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From the days of western philosophers – Jean Rousseau, John Locke and Thomas Hobbes, the concept of government has been the subject of unending commentary. Today, people see ‘government’ more as a product of the social contract theory which depicts the relationship between government and the people into two main parts of an unwritten contract. These are: (i) the immutable mandate of government to protect the people and (ii) the obligation of the people to undertake certain civic responsibilities.
The people must pay taxes, they must vote and participate in community services such as the National Youth Service Corps programme in Nigeria. On its part, government offers a guarantee to ensure that people live meaningful lives without fear of any form of aggression. Nowhere else has this mandate of government as enunciated in the social contract theory been better illuminated than Nigeria where the express words of the country’s constitution in section 14, authoritatively state that “ the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government.”
However, attacks on people in different parts of Nigeria particularly since the days of Goodluck Jonathan till today have been direct and patently aggressive with little or no intervention from government in breach of the sacred contract between government and the people. Indeed, many citizens wanted Muhammadu Buhari to replace Jonathan as president in 2015, believing that Buhari a former army general would do a better job securing the people – a belief which turned out to be completely false.
In fact, Buhari’s minister of defence himself a former general, visibly despaired when he asked the people to defend themselves, a clear refutal of the justification for the existence of government. Till today, many government officials still erroneously believe that security is everybody business despite the fact that the nation’s highest law unequivocally names those whose duty it is. Government officials are yet to know the difference between appealing to the people for help with information on the movement of criminals and creating an official division of labour between public actors and private recipients of policy dividends.
Talking about information gathering, no one controverts the worthiness of good citizens providing useful information to authorities for the general good; which essentially exemplifies patriotism but if the tense insecurity in the affected localities of Nigeria is discretely considered, government cannot depend solely on citizens who are in hiding instead of using technology to gather crucial information about a particular community several kilometres away before attacks happen.
It is unmistaken failure on the part of government with all its instruments of coercion procured from taxpayers’ money to seek to rationalize incessant attacks on grounds of paucity of information. This is more so when a few people who attempted in the past to volunteer such security information were later attacked by the same criminals they reported to government agents. If information gathering is even to be seen as a civic duty, self-help which government calls on people to undertake amounts to taking the laws in their hands in a country whose citizens are generally not licensed to carry arms.
The result of government’s tardiness in addressing insecurity is that everyone now lives in fear in Nigeria. In the past, people avoided road journeys mainly because of the dangers of plying bad roads, today a greater fear arises from insecurity on express highways that are almost as smooth as the ‘German autobahn.’ The only observable phenomenon arising from this is the abdication of government from its primary business which she has replaced with a design of governance by condolence.
It has since become the practice of government officials to send official delegations to condole with families and communities of people killed by unknown gunmen. Here, it is unnecessary to name more than a few of such condolences. One of the first assignments of the new governor of Zamfara state, Dauda Lawal was to send a delegation led by Bilyaminu Isma’il, the speaker of the state house of assembly to commiserate with Shinkafi Emirate over the bandit’s attacks on their communities. In December 2023, vice-president Kassim Shettima led the federal delegation to visit victims of Christmas eve’s attack on communities in Bokkos local government area of Plateau state.
It would be unfair to suggest that condolence visits are current developments, when they have been the order of the day for decades. In January 2012 for example, it was President Jonathan himself who expressed his condolences to victims of the multiple bomb blasts and acts of violence which rocked the city of Kano. A broadcast journalist, Eneche Akogwu of Channels TV was among the dead. In 2020, Abba Kyari the then chief of staff to President Buhari was the leader of the federal delegation to Katsina state to commiserate with the people of the Batsari local government area where an attack had claimed several lives.
Katsina being the home of the then president establishes beyond doubt that no area whether in the North or South has been spared in the free killings in Nigeria. It also confirms that in all such killings, the response of the government was usually to offer condolences to the affected communities until another attack happens warranting the composition of another delegation with the same message that government would spare no efforts to bring the culprits to book. So, in Nigeria, the government has perfected the act of governance by condolence.
Just as the executive has been evasive about governance, the legislature’s approach has been to institute governance by summons. Whereas governance is about service to the people, the legislature in Nigeria offers service to self which explains their decision to appropriate hundreds of millions of naira to buy foreign-made luxury vehicles for themselves at a time of the nation’s precarious financial situation. Perhaps, a more obvious evidence that our legislators are nonchalant about governance is the way they perform their functions.
First, they are never diligent about clearing nominees to hold sensitive public offices. Second, they approve fresh budgets without reference to how the previous budget faired. Third, they actively support loans without evidence of sources of repayment thereby plunging posterity into debt in Nigeria. Most importantly, they carry out crucial oversight functions through summoning of public officials who merely appear to hold fruitless meetings with legislators.
Although they have unwieldy committees in charge of every type of subject, at no time have we seen real monitoring leading to discoveries of lapses or poor execution of projects. Instead, each time legislators visit agencies of relevance to their committees, they eulogise them to the media. It is only when a member of the public raises an alarm concerning some controversies or improprieties in some agencies that both chambers of the national assembly would begin to fall on each other to summon the agencies for separate explanations to each of them thereby dramatizing the subject.
Asking officials to come and explain their activities is not bad of its own especially as the constitution provides for it in sections 88 and 89, but how can the summoning of officials for verbal discussions of any subject be better than moving supervision to the point of assignment for the same officials to demonstrate and illustrate their explanations on the relevant projects? Do our legislators not know that seeing is believing?
The annoying part of the summoning is that it often becomes an issue of ego. Legislators fix dates for agency heads to appear without reference to previous appointments of such heads thereby disrupting the free flow of policy implementation. At other times, summoning is used for blackmail. Officials are summoned either to extract promises from them for favours or to publicly disgrace those who refused to be compromised. The famous Arunma Oteh of the capital market fame and the ‘off the mic’ saga of the NDDC stand out.
As at the last count, the incessant summoning has been extended to the private sector where voices of concern have now been raised. About 5 months ago, the organized private sector was forced to publicly condemn what they called ‘unbridled invitations and summons by adhoc committees of investigative hearings(OPSN). Claiming that the constitution did not provide for such invitations to be extended to the private sector, they demand that the NASS should stop acting as law makers and enforcers/implementers of same laws. But will they hear and will the executive stop hiding under humane condolences?
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) flagged off some programmes and activities under the theme, “Youth, Religion and the Fight Against Corruption”. This is an institutional attempt at a more holistic, more realistic and more sustainable approach to the fight against crime, criminality and corruption in Nigeria. Whereas the main thrust of the event was to address the challenges of youth involvement in cybercrime, the Commission used the occasion to launch its freshly produced “Interfaith Preaching and Teaching manual”.
The manual was developed by its Interfaith Anti-corruption Advisory Committee (IAAC). The document is a handy reference material that would be used by preachers to deepen the positive values espoused by the various religions. Thus, it is really a matter of using religion, or, more appropriately, working with the teachings of religion and the platforms offered by religious leader, in a partnership for attitudinal change and values reorientation.
Perhaps a caveat is needed here, especially in order to accommodate and address the possible concerns, and/or even objections, of those who may be wondering how religion and religious leaders come into the matter of youth criminality, and even the fight against corruption, at all. Begin with, the EFCC Chairman lamented the involvement of a religious organization in a fraud case up to the tune of seven billion Naira. Religion, and especially several religious leaders, have brought religious morality into disrepute because of their preachments and conduct. In the face of religious bigotry, fanaticism, extremism and the banality of many who are prancing all over the place with the name of the Creator of heaven and earth on their lips, should anyone really be excited to hear about religion being partnered to build a better Nigerian society?
This question is often raised by people who truly take religion seriously, but who have been repeatedly disappointed by the commercialization of religion and fake religiosity. Their concerns, and perspectives, are perfectly understandable; give the benefit of experience. But there are other perspectives as well.
It is trite to say that the goal of what we now call religion is to make people better human beings. It is true that many people are now masquerading with themselves in the name of religion. But, should this warrant a blanket condemnation of all preachers and all religious organizations? False preachers, and even false prophets are not new. Yes, they are not. I even wager that they are an absolute majority today. But is it just false preachers and contrived religiosity? Where do you not have one species of epistemological summersaults, commercialized spirituality, romanticized debauchery and intellectual shadowboxing today?
My suspicion is that the EFCC has said to itself: Let us see what can be salvaged via this platform that traditionally should be the custodian of the highest moral values. The Commission’s anticipation of the prospect of some positive outcomes – no matter how marginal – is the point here.
Without prejudice to the fact that the lifestyle and media reports about elite corruption pose the greatest challenge to the anti-corruption war, the effort at values restoration, and reorientation, is expected to percolate, over time, into something worthwhile. But that is if other agencies of government, and institutions of state, also explore new approaches. In sum, the EFCC has initiated a values-driven approach to the war against crime and criminality.
Let us look at the philosophical foundations of such an approach to social reengineering, before concluding on the detailed actions and activities that could consolidate whatever gains are made over time.
It rarely occurs to most people that crime and criminality, at the end of the day, always revolve around values. The choices we make about what to do, or what not to do, in any situation is usually based on our core values. Take for instance, a man who decides to steal a billion Naira. It is not just the lack of money that would make him do that, no! It is his rejection of the value of honest warehousing of the common good and rejection of the virtues of responsible leadership, in favour of selfish accumulation of what he is not entitled to.
The presence of a car alone, as well as the desire for it, for instance, won’t make someone kill another in order to take the car from him. To do such a thing, you need (1) The presence of a car, (2) The desire for it, (3) Disregard for the sacredness of human life, (4) Rejection of the commandments of God, (5) Rejection of the communal norm, which says that you cannot take what does not belong to you without the consent of the owner, etc.
If your values do not approve an action, you won’t do it. Once you do it, we can see your true core values, no matter what you profess in public. Thus, any change in a person’s notions of right and wrong will also reflect as changes in his actions, choices and what he considers attractive and commendable.
So, how do societal values get to become entrenched? They are inculcated and spread from the family and through schools, traditional institutions, institutions of state and religious organizations. It will always take all of society, involving institutions and individuals, for any lasting and sustainable change to occur in the domain of values.
I refer to the aforementioned as the Custodians of Value. If you take away these Custodians, namely, the family, schools, teachers, traditional rulers, institutions of State, religion and religious leaders there will be no shared norms. Also, if these Custodians are not well primed to deliver on their mandates, they become the Patron Saints of distortion of values, moral decay and the death of the future.
What emerged in the course of last week’s programme was the fact that the EFCC set out very deliberately to “involve multiple stakeholders in the fight against economic and financial crimes”. It was an attempt to put forward new paradigms through a “Whole of Society Approach” to social engineering. And this attempt to widen the network, and net worth, of custodians, is obviously designed to build synergy around the foundational principles of social stability.
Equally commendable is the focus on the youths, with particular attention to their involvement in cybercrime. This segment of our population represents the future of this nation. If our youths are allowed to walk into the future with the wrong set of values, then the tomorrow, of which they are said to be leaders, is already in jeopardy. Our youths must be properly groomed on the right value, for them to become that right Replacement Generation for the Nigeria of our dreams.
