Atiku and the PDP crisis

Road transport workers, popularly called “agbero” in some parts of Nigeria, are reputed to be some of the best fed Nigerians. It is said that, in one meal they may consume what an average Nigerian would eat in two days. And, this prepares them well for their esoteric type of transfer of power.

During the typical agbero “takeover”, those who can wield machetes would wield one or two, others would wield guns, local guns also called “oka” and foreign made guns, including Kalashnikovs also known as AK47 , yet others would wield logs of timber called “two by four”. Hence the typical transfer of power amongst Agberos is a Hobbesian survival of the fittest and meanest, without recourse to any constitutions or guidelines. It is simply what it is: “a takeover”.

So, when recently the Atiku-led group, left the PDP convention at the Eagle Square  in Abuja, and announced a “takeover” of the PDP, leaving behind a full convention of members, it was very tempting to search for people behind the group, carrying machetes, guns and “two by fours”,  because it would not be strange if such a takeover occurred in a meeting of agberos. But, a political party from what we know ought to be guided by rules on how they are formed and registered, how they elect officials and dismiss same. Thus, for the Atiku group to announce new officials, representatives of 37 administrative jurisdictions, within the period of moving from the Eagle Square to a new venue in the Abuja metropolis, under an hour, it is certainly akin to a “takeover” by “agberos”.

Perhaps in deference to the distinctions which we expect between the conduct of agberos and that of political leaders, the Atiku-led group decided to search for an office address after claiming to be a recognised political party. Still, the constitution requires a different standard. It expects a party seeking legitimization to meet some standards as enunciated in the constitution. Specifically, section 222a states; “No association by whatever name called shall function as a party, unless; (a) the names and addresses of its national officers are registered with the Independent National Electoral Commission”.

From the foregoing, it can be deduced that the regression to agbero tactics in the takeover of a political party, by a minority group within the PDP, with the name New PDP, which is unknown to the registration unit of INEC, is a new nadir in the development of party politics in Nigeria. Not only did they flout some important requisites for party formation, but as the American think-tank (CFR) objectively observed, it was blatantly regional in cast, a connotation that the constitution stringently frowns upon as part of the requirements for political party formation indicated in S. 222(e).

But, even more worrisome is the motivational similarities of an agbero “takeover” with the Atiku led “putsch”. In terms of motivation, the first criterion for an agbero “takeover” is the yearning to control the unaccounted “daily collection” of funds from drivers in a taxi park, from the rents collected by providing transport services to passengers. In the Atiku-led case, the rent seeking behaviour was clearly highlighted a few days later, when Governor Kwakwanso of Kano State bared his mind to his constituency of party followers.  To highlight what he told his listeners, one of the constituents explained to all the media agencies which reported the event that, Kano State has suffered a diminishing patronage, where appointments that should pass through the governor from the federal government, now passed through the “back door”.

The main objective of the group is therefore anchored upon the maximization of the extortion of the oil and gas rents accruing to the national treasury. Nevertheless, this public overstating of their political strength is rather unfortunate for political development in Nigeria, because it takes us back from democratic consolidation to the cognition of hegemony as articulated by Arrighi,  who in explaining the Gramscian understanding of power, contends that it rests on the premise of consent or domination, whereas consent relies on moral leadership, dominion stems from a dominant group’s power  based on domination, which rests on coercion and force. By stating that,  “we have decided to take over the party” there is the portent of the ability to coerce and dominate all others, by the Atiku group.

The type of “takeover” which the Atiku group displayed is a bare-faced taunt to the Nigerian public, that seemed to say “if the military boys can’t do it, we will teach them” . From our rather dismal experience of military rule and the extortionate regression which it offered, it is apolitical truancy that should be condemned in the strongest terms. When a politician or group of politicians find their political group ideologically incompatible with their goals, there are ample democratic options such as the formation of new parties, or merger with other parties, but those steps have institutionalized steps which they are guided by.

Of more concern to the public, however, are the policy differences which inform such breakaway, because ideally, political competition should be informed by contestation of ideas and policies which have a bearing on public welfare.

The demands of Governor Aliyu and others in the same boat have very little to do with how well or poorly the party has delivered healthcare, housing, infrastructure, education or other such issues. Instead, what the public is daily upbraided with is a litany of unstated injustices enforced by their party chairman.

It is instructive that when such prebendalism is compared with the ousting of Margaret Thatcher by John Major, Tony Blair by Gordon Brown, or Gillard by Rudd, we can see the policy issues such as Poll Tax, Iraq War, Carbon Tax and so forth which determined such regime changes, and we also note how the protagonist and antagonist subject themselves to party rules, a far contrast from the agbero-like takeover which the Nigerian public was unfortunately forced to witness recently.

Ocheme Eneoche writes from Abuja

The crimes of Buhari – By Wole Soyinka

The grounds on which General Buhari is being promoted as the alternative choice are not only shaky, but pitifully naive. History matters. Records are not kept simply to assist the weakness of memory, but to operate as guides to the future. Of course, we know that human beings change. What the claims of personality change or transformation impose on us is a rigorous inspection of the evidence, not wishful speculation or behind-the-scenes assurances. Public offence, crimes against a polity, must be answered in the public space, not in caucuses of bargaining.

