Electricity Crisis In Nigeria: Can Buhari Break The Jinx?

By Ugochukwu Ejinkeonye

If former President Goodluck Jonathan had succeeded in solving the ever-worsening electricity crisis in Nigeria, he would have left office last May as one of Nigeria’s   greatest leaders. And that is, assuming that singular feat would not have been able to reelect him by deflating the strong, vicious and clearly unedifying campaign bolstered by unrealistic promises massively deployed against him by the opposition.

*Jonathan and Buhari

Granted, the Olusegun Obasanjo regime, allegedly, squandered some $16 billion to plunge the country deeper into darkness, but Jonathan is no Obasanjo, and I doubt if his ambition was to come into office to reenact the Obasanjo disaster. Jonathan’s failure, therefore, to realize the strategic role of electricity in the life of modern man and demonstrate that five years was enough for him to write his name in gold by lighting up the country is the key reason, I think, he left office with his head bowed, despite his very noble act of conceding defeat to President Muhammadu Buhari, thus aborting the desperation of those waiting in the wings to exploit the situation to unleash terrible mayhem in the country and waste drums of innocent blood. 

The problem, I think is that, President Jonathan really stretched political naivety far beyond its malleable limit when he failed to realise that the regime of darkness and unspeakable extortion unleashed on Nigerians by the private operators currently generating and distributing electricity in Nigeria was gradually exerting some influence on the way Nigerians perceived his government. Those companies appeared to have conspired to work extremely hard to further compound his already growing image problems and deepen grave disaffection against him among the populace. And no one should have realized it better than the former president that such a situation was too harmful to be allowed to endure, especially, on the eve of a very bitterly contested election. But Jonathan and his party were insufferably complacent and took several things for granted until a devastating defeat was served him like an unexpected, unappetizing breakfast. 

 

It would seem that he realized only too late in the day (assuming he ever did) that he was facing a peculiar kind of opposition: one which, though, pitiably lacking in brighter ideas or better preparation for governance (as Nigerians are already witnessing), appeared more adept in chronicling and magnifying the failings of his government. And so, it was easy for them to promise largely unrealistic alternatives and got sizable number of people to buy into their grand illusion that the only solution to Nigeria’s many problems was just the exit of Jonathan.   

Buhari, Obasanjo And Emeka Offor

By Mohammed Al-Bishak

No sooner had Premium Times published on Monday, August 3, 2015, the first part of its interview with erstwhile President Olusegun Obasanjo than it went viral. Though the immediate context of the interview was the publication of Obasanjo’s controversial trilogy entitled My Watch, the questions from the interviewers were forthright and wide ranging, and the responses quite interesting. Early in the interview, Obasanjo devoted considerable time and sentiments to an evaluation of a controversial government contractor, Emeka Offor, and his activities.

*Emeka Offor

“Take for example the decision on privatizing all refineries”, remarked the former president in respect of certain decisions he took in the days of his administration which were reversed by the succeeding Umaru Yar’Adua governemnt which he had handpicked. “I explained (in my memoirs) that what I met were refineries that were not working, refineries that were given to an amateur for repairs, for maintenance, what they call turn-around maintenance, to the company of the Emeka Offor group. Where has Emeka Offor maintained refineries before? Where has he? That’s what we met. So, refineries were not working.”

The diligent team of reporters tried to find out from him why he did not bother to recover the huge amounts paid to Offor’s companies, and the retired army general, noted for ebullience, surprisingly sounded helpless before a mere civilian, a mere government contractor, almost half his age. Here are his words: “ (Recover money from)a man who was paid upfront? He had people. He got some police….People were there. And Emeka Offor, after I left (office), became friends with every government that has come”. Offor was, no doubt, friends with the Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan governments. With this interview, Obasanjo is strongly warning the new Muhammadu Buhari administration to avoid controversial contractors like a plague. Otherwise, they would ruin the new government they way they destroyed governments before it. I should think there is merit in the wise counsel because Buhari is globally recognized for high personal integrity, and his government is the last hope of the Nigerian people to get out of the corruption cancer which has metastised all over the country.