Religion espouses lasting values, which ought to form the human character and personality for the better. The EFCC used the event to draw our attention to the formative impact of those values espoused by the various religions as a tool for youth reorientation. And the reason is simple: (1) Values drive, and determine, the quality of life in any society, (2) Values form the hidden pillar guiding the disposition of citizens and the orientation of the youths in any nation, (3) The youths, in particular, are like receptacles into which the society ours its core norms; through conscious and unconscious mentoring, (4) This makes them the most vulnerable demographic group in any society, especially when we think of how easily they can be being damaged by the wrong values and the wrong role models.
Once the wrong values are promoted and condoned, the wrong actions will become the norm. And the immediate casualties and inheritors of what is thus distorted would be the youths. What they then end up propagating with great vim, vigour and rigour, through their actions and their choices, would be the values of decay, social ruination and death.
This is because the youths are like receptacles into which every society pours its dominant values. Because they are the Replacement Generation for every society’s current leaders, once the wrong values are dispensed to them, the foundation is laid for ruin, degeneration and decay, rather than development. Thus, the task at hand, and which was part of the purpose of EEFCC’s event, is to create the right Replacement Generation for our fatherland.
If the Custodians of Value target the same ideals, and work towards the same goals, the society enjoys lasting, and holistic development and value stability. If parents play the role of parents and make the home a nurturing platform, and the schools, teachers, leaders and Institutions of State all play their respective roles in the right way, they will so reinforce each other that misconduct will become very unattractive; and easily isolated and penalized..
Considering that the etymology of the word “religion” also means to link up’, and to bind or tie fast, the aspiration of all religions is to connect us with something higher than our everyday mundane aspirations and purely earthly goals. When the right values are inculcated in the youths, it moderates the ease with which many of them would embrace crime and criminality; because it gives them a higher sense of purpose as well as a moral counter force to the pull of instant earthly gratification.
The dangers of religious extremism must be properly contextualized for our youths, so that they do not become destructive their true humanity out of ignorance. Since the presumed goals of the dominant religious faiths in Nigeria is to imbue man with that goodness which is pleasing to God, religious and ethnic tolerance should be made essential components of human goodness. We cannot be striving to eliminate, or undermine, others who are different from us without also acting against the Will of God.
The work of the Interfaith Anti-corruption Advisory Committee (IAAC) can benefit from the efforts of the now-defunct national Association of religious and Ethnic Tolerance (NARETO) which was started by the late Prof C.S. Momoh, of which I was one of the national coordinators. All said, the EfCC’s “institutional attempt at a more holistic, more realistic and more sustainable approach to the fight against crime, criminality and corruption in Nigeria” needs to be taken seriously.
Contrary to rather quite irresponsible speculation and baseless propaganda making the rounds, there is absolutely no intent, not to talk of attempt, overt or covert, on the part of the President Bola Tinubu administration to move the capital of Nigeria to Lagos, I can authoritatively report.
What occurred of recent is the relocation of certain offices for greater functionality and enhanced practicality to a location that best suits them.
Some of these offices never even effectively moved to Abuja, in the first place.
By the way, this idea that everything must be headquartered in a country's capital is a rather unimaginative one which ends up concentrating development in one place to the detriment of other parts of the country.
In fact, it is not even replicated in most other countries.
The Presidency of South Africa is domiciled in Pretoria; the Supreme Court of South Africa seats in Bloemfontein, the Constitutional Court of South Africa seats in Johannesburg; and, the Parliament of South Africa seats in Cape Town.
In Switzerland, a country with a population that is rivaled by the average state in Nigeria, you still hear of Geneva as much as of Zürich, Basel, Bern or Lausanne.
Dubai is so well-known across the world, many people think it is a country of its own, whereas it is in reality just a part of the United Arab Emirates, a country whose capital is actually Abu Dhabi!
In the United States of America, whereas Washington DC is the capital, numberless and quite strategic departments and agencies are headquartered elsewhere.
The Center for Disease Control, CDC, is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia; the US Nuclear Weapons' Command (what arguably makes them the world's most powerful country) is headquartered in Massachusetts; the gold bullion of America, the national wealth of the world's richest country in solid gold, is not kept in Washington but in Fort Knox in the state of Kentucky!
It is very difficult to find a single state in America where something critical to the wellbeing of their country is not located, unlike in Nigeria where we have had this utterly retrogressive and quite inequitable practice of concentrating everything in a particular place to the detriment of other parts of the country.
Washington State is known for Boeing and Microsoft; Michigan is known for General Motors, Chrysler, Ford, etc; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for steel and Akron, Ohio for tyres; Silicon Valley is in California; Houston, Texas is known for the oil industry and so on and so forth unlike in Nigeria where an head office had initially even been earmarked for the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, in Abuja where there is no port (that building is the present location of the Ministry of Defense) or oil companies producing crude in the Niger Delta are headquartered in Lagos!
Let us not make mountains out of molehills or display an inclination to be petty, divisive, clannish or regionalistic over everything in this country.
The Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, is and shall remain the undisputed capital city of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and no one is more committed to upholding that status quo than President Tinubu, himself.
Onokpasa, a lawyer, writes from Abuja.
I WILL be surprised if truthfully, the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, is surprised by the exit of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger Republic from the organisation.
The countries had in a joint statement on Sunday, January 29, 2024 announced on their state television stations, an immediate withdrawal, alleging that ECOWAS had “moved away from the ideals of its founding fathers and pan-Africanism.”
In an obvious reference to an initial threat by ECOWAS to militarily invade Niger and restore civilian rule, the troika claimed: “Furthermore, ECOWAS, under the influence of foreign powers, betraying its founding principles, has become a threat to its member states and its populations whose happiness it is supposed to ensure.”
They claimed that while pursuing punitive sanctions against them, ECOWAS “… notably failed to assist these states in their existential fight against terrorism and insecurity.”
The Commission’s unserious response was that it is “… yet to receive any direct formal notification from the three member states about their intention to withdraw from the Community”.
The withdrawal is not an “intention” as ECOWAS claims, but a done deal as the three countries made public and formal statements withdrawing from ECOWAS. It is another matter if they decide not to bother sending a formal withdrawal notification to ECOWAS. I am not sure there is any court or power that can force the countries to give the mandatory one year notice of withdrawal.
Also, ECOWAS seeks to give the impression that it was caught off guard by the decision of the troika. This is not good for the image of the Commission because the three countries had in the past four months clearly shown by their deeds and utterances, that they are leaving ECOWAS.
For instance, on September 16, 2023, they announced the formation of what was essentially a parallel commission called the Alliance of Sahel States, ASS (French: l’Alliance des États du Sahel, AES).
The announced objectives of the ASS include mutual defense, economic and monetary union and a common currency called Sahel. These three objectives are in fact, more concrete than those of ECOWAS which after 49 years of existence, has no defence pact, is still far from being an effective economic union, and whose common currency, the ECO, is virtually stillbirth. So, with the ASS in place, how can ECOWAS be surprised by the formal exit of those countries?
Three days before the announced withdrawal, an ECOWAS Ministerial Mission to Niamey, Niger Republic, to discuss the future of the country with the ruling junta did not show up. ECOWAS blamed this on technical issues with the aircraft it had chartered. It speaks volumes about the competence of ECOWAS that there was no alternative arrangement for such an important delegation after the Ministers might have flown to Abuja from their various countries.
The withdrawal of the three countries, whose size constitutes 54 per cent of the total ECOWAS landmass, should call for a state of emergency, including an Extraordinary Summit of the Heads of State.
So, even if the reasons the countries have given for the withdrawal are self-serving, ECOWAS ought to look into them, respond accordingly and take immediate steps to mend the cracks. The Commission folding its hands, waiting for the mandatory one-year withdrawal notice, is not a viable option. This is more so, when there is a high probability of Guinea, another member country under military rule, joining the new alliance.
If the ASS thrives, the possibility of more countries in the region joining it is high. If that were to be the case, ECOWAS would split into two and some countries may have one leg each in the two regional bodies.
In truth, ECOWAS suffers from lack of focus, vision and strategic thinking. In 2017, it bogged itself down with the completely unnecessary intrigues of whether or not Morocco, a country in North Africa, should be admitted into its fold.
ECOWAS sanctions against regimes ought to be handled in such a way that it would not adversely affect the collective fight against terrorism which envelops countries like Nigeria, Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali and Chad. Simply shutting in Niger, isolating it, imposing punitive sanctions, including food and electricity, and wanting to invade it, was not a wise decision.
Also, ECOWAS has failed to even discuss, not to talk of addressing the fundamental issues of France imposing its will on French-speaking ECOWAS countries, nakedly exploiting them, compelling them to under- sell their commodities, and forcing a currency regime on them.
Again ECOWAS seems to have a very narrow view of democracy as an electoral process to the exclusion of good governance and service delivery, as well as the welfare and security of the people.
Even its view of constitutional rule is parochial, as it does not take on board elected political leaders who rape the constitution. For instance, Cote d’Ivoire President, Alassane Ouattara, is on an illegal third term in office. His fellow pro-France friend, President Macky Sall of Senegal, tried to run for an unconstitutional third term which threw the country into chaos. Only an uprising stopped Blaise Campore from a third term in Burkina Faso, while the Guinean President Alpha Conde was ousted from office in September 2021, after he forced an unconstitutional third term on the populace.
Today, there are protests in Guinea Bissau against the government shutting down the National Peoples Assembly. As usual, ECOWAS has turned a blind eye, would not discuss such unconstitutional steps, and is unlikely to call the government to order.
So, there is an urgent need for ECOWAS to look inwards, refocus, rebuild and set goals, including greater trade amongst members, monetary and economic integration, common currency, and a defence pact. It also needs to aggregate the interests of the region and defend them against external interests. Most importantly, it needs to move from the Assembly of Heads of State with a tokenistic parliament and a court whose decisions are hardly respected to a union of peoples with sovereignty over all powers in the region.
Nigeria, whose population constitutes about half the 420 million people in West Africa and accounts for 77 per cent of its trade, is best placed to lead the ECOWAS reforms. However, it must first think clearly beyond its illusionary beliefs in so-called market forces, make governance people-driven than elite-centred, and be governed by monetary politics. It also needs to be independent of all countries no matter how powerful, rich or seemingly benevolent.
If Nigeria gets it right, West Africa is likely to get it right; if Nigeria is not shamed, ECOWAS will not be shamed. The cracks in ECOWAS need to be mended, not widened.
“The fraught debate on slavery is largely absent in Africa, even though Africans were deeply involved in the slave trade. Africans raided for slaves often in connivance with local chiefs and then acted as middlemen with European and Arab purchasers”.
In sheer exasperation at the tragic enormity of it all, this subject matter grew out of a conversation I recently had with some friends. We wondered aloud why Nigeria and Africa appear stuck in the mud of underdevelopment with no discernable prospects of a silver lining in the dark horizon. Yet it is not the case that Nigeria has never experienced capacity for sustained development. The trio of Obafemi Awolowo, Nnamdi Azikiwe and Ahmadu Bello were, without any equivocation, an advertisement for development oriented and utilitarian leadership.
To put it in the horse’s mouth, here was Awolowo at his frank and assertive best (in 1955) “the British did not have the true interests of the country at heart. In fourteen months, under the present government, we have done more for Nigeria than the British did in 120 years.” In the defunct Eastern region, “after the implementation of Arthur D Little’s recommended growth plan, the East’s economy grew at more than 9.2%, starting from 1958 till 1967 when the war tragically interrupted the sterling momentum…At over 9%, the Eastern Region in this period, had the fastest growing economy on earth consistently for 9 years”.
