“Omo, this thing is getting serious oh. E be like say make man begin prepare for war in this our obodo Nigeria”

“Which war? Go and calm down, my friend. It is only children that talk about war. The one they started in Ukraine, the whole world does not know how to end it, you are here saying war is coming. Nobody is looking for war in this country. Those who fought in a war will never ask for it. Those of us who read about it do not want it. The people who are asking for war will be consumed by their own evil thoughts. Nigeria will survive.”

“I saw one video in which some people were saying the 2023 elections would be war, and that nobody would be allowed to vote in their part of the country. Gunshots. Bloodshed. Mayhem.”

“Don’t worry. It is always like that. Every election cycle in this country, there are bound to be local and international experts who will tell you that Nigeria is on the brink of disaster. They will tell you Nigeria will tip over the precipice and when that happens, there will be big crisis in the West African sub-region and Africa. But you know what? All of that is civil society, and international agencies funding talk. Since 1999, when Nigeria returned to civilian rule, it has been the same pattern. Election time is chop time. When there is tension in this country, that is when some people cash out. Many people say talk is cheap, but at times like this, it pays to talk, even if the only material in your head is absolute, refined, sawdust. People make noise. Militants cause problems. Thugs cause mayhem. Some die. The majority survive, but in any case, life goes on. Last, last, people find their level. Whatever is going on now, is no different from what I have seen. I want to assure you that we will be fine. You can’t stop all the rogues from doing their quick business.”

“Quick business. What is that? You call the attack on the offices of the Independent National Electoral Commission, quick business? In five INEC offices, in four states within months, INEC offices and facilities were attacked. Set ablaze. Permanent Voters cards were stolen. Ballot boxes were taken away by unknown gunmen and arsonists.”

“Has anybody been arrested? Has there been any lead as to the probable causes of the attacks? Are the attackers known or identifiable?”

“No. They remain unknown. But the Inspector General of Police says a combined team of security agents from the police, the military and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps has been deployed to protect INEC offices and facilities in all the 774 Local Government Council across the country, and that the government is ready to prevent INEC facilities from being sabotaged. The National Security Adviser, acting on the authority of the President’s directive also said exactly the same thing.”

“Good, Mr. Current Affairs. I hear you. And since the NSA and IGP hemmed and hawed, what has happened oh? I beg, what has happened? Please tell me and I will share what I know.”

“There have been more attacks on INEC facilities, the most recent somewhere in the East where some people were heard saying that a sit-at-home has been declared and nobody should expect that any campaign or election would be allowed in the South East.”

“You can be sure those guys are on some people’s payroll.”

“Candidly, I am not sure of anything.”

“And I tell you that all these fifth columnists are on a payroll somewhere. You and I wake up every morning thinking of how to make this country better, but there are many out there whose only assignment is to make Nigeria difficult for everybody as long as they can make bloodily, filthy money.”

“Hmm. Wait a moment. An attack on the state headquarters of INEC in Owerri, Imo was repelled, yesterday. Three of the assailants were gunned down. If the security agencies can check the systemic attacks on INEC offices and facilities, I believe, we would be in a good place. I think we should commend those security agencies that stood up to the enemies of progress in Owerri yesterday.”

“You too like to dey commend? Commend what? Three attacks in Owerri in one month, they managed to kill three men, you dey here dey commend What of the attacks in Ebonyi, Osun and Ogun states? . Dem show you one arrange-ee work, you dey commend. What Nigerians want is a security architecture that is impactful and efficient and that can deliver peaceful and credible elections not a sleep and wake up security architecture. Do you want me to tell you the truth? “

“In this country, nobody knows the truth anymore. I do not even know who to trust.”

“I will tell you something”

“Hun hun”

“You know I told you earlier that there are some people in this country who profit from causing problems in this country. When things are difficult and you and I are groaning, they step in and make profits. When COVID-19 began, do you know how many persons in this country who made a fortune from COVID contracts? Do you know how many side-chicks of the botox and bottom variety and other non-state actors who became rich just by getting COVID contracts from corrupt sugar daddies? Or the various shady deals in government corridors at all levels. I will tell you one more thing.”

“What?”

“I sincerely believe that some fifth columnists do not want the 2023 election to take place. I suspect that they are the ones behind all the attacks and breaches across the country ahead of the elections, and that they are happy to expose the incompetence and helplessness of the Nigerian state”.

“I can relate. I suspect so too. Can you even imagine Permanent Voters Cards escaping from INEC offices only to be found in drainage channels? I can understand the fact that some INEC offices were attacked but in states where there were no reported attacks, how did PVCs end up in wrong locations? I won’t deceive you: this country never ceases to amaze me. We may have had democracy for 23 years but I don’t think the people believe in it.”

“What I genuinely suspect is that some people don’t want the election to take place. They would rather have a zero-sum situation, and then the country would have to re-arrange itself, possibly through an interim government mechanism. Some people don’t want Bola Tinubu, Atiku, Peter Obi, Kwankwaso or anybody else. They prefer to scuttle things.”

“What do you mean either Bola Tinubu or Atiku or…? We have 18 Presidential candidates on the ballot. This is the problem in this country and you are part of it.”

“Leave matter. What I am telling you is that something must be going on somewhere, the way we are going. In fact, I had a dream the other night, and my dreams are always accurate.”

“Can we leave dreams out of this? You know I have been listening to you since. But forget about dreams. The truth is that since this country became independent in 1960, Nigerians have been having nightmares, resulting in headaches. That is our problem. Are you sure you don’t have migraine?”

“To tell you the truth, the more I talk about Nigeria, the more depressed I become. Everybody is giving up. Even INEC says the politicians and other stakeholders do not want the new Electoral Act 2022. They are ignoring salient provisions in the law. They are not interested in the provisions about decorous language, peaceful conduct or internal party democracy. Nigeria’s older politicians of the First, Second, and Third Republics must be turning in their graves.”

“The law is what the law-maker says it is. People are ignoring the electoral framework because the security agencies have failed to enforce it. Simple!”

“Who will they arrest? Who will enforce the law? The biggest lawbreakers in this country are the law makers themselves and the Executive arm of government, and their godfathers and friends.”

“I miss that”

“The law cannot work in a country where the law makers have no respect for the rule of law. Do you want to wait until we start talking about security agencies collecting bribe and looking the other way, or when politicians ignore the rule of law as is standard practice around here? Have you not heard that the National Assembly is kicking against the cashless policy by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)? They want the CBN Governor to come before them and explain why the Central Bank is insisting on cash limits of N20, 000 per day for individuals, a total of N100, 000 per week, or N500, 000 per week for corporate organizations?”

“Don’t mind those lawmakers, they think they will be allowed to collect money and spend money anyhow in the 2023 elections. The Buhari government is saying that will not be allowed to happen.”

“Don’t get over-excited. That is if the fifth columnists allow the election to take place. There is too much vitriol in the air. The politicians are fighting among themselves. They are fighting others. They are even fighting journalists and civil society. When INEC offices are not being attacked, PVCs are stolen and dumped in drainage channels.”

“Don’t put journalists inside oh. Na our work we dey do. Whoever fights journalists will hear his own story with his own ears. Dem never born dem. For where?”

“Stop sounding like a thug. When they go low, you should go higher.”

“I just dey tell you. Anybody wey wan do werey, we go show dem say plenty plenty plenty werey dey oh. Area! Iyalaya anybody. Gbas gbos”.

“Can we discuss something else then? You know I don’t like any kind of stress.”

