OTHERS' VIEWS
There is a country called Nigeria. For three decades, its coffers were daily looted in the guise of fuel subsidy. The looters are known by name and some are known faces. The companies they use in looting are registered and have addresses. Rather than bring the criminals to book, government decided to remove the subsidy.
Thus, the people are forced to pay astronomical prices for fuel, while the subsidy looters keep their loot and are free to forage for other things to loot. This is the truth. There is also the lie; that fuel subsidy has now been removed. The truth is that it is impossible to remove fuel subsidy no matter how much the people are visited with high fuel prices.
This is because there are two basic variables over which the people have no control. First, is the continuous and steady devaluation of the Naira; every devaluation of the currency creates a fuel subsidy gap. It is like digging a hole to fill another hole. The craziness in this is that the first hole continues to widen.
The second subsidy-inducing variable is the cost of crude oil at the international market. Since Nigeria is not refining the crude oil it produces, it is condemned to buying refined petroleum products at international market prices. When you add to this, the cost of refining abroad, freight, insurance, taxes and demurrage, the price of a litre would have swelled.
Futurologists say when the Dangote refinery comes on stream, this second variable would be taken care of and prices would come down or crash. I am a person of little faith in economic speculators who since 1981 have told us the same thing, then preach that we should have faith in a bright economic future.
On Dangote, it is about a businessman said to be building the largest refinery in Africa, and our economists and money managers like brother Godwin Emefiele speculating on his motives. Some claim he would earn so much foreign exchange for the country that the Naira will appreciate. In a country famed for inadequate regulation, supposing Dangote decides to charge so-called international prices for his products, or in fact, decides to sell to foreigners to the exclusion of Nigerians, will he be committing a crime?
Aliko Dangote is like a man holding a bird in his hand, and our economists and leaders are speculating on the colour of the bird; some say it is purple, some black, others say it is green, white , green. This is witchcraft economics.
So, President Bola Tinubu needs to be cautious of experts who repackaged the disastrous and ruinous Structural Adjustment Programme, SAP, of the military regime as fresh ideas. He needs thoughtful patriots like Odia Ofeimun who have the welfarist, programmatic and developmental mind of an Obafemi Awolowo.
It is understandable that President Tinubu has to give political jobbers appointments. But it is also necessary for him to have people who can look him in the eye and tell him the truth. Such people can also constantly remind him that he is in office for two basic reasons: the security and welfare of the people. Any other matter is fashion which comes and goes. At the end of his tenure, his government and legacy will be assessed based on how he fared on security and the peoples welfare.
The half a Kobo wisdom I have which I can share with him is that all his programmes should be subjected to those twin tests. Let us take, for instance, his decision to introduce student loans in our tertiary institutions. I like learning from history. So I expect the President to reflect and tell Nigerians why the student loan system was scrapped decades ago while the scholarship and bursary schemes were retained. Secondly, what logic is it in us resurrecting the student loan scheme when the same scheme is collapsing in the United States, Canada and Western European nations with these countries desperately trying to get out?
Some of the basic problems of the student loan scheme is mass unemployment with people being unable to repay. Even where some get jobs, the wages are so low that they are merely surviving.
In the US, the loan debts is now over $1.6 trillion with over 45 million Americans trapped in it. This means that one in three young American adults with some three million above the age of 60, are trapped in the debt peonage. Over one million Americans default with the rate of defaulters this year estimated at 40 per cent.
The debts have become so much a liability that some American youths decided neither to get married nor raise a family until they have been able to repay the loans which can take decades.
The Biden administration this May, decided to give some of the defaulters some breathing space by cancelling $66 billion in student debt. This has snowballed into a crisis as the Senate voted to shoot down the Biden plan and the American President responded by vetoing the legislation.
If the Tinubu administration goes on with its Student Loan Act, our situation is likely to be worse than the Western situation because we have a worse unemployment crisis, lack basic social protection, very poor statistics and have far higher rate of inflation; these are unlikely to change in the next 8-24 years when the loans should be repayable.
While the Americans tend to remain in their country, I foresee Nigerian youths ‘japaing’ (fleeing abroad) just to escape the debt prison.
Also, although government says it does not intend to introduce tuition fees or increase fees in the tertiary institutions as a result of the student loan scheme because the institutions are not financially independent, it means that fees can be increased just by declaring tertiary institutions financially independent.
Education is crucial to the country’s future. So if government says there are not enough funds to sustain the current funding system, it needs to first calculate how much tertiary education costs. Tell us how much is available and the cost gap that exists. Then we can answer the next logical question: how do we fund the difference? For instance, can we save money by scrapping the House of Representatives and transferring the trillions of Naira spent legally and illegally on it? Its functions can be transferred to the trimmer and much more representative Senate.
Also, can we ensure that the Tertiary Education Fund of 2.5 per cent of company profits are largely collectable and accountable?
The Tinubu administration has no need to use torchlight searching for solutions to the myriad of problems in the country; the broad daylight is enough, it is more a question of choices and priorities.
The appointment of Mr. Olawale Edun, a seasoned investment banker and former commissioner of finance in Lagos State, as the Special Adviser to the President on Monetary Policy, has set off torrents of speculations on what exactly would be his job description given that monetary policy is statutorily an exclusive responsibility of central banks all over the world. In a rare unanimity, many economists I have spoken to agree that the appointment is an aberration that could erode the hard-worn independence of the CBN, and create some conflict between the Presidency and the monetary authority. Monetary policy is a set of tools used by a nation’s central bank to control the overall money supply, interest rates and bank reserve requirements in order to tame inflation and promote economic growth. In other words, monetary policy seeks to achieve price stability in the economy. It is a function specifically assigned to one of the four deputy governors of CBN. It’s the core job of all central banks.
To effectively perform this function, the CBN has since 2005 constituted a Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), which is the highest policy making committee of the Bank with a mandate to meet regularly and review economic and financial conditions in the economy and determine appropriate action plans in the short to medium term. It also regularly reviews the CBN Monetary Policy framework and adopt changes when necessary. MPC is chaired by the Governor, and is made up of the four deputy governors and a few other distinguished economists and eminent persons with strong financial backgrounds. In Nigeria, the MPC meets every two months and its decisions are communicated to the public. over time, the membership of MPC has been expanded to include the Head of the African Development Bank (ADB) Office in Abuja; Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) and Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Finance. The Presidency is also represented in MPC. Under Buhari, it was Mohammed Salisu, SSA to the President on Development Policy who represented the Presidency on MPC. Edun will now take his place in this very important Committee.
But a membership of MPC that meets six times in a year could not be the only duty of a cabinet-level official. What else would be Edun’s specific duties in the area of monetary policy? Some economists are puzzled by the designation and they think that implies a possible encroachment on the independence of the CBN. ‘’I do not understand the significance of the appointment, and I’m worried that the new administration might be straying into unfamiliar territory’’, says Horgan Akpan Ekpo, a professor of economics, who had once served as a member of the Board of Directors of the CBN and a member of its MPC (Monetary Policy Committee) during the tenure of Prof. Charles Soludo as CBN Governor. Speaking to this writer exclusively, Ekpo notes that although Mr. Godwin Emefiele might have made some mistakes in the manner he ran the Bank, it is not enough reason for the government to seek to interfere in its core functions. ‘’The CBN Act confers enormous independence on the Bank for good reasons. It is a big progress from the days when the Bank was a parastatal of the Ministry of Finance; so, it would be a serious retrogression for us to do anything that would take us backwards’’, Ekpo, a former vice chancellor of University of Uyo, said. Ekpo had also been the chief executive of West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management (WAIFEM), a training institution co-owned by the Central banks of the Anglophone West African countries.
While the CBN handles the monetary policy, the Ministry of Finance is responsible for fiscal policy which basically entails taxation and spending. Both sides are independent of one another but they work in harmony for the good of economy. Which explains why people are trying to figure out what Edun’s job entails. ‘’I suspect that his responsibility would be essentially to watch over the CBN Governor on behalf of the President, and to ensure that the Bank takes orders from the Villa,’’ says a financial consultant who has had a long career spanning banking and insurance, is close to the new power brokers but does not want his name mentioned in this article. He believes that the President will like to have a total control of what happens in the economy, and so he wants a trusted ally to watch over the new CBN governor that will replace Emefiele. He says: ‘’Emefiele was very close to President Buhari. He could walk into the Villa at any time and see President Buhari at a short notice. But in this era, Tinubu may not need a direct interaction with the governor, and so, it is Edun that would be an intermediary between the Villa and the CBN’’. But since there is National Economic Council (NEC) and the President may appoint an Economic Adviser and/or Economic Management Team, this anonymous consultant believes that Edun’s role as Monetary Policy Adviser appears suspect, or at best otiose.
Another economist and banker, Marcel Okeke says the appointment is an aberration as Edun may be working in conflict with the law establishing the CBN. ‘’Mr. Edun is an accomplished banker and a thoroughbred professional, but he cannot take over the duty of the CBN. By the CBN Act 2007, monetary policy matters are the sole responsibility of the CBN’’, Okeke, who was also one of the influential finance journalists in the 1980s, said. He notes that even the judgement of the Supreme Court on the issuance of the new Naira notes by the CBN last year was an anomaly since ‘’monetary matters should not be decided by the Supreme Court but by the CBN’’. This is the same line of thought that Johnson Chukwu, Group Chief Executive Cowry Asset Management Group expressed in an interview on Arise News the other night. He said Edun’s job title is a misnomer since ‘’monetary policy is an exclusivity of the CBN’’.
Former Deputy Governor of the CBN, Prof Kingsley Moghalu, refused to make a comment when I contacted him. I was surprised at his reticence because Moghalu is naturally vocal matters of public policy and public interest. However, in a statement he issued last September on the need to maintain the independence of the CBN, Moghalu had argued against a proposed bill presented at the National Assembly that sought to abridge the Bank’s independence. ‘’Such amendment to the CBN Act of 2007 would finally destroy the institution by disrobing it completely of its institutional independence as enshrined in the Act. It would make the Bank, a statutory corporation under the law, to become a ministry or a mere agency or department of government; and it would render the bank an open playground for politicians who are the custodians of our dysfunctional governance’’, he wrote.
I had initially thought that Edun would be the new finance minister. He fits the bill by all standards. I was therefore equally surprised at his designation as Adviser on Monetary policy. First of all, it is not the job of the President to fix interest rates or manage money supply (M1 and M2). That is the duty of the CBN; and the CBN Governor is also the chief adviser to the government on such matters. However, the President has the right to seek a second opinion in addition to that of the CBN. The position could also be a subtle hint that Edun is being prepped to take over as the new CBN Governor. Afterall, Prof Soludo was first made chief economic adviser to the President before he was appointed Governor some 20 years ago.
Ahead of Sierra Leone’s presidential and parliament elections on 24th of June, the Economic Community of West African States’ (ECOWAS) Long-Term Observers have continued their consultations with political stakeholders, including the civil society organization, National Election Watch (NEW), a major player in the electoral process.
Briefing the ECOWAS Observers, NEW Chairperson Marcella Samba-Sesay, gave an overview of the political context, highlighting issues related to boundary delineation, voter registration, electoral reforms, especially women’s political participation and representation, and pre-election court cases.
She also mentioned the perceived negative impact of social media, especially “youth radicalization,” “hostile and polarized political climate,” as well as the “regionalized and ethnicized” party politics with potential consequences on the 2023 polls.
