REUBEN'S VIEWS
The death of Sylvester Oromoni, a JSS 2 Student of Dowen College in Lekki, Lagos under controversial circumstances, has understandably sparked outrage - with both parents and other concerned citizens expressing shock and anger. Sylvester Oromoni Jr’s death speaks to the failure of the Nigerian school system, the collapse of morals and the evil that has overtaken not just the education sector but virtually every segment of society. Many parents toil day and night to be able to give their children the benefit of a good education. With the Nigerian public system having failed – many public schools do not even have blackboards, or chalk or duster, many do not have decent classrooms, the children sit in decrepit buildings threatening to collapse, the teachers are poorly paid or they do not even get their salaries, the learning environment in many schools would seem fit only for goats and poultry, certainly not for those we describe as leaders of tomorrow. Faced with such a harum-sacrum public education system and demoralized teachers, many families opt to send their children to private schools. These schools vary in terms of structures, facilities and standards, depending on location and ownership. But what has been seen is the failure of the entire system, both public and private.
The standards of old have disappeared. Nigeria’s places of learning have become environments of strife and chaos. The moral turpitude which has turned Nigeria into a land of failure – failure of ethos, governance and leadership – has crept into the schools. In the Northern part of the country, terrorists routinely kidnap students for ransom, for conversion to the Islamic religion, for recruitment as child brides or soldiers, or as pawns in a sustained assault against the Nigerian state. Over 600 schools were shut down in 2021 alone due to terrorist attacks. In the South, patterns of violence have also been observed in schools. The students are on drugs, they form cult gangs, they bully one another; they join armed robbery gangs. Each time, there is a report of kidnap or disruption in any Nigerian school, there are loud ooohs and aaahs, and soon the noise dies down and we all wait until the next crisis occurs.
The latest is the death of Sylvester Oromoni Jr. He was said to have been bullied by four of his colleagues at Dowen College. They beat him up. They gave him a substance to drink. Every effort by his family to rescue him failed. He died in the hospital. Before he gave up the ghost, he reportedly mentioned the names of his assailants. The school had tried to cover up the incident by insisting that he was only injured during a football session and that he was not bullied by anyone. His father, who celebrated his 12th birthday, post-humously, on December 4th (what a way to handle grief!) insists that he wants the truth. He wants justice. And he would not bury his son until justice is done. He has the support of the Delta State government and community where he hails from and concerned parents across the country. Every family is united in condemning the death of the innocent 12-year-old. Master Oromoni could have been the child of any other family. Many testimonies have been given by other parents about how their own children were bullied too and the cost of the negligence of school authorities. But one question: why did it take so long before the deceased was taken to hospital for help?
The Lagos State Government has shut down and sealed off Dowen College indefinitely. The Government and the Nigeria Police have also commenced investigations into the incident. The school authorities finally managed to issue a statement on December 2. The school denied flatly that Sylvester Oromoni was ever beaten, bullied or assaulted, by any student and that any other story is at best “wild social media tales.” Dowen College authorities also disclosed that the school has a “very cordial relationship” with the Oromoni family as Sylvester Jr. was “the fifth child of the family Dowen College had the privilege to train…” We are further told that the school is “built on core values of Godliness and Excellence and will not tolerate any acts of cultism…” Thus, there are two sides to the story of the painful death of Sylvester Oromoni, and it is the more reason an investigation is important: to establish the truth and to ensure that justice is done. I have heard some concerned parents threatening that if Sylvester had been their child, they would have gone to the school to burn it down and demonstrate “serious madness.” No parent ever wants a child to die. Parents send their children to school to prepare them for the future and help them achieve their dreams. Sylvester Oromoni wanted to be a pilot. That dream is dead, a whole future has been buried. It is indeed painful.
It is even the more reason that both the Lagos state government and the police must do a thorough investigation. There have been similar promises of investigations in the past which yielded no results. This particular case must not be swept under the carpet. This has come to public attention because it was reported by a whistleblower. The question is: How widespread are cases of this nature within the school system? Lagos State has over 20, 000 private schools from primary to the tertiary level. Can the state boast of a strong inspectorate division to enforce standards in both the public and private schools? How many personnel work in the Inspectorate Division of the state’s Ministry of Education and how well equipped are they? How many times do they visit the schools? Once upon a time in this country, school inspectors were an important part of the education sector. They even inspected teachers’ notes, school facilities and engaged with students. I recall they used to time their visits to coincide with lunch time. They tasted the food too! During school hours, there was a task force that patrolled the streets. If you were of school age and you were found loitering around during school hours, you could be arrested! We now have a Universal Basic Education (UBEC) Law with strict provisions about school enrolment including penalties for parents but nobody enforces any law anymore. Is it possible that the school inspectors of today collude with school proprietors and simply look the other way?
There has been a reference to the existence of a cult or a gang in Dowen College, as in many other schools. Is it possible that the school authorities do not know this? The school claims that there was no bullying or assault. Does the school have House Masters? And how diligent are those House Masters? There have been allegations that the owners of the school are opposed to the idea of a Parents Teachers’ Association (PTA), and so the school does not have one. Is that true? It would be most strange indeed if it were to be true. What kind of school would not have a forum for regular interaction between the school authorities and parents. And what kind of parent would patronize such a school? Even universities these days set up PTAs. The University of Lagos (UNILAG) has a vibrant PTA that gets involved in everything from students’ registration to hostel allocation and the welfare of students! Parents should be the most important stakeholders in the school system. The Dowen College investigating panel should look into this and other issues. By the way, has anyone set up a panel yet? What is the composition of the panel? What are its terms of reference? Who are the members? Who is the Chairperson? The public needs to know. An investigating panel of civil servants will not pass the trust test, Mr. Governor. And by the way, Dowen College has issued another statement dated December 4, which seems to have been written by a wiser person.
Now, let me return to our preliminary comment about how the school system in Nigeria has failed. What has happened to our schools is frightening. Reported cases are frightening enough but imagine the number of cases that have been swept under the carpet. The Oromoni case has resulted in a prodding of public memory in this regard. One, people have again remembered the case of Don Davis Archibong, a JSS 1 student of Deeper Life High School, Uyo whose mother, Deborah Okezie, cried out to the High Heavens, early 2021, that her son was emaciated and had been a target of sodomy in a Christian school. Months later, the school principal, and four others, including the vice principal and housemasters, have now been charged for involvement in the starvation and sexual abuse of Don Archibong. They have been remanded in prison custody pending when they meet their bail conditions.
In January, when the story became public knowledge, Okezie alleged that her son contemplated suicide. She said her son was bullied by a teacher and some senior students in his school. The case has only now shown up in December! Two, there is also the case of Karen Aondoo Akpager, a JSS 2, 12-year-old boarding student of Premier Academy, Lugbe, Abuja, who died on June 22, 2021. She took ill in school and was unable to walk. When she was eventually rushed to the hospital by her mother, doctors observed a discharge from her vagina, and this was found to be from a condom in her private part. Her urine also revealed dead spermatozoa. She died. Who on earth slept with a 12-year-old student in a boarding school and left a condom in her body? Her parents have been asking for justice since June. Of course, Premier Academy also blamed the social media for misinforming the public and peddling “unfounded statements.”
Three, in Delta state this year, an SS3 student, Michael Ogbeise, was reported to have beaten a teacher at Erimu Secondary School in Abraka to death for flogging his sister who was also a student in the same school. The teacher, Ezeugo Joseph was beaten black and blue, he slipped into unconsciousness. He never recovered. This is a classic case of how even teachers in Nigerian schools are no longer safe. Four, before the Abraka incident, a final year student at the University of Ilorin, one Salaudeen Waliu Anuoluwa, was reportedly expelled by the university, for having the temerity to beat up a lecturer, one Mrs Rahmat Zakariyau of the Department of Microbiology. And five, in the last week of November, in the Asero area of Abeokuta, students of two secondary schools engaged themselves in a bloody fight. When the police from Obantoko moved in to ensure peace, the DPO was attacked and drenched in blood. And six, only yesterday, December 6, students of Idogbo Secondary School, Benin City, Edo State, disrupted school activities as they went on a rampage. The school principal was said to have called in the Police. The students (secondary school students!) overpowered the police men, gave them a thorough beating and seized their uniforms. There are probably many more examples out there, but the aforementioned must be shocking enough. What kind of country runs a school system that breeds cultists and hooligans who readily overpower teachers, the system and the rule of law? A straightforward answer is that the Nigerian school system is a reflection of the entire society itself.
The government bullies the people, assaults their sensibilities daily, beats the people, cheats them, deceives them and so the younger generation simply reproduces the same patterns. The real danger is that Nigeria’s youth society is proving to be worse than the adult society. There are no innocent children anymore, no safe havens either. A few years ago, a Pentecostal Church in Nigeria established a University and came up with the idea that any female students seeking admission into that Christian University must undergo a virginity test. We railed at the time against what looked like a discriminatory idea. The university stood its ground. But it didn’t take long before the idea died a natural death, as the university itself discovered the ugly truth that there was no point looking for a virgin in a thriving abortion clinic! A few years later, one University Vice Chancellor in Ghana protested that foreign students from Nigeria were introducing cultism to universities in Ghana. Children have a way of imitating their parents.
What must we do? Parents need to be vigilant. Many parents think of the education of their children in terms of cost and class. There are many useless schools across the country with fanciful names, and strong snob appeal. Parents send their children there just so they can be seen to belong to a certain class – the nouveaux riche. My son is in so, so and so school… the snobs know themselves and how much some of these schools cost per term… even if many of them are relying on bank loans and borrowings to maintain their fake lives. A school should be chosen for a different set of reasons: standards, values, quality. State authorities must also be awake to their responsibilities in the areas of policy and regulation. There are policies, rules and laws in the books, but they are invoked only when there is a crisis. For the most part, nobody would remember that there are laws in Lagos State against cultism in schools or that the state has a Child Rights Law. It took the Don Davis Archibong incident in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State for the Magistrate Court to throw the law at the defendants.
The state must be more vigilant. The laws relating to violence, cultism, and child rights, are strong enough. It is just that nobody enforces them, because the will to do so is absent. Everybody knows everybody in Nigeria and so the right thing never gets done. In France, there are about 700,000 cases of bullying per annum in schools, resulting in social media humiliation and increased cases of suicide among adolescents. Last week, the French parliament decided to introduce stiffer legislation. The proposed law imposes a 3-year jail term, and a maximum fine of 150, 000 Euros in most serious cases, on anyone that is found guilty of school bullying. The law was proposed by Education Minister, Jean-Michel Blanquer. It has been approved by the lower house. If it is adopted by the Senate in February 2022, it would be one of the harshest laws against school bullying in the world. Combatting bullying is also part of Brigitte Macron, a school teacher, and the French President’s wife’s area of focus. Jean-Michel Blanquer says the law is “a way of enforcing the values of the Republic.” What are the values of the Nigerian Republic? Do we know or agree on what those values are? How do we begin to enforce them? We can start with our troubled school system by confronting the ugly truths. Sylvester Oromoni, the father, has taken a useful step in that direction, by engaging Femi Falana, SAN, to sue the school and demand a coroner’s inquest.
The world’s greatest fear about the coronavirus pandemic was confirmed last week with the discovery of a new mutation of the virus, known originally as the B.1.1.529, a development which reminded us strongly that the pandemic was far from over. More than 20 months after the virus was detected in Wuhan, China, the world has gone through many twists and turns, with lockdowns, travel restrictions, a global demand and supply crisis, the struggle to find a vaccine, and the politics of vaccine manufacturing and vaccination. By the middle of 2021, economies began to return to the path of recovery. Economists had also started thinking of better possibilities in the new year. But the emergence of a new coronavirus variant has sent shock waves around the world. Last Friday, currencies and markets plunged. Crude oil lost as much as $10 per barrel. The Dow Jones Average dropped 900 points. By yesterday, the Australian dollar, the Japanese yen and the Mexico peso had rebounded slightly but Omicron as the new variant has now been named clouds the economic outlook for the immediate future in many countries around the world. What comes next will be dictated by what scientists end up with as they buy time to understand the nature and transmissibility of this new mutant.
What is certain is that economic uncertainty has risen. Economists have been compelled to be a bit humble with their scenario planning. Omicron is a major setback in the battle against COVID-19 and a dent to whatever progress may have been made so far. We face the prospect of a compromised Christmas season, and a long-running conversation about COVID-19. There is a ring of familiarity to it. We have been here before but the uncertainty is deeper this time around because of the threat of “vaccine escape”; that is a new strain of the virus which may evade immunity responses and prove to be resistant to existing vaccines. Omicron is said to be most likely more deadly than the Delta variant, with 30 or more mutations in the spike protein which raises the risk of immune evasion.
Evolutionary virologists often talk about the infinite capacity of viruses to evolve, but the only consolation is that no virus can transform itself forever, it can only evolve until it reaches a genetic end-point. But who knows how much more havoc COVID-19 would cause before it reaches that end-point? Angelique Coetzee, the Chair of the South African Medical Association who alerted health officials to a certain variant with a “clinical picture that doesn’t fit Delta”, and who treated 30 patients has been quoted as saying the symptoms of Omicron are relatively mild. Whereas such statements may give hope, the truth is that no definitive scientific statement has been made yet on the latest variant. In South Africa, COVID positivity rate jumped from 3.6 % on Wednesday to 9.2% by Saturday. In the UK, Health Secretary, Sajid Javid says government is nowhere near imposing further restrictions. But the truth is that around the world, Omicron has sparked a chain of reactions. From Europe to Asia, to North America, travel restrictions have been re-introduced, stringent travel protocols have been imposed on travellers from certain parts of the world, especially Southern Africa where the strain was first reported in Botswana, and then later confirmed through genome sequencing by South African scientists. The new strain was brought to international attention by November 25.
The unfortunate part of the Omicron saga so far would be the initial attempt to stigmatise the countries of Southern Africa and label B.1.1.529, an African variant. By weekend, one country after another including the United Kingdom and Israel had banned flights to and from six Southern African countries; South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini and Zimbabwe. Israel added Mozambique, and then later banned travel from all foreign countries. By Monday, Indonesia had surprisingly added Nigeria. The US had a list of eight countries. It added Malawi to the existing list of Southern African countries. Paraguay has restricted entry form 10 African countries. The push back from Africa was prompt and swift. South Africa protested an attempt by the international community to mischaracterize it for making information available to the global community. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has accused Western countries of discriminating against South Africa by imposing “scientifically unjustified” travel restrictions. Dr Matshisido Moeti, Africa WHO Regional Director added that the travel restrictions would place a “burden on lives and livelihoods.” President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr Akiwumi Adesina also spoke against stigmatization and called for vaccine equity as a more important target for the world. Malawi’s President, Lazarus Chakwera, has accused Western countries of “Afrophobia”. The attempt at stigmatization was brief, and perhaps, it died abor-ning. For a brief moment, however, attention was drawn to the politics of COVID-19 or perhaps the politicization of the international public health system. In 2020/2021, former US President Donald Trump insisted on referring to coronavirus as the China virus. The WHO eventually introduced the Greek alphabet classification of COVID variants of concern in order to eliminate stigma and emphasize the international character of the pandemic.
Omicron is the fifth variant to take on a Greek alphabet identity. Alpha. Beta. Gamma. Delta. And now OMICRON. The conflict between man and pathogen is perhaps one of the most momentous events of the century. It has advertised not just the divisions in international politics, but also the inequities in the world. Developed countries have been able to vaccinate more than 60% of their populations – 64% in North America, 62% in Europe. They have excess vaccine doses. In the UK, for example, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has recommended that children aged 12 -15 should be offered a second jab after their first. Adults over 18 can now get booster jabs. The gap between second doses and boosters has been reduced from six to three months. In comparison, low- and middle-income countries have not been able to vaccinate up to 10% of their populations. A combination of inadequate supply, infrastructural challenges, vaccine hesitancy, lack of syringes and other facilities, together with a new mutant strain is bound to put additional pressure on those vulnerable countries of the world. US top infectious diseases adviser and President Joe Biden can afford to tell their people not to panic, but the poorer countries of the world should panic. They have every reason to do so. This should be the focus of the emergent conversation. How can the world save its most vulnerable people? What should be the priorities for policy makers? What kind of new challenges is the world facing, and what is the best way to address those challenges for the benefit of the larger majority irrespective of geography, colour or faith?