 

*Buhari and Obasanjo

It is necessary to explain the relationship between Offor and the refineries. Offor founded a firm known as Anchoff Strongholds which was a clearing agent for the Warri Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals Company (WPRC) and later became its supplier. Between 1993 and 1994 it stunned the petroleum industry worldwide by becoming the first African company to carry out a turn-round maintenance (TAM) on the 125,000 barrels per day WRPC. It was assisted by Gidado Idris, then permanent secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, who was to become chairman of all of Offor’s companies. But practically no work was done. A probe led by Aret Adams, the best group managing director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) ever, was instituted. The report recommended the dismissal of the WRPC managing director, Dr Owokalu, for his role in the scandal. The government acted promptly. The report also recommended the blacklisting of Anchoff Strongholds and its promoters and their ban from ever doing business with the NNPC. It was accepted.

But in the typical Nigerian fashion, the latter recommendations were circumvented. Anchoff promoters formed a new company and named it Chrome. Meanwhile, Gidado Idris had taken over from Aminu Saleh as the new Secretary to the Government of the Federation under General Sani Abacha’s military dictatorship. Chrome was awarded the contract to do the TAM on the 210,000barrel per day Port Harcourt Refinery and Petrochemical Company, which is much bigger than the Warri refinery whose TAM had become an international scandal. Ever since then, all the country’s refineries have become comatose. This is the background to Obasanjo’s anger over the sweetheart deals between various Nigerian governments and Offor.

Yet, I have tremendous difficulties with the impression which ex President Obasanjo has sought to give about his relationship with Offor. There is overwhelming evidence that Obasanjo not only empowered Offor but went out of his way to do so; in the process he violated all known rules and ethical standards. I would like to cite just an example which I know pretty well: the Joint Development Zone (JDZ) between Nigeria and the twin island of Sao Tome and Principe.

Obama, Clean Your Own House First!

Young Africans Tell US President...

(pix:deverpost)

President Obama came to Africa to deliver a "blunt message" to its politicians. But young people in Kenya and Ethiopia had plenty to say to Mr Obama about the state of America.

"Tough love" has been a theme of President Obama's visit to East Africa.

The moments where he really came alive on this trip were not just when he talked of his love for Africa, but also when he spoke passionately about human rights.Standing beside the Kenyan president he likened the pursuit of gay rights in Africa to the civil rights struggle in the US. 

To an enthralled crowd in a stadium in Nairobi he talked of the importance of women in society.He talked of the need to eradicate corruption and treat fairly minority communities, including Muslims in Kenya."Progress requires that you see the differences and diversity of this country as a strength, just as we in America try to see the diversity of our country as a strength," he said.

"I always say that what makes America exceptional is not the fact that we're perfect, it's the fact that we struggle to improve. We're self-critical. We work to live up to our highest values and ideals."

Kenyans and Ethiopians were overwhelmingly enthusiastic, even fanatical, about their returning East African son, but there were many who felt America, even Barack Obama, was not in a position to lecture others on some of these points.

"Most Americans think about what needs to change in other countries but they need to solve their own problems," Shiferaw Tilahun, tells me in a coffee shop in Addis Ababa.

"They are interested in other people's problems but they don't care about black people in their own country," Shiferaw says. "Most of our black brothers and sisters are suffering in the US."

It was clear in both countries that the issue of race, more than any other, had damaged people's perceptions of the US."When I speak to my friends and family here in Kenya, their feeling about America is 'clean your own house first'," says Teresa Mbagaya.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE 

Buhari's Unprecedented Divisive And Vindictive Declaration - PDP

 

*Buhari with Kerry (US Secretary of State)

Press Conference By The National Publicity Secretary Of The PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh, Today, Sunday, July 26, 2015 At The PDP National Secretariat, Abuja

Gentlemen of the press, we have once again called you up to address a number of very important issues constituting a threat to our democracy, the general health of our nation and our welfare as citizens under the All Progressives Congress (APC) administration.

Last Thursday, our dear President, President Muhammadu Buhari returned from his much-publicised visit to the United States of America. A visit which has proven to be anything but successful, yet another miscarried cosmetic intervention to hide government’s inefficiency and inability to face the real business of governance.

As a responsible political party, committed to peace and the stability of our dear nation, the PDP restrained itself from embarrassing the President by not raising, while he was in the States, issues of harassment of citizens, interferences in the activities of the National Assembly and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), total disregard for tenets of democracy, resort to sole administratorship as well as other violations which have become the order of the day in Nigeria since the inauguration of his administration.

Rather, we remained calm, while hoping and praying that the visit would afford our President and his party leaders reasonable tutorials on the respect and application of the tenets of democracy and fundamental rights of citizens under the rule of law.

This is in addition to the fact that as patriotic citizens, we looked forward for gains especially given our restated support for any action or policy by the Federal Government aimed at stamping out corruption, ending insurgency and promoting economic growth, which formed parts of the publicised agenda for the visit.

