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Tag: Dave Baro-Thomas

  • Rivers of impossibilities unboxed – By Dave Baro-Thomas

    Rivers of impossibilities unboxed – By Dave Baro-Thomas

    “Everything is possible in Rivers State as long as you can dream it” were the words of Ibim Seminatari, the then commissioner of Information, from the documentary-Rivers of Possibilities-during the tenure of Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi as governor of Rivers State between  2007 and 2014, after being the speaker of the state house of assembly from 1999 to 2007. He later became the minister of transportation under President Buhari till 2019. No one understands better what Rivers of Possibilities truly meant than this politician from Ikwerre stock who narrowly missed becoming the presidential aspirant on the platform of the APC. The Rivers of Possibilities crooner hired a Lagos-based PR firm that did a fantastic job projecting Rivers State as that land with vast potentials, where anything is possible.

    Today, the unfolding blockbuster from the oil-rich State is better imagined, or like the former commissioner puts it, if only you can dream it. Once upon a time, Dr Peter Odili, the strongman of Rivers politics and one of the most colourful and vibrant governors between 1999 and 2007- could not stop his mentee, Rotimi Amaechi, from against all odds succeeding him. That struggle produced one of Nigeria’s impossible electoral jurisprudences when an Amaechi that was not on the ballot was given the mantle by the Supreme Court, after which shut that window never to be cited as a judicial precedence in Nigeria, this river comes with so many impossibilities.

    To say impossibilities is a common occurrence in Rivers State will be stating the obvious when the same Amaechi came out strongly against Goodluck Jonathan, his fellow party man and spent Rivers money for the electoral victory of President Buhari. For concerned onlookers, if Goodluck had returned, Amaechi would have allegedly ended up in bars, not necessarily for corruption charges, but it is our just way – go after perceived enemies or threats ruthlessly. He survived, and the rest is history.

    The same Rivers State that flows with impossibilities produced Governor Nyesom Wike, who burst into the national limelight against the wishes of his predecessor. Wike became the Iron Man of Rivers politics and held the nation spellbound by endless arrays of projects till he handed over to the one who calls him “my Oga” but the actions send conflicting signals. Wike allegedly ruled with a penchant for equity, fairness, justice and audacity, almost approximating the full latitude of a constitutional monarch, if you will, but his people loved him. No other governor had stood up to the federal government and opposition like Wike in this country. Wike fought with full chest and was simply a nightmare to the powers that be, and interestingly, made Rivers a model of development.

    But that composite part that makes the brooks from Port Harcourt flow with impossibilities was like the rage of a tsunami when Wike held his party to a standstill on issues that are already in the public courts and delivered Rivers State to the opposition, where he is today a minister like his predecessor. These are impossible feats that can only happen in Rivers State.

    In the last couple of weeks, the hide-and-seek games between the godson in Rivers state, Governor Sim Fubura and his Oga and predecessor came to a head as the situation assumed threatening dimensions since the legislators moved to impeach the governor for reasons yet undisclosed, but in a swift turn of events, a truce is brokered after some impossible outcomes.

    First, some arsonists broke into the House of Assembly at the height of the impeachment impasse and torched the hallowed chamber, and the sitting governor headed to the house to have a first-hand assessment of the damages only to be shot at with a water cannon and tear-gassed because there was no prior notification to the police that he was coming. Yes, you can smile because it can only happen in Rivers State. While the imbroglio continued, the governor sent bulldozers to bring down the hallowed chamber worth billions of Naira because he got a report that it was not fit for human habitation, so he could not risk the precious lives of his legislators or how else could a father of the state show concern.

    Two things stood out in the whole of this- No. 1, how come such a hollowed chamber does not have security cameras powered round the clock to capture such desecration by the arsonists? No. 2, why pull down the premises with all valuables in the building- indeed, this river comes with impossibilities.

    The eight-point resolutions as a way forward to resolving the issues in Rivers State are serious talking points across the country by both the learned and unlearned. For the governor, no sacrifice is too great to restore peace and sanity to the State and for the house members, the impeachment queries discarded since they were not made public in the first place. So, impeachment dropped, house members return, factional house leadership should stop that dream, salaries and allowance of house members paid forthwith ( so the governor decides when and how they get it?), all commissioners that resigned should go back to their desk vie the resubmission of their names by Mr Governor and subsequent approval of the house, the budget passed by the four-member house is not valid, no one should attempt a caretaker committee for the local governments, the house should pick a location for their sitting uninterrupted, e.t.c.

    The calibre of persons that signed this truce is indicative that impossibility is a thing of the mind when it comes to Rivers politics. Rivers State deserved interventions from total collapse and break-down of law and order because of its strategic place in the nation. There seem to be some dissenting voices that things like these only happen in Nollywood scripted best sellers. From the voice of the elders in Asokoro to that of a former governor of the State and all manner of constitutional lawyers, it appears this is a pact not made in heaven. Some stakeholders believe the governor has the short end of the stick, but the man says River State comes first than his ambition.

    For some politicians across the fence, the compromise seems beyond mere consideration for the State but demands the soul of the State. The coming days are crucial, and the practicality of the truce appears doubtful in the long run. To some, this could be the silence of the graveyard but with skeletons not fit for the public glare, or is it the silence of the volcano that should not be mistaken for docility,

    While many commend the intervention of Mr President, he should not become a class captain in a constitutional democracy. Indeed, the situation in Rivers State demands decorum, civility and respect for the fundamentals on which democracy thrives, not to lose the gains of development recorded so far but the rules of engagement should be strictly adhered to and needless controversies avoided ab initio.

    Democracy seems endangered in Nigeria if we must call a spade what it is. Over and again, the doctrine of separation of powers and respect for democratic boundaries amongst the tiers of government is in breach. As long as Mr Governor controls the purse and hands over what belongs to the other tiers at his discretion, this democracy is just a charade. If a bunch of lawmakers can wake up one morning and decide to impeach a governor and succeed with such godless adventure despite not providing verifiable evidence of infractions, this kind of democracy will consume us. And unfortunately, the judiciary that is to interpret the spirit and letter of the constitution is no better than Balogun market in Lagos.

    These Rivers of impossibilities run through the nation because all the mechanisms for checks and balances are hijacked, incapacitated or compromised. While the president and governors are the party leaders in saner climes, such windows are invitations to chaos, tyranny and anarchy here.

  • Is the NJC failing the judiciary? – By Dave Baro-Thomas

    Is the NJC failing the judiciary? – By Dave Baro-Thomas

    Judicial misconduct and corruption are global phenomena that portend grave danger for society and, no doubt, a national emergency. The point when the chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission, ICPC, declared the judiciary the most corrupt in terms of the incredible amount of bribes offered to judges handling political and electoral cases was the needed cue to “shut down” the entire system and demand surgical reforms- because as Justice Samson Uwaifo, a retired Justice of the Supreme Court puts it, “a corrupt judge is more harmful than a man who runs amok wielding a dagger in a crowded street. While the man can be physically restrained, the corrupt Judge deliberately destroys the foundation of society”.

    With little attention paid to the continuous impropriety of some judges, curiously, the Attorney General of the Federation, AGF, and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, admonishes politicians to restraint from casting aspersions on the integrity of the judiciary but plays blind to the reality that it takes two to play the game of corruption. Interestingly, we have seen sparks here and there of retired Supreme Court Justices coming out to have frank conversations and attempt some house cleaning, but only at their valedictory services because they were to be seen and not heard while in service.

    The confines of the courtrooms are a sanctuary with one god or a collection of gods called the Magistrates, Judges or Justices, depending on the tiers of the court in question. The Judge, or whatever is applicable, holds the key to life or death, and a stroke of the gavel could take the rights and privileges of any individual irrespective of class, influence or status, and everyone standing before an impartial Judge prays to higher gods for help, especially if one has a bad case. So, the verdict of a judge could either make or mar anyone depending on the body of evidence before his lordship – so we think!

    While subjecting evidence to the sanctity of the laws or constitution, the interpretive latitude and prerogatives of the judges cannot be discountenanced, and the possibilities for human frailties or induced miscarriage of justice, yet the judgement of any sitting judge is final and binding without any liability on the Judge.

