Nigeria Rated 8th Most Corrupt Nation

Nigeria's Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

By Daniels Ekugo

Anti-corruption nonprofit Transparency International, TI, has released its 2013 Global Corruption Barometer, which surveyed residents in 107 countries, ranking Nigeria, Zambia, Paraguay, Mexico, Zimbabwe, Venezula and Russia as the largest countries on the globe with active corruption indices with Liberia and Mongolia leading the table.
According to the report, the world’s corrupt nations differ in many ways. Four are located in Africa, three in Latin America and two in Asia. These nations also vary considerably in size and population. Mongolia has just 3.2 million residents, while Mexico, Nigeria and Russia are three of the largest countries on the globe, each with more than 100 million people.
In Nigeria, 84% of those surveyed by Transparency International claimed corruption had increased in the past two years, a higher percentage than almost any other country in the world.
Troublingly, 75% of those surveyed also said the government was, at best, ineffective at fighting corruption, worse than in all but 10 countries.
TI says Nigeria is heavily dependent on the oil industry, yet the government refuses to act on accusations that the oil companies are underreporting the value of the resources they extract and the tax they owe by billions of dollars.
The report adds that “certain transparency groups also blamed politicians for encouraging corruption. In 2012, Nigeria had just the 37th largest GDP in the world, despite having the world’s seventh largest population. In Liberia, the majority of Liberians surveyed said they believed the country was run either largely or entirely by a few entities acting in their own self interest.
“A world-leading 86% of residents who spoke to Transparency International claimed their government had been either ineffective or very ineffective at fighting corruption, while 96% of residents claimed Liberia’s legislature was corrupt, also the highest percentage of any nation. A stunning 75% of residents surveyed claimed they had paid a bribe to secure some service, trailing only Sierra Leone.
“In all, 80% of the population had at one point been asked to pay a bribe. Recently, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf fired the country’s auditor general for corruption.Many of those surveyed in the highly corrupt countries also felt their governments were not holding up their end of the bargain.”
According to the report, “in seven of the nine countries, more than half of those questioned felt their government was ineffective at fighting corruption. In Liberia, 86% of residents surveyed said their government was ineffective at fighting the problem. This was the largest proportion of any of the 107 nations Transparency International surveyed. While corruption appears to affect every part of the public sector, certain segments were much worse than the rest.
“Globally, at least 60% of respondents claimed political parties and police were corrupt. Additionally, more than 50% of people stated their legislature, their public officials and their judiciary were corrupt.
In the world’s most corrupt nations, those institutions were, naturally, even worse. In Nigeria, 94% of people claimed their political parties were corrupt, the most in the world. Similarly, 96% of Liberians reported their legislature was corrupt, also the most in the world. In eight of the nine most corrupt nations, more than 80% of residents considered the police to be corrupt.”
Saharareporters

For the attention of General Buhari

THE LIES OF REUBEN ABATI AGAINST GEN. MUHAMMADU BUHARI AND THE DISCLAIMER BELOW BY THE GUARDIAN, HIS FORMER EMPLOYER.

by Reuben Abati on April 22, 2011   |

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Leadership is what will make Nigeria, it is also what will break it; leadership failure is precisely what is responsible for the crisis that the country is now witnessing after a Presidential election that was adjudged successful by local and international observers and which has received high praise from the United States, Germany, France, Britain, Cote D’Ivoire (!) and France. Since April 16, there has been an outbreak of violence in the Northern parts of the country, with 59 persons dead, thousands injured, many churches, homes and mosques destroyed.  It is leadership that can save the country at this very moment, and prevent the fulfillment of the apocalyptic prediction that the present electoral process will result in an implosion of the country. And one man on whom history beckons to play the role of statesman and sportsman, is General Muhammadu Buhari, the Presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), former Nigerian Head of State and three-time Presidential candidate since 1999.

