Following the expiration of the tenure of the local government chairmen in Rivers State, some youths in the Degema Local Government Area of the state on Monday took over the council headquarters.

This came as LG chairmen in the state under the aegis of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria have vowed to remain in office, citing the Local Government Amendment Law by the Martin Amaewhule-led 27 House of Assembly members empowering them to extend their tenure by six months.

The state ALGON Chairman, Allwell Ihunda, who is the Chairman of Port Harcourt City Local Government Area, insisted that the law by the House of Assembly empowers them to remain in office.

Recall that the law by the lawmakers loyal to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, empowers the council chairmen to remain in office over the alleged failure of Governor Siminalayi Fubara to conduct local government elections.

Fubara, at an event in Port Harcourt, the state capital, warned the LG chairmen not to do anything that would truncate the peace of the state, saying they had a few days to leave office.

Amaewhule, at a news briefing last week, warned the governor against setting up caretaker committees to fill vacant positions in the 23 LGs of the state, saying the lawmakers would not accept such a move.

The council chairmen who were elected during the tenure of Wike as governor have been having a running battle with Fubara following the disagreement between the two political leaders.

Meanwhile, it was gathered that youths in Degema occupied the council secretariat early on Monday and locked the entrance.

The youth who were seen singing war songs appeared battle-ready as they insisted that they would not allow the LG chairmen to remain in office after serving out their tenure, saying they would remain there to ensure the outgoing LG chairman does not return to the council.

The same scenario is playing out in the Asari-Toru Local Government Area, where youths stormed the council headquarters in Degema and occupied the facility.

Many of the youth were seen in different groups in front of the secretariat and the entire stretch of the road leading to the entrance, even as some could be heard saying, ‘Asawana’ a popular slang among the Ijaws which signifies solidarity, even as others arrive the scene in droves.

The youth said they would remain until Wednesday when work resumes and dared the council chairmen to come to the secretariat.

However, there is a huge security presence in Port Harcourt City Local Government Area and Obio/Akpor LG to prevent security breaches.

Our correspondent spotted over six police patrol vans in front of the secretariat’s closed entrance on Monday morning.

The patrol vans were manned by fierce-looking security operatives, although the movements of people were not restricted.

Meanwhile, the outgoing chairman of Eleme LG, Obarilomate Ollor, has warned those eager to throw him out of office not to come close to the council, saying they will be resisted.

Ollor, addressing stakeholders at the first Annual General Meeting of the Aleto Clan Association held in Port Harcourt, said he had gotten wind of plans to invade the council on June 17.

He urged those who do not have legitimate businesses at the council headquarters not to come close, pointing out that the LG council is neither a community town hall nor a students’ union facility.

Ollor stated, “Some people are ganging up, they want to use force to enter into the local government. Let me tell you, the local government is not a community town hall or students union secretariat.

“That is a government facility. So stay away from there, except the law permits you to go there. If you go there against the law, what you will see, you will not believe it. You will see your forefathers’ earlier than you expected.

“So don’t go there if you are not meant to go there. You can stay in a hotel and make noise, but don’t go there.”

Our correspondent, who is monitoring the situation, reports that the occupation of some LG secretariats is already creating tension in the state as it is likely to spread to other LG.

When contacted, the spokesperson for the state police command, Grace Iringe-Koko, said the police are on top of the situation, saying, “Our men were on a show of strength this morning. We are still monitoring the situation, and we want to urge everyone to maintain peace in the state.”

[Punch]

 Says I’ve been fighting battle all my life, I’m not scared of anything

. Explains how Africa Continental Free Trade Area, AfCFTA agreement can work. ‘PMS will flow from refinery by the third week of July’

Size

For context, it is a 650,000 barrel refinery, the biggest in the world.  It started in 2016.

Inside the plant itself, Aliko Dangote constructed about 126 km of road. There are 54,000 storm columns built for protection.  On-site, there are over 200 buildings.  Located in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos, covering a land area of approximately 2,635 hectares (seven times the size of Victoria Island, Lagos), it is the world’s Largest Single-Train 650,000 barrels per day Petroleum Refinery with 900,000 tonnes Polypropylene Plant.  At the peak of construction, there were over 70,000 workers on site.

In the course of the civil works, some 700 piles were drilled daily, and the total number of piles came to 250,000.   It has 177 tanks of 4.742 billion litre capacity – you can imagine that volume.   He has bought over 2,262 units of various high-duty equipment to enhance the local capacity for site works since even the biggest local civil contractors are unable to handle “even small portions of our construction requirement.”   He has also bought 308 cranes to build up equipment installation capacity since the current capacity in Nigeria is extremely poor.  What do you do when the biggest crane in the country is 650 tons, whereas you need a 5000-ton capacity crane?  Worse, there were only two such 5000-ton capacity cranes in the world, and they were in use.  So, instead of hiring a crane for $300,000 a day, what do you do?  Dangote bought his cranes.  65 Million Cubic Metres of Sand were dredged costing approximately 300 Million Euros, using the world’s largest, the second largest and the tenth largest dredgers to elevate the height by 1.5/1.75 metres, to insure against any potential impact of increase in mean sea level due to global warming.

That is not all.

The refinery has a 435 MW Power Plant, which can meet the total power requirement of Ibadan DisCo of 860,316 MWh covering five states, including Oyo, Ogun, Osun, Kwara and Ekiti.  Dangote Petroleum Refinery can meet 100% of the Nigerian requirement of all refined products (Gasoline, 53 million litres per day; Diesel, 34 million litres per day; Kerosene, 10 million litres per day and Aviation Jet A1, 2 million litres per day) and also have surplus of each of these products for export.

Aliko Dangote On CNN

So, if Aliko Dangote, President and Chief Executive of Dangote Industries Limited, and Africa’s richest man,  says, in retrospect, that had he known the grand scope of what he was getting involved in, he wouldn’t have tried it, you would understand.

According to Dangote, during an interview on a CNN programme, Connecting Africa, “People don’t really understand what we undertook to build the refinery. In fact, we didn’t know what we were getting into. If we knew, we would have run away. We wouldn’t have tried it.  It was very, very, very tough.  We are sitting on a land that is more than 4000 standard football fields.  The significance of this project is that we will be self-sufficient, not just in Nigeria but in West and Central Africa.  I feel proud as an African that I’ve been able to prove that it can be done and we have done it.”

