tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58135792757778726862024-03-27T16:54:55.950-07:00MUST READ!For A Better Society EDITORhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04813476568301834233noreply@blogger.comBlogger3497125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813579275777872686.post-18140549083294998762024-03-26T05:58:00.000-07:002024-03-26T05:59:51.017-07:00ANA Congratulates Distinguished Poet, Chiedu Ezeanah, At 60<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><b><u><span style="color: #a92a07; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 36pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">PRESS RELEASE<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: center;"><b><u><span style="color: #a92a07; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 36pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxwh0lcBZSA2SIbdjpPN7tt5hHXXkU4j3mFyBorJcS3GZrgFpGBOjf3rKgLAivzIfGgM2QZ9UP9p50CEMgkOR0b8nPnsvzJmod7SfrolYSWROF6yK6PArA_01dVpO62xHdL_-fVNg5oM36ZUO3AC0ypINfFkl-vC0Q0udYYhB5jcaSuK5SKg5EGVG8Hrk/s701/Poet%20Chiedu%20Ezeanah.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="701" data-original-width="526" height="673" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxwh0lcBZSA2SIbdjpPN7tt5hHXXkU4j3mFyBorJcS3GZrgFpGBOjf3rKgLAivzIfGgM2QZ9UP9p50CEMgkOR0b8nPnsvzJmod7SfrolYSWROF6yK6PArA_01dVpO62xHdL_-fVNg5oM36ZUO3AC0ypINfFkl-vC0Q0udYYhB5jcaSuK5SKg5EGVG8Hrk/w505-h673/Poet%20Chiedu%20Ezeanah.jpg" width="505" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #050505; font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 16pt;">I am delighted to convey the unreserved felicitations of the
<b>Association of Nigeria Authors (ANA)</b> to Mr. Chiedu Ezeanah on his 60th
Birthday.</span><span style="color: #050505; font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 16pt;"> </span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">At this auspicious moment, ANA deeply appreciates the immense
contributions of Chiedu Ezeanah to the promotion, sustenance and advancement of
the creative industry and writing in Nigeria.</span><span style="color: #050505; font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">He is a journalist, newspaper editor and poet of note. He is the
editor, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Mosaic Reference: African Writing Online: Many Literatures, One
Voice</i></b>, no.4 ISSN, 1754-6672 and the Publisher/CEO of Paradigm-City
Publishing Ltd, Asoskoro, Abuja.</span><span style="color: #050505; font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">His Creative Outputs include <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Air-Borne</i>,
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Phrases In The Air</i>, and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Meteor</i>, all from the collection, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Endsongs</i></b>.</span><span style="color: #050505; font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">To crown it all, Chiedu Ezeanah is a two-time winner of the
Music Society of Nigeria Festival Poetry Competition for 1999 and 2001.</span><span style="color: #050505; font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">ANA congratulates the literary sage as he marks his 60th year on
earth, wishes him long life and greater accomplishments in the years ahead.</span><span style="color: #050505; font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #050505; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Happy Birthday, Sir.</span><b><span style="color: #0710bd; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #0710bd; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Dr.
Usman-Oladipo Akanbi<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #0710bd; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 16pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><i>National
President, ANA.</i><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>EDITORhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04813476568301834233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813579275777872686.post-85439111493284199002024-03-25T09:37:00.000-07:002024-03-25T09:37:54.059-07:00Nigeria: Bandits As Central Bank <p> <b><span style="color: #5b0d14; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">By Emeka Obasi</span></b></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Strange things are coming up in
our country where the Central Bank sounds like an ocean of free
flowing money drowning the economy while those saddled with responsibility fill
their mystery and phantom accounts with solid and liquid cash.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA4BTAOdRk1lIn2CLPTOZgABCNHDO4zssi4b9m5GVHISU8ZtZVO69bFzq9WNja0emMSKdauW_ZAbHtG6tvG5c5Iqij6hkb2czNlYjdkkrzeGrO2bqW8kpgacgzQ-Ss64Ov7GjzSZZmfykAkDRauM7LVAVJYj_qsjbZ6vSZe7FRBoFzdmuoOmzSF69XmMM/s636/Bandits.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="448" data-original-width="636" height="372" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA4BTAOdRk1lIn2CLPTOZgABCNHDO4zssi4b9m5GVHISU8ZtZVO69bFzq9WNja0emMSKdauW_ZAbHtG6tvG5c5Iqij6hkb2czNlYjdkkrzeGrO2bqW8kpgacgzQ-Ss64Ov7GjzSZZmfykAkDRauM7LVAVJYj_qsjbZ6vSZe7FRBoFzdmuoOmzSF69XmMM/w529-h372/Bandits.jpg" width="529" /></a></div><p></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> Recently, sixteen persons
were abducted by bandits in the Gonin Gora part of the Chikun Local Government
Area of Kaduna State. What came as a shocker was the 40 trillion naira ransom
placed on them. How the poor souls will be able to raise that huge amount is
not debatable. Literarily, they have been condemned to death.<span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Money is not just the root of Nigeria’s comatose economy, it is the
oxygen that gives life to insecurity. In the midst of abject poverty, some of
those who stole the people’s commonwealth are buying houses in Dubai, London
and Paris.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The bandits have now shown that
they are smarter than the few who ruin our economy. Remember, during the days
of naira beautification by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in 2023, there
were more new naira notes in the forest than in the bank.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Bandits captured themselves on
camera, displaying the scarce naira notes. Law-abiding citizens were sleeping
within bank premises, treated like criminals by the system. I am sure if there
were free passes issued by the Robin Hoods of our jungles, many would have gone
there for transactions.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">We have been told severally that
Nigeria is broke. An oil-rich nation that was Santa Claus to even some parts of
the Western World, has become a leprous beggar, ignored by erstwhile poor
neighbours. Our people are walking about in rags, stinking of poverty.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">While those who live in
metropolitan and cosmopolitan cities smell sour, the bush landlords have
sweet-smelling naira notes to spend. How they use ransom money in the system
without being fingered by security operatives is a bigger question.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Nothing goes up and comes down
in our society. Those who talk of Law of Gravity should confine themselves to
the laboratory. Now that ransom has been hiked to trillions, there is danger.
If you kidnap the whole of Lagos, no one is going to drop 40 trillion naira
which the 16 abductees are expected to pay.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">There are no visible bandits in
Lagos, anyway. They operate majorly in the North-West Geo-Political Zone. </span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The
unfortunate part of their lucrative business is that they do not kidnap
billionaires. Those who suffer are peasant farmers.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">I have a feeling that pretty
soon, those in need of scarce dollars may be forced to go the forests. It is
nothing strange. During the Civil War, there was what Biafrans called <i>‘Ahia
Attack’ </i>( Attack Market ). Everything but death was lacking in the war-ravaged
areas.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">In an unwritten agreement, starved Biafran brave men and women would
cross over to Federal Lines, purchase essential commodities and bring them back
for sale, to the hungry. The good thing was that five Biafran pounds
could purchase more than today’s five thousand naira.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The governor of Bank of Biafra,
Dr. Sylvester Ugo, did not have to print money like we have seen of recent. And
there were no bandits abducting people in villages. During the war, those who
starved to death did so because there were no millionaires to help.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">What an irony that in Nigeria
today, where trillions of naira were printed outside our shores, people are
dying of hunger in a country of trillionaires. Who knows what the bandits are
planning to do with the trillion naira ransom. They may use it to make the bush
more alluring.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> It is a shame that our
country has become another Central African Republic where Jean Bokasa,
after bankrupting the country, continued to print money. That is exactly what
the previous government of President Muhammadu Buhari did.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">We all laughed at Bokasa’s
ignorance when during the International Women’s Year in 1971, he ordered the
execution of all men convicted of crimes against females and released all women
serving sentences in Bangui jails. Papa Bok, as they called him, will be
laughing at us in his tomb.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Francisco Macias Nguema of
Guinea Equatorial did not waste time with the president of the National Bank.
President For Life put him in jail and had the man beaten to death but left the
signature on bank – notes. At least, the dead man had honour. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">We are not better than Haiti,
under Jean – Claude Duvalier, also by known and addressed, as Baby Doc. In
1975, half of the revenue accruing to the country was paid into about 3,000
Special Accounts. His father, Papa Doc, ruled the country with iron fists and
his mother, Mama Simone, still left something for the people.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Here, leaders loot our treasury,
print more money, loot again, then rush to international creditors for loan.
The National Assembly does nothing, hears no evil and asks for expanded
budgetary allocations. And we do not see that as banditry.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The Bush Bandits are learning
from the Bourgeois Bandits. While the Central Bank controls trillions, the
Jungle Bank collects trillions. It is all about money and there are no saints
in this business of sinners. The signs are ominous.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Those who think Bandits are
numbskulls should study their modus operandi. They abduct, force government
into negotiations, get all the ransom, are never punished, go for more jobs and
get paid the more. In the forest, minimum wage comes in millions.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #0000cc; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">*Obasi
is a commentator on public issues <o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>EDITORhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04813476568301834233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813579275777872686.post-55785389081723110252024-03-25T09:16:00.000-07:002024-03-25T09:16:48.681-07:00Mr President: Only 100,000 People Can Start A Food Revolution!<p> <b><span style="color: #5b0d14; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">By Dele Sobowale</span></b></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">“An activist is not a man who says the river is
dirty; an activist is a man who steps forward to clean the river.”</span></i><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> — <b>Chief Gamaliel
Onosode.</b></span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Very few people now recall
that the famed Onosode ran for the Presidency in 2007. Asked why an
activist and already accomplished man like him wanted to go into the dirty
waters of politics, the quote above was his reply. He did not win the election
but he left food for thought or thought for food in that statement which I just
re-discovered in my archive, buried since 2007.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAH0w-HdFfpxjzsXvLfjMRqp7RIY_e0Mzeu1EJDmxv4A9-HQEwWPF6eoFFcyJ0ZUj-11Q_iipgPZ1uM8BmXh4BHTNZmFQ5D3QNKBCczg9IjcVjOCzBsjgmM248L37dGNR9VtLXU1cx0Cg8nm3i8C63YxlxH7LLpVGUyCEQHm9Yq0etiNktcau3CxgVC70/s638/Farm%20land%20agriculture.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="359" data-original-width="638" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAH0w-HdFfpxjzsXvLfjMRqp7RIY_e0Mzeu1EJDmxv4A9-HQEwWPF6eoFFcyJ0ZUj-11Q_iipgPZ1uM8BmXh4BHTNZmFQ5D3QNKBCczg9IjcVjOCzBsjgmM248L37dGNR9VtLXU1cx0Cg8nm3i8C63YxlxH7LLpVGUyCEQHm9Yq0etiNktcau3CxgVC70/w526-h295/Farm%20land%20agriculture.jpg" width="526" /></a></div><p></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The statement gave me an idea
which had been developing in my mind for ten years which I once observed
working well in India in the 1980s. When the Indian Prime Minister, Nehru,
prohibited food importation, he also declared that “India should starve, if
India cannot feed herself.” It was a bold measure which made India the largest
producer and second largest exporter of food globally. A nation which
could not feed 400 million people now takes care of the food needs of 1.4
billion and still exports to the rest of the world.<span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><o:p></o:p><p></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">How was it done?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Before answering the question,
let me draw attention to three initiatives by the Federal and state governments
of Nigeria, which are necessary but insufficient, to create the impact we need
in order to achieve sustainable food security.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">President Tinubu was in Niger
State to launch a new state agricultural programme designed to promote large
scale farming. Pictures of president and governor sitting on new tractors were
published; the usual addresses and promises of great output were made. </span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Obviously, neither Tinubu nor Bago was aware that they were repeating the same
things which had been tried before with limited success. The Operation Feed the
Nation, OFN, programme of General Olusegun Obasanjo regime in the 1970s, the
Green Revolution Programme, GRP, introduced by President Shehu Shagari in the
early 1980s and the NALDA programme embarked upon by President Ibrahim
Babangida, in 1992, all started with the laudable objective of helping Nigeria
attain food security and enough to export. They were also kicked off with the
Head of State riding a tractor and a governor beaming with smiles. Till today,
food security eludes us.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Why?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">“Give a man fish and he is fed
for one day; teach him how to fish, and he feeds himself all his life.” That
was the wisdom behind the transformation of India and China into agricultural
super-powers. They have overtaken the US as leading exporters of food. Here is
why.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">A few days after the Minna show, Governor Zulum of
Borno State was reported in <i><b>Daily Trust</b></i> of March 18, 2024, to have shared food
items to 52,500 families in southern Borno and to have also distributed N100
million to youth and women farmers – each receiving N50,000 grant to cultivate
their farmlands. Given a population exceeding one million in the area, it was
not clear how the beneficiaries were selected. Irrespective of how the
beneficiaries were determined, the Governor is still pursuing the principle of
giving people food (rice and millet) that would feed them for, at best, a few
days. Then they will be back to beg for rice and millet. In reality, the half
bag of millet and rice given to them will not be eaten; more than half will be
sold to buy ingredients without which raw rice and millet are useless.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><b><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">FG and another summit<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">“The Federal Government has
fixed a national agriculture and food security summit for November this year in
Calabar, Cross River State, according to the Minister for Agriculture and Food
Security, Abubakar Kyari. We wonder why a summit on food security has to wait
until November 2024, given the emergency situation that high food costs and
hunger have imposed on the people of this country.” – <i><b>Vanguard</b></i> Newspaper
Editorial, March 18, 2024.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">This paper went on to point out,
quite correctly, that by November, this year’s planting season will be over.
What the editorial missed is just as important. The final communiqué and
recommendations to government of the November summit will most probably not be
ready until about March 2025; the FG will not implement the recommendations
without further study and amendments – which will take several months. By then,
the planting season for 2025 would have been over. Two whole years will be lost
on account of that approach to solving our emergency food crisis. That is not
even all.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Summits have never succeeded in
solving the problems they start out to address. In my 14 years as staff of
Vanguard Newspaper, and as the Economist-In-Residence, I attended more summits
than I can possibly count. My archives are full of all the junk collected from
those jamborees. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The most famous of them remains
the Nigerian Economic Summit Group, NESG; founded by late Chief Ernest
Shonekan; the Head of the Interim National Government, HING. Working under
President Babangida, Shonekan inaugurated the NESG in 1992. NESG started off,
as a private sector initiative, with enthusiasm to achieve the exalted aim of
making Nigeria a top 20 economy by 2020. Very quickly, it degenerated into a
worthless talk-shop with no impact on Nigerian economic policy. I attended
eight straight summits; and then stopped. Nobody can point to any significant
contribution NESG has made since its inception.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">States’ economic summits were
just as unproductive. Some smart alecs in states collude with the governors to
siphon money into private pockets by organising economic summits. With nothing
more than bellyful of pounded yam to show for attendance, I stopped after about
a dozen. But, I always keep my eyes on the events to see if anything good would
come out of each summit. It never does.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> It has been necessary to
go to great lengths to advise the FG about the risks being taken in arranging a
summit for November. Contrary to what government officials might think of the
summit, it is an idea which has been tried several times and ended up being a
waste of time, hope and money. They seldom work.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">A modest proposal<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">“Ideas are capital; the rest is
money.” The Ministry of Agriculture has resorted to a conventional way of
solving what is, in effect, an unusual situation. Undoubtedly, they have lined
up professors and motivational speakers, traditional dancers etc to ensure the
participants have a nice time. The summit will cost millions of naira; but, it
might not even begin to solve the problem. It will probably end up as just
another summit whose only beneficiaries are those awarded contracts and those
certain to collect kick-backs and kick-fronts.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Archimedes, the father of
hydraulic systems, was reputed to have boasted: “Give me a lever, a pivot and a
place to stand, and I will move the world.” As in physics, so it is in economic
development. Sometimes, a brilliant and simple idea, pressed to the limit, can
transform one aspect of a society in a profound way. I found out one of the
ways by which India became a food exporter by accident. Our Head Brewer at
North Brewery Limited, Kano, was late Mr Patel, an Indian. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">We became very close when Patel
learnt that I studied in America. He was determined to migrate there after
working in Nigeria. I was also curious about India. So, in 1983, I took my
annual leave and with Patel’s help, went to India to find out how the country
could feed so many people. I soon discovered how his village of 10,000 people
fed millions. Nigeria can duplicate that feat and it will cost less than
two (2) per cent the cost of the planned November Summit. Give me 100,000
people, and I will feed millions.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #0000cc; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">*Dr.
Sobowale is a commentator on public issues</span></i></b></p>EDITORhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04813476568301834233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813579275777872686.post-77147226474002902802024-03-18T08:08:00.000-07:002024-03-18T08:08:15.355-07:00Constituency Projects: Legislators Manipulating Nigerians <p> <b><span style="color: maroon; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">By Tonnie Iredia</span></b></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Federal legislators in
Nigeria especially senators imagine that they are the smartest people in
Africa, South of the Sahara and even North of the Equator. Perhaps they are
actually smart considering the ease with which they get away with a legion of
transparently repulsive allegations. Indeed, no one has been able to hold our
senators down to the undesirable financial transactions that people know and
see about them as a group.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizlzzrTwi31cZg30ruMVR9toXC1VLq0LY5A7KzLDcLZiJ0i7VLKMqe7_tNr-zSz-n45Ouhe1SJnzdJi57OalF1yzgFxjOh5rTGqIf2dEeKLNaIWOcH0z_6hqNcQqPrHs_AwzHknWp3rUf7glpJWWBIQsMYBtKhjYbbkzv-HNa9xLINFh6BDpfheqdoICY/s1000/Constituency%20Projects.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="750" height="657" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizlzzrTwi31cZg30ruMVR9toXC1VLq0LY5A7KzLDcLZiJ0i7VLKMqe7_tNr-zSz-n45Ouhe1SJnzdJi57OalF1yzgFxjOh5rTGqIf2dEeKLNaIWOcH0z_6hqNcQqPrHs_AwzHknWp3rUf7glpJWWBIQsMYBtKhjYbbkzv-HNa9xLINFh6BDpfheqdoICY/w493-h657/Constituency%20Projects.jpg" width="493" /></a></div><p></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">When analysts raised the alarm
many years back that Nigerian legislators were the highest paid in the world,
they published their basic salaries which were not excessive but successfully
hid their several secret allowances from sundry sources. They allegedly got
paid for ghost legislative aides but no one could prove it beyond
reasonable doubt; just as they virtually hypnotised public officers from going
public with their dirty oversight functions. <span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Today, this column seeks to admonish them to watch
their backs because as the saying goes, ‘every day for the thief; one day for
the owner of the house.’ Many people who have followed the incredible modus
operandi of our lawmakers are busy convincing many others that our
legislators are a distraction to Nigeria’s development and that the day of the
owner of the house is quite near. It is therefore time for our lawmakers to
play down on their lucrative but expensive hobby which some of their members
quietly deprecate. In fact, we need no soothsayers to perceive the impending
doom which their albatross – budget padding, may sooner than they expect
unleash on some of them. A review of the nature of their handling of budget
matters can easily confirm the point.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Although the ongoing
controversies surrounding this year’s budget are quite curious, budgets for
previous years were no less contentious. The only difference now is that the nation’s
poor economy is thoroughly illuminating the trend of budget manipulations in
Nigeria. There is hardly any year in which duplicated projects have not
been exposed by professional analysts such as BudgIT- a foremost civic-tech
organization engaged in the advocacy for fiscal transparency and public
accountability in Nigeria. In 2021, there were reports of as many as 316
duplicated projects inserted into the budget by the National Assembly. In 2022,
BudgIT reported 460 duplicated items amounting to N378.9 billion. When these
reports are put beside the trending derogatory 2017 remarks on legislators by
former President Olusegun Obasanjo one cannot but fear for the lawmakers.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">If Obasanjo is known to be
hostile to legislators, what of former President Muhammadu Buhari a supposed
friend of the National Assembly who last year had to publicly condemn what he
called “worrisome changes” to the budget by the lawmakers amounting to 6,576
new items not previously discussed behind closed doors by the two arms. The argument
that legislators have a right to review a budget before approving it becomes
puerile when the power to review is abused by distorting the document with new
incoherent items in which several projects are inexplicably lumped into the
budgets of agencies that have no responsibility for such projects. For example,
the National Agency for Great green Wall set up to prevent land degradation and
desertification afflicting parts of the country suddenly found within its
budget, N1.3 billion for purchasing motorcycles, street lights and other
projects outside its mandate.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> If budgeting is not
appropriately directed to its proper target, it can be assumed that such
distortion is a veiled attempt to budget for nebulous items that would in the
end be diverted to private pockets. What was the rationale for crediting as
much as N67.8 million to the Ministry of Environment for the construction of
Gun Armouries when the Ministry is not a security agency? Bearing in mind that
such anomalies were discovered in the past, why in 2024, are there fresh
reports on the repeated trend of budgeting for boreholes and solar panels (at
forex rates) when such items are in essence not federal projects? Can such
insertions be justified with the argument that legislators had during campaigns
promised their constituents of bringing goodies back home? How sincere is a
legislator who promises goodies outside law-making?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> The recent allegations by
Senator Abdul Ningi (Bauchi Central) that certain items in this year’s budget
were not clearly located and that some constituencies had more projects than
others have summarily earned him a-3month suspension by the Senate. Here, a
number of issues are thrown-up. Many legislators including hitherto
non-conformist Ali Ndume (Borno South) have supported the suspension, some
quite aggressively and others purporting to be persuasive. Yet, they all
ignored the essence of process. Ningi’s allegations are too weighty to be
concluded without a thorough investigation. Why were such huge allegations not
first sent to the relevant committee for deliberation beforè positioning the
Senate as a whole to make informed decisions? The agility of the senate this
time around is a sign that when an allegation is troubling, the tendency
is to face it with troubling posture.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> In other words, the best
way to know if the senators nurse some guilt about any allegation is to watch
their body language and not necessarily their words. Under such circumstance it
is very easy to see everyone falling on one another to quickly dispense with
the allegation. As a result, due process is always sacrificed. This is most
visible when the allegation concerns corrupt practices. In 2003 when Nasir el
Rufai exposed two senators who demanded bribe to facilitate his clearance as
Minister, the senate hurriedly met to say the story was false; yet quickly
cleared el Rufai. The handling of the Ningi case got a good dosage of how the
House of Representatives descended on one of their own, Abdulmumini Jibrin who
accused the leadership of the House of budget padding in 2016. It did not occur
to the members that Jibrin being the then chairman of the appropriation
committee of the House stood as the most credible source on the subject. His
reading of the posture of the House leadership could hardly be challenged.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> Once legislators have a
feeling that one of them is exposing a guarded secret, the member must be
quickly silenced. Whether or not the verdict is harsh is not considered. As
former Senator Shehu Sani has confirmed, that is why many dissatisfied legislators
remain mute. Also discarded, is the almighty subject of the rule of law. Almost
every year our legislators find cause to suspend one of their members without
remembering that each of such suspensions has always been quashed by the
courts. Are our legislators suggesting that court orders are not binding on
them? The suspension of Dino Melaye and others by the House of Representatives
in 2010 was quashed by the court; the same thing happened with the case
of Jibrin 2016 as well as the suspension of Ali Ndume by the senate in
2017. </span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Does the National Assembly relish the disobedience of court
orders?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> The number of times the
courts have held that the National Assembly cannot suspend their members
and the fact that the latter continues to disobey the judgment seems to
confirm the hypothesis that such suspensions are merely face-saving as well as
a device to punish all members who divulge secrets from which the group hugely
gains materially. </span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Painfully, it is a subject on which the few courageous members
follow the dictates of their hearts irrespective of the anticipated illegal
verdicts. As we have seen in the Ningi case, Agom Jarigbe (Cross River, North)
insists that although he is a ranking senator he did not get constituency
projects worth N500 million which some senior senators secretly got. Tony Nwoye
(Anambra North) says the value of the allocation he got was N250 million. Thus,
that the senate placed certain constituencies above others shows that
allocations were not for senatorial districts but for persons who are for
the time being presiding.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">As for the alleged plan to impeach the senate
president, there is nothing special or new about that. The emotional outburst
is irrelevant because it is senators that elected him and they too are
empowered to remove or keep him there as they desire. It is neither a public
matter nor does it justify discrimination in resource allocations. The Senate
should find more befitting punishment for the legislators they wish to
witch-hunt instead of suspending such persons thereby hurting an innocent
constituency.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #0000cc; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">*Dr. Iredia is former DG of the Nigerian Television
Authority (NTA)<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>EDITORhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04813476568301834233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813579275777872686.post-43467559339701282252024-03-18T07:20:00.000-07:002024-03-18T07:20:54.925-07:00Nigeria: When The Chief Justice Brings The Judiciary To Ridicule <p> <b><span style="color: maroon; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">By Chidi Odinkalu</span></b></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">On February 27, 2024, Nigeria’s
National Judicial Institute, NJI, in Abuja opened a continuing education course
for judges. The opening featured an address by the Chief Justice of Nigeria,
CJN, Olukayode Ariwoola, who invited the participants to eschew “unethical
conduct that could expose the judiciary to ridicule.” Beneath his text, it
seemed as if the Chief Justice desired to warn the participants to stay away
from interfering with a brief that he has chosen to make entirely his own.
