The Nation Newspaper

Tag: twice

  • Twice lucky

    Twice lucky

    Last year, he was disgraced out of office as national president of the National Association of Niger State Students (NANISS). Like a cat with nine lives, Abdulkadir Lawal Abugi bounced back to the same position at the association’s election held last Saturday.

    Abdulkadir’s declaration of interest to contest for president appeared a tall order to many, because of the manner he was suspended by the association’s Students’ Representative Assembly (SRA). Other contestants thought it was an ‘expensive’ joke taken too far. It took many by surprise when Abdulkadir

    beat eight other candidates to emerge the president for a second time.

    He broke the jinx of re-election and made history as first student to be elected twice as NANISS president.

    The association’s convention was held at Abdulsalam Youth Centre in Minna, the Niger State capital. CAMPUSLIFE gathered that 90 delegates, who represented local chapters in various tertiary institutions, voted to elect the president.

    Abdulkadir garnered 24 votes. His election as the association’s leader was greeted with mixed feelings among members.

    A member, who simply gave his name as Musa, described Abdulkadir’s election as a mockery of the electoral process, saying the association had entered another phase of mediocrity.

    He said: “This election is a caricature of what we used to have before. Students’ leaders, who ran the association aground in recent times, have found their way back to the position of leadership. We are entering another phase of mediocrity typified by self-centeredness, cluelessness and embezzlement. These set of leaders are not interested in the ideals of transparency and accountability championed by the association’s founding fathers. “

    Another student, who gave his name as Muhammad, advised the new leaders to justify the confidence reposed in them. He urged them to have unity of purpose, noting that meaningful progress could only be achieved in an atmosphere of harmony and team work.

    He said: “The NANISS president-elect is known to be disciplined and charismatic. Since he is familiar with the terrain, he would have no reason to fail this time around. We anticipate the birth of a new association anchored on a solid foundation. We hope the association will champion the interest of students.”

    The association’s former Vice-President and a student of Federal University of Technology, Minna (FUTMINNA), Buhari Tafida, described Abdulkadir as a “brilliant achiever”, maintaining that his achievements during his first term was unparalleled.

    He said candidates who led antagonism and hurled hate speeches against Abdulkadir during the electioneering were desperate, noting that the president-elect performed beyond expectation during his first tenure.

    Buhari said: “It is a fact that any president of the association who failed to do the bidding of the SRA members and other influential stakeholders are often the victims of antagonism and vendetta like we saw during the election. But, that is not to say that most of them, including the re-elected president Abdulkadir, would not have engaged in unethical practices.”

    In his acceptance speech, Abulkadir, a 500-Level Civil Engineering student of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) in Zaria, Kaduna State, promised to redeem the battered image of the association, adding that he came back to “cleanse the Augean Stable”.

    He said: “The enormity of the challenges ahead is daunting. Thus, at this decisive moment, championing the cause of Niger State students and prioritising their socio-academic welfare is non-negotiable. We will ensure that we leave indelible footprints.”

    The president-elect appealed for stakeholders’ and students’ support, saying the effort to take the association to the next level could not be done by executive members alone. He pledged to lead the body with accountability, equity, fairness and transparency.

    He said: “Though, many things went wrong in the past, but I pledge that sanity will prevail this time around. Lingering scholarship scheme will promptly be resolved. We will create platforms for Niger State students to showcase their talents in academics and other areas. The scholarship scheme will be reorganised to ensure best students have opportunities to further their studies.”

    The outgoing president, Muhammed Babandako, was delighted by the rancour-free transition, urging his successor to build on his achievement.

    He said: “A vibrant, unyielding and decorous student-activism is a catalyst to achieving an egalitarian society both in campuses and at the larger society. I urge the incoming leaders to promote good values and build on our achievements.”

  • Twice rejected

    Twice rejected

    No matter the number of times Magu’s name is forwarded, the senate will always refuse to confirm his appointment

    It is not for fun that Ibrahim Magu’s name had been sent to the senate for confirmation as chair of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) twice; and it is not for fun that the senate has rejected his nomination twice. In other words, the child that is crying knows why even as the mother pleading with him to stop crying also knows why.

