TheNewsGuru

Tag: Politics

  • How politics kills universities – By Chidi Amuta

    How politics kills universities – By Chidi Amuta

    In what has become a familiar ritual of Nigerian campus trade unionism, ASUU has served notice of an imminent work stoppage. It is all about long standing service agreements over benefits and allowances that have been lingering for the better part of the last few decade or more.

    In the popular imagination, any mention of our universities connotes an interminable disruption of academic activities and of course endless unplanned holidays for idle youth .Here we go again. The net impact of ASUU’s unpredictable labour union habits has been degrading to our university culture and its overall place in national development and culture.

    The timing of this year’s ASUU strike notice is spectacularly dumb. This is the end of summer. For the last two months, pages of our newspapers have been filled with happy gleeful photos of notable Nigerians attending the graduation ceremonies of their children in Europe and American universities.

    These are the same people that ASUU expects to take political action to pay up their overdue allowances. They mostly have their children educated in  prestigious Western universities. And here we have some academic destitutes threatening to go on strike over salaries for teaching the children of poor citizens who have no choice than to be stuck in our dilapidated campuses. And ASUU expects to get a hearing ?

    In the 1970s and 1980s, the Nigerian university was at the centre of all serious discourse about national development and popular welfare. Governments, mostly military, paid attention to discourse on the campuses about desirable directions for national development.

    As undergraduates, we were attentive to national policy trends. We cared about petrol pump prices, about living standards, about the welfare of the masses, about primary health care and quality of education. Corruption in high places was a sensitive matter. We trooped out to engage the police and even the army on key national policy issues. We braved the tear gas and the truncheons and even live bullets to oppose the government of the day on issues that concerned the welfare of the masses.

    We were not just participants in domestic affairs. Those were the days of active foreign policy. Nigeria was in the forefront of Africa’s new foreign policy in the late decolonization era. Nigeria was a “frontline state”, in the forefront of the final phase of the anti colonial struggle and the crucial state of the anti apartheid struggle. As undergraduates, we took positions that were even more radical than the government on Angola, Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe.

    Those were the days of the anti imperialist struggle when the Cold Was defined the relations among nations. The ideological divide among nations, between the communist world and the capitalist world also defined discourse in the academia. The academia were divided  between the right and the left. Our disputations were fiery and warlike. Most campuses were divided. Some were more so than others. ABU, Ife, UNIBEN and UNIPORT were the hotbeds of campus radicalism. The government was interested in our debates because it impinged directly on the government’s overall ideological leaning in the international system.

    The political elite heard us. They came to understand the campuses as an extension of the larger discourse in society.  More importantly, the campuses became a platform for the propagation of new and often controversial ideas. Each major university made its annual convocation lecture available to major politicians to air new ideas. At Nsukka in one year, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe tried to put to rest the then contentious issue of power sharing between the military and the political leadership of the country.  He proposed the controversial theory of Diarchy.

    At Ife in one year, Chief Obafemi Awolowo questioned the wisdom in probing previous governments since there had been no consequences in the past. In that controversial speech titled “Qui Bono?”, Awo argued that resources committed to the probes of the past were essentially wasted.

    In sharp contrast, today’s Nigerian university is comatose on national issues and literally castrated in its attitude to governments and public policy. ASUU has over the decades drifted into bread and butter trade unionism. The Cold War has ended. Ideology has withered as a major source of contention. The role of government has shrunk to that of an employer of labour and a payer of salaries. ASUU’s relationship to government has been reduced to that of a perennial debtor. Government accountability has been reduced to its ability to honour its labour obligations to agreements reached with campus unions.

    In return, student unionism has become consumed by the general exhibitionism and showmanship of the current political dispensation and culture. Crass partisanship has taken over student unionism. Student union officials now hire retinues of aides and officials with the same outlandish and foolish nomenclature as roadside politicians. They disturb the peace of campuses with the same noisy sirens as their partisan patrons and principals.

    Among the students body, favourite pastimes now include cybercrimes, kidnapping, blackmail leading frequent suicides, ritual murder for body parts in return for quick cash. There is hardly any Nigerian campus today in which any serious issue of national policy is being canvassed. Instead, it is all about transactions that catapult paupers into billionaires, skit makers into mega tik tok entrepreneurs overnight. The same very students bring huge SUVs and outlandish automobiles to cmpus in which many lecturers are on foot.

    This is the landscape of the Nigerian university campus today. Perhaps a some what equivalent development is taking place  on the American university campus since the onset of Trump’s second coming.

    The return of Donald Trump to the White House has unpturned the tradition of university culture in America especially in relation to its role in national development and culture. Since the foundation of America, the university has palyed four vital roles: it has been a mirror of the culture and tradition of freedom of enquiry and political freedom; it has been the pillar of a science based free society in which the fruits of science and technology have complimented a free market economy to grow a free economy; an avenue for the propagation of the freedom of peoples all over the world for which America has been associated and universities have been associated with the freedom of entry and exist of persons into America to partake in the pursuit of the American dream as the magnet of a diverse immigration driven society.

    Since his return to the White House, President Trump has driven a wedge among all these roles of the American university.He has sought to block funds for the endowwments of major universities  like Harvard, Yale and Princeton. He has used the immigration powers to block the visas of graduate students. He has sought to evict graduate students who hold known anti Semitic views.

    He has sought to curtail the entry of students from China and other destinations into American universities. Most dangerously, he assault on federal funding for scientific research in major universities has threatened America’s leading edge in global science and technology. He has even threatened free speech on university campuses especially to the extent that such exercise of freedom has to do with the interests of Israel.

    In general, universities have a way of preserving the past and foreshadowing the future of the society that gives them life. We send the youth to acquire higher education to light up the pathway to a future.

