The Nation Newspaper

Tag: whimsical

  • Corruption and the whimsical alibis of the leeches

    Slowly but assuredly, it is beginning to sink into our subconscious that Nigeria’s survival as a nation is dependent on how it handles the monster called corruption. Though yet to be released to the public, a review of a book aptly titled,“Fighting Corruption is Dangerous: The Story Behind The Headlines” and written by the former Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, suggests that much still needs to be done to tame this corrosive menace. Besides, from her testimonial, it is evidently not a fight for the lily-livered or the faint hearted. If the renowned economist had to go through the traumatic experiences recounted in the book just because she insisted on doing things the right way, it stands to reason that unimaginable heist could have been perpetrated under a more tempered, understanding and condescending minister. And that should really scare us not just because of the riveting tales Okonjo-Iweala told in her book but because of the tradition of mind blowing larceny that daily goes on in the nation’s honey pot—-the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.

     

    Listen to her in a sneak preview published in ThisDay newspaper earlier in the week: “For me, it was also an issue of personal responsibility. I believe that the fight against corruption must start with individuals who choose to take responsibility. Years of development experience have shown me that regardless of the instruments, such as incentives and disincentives, that are available to reformers, corruption cannot be fought successfully from the outside or by outsiders. It must be by ‘insiders and from the inside’.” She would then go on to reveal how her insistence on due process and accountability not only led to the kidnap of her aged mother but also a series of threats that could have resulted in her permanent incapacitation but for providence. In all this, the activities of the NNPC stands out as a festering sore with the powerful briefcase contractors insisting that  they must be paid billions of naira for services not rendered even after a forensic audit blew open the lid off their vicious deceit.

     

    On the face of it, one would have thought that the Jonathan administration did itself some good by prosecuting a number of oil thieves indicted by the House of Representatives report. But, from Okonjo-Iweala\s recap of what happened during that period, it became manifestly clear that she was practically walking on a tight rope without the support of strong institutions that would have made the job easier. Corruption thrives because of insider connivance and harvest of betrayals. Nothing more could justify this than the latest revelations by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, detailing how a sleaze worth N1.8bn was clinically effected by some top leaders of the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party without anyone raising an eyebrow. The EFCC’s account, in my view, underscores the former minister’s outcry that her attempt to ensure transparency and accountability in the sector was “probably one of the most stressful and dangerous tasks of my job as finance minister!”

     

    How, for instance, would she have known that some hawks and fat cats within the system were beneficiaries of the purchase of vehicles worth N1.8bn which was part of the proceeds fleeced from the same sector she could have easily lost life in a bid to sanitize its workings? According to a report published by this paper on Monday, the current Chairman of the PDP, Uche Secondus, and two of his colleagues in the Jonathan government were beneficiaries of the exotic car gifts worth such humongous amount. While the Secondus vehicle gifts were said to gulp a whopping N472m (55 vehicles including two ‘treated’ or bulletproof ones), that of the former chairman of the party and ex-governor of Bauchi State, Alhaji Adamu Muazu was N504m and Senator Albert Bassey, former Commissioner of Finance in Akwa Ibom State equally received car largesse worth N303m.

     

    Want to know the interesting thing about these special gifts? Reports indicated that they were bought with proceeds from the Strategic Alliance Agreement between Energy Drilling Concept Nigeria Limited owned by Chief Jide Omokore and the Nigeria Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), a deal that is under investigation following suspicion that it was a conduit pipe through which the powerful cabal in that sector under the Jonathan government siphon billions of dollars for themselves and cronies. None of the three party top shots mentioned received anything less than 20 assorted state of the art vehicles from this generously wonderful ‘philanthropist’ in the oil sector. And what reasons did they give for willingly accepting the gifts without questioning the source? The report said that Secondus, in his statement before the EFCC, claimed that: “All these gifts came to me from the Chairman of Atlantic Energy, Chief Jide Omokore over the years. I am not aware of the proceeds from Strategic Alliance Agreement being used to purchase the gifts.” And then Bassey had this to say: “The vehicles are gifts from Jide Omokore on the need to ensure my personal safety. I have known him for 19 years since 1997. They are also contributions to my governorship campaigns in 2014.”