“I am not putting you under any stress. It is just that this country must be made to work. President Muhammadu Buhari has said he believes in the integrity of the electoral process, and he wants to defend that. He has an obligation to keep his promise.”

“Stop bothering yourself. President Buhari is in the United States drinking tea with the Americans.”

“He is in the US attending the US-Africa Summit. I don’t have a problem with that. Nigeria must always engage with the rest of the world.”

“But Africa must also learn to take full advantage of the outreach from the rest of the world. Everybody is looking for Africa as if we are back to 1885. There is a new Scramble for Africa from Europe and Asia. Russia, China, Japan, France, the UK want inroads into Africa. Now, the US under Biden has rediscovered Africa, second summit since Obama in 2004. But is Africa ready as the Summit begins today in the US, and President Muhammadu Buhari gives a speech?”

“I like the fact that President Buhari is speaking on the first day. It means the Americans know that nobody can joke with Nigerians. Naija no dey carry last. For where? We must come first.”

“Please can you be serious? The US-Africa Summit is not a population contest. There are serious issues at stake. Nigeria is specially recognized out of the 49 African countries that have been invited in order to encourage the country to remain the leading force for stability in the continent. Some countries were pointedly told that they are not good enough for decent company. Go and check that out: Eritrea, Somaliland, Sudan, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Conakry and Mali.”

“Are those ones countries, when you mention Nigeria?”

“Under the UN Charter, my friend, every country is equal. Size does not matter under international law.”

“In this animal farm in which we all live?”

“Yes. And you must have seen that at the World Cup. No animal is more equal than the other. You prove yourself. You assert yourself.”

“This year’s World Cup is something else, I agree. Saudi Arabia humiliated Argentina 2-1, until those ones suddenly woke up. Morocco sent out Spain in the quarter finals, and beat Portugal, subsequently to become the first African country to reach the semi-finals in the World Cup. They even topped Group F ahead of Croatia, Belgium and Canada.”

“Very significant. A great moment for Africa. But I don’t like it when people say Morocco is not African but Arab and Middle Eastern”

“Leave that matter. Morocco is African. Don’t let Western media mislead you. I think it is paining them that Africa is in the final stages of the tournament. The same week that President Biden is hosting an African Summit, an African country is also in the news at the World Cup. Africa is the next frontier on all fronts. Our only problem is our leaders.”

“Wait. Wait. What is your prediction today? Argentina v. Croatia. Lionel Messi vs Luka Modric.”

“Argentina. Lionel Messi. The God of Argentina will fight today!”

“You are such an incurable loyalist and optimist because you have a woman with Argentine connection?”

“Where is that coming from?”

“Wait. I just saw something on my phone now”

“What?”

“Dele Alake and Bayo Onanuga attacking ThisDay and AriseNews, Prince Nduka Obaigbena and Reuben Abati in defence of their principal, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.”

“Please, what are the two spent men, looking for stomach infrastructure in an unscrupulous manner at old age saying?”

“You should read yourself”

“They must be lying of course and destroying everything they ever worked for in pursuit of a mess of pottage. You see, this is the tragedy with Nigeria. Hunger destroys men. It turns them into slaves, blackmailers and pigs and they begin to talk without thinking.”

“Are you saying that you suspect that Dele Alake and Bayo Onanuga working for Bola Tinubu are slaves and pigs?”

“This whole 2023 process is being turned into a brawl. People who need friends and are making enemies where they need friends need to be told that they do not have a monopoly of anything.”

“So?”

“When I subject their latest silly and amateur political talk to closer interrogation, I should be able to answer your question but your guess is as good as mine.”

“My own is just that everybody should just know that Nigeria is more important than their individual ambitions oh, and that election is not war.”

“Look it is time for you to go to church or mosque… my friend. I have work to do. When idiots blab, they must be called to order.”

City FM is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Programme: CITY TALKS WITH REUBEN ABATI

Time: 12:00pm

Guest: Honorable Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour

(Labour Party Gubernatorial Candidate, Lagos State)

Topic: 2023 General Elections and other matters

Date: December 10, 2022

Join Zoom Meeting

https://zoom.us/j/92877141732?pwd=VEJWb29OL2VVekZUTHRpdWYxK0xxZz09

Meeting ID: 928 7714 1732

Passcode: 600206

The second daughter of the Chief Whip of the Senate, Orji Uzor Kalu, Zina has been called to the Nigerian bar.

The former Abia State governor took to his Facebook page on Tuesday to celebrate Zina as she was called to the bar on Tuesday.

Kalu shared photos from the ceremony on his page, showering prayers on his daughter.

The Abia State former governor wrote, “Congratulations to our beautiful daughter Zina, on her call to the bar. May God keep blessing you forever and always. Your hard work finally paid off.

We feel so proud of you sweetheart.”

[NaijaNews]

On March 28, 2022, a Kaduna bound train from Abuja, was attacked at a place called Katari in Kaduna State around 7: 45 pm. As is the case with many things in Nigeria where documentation is poor and students are just about to start learning history again after more than 10 years of the subject being excluded from the curriculum, till date nobody can give the exact figure of the number of passengers on that ill-fated train. What we all know is that it was attacked by rampaging bandits and terrorists, who had rigged up the train line with explosives, and who attacked the train, riding motorcycles and bearing dangerous weapons. The train was less than 20 minutes to its Rigasa station destination. The terrorists opened fire on the hapless travellers. More than eight persons were killed on the spot. About 62 persons were abducted.  

Over 20 persons were injured. It was the beginning of a long nightmare involving negotiations with the abductors, the agony of distraught families, and a sad exposure of the vulnerability of the average Nigerian. The victims fell within a broad age and health range: young children, family members, the infirm, the elderly and the aged, including persons who were on various kinds of medication from which they had been cut off simply because they live in a country where insecurity is a problem and human lives have lost value. Those who died included Chinelo Megafu, a young medical doctor, Amin Mahmoud, an APC youth leader and Musa Lawal-Ozigi, secretary-general of the Trade Union Congress. Family relations of the affected persons were thrown into agony. As the Federal Government of Nigeria insisted that it was not prepared to negotiate with terrorists or pay ransom, families cried to high heavens. A few Samaritans led by Sheik Ahmad Gumi, Tukur Mamu, Professor Usman Yusuf and others stepped in to help, even if they created controversies of their own in the process. In the end, the abducted persons were released in batches on April 6, June 11, July 9, July 25, August 10, August 19, and the final 23 regained their freedom on October 6.  The Federal Government has tried to claim credit for ensuring the release of the last batch of abducted persons, but what is worth remembering is the needless loss of lives, and the general insecurity in the land which must be addressed - government has the primary responsibility to protect the people. 

Following the attack of March 28, the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC) announced the suspension of services on the Abuja-Kaduna route to give time for the rail line that had been damaged in parts to be fixed. Two weeks ago, it was further announced that the rail line would now be re-opened for operations.  The Minister of Transportation, Muazu Sambo, during an inspection tour of the Abuja station said the train service was originally scheduled to resume by November 28 but that within a week, normal service along the route would re-commence.  Minister Sambo was quoted as saying that he had vowed that the trains will not return on that route until the last abducted person was released and that he was happy he had been able to keep that promise. Muazu became Minister of Transportation in July 2022. He only needs to be reminded that in fact before he was posted to the Ministry of Transportation, the Federal Government had tried to re-open that route by May 23. The attempt was greeted by public outcry. It was generally agreed that the government was being callous and insensitive, seeking to sell train tickets while the abducted persons were still in captivity. Affected family members threatened to picket train stations. At the time, Fidet Okhiria, Managing Director of the NRC claimed that the corporation was under pressure to resume operations. Nigerians refused. NRC was forced to change its plan. Now, yesterday, the trains returned along that route. 

