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Be it cattle ranch or rural grazing area (ruga), the planned establishment of either of the two at Nimbo in Uzo Uwani Local government Area by Enugu State government does not rightly fit into the current needs and priorities of the people. It is at best one move of government that will pitch it against the people. In retrospect, on April, 25 2016, the infamous, deadly 'Nimbo Massacre' resulted to the death of over 45 persons. The dastardly act was perpetrated on the same contentious issues revolving ultimately around cattle breeding, cattle ranching or ruga. The traumatic experiences left in the wake of that gruesome attack is still fresh in the minds of Nimbo people and neighbouring communities. So this government’s decision will add insult to the already festering injury. Therefore, mulling anything related to cattle, cattle rearing around Nimbo or Uzo-Uwani is insensitive and a sad reminder of the gory experience of the past.
Ruga or cattle ranch was not part of the campaign promises of Peter Mba to the people of Uzo Uwani. It is too early in the life of his administration to contemplate delving into a suspicious, contentious and rancorous national issue of ceding peoples land for ruga or ranching. You may wish to know that most states in the north whose traditional occupation is cattle rearing have not even taken any reasonable step on either ruga or ranching yet. However, Enugu State government is surprisingly championing the course of a business which majority of it's people have no idea of; let alone engaged in.
Expectedly, the plan has elicited strong condemnation, opposition and protest from the people of Nimbo and close neighbours. The well attended protest was held along Nsukka – Nimbo - Ogurugu road. Among the protesters were widows and orphans of over 40 residents murdered by gunmen on April 26, 2016. The protesters who were mostly women and youths chanted and displayed placards which bored the inscription: “Nimbo doesn't want cattle, doesn't want ranching.” The agitation and protest against the project followed the visit of a government inspection team to the community almost eight years after the April 2016 massacre. The government said ranching is a measure to solve permanently the farmers-herders clashes in the state. A senior government official disclosed that government will take full control of the ranching.
Reacting, the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, has added its voice to the issue. The group urged Enugu State Governor Peter Mbah to shelve his plans to establish a cattle ranch. IPOB made this known in a statement by its media and publicity secretary, Emma Powerful. They said, “we are monitoring Governor Peter Mbah and his collaborators. They should understand that IPOB will not allow the establishment of any murderous camp for jihadist Fulanis in the name of cattle ranch anywhere in Enugu State. They maintained that, if governor Peter Mbah is genuinely interested in establishing a cattle ranch in Enugu State, such ranch must be managed privately by an Igbo businessman. Only Ndigbo are allowed to own cattle ranches anywhere in Igbo land. We don’t want to have murderous Fulanis operating any cattle ranch in Alaigbo. If Fulani herdsmen have paid Dr. Peter Mbah or any traditional leader for any parcel of land in Enugu State, they should better go and collect their money back.”
Clarifying the intention of government, the Commissioner for information, Aka Eze Aka debunked the claims that government plans to establish a Rural Grazing Area (RUGA) in Uzo Uwani Local Government Area (LGA) of the state, saying it instead plans to establish modern ranches as part of its agro-industrial productivity agenda to turn the state’s dormant assets to productive assets as well as further stem the activities of kidnappers and other criminals, who masquerade as herders. The government said it had no plans to cede any part of the state’s lands to Fulani headers in the name of RUGA."
In a statement entitled “Ranch is Not RUGA," the commissioner said: “It has become necessary to explain matters regarding the design to use ranching, a modern method all over the world, to rear cattle. The recent viral messages and outcry of a few persons against what they construed as government’s intention to take over a portion of land in Uzo-Uwani and give out to Fulanis in the guise of RUGA is but the unfortunate machination of those who wished to make a mountain out of molehill for political reasons. Aka, who made the clarifications in a statement, described the reports and videos of a few individuals purportedly protesting government’s alleged plan to set up RUGA for the Fulani at Nimbo in Uzo Uwani LGA as the handiwork of manipulators and political losers, who want to run the administration down for political gains."
The people of Nimbo do not seem to trust the government of Enugu state. Their thoughts are in tandem with that of Rev. Fr. Paulinus Ogara who opined rightly that; "ranching is not ruga and ruga is not ranching. The problem with ranching is that it often comes with ruga." They were previously disappointed by the same government which woefully failed to protect them in time of trouble. The community had suffered adversely in the hands of killer herdsmen and are inclined to be suspicious of the government’s motives when it has anything to do with cattle rearing. The unfortunate incident of April, 2016 had compelled the government of Enugu under Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi to set up a commission of inquiry into the matter. "The commission was charged to take a retrospective look into all clashes involving herdsmen in the state and recommend appropriate measures that would be put in place to prevent future occurrence." What was the findings of the commission of inquiry constituted by former governor? Was cattle ranching at Nimbo part of the recommendations?
Lives lost in Nimbo attack cannot be quantified or regained, however, it remains to be seen whether justice has been actually served accordingly on this matter after eight years. By law, government is the custodian of all lands but it remains the ancestral treasure of the indigenous people. In view of this, what measures has government put in place to persuade the community to let go of their ancestral land? Has government provided comprehensive measures for security and compensation? Nimbo community should be made to clearly understand the need to take ownership of the project. Land is a priced treasure in Igbo land. Most if not all the people are unwilling to cede their ancestral land no matter the price. And it does not seem the state government carried Nimbo people and the entire Uzo-Uwani stakeholders along in the process.
Government did not adequately consult or carry out due diligence before going to the press with its intention. People tend to buy into government’s programmes when they are convinced it is meant for their good and also comes with value addition to their lives. Government should engage more in meaningful conversation and consultations regarding the project, it's value addition, potentials and sustenance for mutual interest. This will demystifies wrong perceptions, increases confidence building and erases the growing mistrust between the government, Nimbo community, Uzo-Uwani people and the entire good people of the state.
Sunday Onyemaechi Eze, a Media and Development Communications Specialist writes from Nkpologu, Uzo-Uwani LGA, sunnyeze02@yahoo.com, 08060901201
[OPINION] It Is Illegal For Internet Vendors To Ask Interested Buyers To “DM For Price”. - Stan Alieke
AdminSome days ago, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), sealed up some supermarkets in Abuja. One of their reasons for doing that is that the stores did not attach the prices of the items displayed on the shelves which is in breach of the law.
Section 115 of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection (FCCP) Act has mandated vendors (both offline and online vendors) to attach the price of any item they display or advertise for sale.
Here are the full provisions of Section 115 of the FCCP Act;
“115(1) An undertaking shall not display any goods or services for sale without adequately displaying to the consumer a price of those goods or services.
(2) For the purposes of this subsection, a price is adequately displayed to a consumer if, in relation to any, particular goods or services, a written indication of the price, expressed in the currency of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is annexed or affixed to, written, printed, stamped or located upon, or otherwise applied to the goods or services or to any band, tickle covering the label, package, reel, shell or other thing used in connection with the goods or services, or on which the goods or services are mounted for display or exposed for sale, or published in relation to the goods or services in a catalogue, brochure, newspaper, a circular or similar publication available to the consumer
or to the public generally.
(3) An undertaking shall not require a consumer to pay a price for any goods or services higher than the displayed price for those goods or services, or if more than one price is concurrently displayed is higher than the lower or lowest of the prices so displayed.
By implication of this s. 115 of the FCCP Act, posting an item for sale without affixing the price is an offence and asking interested buyers to dm you for the price as online vendors usually do is an offence as well. You are expected to charge in Niara so far your patrons or customers are residents in Nigeria or your business is conducted within the territorial jurisdiction of Nigeria. If your price tag is in any other currency other than the Niara, you have run a breach of subsection 2 of this section 115.
The intention of this law and the reason for the establishment of the consumer protection agency is for the protection of the final consumers; to ensure that consumers are not exploited by greedy sellers who can Jack up their prices at any time and charge exorbitant prices. The agency is to ensure that dealers and sellers charge consumers a market fair price for the items, any price charged for an item which is above what is considered to be the fair price of the item is extortion and it is illegal.
Sellers are therefore expected to charge customers the prices that were attached to the item, once a seller charges a customer a price different from the displayed price, it becomes an offense. If there is a change in price, it is expected of the seller to quickly update the price change to avoid running a breach of the law.
Stan Alieke is an Abuja based legal practitioner.
Hark! As I alit in London, on that bleak December's day,
The tidings struck me deep, sorrow held its sway.
A cherished brother lost, a loss I strive to keep,
For four decades in Ibadan, city of Seven hills, our lives entwined, so deep.
Thou, a son of Anglican clergy, I, an Anglican bookseller's child,
Our paths converged, our spirits reconciled.
Admiration flowed, like a river pure and wide,
Thy presence, charismatic and urban, a soothing tide.
Stylish and bold, fearlessly thou didst tread,
Speaking thy mind, where others oft'ly fled.
Imperfections adorned thee, like threads of grace,
Yet thou embraced them all, with humility and embrace.
Infirmities sought to hinder, to curtail thy grand design,
But thy spirit blazed on, a flame that would not decline.
For thy state, thou fought with unwavering might,
Infrastructure, thy beacon, guiding toward a future bright.
Challenges besieged, yet thou stood tall,
Defending thy people, heeding wisdom's call.
Amotekun, a shield raised to protect and defend,
Marauders scattered, their reign brought to an end.
In the face of hardship, thy resolve held strong,
A leader steadfast, enduring trials along.
Now I bid thee farewell, dear Aketi, heavy my hearts,
Thy memory etched, woven in life's intricate arts.
May thy soul find eternal rest, released from life's strife,
Embraced by serenity, where troubles fade, where light thrives.
Farewell, dear Governor, thy impact shall endure,
In lives touched, thy vision and wisdom secure.
Through boldness and fearlessness, thou hast set the stage,
Inspiring a morrow, built on a righteous sage.
In this tapestry of memories, where emotions intertwine,
I bid adieu to a luminary, a soul so divine.
Governor Oluwarotimi Odunayo Akeredolu, SAN, CON, thy grace we embrace,
May thy soul find eternal peace, in eternity's infinite space.
-Dr. Olukayode Ajulo, SAN, OON
Nigeria is the second most corrupt country in West Africa ahead of Ghana, according to the latest Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). The level of public corruption witnessed in Nigeria since the return of democracy in 1999 in general and over the past couple of years in particular is unprecedented and is believed by many to be the worst ever in the modern history of nations. That alone can destroy an economy. There is no public economic sector in the country which corruption has not threatened. The virus is noticeable and eaten deep in the Executive branch of government to the Judiciary and the Legislative arm.
Corruption or the term "bad leadership" bothers me. Nigerian society is pervaded by an obsession with money (materialism). That has been at the expense of the glorification of duty, temperance, prudence and justice. Fortitude we possess in spades, but that is more a function of circumstance than of a virtue deliberately cultivated. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Therefore, leadership is a product of the society - hence, the situation we find ourselves as a nation. Sadly, we deserve the leaders we have presently because they are full reflection of who we are as a result of our traits.