     

    Unless the meaning of ‘over the years’ has changed, I wonder what Secondus meant by that statement. Come to think of it, we are speaking of 10 Hiace High Roof at N8.5m each, 15 Hiace Mid-roof at N8.5m each, a Range Rover Autobiography at N50m, Mercedes G63 at N36m and two Toyota Hilux Cabin Pick Up at N14m all paid for on April 8, 2014! Bassey’s many cars were also listed as follows: one BMW X5BP (Bullet Proof) at N50m bought in 2010; Infinity OX 5BP at N45m bought in 2012; Range Rover at N40m bought in 2014; 11 Toyota Hiace High Roof and D Cabin bought in 2014 and set of vehicles worth N83m also bought in 2014. However, the details of Adamu’s car gifts were missing probably because he is yet to be interrogated. It is not in any doubt that he would likely come up with the same story of accepting freely given gifts from a friend without questioning the source of the purchase. Curiously, the same tendentious excuse was given by all those alleged to have benefitted from the $1.2 billion arms money recklessly disbursed from the Office of the National Security Adviser to Jonathan, Col. Sambo Dasuki. They all assume it was money that had been properly appropriated! Can you beat that!

     

    In this same country, a former first lady was on record to have claimed that the mind-blowing billions of Naira (counting, still going on, more still being discovered) linked to her accounts were mostly gifts from well-wishers and friends of her husband. Maybe the word ‘gift’ is now a password for untainted sudden wealth, indicative of how the privileged few grow their personal human capital. Whatever it is, we should be concerned because of its implication to our collective wellbeing. But we are not. Instead, we wish them away, describing it as a needless witch hunt of the elements in the opposition. These are the little, little things killing us and putting our future in jeopardy—the soft but deadly punches knocking out our brains.

     

    Okonjo-Iweala was right in describing the vast majority of Nigerians as honest, hardworking whose simple desire was to see a government that provides basic services. But how on earth would that be achievable in a system which, in spite of all efforts, continue to allow key decisions to be taken at the whim of the leader  without efficient institutions to stop the abuse? With an errant National Assembly which is more interested in feeding fat on the system and a judiciary which Okonjo-Iweala described as frustratingly slow, would Nigeria ever reach that moral high when corruption would be fought from the inside by the ‘insiders’ for the benefits of all? Maybe Okonjo-Iweala’s book would give us an insight. Maybe it would not. Be that as it may, there is no better time than now to start being a bit more circumspect in the way we wave off corrosive corruption as a norm instead of a deadly affliction!

     

  • Re: Not whimsical but working Willie

    Just a few months back this year, ace Nation newspaper columnist Olatunji Dare had, while disclaiming authorship of the publication’s Hardball column, described its tenor of discourse as ‘irreverent.’ In its Monday, August 24, 2015 edition titled ‘Whimsical Willie’, the column demonstrated that it also has capacity to make misconceived and misleading commentaries.

    The supposed subject was a lecture delivered by Anambra State Governor Willie Obiano at the School of Media Communications, Pan Atlantic University, Lagos, on Thursday, August 13, 2015. The lecture, ‘Sustaining the Legacy of Growth and Development in Anambra State, which drew applause from the audience, curiously draws the fury of the commentary.

    The first placard against the lecture is introduced with this patronising comment: ‘Governor Willie Obiano was granted a fine platform to show the stuff he is truly made of and showcase his activities in the last one year … but he fluffed the opportunity.’ This statement drips with the sour grapes that the governor was in need of redeeming a lowly image.  On what basis could his reputation have needed shoring up? This is a governor who has attracted $2.4 b investments into the state’s economy in sixteen months of assuming office.  This is a governor who has put in place a subsidised mass transit scheme for the benefit of the masses. The same Obiano had in less than one year increased worker’s salaries by fifteen percent.  This is the same governor currently engaged in massive infrastructural projects all over the state and whose leadership is in accord with civil society.

