Nigeria, Going , Going…?

 By Magnus Onyibe

Imagine a man standing at the edge of a cliff and a demon is standing behind him wielding a bazooka firearm menacingly, with the intent to blow the man off the cliff, or simply just give him a kick from behind so that he would fall to his death. That in my estimation,(and l believe in the assessment of most Nigerians)is the dire situation in which our country and indeed our compatriots are currently trapped.

No matter, how government spin doctors try, they can no longer pull-the-wool over-our-eyes with the false claim that since Boko Haram is no more holding swathes of Nigeria’s territory in the north which was the case before 2015,terrorism has not only been highly degraded, but it is in the throes of death and technically defeated.

In my view, Boko Haram and ISWAP are no longer interested in holding territories where they could be engaged in conventional warfare with Nigerian army that has superior fire power with which it could be defeated in direct confrontations or conventional war.

Nigeria: Let’s Fight Insecurity The Same Way We Fought COVID-19 (1)

 By Magnus Onyibe

 In the very popular Bob Marley song: Redemption Song. The lyrics goes thus; “how long shall they kill our prophets while we stand aside and look? “

If you substitute the word ‘prophets’ for ‘masses’ in the music maestro’s scintillatingly and solemnly rendered lamentation song, he might have been singing about Nigeria of today, even though the music was sang and released in June 1980-some forty years ago.

*Buhari receiving Covid 19 vaccines  

And the reason the lyrics of the song would resonate in Nigeria today is owed to the reality of the fact that a similar circumstance of life at its most horrific level- slavery and colonialism that prompted Marley to sing his song of agony is here with us in Nigeria, the land of our birth which has been transformed into a killing field. Unlike white oppression that Marley was wailing about, the misery is not being brought upon us by external forces.

Rotimi Amaechi Vs. Magnus Abe

By Comfort Obi

If anybody was in doubt of why the civilized world laughs at us, the open letter, written to the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, by Senator Magnus Abe, published in the ThisDay newspaper of Wednesday, September 26, puts a seal on the doubt.

**Magnus Abe and Rotimi Amaechi

I read it three times. And each time, my worries increased, with an exclamation to nobody: ‘Look at what politicians have reduced our country to.’

Both the Minister and the Senator are from Rivers state. The former, an Ikwerre man, and the latter, an Ogoni man. Until politics tore them apart, both were close friends. And belonged to the Dr. Peter Odili Political family – a family so strong, so influential, that every who-is-who in Rivers politics, from when Odili was sworn-in as Governor, owe their current and past “bigmanism” in government to it.

ls the Nigerian Military Strong Only Against The Weak?

By Magnus Onyibe

On December 12, 2015 in Kaduna State, north central Nigeria, the military allegedly mowed down hundreds of Shiite Muslims who allegedly tried to obstruct their path. Till date, their leader, Ibrahim El zakzaky and his wife are still in detention, although authorities like to sugar coat it as protective custody.

While Nigerians are still mortified by that horrific event in Kaduna, under the disguise of a military exercise code named operation Python dance ll, the military on September 15, 2017 invaded south eastern Nigeria-Umuahia and Aba-in particular, unleashing sorrow, tears and blood on the civilian populace. Coincidentally, in the 1980s, after a fierce and unfortunate encounter with the military, which led to the death of illustrious Mrs Fumilayo Kuti, mother of the highlife music maestro, the late Fela Anikulapo Kuti, the radical musician had released a hit song, aptly tagged  ‘Sorrow, Tears and Blood, them regular trademark.’ Events in the recent past have confirmed that Fela’s odious characterisation of the military was on point.

While the army in particular is basking in the euphoria of killing defenseless civilians (whose tax money is used to fund them) in both north central and south east Nigeria, it is being given a bloody nose by the religious insurgent group Boko Haram, in the north east. 

Nigeria: Federal Republic Of Inequality?

By Magnus Onyibe

The Federal Republic of Nigeria, FGN is the country we all call our own. Our country comprises of about 250 tribes or ethnic nationalities with the main ones being Hausa/Fulani,Yoruba, lgbo, Kanuri, ljaw, Nupe, Calabari, Tiv, Ijebu, lgara, Urhobo, Jukun, ldoma, fufulde, Ika Ibibio, Edo etc. In the inaugural speech of President Muhammadu Buhari on May 29, 2015, he was famously quoted as saying  ”l belong to everyone , l belong to no one”.