However, now that the visit has come and gone, our fear is that nothing whatsoever has been learnt or gained. What we continue to receive as a nation have been embarrassing disagreements, accusations and counter accusations, blames and denials on very important issues due to lack of tact and skill in the management of state matters by the APC-led administration.

*Metuh

It is disheartening that rather than secure any sort of tangible gain for the fight against terrorism, which has lost steam under the APC watch, with insurgents, who were pushed to the verge of surrender by the Goodluck Jonathan administration, now surging back and spreading into the country, we get nothing but exchanges and disagreements between the Presidency and their American hosts. This is not only embarrassing but also worrisome indication of crass ineptitude in the handling of international affairs on the part of the present administration.

We urge the APC-led administration to settle down, put its acts together and get determined, without further excuse, to face the fight against insurgency with every sense of seriousness especially given President Buhari’s promise in his April 2, 2015 CNN interview to end the scourge two months after his inauguration, which is by the end of this month.

Also, while Nigerians awaited for reassuring words to promote our democracy and unity as a nation, they were shocked as they watched President Buhari unfold to the world his decision to administer the country on the basis of the voting pattern in the last general elections rather than on equity as stipulated by the constitution and his oaths of office as the President of Nigeria.

President Buhari told a stunned audience in the US that “constituencies that gave me 97 percent cannot in all honesty be treated, on some issues, with constituencies that gave me 5 percent”, signifying that his government will be discriminatory.

Never in the history of our nation has a president made such a divisive and vindictive declaration. Never in the history of Nigeria has a President made such tendentious, biased and partisan statement, a blade on the chord of unity of his own country and people.

The World's Most Optimistic People Live in Africa

A farmer, left, accepts cash payment for his grain from a buyer in the

 village of Damo Dulele, Ethiopia, in February 2015. Growth in Ethiopia has beaten every sub-Saharan country over the past decade.  (Photographer: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg)

Emerging Nations Are Home To More Upbeat Consumers, While Advanced Economies See Dark Clouds

Sure, France has Paris, Provence and the Palace of Versailles. But when it comes to optimism about the domestic economy, the French have nothing on Ethiopians.

The three countries with the brightest prospects in the next year are all emerging or developing economies in Africa, while three with the bleakest outlooks are advanced economies, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted March 25 through May 27.

Nigeria tops the charts, with 92 percent of respondents seeing their economy improving in the next 12 months, compared with a net 5 percent who said it would stay the same or worsen. Residents in Burkina Faso and Ethiopia were similarly upbeat, with more than 80 percent of people in each country projecting economic progress.

On the other end of the scale, Poland was home to the smallest share of respondents seeing faster economic momentum in the next year, with just 16 percent holding that view. France — where almost half of those polled thought things would get worse — showed the weakest readings among advanced economies. See the best and worst here:  

CLICK HERE TO READ THE WHOLE REPORT

Nigerians And Their Anti-Corruption Charade

By Chinweizu

Sundoor999@gmail.com

26jan15

Anybody who thinks that, under Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution, any government, party or president can eradicate corruption is like a man who expects a worm to give birth to a lion, or who wants to go to heaven but doesn’t want to die.

If Nigerians are at all serious in their endless noisemaking against corruption, they must, as a first step, get rid of their 1999 Constitution. Anybody who is claiming he can end corruption but who isn’t campaigning to get rid of the 1999 Constitution is a fraud.

But Nigerians are not serious. First of all, they love what they call corruption, they became addicted to it right from the 1950s. They want to loot and squander, that’s why they don’t really want corruption tackled.  Secondly, they love their noisemaking against it. If “corruption” was eliminated, they would lose their favorite topic for complaining. In this matter of denouncing corruption, Nigerians are like a rich hypochondriac who is addicted to his symptoms and to the attention he gets because of his condition, and doesn’t want it cured. He refuses to go for the diagnostic tests that can determine the cause of his symptoms so it can be treated. Instead he keeps going from one quack doctor to another, each of whom claims to have the magic cure for his condition. Of course all that each wants is to get at his money and take his share and run. So each denounces his predecessor and gets his chance until the next quack doctor displaces him, and he leaves the patient uncured and even worse, and the hypochondriac is happy that his symptoms are still with him.