$19 billion cost

Speaking on what it has taken to put up the edifice, he said “we spent about $19 billion. It is going to change the game in terms of improvement. If we take in all the crude from Nigeria, it means that we will be taking about 21 million barrels per month. That would also help in terms of reducing the Co2 initiative, rather than ships coming all the way from Europe to bring in products.  All the ships going out of Nigeria every month, then you have the products coming into Nigeria. In totality, when you calculate, you are talking about 480 ships of 1 million barrels.  That actually will save the environment almost 1.5 to 2 million tonnes of Co2 emissions.”

Asked whether he has started making money from the project, he said: “We will start making money soon. It is not just all about making money, but it also gives us great satisfaction that we are making Africa great. We are making Africa proud.”

AfCFTA & Overcoming challenges

There has always been the issue of crude supply, and this was discussed during the interview.  In his view, he agreed “that there are challenges here and there. That is the truth. We have to be very open too.

NNPC has been very, very helpful. They do their own bit. Some of the IOCs are struggling to give us crude oil.  Because everybody is used to exporting, and nobody wants to stop exporting”. 

Even Aliko Dangote himself asked Eleni Giokos, the CNN anchor, “Why do you think Africa is not growing as it should?”  

Dangote answered the question himself: “It is because we export raw materials and import finished goods. It doesn’t matter what it is, whether it is gold or whatever. A  raw material is always at a ridiculously priced amount compared to the finished goods.”

Asked how he hopes to battle this legacy system that profits from the ripoff of focusing on Africa’s raw materials instead of building capacity for processing on the continent, Dangote said “I have been fighting battles all my life, so I don’t get scared of anything.” 

On the African Continental Free Trade Area, AfCFTA, Dangote believes it will be beneficial:  “The AfCFTA will be very, very beneficial. If you are talking about benefits, our company will almost be one of the top five in terms of benefitting from the free trade agreement.  But I have not seen any improvement.  We have 3 million tonnes of Urea we export to African countries, and we have petroleum products to export. We have cement to export.  We have too many things to export. What makes sense is to have the free trade agreement work. The trade between Africans is only about 16 per cent, which is too low. We have to make sure that all the regional markets have to remove these requirements of visas. We have to allow free movement of people, free movement of goods and services, and the Afcta will work. Without that, it is almost impossible.”

Intra-Africa trade issues

Dangote then shared an experience: “I am going to Egypt tomorrow, but I need a visa. They are saying that they will give me a visa on arrival if I have an American visa. But I am an African, and Egypt is part and parcel of AfCFTA. But they are saying that no, if you have an American visa, we will give you. So, they are discounting me, being an African.  So, how do we trade if you’re not allowing me into their country?  What I would love to see is a South African come into Nigeria to get a job without hassle. If you don’t integrate, we will never see what we call prosperity. Integration is very important. If you remember, most countries used to have what we call the Ministry of Integration, but I don’t know what happened. Some of the countries have dropped this, and it doesn’t make sense.”

Aliko Dangote has his eyes set on the future with the succession plan of the group well laid.  According to him, “by the end of the year, he expects that the group’s revenue should be around $ 30 billion, thereby placing the company among the best 120 companies in the world.”

PMS delivery date

Last week, during a visit by the leadership of the senate, led by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, to the premises of Dangote Refinery, some of the legislators who had not visited the site were left to marvel at the size of the complex.  The question always asked by Nigerians about the refinery is focused mainly on the delivery day when Premium Motor Spirit, PMS (otherwise known as petrol) would flow.  Yes, they should be concerned, not with the price of petrol hovering around N600 and 800 per litre, depending on which part of the country you reside or you are to buy from.  

In responding to the question, Dangote explained: “It is good for us to test all the types of crudes that we are receiving. You know sometimes you can buy crude and people can give you the one that has a lot of metal or a lot of sulphur.  But the most important thing is that we know West Africa is a home for dumped bad fuel and bad Petroleum products.  This lab that we have here you can not even find it in Saudi Aramco because we have the latest and we can test anything be it aviation fuel, diesel, gasoline and kerosene and it will give you the actual result.  The longest time a test will take here is 30 mins.  As for PMS, it will start coming out by 10/15 of July.  We want to keep it in the tank to make sure that it settles, and by the third week in July, we want to be able to take it into the market.”

Revelations from Afreximbank meeting in Bahamas

Last week, Dangote made some disclosures at the Afreximbank Annual Meetings, Dangote likened the oil cartels to a mafia stronger than the drug mafia hell-bent on maintaining their grip on the industry.

He said:  “Well, I knew that there would be a fight. But I didn’t know that the mafia in oil, they are stronger than the mafia in drugs. I can tell you that. Yes, it’s a fact.   But I’m a person who has been fighting all my life. You know, so I think it’s part of my life to fight.  As a matter of fact, during the COVID period, some of the international banks really were looking forward to making sure that they pushed us into the default of our loans so that the project would just be dead. And that didn’t happen with the help of banks like Afreximbank.”

Dangote also disclosed that he has paid off $2.4bn of the $5.5bn borrowed for the Lagos-based refinery.

[Vanguard]

The Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU) says Hauwa’u Abdulkarim, provost of the Federal College of Education (Technical) in Gusau, Zamfara state, has refused to vacate office despite the forgery allegation against her.

Smart Olugbeko, the president of COEASU, also alleged that Abdulkarim forged the promotion documents that qualified her to be appointed as the provost of the college by the federal government.

In a statement sent to TheCable, Olugbeko said the education ministry has failed to enforce Abdulkarim’s resignation for over six months since the allegation came to the fore.

Daily Trust had reported that a December 2023 letter from the education ministry pointed out that one of the “cardinal eligibility criteria” for being appointed as a provost is that an academic must have served as a college “chief lecturer” for a cumulative period of five years.

The letter was quoted to have stated that Abdulkarim had not served the stipulated period at the time of her application for the post.

“FME investigative committee’s finding that you only got your promotion to the post of chief lecturer in 2023, contrary to your representation to the college’s council selection board that you got the said promotion in 2017,” the letter partly read.