    The dreams of a new society and the values that should inform future development are encapsulated in the dreams, aspirations of the young men and women that throng university campuses during the foundation years of every society. The ideals of freedom and justice through enlightenment  and knowledge to cut the frontiers of a new world embodied in the rise of America as a force of new world civilization were embodied in the culture of the university.

    The American dream came to be anchored as well in the conquest of poverty that a college degree would guarantee. Most importantly, the freedom of enquiry, the endless quest for knowledge, the exploration of the unknown universe of science were part of the spirit of America.

    It was a spirit that encouraged the questioning of dogma and the interrogation of received dogma in all fields of human knowledge. The values that held society itself were not immune from the critical inquiry and rigoros interrogation which sustains university culture.

    Freedom of expression and inquiry are values shared by democracy and te university as an institution. When university campuses erupt in protest and revolt, something is wrong with the democratic environment. Since the re-emergence of Donald Trump in the White House, the turmoil and turbulence that has engulfed America’s governance has spread to even its most treasured campuses.

    Harvard, Princeton and Yale have not been spared the authoritarian incursions of Trump’s meddlesome  and disruptive politics. University funds are being withheld. Admissions policies have come under the axe of bureaucratic intervention. The right of universities to teach certain courses as well as their right to admit students from certain parts of the world or students who hold certain views have all come under the investigative ambit of an all prying State Department.

    Curiously, universities also live or die with the politics of the society that feeds them. If the American university declines in the wake of the Trump assault on American politics and culture, it will find a rough equivalent in the decadence of the Nigerian university following the decay of political values in Nigeria’s present political decadence.

  • CLARIFICATION! There’s nothing like leadership council in APC’s constitution- NWC

    CLARIFICATION! There’s nothing like leadership council in APC’s constitution- NWC

    …says such approval was not given

    Disturbed by happenings in Delta APC concerning the strange creation of a leadership council, the party’s national secretariat has clarified such a council does not exist.

    TheNewsGuru.com, (TNG) reports this was contained in a statement issued and signed by the party’s national publicity scribe, Felix Morka on Tuesday stating that:

    “The attention of the National Working Committee (NWC) of our great Party has been drawn to reports circulating in sections of the media regarding the inauguration of the Delta State All Progressives Congress (APC) Leadership Council “approved by the National Leadership of our great Party.”

    “This is to clarify that the NWC did not grant approval for the inauguration or operation of the “Leadership Council” in the Delta State Chapter of our Party, as claimed by reports.

    “The said “Leadership Council” is not a body created or recognized under the Party’s Constitution which clearly spells out the statutory organs, structures and committees of the Party, and their respective powers and functions.

    “The “Leadership Council” is not one of such constitutional organs, adhoc – structures or committees of the Party.

  • Ayo Adebanjo: Trajectory of Nigerian politics – By Owei Lakemfa

    Ayo Adebanjo: Trajectory of Nigerian politics – By Owei Lakemfa

    Ayo Adebanjo, 96, was a path through which Nigerian politics could be traced. The politics of the country was mainly about the ruling elites in military fatigue or civil dress ruling at the centre, and conscientious patriots opposing from the sidelines or working from the margins. Adebanjo belonged to the latter.

    At 14, in 1943, he had aligned with the radical Zikist Movement which wanted the British colonialists thrown out of the country, if necessary, by force. This was in contrast to the mainstream politicians who hoped for independence based on the benevolence of the colonialists.

    The Zikists were allies of the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroon, NCNC, led by Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe. But when a more radical and ideologically conscious party, the Action Group, AG, led by Chief Obafemi Awolowo emerged, Adebanjo joined it in 1951.

    The AG was anchored on a welfare ideology with free education and healthcare for all, rural transformation and equity. Adebanjo in contemporary partisan politics, came to embody these aspirations; he wore Afenifere principles like a cloth.

    In the 1959 pre-independence general elections, the AG emerged as a pan-Nigeria party, winning 25 seats in the Northern Region, 14 in the Eastern Region, 33 in the Western Region and one in the Federal Territory of Lagos. In contrast, the Northern Peoples Congress, NPC, which had 134 seats, won its seats from the Northern Region. Yet, the propaganda out in the country was that the AG was a regional or sectarian party.

    The AG proposed a coalition government with the NCNC in which Azikiwe would be Prime Minister and Awolowo, Deputy Prime Minister or Finance Minister, while the NPC would constitute the opposition party. It believed its welfare programmes would sprout under such a coalition.

    It might have assumed that the NCNC would prefer a coalition in which it will be the senior partner. But the latter preferred a coalition with the NPC in which it will be the junior partner, and, rather than be the Prime Minister running the cabinet, Azikiwe would become the mainly ceremonial Governor General or President.

    This meant that the AG and Adebanjo were in the opposition. Two years after independence, Awolowo and 26 other members of the AG were charged with treason. Adebanjo was some steps ahead of the law as he fled to Ghana.

    Then the Balewa government was overthrown by the military in January 1966. After the second coup in July 1966, the AG leaders were freed and Awolowo became the Finance Minister.

    In the Second Republic, the AG, now known as the Unity Party of Nigeria, UPN, lost the elections to the National Party of Nigeria, NPN, and Adebanjo and his fellow party members were back in opposition, taking on the ruling party.

    The degenerate and bloody military regimes of Buhari, Babangida and Abacha, brought out the fighting spirit in many patriots, including Adebanjo.

    After the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election millions of Nigerians led by the Campaign for Democracy, CD, took to street protests.

    In order to strengthen the capacity of the populace to take on the brutal Abacha junta, the CD went into alliance with various groups.