    The appellate court’s judgement in the matter between the sitting governor of Kano state, Abba Kabir Yusuf of the NNPP and his rival,  Nasir Yusuf Gawuna of the APC, is making what looks like a cracked judiciary, broken and derailed in the eyes of Nigerians, and the facts of the matter about some critical contents of the CTC copy being in dissonance with the verdict at the court during judgement, is lavishly discussed in the public courts. Indeed, these are strange times for the judiciary, and it staggers the very foundation of the entire judicial system, given the allegedly questionable verdicts emanating from the court in this electoral circle.

    The Nigerian judiciary has never come under such intense scrutiny, blackmail or disparagement by the public before now. The criticism rages like a broken dam, and the consequences could be far-reaching if the keepers of the gate fold their hands and watch helplessly. The position of the respected AGF that the judiciary should have some respite is unattainable because he knows unequivocally that no sane Nigeria will take on the revered judiciary if there is no room for doubts.

    What could embolden the politicians and the Nigerian public to poke their fingers in the eyes of the judiciary, the AGF wonders, or maybe pretending about it? It was this same APC government under the penultimate President, General Buhari, rtd, that opened the floodgate for the near desecration of the judiciary when the then Chief Justice of the Federation, Justice Walter Onnoghen, was dragged to the market square and strapped naked before Nigerians – rubbishing the sanctity of the judiciary in this country.

    With the Chief Justice of the Federation sacked and the controversies surrounding that action still questioned, in commando style, the houses of some the justices of the Supreme Court were raided like dens of common criminals on account of very unprintable and unverifiable claims as they were hounded, embarrassed and dragged by the secret police under that administration but coincidental today, it was one of those justices that led the Supreme Court which gave victory to the present administration that the current attorney general is serving, did money change hands? So, the need for caution in the pursuit of political interest, is golden.

    If the Federal government, with access to intelligence, can say at a time that the judiciary is corrupt and it was cancer stifling democracy, what else can the average Nigerian do?

    This singular issue from Kano state has thrown up countless questions about the sacredness of the judiciary and the impartiality of our judges, corruption and sharp practices. Will it not amount to selective inertia to forget how 14 out of 15 Justices of the Supreme Court accused the then CJN, Tanko Muhammad, of corruption, incompetence and maladministration? Among the litanies of allegations of corruption in the judiciary by retired justices and that of retired Justice Dattijo ruling the airwaves currently, almost every respected lawyer in this country is shouting that there is corruption in the judiciary. It is about time judges answered their fathers’ names and defended their integrity individually because it appears the National Judicial Commission, NJC, lacks the will to save the judiciary from this downward trajectory.

    The spectrum has even stretched to the recruitment criteria and processes of these judges or justices, pitching professors of law, respectable legal luminaries and renowned men of the silk against each other. So, instead of making a feeble attempt at shielding the judiciary from constructive criticism, why not start the processes of house cleaning and deep reforms from within, but the NJC seems to have other pressing need than saving the judiciary.

    How can anyone forget so soon the accusation against this current CJN of holding secret meetings with the then candidates and now president, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu? While such allegations cannot be substantiated or could as well pass for a beer parlour rants of men working at their bottles, it opens the mind of any keen observer to the perceived image damage of the judiciary, otherwise why will a Tinubu meet a CJN outside the country to influence him, a political novice or nonentity wouldn’t do that how much more a political behemoth like the current president.

    So, the first port of call, it is unmistaken from the groundswell of insinuations in the public court that one of the biggest problems in the judiciary is the NJC, the body entrusted with the responsibility of appointing or recruiting judges, equipping them for the job, ensure their welfare and sanction erring ones but have they lived up to this billing – the results are out there.

    Despite all the hue and cry from critical stakeholders, the feeble interventions from the NJC belie the required capacity, competence and operational governance to salvage this bastion arm of government. Nigerians demand for an overhaul of the judiciary, and until are disciplined, punished stringently and held accountable for their actions, the progressive decline is inevitable.

    But, If the NJC is politicized, insensitive, patronizing, nepotistic, corrupt and undemocratic in its processes and handling of matters, could there be any hope for the judiciary? Today, we cry about corruption in the judiciary as it relates to electoral and political cases, so what can we say of every criminal, civil and commercial case, especially the one where money can influence the outcomes? Judiciary save thyself or remain in ignominy and utter disrespect, because this NJC looks like a paid undertaker.

  • Restructuring INEC, a national dilemma – By Dave Baro-Thomas

    Restructuring INEC, a national dilemma – By Dave Baro-Thomas

    Democracy is not the problem of the continent as espoused by some political scientists and scholars, but the flagrant disregard of its tenets and lack of will to seamlessly adapt some local idiosyncrasies and cultural evolutions into its practice. While the political class is almost the same across climes, the transactional nature of the average African politician is ruthless and godless, to say the least- little wonder that the dividend of democracy equates to a few roads, schools, healthcare centres, bole-holes and ignominious projects tagged legacies which do not last beyond few years after office.

    Away from the shenanigans and excesses of the political class who grab electoral victories at all costs, the impartiality of the electoral umpire and the fidelity of the Judiciary – are twin monsters threatening democratic development in the country and continent. While the Judiciary interprets the laws governing elections in light of the spirit and letters of the constitutions and electoral acts, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, the umpire, administers and manages the entire processes, ecosystems and outcomes of the elections. So, the fate of democracy seems to shift from the hands of the politicians to these institutions that should defend the will of the people – making them midwives or undertakers of democracy.

    The outcomes of the February 2023 presidential election pitched over 14 million Nigerians who voted for the Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP, and Labour Party, LP, against the Judiciary on allegations and accusations of impropriety, and the hue and cry are the demand for the total overhauling of the electoral body, INEC.

    While little can be done about the Judiciary having no established proof of corruption or miscarriage of justice, the way INEC is constituted and populated has provided grounds for deep concerns among the opposition and keen observers, so, for many, the demand is decoupled INEC, reconstitute it, provide stiffer accountability and transparency threshold, or declare Nigeria a one-party state.

    Indeed, the electoral umpires remain one of the most weakened political institutions since the dawn of democracy in Nigeria, and that is for obvious reasons. This supposed bastion institution of democratic ethos and development has become the instrumentality to subvert the will of the people and damage democracy across the continent. Ironically, this body touted Independent, but only in a few cases that independence is respected and reflects the wishes of the people leaving most election as a bazaar where the highest bidders take home the auctions.

    Nine decades and seven years ago, the British imperialists gave Nigerians voting rights for the first time to elect representatives into the colonial legislative council, and ever since electoral governance has become a sour point in our national sojourning.

    Right from the 1959 general elections that ushered the first republic, under the supervision of the Electoral Commission of Nigeria, ECN, the electoral umpire, elections are said to be flawed, and the opposition cried blue murder. By 1964, the election became a do-or-die affair, and the electoral umpire- the Federal Electoral Commission under Eyo Esua, was fingered for miscarriage and connivance with the ruling class. The acrimonies were so rife that violence and instability broke the gates of the barracks, and the military overthrew the civilian government in a one-sided bloody coup- Nigeria has not been the same since that saga.

    With the government of General Olusegun Obasanjo, a new electoral body was constituted with the nomenclature Federal Electoral Commission, FEDECO, under the belt of Michael Ani (1976-1979), probably with the thought that such a fresh gab would change the outcomes of the election, but how can this electoral boss do otherwise when his appointment was by the Head of State rumoured to have a preferred candidate. By 1983, Victor Ovie-Whiskey, appointed by the incumbent, President Shehu Shagari, was saddled with the responsibility of the elections, but the outcome was no different, triggering another coup that ended the third republic in 1986

    Babangida took the country on an ill-fated ride in 1993, while the dark-goggled maximum ruler, General Abacha, constituted an electoral umpire, the National Electoral Commission of Nigeria, under Summer Dagogo-Jack, that registered the five political parties referred to by Chief Bola Ige, as the five fingers of a leprous hand, again both dictators appointed the electoral bosses where the outcomes were dead ends and monumental embarrassment.

