2015: Jonathan’s Real Friends, Foes And The Way Forward

 

By Eze chukwuemeka - Having written several articles on the current macabre dance and political crisis rocking Rivers State and x-raying its effects on the future political developments of Nigeria if not checked, I do not see further need to come up with another piece on this subject despite new challenges that need to be addressed.
Even the poser by Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka ‘that the man dies in all who keep silent in the face of tyranny’ could not sway me otherwise. However, while I was in this state, I opened a daily guide from the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) titled ‘Open Heavens’ and was confronted with the bold title for the day titled, ‘Danger of Silence’.
The Spirit of God jolted me in a manner that seems to mean that no tangible result has come out of my past write ups on this issue, as peace still eludes the State, and the need to soldier on; especially given the nature of the new piece you are about reading and the fear of being misunderstood.
Undaunted by fears knowing full that peace in Rivers State and Nigeria is very close. Again, I took solace in one of Prof Soyinka’s quotes, “I think that feeling that if one believed absolutely in any cause, then one must have the confidence, the self-certainty, to go through with that particular course of action”.
If the above quote could not do the magic to sway me off my fears then the question of Edward Abbey that, “How could anything non-controversial be of intellectual interest to grown-ups?” and the encouragement from Marvin Harris came handy when he stated thus; “I don’t see how you can write anything of value if you don’t offend someone”
President Jonathan and the Macabre Dance of Rivers State Politics
This road is one I don’t like driving on, considering the stand of the President and his aides that he does not want to be mentioned with the current impunity and untoward political developments going on in Rivers State. George Orwell, one of the finest authors of all time, in one of his works woke me up when he said, “Within any important issue, there are always aspects no one wishes to discuss.” As if I am not been cautious enough, Criss Jami reminded me in his two quotes that, “If you have to say or do something controversial, aim so that people will hate that they love it and not love that they hate it.” And “To be truly positive in the eyes of some, you have to risk appearing negative in the eyes of others.”
Though, I am not a victim of Ezea Pound stand that, “If a man isn’t willing to take some risk for his opinions, either his opinions are no good or he’s no good” but for some strategic reasons, let me stay action on this topic to later stage of this article and instead use this opportunity to, in a way, assess present President Jonathan.
Jonathan: The Journey So Far.
The faulty start of this administration based on the disrespect of the zoning policy of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and insecurity challenges occasioned by the wicked activities of the Islamic sect, Boko Harams sect coupled with the ‘unpreparedness of Dr Goodluck Jonathan for the office he currently occupies, due to the nature of his selection to run for the office of Vice President with late President Musa Yar’Adua and how he became the nation’s number one citizen as a result of President Yar’Adua death the Doctrine of Necessity that ushered him formally as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria were some of the initial challenges that slowed down the smooth take off the administration. His initial plan before General Olusgen Obasanjo selected him to run was to re-contest gubernatorial election in Bayelsa State, while late Yar’Adua desire was to retire to classroom as a lecturer.
This seemingly setbacks did not in any way constitute as an obstacle to President Jonathan unflinching desire to contribute his quota towards building a Nigeria of his dream. President Jonathan holds the transformational pledge of promising less, but delivering more.
His vision is anchored on his transformation agenda anchored on driving the country on the premise of Continuity, Consistency and Commitment (3Cs). Accordingly, it was the disregard for the 3Cs that had resulted in rising unemployment, inequality and poverty. But the regime has come forth with a holistic agenda aimed at the transformation of the Nigerian state with a strategy that gives cognizance to these 3Cs in the life of the administration.
The transformation plan draws its inspiration from President Jonathan’s electoral promises, the Vision 20:2020 and the first National Implementation Plan (NIP). The agenda is based on a set of priority policies and programmes which, when implemented, would transform the Nigerian economy to greater heights.
Job Creation, Macroeconomic Framework and Economic Direction, Infrastructure Development, Public Expenditure Management, Governance, Justice and Judiciary, Foreign Policy and Economic Diplomacy, Power Labour and Productivity, Health Sector, Education are some of the sectors the government has made some remarkable impact under this adminstration.
Though space would not allow one to highlight all the achievements of the incumbent, but suffice it to say that in more ways than one both impact and vision have been remarkable. Our transportation system, particularly his commitment for reviving the rail system in Nigeria leaves no one in doubt that things are changing for the better. The establishment of new Federal Universities within two years located at Dutse, Dutsin-Ma, Kashere, Lafia (Nassarawa) Ndufu-Alike-Ikwo , Otuoke (Bayelsa), Oye-Ekiti (Ekiti State), Wukari, Gashua, Yobe State; Birnin Kebbi (Kebbi State) and Gusau in Zamfara State is unprecedented in the annals of governance in the country.
In the past two years, according to the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minster of the economy, Prof Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the government have built 68,100 housing scheme across the six geopolitical zones of the country and now produces 28 million metric tons of cement, but needs only 20 million. So Nigeria is now a net exporter of cement. On power, 34 independent power producers have gotten licenses, three have actually commenced works and power supply has improved in many Nigerian cities. According to her (Prof. Mrs) Sure-P, Federal government earned N180 billion in improving child delivery, trained 9,000 midwives.
The Port Harcourt to Maiduguri rail line will be completed in 2013, with more to follow by the end of the year. Her Inland cargo depots now handle over four million metric tons rising from 2.9 metric tons. Our banks and stock market are now stronger. Perhaps what needs to be done now is to see how the banks can lend to individual real estate developers at lower interest rates. Power, aviation and agriculture can now import at zero import duty, exchange rate is stable (N155-160), reserves are rising, inflation has reduced, our economy is growing- Nigeria’s economy growing at 6.5%, one of the fastest in Africa.
According to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, Ballot box snatching and thuggery have become almost extinct and that it is the President’s deliberate policy to listen and respects the views of Nigerians. The negative deployments of freedom of expression, which has left Nigerians bolder and more asserting, and the President the most criticized in the world, is the cost of the President’s deliberate policy of openness, “In the last two years, the civic space have been expanded, “achievements of the government promoting the rule of law, integrity of state institutions and rights of citizens are legendary and that within eight out of 14 strategic targets set by President Goodluck Jonathan in 2011 have been achieved.
A Conducive atmosphere for improving and encouraging private partnership with government have made more to industries springing up and producing made in Nigeria goods, including Proforce–armored vehicles, Obajana – Cement, and Innoson – motors, creating jobs and transforming Nigeria.
Reveling in some of these feats recorded by the present federal administration, Nigeria’s Vice President, Architect Namadi Sambo at a recent public function said, “Our public institution are being rebuilt, our National Assembly is vibrant, our judiciary is truly independent and our press is feared all over the world and that government has in the last two years placed a special premium on the rule of law and expanding the democratic space but most importantly that President Goodluck Jonathan has exhibited good leadership qualities.”
The Bond between President Jonathan and Governor Amaechi:
Reminiscing on the political crisis in Rivers State, I took time out to study the gladiators not minding their denials. The word bond means something that binds, fastens, confines, or holds together a cord, rope, band, or ligament, something, as an agreement or friendship that unites individuals or peoples into a group.
According to Cathrine Beecher, “The principle of subordination is the great bond of union and harmony through the universe and according to Rainer Maria Rike, “I hold this to be the highest task for a bond between two people: that each protects the solitude of the other.
A statement by America’s first lady, Mrs. Michella Obama readily comes to mind in capturing the bond between President Jonathan and Governor Amaechi. “Barack and I were raised with so many of the same values, like you work hard for what you want in life. That your word is your bond; that you do what you say you’re going to do. That you treat people with dignity and respect, even if you don’t know them and even if you don’t agree with them.”
According to the facts available to me, these two great exponents of democracy from Niger Delta shares similar family background – raised in humble families and experienced the pains of being educated by poor parents. President Jonathan won the hearts of Nigerians with his expose that he was that student who trekked to school without a shoe, while Governor Amaechi had a sandal and one pair of trouser which he washes by every weekend to be uses the following week for the major part of his undergraduate days, even as the two political leader are products of the unique University of Port Harcourt, UNIPORT and are among the big Port Harcourt boys.
Although President Jonathan is the older of the two, Amaechi have been in politics right from his days in the university, culminating to becoming the only Nigerian that was a Speaker of House of State House of Assemblies for eight years and have the singular credit of becoming the Chairman, Conference of Speakers in Nigeria while he was Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly and later Chairman of the Nigerian Governor’s Forum, NGF as governor of Rivers State.