    You are left to wonder the motive behind the decision to talk down on Obiano’s focused leadership. Could it be that the author[s] of the publication was in the dark about the advances Anambra State has recorded in the past seventeen months?  But given that these strides are out there in the public domain, it is more probable to say that the writer[s] chose to close their eyes to these developments to suit preconceived positions.

    A perceptive leader could not have gone to a public lecture to play to the gallery, pander to any constituency’s subjective interest or massage anybody’s ego. Obviously, Chief Obiano’s purpose at the lecture was not to impress cynics and detractors but to engage in intellectually – enriching discourse on the trajectories of Anambra’s development journey with objective minds.

    But riding on the crest of a strange brand of presumptuousness, the column sought to find fault with the contents of the lecture on these terms: ‘It ought to be apparent to even a dummy that this topic is backgrounded and anchored on the activities of Obiano’s immediate predecessor, Mr Peter Obi. Legacy in simple terms suggests a bequeathal, an inheritance. But Obiano the legatee, spoke in total denial of yesterday.’ The first observation on this outburst is to wonder whether the author[s] of the statement actually read the lecture. Why are they in denial of the fact that Obiano acknowledged the contributions of his predecessor in the Anambra narrative? Readers are invited to peruse the lecture in the Sunnewspaper of Friday, August 14, 2015 to see who between Hardball and the Governor of Anambra State is living in denial.

    Obiano not only credited Peter Obi in his lecture but in my view did so to the point of exaggeration – and I will expatiate on this shortly. Hear the Governor: ‘I found it hard to contemplate that in our 24 years of existence as a state, things began to fall in place only nine years ago when my predecessor Chief Peter Obi took over the reins of leadership and began to implement the APGA model of governance. Even so, I still shudder with bewilderment when I remember the titanic legal battles he had to fight…’

    What the critics of the lecture probably wanted was to see the exercise reduced to a chronology of Obi’s achievements. Perhaps Hardball should hold another lecture on the Peter Obi years to sate its curious desire.  At this juncture it seems necessary to mention that in the very second paragraph of his one-year anniversary speech, Governor Obiano said: ‘…we have returned to this place after 365 days with a great harvest and bouquet of new dreams. Now, before I go any further, I would like to acknowledge the good foundation laid by my brother and predecessor, Chief Peter Obi…’ In the face of these recognitions at significant public functions, the accusation of pettiness against Obiano falls flat on its face. Any dispassionate reader of the lecture will be struck by its extensive survey of the Anambra journey from a geo – historical and cultural perspective spanning human resource development; Igbo worldview; politics in Anambra State to the current challenges facing the state. Well thought-out and well written, it is hard to think of a presentation that could have done greater justice to the topic.

    Thus, the misconceived demand that a discussion on Anambra’s legacies must be dominated by the Peter Obi experience would make a mockery of the continuum of government. And this is where I slightly differ and think that Governor Obiano’s acknowledgement should have gone further than Obi. Beyond the distinction of the APGA model of development shared only by Obi and Obiano, there were other leaders whose contributions, however meagre, form an integral part of the state’s legacy. Chukwuemeka Ezeife, first civilian governor, operated in dire straits and circumstances. Inaugurated four months after the state’s creation, Ezeife with very little funds managed to provide the structures for the running of government machinery and is on record as having built the first government housing estate in the state. The much criticised Chinwoke Mbadinuju administration initiated the Orient Petroleum venture; the Oba international market project and completed the Iyi – agu housing estate. Though burdened with legitimacy deficit, the Chris Ngige regime is credited with network of durable roads and reduction in violent crime. While agreeing with Obiano’s suggestion that these interventions lacked a coordinated and coherent approach, it would nonetheless amount to inequity to shut out these actors as Hardball slyly canvassed.

