TIME TO MOVE ON

It is good to see that the PDP have licked their wounds and are now strategizing. They are silent, very silent as we witness the preparation work that the new government is beginning to put in place, to get us to the destination that we Nigerians all desire. It is very worrying though that all hope is pinned on just one man, President Buhari. It is clear that we have no faith in the national assembly and to buttress my point, the allowances that they have just approved for themselves, show how insensitive they are to the plight of the average civil servant, some of whom have not been paid their paltry salaries in the last 7 months. Our leaders all believe that they are oligarchs and once they get to the mantle of leadership are there to clean up. It is their turn now. Unless there is a change is this psyche, then we are doomed.

The infighting in APC over the leadership is like a merger or takeover on Wall Street, where companies with very different market philosophies and approaches to profitability come together to become the newest giant. It might initially be greeted with pessimism, grudges and even anger by staff and stakeholders, but in the end if they are to survive, they must meet themselves halfway to move the company forward. The question we need to ask is if this takeover has been occasioned to asset strip or whether a true partnership has been formed to take the company to the next level.

Do you remember Standard Trust bank? It introduced instant cash transfer into the Nigerian financial market. It was a highly innovative bank patronized by the upwardly mobile. When a larger but less innovative UBA opened talks for a possible merger, it was because UBA was interested in Standard Trust’s innovation and energy, while the latter could do with UBA’s reach. Today, UBA is one of the biggest banks in Nigeria.  The APC is pretty much formed on a similar principle.

They should remember why they decided to come together. They should remember how they all made sacrifices, so that united they would all be able to overcome a common enemy. In fact, if Bola Tinubu, Atiku Abubakar, Bukola Saraki, Aminu Tambuwal, Rotimi Amaechi and the rest want to be honest, they did not feel at the beginning that they would be able to defeat the Goodluck Jonathan-led government in 2015. The G-7 governors who began the PDP rebellion reduced to G-5 because Babangida Aliyu and Sule Lamido of Niger and Jigawa states respectively doubted the cause. The party should remember that it rode on the goodwill of the people to power. Its political officeholders should also not forget that the Nigerian electorate is more politically aware now than ever before. If they don’t show maturity and sort out their differences, they will be perceived as the same old PDP and we will sweep them out.

Division is a disaster, it is a home wrecker, all you do is assist you enemies or your detractors with your own misguided energy. Basically, you are helping them to destroy you. There is a job of work to do and the earlier the APC rolls up its sleeves and gets to work in unison, the better its future chances of winning our hearts.  Boko Haram needs serious attention, the stinking petroleum sector needs to be flushed and scrubbed clean. The power sector, transportation both needs serious attention!  The incompetence of the last six years simply means that this government has more to do in less time, so we need to get cracking.

We should remember that a partnership is about give and take. Ideas and personalities will always clash. Relations will not always be rosy. There are flaws in character and there are checks and controls that must be put in place to ensure discipline and strict adherence to the ideology of the entity. It is very important that the APC remember always why ACN, CPC, APGA and the New PDP members decided to come together in the first place. Remember!

As for President Muhammadu Buhari, he is just an individual but he is part and parcel of this party. He cannot remain detached and must put energy into molding it into the image that we all have of his character. The responsibility of the success or failure of this government lies squarely on his shoulders and the foot soldiers that he engages with him to steer us to the Promised Land will have everything to do with his tenures success. Any discipline he needs to mete out should be based an empowered judiciary, such that interpretation and breaches of the law are justly and expeditiously dealt with. We are holding our breath.

The National Assembly Show…

“I am for everybody and for nobody” – President Muhammadu Buhari, in his inauguration speech on May 29, 2015.

There is a Yoruba proverb which roughly translates thus: The younger wife, who rejoices at the assault on the older wife by their husband, fails to understand the transiency of her position. Four years ago, when Aminu Tambuwal rebelled against his ruling party’s high-handedness and authoritarian tendencies to emerge the “democratically” elected speaker of the House of Representatives, it was hailed by the then opposition as a victory for democracy. In fact, it was the opposition which helped him smoothen the rebellious operation.

Now, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Party (APC) have switched role; the latter now the ruling party, when another Tambuwal/ Saraki rebellion was re-enacted earlier this week, guess who was crying foul…the new ruling party!     

The word ‘nascent’ is overused in our polity, this underscores the fact that we are building a democracy, and in a democracy, what has just played out at the National Assembly is a step in the right direction. Although many might argue that a politician’s first commitment is to the people, and their first loyalty to their party, the polity should at all times be ready and willing to challenge dogmatic status quos without violating the law. 

In Company Law, there is something called "lifting the corporate veil". This is the investigative means exposing those who run or own a company, so that in the event that there is a challenge, shareholders or affected parties are not disenfranchised and can seek justice. People who follow politics closely may be aware of what happened last Tuesday, but for the layman, I think it is important to break it down.

The APC is made up of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Congress for Political Change (CPC), a faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and NPDP, a break-off faction of the Peoples Democratic Party. President Buhari, riding on the sheer political goodwill of the masses, had over 12 million votes during the 2011 presidential election. He constituted huge political currency because he was regarded as an outstanding, truly patriotic fellow.

     

The ACN, under the command of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, saw an opportunity. The cracks on the PDP walls were getting wider and wider, so much so that they became a den for various species of worm. At the party’s congress in Abuja in 2014, the walls finally gave way when the New PDP (or NPDP), led by Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, held a parallel congress at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre. Having divided the once powerful Governors’ Forum.

It was this rainbow coalition that constituted the APC that worked to defeat former president Goodluck Jonathan and his warped PDP.    

Tinubu’s antecedence is not a secret. His quest for power has seriously stalled the aspirations of many on a merit basis as he has demanded loyalty to the Jagaban. The man has power and wealth, and, until Tuesday, an uncanny kind of cult loyalty. Tuesday’s event was a break from godfatherism but highlights to all of us what strange bedfellows the APC are. There are clearly various blocks with their individual aspirations. The President's very delicate job is to now ensure that what their unity has brought to pass will not now fall apart in sharing the spoils.