Buhari’s CPC came second in the Presidential election of April 16, with 25% of the votes in 16 states (all in the North), and a total of 12.2 million votes out of a total valid votes cast of 39. 5 million. But since the announcement of the results which recognized incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan as the winner of the election with 25% of the total valid votes cast in 31 states and 22. 4 million votes, Buhari’s supporters in the Northern states have been on rampage. Mostly young, poor and unemployed, they are united by the anger that a Southern Christian, an unbeliever in their reckoning, and a product/promoter of Western education is now president-elect. A geographical picture of the voting pattern in the Presidential election has indicated how that election threw up primordial ethnic, religious and identity questions, the same questions that have been responsible for the inability to create a truly united nation out of Nigeria. Buhari got sectarian votes in 16 Northern states: they voted for him because he is Muslim and Fulani, Jonathan received high votes in the South South, the South East, and the South West and captured the Christian votes plus PDP votes in the North, an indication that his Southerner kinsmen were not willing to forsake him either. Nuhu Ribadu who got 25% of the votes in four Yoruba states did so because he was candidate of a largely Yoruba party. If anything, Jonathan’s victory would seem to prove the point suggested in Section 134 of the Nigerian Constitution to the effect that whoever wants to be President of the country must receive the people’s votes across the country. Buhari failed that test.
Still, General Muhammadu Buhari and his CPC have rejected the results of the April 16 Presidential election. The only other party which is protesting loudly is the FRESH Party led by Pastor Okotie. Okotie’s party scored 34, 331 votes and did not win the required 25% in any state of the Federation. The pastor wants the results of the election to be rejected and an interim government instituted to review the “entire democratic process.” The ACN also refused to sign the results sheets of the Presidential election, but that party’s protest has been half-hearted. It is Buhari’s CPC that has literally been on the offensive.  There is no iota of doubt whatsoever that the angry youths who have made a section of the country ungovernable believe that they are acting on behalf of the CPC. They have been chanting: “mu ke so, ba muso hanni” (It is Buhari we want, we don’t want an unbeliever”). General Buhari has been quoted in the media saying that he deplores the violence, he has also spoken on BBC Hausa service, and he has issued two statements in English language to that effect. General Buhari has to do much more than that. His responses to the electoral process and his party’s have been at best contradictory and mischievous.
It will be recalled that in the first week of March 2011, General Buhari advised his supporters to “lynch” anybody who tries to rig the April polls. In his words: “you should never leave polling centres until votes are counted and the winner declared and you should lynch anybody  that tries to tinker with the votes.” Subsequently, with his supporters having been so incited, General Buhari disclosed that he did not intend to go to court as a person, but that his party could do so, in the event of his not winning the election. In the same month of March 2011, Buhari’s running mate, Pastor Tunde Bakare also allegedly declared that there would be a “wild wild North” if the elections were rigged. Buhari and Bakare were strongly criticized for this, with pointed insinuations by a group called “Coalition for Transparency and Integrity” that the CPC duo did not have the right temperament for the job that they sought. On April 16, General Buhari after voting complained about unusual aircraft movement and the distribution of ballot papers that had already been thumb-printed: “Buhari said that it was the responsibility of young people as major stakeholders to ensure that the elections were free and fair. If they allow the ruling party to mess them up, it is they who will suffer for the next 40 years.” (The Punch, April 17, at page 14).  There has been a lot of lynching in the North since then! Today, we also have on our hands, a “wild wild North”. So, what exactly does General Buhari want? And what should he do?
I think he should place national interest above personal ambition. If indeed he does not believe in the violence that has erupted in the North, he needs to go on radio, and on television and advise his supporters to stop fighting now and to allow the next elections on April 26 to hold peacefully.  He must say so pointedly, and unequivocally. This is a message he cannot afford to bury in the midst of complaints about electoral malpractices. And he must convey that message in his own voice and repeatedly in Hausa and Fulfude, the languages that the rioters are more likely to understand and appreciate. He must in doing this, enlist the support of the same emirs that his supporters are denigrating, and the imams and ulamas. Today being Friday, the sermon in all mosques in the North should be a sermon of peace, the angry youths must be told that there is nothing gained by the CPC, the North or the “believers” through the slaughtering of youth corps members and other innocent Nigerians. General Buhari is obviously a folk hero among his supporters. But he must realize that the whole of Nigeria is his heritage having served once as the Head of State of this country. He must not allow himself to end up as the man who would be remembered as the catalyst for a third implosion of the country, a possibility that is signposted by the reference in the President’s speech on the crisis to the Civil war of 1967-70, and June 12, 1993. Today is Good Friday, a day that symbolizes sacrifice. The meaning of Good Friday needs not be explained to either Buhari or Bakare, except that both men are at that same crossroads where they are required to make sacrifice for their country: a sacrifice for unity, peace and stability.
I have read the statement issued by General Buhari titled “Message of Peace and Hope.” There is very little about hope in that message.  A speech in which the General writes off the entire election as fraudulent and Jega as insincere, and shows no sign of reconciliation with the opposition says nothing about hope, rather it says everything about the likely dangers ahead. General Buhari should realise that it is precisely this kind of attitude that led to the current crisis in Cote D’Ivoire. In the US Presidential election in 2000, Al Gore could have put his feet down over Florida: the margin between him and George Bush Jnr was so close, but in the end, he conceded defeat so America could move on. In 1979, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, who commanded like Buhari, a cult-like following chose to go to court to contest the results of the Presidential election in part, his disciples insist, in order to prevent violent protest in the South West, and the occurrence of another “wild wild West phenomenon.” It is such statesman-like conduct that is required from Buhari at this moment.
The Congress for Progressive Change has declared its intention to go to court. While it is doing that, the party should also help to educate its angry and violent supporters in the North about the meaning and nature of democracy.  In a democracy, the minority may be right and wise, but it may lose to the majority, and once it does so, the majority is allowed to have its way. On April 16, the majority of Nigerians spoke in unison across 31 states and gave victory in the Presidential election to Goodluck Jonathan of the PDP. It is only the tribunal or the courts that can upturn that result, not the mob, relying on self-help. Clearly, voter education remains a problem in our emerging democracy. The CPC did not help matters by arguing that it approached INEC and asked that Professor Jega should not go ahead with the announcement of the Presidential election results without addressing the party’s complaints. Didn’t the CPC big men know that no political party has such powers to order the abortion of an electoral process mid-way?
The CPC has every right to go to court. But they should stop telling us that it is the party going to court, not General Buhari. In my view, there is no difference. The CPC is General Buhari’s special purpose vehicle. He set up the party in 2010, after disagreeing with his former colleagues in the ANPP. He deserves credit for building up a new political party into a formidable force in less than ten months. In terms of performance, the CPC in fact did well, capturing 12.2 million votes. It lost the big prize due to its special handicaps: it lacked a strong structure as well as financial resources; it also adopted on a strategy that relied on Northern demographics, and third, the party failed to take advantage of the proposed merger/alliance with the ACN which could have been a game-changer in the Presidential election.

