O Godwin, with your cheap green tie, fading suit and wry smile you poked your greedy, grubby little fingers into Nigeria’s eye

O Godwin, where are your backers, protectors and soldiers today? You enjoyed the ride and thought it would last forever. Yet now its all over.

The hunter has become the hunted and the tormentor has become the tormented.

The troubler of Nigeria is now the troubled and the source of our collective pain and tears will himself feel pain and shed tears.

How great and mighty is our God and how faithful He is to His promise and to His word.

O Godwin, with your cheap green tie, fading suit and wry smile you poked your greedy, grubby little fingers into Nigeria’s eye.

Like a drunken sailor and feckless dullard you boasted of your strength and wielded power with impunity as if there were no tomorrow.

Now reality has hit you in the face and you stand shamed, bowed, bloodied and naked before the world. You caused the death of many. You made men and women take their own lives.

You caused mothers and fathers to regret having their children. You caused Nigerians to strip themselves naked in public places and rant, rave and lament about their suffering and hardship.

You caused women to weep for their men and men to weep for their women. You caused millions to lose their self-esteem, self-respect and dignity and to sell their souls to Satan to make ends meet.

You brought a great and mighty nation to its knees and turned 220 million proud, hardworking and noble people into powerless, pitiful and grovelling paupers and beggars.

You caused law-abiding, loving and dutiful youths to turn into violent arsonists, terrorists and subversives out of despair, anger and frustration.

You caused men and women to burn down banks and public buildings and you caused Nigerians to lose their life’s savings, beg for bread and walk the streets penniless with no more than 200 naira in their pockets and to their names.

O Godwin, son of Emefiele, like Lucifer Son of the Dawn, you have finally fallen.

Like your father Beelzebub, you have been thrown out of heaven and now comes your judgement.

Misery, suffering, torment, tragedy, prison, the sulphur pits of Gehena and the raging fires of hell await you for the great evil that you wrought against our nation and our people.

You turned a resilient, hardworking and enterprising people into one of hopelessness, despair and desperation.

You turned a nation of achievers and giants into a country of fickle, feckless and hungry dwarfs.

You turned a courageous, resilient and loving people who have excelled in every field of human endeavour and in every part of the civilised world to a nation of never do wells and failures with no self-respect and no dignity.

You caused men and women to curse God and pray for their own death out of disgrace and despair. You caused millions to question their faith and the very existence of God as a consequence of their misery and suffering.

You made us the laughing stock of the world. You castrated Nigeria, wounded our souls, maimed and subverted our democracy, undermined our security, humiliated and disgraced our leaders, taunted and mocked our incoming President and sent many innocent souls to an early grave.

You shattered many dreams, broke many hearts and caused many to perish and die before their time. Protected by corrupt and evil men and goaded on by a power-obsessed cabal of sick, sadistic and evil monsters and tyrants, you thought you owned Nigeria and even had the nerve to attempt to run for the Presidency.

You thought our nation was for sale and you believed that satan ruled in the affairs of men.

Yet millions prayed for your downfall and removal. Millions more are praying for your detention, investigation, incarceration and bitter end.

Never has a man been more hated in our entire history as the hateful, merciless, callous, wicked, treasonous and treacherous tyrant and traitor that goes by your name.

You believed that money was greater than God and you thought that your repugnant and villanous reign would never end.

O Godwin, I have never wished a man ill in my entire life but in your case I make an exception.

May your pathway be filled with sharp thorns, the horrors of the night and pain and may the Angel of the Lord pursue you along a dark and slippery path.

May your story and end be a graphic example and instructive reminder to the evil and wicked that man is nothing before God, that earthly power is ephemeral and transient, that all power belongs to the Living God and that the Lord alone rules in the affairs of men and forges the destiny of nations.

* Fani-Kayode is a former Minister of Aviation and public affairs analyst.

The Labour Party (LP) has criticised the suspension of Godwin Emefiele as the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) by President Bola Tinubu.

On Friday, President Bola Tinubu suspended Emefiele and directed that he transfers his responsibilities to the deputy governor, operations directorate.

Folashodun Adebisi Shonubi, the deputy governor, is expected to act as the CBN governor pending the conclusion of an investigation ordered by the president into Emefiele’s activities.

Earlier, the Department of State Services (DSS) announced that Emefiele is currently in its custody for “some investigative reasons”.

In a statement on Saturday, Obiora Ifoh, national publicity secretary of LP, said the president does not have the power to suspend Emefiele without seeking the permission of the national assembly.

“The leadership of the Labour Party is disturbed by the decision of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to suspend/sack the governor of the Central Bank, Godwin Emefiele, albeit unconstitutionally without seeking the permission of the national assembly and we insist that the action was not in good taste and sounds punitive,” the statement reads.

The opposition party alleged that the suspended CBN governor is being punished for the naira redesign policy he introduced to check “vote buying” in the last election.

“Most Nigerians will not forget in a hurry the famous naira redesign policy initiated by Emefiele primarily to check vote buying in the last general election,” Ifoh said.

“A noble policy which a particular candidate then, unfortunately, believed was targeted at him. To him, it was a mortal sin which cannot be forgiven and must be punished. Labour Party believes that Emefiele, a fall guy, is paying for his “sin”.

“The government said the suspension of Emefiele is “sequel to the ongoing investigation of his office and the planned reforms in the financial sector of the economy.”

It is laughable to read that statement as most Nigerians are already aware of the intention of the government.

If indeed, there is any government agency that should be investigated with this utmost urgency, should it not be the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC and its Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu?

“This is the institution that is responsible for the mockery of our democracy. This is an institution which asked and received N355 billion in taxpayers’ money to conduct, the worst-ever election in the history of Nigeria and in Sub-Saharan Africa. This is an election umpire that has shamelessly chosen to be partisan during and after the election, even at the tribunal.

“Finally, we urge the APC-led government to carry out a thorough investigation of the CBN and particularly, the last APC government’s interference in the operation of the apex bank.

