DAMNED IF THEY DO, DAMNED IF THEY DON’T - HAKEEM BABA AHMED.

“If a leopard sells goat meat, few people will buy it.”

Kenyan Proverb.

Former Presidents Obasanjo and Babangida issued a  joint statement last week appealing to Nigerians to stand back from the abyss. Just any public collaboration between these two these days is matter of considerable public interest. These two leaders have given the nation its most defining characteristics today. Babangida’s schemings at the head of a military government had ended in near tragedy for himself and the nation. Salvage efforts took years and ended up with a President in 1999 whose most outstanding credential was his being Yoruba. The “big man and his ethnic group” syndrome assumed a central place in Nigeria’s political system. Obasanjo in turn made full use of his larger-than-life powers as President to foist successors and reinvent himself, which came unstuck with the demise of Yar’Adua.

Both lost substantial ground after 2001. Babangida’s ill-fated involvement in the PDP northern consensus candidate shrunk his stature even more sharply. Obasanjo lost substantial ground when the ACN chased the PDP out of the West, and lost even more ground when President Jonathan’s handlers felt he was better-off with some considerable distance between him and the man who engineered his emergence at the national level.

These were the two giants with feet of clay who released an impassioned plea to Nigerians to help find solutions to the crises facing the nation. They singled out widespread insecurity and pervasive cynicism over the survival of the nation as threats to the very foundations upon which the country rests. They advise that efforts by various governments to confront the escalating security challenges across the country should be more involving and inclusive.

You would think that anyone closely related to the President will pause to see what impact, if any, the long lamentations of the two former Presidents will have. If anyone did, they did not reckon with Chief E. Clark. It is possible that Chief Clark had read the careful wording of the joint statement, which even avoided a direct mention of the Jamaatu Ahlil Sunnah Lidda’awati Waj Jihad (JASLIWAJ) (Boko Haram), or the plea for negotiation coded under “inclusive and involving” strategies. If he did, he was not impressed. He chose his own forum and language to say that northern leaders should condemn and rein-in the JASLIWAJ insurgency, and stop blaming Jonathan for incompetence and ineptitude. The northern leaders under reference include all prominent northern politicians who took a stand against Jonathan’s candidature or elections, such as Generals Babangida, Buhari, Aliyu Mohammed, Atiku Abubakar, prominent politicians in opposition parties, and any northerner who was unhappy that Jonathan contested or became President, or who wants him to fail. They will also include traditional and community leaders in areas where the insurgency has taken root, or is spreading. They will also include every northern Muslim who has not publicly condemned the insurgency.

Old man Clark provides a rather simple solution to a very complex problem: if you do not publicly condemn the insurgency, then you support it. If you condemn it, it will go away, and President Jonathan can then get down to the serious business of running the country. For an elder who had spent most of his political life in the trenches, it will be unfair to say that Chief Clark is indifferent to how his statements affect the Jonathan Presidency. The very careful language by authors of the joint statement suggests that it is a public relations exercise targeting citizens who expect their leaders to do a lot more than they are doing. It did not say one thing on the performance or role of President Jonathan, other than a vague reference to all leaders at all levels of government to improve the manner they relate to the spreading threat of violence. But it asks citizens to shun violence, be more patriotic, accommodating, humble and forgiving. There is no mention of scandalous exposés on corruption and the appearance of a weak political will to deal with them; or the palpable absence of any capacity to build political bridges to mitigate widening gulfs between regions and groups; or the absence of strategic thinking on how the insurgency can be contained for good.

Whatever good that statement did, Chief Clark’s elephant-in-a-china-shop outing would have obliterated it. One of the signatories of the statement is in the front row of those accused of foisting the insurgency, or fueling it by not condemning it. Hundreds more covered by innuendoes and hints will note the suggestions that they are both the inspiration behind the insurgency, and the very people who should bring it to an end. Very few people ask why anyone who lit the JASLIWAJ fire would want to put it out, if it is serving the interest for which it was started? Could these interests also include the devastation of the economy of the north; the traumatization of millions of its people; the destruction of vital relations between northern Christians and Muslims; the killing and maiming of hundreds of Muslims and Christians and the decimation of the political clout of the political north to aspire to lead the nation in the near future? What political interest, except those which are fundamentally anti-northern and anti-Islam, can be served by the condition of the north today, and the disarray among the Muslim community? Is it not, in fact, more plausible to argue that if the worst enemy of the north needed a weapon to destroy it politically and economically, they could not have found a better one than this insurgency?

This game of passing the buck is not new, and it will not help the President. Northern leaders do condemn the insurgency, and many live in fear that they laid the foundations which allow it to flourish. They are not alone. Nigerian politics breeds extremes and desperate people. This insurgency needs a solid united effort to deal with it. Statements by former Presidents won’t do, and people like Chief Clark just make it worse. If anyone has evidence that any northerner, no matter how highly-placed, is involved with this insurgency, they should please throw the book at them. Otherwise, just shut up and focus on the problem.

