APC: A Nest Of Liars

By Ikechukwu Amaechi

Wole Soyinka once described the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as a “nest of killers”. That was at the height of PDP’s power when former President Olusegun Obasanjo held sway and prominent political personalities were gruesomely murdered in their bedrooms, on the streets and other unimaginable places.

*President Buhari and APC Chairman Oyegun

Many, including the Nobel laureate, construed those killings, rightly or wrongly, as politically motivated. He was particularly incensed after the brutal murder of his childhood friend, Bola Ige, who, as the attorney general of the federation and minister of justice, was the country’s chief law officer. The lethargy that characterised the investigation of Ige’s murder didn’t help matters.

Soyinka is yet to put a sticky tag on the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), which he helped elect in 2015 by unreservedly endorsing its then presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, a man he had had issues with since his first coming as military head of state on December 31, 1983. I doubt if Soyinka will do so very soon, considering that he will be hard put explaining to Nigerians what has changed.

If the PDP was a nest of killers, the APC is a nest of liars. The party, like the swashbuckling United States President, Donald Trump, came to power by serving the people cocktails of lies, and it has sustained itself in office for 21 months by upping the ante, feeding the people more egregious lies.

That is expected. Unlike truth that stands on the parapet of facts, realities and evidence, and therefore needs no further propping, lies stand on nothing. And because lies stand on nothing, for sustainability, they must be hoisted on an effigy of more invidious lies.

That is the story of the APC. Truth is anathema to it. Its officials take pride in worshipping at the altar of mendacity. 
 Nothing illustrates this more than the stories the party and its government officials have been dishing out since Buhari proceeded on an impromptu 10-day winter vacation in London, his third in one year.

The vacation, which began on January 19 and was to end on February 6, was so sudden that Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, the man Buhari temporarily handed power to, had to abruptly end his participation at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, to rush back home. Yet, whatever was the matter with the president was so serious that he could not wait for the arrival of Osinbajo before leaving. It was that bad.

Nigerians were told he was going to rest after working so hard. For someone the Financial Times of London described last week as “the man supposedly in charge of the country” who has “been literally sleeping on the job,” hard work must have a new meaning.

Buhari was hardly airborne when the stories started making the rounds that there was more to the trip than ordinary vacation. And the lies started pouring in.

Is Nigeria Worth Dying For?

By Arthur Agwuncha Nwankwo

This is one question that has bothered many Nigerians. As much as many of us would readily declare their love for Nigeria and haughtily proclaim that the “unity” of Nigeria is not negotiable, I have never stopped asking myself if any of these apostles of Nigerian patriotism or unity would be willing to put their lives on the line for the sake of this country. This question has become very germane in our present situation where the Nigerian state has offered scorpion in place of fish and stone for bread. I think that time has come when we need to tell ourselves the home truth. In trying to answer this question, I would like to draw from an age-long anecdote, which I heard from my father.

*Dr. Arthur Nwankwo 

Once, in a certain community, there was a king who was reputed to be much loved by his people. He owned large parcels of arable land; uncountable cash crops and livestock. He offered his resources in the service of his people for a fee. A man who cultivates on his would share his harvest into two and give the king half. If the harvest is poor, the king still took his share. But he was known for his lavish parties where the benighted villagers usually come to gorge themselves.

Suddenly, the king took ill and the chief priest, after consulting the gods, declared to the villagers gathered in front of the king’s palace that the gods required one of them to sacrifice himself so that the king can recover. From the balcony of the King’s Court, the Chief priest said he would release the feather of a fowl and on whose head the feather rested that person would be used for the sacrifice. The feather was released but interestingly all the villagers kept their faces up; blowing air upwards such that the feather remained in the air. It never rested on any person’s head. Despite their proclaimed love for their king, none of them was willing to die for the king.

This is vintage Nigeria. Despite our pretensions about the unity of a Nigerian state, despite our pontification about our love for Nigeria, nobody in this country is willing to die for Nigeria. Not too long ago, I heard a former President of this country say on national television that any Nigerian who was not prepared to die for the country did not deserve to be a Nigerian citizen. According to this former president, the earlier such a person walked out of Nigeria, the better for the country. This former president was apparently referring to a former governor who had said emphatically that Nigeria is not worth dying for. I also recall a former minister for power, who is late now, who said that he was sure that Nigeria is worth living for but he was not so sure that it is worth dying for. I have heard some say that they would love to die for Nigeria; but not Nigeria in its present condition. A market woman once asked me what I consider a rhetorical question. “Oga”, she said, ‘we are suffering too much in this country, so how do you expect me to die for Nigeria? She queried. 