Now weeping uncontrollably before and after the election, the CPC alleges that there were malpractices in the South South and the South East and a total of 23 states across the country. The party alleges that its polling agents were chased away from collation centres and that the Excel software used by INEC was deliberately configured to sabotage the CPC. Ironically, the same CPC had earlier praised the National Assembly elections of April 9 as “free and fair.” The party is talking about malpractices, but it has not said that it won the election or that Jonathan did not win. Even if the elections in the South South and the South East were cancelled, and a re-run ordered, Jonathan will still win in those states. If CPC’s ambition is to defend the credibility of the process, then why is it not protesting the large turn-out of under-age voters in all the states where it won its 25% in the North?

Re: For the attention of General Buhari

THURSDAY, 11 JULY 2013

SIR: “On April 22, 2011, The Guardian Newspaper published an article on page 51 titled “For the attention of General Buhari” wherein certain allegations were made against General Muhammadu Buhari’s alleged role in the violence emanating from the elections.

   The publication was based on information which we believed to be reliable at that time. Since the publication, however, we now have reason to believe that certain parts of the story were not verified to be correct before the publication.

  We assure General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) GCFR of our highest esteem and regret any distress or embarrassment which the said publication may have caused him.”

— Editor

TheGuardian

APC: INEC Starts Verification of Claims by Merging Opposition Parties

Interim National Chairman of APC, Alhaji Bisi Akande

* Akande: No powers can stop our party

By Onyebuchi Ezigbo

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has commenced statutory investigation of all claims and documentations submitted to it by the three opposition political parties, Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) applying for merger.

Tuesday’s inspection visit by INEC, came just as the Interim National Chairman of APC, Alhaji Bisi Akande, maintained that the registration of the new coalition party was forgone concluded and that no one could prevent it.

On arrival at about 10 am, the verification team led by the Director of Political Party Monitoring and Liaison, Alhaji Shittu Ibrahim, held closed door meeting with  the interim national leadership of the APC at the  headquarters, Zone 6 Wuse, in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

THISDAY gathered from sources at the meeting that apart from trying to match the leaders’ names with their faces, the commission’s officials tried to verify all documents relating to the tenancy of the new party office.