This is why in fact, it makes sense that a group of Nigerian virologists has been calling on the Nigerian government not to leave anything to chance. Amid the subtle labelling of South Africa as the source of Omicron, which it is not, Nigeria plays host to President Ramaphosa on his first state visit to the country. This is a demonstration of African Brotherhood, a strong element in the foreign policy process of many African countries. What is confusing, however, is that as of the time of this writing, the Nigerian managers of COVID-19 do not even know whether there is the Omicron variant in the country or not. About this same time, Nigeria has been included in a list of countries from which travel had been restricted by the Indonesian authorities. Similarly, the Ministry of Health in Ontario, Canada reported that three persons who had travelled to Canada through Nigeria have tested positive for the Omicron variant of COVID-19. What is the truth about Nigeria? Does anyone know? Why would Nigeria be mentioned in Indonesia and Canada in association with Omicron, and all that the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) can tell us is that the agency is still busy with surveillance? Is there something that is known to Indonesia and Canada about us that we need to find out? Whatever the truth may be, Nigeria must like other countries take necessary precautions. The country has so far managed to survive every other strain of the virus. It is a miracle how Nigeria is not a hotbed of infections. On December 1, the Federal Government’s COVID mandate will come into effect in all Federal establishments. Federal workers who may not be vaccinated by that date are expected to stay away from work, or get vaccinated immediately. Leaders around the world are treating Omicron with caution. They do not want to repeat past mistakes. Nigeria must not fold its arms. It is not impossible that the Omicron variant is already present in Nigeria.
Vaccine makers – Moderna, Pfizer and BioNtech are racing against time to come up with Omicron-specific vaccines, but this could take weeks, if not months. No one knows. This moment calls for leadership. President Joe Biden stepped up to be counted yesterday when he took charge of the narrative in the United States and addressed the people. The key point for me in President Biden’s intervention is his submission that travel restrictions may slow down the spread of the omicron variant of the coronavirus, but it may not prevent it. The surest protection still lies in vaccination. Which is why the main challenge is in getting the under-privileged parts of the world vaccinated. But where would the poor find the vaccines? The United States has no plans to fight COVID with shutdowns or lockdowns but with “more widespread vaccinations, boosters, testing and more”. Can any of the poor countries say the same? If the new variant proves to be deadly, it is the poor that will bear the brunt. Nigeria recently launched a mass vaccination campaign that would be driven by private-public sector collaboration to get the vaccine to the people in all possible places including the market place. It is important to secure the buy-in of the sub-nationals, the level of government closer to the hinterlands where the majority of the people live.
Nonetheless, the biggest challenge in Nigeria is what can best be described as the people’s COVID fatigue. In the early days of the pandemic, it was possible for the Nigerian government to impose nationwide lockdowns, restrictions of movement and compulsory use of masks in public places. Nightclubs, and restaurants were shut down in major cities and towns. Places of religious worship were required to follow strict COVID-19 protocols. I recall how in those days, even super markets observed social distancing rules. Only a specific number of persons were allowed on the shop floor at any time. Temperature checks were enforced and of course, the use of the mask was compulsory. But life has since returned to normal in Nigeria. Nobody cares anymore. Events centres are now filled to the brim every weekend. Those task forces in the Federal Capital Territory and in Lagos which used to monitor the space and enforce compliance have all been disbanded or have been downgraded. I hardly see anyone wearing a mask these days. The few who still wear the mask seem as if they are doing so to fulfil all righteousness. I have seen masks used as chin-guards, or as fashion items - those masks whose designs blend with the main attire, conveying the impression that the main consideration is not public health but the vanity of the mask wearer. Some people have different colours to match different attires. They now regard COVID-19 as a joke, a source of amusement. The minimum that a country like Nigeria can do is to urge a return to the general COVID protocols: wear a mask; wash your hands and observe social distancing, and get the people vaccinated.
Nigeria is not doing enough to combat the virus. In one report, the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) indicates that only five state governments are taking the COVID mass vaccination seriously: Ogun, Nasarawa, Oyo Osun, Ekiti. Lagos state shows up as No. 6 on the chart. Civil society groups have a responsibility to save the populace from the increasing threat of COVID-19. OMICRON should be a wake-up call, a reminder of how as human beings, we remain almost fatalistically, at the mercy of the vagaries of the environment and its many pathogens.
In a recent interview with Arise TV, the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, SAN had indicated that the Federal Government of Nigeria may consider a political solution to the matters involving Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the proscribed Indigenous Peoples Organisation of Biafra (IPOB) and Sunday Igboho, the self-determination, Yoruba Nation activist, currently in custody and on trial in Benin Republic. But only if an approach in that direction was proposed to the Federal Government. It is therefore not surprising that within two weeks after this declaration, a delegation of Igbo elders led by 93-year-old statesman, former Minister of Aviation in the First Republic, Chief Mbazulike Amaechi, the trade unionist known as “The Boy is Good”. Known as the Highly Respected Igbo Greats, the delegates included former Anambra State Governor, Chief Chukwuemeka Ezeife, Bishop Sunday Onuoha of the Methodist Church, former President of Aka Ikenga, Chief Goddy Uwazurike and Tagbo Amaechi.
Chief Mbazulike Amaechi, speaking on behalf of the Igbo Greats (representatives of Igbo Greats actually because there are so many of them across the globe), pleaded for amnesty for Nnamdi Kanu. This request must have been made in full knowledge of the fact that a political solution is indeed possible under the circumstances, as opposed to a strictly legal or authoritarian approach, and that whereas the former could result in healing, reconciliation, a sense of justice and accommodation, when in the past the Nigerian government relied on authoritarian and heavy hand choices, the country ended up paying a heavy price. Remember the trial and murder of Ken Saro Wiwa in November 1995. Against all counsel to the contrary, the Abacha military junta went ahead and killed Ken Saro Wiwa on November 10, 1995. Nigeria has not yet recovered from that error of judgment.
Decades after, the world continues to memorialize Ken Saro-Wiwa and the ideals for which he lived, fought, and for which he ultimately paid the supreme sacrifice – the rights of the Ogoni people to self-determination, their right of control over their own resources, and the need to sanction the abuse of the environment by the oil multinationals. In contrast, the men who ordered his death, those who danced on his grave are either dead or forgotten, their legacy a faint memory of shame, and evil. Saro-Wiwa was a champion of his people’s rights to be treated fairly and justly. He was President of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP). The Nigerian state, like a colonial overlord, deployed divide and rule tactics among the Ogonis. Ken Saro-Wiwa was turned into the fall-guy and scapegoat in the unfolding spectacle of intra-fratricidal conflict. For those who remember history, this is a fairly, contemporary cautionary tale. Leaders who wish to avoid the mistakes of history must first appreciate the value of it not merely as narrative but as a source of learning and wisdom.
We are not in a position to teach history to President Buhari’s guests nor to the President himself who have all been major witnesses to Nigerian history and indeed architects of it, each in his own way. President Buhari’s response was loaded, rather cautiously, he gave nothing away. The best that the Igbo Greats went home with was the promise that he would consider their rather difficult request. Hear him: “You have made an extremely difficult demand on me as leader of this country. The implication of your request is very serious. In the last six years, since I became President, nobody would say I have confronted or interfered in the work of the judiciary…The demand you made is heavy, I will consider it…”
The meeting with the Igbo Greats on the matter of Nnamdi Kanu is perhaps the most noteworthy attempt in that regard so far. It was initiated and led by persons who were not seeking any immediate political gain. If that meeting had been led by politicians or state Governors, nobody would have taken them seriously. But can the President grant the Amnesty? Yes, he can. And there is a precedent in that regard. The President’s powers to grant Amnesty, otherwise described as the prerogative of mercy, exist under Section 175 (1) of the 1999 Constitution. Section 175 (2) and (3) define how such powers may be exercised. This section of the law was applied in the Henry Okah case in 2008/9. Okah, based in South Africa, was identified as a major leader of the then notorious Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND). The group, fighting for the rights of the people of the Niger Delta, kidnapped foreign oil workers, destroyed strategic oil installations and posed a threat to the economic interests of the country. Okah was arrested in Angola and deported to Nigeria in February 2008. He was charged with 62 counts of treason, terrorism, illegal possession of arms, arms trafficking, with the possibility of a death penalty. Like IPOB today, MEND also had a spokesperson - one Jomo Gbomo. MEND also had a militant wing led by self-styled Generals. In 2009, the then President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, acting on the recommendations of the Presidential Panel on Amnesty and Disarmament for Militants of the Niger Delta proclaimed Amnesty for Okah and other militants pursuant to Section 175 of the 1999 Constitution.
The other ground on which the accused person can be set free is under Section 174 (1-3) of the 1999 Constitution, where the Attorney General of the Federation can intervene in any proceedings in any court of law in Nigeria other than a court-martial, with regard to any offence at all, and either take over the case or discontinue it through the instrumentality of a nolle prosequi. The AGF is required to do so however, in person or by proxy, with “regard to the public interest, the interest of justice and the need to prevent the abuse of legal process.” Further, the Constitution grants the Attorney General full and express authority here, without recourse to the President but because the offices of the AGF and that of the Minister of Justice are combined under our jurisdiction, the AGF is not just a Chief Legal Officer of the Federation, he is also a political appointee, Cabinet Minister, in his capacity as a Minister of Justice. Hence, he hardly acts independently, without the approval of the President. In effect, under both Sections 174 and 175 of the 1999 Constitution, the Executive arm of government can free or grant amnesty to any accused or convicted person, before, during or after a trial. The argument that this would amount to a violation of the doctrine of the separation of powers is mainly academic. However, there may be other issues of concern that define the President’s circumstances.
A notable difference between the request for amnesty by the Igbo Greats seeking amnesty and the MEND case, for example, was that both Henry Okah and the Niger Delta militants in MEND, agreed to the disarmament and amnesty plans as outlined by all parties involved. The second is that the amnesty was not for Henry Okah alone but all militants who were willing to cease hostilities. The long-term effect was the gradual return of normalcy to the Niger Delta and the eventual creation of a Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs. In the recent Igbo proposal, the only name that was mentioned for amnesty was that of Nnamdi Kanu. What about lieutenants and sympathisers of the IPOB cause? Who will plead for them? The “many soldiers of the revolution” languishing in detention centres. Chief Amaechi said of Kanu to President Buhari that if he was released to him, “he would no longer say things he has been saying.” He added that “he could control him not because I have anything to do with IPOB but I am highly respected in Igboland today.”
But did Chief Amaechi and the Igbo Greats consult with Kanu and his followers? Were they notified about the visit to Aso Villa? It is culturally acceptable in Africa for elders within the community to step forward to protect their children when they seem to be at war with external forces. It is part of the duty of the “ummuna” to protect its own. There must a proverb for this in one of Chinua Achebe’s novels most certainly! But even the children that need to be saved must be carried along, particularly the children of nowadays. Before now, some other Igbo elders advised IPOB and members of the Eastern Security Network (ESN) to moderate the tone of their self-determination demands. Nobody listened to them. Other elders appealed to the people to ignore IPOB’s declared sit-at-home order in every part of the South East. Even when IPOB came forward to announce that it had vacated the same order, the people stubbornly refused to follow IPOB’s lead. Till today, they stay at home on Mondays. IPOB is a more powerful force in the South East today than any state government. Many Igbo families have stopped going home out of fear. Will the release of Nnamdi Kanu douse tension? More so as there are some other youth groups and stakeholders who are arguing that Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has not committed any offence and that he should be allowed his day in court and treated fairly. They don’t want any sympathy from the Federal Government. And Ndigbo should not go to Buhari to beg for anything. Same subject, different reactions across generational lines. Who should General Buhari listen to?
President Buhari’s hands may also be tied by the realization that the issue of amnesty has become far more sensitive in Nigeria today than when it first became popular in the early part of the century. The scope of its meaning and context has been expanded to cover all kinds of issues: including religion, ethnicity and societal prejudices. We have heard cases of requests for amnesty also by bandits and terrorists, farmers and herders, husbands and wives. Thus, when certain stakeholders in the North asked for amnesty for Boko Haram, the ISWAP, and other members responsible for the tension in the country, the sharp retort was that this would amount to amnesty without justice. If the President is not allowed to grant blanket amnesty to Boko Haram, ISWAP, and herders, why should he grant amnesty to the leader of IPOB?
In addition, Nnamdi Kanu violated the terms of the bail previously granted to him. If he absconded a second time and continues to fight for the self-determination of their people, which in itself is a right under Articles 1 and 55 of the UN Charter on people’s and civil rights, then, where does that leave Nigeria? Will Ndigbo appreciate the release of Nnamdi Kanu, who they believe was unjustly arrested, in Kenya? And shabbily treated? Will the same Kanu if he were invited by the government, agree to sit down for any negotiations, without first consulting his followers? The times have changed indeed. The same interests involved in the Okah case in 2008/2009, have now been amplified to the third degree.
So, what should President Buhari do? He should grant Nnamdi Kanu, Sunday Igboho, their followers and collaborators in different parts of the country amnesty to pave the way for the emplacement of a structure for dialogue, healing, reconciliation and justice. He has a duty to demonstrate that there is no war against the Igbos of Nigeria or any other group within. The big challenge for Ndigbo goes beyond amnesty for Nnamdi Kanu. Jobs for young Igbos. Equity in appointments to Federal positions. Equitable distribution of resources and opportunities. Investment in education in the East. The completion of the River Niger Bridge. The lesson that should be learnt is that no group in Nigeria should be marginalized or maltreated. It is when this is not done that you find many youths on the streets claiming that they are better off in a land-locked independent country of their own than to stay in a Nigeria which flows with milk and honey, the access to which is monopolized by a minority, and that includes the milk and honey in other people’s backyards.
President Buhari has his personal issues. As Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, what would he say to his troops that have engaged IPOB and Kanu’s followers in the past few years? The President himself once pointed out that the intention of the radicals of the East was to sabotage his government. The number of security agents and agencies deployed to Anambra during the last Gubernatorial election in that state is in itself, a proof of the government’s determination to do battle with IPOB, ESN or any other group of non-state actors. It is indeed, a difficult decision to make.
The President should look into the matter, nonetheless as promised. The Igbo Greats can only nurse the optimism that President Buhari would indeed do so. For how long? Nobody knows. As in Samuel Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot,” we wait.
I was at a reception for our brother and colleague, Dele Momodu, a life-long reporter, author, publisher, media-preneur, community chief, politician, public intellectual, Chairman/CEO of Ovation Magazine, Ovation Carol and Boss Magazine on Sunday, November 14, 2021 at the Reds Chinese Restaurant of Eko Hotels in Lagos. It was meant to be a drink up, eat, celebrate our brother kind of event put together by a committee of friends led by Aremo Olusegun Oniru, a Prince of Lagos, an entrepreneur, and a former Commissioner in charge of the Waterfront of Lagos. Bob Dee as we call him, invited me in my capacity, I guess, as one of his very loyal brothers. I ended up being drafted by Aremo Oniru as the person to present the citation of Aare Dele Momodu.
The notice was short. But I was ready. Momodu is one of those characters who are just in your life, because they are perpetually looking out for you. As a certified busy-body myself, in this our line of business, I don’t need to be prompted to talk about some people who have shared the same field of experience with me. Dele Momodu is one of such persons. I didn’t need a script. Or any long notice. Tee-A, the Master of Ceremonies announced that I would speak but just then Prince Damola Aderemi, also a dear brother, one of those quiet ones, seized the microphone, and implored the gathering to stand up and observe a minute silence in honour of two friends, who died in the Ikoyi Building Collapse incident on Gerrard Road, Ikoyi. He mentioned Femi Osibona, the developer, and Wale Bobs-Oseni, a friend of the developer who was on his way back to the United States, but was called back to come and see the 21-storey building being put up by his friend. Oseni turned back and headed towards Ikoyi. It turned out to be the call of destiny.
Aremo Oniru is a good host. He made everything available and the managers of Eko Hotel and Suites ensured that we got excellent reception. The event was star-studded. Should I point out that this was Dele Momodu being celebrated? What do you expect? It is no big deal for a master of celebrity journalism to light up the space, and in some of his recent events, I have observed an attempt by him to downplay his reach and influence in the Miliki space while cultivating the serious end of the social and political space. There was more than enough to eat and drink. I would have stayed longer if I was not reminded that it was Sunday evening and I would have to appear on early Morning TV. Good food, good drinks have a way of tying down even the most prudent of all men. Sir Shina Peters, life-long friend of the honoree had taken the microphone, crooning: “Ore mi o, Ore mi o, Dele Momodu, Oko Bolaji, aya Momodu, oni te mi o, Ore mi o, Ore mi o ooo h”. There was no shortage of anything. Segun Oniru was clearly up to the task. But I had to leave.