    When the then General Muhammadu Buhari was elected as the flag bearer of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in December 2014, the party’s joker was to hinge its campaign for the country’s Number One position on his credibility and integrity, especially as an anti-corruption crusader. This was evident in the way and manner Buhari dealt with corruption in his first coming, after sacking the inept and corrupt Alhaji Shehu Shagari government on December 31, 1983. Many of the country’s politicians that he dealt with then would not forget how Buhari’s name instilled the fear of God in them. But true, many of them were corrupt through and through.

    So, when the APC chose Buhari as its presidential candidate, it did so bearing in mind that the most troubling of the country’s worries in the Goodluck Jonathan era was corruption, which could kill the country if the country did not kill it first. It was visible even to the blind that corruption reigned supreme in Jonathan’s seat of power, whether in the bedroom, the other room and even the corridors of power. How the then president could not see this baffled many people because it was an era that corruption was democratised such that it was possible even for clerical officers in government establishments to become multi-millionaires!

    Although the Olusegun Obasanjo administration  established the EFCC to fight corruption, it is the incumbent acting chair of the commission, Magu, that has really instilled fear in the minds of the corrupt, given the unwavering manner he has been dealing with the cankerworm. But when it was time to confirm his appointment, the senate refused to do that, ostensibly based on some report of the Department of State Services (DSS).

    It is not unlikely that Magu did not exercise enough discretion on some of the issues that have now become his albatross. Yet, no one should be deceived that his rejection was only on account of the DSS report. As a former Senate Leader, Ali Ndume reportedly said on Channel’s Television, since when has mere allegation become the basis to deny a Nigerian public office?  Hear Akume: “We have all been accused of some allegations at different times.  I have been accused of sponsoring Boko Haram, and the Senate President is still going to court on some allegations. It is the same as other members who have cases in court. Yet they occupy seats in the Senate. So, if you say because of the allegations he (Magu) should not be confirmed, then I should not be a sitting senator and Saraki should not be there as Senate President.

    “The issue at stake is an accusation. In the normal circumstance and by our constitution, accusation is not conviction. The Constitution of Nigeria is clear that every Nigerian is innocent until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt by a competent court of law.”

    Let no one get me wrong. Magu may not be the only Nigerian who can do the job. There are some other persons who would do well there if given the chance. But we still have to be worried about the motive of those who scuttled the confirmation of his appointment, particularly the senators. We knew ab inito that many of the senators never wanted him and many people said so when this matter started. And the senators have never hidden this.

    We should be worried for the government’s anti-corruption efforts because that was the mantra on which the government was elected. Indeed, if the senate succeeds in blocking Magu permanently, then it can get away with blue murder. Even if we are able to find a person who can match his record, or even beat it, that person would continue to be haunted by the way Magu was denied confirmation despite what we have all come to see as his sterling achievements. Chances are the person would now see the National Assembly as where the real power lies (a.k.a. the untouchables) and may not want to ruffle feathers there. This would be terrible because we know the antecedents of some of the senators, including the leadership.

    Again, the impression would have been created that hard work does not pay all of the time because, in terms of hard work, Magu has really tried, despite being in acting capacity. He happened to be the elixir that the anti-corruption war needed when he came on board and, in the line of duty, he has not disappointed.

    Probably what the senate wants is an anti-corruption czar that would see its members as the real force to fear and not one that does not care a hoot about whose horse is gored when the issue is fighting corruption. It would be tragic if this country allows that to happen, especially at this time when some members of the hallowed chambers are themselves carrying one baggage or the other like necklaces of stone.

    For sure, we are yet to know the details of the high-wire intrigues that have cost Magu the confirmation of his appointment. What we know today are mere snippets. Someday, the real story behind the story would be in the public domain. This is because the DSS is under the president and it is the latter that had pushed the commission’s chair for confirmation to the senate twice. So, was President Buhari not aware of the allegations made by the DSS against Magu? If the president said he had found nothing against Magu in spite of the allegations, is it possible for the security service to insist on their report? I know that is the ultimate that we should be heading for, but it is curious that we suddenly got there only now that Magu is the issue.