The team which declined to speak to journalists on their findings later  went round the various compartments of the two   office building before leaving.

Addressing journalist shortly after the inspection, APC National Chairman, Chief Bisi Akande, expressed satisfaction at the tone of exchanges between the parties and the electoral body, describing it as very good.

He said the meeting with the INEC went well and that the expectations of the merging parties were that APC would scale through the registration hurdle.

“From the beginning of these merger negotiations, we have gone to various conventions, we have made joint applications and we have been exchanging correspondence with INEC, but they have never visited us before. So today
INEC came to see us in our home, and they are happy we have got a home. When INEC team met us through our attendance register, they discovered that we belonged to a party of gentlemen, the APC.

“We have always been confident that no power under the sun will stop us from becoming a political party.  On how soon the coalition expects APC to be registered, Akande said the law was clear about it, adding that the party is already registered.

“INEC has never faulted what we did, when we wrote the first joint application, we have completed the merger phase of the exercise. INEC now needs administrative investigation to show that what we have done was according to their own laid down procedures and because they kept writing to us and we were replying them.

“Today they came for verifications as to whether we exist, and where do we exist? We have proven to them that we exist like gentlemen and in a befitting accommodation.

The National Secretary of APC, Alhaji Tijani Tunmsa, who conducted INEC officials round the offices in the party headquarters, told journalists that everything about the new party was in good shape.

“My impression of the commission’s visit is a good one. It confirms the confidence that I had in the formation of APC. The commission came expecting to see some things which we were able to deliver  today, and I think everything is in good shape,” he said

INEC spokesman, Mr. Kayode Idowu, told THISDAY Tuesday evening on the telephone that the processing of the application for party registration submitted by the merging opposition parties are still ongoing.

He confirmed that what the commission’s team that visited the merger group’s APC office Tuesday did was to verify the claim contained in their application and to report back their findings, adding that the registration process was not concluded yet.

“The application for APC’s registration is still going through routine processing and that process has not yet been concluded, “ he said

ThisDay

The Buhari phenomenon

BY EMMANUEL AZIKEN

His brief grasp of government between 1984 and 1985 was relatively unimpressive. He did not salvage Nigeria as promised. His government’s trade policy hinged on counter trade was largely crude. Even the issue of discipline where he is today largely celebrated was punctured with the exposure of the contradictory action of his number two who breached the regime’s order barring under-aged from going for hajj.

But General Muhammadu Buhari still remains a political phenomenon, albeit a largely underachieving one.

In his Supreme Military Council, SMC, he was circumscribed by largely ambitious military politicians. It was as such not surprising that his hard stance on issues turned into good currency for his rivals to make mincemeat of him and achieve their own life long political ambitions.

Gen. Buhari

Indeed, Buhari, as military head of state, ruled as if there was no tomorrow. Now, at the twilight of his public life, The General, as he is largely celebrated by fans across the north, is obviously desperate to salvage a nation he claims is in the throes of maladministration.

After three consecutive defeats in the hands of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Buhari had suggested that he would leave the scene after the 2011 presidential elections. Before the suggestion could take root, the general quickly reversed himself putting himself again in reckoning in the nation’s political chess game.

That reversal has been followed with such snide remarks as to whether he must be president?

Indeed, not a few are worried by the seemingly naïve political gesticulations of Buhari. That is despite the several accounts of those who have dealt with him anddescribe him as a good man and a religious moderate.

However, such unbiased comments have largely been overshadowed by the political faux pas of the general and the machinations of the Obasanjo-Atiku Campaign Organisation ahead of the 2003 election. The Obasanjo campaign almost successfully recast Buhari as a religious extremist unworthy of leading a multi-religious and multi-cultural nation as Nigeria.

Different types of mud were indeed slung on him with the active collaboration of some sections of the media before that election. However, of all the mud  on him, only the garb of religious extremism really stuck.

Attempts to soil his image using his stewardship of the Petroleum (Special) Task Fund, PTF were largely unsuccessful and almost bounced back at the instigators in a way that some prayer warriors would say ‘back to sender.’

Untimely death
When the Obasanjo administration reportedly threatened to probe the activities of the PTF under Buhari, it, by some accounts precipitated the untimely death of Buhari’s Man Friday, who he had reportedly delegated most of the task of the PTF.

But beside that casualty, the probe report, which indicted the successor administration at the PTF appointed by President Obasanjo largely exonerated Buhari.

