Good News to residents of the Federal Capital Territory. They now have a new minister who has just stepped into office. The minister, His Excellency, Mr. Nyesom Wike is not a small figure in the political parlance. As immediate past governor of Rivers State, he stood out as an action-oriented, no nonsense warrior, fighter and ended up being tagged as “Mr. Projects”. He is variously described as “resolute”, rugged” and a “workaholic”. What is clear is that, he is not only bold, but fearless and a reputed pace setter. They also added that he is a man who stands by his decisions, who is out to replicate what he did in Rivers State—to right the wrongs in the society--in Abuja, the seat of the Federal Capital; to halt the systematic destruction of the infrastructure and the environment by the apparent and consistent display of lawlessness, regarding free movement of cattle’s in public roads, walkways and median. Wike not only detest stagnant conditions, he is also not a friend to barriers and limitations. If he is told that the solution to a problem lies at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, and the only way to access it, is through the “Titan Submersible”—remember this?  Wike would go there! That’s the stuff he is made off; Wike is the archetypal “I belong to everybody and nobody”—not the ones who simply mouthed it and did the opposite.  

The news of his appointment as the honorable minister of the Federal Capital City must have been received as bad news by pretenders and defaulters. Key stakeholders agree that as part of his agenda, priority should be given to finding immediate solution to the menace of cows competing for possession of space with human beings along major highways. ‘This practice is unacceptable”, the minister charged in his inaugural press briefing. “We are not going to tolerate the issue of having cows in our public roads; yes, things are difficult, but you must not cause crises for other people”, he stated. In the heart warming news to disturbed Abuja residents, Wike promised to tackle the hydra-headed problem headlong and restore as much sanity and beauty, elegance, glittering vegetation and soothing environment to the city’s Master Plan.  A key takeaway from his speech is that there will be consequences for breaking the law, which was largely absent in the last eight years. Abuja drifted inexorably into no-man’s land with all sorts, converging in the city and making life hell for lawful citizens. “I will step on toes, the big and mighty; I will step on your toes, if you are doing something wrong”, he warned.

The truth however is that people are tired. The vision to transform Abuja into a world class environment appears to have collapsed in the face of siege of cows. When Okada riders tried the same thing, a former minister and immediate past governor of Kaduna state promptly drove them out of town. Today, they are back in full force. The same applies to the herders who graze indiscriminately on any vegetation they find and defecate on the streets in open gutters, and other public places. The bad scent and the ugly sight of dungs is difficult to contend with. The feces attract flies and therefore put children at risk of contracting cholera, not to mention mosquitoes that thrive in filthy environments—leading to outbreak of malaria. The dangers of free moving cattle’s can never be substantiated, unless we are moving towards a Hobbesian society where anything goes. This is modern age and the world is going green; and the environment is supposed to be strenuously preserved; a degraded environment knows no cultural, ethnic or religious affinity. —just the same way as the zoonotic diseases usually transferred from cows to human beings (mad cow, anthrax, bovine, etc.) does not discriminate. Abuja, ranks amongst the best cities in the world and should discard whatever amounts to an aberration.

Can anyone imagine the discomfort if owners of wild dogs such as German Shepherd, Bulldog, Labrador Retriever, Rottweiler, Irish Wolfhounds, Afghan Hounds are allowed to roam freely in the streets? What about those who owns Tigers, Lions, Buffaloes, Horses and snakes? Wait a minute; cows cannot be exempted because they may be classified as herbivores, but they have been known to be destructive whether provoked or not and develop strange symptoms of violence! Possibly, some may want to argue that this comparison is extreme or that all animals are equal but like it was in Animal Farm, some are more equal than others! Unless, the Constitution is amended to accommodate the free movement of cows on public roads, only then can their presence be tenable. We do not have to wait for them to roam carelessly in High security areas such as Aso Rock Villa, The National Assembly, the precincts of the Supreme Court and Federal Secretariat, before serious action can be taken. The situation is absurd and constitutes an eyesore. The threat to public safety and health is too much to be ignored.

If Abuja is a mega city, why not retain the status? Which mega city in the world tolerates open grazing? It makes a mockery of the government at the center, not to mention the toxic nature of their presence around human beings. To all right thinking individuals, this is an abuse of privilege and rights of other road users. High Chief Mike Ozekhome in his submission while responding to an outburst from certain part of this country, did not mince words; he described the free movement of cows as “anachronistic and primitive”. He questioned why the perpetrators have refused to grow and access modern provisions for livestock preservation. He insists that freedom of movement is only for human beings and not for cattle’s, sheep, goats. He said that if the sale of alcohol is banned and brutally enforced in certain parts of the country—even though it is the constitutional rights of the ethnic group involved to move about and sell beverages freely—why not extend the same to cows?

He frowned completely at the practice arguing that if Cattle rearing which is a private and profit making concern is tolerated as a directive principle of state policy, then other ethnic groups have the right to storm public roads with their Pigs, crocodiles, goats and perhaps Elephants, in the name of proving their rights; let there not be commotion! “Sometimes we get lost in an effort to strengthen our fault lines”, he stressed.

 Giant of Africa! That’s what we call ourselves. Should there be any doubt about comparing our city with the likes of Pretoria, Johannesburg, Cairo, Algiers, Riyadh? Should we remain stagnant and allow Kigali, Accra, Botswana to go ahead in hygienic matters? These are pertinent questions for all stakeholders to address. Keen observers say if government is able to introduce stringent laws like “Park and Pay” policy and enforce it clinically, what stops them from doing the same with regards to open grazing? Cows have been known to stray into supermarkets, Petrol stations and even homes and cause panic and fear among children and parents.

Until the arrival of Mr. Nyesom Wike, mum have been the word; everyone looks on as though nothing can be done. Much as we try, we wake up to find the same primordial and medieval setting; Who bell the cat? Read my lips—not my actions. For this degenerative ambiguity, Abuja may well now be a byword for disobedience—almost defaced by an army of youths on Okada and Keke Nape. If not controlled, one wonders what Abuja would be like in 10 years.  But the biggest worry is the obvious misplacement of goals and priories by relevant enforcement agents ranging from Vehicle Inspection Officers(VIO), Federal Road Safety Officers, AMAC agents who crudely block law abiding motorists in vain pursuit of checking particulars—regardless whether cows are roaming right in their midst. Modern countries have developed “chips” for checking vehicle particulars; but here in Nigeria, VIO’s have vehemently refused to embrace technology, preferring the decadent and corrupt means.

Experts contend that should they muster the same energy in checkmating the movement of cows, perhaps there would have been sanity.  AMAC officials have converted Abuja roads into a cauldron for crazy revenue generation. The Nigeria Police say, theirs is to offer “protection” to enforcement agencies like the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) if and when ever they go for enforcement.  What about the Civil Society Organizations (CSO’s), Nigerian Labor Congress (NLC)? They have arrogated themselves the job of running after shadows, chasing corrupt government officials; even members of the National Assembly are culpable in this tragic act. How do you drive big cars and wear starched agbada in a disorderly environment? We are all too relaxed and casualties.

This is the time for action.

In other countries, the same intractable problem exists, but they have managed with strong will and desire to stem the tide. In the United States, City Planners were able to come up with new strategies that kept abattoirs, piggeries and diaries from city limits; They also used “zoning ordinances” to locate their livestock and slaughter houses. Concerns for Public Health became a rallying point for them to create the hygienic city of their dream. A board of health was created to help monitor and abate nuisances from the movement of cattle within city limits. In India, where Cows are not eaten, a bill aimed at prohibiting movement of stray cattle within city limits titled “Cattle Control Bill” was enacted in April 2022. Cattle Herders are also licensed and require their Cattle to be “tagged”.  If the owner fails to do so, he will be instantly penalized. In Accra, Ghana, permits and licenses are introduced along with regular vaccination and inspection to handle the situation. A Bye-law of Accra Metropolitan Assembly 1995, Section 79 of the LGA, 1993(Act) 462 stipulates that “no person shall keep any cattle, sheep or goat within areas of administration without permits”. The permits are reviewed periodically. In Kigali, Rwanda, movement of cattle are restricted to outside “built-up” areas. They are confined to specific locations mostly in the Hill side suburbs. Kigali infact practices ranching full-scale! They have ensured that public places like markets, roads are declared “cattle free”. In South Africa, movement of cattle is suspended unless those designated for the slaughter house. The suspension is reviewed weekly to ensure strict compliance. Their legislation is done purely for the purpose of preserving food security and livelihoods. In Botswana, their Road Traffic Act Section 100(2)(b) states that “no owner or person in charge of any cattle or other animals to be on the main road unless they are attended to by a person in such a manner as to have proper control over them”. They followed this up with an attempt to fence busy public roads and mark them with road signs.

In Abuja, the Federal Capital, though no written law bans the practice, the problem is likened to Catch-22—a dilemma or difficult circumstance from which there is no escape, because of the mutually conflicting or dependent situation. It is potentially an explosive issue, because of the violence frequently displayed by these herders.  Three examples would suffice. In July 15, 2023, at Area One roundabout, opposite the Moshood Abiola Stadium, a handful of people gathered round a spot where a Volkswagen vehicle was parked with the bonnet shattered. A dead cow lay in front apparently smashed by the vehicle owner. It was obvious the parties involved were trying to manage the situation from spiraling out of control. In Lokogoma, near an Estate by the name Peace Court, a farmer stood by in tears as cows mowed down his crop of maize. He was obviously in grief. The herders made no attempt to halt the destruction, including the motorists who hurriedly sped away. This happened on Saturday morning, August 12, 2023.