In Buhari, we have been offered no evidence of the sheerest prospect of change. On the contrary, all evident suggests that this is one individual who remains convinced that this is one ex-ruler that the nation cannot call to order. Buhari needs one remind anyone – was one of the generals who treated a Commission of Enquiry, the Oputa Panel, with unconcealed disdain. Like Babangida and Abdusalami, he refused to put appearance even though complaints that were tabled against him involved a career of gross abuses of power and blatant assault on the fundamental human rights of the Nigerian citizenry. Prominent against these charges was an act that amounted to nothing less than judicial murder, the execution of a citizen under a retroactive decree.

Does Decree 20 ring a bell? If not, then, perhaps the names of three youths – Lawal Ojuolape (30), Bernard Ogedengbe (29) and Bartholomew Owoh (26) do. To put it quite plainly, one of those three Ogedengbe – was executed for a crime that did not carry a capital forfeit at the time it was committed. This was an unconscionable crime, carried out in defiance of the pleas and protests of nearly every sector of the Nigerian and international community religious, civil rights, political, trade unions etc. Buhari and his sidekick and his partner-in-crime, Tunde Idiagbon persisted in this inhuman act for one reason and one reason only: to place Nigerians on notice that they were now under an iron, inflexible rule, under governance by fear.

The execution of that youthful innocent for so he was, since the punishment did not exist at the time of commission – was nothing short of premeditated murder, for which the perpetrators should normally stand trial upon their loss of immunity. Are we truly expected to forget this violation of our entitlement to security as provided under existing laws? And even if our sensibilities have become blunted by succeeding seasons of cruelty and brutality, if power itself had so coarsened the sensibilities also of rulers and corrupted their judgment, what should one rightly expect after they have been rescued from the snare of power.

At the very least, a revaluation, leading hopefully to remorse, and its expression to a wronged society. At the very least, such a revaluation should engender reticence, silence. In the case of Buhari, it was the opposite. Since leaving office he has declared in the most categorical terms that he had no regrets over this murder and would do so again. Human life is inviolate. The right to life is the uniquely fundamental right on which all other rights are based. The crime that General Buhari committed against the entire nation went further however, inconceivable as it might first appear. That crime is one of the most profound negations of civic being.

Not content with hammering down the freedom of expression in general terms, Buhari specifically forbade all public discussion of a return to civilian, democratic rule. Let us constantly applaud our media those battle scarred professionals did not completely knuckle down. They resorted to cartoons and oblique, elliptical references to sustain the people’s campaign for a time-table to democratic rule. Overt agitation for a democratic time table however remained rigorously suppressed military dictatorship, and a specifically incorporated in Buhari and Idiagbon was here to stay.

To deprive a people of volition in their own political direction is to turn a nation into a colony of slaves. Buhari enslaved the nation. He gloated and gloried in a master-slave relation to the millions of its inhabitants. It is astonishing to find that the same former slaves, now free of their chains, should clamour to be ruled by one who not only turned their nation into a slave plantation, but forbade them any discussion of their condition.

So Tai Solarin is already forgotten? Tai who stood at street corners, fearlessly distributing leaflets- he took up the gauntlet where the media had dropped it. Tai who was incarcerated by that regime and denied even the medication for his asthmatic condition? Tai did not ask to be sent for treatment overseas; all he asked was his traditional medicine that had proved so effective after years of struggle with asthma! Nor must we omit the manner of Buhari coming to power and the pattern of his corrective rule. Shagari’s NPN had already run out of steam and was near universally detested except of course by the handful that still benefited from that regime of profligacy and rabid fascism.

Responsibility for the national condition lay squarely at the door of the ruling party, obviously, but against whom was Buharis coup staged? Judging by the conduct of that regime, it was not against Shagaris government but against the opposition. The head of government, on whom primary responsibility lay, was Shehu Shagari. Yet that individual was kept in cozy house detention in Ikoyi while his powerless deputy, Alex Ekwueme, was locked up in Kiri-kiri prisons. Such was the Buhari notion of equitable apportionment of guilt and/or responsibility. And then the cascade of escapes of the wanted, and culpable politicians. Manhunts across the length and breadth of the nation, roadblocks everywhere and borders tight as steel zip locks.

Lo and behold, the chairman of the party, Chief Akinloye, strolled out coolly across the border. Richard Akinjide, Legal Protector of the ruling party, slipped out with qual ease. The Rice Minister, Umaru Dikko, who declared that Nigerians were yet to eat from dustbins – escaped through the same airtight dragnet. The clumsy attempt to crate him home was punishment for his ingratitude, since he went berserk when, after waiting in vain, he concluded that the coup had not been staged, after all, for the immediate consolidation of the party of extreme right-wing vultures, but for the military hyenas.

The case of the overbearing Secretary-General of the party, Uba Ahmed, was even more noxious. Uba Ahmed was out of the country at the time. Despite the closure of the Nigerian airspace, he compelled the pilot of his plane to demand special landing permission, since his passenger load included the almighty Uba Ahmed. Of course, he had not known of the change in his status since he was airborne. The delighted airport commandant, realizing that he had a much valued fish swimming willingly into a waiting net, approved the request. Uba Ahmed disembarked into the arms of a military guard and was promptly clamped in detention. Incredibly, he vanished a few days after and reappeared in safety overseas. Those whose memories have become calcified should explore the media coverage of that saga. Buhari was asked to explain the vanished act of this much prized quarry and his response was one of the most arrogant levity. Coming from one who had shot his way into power on the slogan of discipline, it was nothing short of impudent. Shall we revisit the tragicomic series of trials that landed several politicians several lifetimes in prison?