Throbs of Asari’s War Drums.

by Mahmoon Baba-Ahmed.
Nigeria is no longer a land of milk and honey, having been transformed into a play ground for all sorts of villains where tears and blood flow freely. Its blazing glory is growing fainter by the day, giving way to a pall of misery and uncertainly. It is equally shrouded in despair, distrust and despondency with no vista of hope for imminent recovery. It was possible under such distressing circumstances for vices to thrive and for the government to become ineffectual and indecisive enough to achieve its primary objectives. For these reasons, therefore, anarchy is gradually setting in, with everybody doing what he likes without let or hindrance even as the incumbent administration is progressively mired in incompetence and ineffectiveness. 

It can therefore be rightly argued that President Goodluck Jonathan has lost grip of the prevailing situation in the country which has accentuated the prevalence of terror and the attendant unrest. He had proved to be totally incapable of arresting the sad state of affairs rendering the nation and its people laughing stock in the comity of nations. In grappling with this circumstance he was found to be either complacent in acting resolutely to stamp out such iniquities or is complicit in their commission. 

How else can one convincingly interpret Jonathan’s disturbing silence over the seditious acts perpetrated in the Nigeria Delta area where he hails from? His Ijaw kinsmen in Bayelsa State and the Ogoni tribesmen in neighboring Rivers State have embarked on subversive and treasonable acts by contemplating separatist moves to guarantee their people self government based on universal spirit of self determination. The two communities have hoisted their pro-autonomy flags, composed their anthem and rolled out their manifestoes.

These include controlling fifty percent of the derivative oil wealth by abrogating what they called the lopsided revenue sharing formula and bringing to an end the regime of carting the entire oil proceeds to central coffers after which they are apportioned meager portion of what was rightly their birthright. Clearly these acts are rebellious and grossly unconstitutional and their perpetrators ought to be apprehended and appropriately prosecuted. But apparently President Jonathan, whose responsibility it was to preserve the sanctity of Nigeri’as constitution and to also protect its provisions from degradation and infringement, was vacillating. He was totally muffled and lacked an ability to recognize clearly and intuitively the complexity of the impending catastrophe. 

What that has obviously shown was that President Jonathan is unfocussed and undaunted by the grim prospect of Nigeria’s disintegration, hence abandoning it to suffer a cruel fate dictated by instability and insecurity. That is evidenced by the fact that the binding ties of its unity are weakening, and in course of time will snap under the agonizing strain of aggressive patriotism based on prejudiced loyalty to an intolerable cause.

News of unpleasant happenings emanating from the Niger Delta area is disconcerting. That clearly shows that activities of militant tribal groups are pushing the already precarious situation to the limit. Chief Asari Dokubo that sworn enemy of whatever is northern, has been threatening fire and brimstone, spoiling for war with the north, which he said would be prosecuted to ensure total destruction of the region and the extinction of its constituents. His well structured organization, Niger Delta Volunteer Force NDVF, is the precursor of similar outfits that mushroomed in the area purposely to lend credence to the struggle for autonomy of the so-called minority ethnic groups in the South-south zone within a sovereign state. They have now found their bearing and voices and are poised to execute their threats of secession.

By his utterances and body language, Asari Dokubo is tactfully reeling out the agenda of accelerating the disintegration of Nigeria which the ethnic groupings in the south-south zone have been nurturing for long. If they failed to expel a section of northern region, in a military insurrection sponsored by Great Ogboru and his cohorts, under an intrepid northern officer, Gideon Orkar, they can at least organize a pull out from the federation, so that each ethnic nationality can go its own way.

Now in considering problems confronting President Jonathan particularly the security challenge posed by the activities of his pro-self-government kinsmen, and his glaring inability to tackle them effectively, one is bound to predict that Nigeria under Jonathan is fast slipping into rebellion and disorder. Allowing the continuation of that ugly trend could compound the President’s unmitigated problems and amplify his shortcomings. It is indeed pitiful to realize how Jonathan’s government excuses frivolities and overlook bigger challenges. 

It is a pity how Jonathan’s kinsmen are making things difficult for him by making the country ungovernable for him only to turn round and make some people the scapegoats of their reprehensible acts. They boast of bringing the President into power but discreetly thwart his effort to succeed by unnecessary distraction and denying him the necessary support to accomplish his objectives. A handful of such indefatigable hacks hang around President Jonathan making him ill at ease and unable to take firm and constructive decision. Interestingly most of them are from the President’s ethnic stock. 

Invariably such men are more of a liability than tangible political asset politician, yet he could not get rid of their menacing pestilence, allowing them sufficient leverage to make or mar situations. This can be adduced from their frantic effort to actualize the long standing ambition of the south-south people for acquiring self-governing status through illegal means. No doubt that was an objective that will not only put paid to President Jonathan’s checkered political career but will also occasion disastrous destiny for the country. It is therefore incumbent for President Jonathan to exercise his powers by dealing squarely and decisively with strident calls for unnecessary belligerency and gratuitous revolution by muffling the throbs of Asari Dokubo’s drums of war.