“This fact/finding was equally corroborated by your (former) employer, Shehu Shagari College of Education vide your records of service made available to the committee.”

Olugbeko said Abdulkarim has refused to vacate office as provost despite the misrepresentation alleged by the education ministry.

The COEASU president said the ministry has “condoned” her continued stay in office “in defiance of the resignation order” of 2023.

“The ministry’s directive for her resignation was on the premise that she forged her letter of promotion for her to be qualified to be appointed the provost,” Olugbeko said.

“Six months after the directive, she has neither resigned nor vacated her office. She continued to superintend over the institution, taking critical decisions as provost.

“The union is worried that the ministry’s obvious inaction on the matter, which has emboldened the woman to hang on to office, portends grave implications on not only the education of the students but also their ethical training.”

Olugbeko called on Tahir Mamman, the minister of education, to intervene.

“It is imperative that appointments within our educational institutions are based on merit, competency, and adherence to established qualifications criteria,” he added.

“We trust that the honourable minister will act swiftly and decisively to rectify this situation and uphold the integrity of the college of education system.”

[TheCable]

The unfortunate misstep and subsequent fall of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu during this year's Democracy Day celebrations ( which he has since humorously dismissed as a form of Yoruba "dobale" -genuflection )-quickly swirled around and became the stuff of internet gossip and street-corner small-talk. Reactions varied widely but, many tended to make light of it, while others (the usual suspects?) saw it as evidence of the President’s physical incapacity to cope with the tedious demands of his office. Political opportunism also set in, with yet others seeing the mishap as an “I-told you-so moment”, openly voicing their belief that the President's main opponents in the last election - Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi (particularly the latter) – would not have suffered that fate, given their presumed better physical fitness. 

Some of these remarks were, undoubtedly, uncharitable – especially in the lead-up to the Muslim festival of Id-el-Adha (or Sallah) just a few days away. President Tinubu is, of course, a Muslim. As a fellow human being, he deserves our sympathy and prayers for sound health – an indispensable requirement for the rigours of that job, popularly believed to be one of the most demanding and powerful in the world. With power surely comes huge responsibility and citizens' expectations for performance. Whether the President scores a pass mark or not in terms of job approval rating is for history (or posterity) to judge. One year is certainly too short to make the conclusion that he has failed. So, let us collectively hold our fire and bid our time. But even at that, no one can deny the fact that Nigerians are in theirs worst years, dying of hunger,squalor and wretchedness. The middle class has been wiped out with less than one percent of state captors enjoying national largesse.Perhaps, the second year in office would be a more appropriate time to asseess him to determine whether the IMF and World Bank-induced economic policies will boost production, create jobs,bring down prices and alleviate the suffering of the Nigerian masses. Suffice it to say that to me,it is yet still early in the day and the jury is still outl.

This is all the more so, in my opinion, because, history is replete with world leaders who put a physical foot (or both feet) wrong (some more than once) and got up, dusted themselves and forged ahead, stamping their feet (pun intended!) on the sands of time, leaving indelible footprints and track records of achievement and performance on the job and in history.The following are a few examples: 

I. President Joe Biden: He has famously stumbled on the steps of Air-Force One on at least three occasions, getting back on his feet each time, unassisted and moving on. He is 81 and warming up to run for a second term against maverick Donald Trump.

II. Former President Gerald Ford: One of the most accident-prone world leaders ever , dead or alive,was former US President Gerald Ford. His catalogue of falls spanned virtually every surface, including aircraft steps (again!) while on a visit to Austria in 1975 when his bum knee gave way. He even fell on the stairs of the White House. Though the official reason for this was a bad knee gave way, this did not stop cynics from tagging him as something of a bumbling klutz! Yet, Ford is remembered for managing the worst economy in the four decades after the great depression augmented by spiralling inflation and recession.

III. Ronald Reagan: Yet another former American President, he also endured a similar indignity in 1984 in Seattle, Washington. Luckily for him, it was not captured on video and only still images thereof exist of his so-called pratfall. But he went on to impact on America with his Reaganomics,overhauling the income tax code exempted millions of low income earners.His charm, eloquence and courage after the assassination attempt on him remarkably revived America's pride in the presidency and the nation. 

IV. Barack Obama: This first black American President whose grandfather was a Kenyan cattle rearer also came a-cropper when, sometime in 2015, his trademark sprightly confident jaunt failed him while disembarking from Air Force One. He ended up in a heap, needing no less than 12 stitches to his hip.

V. Hillary Clinton: While the husband of the former First Lady was dodged more by salacious ex-marital stories than physical falls, his wife probably took ‘the Fall’ (pun intended!) when, as Secretary of State to former President Obama, she stumbled while on her way to her car at the State Department, fracturing her elbow in the process.

VI. Robert Mugabe: Sometime in 2015, the former Zimbabwean President Mugabe was famously captured prostrate on a red carpet following a fall at a public event.

VII. Margaret Thatcher: Britain’s first female Prime Minister ( "iron lady" ) also came ‘crashing down’ sometime in 1982 while on a trip to China, as she made her way out of a Town Hall (no pun intended!).

VIII. Thorning-Schmidt: Also in 2015, the then Prime Minister of Denmark (also female) lost her footing and landed on her knees as she disembarked the stairs of the Elysee Palace in Paris, France. 

IX. Xi Jinping: the incumbent President of China, came close to falling down during the International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg in Russia in 2019, but for eagle-eyed aides who stepped in at the last moment. 

X. Boris Johnson: Another former British Prime Minister, he also lost his balance when he tripped and fell during a military commemorative event in 2015.

XI. Vladimir Putin: Russia’s long-reigning president also fell during a game of ice hockey in Moscow in 2019 when he (ironically) tried to applaud spectators.

Even former Vice President Mike Pence tripped while running up the steps of Airforce One in a remarkably similar circumstances as President Joe Biden. In July, 2023,Fiji Prime Minister, Sitiveni Rabuka,was forced to cancel an official visit to China after falling and hurting his head.

