It is not sheer partisanship or exaggeration to say that Osun has witnessed rapid transformation since the inception of the current administration in the state, as peace has returned to the state.
Financial transactions as well as investment in the state have tremendously improved, as investors have continued to express confidence in the current administration and their willingness to invest in the state. “Only a fool will put hard-earned money in an insecure environment,” so goes a wise saying.
To further buttress my point, Osun, in the last few months, has witnessed influx of visitors to the state, a development that had impacted positively on the state, not for any other reason, but for the fact that peace prevails in the state.

The Ansar-U-Deen National Conference was held last month, when delegates from all nations across the globe were all in Osogbo for some days. Just towards the end of last month, the Baptist Convention was also held in Osogbo, which also pulled thousands of participants to the state, a development that contributed in no small measure to the state growing economy, aside the spiritual blessings that the two conferences had brought to the state.

Just recently, the Lions Club International also concluded its National Retreat in Osun, with the participants getting first-hand information on the numerous resources that the state is endowed with. This will in no distant future have its own positive effect on the state and its people in the form of investment and empowerment.

No one could have known about the investment opportunities in the state, not to talk of boosting its economy in an atmosphere of crisis and insecurity.

It would be recalled that the head of the immediate-past administration in the state made several futile trips to several countries across the globe and even within Nigeria, all in the name of searching for investors, as no sane person would invest in an atmosphere of rancour and crisis.
Therefore, in conclusion, it is only during a peaceful atmosphere that reasonable development can be recorded.

Residents and indigenes of the State of the Virtuous are therefore appreciative of Ogbeni Aregbesola’s initiative in promoting peace and security in the state. We all love the chains of development that have berthed in the state.

•Fisayo Akintunde, Osunbukola Area, Dada Estate, Osogbo.

Nigeria’s president, Goodluck Jonathan, has declared a state of emergency in three states due to violence perpetrated by the militant Islamist movement Boko Haram.

“Islamist violence and the brutal response from the security services are making the northeast of Nigeria ungovernable, writes CFR Senior Fellow John Campbell in a new Expert Brief.

He underscores to those outside Nigeria: “The first principle must be ‘do no harm.’ The Islamist insurrection is the result of internal, specifically Nigerian, factors, especially a history of poor governance, impoverishment, and political marginalization against the backdrop of an Islamic revival. It would be unwise to view Nigeria’s situation through the prism of jihadist movements elsewhere in Africa, even if they share some of the same vocabulary.”

Campbell highlights patterns revealed by CFR’s Nigeria Security Tracker, which has monitored political violence since May 2011. It shows that this month could prove as violent as April, the month with the highest spike in violence over the past two years.

More CFR Resources:
Boko Haram: A CFR Backgrounder
“Africa in Transition,” a CFR blog by Campbell
“Sounding the Alarm on Boko Haram,” a CFR video featuring Campbell
We hope you find these resources useful. If you’d like to reach Campbell, please feel free to contact me.

Sincerely,
Melinda Wuellner
Deputy Director, Global Communications and Media Relations
Council on Foreign Relations
1777 F St N.W. Washington, DC 20006
tel 202.509.8448 fax 202.509.8400

RAUF, THE MAN OF THE PEOPLE

Even though, I am not a politician, but I know that all the criticisms that Aregbesola is not working is political and it cannot be separated from the fact that the opposition is wiping up sentiment to get Osun people’s sympathy for their ambition to rule Osun again.

What I think the opposition should do is to criticise constructively and prove to the people that they have changed their self-centered attitude. They must prove to us through their actions that they can do better and the only way to do that is by ensuring that government at the center, where the PDP is ruling meet the yearnings of the people.

In the past, Osun was under siege of terror, who were tormenting the people day and night, but now, even a blind can feels it that there is peace in Osun. Not only because efforts have been made by the government of Aregbesola, but also because the person we have at the helm of affairs believes in God and God has been supporting him.

My advice is that the so-called opposition (PDP), and its aspirants, who are warming up for the governorship race in 2014, should rather reconsider, so that they will not just waste their money. I know that no politician will want to hear this, but that is the truth, because Aregbesola has made a mark in Osun and people are not ready to do away with him for now.

Instead of causing mayhem through their ambition, the so-called opposition should allow the peace in Osun to continue, if truly they want to rule us to make a mark. It is only under a peaceful atmosphere that development can come.

•Adewale Badmus, Ilobu, Irepodun Local Government Council Area, State of Osun.

The body language of the Jonathan administration leads any keen watcher of events with unmistakable conclusion of the existence of a surreptitious but barely disguised intention to muzzle the elected governments of these states for what is clearly a display of unpardonable mediocrity and diabolic partisanship geared towards 2015.

Borno and Yobe states have been literally under armies of occupation with the attendant excruciating hardship experienced daily by the indigenes and residents of these areas. This government now wants to use the excuse of the security challenges faced by the Governors to remove them from the states considered hostile to the 2015 PDP/Jonathan project.

Let me be quick to say that this administration will be setting in motion a chain of events the end of which nobody can predict. Experience has shown clearly that actions, such as this one under consideration, often give root to radical ideologies and extremist tendencies, a direct opposite of the intended outcome of unwarranted and unintelligent meddlesomeness. The present scenario playing out in the country reminds one of the classical case of a mediocre craftsman who continually blames the tools of his trade for his serial failure but refuses to look at his pitiable state with a view to adjusting.

It has become crystal clear, even to the most incurable optimist, that the country is adrift. That the ship of the Nigerian state is rudderless is clearly evident in the consistent and continual attacks ferociously executed by elements often referred to as the insurgents in some northern states of the federation, particularly Borno and Yobe states respectively.

Indeed, no part of the country is immune from the virulent but easy attacks, veritable indices of a failing state. Unfortunately, the tenuous and uncoordinated approach adopted by this government betrays a grossly incompetent disposition which stands at variance with current realities in the country, nay the international community where acts of terrorism are engaged and contained. No Governor of a state in Nigeria is the Chief Security Officer. Putting the blame on the Governors, who have been effectively emasculated, for the abysmal performance of the government at the centre which controls all these security agencies, smacks of ignorance and mischief.