“Nigerians will not tolerate political and peripheral investigation. We suggest a forensic auditing by an independent firm and by so doing, maybe the real culprits, not just Emefiele will be unearthed.”

[TheCable]

Notwithstanding efforts by the outgoing Ninth National Assembly to wash off its tag of ‘rubber stamp’, Senator Binos Dauda Yaroe, on Saturday, said he was in agreement with Nigerians that the Ninth Senate was actually rubber stamp.

Yaroe who represents Adamawa South spoke while contributing to debate during the valedictory session of the Senate in Abuja.

He insisted that the recent suspension and arrest of the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele over corruption allegations by the Department of State Services was an indictment of the National Assembly for failure to carry out its oversight activities as required.

He urged the incoming 10th National Assembly to be alive to their responsibilities by being a watchdog of the executive.

He said: “I agree with those who say the ninth Senate is a rubber stamp.

“Furthermore the suspension of the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele and subjecting him to investigation is a mild indictment of the National Assembly. This is so because if we had done our oversight duties properly, we would not have gotten to this level.

“I hope the 10th Senate will take its job as the watchdog of the Executive more seriously. I also hope that the 10th Senate will operate and adhere to its own rules, take their rules on the procedures of the bills in rule 76, 77 and 78 for instance those bills for second reading are circulated to all senators.

“But very often, bills will pass first and second reading without senators searching for them. I hope the 10th Senate will conduct its business more properly.”

On Tuesday, June 6, 2023, the Senate concurred with the House of Reps in taking the extremely backsliding step of passing the Bill for the Establishment of Police Pension Board. Senate President Ahmad Lawan would later boast that President Muhammadu Buhari signed more than 100 bills in four years. He waved that in our face as if it was a contender for Guinness World Record. That usually happens when you take quantity for quality and do not understand the harmful impact of some of your actions on national economic health. By exempting the police from the contributory pension scheme (CPS), the lawmakers have continued in the path of taking us to the next level of fiscal crisis.

It did not start with the Police Pension Board. A few hours to Buhari’s departure from the Presidential Villa, he had signed one of Lawan’s “100 bills” — the National Assembly Service Pensions Board (Establishment) Bill — into law. The law also exempts the employees of the National Assembly from the contributory pension scheme. Essentially, the National Assembly has kick-started the death of the revolutionary pension reform launched by President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2004. If we stand by and fold our arms, the outcome will be more devastating than the pension crisis that Nigerian retirees lived with for decades before the reform by Obasanjo. We are heading for the abyss.

That Nigeria has a serious leadership problem is known all over the world, but it seems we are moving from one low to another in many aspects. At least, if you cannot improve upon an idea, don’t destroy it. If you cannot make pension reform better, don’t make it worse. When Nigeria ran the defined benefit scheme (DBS) — which placed the entire pension responsibility on the government — it worked until we ran into a prolonged revenue crisis that meant budgets could no longer be funded. Retirees saw hell before their death. The introduction of the contributory system spread the burden of pension across board and ended the era of waiting for insufficient budgetary releases.

The amazing thing about Nigeria, for me, is how we try to fix what is not broken. When public pensions were the sole responsibility of the government, we were left in arrears of about N2.5 trillion as at 2004, by some estimates. Retired public servants were frustrated. Some regretted ever serving their country. You would not blame them. The truth, however, was that Nigeria had a revenue problem and it always so happened that pension payment was never a main concern. With a revenue crisis, some items would always fall off the priority list. Unfortunately, pension was often one of such items for us. The liabilities predictably accumulated and the retirees were dehumanised.

With the 2004 pension reform, however, the story has changed. Both the employee and the employer are required, under the CPS, to save towards pension. The savings are invested and they yield decent returns. In essence, pension is now reliant on actual savings and payment of retirement benefits is no longer at the mercy of budgets. Only the retirees coming from under the old defined benefit system are still tied to budgetary provisions, but there is a sunset clause which will kick in with the payment of the last employee on that scheme. A transition phase, managed by the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD), was put in place to cater for this category of retirees.

What has happened over the last two decades, therefore, is that the pension industry has moved from negative to positive. Pension assets are now well over N15 trillion. The industry has become a major subsector of the economy, funding public infrastructural projects via government securities, and this is to say nothing about the number of fund administrators, custodians and employees that now operate there, or the impact of the regular payments of different benefits to millions of contributors. We are enjoying stability and predictability under the contributory scheme, although retirees under the old defined scheme cannot say the same thing because of the revenue crisis.

It is fair to say that the harm to the pension reform did not start under Buhari. The first major misstep was excluding the armed forces and the intelligence agencies when the Pension Reform Act, 2004, was re-enacted in 2014. The excuse for the exclusion was that because of the nature of their job, their identities needed to be protected. This makes perfect sense. You cannot have the sensitive information of the operatives of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and the Department of State Services (DSS) stored with a private Pension Fund Administrator (PFA). The best way out was to allow them to have their own PFAs and remain under CPC but they were returned to the defined scheme.

This suggested that the issue was not just about protecting the identities of the operatives but principally to revive the troubled but “juicier” old scheme. The CPS is seen as yielding low returns (which could be true but I will come to this shortly). The defined scheme does not require contributions from the employees, most of whom will retire with full benefits. That, in my opinion, has led to the frenzied campaign to exit the contributory scheme. With the exclusion of the military and intelligence agencies granted in principle by Jonathan even before the PRA 2004 was re-enacted in 2014, the police force too began to agitate for exit, claiming to also have “special circumstances”.

As a form of compromise, Jonathan approved that the police should have their own PFA but still operating the contributory scheme — which was what he should have done for the military and intelligence agencies in the first place. The police agitation did not stop. The next move was that they came out clearly saying they must exit the contributory scheme and return to the defined system. All kinds of bills were sponsored thereafter, but they all failed because the case was weak. In July 2012, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, who was then the secretary to the government of the federation (SGF), had to write to Mr MD Abubakar, then inspector general of police (IGP), to perish the thought.