President Jonathan on the other hand is the first PHD holder, (not honorary) to preside over the affairs of the country and the only Nigerian that left the academic environment where he was a Lecturer after having a stint with the defunct OMPEDEC and rose to become a Deputy Governor (Bayelsa State that was). Few years after he became the Governor of that state and few years after became Nigeria’s Vice President and President afterwards all of these without contesting a single election. While Chibuike means God is my Power and Amaechi Nobody knows tomorrow while on the other EbeleChukwu which is the name of the President means “God’s Mercy”.
While President Jonathan as the Vice President of Nigeria was suffering every humiliation in the hands of the cabals during the Umaru Yar’Adua led administration. Amaechi was the only Governor in Nigeria very visible in the office of the then Vice President and when President Yar’Adua passed on, Jonathan was been pushed around, Amaechi was among those at the forefront of ensuring that Vice President Jonathan assumed office as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria when the National Assembly out of their wisdom came up with the Doctrine of Necessity.
When the election of 2011 came up, Governor Amaechi not minding some other options available to him opted to rally round the supports of other Governors to ensure that President Jonathan won the PDP ticket and during the election proper, Amaechi delivered two million votes from the state to ensure that President Jonathan got elected as the 14th President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Not done with all these affection to his own brother whom he shares some invisible bond not known to many Nigerians, he went ahead even while President Jonathan was the Vice President to ask him to nominate candidates to his Cabinet in Rivers State, this resulted to the nomination of Professor Israel Owate, who was the President’s classmate as the Commissioner for Education. Unfortunately, he could not drive the vision of the governor on education as fast as the governor wanted, so he was dropped. The governor requested from Mr. Vice President then a replacement.
Again he nominated Mr. Moses Ahubele who manned the Ministry of Empowerment and Employment Generation till he died as a result of some health condition in the later part of 2010. After the 2011 general election, Amaechi requested from Mr. President and he graciously nominated Mr. Charles Okaye, who still serves as the Commissioner for Chieftaincy and Community-related Affairs.
Who could believe that a person of this status based on his impeccable relationship and respect and love he exhibited towards his own brother the President could be haunted, humiliated, scourged, frustrated and his State turned to war zone even while his brother is still the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria that is the irony of life. Just for the records, these are some of the humiliations Amaechi was meant to go through – The plane of the Rivers State Government was grounded for no just cause, the PDP Structure in Rivers State was removed from him, his election as the Chairman of NGF duly certified and acknowledged worldwide is in the process of annulment, he was suspended from a party he so much love and spent so much to build, if not for the providence of God he would have been illegally impeached by five Legislators in a House of 32 members; a Police Commissioner by name Mr. Joseph Mbu was posted to haunt, hoard, insult and abuse him publicly calling him a despot, Governors that came to visit him were stoned. In the eyes of Nigerians, he stands as a great man while in the eyes of those haunting him he is a personal non grate.
What could have brought this in a relationship assumed to have been perfect! Barr Achinike Godwin William-Wobodo the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor of Rivers State on Inter Governmental Affairs who holds an LLM in Criminal Law and Practice and currently pursuing a PhD in Money Laundering and Anti-Corruption Law came in to assist, according to him, “the induced situation is caused by third party elements, who are either driven by the hunger for power or jealousy.
The seeming situation is induced principally by two classes of persons, those driven by hunger for power which represents the group in Rivers State, and those driven by envy, which houses external factors. For instance, the Minister of State for Education, Chief Nyesom Wike, my friend and brother, is at the centre of the group opposes to Amaechi’s style of governance and bent on wrestling power from the governor.
My worry is not that they seek to wrestle power from him, because that basically is politics. My quarrel is the approach: the crude, undemocratic and uncivilized manner that they are going about it. In the process, they have undermined the rule of law, breached the peace of Rivers State and are threatening a breakdown of law and order.
The second category are persons who are driven by envy and the rising profile of the governor and the only way, to them, to break the rising profile of Governor Amaechi is to pit him against the president and hiding under the cover of the Presidency. For these persons, I think and honestly too that they have proven that they are not men enough to personally handle their affairs”.
President Jonathan and the Macabre Dance of Rivers State
Having listened to some of the funny and flimsy excuses posited by the Media Chiefs of President of his not involvement in the macabre dance of Rivers State and the counter claims by the Senate Committee that investigated the crisis and many great Nigerians indicting him over this I wonder what type of people actually make up a media Team of the President that ought to be proactive in its defense of Mr. President but have succeeded to generate poor publicity and name calling on Mr. President.
With due respect to the much both Dr Reuben Abati the President’s spokesperson and The Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs, Dr Doyin Okupr are doing the duo have not managed President’s media affairs well enough. Yes, Mr. President may not be involved in this sad developments in Rivers State and should not be mentioned for such ugly incidents seeing what his administration achieved in the rule of law by given the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC free hands in its affairs and how the elections in Edo, Adamawa, Sokoto, Ogun, Ekiti was done and how he duly acknowledged the winners of those elections coupled with other factors. All these great feats nosedived when he started playing games with the outcome of the last NGF Election duly won by Gov Amaechi and instead of improving on his democracy credentials he allowed himself to be used by some confused political gladiators and elements in his cabinet to play host to the Jang Faction of the Governors Forum that shamelessly lost the election.
After the futile attempt by the funny five Law Makers from Rivers State to impeach the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Otelemaba Dan-Amachree. The purported new Speaker, Hon. Evans Bipi was seen attending a function in the State House in Abuja. Before this funny attempt Mr. President played host to most of the key actors pushing or rather instigating the RIVERS State crisis at the State House in Abuja. Weeks to the full war against the peace of Rivers State, the First Lady was in Port Harcourt interacting and dinning with most of these key actors in this dance and all and all Nigerians are told of the non-involvement of the Presidency in all these.
Let us assume that is the case, why is it that after the House of Representatives that investigated the grounding of the Rivers State plane and after four months the plane is still grounded? Why is it that after all the calls by both the National Assembly and other concerned Nigerians that the Police Commissioner of Rivers State, Mr. Jospeh Mbu is still in Port Harcourt executing his sad project in the State? Why is it that up till now only the Majority Leader of Rivers State House of Assembly, Chief Chidi Llyods is being investigated and kept under detention for the past ten days while those who instigated the crisis in the House are going about their businesses. Is this not the issue of the owl crying in the night and the child dying in the morning? Let us bring decorum and equity to prevail on this issue and stop playing politics with the lives and peace of Rivers State.
The Real Enemies of President Jonathan
Without fear of being misunderstood the true enemies of Mr. President in his political calculations in Nigeria are not Governor Amaechi and his followers, but those who by their actions have brought the name and image of Mr. President to shame and embarrassment going by their flagrant display of impunity in the political crisis in Rivers State.
Those who have by their utterances been overheating the polity ahead of the 2015 general elections attacking any Nigerian or section that have contrary views; those who are attempting to reduce Mr. President’s status from a National Leader to ethnic one (Ijaw nation), in a manner of speaking.
Those Ministers and agencies of government promoting corruption, highhandedness and antagonising Nigerians with perceived alternative views on governance are the enemies of Mr. President. Those promoting the infamy in Rivers State and looking at Nigeria and Nigerians as a conquered people and without knowing have indirectly by their misguided acts succeeded in ridiculing Mr. President and not those who are offering him constructive suggestions on how to be the best President ever from Nigeria.
These are the true enemies of President Jonathan who wants to destroy him and make him a total failure before the eyes of Nigerians and the entire world. Those charlatans in the corridor of power that have reduced a great party like PDP to its present sorrow state of not being so sure of its future. According to Governor Murtala Nyako of Adamawa State these charlatans in government should be flush out from the system if Mr. President intends to salvage anything out of his administration.
These ingrates and confused minds should be invited in a room to be educated on how to govern a country like Nigeria than the mess they have made out of it a system that ought to have being a golden regime and sadly have through their inimical acts brought this administration to public odium.
Other agents hell-bent of destroying all the legacies of President Jonathan are those who mobilised youths that stoned the visiting Governors that came to pay solidarity visit to Governor Amaechi over his unwise, wicked and malicious humiliations without minding the results of their action both to the image of the President and peaceful co-existence of Nigeria as a corporate unity. In his reaction to the sad development, Hon. Dakuku Peterside a member of the Federal House of Representatives said, “I can describe it as barbaric, primitive and most unfortunate. It portends danger for our democracy and the continued unity of Nigeria. Some people hired thugs and ex-militants with the protection of the commissioner of police, to go and embarrass governors at the airport.