And as I did, in my head was the one-minute silence in remembrance of the men that died at the 21-storey building at Gerrard, Ikoyi. If Femi Osibona and Wale Bobs-Oseni had not died, they probably would have been at the Dele Momodu reception, organized in appreciation/celebration of the recent conferment on him of the title of Aare of Iwo and Yeye Aare of Iwo land on his wife, by His Majesty, the Oluwo of Iwoland, Abdulrasheed Adewale Akanbi, Telu II. Both men or their friends would have been at that cosy, Reds Restaurant at Eko hotel clinking glasses along with us. In life, shit happens, pardon my language, and it did happen at the Fourscore Homes site on Gerrard Road, Ikoyi Lagos. Every time I drive past this site of destruction, I pause a bit to reflect on the unpredictability of life, the very emptiness of it, the supremacy of the unknown, and the smallness of man in the presence of the immensity of the Cosmos.
On November 1, a 21-storey building, under construction, collapsed like the Tower of Babel. The state government may have been able to rescue some of the survivors, 15 survived, 44 died, but hopes were lost. Memories were destroyed. Lives disappeared. It is possible to imagine that more than a week later, the tragedy is complete. It is sad. So sad. Our commiserations with the affected families. What happened in Ikoyi was a classic case of human tragedy, a truly elemental case of the failure of the human story. Can you imagine persons going to work, all the way from different parts of Lagos only to be buried beneath a building that crashed like a pack of cards? Can you imagine the story of a man who was already on his way to the international airport, called back by a friend to come and have a look at a project, only to die in the process? A certain young woman whose wedding had been scheduled for December and who had only spent a week with the company also died. There was also the story of the National Youth Corps member who travelled many miles down South to work at a construction site but ended up dying. Or the many young men and women who work at construction sites every day for companies that have no structure, no manifest, no safety protocols, no evidence of professional compliance, and yet when things go wrong as they may, they die, they disappear without trace. The Ikoyi building tragedy was a comment on the construction industry in Nigeria. The failure of standards. My driver, Egunje, has been lamenting about how two persons from his neighbourhood managed to survive as the building crashed. And how others were not so lucky. They travelled from over 100 kilometres away to work in Ikoyi. I see them every day at round-abouts in the neighbourhood. They work on the island, many miles away from their homes, to be able to feed others and remain relevant. The building that collapsed is now a graveyard of dreams. The fact that both the poor and the rich perished in one instant moment is a poignant fact about the collective anguish that we all share in the face of omissions. Death knows no billionaires. It does not differentiate along class lines. It is why everyone must do the right thing.
The Lagos State Government has done what it can to show empathy. Both the Governor and his Deputy and other state officials have been at the site. It is curious how Governor Babajide Sanwoolu’s tenure, his first term, that is, may well be remembered eventually for the management of tragedies: gas explosion, COVID-19, EndSARS protests and killings, buildings collapse, kidnappings, and other bad stories. The superstitious residents on the streets of Lagos are beginning to wonder if the incumbent Governor picked the calabash of pepper at his celestial moment of emergence. I speak in parables in that regard. My comment is not necessarily an endorsement. What we know is that in reality, the state government has suspended Gbolahan Oki, the head of the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA). However, I have seen stories indicating that any offence with regard to approvals, building supervision and control of standards may have been committed without him and beyond him, long before he assumed office. Excuses. Don’t be surprised if the Lagos State Government reinstates him tomorrow. I won’t be surprised either. He is not the problem. It is the system that is the problem. The 21-storey building in Gerrard was not the first of its type. Many collapsed before it. One other building collapsed in fact, a day after, in the Osapa, London-Lekki area of Lagos. Nobody has talked about that because nobody died. Other buildings will collapse tomorrow. And of course, all the relevant questions were writ large in the Femi Osibona project in Ikoyi. Since the tragedy occurred, nobody has stepped forward to represent the company. This was obviously a one-man project. How on earth can anyone in Lagos build a 21-storey, three structures project with direct labour! In the heart of Ikoyi, a high-brow neigbourhood! Who gave the approvals? Nobody has shown up to represent the company oh! The apartments in the development project were also said to have been fully sold. Nobody has shown up to claim losses. Real estate is big business in Nigeria. People invest in many of these construction projects. They pay up to a million dollar. But it is money that they dare not identify with in public. When the investment goes up in smoke as in the 21-storey Gerrard case, they scratch their heads and padlock their mouths, and pray that nobody will investigate anything. I sympathize with those silent losers, many of whom may end up dying silently.
One more thing: Nobody has talked about insurance. In the face of the tragedy that we have seen, who is going to step forward to make insurance claims? Was the project insured in the first place? The developer was said to have been an ardent priest of a spirit-filled, Pentecostal church. In the 21st Century, God and angels are the only insurance agents behind million-dollar projects in many parts of Africa. When tragedy occurs, the people take it in good faith and move on. I suspect that this is what may have happened in the Gerrard Street, Ikoyi tragedy.
The state government has set up a five-man independent panel of inquiry, a panel of experts and lawyers. When government in Nigeria does not want to do anything about anything, it sets up a panel, announces terms of reference, but it is all for the purpose being seen to be doing something. Who are the “gods” involved in the Ikoyi building collapse whose egos needed to be massaged with all that high-profile government eye-service? I imagine that the tribunal of inquiry as it is called, will make all the right noises: statements about approvals – who approved what, a few comments about negligence, structural engineering and a bit of gobbledygook. But who can compensate the affected families for their loss? The one-man business owner died with his business. Those who invest in real estate in Nigeria have many lessons to learn from this.
There are life lessons as well beyond investment. There are stories out there about how family members have been fighting over Femi Osibona’s estate. He reportedly had a nuclear family of a wife and four children. Within two days of his remains being rescued from the rubble, his family members reportedly went after his properties, resulting in all kinds of struggles over his cars, his homes, cheque books, and whatever anyone could grab. His wife and children who are based abroad, reportedly relocated to Nigeria to keep the family at the gates. Femi Osibona’s brothers, one report indicates, brought Mobile Policemen. The wife and children also rented their own Police! I have not seen a rebuttal of this story out there. But it is the most painful part of events like this. You live, work hard and struggle to make people around you happy, then tragedy happens, no man can live forever, but nobody even spares a thought for you. They don’t even wait for you to be buried. While you are still in the mortuary, the same scavengers you spent your entire life trying to help, helping them to pay bills and have hope, descend on your home and children. They fight over your belongings. They behave like a South African crowd on rampage all over your properties, looting this, carrying that, threatening your biological children and their mother to dare them if they could. Why are people like this? I have heard people say that if you don’t want such home trouble then do not die interstate. Write a will. I am sorry. The extended family system in Africa is so bad, a written Will is not always a guarantee. In the same manner in which our people have a sense of entitlement to the proverbial national cake and their claim to a part of it, a rich man or woman within the family is also seen as a source of oxygen. It is a sin to be rich or privileged in Africa, within the family and the larger society. If you drop dead, you are not safe. They will come after your remains like vultures and fight your wife and children while doing so. Why are we like this? There may be exceptions but the crisis of poverty in Africa defines everything else.
The trucks have begun to leave the site of the tragedy at Gerrard Road, Ikoyi, Lagos. I can see that. The road is now free on both sides. Visiting VIPs have had their photo-ops and mouthed their sweet-nothings and moved on. The public made all the necessary noises. And stopped. It will rain heavily tomorrow and the day after, and everything will die down. In due course, eventual winners of the family squabble among the Osibonas will take over the property, sell it to another developer, everyone else will look the other way, and life will continue as if nothing ever happened. So why do we all bother so much, knowing that life, no matter how beautiful, always ends up as an irony? May the souls of all the departed beloved who died at this construction site, victims of a country where death is cheap, and life is expensive, rest in peace… Na so we see am.
The recent Governorship election in Anambra state, held on Saturday, November 6, 2021 was meant to be a major turning point for Nigeria. Most commentators said the election would be characterized by violence or that it would amount to a blow-out for Nigeria and the entire South East. Pundits told everyone to be careful. There were permutations about voter turn-out, the preparedness of the electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the character of the main gladiators in the contest and their supportive stakeholders, divided as they were and still are, along religious, ethnic, clannish and party lines. A few days to the 2021 Anambra Governorship election, indeed, every one prepared more or less for war, and bloodshed. The police deployed over 34, 500 personnel, 45 Commissioners of Police,48 ACPs, 2 DIGs, 5 AIGs, 3 Helicopters. The Civil Defence Corps sent in over 20, 000 men. The Department of State Security deployed its men and women. The Office of the National Security Adviser announced that any non-state actor who made any attempt to test the will of the state will be met with maximum force.
Previously, the President of Nigeria and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, Muhammadu Buhari, had given clear directives to that effect. All of this is understandable. Anambra in the lead up to the election had proven to be a major security challenge, a hotbed of violence and grief, and a key spot for self-determination agitators, operating under the umbrella of the Indigenous Peoples Organisation of Biafra (IPOB) and the Eastern Security Network (ESN). We were faced with a test of wills, between the state and those non-state actors who were seemingly determined to use the November 6 election to humiliate the government of the day, in a spectacular manner. This was not, to borrow from the rich repertoire of Nigerian English, “a laughing matter”.
I became part of that drama, in spite of myself when the Chairman of Arise News, Nduka Obaigbena decided to team up with the Chairman of Channels TV, John Momoh to do a joint Governorship candidate debate ahead of the election. Meetings were held on both sides and on a certain Wednesday, we were supposed to meet online and do so repeatedly to fine-tune the arrangements. At our end, we held a long meeting which involved policy, management, technical crew and operational persons. Yemi Ajayi, Director, News (Lagos) and I were mandated to meet with the Channels Team later in the day. And we did. Online. It wasn’t a very pleasant meeting. The Channels Boys rejected every proposal that we made. They decreed that Anambra was too toxic and unsafe and on no condition would they ever risk anything to go there for a debate.
We argued that at Arise, we were determined to go in there to prove that an election was possible and that the security situation could be managed in a way to give confidence to the electorate. We were told to forget it. They gave us the option of a debate to be organized in Lagos or Abuja. Mr. Ajayi and I told them to check with their Chairman. They said they were “the Supreme Council” of Channels TV, and whatever decision they took was final. I found that curious. Then they made matters more complicated by pointing out that they did not want Reuben Abati as the moderator from Arise TV. They would prefer another co-moderator to join Seun Okinbaloye from Channels TV. I was left with no option but to state categorically that long before many of the persons from the other side joined Channels TV, I used to moderate interviews for Channels TV, and analyse elections for the same station and I have letters of appreciation and commendation to show for this, signed by the same Chairman they say has no say in anything decided by a “Supreme Council.” It was also useful to point out that I was the first and only mainstream journalist so far, at that time who had moderated a Governorship Manifesto Defence Debate in the Anambra 2021 election. On September 25, 2021, Arise TV had in fact organized a Governorship debate in Anambra State in collaboration with the Kwechiri Unity Forum, aired live on Arise TV, Anambra State Television, and Ogene FM. I was the main anchor. As it turned out, the proposed collaboration with Channels TV, which could have been a phenomenal demonstration of partnership, innovation and the pooling of talents from both sides, in a unique show of solidarity within the Nigerian media, did not happen. Arise TV decided to move ahead. And we did.
During the last weekend of the month of October, leading up to November 1, Arise News deployed personnel and materials to Awka for a Gubernatorial debate involving three of the leading adjudged candidates in the election, chosen across platforms by experts and pundits: Senator Andy Uba of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Professor Charles Soludo of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), and Mr Valentine Ozigbo of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), in that alphabetical order. The debate was held at an undisclosed location, under tight security. Held in conjunction with a Civil Society Group, Enough is Enough (EiE) led by Yemi Adamolekun, the debate was broadcast live simultaneously on Arise TV, Anambra Broadcasting Service (ABS) and Ogene Radio, 98.3 FM. I was co-moderator of the debate alongside award-winning Arise TV anchor, Ngozi Alaegbu. I understand the debate was successful and memorable, and that is my own modest way of avoiding Agama-lizard-like self-praise. The three candidates provided both information and drama, exquisite television gold moments, and diverse, controversial feedback that set the tone within the days leading to the election. It was a notable demonstration of how the media can help set agenda, act as a catalyst for nation-building and peace-making, and help generate positive momentum in society. Those who said going to Anambra to do a debate would be suicidal missed the point. The debate was delivered without any untoward incident. We went into Anambra, with security arrangements provided by the Nigerian Army. Nobody harassed us. Nobody intimidated us. For us, it was the first sign that the election will be held without tragedy and that enough effort had been put into preventing any calamity. In the weeks leading to the election, there had been killings in Anambra, attacks on jails and communities and tension at a higher degree that raised anxiety levels.
Of interest and relevance in this regard is the massive deployment of security personnel, the announcement by the Indigenous People’s Organisation of Biafra (IPOB) that it had suspended its proposed sit-at-home order originally scheduled for November 5 – 10 across the entire South East. IPOB not only withdrew the order, it became a mobilizing agent urging Ndi Anambra to turn out en masse to vote on November 6. IPOB had the support of traditional rulers, market women, mothers of Anambra, civil society groups. The Nigeria Police also became an arm of INEC. It placed enlightenment jingles in the media to mobilise voters. On Saturday, November 6, the scheduled election took place – in over 5, 000 polling units, 21 Local Government Areas, with 18 candidates in the race, thousands of election monitors and observers, with the international community watching. There were glitches during the election: late deployment of voting materials, malfunctioning of the Bi-modal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) - a fingerprint and facial recognition device introduced by INEC to replace the Z-pad, lateness of officials in commencing accreditation, electoral malpractices including vote buying (even if in one polling area, Anambra women openly rejected monetary inducement!), disruptions in some registration areas – Idemili North, Idemili South, Aguata, Anambra West, conflict between Electoral Officer and Collation Officer in Orumba North, and generally a poor voter turn-out of between 10 and 15% in most of the polling units.
The big consolation was that the worst that was expected did not happen. Anambra did not become a killing field. The political parties and the politicians did not engage in bloodshed. Very few incidents of intimidation, violence and ballot snatching were reported. The surprising thing after a fashion is that when everyone writes off Nigeria and there are fears about Nigeria tottering at the edge of the precipice, about to tip over, this country always pulls back. It has happened before now during every election season. It has just happened again in Anambra state. The explanation for this must be an interesting subject for sociological inquiry into political behaviour and power negotiation systems. In Anambra: This is what happened - by 12: 20 am on November 8, 2021, the Returning Officer for the Anambra State Gubernatorial Election, Professor Florence Obi, Vice Chancellor of the University of Calabar, had announced results in 20 LGAs. The election in Ihiala LGA did not take place in all 20 Registration Areas due to the outbreak of violence in that border area of Anambra State (the border with Imo State), and on that basis alone, the Anambra Gubernatorial election of November 6, 2021 was declared inconclusive.
INEC has announced a supplementary election in the affected LGA to take place today, Tuesday, November 9, 2021. It would appear as if the election has been lost and won already but it is important that no local government area is excluded, and that nobody is willfully prevented from exercising his or her franchise. This is the point of the Ihiala Supplementary Election: inclusion, fairness, representation and legitimacy. We do not look forward to any earth-shaking developments in Ihiala LGA today. Still, the security agents must remain vigilant. The political parties and the candidates must keep faith with the peace agreements that they signed ahead of the election: brokered by INEC and also, the National Peace Committee led by General Abdusalami Abubakar. Even with the results from 20 LGAs announced and published by the INEC, which shows the candidate of APGA in a firm leadership position, it would be to the eternal credit of all the candidates involved in the process that they and their supporters gave peace a chance and proved the bookmakers, naysayers and sooth-sayers wrong on Anambra election 2021 till the very last minute.
Already, Professor Charles Soludo of APGA, has been reported as winner in 18 LGAs of the state, including Aguata where he and the two other leading candidates hail from and the strongholds of some prominent politicians in the state – Anaocha, Orumba South, Idemili and Njikoka. Soludo is unlikely to repeat the “21- over-21-feat” of the incumbent Governor Willie Obiano in the 2017 election, but he is comfortably in the lead with over 50, 000 votes. Nnewi North was declared for Senator Ifeanyi Ubah (candidate of the YPP- Young Progressives Party) and Ogbaru for Valentine Ozigbo of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). Soludo has also won the mandatory two thirds of the votes across the local government areas. Ihiala, the only remaining LGA has a registered voter number of about 148, 000. It will be a battle ground, but with voter turn-out estimated between 10 to 15%, even a 100% turn out may not change the existing reality. Soludo seems set to become the next Governor of Anambra State. If and when his victory is affirmed by the INEC, he would be the second former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria to emerge as Governor of a State. Before him there was, Clement Nyong Isong (1920 – 2000), Governor of the Central Bank (1967 -1975) and Governor of Cross River State (1979 – 1983).