Madam Samba-Sesay disclosed that NEW would be deploying 5,000 local observers across the 3,630 polling Centers nationwide as well as incident reporters and parallel poll result tabulators.
The regional observers also met Saturday with their European Union counterparts, deployed in Sierra Leone since 11th May.
On Friday, the Observers had a session with officials of the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding, WANEP-Sierra Leone, which boasts a membership of 58 registered organizations with shared responsibility and interest in conflict prevention and building peace in the country.
The 95-strong ECOWAS Election Observation Mission to Sierra Leone, comprising 15 Long-Term and 80 Short-Term Observers is led by Dr Mohamed Ibn Chambas, a former Special Representative of the UN Secretary General and Head of the UN office in West Africa and the Sahel. The Mission is expected to meet with more stakeholders ahead of the 24th June elections.
Some 3,374,258 voters registered by the Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone (ECSL) will elect a new President from among 13 contenders, as well as 135 Parliamentarians and 493 Local Counsellors in the four-pronged vote under three electoral systems in the diamond-rich country with an estimated 8.7 million people.
A successful candidate requires 55% of valid votes to win the presidency. If no presidential candidate gets the 55% constitutional requirement, the two frontrunners will square up in a run-off vote.
A candidate requires a simple majority under the first-past-the-post electoral system to win the Mayoral contest, while Members of Parliament and Councilors will be chosen from party lists under the proportional representation electoral system.
Incumbent President Julius Maada Bio, of the Sierra Leone’s People’s Party (SLPP) and Samura Kamara of the opposition All People’s Party (APC) are the front runners for the 24th of June election. Both men contested the presidency in 2018, with Bio emerging victorious over Kamara, of the then-ruling party.
Meanwhile, former President Ernest Bai Koroma has made a passionate appeal for peaceful elections in the country.
“Fellow Sierra Leoneans, we should not be distracted, our focus should be on creating an enabling environment for citizens to exercise their civil and political rights peacefully,” the former president said in a statement.
He also called on “champions and defenders of democracy” … “especially those who have stood with us during the darkest moment of our nation’s history” … to “make your voices heard in the “protection of peace, democracy and rule of law in our beloved country.”
The leper said two things, one of them being a lie; he said after he had struck his child with his palm, he also pinched him severely with
his fingernails.
Many years ago, in a small family reunion I was invited to, I watched as a father narrated a movie to the kids, unknown to him, the kids had viewed the same film. He went about mumbling the story line, while the older ones feigned attention, one of the younger ones just blurted out..."Daddy it's a lie".
I am writing this on yet another day that marks the ‘Fathers’ Day’.
And it’s early weeks yet, a new administration at the centre and several states are also adjusting to new leadership and in this case new fathers.
So, this is it, will the lies told about electricity, the whole pension administration, filled with filthy lies about change for the better. Like we now have an electricity act and the student loan bill in effect by September, would the lies about education witness the truth.
The cost of lies to our national development cannot be quantified, so it is fashionable that parents lie to kids, husbands to wives, wives to
sisters, employers to employees, and how about those legislative lies on job creation…but very painful lies that fathers and leaders tell recklessly, you remember how despite the strides of the last administration they lied about those job creation numbers.
Telling the truth is just unthinkable, it has simply become a deviant attitude to be truthful. I guess this writer should let sleeping dogs lie, and of course that itself is the problem, the dogs don't sleep, they lie continuously.
The problem with all these lies is how they seem to become the truth after constant repetition; you know that caveat that if you listen repeatedly to a lie, it becomes the truth. One other effect is, it leaves us with a short fuse memory because it’s all too dramatic. Too many lies, even when there's no need to lie we conjure up some fancy tales, lace it up with all the condiment.
When last did a public official tell the truth, I mean say it as it is, and have it on record as having said and stood by it. We just talk anyhow, most times without thought or regard to the consequences.
Fathers are forced to lie, coupled with the lack of security, alarming increase in cost of food items, and an all time low in public confidence in government.
Our fathers like Tinubu and like legislators and governors I ask, are you all ready for this job; is the job already overwhelming, how difficult is it? Almost all the states are without a cabinet list with portfolios, it’s almost a month!
How are they dealing with the opposition, as usual lies about how they are responsible for all this early morning sickness are already flying? There are persons that have a padlock grip on state matters positively and negatively, how are the current fathers dealing with it?
Can the current fathers disappoint PDP and LP, disappoint the old APC, tow a different line. They have promised this and that, but opinion is divided on whether they have said anything, will they deliver?
Can Mr. Tinubu as father of the nation unite Nigerians, given the almost every day constant reminders that we are on the edge, Boko Haram, MEND, IPOB, OPC, kidnappers, robbers, terrorists, unemployment, union strikes etc? Do we have nice fathers, or are they weak, humble or sly or they are still trying to define themselves or cooking lies?
The truth is that the topic of politicians and lies is complex and multifaceted. While it is true that some politicians may engage in dishonesty or deception, it is important to recognize that this behavior is not exclusive to politicians but can be found in individuals from various professions and walks of life. It is crucial to approach this topic with nuance and avoid broad generalizations. However, I have intentionally beamed my searchlight on politicians, in context of our leaders and as fathers.
Here are a few key points to consider:
Trust and Accountability: Honesty and transparency are essential for fostering trust between politicians and the public. When politicians lie or deceive, it can erode public trust and undermine the democratic process. Holding politicians accountable for their words and actions is crucial in promoting integrity in politics. Sadly, we are stuck here…
Complexity of Issues: Politics deals with complex issues, and finding simple solutions or conveying the intricacies of policy decisions can be challenging. Politicians may oversimplify or distort information to gain support or simplify complex issues for public consumption. This does not justify dishonesty but highlights the importance of critical thinking and fact-checking. This is something we lack…
Individual Responsibility: While politicians have a responsibility to be honest and ethical, citizens also have a responsibility to engage critically, seek accurate information, and hold politicians accountable for their actions. Active civic participation, fact-checking, and demanding transparency can contribute to a more accountable political system.
Ethical Leadership: Encouraging and supporting ethical leadership is essential for addressing the issue of dishonesty in politics. Political parties, institutions, and civil society organizations should promote ethical behavior, integrity, and a culture of honesty among politicians.
It is important to note that not all politicians engage in dishonesty, and many individuals in politics strive to serve their constituents with integrity and honesty. However, addressing the issue of dishonesty in politics requires a collective effort from politicians, citizens, and institutions to promote transparency, accountability, and ethical behavior in the political sphere.
We want to see leaders and fathers that take action, are in charge, and the powers are theirs and ours, they need to start to work, do something, anything, one thing or nothing". Whatever reasons Nigerians voted for are getting inconsequential by the day...they need to prove themselves, the excuses are not tenable, the lies cannot continue.
The Yorubas say ebìtì tí ò kún ẹmọ́ lójú, òun ní ńyí i lẹ́pọ̀n sẹ́hìn. It is a trap that the giant rat disdains that wrenches its testicles backwards. Dangers that one belittles are liable to cause great havoc. When people suffer low expectations it’s easy for the Stockholm syndrome to set it...This president and governors won an election, they are our fathers, they can continue lying or they must now earn fatherhood—May Nigeria win!
My June 12 day was hectic as usual; it started very early in the day as I led my parishioners to pray against destiny destroyers. There are many intriguing cases of destinies that were, well, inexplicably destroyed in the Bible; a few examples were Abel, whose offering God accepted but who, as a result, got killed by his brother Cain whose own offering God had rejected; a thoroughbred and conscientious soldier, Uriah the Hittite, whose brutal murder was orchestrated by a loafing King David to cover up his adultery with Bathsheba, Uriah’s wife; and the conspiracy of King Ahab and his notorious wife, Jezebel, that led to the gruesome murder of Naboth. In all the three cases, the victims were blameless as far as ordinary eyes can see; yet, they were victims of destiny destroyers. In His manifest wisdom which no mortal can query, God punished the vile offenders but only after the deed had been done. That must be an object lesson for all of us!
A similar fate befell Chief MKO Abiola who won the June 12, 1993 presidential election fairly and squarely but was not allowed to enjoy the fruits of his labour. The military junta in power, led by Gen. Ibrahim Babangida (IBB), annulled the election. As he was “stepping aside” from office under a barrage of protests by Nigerians led by civil society groups and activists, IBB installed an inept Interim National Government headed by Chief Ernest Shonekan. Gen. Sani Abacha, the most senior military officer after IBB’s exit, wasted no time in dismissing Shonekan and taking over the reins of office. Abiola’s protest and effort to retrieve his mandate led to his arrest and detention, where he eventually died. He was not allowed to fulfil his destiny by destiny destroyers.
From church I landed at the Lagos State Television (LTV) where I was one of an array of analysts that discussed the various angles to the June 12, 1999 presidential election, the protests that followed its annulment, the political impasse or logjam that dragged for years, the eventual return to civilian rule on 29 May, 1999 and the progress made so far, if any. If anything, the current Fourth Republic is the longest-running in the history of the country and if it is true that experience is the best teacher, then, Nigerians must have learnt one or two lessons on how to sustain and nurture our renascent democracy. Challenges encountered so far, and the roadmap for a better tomorrow, were also dissected.
From there, I moved to the Oodua People’s Congress commemoration of June 12, the 30th in a row, at the Excellence Hotel, Ogba. The place was jammed packed and the atmosphere was electric. It was my first participation in OPC’s commemoration of June 12. Activists and civil society organisations, traditional rulers and various chapters of OPC from far and near made the hotel premises too inadequate for the event. Leader of the OPC and Aare Onakankanfo, Iba Gani Adams, said in his speech that Nigeria cannot achieve much if our democratic aspirations are tied to the 1999 Constitution. He enjoined President Tinubu to find a way to get the constitution reviewed. Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin encouraged June 12 activists not to give up the struggle. She demanded that Abiola be placed on the same pedestal as former presidents of the country. On fuel subsidy removal, she counselled that the sacrifice demanded by our leaders should flow from top to bottom and not the other way round.
Dr. Tunji Abayomi described the 1999 Constitution as the fruits of a poisonous tree and urged the National Assembly to pass a law that will vest the Nigerian people with the powers to give themselves a Constitution. The Guest Lecturer, Dr. Oseni Taiwo Afisi, said June 12 transcended the identity politics of ethnicity, religion and such other primordial instincts. Veteran journalist, Otunba Gbenga Onayiga, also supported the demand for a new Constitution while also calling for the immortalisation of other heroes of democracy, which included journalists. Another veteran, Dare Babarinsa, said answers must be found to why the Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar regime that succeeded Abacha failed to release Abiola from detention when other detainees were being released. He urged President Tinubu, the first activist to become Nigeria’s president, to order an investigation into this.
There were many other speakers, including this writer, but space will not allow us to mention them. I left the gathering resolved to attend future activities of the OPC as I find convenient.
NCC chairman, Prof. Adeolu Akande’s golden advice to 10th National Assembly
Election of principal officers into the 10th National Assembly has come and gone and everyone must have simmered now, as they say. The next battle will shift to the composition of Senate and House committees. That will be the first litmus test of how competently Godswill Akpabio (Senate President) and Tajudeen Abass (Speaker of the House of Representatives) can bridge the gulf created by the keen competition for their respective seat and rally the chambers behind themselves. The robust intervention of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was what made what had initially threatened to be a fight-to-finish look eventually like a storm in a tea cup, judging by the ease with which Akpabio and Abass sailed through. But the wisdom of our people says you can help someone to land a job but you will not be the one to execute the mandate for him. So, the ball is now in the court of Akpabio and Abass and the task of rowing the boat rests squarely on their shoulders. Can they rally their colleagues? Do they have the required leadership skills? Are they selfless? Will they be listeners who will be patient servant-leaders and not dictators? I came across the advice given by Professor Adeolu Akande, chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), and felt that not just Akpabio and Abass but the entirety of the 10th National Assembly need it to succeed.