As it is, the leaderships of the National Assembly, Governors’ Forum, Presidency and even some states in his South West power base, are longer under the control of the ACN block. Groomed by the politically savvy late “Oloye”, his father, Bukola Saraki has succeeded in outfoxing the Jagaban himself. He has demonstrated that it is not business as usual and the party cannot just present a consensus or consensus candidates. I will not address any moral issues that may arise in this discussion. What is clear however is that democracy has won. Bukola Saraki clearly won the election and it seems to me that even if the missing APC senators were in that chamber, Saraki would still have won. After all, the party preferred candidates in the House of Representatives also lost.

It is great to have an independent legislature, which will not just do the bidding of the executive or the party. What is clear, from the perspective of a citizen, is that these guys are all co-conspirators.

The straw poll that the APC pretended to have and the fact that they called a meeting on the morning of the inauguration is very suspect of foul play. The comments of the president are very mature but he needs to understand that this is politics and he must call his “troops” to order if he is going to deliver on the promises he has made to us. I do not envy him.

OIL AND POWER

Immediate-past President Goodluck Jonathan said during the valedictory Federal Executive Council session, last Wednesday that the record protests and strikes witnessed during his tenure as president was politically motivated! This clearly shows that the man truly did not understand the pain and frustrations that his administration was visiting on us.  Quite honestly, the past six years’ experience is what no Nigerian should ever have to experience again. His comments about not being singled out for probe as it would amount to a witch-hunt, is in itself, well, self-indicting!

      

Let us not dwell on corruption itself, as enough has been said about this ill already. What we have to do now is to start putting those checks and balances in place. We should start with our current petrol crisis. The scarcity which all but shut down the entire nation last week has shown that the petroleum industry is by far the most critical factor that is stifling our development. In 2011, Jonathan promised the overhaul of the industry. He promised us massive infrastructural development and availability of petroleum products; all we had to do was agree to his plan to remove subsidy and the development of our gas resources to boost our energy needs would be a priority. Erratic power supply would thereby become a thing of the past. SURE-P became a policy mantra upon which they sold us lies. Four years after the removal of subsidy (and even when oil prices crashed on the international market) we are still paying billions of naira to petrol importers who, wielding their powers and influence, are able to bring us to our knees in a matter of days. Yet, Jonathan’s thunderous silence offers us no answers. “We are on our own!”

  

We have never experienced a situation whereby there was a vacuum in governance simply because the incumbent’s tenure was winding down. Jonathan was simply not interested in being president until the expiration of his term on the morning of May 29. He had been on hibernation and plunged the nation into further degeneration either as a punishment for not returning him or as the height of the incompetence and impunity that marked his six-year reign. It is almost as if all the ills that have been perpetrated, all the issues that have been neglected, all the corners that have been cut, are eventually now coming to the fore and there are too many holes to stop the many leaks. What happened under Jonathan’s watch should be treated as a warning to the incoming government as to how vulnerable we are as a nation. Until we take what belongs to us from a few powerful overlords.

For fear of sounding like a broken record, I will repeat again what the subsidy means to me. Importing finished petroleum product is akin to having a natural mango orchard and what we do is only harvest the fruit. Without adding any value, we export the natural God-given bounty where foreigners process it. They squeeze and package it and import it back here to Nigeria as a finished product. Packaged mango juice! This process is what is now supposedly too expensive for we the nationals to consume, so the government pays the importer a further fee, so that we can afford it! This has to be more than ridiculous! We give all the refining capacity to foreign states creating employment and profit for them, whilst we deal with pipeline vandalism, armed militancy, a lack of education and development and erratic supply here. We also create the oligarchs who strangle the lifeblood of the nation.

Our lives revolve around petroleum. Provision of water, electricity and other social services simply diminish drastically due to the unavailability of oil. The importation of generators is licensed to a monopoly. And, evidently, it is the same cabal who has made sure that despite spending $35b on improving our power generation has ensured that we are down to less than 2500mw in the whole country. At the peak of the shortage last week, Kano got 2mw of electricity from the national grid. This is less than what powers one celebrity’s house in Beverly Hills! What is the knock-on effect? Everything shuts down, we suffer then people like Mr. Uba of the Capital Oil fame can become our local champion and decide to have pity on us as we scramble to buy what charity he magnanimously decides to allow us?

Our vulnerability as a nation is rooted in the impunity going on in this sector. We cannot create jobs, alleviate poverty, generate electricity or boost the economy without attending to the challenges at the NNPC Towers. Creating an enabling environment for the welfare and security of Nigerians depends strongly on committing to genuinely reforming the energy sector.

 Welcome President Buhari, we await these sweeping changes and pray for God’s guidance.

PDP'S ROLE AFTER MAY 29

President Goodluck Jonathan may have been a good loser but his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), is definitely not. Ever since the PDP lost the presidential election to the All Progressives Party (APC), there hasn’t been anything but finger pointing and infighting among the party’s leadership. I appreciate the shock, such was the arrogance of the ruling party but they must stop, take a deep breath and learn something from what has happened. The president’s silence also speaks volumes. This poor behavior is what cost them the elections in the first place.

Let me take you back to the PDP convention where critical decisions were to be made to safeguard the future of the party and lead them to victory in the elections. I make bold to say that if at that time, they had done the right thing and looked critically at what was wrong in the party, they would still be the ruling party today. This was the parties chance to democratically agree on the way forward. The convention, much like the just concluded botched NLC convention was marred with rigging and the abuse of state power. Stalwarts of the party such as Atiku Abubakar, Rotimi Amaechi, and Rabiu Kwankwaso amongst others pulled out of convention and organized a parallel one. This was the beginning of the end for the PDP. Jonathan was preselected and the rest is history.     

As the opposition, the PDP has no time. They need to lick their wounds and take on the new responsibility of being our look out. To assist us in ensuring that the governing APC does not enjoy the kind of arbitrary abuse of power which they practiced for 16 years. Instead of pointing fingers, they should solidify our democracy by looking inwards at all the excesses that were occasioned by poor drafting of our constitution. That sacred document that is supposed to act as a guide book for us to keep on track in our dealings with each other. They need to very quickly organise themselves, so as to stop the country from going from a nascent democracy to an autocracy, a dictatorship of only one party, who can do as they please. We have been there before. This time we need balance if our democracy is to have even a little chance of success. They must participate in ensuring that politics is not bigger than the law and that the supremacy of the law is displayed in all sectors of our national life.