Which coup maker in the past 50 years hasn’t claimed he has come to get rid of corruption only to get even more corrupt than those he threw out? Which presidential candidate hasn’t claimed the same intention and ability only to fail when he got into office? Why has that been so? There are three main reasons why that has been so since 1999:

Why Obasanjo Must Leave Jonathan Alone

By Dan Amor 
At the convocation ceremony of Benson Idahosa University, Benin City last weekend, former president Olusegun Obasanjo who delivered the convocation lecture was quoted as saying that Nigerians should not blame him for the failure of the immediate past President Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. He also was quoted as saying that the actions of Jonathan as President for six years would continue to haunt the people of the South South geo-political region for a long time to come. Obasanjo who continues to pose as a messiah despite his monumental failure for eight miserable years as a civilian dictator (1999-2007) would not brook any nimbling in castigating Jonathan even when he knows that Jonathan preformed better than him by far. This has now become his stock-in-trade since 2012 when it became obvious to him that Jonathan would not allow him to have his scuttled third term agenda through the back door. 

*Jonathan, Obasanjo

Jonathan resisted his attempt to manipulate him while acting as the Board of Trustees chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party( PDP). When he tried this gambit a few months to the 2015 presidential election, Nigerians had thought that his mission was simply to sway Jonathan's support base. But the reactions of Nigerians of varied backgrounds to Obasanjo's old tricks showed that Nigerians are no fools. The people's condemnation of Obasanjo's arrant hypocrisy was overwhelming. The first reaction came from no less a personality than the traditional ruler of Lagos, His Majesty Oba Rilwan Akiolu,  who said that Obasanjo's government was the most corrupt in the history of Nigeria. The respected monarch cannot be more correct. Amidst Obasanjo's catalogue of anti-corruption verbal interventions, the question that now begs for an urgent answer is: is Obasanjo among the Saints? Yet Obasanjo is still bashing Jonathan even after the latter has lost election. Analysts now believe that Obasanjo's recent diatribe against Jonathan is just the manifestation of his bottled up anger that the Bayelsa born former President has won international acclaim over his display of the highest form of civility by conceding victory to his opponent even when the actual result was still evolving.


Now, he is poised to incriminate Jonathan while making himself look like a saint before Nigerians. But does Obasanjo possess the moral credentials to speak from a higher pedestal than Jonathan? Due largely to the lamentable short memory of homosepiens, it seems as though we have forgotten so soon about the person of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and his recent past. But the poor boy from Owu Village in Ogun State was led by fortuitous and opportunistic circumstances to have a rendezvous with history and destiny. Against his will and command, Obasanjo became head of state after the assassination of his boss, General Murtala Muhammed. He was said to have been the man who launched Nigeria into the estranged comity of heavily indebted nations when he took the first ever N1 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan in 1978 when the Nigerian currency was 75 kobo to the United States dollar. It was said that more than half of this money was not accounted for by General Obasanjo while a fraction of it was left for the incoming administration of Alhaji Shehu Shagari in October 1979.

Can East Africa Avoid A Major Food Crisis In the Near Future?

By Isaac Mwangi

More often than not, East Africa finds itself in an unending precarious food security situation. From the evolving political and economic situation, this could soon turn into a major crisis.

All the ingredients are already present. From civil war to corruption and population displacement to climate change, man-made disasters have combined with natural factors to create ideal conditions for a major regional food crisis.

Even in the best of times, East Africa is never far removed from hunger. Poor policies that have removed support previously given to farmers, low producer prices that have discouraged farmers, rural-urban migration in search of better opportunities, the loss of productive land to cities, and a host of other factors have led to a situation where regional countries can hardly feed themselves.

These problems have been compounded by joblessness and rising insecurity. Deadly cattle rustling raids between rival communities within and between countries, made worse by the influx of small and light weapons, have made pastoralism a dangerous occupation among nomadic communities.

The conflicts that afflict the region are likely to be the most important factor behind the unfolding food insecurity. Needless to say, conflicts displace productive populations, move human and other resources from productive endeavours to the war effort, and leave whole farms untended. Existing food stocks are abandoned in haste as civilians flee or looted by marauding troops, while markets and supply chains are disrupted.

OIL SUBSIDY: To Be Or Not To Be?

By Dan Amor, Sebastine Eko & Omini Oden

Over the years, Nigeria's four decrepit refineries which were built to refine crude oil into petroleum products for local consumption and possibly for exports were left to rot just to make room for the importation of petroleum products by the governing elite and their contractors. This makes it pretty difficult for the importers or oil marketers to bring the products to the reach of the final consumers without incurring additional costs. The effect of this excess tax on the consumers in the name of landing and other costs of carriage from the ports to depots across the country is what government tries to cushion so that the products would be affordable for the common man. This extra payment government makes to the oil marketers in order to maintain an affordable price regime for the products is what is generally referred to as oil subsidy.