Terrorist acts are perpetrated routinely and the government at the centre appears incapable of stemming the tide of the horrendous crimes unleashed on the hapless populace. The considerable ease, with which lives and property are destroyed on a daily basis, should excite deep introspection on the part of a government truly desirous of finding a lasting solution.

The Constitution provides that the safety and welfare of citizens shall be the primary purpose of having that structure of any political leadership in the first instance. This Government, through acts of omission and commission, has fallen far short of expectation. It actively encourages schisms and all manner of divisive tendencies for parochial expediency. Ethnicity and religion become handy weapons of domination. Things have never been this bad.

The response to the pervasive chaos in the Northern region of the country has been militarisation, mass arrests and extra judicial killings by the Joint Task Force, JTF, a convenient euphemism for an army of occupation seemingly set loose on the people of the localities concerned. The tenor of the State of Emergency declared by the Federal Government yesterday portends danger for the polity. The full militarisation of security operations in these states will compound the already tense situation.

Both local and international media are awash with news of reckless attitudes of the invading forces. The fact that security operatives are killed cheaply and reprisals from the state find expressions in organised pogroms in the immediate communities is sure evidence of a government which lacks basic understanding to appreciate the enormity of the current security challenges. If development is about the people, all measures put in place for the sustenance and maintenance of the super-structure of the society must take into cognisance local contents.
It is evident from the grim experiences in recent times that this government has failed, or does not know that it is necessary for it to avail itself of the benefits accruable from exchange of ideas and notes on the latest in terms of technology and human resources among nations of the modern world, especially those which have been fighting terrorist organisations over the years, on the most effective mode of combating this menace. Technologically advanced countries of the world will never discard the idea on the need for the establishment of an effective local intelligence outfit.

Our suggestions along this path have always been met with suspicion and acerbic criticisms from both the informed and the ignorant alike. A government which stoutly defends its opposition to the decentralisation of the police force from its present over-centralised command structure is already experimenting with all manner of means patently extra-legal.

The massacres of local communities attendant upon the attacks on security agents by unknown elements will further alienate the people who should, ordinarily, partner with the government in securing their immediate environments. An army which invades a community maiming, Molesting and killing defenceless civilians will end up radicalising the youths whose parents and young ones have been wiped out most cowardly and recklessly. This government should concentrate more on encouraging the development of local intelligence which will, inexorably, lead to the practice of true federalism. Adopting the use of excessive force against those perceived as harbouring terrorists does not portray this government as possessing the wherewithal to find abiding solutions to the lingering security challenges.

The President’s pronouncement, which seeks to abridge or has the potential of totally scuttling the constitutional functions of Governors and other elected representatives of the people, will be counterproductive in the long run. A State of Emergency already exists in the states where JTF operates. Residents of these communities live in constant fear. Their rights are violated with impunity under the guise of searching for terrorists in their respective domains.

Hiding under some nebulous claims which border on the intractability of the security challenges posed by Boko Haram or some acclaimed traditionalists who have killed some policemen to render ineffective the constitutional powers vested in elected Governors and other representatives of the people, perceived as not amenable to manipulation for the 2015 project amounts to reducing serious issues bordering on the survival of the country to partisan politics.
Let all those who love this country genuinely advise the federal government not to tinker with the mandates of these Governors under any guise. It is a potentially destructive path to take. If security of a society is about the protection of lives and property of the citizenry, the involvement of the people is a sine qua non to effective intelligence gathering. Any measures put in place which alienate the people, in particular their elected representatives, should be considered as fundamentally defective by every right thinking person in the country.

Mr. Bola Ahmed Tinubu, was a two-term governor of Lagos State, and now a leading voice of the opposition party, the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN.

Chief Bola Ige a Federal Attorney General and Minister of Justice under President Olusegun Obasanjo was gruesomely murdered at his Ibadan residence on December 23, 2001. We shall come back to that later.

In the interview, Iyiola Omisore denigrated Governor Rauf Aregbesola’s administration and leveled baseless and unfounded charges against the performing icon of the State of Osun. The impeached Deputy Governor revealed what has been rumored in many quarters that he is nurturing a gubernatorial ambition to unseat the Action Congress of Nigeria governor. As a free citizen, Iyiola Omisore is at liberty to pursue political office, even to the highest level – since the courts have said so – not minding the perception of the general public about his person. After all, that is the beauty of deliberative democracy. It is about equity and the cleanness of one’s hands!

Iyiola Omisore said he hopes to have a manifesto for his governorship ambition next year. “My manifesto will be people-oriented”, he said. “It will enhance the status of our people and create wealth. There will be free education for the people and we shall pay attention to the health sector. It’s not about empty sloganeering.” The content of Omisore’s would-be manifesto is not fundamentally different from the hollow one the PDP offered in its eight years rule in the State of Osun. Omisore was also a Senator under the government for eight years.

Osun citizens have come off the predatory rule of the PDP. They know the difference between day and night, the difference between light and darkness, the difference between dark tunnel and the one with blossoming light, the difference between performing governance and a perverse one, the difference between creative governance and a comatose government. The comments of Dr. Segun Ojo who resides in Osogbo further buttress the inanities of the PDP administration. Ojo stated that, “if there is any past Osun people did not want to remember in the 22 years of her existence or since the days of Western Region, it is the perilous seven and a half wasted years the PDP saddled the state with profanity and unquantifiable ruination”.

Anyone who follows the six points integral action plan of the state government under Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, including education, agriculture, infrastructural revamp and others would know that Iyiola Omisore is merely crying wolf where none exists. Apart from the free education policy of Rauf Aregbesola administration from primary to secondary education as well as bursary paid to students in higher institutions who are indigenes of the State of Osun across the federation, his government spends a whopping sum of N3 billion annually on O’meal feeding programme for pupils in elementary schools.