The foregoing shows that President Tinubu is in good company when it comes to presidential falls and that, as stated by a famous sage, it is not falling that matters, but rising each time you fall. However, beyond merely getting up and forging ahead, it is the kind of legacy one lives behind - what one will be remembered for-that counts. Therefore, let us all collectively and individually join hands in the spirit of goodwill echoed by the words of our old (now new) national anthem, in wishing the President a successful (and accident-free!) tenure. We cannot afford for him to fall and fail because we shall be the worse for it and bear the brunt together. The circumstances of his fall, are, however, reminders of the labors of our heroes past (a verse from our now discarded national anthem!) – this time the presumed winner of the June 1993 President, Chief M.K.O. Abiola,who was matyred in redemptive messiahnism.

In this connection, I commend former President Muhammadu Buhari ( as I did in 2018,even though he was not my idea of a good president) for ensuring that the National Assembly passed the requisite law, by which June 12 of every year ( rather than May 29) is marked as a public holiday. I recall my remarks on this issue 6 years ago, on the passage of that law, when I observed as follows;  

“On June 12, 2014, I moved a motion at the National Conference that, not only should June 12 be declared a national holiday and the real Democracy day, but that Chief M.K.O. Abiola and all the souls of the faithful departed of those who gallantly lost their lives fighting for the realization of June 12, be remembered and immortalized. I demanded for one minute's silence for those heroes. The leadership of the Conference led by Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi agreed with me and a minute silence was accordingly observed. To me, it is not the right argument that PMB, did it for political reasons. Yes, he may very well have done it to shore up his battered political image and fast dwindling democratic credentials. But, the inescapable fact is that he has done the right thing for which history will remember him. This is the more reason, I believe the argument should now go, why he should retire quietly to his Daura home, having done one great thing for which he would be remembered.” ( see https//:diplomaticwatch.com,june-12-as-nigeria's-democracy-day-president-buhari-has-done-the-right-thing-for-which-hhistory-will-rremember-him-ozekhomee-san , june 8,2012).

Lessons of June 2012

I believe that the best way President Tinubu can demonstrate that he has learned the lesson of the tragic events in our national history which that day represents is captured in my advice a year ago. As they it still very pertinent, I would like to reiterate it here: 

“What this present government led by President Bola Tinubu should borrow from the June 12 lesson, is good governance of peoples’ policy and not anti-people's that will further impoverish the already beleaguered people, who are already prostrate on their bellies. Policies that will make life better for the people. But, most importantly, Tinubu must listen to this, even if it is few things he can do. He must take steps to give Nigerians, a peoples’ Constitution, people-driven Constitution made by the people themselves, subjected to a referendum. You cannot amend the present Constitution which is a schedule actually attached to Decree 24 of 1999. It’s a militarily imposed Constitution. No amount of amendment can cure it of its original sin for being made by the military and not by Nigerian people. Even the preamble that says we the peoples of Nigeria do hereby give to ourselves the following Constitutions tells a lie about itself. Therefore, Tinubu must take deliberate steps, to ensure that the Constitution drafting committee, through a constituent assembly of the people, is established and the product that will emerge from it will give Nigeria a true federal system, not the present unitary system where the Federal government controls 67 items on the exclusive legislative list up to how you conduct your marriage through the marriage Act. Until he (Tinubu) makes a people's Constitution subjected to referendum which will enjoy peoples’ legitimacy as was done in Iraq, Iran, Eritrea, South Africa, Egypt, Tunisia, Kenya,until he takes that deliberate step, Nigeria will continue to suffer of perpetual motion on its axis without progress.” ( see https://www.naijanews.com/2023/06/12/democracy-day-what-tinubu-govt-should-borrow-from-june-12-lesson-ozekhome,12th June,2023). It is clear to me therefore that there is no nexus between the falling of a President and his failure or success. We have all,at one point in time or the other tripped and fallen. It has nothing to do with age-whether old or young. It is just a natural phenomenon to lose balance and fall. Isaac Newton's Law of Motion regarding gravitational force teaches us that much. It is therefore unhelpful to make a big issue of Tinubu 's misstep and fall on June 12,Democracy Day. Given the excruciatingly difficult times we are in,we appear to have completely lost our decency, humanity and sense of empathy,care and affection one for the other.It does not matter whether it is the President or the common man.We must desist from this ungodly trajectory and allow our religious teachings temper our political cravings for blood and vendetta with Godliness.God bless Nigeria.

IN 1987, the then Federal Military Government led by President Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida IBB set up an electoral body – the National Electoral Commission NEC to midwife a robust transition to civil rule political programme. This columnist was deployed from the Nigerian Television Authority NTA, to serve as the pioneer Director of Public Affairs of the Commission.

This positioned me to observe a number of things about politics and elections in Nigeria. I once came across a pamphlet titled ‘future heroes of Nigeria’s democracy’ compiled by a non-governmental organization identifying some well-known politicians that would likely succeed the military. But from my interactions with several politicians, I had huge doubts that many of the listed political leaders would readily choose to undergo danger and pain for the sake of democracy.

One sign that my fears were real was how the political class managed the emergence of political associations that would later be registered as political parties. The anti-democratic practices by which our leading politicians implemented the subject were disheartening. For example, to establish a huge followership, the 13 associations presented several large boxes containing membership lists as part of the requirements for registration as political parties. 

During the verification of samples of the lists, the electoral commission found bogus submissions populated by fake and ghost names. Even when two of the 13 political associations – the National Republican Convention NRC and the Social Democratic Party SDP were eventually registered as political parties, there was no evidence that our politicians were prepared to play the game of politics by its rules.

While there was a point in the criticism that the military’s transition programme was circuitous, I saw clearly that the political class largely abetted the meandering nature of the programme. For instance, the first of the party primaries held by the NRC and SDP which were won by Adamu Ciroma and General Shehu Yar’Adua respectively were cancelled by government only because on a daily basis, party members and defeated candidates came forward with reports of a plethora of unwholesome practices which they claimed aided the winners. Why did democrats introduce anti-democratic practices into party prima- ries which they themselves conducted?

The annulment of the famous June 12 1993 presidential election was no doubt an error by the military, but several so-called democrats were also active participants in the conspiracy. During the collation of election results, representatives of the NRC- the party that lost the election – were fully aware that Moshood Abiola, the candidate of the SDP was the clear winner of the election. Yet, many of their members colluded with ambitious soldiers to scuttle the election. In addition, signs that the annulment could happen were already clear to the politicians some 48 hours earlier when the electoral commission was stopped from further posting election results on the big score boards installed by its premises for public viewing. Painfully, the expectation that the political class would close ranks and thereby dissuade the military from annulling an election recognized internationally as Nigeria’s best, simply evaporated.