There is pressing work to do. Grey areas in the criminal code, which are exploited to allow for impunity. Cross carpeting and abuse of the laws of the national assembly and the decrepit delivery of justice as well as the complete lack of independence of this arm of our government. What we seek from the PDP is for its members to come together on the basis of ideology and and prevent both themselves and the APC from exploiting the same impunity we have just rejected.

We should remember when talks were in progress to form the APC. Many PDP members laughed it off, saying, like previous attempts, the coalition couldn’t survive. It was an amalgamation of too many parties with diverse interests and egos. However, it was a marriage, albeit a difficult one, with everything stacked against it but they all had one goal, so sacrifices were made to hold the fabric of the union together. Uneasy bedfellows spent the night together and still do. If ever there was an example of what unity can do, then this is it.

Where is Doyin Okupe? He promised to go on self-imposed exile should the opposition win the election.

Members of the party should look back at all their collective mistakes rather than tear their party apart and pretend to have genuine reasons to cross carpet to the APC. They should learn from the just-concluded UK elections, where three party leaders resigned within an hour following disappointing outings at the polls. The Immediate-past Labour leader, Ed Miliband, led his party to its worst outing since 1987. He simply took responsibility and bowed out. Already, the party has commenced necessary reforms that will reposition it for the next election. The dissection has commenced, the lesson learnt. This is what the PDP should aspire to achieve.

PDP, please send the right message to APC that either they work for the welfare of we the masses. Give us as a minimum, security and power, so we can industrialize, or the PDP will do on a second run, what it failed woefully to achieve on its first outing. If the APC-led government does not channel its energy into becoming the super efficient machine for making our lives better, a strong PDP could then offer us a choice in 2019; as the right to choose is the main ingredient in a democracy. 

THE DEEP STRUCTURE OF XENOPHOBIA

Before I begin with the main theme of this article, I’d like to comment briefly on a related subject. In the wake of the execution of 8 drug traffickers in Indonesia, a friend sought my take on how the Australian and Brazilian governments tried to appeal to the Indonesian government to temper justice with mercy while their Nigerian counterpart was silent for too long. Out of the 8 convicts, two were Australians, one Brazilian and an Indonesian. The remaining four were Nigerians! In Indonesian law, drug trafficking is punishable by death; so if you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime. Our government should understand however that they must be there for us. That is my response.

It is also very inaccurate to conclude that the majority of Nigerians doing business in Indonesia and other parts of Southeast Asia are drug traffickers. Our sheer population makes us visible in whatever we do – good or bad. And, that is why there is this myth around the success rate of Nigerians in Diaspora that makes them easy targets for racists and nativists. The situation in South Africa is just one of many.

Despite the atrocities that some in Kwazulu Natal have committed against their fellow Africans, any socio-psychologist who knows his/her onions would have some feeling of sympathy towards black South Africans. All they have ever known is exploitation – political, historical, economic, psychological and cultural exploitation. First they were victims of a land grab. Then they were made to till their previously owned farmlands for the benefit of others, with little access to education. This was necessary for the settlers to create a working class. The blacks were not allowed to compete with them. They were put in mines and made to work for just enough to keep themselves alive. The men were separated from their wives and families and plied with alcohol. They were also segregated and abused by the White supremacists who came to settle on their land. This is the recent history of the South African black man.

After the end of Apartheid, there have been attempts at socio-political reconciliation and integration. But the government and people of South Africa have not paid enough attention to the fact that social and political reconciliation and integration are nothing without psychological and economic emancipation.  South Africans have had Black presidents for over two decades now, yet they continue to be haunted by the fear of domination because they mostly lack the self confidence, knowhow and economic empowerment to compete. They are a scarred and angry.

It is for these reasons that there are so many opportunities in South Africa for immigrants in general. It is Africa’s most sophisticated economy, so immigration is expected, especially from fellow Africans who compete for many of the opportunities in the predominantly black areas. The black South African is again bottom of the food pile in his own land because Africans from other parts of the continent, better suited and more motivated, easily “steal” their opportunities. A people who haven’t recovered from Apartheid suddenly find themselves “serving” yet another set of masters, shows that they still haven’t been properly integrated in the post-apartheid South Africa. It is the same with African Americans in the United States where, despite the recent spate of killings by white policemen, he kills his fellow blacks daily instead of wanting to see his fellow blacks do well. Other blacks kill 93% of blacks killed in America.                      

                    

Hardworking migrants living in parts of South Africa do not deserve the kind of ill treatment their hosts have subjected them to, especially after all the assistance governments of these countries gave to the apartheid struggle, especially Nigeria. This is why the ANC-led government must be indicted. Have their history books been adjusted to reflect the roles that various parties have played in their recent history? How much resource have they put towards the de-radicalisation and education of their masses? The unascertained rationale for the quick glide from love and respect to aching hatred should not be underestimated.

Furthermore, the response of Jacob Zuma to utterances from the Zulu King and his son go a long way in highlighting how important it is to have the right leadership guiding a land to security, prosperity and harmony.  The “Apartheid disease” has eaten deep into the soul of even some of its victims. They should be quickly fished out and made an example of. As Robespierre once said, there should be “no freedom for enemies of freedom”.

South Africans should direct their anger to the government and not against their African brothers and sisters who are only foreigners because of borders drawn by imperialists. Our government’s response here is weak as expected. Meanwhile, Madiba turns in his grave. 

WE MUST TAKE THAT BOLD STEP

Why should laws be applied equally to all? If a small cabal has political power and the rest don’t, it is only natural that whatever is fair game for the cabal should be banned and punishable for the rest. It is only when many individuals and groups have a say in decisions and the political power to have a seat at the table that the idea that they should all be treated fairly starts making sense.  – Why Nations Fail

The difference between prosperous and failing countries is that the former, through creative imagination, justice, education and collectivism – builds strong institutions, which in turn stimulate growth and development. The latter, like us over here, use corruption, self-serving elitism, illiteracy, injustice and impunity to create an exclusive club of monstrously powerful individuals who weaken social institutions in order to exploit them. At present, we clearly exhibit traits of swine fever. We should ensure that by May 30, 2015, we begin to take the necessary steps that lead a country from failing to prosperous. We should all get ready to face those growing pains.