Yet, here we are, several decades along, wondering whether the Hamitic hypothesis of the congenital servitude of the black race was true after all. How do we account for the prevalent vicious cycle of the comprehensive development failure of Nigeria and Africa from which there seems to be no way out?. What follows (essentially speculative) is an attempt to reexamine the nexus between this failure and the phenomenon of slavery from an entirely new perspective.
It is a metatheoretical perspective that borrows from the philosophy of post modernism which rejects ‘concepts of rationality, objectivity, and universal truth and emphasizes the diversity of human experience and multiplicity of perspectives’. At the convocation ceremony of the University of Lagos Professor Toyin Falola demonstrated an aptitude for this tradition with his advocacy ‘that the Yoruba knowledge and divination system, Ifa, as well as witchcraft be more vigorously studied in Nigerian universities, taking better advantage of systems of knowledge developed by Africans’.
Integral to the unholy trinity of slavery, imperialism and racism, it is trite to restate the truism that the injury dealt to Africa by slavery is monumental, colossal and unparalleled. To bring back the subject matter to focus, we will do well to refresh our memory with the recall of a number of apt iconic recollections.
In a recent review of Walter Rodney’s classic “how Europe Underdeveloped Africa”, George Apata restated Rodney’s position on slavery: “Slavery was not only one of the greatest forced migrations of people in human history, but it was also possibly the greatest evacuation of manpower from one part of the world to another. The estimated 10-12 million Africans that were removed from the continent over a period of five centuries had a great impact on African underdevelopment. The consequence of this forced migration not only depleted but deprived Africa of its ablest young men and women, the very manpower that was required for development”.
Peter Ekeh had this to say “African states in the pre-slave trade era decidedly attained greater cultural heights than the states operating under the aegis of the violence of the slave trade. In this respect, a condition of cultural creativity .. . is most unlikely to belong to the kind of state that owes its existence or its greatness to slavery or the slave trade. [It is remarkable] that the acknowledged masterpieces of the Benin and Ife artists were produced before the end of the seventeenth century and that aesthetic decadence set in precisely when the slave trade was becoming the dominant mode of economic and social life”
Less said is the culpability of Africans in this historic injury. Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani pointedly drew attention to this lapse in the observation that “the fraught debate on slavery is largely absent in Africa, even though Africans were deeply involved in the slave trade. Africans raided for slaves often in connivance with local chiefs and then acted as middlemen with European and Arab purchasers. She recounts stories of the ambivalence of at least some Africans about the role of their ancestors in the slave trade. She reports that Donald Duke, former governor of Cross river state and a good-government presidential candidate in the 2019 Nigerian elections, acknowledges that his ancestors participated in the slave trade. However, Duke says “I’m not ashamed of it because I personally wasn’t directly involved.”
In the rise and fall of transatlantic slave trade, no figure looms larger than the celebrated American president, Abraham Lincoln. Highly reputed for his eloquence and deep insight into the dilemma of mankind, he adjudged slavery as a sin that inherently invites retribution. Noted Lincoln “One eighth of the whole population (of the United States) were coloured slaves, not distributed generally over the Union, but localised in the Southern part of it.
These slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest. All knew that this interest was, somehow, the cause of the civil war. To strengthen, perpetuate, and extend this interest was the object for which the insurgents would rend the Union, even by war; while the government claimed no right to do more than to restrict the territorial enlargement of it”.
“Both read the same Bible, and pray to the same God; and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God’s assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men’s faces; Fondly do we hope–fervently do we pray–that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue, until all the wealth piled by the bond-man’s two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash, shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said “the judgments of the Lord, are true and righteous altogether”
The related theme of the”Hamitic hypothesis”, originally referred to the peoples said to be descended from Ham, one of the sons of Noah. According to the Book of Genesis, after Noah became drunk and Ham dishonoured his father, upon awakening Noah pronounced a curse on Ham’s youngest son, Canaan, stating that his offspring would be the “servants of servants”. Of Ham’s four sons, Canaan fathered the Canaanites, while Mizraim fathered the Egyptians, Cush the Cushites, and Phut the Libyans. According to the Hamitic theory, this “Hamitic race” was superior to or more advanced than the “Negroid” populations of Sub-Saharan Africa”.
Beyond being totally discredited, my difficulties with the Hamitic theory centre on the fact that it is scriptural rather than factual. We have no way of finding out whether indeed there was a Noah who begot the children attributed as his progeny. Second is that, if indeed there was such a parentage and bloodline, the sin of stealing a glance at a father’s nakedness is incomparable to selling off a sibling. If we accept the Hamitic hypothesis, then there will be no further need to seek explanation for slavery.
My speculation is that beyond the manifest, material and historic devastation and arrested development wrought on Africa by slavery, there is the sin of the spiritual culpability of Africans themselves in enslaving and casting away their own into the cauldron and oblivion of sub-human existence. Quite reminiscent of the wickedness of the older children of Jacob, who sold their junior brother, Joseph, into slavery. We were similarly informed in Genesis, that ‘Abel, a shepherd, offered the Lord the firstborn of his flock. The Lord respected Abel’s sacrifice but did not respect that offered by Cain. In a jealous rage, Cain murdered Abel. Cain then became a fugitive because his brother’s innocent blood put a curse on him’.
In my imagination, so, likewise, has Africa invited a curse on itself for its unforgivable dealership in the beastly market of the slave trade. Of great consequence were the silent invocation of damnation of those condemned to eternal servitude by their kit and kin- as they were herded onto the decks of the evil carriers taking them on a voyage of no return.. Between the African partakers and their Euro/American counterparts, the balance of sinning more than being sinned against falls on the former. It may amount to double jeopardy, yet if there should be a divine retribution, it should fall more heavily on those who connived with foreigners to dehumanise their brethren.
But what about the other party to the tragedy?. It appears that a specific and adequate retribution was provided by the American civil war in which brothers spilled one another’s blood over the institution of slavery. As eloquently stated by Lincoln “if God wills that the civil war should continue, until all the wealth piled by the bond-man’s two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash, shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said “the judgments of the Lord, are true and righteous altogether”.
Why, then, for instance, was the United Kingdom, UK, spared a similar slavery- specific retributive justice? I do not have an answer to this poser beyond being granted a providential reprieve on account of the proactive role of the British in the abolition of slave trade. And Europe as a whole? Again, I cannot stretch my imagination beyond the tenuous interpretation of the visitation of the two world wars as retribution. .
What about Donald Duke and the scriptural penalty of visiting the sin of the fathers on the offspring? Well, God asked me to tell him to set his mind at rest. In the book of Romans: “The apostle Paul argues that, from a certain point of view, human sin and death are a corporate problem rather than an individual one.
There is an ongoing uproar on social media against organizations (both private and public) that hire the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members as associates and do not pay them at all or do not pay them well. There is a strong demand that such organizations should at least pay the corp members in their employ the minimum wage.
This online protest, I can say started from an X (twitter) user posting that his primary place of assignment (PPA) pays him a meagre sum of N2000 as a monthly salary and he shared the receipt of payment for the month of January which was N2000.
The million-dollar question is, are organizations that hire corp members statutorily obligated to pay them?
The payment of “corpers” as we all know, does come directly from the government and legally speaking, there is nowhere it is provided in any statute that places Nysc members attached for their “PPA” should pay them at the end of the month.
What the NYSC act (cited as The national youth service corps act cap n84 lfn, 2004) provided in section 18 is that organizations should provide accommodation and means of transportation for the corpers in their employ and if there is no accommodation and means of transportation available, such organization should pay the corper 250 naira as an allowance for accommodation monthly and 150 naira as an allowance for transportation monthly.
Here are the full provisions of section 18 of the NYSC Act which provided for the statutory requirements of employers to the Nysc associates;
S. 18: “An employer of corps members shall provide the following, that is (a) basic accommodation and where it is not available, pay the minimum sum of N250 per month in lieu of accommodation;
- all welfare facilities normally provided for the regular staff including Medical Service
- transport or where it is not available, pay the minimum sum of Nl50 per month in lieu of transport”.
Therefore, by statutory implication, employers are not statutorily obliged to pay their Nysc associates, it is a matter of personal volition that an employer can choose to pay an Nysc associate. No doubt that these laws are long due for amendments as they were passed in the 70s and have been extant till date when N250 cannot buy you a cup of rice.
I for one no longer see the need for this mandatory one-year youth service and I have never failed to call for it to be scrapped whenever I get the opportunity, especially in my previous essays but if the government feel that the youth service corps should still be kept in operation then laws should be amended so that at least the Nysc associates should be paid, not just be paid, but be paid properly or at least paid they should be paid the minimum wage and be treated as workers (properly so called) and every rights and benefits that accrue to a Nigerian worker as provided in the labour act and other relevant statutes should be accruable to Nysc associates including right to fair wages/allowances, right to a paid leave, right to health benefits etc.
On the other hand, organizations who apply/request for Nysc associates or accept Nysc associates should also be willing and eager to pay them. If you cannot afford to pay them, then you should not request them or accept them. Do not use corpers that you do not pay to boost your staff strength, that is wickedness, to say the least; even the holy book mandated that “a labourer deserves to be paid”.
Stanley Alieke is an Abuja based legal practitioner.
The consequences of befuddled thinking flowing from parochial interests and not for the general welfare of all, are staring all in the face. The country is in a chokehold of anguish, uncertainties and disillusionment. I am continuing my reflection on the state of insecurity in the land. Since the last one week the subject was again brought to the front burner in these pages, the land has witnessed many bitter and distressing occurrences. Two traditional rulers in Ekiti State were abducted, victims of what the media has now dubbed as a kidnapping epidemic ravaging the land. The third in the company escaped by the whiskers only. And before help could reach the two in captivity, they had been killed in what might pass as a cultural abomination! The three monarchs were returning from an event in Kogi State when they ran into armed bandits at Ikole Local Government Area. Five men police allege have been menacing certain areas of Ekiti State were arrested with combined efforts of the police, Amotekun, OPC, and hunters. But that was not the only troubling piece of news coming from Ekiti. School children numbering 25, and two teachers who were being conveyed home in their school bus after closing hours, were waylaid by gunmen just about five minutes drive from their school. The men demobilized the vehicle by shooting its tyre, and ordered the pupils to disembark and lie face down. They picked five of them and asked the others to go. Altogether, the gunmen went with the remaining pupils, two teachers, the driver, and the bus assistant. To free the children, their abductors are demanding N100 million as ransom.
The distressing reports included kidnappers attacking the police and taking over their checkpoint in Edo. Four were feared killed in gunmen’s attack on Point of Sales (POS) operators in Imo. Also in Imo, armed men reportedly killed four persons, two of them policemen — all between last week Monday and today. A lawyer was said to have been kidnapped from his house in Abuja with his abductors asking for N50 million as ransom. Kidnappers threatened to kill a doctor in Kaduna, her husband, and a 16-year-old if their family failed to pay the N100 million ransom they were demanding without further delay. Gunmen abducted two brothers in Anambra State. After killing them, they dumped their bodies in a car. Such has been the situation that a coalition of Civil Societies (CSOs) under the auspices of the Civil Society Action Group told a Press conference on Monday that in about eight months ending on 26 January, that is last week Friday, 2, 423 were killed and 1, 872 persons kidnapped. In President Buhari’s second term (2019 to 2023) no fewer than 24, 816 Nigerians lost their lives, and 15, 507 were recorded kidnapped. As of 24 January 2022, the number of people who had been killed in the country had surged by 47 per cent up from 10, 366 in 2021 according to BusinessDay quoting data by an intelligence organization called SBM Intelligence.