The truth is that in Nigeria, people think of themselves and their primordial loyalties first before thinking about Nigeria. But I recall that late US President J.F. Kennedy once urged Americans not to ask what their country could do for them but what they could do for their country. In Nigeria, this type of clarion call is strange basically because Nigerians seem to be united in saying that the country must first inspire their patriotism before asking them for sacrifices.
But what is patriotism? The standard dictionary definition of patriotism says it is “love of one's country.” Stephen Nathanson, in his philosophical study of patriotism argues that the term involves special affection for one's own country, a sense of personal identification with the country; special concern for the well-being of the country and willingness to sacrifice to promote the country's good. Chinua Achebe defines it as “insisting on the best for your people; and demanding the best from your people”.

Buhari’s Illness And The Resurgence Of Official Lies

By Arthur Agwuncha Nwankwo

The recent uproar and fear concerning President Muhammadu Buhari’s state of health has not come to many discerning Nigerians as a surprise. What is rather curious and embarrassing has been the ostrich and evasive denial of presidential aides and others of their kind on the true state of the Buhari’s health. For one thing, no person should be rejoicing that the Buhari is critically ill; for illness of whatever nature is not a good wish for anyone.

*Buhari 

It is rather disturbing that it took a near fatal medical check-up in London for the President’s men to admit that the President is in critical state of health. His fragile health status has never been in question because Nigerians know that during the 2015 electioneering period, Buhari slumped on two occasions. Ominous and disturbing as the situation remains, one cannot but advise that Muhammadu Buhari should resign from office on health grounds and save the country from certain crisis of succession and constitutional dilemma.

There is no doubt that the present state of President Buhari’s health has imposed a fresh reign of speculation among Nigerians; with government officials demonstrating speaking from both sides of the mouth. Earlier, Nigerians have been told that Buhari was hale and hearty but just yesterday (February 5th, 2017), Mr. Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to the President (Media and Publicity) told us that the President will stay longer in London to enable him complete his other medical tests. The President will return to Nigeria, he said but gave no hint when the President will come back.

Presently, the issue of succession and alleged pressure on Vice President Yemi Osibanjo to resign has become subjects of intense discussion by Nigerians, at home and abroad, raising anxiety despite official assurances that the President is responding to treatment at the London Specialist Hospital in Britain. It is no longer secret that President Buhari was admitted in the hospital for treatment of undisclosed illness. Even in this critical situation, some individuals have narrowly dismissed the patriotic calls by Nigerians for the president to resign. The result in the last couple of days has been a Nigerian government run on uncertainty, gossip, blackmail and useless battles for supremacy. To further put the state ship into more troubled waters, Vice President Osibanjo, in particular, has ring-fenced himself with an air of precaution in his activities in the Presidency to avoid sending wrong signals regarding the present health challenges of the President.

It is assumed that the vice president is expected to perform the functions of the president in the absence of the latter, but the 1999 Constitution states expressly in Sections 145 and 146 how such a role can be performed in the absence of the number one citizen. Section 145 of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria states that whenever the President transmits to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives a written declaration that he is proceeding on vacation or that he is otherwise unable to discharge the functions of his office, until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary such functions shall be discharged by the Vice-President as Acting President. According to Section 146 (1), the Vice-President shall hold the office of President if the office of President becomes vacant by reason of death or resignation, impeachment, permanent incapacity or the removal of the President from office for any other reason in accordance with section 143 of this Constitution.

For Buhari, A Humane Proposal: Resign!

By Okey Ndibe

There’s a chance that President Muhammadu Buhari would have come back to Nigeria by the time you read this column, but the fact that he had twice postponed his return date encourages one conclusion: That the man is really, really sick. So, here’s a humane proposal for the president: Consider handing in your resignation letter.

*Buhari 

I’m aware that some Nigerians still consider Mr. Buhari essential, if not indispensable, to our country’s prospect of rebirth. To these, a suggestion that the man ought to quit office must sound heretical – indeed seem like a prescription with a dollop of ghastly mischief. But such people are grandly deluded. Concrete ideas, not the cult of any particular personality, are best for a polity in need of ethical rejuvenation. And two years of Mr. Buhari’s tenure as president are adequate to demonstrate his paucity of ideas.

In place of robust and organic ideas for transforming Nigeria, he has merely offered us the pabulum that his reputation and goodwill are enough.

That idea, of the transformative power of President Buhari’s supposed moral gravitas, is hollow. What significant transformation have Nigerians witnessed, in any sector of their life, in the two years of Buhari’s presidency? The so-called war on corruption, Mr. Buhari’s best calling card, has failed to achieve the conviction of one significant political figure from the recent past.

After all the public drama of Dasukigate, what is the status of the case against former National Security Adviser Sambo Dasuki? If Mr. Buhari’s government has not been able to prosecute Mr. Dasuki to date, is there much hope of his administration making a noticeable dent in the war against corruption via prosecutorial means? I don’t think so.

