Ado-Ekiti, the Oba of Benin, the Onipopo of Popo, the Onisabe of Sabe, and the Owa Obokun Adimula. The news will also be broken to other towns and vassal towns and the days of mourning will be declared.

     

    Rite of passage

    Those to be actively involved in the rite of passage are the Onisoros: Obadio, Lokore, Eredumi, Modewa, that is, the Emeses, Ihare chiefs, starting from Obalufe, the head Ife chiefs and next in rank to the Ooni who is expected to be acting as Ooni till the next king exits the Ilefin to mount the throne.

    The kingmakers are in three lines: We have in the first line, the Ihare chiefs, from the Obalufe of Iremo quarter, the Obajio of Imore quarter, the Obaloran of Ilode quarter, the Akogun of Okerewe, Jagunosin (war leader, no boundary), Waasin of Ilare, the Obalaye of Iraye and Ejesi. The second line known as Modewa chiefs are Loowa, Jaaran, Aguro, Arode, Isanire, Laadin, Lowate and Erebese. The third line only has Araba, who is the chief priest.

    The process for selection of the new Ooni will begin with the Araba, a priest, being summoned after the ruling houses have submitted names of omo-oye (princes nominated to represent their households). No prince or contender is expected to have tribal mark on his face because it is believed that he would die during initiation if he sees an item of the initiation rites with his tribal mark. The Araba would cast his Ifa rosary on each name but he can only use the Ikin not the popular Opele, for Ifa divination. Ifa is the Yoruba oracle of divination.

    Following the divination and the selection of the next Ooni, the Obalufe will pronounce Ifa’s choice. It is important that no chief mentions names submitted by all the ruling houses to members of the public until after the divination had been concluded and a choice had been made among the princes  inside the palace. At times, it is possible for Ifa to pick more than one omo-oye. When a situation like that arises and Ifa states that two or three of the omo-oye are good enough to be king and their reign would bring peace and prosperity to the town, the onus will fall on the kingmakers to cast their votes in order to pick a consensus candidate for the throne.

    At this stage, several things are considered such as the character of the prince, his knowledge of culture, tradition and history of the town, his generosity, contributions to socio-economic growth and development of the town to mention a few.

    The Enugeru is where the name of the preferred candidate will be announced. A day to the Ifa divination to pick the omo-oye, all the contenders to the throne must have left the town. After the choice has been made, the Emese will be sent to find him out and bring him in with songs and drumming just as they did for Oba Sijuade, who entered Ife in his time, through Ibadan.

     

    The clan that may produce the next Ooni

    Although the announcement of the death of Oba Sijuade has not been made official, a vigorous campaign has commenced underground by the ruling houses to position their prospective candidates. Four ruling houses – Osinkola, Giesi, Ogboru and Lafogido – are recognised to contest the Ooni stool going by the 1957 Western Region Chieftaincy Declaration and adopted by the reviewed old Oyo State Chieftaincy Declaration of 1976. Though Ife maintained the four ruling houses, it moved the Ogboru from number three to two because according to history, for 150 years up till the time the Olubuse I, the grandfather of Oba Sijuade, mounted the throne and ruled for 16 years (1894 to 1910), the Lafogido had three slots, the Osinkola, two slots but the Ogboru had only one slot. Thus in 1980, Oba Sijuade, from Ogboru Ruling House and with many qualities required for the revred stool – local and international contacts, wealth, education among other- was favoured.

    The same criteria used for picking Ooni Sijuade was used for his predecessor, Oba Adesoji Aderemi, who reigned from 1930 to 1980. Aderemi contested the Ooni stool with Prince Adewoyin Ajagun Ademiluyi from Lafogido and Prince Adedire from Giesi but was said to have been chosen because he was rich and educated. In 1910, Adekola from Osinkola ruling house died in Ilefin and after him, Ajagun Ademiluyi became Ooni from 1910 to 1930. In all this, there was no rotation until the time of Oba Aderemi.

    The four ruling houses cut across the five quarters: Ilode, Moore, Ilare, Iremo and Okerewe. And now that time is set for picking the next Ooni. Whoever emerges from these ruling houses will represent all the five quarters.  But since, Oba Sijuade was from Ogboru, Oba Aderemi from Osinkola, Oba Ademiluyi Ajagun from Lafogido, and the Oba-elect, Derinloro Ologbenla from Agbedegbede compound, it is believed that it would automatically be the turn of the Giesi.

    In picking the next Ooni, the RTC will probably be guided by the charisma, popularity and financial muscle of the last two Oonis: Oba Aderemi and Oba Sijuade. Ife is not likely to settle for less. More so with the strategic and central position of the ancient town as the cradle of the Yoruba race. The princes, who are likely to join the race as soon as the death and the burial rites of Oba Sijuade are concluded include, Abdulraheem Adedoyin, Sikiru Adetona Ayedun, Tokunbo Sijuwade, Adekunle Adeyeba, Ademola Ademiluyi, Gboyega Ademiluyi, Adebambo Ademiluyi and Kanmi Ademiluyi.