Under his watch, judicial appointments in Nigeria have become farcical.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #303030; font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiKproaGqgeiM4sKvB2l9iK8bY1fZbNE7q_R9pKwjtDBi0kMklSx8fD-d0pmIwu2ajWbfxBFKKDvtAtqYWXvfWt5XT3uyqk8HtJV871D5CtgNL-mv_KpncHS8F_fu9p835lTU-zroznR-X9U7foWbZk5_rmbWUaGQ2xPuKfgvQgfdiAqmUXLSDs-HKeQA/s253/Olukayode%20Ariwoola,.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="199" data-original-width="253" height="409" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiKproaGqgeiM4sKvB2l9iK8bY1fZbNE7q_R9pKwjtDBi0kMklSx8fD-d0pmIwu2ajWbfxBFKKDvtAtqYWXvfWt5XT3uyqk8HtJV871D5CtgNL-mv_KpncHS8F_fu9p835lTU-zroznR-X9U7foWbZk5_rmbWUaGQ2xPuKfgvQgfdiAqmUXLSDs-HKeQA/w520-h409/Olukayode%20Ariwoola,.jpg" width="520" /></a></div><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">*CJN <o:p></o:p></span></b><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Olukayode Ariwoola</span></b></span><p></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> The fortnight before this
address, it emerged that the CJN’s daughter-in-law, Oluwakemi, was at the top
of a list of 12 nominees to fill judicial vacancies in the High Court of the
Federal Capital Territory, FCT. In the preceding six months, he had also
appointed his son, Kayode Jr., as a judge of the Federal High Court; elevated
his nephew, Lateef, to become a Justice of the Court of Appeal; and made his
own blood brother, Adebayo, the auditor of the National Judicial Council, NJC,
which he chairs in his capacity as the CJN. With this CJN’s retirement from
office due on August 22, 2024, the concerted effort to anoint his daughter-in-law
to the bench would presumably showcase his credentials for gender equity within
his family. Let’s not digress though.<span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">That these appointments have occurred when they did is no coincidence.
They are spoils of office for the CJN. Nor is it any coincidence that the same
list that proposes the CJN’s daughter-in-law for appointment as a judge of the
High Court of the FCT also contains the names of the daughters of the Chief
Judge of the FCT, Hussaini Baba-Yusuf; and of Ariwoola’s predecessor in the
office of the CJN, Ibrahim Muhammad Tanko.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">As a federal institution,
however, section 14(3) of Nigeria’s Constitution requires that appointments to
the High Court of the FCT “shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect
the federal character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity, and
also to command national loyalty, thereby ensuring that there shall be no
predominance of persons from a few State or from a few ethnic or other
sectional groups in that Government or in any of its agencies.” If these
nominations in favour of the children of the Chief Judge of the FCT and the CJN
were to be implemented, then their respective states, Kogi and Oyo, will have
three judges on the bench of the court while a state like Ebonyi would have
none. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> It requires no original
insight to understand that this kind of outcome is hardly compatible with the
requirements of Federal Character. Sadly, the senior judges who are supposed to
protect this high constitutional value are the people willfully endangering it. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Last month, Azubuike
Oko, a lawyer from Ebonyi State, sued accusing the CJN and the Chief Judge of
the FCT High Court of unconscionable insider-dealing in judicial appointments.
In response to the suit, the CJN and his satrap in the FCT High Court did not bother
to confront the serious allegations levelled against them. Instead, they sought
to disqualify Mr. Oko from litigating the issue by arguing that he lacked the
standing to sue, claiming, contrary to a long line of relevant jurisprudence,
that he had not suffered any personal injury. </span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> On March 15, the Federal
High Court in Abuja presided over by Inyang Ekwo, upheld these shameful
objections by the CJN and the Chief Judge of the FCT High Court. According to
the judge, in order to establish standing to question this high racketeering in
judicial office by the two officials responsible for stopping it, Mr. Oko
needed to show “how the appointment being considered by the defendants has
affected him as a person…. This, he would have done, by showing that he applied
to be considered by the defendants for appointment but he was ‘routinely
excluded and marginalized.” How he was supposed to show this in a situation in
which the CJN and the heads of courts who work under him will not allow a fair
and credible process of judicial recruitment, only the judge can tell.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> This is the latest in a
line of cases in which senior judges use their offices to steal judicial
appointments for their children or mistresses and then use lower court judges
to make it legal. In 2020, the Justice Reform Project, JRP, an entity
comprising several Senior Advocates of Nigeria, SANs, sued to restrain former
President, Muhammadu Buhari, from going forward with the appointment of 21
persons to the bench of the High Court of the FCT who, according to the JRP,
“failed to meet the mandatory requirements under the NJC Procedural Rules.”
That round of hires, like the latest, was bounty for judicial insiders. On
September 30, 2020, Okon Abang, then a judge of the Federal High Court, ruled
that the “JRP lacked the legal right to challenge the NJC’s actions and that
the National Industrial Court and not the Federal High Court was the proper
court to approach as it was an employment-related case.” <o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> The appeal by the
JRP against this judgement has been pending since November 24, 2020. Meanwhile,
for his efforts, Okon Abang got elevated to the Court of Appeal in October 2023
along with the nephew of the Chief Justice. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> The JRP are not the
only SANs openly scandalised by what the CJN and his colleagues are doing with
judicial appointments. In January 2024, seven SANS from Kogi State sued the
State Chief Judge, Josiah Majebi, and the Kogi State Judicial Service
Commission, alleging egregious perversions in the nominations into high court
vacancies in the state, including the nomination of a wife of the then outgoing
governor of the State, Amina, whose only claim to the nomination appeared to be
her marital relationship with the then incumbent in the office of the Governor.
The SANs effectively claimed that the effort by the Chief Judge of Kogi State
and the Judicial Service which he chairs, to nominate Amina Bello as a judge of
the Kogi High Court was meant as a parting gift to the state governor, who was
term-limited, making it clear that this was not a lawful or relevant factor in
the exercise of powers of judicial appointment.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">While this case is pending, the NJC has suspended the process of
appointment of new judges in Kogi State. In neighbouring Edo State, however,
the appointment of new judges is suspended by the ego of Governor Godwin Obaseki.
In June 2023, the NJC approved the appointment of eight new judges to the High
Court of Edo State. Over eight months later, the Governor has refused to
consent to their appointment or to swear them in. Adaze Emwanta, a former
Commissioner in Governor Obaseki’s cabinet, sued late last year seeking to
compel the Governor to formalise these appointments. </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> A manifestly unwilling
Governor Obaseki has chosen instead to use the case as his excuse for refusing
to appoint them. While the case pends, these judicial nominees waste. Because
they have been nominated as judges, they can no longer undertake legal work to
subsist or earn. But because they have not yet been formally appointed as
judges, they cannot be paid in that role. In effect, Governor Obaseki does more
than merely choose not to appoint them as judges. He has chosen to destitute
them and ruin their lives.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> While all these
scandals unfold, the leadership of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, under the
presidency of Yakubu Maikyau, SAN, has chosen to toe the path of eloquent
silence. The president of the NBA is a member of the National Judicial Council
and he is entitled to nominate three other representatives of the Association
into that body. For the record, the stated motto of the NBA supposedly is
“promoting the rule of law”. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Odinkalu,</span></b></span></i><span style="font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><i><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> a</span></b></i><em><span style="font-family: Georgia, "serif";"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> lawyer and a teacher, can be reached at <a href="mailto:chidi.odinkalu@tufts.edu">chidi.odinkalu@tufts.edu</a></span></b></span></em></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>EDITORhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04813476568301834233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813579275777872686.post-88610343737683524862024-03-18T06:12:00.000-07:002024-03-18T06:12:43.833-07:00Funding Universities: Prof Obafemi Speaks In UNIJOS, As ASUU Holds Heroes' Day <p> <span style="font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Renowned poet, playwright, author and Professor of English
and Dramatic Literature, Prof. Olu Obafemi has been chosen to be guest speaker
at the public lecture/heroes' day of the Academic Staff Union of Universities
(ASUU) at the University of Jos (UNIJOS).</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrhkf0yqdEkETUItWGfsW-fADuDBxE2cFBLsiUjq9cqlnvkRaDuDe3ImkyF0OpAM2nfflGkVphmQxcOq7IeMpJZKoYhirblSluX1IVGXAxLhNeHI1wfsFA4fCGlgDMZ-QzDE-zyThsJDttv0WcwqWkKf4cXJq7n_awEO0LYsg3uotWQxtnQXY47vOj1j8/s767/Prof%20Olu%20Obafemi-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="767" data-original-width="683" height="553" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrhkf0yqdEkETUItWGfsW-fADuDBxE2cFBLsiUjq9cqlnvkRaDuDe3ImkyF0OpAM2nfflGkVphmQxcOq7IeMpJZKoYhirblSluX1IVGXAxLhNeHI1wfsFA4fCGlgDMZ-QzDE-zyThsJDttv0WcwqWkKf4cXJq7n_awEO0LYsg3uotWQxtnQXY47vOj1j8/w492-h553/Prof%20Olu%20Obafemi-2.jpg" width="492" /></a></div><b><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">*Obafemi </span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;">At the event scheduled for 10am this Friday March 22 2024 at Unity Hall, ASUU Secretariat in Naraguta Campus of UNIJOS, Obafemi would speak on the topic, <i>"Government's Commitment Towards The Funding Of Public Universities In Nigeria: The Past, The Present and The Future</i>."<span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><o:p></o:p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 18.4px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Obafemi, former President, Nigerian Academy of Letters (2016-2018), is believed to have pioneered an experimental tool for revolutionary aesthetics in Africa, typifying the plays of second generation Nigerian and African dramatists.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">His works has also influenced the interpretation of radical
drama among theatre scholars in West Africa in the 1980s and 90s.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Obafemi has also contributed to advancing the discourse on
post-feminist aesthetics in Nigeria drama to the engagement in material
perception of society.<span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">A statement by the Convener of the event and Head,
Department of English in UNIJOS, Prof. Jeff Doki, said the Chief Host is the
institution's Vice Chancellor, Prof. Tanko Ishaya; Host is Dr. Jurbe Molwus,
ASUU chairman (UNIJOS Branch) but under the distinguished chairmanship of Prof.
Monday Mangvwat, former Vice Chancellor of the University.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Doki said apart from being a detribalized Nigerian, Olu
Obafemi is a man who is very willing to tear down the veils behind which the
truth is hidden.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">He said, "In 2023, when he served as a member of the
Re-negotiating team between ASUU and the FGN, he asked the Federal Government
to tow the path of honor by finalizing the agreement it signed with ASUU in
order to bring peace and industrial harmony on university campuses in Nigeria. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">"Again, last year during a convocation lecture at the
Federal University Lokoja, he decried a situation where the FGN allocates only
4 per cent of its total budget to the education sector and called on the FGN to
pay university staff their withheld salaries. He also told the FGN that the
dissolution of University Councils is clearly against the spirit and ethos of
university autonomy. This is an abundant testimony of the fact that Olu Obafemi
is a Comrade Professor. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">"It is left to be said that Obafemi is a scholar with
an unquenchable commitment for the emancipation of the poor and a distaste for
the exploitation of one class by another especially in modern industrial
capitalism. Obafemi represents the black radical’s anti-imperialist voice and
tradition, he represents the black radical’s increasing commitment to justice,
freedom and human rights, he represents the black radical’s revolutionary
humanist political vision and theories of social change. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">"In Obafemi could be found a combination of the
political activist, social organizer, cultural worker or what the Italian
critical theorist, Antonio Gramsci, grandly calls the ‘organic intellectual’.
He is one of the most clamorous advocates of a free society in which the truth
would be placed in the service of national liberation and the construction of a
social order that favors the mass urban workers and rural producers at the base
of the socio-economic pyramid in Nigeria."<o:p></o:p></span></p>EDITORhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04813476568301834233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813579275777872686.post-31058696865101335842024-03-18T06:02:00.000-07:002024-03-18T06:02:58.528-07:00When The Police Dangles Its Carrot<p><span style="font-size: large;"> <b><span style="color: maroon; font-family: Georgia, "serif";">By
Banji Ojewale</span></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">A child stands before a disciplinarian parent he
has wronged. There’s considerably safe distance between them. The child could
flee if a whip magically leaps into the hands of the offended. But there’s no cane
at the moment with the man who is never seen without the <i>opa</i>, (baton). The young fellow sees something else with the man
staring at him: a basket of assorted fruits and sweets. He’s inviting him to
come closer to take his pick: fresh fruits or sweets? No cane on offer. The lad
is surveying the surroundings.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8-rFL4AMLhUJ_ZC8w7IpAzihq4qKo-0Gbj_Bw6F_peJmeUzF0jHmY9iYU2M7o42svIdK1I68EyLUpzkVy8F5zIhKRPPXzm6XYVyn-Q0xRRq8vIImjh2f2xbMrKjvJvnZiu6BfXvAdo5wgLae_54HMAAcRG6qw51glT-BeclmyXy6eR2hiPL49tu03lVk/s660/Nigeria%20policemen.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="371" data-original-width="660" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8-rFL4AMLhUJ_ZC8w7IpAzihq4qKo-0Gbj_Bw6F_peJmeUzF0jHmY9iYU2M7o42svIdK1I68EyLUpzkVy8F5zIhKRPPXzm6XYVyn-Q0xRRq8vIImjh2f2xbMrKjvJvnZiu6BfXvAdo5wgLae_54HMAAcRG6qw51glT-BeclmyXy6eR2hiPL49tu03lVk/w522-h294/Nigeria%20policemen.jpeg" width="522" /></a></span></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Something isn’t adding up. A rod hidden somewhere?
Is the basket a Trojan horse? The older man breaks the ice. He throws his arms
wide open, and swings around 360 degrees to assure the calculating boy he has
no malevolent agenda. This is fair and transparent, the boy concludes. So, he
moves gingerly into the free hands of the man he has always known as the
unforgiving rod man. What follows is a feast, a dialogue and the creation of a
new world to banish the cat-and-mouse relationship between them.<span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"> <o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">This skit is the fictional rendition of what the
Ogun State Police Command under Alamutu Abiodun Mustapha did the other day to
elicit the support of the community in the war on insecurity in the land. Commissioner
of Police Mustapha and his management team brought together more than 1000
artisans, largely woodworkers and furniture makers, hosting them to a seminar
at the Police Officers’ Wives Association, POWA Hall, Police Command
Headquarters, Eleweran, Abeokuta. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">It was the maiden edition of a non-kinetic
initiative to usher the citizens of Ogun into a strategic Police-Community
partnership against insecurity. The seminar, with the collaboration of the
Police Public Relations Department headed by Omololu Odutola, had the theme, Strengthening
and Fostering Security in Ogun State. According to the Police Public Relations
Officer, Alamutu ‘’invited (the artisans) to collaborate with them as a means
of grassroots policing…(with a view to) knowing and working closely with them.’’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">The Ogun CP said he was impressed with the large
turnout of the artisans, interpreting it as a significant demonstration of
their love for the Police in the state. He extolled their stand on the dignity
of labour and commended them for shunning crime and antisocial activities to
earn a living legitimately. Alamutu advised the young apprentices to stick to
‘’integrity and dignity’’. Applying their educational and vocational skills, he
counselled, is more valuable than going into criminality and cult related
tendencies. Besides, he said, insecurity in society is held at bay if its teeming
youngsters are engaged in productive callings that make them inaccessible to
crime godfathers and unpatriotic politicians.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">The Police boss was joined by Governor Dapo
Abiodun’s aides who offered security tips and admonition on being upright and
satisfied with one’s rightly earned income.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">This move of assembling the youngsters for a pep
talk on attitudinal change must be the way forward to getting a vibrant section
of the community involved in rescuing our crime-wracked land. It must be the cornerstone
in the emerging conversation about community policing, away from the orthodox
approach of battling insecurity only with guns and bullets. To a large extent,
we’ve remained in the same spot over the decades wielding kinetic tools to tame
crime, which, on its own, hasn’t remained the same, but has taken on
frighteningly monstrous shapes from age to age.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">The Police, with the entire paraphernalia of
state authority, needs to bond with the neighborhood content of society to
secure the people. Our security personnel must engage the grassroots in
strategic synergy over the final goal of returning us all to the path of
sanity, peace and law and order. As it is, the answer to the crisis is no
longer exclusively in the conventional confines and abodes of our compatriots in
uniform. These gallant men and women and officers need the input of the larger
society. They’re being overrun by the sheer numbers of criminals exploiting
socioeconomic challenges and our weak and leaky political fabric to unleash
havoc on us.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">It’s clear that we can’t afford to have the
ranks of these social adversaries grow. They must not only be depopulated; we must
also work hard to prevent others from joining them. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">The authorities may go ahead with plans to
recruit more Police personnel and kit them with sophisticated weapons needed to
outmatch those of the miscreants. We can lean on the limitless prospects
proffered by AI, even as we rely heavily on confidential info on suspicious
movements. But the bedrock of the new order should be creating a nexus between
the law and community, the bottom strata of society: market women, traders,
artisans, students, workers, drivers, the unemployed etc. The Community
Policing we’re talking about as an urgent necessity is going to be built around
them. They know the ecosystem of crime more than the authorities. It’s clear to
me that was the point the Police in Ogun made in meeting those 1000+ artisans
for a strategic relationship in the war on crime.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Subsequently, it’s going to be easy for the
Police to work with them in areas of intelligence-gathering to deal with
communal infractions. Trust with confidentiality, long lacked between them,
will be in place to disallow suspicious body language and acts. On the part of
the authorities, they must reform the Police operatives to truly portray
themselves as the friends of the citizens. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Genuine friends don’t exploit; they don’t
dehumanize; they don’t compromise to undermine the law they’re meant to
underpin; they don’t make merchandise of ignorant motorists and pedestrians,
when a caring word of enlightenment could settle the issues instead of the
usual threat of arrests and demand for financial gratification; nor do they
enter into deals with felons to defraud or destroy the state, its institutions
and its people. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Let’s hit the vulnerable underbelly of
insecurity by engaging in serious community-based policing. We can’t achieve
results otherwise. We never did when we stuck to the one-sided kinetic approach
all these years. It’s certain we’d be experiencing the same old fruitlessness
if we continue in that same old barren road.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #0000cc;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">*Ojewale is writer in Ota, Ogun
State.</span></span></i></b></p>EDITORhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04813476568301834233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813579275777872686.post-1736386501388965272024-03-13T06:04:00.000-07:002024-03-13T06:04:47.605-07:00Obasanjo Foisted Presidentialism On Nigeria; He’s Still Defending The Indefensible! <p> <b><span style="color: maroon; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">By Olu Fasan</span></b></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">As they prepared to return
Nigeria to civilian rule in 1979, the military regime, led by General Murtala
Muhammed and later by General Olusegun Obasanjo, set up a 49-man committee to
draft a new constitution for Nigeria. However, the regime gave the “49 wise
men” a red line: they must not return Nigeria to the parliamentary system,
practised after independence from 1960 to 1966. Instead, they should adopt the
American-style presidential system. After General Murtala’s assassination in
1976, General Obasanjo took over as head of state and put his imprimatur on the
draft constitution, inserting nearly 20 amendments.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMRlq0nAeNVvY2gXLsYwrTSLibAtU2D_sA6cSgnlVtMmBoQSE2y8ZKoNyPKVpY14wEOXaYOvCfqkbWWXOsdmSNt44f6ju0yGC5yLZA_24HbYtR0FSr0NRHlytpiAH-nQf7G5ccgU5o_r5uj0PZ8l12OF9ab9Y4IVxjBtkUFRmjY9lW7ZETbLVB9dJr4nU/s450/Olusegun%20Obasanjo-289.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="450" height="388" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMRlq0nAeNVvY2gXLsYwrTSLibAtU2D_sA6cSgnlVtMmBoQSE2y8ZKoNyPKVpY14wEOXaYOvCfqkbWWXOsdmSNt44f6ju0yGC5yLZA_24HbYtR0FSr0NRHlytpiAH-nQf7G5ccgU5o_r5uj0PZ8l12OF9ab9Y4IVxjBtkUFRmjY9lW7ZETbLVB9dJr4nU/w499-h388/Olusegun%20Obasanjo-289.jpg" width="499" /></a></div><br /><b><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">*Obasanjo </span></b><p></p><p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">So, the 1979 Constitution lied
when it ascribed itself to “We the people of Nigeria.” In truth, it was
Obasanjo’s military regime, aided by a few civilian elites, that imposed the
constitution and the presidential system on Nigeria. Today, over 40 years after
Nigeria first practised the system, and despite its patent flaws and
unsuitability for Nigeria, Obasanjo is still defending it.<span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-outline-level: 2;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The Yoruba
say <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">‘omoeni ki sedibebere, ka fi
ilekesiidiomoelomiran’</i>, which, roughly translated, means that however ugly
one’s child’s bottom, one wouldn’t put beads on the bottom of someone else’s
child. There’s a seeming parallel here. Being his ‘child’, Obasanjo can’t see
the weaknesses of the presidential system, in the Nigerian context, and the
relative merits of the parliamentary system, again in the Nigerian context. </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Recently, Obasanjo rebuked
members of the House of Representatives and leaders of the Northern Elders
Forum who called for a return to the parliamentary system. He reminded them of
the 1966 coup which ended the practice of parliamentarianism in Nigeria.
Counting from 1999, rather than 1979, Obasanjo argued that “the 24 years of
practising presidential system” were not enough to judge the system. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Well, let’s start with those
points. First, the 1966 coup didn’t discredit the parliamentary system. If it
did, then the 1983 coup discredited, even more so, the presidential system,
which lasted for only four years (1979-1983) as against the parliamentary
system, which lasted six years (1960-1966). Truth is, the January 1966 coupists
did not blame the failure of the parliamentary system for the coup; rather,
they cited corruption and the rigged federal elections of 1964, and
particularly those of the Western Region in1965. </span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">But if corruption and
electoral frauds were problems under the parliamentary system, haven’t they
reached stratospheric levels under the presidential system? Second, if 24 years
are not enough to judge the efficacy of the presidential system, were six years
enough to judge the parliamentary system, but for the 1966 military
intervention?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Yet, here’s the simple truth:
the core justification for adopting the presidential system has failed abjectly.
