A traditional African adage states that “the time a dead man’s
funeral arrangements are being discussed is also the best time to
discuss who is to inherit the dead man’s widow.”
The gubernatorial contest in Ondo state may have come and gone but
the ripples will continue to reverberate within political circles across
the Nigeria space. The election was remarkable in so many respects:
First, it was an electoral contest that involved the two dominant
political parties - the PDP and the ACN - deploying every ammunition in
their weaponry to snatch power from a relatively miniature opponent -
the Labour Party.
Second, the election became a litmus-test for ACN’s acclaimed
invincibility and its quest for total political control of the
South-Western region. In specific terms, the election offered one last
chance for the ACN’s benefactor - Bola Ahmed Tinubu - to annex the only
renegade enclave (Ondo state) to become part of his towering political
empire. For Mimiko’s Labour Party, the election was not just a contest
for the re-election of an incumbent, but a battle for the propagation of
multi-party democratic politics in a region notorious for monolithic,
single-party dominance.
One interesting experience born out by the Ondo election is the
single-minded resolve of the voters in the state to assert their
sovereignty by choosing a leader whose emergence would not be
predetermined by the tyrannous dictates of a distant godfather. It is in
this respect that many commentators have hailed the outcome of that
election as “a victory for democracy.” Importantly, some have described
it as “a big nail in the coffin of political godfatherism.”
That brings me to the travesty that has been playing out in Lagos
for quite some years since the return of democracy in 1999 and the
emergence of ACN as the ruling political party in the state. Democratic
elections in the state have always turned out as a huge caricature. In
the name of democracy and party primaries, one man would sit at
Bourdillon and determine the selection of coucillors, council chairmen,
House of Assembly members, commissioners, federal legislators and even
the governor of the state. In the name of democracy, thugs are massively
mobilized and incentivized to truncate the voting process and
perpetrate electoral robbery. The sense of variety, ideological
competition and principle of separation of powers (which are cherished
democratic ideals) are completely sacrificed at the alter of
patron-client relationships which define the mode of one’s selection
into any political office in the state.
In the midst of these blazing contradictions and anachronisms,
Lagosians (especially, those who claim to be activists) have become,
rather mystically, hypnotized and brainwashed into the dogmatic belief
that “Lagos is working.” In their craze to project the superiority of
the state in relation to other states in the federation, they eagerly
condone and overlook every manner of arbitrariness being unleashed by
the state government against Lagos residents. In their desire to
subscribe to the hollow creed of “Eko o ni baje,” they accept every
unjust policy of the government as normal but prefer, rather
hypocritically, to lambast and attack President Jonathan and to
criticize everybody and every policy associated with the President.
Let’s take a more critical look at the fallacy that “Lagos is
working.” Since 1999 when democracy came into force in Nigeria, I
challenge anybody to compare statistically the standard of living in
Lagos state then and what currently obtains now. I also challenge
Lagosians to compare the level of commitment to infrastructural
turnaround during Fashola’s first tenure as against what is happening
presently. When we engage these posers with some modicum of sincerity,
it becomes easy to see the idea that “Lagos is working” as a red rag to a
bull!
One of the hallmarks of a true leader with an unflinching commitment
to democracy is his readiness to be attentive to the critical interests
of the people he is leading when designing and implementing policies
that will have direct impact on their lives. On this score, the Lagos
state government, especially at the outset of Fashola’s second tenure,
has shown crass indifference to the harsh and deleterious impact of some
of its intended policies on the lives of citizens resident in the
state. The controversial Lekki - Epe multiple toll plazas, the
exponential hike in tuition fees for LASU student, the ban on the use of
motorbikes or “Okada” in the midst of an appallingly chaotic traffic
situation in the state, the discriminatory policy on vehicle
plate-numbers are all very fresh in our memories.
Often times, we latch on to our perception regarding the impressive
beauty of places like Ikoyi, Victoria Island, and Ikeja. We then proceed
to equate such impression as being representative of the entire Lagos.
This tendency is tragically misleading and grossly reductionist. If
democracy is rightly conceived to mean a system of governance in which
the interest and wellbeing of the people are taken seriously, then one
only needs to visit any of the suburban towns and villages situated
outside the Lagos metropolis. In most of these areas, the condition of
human existence is still largely primitive, squalid, tortuous and bereft
of any infrastructural succour. For majority of these suffering
Lagosians, the only experience that reminds them that they are part of
Lagos is when they encounter uniformed touts recruited to extort all
manner of phony levies from them even as they struggle to eke out a
living in their stalls, kiosks and even by the roadside.