Leaders do not appear in a vacuum. People often think that having good or bad leaders depends on the individual. The notion that If the person at the helm is good, he will do good. If he’s bad, he will do bad. But that’s a simplistic, wrong view of leadership and what ruling a country entails. The way to solve bad leadership lies in institutions and the rules and laws that the ruler must obey, which are, after all, what will determine the political landscape of the country. What matters it’s the political process, not the individual.
For example, in the Nigerian situation and problematic business environment; the banking sector regarded as the live wire of the economy is sufficiently primed for manipulations going by recent revelations of underhand dealings in that sector. Unarguably, there is a very strong evidence that corruption between private and public sectors is complimentary and substitutive. We have scores of multi-billionaires in our nation - only a handful are into manufacturing of goods - the rest are businessmen of forex (FX) and importation. This is the sad reality of our beloved country Nigeria.
Again, the perpetual low ranking of Nigeria in the annual Transparency International's (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) is an indictment of the private sector culpability and also its vulnerability. Over 200 million Nigerians are entitled to God-given resources of this nation but rogue Public office holders/Civil servants, Bankers, Oil importers, Forex speculators, Rent seekers etc that are less than 1% of Nigerians have cornered the commonwealth! Leading to the "Great Depression".
Moments ago I listened to the speech of the current Senate President Sen. Godswill Akpabio. He was speaking at a thanksgiving service on Sunday covered by Channels TV, Akpabio acknowledged that “there is hunger today because of the policies and actions that they (Messrs Buhari and Emefiele) took.” This is similar to the blame game, with its finger-pointing and characteristics of the same method of Muhammadu Buhari's era when a bewildered nation is regaled with Jonathan's era malfeasance.
The Senate president’s statement absolved the lawmakers of blame, even though himself was a principal character including former Senate President Ahmad Lawan and the former speaker and now President Bola Tinubu’s chief of staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, served in the previous assembly (9th NASS), that approved the massive loans Muhammadu Buhari took from other nations without demanding accountability if the debts amassed served their intended purposes.
It is, therefore, expected that during the "Great Depression" when citizens were at bottom zero, what is expected of a serious minded people is not the blame game. In contrast, President Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ), didn't give excuses, blame others, or asked Americans to be patient, He rolled up his sleeves and declared several relief packages that brought succour to the poor. In a speech at the University of Michigan in May 1964, Lyndon Johnson laid out a sweeping vision for a package of domestic reforms known as the Great Society.
Speaking before that year’s graduates of the University of Michigan, Johnson called for “an end to poverty and racial injustice” and challenged both the graduates and American people to “enrich and elevate our national life, and to advance the quality of our American civilization.” At its heart, he promised, the Great Society would uplift racially and economically disfranchised Americans, too long denied access to federal guarantees of equal democratic and economic opportunity, while simultaneously raising all Americans’ standards and quality of life.
Similarly, Franklin D Roosevelt helped the American people to regain faith in themselves. Assuming the Presidency at the depth of the Great Depression, Franklin D. Roosevelt helped the American people regain faith in themselves. He brought hope as he promised prompt, vigorous action, and asserted in his Inaugural Address, “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
In conclusion, permit me to share with you the golden words of Stephen John Fry, an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director, narrator and writer. Fry, profoundly posited: "If you know someone who’s depressed, please resolve never to ask them why. Depression isn’t a straightforward response to a bad situation; depression just is, like the weather. Try to understand the blackness, lethargy, hopelessness, and loneliness they’re going through. Be there for them when they come through the other side. It’s hard to be a friend to someone who’s depressed, but it is one of the kindest, noblest, and best things you will ever do."
Richard Odusanya
“In January 2012, today’s President Bola Tinubu as opposition leader rallied his economists and got them to tell him the implication of fuel subsidy removal. They wrote it for him. He read it and liked it; he signed it and put his name on it. Conscious of the verdict of history, of posterity, and for emphasis, he got it published – one and a half pages – in his newspaper, The Nation of January 11, 2012. Check the newspaper’s pages 43 and 44. The grim summary of Tinubu’s economists’ damning opinion was that if petrol subsidy was withdrawn in Nigeria, the poor would stop breathing and the rich would suffer. The prophets’ exact words are that “there will be less food, less medicine, and less school across the land. More children will cry in hunger and more parents will cry at their children’s despair…. Poor and middle class consumers will spend the same amount to buy much less. The volume of economic activity will drop like a stone tossed from a high building.”
A colleague yesterday shared a 1992 campaign video of Chief M.K.O. Abiola promising to demystify governance in Nigeria and stop “people’s heads” from being “shaved in their absence.” A professor friend (political scientist) commented that “that’s partly why he never became president.”
Becoming president or king comes with a price. When ‘The Price of Kings’, a political documentary on Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, was released in 2011, the Financial Times titled its review of the film: ‘All about the art of compromise’. The reviewer describes the film as a portrait of leadership; he talks about “years of gritty compromise and the abandonment of previously held principles.” He goes on to ask: “What sacrifices would you make for what you believe in? What, in other words, is the collateral damage, personal and political, of statesmanship?”
In January 2012, today’s President Bola Tinubu as opposition leader rallied his economists and got them to tell him the implication of fuel subsidy removal. They wrote it for him. He read it and liked it; he signed it and put his name on it. Conscious of the verdict of history, of posterity, and for emphasis, he got it published – one and a half pages – in his newspaper, The Nation of January 11, 2012. Check the newspaper’s pages 43 and 44. The grim summary of Tinubu’s economists’ damning opinion was that if petrol subsidy was withdrawn in Nigeria, the poor would stop breathing and the rich would suffer. The prophets’ exact words are that “there will be less food, less medicine, and less school across the land. More children will cry in hunger and more parents will cry at their children’s despair…. Poor and middle class consumers will spend the same amount to buy much less. The volume of economic activity will drop like a stone tossed from a high building.”
Eleven years after what has turned out to be an accurate reading of the future, the man who signed the prophecy became president and proceeded to feed to the nation what he had pronounced as poison. A minute after swearing an oath to work for the welfare of the people, Tinubu became a victim of his own prophecy. What happened? You think he did not know the implication of ignoring his seers? He did. Was it sheer self-destructive wickedness? Again, I say no. So, why? The truth is election alone does not make a president here. Our presidency is by election and affirmation. Our votes are subject to affirmation by the kingmakers in London and Washington. The principal does not appoint an agent so that the agent would be master of himself. As opposition leader, Tinubu could independently hire economic advisers who told him the truth. As president, he cannot and dare not choose advisers whose views are at variance with the kingmakers’. The president is endorsed to act strictly the script as given to him by the film director. The script writers are the choice makers. They are the double ‘monsters’ headquartered on Pennsylvania Avenue and H Street, Washington DC.
Mr. Femi Falana, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, last week asked President Tinubu to stop obeying the IMF. He asked the president to reject IMF’s latest advice asking him to further increase the prices of fuel and electricity in Nigeria. Falana will not get a response from the president; the presidency will ignore him. The Senior Advocate ought to know better. The Nigerian government cannot glare down behemoths who hold the knob of life. No poor president has ditched the IMF and the World Bank and slept well since the two were born in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, in 1944. If you know you won’t sleep with them, do not take their money – and power. If you can’t run errands, never apply and accept to work for them. The presidency of Nigeria is not a detached power house; it is some people’s gate house.
Falana in his intervention wondered why the IMF kept quiet when the British government, last year, paid almost 40 billion pounds ($50 billion) in energy subsidies. He asked why the United States’ doubled its subsidies for renewable energy from $7.4 billion in 2016 to $15.6 billion in 2022. He wondered why the IMF did not ask these countries to stop what they were doing with subsidies. Falana noted that the French government had announced that it would continue to subsidise electricity bills into 2025. Falana said: “The IMF has not called on France to stop subsidising electricity and increase electricity tariffs. So, the IMF’s anti-subsidy campaign in Nigeria should be flatly rejected.”
Tinubu cannot obey Falana and disobey the IMF and its brother, the World Bank. If he tells them no, he will pay. Whatever the earthworm tells the ground is what the ground does. The president is the ground, the Bretton Woods are the earthworm. There is an old video of President Olusegun Obasanjo saying his Central Bank governor, Charles Soludo, “was not really a fan of the World Bank” and was always showing it in words and deeds. The president said he, one day, warned Soludo: “never you say no to the World Bank; otherwise, they will rub your face on the ground – but never you do their bidding.” That is how tough it is – say yes without doing yes. Either way, you will pay.
Shaving people’s heads in their absence is the simple meaning of international politics and global finance. Two of the barbers – the ‘head cutters’ – are the IMF and the World Bank. They are the ones we are asking this president to disobey. The man knows why he is putting his feet where he is directed to put them. If he does not, to which god will he run when trouble comes? But he is wrong. Why has he not read what became of those who did what he is doing? He should read BBC’s Budget Blunders, UK’s ‘Dash for Growth’ budget of 1972/73, the 1976 Pound Sterling crisis, the tragedy of Keynesian measures and IMF’s involvement.
Before this Tinubu, there was a Tinubu in Lagos who made and unmade kings in that city. Lagos of the mid-19th century belonged to big boys from the colonial office, rich returning slaves and a few homegrown wealthy merchants. Madam Efunroye Tinubu not only belonged to the latter group; she literally had the balls of everyone in her firm grip. She was the female, local version of the 16th Earl of Warwick, the overbearing power and property baron “who carved out a position for himself by the strength of his sword.” This Earl had neither the authority nor the right to raise or depose kings” but he did both with cruel equanimity. He did, and P. C. Dharma gives him a generous mention in her 1947 article on ‘Kingmakers of India.’ Madam Tinubu was exactly the Earl in Lagos of the mid-1880s, an arbiter of royal and economic powers. Bold, courageous, no-nonsense, ruthless, her history in Lagos and, later in Abeokuta, is about making kings and using kings. The ones who demurred, who raised objections or showed reluctance, suffered loss of crown and scepter.
Falana asked why the two finance institutions are not giving first world countries the same drugs they are prescribing for us. I think I can answer that question. Small gods do not teach Sango how to inflict maximum damage. Besides, chief priests of the sacred grove are beyond the canes of masquerades. The masqueraders who tried that in the past lost their costumes. I use Madam Tinubu again here to illustrate this. The lady without means transited from poverty in Abeokuta to power and wealth in Lagos. Tinubu was made very rich by the colonial economic system. She was very useful to the government and the business community. She traded in men and goods for her profit and for the good of the powers-that-be. She made very good money. She loved and coveted the white man’s trade and riches but later detested the meddlesomeness of the alien in Lagos affairs. She started plotting the downfall of the masters. The first was in January 1855; it failed. The second was in March 1855. The grand plan was to expel or neutralize all the European merchants in Lagos. The plot was called off, last minute, because two British warships showed up fortuitously in Lagos waters. A deadly disturbance two months later got the British to expel Madam Tinubu from Lagos, never to come back.