The O’meal programme is a demonstration of Aregbesola’s resolve towards ensuring that every child has access to the most basic education irrespective of accident or circumstances of birth with conducive learning environment and food rich in high protein which guarantee rapid physical and mental development of every child without which learning in the formative years of the child will be impaired. This ideal is borne out of the fact that without solid basic education Nigeria cannot make up for the deficit leadership crisis plaguing it by the day. It is only with this type of planned and patriotic educational system that we can bring the mind into form, entrench intellectual culture, awake our value system, reason well in all matters and reach out towards truth without manipulation and corruption.

On the bases of creative thinking and understanding of the uniqueness of an underdeveloped economy, the Ogbeni Aregbesola’s administration has rightly embraced agriculture. This right step taken by the administration has helped to soak up the large army of unemployed. It has not only laid the bases for a resolution of the food crisis but has raised the people’s consciousness on the place to the survival of the people. Unfortunately the PDP is not thinking in this direction. Rather, petro-dollars have made the PDP at all levels of government to neglect agriculture. The consequences are that we are not only importing food to feed ourselves, but are importing fertilizers that have impoverished the land that is naturally fertile. This import syndrome sustains sharp practices and corruption upon which the PDP leadership feed fat on. Through O-YES, O-REAP, O-CLEAR and others, the ACN-led government in the State of Osun has employed over 30,000 youths for fish farming, cattle rearing, bird farming and the like. These are enough evidence that the State of Osun can work and it is working.

But all Iyiola Omisore can hear in the state is “plans, plans, plans and proposals, proposals, proposals”, even though he later contradicted himself in the same interview by saying that construction works are going on in the state at a slow pace! He questioned the rationale behind the building of mega schools in Osun, saying “Osun is not Victoria Island or Ikoyi.”

This shows the type of minds that drive the PDP if characters like Iyiola Omisore who enjoy seeing the children of the poor seating with stones in buildings whose roof is ridden with gaping holes in supposed classrooms. To understand Omisore’s thinking, we can recall the ease with which he was drafted from prison custody to the exalted Senate seat by former president Olusegun Obasanjo and the PDP while he was being prosecuted over the cruel murder of Uncle Bola Ige. That is the point I was making earlier, which Professor Wole Soyinka titled “Dancing on Bola Ige’s grave”. Omisore’s primitive notion of contestation for power, which led to the molestation and removal of the cap of the late Bola Ige in the palace of the Ooni of Ife, is truly implicating. That act of desperation was a nefarious one contrary to the tenets of democracy and civilized conduct. A man who is historically disposed to violence cannot validly lay claim to power. This is why the group called “De Rauf” is insistent that, with the people of Osun, the likes of Omisore and the PDP would find no place in future elections. Director – General of the group, Comrade Amitolu Shittu, in an address made available to newsmen in Osogbo reiterated what all other political groups have said: “The socio-political and economic transformation going on in the state must not be disrupted” regretting that “the immediate past government in the state was a calamity”, just as he was of the conviction that “the State of Osun is too socially, culturally and politically significant to fall again into the hands of political failures”.

The groups’ stance will certainly burnish the electoral victory of the ACN in the coming election. Luckily enough the ACN won all the National and State Assembly elections held in the state, including the presidential in 2011 in which Omisore was a PDP candidate.

The questions we must ask are as follows: Shall we continue to oil the wheels of our political tormentors in the hope that they might turn a new leaf someday? Shall we continue to entrust the collective patrimony of the people in the hands of miscreants and thugs? Shall we allow them to renew themselves in the abundance of our previous grief? Shall we allow them to extinguish the vitality of our stoic resolve for purposeful and positive change? These and many more questions are begging for answer. I have difficulties contemplating it or wrapping my mind around the possibility of someone like Christopher Iyiola Omisore becoming the governor of the “Land of Virtue”.

* Eyiola is a social crusader based in Osogbo

Source: Vanguard

The 63-year old Professor of Education was sworn in by the State Chief Judge, Justice Ayodeji Daramola at a colourful event held at the Lady Jibowu Hall, Government House, Ado- Ekiti.
Speaking at the ceremony which was well attended by dignitaries from different parts of the country, the State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi said the appointment of Prof Adelabu was received with “overwhelming approval” from the people because she is a round peg in a round hole.

Dr. Fayemi who expressed confidence that the new Deputy Governor would perform well, urged her to continue to endear herself to the hearts of the people as she steps into the large shoe left behind by her predecessor, late Mrs Funmi Olayinka.

While noting that the new Deputy Governor already has the leadership qualities that would make her succeed, Fayemi traced Adelabu’s lineage to three royal families in Ado Ekiti, Ise Ekiti and Ijero Ekiti where her parents and her late husband hailed from; saying that this must have given her the experience needed to lead.

The Governor while charging Adelabu to justify the confidence reposed in her by the people of the state, advised her to ignore subversive criticisms and rumours peddled in the social media by detractors; saying that the late Deputy Governor succeeded in warding off the unfounded rumours and criticisms by her selfless service to the state.

In her acceptance speech, the new Deputy Governor extolled her predecessor, late Olayinka; saying that she really served the people tirelessly and would continue to be remembered for her selfless service to the people. She promised to continue with the good works started by Olayinka and see them to completion.

Prof Adelabu also pledged her unalloyed support to the people and government of Ekiti State and assured that she would justify the confidence reposed in her by the Governor. The former SUBEB Chairperson said that she had accepted the new assignment “in faith and not in fear” , stressing that the State would thrive better during her time.

At the event were the Wife of the Governor, Erelu Bisi Fayemi, first civilian Governor of the State, Otunba Niyi Adebayo; former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Alani Akinrinade; the Ooni of Ife, Oba Sijuade Okunade; Deji of Akure, Oba Adebiyi Adesida; Chairman, Ekiti State Traditional Council and Owa Ooye of Okemesi, Oba Gbadebo Adedeji; Ewi of Ado Ekiti, Oba Adeyemo Adejugbe; Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Dr Adewale Omirin; a former Lagos State Commissioner for Establishment, Mrs Teju Philips; and the State Chairman of the Action Congress of Nigeria, Chief Jide Awe among other dignitaries.