Mr. Sambo, the Minister in charge, says the NRC is 90% ready. Is the NRC ready? Can the people trust its managers? The Minister further claims that lessons have been learnt. Is he sure that indeed lessons have been learnt? What lessons exactly, if we may ask? Minister Sambo has said a lot of sweet things to rebuild public confidence and encourage people to travel again by rail between Abuja and Kaduna. But how many people will summon the courage to trust the NRC and government? When the first train left the Abuja station at 10 am yesterday, after eight months of inactivity on that route, the passengers were few. People have obviously learnt to be cautious and watchful. We have been told that there would be increased security along the rail line and inside the coaches and that some of the security men would be in mufti. The Inspector General of Police, Usman Baba has to that effect deployed police men, working with other armed personnel, drawn from the Police Mobile Force, K-9, Force Intelligence Bureau, Railway Police Command and the Explosive Ordinance Unit to protect lives and property along that route. But for how long will the security agencies sustain this? And where is the Civil Defence Corps whose primary responsibility is to protect national assets and infrastructure? Why are they not part of the arrangements? The sloppiness of our security operatives has been a major part of the security challenge in Nigeria. Even if the Abuja-Kaduna route is protected, what happens to other railway routes across the country? There have been reports for example of the vandalism of rail tracks in parts of the country, the most vandalized route being the 157-kilometres Lagos-Ibadan rail line. Apart from deploying armed personnel to protect the rail lines and the award of jobs to security contractors, many Nigerians would like to know if there is an electronic surveillance system in place to protect the rail lines across the country. Security in the 21^st Century does not simply mean uniformed personnel. In April, the then Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi had disclosed that a proposal for the procurement of a N3.7 billion security surveillance solution was taken before the Federal Executive Council but this was rejected at the Council meeting of September 24, 2021. Questions were reportedly raised about the capacity of the recommended firm for the project. So, what has happened since then? An electronic surveillance system would definitely enhance whatever security measures the Federal Government wants to put in place. 

The Minister of Transportation also says as part of new measures to be introduced, that train passengers would have to produce their phone numbers, and National Identification Number (NIN). Are they also going to ask for birth and marriage certificates? The proper identification of passengers should prevent the kind of confusion that occurred in March. The NRC had no proper manifest at the time! Till date the number of passengers on that Abuja-Kaduna train remains a matter of guess-work! Whatever documentation the NRC introduces this time around, every effort should be made to avoid unnecessary bureaucracy that could expose passengers to avoidable hardship. The bigger thing to worry about is the endemic corruption in the operations of the Railway Corporation. And let the point be made that the bandits who attacked the train in March were not passengers. They attacked the train along the route. There is no point treating every passenger like a potential criminal. 

We have also been told that there would be no night trains.  This is simple common sense. Nigeria is not safe during the day, not to talk of night time. In broad daylight, people get kidnapped, and it is worse during festive seasons when too many bandits become more desperate. The March 28 train attack occurred around 7:45 pm, forcing many people to advise against night train travels. It is in order that the Federal Government has taken the people’s suggestion in this regard. It is all such a pity though. Every means of transportation in this country has become so expensive and risky. The roads are bad, the waterways are dangerous, air travel is costly and even the trains cannot be relied upon. A country of over 200 million needs an effective public transportation system and this must be a major issue for whoever wants to lead Nigeria going forward. In some countries, public transportation is considered so important, there are Ministries of Railways as in India, China, Japan, Bangladesh, Canada and New Zealand. 

According to the NRC, the Federal Government lost N113 million due to the suspension of the Abuja-Kaduna train services for over eight months. In another account, the figure was put at N6.6 billion. What has now been decided in typical Nigerian fashion, is that fares would be increased. People died. Families lost their loved ones. Persons were killed in captivity. On one occasion, the bandits showed their victims being flogged.  They threatened to kill and maim. One of the kidnapped persons, Dr. Mustapha Imam is an Associate Professor at the Usman Dan Fodiyo University, Sokoto. He came home from India to give back to his country and share knowledge. He spent four months in captivity. When he was eventually released, he burst into tears. And now, NRC is lamenting that the corporation lost N113 million. How about lives lost, the hardship that the victims faced, the pain, the agony? The people suffer. They get punished for their suffering. Their only offence is that they are citizens of a country called Nigeria. Fares on the Abuja-Kaduna route would now be N9, 000 for 24-seater coaches, with immediate effect.  Empathy, security, and efficiency should be more important considerations for the Federal Government, not profit and greed.

President Muhammadu Buhari hit the nail squarely on the head last Thursday, when he told members of the Senior Executive Course No 44 (2022) of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPPS), Kuru that state Governors are stealing funds meant for Local Governments. The President’s assertion came about a day after the Minister for Budget and National Planning, Clement Agba had accused state Governors of being responsible for the high level of poverty among Nigerians, the majority of whom (72%) live in rural areas, and had been neglected. I felt the Minister of State was grandstanding and fishing for scapegoats. 

The simple response to him is that both the Federal and other levels of government continue to fail the people, and that the crisis is that of leadership. But the President’s position on the financial autonomy of local governments is most deserving of further emphasis. One of the many good things that the present administration has done in the area of reform includes the push for the fiscal autonomy of the judiciary and local governments, both of which have been stoutly resisted by vested interests.  In May 2020, President Buhari signed Executive Order 10 to enforce the financial autonomy of the states’ judiciary and legislature. The States raised objections and went to court. In February 2022, by a majority of six to seven, the apex court ruled that the controversial Executive Order 10 was in conflict with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution with regard to the powers of each arm of government. The President was adjudged to have acted ultra vires.  The Order was an administrative directive that monies meant for the judiciary should be sent directly to their leadership without state governors pretending to manage the funds on behalf of both the judiciary and the state legislatures, while stealing part of same. There was yet another matter. In 2019, the Nigerian Financial. Intelligence Unit had issued guidelines with regard to local governments to the effect that not more than N500, 000 can be withdrawn daily, and that state governments must not tamper with local council funds, and can only act within the purview of the law as transit points.  The state governments went to court. But the Federal High Court in Abuja presided over by Justice Inyang Ekwo ruled in May 2022, ruled that the NFIU guidelines were in order to promote transparency and that the plaintiffs (the 36 state governments) had no case. The Court found that the NFIU within its enabling Act had powers to provide guidelines. It was the second time that a court of law would decline the attempt by state governments to resist NFIU guidelines. 

The contentious issue is Section 162 (5), (6), (7) and (8) of the 1999 Constitution.  Section 162 (6) specifically creates “the State Joint Local Government Account”, and the subsequent amplifications as cited but this has been subjected to so much abuse with state governments and governors turning into supervisors and overlords of the local governments. All the 774 Local Governments in the 1999 Constitution are no better than appendages of state governments. Local government Chairmen are treated like aides of the Governors. The states rely on Section 162 (6) to collect monies due to the councils, and after charging administrative fees decide unilaterally on what they think the boys in the local governments should get. What is sent to them is barely enough to pay salaries, with some small change for the Chairmen and Councillors who by the way are so ignorant and incompetent, they are happy to collect crumbs. They are part of the problem! In March 2022, the National Assembly passed a bill to abolish Section 162 (6) of the 1999 Constitution, but for the bill to become law, it has to be passed by 24 Houses of Assembly. The Governors would not allow that to happen. Every Governor seeks to control the judiciary, the legislature and the local governments. Ours is a democracy of dictators. At some point, the State Joint Local Government Account has to be deleted from the Nigerian Constitution to provide a constitutional safety valve for the third tier of government. 