    One of the most formidable alliances the CD entered was with the Afenifere, a socio-cultural group with which the AG had explained itself and its welfare policies to the old Western Region. Despite its seeming sectional origins, Afenifere is actually national in thought and action; spreading the nationalist and Pan Africanist ideals of its founding leader, Awolowo.

    The CD with its leaders like Beko Ransome-Kuti, Frederick Fasehun and I, held a number of meetings with the then Afenifere leaders, including Adebanjo and former Kwara State Governor, Senator Cornelus Adebayo. The virtually secret meetings were held at the 100, Oduduwa Crescent, GRA, Ikeja, Lagos residence of then Afenifere leader, Chief Alfred Rewane.

    It was at those meetings I got close to Adebanjo and learnt practical leadership from the veterans. But those were quite dangerous times. On Friday, October 6, 1995, three gunmen entered Pa Rewane’s house and shot him dead.

    We relocated our now, more open meetings partly to Chief Moshood Kashimawo Abiola’s house with Mrs Kudirat Abiola hosting. Those meetings were presided over by Chief Anthony Enahoro.

    But nine months later, Mrs Abiola was assassinated by the Abacha killer squad and the meetings shifted and became bigger, transforming into what became known as the National Democratic Coalition, NADECO.

    The military regime simply became deadlier with assassinations and bomb blasts. People like Ransome-Kuti and Fasehun were imprisoned, and Enahoro, Bola Tinubu, Wole Soyinka and Dan Suleiman had to flee the country.

    However, people like Adebanjo and then Afenifere leader, Abraham Adesanya, remained. Even after the military death squad opened fire on Adesanya’s car, they remained to see the back of the junta.

    In the follow-up elections, Afenifere went into alliance to form the Alliance for Democracy, AD. The party had Ambassador Tanko Yusuf as Chairman and Adebanjo as Deputy Chairman.

    Adebanjo was the power house of the AD in the South-West. His leadership faced two main challenges in the run up to the gubernatorial elections of 1999. In Ondo State, the primaries were conducted three times, and thrice did Mrs Cecilia Mobolaji Osomo win. But Afenifere decided it could not have a candidate who had defied its directive to resign as Abacha’s Minister of Establishment. So, the ticket was given to Chief Adebayo Adefarati. But the case in Lagos was tougher. While Afenifere was united in Ondo State, it was split in Lagos. Veteran leader, Chief Ganiyu Dawodu, backed Funsho Williams who had served in the military regime. He was leading in the disputed primaries with Tinubu.

    The Adebanjo leadership cancelled results from four disputed local government areas and that gave victory to Tinubu.

    When the Afenifere chairmanship was open with Adesanya giving up the position, the choice was between Chief Olanihun Ajayi and Adebanjo. But the latter pointed out that they were both from the same Ijebu axis as Adesanya. So, the leadership went to Chief Reuben Fasoranti from the Ondo axis. When Fasoranti became too old to continue, he stepped down for Adebanjo as the new Afenifere Chairman.

    However, as the 2023 presidential election approached, the Afenifere declared that the path of equity, fairness and inclusiveness in line with the Afenifere philosophy, was for the country’s presidency to go to Eastern Nigeria as the South-South, South-West and the North had produced the country’s Presidents since 1999. It, therefore, endorsed the Labour Party candidate, Peter Obi.

    However, some politicians went to Fasoranti to endorse the candidacy of President Bola Tinubu. But that was not an issue for Adebanjo; he had done his duty. On February 14, 2025, Adebanjo took his eternal bow.

  • Politics in Nigeria as didactic heresy – By Alade Rotimi-John

    Politics in Nigeria as didactic heresy – By Alade Rotimi-John

    A major feature of the practice of politics in Nigeria since 1999 has been its glaring departure from the norms of its professed purpose and the difficulty or important implications for scholarly criticism.

    The veneration in which the pre-independence era politics was held in the days of the Herbert Macaulay clan has disappeared and the prompt book for the continuation of its mores, practices and strategies for the immediate post-independence period has been lost even as its shadows vainly attempt to restore authority or project hope. It has been largely impeached and discarded.

    Whereas the professed purposes of politics include the requirement to promote and put forward leaders who are humane, selfless, public-spirited, considerate or sensitive to the needs of the people; who are passionate about the fundamental objectives and directive principles of state policy; and who are themselves models of equity, impartiality and integrity, the Nigerian picture is lamentably odious.

    It is becoming increasingly difficult to draw a line between the view of politics as a purposive insight and its view as the realisation of the given. Does the contemporary practitioner of politics, prankishly referred to as politician, remind us of what we used to perceive as the imaginative intercessor respecting our public affairs i.e. the one who appears deus ex machina to resolve our existential crises in spite of ourselves?

    Our sense of truth as the province of systematic thinkers is disturbed as we observe our politicians as crass propagandists or as Area Boys. In popular speech, propaganda is applied to doctrines viewed “as pernicious and spread by men whom we distrust”. All sincere, responsible politicians are obligated not to be propagandists as every propaganda is programmed to hypnotise the public and its presentation targeted at seducing the innocent. The recipient of a piece of propaganda rather than experience a release or relief from perverse emotion is instead incited unto unreasoned response to the subject matter.

    Many divisive stratagem have been devised by the Tinubu administration buoyed by the nation’s tribal, ethnic, religious, sectarian and regional faultlines. The government’s propaganda team, decidedly bloated in both content and intent, has been deployed to combat the regime’s reputational capital deficit even as the people are reeling under the negative economic consequences of a mis-conceived reform agenda, namely the knee-jerk removal of fuel subsidies and the un-scientific devaluation of the national currency.

    The Tinubu media team has been struggling to substitute the vacuous Emilokan theology for a desired national ethic. The presidency has been bungling from one mis-chance to another mischievously ignoring the fact that its Emilokan creed charade is willy-nilly programmed to follow the path of earlier governance misadventures trod by its ungainly predecessors.