Hear the professor of Comparative Politics: “Now that the winners have clearly emerged after all the horse trading, I want to enjoin all the lawmakers to put Nigeria first and collaborate with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in actualising his “Renewed Hope” agenda. So far, the country is moving in the right direction. I expect members of the National Assembly to collaborate with the Executive in moving the country forward. President Tinubu, since his inauguration on May 29, 2023, has left no one in doubt on his vision and mission to make Nigeria one of the best economies in the world. This can only be achieved with a cooperative and collaborative Legislature” It couldn't have been better put!
Prof. Akande then assured that the Board of the NCC, which he leads, will continue to initiate lofty ideas that will lead to poverty reduction, wealth creation and employment generation. Since every politics is local, Akande did not forget his home base of Oyo state as he also felicitated federal lawmakers from the state on their inauguration as members of the 10th National Assembly. He told them “to consider this as a rare opportunity and call to serve our fatherland. I pray God grant you the wisdom and good health to succeed in this national assignment!” Again, well said!
FEEDBACK on “Will Osinbajo rue missed opportunities?
Hello, Bola, o t’ojo meta! Just read your piece on Osinbajo in today's Tribune: Sobering, poignant, and VERY instructive. Kuu’se o! -Niyi Osundare.
I pity Osinbajo, our gentleman professor of Law. He was a prisoner of power while in Aso villa. I believe he became a target of jealousy the few times he stood in for his principal; they were worried by his brilliance and potentials in power. That's why they ended up taming him while ensuring that he lost friendship with Tinubu. Like you, I await his memoirs on his travails in power. It would be an interesting read. More ink to your pen, as usual. Please send the e-copy of your UI lecture to me after delivery. - Dipo Onabanjo.
Very sad story! He was marked out by the cabal. - Prince Suyi Olateru-Olagbegi.
Thanks very much, Sir. Osinbajo, like Obasanjo, needs to tell us the type of devil that resides in Aso villa that makes them forget their ancestral home. - Bello Mohammed Adeola.
I greet you once again for always standing on the side of not just the fact but also the truth! To start with, those who brought Obasanjo to power only gave him the office of the president but kept the authority and power of the office to themselves. Obasanjo was only able to grab and snatch 70% of the power towards the end of his second term; that was why he longed for third term! Under the Nigerian system, vice presidents are like spare tyres. Everything you said about Osinbajo is 100 per cent true. Keep the good work going, Sir! -Titus Kosemani Ayojesu.
Osinbajo was a disappointment all the way... There was no sign of a pastoral understanding on his part. He was put in position for “such a time like this” but... he was not sensitive to the Holy Spirit and had no sacrificial calling of “if l perish l perish” in order to do the needful. I am sure he and his cronies will have tons of lame excuses. I pray God will forgive him for being a bad example of a Christian in position of authority! By the way, let me have a link, if available, to your upcoming lecture at U. l. I will like to watch it either live or later. If that is not possible, please avail me an electronic copy to read. Blessings, my big brother! Reminder, please work on the compendium of your works. Or will you want me to do it? -Dr. Revd. Demola Sodeinde.
You can now see the deceit in human behaviour! Where are the youths shouting and hailing him on the APC primaries ground in June last year? Some of us didn't like his steps at that time but where are those defending his actions as the right thing to do? Why have they forsaken him so soon? That's a peculiarity of the Yoruba race. Similar story followed Aregbesola but as a politician he has started to apologize and shift the blame of his misbehaviour on Satan! I wish Osinbajo would follow suit! Everybody likes power; however, it was rumoured that (Borno state Gov. Babagana Umara) Zulum was approached to be VP (to Tinubu) but he said no; that they should first approach his boss, (Kashim) Shettima. If Shettima was not interested, Zulum said he would then accept the offer; unlike Osinbajo that did not look back, even when his (former) boss had signified his intention. I did not expect him to grab the offer. It was a very grievous mistake. The performance of Osinbajo as VP and a Christian made me to conclude that the religion of the VP is immaterial. When people were raising objections to the Muslim-Muslim ticket of Tinubu/Shetima, I was not bothered. Also as a lawyer of repute, he disappointed me. Nevertheless, he has done his best. Thank God he returned home safe and sound! Welcomed by a crowd or not, he has acquired the big title of "EX-VP"! Welcome, Your Excellency! -Kola Oloye.
Sir, don't mind the ex-VP, Yemi Osinbajo; he was just there for eight years for himself and his family only! l do not see anything to remember him for. l pray he sees this your write-up one day! So, the day he passes through Lagos/Abeokuta road or Shagamu/Ikorodu road, who is he going to blame or accuse of abandoning those roads? So sad that all our past leaders from the South didn't do anything tangible there! l pray President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s case will be different for good. -PST. Austin Igharoro.
An average Nigerian legislator would seize every opportunity at any gathering, public or private to demand to be recognized and respected in society. The law maker’s claim is based on the argument that of all arms of government, the legislature is the greatest symbol of democracy because the arm is usually the only casualty when dictators violently take-over the government of a nation. The contention therefore is that legislators are the only real representatives of the people. But if the truth must be told, most Nigerians are not satisfied with both the official performance and general conduct of their so-called real representatives. This article however refers specifically to federal legislators; because at state level, Nigeria does not have legislators, what we have are special assistants to state governors on law making.
Bearing in mind that the 10th National Assembly was inaugurated only five days ago, some people may consider it too harsh to begin the new legislative year with adverse criticisms of legislators who are yet to settle down to business. While there is a point in allowing them to acclimatise before analysts can begin to place any searchlight on them, many of the members are not really fresh. In fact, this is an appropriate junction to draw their attention to the fine difference between legislators in settled democracies and those in developing societies whose focus should be on how to help their nations to quickly develop so that the standard of living of the people can be uplifted.
This is the best time to plead with those categorized as ranking Nigerian legislators not to pollute the minds of those coming in for the first time. This is because so much has happened in our National Assembly in the past that is injurious to society. In addition, what Nigerians have observed about their legislators in the last one month already confirms that it is likely to be business as usual. First, contrary to the provisions of our constitution, the legislators could not on their own pick their leaders, those who emerged as presiding officers were handpicked by the executive arm of government making it obvious that the 10th Assembly may be a sharper rubber stamp than its immediate predecessor.
Why was it necessary to extend to the world at large, a process of leadership selection specifically designed by the constitution to be internal to the legislature? Why did our legislators spend millions of naira including media placements to campaign nation-wide to even those of us who were not illegible to vote? What message did the commercialization of the process send to the nation? Could those involved in such display of wealth have intended to offer service without recouping their humongous expenditures? Logical answers to these questions can easily establish that we are not about to see a different type of law makers more so as many members of minority parties reportedly negotiated to be made members of ‘lucrative’ committees before supporting the anointed candidates of the executive.
The cry of betrayal by the senator who lost the seat of senate president to the candidate of the executive suggests that senators-elect were compromised by both the winner and the loser of the election. If the executive was fighting to avoid the installation of opposition presiding officers who may through mischief sabotage the mandate of the ruling party, perhaps it would be easy to understand the interest of the executive. But such interest becomes incomprehensible when all the aspirants belonged to the same ruling party. As a result, not many people appreciated the desperation of the executive to instal ‘friendly’ presiding officers. Is it so as to get irrational requests such as excessive loans passed without scrutiny? Put differently, does the executive not intend to operate an open and credible governance system and as such requires legislative collusion?
Interestingly, events of the last 8 years have shown that it is not in the interest of the executive to have a so-called friendly legislature. For example, during the last 4 years of President Buhari’s administration, the president became so irritated by the legislature’s exploitative posture that he had to cry out over what he described as the latter’s “worrisome changes” to annual budgets. At a point, there were as many as 6, 576 new insertions into the budget, different from those discussed between the relevant officials of the executive and the legislature. Many of the inserted items were found to have fallen outside the scope of a federal budget. It was also discovered that about 500 items amounting to not less than N380 billion were duplicated. Buhari must have suddenly realized the difficulty of fighting a ‘friendly’ legislature. The new narrative of trusted friends therefore runs against the lessons of history.
The National Assembly did not also seem to know that it did not impress Nigerians. During the Covid 19 pandemic, legislators did little or nothing to help Nigerians. They also did nothing about palliatives that were hoarded and kept away from the masses by the political class which includes legislators. During the ill-fated new naira policy, no one came to the aid of the rural masses by putting up temporary finance structures to ameliorate human sufferings in locations with no banks. The male-dominated legislature also rejected all pro women bills. These are the specific peculiarities of an underdeveloped society that those in top political positions ought not to discountenance.
Alas, our legislators like their predecessors in office remained self-servicing. When for once, the Auditor-General of the Federation was able to summon enough courage to expose discrepancies and illegal expenditures in government, the legislature gave itself immunity and began to investigate and talk down on officials of all other government institutions indicted by the auditor’s report. Till the end of its tenure no one heard anything about the financial scandals in the report about the National Assembly. Yet, the House of Representatives was specifically indicted for spending over N5.2 billion at different intervals on several unexecuted projects along with advances of N258 million granted to 59 staff who never retired any. Will the new House retrieve these sums to boost revenue for development?
This time around, the public should be educated on the terms and boundaries in the friendly relationship bond between the executive and the legislature. If it is about collaborative federalism, then the legislature must get out of its toga of constructive timidity and become more diligent about its constitutional mandates. The senate for instance is empowered to clear certain nominees before they can be appointed into office. To retain a system in which some nominees are requested to ‘bow and go’ amounts to abdication of responsibility because everyone ought to be properly screened and found fit before being cleared. There is no known law in Nigeria today which empowers senators to exempt any nominee that the law says should be cleared.
The legislature should assist its friend, the executive, to appoint only fit and proper persons into offices, otherwise project Nigeria to which both should be committed would remain a mirage. For a more diligent performance therefore, the senate should demand that positions to be filled should accompany the nominees proposed to fill such positions. This is neither negative nor difficult to agree upon. If not, the old invidious system of blind clearance will never achieve the desired purpose. A major reason why we had a controversial general election earlier in the year was because of the number of unqualified persons that the executive mischievously inserted into the otherwise impartial INEC and which the senate delinquently cleared.
Can the 10th Assembly assure us that it will not in the name of friendship with the executive plunge the nation into political disasters as the 9th Assembly did? It is an assurance required to be solemnly made by the legislature that it is ready to work assiduously for the growth and development of Nigeria. There is no better way to do so than by desisting from the egoistic pursuit of material gains especially hidden monetary allowances that have made the presidential system too expensive for a developing country. The National Assembly should take the lead in making all sectors of Nigeria appreciate the expedience of sowing one’s coat not according to the desired size but according to the available cloth.
In order that the current euphoria over the reintroduction of students’ loan scheme may not be another post-inauguration gimmick that is just full of sound and fury signifying nothing, the new administration that is beginning to gain attention from some actions so far, should pay significant attention to fixing education beyond the student loan meretricious distraction. The reasons are not too far to seek.