*Buhari

Subsidy is therefore a government policy that would act as a palliative due to fluctuations in the international market. But what makes this policy so controversial in Nigeria is that everything about the oil & gas sector is shrouded in secrecy. Ever since the military administration of General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida introduced the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) in 1988, whose major intention was to vend juicy national assets to willing buyers, those companies not sold to government officials or their cronies, were allowed to rot in other to attract the sympathy of Nigerians for their privatization. The refineries, two in Port Harcourt, one in Onne near Warri and one in Kaduna, are part of those assets. Since the Babangida era, Nigerians have been living with this menace. It triggered a lot of civil unrest during which several Nigerians including university students were killed.

The Military junta under the late General Sani Abacha which inherited the crisis set up the Petroleum (Special) Trust Fund (PTF) headed by the current President, Muhamadu Buhari to manage the excess charges from the pump prices of petroleum products. The fund was meant for the provision of infrastructure across the country. In 1999, when Chief Olusegun Obasanjo assumed leadership of the country as a democratically elected president, he disbanded the PTF and insisted on the deregulation of the downstream sector of the petroleum industry. But the move was resisted by Nigerians who thought that they had long been shortchanged by government in the oil and gas industry. 

Things To Appreciate And Emulate About The Igbo

By Abdu Abdullahi

The Saturday Sun, July 4th, 2015, featured an opinion column with the above caption. It was characterized by the writer’s reflective and expressive capacity for deep lamentation, protest, extolment and optimism about the Igbo State of affairs. A very careful reading of the piece offered me a clear and unbiased understanding of the writer’s primary aim of unveiling the true picture of the Igbo Nation in its giant strive to forge ahead within the league of federating units that have been engulfed into a prolonged crisis of confidence.

*Chinua Achebe Reads And Igbo Poem at 2011 

Achebe Colloquium at Brown University, in Rhode Island

Thus, the writer was able to impressively and emotionally fix significant areas of focus for the readers to digest with a view to constructing sound judgments on the critical issues raised as enshrined in the presentation. The writing was particularly outstanding because of its linguistic strength to communicate effectively with our original mind. Consequently, this impacted tremendously on my psychological make-up, empowering me with the expressive zeal of picking my pen to offer this contribution.

I particularly observed that the choice of the word “appreciate” in the title might have been informed by the writer’s resolve to renew and boost the collective image of the Igbo in the context of ethnic and political supremacy context. In fact, the word appreciate is readily endowed with the lexical power to assume the role of a persuasive agent.

In a way, the word appreciate possesses the driving force of engaging the mind in sober reflections on the Igbo. Mr. Clem Aguiyi’s opening paragraph was skillfully organized to deploy his message to the in-depth of our mind, fostering a strong cohesion from the beginning to the end of the writing.

To drive home his profound feelings and belief about the Igbo, he meticulously dwelt on historical, social, political and philosophical dimensions to carry the readers along the course of evidence based analysis, justification and verification. After scrutinizing the entire work, the central themes captured and refreshed my memory on the period that I really appreciated the beauty of Igbo land. My conviction about the productive attributes of the Igbo was consolidated.

The Worst Cities In The World To Work In

If you think your job is tough, and the location you live in doesn’t quite meet your expectations, then take a look at the top 10 worst cities in the world to work in and you might just think differently about your own situation! These cities are so dangerous that employees who agree to take up employment there often qualify for ‘hardship’ pay ; this is extra pay awarded to employees, just for working in a particular location!

The below list was reported by Bruce Einhorn for US online forum, Excelle and is the results of data obtained by OCR Worldwide for BusinessWeek.

Please note that the list does not include any location in the US, Canada or Western Europe, nor does it include any location that is considered a ‘war zone’ [IMAGINE THAT!!].

CLICK HERE TO READ ABOUT THE CITIES 

Bailout: Is Buhari Rewarding Profligacy?

By Ugochukwu Ejinkeonye

The recent N400 billion bailout approved for the states by President Muhammadu Buhari to offset the backlog of salary owed to civil servants would certainly bring immense relief to the affected workers and their families. It is difficult to imagine how these Nigerians were able to survive the trauma and pain of existing for several months without salaries, especially, when one considers that even when these salaries were paid regularly and as at when due, they were hardly enough to solve even the basic needs of these public servants. In some cases, we have husbands and wives as state employees, and one is sincerely scared of imagining how life has been for them and their children these past few months.