That is most unfortunate and barbaric. You expect these people to visit Kano, Jigawa and other states where these governors who were embarrassed come from? Danger is staring us in the face. The other day, ex-militants took over the streets of Port Harcourt and the police did not do anything about it. They went and recruited them and took them to the Rivers State House of Assembly to use five lawmakers to sack 27. Yet, there was nothing wrong with it”
Thank God as it seems that both the PDP National Chairman, Alh. Bamanga Tukur and our revered leader and One-time Minister for Information and respected Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark have come to the realization that they utterances recently have not be of any help to the future of President Jonathan political calculation by apologizing of their attacks on Gov Sule Lamido and the progressive Governors in PDP for visiting the embattled Governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi. According to Chief Clark, “I apologize to all Nigerians if my utterance or my action threatened the peace and unity of this country that all politicians, leaders should emphasize only those things that keep this country together. We cannot split; Nigeria is a large country. Love is one of the greatest things that bind us together and Nigerians should learn to love one another and work assiduously for the unity of the country.”
2015: Challenges before President Jonathan
A major challenge facing the current federal administration and which clearly will define the rest of its tenure if not checked with the urgency it deserves is the issue of corruption.
Though one of the major sins of Amaechi is his stance on protection and accountability of the state’s resources (the sovereign wealth of our nation) and confirmation of the fears of the governor, NEITI in a report had indicted the federal government agencies for the disparities in payments in the oil sector. It says, inter alia, that N175b is still not found in the Federation acct.
Recently, TI released the 2013 Global Corruption Barometer, GCB and rated Nigeria as the eightieth most corrupt nation in the entire world under this administration and that our political parties and the Nigeria Police as the most corrupt institutions in Nigeria. TI’s 2013 GCB is a product of interviews with a total number of 114,000 respondents across 107 countries between September 2012 and March 2013.
The Berlin-based organization said the primary aim of the 2013 GCB report was to explore respondents’ personal experiences of paying bribes for government services on one hand and on the other, to gauge perception of the integrity of major public institutions. There is also TI’s desire towards a better understanding of the willingness and disposition of citizens in countries under review to fight corruption. The level of corruption under this administration is not to be condoned if we are to survive as a nation.
2. The East-West Federal Road and the Second Niger Bridge
If these two major projects at the heart of the South-South and South East are not completed before 2015, its potential of posing a serious setback need not be over-emphasized.
3. The APC and Northern Elements Challenge
With the registration of APC by INEC, its threat come 2015 is not only real but has the capacity to stop PDP come 2015 coupled with the seriousness some Northern elements are attaching to the 2015 polls. Those that need to know about this have already confirmed it including both the BOT Chairman and National Chairman of PDP. What strategy to adopt to curtail this moving force should be of concern to any serious strategist in the camp of Jonathan instead of wasting energy to pull down a force that should be of help in whatever calculation they are advancing? Instead of the egg heads in Jonathan’s Camp strategizing and strengthening their base, they think by fighting some elements is the best strategy to sell Jonathan to other regions after all these obvious threat! Funny people!
Suggested Strategies on the Way Forward
A lot of time has been wasted pursuing shadows instead of addressing governance and rendering dividends of democracy to the people of Nigeria which will determine the fate of the party come 2015. Not minding obvious shortcomings, President Jonathan must be commended for the efforts to reach the true characters that will help his issue come 2015 recently instead of the charlatans that have constituted themselves as nuisance in this regard.
Learnt that he is also billed to summon a peace meeting to be attended by critical stakeholders in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to forge a consensus on how to resolve the crises and with the meeting with President Olusegun Obasanjo, Governor Amaechi, Dist senator Abubakar Saraki and the five progressive Governors of Dr. Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano), Alhaji Sule Lamido (Jigawa), Alhaji Murtala Nyako (Adamawa), Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu (Niger) and Alhaji Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto) — who have been shuttling around Nigeria, consulting eminent personalities on how to resolve the multi-faceted crises in the country is a step in the right direction.
Commendation must go to the National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd) who brokered the meeting between the president and Amaechi. It was learnt that Dasuki initiated the process of fence mending between the duo to douse the political crisis in Rivers State that has been threatening the security and stability of the country. Dasuki, in his capacity as the NSA, was said to have taken the initiative to invite Amaechi to a meeting with the president, certain that the Rivers State crisis amongst other security challenges, could do a lot of harm to the nation’s fragile democracy. Presidency sources said the NSA had been toying with the idea since eight opposition governors met with Amaechi in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, about two weeks ago to plead with him to meet with Jonathan and formally brief him on the situation in his state.
I will suggest in furtherance to this, that President Jonathan needs to listen to his brother, Prince Tonye Princewill the Amanyanabo of Kalabari scion on the former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar. I am aware of the efforts he has made to bring both President Jonathan and Atiku Abubakar to work together but the continued playing down on the issue of Atiku Abubakar by the charlatans in governance may be calamitous if not handled wisely.
No matter what ever those surrounding the President that cannot even win their wards election are saying, Atiku Abubakar stands out as a man of vision who has a blue print to take this our country out of its present sorrow state. The President should for the greatness of this nation get to this man who is ready to give him clues on how to handle most of the challenges facing his administration but if he like he can continue with those who are after their belly and lack ideas on how to handle critical issues facing the country.
As Mr. President starts his consultations, he should endeavour to get in touch with the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar III, Shehu Shagari, General Gowon, Pastor Enoch Adeboye and the CAN President Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor and plead with them to be sincere with him on his vision and plans for this country. The time of playing dummy is no longer an issue.
Lastly on this section, Mr. President needs to organize a strategically seminar with his Media Chiefs and re-orientate their shallow ideas of what it takes to manage such a magnanimous office they are occupying but sadly seem lost on how to manage it. As they attempt to emulate Alh Lai Mohammed is a far cry.
Mr. President should ask General Olusegun Obasanjo and he will tell him that the Media Team of Atiku Abubakar managed by Mal. Shehu Garba and Ifeanyi Izeze stands out as the most portent and viable Media outfit in Nigeria. I will suggest that the Presidential Team to take some lectures from Mal. Garba on how to manage the offices they are occupying as the idea of unwarranted attack on some of the key actors that will assist the President in his future political calculations is the worst idea of selling a President looking for a second tenure.
Conclusion
In conclusion and in line with the recent postulation of former Head of State, General Yakubu Gown Rtd, it is not late to redefine, reform Nigeria. According to this living sage, “What is happening in our country today calls for sober reflections, as we entreat God on behalf of our nation. I want to believe that in spite of the gloomy situation made manifest by the escalating security and political challenges in our nation, the church in Nigeria, given its spiritual and human resources, occupies a strategic position to trigger process aimed at remaking, enforcing and reinforcing the blessings of Nigerian jubilee. It is not late to redefine and reorder Nigeria.”
Mr. President must build on the virtues that will assist our democracy by properly recognizing the office of the NGF Chairman in the person of Governor Amaechi and intervene and ensure that those behind the crisis in Rivers State are called to order and Gov Amaechi restored to his position as the Leader of PDP in Rivers State and Mr. Joseph Mbu redeployed as the Rivers State Commissioner of Police as a matter of urgency unless he has not done much harm to the image of Mr. President. With all that has happened, it is very clear to any responsible mind that Amaechi is not a push over when serious political issue is involved in Nigeria.
Finally, the RCCG Open Heaven daily Guide of 29th July came handy at this juncture. Titled, Leading with God’s Fear, 2 Samuel 23:3 The God of Israel said, “the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God” while to all Nigeria, the Action point throws more light on this by stating that, “A leader who fears God is both accountable to God and the people under him or her”. Let us ask that only such leaders will govern our lives and nation from now on.
God has blessed Jonathan and have offered him a unique opportunity to take Nigeria to greater heights and should seize this opportunity to right acts inimical to the greatness of this nation and write his name in gold by taking over governance from the charlatans controlling his government and deliver good governance base on the support given to him by Nigerians during the 2011 general elections. It is not too late to act.
Eze chukwuemeka Eze is a Media Consultant based in Port Harcourt and could be reached through ezemediaconcept08@rocketmail.com. Tel: 08038199163
DiasporaScope