*Buhari with former Vice President Ekwueme 

That very welcoming and reassuring remark, which resonated very well with most Nigerians, became a quotable quote that featured in myriads of comments in the mainstream and online media, just as it also became a talking head in torrents of radio and television shows. The reason the quote was significant is quite simple. In the run up to the 2015 general elections, campaign rhetorics vaunting ethnic and regional sentiments were so rife that Nigeria became too polarised in such manner that the Hausa/Fulani in the northern parts of Nigeria were stacked behind, ex-military head of state, Muhammadu Buhari, who is from the Hausa/Fulani  stock, while the lgbos, ljaws and other minority tribes in the South east and South south part of Nigeria, queued up behind the then incumbent president, GoodLuck Jonathan, who is ljaw, and one of their own.

The Yorubas in the South west, who having had a shot at the presidency from 1999 to 2007,when ex-army General, Olusegun Obasanjo transited from prison to presidency, became the bride to be wooed by both the political forces from the north and south south parts of Nigeria. In the end, the Yorubas aligned with the north through acceptance of the Vice President slot which the acclaimed leader of the Yorubas, Bola Tinubu, former governor of Lagos state, conceded to a man of impeccable character, an evangelical pastor,his long time ally and former attorney general of Lagos state, Yemi Osinbajo.

Prior to his success at the 2015 polls, President Buhari had tried and failed to successfully clinch the presidency in 2003, 2007 and 2011 but on each of those occasions that he lost, Buhari swept the votes in the core northern states like, Katsina, Kebbi, Zamfara , Sokoto, etc, sometimes garnering about 12 million votes. Even with Yoruba’s vote in the kitty, Buhari still needed the votes from the South east and South south to fulfill the constitutional requirements that votes must be garnered from all parts of Nigeria for a candidate to be deemed to have won. This is to ensure that a situation whereby a particular candidate from an ethnic group with superior numerical strength, does not ride into the presidency relying only on votes from his Kith and kin.

That’s how Rotimi Amaechi, former governor of Rivers state, the heart  of South south, now minister of transport and Rochas Okorocha, incumbent governor of Imo state, the ground zero of lgbo land, became the game changers. With their support, substantial votes  in Rivers and lmo states were brought into Buhari’s kitty that already had the Hausa/Fulani and Yoruba votes and the rest, as they say is history. Politics is a game of strategy and democracy is also about numbers of people that politicians are able to swing to their side, which justifies the political dictum,majority carries the vote.

In 2015, Buhari reached out and built bridges across many deserts and rainforests into Yoruba land as well as crossed many bridges and rivers into lgbo and lkwere/Calabari mangroves and creeks and he reaped the  reward of the hard work by becoming Nigeria’s number one citizen. Now, it’s pay back time. In politics, as in business, settling lOUs is usually a very testy experience. In what many thought was a Freudian slip like the one famously made by British prime minister, David Cameroon about Nigeria being a fantastical corrupt country, in the wake of the anti corruption summit in London recently, president Buhari during an interactive session with some Nigerians and Americans, on the sideline of his visit to the USA, stated that he cannot be expected to treat the 95% who voted for him in the north equally with the less than 5% who voted in the south.

As expected in a multicultural multiethnic and multi-religious society, the comment got twisted and dissected with all manners of bias on online media platforms. Unsurprisingly, many members of the elite commentariat also took Mr. President up on the remark from the optics of the numerous ethnic and other primordial sentiments, and l thought the high level of condemnation would challenge Mr. president to offer some clarifications but that was not the case. With the public hue and cry about appointments so far made into executive positions, it would appear that Mr. President is sticking to his guns-literarily-to reward mainly voters from his home base by skewing appointments in their favour.

How Buhari Can Put Nigerian Economy Back On Track

By Magnus Onyibe

It is human nature to choose the least option of resistance when faced with tough decisions.
That perhaps explains why government’s reaction to the current foreign exchange, fx, squeeze, arising from recent drastic drop in international oil price – from which Nigeria earns approximately 90% of fx – is to ban allocation of fx for purchase of some items considered not essential.