    There is today the requirement to interrogate the existing institutional apparatus that the nation’s grundnorm has imposed on the people. The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) has been wrought to unleash on the citizens a fait accompli involving the foisting on the polity of an irreversible arrangement for State Capture by which buccaneers or political robbers insidiously acquire state power even as they arrogantly ignore the hallowed responsibilities of governance.

    The pursuit of sensuous individual or private pleasures under a system that discounts accountability to the people is the avowed mandate or goal of the captors of our commonwealth. Nigeria’s problems popularly identified as corruption, poor leadership, and  dwindling moral values have peaked under the APC governments of Muhammadu Buhari and Tinubu. The constitutional role of government for the security of lives and property has taken a back seat as government appears helpless in tackling headlong the ravages of a nationwide insecurity evidenced in the devastation, destruction and of laying waste the institutional pillars of the polity.

    Corruption stalks the entire gamut of governmental operations even as governance has assumed the toga of private enrichment and of care free stupendous lifestyle by officials of government. Poor leadership is exemplified in the enthronement or nomination of the worst among us for the pivotal offices of state.

    The legal apparatus has been crafted for imposing on all of us the intellectually-inapt, the ideologically-befuddled or inept, and the socially-irrelevant or morally bankrupt among us to assume the commanding heights of our political economy. The result that is visible for all to see is the concomitant dysfunctional state of affairs.

    The complicity of the educated elite in this miasma is baffling. It has further compounded the gridlock. The hallmarks of Nigeria’s misgovernance noted as social insecurity, anarchy, infrastructural decay (ably epitomised in agriculture which tops the list of our infrastructural decay and which neglect has ensured hunger as a national reality), the recurrent fuel scarcity or irregular price hike conundrum which highlight the corporate irrelevance of NNPC as constituted have combined to question the change agent qualification of the elite particularly of the public intellectual.

    In the midst of the general malady in which the country is embroiled, the nation is at the mercy of “social vultures” that are capitalising on our dire situation and have hijacked the country’s processes for obnoxious personal purposes. The essence of government is lost when its purposive functions to promote the socio-economic wellbeing of the people through reasoned economic and political transformation programmes are not carried out in the public interest or are carried out outside of the mandated purposes.

    Government is established to do good as contained in its aide memoir or in the grundnorm. The legitimacy of government is questioned when it veers off the public good. When a government does not have the mandate of the people for designing or crafting particular policy changes underpinned by a broad consensus for their execution, the failure of the reform is as sure as nightfall.

    The so-called radical reform programmes of the Tinubu presidency have not been informed by a conscious consensus building panoply as is being witnessed in what appears yet as visceral opposition of the North to the Tax Reform bills now under consideration by the National Assembly. The absence of an underlying electoral mandate and the cavalier manner of building genuine national consensus on matters of national importance to governance have aggregated to make the reform proposals unpopular.

    Even as Chief Obafemi Awolowo identified power as flowing from a leadership that is sustained by the will of the people, freely articulated and given, the national consensus building parameter is aptly paraphrased in his thesis. In Thoughts on the Nigerian Constitution, Awo made an incontrovertible suggestion:

    “We have said, earlier on, that to make a success of their difficult assignment, Nigerian leaders should possess comprehension, mental magnitude, and spiritual depth. By comprehension we mean the ability of a man to appreciate and grasp the salient details as well as most of the practical and temporal implications of a given problem or situation.”

    This recipe for effective or efficient leadership is glaringly lacking in Nigeria today and is not being consciously sought after. Leadership in Nigeria is assumed on conditions that are at variance with established or time-honoured philosophy of election or selection for governance.

    The Nigerian people always looking askance seem to resemble what Mark Twain (1835-1910) said of a people:  “Why do you sit there looking like an envelope without an address on it?”

     

    Rotimi-John, a Lawyer and Commentator on Public Affairs, is the Deputy Secretary-General of Afenifere. He can be reached via: lawgravitas@gmail.com

  • Femi Kuti releases new single, “Politics Don Expose Them”

    Femi Kuti releases new single, “Politics Don Expose Them”

    Afrobeat legend, Femi Kuti, has released a new single titled “Politics Don Expose Them”. Kuti disclosed this via his Instagram page, @femiakuti, on Tuesday.

    The Afrobeat legend with a display of some scenes from the musical video wrote: “Ararara My new single “Politics Don Expose Them” is now out on all platforms and you can also watch the music video directed by @directorpink_for @pinklinefilms on YouTube. Enjoy.”

    Some of his fans also took to the comment section of the post to celebrate the new single.

    Soji_noah, wrote, “This music too make sense……More grace Baba.”

    Bendancerng said: “The truth never dies. Thank you for being a generational voice and great leader with integrity and honesty….God bless the king of Afrobeat

    Also, Mmnaturalsaxofficial wrote: “This is fire sir”.

  • Leadership and the politics of ill-health – By Pius Mordi

    Leadership and the politics of ill-health – By Pius Mordi

    When King Charles of England was diagnosed with cancer, he quickly told his people. No one was left to speculate the nature of his health challenge. The action did not just earn him the respect and admiration of Britons but the entire world. He was applauded for his honesty, strength of character and for inspiring people. King Charles was seen as a brave leader and his people were with him while he took time off his official duties to attend to his health. For the nature of the diagnoses, people with similar challenges drew strength that if Charles could have such a challenge and go public with it, they should be at peace with it and give life their best shot.
    Elsewhere, when Lloyd Austin, US Defence Secretary, went AWOL over a medical condition without formally notifying his boss, President Joe Biden, and alerting the American people, he was roundly condemned and had to appologise.