Jega: why INEC registered APC

INEC Chairman Jega

by: Yusuf Alli

•Party can ‘contest November governorship poll in Anambra’

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, spoke yesterday on the registration of the All Progressives Congress (APC)—the platform on which the progressives will fight the 2015 election.

He said APC was registered as a merger party because it met all the requirements.

He stressed that the registration was “done right under the law”, adding that the commission would appeal against a court judgment which nullified its decision to de-register Fresh Party and others.

Jega was answering questions at a stakeholders’ conference with media professionals and civil society organisations on Voter Register Optimisation and plans for continuous voter registration.

He said it was not yet time to release the 2015 general elections timetable.

Jega said: “With regards to our registration of APC and what informed what we have done, it is clear to us that the parties that intend to merge have met all the legal requirements of merger and we have done all the internal processes or processing application for merger and we have taken the decision to register them and we believe we are right to do so under the law.

“I cannot comment on other issues because those issues are subject to litigation but we are satisfied that what we have done is right under the law and that is why we did it.”

Replying a question, the INEC chairman said APC could participate in the November governorship poll in Anambra State.

“As to whether the merged party will contest election in Anambra State, given the fact that the registration should be done before the election, again, you have forced our leaders to quickly look at the law a party must be registered 90 days before any election and I can give you the section so you can look it up.

“If you look at the Electoral Act, Section 84(6), it is 90 days before any election and I think they have been registered 90 days before the Anambra election.”

On the nullification of deregistration of parties by a court, Jega said INEC had asked its legal team to file an appeal against the judgment of a Federal High Court which reversed the deregistration of Fresh Party.

He said: “With regards to party registration, obviously the laws are very clear as to under what condition we can register parties and under what conditions we can deregister political parties and we have been doing our best to register as well as to deregister.

“I think you are talking about the court judgment about a week ago or so. But people are forgetting that we had three other court judgments that had thrown away those who have gone to contest our deregistration of political parties.

“So, this is the first judgment which seems to now favour a deregistered party. So, really as far as we are concerned, it’s a case that we have to appeal and, in fact, our lawyers are processing the appeal.

“So, I think it is misunderstanding and misrepresentation to say that the court has overturned our deregistration of parties because out of four judgments, three are in favour of INEC. So, really the jury is still out on this deregistration and we should not misunderstand the import of that judgment.

On the timetable for 2015 elections, the INEC chairman said:

“We will issue a timetable. There is a legal time frame in which we have to issue a timetable for general elections and we are still within that time and it is too early to issue the 2015 timetable now.

“So, we will stick to the requirement of the law and issue the timetable when the law says we should issue it.”

He, however, explained that a lot had been done to put INEC in shape for a free and fair poll in 2015.

Jega said: “Specifically, we have undertaken some programmes to reposition INEC for greater efficiency in conducting free, fair and credible elections. Since the 2011 General Election, we have done the following, among others:

“We have internally reviewed the conduct of the elections through retreats involving Electoral Officers, RECs and Admin Secretaries, and National Commissioners. Through this process, we have learnt from the field officers our strengths and weaknesses in the conduct of elections and we have been introducing appropriate measures to improve the process.”

“We commissioned an independent study of the 2011 voter registration and elections by a group of distinguished and respected academics and CSO activists, and the report they produced provided us additional information and recommendations on how to keep on improving the electoral process.

“We commissioned a reputable management-consulting firm, which studied INEC and provided us with useful input for the restructuring and reorganisation of the Commission, to make it a more efficient and effective election management body.

“The Commission has implemented the new structure through a reorganisation that has eliminated job overlaps and makes the organisation lighter and more efficient.

“We embarked on a broadly consultative strategic planning process, which has now yielded a Strategic Plan and Strategic Programme of Action that the Commission has adopted and which serves as a framework for our preparations and operations as an EMB for the next five years.

“We have held a series of consultative meetings with different stakeholder groups, including CSOs and the Media, to share information and exchange ideas on how to continue to improve upon the electoral process as we move towards the 2015 general elections.

“We have commenced our programme of action towards delimiting constituencies, which we shall strive to do before the 20 15 elections.

“As we count down to the next cycle of General Election in 2015, we in INEC are increasingly fine-tuning our work processes to ensure that we deliver elections that are much more free, fairer and more credible than we had in 2011.

“We have, for instance, cleaned out the National Register of Voters and fully consolidated the data.

“We are taking delivery of the Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), which we have promised to begin issuing to registered voters before the end of the year. Indeed, the process that led up to producing these PVCs ensured the elimination of all multiple registrations and sanitisation of the Voter Register, which is an essential condition for the conduct of credible elections as we all desire.

“ In furtherance of register optimisation, we are rolling out the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise nationwide before the end of this year (2013).

“But ensuring credible elections, as I have always observed, is not a one-way street. In other words, it is not the task of INEC alone; rather, it is a multi-stakeholder endeavour that requires the collaboration and diligent commitment of other role players.

“In particular, the stakeholder groups represented here at this forum have a cardinal role to play in civic enlightenment, voter education and the moulding of public perception of the electoral process.”

TheNation

PDP chieftain alleges APC’s infiltration of INEC

Nigerians have been alerted of an alleged infiltration of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC by elements loyal to the All Progressives Congress, APC.

Reacting to the nomination of Lagos State University, LASU don, Prof. Abubakar Momoh as the Director General of the Electoral Institute, Afenifere Chieftain and Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, governorship aspirant in Ekiti State, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, in a release issued on behalf of Prince Adedayo Adeyeye Movement (PAAM) Sunday, stated that Prof. Momoh was one of the notable support for Senator Bola Tinubu and governors of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, in South West States.

Adeyeye said: “Momoh was one of the partisan elements disguised as Election Observers during the Ekiti State governorship rerun election in 2009,  who were caught in Oye and Ifaki-Ekiti, with electoral materials.

“Momoh was caught alongside one ACN chieftain in Lagos State, who was then a Commissioner in the Lagos State Civil Service Commission, Fuad Oki and other chieftains of the party. When they were caught, already prepared election results were found on them with telephone contacts of top leaders of the defunct ACN.”

The PDP governorship aspirant noted that, “Prof. Momoh was also one of the witnesses of the ACN candidate, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, current Governor of Ekiti State at the election tribunal.