Worse, Mr. Buhari’s much-vaunted crusade against graft has neither dampened nor discouraged the appetite for corruption in Nigeria. Police and customs officers still farm out on the road and extort bribes from hapless commuters and traders. Under Mr. Buhari’s watch, the Central Bank of Nigeria and other agencies corruptly handed out jobs to children and wards of the most privileged. Elections are still fraught with fraud, with the police and army rolled out to serve the ruling party’s partisan interests. Judicial processes operate at snail-speed; lawyers and judges collude in using incessant adjournments to derail justice. Mr. Buhari has done little more than yawn when political appointees close to him have been accused of corrupt acts.

The Implications Of Buhari’s Absence

By Carl Umegboro

President Muhammadu Buhari officially embarked, at first instance, on a ten-day official leave and on its expiration, sought an extension on medical grounds. According to information from the Presidency, Buhari sought for an extension to enable him complete series of tests and medications as prescribed by his United Kingdom-based physicians. Since then, all manner of ugly insinuations and assumptions have trailed the development with a good number of people calling for Buhari to address the nation to rebut sundry allegations. Even in the United Kingdom, a group of Nigerians besieged the Nigerian High Commission seeking to know the health status of the President.

*Buhari 

Even after the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, tried to douse tension by assuring the nation of the president’s good health, it sounded as if water was poured on a stone. The Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo (SAN), who stands to personally benefit more if the President is permanently incapacitated as alleged, as provided for in Section 146 of 1999 Constitution, Federal Republic of Nigeria, confidently testified that Buhari was hale and hearty. His explanations were    regarded by some people as the recitation of Hollywood scripts.

Some claimed that as the President of the country, and by implication, a public officer, his whereabouts and health status must always be public knowledge. Incidentally, the President formally took some days from his statutory annual vacation as stipulated by the laws of the country. To start with, official leave implies a temporary disengagement from official duties and position. It, therefore, connotes that President Buhari is at the moment officially not the head of government by virtue of his letter to the National Assembly for temporary disengagement from duty as the President. 

Fayose And The Re-Emergence Of PDP In The South-West

By Sola Adetola

The appointment of Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State as chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors’ Forum is a good development. First, he earned it as the most senior state governor of the PDP extraction in the present dispensation. Secondly, according to Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State, who announced the appointment, Fayose deserved it as a committed party man. No one can fault this claim.

*Gov Fayose 

The position gives Fayose the privilege to coordinate the activities of the Governors Forum and work with other party structures to uplift the party. It is a weighty responsibility thrust upon his shoulders at a time the party is struggling to overcome leadership challenges and the concomitant fractionalization and disorientation the crisis had plunged its members into in most parts of the country.

Fortunately, Fayose himself is not unfamiliar with the leadership tussle that has torn the party apart. He was part of the genesis of the crisis, being one of the principal actors who foisted ex-governor of Borno State, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff on the party as acting national chairman, despite the fears raised by notable stakeholders, including the board of trustees of the party. Sadly, he and his collaborators in the scheme were unable to curb the man when he engineered a power play that became volatile. The resultant conflagration has defied political solution and the party now seeks refuge in a judicial resolution. Fayose should learn something from that to guide him in his new call to duty.

Another party issue that Fayose needs to draw lessons from was his alleged role in yet another contrivance to impose a relatively new member of the party and former governorship candidate in Lagos State, Jimi Agbaje, as national chairman of the party in very controversial circumstances, at the botched national convention of the party in Port Harcourt, in August last year.

This move did not go down well with the stakeholders of the party from the South-West as they had already endorsed a consensus candidate at their meeting in Akure, Ondo State, in the person of Chief Olabode George. The subsequent disenfranchisement of most of the delegates from the zone, with the exception of Ekiti State delegates, at the convention ground left members feeling betrayed and convinced that Fayose was pursuing a separate agenda against the collective will of the majority in the zone.

Buhari, Payment Of N5000 To The Unemployed And The Future Of Nigeria

By Arthur Agwuncha Nwankwo
The phrase “robbing Peter to pay Paul” is not new to us. It was in 1661 AD that Peter Heylyn in his Ecclesia Restaurata sought to explain the origin and import of this phrase. Though his attempt has been punctured severally by other etymologists, the phrase suggests a calamitous sequence of events where, before the Reformation, taxes had to be paid from the treasury of St. Peter’s church in Rome to defray the running costs of St. Paul’s church in London. At this time, the lands of Westminster upon which St. Paul’s church stood had become so dilapidated and badly run by Bishop Thirlby, that there was almost nothing left to support its dignity. Originally it referred to neglecting the Peter tax in order to have money to pay the Paul tax. In its proper context, this phrase simply means solving one problem in a way that makes another problem worse. 