No one on the mountain top desires such a fall. ‘Expulsion from Lagos’ is the title of the chapter that tells this part of Madam Tinubu’s epic story in her biography ‘Madam Tinubu: Merchant and Kingmaker’ by Oladipo Yemitan. I read it (starting from page 54) and thought the woman who later rose again and became the first Iyalode of Egba got what he gave her victims. Her boat met every furious tide with fury. The intrigues, the shifting and shifty loyalties on those pages present good lessons in compromise and consequences.
We will be asking our president to hate himself if we insist he must spurn the orders of those that give life to his government. If we would ask anyone to say no to the IMF, it would not be this president. His bones are weak; we should leave him alone. Why can’t we make the rejection by ourselves? The Yoruba say a man uses his own mouth to reject a meal. They also say no one begs another into slavery. Everywhere the Bretton Woods have been successfully glared down and shown to be dumb, it has been the people themselves who did so. But we are not normal people. We always look for king-size heads to help us break our coconuts. If we can’t find one, we simply withdraw into our prayer houses and intensify supplications for ‘divine intervention.’
Normal babies cry at the sight of injections. There is a trending WhatsApp video that shows an unbelievably calm baby while being inoculated. With that video is a caption mocking how we suffer pain here without crying. The baby betrayed neither pain nor anxiety. That baby is Nigeria and its long-suffering people. We take and endure knocks and, like Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist in the workhouse, we ask for more. American abolitionist and fiery anti-slavery orator, Frederick Douglass, in August 1857 warned that the extent tyrants go is set “by the endurance of those they oppress.” Douglass added that victims of power would be hunted in the north and flogged in the south “so long as they…make no resistance, either moral or physical.”
For millions of my countrymen, life is literally nasty, brutish and short. Every home sobs. Rice was N70,000 per bag last week. This week opened with rice becoming N80,000. Cement sold for N10,000 per 50kg bag on Friday. Naira slid to N1,700/dollar at the weekend. Our minimum wage of N30,000 equals $17. How did we get here after the experience of previous disasters? The IMF gave us some prescriptions some forty years ago. The calcifying effects are still in our blood system. In 2023/2024, that same Doctor Death came back into our embrace. Ola Rotimi wrote ‘Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again’. Why should people’s head go bad more than once? Madness and insanity are synonyms. “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” Frank Wilczek, theoretical physicist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, United States and 2004 winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics, examined that quote and called it the “Einstein Insanity”— because the quote is attributed to Albert Einstein. Einstein was that thinker who held that if we are not insane, we should be able to predict the consequences of our actions. He was the physicist who believed that human stupidity is one of the two infinite things in the world. He refused to accept that the world is inherently unpredictable. He strengthened his argument with a sound bite from the celestial: “God does not play dice with the universe.” But, here, we are being ruled by dice players – poor players; people who roll the dice, and roll it again – and again, because the results they expect are not what they get. What they do with Nigeria is what my childhood called tokíní tokéjì. They use the people to play Baba Ijebu; they bet with people’s destiny.
Amid all these came from the north last week a regional threat to the president by traditional and religious leaders. They said their people were hungry and restive and that they could no longer control them. Every sentence they uttered sounded like a threat of Armageddon. Their concern would have carried weight if the shouters had done so when their Muhammadu Buhari was in power and was messing up everyone, everything, everywhere. But they maintained complicit quietude and passivity when their evil reigned. Because of their past of unholy silence, their present angst could not resonate with the street in the south. I saw and heard people mocking these northern leaders and their groans. They lost it. Ironically, the Yoruba content of the south is working hard to follow that same road of vicarious infamy. There is an insidious, invidious campaign for indifference going on. I was called “a perennially sulky bad boy” last week by a gentleman who claims to be a ‘Yoruba leader.’ That was because I had the audacity to speak about hunger and pain in the land. The ‘Yoruba leader’ thought Yoruba brotherhood with the president should have stitched my mouth. I thought if he was truly Yoruba, he would be familiar with the causal relationship between criminal, idiotic silence and a bad head.
The rain has not stopped; nobody should say that it is not as heavy as yesterday’s downpour. Things may still get worse. Today, staying at home is hot as hell and there is no safety on the road. It is the perfect Yoruba situation of Ilé ò gbàá, ònà ò gbàá (the home rejects him, the road won’t accept him). Uproars daily follow naira’s death by installment. We sob as if we do not know that the illness that won’t heal will kill. Unfortunately, you feel pain only if you wear the shoes. Those assembled by Tinubu to halt the drift do not have their wealth in weakness. Every fall of the naira swells their bùgá. But they may be wrong. My political economics teacher told me that the way these things are going, every soul in this ship is in danger. He said life vests won’t help and escape boats may be useless.
THE Nigerian masses are troubled. They are hungry, angry and losing faith in civil rule. The times call for leaders at all levels to be at work, seeking solutions. Unfortunately, many government officials are spending scarce resources and precious time carrying out propaganda.
The political traders blaming the demonstrably inept and kleptocratic Buhari regime, for our current woes, are engaged in a needless diversion. It is like beating a dead horse; what would the country gain from such waste of time and energy?
They are no different from Buhari who wasted eight precious years of the country blaming the Jonathan administration for the calamity of his own misrule. When this began to sound like a broken record, the Buharists began tuneless songs like feeding school children ‘in school’ when the entire populace was on COVID-19 lockdown at home. Then, the retired General elevated deception to a new level by causing carpenters to build pyramidal structures, arranged bags of rice on them, and announced that his administration had done so well in mechanised farming, that the country now has pyramids of rice, like we had the groundnut pyramids of old. On the eve of its welcome departure, the Buhari gang launched a fake national airline.
So, rather than the old minstrels who have supported every government from Obasanjo through Yar’Ardua and Jonathan to Buhari, blaming Buhari, they should encourage the Tinubu administration to engage in self-examination.
Yes, it is correct that Buhari had a policy to remove so-called fuel subsidy before he passed on the baton to Tinubu. But the truth is that he stopped short of implementing it wholesale. So, do you blame Buhari for Tinubu removing the ‘subsidy’ in his very first minute in office, thereby greatly impoverishing the people?
We all know the Naira cannot swim; so how does anybody blame Buhari for Tinubu dropping the Naira in the ocean and urging it to float without any aid? Now that it is drowning, does it not make sense to throw the Naira a lifeline rather than waste precious time blaming a man who is lost to the world?
The current economic woes of the country are rooted in the mindless policies of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC. The APC’s economic policy is inflation-genocide with the nuclear capability to wipe out the lower classes, and replace them at the bottom of society, with the hitherto middle class.
So, rather than wail about the gross incompetence of Buhari, let us assist the Tinubu administration to rethink its policies and save the mass of the people.
The immediate step Tinubu needs to take is a drastic downward review of fuel prices which is the main cause of hyperinflation and grinding poverty. A major reason why food inflation is at 33 per cent is because the cost of transporting it is far higher than the cost of production.
The second immediate step is to rescue the Naira as no import-dependent consumer nation can throw its currency into shark-infested seas without providing it with even a life jacket. The third, is to stop the mindless taxation of the populace, including the endless upward adjustment of the Customs rates for imports which has added to hyperinflation.
The fourth, is to declare an emergency on insecurity that has forced many farmers off the farms. Fifth, the establishment of State and Community Police should be at the stage of implementation not contemplation.
In the medium term, the administration needs to appoint some game-changers into government rather than abandon the country to politicians and technocrats most of who are marking time in office.
The truth is that this administration has no known road map on any issue which can enable mass participation in governance. Not on education, the economy, youths, health, women or out-of-school children.
But rather than allow the country concentrate on serious matters, there was another diversion, this time by anti-Tinubu persons. They floated an uninformed narrative that Nigeria is on the road to Venezuela.
A write up, whose origins I could not ascertain, went viral. The title was ‘A slow journey to Venezuela’ It claimed that Tinubu is trying to replicate the Venezuelan case.
It claimed that former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, using the country ’s oil profits “went on a spending spree on social programmes”. First, is that we do not enjoy such “oil profits” in Nigeria. Second, Chavez deserves commendation for spending such funds on verifiable social programmes like the construction of over four million housing units in the country.
The writer then makes the uninformed claim that: “Unfortunately Chavez didn’t spend any money maintaining oil facilities.” No, there were no oil facilities to maintain because the United States imposed unilateral sanctions on Venezuela for allegedly collaborating with Cuba. These included forcing oil companies to leave the country, refusing to allow Venezuela buy spare parts, engage in international trade or purchase needed food and medicines.
In summary, the US consciously, wilfully and deliberately, crumbled the Venezuelan economy. This was to the extent that the US, the European Union and some of their supporters seized or looted Venezuelan funds in their various banks.
These countries between January and March, 2019, seized $30 billion from Venezuela’s foreign accounts.
When they decided to recognise the then Speaker of the Venezuelan parliament, Juan Guaidó, who unilaterally declared himself President, they allowed him access to the country’s foreign funds. For instance, Britain assisted the imposter, in his bid to access $2bn of Venezuelan gold it had in its vaults.
In 2019, the Portuguese bank, Novo Banco in Lisbon seized the USD 1.5 billion Venezuela was to use in purchasing medicines, food and other essential supplies for the people. Luckily, the Portuguese courts in 2023, ruled that the money should be returned to Venezuela.
So, the narrative in Nigeria that the Venezuelan problems are due to extreme dependence on oil, failure to diversify the economy, corruption and mismanagement, are blatantly false. Comparing Venezuela and the Nigerian case, is a fraudulent exercise.
But based on this uninformed position, the Governors of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, last Monday, raised the false alarm that Tinubu is railroading Nigeria to the Venezuelan path. An equally uninformed APC Government responded in like manner. The PDP and APC are behaving like two class dullards arguing and insulting themselves over what they do not know.
In reality, Nigeria is on the road to Haiti, a failed state where insecurity is so bad that anyone arriving at the airport, needs armed security to drive into town, or be abducted for ransom. We are on the road to a country where rival gangsters in 2021, assassinated sitting President Jovenel Moise in his residence, and the assassins could not be tried in the country.
[OPINION] At last a treaty to protect citizenship rights and end statelessness in Africa - Chidi Odinkalu
AdminThis past week in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union, AU, adopted a new treaty relating to the specific aspects to the Right to a Nationality and the Eradication of Statelessness in Africa.
The explanatory memorandum explains that this treaty “seeks to facilitate the inclusion of individuals within African States, by providing legal solutions for the resolution of the practical problems linked to the recognition and exercise of the right to a nationality, to eradicate statelessness, and above all to identify the principles that should govern relations between individuals and States in relation to these issues”.