Recall, if you please, the judicial processes undergone by the septuagenarian Chief Adekunle Ajasin. He was arraigned and tried before Buhari’s punitive tribunal but acquitted. Dissatisfied, Buhari ordered his re-trial. Again, the Tribunal could not find this man guilty of a single crime, so once again he was returned for trial, only to be acquitted of all charges of corruption or abuse of office. Was Chief Ajasin thereby released? No! He was ordered detained indefinitely, simply for the crime of winning an election and refusing to knuckle under Shagari’s reign of terror. The conduct of the Buhari regime after his coup was not merely one of double, triple, multiple standards but a cynical travesty of justice. Audu Ogbeh, currently chairman of the Action Congress was one of the few figures of rectitude within the NPN. Just as he has done in recent times with the PDP, he played the role of an internal critic and reformer, warning, dissenting, and setting an example of probity within his ministry. For that crime he spent months in unjust incarceration.

Guilty by association? Well, if that was the motivating yardstick of the administration of the Buhari justice, then it was most selectively applied. The utmost severity of the Buhari-Idiagbon justice was especially reserved either for the opposition in general, or for those within the ruling party who had showed the sheerest sense of responsibility and patriotism.

Shall I remind this nation of Buhari’s deliberate humiliating treatment of the Emir of Kano and the Oni of Ife over their visit to the state of Israel? I hold no brief for traditional rulers and their relationship with governments, but insist on regarding them as entitled to all the rights, privileges and responsibilities of any Nigerian citizen. This royal duo went to Israel on their private steam and private business. Simply because the Buhari regime was pursuing some antagonistic foreign policy towards Israel, a policy of which these traditional rulers were not a part, they were subjected on their return to a treatment that could only be described as a head masterly chastisement of errant pupils. Since when, may one ask, did a free citizen of the Nigerian nation require the permission of a head of state to visit a foreign nation that was willing to offer that tourist a visa?

One is only too aware that some Nigerians love to point to Buhari’s agenda of discipline as the shining jewel in his scrap-iron crown. To inculcate discipline however, one must lead by example, obeying laws set down as guides to public probity. Example speaks louder than declarations, and rulers cannot exempt themselves from the disciplinary strictures imposed on the overall polity, especially on any issue that seeks to establish a policy for public well-being. The story of the thirty something suitcases it would appear that they were even closer to fifty – found unavoidable mention in my recent memoirs, YOU MUST SET FORTH AT DAWN, written long before Buhari became spoken of as a credible candidate. For the exercise of a changeover of the national currency, the Nigerian borders air, sea and land had been shut tight.

Nothing was supposed to move in or out, not even cattle egrets. Yet a prominent camel was allowed through that needles eye. Not only did Buhari dispatch his aide- de-camp, Jokolo later to become an emir – to facilitate the entry of those cases, he ordered the redeployment as I later discovered – of the Customs Officer who stood firmly against the entry of the contravening baggage. That officer, the incumbent Vice-president is now a rival candidate to Buhari, but has somehow, in the meantime, earned a reputation that totally contradicts his conduct at the time. Wherever the truth lies, it does not redound to the credibility of the dictator of that time, General Buhari whose word was law, but whose allegiances were clearly negotiable.

On the theme of double, triple, multiple standards in the enforcement of the law, and indeed of the decrees passed by the Buhari regime at the time, let us recall the notorious case of Triple A Alhaji Alhaji Alhaji, then Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance. Who was caught, literally, with his pants down in distant Austria. That was not the crime however, and private conduct should always remain restricted to the domain of private censure. There was no decree against civil servants proving just as hormone driven as anyone else, especially outside the nation’s borders. However, there was a clear decree against the keeping of foreign accounts, and this was what emerged from the Austrian escapade. Alhaji Alhaji kept, not one, but several undeclared foreign accounts, and he had no business being in possession of the large amount of foreign currency of which he was robbed by his overnight companion. The media screamed for an even application of the law, but Buhari had turned suddenly deaf.

By contrast, Fela Anikulapo languished in goal for years, sentenced under that very draconian decree. His crime was being in possession of foreign exchange that he had legitimately received for the immediate upkeep of his band as they set off for an international engagement. A vicious sentence was slapped down on Fela by a judge who later became so remorse stricken at least after Buhari’s overthrow that he went to the King of Afro-beat and apologized. Lesser known was the traumatic experience of the director of an international communication agency, an affiliate of UNESCO.

Akin Fatoyinbo arrived at the airport in complete ignorance of the new currency decree. He was thrown in gaol in especially brutal condition, an experience from which he never fully recovered. It took several months of high-level intervention before that innocent man was eventually freed. These were not exceptional but mere sample cases from among hundreds of others, victims of a decree that was selectively applied, a decree that routinely penalized innocents and ruined the careers and businesses of many.

What else? What does one choose to include or leave out? What precisely was Ebenezer Babatope’s crime that he should have spent the entire tenure of General Buhari in detention?

