Vote out bad leaders -Jonathan tells Nigerians .

by Leon Usigbe.

PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan has told Nigerians that they should be able to utilise the power of the voter card to get rid of bad leaders in government, saying that it was with this in mind that his administration decided to sanitise the electoral process to ensure that the wish of the people prevailed at elections.
Speaking during the inauguration of the second edition of the Youth Enterprise with Innovation in Nigeria (YouWin!) for women in the State House, Abuja, on Monday, he explained that it was necessary to reform the electoral process to make it relevant to the people’s aspirations.
According to him, “we feel that for a political dispensation to be relevant to the people and to endure, the electoral process must be sanitised. The voter card of Nigerians must make them vote out the bad politicians. That is the only way we politicians will be committed and do what is right.
“And for that we promised to change the electoral process. We have not reached where we want to go but Nigerians and, indeed, all people that have been monitoring our elections have observed that this is a different face of Nigeria and we will continue to improve on it.”
He expressed his administration’s commitment to tackling corruption even as he observed that those who shout about corruption in the country were some of the most corrupt in the country.
The president noted: “In this country, these days, people talk about corruption. Sometimes those who are corrupt even shout more about corruption but we are tackling it gradually. If you look at the agriculture sector where scandals of procurement of fertilisers and tractors and other scandals were going on, we have stopped that. In the oil sector, we are going to stop it. Gradually, this will thin down. We cannot change the society overnight but we have to take it step by step.”
On the YouWin! programme, he noted that the second edition which was launched on Monday, would focus specifically on women, because women were considered as better managers of funds and, therefore, could make better impact in entrepreneurial endeavours.
He also stressed that the programme was designed to empower youths from the six geopolitical zones, irrespective of political or religious affiliations and, therefore, directed the Ministry of Women Affairs to work with the ministries of finance and communication technology and youth development to mobilise women entrepreneurs to participate competitively in the programme.
In her remarks earlier, Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, pointed out that about 933 of the 1,200 beneficiaries of the first batch of YouWin! award winners had received the first tranche of about N1.03 billion of their award funds since the disbursement commenced in July this year.
The minister added that since the YouWin! programme was kicked off in October last year, it had attracted ideas and innovation from Nigerian youth entrepreneurs noting that about 6,000 of them had been trained.
Dr Okonjo-Iweala said in order to keep track of jobs created under the programme, the awardees had developed mechanism for capturing information on jobs created and would report the number to the public on regular basis.
Also speaking, Minister of Women Affairs, Hajia Salamatu Maina, said the YouWin! women progra-mme had heralded another landmark in the quest of the present administration to empower the Nigerian women economically, particularly young women.
While noting that Nigerian women were actively engaged in different sectors of the nation’s economy, she, however, regretted that legal and customary barriers, ownership or access to land and natural resources, capital, credit and technology, including other discriminations, had impeded their economic lives.

‘17,500 Public Officers Consume N1.15trn Annually’.

DAVID - CHYDDY ELEKE.

A rights group, International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law(Intersociety), has released its research statement showing how a total N1.15 trillion is spent annually on Nigeria’s 17,500 public officers and their retinue of over 24,000 aides.
The group also reported that Nigeria has the lowest public service productivity index in the world.
Intersociety’s research memo entitled “How Nigeria’s trillions and $44 billion public debts are pocketed by her top leaders,” obtained by LEADERSHIP also highlighted how less than 30 per cent of the annual budget is allocated to 160 million Nigerians through provision of infrastructure and social amenities.
The statement which was signed by Comrade Emeka Umeagbalasi, its chairman, Board of Trustees, listed the public officers who take part in wasting such funds to include 3,096 local government executives and 8,692 councillors of the 774 local governments in Nigeria, 1,152 House of Assembly members, 469 federal lawmakers, among others.
According to the group, the matter is made worse by the fact that Nigeria has approximately 24,165 unconstitutional public aides recruited as special assistants and special advisers by the 17,500 top elected and appointed public officials whose salaries are covered by the Salaries and Allowances Amended Act.
Intersociety condemned the after-effect of the practice which, it argued, has made the country accumulate a huge debt profile of about $44bn arising from the implementation of deficit budgets over the years by state governments and the federal government.
Speaking on its position on the issue, the group contended that “Nigeria’s budget policies have remained crudely stagnated and one of the most fraudulent, anti- development and anti-people as its budgets were being consumed by about 17,500 top elected and appointed public officers in the country in the form of recurrent expenses, covering personnel and overhead costs.”