*Dr. Arthur Nwankwo 

When this type of approach is adopted in managing the economy of a state the outcome is always disastrous especially for countries with teething economic problems. That is what I call casino or lottery economy and no country makes progress in this type of scenario. Even Adam Smith, variously referred to as the father of economics did not prescribe this type of voodoo economics despite the fact that some modern economist have interpreted his economic model as laissez-faire economics because of his insistence that the best policy by which a state can manage its economy was to leave the economy to the free play of market forces. 

Evidently, the interpretation of Smith’s postulations as laissez-faire economics could be linked to his polemics against what he called mercantilism, which was based on the principle of “robbing Peter to pay Paul”. One important role of the government in managing the economy is to provide the institutional framework required for competitive markets to function. In other words, a well-structured political system should be able to provide a secure framework for the market system to work efficiently. 

More broadly, the role of the state is to protect the members of society, both as participants in market transactions and in their private lives, from violence and invasion from other societies and oppression by other members of society. A good reading of Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations will reveal that although well-functioning markets are good for society, individual producers might well find it in their individual interests to limit competition by entering into “conspiracies against the public”. Therefore, an important role for government is to design an economic system that as far as possible discouraged the creation of private cartels and monopolies. Buhari’s economic management policies since he came on board are deficit on this principle.

I recall vividly that one of the numerous campaign promises by Buhari is that his administration would pay every unemployed Nigerian the sum of N5000 every month as welfare package pending such a time the person will be gainfully employed. At the time the promise was made and now, I have always maintained that this promise is neither feasible nor achievable for several reasons. I have read from the papers that Jigawa state government has slated March this year for the commencement of disbursement of this money to the unemployed and the poorest youths in the State. 

Yoruba And The Cog Of Gerontocracy

By Olukayode Ajulo

 As the world educates and initiates her young ones as modern species more aggressively attuned to the flexibilities of modernity as working antidote to rigid political antiquity which is largely Africa’s bane, Africa, yes, Nigeria, has ingloriously glued itself to gerontocracy. It wasn’t particularly bad for Nigeria at the get-go. Early nationalists who fought for, sought and got independence for the nation Nigeria did same in their youths.

*Awolowo

Remember Herbert Macaulay, Al-Haji Aminu Kano, Al-Haji Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Professor Eyo Ita, Al-Haji Sir Ahmadu Bello, Alvan Ikoku, Dennis Osadebay, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Sir Egbert Udo Udoma, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Joseph Tarka, General Murtala Mohammed and the up and doing General Yakubu Gowon all called the shots as leaders of the country in their youth,an era Nigerians call golden, years that fanned radical changes and revolutionary ideologies that saw the country out of the woods. When it comes to mind that three of these prominent Nigerians, Obafemi Awolowo, Ahmadu Bello, and Nnamdi Azikiwe, personally participated in negotiations for the independence from Britain, then you can dearly bemoan the political Egypt to which Nigeria has gladly returned.

 Today, our state and federal parliaments have become virtual permanent homes for docile and unproductive septuagenarians and lame octogenarians who do but deepen the depth of our doom as a country. We must hammer the truism that youth mainstreaming can allow young people to change the world by creating new awareness, opportunities, policies, systems and cultures that foster youth engagement. In political parties, youth mainstreaming could allow for children and youth to affect democratic representation even in parties that would deny them the right to vote or otherwise become engaged. Whatever age they are, young people can run for office anywhere in the world as an act of protest; to make a stand or to draw attention.

In my sojourn across my country -Nigera vis-a-vis the age demography of political leaders among the major ethic, I dare say there’s no denying that the predomination of these gerontocrats in Nigerian political space seems more prevalent among the Yoruba people of the Southwest, Nigeria. It would alarm one who’s initiated and rich enough of Yoruba’s culture to the effect that the youth of this tribe has always been it’s strength and a central part of its rich history. Its but alien to us (the Yorubas) for old men and women to be avaricious especially with political power and office. It was not so with the people and culture of the Yoruba at the various chapters and sagas in history, for instance, it wasn’t so when the late Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona, the Awujale of Ijebu land was enthroned at age 26 in 1960.

The Politics Of Ibrahim Magu’s Confirmation

 By Godwin Onyeacholem

 Following an initial setback caused by a purported security report on which the senate relied for suspending Ibrahim Magu’s confirmation as the substantive chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), President Muhammadu Buhari has rightly written back to the senate requesting Magu’s confirmation, having been convinced of the futility of the so-called report prepared by the Department of State Services (DSS).

*Magu

Besides succumbing to wise counsel, Buhari’s decision aligns with the popular expectation of a great majority of the people who want to see Magu continue the excellent job he is doing in his acting role at the helm of the country’s foremost anti-corruption agency. Indeed, the voice for his retention has been so resounding that were Nigerians to cast a ballot regarding his continuation, the result would be returned overwhelmingly in his favour.

Yet, for him and the success of the anti-corruption campaign, the senate hurdle remains an albatross. Despite Buhari’s letter reiterating the crucial importance of checking the corruption scourge and appealing for a favourable acceptance of this nominee in view of the need to sustain the prevailing momentum and capacity of the EFCC, the body language of the senators is decidedly against this sentiment.

