‘Why Ndigbo ‘ll vote APC in Lagos’ - The Nation

In this piece, the Co-ordinator of the Association for the ‘Defence of Igbo Interests in Lagos’, Comrade Chris Nwokobia, explains why Ndigbo will vote for the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, at the April 11 election.
In all parts of Lagos, we have been inundated with innuendoes that will clearly endanger Ndigbo, their properties and other interests in Lagos if not well handled. We are concerned because there is a raging feeling all over Lagos that Igbo are deep into a conspiracy to undermine the political interests of the Yoruba and help impose an anti-Yoruba surrogate in Lagos, as a way of mocking and undermining the political interests of the Yoruba Nation.

We see this as dangerous and we note that this has sparked hostile reactions and promises to spark more reactions after the election.
We are compelled to state that Ndigbo are parts and parcel of Lagos and that we share an excellent relationship with the people of Lagos, especially the Yoruba. We state also that Ndigbo are the prime beneficiaries of the conducive environment Lagos offers, that Ndigbo are the prime beneficiaries of the good, orderly and secure governance in Lagos, especially in the past sixteen years, we note that Igbo businesses and spirit of enterprise have flowered so well in the new Lagos, a working and modern Mega City that offers a home for all Nigerians and offers an expansive environment for Igbo businesses to thrive unimpeded.

Our concern is that these great benefits stand to be endangered by a misreading of the present and unfolding political situation in the country, where it is being made to seem as if Igbo are in the forefront of what is seen as a political battle to upstage the Yoruba in Lagos. We are concerned that the greedy and selfish interests of some self-serving Igbo masquerading as leaders of Igbo people and self serving groups, stand to endanger the Igbo in Lagos in the near future hence we issue this disclaimer.
We want to state the afore-mentioned impressions amounts to a    misreading of the Igbo in Lagos and their well known republican disposition especially as it relates to issues and politics in Nigeria and do not represent the feelings and political inclination of the majority of Igbos who do their business, live their lives and work in Lagos unimpeded.

We note that the PDP has been brash, immodest and loud in dropping the good name of Ndigbo for their political ambition to rule Lagos. We note the insinuation being created all over Lagos at present that Igbo are being mobilized with huge money and resources to work for PDP. While we do not deny this, we insist that this is restricted to few people who are transacting business with the name of Ndigbo. They neither represent the generality of Ndigbo nor do they represent credible Igbo platforms, which have worked well with Yoruba since the amalgamation of Nigeria.

We align with the huge success story Lagos has been in the past sixteen years under APC leadership and we are happy that Ndigbo have expanded tremendously in this period, investing hugely in the expanding economy of Lagos and exploiting the promises of the state, enjoying excellent security, good infrastructures, good transportation and a friendly business environment.

Given that there is clear danger ahead, we want to state that Ndigbo are not part of the indecent money sharing going on now as a campaign strategy of President Jonathan and the PDP. This is not to dispute that various so-called Igbo groups are not partaking in this malfeasance. They are on their own and represent themselves the few members of their groups and families. Millions of Igbo in Lagos are not part of this and we wonder how much it will take to settle all Igbo in Lagos. Those who have partaken in the sharing of dollars and Naira are on their own, if we must restate this fact. They should not drag Ndigbo to their illicit business.
Proceeding further, we want to advance reasons why Ndigbo must vote the APC government in Lagos.

Why vote APC?
• APC Lagos has shown through actions and deeds that it understands what leadership is all about.  It has shown leadership in Lagos and made Lagos a destination for all Nigerians especially for Ndigbo when the Federal Government under PDP has abdicated its responsibility to Nigerians.
• APC government in Lagos has made the issue of Security the number one agenda and this has made it possible for Igbo businesses to thrive in Lagos.  When kidnappers ravaged the South East I know many Igbo Lagosians who traveled to the village to bring their parents to Lagos. Today, Lagos is the safest state of Nigeria where Igbos sleeps with both eyes closed and do their lawful businesses without molestation.
•APC government in  Lagos  led by Governor Fashola fought Ebola to a standstill and effectively stopped the spread to other parts of  Nigeria.  This led the United Nations to declare Nigeria Ebola free. It could have been worse if not because of this courageous intervention that led the way in curbing this deadly virus in Nigeria. • APC government in  Lagos  has created a conducive atmosphere for Igbo businesses to thrive in  Lagos  whether is Real estate, Commerce, Transport, Artisans, Okada, Churches, Construction and other professions.
• More than 500 Igbo are working in Lagos State Ministries and LGAs in various capacities, including the powerful office of Commissioner for Budget and Planning. Time and space will not permit me to mention their names here.  In Abia State, a PDP Governor, Theodore Orji sacked Igbo from Anambra, Enugu, Imo and Ebonyi states.
•Lagos APC government has fought for justice for Igbo Lagosians like Miss Uzoma Okere who was assaulted by a Naval Rating.  Lagos also funded the treatment of a popular Actress, Ngozi Nwosu, OJB Jezreel, Prince Ifeanyi Dike, etc abroad.  Lagos APC government  not only rehabilitated the family of the late Human Rights Activist, Chima Ubani, it also gave the family a house  and offered his children scholarship to all levels of education when the Federal Government and his home PDP State government turned their backs on his family after he died fighting for the masses. APC government in Lagos has fought for countless number of Igbo Lagosians to get justice in Lagos.  Again time and space will not permit me to mention their names here.
• Lagos  is the second home for Igbo in  Nigeria.  Check the number of Igbo in  Lagos. Check the volume of investment and check the successes. This can only happen because a stable and trusted APC government has been in place. Contrast this with what obtains at the Federal Level where PDP holds sway.
• Under APC government, Lagos is the fifth largest economy in Africa, larger than the economies of many African countries. Today, Lagos remains the driver of the Nigerian economy and pulls its weakest links. This is what the Igbo need to thrive and excel and not the consumptive politics the PDP promotes which excels in looting and sharing parts of the loot during election time.
• APC government in Lagos has remained a pacesetter for other states to copy in Nigeria.  Every good idea, every good thing, every evidence of good leadership you see anywhere in the country must have a link and or connection with Lagos.  APC government is a thinking government and you do not prefer a fourth-eleven for the first-eleven.
• It is better for Ndigbo in  Lagos  to work with those they know than to plan a deal with total strangers. His Royal Highness, the Oba of Lagos Oba Rilwanu Akiolu has told all Lagosians that they do not want PDP anywhere on their soil.  Igbo in Lagos should listen to him as a mark of respect.  PDP has devastated Yoruba land since 1999 from Ogun to Oyo, from Ondo to Ekiti and to Osun. PDP has devastated Nigeria in 16 years and made the country a laughing stock in the comity of nations. Yoruba see PDP as a virus.  That is why they formed an alliance with the North to stop PDP.
• A lot of money is exchanging hands in  Lagos  but money cannot buy friendship or relationship.  Friendship and Relationship are built over years of hard work and commitment.  Money can buy you a bed but it cannot buy sleep.  Money can buy you a car but it cannot buy you safety.  Money can buy you the best shoes in the world but you need to have legs to wear shoes. If Igbo make the mistake of investing in a dying horse by voting PDP at a time other Nigerians are rejecting it for its sixteen wasteful years in power, it will neither affect the electoral choice of Lagosians nor make any positive difference for Igbo. It will rather worsen their woes in Nigeria especially in Lagos where they co-exist and compete favorably with other Nigerians. Igbo be warned.

Wake-up call:
In concluding, we want to debunk the impression being created that Ndigbo are against the present wind of change in Nigeria. We want to correct the impression that Ndigbo are very comfortable with the state of affairs in Nigeria.
We are all for change and Ndigbo will maintain significant presence in the change movement sweeping all over Nigeria.