Development springs from the local councils – they are the best institutions to help address the challenge of poverty alleviation, being the level of government that is closest to the people. When they are rendered impotent and ineffectual, the entire governance superstructure is compromised. However, no one should be surprised that some Governors have responded sharply to President Buhari’s latest attempt to put them on the spot.  Benue state Governor, Samuel Ortom, David Umahi of Ebonyi State, Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq of Kwara state, Simon Lalong of Plateau State, Dapo Abiodun of Ogun state, and Nyesom Wike of Rivers State have all come forward to protest that they do not steal local government funds. President Buhari cited the specific example of one state Governor whom he refused to name. Whoever that Governor is, he would know himself. This is why every governor must speak up, otherwise we would be right to assume that all the Governors that are keeping quiet are the guilty ones. And that President Buhari knows what he is talking about. Members of the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) were quick to support the President’s assertions. They should go a step further and name the thieving Governors and states that they know. The Supreme Court may have made a technical point about the Constitution but the President can give effect to his own words by prevailing on states controlled by his own party, and they are currently in the majority, to act with integrity and eschew the theft of local council funds. When the time is ripe, Section 162 of the 1999 Constitution should be amended accordingly to put a permanent end to the mischief of the state governments.

Contrary to initial predictions that the on-going FIFA World Cup tournament in Qatar would be the dullest ever in the history of the World Cup, it is in fact defying all such doomsday calculations and turning out to be a most exciting event. The quality of play is very high, the various players are superbly motivated, the fans are enthusiastic and as the tournament progresses, it all gets even more exciting. I find myself glued to the TV set every day to keep abreast of this historic event. Initially, politics almost overshadowed the event, with FIFA having to write to all the 32 teams playing a total of 64 matches in this year’s edition to focus on football, and not the protests that had been planned around the issues of human rights record of the Qatar government, LGBTQ+ rights in particular, and the abuse of 30, 000 migrant workers who were hired to build the infrastructure for the World Cup. The government of Qatar built 7 new stadia, an airport, 100 hotels and a fan park. The politics was so much that seven Captains of the participating European teams in fact announced that they would wear “One Love armbands.”  Denmark said they would wear “tone down” shirts. Paris and other French cities threatened that they would not screen the matches in public areas. 

The Ukrainian FA also called for Iran to be banned for “systemic human rights violations”. Ahead of the tournament, Qatari authorities had to go after persons who had made fake World Cup trophies – 144 counterfeit trophies were seized, even counterfeit clothes with World Cup logos were seized. In the second week of November, a luxury liner dubbed by The Sun newspaper of London, as HMS WAG, ferrying the wives and girlfriends of England’s World Cup Squad set sail for Qatar. The players, we were told, were banned from setting foot on the massive ship, but nobody talked about the WAGs going on land to visit their men in the hotel bubbles to which they were going to be confined. There was also the issue of the consumption of alcohol. Alcohol consumption is against the country’s Islamic laws and beliefs. Homosexuality also carries a penalty of a fine or seven years imprisonment in Qatar. 

The irony is that Budweiser, a beer manufacturing company, with a $75 million deal with FIFA, is the major sponsor of the tournament and has been a FIFA sponsor for about two decades. FIFA first announced that it would be possible to drink beer in fan zones, but it eventually reversed itself and Budweiser was told to serve only zero-Bud within the vicinity of the stadiums. Now, Budweiser says the winning country will take all of its unsold beer from Qatar. FIFA would also later agree that persons who wanted to wear rainbow bucket hats or wrist bands could do so, after the Football Association of Wales protested vehemently over the maltreatment of its fans, but as we now know, Qatar’s officials refused. Even after FIFA’s assurance, fans wearing rainbow colours or symbols were arrested or rough-handled at train stations. The only man no one could do anything about is Tottenham Hotspur superstar, and England’s Captain, Harry Kane who decided to go around off-pitch with an 18-karat, diamond-encrusted, Rainbow Rolex watch worth about $950 million – a massive show of wealth, but Kane simply was protesting in support of the LGBTQ+ community and indicating his angst over FIFA’s threat that any player wearing a One Love Band will get an automatic yellow card. Kane could not wear the armband during England’s 6- 2 win over Iran.  Germany also responded last Wednesday before their Group E match kick off against Japan by covering their mouths. Germany’s Interior Minister, Nancy Faeser also wore a One Love arm-band, sitting in the stands, next to Gianni Infantino, the FIFA President. She later took it off, and of course did not get a yellow card -  she, not being a footballer. 

What Qatar represents in my view, is as I pointed out earlier in a parenthetical, prior comment on this page, now built up into an extended commentary, on what I have seen so far, is the clash of civilizations, between a conservative Middle Eastern culture, and a liberal, hypocritical Western outlook. The hypocrisy of the West is writ large. It is okay to collect sponsorship funds from Budweiser, only to turn around and breach contractual agreements and put the entire blame on the recalcitrance of Qatar. The big question in this World Cup is: should Qatar have been granted hosting rights in the first place as far back as 2010? And now 12 years after the fact, the West is complaining about human rights? This looks like a case of the money is good, bring it, but the culture is not good enough. Hell-ooo! In any case, if the World Cup is a game for the whole of humanity, no part of the world should be discriminated against, and what the people and government of Qatar are showing is that if their money is good enough for France, England and all the other Western countries, the onus is on them to also respect their culture and conservative preferences. One clear point from the politics of the current World Cup in Qatar is that the West likes to overdo things, and wittingly too, as they seek to re-write principles of international law in a manner that should be of interest to teachers and students of the subject. 

The most egregious example would seem to be the brazen manner in which the United States Soccer Federation decided to alter the Iranian flag last Saturday and chose to replace the Islamic emblem on the flag with a graphic representing the Group B standings in the FIFA World Cup. The US says it did so “to demonstrate support for the women in Iran fighting for basic rights.” This amounts to interference in the affairs of a sovereign state, but the US as a superior power is accustomed to writing its own rules of engagement with other countries of the world. And hence, it would get away with it, despite Iran and the TASNIM, the official news agency of Iran, saying that the US has violated the FIFA Charter and should be kicked out of the Qatar World Cup. Iran is slated to face off against the US today. Ahead of that encounter, the US is clearly waging a psychological war against Iran by interfering in its internal affairs. FIFA will not impose any sanctions, and thus delicately avoid getting involved in the conflict between both countries that dates back to 1980.  It will be recalled however that the Iranian team at the World Cup refused to sing their own country’s national anthem during their first World Cup game in Qatar.  The meeting between Iran and the USA today will be another “mother of all games”, a rematch of their 1998 World Cup group stage encounter which Iran won 2-1. The US may have already won the match off-pitch. 

Indeed, so political is this year’s edition of the World Cup tournament, even at the group stage level, on and off-pitch that Canelo Alvarez, the Mexican WBA, WBC, WBO and IBF super middleweight boxing champion has vowed that if he sets his eyes on Lionel Messi, he would teach him a lesson or two with his fists about how not to disrespect Mexico. Messi is accused of having pushed aside a Mexico jersey with his left foot as he tried to take off his shoes after a Group C match in which Argentina slammed Mexico 2- 0.  Messi’s fans have said that the incident was inadvertent, but Alvarez says he is keeping his fists waiting for Messi. Lionel Messi may be good at playing football, and he has done well for his country in Qatar, matching Diego Maradona’s record but I doubt if his lithe frame can take one small, punch from Alvarez’s big fist! When politics and emotions are mixed with sports, the outcome can be very dangerous. Indeed, in July 1970, El Salvador and Honduras went to war – the Soccer War or the 100-Hour War - over a World Cup qualifying match, triggered by underlying conflicts between both countries.