Nothing beyond the fact that he once warned in the media that Buhari was an ambitious soldier who would bear watching through the lenses of a coup- detat. Babatope’s father died while he was in Buhari’s custody, the dictator remained deaf to every plea that he be at least released to attend his father’s funeral, even under guard. I wrote an article at the time, denouncing this pointless insensitivity. So little to demand by a man who was never accused of, nor tried for any crime, much less found guilty. Such a load of vindictiveness that smothered all traces of basic human compassion deserves no further comment in a nation that values its traditions. But then, speaking the truth was not what Buhari, as a self-imposed leader, was especially enamoured of enquire of Tunde Thompson and Nduka Irabor both of whom, faithful to their journalistic calling, published nothing but the truth, yet ended up sentenced under Buhari’s decree. Mind you, no one can say that Buhari was not true to his word. Shall tamper with the freedom of the press swore the dictator immediately on grabbing office, and this was exactly what he did. And so on, and on, and on.

MISADVENTURE OF KAWU BARAJE’S NEW PDP

The prognosis by those who have posited that the deliberate factionalization of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is part of the larger plot to stop President Goodluck Jonathan’s second term of office by first decimating the party such that it would be difficult for it to win the general elections even if Jonathan picks its presidential ticket, may be correct.  But will the plot sail through?  This is the pertinent question that should bother the camp of the plotters who have gone overboard to fish for trouble in what many discerning minds have regarded as political misadventure.

For the first time since the formation of the PDP in 1998, internal feud seems to have stretched it and its internal mechanism for conflict resolutions to their limits.  Some leaders of the party have coordinated an onslaught from within, trying to precipitate an implosion.  The presidency and the party leadership have been fighting back to steady the party and keep it strong as much as it is possible.  The bone of contention has purportedly been the bad management style of the national chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur.  Those who are not happy with Tukur, especially some state governors, have been pushing for his ouster.

And, for the first time, a seemingly unpopular national chairman of the party, who is central to the festering crisis, appears to be surviving the moves to oust him.  His survival is understandable: he still enjoys the backing and protection of President Jonathan.  Should Jonathan decide today that Tukur’s time is up, nobody in the PDP can save him.  But while the grace period subsists, Tukur is boasting that he is in charge and that he would brook no opposition.  Watchers of the development have argued that Tukur, who seems to have been out of tune with the running of a behemoth like the PDP and the constitution of the party, should have been more calm and statesmanlike in dealing with the issues at stake.

They pointed out that virtually all his predecessors did not survive moves to remove them.  Barnabas Gemade, Audu Ogbeh, Ahmadu Ali, and Okwesiliese Nwodo all had issues with the powers-that-be as well as other issues and were removed.  But Tukur’s luck, they reasoned, was that the governors who wanted him out were muddling a lot of other issues with it.  For instance, their hands were said to be in the plot to stop Jonathan’s re-election in 2015.  This has put them on Jonathan’s direct firing line.  Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, in particular, has been playing the role of an agent provocateur, deploying the platform of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) to propagate anti-Jonathan positions; which was why the Forum has been polarized with two leaderships.

Amaechi is believed to have sponsored the shuttle diplomacy that the five northern governors-Babangida Aliyu (Niger), Sule Lamido (Jigawa), Rabiu Kwankwanso (Kano), Aliyu Magartakarda Wammako (Sokoto) and Murtala Nyako (Adamawa)-embarked upon to selected PDP leaders across the country on the heels of the NGF election that produced the parallel leaderships of Amaechi and Jonah Jang of Plateau State.  Efforts at getting Amaechi to embrace a compromise position before the NGF election failed.  It was therefore clear that Amaechi and his group were acting out a carefully prepared script by some bigger masquerades behind the scene.

The veil gave way on August 31, 2013 at the party’s special mini convention when the seven aggrieved governors, including Amaechi and Kwara State Governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed, broke out of the convention ground in company with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to announce the formation of a new PDP at a press conference addressed at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre.  Former President Olusegun Obasanjo and General Ibrahim Babangida, who were believed to have sympathy for these aggrieved governors were also absent at the convention.  Interestingly, they were among the PDP leaders that mediated in the crisis and presented some recommendations subsequently to Jonathan for his attention and consideration.

What particularly attracted suspicion to Obasanjo as being the promoter of the rebellion was his absence at the convention, only for him to emerge in Aso Rock the morning after.  Babangida was understandably not there, because he has not really been attending PDP events.  Indeed, the elements that have conspired to wreak collateral damage on Jonathan’s re-election bid are doing that with their eyes on dismembering the party.  That process has begun.  The new PDP led by Kawu Baraje has opened its headquarters office in Maitama, which has now been sealed consequent upon a court order, restraining the leadership from parading itself as such.

Indeed, all these maneuvers, to my mind, tantamount to political misadventure, which is not in the interest of the elements involved in it.  Their calculation maybe to destroy the party in order to truncate Jonathan’s second term, but my concern is that some of them are trying to destroy a party that they did not help in forming and building.  The PDP is a big party that has catered to the needs and aspirations of these power wielders.  Obasanjo, for instance, was in jail when the PDP was formed.  He was only invited to be president on the platform.  Did he even build the party while in office for eight years?  The issue is moot.  Maybe he destroyed more than he built!