First, if the President can look beyond his political party, mobilise all the governors to make the issue of fixing the education broken walls a priority, the world will begin to pay attention to Africa’s most strategic nation again. The critical challenge in education isn’t about getting the so-called indigent students of tertiary education to have access to education, there are issues too with fixing infrastructure and welfare and wellbeing of teachers. I have been writing on this since 2016 and I will just rejig some of my thoughts on this platform since 2016. Doubtless, we need to encourage our new leaders to fix their bureaucracies to be able to do what bureaucracies did and succeeded before we lost our country to bandits in power even before the 1999 constitution.
Let’s not get it twisted, there are still sound intellectuals here that can assist the ‘New Sheriffs in Town’ (the president and governors) to restore the paradise we lost in education quality from basic education to university levels. All the institutions of governance including university administrators need is discipline of enforcement of extant laws, rules and regulation. Strong institutions can only come through strict adherence to existing rules. At the moment, there is anarchy in the critical sector.
In October 2017, I did a serial on ‘Shortlist for Fix-Nigeria 2019’. In the course of writing the serial, I deconstructed Education Quality as a critical success factor for the country. I wrote, for instance that: ‘…we need to consider some issues that are germane to making Project 2019 a desideratum… we need to encourage our leaders at all levels who can still use the so-called mandate we gave them in 2015 before the cock crows at the dawn of May 29, 2019, to consider one thing needful even as they go into re-election politics. The one thing needful is attention to quality in education from primary to university level. But for the need to avoid confusion in this contextual analysis of what we need to sustain our nomination as the leader of the black race, I would have suggested to President Muhammadu Buhari and his party chiefs that they should pay attention to restructuring and education quality alone….’
I had earlier suggested the attention-to-education quality issue to the then President Buhari on this page when I specifically mooted the idea that he should just focus on restructuring Nigeria politically as most people would want him to do then. I had then argued that Nigerians would remember him as a leader ‘who changed Nigeria from redundancy to abundance.’ Remember as I had reported here in this same context, that it was the iconic Nelson Mandela who nominated Nigeria to lead the black race in this new world when he (Madiba) was quoted as saying, “The world will not respect Africa until Nigeria earns that respect. The black people of the world need Nigeria to be great as a source of pride and confidence.”
I continued then that: ‘But considering the way the world is now being constantly shaped by the power of disruptive social technologies, we should not be tired of reminding our leaders daily too that if they really want to rebuild the country’s broken walls, construct critical infrastructure, create more jobs, fight poverty and inequality, fight criminality and insurgency, confront the bogey of agitation, among others and have their eye on country and global competitiveness, the thing to invest in is education quality. I am fully persuaded that the only known modern weapon of achieving sustainable competitiveness is attainment and sustenance of education quality. Though this may not be a good campaign slogan in a country ravaged by material, moral and spiritual poverty, I still believe that those who would like to fix Nigeria tomorrow should begin to gather all kinds of resources on how to fix education in Nigeria. It is not going to be easy; it is expensive but it is the right thing to do. I have devoted more than half of the articles here to this campaign but no one seems to be listening. I will not rest about this thing called education quality until something happens.
The first major article on this (June 4, 2016) was titled, “Why we need better universities, not more” (https://guardian.ng/opinion/why-we-need-better-universities-not-more/.
It was followed by another on June 11, 2016 titled, “Better universities will lead to Nigerian exceptionalism” (https://guardian.ng/opinion/better-universities-will-lead-to-nigerian-exceptionalism/. The third in the series was on June 18, 2016 titled, “Better Universities will trigger organisational learning” (https://guardian.ng/opinion/better-universities-will-trigger-organisational-learning/.
In the same vein on August 13, 2016, I wrote to draw attention of the federal government’s complacency about the plight of Law graduates of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) who were still not being admitted into Nigerian Law Schools in this big data age when education is fast getting out of the classrooms. I had asked then why the federal authorities that created the school (NOUN) should be loitering about NOUN accreditation to Law School when the U.K National Open University enrols students for even Medical Sciences. The article, “Before Legal Education Council Ruins Open University’. (https://guardian.ng/opinion/before-legal-education-council-ruins-open-university/ received rave reviews. That was one issue the Buhari administration attended to as the Obasanjo legacy, NOUN has been accredited to get Law School admission.
There have been other articles on education-related subjects but the point today is on the attitude of our leaders to funding quality education. I had also in the same vein then noted that it was gratifying to note then that on Monday November 13, 2018 at the State House Old Banquet Hall, the Buhari administration could set the tone for serious attention to education quality when the president presided over a “Federal Executive Council Retreat on the Challenges Facing the Education Sector in Nigeria.” The Retreat I was invited to attend because of my consistency in writing on education, was to solidify an already prepared roadmap for education for the Buhari administration. It was well attended by even some governors. The President and the Vice president also attended till the end.
I had hoped then that the gathering of all the top people in the administration would not result in just another Abuja declaration that would eventually be regarded as a re-election time gimmick. It turned to be another jamboree as the president and his men failed to take the Retreat on future of education in the country as a serious national assignment. If they had taken the content and declarations of the colloquium on education right and thereafter followed up with the right spirit and discipline of execution of action plans, there would have been some significant leap in education funding –before the student loan saga. I had then noted here: ‘…Here is the thing, unless all the authorities in Nigeria can recognise that until our schools at all levels are good enough to produce graduates that can solve our problems – from farm to industrial operations, we will continue to lag behind. And our nomination as an African giant will continue to fall through.
Specifically, the president and education minister should not allow the congenital procrastinators in the house to delay action on quality education funding till the beginning of another term in 2019. What if 2019 becomes a mirage, after all!
Let’s get to the brass tacks again, the new administration should not allow public relations impresarios to just overstress the strategic importance of the revival of the Student Loan and all concomitant agencies to make it happen. They are expedient at this time. But I would like to draw their attention to the fact that there are multifarious challenges in the country that are related to absence of education quality at this time. In other words, what is the purpose of education if it cannot solve the country’s problems through its scholars and researchers?
How can innovation in agriculture, governance, health sciences, digital technologies, etc., be addressed without commitment to robust research and development (R&D) funding? How can we hope for a better tomorrow if today’s beneficiaries of student loans cannot find job tomorrow to pay back? How can education quality that can serve the needs of the 21st century be guaranteed when any close friends of the president or governor who may not have any competence or capacity can be appointed Minister and Commissioner of Education? How can we lead the black people of the world in 21st century if there is no robust policy to attract good teachers at all levels? How can education quality be achieved without making training of teachers a big deal as it once was in Western Nigeria before what Patrick Alley called ‘Very Bad People’ began to seize power in the same zone?
As I was saying here, let’s look at how two countries Singapore and South Korea have, without petroleum resources, developed human capital to wealth through education quality…
Remarkable Lessons From Singapore:
Most orators and motivational speakers may have been entertaining us with the story of the good man, a leader who inspired Singapore from Third to First World, Lee Kuan Yew. It is always a good read, a wonderful biography of a significant Asian. But not many of our leaders may have studied some of the specific strategies the very educated Asian employed to achieve his goals that have become a national and organisational culture in Singapore. It is important for us to note that the unique but least-talked about strategy Mr. Kuan Yew used was remarkable investment in education quality.
This is a contextual reporting of the strategy for Singapore’s success through education quality:
According to Stavros Yianouka, of Project Syndicate, Lee Kuan Yew’s achievements have been the subject of much global discussion before and since his death. But one aspect of his success, which has been under-reported is his investments in education. His strategy, he would often remark, was “to develop Singapore’s only available natural resource, its people.”
Today, Singapore routinely ranks among the top performers in educational attainment, as measured by the very influential Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) Programme for International Student Assessment.
The powerful Asian country is though a city-state of just about six million people, it normally boasts two universities among the top 75 in any Times Higher Education World University Rankings, the same number as usually China, Japan and Germany. You may ask, what did Mr. Yew and Singapore do right?
TO BE CONTINUED…
If wishes were horses, beggars would ride – that is a Scottish proverb which implies that if yearning could make things happen, then even the most impoverished people would have everything they craved.
If airlines were candies, Hadi Sirika would have a dozen in his pocket – that’s my despondent self trying to wrap my head around the invisible airline Nigeria’s former minister of aviation threatened to establish but which has now turned out to be another mirror in the sun.
Let’s be clear: a mirror can reflect the sun and direct its rays to a desired target. But the mirror is not the sun; neither does it generate any heat or light. All it takes to render the mirror impotent is for the sun to go to bed. If there is darkness all around, what can the mirror reflect?
It is difficult to imagine any national wind chase in recent memory that could compete with Sirika’s Air Nigeria in promising the moon and delivering a mirage. The minister had promised to deliver a brand new national airline that would re-enact the glory days of the defunct Nigeria Airways.
Perceptive Nigerians were not fooled by the gusto with which Sirika plunged into his self-appointed assignment. It seemed that what mattered to him most was the approval of President Buhari, not the economics of the project. The graveyard of aviation is littered with the carcasses of dead airlines — some in infancy, several at the peak of their glory, and yet others which were so old that they had become institutions.
Had this former uncelebrated pilot done his homework with regard to his sudden fancy? Had he studied the history of Pan Am (Pan American World Airways), a tiny, airmail carrier that hopped from Florida to Cuba and back beginning in 1927, to become the world’s largest airline and an industry innovator until it gave up the ghost in 1991?
Had he studied the circumstances that made Belgium’s national career, Sabena, throw in the towel two decades ago after 78 years in the air? Sabena’s co-owner, Swissair, tried unsuccessfully to find an investor to take them out of their stake, but keen-eyed aviation watchers and financial analysts recognised a dying goose when they saw one. Since European Commission rules forbade government bailouts, Sabena struggled until it could struggle no more.
Until the independence gale of the 60s, air service in Africa was operated largely by airlines based in Europe and the United States, or by colonial governments. The earliest national passenger airlines were established in the 1930s with South African Airways, and in the 1940s with Ethiopian Airlines, Liberian National Airways, and Egypt’s national airline, Misrair. The airlines served as flag-carrying symbols of national identity, economic expansion, modernity, technological advancement, international pride.
Nigeria Airways was founded in 1958 after the dissolution of West African Airways Corporation (WAAC). It ceased operations in 2003. Originally, the Nigerian government owned a majority of the airline (51%) until 1961, when it acquired 100% shares to become sole proprietor, making the airline the country’s flag carrier. In its glory days, its fleet consisted of about 30 aircraft, with some of the best flight crew and profitable routes on the continent, in Europe and America. But a mix of the Nigerian virus of bad corporate governance and corruption grounded the flying elephant and the giant of Africa, rather than soaring high, kicked the dust.
In addition to the well documented sleaze that characterised the destruction of Nigeria Airways, anyone can inspect the remains of various local airlines that have since shared the fate of the much violated Nigeria Airways.
According to Daily Trust, “Investigations showed that no fewer than 62 airlines at different times in Nigeria’s aviation history have become extinct due to many factors… While this is happening at a time the federal government plans to float a new national carrier, experts have cautioned that the new airline might not be insulated from the current challenges, which have weighed down existing airlines and even prevented new ones from starting operations.”
Some of the defunct airlines since independence include; Flash Airline, Kabo Air, Hold Trade Airline, Gas Air, Jambo Express, Chachangi, IRS Airlines, Savannah Airline, Albarka Airline, Intercontinental Airline, Air Mid-West, HAK Air, EAS Airline, Nicon Airways, Virgin Nigeria Airline, Air Nigeria and Falcon Air.