    Indeed, leaders are expected to exude strength and inspire their people while in office. But the definition and perception of what makes a strong and good leader differs across cultures. In Africa, leaders understand a strong leader as one who shows physical strength. He is expected to be seen, heard and be everywhere. An African leader sees himself as the embodiment in the strength of his nation. He almost has the impression that unlike his people, he should not be ill or show failing health. There is equally the perception by the people that a leader with failing health may no longer be in charge and with a seeming power vacuum while a struggle for power and influence may ensue.
    Unfortunately, leaders, being humans, face health challenges. When there is no honest interface with the people as is often the case among African leaders, what may have started as a rumour eventually dovetails into a debilitating factor that can set off a needless succession struggle among political actors within the corridors of power.

    For Nigerians, tales of leaders carrying on while they tried to hide their illness was a strange phenomenon associated with other African countries with sit tight presidents. All that changed when Alhaji Umaru Yar’Adua succeeded Chief Olusegun Obasanjo as president in 2007. Already in poor health while the campaigns for the presidential election was in full gear, it did not take long for the health issue to take the front burners in his nascent administration. It finally took the invocation of a hitherto unknown Doctrine of Necessity for governance to be retrieved from a cabal of proxy presidents that held the country hostage with fairy tales of president who they told Nigerians can govern from anywhere through them for Goodluck Jonathan to take over the reins of power.

    Yar’Adua’s episode has become a recurring decimal in Nigeria’s leadership architecture through President Muhammadu Buhari’s eight-year presidency and Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s emergence has accentuated the sequence. Explaining the attitude of Nigerian leaders in considering their health status a state secret opens a number of unrelated factors. Tinubu emerged as the product of conscious effort to have somebody of southern extraction succeed Buhari. He has embarked on numerous foreign trips which presidency media minders give strange nomenclatures. ‘Working leave’ is what they dubbed his latest trip to the UK where he moved over to France that was not initially announced as part of his destinations. With the rumour over Tinubu’s health, the latest ‘leave’ has triggered a fresh wave of speculation on his health. The common tread in all the opinions, informed and uninformed, is that the President is unwell.

    Given the political arrangement where Kashim Shettima, a northern, is vice president and next in line, Tinubu’s political machine cannot countenance a situation where power leaves their circle. For good measure, while embarking on his two-week working leave that ended up stretching to 18 days, the instrument for transfer of power to an acting president was not activated.

    As if on cue, the mystery surrounding the whereabouts of the Chief of Army Staff, Taoreed Lagbaja, is yet to clear. It took a post on X that he had passed on for the Army high command to acknowledge that he is ill and receiving treatment.

    In Cameroon, its government had to resort to a comical ban on media reports on the health status Paul Biya, its 91 year-old ailing president, to force a calm of the cemetery on rumours that his health has failed irretrievably. The embarrassing state secret surrounding the health of African presidents is one factor that will continue to impede the continent’s growth. Minders of a leader know their continued stay in office and the sustenance of their illicit activities are tied to the continued hold on power by their principal. They will contrive any game and strategy to maintain the façade of a powerful principal while the inevitable power struggle plays out to the detriment of development. Do we need a legislation to compel vital public office holders to make public their health status similar to the Doctrine of Necessity to curb the trend? The attitude is embarrassing and demeaning. There are enough exemplary conducts elsewhere to inspire African leaders. But the name of the game is to hang on to power.

    Postscript
    Tax men on the prowl
    After strenuous opposition from service providers, stakeholders and consumers forced Tinubu’s government to jettison an earlier attempt to introduce tax on telephone services, the tax men are back again. The government is planning a new five percent tax for GSM calls, SMS and data usage. Cumulatively, that will lead to an increase of 12.5% as the federal government also plans to implement a five percent inclusive excise duty on telecommunication services. This is coming at a time telcos are mulling increasing their call rates in tandem with the cost of providing services to Nigerians and a fresh attempt after an earlier tax proposal was dropped in September 2022.

    The worrying part of President Tinubu’s economic team is that only the tax men are taking all the initiative. Nigerians are on a cliffhanger under the prevailing hardship and are barely surviving. But for the tax hawks, their only recipe is for Nigerians to pay more tax. Where are the development economists in the team that should complement the tax drive by creating a clement environment for businesses to grow and thrive? And what about addressing the cost of governance so that the unbridled wastage and leakages in the machinery of government is curbed?

    Since the onset of the administration, the tax men have been having a field day burdening Nigerians with all manner of taxes to oil the machinery of government. The proposed teleco tax is an overkill when nothing has been unveiled to spur growth.

  • Federal Might, Edo politics and jubilations in Akwa Ibom – By Etim Etim

    Federal Might, Edo politics and jubilations in Akwa Ibom – By Etim Etim

    Many Nigerians have never heard of the expression ‘’federal might’’ as an important factor in gubernatorial elections until Gov. Godwin Obaseki started talking about it in the weeks leading to the September 21 election in his state. He told the press that Senator Adams Oshiomhole and other APC stalwarts in the state were planning to rig the election and impose their candidate, Senator Monday Okpebholo, on the state with the use of ‘’Federal Might’’. Okpebholo won the election, polling 291,667 votes to beat Obaseki’s candidate, Asue Ighodalo of PDP, who got 247,274 votes and Labour Party’s Olumide Akpata, who got a paltry 22,763 votes. But did Federal Might play a role in APC’s victory? Perhaps. I have participated in three governorship elections in Akwa Ibom State as a communications strategist and I have seen first hand how politicians crave the use of Federal Might to secure victory. This article is therefore based on by my personal experiences.