Mr Boss Mustapha, who has just left as the SGF, also wrote to the current IGP, Mr Usman Baba, in July 2022 when the latest round of lobbying started, maintaining that police would continue under the CPS. He reminded Adamu that the White Paper on the report of the Presidential Committee on Restructuring and Rationalization of Federal Government Parastatals, Commissions and Agencies (the Oronsaye Committee) had barred Federal Government retirees from opting out of the CPS. Nonetheless, the lobbying intensified at the National Assembly, culminating in the passage of the Police Pension Board Bill on June 6. The House of Reps had quietly passed it before the Senate.

Under Buhari, the retired heads of the service and permanent secretaries had also, through presidential fiat, opted out of the CPS. Mr Abubakar Malami, as attorney-general, countered a previous legal advice from his office which had said an exemption was illegal. Anybody familiar with government workings knows how easy it is to get the legal advice that would favour you. It is one of the several malaises injuring Nigeria and pushing us into endless judicial liabilities all over the world. But I digress. Common sense dictates that we should not disrupt a system that is yielding so many positive results, but if we really had common sense, Nigeria would not be like this in the first place.

The argument of the police, and other agencies who are trying to exit or have exited the contributory scheme, is that pension accumulation is low under the CPS. They say what they get as lump sum payment when they retire is not juicy enough and the subsequent annuity or programmed withdrawals are pittance. Also, they would rather not contribute one kobo towards their own pension. Rather, the employer should take full responsibility. Ironically, I have no argument against this. I myself would like to get a good pension when I retire. That is rational choice. Why should any normal human being prefer N100,000 to N150,000 except “village people” are on her case?

However, the law already takes care of all these concerns and complaints. Employers are allowed to contribute 100 percent on behalf of their employees. Also, employers are not restricted on how much they can pay as “lump sum” for gratuity when their employees retire. It is an open cheque. The National Pension Commission (PenCom), which regulates the pension industry, has said this a million times. Retirees can get lump sums and active workers can get some benefits too. So, what problem is the National Assembly trying to solve? Approving all these exits and piling up more liabilities on a government with already strained finances and a fiscal blackhole is not smart, anyway we look at it.

If we were a country where common sense had any impact on policy making, someone in the National Assembly would have asked: how much will this new bill add to public expenditure? Where will the money come from? Nigeria currently has a debt of N77 trillion. We are using almost all our revenue to service debts and this is likely to get worse down the line. The last thing is to add to the debts without thinking of the revenue. Yet, we are creating new agencies every day and making new laws that will worsen things. Where the money will come from is nobody’s business. We are never tired of creating problems for the present and future generations. That is how we are wired.

My conclusion is that if the police and National Assembly staff, or other public servants, want improved pensions, there is no need to pull out of the CPS. The law allows their employers to scale up their own contributions and to also provide sizeable gratuity as lump sum payments. This will still be cheaper on the public treasury. But when public agencies know that exiting the CPS is easy if they can play the right game with the lawmakers, it is just a matter of time for them to sponsor bills to be exempted too. I, therefore, appeal to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to work out a compromise in the interest of all stakeholders. This is one of the biggest and most consequential reforms in the last 24 years. We must protect it. Undermining pension reform will hurt everyone: if not now, then later.

AND FOUR OTHER THINGS…

JUNE 12 MEMORIES

Where were you on June 12, 1993? I was in Ogbomoso for my NYSC. Actually, I was spending the weekend with my cousins in nearby Ilorin. I could not vote in the presidential poll, which 30th anniversary is tomorrow, since I was registered in Lagos. I initially supported Alhaji Bashir Tofa, candidate of the National Republican Convention (NRC), because the Social Democratic Party (SDP) fielded a Muslim-Muslim ticket. After watching his TV debate with Bashorun MKO Abiola, the SDP candidate, I felt like an idiot. The gap was clear, sentiments apart. I switched my support to Abiola instantly. My friend, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, made fun of me. Abiola won. Election was annulled. And Nigeria went into a crippling six-year crisis full of sorrow, tears and blood. Reminiscences.

REMOVAL PALAVER

The removal of petrol subsidy by President Bola Tinubu appears to be fait accompli, at least judging by the way the unions have reacted so far. They have shelved proposed strikes and seem to be in a mood for jaw jaw. I’m aware there are those opposing the policy purely for political reasons, but it seems the arguments for and against the removal of the subsidy have become so familiar that they have become jaded. We’ve been saying the same things for 40 years, so there is hardly anything new to say. The major difference today is that we just cannot afford the bill. We have a debt of N77 trillion. If we were awash with money, we could debate whether or not to subsidise petrol. Simple.

NORTHERN SWEEPSTAKES

Left to some northern politicians, the next senate president and speaker will be Muslims and northerners. That means the top five in the nation’s hierarchy will be an all-Muslim affair. I do not know how some politicians think, but the last thing on their minds appears to be national cohesion and promotion of diversity in our multi-cultural society. They care about personal or group benefits above the overall peace and unity that we badly need in Nigeria. As far as they are concerned, Nigeria can go to blazes — as long they can achieve their personal goals and ambitions. Sadly, if trouble starts, we will all suffer the consequences as we have seen in the last eight years. Selfish.

EMEFIELE’S EXIT

I had just finished writing my article for the week when news broke that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had suspended Mr Godwin Emefiele as the CBN governor. Let’s be honest: it was always going to happen. It was just a matter of when. Minus the political differences between Tinubu and Emefiele, every new president would always want a new CBN governor because of the need to align ideas. There is still a debate on if a president should be able to suspend a CBN governor since the bank is supposed to be politically insulated. I won’t be surprised if there are fresh legal challenges after Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi abandoned the case over his suspension in 2014. Watching.

Summarizing my expectation from President Tinubu’s administration simply implies me adopting the quote of Dwight D. Elsenhower which states “We believe that our truly urgent need is to make our nation secure, our economy strong and our dollar sound (In this case our Naira).” He further placed emphasis on the fact that “For every American, this matter of the sound dollar is crucial. Without a sound dollar, every American family would face a renewal of inflation, an ever-increasing cost of living, the withering away of savings and life insurance policies.”