     

    The politics of denial

    Although the palace is still denying his passing, further findings revealed that his body has already been secretly flown into Nigeria and placed within the palace to enable death rites of passage to commence.

    His death is expected to be officially announced as soon as the required traditional rituals are concluded in Ile-Ife. The Ooni was rushed to London on Friday July 24, and was taken from Heathrow Airport in an Ambulance to the clinic where he allegedly died four days later. As expected of tradition, the death of Ooni is being wrapped in secrecy by the traditional council in Ile-Ife. Several news media reported the death of the monarch, but the traditional council, which began the required rites of passage last weekend, still maintains that the Ooni is “hale and hearty.”

    There is no gainsaying the Ooni courted controversy by his open flirtation with power despite his heartfelt statement of 1980. Ooni Sijuade warned: “I like to warn that a society in transition like ours is a very delicate society which will always stand to benefit from the role which traditional rulers are so fitted to play as impartial, non-partisan mediators of rapid change in such a way as to preserve the soul of our society and minimise inter-group frictions.”

    But in the flurry of accusations, counter-accusations and denials erupting in the wake of persistent news reports of his demise, Ife Kingdom and the whole of Nigeria’s traditional royal system will do well to take to heart and act by the profound wisdom in the Ooni’s acceptance speech as he mounted the throne in 1980. He said: Eighty-eight years ago (in 1892), my grandfather Ooni Olubuse ascended this throne and reigned till 1910. He championed the struggle that welded together the warring factions here and re-established Ife unity. The point here is that each age, indeed each reign, is confronted with its own peculiar problems which it tackles using the materials and methods of its times. Traditional rulers know very well that in socio-political environmental terms and indeed, even in physical terms, they live in a very much changed world from that of our ancestors…” The Ooni counseled that traditional institutions must make provisions to accommodate and recognise “the changed and still rapidly changing societies we live in.”

    Perhaps the Ife Royal Traditional Council (RTC) would pay good mind to his words in future, lest the Kingdom gets tangled in the web and machinations of an increasingly liberal, skeptical and audacious new media.

  • Ex-super minister in the eye of the storm

    Ex-super minister in the eye of the storm

    Although she occupied the prestigious position of Vice-President and Corporate Secretary of the World Bank Group, the immediate past Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, was largely unknown by Nigerians until she was appointed the Minister of Finance by the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo on July 15, 2003. Coming in with the aura of a superstar, it took the first female finance minister no time to establish herself as one of the most influential figures in Obasanjo’s cabinet.

    Seeing how much confidence she enjoyed from the President, she did not only command the respect of public office holders, government contractors and others who had dealings with government in one way or the other, she was regarded even by other members of the cabinet as the numero uno (first among equals).

    Once she settled down in office, she began to take measures that were hailed by many as capable of promoting transparency in the nation’s financial system and stabilising the economy. She introduced a monthly publication of each state’s financial allocation from the federal government in the newspapers, a measure believed to be instrumental in the ability of Nigeria to obtain its first ever sovereign credit rating (of BB minus) from Fitch and Standard & Poor’s. The cocktail of measures she introduced in the administration of the nation’s finances ultimately culminated in the debt forgiveness deal she led a Nigerian team to strike with the Paris Club in October 2005. The deal saw Nigeria paying US $12 billion of its external debt and had the balance of $18 billion written off. Before the partial debt payment and write-off, Nigeria was said to have spent roughly US $1 billion every year on debt servicing while the principal sum remained outstanding.

    But her smooth sail with Obasanjo developed a hiccup sometime in June 2006 when the former President redeployed her from the Ministry of Finance to that of Foreign Affairs. The reason for the redeployment remains yet a matter of conjecture, but it was an experience she did not find funny. She resigned her ministerial appointment two months later.

    Her exit turned out to be only temporary. As soon as he was elected President in 2011, President Goodluck Jonathan, apparently a big fan of Okonjo-Iweala, re-appointed her not just as the Minister of Finance but also as the Coordinating  Minister for  the Economy. As finance minister under Jonathan, Okonjo-Iweala virtually became an institution, leading many to tag her as the de facto president. It was even said in some quarters that if there was anything the Jonathan government did not do, it was because Okonjo-Iweala did not want it done.

    And that would hardly be disputed. With Okonjo-Iweala in the saddle, the Jonathan administration initiated many unpopular economic policies. Not a few would forget how Nigerians woke up on January 1, 2012 to the shocking realization that the pump price of fuel had been jacked up from N65 to N141 per litre. It was a policy that threw the mass of Nigerian people in serious economic predicaments. Transport fares shot up instantly, leaving millions of ordinary Nigerians who had travelled to their various communities for Christmas and New Year celebrations stranded.