‘Why Ndigbo ‘ll vote APC in Lagos’ - The Nation

In this piece, the Co-ordinator of the Association for the ‘Defence of Igbo Interests in Lagos’, Comrade Chris Nwokobia, explains why Ndigbo will vote for the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, at the April 11 election.
In all parts of Lagos, we have been inundated with innuendoes that will clearly endanger Ndigbo, their properties and other interests in Lagos if not well handled. We are concerned because there is a raging feeling all over Lagos that Igbo are deep into a conspiracy to undermine the political interests of the Yoruba and help impose an anti-Yoruba surrogate in Lagos, as a way of mocking and undermining the political interests of the Yoruba Nation.

We see this as dangerous and we note that this has sparked hostile reactions and promises to spark more reactions after the election.
We are compelled to state that Ndigbo are parts and parcel of Lagos and that we share an excellent relationship with the people of Lagos, especially the Yoruba. We state also that Ndigbo are the prime beneficiaries of the conducive environment Lagos offers, that Ndigbo are the prime beneficiaries of the good, orderly and secure governance in Lagos, especially in the past sixteen years, we note that Igbo businesses and spirit of enterprise have flowered so well in the new Lagos, a working and modern Mega City that offers a home for all Nigerians and offers an expansive environment for Igbo businesses to thrive unimpeded.

Our concern is that these great benefits stand to be endangered by a misreading of the present and unfolding political situation in the country, where it is being made to seem as if Igbo are in the forefront of what is seen as a political battle to upstage the Yoruba in Lagos. We are concerned that the greedy and selfish interests of some self-serving Igbo masquerading as leaders of Igbo people and self serving groups, stand to endanger the Igbo in Lagos in the near future hence we issue this disclaimer.

Thoughts on ‘stealing is not corruption’...By Abimbola Adelakun

There was something painful – and profoundly pitiable – watching President Goodluck Jonathan seated before millions of Nigeria at the last presidential media chat and labouring to defend an earlier assertion: That stealing is not corruption.

 When he first said it, he was simultaneously lampooned by critics, and praised by supporters for his philosophical insights. Some of the latter group have challenged the rest of us to an academic treatise; that we should tax ourselves to extending the frontiers of learning by analysing the President’s mind. I am tempted to agree with this group; academic debates are wholesome and much needed in confronting the anti-intellectual atmosphere Nigeria sometimes seems to be. 

What I suspect, however, is that the continuous fixation on the theorising of “stealing is not corruption” is a ploy to stagnate the debate in the realm of abstraction. Considering the damage corruption has done to us as a nation, such an attempt is an act of violence in itself. There are countless reiterations of “stealing is not corruption” in the media and elsewhere with the expression used to either score political points or turned into satire.

Due to the popularity of that (mis)statement, in years to come, the mantra will be one of President Jonathan’s many presidential legacies: a typification of his attitude towards a cultural failing. In future, Nigerians will recall the Jonathan Presidency as the years of the locust and how, by the President’s shunt attitude, the implications of his myriad faux pas were furthered by his attempts at conceptual conjectures.

His differentiation of the term, properly deconstructed, does have some merits but will still be perceived as a ruse to upturn staggering reality through frivolous deployment of language as refuge from the depravity of the political landscape. A debate on whether stealing is indeed corruption cannot alleviate the reality of the debilitating toll corruption has taken on Nigeria’s cultural, political and psychosocial atmosphere.

The unwillingness of the public to engage “stealing is not corruption,” it should be noted too, is not an indictment of collective intelligence but rejection of a yarn constantly woven to hoodwink a suspicious – even if ironically passive – public. If the same statement had been made by someone else, people would have listened differently. You cannot have an administration where flagrant acts of corruption are routinely overlooked and then hope to make things right by distinguishing between “stealing” and “corruption.”

Just lately, the Lagos State Peoples Democratic Party governorship candidate, Jimi Agbaje, was reportedly trying to use statistical abstraction to explain the success of President Jonathan in the area of corruption. He borrowed figures from Transparency International to justify his stand that nobody has fought corruption like the President – an assertion even Jonathan himself dares not make. Nobody should pretend that corruption is about figures and reports for, even the process of writing and re-writing those papers are tainted by the demon of corruption. If Jonathan knew he had fought corruption, he would be providing proofs, not announcing he is developing technology that will enable him to correct human behaviour.

“Stealing is not corruption” has been defended by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission Chairman, Ekpo Nta, who asked those who cannot differentiate between “stealing” and “corruption” to get an education. The President himself tried to derive some legitimacy for the statement during the media chat by attributing the statement to the ex-Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Dahiru Mustapher. The problem with such feeble attempts is that it neglects the point: that the messenger is the message. That when we look at Jonathan, we see all that he represents before even a word escapes his lips.

Watching the media chat, I waited for the President to give an idea into the workings of his mind by defining “corruption” and what it means to him. Beyond the rhetorical rigmarole, he ought to be pointedly asked the content of his moral philosophy. If the President can stand before the nation, prevaricate and ramble to justify an untenable position, then who is he when no one else is present? If we know his personal philosophy on corruption, a few more things will perhaps make more sense. The metaphor of a natural chemistry of a goat and yam the President used to explain people’s proclivity to corruption is telling.

 It would have been a cogent point except unlike goats, human beings are not creatures of instinct. There is a reason humans do not mate in public – unless you are on a Big Brother franchise – and this is because they are supposed to have evolved rationality.

After running a colourless tenure suffused with perhaps some of the most bizarre acts of looting that ever happened to us, Jonathan is running for second term against an opponent whose anti-corruption image seems to be the only thing he has got going for him.

 Ironically, even the All Progressives Congress has not articulated a coherent and realistic approach to tackling the issue of corruption to show that they are aware of its complexity and yet committed to restoring the nation’s integrity. Does that mean that if either party eventually wins, we would still be just as stuck?

The distinction Jonathan struggles to make between the two terms “corruption” and “stealing” is rather disingenuous because it neglects how the use of a language to express a thought (or an idea) endorses that which it initially gestures towards.

In other words, the language we use to describe all phenomena are arbitrary but through consistent use, meaning is consolidated such that people even get to share a cultural frame of reference. The way we frequently reach for the word “corruption” to describe social misdemeanour will probably be strange to a cultural outsider but Nigerians are not confused about what they are talking about when they attribute abuse of power, disruption of processes, and violation of systems to almighty corruption.

The claim the President makes that local languages do not have words in their vocabulary that convey the viciousness of corruption perhaps misses the point about translation and transplantation. If people are not sufficiently outraged when confronted with a case of someone who is said to have eaten public money as against describing him/her as “thief”, we should look for reasons beyond the realm of language.

More than his complaining about the overcharged use of “corruption,” it is long overdue to extract from the President a policy plan that details how he intends to correct a culture that has become almost biologically ingrained in the average Nigerian.

Source:  Punch

Thoughts on ‘stealing is not corruption’...By Abimbola Adelakun

There was something painful – and profoundly pitiable – watching President Goodluck Jonathan seated before millions of Nigeria at the last presidential media chat and labouring to defend an earlier assertion: That stealing is not corruption.

 When he first said it, he was simultaneously lampooned by critics, and praised by supporters for his philosophical insights. Some of the latter group have challenged the rest of us to an academic treatise; that we should tax ourselves to extending the frontiers of learning by analysing the President’s mind. I am tempted to agree with this group; academic debates are wholesome and much needed in confronting the anti-intellectual atmosphere Nigeria sometimes seems to be. 

What I suspect, however, is that the continuous fixation on the theorising of “stealing is not corruption” is a ploy to stagnate the debate in the realm of abstraction. Considering the damage corruption has done to us as a nation, such an attempt is an act of violence in itself. There are countless reiterations of “stealing is not corruption” in the media and elsewhere with the expression used to either score political points or turned into satire.