Soludo, a First Class Honours graduate of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (1984) and Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (2004 – 2009) is a Professor of Economics. He will be a welcome addition to the growing list of Nigerian technocrats who defy the characterization of the political arena as a dirty space that should be left to those who brand themselves as professional politicians, the majority of whom are in actual fact, hustlers, political parasites, national cake hunters and former henchmen and touts who managed to legitimize themselves. The best and the brightest in Nigeria should be the ones to occupy leadership positions, but as we have seen in Mexico, raw intelligence is however, never enough, not even technocratic brilliance is a perfect proposition. For about two decades, technocrats led Mexico substantially: Miguel de la Madrid (1982 -88), Carlos Salinas (1988 – 1994) and Ernesto Zedillo (1994 – 2000). China is another country where the technocratic stereotype holds sway. In Nigeria, we see a growing trend in that direction. I consider technocrats a positive presence in democracy and politics, a country should not be run by dinosaurs and speculators, expertise helps, but technocrats in politics must also have a high dose of emotional intelligence to be able to walk the tightrope of patron-client relationships. The technocratic elite in a political position carries a heavier burden: and if it fails, the regret is double-fold.
However, without prejudice to the eventual outcome of the Anambra Gubernatorial election 2021, given that the responsibility for making an affirmative announcement is that of the electoral commission, whoever becomes the next Governor of Anambra State has his job cut out for him. He must be a bridge-builder and the Governor of everyone. Anambra is sharply divided along clannish and religious lines. This is one state in Nigeria where it means a lot whether you are Catholic or Anglican or Pentecostal, or what part of the state you hail from. The next Governor of Anambra State must therefore promote unity and consensus. Security is also a major challenge. Anambra is often projected as the headquarters of the separatist IPOB group, and the hotbed of agitations. Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the head of IPOB, is not even from Anambra. He is from Abia State. But it is the youths of Anambra who are carrying Biafra on their heads like the load of Sisyphus. And you may well argue that Anambra is the spiritual source of the idea of Biafra. The next Governor cannot ignore the security implications. Roads. Infrastructure. Direct investment, local and foreign. Internally Generated Revenue (IGR). Debt burden. Economic promotion: gas, rice, innovation. He must hit the ground running.
INEC has been put through the test in Anambra with electronic transmission of results and BVAS. It has lessons to learn. The security agencies have done well so far in managing the Anambra situation. They must not mess up as INEC conducts the supplementary elections today. The Anambra process should be a wake-up call for the South East leadership elite.
The Federal Government of Nigeria has been in the eye of the storm with the international media recently, and there is a lot that can be extracted from that in terms of lessons and sub-text. I find that ironic considering the fact that between 2014 and 2015, in the lead up to the 2015 Presidential elections, the international media championed the cause of the main opposition party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), the then Special Purpose Vehicle under which all the political terrorists of the time had come together. It was an infectious moment. But today, the same international media appears to be up in arms against the same process that they helped to promote and sustain. It seems to me that this says something about the politics of the media as institution, agent and business and the complex intersection between it, political stakeholders and society.
First, it was the BBC and the CNN throwing the Buhari administration under the bus on the matter of the October 20, 2020, #EndSARS protests. At the time and thereafter, officials of the Nigerian government insisted that nobody died at the Lekki Toll Gate during the protests against police brutality in the country and that both government and its agencies were completely innocent. But the international media promotes a different narrative, using security challenges in Nigeria as that thing that hangs around the government’s neck. And second, more recently, there was the matter of a report in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) in which the Nigerian Air Force was accused of making payments to bandits in exchange for weapons, specifically an anti-aircraft gun that had been allegedly seized from the Nigerian military, and which was to be used to gun down the aircraft of the President of Nigeria who was scheduled to travel to his home state of Katsina for the Eid el Maulud.
The Wall Street Journal’s report was very enticing. It painted a picture of the helplessness of the government of the day in Nigeria with regard to security challenges. It stated that the Nigerian Air Force had to pay N20 million for a 12. 7 calibre anti-air-aircraft gun, and that the money was delivered as the leader of the terrorists sipped tea and his boys dismantled the seized arsenal for onward return. The ransom for the equipment was reportedly paid in crisp Nigerian notes totalling $50, 000. The terrorists after collecting the money, so states the report, aired a series of grievances against the Nigerian state. The WSJ report gave the impression that the terrorists are better motivated and equipped than Nigeria’s security agencies.
All of this was a week ago. The Nigerian Air Force, naturally and expectedly put up a robust response through Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet, its spokesperson. Commodore Gabkwet’s point is that the Nigerian Air Force did not strike any deal with either bandits and terrorists. He dismissed the WSJ report as fake news designed to cast aspersions on the image of the Air Force, totally false and utterly illogical. He appealed to the media, local, international and the social media, to be more circumspect and co-operate with security agencies in the battle against terror. To be fair, Gabkwet’s position is consistent with the position of the Federal Republic of Nigeria that it would not at any time, negotiate with any criminal who should be subjected to the due process of law. But there were other aspects of the WSJ report which the Nigerian state conveniently ignored. Could it be true for example that the terrorists, inflicting much anxiety on the land, are better equipped than the Nigerian military or any of its units? Is it true as the military readily claims, that the Buhari administration is winning the war? Or do the terrorists have an upper hand?
Within a week after the controversial report by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), The Economist another influential Western publication led its October 23, 2021 cover with the title – “Nigeria: The Crime Scene capital of Africa.” The London-based news magazine described the Nigerian army as: “mighty on paper” but weak on the ground with its ranks filled with “ghosts on its payroll”. The magazine event went a step beyond the Wall Street Journal and accused the Nigerian military of selling arms and ammunition to the same terrorists it is supposed to fight. The Report accuses the Nigerian Police of being poorly trained, understaffed, under-paid and involved in the robbery of innocent Nigerians to augment salaries. The Economist was not nice at all. It accused the Buhari administration of ineptitude and mismanagement of the Nigerian economy. As expected, the Nigerian Army fired back. The Army spokesperson deployed all the grammatical epithets he could readily latch on to: “toxic concoctions”, “hatchet job”. “the antics of conflict merchants and agents provocateurs”, “failure to do due diligence”. The Presidency speaking through Garba Shehu followed suit by reiterating that the Buhari government deserves commendation for all the efforts it has made so far to ensure security in the country, and fight terrorism, an inherited situation, which its predecessors failed to handle but which the incumbent administration was dealing with in a decisive manner.
The Nigerian Government and its agents have a responsibility to defend the integrity of their operations. I would have acted exactly in the same manner if I was still in government. The Wall Street Journal and The Economist are reputable publications with a wide range of influence. The latter for example, is over 117 years old. The former is one of the most authoritative media platforms in the world. The Nigerian Government would have been remiss in its duty if it failed to push its own side of the narrative, and seek to defend itself, and provide alternative facts about the true situation of things in Nigeria. But the big question is: who is telling the truth? What is the truth? Are the foreign publications cooking up stories? Has the security situation in Nigeria improved on account of the many claims by the Nigerian Military? Patriotism is useful at the level of emotion and identity, but what is the truth? About the same time that the two Western publications were raising questions about the security challenges in Nigeria and the capacity of the government to address them, the international community had been treated to such reports as the bomb attack on rail lines between Abuja and Kaduna, the abduction and killing of persons in Goronyo/Gada Federal Constituency, jailbreak at the Abologo Custodial Centre in Oyo, and the threat by the indigenous people of Biafra that the group would declare a total shut-down in the South East if its detained leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is not released by November 4. Even if the Wall Street Journal and The Economist added “pepper and salt” in their reports, the material fact is that all is not well security-wise in Nigeria. Take for example, the claim by The Economist that the police in Nigeria are understaffed, under-paid and that they rob the Nigerian people to augment their salaries. Is that true or false? What I have seen is that the Nigeria Police Headquarters has respected itself by keeping mute. While the military and the Presidency offered robust rebuttals, it would have been foolhardy for the Nigeria Police Force to make any claims of innocence.
The Report by The Economist coincided with the one-year memorial of the #EndSARS protest of October 20, 2020 in Nigeria. The original theme was police brutality, repression of the people by state agents, the widening alienation between the Nigerian people and those who govern them, and an institutionalised culture of impunity. On the occasion of the #EndSARS memorial in 2021, the police and other security agencies in Nigeria simply repeated the offence. In Lagos, a certain Adedotun Clement, a passer-by, Uber, ride-hailing driver was caught in the middle of the conflict. He was brutalised by the police and officials of the Lagos Neighbourhood Safety Corps, and bundled into a Black Maria. His lawyer, Inibehe Effiiong has petitioned the Attorney General of Lagos State, and issued a notice of warning to proceed to court if the state fails to address the specific demands that he has made on behalf of his client. His petition is supported by copious, documented, evidence much of which is in the public domain. As The Economist wrote that Nigerian policemen are “robbers in uniform”, there was also the reported incident of a comedian, popularly known as Mr. Macaroni (real Name Debo Adebayo) confronting a group of policemen who arrested a Nigerian and asked him to transfer a sum of N30,000 into their accounts. Electronic banking was introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to facilitate financial inclusion, make transactions easy and promote trade and commerce, but unscrupulous uniformed officials exploit it as a tool of extortion and extra-judicial conduct. No man can be tried or punished for an offence that does not exist under the laws of Nigeria. With the Nigerian policemen laying ambush for the average citizen on the streets of the country, it is considered a crime to be seen with certain kinds of phones, or cars, clothing or accessories, even when no law forbids the freedoms of movement, association, or the right to own property. It may be difficult for the average Nigerian to verify other claims by the Wall Street Journal and The Economist about military capability, or the integrity of the Nigerian Army, but based on the evidence of their eyes, they can safely conclude that all is not yet well with regard to security in their country. Today, many are afraid to travel by road or rail to certain parts of the country. A Gubernatorial election is scheduled to hold in Anambra State on November 6. Some of the candidates are campaigning from a distance, far away from the same people whose votes they are asking for. When journalists, local and foreign, pick up these details and convert them into embarrassing narratives, it is counter-productive, beyond the denial, for state agents to morph into a combative mode. The right thing to do after the initial disclaimers and damage-control statements would be to subject the claims that have been made to careful scrutiny and analysis, for necessary leads. Journalists by the nature of their work, provide ready-made intelligence, and can be strong partners in the governance process.
It would not be out of place, however, to assume that the authors of the reports in the Wall Street Journal and The Economist are very lucky that they are not local journalists. If they were Nigerian journalists working in some of our media houses, they probably would have been invited for a chat by the security departments of state. And when that happens, anything can happen to them, or their family, the media houses they work for or their sources. Many journalists in Nigeria walk the tightrope. Foreign journalists do not face a similar baggage. They have strong institutions that support them. They have more room to speak truth to power. They do not have to look over their shoulders or suffer the indignity of being told how to think. This does not however make them perfect or necessarily better. Many of the so-called Western journalists reporting Africa to the world are biased or ignorant or both. They are victims of the dangers of parachute journalism. They travel around, make a few friends, pick up salacious gossip from so-called contacts, pretend to be good observers of a people and a system that they do not know, and then with the strong media institutions backing them, they compose narratives that promote profiles and prototypes. Their editors sitting in Europe and North America, who have no idea where Africa is, are driven by notions of Africa as the worst place where anything is possible, and so where there is small evidence within that framework, they are eager to build it up, play it up. The big problem in this regard is the imbalance in the global information order. Even with the democratisation of news and information on account of the cybernetic revolution and the rise of the digital space, there is great inequity in the flow of information and the relative impact of seemingly competitive media systems. The media in developing countries is grossly advantaged. Public officials in our countries – the more than 92 low to middle income countries of the world do not seem to get this or understand it. Hence, information management from their side tends to be overtly reactive most of the time, rather than being pro-active and constructive.
Information managers in Africa, be they soldiers or other agents, must learn to take charge of their own narratives. The dominant single story often promoted by the West is somehow a reflection of the inequities in every aspect of global relations.
While stating this, I am in no way making excuses for the glaring failure of governance and the crisis of poor leadership in developing and underdeveloped countries. The victimhood of this category speaks for itself on the terms of its own omissions. Nigeria needs not engage in altercations with The Wall Street Journal or The Economist. All we need to do is to fix this country and we will all be fine in the long run. But who will fix Nigeria?
“Credible intelligence at the disposal of the Command has revealed clandestine plans by some youths, individuals or groups to embark on a protest today in commemoration of one-year anniversary of ENDSARS… In view of the volatility of the situation in the country, and the breakdown of law and order which the planned protest might cause, the Lagos State police Command sternly warns against any form of protest… To forestall breakdown of law and order, the police will use legitimate means within their constitutional powers to suppress the planned protest. Therefore, parents and guardians are advised to warn their children against participating in the planned protest. Individuals or groups sponsoring such protest are also warned in their own interest to desist from such unpatriotic plan or face the full weight or wrath of the law.” – Hakeem Odumosu, Commissioner of Police, Lagos State.
I read the foregoing quote with which this commentary is prefaced with a considerable amount of amusement and alarm: about how security agencies in Nigeria have lost the capacity to learn or show the civility that their work requires. But before that, the statement, being the Lagos State Police Command’s response to the plan by Civil Society Organisations to commemorate the first-year anniversary of the #ENDSARS protests in Nigeria, is written in perfect Yoruba transliteration, what the late Professor Dapo Adelugba referred to as “Yorubanglish”. The use of English as a second language can be problematic, and indeed as has been argued variously, “The Empire Writes Back” and has been doing so in interesting ways, creating varieties of English or “Englishes”. The short quote above is in a class of its own in that category. It reminds me of that popular local, Yoruba, antiphonal lyric: “Ko lo’mo kilo fo mo re o… oni a le.”
It is amazing how in a modern, democratic dispensation, those in charge of the levers of power consistently throw back to the ancient, monarchical ethos of dominance and authority. It is a reflection of how Nigeria has failed to modernise or educate its institutions and the rather absolute lack of enlightenment on the part of its personnel. Or could it be hypocrisy? Sycophancy? Or plain sight stupidity? What makes it more shocking is that it is not only the Lagos Police Command that has issued a similar threat with regard to the #ENDSARS Memorial that is scheduled to be held tomorrow. There have been similar threats from the Osun and Oyo State Police Commands, a reflection of the mood of Nigeria’s security establishment. Except that their objection to the right of the people to protest is unlawful, condemnable and indefensible. We aver that there must be no display of stupidity on the part of the Police or any of the security agencies tomorrow as Nigerians choose to commemorate the tragic events of October 8 – 20, 2020, popularly known as the #ENDSARS protests.
The right to protest is a constitutional right within the purview of Section 38 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion); Section 39 (right to freedom of expression and the press); Section 40 (right to peaceful assembly and association); Section 41 (right to freedom of movement) and Section 42 (right to freedom from discrimination), all of which are tied to other fundamental rights in the 1999 Constitution including the right to the dignity of the human person in Section 34. In IGP v. ANPP, the Court of Appeal upheld the right to protest as a right guaranteed under the Constitution of Nigeria “without seeking or obtaining permission from anybody.” Further, Nigeria is signatory to several international conventions which affirm the individual’s right to protest as a major pillar of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the obligation of state parties to respect the right to protest and ensure that there is no violation by third parties. The big problem that we face is that state actors in Nigeria do not always respect agreements or commitments, except it serves their own narrow, selfish interests.
Under Part II of the Fifth Schedule to the Nigerian Constitution, public officers swear an oath of allegiance to the country and to defend the Constitution. But they don’t. They act as if they are above the law. They disrespect the courts. They choose what aspect of the legal dispensation is convenient for them, often times, those aspects that grant them the lee-way to punish and dehumanise any person or group that they consider, in their own reckoning, an enemy of the state. Due to systemic failure, the institutions and officials who run the engine room of the state are the worst culprits. They play politics when they are supposed to be neutral. They misbehave beyond the margins of error. This then is my problem with the conduct of the Nigeria Police issuing threats that its men would “kill and maim” if anybody goes out tomorrow, October 20, to commemorate the #ENDSARS crisis of October 2020. Should the police even kill anybody, extra-judicially or issue unreasonable threats in the first place? It is the duty of the police to protect every protester and facilitate the people’s right to protest. The Nigerian Police are described as law enforcement officers, and friends of the people. When the same police institution breaks the law and becomes the people’s enemy, an ironic source of agony and frustration, and indeed a notorious chief lawbreaker, it is the very foundation of society itself that is shaken and compromised.