    Since the inauguration of INEC in 1998, every political circle seems to have come off worse than ever as the electoral body practically lived at the president boys’ quarters. The matter was so bad that President Yar’adua admitted that the process managed by INEC that brought him to power was flawed. For Goodluck Jonathan, the blood of Nigerians was not worth his ambition, so for the first time, INEC seemed to have some latitude of independence, and the result was different. Historically, an incumbent lost power, but things quickly returned to the status quo under General Buhari and Nigerians, for the first time, realized the enormity of allowing Mr President to appoint the INEC chairman because Buhari was going to his family backyard to pick national commissioners for INEC. He attempted ruthlessly to foist the likes of Lauretta Onochie, a die-hard card-carrying member of the APC as a Commissioner at INEC. Nigerian did not know the extent of his ear problem until confronted with such decisions.

    Today, one big issue in the media is the appointment of an electoral commissioner into INEC, a matter already in court and prejudiced, and it presents a concern for the political class to examine more of such issues and test them in the courts otherwise, elections in Nigeria may remain very contentious and anti-climaxed if the Independent National Electoral Commission is not restructured and liberated from the political class.

    Why should the incumbent at the Presidency always win except the shoeless man from Otuoke – President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan? Should the local government council polls always be   slept by the party at the state government house? At this stage of our democracy, there is still the contemplation of uploading and displaying election results electronically. Why should Mr President appoint the INEC chairman, even when some say that’s what is obtainable in the US? Do we have the water-tight checks and balances like the US?

    The Nigerian political landscape and climate present unique peculiarities and the average politician will not only explore any constitutional loopholes but can destroy the entire system to achieve his will and greed. While the current situation of Mr President appointing INEC commissioners and chair has been with us, not one president has shown good faith in engaging non-partisan individuals because their eyes are always on the next election. If they are not on the ballot, the system must work hard to ensure their candidates or fellow party men succeed them. This argument needs no rigour, but the irresponsible attitudes of the actors calling the bluff is inconceivable. The average politician cannot trust his shadow and will not take chances for a free and fair election in the real sense, so scenarios like these will remain with us for a long time until Nigerians firmly demand restructuring.

    The INEC chairmanship position, as obtained in South Africa, should be open for people to apply, and independent recruitment agencies like PWC and the like should handle the process otherwise this charade will continue. What stops a reform whereby electoral commissioners can grow from the ranks or the Council of State that has a representation of all political parties take on this all-important employment? The National Assembly, can be trusted to manage this because it will take a godless compromise for the leadership to run away with partisan candidates.

    We must go back to the drawing board as a people. We have made some progress with electoral reforms, but the will to do the right thing is lacking essentially because of undue interferences by the ruling party at different times. Until the chairman and national commissioners of INEC are recruited and made independent and protected from the hawks in power, this democracy will die an infant.

    When the electoral umpires were truly independent in Zambia, Ghana, Kenya, and most recently Liberia, the results were there for the world to see – so does it presuppose that the incumbent cannot win fair and square when the electoral umpire is independent – this is indeed a long walk to freedom – Nelson Mandela.

  • Fractured opposition, fragile democracy – By Dave Baro-Thomas

    Fractured opposition, fragile democracy – By Dave Baro-Thomas

    The Supreme Court verdicts finally put to rest all the agitations around the outcomes of the 2023 presidential elections, and the All Progressive Congress, APC, pops champagne and celebrates over the presumed landmark judgement while the opposition grips the jurists by the jugular of being undertakers of democracy.

    From whatever prism one looks at the judgment, presidential electoral jurisprudence became enriched rightly or wrongly because it dealt with some pesky issues, however contentious they were, stemming future agitations.

    However, since the first republic, the country has not had the fortunes or misfortune of having the victory of a declared winner in the presidential race, upturned by the Supreme Court either because the jurists were complicit and connived with the presumed winners as alleged by some, or the oppositions have not lived up to the billings of proving their cases beyond all reasonable doubts.

    After all the drama in the courts, some few discerning minds contemplated if the opposition was strategic in their pursuit to uproot the incumbent right from the word go, and for career politicians and opposition with serial losses, it was expected the battle should have long started before the primaries with well-coordinated infiltration of the incumbent camps, extensive background checks on prospective candidates that will emerge, and plant mercenaries like what the ruling party did in the opposition camps, do further damages with hard facts during the campaigns running up to the polls and collate an irrefutable body of evidence in preparation for the Tribunal however what did we get, an opposition fixated on caricaturing the ruling party aspirant on health grounds and poor management of presumed certificate infractions. The entire process and outcomes question their readiness and bid to wrestle power from the incumbent.

    Can democracy truly thrive with feeble, uncoordinated and tactless opposition?   Unequivocally, the vibrancy of the opposition is the barometer or a true reflection of the health of any sound democracy and its absence, sponsors leadership failure, and society collapse-  hence,  democracy without consistent, persistent, rugged and engagement of the opposition is the beginning of dictatorialism and the emergence of a democratic monarch, especially in the African milieu.

    The opposition during the first republic was very vibrant and kept the political space fully charged and sometimes spilling into unnecessary violence, but there was an opposition that bestrode the political landscape.

    At the height of its glory or infamy, the handlers of the Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP, boasted the party would rule the country for 60 years uninterrupted, and such assertion was based on the arrogance of success and driven by the sheer grip of incumbency but unfortunately encumbered with endless policy missteps and massive corruption spiralling into a loss of faith by the people.

    Consequences for such gambling are usually not fetched because when incumbency crosses the Rubicon, any novice can wrestle power and coast to victory. These were simply the playbook strategy of the ruling party while still in opposition. A Buhari could never have become the president of Nigeria if he had stuck to his gun as the emperor of Congress for Progressive Change, CPC. Under that party flag, he wept after serial defeat until the opposition regrouped, reset and trounced the PDP mercilessly.

    Pre-2015 elections, the PDP was fractured and infiltrated, wounded, and conspiracy was the name of the game as religious, ethnic and regional proclivities wrecked the party’s boat – the masterstroke was the fusion of opposition parties driven by a common goal to boot out the incumbent by all means necessary, and the plotters of that trajectory, see all as fair. That was how to be an opposition!

    It throws up some learning curves in the coffee book of President Tinubu and on the tortuous sojourn of how an opposition with extremely remote chances can embarrass the incumbent and dominate the political space. If the declaration of President Tinubu about becoming the president of Nigeria as a lifetime ambition was anything to go by, and his eventual success in his pursuit, then the man must be commended as one of the most resourceful political strategists from the South West, if not for our time.

    Since he stormed the political landscape in 1999, he patiently nursed that ambition like a patient vulture waiting for its time, never shifted grounds as opposition but built bridges across and, during some crucial moments, provided shelter for those regarded as outcasts,  hence, among his contemporaries, he may be one of the few politicians who never jumped ship irrespective of the political atmosphere or dwindling fortunes – providing a body of knowledge of how to stay focused, maintain grit and be single-eyed to a vision.

    The nation was ready for a change of government in the February 2023 presidential election – but the chief opposition had a blurred view of the bigger picture and egos imprisoned reasoning if not what business does an Iyorchia Ayu, the party chairman, had not sacrificed his office for the greater good of the party if stooping down to conquer was anything to go by.

    The entire party went on an ego trip to prove what point precisely, losing sight of the prevailing mood that it was time for the incumbent to self-implode because it was in a big mess, a condition precedent for a total shipwreck.

    The sitting president was against the candidacy of Asiwaju, the party chairman was not pretentious about it, and the Senate President drafted into the plot for purely ethnic manoeuvring. The CBN governor’s naira redesigned policy was merely doing the bidding of his paymaster and, President Buhari destroyed the economy and was worse than  where it was before the 2015 elections, so Nigerians were ready to answer the big question for a change but, the PDP, the face of opposition as it were, came to the rings without its boxing gloves – leaving a newly no-structure Labour Party flagging a Peter Obi with little national relevance as the toast of Nigerians within a few months of the election – what a tragedy for our brand of opposition.

    So, when Atiku Abubakar told the leadership of Inter Party Advisory Council, IPAC, yesterday that the opposition should regroup and form a synergy to unseat the incumbent, it came as a call in the right direction because if you cannot defeat a Tinubu outside Aso Rock who fought the tide of his party against him, you may not be able to unseat him as a sitting president with haphazard, egocentric, greed-driven and fractured opposition and after all, the man may court over to himself half of the strategic membership of the opposition before the expiration of four years because when Tinubu was through with Lagos, the opposition went extinct, he knows the game and plays it with uncanny mastery.