*President Buhari 

The barring of 41 items such as tooth picks and candle wax from official allocation of fx is justified by the fact that such items could be sourced locally, especially since they are simple items requiring no extra ordinary skills or technology to produce.

However, owing to government’s policy of not being self-reliant, instead preferring to source basic items from abroad, looking inwards was considered tedious when it could be more easily imported.
That laidback attitude of Nigerians towards local production is the reason the policy of import substitution introduced in Nigeria in the days of oil boom was not pursued with the vigor it deserves. The shoddy implementation of the policy institutionalized Nigeria’s penchant for foreign made goods and services, signaling the dearth of locally produced goods and services for local consumption.

Nothing demonstrates Nigeria’s penchant for foreign made goods better than the (in)famous container armada-ships laden with imported containers of assortment of goods into Nigeria, resulting in congestions in the sea ports in early 1980s under ex president , Shehu Shagari’s watch (1979-83).

In a recent article titled “In This Same Country”, Reuben Abati, the former chairman of Guardian newspaper’s editorial board, irrepressible columnist and ex-presidential spokesman, captured the mood of Nigeria and Nigerians during the so called good old days, which some people, out of nostalgia, fondly refer to as the golden age.

Abati’s article which was an eulogy of Nigeria’s heydays as a towering economic colossus, also contained reminisces of Nigeria of yore in comparison to now, and laments that the new generation – youths born less than 35 years ago – would never believe that Nigeria was ever so glorious.

Hear Abati “The angst of this young generation is made worse when they are told that Nigeria was not always like this. In their late 20s to thirties, these children have only known Nigeria where fuel scarcity is a fact of daily life, and part of the mechanism of survival is to know how to draw fuel with your mouth, or negotiate black market purchase of fuel, while lugging jerry cans, either at the fuel station or a road side corner where you cannot be sure of the quality of fuel.These children have only known a country where the roads are bad, services are sub-standard, people are mean, criminality is rife, and electricity is available once in a blue moon”.

Budget 2016: Zero Brianed Concoction

 By Magnus Onyibe

To save face, it is the case that something or somebody must be blamed whenever something goes awry with a project or policy in a public or corporate sector organization. That explains why, Zero Based Budgeting, ZBB, which is the latest policy innovation of government aimed at arresting corruption in the public sector, is the ‘fall guy’ of budget 2016, as it were.

*President Buhari presents the 2016 Appropriation to the National Assembly 

To douse the tension raised by the unsavory discoveries in the proposed 2016 appropriation bill, the Budget and National planning minister, Udoma Udo Udoma, has opted like a good lieutenant to shield President Muhammadu Buhari from the darts being thrown at him as a result of the unfolding budget fiasco.

With ZBB being held up as the culprit, Minister Udoma is absolved from blame; President Buhari is protected and the civil servants are covered, but the citizens are suffering untold hardships as the budget which calls for greater scrutiny, is now bogged down at the National Assembly, NASS, much longer than the initial February deadline.

Legislators who are reneging on their earlier pledge of speedy passage of the 2016 appropriation bill before the end of February are justified in their decision. This is because the chaff has to be sieved from the seed of the highly bastardized budget to allow the long suffering Nigerian masses enjoy optimum benefits of the resources of the country whose potentials have remained in pendency.

Assuming the complexity of ZBB truly is the cause of the disaster that has befallen budget 2016, is ZBB also responsible for the shoddy, if not shady manner in which the budget was sneaked out of NASS for amendment ostensibly by the presidential adviser on National Assembly, Senator Ita Enang? How about the discovery by the committee on judiciary that the provision for Investment and Securities Tribunal, IST, in the 2016 budget is exactly a replication of the 2015 document? Is what happened to the IST budget not evidence of the continuity of the erstwhile envelope pushing budget system said to have been replaced in the 2016 budget with ZBB which compels creating a budget from ground zero?

Aside the discovery of about N10bn as fictitious provision for a strange budget head in Education Ministry, legislators have also rejected the same ministry’s budget as being completely different from what Mr President presented to the parliament.