It is therefore in the light of the above that my scope of primary expectations hinges around the followings:
i. Tackling Insecurity
ii. Economic Development
iii. Fostering and upholding of the promised Unity in the Country.

E.R. Stettinius, Jr. said “Happiness has many roots, but none more important than security”. Every rich man with a treasure in his house builds high fences and barricades to guard his treasures, so does every poor man have a door in front of his house in a bid to guard the little he can afford, all these are testaments to how important issues of Security is to everyone both rich and poor.

Hence, a vital reason why Insecurity has to be curbed by President Tinubu with utmost priority.
Kudus on the foremost to the President for the meeting held with all Service Chiefs and Heads of security agencies led by Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Lucky Irabor on 1st June, 2023 concerning measures to strengthen the Nation’s Security. However, Nigerians are anxious and awaiting the positive effect of same as writings on the walls without implementations amounts to nullity. In effect, alongside the promises of the President of a topnotch secured Nigeria in his manifesto, officials involved right from the Commander-In- Chief of the Federation till the least security personnel are to safeguard the provisions of Chapter II and particularly Section 33 of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).

All regions of the State should receive adequate security attentions and lives of each and every citizen should matter and count in this present administration as against the former.

In a nutshell, the meeting held and administrations achievement should not only produce a Nigeria secured from oil theft but rather a Nigeria with zero Kidnappings, bombings, terrorism attacks, killings and on the whole, an unsafe Nigeria as the latter should be prioritized than the former in considering equity, good conscience and morality.

In view of the above it is also expected that the President review the nation security architecture and relieve the Service Chiefs of their commission to pave way for new ones, the choice of the National Security Adviser should be a season, intelligence and diplomatic Chief with the ability to coordinate the Nation security teams as well as to liaise with diplomatic community effectively.

David Cameron said “The economy is the start and end of everything. Nigeria can’t have successful education reform or any other reform if we don’t have a strong economy.” At this point in the country, a wholistic economic policy is to be adopted by the President combing through all sectors and running safe of the lane of myopic stream of profit orientation or revenue generation for the country.

It should principally be noted that a single sector at this point cannot for instance employ the millions of populations existing in the country.

In essence, beyond oil production and availability, what next? A million and one promises have been made in several interviews, manifesto and even during the speech of the President on how a better economy would be enhanced during his administration some of which includes the removal of subsidy on oil, adoption of a unified exchange rate, premium investments in the agricultural sector amidst several other outlooks and scopes.

I would however on the whole admonish the President to include in his spectrum measures of Improving Productivity in the country. i.e., graduating Nigeria from a consumption Nation to a Producing Nation. In doing this, several other measures are necessary beginning from improved legislations and establishment of several other statues, acts and laws that would enhance infrastructural developments with which ease in productions would thereupon exist. Note that with the oil sector, our nation already has a huge foreign inflow and in this transition to a producing nation, where standard products are made (proponent to laws existing and bodies created to supervise their quality), existing markets are not just at hand but several further others in flows would as well be enhanced and the economy through purchase of our productions in large numbers grow uncurbed.

I would as well use this medium to commend the President on the bold move of subsidy removal to curb further exploitations by suppliers of petroleum who in their wisdom created pseudo scarcity, hoarding the fuel on the President’s announcement of his intent to remove the subsidy on PMS at his inauguration speech.

However, the approach had its faults as the President ought to have done due diligence by creating several Palliatives that should have alleviated the resultant hardship of same on the citizens.

For instance, His Excellency before this move should have made available alternative transportation systems with lesser cost for ease of movement of people as well as agricultural produce from one state to another (the railway option or waterway options could have been put in place), in-depth checks and balances could have been done to allegations raised of several individuals benefiting from the subsidy and depriving the nation of the benefits of removal of same as this checks would curb embezzlement of the proceeds of this act and would allow the focus of the administration in boosting the growth of the economy actualized and finally, issues of restructuring our Local Refineries either by the government or privatizing same to private individuals to restructure them and create a competitive market when it comes to the refining of our oil within the Nation.

Moreover it expected that paying direct subsidy to some citizen should commenced in earnest in form of PMS Allowances for workers and PMS Benefits to others, after all some leaders received as much as Newspapers, Furniture, Wardrobe, Vehicle, Hazard etc allowances.

Finally, and Conclusively, Yoshihide Suga said “A strong economy is the source of National strength”. In Essence, once we have our economy thriving, it rubs off on our National Strength. I therefore admonish His Excellency to not forget and implement the fostering, upholding and fortification of the Unity of our country as a whole. This cannot be downplayed by the present administration as it is sacrosanct to the development of the Nation as a whole and futuristically.

I on this note commend His Excellency on his current appointment of Chief Femi Gbajabiamila, a season lawyer and the highest ranking parliamentarian as Chief of Staff, George Akume as Secretary to the Government of the Federation and Senator Ibrahim Hadejia as his deputy as this is a clear testament of not just zoning of offices to foster the country’s unity and involvement of all regions but also possess at the backend choice with topnotch competence and selection of able and capable hands from various regions who are geniuses in the offices they are appointed to manage.

The act of the President upholding the Country’s unity and getting it to a better state preserves the labours of our heroes past, curbs it from being in vain and on the whole helps the Nation to attain great lofty heights as stated in the second stanza of the Country’s anthem and with a resultant effect to build a nation where peace and justice prevails.

Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has walked into a minefield with which he is very familiar. He had his own mines in the field, of course. They had been well laid out for over two decades, and with verifiable results. Many of his former opponents are either flat on their backs, are nursing injuries, or are queued up behind him in diligent subservience. Some of his co-contestants who are in court have the right to the line of action they have chosen. They must, however, abide by whatever decision the courts come up with. But the forgoing is not really our concern here today at all. 