Whilst I personally do not expect miracles in the next four years, there is something called “a leap of faith” in Christendom. It means that giant, bold and irreversible step taken towards achieving a goal.  We cannot undo the mess of decades in just 100 days, a year or one four year term. But we can start the journey. Through just a few simple actions we can lay the foundation for a better Nigeria. We can change our direction for the better, to the new road to our bright future. For instance, we had been clamouring for free, fair, credible elections to be held since June 12, 1993. It seemed like a pipe dream, a mirage. But it has been done.

This has been achieved because the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), under the leadership of Prof Attahiru Jega, decided to transform itself into a credible institution that would deliver. It is a live example of how easily we can achieve. That self-image of success, of the yes-we-can attitude, shows that we can win those battles and ultimately the war. We should focus now on further improving on the process. This is the only way that strong institutions are built and once this is achieved, the individuals manning them will comport themselves within the framework of the rules, lest they face the music.

 

For the incoming government, the mantra of change can only produce tangible success if General Mohammadu Buhari and his team begin by acquiring Nigerians’ buy-in to the change process. It is important for the president-elect not to waste energy on the political jobbers spending hugely on airtime and press page advertorials to “congratulate” him. The more propitious path to tread for Buhari is to start thinking about competent and motivated individuals who would help him build and entrench viable institutions for the common good. We do not want to see a government overpopulated with appointments based on party patronage.  If Buhari truly desires to fix Nigeria fast, we must grow beyond party lines and toe the line of technocrats and men and women of excellence. De-emphasising politics in the appointment of key technocrats who will work towards fixing the energy sector and provision of basic infrastructure as well as tackling corruption will help the president more than aligning with politicians who brought the nation to its knees in the first place.

Against the background of compelling deficits in almost all sectors of our national life, notwithstanding the princely sums reportedly being pumped into them, Buhari’s task is already cut out. None of the challenges we have as a nation today can be solved without a new vision and resolute leadership to provide a definitive direction. And it is not too late to start.

It is clear that our leaders are more susceptible to human frailties and errors of judgment than their counterparts in the developed world. This is not biological. It is for this reason that the other two arms of government – legislature and judiciary – have to be “reformed”.  Presently, the Nigerian judicial system is on life support and as a result cannot contribute to strengthening relevant institutions for utmost performance.  If I were the president-elect, that would be my starting point because a strong and truly independent Judiciary is the backbone of a prosperous political system. 

Nigerians have risen up against absolutism and impunity. Therefore, the rule of law, in its true sense, should emerge strongly as a by-product of our newfound political enthusiasm and people power. However, the yet-to-be-sworn-in governing party (the All Progressives Party, APC) must never allow the enthusiasm of its actors to contravene the very rules which it swore to protect. Creating and strengthening inclusive social institutions is the only way Nigeria will march towards inclusive economic development that will empower a broad segment of society and turn citizens’ expectations to collective prosperity.

AGENDA FOR THE GENERAL

That phone call between President Goodluck Jonathan and General Muhammadu Buhari could go down as the most important telephone conversation between two individuals in the recent history of Nigeria. President Goodluck saved 170 million people from witnessing the fragmentation of the country as predicted by the US, in what could have been the most violent election aftermath. We thank God!

We had all prepared for the worst: stocking up on food and water, servicing cars, and piling up fuel. Many travelled to their villages, and many more jetted out of the country. Although some have downplayed the significance of that phone call, I for one know that the most severe affliction of African leaders is their unwillingness to relinquish power, even when they have obviously overstayed their welcome at the helm. Without making excuses for them, this may be connected to the culturally embedded perennial absolutism of the African ruler.

Our genes may have evolved into believing in the divinity of our kings and queens and to accept them and their excesses until the expiration of their tenure at death. Hence, when the system of governance was hijacked and reformed by our colonial masters, the mindset of our leaders was still stuck in the monarchical system. This may, for instance, inform why former president Olusegun Obasanjo desired a third-term. Same explanation goes for other African leaders, such as Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe and Paul Biya of Cameroon.

It is difficult for me to use the word “change” without sounding partisan but like the word or not, a change has come, a tremendous change for that matter. We the people are now more than ever aware of the degree of power in our individual votes. The last elections may have had their flaws, but they also marked a rebirth and the kind of political consciousness never experienced in the 54 years of Nigeria’s existence as a country. Suddenly, people power has assumed its rightful place in our polity!

A new president is  set  to  assume  the  leadership  of  this  country  on  May  29. General Buhari’s first task will be how to manage the legitimately high expectations of Nigerians, all of us. Sample opinions anywhere and you will find that we want change primarily in the power sector. This sector’s perennial failure has been central to all the under developmental problems this country is facing.  If there is one campaign promise which Nigerians want the president-elect to fulfill in the shortest possible time, it is the provision of electricity. All  the  industrial  roadmaps,  including  Vision 20:20:20, will  remain  a  pipe  dream  if  the  nation’s  power  generation  level  remains  as  it  is  presently.

The provision of infrastructure is a matter of necessity, yet we need peace first. The security challenges which all but held us to our knees prior to the general elections have to be addressed expressly. The onus is on the incoming government to ensure that  every  Nigerian,  irrespective  of  tribe  or  religion,  is  safe  wherever they reside. No  doubt,  the  just  concluded  general  elections  left  many  scars  in  its  wake.  Sentiments still came to play in some areas, and some of us may be feeling alienated.  Buhari has to play the role of a statesman. The whole country is his constituency.  Processes should be set in motion for national reconciliation.

Prior to the elections, not since the civil war has the nation been so divided. Politicians were whipping up old sentiments, alluding to differences in religion, tribe, culture and political leanings. Our indigent masses visit the source of our problems to these sentiments. This has led to violence as these primitive sentiments have unearthed ancient prejudices and hatreds that had been lying below the surface in the various communities affected.

The president-elect will do well by building strong institutions and taking a stand against corruption. He has promised that; he should match it with action. A greater responsibility of Buhari’s government shall be the pursuit of people-oriented policies that will mop up the idle and angry youths from the streets.  Crime will thereby be reduced and electoral violence eradicated when food and jobs become available for young people irrespective of their states of origin or educational credentials. The trouble with Nigeria has always been a failure of leadership. We must succeed this time. Good governance will heal any wound faster than goodwill. 

  

You and I must work for a better Nigeria. I wish Buhari good luck and patience but not too much patience, for we know where that has gotten us before (pun unintended). He must balance the high expectations of the people with the delicate task of rebuilding a new nation. Above all, I pray for God’s guidance for him. 