It does not matter to them that apart from the high integrity quotient of Buhari, their party’s and indeed Buhari’s flagship campaign promise of a frontal fight against corruption was the other major reason Nigerians voted massively for the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2015 presidential election. Nor do they feel embarrassed that despite belonging to the same APC party as President Buhari and being the majority in the upper parliament, APC senators are unable to muster the required insight and unity of purpose that would lead to a seamless confirmation of Buhari’s nominee as head of a strategic agency primed to actualize a top agenda in their party’s manifesto.

Understandably, some of them, including opposition PDP senators, are already being vigorously prosecuted for all manner of crimes by the EFCC. Thus, to them the nominee represents a creeping affliction that would effectively checkmate not just their own relentless pursuit of unconscionable excesses, but also that of similar selfish elite groups that have conspired to hold down the development of this country. Therefore, the chairman of EFCC can and should be anyone else but Magu, they must have resolved.

Nigeria: Season Of Photo Tricks, Mischief

By Alabi Williams

It is yet another season of political power play. Each government comes with its version, but they are all the same. They seek power, but without the deep conviction of how to utilise it for the transformation of society. At the end of the day, they leave citizens stranded. Nigeria is stranded.

 

*Buhari 

When Nigerians demanded democratic rule after years of military encroachment, there was a justifiable urgency to have power transferred by all means. There was, however, no serious debate on how to utilise the enormous powers and resources. Too much was left in the hands of the political parties and their sponsors. Too much was left in the hands of the president and the hangers-on.

Today, it is a shame that Nigerians have resorted to street protests, in order to command a hearing from those they have enthroned. Those who begged for votes yesterday and promised heaven on earth are now locked in the same power play they accused others of. Voters who thought they saw Change in 2015 are now blaming their blurry sights. They were sold gbanjo. Even for the elected, it has become a game of survival. There is now a difference among those in the inner chambers and those in the periphery. We saw it the other time. Forget photo tricks.

Update Nigerians On Buhari's Health Status – CAN Urges Presidency

Christian Association Of Nigeria (CAN)

PRESS RELEASE 

"The Christians Association of Nigeria (CAN) is deeply concerned about the ongoing national conversation on the absence of the President due to ill- health. We wish to call on all Nigerians to join hands in prayers for the quick and full recovery of Mr. President and his safe return to Nigeria instead of dwelling on the needless rumour mongering on the President's health.

"President Muhammadu Buhari is human, hence subject to health challenges sometimes. CAN appreciates the anxiety of Nigerians to hear Mr. President speak, but sues for understanding as we await that. It is very clear that our leader is passing through health challenges.

"We advise the Presidency to update Nigerians on how he is fairing and the full progress of his recovery.

Who Is Importing Arms Into Nigeria?

By Anthony Cardinal Okogie

It was reported, a few days ago, in almost all the national dailies, that the Nigerian Customs Service seized 49 boxes containing 661 pump action rifles unlawfully imported into Nigeria. The rifles were said to have been concealed in a container of steel products and other merchandise. Three suspects were said to have been arrested. According to retired Colonel Hameed Ali, the Comptroller-General of Customs, the arms were cleared at the port with the assistance of two customs officers who have since been apprehended and are now being investigated.

This is the latest in the series of unlawful importation of arms into Nigeria, and it raises a number of issues. First, who are those behind unlawful importation of arms into Nigeria and what are their intentions?

At a press conference, in which Colonel Ali triumphantly reported the arrest of three suspects, he also informed the Nigerian public that a team of customs officers on intelligence patrol had, on Sunday, January 22, 2017, along the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway in Lagos, intercepted a truck whose registration number he gave as BDG 265 XG, purportedly conveying the arms in a container whose number he gave as PONU/825914/3. Such news would have been sweet in the ears but for the fact that nothing was said of the owner of the truck and nothing was said of the owner of the container. That raises further questions: In whose name was that truck registered and in whose name was the container registered? Are they registered in the same name? Have their owners been investigated? When shall they and their foot soldiers appear in court?

Not to raise these and related questions, and not to address them, will leave us where we have always been, that is, a place where a criminal act is committed but there is neither trial nor conviction nor sanction, a country where criminals are phantoms, a strange land where there are crimes but no criminals. That is why the triumphant account of the Comptroller of Customs comes close to another episode in playing to the gallery.