The issues facing the federal republic of Nigeria today go far beyond some of the questionable expectations of many of the critics, observers and admirers of Bola Tinubu, Atiku Atiku and Peter Obi. A nation with a fundamentally disoriented political, economic, political and traditional leadership elite cannot become Eldorado in a hurry. The decades-long convoluted conspiracies within, and around, this confederacy is responsible for the Nigeria we have today. So, let’s get real. The dominant interests are not about to turn in their retirement papers. The renewed struggle for the soul of Nigeria will either lead to a rebirth, or a strangulation.

The point made on this page some seven years ago, under the title “Nigeria: Beyond Buhari and Jonathan”, still stands today, namely: “It is not right that a nation should be undergirded by untruth. It is also not right that a nation should be under a political economy of decay and corruption, warehoused and propagated by a business and political elite that lives in denial. When old lies are told afresh by those who know they are lying, a time comes when even the liars themselves won’t be sure whether they are lying anymore. Reason? Others would be repeating the same lies with great aplomb everywhere”.

None of the actors in our crisis-ridden political environment is solely responsible for our present national problems. The PDP, the APC, and several other combinations of political and economic forces put together, bear responsibility for everything that is wrong with Nigeria today. We are seeing the products of generations of leaders and followers who were nurtured on a diet of impunity, inattention to service delivery, consumption and arbitrary use of state power.

Tinubu, like all previous leaders before him, belongs to that tradition; but in a way that must be properly understood in order to avoid confusion. He is an inheritor as well as a patient and calculating investor in the Nigeria of today. He has demonstrated a great capacity for outwitting, outmaneuvering and outsmarting most of his adversaries in the power game. He is good at paying for political services and his peculiar approach to managing the political environment, shorn of strong concerns about morality, has been one of his strengths. And that is part of the problem at the moment. 

Asiwaju Tinubu is now managing a nation that has moved from the lofty concept of “citizenship” in the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s to the less inclusive notion of “indigeneship”. As observed in the aforementioned article: “We have been building a mansion on quicksand and with pillars of straw. The soil, quicksand as it is, is further infested with two species of ants, called presumption and nepotism. These ants, which feed exclusively on straw, have been nibbling away for decades. They have left us with a hollow and painted frame that conceals a lie. This lie has been on parade for decades. It is described as an architectural masterpiece by casual observers. An architectural masterpiece that is not designed to withstand the wind”?

The article continued: “Now that we have brought up children who have seen shielded criminality as leadership, we have a nation wherein hiding under the instruments of state to violate natural justice, equity and good conscience makes you not guilty of any crime. Look at Nigeria today, … The dominant motifs are (1) skewed values, (2) a flawed national psyche and (3) an aberrant leadership recruitment process. These motifs have given us several national ‘leadership pseudopodia’, or “false feet”.

Just as happens with Amoeba, the jelly-like microorganism that pops out part of its shapeless body in any direction it wants to move, Nigeria’s leadership pseudopodia (or new regimes with insular notions about nation building) usually spring new agenda, new national ideals and new aspirations on everyone without warning and without consultation. They have since replaced National Development Plans with limited regime goals, and often without plans or strategy. And it all vanishes without trace with the demise of each regime”.

The Kaduna Nzeogwu coup détat of January 15, 1966, for instance, was a very important step in the misdirection of the Nigerian state. That coup saw a junior officer issuing instructions to his superiors from a radio station. “It saw an officer peremptorily informing the nation (by mere announcement about ‘Extraordinary Orders’) that all local administration in the country was now under the ‘local military commander’, who would mete out any punishment he ‘deemed appropriate’ to anyone who disobeyed him”. How? Where on earth, and why?

That unfortunate incident put the concepts of right and wrong in the hands of individuals of, sometimes questionable antecedents, for the first time in Nigeria. It violated Service Discipline, and set new paradigms for the collapse of esprit de corps in the armed forces. It also created a dilemma in diplomatic circles, for which even Ambassador Jolaosho’s experience as a diplomat did not prepare him when the Germans asked: “Why did your people kill your prime Minister, instead of voting him out of office”?

But the damage was far more more fundamental, because it “…side-tracked the existing crop of leaders and their ‘replacement generation’. A generation groomed along ideological lines in leadership recruitment stagnated for 12 years, until 1979. The trio of Zik, Awo and Aminu Kano, who would since given way to the likes of Tafawa Balewa, Michael Okpara, Bola Ige and others before 1979, turned up as presidential candidates, because of the 1966 coup. This created the backlog of two generations of leaders that we are still unable to deal with today. The average age of party youth leaders, the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) and the Nigerian Youth Movement (NYM) says it all”.

Did that first murder of 1966 not lay the foundation for subsequent murders and abominations? Did it not set the tone for the eventual replacement of professional military service and responsible national leadership with personal and ethnocentric desires, misuse of office, political illiteracy and petulant idealism and exuberance? Has this murk not produced many “Excellencies” and filled our post-1966 nationhood with sporadic and spasmodic declarations of new national goals, new federating units and much more? Have we not been “moving forward” in the wrong direction as a nation; sometimes at the whims of persons without deep personal maturity, a grand vision, real wisdom or even enlightened patriotism?

Does the Armed Forces Remembrance Day we celebrate every 15th January not affronts us all? It bears repetition to say here gain, as said seven years ago, that: “That date bespeaks impropriety and is inappropriate for accolades”. We need not have the date of the cheerful murder of some of our fellow countrymen as a day of celebration. Nigeria has a catalogue of prematurely retired military officers and a long list of frustrated and unfulfilled professionals because of the events of 1966. Many who joined the armed forces as military professionals have since been replaced others who joined in the years of military regimes – as a short cut to wealth.

Should we be celebrating Armed Forces Remembrance Day on the day families of some of Nigeria’s greatest leaders are in mourning? Tinubu should ask, as I asked seven years ago, whether “…we do not have several military exploits, including the final triumph of ECOMOG, or the day Buhari rallied the Nigerian military to route Chadian incursion during the Shagari Presidency, to make our Armed Forces Remembrance Day. That will save us from holding up a day that blights our collective dignity as decent people to salute the gallantry of our armed forces”.