“He (Momoh) had also served on the Board of Governor Fayemi’s Non-Governmental Organisation, the Centre for Democracy and Development, CDD.

“Therefore, with such a personality now given a prominent position in INEC, his disposition and extent of the compromising capability in any electoral contest, especially the 2014 governorship election in Ekiti and Osun states, involving the opposition parties, can better be imagined.”

Vanguard

PDP governors, lawmakers give conditions to join APC

 by: Yusuf Alli

Barely five days after its registration, the All Progressives Congress (APC) is getting offers from some governors and members of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and others who want to join the new party.

The Progressive Governors, who are mostly members of the APC, will meet on August 13 in Lafia, Nasarawa State on how to open talks with their colleagues who are interested in coming over to the new party.

The APC governors will also use the Lafia meeting to design plans for the Anambra governorship election, mass registration of new members and mobilisation of Nigerians for what the party stands for.

But, preparatory to the session of the governors, the Interim National Executive Committee of APC will meet on Tuesday on the registration of the party by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the challenges ahead.

The party has, however, sought INEC’s nod to retain its Interim Committee for six months to enable it stabilise.

According to sources, some PDP governors and members of the National Assembly have approached the APC for some partnership and political collaboration, including joining the new party.

It was gathered that the governors and National Assembly members believe that APC can offer more to Nigerians.

It was learnt that the potential members of APC have tabled some terms which the Progressive Governors Forum will look into alongside the Interim National Executive Committee.

The terms were not immediately known last night.

A source, who spoke in confidence, said: “Having secured registration, the battle ahead has started in earnest. We have a job to unveil what APC means to the people and how Nigerians can buy into it.

“The Progressive Governors Forum or APC governors will meet after Sallah on August 13 in Lafia, Nasarawa State on mobilisation and registration of members.

“The Forum will also look at plans by some governors and National Assembly members from PDP and political leaders from other parties, who have opened talks on how to join APC.

“The Forum will later pass its recommendations to the party leadership for more input and implementation.

“We will certainly use the meeting to design a roadmap for the party because time is no longer on our side. We need mass registration of members. We have to mobilise Nigerians on our mission to salvage the nation’s democracy and economy.

“We are according the Anambra State governorship election a priority, the Forum will discuss it.”

APC leaders and governors are expected to come up with suggestions the constitution of a full-fledged National Executive Committee. APC has asked INEC to allow its Interim Committee to be in place for six months to stabilise the new party.

“But the party leaders are tinkering with the idea of having APC’s statutory NEC in place after three months,” the source said.

Meanwhile, there were indications that the Interim NEC will meet on Tuesday.

Another source said: “The officers of the party will meet on Tuesday in Abuja for a post-registration session and the way forward.

“The committee’s session will review the registration of the party by the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) and the challenges ahead.”

TheNation

How A Defective Justice System Freed Major Al-Mustapha By Femi Falana

Femi Falana (SAN)