For a man like Buhari, who has held some of the most politically exposed jobs in the country, including military governor of the defunct Northeast State, minister of petroleum and chairman of PTF, it is remarkable that Buhari has not been once indicted for any act of corruption. Those who have known him say that he has indeed been faithful almost to the kobo.

It is this rare attribute of integrity that has largely won Buhari acclaim from Nigeria’s long suffering masses and the disdain of the political elite, who would panic at the thought of enrobing him with political power.

Across the North and South, the disdain for Buhari from the political elite is almost unanimous. Some in that class pretended only for a brief period to believe in Buhari but once they got political power in his name, they immediately deserted the general.

Today, General Buhari at the twilight of his long period of political exposure is faced with the crucial choice of abiding with the dogma of his ways which have not helped, or bending to achieve the revolution the masses desire.

Recently, he has been flocking with those he once condemned, those that betrayed him in his former party and even partnering with the preacher who was famously quoted as saying that “That tall man” is not the answer to our needs.

Buhari is indeed turning into a politician, but he fearfully could make a mess of it!

Vanguard

2013 BUDGET STAND-OFF: Okonjo-Iweala is deceiving Nigerians – Hon. Osagie

By Oke Ndiribe
Hon. Samson Osagie represents Orhiomwon/Uhunmwode Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives. Last Tuesday, he moved the motion which led to the House summoning the Minister of Finance, Mrs Okonjo-Iweala, over the alarm she allegedly raised that the nation  could be shut down by September if the National Assembly refused to pass President Goodluck Jonathan’s 2013 Budget Amendment Proposal. In this telephone interview, Osagie throws  light on how the issue of constituency projects remains the bone of contention in the current face-off between the National Assembly and the Presidency.

What do you have to say about media reports that the current stand-off between the Executive arm of government and the National Assembly over the 2013 Budget arose due to the fact that the Presidency refused to execute  the constituency projects  in the Appropriation Act?

I am not surprised because the issue of constituency projects has been the source of conflicts between both arms of government. I insist that due to our level of development as a country, lawmakers  better understand the problems of the people. As such, we have every right to insist that development projects must be executed. We have no apologies to anybody for taking that position.

Samson Osagie

Our problem with the Executive stems from the undue tardiness that they always exhibit in implementing capital projects in general; not just constituency projects. Apart from constituency projects, which constitute less than 20 % of the approved capital expenditure of the budget, there are so many other capital projects that were initiated by the Executive arm itself which they are not executing. It was only recently that the Federal Ministry of Works has been seen everywhere trying to look at the roads.

What about the other sectors like health, education and power? The constituency projects are not just for members of the National Assembly. They are projects meant for the development of our people. The budget is not segmented as to say there is an aspect  devoted to only constituency projects. They are all capital projects introduced into the budget by members of the National Assembly.

We know the problems confronting our people and they include lack of basic amenities like electricity, potable water, good roads and schools. During our  electioneering campaigns,  we made promises to our people that we would provide these amenities to them when elected.

No Minister has ever  visited the nooks and crannies of this country to solicit for the support of the people during the electioneering period. It is the legislators that visited every hamlet and village to interact with the people. So we are properly placed to ask for development projects for our people.

But going by the letter President Goodluck Jonathan sent to the National Assembly two weeks ago, which could be referred to as 2013 Budget Amendment proposal, he gave the impression that the National Assembly diverted funds from certain top priority capital projects like the Lokoja-Abuja Highway, Kano-Maiduguri Highway and several others like that. Can you give your perspective on that?

Let me also tell you that it is an anomaly to ask for an amendment to an Appropriation Act. The best approach should have been for the President to present a supplementary budget proposal. A supplementary budget is meant to address the revenue shortfall for a particular project in a particular fiscal year. In order to address this problem, the President ought to come with a supplementary budget proposal to make up for the projects that need to be executed. On the issue of moving  funds from one budget sub-head to another, only the Committee on Appropriation can speak about that.

Even at that, what about the initial funds appropriated for various capital  budget heads?  How much of those funds have been released? If, for instance, you requested for N10,000 for a project, and only N8,000 was appropriated, the question that needs to be asked first is whether you have spent the initial N8,000 allocated for the project?  The answer to that question is no. So, what they ought to have done is to first utilize the funds that have been appropriated and then come by way of supplementary budget to ask for  additional funds to cover the ground that needs to be covered.