THE RANTINGS OF A CONFUSED CLARK.

by Mahmoon Baba-Ahmed .
Chief Edwin Clark, the self-styled Ijaw leader in the South-south zone, was a misguided adviser to his gullible people whose erudition and political shrewdness did not measure up to his expectations of greatness. He served his fatherland innately under a Northern military scion, General Yakubu Gowon but that did not help him imbibe the spirit of unanimity. He subsequently became a tribal jingoist campaigning relentlessly and irascibly for Ijaw rights in the ethnically volatile Niger Delta. 

In 2007 he overtly opposed the re-election of Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State, his fellow party man, on ethnic grounds. Similarly he rose against the emergence of Goodluck Jonathan as the strongman of the south-south politics, blocking his chances of becoming a vice-president, only to shift position and pledge shaky loyalty when his plot failed woefully. Edwin Clark may profess to be burning with the fervor of nationalism, but inwardly he is an extremely unpatriotic, unrelenting supporter of loosening the south-south zone’s federalist ties.

No wonder, therefore, Edwin Clark’s political career has been marked by notoriety, typified by diabolical brinkmanship ostensibly to defame the character of his countrymen. He is a geriatric with imbecilic mindset whose sense of reasoning is deteriorating past. He could therefore not think or act rationally. His speeches are constantly illogical, failing to address the substance, or terribly demeaning his subjects.

In one of his current emotional and imprudent outbursts, Chief Edwin Clark lashed at northern political elites whom he wantonly accused of turning President Goodluck Jonathan into a victim of endless envy and harassment through what he called deliberate ploys to bring him down. He had variously accused the northern governors of playing facilitative role in the emergence of the deadly Boko Haram sect, simply to hound his government. The governors were also indicted of blatant involvement in actions that rendered the national committees of their party ineffective by planting their proxies in key positions. In that way, he said, they had succeeded in hijacking the party and, in cohort with their colleagues in Nigerian Governors Forum, have succeeded setting up parallel hierarchy now acting as opposition appendage. 

That was to be expected because the negative style introduced in running the affairs of the PDP by Chief Clark and his ilk have terribly paralyzed its activities, making it incapable of upholding the tenets of internal democracy, a situation that turned out to be its Achilles’ heel. The ensuing wrangling and recriminations which underscored the degree of disagreement and hostilities, based on religious bigotry and ethnicity within the party’s rank and file, rendered it an object of ridicule, adversely diminishing the importance and political relevance of President Jonathan to that of a clannish idol.

Perhaps the biggest political imprudence that exposed Clark’s absolute lack of wisdom and tactlessness was his unwarranted and spiteful criticism of Generals Muhammadu Buhari and Ibrahim Babangida for what he called their brazen indifference in joining the campaign to curb the rising profile of Boko Haram sect in the North. He challenged them to establish their innocence by publicly condemning the activities of the sect. He also wondered why the two northern Generals did not emulate General Olusegun Obasanjo’s immoral and ill-fated gesture by visiting the sect’s enclave to dissuade its leaders and commiserate with their followers. In that case did Chief Clark bother to hassle his reluctant kinsman to understand the imperative of paying instantaneous commiserative visits to all the places in the north incapacitated by the Boko Haram crises? No, he won’t do that! He will even be delighted if the north bursts up in one, huge conflagration.

It is pertinent to point out that the upheavals, occasioned by the regular clashes between dissidents thrown up by social injustice and political immorality on the one hand, and the ill-equipped, ill-motivated security forces under visionless and unfocused administration on the other, are limited only to northern states with predominantly Muslim population. It is also these states that are at the receiving end of the bomb blasts that cause overwhelming damage to the economy. Consequently many cities in those states are now desolate with little or no commercial activities, while learning and other occupations have been severely hampered. In that case the southerners should not be concerned since they have been spared such agonizing experience.

Everyone expected that Chief Edwin Clark will present a workable solution to the insecurity situation in the country with particular reference to the Boko Haram crisis, but instead he came out with disgusting outbursts, attempting to denigrate revered members of northern political class whose innocence, integrity and simplicity he could not reproach. How many times has President Goodluck attempted to genuinely address the perennial problem of terrorism which he approached with levity and apathy? Why is the Federal Government adamant in dialoguing with Boko Haram sect members with the ultimate aim of granting them amnesty to secure peace as had been done with the nefarious Niger Delta insurgents?