In far away Dei Dei, one of the fast springing satellite towns in the FCT, a motorist who mistakenly ran into herds of cattle as they attempt to cross the road received a dirty slap for not stopping on time. The crazy under aged herder who slapped him looked at him menacingly probably with the intention to escalate the violence. Without uttering a word, the motorists drove off.  Disturbing scenarios like this are not uncommon in our midst. Cattle business is not listed in the Corporate Affairs Commission, but Agriculturalists insist that population growth, increasing urbanization and climatic changes are factors which necessitated the continued presence and clash with human beings.

But Osi Braimah, the Director of the Abuja Environmental Protection Board(AEPB) countered in June 2023, that the extant laws and rules are clear: that no one is allowed to keep animals in his property, neither allowed to graze on the streets! This position was echoed by ex-minister Muhammed Bello who subsequently directed that herdsmen must move their cattle out of the city or face prosecution. He followed that threat by identifying a permanent grazing reserve for the herdsmen. In all 33,485 hectares of land was allocated to handle not less than 7 million cattle’s. The allocated places include Paikon Kore 8,500 hectares; Karshi 6,000 hectares; Kawu in Bwari 9,000 hectares; Rubochi in Kuje 9,985 hectares. A committee to pursue this objective was raised in 2017. As a way of carrying everybody along, the umbrella body of the Herders the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria(MACBAN) were engaged and encouraged to nominate some of its bright young men to be part of the committee. These young men were in turn mandated to educate and encourage members to discontinue the practice of sending boys under age 18 to rear cows in the streets. A public enlightenment followed to actualize that campaign.

Despite these efforts, the problem has refused to abate. The presence of mobile courts responsible for sanctioning offenders with a paltry fine of N1,000 and N5,000 has not deterred them. “Safety rules are not known to these small boys who rear these animals” disclosed a source at the AEPB. Attempts made in the past to confiscate arrested and detained cows by the AEPB enforcement has resulted in shocking revelations about ownership. Four out of seven of such disputes ended up belonging to powerful forces in high places. “We tried to confiscate some troublesome cows recently, only for soldiers to show up and demand their release”, said a source in AEPB. It may surprise readers that the AEPB Act No 10 which has not been strengthened since 1997 has only provision for stray animals in the city!

A check on the National Environmental (Sanitation and Waste Disposal) Regulation of NESREA is particular about substances that litter the environment and pollutants; nothing to do with animal control. A few members of the National Assembly spoken to argued that no one has brought any such complaint to them. Then you will probably want to ask what about their oversight function?  These anomalies are only possible in an environment where there no legal implications.

Thankfully, the new minister has promised to “step” on toes.  He has to start by revisiting the deterrent measure in place and give them more bite. Secondly, he has to send the AEPB act for overhaul; NESREA too should not be left out. They are to compliment the efforts of AEPB. Wike has to find ways to make the VIO’s, the Road Safety, Police, CSO’s, NLC and TUC’s work together, including Abuja Municipal Council (AMAC). He also has to get members of the National Assembly supervising environment on his side.

Members of the Miyetti Allah should be brought on board. It is to their credit and future generation to embrace modern trends. They should be constantly reminded that by choosing to remain traditional, in no time, they would be extinct. In visiting the Abuja Master Plan, the honorable Minister must know that Abuja is conceived in Five Phases. And of the five, only two are fully developed. Places like Karsana, Dakibiyu, Bunkoro, Katampe, Pyakasa, Ketti, Wumba, Baraji, Karmo and even Jahi are not developed. All the past ministers have only paid lip services to these other places, preferring to remain in Area One, Maitama, Asokoro. Guzape is not left out.

Remarkably, a visit to some of these places will reveal the presence of herders in the vicinity. They claim to have been displaced—and yet to be settled despite doing so for the Gbagi’s and Gwari’s who also claim to own the land. “Go to Apo Dutse, Waru, Galadimawa, Guzape, Durumi and you will see some of these herder’s settlement and their families”, disclosed an authority in AEPB. “The government still has to look at their complaints although the Gwari’s and Gbagi’s own the land, not the herders who are itinerant”, the official stated.

The point must not however be lost; if every human being should die, leaving the environment only for cows, how will the cows themselves survive?  The people committing these crimes are not aliens; they are human beings. We have to determine the type of society we want to build and put aside sentiments.  The environment does not differentiate between ethnic groups, religion or political divide. It is for everyone, including the herders. Over now to His Excellency Mr. Nyesom Wike to deliver. Let us call a spade a spade and be guided.

Nigerians were enveloped in the trending debate over the propriety or otherwise of mounting a billboard with the inscription, ALL EYES ON THE JUDICIARY, in Lagos. Those in support of the billboard argued that the message it carried was inspirationally cautionary, while those against it insisted that it was a ploy to intimidate the learned judges handling electoral cases, especially the presidential and gubernatorial proceedings, at the tribunals.

However, something jolted the  debaters out of their entrenched positions — news from abroad tended to suggest that if electoral fraud was a reptile, that of Nigeria was but a lizard while the variant practiced in Azerbaijan was a Komodo dragon.

How could that be possible? Aren’t Nigerian electoral officials supposed to be the acclaimed masters at scrutinising one political party’s scores with concave lenses while viewing the other with a convex pair? Can anyone beat that?

Well, Azerbaijan just did.

Because that country hardly gets appreciable media attention in this part of the globe, a little introduction won’t hurt. The country is a transcontinental republic located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and West Asia as part of the South Caucasus region bounded by the Caspian Sea to the East, Russia (Republic of Dagestan) to the North, Georgia to the  Northwest, Armenia and Turkey to the West, and Iran to the South.

Azerbaijan proclaimed its independence on 30 August 1991 shortly before the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Azerbaijan is a developing country and ranks 91st on the Human Development Index (by comparison, Nigeria ranks 163rd). It has a high rate of economic development and a low rate of unemployment.

The happenings in Azerbaijan caught the attention of Nigerians and elicited so many rib-cracking comments because their electoral leprosy seems to be more virulent than ours. In our case, we manage to sabotage the system from within and even disable gadgets installed to ensure accuracy. We have since compounded mere thuggery with scientific rigging. The combustible mix has confounded those who witnessed the ‘wet i e’ of the Wild-Wild-West in our ill-fated First Republic.

In the Second Republic, too, the winner of a governorship election in Ondo State escaped to Lagos and addressed ‘his people’ from there. Eventually, it was the judiciary that saved him from himself.

But even with all our electoral iniquities and impunities, we have never declared results before elections were held. We know how to cook and fry figures, yes! But to serve them before the ingredients are provided? No!

VOODOO RESULTS

Azerbaijan, a unitary semi-presidential republic, made global headlines last week when its electoral commission accidentally published results showing a victory for Ilham Aliyev, the country’s long-standing President, a day before voting! Mr Aliyev was said to have received 72.76% of the vote compared with 7.4% for the opposition candidate, Jamil Hasanli. The screenshot of the figures published by the app used by the electoral commission was taken by an online channel, Meydan TV. Just like the BVAS used by Nigeria’s electoral commission, the app also displayed the number of people that voted at various times during the day.

Meydan TV’s managing director, Emin Milli, said this was a new level of criminality. Many online commentators also felt that this was a new kind of electoral voodoo deserving of recognition by the Guinness Book of World Records, Mr. Milli said in exasperation: “They will stuff the ballots, and in the end they will still write the numbers they want to write,”  Although instances of ballot-stuffing have been documented in past elections, this apparent leak of the premature results shows a more serious degree of vote falsification.

President Aliyev’s electoral witchdoctors also conjured exit polls which gave him 92% of the vote. Presidential term limits were abolished in 2009 after an allegedly rigged referendum. This is Mr. Aliyev’s third term since he succeeded his father in 2003. Western political alchemists and ‘omniscient’ commentators who insist on democracy at all costs— no matter its hue, texture, or level of integrity— don’t know how to describe the sit-tight phenomenon or the turning of a democratic system into a dynasty.

In a statement published on its website, however, the agency that developed the app has claimed that it did not show predetermined election results. It said the results in contention were from opinion poll data used in testing the app and did not have any relation to the 2023 elections.

HABITUAL RIGGING

Azerbaijan has a history of ballot rigging and political repression. In 2008, for instance, the  Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe said the presidential election of that year suffered from a “lack of credible challengers” and “a restrictive media environment” — a euphemism for political repression of opponents and muzzling of the media. The electoral commission refused to register the unified opposition candidate, Rustam Ibragimbekov, because of his dual Russian and Azerbaijani citizenship. Mr. Ibragimbekov had applied to renounce his Russian citizenship but Russia had failed to act on his request.

As the world very well knows, there are many ways of rigging, especially in a developing country. One of them is sole candidacy. All you have to do is neutralise your opponent either by ‘deletion’, detention, incapacitation or arranged accidents, disqualification, terror-induced flight out of the country, or some other exotic means devised by the incumbent president’s terror machine.