Others are; Sosoliso Airline, Zenith Airline, Barnax Airline, Space World International Airline, Dasab Airline, Fresh Airline, Triax Airline, Bell-View, Freedom Airline, Okada Air, Concord Airline (owned by late Chief MKO Abiola); Associated Airline, Air Taraba (serving Taraba, Borno and Adamawa).
The list also includes; United Air Service, Aras Airline Ltd, Nigeria Global, Nigeria Eagle (which commissioned an aircraft but didn’t fly and had to take it back); Harco Airline, Premier Airline, Al Bashir, Trans-Sahara Airline, ADC, Oriental Airline, Axiom Airline, Forward Air, Slok Air, Das Air and Cargo, Dornier Aviation Nigeria, Al-Dawood, Premium Air Shuttle and Chrome Air Service.
The rest are; Easy Link Aviation, First Nation Airways, Earth Airlines, Afrijet Airlines, Afrimex, Air Vanni, AlHeri Airlines, Arax Airlines, Arab Wings Nigeria, City Link Airlines, Discovery Air, Delta Air Charter, Hamsal Air Services and Emma-Nik Aviation Service.
There is absolutely no indication that things will be different with Sirika’s pipe dream. Indeed, if morning shows the day, Nigeria Air seems destined for a worse fate: still-birth.
Although he kept most things regarding the proposed airline to his chest as if it was his exclusive patrimony, Sirika was not without a small band of supporters who drummed it loud and clear that the minister was an aviation expert on account of having trained as a helicopter pilot at the Petroleum Helicopters Institute, USA. That much was confirmed in his CV. He was also said to have attended Flight Safety International and Delta Aeronautics, both in the US. If that is all the expertise that Sirika was bringing to the table when he was appointed, then the process of recruiting top political appointees has to be reviewed. There is no esoteric expertise that a two-bit helicopter pilot can bring to transform the aviation sector in Nigeria. He simply cannot give what he does not have.
Looking back now to the period when President Buhari forwarded his name to the parliament for confirmation, many members of the public were not hoodwinked and some of them openly said so in their online reactions. One doubter, @Issysmooth, criticised the candidate’s CV: “Pilot, yet no job experience and date of educational qualification not provided. These men are all impersonators”.
Since age 39, Sirika has been in government. He was a member of the House of Representatives between 2003 and 2011. He was elected as the senator representing Katsina North Senatorial District for 2011-2015.
His flip-flops and verbal somersaults in respect of the Nigeria Air project have been difficult to rationalise. Last year, he announced, through James Odaudu, a deputy director in his ministry, Emirates Airlines was ready to help in the process of establishing a national carrier in Nigeria. Sirika was reported as saying, “The offer is an encouragement to the many bidders currently preparing their public-private partnership bids for Nigeria Air in response to the Request for Proposal advertised by Nigeria.” The minister disclosed that the process for the acquisition of the Air Operator’s Certificate and the Air Transport License was well on course for the expected launch date of the national carrier.
Later, Minister Sirika announced an engagement with Ethiopian Air as the designated preferred partner. The share distribution (Ethiopian 49%, Nigeria 5% etc) looked like the amateur plot of an apprentice scammer. The identities of the shareholders announced by the minister kept changing. Local airlines mounted the rooftops in protest and also approached the courts for adjudication. Mercifully, the marriage was never consummated before Sirika’s tenure lapsed. But curiously, the Chairman of Ethiopia Airline, Girma Wake, tendered his resignation letter and quit his role as the chairman of the Airline shortly after Sirika ‘unveiled’ the proposed Nigeria Air, using an Ethiopian Air Boeing 737-800 specially repainted for the occasion which local Nigerian airline operators have described as a scam, insisting that the aircraft displayed was a Boeing 737 MAX owned by Ethiopian Airlines and covered with Nigeria Air sticker.
As I noted at the beginning, the mirror can reflect the sun, but is it the sun? Somebody ought to have credited Nigerians with more intelligence.
Mr Sirika is welcome to establish an airline in his name. But he cannot appropriate our collective identity for his ill conceived misadventure.
The new administration of President Tinubu has to put all actions taken in respect of the proposed airline under the magnifying glass. My wager is that the entire opaque dealings cannot withstand even cursory scrutiny before being consigned to the garbage bin. And any tail found to have been wagging the cow should be cut.
Let me begin with the title of a book “The Burden of Memory, the Muse of Forgiveness” written by Akinwande Oluwole Soyinka, Nigerian playwright and political activist who received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1986. He sometimes wrote of modern West Africa in a satirical style, but his serious intent and his belief in the evils inherent in the exercise of power were usually evident in his work as well. Wole Soyinka, profoundly posited: “Memory is private property, It can’t be colonized, memory could be used to correct the lies of history” therefore, this contribution will focus on the idea of “The Burden of Memory” so as to prevent our citizens from feeding on ignorance and falsehood.
Professor Humphrey Nwosu. He was chairman of the National Electoral Commission (NEC) appointed by President Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB). An office he held from 1989 to 1993. Nwosu conducted the 12 June 1993 election, which was seen as the freest and fairest election to date, in which Bashorun Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola (MKO), was presumed and subsequently confirmed to have won. Sadly, the election was annulled. General Ibrahim B. Babangida was President and Commander-in-Chief under whose watch this act against Nigerians was committed.
The foundation for the annulment of the June 12 presidential election of 1993 was laid less than 36 hours earlier before the election day. But the building blocks were assembled over several months by one Association for Better Nigeria, ABN, led by the late Francis Arthur Nzeribe and one Abimbola Davis. Painfully, Nwosu’s commission had earlier introduced the novel Option A4 voting system and the Open ballot system that was sabotaged. Nwosu had equally released many of the election results when he was ordered to stop further announcement by the military regime.
With such a courageous mind and a leading light with unquestionable grace from the Igbo-nation. If we’re truly in search of a man of strong character, Prof Humphrey Nwosu is obviously one of the right person from the Igbo extraction. Therefore, it is my considered opinion that a leader doesn’t exist in vacuum; he is as powerful as the patronage of the rest people and the system permits him. Our worldview needs to be in conformity with the changes and dynamics of the digital age. Persons with ultra-conservative views, have no business being leaders in today’s world, since they definitely cannot even imagine what tomorrow promises. Simply put, when you’ve got a man of impeccable character like Prof Humphrey Nwosu, why look for a smooth talker or magician packaged as a Messiah, if it is truly about the interest of the Igbo-nation?.
On the other hand, Peter Gregory Obi, is the direct opposite of the attributes of Humphrey Nwosu: as a trader, he was profiteering in finished products thereby killing our industries; as a top banker he was a replica of Godwin Emefiele and was fingered in many deals including the Pandora scam; as a governor in Anambra State as testified by his successors, he manipulated the system and use public fund millions of dollars for investment that he is an ‘interested’ character (family business of brewery); as a private sector operative, he was hobnobbing with undemocratic elements and lastly, as a candidate for labour party he supported Godwin Emefiele in his ignoble activities inflicting excruciating pains on our citizens.
Peter Obi, whose secret and illegal offshore activities PREMIUM TIMES reported in an ongoing Pandora Papers series was at a time summoned for questioning by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), Nigeria’s anti-corruption agency – where then is the sainthood of Peter Obi as propagated by the religionists misrepresenting God? As a result of the many fake prophecies, I am tempted to believe that religion was created to control the minds of its adherents, so as to continue to manipulate and mislead the unsuspecting gullible followers excited about magic particularly the restive youths.
On a normal day, our citizens (Nigerians), are loving and have nothing against each other on issues of religion or tribe. As a big country, Nigeria is well endowed with both human and material resources, but, unfortunately, is largely divided along ethnic and religious lines. These twin problems of religion and ethnicity appear to be the mother of all cancerous problems in the land, causing anarchy and acrimony. Therefore, it has become imperative that as a nation destined for greatness we begin to avoid the pitfalls of the twin evils of ethnicity and religion.
In conclusion, I like to dedicate this contribution that focuses on our Democracy to the real heroes of Democracy, namely: Bashorun Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola (MKO) and his wife Kudirat, Gen. Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, our current President, Asíwájú Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Humphrey Nwosu, Wole Soyinka, Gani Fawehinmi, Ebitu Ekiwe, Ndubuisi Kanu, Frank Kokori, Ayo Opadokun, Col. Umar Dangiwa RTD, Femi Falana, Yele Sowore, Kunle Ajibade, Bagauda Kaltho and many other too numerous to mention. Finally, I like to place on record that the democracy Nigeria enjoys today did not come on a silver platter; some Nigerians fought for it. With their lives, blood, tears and freedom, these Nigerians gave their all to earn the country democratic liberty. NIGERIA WILL RISE AGAIN.
“Our politicians are no longer content with hiring Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs), they also have their own judges.” Olusegun Adeniyi, When Judges Imperil Democracy, (January 4, 2018)
When he announced himself to the world on 1 January 1984 as military Head of State and leader of the military coup that had just overthrown Alhaji Shehu Shagari, Nigeria’s then-elected president, Muhammadu Buhari, a major-general, cited as the reason for the coup the fact that the politicians had chosen to “circumvent most of the checks and balances in the constitution”, complaining that “the premium on political power became so exceedingly high that political contestants regarded victory at elections as a matter of life and death struggle and were determined to capture and retain power by all means”.
To unravel how the electoral process was derailed, General Buhari empanelled a judicial commission of inquiry into the Federal Electoral Commission, (FEDECO), as Nigeria’s electoral umpire was then known. Bolarinwa Babalakin, a judge who served with considerable distinction at the highest levels of Nigeria’s courts, chaired the inquiry, which outlasted the Buhari regime and reported in November 1986 to Buhari’s nemesis, Ibrahim Babangida.
In addition to the presidential election, seven governorship contests out of 19 also ended up before the election petition tribunals in 1983. What transpired thereafter in the election petitions received considerable attention in the report of the Babalakin Commission of Inquiry. The report observed that “of all the elections ever held in this country, none put the judiciary as much on trial as the 1983 elections.” The outcomes were a source of considerable “shock and dismay” to the public, many of whom took the view that “the verdicts in a number of instances constituted a rape of democracy perpetrated through the law courts. Allegations of corruption were freely made.” In many cases, tribunals invented unfathomable technicalities to justify the unjustifiable.
Lawyers will claim that the ways of the law are too abstruse for the un-learned. This patronizing defensiveness, however, is no excuse or justification for habituating the public to a diet of judicial scandal. Anyway, the voices of complaint have long ceased to be confined to the presumptively un-learned. Even the most eminent among the learned have since raised the decibels of consternation at the happenings in Nigeria’s law courts.
Looking back at judicial roles in the 2003 and 2007 elections, Obi Nwabueze, Nigeria’s best-known professor of public law and currently the country’s most senior living Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), accused the Supreme Court of playing a “discreditable part” in manufacturing a jurisprudence of electoral impunity, lamenting the failure by the “Court to appreciate that the question of who should rule Nigeria is not one to be decided by a perverse and narrow legalism, by the technicalities of the rules of evidence, practice, and procedure and by considerations of expediency.”
Nigeria’s vocation of the law fashions itself after the idea that the law is what the judges decide. But what this means is that the vocation of judging is an extraordinary public trust that should be reserved only for persons of manifest integrity and learning.