Source: Ekiti State Official Website

Nwogwugwu wrote this piece to cast aspersion on the person of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. To tell it like it is, she is right. Asiwaju is enabled. The cosmic has given him a task which he must accomplish. This man of humble and inauspicious origin is on a mission. To dislodge the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) is a task that must be accomplished. We have had a long run of ill-luck in leadership in this country. God has heard our prayers.

Asiwaju is a perfect match to the PDP behemoth. He is a dogged fighter per excellence. He has the capacity and the financial war chest to dislodge the PDP. Tinubu is like any powerful man of action who is not given to emotional flowery rhetoric. He is indeed a compelling presence. The merger with other political parties to form APC has proved that Tinubu is not in love with himself. He is not completely consumed with the pursuit of unchallenged personal power. He is the shining light of sweet reason.

I have watched in some quarters as slander and fabrications, like an acid rain of scorn, descend on him. But I believe that he is the vehicle that God is using to chase the PDP scammers out of power. Isaiah 41-2- 4 reads: “Who was it that brought the conqueror from the east, and makes him triumphant wherever he goes? Who gives him victory over kings and nations? His sword strikes them down as if they were dust. His arrows scatter them like straw before the wind.

He follows in pursuit and marches safely on, so fast that he hardly touches the ground! Who was it that made this happen? Who has determined the course of history? I, the LORD, was there at the beginning, and I, the LORD will be there at the end.” In an era when most politicians lack the pluck to take the plunge, Tinubu has saved our country from being a one party state. He triumphed over every antic spruced up during Obasanjo. Tinubu’s pre-eminence in national politics stem largely from his ability to identify and work with talents.

Unlike most Nigerians leaders, he is more accommodating of all shades of opinion but resolute in given practical expression to strategies and tactics formulated from various ideas and suggestions after distillation of the varying stands of thoughts by the members of his gifted team. He has achieved a sort of positive apotheosis as he was vaulted onto the national stage by some benevolent destiny. He is a genius of the party apparatchik.

Senator Ganiyu Solomon captured the essence of this man when he wrote that Asiwaju is our long sought after quintessential Nigerian leader whose vision, dreams and aspirations tower above non-progressive sectionalism, myopic tribalism and ethnic jingoism. He said his philosophy and orientation and socialist background have no doubt prepared him for what the future has begun to throw up. Solomon is of the view that Tinubu has his eyes on the future and this is evident in his choice of people for leadership position because he sure wants to look back in his old age and be complacent that posterity has a good place in stock for him.

His political foes believe that Asiwaju has a capacity for lying, intrigue and secrecy. But he is simply a man who understands power and possesses the capacity to command. Men like him are more fanatical and their imaginations are fired by heroes of all times. Deeply ingrained in his consciousness are the ideas of independence, honour and physical courage. Tinubu’s love of freedom, his ferociousness in battle and his somewhat reckless bravery suits the current Nigerian political space. As a governor he operated in pressure cooker atmosphere when he took the fateful decision to challenge Olusegun Obasanjo.

A lot of people thought that was a self destructive course. But there was something symbolic about his defiance. With that singular action he has done good to the state of our democracy. Multi part democracy would have been a mockery by now. That achievement will live in popular memory for all times. In one of his numerous interviews, Tinubu disclosed how he challenged Obasanjo over his “excesses”. “One day he told me ‘you are my representative in that state’ and I said no, you were elected the same day I was elected. Our functions are different; our responsibilities are clear in the constitution. He was angry. Forget your military days where you appoint administrators. Please let it be flushed out of your mind.

He said he will throw me out. It was in his office and I told him one on one that this is the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, you are a tenant here sir, you can’t throw me out. Without us in the state, you cannot be president. Yes, it got that bad. The truth must be told and that was the first. The second one he said I should not enter the Villa. I said you don’t dear do it, unless I come to your bedroom sir, this is our house. I wanted to have an audience with him, he didn’t give me the audience but I told him the piece of my mind.” His journey in politics started during the era of defunct Social Democratic party (SDP).

He scored the highest number of votes to defeat his closes opponent, Mrs. Kemi Nelson of the National Republican Convention (NRC). His senatorial district was the most populous in the country. Tinubu made his mark in the senate as the Chairman of the Appropriation Committee. On the floor of the senate he canvassed vigorously for the termination of military rule. He argued that failure to do that could spell doom for the country. When the June 12 election was annulled, he stood solidly behind MKO Abiola to the end .With the June 12 struggle, Asiwaju proved that by doing something useful for the society; you strengthen the fabrics of our shared humanity.

Martin Luther King once said that everyone can be great because everyone can serve. He fought alongside NADECO members for the actualization of that mandate. Members of the coalition can still attest to his dedication, courage and financial commitment to the cause of that struggle. To prove that he wasn’t in the struggle for monetary gains, Tinubu said he never collected money from Abiola. “I can tell you not to diminish Abiola; I don’t owe him but N25, 000 that he gave me when I was to represent him in Jos. He said he had no money but the rest of the funds were the money that I spent on my own.

I was not in custody of his funds. I put in my private funds.” As the governor of Lagos state, Tinubu’s cabinet was made up of erudite minds, seasoned politicians, technocrats and professionals, to fuel the fire of development in the state. There were the likes of Towery Coker, Professor Idowu Sobowale, Dele Alake, Raul Aregbesola, Professor Yemi Osibanjo, Lekan Pitan, Tunji Bello and Raji Fashola, who has the continued with the transformation agenda put in place by his government.

During his eight years as governor Tinub showed that he is an experienced administrator. He laid the foundation for the massive reconstruction going on in the state at the moment.

Orji writes from Lagos.