LIBERIAN MAGIC

But Azerbaijan, in spite of its celebrated malfeasance, still doesn’t take the cake. The world record for the mother of all electoral heists is held by a West African country called the Republic of Liberia. And the Guinness Book of World Records has duly recognised the Liberian elections of 1927 as the most quantitatively fraudulent election in recorded history.

Electoral history has a long history if we bother to check. In the 1927 general elections in Liberia, President Charles D. B. King of the True Whig Party who was running for a third term, defeated Mr Thomas J. Faulkner of the People’s Party by the mathematically impossible margin of 240,000 to 9,000 in a voting population of 15,000. The landslide implied that voter turnout was more than 1,660 per cent!

The opposition made grievous allegations of slave labour and slave trade against officials of the True Whig Party following which the League of Nations set up a commission of enquiry whose findings forced President King to resign.

Liberia is Africa’s first and oldest modern republic, having been founded by freed Black people coming from the United States in the early 1800s. The country’s founders had little interest in the needs or desires of the indigenous peoples. This neglect and a host of other contradictions led to the civil war (1989-1997) which Nigeria-led ECOMOG helped to quell.

History tells us that what happened in Azerbaijan last week can only deliver pyrrhic victory as it has done. In the long run, Truth, the inexorable nemesis of all crooked stratagems, always prevails. I am glad to have Agatha Christie’s concurrence: “Nemesis is long delayed sometimes, but it comes in the end.”

It is expected that our current political leaders and those who are asking why the new cartel of emerging market leaders called BRICs…didn’t invite Nigeria to join the elite club in South Africa last week, are also following what is happening to the former President of the United States, Donald Trump. And here is why: I hope our leaders and their supporters are not just blasting the mercurial Trump without studying the strong message the trial is sending to the failing nations of the world that the rule of law is the foundation of democracy that can deliver development to the people.

One wonders if our leaders at all levels are absorbing the signal from ‘America, their America’ as the iconic J.P Clark once called them, that the current ‘Trial of Brother Trump’ is a direct attack on even a failed attempt of a leader to violate the will of his people.

Doubtless, our leaders and those who are already planning to succeed them should study carefully “the travails of democracy and the rule of law” in the United States” at the moment. Those who have been accessory after attacks on democracy and electoral processes in Nigeria should study what is happening in the United States to the extent of how to manage even the immunity clause in our Constitution.

They should know that one day ‘we the people’ will be able to prosecute our former leaders who have ruled and ruined the most populous black nation on earth. Besides, our civil society activists and members of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) who appear to have lost their old mojo should study the way the American system is teaching the struggling presidential democracies in the world that immunity clause in the constitution doesn’t mean that we cannot investigate our leaders in office.

We are now witnessing that corrupt leaders can be prosecuted for their crimes against the people as soon as they leave office. As NBA members converge on Abuja this week for their annual general meeting, I hope they will tell their newly elevated member who just assumed office as Attorney General of the Federation that we need to say goodbye to our growing culture of impunity.

Here is the lesson: Donald Trump was indicted on felony charges the other day for working to overturn the results of the 2020 election in the run-up to the violent riot by his supporters at the U.S. Capitol, with the Justice Department acting to hold him accountable for an unprecedented effort to block the peaceful transfer of presidential power and threaten American democracy.

For those who have not been following the development, the four-count indictment, the third criminal case against Trump, provided deeper insight into a dark moment that has already been the subject of exhaustive federal investigations and captivating public hearings. It chronicles a months-long campaign of lies about the election results and says that, even when those falsehoods resulted in a chaotic insurrection at the Capitol, Trump sought to exploit the violence by pointing to it as a reason to further delay the counting of votes that sealed his defeat.

Even in a year of rapid-succession legal reckonings for Trump, the current indictment, with charges including conspiring to defraud the United States government that he once led, was stunning in its allegations that a former president assaulted the “bedrock function” of democracy. It’s the first time the defeated president, who is the early front-runner for next year’s Republican presidential nomination, is facing legal consequences for his frantic but ultimately failed effort to cling to power.

“The attack on our nation’s Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was an unprecedented assault on the seat of American democracy,” said Justice Department Special Counsel Jack Smith, whose office has spent months investigating Trump. “It was fuelled by lies, lies by the defendant targeted at obstructing a bedrock function of the U.S. government: the nation’s process of collecting, counting and certifying the results of the presidential election.” The Trump campaign called the charges “fake” and asked why it took two-and-a-half years to bring them.

Trump was the only person charged in that Super Tuesday’s indictment. But prosecutors obliquely referenced a half-dozen co-conspirators, including lawyers inside and outside of government who they said had worked with Trump to undo the election results. They also advanced legally dubious schemes to enlist slates of fake electors in battleground states won by Democrat’s Joe Biden to claim falsely that Trump had actually won them.

The indictment accuses the defeated president and his allies of trying to “exploit the violence and chaos” by calling lawmakers into the evening on Jan. 6 to delay the certification of Biden’s victory. It also cites handwritten notes from former Vice President Mike Pence that give gravitas to Trump’s relentless goading to reject the electoral votes. Pence, who is challenging Trump for the GOP presidential nomination, declined overtures from a House panel that investigated the insurrection and sought to avoid testifying before the special counsel. He appeared only after losing a court fight, with prosecutors learning that Trump in one conversation derided him as “too honest” to stop the certification.

The case stems from one of the most serious threats to American democracy in modern history. According to AP, the indictment centres on the turbulent two months after the November 2020 election in which Trump refused to accept his loss and spread lies that victory was stolen from him. The turmoil resulted in the riot at the Capitol, when Trump loyalists violently broke into the building, attacked police officers and disrupted the congressional counting of electoral votes.

In between the election and the riot, Trump allegedly urged local election officials to undo voting results in their states, pressured Pence to halt the certification of electoral votes and falsely claimed that the election had been stolen — a notion repeatedly rejected by judges. Among those lies, prosecutors say, were claims that more than 10,000 dead voters had voted in Georgia along with tens of thousands of double votes in Nevada. Each claim had been rebutted by courts or state or federal officials, the indictment says.

Prosecutors say Trump knew his claims of having won the election were false but he “repeatedly and widely disseminated them anyway — to make his knowingly false claims appear legitimate, to create an intense national atmosphere of mistrust and anger, and to erode public faith in the administration of the election.”

The document carefully outlined arguments that Trump has been making to defend his conduct, that he had every right to challenge the results, to use the courts, even to lie about it in the process. But in stark detail, the indictment outlines how the former president instead took criminal steps to reverse the clear verdict voters had rendered.

The indictment had been expected since Trump said in mid-July that the Justice Department had informed him he was a target of its investigation. A bipartisan House committee that spent months investigating the run-up to the Capitol riot also recommended prosecuting Trump on charges, including aiding an insurrection and obstructing an official proceeding. Is the Nigeria’s National Assembly studying this?

The indictment includes charges of conspiring to defraud the U.S., conspiring to obstruct an official proceeding, obstructing an official proceeding and violating a post-Civil War Reconstruction Era civil rights statute that makes it a crime to conspire to violate rights that are guaranteed by the Constitution — in this case, the right to vote. The mounting criminal cases are unfolding in the heat of the 2024 race. A conviction in this case, or any other, would not prevent Trump from pursuing the White House or serving as president, though Trump as president could theoretically appoint an attorney general to dismiss the charges or potentially try to pardon himself.

In New York, state prosecutors have charged Trump with falsifying business records about a hush money payoff to a porn actor before the 2016 election. The trial was set to begin in March. In Florida, the Justice Department has brought more than three dozen felony counts, accusing him of illegally possessing classified documents after leaving the White House and concealing them from investigators. That trial began in May.
Prosecutors in Georgia are also investigating efforts by Trump and his allies to reverse his election loss to Biden there. The district attorney of Fulton County  announced charging decisions last week.

Smith’s team has cast a broad net as part of his federal investigation, with his team questioning senior Trump administration officials, including Pence before a grand jury in Washington. Prosecutors also interviewed election officials in Georgia, Wisconsin, Michigan and other battleground states won by Biden who were pressured by the Trump team to change voting results.

Attorney General Merrick Garland last year appointed Smith, an international war crimes prosecutor who also led the Justice Department’s public corruption section, as special counsel to investigate efforts to undo the election as well as Trump’s retention of classified documents at his Florida home, Mar-a-Lago. Although Trump has derided him as “deranged” and called him politically motivated, Smith’s past experience includes overseeing significant prosecutions against high-profile Democrats.

The Justice Department’s investigations began well before Smith’s appointment, proceeding alongside separate criminal probes into the rioters themselves. More than 1,000 people have been charged in connection with the insurrection, including some with seditious conspiracy.
Georgia Election Interference (State, GA)

ON August 14, 2023, Donald Trump was indicted on 13 counts in Georgia state court, including under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. Eighteen additional co-defendants have been named in this case, including Trump’s former Chief-of-Staff, Mark Meadows and his attorneys Rudy Giuliani and John Eastman. The allegations in the indictment revolve around these individuals’ efforts to overturn the will of voters and invalidate the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.