But there is another issue to be raised, and that is, whatever happened to intelligence in this country? Newspapers reported that the Comptroller of Customs informed Nigerians that impounding the truck containing the unlawfully imported arms and the apprehension of three men suspected to be involved in the crime of unlawful importation was the achievement of a “roving team of the NCS’ federal operations unit, while on intelligence patrol.” But on closer scrutiny, this advertisement of prowess is in fact an advertisement of colossal but recurring failure of intelligence. A dictum has it that prevention is better than cure. Intelligence is crime prevention. Nigeria’s security agencies—the Customs in this case, the Police, the Army, to mentioned but these—have repeatedly demonstrated their ineptitude when it comes to preventing acts that are inimical to security. The Police arrive at the scene of a crime after the crime and after the departure of the perpetrators. 

Lai Mohammed: A Haunting Past

By Amanze Obi

The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is having a field day. It is savouring the absence of an opposition party in the country. As an opposition political party that wrested power from a ruling party, even if by default, the APC deserves a full dose of the arsenal, which it used to destabilise and decapitate the then ruling party. But it is not getting any of that. The opposition died because the forces that forced the former ruling party out of office also ensured that it does not rise again to constitute itself into a formidable opposition. What was supposed to be the opposition after the emergence of the APC, therefore, went comatose. It is in disarray today.

*Lai Mohammed 

The result is that the ruling party has no rival political party to keep it on its toes. That is why the APC is having a ball. The situation in the land is serving its purpose. But we cannot say the same thing of its effect on our polity. Whereas the APC is on a roller coaster, the country’s democracy is on a free fall. There is no institution to call the ruling party to order. The opposition, which ought to do the job, is non-existent. In the absence of a virile opposition, what we have are shrill voices of dissent, struggling to fill the gaping hole, which the absence of an opposition has created in our polity. The APC is certainly the better for it.

That is why an Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who, as an opposition spokesman, did his job with gusto, is not being called to account by anybody. As an opposition spokesman, Mohammed regaled the polity with propaganda. He was always in the news. He always joined issues with the party in power. He was always the first to take a position on any national issue.

Given this pedigree, the APC, which he helped to wrest power from the ruling party, did not have any problem appointing him as the chief spokesman of its government. The expectation was that with Mohammed in place, the government would not have any problem telling its story. Mohammed, they thought, could make the public to believe anything. That was the ideal. But the reality of the situation has given a lie to that fanciful expectation.

Nothing exposes the impracticability of that ideal more than the crisis the government is currently facing over the health of President Muhammadu Buhari. Since the health of the president became an issue for public scrutiny, the media machinery of the government has been in disarray. The interventions and interjections of the government’s media managers have been anything but coordinated. Each has tried to do better than the other. This has resulted in puerile contradictions. The public is clearly confused as to what is what. The situation we gave on our hands is that of too many cooks spoiling the broth.

In the face of the uncoordinated vibes wafting out of government’s media machines, some discerning members of the public have had cause to remind Alhaji Lai Mohammed of his past.  Some seven to eight years ago, the health of Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, Nigeria’s then president, was an issue. He was in Saudi Arabia where his health was being managed. The scenario was shrouded in secrecy. Nigerians hardly knew what the situation truly was. Tongues wagged. In the midst of the confusion, Lai Mohammed made a pointed demand of government. He demanded that the then Minister of Information should be briefing Nigerians on a daily basis on the health of the president based on authentic details provided by the president’s doctors. That was Lai Mohammed in 2009. His demand sounded so simple to him. He delivered it with familiar and accustomed self-righteousness.

When DSS Runs Amok In Calabar

By Paul Onomuakpokpo

It is immaterial whether this column’s warning just last Thursday that the Department of State Services (DSS) is on the prowl and it needs to be reined in was an act of serendipity. What matters is that the warning is increasingly becoming a frightening reality. We need not look far for the ominous signs of the cluelessness of the government mutating into dictatorship. If the trouble were only that the government has become clueless about managing the economy and snatching the citizens from the cauldron of poverty, we would not bother. But the government has repeatedly demonstrated its apparent antipathy towards the people by assaulting them.

We need not explore the unceasing cases of police brutality. These are familiar. They are apparently provoked by the citizens’ refusal to oblige police officers with the bribes they demand. We need not also be reminded of the military’s maiming and killing of Shittes and IPOB members. There was the official justification of such mowing down of citizens under the rubric of squelching threats to the peace and order in the polity. But we are deservedly outraged at the impunity of security operatives when their attacks on the citizens are not provoked by the latter’s actions which conflict with the presumed interest of the state and the collective good. And this happens in an atmosphere of democracy where the dignity of the citizens ought to be privileged. 

In October last year, an easy-going Joseph Izu, a footballer with Shooting Stars of Ibadan was killed by soldiers in Rivers State. Last month, Alex Ochienu, a pastor with the Redeemed Christian Church of God was assaulted by two soldiers in Abuja for refusing to heed their cruel command to frog-jump.

There was also the case last month of a Nollywood actress and movie producer Jewel Infinity who was travelling from Port Harcourt to Onitsha. When she got to a checkpoint, a soldier said that she was gossiping about him. He did not accept the lady’s protestation of innocence that she was only engaged in a friendly debate with a fellow passenger in the vehicle in which they were travelling. The soldier demanded that the actress should knee down and apologise. Her refusal to do this was met with beating with wood and rod. 