It is not as if the security agencies are not doing anything about the grim situation. Troops killed Zamfara terrorist leader and set free 20 victims in his camp. His accomplices fled. Troops of Operation Hadarin separately rescued two persons seized by terrorists travelling on Shinkafi road also in Zamfara State. On 27 January, a Joint Task Force code-named North-West Operation Hadarin Daji set free 35 persons who had been in captivity of kidnappers, this time in Katsina State, a major kidnapping flash point in the North-West. As of October last year, Zamfara, Kaduna, and Niger states topped the chart of places kidnapping occurred.
The spate of kidnappings has been so alarming that hardly are thoughts spared any longer for internally displaced people, (IDPs), victims directly resulting from purely sectarian conflict foisted on the country by Boko Haram insurgents in 2009. As of June last year, 2023, the population of IDPs was 2, 295, 534, down from 3.6 million in 2022 according to Internal Displacement Centre (iDMC). In 2021, the total was 2.2 million (531 women, 423,000 men, 677, 000 girls and 569, 000 boys), according to UN Refugee Agency figures. Over 74 percent of the displaced people are in Borno State, the centre of the conflict, followed by Adamawa that has 221, 253 IDPs as the second highest, and then Yobe with 151, 874.
Most of the rescue operations were through combined efforts of joint task forces, also featuring vigilante outfits. Where they were not set up directly by state governments, they recognised them. Former Governor Akinwumi Ambode, for example, recruited 5, 700 youths in 2017 under the Lagos Neighbourhood Safety Corps initiative. He did say at the time that “the move is another step towards enhancing security at the grassroots level in the state.” The corps’ brief was that they should assist the police by providing useful intelligence for crime prevention and facilitating the arrest of perpetrators of crime. In August 2016, barely two years into Ambode’s administration, the State Security Trust Fund (LSSTF) gathered N1 billion in donations at a dinner organized by the Fund and corporate organizations. Such was the success of the Lagos project the fund was able to give the Lagos State Police Command two helicopters, 300 patrol vehicles among which were mobile workshop vehicles, and 60 patrol motorcycles. Also provided to the police by Lagos State Government were two million rounds of ammunition, five fibre boats fitted with double 75 HP Outbound Engines; 30 armoured personnel carriers (APCs) and 1, 000 AK-47. The Lagos model started by Babatunde Fashola was endorsed by the United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice. I was to report in this column that so successful was the Lagos model that some of the states in the country asked for guidance on how they could simulate the model.
Kano State with Ibrahim Idris as police commissioner was one of the states that sought to learn from Lagos. Idris who was later to become the Inspector-General of Police said at the time: “We had to travel to Lagos to understudy the Security Trust Fund. It has served as a model for the states in the Federation. Ambode went all out to arrange what he called “proper care of welfare of police officers who are assigned to Lagos.” Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu is upscaling this and only a couple of weeks ago, public-spirited businessman Femi Otedola donated N1 billion to Lagos Trust Fund. Apparently following reports on Lagos, the Kano State Government gave Idris 25 patrol vehicles and facilitated the recruitment of 2,000 youths into a peace corps. The plan was to have 6,000 of them and the 2,000 were the first set. The government paid N83 million for their application forms and training. The form was N3 million and the training N80 million. The government provided office space and accommodation. Although the police authorities in Abuja ordered their immediate closure, the message of the state governor is clear: The desire to have state police. The attitude of the Federal authorities did not vitiate the Kano State government’s felt need for a state police formation of their own. In Nasir el Rufai’s Kaduna, the said Peace Corps numbered 4, 363 youths, 1,060 of them females. The Senate bill to legalize them was turned down by President Buhari. El Rufai then went on to establish the Kaduna State Vigilance Service Committee to replace several self-help groups in existence in the state.
When we add these efforts to the pressure from the Nigerian Governors Forum, led by Abdulaziz Yari and later by Dr. Kayode Fayemi, the Southern Governors’ Forum led by Rotimi Akeredolu and individual governors such as Jonah Jang and Henry Dickson, and of course, former President Ibrahim Babangida, and the solid backing of Professor Yemi Osinbajo, there is no iota of doubt that the states have been yearning to take control of the security destiny of their states in their own hands. Anambra, indeed, passed a Bill, Anambra State Vigilance Service Act No. 9 of 2,000, signed into law on 06 December 2006, becoming the first state to arm a vigilante group officially and which is publicly funded and paid salaries. Abia followed suit with its own called Abia Vigilance Service. Imo did the same, and so also Ebonyi State. Imo called its own Imo Vigilance Service. Ebonyi House of Assembly passed its own bill as well establishing Ebonyi Vigilance Service. And so you ask: What is left? Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, also an advocate of state police, provided the answer. “I disagreed at that particular time and still disagree to date that the states are not in the position to maintain state police. I have never seen where the Federal Government went to a particular state and gave the police everything they needed. So, the states are already maintaining the police.” He was referring to the time the governors of South West met Buhari when he was President for approval to set up state police in the face of the state of insecurity bedeviling the country. When he declined their entreaty, they got back to the Zone to consider the desirability of establishing Amotekun. They got their respective states to enact laws establishing the security outfit.
Who can say with all this the states are not seeing the establishment of state police as the panacea to the prevailing state of insecurity across the land? Makinde said the establishment of state police is an idea whose time has come. State police has become imperative to surmount the insecurity challenges facing different parts of the country, he said. It is even more so as it is inherent in the tenets and principle of federalism. Since we choose Federalism, why are we reluctant to embrace a crucial aspect of it that is the foundation for peace and national stability without which there can be no meaningful economic development in any land? Economic activities cannot flourish and citizens unfold their full potentials in a state of chaos and confusion.
As I was saying last week, in Belgium, Police Communale is made up of 589 Municipal Police Forces, each independently funded by the local Mayor to whom it is accountable and with powers to operate only within its particular municipal authority. Gendarmerie Nationale is national, operating at what we may call a supra level covering the entire country. In Holland, there are 148 such municipal forces. Denmark and Norway have police forces which although decentralized, are autonomous because the districts are independent. The districts are supervised by the District Police Chiefs. There are altogether 54 police formations, the same number as in Norway. In Germany, there are 16 State Police Forces each independent of the other in management and funding. The country also has Federal Law Enforcement Agencies. In the United Kingdom, there are 45 “territorial” forces and three “special” police forces.
Australia represents a classic case of a Federal Police. Australia Federal Police is funded directly and wholly by the Federal Government with its leadership responsible to the Minister in charge of law enforcement for the country. There are eight state police forces each managed and financed by its own state. In the United States, there are several tiers of policing. They are spread with the states and local councils each having its independent law enforcer, the police; and then the Federal (FBI and CIA); ports, transport, and railways. Universities with a student population of 5, 000 have their own independent police force.
I have gone this far to demonstrate that we are not reinventing the wheel by setting up more tiers of policing in the land. It is what every country in a Federal arrangement does and attracts flourish. After all, the Western Region in the First Republic had three tiers of policing: the federal called lovingly Olopa Eko, smartly attired, efficient, respectable, and respected; the Regional Police with headquarters at Iyaganku and training college at Eleiyele; and the Native Authority Police. Formal and modern policing was first established in Abeokuta in 1905 by the Egba United Government. This was replicated at Ibadan in 1906, and Oyo the following year and then Ondo Province, and so on.
When the National Assembly resumed from their Christmas and New Year recess on Tuesday, security issue was top on their agenda, rightly so. House of Representatives Speaker Tajudeen Abass expressed serious concern over the pervading insecurity ravaging the land. He ingrained it in the legislative thinking of his colleagues in the House saying: “It is a stark reminder that the conventional approaches to security we have espoused for so long are no longer sufficient. The time has come to think out of the box and adopt new and contemporary strategies that better respond to the complexities of our current challenges. ..The enemy evolves, and so must we. I challenge you to rise to the occasion.”
There is a lot of literature that can help them in their deliberations, such as the 2014 National Conference Report and the Nasir el-Rufai report, Resolutions of Governors’ Forum. The report of the Senate Summit on Security that was held in 2018 at which the then Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo said the establishment of state police is the way to go. The police authorities themselves had a major conference in Owerri barely two months ago. Speaker Abass’ proposed summit on Security may be reconsidered as the country has had enough of such. Several position papers and statements by different geographic blocs in the country have enough for the National Assembly to chew on. The Governor of Oyo State, receiving Speakers, the South West arm of the Conference of Speakers from the various Houses of Assembly in the Zone on Tuesday, pointed them unmistakably in the direction of the establishment of State Police. Their visit was to identify with him in his efforts on the explosion that devastated parts of Bodija Estate in the Oyo State capital, in which several houses were destroyed, roofs blown off even in areas considered not within the perimeter of the explosion. The incident was blamed on explosives illegally buried in a house within the estate by miners. Five persons died from the blast. The incident is considered an eloquent testimony and proof of the imperative of the establishment of State Police. The bitter experiences must represent a pointer to the essence of a new beginning for the wise. Enough of foot-dragging!
As it is in and for all things, the ultimate panacea is familiarization with higher knowledge available on earth today. The knowledge answers all questions of life and existence. It spells out consequences for all actions or inactions, including carelessness and negligence which avenge themselves bitterly beyond the earthly life!
I woke up Tuesday to read some hair-raising headlines about kidnapping and killings in our country. “Over 17,000 Nigerians abducted under Buhari and Tinubu”, screamed one newspaper that described the incidents as an epidemic.
Another newspaper wrote: ”2,423 people killed, 1,872 kidnapped in eight months of Tinubu”. There was yet another scary headline, that will truly scare any outsider away from my state of Ogun. It says “From Rising industrial hub to den of cultists, criminals.” The impressionistic outsider will, at first blush, think every inch of Ogun is under the siege of cultists and criminals.
Of course, this sweeping generalisation conveyed by the newspaper does not match the reality lived by the people in the state.
As a newspaper man myself for over 40 years, I understand the game the media play. To sell our newspapers or clickbait, we tend to exaggerate and embellish, sometimes forgetting the social responsibility of the media, not to give the impression that our country is under siege by criminals or that every nook and cranny of our country is under their stranglehold.
One of our newspapers took this responsibility to heart in its report on the same Tuesday, making its major headline, the efforts by security agents to rein in the minority vagabonds in our midst. “Securitymen raise bar in battle against kidnappers”, the paper reported, as it listed the bombing of terrorists den, the rescue of captives by the army and police, simultaneously as it also reported the unfortunate killing of two monarchs in Ekiti, a policeman in Imo and mother and daughter in the FCT.
The frightening headlines on Tuesday were based on the report by the Civil Society Joint Action Group that calls for an emergency on the security situation, surprisingly oblivious that our security agencies have been working in that spirit for a long time, since 2009.