Fulton County Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis conducted a years-long investigation into Donald Trump and others’ attempts to interfere with the results of the 2020 Georgia presidential election. The indictment was based on the testimony of many witnesses, as well as the written recommendations of a Special Grand Jury, which reviewed evidence and interviewed dozens of witnesses over several months.

The indictment focuses on (1) efforts to get Georgia officials to invalidate or nullify the will of Georgia voters, including by “finding votes” that did not exist, (2) the scheme to get 16 fake electors in Georgia to cast fraudulent electoral college votes for Trump, even though Trump did not win the popular vote in the state, (3) intimidating, harassing, and threatening Georgia election workers based on false accusations and in an effort to influence their testimony as witnesses, and (4) tampering with county voting machines.

The trial and travail of Trump should send signals to our new leaders who are prone to recklessness that one day we will be able to celebrate Alfred Lord Denning’s immortal words here: “…Be you never so high, the law is above you”

As the Bola Ahmed Tinubu presidency marches unsteadily to its first 100 days in office, retired Permanent Secretary and pioneer Director General of the Bureau of Public Service Reforms, Dr. Goke Adegoroye, has called for a rejig of the bureaucracy within the State House to arrest the foundering administration from ‘losing it’ and work to actualize its ‘Renewed Hope’ mandate.

This is especially coming against the backlash of biting implications of several economic policies carried out by new administration, such as the petrol subsidy removal and floating of the naira, amid strident opposition to the bloated record-high 45-man cabinet recently inaugurated and President Tinubu’s stance as chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to the coup in neighbouring Niger Republic.
   
In a piece sent to The Guardian and titled: ‘Too Early To Say We Are Losing It: But Can The Bureaucracy Come To The Rescue?’, Adegoroye noted the worrisome trend of despondency from many of the President’s avid supporters and canvassers, who have long replaced the euphoria of the first few weeks of the Tinubu administration with dampened hopes, necessitating the refrain. “We are losing it”!
 
He said: “While acknowledging the challenge of the Niger Coup to his administration at this early stage of his presidency, many seem worried by two main issues, namely: Media posts alleging payment of huge sums of money to key individuals around the President to influence appointment into political offices and/or facilitate meetings with the President; and the new cabinet in terms of its size and composition. They point to the geo-political distribution of the portfolios as smacking of a reverse replay of what we accused the last President of, and the non-fulfillment of the promise publicly made to Malam Nasir el Rufai as both not reflecting the true Yoruba spirit.  
   
“Their ‘we are losing it’ outburst, is driven by a sense of collective responsibility and it exudes their true Yorubaness as Omoluabi who want fairness for all, the fear that their expectation of a magic wand by the President is becoming a mirage, and the urgency of a reassurance to the populace as an imperative. I am worried that the firm steps that are required to stem the tide might be gradually slipping away.”
   
He, therefore, offered a quick win marshal plan for the president to take, which is reconciling the large cabinet with the lean government promise of his manifesto and deploying the Bureaucracy to the rescue.

“This commitment concern of the populace is driven, not just by the consciousness of the usual ‘wait and see attitude’ of civil servants to any new administration and the sordid corruption cases in the print and social media by immediate past administration in which they were the drivers, but by a new apprehension from revelations of the last election results in the Federal Capital Territory, the seat of Government and the thoughts that many elements in the bureaucratic leadership are, at best, in a lukewarm disposition to the Bola Tinubu Administration pending the outcome of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT).
   
“Exhuming Dwight Waldo’s thesis of the dialectic of bureaucracy and democracy in governance, the new administration is bound to discover sooner than later that it is operating in a ‘professional environment wherein the art of pretense and, indeed, of wearing a mask has become the virtual prerequisites for a successful career.’ The million-dollar question therefore is, even when the court cases are over: How would the President be able to win over the leadership of the bureaucracy in terms of loyalty to his administration and the nation, given that the losing parties are bound to attempt to coalesce into a formidable force in the stark realization that four years is a long wait?” Other measures proffered by Adegoroye, who is the National Publicity Secretary of the Council of Retired Federal Permanent Secretaries (CORFEPS) include: How to make the new staff and visitors to the State House appreciate that the respective transitions of Bola Ahmed Tinubu from Asiwaju/Jagaban, the national leader of the topmost political party to Mr. President, and of Kashim Shettima from former Governor and Senator to Vice President, demand new sets of etiquettes and protocols; how to assist Femi Gbajabiamila to quickly transit from Speaker, the Number four in the Presidential hierarchy, to Chief of Staff to the President (CoS-P), a bureaucracy position that is devoid of his old paraphernalia of office but where he is compelled to meet up with the requirements of responding in quick time to the demands of the President; and how to identify the weaknesses and mistakes in the implementation of the organizational set up operated in the State House by the immediate past administration, and put in place new structures, procedures, guidelines and protocols to overcome/avoid them.
 
“In general, the finesse with which State House staff can handle visitors and foreign guests, and the quality of the Minutes/submission of the CoS-P on Memos and Correspondence to the President are a function of their mastery of State House etiquettes and protocols and how well the CoS-P and/or his staff understand the subject matter content of the Memos. Getting the right calibers of personnel to man the various desks in the State House and enhancing their capacity to discharge their responsibilities effectively and efficiently is also an imperative to make these happen.
  
 “There is nothing in the media to suggest that the political appointees in this administration have been taken through any induction protocols. Rather, actions that depict the absence of it are what seem to be confounding us daily and this must be addressed in the early days of the administration.
   
“There is need to manage the crowd around the President to enable him perform State duties as efficiently as possible. That “we have done it in Lagos” has serious limitations and is prone to bouts of provincial champion syndrome. The “poster boys” of Lagos now in Abuja will soon find out that Lagos is not Abuja, and that Abuja is Nigeria. The Presidency is one. Accordingly, the President and the Vice President must be seen by all officers in the State House as the snug fit parts of the presidential governance apparatus.
  
 “In this regard, the CoS-P must rise to the occasion in quelling all social media posts of unsmooth flow of communication between the Office of the President and the Office of the Vice President. Just as the Permanent Secretary must be clear in his mind that as Accounting Officer of the State House, Mr President is his CEO and the one from whom he derives authority for every spend in the State House.
   
“Watching the NTA network news some 2 weeks ago on the visit of Dr Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, the Director General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), my heart almost jumped into my mouth seeing that the protocol officer that was to position the President’s chair for him to sit, by guarding it firmly like a cricketer would cover his base, abandoned the chair midway to run to position Madam Ngozi’s chair for her. In the process, the President was inadvertently left to carefully situate his own chair for himself and sit (rather, he sank into the chair) with the officer scampering back to him! Where in the world has that ever been condoned?
   
“And then just last week, we watched the Ministers resume at their duty posts. I paid attention to the FCT, especially because it was my last duty post as Perm Sec. I was dumbfounded. It was the Minister all the way and in a tone that reminded me of the Military era. If the Minister of State was allowed to utter a word, we didn’t know. The Chief Press Officer of the Ministry already has his job cut out for him, as he has swung into action to walk back on the reportage of that first meeting in the media.”

[Guardian]

If you ask many Nigerians the name of their local government chairman, they will likely not know it. I, for one, do not know mine. Maybe you can say it is because I do not reside at home (Owo in Ondo state) but live and work far away from home (in Lagos state). Even at that, I do not know the name of the local government chairman where I live in Lagos (Agege) or the one of Ikeja (where my office is) or of Agboyi where I have my church. Undue emphasis is placed on the Federal Government while the State and local governments are left to misbehave as they like without the fear of any repercussions whatsoever. This is the case all over the country probably because of the centralized or militarized, garrison-style federalism that we have become accustomed to. We must, however, wean ourselves from this unhelpful mentality and approach to governance if we are to make the appreciable progress we yearn for but which we do little or nothing to bring about. This month (August 2023), the share of the three tiers of government from the Federation Account was as follows: FG, N374.485 billion; States, N310.670 billion; local governments, N229.409 billion while the oil-producing areas received an additional N51.55 billion as derivation. This brings the total received by the states and local governments to N591.629 as against the FG’s N374.485 billion. Now, what do many of the States and local governments spend this humongous amount of money on? Many of them owe months, even years of salary and pensions arrears. Many of them are not even paying the ridiculous minimum wage of N30,000 per month and infrastructure is decrepit all over the nooks and crannies of the territories under their watch. What many of these leaders have been noted for is abysmal corruption while their people wallow in abject poverty, deprivation and degradation. It is time we begin not only to interrogate them but to also hold their feet to the fire.

The free money from Abuja, so to say, will have to stop before the States and local governments all the country will see the need, and necessity, to work and phenomenally increase their Internally Generated Revenue. As things stand today, once the states return from Abuja with federal allocation, no one sees the need to do anything other than share this booty. Once the governor and the cabals around him get their share and are filled, it is the pittance that is left that is spread thin over competing demands. And this, understandably, is inadequate. A truly federal structure where the federating units will control and exploit their resources while only paying taxes to the Federation Account will also have to be instituted for the FG itself to get weaned off depending on rents from crude oil exploration. In other words, the present parasitic arrangement helps only a few elements to the detriment of Nigerians as a collective and the country as an entity. The system of government that we run weighs us down; it does not guarantee progress or development. Those at the helms of affairs cash in on it to fleece the populace while lining their own pockets. Unless we destroy the Babylon system, progress and development will remain a pipe dream on these shores.