THE BUDGET BUSTERS
S/NO	NUMBER OF OFFICIALS	AMOUNT PAID YEARLY
1.	12,788 local government top shots	N592 billion
2.	2,664 state executives	N300 billion
3.	472 federal executives	N98.3 billion
4.	469 federal lawmakers	N60.4 billion
5.	1,152 state lawmakers	N40.9 billion
6.	792 top state judicial officers	N18.5 billion
7.	142 top federal judicial officers	N14.8 billion
8.	24,165 unconstitutional aides	N15 billion – N20 billion

Ola Vincent, Former Central Bank of Nigeria Gov Dies At 87.

Late Ola Vincent

By GABRIEL OMOH, SAM EYOBOKA & MIKE EBOH

LAGOS—A former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Ola Vincent, is dead. He died on Monday at St. Nicholas Hospital, Lagos after a period of hospitalisation.
One of his children confirmed his death. He was, until his death, a director at Industrial and General Insurance Plc. He served as the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria between 1977 and 1982.
Speaking to Vanguard, one of Vincent’s daughters, Mrs. Taiwo Bali said “I am one of his four children. We are twins. Papa was also survived by 11 grand children.
Late Ola Vincent, former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria
When I went to visit him on Saturday, he smiled. That smile lasted for a very long time. I went to see him again on Sunday. I saw that particular smile again. Then on Monday, Papa was dead. He was a very disciplined man. He was an apostle for details. He always insisted on details. We will miss him. He was sick for some time.
Also the wife, Mrs Edith Adenike Vincent said: “He was a loving husband. I will marry him all over again.”
In the condolence register, Apostle and Mrs Hayford Alile wrote “What a celebration of life on many fronts. We will miss you”.
According to the burial arrangements, his body will be lying-in-state at his residence at 8, Balarabe Musa Cresent, Victoria Island Lagos on Thursday. Service of songs will be held at African Church Cathedral, Bethel, Broad Street, Lagos. Final interment will be at Ikoyi Cemetery on Thursday.
Speaking on his death, pioneer Director-General of the Nigeria Stock Exchange, NSE, Apostle Hayford Alile described the deceased former CBN governor, Chief Ola Vincent as a man of proven integrity who even at old age was very wonderful in all his presentations.
While Ola Vincent was in the CBN, Alile was the Director-General of the Nigeria Stock Exchange and they both worked closely at different commissions and boards even after they both retired from active service. Alile said they worked closely together right from 1976 when Chief Ola Vincent was the deputy governor of CBN and chairman of Capital Issues Commission where they both often shared thoughts on the way forward for the nation’s economy.
“Without mincing words, the man was an epitome of patriotism; he had an impeccable character and I make bold to say that he was one of the very few Nigerians who I can vouch for as people so dedicated to the Nigerian project,” Alile told our reporter on telephone last night.
He added that he also worked closely with the late Vincent on the board of IGI where “we had also related very closely and I can say that his share of experience is absolutely wonderful. The nation has missed a rare gem.
When contacted a CBN official said yes it is true that Ola Vincent is dead but no official communication has been made to that effect. He said may be tomorrow (today), the CBN may come out with a statement in this regard.
In his view, Mr. Jaiye Randle, who was one of the early callers to the family, said “He was one of Nigeria’s finest in terms of integrity, uprightness. He is also a bold and strong man. He was an embodiment of how Lagosians used to be. He was exceptionally respectful, even to those of us much younger than him. Tribe or religion meant nothing to him.
He did not discriminate, he had a large circle of friends, despite his age.
Above all, he had a fantastic sense of humour. He was an encyclopedia in vitually all facets of Nigerian life, in economics, politics, social, among others. He was a man of great passion and always made allowance for human frailty. He was highly accommodating of other people’s opinion. May his soul rest in peace.”
Reacting to the death of Mr. Ola Vincent, Mr. Oluseye Adetunmbi, Chief Responsibility Officer, Value Fronteira Limited, said “He was one of the finest technocrats, one of the few who dignified simplicity by sticking to ‘Mr’ despite his huge status that could have attracted many chieftaincy titles, epitome of ‘central banker’ when things were still orderly in Nigeria.
I grew up to know him through his signature in Nigerian currency note when Nigerian 60 kobo was worth more than a dollar.
“His name with his signature on the currency was synonymous to CBN for a very long time because of his unique style which underscored the virtue of modesty in his character and honourable disposition.
“It was like when their set left the key sectors of our economy; things were no longer at ease in Nigeria.  Nigeria has been depleted by one of her finest men of dignity and honour. We can only hope that those of us left can learn from the unique and towering disposition of Pa Ola Vincent. May his gentle soul rest in peace while thanking God for the gift of long life.”
In his reaction, Mr. Remi Olowude, Vice Chairman, IGI Insurance Plc, who was one of the individuals who visited the family to commiserate with them over their loss, said “Baba was an epitome of the old national anthem that we abandoned which says, ‘though tongue and tribe may differ, in brotherhood we stand.’ That was baba.
He had no time for tribal issues, all he had time for in his life were real issues. He was a man of the highest integrity. He was a highly cerebral person, probably one of the best economist of our time.