#BringBackOurGirls Now And Alive!

We have to rise up and get angry and do something like we have just done at the just concluded elections.

We have to rise up and let our politicians know that we will not just sit by and watch as our brethren are maimed and killed from amongst us, whilst our supposed protectors look on as if nothing happened. We have to let them know that when it comes to our collective welfare, we will leave no stone unturned until we feel secure and valued.

We have to imbibe these values in our children and make empathy a natural reaction to pain and suffering again, and not the God awful weak response that they want us to get use to. No it is not OK.

We have somewhat lost our way and we must steer ourselves back to the light. You and I are important. We are the most important element that the entity called Nigeria exists for. We must protect ourselves, otherwise we have no reason for being.

We must make ourselves seen and heard when tragedy befalls us, otherwise it will be me or you tomorrow.

We demand our girls back and should be having a daily report of where they are, how we are going to rescue them and the rehabilitation facilities we have in the ready to deal with the stresses and suffering that they have endured. We will give up on them or forget them and demand more robust actions from the government. We must bring back our girls. Thank you for your support.

INDEED, THERE IS GOD!

I feel really and truly uplifted as a Nigerian at where we find ourselves today. I feel a real sense of accomplishment that we have arrived. We have arrived at a destination. What we do now that we are here will go a long way in forging the direction and the speed at which we can truly propel ourselves into the 21st century.

We have so many areas that we need to focus on so that we do not lose the momentum that we have set ourselves. We have to say a big thank you to INEC and Professor Jega. I am sure that you will all agree with me that he is a cool potato and we can all learn a thing or two from the way that this man has focused and refused to be derailed from his mission to deliver free and fair elections in Nigeria. There is no doubt that there were obstacles all the way, many mistakes were made, but when you are steadfast in your mission, it is clear as he has shown us that we can get there.

The import of what he has achieved should not be lost on us. The introduction of the PVC, along with the card reader, was a masterstroke.  In one foul swoop, he was able to ensure that for the first time, our votes – yours and mine – would actually mean something. I can assure you that the introduction of this strategy is why our votes counted and we have not seen the usual acrimony that comes with the announcement of results. We have to also thank the social media in the role that it played in disseminating information.

I am one of those who was disenfranchised and never received my PVC. There are many who did not believe in the process and either did not bother to get registered, or did not bother to vote. It could all have gone horribly wrong and I urge all of us that hitherto, we should put pressure on INEC to improve on this system. After all, if I am able to use my ATM card anywhere I feel in the world, there is no reason why I should not be able to use my voter’s card anywhere in Nigeria. It should very quickly become an identification document for every Nigerian over 18, whether s/he chooses to use it or not should have one.

We should have awareness campaigns and explain to all Nigerians that the politicians who rule us when they should be serving us are appointed by us and therefore answerable to us for the tasks that we set them to do. If they are incompetent or unable, we should make sure that collectively we can remove them and appoint people who understand our mandate, devoid of ethnicity or religion.

We have a true task now, one that we should not slack on. We should ensure that the APC start the way that they intend to finish and we should give them no leeway to do things as usual.  Buhari, despite his many faults (after all he is human), is disciplined and honest but he is one man in a dark place. We need to watch all the politicians that have gotten him there and surround him. This is the time that we need to scrutinize his appointees and ensure that the roadmap is clearly spelt out to us and guarded jealously.

We need to get over our euphoria and focus on the gubernatorial elections. These are arguably even more important to our local lives, depending on where you live than anything happening in the center. We should ensure that we get out there again and stamp our thumb prints for who we believe will serve us and better our lives by providing for our welfare and security, again the basic tenets of our democracy.

Talking of basics, this is what Buhari has to do. He must revisit the power sector and ensure that it is on a fast track program to delivery. We cannot be industrialized; we cannot create a manufacturing base, unless we have power.  To achieve this, Buhari needs people. You and me and anyone from anywhere in the world with the requisite skills. He needs the right human resources and a change in the psyche of the average Nigerian in the public sector who is so accustomed to stealing corruption and getting away with it.

There are so many around him now who will be thinking that it is now OUR TURN this must not happen. We must strengthen our institutions if we are to have even a fighting chance or breaking the pattern. There cannot be any silo mentality as is usual. This must be all about team building.

Since God has shown us the way, we should light up our path and make sure that we can race to our destination as opposed to stumbling around in the dark.

THE NORTHEAST AND ELECTIONS

We have just a few hours left out of our six week postponement. The 28th of March 2015 will be Election Day and the whole country is frozen in anticipation of what may happen. I cast my mind back to five weeks ago when the decision was made to postpone these elections, primarily because of the security situation in the North East and the fact that, according to our government, the citizens there deserve to also have the opportunity to vote.

I have been well impressed with the advances that the army has made in this short time but feel somewhat alarmed that the whole focus of the country as well as the media is the ability of the citizens of this area to vote. It has all been about voting, about numbers and where the PDP feel that they can make gains against the opposition. The whole effort to me is an indictment on the government. The people of the North East like the rest of us are mere political pawns.

I must use this opportunity to thank all the charitable organisations, NGOs and private sector bodies that have been galvanized by the cruelty, suffering and trauma that their fellow brothers and sisters have been exposed to and are still suffering in this zone and have arranged all manner of relief materials, etc. We have IDPs, (internally displaced persons) camps all over the country and you really want to take a visit to these camps to see the appalling neglect that these people endure.

But I cannot be all negative, because as a people, I feel proud to be Nigerian; it fills my heart with joy when I see how the communities, the villagers, poor people who are scraping to get by, have opened up their hearts to these fellow Nigerians. They have made semi-completed buildings, grain stores and even their living rooms available to anyone from these zones. They have provided them with security, a place to lay down in peace and have a secure nights sleep, no matter how uncomfortable.

We hear everyday of ethnicity and discrimination, but I was in Lagos last week and there were many refugees from the north being given any kind of work available, so they could send money back home and to Cameroon and Chad to assist their families in their plight. It is heartwarming to know that though the politicians come from amongst us, they are a breed apart from us and act like colonial masters, here to get what they can from an open hearted but defenseless land. I grew up in Lagos but have lived in Abuja now for the last 15 years. I do not feel ownership for the place. I still feel like I felt when the military were in power and we were second class citizens, ‘mere civilians’; the politicians have done the same to us again.