The claim was that a powerful executive president would be a unifying figure
who could corral and unite the country. But which Nigerian president has been a
unifying figure? Was President Buhari a unifying figure? Is Bola Tinubu, who
was rejected by 63 per cent of the electorate, a unifying figure? And despite
the enormous powers vested in the Nigerian president, has any president been
able to corral and unite Nigeria? Instead of authoritarian utopia, what Nigeria
has had under the presidential system is totalitarian dystopia, where
supposedly strong and unifying presidents use the military to enforce elusive
unity. Remember Buhari’s <i>‘Operation Python Dance’</i> or Obasanjo’s ‘Odi Massacre’?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Truth be told, it is impossible
to govern a multi-ethnic country with a strongman mentality by centralising
powers and vesting them in one person. That’s why most multi-ethnic countries
operate the more representative and consultative parliamentary system. Of the
193 UN member-states, more than 140 have a parliamentary system or a hybrid of
presidential and parliamentary systems. More than 32 of the 50 sovereign
nations in Europe practise the parliamentary system. The Commonwealth has the
largest collection of multi-ethnic countries and, unsurprisingly, about 40 of
the 54 Commonwealth countries operate the parliamentary system, including
successful countries like the UK, Canada, Australia, India and Singapore. South
Africa has a hybrid system.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Those opposed to political
restructuring often say that it’s not the system that matters, but the
operators. Obasanjo made the same point: “No matter what you bring and no
matter what you import, if the political culture is not there, it won’t work.”
On the face of it, that argument is unassailable. But it’s an escapist logic.
Truth is, systems matter; they can constrain behaviour. According to one study,
there were 123 changes in the form of government in 169 countries from 1950 to
2003. If it didn’t matter, why did they do it? In 2015, Sri Lanka ditched its
executive presidency in favour of a prime ministership. In 1997, South Africa
abolished its Senate and replaced it with the 90-member National Council of
Provinces, NCOP. No country should be so sclerotic that it refuses to change
its system of government if it’s not working.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Unfortunately, in Nigeria, those
benefitting from the current system and those emotionally attached to it
continue to resist change even when everyone knows the system is deeply flawed.
In 2018, when launching her book <b><i>Fighting Corruption Is Dangerous</i></b> at the London
School of Economics, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said there were two root-causes of
corruption in Nigeria: first, weak institutions and second, “Nigeria’s costly
presidential system.” In his recent book <b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Reclaiming
the Jewel of Africa</i></b>, Dr Segun Aganga said: “The consensus is that the
American-style presidential system has proven too expensive for Nigeria,”
adding that “the presidential system is too expensive for the size of the
Nigerian economy.” </span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Those are former finance ministers. But who’s listening?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Beyond fuelling corruption and
high cost of governance, evidence also shows that the presidential system is
worse than the parliamentary system in terms of good governance and economic
efficiency. According to the OECD’s 2022 “Trust in Government” survey, the top
20 of the 41 OECD member-countries surveyed operate a parliamentary system.
America, the standard-bearer of presidentialism, ranks 35 in the survey. </span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Another study, which drew on data from 119 countries from 1950 to 2015, found
that 91per cent of the best performers on economic growth and income equality
are parliamentary governments. Why? Because parliamentary systems generally
score higher than presidential system on democracy, rule of law and checks and
balances. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-outline-level: 2;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Nigeria’s
founding fathers opted for the parliamentary system, the 1966 coupists
torpedoed it, Obasanjo buried it. But Nigeria must resurrect the parliamentary
system or adopt a hybrid system. Presidentialism is an albatross. Nigeria must
rid itself of it!</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-outline-level: 2;"><b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #0000cc; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">*Dr. Fasan is a commentator on public issues</span></i></b></p>EDITORhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04813476568301834233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813579275777872686.post-12264018431798649042024-03-07T02:03:00.000-08:002024-03-07T03:04:44.703-08:00Hurrah For Admiral Madueke! The Cat With Nine Lives Is 80 Years Old Today<p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #990000;"><b>By</b></span> <span style="color: #990000;"><b>Chuks</b></span> <span style="color: #990000;"><b>Iloegbunam</b></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">An Igbo saying goes like this: If a man’s <i>chi</i> (personal god) is not a party to the scheme, death will not kill him. On the morning of July 30, 1966, Midshipman Alison Madueke, boarded a KLM, Royal Dutch Airline plane for London, via Amsterdam. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixy65-P9Xib-eJ-gzVc-NHiim-qqJhpvB5uvUqmuROn_aS4WL7zdpJmN_FCW04FJ8SCBKk7wc0nF4-2G1eX0CI0TJP1S91T2yZnzrP-NtITAegqiyFgxTRmhgNamFJGQClQ9pG_xebbtGbdiQIKtYeQnMBL14KIa6PuCW1OFN88FKKw4xi83j5mYeskdw/s1280/IMG-20240306-WA0008.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="887" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixy65-P9Xib-eJ-gzVc-NHiim-qqJhpvB5uvUqmuROn_aS4WL7zdpJmN_FCW04FJ8SCBKk7wc0nF4-2G1eX0CI0TJP1S91T2yZnzrP-NtITAegqiyFgxTRmhgNamFJGQClQ9pG_xebbtGbdiQIKtYeQnMBL14KIa6PuCW1OFN88FKKw4xi83j5mYeskdw/w278-h400/IMG-20240306-WA0008.jpg" width="278" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br />He was on his way to officer training at the Britannia Royal Naval College in Devon, England. The plane started taxiing for takeoff. But midway, as it gathered speed, the attempt was aborted. The pilot addressed the passengers through the intercom: “This is the captain speaking. Will the three Naval officers flying to London please alight? They are wanted by the military authorities.” Down on the tarmac, Alison was seized and manhandled by Northern Nigerian military officers and men. The July 29, 1966 countercoup, the bloodiest putsch in African history, was underway.<span><a name='more'></a></span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">By sheer miracle, Madueke survived the coup that took the lives of 40 Igbo officers and 128 other ranks. He eventually got to the Naval College. After a course that lasted a little over a year, he was commissioned as Acting Sub-Lieutenant in September 1967. He was declared the Best Commonwealth Midshipman in Home Waters. At this time, the Nigerian civil war had started. Rather than return to his formation, he crossed the English Channel into mainland Europe and headed for Lisbon, Portugal where Biafra had an accredited representation. Assisted by Biafran officials, he made a beeline for Port Harcourt, where he joined the Biafran Navy. He saw action in the Niger Delta Creeks and on the River Niger, near Onitsha.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Despite sustaining three injuries, he survived the war. He returned to the Nigerian Navy in 1972, still marking time as an Acting Sub-Lieutenant. Despite this, he became 21 years later, the Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS) in the rank of Rear Admiral. As the Naval Chief, he was a member of General Sani Abacha’s Provisional Ruling Council. He and the late Major General M. C. Alli, the Army Chief of Staff, were thrown out of the PRC and retired. General Abacha could not stomach their contrary views to his June 12 stance. Their exit led to orchestrated reports that the duo had planned to topple Abacha’s junta. He survived the sinister schemes.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Admiral Madueke went into the shipping business and, thereafter, into the communications industry. His international passport was seized for the eight years that the Truthful Lie was in power. During this period, he wrote his autobiography titled <b><i>Riding</i></b> <b><i>The</i></b> <i><b>Storms</b></i> <b><i>With</i></b> <b><i>God</i></b> <b><i>In</i></b> <i><b>My</b></i> <b><i>Sails</i></b>. (Eminent Biographies, 2019.) This book of 509 pages gives a comprehensive account of his life from birth until 2019. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">From it, we learn that he had attended the Our Lady’s High School, Onitsha. This school has produced countless national figures, including Professor Ben Nwabueze, Eze (Professor) Green Nwankwo, Professor B. I. C. Ijomah, Senator Uche Chukwumerije, and Justice Ezebilo Ozobu. It was established by a Grade Two teacher, Sir Peter Chukwurah from Abatete. He also built the Fatima High School in Aguobu Owa and was a member of the Eastern Nigeria House of Assembly. In 1962, Madueke passed the School Certificate examination in Division One. We also learn that he was the Military Governor of the old Anambra State from January 1984 to September 1985, and the Military Governor of the old Imo State from September 1985 to July 1986.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">The book contains Admiral Madueke's long list of achievements in Anambra and Imo States. Only two will be mentioned here. The administrations he headed built the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium in Enugu, and the Sam Mbakwe Airport in Owerri. This article will conclude with a word on the Owerri Airport. Suffice it to say that, of all his achievements, none ranks higher than his autobiography. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">The book is a treasure trove of information that everyone, especially rampant commentators on national issues, will do well to read. Unfortunately, the country seems not to have discovered the value of knowing its history and the great importance of biographies in historical development and archiving. There is hardly a major American, Asian, or European politician or military officer whose story has not been written by himself or by someone else. There is hardly a journalist from those continents who has practiced for a decade without the account of his stewardship in book form. Yet, there is neither a biography nor an autobiography of a personage like Commodore Okoh Ebitu Ukiwe, the former Nigerian Chief of General Staff. There hardly is a biography of any Igbo traditional ruler. Why shouldn’t there be a biography of a great bureaucrat like the late Alhaji Shehu Musa?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">We must extend the questions. Where are the biographies of Brigadier-General Zakariya Maimalari, Lieutenant Colonel Joe Akahan, and Lieutenant Colonel James Yakubu Pam? Mazi Mbonu Ojike, a preeminent pre-Independence politician and statesman, was the Boycott King. Why was he so called? If there was a biography of him, the answer would be in it. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">There is no biography of Sir Peter Chukwurah. His schools have produced professors, judges, governors, senators, military officers, and much more. If someone wrote his biography, he may discover why governments took over his schools decades ago without paying his family as much as a single Kobo in compensation to this date. Where are the biographies of soccer legends Albert Onyeanwuna and Tesilimi (Thunderbolt!) Balogun?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">It was to help fill this nasty chasm that I decided to strike a blow in recording contemporary history in my own little way. (I have so far written three biographies – those of General Aguiyi-Ironsi, Eze (Professor) Green Nwankwo, and Mr. Peter Obi.) That was why I published <b><i>Riding</i></b> <i>The</i> <i><b>Storms</b></i> <b><i>With</i></b> <b><i>God</i></b> <b><i>In My Sails</i></b>. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">That is why my publishing house is currently working on three different biographies. There are other biographers, of course. But many more are urgently required. It is the reason I urge Nigerians to introduce fresh and heightened interests in the noble business of documenting and disseminating the stories of our people. Books engender far more education than the mere structures that are otherwise known as schools.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Now back to Admiral Madueke’s stint as the Military Governor of Imo State. He wrote that his administration constructed the Sam Mbakwe Airport, Owerri. Admiral Madueke tells the story of how he built that airport from page 279 to page 295 of his book. It contains five photographs related to the project. These are (1) The picture in which he and some of his officials posed with the traditional rulers of Logara-Obiangwu and Umuohiagu on whose lands the airport is situated. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">The picture was taken when the foundation stone of the airport was laid. (2) The picture where Admiral Madueke (then a Captain) was laying the airport's foundation stone surrounded by his officials and some dignitaries. (3) A group picture of Madueke and the six members of the Airport Task Force. All their names are listed. (Behind them can be seen the peering head of Lieutenant Dele Ezoba, Madueke’s aide de camp, who later became the Chief of the Naval Staff in the rank of Admiral. (4) The fourth picture is of Madueke presenting a bowl of kolanuts to Admiral Augustus Aikhomu, the Chief of General Staff, who attended the launch of the Imo Airport Appeal Fund at the Aba Sports Stadium. (5) The last picture is the front view of the airport’s terminal building.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Shortly after Madueke's book was launched in 2019, I as its publisher, started receiving angry calls from friends who said that, given my posture as “an honest man,” they could not understand why I subscribed to the fallacy that the Imo Airport was built by Alison Madueke. Some even spoke at me. Had any one of these accusers read the book? Hardly! But some of its readers told them that they encountered the lie’s repugnant face within the book’s covers!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Well, Rear Admiral Alison Amaechina Madueke is alive and well. I am certain that he is willing to answer those who publicly state their disagreement with his Imo Airport story. His book has not run out of stock. Some bookstalls still have it. Besides, it is always available at the annual Lagos International Book Fair which takes place during May. People should read the book and make up their minds. Not only on the matter of a facility at which aircraft take off and land. But also, on the numerous questions raised in the book that can still do with the joined issue.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">For today, this is from me to Admiral Madueke: Many Happy Returns Of The Day!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">*<b><i><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Chuks</span></i></b> <b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Iloegbunam writes from </span><i><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Abatete</span></i></b>, <b><i><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Anambra</span></i></b> <b><i><span style="color: #2b00fe;">State</span></i></b>. (<span style="color: #2b00fe;"><b><i>March 7, 2024</i></b></span>).</span></p>EDITORhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04813476568301834233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813579275777872686.post-28912747869260942902024-03-04T04:24:00.000-08:002024-03-04T04:24:07.354-08:00Nigerians Dying Like Flies Hit By Broom <p> <b><span style="color: maroon; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">By Dele Sobowale</span></b></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><i>“Many people sold their boys and
girls for a little rice…Hunger stalked us…People of all ages began to
die….Everyone had to live with half-empty stomachs …People started looting,
searching for food” </i></span><span style="font-family: Calibri, "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"><b>–</b> </span><span style="color: #303030; font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><b>Bijoykrishna, survivor of the Bengal famine in 1943</b></span><b style="color: #303030; font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"> </b><span style="color: #303030; font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">(</span><b style="color: #303030; font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">BBC, February 23, 2023</b><span style="color: #303030; font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">)</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #303030; font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAPNoAtYi99FbqM1Mo8C01HJKg3CyKfpkvhTTRXS3T5NrL5kgcGBmI8USpeyEr-7JyL2kw5LZG_IpsmST4kJtyJDOWIaWE8A2eYmEycA4qnfwr2vdkWBaebDYt0bmVvbGAT8Vsif4bjb7iek1u5iANb6CxK2PK_KVDwZbJQRzehQAyxnL9hg2zUlMHMc8/s1024/Bola%20Tinubu.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="683" data-original-width="1024" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAPNoAtYi99FbqM1Mo8C01HJKg3CyKfpkvhTTRXS3T5NrL5kgcGBmI8USpeyEr-7JyL2kw5LZG_IpsmST4kJtyJDOWIaWE8A2eYmEycA4qnfwr2vdkWBaebDYt0bmVvbGAT8Vsif4bjb7iek1u5iANb6CxK2PK_KVDwZbJQRzehQAyxnL9hg2zUlMHMc8/w518-h344/Bola%20Tinubu.jpeg" width="518" /></a></div><b><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">*Tinubu</span></b><span style="color: #303030; font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The old man talking
is reported to be 102 years old and one of the few survivors of the famine
which killed millions in Bengal while World War II raged on around them. The
savagery of the war and extremely bad weather resulted in horrible harvests.
Suddenly, parents were “eating” their kids. Or what do you call selling your
children to buy food? It happened in Bengal in 1943; it can happen anywhere –
including Nigeria.<span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-outline-level: 2;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">We are
aware that some parents in Nigeria have been selling their children; heartless
people run baby factories or phony orphanages as regular means of employment.
It might not have reached the alarming proportions experienced in Bengal in the
last century. But, the truth is – some adult Nigerians are already eating
children. That preamble is, however, meant to draw the readers’ attention
to the dangers we face as a nation with regard to food and famine.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">To be candid, government at all
levels is not being honest with us. Irrespective of which political party is in
power at federal and state levels, their reactions to the looming famine is,
frankly speaking, shocking. Millions of Nigerian lives are at stake.
Perhaps it is only a coincidence that the FG, which encouraged herdsmen and
bandits to drive millions of farmers off the field, was headed by Mohammadu
Buhari of the All Progressives Congress, APC – whose symbol is the broom.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Present and future historians,
writing about how we ended up in this terrible situation, in which most
Nigerians now live with half-empty stomachs, must lay the blame squarely on the
door step of Buhari and the APC National Secretariat. Buhari started the
demolition job on our farms; and none of the members called him out. One
official actually had the effrontery to go on television to offer fellow
Nigerians the Devil’s alternative – your land or your life. That was the
audacity of infamy which has landed us where we are with regard to food
production. No nation can live with lunacy for eight years without finally
living on the bread of sorrow. We are now going to start dying like flies,
swatted by a broom!!!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<h2><span style="color: #0000cc; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 22.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Forget The Lies About Food Palliatives <o:p></o:p></span></h2>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> “<em style="box-sizing: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Every
government is run by liars; and nothing they say should be believed</span></em>”
– <b>I F Stone</b><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><b><br /></b></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Can anyone remember how many
tonnes of palliatives were promised Nigerians in September last year? And do
you remember that Governor Soludo, APGA, speaking on behalf of the FG and State
Governors, announced that N5 billion would be given to each state? On account
of a conspiracy of silence, Nigerians were not informed that only N2 billion
was actually delivered and not all the grains either. That should tell you the
sort of leaders we are dealing with – they cannot be trusted to keep their
words. That is why they have more Commissioners of Information and Special
Advisers (Media) than the Premiers of East, North and West had during the First
Republic. They are not appointed to shed light on issues but to confuse
Nigerians. Here is an example.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The Minister of Information and
Culture, Mohammed Idris, in mid-February this year, announced that President
Tinubu had “ordered 102,000 metric tonnes of grains to be released from the
National Reserves”. A week after, in my Monday article, titled FG AND THE
102,000 tonnes food swindle, I traced several promises previously made by this
government. None of them had been fully redeemed. Given my knowledge about the
National Food Reserves, I concluded that article by stating: “I doubt if the FG
has 102,000 tonnes of food in its reserves.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">On Thursday, February 22, 2023,
Mr Idris, in a manner reminding us of George Orwell’s <b><i>Animal Farm</i></b>, changed the
narrative. This time we were told: “The first one is that the Ministry of
Agriculture and Food Security has been directed to release about
(underlying mine) 42,000 MT of maize, millet, garri and other commodities in
their strategic reserves so that these items will be made available to
Nigerians; 42,000MT immediately.” The careful reader cannot fail
to observe how 102,000MT, pledged two weeks earlier, shrank to 42,000MT to be
released suddenly. What happened to the remaining 60,000MT of food stuff
promised earlier?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The story has changed on those
too. According to the latest announcement from Idris, which might not be the
last, “we have held meetings with the Rice Millers Association of Nigeria
(RIMAN), those who are responsible for this rice, and we have asked them to
open up their stores…They have told us that they can guarantee about 60,000
tonnes of rice. They will make that available to Nigerians…” Again, a
discernible reader can easily arrive at three obvious conclusions. </span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">One, the FG
did not have 102,000MT of grains in its reserves when the first announcement
was made. Two, the government will even have to struggle to provide the about
42,000MT. Three, the 60,000MT of rice is uncertain of delivery; for the simple
reason that there is no guarantee from RIMAN to deliver 60,000MT of rice.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-outline-level: 2;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Instead of
the deliberate attempt by the FG to deceive Nigerians, RIMAN’s position on the
matter is quite clear. According to the RIMAN President: “No, no, no, we don’t
have enough paddy in this country. Farmers lack enough paddy to sell. A lot of
farmers have withdrawn services on the farms due to insecurity. This is in
addition to the effects of fuel subsidy removal.” Obviously, Mr Idris is once
again spreading falsehood in order to buy time for the FG. I know who is lying
on this issue because I spent years in the rice sector and some of my friends
are still in it. They tell me the truth because I advise them on investing –
when they make profits.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">That, unfortunately, takes us to
the heart of the matter. Nigerians are now dying like flies swatted by a broom;
and most of the FG’s utterances have proved to be untrue. How on earth can
Tinubu plead for more time when his Ministers are busy telling us lies? To be
candid, few will believe him – even if elder statesmen like Gowon plead for
him. The people want the truth – no matter how bad. Only faith in their leaders
or tyranny can make the people in a country endure years of great hardship as
in China and India.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<h2 id="h-the-consequences-are-already-here" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-size: var(--font-size-h2); font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #0000cc; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 20.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">The Consequences Are Already Here <o:p></o:p></span></h2>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> “<em style="box-sizing: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Death is here
and death is there/Death is busy everywhere…</span></em>” – <b>Percy
Byshe Shelley<o:p></o:p></b></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><b><br /></b></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">People have always died,
everyday, every hour, every minute and every second. Death by itself is not
new. At almost 80, I am in sudden death period; so is everybody over 70 in
Nigeria, where life expectancy is still about 52. So what makes death so
special now? It is the spike in death rates. In about 70 years, since I first
became aware of the consequences of death, in no single year was it brought to
my attention that up to four people known to me died in one month. </span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The rise in
death rate first attracted my attention in December last year when seven people
were reported to have died. In January, the figure rose to nine. There was
acceleration in February. Today, February 25, 2023, as this article is being
written, the number stands at thirteen. Four of my CLUB members and a close
cousin have passed on in less than six weeks.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> So, it was time to
investigate – at the mortuary, at the cemeteries and talking to casket sellers.
With four friends as undertakers or casket sellers, it was easy to establish
that, for them, business is booming like never before. The only problem they
have is with the low profile approach people now take to burials. Most families
no longer buy expensive caskets. Times are hard.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">A few of the recently departed
souls were confronted with choosing between buying life-saving drugs or eating.
There were no funds for the two. They opted for food. At least two told me that
before leaving us to our self-inflicted problems of food, drugs and other
scarcities and the inflation resulting from too much demand chasing
insufficient supply.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The investigations confirmed my
intuition. There has been a noticeable rise in burials in all the cemeteries in
Lagos – involving all ages from babies a few days old to the aged. A twenty
three years old attendant told me, “We have never buried so many people in a
month as we are doing now. A pathologist said most of those they open up to
find cause of death have next to nothing in their stomachs. So, hunger must
have contributed to their demise.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">That is the truth we face; and
which governments – FG, states and even local governments must face. Back to
the land is no longer a slogan. It is the only way we can save Nigerians from
dying like flies swatted by a broom.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<h2 id="h-fund-me-to-write-the-truth-about-buhari" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-size: var(--font-size-h2); font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #0000cc; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 20.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Fund Me To Write The Truth About Buhari <o:p></o:p></span></h2>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">“<em style="box-sizing: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Wherever God
erects a house of prayer; the Devil always builds a Chapel there</span></em>…”
– <b>Daniel Defoe, 1661-1731.</b><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><b><br /></b></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">One Pastor from the Devil’s
Chapel went to work for Buhari for eight years. While in residence at the Rock,
which we have been told was overrun by demons by a previous lodger, the Pastor,
on live TV, supported the slaughter of thousands of farmers who refused to
surrender their land to herdsmen. Now he has joined others who inhabited the
dungeon to write books about Buhari’s “achievements”.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">In their books, you will not
read about how herdsmen militia, about 400,000 armed assassins, was created to
capture Nigeria. They are everywhere in Nigeria today — killing, kidnapping,
raping and making farming impossible. Their Life Patron lives in peace in
Daura. About 380,000 Nigerians have paid with their lives for this particular
“achievement”. </span></p><p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">But, Pastor won’t tell you the truth about herdsmen
genocide. I will. I started my own book two years ago; funding it myself.