The army of young Nigerians who trooped onto the streets between October 8 and 10, 2020 sought to draw attention to this, even if there were regional differences. In the South, the Generation X and Z who led the protests focussed on the brutality of the Nigerian Police, elite corruption and irresponsibility, power abuse, and extra-judicial killings by state actors. Their counterparts in the North said they had no issue with the conduct of brutal policemen. A few others complained about the bad governance that has made the North a killing field and the hotbed of insecurity. They all asked for Change nonetheless – the common, unifying thread of the protests. It didn’t take long before the typical Nigerian factor overtook the protests. In parts of the North, a pro-establishment group of sponsored thugs eventually joined the protests and attacked civil society activists. In the South, the protests were also hijacked. Police clamped down on the protesters. In the South, the protests later went out of hand, as #ENDSARS degenerated into organised attacks on the homes of politicians, and the business interests of innocent persons, many of which were either vandalized or razed down and the unveiling and looting of secret places and garages where politicians had hidden COVID-19 palliatives. In a particularly notorious case in Lagos, a female lawmaker allegedly converted palliatives provided by the Nigerian state into gift items to be distributed during a planned birthday party! Lagos was the epicentre of the protests.
Lekki Toll Gate was the location where many Nigerian youths gathered in their thousands on a daily basis. Matters came to a head on October 20, 2020, when soldiers from the 81 Division of the Nigeria Army, Bonny Camp, Lagos, and a contingent of policemen, invaded the Lekki Toll Gate to disperse the protesters. There have been many versions of what exactly transpired at the Lekki Toll Gate, and a lot of blame games and denials. Protesters claimed that the military and the police fired live bullets at protesters, and many died or were injured. Nothing has been more surreal.
In response, after the storm, the Federal Government, through the National Economic Council (NEC) directed that special panels of inquiry should be set up across the country, including the Federal Capital Territory, to look into the causes and effects of the protests and make appropriate recommendations especially with regard to compensation for identified and proven victims. While most of the states complied and set up panels of inquiry, the states of Kano, Kebbi, Sokoto, Jigawa, Yobe and Zamfara flatly refused to do so. In total, only 29 states and the FCT constituted the panels and tried to investigate the reported cases of police brutality. Essentially, only the Judicial Panel of Inquiry and Restitution in Lagos State appeared to have made any serious effort. The eight-man panel led by Justice Doris Okuwobi considered about 230 petitions. The Okuwobi panel was given a period of six months to conclude its work, but it was still sitting as of this week, having been granted further extension till October 19, and so far, it has awarded over N400 million as damages to victims of police brutality.
The Lagos panel, and may be a few others, including Enugu and Ekiti, would seem to have shown a measure of commitment to the assignment. Other panels were hampered one way or the other, or they quickly ended their meetings. The panel in Taraba State struggled to conduct investigations but it complained about lack of funding. The panel in Imo state awarded N770.9 million as compensation after considering 145 petitions but there is no evidence that anybody has received any form of compensation. Ekiti state has paid part of the compensation decided upon by the panel of inquiry; but it is yet to pay the outstanding balance due to what they call “paucity of funds.” The panel in Ondo State recommend the payment of N755 million as compensation. As is the case in many other states, it is not clear if anything has been paid. So far, 28 states have so far managed to complete their assignments. Lagos State submitted an interim report, and has now closed shop.
Whereas the Federal Government has taken the step of asking the states to set up judicial panels of inquiry, it is difficult, a year later to see whether any substantial progress has been made with the original five demands of the protesters viz: (i) immediate release of all arrested protesters; (2) justice for all deceased victims of police brutality and appropriate compensation for their families; (3) Setting up and independent body to oversee the investigation and prosecution of all aspects of police misconduct (within 10 days); (4) In line with the new Police Act, psychological evaluation and retraining (to be confirmed by an independent body) of all disbanded SARS officers before they can be redeployed and (5) Increase police salary so that they are adequately compensated for protecting lives and property of citizens. The key questions to ask are: where are we, a year later? Has anything changed? I doubt if there is anyone out there who can answer these two questions with his or her full chest. The government of the day promised to address all the five demands. Has it done so? The Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) was disbanded and renamed SWAT, its officials were asked to report to Abuja for psychiatric evaluation, and redeployment. There is no evidence of success in that regard.
The main issue was the brutality of the police - their sadism and wickedness to the tax payers who maintain them. After the #ENDSARS protests, the wickedness of the police to the people simply went a notch higher. They have not stopped killing people indiscriminately nor have they stopped extorting the people. Even the language of oppression that they speak has not changed. It is as if Nigerian policemen are on a revenge mission against the people they are expected to protect. The #ENDSARS protesters asked for increase in police salary. Some noise has been made about the need to improve the welfare of policemen, and indeed this is important. Nigerian policemen are as much victims of the system as the same people who protest against them. #ENDSARS was symbolically about a lot that is wrong in our society, including the dehumanization of policemen. Many of them lost their lives. Police stations were burnt down. There are hundreds of police children and wives out there whose breadwinners died in the course of the #ENDSARS protests. Not all policemen are corrupt and unkind, indeed many actually empathised with the protesters in October 2020, an indication of the complex nature of that event. In matters such as this, however, the lines are never so clear cut. There are good and bad cops just as there are good and bad citizens. In October 2020, we saw all of that on display.
Without making excuses for anyone, the #ENDSARS looks more like the boiling over of the Nigerian crisis. The villain is the Nigerian state itself and its bad managers, who do not care enough about issues of justice, equity and accountability. While openly, the government claimed that it was working on trying to establish the truth and compensate victims, the same government and its officials constantly lied about the details of what transpired: who ordered the troops to Lekki Toll Gate? Did the soldiers use live bullets? Did anybody die? How about the persons who were reportedly taken to hospitals or persons who jumped into the Lagoon? Who invited the military into what was a civil incident? We may never ever know the truth about these matters, and that is the way Nigeria is. And it is why Nigeria has trust and accountability issues and the gap between the people and those they have elected to lead them continues to widen.
One year after, it is appropriate to remember the history, heroism and drama of October 2020. The heroes are the young people of Nigeria, the civil society groups and celebrities, who stood up for the truth, those who dared to say No to injustice and brutality and the cruelty of the Nigerian Police. The villains are those agents of the state who fought and brutalised the protesters, the rent-a-crowd charlatans who sought to change the narrative and the state itself that supported a police force that behaves badly. The heroes are the members of the Feminist Coalition and the local and international agents who sustained the protest with cash, food, drinks and entertainment to keep the tempo alive. The villains are the charlatans who, even while government made conciliatory noises, demonstrated by their conduct, the gross hypocrisy of the state, by arresting #ENDSARS protesters and their bank accounts. Many #ENDSARS activists fled abroad and have not returned. Those who stayed behind have been told that they cannot even have a memorial symposium or any event otherwise they will face the full wrath of the law. And of course, there is that other crowd of junior Judases who betrayed their colleagues by colluding with the state.
The Police should not re-open old wounds by intimidating, harassing and molesting anyone who chooses to remember, commemorate or talk about October 20, 2020. It is the duty of the police to ensure that protests are conducted peacefully and in an orderly fashion. Nigeria’s Inspector-General of Police should call his men to order. Happy #ENDSARS anniversary.
“Happy Independence Day, my brother. I hope you had a great Independence Day?”
“No. I didn’t. This country don tire me.”
“Tire you how? How can you get tired of your country when the other day, you and I still went to Ngozi’s place to enjoy nkwobi and isi ewu with better orisirisi? Where else in the world can anyone enjoy the kind of special things we enjoy in this country without cutting an arm and a leg?”
“You tend to take everything as a joke. I can’t blame you. I guess someone already said that the great thing about Nigerians is our ability to laugh when we should cry and dance when we should be still and sober. We make light of every tragic situation. We wake up the following morning and pretend as if all is well. If it rained overnight, we manage to forget and forge ahead.”
“Ït is called resilience, my brother. We are a resilient people. We are like the Beetle. No matter how bad the road is, there is no killing the Beetle. We keep going. I am not going to allow some stupid leaders mess me up. They can do all the things they want, I am not going to give up. If they like they can turn the Naira note, the national currency into a meaningless piece of paper, I am going to keep going. Soldiers come, soldiers go. Let me tell you something bro. This too shall pass and Nigeria shall be great again.”
“Your problem is food and drinks. And I understand. There are people like you. Once you can eat and drink, you are fine. But there are some of us who want more from life, and we don’t think Nigeria is working. We think at 61, this country is thoroughly messed up and if I have my way, I will argue that the celebration of October I should be suspended till further notice in this country,”
“Omo, chill. What are you suspending? You can’t suspend history. Nigeria gained its independence from Britain on October 1, 1960. You can’t deny that. Don’t go about suspending things you can’t suspend. Jaiye ori e, bobo”
“But your President suspended Twitter? And even in his 61st Independence Day anniversary, he couldn’t lift the ban on Twitter. He said he had given directives that Twitter should be allowed back into the country based on conditions.”
“Leave Twitter I beg. Jack Dorsey is doing his own business. What has Twitter got to do with Nigeria’s independence anniversary? 61 years of Nigeria. Before Twitter, Nigeria was, after Twitter, Nigeria will still exist. I don’t even know why the President of Nigeria will choose to talk about Twitter on Nigeria’s Independence Day. That speech just went on and on. Good flow but too many unnecessary things inside. I was surprised President Muhammadu Buhari didn’t talk about Evergrande and its troubles and the fuel crisis in the UK.”
“Looks like the weed you smoked is beginning to clear from your head.”
“Which weed? Na drink I dey drink, I no dey smoke. You know say my Mama don die. If I go smoke now, the thing turn my head, who go take care of me? But what I am saying is that Nigeria is not a place you wake up in the morning and you begin to worry yourself? This life itself is not worth worrying about. Just live, and be yourself. Be happy. Don’t expect too much from anybody. This world is full of evil. Government. Government. Government. Who government don help? Can you believe there is power outage in Northern China? If they told you a day will come when white people in England will struggle with fuel scarcity, and beat each other up at fuel stations, struggling to get fuel, and that the streets of London will be filled with fuel queues, would you have ever agreed? But it happened bro. If not for COVID-19 and all these red list, green list things, I was tempted to go to London to make quick business. You buy, hoard, you sell. And make good money. I was looking at those people in London, fighting at fuel stations and for once, I felt good. If that happened in Nigeria, we would have been calling for a revolution, and the end of government. Every country has its own crisis. Let the Heavens fall, life will continue.”
“You are comparing apples and oranges. China does not have an electricity problem. Britain does not have a fuel scarcity problem. They have supply chain issues, and the fuel queues you are jubilating about are beginning to disappear. Britain and China have the capacity to fix their problems. Who will fix Nigeria? Can anybody fix Nigeria? Has anybody been able to fix Nigeria?”
“You like to praise white people. Anything a white man does; you will rationalize it. But you won’t rationalize anything for your own country. Which China? China where government is breathing down everybody’s neck, regulating everything including what time children should go to bed and what games they should play? With all our problems here, I don’t think any Nigerian leader would ever be mad enough to dictate what kind of food I should eat. You are praising the UK? Please who are you praising? Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister who does not know his right from his left? Supply chain problems? Are you saying I did not see those fuel queues? And the punch ups at the fuel stations, sorry, they call it forecourts? I have been telling you, don’t worry yourself. Nigeria is fine. Nigeria is great. If you are not happy, watch a Nollywood film. Listen to good music. Nigeria is the biggest entertainment centre in Africa. The home of pure genius in culture and the arts. The land of diamonds and resources.”
“I see you love escapism. You eat and drink. Watch movies. And you think all is well. That is actually the problem with most Nigerians today. They are so used to suffering, they don’t care anymore. A nation of depressed people.”
“Who is depressed in this country? Me or Davido and Whizkid who are selling out Arenas all over the world with their talent? Or Oluwaburna who is winning big international awards for his genius? Or Chimamanda Adichie who is lecturing European leaders about how to do the right thing in a world in need of justice and humanity? Your problem is that you worry too much about government.”
“Governments dictate how we live”
“And I say leave government alone and focus on yourself to avoid high blood pressure!”
“How? With all the bad roads, and poor infrastructure? And insecurity? When many Nigerians wake up in the morning, they are afraid to leave their homes because they are not sure whether they will make it back home in the evening or end up in the mortuary or a kidnapper’s den?”
“You must have been reading too many newspapers, and those things they write. This is a country of 210 million people. What do you mean people are afraid to leave their homes? Have you not seen the rush at bus stops every morning? And the queues at garages across the country, people moving up and down?”
“Nigeria should not be at that level 61 years after independence. In 1960, it was widely believed that the Nigeria of the future would do better than Japan and Malaysia within a decade. We messed it all up. A 61-year old person in the UK, Japan, and Malaysia is better off than a 61-year old in Nigeria today.”
“Na lie. I know Nigerians who are 61 years old who are on the Forbes list of the wealthiest people in the world.”
“And their names are probably listed on the Panama and Pandora papers, and America’s Wanted List. You will never find my name there.”
“Because you spend your entire life criticizing others. You don’t ever see anything good in anything or anybody. You must change your mind-set. You praise other people. You condemn your own. A 61-year old man or woman in Nigeria is better off than a 61-year old in Malawi or Zimbabwe and Guinea Conakry. How about that?”
“But they don’t kidnap people or kill them like flies in those other countries. What is the worth of a Nigerian life, 61 years after independence? All good things Nigeria destroys them all. The other day, they killed Dr. Chike Akunyili, Dora Akunyili’s husband in broad daylight in Anambra State”
“Yes. Sad. Sad.”
“For days, I kept remembering how the innocent man writhed on the floor, and nobody tried to help him. Instead, by-standers brought out their phones and recorded videos of his agony as life ebbed out of him. Something terrible has happened to this country, both the government and the people. If I had my way, I would ban the use of any phone with a video recording device in this country. Those phones are robbing Nigerians of their humanity and the old values we cherished.”
“Be careful. A few minutes ago, you were condemning the ban on Twitter. Government will hear you now, they will think it is a good thing to ban everything else including Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp.”
“No society should be this cruel. In one day, in Anambra, the offices of the Department of State Services (DSS) was burned down, same with the office of the Federal Road Safety Commission and the country home of Joe Igbokwe in Nnewi and all you hear is that unknown gunmen did it. Unknown gunmen. Unknown soldiers. Unknown terrorists. Nigeria is a country of unknown citizens. Even the government is unknown. What tragedy can be bigger than that? Please tell me.”
“Ah well, Nigeria will survive. I have faith. According to my Pastor, he was telling us this Sunday…”
“Please can we leave your Pastor out of this? I am not interested in what your Pastor has to say… Religious leaders have done too much damage… They are part of the problem…”
“I just know that Nigeria will survive… My Pastor knows a lot...”
“What do you yourself know? What does your Pastor know about the unending insecurity in the country, the hundreds of children who have been victims of kidnapping in the North and have been scarred for life. What do you yourself know about the failure of the state in major parts of the country? The entire North is a killing zone. The Middle Belt is unsafe. Now the South is also in turmoil. Do you know that things have gone so bad in Anambra State, people are even afraid to go out, every Monday? That state is scheduled to hold a Gubernatorial election on November 6. A month to the election, many of the candidates have suspended their campaigns and fled the state. In fact, it is now being suggested that the Anambra election should be held in Abuja.”
“You like to exaggerate things. How do you hold a Gubernatorial election in Abuja, hundreds of miles away? Will the women and voters of Anambra travel to Abuja to make a choice about their own future?”
“Nigeria’s Theatre of the Absurd. As some of you celebrated Nigeria at 61, some of us spent our time reflecting on these things. In Niger State, a Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Transport was abducted along with his granddaughter at an event in Zungeru. In the same state, in Kachive Village, 20 persons were killed, houses were razed down by bandits. In Sokoto state, terrorists kidnapped 20 persons and then freed one of their victims to deliver a letter to the traditional ruler of the affected community, to demand a ransom of N20 million. In Nigeria, human beings have become commodities traded on the Kidnappers Stock Exchange (KSE), which is fast becoming far more profitable than the Nigerian Stock Exchange. That is how bad our situation is.”