”I used to call him a poetical economist. When he commented on national and economic issues, you would marvel. When Nigerian was on a precipice, baba gave solutions that helped the country out of the problems.
“He was practical, humble, a good listener and does not personalise issues. During the dark days of Abacha, Baba gave solutions that helped moved the country forward. He was a moving encyclopedia, especially on corporate governance.
He was a founding shareholder and director of IGI Insurance. He helped the Board of the company run what became the best company with the highest ethical standard in Nigeria. At over 80, he was still a member of the Board of IGI till his death. May his soul rest in peace.”
Birth and education
Vincent was born on May 16, 1925 in Lagos. He attended CMS Grammar School, Lagos (1936–1939). He served in the Nigerian Armed Forces between 1942 and 1946, and then worked in the Financial Secretary’s Office, Lagos between 1946 and 1956. In 1951 he attended the Administrative Staff College in England, and from 1953 to 1956 he studied at the University of Manchester. From 1957 to 1960 he was a part-time lecturer in Economics at the University of Ibadan.
Banking career
Vincent was Senior Assistant Secretary in the Nigerian Ministry of Finance (1959–1961) and then moved to the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, as an Assistant General Manager, becoming a General Manager at the CBN from 1963 to 1966.
He was a Director at the Nigerian Industrial Development Bank (1964–1966). Vincent was appointed a Vice President at the African Development Bank, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire (1966–1973). He returned to the CBN in 1973 as an Adviser, becoming Deputy Governor in 1975 and Governor from 1977 to 1982. Vincent was named a Commander of the Federal Republic, CFR, in 1982.
Later career
Following Vincent’s retirement from the CBN, in 1983 he recommended establishment of the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation, NDIC, which occurred in June 1988. The NDIC provides a safety net for depositors in the newly liberalized banking sector.
Vincent chaired a seminar on Ethics and Professionalism in the Nigerian Banking Industry in August 1992. In his opening remarks, he observed that banks had a pivotal role in the cash and credit economy of Nigeria, making them vulnerable to suspicion.
He acknowledged that greed was a factor in causing the high incidence of fraud and other abuses in the industry. Speaking in April 2003, Vincent criticized the “severely flawed unitarist constitution” that the former military regime had introduced in 1999, and called for changes to “arrest the cancerous growth of corruption and corrupt practices.”
He was a director of the Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) in 2008, when he received a prestigious lifetime achievement award. He is a life member of the Nigerian Economic Society and the Society for International Development.
In May 2009, he was living in retirement in his home on Victoria Island, Lagos with Adenike, his wife for 50 years. In an interview in September 2009, Vincent was critical of the action of the current governor of the CBN, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, who had dismissed the chief executives of five bailed-out banks.
He said the executives should have been given a fair hearing, and felt that the hasty action which involved the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission may have undermined trust in the banking system.
FG should de-emphasize Vision 2020 – Ola Vincent
Vincent, while speaking at the annual dinner of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Nigeria said that the federal government should de-emphasize vision 20-2020. “Nigeria should aim to do better than it is doing now, and not be talking about becoming one of the largest economy in 2020” he said.
He noted that the way people talk about Nigeria achieving this feat assumes that the countries presently in the group of 20 largest economy have stopped growing, adding that this is farther from the truth. He said those countries will not stop for Nigeria to catch up with them.
“They are also working to improve their economies and, hence, increase their growth. That is why achieving that feat requires urgent steps to improve the economy. My advice is that we should focus on improving on where we are today, doing better than we are presently doing.”
Citing example of the need to increase power generation, he said, “Nigeria is not going anywhere if the problem of power is not solved. Government has been talking about increasing generation to 4000 or 5000 megawatt but this should not be the goal. We should be talking about how to generate 40,000 mega watts in three years. So, government must move quickly in the direction of producing enough power for the country.”
Vincent, who was the special guest of honour at the occasion, said a critical ingredient missing in present efforts to develop the economy is planning.
He said more efforts and resources should be devoted to comprehensive planning. Pointing out that the greatest impediment to development in the country is corruption, he said “Those who practice corruption inhibit develop-ment.
If corruption pre-dominates development would be lacking. What they do not realize is that if the money they steal is properly allocated to developing the economy there would be money to share.” He expressed opposition to the proposed removal of subsidy, saying that what government should do is to reduce its running cost, starting with reducing the number of Special Advisers to the President.
He said in addition to this, the government should reduce the salaries of political appointees as it is been done in other climes.
 

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.