Regretting government’s indecision and inaction in dealing squarely with the menace of Boko Haram, Nigerians are now folding their arms in anticipation of the outcome of self government declaration recently by the Ogoni, a leading tribe in the south-south. That could be a fire kindled by controversial Clark to sow a seed of discord between Ogoni and Ijaw in anticipation of truncating Jonathan’s ambition to run in 2015 presidential elections. Incidentally the Ogoni are continually locked in intense rivalry with the dominant Ijaw to which Dr Jonathan and Chief Clark belong. While Edwin Clark is an avowed advocate for the south-south supremacy, including its break up from the federation, Jonathan may not be inclined tolerate any move that will compromise the unity of the country. The stage is now set, and daggers drawn for a bloody duel, between a master and his benefactor, which may end in one stabbing the other in the back. 

Edwin Clark may articulate what he fantasizes about the two northern generals, but it is important for him to know that on so many occasions and at different fora, the duo had unequivocally condemned the activities of the deadly sect, dismissing them as irreligious. It is unfortunate how Chief Clark is starkly ignorant about that development. It seems the only thing to satisfy his imperious ego is a public proclamation about their complicity with the sect. It therefore follows that the venom of pathological hatred poured out by this dissolute tribal chieftain on northern leaders has amplified the ranting of this giant that had transformed into a wretched ant.

NIGERIA'S IMPOSING FIRST LADIES.

by Mahmoon Baba-Ahmed .
The concept of First Ladyship, imported from Western democracies, is awfully abused in this country, and from all indications it is an ill-wind that blows nobody any good. Its practice is making everyone ill at ease. Initially the idea was to enable the wife of a President or governor accompany him to any state function where her presence will add colour and glamour, but in Nigeria First Ladies have redefined that role by usurping the authority of their hubbies, performing executive functions, making unbudgeted expenditure and expropriating public property for their personal aggrandisement. 

They have systematically liberated themselves from the control of their spouses, exerting themselves as independent partners that could do and undo. They emerged overnight as larger than life consorts, dwarfing the political stature of their men. They do not have anybody’s mandate to act as they wish, but are more powerful than their so-called elected mates. That was an unfortunate development that terribly negates the notion of governance and which also projects our leaders as totally hopeless in curbing their wives’ extravagant immoderation in the affairs of the state.

God in his infinite wisdom has cautioned us about showing excessive love for women and children who could be harmful to our security and welfare. However, our leaders remained heedless, always trusting their women and over pampering their children. Needless to say, such actions have now brought reproach upon them. Although Nigerians love and respect the basic rights of their womenfolk, they do not sanction their indulgence in activities that go beyond what is morally or socially acceptable that may pour scorn on their status and bring shame to the community. Although most Nigerian women are vociferous and unconstrained, always at liberty to pursue their legitimate interests, they are still firmly placed under the guidance and supervision of their male partners for effective control. 

Nowadays such vital control is terribly relaxed and women are on the loose, ensnaring men into their devious designs. Consequently Nigeria’s elected leaders are the worst victims having lost their bearing with their women, unwittingly endorsing their involvement in all aspects of governance. By so doing they are causing great confusion by meddling into the affairs of the civil service by hook or by crook, pushing officers around and issuing orders that counteract the objectives of the establishment. 

Their selfish and weird wishes are always deemed by their complacent husbands as directives which could not be contravened. To all intent and purpose they had succeeded in setting up a parallel authority comparable to that of their husbands. The era of first ladyship was thus established in all the three tiers of governance in the country. Its influence has subsequently permeated into the security institutions where the wives of service chiefs are ardent adherents. A personality cult is built around them with immense power and influence to direct, shape or manoeuvre men and materials to gain advantage.

Maryam Babangida was the forerunner of First Ladyship and her daring escapades made her Better Life Programme a focus of attention. It was later tacitly endorsed by the bureaucrats. Maryam Abacha consolidated it with her own version, The Family Support, which was a complete departure from the aims and objectives of the pioneering scheme. Subsequently each first lady came with her own agenda, different in content and meaning from that of her predecessors. 

The sad aspect of the whole affair was that it produced risky and daring enterprises with no guarantee of success. They were therefore abandoned midway to become white elephants projects. Worst still, there was discontinuity in their implementation, with each lady commencing on fresh projects that may have little or no benefit to the welfare of masses. That clearly brought to the fore the insensitivity of the First ladies about the judicious use of public funds, an indication of their recklessness which fuelled the corruption their husbands failed to curtail. 

Dame Patience Jonathan has stretched that concept too far by taking the demands of the office of a First Lady and that of a permanent secretary, in a state civil service, in a single stride. She is now crowning it up with the position of the Chairperson of the African First Ladies Peace Mission AFLPM which earned her the sobriquet of the First Lady of Africa. The apogee of Dame Patience’s reign as Africa’s foremost dame came recently with a parley and lavish banquet for all Africa’s first ladies hosted at a staggering cost which almost drained the nation’s purse. That was indeed an ironical misadventure undertaken to promote peace on the continent when a substantial portion of Nigeria is gripped by a reign of terror. Somebody should please tell Mrs Jonathan that charity begins at home. She should counsel her husband on the need to be more practical in repressing the insurgency that could destabilise his administration and render his Dame a damsel in distress. 