    It took a lot of pressure from the labour union and civil society groups to get the new fuel price reversed to N97 per litre. Okonjo-Iweala had boasted to the world then that the Federal Government would put some measures in place to cushion the effects of the fuel price increase through an economic initiative known as SURE-P (Subsidy Re-investment Programme). But four years after, Nigerians are still awaiting the fulfilment of that promise.

    Today, the 61-year-old former finance minister is in the court of public opinion over an allegation by the National Economic Council (NEC) that she withdrew unauthorised sum of $2.1 billion from the excess crude revenue account (ECA). Edo State Governor and member of the council, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, had belled the cat when he spoke with journalists after the NEC was inaugurated by President Muhammadu Buhari on June 29, saying that the sum of $2 billion the Accountant General of the Federation (AGF) said was left in the account was $2.1 billion short of the $4.1 billion Okonjo-Iweala had earlier declared.

    Oshiomhole said: The last time the former Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Mrs Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, reported to the council, and it is in the minutes, she reported by November 2014 that we had $4.1 bn. Today, the Accountant-General Office reported we have $2.0bn. Which means the honourable minister spent $2.1bn without authority of the NEC and that money was not distributed to states, it was not paid to the three tiers of government.”

    Okonjo-Iweala promptly responded to the allegation in a statement issued by her spokesperson, Paul Nwabuikwu, describing the allegation that she made the withdrawals without authorization as false and malicious, insisting that the withdrawals had the blessing of the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) meetings attended by finance commissioners of the 36 states of the federation, issues relating to expenditure were usually discussed.

    The statement reads in part: “The allegation by some governors that former Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, spent $2.1bn out of the Excess Crude Account ‘without authorisation’ is false, malicious and totally without foundation.

    “It is curious that in their desperation to use the esteemed National Economic Council for political and personal vendetta, the persons behind these allegations acted as if the constitutionally recognised FAAC, a potent expression of Nigeria’s fiscal federalism, does not exist.

    “But Nigerians know that collective revenues, allocations and expenditures of the three tiers of government are the concern of the monthly FAAC meetings.”

    The former minister was mistaken if she thought that the matter would end there. The FAAC has since taken exception to the Okonjo-Iweala’s claim that it (FAAC) was privy to the withdrawal of the said sum. In a statement issued on its behalf by the Forum of Finance Commissioners in Abuja, the committee said Okonjo-Iweala’s explanation was “far from the fact and misleading,” adding that the law that set it up did not give it the power to approve withdrawals from the ECA.

    It said: “It has come to our notice the statement credited to the former Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, that the Federation Account Allocation Committee approved the withdrawal from Excess Crude (Foreign) Account the sum of $2bn. This statement is far from the fact and is misleading.

    “We wish to state unequivocally that the FAAC does not have the authority to approve withdrawals from the ECA, and, therefore, could not have approved the withdrawal from the Excess Crude (Foreign) Account the sum of $2bn.

    “According to the law setting up the FAAC, which pre-dates the ECA, it cannot approve withdrawal and has not done so in the past.

    “If anything, the FAAC, as records of its meetings indicate, had often queried the activities on the ECA, and, therefore, did not decide any withdrawal.”

    Apparently rattled by the FAAC’s reaction, Okonjo-Iweala shifted the blame on former President Goodluck Jonathan on whose directives she said the withdrawals were predicated.

    “Payments made were used for paying for petroleum subsidies for the Nigerian people and were approved by Mr. President,” the former minister said in another statement Nwabuikwu issued. “Therefore, there is no question of mismanaging any resources here.”

    Speaking at a seminar organised by the Edo State Government for permanent secretaries, directors and deputy directors in Benin, the state capital, on Monday, Oshiomhole again accused Okonjo-Iweala of illegally taking $1 billion from the ECA to fund the failed re-election bid of former President Goodluck Jonathan.

    Explaining how he arrived at the figure, Oshiohmole said the former minister’s claimed that the $2.1 billion alleged to have been illegally withdrawn for subsidy payment had been refuted by fuel importers who said they got only $1 billion.

    “If you talk to those oil marketers, they will tell you that within that period, they were paid $1 billion not $2.1 billion. So, in truth, about $1 billion was taken for election purposes,” Oshiomhole said.

    The ‘unauthorised’ spending of $2.1 billion, according to the economic council, is one of the numerous anomalies discovered in the management of the nation’s economy under Okonjo-Iwela’s watch. Within the period, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation was said to have earned a total of N8.1 trillion but remitted only N4.3tn.

    Will the former super minister come out of the controversy with her reputation intact? Only time will tell.