Where was Wammako in 1998? He was not in the PDP.  He was in the All Nigeria Peoples Party on which platform he was deputy governor to Attahiru Bafarawa in Sokoto.  What of Babangida Aliyu of Niger?  He was Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of FCT.  It was prelude to the 2007 election that he joined the PDP and was handed the ticket, almost gratis, to contest the governorship seat.  Amaechi was a fringe element in the formation of the PDP.  He was an aide of Dr Peter Odili, who became governor of Rivers in 1999.  It was Odili who sponsored him to the House of Assembly and predetermined his emergence as Speaker for eight years.  Is he grateful to Odili?  He is arrogantly not!

Senator Bukola Saraki who is tele-guiding Baraje was not there from the beginning.  Even his father, the late Senator Olusola Saraki who got him the PDP governorship ticket, was a founding leader of the All Peoples Party (APP).  Perhaps, only Lamido and Kwankwanso can be said to have been part of the formation of the PDP in 1998, which was why Lamido, a close ally of the late Abubakar Rimi, emerged as Minister of Foreign Affairs, while Kwankwanso emerged as governor of Kano State.  Lamido must particularly be commended for his position that he will not leave the PDP, that is to say he would fall in line once the issues were resolved.  Kwankwanso was almost toeing the same line until very recently when he was reported to have said the aggrieved governors could move to the opposition All Progressive Congress (APC).

Even that would have been better than dividing the PDP, with his faction holding on to a structure which is not recognized by any law and the electoral body.  

The new PDP is, as far as I am concerned, a huge joke.  All odds are against it.  The Presidency and its apparatchik are against it.  A vast majority of the party structures in the State are against it.  As it is, the new PDP is fighting a lost battle in a bid to decimate the ruling PDP. Many leaders in the aggrieved governors’ states are waiting for them to egress so that they can take over the party structures.

Can the promoters of the rebellion work in synergy to stop Jonathan’s re-election if they decide to team up with the opposition?  I do not think so.  There is nothing new that can happen to Jonathan’s candidacy in Kano, Sokoto, Jigawa, and Niger in 2015 that did not happen in the 2011 presidential elections.  Jonathan was defeated by Buhari in the four states.  In fact, he was defeated in all northwest and northeast states save Adamawa and Taraba where Jonathan scored 508,314 to Buhari’s 344,526 and 451,354 to Buhari’s 257,986 respectively.  In fact, it is only Nyako that can lay claim to having supported Jonathan solidly in 2011.

These are the scenarios that should moderate their actions before they perpetuate their extreme postures.

They should not allow this macabre dance to continue.  They would have committed political hara-kiri if PDP survives without them and also if Jonathan secures re-election in spite of them.  These possibilities should guide them to embrace reconciliation.  I believe PDP is home for them.  Many of those who left the party before now have since returned.  They should respond positively to the appeal by Jonathan and Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Chief Tony Anenih, to embrace reconciliation and return to the party.

And, if for nothing, they should mind Governor Godswill Akpabio’s warning that the aggrieved governors may realize late in the day that their people (masses in their states, not political jobbers) were not following them to where they have gone.  It is not too late to undo this political misadventure that the new PDP typifies.  Forewarned is forearmed.

Written By Sufuyan Ojeifo

Governor Amaechi needs a little education on democracy

Many people in Nigeria, particularly the enlightened and educated class know the man called, Professor Jibril Aminu. Those who know him can still say that he is a man of little words. Although versatile in the Nigerian political process, he has been the Vice Chancellor of Federal University of Yola, former Minister of Petroleum and former Minister of Education, and a distinguished Senator. These high premium positions, no doubt had placed him in position to accumulate a lot of experience about Nigerian politics. Since he is a man of little words, when last he spoke for the public consumption, he drew a lot of attention.

He quickly reminded me of what great philosopher, Edmond Burke once said: “All it takes for evil to thrive in a society is for good men to do nothing.” Thus, Jibiril Aminu must has been sufficiently disturbed of the wholesome recklessness of some governors for him to say, “governors will ruin our democracy.”

Because he is one of those highly respected Nigerians who simply do not believe in joining political frays. Many took notice and many more reacted positively to his remarks.

There is no doubt that many Nigerians have expressed deep resentment of some activities of some governors under the umbrella of Governors Forum. Under this umbrella, some of the governors have virtually left the responsibilities of governance in pursuit of the achievement of powers which they want to use by manipulating and influencing every decision which has a national political impact. They have gradually but steadily tried to erode the powers of the President whom they see as one of their own from whom they could get anything they want. It started when there was the need to appoint a Vice President after the death of Umaru Yar’Adua. Many of them supported that Goodluck Jonathan should be confirmed the President. They were supported by both the Constitution and well meaning Nigerians who believe in the rule of law.

They equally demanded that one of their own, Namadi Sambo was made the Vic President.   Since the tenure of Jonathan, the governors have been taken undue advantage.

The most annoying was the crisis in PDP which was a party affair but in which the Governors Forum collectively wielded into the issue in order to support Governor Muritla Nyako of Adamawa State, who due to some personal differences between him and Bamanga Tukur, threw their support behind Nyako.

Fortunately, the President used his administrative dexterity to settle the matter. The governors saw the President’s magnanimity as a victory for themselves. Hence, they accompanied Nyako to return to Yola, in a triumphant mood. Many sponsored political hooligans taunting the personality of Tukur in a jest. Yes, Nyako might have won the battle, what of the war?