Now, I am stuck. Inflation and exchange rate threaten publication of the truth
about Buhari. I need your help to finish the job.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Their book, packed full of lies,
is advertised for N200,000. I can deliver the truth for N20,000 or less. Can
you help? Please get in touch.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-outline-level: 2;"><b><span style="color: maroon; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><i>*Dr. Sobowale is a syndicated columnist </i><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>EDITORhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04813476568301834233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813579275777872686.post-41654143665138224922024-03-04T04:04:00.000-08:002024-03-04T04:04:34.533-08:00Governance Is Not Rocket Science <p> <b><span style="color: maroon; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">By Owei Lakemfa</span></b></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Governance is not about
sharing blame, making excuses, or the individual exonerating himself. It
is about getting the job done.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #303030; font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhpiinBuX-W4M4J4OJwwSGMtvXLQagXJY3B2HXZ-Ij4i1USvB3FgRupy_A-6JhZ1O-sjPtv0j2DREUPbDGGT7q7mkzhRYLvPpTDkXAHeG4uz80iHkCuxa3FIKcWbvRpqBPY5iYOqUNfYDH485OuMOt_6N-Nyjf2lgLfg3MSNkMC7hkTtgCFJsl2-Z63S4/s1440/Bola%20Tinubu-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="962" data-original-width="1440" height="337" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhpiinBuX-W4M4J4OJwwSGMtvXLQagXJY3B2HXZ-Ij4i1USvB3FgRupy_A-6JhZ1O-sjPtv0j2DREUPbDGGT7q7mkzhRYLvPpTDkXAHeG4uz80iHkCuxa3FIKcWbvRpqBPY5iYOqUNfYDH485OuMOt_6N-Nyjf2lgLfg3MSNkMC7hkTtgCFJsl2-Z63S4/w504-h337/Bola%20Tinubu-2.jpg" width="504" /></a></div><b><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">*Tinubu</span></b><span style="color: #303030; font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">So, when in the face of serious
financial and economic crises which have seen hunger envelop the land like a
shroud and the national currency waterboarded, Olayemi Michael “Yemi” Cardoso,
the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Governor exonerates himself, something
serious must be wrong.<span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">He told the country: “I think it is very important for Nigerians to
understand that the Central Bank Governor — I, and my team — are not
responsible for the woes that we have today; we are part of the solution.”</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">t is yet to be seen whether
Cardoso and his team are part of the solution, but they are partly responsible
for the crises we are facing. First, he accepted the myth that the Naira needs
to be floated – without a life jacket or anchor. Secondly, five days after his
September 23, 2023 appointment as CBN Governor, the Naira to the dollar, at the
parallel market, was N1,009. The next month, it sank to N1,140, and in November
to N1,590. In February, 2024, it fell to N1,710. All these were under his
watch.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">It can be argued that since his
appointment, Cardoso has been trying to get an handle on the controls, but if
he knew the Naira devaluation was being manipulated like the government
insists, why was he further punishing the country by using the fake rates to
determine the Customs duty?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The CBN instructs the Customs on
the exchange rate to be used for calculating import duty, and the cost is, of
course, passed on to the consumers. So, why would Cardoso as the Central Bank
Governor of an import-dependent country, continuously increase import duties
based on the fake devaluation of the currency and not expect hyperinflation?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">When Cardoso was appointed,
Customs exchange rate for import duty was N770.88/$. On November 14, 2023, he
adjusted it to N783.174/$. The following month, he raised it to N951.941/$.
Then, came the craziest part: On February 2, 2024, he raised the Customs rate
from N951.941/$ to N1, 356.883/$. The very next day, he moved it upward to
N1,413.62/$ and within four days, moved it to N1,417.635/$. What manner of Central
Banker in the world increases the Customs duties thrice in one week?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">How are investors and
manufacturers expected to plan with such volatility in duty payments? How does
Cardoso engage in such pseudo-economics and expect stable prices?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Why should employers, marketers
and Nigerians be so punished due to the inability of the Central Bank to check
criminality in the foreign exchange market? So, how, like Pontius Pilate, does
he wash his hands clean of the crises Nigerians are facing?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">But, rather than subject
Cardoso’s performance to critical analysis, the response from the Presidency is
to present him as some superstar. In his February 17, 2024 piece titled:
<i>‘Olayemi Cardoso’s dilemma’</i>, Tunde Rahman, Senior Presidential Aide to
President Bola Tinubu, told the world that: “Cardoso is obviously a perfect fit
for the CBN top job.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Then, as if making excuses for Cardoso’s possible failure, Rahman wrote:
“But in the wake of the floating of the naira, some of the variables shaping
the value of the national currency – including limited production in the
country as a result of insecurity, the high taste for imported products,
dwindling exports, poor dollar remittances, humongous school fees of Nigerian
students abroad and medical tourism, all of which engendered a strong demand
for dollar, far outweighing supply – seem to be clearly beyond his control.”
Seriously?</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Another official appointed by
this government that does not only need to speak less, but also leave partisan
politics to politicians, is Mr Adewale Bashir Adeniyi, the Comptroller General
of Customs. In the wake of the Economic Community of West African States,
ECOWAS, sanctions against Niger Republic in August, 2023 which included the
closure of borders, Adeniyi, like a butterfly, hopped from one border crossing
to another, giving instructions. What was his business with enforcing border
closure which is the duty of Immigration and the security services? But he is
an actor.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Tragically, on February 23,
2024, he carried his Nollywood acts too far. In the face of serious hunger, he
announced that he is going to crash the prices of food items and shore up the
Naira. How is he going to do it? By selling seized goods to the public at rock
bottom prices. For instance, he said his agency would be selling a 25 kilogramme
of rice at N10,000; that is a quarter of its current market price. You will
think he has a million bags to sell. Laughably, all the Customs had, at least
for the megacity of Lagos with some 18 million people, was 20,000 bags of
assorted grains!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">In a Lagos where just a few days
before, Nigerians were whipped for over-crowding a bread distribution point
where N100 loaves were being given out, it was expected that there would be a
huge turnout at the Yaba Customs warehouse sales point. In realisation of this
reality, the Customs National Public Relations Officer, Abdullahi Maiwada,
announced that the agency would carry out the sales with a firm commitment to
transparency, fairness, and public safety. </span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">I am not sure if there was
transparency and fairness in the process, but what we all know is that there
was no public safety as seven Nigerians died at the Lagos sales.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Not unexpectedly, Customs laid
the blame on the doorsteps of the victims. It claimed that after its stock was
exhausted, the crowd broke through its barriers demanding for more items to
buy, and in the process, there was a stampede leading to the loss of lives.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">After this tragedy, it is
unlikely that the quixotic Adeniyi who with a few thousand bags of grains
announced he would crash food prices in the country, would be made liable for
these avoidable deaths. If the Customs truly wanted to help a needy population,
it would simply have donated the items to the internally displaced camps or
orphanages that are spread across the country. The Presidency needs to call
Adeniyi to order so that his next reality show would not be more tragic.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Also, the Presidency should
avoid knee jerk actions like invading warehouses in the name of searching for
hoarded food. We know the causes of hyperinflation in the country. These
include unreasonable increases in the prices of petroleum products, lack of
local refining, sinking of the Naira, banditry and terrorism that have forced
many off the farms, wholesale looting, high cost of governance and the
poverty-inducing programmes of the World Bank and the International Monetary
Fund which have been imposed on the country. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Governance is not rocket
science.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #0000cc; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">*Lakemfa
is a commentator on public issues</span></i></b></p>EDITORhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04813476568301834233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813579275777872686.post-30957470660096774972024-03-02T03:59:00.000-08:002024-03-04T10:27:22.411-08:00Why Tinubu’s Policy Adventures Will Fail<p> <b><span style="color: maroon; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt;">By
<span style="background: white;">Charles Onunaiju</span></span></b></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">President
Bola Tinubu and his administration bask in the euphoria that they have taken
some “tough” and “courageous” measures that would deliver prosperity to
Nigerians in the future. The coordinating minister of the economy, Mr Wale
Edun, recently stated that despite public uproar at the harshness of the
measures and their devastating impact on the lives of Nigerians, along with the
more frightening dimension of security meltdown, the administration has been
receiving accolades at several international forums, including the World Bank,
IMF, and the G20 meetings.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIL7EMIv_YlNc46Pq8hWcUNWXYomQ6WMbFCZVJPDwafydwwFgp8ts6FLYXV2IQ2lrzWgAvOj4vAFxT0cpawHyeG6GKNpqQPDHm9zR3CkyC_GScggzX2FmJB4XJBdC1BgXecPedabfgODrerucqJy6ZAbFL1N2cEI57rHrCEX63vSVwTvDlhyGdwkDjKTs/s1600/Bola%20Ahmed%20Tinubu.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1142" data-original-width="1600" height="353" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIL7EMIv_YlNc46Pq8hWcUNWXYomQ6WMbFCZVJPDwafydwwFgp8ts6FLYXV2IQ2lrzWgAvOj4vAFxT0cpawHyeG6GKNpqQPDHm9zR3CkyC_GScggzX2FmJB4XJBdC1BgXecPedabfgODrerucqJy6ZAbFL1N2cEI57rHrCEX63vSVwTvDlhyGdwkDjKTs/w495-h353/Bola%20Ahmed%20Tinubu.png" width="495" /></a></div><b><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">*Tinubu</span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">However,
it is not because the measures are tough, courageous, and may have attracted
accolades from outside that they may fail to produce any result close to
prosperity, but because they are extraneous and largely disconnected from the
existential reality of the current condition of the country. The choice of the
word “measures” to denote government response is deliberate, even as it is
widely called policy.<span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Policy
is more nuanced because it is an aggregate course of actions derived from
extensive and broad interrogation and inquiry of the country’s specific
existential reality with compelling exertions to seek truth from facts, which
is to design policy from the actual and prevailing condition. Both in economic
and philosophical terms, no two realities are the same. Therefore, while other
countries’ experiences are important to study and examine, any conclusion that
seeks to mechanically replicate the choices others have made is doomed to fail,
despite its attractions. </span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Lessons from the experiences of others are factors to
be taken into account while designing one’s own choices, with special attention
to the pitfalls and low points, and nothing in the high points or successes of
others’ choices should give any optimism that such is possible in another
clime. Policy advisories of international partners, including international
financial institutions, are not to be taken lightly or dismissed offhandedly
with arrogance, but to hold them as the banner of eternal truth is the
well-known historical pathway through which nations fail or even die. Such
advisories or counsels are crucial policy lessons to be acutely examined,
studied, and integrated into the overall framework of experiences garnered from
looking at oneself exclusively in the mirror, which is the relentless
interrogation of one’s specific condition and reality.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Nigerian
policymakers, including the current administration of President Tinubu, have
continued to treat policy as a general prescription valid in all circumstances
and times and across all climes. Otherwise, why would his coordinating minister
of the economy feel more validated by the cheers in international circles
rather than feel sobered by the enormous uproar and backlash at home? There is
nothing in traditional economic policy or, to be specific, Western economic
policy prescriptions and outlines that Nigeria has not yet done, yet
progressive socio-economic decline with the added negative factor of an increasingly
toxic political process and worsening security situations are the real
outcomes.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">From
austerity measures of former President Shehu Shagari to the Structural
Adjustment Programme of subsequent military regimes to the long lines of
neoliberal measures, including privatisation, deregulation, commercialisation,
and floating of the national currency, all based on the familiar rhetoric of
taking the bitter pills that would produce a better tomorrow for Nigerians,
have rather seen worsening living conditions for Nigerians instead.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">President
Tinubu and his team have simply followed the overtravelled path of his
predecessors, offering the same rhetoric as they have. Some people say that
doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result is the
actual definition of insanity. The question is, why have Nigeria’s subsequent
governments and regimes been bogged down in inertia and thought atrophy,
ostensibly limited to one way of seeing things and unable to break through and
free from a sterile economic orthodoxy that has serially failed? Why are they
persistently unable to align their thoughts and thinking with the stark and
existential reality of Nigeria’s specific conditions, which are on a daily and
routine display? Probably because public office-holding and the toxic politics
that enthrone it have developed as a privilege-seeking and entitlement rather
than, a public service which comes with exertions and privations of
self-sacrifice.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">To
this extent, policy responses to complex realities are reduced to simplistic
measures, gathered with ease and the least exertion and offered with a magic
glee to command the disappearance of problems. More than half of Nigeria’s
existence as a sovereign nation, these lacklustre, simplistic measures have not
worked, and one can confirm with the benefit of critical insight that they
would not work in the immediate or distant future.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Again,
President Tinubu’s government and the ones before him may not lack good or
honest intentions and even a genuine desire to turn around Nigeria’s fortunes,
but the reality is that honest intentions and genuine desire are the least of
the categories/criteria required to transform the fate and fortune of a country
in a desperate and dire need like Nigeria.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">To
this extent, government well-wishers and supporters are the least of the
government’s urgent requirements to understand and appreciate the depth of
crises for which the country is sunk, and the options and choices needed to
outline the difficult pathway for repositioning the country. Policies are not
tested for their toughness or sublimity but by their efficacy, and this is not
determined by some esoteric future, when, with a bang, prosperity will appear.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">The
efficacy is known by the visible, tangible, and incremental results that it
produces much like Chinua Achebe’s pointed proverb in <i><b>Things Fall Apart</b></i> that a
chicken that will grow into a cock is known the very day it is hatched,
solidifying the wise saying that “only fools are comforted by promises.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">From
Indonesia to Malaysia, India, Vietnam, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, United Arab
Emirates, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Singapore, France, Greece, South Africa, Rwanda,
and Botswana, countries have sought to leverage the international system and
order and the experiences it offers, to drive a persistent policy of reform,
and varying results have been based on how efficiently home-grown initiatives
have predominantly led the way in managing opportunities and reducing risks.
Where the easiness and glamour of so-called best international practices have
taken preeminence with domestic initiatives grounded in local realities
dovetailing it, the result has been a calamity.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Nigeria’s
policymaking community since the return of civil rule has been more inclined to
“international best practices,” which actually means nothing except the
cumulative experiences of different nations but which the Nigerian policy
community lazily identifies narrowly with the so-called “Washington consensus,”
a neoliberal outline that has long fallen out of favour and been overtaken by
the historic rise of emerging nations and their representative institution of
the BRICS.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Broadly
speaking, policy is not that you must do something when there is actually no
need. In fact, policy is essentially to do nothing to interfere with or harm
the course of natural or historical processes when it cascades along to the
happiness and civic bond of society. Policy, therefore, in this instance,
becomes an act to identify, detect, and remove any noxious influence, be it
special interests that stand in the way of unyielding economic factors and
social variables operating in tandem with human will to optimise efficiency and
make the greatest returns to the greatest numbers. This tendency and trajectory
are antithetical to any ideological obstinacy and bigotry that holds that any
given school of thought is the sole proprietor of economic truth and social
practice.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Meanwhile,
the existential and critical policy vacuum that has been historically masked by
ideological bigotry, especially one beholden to the myth of the “Washington
Consensus” and its underlying neoliberal outlines, has hobbled Nigeria and
driven it to the current cesspit of socio-economic and security lethargy.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Any
prospective solution that disproportionately includes travelling the already
traversed path is a sure way to fail. There have been arguments that the policy
choices that have failed are not because the policy is not good enough but
because its implementations have been wrong. This view offers simplistic
reasons or explanations of why policy fails. Any policy without the inherent
capacity to modify the behaviour of its implementers or target audience is
fundamentally deficient in its characteristic as a policy and is either not
sufficiently adjusted to the reality of its operating environment or is
anything but policy.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">The
President’s wife, Mrs Remi Tinubu, claimed some time ago that her family is
sufficiently made and that there is nothing they want from Nigeria, except to
render service to the country. Nobody can justifiably question her sincerity,
but it takes more than such effusive declarations, no matter how honest, to turn
around the fortunes of the country. President Tinubu has started on a false
premise.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">His
desperate shop for foreign investment to fuel domestic economic revival is a
non-starter. He is not in a position to command foreign investment to come and
even foreign investments have different colours, and aligning those willing to
come with your critical economic priorities is a nuanced endeavour.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">But
more importantly, the challenge is to unlock and unfetter the constraints to
domestic productive processes through fair competition, rational resource
allocation, and policy incentives free from the toxins of special interests and
influence peddlers. President Tinubu has not demonstrated any courage to do
this. The government’s removal of petroleum subsidy and floating of the naira
have endured more as rhetorical flourishes, with devastating impacts on the
lives of Nigerians, than any policy instrument to address the seeming lacuna.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">The
government has not demonstrated any fiscal discipline. Floating the currency
would have come with such measures as tightening government spending and
especially restricting it to value-creating and multiplying productive
activities. Nothing of that sort has been remotely seen in the behaviour of the
government. Government-inspired excessive demands on foreign exchange have
brought desperate pressure on the domestic currency and sent it spiralling down
to a level never imagined before.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">The
excess from petroleum subsidy has also triggered profligacy, with government
officials and their associated hangers-on indulging in wild hedonism. Social
media exposes of their hedonism, for which many ordinary Nigerians are
familiar, instead of making the government rethink its way, are rather
emboldening them to consider blocking the free cyberspace.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: 1rem; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><span style="background: white; line-height: 115%;">*Onunaiju</span> is a commentator on public
issues </span></i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #0000cc; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>EDITORhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04813476568301834233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813579275777872686.post-70752411277625270422024-03-02T03:37:00.000-08:002024-03-02T03:37:54.600-08:00Nigeria: Hunger And Anger In The Land!<p> <b><span style="background: white; color: maroon; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; letter-spacing: .5pt;">By Kenneth Okonkwo</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span class="s1"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; letter-spacing: .5pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Jesus </span></span><span class="s2"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; letter-spacing: .5pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Christ was persecuted, assaulted, dehumanised,
and eventually crucified for mankind. As he was dying on the cross, he raised
his voice and shouted, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do”.
This same Jesus, when he was hungry and came to the living thing which God had
created to give food to mankind and found no food on the living thing, he was
angry and cursed the tree, and it died. He forgave his killers, but couldn’t
forgive hunger.<span style="box-sizing: border-box;"></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; letter-spacing: .5pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> </span></span></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDKyYiMJSZA4zmSXr9Q8TLY17DxkQrOjS0tr_-u82SLmWHCn7klz2aYpwiEhBSEusvL67Gb0g5b4s-jizriKQd_ALdIFrrGjg5qtw6aDImiQkUaCY4i1QxXOOXKOhecFCxc33zcPD307aQsCGpp2tPn4q-eQgHpfvMvBR0S-GnNgbe1szh7DRZ0aAq490/s600/Mob-Attack-Nigeria.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="600" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDKyYiMJSZA4zmSXr9Q8TLY17DxkQrOjS0tr_-u82SLmWHCn7klz2aYpwiEhBSEusvL67Gb0g5b4s-jizriKQd_ALdIFrrGjg5qtw6aDImiQkUaCY4i1QxXOOXKOhecFCxc33zcPD307aQsCGpp2tPn4q-eQgHpfvMvBR0S-GnNgbe1szh7DRZ0aAq490/w526-h328/Mob-Attack-Nigeria.jpg" width="526" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span class="s2"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; letter-spacing: .5pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Indeed, even God knows that
there’s no reception to theology when a man is hungry. James 2:15-17 was
unequivocal when it states, “If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of
daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and
filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the
body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being
alone”. The first thing to administer to a man who is hungry is food, not
preaching, not verses of the Bible or Quran.<span></span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; letter-spacing: .5pt;">Nigerian
people are desperately hungry. There’s no food. Where there’s food, it’s
gradually becoming unaffordable because of inflation which is conservatively
becoming indeterminably high at more than 100% increase within the lifetime of
Tinubu administration, because of the value and volatility of the naira that
has collapsed at almost N2,000 and N2,400 to the dollar and pound respectively.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; letter-spacing: .5pt;">Nigerian
Red Cross Society (NRCS), recently, declared that the country’s hunger crisis
had reached an alarming state, “with about 26.5 million people, including women
and children, in dire need of urgent assistance to prevent death and prolonged
suffering”. The Red Cross boss said children, pregnant women, and lactating
mothers were bearing the brunt of malnutrition, with nearly 4.41 million
children and 585.000 mothers facing acute malnutrition, and about 1,000
Nigerian children dying daily from malnutrition-related causes”.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="p2" style="background: white; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="s2"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; letter-spacing: .5pt;">Anytime Red Cross steps into a matter, the situation is likened to a war
situation in which people cannot afford food. Nigerians are now refugees in
their own country that require external help to survive. Practically all the
traditional rulers in Nigeria have raised the alarm that the hunger situation
in Nigeria is unbearable. The Emir of Kano told Oluremi Tinubu, wife of the
President, that she should tell the President that Nigerians are hungry. The
Sultan confessed that he can no longer guarantee that he can dissuade his
people from protesting against hardship. Tinubu’s village people cried openly
to him as he is driving along in his opulent profligate unending entourage that
they are hungry <i>“ebin pawa</i>”. Protests have erupted in Niger, Kano, Ibadan and
so on, and the organised Labour is planning theirs. They all are saying one
thing, “we are hungry”. </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="background: white; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: 0.5pt;">Unfortunately, there’s only one answer that all these people receive from
these clueless leaders, “be patient”. If patience works with hunger, Jesus
wouldn’t have cursed the tree that didn’t bear fruit. Someone will argue that
it wasn’t the fault of the tree that it didn’t have fruits. Jesus made it clear
that a hungry man doesn’t have the patience to rationally think about whose
fault it is that he’s hungry. He simply attacks the persons whose
responsibility it is to give him food. This position is corroborated by the
Constitution when it says that the primary responsibility of government is the
security and welfare of the people. Unfortunately, this government has achieved
none of this since its inauguration. </span></p><p class="p2" style="background: white; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: 0.5pt;">The failure of this government stems from its negative optics to the
people. The son of the President was pleading for patience while wearing a
watch that costs millions of naira. The daughter of the President was pleading
for patience while being decorated with a traditional title in a lavish ceremony
on top of the uncountable titles she has already. The President is pleading for
patience while appointing his son-in-law into the chairmanship of the Housing
Corporation and allocating N126b into the Corporation immediately. Labour
unions are persuaded to be patient, when none of the agreements reached with
the government has been fulfilled. Patience seems to be for the poor Nigerians
only. The President couldn’t plead with the 469 members of the National
Assembly to be patient and drive made in Nigeria cars, but will plead with
Nigerians to be patient and die of hunger. Unfortunately for him, a hungry man
has no patience to spare. </span></p><p class="p2" style="background: white; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: 0.5pt;">There’s no need giving anybody false hope because the situation is
renewed hopelessness. It’s hopeless because the present administration doesn’t
have a solution to the problem. The solution is simple: security for farmers to
increase agricultural output, repairing of our refineries and selling them off
when fully operational, ensuring stable electricity, reducing drastically the
cost of fuel and other engine propelling oil products, revaluating the naira
and sustaining the value through an industrial productive base and a steady
export market.</span></p>
<p class="p2" style="background: white; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="s2"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; letter-spacing: .5pt;">This economy managers decided wrongly to devalue naira and start
competing with the parallel market operators thinking that by pumping dollars
to the market that the price of dollars will come down. The market simply
continued to absorb their dollars and increasing their price because the only
article in their trade is buying and selling currency. What the CBN should do
is fix the naira at its acceptable value and make policies that will sustain
the currency at that value like banning certain luxurious imports and
patronising local products. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="p2" style="background: white; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="s2"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; letter-spacing: .5pt;">The government cannot descend into the arena of currency trade and turn
back to start chasing the BDC operators for outsmarting the government in the
game. If you devalue your currency to match the price of the parallel market,
they will devalue it the more to make profit. The truth is that the naira and
the economy have collapsed and the eventual collapse of this government is
inevitable, one way or the other, if nothing is done immediately. The only
thing worse than insecurity is hunger, and it has set in. </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="background: white; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: 0.5pt;">The most disturbing thing is the deceitful efforts of this government to
divide the people who are unanimous in advocating for a better society. The
fight against hunger and hardship is an economic and survival fight, not a
political fight. The circumstances surrounding the February 25, 2023 presidential
election is a political issue not an economic issue.</span></p>
<p class="p2" style="background: white; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="s2"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; letter-spacing: .5pt;">Whereas, it’s admirable and advisable that the South-West should be in
the forefront in this economic fight, it has to be the fight for everyone. The
reason they should be in the front is to make it impossible for this
incompetent government to twist the protest into a political protest. When
protests against hunger and hardship erupted in Niger and Kano, this government
quickly and unintelligently, dubbed it the work of the opposition parties, but
when Ibadan protested, they dubbed it for what it is, a protest against hunger
and hardship.</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; letter-spacing: .5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<span data-method="placement-service" id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-911" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"></span>
<p class="p2" style="background: white; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="s2"></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; letter-spacing: .5pt;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">People who are asking for ndigbo to start demonstrating now
should take a deep breath and not be too much in a haste. Ndigbo joining now
will provide the unnecessary leeway for this regime to dub it a political
protest intended to forcefully install Obi as president. Of course, they know
it’s a lie, but does this regime ever believe in saying the truth? The Nigerian
people did same thing in 1966 when the military took over power in Nigeria and
wanted to install Awolowo as President because the man who led the coup was
from Western Nigeria at independence and Midwestern Nigeria during the coup. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="p2" style="background: white; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="s2"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; letter-spacing: .5pt;">The only thing he shared in common with Ndigbo is his Igbo ancestral
surname, Nzeogwu; his first name was an Hausa name, Kaduna, where he was born
and lived throughout his life. A true Nigerian indeed. As a matter of fact,
Awolowo was put in prison in the East for resisting the rigging of elections in
the West which led to violence and created the fertile ground for the coup. The
East was very peaceful then. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="p2" style="background: white; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="s2"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; letter-spacing: .5pt;">It was the government of the Eastern Region that released Awolowo from
jail, from where he surprisingly joined the same military government led by the
same people from the same region that sent him to jail. Surprisingly again, he
turned against Ndigbo and supported the idea that hunger was an instrument of
war and supervised, as Federal Finance Commissioner, the giving of every adult
Igboman £20 to support his life after the war, no matter how much he had in the
bank. They succeeded in twisting the political problem of 1966 against the
Igbos simply because they were the most prosperous then. It was still Igbos
that foiled the coup. </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="background: white; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: 0.5pt;">It will be counter-productive if Ndigbo is identified to be in the
forefront of this economic struggle because of the possibility of it being
twisted. Let us be clear, Ndigbo cannot claim to be solely responsible for the
success of Obi in the last presidential election. It was a pan Nigeria mandate.