    Anyway, now that the nays seem to have had it on Magu, President Buhari should stretch his net wide in search of a replacement. This should not be seen as a volte face on my part, given my earlier position that the president should do everything possible to secure the ticket for him. Sometimes, a situation like this might even be a blessing in disguise for the country. Magu’s enemies might think anybody but Magu is good for them without knowing that the person who would come as his replacement may even be tougher. They may discover, to their chagrin, that Magu has only been whipping them with an ordinary cane; his successor may come with horsewhip. Then, we would see what would be their excuse not to confirm that one too. Then, Nigerians will know where the problem lies. They will then know the real reason why Magu was rejected twice and would be rejected for as many times as the president decides to send his name for confirmation to the senate as presently constituted.

    Suffice it to say that the senate’s refusal to confirm Magu is not politics. And the few honest members of the senate know this. It is a fight for survival, especially by those who have skeletons in their cupboards. By extension, it is a determined attempt to scuttle the Buhari government’s anti-corruption war. If the president has not seen it in this light; too bad.

  • Twice unlucky

    I open the newspaper and the first headline that screams at me is: “War in Umbrella Peoples Party”. It is the lead of The Country. The story is about the crisis in our party. Two days earlier we had tried for the second time to hold the party’s national convention in the Garden City. But no thanks to two conflicting rulings from an FCT court and a Garden City court, it all ended up in stalemate.

    As I read the report, which is a detailed account of the trouble with our party, I remember my predecessor in office. Though we now belong to two different political parties, I have a feeling that he and some people are behind the woes of our party. They want to cripple it at the national level.

    We were close and did so many things together. All that ended as soon as I became a minister. I changed my boss and soon had to change loyalty too. My old boss and the immediate past one quarreled soon after I changed job.

    Madam, my immediate past boss’s wife, was not happy with my old boss. I found myself in a deep blue sea and pitched my tent with my immediate past boss. Call it the game of survival and I had no qualms with that.

    Things got so bad that when he was to be made a minister, I orchestrated problems for him. The petition, the White Paper and other things that made his journey to becoming a minister difficult were all games; of course championed by me.

    He was mean to me at some point; so, I saw nothing wrong in being mean to him too. He was always describing me as corrupt and not refined. He even called me a thug and said I was the commander of the cultists and other bad elements around. He was really mean to me and I had no choice but to give it back to him.

    As I think through how our relationship went from sweet to sour, the sun peeps in announcing its presence.

    The time is 8:00 a.m. and I am not prepared to go to the office yet. I have chosen to use today to review our botched convention, the money I blew on it and where to go from here.

    My daughter soon walks into the living room. We exchange pleasantries. In no time, she grabs a novel and begins reading. I look at her and wonder if she is proud of me. I have really been a handful as a father

    My mind soon wanders away. With mixed feeling, I float to the past letting the present take care of itself.

    The breeze from the poolside of the Labadi Royal Beach that Saturday afternoon was refreshing. There were ladies in different levels of nakedness. Many of them were white who had come to enjoy the sun in mother Africa. The sun was good for tanning.

    I noticed a couple at a corner. Their countenance showed they were not having it good. Perhaps, they were in the beach hotel to see if they could work things out. They reminded me of a film about a couple who returned to the hotel where they met as a way of bringing back the spark. Were they here for the same reason? I had no way of knowing.

    I had just come into Accra to meet Ihceama, a man I believed so much in and was pushing his quest to become governor with all of my heart. He was hibernating in Accra to escape possible attempt on his life. We did not want to give anything to chance while we were in court trying to straighten the ‘k-leg’ that stalled his mission to the Government House.

    It was one of my frequent visits to Accra to brief him on happenings back home. Sitting on a camp bed beside me was Ihceama. After hours of debriefing in the room, we decided to come and savour the breeze by the poolside.