So, the idea of hiding under an amendment budget, to renew the entire budget is unacceptable and is unknown to our constitution in terms of budgeting. That is the problem on ground.

Even the Senate has said that given the nature of the so-called amendment proposal which is so voluminous, it is unlikely that the senators can consider it before embarking on vacation. Do you know that the Executive asked for an additional N40 billion in the amendment proposal they brought? So, what the Executive is trying to do is to blackmail us and cite that as excuse for their failure to implement the 2013 Budget.

How do you mean?

This is because most sectors of the economy are not working. Those who are handling the economy are causing confusion by giving the impression that economic growth has no relationship with job creation and other concrete indices of development.

Nigerians are being deceived about the state of the economy.

How can they say there is economic growth when the people cannot feed or get jobs?

But there’s SURE-P and they also claim to have data showing that they’ve been creating jobs?

They said they are creating jobs here and there under the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P). How many people do you know who have secured jobs under the SURE-P ? You can’t just assemble 30 young unemployed people and pay them N10,000 and  repeat that in another three months and you call that job creation.

The handlers of our economy think that Nigerians are fools who don’t know what they are doing. The people cannot see the impact of what the handlers of our economy are doing; it is not being felt despite all the propaganda. That is why we in the National Assembly are saying “we are no fools”. If you say we have tampered with some of the budget heads, we have the right to do so for good reasons.

They have not released the funds we appropriated for capital projects. As a result of this, ministries, departments and agencies of government (MDAs) are crying over non-release of funds to them.
What can you say was the reason for the slash in the recurrent expenditure projections of the budget?

The Committee on Appropriation is working out the details on that. However, there was an issue pertaining to that which has been confirmed by the Ministry of Finance. You may  recall that after the 2013 Budget was passed by the National Assembly, the Ministry of Finance and the Office of the Head of Service of the Federation came out to tell Nigerians that they discovered over 450,000 ghost workers in the civil service. But  the salaries and allowances of those ghost workers had already been appropriated for in the 2013 Budget. What happened was that both personnel and overhead expenditure proposals were unreasonable in most cases.

There are agencies which exist on paper but which are not on ground and budgetary provisions were made for them.

Really?

So, if in an effort to exercise the role of acting as checks and balances on the Executive, we decide that such agencies do not require bloated allocations, you cannot blame us. It is left for them to come forward with convincing arguments to tell us these are the total statistics of the work force they have. But when they who are making the proposal to us telling  us that they have ghost workers in the service, it means they don’t even know how many  actual workers they have.

It is the same people that appropriate money for both real and ghost workers. Until they are sure of how many workers they have in the service, we cannot be certain if what we appropriated for workers salaries is not even more than what is required.

The unnecessary alarm that the Minister of Finance, Dr (Mrs) Okonjo Iweala, has raised was designed  to blackmail and stampede the National Assembly into doing what they want. It is for this reason that we have said that the picture the Minister has painted about the budget is not correct.

Vanguard

Yoruba have no leaders – Osoba

It was a meeting of Yoruba people from all works of life that gathered for the Abraham Adesanya Memorial lecture that took place at the Afe Babalola auditorium, University of Lagos. The theme of the lecture was, “The Place of the Yoruba in Nigeria’s Politics” and it was organized by the National Association of Ogun State students under the leadership of its president, Mr. Oremosu Adetola.

Some of the guest speakers who spoke on the topic lamented what they described as the relegation of the Yoruba to the background especially in the leadership of the country. Others were of the opinion that the Yoruba has ceased to have leaders in the mould of the late Pa Adesanya and Chief Obafemi Awolowo. A former governor of Ogun State, Olusegun Osoba was of strong conviction that after the death of some of Nigeria’s founding fathers of Yoruba descent, the Yoruba have ceased to have selfless leaders.

His words: “Yoruba leadership is based on so many factors. To be a Yoruba leader you must have a very strong pedigree and you must be humble. The Yoruba has had three leaders. One was the late Dr. Obafemi Awolowo. He emerged when the interest of our people was threatened. The person that took over from him was Pa Adeniran Ogunsanya, then after him, Pa Abraham Adesanya emerged the leader of the Yoruba. Adesanya was a man of integrity and great humility and wherever he went, he proved that he was well read. He believed that he was first a Yoruba man before he was a Nigerian. The Yoruba want self determination and federalism, the type that allowed Awolowo to use the wealth of Western Nigeria to transform the western region.”