Our security agencies deserve society’s appreciation for their efforts so far, in trying to nip in the bud the evils of kidnapping, banditry, communal killings and terrorism in our country. Their efforts, most often understated, have made our country safer at least than South Africa or the United States, where 44,310 people were killed last year in gun violence.
South Africa faces a worsening insecurity than Nigeria. In 2023, 15,343 people were kidnapped, with Gauteng Province, where the City of Johannesburg, the commercial capital, is located recording 7,818 cases of kidnapping for ransom. Ten years ago in 2013, there were only 3,822 cases of kidnapping. They jumped to 11,000 in 2021 and have been on the upward curve since then.
Gun related killings or murders are also high in South Africa. They increased by 35 percent between 2021-2022 and 2022-2023. In the fourth quarter of 2023, 6,289 people were killed in South Africa. An average of 70 killings occurred per day between January and March 2023. Within a more extended period, April 2022 and March 2023, the killings were 75 per day. According to official statistics, 27,272 people were killed during this period, with 11,347 shot dead.
South Africa also leads the world in carjacking, with 18,000 cases reported in 2020 and 22,742 cases reported last year, an increase of eight percent over 2022 figure.
Nigerians will appreciate our security agencies better with the comparative figures about our country. Between July 2022 and and June 2023, Nigeria recorded 3,620 people kidnapped for ransom, in 582 kidnapping incidents. In 2022, 4,616 people were kidnapped. The same year, 4,545 people were killed by criminals in our midst.
In a report by the World Population Review, Nigeria is not among the top 10 countries in the world, with kidnapping “epidemic“. Turkey leads with 42 people kidnapped out of 100,000 people. Lebanon is second with 15 people out of 100,000 and Kuwait third with 12 out of 100,000 held in captivity. Canada, Belgium, South Africa, New Zealand, Pakistan, Eswatini and the United Kingdom make up the remaining top 10. Kidnapping in Nigeria is 0.334 per 100,000.
Surely, every life matters. Surely, any of our compatriots kidnapped by the criminals must be a matter of concern to the government as it has always been a matter of concern to our security agencies and the leadership, whose job is to keep all of us safe.
In my view, they have all been playing a salutary role. Contrary to the uncharitable comment that President Tinubu has been fiddling while incidents of kidnapping or killings occur, as commander-in-chief, he has been providing material support to security agencies to discharge their duties. In recent weeks, we have seen the police setting up a Special Intervention Squad, equipped with drones. The DSS has stepped up its anti-kidnapping act, rescuing 154 abducted people in the last few days.
Last week President Tinubu approved N50billion as Special Fund to address some of the lingering security challenges in North East. He also approved special funds to the FCT, for the acquisition of equipment to track criminals.
Media reporting about cases of kidnapping, communal killings and isolated terrorism acts must show some moderation by not giving the impression that all Nigerians no longer sleep with two eyes closed or are not safe in going about their day-to-day business.
The relative peace we used to enjoy in our country was broken in the 90s by cases of kidnapping in Niger-Delta. Then followed insurgency in the North-East in 2009, which morphed into banditry and kidnapping in North-West and some parts of North Central. Kidnapping, which appears to be developing into an industry, has also spread to South-West and South-East. It will definitely take some time to put the broken pieces back into the whole.
While we do not have a crime-free country yet, there is no denying that some efforts are being made countrywide to fight the emerging scourge. Last December Lagos State celebrated four years of near zero robbery in the state, with only one incident recorded in Epe in 2023. The South-West states have set up Amotekun, a local police of sort, that is working alongside the police. Such efforts must be encouraged all over the country, to give our people security cover at all times. Amotekun and other local police set up by the states must be strengthened to work with our existing security structure for intelligence gathering and covert operation. Citizens and the media must also, as a matter of duty, compliment the efforts of government to completely stamp out violent crimes.
-Onanuga is Special Adviser to the President on Information & Strategy
Mali and Burkina Faso obviously have a lot more in common than squaring off in a game of football like they just did in the Round of 16 knockout stage of the African Nations Cup (AFCON), in Cote d’Ivoire.
Along with Niger, these countries have been a great source of misery for the continent in the last four years, with rogue military leaders there playing a game far more deadly with the lives of their countries than anything football can ever hope to imitate.
They announced to the continent’s shock and surprise last week, that they were pulling out of the 15-member regional trading block, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
There are rules for entry and exit. But the military governments that seized power in these countries are invoking the name of citizens whose mandate they trampled upon in the first place, to break the rules. They don’t care.
Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger are neighbours with artificial borders created for the convenience of the colonial powers. They occupy nearly half of West Africa’s landmass. They are also landlocked and among the poorest countries by many global indexes. They have other sociological similarities besides.
Burkina Faso has a GDP per capita of $1,510 (2020); Mali, $2,640 (2023); and Niger, ranked by worldatlas.com as the second poorest country in Africa, has a GDP of $1,410 (2020).
With their humongous acreage straddling the Sahara Desert and its southern fringes, these countries manage an estimated 72 million population combined. As though in agreement, the three have had a checkered history of military coups and are currently under military rule against the prevailing tide of multiparty democracy: Mali since 2021; Burkina Faso in 2022; and Niger, 2023.
Alliance of delinquents
The trio are members of a new “Alliance of Sahel States”, a mutual defence pact they entered into in September 2023. Like delinquents plotting to evade the consequence of mischief, they formed this alliance to ward off possible military invasion by the regional intervention force following the coup in Niger.
Their latest bluff to quit ECOWAS has elevated their plight to Siamese status. Trapped as they are in the Sahel, they may now need lifesaving surgery should ECOWAS decide to squeeze in a bit more than sanctions.
Who will bell the cat? The region is a different place today than it was in the mid-1990s when the Commonwealth punished Nigeria for the bad behaviour of the military government of General Sani Abacha for executing Ken Saro-Wiwa in defiance of global appeals. Or even under the more recent example of The Gambia’s Yahaya Jammeh who was forced to back down in 2017, after Nigeria rallied regional leaders to chase him out of office.
Root of the matter
At least three events have shaped the intransigence of the so-called “Alliance of Sahel States.” The first is the significant infiltration of the region by ISIS and ISWAP elements after the US-led military action in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan and the killing of Muammar Ghaddafi in Libya.
Arms from Syria, Iraq and Libya have flooded the Sahel, destablising the region and emboldening insurgency. Mali and Niger in particular have never quite overcome the impact of that destabilisation. Even countries farther South, like Nigeria, are still grappling with the fallout of the proliferation of light weapons, mostly through the Sahel.
The complicity of France is the second reason. It’s not just complicity in the sense of meddling, which most states do routinely. It’s the more egregious kind – pregnant complicity that straps a child on its back.
A number of Francophone countries in West and Central Africa, at least 14 of them, that are part of the rigged CFA franc zone still maintain 50 per cent of their reserves in the French treasury in Paris. Also, the profit of French state-owned atomic energy group and uranium monopoly, Areva, based in Niger, is twice the GDP of that country.
The story of ruthless exploitation, often in connivance with the elite, is pretty much the same in Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and other Francophone countries. Citizens have, of course, borne the brunt and the political elite who are complicit and have used the exploitation as excuse for coups and counter-coups.
The third reason for the stubbornness of the military regimes in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger is the expansionist ambitions of China, but more importantly, Russia, under its current President Vladimir Putin. In other to spite the West, especially since the war in Ukraine, Putin sets up a play station wherever the enemies of the West can be found, with the deadly private army, Wagner Group, as his avatar.
The Russian president has made no pretence of his support for the rogue military governments in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. Apart from military and strategic support, he has also offered free grains to six African countries, including Mali and Burkina Faso, to hedge supply shortfalls caused by the war with Ukraine. The new military leaders in these countries believe that trading off membership of ECOWAS for the Trojan horses of Beijing and Moscow is a better bargain.
How far is too far?
But how far can they go? As far as they believe they can continue to exploit the obvious indecision of regional leaders, the most distracted of which is Nigeria. The last time a member country – Mauritania – left (although for different reasons), the regional group ECOWAS was in a much stronger, more united place.
It’s now a shambles of its old self. Members already weakened by internal crisis and political wranglings are not sure whether to use force or not even though they can see clearly that negotiations are heading nowhere.
Unfortunately, Nigeria, the regional powerhouse which should have provided leadership as it did in the past in Sao Tome, Benin, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Cote d’Ivoire, is facing its own Gulliver moment. It has been pinned to the ground by a string of Lilliputian problems ranging from internal insecurity to the relatively new and fragile mandate of its president and ECOWAS leader Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who faces the unpleasant task of being the leader on whose watch the community fell apart.
Other ECOWAS countries beset by serious economic and political problems, including flawed elections which have also significantly limited the legitimacy of many current civilian leaders, are not faring better. Yet, even in the best of times, Nigeria picks about 70 percent of the community’s bills.
The rogue military leaders in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger know that the community is in a difficult place, compounded by the decline in the influence of France, elections this year in the US and the UK, and the wars in Europe and the Middle East. They will milk these distractions.
The military leaders are betting big on Russian support and also stirring up nationalistic fervour among the local populations. It remains to be seen, however, if rhetoric will prevail over geography. Being landlocked is problematic and is a major reason 16 out of 31 landlocked developing countries, including Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, are among the world’s poorest.
Catch-22
For ECOWAS it is a catch-22 situation. While it is hoping that existing sanctions on the rogue governments, which range from the freezing of assets to the suspension of trade and the cut off of electricity supply would force the leaders to negotiate more sensibly and prevent a further contagion of coups, the community is also mindful that informal cross-border trade, largely in food, make up about 30 percent of regional trade.
To kill the precariously perched tsetse fly without hurting its own scrotum, ECOWAS needs to strengthen citizens’ voices in these countries. It needs to cut through the posturing and partisan noise and engage citizens through more trusted, independent channels. The community could use the experience of eminent persons, led by former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Thabo Mbeki, and possibly joined by George Uppong Weah, to reset negotiations.
The longer the process takes the greater the risk of normalisation – and even worse, the danger of contagion.
But it was obvious that what worked in Chief Odunukwe’s favour was the fact that as a billionaire, he was regarded as a citizen who is entitled to all the rights and privileges Nigerian citizenship conferred and these include the right to life, right to dignity, right to personal liberty and the ‘right to be protected by the state. But sadly, for every one-off celebrated Odunukwe case, there are scores of other victims of cybercrimes who as subjects as opposed to citizens, don’t have access to Assistant-Inspector-General of Police’s office Zone 2 command and by inference lose the associated rights of citizenship.
The reality today is that most hardworking Nigerians without access to those in power are never treated as citizens but as subjects. They are denied of freedom of worship, of right to dignity, right to life or right to state protection. Evidence abounds in the numbers of subjects periodically attacked, maimed, killed or uprooted from their ancestral home to IDP camps while government embarked on operations with meaningless names.
Of course, you cannot miss those the state considers as citizens and deserving of state protection. When you see those being sandwiched on the high ways by a number of police vehicles with AK-47 wielding police men, residential houses with permanent presence of policemen or a lonely woman being followed to the market by a policeman, you will be right to conclude they are musicians, motor dealers, indicted politicians or governor’s mother in-law or niece.