A day that reminds us that a civil war ended in Nigeria with the complete economic disenfranchisement of a section of the country need not be so cheerfully projected. The South East was arguably not really rehabilitated, reconstructed and reconciled to the rest of the country after the civil war. It is open to question whether, even now, it has been reintegrated. As a Lagos lawmaker called, last week, for land revocations, to ensure land allocation to only indigenes, we should ask ourselves why a place where the late Chief Adeniran Ogunsanya and others protected properties of Igbos in Lagos while the civil war lasted and returned same to the owners after the war should be so poised today.

Is Nigeria really going anywhere if, after 52 years, the same Igbos who lost their belongings in another part of the country as “abandoned property” to their fellow countrymen, are to face the same fate once again? To whom were they they allegedly reconciled after the war, and even now? 

Tinubu, Atiku and Obi should look around them and ask the following questions: (1) It it true that our 23 years old democracy has produced leaders with sudden stupendous wealth, amidst grinding mass poverty? (2) Is it true that their wealth has impacted less than 15 persons? (3) Is it true that their local communities, members of their religious congregations, most of their friends, some members of their extended families who knew how poor they were a few years earlier only chuckle and regard them as lucky thieves? (4) Is it true that many priests, traditional rulers and other supposed custodians of public conscience who should ask questions are on their payroll?

Truth is: the nation is reeling piteously. A criticism of Tinubu does not automatically translate into an endorsement of Obi or Atiku; and vice versa. Hunger, banditry, skyrocketing prices and much more are here. We need the following to move forward: Truth, competent leaders, the right sense of responsibility, propriety in public office, service delivery and inclusivity in policy making and resource allocation. Yes, beyond Tinubu, Atiku and Peter Obi.

• Obi, LP play footage of INEC’s Yakubu, Okoye speaking on election results’ transmission
• We complied with all guidelines, regulations, Atiku’s witnesses tell court

The Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC), yesterday rejected two applications by Mr. Peter Obi and his party, the Labour Party (LP) to issue and deliver interrogatories to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The court said the applications lacked merit.

Obi and the LP had filed the applications to obtain more information from INEC and to have the first application heard outside the pre-hearing session.

Ruling on the applications yesterday, the court’s five-member panel was unanimous that the two applications were filed outside the time allowed by law.

The Presiding Justice (PJ), Justice Haruna Tsammani said the petitioners did not establish any circumstance of extreme urgency that would have made the court exercise discretion in their favour.

He said the situation the petitioners found themselves in was self-induced and could not pass as special circumstances on which the court could act in their favour.

Paragraph 17(1) of the First Schedule to the Electoral Act 2022, according to him, requires the petitioners to file all applications within 10 days of filing their reply to the defendants’ responses to their petition.

The judge observed that while the petitioners filed their last reply on April 21, they filed the application, in which they sought to serve INEC interrogatories on May 22, the day the court ended the pre-hearing session.

He added that even though the application was actually filed on May 22, the petitioners’ lawyer failed to draw the court’s attention to it, as was required of him.

“I do not believe that the application was filed before the proceedings of that day. Even if it was filed before the proceedings of that day, the lawyer did not bring that fact to the attention of the court,” the judge said.

He held that it was wrong for the petitioners’ lawyer to attempt to avoid taking the blame for failing to act within the time allowed by the law.

“The application is incompetent having not been filed within the time allowed by law and the court has no jurisdiction to hear it. This application is hereby struck out,” Justice Tsammani said.

Shortly after the ruling, another lawyer to the petitioners, Jibrin Okutepa (SAN) applied to play two videos which they tendered on Friday.

The first, which was footage of a press briefing by INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, showed him talking about plans for the election and pledging that BVAS would be used for voter accreditation, while results would be transmitted from polling units in real-time.

The second one showed INEC’s National Commissioner, Festus Okoye explaining the efforts made to address the glitches experienced during the presidential and National Assembly elections.

Part of the second video also showed President Bola Tinubu announcing his selection of Kashim Shettma as his running mate for the election, which Okutepa claimed supported their case of double nomination.

After the videos were played, the petitioners proceeded to tender some Certified True Copies (CTCs) of INEC materials, including Forms EC40G (PU), EC40G and EC40G1 from Benue State.

Further hearing in the petition has been adjourned till 9 am on Tuesday.

Earlier yesterday, two former members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), who worked as INEC ad-hoc staff during the last elections, said they complied with all rules and regulations in carrying out their assignment.

Alheri Ayuba and Sadiya Mohammed Haruna who were subpoenaed witnesses of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, spoke while testifying as the petitioners’ 17th and 18th witnesses before the PEPC.

Ayuba and Haruna said the whole process went well except for the hitch they experienced while trying to upload the images of the result sheets immediately at their polling units, using the BVAS machine.

They, however, said they failed to include, in the written statements, their inability to upload the results.

Led in evidence by the petitioners’ lawyer, Chris Uche (SAN), Ayuba and Haruna said they served as polling unit Presiding Officers in Abuja.

The witnesses adopted their written statements after lawyers to the respondents – Kemi Pinheiro (SAN) for INEC, Emmanuel Ukala (SAN) for President Bola Tinubu and Solomon Umoh (SAN) for the All Progressives Congress (APC) – raised objections to the admission of their testimonies.

Under cross-examination by Pinheiro, Ayuba said: “I performed my duties diligently on the day of the election. I confirm that the election went smoothly besides the issue of the BVAS that failed to upload results.

“BVAS was used to accredit all the voters. After sorting the results, I announced it to everybody’s hearing. I entered the results diligently in the presence of everybody at the polling unit,” she said.

The witness added that all the agents of the political parties present got copies of the result sheet (Form EC8A), the original copy of which she personally submitted at the Ward Collation Centre.

“It was the image of the Form EC8A that I captured with the BVAS that I tried to upload, but I could not,” Ayuba said.

Under cross-examination by Ukala, Ayuba said she conducted herself strictly in compliance with INEC Guidelines and Regulations for the conduct of elections.