Source: The Sun

I am amazed because the chief law officer of the federation should, ordinarily, not be involved in acts that are meant to muzzle fairness and transparency. When a citizen is aggrieved or has complaints against individuals or institutions, it is to the courts that he turns to. If the courts cannot guarantee fair hearing and justice to citizens, then we are all doomed. This is the scenario Adoke’s silence in the case involving Bafarawa paints.

To situate the issue properly, it is important that we understand what the conspiracy is all about. Alhaji Bafarawa who was the governor of Sokoto State between 1999 and 2007 is standing trial in a Sokoto State High Court over allegations of graft since 2008. The Governor while leaving office had invited the then Governor-elected, Aliyu Wamakko, for proper handover briefing. However, Wamakko declined the invitation. On the day he was taking over on May 29, 2007, Wamakko raised alarm that he met the state’s coffers in the red. His claim ran counter to the facts, which he was privy to before he took over. That fact was that Bafarawa left about N 11.8 billion in the state’s account while he was leaving office.

The matter was straightforward enough. An independent inquiry needed to be conducted to know between Bafarawa and Wamakko who was right or wrong. Consequently, Bafarawa petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), asking it to probe the allegation. Curiously, the EFCC did nothing. Then one year after, the commission invited Bafarawa over to its office, claiming that there was a petition against him. He was subsequently detained. No charges were slammed on him. His tormentors merely left him in solitary confinement.

Unable to reconcile his earlier petition with the action of the EFCC, Bafarawa went to court and eventually secured his release. The court ordered the EFCC to bring charges against Bafarawa. But the Commission could not do so until the Sokoto State Government fed it with some spurious charges. The commission could not carry out its own Investigation because the allegations against Bafarawa were hollow. Since then, the EFCC has remained timid in the Bafarawa case because it has no facts to rely on.

The concerned publics really pity EFCC in this matter. They know that the commission is only being used to achieve a nefarious objective. But this is most unfortunate because Nigerians had thought that the commission under Ibrahim Larmode would not allow itself to be manipulated as was the case in the past. Concerned Nigerians are still pitying the EFCC.

But they are even more scandalised that the Attorney-General of the Federation also decided to be entangled in the conspiracy web. How did Adoke come in? Having made up its mind that Bafarawa must be constantly harassed for political reasons, the Sokoto State Government employed the services of EFCC. The commission timidly acquiesced and played along. But the involvement of the Attorney-General became the last straw that was being used to break Bafarawa’s back. The plot was to ensure that Bafarawa is tried in a court where he will be prosecuted and jailed by the same person, in this case, his accuser. Consequently, they charged him to Sokoto State High Court instead of a Federal High Court.

Since then, Nigerians have been expressing worry at this development. They do not understand why Bafarawa is not being tried in a Federal High Court since the Federal Republic of Nigeria is the complainant in the case. Justice and fairness therefore demand that Bafarawa be tried in a federal court either in Sokoto State or the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja.

At first, it was thought that it was an oversight on the part of the office of the Attorney-General. His attention was therefore drawn to the unpalatable situation. But as a believer in the rule of law, Bafarawa took it upon himself to ensure that the Attorney-General does not continue to act in Ignorance. He therefore approached his lawyers, who wrote Adoke on June 18, 2012, drawing his attention to the anomaly. The Attorney-General received Bafarawa’s letter on June 20, 2012 but has not, up till this day, deemed it necessary to respond to the issue raised by Bafarawa. This is not only contemptuous; it ridicules the exalted office of the Attorney-General.

It is contemptuous because good breeding and civilised conduct demand that Adoke addresses the concerns expressed by the petitioner, no matter how frivolous. A responsible public office holder does not ignore issues of state brought before him. If Bafarawa was wrong in asking that his case be transferred to a Federal High Court, he should be told so by the Attorney-General. If he was right, then his request should be granted without further delay. But there is no feedback of any sort from Adoke’s office. This conspiracy of silence throws him open to suspicion. By maintaining a studied silence, Adoke has given the impression that he is an accomplice in the grand conspiracy to deal with Bafarawa.

But this is wrong. The office of Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice is an exalted one. It is usually respected because the people expect that they can get redress from it when their rights are being trampled upon. If the same office becomes a haven for unholy acts, then everyone is in trouble. Rather than be Minister of Justice, Adoke appears to be presiding over injustice. Someone needs to call him to order.

While we can understand the timid attitude of the EFCC, we cannot rationalise that of the office of the Attorney-General. While Nigerians have, long before now, lost confidence in the EFCC, they cannot afford to give up on matters of justice and fair play. The Office of the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice represents justice and fair play. That is the reason for its existence. If it fails to deliver on this mandate then we must all be living in a jungle. Someone should please prevail on Adoke to take us out of this jungle. Nigerians are civilised people. They want to move with the civilised world. They do not want to be dragged down by conspirators and anti-social elements.

As the Chief Law Officer of the Federation, the assumption is that Adoke is civilised. He must therefore not act in a way and manner that will give a lie to this assumption.

Beginning from now, we expect Adoke to do one thing. He should respond to Bafarawa’s petition on his unjust trial at Sokoto State High Court. We expect that the best response from him will be to ensure the transfer of the case to a Federal High Court in line with Bafarawa’s request.

But if for any reason Adoke feels that Bafarawa is wrong to have requested for the transfer of the case, we expect him to also let the people know this. Let us know why Bafarawa is wrong, if indeed, he is. Let us know why he is the only Ex-Governor that is being tried in a State High Court. If Adoke responds in whichever way, he would have saved himself and the office he occupies from allegations of complicity. But if he remains silent then he must be keeping a date with infamy.

Let us remind Adoke at this point that no condition is permanent. If he decides to play politics with the name and reputation of his fellow citizen, posterity will judge him harshly. This will make real sense to him when he is no longer occupying this same office. We advise him to be wise and act wisely too.

•Ibrahim writes from Lafia, Nasarawa State.