But if you are confused about making a distinction between citizen and subjects in the approach to fighting cybercrime by our security bodies and the banking institution where most of cybercrimes take place, let me share with you dear readers the experience of another reader of this column, as reproduced below, when he took a cybercrime petition to the banks, police, EFCC and Alagbon Crime Unit late last year.
“We have this hardworking young lady from one of the north central states, the reader wrote, that lived with us for close to five years during which time she learnt some trades including fashion designing. Since she didn’t need to buy anything apart from sending money to her parents occasionally, the bulk of her money was saved for her. Following her plan to open shop and bring two of her five out-of-school junior brothers to Lagos to start school, we paid her total savings of N1m (one million naira) to her GTB account in October last year. Unfortunately, a day after the amount was paid into her account, she was swindled by one David Eze, a boyfriend she claimed to have met on Facebook and one Okoh Vera, David Eze had introduced to her as his mother, the reader concluded.
On October 25, 2023, she sent a petition titled “Fraud by David Eze” to divisional police station near the scene of the crime with copies to her bank, GTB and Access and Zenith, the banks through which David Eze channelled this particular cybercrime proceeds.
She stated in the petition that David Eze, her Facebook boyfriend directed her to send the sum of N1,045,000 (one million and forty five thousand naira) to Okoh Vera, her mother he claimed was shot by armed robbers.
She gave details of the account numbers and telephone numbers of the swindlers as follows:
1. Of the amount, she paid the sum of N635,000 (six hundred and thirty five thousand naira to Ifeanyi Okeagu, with Zenith bank account number 4206031565 and the sum of N410,000 (four hundred and ten thousand naira) to Okoh Vera, with Access bank account Number 1654011277, as directed by Eze, her Facebook boyfriend.
Telephone Numbers
(a) David Eze +17579827671 and 08148098598
(b) Vera Okoh 09137971902
The petition was however turned down by both the Alagbon Crime Unit and EFCC office in Ikoyi where according to him officials of both bodies who claimed they don’t handle fraud cases below N10 million barred their entry.
For a state that protects the interest of its people as citizens, this petitioner had thought there were no ambiguities in the case in view of stated government public policies.
First, since it was impossible to open an account without meeting the conditions set by these three banks which included submission of ‘a valid government issued identification, (National Identity Card, Driver’s licence or international passport), passport photograph and valid proof of residence including utility bill issued within the last three months, identification of a fraudsters by banks would not be difficult.
And for the police, tracking the fraudsters should also not be difficult since all telephone subscribers are expected to have their numbers linked to their NIN number especially with the Nigerian Communication Commission’s last December directive to all telecommunication operators to bar phone lines of unlinked subscribers.
But they were wrong. The periodic visits to the police station and the three banks since last October by the petitioner and her boss who by our conceptualization, are at best regarded as subjects, have always been “we are working on it”. It was even claimed one official of one of the banks spoke of the need to protect the identity of their client since there was no evidence the lady was forced to transfer the money to his account at gun-point. He might be right on that score.
But that is exactly because we are not treated as citizens by our government. And when a state fails to perform its responsibilities of protecting its people’s right to life, right to dignity and right to personal liberty, the state loses the right to expect its citizens to faithfully implement their duties to the state. It should therefore not come as a surprise that many frustrated Nigerians are not only not ready to die for their country, they in fact routinely sabotage the state by breaking laws through tax evasion, voters’ apathy, refusing to protect public properties, have empathy and compassion for others and take responsibility for their actions.
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On the unfortunate explosion that rocked Ibadan earlier this month, Governor Seyi Makinde has demonstrated an adeptness that is probably unequalled anywhere. Within 24 hours, he had announced that the explosion was due to the activities of “illegal miners.” Even though the declaration was relatively swift, it was not unthinkable if he had some facts or intelligence report at hand that allowed him to abridge the time necessary to make the pronouncement. Compared to the Ikeja Cantonment Armoury bomb blast that led many to stampede into the Oka Afa canal 22 years ago that we are still not clear on why the explosives ignited, this represents progress.
While awaiting further details on these illegal miners, the news reported that he had gone to the Federal Capital Territory to present a copy of the report of the incident to the President. In the photographic evidence of his trip, both he and the president held the sizeable report enclosed with cheap spiral binding and a blue plastic film on the cover between them while the latter smiled as if he was being offered a plaque. In less than a week after that incident, Makinde completed the report on the explosion! His taking the document to the president to present a physical copy suggests this was no preliminary report; it is meant for the archives. It can be taken for granted that what Makinde submitted was comprehensive enough and therefore final. In these demonstrations of hyper-efficiency, he manages to raise more questions than answers.
For instance, when he blamed the explosion on the activities of illegal miners, the impression he produced was criminality. When the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, visited Ibadan, he lent further credence to the criminal status of the miners by reiterating an earlier assertion that some “powerful Nigerians” were behind extractive activities and associated violence.
When Makinde was featured in an interview on Channels Television, he also disclosed that the Corporate Affairs Commission certificate of a mining company indicted for the explosion revealed they were foreigners. He said, “We are trying to uncover the identities of the people. We’ve done a few fact-findings on the company involved and yes, there are indeed some foreign names on the CAC documents of the company involved but these are still early days. We don’t have to cover up anything.”
His statement on television contradicted his earlier assertion on “illegal miners.” Rather than a bunch of individuals from neighbouring countries who penetrate our national borders and exploit mineral resources, it turns out they were a duly registered business. And if they are a formally recognised company, their activities could not have been outside the purview of state regulations and regular surveillance.
Given that they are a legal entity, what exactly makes them “illegal miners” to Makinde? Having a “foreign name” is not enough to make your activities within a country illegal. By bringing that up, he merely whips up xenophobic sentiments. Their foreign status is largely irrelevant. The crime would not have been any less damaging if it had been caused by Nigerians or a Nigerian organisation.
So, is the alleged crime that this company carried out extractive activities in Oyo State without a licence, or they were a licensed entity that stored explosives inappropriately? Those two are entirely different kinds of crime.
Also, if you have the names of the people from official records, what other “identities” do you still need to uncover? I also briefly wondered if there were multiple companies involved, but Makinde never gave that indication either. He said they had identified “the company” that stored those explosive devices in “that building.”
Meanwhile, five days after saying on television that it was still too early to give the public details, he was in the president’s office submitting an official report. So, what changed that he suddenly had all the facts to share with the president? It is also curious that he went all the way to the FCT to give the president a copy of a report he has yet to share with the public. I do not understand—and this is not for lack of trying—why the president should be enlightened on the incident while the public is kept in the dark. The president was not directly affected by the explosion, and his receiving a copy of the report cannot be more urgent.
Makinde serves the mandate of the Oyo people, not that of Bola Tinubu. He owes it to the public to give a detailed account of the incidents.
Once he had a complete report, he should have addressed a press conference. Since he has their names and the official business, tell us who they are. Were they among the casualties or they escaped from the scene of their crime unhurt? If they are still alive, when are they going to be charged in court? Did they own the house they lived in or rented it? If the house was rented, was the landlord aware they were storing explosives in his house? Also, did they work alone or they had a ring of collaborators who can also be held accountable? If they are a registered organisation, do they still have their mining licence, or it has since been withdrawn?
You said you have the names of the people involved plus the registered name of their company, why are you still protecting their identity? Let the public know who they are, where else they have been operating, and how much the company is worth so that those affected can consider filing a class action suit against them. Who knows, the public might even have more details about their activities that might be useful in prosecuting them.
It is good that Makinde is going to sign an executive order to get mining companies to store their explosives with the military, but we should have some more details of who presently has an oversight responsibility and where they failed. If these miners stored explosives in a private residence, does that mean they do not have proper storage facilities? Which agency was responsible for conducting checks on mining companies to ensure they procure and handle explosives correctly? What is the role of security organisations—from the Department of State Services to the police—in ensuring that those who use such materials for their work treat them responsibly? If those miners who regularly witness the effects of the explosives at mining sites could store them within a residential area, one can only imagine how flippantly they must also have been disposing of the wastes resulting from their activities into the environment.
If Makinde wants people to trust the government as he mentioned in that interview, he must earn it by being open and sincere. When the executive governor gives contradictory details on an incident of such magnitude, they leave room for insinuations that they are covering up for the so-called “powerful Nigerians” involved in criminal activities. Nigerian leaders, fond of speaking of crime as a metaphysical evil rather than apprehensible human conduct, contribute to this atmosphere of suspicion.
If it is not Alake saying he received death threats for calling out those “powerful Nigerians,” it is Imo governor Hope Uzodinma claiming that “cabals and deities” benefitted from forex arbitrage and fuel subsidy payments. Or Tinubu’s chief of staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, stating that the mysterious cabal that robbed us of subsidy payments was more powerful than the government and the security agencies put together. Even Tinubu called the subsidy thieves “the elite of the elite.” Evil is always faceless, nameless, and therefore inapprehensible. Meanwhile, all these obfuscations are just for them to avoid confronting their own friends involved in the heists.
For the unfortunate January 16 incident, Makinde needs to do more to prove he is not covering up for anyone.
On Sunday, the coup leaders in Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso announced the withdrawal of their countries from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). In a joint statement, the three military heads of states said it was a “sovereign decision” to leave ECOWAS “without delay,” because of the “inhumane” sanctions imposed against their countries. They also accused ECOWAS of having “moved away from the ideals of its founding fathers and Pan-Africanism”; claiming that the bloc is now “under the influence of foreign powers.” ECOWAS, according to the military leaders, “notably failed to assist these states in their existential fight against terrorism and insecurity.”
First, we must understand the desperation that pushed the trio of Captain Ibrahim Traore, General Abdourahmane Tchiani and Colonel Assimi Goita to take the action they did. Their three landlocked countries have been under tremendous domestic pressure since being suspended from ECOWAS: Mali in 2020, Burkina Faso in 2022 and Niger last July. The military rulers signed a defence pact, Alliance of Sahel States founded on the Mafia code of ‘one for all and all for one’ and severed military and cooperation ties with France, their former colonial power. They have now turned to Russia, long seeking a foothold on the continent.
Before I deal with the Russian angle, let me state that this is a problem for us in Nigeria only to the extent that we are seen as leader of the sub-region. President Bola Tinubu is also the current ECOWAS Chairman. Yes, there is a lot to say about a whimsical approach to serious problems becoming emblematic of the current Tinubu administration. And I am aware of the enormous economic and security challenges that plague our country. But Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali, three countries that collectively account for 8% of the $702 billion ECOWAS Gross Domestic Product (GDP), are not being helped by their military adventurers on this issue.
Not many people remember but ECOWAS was founded by 16 members comprising former British, French, and Portuguese colonies within the subregion. In 2000, Mauritania withdrew its membership in preference for the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU) which it had joined, even when there was nothing stopping the country from belonging to two regional bodies. It did not take long before Mauritanians begun expressing regrets. Yahya Ould Ahmed Waghef, a former Prime Minister (2008-2009), has deemed his country’s withdrawal from ECOWAS ‘a big mistake.’ Of the 54 African countries, according to Waghef, 27 are members of two regional groupings, 18 belong to three groupings and one country is a member of four groupings hence “we have the right to belong simultaneously to two sub-regional organizations (ECOWAS and AMU).” With that opportunity lost, Mauritania is back today in ECOWAS but as an associate member.