While the first ladies are basking in the warmth and comfort of their offices, deriving great satisfaction and pleasure by savouring their spoils, there is a growing disquiet about their integrity and the legality of their actions. It has been argued that the actions of the first ladies are not backed by any authority and consequently any money expended for that purpose is acquired through illegitimate means. It therefore goes without saying that the first ladies and their other halves are partners in illegal acts, perpetrating immorality and corruption. While a governor or a president is immune to interrogation and subsequent litigation while in office, his wife is not and could be liable to grilling to account for the money improperly entrusted to her for the pursuit of her pet project and pleasure-seeking exploits.

Despite all these, the primus inter pares of Africa’s most flamboyant ladies, Dame Patience Jonathan, is completely dissatisfied with her role as Nigeria’s matriarch. She is now toying with the idea of legalising the offices of first ladies in the current effort to amend the statute book. That may be a plausible contention, but how could that be done without involving the electorates whose mandate is vital for the crystallisation of that idea? In that case it is suggested that the constitution be amended to allow a triumvirate arrangement involving the president, his vice and the first lady as the second vice president, all to run on a single ticket. In that way the three of them could share some responsibility, authority or power. The same should also apply to state governors.

By so doing deputy governors, and to a large extend the vice president, will be allotted a degree of responsibility to make them more effective and relevant in governance. Anything short of that will amount to an infringement of constitutional provisions, making the office of first ladies redundant, superfluous, unessential and unnecessary.

EDO POLLS AND BUHARI'S ALLEGORY.

by Mahmoon Baba-Ahmed.

Nigeria's democratic system is imperfect. It is a corrupted version of the model bequeathed to the world by ancient Greeks. It could also be a bastardised variation copied blindly from American prototype. Invariably it is employed as a tool for the formation of a government of the few, by the privileged, for the powerful. Nigeria’s flawed electoral procedure, which is a direct byeproduct of dysfunctional democracy, makes it impossible for governments to be elected freely and equally by all citizens due mainly to official corruption and other related vices. What simply obtains in Nigeria is a system of government which is often disputed by the people who always have hard feelings about the process of its formation. In Nigeria the rich and the powerful always have their way, while the say of the people is never considered.

That is the prevailing political situation in the country and people are almost becoming used to it. They are no longer bothered by the possibility of ascribing victory to a losing candidate robbed from preferred contestant who had been massively supported. The party bigwigs choose who will contest and also decide the number of votes to be falsely returned in his favour. Under that dispensation it is absolutely necessary for all political parties to indulge in immoral electoral vices if they have to remain afloat. In that respect the ruling or the ‘winning’ party’-- the PDP-- is habitually at the forefront of the unlawful movements that perpetrate electoral fraud. No wonder, therefore, the masses always shout “PeeDeePee” whenever an evil act is committed. Similarly the name PDP is synonymous with all sorts of imaginable malpractices.

Nonetheless the PDP met its Waterloo recently in Edo State when it was decisively defeated in gubernatorial election it had determinedly planned to rig. Its favourite candidate, Retired Major-General Charles Airhiavbere, whose nomination for the contest tore the party apart, was thoroughly humiliated by the indomitable and venerable incumbent, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, favoured by the generality of the masses. He dealt his opponent a devastating blow to secure a landslide victory which obviously hit the final nail on the PDP’s coffin in the state, and may perhaps affect its future electoral fortunes nationwide.

Even before the elections everyone knew that Comrade Oshiomhole was coasting to victory. His campaign rallies were always graced by a mammoth crowd of passionate supporters and well wishers to the chagrin of the ever scheming PDP which was renting crowd for an impressive political outing or distractive jamborees. Avowed critics of Governor Oshiomhole and admirers alike concurred that he had done more than enough for the development of Edo State which he met in shambles, with its people existing in squalid conditions. 

With the advent of the ACN administration under him four years ago, there were serious development efforts in all parts of the state particularly in human, infrastructure, economy and social aspect. These have led to increased prosperity to the people of the state and an important boost to the economic development of the country in general. In addition to these Governor Oshiomhole designed and implemented programmes that helped ameliorate the sufferings of his people, thus paving way for enduring peace that permitted suitable conditions for empowering youths economically. Without doubt these were the credentials Governor Oshiomhole flaunted before the electorates which also convinced them to rally round him once again, trusting him to take them to the Promised Land.

That was why everyone was happy with the misfortunes of the PDP in Edo State, especially as it was occasioned by its vain arrogance and over confidence, for it believed that Governor Oshiomhole was going to be an easy pushover. Leaders of the party had earlier beaten their chests, boasting about their detestable precedents of improperly toppling opposition governments in other states. Consequently it hastily mustered a formidable campaign team under the distinguished chairmanship of Vice President Namadi Sambo; rolled out its war drums, and assembled a fearsome force made up of 3,500 militarised personnel and a squadron of 13,000 policemen to prosecute its ill-fated mission in Edo. The aim was to intimidate the already cowed citizenry by creating tensed atmosphere which induced fear of invasion.