“Na wah oh.”
“One of these days, we would all be here and we would all hear that a State Governor has been abducted or maybe his wife.”
“Na lie. That can’t happen. A whole Governor?”
“Are you not aware that many Governors no longer spend the night in their states. That is why they all have private jets. They show up in the state to attend events, and as soon it is over, they go to the nearest airport and fly to Abuja to spend the rest of the week. And yet these persons are called Chief Security Officers of their states.”
“Make you no blame them my brother. Who wan die? Everything for this life na destiny. Na where you find yourself, you go manage.”
“Even the economy is in tatters. Our debt service to revenue ratio is frightening. 97.7%. And that is why I don’t understand why there is so much scramble over who should become President of Nigeria in 2023. North vs South. The next Nigerian President will inherit chaos. A broken country, if not physically, but certainly spiritually.”
“Don’t worry yourself, Nigeria won’t break. Did you not hear the President when he said that the Nigeria the British gave to us is indivisible and non-negotiable?”
“I sort of liked the speech. I thought it was a significant improvement on the terrible prose they used to write as Presidential speeches. But a second reading revealed the false claims in that speech. Fine prose yes, but don’t use fine turns of phrase to deceive the people. In this business, that is a form of corruption. In normal life, they call it “toasting”. Those fine things you say to seduce a woman.”
“Omo oor. The thing choke!”
“You heard woman now, see how you are excited like a child. Are you okay? The thing to note is that Nigerians today are beyond seduction. That is why we have all these problems around the country. I just hope that in the next round of elections, Nigerians will shine their eyes, and vote wisely.”
“Shine ya eye! Big Brother Naija. You too watch am? Odogwu, my man, Mazi White Money. The money white e be like snow.”
“I am not talking about Big Brother Naija. The obsession with a group of young men and women living in a cage defined by dissoluteness is a reflection of the state of the nation.”
“Nigeria sef na Big Brother Naija. Discuss. Mazi, White Money, na you biko.”
“I won’t discuss that with you.”
“Leave this Nigerian matter I beg. Na who go remain go remain, make we go drink, clear head. Buhari sef fit dey the other room, we dey here dey drag plenty matter.”
Every step must be taken by the Governor of Delta State, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, the DElta State Government, and the security agencies to prevent what appears to be another emerging round of crisis over the ownership of Warri. For more than 50 years, the Itsekiri and the Urhobo have fought over ownership of land in Warri municipality, and the appropriateness or otherwise of the traditional title, Olu of Warri. The battle has been fought in the law courts in Nigeria and the United Kingdom in such cases as Suit No. W/44/57, Suit No. W/121/57, Suit No. W/41/57, The Supreme Court in SC67/1971, Ometa vs. Chief Dore Numa 1934 11 N.L.R 18. Agbassa land, for example, is one of the most contested areas of Warri, namely Ejeba, Oteghele, Ogunu, Ekurede Urhobo, Igbudu and Ikpokiti. But the Itsekiri insist that they are the true owners of the land and that in fact the Agbassa are customary tenants to the Olu of Warri as determined by the Privy Council in 1941 and the Supreme Court of Nigeria in 1971 and 1972. The Itsekiri further insist that the Agbassa Urhobo will remain their tenants forever.
Beyond the law courts, this conflict over ownership of land, tenancy and customary rights has resulted in bitter feuds between both groups. There is also an Ijaw dimension to a three-way aboriginal confrontation in Warri. In 1997, the relocation of the Warri South Local Government Headquarters from Ogbeh-Ijoh (Ijaw land) to Ogidigben (Itsekiri land) resulted in absolute chaos and the death of more than 80 persons and the destruction of lives and property. The Ijaws believe that the Itsekiri always try to marginalise them. The Itsekiri, less populous than the Ijaws made early contact with European traders and gained a relative advantage in education, commerce, and even subsequently in other areas of life. This has caused over the years, great resentment against the group from their immediate neighbours: the Ijaws, Isokos, and the Urhobo. The sovereignty especially of Warri is a source of unending irritation between the Itsekiri and Urhobo. In 1997, there was war on all fronts: Itsekiti vs Urbobo, Itsekiri vs Ijaw.
In 1952, when the area now known as Delta State was part of the defunct Western Region, Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s government reversed the title of then Olu of Itsekiri to Olu of Warri, the original title of the Olu for more than 400 years. Other ethnic groups kicked. The main conflict between the Itsekiri and the Urhobo may have been over land, but there is politics involved too. And it is ironic: both groups have lived together for centuries. They inter-marry and have children together. Most Urhobos are half-Itsekiri and vice versa prompting the popular quip that the inter-ethnic conflict between them does not get to the bedroom. In 1999, a dispute over land in Ajagbodudu resulted in bloodshed between the Urhobo and the Itsekiri. The mutual distrust among the ethnic groups in Delta State and indeed, the entire South-South is not merely about land or the politics of domination, but how certain stakeholders at various times, seek to exploit these differences for their own advantage. The Niger Delta Basin accounts for about 90% of Nigeria’s oil and gas. Oil was first discovered in an Ijaw community in Oloibiri in 1957.
Whereas the people of the Niger Delta are all marginalised relative to other parts of Nigeria, which feed on oil and gas proceeds, the in-fighting among the same people is accentuated by personal and group needs for access to a per centage of the raw wealth that runs through their communities. It is trite law that whoever owns the land, owns whatever is attached to it. South South Land owners and other stakeholders are entitled to a share of the oil largesse, no matter how small, and to patronage from oil establishments. My suspicion is that the problem is the opportunistic elite in the Niger Delta. They take advantage of everything. They project personal interests as group concerns. They deploy foot-soldiers who have never heard of the Willinks Commission, or derivation, resource control, the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) to kill and maim over primordial sentiments. They are at it again.
The trigger this time is the emergence of a newly installed Olu of Warri, Atuwatse III, Emitshola Emiko. One of the fall-outs of the Coronation has been the resurrection of an Urhobo group known as Waado. The group has been very active on all social media platforms. It is not a new group, but it has re-invented itself to throw up old and volatile issues of sovereignty in Warri. The group’s message is simply that there is no such thing as an Olu of Warri but an Olu of Itsekiri and that the way to settle the matter this time around is to change the name of Warri to Waado City. “Waddo”: is an Urhobo word, a generic term which means “gentleman.” Urhobos ordinarily great each other at a gathering: “Ürhobo Waado” or “Mimi Waado”, accompanied by a native, responsorial call. The major towns in Waado City as outlined on Facebook by one Omonire Isaac Ovwigho include Edjeba, Ogunu, Okere, Ughotor, McDermott, Igbudu, Ibo market, Main Market, Iyara, Deco Road, Esi Layout, Okumagba Layout, Enerhen, Ekpan, Jedo, Jakpa, Effurun, Osubi, Udu, Eekte, Ovwian, Aladja, Oko-Okuoko, Otokutu, Ugbomro, Agbarho, Airport Road, Ekurede Urhobo and all surrendering (sic?) areas” whatever that means. The Waado group has also posted audio messages online urging Urhobo youths to stand up to the Itsekiri. They are threatening to organise an anti-Itsekiri protest on October 1.
I have seen at least a petition against this “Waado City Group” by an Itsekiri Group – the Itsekiri Interest Group (ING) titled “RE: Promoting Inter-Communal War, A Felony: Contrary to the Provisions of Section 42 of the Criminal Code Law CAP C21 Laws of Delta State of Nigeria, 2008: A Formal Petition Against Dr Ejiro Imuere, Omonire Ovwigho and His Cohorts, Self-Styled “Wado City Group”. The Itsekiri Interest Group (ING), like the Itsekiri Renewal Movement (IRM) before it, is opposed to the request that Warri be renamed Waado City. They claim this is illegal, provocative and an attempt to breach the peace. They want Governor Okowa, in his capacity as Chief Security Officer of the State to nip what may end up as a “deadly crisis” in the bud.
Nobody needs a bloodbath in Warri. Both Governor Okowa and the relevant security agencies should wade into this matter and prevent a certain breakdown of law and order. As we have seen in Ife-Modakeke, Tiv-Junkun, Aguleri-Umuleri, Southern Kaduna, the authorities tend to act too little too late, and when pundits cite the failure of intelligence, they claim innocence. Such an excuse would be foolish in this case. The threat is well known. The dangers have been communicated in advance. Any form of leadership failure will be unreasonable.
Hadi Sirika, Minister of Aviation has since announced the proposed concession of four of Nigeria’s major airports: Murtala Muhammad International Airport Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt International Airport, Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano, and Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja. Despite huge investments in these airports, they have continued to operate at sub-optimal levels, and have emerged as poster units for gross inefficiency. The concession which could last for 20 to 30 years, extendable on the grounds of good performance, would involve only the non-aeronautical assets of the airports. It is essentially a public-private partnership, with the Federal Aviation Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) still in control of the aeronautical operations.
In August 2021, the Transaction Advisors for the new model issued a Request for Qualifications (RFQ), a call for interested parties to submit their bids. Sirika argued that the concession of the airports will boost the country’s revenue and grow the country’s air transport value chain. He assured industry workers that there will be no job losses on account of the concession. Private sector involvement was expected to raise the capacity and profile of the airports. Every company interested in the aviation sector PPP was expected to have a minimum net worth of N30 billion. Interested international parties were asked to partner with local companies in line with Nigeria’s local content development policy. Private investors will own, upgrade infrastructure, operate and recoup their investments - a win-win “Nigerian Airports Concession Strategy”.
Airport concession is a popular private public partnership option in the global aviation industry. In Brazil, Japan, France, and Eastern Europe investors engage in similar deals. In 2009, the London Gatwick Airport was subjected to the same process. Other airports around the world in this class include the La Guardia in New York, the Western Sydney Airport in Australia, Clark Airport in Manila, Sangster International Airport in Jamaica, and Sofia Airport in Bulgaria. Back home, Nigeria had its first experience of airport concession in 2003 when as part of the early efforts of the Nigeria Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), the Second Terminal of the Murtala Muhammad International Airport, the Domestic Wing in Lagos was handed over to Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited (BASL). Concession agreements require diligence, certainty, integrity and the sanctity of contracts.
But what we observe is that the current Airports Concession Strategy is about to end up like that other big project under Hadi Sirika’s watch as Nigeria’s Aviation Minister: that is, the proposed launch of a national carrier called Nigeria Air. The national carrier was unveiled in 2018 at the Fanborough International Airshow in England. The National Assembly approved money for it. We were told aircraft had been ordered. Minister Sirika continued for a while to tell us that the national carrier would be airborne before 2023. Hmm. Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, reportedly said the project was not getting off the ground, and had to be suspended, due to “investor apathy.” We seem to be travelling the same route with the concession plan involving the aforementioned four airports. Sirika must be worried that he is fast becoming the promoter of big ideas that die and end up as a waste of state resources and everyone’s energy and time. As someone who has had significant experience in the aviation sector, he should know better, and can do better, but we have not yet seen any concrete evidence of his “expertise and experience.”
It is particularly striking that no investor of serious concern, except maybe one or two, has responded to the RFQ issued by the Federal Government in August for the four airports under concession. Last week, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Aviation announced an extension of the deadline by four weeks, now ending October 25, 2021. Will the investors seize this new opportunity and rush in to make their bids? No. I suspect we would end up at this same point by that same deadline. There are international investing groups that are strictly interested in airport concessions around the world. They jump at every opportunity. It is their field of play. For them to have ignored Nigeria so blatantly says something about our country’s business environment and the intelligence profiling of Nigeria’s aviation sector. It has nothing to do with the COVID-19 pandemic. What we are dealing with as in the case of the suspended Nigeria Air project, is simply investor apathy. There is Adebayo Ogunlesi, a Nigerian who bought three UK airports, including Gatwick. in six years. Has he shown interest in Nigerian airports? Why should investors snub Nigeria’s aviation sector? The evidence is in full sight.
Nigeria is an uncertain and unstable business environment. Nigerian authorities also do not respect agreements. Aviation requires humongous, long-term investment. It is not a portfolio, the-tree-branch-breaks-the-bird-flies kind of investment. In the Aviation sector with regard to concession, a major trigger of apathy among other investors would also be the maltreatment of the Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited (BASL), the first company to run, upgrade and sustain an airport in Nigeria under a PPP arrangement. Bi-Courtney is a Nigerian Company. It is a veritable demonstration of the workability of the Federal Government policy on local content development. But the same Government has been at war with BASL over the concession for more than ten years. Under the agreement signed with the Federal Government of Nigeria, BASL was meant to maintain the MM2 as it is known for 36 years. A new government unilaterally reduced that to 10 years without reference to the agreement. BASL was also in 2003 granted the concession to run the GAT terminal of the Murtala Muhammad Airport, the old domestic wing of the Lagos Airport. A new Nigerian administration also blocked that. Bi-Courtney went to court and won, all the way, to the Supreme Court. Nonetheless, the Federal Government of Nigeria has pointedly ignored its own Supreme Court. And on top of it all, Bi-Courtney which has “a right of first refusal” over the General Aviation Terminal (GAT) in Lagos is not even being given a chance.
I can understand the obsession with the fact that foreign investors are not forthcoming – who wants to do business in a country and a sector where no one respects agreements and things can change overnight? I also understand why the Federal Government says state governments of Nigeria should not submit any bids – those who mismanage Nigeria know and understand each other. The sub-nationals are even worse than the Federal Government. State governments should in fact also concession their own airports, and the airlines that they have set up. There is no guarantee that those investments will live beyond the particular Governor who put them in place.
Extending the deadline for the submission of bids for the concession of the four airports under reference may not change anything. The Federal Government must review its strategy and be seen to be prepared to act in good faith. It must ensure a level playing field for every interested stakeholder in the private sector. It must respect the judgements of the Supreme Court in the matter between it and Bi-Courtney and demonstrate respect for the sanctity of contracts and agreements. It must also show political wisdom. With the current tone and flavour of Nigerian politics, it would be an invitation to crisis to concession an airport in Lagos without Yoruba involvement, the Aminu Kano airport without the major or minor investor being a Northerner, or the Enugu Airport without Igbo representation, or the Port Harcourt Airport without the people of the South South being in charge one way or the other. This may not be ideal but it is nothing unusual in this context. In some other parts of the world, community-based stakeholders and their interests are prioritised. What Nigeria’s Airport Concession Strategy needs is a re-think, a re-set, transparency and a heavy dose of common sense, the lack of which has so far hobbled Minister Sirika’s plans.
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Civil society groups, including Non-Governmental Organisations are a positive force for change and progress in society, oftentimes helping to bridge the gaps of alienation between government and the people. In developed parts of the world, CSOs and NGOs have been in the forefront of making our world a much better place by helping to fight injustice, man’s inhumanity to man, environmental abuses, global health challenges, gender discrimination and the evolution of a rules-based international system. Ordinarily, power figures succumb to the temptations of power, they get carried away, they trample on the people’s rights, they subject everything and all things to the caprices of politics, civil society organisations help to pull such delusional figures back to the real world of blood and flesh. The academic distinction that is often drawn between CSOs and NGOs may well be quite frankly a matter of nomenclature and the fine distinctions quite blurry, for both are linked by the service that they offer, rather than profit, and their devotion to the common good, and the fact that both are outside the state, working in the interest of the community.
In developing and underdeveloped countries, civil society organisations have similarly helped to advance common causes, and in Africa, they are as old as the communities themselves. Since the 70s however, there has been an explosion of those groups that go by the name NGOs, a label that seeks strictly to differentiate the activities of such groups from the state and business. Most of these NGOs are described as charity organisations, or not-for-profit, or philanthropist efforts. They rely on donations, mostly foreign and are meant to be seen as voluntary organisations making a contribution to the human community. Nigeria certainly has a positive history of CSOs and NGOs role in its development.
I can attest to that having had an insider view of the CSO/NGO community in Nigeria. I was once a consultant for an international agency where my job was to help rewrite and review proposals from Nigerian NGOs. I also worked for other international agencies on public communication processes, change projects and development ideas. At a time, I was co-founder and director of an NGO. I also co-wrote the political agenda of a major NGO. I later sat on the board of an International NGO which decided funding for many projects in Nigeria. I travelled around the world attending conferences on health, population, environment, women empowerment issues, democracy and good governance. I cannot disclose the identities of these groups, but there was no doubt about the quality of the NGO community in Nigeria and how that construct called “the third sector” could propel societal development for good. Nigeria has indeed been a major beneficiary of the efforts of men and women who stepped away from the state and business and tried to give back by devoting time and energy to key issues of our time.