Source: News Express

Open Memo to Nigerian Opposition Politicians – 2

Party politics in Nigeria is for all comers where identity and values mean nothing. Members don’t need to have any special attribute. As a result, for instance, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is for everybody including the corrupt, ex-convicts, questionable Nigerians, etc. just as it also has a good mix of some of the good and positive citizens.

The party doesn’t have to respect its members and make itself available to the Nigerian people. Democratic values mean nothing to the party. Elections hardly take place and when they do, the results can be vetoed by party leaders. It has gradually emerged as a party without democrats and permanently antagonistic to Nigerian people. At the same time, it proudly bears the name Peoples Democratic Party.

The fact of PDP’s control of the Federal Government and most state governments, which conferred on it the commanding control of the resources of the country since 1999 mean liberalised access by corrupt Nigerians and geometric rise of the problem of mismanagement, looting and theft of public resources. The outcome is that virtually every PDP functionary at party or governmental levels is contaminated with varying degree of the public treasury loot allergy.

The absence of democracy and being antagonistic to Nigerian public has also resulted in very high membership turnover. The consequence is that the Nigerian political landscape at all level is littered with ex-PDP. Sadly, Nigerian politics is yet to acquire any capacity for healing or quarantining ex-PDP members, especially those that have proven cases of public loot allergy or public evidence of authoritarian amity.

Largely on account of combinations of lack of internal party democracy, high membership turnover and absence of values in our polity, almost all our parties have been infected with the public loot allergy in varying degrees. As a result of which both in terms of the different parties and the government they produce, poor services and contempt by officials to public outcry for good governance is a recurring characteristic.

This is the progressive lethargy that today represents a major source of public frustration, cynicism and democratic inertia. It has in significant ways reduced democratic governance in Nigeria to a state of joke and clamour for national development to rhetoric. Nigeria is therefore a country without national development targets, a country where public officials govern with impunity, where citizens’ lives are at best statistical expressions, where the rise of anarchy and relapse to Hobbesian state of nature is the commandment.

Is this our national destiny? Is there any way to remedying this ugly situation? Do Nigerians have any hope that anything positively different can come out of any of today’s initiative? In terms of politics, is there a way to introduce some values and character to any of our parties? Can the effort towards introducing values and character also take on board the need to cure the public treasury loot allergy?

Almost every Nigerian is asking these questions with special interest mostly based on the hope that Nigerian politics can be refined such that public frustration, cynicism, democratic inertia, absence of national development, culture of impunity, loss of lives and property, anarchy and relapse to Hobbesian state will no longer be our defining feature.

In response therefore our Nigerian opposition politicians have taken up the challenge and since January this year (2013) commenced national negotiations to merge our opposition parties, notably ACN, ANPP, CPC and Okorocha-led APGA and have since February 6 announced agreement to form All Progressives Congress (APC). While for many Nigerians this is a welcome development, it is also being received with doubt given that many leaders of these parties involved in the merger negotiations are to some extent ex-PDP with varying levels of contamination and public treasury loot allergy.

This may only serve to reinforce public frustration, cynicism and democratic inertia. It demand for a conscious response from the merging parties, at least to stimulate public confidence that the new party, APC, will be founded with the capacity to, at the minimum, to provide healing for public treasury loot allergy and/or authoritarian amity.

Somehow, perhaps on account of over confidence arising from the perceived high public support for the merger, our opposition leaders have almost ignored this expectation completely. Issues of leadership selection process for the merger, at best, insult public sensibility given the decision to vest the leadership of the merger negotiation in the hands of Chief Tom Ikimi.

Not even the choice of the name, All Progressives Congress (APC) and the fact that by any parameter, Chief Ikimi will never qualify as progressive moderated our opposition leaders. If anything, he is a conservative through and through who never hid his preference for private accumulation, private enterprise, capitalism, etc.

Although, it can be argued that given the state of things in Nigeria, private accumulation, private enterprise and capitalism if founded based on application of rules, liberalised environment and equal access could represent progress. However given the antecedent of Chief Tom Ikimi, it is doubtful if his choice of private accumulation, private enterprise, capitalism, etc. is located in application of rules, liberalised environment and equal access.

Besides, his democratic credentials as the foreign Minister of Gen. Sani Abacha’s administration and his role in the international defense of the criminal state murder of Ken Saro-Wiwa in 1996 were certainly a huge mark that meant anything but progressive. Perhaps his role as PDP returning officer in the sham contest between Chief Obasanjo and Chief Alex Ekweme in 2003 is progressive credentials.

Nigerians have lived with this ‘progressive’ assault for about four months. Some commentaries, critiques and public opinions have drawn attention to this. In virtually all cases, the response is some subtle rationalisation, stubborn silence and meek arrogance. This could be a way of highlighting the prerogatives of our political leaders to take all decisions without worrying about public expectations including wrong choices of party leaders.

This can only further fuel public frustration, cynicism and democratic inertia and consequently make APC to emerge only as a vehicle to entrench our progressive lethargy. With this kind of disposition, conservatives with strong authoritarian streak such as Chief Ikimi or any other person can emerge as leaders of APC.

Therefore, instead of emerging as a progressive party, one founded based on a commitment to social welfare services especially education and health, like the case of ‘people’ and ‘democratic’ in the name of PDP, ‘progressive’ identity will just be another taxonomy meaning virtually nothing to APC.

With the presence of many ex-PDP, some with advanced signs of the public treasury loot allergy, problems of national development targets, impunity, anarchy and relapse to Hobbesian state of nature will remain our national commandment.

Our leaders in the Nigerian opposition parties negotiating the APC merger need to take urgent steps to redirect affairs so that APC truly emerge as a progressive party. Progressive loosely defined based on a strategy to develop APC as a party that can guarantee steady incremental positive changes in our political life.

These incremental changes should take their bearing from good demonstration of commitment to develop a party that can regulate the conduct of every member. The starting point may have to proceed with strong commitment to guarantee fairness within the party. Progress in this respect will assume a reverse order and the calamity facing the nation will continue.