You cannot be claiming that the election was rigged and be claiming at the same
time that the Igbos alone supported Obi because Igbo votes alone cannot make
Obi President. Obi won 12 states including Lagos and the FCT, where no other
candidate got up to 25% of the votes. Igbos have 5 states, but Obi won 12,
meaning that Obi won more states outside Igboland than in Igboland.</span></p>
<p class="p2" style="background: white; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="s2"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; letter-spacing: .5pt;">The fight against hunger and hardship must be supported by everyone
because hunger doesn’t know ethnicity or religion, and we must not allow this
doom fated regime to divide us along ethnic and religious lines, but Ndigbo
must not be in the forefront to avoid this regime using the opportunity to dub
it a political protest away from what it is; a pure fight for survival. The
only good thing about what is happening today is the unification of the people
of Nigeria, irrespective of ethnicity or religion, against the corrupt and evil
leaders in Nigeria, and the people must not allow this unity to elude them.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="p2" style="background: white; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="s2"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #0000cc; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; letter-spacing: .5pt;">*Dr. Okonkwo, a lawyer and actor, is a commentator on public issues</span></i></b></span></p>EDITORhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04813476568301834233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813579275777872686.post-17830319542685457182024-03-01T07:53:00.000-08:002024-03-01T07:53:02.796-08:00Buhari’s Integrity: From Attenuation To Total Wipe-Out! <p> <b><span style="color: maroon; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">By Adekunle Adekoya</span></b></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Time flies! And very fast too.
In this space on September 24, 2021, the column carried a piece with the
headline: “The attenuation of integrity.” Those who read between the lines
would have discerned that it was a commentary directed at the nation’s head honcho
at the time, a retired general known to the rest of us as Muhammadu Buhari.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #303030; font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-qvFeuZ4EqnaAxZdzko1kCb55j_ZSAJfVHFIkmunT5282C7I-lspsAnZWKvszpi1nhbOhihE3vn1YXAx3DapKkoAA-EZOvuWxDA9lL_jiSdHOA14jvYE_GBmCLudcCQzB58R5O73Qc1Zo0n8cnFE1p0ZacO_oLaQPww_SOnkVNcD-QKLJyfzWX2Y0-rg/s318/Muhammadu%20Buhari-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="159" data-original-width="318" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-qvFeuZ4EqnaAxZdzko1kCb55j_ZSAJfVHFIkmunT5282C7I-lspsAnZWKvszpi1nhbOhihE3vn1YXAx3DapKkoAA-EZOvuWxDA9lL_jiSdHOA14jvYE_GBmCLudcCQzB58R5O73Qc1Zo0n8cnFE1p0ZacO_oLaQPww_SOnkVNcD-QKLJyfzWX2Y0-rg/w525-h263/Muhammadu%20Buhari-2.jpg" width="525" /></a></div><b><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">*Buhari </span></b><span style="color: #303030; font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Buhari was sold to us in
2014-2015 as the very personification of integrity, which meant he was a man of
his words who would do exactly as he said. During the electioneering whose main
objective, as we can now see, was not to make life and living better and easier
for me and you but to oust Dr Goodluck Jonathan and his PDP cohorts from power,
Buhari was sold to us as the next best thing to happen to humanity in Nigeria
outside the scriptures.<span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Hook, line, and sinker, the masses of Nigeria bought into the sales hype
and swallowed the fake mantra of change that was promised. Eight years of two
presidential terms after, Nigerians now know better, but are gnashing their
teeth in that knowledge. What happened to integrity?</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">We will probably spend the rest
of each of our lives trying to fathom just what happened. Why couldn’t a man
keep his words? Why would someone promise during electioneering that refineries
will be revamped and new ones built but failed or refused to do both and
instead continued the injurious and larcenous subsidy system?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">How can a man of integrity
railroad the Central Bank into furnishing his government with nearly N30
trillion of ways and means? Where is the integrity, knowing fully well that
this was far over and above the legally prescribed five per cent limit? <o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Apart from that, what became of
the $US 3.4 billion COVID facility? Was it not under this man’s administration
that an accountant-general made the sum of N180 billion grow wings from
government coffers to destinations that government knows nothing about? Under
this same man, a minister told the whole world that she spent more than N500
million to feed schoolchildren during the COVID-19 lock-down. </span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">In addition, the
sum of nearly N600 million was allegedly spent to train less than 100 youths on
how to repair smartphones. Yet another minister spent about N5 billion on
conjuring a national carrier for us from the rarefied Ethiopian air. Still
more, another minister, one of the few he fired in his moments of sobriety had
to answer questions from the anti-graft agency over some N22 billion sleaze.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Watching the way things were
going between 2015 and 2023, it became clear that by the time the story of
looting during those years see the light of day, those we thought were
kleptomaniacs, like the late General Abacha, would be looking like saints. Are
they not, now?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Ahead of the 2015 elections, I
shouted myself hoarse, albeit to deaf ears everywhere that we’re headed for a
one chance bus if this man got elected. The ayes had the day, he was elected,
and we’re all now gnashing our teeth.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">For me, the personal integrity
of one man who headed a government, but which integrity could not impact
members of his cabinet is already wiped out.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The problem for me are the
latter-day saints in the ruling APC, including the party’s former national
chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole. Now that the carcass of the nation’s
economy is in full public display, these latter-day saints are trying to wash
their hands off the mess. </span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The question is: Where were they and what were they
doing while the economy was being fed to the dogs through crass economic
illiteracy? If, as they all say time and again, they are in politics to make
life better for the masses, why did they keep quiet and allowed one man to ruin
the aspirations of more than 200 million people? It is annoying to read
Oshiomhole saying that Buhari’s disastrous policies landed us where we are now.
It could have been avoided if these people really love Nigeria as a country and
her peoples. </span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">In same vein, former Emir of Kano, HRH Muhammad Sanusi absolved
the present administration of blame in the morass in which we are mired. I will
remind him of Edmund Burke, who said that the only thing necessary for the
triumph of evil is for good men to say and do nothing. That goes for the
present administration. They are all APC. Now the evil days are here, and the
poor, hapless people of Nigeria are being asked to absorb pains inflicted by
the insouciance of the faction of the power elite in government. How bileous!!!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">It is a disservice to all of us for these men to have kept quiet. They
kept on rationalising the locust’s activities by avoiding an implosion of their
prized party</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Everyday the average Nigerian
wakes up, he has to manage issues he didn’t see before going to bed. On a daily
basis, prices of good and services are rising while incomes remain stagnant.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">I really hope Nigerians have
learnt their lesson, though I retain my doubts. Between 2015 and 2023, our
government was one of the most incompetent, insouciant, and unconscionable in
our history. Ali Baba and his 40 thieves are smelling better. Right now, we are
all looking for ways out of the economic cul-de-sac we have found ourselves
with subsidy removal and naira flotatiy. I hope our torchlights’ batteries
don’t lose power in the process. That is one attenuation we can’t afford.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #0000cc; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">*Adekoya
is a commentator on public issues </span></i></b><b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>EDITORhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04813476568301834233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813579275777872686.post-91269764002454370542024-03-01T02:46:00.000-08:002024-03-01T02:46:29.259-08:00Remembering MKO Abiola’s Transformer Semiotics <p> <b><span style="color: maroon; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%;">By Banji Ojewale</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "serif";"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">One of the captivating political campaign lines
of MKO Abiola has been immortalized in a seminal work by Professor Tunde
Ope-Davies (Tunde Opeibi) of the University of Lagos. Titled </span><b style="font-size: 14pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Discourse,
Politics and the 1993 Presidential Election Campaign in Nigeria</i></b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">, the book
documents the drive of the gladiators to secure the mandate of the electorate.</span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5aDB9lMs0gvk5q2sZlU07MeDVwi_94W2XcwB4gU0nJ4QmldySKTfPQb1CZzKw2UhY8ETCm-MmQd1KhOoiD9luDEUwFHDNSGx1NV0t_qN-FJYxBjTPqfWJhJ8wn60UF3AwjCGwjolyaJHjzGR_FaavH9UYLI3iUevo6FOK3dNemd1F-0O7hLprl932zl4/s407/MKO%20Abiola-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="368" data-original-width="407" height="447" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5aDB9lMs0gvk5q2sZlU07MeDVwi_94W2XcwB4gU0nJ4QmldySKTfPQb1CZzKw2UhY8ETCm-MmQd1KhOoiD9luDEUwFHDNSGx1NV0t_qN-FJYxBjTPqfWJhJ8wn60UF3AwjCGwjolyaJHjzGR_FaavH9UYLI3iUevo6FOK3dNemd1F-0O7hLprl932zl4/w495-h447/MKO%20Abiola-1.jpg" width="495" /></a></div><b><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: large;">*Abiola </span></b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Ope-Davies’ uncanny nose for hidden details
smokes out Abiola’s rush for virtually every trick in the advertising books to
outwit his main challenger, Bashir Tofa, of the National Republican Convention,
NRC, leading Abiola to create the famous punchline on the transformer as a
metaphor for abiding leadership. MKO, as he was fondly called, was of the
Social Democratic Party, SDP. He is quoted by Ope-Davies (then known as Tunde
Opeibi) as saying during his search for votes that all Nigeria needed to
overcome its age-old statehood concerns was ‘one transformer’, one singular and
enduring personality in the saddle whose beam of integrity would permeate all
of society for salutary ripples in his days and beyond.<span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">So, Abiola had an ad with the kicker, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Endless Power Interruptions</i>, followed by
the rider, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">All Nigeria needs is one
transformer!</i> In between, you have the semiotic message of a lit lantern in
the midst of darkness “depicting poor power supply or the failure of …
government to guarantee steady and regular power…to Nigerian homes.’’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Ope-Davies recalls how the subject of failed and
flawed leadership is then broached in the body copy: “This country has the
resources to ensure stable power supply. All it takes is one achiever who can
transform what seems impossible to be possible. M.K.O. Abiola has the courage and
honesty of purpose to unite us in a bold move to solve our problems… All
Nigeria needs is one transformer… A transformer is the equipment that generates
electricity in every neighbourhood. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Without a transformer, there cannot be
power supply. Often, officials of the company responsible for power supply
blame lack of good or ageing transformer for their inability to ensure good and
steady power. While suggesting that he would address the problem by providing
the leadership that would ensure regular energy supply, he presents himself as
the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">one
transformer </i></b>who would ‘transform’ the society. One could see the
creativity in the use of social amenities to promote political candidate’s
campaign messages. Instead of making promises in plain language, he appeals to
the visual senses of the people.’’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">This book on the June 12 1993 poll was written
in 2009 to chronicle the trajectory of a politician’s victory through
‘’effective campaign strategies’’. It salutes the people’s overwhelming trust
in Abiola as their freely chosen leader.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But alas, Abiola’s triumph was aborted by the conspiracy and infighting
among the military authorities and their civilian co-travellers. He wasn’t
allowed to transform into the transformer he promised us. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">We’ve had to continuously mourn a doleful
political leadership underhandedness that has followed Abiola’s loss. Instead
of a ‘transformer’, we’ve have had pall-bearers giving us abyss darkness. Each
departing gloom always gave birth to a blacker dimness, until finally, in
Muhammadu Buhari, we were hit with a somnolent blindness that sent all the
nation of 200m plus to sleep for eight years. He reminded us of Rip Van Winkle,
the character in Irving Washington’s short story who slept for 20 years and
missed the American Revolution in 1776.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Still, sitting at Abiola’s feet wasn’t a wasted
time. We received the lesson of all time: a nation that slips at the leadership
level is bound to trip and fall. You must get it right at the point where
you’re choosing who to lead you. He’s the transformer who gives you and the
entire society the light that leads you away from the pit of perdition.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">You don’t have him or her, you don’t have light.
You may have all the resources of this world as our beloved Nigeria has; they
would all come to zero if there’s no hero of a ‘transformer’ to show the way to
exploit these assets for mass benefit. But if you have ‘zero’ or limited
resources, a hardworking, innovative and selfless leader would bond with his or
her people to readily create a mass of wealth surpassing the so-termed riches or
minerals of an endowed nation bereft of a good leader, a transformer. It was
the point Nigeria’s late novelist, Chinua Achebe, made in the book he published
in 1983, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Trouble with Nigeria</i></b>.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">We must begin to work harder at choosing our leaders,
whether at the centre or at the wings, outposts or grassroots, seeing that’s
the make-or-mar stage of the process of efficiently administering a society,
its people and resources. That’s what also decides if that society would be a
success or failure, if it would march into a prosperous and stable future or if
it would just be taking unsteady baby steps with fears that it would be a
matter of a few years for the legs to collapse and prevent further movement
altogether.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">More than 60 years after so-called Independence,
Nigeria is still shady about its status: to stay together or break up, to shred
its constitution or retain it, to run a presidential or parliamentary system, to
be under an arrangement in which the majority become poorer and destitute while
a minuscule steal state wealth with impunity or work for a truly just order, to
create more states or not, to bring back the regional system or let it remain in
the past?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The weak
and indifferent leaders we’ve had over the decades have been defeated by these
demons, such that they’re recurring little devils that feature under every
administration and in every age. Lay hold on the newspapers of the 70s through
the 80s, 90s and the current century and you’d find the imps everywhere. No
strong leader has emerged to rock the boat and change the order. Warped religion,
corruption cronyism (nepotism), ethnic considerations, compromised (stained) leadership
etc. combine to block such attempts. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">We need leaders with character that emerge from
a crucible of fire. They should pass the unbending integrity test. In their
2011 book, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Segun Osoba: The Newspaper Years</i></b>, Mike Awoyinfa and Dimgba
Igwe, relate how late Babatunde Jose, a giant of Nigeria’s newspaper journalism,
recruited his reporters who went on, not only to become the greatest in the
industry, but also outside their discipline. Jose was unsparing and disruptive
in his search for those who would mold the society through their reports. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; tab-stops: 27.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">At an interview session,
Jose wanted to know what a young potential reporter would do if, while he was
making love with his wife, he heard a bang outside followed by a scream. One
fellow said he’d disengage and shower before going to cover the event. Another said:
“I won’t shower. I would just put on my pants and trousers and go.’’ That’s the
answer that made Jose’s day: Forsaking personal pleasure to serve the public. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; tab-stops: 27.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">The book also records
the case of the one who has an urgent journalistic assignment. But then here
comes his pregnant wife; she is groaning, needing to be taken to the hospital.
What’s the poor journalist going to do? Our fellow says he’d take his woman to
the health facility and leave for the assignment after his wife delivers. He
missed it, according to Jose. He said he’d tell the young man since he wasn’t a
nurse, why would he wait at the hospital after taking her there? Jose said: “I
was that harsh in my assessment of people’s attitude to work… (I looked for)
those who were impersonal, who showed that the love for work transcends
personal conveniences.’’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; tab-stops: 27.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Nigerians must be
harsher than Babatunde Jose. For, our task is to choose one who, having been
seen to have transformed himself, would be entrusted the task of exuding light
to some 200m+ compatriots. Surely, much more of Spartan discipline and
impersonal propensity would be required of him and his government than of
journalists.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; tab-stops: 27.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Nigeria hasn’t had such
leaders. It’s the reason challenges of decades past are still here in the 21<sup>st</sup>
Century. Nations that started the race with us have left us far behind. We were
destined to have a shot at the moon. But our leaders failed to envision a dream
and a future as a John Kennedy had for the United States. Some of my
compatriots say that it’s late to dream again of a transformer waking the
giant, that there are no new territories to conquer. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; tab-stops: 27.0pt 244.8pt;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">As an invincible
optimist, I disagree.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #0000cc;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></i></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; tab-stops: 27.0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #0000cc; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">*Ojewale
is a writer at Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria.</span></i></b></p>EDITORhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04813476568301834233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813579275777872686.post-48959236001352290132024-02-29T05:47:00.000-08:002024-02-29T05:47:01.417-08:00Shettima Goofs: No Forces Want To Pull Down Nigeria! <p> <b><span style="color: maroon; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">By Olu Fasan</span></b></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Ahead of last year’s general
elections, I wrote a piece titled</span><i style="color: #303030; font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">
“2023: Shettima Unfit To Be Nigeria’s Vice-President”</i><span style="color: #303030; font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"> (</span><b style="color: #303030; font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Vanguard</i></b><span style="color: #303030; font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">, September 22, 2022). I
argued that despite his education and seeming bibliophilism, Kashim Shettima
suffers from negative parrhesia, expressing indecorous views freely without
aforethought.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #303030; font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhum_VIt5v-yeoppFByUR_rjBbyWtv0JGsZ1Wzu5s1qJqyKgZBOhzhvOTNNaE-faqwZ0BtU_4Db0iwMIUC08fHjt2HX4yBT9jNCkIRtqnadmqHJ4dC1-Mf1y-peVD80Tl4wfAunuJm3SYWLgl_7I_ax-5tFInGxY1dK1fE_IDH78gGK5EJwUWWPCcyfoiQ/s2048/President%20Kashim%20Shettima.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1390" data-original-width="2048" height="357" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhum_VIt5v-yeoppFByUR_rjBbyWtv0JGsZ1Wzu5s1qJqyKgZBOhzhvOTNNaE-faqwZ0BtU_4Db0iwMIUC08fHjt2HX4yBT9jNCkIRtqnadmqHJ4dC1-Mf1y-peVD80Tl4wfAunuJm3SYWLgl_7I_ax-5tFInGxY1dK1fE_IDH78gGK5EJwUWWPCcyfoiQ/w527-h357/President%20Kashim%20Shettima.jpeg" width="527" /></a></div><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">*<o:p></o:p></span></b><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Shettima</span></b></span><p></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">I wrote: “With Shettima’s
inherent tetchiness and truculence, he would be gratuitously provocative. And
with his uncouthness and indiscretion, he would be utterly divisive and
toxifying.” Well, since he became vice-president, Shettima has done enough,
with several infuriating comments, to validate my opinion of him. <span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-outline-level: 2;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Last week,
Shettima accused opposition politicians of attempting to pull down Nigeria.
Speaking at a conference in Abuja, he said: “Forces are hell-bent on plunging
this country into a state of anarchy, those that could not get into power
through the ballot box. Instead of waiting for 2027, they are so desperate;
this country can fall apart as far as they are concerned.” What an utterly
provocative comment!</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Earlier, in January, Shettima
directed his diatribe at Nigerians on social media. At a function in Abuja, he
said: “Yesterday, when the naira culminated to N1,500 to the dollar, instead of
us to coagulate into a single force and salvage our nation’s economy, sadly,
some clowns are celebrating on Twitter of an impending implosion of the
Nigerian economy.” It was all contrived moral outrage, of course, but Shettima
could not resist being verbally abusive, calling Nigerians “clowns”.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Allow me to quote again from the
article I wrote in September 2022. “All this matters because, truth be told, if
Tinubu wins next year, Nigeria would be more turbulent and divided than it has
been under President Buhari. In such circumstances, a belligerent
vice-president with a tendency for tetchiness would exacerbate the situation.
Nigeria is inherently volatile and prone to crisis. It needs a calm and
thoughtful vice-president who can help douse tension, not one that will inflame
it through reckless and provocative comments.” I concluded by saying: “Shettima
simply doesn’t fit the bill!”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Now, lest we forget. Here was
the Shettima who wore sneakers to the annual conference of the Nigerian Bar
Association and bragged that he did so “deliberately” to “mock” his detractors
– a behaviour that was hardly vice-presidential. Here was the Shettima who said
in a viral video: “Restructuring my foot”, dismissing such a defining national
issue in such an uncouth language. As I predicted, Bola Tinubu’s government
will be the most unpopular and most beleaguered civilian administration in
Nigerian history; a rude vice president who puts his foot in his mouth each
time he speaks is tantamount to pouring fuel on fire.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">One of the striking things about
the Tinubu government is its utter arrogance. What Tinubu had in last year’s
presidential election was a technical “win”, not a popular mandate. There was
no single geopolitical zone where Tinubu had an overwhelming victory. Indeed,
overall, he was rejected by 63 per cent of the electorate, and only won, thanks
to a constitutional technicality, with just 37 per cent of the vote.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Such a minority government, with
such a weak mandate, can only gain legitimacy by delivering prompt and tangible
benefits for the people and by governing with humility, building cross-party,
cross-national consensus for change. But Tinubu is ruling Nigeria as if he won
a landslide victory, and his government has failed, nearly one year in power,
to improve, even marginally, people’s lives and wellbeing.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">During the presidential election
campaign, Shettima said that if Tinubu won, he (Shettima) would be “in charge
of” security, while Tinubu would be “in charge of” the economy. How well has
that division of labour gone? The economy has gone into a tailspin as the
naira’s value collapses to nearly N2000 to a dollar and inflation hits 30 per
cent. Insecurity is claiming hundreds of Nigerian lives daily. According to the
International Centre for Investigative Reporting, ICIR, over 5,000 Nigerians
have been killed since Tinubu assumed office. </span><span style="color: #303030; font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">So, be it on the economy or on
national security, the Tinubu-Shettima administration has, so far, failed, and
blaming others for the failure insults the intelligence of Nigerians.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Unfortunately, the Yoruba
tribalists, who harangued President Buhari for eight years, want to exculpate
Tinubu, a fellow Yoruba, blaming Buhari for the current policy failures. But
leaving aside the fact that Tinubu self-interestedly foisted Buhari on Nigeria
and used him as a springboard to the presidency, didn’t he tell Nigerians that
he “transformed” Lagos state’s economy “from zero”, and would do the same for
Nigeria?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Didn’t he say that becoming president was his
“lifelong ambition”, subsequently staking an entitlement claim: “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Emi lokan</i>” – it’s my turn? Now that he
is president, why is he making policies on the hoof without proper
consultation, adequate preparation and real thoughtfulness? And why is his
government blaming imaginary “saboteurs”, recklessly accusing opposition
politicians of being “hell-bent on plunging this country into a state of
anarchy.” Who are they?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Sadly, Nigerian politicians,
aided by the media, get away with crass hypocrisy. For instance, when Shettima
said that instead of pointing out his government’s failures, people should “coagulate
into a single force and salvage our nation’s economy”, why was he not probed on
how he and his boss behaved when they were in opposition? </span></p><p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">When President
Goodluck Jonathan tried to remove the fuel subsidy in 2012, why did Tinubu’s
then party, Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, sponsor <b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">‘Occupy Nigeria’</i></b> protests nationally against it? Why did Tinubu
himself write a stinging article titled <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Removal
of Oil Subsidy: President Jonathan Breaks Social Contract with the People”</i>
strongly condemning the proposal? Recently, Dr Kayode Fayemi, a former governor
of Ekiti State, said: “We in ACN at the time, in 2012, we know the truth, it’s
all politics.” Why did they not “coagulate” to salvage the economy?</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Take another hypocrisy. Tinubu
recently ordered mandatory recitation of the national pledge after the national
anthem at public events “to strengthen allegiance and fidelity to country.” But
the same Tinubu, frustrated by General Sani Abacha’s tyranny, told <b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ThisDay </i></b>newspaper in 1997: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“I Don’t Believe in One Nigeria.”</i> If
Abacha could push Tinubu to disavow Nigeria’s oneness, what moral justification
does his government have to brand Nigerians “clowns” or unpatriotic for venting
their frustrations on Twitter or elsewhere about how Nigeria is run? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Yet, let’s be clear: no forces
want to pull Nigeria down. To adapt a Shakespearean saying, the fault, dear
Tinubu/Shettima, is not in anyone else but in your government! <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #0000cc; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">*Dr. Fasan
is a commentator on public issues</span></i></b></p>EDITORhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04813476568301834233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813579275777872686.post-65474059458964900802024-02-28T07:35:00.000-08:002024-02-28T07:35:36.843-08:00Tinubu Must Find Dollars NOT Scapegoats! <p> <b><span style="color: maroon; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">By Ugoji Egbujo</span></b></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">If they leave the major
bleeding points oozing to fan the man because he is sweating, then
they are like our government that has left crude oil thieves to chase BDC
operators.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFPmHv1bgaPzAURYoSTUXZ2k00SvQGdCpN_fze6wauvlaj8okw_tvxpzZISf9Ywb2FL58yW-UMY97bTIVFOUNEGhuCBLsrepNt4zFnKFcUamVQiHKQCLtLLTamKqwyn3AD_sESMClpCeeEdphAsFiPnGbsETFbtNLV5HJFVmdlVQxzlxKKVuNCqnPymNk/s700/US%20Dollars.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="395" data-original-width="700" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFPmHv1bgaPzAURYoSTUXZ2k00SvQGdCpN_fze6wauvlaj8okw_tvxpzZISf9Ywb2FL58yW-UMY97bTIVFOUNEGhuCBLsrepNt4zFnKFcUamVQiHKQCLtLLTamKqwyn3AD_sESMClpCeeEdphAsFiPnGbsETFbtNLV5HJFVmdlVQxzlxKKVuNCqnPymNk/w499-h282/US%20Dollars.jpg" width="499" /></a></div><p></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The country is in shock. Shock
is what happens when circulation fails and systems start to shut down. Our
country lies prostrate, bleating, like a man run over by a hit-and-run truck.