India got its Independence from the same British Empire as us ( on 15 August,1947), 13 years ahead of us. Yet, the gap between our two countries today is more than 13 years but is up to 13 centuries! India is not just a nuclear power and an emerging world economic power; it has just scored a first by landing two robots on the moon. Chandrayaan – 3 makes India the first ever country to reach the moon’s South pole and the fourth country to land on the moon. The difference between our two countries is leadership. While Indian leaders from Independence denied themselves the perquisites and luxuries of office but pursued an independent and self-reliant mode of development, ours stepped into the shoes vacated by the colonial masters and lived life to the hilt, reminding one of Frantz Fanon’s Black Skin, White Masks. While our Independence leaders rode in luxury cars and limousines, Mahatma Gandhi, the father of Indian nationalism, rode on bicycle, vowing that he would not give himself the luxury that India could not produce on its own. That is the foundation of India’s phenomenal industrial, scientific, technological and economic development. But see where our own import-dependent orientation and epicurean lifestyle have led us! The rain started beating us a long time ago. We did not get it right from Day One! Who, then, or what, will wean us from our idyllic and unhelpful habits which have become a way of life?

Rather than allow the present pains to distract us, let us focus on remaking this country. The Nigerian political class as presently constituted cannot rescue Nigeria. They do not have what it takes.hey also do not have an interest in doing so. Their goal is different. Their focus is on self. If you put your trust in them, you will be sorely disappointed. Ask yourself one germane question: When will Nigeria go to the moon like India. A political class that cannot deliver on common infrastructure is not the one that will take the country to the moon! As we close, hear what one of our notable lawyers, Comrade Femi Falana, SAN, has to say about our state governors: “State governments are not prepared to run a federal system of government. Take, for instance: 1. NNPCL, NLNG, NIMASA, NPA & several others are institutions of the Federation, i.e. jointly owned by the federal government, state governments, and local governments. However, the said federation institutions have been converted to federal government parastatals without any protest from state and local governments. 2. All mineral resources are assets of the Federation.  The mineral resources ought to be jointly managed by boards whose members are drawn from the three tiers of governments. So, the Minister of Petroleum Resources and Minister of Solid Minerals should not be singlehandedly appointed by the President without consulting the state governors. 3. The Nigeria Police Force is not a federal government police but a federation police force. Hence, it shall be jointly administered and supervised by the Nigeria Police Council constituted by the President; IGP; Chairman, Police Service Commission; and the 36 State Governors. Section 216 of the Constitution states that the president cannot appoint or remove an IGP without consulting the Nigeria Police Council; but state governors have abdicated their constitutional powers to jointly manage the Nigeria Police Force with the President.  4. Following the Constitutional Alteration Bills signed by President Buhari in January this year, three key items, namely *railways, electricity, and prisons* were transferred from the exclusive legislative list to the concurrent legislative list. But no state government has come out with any coherent policy in these areas, even though some of them have been campaigning for restructuring or power devolution! 5. The federal government and state governments are empowered to fight corruption. Corruption is fought by the FG through EFCC, ICPC, and CCB. Only Kano and Oyo states have established anti-corruption agencies. Others allow the anti-graft agencies of the federal government to fight corruption on their behalf. 6. Courts have annulled the scandalous pension schemes for ex-governors. Only Kwara, Imo, and Zamfara states have abolished the odious laws while others have retained them”.

So, it would appear to me that we have more work to do at the State and local government tiers of government that will benefit the people more than this obsession with the FG. The second and third tiers of government have been allowed to enjoy too much holiday at our peril. The time to rudely awake them from their slumber is now!

FEEDBACK

A word is enough for the wise. I hope our President will listen and hearken onto the voice of wisdom! What have we gained from being the big brother in Africa? We fought tooth and nail to get rid of apartheid in South Africa. How were we paid back by South Africans? We were there in Liberia and Sierra Leone. What was our reward? If we lead the war into Niger Republic, won’t we be creating enmity for ourselves from our brothers and sisters across the border? The Hausas in Niger and Nigeria are of the same stock as the Yoruba in Nigeria and the Republic of Benin. There may be other ethnic groups in both countries. Are we, therefore, going to wage war amongst brothers? The Francophone belt in the Sahel now fancies military rule: Burkina Faso, Mali, Chad, Sudan and now Niger. Have we looked at the possibility of these military juntas collaborating to fight their common enemies? Like you advised, our government should rather tackle the problems that may be the root cause of military interventions. Thank you for the thought-provoking article. – Pa EK Odeleye.

Former Premier League star, Darren Bent has urged Mikel Arteta to drop Kai Havertz from his starting XI.

This is following their Saturday’s setback against Fulham.

Bukayo Saka equalised for Arsenal from the penalty spot in the 70th minute and Eddie Nketiah tapped in what was looking like a winning goal before 10 men Fulham rallied to get a draw.

The Gunners only showed some attacking cohesiveness when Mikel Arteta decided to sub off Havertz in the second half.

And Bent thinks that the Germany international should be removed from the Gunners XI ahead next weekend’s clash against Manchester United.

According to the former England star, he was surprised that Arsenal paid as much as £65 million to Kai Havertz from Chelsea.

According to Bent, Arteta is having the problem of which position to play Havertz.

“At the moment he[Havertz] is a passenger, he’s got no confidence and that’s unfortunate,” he told Sky Sports.

“…I think you need to get Odegaard, Partey and Declan Rice and then work from there.

“The next game, which is against Manchester United, they’re going to have to make changes.”

[DailyPost]

A dear and respected friend of mine who was once our ambassador to a European country, who has relatives and strong links in and with Niger Republic and who is well versed in security and intelligence matters, told me that up to 40 babies are dying each day in Niger as a consequence of our cutting off electricity supplies to them.

According to him, these babies die in hospitals and incubators across the country as a consequence of the fact that there is no electricity supply and there is no fuel to power their generators.

This was confirmed by one Dr Abdoul Djibou, a Nigerien medical practitioner, in an interview with Newsonlineng.com.

They wrote: “According to a source in Niger Republic, Dr. Abdoul Djibou, there have been reports from Dosso Regional Hospital and Cominak Hospital about the recent spike in infant mortality. According to him, over 40 babies die daily in Niger since the Nigerian government cut off electricity supply to Niger and also closed its borders. It has affected hospitals badly as they’re unable to power their incubators and other life-supporting equipment to assist these babies. He also mentioned that the closed borders have made it nearly impossible for hospitals to access petroleum products especially diesel and petrol to power their plants and generators.
This is aside the untold hardships that the general populace are grasping with in Niger.

“He has made a passionate appeal for the Nigerian government to reconsider its decision even though backed by the ECOWAS. He stressed the need for the Nigerian government to remember that the people of Niger are more like an extension of northern Nigeria. In his opinion, he believed strongly that the ongoing negotiations with the junta leaders will yield results and stressed the need for the negotiations to be intensified instead of beating the drums of war and upholding the current stiff sanctions that has now crippled the economy and the health sector especially” (Nigeronlineeng.com: Coup Sanctions On Niger Republic Causes Untold Hardship/Starvation/Death).

I cannot possibly confirm the veracity or accuracy of these assertions and reports but if they are anywhere near the truth, it is enough to prick anyone’s conscience.

Furthermore, I doubt that our president, being a humane, rational and reasonable leader, would have allowed this to happen if he was aware of the harsh and cruel consequences of the “cut off all electricity to Niger” policy and that is precisely why it is important to bring it to his attention in this article.

Quite apart from that, according to UNICEF, “more than two million children have been affected by the crisis and are in desperate need of humanitarian assistance” and millions of dollars worth of vaccines for polio and other dangerous diseases cannot be safely preserved or stored due to power outages.

On its own part, Africanews.com reports that: “The UN is spending over 20 times more money than usual on fuel for generators to keep millions of vaccines in Niger from spoiling due to incessant power cuts. The outages are the result of severe economic and travel sanctions imposed by regional countries after mutinous soldiers toppled the country’s president last month. Country representative for the United Nations Childre’s Fund in Niger, Stefano Savi, said it has spent $200,000 powering generators to keep vaccines, including for polio and rotavirus, across the country cold during the first three weeks of August. That’s up from approximately $10,000 a month previously and might soon run out of money, he said. Niger relies on neighbouring Nigeria for up to 90% of its power, but after soldiers ousted democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum in July, Nigeria cut off part of its electricity supply as part of sanctions imposed by the West African regional bloc, ECOWAS. The sanctions are taking a toll on the population with the price of goods rising, residents unable to easily access cash, and people living in the dark. Now there are mounting concerns it will gravely impact the health system, particularly the ability to keep some 28 million vaccine doses in the country cold. Although there were power cuts before the sanctions, they usually lasted a few hours, but now the cuts are much longer – sometimes up to 18 hours a day, said Savi. UNICEF only has enough money until the end of August and is appealing to donors for emergency funds, he said.”

How can we as a nation inflict such damage and unleash such wickedness and misfortune on innocent people who live just across the border from us and who are essentially our people too?