Instead, unlike principled democrats, they exploited the stalemate to pollute the environment with false allegations. Indeed, officials of the SDP, the victorious party, were themselves too scared to claim their own victory. It is thus quite laughable to see some of such officials claiming today to be heroes of democracy when they did not put up any opposition to the emergence of an unelected interim government led by Chief Earnest Shonekan. In other climes, true democrats would have unanimously and unequivocally denounced all the undemocratic activities especially the mandate of the convoluted interim government to arrange for the conduct of fresh elections.

A few months later, the military, in line with their own script, returned to government under the leadership of General Sani Abacha. Again, officials of the NRC and SDP accepted to serve as Ministers of such an anti- democratic government amidst the continued efforts by MKO Abiola to pursue his mandate fully given by the electorate. The arguments of such opportunistic appointees that they were advised to join the government so as to fight for democracy from within or that Abiola gave them his consent were ludicrous especially when compared with the upright stance of the irrepressible human rights activist, Gani Fawehinmi against continued military rule. In fact, Gani publicly revealed that he turned down General Abacha’s offer for him to serve as Attorney- General and Minister of Justice adding that he told the General to hand over power to MKO Abiola if he wanted history to be kind to him.

With many so-called democrats as willing partners, General Abacha stabilized as the new head of state of Nigeria from 1993 to 1998. He even organized a transition programme designed to succeed himself using many politicians as fronts and agents. Indeed, all the five registered political parties at the time agreed to nominate Abacha as the flag-bearer of each of them! If General Abacha had outlived his self-succession programme, Nigerian politicians would have happily crowned him the first elected civilian president after military rule. The point must however be made that as military head of state, Abacha ruled the country with iron fist. He arrested and detained MKO Abiola who eventually died in detention and harassed into exile, every politician who refused to support his transition programme just as the few who remained at home were greatly traumatized.

It is from this latter group that we can find heroes of democracy led by Abiola. But there is doubt if such heroes are as many as people claim or that many of them were actually altruistic. I am unable to accept, for example, that anyone who served in Abacha’s military government can be counted among heroes of democracy. It is similarly unfair to recognize as heroes, those who went into trenches to fight military rule but returned later only to become enmeshed in undemocratic practices. Such persons readily belong to a group that only struggled to get into government to garner materialism and other perquisites of office. It would amount to a substantial derogation of democratic heroism to by whatever imagination elevate such pseudo democrats to the position of heroes of democracy.

The first feature of democracy is the sovereignty of the people. Everything done in a democracy is expected to be done on behalf of the people to whom all power belongs. In a democracy, the people are the subject and never the objects of governance. Can Nigeria, where the people’s representatives live in affluence at the expense of the toiling masses be described as a democratic society? The rule of law, a second feature of democracy which presupposes the equality of everyone before the law has never happened in Nigeria. Instead, office-holders often criminalize political dissent using a variant of the obsolete colonial law of sedition to arrest and detain anyone who seeks to hold them accountable. On their part, those who lose elections that should energize democracy through robust opposition, merely decamp to the ruling party for appointments.

Free and fair elections which constitute another feature of democracy have remained unattainable in Nigeria. To start with, each ruling party always assaults the independence of our electoral body by including politicians in the body which is legally expected to be an impartial umpire in the game of elections. Why must huge sums of money that would have been better deployed towards societal development be unnecessarily squandered on phoney elections especially at local government level? Although the judiciary had held in 2014 that the military should not be part of elections, the situation is yet to change just as our police have continued to wrongly disallow pub- lic protests which are an integral part of democracy.

For putting a blind eye to legislators’ inexplicable sal- aries/allowances, fake constituency projects and budget padding, our executive branch is left unchecked by the legislature contrary to what obtains elsewhere. Even loans to be repaid by future generations are hardly scrutinized to identify their probative value before approval. In the Judiciary, many judges are entangled in conflicting judgments that put them far away from their traditional rating as bastion of democracy. Searching for true heroes of democracy in Nigeria is thus a herculean task. Those involved in the search must strategically apply empirical criteria so as to avoid the likely possibili- ty of an inadvertent mix-up of political gladiators with true heroes.

One of the personalities I had expected to pump hands with at the dinner marking the 2024 Democracy Day in commemoration of the June 12 struggle, was the former chairman of the National Electoral Commission, 82-year-old Prof Humphrey Nwosu. His absence filled the State House Banquet Hall as if the pillars holding the rafters of the celebration were missing a couple of rods.

Without the street-wise academic whose principled commitment to transparency and accountability ensured the conduct of what has now been acknowledged as the freest and fairest electoral exercise in the history of Nigeria, there would have been no June 12.

Nwosu was appointed in the midst of the turbulence occasioned by the insistence of the irresistible military force of the Babangida machine to subvert the immovable resoluteness of the highly respected Prof Eme Awa whose removal as chairman of NEC created the vacancy that Nwosu filled.

Somehow, it seemed the hand of fate was at work. Nwosu had been Prof Eme Awa’s student at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. The first time I saw the affable Nwosu was shortly after his appointment when he visited his former teacher, Awa, at his Ikoyi residence for his blessings and advice. My crew and I were at Awa’s residence to conclude a chat we had been having with the respected prof.

At first, the nation did not know what to make of the ever smiling Nwosu. He was reported to have said that what Nigeria needed was good governance based on a centrist philosophy of ‘A-little-to-the-right-and-a-little-to-the-left’. It tallied with General Babangida’s preaching of evolving a ‘home grown’ philosophy, a kind of socio-capitalism, an ideological bat which was neither a rodent nor a bird.

At that time, those of us who had had the experience of tangling with the military warned Nwosu not to believe a fox declaring its conversion to vegetarianism because after the declaration, every goat and lamb would be classified as modern vegetables.

It says a lot about Nwosu’s emotional maturity that he seemed to play along with Babangida’s duplicity while working hard to deliver a transparently free and fair electoral process. Among several options, he chose the open ballot system which he called Option A4 — a method of voting where voters would openly queue behind the posters of their preferred candidates. Voters on the queue were openly counted and the result publicly recorded.