This protocol plugs the omission of the right to a nationality in the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and has been long in the making. The demand for it was launched in March 2007 by the Global Pan-African Movement, International Refugee Rights Initiative, and the Open Society Justice Initiative in a joint position issued by Dr. Tajudeen Abdulraheem, Dismas Nkunda and the present writer calling for a continental treaty “to guarantee the right to citizenship and prohibit statelessness in Africa”.
A mere two years later, on May 25, 2009, Tajudeen was killed in a car-crash in Nairobi, Kenya. The drafting and negotiation of the Protocol has taken all of nearly 15 years since his death. In memory of Tajudeen, this column today substantially re-publishes the statement from 2007 which set in motion the process leading to the adoption of the treaty.
On March 6, 1957, the independence of
Ghana promised for all Africans and our communities a new era of citizenship in full dignity and equality with the rest of humanity. Over 50 years later, in launching the Citizenship Rights in Africa Initiative, CRAI, we testify that this promise remains to be fulfilled and call on African governments as a matter of urgency to fully assure, respect and guarantee a right to effective citizenship in our continent.
Africa’s peoples did not fight for independence to be reduced to non-persons or second class citizens by our own governments. Today, we say: our governments must stop foreignising our people.
This initiative is a necessary response to perhaps the biggest challenge facing Africa today – of guaranteeing the right to citizenship and enabling Africans within our continent to co-exist, pursue livelihoods, move freely, and participate in the government of our countries without arbitrary interference. For the average African, irrespective of country, these basic elements of effective citizenship do not exist today.
Thousands of Africans daily join the millions of victims of statelessness and arbitrary denial of citizenship in our continent. Although each case of statelessness or denial of citizenship produces unique experiences of victimization, common patterns are clear. These include the stripping of citizenship status and rights resulting in statelessness; forced expulsion or forced population transfers; elimination of minority groups through mass de-nationalization, followed – in many cases – by targeted killings of members of the affected groups; persecution of vocal opponents or critics of incumbent regimes; and refusal to recognize or accord the rights of particular (groups of) citizens in the absence of documentary proof.
In several cases, governments make such proof extremely difficult or even impossible to obtain. For example, Kenyan Somalis and Nubians in Kenya are required, in order to prove their citizenship, to produce birth certificates of their grandparents, nearly all of whom were born when there were no birth records.
International law prohibits statelessness. The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights similarly prohibits arbitrary and discriminatory interference with citizenship. The pattern is clear. Many governments across the continent daily strip certain people – usually political opponents, members of minority communities, or vocal critics – of their citizenship. For millions of our people, citizenship is no longer a right; it is now a privilege enjoyed at the pleasure of government of the day:
*In 1995, Zambia’s founding President Kenneth Kaunda was stripped of his citizenship by his successor.
*In 2000, Cote d’Ivoire’s former Prime Minister, Alassane Ouattara, was similarly stripped of his Ivoirien citizenship.
*At this event today, we have two recent victims of this violation: Tanzania’s leading journalist and media proprietor, Jenerali Ulimwengu; and the publisher of the only existing independent newspaper in Zimbabwe, Trevor Ncube.
In many countries in Africa, there are millions more who are too poor to challenge this violation or too unknown to register in the frightening statistics of the stateless.
Affected populations include: a majority of the continent’s estimated migrant and pastoralist population of 17.3 million persons representing the biggest population of persons at risk of statelessness in the world; an estimated 30% of Côte d’Ivoire’s 17.5 million people de-nationalized by the Ivoirité-inspired amendments to their country’s citizenship laws between 1995-2000; more than 1.5 million Banyamulenge of Eastern Congo, whose citizenship in the DRC remains disputed even today; another 1.5 million Zimbabwean mine and commercial farm workers born of parents descended from Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia whose nationality was arbitrarily cancelled by the government of Zimbabwe in 2001; and hundreds of thousands of Ethiopians of Eritrean-descent who had their Ethiopian nationality cancelled and nationality documents destroyed before their forced expulsion to Eritrea in 1998-1999 and hundreds of thousands of black Mauritanians expelled to Senegal in the 1990s. The list is endless.
Statelessness and mass denial of citizenship pose a clear and present danger to regional peace and security in Africa. Indeed many of Africa’s current wars, including those in Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Darfur region of Sudan, are linked directly to citizenship-related persecution and exclusion.
The war between Eritrea and Ethiopia involved cancellation of nationality and tit-for-tat forced population transfers. The 1994 Rwandan Genocide is the logical extreme in Africa’s recent history of what happens when governments choose to arbitrarily put their own people beyond reach of citizenship.
Pastoralist and border populations around our continent, such as the Maasai of Kenya and Tanzania; and the Somalis of Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia, have been rendered stateless because they straddle the borders of multiple African countries but are unable effectively to claim the nationality of any.
These examples easily demonstrate that statelessness and citizenship are together the most serious human security and human rights problems in Africa today. Statelessness and the arbitrary denial of citizenship violate human dignity, undermine the integrity of government and its institutions, dislocate families, destroy the livelihoods of those affected, render the victims open to further abuses of their rights and lead to war. That millions of Africans have to build their families and contribute to their communities in such conditions of unlawful persecution and uncertainty prevents free and productive economic development, making nonsense of public commitments to fighting poverty by Africa’s leaders.
The causes and consequences of statelessness and mass denial of citizenship in Africa clearly transcend national borders. One country cannot, without reference to another, unilaterally determine that a person hitherto known to be its national belongs to the second country. The history and shared experiences of African countries make a compelling and urgent case for a regional response to statelessness and citizenship.
To achieve this, CRAI will advocate for a regional treaty at the level of the African Union to guarantee the right to citizenship and prohibit statelessness in Africa. Such a treaty will establish principles and rules to eliminate arbitrariness and discrimination in access to as well as proof, acquisition, enjoyment, and loss of citizenship rights on our continent. Such legal instrument should ideally be adopted as a Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
CRAI offers to work with the African Union in ensuring the preparation, adoption, and entry into force of this treaty at the earliest possible date.
To end the pandemic of statelessness and denial of citizenship in Africa, a regional treaty is necessary but more needs to be done. Therefore, CRAI will use all lawful means to advocate against all forms of statelessness and the causes of statelessness in Africa.
This initiative requires the partnership and support of African communities, citizen groups and the Diaspora, women’s groups, media, academia and researchers, activists, Parliaments, diplomats, governments, regional institutions, as well as international partners outside the continent. We promise to vigorously monitor, investigate, highlight and denounce the numerous cases in different parts of the continent, which make the adoption of such a regional treaty both necessary and urgent.
•A lawyer and a teacher, Odinkalu can be reached at chidi.odinkalu@tufts.edu
Last week I wrote on “Is reciting the National Anthem by Force?”, and today this is the concluding part, also written some 18 years ago
I start this essay with the critics’ anthem, one that has always inspired me. It is by H.G. Wells and he says “we are going to write about it all. We are going to write about business and finance and politics and pretences and pretentiousness, and decorum and indecorum, until a thousand pretences and ten thousand impostors shrivel in the cold, ...we are going to write about wasted opportunities and latent beauties, until a thousand new ways of life open to men and women. We are going to appeal to the young, and the hopeful, and the curious against---the established, the dignified and the defensive. Before we are done we will have all life within this scope of the novel.
We at most, talk, write and discuss the Nigerian myth with a sense of fatalism.
I believe that If everyone thought as much as I did about justice and fairness, life would be better.
I am a critic, but I am also the critics’ critic, the unrepentant believer that the best way to keep the government on its toes is to keep harping on their flaws so they can improve.
Often, I say I believe the things I write on, are important for our nation as they are for other nations, but when it appears to me Nigerians especially those in authority do not react to these issues as people in other lands do, I repeat them in new essays to remind old readers and recruit new ones to participate in the continuing dialogue.
As is my practice I will crave the indulgence of us all as Nigerians to ask questions, some of which include can this project called Nigeria work, is it working, are we willing to make it work? I personally have an irrevocable belief in this nation but then collectively as a people and as a nation we disrespect the symbol of our nationhood.
Many years ago, …in the United States, Congressman Mark Foley was forced to resign over sexually suggestive emails he sent to young interns on his staff, when announcing his resignation, he apologized, through his lawyer he equally said he was receiving treatment for alcoholism. Away from all other factors of the entire episode, I bring out the following questions, would any Nigerian Senator resign...? Would anyone of them in the National Assembly accept that he had a problem that required treatment? Are we ready to accept that we need to take a break and reflect, reappraise and address issues that are mundane like the National Anthem yet unavoidably the instrument of nationhood?
How many of our leaders require treatment, do they know they are sick, and then, ready to seek treatment? How about the sick populace of followers?
Is it not a fact that between our leaders and the led, there is an abnormal level of greed, vengeance and unattainable ambition, and a psycho quest for power that requires medical attention? The problems of this nation are not because citizenry has refused to rise to obey the Nigeria call, we have allowed politicians to obey their insatiable lust for money and power, greed and gluttonous living?
Question is, are we really out to serve Nigeria, let’s ask, in the last one week, what one thing have we done for the benefit of Nigeria, despite the fact that the nation has not done much for us? In our experimental democracy, is it not true that leadership has only served themselves? It is safe to conclude from the actions of our leaders and we that are led that the driving force is hate for ourselves, weakness at taking the right decision, weakness at moving towards the opposite direction and it cannot be really argued that we have either lost faith or losing it at break speed.
Our heroes past, yes, our heroes, is it not true that we today have very few if any heroes to look up to, let me continue...Politically the present breed of politicians are no better described as jobmen than heroes. The labours of our heroes are already in vain now as every young and even old Nigerians are leaving (japa-ing) in search of new heroes.
Nigeria today is one which no one serves with his/her heart for fear that when you need her most she would let you down, are we not bothered with the increasing number of Nigerian Ibo-Americans, Yoruba-British, Ijaw/Urohbo-Italians and Germans...Arabian-Nigerians, do we really care about Nigerians that today serve Argentina, Brazil, Portugal, Japan, Gabon, Ethiopia and Ghana with their heart.
I shake my head sadly and hold my cheeks reflectively because our nation is not bound by freedom, hardly any state in the federation that has not witnessed an attack or two of some sort, all manner of freedom is alien, we fight for freedom of movement, freedom to know how we are led, freedom to life is deprived us, as freedom to eat is daily becoming unattainable; everything happens like magic, peace has eluded us.
Unity is a far cry, so the nation is certainly not one, we have many nations, which by my own reckoning is not bad at all if they were bound together by the common values of freedom, peace and unity, rather our diversity is destroying us, we fill forms, rather than our capability and merit, it is our local government, our state of origin that counts most, so the partition is one aided and abetted consciously or otherwise by us and no one else.