The World would also forever remember the Captain of the Colombian team in the USA ‘94 World Cup, Andreas Escobar, who scored an own goal and caused Colombia’s early exit from that World Cup.  He was the other Escobar. There was Pablo Escobar, not a relation of his, a blood-thirsty drug warlord who was hunted down by the police and murdered. Andres’s offence was that he scored an own goal. Six bullets were pumped into his back at the El Indio nightclub in Medellin, later described as revenge action by gangsters who made heavy losses betting on Colombia at the World Cup. “Football,” as I wrote previously, is “worse than opium”. This year, last weekend, riots broke out in Belgium and the Netherlands, after Morocco, the Atlas Lions, handed the Belgium National team a 2- 0 defeat in a Group F match. A car was burnt down in Brussels. There was violence in Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Antwerp and Brussels. The police had to use water cannons to disperse crowds and enforce some arrests.     

All of this drama about the 2022 World Cup in Qatar notwithstanding, I suspect that what would be remembered hereafter, would not necessarily be the attendant politics, but football itself, and how dominant it is as a game. The tournament is still at the group stage level at the time of this writing, but we have seen much to compel the view that this is turning out to be a remarkable event. History is being made, and it is becoming obvious that there are no underdogs on the pitch. All the 32 participating countries are in Qatar to make a statement and quite a few have been able to do so. Almighty teams, tipped to be potential winners have been humiliated by smaller teams on the FIFA ranking table. Could anyone ever imagine that Saudi Arabia would beat Argentina, 2- 1? But it happened. The King of Saudi Arabia himself found the feat so unbelievable, he had to declare a national holiday to celebrate the achievement. It doesn’t matter how Saudi Arabia fares in this World Cup, it is firmly on record that Saudi Arabia humiliated Argentina! The second major upset after this was the spectacle of Morocco beating Belgium, 2- 0. 

The victory was such a major upset it caused riots in Belgium and the Netherlands!  In a Group E opener, Germany lost to Japan in a 2 -1 upset. Germany, a football superpower, is now alive, after managing to force a draw with Spain. It now faces a must win match against Costa Rica, as it confronts the prospect of finishing bottom of its group as happened in the 2018 World Cup. Another: Canada was beaten 4-1 on Sunday night by Croatia, but it managed to score its first World Cup goal through Alphonso Davies. Canada may exit the World Cup but what the team has achieved so far- that one goal, within 67 seconds, the country’s first at the World Cup was enough to keep the pubs open in Canada on Sunday. The World Cup is a place to make history, and many are in it for the special experience and the opportunities it offers. Wales showed up in Qatar this year, the first time in 64 years. It would be difficult for Wales to reach the last 16, from Group B, sitting at the bottom of the Group, having played a draw against the USA, beaten by Iran 0 – 2, and now having to face England tomorrow.    

At least one commentator has attributed the determination and the revolt against traditional assumptions that we have seen on display at this World Cup to money: the fact that the FIFA World Cup is one of the biggest prizes in sports – the total prize money in Qatar 2022 is about 440 US million dollars, $40 million more than the previous World Cup in 2018. The winner of the tournament will walk away with $42 million. For participating at all, every team will get a minimum of $9 million. The clubs whose players are at the World Cup would get a largesse of $209 million to be distributed across the world. The referees at the tournament will get a base fee of $70, 000 and $3, 000 for every match that they oversee. FIFA already gave every participating nation $1.5 million to aid preparations.  But I don’t think what defines the World Cup is money no matter how high the paycheck is, although it must also be admitted that host country Qatar is set to cash out big time!  It is something more: the thrill of participation, nationalism and the opportunity to be on the world stage. 

The kind of energy that has been put into the game is further demonstrated even by the African teams: Ghana showing that it truly deserves a place in the sun: see what the Black Stars did in the match against Portugal on Nov. 24. They lost 3- 2, but they were formidable. In their match against South Korea, yesterday they fought like true stars, and recorded an impressive win, beating South Korea 3-2!  Before then, Morocco trounced Belgium 2-0. Cameroun forced a draw with Serbia, 3-3 in an explosive, thrilling, entertaining encounter. Serbia was leading 3-1, but the Cameroonians roared like lions and cancelled out the deficit.  Senegal lost to the Netherlands, 0-2, but they defeated Qatar, 1-3. They have survived to fight again today when they meet Ecuador. Tunisia has not done badly so far also at the World Cup. They played a draw with Denmark, in Group D, and lost to Australia, 0 -1. Their next match is against France on Wednesday. France has so far been a dominant defending champion. Les Blues are proving unstoppable, but this is again a World Cup like no other where underdogs are taking on the traditional champions and burying established reputations. The aggregate gainer is football, and the fact that football has become effectively a science, rather than 22-men running up and down, looking for the goal post. What I have been watching, to speak for myself, since the World Cup began in Qatar on November 20 looks to me like an interplay of artistry, science, and individual talent. It is a glorious testament to the capacity of the human mind and body, and how the world continually reinvents itself in time and space. The underlying and perhaps overt political and ideological currents speak to the inequalities and dissensions at the centre of geo-politics which in the long run are unresolvable given the balance of powers. 

But for giving us an opportunity to laugh and get entertained beyond the perils of COVID-19, high inflation, cost of living crisis, and the doomsday predictions of economists, the World Cup is serving a great purpose at an appropriate time. When last, did the entire world laugh and cry along the full emotional spectrum therapeutically, over something as refreshing as sports, the interplay of talents, emotions and national pride? COVID-19 blocked our joys. The World Cup is setting our emotions free. And so, as the beat goes on, let the games continue, and may the best team triumph.   

On October 16, 2022, former Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti state handed over power at a colourful ceremony attended by big wigs of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and others to Mr. Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji, the former Secretary to the Ekiti State Government who emerged as Governor-elect in the state’s June 18 Governorship election. Fayemi had completed his maximum two terms as Governor. He served as Governor, 2010 -2014, and also from October 2018 to October 2022. In-between, he was Nigeria’s Minister of Solid Minerals Development. But since his departure in October, it may be correct to say that Ekiti has not been able to settle down to governance.  

The shadow of the past hangs ominously over the present, complicating the crisis that we have seen in the difficulty of appointing/electing a new Speaker for the Ekiti State House of Assembly. Students of Nigeria’s democratic process would readily admit that this is nothing new: getting a new Speaker for a State House of Assembly is always a war-like venture. The House of Assembly, the legislative assembly in the states, performs an oversight function over governments at that level, in addition to making good laws for good governance in defence of the people’s interest.  But this is also precisely why governors, Godfathers and other stakeholders are perpetually interested in the leadership of the legislature. No reasonable Governor or his Godfathers would ever allow the legislature to fall into the hands of contrarian figures who in a moment or dangerous self-assertiveness could plot against the Executive arm and wrong-foot the Governor by holding him to ransom, impeach him or make it impossible for him to govern.  