The system also stultified the usual practice of the use of thugs by politicians to snatch ballot boxes, steal ballot papers or destroy critical documents related to the polls. There were no ballot papers, no ballot boxes, no polling booths. Voters simply went to their designated polling centres to queue behind the photographs of their preferred candidates. They were counted and the result of each polling booth was immediately recorded on the official sheets and declared there and then.

Naysayers swore that the polling was destined to fail. It was the rainy season and if it rained, that would be the end of polling for many people because there would be no hiding place. Secondly, a massive use of thugs to inflict serious bodily harm on supporters of the opposing party on open queues could ensure that others fearful for their lives would take to their heels. Some critics even said that the system would put tenants at loggerheads with their landlords in instances where a tenant was on the opposing queue from his landlord’s. But it did not rain; neither was there any kind of organised violence. As a matter of fact, polling Day, June 12, 1993, witnessed a carnival-like atmosphere as supporters of SDP’s MKO Abiola and NRC’s Bashir Tofa turned out in colourful regalia.

Halfway into the collation of results, an Abuja High Court halted further announcement of election results. A big board displaying all results had already been mounted at the headquarters of the electoral commission. The whole country knew the results: MKO Abiola had won. Eventually, after using professional traitors like Arthur Nzeribe and pliant judges to muddy the waters, General Babangida annulled the elections and thereby destroyed what would have been his greatest legacy to Nigeria: a free and fair election.

With hindsight, I think it is fair to say that if General Babangida had had the slightest inkling that Nwosu’s Option A4 would be such a resounding success, he would not have allowed the polls to hold. It seemed that the calculation of the military was that after they had failed to use Prof Awa to deliver a flawed democratic process, Nwosu would not want to be removed like his predecessor and would ‘cooperate’. But Nwosu knew he was having a rare handshake with history and he chose to side with the people rather than be a military lapdog.

That is why Humphrey Nwosu is a hero of democracy today. He ought to be used as a beacon of patriotism and integrity for the younger generation.

When former President Buhari was declaring June 12 as Democracy Day and honouring Chief MKO Abiola and some of the leading lights of the National Democratic Coalition, it did not occur to him that Humphrey Nwosu was alive and well and should have been celebrated just like those who were given national awards at the time. (Even Abiola’s running mate, Babagana Kingibe, who had abandoned the June 12 cause, was given the second highest national honour!)

Abiola would not have been the hero he turned out to be if Nwosu had not conducted the most transparent election in Nigeria. No election before or after that epochal electoral exercise has come close to Nwosu’s Option A4 in transparency and acceptability!

There are others, too, who ought to be remembered and honoured at a time of historical significance such as the Democracy Day; for example, the veteran human rights activist and former president of the Nigerian Bar Association, Chief Alao Aka-Bashorun who had to escape to Benin Republic, as well as many activists in Radio Freedom, Radio Kudirat and NALICON.

What about the quartet of June 12 activists: Richard Ogunderu, 19; Kabir Adenuga, 18;  Benneth Oluwadaisi, 20;  and Kenny Rasaq Lawal, 19— all students of the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA)— who spent nine years in a Niamey (Niger Republic) prison for hijacking a plane to press for the validation of the annulled election?

I was expecting to see Col. Abubakar Dangiwa Umar in the front row on Democracy Day. Take a bow, great officer and principled gentleman!

June 12 was a pan-Nigerian struggle headquartered in (but not restricted to) the Southwest.

I remember some of the activists who stood firmly on the side of June 12: Commodore Dan Suleiman, Dr. Beko Ransome-Kuti, Shehu Sani, Rear Admiral Ndubuisi Kanu, and, if I may remember some of those whose paths crossed mine in those days of goggled evil: Eze Mark Odu, BK Ogala, Moshood Fayemiwo, Jimmy Imo, Joe Igbokwe, Eddy Okparaoji, among others.

It was such a joyful sight seeing Kunle Ajibade, George Mbah and others whom the gods had snatched from the jaws of destruction. They’ve all paid their dues. The ways of the unmade maker are wondrous, I told myself, as I looked from one erstwhile classified enemy of the state to the other: ’fugitive’, ‘terrorist’, ‘dissident’, ‘NADECO spy’, ‘guerrilla journalist’, ‘NALICON informant’…. Now they’re all gaily turned out for dinner — in the State House!

They are ordinary people who did extraordinary things. As Christopher Reeve notes, “A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.”

I wager that President Tinubu will not need any further nudging to decorate Humphrey Nwosu, Abubakar Umar Dangiwa and other heroes of the June 12 struggle with the national honours commensurate with their service and sacrifice.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has called on Nigerians to show more care for their neighbours and extend charity to all in the spirit of Eid-el-Kabir.

Speaking with journalists after Eid-el-Kabir prayers in Lagos on Sunday, the President said some level of sacrifice will be required to move the nation forward.

"We have been told by the Chief Imam how we can follow the path of sacrifice. The sacrifice required of a good citizen. Citizenship comes with responsibilities. As citizens, what do we need to do to be committed members of our society? Yes, that is sacrifice; loving your country. Loving your neighbours. Sharing what you have with each other. And to always be thankful to Almighty God," the President said.

In his sermon, the Chief Imam of Lagos State, Sheikh Suleiman Oluwatoyin Abou-Nolla, who led the prayers, reiterated the need for more love, sacrifice and care for the poor and the vulnerable.

"Our leaders like the late Sir Ahmadu Bello, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola, Funmilayo Ransome Kuti, to mention a few, sacrificed their knowledge, wealth, sweat, and even life, to the growth and development of the country we call ours today. All their activities and actions were geared towards nation-building.

"We must therefore ensure that their sacrifices are not in vain. It is incumbent on us to follow their footsteps to ensure that this nation, Nigeria, continues to grow in leaps and bounds," he said.

The Chief Imam of Lagos urged citizens to pray that God Almighty grant the President the strength and wisdom to deliver on his vision for a better and prosperous nation.