    “Your leadership quality is amazing and it remains the reason I am with you and will remain with you. It matters not that we are age mates; but you are height above many of us when it comes to leadership qualities. You are just amazing and will come out victorious at the Supreme Court,” I told Ihceama.

    The usual humble man that he was, he simply said: “Thank you, thank you.”

    I was quick to add: “I am not saying this because you are here. No, I say this because I believe it, because I have seen you demonstrate leadership qualities I may never be able to demonstrate. I have tried to emulate you, but I have given up because I am simply not built that way. So, to make up for my shortcomings, I will stay around you to give me direction.”

    My daughter soon brings me back to the present when she called my attention to the live interview on the state of things in our party.

    The panelists have no nice words to say about our party and being a key actor, they have bad things to say about me too. I find myself muting the volume of the television at a point. My daughter, who has now abandoned the novel, looks at me and smiles; the sort that suggests she feels I am uncomfortable with the panelists’ line of thought.

    She soon walks out of the living room without saying a word. I guess she is retiring to her room to go and continue listening to the submissions of the panelists.

    I return to The Country and see a report illustrated with Ihceama’s picture. Seeing his picture irritates me. I have tried all possible to rubbish him, but he keeps surviving. I wonder why this man always finds his way out of tough situations. His confirmation, as a minister, remains a setback for me.

    Once in a while I have thought of forgiveness on both parts and moving on, but the situation is so bad and we have both gone too far to call a truce. Things are really so bad, and in my view beyond repair because of several under-currents.

    I hate him more now that I have suspicion that he is working in concert with some people to ensure our party never rises again.  They have succeeded twice so far in scuttling my ambition to install our party’s national chairman using that fool we made the mistake of inviting to oversee our party. I am sure I will forever regret falling into their trap. Putting that man as acting chairman of our party remains a trap which I only realise after falling into it with two eyes wide open and twice now efforts to correct the error has not worked out.

    As I close The Country, I resolve that I will look for evidence to back my suspicion that Ihceama and some other people in the governing party at the national level are deliberately frustrating our party and when I get the evidence, it will be fight to the finish. Yes I promise. I will not take it lightly.

  • When bell rings twice

    When bell rings twice

    Not many thought the first year of Muhammadu Buhari would look like this. The price of pump price at 145, the naira at 350 to a dollar, not a single road tarred, the 2016 Budget in baby steps, no minister has received a tranche for work, salary backlogs now a routine, herdsmen as killer squads, Biafra on the rampage, Niger Delta brigands reborn,  a labour strike, the President has only visited one state on official trip, his plane has landed on four continents, the change mantra muted.

    Yet, if you go to the streets, there is no rage or less rage or impotent rage, but a sense of paralysis. The average Nigerian, including those who did not vote for Buhari, are not willing to pelt indignation. They feel poor, even poorer. Power that spewed out radiance in the first few months of his administration has returned to its habitual epilepsy. Jobs? Where are they? The welfare scheme and food for students? Not on the cards today. Many cannot pay rents, many squeeze out meals, wards cannot face their principals for lack of fees. Patience is tested everywhere. Those who are asking for it are also being asked for it. Yet, Buhari is Teflon, rising somewhat above popular anger.

    Much of it, ironically, can be attributed to Buhari himself. The people at the hem are not yet angry with the man at the helm. For two reasons, mainly. One, his biography has proved compelling, even in office. No one thinks him a thief. No one thinks him contemplating thieving. Added to that, he turned the EFCC into a vault of revelations. This man stole that, that smaller man stole that bigger sum. The newspapers became headlines of statistical horror of billions of naira and dollar. All the peacock men in the Jonathan era, who suffused us with righteous rhetoric, of brokered ethnicity and marketed shoelessness, have become the fingers of impunity or retreated into priestly or pastoral silences.

    Perhaps for the first time since independence, we have an elected president whose finger is not suspected of pecuniary mischief. He might have flown to Asia, Europe and the United States, and slept in the luxury of jet and high-flown hotels. He is not in any suggestion of a narrative of stealing.