Introduction: Under the Ibrahim Babangida junta  politically motivated killings were  rife in several parts of the country. The refusal by the police to investigate such killings lent credence to allegations of official involvement.
The gruesome assassination of a prominent journalist, Mr. Dele Giwa by a parcel bomb in Lagos on October 19,1986 was covered up by the junta. The gallant attempts by the late Chief Gani Fawehinmi SAN to ensure the prosecution of those who were suspected to have masterminded the nefarious deed were officially frustrated. However, the Sani Abacha junta devised a dubious method of shielding official assassins from being exposed. Whenever any opposition figure was killed by the Strike Force accusing fingers were quickly pointed at the family members or political allies of the deceased . Thus,  sequel to  the brutal murder of Mrs. Kudirat Abiola  in Lagos on June 4,1996 by unknown gunmen some members of the Abiola family and chieftains of the National democratic Coalition (NADECO) were hurriedly arrested, detained and interrogated by the police on  suspicion that they committed the heinous crime!
The Indictment of the Murder Suspects
Upon the restoration of civil rule in  May 1999, President Olusegun Obasanjo instituted the Special Investigation Panel which probed  the murderous activities of the Strike Force  from 1993-1998. Some of the operatives  made confessional statements on the murder of Mrs Abiola, the attempted murder of Chief Alex Ibru, Chief Abraham Adesanya, Mr Isaac Poubeni et cetera. In particular, it was disclosed by the suspects that they carried out the iniquitous crimes on the orders of Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, the ex-Chief Security Officer to the late maximum ruler, General Sani Abacha. Upon the completion of investigation the Police charged the former Chief of Army Staff, General Ishaya Bamaiyi; the former Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr. James Danbaba; Major Al-Mustapha; Mr. Mohammed Abacha and Mohammed Aminu  with the murder of Mrs Abiola before an Ikeja Chief Magistrate Court in November 1999. The prosecutor in the matter  was Mr. Nuhu Ribadu who later became the pioneer chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
The case was  taken over by the Lagos state ministry of justice in 2000 which terminated  the matter at the Magistrate's court and charged  the defendants for the same offence at the Lagos High Court. In his oral testimony before the Honourable Justice Ade Alabi the star prosecution witness, Sergeant Barnabas Jabila (a.k.a.Rogers) gave a vivid account and description of how he collected two uzi guns from Major Al-Mustapha. He also disclosed that Alhaji Lateef Shofolahan gave information on the movements of Alhaja Kudirat Abiola while Mr Mohammed Abacha lent his mercedes benz car and allowed his  driver, Mr Mohammed Abdu (a.k.a Katako) to drive  the killer gang to the scene of the crime. Although Mr Mohammed Abacha did not deny the fact that he  also gave $20,000 to  two members of the killer squad to flee the country (to escape arrest and prosecution)  the Supreme Court set him free in a split decision of 4-1.
In the majority decision of the court read by Alfa Belgore JSC (as he then was) it was held that “The Appellant (Mohammed Abacha), in normal matter of course visited the first accused (Al Mustapha) not in course of any business. He saw Al Mustapha whispering to Jaabila (a.k.a Rogers) but not knowing what they discussed. He saw two guns taken out of a bag and given to the Jabila. Al Mustapha was Chief Security Officer and Jabila worked with him. Certainly he would not know what the mission was... Katako drove to the scene with Jabila and others where the unfortunate and gruesome murder was committed by Jabila, at least on his own confession of firing the shots at Mrs. Abiola.”. All the other four Justices on the panel of the apex court made similar profound findings based on the proof of evidence before the trial court. Even the Late  Olufemi Ejiwunmi JSC who delivered a dissenting opinion had this to say: “There was evidence that the Appellant allowed his driver Mohammed Katako to drive Rogers; and that the said Rogers fired and killed Kudirat while being driven by Mohammed Katako. The appellant had seen Al-Mustapha, the first accused hand over machine guns to Rogers and his boys.”
In dissociating himself from the decision of his learned brethren that the appellant had no case to answer Justice Ejiwunmi described the verdict of the court as " a tyranny of majority".
Before the judgment of the Supreme Court was delivered on July 11, 2002  Sergeant Rogers had appeared before the Justice Chukwudifu Oputa Panel on Human Rights Abuses which sat at the old National Assembly building at the Tafawa Balewa Square in Lagos. In the detailed evidence given by him sometimes in 2001, Sergeant Rogers confirmed that he fired the shot that snuffed life out of Mrs Kudirat Abiola as part of the atrocities perpetrated by the Strike Force on the orders of Major Al-Mustapha. He revealed that General Jeremiah Useni who was in the hall visited him and other members of the Strike Force in North Korea when they were training on how to kill the "enemies of Nigeria". When asked by the Honourable Justice Oputa if he regretted his action he said he did and he proceeded to ask for forgiveness as he burst into tears.  Curiously, Major Al-Mustapha and others who were indicted by Sergeant Rogers  could not challenge  the witness even though they were present at the proceedings.
The Delay Tactics by the Defendants
Based on the  unassailable evidence led at the trial court and at the Oputa panel on the brutal assassination of Mrs. Abiola the defendants decided to prolong the trial by resorting to various dilatory tactics. After the prosecution had led seven witnesses in evidence in the case the defendants applied for several adjournments. The trial within trial lasted for over a year. Many interlocutory appeals and applications for stay of proceedings pending the determination of  appeals were also filed by the defendants. In dismissing one of  the bail applications fought all the way to the Supreme Court  the defendants and their counsel were cautioned by the Justices to cooperate with the trial court to bring the murder case  to a speedy end “in the overall interest of the administration of criminal justice in this country.”
When it became clear that the trial judge wanted to proceed with the case  the defendants suddenly  turned round to accuse him of having taken a bribe of $10 million to convict them. They also petitioned the National Judicial Council (NJC)  which decided to investigate the allegation. In the circumstance, the murder case was suspended sine die to enable the panel set up by the NJC to investigate the alleged misconduct of the judge. At the end of the investigation which lasted for over a year the NJC committee found that the bribe  allegation was a fluke as it could not be substantiated. The NJC  gave the trial judge a clean bill of health and directed him to proceed with the trial. On resumption of hearing  the  trial judge was requested by the defendants to withdraw from the case on the ground that he was likely to be biased having been falsely accused by them. At that juncture, Justice Alabi recused himself from the case and it was assigned to another judge. Through such diversionary tactics the case lasted 13 years in the docket and was handled by five judges at different times before it was eventually concluded by Justice Modupe Dada.
The Conviction and the Acquittal
After the trial had lasted for over a decade due to ceaseless adjournments mostly at the instance of the defendants Justice Dada rejected all fresh strategies designed to frustrate the trial. Curiously, the witness protection arrangement put in place by the federal government was discontinued. Not unexpectedly, some of the witnesses who had earlier on testified refused to show up in court. The star witness, Sergeant Rogers testified but decided to contradict himself by alleging undue influence on the part of the prosecution.  In his own defence, Major Al-Mustapha  alleged that the trial was politically motivated by two former heads of state. The late Pa Abraham Adesanya (who narrowly escaped Sergeant Rogers' bullet) and Chief Bola Ige (who was gruesomely assassinated by unknown gunmen in December 2001) were alleged to have collected millions of pounds, dollars and naira from General Abdulsalami Abubakar to betray the June 12 mandate. But when the video recording of the much touted bribe was shown during the trial it turned out to be a ruse deliberately designed to divert the course of justice.
In her considered  judgment Justice Dada rejected  the retraction of the confessional statements of the two prosecution  witnesses in line with many decisions of the appellate courts to the effect that a trial court can still convict on a retracted confessional statement as long as the judex is satisfied  with the truth of the statement. Having watched the demeanour of the witnesses when they testified before her the trial judge came to the conclusion that the prosecution had proved the case beyond reasonable doubt that both defendants were guilty of the murder of Alhaja Kudirat Abiola. Accordingly, her ladyship convicted and sentenced them to death by hanging. Completely dissatisfied with the verdict both convicts challenged it at the Court of Appeal.
Upon a critical review of the case the Court of Appeal found that the prosecution's case was riddled with contradictions which ought to have been resolved in favour of the appellants. While condemning the shoddy investigation conducted by the police in the case the Court discharged and acquitted the appellants. As if that was not enough their ladyships descended on the trial judge for "allowing herself to be caught in the web of the conflict". But convinved that justice has not been done to the deceased the Court of Appeal concluded thus, " Assuming the culprit is at large, there is nothing hidden under the sun that will not be exposed. The Law of the Lord is perfect. His judgments are true and righteous altogether--Psalm 19:7--9".
With profound respect to the Court of Appeal it does not appear that "the culprit is at large". Hence the Court criticised the prosecution for fielding Sergeant Rogers "as a prosecution witness instead of being charged with murder" when he had initially confessed to the shooting of the deceased. In Abacha v the State (supra) the Supreme Court had equally noted, with dismay,  that "the criminals have not been charged". In particular the court observed  that "Sergeant Jabila (a.k.a Rogers) gave a graphic description of his involvement that if voluntary must amount to confession . He has not been charged with any offence". While the Lagos state government has indicated its wish to challenge the judgment of the Appeal Court in the Al-Mustapha's case at the Supreme Court it is high time that Sergeant Rogers and the members of the killer gang were charged with conspiracy and murder of Mrs Abiola.  After all, there is no statute of limitation with respect to the offence of murder.
Beyond The Acquittal of Major Al-Mustapha
Some members of the public who were not privy to the deliberate frustration of the trial by the defendants joined in the political campaign for their release while the trial was in progress. As impunity has become the order of the day the  Lagos state Attorney-General was under tremendous political pressure to file nolle prosequi with a view to aborting  the trial. No doubt, the judges and the prosecutors should be blamed for alllowing the defendants to exploit the loopholes in the criminal justice system to drag the trial for 13 years. Ironically, following their conviction by the Lagos high court the defendants  ensured that the appeal filed against the judgment of the trial court was heard and determined within 15 months in spite of the congestion of cases  in the Lagos division of the Court of Appeal.
It is however pertinent to note that the Al-Mustapha trial has compelled the Lagos state government to amend the criminal procedure law. Thus, under the  Lagos State Administration of Criminal Justice Law 2011, stay of proceedings pending appeal has been prohibited while the courts are precluded from entertaining  preliminary objections filed by defendants until the prosecution has closed its case. Furthermore, confessional statements made by suspects are required to be  vídeo recorded to avoid retraction by the defendands which often leads to  trial within trial. Adjournments by parties designed to prolong criminal trials have also been banned. It can therefore be said that the case has put an end to the brazen manipulation of the criminal justice system by rich defendants and their lawyers
However, in view of the incendiary statement credited to the factional leader of the Oodua Peoples Congress, Dr Faseun to the effect that Major Al-Mustapha is a victim of injustice he may wish to persuade his new political ally to sue the Lagos State Government for malicious prosecution. It is however  doubtful whether Dr. Faseun has come across the comprehensive report of the Oputa Panel which specifically named Major Al-Mustapha as one of "perpetrators of gross violations of the rights of citizens under military rule". Based on the unwarranted brutality meted out to many innocent persons by such torturers the Panel recommended that "those of them not yet retired or relieved of their jobs should be so retired forthwith". On the suspicious death of Chief M.K.O Abiola and other politically motivated killings which characterised the darkest chapter of our political history the Panel recommended that  the Federal Government should re-open such cases for "proper investigation". But out of sheer class solidarity with the indicted characters the Olusegun Obasanjo Administration could not muster the political will to implement the recommendations of the Oputa Panel.
CONCLUSION
Those who have expressed genuine concern over the discharge and acquittal of Major Al-Mustapha and Mr Shofolahan should be reminded of the  fact that General Ishaya Bamaiyi, Mr James Dambaba, Mohammed Rabo Lawal and Mohammed Aminu who had been tried for the attempted murder of Chief Abraham Adesanya and  Chief Alex Ibru  had been freed due to the fact that the witnesses who had made confessional statements decided to make a u-turn. In the same vein, those who were charged with the assassinations of Pa Alfred Rewane, Chief Bola Ige, Harry Marshal et al were left off the hook  on the ground that the charges brought against them  were not proved beyond reasonable doubt. With respect to the cases of Dele Giwa, Bagauda Kaltho, Jerry Agbeyegbe, Toyin Onagoruwa, Aminasoari Dikibo and several others  the police did not even charge any suspect to court.  Since thecriminal justice system of the neo-colonial state has virtually collapsed serious cases involving rich criminal suspects are usually lost in court due to either shoddy police investigation or  prosecutorial irresponsibility.
But suffice it to say that under the  criminal justice system only the poor are successfully prosecuted for murder and sundry offences because they lack the resources  to manipulate the criminal justice system. Ours has become a banana republic that is managed by a ruling class which cannot even protect  the lives of  its own members. As for the rest of the the society it has become a case of everyone for himself and God for us all. Hence, extra-judicial killing of unarmed citizens by security personnel and unofficial killer gangs is on the ascendancy. Instead of resigning to fate in the circumstance concerned individuals and organisations should be prepared to struggle for the establishment of  a new society where impunity will be consigned  to the dustbin of history. And the struggle should begin with a call on the Federal Government to disarm and disband the Strike Force and other killer groups  set up by the State and well connected politicians for the violent elimination of their political opponents.
Saharareporters