Meanwhile, the main ECOWAS challenge for Nigeria is in Niger where President Tinubu is walking a tightrope. Last November, the Northern Senators Forum (NSF) issued a communique indicating quite clearly that there is no consensus in Nigeria as to how to deal with the Niger coup. “The Northern Senators Forum asks ECOWAS to lift restrictions on Niger Republic in the interest of business at our border communities. It is important that Nigeriens should not suffer as a result of coup in their country just as we are seeing what is happening in Gaza,” said NSF Chairman, Abdul Ningi, who read the statement after their meeting. “We call on Niger and Nigeria that we remain brothers, we remain partners and we remain Africans.”
There are other complexities and sensitivities the president must understand. The Nigeria-Niger border is 1,608 kilometres long and traverses seven states: Sokoto, Kebbi, Zamfara, Jigawa, Yobe, Katsina and Borno. People in these states engage in open trade across borders and their livelihood is dependent on transactions that are now hampered. Tinubu’s immediate predecessor, President Muhammadu Buhari, we must also remember, admitted openly that Niger is a second home for him. So, already there is domestic pressure that relations be normalised with Niger. General Abdourahmane Tchiani understands these dynamics strengthen his hand and perhaps explains why he is playing hard ball. That’s also why President Tinubu (and by implication, the ECOWAS he chairs) cannot afford to be rigid. At some point, there will have to be a compromise. And whatever goes for Niger must go for Mali and Burkina Faso.
Now to the Russian angle. In an interview with ARISE NEWS on Monday, former Minister for Foreign Affairs, Professor Bolaji Akinyemi, argued that Russia may be “emboldening these three countries to break up ECOWAS as part of the attempt to weaken what one will call the western influence in this part of the world.” Yet, according to Akinyemi, “Russia has not shown that it has the capability to help these three countries to combat the jihadists, the Tuaregs, the ISIS who are running wild in the Sahel.” To the respected diplomat, Nigeria and the regional bloc now contend with a crisis, essentially “because these three countries, in terms of landmass, that’s about half of ECOWAS. So, we’re not dealing with just a little hiccup on our hands.”
Regarding allegations by the three countries that ECOWAS is being teleguided by foreign powers, Akinyemi said it was clear what they mean. “You know the power that they are referring to, and presumably, the fact that our president is in France at the moment kind of reinforces this fear in their minds that the ECOWAS policies are actually French policies,” said Akinyemi. “We’re going to need some clever steps, diplomatically on this matter, and I think that ECOWAS needs some fast thinking to make sure that this situation does not get out of hand.”
I am aware that Russia is investing considerable resources (mostly non-financial apart from wheat donations) to gain a stronger foothold in a number of African countries. Russia has been deploying two vehicles: Military through the Wagner mercenary group and media propaganda, especially against France. In practically all the French speaking countries on the continent, local social media influencers are being contracted to spread pro-Russia (and anti-France) propaganda. “I manage the cyberwar, the media war… and (the late Wagner leader, Yevgeny) Prigozhin conducts military activities,” Luc Michel, who heads the media machine told BBC two years ago. “I think that Russia must replace the French in all of Africa.” So, obviously, there is no altruism in the Russian intervention in these countries.
After almost 50 years, ECOWAS has become part of the political and economic lifeblood of the subregion. To that extent, Nigeria’s very strategic importance and political stability are tied to the survival of the regional bloc. The leadership role we play makes the threat to its existence a serious matter. Therefore, the challenge of the moment requires deft diplomatic leadership that is inclusive and multicultural. That is the best way to neutralize the departure of France from the affected countries. As for the Russian meddlesomeness, it can be dealt with as part of the global anti-authoritarian drive. That of course presupposes strengthening our democracy at home and working for the peace and prosperity of our people.
Nigeria, 105 Years Ago…ll
In the first part of this series started last week, I excerpted from ‘The Nigeria Handbook 1919 (Issued with the approval of the Nigerian Government)’—a 304-page publication which contains ‘Statistical and General Information respecting the Colony and Protectorate’. The main idea was to draw lessons from the Nigeria of 105 years ago. Although I promised to continue the excerpts, I no longer see the need for it given the feedback I received. Most of the mails centre around our colonial experience and ‘where the rain started to beat us’ which, for me, cannot be a justification for our failings. I do not discount the harm of colonialism, but I believe Nigeria is what it is today because of the choices made in the past 63 years.
The Republic of Cyprus was not only colonised like Nigeria but also shares with our country the same Independence Day: 1st October 1960. Like Nigeria, Cyprus has faced wars, military coups and all manner of disruptions, instigated from within and without. But unlike Nigeria, the Eastern Mediterranean Island has done relatively well for itself. In practically all development indicators, Cyprus has fared far much better than Nigeria. So, we cannot continue to cite our colonial experience as reason for the rot in our society. The paradox, as I have written in the past, is that while Nigeria may not be doing well as a country, many of our citizens are doing well as individuals—both at home and in the Diaspora. There is hardly any compilation of the Global 100 in any sphere of human endeavour that does not include at least one Nigerian. That has been the consistent pattern no matter the metrics used and regardless of the field profiled.
Interestingly, my young friend, Ejiro Oghenechovwen, who until recently worked with the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), seems to understand the essence of my intervention. And I crave the indulgence of readers to publish his mail before I conclude. “I have just finished reading your column on ‘Nigeria, 105 years ago’. I am particularly jolted by your comment that there was no conscious effort at nation building by Nigeria’s postcolonial leaders. Beyond it being painfully true, it strongly suggests that not even national or subnational government and governing processes (which we aren’t even doing well in) are sufficient for a pluralistic country like ours.
“I am delighted that the compiler of the 1919 handbook under reference admitted that organization and order were existent in precolonial Nigeria, contrary to the widespread Western view of an inherently savage and barbaric Africa. Furthermore, hearing a then-active participant in the country’s blossoming political process describe the obtainable government structure as indirect rule is, to me, liberating, as I had always believed that the term was coined in retrospect by future historians. Interestingly, I find astonishing your statistical comparison of the elements of the trade balance between the period covered and that of 2018. The proximity of 1913’s figures to 2018’s is saddening and depicts a merry-go-round affair over a century later, so that, beyond the incredulous fact that we now import palm seedlings – the products of which we earlier exported at two-thirds output volume as you revealed, we have always been a predominantly mono-product economy. When it is palm seeds and their produce, it is majorly palm seeds and their produce; and when it is crude oil, it is equally almost totally crude oil. In other words, we have historically not fared well with diversification.
“It is, therefore, imperative that we pay serious attention to the nation-building question, realizing that the call to leadership goes beyond maintaining, servicing, or upgrading processes, systems, and entities year after year and one democratic dispensation after another. It is also about consciously and masterfully moulding consensus, ensuring that everyone is on the same page – or at least, the same chapter – and journeying collectively, even if in pools and batches, in the same direction. This requires sincerity, courage, and continuous concession-making. I am reminded of a scene in ‘Invictus’, the 2009 movie on Nelson Mandela. Madiba, as he was fondly called, had just been elected South Africa’s first black president and was on his usual pre-dawn walk when he and his two bodyguards saw that day’s newspaper with a banner headline: HE CAN WIN AN ELECTION, BUT CAN HE RUN A COUNTRY? One guard was amazed at such a question when the man wasn’t even up to a day in office. Mandela calmly stated that it was a legitimate query. In like manner, our leaders at all levels and in all spheres must take an informed pause from their routine and reflect deeply on our national question. Why are things falling apart? Why is the nation’s center not holding? What should be done? The real question, perhaps, is, even when we find answers to those questions, are we sincere and courageous enough to respond accordingly?”
Perhaps Ejiro was reading my mind. Despite being blessed with abundant human and material resources, we have failed to aggregate the parts into a collective whole. With no communal sense to build a functioning society, the ‘whole’ of our country remains far much less than the sum of its parts. Essentially because the accumulation of individual greed far outweighs the collective need. When You apply the law of the jungle in competing for scarce resources without any sense of order which nation building entails, the chaos that we have in Nigeria today is inevitable.
Since the beginning of the year, for instance, the recurring news in our country is that of kidnappings by sundry cartels of criminals who seem to have overpowered the capacity of the state. Not only is the list of victims becoming increasingly long, but there are also thousands of others across the country who have been in prolonged captivity and whose ordeals are heart-wrenching for their families. They remain nameless: mere statistics in a nation where human life has become easily dispensable. What is the national response? Let us continue to pray!
Notwithstanding misgivings over the 1914 amalgamation, distortions to our federal structure caused by years of military rule, and disappointment with the current crop of leaders and the choices they make; it is also appropriate to remind ourselves that we have come a long way as a nation. Not even the most implacable enemies of Nigeria will deny its socio-economic potential, the enormous capacity of its people and the bright future that continues to beckon. If only our leaders would look beyond artificial differences, apply themselves to the jobs for which they were elected or appointed and rally our diversity as the real source of our strength.
The mood at the National Assembly yesterday was quite reflective of the rising anxiety about the worsening insecurity in the land.
Expectedly, federal legislators related the stories of anguish and helplessness being told in many communities in the country. These are tragic stories of kidnappings, banditry, terrorism and wanton killings. The map of insecurity looks scarier by the day. No part of Nigeria is immune to this climate of danger. The vulnerability of the people is so obvious. The risks faced by rural and urban communities alike are glaring. The word in the mouths of the old and the young around the country is insecurity.
This fact was evident in the yesterday contributions from senators and members of the House of Representatives.
Samples could be taken from the tragic stories of what happened in parts of the country just in the last one week. A member of the House broke down as he moved a motion on the killings of two traditional rulers in Ekiti State. Another member reported that about 50 people were killed in the latest round of bloodletting in the extremely troubled Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau state. A senator told the story of the Agatu area of Benue state being overrun by invaders.
At the end of a sombre survey of the national security landscape, Senate President Godswill Akpabio announced the resolution of the chamber that security and defence chiefs should be invited to answer questions on the state of things in the security sector. Speaker of the House of Representatives Tajudeen Abass’ summation of the proceedings in the House was that President Bola Tinubu should “take tough decisions.”
So, as Lenin puts in the title of his famous political pamphlet in a markedly different context, the question of the moment is this: What is to be done?
The focus should be on this question as we commiserate with those who have lost their loved ones while wishing the injured quick recovery and sustaining the call for the freedom of those still suffering in captivity. This question has been asked as the various typologies of violent crimes were confronted in more than 20 years. Answers have also been generated as many as times as the question has been posed by the manifestations of insecurity all these years. These answers could be found in the various reports of commissions and committees which looked into the various tragic events at different periods as well as government’s white papers. Pundits have also espoused perspectives on the insecurity. Books have been written from divergent standpoints on the problem. Implicit in these various views are some answers to the question. Only yesterday a fellow columnist , Dr. Reuben Abati, in an extensive discussion of the problem on this page actually wrote pointedly : “Let the federal government declare a national emergency on insecurity.”
Besides, insecurity in Nigeria also has an international dimension which could be compounded by the recent unsettling political developments in the Sahel region.
It may, therefore, be useful in the circumstance that as pressure mounts on security agencies and defence forces to keep Nigeria secure the grim moment should be used for a strategic review in the security sector. This is often done by some countries facing challenges of insecurity in varied forms and degrees. The gravity of the violent crimes plaguing the land demands such a systematic response. Members of the public who have inputs to make usually participate in the process of such periodic reviews.