Within the general civil society community, churches, community-based groups, professional associations, labour unions, volunteer groups have also done so much in the making of Nigeria. For anyone who may have forgotten, the Nigerian civil society led the struggle against military rule in this country, and fought valiantly to demand a return to civilian rule. Many died. Lost their loved ones. Hundreds of persons fled into exile. Many more were hauled into detention and jails on trumped up charges. The Nigerian media was courageous. Journalists stood at the barricades along with human rights activists and resisted oppression, at great risk to their lives. At a time in this country, it was a crime and an attempt at suicide to write or tell the truth, yet many spoke the truth. Nobody thought of profit or gain. The only gain was the common good. Many persons and groups went to the streets and shouted “Never Again”. Of course, there were opportunists who profited from the people’s anguish, but my point is that in the 80s and 90s, the Nigerian civil society had its golden moments. We are all beneficiaries of the heroism of those who made the sacrifice in the political arena, regardless of what ails us today.
So, where is that same civil society today? Its complexion has changed. And that is a source of concern. With return to civilian rule in 1999, civil society, praised for its commitment to the major task of saving Nigeria, more or less relaxed. The explanation we offered at the time was that having won the battle over the authoritarianism of the military and the violation of the people’s rights, it made sense for civil society to catch its breath and allow the new democrats to settle down as Nigeria’s Fourth Republic began. This new phase in national development coincided however with an explosion in the number of Non-Governmental Organisations in the country. Having seen the power of civil society, setting up an NGO became a special kind of enterprise. There is nothing wrong in anyone electing to help promote the frontiers of law, human rights and democracy but the lines became strikingly blurred: between NGOs that were truly non-profit and an emergent phenomenon known as NGIs: Non-Governmental Individuals: special purpose, one-man organisations with neither structure nor organisation, but a fanciful name, a business card, an indeterminate address and a fancy-dresser who goes by the name of Chief Executive with a talent for peripatetic conduct in NGO circles and the larger society. In due course, someone took the trouble to prepare a directory of NGOs in Nigeria. Our finding: Many states in Nigeria have more NGOs than companies and direct investments. Each NGO looks for funds from international agencies and local donors. Most of them are vehicles for gaining access to government departments and agencies.
The result was the emergence of the NGO chief as an entrepreneur. And some of the guys really live it up. Loud fashion. Big cars. Opulent quarters. Like everything Nigerian, the NGO community, once a haven of good, became a vehicle of access to the good life. The legacy of the early heroes has since been overtaken by many who are out there to make a quick buck, or offer special services to the highest bidder, no matter how shady the deal may be. It is perhaps not surprising therefore that the Nigerian Government has been trying to control the NGO community, has been very suspicious of it, and continues to attack the civil society community. The contempt is mutual. Between 2015 and 2016, the National Assembly proposed three different bills to regulate CSOs and NGOs viz: A Bill for the Registration and Coordination of NGOs in Nigeria and for Connected Purposes (2015), the Civil Society Commission of Nigeria Bill (2016) and A Bill for the Establishment of the Non-Governmental Organisations, Civil Society Organisations in Nigeria and for Related Matters (2016). The sponsors of these Bills argued that the objective was to ensure transparency and accountability in the NGO sector to the extent that while freedom to act on behalf of the people was important, such freedom must come with responsibility. The big problem was that the phrasing of the bills was adversarial. Most of the provisions sounded like a deliberate attempt to shut down “the third sector” and free speech. In September 2017, 23 NGOs went to court to demand that the Bills should be declared unconstitutional. The hashtag #NoNGOBill dominated Nigerian social media. The Bills died a-borning.
The matter of the NGOs in Nigeria came up again last week when the Federal Inland Revenue Service speaking through one of its directors, Temitayo Orebajo announced that Civil Society Organisations in Nigeria that are involved in “trade and business” must pay tax, obtain a Tax Identification Number (TIN) or get sanctioned in accordance with the law. This has generated mixed reactions among stakeholders. There is nothing new really. The relevant laws for NGOs are the Companies and Income Tax (CITA) 2007, the Personal Income Tax Act No 104, 1993; the Value Added Tax 2007 (as amended). Under the extant law, NGOs in Nigeria are required to pay the PAYE tax, Withholding Tax on goods and services, Local taxes and fees such as parking and garage levies, Capital Gains tax where applicable and Income Tax on passive income. I do not see what the furore is all about. It is not every NGO that is non-profit in the real sense of it. Every NGO is required to be registered by law. The tax exemption that is enjoyed by an NGO is conditional. It is not absolute. Any NGO that wants an exemption can apply to the Minister of Finance through FIRS.
Once an NGO begins to engage in “trade and business”, it must be prepared to pay taxes. This includes those churches and places of religious worship that run travel agencies, schools, bakeries and that manufacture water and other items, including anointing oil, from which they make huge profits. Some of the most lucrative businesses in Nigeria today belong to churches. In God’s name, people are cashing out and claiming that they are NGOs. I am of the firm view that some level of regulation, accountability and transparency is required. There are too many NGOs out there that are merely fronts for other businesses. Nigerians are too busy trying to break or evade the law. Too many individuals parading as non-profit organisations. The usual tendency is to see every attempt at control or regulation on civil society groups as an assault on the civic space. While it is true that the Nigerian government has been complicit in this regard, it is also true that civil society in Nigeria is problematic and cannot be placed above scrutiny.
I recall two instances and with the following illustrations, I will rest my case. I was shocked when during the crisis involving the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), a member of the Professor Kemebradikumo Pondei-led interim management committee, Dr. Cairo Ojuogboh appeared on international television to claim that the civil society community in Nigeria, so-called CSOs and NGOs were part of the problem because these were groups on the payroll of the NDDC. At the time, the NDDC had come under heavy fire from persons who justifiably condemned how a development agency had been turned into a rent collection point by those who were expected to use provided resources to develop the Niger Delta and improve the people’s lot. Cairo Ojuogboh argued spiritedly that if anybody collected contracts, most of them were lawmakers in Abuja and NGOs from the Niger Delta Community, including groups that offered media services. It may be argued that these may have been phantom groups created by the thieves within the system as vehicles for self-enrichment. But they went by the title of NGOs nonetheless, claiming to be non-profit entities! They collected contracts and funds! In Nigeria, anybody can set up an NGO and buy newspaper space and make all kinds of claims. Half of the NGOs out there are not even registered. Just grab a name, design a logo and recruit an online team, generate a fanciful title and you are in business. Nobody double-checks.
I was also particularly alarmed when recently an NGO known as HEDA Resource Centre and its Chairman, Olanrewaju Suraj wwere both accused by the Police ,in a report, of having made false accusations against Mohammed Bello Adoke, former Attorney General of the Federation in the OPL 245 case involving Malabu Oil and Gas Limited. Suraj and his NGO accused Adoke of using an email address belonging to a company owned by a certain Aliyu Abubakar to engage in corrupt activities. Adoke was also accused of having had a phone conversation with an Italian journalist in 2017 where he admitted that the OPL 245 deal was a scam. Adoke has since denied the claims made against him by HEDA. He petitioned the Nigeria Police and asked for an investigation. The Police investigated Olanrewaju Suraj’s claims and wrote a report stating clearly that this was a case of blackmail, and that the information shared on social media against Adoke was unverifiable. Suraj responded by saying the Police Report was fake. The Nigeria Police Headquarters has since responded with the rebuttal that its report is authentic. To worsen matters, we are told that Olanrewaju Suraj’s Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA) is “an unregistered organisation.” The Police invited Olanrewaju Suraj but the police in their report said “he feigned sickness, jumped bail and resorted to issuing press statements maligning the Police, writing frivolous counter petitions and filing suits in Court against the IGP Monitoring Unit, Force Headquarters and the Police…” Olanrewaju Suraj, the report states, has foreign partners!
I have cited these two examples to show just how in our context, “the third society” is very much like government and business – the two other major societies in Nigeria. The NDDC Audited Report has shown the extent of the rot in that body, over 13, 000 abandoned projects and N6 trillion down the drain over the years, with nothing to show for it. The Board that Dr Ojougboh defended may not be innocent, but why would NGOs be part of the loot-sharing at the NDDC? Does the NDDC Audit report include an opinion on these NGOs turned contractors and rent collectors over the years? As for HEDA and Suraj, Mohammed Bello Adoke was maligned. His reputation was dragged in the mud of social media. Although the Italian Court threw out the entire Malabu/ENI trial, Bello Adoke, who was not on trial in Italy, was continuously maligned by HEDA, trying to influence the Nigerian Courts. Our people believe the worst about anyone who ever served in government. NGOs are supposed to be change agents not tools for untruths and blackmail. The Nigerian Government however overstretched the argument when in the wake of the #EndSARS protests in 2020, it made an attempt to descend on the civil society groups in that protest. That was a clear case of lumping the pigeons with the chickens. The main spirits behind the #EndSARS protests meant well, they wanted the good of all, but their ranks were infiltrated by a group of “chicken” forces in civil society who changed the colour of the protest.
The time has come for soul-searching within the Nigerian civil society community. It is not everyone that carries placards that means well. It is not every loud-mouthed, fist-clenching character that is a revolutionary. It is sad that the Nigerian Revolution is a gathering place for anyone at all who can shout loud or bold enough to show up at the barricades. Not even NGOs should be above reproach or the law. But who will guard the guardians? Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
On Thursday, September 9, I participated in a Colloquium titled “Osun at 30: Celebrating a Milestone, Building a Prosperous Future”, which as the title indicates was a commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the creation of Osun State. On August 27, 1991, the Babangida administration created nine additional states: Abia, Delta, Enugu, Jigawa, Kebbi, Kogi, Osun, Taraba and Yobe, bringing the total number of states in Nigeria to 30. The states were carved out of existing states, Osun for example was part of the old Oyo State, Delta was carved out of the defunct Bendel State, Jigawa used to be part of the old Kano State, Yobe state was carved out of Borno State, Enugu State from Anambra, Taraba state from old Gongola. Kebbi from Sokoto state. Four years earlier, the same Babangida administration created two states: Akwa Ibom and Katsina.
The politics of state creation has been one of the most volatile issues at the heart of the national question in Nigeria. From Gowon who created 12 states in 1967, to General Murtala Muhammed who added seven more states in 1976, General Ibrahim Babangida who increased the number first to 21 and later 30, and General Abacha who added six more states in 1996, giving us the present 36-state structure, the argument has always been anchored on the need to bring government closer to the people at the grassroots level, address the concerns of ethnic minorities who feel marginalized or dominated by numerically stronger neighbours, promote national unity, and ensure a more equitable distribution of national resources. Today, there are still many groups demanding the creation of more states. A cost-benefit analysis shows that states creation may have created more problems than it has solved. It has heightened the politics of difference, disunity and protests about the distribution of resources and advantages. But for me the bigger challenge is the viability or non-viability of the states.
The invitation from Professor Niyi Akinnaso, the moderator of the Colloquium was accompanied with an explanatory note about objectives and expectations. The keynote speaker was identified as Chief Bisi Akande, former Governor of Osun State. Panelists, 10 in all, from the UK, USA and parts of Nigeria were asked to interrogate issues raised in the keynote address and feel free to go beyond Chief Akande’s submissions. The chair of the occasion was His Eminence, the Sultan of Sokoto. It all looked enticing enough more so as Professor Akinnaso made it clear that the Colloquium will be by both physical and virtual participation. I opted for the latter.
In his keynote address, Chief Bisi Akande, who had been part of the history of the development of Osun State, as a Local Government Councillor in Ila Orangun, Secretary to the Government of Old Oyo State, and as Deputy Governor of Oyo State, and later, Governor of Osun State (1999 – 2003) provided a historical background to the creation of the State. But his central argument was about the concept of “the Optimum Community”, with emphasis on people-oriented development using education: primary and secondary schools in rural and urban centres as catalysts for the creation of optimum communities, even, all-round, development within the state, and the provision of basic infrastructure: potable water supply, electricity and energy, health facilities, housing, agro-allied activities. Chief Akande’s submission was a subtle reminder of the original purpose of state creation in Nigeria as earlier defined and the imperative of people-centred development.
There were echoes in this regard of the concept of “OptiCom” developed by Professor Akin Mabogunje, Africa’s first Professor of Geography and his friend, Professor Ojetunji Aboyade, the renowned economist. In the 80s, Mabogunje and Aboyade launched “The Awe Opticom Plan” in a rural community in Oyo State called Awe. Their focus was access to credit. It was an attempt by the two scholars to move beyond classroom theory to demonstrate that there is indeed a connection between theory and praxis, and between ideation, abstractions and quotidian reality. Their key message was that development energies should be redirected in a manner that would result in the empowerment of the people through decentralised governance and poverty reduction initiatives. The Awe Opticom Plan was later adopted for the Directorate of Food, Roads and Rural Infrastructure, a rural development framework established in 1986, in which Mabogunje was a major player. It also inspired the establishment of community banks by the Babangida administration. Professor Mabogunje was Executive Chairman of the National Board for Community Banks (1991 -1994). Years later, Professor Mabogunje in his autobiography, A Measure of Grace would state that he felt the Opticom development option met with “minimal success”. But the problem was not with the concept. The problem is with Nigeria itself: our tendency to politicise everything, the lack of continuity in governance, policy somersaults, and endless opportunism about the common good. Chief Bisi Akande did well to remind us all of the value of optimum development for the people’s benefit. Most of the discussants took their cue from his keynote address.
I was in no doubt that Osun State had a lot to celebrate not simply because it emerged as a state, but for its historical significance and enormous resources. Osun is the heartland of Yoruba history, the home of so many landmarks – Ile Ife, the cradle of Yoruba civilization, Osogbo, a cultural epicentre and a global destination for tourism, Ilesa, Ede, Igbajo, Oke Ila, Ila Orangun, Iree – major theatres of war in Yorubaland, especially the Kiriji War (1877 – 1893), and home of iconic legends: Timi Agbale - Olofa Ina of Ede, Ogedengbe Agbogungboro, Ogunmodede of Ilesa. Oduduwa, the eponymous progenitor of the Yoruba race is from Osun State. In more contemporary times, Osun state has also produced some of the most prominent figures in Nigeria in virtually every field of human endeavour: it is the state of Pastor Enoch Adeboye of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, General Alani Akinrinade, civil war hero and pro-democracy activist, Chief Bola Ige, Orlando Owoh, Duro Ladipo, Justice Bolarinwa Babalakin, Davido, Christopher Kolade, Femi Fani-Kayode, labour leaders, the Sunmonu brothers. Stepping on every piece of land in Osun State is an imprint on the sands of history.
It is also a state rich in culture: the Osun Osogbo grove, the Erin Ijesha waterfall, the annual Olojo festival in Ile -Ife. There was so much talk about education and the development of the human potential. Osun State is where the Obafemi Awolowo University formerly University of Ife is located. Other institutions of higher learning in the state, many of which were established post-state creation in 1991 include the Osun State College of Education, Ilesa, Osun State Polytechnic, Ila Orangun, Osun State College of Technology, Esa Oke, Osun State University, Adeleke University, Ede, Bowen University, Joseph Ayo Babalola University, Oduduwa University, Redeemers University, Kings University …I pointed out that given the milestones of Osun State in the education sector and its reputation as an incubator of skilled labour, there is no reason why going forward, the state should not continue to invest in human development through education as pointed out by Chief Akande. Incidentally, while the COVID-19 pandemic raged in 2020, the first major genome sequences research in Africa was carried out at the Redeemer’s University in Ede, Osun State by a team led by Professor Christian Happi.
The Colloquium took place at a time in Nigeria when there was great “war” between states and the Federal Government over the collection of Value Added Tax. Revenue sharing has always been a problem in Nigeria. Nobody talks seriously about adding value or the value chain or a serious commitment to GDP growth at sub-national levels, the people just want to share any part of the proverbial national cake be it proceeds from crude oil sale or multiple taxation. Compared to the other states created along with it in 1991, Osun State gets a comparatively low share of Federal Revenue. Internally Generated Revenue in the state may have increased over the years, currently about N13 billion per month, owing perhaps to increased population and economic activity but whereas a State like Akwa Ibom gets more than N34.8 billion, Osun could receive something as low as N1. 7 billion due to deductions at source for inherited loans. While the controversy over fiscal federalism, restructuring and VAT rages on, I argued that there is no reason why a state like Osun, blessed with abundant natural resources should be at the mercy of the politics of the national cake. Beyond its rich agricultural space of over 9, 000 km, Osun is also rich in mineral prospecting potentials: Gold, Kaolin, Talc, Iron Ore, Columbite.