However, despite all the tricks in the books employed by the PDP’s big shot in Abuja, with local officials of the party engaging in coercion, oppression, threats, use of money and undue influence to subdue Oshiomhole’s supporters, yet they remained steadfast in backing him, unwavering in their endorsement and unyielding in their commitment to ensure victory. In fact there were concerns and worries of looming danger, but in the face of all these the people and the security men remained firm and conducted violent free elections. The efforts of the people paid off considerably, thus underscoring the relevance of an age-old Roman saying: Vox populi suprema lex, meaning that the voice of the people is the supreme law. 

It has also shown that once the people vowed to protect their rights with their votes, and ensure their mandate goes to the right candidate, no Jupiter could disrupt them from pursuing the goals of improving their socio-political conditions. They campaigned for free and fair elections and they got more than they bargained for. The reward for their enduring steadfastness and patience has been eternal liberty and emancipation from the yoke of oppression in the hands of uncaring PDP government which had in the past condemned them to abject poverty, penury and want of conducive conditions for decent living.

Here, it is imperative to salute the courage of the Edo people for their exemplary efforts to save democracy. They have now demeaned the PDP and exposed its sinister tricks of begrudging the inalienable right of the people to choose a candidate into whose hands they wish to commit their destiny. If the emerging situation in Edo State had been otherwise, General Buhari’s exhortation in his famous allegory of dog, baboon and the blood would have come to pass. Everyone is grateful to Almighty God now that all is well that ends well in Edo.

WHY PRESIDENT JONATHAN SHOULD BE SUPPORTED - HAKEEM BABA AHMED.

“An empty sack will not stand upright.”

Ghanaian Proverb

It now appears that the nation has missed the real import of the joint statement released two weeks ago by former Presidents Obasanjo and Babangida. In the period since the statement was released, it has been subjected to a deserving torrent of analyses, critical reviews, condemnations and commendations, which is to be expected. After all, this was a joint statement from two of the prime architects of the state of our current political framework, in a context which strongly argues that the present administration is more a victim of our inherited limitations than their designers. Neither President Jonathan nor his legion of spokespersons have even bothered to respond to the statement which draws attention to serious threats to the security of the nation, and widespread doubts over its ability to survive them. But we have heard thundering repudiations against calls for the President to resign, or even, the most laughable of all, against alleged calls by a Muslim group that he becomes a Muslim or face unending violent challenge.

The statement by two former Presidents who are walking encyclopedias on crisis management and mismanagement was a warning that the nation is tottering on the brink, and citizens need to step back and chart a course away from a future which promises nothing but pain and privation. The statement said nothing about the administration’s role in the perilous state of our security situation, a political environment which progressively polarizes the nation, and an economic management style which breeds unprecedented waste and corruption. Perhaps the two elders felt it was not their place to join the bandwagon of critics which President Jonathan seems to expand by the day. Or perhaps they have offered all the advise they can in private, and have decided to absolve themselves of blame for watching the nation burn and disintegrate in silence. So they turn on citizens, victims of a very weak leadership, and appeal to them to raise their levels of patriotism and commitment to the future of the nation.

Alhaji Ahmed Joda also raised his voice, but he went further to make specific demands on President Jonathan. In addition to convening a Constituent Assembly to knock together another constitution which will more appropriately reflect the concerns and challenges of contemporary realities, he asks Jonathan to fight corruption, eliminate waste, improve the quality of governance, address security issues more vigorously, improve the electoral process before 2015, and renounce any intention to run as President again.

Alhaji Joda acknowledges that President Jonathan’s administration has a major role to play in the manner our current challenges are resolved; and his person and political ambition are central to the resolution of these challenges in the long term. Again, the administration has not uttered a word, not even the customary condemnation of criticisms, in response to Alhaji Joda’s reinforcement of the two former leaders’ plea. Instead, it is digging in on a now familiar strategy of ignoring problems, or informing the nation that they do not exist; and if they do, they were created by past administrations, or are products of a northern-based insurgency; or are well on their way to being solved.

It is now imperative that the nation reassesses its approach to the many limitations of this administration. Critics of the administration need to re-evaluate their strategies, and in particular, ask whether criticisms alone can influence the way President Jonathan governs this nation. The simple truth is that the Jonathan administration is being swamped by the challenges it faces, and its capacity to deal with them is woefully inadequate. An attitude which suggests to him that he is doing well, but is not being appreciated by millions of citizens will reinforce a mindset which encourages more of the same. Similarly, critics who think pointing at massive deficits in competence, integrity and vision will be sufficient to raise the bar, or create a critical mass of hostility and resistance in the country are just as much a liability as the administration is to Nigerians.