Due to the popularity of that (mis)statement, in years to come, the mantra will be one of President Jonathan’s many presidential legacies: a typification of his attitude towards a cultural failing. In future, Nigerians will recall the Jonathan Presidency as the years of the locust and how, by the President’s shunt attitude, the implications of his myriad faux pas were furthered by his attempts at conceptual conjectures.

His differentiation of the term, properly deconstructed, does have some merits but will still be perceived as a ruse to upturn staggering reality through frivolous deployment of language as refuge from the depravity of the political landscape. A debate on whether stealing is indeed corruption cannot alleviate the reality of the debilitating toll corruption has taken on Nigeria’s cultural, political and psychosocial atmosphere.

The Transfiguration of General Buhari..By Dele Momodu

General Muhammadu Buhari

Fellow Nigerians, miracles shall never end. That is the only way to describe the incredible story of Major General Muhammadu Buhari at this auspicious moment. No one could have envisaged or foretold the huge drama being enacted before our very eyes.

 It was not as if his popularity and cult-followership was ever in doubt but the general belief and assumption was that it was dominantly limited and restricted to a particular section or region of Nigeria. What was never expected was a cross-over appeal to all areas and segments of our nation.

Buhari’s fate as a perennial contestant was supposed to have been sealed by many debilitating factors. The first and most crucial till this day is on account of his odoriferous reputation as a coup plotter and rabidly draconian dictator who appeared mercilessly vengeful. 

 Depending on whom you talked to in the past, Buhari conjured different images to varied people. Some saw him as an Angel who represented a sword of Damocles to the wicked and reckless politicians who wreaked havoc on Nigeria’s economy and wrecked the collective future of our citizens. But to others, he was a Luciferous character who must have escaped from the pit of hell to haunt God’s creatures on planet earth.

I will not attempt to bore you with well-rehashed tales of his cardinal sins, both real and imagined. They are in the realm of fables and mythology and already in public domain courtesy of his opponents and unrelenting attackers. But one can never gloss over the allegations of religious bias and intolerance. If possible, many would want us to see and hold Buhari as Nigeria’s version of Osama bin Laden who was regarded as the world’s most notorious terrorist.

 Buhari would forever bear the cross of ever defending his personal faith and the interests of his Northern people like most of us would normally do. Many quotable quotes have been ascribed to him but most have never been properly validated by his accusers thus casting doubts on the veracity of those vituperations.

The last but not the least albatross against Buhari is the matter of old age. I must confess that I belong in the category of the vociferous proponents of sacking most of our ancient leaders and replacing them with young and vibrant whizzkids.

I must sincerely thank the media and publicity committee of the People’s Democratic Party for finding my past comments and stance on Buhari so important and worthy of sponsored countervailing advertorials in several newspapers and social media platforms. They were generous enough to put me in good company by attaching me to accomplished Nigerians such as Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Mallam Nasir El Rufai. On a serious note, it was such a great honour seeing all manner of caricatures about me including the one stuffing my brains with noodles.

The truth is that I, like many other Nigerians, was a veritable victim of the almost unprecedented propaganda against Buhari. In my purview, the definition of propaganda is not about telling lies but an attempt to magnify non-fiction until it becomes what the famous author Kole Omotoso called “faction”, when you mix facts with fiction. The demonization of Buhari was therefore a fait accompli emanating from the many years of ferocious regurgitation of his supposed misdemeanours. But, still, I would never have imagined that a day would come when I, and so many former antagonists of Buhari, would not only change my mind about this walking firebrand but actually plunge myself fully into his presidential campaign while not being a member of his political party. Strange are the ways of God indeed.

In my nearly 55 years on earth, this is the second time I would witness a complete transfiguration of a Nigerian from being most hated to most loved. My first recollection was in 1988 as I searched frantically for a job. My dream then had been to get a teaching appointment after concluding a Master’s degree in Literature-in-English at the great Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife. I was already contributing articles on the opinion pages of The Guardian which was edited by Odia Ofeimun and The Sunday Tribune, edited by Folu Olamiti. I was then subsequently invited by my friend, Onukaba Adinoyi-Ojo, a prodigiously gifted journalist, to try my luck in Lagos. He tried to get me a job at the African Guardian, edited by Nduka Irabor, but wasn’t successful.

Onukaba then suggested that I should try the African Concord magazine, owned by Chief Moshood Abiola and edited by Lewis Obi but I was most reluctant. Just imagine that though I was desperately in need of a job, but I was not very keen about working in the Concord Group. You, like me, will laugh at my reasons now. I was discouraged by so many things I had read or heard about the fabulously wealthy ‘Money Kudi Owo’ Abiola, who was supposed to have been the biggest thief in Africa, courtesy of Fela’s album, ITT, International Thief Thief. That song had done incalculable damage to Chief Abiola as many self-righteous people, including myself, completely tuned off the man.

I remember very vividly how there was a war of words between the Awoists (who believed the support of Chief Abiola, a Yoruba, for the National Party of Nigeria was partly responsioble for robbing Chief Obafemi Awolowo of victory against Alhaji Shehu Shagari who won the Presidential election in 1979) and the Abiola supporters who felt there was nothing wrong in Yorubas belonging to opposing parties. 

The Nigerian Tribune had fiery writers led by Chief Olabisi Onabanjo, Ebenezer Babatope (aka Ebino Topsy) while The Concord Group assembled some of Nigeria’s finest journalists including Doyin Abiola, Dele Giwa, Ray Ekpu, Yakubu Muhammed, Duro Onabule, Sina Adedipe and so many others. The columnists of both rival papers tackled themselves endless and joined issues on various national and personal matters. Of particular interest to me was a columnist popularly known as Abiodun Aloba (also known as Ebenezer Williams) who wrote so brilliantly that I asked God for his kind of diction.

In the middle of all this confusion, I would have preferred to work in the less controversial and highly cerebral environment of The Guardian but here I was being asked to try my luck at the African Concord. I had imagined all sorts about having to work in a religious conclave, all the restrictions, prejudices, and so on, but the real fear of hunger was the beginning of wisdom for me. I approached Mr Lewis Obi as suggested by Onukaba who introduced us and was shocked that I got a job on the spot. I had to plead with him to let me resume in another two weeks as I needed to return to Ile-Ife for proper preparation for this journey of a lifetime.  The rest is history!

The meat of this story is that I resumed work on May 2, 1988, about fourteen days to my 28th birthday. But contrary to my mortal fears, The Concord Group was one of the most relaxed and pleasant companies I would ever work. It was by far the biggest media conglomerate in Nigeria. Chief Abiola rarely came around but he breezed in every now and then and everyone felt the tremor of his presence as well as the aftershocks after he’s been long gone. The Concord titles did not discriminate against any tribe or religion. I won’t be surprised if most of us were Christians. The most senior employees paraded a galaxy of more Christians than Moslems. We had a bush Canteen within the premises where we were allowed to eat or drink even alcohol as journalists love to do. Our Chairman avoided the News Room as much as possible because he was certain to be welcomed by some whiff of cigarette smoke.

Based on the much vaunted alleged prejudices of the owner, Chief MKO Abiola, I tried very hard to find out any shade of religious intolerance but never found one. He was not a saint but he towered above many of his peers. His love for the poor marked him apart from others. He lived for the needy and touched too many lives. He had attended a Christian school, Baptist Boys High School, Abeokuta, and could recite Biblical passages by rote. He attended church services when required to do so and even sang Christian hymns from memory at my wedding in 1992.  It was a great lesson for me that we can all misconstrue many things based on rumours and gossip without seeking to ascertain the factual reality.

Chief Abiola worked assiduously at turning around the wrong impressions about him. Not everyone ever gets that lucky. It takes a lot to change human misperceptions. Many are often too rigid and too set in their ways. As Abiola himself used to say, the deaf always repeats the last songs he heard before he lost his hearing. It was one of those miraculous occurrences that Abiola was eventually able to endear himself to Nigerians from all works of lives.