    Federal Might is the deployment of federal resources, especially the security forces, to intimidate and harass opponents in order to create ample environment for the favoured party to rig election, often with the collusion of INEC. To procure Federal Might, an influential political figure in Abuja must give orders to the IGP and/or the Army chief to deploy excessive number of policemen and soldiers to the affected state with specific instructions to cow the opposition politicians and arrest some, if need be. Federal Might also entails INEC colluding with one party to the disadvantage of the others. Federal Might is therefore more valuable to a politician, especially those seeking to defeat a strong incumbent, than any other support he can get.

    There are a few signs of the presence of Federal Might during an election. As soon as the policemen or ‘’federal forces’’ arrive the state to be captured, the leader of the command, typically an AIG, will establish contact with the favoured governorship candidate; and his first order of business is to arrest selected members of the opposition. The arrested men are usually influential leaders who command the respect of their party members. To create maximum impact, the arrest will happen at night and they’d be whisked off to Abuja before dawn. No doubt, the incarceration creates considerable embarrassment and trauma from the governor to the rank-and-file members of the party affected party.

    The detention of some PDP henchmen, including local government chairmen in Edo, by the police in Abuja was an unmistakable early signal that Federal Might was being activated prior to the election. Despite Gov. Obaseki’s cries and Asue Ighodalo’s lamentations, the police did not explain the rational for the arrest and no charges have been brought against them till today.

    Another sign of Federal Might is the disposition of the Resident Electoral Commissioner. If the REC is newly posted to the state just before the election, or if he had been found to be too chummy with members of one party, and INEC refuses to redeploy him out of the state despite pleas from the other party, then Federal Might is suspected. For some time, the PDP in Edo State has asked INEC to transfer the REC, Dr. Anugbum Onuoha, out of the state because he is a cousin of the FCT Minister, Nyesome Wike. Wike is a PDP member who as Rivers State governor helped APC win the presidential election in his state and as a reward, is now serving in the APC controlled federal government. It is enough reason to expect the REC to be biased. But INEC refused to budge, with the REC arguing that that his family relationship with Wike would not becloud his sense of duty. By refusing to move the REC from Edo, INEC failed to give all parties a sense of fairness and appearance of a level playing ground. An umpire, including a football referee, must be fair and be seen to be unbiased in all materials particular.

    A REC is the number one electoral official in the state and if he decides to work against you in any election in your state, you’d be swimming against the currents and the chance of a loss is greater than 90%. An unconscionable REC has an arsenal of weapons he can use against a party he dislikes. He can, for example, substitute genuine result sheets with fake ones; instigate late arrival of voting materials in some areas to suppress voting and even blatantly facilitate forgery at the collation centers. Even after the elections, a REC can frustrate aggrieved parties from accessing the voting materials in preparation for litigation. I saw that play out in 2015 and 2019 in Akwa Ibom. However, to succeed in his wicked schemes, the REC must have the cooperation of the electoral officers (EOs) who are the chief superintendents of elections at the local government areas. In the 2015 governorship election in Akwa Ibom State, we had a REC who was openly biased against one of the two major parties. It was the most flagrant case of bias by a senior electoral official ever recorded in history. The REC eventually retired from INEC into stupendous wealth. In Edo State, the PDP is currently complaining that some of the results announced at the State Collation Center in Benin are different from what was uploaded on INEC’s iREV portal. That’s a very serious allegation that borders on the integrity of INEC.

    The 2019 governorship election in Akwa Ibom State was an eye-opener on how Federal Might could work or fail to work. In August 2018, Senator Godswill Akpabio had decamped to APC from the PDP, thereby giving members and supporters of his new party the assurances that he would flip the state. we can all recall the infamous ‘’Warsaw saw War’’ statement, which further fueled tensions and frightened the PDP and the state government. At a stakeholders’ meeting of PDP in the Government House, a crestfallen member reportedly asked the governor, ‘’Your excellency, we don’t have INEC; we don’t have the police; what are we going to do’’? It was a poignant question for a party that had controlled the centre for 16 years and had known the importance of Federal Might.

    The governor, Mr. Udom Emmanuel, seeking reelection, appeared beleaguered, cowed and insecure, but he was very clever. While his party, PDP, was campaigning hard, going from village to village, APC members were engrossed in endless meetings, planning and waiting for the arrival of the Federal Might. Besides, APC was bereft of the cohesion and stamina required to mount an effective assault against the PDP which had governed the state since 1999. The arrival of Akpabio in a way became an Achilles heel for the APC as some members’ resentments against him was beginning to sap the party of its mojo. In the welter of all the tensions in the state, anger in APC and frustration in the PDP, the governor sneaked into Abuja and struck a deal with the people in ASO Rock, including the then chief of Staff to the President, who received a huge erosion-control contract from the state government, in exchange for a support to the governor and his party. It was a masterstroke. With that, the table turned against APC in the state. Its cry for the redeployment of the REC, Mike Igini, who had appeared as a pro-PDP person and the request for support from the police and army, were completely rebuffed by Abuja. No Federal Might was forthcoming and, of course, APC lost the election woefully. Members began to heap blame on President Buhari for not helping out with the expected ‘’Federal Might’’. There’s no name they did not call Buhari.

    Now, with the victory of APC in Edo over the weekend, APC members in Akwa Ibom State were once again jubilant, hoping that there is now a better chance for the Federal Might in 2027. ‘’Buhari did not care about the party in our state; but Asiwaju understands the game’’, an APC chieftain told me, after sharing a video of Akpabio and others dancing in Benin. Really? I told him that there are other circumstances that played out in Edo that may not happen in Akwa Ibom in 2027. For one, Obaseki’s fight with the powerful Oba of Benin and his meanness to his erstwhile deputy, Philip Shuaibu, were not helpful.