What the nation needs is a strong push from politicians, civil society, professional groups, organized labour and youth to create a massive momentum towards real change, which will assist this administration with ideas, strategies, options and support to address the most critical of its weaknesses. Instead of accusing Jonathan of indifference towards a nation gradually falling apart, a political summit should be convened by elder statesmen, active and retired politicians, academia and civil society to attempt to rebuild bridges which have been crumbling since 2009. The summit should address the manifest challenges from the effects of JASLIWAJ (Boko Haram) phenomenon, the perilous state of the political economy of much of the north, the incipient challenges to the unity of the country from the south-south, and the issues relating to the clamour for a Constitutional Conference. Former Heads of State and other elders can spearhead this. It will be in the interest of President Jonathan and his administration and his party to work with and in the summit. If he chooses to ignore it, it should still go ahead, and let Nigerians know what it sees and advises.

Instead of accusing Jonathan of being clueless regarding the JASLIWAJ (Boko Haram) insurgency, the Muslim leadership should engage itself in a search over what could possibly have bred this insurgency; what its place is in mainstream Islamic doctrines; and what needs to be done to engage it by Muslims, non-Muslims and the Nigerians State. This challenge can be taken up by a few respected ulama, leaders and groups, but it must have sufficient scope and integrity to guide the Muslim community and the Nigerian state adequately in terms of how to relate to it.

Instead of locking ourselves up against resurging kidnapping, violent crimes, bombs and bullets, our senior retired heads of police and other security agencies should put heads together to examine the basic weaknesses of our law and order institutions. Retired members of the judiciary should examine why our judicial system is too weak to contain massive assaults on its integrity. We need expert and experienced hands to tell us how to re-invent our police, and provide answers to the many questions we ask over federal and state police, and the near-irrelevance of the police as a tool against disorder and crime. Retired Chief Justices can initiate this on their own. If the administration wants to be part of it, fine. If not, let them tell Nigerians what they think is wrong, and what can be done about it.

Instead of lamenting the theft of our nation by pervasive and politically-entrenched corruption, civil society, labour, professional groups and other patriotic citizens should work under a C.S.O umbrella to examine the reasons why corruption has enten so deeply into our value systems and institutions, and what steps the administration should take to begin to roll it back. If the administration wants to be part of this very important work, fine. If not, Nigerians should be told what, in specific terms, needs to be done to deal with current cases of corruption being investigated or being prosecuted, what needs to be done to dilute the intimate linkages between politics and corruption, and what needs to be done in the long term to reduce it to the barest minimum.

Instead of lamenting the sorry state of our economy, its poor management and the possibility that we will be up to our necks in debt once again, economic and business interests should facilitate a thorough soul-search for what is wrong with the way we manage our economy. We need answers to the impact of the size of government on the economy; to our perennial failure to execute our budgets as planned; to the persistence of an enclave economy which is dangerously vulnerable to external stimuli; to decaying and inadequate infrastructure which cannot support a growing economy; and to the search for vision and discipline in pursuit of long-term economic goals.

Our political parties should raise a think tank to identify the weaknesses of our electoral system, and how it can be plugged. Other Nigerians with insights, expertise or experience, as well as C.S.Os and professional groups should be involved in providing a blueprint for a thorough overhaul of our electoral system between now and 2015.

It will be very dangerous to continue to leave the problems of Nigeria on the doorsteps of this administration. The administration is likely to continue to open the door, see the problems, and walk back in locking the door, and preferring to believe it did not see what it saw. It is time for patriots, leaders and those who know about our problems to step up. This is not a favour to President Jonathan, and it should not matter that he may choose to ignore outcomes of some of these activities. This is a service to the fatherland, and there may be no other opportunities to salvage our nation. Those who are content with opportunistic and sterile opposition lose the opportunity to insist that identified viable and practical options must be pursued by the administration. A groundswell of demand for purposeful and strong leadership, strategies and options will provide the necessary pressure for the President to act more decisively.

President Jonathan needs help to govern. Those who love this nation should help him with ideas, suggestions and inputs. The best guarantee that this nation can survive its short term challenges lies in strengthening Jonathan’s capacity to deal with them. We have no future as a united, secure and prosperous nation unless we fix our current challenges. President Jonathan is one of them. He must not be isolated and merely bombarded with criticisms so long as he is leading us. Those who want him to go in 2015 may consider the thought that it will be easier for him not to run again in 2015 if he makes a fairly good job of his current mandate, than if he messes it up. Rulers who mess up big time tend to want to stay on forever, lest they are called to account.

SQUABBLING AT A PROBLEM - HAKEEM BABA AHMED.

“Do not try to lean on a wall that is not near you.”

Ghanaian Proverb.