    So, if the opposition goes into silent mode and hopes to resurface three and half years later to disturb our peace, sadly, democracy will remain fragile. As usual, the opposition is currently nursing the pains of defeat, so committing to giving the incumbent a run for their money by promising to shadow the ruling party activities for the next four years is a mere fallacy because if you have lived long enough in this country, you will understand that after the docility of followership, the porosity of the opposition is another bane of democratic development.

    Nigerians want to see virile opposition, know what a shadow cabinet looks like, and the key actors remaining persistent in the political space for the next three years reasonably interrogating all the policies and projects of the ruling party. The masses crave the opposition to sponsor investigative inquiries into the business of governance and expose any form of infractions, corruption and dislocation of our collective patrimony, and as a matter of duty, must provide credible alternatives to critical national issues with clear roadmaps and solutions – not fair-weather opposition that has been the norm and the nation has suffered untold calamities.

    In the next six months, can the present opposition provide the kind of leadership Nigerians hope for? And, it is worth the mention, Your Excellency, the Waziri Adamawa, President Tinubu cannot kill the opposition, but, historically, the opposition self-sedate almost to a coma and hurriedly resurfaced a few months before the next election and hopes for a landslide.

    Are the key players in the opposition ready to sacrifice their ambitions if it takes that to unseat the incumbents? Is the opposition willing to ignore personal aggrandizement and party gains to rescue democracy if they feel it is captured or imprisoned by the incumbents? Before APC in this fourth republic, what we have seen as the opposition was a bunch of jokers in a merry-go-round that promptly fused into the whims and caprices of the ruling party, and we hope a repeat is not looming.

    It behoves the leadership of the opposition parties to truly approximate the ramifications of political opposition and spare us the charade of resurfacing every four years without pounding the pavement for the desired results.

    The opposition should sincerely regroup and reset because President Tinubu is not a non-performer and does not take captives.

  • Charles Odii, SMEDAN and the possibilities ahead – By Dave Baro-Thomas

    Charles Odii, SMEDAN and the possibilities ahead – By Dave Baro-Thomas

    Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, has revved up the engine of governance with the recent appointments of Boards and Management of parastatals/agencies – and one such very critical engagement is the headship of the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency, SMEDAN, to oxygenate the economy by stimulating the industry which is the engine room of sustainable economic growth.

    So, the recent appointment of Charles Odii as Chief Executive Officer/Director General, SMEDAN, attests to the desire of the government to truly engage competent, young, smart Nigerians having the right zest and agility to change the economic landscape of the country. After two decades, a review of the vision and core mandate of SMEDAN vis-a-vis its strategic roles, given the dwindling fortunes of SMEs and entrepreneurs across the country, needs a critical realignment and recalibration of its entire ecosystem and positioned to deliver its preconceived agenda.

    Indeed, 20 years provides sufficient grounds to interrogate the elements that will reawaken the agency and drive that space productively and profitably for stakeholders because leadership is where to begin. Charles Odii, the new sheriff at SMEDAN, comes to industry watchers as a fitting approximation and combination of the right energy of education, experience, competence, and passion to navigate the tides of the SME landscape.

    An indigene of Delta State, Charles is a product of Covenant University, where he graduated with honours in Management Information System, and he holds a Master’s in Media and Communication from the School of Media and Communications, Pan Atlantic University, another Ivy League school in the country, specializing in marketing and communication.

    Mr Odii, a vibrant Nigerian, cut his teeth heading the marketing unit of Bilateral Communication, a UK-based organization, and for about a decade and a half, worked himself through the entire gamut of branding, media, communication, marketing, tech/IT, PR, healthcare, change management, leadership, online marketing,  etc, both at home and abroad. In 2014, his passion for Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs), drove him to begin SME100Africa leveraging on hands-on experience and valued interactions with the industry.

    SME100Africa was an instant hit that transverses the continent, impacting the SME space and driving measurable growth in so short a time, and in Nigeria, it became a hub and incubator for SMEs, providing strategic interventions, mentoring for budding entrepreneurs and strengthening already established firms.

    The platform attracted and disbursed millions of naira and dollars as take-off seed funds and capital interventions and provided expertise and strategies for growth and continuity for SMEs. It becomes imperative to plug the space with the right peg if the subsector in Nigeria can gain ascendency and trigger tangible economic recovery and sustainable growth, because most developed economies around the world place a premium on it as a strategic driver of industry growth.

    For the United States, touted as the largest economy in the world, a recent statistic reveals the country has over 33 million small-scale firms that account for 99.9 per cent of businesses and China, the second largest economy, has its private sector driven by SMEs and these small businesses in China constitute about 95% of the private sector- amounting to over 140 million SMEs, which make up about 80% of new jobs, contribute about 50% of its national tax and drive about 60% of its economic output.

    The story is not different in the United Kingdom, where SMEs constitute about 99.9% of its private sector businesses, which stood at 5.5 million and accounts for an impressive 52% of the private sector overall turnover –  a significant contributor to the GDP. So, name it from France to Italy, Germany, UAE, Indonesia, Sweden, Cyprus, Singapore, Denmark, South Korea, Hong Kong (China), etc; small businesses serve as economic catalysts, and nations do all it takes to nurture and grow that space jealously and tenaciously.

    It puts burden on the shoulders of the new team at SMEDAN because the SME landscape in Nigeria is currently nothing to write home about because there’s been so much talk and motion but insignificant movement, so, as a matter of urgency, SMEDAN must be deliberate and recalibrate its processes and interventions to realign with its core mandate of serving as a vanguard for rural industrialization, tackling poverty, driving job creation and enhancing livelihood, because objective evaluations of these metrics are very disheartening.

    There is no gainsaying that the biggest obstacle to SME growth in Nigeria today is the absence of power- this is way outside the remit of SMEDAN.  Another big issue in the envelope beyond the agency’s purview is infrastructure, leaving most SMEs comatose across the length and breadth of the nation – occasioned by many years of disastrous leadership.

    Outside the monsters mentioned above, Mr Charles Odii, no doubt, is familiar with the myriad of challenges bedevilling the SME subsector in the country requiring a more creative and purpose-driven approach is imperative for any meaningful progress in the shortest possible time, so business as usual and solutions above the heads of the operators, a common practice by the agency, will mean a journey to the dark days.

    So, some pertinent questions for Mr Odii are: can we see some creativity augmentation of the traditional credit structure with recent financing models like crowdfunding, angel investing, and venture capital and make the process not cumbersome,

    Can financial literacy and entrepreneurial capacity building be broken down into practical and realistic frames; more market accessibility- especially for agricultural products; can we interrogate the regulatory and governance structures around SME development and growth in the country; can we see more honest government support and less corruption in the dealings of public officials handling SME issues in this country? How can we integrate more tech solutions in SME operations where necessary?

    Can there be partnerships and synergies between the federal and state agencies to effectively collaborate for accelerated SME growth across the board instead of working at cross purposes? What is the future for SMEs and exports in the country with the countless challenges across their parts at the sea and land borders?

    We must not fail to call the attention of Mr Charles Odii to the burden of multiple taxations hampering the growth of SMEs in the country, from local government levies to state collections, etc. We need a more compact and tax-friendly regime to enable SMEs to breathe and run more cost-effectively.

    The list is endless, but the confidence is that Mr Charles Odii, the mint Chief Executive Office/DG, is not thrust into uncharted waters, and he brings to the table valuable cognate experience gleaned locally and internationally to bear in changing the landscape of SMEs in the country. If SMEDAN fails, it will not be for a lack of knowing what to do by the new Chief Executive but a lack of will to be different.

    Nigeria has about 37 million MSMEs, with about 99% being micro-small scattered all over the country and 67% owned by youth, who shall be looking forward to profound but reasonable surgical changes from an equally young and vibrant CEO/DG of SMEDAN.

    The subsector should take its rightful place as the engine room of the economy and a critical GDP contributor under the watch of Mr Charles Odii – an appointment hailed by industry watchers and critics as one of the best things coming from this government, among others.