What has recently incensed many Nigerians was a most puerile statement credited to Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State, who is invariably, the current chairman of Governors Forum. In more than two occasions now he had boasted with all amount of authority that the governors would never allow the Local Government autonomy. The most laughable aspect of Amaechi’s statement was when he said that there was nowhere in the world were Local Governments have autonomy. He demonstrated what one may describe as political naivety if not outright timidity. He was quoted to have said that even in America, which is the mother of Presidential System, Local Governments do not have autonomy.

In fact, Amaechi is one of those few governors in Nigeria that I have come to admire because of the cumulative achievements he has recorded in Rivers State. Besides, among all the 36 governors, I have thought that he has a quality education which must go with enlightenment. However, I was amused with many Nigerians disappointed that although he has good education, but he is too limited in the scope of world politics processes hence he should not have exposed himself by making the type of statements he has been making.

It is for this reason that I believe that he needs a bit of political education. For example, in United States, their Local Governments known as City Councils have influential Mayors such as Houston, New York, Dallas, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Atlanta and many others. There are some small cities so small with a population of between five and ten thousand but they still have Mayors.

These Mayors from both big and small cities constitute Conference of Mayors. Numbering about 30,000 Mayors, each one of them is absolutely autonomous in administration, finance, budgeting, resource control, health, education, etc. They plan and generate their own income. They do not depend on monthly handouts from either States or Federal Government. Although there may be statutory allocation to them, this depends on overlapping services which they render on behalf of state or Federal Government. Yet no state governor interferes with the authorities of the Mayors. However, the Mayors are often consulted when some national policies are affected, particularly on issues such as environment, urban development, sanitations, etc. City governments in America are well structured and independent in terms of administration.

Anybody who has good knowledge and not raw knowledge of American presidential System knows that no State Governor, including those powerful States such as California, New York, Texas etc directs or dictates to any city Mayor.  Mayors are elected as well as their Councilors and they have a lot of powers.

Even in the United Kingdom which runs a unitary system, City of London Council has such a side scope of power and the Mayor of the city, one of the most powerful Mayors in the world as that of Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, is never disturbed or controlled by the Prime Minister.

Back home, the Constitution has established the framework for the existence of Federal, State and Local Governments. Each has assigned roles as specified in Section 7 (1) of the Constitution of Nigeria and Fourth Schedule of the Constitution. The unfortunate thing is that governors became too greedy, power drunk, reckless, in some cases they abandoned their roles for good governance. Painfully, they have with few exception come to regard LGAs as their oasis of plenty in their back yard from where they net in billions of naira allocated to the LGAs for rural developments. Today, with exception, just fewer than four, there is no where in the seven hundred and seventy four (774) LGAs in Nigeria where there is any type of development going on. Yet so much money is allocated to these LGAs which some governors ingeniously contrived to their use.

Nigerians are alarmed at this colossal financial and reckless abuses. And they can’t tolerate it further. That is why there is huge support for the Local Government autonomy.

Painfully enough, many Nigerians have complained that of all the governors that have emerged since 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2011, the current bunch of governors have demonstrated lack of seriousness in governance. Today, many of them have virtually abandoned the core value of governance preferring to be making regular visits to the nation’s capital as their number one priority.

Some live in Abuja from where they operate, some rarely stay in offices to attend to government business, many prefer to honour personal social invitations such as weddings of colleague’s sons or daughters, birthday of their colleagues, burial ceremonies of their colleague’s relations etc. Government business has been reduced to a microscopic position of back sit. Some now conduct business of the government on   private jets, hence today, there are more governors owning private jets than anytime in the history of this country. The situation is so bad that many Nigerians have resorted to calling some governors “emperors” I may add “Imperial Governors.” Of course not all of them. No wonder their Chairman, Governor Rotimi Amaechi, boldly and of course shamelessly boasted “Governors will never accept Autonomy for Local Governments.” Soon, he will find in fact that political power comes from the people and not from governors.

Therefore, Amaechi and his bunch of greedy governors must be told in the very simple language that no amount of threat from the Governors Forum can thwart the people’s wish to see that Local Governments are given Autonomy. Even if the governors do what they know how to do best, bribe members of the National Assembly to drop the autonomy of LGAs, the people would resist it and would resist it and would impose it on the National Assembly.

In ending this little piece, Amaechi should be reminded of what John Kennedy said: “Those who make peaceful resolution difficult make violent change inevitable.”

Or more succinctly put, what Clifford Haas said: “When the people’s general will is suppressed, it is bound to explode to the consequences of those who suppressed such a will. Because the people are the source of all political powers and their supremacy cannot be suppressed.” Is this not a enough political lesson for Governor Amaechi?

IF NOT IN NIGERIA?

Much as one tries to mind his business;  focus on his daily occupation, and as such desist from paying much attention to contemporary  issues, certain disturbing  echoes emanating from the polity called Nigeria always provide one with one reason or the other to comment  on such blatant disregard for decency in a supposed sane society.

The news of the return of ailing Taraba State Governor who was involved in a jet crash about a year ago filtered in few days ago. And just as one was about  to start appraising the situation to determine the kind of concern one should have for the ailing Governor by way of sympathy, one was greeted with the disturbing news that the ailing Governor who cannot even walk un-aided let alone speak since he has not uttered  any statement nor address the press since  his arrival  has purportedly  written a letter to the Taraba State House of Assembly conveying his readiness to resume his duty post  as Governor.