Chief Ajuri Ngelale

Special Adviser to the President

(Media & Publicity)

The Bola Tinubu administration is at loggerheads with the states over local government autonomy. The federal government filed a lawsuit against the 36 governors at the Supreme Court seeking an order to allow federation allocations to be credited directly to the accounts of the councils, to stop the governors from constituting caretaker committees to run council affairs, and to restrain the governors from receiving, spending, or tampering with funds released from the federation account for the benefit of local governments when no democratically elected system is in place. In one word, the federal government wants the local councils to be autonomous — like the states themselves.

While we await the ruling of the Supreme Court, I have been reading arguments on the merits and demerits of council autonomy. Those in support of autonomy argue that being the closest government to the people, councils should be politically and economically independent, with democratically elected leaders. Those against autonomy think the councils could go on the loose with public funds, like state governments, if they have unfettered access to allocations. President Olusegun Obasanjo once called them “774 stealing centres”. There seems to be not much rigorous diagnosis of why the councils are weak. We tend to think it is all down to autonomy or lack of it.

To resolve my dilemma, I have tried to understand the place of councils in federal set-ups across the world. For a federal system — or any system whatsoever — to connect properly with the people, there must be a well-run grassroots governance which is devoid of any other layer between the government and the communities. It can be called local government areas (LGAs), municipalities, counties, councils, boroughs, whatever. They typically do drain management, sanitation, waste collection, street lightning, roads, and other essential services delegated by superior governments. The devolution of power across the world is effected mainly through the empowerment of councils.

Some advocates of federalism will say there are only two tiers in a federal system. That is 95 percent correct. Federalism is a union of two equal tiers of government — the centre (federal) and the states (subnational). Councils are an administrative, not federative, unit. But things are changing with the need to deepen democracy. In his article, ‘Local governments in federal systems: deepening federal democracy?’, Prof Nico Steytler, a South African scholar, notes that “local government is increasingly recognized in federal constitutions as an order of government, alongside the federal and state governments, with the right to a measure of autonomy regarding the affairs of the local community”.

In 1988, for instance, the Federative Republic of Brazil elevated councils (“municipio”) to a tier of government and granted them total autonomy from the states. In the Commonwealth of Australia, which is also a federation, local governments are treated as the third tier but with limited autonomy. Its federal constitution does not expressly mention local governments. Attempts were made to include them in the federal constitution but the referendums in 1974 and 1988 did not succeed. As things stand, every state constitution recognises local governments in its own territory. However, in Germany, Spain, and Switzerland, local authorities self-govern but they are not a federative unit.

In opposing the idea of council autonomy in Nigeria, some campaigners argue that the LGAs were created by the military and the numbers disproportionately favour the north. They posit that because the north has more LGAs than the south, granting councils autonomy and releasing their federation allocations directly to them will entrench injustice and imbalance in the political economy. I really don’t understand this logic, but I admit that emotional arguments are usually like that. I prefer we focus the debate on how to reform the councils to deliver governance to the grassroots — including a functioning primary health care system and improved enrolment in primary schools.

It is argued in some corners that Lagos and Kano used to have the same number of LGAs but Kano has now more than doubled the size of Lagos state. Kano has 44 and Lagos has 20. Jigawa, which was carved out of Kano in 1991, has 27. This takes the old Kano state to 71 LGAs “whereas Lagos remains stuck at 20”. On this basis, some are opposed to council autonomy “until Nigeria is restructured and the injustice is rectified”. However, some of these figures are incorrect and the comparison of Lagos with Kano only shows how data can be deployed to validate bias. In fact, at no time did Kano and Lagos states have the same number of LGAs. In 1979, Lagos had eight LGAs and the old Kano had 20.

At independence, the LGAs were called Native Authorities. Actually, there were a total of 246 NAs as at 1950, with the north alone having 144 (59 percent). The West (today’s south-west plus Edo and Delta states) had 55 and the East (south-east and south-south, minus Edo and Delta) had 47. That was what we inherited from the colonial masters. It is, therefore, disingenuous to hold the military responsible for the configuration. I am not sure of the criteria used in creating the LGAs, but I do not think landmass — which advantages the north — was the sole consideration. Otherwise, Toro LGA, which is about the same size as Lagos state, will not be just one local government in Bauchi state.

Although, the Lagos/Kano comparison is whipped up perennially to enhance the argument about northern domination of Nigeria, I do not think we should discount it. It serves a purpose. Without these debates, there may not be serious attempts to even things up in the federation. However, we cannot stretch the Lagos/Kano too far. The old Oyo state had only 11 LGAs at creation in 1976 but now has 33. Add that to the 30 LGAs in Osun state, which was carved out of Oyo state in 1991, and the old Oyo state now has 63. The old Imo had 20 LGAs in 1979. Today, it has 27 while Abia, carved out of the state in 1991, has 17. That is a total of 44. Ebonyi, partly carved out of Imo in 1996, has 13.

We can spend so much time arguing over “northern domination” of the national cake and then forget the real issue at stake: how to make the councils work better for the grassroots and for our democracy. If the councils do well, many things we complain about will be fixed: the roads in front of our houses, the drainage on our streets, the attention at the primary health care where basic treatments and drugs are supposed to be available, the sanitation of our environments and the enrolment of children into primary schools. If the councils continue to function like they do, we will continue to suffer from governance deficit. That is what we should be discussing, not Lord Lugard.

Even though I have a dilemma over the issue of local government autonomy, I still have a bias. I try to be as practical as possible because of the way we are. Given our history and practice of federalism and democracy in Nigeria, council autonomy will not work. The capacity is not there. The governance structure is weak. Pouring trillions of naira directly to the local governments will change nothing. We would just end up with a new generation of political billionaires. We are already dealing with waste and corruption at the federal and state levels. Only very few councils are manned by competent hands. That is the reality — the unfortunate situation we have found ourselves as a people.

I tend to prefer the Australian model for the councils. In Australia, LGAs are not treated as a tier of government and do not have direct relationship with the federal government. Rather, they operate as administrative units for the states to deliver household services to the grassroots. They build infrastructure, provide community facilities such as libraries and parks, maintain local roads and handle town planning and development approvals. I seem to prefer an amendment to the Nigerian constitution to define and place the councils as administrative units of the states. Let the states “own” the local councils and deploy them as their foot soldiers for service delivery to the people.