  • Buhari regrets, but is Tinubu paying attention? – By Dave Baro-Thomas

    Buhari regrets, but is Tinubu paying attention? – By Dave Baro-Thomas

    Mr Femi Adesina, former presidential spokesperson, told Nigerians that his boss, erstwhile President, Mr Mohammedu Buhari, is nursing regrets over some outcomes of his administration but swiftly retracted and subsequently tried to put in context his submission given the torrents of public outrage – sadly an attempt likened to crossing the Atlantic Ocean with a fisherman boat. When Solomon Dalung, a founding member of the All Progressive Congress, APC, and former Minister of Sports under President Buhari, spoke more recently about the failings and regrets of the former President, handshake was above the elbows.

    After eight (8) years of record-breaking national treasury pillage, unbridled corruption, policy misdirection, cabalizing the seat of power, ethnic/clannish chauvinism, political class rascality and historic misgovernance, Nigerians were not shocked that the former ruler had some regrets, but wondered how the man is not in depression over the state of the nation he handed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

    Once again, we suffer the agony of political party continuity in power after a lousy run because if President Tinubu had inherited this kind of economy from the opposition, the attendant volcanic eruption would make a tsunami look like child’s play. What effrontery and injurious approximation of a national calamity that destroyed the fabric of our nation and attempting to trivialize the outcomes with semantics is not acceptable. People should learn how to enjoy their (mis)fortunes quietly.

    The regrets of the former president are comical because the question is, at what point did he plunge into this feat; were the unpleasant outcomes of his regime avoidable and were the policies and programs not weighed and scrutinized during conceptualization and executions? Or at the height of such infamy, the processes/concepts hailed as the best thing that would happen to the country and dissenting voices seen as unpatriotic, stupid rants of the opposition, godless machinations of the civil society groups and like his spin doctors put it, corruption was fighting back.

    Yes, it is human to have regrets because it aids genuine repentance, but willful sins come with strokes of canes – Pastor Femi Adesina can relate to that and convey the same to his principal. Painfully, the entire country has been in regret since 1960 but revved up beyond bearable limits since the fourth republic (1999), and its irreconcilable extremities celebrate a rich mix of abundant mineral and human capital resources yet infirmed with leadership failings of unimaginable proportions.

    Nigerians loved former President Buhari and gave him their trust, and for once in this country, a man with a messianic toga burst into the national political landscape with massive goodwill – breaking all known ethnoreligious boundaries that set him above his predecessors.

    Incontrovertibly, almost all his electoral promises and bravado fell like a pack of worthless cards after eight (8) years of purposeless governance, but do not take my words for it -you can ask Pastor Femi or whoever was on that voyage: where are the refineries promised, where is the 20,000MW power by 2019, was the oil subsidy removed, was the educational sector better and what about the promised free education from primary to tertiary, and ASUU staying at home breaking strike records, what was SMEs growth, was the agricultural revolution including the investments in rice farming sustainable or a sham/scam? Where are 3,000 superhighways constructed and all manner of infrastructure development promised, what was the state of manufacturing and industrial growth, how was forex management, and of what value was the Naira redesign policy?

    By 2014, the country had the largest economy in the continent but became recessed in months under Mr Buhari as the inflationary rate soared and GDP growth dipped – leaving so many unanswered questions. Was the Naira equal to the dollar, was medical tourism abated, life -expectancy raised by an additional ten years as promised, and how can anyone forget Ajeokuta Steel Company, unemployment, level of insecurity, the defeat of Boko Haram and dissipation of insurgency, one functioning airport in each of the 36 states, free maternal and child health care service, constitutional amendments, restructuring, and what happened to Nigeria Air, yet some spokesperson is playing semantics with the word, REGRETS.

    It smacks reasonability that the actors of that administration are not under intense depression, given the pains the country is undergoing because the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, got the nation into Intensive Care Units (ICU) and left it in a coma, APC under Mr Buhari pulled the plugs.

    From the consistent rise of Lagos State, surpassing some critical performance metrics owing to the revolution and foundational realignment by Asiwaju Bola Tinubu as governor back then, and the deliverables by the present Governor, Mr Sanwo-Olu, there is no doubt a magic wand exists somewhere but raising the dead at the federal level is not a miracle for jokers – the stakes are very high. It takes the blind to argue that Lagos is not working, but it takes sincerity for those living in Lagos to say this was not the Lagos we met in 1999 without prejudice to the quantum of resources sunk, and of course,  give Nigerians service and tangible benefits, you can live on exotic islands in the Bahamas and rule this country without pressure.

    Will President Tinubu conduct the funeral rites of this country even when his capacity to make a difference is not in doubt because, it appears, the economic medication currently administered, seems ineffectual as things appear to be moving in the wrong direction – making a bad situation worse – after all, the preexisting conditions of this patient called Nigeria are notoriously fatal. Nigeria is on the dead slab, and it is either the interventions are not working, or Nigerians are much in a hurry for this Lazarus to come back to life. History will not forgive this president after all the disastrous lesson notes handed to his administration by the immediate, and saving Chief Ajuri Ngalale unnecessary explanations later.

    Yes, this president will not escape regrets if political appointments are continuously not balanced and spread evenly – a hallmark of the former president.  Mr President risks not enjoying a peaceful retirement if ethnic and religious bigotry tear this nation apart, but thank goodness, we know him better than that.  There will be enough room for regrets if this economy does not rebound significantly after four years because Mr. President was touted better prepared and experienced for the job thus he is inexcusable.

    So, the way to go is to take a holistic view of the calamities that befell the Buhari administration and is instructive to avoid these pitfalls to recover this economy from its negative trajectory. President Tinubu will have no business regretting if he realizes that Nigeria is not Lagos, although the latter is a fitting microcosm. The eyes of Nigerians are on the renewed hope manifesto and still wondering if this president is the messiah.

    The difference between the former president and the current is that the former wanted a trophy for the shelf, but the present declared it was a lifetime ambition, EMILOKAN. However, the ambition to do what? To make Nigeria succeed like the Asian Tigers, or leave the stage with his tails between his legs.

    Yes, this president is advantaged because, unlike his predecessors, he boasts of a roadmap to becoming the president, and he fought and grabbed it against so many odds, but no matter how well-intentioned, sound governance and prosperity for the people require honest insights and courage to take the big decisions no matter how unpopular even when one of the biggest problems good presidents contend with is, having devious elements and serial sycophants that surround them. Men whose bellies are their gods and for filthy lucre take the president on a merry-go-round circus, but when the chips are down, Nigerians will only ask President Tinubu questions like we are doing right now with the man from Daura, who is gradually becoming lonely in retirement.

    So, for this administration to avoid hosting a regret/pity party after its exit like Pastor Adesina and Solomon Dalung are doing on behalf of their former boss, the present coordinating minister of the economy must urgently bring to the table the chief executives of frontline MDAs that impact the economy significantly and dispassionately deal with every element that impedes seamless linkages and growth and like an Okonjo-Iweala, get a hold of the economy from an elevated and advantageous view, and ruthlessly demand reforms or boot out erring laggards because Mr President has not set up a tea party that will later host him a pity party.

    If the quality of persons we see on the corridor of power are trusted friends and mentees of the president but cannot deliver the goods, then the renewed hope agenda is a mission impossible already

    Indeed, this president has all it takes to succeed, but he will bear the responsibility for all the outcomes, and the regrets will be his wholesale – Mr Buhari is regretting, and all eyes are on the Jagaban!

  • Senator Oshiomhole and Free Market Economy 101 – By Dave Baro-Thomas

    Senator Oshiomhole and Free Market Economy 101 – By Dave Baro-Thomas

    There is no absolute free market economy anywhere in the world as countries engage in degrees given their peculiarities and economic trajectory over time, and interestingly, it is one of the Asian tigers, Singapore, and not a Western economy that is ranked No. 1 globally as the freest economy.

    Adam Smith, the father of modern economics, a precursor of classical economics, and a Scottish philosopher propounded this utopian doctrine that presupposes a market economy driven by the forces of demand and supply and an invisible hand that guides the outcomes of the market.