What should our opposition leadership do in order to guarantee fairness? There are three principles that can be recommended to guide APC negotiations especially the process of leadership formation. The first should be the need to address problem associated with combination of treasury loot allergy and authoritarian amity.

The second will be the need to ensure fair representation of the parties in the merger process. And the third is the need to come with strong commitment to ensure equal representation of all parts of the country and interests in the leadership of the party.

It is important that the party begin to use the issue of principles as a guide moving forward given that by May 11, once ANPP and CPC successful hold their merger conventions, the next stage will be that of leadership formation. Given the reality of Nigerian politics largely being driven by personal aspirations, the democratic and progressive outlook of APC risked being sacrificed. This underlines the need to urgently appeal to our opposition political leaders so that they don’t recklessly squander the huge democratic opportunity the APC merger process present.

With respect to the principles highlighted above therefore, the first task before our opposition leaders is to take all the necessary steps to ensure that as much as possible all those holding principal position in the party can be adjudged to have tolerable levels of ex-PDP symptom, public treasury loot allergy or authoritarian amity. Principal Officers in this case should include National Chairman, National Secretary, National Treasurer and Chairman BOT.

The process of leadership formation must factor a strategy for comprehensive due diligence, including public scrutiny. A situation where the approach is blind to ex-PDP symptom, public treasury loot allergy and authoritarian amity, can only result in creating a shadow PDP in APC.

The second issue is that once the principal offices are agreed, fairness requires that these offices are equitably shared among the merging parties. The factor that should determine equity must take into account the need for every party and all members to make sacrifice for the good of the country and enhance the electoral prospect of APC. To that extent therefore it may require the need to have an attitude of let go just so that unity is achieved.

The third bordering on the need to come with strong commitment to ensure equal representation of all parts of the country and interests in the leadership of the party demand that all parts of the country are reflected in the leadership. Given current perception whereby ACN is perceived as a South West party and CPC as a Northern party, and against the background of cynicism that the merger is mainly between the North and South West and ANPP is being relegated to a junior status in the merger, there will be the need to take conscious measures to factor a strong presence of all parties and all parts of the country among the principal officers of APC.

All things considered, it will appear that options before our oppositions politicians are limited. Unless our APC want to opt for a complete gamble with untested individuals for the positions of National Chairman, National Secretary and Chairman BOT, it will appear that based on current leaders of the parties, the best choices that would meet all the three conditions are Gen. Buhari, Asiwaju Tinubu and Chief Ogbonnaya Onu. All the three can be adjudged not to have ex-PDP symptom, no proven case of public treasury loot allergy and in many respect tolerable levels of authoritarian amity. Controversial as the assessment of these leaders would appear to be, it represented about the best in relations to other possible candidates within the merging parties.

Weighed against the advantage that with these three personalities – Gen. Buhari, Asiwaju Tinubu and Chief Onu – in the leadership of APC, three critical parts of the country are already reflected. The challenge then will be to proceed to recruit good leaders with, at the minimum, tolerable levels of ex-PDP symptoms, low cases of public treasury loot allergy and authoritarian amity from other parts of the country and interests.

Some of the areas that attention must be paid in constituting the leadership of the party include the issue of recruiting youths and women leaders. The way things are, if care is not taken, leadership negotiations leading to the emergence of APC leaders may reflect dominantly older people and mostly men.

Since it is only logical that the leadership of APC will be constituted from among current leaders of the merging parties, APC risk coming up with a leadership whose youngest will be in his/her 50s. And since no age limit has been placed so far in the harmonised APC constitution for the APC Youth Leader and Deputy Youth Leader, people in their 60s or 70s may emerge as Youth Leader and Deputy.

There is therefore the urgent need for our opposition leaders to consciously take steps to ensure the representation of youths (those under 35 years) and women in the leadership of APC.

Once APC is able to handle the task of leadership formation based on respect for principles; public frustration, cynicism and democratic inertia will begin to give way to confidence, support and participation in party activities.

This is the only guarantee for electoral success in 2015. This demand that, first thing first, the process of APC leadership formation must get certain things right. It is must not be driven by purely personal aspirations of individuals, pure exercise of leadership prerogative, blind recognition for our diversities both with respect to identity and interests, etc.

Our Nigerian opposition leaders must act based on principles as the qualifying credential for being a party of progressives!

smlukman@gmail.com

Read more: http://www.chidoonumah.com/2013/05/progressive-lethargy-apc-and-task-of.html#ixzz2SIHuBgZr
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• Say political witch-hunt dangerous to democracy

• Probe grounding of aircraft

• Why plane was registered in U.S., by Rivers

WITH the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Otelemaba Amachree, warning Tuesday of a plot by the Felix Obuah-led People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to impeach Governor Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, the crisis in the state is set to take a turn for the worse.

The alarm was raised in a statement signed by the speaker. According to the speaker, a fake mace has been smuggled into the state to enable five members of the house who belong to Nyeson Wike’s faction hold an emergency session and impeach the governor.

The statement reads in part: “We have been reliably informed that a fake mace has been smuggled into the state to enable FIVE members of the house hold an emergency session even when the house adjourned sine die on Tuesday, April 23, 2013.

“The Abuja plan on ground is to falsely impeach the Rt. Hon. Speaker and the Executive Governor of Rivers State Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi and create confusion through varied responses, which they hope will make the state ungovernable and provide them with some kind of warped basis to introduce Emergency Rule in Rivers State.”

The statement further stated that there were strong indications that some persons had been detailed exclusively to create systemic collapse of security in the state thereby putting lives and property in danger.

“This is undemocratic , unacceptable and a complete violation of the mandate that the good people of Rivers State have vested on us. We call on the good people of Rivers State to remain calm, watchful and law-abiding as the scenario unfolds.”

And outraged at the alleged persistent rift between President Goodluck Jonathan and Amaechi, the House of Representatives yesterday began moves to broker truce between them.

Amaechi is alleged to be interested in the Presidency in the 2015 polls. This has allegedly drawn the ire of Jonathan who is alleged to be interested in seeking re-election in 2015.