Nonetheless, there should be a democratic system of electing the officials to manage the political affairs of the councils, though this will be influenced by the governors. What we call council elections today are appointments made by the governors and formalised through the ballot. There is no need to deceive ourselves. But, still, there should be periodic elections. Enough of this caretaker joke. I think that every state should create as many councils as it wants as long as it can fund them. India, with a population of 1.1 billion, has 250,000 councils. The US, with a population of 328 million, has 90,000. Switzerland, with eight million people, has 2,775. Nigeria, with 200 million people, has 774.

Finally, I also think that the state joint local government account — into which councils’ allocations are paid and which the states habitually sit upon — should be abolished. All federation allocations to the councils should go to the states directly. Let them develop an equitable sharing formula in line with their priorities. Fair enough, councils have tax handles allocated to them in the constitution, so they can also generate revenue in addition to whatever they get from the federation through the states. I do not know if my suggestions would solve the problems at hand, but the reality on the ground is that the current system is not working for the people. We need to try something new.

AND FOUR OTHER THINGS…

EMPIRE STRIKES BACK

Days after Mrs Simisola Fajemirokun Ajayi, an aide to minister of foreign affairs, alleged that Mr Ibrahim Lamuwa, the permanent secretary of the ministry, sexually harassed her, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) curiously invited her for interrogation over an allegation of corruption that was not in the public domain. The timing of the invitation is provoking suggestions that the system is trying to protect one of its own. Empire always strikes back. That is why women hesitate to report rape and sexual harassment. Now, the onus is on the ICPC to prove that this probe is not being deployed to shut her up or harass her. Co-incidence?

‘TINUBU LULE’

President Tinubu missed his steps and fell while trying to mount the parade vehicle at the Democracy Day celebration on Wednesday. The usual suspects immediately engaged the celebratory button. It was a good thing that he got up immediately and performed the rest of the ceremony without any incident. At the dinner event, he found time to deliver some self-depreciating humour, saying he was not dancing “buga” but only “dobale” (prostrated) for democracy. The incident is now behind us but rumours of ill health will surely continue. Swimming against the tide of the mockers, Mr Peter Obi courageously put politics aside, sympathised with Tinubu and said it could happen to anyone. Class.

FINIDI JUDGED

It has taken only two competitive matches for many Nigerian football fans to conclude that Finidi George is not the man to lead the Super Eagles to the promised land. A 1-1 with South Africa now seems to be a great result compared to the 2-1 loss to “little” Republic of Benin a few days later. Nigeria faces an uphill task to qualify for the 2026 World Cup. The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) appears to have admitted it made a mistake with Finidi’s appointment by announcing its plan to engage a foreign coach. This fire brigade approach is obviously an attempt by the NFF to save face as we face the prospect of missing another World Cup after failing to make Qatar 2022. Quagmire.

NO COMMENT

Nigeria sent the highest number of registered delegates to the International Labour Conference (ILC) in Geneva, Switzerland, according to a statistical analysis by the boffins at TheCable. Of the 187 countries represented at the conference, Nigeria — a country claiming to be cutting the cost of running government — topped the table with 289 delegates. Government alone sent 108 registered as “government delegates”. It is a tradition we have created and sustained for decades. Last year, Nigeria invaded the 28th Conference of Parties (COP28) in the United Arab Emirates with 1,411 delegates. The Geneva jamboree has further demonstrated our resolve to cut costs. Wonderful.

The Oyo State Government has issued a call for more vigilance and the adoption of precautionary measures to prevent the spread of a potential cholera outbreak in the State.

The Commissioner for Health, Dr. Oluwaserimi Ajetunmobi gave the charge during her visit to a private hospital in Ibadan where two suspected cholera cases were receiving treatment.

Dr. Oluwaserimi Ajetunmobi noted that Cholera is a bacterial infection spread by eating or drinking food or water contaminated by the faeces (poop) of an infected person. 

She explained that cholera is highly infectious and can cause severe acute watery diarrhea with severe dehydration, adding that It may be associated with nausea, profuse vomiting, and fever.

The Commissioner described the two suspected cases in Ibadan, which had been tracked down to a private facility in the state as male workers at a construction site in Lekki Peninsula from Lagos State

She noted that there is no cause for alarm as the Ministry and other partners are on top of the situation. 

Dr. Oluwaserimi therefore reiterated the response efforts of the State Government through the Ministry at ensuring that the State does not record casualties from the cholera outbreak from Lagos State. 

According to her, the response efforts include; the deployment of LGA DSNO, promotional jingles in English and Yoruba running in different media houses, Immediate inauguration of the Cholera Technical Working Group, putting IDC Olodo into active mode for isolation and management, reaching out to all our surveillance rangers at the LGA level to intensify surveillance activities, re-posting of cholera case definition on the platform of community informants for updates, awareness, and sensitization of the gatekeepers and other well-established community structures. 

The Commissioner therefore appealed to all to be safety conscious and always drink water only from clean sources, practice good personal hand hygiene by frequently washing hands with soap and water. 

She maintained that anyone with the symptoms mentioned above should not partake in self-medication but present themselves at the nearest healthcare facility immediately.

E-signed:

Prince Dotun Oyelade,

Commissioner for Information and Orientation,

Oyo State.

 There is a miraculous deliverance coming for you now! Listen, you are not alone in this. Many have gone through more difficult situations and God faithfully delivered them. Joseph’s brothers envied, mocked, betrayed, disrobed and dumped him in the pit to die, but God miraculously rescued him. His trouble was as a result of the deep, grievous envy and hatred by his step brothers. They hated him because he was reporting their crimes to their father. They hated him because their father loved him. They hated him because their father made a special coat of many colours for him. Add he added salt to injury when he stupidly shared his God-given dreams about his destiny with them. God had shown him dreams that he would be exalted and blessed above his brothers and instead of him keeping it to himself, he began to broadcast it. Many of us destroy ourselves by talking too much or exposing so much to people and to our enemies. It is not everything you see that say out. Stop taking. There are things God will tell you to share with others and also there are some he will want you to keep to yourself and watch over. Joseph exposed so much and so early and almost paid with his life. Most people, including your good friends and loving relations may not be very happy to learn that you are divinely or humanly being tipped ahead of them. Shut your mouth if you want to live long! Did you hear me?