    On the back of this, Senator Adams Oshiomhole had one of his finest moments at the Senate recently. Adams Oshiomhole’s eloquent delivery on the danger of wholesale application of the free market economy model on the floor of the house during the National Assembly, NASS, screening exercise of the CBN governor designate and his team-went viral, earned him accolades and respect because it resonated with the sincere concern of Nigerians, the state of the economy.

    Oshiomhole exuded so much patriotism beyond party affinities, dispassionately called for creative approaches to solving our economic problems, and unambiguously marshalled reasons that African nations like Nigeria must tread with caution and minimize their risks about the spectrum of the laissez-faire tenets.

    These are some relevant excerpts from Senator Oshiomhole’s text: “…I listen to everybody here and it seems we have all submitted to the so-called market forces and rely on the invisible hand of Adam Smith to regulate and determine the value of the Naira … I think there is the need for a complete rethinking outside the box. When the West celebrates our free market, no control and so on, I am always suspicious. When they clap for us that we are doing the right thing- the state is withdrawing, less regulation, at a time when we can see that turn of world trade, nation states are negotiating with other nation states to have specific trade relationship…In those days, government under the policy of backwards integration, prohibited manufacturers from importing certain items, even some textile fabrics were prohibited because the game of competition presupposes equality and a level playing field. You cannot ask a feather weight champion to go and engage a heavy weight champion in the name of competition. Nigeria needs specific tools to protect her industries at home and not pretend that a man with one leg can compete in a race with a man with two legs. We need a complete radical shift. We don’t need the West to plan for us, we need Nigerians to plan for us. We need to interrogate our assumptions and ensure we are not copying Washington and all these international financial capitals. It is there interest, there is no such thing as a common interest… If this president must deliver on the renewed hope, he must device new tools away from the invisible market hands o visible hands that must be held responsible and accountable for our collective future”

    The mere contemplations of this theory stir a revolt that it is the sole preserve of seasoned economists and subject matter experts but, Tinubunomics inclines towards a free market economy model and in the broader sense of it, the assumptions of a free market economy include, but not limited to free enterprises which encapsulate a free and open trade system, unhindered private ownership of property, competition, consumer sovereignty, profit taking, economic freedom, absence or limited Government Interference, .etc.

    Over time, this economic proposition comes as an antidote for most development woes confronting third-world nations, Africa and Nigeria in particular, such that global monetary institutions, international donors and development agencies often demand this as preconditions to access loans, grants and other interventions.

    It was constraints like these that birthed Austerity Measures during the Shehu Shagari administration, and prominently, the Structural Adjustment Program, SAP, under the regime of Babangida, but the outcomes were disastrous – wiping out the middle class, killed local industries, shut up interest rates, skyrocketed inflation and the economy damaged irretrievably till date.

    Although African economies exhibit propensities of incessant political instability, massive corruption, weak market structure, no accountability, absence of transparency and sincerity of purpose, and such economies are expected to be thrown open to the vagaries of a free market model? So, the prerequisite conditions for super-imposing such market-driven economic doctrine are absent such that further imposition is fallacious, unrealistic and a deliberate act of enshrining poverty in the continent.

    It will shock you that Nigeria’s most beloved model and one of the largest and most vibrant economies in the world, the United States, is ranked number 25th among the nations that practice the free market model, our colonial imperialist, the United Kingdom, is ranked 28th, France 57th, and Germany 14th, not to talk about the second largest economy in the world, China which is a closed economy, so, how can you fault the submission of Adams Oshiomhole?

    For a country whose citizens live on below $1 daily, the consumer pricing index is threateningly high, unemployment is endemic, hundreds of manufacturing concerns are folding up, poverty is unabated, and there are no social security nets yet, this government tilts towards having a greater degree of a laissez-faire model in a dollarized economy. No doubt, these economic vaccines from the World Bank, IMF and international financial donor agencies are prescriptions that will bury most African economies.
    Amidst countless examples, take another look at the kerosene and diesel market since the removal of subsidies -have the market forces brought down the prices of the products or with free trade and open import arrangements, are industries growing or dying?

    All over the world, across the most dynamic economies, no sane government leaves certain levels of the welfare of her people to market forces, no matter what, it is subsidy, period.
    While we saluted the removal of oil subsidy, the truth is apparent that we needed to remove those invisible corrupt hands derailing the programme, so is this government looking the other way on subsidy corruption and the rot in the forex market but pointing the gun at the forehead of innocent Nigerians, then he may just be laying the bed as the worst president Nigeria will ever have.

    The Tinubu government has no business feeling ashamed of reversing itself and embracing some measures of fuel subsidy because former President Buhari handed him a dead economy, thus the need for extraordinary measures to stabilize the economy before attempting a rebound.

    The nation must develop a home-grown economic model that will deliver the right expectations or embrace the Welfare State Capitalism model because there is no invisible hand anywhere, and the so-called forces of demand and supply are not working for most African economies.

    Is it difficult to understand in Nigeria that the forces of demand and supply are non-existent, and can anyone remember how Globacom gave Nigerians the per-second billing that crashed the exorbitant call rates in this country when others were making monopolistic rants, and was that market demand or disruption in plain language or desperation, and today, BUA group has come to the rescue of Nigerians by crashing the price of cement but what were the metrics – demand and supply?

    How can any nation compete from a point of weakness and grow its economy – somebody is not telling the truth. There are better days ahead for Osho Baba as we hope to see more patriotic and non-partisan deliveries on the floor of the National Assembly.

  • Electoral tribunal verdicts and the future of democracy – By Dave Baro-Thomas

    Electoral tribunal verdicts and the future of democracy – By Dave Baro-Thomas

    By Dave Baro-Thomas

    The palpable fear arising from the declaration of winners in the 2023 general elections as announced by the electoral umpire, INEC, the subsequent counsel for losers to go to court, and the outcomes from the courts today are documentary evidence that the Nigerian brand of democracy falls short of the spirit and content that drives democracy in saner climes.

    The sheer pretence, connivance and dearth of political will to interrogate the fundamental elements that skew our democratic experimentations since the first republic and the worsening outcomes since the fourth republic- posit nothing but a nation at home with ignominy, and until this shammed democracy is subjected to the acid test and grows organically vis-a-vis respect for its tenants, the business of governance is just a circus in Nigeria.

    One of the fall-outs of the recent elections in the country is the coinage- You can go to court and All eyes on the Judiciary- these crept into our political lexicon like wildfire, triggering inconceivable interpretations that stretch from the intellectual to the absurd – and at this juncture, one cannot help but reflect deeply on that aphorism: the law is an ass, or is it that the law is an axe, with the kinds of verdicts emanating from the electoral tribunals across the country.

    Before these judgements, expectations were intense, and very few sat on the fence- the ruling party boasted it had no case to answer, while the opposition was resolute that the evidence put on the table before the jurists would change the face of jurisprudence and birth new precedence that would enshrine and grow the much-desired democratic culture and ethos in the country.

    It appeared the opposition did a fantastic job with their post-election campaign’s theme of eyes on the Judiciary- these are not good times to be a judge adjudicating electoral matters because the judges were also on trial like never in the annals of our immediate history.

    All eyes on the Judiciary took a life of its own and dominated our national consciousness such that it deserves to pass as the phrase of the year because never in the history of this nation has this arm of government brought to the cleaners and public ridicule. But why has t it suffered this magnitude of disrepute, one wonders, and is the judicial arm an equal arm of government or a mere errand boy for the executive in the context of the doctrine of separation of power?

    So far, the tribunals have invalidated some victories at the State Houses, National Assembly, NASS, and out of the 18 gubernatorial electoral cases adjudicated, two sitting governors are red-carded, but matters are proceeding to the Supreme Court. In all of these, there seems to be this air of discontentment and demand for more blood on the dance floor of Nigerian politics, and the angst in the atmosphere is palpable, demanding the head of the judicial arm be dragged to the guillotine.

    From the first republic, the legendary Chief Obafemi Awolowo challenged the outcomes of the elections till the 1983 presidential election, which was won again for the second time by Alhaji Shehu Shagari of the NPN and that election branded the mother of fraud, yet the Supreme Court held it legit with only Justice Kayode Esho being the dissenting voice on 26 September 1979 – the verdict for the first tenure. Since the fourth republic, all presidential election disputations have gone up to the Supreme Court except Goodluck Jonathan, who conceded to General Buhari before the final whistle.