This clash of interests has allegedly culminated in the Presidency attempting to oust Amaechi as chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum, and the grounding of a Rivers State-owned aircraft by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) at the weekend.

Besides, the Rivers State government yesterday insisted on its ownership of the controversial Bombardier BD 700 Global Express jet, stressing that it was registered as a United States (U.S.) aircraft “ to preserve value, provide ease of operation and the sourcing of available pilots.”

Yesterday, a member of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Ahmed Idris (PDP, Wase, Plateau), who raised the issue of the rift between Jonathan and Amaechi under matters of urgent national importance, claimed that there were political undertones in Amaechi’s plight.

The lawmaker insinuated that the Presidency had made impunity, lawlessness and political vendetta the order of the day.

Pleading for the intervention of the House presided over by Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, he stated thus: “ I am concerned that this incident raises serious issues as to the abuse of power by the Executive and the use of state machinery to witch-hunt perceived political opponents which is extremely dangerous and detrimental to any democracy and tends towards dictatorship and draconian tendencies typical of the military era.”

Without any form of objection from the members, the Speaker mandated the House Committee on Justice and Aviation to, as a matter of urgency, extensively investigate the justification and circumstances surrounding the grounding of the aircraft and report back to the House within two weeks.

The House’s intervention came against the backdrop of the decision by the newly-inaugurated state executive council of the state People’s Democratic Party (PDP) led by Felix Obuah giving Amaechi a 48-hour ultimatum to explain the real ownership of the state’s aircraft that was grounded last week or face a disciplinary action.

This ultimatum came despite explanations from the state Commissioner for Information and Communications, Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, that all the documents of the aircraft were in place and that the state had applied formally to the minister of aviation for the import licence.

The House of Representatives is also set to partner stakeholders in the environment to develop a common agenda for the sector’s sustainability.

The parliament said the agenda was to help promote an effective and co-ordinated environmental policy that would tackle pollution and degradation as well as other issues related to the environment.

The Chairman of the House Panel on Environment, Uche Ekwunife who made the disclosure in Abuja yesterday, said “in order to achieve this, the committee will convoke a national conference on environment between May 20 and 21, 2013.”

She said the House was concerned about the level of devastation and trauma environmental problems cause the people of Nigeria and the economy, adding that the condition of the environment was often a reflection of the state of the well-being of a nation and its people.

According to Ekwunife, decisions concerning the environment often focus on the role of government, legislation and law enforcement but “ protecting the environment, however, is the responsibility of all stakeholders, including industry, indigenous groups, environmental groups, the general population and the media.”

The chairman noted that serious environmental pollution and degradation in the Niger Delta had dislocated the way of life and livelihood of numerous communities.

The House has also ordered an investigation into delays usually associated with accessing funds of dead persons by their named beneficiaries.

Specifically, the joint committee on Judiciary and Justice of the Chamber was given the mandate to convene a stakeholders’ meeting with a view to finding a way out of the lingering problem and report back to the House within two weeks.

Abiodun Abudu-Balogun who sponsored a motion on the need to stop the pains named beneficiaries of such funds usually go through in efforts at accessing them, said that it was time Nigerians were saved from the harrowing experiences.

According to him, while the process of obtaining letters of administration by such bereaved families at probate divisions of state and federal high courts is very cumbersome and corruption-ridden, banks which are custodians of the funds often use “both official and unofficial hurdles to frustrate beneficiaries.”

The lawmaker stated that unofficial statistics put the figures of such unaccessed funds at between N400 billion and N1 trillion with the banks, and according to him, obtaining a single letter of administration usually lasts over a year.

Besides, the House mandated its Committee on Health to investigate the high maternal and child mortality rate in the country and make recommendations on how to improve maternal health and safety in the country.

Adopting a motion brought by Daniel Effiong Akpan, the House lamented that despite the huge funds appropriated for the health sector in the yearly budget, the primary health care system in the country was still poor as the majority of women were unable to afford access to quality health services.

The reaction of the Rivers State’s government came on the heels of the state chapter of the PDP’s threat to sanction Amaechi by today if no explanation is given about the ownership of the aircraft.

Reacting to statements attributed to officials of different agencies in the aviation sector on the status of the aircraft, Semenitari said that the plane belonged to the state.

“Aircraft N 566 RS arrived in Nigeria and has been operating since October 2012. It was bought by the Rivers State Government and registered as a U.S. aircraft in the first instance, to preserve value and provide ease of operation and sourcing of available pilots. To qualify for N-registration, an operator must be a U.S. citizen hence the Rivers State government entered into a trust with Bank of Utah Inc, a bank which specialises in aircraft trust,” Semenitari said.

According to her, the relationship between the state government and Bank of Utah is that of a trustor and trustee and that an N-registered aircraft enjoys the privileges of a U.S. citizen and that trust agreement for the purpose of registration is common in the aviation industry.

The commissioner stated that there were other aircraft owners in Nigeria with N-registered aircraft. This practice, according to her, was because of the ease of movement that N-registered aircraft are privileged to enjoy. She therefore, wondered why the Rivers State government had been singled out for criticism.

She faulted the aviation authorities’ claim that the aircraft was given clearance to travel Accra-Port Harcourt-Accra whereas it was Port Harcourt-Accra-Port Harcourt. She also explained that the aircraft was being operated through a local operator, Caverton Helicopters, pending an approval of importation licence by the Minister of Aviation.

“Request for this licence was filed by the operator on behalf of the Rivers State government and this was expressly stated in the request filed on August 27, 2012 and received in the minister’s office on September 4, 2012. The Rivers State government is a responsible sub-national and guardian of the resources of its people. It will at all times and in all circumstances act within the confines of the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” Semenitari added.

The commissioner observed with concern that all of the information and queries about this aircraft had only been through the mass media. She reiterated that the government of Rivers State had not received any communication from the Ministry of Aviation or any of its agencies querying the status of its aircraft.

Culled from Guardian