The National Anthem that some of us recite, was written by five persons, I mean the words were a collation from the first five in a national competition, and those five persons then were picked as the best on merit, the National item is not a Muslim or Christian song, neither is an ethnic group chant of Egbe Omo Oduduwa or Igbo Kwenu, it was written as a bond of unity.
The second stanza is of importance because of the mention of our youths, sadly we see what has become of our youths, the often touted leaders of tomorrow. They suffer unemployment, they see as the government renders their parents redundant, the government and leadership treats them badly, the only driving force for them is poverty and this is either positive or negative, in many cases negative. They grow up and are living witness that truth is bad investment, and negative capital in their nation.
They grow up in hate, lies and see injustice as a norm of their society, lofty heights can only be attained by theft, corruption, and so they scheme their way to that top by all and any means necessary, a really sad future because leadership under the guise of elders and politics use them in destroying peace, and creating injustice blindly.
I leave us with the predecessor of the National Anthem written by a British expatriate, "Nigeria We Hail Thee". It is rich and often one has wondered why it was thrown away.
Nigeria, we hail thee,
Our own dear native land,
Though tribe and tongue may differ,
In brotherhood we stand,
Nigerians all, and proud to serve
our sovereign motherland.
Our flag shall be a symbol,
That truth and justice reign,
In peace or battle honoured,
And this we count as gain
To hand on to our children
A banner without stain
O Lord of all creation,
Grant this our one request
Help us to build a nation
Where no man is oppressed
And so, with peace and plenty,
Nigeria may be blessed—May Nigeria Win!
Nigeria gained independence from British colonial rule in 1960, marking the beginning of a complex journey towards establishing a stable and effective system of governance. Over the decades, the country has experienced various political systems, transitions, and challenges that have shaped its political landscape. In light of the country’s over six decades of independence, it is important to explore the evolution of political systems in Nigeria since independence, highlighting key developments, transitions, and their impact on governance and the people of Nigeria.
As the country has for sometime been increasingly facing severe economic challenges, it is necessary to discuss a comprehensive overview of Nigeria's political development since achieving independence in 1960, which may or may not be the raison d’être of our economic quagmire. By tracing the evolution of political systems, including the transition from colonial rule to independence, the emergence of democratic governance, military interventions, and the adoption of different systems of government, a nuanced understanding of Nigeria's political history will be crucial in determining how we arrived at this sorry economic state. My brief analysis will delve into the challenges, achievements, and implications of these political transitions for governance and socio-economic development in the country.
Evolution of Political Systems in Nigeria Since Independence, can be categorized into the interphases between civilian republics and military interventions.
The years between the attainment of Independence in 1960, and Republic in 1963-1960, is known as the First Republic; and the Parliamentary System (1960-1966):
- Nigeria adopted a parliamentary system of government at independence, with a ceremonial president, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe and a prime minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, as the head of government.
- The First Republic (1963-1966), saw the emergence of regionalism, ethno-political tensions, and inter-party struggles that culminated in the military coup of 1966.
Secondly, the first military incursion into political leadership and Authoritarianism, commenced with General JTU Aguiyi-Ironsi, with four regional Military governors and ended with General Olusegun Obasanjo (1966-1979):
- Following a series of coups and counter-coups, Nigeria experienced a period of military rule characterized by authoritarianism, centralization of power, and suppression of dissent.
- The civil war (1967-1970) further exacerbated ethnic divisions and economic challenges, shaping the trajectory of governance in the country.
Thirdly, after the Murtala Mohammed/ Olusegun Obasanjo transition programme, Nigeria returned to Civilian Rule and the birth of the Second Republic (1979-1983): upon the election of President Shehu Shagari
- Nigeria transitioned back to civilian rule in 1979, adopting a presidential system of government under the Second Republic.
- However, political instability, corruption, and economic crises marred the Second Republic, leading to another military intervention in 1983, masterminded by Major-General Muhammadu Buhari and other coupists.
Fourthly, military dictatorship and transition to democracy(1983-1999):
- The period of military dictatorship under leaders such as General Ibrahim Babangida and General Sani Abacha was marked by human rights abuses, political repression, and economic mismanagement.
- The death of Abacha in 1998 paved the way, for a brief government under General Abdulsalam Abubakar, who conducted and election for a return to civilian rule. This threw up the now retired army General, Olusegun Obasanjo, culminating in the Fourth Republic and the adoption of the current presidential system of government in 1999 to date.
The history of Nigeria's political development since independence reflects a complex interplay of democratic aspirations, military interventions, socio-economic challenges, and ethno-political dynamics. The evolution of political systems in Nigeria has been shaped by a legacy of colonialism, regionalism, corruption, and power struggles that have influenced governance and nation-building efforts. As Nigeria continues its journey towards democratic consolidation and sustainable development, it is essential to learn from past experiences, address historical injustices, promote inclusivity, diversity and strengthen democratic institutions to build a more resilient and prosperous future for all Nigerians.
Since historically the political landscape of Nigeria has been characterized by a tumultuous history of governance, with both the presidential and parliamentary systems being implemented at various points in time. There have been calls from a number of statesmen, academics and commentators who advocate a return to the Parliamentary system of government; while some others call for a return to true federalism, reminiscing the 1960 federal structure of the country. As a concerned citizen, I have personally advocated a return to the Parliamentary system, strictly from the point of view of cost of governance.
In the face of these advocacies for any of these systems of government, let me briefly compare and contrast the two systems of government in the context of Nigeria, examining their strengths, weaknesses, and suitability for the country's unique socio-political environment. As a concerned citizen, I have advocated a return to the Parliamentary system, strictly from the point of view of cost of governance.
Let me make it clear, that there isn’t any political system of government that is either infallible, imperfect or perfect. It all depends on the political actors, leadership and citizens advocacy. The presidential or parliamentary systems have their peculiar pros and cons and the different characteristics. And have worked in those climes, where democracy has matured. What really makes any of these systems work, depends largely on the voter’s education of the governed and the attitude of the political class about power grab, corruption, manipulation of the system and a total disregard for the rule of law. Like Paul the Apostle says: ‘The letter without the spirit kills’. The spirit of our political leaders, must be bigger than the letter.
It is not the system that is responsible for the sorry state of our country, and many African countries today. But our problem as a country hinges solely on the failure of leadership, corruption and total lack of accountability to the people of Nigeria, who in stricto sensus, ought to be at the heart of governance and leadership.
Comparing the Presidential and Parliamentary Systems in Nigeria:
* Structure and Separation of Powers:
- The presidential system in Nigeria features a clear separation of powers between the executive, legislative, and judicial branches, with the president serving as the head of state and government.
- In contrast, the parliamentary system integrates the executive and legislative branches, with the prime minister being drawn from the parliament and accountable to its members.
* Accountability and Oversight:
- In the presidential system, the president is directly elected by the people and holds significant executive powers, which could lead to a concentration of authority and limited accountability.
- The parliamentary system emphasizes collective responsibility, with the prime minister and cabinet being subject to regular questioning and oversight by the parliament, enhancing accountability to elected representatives.
* Decision-Making Process:
- The presidential system allows for a more centralized decision-making process, as the president has the authority to make key policy decisions without direct parliamentary approval.
- In the parliamentary system, decisions are made through consensus-building and coalition politics, requiring cooperation among multiple parties to pass legislation and implement policies.
* Stability and Governance Efficiency:
- The presidential system can provide stability through fixed terms for the president and clear lines of authority, but it may also lead to gridlock between the executive and legislative branches.
- The parliamentary system offers flexibility in forming governments and passing legislation, but it can be prone to frequent changes in leadership and coalition instability.
In conclusion, both the presidential and parliamentary systems of government have their merits and drawbacks when applied to the Nigerian context. While the presidential system may offer stability and clear lines of authority, the parliamentary system emphasizes accountability, consensus-building, and closer representation of the people through elected representatives. Ultimately, the success of either system in Nigeria, or in any other country, depends on the commitment of leaders to uphold democratic principles, foster good governance, and address the challenges facing the country.
In light of the current political climate in Nigeria, a careful consideration of the strengths and weaknesses of both systems is essential to determine the most suitable framework for effective governance and sustainable development in the country. Only through informed debate and critical analysis can Nigeria progress towards a system of government that truly serves the interests of its people and upholds the principles of democracy.
I am not privy to what Chief Femi Gbajabiamiala, your savvy Chief of Staff, is telling you. There is hunger in the land. Messages have been sent to Aso Rock through the back door. So bad are things now that a new non-political front is emerging in which twelve of us have decided to seek a private conversation with you. When, I don’t know. The outcome, I don’t know. Enough of fake promises. Enough of “we are laying the foundation of a better tomorrow.” If people die today, there is no tomorrow for them.
The terrible idea in Nigeria is to assume that everyone is looking for something when offering advice. No!
Many want their country to succeed. Some even now begin to panic that the Tinubu presidency will discredit the entire Yoruba race.
I have written several times about the conditions of Nigerians and how the situation has not been turning around favourably. However, one must not see a reiteration of the ordeals of the society as mere tautologies because the problems would constantly be a fog to the future. Nigeria is a complex society and blessed with many resources, including resilient citizens who have shown commitment to hard work but have not been getting the proportional worth of their efforts. Every year, the version of suffering they face differs, and it seems that there are some temporal distinctions in the motivations of those ordeals. There is a systematic downfall in the economy, and those at the receiving end of its manifestation are the masses.
Well, some may say that it is too early to judge the government of Tinubu, but when starvation becomes a point of reference, we might just make an exception for that rule. A government is a failure if it has not been able to fulfill its primary duties and its published agenda. However, a government is useless if its people suffer endlessly from starvation. While it might be too early to judge the former, it is quite sure that he is failing terribly at the latter.
Recently, the video of a man who was caught in agony and lamentation attracted my attention. He was in the market to buy a “Congo” of rice but was told that it now costs 2,500 naira. The man started crying, lamenting the harsh condition and confused as to what he and his family would eat. He had just 1,800 naira with him, and God knows how much effort he had to put together to get that amount. Some of us tried to locate the man to give him some money.
Bodija market in Ibadan, Oyo State, has a reputation for cheap consumable commodities, and the cost of food products there is considered slightly reasonable. However, this reputation is no longer possible as basic commodities now cost even more than they could be imagined. What is more annoying is that the prices are not stable, and the progression of the increase has been concerning. A lady lamented having bought her usual loaf of bread for 800 naira 3 weeks ago, and within that period, it had skyrocketed from N100 to N1,200 and now at N1,500 for a loaf that is as light as a foam. Let me confirm to you that I visited the place in January to check the data. Thus, let no appointee of yours deceive you that things are being exaggerated.