The guest speaker, Prof Alade Fawole, a Professor in the Department of International Relations, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife praised the efforts of people like Pa Adesanya whom he said helped in ensuring that the country did not break up. “We remember Adesanya in this time when we celebrate vanity and other Yorubas who were in the trenches with him. He was a man of many parts and was highly revered. Like the late Awolowo, he was one of the people who believed that a Yoruba man cannot be a good Nigerian without first being a good Yoruba man.

“In his endeavours, his life was defined by selflessness, loyalty and integrity. He became the acknowledged Yoruba leader when others fled the country but he stood back. He fought the military and he was targeted by Abacha’s hit squad but God mercifully saved him. His death has left a hole in Yoruba leadership and he was like the last of the titans. He was noted for his adherence to the Yoruba ideology. He was elevated at the Senate and worked with loyalty. However, within the Yoruba fold, there are also the black sheep and those who have betrayed the Yoruba.

“The Yoruba have had a sophisticated political structure even before the colonial rule. They have also made strenuous efforts towards the independence and sustenance of Nigeria and their contributions cannot be adequately captured. The Nigerian state remains indivisible today because of the steadfastness of the Yoruba especially when Biafra seceded.The position of the Yoruba remains precarious because they that were in the forefront suddenly became relegated to the background,” he regretted.”

A former Chairman of Eti-Osa Local Government Area in Lagos State, Mrs. Modupe Fashina lamented: “Our present leaders are very selfish. During the time of Awo, there was order and discipline but now politics has made our leaders look out for their own selfish interests. Unfortunately, the ills of our generation are being transfered to our youths. We should not let money determine our future and we should encourage those who are doing well.”

The founder and president of Oodua Peoples Congress, (OPC) Dr. Frederick Fasehun: “The Yoruba have lost out in the politics of this country. I read a book that opened my eyes to the fact that out of the 117 high political positions in this country, only six have been occupied by the Yoruba. So we should not delude ourselves that we are in politics. Someone once said that the Yoruba have no love for themselves and that is why it has not been possible to be part of the system. We fought against dictatorship, but how come the Yoruba are now encouraging what we fought against? Unity is a positive force that should be encouraged but that does not mean that we must be in the same political party. We should not encourage a system of hate and bitterness because Pa Adesanya and the likes of Awo lived a life of love. I would not associate with anyone who tries to de-emphasize the name of Awo by bringing it down. Politically, the Yoruba are at cross roads. We are neither here nor there. We keep crying about marginalization but within us, we are disunited so how won’t we be marginalized?”

Senator Olorunnimbe Mamora: “We have gathered to celebrate the life of Adesanya because of the type of legacy he left behind. We are also celebrating people like Awolowo who sacrificed a lot to see that the Yoruba have a good life. He used the wealth of the West to develop the West and that is why we are saying that the country should return to true federalism. Adesanya and Awo believed that you first have to be a good Yoruba man before you are a good Nigerian.

The Sun

Will Jonathan win a second term?

by Bayo Olupohunda
The handwriting is on the wall. The bold imprints are seen in the failings of this administration. Now the dashed expectations of the Jonathan’s presidency all seem to be leading to one predictable end — he may not be re-elected in 2015. There are strong reasons to believe that his fairy tale journey to the Presidency may end in his first term. Apart from the unfolding infighting threatening to tear his party apart, President Goodluck Jonathan appears to have squandered the goodwill that ensured his becoming Nigeria’s first minority president. There is a depressing sense in which one cannot just imagine that this country would endure another term of this administration for another four years in office ending in 2019. This will be suicidal. Even now, 2015 looks too distant into the future in the eyes of ordinary Nigerians. In 2011, the president won the election by playing the underdog card.

The 2011 presidential election was won because ordinary Nigerians insisted on voting en masse for the country’s first minority president — the man who said he walked barefooted as a child; the man who also became the symbol of an end to the North’s bragging right to power since Nigeria’s independence from British rule. In 2015, Jonathan will not have the luxury of leveraging on the sentiments that swept him to power in his first term. Now, he will have to look for other reasons. Except that this time, he will not be able to whip up emotions based on his poverty as a child. His ethnic background will also not matter. If he does, no one will believe him again. Rather in 2015, the President will be confronted with the record of his performance. He will have to answer hard questions about his first term in office. And if truth be told, if the present situation in the polity is anything to go by, President Jonathan will be heading back to his hometown in Otuoke come May 29, 2015.