  • EMMANUEL AZIKEN: The Big Heart: Oborevwori’s politics without bitterness

    EMMANUEL AZIKEN: The Big Heart: Oborevwori’s politics without bitterness

    By Emmanuel Aziken

    Against the background of the vicious and malicious attacks on his person in the approach to the 2023 governorship election, it was a sign of a big heart that Governor Sheriff Oborevwori showed up with joy at the 40th birthday ceremony of one of Delta’s leading political actors from the other side of the fray.

    Governor Oborevwori’s presence at the 40th birthday thanksgiving of Ms Stella Okotete on Sunday, April 21 was a demonstration of not just Christian love, but also a major act of statesmanship.

    It was the State PDP leader embracing one of APC’s energetic and vivacious female commanders.

    Expectedly, the thanksgiving was enlivened with the presence of some of the leading APC chiefs in Delta State and around the country. They were led by Olorogun Festus Keyamo, the minister of aviation. Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, the immediate past deputy president of the Senate was away in Ondo State on party duties where he was serving as the secretary of the party’s governorship primary committee.

    Cognisant of the mixed political multitude around him, Governor Oborevwori was blunt in his charge to the congregation, telling them to look beyond partisan political leanings and project the general interest of the state.

    While congratulating Okotete on thanking God for a life of great accomplishments at 40, the Governor said giving thanks to God was not only an appreciation, but also prayer for more, and commended the celebrant for coming home to celebrate with her people which was an indication that she remained a grassroot politician.

    He said: “I am very happy to be here today and it shows that I am a Governor for all Deltans. Seeing all the faces I know here shows that we are all one family in Delta State.

    “I am Governor for all Deltans and I do not segregate. I want all of us to be united with the interest of developing Delta State,” Oborevwori said in recognition of the political heterogenous political spread in the state.

    Continuing, with philosophical equanimity on the rotation of power, he said:

    “Leadership is turn by turn. The most important thing is to do what you should be remembered for while in office.

     

    “Delta State will continue to enjoy peace, just as I promised in my MORE Agenda that we will continue to enhance peace and security.

     

    “I thank you all for coming, even as I continue to count on your support.”

    Okotete was appreciative of Governor Oborevwori’s presence as she thanked him for showing up despite their marked political differences.

    She also used the opportunity to thank God for His blessings upon her life over the past years rising from a councillor to the position of National Woman leader and presently Executive Director, NEXIM.

     

    Earlier in his sermon, Archbishop Goddowell Avwomakpa urged Christians to cultivate the habit of praising God, adding that man would, in the course of life, encounter problems but would not be overwhelmed by them.

     

    Remarkably, the cleric, who performed her dedication 40 years ago at her birth thanked God for her exploits in life.

  • The end has not come for Aregbesola in Nigerian politics – Owaale of Ikare

    The end has not come for Aregbesola in Nigerian politics – Owaale of Ikare

    The Owaale of Ikare, Oba Adefemi Adeleke Adegbite, has said those who think the end has come for the immediate past Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, in Nigerian politics and governance will be disappointed.

    The monarch spoke during the weekend at the reception organised by the National Association of Old Students of Akoko Anglican Grammar School, Arigidi Akoko, Ondo State, for the former minister

    Oba Adegbite maintained that Aregbesola has not reached the peak of his political career, noting that the former governor of the State of Osun still has many years to shine in Nigerian politics.

    According to Oba Adegbite, Aregbesola has an innate Omoluabi virtue which makes him an outstanding public figure and a humanist.

    “Aregbesola is a rare politician with innate Omoluabi virtue. He is responsible, transparent and humane. He is a blessing to many generations.

    “Let me state that the end has not come for Aregbesola in Nigerian politics and governance. Those who thinks the end has come for him will be disappointed eventually. He has not reached the peak of his political career. The road to farm will not be blocked to a farmer that has God and cutlass. We shall all be alive to celebrate another good chapter of his life.”

    Speaking at the event, Aregbesola appreciated his supporters, lovers and other people who have been welcoming him home after the completion of his tenure as the Minister.

    “I thank God for enabling me to serve with distinction, honour and integrity as Minister and returning home to these receptions and tumultuous celebrations. The outpouring of love by the people, friends and associates fills me with the deepest emotions and never ceased to draw tears from eyes”, he stated.

    The former governor maintained that he is a fulfilled man with happiness, saying it is a privilege to have served in various capacities.

    He said: “Today, I am happy and fulfilled. It is by the grace of God and a great privilege to have been in a position of leadership three times and to have left indelible footprints on my paths and be celebrated in this manner.”

    Aregbesola noted that the quality of education he received while growing up stimulated his education reform when he was the governor of the State of Osun.

    He said: “I must also mention however, that the schools across Western Region at the time taught and instilled ethics, social etiquette, morals and leadership and produced these great people.

    “This is a testament to a remarkable public education policy and programme of Chief Obafemi Awolowo and his people oriented political platform.

    “When I became governor in Osun, I sought to replicate this idea. Our administration built 11 state of the art 3,000 capacity model secondary schools, in addition to rehabilitating and upgrading the existing ones.

    “Each school has 72 classrooms which can each comfortably accommodate 49 students and six rooms for study groups. It is equipped with six laboratories, 36 toilets separated equally for boys and girls, two libraries for science and arts each, facility manager’s office, a bookshop and a sick bay.

    “We introduced Opon Imo the tablet of Knowledge; a digital education tool, ethics and discipline in public schools and even established a state-wide agency on public school discipline. We introduced calisthenics and school feeding and health programme.

    “Nevertheless, our commitment then was from the understanding that there is no alternative to a sound public foundation education.