    The elections that brought Umaru Yar’Adua, Goodluck Jonathan, Mohammed Buhari, and now Bola Tinubu are all alleged to be fraughted with irregularities on a massive scale, but at all points (while we wait for this present case), the Supreme Court cleared and legitimatized those victories.

    Fundamentally, something is wrong somewhere because most of the judgements do not reflect the moods and realities on the ground, and again, legal experts are shouting from the mountaintop that the law is not emotionally driven, it thrives on hard-core evidence, and where there is none or not sufficiently proven, mere articulations and excellence of speech are merely playing to the gallery and exciting the uninitiated in the temple of justice. Some believe that judges should be discretional, but medical doctors must follow the rules, or else the patient dies, if you do not get it, forget about it.

    So, here we are as a people, confronted with the same post-election tribunal disorder stress and many are hoping that the Supreme Court will contradict the appellate courts, which has not happened in our lifetime and may likely not happen because it is either the legal teams of the oppositions/losers have not broken the code or organize their evidence beyond all reasonable doubts, otherwise, there is more to Presidential election verdict Nigerians are not aware of.

    So, the problems with the outcomes from the courts are endemic and self-inflicted by our collective docility and the once-in-four-years placards carrying and mouthy agitations.  As it is today, the judicial arm is a mere tool in the hands of any ruling government to frustrate the development of democracy in Nigeria, and it did not start with Asiwaju Tinubu and will not end with him even when the CJN was in the news shouting that this arm is not a toothless bulldog, but it seems they like bones too much.

    Why should the Chief Justice of the Federation, CJN, be at the beck and call of Mr. President, and the State Chief Judges be the errand boys of the Governors? Should their budget be tied to the executive, and is immunity the sole preserve of only the President, Governors and Deputy Governors in a country like Nigeria, we expect any form of checks and balances where other arms of government are being hounded, harassed, embarrassed and thrown out by the executives because of control of state resources, and even at the last dispensation, members of the National Assembly voted against immunity for the Senate President and the Speaker.

    The judicial autonomy is a mirage in our democracy, even when it was enshrined in the constitution but breached in practice, so their financial freedom and welfare remain crucial to the development of democracy in Nigeria, and this should be on first line charge from the national budget, but resisted by the executive for clear-cut reasons – CONTROL!

    The French philosopher Baron Montesquieu will turn in his grave when he sees what has become of the doctrine of the separation of power in Nigeria, and we can put all our eyes on the justices or judges till thy Kingdom come, he who pays the piper dictates the drumbeats, and he who keeps the purse can also transmute into a Judas to keep our brand of democracy, crippled and worthless.

    The beauty of any democracy is the rule of law, but the custodians of such ideal that is the judicial arm, are glorified errand boys, broken, insulted, disparaged and incapacitated by the deliberate acts of the other organs, then it is a long walk to freedom as Nelson Mandela mused.

    We must rise to the occasion to demand absolute immunity for the Chief Justice of the Federal and States Chief Judges and total financial autonomy for this bastion arm of government – the Judiciary. Otherwise, let us remain with this democrazy (the demonstration of craze) and live with whatever verdicts coming from the courts!

  • Subnational, beyond the Rwanda blues – By Dave Baro-Thomas

    Subnational, beyond the Rwanda blues – By Dave Baro-Thomas

    By Dave Baro-Thomas

    The United Nations Development Programme, UNDP – special retreat held in Kigali, Rwanda, for Nigerian state governors is novel and laudable. The objectives, contents, resources, facilitators, experts attracted, and its overall implications on the socio-economic growth and development of the country are far-reaching and valuable.

    The retreat did not question the capabilities or competencies of the chief executives because some have the best education from prestigious schools around the world, such refresher courses and focused masterclasses, deepen strategies against realities and intently mirror tailor-made development tactics to drive the much-expected growth exigent to exit the nation from the woods. Undoubtedly profound, impactful and creative offering from the UNDP.

    While celebrating such a resoundingly successful retreat held in one of Africa’s models of development, our governors are back to all the realities the retreat painstakingly dealt with, so what next?

    Paradoxically, Nigeria, the largest economy on the continent and touted giant of Africa -with every state endowed with mineral resources, yet plagued with an estimated 130million people chronically and multi-dimensionally poor, and with the badge of dishonour as the poverty capital of the world, leave one perplexed, because the thriving of such extremities in a single country is both worrisome and ludicrous.

    While some blame the constitution for the many woes, others argue that the leadership recruitment processes that threw up persons without sound characters in the last 63 years are the bane of underdevelopment and abject poverty in the country. The constitution powers the federal system of government, and it remains the only source from which the federating units derive their legitimacy and approximate their boundaries and operational latitudes.

    So, for a poverty-stricken country with worsening consequences, it is imperative to eyeball the naked truths holistically, dispassionately interrogate and fearlessly locate the multifaceted dimensions of what drives poverty in the country both at the federal and state levels – because while the fixation on the failings of the federal government must not stop by an inch, however, the continuous rendezvous and the pillage at the states is inimical to national redemption.

    People of good conscience beyond party lines and ethnic or religious affinities must pick up the gauntlet and give the federal government nightmares until there is a visible development. But what happens to the street corners, hamlets, villages, communities and city centres so we must ask the right questions.

    It is a pastime for the average Nigerian to haul unprintable vituperations at the occupiers of Aso Rock, understandably so, because the contents in the Exclusive List of this constitutional federalism put the big envelope and buck on its table. The federal government superintends issues ranging from security to power/energy, defence, currency, citizenship, creation of states and local governments, immigration, customs, maritime, national economy, etc. and from the monthly FAAC sharing, gets a huge chunk to address these critical budget heads. But from a failing National Grid to a weak GDP showing, increasing inflationary trends, poor forex governance, broken down refineries, increasing activities of nonstate actors, unbridled insurgency, kidnapping, and violent crime, put the nation in the comity of failed States.

    However, the present federal government deserves a chance, and with the ministers in place, we crave fewer summersaults and wild goose chases. Peradventure, we may see some marginal improvement in no distant future. But wait a minute, can the level of development anticipated for this nation come from the federal government alone?

    Why are there no screaming newspaper headlines about the goings-on at the subnational? Do civil society groups play in that space? Are those federating units manned by elected governors or driven by medieval monarchs? Before getting depressed by the sad narratives echoing from the states, does it fall back to the constitutional crisis bedevilling the nation?

    To say the 1999 constitution as amended has outlived its relevance and is inadequate for the constraints of 21st-century Nigeria is stating the obvious. The constitutional defects are almost suspected to be deliberate and reflective of the throes of military misadventures and serving the purposes of a few in the polity today.

    Before letting loose the sledgehammer on the sub-national, a closer look at the constitution provides almost an alibi for the state to act irresponsibly. Terrorists ravish the nation and deal deadly blows to our communities, and this quasi-central government holds that card close to its chest. The governors pride themselves as chief security officers for themselves, their families and a few cronies. The rest can go and die. Then the question again is, who is afraid of community policing in this country?

    So, Kigali has come and gone, UNDP has done its bit, you can take a horse to the river, etc., but the facts remain that the greatest bane of underdevelopment happens at the subnational. Since the fourth republic, what we have had at this level are absolute monarchs, garbed as democratic agents. Yes, we have seen few sparks like in Rivers under Wike, the uncommon development in Akwa Ibom state by the now Senate President, the incontrovertible development in Lagos, the Oshiomholes, the Zulums of this dispensation, etc., of course, we must exclude the present first-time governors otherwise, the records in the public space are a total shame if we must speak truth to power.

    Almost all governors since 1999 have prided themselves in legacy projects that didn’t last four years after their exits – some of their famed projects started collapsing in their very eyes – from bad roads to broken down infrastructures that have gulped billions of Naira, the country is replete with countless failed and worthless projects commissioned with so much fanfare, as some of the fovernors cruise unaccountably with reckless abandon. The subnational atrocities thrive on patronage and threats to lives and livelihoods by most state governments’ machineries.

    A visit to the website of the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs inundates the world that every state of the Nigerian federation has commercial deposits of mineral resources begging for explorations and investments, but what we see every month are the states cap in hand, going to Abuja for FAAC hand-outs.