 The secret of his larger-than-life image was quite simple. He never disconnected himself totally from the poor even as he wined and dined with the rich and famous. It is a lesson I hold very dear. Abiola was ready to fight the cause of the common man despite belonging to the oppressor class himself. The ability to relate to both with equal competence was uncommon. The truth is he never forgot his humble beginnings and made sure that this reflected in the way he related with all manner of people.
I wasn’t surprised when he returned from his self-imposed political sabbatical and jumped into the fray in 1993. He had bided his time and knew when to make the right move.

 Ordinary Nigerians responded in kind and in sincere appreciation of his genuinely generous gestures. Even the elites who initially viewed him with suspicion and likely disdain finally embraced him warts and all as the most unlikely man became so radicalised that he became a symbol of our struggle for democracy and good governance. Ironically, Fela’s Brother, Beekololari Ransome-Kuti joined in that epic battle, and likewise many who were never fans of Abiola.

As I watch events unfold around Major General Buhari today, I just can’t help but draw some comparison and highlight the similarities between the People’s General and Abiola, the only difference being that Buhari cannot by any stretch of the imagination be called a wealthy man. Both men had powerful enemies. They were assumed to be religious bigots.

 Although, Abiola was a Yoruba man it was felt that he was too partial to the North as is the wrong perception of General Buhari’s parochial feelings for his home region. They derived their power from the poor. Their passion for Nigeria could never be in doubt. Abiola was rejected by the political class resoundingly just like Buhari has not been able to win the presidential election a record third time. However, like Abiola, Buhari seems to have gotten his groove finally and disabused the Nigerian public of these erroneous views and opinions.

This deal was finally saved and delivered at The Chatham House, London on February 26, 2015. At a public lecture which he delivered at that world renowned venue, Buhari mesmerised the world with his presence, carriage, and childlike innocence. He did not pretend to be who he wasn’t. It was such a glorious moment as he introduced himself as a former dictator turned reformed democrat. He spoke calmly and firmly in front of a distinguished audience. 

He answered the questions fired at him with candour, sincerity and common-sense. Many were shocked to see a Buhari they thought they knew but didn’t know. Standing before the world was a man whose image was falsely that of a Muslim fundamentalist, stark illiterate, aged and tired soldier, wicked and miserable soul, hypnotising everyone with his carefully chosen but intelligent words coupled with great wit and humour. This was a truly transfigured Buhari, who certainly has a date with history and it is certainly only a matter of time before he gets his well-deserved apotheosis.

Source: Thisday

The Transfiguration of General Buhari..By Dele Momodu

General Muhammadu Buhari

Fellow Nigerians, miracles shall never end. That is the only way to describe the incredible story of Major General Muhammadu Buhari at this auspicious moment. No one could have envisaged or foretold the huge drama being enacted before our very eyes.

 It was not as if his popularity and cult-followership was ever in doubt but the general belief and assumption was that it was dominantly limited and restricted to a particular section or region of Nigeria. What was never expected was a cross-over appeal to all areas and segments of our nation.

Buhari’s fate as a perennial contestant was supposed to have been sealed by many debilitating factors. The first and most crucial till this day is on account of his odoriferous reputation as a coup plotter and rabidly draconian dictator who appeared mercilessly vengeful. 

 Depending on whom you talked to in the past, Buhari conjured different images to varied people. Some saw him as an Angel who represented a sword of Damocles to the wicked and reckless politicians who wreaked havoc on Nigeria’s economy and wrecked the collective future of our citizens. But to others, he was a Luciferous character who must have escaped from the pit of hell to haunt God’s creatures on planet earth.

I will not attempt to bore you with well-rehashed tales of his cardinal sins, both real and imagined. They are in the realm of fables and mythology and already in public domain courtesy of his opponents and unrelenting attackers. But one can never gloss over the allegations of religious bias and intolerance. If possible, many would want us to see and hold Buhari as Nigeria’s version of Osama bin Laden who was regarded as the world’s most notorious terrorist.

 Buhari would forever bear the cross of ever defending his personal faith and the interests of his Northern people like most of us would normally do. Many quotable quotes have been ascribed to him but most have never been properly validated by his accusers thus casting doubts on the veracity of those vituperations.

“Buhari failed to tell UK audience he loves Boko Haram” – Fani-Kayode

Mr. Femi Fani-Kayode

Mr. Femi Fani-Kayode, spokesman of President Goodluck Jonathan campaign organisation, has stated that the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Muhammadu Buhari, failed to inform his audience in the United Kingdom how much he loved dreaded sect, Boko Haram.

Buhari on Thursday at Chatham House in London, assured that he would restore Nigeria’s lost glory, if elected.

But reacting, Fani- Kayode in a press statement, said it was‎ amazing Buhari, who refused to participate in a debate in his own country, flew to a foreign country to promote his candidature.

“We wonder whether General Buhari told his foreign audience whilst he was in London how much he loves Boko Haram,” Fani-Kayode said.

The spokesman also said he wondered whether Buhari told his audience that he once said that he believed that ”an attack on Boko Haram is an attack on the north” and that the Boko Haram terrorists should be appeased, pampered, resettled and paid allowances.

“We wonder if he told them that he was once nominated by Boko Haram to be their spokesman and representative during proposed negotiations with the Federal Government,” said the former Aviation Minister.

Fani-Kayode also wondered why that Buhari did not tell his audience that he was the one who ordered and organised the “violent injecting, crating and disgraceful kidnapping of a former Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by the name of Alhaji Umaru Dikko from the streets of London 31 years ago when he was in power”.

He hinted that the president’s campaign would express its views about Mr. Buhari’s “stage-managed show of shame at Chatham House at a later date” and, that at that time, more details would be provided.

“For now, all we can say is that it is truly pitiful that a former Head of State of the Federal Republic of Nigeria believes that it is more important to win the hearts and minds of the British than it is to win the hearts and minds of the Nigerian people.

“General Buhari can run to any foreign country in the world to say anything that he likes but at the end of the day the decision as to who will lead Nigeria as from May 29th this year will be determined by no one else but the Nigerian people. The game is on here and not in London.”

Source: Dailypost

“Buhari failed to tell UK audience he loves Boko Haram” – Fani-Kayode

Mr. Femi Fani-Kayode

Mr. Femi Fani-Kayode, spokesman of President Goodluck Jonathan campaign organisation, has stated that the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Muhammadu Buhari, failed to inform his audience in the United Kingdom how much he loved dreaded sect, Boko Haram.

Buhari on Thursday at Chatham House in London, assured that he would restore Nigeria’s lost glory, if elected.

But reacting, Fani- Kayode in a press statement, said it was‎ amazing Buhari, who refused to participate in a debate in his own country, flew to a foreign country to promote his candidature.

“We wonder whether General Buhari told his foreign audience whilst he was in London how much he loves Boko Haram,” Fani-Kayode said.

The spokesman also said he wondered whether Buhari told his audience that he once said that he believed that ”an attack on Boko Haram is an attack on the north” and that the Boko Haram terrorists should be appeased, pampered, resettled and paid allowances.

“We wonder if he told them that he was once nominated by Boko Haram to be their spokesman and representative during proposed negotiations with the Federal Government,” said the former Aviation Minister.

Transcript of Buhari’s Speech at Chatham House

Gen. Muhammadu Buhari @Chatham House

Permit me to start by thanking Chatham House for the invitation to talk about this important topic at this crucial time. When speaking about Nigeria overseas, I normally prefer to be my country’s public relations and marketing officer, extolling her virtues and hoping to attract investments and tourists. But as we all know, Nigeria is now battling with many challenges, and if I refer to them, I do so only to impress on our friends in the United Kingdom that we are quite aware of our shortcomings and are doing our best to address them.