Game On By: Sam Nda-Isaiah

The last day of last month, 31.07.13, will remain historic in Nigeria.  It was the first time that a real merger of opposition parties was achieved in the country without the government decreeing it. In fact, the government appeared to have worked against it. INEC announced the birth of the long-awaited All Progressives Congress (APC) to a nationwide excitement and media blitz. With the way the news was accepted all across Nigeria, you’d be forgiven to think that an election had just been won. INEC’s rating went up immediately. Ordinary people who are not politicians started sending text messages around congratulating themselves. And I noticed something also curious: some known card-carrying PDP members also joined in the celebration.

I have been an exponent of a political system that has two dominant parties. I am repeating an article I wrote on this page on May 24, 2010, on the matter. There are also several others. I have always advocated that only that kind of system can guarantee the survival of democracy so properly defined in Nigeria. I was beginning to despair that Nigeria would inexorably end up like Egypt or Syria or Libya if the trend continued. These countries had a single leader or family at the helm for decades and it was the frustration of the people, in spite of the fact that the leaders provided good leadership, that inevitably led to the implosion. In the case of Nigeria, it was not a single leader but a single bungling political party that has threatened to enslave the country for 60 years. The PDP held Nigeria on the jugular using its overwhelming spread to rig elections and steal the nation’s resources, using the EFCC to kidnap opponents, and sometimes impeach duly elected governors with impunity. It was clear that the Nigerian nation was inching steadily towards an implosion worse than the Arab Spring by the time the merger eventually happened.

On the obverse side, people were frustrated with the nation’s opposition which did not even appear to know that their best interest and that of the nation lay in their fusing to form a platform that would be strong enough to win national elections. National elections are won by strong political parties and not by alliances of puny groups. Individually, it was possible for them to win local elections and even a few governorship seats. But there was no way they could win the presidential election the way they were. People despised the opposition and many Nigerians saw no reason in coming out to vote in presidential elections because it was clear to the discerning that the opposition did not have the critical mass to win at the national stage. The PDP didn’t need to rig to win presidential elections but they rigged anyway. Winning in politics is about simple arithmetic and perception. People would come out to vote and most importantly defend those votes if they thought the political party they voted for had a chance to win.

But the Nigerian situation was even more straightforward. All the opposition needed (and still needs) is to find an anti-rigging formula that works countrywide. And  this should not be difficult to find with a little more thinking and strategising. The PDP is already dangerously unpopular and the 2015 presidential election is APC’s to lose. The APC  quickly needs to present itself to the Nigerian people as totally and completely different from the PDP, and, fortunately, that should not be difficult to achieve at all. In the next election, it must not be a choice between PDP and a new PDP. APC must be decidedly different. The APC must make itself the party the people can fight for.

But it will also be important for the godfathers of the APC to know that the party can lose very easily in 2015. I have a friend who despises the PDP people for all they have done to Nigeria since coming to power in 1999. But he has not shown any excitement since APC was registered last week. When I asked him why, his candid response was that he would reserve his excitement until he sees the APC’s presidential ticket at the due time. The majority of the nation’s critical elite still have this mindset. But, again, if APC leaders who have done so well so far by agreeing on a name, party symbol, slogan, and interim executives are still the same leaders, then it will be reasonable to extrapolate that they will also subsume their personal interests when it comes to the ultimate prize. APC leaders are proudly aware that the Nigerian people have adopted their party as stakeholders and they are enjoying it.

Meanwhile, this is also time for the PDP to up its game and clean itself up. Some of their leaders should stop this nonsense that the APC will not last. Is that a manifesto? They have been saying this since the idea of merger was mooted anyway and the APC has lasted. In spite of the challenges of disparity and essential differences between the merging partners, they have come up with a name – a good one for that matter – agreed on party symbols and slogans, and a good interim executive team to boot. The PDP should stop praying that the APC does not last because that is not the kind of prayer that God answers. They should instead redesign their party to become more people-friendly. Democracy is about competition and that just started. Ladies and gentlemen, the  game is on!

EARSHOT

A Rascal Should Not Be Chairman Of NPC

In more serious countries, people like Festus Odimegwu do not get near public office. But Odimegwu, who should have been left in his beer parlour at the Nigerian Breweries Plc, has been appointed to one of the most critical national institutions: chairman of the National Population Commission (NPC). He had hardly taken his seat at the chairman’s office when he started saying that the north of Nigeria was over-counted in the last population census. How did he know? Was he among the people that did the enumeration during that census?

Odimegwu spoke with the confidence of one who has been assigned to do a hatchet man’s job at his present station by President Jonathan. If the president did not “send him”, then, the right thing he should do is fire the man immediately. No public officeholder makes that kind of divisive statement in a country that is already delicately divided. And Nigeria should, most definitely, not have a place for such irresponsible people at these uncertain and insecure times. Only people who are fair, just and sensitive should aspire to higher office in this country. And Festus or whatever he calls himself is certainly not a candidate for high office, considering the fact that even the brewery house where he worked had to ask him to resign because of his disgraceful role in Obasanjo’s third term scam. If President Jonathan is not going to fire the rascal because they are in cahoots, then, the National Assembly should quickly wade in to save this country a crisis that it may never get out of.

Leadership

Don’t Be Deceived By Okonjo-Iweala; Economic Growth Stopped In 1970s – Dr. Muttaka