This used to be the case in Nigeria at least as a matter of practice. The quality of the Nigerian judiciary used to be the envy of the Commonwealth and beyond. The country exported judicial expertise around Africa and the Commonwealth.
However, Nigeria’s constitution contains a perilous omission: it does not require appointees to judicial office of a court of record to be persons of integrity. The only mandatory requirement in the constitution is merely that candidates for judicial office should have attained a minimum number of years as lawyers. There are no personal, professional or civic integrity standards. In the absence of such requirements, the judiciary has become a billboard for advertising some of the worst attributes of the Nigerian condition. Judging in Nigeria is now like a family heirloom that children inherit from their parents or a sexually transmitted condition that spouses inseminate one another with.
In hindsight, the situation reported by the Babalakin Commission in 1986 now reads very much like choir practice. Even then, standards existed. When he was nominated to sit on the Supreme Court panel in the Anambra State governorship election petition in 1983, Anthony Aniagolu, then a Justice of the Supreme Court, recused himself. He knew one of the parties in the case too well.
Two decades after the Babalakin report, over 86% of the offices contested in the 2007 elections ended up before the election petition tribunals. It was a development that led the Economist to label Nigeria as a “democracy by court order”.
With elections reduced to a rat race for judicial votes, Nigeria’s judges retrenched citizens from their perch as the source of legitimacy for political power, and the politicians discovered that while it remains useful to rent a lawyer, it is infinitely better to own a judge or more. As a consequence, the effective venue of judicial decision-making relocated from the courtroom to the kitchen table and to pillow talk.
Last week, out-going Senator, Adamu Bulkachuwa, whose wife, Zainab, is the penultimate president of Nigeria’s Court of Appeal, took the opportunity of his valedictory remarks in the upper chamber to thank his “wife, whose freedom and independence [he] encroached upon while (she) was in office, and she has been very tolerant and accepted my encroachment and extended her help to my colleagues”.
The import of Adamu Bulkachuwa’s diction and words was clear. Premium Times remarked in response that “compromise of court decisions is generally believed to be a recurrent happening in Nigeria, but confession to it by actors is rare”.
By 2019, the Court of Appeal had no recollection of the example laid by Anthony Aniagolu in 1983. Zainab Bulkachuwa, then the President of the Court of Appeal, insisted on sitting on the presidential election petition tribunal despite the fact that her husband, the afore-named Adamu, was himself elected to the senate on the same party as the president whose election was in dispute. Her son, Aliyu, had also sought the office of state governor on the platform of the same party.
The Court of Appeal dismissed the application requesting her to recuse herself from the proceedings, claiming that “enough materials have not been placed” before it to show a likelihood of bias on her part. According to the court, “the fact that she is the mother and wife of the APC members is not enough to require that she recuse herself.” This ruling did not pretend to be interested in passing the smell test and the court knew it. In the end, public opinion forced Zainab Bulkachuwa from the proceedings but the damage had been done.
In an interview she granted on her retirement from the judiciary the following year, Zainab Bulkachuwa claimed rather incredulously that “when that issue of the presidential election petition panel came up, I have even forgotten that my husband is a politician.” She had also asserted in another offering that “politics is a no-go area in the house.” Now we know that Chez Bulkachuwa was the place where pillow-talk settled who won and lost elections.
Adamu Bulkachuwa found himself in a unique position of enjoying spousal privilege and parliamentary privilege on the wings of vicarious judicial privilege. A devout Muslim, he appeared to have been inexplicably overwhelmed by an urge to do something that comes naturally only to Christians of the Roman Catholic persuasion: confession. He alone can say whether his confession was penitential or hubristic.
Unlike Adamu Bulkachuwa, however, the National Judicial Council (NJC), which met 48 hours after the confession broke, could see no evil or hear any. Instead, the president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) decided to gratify the eloquent complicity of the NJC with a statement that was both bizarre and gratuitous.
The only statement that has come out of the NJC meeting instead was about the allocation of high judicial appointments. Not for the first time, the list featured some prominent nominees defined by credentialled propinquities, confirming the notion that pillow-talk and kitchen-table are currently the ascendant sources of law in Nigeria, if not supreme. Sadly, this does injustice to the diminishing cast of honest judges in the country. They still exist and the NJC could do more to stand up for them.
A lawyer and a teacher, Odinkalu can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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Within a fortnight in power, President Bola Tinubu may have set the tone and tempo for what promises to be a dizzying presidency. Right from the inauguration ground at Eagle Square, he could not suppress his anxiety to be in power and in control at the same time. Most classical concepts of power lament that it is hard to be in power and in control simultaneously. Tinubu seems out to smash that conundrum from the outset. His immediate predecessor was in office, a bit in power but hardly ever in control.
To be in office, in power and in absolute control may well be the feature that sets Tinubu apart among the pantheon of Nigeria’s elected leaders. In fact, the haste and immediacy in his tone and temper places him closer to the tradition of our past military leadership. This the tradition popularized by the late General Murtala Muhammed (“with immediate effect!”). It is a haste to right the wrongs, to correct the path of national leadership and followership by restoring a path of sanity lost by recent deviations. This haste to reform, to correct and get the system to obey a leader’s deeply felt reformist zeal usually cuts both ways. It might end up as both the leader’s unique selling point as well as the source of the mistakes and errors that may make or mar his legacy in the fullness of time. For Tinubu, the clock has started ticking!
In rapid succession, he has used an off-script proclamation right at inauguration ground to take off the controversial and longstanding subsidy on gasoline. This single policy measure has put the already troubled Nigerian economy into an initial tailspin. Inflation has automatically jumped to the mid 22.4 % as gasoline prices have skyrocketed by 300% and more. Transportation costs have gone up while food inflation and general inflation have obeyed the laws of the market.
Organised labour has flexed its familiar muscle by threatening a general strike that was quickly stopped by government through the courts. It is a measure of Tinubu’s luck with the Nigerian public that the resistance to gasoline price hikes has not yet produced a general social upheaval. Nigerians seem to understand the logic of the subsidy removal but are anxiously awaiting palliative measures to cushion the pain. The hope is that the proceeds of the subsidy removal will be ploughed into more social investment in education, health and infrastructure instead of being creamed off by thievish politicians and crafty bureaucrats.
With commendable courage and fresh reformist zeal, Mr. Tinubu has also abolished the dubious multiple exchange rate regime. This was a convenient mechanism with which his predecessor bribed cohorts and indirectly powered grievous corruption through arbitrage and uncontrolled patronage. The over valued Naira has fallen in value overnight while the foreign exchange market has been further liberalized by opening up the market to multiple sources of supply ranging from the banks to the bureaux de change. The anticipation is that a widened and liberalized foreign exchange market will encourage the freeing of foreign currency held by individual citizens, politicians, companies and others to eventually drive down the exchange rate to a more friendly territory. More importantly, this reform of the exchange market should, over time, encourage more external investment and foreign participation in the economy freed at last from lack of transparency and dubious manipulation by government. Over time, it is expected that a more reasonable and sustainable market driven exchange rate will emerge.
Taken together, both the fuel subsidy removal and the unification of the exchange rate regime are clear indications of much needed reform of the Nigerian economy in the direction of a more sensible open market. The logic seems to be that you need a functioning market before you can decide on whether it is working or not. Enlightened economic policies will, over time, create a more elite friendly atmosphere in which perhaps the middle class can begin to return. It is expected that middle class creature benefits such as consumer credits, basic indicators of prosperity such as new homes, new cars , affordable holidays and the restoration of the swagger of the middle class. The expectation is normal that when the economy is working, the benefits will trickle down to the popular masses thus making the president a little more popular and acceptable across board. These benefits will of course require some time to translate into perceivable benefits.
In tandem, Mr. Tinubu has signed a Students Loan Bill that had been on the presidential in-tray. This should grant access to borrowed funding for indigent students in tertiary institutions whose career goals may be threatened by lack of funds. This legislation in its present form may make it impossible for the target students to access any loans as the conditions are both stringent and unrealistic.
Surely, a bit more thinking needs to go into the implementation of this loan scheme lest the expediency of policy be sacrificed at the altar of populist politics. But even with its defects, this bill indicates a concern for the welfare of youth in line with what he promised during the campaigns.
The indirect political benefit of these economic and social reforms is to earn Mr. Tinubu both the elite consensus and popular acceptability which he needs to consolidate his legitimacy and general acceptability. A president who came to power in a storm of still raging electoral disputations and with a little over 30% popular vote count cannot rest on his oars when it comes to mining elite consensus and courting popular support.
In the direction of troubled institutional leadership, Mr. Tinubu has suspended the troublesome Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele. He has allowed the secret police , the DSS, to cart the ambitious fellow into detention and possibly a series of lengthy interrogations. No one knows exactly what Mr. Emefiele is being grilled for but the public harbors a cocktail of grievances against Mr. Emefiele’s conduct as the custodian of our collective treasury. He scored a first in being the first Central Bank governor in Nigeria to sit in office while carrying a party card and expressing active interest in vying for the office of president. He is also one CBN governor to have openly canvassed a series of partisan policy preferences as against transparent objective economic policies.
On his own, Emefiele is a fertile source of multiple tales and scandals. Ranging from meddling with lucrative exchange rate deals and contracts to floating opaque agricultural loan schemes to illiterate farmers who can no longer tell whether they got any loans or made any repayments to the Central Bank. He committed the less heinous crime of sometimes openly insulting state house reporters. Some less gracious beer parlor versions of the Emefiele saga accuse him of colluding with former president Muhammadu Buhari to confiscate the monies of Nigerians under the disastrous Naira redesign gambit.
In the process, both men impoverished most Nigerians overnight while promising the redesigned Naira notes that hardly ever came. Unverified rumours, including those once canvassed in court by the DSS fingered the man in matters as dangerous and frightful as terrorist financing. All these are ahead of a formal charge and possible arraignment of the man before a competent court. The best service to the rule of law is to quickly complete interrogations and investigations and arraign the man to prove his presumed innocence in open court.
As if that is not enough, Mr. Tinubu has also suspended and commenced investigation of the youthful but influential head of the anti-graft agency, the EFCC, Mr. Abdulrasheed Bawa. Here again, a halo of conspiracies and scandals shroud the young man’s arrest and ongoing investigation. Immediate former governor of Zamfara state, Mr. Matawalle, had a shouting match with Mr. Bawa at the exit door over alleged a $2 million gratification negotiations that did not quite go well. There have also been leaks of stratospheric hotel expenses incurred by the youthful chairman somewhere as well as unprofessional interests in assets seized from corruption related persons. Since Mr. Bawa himself assumed office under the smoke trail of a predecessor fingered for similar infractions, Nigeria’s anti corruption crusade may have come to ahead somehow. An agency set up to fight corruption has itself become a cesspool of ranking corruption.
Mr. Tinubu’s pace of reform is likely to earn him much needed political capital and international acceptability. Already, influential media opinion at home and abroad have already acknowledged his commendable pace and direction. At home, he has struck a decisive difference from his predecessor who needed many months after being elected to make even a single appointment let alone announce any policy initiative. It took Mr. Buhari more than six months to put a cabinet in place and even longer to fill other strategic federal positions.
On the contrary, Mr. Tinubu has hit the ground running. He has taken most of these major reform measures and decisions even without having a cabinet or government in place. He has made a number of commendable appointments at the level of presidential advisers. It is expected that his cabinet nominations will follow the same track.