The 2015 general election in Nigeria is generating a lot of interests within and outside the country. This is understandable. Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country and largest economy, is at a defining moment, a moment that has great implications beyond the democratic project and beyond the borders of my dear country.

So let me say upfront that the global interest in Nigeria’s landmark election is not misplaced at all and indeed should be commended; for this is an election that has serious import for the world. I urge the international community to continue to focus on Nigeria at this very critical moment. Given increasing global linkages, it is in our collective interests that the postponed elections should hold on the rescheduled dates; that they should be free and fair; that their outcomes should be respected by all parties; and that any form of extension, under whichever guise, is unconstitutional and will not be tolerated.

With the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, the collapse of communism and the end of the Cold War, democracy became the dominant and most preferred system of government across the globe. That global transition has been aptly captured as the triumph of democracy and the ‘most pre-eminent political idea of our time.’ On a personal note, the phased end of the USSR was a turning point for me. It convinced me that change can be brought about without firing a single shot.

As you all know, I had been a military head of state in Nigeria for twenty months. We intervened because we were unhappy with the state of affairs in our country. We wanted to arrest the drift. Driven by patriotism, influenced by the prevalence and popularity of such drastic measures all over Africa and elsewhere, we fought our way to power. But the global triumph of democracy has shown that another and a preferable path to change is possible. It is an important lesson I have carried with me since, and a lesson that is not lost on the African continent.

In the last two decades, democracy has grown strong roots in Africa. Elections, once so rare, are now so commonplace. As at the time I was a military head of state between 1983 and 1985, only four African countries held regular multi-party elections. But the number of electoral democracies in Africa, according to Freedom House, jumped to 10 in 1992/1993 then to 18 in 1994/1995 and to 24 in 2005/2006. According to the New York Times, 42 of the 48 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa conducted multi-party elections between 1990 and 2002.

The newspaper also reported that between 2000 and 2002, ruling parties in four African countries (Senegal, Mauritius, Ghana and Mali) peacefully handed over power to victorious opposition parties. In addition, the proportion of African countries categorized as not free by Freedom House declined from 59% in 1983 to 35% in 2003. Without doubt, Africa has been part of the current global wave of democratisation.

But the growth of democracy on the continent has been uneven. According to Freedom House, the number of electoral democracies in Africa slipped from 24 in 2007/2008 to 19 in 2011/2012; while the percentage of countries categorised as ‘not free’ assuming for the sake of argument that we accept their definition of “free” increased from 35% in 2003 to 41% in 2013. Also, there have been some reversals at different times in Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Cote D’Ivoire, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Lesotho, Mali, Madagascar, Mauritania and Togo. We can choose to look at the glass of democracy in Africa as either half full or half empty.

While you can’t have representative democracy without elections, it is equally important to look at the quality of the elections and to remember that mere elections do not democracy make. It is globally agreed that democracy is not an event, but a journey. And that the destination of that journey is democratic consolidation – that state where democracy has become so rooted and so routine and widely accepted by all actors.

With this important destination in mind, it is clear that though many African countries now hold regular elections, very few of them have consolidated the practice of democracy. It is important to also state at this point that just as with elections, a consolidated democracy cannot be an end by itself. I will argue that it is not enough to hold a series of elections or even to peacefully alternate power among parties.

It is much more important that the promise of democracy goes beyond just allowing people to freely choose their leaders. It is much more important that democracy should deliver on the promise of choice, of freedoms, of security of lives and property, of transparency and accountability, of rule of law, of good governance and of shared prosperity. It is very important that the promise embedded in the concept of democracy, the promise of a better life for the generality of the people, is not delivered in the breach.

Now, let me quickly turn to Nigeria. As you all know, Nigeria’s fourth republic is in its 16th year and this general election will be the fifth in a row. This is a major sign of progress for us, given that our first republic lasted five years and three months, the second republic ended after four years and two months and the third republic was a still-birth. However, longevity is not the only reason why everyone is so interested in this election.

The major difference this time around is that for the very first time since transition to civil rule in 1999, the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is facing its stiffest opposition so far from our party the All Progressives Congress (APC). We once had about 50 political parties, but with no real competition. Now Nigeria is transitioning from a dominant party system to a competitive electoral polity, which is a major marker on the road to democratic consolidation. As you know, peaceful alternation of power through competitive elections have happened in Ghana, Senegal, Malawi and Mauritius in recent times. The prospects of democratic consolidation in Africa will be further brightened when that eventually happens in Nigeria.

But there are other reasons why Nigerians and the whole world are intensely focussed on this year’s elections, chief of which is that the elections are holding in the shadow of huge security, economic and social uncertainties in Africa’s most populous country and largest economy. On insecurity, there is a genuine cause for worry, both within and outside Nigeria. Apart from the civil war era, at no other time in our history has Nigeria been this insecure.

Boko Haram has sadly put Nigeria on the terrorism map, killing more than 13,000 of our nationals, displacing millions internally and externally, and at a time holding on to portions of our territory the size of Belgium. What has been consistently lacking is the required leadership in our battle against insurgency. I, as a retired general and a former head of state, have always known about our soldiers: they are capable, well trained, patriotic, brave and always ready to do their duty in the service of our country.

You all can bear witness to the gallant role of our military in Burma, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Darfur and in many other peacekeeping operations in several parts of the world. But in the matter of this insurgency, our soldiers have neither received the necessary support nor the required incentives to tackle this problem. The government has also failed in any effort towards a multi-dimensional response to this problem leading to a situation in which we have now become dependent on our neighbours to come to our rescue.

Let me assure you that if I am elected president, the world will have no cause to worry about Nigeria as it has had to recently; that Nigeria will return to its stabilising role in West Africa; and that no inch of Nigerian territory will ever be lost to the enemy because we will pay special attention to the welfare of our soldiers in and out of service, we will give them adequate and modern arms and ammunitions to work with, we will improve intelligence gathering and border controls to choke Boko Haram’s financial and equipment channels, we will be tough on terrorism and tough on its root causes by initiating a comprehensive economic development plan promoting infrastructural development, job creation, agriculture and industry in the affected areas. 

We will always act on time and not allow problems to irresponsibly fester, and I, Muhammadu Buhari, will always lead from the front and return Nigeria to its leadership role in regional and international efforts to combat terrorism.

On the economy, the fall in prices of oil has brought our economic and social stress into full relief. After the rebasing exercise in April 2014, Nigeria overtook South Africa as Africa’s largest economy. Our GDP is now valued at $510 billion and our economy rated 26th in the world. Also on the bright side, inflation has been kept at single digit for a while and our economy has grown at an average of 7% for about a decade.

But it is more of paper growth, a growth that, on account of mismanagement, profligacy and corruption, has not translated to human development or shared prosperity. A development economist once said three questions should be asked about a country’s development: one, what is happening to poverty? Two, what is happening to unemployment? And three, what is happening to inequality?

The answers to these questions in Nigeria show that the current administration has created two economies in one country, a sorry tale of two nations: one economy for a few who have so much in their tiny island of prosperity; and the other economy for the many who have so little in their vast ocean of misery.

Even by official figures, 33.1% of Nigerians live in extreme poverty. That’s at almost 60 million, almost the population of the United Kingdom. There is also the unemployment crisis simmering beneath the surface, ready to explode at the slightest stress, with officially 23.9% of our adult population and almost 60% of our youth unemployed. We also have one of the highest rates of inequalities in the world.

With all these, it is not surprising that our performance on most governance and development indicators (like Mo Ibrahim Index on African Governance and UNDP’s Human Development Index.) are unflattering. With fall in the prices of oil, which accounts for more than 70% of government revenues, and lack of savings from more than a decade of oil boom, the poor will be disproportionately impacted.

In the face of dwindling revenues, a good place to start the repositioning of Nigeria’s economy is to swiftly tackle two ills that have ballooned under the present administration: waste and corruption. And in doing this, I will, if elected, lead the way, with the force of personal example.