By the time some of you read this, the Presidential election at least would have taken place already. It is the most closely contested election that we have ever had. This means that we are making progress and depending on how it goes, some will feel that they have lost and the situation is hopeless but I say to you that we may have lost this battle but the fight goes on and we will win the war. Our futures and our lives depend on it.

We should all be aware that a huge responsibility rests on our shoulders. Whether we like it or not, Nigeria is the giant of Africa. A sick giant, but, nevertheless, the giant. The success, the inspiration of the black race all over the world rests with us. We cannot get it wrong and must lift peoples who live in the Americas who have only experienced negativity all their lives out of the doldrums. We must psychologically assist them in casting off those shackles, otherwise we as a people will keep on wallowing in the backward mediocre situation that we find ourselves and let down the rest of humanity as a result.

By the way, we still have the responsibility to further secure our votes and make sure that through a viable opposition, we can call the politicians to order and that way ensure our progress. People may see it differently, but if you have your desired governor, change is even more imminent than having your desired president because your governor is closer to you. Nigerians, effect positive change wherever and however you can!

YOU CAN’T TREAT ME ANYHOW ANYMORE

When the self-styled Islamic State (IS or ISIS) released a video showing the gruesome murder of a Jordanian pilot in its captivity, Jordan’s response as a government and people did not fall short of expectations. King Abdullah cut short his trip to the USA to mourn and show solidarity with his countrymen. His wife, Queen Rania, led the campaign for justice (pretty much similar to what the #BringBackOurGirls campaigners are doing here, only that our government sees them as enemies). The official statement from the Jordanian government was: “We will avenge every strand of hair on the late pilot’s head!” And that is what they are doing. 

We have seen the response of Britain and the US to similar Kidnappings and murders of their citizens by ISIS.  “Jihadi John”, for instance, a British citizen in the ranks of ISIS has been unveiled. The British government did not rest until it tracked down the identity of Mohammed Emwazi and placed a name and face to his voice. Now he is exposed and the intelligence dragnet, you can rest assured, will do everything possible to neutralize such threats in the future. This is a government!

                                                            

In our case, the government was not sure of what information to disseminate in the wake of the kidnapping of 200+ Chibok school girls. Their first response was to deny the incident, claiming that it was fabricated to embarrass the government of President Goodluck Jonathan. Can you imagine? They have just done this again with the fuel scarcity. Then, the Theris-God-o video of the president’s wife’s show of shame went viral. Lest we forget, there is also the grilling given ex-minister of information, Labaran Maku, by CNN’s Isha Sesay. Do our leaders look as if they care or know what they are doing?

Thanks to the effort of the #BringBackOurGirls campaigners (may God continue to bless you all), the issue attracted global attention and the Nigerian government suddenly had to be seen to be doing something. Yet, almost 365 days after, we haven’t heard anything. We have no information on their status, whether they are dead or alive, where they are. We do not have any intelligence on the kidnappers. Rather than profile prominent members of the terrorist group, all we do is kill Shekau three times and want him alive the fourth time! Is there no intelligence about Boko Haram, who they are and what makes them tick?

My conclusion is that our lives are not worth much in the eyes of our leaders. Around the world, many are beginning to realize that our government cannot protect us; that our lives mean nothing. Thank God for Niger, Chad and Cameroun. The Chadian president has stated unequivocally that a lot more could have been done a lot earlier, if the Nigerian government had allowed it, hadn’t deliberately put impediments in their way. What has changed?

They have come to the realization that they can lose the elections unless something positive is done. But are we deceived? Yesterday, the Vice president in a desperate bid, called for the elections to be conducted without using the card reader. This is the device produced at great expense to the tax payer, to authenticate the PVC holder. The card reader will ensure that the holder and the card are genuine and will negate or reduce the instance of rigging. The PDP have been slow to appreciate that INEC has actually made giant strides since the last elections to stop as much as possible the incidence of rigging.

After 54 years of our independence, it is possible at last for change to be effected, not violently by the military in a coup d’état but with people power through the ballot box, with real votes counted, yours and mine. We can for the first time actually achieve free and fair elections and have a say over who leads us. We cannot allow for anybody to tell us that authenticating who a citizen is constitutes electronic voting. The accreditation exercise does not allow for anyone to rig the votes counted and renders useless any PVCs that have been stolen.

We are important and can vote in or remove anyone that is not securing our lives and welfare. This can change the way business is done in Nigeria forever. It is for this reason that suddenly the Northeast has become a Mecca of sorts for the president and his officials. Closed-door meetings at the Villa with parents of the Chibok girls are now frequent, just because elections are around the corner.  

But a leopard never changes its spots and the fact that they have just forced through Obanikoro, a man fingered for election fraud, to the position of minister is just a forerunner of what we are to expect.

LACK OF PLANNING

We are the fire brigade, who did not check that we have a reservoir of water when racing to put out the fire, even though this is our primary function. This is what keeps us regressing and allows opportunists to exploit us and does untold damage to our union.  We are not prepared for the general elections, the most important date in a democratic dispensation and had to postpone the elections! Who has lost his head or his mandate? Nobody.

Who are these people that rule us, cloud our eyes for their own gain and give us only snippets of information, ill conceived, poorly prepared and as a result allows for poor emergency response mechanisms, which they get away with and in fact profit from.  We just are not process-driven to enable us get a clear understanding of what is required to tackle our issues head on. And now, how do we explain the long queues that have returned to petrol stations?

Exactly this time last year, we were in a similar dilemma. The most disturbing and fearful thing about a disease is when its cause cannot be ascertained. No one can categorically state why the queues have returned to our filling stations. When this round of fuel scarcity first reared its head, the Federal Government, or should we say the PDP (because we can rarely tell the difference these days) said it was the opposition APC that engineered it to discredit Mr President. Later, the government’s position was that the long queues at filling stations were as a result of panic buying and hoarding. However, the scarcity persists.

Petroleum marketers have responded to the allegation that their members are hoarding the commodity. One source stated what the government of President Goodluck Jonathan should seriously ponder on: “We cannot hoard what we don’t have, government should avoid fire brigade approach to importation of petroleum products since we do not refine petrol in Nigeria.” The government has, as a panic measure, started shelling out huge sums of money owed to the marketers, to temporarily alleviate the situation by panic importing the product. Fire brigade!