One was then  taken aback as to what an interplay of absurdity reminiscence of the show of shame and brigandage that  surrounded  the health issue of the late former President Yar’adua again playing out itself in a supposed democratic setting.

Recalled that the issue concerning the health of former President Umar Musa Ya’adua was shrouded in secrecy such that the then first lady  Turai Yar’ Adua, was ruling the nation by proxy while the husband was lying helplessly on the sick bed in far away Germany ,and the Vice President  then, in person of Goodluck  Ebele Jonathan was never given access to him, neither was he allowed to act in his stead until the news of his death finally put paid to their intrigue and treachery.

After much reflection on the impulse of the Taraba issue, I concluded within myself that such absurd situation can only happen in Nigeria and Nigeria alone. If not in my country, where else? Does this country or its leadership class still have any sense of decency going by on-going embarrassing fiasco?

The manner and swiftness with which the letter of intent purportedly written by the ailing Governor was addressed to Taraba State House of Assembly upon his surprised arrival  shows a high network of conspiracy by  principal actors, Danbaba Suntai and his cronies, his Deputy and possibly the State House of Assembly  or certain  element in the Assembly ,against the sensibilities of the entire nation.

It is sure that the dramatis personae are acting out a script already prepared to supposedly bamboozle the about   150 million Nigerians and ensure that Governor Dambaba Suntai, a man said to still be in a terrible health condition lay false claim to be in control, while his cronies or possibly, his wife ride roughshod on the state and continue to feed the nation with falsehood and stage managed leadership.

Of a fact, if a patient suffers brain damage, it may take longer time to get the brain repaired and back to functioning stage if ever it will be functional again. Medically, people who are in a coma or a minimally responsive state may remain dependent on the care of others for the rest of their lives. How can someone who probably needs prayers from all of us tells us that he is ready to assume the post of Governor of a state with its attendant huge responsibilities, when it is obvious that he is not ready for such challenges in his current state of health.

How on earth do people love money more than themselves? Are we also sure that the decision to wrestle the state back is that of the ailing Governor whom we are not sure is fully aware of what is happening around him? Is it not another scheme by the people surrounding him to ensure that they continue to enjoy the peck of office at his expense?  Where else can this orgy of foolishness thrive, if not in my country? Nigeria!

Of course, where else can such happen, if not in Nigeria? If not in Nigeria, where else can we have an interplay of absurdity in all spheres of activity, even at the highest level of governance, or have we forgotten so easily the electoral brigandage committed during the recent  election of  Chairman of the Governor’s forum, where sixteen members are claiming superiority over nineteen members?

Closely related to this was the show of shame that follows in Rivers state where five dis- (honourable ) members purportedly impeached the Speaker of the House of Assembly in a brigandage manner . All these are happening in a supposedly democratic setting and sane society!.

After ruminating over the scenario, I later concluded that, in the same manner, Governor Dambaba Suntai of Taraba state and his cronies  should not be blamed for foisting such arrangement on the entire nation, since there is  a good precedent in former President Yar’Adua’s controversial health  matter ;The lawless Rivers State  Lawmakers should surely not be blamed since they equally have good  precedent in their Senior Colleague from Ogun State who wielded the “extra ordinary power” , so to say, with 11 Lawmakers displacing 15 Lawmakers. What a show of shame!

Nigeria is a country where   everything goes and anything can happen and it never bothers  our leaders that with such issues playing out itself, Nigeria will not only be a laughing stock among the comity of nations, but no one will ever take the nation, its leaders a la its people serious on any matter whatsoever and this will continue to have a negative toll on our development.

One still recall vividly the kangaroo judgment of a Nigeria High Court Judge, Tahlba Mahmud who awarded a sentence of two year imprisonment with an option of fine of a paltry sum of N750,000  to the former Deputy Director of Police Pension Fund, John Yakubu who owned up to the embezzlement of N27 billion of the over N33 billion pension fund scam.

The issue of the Wonder stow boy who travel on the wheel of a plane from Benin to Lagos is yet to fritter out. The teenage boy, Daniel Ihekina who was arrested at the Lagos airport flying in the tyre hole on an  Arik Airline said he thought the plane was US- bound. The story of the boy further exposed the security lapses, not only in our airport , but across other strata of the society. One cannot but wonder on the catalogue of absurdities that daily confront the nation, yet no one cares a hoot about the desirability or otherwise of such action.

How can anyone exercise control, when those at the highest echelon of leadership also display kindergarten-like stance in some of their actions. I wonder what is really wrong with some of our leaders and even the led and why everyone has decided to run viral throwing caution to the wind without ever thinking about the implication and negative effect on the polity called Nigeria.

Where else can this one happen except in Nigeria where corruption are daily swept under the carpet , while others commit heinous corrupt practices with impunity. The bribery scandal involving  a  top member of the House of Representatives, Farouk Lawan and business mogul, Femi Otedola was yet un-resolved, yet no one hears any news on the development. Is it not Nigeria?

It is the same Nigeria where some sets of electorates displayed their ignorance by  donning  Ankara “aso ebi” to welcome a chronic criminal in person of Bode George, on his return from prison.

On the Taraba state issue, while we are yet to see the end of interplay of drama that is still lurking ahead as the present manifestation is just few of the many bags of tricks in the hands of the dramatis personae, it is expected that civil society groups and other interest group take up the issue appropriately, since those in the highest echelon of authority have decided to look the other way, probably as part of the big conspiracy.