    The prejudices informing the lecture appraisal becomes clearer with the refusal to credit the present administration for the state’s prevailing economic stability. Consider the sneering that attends the insight into the state’s fiscal merits. ‘We analysed the Nigerian economy and foresaw that oil prices would crash to about $55 per barrel in less than one year. We foresaw that if oil prices crashed, it would bring down our revenue by 50 percent. Having figured that out, we began to work on improving our IGR by restructuring our revenue sources.’ To this profound economic intelligence which has ensured industrial peace in Anambra State at a time many states are in arrears of workers’ salaries and pensions, Hardball rants: ‘One would wager that even organisers of the lecture must have been thoroughly let down as much asHardball.

    Many thanks to Hardball, though. By allowing its tantrum free reign, we are able to see who is whimsical after all. Who else but whimsical Hardball could make the asinine statement ‘to think that he [Obiano] has not managed to initiate an original thought so far in the running of the state’ and expect people to see it as sensible?

     

    •  Afuba wrote in from Nimo, Anambra State.

  • Whimsical Willie

    Hardball had always thought of him as whimsical and quirky, but sometimes impressions are far removed from reality. But one found some corroboration recently when the subject of this discourse, Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State, was granted a fine platform to show the stuff he is truly made of and showcase his activities in the last one year. It was the Distinguished Lecture Series of the School of Media Communications of the Pan-Atlantic University. There couldn’t be a better podium for a powerful pitch.

    But the man who governs one of the most significant states in the federation, Anambra, aptly referred to as: Light of the Nation, fluffed the opportunity, to put it plainly. In fact, the stage proved too large for him and by the time he was done, he had become diminished. Or perhaps he simply shrunk to his original size.

    Let us consider a few of the fluffy points. First, the organisers of the lecture in their wisdom and rightly so, tagged it: “Sustaining the Legacy of Growth and Development in Anambra State.” It ought to be apparent to even a dummy that this topic is back-grounded and anchored on the activities of Obiano’s immediate predecessor, Mr. Peter Obi. Legacy in simple terms suggests a bequeathal, an inheritance. But Obiano, the legatee, spoke in total denial of yesterday.

    Instead, he took credit for the model his state is today, putting it down to his foresight. Hear him: “We analysed the Nigerian economy and foresaw that oil prices would crash to about $55 per barrel in less than one year. We foresaw that if oil prices crashed, it would bring down our revenue by 50 per cent. Having figured that out, we began to work on improving our IGR by restructuring our revenue sources.”

    One would wager that even the organisers of the lecture must have been thoroughly let down as much as Hardball. If not that the Obi era happened recently, if not that it all happened before our eyes and if not that we happened to be privy to Governor Obi’s outstanding legacy, we may have been fooled.

    Gov. Obi, for those who may not know, barely a year ago, handed over to Gov. Obiano, about N75 billion in savings, among other rich-yielding investments. To achieve this, Obi never borrowed a kobo for eight years of his tenure and no salary arrears either. So there was no debt burden for Obiano to worry about. In the last five years of the Obi era, Anambra candidates topped in most national common entrance examinations; a testimony to Obi’s passion for education development.

    The Peter Obi impact is too monumental for anyone not to notice or attempt to deny. In decidedly abstaining from as much as mentioning Obi in a longish lecture, Obiano has thoroughly diminished himself in the eyes of discerning people. He has presented himself as a man not given to grace and magnanimity.

     And to think that he has not managed to initiate an original thought so far in the running of the state; again, to think that Obiano’s predecessor virtually forded the River Niger to ensure his ascendance. Let’s grant that Obiano still has about two years to rewire his heart.

  • Still on FCT’s whimsical appropriations 

    Still on FCT’s whimsical appropriations 

    Some lead at various levels, with a view to leaving indelible footprints on the sands of time. Many others, with

    limited perceptions of what leadership truly means, occupy public office and leave like handwritings on the sand – leaving memories that are easily washed away by coming waves. Whether leaders put down our action or inaction down in diary form or not, it matters less; yesterday’s men and those occupying the hallways of power today are all bound to become part of history in due course. We are all but slaves to history and the passage of time. And we do all have a story to tell, don’t we?