For a president who campaigned on the basis of continuing with the legacy of Mr. Buhari, his fellow party man and political mentor, these developments and pace raise issues. They are bold drastic reversals of the Buhari style and spirit. As against Mr. Buhari who was known for most of his eight years in office as “Baba Go-Slow” at home and abroad, some international media headlines have already dubbed Mr. Tinubu “Baba Go-Fast”. Nigerians have taken note and are watching. What Mr. Tinubu is doing and the pace of his actions do not quite look like those of a president who is likely to follow in the footsteps of his predecessor no matter the close personal relationship they may have.
Clearly, by the strategic positions of those he has suspended or fired and his sheer pace of policy decisions, Mr. Tinubu has struck a decisive difference from the lack lustre, slovenly and rather tepid Mr. Buhari. It is too early to fathom how the political camp of the vindictive Buhari will respond to Tinubu’s early breaking of ranks. But there could be some kicks and backlash from the dead Buhari presidential horse
At the level of real politick, Mr. Tinubu’s preferences have been reflected in the choice of leadership of the 10th National Assembly. Last Tuesday’s leadership contests in the National Assembly was a litmus test of Mr. Tinubu’s political sagacity. In the process of pushing his preferences in that contest, he may have empowered some political Czars that will either facilitate his clout with the National Assembly or return to haunt his own political path in the days ahead.
It is noteworthy that soon after being chosen as Senate President, Mr. Akpabio paid homage to the home of immediate past Rivers State governor, Mr. Nyesom Wike. I hope Mr. Tinubu watched that footage closely. Tinubu may soon need to compare notes with Atiku Abubakar on Mr. Wike’s reliability as a political ally.
Nonetheless, for good or for ill, Tinubu has a kindred spirit in the election of Mr. Godswill Akpabio, the free wheeling and dealing former governor of Akwa Ibom state and Minister of the Niger Delta and sole prefect of the NDDC as Senate President. The indication is that in the years ahead, there is more likely going to be a serious engagement between the executive and the legislature. But even then, there was noticeable disquiet both inside the ruling APC and among the opposition parties about the choices that were made on the NASS leadership. It is an indication that we are not likely to have a rubber stamp legislature but one in which deal making and negotiations by hard headed political animals is likely to produce better legislative compromises.
Nonetheless, Mr. Tinubu’s hurried reform pace and measures are not likely to go without some resistance or even political consequences. In the economic front, both the fuel subsidy regime and the multiple exchange rate regime were driven by deep seated business, political and bureaucratic mafias and their deep interests. The long standing fuel subsidy regime created and sustained an army of emergency billionaires and powerful oligarchs. Some of them had no other business than the massive subsidy heist with its dubious documentations and opaque accounting systems. When the oil subsidy regime was first exposed, it was discovered that the accounts of even hair dressing salons in obscure locations were credited with huge subsidy deposits that embarrassed the real owners of the salons.
The same was the case with the multiple exchange rate regime. Quite a number of ‘businessmen’ were people with high value political connections who made huge amounts from arbitrage and foreign exchange racketeering. All it took was to be allocated foreign exchange on paper by the Central Bank at the official exchange rate of N430 to the dollar which the beneficiary then sold off at the parallel market rate of N750 to the dollar or near that. The arbitrage recipient could make billions of Naira just by making a few phone calls to instruct his bankers accordingly without leaving the comfort of his/her bedroom.
These interests are deep. Big business is involved. Big money is at stake. By last Friday, some analysts indicated that three leading Nigerian financial oligarchs may have lost close to $6 billion each in a single day from the merger of exchange rates. No one knows exactly how much major oil traders have lost in the last fortnight from the removal of subsidy on gasoline. The interests involved in these losses are a network of economic, political and bureaucratic special interests. The deep state is already rattled. Their fighting methods and capacities are often nasty and far reaching. Having become so used to huge easy money over the years, the probability that these interests will fight back politically is quite high.
As the encomiums build up for Mr. Tinubu’s speedy reformist style, I see some major roads to somewhere for Mr. Tinubu. He could be speeding up Nigeria’s return to true development after the last eight horrible years. He may be driven by the need to catch up on Nigeria’s lost time in the direction of sensible development. It could also be a journey to reverse the tragic missteps of Mr. Buhari’s lost eight years and thus salvage whatever is left of the integrity of the APC.
Mr. Tinubu could also be openly inviting a head on collusion with the forces of Nigerian business as usual whose interests are likely to be deeply hurt . Whichever road the Tinubu presidency travels from here, I can only repeat the caution that formed the title of my column last week: Watch the thorns and “Mind the Gaps”, Mr. President!
Remember the good old days of Finance Houses in Nigeria? Our young men achieved success overnight. One minute they were marketing officers and the next, they were on management floor. Those places were real magic places. And you know how young men who come into money early run things. They simply remember their long gone ancestor, the prodigal son in the Bible. Exactly. They lived large and spent money like it was going out of fashion. The set-up of the Finance Houses didn’t help matter much either. They paid more attention to glamour than the deposits. Their buildings were chrome and glass. The new rich boys dressed in the best of the season. Or have you forgotten that that was when such expressions as ‘power dresser,’ ‘yuppies’ and upwardly mobile’ joined our lexicon?
Those were the magical days when the streets were full of 26-years old green horns who became treasury managers straight after doing their NYSC year in remote farm settlements.
They drove Daewoo Racer, Daewoo Espero, Hyundai Excel, Sonata .Then, affairs were straight from best sellers, complete with expensive perfumes, chic restaurants and weekend trips. Husbands performed their God-given roles and wives did their wifely duties. Girls milled around the glamour boys. The boys picked, chose and discarded as they wanted. Yes, they were spoiled for choice. Shameless desperate uncivilized girls fought over them in public places. But it was fun and dance for the lucky ones. But you know how it is with things that are too good to be true. The Finance Houses soon fizzled out, collapsed like a pack of cards.
Suddenly, the big salaries and posh cars disappeared. Some of the directors of the glass and chrome offices were declared missing or wanted or both. The fine girls left the fine boyfriends who no longer had enough money to give them. Engagement rings were returned or kept as ‘retirement benefit’.
The search for Mr Right who dwelled in greener pastures resumed. The home girls were wary . The fast- lane ones worried about how soon the easy life would return, when things would return to normal and the days would be lit again? Their prayers soon got answered as resourceful Nigerian blokes came up with new tricks. There was advance fee fraud (419), armed robbery, Otokoto and now yahoo, yahoo plus and yahoo plus plus.
The bad fast girls were back in business. All that mattered was the posh cars and bright lights. Who cares where the money came from?
With careless, greedy mothers all over the place scheming and swindling, more and more of our girls are today falling into deadly traps and becoming raw materials for diabolical concoction of desperate get-rich-or-die-trying boys. These days, you wake up to one stranger-than-fiction story or the other. A young pretty girl the other day alighted from a cab and stripped herself naked in broad daylight. Another one has been menstruating since she returned from a ‘baecation’ in South Africa with her young ‘Boo’ who has since dumped her.
The flashy guys with no defined business address are back in town and it’s so easy to fall for them. Fortunately, there are signs and characteristics that set apart this breed of men.He is 32 or thereabouts, money makes up for whatever he lacks in looks or dress sense.
He drives G-Wag, Lexus gleaming black, in the mornings and has an array of convertibles for evening swags.
He wears designer wristwatches and shoes. In fact, each fashion item from his head-to-toe carries mind-blowing price tags.
He has all manners of call cards. The reason is he has a chain of businesses ranging from importing condoms to crocodile. There is always a bevy of bleached girls around him as he moves from night club to night club, mixing all kinds of powdery stuff with alcohol. The way he spends money tells all his right-thinking neighbours he is either going to go broke soon, die young or end up in jail, or all of the above. Unfortunately, the death of one has not diminished the zeal of more to join the evil wagon. Easy life, soft life, soft money have all become the albatross of decency. Bad parenting is making our boys into little demons who seek money in all the wrong ways and wrong places. But I am more worried about how our young women, our precious daughters are getting sucked into the destructive cauldron . For the desire of something as flimsy as bone-straight , double-drawn lace front wig, our girls are being‘used’ to cook blood money.
To a non-African, that is a strange concept but here, it is a sad reality. And to worsen an already deadly trend, the girls these fast boys used no longer have to die ‘after use’. They are allowed to wear their designer wigs and false lashes but they are empty shells, according to a pastor friend . He told me this sad story.
‘One of these bad boys came to my church and gave his life to Christ. His confession was long and terrifying. He told me that most of the beautiful girls we see around have been ‘used’ for money rituals.The boys no longer need to kill them physically. They just do what they need to do on a sacred bedsheet, chant some lines of incantations, for five or seven days and the fate of the victim is sealed. The victim is quickly dumped by the man once the ritual is complete.
‘They start by wooing the girl with expensive gifts. That is followed by a vacation where her full attention is on the man. According to my new convert, when they return, the guy starts picking quarrels over inconsequential things and then dumps her. The sad thing is even though the girl looks okay to all, she is finished. She is not likely able to have children even when all medical reports say she is fine. She may never be able to hold down a good job or make a success of any business. Indeed some of them may never be able to find husbands because there is already an evil mark dedicating them to someone’s pot of wealth. In other words,many of the girls you see around are empty shells.’
Did that leave you shaken? I was covered in goose bumps when I heard the story. And this is just half of it. Occasionally these days, when I see a fine babe swinging her waist, I ask myself, is she still whole or she has been used? Imagine buying a basket of big snails and finding that they are just health brown on the outside but empty shells.
Dear mothers, my dear sisters and daughters, this ugly trend is heart tending. It’s not a matter we can invite the police into or a case we can prove in court but it is a present palpable evil. The mean glamorous, fun-loving, sleek man doesn’t even look like the mean things he’s capable of but the polished look is only skin-deep, for the discerning, that is.
He talks and drives like an Italian.
His money is not inherited or from a long chain of family business. His money is his. Ask yourself how he made so much at age 30. Are his decent parents also dazed at the rate at which their son ‘arrived’ suddenly?
He most likely belongs to many societies and clubs that on the surface look like social associations. But they are cults. He is too far gone to consider leaving. His blood brothers are his lifeline. He owes them and his life is in danger if he betrays the oath.
Girls who flock around him are taking big risks and if you are involved, you need all the luck you can be wished. This dude may offer you his kind of romance and glamour. He may spoil you with money. But remember he may also be cut down in his prime.
His brains may get spilled all over your bedroom wall in the middle of the night. His offended blood brothers may send goons after him. His cult may ask for your blood for the next sacrifice.
You may end up as accessory after murder. Whichever way you look at it, greedy girls who flock around men of questionable income are not likely to end up well.
Then, what’s the worth of all the glamour dollars and pounds sterling if you can be dead or widowed at age 25 or worse still, end up an empty shell, walking corpse designed to move from one disappointment and failed venture to another.
There is a new sheriff in town. One who is a stickler for excellence. One who sees, who listens, who superintends, who manages, and who executes. This sheriff does not take a nap on the shift. His judgment is swift; his decision measured and calculated; his process thorough, incisive, and decisive.
Napping federal government agencies are suddenly angling to outdo one another in a show of performance. It is the Tinubu effect; the wand waking up dead matter. With President Tinubu, it is no longer governance by body language, but governance by bold language. It is clear to all that the President has no stomach for incompetence, indolence, and indiscipline. It is either performance or the heave-ho.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu obviously has a different aspect; a diligent one, to leadership. He has demonstrated the possibilities of change. He has chiselled an arc of possibility over seeming impossibilities. He has shown with purposive leadership, mountains can be moved.