Our foreign reserves are empty. The poor can’t buy food. The government is
running helter-skelter to pander to the angry masses and save itself. Truth has
been sacrificed. But that won’t do. So, scapegoats must be found. Perhaps, as
the Igbo say, a desperate man is entitled to act a little crazy. <span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-outline-level: 2;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Governments
at all levels have gone from slumber to bulging eyes. They are now actively
looking for scapegoats at every turn. The presidency wears the crown. So it’s
understandably particularly unease. One moment, it’s all mad Meffy. He
singlehandedly upended the country. But since the now bible-carrying man has a
head too small for any national atonement because he was never a president,
other lines have to be explored. Buhari can’t be mentioned by name. Apart from
being a saint, he belongs to the party. They can’t indict the party because
only the Poverty Development Party failed the country.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">So, sometimes, they reel out
specious figures to point to a global recession. But the public knows that
despite the downturn in Japan and the UK, being there would be bliss. A global
recession isn’t why they can’t feed. The poor folks in Japan eat good food and
have healthcare. The wish-washy comparisons underline the shallowness that
marches around as intellect in high places. </span></p><p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The Senate President has a
reputation for self-harm. He believes that those protesting were sponsored by
political opponents. So perhaps, there is no hunger or food prices aren’t that
bad yet. That statement confirmed the long-held suspicion that the ruling class
regards the masses as no more than flocks of sheep. If there is hunger in the
land, they are expected to die quietly. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">While some government agents are
parroting global incoherence, others are hounding bulk traders. In the olden
days, farmers had barns. Traders stored in warehouses. Our grandfathers used
barns to store yam and produce, keeping them for months till the dry season. It
wasn’t called hoarding. Commodity traders bought bulk beans from Chad and
stored them in warehouses in Alaba Rago in Lagos and Kano. It was called shrewd
business. But now the president has asked security agents to look into
hoarding, and some governors have taken thugs to warehouses. The idea that
storing food is the cause of high food prices in the face of dwindling naira is
comical.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">When innocent traders aren’t
taking the potshots for hoarding, they are being bashed for changing prices
arbitrarily. Before the naira became confetti paper, the govt didn’t care about
how and when a tomato seller sold. Because demand and supply would check
arbitrary prices in an open market. But since neither the ruling government nor
the party wants to take responsibility for adopting policies without thinking,
they will tell all tales and find enemies. Yet no entity has changed prices
more than the Customs recently. The Customs all but charges in dollars. Because
between January and February, it has changed custom duties thrice, mimicking
every hop of the dollar.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Traders must endure because
manufacturers have also been fingered. Cement producers were summoned to a
meeting. Cement prices have tripled. The government said it wanted to know what
the trouble was. The government knows that the official exchange rate of the
naira has tripled in the last 8 months. But since the govt is playing ostrich,
it must invite the cement producers and threaten to import cement massively.
With that public display of righteous anger, when all construction works across
the country come to an inevitable halt, the blame must belong to the cement
manufacturers, not the politicians who use dollars to buy party delegates
during party primaries. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The rambunctious search for
scapegoats took a new but expected turn this week. The EFCC went after BDC
operators. These folks have been in this business since Lord Lugard. They have
always done it in the open. In many government agencies, where contractors pay
heavy bribes to officials, everything happens in dollars. BDC operators
are given office spaces in the buildings for ease of doing business. </span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">However,
it is the BDC fries, not the big fishes in the government, who were harvested
and later released. The govt that said it wanted the naira to float freely and
find its level now believes the BDC guys might be the witches behind the
naira’s predicament. The government thinks that arresting them rather than
flushing the market with dollars will stem speculation. The government has to
be seen as doing something drastic. But interestingly, no bank managing
director has been arrested yet. Small fries are good for the show.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">While using one hand to scratch
the BDC guys, the government was using the other to punch the crypto and forex
traders. The authorities believe that some of these lazy youths and their
sponsors have used the forex platforms to cast a spell on the naira. The
authorities believe that these small markets of frivolous speculators play
magical roles in dragging down the naira in the black market, indirectly exerting
a pull on the official rates. If the government understands this juju this
well, then why can’t it drown the speculators in these ponds by flooding it
with dollars? The volume of dollars needed to fill up these ponds is small
compared to what we spend daily on estacodes for frivolous trips. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">When a man is in shock because
he has bled copiously, an urgent transfusion to retain circulation is
mandatory. While the major bleeding points are being secured, an infusion of
water and salt must commence. But as soon as possible, blood must be
transfused. That man can’t be expected to make sufficient blood in his marrows
until stable circulation is restored. Mosquitoes sucking on him are not even
his problem. That is the predicament of our economy.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-outline-level: 2;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">If the
people around the man choose to pour cold water on him, as many do to accident
victims, then they are chasing shadows. If they leave the man in shock to
pursue the old truck driver and his motor boy for causing a needless accident
by driving against traffic, then they have left the elephant in the room to
sweep cobwebs. If they leave the major bleeding points oozing to fan the man
because he is sweating, then they are like our government that has left crude
oil thieves to chase BDC operators. If they haven’t called an ambulance but are
taking pictures of the dying man and crying, then they are like the politicians
breaking into warehouses and talking about hoarding.</span><span style="color: #303030; font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-outline-level: 2;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">This is an
emergency. The government has the instruments. It must source dollars in
sufficient quantities to save the country. Then it can remove its shirt to
fight crude oil theft and banditry with all its might. But playing Baba Suwe
and parading scapegoats won’t work. Too many are too hungry. </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-outline-level: 2;"><b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #0000cc; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">*Dr. Egbujo is a commentator on public issues</span></i></b> </p>EDITORhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04813476568301834233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813579275777872686.post-26271403196424000642024-02-26T11:49:00.000-08:002024-02-26T11:49:48.175-08:00Tinubu, Beware The Troubles Of March To May! <p> <b><span style="color: maroon; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">By Dele Sobowale</span></b></p>
<p><em><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">“Caesar, beware, the ides of
March”</span></em><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> – <b>William
Shakespeare, 1546-1616<o:p></o:p></b></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">As Shakespeare rendered it, in
his famous book, </span><b style="color: #303030; font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Julius Caesar</i></b><span style="color: #303030; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;">,
the Roman Emperor (<i>Jagaban</i> if you wish) was at the peak of his powers; without
realising that a plot against him was in progress. A seer approached Caesar to
warn the most powerful man on Earth then about impending danger. He was
dismissed with a wave of the hand.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #303030; font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3OTRPJRKvgaAt8ltobQSMr0Wf_F4lD7_2IG3063jo5Qd0RoN2sy4IRXoxJVFOCLzEy5VHxMpleiieuteMsj5hpvuhKwXE6OAHRr9bLKl-KjDWcNmw04tKfOC8jPMX8N9PduqCUR_i5H-0Rz0ImEl6oVdg4J6a0mJtVZckgCNumkmhIRpVUQOCkiQsv8E/s1024/Bola%20Tinubu.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="683" data-original-width="1024" height="346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3OTRPJRKvgaAt8ltobQSMr0Wf_F4lD7_2IG3063jo5Qd0RoN2sy4IRXoxJVFOCLzEy5VHxMpleiieuteMsj5hpvuhKwXE6OAHRr9bLKl-KjDWcNmw04tKfOC8jPMX8N9PduqCUR_i5H-0Rz0ImEl6oVdg4J6a0mJtVZckgCNumkmhIRpVUQOCkiQsv8E/w520-h346/Bola%20Tinubu.jpeg" width="520" /></a></div><b><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">*Tinubu</span></b><span style="color: #303030; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 14pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-outline-level: 2;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Then it
happened and world history was changed forever. Don’t get me wrong. I am not
predicting another assassination. But, all the signs of a major upheaval are
already present in the Nigerian polity – as to make the next three months the
most dangerous in our history since January 1966.<span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Never, since then, have so many
Nigerians, old and young, rich and poor, male and female, irrespective of
political affiliation, ethnicity, religion, employed or jobless, lost
confidence in the Federal and most State governments as well. Unprecedented hunger,
allied with deepest anger, ever experienced, is so pervasive as to leave one
wondering when the explosion will occur and what will trigger it. We are all
sitting on a box full of explosives.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The road to hell is always paved
with good intentions – as a sage has warned us. And, it must be stated that we
arrived at this crossroad – between salvation and oblivion – purely on the good
intentions expressed as government policies on May 29, 2023. However, some
other wise men have also cautioned us that good intentions alone are never
enough.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">For leaders, the best of visions
must be accompanied with adequate preparations, taking into consideration the
possible repercussions of measures contemplated – when they are revolutionary
in nature especially. Those of us fed on the idea that visionary leaders are
the best were jolted in 1993, when then-British Prime Minister John Major,
pronounced that: “People with vision do more harm than good”. We thought Major
was talking rubbish. Today, in Nigeria, we are on the brink of anarchy on
account of vision. Only God knows how we can avert the worst case scenario.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><strong style="box-sizing: inherit;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">FG
leading from the rear</span></strong><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><em style="box-sizing: inherit;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">“Things are in the saddle; and they ride mankind</span></em><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">” – <b>Ralph Waldo Emerson,
1803-1882<o:p></o:p></b></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><b><br /></b></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Last week, the National Bureau
of Statistics, NBS, threw petrol into our burning house. NBS was only doing its
job. But, when people were already up in arms about 28.80 per cent inflation in
December 2023, the announcement that it was 29.90 per cent in January was not
exactly how government can assuage the anger already built up. Inflation has
become one of the things in the saddle; riding and flogging government and
citizenry as well. </span><span style="color: #303030; font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">It will again rise above 30 per cent in February – for
various reasons which cannot be treated here.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Earlier in the same week, the
Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN (friend or foe?), ordered import duties to be
charged at N1, 550/US$1. The impact of that will start to be felt starting
mid-February. Exchange rates have joined inflation in the saddle as one of the
things in the saddle whipping all of us mercilessly. It will rise to about N2,
000/US$1 by the end of the second quarter of the year. More fuel.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-outline-level: 2;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><amp-ad data-slot="/9223985/mobile-2" height="250" json="{'targeting':{'incontent-ad-id':'2'}}" style="box-sizing: inherit;" type="doubleclick" width="300"></amp-ad>“The
most dangerous person to fight is someone who has nothing to lose.” I first
learnt that bit of wisdom from a family friend in Boston, USA. Paul Frazier was
a black American, well-decorated, Vietnam War veteran. He was sent home after
suffering a spinal cord injury in 1971. We met in 1973 and he told me about the
Viet Cong, the enemies. They were literally in rags; recruited and trained to
carry and shoot guns.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Paul told me of one encounter in
which the American forces, about 200, engaged in a shoot-out with about 1000
Viet Cong soldiers. The Americans had the superior weapons and could even call
for air support. They mowed down hundreds of the enemy. Surprisingly, instead
of turning round and running, the remaining enemy soldiers just kept moving
forward. The American soldiers wanted to return home safely; the other guys
didn’t care if they died or not. Eventually, it was the US soldiers who
withdrew under air cover. For all we know, Nigeria might have its own bunch
like that.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Our Almajiris are now mostly
people with nothing to lose. They probably have formed the reserve army for
bandits and kidnappers. The current food situation, which is already testing
everybody’s resistance, might prove too much for these guys unless we can
somehow ameliorate the hunger pains.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">March 2024 will bear a
remarkable resemblance to March 2004. Christians started Lent on February 14.
Our Muslim brothers will start the Holy Month of Ramadan in early March. For
about twenty eight days, practitioners of the two religions will be fasting
simultaneously. Breaking fast with food is the least expectation. Right now,
millions are already mini-fasting.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Having nothing on which to break
their fast might prove to be the spark which will ignite the keg of gun powder
on which the Sultan of Sokoto proclaimed we are sitting. Donor fatigue has set
in everywhere in Nigeria. In the North in particular, where it has now become extremely
risky to entertain Almajiris in one’s home, the lack of traditional support and
social safety net poses serious danger, not only to the communities where the
disturbance might start, but, they might spread to the entire nation on account
of contagion.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Pray there is no strike</span></strong><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">“The Devil always finds work for
idle hands.” </span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">We know. Since May 29, 2023, the number of idle hands jumped up
precipitously. More people have been thrown out of work in the last nine months
than at any time in our history. Many have nobody to help them – but the Devil
of course. And, he has been very busy recruiting from among the ranks of
millions of unemployed youths especially.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The biggest immediate threat,
which might precipitate anarchy, is the possibility of a national strike called
by Organised Labour. If that includes street protests and occupation of some
areas in Abuja , Lagos and possibly Port-Harcourt, with ripple effects in Kano,
Kaduna and Ibadan, then we might be heading for another face-off taking us back
to the #ENDSARS calamity. This one has the potential of becoming much bigger,
more widespread and easily hijacked by hoodlums wherever it occurs.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Despite, the fact that Labour’s
right to protest has always received my support, every morning in our prayer
house in Lagos, we now pray fervently that the disputes between Labour and
government can be resolved without resort to street protests. That, to me, is
the spark required to ignite all combustible anger building up nationally. That
also means that the FG and Labour must negotiate seriously; and promises made
this time around must be kept.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><strong style="box-sizing: inherit;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Impediments
to peaceful resolution </span></strong></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><i><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">“If you shut up the truth and bury it underground,
it will but grow and gather to itself such explosive power, that the day it
bursts through, it blows up everything in its way”</span></i><span style="color: #303030; font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"> – <b>Emile Zola, 1840-1902</b></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><b><br /></b></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to
President Tinubu, spoke, truthfully, two weeks ago when he called Nigeria a
poor country. But, because of our toxic political environment, most
commentators ignored the message; and went after the messenger. Yet, Bayo was
right for the most part. Potential and actual wealth are two different things.
For instance, Nigeria is potentially richer, but, actually poorer than South
Korea. We all know that. The difference has been in the development of that
potential and corruption. I will not elaborate on that now.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Therefore, as we enter into
negotiations on Minimum Wage, we need to be realistic; base our proposals on
where we are, not where we should have been or where we hope to be ten years
from now; because the wages will have to be paid from what is, or might be,
available; not what we wish is available.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">One false step on this matter and we might land in
political hell.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">That said; granted all
governments lie to protect political interests; but, violent repercussions
occur when too many falsehoods are thrown into the public domain. At a time
like these, the credibility of the President is paramount. It is almost
impossible to persuade the citizenry to absorb more hardship, in exchange for a
brighter future, if few people trust the leader. Trust, meanwhile, cannot be
compelled; it can only be earned by telling people the truth all the time. Say
so, if only two months arrears were paid. Don’t announce that all arrears were settled;
only for ASUU to refute it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The major obstacle to peace,
right now, is a truthful statement about the State of the Nation from President
Bola Ahmed Tinubu.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><strong style="box-sizing: inherit;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Fund me
to write the truth about Buhari</span></strong><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">“Liars ought to have good memories”</span></i><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> – <b>Algernon Sydney,
1622-1683.<o:p></o:p></b></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><b><br /></b></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">A bunch of liars got together to
write and launch books about Buhari’s eight years in office. In it, you will
not read about N30 trillion Ways and Means scam, N53 billion spent to feed
fictitious children during COVID-19 lockdown; the N100 billion for which the
Accountant General, under him, is being charged or how a plane borrowed from
Ethiopian Airlines was painted and launched as NIGERIA AIR. Liars don’t tell
you about such things.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">I started my own book on Buhari
two years ago; funded it myself and now I am stuck. Inflation and exchange rate
threaten publication of the truth about Buhari. I need help – your help – to
finish the job.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-outline-level: 2;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Their book
was advertised for N200, 000. I can deliver the truth for N20, 000 or less. Can
you help? Please, get in touch.</span><span style="color: maroon; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-outline-level: 2;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><b><i><span style="color: #2b00fe;">*Dr. Sobowale is a commentator on public issues </span></i></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>EDITORhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04813476568301834233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813579275777872686.post-71364257243211325052024-02-26T11:11:00.000-08:002024-02-26T11:11:05.627-08:00Silence In The East <p> <b><span style="color: maroon; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">By Obi Nwakanma</span></b></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">A terrible time has
fallen on Nigeria. There is no hiding it. Hunger is not just rampant; it
is now an epidemic. There is a food crisis, and it is inevitably leading
towards massive national food riots. However, a few weeks ago, a minister in
the current government said that there was no scarcity of food in
Nigeria. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgStp9KbAcOmf8gZmTW_ZFX6CZcv7AUCYxEJHMORwvSImgkOovIA7_m20-Il5ImgU4N8PbGD6-fRq83rnKgwhw_m-Un4r_YCoMl43YL1-ABTJSjVBvwUeuf3pPVM9nF2RpJH5Hcj0uWvzIDVmxj6g2gSM19YuJ1gtOuox6SDux7Guz9KwIvtQLDEPDNKY8/s1024/Welcome%20to%20Anambra.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="683" data-original-width="1024" height="340" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgStp9KbAcOmf8gZmTW_ZFX6CZcv7AUCYxEJHMORwvSImgkOovIA7_m20-Il5ImgU4N8PbGD6-fRq83rnKgwhw_m-Un4r_YCoMl43YL1-ABTJSjVBvwUeuf3pPVM9nF2RpJH5Hcj0uWvzIDVmxj6g2gSM19YuJ1gtOuox6SDux7Guz9KwIvtQLDEPDNKY8/w512-h340/Welcome%20to%20Anambra.jpg" width="512" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Well, I’m not quite certain
about this minister, since most of Tinubu’s cabinet is made up of second rate,
mediocre, provincial types – but elementary economics theory of scarcity
connects with a price theory which is determined by the dynamics of supply and
demand. Equilibrium occurs when the rise in supply meets the rise in demand.
But disequilibrium happens too. This, when the demand for the resource outstrips
the supply, and it leads both to exclusion, and to scarcity.<span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Scarcity could even be artificial. And only those
who have excess resource or liquidity can afford goods, and can therefore claim
that there is no scarcity. Like this minister of government. These lot are so
out of touch with the Nigerian reality, it feels like they speak from their
bumsies and fart from their mouths. For instance, minimum wage in Nigeria is
N30,000. But a bag of rice has hit N80,000. How about that, minister? Just this
past Tuesday, Mr. Kashim Shettima, Tinubu’s Vice-President, while addressing a
conference on Public Wealth Management in Abuja, accused those who lost the
2023 General elections of subversion.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">According to reports in the
media, Mr. Shettima accused his erstwhile political opponents of staging the
crisis and fomenting anarchy. They are willing, he said to plunge Nigeria into
a violent crisis. They are sabotaging Nigeria, and the effort of the
administration, he said, by smuggling food to neighboring countries and
triggering scarcity and the exponential rise of food prices in Nigeria. “They
are the practitioners of violence, advocating that Nigeria should go to the
Lebanon way,” Kashim Shettima asserted. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">There is no evidence of sabotage
by APC’s political opponents. This is dangerous talk by Shettima Kashim, whose
background in the use of violence is fairly well known. What is evident is that
the price of commodities rise by the hour, which indicates that this government
has lost control of the price mechanisms.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> Nigeria was already on the
road to Lebanon before now, from the eight years of Buhari, which was marked by
looting, depredation, and extreme lawlessness. Shettima was a very key
beneficiary of the Buhari years, yet he summoned the temerity to suggest
that Nigeria was bigger than everyone, and now that elections were over, there
needs to be a pulling together; a unity of purpose. </span></p><p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">“We have to make this
country work” said Shettima, “we have to move beyond politics… .” But
everything is politics. Stealing an election is despicable and diabolical
politics. It might have given the APC power. But it did not give them
authority. Authority comes from legitimacy. If there are forces who do not wish
this administration to succeed, well of course, it is also politics. But the
point is Tinubu and his party, the APC are in charge. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Within the period of their
superintendence of Nigeria, the nation’s condition has taken such a turn
that many Nigerians have become suicidal; some have gone mad from the troubles;
many children now go to bed feverish with hunger. They cannot even get the
scraps to eat off the streets. There is scarcity. The markets are emptying, and
increasingly shutting down, with the exponential decline of the value of the
Naira against other exchange currencies. </span></p><p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The price of commodities is spiraling
out of control. Energy costs – fuel, gas, even firewood and coal – rise by the
day. Many economists have blamed Tinubu’s thoughtless inaugural act, hearkening
to the IMF which has praised him, for removing fuel subsidy and floating the
Naira, as the cause. It gets worse. It gets curiouser too. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Nigeria’s economic system has
entered an arbitrary and normless stage. What follows this arbitrary and
normless stage? Here is what I dare to predict: one of these days, before May
29, a full year to his inauguration as President, to which he was installed
against the will of Nigerians, Ahmed Bola Tinubu, who campaigned on the
principle of “<i>Emilokan</i>,” will sneak out of the Aso Rock fortress, enter his
private jet with the veil of darkness, and escape to France, for exile. He has
already amassed the resources to live out the rest of his life in heady luxury
in the French Rivera. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Tinubu has private wealth, just
from serving in public office, that would make an Arab Sheik and oil
billionaire red with envy. Like many of the Nigerian elite, who have perfected
their “Noah’s Ark” policies, he has the resources to escape, even as Nigeria
burns to the ground. My other prediction is autarky – the unbundling of Nigeria
into independent frontiers of self-sufficient monocracies. I do pray that I am
wrong. And I urge everyone who still loves Nigeria to help stop this slide.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">But the signs are stark. I would
like to remind those currently at the helms that the bread riots in
revolutionary France, led to the storming of the Bastilles by citizens who had
organized themselves into civil militias, and thereto, the French revolution.