If there is anything the Ondo election has achieved, it is to
puncture the inflated and over-rated glorification of Tinubu and his
talismanic ACN. Whereas the Lagos voter had always chosen to vote with
his two eyes closed, the more enlightened Ondo voter has done so by
“shining his eyes.” Now, the challenge for the former is on how best to
domesticate the heroic success of the Ondo experience. Their critical
concern should center on how to deepen the roots of genuine democracy in
the state by initiating a process that will guarantee their
politico-electoral liberation come 2015
Saharareporters
Monday, 22 October 2012
Tai Solarin’s Widow, Sheila, Dies
Sheila Solarin
By SaharaReporters, New York
A family source told SaharaReporters that Mrs. Solarin died this morning at Babcock University Teaching Hospital in Sagamu, near Lagos. She was 88 years old.
The English-born Mrs. Solarin was a dependable ally of her husband who spent a lifetime fighting as a voice for the downtrodden Nigerian masses.
She and her late husband had two children, Corin and Tunde.
Our source disclosed that Governor Ibikunle Amosun was on his way to meet with and console members of the Solarin family. Funeral arrangements will be announced in due course, said our source.
Statement by Ogun State government:
Amosun Mourns Sheila Tai - Solarin
Ogun State governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, has mourned the death of Mrs Sheila Mary Solarin, the widow of the late founder of Mayflower School, Ikenne and social critic, Dr Tai Solarin. She passed away on Sunday, 21st of October, 2012 at the
age of 82.
In a press release signed by his Senior Special Assistant on
Media, Mrs Funmi Wakama, Senator Amosun described the demise of Mrs Solarin as most painful and a great loss to Ogun State and Nigeria in general.
According to the governor "Mama Solarin was a foremost educationist, a great teacher and disciplinarian who rendered an immeasurable service to the people of Ogun State and Nigeria through the Mayflower School. The school founded in 1956 became one of the best schools in the country and has produced many of the leading lights in our nation."
Senator Amosun noted that Mama Solarin personified the common humanity we shared "not just by marrying our own revered Dr Tai Solarin but choosing to live in Nigeria and making it her true home."
"Mrs Solarin was an exampler of that much-needed global spirit that sees beyond colour, race and religion in inter-relationships among peoples, nations and continents of the world," the governor said.
"Ogun State and Nigeria have lost a first class teacher,an epitome of hard work, a humanist extraordinnaire and role model of distinction," Amosun said.
Mama Solarin, an education icon, was British by birth. She met the late social critic, Dr Tai Solarin, in England and both moved to Nigeria in 1952 where they worked in Molusi College, Ijebu Igbo before establishing the Mayflower School, Ikenne.
Governor Amosun has since consoled with the family of the deceased.
May the gentle soul of Mama Solarin rest in perfect peace.
Signed
Funmi Wakama
BRT buses destroyed as Okada riders protest in Lagos
Commercial
motorcyclists popularly known as “okada riders” this afternoon marched
through some majors roads in Lagos State protesting the recent law
banning the riders from operating on about 500 roads in Lagos State.Daily Post gathered that the protesters obstructed vehicular movements in some parts of Lagos, and attacked some government-owned Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) buses at Onipanu thereby making passengers to trek frustratingly to their destinations.
The Chairman of the Motorcycle owners and Operators in Lagos State, Tijani Perkis, stated that the union would meet with Governor Babatunde Fashola to relax the order banning okada from operating on about 500 roads in Lagos State.
“I have nothing to say now. But I will be meeting with the governor tomorrow and after our meeting I may talk to the press,” he said.
Recently, the state government’s task force on environmental sanitation and special offences destroyed over 3,000 bikes, a move that was criticized in some quarters as a high-handed response to the challenge posed by the motorcyclists.
DailyPost
Delta Gov’s Advisor Seen Skimming Millions From State Funds
By SaharaReporters, New York
According to some of the opposition parties’ chairmen, the governor released $65 million but the Special Advisor appropriated it and lodged it into a personal fixed deposit account so as to profit from the interest to the detriment of the parties that the funds were meant for.
Mr. Toju Isichei disbursed the funds in connivance with leadership of the Association of Registered Political Parties in Delta state, it was alleged.
It was gathered that the SA seeking to corner more money into his private pocket allegedly forced parties into conducting congresses although constitutionally he has no right to force any party to conduct congresses.
Our reporter learnt that, in his bid to buy extra time in order to accrue interest, the SA set up a verification committee and forced over thirty chairmen of the parties to embark on a verification exercise of parties in the state to their headquarters in Abuja to confirm their authenticity.
An act which has been condemned in its entirety by the parties was described as an avenue for the SA to grab more money for himself.
It was gathered that the embattled SA was able to verify only 25 parties in his Abuja trip but went ahead to bloat the list from the initial 40 parties to 52 parties and in all this, he still denied some parties the largesse claiming that the affected parties did not come forward for verification.