This is unacceptable and especially so given the fact that we are not at war with Niger and the overwhelming majority of our people regard them as our brothers.

This begs the question: Is this the way to treat our African neighbours and brothers even whilst we lay claim to seeking and preferring a diplomatic solution to the crisis? Methinks not!

If our claim and intention are to better the lives of these people by insisting that they must have a democratically elected government and by resisting a military one, is our purpose truly served by killing the children of the very same people that we claim we want to help?

Again does this murky and murderous course serve our national and security interests and does it enhance better relations with other African countries?

Does imposing sanctions and policies like cutting off electrical supplies and that, albeit inadvertently, lead directly to the death of innocent babies and defenceless children help our cause, bring glory to our name or give credence or credibility to our so-called fight and quest for democracy?

I doubt it very much.

I call on our leader and president, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who is currently the chairman of ECOWAS, to review and reverse this policy and allow us to continue to supply electricity to Niger.

This is all the more so given the fact that cutting off electricity to that nation is bringing death, suffering and hardship more to the women and children than to their government officials and members of the newly installed military junta.

Surely Niger’s suspension from both ECOWAS and the African Union coupled with the imposition of a series of strong economic sanctions including the closing of borders and the imposition of a no-fly zone, are enough punishment.

We must never forget that there is a distinction between the government of a nation and its people. Punishing the people for the sins of their leaders and government is not only unjust and unkind but also counter-productive.

Outside of that, it is interesting to note that our French allies and partners, who are amongst those Western powers that want us to bring the Nigeriens to their knees and even attack them, recently described Russia’s targeting of power grids in Ukraine and denying the Ukrainians gas to power their electricity supply as a “war crime” and “crime against humanity” yet they are encouraging Nigeria to do the same to Niger.

When will the application of these double standards by our French friends stop?

Just in case anyone is in any doubt about the high-handedness and excesses of the French in Africa, permit me to conclude with the strong words and powerful admonition served to French President Emmanuel Macron by Giorgia Meloni, the courageous, passionate and stunningly beautiful Italian Prime Minister.

In a blistering and thunderous speech, she exclaimed the following words with orgasmic passion: “Macron, your France undermined and destroyed the good relationship we had with Gaddafi, destroyed Libya, unleashed a wave of refugees and immigrants into Europe and appropriated the resources of African countries and plundered their wealth. Children and the underaged work in feudal and inhuman conditions in Niger just for you to take a big percentage of their uranium that powers your electricity and nuclear reactors. Niger has no light and are dirt poor all because of your policies.”

What a lady! She has said it all!

Now just in case we doubt her let us consider the words of a towering figure like the former French President Jaques Chirac who said the following at the 21st France/Africa Summit in Yaounde, Cameroon, in 2001 where 30 heads of states were gathered.

He said: “While speaking of Africa, we must check our memory. We started draining the continent four and a half centuries ago with the slave trade. Next, we discovered their raw materials and seized them. Having deprived Africans of their wealth, we sent in our elites who destroyed their culture. Now, we are depriving them of their brains thanks to scholarships which are definitely another form of exploitation because, at the end, the most intelligent students do not go back to their countries. In the end, noticing that Africa is not in a good state and as bonuses for the wealth we made on its back, we are giving lectures.” (Canard Enchainé, January 24, 2001).

If there were ever a public admission and confession of neo-colonial and imperialist malfeasance and malevolence by a revered and highly respected French leader and colossal figure, this is it.

He was honest, candid and forthright about his nation’s egregious and pernicious atrocities and outrageous policies in Africa and we commend him for that.

Yet this begs the question: are these the French on whose behalf ECOWAS is considering fighting a war and invading a brother African nation?

The West may have many African leaders in their pockets and eating out of their hands but the hearts, minds and souls of many Africans are with Vladimir Putin and the Russian Federation who are now perceived, rightly or wrongly, as the champions of the oppressed and the architects of a new and just world order.

There is a wind of change blowing in Africa and indeed the world today and every vestige of neo-colonialism, imperialism, pseudo-fascism, economic bondage and fiscal subjugation shall be blown away with and by it.

We have seen this happen with the meteoric and laudable rise in power, glory and influence of the formidable BRICS bloc of nations which includes China, Russia, India, Brazil and South Africa, and the admission of Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Argentina, Iran and Ethiopia into that elite club of rising economic powers and giants just a few days ago.

They seek to set themselves free and shatter the shackles of economic dominance and fiscal tyranny of the United States of America, the United Kingdom, the European Union and all the other Western powers and their allies.

Again we have seen this happen in Mali, Guinea, Niger, Burkina Faso, Chad and Sudan where the quest for freedom from the bondage of former colonial masters like the French and corrupt puppet African leaders and governments led to military coups.

Regardless of the legitimate concerns of ECOWAS, I expect the same to happen in Togo, Ivory Coast, Cameroon and possibly one or two other Francophone countries in the not-too-distant future simply because each is bedevilled with sit-tight, vicious, undemocratic, unelected rulers and tyrants, because the resentment against the French in those countries is palpable and overwhelming and because the desire for Russian support and friendship is astounding.

Nations like Nigeria, Ghana, Benin, Senegal and Liberia may thankfully not be in danger of military intervention because they have a measure of legitimacy and because they came to power through an ostensibly credible democratic process but their governments and leaders MUST be very wary of the level of suspicion, hatred, disdain and contempt that the ordinary people have for the Western neo-colonialists and imperialists that appear to bring so much power and influence to bear over their nations’ affairs and for those that are seen as weak, corrupt puppet-leaders who are prepared to put western interests before that of their own country.

These leaders and governments cannot and must not make the mistake of being seen or regarded as the chief poodle, chief enforcer, chief slave, chief slave driver or the grovelling and snivelling “yes bwana”, “yes massa” of the Western powers in the West African sub-region.

ECOWAS MUST be perceived as a body that brings Africans together and settles their differences in a diplomatic and civilised manner and not a body that can be used by the French, Americans, British, EU or anyone else to exploit us, to further and protect western interests and to fight proxy wars on their behalf.

Frankly, the only ones that I can vouch for in this respect are Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo who I do not believe would ever consciously and willingly sell their people down the river.

Whatever the case, we must not allow any country in the West African sub-region to be turned into a Zaire under Mobutu Sese Seko or a Central African Republic under Jeane Bedie Bokassa.

That is the French formula and it must never take root here.

May God guide our leaders!

If you consumed too much foreign media after the inauguration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on May 29, 2023, you would conclude that Nigeria was finally on its way to El Dorado. From day one, when Tinubu said “subsidy is gone”, there was euphoria among the advocates of market economy who had always argued that the subsidy bill was killing public finance. Approximately N3 trillion was yanked off government expenditure with his announcement. A few days later, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) began the “unification” of the exchange rates. This got more people excited. It was not just about ending the perverse distortion of the forex market but also getting us back to reality.

The simultaneous removal of these two subsidies — the one on petrol and the other on forex — had been unthinkable all along. When Tinubu was declared winner of the 2023 presidential election and the opposition parties kicked, the thinking among advocates of economic reforms was that it would be near impossible for the new president to take certain decisions, particularly in the early days, because he would be trying to establish the legitimacy of his government. Since reforms are fundamentally political, or subject to political vagaries, no new president would want to start off on such an explosive note in the midst of a strong legal challenge to his victory. But Tinubu did.

What happened next? Petrol prices tripled and the cost of living went haywire. The naira went on a massive fall, threatening to hit a four-figure high against the dollar. You can argue that economic reforms cannot yield results within three months and that Nigerians need to be patient. True. Things could get worse before they get better. But that cannot be music to the ears of those who are daily struggling to feed and paying through the nose for transportation. The lamentation in town is how Tinubu’s policies have brought misery on millions of Nigerians. Even many who voted for him are expressing regrets. The poor are always disproportionately affected by adverse economic realities.

I have noted a series of false starts and missteps by the president. The first, which I raised after his haphazard announcement of the removal of petrol subsidy, was the way he communicated such an important message to Nigerians. I do not deceive myself that there is a neat way of announcing subsidy removal that will invoke a standing ovation. It doesn’t work like that. But I saw a president communicating such a monumental policy decision to millions of Nigerians without empathy and without strategy. Operators in the petroleum industry did not have any inkling of his overall plan and its timelines. Saying “subsidy is gone” on national TV looked like a spur-of-the-moment declaration.

The ensuing confusion was glaring. The subsidy budget President Muhammadu Buhari left behind was to cover up till June 30, 2023, but by saying “subsidy is gone” on May 29, Tinubu ensured there was instant commotion at the fuel stations. The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Ltd, the sole importer of the product, had to adjust pump prices immediately — from an average of N185 per litre to over N500. This was to prevent prolonged agony at the stations. Marketers would naturally have taken advantage to fleece motorists if NNPC had waited till June 30. This, to me, was a clear hint that Tinubu did not have a ground plan and was just being impulsive. That was a false start.

If you want to do away with subsidy, there are better ways of going about it. It is a sensitive policy. Critical segments of the society should have been carried along. Issues regarding the so-called palliatives should have been finalised. Yes, there is no nice way of removing subsidy. It will always come with pains. There will always be resistance. Nonetheless, the policy could have been better thought out, packaged and implemented with extensive and strategic public engagement. It makes sense to build trust with Nigerians so they can be reasonably assured that the outcome would be different from previous experiences. All I hear is a rehash of the old songs around subsidy removal.