The President will not stand a chance against a formidable opposition with the right candidate in a free and fair election. But even at that, it still does not matter because it appears any type of candidate will still beat this President. His performance so far makes him vulnerable to defeat in a free and fair election. He just has not lived up to the expectations of Nigerians. And I suspect the President and his party are in for a surprise. Perhaps, for the first time, Nigerians will witness the power of their votes. The incumbency factor will not matter in 2015 because the President is poised to lose the election. But President Jonathan should not blame anybody for his predicament if he loses. He has so far been the architect of his own misfortune as a President. He had no excuse not to perform. Let’s face it, the President has fallen short of expectations that Nigerians had of his presidency.

There is no better expression to measure his performance since 2011. For a President that came into office to have squandered the enormous goodwill and support from Nigerians is evidence of opportunities gone awry; of hopes deferred. The only people who will support the President are the army of praise singers from his ethnic group who have been singing his praises to no end. And this brings me to the attitude of the so-called Niger Deltan activists and leaders. The leaders of the region have been so disappointing to say the least. This attitude of it-is-either-Jonathan-for-a-second term-or-we-will-all-perish does their ethnic group no good. It is even an embarrassment to the office of the President. Why do they act as if Jonathan is the President of only the Niger Delta? Why are they threatening to bring Nigeria down if Jonathan does not get a second term? Did the President emerge in his first term only by the region’s votes? Can threats make a non-performing President stay in office in perpetuity? The culture of entitlement that pervades the region is the reason why the Niger Delta might still be backward even if Jonathan gets a second term. They should know that it was the support of Nigerians that got the President a first term. Nigerians thus have the right to demand performance from him. And right now, the situation in our country today does not look good. In 2015, President Jonathan will have to present his scorecard.

Nigerians will ask him why corruption which he promised to tackle in his inaugural address has become a hydra-headed monster in his administration. He will have to explain why his administration has not so secured a single conviction in spite of massive corruption in the land. Nigerians will in 2015 ask this President why all the cases of corruption involving individuals in his government have all died a natural death. The President will explain why all the anti-corruption agencies have all become toothless bulldogs. It has become glaring that President Jonathan has lost the trust and goodwill of Nigerians. The dominant view of Nigerians is that this government has failed. The impunity that has become a culture in the country today is because the president has not been decisive in the fight against corruption.

That is why all the agencies of government have been left to their own devices. The culture of impunity has been so pervasive. Take the power sector for example. The President has not arrested the unending conundrum that has dogged the unbundling of the sector. This should not continue beyond 2015. Meanwhile, the power situation continues to get worse. The 2015 elections should be about performance and the President has a lot of questions to answer about his stewardship unless something drastic happens between now and the election date.

The President also has to explain why million of Nigerian youths cannot find jobs. All we hear from this government is how the economy is growing at an unbelievable rate. Pray, how can the economy grow while millions are unemployed? What kind of voodoo economy is that? Didn’t the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy say the last time that the unemployment figures give her sleepless night? What further evidence do Nigerians need that this government is not providing an enabling environment for job creation? The millions of youths who had hoped in this government will ask hard questions in 2015. The security situation in the country is a cause for grave concern. The other day, about 40 pupils were murdered by suspected terrorists in Yobe State. As I write, nobody has been apprehended for perpetrating the dastardly act.

The Jos crisis continues to claim more lives. In many parts of the country, lives and property are not secure. Yet, the government blames everybody else except itself. How can a government whose primary duty is to safeguard lives and property fail woefully in performing the same duty? Meanwhile, the country also lags behind in all development indexes. The argument advanced by the supporters of this government is that our problems are not created by President Jonathan. But has the administration demonstrated the political will to tackle the problems head on? Does government not exist to solve problems no matter how old they have existed?

However, there has been some good news lately. The President recently inaugurated the construction of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. Let’s just hope the project will not become abandoned like the previous attempts. The federal roads across the country are also said to be getting the attention they deserve. This is not forgetting the ongoing rehabilitation in the nation’s airports. But all this will pale into insignificance when compared to the dashed expectations of this government. It is for these reasons that Jonathan may lose in 2015. All things being equal, anyway.

 Punch