A lot of lessons could be learnt from elsewhere despite Nigeria’s unique situation. For instance, over a decade ago, the United Kingdom had an important examination of its defence, security and intelligence in a report entitled “Securing Britain in an Age of Uncertainty: The Strategic Defence and Security Review.” Embodied in the British report is an observation that could be interest to Nigeria: “All too often, we focus on military hardware. But we know from our many visits to Afghanistan and to military units around our country, that ultimately it is our people that really make the difference. As a country, we have failed to give them the support they deserve. We are putting that right, even in the
very difficult economic circumstances we face. We will renew the military covenant, that vital contract between the Armed Forces, their families, our veterans and the country they sacrifice so much to keep safe. Each and every one of us has a responsibility to do more to support the men and women of our Armed Forces. We must never send our soldiers, sailors and airmen into battle without the right
equipment, the right training or the right support. That objective has been a fundamental guiding principle of this Review, and it is one to which this Government will remain absolutely committed.”
A few things could be shared from the British experience.
First, the sacrifices of soldiers, policemen, security agents and other operatives on the field should be better appreciated. Security and defence personnel have also been killed and maimed in cases of kidnaps, banditry and terror attacks. The talk about funding security often focuses on acquiring equipment and technology. A greater emphasis should also be put on the welfare, training and motivation of the men and women who actually carry out field operations to keep the nation secure. Even drones have to be deployed by human beings to hit the right targets. The compensation of the fallen heroes should be paid promptly while their survivors are humanely treated. Those who are in retirement should be paid their pensions decently. The nation should demonstrate empathy and respect for those who are put in harm’s way in order to keep the rest of the society secure. Their duty is highly honourable regardless of the acts of bad eggs in their organisations. In any case, is there any organisation without its own bad eggs? Soldiers, policemen and intelligence operatives should be applauded when victims of kidnapping are rescued or bandits are vanquished. The human factor still remains the pivot of any security strategy even in the era of Artificial Intelligence. So the security and defence authorities should make this a central component of any review.
Secondly, the intersection between physical security and social security as well as economic progress is an obvious one. This makes the involvement of other sectors an imperative for a meaningful review. Beyond the usual official exhortation that security is a “collective responsibility” the society at large should be rigorously mobilised to support the gallant efforts of the professionals who are on the field to ward off all risks to peaceful existence. In addition, the experience of a large community of retired officers of the various forces and agencies could also be useful. This reservoir of knowledge and experience constitutes a national asset. Yet, it is hardly utilised. Maybe, if some past leaders of the security sector confidentially share with the current ones their stories of mistakes the system would be spared of a repeat of such mistakes. The fora for such exchanges of views do not have to be formalised with any bureaucracy. The products of the thinking that goes on in the various think tanks should not be ignored by those who are currently in command in the security sector.
The corollary to the foregoing, of course, is that security agencies and defence institutions should not only be subordinated to civil authorities as compelled by the constitution, they should also develop a culture of accountability. The accountability being suggested here goes beyond naira and kobo. It is not enough to increase defence and security budgets. It is also important that the expectations of the public are met. This can be measured by the level of security.
It is in this light that the meeting of the service chiefs and heads of security agencies with senators scheduled for next week should not be just another talking shop. The important dialogue between lawmakers and the leaders of the security sector should be a turning point in the chilling story of insecurity.
The title above was what my wife confronted me with after the 5:30 am Mass on the 28th of January 2024 at St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Parish, Awka. As we were returning to our seats after the offertory, I encountered what I considered an offensive sight: a young man with long plaited hair. He appeared to be an exceptionally troublesome individual, with distrustful eyes. Deliberately, I decided to address what to me was the foolishness of his inverted sartorial display by asking him for his head covering, like other women.
After the Mass, while waiting for the Mass server to return my balance for the Fides newspaper that I had purchased, he approached my wife and requested her to warn me with these words: "warn your husband, tell him that I do not take nonsense." I regretted not meeting him eyeball to eyeball. I would have engaged him in conversation, asking about his profession and other matters in a convivial atmosphere. "What did you do to him?" my wife inquired. Although she did not support me, I explained to her that the reaction of that young man brought me joy, as it indicated that my actions had an impact on him and would lead him to reflect in his saner moments. Conversion is a process that involves a chain of events— observation, rebuke, protest, reflection, and a gradual return to a sense of propriety. My wife was concerned because, according to her, when the young man spoke, his eyes flashed lightning-like Jove’s thunderbolts and seemed to pierce in all directions as if he would have fought me if he saw me.
As a chief executive, I have had the opportunity to invite some job seekers to my office. Interestingly, their dressing, confidence, courage, and even their demeanor are all part of the interview. Due to the inadequate upbringing of today's children, you may find some of them attending interviews with braids and wearing suggestive clothing not realizing that no serious Chief Executive would procure temptation for himself. Unfortunately, this marks the beginning of their failures. This brings us to the fashion trends of today's men.
Many years ago, when I met my former Rector in the Seminary, who was then the spiritual director, Msgr. Jeremiah Ikegbusi, he recounted how times had changed. He mentioned that during our time, parents raised children with proper values for their continued development, but nowadays, they bring up children without any trace of home training. This explains why irresponsible fashion trends are fully embraced today, unlike in the past when only a few followed such trends. What are the definitions of these fashion trends?
Today, in addition to poor behaviour and a total lack of respect, fashion is defined in terms of nudity. Like in Eden, our girls are mostly naked, and they do not seem to realize it. Once one opens some social media platforms, one is bombarded with all sorts of filthy words from those who are seeking followers. I was once shown a woman advertising what is now baptized as “ Kpekus”, as other wares are advertised! Why is it that only nudity and filthy language attract more followers than refined content?
We are burdened by an environment where characters like Bobrisky, who would have been ostracized in the past, are now followed and even defended by those who share his views. They often justify their actions with what they term "body positivity" and the freedom to choose what to do with oneself. If suicide is a crime, one not allowed to take one’s life, logic demands that one is not entirely free to do with oneself whatever one likes. What is particularly confusing in a country like Nigeria is that despite the laws regulating certain behaviours, law enforcement agents has yet to use Bobrisky as an example by arresting, prosecuting, and imprisoning him, thus demonstrating that society remains the custodian of its values. This suggests that even those who should enforce these laws lack values themselves or have grown insouciant. Daily, in the name of LGBTQ, some young men openly declare themselves as homosexuals and lesbians, and yet they are not only celebrated but also allowed to influence others. Instead of seeking meaningful ways to contribute to society, our people are seeking easy ways to make money through boisterous indecency.
Women are naturally distinguished by the symmetry of their figures, the gracefulness of their bodies, the length and waviness of their hair, and the pleasing lightness of their movement. When a man, like Bobrisky, unnaturally attempts to transform himself into a woman in pursuit of fame, something is clearly wrong with him. Our people will start naming white men and women that did the same as if they are stamps of approval.
About two years ago, I wrote and suggested the arrest of one “Onye Eze” Jesus for indecent exposure in the name of “Isa uchu.” I commended the Anambra State government, then under Gov. Willie Obiano, for promptly taking action, but I regret that he was not prosecuted and jailed. The current situation calls for drastic action. Why does the government allow charlatans like those at Oba,l and Asaba to continue deceiving the people? For the well-being of the society, the government should either look for existing laws or enact new ones to put an end to their activities. Why should a few renegades be allowed to lead the youth astray in the name of making money without working, by promoting terms like “Oke Ite,“ “Ibubo”, “awelle”, and the like? What our youth need is not foolishness but encouragement to be inventive, industrious, and thrifty.
That young man whom I asked to cover his head probably did not understand what he was doing. He likely braided his hair because others were doing so, without a moment’s reflection about propriety. The same goes for men who wear earrings. To illustrate how low their thinking is, the culture has been hijacked by individuals like them, mostly “keke” drivers, “agberoes”, masons, and others. Have you not noticed that many of them dye their hair in various colors, braid it, and generally carry themselves with an air of importance, as if they belong to the "ndi na amovu” forward tribe? Such individuals think they belong without realizing that such indulgences were already seen in the past and died out when such fashion failed the test of reason to be sustained. What is heartbreaking is that they are not enlightened enough to realize the folly of their actions.
Also on the rise are breast enhancements and related indulgences. I consider those who undergo any type of body enhancement, including buttock and breast augmentation, as suffering from low self-esteem—all of them. They are so fixated on these enhancements because they seem to be in vogue, without considering the regrets of those who underwent such procedures in the past.
Society should not allow those who are deceived or ignorant to persist in their madness in the name of fashion. They live under the illusion that celebrities like Flavour and Osihmehn dye their hair and engage in such inverted sartorial displays, as if their participation lends legitimacy to nonsense. The truth is that many of these celebrities are not at all suited to the dignity Nigerians attribute to them. Do these pointless hairstyles affect the quality of their music? Did musicians who gave the world timeless lyrics like Don Williams, Kenny Rogers, Osadebe, and Ebenezer Obe embrace such inverted sartorial displays? What about fiery lyricists like Smokie whose words were irresistible to the ears?
The current generation often fails to grasp that there is nothing inherently novel in their actions or lifestyle choices. Breast enlargement, homosexuality, lesbianism—these are not recent phenomena. There is actually nothing new under the sun. Many years ago, philosopher Aristippus advocated for embracing pleasure, epitomised by his motto, "I possess, but am not possessed." Conversely, Antisthenes, the founder of Cynicism, emphasised stripping away material attachments to free the soul, as reflected in his motto, "I do not possess, in order not to be possessed." He lived a modest life, prompting Socrates to jest about his apparent vanity. Diogenes, a staunch follower of Cynic doctrine, famously admired the simplicity of animals and sought to emulate it by living on the ground, subsisting on whatever he could find, and openly engaging in natural acts in plain view. Let our youth know that even going naked is not an innovation. There is nothing they do today that has not been done in the past. Society always provides us with the alternative of vice or virtue, but good sense, maturity, and discernment enable us to choose rightly.
Society continues to drift aimlessly; the tragedy is that most of those who should offer direction are themselves immersed in vices. During my undergraduate studies in Philosophy, Prof. Mmaduabichi Dukor conducted a thought-provoking exercise in one of his classes in Symbolic Logic. He singled out a student with dreadlocks and asked him to ponder how his parents would perceive his appearance compared to his peers. Such gestures can prompt individuals to reflect deeply on their actions and reconsider their inauthentic choices. Similarly, I hope religious leaders, like Reverend Fathers, can delicately address such matters, encouraging introspection. I have not heard any of them express disgust during mass as the number of male braided hair threatens to equal those of women. We must urge young people to uphold discipline in their conduct, moderation in their desires, and objectivity in their thoughts.
Have you observed how some individuals profit from promoting indecency and vice? Consider those who establish clubs and facilitate environments conducive to the exploitation of women as objects of desire or even prostitution. Despite the harm inflicted on countless lives, they ultimately profit financially. Is it appropriate for us to commend such individuals? Yet, sadly, they often receive praise and recognition in our society, which has a more negative than positive effect.
In conclusion, Msgr. Ikegbusi rightly lamented the decline in proper home upbringing. As a parent, it is crucial to reflect on what we are imparting to the next generation. What kind of society are we nurturing?