    It is on record from the available statistics that some states cannot general IGR that gross 5% of what they collect as a monthly statutory collectable from the federation account, and you wonder at their excuses of payment of civil servants’ salaries as reasons for non-performance, because that takes a sizeable chunk from their tills. To avoid the risk of shaming and naming some states, people should make independent inquiries about what their state generates and what it collects from FAAC monthly vis-à-vis level of development, and you wonder how some past governors become billionaires after they leave  office.

    Why do we see less advocacy on good governance and accountability at the subnational? Yes, there are shameful federal roads, but what about the eye sour we live with around our neighborhoods? Are we not alarmed that what we see in most of our so-called state capitals are superficial and cosmetic developments that would not stand the test of time? See the road networks between our towns and the ravishing floods around us for years. Some communities cannot boast about primary or secondary schools, but some are objects for almost yearly repairs as jobs or the boys.

    The export potentials of some of these states are incredible, and strategic routes to harness these potentials are begging for attention. See the sheer criminalities happening with solid minerals in some states today.

    The picture is lucid when the annual FAAC allocations of each state are published side by side with their annual IGR and the expenditures incurred for the same period under review. We may have a rethink that development will never happen wholesale until the subnational is held accountable for good governance.

    After carefully evaluating the Kigali retreat and its offers for concerted and deep-rooted development, one hopes it was not another talk-shop because the next four years will be revealing, especially for the new governors.

    Again, with every sense of responsibility, after the UNDP’s retreat for the governors- what next for the subnationals?

  • Deputy Governors: Spare or Worthless Tyres – By Dave Baro-Thomas

    Deputy Governors: Spare or Worthless Tyres – By Dave Baro-Thomas

    By Dave Baro-Thomas

    The innuendos, machinations, and underbellies among the political class most often cross the bars of sanity and reasonability. It confounds the uninitiated and unearths treacherousness, backstabbing, and sometimes the inexplicable destruction of lives and properties that characterize the insatiable appetites of some politicians to wrestle, seize, sustain power or ruthlessly dislodge their perceived enemies at the slightest provocation, whether within the party or opposition.

    Trending, is the macabre dance and Bollywood blockbuster playing out in Edo State between His Excellency, Governor Godwin Obaseki and his one-time best buddy, Deputy Governor Philip Shaibu. On top of this is the returnee governor of Ondo State, His Excellency Arakunrin Rotimi Akeredolu, whose moves are rattling his deputy and causing him to run from pillar to post, as rumour is rife that the deputy lives in suspense and unaware when the axe will fall.

    Not left out, the present Imo State governor showed his deputy the exit door long ago in preparation for his second stab at governance. In the same vein, the former deputy governor of Oyo State got brutally kicked out of office. And likewise, his counterparts in Zamfara in early 2022. The list is endless and cutting across the six geopolitical zones.

    Unequivocally, succession contemplations invoke paralyzing and phobic reactions from most Nigerian officeholders for self-conceit purposes, fear of the unknown, dictatorial tendencies, greed, institutionalizing a personal fiefdom, loyalty issues or just sheer wickedness. So, from the first republic to date, the war of calumny between the principals/leaders and their deputies is copious and well-documented, and over time, Nigerians were treated to the ugly, bad, and worst-case scenarios as far as the subject matter is concerned.

    So, speaking to facts, among the hundreds of Deputy Governors produced since the fourth republic, only a few deputies have succeeded their bosses as anointed heirs, i.e. having the blessing of their governors. Rephrasing, after 24 years of this democratic experimentation, not more than five deputy governors made it to the exalted position as governors in their states. The obvious question here, is being a deputy governor tantamount to political suicide or sentence to the political grave? In some cases, these deputies are not even allowed to vie for the National Assembly, and of course, they have outgrown the State Houses of Assembly.

    It is politically dangerous to be a deputy governor in Nigeria, and little wonder, where the governors have the latitude to pick their deputies, they shop for very senior citizens trudging the departure lounge who are grateful to become a deputy, or they lure candidates with very low political energies to fill up the space, especially in cases where the party hierarchy did not impose any one on them.

    The latter scenario is another kettle of fish where a strong character is drafted by the party as a deputy to balance the political zoning, religious or ethnic equations because as soon as most governors assume office, they seize the party structures and resources, transform overnight into the lords of the manor, and ruthlessly call the shots without recourse to no other. Interestingly, with the benefit of hindsight, the plight of these endangered political species called deputies is a constitutional framing/creation or failure, making a review or reform inevitable to correct these anomalies.

    Chapter Six, Part Two, Section 193 of the 1999 Constitution, spelt out unambiguously the roles of the deputy governors and are intrinsically tied to the discretion, whims and caprices of the governors, which is a bad deal for an African leader whose proclivity for absolute power is not farfetched.

    The position of the law abhors vacancy or truncation of governance occasioned by ill health, sudden death, removal, or impeachment of the chief executive, and where such unforeseen circumstance occurs, the deputy steps in to save the situation. It stated how powers would be transmitted to the deputies when the principals were on vacation or could not function. However, that constitutional conjecture does not sit well with the average Nigerian politician who produces horrendous drama.

    So, this is the graphic interpretation of the contemplation of section 193 – the deputies drafted into the joint ticket, and after victory, at the polls, they assume office for four years without any clear roles but are waiting for that phone call –“please rush down to the State House fast, Mr Governor just had a stroke or a heart attack, and he is dead”. The deputy sheds a few tears and resumes his destiny immediately as governor, or for some strange and impossible reasons, the State House of Assembly impeaches the governor. But on the other side of the fence, Mr Governor looks at his deputy daily and wonders why a man will take up a job that entails waiting for the other to drop dead – a simplistic nonsense, right? These are not musing for the faint-hearted.

    The rise and fall of the deputies are at the discretion and behest of their principals, courtesy of the law, except for a few strong characters like Senator Eyinnaya Abaribe, who took their destinies into their hands and rewrote the history of this sad tales of deputy governors, fought their governors to a standstill but not without a bloody nose.

    This national dilemma also affects the office of the vice president. The former Vice President, the erudite and famed constitutional lawyer, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, one of Nigeria’s finest, stepped in at the height of his principal’s ill health and provided some sense of direction and leadership within that short period but was like eating the fruit in the garden of Eden and almost embarrassed after. Dr. Goodluck Jonathan almost ran out of luck when the cabals practically shot him out in the dying moments of his principal. How else can we describe the law but fittingly say the law is an ass.

    If the governors work honestly and conscientiously with their deputies throughout the joint ticket, who better qualifies to continue the good work and legacy than the deputies who understood the blueprint, policies and programmes of the administration but suspicion, fear and indescribably devious thoughts overpowering the governors who transmute into vampires and seek to destroy these deputies, who most often worked tirelessly and honestly with them, like the case of Prince Eze Madumere and His Excellency Governor Rochas Okorocha, former governor of Imo State, who preferred his daughter’s husband.

    Indeed, most of these governors, at the twilight of their tenures, shop for their nephews, cousins, political sons, and stooges in the lower rung of the ladder – but their yeomen or man-Friday turned the fangs and ended some of their political careers. The case of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole and his political son, presently distraught and persecuted by a similar disloyal governor to the same Osho Baba, is a Classic for keen observers and political historians.

    How are deputies fit for the joint ticket but worthless to make any impact? You hear such submission that the deputies must be loyal to earn the trust – the governors are so powerful and overbearing that they can almost demand loyalty from God immediately they take power.

    So, the only solution to this unnecessary problem is a constitutional amendment, and can that ever happen? Sadly, the answer is negative because the legal intricacies involved are cumbersome. And trust me, the process can be bought by the governors. In practical terms, the roles and responsibilities of a deputy governor or Vice President should be deliberate, clearly affirmed and backed by law, or whoever takes the ticket of a deputy had just signed his political obituary.

    In conclusion, Chief (Dr.) Chukwuemeka Ezeife, a former Governor of Anambra State and Special Assistant on Political Affairs to erstwhile president Olusegun Obasanjo at a seminar, invented and branded deputy governors as spare tyres! While it appeared vicious and denigrating, given section 193 of the 1999 Constitution, are these deputies spare or worthless tyres?