Whilst we queue for a product our nation produces, INEC is sweating out the “are-you-ready-or-not-question.” The strategy is to reincarnate the Devil’s advocate called the Association for Better Nigeria, headed by the infamous Arthur Nzeribe used to scuttle June 12. This time, the agenda is to either force Jega to proceed on terminal leave or compel him to ditch the use of card readers or both. This way, the credibility of the March 28 presidential election – or its lack of it – will rest on the ruling Peoples Democratic Party. Already, many PDP satellite parties have started championing both courses. The card reader is a biometric device that does not allow for rigging, as it identifies the owner both facially and with a thumbprint. One would have thought that this would be the best way to safe guard our democracy and ensure that the people choose whom they want to rule them. It is a security device. The matter has been taken to court at this late stage, just to fuel even more uncertainty in our polity. There is talk of further delays. Who is responsible for this uncertainly? Who?

On the frontline, the Chadian president, Idriss Deby, seems to have combined his role as his country’s commander-in-chief with ours. He obviously has more information on Boko Haram and Shekau than our president and has given ultimatums to the group and its leader. It is amazing and a shame that our security agencies do not see the shame that would make a country like Chad call for the surrender of a terrorist whose operation base is in Nigeria and has terrorised and killed more Nigerians than Chadians. If by now the Nigerian government does not know that it is operating in the shadows of its Chadian counterpart, then something must be wrong with the swagger that comes with being “the” regional power. Are we happy to rely on Chadian troops and intelligence to liberate our towns and villages without taking to account, the kind of implications it has on our national security.

“Abubakar Shekau must surrender. We know where he is. If he doesn’t give himself up he will suffer the same fate as his compatriots. “He (Shekau) was in Dikwa two days ago. He managed to get away but we know where he is. It’s in his interests to surrender.” If I were a Boko Haram member, I would take these threats seriously. Unfortunately, they are not from our own president. They are from the president of a “small” friendly neighbour of ours called Chad, a country of just over 10 million people and a total GDP of $15.986 billion.

This is the kind of organised leadership we need.

TO MILITARISE OR NOT TO MILITARISE?

The government seems to be gradually but assuredly trading our hard-earned democracy for totalitarianism. A very dangerous precedent. The rule of law must be strictly adhered to if we are to secure our democracy. The Court of Appeal in Abuja, a court of competent jurisdiction in a democratic country, recently pronounced the use of Armed Forces in the conduct of elections as a violation of Section 217(2)(c) of the 1999 Constitution and Section 1 of the Armed Forces Act. The court went further to bar the use of the Armed Forces in the conduct of future elections (including the coming election on March 28) in the country as such constituted a violation of both the constitution and the Electoral Act. But our government has insisted that it will ignore the Judiciary.

Why do we like to turn the normal on its head in Nigeria? Why does President Goodluck Jonathan feel that the army should be deployed? The prospect of militarizing our democracy is a very scary one, especially when being initiated by a president who is a beneficiary of civil proceedings.

 May I remind the president that at a Peoples Democratic Party’s governorship campaign in February 2012, he spoke with magisterial candour and confidence about how his administration had adopted the one-man-one-vote policy on the sanctity of elections conducted without gun-wielding security personnel? Mr President, you made this promise: "God willing before 2015, we would conduct election without security carrying guns to follow us. We know we have disciplined people.”

Soon after the president made this promise, he broke it by deploying armed security personnel in Cross Rivers State in an election. In fact, weeks before that, over 100,000 policemen were deployed to the president’s home state of Bayelsa during the state’s governorship election. In Sokoto State that same year, an 8,000-man military force, marched on the streets to guard the polls.  

Having experimented with deploying the military on flimsy grounds during the protests against the removal of fuel subsidy, our president seems to have fallen in love with this dangerous pastime. More recently, we witnessed how the deployment of military during the governorship elections in Ekiti, Osun and Anambra states led to serious violations of citizens’ rights. The ruling party especially in Ekiti also used the military as an instrument. We have a Police Force whose responsibility it is to secure us from within while the military’s constitutional role is to defend our territorial integrity. What do we need men trained to fight wars for at a polling station, especially when we are dealing with terrorists in the northeast?

The President should understand that his acts only serve to damage our economic and political stability. There is terrorism going on in the North East of the nation. We start to see the results of a concerted effort. Kudos must be given to the army for the advances that they are now making. But we wonder why this level of seriousness was not applied right from the start. If the government had been so effective ab initio, all the political games he now has to play to sway the undecided would not have been necessary.  The fact that they show today that when there is sincerity of purpose, they can protect us makes the President look really bad. He is now visiting areas affected by the kidnappings and bombings only for political gain. It is a shame that government feel that we are so worthless that they can play politics with our lives. Shekau is suddenly alive again even though the same army had killed him before.

May I remind the government that elections went on unabated during the long years of the IRA in the UK, the Red Brigade in Greece and ETA in Spain. Afghanistan and Pakistan have conduct elections regularly even in the face of terrorism on scales larger than ours.     

It is truly a shame that the elections were cancelled. Again this was on the advice of a partisan military. It is clear that the opposing party is struggling for funds as all their ad campaigns have ceased. We should be mindful that we need a viable opposition for our democracy to flourish. Winning should not be at all costs and referees should be apolitical.

 Plotting a new path by the country’s political leadership to deepen and guide a more efficient and meaningful national journey is our greatest challenge.  The focus area should be the restoration of the legitimate dream of Nigerians and the re-invention of a social contract in tatters. This can only happen through transitional democracy by means of the ballot box, conducted under a free, fair, credible and open atmosphere devoid of intimidation. 

What We Need

Four short phrases summarize Buhari: He is an incorruptible man. He is a patriotic Nigerian devoid of any trace of ethnicism and parochialism. He is a deeply religious man and a stern disciplinarian. We talk of the giant strides the Asian Tigers have taken to leap from the state of underdevelopment to developed nations. Little do we know or appreciate the agonizing hardship, pains and sufferings all Singaporeans, Chinese, Malays, Indians and other ethnic nationalities, had to endure for Singapore to attain its present height as a respected nation. Gold must be smelted in hot burning furnaces before unleashing its shine and purity.