It is bad. It is very, very bad. And president, Mr. Tinubu has not only shown
that he is actually not just clueless on this matter of steering Nigeria out of
its social and economic morass, he is just simply incapable. “<i>Bulabalu</i>
Economics” does not work. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">He continues to run and grease the wheels of the
same old corrupt system which he clearly inherited from Buhari. He continues
from where Buhari stopped. For instance, recent events that implicated and
compromised his ministers, and his Chief of Staff, the Beta Edu corruption
scandal, was just papered over. No actions taken. No definitive reckoning.
Yes, Beta Edu was sacrificed, but without consequence. She faced neither
inquiry nor the assizes. Femi Gbajabiamila and Adelabu, continue to enjoy the
perks of their high office, irrespective of the scandal which reflects for too
many Nigerians, the real depth of systemic corruption at the highest places in
Nigeria. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Mr. Tinubu follows it all up, by
appointing his son-in-law, Mr. Oyetunde Ojo, as the MD of the Federal Housing
Authority (FHA). The ”Ariya,” continues inside Aso Rock: the nepotism, the
greasing of the palms; the squandermania; the looting – while Nigerians are
coiling from hunger and desperation. This was the point that Dr. Usman
Yusuf, Paediatric Oncologist, and former Executive Secretary of the National
Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), and a veritable voice of the North, was making
in his Arise TV interview just last week. “The people are suffering,” he
declared. “There is hunger in the land. This injection and prescription of
suffering is felt all across Nigeria.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Dr Yusuf then threw in the
clanger of Mr. Tinubu’s “reckless impunity and nepotism.” Well, then, Steve
Ayorinde of Arise TV said to Yusuf, it seems you have failed to recognize
Buhari’s role in all this unfolding poverty and hunger. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Why did Dr. Yusuf and his
Northern brethren not talk when Buhari was doing all that damage that has
brought us here, and why is the South East and South-South all quiet? To be
fair, Usman Yusuf was a long standing critic of Buhari, with whom he fell out,
especially after he was kicked out as the boss of the NHIS in 2018. But his
answer to the first question was spot on: it is “Emilokan’s” time now. He
campaigned on it. He helped break Nigeria. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">It is his duty to fix it.
Leaders, from the choice they make to govern, forfeit the right to make excuses.
As for the second question, why is it all quiet on the Eastern front? Dr Yusuf
said, “I do not know why the South East is uncharacteristically quiet…” Well, I
know, and I can tell him for free. First, it is not true that the East, that is
the South East and the South-South, is quiet. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The population is seething. What
Steve Ayorinde and others see as silence in the East is a stifled rage, brewing
inside the social innards. People are actually angry, and restless. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">But there is also the other fact
that people in the South East are frustrated, and are resolved that Nigeria is
no longer their sole burden to bear. It is also no longer their main frontier.
The people of the East are developing a wider concept of nation and national
belonging. Those who listen to the Igbo of the East will understand this. It is
of course dangerous. But it is non-violent withdrawal. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">There is no longer an Azikiwe to
theorise and unify Nigeria. There is no Ekwueme to reconceptualise it. There is
no Pius Okigbo to design Nigeria, or Ifeajuna/Nzeogwu to muster to save or
rescue her. There is of course Peter Obi, and many Igbo are now telling him,
“didn’t we tell you that you’re wasting your time?” Igbo now feel utterly
justified, saying, “we have tried too many times to save Nigeria, but we got
burnt far too many times.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">It is their comeuppance on
Nigeria that people are imagining to be silence. Easterners are tired of trying
to rescue Nigeria. They are emotionally drained, and they are waiting for
others to lead the charge to save Nigeria, while they keep watch. It is more
like the silence of the graveyard. But those who are asking the Igbo not to
join the protest when it begins are just wasting their breath. The East will
erupt, as will other parts of Nigeria, and it will most likely be spontaneous.
Why? Dr. Usman Yusuf is actually right: there is hunger in the land, and the
East is not exempt. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #0000cc; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">*Nwakanma
is US-based Professor of English<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>EDITORhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04813476568301834233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813579275777872686.post-45439718933714737142024-02-23T08:08:00.000-08:002024-02-23T08:09:31.530-08:00Bola Tinubu Should Resign!<p> <b><span style="color: maroon; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;">By Casmir Igbokwe</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: 0.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Three videos
which trended on the social media last week brought home the current reality of
life in Nigeria. The first one happens to be a group of young women struggling
to scoop rice from the pot of a rice vendor in Maiduguri, the Borno State
capital. The big pot of rice was still on fire, steaming hot. But the women
were not bothered with fire or any other thing. All they wanted was to quench
the fire of hunger ravaging their stomachs.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL3AXH5A1KQkifQx93QcllzKCimZ5wGj7cEALG4kQ2Wxd1zMf2si35ZF41LP2E1ctw2XrjhRsl5ZL8aMkqhU5cbJDfXqMMSs84d6iwh3Nc0R4UUjmrN9MoyTOdIqwNvWsZl8rK9UtHFzx8q9h7MDId6oQWvztKgic71HjqDUC_tUliVDkNKKr0RLurhR0/s1024/Bola%20Tinubu.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="560" data-original-width="1024" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL3AXH5A1KQkifQx93QcllzKCimZ5wGj7cEALG4kQ2Wxd1zMf2si35ZF41LP2E1ctw2XrjhRsl5ZL8aMkqhU5cbJDfXqMMSs84d6iwh3Nc0R4UUjmrN9MoyTOdIqwNvWsZl8rK9UtHFzx8q9h7MDId6oQWvztKgic71HjqDUC_tUliVDkNKKr0RLurhR0/w555-h304/Bola%20Tinubu.jpg" width="555" /></a></div><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>*Tinubu</b></span><br /><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: 0.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: 0.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In the second video, a group of people, mainly
youths, were struggling to collect loaves of bread said to be N100 each. It was
on February 14, 2024, being Valentine’s Day. As the youths were pushing and
shoving one another, the organisers, who had a tough time controlling them,
resorted to whipping them to be orderly. This particular incident reportedly
happened on Lagos Island.<span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: 0.5pt;">The
third incident was also said to have occurred somewhere in Lagos. A truck
carrying tubers of yam was reportedly hijacked and the content shared among a
crowd of youths. Though I am not sure of the veracity of these videos, they are
a reflection of the hardship and the high cost of living prevalent in Nigeria
of today.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: 0.5pt;">The
Emir of Kano, Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero, did not mince words to tell the wife of
President Bola Tinubu recently that Nigerians no longer find life palatable. He
urged Mrs. Remi Tinubu, who paid him homage at his palace, to tell her husband
that Nigerians were suffering.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="p2" style="background: white; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="s2"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: 0.5pt;">Bayero noted, “We get information daily that essential commodities and
cost of living are high and people are suffering, although it didn’t start with
this government. We know the government is making efforts but it should
redouble efforts to ease the suffering faced by the people.”</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="background: white; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: 0.5pt;">The Sultan of Sokoto and chairman of the Northern Traditional Rulers
Council, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, delivered a similar message to the
powers that be recently. According to the Sultan, Nigeria is sitting on powder
keg as millions of Nigerian youths have been left without jobs and food. He
said people were very agitated, hungry and angry and “so, we have this onerous
task of reaching out to everybody, calm them down and assure them things will
be okay.”</span></p><p class="p2" style="background: white; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: 0.5pt;">From the North to the South and from the West to the East, the hardship
has become unbearable. The rising cost of food items is worse. The price of
what you buy today may likely change when you go back to buy it again after two
days. Despite the measures the government has adopted, the situation keeps
getting worse. As of December 2023, the rate of inflation was 28.92 per cent.
The rate of food inflation was 33.93 per cent. By January 2024, the consumer
inflation rate had further increased to 29.90 per cent while food inflation
rose to 35.41 per cent. Inflation in Nigeria has not climbed this high since
mid-1966.</span></p><p class="p2" style="background: white; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: 0.5pt;">The situation has exacerbated the cost-of-living crisis and increased the
rate of depression and insecurity in the country. Some of those who cannot bear
it any longer commit suicide. There has been a wave of protests against the
high cost of living in some parts of the country. Last week, the Nigeria Labour
Congress (NLC) gave notice for a two-day nationwide protest to be held on
February 27 and 28 to press home their disgust over the hardship in the country.</span></p><p class="p2" style="background: white; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: 0.5pt;">In its panicky bid to control the bad situation, government continues to
take measures that are not sustainable. President Tinubu earlier ordered the
release of 102,000 metric tonnes of rice, maize, millet and others from the
strategic national reserve to address the high cost of food in the country.
This is okay, but how will this assuage the hunger of millions of Nigerians?
Has it brought down the prices of essential food items in the market? And will
it ensure constant supply of food to the populace?</span></p>
<p class="p2" style="background: white; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="s2"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: 0.5pt;">Clearly, President Tinubu has lost it. He appears rudderless, confused,
ineffective and incompetent. I doubt if he even understands what is going on.
How will he when some of his key advisers believe there is no hunger in the
land and that Nigeria has the lowest cost of living in Africa? </span></span></p><p class="p2" style="background: white; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: 0.5pt;">This is what a country gets when the major qualification of its President
is that it is his turn to be President. During his campaigns for the job,
Tinubu told the nation that it was his turn to become President. This gave rise
to the now popular phrase, </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: 0.5pt;">‘emilokan’</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: 0.5pt;">
(it’s my turn).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: 0.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When he appeared at Chatham House in London,
he could not answer questions posed to him. He simply directed his aides and
acolytes to answer those questions. Afterwards, he spoke about power not being
given a la carte, “You snatch it, grab it and run with it.” That is the man
ruling us today. I have not died of high blood pressure because I knew it would
come to this. So, I had prepared my mind for a rough ride.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: 0.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The worst tragedy of it all is that he has not
even marked one year in office. If, in less than one year, the hardship is like
this, how will it be in two years, not to talk of four years?
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: 0.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Let’s begin now to fasten our seat belts. The
flight ahead will be more turbulent. They said we should tighten our belts;
that the hard choices of today will eventually lead us to paradise.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: 0.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But how do we get to this paradise when naira
is getting weaker and weaker; when profligacy is the cardinal principle of
state policy; and when there is no consistency in government’s policies? Tinubu
said fuel subsidy was gone in his inaugural speech in May 2023. But, according
to a <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">BusinessDay
</i></b>newspaper report last week, this government now spends more money on
subsidy than the amount spent on it before it was purportedly stopped. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: 0.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">On a monthly basis, the country now reportedly
pays about N907.5 billion on petrol. Before the ‘removal’ of petrol subsidy,
the country was said to be spending about N400 billion monthly on petrol. The
increase, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">BusinessDay</i></b> reported, was because of the country’s foreign
exchange crisis, which pushed the actual cost of litre of fuel to N1,203. The
newspaper also reported that the prevailing blackmarket rate of N1,500 per
dollar has pushed the landing cost of petrol to N1,009 per litre as against the
N720 per litre recorded in October 2023. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="p2" style="background: white; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="s2"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: 0.5pt;">Many companies are finding it difficult to break even these days. Procter
& Gamble, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and many other companies have left our
shores. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="p2" style="background: white; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="s2"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: 0.5pt;">Nigerian Breweries Plc recorded a net loss of N106 billion in its audited
results for the period ended December 31, 2023, despite the large quantity of
drinks Nigerians gulp down every day. The company recorded an operating profit
of N44.5 billion in 2023, but it was lower by 15 per cent compared to the corresponding
period in the previous year. The loss is principally because of the foreign
exchange crisis. About 50 per cent of the company’s raw materials are imported
and are paid for in dollars. With the sorry state of the naira, it will be hard
to make profit in the circumstance. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="p2" style="background: white; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="s2"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: 0.5pt;">As the managing director/CEO of the company, Mr Hans Essaadi, put is,
“The business performance of 2023 reflects the challenging economic environment
in Nigeria. These severe economic conditions include persistent cash scarcity,
removal of fuel subsidies resulting in a notable surge in energy cost, naira
devaluation, foreign exchange scarcity, and continued challenged consumer
spending in the midst of high inflation.”</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="background: white; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: 0.5pt;">As it is now, the best thing for Tinubu to do is to throw in the towel
and bow out honourably. He has no business remaining in power when he cannot
solve the basic problems of Nigerians. He should emulate leaders who had done
that in history. Last year, Jacinda Ardern stepped down as prime minister of
New Zealand. She said her resignation was a personal decision hinged on the
fact that she no longer had “enough in the tank” to fulfill the
responsibilities of being prime minister.</span></p>
<p class="p2" style="background: white; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="s2"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: 0.5pt;">In November 2000, Alberto Fujimori resigned as President of Peru.
Congress rejected his resignation and rather sacked him and banned him from
holding public office for 10 years. He was later jailed 25 years for corruption
and massacre of civilians. President Richard Nixon of the United States
resigned in August 1974 following the Watergate scandal. There are many other
examples.</span></span></p><p class="p2" style="background: white; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="s2"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: 0.5pt;">Resigning will save Tinubu the trouble of having the country collapse on
his head. It will save him from going down in history as the worst President
Nigeria ever had. I know this will be hard nut to crack for him. But trusted
aides like the Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, or even the Senate President,
Godswill Akpabio, who believes so much in him, can nudge him to do the needful.
It will save him a lot of embarrassment in future.<span style="box-sizing: border-box;"></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: 0.5pt;"> </span></span></span><span class="s2"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: 0.5pt;">Meanwhile, let’s continue to pray for Nigeria
in distress.</span></span></p>
<p class="p2" style="background: white; margin-top: 0cm;"><span class="s2"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #0000cc; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14pt; letter-spacing: 0.5pt;">*Igbokwe is a commentator on public issues</span></i></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><o:p></o:p></p>EDITORhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04813476568301834233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813579275777872686.post-69915785381373818692024-02-23T04:05:00.000-08:002024-02-23T04:05:19.892-08:00Nigeria: The Road To Hunger Land <p> <b><span style="color: maroon; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">By Adekunle Adekoya</span></b></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">There is a point you get to
talking about the problems facing our dear nation that you just get tired. This
is because the problems seem endless — from insecurity to unending rise in the
prices of goods and services, especially food items, to the parlous state of
our infrastructure, especially roads and electricity. In the midst of
unreliable power supply, government is bidding to remove subsidy on
electricity, which, from where I stand, amounts to making the people pay more
for a service that they get just a whiff of.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU1yyokCalzP0a_vmAEn3nYb4_oFR0A0K6ec27DDuDjfR_VF-iT4G6aOUWQjlI4tHLqV5Y6PHAJliw-939wSO4-r3AbEsyrlxhO7h07g2hVVQyFZoqaSwKXuKO244NglD_akRoPXEW-iES2aWWUoWwvggfIPxT7XTlREILCTeDinWF2GL80TuMPhZNPe8/s640/Food%20sharing%20in%20IDP%20Camps%20-%20Hunger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="323" data-original-width="640" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU1yyokCalzP0a_vmAEn3nYb4_oFR0A0K6ec27DDuDjfR_VF-iT4G6aOUWQjlI4tHLqV5Y6PHAJliw-939wSO4-r3AbEsyrlxhO7h07g2hVVQyFZoqaSwKXuKO244NglD_akRoPXEW-iES2aWWUoWwvggfIPxT7XTlREILCTeDinWF2GL80TuMPhZNPe8/w522-h265/Food%20sharing%20in%20IDP%20Camps%20-%20Hunger.jpg" width="522" /></a></div><p></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Right now, methinks the greatest
problem that we have to deal with is the growing issue of food insecurity; more
able-bodied men are finding it herculean to put food on the table as the prices
of staples — rice, <i>garri</i>, yams, beans, potatoes, others are becoming more
unaffordable every day. That is in addition to sky-high prices of bread, fish,
meat, pepper, tomato, onions and other groceries. But, with regards to food, it
was clear, albeit a long time ago, that we will get to this point someday. Just
that those in charge of our affairs continued to deceive us and themselves that
all is well.<span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Those of us still brave enough and who find it
unavoidable to make road journeys over long distances must have continued to
wonder what we wanted to achieve by leaving most of our arable land fallow.
From the Shagamu Interchange in Ogun State to Benin in Edo State for example, a
distance of about 252 kilometres, what we see are vast expanses of arable land
on which wild bush is growing, save for a few small plantations here and there.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Also, between Moniya near Ibadan
in Oyo State to Ilorin, the Kwara state capital, the story is more or less the
same, give or take a few mango and cashew plantations. If you take the Benin
By-pass towards the Delta towns of Agbor and Umunede, a similar vista confronts
the traveller. Save a few poultry farms, from Sagamu Interchange to Ibadan is
equally bereft of any large scale agricultural activity.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">For a country that has a rapidly
growing population, majority of whom are youths, I dare say that our leaders,
including businessmen have been remiss in their responsibility towards the rest
of us, the led. There has been no planning, and thus, no action, to grow more
food to take care of the growing population. Every state of the federation has
a Ministry of Agriculture. The Federal Government also has one. Pray, what have
we been paying successive ministers and commissioners of agriculture for? Over
the years, It can now be seen that the commonwealth’s resources have been
wasted on these officials. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Available data indicates that
Nigeria has an arable land area of roughly 36.9 million hectares. Of
this, 6.6 million hectares were under permanent crops, while 25.2 million
hectares were under permanent meadows and pastures. With this natural,
God-given resource, why should we suffer food insecurity? Why can we be unable
to grow enough food to feed our people, and even have more left to export to
other countries? As in every other area of national life, the problem has been
that of leadership at all levels.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">At the sub-national level, state
governors and local governments, since 1999, must take blame and be held
responsible for this terrible situation. This is because the Land Use Act vests
control of and allocation of lands in governors, but it seems interest is
focused only on lands that have become choice real estate in key urban centres,
not for agriculture. Besides, the governors are closer to the people and
should make adequate provisions for their welfare, which principally includes
making food available. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">In the last eight years, the
nation has had to contend with insecurity in the form of marauding herdsmen
militias who have driven farmers off the farms, thereby crippling the little
ability left to grow food. But, if large farms had been created in the past,
much of the ungoverned spaces overgrown with bush which provide cover for the
marauding herdsmen would have been cultivated and the cover offered would no
longer have existed.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">It would even seem that the
power elite is confused about the situation as there does not seem to be any
clear, co-ordinated response to the food famine in the land. In the wake of
anti-hardship protests in Niger State a couple of weeks ago, the state governor
banned bulk sales of foodstuffs from his state. </span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Thus, truckloads on their way
to destinations outside the state were seen being turned back. That was bad,
and indicates shallow, poor response. So a farmer can no longer sell his crops
in exchange for money? That action will only have the effect of wasting a lot
of harvested food crops that cannot be sold, as it is doubtful if the people in
the state alone can consume all that is produced within.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Now, Senate President, Godswill
Akpabio was quoted as saying that state governors have each received the amount
of N30 billion outside their normal allocations to assist them in ameliorating
the food situation. If this is the case, then we have a lot to expect from the
governors. </span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Most of the staples come from crops that grow within a short time;
many food crops are annuals. As such we must begin to see massive improvements
in the food situation by year-end. That is if all hands go on deck to work
on this, and the money does not get converted to dollars to fund proclivities
outside the country.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #0000cc; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">*Adekoya
is a commentator on public office <o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><o:p> </o:p></p>EDITORhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04813476568301834233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813579275777872686.post-34705924082697355072024-02-22T04:57:00.000-08:002024-02-22T04:57:33.604-08:00Insecurity: Nigeria Needs Regional Police, Not State Police <p> <b><span style="color: maroon; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">By Olu Fasan</span></b></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Recently, faced with escalating
violence across Nigeria, the president, Bola Tinubu, reportedly agreed with
state governors to establish state police. The news excited those calling for
state police in Nigeria. But the agitation for state police is misguided; it is
based on shallow reasoning, not on a rational, hard-nosed analysis of the
potential consequences. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQn6xCQYtAbmPBQcRt5MDzLI1MnktoPewFDdOxEW4pTwyzmUH-tIAYVqDWHwucSVK2Sq97ezL-NKhpX9480WKtLoO0oPNEnp3cP_QKKrfYSXEQZxxcKIv_KlfQrCiF915mD5vM3dxjaiM/s600/Nigeria+Police+Checkpoints.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="441" data-original-width="600" height="372" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQn6xCQYtAbmPBQcRt5MDzLI1MnktoPewFDdOxEW4pTwyzmUH-tIAYVqDWHwucSVK2Sq97ezL-NKhpX9480WKtLoO0oPNEnp3cP_QKKrfYSXEQZxxcKIv_KlfQrCiF915mD5vM3dxjaiM/w506-h372/Nigeria+Police+Checkpoints.jpg" width="506" /></a></div><p></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">To be sure, Nigeria cannot
continue to have a unitary police force that purports to “police” the entire
country with orders from Abuja. Equally, however, Nigeria cannot have a
mushrooming of ramshackle state “police forces”. What Nigeria needs is
formidable regional police with extensive reach across a region. Truth is, in
the Nigerian context, the advantages of regional police far outweigh those of state
police.<span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-outline-level: 2;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Somebody
may remind me that each of America’s 50 states has a police force. Well,
consider the facts: the US is the world’s richest country, and even the
smallest American state, Rhode Island (population: 1.096 million), with a GDP
of $55.6bn, is richer than each of Nigeria’s 36 states, except Lagos. The GDP
of Lagos State is N41trn ($102bn). Rivers State has the second highest GDP:
N7.96trn ($19.72bn). Compare that with Rhode Island’s. By now, Nigerians must
accept that it was a fatal error to have adopted the very costly American
presidential system, and the idea that Nigeria must do what America does is
nothing but bunkum.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Last week, the presidency
described Nigeria as a “very poor” country, saying Nigeria’s “wealth is
overestimated”. So, why is a poor Third World country running a very expensive
US-style presidential system, with a behemothic Federal Government and 36 state
governments, each with extensive and expensive administrative structures? Truth
is, the 36-state structure fosters duplications and wastefulness. </span></p><p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">For instance,
while a region could have had two or three fantastic universities, there are
now five or six bog-standard “universities” because the region has five or six
states. While a region could have had two functional airports, there are five
or six underused and resource-draining airports. Last November, the National
Civil Aviation Authority said that 15 airports built by state governments were
underperforming and not sustainable because of very low passenger traffic. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">So, the first problem with state
police in Nigeria is that no state, except Lagos, can properly fund and run it.
Most of the states cannot survive without the monthly allocation from the
Federation Account, and even with the allocation they are borrowing heavily to
cover their recurrent expenses. So, how would they fund a police force? Would
the Federal Government change the revenue-sharing formula so that states get at
least 37 per cent, instead of the current 26.7 per cent? Well, despite Tinubu’s
knee-jerk promise to create state police, he won’t agree to change the formula
and give states enough money to run their police forces.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">However, instead of creating
five, six or seven separate police forces in a region, the states in each
region can pull resources together and establish a strong and powerful regional
police force. State governments already support vigilante groups with little
positive impact on violence. Leaving states, most of them unviable and
technically bankrupt, to create “police forces” would merely result in the
proliferation of glorified vigilante groups, not proper police forces. Put
simply, state police would be under-resourced, badly trained and poorly
remunerated. It’s a disaster Nigeria must avoid. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Which brings us to the second
problem. State police will be wholly politicised and abused. No constitutional
safeguards will stop state governors from hijacking state police for political
ends. Think about it: have state governors not hijacked the State Independent
Electoral Commission, SIECs, such that no local government election is ever
free and fair in Nigeria? Have they not crippled local governments, hijacking
their Federation Account allocations paid into the so-called State Joint Local
Government Account? One of the key findings in the Uwais Report is that the
Executive arm of government, both at the federal and state levels, has always
controlled and manipulated the electoral bodies and security agencies to gain
electoral advantage. State police will destroy local democracy in Nigeria.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">In their well-researched book
entitled <b><i>Nigeria: What Everyone Needs to Know</i></b>, John Campbell and Matthew Page
wrote that “militancy flourished (in Rivers State) as politicians armed and
employed militants to rig elections and threaten their opponents.” They added:
“In Rivers State, the ruling party armed and funded vigilante groups as a tool
for rigging elections.” Now, tell me, is state police safe in the hands of
Rivers State politicians? Rivers State is just one example. In a country where
politics is a high-stakes, do-or-die, winner-takes-all affair, nothing will
stop state governors from hijacking state police during elections.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">By contrast, regional police
will be less easy to manipulate. Why? Because each region’s police force will
be jointly run by the states in the region. Given that each geopolitical zone
is likely to be controlled by more than one political party, the possibility of
a region’s police force being commandeered by one state governor is remote. For
instance, it’s hard to imagine the two PDP governors in the South-West
acquiescing to their APC counterparts using the region’s police force to rig
elections. In the UK, ministers have oversight over the territorial police
forces, but the police are operationally independent from government. This will
be more likely under regional police than under state police in Nigeria.