On corruption, there will be no confusion as to where I stand. Corruption will have no place and the corrupt will not be appointed into my administration. First and foremost, we will plug the holes in the budgetary process. Revenue producing entities such as NNPC and Customs and Excise will have one set of books only. Their revenues will be publicly disclosed and regularly audited. The institutions of state dedicated to fighting corruption will be given independence and prosecutorial authority without political interference.

But I must emphasise that any war waged on corruption should not be misconstrued as settling old scores or a witch-hunt. I’m running for President to lead Nigeria to prosperity and not adversity.

In reforming the economy, we will use savings that arise from blocking these leakages and the proceeds recovered from corruption to fund our party’s social investments programmes in education, health, and safety nets such as free school meals for children, emergency public works for unemployed youth and pensions for the elderly.

As a progressive party, we must reform our political economy to unleash the pent-up ingenuity and productivity of the Nigerian people thus freeing them from the curse of poverty. We will run a private sector-led economy but maintain an active role for government through strong regulatory oversight and deliberate interventions and incentives to diversify the base of our economy, strengthen productive sectors, improve the productive capacities of our people and create jobs for our teeming youths.

In short, we will run a functional economy driven by a worldview that sees growth not as an end by itself, but as a tool to create a society that works for all, rich and poor alike. On March 28, Nigeria has a decision to make. To vote for the continuity of failure or to elect progressive change. I believe the people will choose wisely.

In sum, I think that given its strategic importance, Nigeria can trigger a wave of democratic consolidation in Africa. But as a starting point we need to get this critical election right by ensuring that they go ahead, and depriving those who want to scuttle it the benefit of derailing our fledgling democracy. That way, we will all see democracy and democratic consolidation as tools for solving pressing problems in a sustainable way, not as ends in themselves.

Prospects for Democratic Consolidation in Africa: Nigeria’s Transition

Permit me to close this discussion on a personal note. I have heard and read references to me as a former dictator in many respected British newspapers including the well regarded Economist. Let me say without sounding defensive that dictatorship goes with military rule, though some might be less dictatorial than others. I take responsibility for whatever happened under my watch.

I cannot change the past. But I can change the present and the future. So before you is a former military ruler and a converted democrat who is ready to operate under democratic norms and is subjecting himself to the rigours of democratic elections for the fourth time.

You may ask: why is he doing this? This is a question I ask myself all the time too. And here is my humble answer: because the work of making Nigeria great is not yet done, because I still believe that change is possible, this time through the ballot, and most importantly, because I still have the capacity and the passion to dream and work for a Nigeria that will be respected again in the comity of nations and that all Nigerians will be proud of.

I thank you for listening.

Transcript of Buhari’s Speech at Chatham House

Gen. Muhammadu Buhari @Chatham House

Permit me to start by thanking Chatham House for the invitation to talk about this important topic at this crucial time. When speaking about Nigeria overseas, I normally prefer to be my country’s public relations and marketing officer, extolling her virtues and hoping to attract investments and tourists. But as we all know, Nigeria is now battling with many challenges, and if I refer to them, I do so only to impress on our friends in the United Kingdom that we are quite aware of our shortcomings and are doing our best to address them.

The 2015 general election in Nigeria is generating a lot of interests within and outside the country. This is understandable. Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country and largest economy, is at a defining moment, a moment that has great implications beyond the democratic project and beyond the borders of my dear country.

So let me say upfront that the global interest in Nigeria’s landmark election is not misplaced at all and indeed should be commended; for this is an election that has serious import for the world. I urge the international community to continue to focus on Nigeria at this very critical moment. Given increasing global linkages, it is in our collective interests that the postponed elections should hold on the rescheduled dates; that they should be free and fair; that their outcomes should be respected by all parties; and that any form of extension, under whichever guise, is unconstitutional and will not be tolerated.

With the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, the collapse of communism and the end of the Cold War, democracy became the dominant and most preferred system of government across the globe. That global transition has been aptly captured as the triumph of democracy and the ‘most pre-eminent political idea of our time.’ On a personal note, the phased end of the USSR was a turning point for me. It convinced me that change can be brought about without firing a single shot.

As you all know, I had been a military head of state in Nigeria for twenty months. We intervened because we were unhappy with the state of affairs in our country. We wanted to arrest the drift. Driven by patriotism, influenced by the prevalence and popularity of such drastic measures all over Africa and elsewhere, we fought our way to power. But the global triumph of democracy has shown that another and a preferable path to change is possible. It is an important lesson I have carried with me since, and a lesson that is not lost on the African continent.

Let’s Avoid the June 12 Road.. by Segun Adeniyi

Olusegun Adeniyi

There is a joke I shared several years ago on this page of a lavish society wedding after which the couple retired home to commence their honeymoon. At bed time, as the man joined his wife and attempted to consummate the relationship, she withdrew from under the pillow a court injunction perpetually restraining the husband from claiming "all his entitlements".

What made the “report” believable, as I said at the time, was that the said injunction was obtained from a court in Abuja, a city notorious for breeding judges for whom “justice” is a commodity that can be traded even on the Stock Exchange.

The point here is that the judiciary is becoming a source of concern, especially in this election season, and there are undercurrents to suggest that some judges in Abuja are being primed to game the process. It is perhaps for that reason that the recent admonition by the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Mahmud Mohammed, is instructive. He said: “Let me use this opportunity to sound a note of warning to all judicial officers.

 Do not allow any political party or politician to compromise your integrity or your future. We must never again be used as tools to truncate our nation’s democracy.”

Certain things going on within the polity today remind us all of the orchestrated June 12, 1993 presidential election fiasco. One, there is a growing perception, as it was in the past, that the only way to get an incumbent out of power in Nigeria is through some form of negotiated exit, however unpopular such a leader may be. Two, there is currently a widespread but dangerous narrative that the incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan can only win the rescheduled election by rigging. So even if he secures more votes than his main opponent, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), in a credible process, the result would be disputed by those who have made up their minds that “Buhari has already won.”

Three, former President Olusegun Obasanjo has alleged that the president is determined to win the election by “hook or crook” or in the alternative, “go for broke” by scuttling the entire democratic process. Four, by counter-alleging that“Obasanjo’s plot with others inside and outside the country to thwart the general elections and foist an unconstitutional Interim National Government, which he hopes to head on the nation is well known to us”, the presidency has confirmed that rumours about ING are not totally unfounded. Five, a staff of a senior presidency official recently posted on a social media platform that if defeated, President Jonathan would rather hand over to the military than allow Buhari to take over power.  Six, the All Progressives Congress (APC) has publicly stated that if it is “rigged out”, meaning if it loses the presidential election, the party would form a “parallel government”, an open invitation to anarchy.

Seven, and this is the critical point here, there are reports that some politicians and their agents are working the courts in Abuja to ensure either that the elections do not hold as rescheduled or that the Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) and Card Readers are not used, knowing that without them, it would be a matter of simply writing results with all the attendant consequences for the peace of Nigeria.

The sum total of the foregoing is that there are increasing signs that if care is not taken, our nation could be plunged into a serious crisis. That then explains why the next five weeks and two days (to the presidential election) have become crucial.

 The good bit though is that whatever anybody may say, this election is not being fought along, and would not be lost and won on the basis of, Nigeria’s traditional fault-lines. Indeed, what I find particularly interesting is that most of the people leading the political assault for the president are Northerners (and they are predominantly Muslims) while the political strategists around Buhari are from the South (and they are mostly Christians). The lesson here is simple: For the average Nigerian politician, whether from the North or from the South and regardless of the religion he/she professes, politics is more often about the pursuit of personal interests.

  

Now that a significant number of Nigerian prospective voters have been availed the opportunity to collect their PVCs, it is important for both the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the opposition APC to support the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the bid to conduct credible elections. And that will not happen by clamouring to have INEC jettison the idea of using the PVCs and Card Readers or by embarking on a needless propaganda against the authorities, including President Jonathan. 