    Just last week, my very good friend, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, made public his own story in a book titled ‘The Accidental Public Servant.’ If el-Rufai’s book has not berthed with the kind of controversy trailing it, I would have been shocked for the pint-sized former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory is controversy personified. I’ll explain.

    There is more to the el-Rufai personae than all that he has recorded as his story in public service. Well, some have accused him of sexing-up the book with half-truths, pure lies and warped illogic. They may be right. Personally, it is my belief that some things could have been left unsaid by the author. But, as someone wrote, we can expand the scope of intellectualism and avail history of more materials by writing our own books instead of baying at a man who sees himself as an accident in the public service sector.  If his book is an accident, then it is our responsibility to heal it and dress the injuries by setting the records straight with another book! And I guess those mentioned in the book will take up that challenge and stop whining.

    Somehow, el-Rufai’s book has reawakened my desire to put my experiences on this job in black and white. When I eventually settle down to doing that, maybe I will summon the courage to reveal one or two things about this “yesterday’s man” (apologies to Dr. Reuben Abati) and how we struck a friendship that has confounded many. It was a friendship that cost me a job and truncated a blossoming career all because some persons misinterpreted my affinity to the man former President Olusegun Obasanjo would rather call “short  man!” Whenever I get around to writing that book, maybe, just maybe, I will expose the deceit, intrigues, back-biting and the deadly power game that go on in that corridor. One thing is clear: pettiness is an essential commodity in the corridors of power here. If in doubt, take a peep into el-Rufai’s book.

    It illustrates the unfortunate reality that pettiness and prebendal politicking have become veritable tools being exploited by many to hang on to power. Even the national budget is ‘doctored’ to meet this queer arrangement in which otherwise principled men pander to the whim of a powerful few. Many examples abound but let us stick to the most recent revelations on the floor of the National Assembly when the budget of the FCT was unveiled for thorough scrutiny. If you thought the FCT management would have learnt its lesson with the dust raised over the plan to spend close to N15bn on the remodelled official residence for the Vice President, then you are yet to come to grips with the template of shenanigans that pass as governance process here. It is as if some persons delight in swimming in the ocean of multi-billion naira scandals.

    Without any intent of giving credence to the beer parlour rumour that a select group of ministers derives their staying power from a complete subjugation of their authorities under that of the goddess of Aso Rock, I strongly want to believe that the FCT Minister, Sen. Mohammed Bala, understands that it takes a lot more than satisfying the narrow bourgeoisie tastes of the hawks in power to succeed on his present seat. Does he appear to be one who wants history to be kind to him at all? At least, he should be wise enough to make a clear distinction between the FCT budget and that of the Presidency. Sadly, with the frenetic pace his men have been quoting extant laws to justify every profligate appropriation for The Presidency, including an unknown Office of the First Lady, it is doubtful if Bala can escape the charge of being guilty of running a budget that was tailor-made for the clearly humongous (that word again!) taste of Aso Rock denizens while the real people come a distant second!

    For a capital city that is buffeted with loads of developmental and security challenges in the face of inadequate funding, many had expected the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) to adopt cost effective measures in its budgeting process. But if the details of the 2013 appropriations were anything to go by, one is tempted to assume that voyeurism consideration must have taken precedence over prudence in the compilation of the figures. It was so bad that the yamheads under Bala’s watch allocated a princely sum of N5bn to “rehabilitate prostitutes and destitute” in the city.

    Now, don’t ask me if the authorities have any accurate data of prostitutes and the destitute in the city. That will be asking for too much in a society where prostitution and destitution have many faces. For example, how do you rate the corporate sex-for-contract ‘business tycoons’ hanging around the corridors of power in Abuja, including Bala’s FCDA? What do you make of the corporate beggars in suits and ties that ply their trade in the Central Business District? How about the young graduates who hawk items in offices and make no bones about their readiness to do “other stuffs” if the price is right? Are these persons captured in the FCT”s N5bn rehabilitation programme and what is the modus operandi? Besides, what informs Bala’s fixation to an eternal battle with prostitutes when any resident would gladly tell you that that is the least of the city’s problem?