Another false start was the unification of the exchange rates. The national currency had been falling against the dollar since 2015 following sustained drops in the inflow of petrodollars. Our warped way of facing the new market realities was to put an official peg and create multiple exchange rates. But in trying to address this anomaly, the Tinubu administration did not appear to have a roadmap apart from removing the official peg. The forex crisis Nigeria has been experiencing is basically a supply crisis. If demand is $5 billion but supply is $1 billion, there is no magic that “unification” can do beyond pushing the naira down the abyss. Demand management has not solved the problem either.

It took two months after “unification” before Mr Folasodun Sonubi, acting CBN governor, came out to make some pronouncements on how “Mr President is very concerned about some of the goings on in the foreign exchange market” and how the central bank would “improve the liquidity in the market” and how “speculators would lose out”. What this tells me is that there was no strategy on the ground from the get-go. It seemed “unification” was the sole tactic to attract forex inflow. Again, maybe it is too early in the day to conclude that this would not work, but I have never thought a single policy action would resolve the chronic crisis. I would be shocked if CBN thinks otherwise.

I hope we can now see that it is wrong to build the entire strategy on the assumption that once the naira was not artificially priced, investors would flood in with loads of dollars. Investors won’t come still if they are getting better value elsewhere. What other values are we proposing to them, beyond a market-determined exchange rate? And if we are trying to please investors at all costs, at what stage should we begin to worry about the welfare of our own citizens? As long as the exchange rate continues to rise, petrol prices will continue to rise too. What are we going to do? Keep adjusting pump prices upwards? Where are we going to draw the line? What is Tinubu’s fallback plan?

As many have already pointed out, Tinubu also made a wrong call with some cabinet nominations. First, it amazingly took him an eternity to send an incomplete list. The senate overlooked the constitutional breach, which, I can bet, will now become a precedent. I was first disappointed that the cabinet positions of the nominees were not on the list. This had been an unwholesome tradition that I expected Tinubu to break, given the way he was marketed as a trail blazer. If we cannot do the simplest things, how much more the complicated ones? The senate still went ahead to interview the nominees, asking questions blindly as if we are all fools. We are being taken for a ride in this country.

Worse, though, is the quality of most of the appointees. I am a realist, by the way: I was not expecting an all-round world-beating cabinet. I expected political favours to be done. I expected electoral IOUs to be settled. That is the way of politics. I am not one that will sit down in my living room and be daydreaming that every single person in the cabinet will be what we call “technocrat” in Nigeria. What I cannot stomach is the assemblage of ex-this, ex-that, some of whom did not particularly set the world on fire in their previous lives. Some former governors, for instance, were not shining examples of goal getters with all the executive powers they wielded in their states.

If anyone was in doubt that many things Tinubu has done so far were not well planned or adequately conceived, the drama around the cabinet was yet another proof. For the first time since I was born, there was a cabinet reshuffle even before inauguration! I hope I am wrong, but this must be a first. What does that say about the way Tinubu is running his government? It tells us quite a lot. It is worrisome. I am seeing too much impulsiveness and ad hoc management. He is making things up as he goes. This is far from the political packaging of Tinubu as someone who was adequately and extraordinarily prepared to preside over the affairs of Nigeria. No, I expected something better.

Is Tinubu losing the momentum? For one, it does appear to me that he did not think through the different dimensions of the two reforms and did not prepare the appropriate strategy to address the impact of the shocks on individuals and businesses. I accept that it may be too early in the day to judge him. I understand that some leaders struggle with starting well. Politics and reforms can be raucous and not usually neatly fleshed out. In the main, reform is about doing, learning and adjusting. Even with the best of plans, things can still take their own turns. I accept all that. What I cannot accept is the lack of assurance that Tinubu is on top of his game with his actions so far.

Tinubu must now ask himself the hard question: can he continue like this and expect to leave Nigeria better than he met it? It seems to me that he got carried away by the initial euphoria. He celebrated victory too early and started taking several decisions without a clear strategic plan. He needs to step back, make the needed corrections, and proceed in a more methodical way. The president must urgently change something about his style. If there was ever a time the country could use some urgency and a clear path forward, this is it. Citizens are getting overwhelmed as economic, political and security problems tear at them from all directions. Nigeria cannot afford another false dawn.

AND FOUR OTHER THINGS…

PUTIN AND PRIGOZHIN

On June 23, 2023, Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of the Wagner Group, launched an audacious mutiny against the Russian government, complaining that his mercenary troops in Ukraine were being denied the necessary tools. Russian President Vladimir Putin briefly fled Moscow before Prigozhin retreated. Both men later met and made peace — and the rest of the world started waiting for when Prigozhin would, like other renegades, fall from the 15th floor of a hotel. On August 23 — exactly two months later — it more or less happened: a private jet conveying Prigozhin and lieutenants fell from the skies and burst into flames. Putin has since expressed his heartfelt condolences. Legend.

LAGOS LIFT

Do you remember Dr Vwaere Diaso? I won’t blame you if you don’t. Tragedies are two for one kobo in Nigeria and we easily move on. When she was crushed by the lift at the General Hospital, Lagos Island, on July 26, 2023, there was outrage and all that. We spoke the language of fury and made recommendations. The Lagos chapter of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) set up a committee to investigate. Its report is telling us what we already knew: that the lift crashed. We heard nothing about the quality of emergency care she received, or if indeed there was shortage of blood. We are now waiting for the government side of the probe. Let’s hope there would be more clarity. Waiting…

WARRIOR WIKE

Among the ministers appointed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Chief Nyesom Wike is already dominating the front pages. Wike, governor of Rivers state from 2015 to 2023, was welcomed to his new base as minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) with the building collapse on Wednesday night which led to at least two deaths. He has been talking tough and has promised to enforce standards, which would mean demolition of structures and revocation of land titles. Wike played the major role in weakening his party, the PDP, in the presidential election, and serving in an APC government will provide us some tasty duels. I would easily pick him as the minister to watch. War!

AND FINALLY…

A letter written by “APC Youth Wing” and circulated extensively made a case for the appointment of Seyi, son of President Bola Tinubu, as the minister of youth development. It brought back memories of Youth Earnestly Ask for Abacha (YEAA) which, in 1997, orchestrated the campaign for Gen Sani Abacha to transmute from military head of state to civil president. I should think that was when sycophancy became mainstream and at least 1.5 million youth groups have been floated since then to praise, recommend, condemn or endorse politicians. Whoever is flying the Seyi kite should please calm down. He can be PA to his dad if he wants. Let’s not complicate matters at this stage. Caution.

The common saying that when a problem is identified, it is half-solved is valid only when it is the identified problem that people conscientiously seek to solve. It becomes a different matter when in the process of solving a clearly identified problem,state actors lose focus and either divert attention to other ancillary matters or begin to imagine that the procedures and processes for attaining a goal and the goal itself are coterminous. Well before independence, the people of Nigeria were fully aware of the heterogeneous nature of their country. Also clear to them was the inclination for a multi-ethnic society to be easily destabilized by innate centrifugal or divisive forces. Unfortunately, the same Nigerians keep failing to downplay divisive forces by embracing the centripetal or unifying forces available to them. 

To continue to bemoan the existence of diverse cultures and multiplicity of ethnic groups in the country is unwise because the problem of Nigeria is not her ethnic diversity but the failure of her leaders to manage the phenomenon. Nigeria has failed to read Jawaharlal Nehru’s book “Discovery of India” which had laid bare the expedience of ensuring harmony and unity amongst different regions and cultures through the instrumentality of the principle of inclusivity.Our people have to constantly abide by relevant legal provisions especially section 14 of the 1999 constitution which provides that at all levels of government – local, state and federal, the composition of government or the conduct of public affairs “shall be carried out in such manner as to recognise the diversity of the people within its area of authority and the need to promote a sense of belonging and loyalty among the peoples of the federation.” 

Despite the relevant constitutional provisions, the recommendation of “unity in diversity” by Jawaharlal Nehru is yet to take root in Nigeria. But at no time in the nation’s history has inclusivity been as blatantly breached as the last 8 years of the government of former president Muhammadu Buhari. Apart from several federal appointments in which the dominance of particular ethnic groups became the order of the day, it took a few courageous governors of the ruling party to scuttle attempts to foist another northerner to succeed the departing president of northern extraction. In the states, the situation has not been better, perhaps it has only been less publicised. In Benue state, no one has been able to persuade the major ethnic group to allow their neighbours to serve as state governor for once since the state was created. In Kogi state, if the candidate of the ruling party is declared winner in the forthcoming governorship election, the new governor would succeed his fellow tribal brother.  

The implication of the love for ethnic dominance is heightened suspicion and mutual distrust by different people at the expense of unity. Interestingly, our leaders cherish self-denial as they continuously make statements that they themselves hardly believe. We keep telling ourselves what we know we are not likely to adhere to. Last Monday, president Bola Tinubu told the ministers he picked on the basis of state of origin that they should work not for their states but for the federation. Tinubu who spoke at the inauguration of the new members of the federal executive council said: “you are not a minister of a particular state, colony, region or ethnic nationality; you are a minister of the federal republic of Nigeria.” The president’s point is clear but he knows, just as the ministers and the rest of us do that action will not match those words. 