The people of Osun have “riches beneath their feet” including over 15.3 million ounces of minimum gold deposit. But all the resources beneath their feet in Atakunmosa East and West, Ife East, Ifewara, Ibodi, Iperindo have been left at the mercy of illegal and artisanal miners, I said, at great cost to the state. I was aware of a Memorandum of Understanding signed between the present Adegoyega Oyetola administration in the state and a company called Badger Mines. I wanted to know the status of the MOU. I also drew attention to tourism as a major revenue earner for the state, post-COVID. The resources are available as low-hanging fruits but they have not been properly harnessed. Nigeria is one of those unlucky countries in the world where the people sit on great wealth that can transform their lives but they are happy doing nothing about it. They talk about it, they quarrel about it, but they lack the motivation to act. Governor Oyetola would be seeking a second term in office in 2022. I wanted him to pay attention to the take-aways from the Colloquium. We had very useful conversations
I had hardly signed out of the event when my phones began to ring. It was Funke Egbemode, Osun State Commissioner for Information and Civic Orientation on the line. Before going to Osun to serve her state, Egbemode was Managing Director of the New Telegraph newspaper, and President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors. She wanted me to join other participants at the Colloquium and some media stakeholders for a physical inspection of how Governor Oyetola was already addressing some of the concerns raised and the significant progress made. After much persuasion about the security situation in Osun State, I agreed. And so, I spent a part of the weekend in Osun State.
Very early in the morning, we joined the Governor, and some of his key staff, on a journey. I am often reluctant to praise a Governor for constructing roads for his people. It is part of his job to do so. But I saw in Osun state, an unusual level of commitment to infrastructure development. From Alekuwodo in Osogbo, to the Olaiya flyover Bridge at the centre of the town (which the Governor said was prompted by an accident scene that he witnessed and on the spot decided to address the problem), to the newly rehabilitated Osogbo- Kelebe-Iragbiji road, Ada to Igbajo, Ikirun to Eko Ende and other roads in the state, the Oyetola touch was evident. We visited the Osogbo General Hospital, now being reinvented and expanded, and primary healthcare centres across the state that have been revitalized, transformed from being abandoned units into new facilities, which are now being used for COVID-19 vaccination in the communities. The Commissioners of Works and Commerce and the Chief Press Secretary were very detailed in their explanations. We also visited the Dagbulu International Trade Centre/Customs Bonded Terminal, a dry port/free trade zone initiative by the Oyetola Government. Everywhere we went, the Governor was received by crowds chanting “Leekan si, 4 plus 4”. If that was meant to be a road show or show boating, it worked.
For me however, the high point was our visit to the Omoluabi Badger Mines Gold Buying and Refining Centre at Osu. Osu in Osun state is known for its special bean cake - Akara Osu. But today, it has been turned into a gold refinery centre by the Oyetola administration. Osun State has always been known for its vast gold deposits in the Segilola Gold mines, the Ife Schist Belt, Iperindo and the Eastern Ilesha Belt. About 25 years ago, Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola (as he then was) got 17 mining titles from the Obasanjo Federal government – 12 of which are for exploration. For 25 years, the licenses were kept in the files. One month left for the titles to expire, the Oyetola government waded into action. In 2019, it entered into a Joint Venture with Badger Mines. Twenty months later, Badger Mines working on 73 exploration belts, has found gold at between 200 - 300 metres. Badger Mines CEO and his officials took us through the gold refining process. High grade technology at work! And right there in our presence a 25 kg gold bar worth about 120, 000 dollars was produced. We asked all the necessary questions: alignment with the Federal Government, community and regulatory issues, derivation, and security for the gold refinery. I was impressed.
But I was also worried. The moment Osun State begins to talk about its gold refinery, its future elections could become war by another name. Everyone would struggle to lay their hands on the gold. Oyetola, a man of few words and a quiet mien, seemed to be more interested in development, job creation, making sure salaries are paid and his continuous affirmation that he has not borrowed a penny. We asked him to talk about his reported conflict with his predecessor and former boss, Rauf Aregbesola. He refused. He said they are brothers! Oyetola wants a second term of course. But he should be ready to put up a serious fight to achieve that 4 plus 4 ambition. You can’t build a gold refinery and expect your opponents or the Federal Government not to show interest. And that is how politics spoils everything. On our way back to Osogbo, we saw the Osogbo Steel Rolling Mill, now in a decrepit state, overgrown with weeds. We also saw the Nigeria Machine Tools – now a shadow of its former self. The Gold refinery was an indication of new possibilities and a statement about the future of Osun State, but the once flourishing industrial efforts now in ruins are painful reminders of the past.
On my way back to Lagos, I could not but get upset seeing the poor state of the Ibadan-Ife road, a Federal Government road leading to the heartland of the South West, in such terrible condition
“We don’t believe in cheating or rigging elections but also we don’t want other parties to cheat us, and that was why we encouraged the Kaduna State Independent Electoral Commission to come up with a fool-proof voting process.”
– Nasir el-Rufai
The prefatory statement above belongs to Nasir el-Rufai, the Governor of Kaduna, one of the few Governors who have consistently demonstrated faith in the deployment of technology to protect the integrity and credibility of the electoral process in Nigeria. He is the only one who has given effect to his conviction. In 2018, Kaduna state under his watch, conducted elections with an electronic voting system. This was the first time anyone in Nigeria would adopt electronic voting, and the second case of electronic voting in Africa, after Namibia. That year, the then extant law namely the Kaduna State Independent Electoral Commission Act No. 10 of 2012 was amended, to establish electronic voting in Section 16 (3) thereof. There were allegations of multiple voting and other challenges. But this did not deter Mallam Nasir el-Rufai.
On September 4, 2021, his administration repeated the same “offence”, if the adoption of modern technology by African electoral umpires can be so described, by ensuring that the Kaduna State Independent Electoral Commission (KADSIECOM), again conducted elections in the state’s local government areas in line with Section 16(3) of the KADIESCOM Act. At the end of the exercise, it was reported that the challenges observed in 2018 had been addressed. Multiple voting was no longer possible. The software had been upgraded to deny any voter an attempt to vote a second time. About 18, 000 ad hoc staff were deployed whose main assignment was the verification of the voter’s register. The Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) was a computerized box with simple Cancel and OK buttons that could be used even by the illiterate and the elderly. You select the logo of the party you want to vote for, and simply tap either OK or Cancel - a simple Yes or No choice. The Cancel button in fact allows you to change your mind. Each EVM was powered by a battery that could last up to 16 hours. KADIESCOM worked in collaboration with the telecommunication companies to provide the network for the immediate transmission of results. Voting took less than a minute.
The LGA election in Kaduna State on Saturday, September 4 was by no means perfect however. About 11 electronic voting machines were vandalised by suspected hoodlums. This should not be surprising. Violence is part of the sociology of Nigeria’s electoral process. Those who do not trust the system would always find a way to violate it. No matter how fool-proof a measure may be, Nigerians would always find a way to disrupt it. Oftentimes, out of raw scepticism. In the course of the elections in 19 LGAs, 41 EVMs were snatched across Kaduna State. Should anybody be surprised? The EVMs looked like boxes. In regular, manual, elections, the ballot box is the main victim in the hands of those who want to manipulate results. The only difference with an EVM is that it is electronic and has a digital footprint. Stealing or snatching it is pointless. The Kaduna State LGA elections have now ended. The APC won in 15 area councils. But the more interesting outcome was the disclosure that the Governor, Nasir el-Rufai lost to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in his Ungwar Sarki Polling unit in Kaduna North Local Government Area. It is a major dent for a politician to lose in his own polling unit! It makes no difference if his party wins across the entire state. He will be constantly reminded that he could not even get the endorsement of his own immediate neighbours.
With electronic voting, it may be difficult to manipulate results, stuff ballot boxes or thump-print multiple ballot papers. It should be noted however, that voter turn-out in the Kaduna Local Government elections of September 4, 2021 was very low. This is a nationwide pattern, and it is one of the ills that must change to properly deepen participatory democracy not just in Nigeria, but across Africa. The big gap between inputs and outcomes in the electoral process in Africa has alienated the people from the system and from democracy itself. Why go out to vote when there are no guarantees that your vote will count or translate into improvements in your circumstances? Why vote for people who will get into positions of privilege on the wings of your efforts and end up forgetting you? The biggest threat to democracy in Africa is this trust deficit and the disconnect between the people and the actual value of elections.
This however should not discount the value of credibility, integrity, transparency and accountability in the electoral process. This is the objective of those who support the idea of electronic voting and the electronic transmission of results. Twice now, in 2018 and 2021, the El-Rufai administration has shown that it is doable. There may be hitches and challenges but these can be identified and fixed in subsequent elections. It may be argued that Kaduna state is relatively small (population – 6- 1 million) compared to Nigeria with a population of over 200 million and 774 local councils). But we have it on record that should Nigeria decide to adopt electronic voting, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) can deliver on that score. The GSM operators in the country have also openly said that they can provide the necessary services. There are certainly lessons that can be learnt from the Kaduna experience, and from other countries including Namibia and the West. The only problem we have in Nigeria is the refusal of Nigerian lawmakers at the Federal level to see the value of electronic voting. The adoption of electronic voting by Kaduna State sends a strong message to those members of the National Assembly who conveniently rushed to the toilet, or were absent, or lied shamelessly that there was no mobile telephony in their village when the National Assembly voted on the proposed Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill 2021.
Getting the right electoral framework for elections in Nigeria has been a major concern since the return to democratic rule in 1999: the 2001 Electoral Act, 2002 Electoral Act, 2006 Electoral Act and the 2010 Electoral Act. It has been majorly a trial and error process. In 2018, ahead of the 2019 general elections, the 8th Assembly passed a Bill which was forwarded to the President for his assent. The President rejected the Bill, four times, on the grounds that the proposed amendments to the law could not come into effect due to time constraints. We held the 2019 elections, which again expectedly threw up issues about the integrity of the electoral process and the need to modernise elections in line with global best practices. When the 9th National Assembly assumed office in June 2019, its Chairman, Dr. Ahmed Lawan promised Nigerians that the Electoral Amendment Bill would be treated as a priority assignment. Indeed, Lawan kept his word, as he did also with the Petroleum Industry Bill. But it is one thing to make a law. It is another thing to do so in public interest.
What was meant to be an opportunity to provide Nigerians with a progressive, forward-looking electoral framework ended up as a farce. In the second week of July, a bewildered electorate watched as Nigerian lawmakers created an ugly scene over Section 52 (2) and (3) of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill which stated that INEC “may transmit results of elections by electronic means where and when practicable.” The Senate passed the bill on July 15. The House of Representatives did so on July 16. Both chambers of the National Assembly later resolved that the electronic transmission of results would be allowed only with the express clearance of the National Communications Commission (NCC) and the National Assembly.
Thus, Nigeria’s lawmakers took away the independence of the country’s electoral body, a blatant violation of Section 78 of the 1999 Constitution, and a brazen attempt to sabotage the law. It was most disgraceful that even opposition politicians in the National Assembly could not vote in the people’s interest. There were other concerns: the decision to increase campaign expenses: to become President, you would need a minimum of N15 billion, Governor – N5 billion; Senator N1.5 billion, House of Representatives member N500 million and State House of Assembly member N50 million. In other words, you have to be wealthy to aspire to any important elective position in Nigeria. If this bill becomes law as proposed, only armed robbers and internet scammers would probably end up in high places in this country. President Buhari should not sign the Electoral Act Amendment Bill 2021. It takes the country backwards, not forwards. It is the handiwork of cowards and a backward National Assembly. In Kaduna State, Governor El-Rufai has shown that it is possible to try new options and possibilities, and deploy modern technology to leap-frog the process. The navel-gazing lawmakers in the National Assembly should be called out. One of the errant ones has since apologised to her constituents for going AWOL when she was most needed, but there are others, so pompous and confidently ignorant, they just don’t get it.
On Sunday, September 5, 2021, President Alpha Conde, 83, of Guinea Conakry was deposed by a team of former elite military forces led by Lt. Col. Mamady Doumbouya. Conde does not deserve anyone’s sympathy and that does not necessarily amount to an endorsement of the military coup in that unfortunate country. Indeed, Conde is the architect of his own misfortune, a greedy African leader who thought he was invincible, untouchable and supreme. The photos that were released on Sunday showing him in a humiliating position, surrounded by the same soldiers who used to protect him was a loud reminder of the ephemerality of power and the unpredictability of human circumstances. The once great Alpha Conde looked very sober. The leader of the coup used to be his bodyguard. He used to hold an umbrella over his head. Today, Conde is at the mercy of Lt. Col. Dambouya. One wrong move, he, Conde could lose his life. He wanted to remain in office for life. He denied the people of Guinea Conakry the opportunity to make their own choice. What the people of Guinea could not do, the military have done it for them. Except that the unconstitutional take-over of power in Guinea is completely unjustifiable. The people of Guinea may have trooped out unto the streets of Conakry and other parts of the country to celebrate the downfall of a man who held them down, but that is no justification for a return to military rule. Many of them removed their shirts and screamed: “Doumbouya! Freedom.” But what next for Guinea?
In the 70s, African political scientists pushed the idea of the strong man as leader and messiah, and hence accommodated militarism as a vehicle of development. But by the 80s, the wave of democratisation led by the ideological politics of the United States created a new momentum. By the 90s, democracy was the new sing-song in most African states. The challenge however has been how to consolidate the gains of democracy and its value chain. It is most unfortunate that in recent times, rather than have a consolidation, Africa is beginning to experience a backward trajectory. The coup in Guinea fits into this pattern.
Before now, since 2010, there have been coup attempts in Niger (2010, 2011), Guinea Bissau (2010, 2011) Madagascar (2010), DR Congo (2011, 2013), Sudan (2012, 2019), Benin (2013), Libya (2013), Egypt (2013), Gambia (2014), Gabon (2019), Ethiopia (2019) Central African Republic (2021) and successful coup attempts in Niger (2010), Mali (2012, 2020, 2021), Sudan (2019), Burkina Faso (2015), Egypt (2013) and now Guinea-Conakry (2021). Military interventions in African politics constitute a major setback for democracy. The coup in Guinea Conakry can only add to the instability in the Sahel region of West Africa and provide further stimulus for the agents of destabilization – the Jihadists and the terrorists operating in the Sahel. ECOWAS Presidents Nana Akufo Addo of Ghana and Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria, and the UN Secretary General, Antonio Gueterres have condemned the coup but the international community must go a step further and ask Doumbouya and his gangsters to hand over power immediately to civilian authorities. They have suspended the Constitution and all institutions as part of an attempt to launch a transitional government.
It should be made clear to them that their rebellion violates the ECOWAS protocols on Democracy and Good Governance and the Constitutive Acts of the African Union. ECOWAS and AU need not worry too much about what France thinks. The relationship between France and its former colonies in Africa is at best opportunistic. The direct victims are the long-suffering people of Guinea.
Guinea is one of the most blessed countries in the world in terms of natural resources: the biggest iron ore deposit in the world, gold, diamond, bauxite but in typical African fashion, this has not translated into prosperity for the people. Guinea is effectively one of the poorest countries in the world. And the problems are not far to seek: corruption, nepotism and bad leadership. Alpha Conde spent his early career as a radical, progressive, opposition politician. He challenged the government of Lansana Conte in 1993 and again in 1998. In 2010, Conde led the RPG to victory and was thus elected President of Guinea for a first term of five years. He was re-elected for a second, final term of another 5 years in 2015. In 2020, when he was supposed to step down from office, Conde chose to amend the Constitution to enable him extend his stay in office.
Despite spirited opposition to this gamble, Conde imposed himself on the people. He was 82 at the time. He even increased the Presidential term from five years to six. In October and November 2020, there were protests on the streets of Conakry. Still, he held the election, which he won of course, and began a six-year term in office, illegally and unconstitutionally. That gamble came to an end on Sunday with the coup in Guinea-Conakry. It would have been better if he was removed by the people themselves in a democratic process. He promised to be Guinea’s Mandela. He was Guinea’s Caligula. Nonetheless, the cowboys looking like they don’t know their left from their right must not be encouraged to remain in power and office. The creeping collapse of the democratic ethos as seen in Chad, Mali and Guinea-Conakry is an ugly burden for the whole of Africa. Other African leaders who are tempted to sit-tight in office should learn from the disgrace of Alpha Conde.