Inflation in Nigeria hit 27.3 percent in November of 2023. The price increase was expected, but it seems that the progression of price increases for food items is at a higher rate than the supposed inflation. A recent report by the National Bureau of Statistics puts the inflation rate on food and consumables at 33%, but I am still convinced that the rates could have been underestimated. Several factors and reports have pointed to these unfortunate developments in the previous years. In October 2023, the Food and Agricultural Organisation predicted that about 5 million Nigerians would be afflicted by hunger by 2024.
Well, we probably thought that five million is a small percentage of our population of more than 200 million, but it seems that that prediction was not accurate as the effect of food inflation must have put more people at risk. Another stat by the World Food Programme states that 26.5 million Nigerians will be subjected to acute hunger before the end of the year. The United Nations’ Africa Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition noted that about 78 percent of Africans would not be able to afford nutritional or healthy food. There was also a prediction that States like Adamawa, Borno, Sokoto, Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna, Sokoto, and Yobe would face more problems with food security in 2024.
President Tinubu, Garri has always been the best friend of the poor. It had always been one of the most affordable foodstuffs for even Nigerians who live below average. You could eat it the way you want. People experiencing poverty could leave some in water for a long while so that it would soak enough to share among everyone. They take some in the morning and come home to the rest in the evening. It is the hope of students when the end of semesters is close, and they have spent all their money running through the weeks. You could eat or drink it the way it is, add some sugar if you can afford it, or spray a bit of salt to just change the taste from the one you ate in the morning. You see, the present predicament of the people never got real until I realised that a “Congo” of Garri now costs between 700 naira to N1,200, depending on the place you are buying from and the type you have bought. This leaves me to wonder: what will the poor eat?
Beans are another food that has been saving people experiencing poverty. Although it takes longer to cook, it seems to last a while, especially when you combine it with Garri and mix it like you are mixing cement and sand. Students, especially in public universities, have the habit of making sure that aside from Garri, there are always grains of beans in their packs. They could cook beans with plenty of water to make it last. This is a similar habit of the poor. Unfortunately, the cost of a “congo” of beans has risen to between N1,500 and N2,200, depending on the location and type. Sir, please send your driver to check the prices.
It is not only the price of the common food that has risen; it is the same case for other staple foods. Today, a sachet of water costs around N50, and you barely see a bag of it at anything less than N300. This leaves the people to drink unclean well water or find their drinking water through other sources. I do not attempt to overstate the condition, but this is the reality on the streets, and it is hard to see any food item that has not skyrocketed in price by at least a 30% rate.
The economy is imploding and affecting the livelihood of individuals. One may ask for reasons behind the continuous increase in these items. It is not rocket science to list out several of the reasons. To mention but a few, the cost of transportation and distribution of food items from across the country has become very difficult. First, the excessive price of petrol within the range of N590 to N660 across the nation has an impact on the final prices.
In addition, the roads have become outrageously insecure, with different stories of kidnapping, highway attacks, terrorism, and other vices. These have jointly jacked up the calculative cost of production, and the masses are paying heavily for it.
In addition, the above reasons affect business, and most importantly, the incessant supply of power has become another foundational cause of the hike in prices. Today, many small and medium-scale businesses do not have access to a stable power supply, and in some cases, the tariffs have been so outrageous that the proportion of them and the profits per product are discouraging. They, therefore, resort to generating their power, which causes another extra cost. The result is that the products keep increasing in price as the costs skyrocket.
Another factor is the decline of the value of naira to dollars. The dollar is the major currency for international trade, and many of the household items in the country are imported. This means that the prices of those commodities in Nigeria are expected to increase with the value of dollars, causing difficulties for the citizens. So, when a market woman insults you for negotiating lower prices for her wares, it is not because she is merely disrespectful but because she believes you are ignorant of the costs of putting her products on the markets.
I keep wondering, if things are this extremely expensive, what will the poor eat? What would N30,000 minimum wage do in the current economy? How many would start dropping dead on the roads? How long would Nigerians trek because they could not afford the fare? How many would commit suicide? What will the poor eat? There is almost no average-class individual in the country as the condition affects every social stratification.
One of the very steps to take in ensuring that the prices of things are favorable, at least food products, is to ensure that there is an increase in local production of food items compared to the rate of importation. As of November 2023, Nigeria imports, officially, about 2.1 million metric tons of rice yearly, making it the top buyer of rice globally. You could wonder that if Nigeria is said to have fertile land for farming and farmers ready to farm, why does the nation need to import that much, considering the decline in the value of naira globally? Nigeria produces about 8.4 million tons of local rice, but it is still not sufficient for consumption in the country.
The Buhari administration created policies that would discourage the importation of rice and some other products in Nigeria in a bid to encourage local production. Unfortunately, this development made the price of local rice increase by 200 percent. Currently, the prices of local and foreign rice are not too far from each other. This is because the price gap that would have been made necessary has been reduced by other local and internal issues militating against local productions. It means that the government must make efforts to first increase the productivity of local items as well as ensure that there is an unhindered channel of distribution of the same across the country.
It is important to also note that the nation has not been putting much focus on the role of state governments and other political leaders aside from the federal government. Agricultural schemes and strategies are not the sole work of the Federal Government, as eradication of poverty should be the watchword of every reasonable government. State-wide agricultural strategies and blueprints that would reduce the propensity of hunger and starvation in each state are important.
Understandably, many state governments make efforts to build infrastructure that would be legacies for many years; however, when states make efforts to reach self-sustainability in the production of agricultural products, it would reduce the cost of transportation and boost the local economy. Poverty cannot be eradicated without collaborative efforts between the Federal Government and the State Governments.
When actions are not taken, and attention is not directed to starvation in the country, the country must be ready for the negative repercussions of the same. It is only logical that hungry people become desperate and desperate people become prone to committing crimes. This is partly the logic behind the proliferation of crimes in Nigeria and the rate of kidnapping in the past few months. Recently, the kidnappers have been asking for food items alongside the ransoms demanded. The adopters of the December 28, 2023, Abuja kidnapping victims requested “bags of rice, packs of Indomie, cough syrups, antibiotics, bedsheets, and cardigans” alongside 290 million naira. A similar incident happened in September 2023. Other manifestations of this hardship are seen in an increase in armed robbery and other social vices. When a man is seen stealing a cup of rice, it would be illogical to arrest or punish the person; it is only hunger that would have made a person do such.
Hunger is in the land, and it is affecting the masses; everyone must act. Where you have abundance, ensure you help others, and when you need, ensure you ask reasonably. If the rich or those who are comfortable do not help, they will all end up being victims of the consequences. The danger of starvation knocks, and it has everyone’s addresses. Nigerians are starving.
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Like so many areas of our national life in Nigeria, education, particularly public sector education, especially the post primary level, has been buffeted by severe negative winds resulting in very poor output. The desire by parents for strong educational foundation for their children has led to the upsurge in the number of private schools at all levels across the country.
It was not always like this however. In the 50s, 60s and even into the early 70s, Nigeria could still boast of a high performing educational sector, particularly if one was thinking of the secondary education level.
One such high performing institution was Fiditi Grammar School. Founded in 1954, as a result of the zeal of the leading citizens of the small fruit town of Fiditi for the establishment of a qualitative secondary school in the town, it did not take long for the school to establish itself as a top tier secondary school.
Sola Omole, former NTA Director-General, is Chairman-Publicity & Publications Committee of the 70th anniversary
Some members of Fiditi Old Students Association
The early Principals and teachers were committed and focused on producing well rounded students in academics, sports and morals. Notable among these were an indigene of Fiditi and first Principal Chief Adebiyi Omowonuola Adeyi and Chief Alex Olu Ajayi from Ekiti State. He took over from Chief Adeyi who joined the government of western Nigeria under the leadership of Chief Obafemi Awolowo. The other prominent and long serving teacher and Principal was another indigene of Fiditi, Chief Deacon Solomon Ipadeola Ojelabi. These men, along with those who worked with them, created a high class academic and aesthetically pleasing environment.
As an example, Chief Alex Ajayi invited his friend, the budding and later globally recognized and famous poet Mr. Christopher Okigbo to teach in the school. Okigbo would go on to become the Vice Principal and sports master in the school. In those early days, Chief Ajayi would at various times invite academic members from the departments of Classics, Chemistry, Biology of the University College Ibadan to give lectures to students at Fiditi
Chief Ajayi remarked in some of his writings that this constant flow of intellectuals through Fiditi provided a most desirable and profitable interaction for the students and staff of Fiditi Grammar School. These were the beginnings of what would lead to teachers coming to the school courtesy of the Canadian Universities Services Overseas (CUSO) and the Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO of the UK). These teachers gave a proper grounding and educational foundation to the students. The results of these were to show in the educational attainment of the students and their after school vocational careers.
Creating an aesthetically beautiful and pleasing environment is an important part of ensuring that students were able to effectively engage and profit from the learning environment. Here is how an expatriate driving on the Ibadan-Oyo trunk A road passing in front of the school described it. She saw it as the most beautiful scene or spot in the south west of Nigeria… the green field is well maintained and distanced from traffic noise to allow students concentrate on their studies.
This was the environment created at Fiditi Grammar School which had students from Lagos, Ibadan, Ogbomosho,Igbeti, Iree, Abeokuta, Benin, Sabongida Ora, Oyo, Benin Republic, Jobele, Awe, Warri, Ijebu Ode, Port Harcourt, Yenagoa, Enugu, Kaduna, Kano and Fiditi itself. Students from these far flung locations learned to live together, socialize, assimilate one another’s cultural norms and background, we even spoke languages other than our own.
How did this school located in the small food and fruit belt of south western Nigeria, 24 miles away from the city of Ibadan and 9 miles from Oyo town gain the attention of parents and would be students from all these disparate and far flung cities mentioned above?
The duo of Alex Ajayi and Chris Okigbo determined to utilize sports as a magnet to attract students to Fiditi. So Chief Ajayi invited Teslimi “Thunder” Balogun to the school as a soccer coach. There were already soccer high fliers in the school. Among them were the Odegbami brothers who as a result of their soccer prowess were fondly called ‘Key to Soccer’ These were the older siblings of Segun Odegbami fondly called ‘Mathematical Odegbami by Radio Nigeria’s late football commentator Ernest Okonkwo.
The Fiditi Grammar School team carried out exploits in western Nigeria defeating all the schools in the area on the soccer pitch, including the 1959 winners of the Thermogene Cup, the Ahmaddiya College Agege. The Thermogene Cup was an all Nigeria Cup competition for full fledged grammar schools, which Fiditi was yet to be at the time. The same team beat the University College Ibadan first eleven by 12 goals to nil.
It was the same with athletics. The school boasted of stars in both the sprints and long distance races. Abiodun Okusanya aka Abbey Lincoln was a champion long distance runner. He represented Fiditi Grammar School in racing events across Western Nigeria and beyond. He was always a winner.