In a more recent case in Edo State, police had to take over the Edo State House of Assembly as the members fought for control. For more than two years, 14 elected lawmakers were shut out of the Assembly by their own colleagues. The ensuing drama was sordid, ugly, unbelievable. One fateful morning in August 2020, some unknown persons who have remained unknown two years after the fact, removed the entire roof of the State House of Assembly, and made away with the legislative Mace. There were stories of impeachments and counter impeachments. At the time, Governor Godwin Obaseki had left the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and was seeking re-election on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).   Similar dramas had been enacted elsewhere since 1999. In Plateau State for example, five Speakers of the House of Assembly were either impeached or forced to resign at various times between 2000 and 2021. 

In Kogi, Plateau, Imo (four Speakers in three years!), Ebonyi and Enugu and elsewhere, the impeachment of the Speaker has been used as a crude weapon to keep the legislature in check and remind members of the legislature that they are not as independent as the Constitution makes them to be.  The sociology of the power game is such that the leadership of the State House of Assembly is expected to be absolutely loyal to the Governor and his power bloc within the state, and that includes the Governor’s Godfathers, supporters and even family members.  The State House of Assembly is expected to do whatever the Governor and his people want not to act as a watchdog, barking from the pages of the Constitution.  To show how serious this is, it is important to note that in 2015, the Ebonyi State House of Assembly was set ablaze due to disagreements between the Executive and the legislature. Governors do not fold their arms once they perceive any form of assertiveness from the House so as not to have the ugly experience of impeachment as had happened in Bayelsa and Oyo States. The legislative arm of government in Nigeria since the First Republic has indeed been an arena for chaos, motor park politics, scuffles, rancour and free for all fights. It is worse today, and it promises to get even more problematic. 

The latest under the present dispensation is the on-going drama in the Ekiti State House of Assembly.  Following the death of the former Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, Hon. Funminiyi Afuye, 66, from Ikere Constituency 1, on October 19, 2022, the leaders of the APC in Ekiti State, comprising former APC Governors Kayode Fayemi, former Governor Niyi Adebayo, now Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Chairman of the party, Paul Omotoso and the incumbent Governor, Abiodun Oyebanji had resolved that the unfinished tenure of Afuye, should be completed by someone from his South Senatorial District, precisely Emure Constituency,  in order to preserve the slot for the people of that area. The leaders therefore anointed Mrs Bunmi Adelugba as Afuye’s successor. This is ironic considering the fact that the elected deputy Governor, Monisade Afuye is from the same political constituency as the late Speaker of the House, although not a relation of his. Nigeria’s power sharing calculus and political arrangements can be utterly befuddling, and political godfathers thrive on this.

But as it turned out on the floor of the House, the Clerk of the House provided ballot papers, and rejected the voice vote proposed by the elders, and during the vote, instead of a coronation as ordered by the powers-that-be, the Clerk announced two candidates – Aribisogan and Adelugba. The Clerk said members would vote using the ballot papers. Aribisogan who had in fact been mandated after a meeting with all the 25 members of the House to nominate and support Hon Olubunmi Adelugba, emerged the eventual winner. The elders and the party felt betrayed.  They refused to recognize him. Aribisogan has quite some history as a perpetual outlier. He got into the House of Assembly in June 2015 on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). For always trying to assert himself, he was suspended from the House from 2016 – October 11, 2018, under the then Governor Ayo Fayose administration. In 2019, he defected to the APC and returned to the House when Fayemi became Governor for a second term under the platform of the APC. In the on-going drama, he and his supporters are again in the eye of the storm. 

Yesterday, six days after he assumed the Speakership of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, he was impeached by a 17-member majority. He and 6 others were immediately suspended that is: Gboyega Aribisogan (Ikole 1), Tajudeen Akingbolu (Ekiti West 1), Goke Olajide (Efon) Yemisi Ayokunle (Ekiti Southwest 1), Adeyemi Raphael Ajibade (Moba 1) , Kemi Balogun (Ado 1), and Tope Ogunleye (Ilejemeje). They were suspended without pay with immediate effect. They were further barred from getting anywhere close to 1.5 km radius of the premises of the House of Assembly Complex. The suspended members were also asked to hand over properties of the government in their possession and should they wish to be reabsorbed, they must write a letter of apology to the leadership of the House! 

The lawmakers promptly elected a new Speaker, Rt. Hon. Olubunmi Adelugba, as dictated by the powers-that-be. The House also immediately passed the Supplementary Budget for the state, and assigned the 2023 Budget to the Appropriation Committee. One of Aribisogan’s crimes was that he blocked the passage of the 2022 Supplementary Appropriation Bill., in addition to he and his gang, “causing disaffection, tension and apprehension… and importing hoodlums armed with dangerous weapons into the gallery and chambers of the complex.”  It was said that in fact on Monday, November 14, Hon. Aribisogan and his men brought juju men to the Ekiti State House of Assembly at 2 am! Rt. Hon. Olubunmi Adelugba, yesterday’s beneficiary of the Ekiti chaos, is now the first female Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly since the return to democracy in 1999. Immediately after her election, Mrs.  Adelugba led all her colleagues, the ones not suspended, to the state secretariat of the APC, to officially report to party leaders of the APC in Ekiti State!

What is on display in Ekiti State is absolute tyranny. Ekiti is currently a one-party state. All the members of the State House of Assembly, now 25 after Afuye’s death are members of the APC. But nobody is allowed to have an independent opinion. The party dictates everything, and this is the misfortune that Aribisogan and gang have suffered. I have no dog in their fight, but I assume that for Nigeria’s democracy to grow, it must be possible at both Federal and sub-national levels to allow an interplay of ideas and to allow those who have oversight roles to do their bit without the imposition of portions by party leaders. I am particularly shocked that Kayode Fayemi’s name is being mentioned in connection with the current confusion in Ekiti State, confusion yes, because we may not have heard the last details of it. 

After serving as Governor, and as a Federal Minister, what else could Kayode Fayemi be looking for? He is capable of defending himself as robustly as he chooses – I know that – but I guess it is utterly beneath him to behave like the typical Nigerian politician, who after leaving office behaves like a man without a second address.  Fayemi should allow Oyebanji to sink or swim on his own steam. He should move on, and let the new players in Ekiti write their own testimonials. He should avoid being dragged into the emerging mess in Ekiti. If he is bored, let him write another book. If he doesn’t want that, let him go on a vacation with Bisi Fayemi, the woman who has stood by him through thick and thin. If that is not enough, let him throw himself into the campaign of the APC Presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu. I understand that may be a bit tough, Tinubu having been surrounded by an evil-minded band of blood-thirsty sharks, sycophants, and intellectual shamanists, but that team can be oxygenated with a few brilliant persons like Fayemi.  It is time to rise above this village, ara-oke, back of beyond politics. 

Fayemi should remember Aribisogan’s swan song. He said on television: “The majority of members of Assembly voted for me but few of them who felt perhaps I did not follow the directive of the former Governor, Dr. Fayemi thought that they would make the state ungovernable for even the administration. I didn’t have any quarrel with him. I sent a message to him even last night asking: What is happening? Am I no longer one of your loyalists? Why did you not congratulate me? Up till now that I’m speaking, he has not done anything. Otherwise, he has been going around calling our members to go and impeach me tomorrow. That is the truth.”  