The witness said she was neither induced nor influenced by anybody to manipulate the process.

“The results that I entered in Form EC8A were the correct results in the polling unit. I took the results by myself to the Ward Collation Centre l. I am aware that the results were fully collated at the Ward Collation Centre,” she said.

Ayuba said she did not include, in her statement, that she encountered challenges while trying to upload the results.

While being cross-examined by another lawyer to INEC, Steve Adehi (SAN), Haruna said: “On the day of the election, I carried out my duty as we were taught.

“Apart from the BVAS problem, which was about transmission, every other thing went well. At the end of the election, I sorted out the votes and entered them in Form EC8A manually. I gave copies to party agents.

“It was when I tried to transmit the image of the results sheet that the BVAS failed. The party agents followed me up to the Ward Collation Centre.

“They refused to go and insisted on following me to the Ward Collation Centre where I submitted the results in Form EC8A,” she said.

Under cross-examination by Ukala, the witness also said she complied with all the rules and was not induced by anyone in the course of the election.

Haruna said after Form EC8A was duly signed by party agents and herself, she took a photograph of the form with the BVAS device and posted a copy of the result in a conspicuous place for people to see.

At the conclusion of Haruna’s testimony, the court adjourned further hearing in the petition till next Tuesday at 2 pm.

I shall pass through this world but once. Any good therefore that I can do or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer it, for I shall not pass this way again. – Stephen Grellet

Some days ago when I watched, on social media, a post of the immediate past vice-president, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, and his wife alighting from an aircraft with just two or three persons around them, and the caption said that was the VP returning home after eight years as the country’s Number Two citizen, I was aghast; in fact, gutted! Not that I was a fan of the ex-VP anyway and for no personal reason. My mind quickly raced to the tumultuous welcome that was accorded Osinbajo’s boss, the immediate past president, retired Major-General Muhammadu Buhari, on his own return to his own people in Daura, Katsina State.

But then, and thank goodness, it turned out, according to another social media report, that the embarrassing report of Osinbajo’s lonely home-coming, like a chicken beaten silly by the rain, was not just a hoax but also the handiwork of some “bad belle” people intent on casting the ex-VP in very bad light. Osinbajo, like Buhari, we were told, was also very warmly received by his own people on his own home-coming. For both Buhari and Osinbajo, that is how it should be. No leader is through and through good and none is through and true bad or evil. The saying of the elders is that no matter how bad a person might be – let the whole, wide world forsake him – there will still be someone who will stick with him through thick and thin. Who that person will be is what no one can tell.

Everyone in positions of authority makes some smile even as they cause many to weep and gnash their teeth; they make some rich even as they cause many to sink deeper into the miry clay of poverty. There is no denying the fact that the administration of Buhari and Osinbajo sowed tears and sorrow everywhere but they must also have put smiles on the face of a few. Under them, Nigeria became the poverty capital of the world but the other side of the coin is that many became stinking rich under them without as much as lifting a finger. The humongous corruption enterprise supervised and condoned by their government mortally wounded the country but made some emergency billionaires and trillionaires. That is why it is called different strokes for different folks. I am certain you know too well that crowds are rented here. So, the crowds welcoming anybody home could have been rented. I am sure you know the same Buhari has been booed and stoned in many parts of the North during his presidency and, after it, Miyetti Allah, whose Grand Patron he is said to be and whose excesses he condoned, has denounced him as the worst thing to have ever happen to them!  So much about home-coming!

And it reminds me of Lenrie Peters’ poem, Homecoming: “…Too strange the sudden change/Oft the times we buried when we left/The times before we had properly arranged/The memories that we kept…” After having “paced the world”, Lenrie Peters longed to return to his old home and was nostalgic when he eventually did but I am not sure Osinbajo longed to return to his after an eight-year sojourn in the inner sanctuary of power and privileges at the Presidential villa in Abuja; otherwise, he would not have wanted to stay on and become president! Well, it can be argued that no rational human being gets so close to the seat of power like Osinbajo did who would not be tempted to want the seat for himself. It is human. It is legitimate. It is a reasonable expectation, especially if we think it achievable. The urge to go for it, as they say, is most likely to be fired the more if we believe we have something to offer and if we see lack of capacity in our principal. If we try to fill in the gap but are rudely put in check, we may be convinced to make an effort to step into his shoes and make a difference. This played out in the case of Osinbajo and his principal, Buhari. The VP’s talents and capacity were left to rot. He was humiliated. His advice, offered behind closed doors, I suppose, might have been ignored. He might have been a mere traveller in the corridors of power while all that the outside world saw was the razzmatazz of power around him. Like the proverbial chicken which labours and sweats but its feathers would not let anyone notice, Osinbajo might have laboured silently without anyone seeing his efforts. Yet, he might have meant well. We saw flickers of that on the few occasions he was allowed to step in as acting president before the door was slammed in his face for no reason other than that he showed promise. He thereafter accepted his lot with equanimity and philosophical calmness, as they say. But looking back now, does he rue dragging the APC presidential ticket with his erstwhile boss and benefactor (?), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu?

In all of these, was Osinbajo bold, timid, treacherous or diplomatic? Was he compromised and shackled by one thing or the other? Is he satisfied with his contributions as VP and convinced of the decisions he took? We waited and longed for him to stir. We sighed and moaned when he did not. We cried and yelled. We berated and lambasted him but he remained unmoved, even stoic; he ignored us like he himself was ignored. It was as if he, too, was disdainful of us. There must be things Osinbajo knew that we did not. I only hope that it was not the demons of the Presidential villa that one-time presidential spokesperson, Dr. Reuben Abati, has spoken ceaselessly about that stole Osinbajo’s mojo. Thank God now that he is out of the villa, Osinbajo can recover. His memoirs will surely make an interesting read. I am sure you know they get wiser once they get out of that villa. They enter it sane; lose their senses, sensibilities and sensitivities while there. They regain it and become normal human beings and begin to see things and talk like reasonable human beings, like you and me, once they step out of the place. This happens not only to presidents and vice presidents; it happens also to presidential spin doctors. It happened to Reuben Abati himself! Our brother, Femi Adesina, just got released from the same stranglehold!