Some party chairmen, who asked for anonymity, confided in our reporter that before the appointment of Mr. Isichei as SA Inter-Party Relations, there were 40 political parties receiving Uduaghan’s funds, but as of last month, Mr. Isichei had increased the list to five-two parties.
It was further gathered that following complaints from party members as a result of how the SA disbursed the money, the State Security Service (SSS) confronted the embattled SA but he allegedly rebuffed the SSS saying it was purely an internal matter concerning his office as such they have no right to challenge him over his dealings as regard the disbursement of the funds.
Meanwhile, a party chairman disclosed that heand five parties were given the sum of N1 million each, out of which the SA allegedly deducted 20% each while other parties were given N300, 000, N250, 000 respectively with the SA deducting his percentage.
Speaking to our reporter under the condition of anonymity, some party members who the SA allegedly dragged to Abuja for the verification exercise had this to say: “We are so disappointed with the foolish way the so called leadership of the Association of Registered Political Parties in Delta state is going about the whole thing as regard the governor’s largesse. The Association chairman who is known to be a chronic hungry and self acclaimed mushroom politician, has sold us all out to the SA who is now amassing wealth for himself to our detriment. It’s very unfortunate. Just watch in the few days we shall reorganize the Association.”
“We shall not bow to their threats” – Odumakin battles Lai Mohammed
Joe
Okei-Odumakin, the firebrand president of Women Arise recently alert
all security agencies and the general public of an alleged plot by
Alhaji Lai Mohammed and his party to unleash violence against members of
the group during yesterday’s polls in Ondo.In her words: “Our highly informed source told us that thugs have been instructed to attack our members in different local governments in the state and advised that we should withdraw from the exercise.
We insist that would amount to succumbing to blackmail and intimidation by enemies of the open society.
Though we do not underestimate the capacity for evil by the forces Lai Mohammed represents, we shall not bow to their threats as we believe in the supremacy of law and order.
We therefore call on all security agencies to be on the alert and do their job of securing of lives of law abiding citizens” Dr. Odumakin alleges in a press statement she personally signed.
Speaking further she said: “We shall hold Lai Mohammed and his party responsible if anything happens to any of our members.
Lastly, we debunk the incitement of hate being peddled by Lai Mohammed that Women Arise is anti-Islam.
DailyPost
I’m ready to die for doing the right thing – Oteh
BY VINCENT UJUMADU
AWKA —Director-General of The Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, Ms Arunma Oteh, said, weekend in Awka, Anambra State that she was prepared to die for doing the right thing to save the Nigerian Capital Market.
Speaking after she was honoured by the Anambra State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, Oteh said many people in the country were afraid that with the return of sanity at the capital market, they would lose their strangle hold on the economy, adding that she would continue to do her best to ensure that the ugly past did not return.
She said: “People have said that I am very courageous and I believe
that I am courageous because I am an Igbo. When I got the letter that
the Anambra State Council of Nigeria Union of Journalists wanted to
honour me as the most courageous woman of the year, I almost shed tears.
This is because despite what people are doing to bring us down, there
are people somewhere who are appreciative of the good work we do.
“I am not afraid to say that I will always do the right thing as the Director General of The Securities and Exchange Commission. I am not moved by what people are doing trying to pull me down, so long as I know that I am doing the right thing. In the past, we had a Capital Market where people wore suits and sat down to steal money belonging to peasants.
“But when I came in, I told myself that all these have got to stop. We must sanitize our Capital Market and build a trust that will let the poor man put his savings in it and be assured that it will not be stolen by people. What I am doing at the SEC, I am ready to die for. I am not afraid to die so long as I am doing the right thing.”
And I am very emboldened by the fact that people are watching. No matter the level of conspiracy against one, people are seeing your efforts and at the right time, one will be rewarded for every good work.
“We should learn from the horrible things that happened in the past when people lost everything after selling all they had to invest in the Capital Market Even up to 2010 it was still happening. People were told that their money will just double, and many of our people are crying today because they sold their houses, took their life savings and put them there. That is not what we are saying today.
“What we are saying is that if you want to invest, you must ask questions. It is not enough for us to just tell the people that once you put your money, it will double. You must go to meet financial experts and ask them questions before you invest.
It is your right to ask questions, but please don’t wait for people to come from other countries and invest today and when you are ready to invest, it would be that prices have gone to the top”.
Vanguard
AWKA —Director-General of The Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, Ms Arunma Oteh, said, weekend in Awka, Anambra State that she was prepared to die for doing the right thing to save the Nigerian Capital Market.
Speaking after she was honoured by the Anambra State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, Oteh said many people in the country were afraid that with the return of sanity at the capital market, they would lose their strangle hold on the economy, adding that she would continue to do her best to ensure that the ugly past did not return.