The unprovoked brutality being meted out to the citizens by security operatives is in tandem with their reading of the body language of President Muhammadu Buhari. It is clear that Buhari either tacitly or directly endorses this brutality. This was why he approved the DSS raid of the homes of the justices of the Supreme Court over the allegations of corruption.

The Trauma Of Being Kidnapped

By Hope Eghagha

One of the most traumatic experiences anybody can undergo is to be violently abducted. Snatched from one’s regular, known serene world into a world governed by drug-controlled youths is a life-altering experience. I have been there. I know how it feels to be dispossessed of one’s liberty by criminals. I know how relations feel in the uncertain days of the abduction. I know how the kids feel that their father may never return. I know the emotions that run through a wife.

I also know how it feels to see one’s security aide killed with a single shot to the neck, blood gushing out in angry ferocity, how his widow and two kids look up to you for help. I know how it feels to be in captivity for 16 days without food, without one’s routine medication. I know how it is to be blindfolded for 16 days. It is not fun. It is not a party. It is deathly traumatic. It is deeply humiliating, bewildering and depressing. It is frightening.

A typical kidnapper is a violent person. There is verbal violence. There is of course physical violence. At no provocation, the victim could be slapped, kicked or given a blow to the head. The intention is to instill fear. So, fear is a constant when in the custody of kidnappers. They brandish their weapons – guns, knives, machetes. They use the gun-butt both on the victim and on the floor; at least my captors did. I was harangued, insulted, beaten for no other reason than I said that I didn’t have one hundred million naira to redeem myself. That though I was a government official at the time, I knew the government would pay no ransom. 

In the den, the victim loses a sense of time. Blinded-folded, day and night merge into one long experience. The weakness of the body at a particular time may suggest it is late in the night. Same with the eerie quiet of the environment, or the hooting of the night bird. Morning is heralded by birds chirping. Late noon is dictated by the languor of the late afternoon early evening sun. Time freezes, yet it moves. You try to hope, dare to hope really, that you would ultimately get out alive. The kidnappers say ‘if you leave,” not ‘when you leave. Death is a permanent presence. It hangs in the air. Even when not spoken, it is known as the ‘X’ factor. The uncertainty of it all is killing. Their occasional acts of kindness, like leading you blindfolded to use the urinary do not help. Or by the time you return from the urinary your bed has been re-arranged. They remind the victim that the situation is abnormal. Yet the victim shows gratefulness. A sinking man would clutch at a straw!

Guarding Against Cancer

By Adegbenro Adenekan

 AS the world marked the 2017 World Cancer Day on Saturday, it is imperative for the people to know what causes cancer and the steps to be taken to guard against the killer ailment. Cancer is one of the leading killer diseases in the world today. It leads to abnormal growth of a group of body cells and more than 250 diseases.

Cancer is malignant in nature and it claims many lives annually. It can be found in the lungs, breast, uterus, gall bladder, blood, prostate, thyroid, liver and tongue, to mention but a few.

This disease is sometimes characterised by pain, a lump or a sore that does not heal. There is also sometimes indigestion, difficulty in swallowing, a mole, a thickening or a lump in the breast, unusual bleeding during menstrual period, discharge, loss of weight, change in skin colour or a persistent cough, depending on the part  of the body affected by the cancer.

About 80 per cent of cancer cases can be attributed to the   violation of the natural law of cause and effect. Tobacco and alcohol are known cancer causing agents, while heavy consumption of the duo can lead to cancer of the tongue, lips, mouth, throat, liver, cancer, lungs and stomach.

Also, a major contributor to cancer is an exposure to industrial pollutants such as soot, high doses of x-ray, nickel, tar and asbestos. This can lead to cancer of the lungs, blood and the skin. Some viral infections, trauma and hormonal imbalances can also result in cancer.   Malnutrition, which compromises the body’s immune system, can also be a major contributor to cancer. Many biologists believe that cancer can result from a faulty diet.

Who Will Protect Nigeria’s Northern Christians?

Every week, there are more massacres, but nobody seems to mind — not even their own government

By Douglas Murray

Another day in northern Nigeria, another Christian village reeling from an attack by the Muslim Fulani herdsmen who used to be their neighbours — and who are now cleansing them from the area. The locals daren’t collect the freshest bodies. Some who tried earlier have already been killed, spotted by the waiting militia and hacked down or shot. The Fulani are watching everything closely from the surrounding mountains. Every week, their progress across the northern states of Plateau and Kaduna continues. Every week, more massacres — another village burned, its church razed, its inhabitants slaughtered, raped or chased away. A young woman, whose husband and two children have just been killed in front of her, tells me blankly, ‘Our parents told us about these people. But we lived in relative peace and we forgot what they said.’