Now is the time for Osinbajo and others like him to take a good rest, which they deserve, having exited the lion’s den in one piece, and take time to rue missed opportunities. What will they do differently given the same opportunity again? They may not have another opportunity but it is important for others, especially those coming behind, to learn from their experience. That is one way society is nurtured. If you find anyone who says he will do the same thing all over again if given another opportunity, know that you have just found a fool! Nothing is so perfect that it cannot be improved upon if one is given the opportunity. Make your best better. No one knows this better than a writer. If you read a piece you wrote a million times over, you will always have an improvement to make on it.

My checklist for Osinbajo includes the following: As a professor of Law, he is a member of the academia; so, when the Academic Staff Union of Universities was on strike for eight months, what role did Osinbajo play? What advice did he give the government in which he was the Number Two, for whatever it is worth, and what support did he give to his colleagues in academia? How did he feel about the turn of events? Did he feel let down by the government of which he was a part or did he feel disappointment in his colleagues? Now with the benefit of hindsight, how does Osinbajo feel about that unfortunate ASUU/FG saga? Will anyone say that Osinbajo abandoned that constituency of his? As a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Osinbajo’s ought to be a strong voice on legal matters in the Muhammadu Buhari administration but Abubakar Malami, Buhari’s Federal Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, appeared as the man that held sway. The Buhari administration picked cherries when it came to court judgments to obey and which to spurn. That government violated the fundamental human rights of Nigerians at will. Did Osinbajo’s stomach turn at each turn? As a senior pastor in the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Osinbajo was deemed to have represented Christians in the Buhari administration but at no time in the history of this country were Christians so victimised, murdered, butchered, driven out of their homes, churches torched, pastors kidnapped and slaughtered, etc than under the Buhari administration. To make matters worse, Boko Haram, the bandits, and Miyetti Allah unleashed mayhem and top government officials defended and backed them! Who heard a whimper from Osinbajo? Did he speak out but we did not hear it? What were Osinbajo’s feelings for his fellow Christians? Looking back now at those sordid events, does he think he could have acted differently? Osinbajo and Buhari left Leah Sharibu with Boko Haram; they also left office without bringing the killers of Deborah Samuel to book: When Osinbajo looks back now, how does he feel about these events? Could he have acted differently or did he put in his level best?

I can go on and on! Osinbajo is Yoruba but what did his vice-presidency attract to Yoruba land? We saw the avalanche of projects that Buhari – or Buhari’s body language – attracted to his home state of Katsina; even the East had the second Niger Bridge completed under Buhari. The Lagos/Ibadan expressway is still ongoing since 1999 or whatever; the Sagamu/Ikorodu road along the Lafarge Cement axis is a death trap; the Lagos/Abeokuta road is hell on earth. Can anyone point at one project that the South-west benefitted from Osinbajo’s tenure as VP? Yet, it is to the same South-west that Osinbajo returned after his time out as VP! True, then, is the saying “Ile l’abo simi oko”! Home is home, sweet home! The late Cote d’Ivoire president, Felix Houphouet-Boigny, said “home is where, when you go there; they take you in” So the Southwest has no choice but to take in Osinbajo, just like it took in former President Olusegiun Obasanjo, both of whom – ironically from the same section of the South-west – gave their people the short end of the stick. Maybe we need to ask Dr. Reuben Abati whether some demons were also at work here!

Nigerian chef, Damilola Adeparusi, has set out to beat Hilda Baci’s unofficial record, who is awaiting the confirmation of her 100hrs record-breaking cook-a-thon from Guinness World Records.

Recall that Hilda made headlines in May after beating Indian chef Lata Tondon’s 87 hours and 45 minutes record achieved in September 2019.

Here are the things you should know about the young chef Chef Damilola Adeparusi.

Damilola, who is attempting to break Hilda’s record, began her journey on June 9, 2023, and as of today, she has been cooking for over 30 hours.

Born Damilola Adeparusi, the young chef now fondly addressed as Chef Dammy is an Ekiti indigene and is attempting to break the record in Ilupeju, Ekiti.

Besides being a chef, Damilola is also a poet, songwriter, and editor. Her official social media pages carry these titles as well.

Damilola is a vivaciously curious person, noting via her official pages her love for researching and learning about new things.

She is representing a church, Spirit Word Global Mission, in the cook-a-thon currently in Ekiti State and is attempting to break Hilda’s 100hrs record with her 120 hours goal.

Nigeria’s Vice President, Kashim Shettima, on Saturday appealed to the emotions of the senators-elect by urging them to vote for the stability of the country and not their individual pockets.

Shettima made the appeal during Saturday’s valedictory session which brought the 9th assembly (Senate) to a close as the presiding officer, Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, adjourned sitting sine die.

This would pave the way for the new assembly to be convened on Tuesday 13 June with a letter to the Clerk of the National Assembly from the president.

The All Progressives Congress, with a slim majority (59) in the Senate, is racing against time to produce the president it has anointed.

The National Working Committee of the party had announced former Minister of Niger Delta, Godswill Akpabio, as its preferred choice.

This has not gone down well with other aspirants like Orji Uzor Kalu, Abdul-Azeez Yari, and Osita Osinazu who have maintained that they would not bow to any external interference and manipulation of the second organ of l government.

Although there has been a lukewarm approach to cement the preferred candidates from the leadership of the APC, Shettima maintained a middle ground on Saturday when he urged the senators-elect to look hard and make a choice for the survival of the country.

“To my incoming colleagues, I will leave you with a parable, ‘the stability of this nation is superior to the stability of our pockets’. On Tuesday, let us vote wisely, let us vote for the Nigerian nation,” he said.

Describing them as “friends who have become an integral part of my history,” he added that, “We have served shoulder to shoulder in the face of adversity and worked relentlessly for the betterment of our Nation.”a