Muhammad Usman Muttaka

By Isa Sa’idu, Zaria

Dr. Muhammad Usman Muttaka is the Head of Economics Department of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. In this interview, he has described the reported growth of Nigeria’s economy as a “paper growth”.
Excerpts:
The economy of Nigeria is said to be growing by eight per cent. What should have been the indicators of this growth?
The issue of growth is something that is not new in the economic literature because the measurement of development in any economy is associated with level of income that is generated, basically within a period of one year. So, if you said growth, you mean how the economy fared within that period.
So, I need to just draw a small caveat here. When you say growth, you are referring to the total aggregate of the output of the economy. Therefore, it needs a lot of measurement; a lot of quantification so as to measure the performance of that economy. And of recent, those indicators were given. One, stabilization of macro economy, that is, the level of income for individuals, level of employment, prices, inflation and a lot of other things that are complimentary.
I need to draw an example here, if you said that my house is growing, does it mean by size? It is either the number of people in the house that has risen or the space for each one that is growing. So, if you say the space of everyone is growing, it means that the house is growing in tandem with the population. In a nutshell, we say growth is used to measure the performance of any country in terms of economic activities.
So, you are saying that Nigerian economy is doing well?
No, not quite. It depends on the type of growth you have. There is new economic literature now that says growth without job is jobless growth and so many others. Because macroeconomic indicators involve level of prices, inflation, unemployment and employment, as well as level of living standard and poverty.
If you take these things, you will find out that in the economic literature it was argued that if your economy is growing; all the aforementioned would be relatively under control. If you take unemployment, for example, it is said in the literature that four per cent of unemployment is acceptable. But is that what we have in Nigeria? Does that growth that is being posted reflective of this? That is the first question to ask.
The second question is that if inflation is contained to certain number; is it inflationary or ineffective demand? When the people do not have income, no matter the prices, they cannot be able to purchase. So, along that line you will also look at your balance of payment, because we are import dependent. You also look at the percentage of agricultural contribution to that growth, because it has the implication of measuring the performance of the economy.
Where would you place this type of Nigerian growth, considering the level of poverty in the country?
I call it paper growth. Paper growth in the sense that the growth that is being peddled out does not reflect what you would find in the country. When you go to the street, you will see that the level of unemployment has increased and level of poverty has increased too.
You should look at other sectors like agriculture; is it working? Manufacturing; is it working? So, it is only minute sector of the economy like the telecommunication sector that is growing and that is what accounts for this growth that they are talking about.
Look at the oil sector; is it growing as a major revenue earner for the country? These are the indicators you should look at.
The debt of the country is said to be growing but it is not making much impact because of its low interest. What implication does that have on the economy?
The issue of debt; one can look at it on the Breton wood politics, which says some debt are harmless. There is no debt that is harmless. It is harmful. The way it is managed may translate to the harmless nature of any debt, anyway. In the case of Nigeria, if for instance, you take loan and invest in reproductive sector. For instance, you invest in agriculture where you open land to produce food and create employment and attain food sufficiency that can be a harmless loan. But what we have now is not even accountable. We don’t know what they are doing with it.
Where the Minister of Finance is coming from, you can easily understand why she says that our debts are harmless. She is from the World Bank. Hence, she has to find market for the World Bank because when she leaves the ministerial office she would look for another office in the World Bank. That means she has to work for them. Many economists believe that where we are going in terms of debt would be tragic.
According to your explanation, can we say that there are some debts that could help the economy of the country?
The only debt that can help the economy is the one that is managed for investment. For instance, you secure a loan and invest in development of human manpower like education. With that, you can produce manpower that can compete and add value to the country. But any debt that is not reproductive, that debt will never be a good debt. And I don’t think Nigeria has any business as it is now to take any loan because the resources they have are so enormous. But the issue is that there is a lot of corruption and therefore that corruption will continue to tie the country down unless we address it. And I don’t see that happening soon.
Let’s look at this issue of petroleum subsidy. It is stopped in 1970s put at one trillion naira. Out of that amount, it is said that N232b is questionable. What effect would that have on the country’s economy?
You see, some of us have already made our points about this fuel subsidy. The first question is that the issue of petroleum or oil sector is an international affair. So, it is an open secret if you want to know the cost of drilling a well and extracting one barrel of crude oil.  You go to Saudi Arabco website you will see the prices. They will also tell you how much it will cost you to refine one barrel of crude oil, and the other products that would be extracted as well. Therefore, for a liter of petrol or PMS as they call it, you would know the price. But it is only in Nigeria that somebody will come and tell you that yes, there is subsidy. How does the subsidy come in? How much did they get the oil? How much did it cost them to refine, how much did they pay in transporting it? How much does it sell as the pump price? And you are not even producing it you are importing it. Where were you importing it from and at how much per liter? Because all these things are supposed to be open.
So, the issue of subsidy is like some people are just part of the corruption that we are talking about. They are trying to justify their inefficiency in curtailing certain leakages that are within the economy. So, as far as we are concerned, in simple elementary economics, there are different sectors of markets. There is what they call perfect competitive markets, there is what they call monopoly; there is what they call oligopoly.

The oil industry is in the oligopolistic kind of market. It is like a cartel. The international price now is not determined in Nigeria. It is determined elsewhere. Therefore, you can’t say that oil price in my country would be as competitive as they want us to believe. We would ask them how?
The advocates of competition in Nigeria’s oil market seem to have forgotten the elementary structure of that market. This subsidy is just a gimmick, which has no basis. If they are honest enough, they should come out to tell us how much they import these things. We can then go to the international market and ask how it is sold in the international market and the landing cost of each liter. Then we would see whether there is subsidy or not.
From this analysis, what is the implication of this subsidy that is said to be given to Nigerians on the economy of the country?
Yes, the implication is uncertain. The issue of investment, production and everything is uncertain. And for an economy to grow, there must be stability so that you can plan for ten or twenty years. Our major problem started when we jettisoned our developmental plan. By 1970, if we had followed the developmental plan that was drawn, we would have outweighed our contemporaries. We started planning with Brazil, India and Pakistan and they are still planning. Our problem started in 1986 when we were asked to throw away planning and embrace Structural Adjustment Programme. And from there nobody knows what is going on.
It is said that about 600,000 barrel of crude oil is being lost every day in Nigeria. What effect does this have on the country’s economy?
That is what they are quoting but I bet you even if you go to NNPC and ask them how much crude oil we are producing per day, they can’t even tell you. The country is held hostage by those international oil companies. Because of the nature of our country, we don’t have  the mechanisms to checkmate those companies. As such they declare what they want as what they produce per day.
So, that 600,000 they are quoting is far below what is being lost. The implication is that the money for our crude oil is not coming to the government but to private individuals, and this would affect the capacity of the government to cater for the needs of Nigerians in providing infrastructures and other essentials.
That is one problem. The other problem is that if you quantify the amount of money that is going out of Nigeria in payment of school fees abroad, health tourism; you would be just weeping because it is far above the national budget of those sectors.
There are so many things that one needs to look at. In economics, you don’t look at things in isolation. In economics, it is one thing that triggers the others. So, one has to look at all the issues simultaneously.
Some stakeholders are saying that failure to punish offenders is also detrimental to the country’s economic growth. For example, recently ghost workers were discovered but nobody was punished. What’s your take on that?
I would look at it from the perspective of what brought about ghost workers. For instance, if you take a civil servant to Abuja, you know that lifestyle there is high, and you know his income. On that he has to find another way to live above waters. If he is an accountant, he would say let me add six names so that he would be collecting seven people’s salary to augment his income.
There is also the issue of some obnoxious policies that bring about all these. For example, you take tax payers money to build housing estates to give to civil servants and come back to sell those houses and throw out the civil servants. They would come back to connive with their friends to buy the houses for themselves and raise the rent.
Let me make a comparism. Seventy per cent of houses in Paris now are owned by the government. It is only in Nigeria that you build a massive housing estate like the one in Gwarimpa and sell them out. So, there is ignorance on the part of the policy makers on the economic implication of those things.
Two, some know the implication but because of their corrupt tendencies they would do those things. Three, some people who are not Nigerians. They are just Nigerians by name and by birth. Their allegiance is not for Nigeria. Therefore, they don’t mind if Nigeria collapses today. They are people whose families are not in Nigeria. They are just in Nigeria for certain gains.
So, many things are involved here that include moral and ethics as well as even the essence of human existence.
What do you have to say about SURE-P that has started executing some projects, which are supposed to be under the jurisdiction of some ministries?
Seriously, there is a problem with that arrangement. This has to do with the National Assembly. I feel that the National Assembly should have an independent office that would be investigating certain issues like budget implementation, economy and even politics.
What SURE-P is doing is what ministry of works is doing. Therefore, what happened to the budget meant for that ministry? Nobody knows. But the National Assembly would just say they are going for an oversight but in most cases nothing comes out of it.
PTF that looks like SURE-P came up under military regime but this SURE-P supposed to have been checked by the National Assembly. Lack of that checking makes our economy to suffer. So, all these conceptions were brought to fore by people who are not Nigerians in their allegiance. They compare what is happening at their adopted countries and try to implement them in Nigeria without understanding our economy and what is good for our economy.
Nigerian economy has human resources that are highly competitive anywhere in the world. Two, there are enormous resources, especially land that can turn around the country. Nigeria also witness minimum natural disasters. We also have the market because 160 million people is a large market that everyone needs to respect.  So, we have every opportunity to progress. But there are many impediments, some are out of ignorance while some are out of greed and selfishness. But the future is not gloomy if we may have a rethink because we are far behind where we ought to have been
-SUNDAY TRUST