In the sprints, we had Latunbosun Popoola aka “Sahara” whose fluid movements aided by his stride frequency and stride length was a wonder to behold as he tore through the 100 and 200 meter races like a gazelle or a cheetah, bringing glory and fame to Fiditi. He was reported to have made, in 1962, the hundred meters dash in 10.9 seconds.
In 1965, Fiditi Grammar School had a relay quartet of Mufutau Ojikutu, Oladele Runsewe, Gboyega Jokotoye and Edward Oritsejafor.
These four guys put the fear of the Lord in the hearts of short distance or relay race runners not only in the Ibadan-Oyo axis, but also throughout the western region. These glorious accomplishments in the field of sports put the school in the hearts and minds of many parents and their children in the late 50s and 60s.
The founders and early administrators of the school had the desire to train students who would ultimately attain the commanding heights of various sectors of life in NIgeria. From the first set of 19 students presented for the West African School Certificate examination who all passed, Fiditi Grammar School had consistently recorded over 90% success rate at the WAEC exams.
As to the attainment of leading positions in both public and private sector service, a short review of some of those who passed through the school and where they have been and where some are today will reveal that the objective had indeed be achieved.
There is the eminent Senator Dr. Bode Olajumoke who entered the school in 1957. He ultimately achieved a PhD in Law from the Edinburgh University. A frontline politician, he led the Imeri Unity Group which tried to resolve the lingering crisis and division within the Yorubas of Western Nigeria. He ultimately ran for the office of President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 1998 under the banner of the then APP. A major contributor to many charitable causes across Nigeria, Senator Olajumoke was for 20 years the National President of the Fiditi Grammar School old students’ association (FIGSOSA)
There is Dr. Olatunde Oloko who was among the very first set of students admitted into the school in 1954. After a stellar academic career, the foundation of which was solidly laid at Fiditi, Dr Oloko went on to become a first class veterinary doctor with professional affiliation across many countries. Dr. Oloko is currently the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of FIGSOSA.
A former President of FIGSOSA who held office for about a decade is Engineer Lateef Busari. A top notch electronics and electrical engineer, Mr. Busari rose to become the General Manager of the Television Service of Oyo State
The current President of the old students’ association is Prof. Adesola Ogunniyi who turned 70 recently. He entered Fiditi Grammar School in 1966. He is today a world acclaimed professor of Neurology and a consultant Neurologist. He recently retired from the services of the UCH, Ibadan.
Prince ‘Lola Omojowolo, a retired public servant of the highest cadre entered Fiditi Grammar School in 1957. He became a graduate teacher in the School, joined the western Nigeria civil service, rising up to the position of a senior permanent secretary, topping his career with his appointment as a Commissioner in the Federal Civil Service Commission.
The 70th anniversary lecturer Professor Adekunle Akinyemi is the Chairman of Council of the Ibadan Polytechnic and an alumnus of Fiditi.
Professor Adejare Agboola, is a professor of Applied Botany at the university of agriculture Abeokuta, Prof. Olufemi Durosaro is of the University of Ilorin, while Professor Samson Omotosho teaches at the University of Phoenix, Arizona, USA. All three entered Fiditi in 1965, the same year as I did.
In 1971, Bridget Omotunde Sokan now Prof. Bridget Sokan entered Fiditi, passing out in flying colours in 1975. She went on to higher studies ultimately earning a doctorate in Guidance and Counseling. She served in different capacities in the education sector before being appointed Education Commissioner in Ogun State.
Fiditi Grammar School has also contributed to the development of Nigerian military and police.
Major General Kola Ogunkoya (rtd) was a one time Director General of the NYSC, while Admiral Segun Egbedina (rtd) was a former Commander NNS Aradu, a flag ship of the Nigerian Navy.
AIG Lanre Bankole, only a few months ago retired from the Nigeria Police Force after being Ogun State Commissioner and then Assistant Inspector General of Police.
Fiditi Grammar School is very proud of these old students who continue to work assiduously for the progress of the school.
With the full realization of the impact of Covid 19, technological advancement in diverse areas plus their consequences, especially against the background of aggressive development of artificial intelligence, FIGSOSA, led by Senator Bose Olajumoke, have initiated a skills acquisition center adjacent to Fiditi Grammar School. The centre will train school leavers, even those without a formal education, in various trades such as information technology and allied trades, carpentry, fashion design, catering and culinary skills among others. This initiative is being undertaken in the belief that blue or white collar jobs are fast disappearing and only those who can create and sustain personal entrepreneurial initiatives will survive in the unfolding global economy.
This Centre, to be commissioned by the Oyo State Governor Engr. Seyi Makinde, will be the highlight of the 70th anniversary of the founding of Fiditi Grammar School.
Sola Omole, former NTA Director-General, is Chairman-Publicity & Publications Committee of the 70th anniversary
The year was young
Our woes were old
The day plodded to a dusty twilight
Unfazed by the harmattan hassle
Then came the wails of a lampless night
When supper lost its way to penniless homes
And the night masticated the moon
Like a hapless morsel
The minaret was mum
The bell tower loomed forlorn
In its tongueless height
The wind wound a whisper
Round the restless lips of absent horns
Pigeons coed ceaselessly in their busy holes…...
And suddenly, so suddenly,
A blast, a big, battering blast
And the evening’s blissful quiet
Was shattered into a thousand bewildering shreds
The ground shook beneath our feet
Solid mansions crumbled like cardboard boxes
Flipped luxury cars littered the streets
Like piles of scrap yard junk
The road now is a running tale
Of broken glass and mangled metal
(When a cache of mine-size dynamite lives in a neighbourhood bedroom)
The year was young
Our woes were old
The day plodded to a dusty twilight
Unfazed by the harmattan hassle
Then came the wails of a lampless night
When supper lost its way to penniless homes
And the night masticated the moon
Like a hapless morsel
The minaret was mum
The bell tower loomed forlorn
In its tongueless height
The wind wound a whisper
Round the restless lips of absent horns
Pigeons coed ceaselessly in their busy holes…...
And suddenly, so suddenly,
A blast, a big, battering blast
And the evening’s blissful quiet
Was shattered into a thousand bewildering shreds
The ground shook beneath our feet
Solid mansions crumbled like cardboard boxes
Flipped luxury cars littered the streets
Like piles of scrap yard junk
The road now is a running tale
Of broken glass and mangled metal
It all happened in the famous part
Of a famous city; proud, gentle zone
Of the top cream, tempered by law and learning;
Mapped out and built once upon a very long time
When place-builders doubled as people-builders
And Statesmen were wise and just and clean
Architects of multiple mandates who knew
How to turn a house into a home
That was once upon an epoch
When leaders THOUGHT before they acted
And “life more abundant” was in every way
More than an empty slogan
Now, the Grand Old Dream
Has withered into a deadly nightmare
Where the Law is dead, the wrong is right. . . .
A mountain of military-type dynamite
Has become a furniture item
In a top-class residential haven
A corrupt “carry-go” security conspiracy imperils
Our being even in our safest enclaves
A big battering blast has shaken us to our very roots
Behold venerable old men and women crawling
Out of their rubbled homes, their heads double-grey
From the ashes of their blighted bowers
Here they are in wreck and ruin:
Glorious legacies of Master-Builders of old
Now houses of horror
In this era of prodigal inheritors
In the evening hours of January 16, 2024, there was a massive
explosion caused by loads of dynamite piled up in a house in a top-
class Ibadan neighborhood, resulting in human casualty and the
destruction of many respectable houses. The vibration from the blast
was felt 20 miles away. The most devastating peacetime blast in this
part of Nigeria. Are you still wondering how deadly dynamite became a
welcome domestic furniture item in a country of multiple laws and zero
compliance. Ask the demon called Corruption and watch it come up with
a thousand answer....
“Love and business and family and religion and art and patriotism are nothing but shadows of words when a man is starving” – O’Henry, 1862-1910.
About two weeks ago, your Vice President called Nigerians, who registered their displeasure about the continuing devaluation of the Naira, “clowns” for not supporting the government now when things are tough. Shettima has forgotten that he begged for the job. If he can’t stand the heat, he should resign. But, he cannot be insulting his employers. He was joined by one Felix Morka, the National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who apparently has no relatives, friend or town’s men feeling the pain of hunger. The two, like all the “Yes-men and women” of your administration, are leading your government down the path which destroyed Buhari and others before you.
Every President sooner or later becomes a prisoner of his Aso Rock staff. They shield you from the harsh truth of human existence. Invite Buhari and Jonathan and ask them if there were truths they wished were brought to their attention while in office; and you will be surprised what the answers will be. For instance, it is doubtful if Buhari would have condoned the scam involved in feeding school children, with N53 billion, during COVID-19 lockdown. The report submitted to him would have been made deliberately misleading for the embezzlement to escape his attention. Grand larceny would have been reported as a wonderful achievement by his government. You already run the same risk. Here is why.
On December 30, 2023, in our SATURDAY VANGUARD, I got an article published titled NIGERIA 2024: SLIDING FURTHER INTO CHAOS. I summarised the year as follows: “2024 in Nigeria will be characterised by three words – scarcity, failure and chaos.” Scarcity of cash and foreign exchange now lead the parade of other scarcities. Go to any market – open market for the masses or supermarkets for the rich – and you will be surprised how scarce items we once took for granted have become.
Scarcity inevitably promotes price increase; and the less the supply, the higher prices go up. That is why food inflation is now over 30 per cent and will most probably go higher rather than lower. Granted, you have recently instructed that 100,000 tonnes of food be released from the Nation’s Food Reserves to ease the pressure on prices. But, I am afraid that gesture will not solve the problem of food scarcity for reasons which might have escaped your attention. Let me remind you.
WE’LL OPEN RESERVES TO ADDRESS FOOD COSTS – FG
“Now some of these will involve unlocking the foods that are available in most of the storage facilities (National Food Reserve) around the country. You know the Ministry of Agriculture has some food reserves. They are going to be made available to Nigerians” – Mohammed Idris, Minister of Information and Orientation, after a meeting of the Special Presidential Committee in Emergency Food Intervention, February 8, 2024. From my experience of over thirty years, one of the most pathetic things observed has been how relatively respectable media persons get appointed as government spokesmen; and they lose their reputations.
It is almost impossible for anybody to be in that position, in times of serious crisis, without purveying falsehood in order to stay employed in high office. Idris, therefore, has my sympathies. But, that is all he would receive from me. To be candid, his pronouncement is pure drivel. A day later, the nation was told that Tinubu has ordered the release of 100, 000 tonnes of assorted food items – rice, wheat, cassava, maize. Politely, I will describe that intervention as pissing in the ocean at low tide. That quantity of food cannot feed Lagos State for a month. Then what follows? I will explain later why the 100, 000 tonnes of grain ordered released is more political swindle than solution to the food scarcity problem. To be honest, this government needs to become more serious before Nigeria goes the way of Sudan.