For the outside world, what is happening to the Christians of northern Nigeria is both beyond our imagination and beneath our interest. These tribal-led villages, each with their own ‘paramount ruler’, were converted by missionaries in the 19th and 20th centuries. But now these Christians — from the bishop down — sense that they have become unsympathetic figures, perhaps even an embarrassment, to the West. The international community pretends that this situation is a tit-for-tat problem, rather than a one-sided slaughter. Meanwhile, in Nigeria, the press fails to report or actively obscures the situation. Christians in the south of the country feel little solidarity with their co-religionists suffering from this Islamic revivalism and territorial conquest in the north. And worst of all, the plight of these people is of no interest to their own government. In fact, this ethnic and religious cleansing appears to be taking place with that government’s complicity or connivance.

Every village has a similar story. A few days before any attack, a military helicopter is spotted dropping arms and other supplies into the areas inhabited by the Fulani tribes. Then the attack comes. For reasons of Islamic doctrine, the militia often deliver a letter of warning. Then they come, at any time of night or day, not down the dirt tracks, but silently through the foliage. The Christian villagers, who are forbidden to carry arms (everyone is, in theory), have no way to defend themselves.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE 

Nigeria: A Hell-Hole For Christians!

By Femi Fani-Kayode

“We will defeat radical Islamic terrorism and we will not allow it to take root in our country…we will wipe it off the face of the earth.”            

– President Donald J. Trump.

Now that is a real President talking! Sadly our ailing Head of State does not possess such a mindset and neither does he share such a disposition. Unlike Trump he does not have an aversion to such evil.

Consequently he has refused to apprehend, caution, arrest or prosecute even one member of the radical Islamist Fulani supremacists and terrorists since he came to power just less than two years ago even though they have butchered thousands of innocent Christians, burnt their homes and occupied their land.

A few days ago, in a letter inviting President Goodluck Jonathan to make a presentation about the plight of Christians in Nigeria, the Chairman of the United States Congress’s Sub-Committee on Africa, Global Health, Human Rights and International Organisations, Congressman Christopher Smith, wrote the following: “my subcommittee has broadly investigated the crises facing Christians in Nigeria today. My staff director, Greg Simpkins and I have made several visits to Nigeria, speaking with Christians and Muslim religious leaders across the country and visiting fire-bombed churches, such as in Jos. Unfortunately, Nigeria has been cited as the most dangerous place for Christians in the world and impunity for those responsible for the killing of Christians seem to be widespread.”

When one considers the sheer horror that the Christians of northern Nigeria have been subjected to over the last 56 years can anyone dispute Smith’s assertion? Yet it did not stop there. Mr. Douglas Murray, an influential and respected columnist in the United Kingdom’s Spectator Newspaper painted a graphic picture of what has become the norm in northern Nigeria rather well. Last week, in a widely read essay titled ‘Who Will Protect Nigeria’s Northern Christians’ he wrote as follows: “A few days before any attack, a military helicopter is spotted dropping arms and other supplies into the areas inhabited by the Fulani tribes. Then the attack comes. For reasons of Islamic doctrine, the militia often deliver a letter of warning. Then they come, at any time of night or day, not down the dirt tracks, but silently through the foliage. The Christian villagers, who are forbidden to carry arms (everyone is, in theory), have no way to defend themselves. With some exceptions, they also tend to believe what they were taught about turning the other cheek”.

With contributions and interventions like this from our friends in the international community it appears that the world is finally waking up and recognising the fact that northern Nigeria is in the grip of a great, blood-craving and blood-lusting evil. The frightful events that took place in Southern Kaduna over the Christmas holidays are still fresh in our minds and neither will we EVER forget them.

Yet sadly the carnage did not stop there. It continues on a regular and systematic basis. For example 40 more Christians were killed and many of their houses were burnt to the ground by Islamist Fulani militias on February 1st in a town called Mummuye in the Lau Local Government Area of Taraba state. Little girls were raped and chopped up like barbecue spare ribs. Young boys were sodomised and beheaded. Grown men were castrated and hacked to pieces. Old men were gutted and sliced up like spring onions. And women, both young and old, were slowly tortured and violently violated in the presence of their husbands, children and grandchildren after which their throats were slit open and their blood drained into fly-infested gutters and the dark night soil.

This is the work of heartless vampires and demons in human flesh. This is carnage and butchery in its rawest and most primitive form. This is a festival of horror and a frightful testimony of man’s inhumanity to man. This is evil. This is unacceptable. This is barbaric. This is condemnable. And whether anyone likes to admit it or not, this is Nigeria today. The only thing left to say is to pray that the souls of those that were slaughtered in cold blood rest in peace. The Holy Bible says “fear not those that can kill the body but fear the one that can throw the soul into hell”.