Neither is it in the interest of our country if those who once gleefully told Nigerians that the acronym for the name JEGA means Jonathan Ebele Goodluck Azikiwe continue to blackmail the INEC chairman with unfounded allegations.

While June 12 may mean different things to different people, what is not in doubt is that Nigerians paid an enormous price for the contrived and prolonged crisis that held back our country from peace and progress and for a long period divided our people. Therefore, for us to avoid going back down that unfortunate road, critical stakeholders must pay attention to Abuja courts. A word, as they say, is enough for the wise!

Source: Thisday

Let’s Avoid the June 12 Road.. by Segun Adeniyi

Olusegun Adeniyi

There is a joke I shared several years ago on this page of a lavish society wedding after which the couple retired home to commence their honeymoon. At bed time, as the man joined his wife and attempted to consummate the relationship, she withdrew from under the pillow a court injunction perpetually restraining the husband from claiming "all his entitlements".

What made the “report” believable, as I said at the time, was that the said injunction was obtained from a court in Abuja, a city notorious for breeding judges for whom “justice” is a commodity that can be traded even on the Stock Exchange.

The point here is that the judiciary is becoming a source of concern, especially in this election season, and there are undercurrents to suggest that some judges in Abuja are being primed to game the process. It is perhaps for that reason that the recent admonition by the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Mahmud Mohammed, is instructive. He said: “Let me use this opportunity to sound a note of warning to all judicial officers.

 Do not allow any political party or politician to compromise your integrity or your future. We must never again be used as tools to truncate our nation’s democracy.”

Certain things going on within the polity today remind us all of the orchestrated June 12, 1993 presidential election fiasco. One, there is a growing perception, as it was in the past, that the only way to get an incumbent out of power in Nigeria is through some form of negotiated exit, however unpopular such a leader may be. Two, there is currently a widespread but dangerous narrative that the incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan can only win the rescheduled election by rigging. So even if he secures more votes than his main opponent, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), in a credible process, the result would be disputed by those who have made up their minds that “Buhari has already won.”

President Jonathan missed the point on missing N30trillion, by Charles Soludo

Prof Charles Soludo

My attention has been drawn this morning to an article entitled: “Jonathan Replies Soludo over “missing N30 trillion” claim”— extracting from Mr. President’s interview as published by Thisday newspaper.

ThisDay quoted Mr. President as saying that “Soludo said that under Ngozi’s watch they stole N30 trillion” but that since the sum of the federal budget over the last four years was less than N30 trillion, such an amount could not have been “stolen”.

According to the President, “it is all political”. I had earlier stated that I would not make further comments on the issues until probably after the elections but since Mr. President has decided to join the fray, I am constrained to make a further brief clarification.

For me, President Jonathan is a gentleman and a friend but I have a fundamental disagreement on his management of the economy. On the issues at stake, I believe that the pressures of office and the hectic electioneering campaigns have not allowed him time to read my articles or that his staff have not explained the contents to him hence he totally missed the point in his comments. For the avoidance of doubt, let me clarify as follows:

1. In my article entitled “Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and the Missing Trillions”, I presented some rough calculations covering: oil theft, money that ought to accrue to stock of foreign reserves, unbudgeted oil subsidy payments, customs duty waivers, leakages through the self-financing government parastatals, unremitted sums by NNPC, etc.

I concluded that section of my article by noting that: “I have a long list but let me wait for now. I do not want to talk about other ‘black pots’ that impinge on national security. My estimate, Madam, is that probably more than N30 trillion has either been stolen or lost or unaccounted for or simply mismanaged under your watchful eyes in the past four years”.
 
2. It is evident that the monies I referred to are “off-budget”. These are monies that did not make it to the budget. I find it funny that the Government deliberately avoided the issues raised above but instead has sought to divert attention by focusing on the “federal budget”.
Let me state for the record that I believe that the amount of resources that are either stolen from the economy or out-rightly mismanaged by government far exceeds the federal budget per annum.
Ours is about a N100 trillion economy, and I will be shocked if the government pretends that it does not know that currently about 10% of the GDP falls into a ‘black hole’ on annual basis.


We have not added figures based on counterfactual analysis such as the cost to the aggregate economy of bad or misguided economic policy. For example, in today’s Thisday newspaper, a headline news reports that “Aliko Dangote, Africa’s Richest Man, Loses $7.8 Billion as Naira, Stocks Plunge” while reporting that “In dollar terms, the devaluation has knocked more than $40 billion off the value of Nigeria’s economy”. Of course, most people predicted that oil prices would soon fall but we were caught unprepared, and today, the parallel market exchange rate is N225 to the dollar.

Thus, the kind of analysis in today’s Thisday is just one little example of the kind of collateral damages–‘costs’ or ‘losses’– that mismanagement foists on the system. To repeat, my article did not focus on the federal budget: the mismanagement of the consumption budget and its unprecedented debt accumulation (with low value-for-money expenditures) are entirely different matters.

3. What I found particularly disconcerting as a Nigerian from the comments I read is the fixation to validation from the World Bank. According to Mr. President, “we asked the Minister how her colleagues at the World Bank saw the accusation”. I shook my head in disbelief. It is instructive that no one asked what Nigerians thought or ‘how Nigerians saw it’ but rather what was important to government was the impression of the World Bank. If this is the mind-set of our leaders, then ordinary citizens have real cause to worry.

Well, I have read several editorial comments of Nigerian media and they do not agree with the ‘impression’ of the World Bank official. I read a similar comment by a high government official stating that World Bank officials and CNN had told them that government was doing well and therefore who else could question them.
But neither the World Bank nor CNN conducts comprehensive independent surveys on the economy— they comment based on the data they are given— and their subjective “opinions” cannot substitute for hard facts.

The World Bank is not a statistical agency. I can provide a long list of countries that World Bank reports praised as ‘star performers’ and they slumped into deep crisis almost immediately after. Check out the World Bank and IMF reports on the US and other countries’ economies shortly before the unprecedented global financial and economic crisis in fifty years (the Great Recession of 2008/09).
Actually for many countries once they start getting such ‘praises’, then perceptive officials begin to worry. Nigeria is probably the only country where its government officials quote the World Bank while ignoring data from its own statistical agency!

A serious concern is that while government relies on external validation (opinion) as ‘proof’ of its performance, it is selective in the process—accepting the positive ones and disparaging the negative ones. Our recent exchanges illustrate the point. In my first article (26th January): “Buhari Vs Jonathan: Beyond the Elections”, I argued that “the economy seems to be on auto pilot, with confusion as to who is in charge, and government largely as a constraint.

There are no big ideas, and it is difficult to see where economic policy is headed to. My thesis is that the Nigerian economy, if properly managed, should have been growing at an annual rate of about 12% given the oil boom, and poverty and unemployment should have fallen dramatically over the last five years”. No one has credibly challenged the above, except what the Financial Times of London described as a “furious response by the Minister”. But, the influential Economist Magazine of London and New York Times agreed with us. According to the Economist editorial (7th February, 2015):
“… as Africa’s biggest economy stages its most important election since the restoration of civilian rule in 1999, and perhaps since the civil war four decades ago, Nigerians must pick between the incumbent, Goodluck Jonathan, who has proved an utter failure, and the opposition leader, Muhammadu Buhari….

The single bright spot of his rule has been Nigeria’s economy, one of the world’s fastest-growing. Yet that is largely despite the government rather than because of it, and falling oil prices will temper the boom. The prosperity has not been broadly shared: under Mr Jonathan poverty has increased. Nigerians typically die eight years younger than their poorer neighbours in nearby Ghana”. I gave the Government an “F” grade on economic management, and the Economist described its performance as “utter failure”.