With diligent leadership, ye can say to that mountain, be moved; and it shall be moved.
And President Tinubu has just begun.
WHEN GOVERNANCE RUNS ON THE STIMULUS OF HOPE
President Tinubu earned the tag “Baba-go-fast” for the decisiveness, punctiliousness, diligence, and swiftness of his leadership.
“Hitting the ground running” has a walking and talking example in the President.
Upon assumption of office, he did the derring-do — axing petrol subsidy; averting a national strike and giving the naira the muscle to find its fortune in the agora of trade.
According to JP Morgan, a US financial services firm, the naira is expected to appreciate, and trade at N600 to the dollar over the coming months.
The firm said: “While it will take a few days for USD/NGN spot to settle, we fully expect an initial overshoot towards the parallel market rate of -750 or higher, after which, we expect USD/NGN to settle in the high 600s over [the] coming months.”
Bloomberg, an international news agency, reported that investors were excited about Nigeria owing to the president’s swift reforms. It also reported that Nigeria’s equity market witnessed a boom — a corollary of the incipient policies, signalling a return of confidence in the market.
Reuters reported that investors were stunned by the quick reforms of the President. Reuters reports: “Nigeria’s new president, in office, for less than a month, is pushing to put Africa’s largest economy on a reform track that investors have eyed for decades, fuelling excitement that money could flow to the nation that many had deemed uninvestible.”
Governance is not rocket-science after all. It takes courage. Audacity. Diligence. Purpose. And forthrightness. Bold decisions take bold leadership.
The President has signed four seminal bills into law. The bill harmonising retirement age for judges and stipulating uniformity in pension rights for judicial officers; The Electricity Act which effectively decentralises power, empowering states, companies, and individuals to generate, transmit and distribute electricity; The Student Loan Act which allows students in tertiary institutions access to interest-free loans from the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, and The Data Protection Law which protects the privacy and liberties of citizens.
The past 16 days have been motion. Movement. And acceleration. Good things happen when governance runs on the stimulus of hope.
RANK OF ‘AGBADO CONVERTS’ SWELLS
Good governance is contagious in its effect. It is enthralling. It soothes everyone — supporters and opposition alike. The best form of political proselytising is performance. The evidence of good governance is in the performance. Nigeria’s trajectory is obvious to everyone — an upward swing. Citizens did not have to wait to decrypt the direction of the government; they saw the course the leadership was charting from the very first day.
The government has, essentially, earned public trust and goodwill. And I believe it will keep it.
Today, ardent critics of the President have become his griots, singing his praises on the rooftops. It is good to see. Good governance does not discriminate. Soon more ‘’Agbado converts’’ from all sections of the country will join the bubbling line-up of ‘’Agbado exponents’’. Nigeria needs the rank of active citizens who supports the government but criticises it constructively where necessary. It will take the effort of all Nigerians to make Nigeria work. The leadership is already leading the way.
I had ‘’prophesied’’ in a previous column that a bountiful agbado season was upon us. And true to that prophecy, it has been a season of fetching expectations, giant leaps, and reforms.
A new beginning for Nigeria is here. A New Nigeria is emerging. I hear the joys of expectations from fellow citizens; I see the longing and desire for change. Our earnest prayers and wishes for a peaceful and progressive Nigeria will come fulfilled. To more of the governance by bold language.
Nwabufo aka Mr OneNigeria is a media executive
Even the worst of President Bola Tinubu’s critics will admit that he has proved to be a man on a mission. Within two weeks of assuming duty, he has removed subsidy on fuel causing the price to rise by over 150 per cent. He has announced the unification of FX window putting an end to multiple exchange rates; suspended the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and signed into law the Student Loan Bill, among others.
The student loan act is worthy of attention because it is the first major policy targeted at Nigerian youths whom the President claimed to have heard loud and clear following the outcome of the 2023 presidential election in which the younger generation pushed their political advocacy beyond the social media to the polls.
In his acceptance speech after emerging the President-elect, President Tinubu promised to grant education loan to Nigerian students and ensure that university lecturers no longer go on strike. “Four years course will be four years, no more strikes. Education loans will be available,’’ he had said among others. So, signing the student loan bill into law on Monday was indeed a promise fulfilled.
Tagged “Access to Higher Education Act, the law makes provision for interest-free loans to indigent Nigerian students. It is also available to all students seeking higher education in any public institution in Nigeria provided they meet the criteria for qualification. The loan according to the document in public space is only for the payment of Tuition fees.
The Act provides for the establishment of a Nigerian Education Bank to be funded by the Federal Government. The Bank is expected to start with a share capital of N1 billion at N1/share with the Federal Government holding 100 per cent of the shares.
Beneficiaries are expected to start paying back two years after their compulsory national youth service. Payments will be 10 per cent direct deductions from their salary account. Self-employed graduates are expected to document their income for deductions within 60 days. They will also remit 10 per cent of their monthly profits. Defaulters will face two years imprisonment or N500,000 fine.
To be eligible, applicants must have secured admission into any tertiary institution either federal or state. This could be universities, polytechnics or colleges of education. The student must also come from a family with an annual income of less than N500,000 and provide at least two guarantors who must either be civil servants above Level 12 or a lawyer with at least 10 years post-call experience.
The education bank will get its supply from education bonds, all interests arising from deposits in bank and education endowment fund schemes. Also, one per cent of taxes, levies and duties to the Federal Government through the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) and Nigerian Customs will go to the bank. It will also be funded by one per cent of profits from oil and other natural resources as well as grants, gifts and any other endowments.
Applications are to be done through the Students Affairs Offices of the respective institutions to be forwarded to the Chairman of the Education Bank in their territory. These applications will thereafter be forwarded to the Minister of Education for approval within 30 days of submission and disbursement made immediately after the minister’s approval.
Students are disqualified from applying if they have defaulted in any loan before; have proven case of exam malpractice; ever been convicted for any offense of dishonesty or fraud; convicted for drug abuse; or their parents have any history of previous default on any loan.
President Tinubu believes this loan is capable of ensuring that every Nigerian has access to higher education. Considering its multifaceted sources of revenue, the Education Bank is not likely to suffer a drought. After all, other Federal Government initiatives with lesser funding channels still run successfully today. Take for instance the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) whose major source of funding is the two percent education tax paid from the assessable profit of companies registered in Nigeria. With this, TETFUND has done incredibly well in uplifting essential physical infrastructure for teaching and learning in many tertiary institutions in Nigeria.
If not for TETFUND, perhaps many public institutions in Nigeria may not have new structures. I was once at the Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro in Ogun State, and all the new buildings there were built by TETFUND. The story is similar in many institutions. The fund has also helped in training many Nigerian academics abroad, though many of these lecturers have also been lost to these foreign countries no thanks to the unconducive learning environments back home. Perhaps, the only area where Nigeria is yet to feel the worth of TetFund is in the area of research and development.
Likewise, the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) has been sustained over the years despite being funded solely by two per cent of Nigeria’s Consolidated Revenue. In fact, UBEC has so much money in its kitty that it is always begging state governments to come and access it. The management of the commission recently lamented that about N110bn of the intervention funds for the 2021 financial year had yet to be disbursed in 2023. So, we can imagine the amount of funds that will come to the education loan bank through all the government agencies and other sources that have been mandated to contribute towards it.
But money is not enough. There should be a clear definition of what the scheme aims to achieve and how it intends to succeed. Right now, the first major threat to its survival is nonrepayment of loans. An average Nigerian graduate earns between N30,000 and N50,000 a month. This is less than $100. These are the fortunate ones. Many of them are unemployed. Unfortunately, this problem is not ending soon. Unemployment rate is projected to reach 40.6 per cent in 2023. Without jobs, the loans may end up as students’ own share of Nigeria’s national cake. Besides, what happens to student dropouts who could have enjoyed the loans for years and never get employed or engaged in business.
Yet as big as the concern over repayment is, it is just a minute part of a bigger issue. The real question is how is this loan going to ensure that lecturers are well paid as at when due and that they do not go on strike. The government has always complained of inadequate funds to honour the different agreements it signed with university lecturers. How is a student loan scheme intended to boost the revenue base of Nigeria’s public institutions?
Secondly, Nigeria’s public tertiary institutions are currently tuition free. Agreed, students pay for course registration, accommodation, etc. but that is not tuition. So, what is the purpose of this loan. Is it to help students pay registration fees? Or is it a precursor to the introduction of tuition in Nigeria’s tertiary institutions? If students will pay tuition, how much is government projecting?
The act says the loan will ensure access to education for all Nigerians. How? Currently, less than half of about 1.5 million candidates that sit for Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination yearly, gain admission to tertiary institutions. While some candidates don’t meet the cut-off mark for admission, majority are left out due to lack of space in the institutions they applied to.
In 2019, over 1.8m candidates sat the UTME, but only 612,098 representing 33.7 per cent were admitted. A report shows that about 367,499 candidates applied for the 43,717 slots available in Medical Departments in Nigerian universities in 2022. Likewise, 231,907 applied for social science courses that had only 93,277 slots while 204,734 applied for science-related courses that had just 132,796 vacancies.
Likewise, 81,653 applied For Law-related courses that had 8,529 vacancies; 103,891 students applied for technology-related courses with 60,199 vacancies; 72,014 applied for courses under Arts and Humanities despite the 48,744 vacancies in this programme.
For now, the only courses that have lesser candidates than available slots are Agriculture and Education. For Agriculture, 21,568 applied despite the 31,217 vacancies that were available while only 53612 applied to fill the 111,601 vacancies existing for education courses.
When it comes to accessing tertiary education, the real problem is limited carrying capacity of our institutions which limits the number of students that can be admitted per time and lack of students’ interest in certain courses which results in the undersubscription of such courses.
Solving this problem requires boosting the carrying capacity of our institutions and making courses like agriculture and education more attractive to students. This means employing more lecturers to boost the student-lecturer ratio; constructing more lecture theatres; investing in teaching aids; and enlarging accommodation spaces on campus for students among others. Giving students loan will not solve any of these problems.
Interestingly, the loan act states that students can only benefit from the scheme if their family income is not more than N500,000 per annum. In other words, a family where both parents are minimum wage earners are automatically exempted from the scheme since their total income is more than N500,000. If children of people earning less than $100 a month cannot benefit from a loan, who then can, or who should?
The law also says guarantors should be above Level 12 or lawyers that have over 10 years post-call experience. How easy will it be for people that earn less than $100 a month to get senior civil servants as guarantors?
The act is silent on both the minimum and maximum amount of money that can be drawn by a beneficiary. Maybe these details will be provided when the law is gazetted.
From all indications, President Tinubu is planning to introduce tuition in Nigerian universities. I have nothing against this. I have always advocated it. It is the way to go if we are sincere about rescuing our education system from its current state of rot. But this process should be well-thought-out. Existing laws that provide for free tertiary education in federal-government-owned public institutions should be amended. Also, the tuition should be reasonable. Education is a public good. It can’t be funded with tuition alone. Tuition can never be the alternative to government funding and student loan will not do any magic in this regard!
Olabisi Deji-Folutile (PhD) is the Editor-in-Chief, Franktalknow.com and Director at AF24NEWS.COM. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.