As of this moment, Aribisogan already has all the answers that he seeks. Let him deal with the truth.  It should be of interest to him in particular that former Governor Fayemi has already tried to explain his role in the matter, speaking yesterday through one Ahmad Sajoh of his Abuja Media Office who said: “Fayemi Had No Hand In The Impeachment of Ekiti Speaker”. As he puts it: “We note the allegation by the former Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, Mr. Gboyega Aribisogan, that his impeachment was masterminded by Dr. Kayode Fayemi, the immediate past Governor of the State. We wish to clarify that Dr. Fayemi had nothing to do with the removal of the former Speaker by his peers as this was the internal arrangement of the State House of Assembly. We wish to note that even as Governor, Dr. Fayemi did not interfere with the independence of the House and respected the principle of separation of powers of where the House had freedom to decide on their internal affairs.” 

Please, please, and please: even if Fayemi has his hand, nose, legs, mouth and full chest in the matter, do we expect him to say so?  Our concern is that the people of Ekiti State do not deserve to be held down by the politics of ego and difference. They deserve better. Ekiti has a very poor population. It is one of the smallest states in Nigeria. It is also one of the poorest. Ekiti is in need of development and leadership. The earlier Oyebanji began to focus on that, the better. On the day of his inauguration on October 16, 2022, he promised to run an all-inclusive government that would guarantee prosperity, abundance, unity and equity and transform Ekiti into a microcosm of development. He needs to be reminded of all those promises in case he has forgotten so soon. The people of Ekiti deserve good governance, not noise, chaos and ego conflicts. 

The 22^nd edition of the FIFA football World Cup currently taking place in Qatar, the first-ever edition of the World Cup in the Middle East, is causing so much self-inflicted catarrh in the Western media due to the attempt by that wing of media practice to do everything possible to discredit the hosting of the World Cup by the Middle Eastern country. It has been said that Qatar “bought” the World Cup for sports-washing purposes, or that it is all about the money, and questions have been raised about LGBTQ+ rights, the treatment of migrant workers, human rights records of the Qatari government and the legitimacy of the entire event in the desert.  

On Sunday, the games began. FIFA had warned before then that everyone should focus on the sports – football, not politics. In the end, I think what would be played up would be the hypocrisy of the West, and how the game itself would drown out every other ancillary matter and create a history of its own, which is already the case. What we may well remember hereafter is not the hypocrisy of the West but the special moments of the tournament.  On Sunday, the BBC practically ignored the opening ceremony of the World Cup. Major European countries have vowed not to show the matches in public places. Celebrities like Morgan Freeman and David Beckham who chose to identify with the Qatar World Cup have been vilified. But when it suits them, European leaders in the UK and France do business with Qatar. They even collect gifts from its rulers. They run to the country to look for gas supplies or to sell arms. We live most certainly in an unequal world where some countries believe that they can set standards for others as it suits them. In hosting this year’s World Cup, the Qataris are insisting on their own standards and sticking to them, on their own terms, putting a fresh accent on Samuel P. Huntington’s The Clash of Civilizations and Edward W. Said’s prognostications in his book, Culture and Imperialism.  

The Qataris have insisted that nobody can drink beer or alcohol anywhere within the perimeters of the stadiums. Beer or no beer, history is already being made. Qatar is now in the history books as the first host country to lose an opening match. Yesterday, England walloped Iran 6-2.  The Iran team refused to sing their country’s national anthem in protest. They are obviously in Qatar for politics not football. Mane-less Senegal got beaten 0- 2 by the Netherlands. The last time Wales was in the World Cup was 1958. Yesterday evening, it was Wales 1- USA – 1. Football is worse than opium. 

One of the major problems that we have had to contend with since the return to civilian rule in 1999, and even long before then in previous electoral cycles and subsequently – 1959, 1979, 1983, 1993, 1999, 2007, 2011, 2015, and 2019 more notably, has been the spectre of electoral violence - in the form of killings, attacks, assault, assassination, affray, before during and after elections. In 1965, following the assembly elections in the South West, Nigeria recorded a blow out of violent attacks, characterized in some of the reports as “We tie” or the “Wild Wild West”. It was standard practice in the First Republic for major political parties and leaders to engage the services of thugs, otherwise known as “able-bodied men”. Their job was to protect political leaders, and help rig the votes on election day. This became an established pattern in Nigeria’s elections, which are regarded more by the stakeholders not as a democratic process but war by another name. In 1983, during the Second Republic, there was post-election violence in Ondo State, involving Adekunle Ajasin and Akin Omoboriowo, the ugliness of which is fully captured in Dare Babarinsa’s book on the matter – House of War (2003). The Nigeria Security Tracker (NST) reports that 100 people were killed in election-related violence in 2003, 300 in 2007., and 800 in 2011. 

Both the state and the political establishment participated in the promotion of this ugly phenomenon, so badly that it became a standard feature of Nigerian politics. Many of the thugs would eventually after the elections show up as persons of influence, having been rewarded generously by their paymasters with state largesse including political appointments or the Chairmanship of Road Transport Workers Associations, or the management of motor park garages where they run alternative tax collection systems which are deliberately overlooked by the state. Many of the political thugs who do not get rewarded for their efforts or who fall out with the leaders within their cells end up becoming criminals, or a threat to the established order to the extent that there is a connection between Nigerian politics and the criminal underworld. It is for this reason that every election season, politicians are constantly told to eschew violence, and they are made to pledge commitments to uphold reason, decency and civility. 

In 2014, Nigeria witnessed ahead of the 2015 general elections, the emergence of a non-governmental organization, the National Peace Committee led by former Head of State, General Abdusalami Abubakar, and Bishop of the Catholic Church of Nigeria, Matthew Hassan Kukah. Today, the leadership of the NPC has been further expanded, and is far more representative of the influential class. Some of the leaders include the Sultan of Sokoto, HRH Sa’ad Abubakar III, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Mr. Femi Otedola, Dame Priscilla Kuye, Archbishop Nicholas Okoh, John Cardinal Onaiyekan, John Momoh, Idayat Hassan, Gen. Martin Agwai (rtd) and Justice Rose Ukeje (rtd). Their core mandate has been the promotion of peace, justice and since 2014, the body has consistently ensured that political gladiators commit themselves to a peace accord, long before the elections. The NPC monitors compliance with the accord. It serves as a strong moral voice in political seasons that are  ever so likely to descend into rancour, hatred and bitterness. 

In September 2022, ahead of the flag-off of campaigns for Nigeria’s 2023 general elections, the NPC announced that all the 18 political parties on the ballot would sign two peace accords. The first Peace Accord was signed at the International Conference Centre, Abuja on Thursday, September 29, at a ceremony attended by the All Progressives Congress (APC), the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), the Labour Party (LP), the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), the African Democratic Congress (ADC), the Social Democratic Party (SDP), the Action Alliance (AA) and the Allied Peoples Movement (APM).  In a communique dated September 22, 2022, the National Peace Committee announced that “2023 is more than an election. It is an opportunity to serve Nigeria, to defend Nigeria and to uphold her unity and progress…Nigerians should avoid the spread of fake news and uphold the principles tolerance, respect, civility and decency in all public and private conversations and engagements about election and the progress of Nigeria..All political actors, especially their publicity agents and media advisers, should shun personal attacks, avoid insults and incitements; reject the spread of fake news and commit to issue-based campaigns and political rallies in the upcoming 2023 general elections”.