Northern Governors set up a seemingly powerful committee on reconciliation, healing and security last week, three months into the silence of President Jonathan over the long list of grievances and demands of presented to him by Northern Elders. The governors’ committee is meant to liaise with stakeholders in the states affected by the JASLIWAJ(a.k.a. Boko Haram) insurgency and other security threats, and get to the root of other security challenges and proffer solutions. It also has their mandate to negotiate with indentified groups, liaise with the federal government and agree on best approaches to resolving security challenges, and work out modalities for reconciling warring parties and communities in the north. The governors say recurring incidents of violence in the north have almost crippled the economy and society of the region, and they represent serious challenges to national stability, unity and development. Chairman of the Northern Governors’ Forum, Dr. M.B. Aliyu wants the committee to assist by broadly looking at the issues of religious extremism, intolerance and mutual disrespect which appear to be creating more ethnic and religious cleavages that are damaging northern unity. He lamented the inability of a single northern state to pay one month salary from internally-generated revenue. He hinted at the resolve to sustain resistance by the northern governors against what they see as unfair distribution of oil revenues.

It will be uncharitable to dismiss this latest move by northern governors as a red herring, but it will be equally hypocritical to applaud it as a statesmanship from leaders of people with their backs against many walls. The Northern Elders’ Forum which met and presented a litany of requests and demands to President Jonathan three months ago has to be a backdrop to an assessment of the utility of this move by the governors. Almost bowing to the ground, the leader of the elders appealed to the President to demilitarize the north, curb gross abuses by security agents including extra-judicial killings; discourage official perception of the insurgency as a northern Muslim resistance against the President; revisit many of the reports of investigations into ethno-religious conflicts and implement their recommendations; tackle corruption, address youth unemployment, stop arbitrary and indiscriminate removal of senior officers from the public and security services, and many more demands. There were no reports by the elders that they had approached northern governors earlier to take up these issues with the President, as people with political and legal obligations and clout.

The decision by northern elders to engage Mr President directly on issues that would have been effectively taken up at numerous levels and occasions by governors was a serious indictment of the governors. Even if, as was rumoured, some of the governors had encouraged the elders to go straight to the Villa, they would only have shot themselves in the foot. The desperate, yet unproductive sojourn of the elders may also reinforce a widespread perception that they hold the governors in very low esteem, and would rather appeal to a President seen in many circles as a co-facilitator of the political and security situation of the north, than appeal to them to take up its cause. The President’s silence since their visit also speaks loudly his perception of northern problems.

It is difficult to avoid the impression that northern governors have set up this and two other committees as a belated reaction to control major damage. So much water has passed under the bridge, that you have to wonder whether even members of the committee will believe that they can do any genuinely productive work. The insurgency has taken roots in many parts of the north, and all governors say is that they have no control over security matters. They are substantially its targets, and their influence over the community which can be mobilized against it is virtually nil. So they cannot fight it, and they cannot resist it. Their coterie of the ulaama is politically compromised, and they live behind secure embankments, too removed from the people. The economy in much of the north is well and truly wrecked, but neither the lavish lifestyle of governors nor the army of political hacks paid from public funds is showing evidence of being affected. Governors cannot call each other to order. They cannot set benchmarks for Jang in the manner he relates with some ethnic groups in Plateau State, and they cannot prevail on Yakowa to do something on the consequences of the Zonkwa massacre. They cannot take on the President on the P.I.B; on the on-shore, off-shore dichotomy, on the operations of security agencies and their impact on communities; or on any major policy which affects the north substantially.

For whatever it is worth, many people of impeccable integrity and undoubted commitment have accepted to be part of the governors’ committee. They have a major task ahead of them, particularly given the fact that many of the problems they are being asked to find solutions for have their roots and locations in the manner governors run the north. The committee couldn’t have started at a more inauspicious moment either, with the JASLIWAJ insurgency reportedly denying reports that it is engaged in negotiations with government, and even warning Dr Datti Ahmed to stay clear. They will be well advised to take some of their terms of reference with a pinch of salt. The charge to dialogue with any or all sources of the violence in the north must sound hollow, coming from people who cannot facilitate the most elementary of contacts, or exploit the huge goodwill which exists in their communities towards fighting the insurgency. The task of identifying the roots of the security challenges should not be difficult to accomplish: they are the task masters, who have raised bad governance, corruption and impunity to new levels. Members of the committee should not bother with the term of reference which says they should liaise with the federal government and deliberate on the best approach to resolving security challenges. If the federal government has the slightest clue over how our numerous challenges can be resolved, why would it wait for a security committee to come for them?

The members of the governors’ committee should take their jobs seriously. To do this, they will need to re-write their terms of reference. The sources and the results of the security and economic problems of the north are here in the north. The federal government and the rest of Nigeria are only marginally responsible, the former as a seemingly-willing accomplice in a tragic self-mutilation, the latter, beneficiaries of a weakening competition. They can write their report in a month because combatants, warring communities, JASLIWAJ insurgents or the federal government will not give them the time of day. If governors are content with public relations gimmicks, many of the respected members of this committee should not be. The problems of the north and national security are too important to be handled by governors hiding behind committees.