The states from which the ministers were picked will not even allow them to be that pragmatic. It is what they can do for their families and their states that will eventually determine their popularity and acceptance in the states. History in fact teaches us that political office-holders are usually bugged down by self interest and other parochial tendencies which every citizen has since taken to be normal. Nigerians who diligently work for the entire nation are quite few. Among them are our high performing sports men and women such as the super falcons. This explains why no one saw anything wrong with the uncoordinated reception for a team which demystified traditional world champions like Australia, Canada and England in the last female world cup. We were all satisfied that the best way to applaud the super falcons that were picked not on the basis of state of origin but on merit was to clap for state governors who honoured some of the team members from their states.

Although we agree that the players did well for Nigeria, we will not allow them to forget their respective states of origin. Accordingly, both the super falcons and our new ministers are better appreciated by their states; yet we occasionally charge them to be patriotic enough to put Nigeria before their ethnic units. Indeed, we are constantly reminded that Nigeria is not only indivisible but that its continued existence is in addition not negotiable. This viewpoint however violently offends the principle of self-determination which recognizes the freedom of people to determine where they wish to belong. It also encourages us to forget that negotiation is what guarantees unity, not bullying. Through such negotiations, leaders are better positioned to delicately address the different concerns of each group thereby encouraging such groups to develop a sense of belonging.

Unity in diversity is more likely to propel a voluntary and positive renewal of a group’s belief in a particular union. On the other hand, mutual suspicion grows when some societal institutions that are central to the attainment of national unity fail to perform. A good example is the federal character commission whose main purpose is to moderate recruitment into government services to avoid the dominance of any group. A few weeks ago, Nigerians watched on national television, how the commission transformed itself into a body that organizes recruitments for sale.

In fact, a proper understanding of the endless in-fighting within the commission is that how to secure employment slots from different government bodies for their relations is the main goal of the members. Associated to this negative posture is how to convince a young Nigerian that it is in order for his colleagues with lower scores than his own to get admitted into elite schools because of their states of origin. ‘Quota system’ will no doubt eternally persuade those it favours to embrace loyalty to their states rather than the nation. The situation would have been different if the quota system was used to pick the best from every state instead of officials exploiting the strategy for ethnic dominance.

Another societal institution whose main goal has been thwarted is the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC). After the Nigerian civil war, government set up the scheme for the purpose of creating easy integration of different groups. It was then decided that to ensure Nigerians massively interacted with one another for a better understanding of each other’s sensibilities, no one was allowed to undergo the one-year compulsory national service in his or her state of origin. Today, many citizens are able to choose where to serve especially with increased insecurity in the land. A few others are mysteriously able to serve in their states of origin, while a third group does not serve at all notwithstanding that evading service is designated as an offence. In this group, there have been at least 3 ministers and some governors. 

We dare say that if well managed, the NYSC can successfully unite thousands of Nigerians annually.  It is such unifying factors that another tool for national integration – the National Orientation Agency (NOA) was set up to propagate for the benefit of all. Painfully, whereas everyone including legislators believe that NOA is moribund, no one has cared to know that unlike its predecessor, MAMSER, the Agency is not equipped to engage in effective value re-orientation of Nigerians. It is only assured of salaries for its workers but no funding to meet the task of mobilizing Nigerians to embrace patriotism. Hence, whereas people have held-on to the erroneous viewpoint that Nigeria’s problem is her multi-ethnic diversity, the failure of leadership to manage the nation’s cultural diversity is in reality the real issue at stake.  

•We got only half of money promised – Kano, Nasarawa, Benue
•Ondo, Osun say nothing received yet
•Oyo, Ekiti, Ogun mum
•Full money in – Borno, Niger, Adamawa

State governments across Nigeria, at the weekend, sang different tunes on the N5 billion promised each of them by the Federal Government to cushion the effects of the removal of petrol subsidy on the masses.

While some said they had received only N2 billion, others said they had not been paid anything.
Some claimed to have been paid in full.

Last week, while representing President Bola Tinubu at Chief Edwin Clark’s book launch, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, had re-echoed the promise: “Solutions to problems can never be as instant as coffee. But, we must certainly be there.

I know the removal of fuel subsidy has created some things. “And, that is why palliatives are being put in place; 100 trucks of fertilizers have been sent to the states; 100 trucks of grains have been sent; and more are coming, and more buses are coming.”

In addition, the National Economic Council, NEC, approved N5 billion and five trucks of rice to each state.

Kano, Nasarawa, Benue

Kano, Nasarawa and Benue state governments said they had received N2 billion each while Nasarawa said it received in addition one billion Naira worth of maize.

Kano State Commissioner for Information, Halilu Baba Dantiye, confirmed the receipt of the money to Sunday Vanguard in a telephone interview.

Governor Hyacinth Alia of Benue State, on his part, said the state was still expecting the balance of N3billion from the Federal Government.
Adamawa

In Adamawa, the state government confirmed the receipt of N5 billion palliatives and has accordingly set up a high powered committee headed by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Hon Awwal Tukur, to ensure even distribution to the people.

The committee has since been inaugurated by Acting Governor Kaleptawa Farauta.

Also, Sokoto State government confirmed receiving part of the N5 billion promised by the Federal Government.

The State Commissioner for Information, Alhaji Sambo Bello Danchadi, while speaking to our correspondent, however, declined to mention the amount so far received.

Niger

Reports from Niger State said N4million had been received by the authorities while the balance of N1m was expected to be expended on assorted grains to be supplied by the Federal Government to the state later.

Governor Muhammed Umaru Bago declared that part of the money already received will be used to improve the transportation system in the state as a way of bringing succour to people of the state.

He said his administration had concluded plans to flood the state with gas fueled vehicles for inter and intra city services across the state as one of the numerous steps taken to cushion the removal of petrol subsidy.

Bago spoke during the swearing-in of 60 Commissioners and Special Advisers in Minna, the state capital.

Ondo

Ondo State government said it was yet to receive the N5 billion support money..

A source in the state Finance Ministry said, “The state government has not received the N5 billion. But anything can happen between today, Friday, and Monday.

“But what I can confidently tell you is that we’ve not received the money in our state. We’ve only received 3, 000 out of the 81, 000 bags of rice promised states by the Federal Government.

Efforts to speak with the state Finance Commissioner, Wale Akinterinwa, proved abortive.

In Ogun, the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Dapo Abiodun, Mr. Kunle Adeniran, promised to get back on the promised N5 billion palliative but didn’t until press time.

Osun

Osun State government said that it was yet to receive the N5 billion.

The state Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Kolapo Alimi, said they had received the 3,000 bags of 50kg rice as the first batch but was yet to receive the promised N5billion.

“I am not speaking for any state, but here in Osun, we are still expecting it and when we get it the whole world will know”, Alimi said.

“Yes, we have received 3,000 bags of 50kg rice from the Federal Government, but we have not received any amount from the N5bn it pledged to the state.

“We are still waiting for another consignment of 14, 000 bags as well as 3,200MT of maize. Governor Ademola Adeleke is running an open administration, when we get it, we will definitely make it public”.

Government officials contacted in Oyo and Ekiti states declined comments on the N5 billion palliative.

Kebbi

Kebbi State government said it was yet to receive the cash.

The Chief Press Secretary to Governor Idris, Ahmed Idris, told Sunday Vanguard that they were yet to receive the N5 billion.

Ahmed added that as soon as the cash is received, the state government would set up a committee to distribute them to get to beneficiaries which include civil servants and the vulnerable people in Kebbi.

Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State, on his part, confirmed that the state government had received N5 billion.

Zulum spoke in an interview with newsmen at the flag-off of the distribution of food items to about 300,000 vulnerable groups and households of Massandari Ward at the Bakassi IDP Camp, Maiduguri.
He said, “Borno state government has received N5 billion from the Federal Government as palliatives/grant.

“Out of this, N4 billion would be used for the purchase of 100, 000 bags of rice while the remaining N1 billion is for maize.”

He noted that 52% grant of the N5 billion would be provided by the Federal Government while the remaining 48% will be funded by each state and its local governments and the grant payable back to the Federal Government coffers.

Yobe

In Yobe State, the Executive Secretary of the State Emergency Management Agency, SEMA, Dr. Mohammed Goje, who is also a member of the Palliatives Committee set up by Governor Mai Mala Buni, told our correspondent that the state received four trucks of assorted food items from the Federal Government.

Goje, however said, even though more consignments were still awaited, he was not in the position to talk on the N5 billion grant.

“I don’t know how much the state has collected so far, but I can confirm to you that we have received four trucks of assorted food items as palliatives from the Federal Government as we await the remaining consignment”, he added.

The Director General, Media and Press Affairs to the Governor, Mohammed Mamman, also said he was not aware of the amount received so far from the Federal Government.
He, however, directed our reporter to the Secretary to the State Government, SSG, Alhaji Baba Malam Wali, and two text messages sent to his MTN line for inquiry delivered, but he did not reply as of press time.

[Vanguard]