And, just as this writer was about ending this  piece ,information tripped in that the ailing Governor of Taraba State , Danbaba Suntai has dissolved his cabinet as well as appointed another Secretary to the State Government and Chief of Staff. Sure, this is just one of the many  bag of tricks. Unless, something urgent is done, a major political crisis may be looming in Zamfara state just as a result of the greed of some unscrupulous elements.

God Bless Nigeria!

Written By Waheed Ogunjobi

NIGERIA: BUILDING A NATION

Chinua Achebe once noted in one of his powerful pieces that “Nigeria is a child, gifted, enormously talented, prodigiously endowed and incredibly wayward”. In the same piece, he asserted “Being a Nigerian is abysmally frustrating and unbelievably exciting”. The question now is: Is Nigeria gifted? Yes! Is Nigeria enormously talented and Rich? Yes! Is Nigeria prodigiously endowed? Yes! Is being a Nigerian abysmally frustrating? Yes! Is being a Nigerian unbelievably exciting without any hamper, impediment or with doubt?

Yes! One can go on and on, asking both real and critical questions with the answer of ‘Yes’ reverberating countless times. The reason for this is not far-fetched. The frenzied atmosphere of the country is never ending, characterized by a convulsed existence. We have the record of being the only nation at some point in our history with an absent president for over two months, creating a power vacuum and leaving us in limbo. The average Nigerian has become prisoners and slaves in his own country with no one to reach out to and no one to voice out the inadequacies to.

Brecht once said “in our country, a useful man needs luck, only if he finds a strong backer, can be prove himself useful, the good can’t defend themselves even the gods are defenceless. Thus, you can only help one of your luckless brothers by trampling down a dozen others.” Countless times, the mind of this writer becomes lachrymose and reprehensible anytime maximum time is taken to think about Nigeria as a nation and the great people living in it. One must be blatant, make it crystal clear, visible to the blind and strive as much as possible to make it audible to the deaf that in the process of putting pen on paper on this article, this writer’s worries about Nigeria stemmed from a chat with an amiable and placid intellectual, Dr. C. A. Akangbe, who shared little about re-branding this Nation. ‘Great Nation, Great People!!!’ was the slogan of a re-branding crusade championed by the former Minister of Information, Prof. Mrs Dora Akunyili few years back. What a great dream! What a good clamour! Like a product in the dying stage of its life cycle, Nigeria’s moral is moribund, vices have become virtues and vice versa. This is the hallmark of our individual and collective lives. Our righteousness (in its best) is but a filthy rag, to paraphrase the Holy Scripture. The government is grossly insincere in all ramifications.

Despite receiving more than N31billion in salaries, allowances and benefits that clearly position members of the Nigerian senate as the world’s best paid lawmakers, not more than 35 serving senators have not listed a single Bill in their name since assuming office in 2011. Between 2011 and June 2013, each senator drew about 400 million in salaries, allowances, self-allocated bonuses and all kinds of acrimonious and illegal financial commitments. For 35 members of the senate, the sum for two years totals N13.2billion and N41billion for all 109 members whereby graduates are outside suffering while undergraduates spends extra 2 to 3 years from the normal 4 to 5 year degree course. They continue to make use of corps members maximally like permanent staff only to have them paid 19,800 Naira while they pre-occupy themselves with bills that promotes marriages to 13 year olds.

Primary Health Care and Education have become what only few can afford. ASSU strike is now an annual National Festival held in Nigeria where all government university students stay at home wallowing in waste and despondence. The business sector is processed by mad drive gain. The passion is for high percentage profit at the expense of the vast majority of the people. No one should think as a Nigerian he is secured, or was it not in the country few days ago a very senior and respected lawyer was kidnapped. The great nation continues to suffer plagues of crisis, each leading to loss of scores of lives, loss and destruction of properties and other avoidable misdemeanour. Nigeria is one country where government dialogues with the terrorists rather than using its Federal might to crush such unpalatable disturbers of our fragile peace. One wonders if the nation’s security apparatus have taken time to watch the “shoot to kill of Osama Bin Laden” by the US seal team!

With all sincerity, Nigeria is going down a path never seen in history which apparently is a pretty dangerous path, one that the whole world is keenly watching. One absolute fact is that pessimists would want to wonder if all the noise about rebuilding Nigeria is not a charade, a mere circus show, yet one cannot their pool of pessimism. What evidence of sincerity of purpose do we see in the self-styled apostles of rebuilding the government? Nothing but the case of do-what-we-say, don’t-do-what-we-do! The same view was corroborated by Dr. C. A. Akangbe that “An optimist however, sees light at the end of the tunnel, despite the thick cloud of the darkness”.

An optimist will see the need to look inward for rebuilding a moral, political, social and economic sector. Nigerians are hopeful people and believe there will soon be light at the end of the tunnel; hence, everyone must be determined to turn a new leaf while the leaders especially must prepare to lead by example. Those at the top must stop the unnecessary bloodshed and carnage that has come to characterise the entire country. The only time we can build a viable Nigeria is when everyone promotes and pursues sincerity of purpose and transparently deals with one another. Let us all jettison favouritism and imbibe merit. God bless Nigeria!_

Written By Ogundijo Emmanuel Omotayo