    We also know that integrity is good, but no matter how good, it will not put food on the table. There lies the moral dilemma of the Buhari era so far. We pine for holiness; we want the sort of character that John Milton painted of the Christ in Paradise Lost. But Christ can be boring if he does not change water to wine or give us fishes that defeat the appetite. The alternative is to call for Satan, and the sins multiply. Hence, Satan was a more colorful and majestic character in Milton’s epic than the beautiful blandness of his Christ. We had a lot of Satan of greed in the last dispensation. That accounts for the Buhari appeal.

    This is perhaps the first time that the war on corruption is fought with palpable sincerity. Paradoxically, it is also the first time it is pursued with epic naivety. The battle seems more about the optics so far, about the stunning figures, about the pruned dignity of the culprit in court, of the stories of vomiting and chewed statements, of court orders ignored and obeyed, of a puffing Eleyinmi as Senate President and a bragging Fani-Kayode clutching the air of the moral superior. Of course, a stooping former soldier is almost numbed over charges that he played charity with government money. Money to save lives in battle was diverted to save the office of the shoeless maestro.

    But then, Buhari wanted to roll back Boko Haram, and he has. Once the pious upstarts planted righteous flags and choked cities and towns and its shadow threatened Kashim Shettima’s position as Borno State governor. Shettima told us more than anyone was ready to say about the ragtag army of bigots, that they were better armed and motivated. Now, Boko Haram is a puny blood fest, harassing only intermittently with suicides. It is a mark it cannot hold out for too long.

    So, Buhari governed gravely, and he changed the moral tone of government. He also nipped the greatest existential threat to our nationhood in the past three decades. For one year, we can say he did well and, some may say, even very well.

    But very well does not put food on the table. It does not seem now that many know well what the blueprint is for the economy. Vice President Yemi Osinbajo articulated this at The Nation newspaper’s First National Conference on the Economy.  Since then though, he has made references to it in snippets.  But, it will not resonate until we start seeing steps.

    No matter the high moral tone of the economy, and a sense of tranquility, if the economy is not handled with deliberate urgency, the austere image of the president will get a beating from the hungry and disaffected. This may be the flipside of the election that brought George W. Bush to office. Bill Clinton was credited with the biggest economic expansion in U.S. history with many jobs available. But his party’s nominee Al Gore, who was his vice, lost out because of Clinton’s moral baggage. The people chose character over prosperity. Of course, when they lost prosperity under Bush, they gave a black man, Barack Obama, the task to carry both the moral and economic burdens. Just like Larry Mamutry’s novel, Lonesome Dove, where the black man serves as the moral restraint for the white man, Obama becomes what sociologists have called the “magical negro.” He takes the fall for the Caucasian predatory excesses. Buhari should learn not to be a fall guy of his own integrity.

    As noted last week, he can take advantage of bellwether minister Babatunde Fashola (SAN), whose ministry can galvanise activity with works and housing and power projects. That was how FD Roosevelt jolted America with the New Deal, which some critics called the “raw deal” then. Other ministers, too, can follow suit at various levels.

    His first year is noted for some notorious silences. The Agatu-Fulani herdsmen saga, Ese Oruru, labour strike, pump price hike. He has visited many places, but only Cross River State in Nigeria for business. His voice roared over Biafra agitation, Niger Delta Avengers and the Shiite group up north. No problem with that if the same decibel of rhetoric flogged the herdsmen. He has clutched endlessly for reasons. A leader is empty without empathy. He needs to connect on an emotional level, especially at a time when many are hurting. Life and death, says David, are in the power of the tongue.

    The second year often is time to settle down to substantial work. As John Donne wrote, ask not for whom the bell tolls, Mr. President, it tolls for thee. A year from now, the bell would have rung twice, where will his tenure be?

  • Eagles now train twice a day

    Eagles now train twice a day

    Head Coach Stephen Keshi has upped the team’s training schedule from once a day to twice, starting from Tuesday.

    He said on Tuesday that he had been very impressed with the response of his players in training. “The attitude is good and professional and if we maintain it, we will get the result we want against Liberia”, he said.