Perhaps the FG needs to be reminded that the palliatives offered in the third quarter of last year by the National Economic Council, NEC, included releasing food from the National Reserves to the states. Till today, most states have not received the supplies promised. From where will the FG obtain the additional 100, 000 tonnes to be released? I pity Idris; I pity Tinubu even more. It took most of us about two years before realising that Buhari was a veritable danger to Nigeria; that he was unreliable. Because Tinubu is a minority President, there has been no honeymoon; and he got himself into trouble by frequently talking first and thinking later. This measure will get us nowhere.
FAILED PROMISES GALORE
Politicians’ promises almost always count for very little under normal circumstances. In a crisis, they count for nothing. Thus, when Tinubu announced simultaneously subsidy removal and exchange rate harmonisation, without consideration of the repercussions, it was an invitation to monumental economic and social crises for which his government and Nigerians were not prepared. Negative reactions spontaneously erupted. Panic set in.
The National Economic Council, NEC, which should have been consulted before the announcement, was summoned to help find solutions. Palliatives were rolled out. Among them were the release of grains from the National Food Reserves, reduction of the exchange rate below N1000/$1, payment of N35,000 allowance to workers, fuel supply from Dangote and Port-Harcourt Refineries and the roll-out of gas operated busses. Till today, none of the major promises have been fulfilled. It has been failure all around.
Failure of the FG to redeem its pledges are among the reasons why the Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC, and other affiliates are now threatening to embark on a nationwide strike and why food protests are multiplying. I am not surprised about these developments. Nigerians were warned before that the Tinubu government would have very little to offer us this year; that scarcity of a lot of things is inevitable. Has the reader noticed how the CBN and FG have ignored the cash scarcity problem?
It is because they have no clue on how to solve the problem. Yet, not finding a solution to it has condemned millions of mini-enterprises to liquidation; and millions, previously employed to joblessness. Unknown to Tinubu, a spiral of misery has gradually developed. Cash scarcity reduces demand for some basic commodities; transporters bring less; prices escalate on account of reduced supply and demand plummets even further – ad infinitum. The logical consequences are already unfolding.
CHAOS OF GOVERNANCE
“The chaos keeps on getting worse in spite of everything they do to improve discipline and morale” – Boris Pasternak, 1890-1960, in DOCTOR ZHIVAGO
Pasternak’s classic about the Russian Revolution taught us a lot about how chaotic revolutionary changes can be – if not well-managed. The book, by that title, which eventually became an award-winning film, was mostly responsible for Pasternak winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1958. Tinubu might be well-advised to get that film to be shown at a retreat for his Ministers, advisers and ‘Lagos Boys’. Tinubu might not realise it, but, those two primary policy changes – subsidy removal and exchange rate liberalisation – were as revolutionary as some aspects of the Communist Revolution in Russia in 1905.
Together, they effectively removed the advantages enjoyed by those who lived on Nigeria’s illness. They threatened the current powerful; who routinely collected billions of dollars at favourable exchange rates; sold them at black market rates and re-cycled the proceeds. Believe me; they will not surrender power easily. Partisan politics, ethnicity and religion have very little to do with it. It is group interest that is at stake. The political class is one group.
That was why members of the National Assembly, NASS, support the extra-ordinary remuneration package they receive – irrespective of party to which they belong. For instance, most of them were enjoying special exchange rates under Buhari; so they had no reason to press for unified exchange rate. The mega economic class is another group. If the original report of the Special Investigator is ever released for public scrutiny, Nigerians will discover that the same people manipulating prices at the Nigerian Stock Exchange are the suspects under interrogation. This is not the time to name anyone.
Unfortunately, pervasive scarcity of cash, dollars and food are driving the masses to the streets. Governors are panicking and taking the law into their hands. Here are a few examples. A court just ordered Tinubu to fix the price of petrol, diesel and a few items. Why not everything including maximum SANs can charge clients? Niger State Governor bans wholesale food sales and wants to stop food sales to neighbouring states.
Kano State empowers a Price Control Unit to force open warehouses where food stuffs are stored, accuse the owners of hoarding and confiscate the products found. Yobe State is also restricting sale of foods produced in the state to other states. Interestingly, neither Niger nor Yobe is stopping food stuff from other states from coming in. Kano State government cannot distinguish between temporary storage for future use, e.g. wheat by Flour Mills and hoarding. State approved burglary is here. Anarchy is here.
A HONEST POLITICIAN AT LAST
An honest politician is almost impossible to find. Here is one – at last.
Hardship: Dishonest for APC to blame opposition for protests – ex-Vice Chair, Lukman Salihu. ‘Tinubu’s renewed hope turning to renewed anger’
In 1993, Nigeria conducted a presidential election that the world hailed as the best in the nation’s history. If 31years later, the famous June 12, 1993 election remains the nation’s best, it means Nigeria is yet to make any electoral or political progress in 3 full decades. Of course, there have been several processes and procedures introduced by the successive electoral bodies; indeed, the Electoral Act has been subjected to annual amendments, but there has been no substantial departure from the verdict of poor elections in the country.
The problem is not difficult to imagine; the political class has refused to mature, with its members working assiduously to prevent election officials including judges and law enforcement agents from doing a good job. It is either they are using their privileged position to break rules without consequences or making sure they sabotage the autonomy of the otherwise independent election management boards. Put differently, Nigeria’s political class is yet to mature.
Hopes that the situation might improve are now deem following reports on the on-going arrangements for the next seasonal election – the Edo governorship contest of 2024. Ordinarily, apart from the nearness of the Edo contest as a reference point, Edo, which correctly calls itself the ‘heart-beat of the nation’ is traditionally a good barometer for measuring Nigeria’s politics. Students of history would remember that Edo and Delta which used to be known as Bendel state had made up the old Midwest region noted for its moderating role that ensured the existence of ‘One Nigeria’ amidst other groups clamouring to breakaway. A reading of happenings in Edo, is therefore a fair representation of the Nigerian situation. If politics in Edo is shown to be business as usual, it amounts to self-denial for anyone to seek to exempt any Nigerian community from the subsisting traits of political immaturity visibly observable from current political happenings.
Three major political parties appear ready to lock horns in the Edo contest. These are, the All Progressive Congress APC, the People’s Democratic Party PDP and the Labour Party LP. Only yesterday, within the direct primary election to pick a flagbearer for the APC, complaints and allegations of imposition rented the air. In the PDP, which is the ruling party in the state, 8 out of the 10 aspirants have continued to protest the handling of the delegates congress held to elect 3 ad hoc members per ward. In the Labour Party LP, the aspirants have reduced drastically not only because of the high nomination fees charged by the party but also because of reported manipulation of the guidelines for the party primaries. But why is it so difficult for political parties in Nigeria to organize hitch-free party primaries? The answer is that Nigerian politicians are not democratic by nature and as such their political parties are incapable of embracing internal democracy within their own activities because no entity can give what it does not have.
However, there are two reasons why some analysts assumed that Edo politicians would probably lead the way to Nigeria’s political maturity. First, tribe and ethnic bitterness are not likely to be as intense in Edo state as they are in some other states. The component parts of Edo state are made up of indigenes who trace their ancestry to one source making it obvious that Edo people are one with several historical stories of how they are all brothers and sisters. To that extent, one does not expect excessive ethnic voting. Second, for the first time in recent history political aspirants to this year’s governorship poll is filled with outstanding citizens unlike in the past when parties presented unqualified people which they sought to impose on the people. In other words, Edo state has moved away from the old order where everyone saw election as a dirty and violent game. It was therefore expected that the arena would be sane enough for the people to begin to rely on some degree of personal track record to make their choices.
The contestants are without doubt outstanding figures in their own rights. There are at least four prominent members of the legal profession who by virtue of their learned status can show Edo the right way to go. There is Kenneth Imasuagbon, Asue Ighodalo and Omosede Igbinedion. In fact, Olumide Akpata, immediate past president of the Nigerian Bar Association is also in the race. Dennis Idahosa, a serving member of the House of Representatives is in the crowd with many other former federal legislators such as Omoregie Ogbeide-Ihama, Philip Shaibu, Omosede Igbinedion and indeed, a serving senator, Monday Okpebholo. Ex-governor Oserheimen Osunbor and his former deputy, Lucky Imasuen are also listed along with former Budget Minister, Clement Agba and Ex-APC state chairman, Retired Colonel David Imuse. General Charles Airhavbere another retired military chief is also a contestant. While other no less prominent aspirants are not listed here for want of space, what is obvious is that Edo people have enough outstanding people to choose from.
It is not that no great personalities showed interest in politics in the past, this is obviously the first time the state is recording a very large number. The few that came out in the past were usually schemed out. This time around no one is sure of what will happen. Will the choice of voters either at the primaries or during the election proper prevail? This is a difficult question because reports from the field are revealing the old godfatherism tactics in which the powers that be in the political parties usually coerce certain candidates to withdraw for aspirants who are not necessarily stronger ones. Bearing in mind that none of the parties recorded more than 30 aspirants, why can’t party leaders allow their members to determine the best instead of thwarting the ambition of some? If there are certain special cases where the principle of affirmative action may be useful, why can’t such conditions be front-loaded well before the contest begins?
Instead, political leaders in Nigeria relish the trend of shifting the goal-post in the middle of play? The APC for example started with no zoning, arguing that it was unnecessary. It looked like a strong point until the need to give advantage to a zone with no governor in the recent past suddenly surfaced. Why didn’t the process start with that? Unfortunately, the argument sells the point that elected governors cannot be trusted to keep their oath of office to solemnly serve as statesmen who should impartially belong to all. The same is true of the clamour for ‘home-boy’ in a state which every contestant belongs to as of right. Perhaps the most difficult challenge to the attainment of political maturity is the idea of ruling parties refusing to allow a level-playing field for all candidates to sell their election promises to all and sundry using state facilities like public media, stadium etc.
During campaigns, all contestants must embrace the culture of respect in political discourse. Instead of intemperate language, it is better to be civil at all times. Certain persons who are focusing on fake research findings to diminish the size of the majority should desist from testing the resolve of Edo south. Some progress has been made in the last 8 years in the application of technology in the state. Governor Godwin Obaseki has won some awards from stringent groups like the Nigerian Union of Teachers. Unlike other states that could not pay the minimum wage, Edo has maintained a higher minimum. Those who are not satisfied with Obaseki’s performance are entitled to their viewpoint but a better way to attain political maturity is for them to refrain from attacks while canvassing how they intend to do better if elected.
Edo, being a state made up of one people should elect the best candidate to the office of governor. Such a governor should avoid the old self-seeking game of his party members struggling to be the only persons eligible to serve. While there is nothing wrong in appointing party members into government to help facilitate huge project implementation, the choice of party members should be additional to their having been found capable by their individual track-records. Government should no longer be job for the boys if we are to attain political maturity – a trend where Edo can easily take the lead.