    Mallam el-Rufai might be an accidental public servant but he was clearly not a mistake in the FCDA as a Minister in the Presidency. He revived the belief that Abuja can work if primordial sentiments are thrown overboard and key elements of the master-plan are strictly implemented. In his four-year stay, he injected life back into a dying dream. At least, he deserves a genuine bragging right for this even if I disagree with some of the things he said in his book. We may quarrel with the way he allegedly gifted land and government houses to some lackeys of former President Obasanjo and his friends. What we cannot deny him is his commitment to seeing that the capital city regains its sanity. It was also to his credit that, despite his endless face-off with the National Assembly over bribery allegation before his appointment could be confirmed, the FCT’s budgets were never subjected to the kind of outlandish ridicule that one witnesses today. Allocating billions for the First Lady’s office is only a recent achievement for the history books under Bala’s watch.

    And there lies my beef with Mr. Bala and his team. It is, to say the least, outrageous that his administration could bold justify the proposed N4bn African First Ladies’ Peace Mission building on its “statutory duty to build for the good of the public” including the smart excuse that the construction of the AFLPM building would not only save cost but also “ serve multiple roles in providing office accommodation as well as housing not just African First Ladies’ Peace Mission but other international bodies as well.”  Now, if I may ask, wouldn’t it have been more cost-effective to rehabilitate the dilapidated Women Centre to satisfy the desires of the First Lady instead of embarking on another white elephant under the pretext of fulfilling a statutory duty? And if Dame Patience Jonathan must get her wish from her ‘son’ by all means, wouldn’t it have been more cost-effective to include the AFPLM office in the architecture of the proposed new Banquet Hall that would befit the high taste of her husband’s guests? Or do African First Ladies have higher cravings than those of the men they marry?

    Like one of the senators puts it, the Bala administration is simply wearing its magnifying glass wrongly. It is cuddling shadows instead of doing something about the grim realities of daily living in Abuja. Who needs a white elephant when basic infrastructures are begging for attention in Nigeria’s political capital? Access to basic healthcare remains poor; water supply to urban districts like Maitama, Asokoro and Wuse is perennially inadequate; pupils still take lessons under trees in some council areas; housing problem persists; the transportation system is in chaos due to ill-thought policy and power supply is epileptic. But how can they care when they are sold to an ideology of misplaced priorities? That is what Oby Ezekwesili called tragic choices!

    Listen to Senator Babajide Omoworare: “I’m worried about the provision of bogus figures (and) there’s a lot of disconnect. This (FCT) budget hasn’t shown the reality of what’s happening in and around Abuja. We have not set our priorities right. I’m of the view that the committee should look into this. Again, I remember that in this chamber last year, we voted N1bn only for new federal universities yet, we are being asked to appropriate N4 billion for an office (of the First Lady) that is alien to the .Constitution.”

    Another Senator, Babafemi Ojudu, was said to have expressed fears about the consequences of allowing the news of the curious, outright mundane and profligate appropriation to get to the public, especially to the youth who are being taken for granted. Does it really matter anymore? Budgeting at the whim will continue to thrive until such a time when the National Assembly takes its responsibility seriously and curtail its prurient dalliances with the executive. After all, has the persistent umbrage by the lawmakers halted the ratifications of such questionable appropriations in the past? Even this one, bad as it looks, may get the nod of the lawmakers having passed the crucial Second Reading! One thing is sure though: as long as otherwise principled men continue to shirk their responsibilities and allow those who accidentally find themselves in power to rule by the whim, Nigeria will continue to be haunted by its tragic choices! For a capital city that has had the misfortune of being headed by a successive gang of underachievers, Bala cannot afford to fall under that categorisation. Unfortunately, nothing tells us that he is set to be the kind of accident that el-Rufai turned out to be. Or would his story be told differently by history?