Lee Kuan Yew was a benevolent democratic autocrat. He subjected his people to a good dose of rigorous healthy discipline. No country makes the kind of progress Singapore made without an unwavering sense of disciplined direction. Moreover, Lee Kuan Yew was an inspirational leader of his people. He governed by example.

It is not just the question of the number of kilometers of roads you build that elevates a nation. It is not a matter of the megawatts of power you generate or the number of buildings you erect for the populace; not even the refineries you build or the volume of agricultural products produced and exported. These are important. Any leader surrounded by brilliant experts, excellent technocrats and loyal advisers can achieve those basic and essential needs. Leadership calls for much greater attributes than the performance of those feats. A leader must have a strong, solid, moral and disciplined background, the inspirational ability to galvanize his people to higher, lofty and common purpose. These are not ordinary attributes available to every man. They are uncommon gifts and talents dispensed and bestowed only to a few. This makes the difference between one man and the other.

It is only a pity that fate thrust Buhari into the leadership limelight at a period in time when military revolution and coup d’états were in vogue. In a democratic setting as we have now, I believe that the real worth and essence of this man, encapsulated in an exemplary and enigmatic personal life, will blaze through and shine forth. It will soon be clear that those of his followers of questionable and dubious pedigree who think they can latch on to the reputation of this rare Nigerian would be the first to be highly disappointed.

I also believe that what is badly needed at this stage of our national development is a leadership that will turn the country round and rescue us from the depth of chronic indiscipline, disorder and decadence we have over the years, gradually descended and then slipped into. What I believe we need is a strong hand at the helm, with the support of our people, who will instill in us a much needed sense of order and discipline; inspire us into patriotic zeal and sacrifice; bring out the best in each and every one of us and encourage in us the love of Nation.

Buhari represents, in my opinion, the last opportunity we have to get it right. He should be given the chance to restore and consolidate the disappearing values of that golden age, so sadly disrupted by the military to which paradoxically and tragically, he and those in that generation and those before him were willy nilly pressed into being a part of. He carries on his frail ageing but reliable shoulders a historic responsibility and burden of getting it right. He has a duty to realign the nation towards achieving its manifest destiny. He has no excuses for failure. Otherwise why should he be seeking power at his age? History will judge him very harshly should he fail.

The immediate challenge before him is how to curb the excesses of the teaming masses of followers who undoubtedly adore him. The next is to rein in the display of empty, hollow pompousness and offensive arrogance by a few of his elitist, lazy patronage seeking associates, who if victorious will flock to him without discrimination.

I think it is time for us to begin anew. We should start to live as normal human beings and not in self-delusion and self-deceit. This is the real transformation needed. This is the revolution we yearn for at this time in our national life. One now understands what drove past Chinese leaders into staging the “cultural revolution”. Nigeria is ripe for a non-violent revolution, which will shake us up like a volcanic eruption from our present national stupor and sweep out the quacks and charlatans from our midst.

What we need is to get out there and March (28) for Buhari.

WHEN TRUST IS LOST

We Nigerians should have had enough by now! We are at a place where politicians exist, purely because they exist; purely because there is scope for them in our constitution. I am sure that whoever fashioned this system of government did not intend for the 3 arms to government to be a cancer to us, to our freedoms, to our security and to our prosperity. I am quite sure that the opposite was intended. But look at us, look where we are, we have been so ravaged by bad leadership that the connotative word for ‘politician’ is ‘deceit.’

We slide down a slippery slope to anarchy when, apart from breaking promises of delivery, leaders start to toy with our rights to give them a scorecard on performance, by not keeping to a timetable as ascribed by them, by whom I mean the federal government, INEC, the PDP. This highlights the impunity with which these same promises are broken. The very mandate, which elevated them to power, is what they toy with, for their own selfish interests. It is a disgrace. They are beneficiaries of our democracy and should defend it with their lives and not abuse the trust that we had given them.

INEC chairman, Attahiru Jega, the man in the eye of the storm, is a personality. He is not INEC. We must build institutions. This body must be independent and apolitical. The pressure that has been brought to bear on that institution is a further indictment on the ruling party, and the president’s utterances that he was not consulted in this mess, shows how weak a captain he is in steering this ship to calm waters. INEC was bullied into postponing the elections by the combined forces of the Presidency, the NSA, the PDP and the military. This is unfortunate.

The PDP have gone from telling us that General Buhari did not go to school to alleging that more PVCs have been distributed in the north than in the south. They should however not forget that the whole country, including the North, voted overwhelmingly for President Jonathan in 2011. What has changed? A failure to deliver on the promises made. They have themselves to blame, so they should look inwards and hang their heads in shame, roll up those sleeves and look hard at what they got wrong this time. Bringing in orators like the forked tongued Fani Kayode as spokesman only exposes their desperation to hold on to power by any means possible. They would do well to be wary of the fragility of our democracy in bringing in the army into matters that do not concern them. They should reverse acts and understand that the country is bigger than they are and we all have a right to choose, whoever we feel. After all, we did choose Mr. President in 2011. That is democracy.

6 weeks to salvage the north east? This is the same region that the PDP is claiming has received more voters’ cards than the south. This is the segment of the country that has suffered most in the PDPs hands, why are they so suddenly concerned about their right to vote? We have refugees in Niger, Chad and Cameroun. They have lost their homes and livelihoods. They have lost their kith and kin. It is most unlikely they will vote for a PDP led government. Bakassi in Cross River State where we have the IDPs in the south have suddenly also come to the fore. They are suddenly important, I wonder why. Do they want to practice stomach infrastructure there too! Highlighting these areas only serves to highlight to us how much the ruling party has failed us.

When in 2011, the president was widely voted into power with a breath of fresh air, there was no issue of North, South, East or West.  He secured as much votes in the North as he did in the East. But this time around, desperation is blurring his vision of One Nigeria.  What we are concerned with is who is Boko Haram and how do we rid ourselves of this resident evil. Why is our economy suffering and what have you done with our external reserves? They have been mismanaged and we only see private jets on our tarmac as we watch ourselves getting weaker and poorer.  

We should however not despair. I am particularly impressed by how we have composed ourselves with dignity. We refuse to lose faith and have made calls for only peaceful assembly. Here on a platter of gold is the opposition’s opportunity to show true leadership by eschewing violence and not reacting negatively to anything that is thrown at them. As for the naysayers of our democratic process, March 28 will soon be here.