    “All governments must therefore know that no matter how attractive private schools may be, they will never be able to displace government funded public foundation education schools, if we really want to provide education to all the children and stimulate development from bottom up. It is a dream we must never give up on.”

    The National President of the National Association of Old Students of Akoko Anglican Grammar School, Arigidi Akoko, Mrs Grace Ajayi, described Aregbesola as an icon, a man of vision, honour and integrity.

    According to Ajayi, Aregbesola was celebrated for his outstanding performance in all the public offices he had occupied.

    He said: “We are here today to celebrate an icon, a man of vision, honour, integrity, a generous man full of humour, a highly intelligent industrious man, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, ‘Areshow’ as he was called back in the school.”

     

  • How to Make the Most Out of Betting Apps for Political Events

    How to Make the Most Out of Betting Apps for Political Events

    Political betting is becoming an increasingly popular way for people to make money online. With the rise of betting apps, it has become easier than ever to place bets on political events and outcomes. These apps provide users with a wide variety of options when it comes to placing their bets, as well as tools that can help them make more accurate predictions. However, there are also some legal restrictions in place regarding such apps, which could shape the future of online betting. In this article, we will explore the different types of political betting apps available, discuss their advantages and disadvantages, provide tips for making more accurate predictions, and look at what legal restrictions are in place when it comes to these types of activities.

    Advantages and Disadvantages of Betting Apps for Politics

    Betting apps have become a popular way to make money by predicting the outcome of political events. While they offer a variety of options and tools to make more accurate predictions, there are several advantages and disadvantages that should be taken into consideration before using betting apps for politics.

    The primary advantage of betting apps is the convenience they provide. With these apps, users can quickly and easily place their bets without having to visit a physical bookmaker or sportsbook, and a great example of this is the reputable bookmaker Melbet Kenya’s app. Additionally, many betting apps offer live streaming of political events, which allows users to keep track of the event in real-time. This is a great benefit for those who may not have access to other types of media coverage that would provide information about how the event is transpiring.

    Other advantages include the ability to view current odds on different political events quickly and easily, as well as being able to review historical data to better inform predictions. Furthermore, many betting apps allow users to place multiple bets at once, which can increase the chances of making a profit while also reducing the overall risk associated with placing multiple bets spread across different outcomes.

    However, there are some drawbacks associated with using betting apps for politics as well. The most significant disadvantage is that there could be legal restrictions in certain areas regarding online gambling that may apply even when using an app from another country or region where it is legal. Additionally, some users may find it difficult to navigate the user interface or understand how certain features work within the app itself due to their complexity or unfamiliarity with such technology. Also, depending on which app is used, users could be charged fees for deposits and withdrawals when placing bets on political events.

    Tips for Making More Accurate Predictions

    When it comes to making more accurate predictions while betting on political events, there are a few tips that can help increase the chances of success. Firstly, staying up to date with any and all news related to the political event is essential. News sites, as well as social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook, can provide valuable insights into the current state of affairs. Additionally, following opinion polls closely can help in assessing potential outcomes. Furthermore, researching past trends and analyzing historical data can be especially useful in predicting future events.

    Another tip that may prove beneficial is to pay attention to market sentiment. It’s important to be aware of how other gamblers view a certain event, which bets they’re placing, and whether or not majority opinion aligns with one’s own predictions. This information could help in making more informed decisions about where to place bets and what outcome has a greater likelihood of coming true, given current sentiment.

    Finally, another tip for making more accurate predictions when betting on political events is to diversify one’s portfolio and spread out risk across multiple bets placed at varying levels of risk or odds. This way, if one bet does not succeed, losses are minimized as there are still potential wins from other wagers made simultaneously. Additionally, when using a betting app, it’s important to take advantage of features like cash out that allows users to end their bet early if they feel their original prediction was incorrect or the event has taken an unexpected turn.

    Legal Restrictions on Online Political Betting

    Legal restrictions on online political betting vary from country to country and region to region. Some countries, such as the United States, have laws in place that prohibit or heavily restrict gambling activities, including online political betting. Other countries may have more relaxed regulations that allow for wagers to be placed but under strict guidelines and oversight.

    In some places, users may need to register through official channels with their respective governments before being allowed to place a bet on a political event. Additionally, depending on where the app’s servers are located, there may be additional taxes applied when placing bets or withdrawing winnings. Furthermore, many states and countries have implemented age limits that prevent underage individuals from participating in online betting activities of any kind.

    How the Future of Online Betting Could be Shaped by These Regulations

    The regulation of online betting, particularly on political events, is likely to become increasingly strict in the future. Governments around the world are becoming increasingly aware of the dangers posed by unregulated gambling and investing activities, and this awareness is likely to lead to further restrictions on the types of bets that can be placed through apps. For example, there may be more stringent requirements for those who wish to place bets, such as providing valid identification documents or proof of address for KYC purposes. Additionally, governments may seek to impose taxes on online winnings or limit the odds available on certain events.

    Further restrictions may also be imposed on advertising campaigns related to these types of apps. Many countries are already restricting the advertising of gambling activities in an effort to protect vulnerable individuals from being tempted into addictive behavior. As online betting continues to grow in popularity, regulators are likely to target promotional material associated with these types of apps as well. There could even be a ban on certain words or phrases such as “betting”, “wagering” or “gambling” in order to minimize exposure and protect players from potentially risky activities.

    These stricter regulations will shape the future landscape of online betting significantly, with both pros and cons existing depending on one’s perspective. On one hand it will make it much more difficult for people who wish to engage in risky activities while simultaneously allowing those who play responsibly benefit from a safer environment where they can place bets without fear of fraud or other unethical practices taking place. Ultimately though it will depend heavily on government legislation moving forward, if stricter rules are implemented then there could be many changes coming regarding how we bet online over the next few years.