*President Buhari and some governors  

One hopes that as this money is released, the story we would hear from all the states is that these hapless Nigerians have been paid ALL the arrears of salary owed them to enable them see the extent they would go to sort out their horribly battered existence – lives that have been heartlessly messed up by the gross irresponsibility and unspeakable callousness that now constitute the enduring character of governance in this part of the world.

Considering that we have just emerged from an election in which many state governors were squandering money as if all they did to get loads of it was just to walk to their backyards and pluck them from some trees that generously grew them, Nigerians deserve to know the exact reasons why these governors were unable to pay salaries.

In a place like Osun State , for instance, state workers were heartlessly owed salaries for about seven months. The state governor, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola, who recently won a second term in a bitterly contested (and obviously unimaginably expensive) election and who also may have equally contributed his own quota to achieve the “change” that now exists in Aso Rock must be compelled to tell Nigerians how his state achieved such an unimaginable descent.

America: In Lust We Trust

Banji Ojewale

This article is a dirge for the soul of the United States of America. It died on June 26, 2015 when the US Supreme Court, covertly and overtly, prompted by President Barack Obama, legalised same-sex marriage. The judges’ slim 5-4 verdict severed the country from the hallowed grounds of the conjugal institution established by God, Creator of Heaven and Earth along with all their inhabitants.

His inviolable decree on marriage says it must be between two consenting opposite sexes, not among like gender. His law has worked for His plan for the perpetuation of the human race. In other words, the marital relationship involving the male and his opposite number gives life, supports life, sustains life and satisfies life. Its breach on the other hand, brings death, breeds destruction and begets disaster and sexual bedlam. How would same-sex reproduce life, if its promoters, votaries and practitioners were to have their way? It is death for those taking that road.

Their way threatens mankind with extinction since the reach isn’t for procreation but for bestial and unproductive pleasure. Obama and the US are proving to be successors of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, luring millions to their graves with effete gay music. The American leader joined several others in rhapsodic celebration to hail the Court’s ruling. He topped it by interrupting a live TV programme as he phoned a gay fellow who was on set, felicitating with him on the occasion of the judicial decision.

Coupled with how he has always heckled African nations to embrace the ideology of the LGBT throng or be deprived the US aid, this macabre dance of Obama has made some discerning observers to wonder if the American leader and his ilk are not closet gay persons.

Remove Those Terrorist From Anambra!

(Pix: nigerianwatch)

By Ugochukwu Ejinkeonye

No matter how it is looked at, the decision to transfer the nearly 50 Boko Haram convicts and/or detainees from the North East to a small, poorly secured prison in Ekwulobia community in Anambra State is one excellent example of how a very bad policy can be so badly executed. Although the Federal prison authorities reserve the right to send prisoners to any of their jail houses across the country, it would appear that in this particular case, they chose to egregiously abuse that right. And by so doing, they created a very grievous image problem for the Muhammadu Buhari regime and injected avoidable fear and panic in a community where people had lived their lives in relative peace.

Those behind this clearly obnoxious decision to relocate those terrorists to Anambra were quick to betray their confusion, and, perhaps, unwholesome intentions when it was reported that businessmen and women in Anambra State had closed their shops and offices and poured into the streets to protest the planned move. An official of the Nigerian Prison Service (NPS) promptly dismissed the story as untrue. Even a spokesperson for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the South East, Mr. Osita Okechukwu, immediately released a statement urging Nigerians to consider the story as unfounded. If it was such a well-meaning policy, why were these fellows and the organizations they represent eager to confuse Nigerians and shield them from the truth?

Well, the truth as we know it today is that the “rumour” has turned out to be true and as you read this now, the terrorists have been effectively planted in Ekwulobia prisons.  Now, the standard practice globally is to keep in Maximum Security Prisons such unrepentant, dare-devil terrorists who derive undue animation from taking their own lives in suicide missions in order to eliminate hapless “infidels.” And the prison in Ekwulobia is not a Maximum Security Prison. So, what exactly informed and justified the choice of Ekwulobia prison, an already unduly over-stretched facility meant for 85 inmates but which at present is housing 185 inmates – more than double of its capacity – as the best place to keep those terrorists? When one also imagines the distance covered to bring these terrorists to Anambra State, one is tempted to give second thought to the view already circulating that some sinister motives may have inspired the decision.