Regional police will have in-built checks and balances that can be strengthened
constitutionally.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Finally, violence in Nigeria is
not contained within a state; it spreads within a region. The economist Charles
Tiebout argues that where there are possibilities of significant
inter-jurisdictional externalities or spillovers, it’s better to pull resources
together and create institutions with inter-jurisdictional or inter-territorial
reach. Thus, strong and powerful regional police, with a region-wide presence,
is better able to deal with the intra-regional nature of violence in Nigeria,
including intelligence gathering, than siloed state police. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-outline-level: 2;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">So, how can
regional police be created? Well, if the Constitution can be amended to create
state police, it can certainly be amended to recognise the current six
geopolitical zones and create six regional police forces. The six geopolitical
zones are already a de facto structure for allocating political and
developmental resources in Nigeria. Furthermore, governors in each geopolitical
zone are already working together for their region. So, nothing stops them from
creating a regional police force. The only obstacle is a selfish desire to hoard
power!</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-outline-level: 2;"><b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #0000cc; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">*Dr. Fasan is a commentator on public issues</span></i></b></p>EDITORhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04813476568301834233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813579275777872686.post-16080428006948324642024-02-21T11:07:00.000-08:002024-02-23T08:23:54.310-08:00Tinubu And The Troubled House Of Lugard<p> <strong><span style="color: maroon; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">By Sola Ebiseni</span></strong></p>
<p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s);"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Football tournaments should be
held every day, continuously, ad infinitum; it is one surest opium by which the
poor and needy are sweetly distracted from their life’s agony and anguish.
Ensure that the Eagles, whether Golden Eaglets, Flying, Falcons or Super are
involved, showing predatory capacities and see the Nigerian hoi polloi
willingly sedated by a large dose of the round-leather tranquilliser.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVFEdfLqyQh1RM4Vv5vILSwxP0xq95tN8Rrox1T0NKDITj-vnlQ64l-w4Tied84jKw-SxaGZJVcP3amEiQpi4VOXqIBuQv9WtsJP1dn0XIUafLvQ2il6zxRI3YCsC0aTkKI2VRi2zeEj_i48KK34cgoUBhAm8_fn00yota7UVI5LoONi8mQ3xF9h9p81c/s480/NIGERIA%20-%20Nort%20annd%20South.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="480" height="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVFEdfLqyQh1RM4Vv5vILSwxP0xq95tN8Rrox1T0NKDITj-vnlQ64l-w4Tied84jKw-SxaGZJVcP3amEiQpi4VOXqIBuQv9WtsJP1dn0XIUafLvQ2il6zxRI3YCsC0aTkKI2VRi2zeEj_i48KK34cgoUBhAm8_fn00yota7UVI5LoONi8mQ3xF9h9p81c/w491-h410/NIGERIA%20-%20Nort%20annd%20South.webp" width="491" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">So it was with this season’s AFCON which momentarily shifted attention
from the common effects of the sloppy Naira and galloping fuel to the boys in
Cote d’Ivoire. While the fiesta and its razzmatazz lasted, no one cared about
the tribes of our young ambassadors on the field.<span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">They simply all were Nigerians,
same as the sea of heads in green jersey massing and slow-marching the major
streets of the Ivorian capital on their way to the stadium for the final match
of the tournament squaring Nigeria and the host country, Ivory Coast. A Yoruba
adage says tears from the eyes of a weeping man do not prevent him from seeing,
a euphemism that no one should shy away from reality notwithstanding temporary
pains or even gains.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s);"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Not so with football. It is such
a narcotics that made a man throw his wife down from the window of a high-rise
building for not allowing him concentrate watching a live football match on
television; just like Escobar, a Colombian player was shot on return to his
country for scoring an own goal which prevented Columbia from advancing beyond
the quarter finals in USA ’94 World Cup.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s);"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s);"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Not less than five Nigerians
were among those reported to have lost their lives to cardiac arrest when South
Africa cancelled the narrow one goal lead towards the end of their semi final
encounter which Nigeria eventually won on penalties. Nonetheless, Nigerians,
including our leaders who thronged the stadium in the wishful hopes of
snatching, grabbing and running away with victory over the host, were shocked
by the Ivorian Elephants who ironically proved swifter than the Eagles with the
final ending 2-1.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s);"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s);"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The soccer stupor is now wiped
as we can see quite clearly that we are back to the reality of a rapid descent
to the nasty, brutish and short life of the state of nature. In the midst of
the AFCON euphoria, terrorists brazenly stormed Yoruba land from Kwara, Kogi
and Ekiti. How worse could a people be dared and their sensibilities insulted
than killing their kings.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s);"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s);"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">In Yoruba land, the Oba is first
among the deities; he is <i>àdìmúlà</i>, the one to whom you run or cling to for
safety and life in all ramifications. He is <i>òjìmàmà</i> whose mouth is never seen
eating; the immortal being who only ascends into the àjà to dwell with the gods
and ancestors after the completion of the assignments for which he was sent.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s);"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s);"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The pain in this annoying
occurrence is not the eternal loss; that is felt by his family, associates and
community. The pangs and indelibly reminding scar rest in the bosom of a race
which existential beliefs have been rubbished by the sights, on social media,
of bodies of our immortal beings, fallen by the lethal weapons of ragged
terrorists, being hauled into vehicles on our road, in our territory.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s);"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s);"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The terrorists know that
education is our area of comparative advantage and to stop us in that
direction, they went kidnapping our children in school buses and in scores.
Which parent will not be scared by this devilish development? While the Naira
slides uncontrollably the economic woes are further compounded by the collapse
of agriculture as farmers are chased away from their farms by armed terrorist
herders relentlessly all over the country.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The ember of this strange phenomenon in our clime was fanned by the
Buhari administration either by mute indifference or undisguised complicity. No
part of the federation is sparred the wanton killings of Nigerians. It is more
pronounced even in Northern Nigeria, particularly in the Middle Belt, where
large scale ethnic cleansing and land grabbing are hypocritically termed
herders/farmers clash by the Buhari government.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">In effect, the federation had
become undeniably ungovernable under Buhari in all respects and Nigerians were
only tolerating the administration till the end. When during the electioneering
campaigns the present President said he would continue where Buhari stopped, it
was of course seen by many as the natural course of events.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s);"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">There were those who felt it was
only a gimmick to woo Buhari as the incumbent President, a strategy of managing
a bull which stormed into a glass shop as it was inconceivable that anyone
would honestly see anything to emulate and preserve in the Buhari
administration. In its ninth month, it appears that the Bola Ahmed Tinubu
administration might really have decided to toe the steps of the Buhari
administration.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s);"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s);"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Though the “subsidy is gone”
critical policy pronouncement was rather made by President Tinubu on the spur-
of -the – moment, it was in tandem with the policy of his predecessor who would
probably not have continued with the petroleum products subsidy having not
budgeted for it beyond end of May 2023 and the inauguration of the new
government.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s);"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s);"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The floating of the Naira policy
appears the only exclusive policy of the Tinubu government. In terms of
revisiting the structure of the federation as an overall policy with salutary
effects on governance modules, security and the economy, Tinubu’s government is
yet to see nothing wrong with the structure of the federation and thus at home
with carrying on as Buhari. Of course, Tinubu is the same and not different
from the man who, as Governor of Lagos State, fought the Federal Government, by
action and through the courts, on several violations of principles of
federalism.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The difference, as some have now
suggested, is the attraction of the unprecedented powers vested in the Federal
Government by our quasi federal Constitution which, as interpreted by some,
makes the Nigerian President comparatively the strongest in the world. The
President should face the reality that the honeymoon, if any, is over and that
it is time he squarely, immediately and urgently faced the task of national
redemption.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s);"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The starting point is a critical
and determined review of the unitary superstructure foisted by military rulers
on the federal foundation erected by our founding fathers on the
British/Lugardian amalgamation architecture. Buhari first told Nigerians that
“restructuring” had nebulous connotations and his government would have nothing
to do with a concept it hardly could decipher. Nigerians reminded him of the
federal arrangement that was negotiated by the founding fathers but which he
and his military colleagues/ politicians torpedoed.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s);"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s);"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">In particular, Buhari ordered
that the report of the 2014 National Conference be kept in the national
archives. His APC party, then under Chief John Oyegun, in deference to public
pressure, in 2018, set up the Committee on Federalism and made Mallam El-Rufai,
then Governor of Kaduna State, the Chairman. On arrival from his medical
treatment overseas, Buhari dismissed the report which in contents and for all
intents and purposes was on all four with the Confab report.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<em><b><span style="color: #0000cc; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">*Ebiseni is Secretary General, Afenifere</span></b></em>EDITORhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04813476568301834233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813579275777872686.post-15149023362681417812024-02-21T08:04:00.000-08:002024-02-21T08:04:04.584-08:00Nigeria: Renewed Wailing! <p> <b><span style="color: maroon; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">By Ochereome Nnanna</span></b></p>
<p><span style="font-family: Georgia, "serif";"><span style="color: #303030; font-size: 14pt;">Femi Adesina, Muhammadu Buhari’s
star-struck admirer who later got employed by the Daura politician when he
achieved his presidential ambition in 2015, left us with a number of acidic
soundbites as a presidential spokesman. Two of them stood out.</span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #303030; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2IqW3WjBC0TrtrRCzBJfOby0Prd6rh9IntEtWMhDc4vmOEDN5SqcwDyIUY5OlwiEHo4_Z6LFf85yeAy2BPWUcl92gq5qP9DOnS8vufIDahMnKeSdMn0k6dwnY5eKv6HhpBMEQnmyLC5WVRNa-XrHWo0a-oasAdmKBGl0nctawf_4ZMZ3x46FVUqvXIPE/s700/Bola%20Tinubu-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="700" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2IqW3WjBC0TrtrRCzBJfOby0Prd6rh9IntEtWMhDc4vmOEDN5SqcwDyIUY5OlwiEHo4_Z6LFf85yeAy2BPWUcl92gq5qP9DOnS8vufIDahMnKeSdMn0k6dwnY5eKv6HhpBMEQnmyLC5WVRNa-XrHWo0a-oasAdmKBGl0nctawf_4ZMZ3x46FVUqvXIPE/w546-h312/Bola%20Tinubu-3.jpg" width="546" /></a></div><b><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: large;">*Bola Tinubu</span></b><span style="color: #303030; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The first was not exactly a
soundbite, but was summarised for him into that by his colleagues in the media.
Reacting to the Fulani herdsmen terrorism which his boss, Buhari, allowed (some
say he facilitated it and protected the culprits with his presidential powers),
Adesina shocked Nigerians with his coldblooded dismissiveness of the massacres,
displacement and occupation of farming communities by the invaders.<span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Said he on AIT: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Ancestral attachment? You can only have
ancestral attachment when you are alive. If you are talking about ancestral
attachment, if you are dead, how does the attachment matter…what will the land
be used for if those who own it are dead at the end of the day?”</i> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">The
Independent</span></i></b><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> (8th July
2018) aptly summarised that scandalous statement thus: <b>“<a href="https://independent.ng/the-abuja-ultimatum-your-land-or-your-life/" target="_blank">The Abuja Ultimatum:Your Land or Your Life?</a>”<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> <o:p></o:p></i></b></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">That statement, coupled with the
regime’s refusal to declare armed herdsmen as terrorists, showed that their determination
to conquer indigenous farming communities and take over their lands had
official backing.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">
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Another enduring soundbite Adesina dropped for all posterity was his
description of those who lost the 2015 to his boss as “wailers”. To be frank, I
felt physically ill when former President Goodluck Jonathan congratulated
Buhari. It was a very noble gesture for him, but in my soul, I knew that
Nigeria was heading into doom. I was indeed a “wailer”, that much you could
ascertain from my work on these pages. I was not wailing because Jonathan or
his party lost.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">My heart was heavy because I was
a survivor of Buhari’s first missionary journey in 1984/85. I knew Buhari as a
religious extremist and unpretentious tribal and sectional fanatic who had no
clue as to how to run a country productively. I also saw him as a Nigerian copy
of Sudan’s Omar Al Bashir who armed the pastoral Arab Janjaweed to massacre
black Sudanese to take over their lands. </span><span style="color: #303030; font-family: Georgia, "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">After eight years, Buhari not only
proved me right, he exceeded my expectations in corrupt ineptitude,
cluelessness, ethnic bigotry, mass killings and rape of our democracy.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">By the time he left power in May
2023, the multitude of people who had become “wailers” as a result of his
rapacious tenure had spread to all the six geopolitical regions of Nigeria,
including his native Katsina and Daura. Nigeria was bleeding more profusely,
economically and security-wise, than he met it.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">And so, the transitional
elections of 2023 offered Nigerians the opportunity to sweep away evil leaders
and their bad ruling party. With four major presidential candidates – former VP
Atiku Abubakar (PDP), former Governors Bola Tinubu (APC), Peter Obi (LP) and
Rabiu Kwankwaso (NNPP) in the race, there was a clear choice before the
electorate: recycle the discredited deadwoods or elect a new leadership with
shining track records.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Nigerians, especially the youth,
were deceived by Professor Mahmood Yakubu and his fellow travellers at the
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that technological innovations
would guarantee the fidelity of the 2023 elections. I was one of the Nigerians
who believed Prof. Yakubu and used this and other forums to encourage the
people to register and vote.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">In all honesty, I did not take
Tinubu’s candidacy very serious until he won the APC primaries. Tinubu
outsmarting Buhari within the APC and getting the Northern APC governors to support
him to pick the party’s ticket was monumental and race-deciding. APC was way
ahead of the rest in terms of party grounding, structure, strength and
financial capacity.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Buhari fought back with his
presidential powers. He tried to use the so-called naira policy and his
coercive powers to torpedo Tinubu’s ambition, but he suddenly realised that
allowing free and fair elections could mean the APC would lose power, and his
own life in retirement would be a restless misery. Buhari not only relented to
Tinubu’s ambition, he also pulled all the executive stops for him – INEC, the
courts and all.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">It was with mixed feelings that I watched Yakubu
handing over the INEC’s Certificate of Return to Tinubu on 1st March 2023. On
the one side, I looked at our incoming president, his health, his personal
reputation and the things we saw during the campaigns. It was Buhari all over
again, but this time wearing a different kind of cap. But I also looked at his
other side.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">His ability to meticulously plot
his way to the presidency, scaling all the hurdles, braving all odds, making
uncommon sacrifices, spending lavishly from a bottomless kitty, outwitting his
powerful political partner and getting the North to abandon their precious
Buhari for him. These put Tinubu in a class all by himself. If he could achieve
this outside power, perhaps he could do much more in power to put Nigeria
right. Unfortunately, we haven’t seen anything to give us “renewed hope”.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">When Tinubu said <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Emilokan</i>, he really meant it. It is his
turn to indulge himself as Buhari did. The only thing Tinubu is not doing is
supporting any armed group to kill and grab other people’s lands. The nepotism
is “pro-max”, the cluelessness is shocking, the squandermania in the midst of a
“dry well” stupefying. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Femi Adesina’s “wailers” are now
everywhere. Karma is a cruel joker. Those crying, protesting, cursing and
raining abuses on the president and his government are the same people that
supported him to win the APC primaries. They were the ones who gave him
majority of their votes. Instead of the <b>renewed hope</b> he promised them, <b>renewed
wailing</b> is what they are getting. In just nine months, Tinubu hardship is
driving Nigerians nuts.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">What a way to celebrate the
first anniversary of <b>25.02.23</b>!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #0000cc; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">*Nnanna
is a commentator on public issues <o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>EDITORhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04813476568301834233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813579275777872686.post-45504121155715159892024-02-19T10:28:00.000-08:002024-02-19T10:28:40.378-08:00Nigeria Is On The Road To Haiti, Not Venezuela <p> <b><span style="color: maroon; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 18pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">By Owei Lakemfa</span></b></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The Nigerian masses are
troubled. They are hungry, angry and losing faith in civil rule. The times call
for leaders at all levels to be at work, seeking solutions. Unfortunately, many
government officials are spending scarce resources and precious time carrying
out propaganda.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF_J6g0t1QFUzeT6gqji7s_qr-zAplNAClYdsnOuojlCQCVDrzxrCDFDkgxiNsa8_XoJvV-kzXYWgqTuHZT0HD05r7oZf41a9IpjL2Po6IVVAC_oP4A8UWeB2YGYcBx2geS_Mb5PMxXYGDooUx-uc9c3rtF8e32c29jj9vE2QNarJS2W7IpUsDX4qAtq8/s651/images%20(14).jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="651" data-original-width="471" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF_J6g0t1QFUzeT6gqji7s_qr-zAplNAClYdsnOuojlCQCVDrzxrCDFDkgxiNsa8_XoJvV-kzXYWgqTuHZT0HD05r7oZf41a9IpjL2Po6IVVAC_oP4A8UWeB2YGYcBx2geS_Mb5PMxXYGDooUx-uc9c3rtF8e32c29jj9vE2QNarJS2W7IpUsDX4qAtq8/s320/images%20(14).jpeg" width="232" /></a></span></div><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The political traders blaming
the demonstrably inept and kleptocratic Buhari regime, for our current woes, are
engaged in a needless diversion. It is like beating a dead horse; what would
the country gain from such waste of time and energy?<span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">They are no different from
Buhari who wasted eight precious years of the country blaming the Jonathan
administration for the calamity of his own misrule. When this began to sound
like a broken record, the Buharists began tuneless songs like feeding school
children ‘in school’ when the entire populace was on COVID-19 lockdown at home. </span></p><p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Then, the retired General elevated deception to a new level by causing
carpenters to build pyramidal structures, arranged bags of rice on them, and
announced that his administration had done so well in mechanised farming, that
the country now has pyramids of rice, like we had the groundnut pyramids of
old. On the eve of its welcome departure, the Buhari gang launched a fake
national airline.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">So, rather than the old
minstrels who have supported every government from Obasanjo through Yar’Ardua
and Jonathan to Buhari, blaming Buhari, they should encourage the Tinubu
administration to engage in self-examination.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Yes, it is correct that Buhari
had a policy to remove so-called fuel subsidy before he passed on the baton to
Tinubu. But the truth is that he stopped short of implementing it wholesale.
So, do you blame Buhari for Tinubu removing the ‘subsidy’ in his very first
minute in office, thereby greatly impoverishing the people?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">We all know the Naira cannot
swim; so how does anybody blame Buhari for Tinubu dropping the Naira in the
ocean and urging it to float without any aid? Now that it is drowning, does it
not make sense to throw the Naira a lifeline rather than waste precious time
blaming a man who is lost to the world?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The current economic woes of the
country are rooted in the mindless policies of the ruling All Progressives
Congress, APC. The APC’s economic policy is inflation-genocide with the nuclear
capability to wipe out the lower classes, and replace them at the bottom of
society, with the hitherto middle class.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">So, rather than wail about the
gross incompetence of Buhari, let us assist the Tinubu administration to
rethink its policies and save the mass of the people.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The immediate step Tinubu needs
to take is a drastic downward review of fuel prices which is the main cause of
hyperinflation and grinding poverty. A major reason why food inflation is at 33
per cent is because the cost of transporting it is far higher than the cost of
production.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The second immediate step is to
rescue the Naira as no import-dependent consumer nation can throw its currency
into shark-infested seas without providing it with even a life jacket. The
third, is to stop the mindless taxation of the populace, including the endless
upward adjustment of the Customs rates for imports which has added to
hyperinflation.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-outline-level: 2;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><amp-ad data-slot="/9223985/mobile-2" height="250" json="{'targeting':{'incontent-ad-id':'2'}}" style="box-sizing: inherit;" type="doubleclick" width="300"></amp-ad>The
fourth, is to declare an emergency on insecurity that has forced many farmers
off the farms. Fifth, the establishment of State and Community Police should be
at the stage of implementation not contemplation.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">In the medium term, the
administration needs to appoint some game-changers into government rather than
abandon the country to politicians and technocrats most of who are marking time
in office.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The truth is that this
administration has no known road map on any issue which can enable mass
participation in governance. Not on education, the economy, youths, health,
women or out-of-school children.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">But rather than allow the
country concentrate on serious matters, there was another diversion, this time
by anti-Tinubu persons. They floated an uninformed narrative that Nigeria is on
the road to Venezuela.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">A write up, whose origins I
could not ascertain, went viral. The title was <i>‘A Slow Journey To Venezuela’</i> It
claimed that Tinubu is trying to replicate the Venezuelan case.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">It claimed that former
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, using the country ’s oil profits “went on a
spending spree on social programmes”. First, is that we do not enjoy such “oil
profits” in Nigeria. Second, Chavez deserves commendation for spending such
funds on verifiable social programmes like the construction of over four
million housing units in the country.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The writer then makes the
uninformed claim that: “Unfortunately Chavez didn’t spend any money maintaining
oil facilities.” No, there were no oil facilities to maintain because the
United States imposed unilateral sanctions on Venezuela for allegedly
collaborating with Cuba. These included forcing oil companies to leave the
country, refusing to allow Venezuela buy spare parts, engage in international
trade or purchase needed food and medicines.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">In summary, the US consciously,
wilfully and deliberately, crumbled the Venezuelan economy. This was to the
extent that the US, the European Union and some of their supporters seized or
looted Venezuelan funds in their various banks.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">These countries between January
and March, 2019, seized $30 billion from Venezuela’s foreign accounts.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">When they decided to recognise
the then Speaker of the Venezuelan parliament, Juan Guaidó, who unilaterally
declared himself President, they allowed him access to the country’s foreign
funds. For instance, Britain assisted the imposter, in his bid to access $2bn
of Venezuelan gold it had in its vaults.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">In 2019, the Portuguese bank,
Novo Banco in Lisbon seized the USD 1.5 billion Venezuela was to use in
purchasing medicines, food and other essential supplies for the people.
Luckily, the Portuguese courts in 2023, ruled that the money should be returned
to Venezuela.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> So, the narrative in
Nigeria that the Venezuelan problems are due to extreme dependence on oil,
failure to diversify the economy, corruption and mismanagement, are blatantly
false. Comparing Venezuela and the Nigerian case, is a fraudulent exercise.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">But based on this uninformed
position, the Governors of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, last Monday,
raised the false alarm that Tinubu is railroading Nigeria to the Venezuelan
path. An equally uninformed APC Government responded in like manner. The PDP
and APC are behaving like two class dullards arguing and insulting themselves
over what they do not know.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: var(--spacing-s); margin-top: var(--spacing-s); orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #303030; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">In reality, Nigeria is on the
road to Haiti, a failed state where insecurity is so bad that anyone arriving
at the airport, needs armed security to drive into town, or be abducted for
ransom. We are on the road to a country where rival gangsters in 2021,
assassinated sitting President Jovenel Moise in his residence, and the
assassins could not be tried in the country.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #0000cc; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">*Lakemfa
is a commentator on public issues</span></i></b></p>EDITORhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04813476568301834233noreply@blogger.com0