The Economist also basically agreed with me that the re-basing of the economy and its observed ‘growth’ have nothing to do with government policy. Again, government has not credibly challenged the above or is the Economist’s view also ‘all political ’? Government simply waved it off. My point is that if Government has to rely on the “impressions” of external bodies, then it should be consistent and comprehensive.

4. In conclusion, let me re-state that I firmly stand by my earlier statements. These are weighty statements which I weighed carefully before issuing. I appreciate that this is an election time and so attempts would be made to trivialize, or either play politics with, or divert attention from, them. In a serious society, we should have had a good debate on these matters as they could provide some of the building blocks in trying to pick the pieces after the elections.
Part of our citizen duty in a democracy is to raise such issues and demand for answers. In the meantime, I grant that our leaders are busy with campaigns but these issues won’t go away until we have a transparent resolution. Be assured that after the elections, we will be back with even more questions!

President Jonathan missed the point on missing N30trillion, by Charles Soludo

Prof Charles Soludo

My attention has been drawn this morning to an article entitled: “Jonathan Replies Soludo over “missing N30 trillion” claim”— extracting from Mr. President’s interview as published by Thisday newspaper.

ThisDay quoted Mr. President as saying that “Soludo said that under Ngozi’s watch they stole N30 trillion” but that since the sum of the federal budget over the last four years was less than N30 trillion, such an amount could not have been “stolen”.

According to the President, “it is all political”. I had earlier stated that I would not make further comments on the issues until probably after the elections but since Mr. President has decided to join the fray, I am constrained to make a further brief clarification.

For me, President Jonathan is a gentleman and a friend but I have a fundamental disagreement on his management of the economy. On the issues at stake, I believe that the pressures of office and the hectic electioneering campaigns have not allowed him time to read my articles or that his staff have not explained the contents to him hence he totally missed the point in his comments. For the avoidance of doubt, let me clarify as follows:

1. In my article entitled “Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and the Missing Trillions”, I presented some rough calculations covering: oil theft, money that ought to accrue to stock of foreign reserves, unbudgeted oil subsidy payments, customs duty waivers, leakages through the self-financing government parastatals, unremitted sums by NNPC, etc.

I concluded that section of my article by noting that: “I have a long list but let me wait for now. I do not want to talk about other ‘black pots’ that impinge on national security. My estimate, Madam, is that probably more than N30 trillion has either been stolen or lost or unaccounted for or simply mismanaged under your watchful eyes in the past four years”.
 
2. It is evident that the monies I referred to are “off-budget”. These are monies that did not make it to the budget. I find it funny that the Government deliberately avoided the issues raised above but instead has sought to divert attention by focusing on the “federal budget”.
Let me state for the record that I believe that the amount of resources that are either stolen from the economy or out-rightly mismanaged by government far exceeds the federal budget per annum.
Ours is about a N100 trillion economy, and I will be shocked if the government pretends that it does not know that currently about 10% of the GDP falls into a ‘black hole’ on annual basis.

Don’t vote a mediocre as president – Obasanjo

Chief Olusegun Obasanjo

Obasanjo who made this statement at his book launch, My Watch, in London, yesterday said that he stands by the statement credited to him on his endorsement of the All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, Gen Buhari.

“What I said… I will say it again and I will do it. When the time comes for me to vote, I will consider the track record of all the candidates that are contesting and I will assess them. Then, based on my assessment for who I believe have the best track record to perform the job of the Nigerian president, then he will have my vote and if anybody should know what the job of the Nigerian president requires, I should know.

“And there is no sentiment in the affairs of Nigeria. Nigeria is a population of 180 million and you wouldn’t have anybody other than one person or two persons that can run the affairs of Nigeria? What the hell are we talking about? For me there are millions who can run the affairs of Nigeria that are not even coming out.

“So why should you die on behalf of one who is probably performing as a mediocre.
“With all due respect. if you love Nigeria, you would look for the best for her and I don’t believe that at this point in time, we have the best” he said.

Source: Vanguard

Don’t vote a mediocre as president – Obasanjo

Chief Olusegun Obasanjo

Obasanjo who made this statement at his book launch, My Watch, in London, yesterday said that he stands by the statement credited to him on his endorsement of the All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, Gen Buhari.

“What I said… I will say it again and I will do it. When the time comes for me to vote, I will consider the track record of all the candidates that are contesting and I will assess them. Then, based on my assessment for who I believe have the best track record to perform the job of the Nigerian president, then he will have my vote and if anybody should know what the job of the Nigerian president requires, I should know.

“And there is no sentiment in the affairs of Nigeria. Nigeria is a population of 180 million and you wouldn’t have anybody other than one person or two persons that can run the affairs of Nigeria? What the hell are we talking about? For me there are millions who can run the affairs of Nigeria that are not even coming out.

“So why should you die on behalf of one who is probably performing as a mediocre.
“With all due respect. if you love Nigeria, you would look for the best for her and I don’t believe that at this point in time, we have the best” he said.

Source: Vanguard

Presidency bitter with Jega for excusing elections postponement on security chiefs

Indications have emerged of a strained relationship which now exists between the presidency and the leadership of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
This supposed face-off is said to have been sparked by a reason given by the electoral body for postponing the 2015 general elections by six weeks.

The Chairman of INEC, Professor Attahiru Jega, had on Saturday while announcing an adjournment of the general elections, attributed the shift which was from February 14 and 28 to March 28 and April 11, to a letter written by the military over its “inability” to provide security for the elections owing to its renewed offensive against the Boko Haram insurgents.

However, over the weekend, a presidential aide squealed to TheCable that Jega was being “clever by half” by attempting to “pass the buck” to the military, stressing that it was a mere ploy by INEC to undermine the Commission’s poor preparations for the elections.

According to the source, who pleaded for his name not to be mentioned, “Jega was not sincere at all. The collection of PVCs was to end last Saturday and 23 million cards were yet to be distributed. Why was Jega not man enough to admit they would have bungled the elections if the dates had remained unchanged?”


Stressing that daunting insecurity was just one of the many factors that necessitated the postponement; the presidential aide said, “Jega has cleverly gone to tell the whole world that it was the security agencies that forced him to change the dates.” He wondered why journalists failed to asked him what he intended to do with the 23 million uncollected PVCs as well as the ones that were stolen from the Commission.

“Jega was also silent on the fact that the machines that would be deployed to read the cards had not been tested and its officials had not even been trained on how to use them, while there is yet no consolidated voter register. Jega himself admitted to his commissioners that the election would have ended in chaos if INEC had gone ahead. The letter written by the chief of defence staff was the perfect excuse for him to shift the polls and heap all the blame on security,” he said.

The insider said President Goodluck Jonathan had grown suspicious of Jega, as a result of the “lopsidedness” which has trailed the distribution of permanent voter cards, PVC. He added that Saturday’s pronouncement by the INEC Chairman on what informed the postponement must have worsened that disaffection.

Presidency bitter with Jega for excusing elections postponement on security chiefs

Indications have emerged of a strained relationship which now exists between the presidency and the leadership of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
This supposed face-off is said to have been sparked by a reason given by the electoral body for postponing the 2015 general elections by six weeks.

The Chairman of INEC, Professor Attahiru Jega, had on Saturday while announcing an adjournment of the general elections, attributed the shift which was from February 14 and 28 to March 28 and April 11, to a letter written by the military over its “inability” to provide security for the elections owing to its renewed offensive against the Boko Haram insurgents.

However, over the weekend, a presidential aide squealed to TheCable that Jega was being “clever by half” by attempting to “pass the buck” to the military, stressing that it was a mere ploy by INEC to undermine the Commission’s poor preparations for the elections.

According to the source, who pleaded for his name not to be mentioned, “Jega was not sincere at all. The collection of PVCs was to end last Saturday and 23 million cards were yet to be distributed. Why was Jega not man enough to admit they would have bungled the elections if the dates had remained unchanged?”