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While the NPC may wield only moral influence, its regular signposting of the importance of non-violent conduct is nonetheless important. Over the years, there have also been concrete efforts to deal with the menace of electoral violence in the relevant laws. In this regard, Part VII of the Electoral Act 2022 deals specifically with “Electoral Offences” which include acts of violence, and the penalties for infractions duly stated therein.  It is also on record that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has continued to advocate for the establishment of an Electoral Offences Commission which would place the proper spotlight on electoral offences, reduce the burden on INEC to prosecute electoral offenders, and ensure that electoral offences are dealt with expeditiously.  The advocacy for an Electoral Offences Commission has a long history of its own. It must be noted that INEC is one of the strongest supporters of the current “Bill for an Act to Establish the National Electoral Offences Commission and Related Matters 20222”, which was presented for public hearing by the House of Representatives in August 2022. INEC says it wants more successful prosecution of electoral offenders.  The Bill was opposed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) which argued that there are already existing bureaucracies that can deal with electoral offences. 

The facts suggest otherwise. Existing institutions and bureaucracies have proved incapable of dealing with electoral offences and particularly, the threat and menace of violence. INEC is right with its proposal that there is a need to provide a special framework for electoral offences and the necessary structures to bring those who violate the democratic process to book, no matter how highly placed they may be. It must be admitted that there are certain elements among us in high and low places who do not believe in the idea of Nigeria, who lack the milk of human kindness and decency and who will stop at nothing to place their personal interests/ambition above the country. They simply don’t care. The key target of the electoral process should be to stop such people, and rescue the country from their demonic grips. There is more than enough evidence to prove that this is not one of those lamentation odes. The biggest threat to the 2023 general elections is the threat of violence. The political parties may have signed the aforementioned Peace Accord, but the reality is that they have not seen any reason to imbibe the spirit of the accord. There are laws in place to check electoral violence, but the political gladiators think that it is business as usual. Our fear is that it could get worse, and things could get out of control. The worst part is that the security agencies appear helpless and confused, and that is why they are beginning to sound like preachers!  

As at the time of this writing, less than 102 days to the general elections, starting with the Presidential elections on February 23, 2023, I repeat that the threat of violence is the biggest challenge that we all face. INEC has had to lament that 242 polling units in 10 Local Government Areas of Katsina State are at risk due to insecurity. The electoral body has also proposed that it could relocate the voters elsewhere, but even if that option is convenient for INEC, the question to ask is whether or not that would not lead to voter apathy or constructive, inadvertent disenfranchisement of many voters. It is not Katsina alone. INEC has also been a victim of nature-induced violence in many parts of the country, where as a result of floods, many of its offices have been submerged and many facilities destroyed. But the more critical problem would seem to be the organized attacks on INEC offices. In the past week, there were two major incidents: the attack on the INEC office at Iyana Mortuary in Abeokuta South Local Government in Ogun State. The office was set ablaze, reportedly by eight, unidentified persons, and perhaps unidentifiable persons who threw bread soaked in petrol into the INEC premises and lit a bonfire. About the same time in Osun State, a similar group also set the INEC office on fire. The loss is extensive. In Abeokuta, eight generating sets were damaged. Over 65, 600 Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs), 904 ballot boxes, 57 election bags 29 voting cubicles were either stolen or destroyed!   In Osun state, the resident electoral commissioner, Dr. Mutiu Agboke has said that despite the attack on the INEC office in Ede South LGA, the commission’s sensitive materials are still intact.  What is clear, however, is that some law-breakers are out there trying to instill fear in INEC as well as voters and sabotage the electoral process. If this trend continues, the entire 2023 elections will be derailed! INEC needs help. 

The political parties are also in trouble. Since September 28 when the campaigns began, Nigerian politicians have been behaving as if this is truly a rumble in the jungle, a Darwinian, apocalyptic struggle for survival. The route to the 2023 general elections in Nigeria has become a season for thugs and architects of violence. The Labour Party, for example has had cause to complain about the harassment of its supporters in Ebonyi, Nasarawa, Katsina and Lagos States. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has protested about attacks on its members and supporters in Kaduna, Port Harcourt, Zamfara and Maiduguri. Other political parties have had cause to complain about how they are denied the opportunity to paste posters or erect billboards or even gain access to the media especially in those states where incumbent Governors insist that the opposition would not be allowed to campaign. This amounts to a violation of the law, but they get way with it. What is even more disturbing is the rise of hate speech and the politics of intolerance perpetrated electronically by a peculiar group of social media bandits who speak without thinking, attack without any iota of civility, and who damage their candidates without sparing a thought for their own vulnerabilities.

The more saddening part of this narrative is that the security agencies appear to be helpless. At a recent meeting of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Electoral Security (ICCES), the National Security Adviser (NSA), Gen. Baba Gana Monguno (rtd) confirmed the seriousness of the situation when he disclosed that with 52 cases of electoral violence in 22 states in one month, it was clear that some hoodlums were ready to derail the election. He should know. He is National Security Adviser.  At that event and elsewhere, the security agencies continue to promise that they are “on top of the situation” and that anybody who tries to derail the elections at any stage will be summarily dealt with. But can we trust the security agencies? In Maiduguri, Borno State, the recent attack on the PDP convoy was recorded by journalists who were present at the scene, but the Borno Police Command came out openly to declare that what had become open evidence was fake news. Did the Borno State Police Commissioner attend the Senior Police Officers Retreat in Owerri where President Muhammadu Buhari, before he jetted out for two weeks, admonished police officers to be neutral and professional in the discharge of their duties in the 2023 elections. Mr Commissioner Abdu Umar was probably there and he dozed off when the President was making that point! Many of these guys sleep on duty anyway. And that is why they tell shameless lies. The Borno State Police Commissioner should be summoned by the Inspector General of Police.

We need all the security agencies to be awake and alive as we move towards the 2023 general elections. The country’s security chiefs should stop lamenting and preaching. They should do their work, professionally, and stop whining.  

This is turning out to be a horrible year, with the latest house of horror news that now defines Nigeria being the report of a young lady who jumped to her death a few days ago on the Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos. Ms Adetutu Adedokun was said to have been a staff of the Department of State Services (DSS). She had only recently been promoted for her sterling performance at work as an unarmed combat operative in her set. In addition to the promotion at work, she got affianced.  Beautiful young lady, doing well at work and in her private life. Then everything came to an abrupt stop. 

The key story that we have heard is that the Uber driver taking her from the Mainland to the Island said she was quarrelling with her fiancée on the phone, before she asked him to stop the car and she jumped into the lagoon. It is shameful that even the security agencies have been promoting this narrative. One of the problems with the security agencies in this country is that they lack the capacity for intelligence gathering and investigation. They find it too easy to adopt a simple story that is often most suited for pepper soup joints. Suicide is sad. It is an irreversible act of violence against the self. It raises questions about our mortality and why people decide to end it all. More than 72 hours after Ms Adedokun, an officer of the state, died, there have been no solid leads from the state authorities. Not even from the DSS she worked for.  

Her death raises more questions in need of enquiry. Who is the Uber driver in question? Why was he so quick to offer an explanation and identify a suspect? Is it standard practice for Uber drivers to eavesdrop on their passengers’ phone conversations? Why did the Uber driver stop the vehicle when he was asked to do so, when there is certainly no bus stop on the Third Mainland Bridge? The Uber driver in this case must not be allowed to go. He must tell the security agencies what he knows. Another question: is it likely that there is a linkage between Ms Adedokun’s work and promotion and her sudden death? What secret state matters was she working on before her death? Where is her fiancee? Has he been called in for questioning?  

 In recent times, more women have committed suicide in Nigeria. Is there a gender explanation? Before Adetutu Adedokun, there was Afolake Abiola, the Globacom Chartered Accountant. When these incidents occur, we express sorrow. The security agencies do nothing and we all wait till another person dies. Not good enough. Every case of alleged suicide must be thoroughly investigated to establish the truth.