Arunma Oteh, DG. SEC
“I am not afraid to say that I will always do the right thing as the Director General of The Securities and Exchange Commission. I am not moved by what people are doing trying to pull me down, so long as I know that I am doing the right thing. In the past, we had a Capital Market where people wore suits and sat down to steal money belonging to peasants.
“But when I came in, I told myself that all these have got to stop. We must sanitize our Capital Market and build a trust that will let the poor man put his savings in it and be assured that it will not be stolen by people. What I am doing at the SEC, I am ready to die for. I am not afraid to die so long as I am doing the right thing.”
And I am very emboldened by the fact that people are watching. No matter the level of conspiracy against one, people are seeing your efforts and at the right time, one will be rewarded for every good work.
“We should learn from the horrible things that happened in the past when people lost everything after selling all they had to invest in the Capital Market Even up to 2010 it was still happening. People were told that their money will just double, and many of our people are crying today because they sold their houses, took their life savings and put them there. That is not what we are saying today.
“What we are saying is that if you want to invest, you must ask questions. It is not enough for us to just tell the people that once you put your money, it will double. You must go to meet financial experts and ask them questions before you invest.
It is your right to ask questions, but please don’t wait for people to come from other countries and invest today and when you are ready to invest, it would be that prices have gone to the top”.
Vanguard
Edo election tribunal dissolved, new panel constituted
by Uchechukwu Olisah
Other members of the panel, which news of its dissolution came on Sunday, two days to the commencement of hearing on the remaining aspect of the petition scheduled for tomorrow, following the end of pre-hearing proceedings two weeks ago, were Justices Esor Teetito and Danlami Senchi.
It was gathered that the dissolution came on the heels a petition by some lawyers, acting for Airhiavbere, to the National Judicial Commission (NJC), alleging that the panel had been compromised and had, therefore, lost confidence in it.
Consequently, a new panel, which would continue from where the dissolved panel stopped, was said to have been constituted. Names of members of the new panel were yet to be known.
However, Secretary of the tribunal, Mrs Josephine Aliu, denied knowledge of the dissolution of the panel, saying, “I am not aware about that. What I know is that the case has now been adjourned to October 31.”
The tribunal had, on Tuesday, October 9, rejected the request of Airhiavbere to allow him to file for additional witnesses and statements in pursuance of his petition challenging the declaration of Governor Oshiomhole as winner of the election.
Besides, the tribunal also refused the request of Governor Oshiomhole of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) to strike out Airhiavbere’s petition in its entirety.
Justice Ambrusa had fixed tomorrow as date for the beginning of the hearing on the only surviving ground of the petition, the aspect dealing with the allegation that the election was marred by corruption practices and did not comply with the provisions of the Electoral Act.
Justice Ambrusa had said the tribunal was unable to grant the plea for more witnesses and some statements as requested by the petitioner because those paragraphs of the petition had to do with the issue of the qualification of Governor Oshiomhole which the tribunal struck out on 27 September, 2012.
The tribunal also ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to ensure that the voters register was made available to the counsel to the petitioner as requested in order to have uninterrupted hearing on the matter from October 23.
However, while opposing the request for extension of time by two weeks made by Airhiavbere’s counsel, Sunny Aguinede, earlier in the hearing, Oshiomhole’s, Chief Adeniyi Akintola (SAN), said “Thepetitioner has no reason to delay the hearing no matter the carcass still remaining in the petition. There are 192 wards in Edo state, all the wards which they alluded to as missing are 47 which is not up to one-quarter. They should have subpoenaed INEC to get the original of the voters list rather than chasing shadows”.
Counsel to the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Adetunji Oyeyipo, said “The petitioner is not serious. If you look at what ever that is left in this petition, they have witness deposition in only five Local Government Councils and this witness depositions cover only 51 units across these 5 Local Governments, so their complaints covers only less than one percent of the total units.
“We are all seasoned lawyers, I don’t know if it will take the petitioner two weeks to prepare witnesses in respect of 51 units. Total of 32 witnesses available for them and some may not even come. I think that the tribunal will be over indulging the petitioners by giving them the two weeks. We think that they should concentrate on the Local Governments they are complaining about so that we can commence hearing”.
NigerianTribune
* With just two days to the commencement of the hearing of the remaining part of the petition filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for the Edo State governorship election, Major-General Charles Airhiavbere (retired), the three-man panel chaired by Justice Suleiman Ambrusa has been dissolved.
Although the other members of the panel had included Justices Esor Teetito and Danlami Senchi, it was reliably gathered however that one of the other two members had not really been involved in the making of the decisions of the tribunal before the dissolution.
NationalMirror News
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)